EIGHTH HOUR (From Midnight To 1 Am) Jesus is arrested

O my Jesus, it is already midnight. You feel that your enemies are drawing
near; tidying Yourself up and drying up your Blood, strengthened by the
comforts received, You go to your disciples again. You call them, You
admonish them, and You take them with You, as You go to meet your
enemies, wanting to repair, with your promptness, my slowness, indolence
and laziness in working and suffering for love of You.

But, O sweet Jesus, my Good, what a touching scene I see! You first meet the
perfidious Judas, who, drawing near You and throwing his arms around
your neck, greets You and kisses You. And You, most passionate Love, do
not disdain to kiss those infernal lips; You embrace him and press him to
your Heart, wanting to snatch him from hell, and giving him signs of new
love. My Jesus, how is it possible not to love You? The tenderness of your
love is such that it should snatch every heart to love You; yet, they do not
love You! And You, O my Jesus, in bearing this kiss of Judas, repair for the
betrayals, the pretenses, the deceptions under the aspect of friendship and
sanctity, especially of priests. Your kiss, then, shows that, not to one sinner,
provided that he comes humbled before You, would You refuse your
forgiveness.

My most tender Jesus, You now give Yourself into the hands of the enemies,
giving them the power to make You suffer whatever they want. I too, O my
Jesus, give myself into your hands, that You may do with me, freely,
whatever You best please; and together with You, I want to follow your Will,
your reparations, and suffer your pains. I want to be always around You,
that there may be no offense which I do not repair; no bitterness which I do
not soothe; no spit or blows that You receive, which are not followed by one
kiss and caress of mine. In the falls You will suffer, my hands will always
be ready to help You in order to lift You. So, I want to be always with
You, O my Jesus; I do not want to leave You alone even for one minute.
And to be more certain, place me inside of Yourself, and I will be in your
mind, in your gazes, in your Heart, and in all of You, so that whatever You
do, I may do as well. In this way, I will be able to keep You faithful
company, and nothing of your pains will escape me, in order to give You
my return of love for everything.

My sweet Good, I will be at your side to defend You, to learn your
teachings, to count, one by one, all of your words. Ah, how sweetly does
the word with which You addressed Judas, descend into my heart: “Friend,
why have you come?” And I feel that You address me too with the same
word - not calling me friend, but by the sweet name of child: “Child, why have
you come?”; to hear me answer: “Jesus – to love You”. “Why have you
come?”, You repeat to me when I wake up in the morning; “Why have you
come?”, if I pray; “Why have you come?”, You repeat to me in the Holy
Host, if I come to receive You into my heart.

What a beautiful call for me and for all! But how many, to your “Why have
you come?”, answer: “I come to offend You!” Others, pretending not to
hear You, give themselves to all kinds of sins, and answer your “Why have
you come?”, by going to hell! How much compassion I feel for You, O my
Jesus! I would like to take the very ropes with which your enemies are
about to bind You, in order to bind these souls and spare You this sorrow.
But, again, I hear your most tender voice which says, as You go to meet
your enemies: “Who are you looking for?” And they answer: “Jesus the
Nazarene”. And You, to them: “It is I”. With only this word You say
everything, and You let Yourself be known for who You are; so much so,
that the enemies tremble and fall to the ground, as though dead. And You,
Love which has no equal, repeating again, “It is I”, call them back to life
and You give Yourself, on your own, into the power of the enemies.
Perfidious and ungrateful, instead of falling to your feet, humbled and
palpitating, to ask for your forgiveness, taking advantage of your goodness
and despising your graces and prodigies, they lay hands on You, they bind
You with ropes and chains, they grip You, they cast You to the ground, they
trample upon You, they tear your hair. And You, with unheard-of patience,
remain silent, suffering and repairing for the offenses of those who, in spite
of miracles, do not surrender to your Grace, and become more obstinate.
With those ropes and chains, You impetrate from the Father the grace to
snap the chains of our sins, and You bind us with the sweet chain of love.

And, lovingly, You correct Peter, who wants to defend You to the point of
cutting off the ear of Malchus. With this, You intend to repair for the good
works, which are not done with holy prudence, or which fall into sin because
of excessive zeal.

My most patient Jesus, it seems that these ropes and chains give something
more beautiful to your Divine Person: your forehead becomes more
majestic, so much so, as to draw the attention of your enemies themselves;
your eyes blaze with more light; your Divine Face assumes a supreme peace
and sweetness, such as to enamor your very executioners. With your sweet
and penetrating accents, though few, You make them tremble; so much so,
that if they dare to offend You, it is because You Yourself allow them to do
so.

Oh chained and bound Love, can You ever allow Yourself to be bound for
me, making a greater display of your love toward me, while I, your little
child, remain without chains? No, no; rather, with your most holy hands,
bind me with your own ropes and chains.

Therefore I pray You, as I kiss your divine forehead, to bind all of my
thoughts, my eyes, my ears, my tongue, my heart, my affections, and all of
me; and together with me, bind all creatures, so that, in feeling the
sweetnesses of your loving chains, they may never again dare to offend
You.

My sweet Good, it is now one o’clock. My mind begins to doze off. I will
do the best I can in order to stay awake; but if sleep surprises me, I leave
myself inside of You, in order to follow whatever You do; even more, You
Yourself will do it for me. In You I leave my thoughts, to defend You from
your enemies; my breathing, as cortege and company; my heartbeat, to tell
You, constantly, that I love You and to make up for the love which others do
not give You; the drops of my blood, to repair You and to render back to
You the honor and the esteem which they will take away from You with
insults, spit and slaps. My Jesus, bless me and let me sleep in your adorable
Heart; and from your heartbeats, accelerated by love or by sorrow, I will be
able to wake up often, so as not to interrupt our company. Let us make this
agreement, O Jesus!

Reflections and Practices

Jesus promptly gave Himself into the hands of the enemies, seeing the Will
of the Father in His enemies.

In the deceptions, in the betrayals of creatures, are we ready to forgive as
Jesus forgave? Do we take from the hands of God all the evil that we
receive from creatures? Are we ready to do all that Jesus wants from us?
In the crosses, in the strains, can we say that our patience imitates that of
Jesus?

My chained Jesus, may your chains bind my heart and keep it still, to make
it ready to suffer everything You want.