O Passio Magna!

A Compunctionate Prayer
There are a number of variants of this beautiful prayer on the Passion of Christ. This particular version is found in a book of spiritual exercises by Father Timothée de Raynier of the Order of Minims, published at Marseille in 1778. The same prayer, in a slightly different version, was dear to Mother Yvonne-Aimée of Malestroit. Those who have prayed the prayer know that it is full of compunction and sweetness. I have discovered the prayer in several languages and with many variants. It has been variously attributed to Saint Gertrude, Saint Bridget of Sweden, Saint Bernard, Saint Bonaventure, Blessed Angelo of Foligno, and Blessed Julian of Norwich. To hear Dr Peter Kwasniewski’s sublime musical setting of the prayer go here.

O passio magna!
O profunda vulnera!
O inestimabilis dolor!
O largissima effusio sanguinis!
O abundantissima effusio lacrimarum!
O dulcis dulcedo!
O mortis amaritudo!
Da mihi vitam aeternam.

O great Passion!
O profound wounds!
O immeasurable sorrow!
O most copious shedding of blood!
O most abundant outpouring of tears!
O surpassing sweetness!
O death suffered in every bitterness!
Give me eternal life.