The Precious Blood
(Our Lord said to St. Mechtilde: "Behold, I make over to thee all the bitterness of My Passion, that thou mayest offer it to Me again as though it were thine own possession. And whoever shall do this, shall receive double at my hand, and whenever he renews this offering he shall surely receive the double; and this is that hundredfold which a man receives in this life, and in the world to come, life everlasting.")
O most gracious Jesus, Redeemer and Saviour of the whole human race, I recall to Thy mind with gratitude and love all the sorrow and anxiety which Thou, my Creator and my God, didst feel in Thine agony, when Thou didst pray yet longer, and didst bedew the earth with the sweat of Blood, wrung from Thee by Thine exceeding anguish, desire and love, beseeching Thee by all and each of those most sacred drops, all which I here offer
Thee with devout affection, that
Thou wouldst wash away all
the stains of my sins. I recall to Thy mind Thy being unjustly bound
with heavy chains, Thy innumerable stripes and blows, and all the
contumely and the blasphemy wherewith Thou wast assailed, when all
proclaimed Thee a deceiver of the people; when Thou wast falsely
accused before Pilate, ignominiously mocked by Herod, and set aside for
an impious robber; and when all the whole multitude clamorously
demanded that Thou shouldst be crucified. All this Thou didst endure
with such love and such patience that although Thou couldst by one look
have appalled Thine adversaries, and with one word convicted the false
witnesses against Thee, yet Thou didst submit to be led like a sheep to
the slaughter, and stand before Thy judge with Thy head bowed in
humility, Thine eyes fixed on the ground, not once opening Thy mouth to
speak one word of complaint at the lying accusations
brought against Thee. Wherefore I give Thee thanks on behalf of all
mankind, and offer Thee all the outrages and insults heaped on Thee, in
satisfaction for all the insults I have offered Thee by my sins. I give
Thee thanks also and I recall to Thy mind Thy most cruel and excessive
scourging, wherewith Thy whole body was so gashed and torn, that from
the sole of Thy foot to the top of Thy head there was no soundness in
Thee. I set forth now before Thee, likewise, that intolerable anguish
Thou didst feel when the crown of thorns was so harshly forced upon Thy
kingly head, when the sharp thorns pierced Thy head and Thy brow, and
were thrust into Thy brain, and Thy most gentle loving face, into which
the Angels desire to look, was covered with slow trickling drops of Thy
roseate Blood. O most pitiful Jesus, I now recall to Thy mind, the
unutterable anguish which thrilled through Thy whole Body, when Thou
wast fastened to the Cross with iron nails, when Thou wast lifted up on
high on Thy cross, and blasphemed by the Jews, mocked in Thy thirst
with vinegar and gall, and hung up between two robbers, as the refuse
and off-scouring of all creatures. Lastly, O most gracious Jesus, I
recall to Thy mind with gratitude and compassion all and each of the
sorrows Thou didst feel throughout Thy whole most sacred Body and
especially in Thy sweetest Heart, by reason of Thy foreknowledge that
Thy most bitter, most shameful, most guiltless Passion would be of no
avail to so many; and when Thy deified Heart itself broke with
excessive love and grief, and
Thy most holy soul quitted Thy blessed Body with an inconceivable pang!
For all these, Thy sorrows, I give Thee infinite thanks; and through
Thy sweetest Heart, in the power of the Holy Spirit, in behalf of, and
with the love of all creatures, I offer Thee all Thy grief, and pain,
and torment of Body and soul, throughout all the time of Thy Passion,
for all the sins I have committed, for all the good I have left undone
or done negligently, and to turn away all the punishment I have so
justly deserved. Do Thou now vouchsafe to ratify and accept this my
oblation and to absolve me from all my sins. Amen. Eternal Father, I offer Thee the adorable wounded Face of Jesus, through the intercession of Little Theresa, to obtain my request.
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