Five Offerings of the Passion of Christ for Sins
Five offerings reflecting on the sufferings of Jesus and asking forgiveness for sins.
Historical edition. Historical claims and instructions are preserved as historical context.
First Offering
ALMIGHTY and eternal God, unfailing Fountain of mercy, who dost not despise those that come unto thee, notwithstanding their unworthiness, but dost cleanse them from their sins; behold, I, a sinner, weighed down beneath a grievous burden of sins, confess to thee in the spirit of humility and with a contrite heart, that I have been exceedingly ungrateful to thee my God, and have offended thee in manifold ways. But now I come to thee, and prostrate myself before thee with true contrition, and implore thy mercy. And as I have nothing of greater worth to offer thee in satisfaction for my sins than the most holy Life and Passion of thy Son, therefore I offer thee that surpassing love wherewith thy Onlybegotten took on him our nature, and during three-and-thirty years endured so many toils and fatigues, so much anguish and woe, for our sake; and I make this offering to thee through the sweetest Heart of Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Ghost, and for all the sins which I have committed from my birth upwards even to this hour, with the full consent of my will and the delectation of my heart. I offer thee the apprehension and the sorrowfulness which he felt when he said: My soul is sorrowful, even unto death. I offer thee that sweat of blood which impetuous love and thrilling anguish wrung from his sacred Body, and that thrice-repeated prayer which he poured forth to thee from the midst of his Agony. I offer thee his ignominious bondage, his stripes and bruises, his insults and blasphemies, his blows and buffetings, the plucking out of his hair, and the spitting on his adorable face, which he endured in the houses of Annas and of Caiaphas in that same night; and setting forth all these before thee with gratitude and lively compassion, I beseech thine inexhaustible goodness that by their virtue and merit thou wouldst wash me from my sins, and render me in all things well-pleasing to thee. Amen.
After each of these offerings you may say a Pater Noster.
Second Offering
O MOST compassionate God, for all the perverse and wicked actions which I have done with the several members of my body I offer thee that inexpressible affront and grief which thy Son endured, when his sacred Face was so shamefully spit upon and smitten; when he was unjustly accused before Pilate and Herod, was scornfully mocked and blasphemously insulted, I offer thee the ignominious stripping off of his garments, the harsh binding to the pillar, his painful scourging, his grievous wounds, and his excessive effusion of blood. Behold, O compassionate Father, with what composed modesty he stood at the pillar, how with all his heart he sighed unto thee, how many blows and gashes he received, and with how many wounds his flesh was torn, what anguish penetrated even to his bones, and how many the drops of his most sacred Blood which flowed forth from his wounds; and setting forth all these before thee, with gratitude and lively compassion, I beseech thee that by their virtue and their merit thou wouldst receive me into thy favour, and render me in all things well-pleasing to thee. Amen.
Third Offering
O MOST long-suffering God, for all the good I have omitted through my sloth and lukewarmness, I offer thee that love wherewith thy Son endured his intolerable anguish, when he was crowned with thorns, hailed with impious derision, shamefully spit upon, smitten with reeds and buffeted, dragged before the judgment-seat and unjustly condemned; when a murderer and thief was preferred to him, and an ungodly rabble clamoured for his death. I offer thee that way of sorrows he went to the Mount Calvary, laden with his heavy cross; I offer thee the weariness of his sacred limbs, the ruthlessness of the soldiers, the shouts and derision of the mob, his footprints traced in blood, and whatsoever he did or suffered throughout his whole life. And setting forth all these before thee with gratitude and lively compassion, I beseech thine inexhaustible goodness, that by their virtue and their merit thou wouldst wash me from my sins, and render me in all things well-pleasing to thee. Amen.
Fourth Offering
O MOST merciful God, for all the sins and iniquities which I have committed against thee with my body or my soul, I offer thee all that exceeding sorrow which thy Son endured, when the garments which cleaved to his lacerated flesh were roughly stripped off, and all his wounds thus mercilessly torn open afresh. I offer thee the cruel and most fearful anguish of his Heart, when his most sacred Hands and Feet were nailed to the cross. Remember, O most compassionate Father, how humbly and how piteously thy Son laid himself down upon the cross, not knowing where to lay his head by reason of the intensity of his intolerable agony. Remember what tears his eyes poured forth to thee, what sighs broke forth from his heart towards thee, how many drops of priceless blood dripped from his sacred wounds, what sorrow and horror of thick darkness pervaded his human soul as death came slowly onwards. I set forth before thee with gratitude and lively compassion all these bloodsheddings and tears, all the anguish of his distorted and dislocated limbs, all his groanings and sighs, and all the love and the patience with which thy Son endured them all; beseeching thee that thou wouldst cleanse me from my sins, and render me in all things well-pleasing to thee. Amen.
Fifth Offering
O MOST gracious and clement God, for all my sins, mortal and venial, for all my negligences and omissions, for all the guilt I have contracted and all the punishment I have deserved, I offer thee the unutterable anguish which pierced the Heart of thy Son when the cross was uplifted and let fall suddenly into its place, and all the weight of his sacred Body was borne by three nails. I offer to thee all the scornful mockeries and the blasphemies which assailed his sacred Ears, all the words he uttered from the cross, all the tears he shed, all the quivering of his holy limbs in their agony, all the anguish and torment of his sacred Heart, all the sighs and prayers which he breathed towards thee, all his shrinking from nakedness and from the rude gaze of the crowd, all his acts of virtue on the cross, all the compassion, the sobs, the tears of his most desolate Mother and of all his friends; I offer thee, last of all, that most bitter, most cruel, most agonising death, which impetuous love and thrilling anguish inflicted on him, most humbly beseeching thee that, by the merits of his most holy Life and Passion and Death, thou wouldst wash my soul from all its stains and defilements in his most precious Blood, and adorn it with the merits and virtues of his Humanity, and strengthen it at its departure hence with his Passion and Death. Amen.