Prayer to the shoulder wound of Jesus

The Prayer of the shoulder wound of Jesus is a Roman Catholic prayer, addressed to Jesus whilst calling to mind and meditating upon the wound he is said to have received during the carrying of his cross. It is variously attributed to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux^[1] or to St. Gertrude or St. Mechtilde.^[2]

According to St. Bernard, he asked Jesus which was his greatest unrecorded suffering and the wound that inflicted the most pain on him in Calvary and Jesus 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."^[3]

Prayer

In English:

'"O 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 towards Heaven along the Way of Thy Cross. Amen."

The modern version of the prayer bears the imprimatur of Bishop Thomas D. Bevan.^[4]

See also

• Prayer, meditation and contemplation in Christianity

References

1. Catholic Online - Prayers
2. Preces Gertrudianae sive vera et sincera medulla precum potissimum ex revelationibus BB. Gertrudis et Mechtildis excerptarum. Editio nova, accurate recognita et emendata a monacho ordinis S. Benedicti Congregationis Beuronensis, 1903
3. Catholic Tradition http://www.catholictradition.org/Children/st-bernard.htm
4. Prayer to the Shoulder Wound of Jesus http://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=31