Chapter 76: A prayer concerning the five sacred Wounds of Jesus Christ

I BLESS You, and give thanks to You, O Lord Jesus Christ, most loving Son of God, crucified for the Salvation of the world, for all the anguish, and all the Sacred Wounds, whether great or small, which, innocent as You were. You did so lovingly endure, and by Your death in true charity and perfect obedience did lay before Your Heavenly Father, as a free and most acceptable offering, in order that You might wash away and deliver me from my sins.

And chiefly do I now praise and glorify You, and will praise and glorify You all the days of my life, with the best thanksgiving and blessing of which my lips are capable, with all the love which my inmost heart can contain, and with gratitude which knows no bounds, for Your supreme and tender condescension in openly showing to Your disciples the five sacred Wounds, Which You had preserved in Your most holy and glorified Body after Your blessed and glorious Resurrection; in presenting them before Your disciples' eyes for them to look upon; and in graciously and unmistakably allowing Saint Thomas the doubting Apostle to touch them, thus establishing him in the faith. It was also Your holy Will that these things should be set forth and proclaimed as a sign of Your never-failing love for Your disciples, and for all Your faithful servants throughout the world, to the intent that their hearts might be full of love for You, and that they might never cease to praise You.

Right therefore and profitable is it that I should daily meditate upon Your supreme love for me; so that, as those five most sacred Wounds of Yours remained ever in Your glorified Body, like fresh and ineffaceable gashes in a shield, shining ever brighter than all the stars of heaven, so (on account of the innumerable benefits conferred by them, both in averting and removing the ills of this life, and in assuring us of eternal happiness to be enjoyed with You, O loving Jesus, in realms of bliss hereafter) They may remain for ever fixed in my memory, and in that of all Your faithful people.

Praise, honour, might, glory, and victory be to You, O Lord, for those sacred Wounds of Yours with which You have redeemed me, have cleansed the world, have despoiled Hell, have opened Paradise, have illumined Heaven, and have made the Angels to rejoice. In order that You might draw lost mankind to You, might reconcile it to the Father, and might turn aside His wrath, You did, on Your Ascension into Heaven, still preserve those sacred Wound prints: in order that thereby You might obtain mercy for me, and for all who believe in You and repent them of their sins. You did take them with You to the Right Hand of the Father; and You have never ceased to show them to all the inhabitants of Heaven, in token of Your victory over death.

O You Wonder and Gladness, You Hope unbounded of those who believe in You; O Jesus Christ, King of glory, Brightness of the Father, Honour of Your Mother, the Virgin's Joy, Son of Mary, Flower of the field, Lily of the valley, Comfort of the afflicted, Health of the sick, Joy of the devout, Blessedness of Saints, Delight of Angels, imprint, I pray You, with Your Precious Blood, upon the tablets of my heart These Your sacred and precious Wounds, that so I may inwardly suffer with You, may love You supremely and above all else; and may rejoice to bear willingly some slight reproach at any rate for the love of Your most sweet and holy Name — that Name Which, infinitely above every name of holy Angels and of men, is blessed for ever, world without end.

Painted in scarlet, framed in gold, keep ever before my wandering eyes the picture of Your sacred Wounds, that I may neither see nor heed the vanities of the world, may be deaf to distracting gossip, and may not listen to those who would speak to me of other things than of You, O Jesus, my Lord and my God: for utterly worthless is everything that would keep me from meditating on the bliss of Heaven, and from bedewing with my tears Your sacred Wounds.

Pierce my feet with Your holy Nails as with sharp spurs to make me follow Your steps along the rough path of adversity, and to keep me from being lifted up when things go well with me, or cast down when troubles come upon me. Cripple both my feet, so that I may not be able to stray far from You. Into my left foot drive the nail of fear, that from fear of the pains of Hell I may abstain from fleshly lusts. Into my right foot drive the nail of holy love, that with a soul on fire with a spirit of devotion to Your service I may by day and by night run in the way of Your commandments — giving thanks to You with eager zeal in hymns and spiritual songs; or if I am busy about earthly labours for the common good, working obediently and with a heart full of love for my brethren. Soon passing and easy to bear are all earthly toil and labour, thirst and bodily pain, for Your sake, O my God, Who in the Flesh did suffer and were wounded; but long, infinitely long, are the everlasting torment and that fire of Hell which never shall be quenched.

Into my hands drive, I pray You, two of Your Nails, so that while time is left me, I may be fruitful in good works, may shun contemptible idleness, that great enemy of the soul, and may with loving arms embrace You hanging for my sake upon the Cross, covered with wounds, but still praying for Your enemies.

Draw me therefore to You from the flesh to the Cross, from earth to Heaven. I long to depart, to die with You upon the Cross, to be washed by Your Wounds from my sins, and to be rescued from everlasting death.

You are my God, and I will confess my sins unto You: heal me by Your sacred Wounds, so cruelly for my sake inflicted upon You. Who can cleanse me from all my sins and from all my negligences, but You alone, O God my Redeemer, Who for me were crucified and wounded with many wounds. Among these stand specially forth, shedding sweet perfume, shining as seals reddened with the Blood of the Lamb of God, Your five precious Wounds, pierced with the nails and the lance. Burnt in are They with the brand of God's love, indelible and most sure proofs of my eternal redemption: full are they of grace and sweetness, displayed for me and all mankind to behold with the eye of faith, and to caress: offered are They to weeping penitents as passports into the inmost recesses of the courts of Heaven.

Enter then, enter boldly, O my soul, through the bowels of the mercy of Your God as He hangs upon the Cross; enter into the deep clefts of His Wounds, and take refuge there from the serpent who everywhere, both openly and secretly, is laying snares for you. There lie still in safety, as a turtle-dove cooing in the wilderness, as a cushat lying hid in the cleft of a mighty rock; spurn all earthly joys; meditate on the sacred Wounds of Christ; and hope, relying on Them, to win those heavenly rewards which He Himself has in store for you.

Speak now, I pray You, O most loving Jesus Christ, speak to my soul, those saving words which You spoke to holy Thomas Your Apostle when You did confirm him in the faith, and as a proof of Your surpassing love did pardon all his sins: "Put in hither your finger, and behold My Hands fixed with hard nails to the wood of the Cross for love of you; reach hither your hand so as to touch Me with it by faith; put it into My Side laid open in pity for you, pierced so cruelly with the soldier's lance that thereout came there forth a plenteous stream of blood and water, for the perfect remission of all sins and the grant of mercy to all who believe. Be not faithless, but believing; give way no more to doubts, but stand firm and steadfast; be not over-curious, but simple and devout; be not sluggish and heedless, but warmhearted and full of thankfulness to God for all His benefits to you."

Give me grace, O good and beloved Jesus, often to think over and to ponder these things; to believe on, and to hold fast to You; never to doubt Your words and Your unchanging truth: give me grace in every temptation and trial to have recourse at once to Your Passion, to look to Your sacred Wounds and Agony for my comfort, and ever to find for my soul peace and rest in You — Who with the Father, etc. Amen.