Prayer
of ContritionPrayer
of Contrition
(To be recited before an image of the Holy Face)
O merciful and loving Jesus, while meditating on Your sufferings, on the way of Your Cross and crucifixion, I wish to make reparation for my sins.
..O blessed Redeemer, You are the healer of my sinful soul. For the many blows and desecrations dealt to Your Holy Face, O Lord, I feel compassion and deep sorrow. For the crown of thorns so cruelly placed on Your Sacred Head, I kneel in adoration.
..My sinful soul had been doomed to eternal damnation were it not for Your Supreme Sacrifice. Why then , O my Lord, do I go on in sin and conduct myself as though Your Agony were in vain? O sinful soul. Look! Look upon that noble head battered and bruised so that you may live! Have you no compassion?
(Here pause and look upon the Sacred Image, contrite of heart and noting the effects of sin.)
..I adore You and love You, O my God. Never again will I offend You, for in beholding Your Holy Face bathed in Your precious blood, it seems as though, in sinning, I too was in that crowd blaspheming, yelling, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"
..O wretched path of sin, O twisted mind, "whither goest thou?" When, O blessed Lord, will I consecrate my every action, my every deed to Your glorification? When will I take You from Your Cross and gently soothe Your wounds?
..Give me the grace, O Savior of my soul, to venerate, adore and sing Your praise till the day You call me to glorify You forever in Heaven. Amen.