My crucified good! I see You on the cross as on a throne of triumph at work, conquering all and every heart and drawing it to You with power, so that all may feel Your dominion. Nature, which shudders at this misdeed, lies at Your feet and silently awaits the command to do You honor and acknowledge Your rule. As if weeping, the sun withdraws its light so as not to have to look upon Your all too painful face. Even hell is terrified and awaits with silence what is to come. Silence reigns everywhere. Your mother, pierced by sorrow, and all Your faithful ones stand there silently, frozen at the all too painful sight of Your body, torn and bleeding from countless wounds. They wait in silence for Your word. Your humanity, which is immersed in a sea of pain in the torment of the agony of death, also remains silent, so that from one moment to the next it is to be feared that You will pass away. Yes, even the faithless Jews and the merciless executioner's servants, who until recently insulted and mocked you, calling you an impostor and a malefactor, and even the two thieves who had just blasphemed you, have fallen silent. Their conscience also stirred. If they try to utter a word of abuse against You, it dies on their lips.

But as I penetrate your inner being, I realize that your love is overflowing, overwhelming you and cannot be held back. Pressed by this love, which torments You more than Your suffering, You plead with a loud and poignant voice, raising Your extinguishing eyes to heaven as the God You are:

“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

And anew You wrap Yourself in silence, immersed in unheard-of agony.

Crucified Jesus! Can there be such love? Ah, after so many torments and insults, Your first word is a request for forgiveness, and You apologize to Your enemies and to us before the Father despite the multitude of our sins. You let this word descend into every heart after the guilt; You are the first to offer forgiveness. But how many do not accept it and reject it!

At these words, hell trembles and recognizes You as God. Nature and all the elements are shaken and recognize Your divinity and Your inextinguishable love and wait in silence to see how far it will go.

But it is not only Your voice, even Your blood and Your wounds call out to every heart after sin: "Come into My arms, I forgive you! The seal of forgiveness is the price of My blood."

My loving Jesus! Repeat this word even now to all sinners who are in the world. Ask for mercy for all and apply to all the infinite merits of Your precious Blood. Continue to propitiate divine justice for all. Grant mercy to all who, when they should forgive, do not have the strength to do so.

My Jesus, adorable Crucified One! In these three hours of most bitter agony, You want to fulfill all that the Father has given You to do. While You are hanging on the cross, I recognize that in the depths of Your soul You want to make satisfaction to the Father for all guilt and sin. You thank Him for everything, atone for all, ask forgiveness for all and beg for the grace for all to no longer offend You. In order to obtain this from the Father, you place your entire life before him, from the first moment of your incarnation to your last breath. My boundless love! Allow me also to present Your whole life to the Father, together with Your desolate Mother, St. John and the pious women.

My sweet Jesus! I thank You for the numerous thorns that pierced Your adorable head; I thank You for the drops of blood it shed, for the blows it received, and for having Your hair plucked out. I thank You for all the good that You have done and implored of all, for the light and for the good words that You have given us, and that You have forgiven us countless times for all sins, all thoughts of pride, arrogance and self-conceit.

For the sake of the sufferings You have endured, I ask You, good Jesus, to grant us the grace never again to commit sins of thought. I also want to offer up to You all that You have suffered in Your sacred head, in order to give You the honor and glorification that men would have given You if they had made the right use of their intellect.

Therefore: “Praise the Lord, all peoples, praise him, all nations, because his mercy has been shown to us and the truth of the Lord endures forever!” (Ps 11"). Glory be to the Father ...

I adore You, my Jesus, and thank You for the tears and blood shed by Your holy eyes; for every dishonor, mockery and disregard You endured in Your Passion. I ask forgiveness for all those who make a bad use of the gift of their eyes and sin through lust of sight. Through the horrors that Your most holy eyes had to witness, I implore You to grant us the grace that no one may offend You any more through sinful glances. I also offer You these sufferings in order to show You the honor and glorification that creatures would have shown You if they had always turned their eyes exclusively to Heaven, to the Godhead and to You, my Jesus.

I adore You, my Jesus, and thank You for what You suffered on Calvary, when Your ears had to listen to the wild cries and blasphemies of the executioners. In the name of all men I ask You for forgiveness for all sins committed by listening to evil speeches, and I implore You that the hearing of all men may be opened to the eternal truths as well as to the appeals of grace, and that no one may offend You any more by listening to evil speeches. I offer You everything that Your hearing has suffered in order to give You the honor and glorification that men would have given You if they had made holy use of their hearing.

I adore, my Jesus, Your most holy Face and thank You for all that it has suffered through spitting, cheek-strokes, mockery and derision. In the name of all people I ask forgiveness for all the insults that have been inflicted on You in brazen arrogance. I ask You, for the sake of the pranks and the defilement of Your face, that Your divinity may be recognized, loved and glorified by all people. My Jesus, I even want to travel the whole world from morning to evening, from north to south, I want to unite all the voices of men and transform them into one voice of praise, love and adoration. I want to carry all human hearts to You, so that You may shed light, truth, love and compassion into all of them through Your Passion. While You forgive everyone, I ask You, even if it were at the price of my blood, not to allow any human child to offend You. Finally, I offer You everything that Your most holy Face has suffered in order to give You the honor and glorification that creatures would have given You if no one had dared to offend You.

I adore You, my Jesus, and thank You for all that Your holy mouth ever spoke and suffered: for Your first weeping in the manger, for all the words of life, of love, for all the words of kindness He spoke to Your Mother, for the food He tasted, for the bitter gall He drank, for the burning thirst He endured on the Cross, for the prayers He allowed to ascend to the Father. I ask forgiveness for all the murmuring, for all the evil and frivolous speeches that were spoken, for all the curses that were uttered by men. I offer up, my Jesus, Your holy speeches to atone for all evil speech; I offer up the mortification of Your taste to atone for the lust of the palate and for all sins committed through bad use of the tongue. All that Your most holy mouth has suffered, I offer up to You in order to give You that honor and glorification which men would have given You if none of them had offended You through the lust of the palate and the abuse of the tongue.

I thank You, my Jesus, for what You have suffered on Your shoulders, for all the blows You have received, for all the wounds You have inflicted on Your most holy Body, for every drop of blood You have shed. I ask Your forgiveness in the name of all men as often as You have been offended by the love of comfort, by illicit and impeccable pleasures. I offer You Your painful scourging to atone for all sins committed with the senses, through love of lust and sensual pleasures, through self-love and natural gratification. I also make it my opinion to offer up to You what You have suffered on Your shoulders in order to give You that honor and glorification which men would have given You if they had endeavored in everything to please You alone and to take refuge under the mantle of Your divine protection.

My Jesus, I kiss Your left foot and thank You for all the steps You have taken in Your mortal life. I also thank You for having tired Your limbs so often while You were in search of souls to lead them to Your Heart. With this intention I offer You all my actions, steps and movements in order to make satisfaction to You for all and for everything. I ask Your forgiveness for those who do not act with the right intention. I unite my actions with Yours in order to deify them. I offer them up, united with all Your works that Your most holy humanity has done, to give You the honor and glorification that men would have given You if they had acted with holy and right intention.

I kiss Your right foot, my Jesus, and thank You for all that You have suffered and are still suffering for me, especially for the hour in which You hung on the cross. I thank You for the terrible agony caused by the nails in Your wounds, which are expanding more and more under the weight of Your holy body. I ask forgiveness for all outrages and all acts of disobedience committed by men. I offer You the pains of Your feet in reparation for these insults, in order to give You the honor and glorification that men would have given You if they had remained subject to You in everything.

I kiss Your left hand, O Jesus, and thank You for all that You have suffered for me and that You have so often appeased divine justice by making satisfaction for all.

I kiss Your right hand and thank You for all the good You have done and are still doing for all, especially for the works of creation, redemption and sanctification. I ask Your forgiveness on behalf of all people as often as we have been ungrateful to Your good deeds and have not done our works in the right spirit. In reparation for all these offenses, I offer You the perfection and holiness of Your works, in order to give You all the glory that creatures would have given You if they had corresponded to all these benefits.

I also adore, my Jesus, Your most Sacred Heart and I thank You for all that You have suffered and accomplished out of love for all mankind and for each individual. I ask forgiveness for so many evil desires, feelings and inclinations. Have forbearance, Jesus, with all those who put Your love after the love of creatures. In order to give You that honor and glorification which the creatures deny You, I offer You everything that Your adorable Heart has done and continues to do.

My Jesus, in the name of all people I want to sing the hymn of eternal, infinite gratitude. I have the good opinion to offer You as a sacrifice all that Your most holy Person has suffered, and to show You that honor and glorification which all men would have shown You if they had conformed their lives to Yours.

Reflections and Practices

by St. Fr. Annibale Di Francia

Jesus, lifted up on the cross, remains here without touching the earth. Let us also strive to live detached from the world, from creatures and all that is earthly?¹ Everything should contribute to forming the cross on which we must remain stretched out like Jesus, far from all that is earthly, so that creatures do not cling to us.

The divine Savior has no other resting place than the cross, no other refreshment than wounds and shame. Does our love for God kingdom so far that we too find rest in suffering? Do we close everything we do, prayer and suffering, in the wounds and blood of Jesus? If we seek refreshment nowhere but in His suffering, then His wounds will be ours, His blood will constantly work in us to cleanse and beautify our souls. In this way we will obtain every grace for ourselves and for the salvation of souls. Since we have the blood of Jesus in custody in our hearts², if we are guilty of any negligence, let us pray to Jesus that He will not allow our souls to be defiled in His presence, but rather that He will wash our souls with His blood and keep us with him always.

If we feel weak, let us pray to Jesus that He may give our soul a jewel of His precious blood to make it strong.

The kindest Jesus prays for His executioners and even excuses them. Do we also make Jesus' prayer our own? Do we constantly apologize to the Father for sinners in order to obtain forgiveness for them, even for those who have offended us?

When we pray, work and rest, let us not forget those poor souls who are about to breathe their last breath. Let us offer them our prayers and the kiss of Jesus' reconciliation as support and consolation, so that His precious blood may cleanse them and allow them to take their flight to heaven.

My Jesus! From your wounds and your blood I want to draw the strength to be able to repeat your life in me. In this way I will obtain for all the good that You Yourself have done.

¹ This refers to disorderly or sinful attachment to the things of the earth.

² e.g. after Holy Communion

Sacrifice and Thanksgiving

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