A listing of prayers and devotions to the many saints of the Catholic Church for their powerful prayers and intercession. As Catholics, we believe in the intercession of the saints, who readily pray and assist us from Heaven.
There are saints whose lives are dramatic and public — martyrs, missionaries, and reformers who shaped the visible face of the Church. And then there are saints like Charbel Makhlouf, whose greatness lay almost entirely in hiddenness. No armies converted, no institutions founded, no famous writings left behind. Only a man, a monastery, a hermitage, and God — and from that quiet, a light that has never stopped shining.
No Audience But God
St. Charbel spent twenty-three years in a hermitage in the Lebanese mountains, speaking to almost no one. His days were stripped to their essentials — rising before dawn, celebrating Mass, praying the Divine Office, fasting, and working with his hands in a small garden.
His cell held no comforts; he slept on the floor with a block of wood for a pillow and ate just one simple meal a day. No platform, no audience, no influence by any measure the modern world recognizes.
He died on Christmas Eve, 1898, and was buried quietly in the monastery cemetery at Annaya.
Then the miracles started. A brilliant light surrounded his tomb for forty-five nights, drawing the monks to open the tomb — and what they found inside defied explanation. His body was perfectly incorrupt, flexible and warm to the touch, continuously giving off a fluid described as a mixture of blood and water. By every natural law, a body buried in a stone tomb should have been gone within months. St. Charbel’s body remained that way for sixty-seven years.
Pieces of cloth soaked in the fluid were distributed as relics, and healing after healing was reported. The monastery eventually began keeping formal records; more than 33,000 miracles have since been validated.
By 1965, at the time of his beatification, the body had finally succumbed to the laws of nature — leaving only bones of an inexplicable reddish color.
The Church canonized St. Charbel in 1977, and since then the world he sought to escape from has never stopped talking about him.
A Saint Who Belongs to Everyone
St. Charbel was a Maronite — rooted in one of the oldest Catholic traditions in the world, a strand of the faith that traces itself back to the earliest centuries of Christianity in the Middle East.
Today, in Lebanon — a country defined by its religious fault lines — Muslims and Druze have come to his shrine at Annaya seeking healing, making the first Lebanese saint of modern times an unlikely figure of unity in one of the most divided places on earth.
Yet his story does not stay within the borders of Lebanon. He is venerated across Latin America, the Philippines, Australia, and Europe. He belongs not just to Lebanon, but to the whole Church.
Bring Him Your Intentions
We invite you to join us in praying a Prayer to St. Charbel for any special or urgent need that you may have, by clicking on the link below or by going to our website or YouTube channel. Whatever you are carrying today — illness, grief, a broken relationship, a prayer that seems to go unanswered — St. Charbel spent nearly half a century bringing just such needs before God in silence, and the miracles that followed his death suggest that God was listening. He is a powerful intercessor, and he is yours to call upon. Bring him your intentions. He knows the way to God.
This powerful Prayer to St. Charbel for urgent needs invites us to seek the intercession of one of the Catholic Church’s most beloved saints — a humble monk and hermit whose life of poverty, silence, and deep union with God made him a radiant witness to the power of faith. Whether you are facing illness, suffering, uncertainty, or any urgent need, St. Charbel stands ready to bring your intentions before the throne of God. Celebrated on July 24, this great saint of Lebanon continues to pour out miracles and graces upon all who call upon him with trust and humility.
St. Charbel, friend of God and friend of sinners, you spent your life in poverty, hiddenness, and continuous prayer, seeking only the glory of God and the salvation of souls. You walked the path of the cross with wholehearted love and humility.
I turn to you now, confident in your powerful intercession before the throne of God. You who worked so many miracles on earth and never cease to intercede for those who call upon you, look with mercy upon my needs:
[Mention your petitions now]
You who drew your strength from the Lord in the silence of the hermitage, obtain for me the grace to love Jesus in the Holy Eucharist as you did, to accept God’s will with peace, and to live a life rooted in faith, hope, and charity. Amen.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for St. Charbel, whose intercession continues to draw souls closer to You. May his example kindle in my heart a deeper love for You, a greater trust in Your providence, and a firm resolve to seek You above all things. I ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
St. Charbel, patron of the sick and suffering, pray for us. St. Charbel, model of prayer and penance, pray for us. St. Charbel, lover of the Holy Eucharist, pray for us. St. Charbel, humble servant of God, pray for us. St. Charbel, instrument of God’s healing power, pray for us.
The Novena to St. Joan of Arc, traditionally prayed from May 21st to May 29th, the eve of her feast day, honors one of the Church’s most courageous saints. Known as the Maid of Orléans, St. Joan answered God’s call with unwavering faith, even at the cost of her life. Through her intercession, we pray for the strength to face our own battles — whether doubt, fear, or spiritual warfare — and the grace to follow God’s will without hesitation. 🙏🕊️
St. Joan of Arc was a young French peasant girl who heard the voice of God at the age of thirteen and followed it without hesitation — even to the point of death. Captured, tried, and condemned by a politically driven tribunal, she refused to deny the divine mission God had entrusted to her. She was burned at the stake in 1431 at the age of nineteen. Twenty-five years later her conviction was completely overturned and declared unjust. She was canonized by Pope Benedict XV in 1920 and her feast day is celebrated on May 30.
O Lord God, I commit all things to Your care, and I commend my soul to You, for I love You.
I thank You for the witness of St. Joan of Arc, who heard Your voice and followed it without hesitation. She stood firm in faith when the world pressed against her, and she surrendered her life rather than deny the divine mission entrusted to her.
I come before You in my own battles — not of sword and armour, but of doubt, weakness, fear, and temptation. Through the intercession of St. Joan of Arc, grant me the courage to do Your will, the strength to persevere when following You demands suffering and perhaps even sacrifice.
May her steadfastness encourage me, and may her prayers before Your throne obtain for me the grace to follow You in all things, as she was faithful unto the end.
The Prayer to St. Joan of Arc asks for the intercession of one of the Catholic Church’s most beloved and courageous saints. Joan of Arc was a young French peasant girl who heard the voice of God at the age of thirteen and followed it without hesitation — even to the point of death. Captured, tried, and condemned by a politically driven tribunal, she refused to deny the divine mission God had entrusted to her. She was burned at the stake in 1431 at the age of nineteen. Twenty-five years later her conviction was completely overturned and declared unjust. She was canonized by Pope Benedict XV in 1920 and her feast day is celebrated on May 30.
O Lord God, I commit all things to Your care, and I commend my soul to You, for I love You.
I thank You for the witness of St. Joan of Arc, who heard Your voice and followed it without hesitation. She stood firm in faith when the world pressed against her, and she surrendered her life rather than deny the divine mission entrusted to her.
I come before You in my own battles — not of sword and armour, but of doubt, weakness, fear, and temptation. Through the intercession of St. Joan of Arc, grant me the courage to do Your will, the strength to persevere when following You demands suffering and perhaps even sacrifice.
May her steadfastness encourage me, and may her prayers before Your throne obtain for me the grace to follow You in all things, as she was faithful unto the end.
From the cross, Jesus looked at the beloved disciple and said: “Behold your mother.” St. Louis de Montfort believed those words were meant for every one of us — and that accepting Mary as our mother is one of the surest paths to Christ.
Among the great Marian saints of the Church’s history, few have spoken with the passion, the theological depth, and the pastoral urgency of St. Louis de Montfort.
Born in Brittany, France, in 1673, this tireless missionary priest devoted his entire life — and his most important writings — to a single, burning conviction: that every Catholic soul ought to consecrate itself to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
This was not, for St. Louis de Montfort, a pious suggestion or a pleasant optional extra. He believed it with the certainty of a man who had prayed it through, argued it from Scripture and theology, and watched it transform the lives of ordinary men and women across the French countryside.
His masterwork, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, written around 1712 and miraculously rediscovered after being hidden for over a century, remains one of the most powerful calls to Marian consecration ever put to paper.
But what did St. Louis de Montfort actually mean by consecrating oneself to Mary? And why does it matter so deeply?
Mary Is Not Optional
St. Louis de Montfort began with a truth so simple it is easy to overlook: God chose Mary. Not angels. Not prophets. Not any other arrangement He might have devised. When the eternal Word of God became flesh, He did so through a woman — through her body, her yes, her faith, her love. The Incarnation passed through Mary.
From this fact, St. Louis de Montfort drew a conclusion that shaped everything else he taught. If God, in His infinite wisdom and freedom, chose to give His Son to the world through Mary, then Mary is not incidental to our salvation — she is woven into it. To receive Jesus fully is, in some sense, to receive Him as she received Him: with an open, surrendered, trusting heart.
“It is through the Most Holy Virgin Mary that Jesus Christ came into the world, and it is also through her that He must reign in the world.” — True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary
This is the foundation of St. Louis de Montfort’s Marian spirituality. The path God laid down at the Annunciation — Son given through Mother — is not a one-time historical event. It is the shape of how God continues to work in souls. Mary remains, in the economy of grace, what she was at Bethlehem: the one through whom Christ comes.
She Is Already Your Mother
One of the most moving threads in St. Louis de Montfort’s teaching is his insistence that consecrating oneself to Mary is not the creation of a new relationship — it is the wholehearted acceptance of one that already exists.
From the cross, with His dying breath, Jesus looked at the beloved disciple and said: Behold your mother.
The Church has always understood that in that moment, Christ gave His mother not just to John, but to every soul that would ever follow Him. Mary became, at Calvary, the mother of the entire Body of Christ. She did not become our mother because we chose her. She became our mother because He gave her to us.
St. Louis de Montfort wanted every Catholic to feel the weight and the warmth of that truth. You already have a mother in heaven. She already intercedes for you. She already loves you with the love of the woman who stood at the foot of the cross and did not turn away. Consecrating yourself to her is simply saying, with your whole heart: Yes. I accept this gift. I am yours, Mother, and I trust you to bring me to your Son.
What We Gain When We Give Ourselves to Her
St. Louis de Montfort was not merely a poet of Marian devotion. He was a practical pastor, and he spoke plainly about what it means — concretely, spiritually — to place oneself in Mary’s hands.
She purifies what we bring
St. Louis de Montfort was deeply honest about the condition of the human soul. Our prayers wander. Our good works are often tangled up with pride or self-interest. Our repentance is incomplete. When we bring these imperfect offerings to God on our own, we bring them as they are. But when we bring them to Mary first — when we ask her, as a child asks a mother, to take what we have and make it worthy — something changes. She purifies our intentions. She supplements our weakness. She presents to Jesus what we could not present adequately on our own.
She forms Christ in us
This was perhaps St. Louis de Montfort’s most beautiful insight: just as Mary formed Christ in her womb, she forms Christ in the souls of those who are consecrated to her. Holiness, in his vision, is not a set of achievements but a gestation. The soul surrendered to Mary is a soul in which Jesus is being slowly, tenderly, patiently formed — shaped by the same hands that held Him in Nazareth.
She brings us safely to Jesus
St. Louis de Montfort never lost sight of the goal. Mary is not the destination — she is the surest road. Every grace she receives, she passes on. Every soul entrusted to her, she carries toward her Son. Those who consecrate themselves to her do not find themselves farther from Jesus. They find themselves closer, drawn by a mother’s love along the most direct path to the Heart of God.
A Life That Proved the Teaching
What makes St. Louis de Montfort’s urgency so compelling is that he did not merely write about consecrating oneself to Mary — he lived it. Every missionary journey undertaken in poverty, every sermon preached to indifferent or hostile crowds, every hardship endured without complaint: he placed it all in Mary’s hands and trusted her to make it fruitful. He died at 43, worn out, largely unknown. His greatest manuscript was lost within years of his death.
And yet Mary kept it. Hidden in a chest for over a hundred years, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary was rediscovered in 1842 and went on to shape the spiritual lives of millions — including St. Pope John Paul II, who took the words Totus Tuus (“Totally Yours”) from St. Louis de Montfort’s consecration prayer as his own papal motto. The man who had given everything to Mary found, in the end, that she had given everything back — pressed down, shaken together, and running over.
“Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.” — St. Maximilian Kolbe
For Every Soul, In Every State of Life
St. Louis de Montfort was careful to make clear that this call to consecrate oneself to Mary is not reserved for the spiritually advanced, the religiously vowed, or the extraordinarily devout. He wrote for the farmer and the mother, the sinner and the struggling soul, the person who felt too ordinary or too broken to offer God very much at all.
That, he would say, is precisely the point. You do not need to be worthy before you give yourself to Mary. You give yourself to her because you are not worthy — because you need a mother’s help to become what God is calling you to be. She does not wait for perfect children. She works with what she receives, because that is what mothers do.
If you have never consecrated yourself to the Blessed Virgin Mary, we invite you to accept St. Louis de Montfort’s personal invitation by clicking on the Consecration link below. In making this consecration with a sincere heart, you are saying to Mary: Mother, I am yours. Bring me to your Son.
That is what St. Louis de Montfort spent his life proclaiming. Mary, our mother, whose arms are always open, always waiting, always leading — straight to Jesus.
The Litany of St. Anthony of Padua is a beautiful and powerful traditional Catholic prayer honoring one of the most beloved saints in the history of the Church. Known as the “Wonder Worker” and the patron saint of lost things, St. Anthony of Padua has inspired the devotion of millions of the faithful for nearly eight centuries. His intercession has brought comfort to the sorrowful, hope to the desperate, and miracles to those who called upon him with faith. Whether you are seeking comfort, guidance, or the recovery of something lost — materially or spiritually — St. Anthony stands ready to intercede for you.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven,have mercy on us. God the Son, Redeemer of the world,have mercy on us. God the Holy Ghost,have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, one God,have mercy on us.
Holy Mary,pray for us. St. Anthony of Padua,pray for us.
St. Anthony, glory of the Friars Minor,pray for us. St. Anthony, lily of virginity,pray for us. St. Anthony, gem of poverty, pray for us. St. Anthony, example of obedience, pray for us. St. Anthony, mirror of abstinence, pray for us. St. Anthony, vessel of purity, pray for us. St. Anthony, star of sanctity, pray for us. St. Anthony, model of conduct, pray for us. St. Anthony, beauty of paradise,pray for us. St. Anthony, ark of the Testament,pray for us. St. Anthony, keeper of the Scriptures,pray for us. St. Anthony, teacher of truth,pray for us. St. Anthony, preacher of grace,pray for us. St. Anthony, exterminator of vices,pray for us. St. Anthony, planter of virtues, pray for us. St. Anthony, hammer of heretics,pray for us. St. Anthony, terror of infidels,pray for us. St. Anthony, consoler of the afflicted, pray for us. St. Anthony, searcher of consciences, pray for us. St. Anthony, martyr in desire, pray for us. St. Anthony, terror of devils,pray for us. St. Anthony, horror of hell,pray for us. St. Anthony, performer of miracles,pray for us. St. Anthony, finder of lost things,pray for us. St. Anthony, helper of all who invoke thee,pray for us.
Be merciful,spare us, O Lord. Be merciful,graciously hear us, O Lord.
From all evil, deliver us, O Lord. From all sin,deliver us, O Lord. From the snares of the devil,deliver us, O Lord. From pestilence, famine, and war, deliver us, O Lord. From eternal death, deliver us, O Lord.
Through the merits of St. Anthony,deliver us, O Lord. Through his ardent charity,deliver us, O Lord. Through his prophetic spirit,deliver us, O Lord. Through his zealous preaching, deliver us, O Lord. Through his desire of martyrdom, deliver us, O Lord. Through his strict observance of obedience, poverty, and chastity,deliver us, O Lord. On the day of judgment, deliver us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,spare us, O Lord. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,graciously hear us, O Lord. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
V. Pray for us, O blessed Anthony, R. that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
The “Canticle of the Sun” is one of the most beloved prayers in the history of the Catholic Church, composed by St. Francis of Assisi in 1225. In this beautiful spoken prayer, we praise God through all of creation — Brother Sun, Sister Moon and the Stars, Brother Wind, Sister Water, Brother Fire, and Sister Mother Earth. Often called the Canticle of Creation, this timeless hymn of praise reminds us that all of creation reflects the glory of our Most High, all-powerful, and good Lord.
Most High, all-powerful, good Lord, Yours are the praises, the glory, the honor, and all blessings.
To You alone, Most High, do they belong, and no man is worthy to mention Your name.
Praised be You, my Lord, with all your creatures; especially Brother Sun, who is the day, and through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendor, and bears a likeness to You, Most High One.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars; in heaven You formed them clear and precious and beautiful.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Wind, and through the air, cloudy and serene, and every kind of weather through which You give sustenance to Your creatures.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Water, which is very useful and humble and precious and chaste.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom You light the night; and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.
Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Mother Earth, who sustains us and governs us and who produces varied fruits with colored flowers and herbs.
Praised be You, my Lord, through those who give pardon for Your love, and bear infirmity and tribulation.
Blessed are those who endure in peace for by You, Most High, they shall be crowned.
Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death, from whom no living man can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin. Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will, for the second death shall do them no harm.
Praise and bless my Lord, and give Him thanks, and serve Him with great humility. Amen.
Christ suffered 5,480 wounds — here is our call to honor every single one.
listen as you read
5,480 – That is the number of wounds Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered during His Passion — at least according to a revelation given to one of the most remarkable women in Catholic history.
When St. Bridget of Sweden received that answer after years of fervent prayer, God did not stop there. He gave her something to do with it: two extraordinary devotions that have set souls on fire for over six centuries.
One devotion spans a single year. The other spans twelve. Both are anchored in the Passion of Christ. Both carry with them promises so astonishing that they have drawn skeptics and believers alike to their knees. And both are available to you — right now, wherever you are in your spiritual journey.
Though they share the same saint and the same devotion to the Passion of Christ, these are two completely separate devotions — each with its own origin, its own prayers, and its own promises.
If you have never heard of these devotions, consider this your invitation. If you have heard of them but never begun, perhaps now is the time. And if you are already praying them — may this deepen your understanding and strengthen your resolve.
St. Bridget of Sweden was a 14th-century mystic, mother of eight, and foundress of the Brigittine Order — a woman whose entire life was centered on the Passion of Christ. Our Lord taught St. Bridget fifteen prayers to be prayed daily for one full year — honoring each of His 5,480 wounds. Also known as the Pieta Prayers or the Magnificent Prayers, they are deep meditations on the Passion, taking about twenty minutes to pray in full. The prayers were approved by Pope Pius IX on May 31, 1862.
Associated with this devotion are 21 promises said to have been made by Our Lord to those who complete the full year.
The 21 Promises made by Our Lord to St. Bridget:
15 souls of his lineage will be delivered from Purgatory.
15 souls of his lineage will be confirmed and preserved in grace.
15 sinners of his lineage will be converted.
Whoever prays these prayers will attain the first degree of perfection.
15 days before his death, he will receive the Precious Body and Blood of Christ so that he may escape eternal starvation and thirst.
15 days before his death, he will feel deep contrition for all his sins and will have a perfect knowledge of them.
The sign of the Victorious Cross will be placed before him for his help and defense against the attacks of his enemies.
Before his death, Christ will come with His Blessed Mother.
His soul will be graciously received and led into eternal joy.
His soul will be delivered from eternal death.
He will obtain all he asks of God and the Blessed Virgin.
If he has lived doing his own will and is to die the next day, his life will be prolonged.
Every time these prayers are recited, he gains 100 days of indulgence.
He will be assured of being joined to the supreme choir of Angels.
Whoever teaches these prayers to another will have continuous joy and merit that endures eternally.
Wherever these prayers are said, God will be present with His grace.
He will be defended against evil temptations.
His five senses will be preserved and guarded.
He will be preserved from sudden death.
His heart’s desire, if it be for the salvation of his soul, will be granted.
Every devout soul who recites these prayers will be united more closely with the Passion of Christ.
The promises belong to private revelation and are not doctrinally binding. However, Pope Benedict XV affirmed that the faithful may believe them “out of human faith” — piously and with prudence. The prayers themselves are fully approved and richly recommended.
The second devotion has a different origin entirely. These seven prayers were given to St. Bridget not by Our Lord, but by Our Blessed Mother — each one honoring a time Our Lord shed His Precious Blood, from the Circumcision to the Piercing of His Side. These are prayed every day for twelve consecutive years and were approved by Pope Clement XII and confirmed by Pope Innocent X.
The 5 Promises Made By Our Lady to St. Bridget:
The soul who prays them will suffer no Purgatory.
The soul who prays them will be counted among the Martyrs as though they had shed their blood for the faith.
The soul who prays them may choose three others whom Jesus will keep in a state of grace sufficient for them to become holy.
No one in four successive generations of the soul who prays them will be lost.
The soul who prays them will be made conscious of their death one month in advance.
As with the one-year devotion, the 1954 Holy Office noted that the supernatural origin of these promises is uncertain — but the prayers themselves remain fully approved and spiritually fruitful.
It’s a Commitment — But It’s Worth It
These are not casual prayers to be picked up and set down at will. They ask something of you: consistency, perseverance, and devotion. They are a covenant of prayer — a daily returning to the wounds of Christ, day after day, through joy and sorrow, consolation and dryness.
But that is also precisely their beauty. In a world of instant gratification and scattered attention, these devotions call us to something counter-cultural: fidelity. They ask us to show up for God, day after day, the way He showed up for us — all the way to Calvary.
Many who have prayed these devotions speak of profound interior changes: a deeper love for the Passion, greater peace in suffering, unexpected conversions in their families, and a nearness to Christ that grew quietly and steadily over months and years.
If you miss a day, do not despair — simply continue. The important thing is the sincere effort of a loving heart. As one tradition holds regarding the one-year devotion: as long as the total of 5,480 prayers is completed within the year, the spirit of the devotion is preserved.
Begin with one. Begin today. Take the wounds of Christ into your hands like a rosary, and let them lead you home.
Final Thoughts
St. Bridget of Sweden spent her life in intimate union with the suffering Christ. She wept over His wounds. She prayed without ceasing. She founded a religious order. She raised a saint. And in her mercy, she left us these prayers — windows into the heart of a God who loves us beyond all measure.
Whether you choose the one-year devotion or the twelve-year devotion — or begin with one and embrace the other — know that you are joining a great cloud of witnesses who, across seven centuries, have honored the wounds of Our Lord with these very words.
The “15 Prayers of St. Bridget” is a devotion revealed to St. Bridget by Christ Himself, who disclosed that He suffered exactly 5,280 blows during His Passion. To honor each of those blows, Our Lord gave St. Bridget of Sweden fifteen prayers to be prayed daily for one full year — with each Our Father and Hail Mary honoring one of those 5,280 wounds.
To those who faithfully complete this one-year devotion, Our Lord attached extraordinary promises of grace: 1. Our Lord will deliver fifteen souls of his/her lineage from Purgatory. 2. Fifteen souls of his/her lineage will be confirmed and preserved in grace. 3. Fifteen sinners of his/her lineage will be converted. 4. He/she will attain the first degree of perfection. 5. Fifteen days before death, he/she will receive the Precious Body and Precious Blood of Our Lord. 6. Fifteen days before death, he/she will feel deep contrition and perfect knowledge of all his/her sins. 7. Our Lord will place before him/her the sign of His Victorious Cross as defense against his/her enemies. 8. Before death, Our Lord will come with His Dearest Beloved Mother. 9. Our Lord will graciously receive his/her soul and lead it into eternal joy. 10. He/she will receive a special draught from the fountain of Our Lord’s Deity. 11. Even a sinner of 30 years who recites these Prayers devoutly will be forgiven. 12. He/she will be protected from strong temptations. 13. His/her five senses will be preserved and guarded. 14. He/she will be preserved from sudden death. 15. His/her soul will be delivered from eternal death. 16. He/she will obtain all that is asked of God and the Blessed Virgin. 17. If he/she is to die the next day, his/her life will be prolonged. 18. Each time these Prayers are recited, he/she gains 100 days indulgence. 19. He/she is assured of being joined to the supreme Choir of Angels. 20. Whoever teaches these Prayers to another will have continuous joy and merit eternally. 21. Wherever these Prayers are said, God is present with His grace.
The Fifteen Prayers of St. Bridget
One-Year DevotionTo Honor the 5,480 Blows Jesus Received During His Sacred Passion
O Jesus Christ! Eternal Sweetness to those who love Thee, joy surpassing all joy and all desire, Salvation and Hope of all sinners, Who hast proved that Thou hast no greater desire than to be among men, even assuming human nature at the fullness of time for the love of men, recall all the sufferings Thou hast endured from the instant of Thy conception, and especially during Thy Passion, as it was decreed and ordained from all eternity in the Divine plan.
Remember, O Lord, that during the Last Supper with Thy disciples, having washed their feet, Thou gavest them Thy Most Precious Body and Blood, and while at the same time Thou didst sweetly console them, Thou didst foretell them Thy coming Passion. Remember the sadness and bitterness which Thou didst experience in Thy Soul as Thou Thyself bore witness saying: “My Soul is sorrowful even unto death.”
Remember all the fear, anguish and pain that Thou didst suffer in Thy delicate Body before the torment of the Crucifixion, when, after having prayed three times, bathed in a sweat of blood, Thou wast betrayed by Judas, Thy disciple, arrested by the people of a nation Thou hadst chosen and elevated, accused by false witnesses, unjustly judged by three judges during the flower of Thy youth and during the solemn Paschal season.
Remember that Thou wast despoiled of Thy garments and clothed in those of derision; that Thy Face and Eyes were veiled, that Thou wast buffeted, crowned with thorns, a reed placed in Thy Hands, that Thou was crushed with blows and overwhelmed with affronts and outrages.
In memory of all these pains and sufferings which Thou didst endure before Thy Passion on the Cross, grant me before my death true contrition, a sincere and entire confession, worthy satisfaction and the remission of all my sins. Amen.
Second Prayer Our Father… Hail Mary…
O Jesus! True liberty of angels, Paradise of delights, remember the horror and sadness which Thou didst endure when Thy enemies, like furious lions, surrounded Thee, and by thousands of insults, spits, blows, lacerations and other unheard-of-cruelties, tormented Thee at will.
In consideration of these torments and insulting words, I beseech Thee, O my Savior, to deliver me from all my enemies, visible and invisible, and to bring me, under Thy protection, to the perfection of eternal salvation. Amen.
Third Prayer Our Father…Hail Mary…
O Jesus! Creator of Heaven and earth Whom nothing can encompass or limit, Thou Who dost enfold and hold all under Thy Loving power, remember the very bitter pain Thou didst suffer when they nailed Thy Sacred Hands and Feet to the Cross by blow after blow with big blunt nails, and not finding Thee in a pitiable enough state to satisfy their rage, they enlarged Thy Wounds, and added pain to pain, and with indescribable cruelty stretched Thy Body on the Cross, pulled Thee from all sides, thus dislocating Thy Limbs.
I beg of Thee, O Jesus, by the memory of this most Loving suffering of the Cross, to grant me the grace to fear Thee and to Love Thee. Amen.
Fourth Prayer Our Father…Hail Mary…
O Jesus! Heavenly Physician, raised aloft on the Cross to heal our wounds with Thine, remember the bruises which Thou didst suffer and the weakness of all Thy Members which were distended to such a degree that never was there pain like unto Thine. From the crown of Thy Head to the Soles of Thy Feet there was not one spot on Thy Body that was not in torment, and yet, forgetting all Thy sufferings, Thou didst not cease to pray to Thy Heavenly Father for Thy enemies, saying: “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Through this great Mercy, and in memory of this suffering, grant that the remembrance of Thy Most Bitter Passion may effect in me a perfect contrition and the remission of all my sins. Amen.
Fifth Prayer Our Father…Hail Mary…
O Jesus! Mirror of eternal splendor! Remember the sadness which Thou experienced when, contemplating in the light of Thy Divinity the predestination of those who would be saved by the merits of Thy Sacred Passion, Thou didst see at the same time, the great multitude of reprobates who would be damned for their sins, and Thou didst complain bitterly of those hopeless lost and unfortunate sinners.
Through this abyss of compassion and pity, and especially through the goodness which Thou displayed to the good thief when Thou saidst to him: “This day, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.” I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, that at the hour of my death, Thou wilt show me mercy. Amen.
Sixth Prayer Our Father…Hail Mary…
O Jesus! Beloved and most desirable King, remember the grief Thou didst suffer, when naked and like a common criminal, Thou was fastened and raised on the Cross, when all Thy relatives and friends abandoned Thee, except Thy Beloved Mother, who remained close to Thee during Thy agony and whom Thou didst entrust to Thy faithful disciple when Thou saidst to Mary: “Woman, behold thy son!” and to St. John: “Son, behold thy Mother!” I beg of Thee, O my Savior, by the sword of sorrow which pierced the soul of Thy holy Mother, to have compassion on me in all my afflictions and tribulations, both corporal and spiritual, and to assist me in all my trials, and especially at the hour of my death. Amen.
Seventh Prayer Our Father…Hail Mary…
O Jesus! Inexhaustible Fountain of compassion, Who by a profound gesture of Love, said from the Cross: “I thirst!” suffered from the thirst for the salvation of the human race.
I beg of Thee, O my Savior, to inflame in my heart the desire to tend toward perfection in all my acts; and to extinguish in me the concupiscence of the flesh and the ardor of worldly desires. Amen.
Eighth Prayer Our Father…Hail Mary…
O Jesus! Sweetness of hearts, delight of the spirit, by the bitterness of the vinegar and gall which Thou didst taste on the Cross for love of us, grant me the grace to receive worthily Thy Precious Body and Blood during my life and at the hour of my death, that they may serve as a remedy and consolation for my soul. Amen.
Ninth Prayer Our Father… Hail Mary…
O Jesus! Royal virtue, joy of the mind, recall the pain Thou didst endure when, plunged in an ocean of bitterness at the approach of death, insulted, outraged, Thou didst cry out in a loud voice that Thou was abandoned by Thy Father, saying: “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?”
Through this anguish, I beg of Thee, O my Savior, not to abandon me in the terrors and pains of my death. Amen.
Tenth Prayer Our Father… Hail Mary…
O Jesus! Who art the beginning and end of all things, life and virtue, remember that for my sake Thou was plunged in an abyss of suffering from the soles of Thy Feet to the crown of Thy Head.
In consideration of the enormity of Thy Wounds, teach me to keep, through pure love, Thy Commandments, whose way is wide and easy for those who love Thee. Amen.
Eleventh Prayer Our Father…Hail Mary…
O Jesus! Deep abyss of mercy, I beg of Thee, in memory of Thy Wounds which penetrated to the very marrow of Thy Bones and to the depth of Thy being, to draw me, a miserable sinner, overwhelmed by my offences, away from sin and to hide me from Thy Face justly irritated against me. Hide me in Thy wounds until Thy anger and just indignation shall have passed away. Amen.
Twelfth Prayer Our Father…Hail Mary…
O Jesus! Mirror of Truth, symbol of unity, link of charity, remember the multitude of wounds with which Thou wast covered from Head to Foot, torn and reddened by the spilling of Thy adorable Blood. O Great and Universal Pain, which Thou didst suffer in Thy virginal Flesh for love of us!
Sweetest Jesus! What is there that Thou couldst have done for us which Thou has not done! May the fruit of Thy Sufferings be renewed in my soul by the faithful remembrance of Thy Passion, and may Thy Love increase in my heart each day, until I see Thee in eternity. Thou Who art the treasure of every real good and every joy, which I beg Thee to grant me, O Sweetest Jesus, in Heaven. Amen.
Thirteenth Prayer Our Father…Hail Mary…
O Jesus! Strong Lion, Immortal and Invincible King! Remember the pain which Thou didst endure! When all Thy strength, both moral and physical, was entirely exhausted, Thou didst bow Thy Head, saying: “It is consummated!”
Through this anguish and grief, I beg of Thee, Lord Jesus, to have mercy on me at the hour of my death when my mind will be greatly troubled and my soul will be in anguish. Amen.
Fourteenth Prayer Our Father… Hail Mary…
O Jesus! Only Son of the Father, Splendour and Figure of His Substance, remember the simple and humble recommendation Thou didst make of Thy Soul to Thy Eternal Father, saying: “Father, into Thy Hands I commend My Spirit!” And with Thy Body all torn, and Thy Heart Broken, and the bowels of Thy Mercy open to redeem us, Thou didst Expire.
By this Precious Death, I beg of Thee, O King of Saints, comfort me and help me to resist the devil, the flesh and the world, so that being dead to the world I may live for Thee alone. I beg of Thee at the hour of my death to receive me, a pilgrim and an exile returning to Thee. Amen.
Fifteenth Prayer Our Father…Hail Mary…
O Jesus! True and fruitful Vine! Remember the abundant outpouring of Blood which Thou didst so generously shed from Thy Sacred Body as juice from grapes in a wine press.
From Thy Side, pierced with a lance by a soldier, blood and water issued forth until there was not left in Thy Body a single drop; and finally, like a bundle of myrrh lifted to the top of the Cross, Thy delicate Flesh was destroyed, the very Substance of Thy Body withered, and the Marrow of Thy Bones dried up.
Through this bitter Passion and through the outpouring of Thy Precious Blood, I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, to receive my soul when I am in my death agony. Amen.
Closing Prayer O Sweet Jesus! Pierce my heart so that my tears of penitence and love will be my bread day and night. May I be converted entirely to Thee, may my heart be Thy perpetual habitation, may my conversation be pleasing to Thee, and may the end of my life be so praiseworthy that I may merit Heaven and there, with Thy saints, praise Thee forever. Amen.
The shocking true story of a woman so sinful she was stopped by an invisible force at the door of a holy church — and what happened next changed everything.
Few stories in the entire history of the Church are as dramatic, as humbling, or as hope-filled as the life of St. Mary of Egypt.
She stands as one of the most extraordinary witnesses to the mercy of God — a woman who fell into profound sin, encountered the living God in a moment of shattering grace, and went on to live one of the most remarkable lives of penance and prayer the world has ever seen.
Her story is not for the faint of heart. But it is exactly the story many of us need to hear.
A Life Given Over to Sin
St. Mary was born in Egypt around 344 AD. At the age of twelve, she ran away from her family and made her way to Alexandria, where she spent the next seventeen years living a life of extreme sensual excess. By her own account — which she later gave to the monk Zosimas — she was not driven by poverty or coercion, but by an insatiable appetite for sin. She supported herself through begging and manual labor, but gave herself freely to every vice, seducing men without any charge, simply because she could not stop.
It is important to understand that Mary herself, years later, recalled this period of her life with deep sorrow and no self-justification. She did not blame others. She did not minimize what she had done. She called herself what she was: a slave to sin.
This is already a lesson. The first step toward holiness is honesty.
The Miracle at the Door of the Church
When Mary was about twenty-nine years old, she encountered a group of pilgrims at the port in Alexandria who were sailing to Jerusalem to venerate the True Cross for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. On impulse — or perhaps by the mysterious workings of grace already beginning to stir — she joined them, continuing her sinful ways even on the voyage.
When the pilgrims arrived in Jerusalem, Mary followed the crowds toward the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. She entered the outer courtyard and moved toward the door of the church — and stopped.
An invisible force prevented her from entering.
She tried again. And again. Others passed freely into the church. Mary could not cross the threshold. Three or four times she attempted to enter, but some power she could not see or explain held her back.
In that moment, the full weight of her life collapsed upon her. Standing at the door of the church she could not enter, Mary understood that her sins had made her unworthy. She wept. She prayed before an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary that was placed near the entrance. She begged Our Lady to intercede for her, to obtain for her the forgiveness she did not deserve and the grace to enter the holy place.
After her prayer, she tried once more — and the doors opened to her.
The Voice in the Desert
After venerating the True Cross, Mary again prayed before the icon of Our Lady. This time she heard a voice directing her to cross the Jordan River and go into the desert beyond, where she would find rest.
She obeyed.
Mary crossed the Jordan, received Holy Communion at the monastery of St. John the Baptist, and walked into the vast desert east of the river. She would not emerge for nearly half a century.
For the first seventeen years in the desert, Mary suffered terribly. She was tormented by the same passions and temptations she had spent her previous life indulging — memories of wine, of food, of flesh. She fought them with prayer, with tears, and with the few words of Scripture she had heard before her conversion. The battle was fierce. But grace was fiercer.
After those seventeen years of warfare, a great peace descended upon her. The passions subsided. She learned the Scriptures without ever having read them. She was fed by God alone — literally, for she had run out of the bread she brought and spent the remaining decades eating only the sparse wild plants of the desert. Her clothes rotted away. Her hair turned white and grew long. Her body became gaunt and dark from the sun.
She had become, in the words of later tradition, an angel in the flesh.
The Encounter with Zosimas
We know the story of St. Mary because of a holy monk named Zosimas who served at a monastery in Palestine. Every year, the monks of his monastery would go into the desert during Lent to pray in solitude. One year, deep in the desert, Zosimas encountered a figure — white-haired, emaciated, utterly wild-looking — who called out to him by name and asked him to throw her his cloak to cover herself.
Zosimas was astonished. Mary knew his name. She knew he was a priest. She spoke with deep wisdom about the Scriptures and about God. She walked above the ground as she prayed.
Mary told Zosimas her entire story, holding nothing back. She asked him to return the following year at the Jordan River to bring her Holy Communion, since she had not received the Eucharist since the day she crossed into the desert some forty-seven years earlier.
Zosimas returned to his monastery in silence. The following Lent, he came to the Jordan with the Eucharist. He saw Mary approaching — walking on the surface of the water. After receiving the Body and Blood of Christ with tears of profound gratitude, she asked him to come once more the following year to the place where he first encountered her.
When Zosimas returned the next year, he found Mary dead. Beside her body was an inscription in the sand: “Bury the body of humble Mary. Return dust to dust.” She had died, the inscription said, on the very night she received Holy Communion — having somehow traveled in a single night the distance it had taken Zosimas days to walk.
A lion appeared and helped dig the grave.
What St. Mary of Egypt Teaches Us
The life of St. Mary of Egypt is, above all else, a testimony to the boundless mercy of God. No sin is too great. No life is too far gone. No soul is beyond the reach of grace.
But her story also teaches us several things that cut against the grain of our comfortable, modern sensibilities.
Sin is real, and it enslaves. Mary did not discover her sinfulness through some gentle self-reflection. She discovered it when an invisible power stopped her at the door of a church. God sometimes uses dramatic means to get our attention precisely because we are so skilled at avoiding the truth about ourselves.
Conversion is costly. Mary spent forty-seven years in the desert, most of them in fierce spiritual battle. She did not simply say a prayer and move on. She gave everything — comfort, community, food, clothing, society — to make reparation and to grow in holiness. For most of us, God does not ask the same extreme penance. But He does ask repentance that costs us something real.
The Blessed Virgin Mary is our Mother and advocate. It was through prayer to Our Lady that Mary of Egypt received the grace to enter the church and hear God’s voice. When we do not know how to approach God, we can always turn to the one who was given to us as Mother.
The Eucharist is the summit of the Christian life. After decades in the desert, Mary’s one request to Zosimas was to receive Holy Communion. She walked across the water of the Jordan for it. She died in joy the very night she received it. How deeply do we treasure what she longed for across forty-seven years?
Closing Reflection
St. Mary of Egypt spent the first half of her life running away from God, and the second half running toward Him with everything she had. The Church holds her up not to scandalize us, but to give us hope — to show us that the God we serve is a God who stops a person at the door of a church, not to condemn her, but to call her home.
We invite you to join us in praying the Prayer of St. Mary of Egypt by clicking on the link below, or by visiting us on our website or YouTube channel. If you feel far from God today, remember Mary standing at that threshold, weeping before the icon of Our Lady. Remember that the door was opened to her. It can be opened to you.
