Holy Mother Church honors Pope St. Gregory the Great with a feast on March 12. Well-educated and pious, St. Gregory worked tirelessly for the Church. He was chosen Pope in 590 and reigned until 604. During that time he fought against heresies, sent missionaries to convert pagans, including to England, and took care of the poor and sick. He watched over the priests and the sacred traditions of the Church, and he is also well-known for his influence over the Church's music with Gregorian Chant. From the words from an antiphon in his office, he was called, "the Father of the City, the joy of the World."
The following prayer, penned by St. Gregory the Great, was a well-known medieval prayer often found in prayer books containing the Hours. Pious tradition holds that one day while St. Gregory was celebrating Mass, Christ Himself appeared during the Consecration as a sign of His True Presence in the Eucharist. Thus, often accompanying the prayer in these prayer books was a picture of St. Gregory, genuflecting at the Consecration, with Christ appearing on the Crucifix in front of the Altar.
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Seven Prayers of St. Gregory on the Passion of the Lord
1 Our Father. 1 Hail Mary.
III. O Lord Jesus, I ask by the bitterness of Thy Passion, which Thou didst undergo in the hour of Thy death, so much so when Thy most holy soul left Thy blessed body, have mercy upon my soul when it leaves my body, and lead it to eternal life. Amen.
IV. O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee placed in Thy tomb, anointed with myrrh and aromatic spices. I beg Thee that Thy death may be my life. Amen.
V. O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee descending into hell and freeing the captives from there. I beg Thee, that Thou mayest never permit me to enter there. Amen.
VI. O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee rising from the dead, ascending into heaven, and sitting at the right hand of the Father. I beg Thee that I may be worthy to follow Thee and be with Thee. Amen.
VII. O Lord Jesus, O good Shepherd, preserver of the just, justifier of sinners, have mercy upon all the faithful and be gracious to me, a wretched and unworthy sinner. Amen.
Prayer: I beseech Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, that Thy Passion may be a strength to me by which I may be strengthened, protected and defended. May Thy wounds be to me food and drink by which I may be nourished, inebriated, and delighted. May the sprinkling of Thy Blood be to me an ablution for all my sins. May Thy death be eternal glory to me. In these may my refreshment, joy, health, zeal, delight, and desire of my body and soul, now and forever. Amen.
Prayer: O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, place Thy Passion, Cross, and Death between Thy judgment and my soul, now and in the hour of my death. Deign to grant me grace and mercy, pardon to the living, eternal rest to the dead, peace to Thy Church, and life and eternal glory to all sinners. Thou who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen
--from the Paradisus Animae (1670)
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