Jesus, my sweet love! Since Your love for us is never enough for You, I see that You rise from the table at the end of the Last Supper and sing with Your dear disciples the hymn of thanksgiving to the Father to atone for the ingratitude of creatures. So I perceive, O Jesus, that in everything You do and everything that comes into contact with You, You have the words on Your lips: “Thanks be to You, My Father!” I take these words from Your lips. Always and everywhere I want to say: “Thanks be to You for me and for all!” to replace the lack of thanksgiving.

My Jesus, Your love is not yet at rest. I hear You calling Your disciples to sit down again. You take a basin, gird Yourself with a linen cloth, prostrate Yourself at the feet of Your disciples in such a humble posture that You attract the gaze of the whole of heaven and astonish it. Even the apostles look on in breathless suspense. But tell me, my dear, what are you doing? And what is this act of the deepest humility, a humility such as has never been seen and never will be seen?

“O child of man,” Jesus replies, prostrate at the feet of the apostles, "I only desire their souls¹, and with tears I devise a cunning of love to bind them to Me. With the symbol of your water mixed with My tears, I want to purify their souls from every imperfection and prepare them to receive Me in the great Sacrament. This act of purification is so close to My heart that I do not want to entrust it to the angels or to My Dear Mother. I Myself want to purify the souls of My apostles in order to make them worthy to receive the fruit of the Blessed Sacrament. In this way I want to make amends for all good works, but especially for the administration of the sacraments, which are performed in a spirit of indifference and not in the Spirit of God. Oh, how many good works are done that do Me more dishonor than honor, that cause Me more bitterness than pleasure, that give Me death rather than life!² It is precisely these offenses that grieve Me the most. My soul, enumerate all the offenses inflicted on Me. Make reparation with My acts of atonement to console My Heart, which is sunk in bitterness."

My afflicted Jesus! Your life I will make mine to atone for so many offenses. I want to enter into the most hidden corners of Your divine heart in order to atone with Your own heart for the offenses inflicted on You by those who are dearest to You. I want to follow You in everything and, in union with You, go to all souls who want to receive You in the Eucharist and enter into their hearts. O Jesus, with Your tears and the water with which You washed the feet of the apostles, let us wash the souls who are to receive You. Let us cleanse their hearts, shake off the dust with which they are soiled, and inflame them so that You may be pleased with them. As You wash Your disciples' feet with loving zeal, I look at You and realize that another pain is piercing Your heart. The apostles represent all the future children of the Church, but also, in their imperfection, all the evils that will occur in the Church, hence the whole following of Your sufferings. The one symbolizes weaknesses, the other deceit; the former the symbol of hypocrisy, the latter of an excessive love of earthly gain. In Peter we find the resolutions that are not steadfast, the offenses of many an ecclesiastical leader; in John the weakness of even Your most faithful, for he too fell asleep in the Garden of Olives after he had rested against Your Heart, only to take flight; in Judas all the apostates with all the grave evils that result from apostasy. Your heart is overwhelmed with pain and love. Since you are hardly able to master the greatness of pain as well as the greatness of love, you linger at the feet of each apostle, shedding tears, atoning for each of these offenses and pleading for strength and steadfastness for all of them.

My Jesus, I too unite myself to You and make Your prayers and acts of atonement my own. I want to remain with You, to unite my tears with Yours, so that You will never be alone, but will always have me by Your side to share Your sufferings.

Jesus, my love! I see You at the feet of the Apostle Judas. Your breath is labored, You weep and sob in silence. You wash his feet, kiss them, press them to Your heart. As your voice fails you from pain, you look at the traitor with tears in your eyes and say to his heart: "My son, I beg you with the voice of My tears, do not take the road to hell. Give Me your soul, which I desire, prostrated at your feet. Tell Me, what do you want to do? What do you intend to do? I will give you everything, only do not ruin yourself. O spare Me this pain, Me, your God!" And again and again you kiss his feet.³

My Jesus! As You recognize the hardness of his heart, Yours clenches. Love overwhelms you, it seems as if Your strength is failing. Jesus, my life! Allow me to hold You up in my arms. I understand that these are artifices of Your love that You use with stubborn sinners. But while I take pity on You and make reparation to You for the insults You receive from such souls, I ask You to allow me to walk the earth in union with You to offer the gift of Your tears to hardened sinners so that their hearts may be softened; I ask You to give them Your love to bind them to You so that they can no longer escape You. In this way, You will be compensated for the pain caused by the downfall of Judas.

Jesus, friend and delight of my heart! I see that Your love is taking its course, sweeping You along with it. You rise and approach the table with longing, where bread and wine are already ready for consecration. Your divine features take on an expression so tender, so loving, as has never been seen before. Your eyes shine brighter than the sun, Your face reddens and becomes radiant, heavenly joy plays around Your lips, Your whole outer being takes on the majesty of the Creator.

I see You, my love, as transfigured. Your divinity shines through the shell of Your humanity. The sight of You, as never seen before, attracts the attention of all. The apostles are seized with sweet delight and hardly dare to breathe, your gracious Mother finds Herself in spirit at Your table to behold the wonders of Your love. The angels descend from heaven. It is as if they were asking each other: “What is this? Is this not the excess, the madness of love? A God does not create a new heaven or a new earth, but He gives Himself a new existence by transforming the perishable matter of a little bread and wine into the body and blood of His humanity.” O insatiable love! As all the disciples are gathered around You, I see You take the bread in Your holy hands and offer it to the Father. I hear Your sweet voice saying: "Holy Father, thank You because You always hear Your Son. Holy Father, work with Me. Once You sent Me from Heaven to earth to become man in the womb of a virgin to save Our children. Now allow Me that the “Word” may become flesh in every Host to continue the salvation of the children of men and to be the life of every soul. Behold, Father, only a few hours are left for Me. How could I be so heartless as to leave My children alone and orphaned! Numerous are their enemies, numerous their passions, dense the darknesses of their minds, great the weakness of their hearts to which they are subjected. Who will come to their aid?

O I beg You, let Me remain in every host to preserve the life of My children, to be their light, strength and power. Where else will they go? Who will be their guide? The works of Our hands are eternal, I cannot resist My love, I cannot and will not leave My children alone."

The Father is moved by Your words inflamed with love and descends from Heaven. Now the Father and the Holy Spirit are with You on the altar table, my Jesus! Now You speak the words of consecration with a clear and impressive voice. Without emptying Yourself, You make Yourself present in every bread and wine in a sacramental way.

My Jesus! The heavens bow down and offer You an act of adoration in the new state of deepest humiliation. Now Your love is satisfied. I see all the consecrated hosts on the altar until the end of time. But so many hosts are entwined with the wreath of Your painful Passion, because so many people reward the excess of Your love only with the excess of ingratitude, even atrocious crimes.

Jesus, Heart of my heart! I always want to be with You in every tabernacle, in every chalice, in every Holy Host, in order to be able to offer You my acts of reparation for all the offenses inflicted on You in the sacrament of love.

Jesus, I contemplate You in the consecrated Host, I kiss Your forehead in my mind, on which the majesty of the Godhead is enthroned, but I also feel the pricks of Your crown of thorns. Oh, how many souls there are who do not spare You the pricks of thorns even in the Host! Instead of offering You the homage of good thoughts, they come with evil thoughts. You bow Your head anew as in Your Passion, receive and endure the stings which the thorns of their evil thoughts cause You. My love! I draw near to You to share Your sufferings. Receive all my thoughts into Your spirit to keep away those thorns that cause You such bitter pain. Let every thought of mine merge with every thought of Yours in order to atone for every evil thought and thus comfort You.

Jesus, my greatest good! I see the loving gaze of Your beautiful eyes turned towards those who appear before You. He demands a loving gaze from them in return. But how many appear before the Blessed Sacrament and look at other things that distract them and thus rob You of the pleasure that a look of love would have given You. You are weeping, but my cheeks are also wet with tears. - My Jesus, weep! I want to lower my eyes into Yours. To share Your suffering with You, to atone for all the looks of the curious, I offer You my eyes, which should always be directed towards You.

Jesus, I see that You listen attentively to Your creatures in order to comfort them. They, on the other hand, say their prayers to You without devotion, habitually and without trust. And Your hearing suffers more in this host than in Your Passion. My Jesus, I want to make You hear all the harmonies of heaven, to unite my hearing with Yours, to share in Your sufferings, to console You and to make reparation.

Jesus, my life! I see Your most holy face wet with drops of blood, disfigured and pale. Your creatures appear before the highest exposed good. But instead of giving You due honor, it seems as if they were giving You cheek strokes and sullying Your face by their indecent behavior and improper conversation. As in Your Passion, You accept these indignities in peace and patience and endure them. Jesus, I want to bring my face close to Yours, not only to be the object of the dishonor they show You, but also to share all Your pain with You. With my hands I want to cleanse Your face of the defilements, to press You to my heart. From my whole being I would like to make as many parts and place before your eyes as there are souls who honor you. I want to transform all my impulses and movements into as many genuflections in order to atone without ceasing for the irreverence that creatures have shown You.

My Jesus! When You come to the children of men in the Blessed Sacrament, You are forced to lie down on so many impure, evil and blasphemous tongues. Oh, how bitter for You! It seems to you as if you were being poisoned by these tongues. It is even worse when You descend into their hearts. If it were possible, I would gladly accept these tongues to turn all their sinful speeches, which offend You so much, into words of praise.

Jesus, my highest good! I see Your head so tired, exhausted and completely consumed by Your loving activity. Tell me, what are you doing? And You answer: "My child! I must dwell in the consecrated Host from morning till night to forge chains of love. When souls come, I bind them to My Heart. But do you know what they do then? Many break free by force and tear the chains of My love to pieces. Since these chains are bound to My Heart, it suffers torments that are unspeakable. By breaking My chains, they undo My labors of love, let creatures put chains on them and use them to achieve their ends. They even do this in My presence. Such behavior grieves Me to such an extent that I would die of pain if I were in a state capable of suffering." - How I suffer with You, my Jesus! Your heart is exposed to so much torment. So I ask You to put on my heart those chains that others break, to repay You for them with my love and to console You for the insults that souls inflict on You.

My Jesus! So powerful and mighty is the fire that burns in Your heart that You want to give vent to its flames and send arrows of love at hearts. Many, however, deflect them and return them with arrows, spears and projectiles of coldness, lukewarmness and ingratitude. How much reason You have, my Jesus, to weep bitterly over this! Now see my heart prepared to receive not only those arrows of love that are meant for me, but also those that the other souls reject. I will atone for the coldness, lukewarmness and ingratitude You receive from these souls.

Jesus, I kiss Your left hand and thus want to atone for all illicit advances and unseemly deeds that happen in Your presence. I ask You to always keep me close to Your heart. Glory be to the Father...

Jesus, I kiss Your right hand and with it I want to atone for all sacrileges, including those committed by priests who celebrate in an unseemly state. How often are You, my love, compelled to descend from heaven into unworthy hands and hearts! Even if it is repugnant to You to find Yourself in such hands, Your love compels You to do so again and again. Yes, some of Your servants renew Your Passion, renew the murder of God with their offenses and sacrileges. Jesus, I am horrified just thinking about it. But nevertheless, You also place Yourself in those unworthy hands, just as You placed Yourself in the hands of the Jews during Your Passion. Like a gentle lamb, You await death anew, but also the conversion of the unworthy servants of the altar.

Jesus, how You suffer! You look around for a hand that will free You from these bloodstained hands. If you find yourself in such hands, I beg you, call me. As atonement, I want to surround You with the purity of the angels, to spread the fragrance of Your own virtues around You, to take away Your reluctance to be in such hands. I want to open my heart to You as a place of salvation and refuge. And while You dwell in me in Holy Communion, I will pray to You for the priests, that all may be worthy in Your service.

Jesus, I kiss Your left foot and thereby want to make reparation for those who receive You habitually and without the proper disposition of soul. Glory be to the Father...

Jesus, I kiss Your right foot and thereby want to make reparation for those who receive You only as a mockery. Oh, if they have the audacity to do this, then I ask You to renew the miracle You worked on centurion Longinus. As You healed his soul and converted him by touching him with the blood that gushed from Your pierced heart, so also, by Your sacramental touch with the wicked, transform the feelings of contempt or hatred into love and the insulters into lovers. Glory be to the Father...

Jesus, I adore and praise Your kind heart, in which all offenses flow together. I want to make reparation to You for all offenses against the Blessed Sacrament, to give You the love of men in return for Your love and to share with You all Your sufferings. Glory be to the Father...

Jesus. If any offense should escape my reparation, lock me up in Your Heart and in Your Will as in a prison, so that I may make reparation for every offense. I will also ask Your Most Holy Mother to have me always with Her, so that I can atone with Her for everything and for everyone. In this way we will let the waves of bitterness with which people flood You flow away from You.

My Jesus! Remember that I too am a miserable, sinful creature. Lock me up in Your heart and with the chains of Your love not only make me Your prisoner, but also bind my every thought, my every feeling and inclination, my hands and feet to You, so that I have no other hands and feet than Yours. Let Your heart be my prison, my chains forged by love, Your flames my food, Your breath mine. May Your Most Holy Will be the bars that prevent me from stepping out of my prison. Then I will feel nothing but fire, see nothing but flames. I will give You my life. While I remain with You in prison, You shall have Your freedom in me. Is this not Your intention, when You enclose Yourself in the Host, to receive Your freedom from the souls who receive You, so that You can unfold Your life in them? Now bless me as a sign of Your love. Give my soul the mystical kiss of love as I rejoice in Your embrace. Glory be to the Father...

Sweet Heart of Jesus! When You instituted the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar and saw in Your Spirit the screaming ingratitude and insults on the part of Your creatures, You nevertheless did not flinch. Even when You are wounded and soaked with bitterness, You submerge everything in the immensity of Your love. After You have taught Your apostles and added that they too should do what You have done, You consecrate them as priests by giving them the power to consecrate. In this way You think of all priests at the same time and create a means to atone for everything.

At the end of the Last Supper, You take Your apostles with You and make Your way to the Garden of Gethsemane, where Your Passion was to begin. I follow You everywhere, my Jesus, to keep You faithful company. As You walk along, I want to make reparation for all souls who leave the Church with scattered and distracted minds; I also want to ask You to give light and grace to those priests who do not profit at all from the sacred acts because they do not make good use of the means of grace.

Reflections and Practices

by St. Fr. Annibale Di Francia

Jesus is hidden in the Host to give Life to all. In His hiddenness, He embraces all centuries and gives Light to all.

In the same way, hiding ourselves in Him, we will give life and light to all with our prayers and reparations, even to the heretics and to the unfaithful, because Jesus does not exclude anyone.

What should we do in our hiddenness? In order to become similar to Jesus Christ, we must hide everything in Him, that is, thoughts, glances, words, heartbeats, affections, desires, steps and works; even our prayers—we should hide them in the Prayers of Jesus. And just as Loving Jesus embraces all centuries in the Eucharist, we will also embrace them. Clinging to Him, we will be the thought of every mind, the word of every tongue, desire of every heart, step of every foot, work of every arm. By doing this, we will divert from the Heart of Jesus all the evils which all the creatures would want to do to Him, trying to substitute for this evil with all the good we can do, and in such a way that it presses Jesus to give salvation, sanctity and Love to all souls.

In order to reciprocate the Life of Jesus, our life must be fully conformed to His own. The soul must have the intention of being in all the tabernacles of the world in order to continuously keep Him company, and to give Him continuous relief and reparation; and with this intention do all the actions of the day. The first tabernacle is within us, in our heart; therefore we must pay great attention to all that Good Jesus wants to do in us. Many times, being in our heart, Jesus makes us feel the need of prayer. Ah, it is Jesus who wants to pray, and wants us together with Him, almost identifying Himself with our voice, with our affection and with all our heart in order to make our prayer be one with His own! And so, in order to give honor to the Prayer of Jesus, we will be attentive to give Him all our being, so that Loving Jesus may raise His Prayer to Heaven to speak to the Father, and Renew in the world the effects of His own Prayer.

We need to pay attention to each one of our interior motions, because Good Jesus now makes us suffer, now wants us in prayer, now places us in one interior state, now in another, in order to repeat His own Life in us.

Let us suppose that Jesus places us in the circumstance of exercising patience. He receives so grave and so many offenses from creatures, that He feels moved to resort to chastisements to strike the creatures. And here He gives us the opportunity to exercise patience. And we must give Him honor, bearing everything with peace, just as Jesus does. And Our patience will snatch from His Hands the chastisements that other creatures draw from Him, because He will exercise His own Divine Patience within us. And just as with patience, the same with all the other virtues. In the Sacrament, Loving Jesus exercises all virtues; from Him we will draw fortitude, docility, patience, tolerance, humility, obedience.

Good Jesus gives us His Flesh for food, and we will give Him our love, will, desires, thoughts and affections for His nourishment. In this way we will compete with the Love of Jesus. We will let nothing enter into us that is not Him; therefore, everything we will do—everything must serve to nourish our beloved Jesus. Our thought must feed the Divine Thought—that is, thinking that Jesus is hidden in us, and wants the nourishment of our thought. So, by thinking in a saintly way, we nourish the Divine Thought. Our words, heartbeats, affections, desires, steps, works—everything must serve to nourish Jesus. We must place the intention of feeding the creatures in Jesus.

O my Sweet Love, in this hour You transubstantiated Yourself into bread and wine. O please, O Jesus, let all that I say and do be a continuous Consecration of Yourself in me and in souls.

Sweet Life of mine, when You come into me, let my every heartbeat, every desire, every affection, thought and word feel the power of the Sacramental Consecration in such a way that, being Consecrated, all my little being may become as many hosts in order to give You to souls.

O Jesus, Sweet Love of mine, may I be Your little host in order to enclose in me, like a Living Host, all of Yourself.

¹ Initially that of the apostles

² Through every mortal sin, thus also through every unworthy communion, the Savior is, according to the words of the Apostle Paul, crucified anew, thus, as it were, delivered anew to death.

³ Cf. “The Mystical City of God”, by Mary of Agreda. Vol. II, T.II, B.6, C.10.

Sacrifice and Thanksgiving

Sources:

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