(INDULGENCES: 5 years, each time – 2. Plenary, once a month, on the ordinary conditions, if the prayer is said every day for a month.)
On the Feast of the Sacred Heart:
(1. An INDULGENCE of seven years, when it is recited conjointly with the Litany of the Sacred Heart and before the exposed Blessed Sacrament. – 2. Plenary, if added the usual conditions. – Pen., 18 March 1932.)
O sweet Jesus,
Whose overflowing charity for men
is requited by so much forgetfulness,
negligence and contempt,
behold us prostrate before Thy altar
eager to repair by a special act of homage
the cruel indifference and injuries,
to which Thy loving Heart is everywhere subject.
Mindful alas!
that we ourselves have had a share in such great
indignities,
which we now deplore from the depths of our hearts,
we humbly ask Thy pardon
and declare our readiness
to atone by voluntary expiation
not only for our own personal offenses,
but also for the sins of those,
who, straying far from the path of salvation,
refuse in their obstinate infidelity to follow Thee,
their Shepherd and Leader, or,
renouncing the vows of their baptism,
have cast off the sweet yoke of Thy law.
We are now resolved to expiate such
and every deploreable outrage committed against Thee;
we are determined to make amends
for the manifold offenses against Christian modesty
in unbecoming dress and behaviour,
– for all the foul seductions laid
to ensnare the feet of the innocent,
– for the frequent violation of Sundays and holidays,
and the shocking blasphemies
uttered against Thee and Thy Saints.
We wish also to make amends
for the insults to which Thy Vicar earth
and Thy priests are subjected,
– for the profanation,
by conscious neglect
or terrible acts of sacrilege,
of the very Sacrament of Thy divine love;
and lastly for the public crimes of nations
who resist the rights
and the teaching authority of the Church
which Thou hast founded.
Would, O Divine Jesus,
we were able to wash away
such abominations with our blood!
We now offer,
in reparation for these violations
of Thy divine honour,
the satisfaction Thou didst once make
to Thine eternal Father on the cross
and which Thou does continue
to renew daily on our altars;
we offer it in union
with the acts of atonement
of Thy Virgin Mother
and all the Saints
and of the pious faithful on earth;
and we sincerely promise to make recompense,
as far as we can with the help of Thy grace,
for all neglect of Thy great love
and for the sins we and others
have committed in the past.
Henceforth we will live
a life of unwavering faith,
of purity of conduct,
of perfect observance
of the precepts of the gospel
and especially that of charity.
We promise to the best of our power
to prevent others from offending Thee
and to bring as many as possible to follow Thee.
O loving Jesus,
through the intercession of
the Blessed Virgin Mary
our model in reparation,
deign to receive the voluntary offering
we make of this act of expiation;
and by the crowning gift of perseverance
keep us faithful unto death
in our duty and the allegiance we owe to Thee,
so that we may all one day
come to that happy home,
where Thou with the Father
and the Holy Ghost
livest and reignest God,
world without end.
Amen.
