Oh my Jesus prayer

[Rbaker]

Alright, I want to state that I have no problem with this, I have always just wondered why this is.

My question is why do we say “Lead all souls to Heaven especially those in the most need of thy mercy.” What determines those who are in the **most ** need of God’s mercy? None of us are perfect, and I don’t know about you all, but I’ll take as much mercy as I can get

 

[HelenRose]

For me it is a prayer from the heart. When I pray that prayer, I think of those who suffer, I think of people addicted to drugs or alcohol. I think of so many people who are lost and lonely and frightened. I think of myself as a sinner. I especially think of children who are frightened, hurt and alone. We are all especially in need of mercy. God have mercy on me a sinner.

 

[Confiteor_Deo]

I think it has to do with the most wicked of sinners that are farthest away from the Church. They are most in need of mercy since their sins are so grievous and their hearts are so hardened.

 

[Rbaker]

I think it has to do with the most wicked of sinners that are farthest away from the Church. They are most in need of mercy since their sins are so grievous and their hearts are so hardened.

Right but I just don’t see how we should be able to judge. To me it seems as if I am looking down upon those people. I am not any more worthy of God’s mercy than they are

 

[Rbaker]

For me it is a prayer from the heart. When I pray that prayer, I think of those who suffer, I think of people addicted to drugs or alcohol. I think of so many people who are lost and lonely and frightened. I think of myself as a sinner. I especially think of children who are frightened, hurt and alone. We are all especially in need of mercy. God have mercy on me a sinner.

I see what you are saying, but once again we arrive at the solution that we are ALL in need of God’s mercy.

 

[Confiteor_Deo]

Right but I just don’t see how we should be able to judge. To me it seems as if I am looking down upon those people. I am not any more worthy of God’s mercy than they are

We are leaving it up to God to decide who is in most need of His mercy since we aren’t stating anyone in particular when we say the prayer, so we aren’t judging anyone. I think the prayer concerns itself more with need than worth.

Some people are more in need of grace than others if they are to make it to Heaven. An adamant heretic that hates the Church has more need of grace to save his soul than someone who just struggles a bit with light detraction. Those who are nearly assured of their perdition have more need than those who are nearly assured of their salvation. None of them are worthy of any grace of God, but some need it more than others, the judgment of which is left to God. You aren’t looking down upon someone if you simply realize that they are farther away from God than others if it is quite obvious. A devout priest is a lot closer to God than an apostate.

 

[midori]

The words are neutral-to-merciful. “Dear God, please help the people who are most in need of your help.”

You could say, “Dear God, please give me success and patience and good health,” or you could say, “Dear God, please give me the graces I need the most.” You’re not saying you don’t need success; you’re not saying you don’t need patience; you’re not saying you don’t need good health— you’re leaving it to God’s desire to give you what you need the most, and you’re happy accepting what he chooses for you.

Same thing with this prayer. You’re not saying, “…especially [this subset of people susceptible to this particular sin]”, which would be fine in one way, but limiting. It’s always good to pray for a subset of people in particular-- “those who are alone”, “those who are afraid”, “the souls in Purgatory”, “those who will die today”. But “especially those in most need of thy mercy” is open-ended. You’re giving God your prayers on behalf of anonymous people who may be near, who may be far, or may be you yourself. You don’t know— you’re leaving it to God’s desire to help those who are furthest from him and most in need of his help.

I was reading a thing on Fatima the other day, and this part stood out:

It seems that God loves to “delegate” His work, He has given it to us to be the “secondary” causes of His work, including the salvation of our “brother” and our “neighbor.” And though His Blood poured out on Calvary was sufficient to save all souls, He requires that we, the living branches on Him, the Vine, ask for and even “activate” its application to those souls by our prayers and our sacrifices.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

To be properly understood, it must be remembered that this prayer was given by the Blessed Virgin to the three children to whom she appeared at Fatima. In the context of these apparitions, in addition to giving them this prayer, she showed the children a terrifying vision of hell. She said to the children: “Pray, pray much and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to hell because they have no one to pray and make sacrifices for them.”

Those who are most in need of God’s mercy are precisely those who have elongated themselves from God by their sins, who persevere in rejecting Him, and are the most endangered of being eternally lost. All are in need of God’s mercy but, as Our Lady showed the children, some are in more urgent need than others and she has specifically asked us to pray for those who are most in need.

 

[PaulfromIowa]

Domine Iesu, dimitte nobis debita nostra, libera nos ab igne inferiori, perduc in caelum omnes animas, praesertim eas, quae misericordiae tuae maxime indigent. Amen.

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy. Amen.

 

[drforjc]

We are leaving it up to God to decide who is in most need of His mercy since we aren’t stating anyone in particular when we say the prayer, so we aren’t judging anyone. I think the prayer concerns itself more with need than worth.

But “especially those in most need of thy mercy” is open-ended. You’re giving God your prayers on behalf of anonymous people who may be near, who may be far, or may be you yourself. You don’t know— you’re leaving it to God’s desire to help those who are furthest from him and most in need of his help.

These two answers are exactly correct. Well-stated, both of you.

 

[Rbaker]

Alright thank you all for the help. It is much appreciated

 

[AttendeDomine]

My understanding of this prayer is actually different from what others may have.

I read once that, in the original Portuguese, the petition “lead all souls to heaven” was a clear reference to the poor souls in Purgatory. If this is true, then “especially those in most need of thy mercy” refers to those who will need to spend the most time in Purgatory in order to be perfectly purified.

Edit: please take the above with a grain of salt, and research this topic for yourself. I’m leaving this up only as an interesting tidbit, but the information may be incorrect. I’ll do some further research.

 

[AttendeDomine]

Here is a quote from pg. 220 of this book.

“In many books about Fatima, the prayer Our Lady asked you [Sr. Lucia] to say after the decades of the Rosary is given in some such form as this: ‘O my Jesus, pardon our sins, save us from the fire of hell, have mercy on the souls in Purgatory, especially the most abandoned.’ Is this correct?”

“No, it is not,” she replied positively. "The correct form is the one I have written in my account of the apparition of July 13: ‘O my Jesus, pardon us, and save us from the fire of hell; draw all souls to heaven, especially those most in need.’"1

Footnote 1: “Ó meu Jesus, perdoai-nos e livrai nos do fogo do inferno; levai as alminhas todas para o Céu, principalmente aquelas que mais precisarem.”

Now, the above is referenced online in places like this Wikipedia article, which incorrectly cites Walsh’s book — the *Image * books edition has no page 225 — and which, alas, cites a Sedevacantist website.

However, I found this quote in my own copy of the book, and provided the full context, which began with a question on Purgatory.

I bring all of this up, simply because I think it may be true that “alminhas todas” means “all little souls,” and that this is an idiomatic expression for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. “Alminhas” also happen to be shrines that are set up for the Holy Souls, and, if “alminhas todas” means souls currently in Purgatory, this would also explain why some early versions of the Fatima prayer included an incorrect but explicit reference to Purgatory.

If this is true, then the answer to the OP’s question is simple: those “most in need” refer to those souls in Purgatory who require the most purification before entering heaven.