The Twenty-Four Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ

The 24 Hours of the Bitter Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Luisa Piccarreta, the Little Daughter of the Divine Will

† Ninth Hour: From 1 to 2 AM †

Jesus on His Way to the High Priest Annas Is Pushed into the Brook Cedron

Preparation before Each Hour

Jesus, my beloved good! How could I surrender to slumber when I see everyone abandoning You and fleeing! Among the disciples, even the fiery Peter, who shortly before declared that he wanted to lay down his life for You, even the favorite disciple whom You let rest on Your breast with so much love at the Last Supper, all abandon You and give You up as a plaything to Your cruel enemies. My Jesus, now You are all alone! Your purest eyes are looking around to see if at least one of Your favored ones will follow You to show their love and defend You. But since You realize that not a single one has remained faithful to You, Your heart bleeds. The abandonment on the part of Your faithful ones causes You greater pain than the mistreatment on the part of Your enemies. O let me weep with You over Your fate! It seems to me that Jesus wants to say to me: "Child, let us weep over so many souls consecrated to Me who no longer care for Me and leave Me alone when no trials or other adversities come upon them; over other, fearful and cowardly souls who abandon Me for lack of courage and trust; over countless souls who find no advantage for themselves in holy things and therefore have no interest in Me; over so many priests who preach, say Mass, hear confessions only for the sake of gain or vain glory. They make others believe that they are always concerned about Me, but I am usually alone. Child, how hard such abandonment is! Not only do My eyes weep tears, also My heart bleeds. Oh, I beg you to ease My bitter pain by promising Me that you will never leave Me alone."

Surely, my Jesus, I promise You that I will become completely one with Your divine will if You grant me the assistance of Your grace. But while You, my Jesus, lament, Your enemies spare You no insults that they can inflict on You. Bound so that You cannot take a step Yourself, they kick You and drag You along stony and rough paths. You can't make a move without bumping into stones or hurting Yourself. But as they drag You along, I see that You leave behind traces of Your precious blood and the hairs of Your head, which they tear out. My life and my everything! Allow me to gather them to bind the feet of those who use the night time to insult You all the more, who seek out bad company, indulge in dubious pleasures and commit thefts that rob God. O my Jesus, I unite myself to You to expiate all these offenses. Now, Jesus, we have arrived at the brook Cedron. Your enemies are about to throw You into it. They let you hit a rock there with such force that blood gushes from Your mouth and You leave traces on the rock.¹ Then Your henchmen pull You into the muddy, murky water so that it penetrates Your mouth and ears. O my unattainable love! You are overflowing and immersed in that dirty, cold and disgusting flood. With this You clearly show me the deplorable state of those who fall into grave sin. O how their soul is covered with filth, an object of abhorrence to heaven and earth. They draw to themselves the lightning bolts of divine justice. O life of my life, can there be greater love than Yours? In order to remove the stained garment of sin from sinners, You allow Your enemies to push You into this stream. You suffer everything gladly in order to atone for the sacrileges and coldness of those souls who receive You in a God-robbing way and force You to enter their nefarious hearts, which are disgusting to You. Jesus, You allow the waters to penetrate You completely, so that the henchmen, fearing that You might suffocate, pull You out of the stream again to save You for greater torment. The mere sight of You is so horrific that even these brutes feel reluctant to touch You.

Jesus, my heart wants to stand still when I see You, soaked and dripping with dirty water. You shiver with cold from head to toe, looking around to say with Your eyes what You don't want to say with Your mouth. You look for someone to dry You off, cleanse You of dirt and warm You up, but in vain. No one shows compassion for You. The henchmen make fun of You and mock You, Your disciples have abandoned You, Your mother is far away because it is the will of the Father. So come into my arms, O Jesus! With my tears I want to give You a bath, wash You, cleanse You and put Your disheveled hair back in order. My love, I want to hold You in my heart, warm You with the fire of my love. I want to pour out the fragrant balm of my holy desires on You, to atone for all the wrongs done to You and to lay down my life with Yours in order to save all souls. I will offer You my heart as a refuge to give You some refreshment in the sufferings You have endured so far. Then we will resume the path of Your Passion together.

Reflections and Practices

by St. Fr. Annibale Di Francia

In this hour Jesus abandoned Himself at the mercy of His enemies, who reached the point of throwing Him into the Cedron Stream. But the Humanity of Jesus looked at all of them with Love, bearing everything for Love of them.

And we—do we abandon ourselves at the mercy of the Will of God?

In our weaknesses and falls, are we ready to stand up again to throw ourselves into the arms of Jesus? Tormented Jesus was thrown into the Cedron Stream, feeling suffocation, nausea and repugnance. And we—do we abhor any stain and shadow of sin? Are we ready to give shelter to Jesus in our heart, so as not to make Him feel the nausea which other souls give Him with sin, and to compensate for the nausea that we ourselves have given Him many times?

My tormented Jesus, do not spare me in anything, and let me be the object of Your Divine and Loving Aims!

¹ Jesus was led back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, and the path led over one of the bridges of the brook Cedron. Katharina Emmerich describes the same event in her Passion scenes with the words: “Even before the train reached the bridge, I saw Jesus fall to the ground twice as the henchmen tugged mercilessly at the ropes. But when they had reached the middle of the bridge, they practiced their malice on Him with even greater malice. They pushed the poor, bound Jesus, whom they were holding by the ropes, over a man's height off the bridge into the Cedron stream, mockingly remarking that He could drink His fill there. It was only through divine assistance that He did not fatally damage Himself. He fell to his knees and then onto his face. ... The marks of His knees, feet, elbows and fingers were imprinted on the spot He touched and were later worshipped." See “The Bitter Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Capture”.

Sacrifice and Thanksgiving