Sweetness of Hearts
O Jesus, sweetness of hearts, delight of the spirit, by the bitterness of the vinegar and gall which you did taste on the Cross for Love of us, grant us the grace to receive worthily your Precious Body and Blood during our life and at the hour of our death, that they may serve as a remedy and consolation for our souls. Amen.
(By St Bridget of Sweden)
Woman of Peace
Bridget, you were a woman of peace.
You brought harmony where there was conflict.
You brought light into darkness.
You brought hope to the downcast.
May the mantle of your peace cover those who are troubled or anxious, and may peace be firmly rooted in our hearts and our world.
Inspire us to act justly and to reverence all God has made.
Bridget, you were a voice for the wounded and weary.
Strengthen what is weak within us.
Calm us into a stillness that heals and listens.
May we grow each day into greater wholeness in mind, body and spirit. Amen.
The Fifteen Prayers
1.) One Our Father and one Hail Mary followed by:
O Jesus Christ! Eternal Sweetness to those who love you, joy surpassing all joy and all desire, Salvation and Hope of all sinners, you have proved that you have no greater desire than to be among men, even assuming human nature at the fullness of time for the love of men, recall all the sufferings you have endured from the instant of your conception, and especially during your Passion, as it was decreed and ordained from eternity in the Divine plan.
Remember, O Lord, that during the Last Supper with your disciples, having washed their feet, you gave them your Most Precious Body and Blood, and while at the same time you did sweetly console them, you foretold them of your coming Passion.
Remember the sadness and bitterness which you experienced in your Soul as you yourself bore witness saying: “My Soul is sorrowful even unto death.”
Remember all the fear, anguish and pain that you suffered in your delicate Body before the torment of the Crucifixion, when, after having prayed three times, bathed in a sweat of blood, you were betrayed by Judas, your disciple, arrested by the people of a nation you had chosen and elevated, accused by false witnesses, unjustly judged by three judges during the flower of your youth and during the solemn Paschal season.
Remember that you were despoiled of your garments and clothed in those of derision; that your Face and Eyes were veiled, that you were buffeted, crowned with thorns, a reed placed in your Hands, that you were crushed with blows and overwhelmed with affronts and outrages.
In memory of all these pains and sufferings which you endured before your Passion on the Cross, grant me before my death true contrition, a sincere and entire confession, worthy satisfaction and the remission all my sins. Amen.
2.) One Our Father and one Hail Mary followed by:
O Jesus! True liberty of angels, paradise of delights, remember the horror and sadness which you endured when your enemies, like furious lions, surrounded you and by thousands of insults, spits, blows, lacerations and other unheard-of cruelties, tormented you at will. In consideration of these torments and insulting words, I beseech you, O my Saviour, to deliver me from all my enemies, visible and invisible, and to bring me, under your protection, to the perfection of eternal salvation. Amen.
3.) One Our Father and one Hail Mary followed by:
O Jesus! Creator of Heaven and earth whom nothing can encompass or limit, you who enfolds and holds all under your loving power, remember the very bitter pain you suffered when the Jews nailed your Sacred Hands and Feet to the Cross by blow after blow with big blunt nails, and not finding you in a pitiable enough state to satisfy their rage, they enlarged your wounds, and added pain to pain, and with indescribable cruelty stretched your Body on the Cross, pulling you from all sides, thus dislocating your limbs.
I beg of you, O Jesus, by the memory of this most loving suffering of the Cross, to grant me the grace to fear you and to love you. Amen.
4.) One Our Father and one Hail Mary followed by:
O Jesus! Heavenly Physician, raised aloft on the Cross to heal our wounds with yours, remember the bruises which you suffered and the weakness of all your members which were distended to such a degree that never was there pain like unto you. From the crown of your Head to the Soles of your Feet there was not one spot on your Body that was not in torment, and yet, forgetting all your sufferings, you did not cease to pray to your Heavenly Father for your enemies, saying: “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Through this great Mercy, and in memory of this suffering, grant that the remembrance of your Most Bitter Passion may effect in us a perfect contrition and the remission of all our sins. Amen.
5.) One Our Father and one Hail Mary followed by:
O Jesus! Mirror of eternal splendour, remember the sadness which you experienced, when contemplating in the light of your Divinity the predestination of those who would be saved by the merits of your Sacred Passion, you did see at the same time, the great multitude of reprobates who would be damned for their sins, and you did complain bitterly of those hopeless, lost, and unfortunate sinners.
Through this abyss of compassion and pity, and especially through the goodness which you displayed to the good thief when you said to him: “This day, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.” I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, that at the hour of my death, you will show me mercy. Amen.
6.) One Our Father and one Hail Mary followed by:
O Jesus! Beloved and most desirable King, remember the grief you suffered, when naked and like a common criminal, you were fastened and raised on the Cross, when all your relatives and friends abandoned you, except Thy Beloved Mother, who remained close to you during your agony and whom you entrusted to your faithful disciple when you said to Mary: “Woman, behold thy Son!”, and to St. John: “Son, behold thy Mother!”.
I beg of you O my Savior, by the sword of sorrow which pierced the soul of your holy Mother, to have compassion on me in all my afflictions and tribulations, both corporal and spiritual, and to assist me in all my trials, and especially at the hour of my death. Amen.
7.) One Our Father and one Hail Mary followed by:
O Jesus! Inexhaustible Fountain of compassion, who by a profound gesture of love, said from the Cross: “I thirst,” suffered from the thirst for the salvation of the human race. I beg of you, O my Savior, to inflame in our hearts the desire to tend toward perfection in all our acts, and to extinguish in us the concupiscence of the flesh and the ardour of worldly desires. Amen.
8.) One Our Father and one Hail Mary followed by:
O Jesus! Sweetness of hearts, delight of the spirit, by the bitterness of the gall and vinegar which you did taste on the Cross for love of us, grant us the grace to receive worthily your Precious Body and Blood during our life and at the hour of our death, that they may serve as a remedy and consolation for our souls. Amen.
9.) One Our Father and one Hail Mary followed by:
O Jesus! Royal virtue, joy of the mind, recall the pain you endured when plunged in an ocean of bitterness at the approach of death, insulted, outraged by the Jews, you cried out in a loud voice that you were abandoned by Thy Father, saying: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”
Through this anguish, I beg of you, O my Saviour, not to abandon me in the terrors and pains of my death. Amen.
10.) One Our Father and one Hail Mary followed by:
O Jesus! Who art the beginning and the end of all things, life and virtue, remember that for our sake you were plunged in an abyss of suffering from the soles of your Feet to the crown of your Head. In consideration of the enormity of your wounds, teach me to keep, through pure love, your Commandments, whose way is wide and easy for those who love you. Amen.
11.) One Our Father and one Hail Mary followed by:
O Jesus! Deep abyss of mercy, I beg of you, in memory of your wounds which penetrated to the very marrow of your bones and to the depth of your being, to draw me, a miserable sinner, overwhelmed by my offences, away from sin and to hide me from your Face justly irritated against me; hide me in your wounds, until your anger and just indignation shall have passed away. Amen.
12.) One Our Father and one Hail Mary followed by:
O Jesus! Mirror of truth, symbol of unity, link of charity, remember the multitude of wounds with which you were covered from head to foot, torn and reddened by the spilling of your adorable Blood. O great and universal pain which you suffered in your virginal flesh for love of us! Sweetest Jesus! What is there that you could have done for us which you have not done?
May the fruit of your sufferings be renewed in my soul by the faithful remembrance of your Passion, and may your love increase in my heart each day until I see you in eternity, you who art the treasury of every real good and every joy, which I beg you to grant me, O sweetest Jesus, in Heaven. Amen.
13.) One Our Father and one Hail Mary followed by:
O Jesus! Strong lion, immortal and invincible King, remember the pain you endured when all your strength, both moral and physical, was entirely exhausted; you bowed your Head, saying: “It is consummated.”
Through this anguish and grief, I beg of you Lord Jesus, to have mercy on me at the hour of my death when my mind will be greatly troubled and my soul will be in anguish. Amen.
14.) One Our Father and one Hail Mary followed by:
O Jesus! Only Son of the Father, splendour and figure of His Substance, remember the simple and humble recommendation you make of your Soul to your Eternal Father, saying: “Father, into Thy Hands I commend My Spirit!” And with your Body all torn, and your Heart broken, and the bowels of your Mercy open to redeem us, you did expire.
By this Precious Death, I beg of you O King of Saints, to comfort me and help me to resist the devil, the flesh and the world, so that being dead to the world, I may live for you alone. I beg of you at the hour of my death to receive me, a pilgrim and an exile returning to you. Amen.
15.) One Our Father and one Hail Mary followed by:
O Jesus! True and fruitful Vine! Remember the abundant outpouring of blood which you so generously shed from your Sacred Body as juice from grapes in a wine press.
From your side, pierced with a lance by a soldier, blood and water issued forth until there was not left in your Body a single drop, and finally, like a bundle of myrrh lifted to the top of the Cross, your delicate Flesh was destroyed, the very substance of your Body withered, and the marrow of your Bones dried up.
Through this bitter Passion, and through the outpouring of your Precious Blood, I beg of you, O Sweet Jesus, to receive my soul when I am in my death agony. Amen.
Concluding Prayer
O Sweet Jesus! Pierce my heart so that my tears of penitence and love will be my bread day and night; may I be converted entirely to you, may my heart be your perpetual habitation, may my conversation be pleasing to you, and may the end of my life be so praiseworthy that I may merit Heaven and there with your saints, praise you forever. Amen.
(From the revelations made to St Bridget)
… St Bridget, Pray For Us …