from 6 to 7 in the evening
SECOND HOUR
Jesus leaves his Most Holythe greater Mother and goes to the Upper Room
Preparation for each HOUR
And for those hours that I cannot reflect on, I offer you my willingness to remember them, and I intend to consciously reflect on them whenever I have to devote time to pfulfilling their duties or sleeping.
Accept, O merciful Lord, my loving intention and make it beneficial for me and for all, as if I had effectively and sanctimoniously accomplished what I wish to do.Meanwhile, I thank You, my Jesus, that through prayer You call me to unite myself with You. And to please You even more, I take Your thoughts, Your language, Your Heart, and I intend to pray with them, merging my whole self into Your Will and Your Love. I stretch out my arms to embrace You, I lay my head on Your Heart, and I begin...
My beloved Jesus, as I share with You Your suffering and the suffering of Your grieving Mother, I see that You decide to go where the Father's Will calls You. The love of the Son and the Mother is so great that it makes You inseparable. So you remain in the Heart of your Mother and Queen, and your beloved Mother remains in your Heart, otherwise it would be impossible for you to part from each other. Then you bless each other, and you give her a last kiss to strengthen her in the severe pain she will suffer. You say goodbye to Her for the last time and leave.
But the paleness of your face, your trembling lips, your choked voice, as if you wanted to burst into tears when saying goodbye to her, all this tells me how much you suffer when you leave her!
However, in order to fulfill the Father's Will, with your Hearts merged into one, you surrender yourselves to everything, wanting to make amends for those who, unable to overcome the affection of their relatives and friends, bonds and attachments, do not strive to fulfill God's Holy Will and attain the state of holiness to which God calls them. The love you want to offer them is immense, but they are content with the love of creatures!
My wonderful Love, when I make reparation with You, let me stay with Your Mother to comfort and support Her when You leave Her. Later, I will quicken my pace to join You. But I feel great pain when I see my tormented Mother trembling, and Her sorrow is so great that when She has to say goodbye to Her Son, Her voice breaks and She cannot utter a word. She is close to losing consciousness, and in this loving swoon She says: My Son, my Son, I bless You! What a bitter separation, more cruel than any death...! But the pain takes away her speech and forces her to remain silent!
Concerned Queen, let me support you, wipe away your tears, and sympathize with you in your bitter sorrow. My Mother, I will not leave you alone. Take me with you and teach me in these moments so painful for you and for Jesus what I must do — how to defend Him, how to make amends for Him, how to comfort Him, and whether I must give my life to defend His life. I will not move from under your cloak. At your sign, I will fly to Jesus and give Him your love together with mine, your feelings and kisses together with mine, and I will place them in every wound, in every drop of His Blood, in every pain and insult. And when He feels the kisses and love of His Mother in each of His pains, His suffering will be alleviated. Then I will return to Your cloak and bring You His kisses to soothe Your Heart pierced with pain... My Mother, my heart is beating fast, I want to go to Jesus. And as I kiss your motherly hands, bless me as you blessed Jesus, and let me go to Him.
My beloved Jesus, love shows me your steps, and I reach you as you walk through the streets of Jerusalem with your beloved disciples. I look at you and see that you are still pale. I hear your voice, gentle but so dignified that it breaks the hearts of your disciples, who are anxious. This is the last time, You say, that I walk these streets alone. Tomorrow I will walk them bound and dragged amid a thousand insults. And pointing to the places where You will be insulted and tormented, You continue: My life here below is nearing its end, like the sun that will soon set. Tomorrow at this hour, I will no longer be here... But like the sun, I will rise on the third day.
After your words, the disciples become sad and silent, not knowing what to say. However, you add: Take courage, do not be discouraged. For the sake of all of you, it is necessary that I die.
As you say this, you are moved, but with a trembling voice you continue to instruct them. And before you shut yourself in the Upper Room, you look at the setting sun, just as your life will soon come to an end, and you offer your steps for those who are at the end of their lives. You grant them the grace to end their lives in You, and at the same time, You make reparation for those who, despite the sorrows and disappointments of life, stubbornly refuse to surrender to You... Then you look again at Jerusalem, the center of your miracles and the special delight of your Heart, which in return prepares the Cross for you and sharpens the nails to kill God. You tremble, Your Heart is gripped with pain, and You weep over its destruction. You give them satisfaction for so many souls consecrated to You, whom You wanted to make specimens of Your Love with such care, but they, ungrateful and unfaithful, cause You even greater suffering... I want to make reparation with You to ease the pain in Your Heart. However, I see that You are terrified by the sight of Jerusalem, and turning Your gaze away, You enter the Upper Room. My Love, hold me close to Your Heart so that I may make Your sorrow my own and offer it to the Father together with You. Look mercifully upon my soul and, pouring Your Love into it, grant me Your blessing.
Thanksgiving after every HOUR
My beloved Jesus, You called me in this HOUR of Your Passion to keep You company, and I came. It seemed to me that I could hear You praying in agony and pain, making reparation, suffering, and you ask for the salvation of souls with the most moving and convincing voice. I have tried to accompany you in everything. And since I must now leave you to attend to my work, I feel obliged to to say thank you and bless you.
Yes, Jesus, I thank You a thousand times over and bless You for everything You have done and suffered for me and for everyone. I thank You and bless You for every drop of blood You shed, for every breath, for every heartbeat, for every step, word, glance, bitterness, and insult You suffered. Everything, O my Jesus, I intend to mark with my thank You and bless You. O my Jesus, make a continuous stream of thanksgiving and blessings flow to You from my whole being, so that I may draw upon myself and upon everyone the stream of Your blessings and Your graces. Oh, Jesus, hold me close to Your Heart and mark every part of my being with Your most holy hands with Your blessing, so that nothing but a constant hymn of praise to You may flow from me.