This “Prayer Honoring the Shoulder Wound of Christ” invites us to contemplate a suffering of Our Lord that is often overlooked—the deep wound caused by the weight of the heavy Cross upon His sacred shoulder. Traditionally attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux, this devotion draws our hearts to meditate on the immense physical agony Jesus endured as He carried the instrument of our salvation to Calvary. Through this prayer, we offer our adoration and gratitude to Christ for this hidden wound, asking for His mercy and the grace to follow Him faithfully on the Way of the Cross.
Prayer Honoring the Shoulder Wound of Christ
Most loving Jesus, meek Lamb of God, I, a miserable sinner, salute and worship the most Sacred Wound of Thy Shoulder on which Thou didst bear Thy heavy Cross, which so tore Thy Flesh and laid bare Thy Bones, as to inflict on Thee an anguish greater than any other wound of Thy Most Blessed Body.
I adore Thee, O Jesus most sorrowful. I praise and glorify Thee, and give Thee thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound, beseeching Thee by that exceeding pain, and by the crushing burden of Thy heavy Cross, to be merciful to me, a sinner, to forgive all my mortal and venial sins, and to lead me on towards Heaven along the Way of Thy Cross.
Amen.