PRAYER OF THIRTY DAYS TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
TO HONOUR THE HOLY PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
If we pray this prayer with devotion for the number of days wey dem mention above, we fit get hope say, through mercy, we go receive wetin we ask for, if e dey lawful. Dem recommend am especially as devotion wey fit every day for Lent and all the Fridays throughout the year.
Virgin Mary, wey dey glorious and blessed forever, Queen of virgins, Mother of mercy, hope and comfort of souls wey sorrow don weigh down and wey feel say dem dey alone; through that sword of sorrow wey pierce your tender heart, as your only Son, Christ Jesus, our Lord, suffer death and shame for cross; through that tender care and pure love wey He get for you as your Son, as He share your sorrow, when from His cross He put you under the care and protection of His beloved disciple, St. John—I beg you, pity me for my poverty and all the things wey I need; show compassion for my worries and troubles; help me and comfort me for all my weaknesses and sufferings.
Na you be mother of mercies, the sweet Comforter and place of safety for people wey dey in need and orphans, for people wey feel say dem dey alone and people wey dey suffer. So, look with pity on me, this miserable child of Eve wey no get helper, and hear my prayer; because, as just punishment for my sins, evils surround me and deep sorrow dey weigh my spirit down. O loving mother of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, where else I fit run go find shelter wey safe pass your protection as mother?
So, I beg you, listen with pity and compassion to this request wey I dey make with humble and serious heart.
I dey ask for this through the merits of your dear Son wey no get end; through that love and humility wey make Him take our human nature, when you give your consent according to God’s will; and after nine months don complete, you born Him from the pure shelter of your womb, to redeem the world and bless am with His presence.
I dey ask for this through that deep anguish of mind wey overwhelm your beloved Son, my dear Saviour, for Mount Olivet, when He beg the Eternal Father to remove from Him, if possible, the bitter cup of the Passion wey He go suffer.
I dey ask for this through His prayer wey He repeat three times for the garden, from where you later follow Him with sorrowful steps and tears of mourning to the sorrowful place of His suffering. I dey ask for this through the marks of flogging and wounds for His virgin body, wey the ropes and whips cause when dem tie Him and flog Him, after dem remove His robe wey no get seam, wey the people wey kill Him later cast lots for.
I dey ask for this through the mockery and shame wey dem use insult Him; the false accusation and unjust judgment wey dem use condemn Him to death, and wey He bear with patience from heaven. I dey ask for this through His bitter tears and bloody sweat; His silence and surrender to God’s will; His sadness and sorrow of heart.
I dey ask for this through the Blood wey trickle from His royal and holy Head, when dem hit am with reed wey dem use as king’s staff, and pierce am with crown of thorns.
I dey ask for this through the terrible pain wey He suffer when dem use big nails fasten His hands and feet to the wood of the Cross.
I dey ask for this through His severe thirst and the bitter vinegar and gall wey He drink.
I dey ask for this through the way dem abandon Him for cross, when He cry out, “My God, my God, why You don abandon Me?”
I dey ask for this through His mercy wey reach the good thief, and through the way He hand over His precious soul and spirit into the hands of the Eternal Father before He die, as He talk say, “Everything don finish.”
I dey ask for this through the blood mixed with water wey flow from His holy side when dem pierce am with spear, and from where plenty grace and mercy don flow reach us like flood.
I dey ask for this through His life wey no get any stain of sin, His bitter Passion, and His shameful death for the Cross, when nature itself shake violently: rocks burst, the curtain of the Temple tear, ground shake, and sun and moon turn dark.
I dey ask for this through His going down into hell, where He comfort the Saints of the Old Law with His presence, and carry captivity itself away as captive.
I dey ask for this through His glorious victory over death, when He rise to life again on the third day; and through the joy wey His appearances for forty days after give you, His blessed mother, His apostles, and the rest of His disciples; and when, for your presence and their own, He miraculously ascend into Heaven.
I dey ask for this through the grace of the Holy Spirit wey enter the hearts of His disciples when He come down upon dem in the form of tongues of fire, and wey fill dem with zeal to turn the world to God as dem go out to preach the Gospel.
I dey ask for am through the appearance of your Son we go fill everybody with holy fear on that last day we go bring great fear, when He go come judge the living and the dead, and judge the world with fire.
I dey ask for am through the compassion we He get for you for this life, and the joy we mouth no fit describe we you feel for your Assumption into Heaven, where you dey forever, completely taken up with the sweet contemplation of His divine perfections. O Virgin we get glory and we God bless forever, comfort the heart of this person we dey beg you, and obtain for me:
[Here mention or reflect on your lawful request.]
And as I dey sure say my Divine Saviour dey honour you as His beloved Mama, we He no fit refuse anything, make I quickly experience how your powerful intercession dey work, according to your tender motherly love and His Sacred Heart we love you as His Mama. Na He dey mercifully grant the requests and fulfil the desires of people we love am and fear am.
O Most Blessed Virgin, apart from wetin I dey ask for now and any other thing we I fit need, obtain for me from your Divine Son, our Lord and our God, faith we dey alive, hope we stand strong, perfect charity, true sorrow for my sins, hatred for sin, love for God and my neighbour, contempt for this world, and patience and acceptance of God’s will inside the trials and suffering of this life.
O Holy Mother of God, also obtain for me the gift to remain faithful till the end, and the grace to receive the last Sacraments of the Church in a worthy manner for the hour of my death.
Lastly, I dey beg you, obtain everlasting life for the souls of my papa and mama, my brothers and sisters, my relatives, and people we don help me, both the living and the dead. Amen.
Featured Picture – Fresco painting of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin, by Tempesta and Circignani, Santo Stefano Rotondo, Rome.
Main picture – Virgin of the Seven Sorrows, by the Diputació de Barcelona, 1914
Prayer from “ The Catholic Prayer Book we Person Fit Carry for Pocket, we dem publish for 1899.
Imprimatur:
MICHAEL AUGUSTINE,
Archbishop of New York.
New York, Oct. 13, 1899.