Prayer Before a Crucifix

Look down upon me, good and gently Jesus, while before Thy face I humbly kneel; and with burning soul pray and beseech Thee to fix deep in my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity, true contrition for my sins and a firm purpose of amendment.  While with great love and tender pity I contemplate Thy five wounds, pondering over them within me, calling to mind the words which David, Thy prophet, said of Thee, my Jesus: “They have pierced My hands and My feet; they have numbered all My bones.” 

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O Salutaris

O salutaris Hostia! 
Quae coeli pandis ostium, 
Bella premunt hostilia, 
Da roburm, fer auxilium. 

Uni trinoque Domino 
Sit sempiterna gloria, 
Qui vitam sine termino 
Nobis donet in patria.  Amen. 

Tantum Ergo

Tantum ergo Sacramentum 
Veneremur cernui, 
Et antiquum documentum 
Novo cedat ritui; 
Praestet fides supplementum 
Sensuum defectui. 

Genitori Genitoque 
Laus et jubilatio 
Salus, honor, virtus quoque 
Sit et benedictio, 
Procedenti ab utroque 
Compar sit laudatio.  Amen. 

V. Panem de coelo praestitisti eis, 
R. Omne delectamentum in se habentem. 

Divine Praises

Blessed be God. 
Blessed be His Holy Name. 
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man. 
Blessed be the Name of Jesus! 
Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart! 
Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar! 
Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy! 
Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception! 
Blessed be her glorious Assumption! 
Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother! 
Blessed be St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse! 
Blessed be God in His Angels and in His Saints! 

Indulgences

The Stations of the Cross constitute a major devotion in the Catholic World.  They surround the various Sacred places which were personally sanctified by the sufferings and death of our Divine Savior. 

 

Originally, this pious practice was limited to Jerusalem and its environs.  Gradually it became universal as several Popes granted plenary and partial indulgences to the faithful who devoutly meditate on the Way of the Cross. 

 

Indulgences are: 

 

1. A plenary indulgence every time the devotion is completed.

2. An additional plenary indulgence if one receives Holy Communion on the day.

3. Also an additional plenary indulgence if one performs the devotion ten times and receives Holy Communion within a month after so doing.

4. A partial indulgence of ten years for every Station made if one was not able to finish the Stations.

 

The conditions for gaining them are: 

 

1. Walking from Station to Station when making the Way of the Cross privately; when making it publicly, it suffices for the priest with the altar boys to do so.

2. Meditate at each Station on the sufferings of our Lord.

These two conditions are essential.  No oral prayers are prescribed; yet they are profitable.