Laude al Crucifisso (Iesù, sommo conforto)
The Harbor of Divine Mercy
The soul acknowledges Jesus as its ultimate refuge and contemplates the paradox of human sin against divine mercy.
Jesus, highest comfort, You are all my love, my blessed harbor and holy Redeemer. O great goodness, sweet mercy—happy is the person who stands united with You!1 Oh, how many times my wretched soul and heart have offended you! And you are stretched out on the cross to save me, a poor wretch. Oh, great goodness, sweet mercy—happy is the one who stays united with you!2
The Mystery of Suffering Love
The speaker questions the source of Christ's immense love and contrasts their own ingratitude with the Savior's wounds.
Jesus, what force has driven your immense goodness? Ah!3 What love has overcome you to suffer such cruelty? O great goodness, etc.4 I was always ungrateful to you, and I was never fervent; and you, for me, were cruelly wounded. O great goodness, and so on.5
The Sweetness of the Crucified
The speaker reflects on the serenity brought by Christ's love and prays to be consumed by that same living flame.
Jesus, you have filled the world so gently with sweet and joyful love, which makes every heart serene. O great goodness, and so on.6 Jesus, make me die of your living love; Jesus, make me languish with you, true Lord! O great goodness, and so on.7
Union with the Cross
The speaker expresses a deep desire to be physically and spiritually united with the Cross, seeking to be transformed into a seraph of love.
Jesus, if only I were nailed to that high wood where I see you suffering, Jesus, kind Lord.✦8 O great goodness, and so on.9 O Cross, make room for me and take my limbs, so that with your holy fire you kindle my heart and soul.✦ O great goodness, etc.10 Set my heart so ablaze with your divine love that it burns within until it seems a seraph.11 O great goodness, and so on.12 May the Cross and the Crucified One be carved deep in my heart; and may I always be fixed in the glory where He has gone.13 O great goodness, etc.14
Read the original Latin
Iesù, sommo conforto, Tu se’ tutto el mio amore; El mio beato porto, E santo redentore. O gran bontà, Dolce pietà, Felice quel che teco unito sta!
O quante volte offeso T’ha l’alma e ’l cor meschino! E tu sei in croce esteso Per salvar me tapino. O gran bontà, ec.
Iesù, qual forza ha spinto L’immensa tua bontade? Dhe! qual amor t’ha vinto Patir tal crudeltade? O gran bontà, ec.
A te fui sempre ingrato, E mai non fui fervente; E tu per me impiagato Sei stato crudelmente. O gran bontà, ec.
Iesù, tu hai el mondo Suavemente pieno D’amor dolce e iocondo, Che fa ogne cor sereno. O gran bontà, ec.
Iesù, fammi morire Del tuo amor vivace; Iesù, fammi languire Con te, Segnor verace! O gran bontà, ec.
Iesù, fuss’io confitto Sopra quell’alto ligno, Dove ti veggo afflitto, Iesù, Segnor benigno. O gran bontà, ec.
O Croce, fammi loco, E le mie membra prendi, Che del tuo santo foco El cor e l’alma accendi. O gran bontà, ec.
Infiamma el mio cor tanto Del tuo amor divino, Sì ch’arda dentro tanto Che para un serafino. O gran bontà, ec.
La Croce e ’l Crucifisso Sia nel mio cor scolpito; Et io sia sempre affisso In gloria ove egli è ito. O gran bontà, ec.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Gal.2.19-Gal.2.20 — For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. Gal.2.20 — I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
- ↩Gal.2.20;Rom.6.6 — I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Rom.6.6 — We know this: our old self was crucified with him, so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we might no longer be enslaved to sin.
Notes
- 1 ↩Italian pietà here can mean pity, compassion, or mercy; rendered as mercy for devotional force in address to the Crucified.
- 2 ↩Source prints the refrain cue “O gran bontà, ec.” Expanded from the full refrain established in SavLaud.1.12.1.s2: “O gran bontà, Dolce pietà, Felice quel che teco unito sta!”
- 3 ↩Italian interjection 'Dhe' (also Deh): a pleading/exclamatory particle of wonder and pathos; rendered as 'Ah!' rather than a heavier 'Alas!' to keep the cry immediate.
- 4 ↩Source 'ec.' abbreviates the recurring refrain; neighboring stanzas use the same shortened form, so the English keeps the refrain cue rather than inventing a full chorus line.
- 5 ↩«ec.» is the abbreviated refrain marker (etc./e cetera), as in neighboring stanzas; not a separate lexical item.
- 6 ↩Refrain cue: 'ec.' abbreviates the repeated burden (etc.); not a full expanded stanza in the source.
- 7 ↩ec. is the refrain abbreviation for eccetera / etc., as in neighboring stanzas.
- 8 ↩fuss’io is an optative wish (would that I were / if only I were); confitto means fixed/nailed (as to the Cross); alto ligno is the traditional ‘high wood’ of the Cross.
- 9 ↩ec. is the printed abbreviation for the repeated refrain (etc.); left abbreviated to match the source stanza form.
- 10 ↩Refrain cue: 'ec.' abbreviates the repeated lauda burden (et cetera), not a full new clause.
- 11 ↩Older Italian para (from parere) = 'seems/appears'; the line means the heart burns until it resembles a seraph, not that it prepares one.
- 12 ↩Refrain cue abbreviated in the source as ec. (eccetera); kept as etc. to match the printed lauda’s refrain shorthand.
- 13 ↩affisso keeps the Cross-image of being fastened/fixed (not merely ‘focused’); here it means remaining joined to Christ in the glory he has entered.
- 14 ↩Source abbreviates the chapter refrain with ‘ec.’ (eccetera); rendered as ‘etc.’ rather than expanded from neighboring stanzas.
Lauds companion
Never lose the rhythm again
Chosen Portion delivers your morning, midday and night office to your phone — the Hours, without the bells.
Chosen Portion is a modern Book of Hours: it turns the fixed-hour structure this collection preserves into scheduled, tappable daily prayer on your phone.
- Three daily prayer moments scheduled around your real calendar, not a monastery's
- Psalms and historic prayers sequenced for you — no page-flipping or decision fatigue
- A visible streak of completed offices, so the rhythm compounds instead of collapsing