In His Wounds

Last week Pope Francis urged us all to recover the traditional devotion to the Five Wounds of Jesus.  During his homily at Mass on the 20th March, he said:

Look. Look at the wounds. Enter in to the wounds. By those wounds we were healed. Do you feel bitter, feel sad, feel life just isn't going the right way and you're also ill? Look there. In silence.

As chance (or providence) would have it, I had just printed the parish bulletin for Palm Sunday including St Alphonsus Ligouri's Chaplet of the Five Wounds of Jesus for our parishioners' devotions this week.  Venerating the wounds of the Lord is very much a Franciscan devotion, as expressed in their Corda Pia which the Franciscans continue to celebrate in many places on the Fridays of Lent.  

The devotion to the wounds of Jesus is an ancient one in the Church. I think we could say it began long before Jesus came on earth when Isaiah prophesied that we would be healed in the wounds of the Suffering Servant (cf. Is 53:5). Those pious Jews who read this prophecy and meditated on it, though not understanding its meaning, may well have honoured in their prayer to God these wounds which would win healing and restoration for them.

Anointing the wounds of Christ

In the Gospels we see this devotion in the veneration of St Mary of Bethany who anoints Jesus at the dinner in her home after the raising of her brother from the dead. Jesus explains that this gesture is his anointing before his death, an anointing of the very place where the wounds on his feet would be. Though not explicitly mentioned, we can understand St Joseph of Arimathea's anointing of the Lord's body at the Deposition to be a veneration also. Perhaps Our Lady may well have gazed upon those wounds, meditating in her heart on the salvation those wounds had won for souls. Our own veneration of the wounds of Jesus may well reflect these anointings as we anoint them with our adoration, our love, sorrow for our sins and with the offering of our lives.

Jesus himself would call our attention to his wounds in his resurrection appearances - they become the marks by which we identify him, not only on the cross shall we look upon the one who was pierced, but now forever we shall gaze upon him and the wounds he still bears in heaven. The wounds of Jesus now exist in the Holy Trinity, on the body of the Incarnate Son and they will remain forever the symbol of God's love - of how far God went to redeem us, and forever the testament to our salvation. St Thomas, in his encounter with the wounds of Jesus represents us all: as with him, Jesus invites us all to reach out and touch him, to see in order to dispel our doubts and our fears; to bury forever the question 'Does God love me?' with the infinite proof that he does.

Revelations and devotions

Numerous Saints, either through personal piety or as a result of private revelations, have promoted devotion to the wounds of Jesus, often concentrating on the Five Wounds - the wounds in the Lord's hands, feet and side. St Francis of Assisi had a profound devotion to the Passion of the Lord and his veneration was so radical the very wounds of the Lord appeared on his body making him the first person we know of to bear the stigmata. Not long after St Bernard of Clairvaux received a revelation from the Lord in which Jesus spoke of the wound on his shoulder, inflicted by his carrying the cross. Jesus said that that wound was the most painful of all.  The Lord then asked for devotion to this wound. His words to St Bernard: 

I had on My Shoulder while I bore My Cross on the Way of Sorrows, a grievous Wound that was more painful than the others, and which is not recorded by men. Honour this Wound with thy devotion, and I will grant thee whatsoever thou dost ask through its virtue and merit. And in regard to all those who shall venerate this Wound, I will remit to them all their venial sins and will no longer remember their mortal sins.

Some time later St Bridget of Sweden was also promoting devotion to the Passion of the Lord, founding her sisters in the context of a spirituality which adored the Crucified Christ and venerated his wounds. Indeed, the veil of her nuns would be crowned with a representation of the Crown of Thorns which, interestingly, is in form of a 'helmet' rather than the traditional corona. Recent scholarship tells us that the Crown was in fact like a 'helmet', the traditional crown of the east; the image of the head-wounds on the figure of the Shroud of Turin affirms this. St Bridget received various revelations regarding the Passion of the Lord and she too was urged by the Lord to foster devotion to his wounds. As a means of doing this she composed her Fifteen Prayers. 

Other Saints devoted to the wounds of Jesus include St Clare of Assisi, St Mechtilde of Hackeborn, St Gertrude of Helfta, St Alphonsus, as noted above, and St Paul of the Cross.  The devotions found expression beyond prayer as the wounds became the subject of much art, iconography and even flags. The Jerusalem Cross has the wounds incorporated into its form and the royal house of Portugal included them on its crest which can still be seen on the Portuguese flag.

Faith centred on the wounds of Jesus

Reflecting on the wounds of Jesus can be very beneficial for our devotional life and I think we should take up the Pope's suggestion. For one thing it helps us focus on the fact that we were in need of redemption and Jesus endured great suffering and death in order to win salvation for us. Sometimes we can take our salvation for granted and forget the price that was paid. That must surely lead us to an attitude of gratitude - humble gratitude and remind us that but for the grace and mercy of God we would be worst of creatures on earth with little hope of eternity.

We may then see that we need to have a faith centred on the wounds of Jesus which bring us not only to meditate on his Passion, but also on the Incarnation, on the love of God, on the Sacraments and the transforming power of grace which flows out upon us all through those same wounds. With such a faith we will see the wounds as a refuge for us, a shelter in the torrid heat of temptation and the cold blast of despair. The wounds are our protection as the very power of Christ's sacrifice envelopes us every time we invoke the Lord through his wounds. As St Thomas discovered, we recognise the true Face of Jesus in those wounds. Gazing on him in his suffering state our hearts should be moved to pity and tenderness and that softens our often hardened hearts. 

Of course, in those wounds we see our own and in embracing Christ's wounds our wounds are healed as Isaiah and St Peter tell us (cf. 1 Peter 2:24). Like St Simon of Cyrene, we are to embrace the Lord's own cross and in doing so discover he carries ours; so too we venerate his wounds, spiritually and lovingly tend to them and then we discover he is tending to ours and restoring us. Devotion to the wounds of Jesus shifts the emphasis in our spiritual life from us and our needs to Christ and then to the needs of others since a practical fruit of this veneration is concern for others who are wounded and a real, selfless desire to reaching out to them.

The icon of the wounds

There are many images which we can use to help us foster this devotion to the wounds of Jesus. Numerous paintings, icons and devotional images depict as best they can the sufferings of the Lord and their physical manifestations. The image of the Ecce Homo is one such image, though it portrays Jesus before he went to the cross, at that moment when crowned with thorns he is presented to the people by Pilate. Images of the crucifixion and the deposition also aim to draw us deeper into the mystery of the Lord's sacrifice. However, one image in particular brings us face to face with the reality and extent of what Jesus endured: the Shroud of Turin.

Pope Benedict XVI referred to the Shroud as 'an Icon written in blood, the blood of a man who was scourged, crowned with thorns, crucified and whose right side was pierced'. The Shroud is indeed an icon, what many believe is a true icon of the body of the crucified Lord (science has amassed enough evidence at this stage to affirm this is most likely true). This piece of ancient linen is an icon of the wounds of Jesus, for each one is there, imprinted on the cloth. The Shroud does what no painting or image can do, it shows the raw tragedy of Jesus's sufferings, it embraces his pain and preserves for all to see the utter degradation that was inflicted on the Lord. Gazing upon the Shroud leads one to realise that devotion to the wounds of Jesus is no mere piety, it is a confrontation with sin, with human brutality and wickedness, with love and with the extraordinary mercy of God.

As I said, I think we should take heed of Pope Francis's suggestion and foster in our own lives a devotion to the wounds of Jesus and to obtain, if we can, a little image of the Shroud to help us enter into this devotion. In his wounds we are healed, in these wounds we are brought back to life, it is fitting that we should venerate these wounds in order to adore more profoundly the One who bears them.

I wish you all every blessing for the Sacred Triduum 

and a very happy Easter.

_

For your devotion please here follows the text of St Alphonsus's Chaplet of the Five Wounds of Jesus.

Chaplet of the Five Wounds of Jesus

I

O my Lord Jesus Christ, I adore the wound in Thy left foot. I thank Thee for having suffered it for me with so much sorrow and with so much love. I compassionate Thy pain, and that of Thine afflicted Mother. And, by the merit of this sacred wound, I pray Thee to grant me the pardon of my sins, of which I repent with all my heart, because they have offended Thine infinite goodness. O sorrowing Mary, pray to Jesus for me. 

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory, etc. 

By all the wounds which Thou didst bear 

With so much love and so much pain, 

Oh, let a sinner's prayer 

Thy mercy, Lord, obtain! 

II

O my Lord Jesus Christ, I adore the wound in Thy right foot. I thank Thee for having suffered it for me with so much sorrow and with so much love. I compassionate Thy pain, and that of Thine afflicted Mother. And, by the merit of this sacred wound, I pray Thee to give me the strength not to fall into mortal sin for the future, but to persevere in Thy grace unto my death. O sorrowing Mary, pray to Jesus for me. 

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory, etc. 

By all the wounds which Thou didst bear 

With so much love and so much pain, 

Oh, let a sinner's prayer 

Thy mercy, Lord, obtain! 

III 

O my Lord Jesus Christ, I adore the wound in Thy left hand. I thank Thee for having suffered it for me with so much sorrow and with so much love. I compassionate Thy pain, and that of Thine afflicted Mother. And, by the merit of this sacred wound, I pray Thee to deliver me from Hell, which I have so often deserved, where I could never love Thee more. O sorrowing Mary, pray to Jesus for me. 

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory, etc. 

By all the wounds which Thou didst bear 

With so much love and so much pain, 

Oh, let a sinner's prayer 

Thy mercy, Lord, obtain! 

IV

O my Lord Jesus Christ, I adore the wound in Thy right hand. I thank Thee for having suffered it for me with so much sorrow and with so much love. I compassionate Thy pain, and that of Thy most afflicted Mother. And, by the merit of this sacred wound, I pray Thee to give me the glory of Paradise, where I shall love Thee perfectly, and with all my strength. O sorrowing Mary, pray to Jesus for me. 

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory, etc. 

By all the wounds which Thou didst bear 

With so much love and so much pain, 

Oh, let a sinner's prayer 

Thy mercy, Lord, obtain! 

V

O my Lord Jesus Christ, I adore the wound in Thy side. I thank Thee for having willed, even after Thy death, to suffer this additional injury, without pain indeed, yet with consummate love. I compassionate Thine afflicted Mother, who alone felt all its pain. And, by the merit of this sacred wound, I pray Thee to bestow upon me the gift of holy love for Thee, that so I may ever love Thee in this life, and in the other, face to face, for all eternity, in Paradise. O sorrowing Mary, pray to Jesus for me. 

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory, etc. 

By all the wounds which Thou didst bear 

With so much love and so much pain, 

Oh, let a sinner's prayer 

Thy mercy, Lord, obtain!