ACT OF CONTRITION:
As I kneel before Thee on the Cross, most loving Savior of my soul, my conscience
reproaches me with having nailed Thee to that Cross
with these hands of mine, as often as I have fallen into mortal sin, wearying Thee with my
base ingratitude. My God, my chief and perfect
good, worthy of all my love, because Thou hast filled me with blessings; I cannot now
undo my misdeeds, as I would most willingly; but I loathe them, grieving sincerely for
having offended Thee, Who art infinite goodness. And now, kneeling at Thy feet, I try, at
least, to compassionate Thee, to give Thee thanks, to ask Thee pardon and contrition;
wherefore with my heart and lips, I say:
TO THE WOUND OF THE LEFT FOOT:
Holy Wound of the left foot of my Jesus, I adore Thee; I compassionate Thee, O Jesus,
for the most bitter pain which Thou didst suffer. I
thank Thee for the love whereby Thou labored to overtake me on the way to ruin, and
didst bleed amid the thorns and brambles of my
sins. I offer to the Eternal Father the pain and love of Thy most holy humanity, in
atonement for my sins, all of which I detest with sincere
and bitter contrition.
Recite one each: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be
Recite the following invocation:
....................Holy Mother, pierce me through,
....................In my heart each wound renew
....................Of my Savior crucified.
TO THE WOUND OF THE RIGHT FOOT:
Holy Wound of the right foot of my Jesus, I adore Thee; I compassionate Thee, O Jesus,
for the most bitter pain which Thou didst suffer. I thank Thee for that love which pierced
Thee 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
pain and love of Thy most holy humanity, and I pray Thee for grace to weep over my sins
with hot tears, and to enable me to persevere in the good which I have begun, without
ever swerving again from my obedience to the divine commands.
Recite the prayers and the invocation.
TO THE WOUND OF THE LEFT HAND:
Holy Wound of the left hand of my Jesus, I adore Thee; I compassionate Thee, O Jesus,
for the most bitter pain which Thou didst suffer. I
thank Thee for having in Thy love spared me the scourges and eternal damnation which
my sins have merited. I offer to the Eternal Father
the pain and love of They most holy humanity: and I pray Thee to teach me how to turn to
good account my span of life, and bring forth in
it worthy fruits of penance, and to disarm the justice of God, which I have provoked.
Recite the prayers and the invocation.
TO THE WOUND OF THE RIGHT HAND:
Holy Wound of the right hand of my Jesus, I adore Thee; I compassionate Thee, O Jesus,
for the most bitter pain which Thou didst suffer. I thank Thee for Thy 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 Thy most holy humanity; and I pray Thee to change my heart and
its affections, and make me do all my actions in
accordance with the will of God
Recite the prayers and the invocation.
TO THE WOUND OF THE SACRED SIDE:
Holy Wound in the side of my Jesus, I adore Thee; I compassionate Thee, O Jesus, for the
cruel insult Thou didst suffer. I thank Thee, my Jesus, for the love which suffered Thy side
and Heart to be pierced, so that the last drops of blood and water might issue forth,
making my redemption to overflow. I offer to the Eternal Father this outrage, and the love
of Thy 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.
Recite the prayers and the invocation.
TO THE MOST HOLY VIRGIN, MOTHER OF SORROWS:
Mary, Virgin Mother of God, martyr of love and sorrow, because Thou didst witness the
pains and torments of Jesus: truly didst Thou
concur in the great work of my redemption, first, by Thy innumerable afflictions, and then
by the offering Thou didst make to the Eternal
Father of His and Thy Only Begotten, for a holocaust and victim to appease His wrath for
my sins. I compassionate Thee for the bitter
pain which Thou didst suffer. I thank Thee for that love, well nigh infinite, through which
Thou didst bereave Thyself of the fruit of Thy
womb, very God and very Man, to save me, a sinner; let Thy intercession which is never in
vain, be ever with the Father and the Son for me, that I may steadily amend my evil ways,
and never, by further faults, crucify anew my loving Savior; that so, persevering in His
grace until death, I may obtain eternal life: through the merits of His sad passion and death
upon the cross.
Recite three Hail Mary's
Let us pray:
O Lord Jesus Christ, Who, at the sixth hour of the day, didst, for the redemption of the
world, mount the gibbet of the Cross, and shed Thy
Precious Blood for the remission of sins; we humbly beseech Thee to grant us, after our
death, a joyful entrance into the gates of Paradise.
Grant, we beseech Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, that now, and at the hour of our death,
blessed Mary, ever Virgin, Thy Mother, may intercede
for us, through who's most holy soul a sword passed in the hour of Thy Passion; through
Thee, Jesus Christ, Savior of the world, Who,
with the Father and the Holy Ghost, lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.
PLENARY INDULGENCE under the usual conditions, is granted on Easter Sunday if recited daily from Passion Sunday through Holy Saturday. And also on the Feast of the Invention of the Holy Cross (May 3) and the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Sep 14), if the prayers are recited at least ten times monthly.
