'I place myself within the most sacred wound of Thy side, and under the protecting mantle of Mary my Mother' — the evening prayer of the Doctor of prayer, indulgenced in 1893.
Lord Jesus Christ, my God, I adore Thee and thank Thee for all the blessings which Thou hast conferred upon me this day. I offer Thee my rest and all the moments of this night, and I beseech Thee to protect me from all sin. Therefore I place myself within the most sacred wound of Thy side, and under the protecting mantle of Mary my Mother. May Thy holy angels assist me and preserve me in peace. May Thy blessing be upon me forevermore. Amen.
At night, before sleep.
Alphonsus, founder of the Redemptorists and Doctor of the Church, wrote more prayers for ordinary Catholics than any saint of the modern era, and this is the one he gave them for the end of the day: thanks for the day's blessings, the night offered to God, protection asked against sin, and the two shelters he trusted most — the wound in Christ's side and the mantle of Mary. Leo XIII indulgenced it in 1893.
The text is that of Blessed Be God (1925), which prints it among the evening prayers with the indulgence.
Sixty days, once a day — Leo XIII, 30 June 1893.
