A friend of mine recently told me about this twelve year novena on the Passion of Jesus.
I know, right? Twelve years? I often have trouble completing a simple nine day novena.
But there are five amazing promises revealed by our Lord to Saint Bridget to anyone who prays this novena. AND, if you die before the twelve years are finished the Lord will accept them as having been prayed in their entirety. Also, if a day or two is missed for a valid reason, they can be made up later.
Here are the promises:
1. The soul who prays them suffers no Purgatory.
2. The soul who prays them will be accepted among the Martyrs, as though he had spilled his blood for his faith.
3. The soul who prays them can choose three others whom Jesus will then keep in a state of grace sufficient to become holy.
4. No one in the four successive generations of the soul who prays them will be lost.
5. The soul who prays them will be made conscious of his death one month in advance.
The devotion was pronounced good by Pope Clement XII and Pope Innocent X confirmed this revelation as being from the Lord.
Saint Bridget of Sweden claimed these promises were from the Lord. Would our merciful God have allowed her to be declared a saint if she had misunderstood the promises? I think not.
The photo above and information here is from a folded card distributed by the Dupage Marian Center.
You can order the card with the listed prayers HERE. Or you can find an online copy HERE from the WorkofGod.org.
The prayers consist of one Our Father and one Hail Mary followed by a short written prayer for each of the listed seven events in the life of Our Lord that involved the shedding of His Precious Blood.
1. The Circumcision
2. The Suffering on the Mount of Olives
3. The Flogging
4. The Crowning of Thorns
5. The Carrying of the Cross
6. The Crucifixion of Jesus
7. The Piercing of Jesus' Side
The prayers take less than 10 minutes. You read the promises, right? I started on May 1 of this year. So far so good. One month complete. 143 more to go...if I live that long. Do I think I will finish it without missing a day? Probably not, unless the Lord provides extraordinary graces. Is just forgetting a valid reason? Hmmm. I don't know. But are there not great benefits to prayer and mediation on the passion regardless? And you never know, perhaps our Merciful Lord would give partial credit. That would be like Him, wouldn't it? God is never outdone in compassion and generosity.
Our Lord is so good. Ten minutes a day? And the five graces above? Blessed be God!!
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