The Most Powerful Prayer to Say Before a Crucifix During Lent
Did you know that you can obtain a plenary indulgence by praying a special prayer before a Crucifix on Fridays during Lent?
Lent is a 40-day penitential season of preparation for the celebration of Easter, and it is during this sacred time Catholics are called to a much deeper time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving … with a particular call to meditate upon the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ. This discipline is so powerful, in fact, that St. Augustine wrote at length about it. He said more specifically that ‘one tear shed over the contemplation of the Passion of Christ is more meritorious to the soul than a pilgrimage to the Holy Land or an entire year fasting on mere bread and water!’
During this most meritorious season of the Church year, the faithful are able to obtain plenary indulgences in various ways. One of the most powerful ways is by praying The Most Powerful Prayer to Say Before a Crucifix During Lent.
First, what is a Plenary Indulgence?
So, what is a plenary indulgence?
According to the Manual of Indulgences, a plenary indulgence is the total remission “before God of the temporal punishment for sins, whose guilt is forgiven.” These can be earned either for oneself or for a deceased loved one in purgatory.
Ways of obtaining plenary indulgences (especially during Lent) can be done by praying the Stations of the Cross and the Holy Rosary, spending time in Eucharistic Adoration, or studying the Holy Scriptures (which is best done with a Church-approved commentary).
But there is yet another simple way the Church offers us to obtain a plenary indulgence … and let’s be honest, we need all the divine assistance we can get.
On Fridays during Lent, Catholics can recite the prayer, “En ego, O bone et dulcissime lesu,” before a Crucifix after receiving Holy Communion. According to the Manual of Indulgences (Fourth Edition), “A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who on any of the Fridays of Lent devoutly recite after Communion the prayer, ‘En ego, O bone et dulcissime lesu,’ before a Crucifix.”
It should also be mentioned that the faithful may obtain a partial indulgence if this prayer is recited on any other day of the year as a thanksgiving prayer post Communion.
The Most Powerful Prayer Before a Crucifix to Jesus Christ Crucified
Here is the english prayer to be prayed before a Crucifix (“En ego, O bone et dulcissime lesu”) during Lent:
Behold, O kind and most sweet Jesus.
I cast myself upon my knees in Thy sight
and with the most fervent desire of my soul,
I pray and beseech Thee that Thou wouldst
impress upon my hear lively sentiments of
faith, hope, and charity, with true contrition
for my sins and a firm purpose of amendment,
while with deep affection and grief of my soul
I ponder within myself and mentally contemplate
Thy five wounds, having before my eyes the words
which David the prophet put on Thy lips
concerning Thee: “My hands and My feet they have
pierced; they have numbered all my bones.”
In addition to reciting this Most Powerful Prayer Before a Crucifix, a faithful soul must also meet three usual conditions to obtain the plenary indulgence: Go to confession; receive Holy Communion; and pray for the Pope’s intentions. The Church also suggests one Our Father and one Hail Mary to be prayed.
May God bless you and may you have a fruitful Lent!
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