The traditional prayer in honor of the shoulder wound of Jesus calls to mind the wound that

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

is said to have received carrying the

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

on which he was

crucified Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Carthaginians, ...

. It is variously attributed to

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist. (; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templar, and a major leader in the reform of the Benedictines through the nascent Cistercian Order. Bernard was ...

or to Saint Gertrude or Saint Mechtilde. According to pious legend, Saint Bernard asked

which was his greatest unrecorded suffering and the wound that inflicted the most pain on him in

Calvary Calvary ( or ) or Golgotha () was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, Jesus was crucified. Since at least the early medieval period, it has been a destination for pilgrimage. ...

. 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."

Prayer

In English: :"O Loving Jesus, Meek

Lamb of God Lamb of God (; , ) is a Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at wikisource:Bible (American Standard)/John#1:29, John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, " ...

, 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 me all my mortal and venial sins and to lead me on towards Heaven along the Way of Thy Cross. Amen." 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 Catho ...

'' of

Thomas Daniel Beaven Thomas Daniel Beaven (March 1, 1851 – October 5, 1920) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the second bishop of the Diocese of Springfield in Massachusetts from 1892 to 1920. Biography Early life Thomas ...

, who was the Bishop of Springfield in Massachusetts from 1892 to 1920.

Revelation to Padre Pio

Padre Pio of Pietrelcina venerated the shoulder wound of Jesus, and bore it himself as a ''

stigmata Stigmata (, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion Five Holy Wounds, wounds of Jesus in Christian ...

''. According to Stefano Campanella, author of "''Il papa e il frate''" (The Pope and the Friar), Karol Wojtyła (the future

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

), while still a priest, visited Padre Pio and asked the question of which was his most painful wound – much like the manner Bernard did to Christ. Wojtyła expected that it was Pio's chest wound, but Pio replied: "It is my shoulder wound, which no one knows about and has never been cured or treated".

Other allusions to the injury

The visions of Blessed

Anne Catherine Emmerich Anne Catherine Emmerich, CRV (also ''Anna Katharina Emmerick''; 8 September 1774 – 9 February 1824) was a Roman Catholic Augustinian canoness of the Congregation of Windesheim. During her lifetime, she was a mystic, Marian visionary and s ...

, which also were a source of

The Passion of the Christ ''The Passion of the Christ'' is a 2004 American epic biblical drama film co-produced and directed by Mel Gibson from a screenplay he wrote with Benedict Fitzgerald. It stars Jim Caviezel as Jesus of Nazareth, Maia Morgenstern as the Bl ...

, refer to the injury: “There was a frightful wound on the shoulder which had borne the weight of the Cross..." When scientists studied the

Shroud of Turin The Shroud of Turin (), also known as the Holy Shroud (), is a length of linen cloth that bears a faint image of the front and back of a naked man. Because details of the image are consistent with depiction of Jesus, traditional depictions o ...

, they found one of Jesus's shoulders had a laceration and was dislocated.

Psalm 22 Psalm 22 of the Book of Psalms (the hind of the dawn) or My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? is a psalm in the Bible. The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament of the Bible. In the s ...

also references it: "I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint.."

References

{{reflist Roman Catholic prayers Visions of Jesus and Mary Shoulder

Prayer

Revelation to Padre Pio

Other allusions to the injury

See also

References