The Catholic Prayer Book and Manual of Meditations/The Thirty Days' Prayer to the Blessed Redeemer
The Thirty Days' Prayer
TO THE BLESSED REDEEMER, IN HONOR OF HIS SACRED PASSION.
GLORY, honour, and praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ! may all the world adore thee. Blessed be thy holy name, who for us sinners vouchsafed to be born of an humble Virgin; and blessed be thy infinite goodness, who didst die upon the cross for our redemption.
O Jesus, Son of God, and Saviour of mankind, we beseech thee to have mercy on us, and so dispose our lives here by thy grace, that we may hereafter rejoice with thee for ever in thy heavenly kingdom.
O dear Jesus, my blessed Saviour and Redeemer, the sweet comforter of all sad, desolate, and distressed souls, behold thy poor servant, humbly prostrate at the foot of thy holy cross, bewailing [his] misery, imploring thy mercy, and beseeching thee to take pity and compassion on [him] in this [his] present and pressing affliction [infirmity, poverty, temptation , trouble, or whatsoever other spiritual or corporal necessity ].
Hear my prayers, O assured refuge of all afflicted wretches! behold my tears, consider my sorrows, and remedy my distresses; for, finding myself encompassed with very grievous calamities by reason of my great crimes, I know not whither to fly for succour, or to whom I may make my moan, but to thee, my meek and merciful Saviour, with a full hope and confidence that thou, O my loving Redeemer, wilt vouchsafe to lend the ears of thy ordinary pity and accustomed clemency to the humble petition of thy poor child; and by that sweetness which thy blessed soul perceived at the time of thy union with our human nature, when, resolving with the Father and the Holy Ghost to unite thy divine person to mortal flesh for man’s salvation, thou didst send thy angel to the Holy Virgin Mary with those happy tidings, and, clothing thyself with our human nature in her chaste womb, remainedst true God and true man for the space of nine months in her sacred womb.
By the anguish thou enduredst when, the time of thy designed passion drawing nigh, thou prayedst to thy eternal Father, that if it might stand with his most divine providence, thou desiredst that that bitter chalice might pass away from thee; yet concluding with a most perfect act of resignation, “Not my will, O heavenly Father, but thine be done.”
By the outrageous injuries, shameful, disgraces, cruel blows, contumelious blasphemies, forged witnesses, false accusations, and unjust judgments which thou, innocent Lamb, patiently enduredst; by the shackles which fettered thy limbs, the tears which flowed from thine eyes, the blood which trickled from thy whole body; by the fears, sorrows, and sadness of thy heart; by the shame thou receivedst in being stript of thy garments, to hang naked on the cross, in the sight of thy sorrowful mother, and in the presence of all the people.
By thy royal head crowned with thorns, and smitten with a reed; by thy thirst quenched with vinegar and gall; by thy side opened with a spear, whence issued blood and water to refresh our souls with that living fountain of thy love and mercy; by the sharp nails wherewith thy tender hands and feet were cruelly pierced and fastened to the cross; by the recommendation of thy departing soul to thy heavenly Father, saying, “Into thy hands I commend my spirit by thy praying for thy enemies, saying, "O Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do;" by thy giving up the ghost, when thou criedst out with a loud voice, “ My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? ” and then, bowing down thy most blessed head to impart to us the kiss of peace, saidst, “ It is consummated.”
By the great mercy thou showedst towards the penitent thief, saying “ This day thou shalt be with me in paradise;" by thy descent into limbo, and the joy thou communicatedst to the just souls therein detained; by the glory of thy triumphant resurrection, and the consoling apparitions thou didst make for forty days’ space to thy sacred Virgin Mother, to thy Apostles, and thy other chosen servants; by thy admirable ascension, when, in the sight of thy Mother and thy Apostles, though wast elevated into heaven; by the miraculous coming down of the Holy Ghost in the form of fiery tongues, whereby thou replenishedst the hearts of thy disciples with thy love, and gavest them strength and courage to plant thy faith in the whole world; by the dreadful day of general judgment, on which thou art to pass sentence on all mankind.
By all those sorrows, joys, passions, compassions, and whatsoever else is near and dear to thee in heaven and on earth, take pity on me, O compassionate Redeemer; hear my prayers, and grant me that for which I now most humbly and heartily petition thee — [mention here the thing you desire, or reflect mentally on it].
Give me, O gracious Saviour, speedy and efficacious feelings of thy divine succour and comfort, who, according to the accustomed sweetness of thy tender heart, art wont to grant the requests of them who really fear and love thee, even to their own soul’s desire and satisfaction. Bestow on me also, O my blessed Lord Jesus, a constant faith, a confident hope, a perfect charity, a cordial contrition, a sincere confession, a competent satisfaction, a diligent custody of myself from future failings, a heroic contempt of the world, a complete conquest of my passions, a zealous imitation of thy exemplary life and conversation, an entire accomplishment of my vows, an absolute mortification of my self-will, a willing readiness to die for thy love and honour, a final perseverance in grace and good works, a happy departure of my soul out of this world, with my perfect senses about me, thy holy sacraments to strengthen me; thyself, O dear Jesus, to comfort me; thy sacred Virgin Mother, with the saints, my particular patrons, to pray for me; and my good angel to conduct me to eternal rest, eternal life, eternal happiness. Amen.