The Rosary of the Most Holy Wounds of Jesus Christ is a prayer which invites you to meditate on the suffering of Jesus Christ at Calvary through the many wounds on His body. The Rosary of the Holy Wounds is reminiscent of the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, and it results from the apparition of Jesus to Sister Marie Martha Chambon. Christians praise the sacrifice and the love of Jesus for humans and pray to receive His Powerful Mercy through the devotion to His Holy Wounds.
You can pray the Rosary of the Most Holy Wounds of Jesus Christ by using a regular rosary.
Begin the prayer by saying on the Cross:
“O Jesus, divine Redeemer, have mercy upon us and upon the whole world. Amen.
O Powerful God, Holy God, Immortal God, have pity on us and on the whole world.
O Eternal Father, be merciful to us through the Blood of Jesus Christ, Your only Son. Be merciful to us, we implore You!”
On the large beads, say:
“Eternal Father, I offer You the Wounds of Our Lord Jesus Christ to heal the Wounds of our souls.”
On the small beads, say:
“My Jesus, pardon and mercy, through the merits of Your Holy Wounds!”
End the prayer by repeating three times:
“Eternal Father, I offer You the Wounds of Our Lord Jesus to heal the wounds of our souls.”
At the beginning of each rosary decade, you can entrust a special intention to Christ, and name one of His five wounds: on His left and right hand, left and right foot, and His side.
“As I kneel before You on the cross, Most Loving Saviour of my soul, my conscience reproaches me for having nailed You to that cross with these hands of mine, as often as I have fallen into mortal sin, wearying You with my monstrous ingratitude.
My God, my Chief and Most Perfect Good, worthy of all my love because You ever loaded me with blessings, I cannot now undo my misdeeds, as I would most willingly; but I will loathe them, grieving greatly for having offended You. At Your feet, I will try, at least, to compassionate You, to give You thanks, to ask of You pardon and contrition; wherefore, with heart and lips, I say”:
To the first Wound, of the left foot:
“O Lord Jesus Christ, I adore the Sacred Wound of Your Left Foot; I compassionate You for the most bitter pain which You suffered. I thank You for the love by which You wearied Yourself in overtaking me on the way to ruin, and bled amid the thorns and brambles of my sins.
I offer to the Eternal Father the pain and love of Your Most Holy Humanity, in atonement for my sins, all which I detest with sincere and bitter contrition.”
‘Our Father’… ‘Hail Mary’… ‘Glory Be’…
“Holy Mother, pierce me through; in my heart each Wound renew of my Saviour Crucified!”
To the second Wound, of the right foot:
“O Lord Jesus Christ, I adore the sacred wound of Your Right Foot; I compassionate You for the bitter pain which You suffered. I thank You for that love which pierced You with such torture and shedding of blood, in order to punish my wanderings and the guilty pleasures I have granted to my unbridled passions.
I offer the Eternal Father all the pains and love of Your Most Holy Humanity, and I pray unto You for the grace to weep over my transgressions with burning tears, and to enable me to persevere in the good which I have begun, without ever swerving again from my obedience to the commandments of my God.”
‘Our Father’… ‘Hail Mary’… ‘Glory Be’…
“Holy Mother, pierce me through; in my heart each Wound renew of my Saviour Crucified!”
To the third Wound, of the left hand:
“O Lord Jesus Christ, I adore the sacred wound of Your Left Hand; I compassionate You for the bitter pain which You suffered, I thank You for having, in Your love, spared me the scourges and eternal damnation which my sins had merited.
I offer to the Eternal Father the pain and love of Your Most Holy Humanity: and I pray You to teach me how to turn to good account of my span of life, and bring forth in it worthy fruits of penance, and so disarm the justice of God, which I have provoked.”
‘Our Father’… ‘Hail Mary’… ‘Glory Be’…
“Holy Mother, pierce me through; in my heart each Wound renew of my Saviour Crucified!”
To the fourth Wound, of the right hand:
“O Lord Jesus Christ, I adore the sacred wound of Your Right Hand; I compassionate You for the bitter pain which You suffered. I thank You for Your graces lavished on me with such love, in spite of all my most perverse obstinacy.
I offer to the Eternal Father all the pain and love of Your Most Holy Humanity; and I pray You to change my heart and its affections, and make me do all my actions in accordance with the Will of God.”
‘Our Father’… ‘Hail Mary’… ‘Glory Be’…
“Holy Mother, pierce me through; in my heart each Wound renew of my Saviour Crucified!”
To the fifth Wound, of the Sacred Side:
“O Lord Jesus Christ, I adore the sacred wound in Your Side; I compassionate You for the cruel insult You suffered. I thank You, my Jesus, for the love which suffered Your side and heart to be pierced, so that the last drops of blood and water might issue forth, making my redemption to abound.
I offer to the Eternal Father this outrage, and the love of Your Most Holy Humanity, that my soul may enter once for all into that most loving heart, eager and ready to receive the greatest sinners, and never more depart.”
‘Our Father’… ‘Hail Mary’… ‘Glory Be’…
“Holy Mother, pierce me through; in my heart each Wound renew of my Saviour Crucified!”
“O Loving Jesus, Meek Lamb of God, I a miserable sinner, salute and worship the most Sacred Wound of Your Shoulder on which You bore Your heavy Cross, which so tore Your flesh and laid bare Your Bones as to inflict on You an anguish greater than any other wound of Your Most Blessed Body.
I adore You, O Jesus most sorrowful; I praise and glorify You , and give You thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound, beseeching You by that exceeding pain, and by the crushing burden of Your 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 the Cross.
Amen.”
This prayer is attributed to either St. Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Gertrude or St. Mechtilde.
There exist many famous prayers to the Most Holy Wounds of Jesus Christ: the seven wounds of Christ Chaplet, the 15 prayers of St. Bridget, etc. In His apparitions to Sr. Marie Martha Chambon, St. Bernard or St. Bridget, Jesus revealed to be touched by the devotion to His Holy Wounds, and promised to be merciful to those who practice it.
Hozana can help you grow your faith every day and enrich your oratory content by offering you to join a wide variety of prayer programs.
Join a prayer community to meditate on the 20 mysteries of the Rosary; answer the call of Our Lady of Fatima to pray the Rosary every day; pray for the mercy of Jesus Christ with the Divine Mercy Novena, and more!