from 7 to 8 in the evening
THIRD HOUR
Old Testament Supper
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...
O Jesus, you come with your beloved disciples to the Upper Room and sit down with them to supper. What sweetness and kindness you show with your whole Person, condescending to eat material food for the last time! Everything in you is love. Even in this act, you not only make reparation for the sins of gluttony, but you also implore the sanctification of food. And just as food is transformed into strength, so you implore holiness for us, even in the simplest and most ordinary things.
Jesus, my Life, Your gentle and profound gaze seems to penetrate all the apostles, and even in this act of eating, Your Heart is deeply wounded, for You see Your beloved apostles still weak and powerless, especially the perfidious Judas, who already has one foot in hell. From the depths of Your Heart, You say bitterly: What good is My Blood? This soul, so showered with blessings from Me, is lost! And You look at him with eyes radiating light, as if You wanted to make him understand the great evil he has done. But Your supreme Love allows You to bear this pain, and You do not even show it to Your beloved disciples...
And when you suffer because of Judas, you see your beloved disciple John on your left, and your Heart would like to be filled with joy, so that, unable to hold back your love any longer, you gently draw him to you and let him rest his head on your Heart, giving him a foretaste of the delights of paradise.
It is at this solemn hour that these two disciples represent two groups of people, the condemned and the chosen—the condemned in Judas, who already feels hell in his heart, and the chosen in John, who rests and rejoices in You.
O my sweet Goodness, I too draw near to You, and together with Your beloved disciple, I want to lay my weary head on Your adored Heart and ask You to let me feel, even on this earth, the delights of Heaven. And so, delighted by the sweet harmony of Your Heart, may the earth no longer be earth for me, but Heaven.
But amid these sweet and divine harmonies, I sense painful beats emanating from Your Heart—it is because of lost souls! O Jesus, oh, do not let new souls go to perdition. Make Your heartbeat, flowing through their heartbeats, allow them to feel the rhythm of Heaven's life, just as Your beloved disciple John feels it. And, delighted by the gentleness and sweetness of Your Love, everyone will be able to submit to You.
O Jesus, as I dwell in Your Heart, I ask You to give me also the food You gave to the apostles, the food of Your Divine Will, the food of Love, the food of the Word of God. Never refuse me, O my Jesus, this food that You so desire to give me, in order to form Your own life in me.
My sweet Goodness, being close to You, I see that the food You eat with Your beloved disciples is nothing but a lamb. It is a symbolic lamb. And just as this lamb no longer has any vital forces, because they have been consumed by the power of fire, so too You, Mystical Lamb, who are to be completely consumed by the power of love for creatures, will not keep even a single drop of blood for Yourself, pouring it all out of love for us...
So, Jesus, there is nothing you do that does not reflect your painful Passion, which is constantly present in your mind, in your Heart, and in everything. And this teaches me that if I also keep Your Passion in my mind and heart, You will never deny me the nourishment of Your love. How very grateful I am to You for this!
Oh my Jesus, no deed escapes You in which I am not present and which is not intended to bring me special good. Therefore, I ask You that Your Passion be constantly present in my mind, in my heart, in my gaze, in my deeds, and in my steps. Wherever I turn, may I always find You present within and outside of me. Grant me the grace to never forget what You suffered and experienced for me. Let this be my magnet, drawing my whole being to You, never allowing me to stray from You again.
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.