 Prayer to the Divine Saviour in Order to Obtain a Holy Death, Through Remembrance of His Sufferings Most beneficent, most merciful Jesus! with a sympathizing heart and sorrowing spirit, I remind Thee of that exuberant love which drew Thee down from Heaven into this valley of tears and filled Thee with pain and bitterness. I remind Thee of the great anguish which fell upon Thy soul, as on Mount Olivet thou didst take upon Thyself the immense burden of our sins, and didst desire to satisfy for them all. By the memory of this anguish strengthen me in my death agony, protect me from all despair and faint-heartedness. I remind Thee, O Jesus! of that wretched dungeon, of the hard bonds, the many blows and great ill-usage, of the insults and blasphemies, which during the whole night before Thy death Thou hadst to endure. By the memory of that sorrowful night, have pity on me when the darkness of death surrounds my soul. I remind Thee, O Jesus, of that most terrible stripping naked and scourging which Thou didst undergo before the eyes of a blood- thirsty populace, and of all the cruel wounds Thou didst then receive, of all the drops of Blood Thou didst then shed. By the memory of these pangs, I pray Thee to have pity upon my poor soul in the hour of death, when destitute of all good works, and tormented by the attacks or the evil enemy, I might succumb. I remind Thee, O Jesus! of those cruel pangs Thou didst undergo, when the Crown of Thorns was pressed upon Thy head and the sharp points wounded Thee so severely. By the memory of this torment have mercy upon my poor soul when the thorns of sin agonize me on my death-bed. I remind Thee, O Jesus! of that painful moment when, with hands bound, clothed in a purple mantle, with the Crown of Thorns upon Thy head, Pilate presented Thee like a theatre king to the raging populace, and immediately afterwards adjudged Thee, innocent, to a cruel death. By the memory of this torment I pray Thee to have pity upon my soul when I shall stand before the judgment- seat and the sentence be spoken over me. I remind Thee, O Jesus! of that painful way to Mount Calvary, with the heavy Cross on Thy shoulders, and of those torturing, falls under the weight of that Cross, and I beg of Thee by the memory of these to have pity on me when my soul is about to sink under the weight of sin into everlasting death. I remind Thee, O Jesus! of that bitter suffering Thou didst undergo when Thy garments were torn from Thy Body and all Thy Wounds reopened; when Thou wert nailed to the Cross, and Thy sacred Hands and Feet bored through. By the memory of that suffering, have mercy upon me when the pains of my agony lay hold on me on the bed of sickness and death. I remind Thee, O Jesus! of that moment when Thou wert raised on the Cross in insufferable torments! I remind Thee of the blasphemies uttered by Thine enemies; of the pains of Thy beloved Mother, of the unendurable thirst, and of the potion of vinegar and gall, and of the utter abandonment in which Thy soul was sunk. By the memory of all these sufferings I conjure Thee, have pity on my poor soul, comfort and strengthen me in my last agony. I remind Thee, O Jesus! of that moment when Thy holy Soul parted from Thy Body, when Thy head bowed, and death broke Thy loving heart: By the memory of those pangs of death, have pity upon my poor soul when it severs from my body, and death breaks my heart. Then, O Jesus, take my soul in Thy hands, purify it by Thy holy Blood, and grant it a place in Thy Paradise, even as Thou didst award one to the poor thief upon the cross. Amen.  E-MAIL HOME------------------SAINT GERTRUDE INDEX www.catholictradition.org/Gertrude/holy-death.htm |