Most Holy and Miraculous Christ of the Wound of the Back
It is venerated in the Parish Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption of Villanueva de la Jara, Cuenca (Spain)
Introduction
Saint Bernard once asking Our Lord in prayer what had been the greatest pain that his body suffered during his passion, the Lord replied: «I had a wound on my back, deep three fingers, which I suffered carrying the Cross because of the three bones that protrude from it. This one has been of greater sorrow and pain to me than all the others, which all men consider little because it is not known to them, but you have it in veneration, and you know that any grace you ask of me in its virtue I will grant it to you. And to all those who honor me for her, I will forgive their daily sins, I will remember no more of the confessed mortals and they will obtain my grace and mercy.»
Prayer of the Most Holy Wound of the Back
Jesus Christ, most meek Lamb of God. I, poor sinner, salute and revere your Most Holy Wound, deep three fingers, which you suffered on your back carrying your heavy Cross, and, “due to the three bones that protrude from it, it caused you greater sorrow and pain than all the other together of your passion.»
I adore you, my sorrowful Lord; I revere you, I glorify you in the depths of my heart, and I thank you for that Most Holy, very deep and painful Wound on your back. I humbly beg you, by that heavy weight of your Cross, to have mercy on me and forgive me all my sins, both venial and mortal, and accompany me on the way of the Cross, by your bloody footsteps, to eternal beatitude; in the company of my relatives, forever and ever. Amen.
Praised be the Most Holy Wound on the back of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Brief history of the Christ of the Wound on the Back
In 1947 Don José María Ponsoda was commissioned to create a figure of Christ, which he did with the help of Don Ramón Granell. Mr. Ponsoda was the best imaginer of that time; he restored the image of the Virgen de los Desamparados de Valencia, made the Christ of the Coveta of the Basilica of him and a multitude of images that he even exported.
He had to be 1.74 m tall. (It is curious that if his head were erect and his legs stretched out he would have been 1.81 m., the height of the Lord according to the Shroud of Turin)
This image was known as “El Cristo Grande”, but it did not have its own name and had not performed any miracles until 1985, when it was baptized with the name of Santísimo Cristo de la Llaga de la Espalda, considering the complaint of the Lord to Saint Bernard: “Which wound all men consider little because it is not known to them”, This inspired a group of people the idea of spreading their knowledge through the holy card, which was to their liking and thus fulfilled the promise made to Saint Bernard: «And you know that ANY GRACE YOU ASK OF ME IN HIS VIRTUE I WILL GRANT YOU».
Some favors received from the Christ of the Back Wound
Story of Gloria Serrano González about a favor of the Lord worked through a picture of the Holy Christ of the Wound of the Back:
On September 29, 1985, at 10:30 p.m., my son, Valentín Gómez Serrano, 23 years old, had a motorcycle accident, and was admitted to the Provincial Hospital of Valencia in a state of «deep coma due to traumatic brain injury”, remaining in intensive care.
On October 1 D. Manuel Rovira visited me and gave me a picture of the Most Holy Christ of the Wound on the Back and when I saw it it gave me a chill from head to toe, because it impressed me a lot, so much so that I began to pray to him and he, in turn, he put another picture under my son’s pillow.
That week he got very serious, so much so that on the 4th, believing he was dying, we stayed with him. However, the next day, much to everyone’s surprise. he came to his senses a little, creating a stir among the staff in the room who, astonished, said: «this is indeed a miracle», «this is Lourdes in Valencia».
He continued to improve, leaving intensive care on the 15th, Saint Teresa’s day. She has turned out very well, well, strange thing, she only has a very slight difficulty speaking that is disappearing. She was able to return to her job and improved day by day.
This serves as proof of this great favor of the Most Holy Christ of the Wound on the Back. *
Glory Serrano
CARLOS BARCIA MARIÑO, Chief Neurosurgeon of the Service at the General Hospital of Valencia, I am pleased to certify:
That on September 30, 1985, 22-year-old VALENTÍN GÓMEZ SERRANO was admitted to intensive care at said Hospital, affected by a severe head injury, whose treatment I took charge of.
His condition on admission was classified as very serious. He presented, in fact, a coma with anisocoria and decortication movements in the left hemibody to the stimulus. At 48 hours, despite the assistance received, she worsened even more, deepening the coma and appearing decerebrate reactions. The Cerebral Axial Tomography performed revealed the existence of a mesencephalic hemorrhage, a critical injury before which she could only wait.
Suddenly, on October 5, a favorable reaction occurs, waking up the patient from the coma. Since then, the course has been frankly favourable, with all the symptoms gradually disappearing, including the paralysis of the left side of the body.
At present, he works normally in the Hospital as a Sanitary Officer, without having suffered from anything and without, surprisingly, having any sequels.
Story of Fr. Juan Lucia Ruiz, SI, about this favor of the Lord worked through the image of the Holy Christ of the wound on the back.
My priest brother, Rev. D. Rafael Lucia Ruiz, General Administrator of the Diocese of Valencia, retired, as a result of a fall in which he hit his head, had to be hospitalized in the Nuestra Señora del Consuelo clinic on September 10, 1985.
Operated twice on the head and with alternative improvements and worsening, he reached extreme gravity, and on September 26, almost in an agonizing state, he was taken to the House of the Little Sisters of the Forsaken Elderly in Valencia, where Fr. Rafael Lucia Ruiz had exercised his priestly ministry for almost forty years.
In these circumstances, Don Manuel Rovira Nicolau, a friend of mine since our youth, offered me a picture of the Most Holy Christ of the Back Wound that, on my own initiative, I myself placed under the pillow of the bed in which they laid my brother.
For the time being, the continuous attacks that befell him in his serious condition ceased, fearing a sad outcome.
After forty-eight hours, it seems that he recovered, coming out of his serious state and saying a word.
Although slowly, in successive days he recovered. She knows and speaks, and after a couple of weeks, she can take communion, every day, with full knowledge.
He prays, accompanied, every day the Holy Rosary, and in his little wheelchair, he attends the Holy Mass on Sundays.
He receives some visitors, and gives his priestly blessing to those who piously ask for it.
He gets to take food by himself. All this is considered as a miracle of the Lord.
He lived like this for about eight months, until a heart attack put an end to his life. She was perfectly aware of his state; in this last trance, constantly repeating the words of Saint Mary: “Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death” which took place on the afternoon of July 24, 1986, placidly surrendering his soul to the Lord, comforted by the Holy Sacraments, under the mantle of the Blessed Virgin of Pilar.
more stories
A woman from Gandía was worried because her husband did not have a job and this affected her psychologically. I sent her a print and she told me, days later, that she had found a job, although it was temporary and not definitive.
I told a young Piarist postulant who complained of not having luck in the exams that this happened to him because he wanted to. I gave him a picture and recommended that he pray the prayer every day and, on the day of the exams, that he ask the Lord for help and see how the Lord helped him. and it was like this
A stamp reached the hands of a man who was going to undergo surgery at the University of Navarra. He was very serious and left, through the intercession of Stmo. Christ with the Wound on his Back, fully recovered from his operation.
This is one of the reasons for the rapid growth of this devotion in the North of Spain.
Doña Pilar Arrufat, a heart patient for 60 years, suffered persistent vomiting that endangered her already spent life. I invoked the Stmo. Cristo de la Llaga en la Espalda and I put his image on her pillow (at that time Ms. Pilar was hospitalized in Hospital la Fe in Valencia) and I promised her that if Ms. Pilar healed I would write this to Mr. Manuel Rovira , who repeatedly asked me for the list of favors received from Stmo. Christ, getting long, more or less justified, on my part. With Mrs. Pilar at home again -despite the weakness of her heart- I keep what I promised.
Anonymous.
María Auxiliadora López Forradellas underwent surgery for kidney cancer eight years ago. He is in good health and daily commends himself to that image with Faith, subsequently coming out of another operation well and, despite his delicate situation, he also went personally on Easter Sunday to Villanueva de la Jara to thank the Christ of the Back Wound.
Two ATS sisters entrusted themselves to Stmo. Cristo de la Llaga de la Espalda and they were both placed in two Valencian hospitals, going with her family to Villanueva de la Jara to thank that image.
Note: For the prayer to Stmo. Christ with the Wound on the Back, it is appropriate to confess, take communion and sincerely promise the Lord that, counting on his help, we are willing to fulfill his will. The response of the Lord, granting us what we ask through the intercession of the Stmo. Christ with the Wound on His Back -if we are honest with Him- will not wait.
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