Angelus News | February 23, 2024 | Vol. 9 No. 4

a book containing prayers and pious
devotions for which indulgences are
attached.
One is very short, a cry of pain,
which St. Pope Pius X recommended
in a rescript in his own hand: “O holy
Angel who strengthened Jesus Christ
Our Lord, come and strengthen us.”
I know many people who, in their
suffering, are in their own Gethsemane.
This prayer helps one to identify
with Jesus on the eve of his sacrifice
and humbly ask for aid.
St. Luke says the angel “strengthened
Jesus.” Angels are personal beings, so
we can ask for the Lord’s help through
the intercession of the spiritual being
given that special mission to be with
Jesus in his suffering humanity.
The second prayer to the angel of
Gethsemane is longer and is more
like a conversation with the angel. My
version is in updated language:
“I greet you, holy Angel who comforted
my Jesus in his agony, and with
you I praise the most Holy Trinity for
having chosen you from among all the
holy angels to console and strengthen
him who is the consolation and
strength of all who are suffering.
“By that honor you received and
the obedience, humility, and love
with which you assisted the Sacred
Humanity of Jesus, my Savior, as He
fainted with sadness contemplating
the sins of the world, and especially
my sins, I beg you to pray that I
may have perfect sorrow for my sins.
Strengthen me in the afflictions that
overwhelm me now and in all the
other trials to come my way, especially
in my own final agony.”
The second prayer implies a dialogue
in which we celebrate with the
angel his mission to Gethsemane.
(Angels do not have gender, but
possessive pronouns are necessary in
English, hence “his”).
Asking for the angel’s help, the
petitioner attempts to understand the
angelic psychology, “by that honor
which you received.” Our side of the
conversation continues acknowledging
the reason that Jesus was in agony:
his apprehension of the weight of our
sins that he was to carry.
St. John Henry Newman has a wonderful
meditation on Jesus contemplating
the ugliness of the sin of the
whole world which he took on himself.
That point of meditation makes
us think that part of that ugliness was
made by our personal sins.
The sins of the whole world included
our own sins. We were there in the
garden, represented by our sins which
made Jesus sweat blood. Thus, we ask
the angel to pray that we have a true
repentance of our sins.
Then we pray to the angel for
strength: What you did for the Sacred
Humanity of Jesus, please do for us,
by the grace of God.
In hospital rooms and funeral parlors,
in nursing homes and hospice
care, in the many lonely places of the
human heart, the shadows of the olive
trees in the moonlight of Gethsemane
are present.
The prayer to the angel who came to
comfort Jesus, asking for consolation
in imitation of Jesus, is a perfect example
of the kind of colloquy de Sales
recommended.
It was customary when the Raccolta
was printed to assign a numerical
value of “indulgenced” days to the
prayers and devotions.
As Catholics, we believe an indulgence
is a shortening of the “temporal
punishment” that we deserve for our
sins, a penalty that still must be paid,
even though we have repented our
sins and been forgiven in confession.
It is about purification.
Assigning a value of days was a metaphor
of justice and proportion. These
two prayers were granted 300 days and
500 days indulgence, respectively,
amounts which now the Church calls
simply, a “partial” indulgence. It is the
Church’s way of saying that all prayer
is fruitful for purifying our souls and
helping us to make up for our past
sins.
Who would not be blessed (purified)
by having a “moment” of conversation
with an angel?
Msgr. Richard Antall is pastor of
Holy Name Church in Cleveland,
Ohio, and the author of several books.
He served as a missionary priest in
El Salvador for more than 20 years
and was named a “Noble Friend of
El Salvador” in 2011 by the country’s
National Assembly.
12 • ANGELUS • February 23, 2024