How do you prepare your heart for the Holy Triduum?
Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday are some of the holiest and most solemn days of the year.
Pope Saint Leo the Great said, "True reverence for the Lord’s passion means fixing the eyes of our heart on Jesus crucified and recognizing in him our own humanity."
The Church offers many meditative prayers on Jesus' Passion and death. Some include the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, the Chaplet of the Precious Blood, and the Holy Wounds Chaplet.
Along with the prayers above, here are five additional prayers to help you meditate on Jesus’ Passion as we enter into the Holy Triduum.
Prayer to the Shoulder Wound of Jesus
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.
Hail Mary… (3 times)
Saint Padre Pio’s Prayer to Jesus
O my Jesus, give me Your strength
when my weak nature rebels
against the distress and suffering of this life of exile,
and enable me to accept everything with serenity and peace.
With my whole strength I cling to Your merits,
Your sufferings, Your expiation, and Your tears,
so that I may be able to cooperate with You in the work of salvation.
Give me strength to fly from sin, the only cause of Your agony,
Your sweat of blood, and Your death.
Destroy in me all that displeases You
and fill my heart with the fire of Your holy love
and all Your sufferings.
Clasp me tenderly, firmly, close to You
that I may never leave You alone
in Your cruel Passion.
I ask only for a place of rest in Your Heart.
Amen.
Saint Gertrude’s Prayer in Honor of Christ’s Passion
O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, grant that I may aspire towards Thee with my whole heart, with yearning desire, and with thirsting soul, seeking only Thy sweetness and Thy delights, so that my whole mind and all that is within me may ardently sigh to Thee, who art our true Beatitude.
O most merciful Lord, engrave Thy Wounds upon my heart with Thy most Precious Blood, that I may read in them both Thy grief and Thy love; and that the memory of Thy Wounds may ever remain in my inmost heart, to excite my compassion for Thy sufferings and to increase in me Thy love. Grant also that I may despise all creatures, and that my heart may delight in Thee alone.
Amen.
Psalm 22: 2-22
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why so far from my call for help,
from my cries of anguish?
My God, I call by day, but you do not answer;
by night, but I have no relief.
Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the glory of Israel.
In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted and you rescued them.
To you they cried out and they escaped;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
But I am a worm, not a man,
scorned by men, despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
they curl their lips and jeer;
they shake their heads at me:
“He relied on the LORD—let him deliver him;
if he loves him, let him rescue him.”
For you drew me forth from the womb,
made me safe at my mother’s breasts.
Upon you I was thrust from the womb;
since my mother bore me you are my God.
Do not stay far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is no one to help.
Many bulls* surround me;
fierce bulls of Bashan encircle me.
They open their mouths against me,
lions that rend and roar.
Like water my life drains away;
all my bones are disjointed.
My heart has become like wax,
it melts away within me.
As dry as a potsherd is my throat;
my tongue cleaves to my palate;
you lay me in the dust of death.
Dogs surround me;
a pack of evildoers closes in on me.
They have pierced my hands and my feet
I can count all my bones.
They stare at me and gloat;
they divide my garments among them;
for my clothing they cast lots
But you, LORD, do not stay far off;
my strength, come quickly to help me.
Deliver my soul from the sword,
my life from the grip of the dog.
Save me from the lion’s mouth,
my poor life from the horns of wild bulls.
Litany of the Passion
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of heaven,
have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, the eternal Wisdom,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, conversing with men,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, hated by the world,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, sold for thirty pieces of silver,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, prostrate in prayer,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, strengthened by an angel,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, agonizing in a bloody sweat,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, betrayed by Judas with a kiss,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, bound by the soldiers,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, forsaken by Your disciples,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, before Annas and Caiaphas,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, struck by a servant on the face,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, accused by false witnesses,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, declared worthy of death,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, spat upon in the face,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, blindfolded,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, smitten on the cheek,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, thrice denied by Peter,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, delivered up to Pilate,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, despised and mocked by Herod,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, clothed in a white garment,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, rejected for Barabbas,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, torn by scourges,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, bruised for our sins,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, regarded as a leper,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, covered with a purple robe,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, crowned with thorns,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, struck with a reed,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, demanded for crucifixion,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, condemned to death,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, given up to Your enemies,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, laden with the Cross,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, led as a lamb to the slaughter,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, stripped of Your garments,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, fastened with nails to the Cross,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, wounded for our iniquities,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, praying for Your murderers,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, reputed with the wicked,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, blasphemed on the Cross,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, reviled by the malefactor,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, giving Paradise to the thief,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, commending Saint John to Your Mother as her son,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, forsaken by Your Father,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, given gall and vinegar to drink,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, testifying that all things written concerning You were accomplished,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, commending Your Spirit into the hands of Your Father,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, obedient even unto death,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, pierced with a lance,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, made a propitiation for us,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, taken down from the Cross,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, laid in a sepulcher,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, rising gloriously from the dead,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, ascending into heaven,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, our Advocate with the Father,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, sending down the Holy Spirit,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, exalting Your Mother,
Have mercy on us.
Jesus, who shall come to judge the living and the dead,
Have mercy on us.
Be merciful,
spare us, O Lord.
Be merciful,
graciously hear us, O Lord.
From all evil,
deliver us, O Jesus.
From all sin,
deliver us, O Jesus.
From anger, hatred, and every evil will,
deliver us, O Jesus.
From war, famine, and pestilence,
deliver us, O Jesus.
From all dangers of mind and body,
deliver us, O Jesus.
From everlasting death,
deliver us, O Jesus.
Through Your most pure conception,
deliver us, O Jesus.
Through Your miraculous nativity,
deliver us, O Jesus.
Through Your humble circumcision,
deliver us, O Jesus.
Through Your baptism and fasting,
deliver us, O Jesus.
Through Your labors and watchings,
deliver us, O Jesus.
Through Your cruel scourging and crowning,
deliver us, O Jesus.
Through Your thirst, tears, and nakedness,
deliver us, O Jesus.
Through Your precious death and Cross,
deliver us, O Jesus.
Through Your glorious resurrection and ascension,
deliver us, O Jesus.
Through Your sending forth the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete,
deliver us, O Jesus.
On the day of judgment, we sinners,
we beseech You, hear us.
That You would spare us,
we beseech You, hear us.
That You would pardon us,
we beseech You, hear us.
That You would bring us to true penance,
we beseech You, hear us.
That You would pour into our hearts
the grace of the Holy Spirit,
we beseech You, hear us.
That You would defend and propagate Your Church,
we beseech You, hear us.
That You would preserve and increase all societies assembled in Your holy Name,
we beseech You, hear us.
That You would bestow upon us true peace, humility, and charity,
we beseech You, hear us.
That You would give us perseverance in grace and in Your holy service,
we beseech You, hear us.
That You would deliver us from unclean thoughts, the temptations of the devil, and everlasting damnation,
we beseech You, hear us.
That You would unite us to the company of Your Saints,
we beseech You, hear us.
That You would graciously hear us,
we beseech You, hear us.
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world;
spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world;
graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world;
have mercy on us.
Christ hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless You,
because by Your Holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.