Passion of Christ, strengthen me! Strengthen me under the pressure of temptation. Strengthen me when principle is at stake. Strengthen me to do Your Will, My God. Strengthen me in moments of suffering, in times of loneliness, in periods of depression. Strengthen me that I may never swerve from You, dear Christ, nor weaken through human respect, through a desire to be popular, through hope of social distinction. Strengthen me to accept my cross and carry it generously to the end. On the battlefield of life, stand by me that I may never prove a traitor in the ranks. Stand by me that I may not be dazzled by the glitter and glow of the enemy camp. Amen.
PRAYER IN THE STEPS OF THE PASSION
Most dear Jesus, filled with sorrow during the agony in the garden, covered with a sweat of blood while praying, have mercy on us, O Lord.
Most dear Jesus, delivered into the hands of the wicked by a kiss, bound like a robber, and abandoned by Your disciples, have mercy on us, O Lord.
Most dear Jesus, condemned to death by an unjust Council, taken as an evildoer before Pilate, and ridiculed by the wicked Herod, have mercy on us, O Lord.
Most dear Jesus, publicly shorn of Your garments, and most cruelly scourged at the pillar, have mercy on us, O Lord.
Most dear Jesus, crowned with thorns, beaten and blindfolded, clothed in rich purple and mocked, have mercy on us, O Lord.
Most dear Jesus, likened to the infamous Barabbas, rejected by Your people, and unjustly sentenced to death, have mercy on us, O Lord.
Most dear Jesus, burdened with the weight of the Cross and led to the place of execution like a lamb to the slaughter, have mercy on us, O Lord.
Most dear Jesus, reckoned with the wicked, blasphemed, and derided, and given gall to drink to mitigate Your pain, have mercy on us, O Lord.
Most dear Jesus, dying on the Cross in the presence of Mary, pierced with a lance that drew blood and water from Your side, have mercy on us, O Lord.
Most dear Jesus, taken down and placed in the arms of Your Sorrowful Mother, have mercy on us, O Lord.
Most dear Jesus, horribly bruised and marked with five wounds, annointed for burial and placed in a tomb, have mercy on us, O Lord.
My Jesus, I thank You for dying on the
Cross for my sins. Have mercy on us, O Lord. Amen.
PAYER TO IMITATE THE SUFFERING CHRIST
Christ O Jesus, You have called me to suffer because You on Your part suffered for me, leaving me an example that I might follow. When You were insulted, You did not return the insult. When You were mistreated, You did not counter with threats but entrusted Yourself to the One Who judges justly. By Your wounds we are healed. Help
me to imitate You in suffering. Let me break with sin by means of my sufferings, so that I may no longer live according to the lusts of sinners but according to the will of the Father. Since You Yourself have suffered and been tempted, I know that You are able to bring aid to all who suffer and are tempted. I entrust myself to You and to the Father, my Creator, knowing that You will never fail me. Amen.
PRAYER TO JESUS ON THE CROSS
O Jesus, for how many ages have You been on the Cross and yet people pass by in utter disregard of You except to pierce once again Your Sacred Heart. How often have I passed You by, heedless of Your overwhelming sorrow, Your countless wounds, Your infinite love. How often have I stood before You, not to comfort and console You, but to offend You by my conduct or neglect of You, to scorn Your love. You have stretched out Your Hands to comfort me, and I have seized those Hands - that might have consigned me to hell - and have bent them back upon the Cross, nailing them rigid and helpless to it. Yet I have only succeeded in imprinting my name
on Your palms forever. You have loved me with an infinite love and I have taken advantage of that love to sin all the more against You. Yet my ingratitude has only succeeded in piercing Your Sacred Heart and causing Your Precious Blood to flow forth upon me. O Jesus, let Your Blood be upon me, not for a curse, but for a blessing. Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world. Have mercy on me. Amen.
BY THE PASSION OF YOUR BLESSED SON
O God, by the passion of Your blessed Son You made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of Your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
PRAYER TO THE WOUND OF JESUS' SHOULDER
(It is related in the annals of Clairvaux that St. Bernard asked Our Lord which was His greatest unrecorded suffering, and Our Lord answered: "I had on My Shoulder, while I bore My cross on the Way of Sorrows, a grievous Wound, which was more painful than the others, and which is not recorded by men. Honor this Wound with thy devotion, and I will grant thee whatsoever thou dost ask through Its virtue and merit. And in regard to all those who shall venerate this Wound, I will remit to them all their venial sins, and will no longer remember their mortal sins.")
O most loving Jesus, meek Lamb of God, I, a miserable sinner, salute and worship the most sacred Wound of Thy Shoulder on which Thou didst bear Thy heavy cross, which so tore Thy Flesh and laid bare Thy Bones as to inflict on Thee an anguish greater than any other wound of Thy most blessed Body. I adore Thee, O Jesus most sorrowful; I praise and glorify Thee, and give Thee thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound, beseeching Thee by that exceeding pain, and by the crushing burden of Thy heavy cross, to be merciful to me, a sinner, to forgive me all my mortal and venial sins, and to lead me on toward heaven along the Way of the Cross. Amen.
