Thirty Days Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Honour of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Ever glorious and Blessed Mary,

Queen of Virgins, Mother of mercy,

hope and comfort of dejected and desolate souls,

through that sword of sorrow

which pierced thy Heart whilst thine only Son,

Jesus Christ, our Lord,

suffered death and ignominy on the Cross;

through that filial tenderness

and pure love through that filial tenderness

and pure love He had for thee, grieving in thy grief,

while from His Cross He recommended thee

to the care and protection of His beloved Disciple,

St. John, take pity, I beseech thee,

on my poverty and necessities;

have compassion on my anxieties and cares;

assist and comfort me in all my infirmities and miseries.

Thou art the Mother of mercy,

the sweet consolatrix and refuge

of the needy and the orphan,

of the desolate and the afflicted.

Look, therefore, with pity on a miserable,

forlorn child of Eve,

and hear my prayer;

for since, in just punishment of my sins,

I am encompassed with evils

and oppressed with anguish of spirit,

whither can I flee for more secure shelter,

O amiable Mother of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

than to thy maternal protection?

Attend, therefore, I beseech thee,

with pity and compassion to my humble and earnest request.

I ask it through the infinite mercy of thy dear Son,

- through that love and condescension wherewith

He embraced our nature, when,

in compliance with the divine Will,

thou gavest thy consent, and Whom,

after the expiration of nine months,

thou didst bring forth

from the chaste enclosure of thy womb,

to visit this world

and bless it with his presence.

I ask it through the sores of His virginal Flesh,

caused by the cords and whips

wherewith He was bound and scourged

when stripped of His seamless garment,

for which His executioners afterwards cast lots.

I ask it through the scoffs and ignominies

by which He was insulted,

the false accusations and unjust sentence

by which He was condemned to death,

and which He bore with heavenly patience.

I ask it through His bitter tears and bloody sweat;

His silence and resignation;

His sadness and grief of heart.

I ask it through the Blood

which trickled from His royal and sacred Head,

when struck with His sceptre of a reed,

and pierced with the crown of thorns.

I ask it through the excruciating torments He suffered,

when His hands and feet were fastened

with huge nails to the tree of the cross.

I ask it through His vehement thirst,

and bitter potion of vinegar and gall.

I ask it through His dereliction on the cross,

when He exclaimed:

"My God! my God! why hast Thou forsaken me?"

I ask it through His mercy extended to the good thief,

and through His recommending His precious Soul and Spirit

into the hands of His Eternal Father before He expired.

I ask it through the Blood mixed with water,

which issued from His sacred Side,

when pierced with a lance,

and whence a flood of grace and mercy has flowed to us.

I ask it through His immaculate life,

bitter Passion,

and ignominious death on the cross,

at which nature itself was thrown into convulsions,

by the bursting of rocks,

rending of the veil of the temple,

the earthquake,

and the darkness of the sun and the moon.

I ask it through His descent into hell,

where He comforted the Saints of the Old Law with His presence,

and led captivity captive.

I ask it through His glorious victory over death,

when He arose again to life on the third day,

and through the joy

which His appearance for forty days after gave thee,

His blessed Mother,

His Apostles,

and His Disciples,

when, in thine and their presence,

He miraculously ascended into heaven.

I ask it through the grace of the Holy Ghost,

infused into the hearts of the Disciples,

when He descended upon them in the form of fiery tongues,

and which they were inspired with zeal

for the conversion of the world

when they went forth to preach the Gospel.

I ask it through the awful appearance of thy Son,

at the last dreadful day,

when He shall come to judge the living and the dead,

and the world by fire.

I ask it through the compassion He bore thee in this life,

and the ineffable joy thou didst feel

at Thine Assumption into heaven,

where thou art eternally absorbed

in the sweet contemplation of His divine perfections.

O glorious and ever-blessed Virgin,

comfort the heart of thy suppliant,

by obtaining for me the graces and the favours

which I now most earnestly solicit.

(Here mention your requests)

And as I am persuaded my Divine Saviour honour Thee

as His beloved Mother, to whom He can refuse nothing,

so let me speedily experience

the efficacy of thy powerful intercession,

according to the tenderness of thy maternal affection,

and His filial,

loving Heart,

who mercifully grants the requests and complies

with the desires of those that love and fear Him.

Wherefore, O Most Blessed Virgin,

beside the object of my present petition,

and whatever else I may stand in need of,

obtain for me also of thy dear Son,

our Lord and our God,

a lively faith,

firm hope,

perfect charity,

the contrition of heart,

unfeigned tears of compunction,

sincere confession,

just satisfaction,

abstinence from sin,

love of God and of my neighbour,

contempt of the world,

patience to suffer affronts and ignominies,

nay, even, if necessary,

an opprobrious death itself,

for the love of thy Son,

our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Obtain likewise for me,

O Holy Mother of God,

perseverance in good works,

performance of good resolutions,

mortification of self-will,

a pious conversation through life,

and at my last moment,

strong and sincere repentance

accompanied by such a lively

and attentive presence of mind,

as may enable me to receive

the last Sacraments of the Church worthily,

and to die in thy friendship and favour.

Lastly, obtain, I beseech Thee,

for the souls of my parents,

brethren, relatives,

and benefactors both living and dead,

life everlasting.

Amen.