Prayer Before a Picture of Our Sorrowful Mother

Prayer Before a Picture of Our Sorrowful Mother

O most loving Mother of my Lord Jesus Christ, thou who dost never reject nor despise anyone who turns to thee with a contrite heart nor refuse to console the afflicted, behold, poor and sinful, I draw near to thy holy image with deep devotion, and beseech thee to obtain for me the grace to honor and love thee with all my strength. 

O merciful Heart of Mary, let me obtain mercy from thee as so many sinners already have obtained it; for what is thy Heart, O Mary, but a Heart of mercy? How is it possible, then, that grace could be refused to anyone who implores it from this seat of mercy? 

Most tender and compassionate Mother, thou knowest how much an afflicted heart is in want of compassion, because the intensity of thy sufferings was so great that all mankind together would have been incapable of supporting it. 

Oh, what unutterable bitterness filled thy soul when thou didst contemplate the disfigured form of thy beloved Son, when thou didst receive His mangled and lifeless Body into thy virginal arms, and pressing It tenderly to thy maternal heart, didst embrace It countless times, didst bedew It with a stream of burning tears, and finally didst rest thy agonizing heart on the wounded brow of thy Jesus! 

I recall to thy mind this thy inexpressible anguish, and beseech thee to obtain for me the pardon of my sins. O Mary, intercede for me with Jesus, whom thou didst bear in thy arms! O Jesus! O Mary! by your unutterable suffering, have pity on me, a miserable sinner. O dearest Jesus, show to Thy Heavenly Father all the wounds and anguish which Thou didst bear for me! O sweetest Virgin, show Him all the tears which thou didst shed for me! O Son! O Mother! Show Him all the agony, all the anguish of heart which you endured for me. 

O Mary, I beseech thee, through this most painful mystery of thy dolors, obtain mercy for me from God the Father, and taking the mangled and dead Body of thy beloved Son into thy maternal arms, offer Him to the Eternal Father in the same manner as thou didst once offer Him His pierced Side and thy own broken Heart, His bitter sufferings and thy painful compassion, His and thy burning tears, His and thy sighs, in a word, everything which Jesus and thou suffered upon earth, that, through these same sufferings, thou mayest obtain mercy and pardon for me. Amen.

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