A PRAYER IN COMMEMORATION OF THE SEVEN WORDS SPOKEN BY JESUS ON THE CROSS

God, come unto my assistance.
R. O Lord, make haste to help me.

V. Glory be, etc.
R. As it was, etc.

The First Word

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Dear Jesus, who for love of me dost suffer upon the Cross
in order to pay with Thy sufferings
the debt of my sins
and dost open Thy Divine lips to obtain for me
their remission from the eternal justice of God,
have pity on all the faithful
who are in their last agony and upon me;
and when I shall come to that final hour,
by the merits of Thy Most Precious Blood
which was shed for our salvation,
give me such a lively sorrow for my sins
as shall cause my soul to expire
in the bosom of Thine infinite mercy.

Say 3 times Glory Be To The Father…

Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.

My God, I believe in Thee,
I hope in Thee,
I love Thee
and I repent of having offended Thee by my sins.

The Second Word

This day shalt thou be with Me in paradise.

Dear Jesus, who for love of me dost hang in agony upon the Cross,
and with such readiness and bounty
dost respond to the faith of the good thief
who in the midst of Thy humiliation acknowledges Thee to be the Son of God,
and dost assure him of paradise,
have pity on all the faithful who are in their agony and upon me;
and when I shall come to my latter end,
by the merits of Thy Most Precious Blood,
inspire in my soul a faith so firm and constant
that it shall not waver at any suggestions of the evil spirit;
so may I obtain the reward of Thy holy paradise.

Say 3 times Glory Be To The Father…

Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.

My God, I believe in Thee,
I hope in Thee,
I love Thee
and I repent of having offended Thee by my sins.

The Third Word

Behold thy mother; behold thy son.

Dear Jesus, who for love of me dost hang in agony upon the Cross,
and who, forgetting Thine own sufferings,
dost bequeath to me Thy most holy Mother
as a pledge of Thy love,
in order that, through her,
I may be enabled to have recourse to Thee
with all confidence in my greatest necessities,
have pity on all the faithful
who are in their agony and upon me;
and when I shall come to my latter end,
by the interior martyrdom of Thy dear Mother,
inspire in my heart a firm trust
in the infinite merits of Thy Most Precious Blood,
whereby I may be able to escape the eternal damnation
which I have merited by my sins.

Say 3 times Glory Be To The Father…

Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.

My God, I believe in Thee,
I hope in Thee,
I love Thee
and I repent of having offended Thee by my sins.

The Fourth Word

My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?

Dear Jesus, who for love of me
dost hang in agony upon the Cross, and who,
adding suffering to suffering,
besides Thy bodily pains,
dost endure with infinite patience
the most painful affliction of spirit
at being abandoned by Thine eternal Father,
have pity on all the faithful
who are in their agony and upon me;
and when I shall come to the hour of death,
by the merits of Thy Most Precious Blood,
give me the grace of suffering with true patience
all the pains and agony of my death-struggle,
so that by uniting my sufferings to Thine,
I may be able at the last to share Thy glory in paradise.

Say 3 times Glory Be To The Father…

Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.

My God, I believe in Thee,
I hope in Thee,
I love Thee
and I repent of having offended Thee by my sins.

The Fifth Word

I thirst.

Dear Jesus, who for love of me dost hang in agony upon the Cross,
and who, not yet satisfied with so many reproaches and sufferings,
wouldst suffer even more,
if thereby all men might be saved,
showing thus that the whole torrent of Thy Passion
is not enough to slake the thirst of Thy loving Heart,
have pity on all the faithful
who are in their agony and upon me;
and when I shall come to my final hour,
by the merits of Thy Most Precious Blood,
enkindle so great a fire of love within my heart
as shall cause it to die for very desire
of being united to Thee through all eternity.

Say 3 times Glory Be To The Father…

Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.

My God, I believe in Thee,
I hope in Thee,
I love Thee
and I repent of having offended Thee by my sins.

The Sixth Word

All is finished.

Dear Jesus, who for love of me dost hang in agony upon the Cross,
and from that pulpit of truth dost proclaim
that Thou hast finished the work of our redemption,
whereby man, from being a child of wrath and perdition,
has been made a son of God and an heir of heaven,
have pity on all the faithful who are in their agony and upon me;
and when I shall come to my last hour,
by the merits of Thy Most Precious Blood,
detach me wholly from the world and from myself,
giving me the grace to offer Thee from my heart
the sacrifice of my life in expiation of my sins.

Say 3 times Glory Be To The Father…

Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.

My God, I believe in Thee,
I hope in Thee,
I love Thee
and I repent of having offended Thee by my sins.

The Seventh Word

Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.

Dear Jesus, who for the love of me
dost hang in agony upon the Cross,
and who to complete this great sacrifice
dost embrace the will of Thine eternal Father,
resigning Thy spirit into His hands,
and then dost bow Thy head and die,
have pity on all the faithful who are in their agony and upon me;
and when I shall come to my latter end,
by the merits of Thy Most Precious Blood
give me a perfect conformity to Thy Divine will,
so that I may be ready to live or die,
as it shall please Thee;
nor do I desire anything else
except the perfect fulfilment in me of Thine adorable will.

Say 3 times Glory Be To The Father…

Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us.

My God, I believe in Thee,
I hope in Thee,
I love Thee
and I repent of having offended Thee by my sins.

Prayer to the Sorrowful Mother

Most holy Mother of sorrows,
by that soul-piercing martyrdom thou didst undergo
at the foot of the Cross during the three hours’ agony of Jesus,
deign to assist me also,
who am the child of thy sorrows,
in my agony, so that by thine intercession
I may be found worthy to pass from my deathbed
to thy blessed society in paradise.

V. From a sudden and unprovided death,
R. Deliver me, O Lord.
V. From the snares of the devil,
R. Deliver me, O Lord.
V. From everlasting death,
R. Deliver me, O Lord.

Let us pray.

O God, who for the salvation of mankind
hast made for us in the most bitter death of Thy Son
both an example and a refuge;
grant, we beseech Thee,
that we may be found worthy
to obtain the fruit of His great love
in our final peril at the hour of death,
and to be made partakers of our Redeemer’s glory.
Through the same Christ our Lord.

Amen.