The Miraculous Story Behind the Shoulder Wound of Jesus

 The Miraculous Story Behind the Shoulder Wound of Jesus

In His Passion, Jesus Christ suffered greatly for the sins of man. He wore the crown of thorns, was scourged at the pillar, and had the Five Holy Wounds inflicted upon Him. While most Catholics know of these, few are familiar with the shoulder wound of Jesus, and the miraculous story behind its devotion.

Tradition says as Jesus walked the three miles from Pontius Pilate’s courtyard to His Crucifixion at Calvary, the Cross dug through His shoulder ripping flesh from bone. According to a pious legend, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux prayed and asked of Christ what was his greatest unknown suffering, and what wound suffered in His Passion was most painful. Christ replied to him:

“I had on My Shoulder while I bore My Cross on the Way of Sorrows, a grievous Wound which was more painful than the others, and which is not recorded by men.”

Christ asked that Saint Bernard and other members of the Faithful keep a devotion to his shoulder wound, and that those who do will receive God’s grace.

“Honor this Wound with thy devotion, and I will grant thee whatsoever thou dost ask through its virtue and merit. And in regard to all those who shall venerate this Wound, I will remit to them all their venial sins, and will no longer remember their mortal sins.”

Saint Bernard heeded Christ’s call, composing a beautiful devotional prayer to honor the shoulder wound of Our Savior:

“O Loving Jesus, Meek Lamb of God, I, a miserable sinner, salute and worship the most Sacred Wound of Thy Shoulder on which Thou didst bear Thy heavy Cross, which so tore Thy Flesh and laid bare Thy Bones as to inflict on Thee an anguish greater than any other wound of Thy Most Blessed Body. I adore Thee, O Jesus most sorrowful; I praise and glorify Thee and give Thee thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound, beseeching Thee by that exceeding pain and by the crushing burden of Thy heavy Cross, to be merciful to me, a sinner, to forgive me all my mortal and venial sins and to lead me on towards Heaven along the Way of Thy Cross. Amen.”

While Saint Bernard was the first to venerate the shoulder wound, he was not the last. Saint Padre Pio kept a devotion and also suffered the same wound himself as a stigmata. When Pope Saint John Paul II was still a priest he visited Padre Pio and asked him which wound was his most painful. Father Wojtyła expected that it was his chest wound, but the saint replied:

“It is my shoulder wound, which no one knows about and has never been cured or treated.”

Prior to his death, Padre Pio confided to Brother Modestino Fucci at his friary in San Giovanni Rotondo that his greatest pains happened when took off his shirt. At the time, Fucci believed it to be his chest wounds much like John Paul II. When he was later assigned the task of inventorying all the items inside the cell of the late Padre Pio, he noticed his undershirts had blood stains on the right shoulder.

That night, Brother Fucci prayed asking Padre Pio for a sign if he truly bore the shoulder wound of Christ. At 1 A.M., he awoke with an excruciating pain in his right shoulder and the room was filled the aroma of flowers, the sign Padre Pio’s spiritual presence, and he heard a voice call out: “This is what I had to suffer!”

神嬰小道（ the little way of st Theresa)

 聖女的神嬰小道the little way 是最簡單但直接通往天堂光榮的路。 就是謙卑， 小孩的純潔，小孩對父母單純的愛， 和很多很多自己盡力而為的小犧牲。 不需要複雜的壯舉， 不需要轟轟烈烈的做大事， 而是做許多許多很卑微的小克己， 就是最快速到達光榮的境界。

耶穌說， 在天國最大的聖人， 就是如同這微小的小童。 最大的成最小的， 最小的成最大的

The Little Way: St. Thérèse of Lisieux's Simple Path to Holiness

You don't have to perform extraordinary miracles.

You don't have to travel the world as a missionary.

You don't have to become famous to become a saint.

That was the beautiful message of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the young Carmelite nun who taught the Church that the surest path to Heaven is found in the ordinary moments of daily life.

Known as "The Little Flower," St. Thérèse lived in a cloistered Carmelite convent in France and died of tuberculosis in 1897 at only 24 years old. She never preached to large crowds, founded a religious order, or performed spectacular public works. To many of the sisters around her, she seemed to live an ordinary and hidden life.

Yet after her death, the Church discovered the extraordinary holiness hidden within that ordinary life.

In her autobiography, The Story of a Soul, 

St. Thérèse explained what she called "The Little Way."

She realized she was too small to climb the steep mountain of perfection through great heroic deeds alone. Instead, she discovered another path—a spiritual "elevator" that would carry little souls to God.

That elevator was complete trust in God's love and doing even the smallest actions with extraordinary love.

St. Thérèse based this spirituality on the words of Jesus:

"Unless you turn and become like little children, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven." (Matthew 18:3)

For her, holiness was not measured by how impressive our actions appear, but by the love with which they are done.

She carefully folded laundry.

She smiled at difficult sisters.

She performed hidden chores.

She accepted little sacrifices without complaining.

She offered every small act to Jesus as if He Himself were the one she was serving.

To the world, these were ordinary tasks.

To God, they became acts of heroic love.

The Little Way also means trusting God like a child trusts a loving father.

A child does not rely on his own strength but confidently places everything into the hands of his parents.

Likewise, St. Thérèse believed we should entrust everything to our Heavenly Father, recognizing our weakness while having complete confidence in His infinite mercy.

Living the Little Way means:

Doing ordinary duties with extraordinary love.

Accepting hidden sacrifices without seeking recognition.

Remaining humble and joyful in both success and failure.

Trusting completely in God's mercy rather than our own strength.

Loving others through small acts of kindness, patience, and forgiveness every day.

St. Thérèse beautifully summarized her spirituality when she wrote:

"Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.

Her "Little Way" transformed the Church's understanding of holiness. It showed that sainthood is not reserved for a few extraordinary people but is possible for every Christian who lovingly offers the ordinary moments of daily life to God.

Because of the depth of her spiritual wisdom, Pope St. John Paul II declared St. Thérèse of Lisieux a Doctor of the Church in 1997, even though she had lived only twenty-four years.

Her message remains as powerful today as ever:

You don't need to do great things.

You simply need to do little things with great love.

St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, pray for us. 🌹🙏✝️

每日為煉獄中的靈魂祈禱

 以下是《每日為煉獄中的靈魂祈禱》中的今日反思。

🛐「聖安東尼努斯曾夢見一個已逝多年的靈魂。儘管人們為他的靈魂獻上了許多彌撒，但他卻說：『我的兄弟，所有為我獻上的彌撒和祈禱，都給了那些我本應特別祈禱卻未曾為之祈禱的靈魂。我必須留在煉獄，直到我完滿了上主的公義，我才得到解脫。

請為我祈禱，願天主寬恕我的疏忽。請向各地的人們宣講，要為亡者的靈魂祈禱，以免他們死後，天主也像對待我一樣對待他們。 ’”🛐

（本篤會修女瑪利亞‧艾曼努爾著）

其實為煉靈祈禱不困難。 每次彌撒中紀念他們， 每天的玫瑰經中、 日課中， 就紀念他們而向天主祈禱幾句， 已經非常好了。 天主希望我們祈禱不應自私，不應只為自己的快樂而祈禱。 我們應為世界上不幸的人， 在祈禱中紀念他們。 如果祈禱只是自私自利的行為， 這樣是令天主厭惡的

雙重冠冕， 聖高比

 與聖馬克西米連·科爾貝相關的兩頂冠冕源於他十歲左右經歷的一次著名童年異象：聖母瑪利亞顯現，手中拿著兩頂冠冕。

白冠：象徵純潔和英勇的德行。

紅冠：象徵殉道和為信仰獻身的意願。

當瑪利亞問他是否願意接受其中一頂冠冕時，科爾貝回答說他想要兩頂。他以畢生的虔誠和神職實踐白冠的象徵意義，並在1941年奧斯維辛集中營的飢餓地堡中，自願代替其他囚犯殉道，從而獲得了紅冠的象徵意義。

The two crowns associated with St. Maximilian Kolbe refer to a famous childhood vision he experienced around the age of ten, where the Virgin Mary appeared to him holding two crowns. 

The White Crown: Symbolized purity and a life of heroic virtue.

The Red Crown: Symbolized martyrdom and the willingness to sacrifice his life for his faith. 

When Mary asked him if he would accept either of the crowns, Kolbe replied that he wanted both. He lived out the white crown through his lifelong devotion and priesthood, and achieved the red crown when he willingly took the place of another prisoner in the starvation bunker at the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1941