Numbers 6:24-26 ”The Lord bless thee, and keep thee. The Lord shew His Face to thee, and have mercy on thee. The Lord turn His Countenance to thee, and give thee peace.”
Psalm 26:8 ”My heart hath said to thee: My face hath sought Thee: Thy Face, O Lord, will I still seek.”
I Corinthians 13:12 ”We see now through a glass in a dark manner; but then face to Face. Now I know I part; but then I shall know even as I am known.”
Devotion to the Holy Face is like the Devotions to Christ’s Childhood and Five Wounds: it is another aspect of focusing on the Incarnation that Latin Catholics love to contemplate, but an aspect that is especially compelling because of the nature of the human face. When we think of someone we love, we think of that person’s face because it is primarily the face that identifies and expresses who that person is. Indeed, the very word ”person” is rooted in the Latin word for ”mask.” We can look at a friend and know instantly how he is feeling by his subtle expression — by the ”lights” of his eyes and that ineffable way the eyes act as a ”window to the soul.”
Now consider! Because of the Incarnation, there is God with a human Face! The Divine Being with human eyes — eyes into which human beings could gaze, eyes that beheld things as beautiful as His mother, and as ugly as soldiers’ spittle. God with eyes that cried (John 11:35). Meditating on the Holy Face is not simply to recall the visage of some spiritual teacher who lived on earth 2,000 years ago; it is to realize something so movingly true about the One Who created the very Sun and Moon and stars: that He is a deeply personal Being, so personal that He took on our nature and walked among us, looking at us through human eyes, and letting Himself be seen.
John 14:5-9
Thomas saith to him: Lord, we know not whither Thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith to him: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by Me. If you had known Me, you would without doubt have known My Father also: and from henceforth you shall know Him, and you have seen Him. Philip saith to Him: Lord, shew us the Father, and it is enough for us. Jesus saith to him: Have I been so long a time with you; and have you not known me? Philip, he that seeth Me seeth the Father also.
So this is what the Father is like! Alleluia! God isn’t some far-away, coldly intellectual ”source”; He is Father, and we see Him through the human Face of His Son Who wept at the ugliness of St. Lazarus’s death, Who healed the sick, Who allowed Himself to be beaten for our iniquities. We aren’t evolved monkey-flesh that suffers needlessly and without meaning; we are creatures deeply loved by a personal God, called to partake of the Divine Nature! The very fact that God took on a human Face is a rich Mystery, and behind that adorable Countenace is the eternal Mystery of God Himself.
Devotion to the Holy Face isn’t only a matter of marvelling at these Truths, however; in another sense, it is to ”become St. Veronica ”– the woman we recall at the sixth Station of the Cross, the one who took pity on Him and wiped the sweat from His Face with her veil which bears the impession of His Holy Face to this day. It is to do as she did and comfort Jesus for the wounds the world still inflicts on Him with its irreverence, sacrilege, and blasphemy — especially by doing that which pleases Him most: bringing souls to Him.
St. Veronica holding her veil
There has been devotion to the Holy Face ever since Our Lord walked the earth. His mother looking down into the manger and seeing the Face of a beautiful Boy, the eyes of St. Mary Magdalen as she looked up at Him with love after anointing His Feet with perfume, the already mentioned St. Veronica whose veil, along with the Holy Shroud, is the basis for our depictions of Christ in the icons upon which we’ve gazed for two millennia — all who saw Him and knew Who He was carried the image of His Holy Face with them in their hearts. But throughout Catholic History, there have been those who’ve done more than others to popularize the devotion in an explicit way.
Mid-19th Century:
Sister Mary of Saint Peter
and the Venerable Leo Dupont
In the mid-19th century, in Tours, France, a Carmelite nun named Sister Marie de Saint Pierre (1816-1848) received a private revelation from Our Lord that ”Those who will contemplate the wounds on My Face here on earth, shall contemplate it radiant in heaven.” In her vision, she was transported to the road to Calvary and saw St. Veronica wiping away the spit and mud from His Holy Face with her veil. Sister realized that the taking of the Name of God in vain and all the other sacrilegious and blasphemous acts that men do fall on the Lord’s Face like that spit and mud that St. Veronica so lovingly wiped away. Jesus revealed to Sister that He desired devotion to His Holy Face in reparation for sacrilege, the profanation of Sundays, and blasphemy, which He described to her as being like a ”poisoned arrow.” To her He dictated the prayer which has become known as ”The Golden Arrow” and which honors His Holy Name:
The Golden Arrow
May the most Holy, most Sacred, most Adorable, Most Incomprehensible and Ineffable Name of God Be always Praised, Blessed, Loved, Adored and Glorified, In Heaven, on Earth and under the Earth, By all the Creatures of God, And by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ, In the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Amen.
You can read about the life of and revelations given to Sr. Mary of St. Peter by reading ”The Message of Sr. Mary of St. Peter” in this site’s Catholic Library.
At around the time Sister was receiving her visions, into Tours from Martinique moved the saintly Monsieur Leo Dupont (1797-1876), a man whose young wife had died and whose daughter God also took in this interesting way: she’d begun moving about in ”fashionable circles” and taking on a worldly air that caused M. Dupont to worry about her eternal welfare, so much so that he prayed, ”My God, if You foresee that my daughter will part from You, I ask you to take her with You so that she will not be separated from You.” His daughter soon died of typhoid. Though tormented by his temporal loss, he kept his faith in God and nurtured it.
He soon heard of Sr. Mary of St. Peter’s efforts to spread devotion to the Holy Face and, inspired by the Holy Ghost through her example, decided to dedicate his life to this work. He kept an oil lamp burning continuously before an image of the Holy Face, and his home became a center of pilgrimage when people began to gather to pray before the image, with many receiving miraculous cures through the application of his lamp’s oil to their skin. He went on to establish the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face, and was later recognized by the Church as a ”Venerable.” He is now known familiarly as ”The Holy Man of Tours.”
Late 19th Century:
St. Therese of the
Child Jesus and of the Holy Face
Image of Christ based on the image on Veronica's Veil
St. Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face
About the picture she venerated — a picture based on the image of
St. Veronica’s Veil — St. Therese said, ”How well Our Lord did to
lower His eyes when He gave us His portrait! Since the eyes are the
mirror of the soul, if we had seen His soul, we would have died from joy.”
In yet another sense, devotion to the Holy Face inspires us to know how to imitate Him best, teaches us how to ”put on Christ.” What did people see when they saw Our Blessed Lord? The Prophet Isaias tells us:
Isaias 52:14, 53:2-3
As many have been astonished at thee, so shall His Visage be inglorious among men, and His form among the sons of men… And He shall grow up as a tender plant before Him, and as a root out of a thirsty ground: there is no beauty in Him, nor comeliness: and we have seen Him, and there was no sightliness, that we should be desirous of him: Despised, and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity: and His look was as it were hidden and despised, whereupon we esteemed Him not.
It is this sense of the Holy Face devotion — meditating on the despised, suffering Countenance that hid His Divinity from those who had no eyes to see — that inspired the spirituality of St. Therese of Lisieux, ”The Little Flower” whose religious name was ”St. Therese of the Child Jesus and of the Holy Face.” Contemplating His ”hiddenness” and the Mystery of His having humbled Himself as He did by becoming a Child and by suffering for us is the source of St. Therese’s ”Little Way” — her method of spiritual discipline that teaches us we don’t need to be great in the world’s terms in order to become a Saint. No matter where we are, no matter our talents or intellect, we can love. Hidden away herself, in her Norman convent, she wrote of the Prophet’s words
These words of Isaias: ”He was without splendor, without beauty, His Face was hidden, as it were, and His person was not acknowledged”; one finds in them the whole foundation of my devotion to the Holy Face, or to say it better, the foundation of all my piety. I also desire myself to be without splendor, without beauty, to tread alone the wine in the press, unknown by every creature.
And later:
Jesus set the book of nature before me and I saw that all the flowers He has created are lovely. The splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy of its simple charm. I realized that if every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness and there would be no wildflowers to make the meadows gay.
It is just the same in the world of souls — which is the garden of Jesus. He has created the great saints who are like the lilies and the roses, but He has also created much lesser saints and they must be content to be the daisies or the violets which rejoice his eyes whenever He glances down. Perfection consists in doing His will, in being that which He wants us to be.
St. Therese did no one particular thing that one would point at and say, ”See? Clearly she is a great Saint!” Her greatness was not in what she did so much as how she did it: with humility, with acceptance of suffering, and all for the love of Christ. She died of tuberculosis at the age of 24, telling a Sister a few months before her death that she would spend her Heaven doing good upon the earth, and that it will be like ”a shower of roses.” She left behind her autobiography (”Story of a Soul”) — which you can read in this site’s Catholic Library — and poetry and prayers, among which are her Canticle and Prayer to the Holy Face:
Canticle to the Holy Face
12 August 1895
Jesus, Your ineffable image
Is the star which guides my steps.
Ah, You know, Your sweet Face
Is for me Heaven on earth.
My love discovers the charms
Of Your Face adorned with tears.
I smile through my own tears
When I contemplate Your sorrows.
Oh! To console You I want
To live unknown on earth!
Your beauty, which You know how to veil,
Discloses for me all its mystery.
I would like to fly away to You!
Your Face is my only homeland.
It’s my Kingdom of love.
It’s my cheerful meadow.
Each day, my sweet sun.
It’s the Lily of the Valley
Whose mysterious perfume
Consoles my exiled soul,
Making it taste the peace of Heaven.
It’s my Rest, my Sweetness
And my melodious Lyre
Your Face, O my Sweet Savior,
Is the Divine Bouquet of Myrrh
I want to keep on my heart!
Your Face is my only wealth.
I ask for nothing more.
Hiding myself in it unceasingly,
I will resemble You, Jesus
Leave in me, the Divine Impress
Of Your features filled with sweetness,
And soon I’ll become holy.
I shall draw hearts to You.
So that I may gather
A beautiful golden harvest,
Deign to set me aflame with Your Fire.
With Your adorned mouth,
Give me soon the Eternal Kiss!
St. Theres’s Prayer to the Holy face
O Jesus, Who in Thy bitter Passion didst become ”the most abject of men, a man of sorrows,” I venerate Thy Sacred Face whereon there once did shine the beauty and sweetness of the Godhead … but now it has become for me as if it were the Face of a leper! Nevertheless, under those disfigured features, I recognize Thy Infinite Love and I am consumed with the desire to love Thee and make Thee loved by all men.
The tears which well up abundantly in Thy Sacred Eyes appear to me as so many precious pearls that I love to gather up, in order to purchase the souls of poor sinners by means of their infinite value. O Jesus, Whose adorable Face ravished my heart, I implore Thee to fix deep within me Thy Divine Image and to set me on fire with Thy Love, that I may be found worthy to come to the contemplation of Thy glorious Face in Heaven. Amen.
Early 20th Century:
Sister Maria Pierina De Micheli
Sister Maria Pierina was inspired through visions of Our Lord and Lady to take up the work of spreading devotion to the Holy Face. Lord Christ told her, ”I will that My Face, which reflects the intimate pains of my Spirit, the suffering and the love of My Heart, be more honoured. He who meditates upon Me, consoles Me.”
An image of a scapular bearing the likeness of the Face on the Holy Shroud was revealed to her by Our Lady, who told her, ”This Scapular is an armour of defense, a shield of strength, a token of the love and mercy which Jesus wishes to give the world in these times of lust and hatred against God and His Church. Diabolical nets are thrown to wrench the Faith from hearts, evils abound, true apostles are few, and the remedy is the Holy Face of Jesus.” Our Lady said that all those who piously wear the image, make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament every Tuesday, if possible, to make reparation for the assaults against the Holy Face, and receive the Holy Eucharist every day will have a happy death under the loving gaze of her Son.
Sister Pierina set about to cast the image in the form of a medal, and after some struggle in gaining permission, found she had no money to have the medals cast. This last problem was remedied apparently miraculously: she found an envelope with the exact sum of money needed on her desk, seemingly from nowhere. After the medals were cast, the Evil One made known his displeasure. How could he not despise an image of the image left behind when Jesus walked away from His burial shroud? Enraged, Evil Spirit flung the medals around the room, and physically assaulted Sister Pierina. But he was defeated, and the practice of wearing the medals spread all over the world.
The obverse side of the medal bears the image of the Holy Face, as revealed by the Shroud of Turin. Surrounding it are the words of Psalm 66:2, ”Illumina Domine Vultum Tuum super nos” (”Shew the light of Thy countenance, O Lord, upon us.”). On the back of the medal is a Sacred Host inscribed with the monogram of the Holy Name (”IHS”), surrounded by rays and the words, ”Mane nobiscum Domine” (”Stay with us, O Lord”).
Sister Pierina died in 1945, a few years after having written in her diary, ”I feel a deep longing to live always united to Jesus, to love Him intensely because my death can only be a transport of love with my Spouse, Jesus.”
The Human Face of Lord Christ
For your adoration, I provide you with a series of pictures of the Shroud of Turin: the Shroud as it appears to the naked eye, the Shroud as it appears in photgraphic negative, and an exquisite painting of Christ based closely on the Shroud’s image and painted by the Armenian artist, Ariel Agemian. I position these pictures so you can see them side by side, and then present the painting, englarged, so you can ”look into the eyes of Christ.”
Beneath these pictures are the Shroud image and the Agemian painting on either side of an image of what the 12-year old Christ may have looked like as determined by the Italian police whose artists, in A.D. 2004, took the image of the Shroud and subtracted 20 years with methods used in police investigations.
In all of these images, you will see that, despite the Prophet’s words that ”there is no beauty in Him, nor comeliness,” there is great beauty and comeliness indeed in the sweet and Holy Face of our Savior!
See also the Novena to the Holy Face.
Prayer for a happy death.
O Mother of Sorrows, by the anguish and love with which you didst stand by the Cross of Jesus, stand by me in my last agony.
To thy maternal heart I commend the last three hours of my life. Offer these hours to the Eternal Father in union with the agony of our dearest Lord.
Offer frequently to the Eternal Father, in atonement for my sins, the Precious Blood of Jesus, mingled with thy tears on Calvary, to obtain for me the grace to receive Holy Communion with most perfect love and contrition before my death, and to breathe forth my soul in the actual presence of Jesus.
Dearest Mother, when the moment of my death has come, present me as thy child to Jesus; say to Him on my behalf: ” Son forgive him, for he not know what he did. Receive him this day into Thy Kingdom.”
Amen.
DEATH OF SAINT JOSEPH
Public Domain
Death can be scary, but with St. Joseph at your side, it doesn’t have to be.
The mystery of death can create a great deal of anxiety, especially when someone is on their deathbed. We don’t know what will happen to us when we die and we hope and pray that our soul will join God in eternal bliss.
One saint who can help ease our fears is St. Joseph, the patron of a happy death. While no one knows for certain when St. Joseph died, most biblical scholars believe Joseph died prior to Jesus’ crucifixion. With this in mind, many traditions believe that Joseph died in the arms or presence of Jesus and Mary. It’s a beautiful image, one that has led the Church to proclaim Joseph the patron saint of a happy death. It would have certainly been the most peaceful death a person could experience!
Here is one prayer that recalls this image and can give us comfort while we await our own death. We never know when God will call us home, so in the meantime, let us do all we can to prepare for that day, making it a day of great joy.
O Blessed Joseph, who yielded up thy last breath in the arms of Jesus and Mary, obtain for me this grace, O holy Joseph, that I may breathe forth my soul in praise, saying in spirit, if I am unable to do so in words: “Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I give Thee my heart and my soul.”
Amen.
PROMISES TO DEVOTEES OF THE AGONY OF JESUS ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES.
Look at all I have to offer you in return for a little love from you.
To all those who remember My Agony, with love and devotion, at least once a day, forgiveness of all the sins and the certainty of salvation for their souls in the hour of their death.
Total and everlasting repentance to those who will have a Mass celebrated in honour of My Agonising Suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Success in spiritual matters to all those, who impress on others, love and devotion to My Agonies on the Mount of Olives.
. Finally, and in order to prove to you that I want to break open a dam of My Heart so as to let flow a flood of My Graces, I promise those who spread this devotion to My Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, the following 3 graces.
a. Total and final victory over the worst temptation to which they are subjected;
b. direct power to save poor souls from purgatory;
c. great enlightenment and strength to fulfill my will.
All of these, My precious gifts, I will definitely give to those who carry out what I have said, and who, therefore, remember and venerate with love and sympathy, My great, incomprehensible Agony on the Mount of Olives.
See Article History
Gethsemane, garden across the Kidron Valley on the Mount of Olives (Hebrew Har ha-Zetim), a mile-long ridge paralleling the eastern part of Jerusalem, where Jesus is said to have prayed on the night of his arrest before his Crucifixion. The name Gethsemane (Hebrew gat shemanim, “oil press”) suggests that the garden was a grove of olive trees in which was located an oil press.
Garden of Gethsemane with the Church of All Nations in the foreground and the Russian Church of St. Mary Magdalene in the centre background
Garden of Gethsemane with the Church of All Nations in the foreground and the Russian Church of St. Mary Magdalene in the centre backgroundEwing Galloway
ETHSEMANESectionsHomeGeography & TravelTourist Attractions
Gethsemane
garden, Mount of Olives, JerusalemCite Share MoreWRITTEN BYThe Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaEncyclopaedia Britannica’s editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree….See Article History
Gethsemane, garden across the Kidron Valley on the Mount of Olives (Hebrew Har ha-Zetim), a mile-long ridge paralleling the eastern part of Jerusalem, where Jesus is said to have prayed on the night of his arrest before his Crucifixion. The name Gethsemane (Hebrew gat shemanim, “oil press”) suggests that the garden was a grove of olive trees in which was located an oil press.
Garden of Gethsemane with the Church of All Nations in the foreground and the Russian Church of St. Mary Magdalene in the centre background
Garden of Gethsemane with the Church of All Nations in the foreground and the Russian Church of St. Mary Magdalene in the centre backgroundEwing Galloway
Though the exact location of Gethsemane cannot be determined with certainty, Armenian, Greek, Latin, and Russian churches have accepted an olive grove on the western slope of the Mount of Olives as the authentic site, which was so regarded by the empress Helena, mother of Constantine (the first Christian emperor, early 4th century AD).
An ancient tradition also locates the scene of the Gethsemane prayer and betrayal of Jesus at a place now called the Grotto of the Agony, near a bridge that crosses the Kidron Valley. At another possible location, south of this site in a garden containing old olive trees, is a Latin church erected by Franciscan monks on the ruins of a 4th-century church.
PRAYER TO JESUS AGONISING ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES AND PROMISE
PRAYER TO JESUS AGONISING ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES AND PROMISES GIVEN FOR THEIR RECITATION
AS GIVEN TO ST. PIO – SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO – 1965 + IMPRIMATUR: MARCARIO, BISHOP
FEBRUARY 23 – NOVEMBER – 1963
THE PRAYERS:
1.
O Jesus, through the abundance of Thy love, and in order to overcome our hardheartedness, Thou pourest out torrents of Thy Graces over those who reflect on Thy most Sacred Sorrow in the Garden of Gethsemane, and who spread devotion to it. I pray Thee, move my soul and my heart to think often, at least once a day, of Thy most bitter Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, in order to communicate with Thee and to be united to Thee more closely as possibly.
2.
O blessed Jesus, Thou, who carried the immense burden of our sins that night, and atoned for them fully; grant me the most perfect gift of complete repentant love over my numerous sins, for which Thou didst sweat blood.
3.
O blessed Jesus, for the sake of Thy most bitter struggle in the Garden of Gethsemane, grant me final victory over all temptations, especially over those to which i am most subjected.
4.
O suffering Jesus, for the sake of Thy inscrutable and indescribable agonies, during that night of betrayal, and of Thy bitterest anguish of mind, enlighten me, so that I may recognise and fulfil Thy will; grant that I may ponder continually on Thy heart-wrenching struggle and on how Thou didst emerge victoriously, in order to fulfil not Thy will, but the will of Thy Father.
5. Be Thou blessed, O Jesus, for all Thy sighs on that holy night; and for the tears which Thou didst shed for us.
6. Be Thou blessed, O Jesus, for Thy sweat of Blood and the terrible agony, which Thou didst suffer lovingly in coldest abandonment and in inscrutable loneliness.
7. Be Thou blessed, O sweetest Jesus, filled with immeasurable bitterness, for the prayer which flowed in trembling agony from Thy Heart, so truly human and divine.
8. Eternal Father, I offer Thee all the past, present, and future Masses together with the Blood of Christ shed in agony in the Garden of Sorrow at Gethsemane.
9. Most Holy Trinity, grant that the knowledge, and thereby the love, of the agony of Jesus on the Mount of Olives will spread throughout the whole world.
10. Grant, O Jesus, that all who look lovingly at Thee on the Cross, will also remember Thy immense Suffering on the Mount of Olives that they will follow Thy example, learn to pray devoutly and fight victoriously, so that, one day, they may be able to Glorify Thee eternally in Heaven. Amen.
Next Prayer – Saint Padre Pio Prayer
——————————————————————-
PROMISES TO DEVOTEES OF THE AGONY OF JESUS ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES…AS GIVEN TO ST. PIO FROM OUR LORD JESUS.
JESUS:
Again and again calls of My Love flow from My Heart. They fill the souls in which the fire of love lights up and sometimes even sets ablaze the heart. It is this, the Voice of My Heart, which travels and also reaches those who do not want to hear Me, and who, themselves, do not notice Me. However, inside of them I speak to all, and My Voice will speak to all, because i love them all.
He, who knows the Commandment of Love, is not surprised that I cannot help knocking at the door of those who resist Me, and who force Me, so to speak, by their rejection, to repeat My loving invitation to them.
Why, what else can My calls be, full of glowing love, than the Will of love of a loving God. Who wants to save His creatures? However, I know very well, that not many wish to follow My generous invitation, and that even the few who do accept, must strive hard to receive Me.
Well then! I shall show ever more generosity { as if I had not been generous enough up to now }, and I shall do this by giving all of you a precious Gem of My Love, I have decided to open a dam, in order to let flow the torrent of My Graces, which My Heart can no longer hold back.
JESUS: LOOK WHAT I HAVE TO OFFER YOU IN RETURN FOR A LITTLE LOVE FROM YOU.
1. To all those who remember My Agony, with love and devotion,
at least once a day; forgiveness of all sins and the certainty
of salvation for their souls in the hour of their death.
2. Total and everlasting repentance to those who will have a
Mass celebrated in honour of My Agonising Suffering in the
Garden of Gethsemane.
3. Success in spiritual matters to all those, who impress on
others, love and devotion to My Agonies on the Mount of
Olives.
4. Finally, and in order to prove to you that I want to break open
a dam of My Heart so as to let flow a flood of My graces, I
promise those who spread this devotion to My Agony in the
Garden of Gethsemane,
the following 3 graces:
A. Total and final victory over the worst temptation to which
they are subjected.
B. Direct power to save poor souls from purgatory.
C. Great enlightenment and strength to fulfill My Will.
All of these, My precious gifts, I will definitely give to those who carry out what I have said, and who, therefore, remember and venerate with love and sympathy, My great, incomprehensible Agony on the Mount of Olives.”
Prayer_to_Jesus.pdfDownload
THE AGONY OF OUR LORD IN THE GARDEN By Saint Padre Pio
THE AGONY OF OUR LORD IN THE GARDEN
By Saint Padre Pio
‘Divine Spirit, lighten my intelligence and inflame my heart while I meditate on the Passion of Jesus. Help me to penetrate this mystery of love and suffering of my God who made man, suffered and died for me.
‘The Eternal, the Immortal, humbled himself to undergo an indescribable martyrdom, the infamous death on the Cross, amidst insults, jeers and ignominy, in order to save His creatures who had outraged him and who wallowed in the filth of sin.
‘Man savours sin and God, on account of sin, is deathly sad; the pangs of a cruel agony make him sweat blood . . . . .
‘No, I cannot penetrate this ocean of love and suffering unless thy grace, O Lord, assist me. Give me access to the most intimate depths of the Heart of Jesus, so that I may commune there on the bitterness which led Him to the Mount of Olives, to the gates of death and to console Him in the final abandonment. May I be joined to Him, abandoned by his Father and by Himself, so that I may expiate with Him.
‘Mary, Mother of Sorrows, let me follow Jesus and commune intimately in His Passion and in thy affliction.
‘Guardian Angel, keep my faculties steadfast in Jesus who suffered, so that they never become detached from Him.
‘At the end of his earthly life, after delivering himself to us entirely in the Sacrament of his Love, the Lord went to the Mount of Olives which the disciples knew, as did Judas. On the way he taught them and prepared them for his imminent Passion; he invited them to suffer for love of Him, calumny, persecution, even death, that they might be transfigured in his likeness, their divine model.
‘At the moment of entering upon his bitter Passion, it was not of Himself that he thought, but of thee.
‘What depths of love does his Heart not contain! His Holy Face is filled with sadness and utter tenderness. His words spring from the profoundest depths of his Heart and overflow with love.
‘O Jesus, my heart is overwhelmed when I think of the love which made Thee speed towards Thy Passion. Thou hast taught us that there is no greater love than to give one’s life for those one loves. Now Thou art on the point of sealing those words with Thy example.
‘In the Garden, the Master went apart from His disciples, taking only three witnesses to His Agony-Peter, James and John. Having seen Him transfigured on Mount Tabor, would they have the strength to recognise the Man-God in this being, broken by the agony of death?
‘On entering the Garden He said to them: ‘Do you abide here. Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. Be on your guard, for the enemy sleepeth not. Arm yourselves in advance with prayer, lest you be surprised and led into sin. This is my hour of darkness.’
‘Having exhorted them, he walked towards a stone fountain and prostrated himself. His soul was plunged in a sea of bitterness and extreme affliction.
‘It was late. The pale night was filled with sinister shadows. The moon seemed infused with blood. The wind stirred the branches of the trees and pierced to the marrow. The whole of nature seemed to quiver in secret terror:
‘O Night, such as had never before been seen!
‘This was the spot where Jesus prayed. He divested His sacred Humanity of the strength which was its right, by its union with the Godhead. He plunged it into an abyss of sadness, agony, abjection. His spirit seemed to be submerged . . .
‘He could foresee his Passion . . . . . .
‘He could see Judas his beloved apostle who would sell him for a few pieces of silver. . . . He was now on the way to Gethsemane to betray and deliver him to his enemies. And yet, a few hours before had he not nourished him with his Flesh and quenched his thirst with his own Blood? Prostrate before him he had washed his feet, pressed them to his heart and kissed them with his lips. What had he not done to halt him on the brink of sacrilege or at least to bring him to repentance? But no, now he was hastening to his perdition . . . . . . Jesus wept.
He saw himself dragged through the streets of Jerusalem where a few days ago he had been acclaimed as the Messiah. He saw himself humiliated before the High Priest. He heard the cries: ‘Put to death.’ He, the Life-giver, dragged like a clout from one tribunal to another.
‘The people, His well-loved chosen people, jeering, hissing and abusing Him, loudly demanding His death-and what a death. Death by crucifixion. He heard their false accusations; saw himself being flogged, crowned with thorns, derided and hailed as the false king.
‘He saw Himself constrained to bear the Cross to Calvary, succumbing beneath its weight, staggering, falling . . . . . .
‘And now He has reached Calvary, bereft of his garments, stretched on the Cross, nailed pitilessly to it, suspended between Heaven and earth. He hangs there panting from the nails in indescribable torture. My God! Those three long hours of agony which will make him succumb to the jeers of the rage-intoxicated mob.
‘He saw his throat and bowels devoured by burning thirst and the sponge soaked in vinegar and gall to quench His thirst.
‘He saw His Father who abandoned Him and his Mother bowed down with grief.
‘An ignominious death between two thieves. If one confessed and was saved, the other blasphemed and died unrepentant.
‘He saw Longinus approach and thrust the spear into his side.
‘And at last, the extreme humiliation of body and soul reft apart . . . . .
‘All this, scene by scene, passed before his eyes, and terror seized his heart.
‘Would he draw back?
‘From the very first moment he had embraced all, accepted all. Why then this dire terror? Because he had exposed his sacred humanity as a shield to parry the blows of Justice, outraged by sin.
‘He felt vividly in spirit all he had to suffer. For each sin, its individual pain. . . . He was crushed because he himself was a prey to his terror, weakness and anxiety.
‘He seemed to have plumbed the depths of pain. He prostrated himself before the majesty of his Father. The sacred Face of the Man-God, who enjoyed beatific vision, lay there in the dust, unrecognisable. My Jesus! Art thou not God? Master of Heaven and earth? Equal to the Father? Why dost thou abase thyself until thou losest all human aspect?
‘Oh, yes. . . . . I understand. Thou wouldst teach me in my pride that to scale the heavens I must plumb the very depths. It is to expiate my arrogance that thou has bent thy head. It is to reconcile Heaven and earth that thou liest prostrate on the ground as if thou wished to give it the kiss of peace.
‘Jesus raised his eyes to Heaven in supplication, raised his arms and prayed. His face was deathly pale as he entreated his Father who would not hear his plea. He prayed with filial trust, but he knew the place he occupied-the victim of the whole of mankind, exposed to the wrath of an outraged God. He knew that he alone could satisfy infinite Justice and reconcile the Creator with his creatures. He desired it, demanded it. But his nature was literally broken. It rebelled against such a sacrifice. And yet his spirit was prepared for the immolation, and the bitter combat continued.
‘Jesus, how can we ask thee for strength when we see thee so weak and so beset?
‘Yes, I understand. Thou hast taken all our weaknesses upon thyself. To give us strength thou hast been the scapegoat. Thou wishest to teach us that in thee alone we must trust, even if Heaven appears to us to be obdurate.
‘In his Agony Jesus cried to his Father: ‘If it is possible, let this chalice pass me by.’ It was the cry of nature which in its distress turned trustingly to heaven. Although he knew that his prayer would not be answered, since he willed it thus, he prayed nevertheless. ‘ My Jesus, who dost thou ask what thou knowest thou canst not obtain?’
‘Mystery that makes one reel! The pain that afflicted thee made thee beg for aid and comfort, but thy love for us and thy desire to lead us back to God made thee say: ‘Only as Thy will is, not as mine is.’
‘His anguished Heart yearned for comfort. Gently he rose to his feet, took a few staggering steps. He approached his disciples; they at least were his friends, his confidants, they would understand and share his pain . . . .
‘He found them deep in sleep. How lonely and abandoned he suddenly felt. ‘Simon, art thou sleeping?’ he says softly to Peter. ‘Thou who didst say that thou wouldst follow me unto death.’
‘He turned to the others: ‘Had you no strength to watch with me even for an hour?’ Once more he forgot his own sufferings and thought of them. ‘Watch and pray that you may not fall into temptation.’
‘He seems to be saying: ‘If ye have forgotten me so soon, I who wrestle and suffer, at least in your own interest watch and pray!’
‘But they, intoxicated with sleep, hardly heard him.
‘O, my Jesus, how many generous souls, touched by thy complaints, keep thee company in the Garden of Olives, sharing thy bitterness and thy mortal fear! How many hearts down the ages have generously replied to thy appeal! May they console thee and, sharing thy distress, operate in thy work of salvation! May I myself be counted among their number and comfort thee, be it but a little, O my Jesus!
‘Jesus returned to his place of prayer and another picture even more terrible rose before his eyes. All our sins in their least detail filed past him. He saw the extreme vulgarity of those who commit them. He knew to what extent they outraged the divine Majesty. He saw all the infamies, all the obscenities, all the blasphemies which sully hearts and ups created to sing the praises of God. He saw the sacrileges which dishonour priests and the faithful. He saw the monstrous abuse of the sacraments, which He had introduced for our salvation and which can become the cause of our damnation.
‘He had to don all this foetid muck of human corruption. He had to present himself thus before the sanctity of his Father in Heaven. He had to expiate each sin separately and render to his Father all its stolen glory. To save the sinner He has to descend into the mire.
‘But this did not daunt him. Like a monstrous wave the mud enveloped and submerged him. Now he stood before his Father, God of Justice. He, the Holy of Holies, bowed beneath the weight of the sins, in the image of sinners. Who could plumb his horror and utter repugnance? This gulp of disgust, that hideous nausea!
‘Having taken everything upon himself without exception, he was crushed by the appalling burden and groaned under the weight of Divine Justice, face to face with his Father, who had allowed his Son to offer himself as a victim for the sins of the world, and to become like ‘an accursed one.’
‘His purity shuddered before this infamous burden, but at the same time he saw outraged Justice, the sinner condemned . . . . . . Two forces, two loves conflicting in his heart. Outraged Justice was the victor. But what an infinitely pitiful sight! This man charged with all our blemishes. He the essential Sanctity, outwardly resembling the criminals. He trembled like a leaf . . . . .
‘To bear this terrible agony, he plunged himself in prayer. Prostrated before the Majesty of his Father, he said: ‘Father, let this chalice pass me by.’ It is as though he said: ‘Father, I desire thy glory. I want to see thy Justice done. I want a reconciliation with mankind. But not at this price! That I, the essence of Sanctity, must thus be spattered with filth, oh no! not that! O Father, to whom all is possible, let this chalice pass me by and find another means of salvation in the unbounded treasure of thy Wisdom. But if thou art not willing, only as thy will is, not as mine is!
‘Once more the Saviour’s prayer remained unanswered. He felt the throes of death. Painfully he rose to his feet in search of comfort. He felt his strength ebbing. He staggered towards his disciples. Once more he found them asleep. His sadness was even greater. He was content to wake them. Were they ashamed? Jesus said nothing. I can only see him incredibly sad. He kept to himself all the bitterness of this abandonment.
‘My Jesus, how great is the pain I read in thy Heart which overflows with distress. I see Thee turn away from thy disciples after this blow to thy heart. May I bring thee some comfort, console thee a little. . . . But knowing naught else I can but weep with thee. The tears of my love and my compunction join with thy tears. Thus they rise to the throne of the Father begging him to have pity on thee and on so many souls that are plunged in the sleep of sin and death.
‘Jesus returned to his place of prayer, exhausted and sore distressed. He fell to the ground rather than prostrated himself. He felt crushed by mortal fear and his prayers grew more fervid.
‘His Father averted his eyes, as though His Son were the most abject of men.
‘I seem to hear the complaints of the Saviour: ‘If only man, for whom I suffer thus, would profit by the grace I procure for him by my great suffering! If only he recognises at its true value the ‘price I pay to redeem him and to give him the life of the Son of God! Ah, this love that tears myheart more cruelly than my executioners will soon tear my flesh . . . .’
‘He saw the man who does not know because he does not wish to know, who blasphemes against the Divine Blood, and what is more irreparable, leads him to damnation. How few will profit, how many more will hasten to their destruction!
‘In the great distress of his Heart he continued to repeat: Quae utilitas in sanguine meo? How few avail themselves of my Blood!’
‘But the thought of this small number sufficed to make him face the Passion and death.
‘Nothing and no-one to whom he could turn for an iota of comfort. Heaven was closed to him. Man, although weighted down by his sins, was ungrateful and unaware of his love. He felt drowned in pain and cried in the pangs of his agony: ‘ My soul is sick unto death.’
‘O Divine Blood, thou wellest eternally from the Heart of Jesus, thou flowest from all his pores to wash this poor ungrateful earth. Grant that I may gather this most precious Blood, above all these first drops. I wish to keep thee in the chalice of my heart. Thou art the irrefutable proof of the love which alone made thee flow. May I be purified in thee, O most precious Blood! I would purify all souls sullied by sin. I would offer thee to the Heavenly Father.
‘This is the Blood of his beloved Son who came down to earth to purify it. This is the Blood of his Son who ascends to his throne to reconcile outraged Justice. The satisfaction is in truth superabundant!
But is Jesus at the end of his sufferings?
‘Oh, no, he does not wish to dam up the flood of his love. Man must learn how much he, the Man-God, loves him. Man must know to what depths of abjection such an extreme love can be reduced. Even if the Father’s Justice is satisfied by the sweat of the Most Precious Blood, man needs palpable proofs of this love.
‘Jesus would therefore go to the limit; to an ignominious death on the Cross.
‘The contemplative would perhaps grasp a shadow of this love which brought Him to the pangs of the sacred Agony in the Garden of Olives. But the man who lived enmeshed in the material affairs of the world and who looked more to the earth than to the sky, had to see him outwardly nailed to the Cross, so that at least the sight of his Blood and his cruel martyrdom might move his heart.
‘No, his loving Heart was not yet satisfied. Collecting himself, he prayed anew: ‘My Father, if this chalice may not pass me by, but I must drink it, then thy will be done!’
‘From this moment Jesus, from the bottom of his heart, consumed with love, responded to the cry of mankind which demanded his death as the price of Redemption. To the death sentence which his Father had pronounced in Heaven, the earth replied by demanding his death. Jesus bowed his adorable head. ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this chalice pass me by; only asthy will is, not as mine is.’
‘And now the Father sent him a consoling angel. What comfort could an angel offer to the God of Strength, the Invincible God, the All-Powerful God? But this God had wanted to assume the liability, this man of suffering at grips with the Agony. It was his love that made him sweat drops of blood.
‘He prayed to his Father for himself and for us. His Father refused to hear his prayer for he had to die for us. I think that the angel bowed low before the Eternal Beauty, sullied with dust and blood, and that with unutterable respect he entreated Jesus to drink the cup to the glory of God the Father and for the redemption of sinners.
He prayed thus in order to teach us to have recourse to Heaven only when our souls were distressed like his.
‘He our Strength, would come to our aid, since he had agreed to assume all our distresses.
‘Yes, my Jesus, now thou must drink the cup to the dregs! Now thou art pledged to thy cruel death.
‘Jesus, may naught separate me from thee; neither life nor death! If I adhere to thy suffering throughout my life with infinite love, I shall be allowed to die with thee on Calvary and to ascend with thee to glory. If I follow thee in thy torments and persecution, thou will make me worthy to love thee one day before Heaven and to sing thy praises as an action of grace for thy cruel Passion.
‘But see! Jesus rises to his feet out of the dust, strong, invincible! Has he not desired, with an inordinate desire, this feast of blood? He shakes off his dismay, wipes the bloody sweat from his Face and makes for the exit of the garden with resolute steps.
‘Whither goest thou, Jesus? Wert thou not a moment since a prey to anxiety and grief? Did I not see thee trembling and as though crushed by the cruel weight of thy forthcoming ordeals? Whither goes thou, with that firm, intrepid step? To whom wilt thou deliver thyself?
‘Hark, my child, the weapons of prayer came to my aid and allowed me to conquer, my spirit overcame the weakness of nature. Strength came to me in prayer and now I can face my ordeal. Follow my example and treat with Heaven as I have done.
‘Jesus approached the apostles. They were still sleeping. The emotion, the late hour, the presentiment of some horrible and irreparable disaster and weariness had made them fall into a leaden sleep. Jesus had pity on their weakness.
He cried: ‘Sleep and take your rest hereafter.’ He paused for a moment. Hearing him approach they opened their eyes with a great effort . . . . .Jesus went on:
‘As I speak the time draws near when the Son of Man is to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. . . . Rise up, let us go on our way; already he that is to betray me is close at hand . . . . . .
‘Jesus saw all this with his divine eyes. He seemed to say: ‘You, my friends and disciples, sleep while my enemies watch and draw near to arrest me. Thou, Peter, whom I thought steadfast enough to follow me even unto death, thou sleepest now.
From the beginning thou gavest me proof of thy weaknesses. But be of good cheer. I have assumed thy weakness and I have prayed for thee.
When thou hast confessed thy fault, I will be thy strength and thou shalt feed my flock . . . . . .
And thou, John, thou too art asleep. Thou who felt the beatings of my heart, couldst thou not watch with me for one hour? Rise and let us go, there is no time left for sleep. The enemy is at the gate!
This is the hour of the power of darkness. Let us go! Of my own free will I go towards my death. Judas is hastening to betray me and I would go and meet him. I shall see that the prophecies are carried out to the letter. My hour has come; the hour of Infinite Compassion.’
‘The echo of footsteps. Lighted torches filled the garden with purple shadows. Jesus stepped forward, followed by his disciples, intrepid and calm.
‘O, my Jesus. Give me strength when my weak nature rebels against all the ills that threaten it, so that I may with love accept the pain and distress of this life in exile. I adhere with all my strength to thy merits, thy sufferings, thy expiation and thy tears so that I may work with thee in the work of redemption and that I may have the strength to flee from sin, the sole cause of thy agony, of thy bloody sweat and thy death.
‘Destroy in me all that displeases thee and imprint on my heart with the fire of thy sacred love all thy sufferings. Kiss me so intimately, with such a strong and tender embrace, that I shall never abandon thee to thy cruel torments.
‘I ask but one repose: on thy Heart. I desire but one thing: to share in thy divine Agony. May my soul be intoxicated by thy Blood and be nourished by the bread of thy suffering! Amen.
PRAYER TO ST. MARGARET MARY.
O Saint Margaret Mary! thou whom the Sacred Heart of Jesus hast made a participator of His divine treasures we implore thee to obtain all the graces we stand in need of from that adorable Heart.
We ask them of Him with a confidence that has no limit. May the divine Heart vouchsafe to grant them to us through thy intercession so that He may once more be glorified and loved through thee. Amen.
Look at Jesus Christ attentively as if you were in the Upper Room, watch him leave the dinner, after having finished his discourse and go to the garden with his disciples.
Come in and judge for yourself, and judge with what affection, with what tenderness, with what familiarity he speaks to them and exhorts them to prayer; and as he immediately steps forward a little, about a stone’s throw away, he humbly kneels down and respectfully prays to his Father.
Stop here for a while and mercifully review in your memory the great wonders of the Lord your God.
The Lord prays. So far several times he has been seen praying, but he prayed for us as our advocate.
Now pray for Himself. Pity yourself and admire his deepest humility.
Indeed, he is God, coeternal and equal to his Father; and here he is, somehow forgetting his divinity, praying like a man, and he presents himself pleading with the Lord as the last of the people. Consider also their perfect obedience.
What do you ask for? He conjures his Father to push away the hour of his death;
If he wanted to, he could certainly avoid death, but his plea is not accepted because there was in him another will contrary to his desire.
Indeed, then his will was multiple, as I will say later. Have compassion on him, as his Father absolutely wants him to die to save us all.
”For he has loved the world in such a way that he has given it his only Son.” And the Lord Jesus accepts this law and executes it with respect.
Third, he sees the unspeakable love of the Father and the Son for us, this love so worthy of our admiration, veneration and pity.
It is for us that the death decree is pronounced, it is for our love that it is executed.
The Lord Jesus prays for a long time to his Father, and says: “Most merciful Father, I beg you to listen to my requests and not to neglect my requests. Look at me and hear me, because I am troubled, my spirit restless and my heart troubled.
Incline your ear to me, and hear my prayer. It pleased you, O my Father, to send me into the world to satisfy the injury that man had done to you and at the point I accepted to fulfill your will; However, my Father, if possible, deliver me from this cruel bitterness that my enemies prepare for me. They have seduced my disciple, they used him to lose me, and they paid him thirty pieces of silver.
Oh! My father, I beg you to take this chalice away from me… But not my will but yours be done. My father, get up to help me, hurry to help me ”. He immediately goes to where his disciples were, remembers them and exhorts them to seek new strength in prayer. Then he returned to his prayer two and three times, repeating the same supplication, and added:
“Father, if you have decreed that I suffer the torture of the cross, let your will be done. But I entrust you to my beloved Mother and to my disciples. Until now I have watched over them: You continue to do so, my Father ”.
And while he was praying, a sweat of blood came out of his sacred body and soaked the earth.
Consider this agonizing struggle and anguish of his soul, and reflect, to the shame of our impatience, that the Lord has prayed up to three times before receiving an answer from his Father.
While the Lord prayed in the greatest anxiety, behold, the angel of the Lord, the prince of the heavenly militia, Michael, approaches, supports him and says: “Hail, my Jesus; I have offered to your Father, in the presence of all the heavenly court, your prayer and your blood sweat, and all of us, prostrating ourselves, have begged that this chalice be far from you ”. The Father has answered us “My beloved son knows that the redemption of the human race, which we so earnestly desire, cannot be accomplished except through the effusion of blood. If he wants the salvation of souls, he must die for them ”. And you, what do you decide? The Lord Jesus responded to the angel: “I absolutely want the salvation of all souls, and I prefer to die so that these souls that my Father has formed in his image may be saved, than not to die and not leave them without rescue. So let my Father's will be done. And the angel then: “Be comforted, Lord, act courageously; It is fitting for the Most High to do great wonders and for the one who is magnanimous par excellence to endure cruel adversities. The torments will then pass, and will be followed by eternal glory. The father has said that he will always be with you, that he will take care of your Mother and your disciples, and that he will return them safe and sound. “The Lord Jesus humbly and respectfully receives this exhortation from his creature, considering that, during his dwelling in this sad valley of darkness, he was placed somewhat lower than the angels. Immediately he said goodbye to them: and just as he had been saddened as a man, in the same way he was comforted as a man by the word of the angel, and begged him to recommend him to his Father and to all the heavenly Court.
Finally, he leaves his prayer for the third time. See him drenched in blood, wiping his face and perhaps washing himself in the rushing water. Look at him dejectedly, and take part in his pain, for he could not bear such anguish without suffering cruelly.
Jesus goes to his disciples and says to them: Sleep now and rest. And they rested a little. But he, the Good Shepherd, watches over his little flock. Oh admirable love! It is truly to the end that he has loved his own, for in this hour of extreme agony he gives them some rest. He could already make out his enemies from afar arriving armed and with lighted torches, and yet he did not remember his disciples until they were close to them. Then he said: Enough, they have already slept, the one who is going to deliver me is coming.
He was still talking, when the treacherous Judas arrives and hugs him. Well, it refers that the Lord Jesus used to hug them when they returned from somewhere. This is how the traitor betrays Jesus with a kiss, and anticipating the others, he uses this sign of friendship as if he had wanted to tell him: “I do not come with these armed people but I fly to you; and according to custom, I hug you and greet you, Master "...
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Book of Devotion to Precious Blood of Jesus Christ Download https://thegreatestofprayers.wordpress.com/2023/05/12/book-of-devotion-to-precious-blood-of-jesus-christ-download/
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