A number of prayers to

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

exist within the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

tradition. These prayers have diverse origins and forms. Some were attributed to visions of saints, others were handed down by tradition. Some such prayers are provided in the

Raccolta The ''Raccolta'' (literally, "collection" in Italian), is a book, published in many editions from 1807 to 1952, that collected the texts of Roman Catholic prayers and briefly described other acts of piety, such as visiting and praying in particula ...

Roman Catholic prayer book, first published in association with the Roman Catholic Congregation for Indulgences in 1807. Various prayers listed in this article are due to saints, or have been used by saints (e.g.

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola, Society of Jesus, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spain, Spanish Catholic ...

Louis de Montfort Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (31 January 1673 – 28 April 1716) was a French Roman Catholic priest and confessor. He was known in his time as a preacher and was made a missionary apostolic by Pope Clement XI. As well as preaching, Montfort ...

, etc.) but they are usually not associated with a specific

Catholic devotion Catholic devotions are particular customs, rituals, and practices of worship of God or honour of the saints which are in addition to the liturgy of the Catholic Church. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops describes devotions as "exp ...

with a feast day. They are therefore grouped separately from the prayers that accompany Roman Catholic devotions to Christ such as

Holy Face of Jesus The Holy Face of Jesus is a title for specific images which some Catholics believe to be miraculously formed representations of the face of Jesus Christ. The image obtained from the Shroud of Turin is associated with a specific medal worn by s ...

Divine Mercy The Divine Mercy is a form of God's compassion, an act of grace based on trust or forgiveness. In Catholicism, it refers specifically to a devotion which had its origin in the apparitions of Jesus Christ reported by Faustina Kowalska. Etymol ...

. In many cases specific promises and powers are attributed to specific prayers or devotions to Jesus although some prayers of reparation include no petition.

Anima Christi

The literal meaning of

Anima Christi The "Anima Christi" (Latin for ‘Soul of Christ’) is a Catholic prayer to Jesus of medieval origin. History For many years the prayer was popularly believed to have been composed by Saint Ignatius of Loyola, as he puts it at the beginning ...

is ''Soul of Christ.'' It dates back to the early fourteenth century or earlier. At some point in history it was attributed to St.

Ignatius Loyola Ignatius of Loyola, S.J. (born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; eu, Ignazio Loiolakoa; es, Ignacio de Loyola; la, Ignatius de Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spanish Catholic priest and theologian, ...

, who used it in his

Spiritual Exercises The ''Spiritual Exercises'' ( la, Exercitia spiritualia), composed 1522–1524, are a set of Christian meditations, contemplations, and prayers written by Ignatius of Loyola, a 16th-century Spanish priest, theologian, and founder of the Society ...

, but it was later found in texts that predated St. Ignatius. The sequence of sentences in Anima Christi have rich associations with Catholic concepts that relate to the

Holy Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...

(Body and Blood of Christ), Baptism (water) and the Passion of Jesus (

Holy Wounds In Catholic tradition, the Five Holy Wounds, also known as the Five Sacred Wounds or the Five Precious Wounds, are the five piercing wounds that Jesus Christ suffered during his crucifixion. The wounds have been the focus of particular devotions, ...

Jean-Baptiste Lully Jean-Baptiste Lully ( , , ; born Giovanni Battista Lulli, ; – 22 March 1687) was an Italian-born French composer, guitarist, violinist, and dancer who is considered a master of the French Baroque music style. Best known for his operas, he ...

composed a

Motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...

called Anima Christi, and musicians such as

Giovanni Valentini Giovanni Valentini (ca. 1582 – 29/30 April 1649) was an Italian Baroque composer, poet and keyboard virtuoso. Overshadowed by his contemporaries, Claudio Monteverdi and Heinrich Schütz, Valentini is practically forgotten today, although he ...

performed it.

Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

The Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a 17th-century prayer by Saint

Marguerite Marie Alacoque Margaret Mary Alacoque, VHM (french: Marguerite-Marie Alacoque) (22 July 1647 – 17 October 1690), was a French Catholic Visitation nun and mystic who promoted devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in its modern form. Summary She worked to pr ...

. It was part of the private revelations reported by her regarding the

Sacred Heart of Jesus The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus ( la, Cor Jesu Sacratissimum) is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This dev ...

Morning offering

The '' Morning offering to the

'' prayer is meant to be prayed first thing in the morning. It was composed by Fr. Francois Xavier Gaulrelet in 1844 and reflects the ''

Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary The Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary refers to the historical, theological and spiritual links in Catholic devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.''Sacred Heart of Jesus'' by Stephen J. Binz 2006 page ...

'' by referring to the

Immaculate Heart of Mary The Immaculate Heart of Mary () is a Roman Catholic devotional name used to refer to the Catholic view of the interior life of Mary, mother of Jesus, her joys and sorrows, her virtues and hidden perfections, and, above all, her virginal love ...

: :O Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, :I offer you my prayers, works, joys, sufferings of this day, :in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. :I offer them for all the intentions of your Sacred Heart: : the salvation of souls, the reparation for sin, the reunion of Christians; :and in particular for the intentions of the Holy Father this month. :Amen.

Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

composed the

Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus The Prayer of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is a Roman Catholic prayer composed by Pope Leo XIII. It was included in the 1899 encyclical ''Annum sacrum'' issued by Leo XIII as he consecrated the entire world to the Sacred Heart of Je ...

in 1899 and included it in his 1899 encyclical ''

Annum sacrum ''Annum sacrum'' (meaning Holy Year) is an encyclical by Pope Leo XIII on the consecration of the entire world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It was delivered in Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome on the 25th day of May, 1899, the twenty-second year o ...

'' which consecrated the entire world to the

. The consecration was motivated by letters sent to the Pontiff by a

Good Shepherd The Good Shepherd ( el, ποιμὴν ὁ καλός, ''poimḗn ho kalós'') is an image used in the pericope of , in which Jesus Christ is depicted as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Similar imagery is used in Psalm 23 ...

nun,

Mary of the Divine Heart Mary of the Divine Heart (Münster, 8 September 1863 – Porto, 8 June 1899), born Maria Droste zu Vischering, was a German Uradel, noblewoman and Catholic Church, Roman Catholic religious sister of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the ...

, who stated that in a vision of Jesus Christ she had been told to request the consecration.

Prayer to the shoulder wound of Jesus

The Prayer to the shoulder wound of Jesus is attributed to Saint

Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order through ...

According to St. Bernard, he asked

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

which was His greatest unrecorded suffering and the wound that inflicted the most pain on Him in

Calvary Calvary ( la, Calvariae or ) or Golgotha ( grc-gre, Γολγοθᾶ, ''Golgothâ'') was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where Jesus was said to have been crucified according to the canonical Gospels. Since at least the early mediev ...

and Jesus answered: :"I had on My Shoulder, while I bore My Cross on the Way of Sorrows, a grievous Wound which was more painful than the others and which is not recorded by men. Honor this Wound with thy devotion and I will grant thee whatsoever thou dost ask through its virtue and merit". The modern version of the prayer bears the

imprimatur An ''imprimatur'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''impr.'', from Latin, "let it be printed") is a declaration authorizing publication of a book. The term is also applied loosely to any mark of approval or endorsement. The imprimatur rule in the R ...

of Bishop Thomas D. Bevan, Diocese of Springfield, Mass. 1892.

Saint John Vianney's prayer to Jesus

Saint

John Vianney John Vianney (born Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney; 8 May 1786 – 4 August 1859), venerated as Saint John Vianney, was a French Catholic priest who is venerated in the Catholic Church as a saint and as the patron saint of parish priests. He is of ...

composed Saint John Vianney's prayer to Jesus to

in the 19th century. The prayer reflects Vianney's deep religious feelings, which were praised by

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...

in his

encyclical An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally from ...

Sacerdotii nostri primordia ''Sacerdotii nostri primordia'' ("From the beginning of our priesthood") was the second encyclical of Pope John XXIII, issued 1 August 1959. It commemorated the 100th anniversary of the death of St. John Vianney, the patron saint of priests. S ...

'' in 1959. The prayer is quoted within the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

You are Christ

The ancient prayer,

You are Christ You are Christ is a prayer to Jesus attributed to Augustine of Hippo, in the 4th or 5th century. The title of the prayer is reminiscent of the statement of Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulaniti ...

, was composed by St.

. This is a somewhat long prayer in three parts. The first part is a list of titles and salutations to Jesus, namely: "my Holy Father, my Tender God, my Great King, my Good Shepherd... my Everlasting Salvation." The second part involves a set of conversational questions, e.g. ".. why have I ever loved, why in my whole life have I ever desired anything except You, Jesus my God?..." The third part is a list of petitions, namely "...may every good feeling that is fitted for Your praise, love You, delight in You,.... may I be found consummated with You!"

Prayer of St. John Gabriel Perboyre to Jesus

Saint John Gabriel Perboyre, priest and martyr composed the

Prayer of St. John Gabriel Perboyre to Jesus John Gabriel Perboyre, CM (french: Jean-Gabriel Perboyre; 1802–1840) was a French priest of the Congregation of the Mission, who served as a missionary in China, where he suffered martyrdom. He was canonized in 1996 by Pope John Paul II. Life ...

in the 19th century. The theme of the prayer is to help transform oneself to be more like Jesus and to banish all that in unlike Jesus from one's heart, soul and memory. This transformational prayer builds towards Saint Paul's statement in Galatians 2:20: "''I live - now not I - But Christ lives in me''".

Saint Louis de Montfort's Prayer to Jesus

The Saint Louis de Montfort's Prayer to Jesus is a reflection of

Saint Louis de Montfort Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (31 January 1673 – 28 April 1716) was a French Roman Catholic priest and confessor. He was known in his time as a preacher and was made a missionary apostolic by Pope Clement XI. As well as preaching, Montfort ...

's philosophy of "total consecration to Jesus Christ through Mary" a theme that centuries later influenced the development of

Roman Catholic Mariology Catholic Mariology is Mariology (the systematic study of the person of Mary, mother of Jesus, and of her place in the Economy of Salvation) in Catholic theology. According to the Immaculate Conception taught by the Catholic Church, she was con ...

. Although St Louis is perhaps best known for his

Mariology Mariology is the theological study of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mariology seeks to relate doctrine or dogma about Mary to other doctrines of the faith, such as those concerning Jesus and notions about redemption, intercession and grace. Chri ...

and devotion to the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jews, Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Jose ...

, his spirituality is founded on the mystery of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, and is centered on Christ, as reflected in his collected works

God Alone God Alone was the motto and the title of the collected writings of Saint Louis de Montfort, one of the leading figures in the French school of spirituality and Roman Catholic Mariology. Montfort wrote "God Alone" on all his correspondences and a ...

. As the prayer suggests St. Louis introduced the key concepts that underlie

today: that Jesus and Mary are son and mother, redeemer and redeemed and that the path to Jesus is through Mary. Theologically, the prayer reflects the inherent inclusion of Mariology in

Christology In Christianity, Christology (from the Ancient Greek, Greek grc, Χριστός, Khristós, label=none and grc, wiktionary:-λογία, -λογία, wiktionary:-logia, -logia, label=none), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Chr ...

Prayer before a Crucifix

The Prayer before a Crucifix is usually said while kneeling before a

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

. It is often said by

s after Communion or after

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

. The faithful receive a partial

indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". The '' Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God o ...

if they recite the prayer after Communion before a crucifix. On the Fridays of

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

, the indulgence is a

plenary indulgence In the teaching of the Catholic Church, an indulgence (, from , 'permit') is "a way to reduce the amount of punishment one has to undergo for sins". The ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'' describes an indulgence as "a remission before God of ...

References

External links

* * * {{cite web, url= http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/index.htm/, title= EWTN list of prayers, language= en, archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120222175318/http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/index.htm/, archive-date= February 22, 2012, url-status= live Catholic adoration of Jesus Roman Catholic prayers