Prayer promises

[Gigantals]

So I’ve been spending a lot of time praying and meditating lately, and I’m confused about a group of prayers. Some of them, like the prayers given to us by St Bridget by Jesus seem to have overlapping benefits. Is it wrong to use multiple versions of these prayers? My intent for this is partially because it can help my family further down the line other than myself for a few generations.

The prayers need to be recited every day ranging from 1-12 years, and can concern the number of blows Jesus received or the seven times His blood was spilt.

Thanks for the help

 

[Tis_Bearself]

The promises to the St. Bridget Prayers are not approved by the Church. For one thing, they weren’t written by St. Bridget; they were written and rewritten and added to by a lot of authors over the centuries, and some of the theology in the promises doesn’t seem to have a good source or support.

The prayers themselves are approved and it’s fine to pray them. They are just meditations on the Passion of Christ and his Seven Last Words (1-year prayer), and on the Precious Blood of Christ (15-year prayer). But you should be saying them because you love Jesus and want to meditate on his passion. Ignore the promises.

If you want to help your family, simply pray to Our Lord to help your family, or your future family. You can pray for future generations. Feel free to ask Our Lord for exactly what you wish for them, in his name. You do not need to recite prayers as if they were magic charms.

 

[Gigantals]

I’ve seen a lot of other prayers with promises, how can I tell if they’re approved then? The Divine Mercy Chaplet seems to be genuine enough.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

The Divine Mercy Chaplet is approved by the Vatican, and St. Faustina’s private revelations on which the devotion is based are also approved. There is also a Divine Mercy Sunday special day on the Church calendar. So it’s pretty obvious that one is approved.

The Divine Mercy private revelations are one of only two private revelations involving visions of Jesus (other than him appearing as a babe in arms) that are formally approved by the Vatican. The other is the Sacred Heart revelations to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque that led to the First Friday devotion to the Sacred Heart.

You can always do web research to see if some devotion is approved. Or, if you can’t find the answer easily, ask here. Someone will know.

As I said, the St. Bridget prayers are fine to say if you just ignore the promises. Many people who have prayed those prayers have said they are quite powerful. I pray them myself.

 

[Gigantals]

They certainly do feel powerful and really do help increase my reflection on His life.

To be honest, the promises felt too good to be true anyway. Like keeping a chosen group of people in a state of grace, or being told of your death a month beforehand. Others seemed somewhat reasonable, like defending our senses better, or being able to have a really good confession before we die.

A couple of other prayers I did were about honouring the drops of blood He spilt on the way to Calvary, and the other was about the devotion to His Sacred Face. What do you think?

 

[Tis_Bearself]

They all sound fine to pray.

Like I said, just don’t get all hung up on any “promises” unless they’re officially approved by the Vatican.

Devotion to the Holy Face and the Precious Blood is well established and many saints have practiced it. St. Therese of Lisieux’s religious name was Sister Marie Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face.

 

[Gigantals]

I won’t fall for the same mistake again. Thanks for your help.