The 15 Saint Bridget Prayers
These beautiful prayers are known to have been uttered by our Lord to St. Bridget of Sweden after the great saint had meditated attentively on His Passion.
The 15 prayers Jesus gave to Saint Bridget of Sweden
in the Church of St. Paul in Rome (Jun 14, 1303 - July 23, 1373)
Feast Day: July 23
History:
Saint Bridget of Sweden was born June 14, 1303, daughter to a wealthy governor and provincial judge of Uppland, Bridget was born into a family of deep piety, and from the age of 7, was favored by visions and illuminations that defined her life. She married Prince Ulf Gudmarsson a noble and pious man. They had eight children including St. Catherine of Sweden. When her husband died in 1344 she devoted herself to religious life. In 1346 she founded the Order of the Most Holy Savior. St. Bridget is known for the revelations she received on the wounds and passion of Jesus, known as the 15 Prayers of St. Bridget. She died July 23, 1373 and was canonized on October 7, 1391. Saint Bridget prayed for a long time to know how many blows Our Lord suffered during His terrible Passion. Rewarding her patience, one day He appeared to her and said: "I received 5475 blows upon My Body. If you wish to honor each of them in some way pray the following prayers each day for a whole year. When the year is over, you will have honored each one of My Wounds." Our Lord gave many promises to those who recite these prayers. Many people have done this and benefited greatly.
Each prayer is preceded by 1 Our Father and 1 Hail Mary
The Lord's Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power,
and the glory,
for ever and ever.
Amen.
The Hail Mary
Hail Mary,
Full of Grace,
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit
of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of death.
Amen.
Our Father ...
Hail Mary ...
O Jesus! Only Son of the Father, Splendor and Figure of His Substance, remember the simple and humble recommendation Thou didst make of Thy Soul to Thy Eternal Father, saying: "Father, into Thy Hands I commend My Spirit!" And with Thy Body all torn, and Thy Heart Broken, and the bowels of Thy Mercy open to redeem us, Thou didst Expire. By this Precious Death, I beg of Thee O King of Saints, comfort me and help me to resist the devil, the flesh and the world, so that being dead to the world I may live for Thee alone. I beg of Thee at the hour of my death to receive me, a pilgrim and an exile returning to Thee. Amen.
The Magnificent Promises from Our Lord to St. Bridget of Sweden
(See Warning below)
Saint Brigit prayed for a long time to know how many blows Our Lord suffered during His terrible Passion. Rewarding her patience, one day He appeared to her and said: "I received 5475 blows upon My Body. If you wish to honor them in some way, recite fifteen Our Fathers and fifteen Hail Mary with the following Prayers, which I Myself shall teach you, for an entire year. When the year is finished, you will have honored each of My Wounds."
Magnificent Promises to Saint Brigit of Sweden Our Lord grants these promises to all who devoutly recite the 15 Saint Brigit Prayers every day for a year:
I will deliver 15 souls of his lineage from purgatory.
15 souls of his lineage will be confirmed and preserved in grace.
15 sinners of his lineage will be converted.
Whoever recites these Prayers will attain the first degree of perfection.
15 days before his death, I will give him My Precious Body in order that he may escape eternal starvation, I will give him my Precious Blood to drink les the thirst eternally.
15 days before his death he will feel a deep contrition for all his sins and will have a perfect knowledge of them.
I will place before him the sign of My Victorious Cross for his help and defense against the attacks of his enemies.
Before his death I shall come with My Dearest Beloved Mother.
I shall graciously receive his soul, and will lead him into eternal joys.
And having led it there I shall give him a special draught from the fountain of My Deity, something I will not do for those who have not recited My Prayers.
Let it be known that whoever may have been living in a state of mortal sin for 30 years, but who will recite devoutly, or have the intention to recite these Prayers, I the Lord will forgive him all his sins.
I shall protect him from strong temptations.
I shall preserve and guard his five senses.
I shall preserve him from a sudden death.
His soul will be delivered from eternal death.
He will obtain all he asks for from God and the Blessed Virgin.
If he has lived all his life doing his own will and he is to die the next day, his life will be prolonged.
Every time one recites these Prayers he gains 100 days indulgence.
He is assured of being joined to the supreme Choir of Angels.
Whoever teaches these prayers to another will have continual joy and merit which will last throughout eternity.
There where these Prayers are being said or will be said in the future, God is present with His Grace.
Acts of the Holy See
Congregation of the Holy Office
Warning
In some places, a certain little work has been disseminated called the "Secret of Happiness: 15 Prayers Revealed by the Lord to St. Bridget in the Church of St. Paul at Rome", published at Nice and various other places in several languages.
Since it is asserted in this pamphlet that God made to St. Bridget certain promises, whose supernatural origin in no way stands up, let local ordinaries take care not to grant permission for publishing or reprinting pamphlets or other writings which contain these aforementioned promises.
Given at Rome, from the offices of the Holy Office, 28 , January 1954
Marius Crovini, Notary of the Supreme Holy, Congregation of the Holy Office
Some recent publications of the promises have made various claims about past popes approving their publication, however, such claims are quite false. No authentic records of such approvals of the promises themselves exist.
In putting together the prayers below, it soon became apparent that matching a Latin version with a popular English translation of the prayers would be impossible. I have no fewer than five Latin texts and three English texts all dating from the 15th century to the 20th century and none of them match each other terribly well. While the underlying meaning of the prayers is much the same, the order of the prayers is different between the various editions. Moreover, there are a fair number of divergences between those editions in the actual wording of the texts. Quite a few phrases appear in one or more editions that do not appear in the other editions. It is fairly clear that publishers have heavily edited and emended them over time to the point where it is difficult, if not impossible, for me to determine exactly what the wording of the authentic "Prayers of St. Bridget" really is. So what I have done is taken the Latin as it is found in the 1670 edition of the Paradisus Animae Christianae by Jacob Merlo Horst. The Paradisus Animae Christianae was a popular prayer book of its time and was printed in many languages, including Latin. For the English, I started with a popular translation and heavily emended it in places to match the Latin from the Paradisus Animae Christianae.