TWELFTH HOUR (From 4 to 5 AM) Jesus at the mercy of the soldiers

My most sweet Life, Jesus, while sleeping, clinging to your Heart, I often felt
the pricks of the thorns which prick your Most Holy Heart. Wanting to wake
up together with You, that You may have at least one who notices all of
your pains and feels compassion for You, I cling more tightly to your Heart;
and feeling your prickings more vividly, I wake up. But, what do I see?
What do I hear? I would like to hide You in my heart to expose myself in
your place, and receive upon myself pains so intense, insults and humiliations
so incredible. But only your love could bear so many outrages. My most
patient Jesus, what could You expect from people so inhuman?

I now see that they are making fun of You. They cover your Face with
thick spit; the light of your beautiful eyes is covered by the spit; and You,
pouring rivers of tears for our salvation, push that spit away from your eyes,
and your enemies, with hearts incapable of seeing the light of your eyes,
cover them with spit again. Others, becoming more brave in evil, open your
most sweet mouth and fill it with disgusting spit, to the point that they
themselves feel nausea. And since some of that spit flows away, revealing,
in part, the majesty of your Face and your superhuman sweetness, they
shudder and feel ashamed of themselves. In order to feel more free, they
blindfold You with a miserable rag, to be able to hurl themselves,
unrestrained, at your adorable Person. And so they beat You up without
pity; they drag You; they trample You under their feet; they repeat blows
and slaps to your Face and over your head, scratching You, tearing your
hair, and pushing You from one point to another.

Jesus, my Love, my heart cannot bear seeing You in the midst of so many
pains. You want me to notice everything, but I feel I would rather cover my
eyes so as not to see scenes so painful, which tear the heart from any chest.
But my love for You forces me to look at what happens to You.
I see that You utter not a breath, that You say not a word to defend
Yourself; that You are in the hands of these soldiers like a rag, and they can
do with You whatever they want. And in seeing them jumping over You, I
fear You may die under their feet.

My Good and my All, the sorrow I feel for your pains is so great, that I
would like to shout so loudly as to be heard up there in Heaven, and call the
Father, the Holy Spirit and all the Angels; and here on earth, from one point
to another, call sweet Mama first, and all the souls who love You, so that,
forming a circle around You, we may prevent these insolent soldiers from
drawing near You to insult You and torment You more. Together with You,
we repair for all the night sins, especially those committed at night by
sectarians, over your Sacramental Person, and for all the offenses of the
souls who do not remain faithful in the night of trial.

But I see, my insulted Good, that the soldiers, tired and drunk, would like to
rest, and my poor heart, oppressed and lacerated by your so many pains,
does not want to remain alone with You – it feels the need of another
company. O please, my sweet Mama, be my inseparable company; let us
embrace Jesus together, in order to console Him! O Jesus, together with
Mama, I kiss You and I bless You; and with Her, I will have the sleep of
love upon your adorable Heart.

Reflections and Practices

In this hour Jesus is in the midst of the soldiers with imperturbability and
iron constancy. God as He is, He suffers all the strains which the soldiers
inflict upon Him, and looks at them with so much love that He seems to
invite them to give Him more pains. And we - are we constant during
repeated sufferings, or do we lament, get irritated and lose peace; that
peace of the heart which is necessary to allow Jesus to find a happy
dwelling within us?

Firmness is that virtue which makes us know whether God really reigns in
us. If ours is true virtue, we will be firm in trial, with a firmness which is not
inconstant, but always equal to itself. The more we become firm in good, in
suffering, in working, the more we enlarge the field around us, in which
Jesus will expand His graces. Therefore, if we are inconstant, our field will
be small, and Jesus will have little or no space. But if we are firm and
constant, as Jesus finds a very extensive field, He will find in us His shelf
and support, and the place in which to extend His graces.
If we want our beloved Jesus to rest in us, let us surround Him with His
own firmness, with which He operated for the salvation of our souls. Being
sheltered, He will remain in our heart in sweet rest. Jesus looked with love
at those who mistreated Him. Do we look at those who offend us with the
same love? Is the love we show to them so great as to be a voice for their
hearts - so powerful as to convert them to Jesus?
My Jesus, boundless Love, give me this love and let each pain of mine call
souls to You.