15 secret tortures of Jesus Christ

(Due to numerous requests since last month, I am rerunning my Holy Week piece last year.)

Sister Mary Magdalene, a Franciscan nun of the Order of St. Claire of Assisi, lived in Rome in the 18th century. Her greatest devotion was to learn more about the sufferings of Jesus Christ on the night after the Last Supper, before His crucifixion. It is said that the Lord appeared to her, announcing that He would reveal previously unknown tortures. He said: "My daughter, I wish that you let all people of the earth learn of these secret sufferings, and that every one of these tortures be honored. Anyone who will bring Me everyday, with deepest love, one of these tortures and who will pray the following prayer from the depth of his heart will be given his reward, the Eternal Glory."

The consequent revelation was presented to Pope Clement II (1730-1740), who gave his imprimatur for public release. There are two official translations into English:

"My tormentors considered Me as the most wretched man living on earth, that is why:

"(1) They fastened My legs with rope and dragged Me over the stepping stones of the staircase, down into the filthy, nauseating cellar;

"(2) They took off My clothing and stung My body with iron joints;

"(3) They attached a rope around My body and dragged Me on the floor, and then flung Me from wall to wall;

"(4) They stringed Me up a wooden beam on the ceiling with a loose knot, from which I slipped and fell to the ground. Overwhelmed by this torture, I wept tears of blood.

"(5) They tied Me to a post and pierced My body with various tools and weapons;

"(6) They struck Me with stones and burnt Me with blazing embers and torches;

"(7) They pierced Me with awls; sharp spears tore the skin, flesh and arteries out of My body;

"(8) They tied Me to a post and made Me stand barefoot on a heated metal sheet;

"(9) They crowned Me with an iron crown and strapped My eyes with the dirtiest possible rags;

"(10) They sat Me on a chair with pointed nails, causing deep wounds in My body;

"(11) They poured on My wounds molten lead and tar, and after this torture pressed Me again on the nailed chair, so that the nails pierced deeper and deeper into My flesh;

"(12) To shame and torment Me, they drove needles through the skin of My uprooted beard;

"(13) They threw on Me a cross, and tied Me to it so tightly that I could hardly breathe;

"(14) When I fell to the ground, they stomped on My head. One of them stepped on My chest, then took a thorn from My crown and drove it into My tongue;

"(15) They poured into My mouth the most immodest excretions, as they uttered the most infamous expressions about Me. Then they tied My hands behind My back and led Me out of jail with strikes and blows."

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It is worthy to note, according to a Vatican chronicler, that the 10th, 11th and 12th tortures explain the bloodstains at the buttocks and chin left on the Shroud of Turin. Some of these tortures have been depicted in films on the Passion and Death of Jesus, notably the ’60s Filipino movie Kristo and, more recently, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ.

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Jesus bequeathed a prayer to the pious Sister Mary Magdalene:

"My Lord and my God, it is my unchangeable will to honor You in these Fifteen Secret Tortures, when You shed Your Precious Blood. As many times as there are grains of sand around the seas, as grains of wheat in the fields, as blades of grass in the meadows, as fruit in the orchards, as leaves on the trees, as flowers in the gardens, as stars in the sky, as angels in Heaven, as creatures on earth, so many thousands of times may You be glorified, praised and honored, O most love-worthy Lord Jesus Christ – Your Holiest Heart, Your Precious Blood, Your Divine Sacrifice for Mankind, the Holiest Sacrament of the Altar – the Most Holy Virgin Mary, the nine glorious choirs of Angels and the Blessed Phalanx of the Saints, from myself and everyone, now and forever, and in the eternal ages;

"In like manner I desire, My dear Jesus, to give You thanksgiving, to serve You, to repair and atone for all the ignominies, and to offer You my soul and my body as Your possessions forever;

"Likewise I regret all my sins and beg your pardon, O Lord and my God. I offer you all the merits of Jesus Christ to repair everything, to obtain a happy dying hour, and the deliverance of souls from Purgatory;

"This prayer I desire to renew at each hour until my death, O loveable Jesus. Sweet Savior, fortify my resolution and permit not neither wicked men nor Satan destroy it. Amen."

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E-mail: jariusbondoc@workmail.com