Dr. Wojciech Kosek in collaboration with Beata Krochmal
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Meditations led by eight people:
A, B, D, J – women; L, P, W, Z – men.
This translation was published here on 5 Dec 2023.
To see the original Polish text ← click, please!
(Duration of meditations with songs: about 72 min.)
(Duration with praying the Holy Rosary: about 102 min.)
Introduction to the Holy rosary
(Duration of meditations with songs: about 13 min.)
B Dearest Jesus! A few dozen minutes ago, with the sign of the Holy Cross, we began the celebration of Mass as a time of particularly close being with You. We believe, following St. John Paul II, [1] that thanks to the indispensable presence of the ordained priest in our midst, we were in some mysterious way incorporated with him into the liturgy of the Last Supper – the liturgy that You Yourself celebrated in the Upper Room two thousand years ago. By the power of Your divine right hand, we were brought into the Upper Room and included in the liturgical assembly of all those truly participating in that celebration. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank You for this extraordinary opportunity to enter into Your time, into the events of Your life, O Jesus (1:19).
B Song: O Unspeakable Happiness Shone Forth – 1st stanza (0:55)
W My heart, filled with love for You, Dearest Savior, longs for close abiding with You. I love You, O Jesus. Therefore, I still want to be with You… I desire to look at You constantly, O Beloved One… I long to listen to Your voice day and night… I know it is impossible to be so continuously with You in a union of love, in almost complete oblivion of the world, of other people. However, I know that Your love for me has made it possible for me, through the power of the Blessed Sacrament, to be unspeakably close to You in those moments when, after Holy Communion, the Eucharistic species are stored in my bowels until they are completely digested. (1:13)
W Song: O Unspeakable Happiness Shone Forth – 2nd stanza (0:55)
J St. Teresa of Avila, who lived in the 16th century, wrote about You and this particular time of closeness with You in this way: “We have no need to go and seek Him somewhere a long way off. For we know that, until the accidents of bread have been consumed by our natural heat, the good Jesus is with us and we should [not lose so good an opportunity but should] come to Him.” Furthermore, she immediately added such words of encouragement: “If, while He went about in the world, the sick were healed merely by touching His clothes, how can we doubt that He will work miracles when He is within us, if we have faith, or that He will give us what we ask of Him since He is in our house? His Majesty is not wont to offer us too little payment for His lodging if we treat Him well. … Delight to remain with Him; do not lose such an excellent time for talking with Him as the hour after Communion. Remember that this is a very profitable hour for the soul; if you spend it in the company of the good Jesus, you are doing Him a great service. Be very careful, then, daughters, not to lose it.” [2]
J Song: O Unspeakable Happiness Shone Forth – 3rd stanza (0:55)
P Beloved Jesus! Thanks to the cooperation with Your grace, St. Padre Pio also discovered what an incomprehensible gift of closeness You grant us after coming to us in Holy Communion. After the Holy Mass, “Padre Pio would first kneel for a long time in the sacristy and then go to his place in the choir. He wrote to Fr. Augustine in a letter: ‘After the Holy Mass, I stayed with Jesus in thanksgiving. What a heavenly conversation it was! Jesus’ heart and my heart merged into one. There were no longer two hearts beating, but only one. My heart disappeared like a droplet absorbed by the ocean’ (18.04.1912)” [3] (0:58)
D His record is also an instruction and encouragement to us so that we firmly believe in the Church’s teaching about the grace of extraordinary intimacy that, beyond the reach of our sensory experience, is granted to us in every Holy Communion. We realize that You, O Beloved, respect our freedom and do not wish to make us happy with Yourself without our consent, without the desire of our hearts. Therefore, we experience the grace of this happy intimacy, unknowable through the senses, insofar as we are willing, with a heart that loves You, to abide in prayer at this very time, distinguished by You. (1:04)
D Song: O Unspeakable Happiness Shone Forth – 4th stanza (0:55)
L Beloved Jesus, You grant the grace of ineffable union to all those believers who await confirmation of the fact of meeting You in Holy Communion not from the senses – not from the eyes, ears, touch, smell – but from the mind, enlightened by the faith of the Holy Catholic Church. Our will, yearning to love You, directs everything that constitutes us toward Your invisible, Eucharistic presence. Be greeted, O Beloved, present among us and for us! (0:51)
A Dearest Jesus! An encounter with You in Holy Communion does not end with the Holy Mass, but, as we should confess with faith, it enables us to continue abiding with You in prayer. For we believe that, by the power of Holy Communion, we can now go with You to the Hill of the Skull – where You went in the company of the Apostles at a time two thousand years distant from our time. You desire our presence by Your side; You desire to have support in us – Your friends – on this way that You are passing with a heart squeezed with pain from the Cenacle of the Last Supper to Golgotha, to the entering into Abyss and passing through it, through death, towards a new life. (1:07)
A Song: Your Heart, Jesus, is Burning with Love – 1st stanza (0:50)
Z Beloved Jesus! We now begin the recitation of the Holy Rosary. We have taken our meditations for the respective mysteries partly from St. Padre Pio, desiring, following his example, to love You with our presence with You after the Holy Mass. Filled with love and a desire to make reparation for You for all the frigidity of our and our neighbors’ hearts, we now go with You, O Lord. We wish to open our hearts to Your transforming grace during our passing with You from the Cenacle to the Hill of the Skull. Make us burn with the kind of love You desire of us… Jesus, guide us! (1:02)
Meditation 1.
Lord Jesus’ agony in Gethsemane
(Duration of meditations: about 6 min.)
B Song: Garden of Olives – 1st stanza (0:40)
B Beloved Savior! We now wish to enter with You into the time and place of Your agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. We believe that we are truly carried into Your time of life through the sacramental power of Holy Communion. We believe that Your love for each of us bestows upon us this extraordinary opportunity to truly, and not merely imaginary, participate in Your suffering. We are with You, O Beloved One! We are so that by our presence with You, close near to You, may speak to Your sorrowful Heart words of consolation… words of gratitude… words of love. (1:02)
W Blood sweat, O Dearest Jesus, Your bloody sweat, oozing onto the Palestinian ground, let it reach the ground of our hearts as well. O Beloved, let Your love cause the miracle of transforming our weak, timid love. O Most Beloved Jesus! Transform our hearts… transform them now – in this time of grace… transform them into the fertile and life-giving soil of our mutual spousal love. May our hearts live for You from today, and with every beat, they utter love towards You, our extraordinary, beloved, dearest, Divine Spouse. (0:58)
J “Padre Pio confided to his spiritual director that for him, the Eucharist becomes a palpable experience of the presence of Jesus, even a total union with Him and a community of heavenly joy. … He writes in one of his letters: ‘Sometimes I feel such heat at the altar … It seems to me that my whole face turns into fire’ (Listy Ojca Pio, Łódź 2002, p. 195). In another letter, he reports: ‘Only God knows what sweetness I experienced yesterday on the feast of St. Joseph, especially after Holy Mass, so much so that I still feel it. My head and heart were on fire, but it was a pleasant fire. My mouth felt the full sweetness of the immaculate Body of the Son of God. … How joyful Jesus makes me! How sweet is His spirit! But I am embarrassed and can do nothing but weep and repeat, Jesus, my Food!…’” [4] (1:23)
P “However, what saddens me the most is that I repay Him with so much ingratitude for all this love. He still loves me and still unites me more and more with Himself. He has forgotten my sins, and one would like to say that He only remembers His mercy. … This Jesus asks me for love all the time. So my heart, more than my lips, answers Him: ‘Oh, my Jesus, I would like …’ and then I cannot finish. However, I shout in the end, ‘Yes, Jesus, I love You! At this point, I think I love You and feel the need to love You more, but Jesus, I have no more love in my heart. You know that I gave all of it to You! If You want more love than I give, let take this heart of mine and fill it with Your love, and then command me to love You, and I will not refuse You. I beg you, do it! I desire it!’”. [5] (1:27)
D Beloved Jesus! May the words of the prayer of the first mystery of the Holy Rosary unite us now with You, who are shedding Your blood during the agony in Gethsemane. (0:16)
Meditation 2.
Scourging of the Lord Jesus
(Duration of meditations: about 6 min.)
L Song: Let us Love the Lord – 1st stanza (0:42)
L Beloved Savior! We now wish to enter with You into the time and place of Your scourging by Pilate’s soldiers. We believe that we are truly carried into Your time of life through the sacramental power of Holy Communion. We believe that Your love for each of us bestows upon us this extraordinary opportunity to truly, and not merely imaginary, participate in Your suffering… so great suffering. We are with You, O Beloved One! We are so that by our presence with You, close near to You, may speak to Your sorrowful Heart with words of consolation… words of gratitude… words of love. (1:02)
A Most beloved Savior! The time of scourging – this is a very demanding time. We look at You, whipped with whips, on the ends of which are small hooks. These hooks tear Your innocent flesh and cause immense pain… You, however, stay in holy persistence, in the determination to atone for our tendency to succumb to weakness sinfully. How sorry we are for all that we have done wrong simply because we did not want to suffer a little, that, in undoubtedly difficult circumstances, we rebelled against the need to patiently endure the pain inflicted on us by our loved ones… We look to You, to a love capable of such great sacrifice. We look with hope to Your grace, capable of transforming our hearts to resemble Your Heart, O Lord… (1:22)
Z “Someone asked Saint Padre Pio, ‘Why does the Father weep when receiving Jesus in Holy Communion?’ He replied: ‘If the Church raises the cry: He did not despise the womb of the Virgin, speaking of the Incarnation of the Word in the womb of the Immaculate, what can be said of us poor ones? However, Jesus addressed us: Whoever eats my Body and drinks my Blood has eternal life (John 6:54), so let us approach Holy Communion with a feeling of holy love and the fear of God. Let the whole day be a preparation for Holy Communion and thanksgiving. … We are not worthy of such a gift. However, it is one thing to approach unworthily having a mortal sin on one’s conscience and another to be unworthy. We are all unworthy, but it is He who invites us; it is He who wants it. Let us humble ourselves and receive Him with a heart full of love. [6]” (1:25)
B “The Eucharist, a great mystery, is not understood today, and Padre Pio wanted it to be at the center of Christian life. He attached importance to the Holy Mass, as well as to preparation for it and thanksgiving for it. To one priest who made excuses for not being able to stay in church after the Holy Mass was over, he said: ‘Let us note that cannot does not mean do not want to do. You should always give thanks; otherwise you will pay dearly’ (Gesù crocefisso in Padre Pio, Casa Mariana, 1975, p. 54). To another priest, he said: ‘My son, we priests cannot always indulge in thanksgiving immediately after the Holy Mass, so we set aside half the day for thanksgiving and half for preparing for the Mass.’” [7] (1:12)
W Beloved Jesus! May the words of the prayer of the second mystery of the Holy Rosary unite us now with You, who are shedding the blood during scourging. (0:15)
Meditation 3.
The crowning of the Lord Jesus with thorns
(Duration of meditations: about 6 min.)
J Song: I Want to Give You Everything – 1st stanza (0:47)
J Beloved Savior! We now wish to enter with You into the time and place of Your crowning with thorns by Pilate’s soldiers. We believe that we are truly carried into Your time of life through the sacramental power of Holy Communion. We believe that Your love for each of us bestows upon us this extraordinary opportunity to truly, and not merely imaginary, participate in Your suffering… so great suffering. We are with You, O Beloved One! We are so that by our presence with You, close near to You, may speak to Your sorrowful Heart with words of consolation… words of gratitude… words of love. (1:02)
P Dearest Jesus! As I abide in prayer in sacramental union with You, I perceive the blood of Your head… This blood gushes out from under the thorns….. Your blood floods Your Divine Face. You look at me and wait for love… You look at me and suffer for love… You suffer and long for the moment of love… You long for the moment when I will open my heart to You… You patiently persist in the conviction that Your sorrow will finally speak in the depths of my heart, that Your humble submission will speak more powerfully than my pretensions of domination… Oh, Beloved! How great a value I represent in Your eyes, if, wishing to convince me of Your kindness to me, of Your remarkably strong loving attachment, You allow me to hurt You in this way… (1:19)
D “St. John Chrysostom claims that the Eucharist, as the soul of the Church, thwarts the devil’s snares. Padre Pio confessed to his confessors that he suffered the greatest torments from Satan. He said they were ‘vexatious, prolonged, malignant, and day by day more frequent, causing anxiety that overwhelmed the whole body from head to toe.’ At the same time, he stressed that he drew the strength to endure anguish and suffering, to fight and overcome, by abiding before the tabernacle: ‘Praying at the feet of Jesus, I felt completely neither the fatigue of fighting Satanic temptations, nor the bitterness of sorrow.’” [8] (1:04)
L “(…) Franco Mondino, his spiritual son, one of his most faithful, known for his social activities for the most needy, said this about the guidance he received from Padre Pio: ‘Padre Pio never spoke to me about my inner gifts. Instead, he constantly encouraged me to build my life on three strong foundations: prayer, confession, and the Eucharist. He instilled in me a belief in the effectiveness of prayer, especially before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. He said that ‘everything can be obtained this way. If you want to receive material gifts, pray! If you want to receive spiritual gifts, pray! You want to obtain God’s help and protection, pray!” (Da una terra di speranza, Como 1999, p. 85)” [9] (1:10)
A Beloved Jesus! May the words of the prayer of the third mystery of the Holy Rosary unite us now with You, who are shedding the blood during the crowning with thorns. (0:17)
Meditation 4.
The Way of the Cross of the Lord Jesus
(Duration of meditations: about 6 min.)
Z Song: You Go Through the Ages – 1st stanza (0:48)
J Beloved Savior! We now wish to enter with You into the time and place of Your carrying the cross. We believe that we are truly carried into Your time of life through the sacramental power of Holy Communion. We believe that Your love for each of us bestows upon us this extraordinary opportunity to truly, and not merely imaginary, participate in Your suffering… so great suffering. We are with You, O Beloved One! We are so that by our presence with You, close near to You, may speak to Your sorrowful Heart with words of consolation… words of gratitude… words of love. (1:02)
B How can You persevere in bearing such a heavy burden, O Beloved? How is it possible for You, while going up towards the place of fulfilling an unjust sentence, not to take the opportunity to announce to Yourself and everyone: “I cannot do it anymore, I cannot do it anymore!”? How can one achieve an inner power not to abandon the difficult task of loving despite the cross of disappointed love on life’s paths? How not to despise the not-easy task of bringing such a heavy beam of harm to the mountain of forgiveness – the harm that is highly overwhelming because being caused by the loved ones?…. Oh, Jesus, how I love You… How tightly I hug the beam, which I wish to carry with You, O Beloved, all the way to the mountain – where the suffering is transformed into the greatness of forgiveness and the transformation of the hearts of the hitherto concentrated to do wrong… (1:19)
W “The Eucharist received with faith transforms and sanctifies a man and defines his way of life. Padre Pio taught and shaped people according to the rules of his life. Here are his instructions for a girl for whom the Eucharist became the main sense of life, “When you leave the church, be as every follower of the Nazarene should be. Above all, in every situation, remain modest. Be restrained in speech and laughter. Also, show restraint in your behavior and the way you walk, and do all this not out of vanity to show off, nor out of hypocrisy to appear good in the eyes of others, but according to the virtue of modesty, which leads your behavior. Therefore, maintain humility of heart, the seriousness of words, and be prudent in your decisions.’” [10] (1:20)
J “‘Be moderate in speech, diligent in good reading, attentive in work, modest in discussions. Do not be repulsive to anyone; be kind to everyone and show respect to elders. Do not look at anyone with a crooked eye, do not utter unnecessary words, do not act shamelessly, and do not be overly casual in your behavior; let your manner of movement not be provocative and your tone of voice arrogant. In a word, let your whole image be a living picture of the order of your soul’ (Epistolario, vol. III, pp. 88-89). … Padre Pio advises another spiritual daughter: ‘During the day, also amid your activities, call on Jesus … As often as possible direct your thoughts toward the tabernacle, if you cannot go there in person, and utter your ardent desires, talk to Jesus, pray and pine for Him …’ .” [11] (1:23)
P Beloved Jesus! May the words of the prayer of the fourth mystery of the Holy Rosary unite us now with You, who are bearing the cross to Golgotha. (0:15)
Meditation 5.
The death of the Lord Jesus on the cross
(Duration of meditations: about 6 min.)
D Song: I Greet You – 1st stanza (0:30)
D Beloved Savior! We now wish to stand with You in the time and place of Your agony on the cross. We believe that we are truly carried into Your time of life through the sacramental power of Holy Communion when You are to breathe Your last for us. We believe that Your love for each of us bestows upon us this extraordinary opportunity to truly, and not merely imaginary, participate in Your suffering… so great suffering… and in the suffering of Your Mother Mary. We are with You, O Beloved Jesus and Mary! We are so that by our presence with You, close near to You, may speak to Your Heart and Mary’s Heart with words of consolation… words of gratitude… words of love. (1:11)
L Dearest Jesus! As we abide in prayer in the unique time when the species of the Blessed Sacrament are in our bowels, we access a special grace of union with You – the grace of contemplation. As the shepherds of the Church teach us, “contemplation is not only prayer but an immersion into the reality of the mystical death of God on our behalf and instead of us in the sacramental signs. It is an experience of the mystery of faith.” [12] Yes, we believe that we not only address You, O Jesus, in words of prayer, not only raise our hearts to You present somewhere in the hereafter but truly become witnesses of Your agony on Golgotha … Yes, yes …. now we truly witness the extraordinary unveiling of the mystery of the love of Your Heart… Behold, Your love, O Jesus, gives us the supreme proof of selflessness in anticipation of the reciprocation desired by You – the reciprocation that You earnestly desire from the heart of each of us… (1:41)
A From St. Padre Pio’s letter to Father Benedict: “‘But what wounds me most, my Father, is the thought of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. My heart feels as if it is drawn to a higher power before it is united with Him in the morning in the Blessed Sacrament. I have such a hunger and thirst before I receive Him that I almost die of anxiety, and precisely because I cannot unite with Him at home, sometimes, having even a high fever, I am forced to go to church to feed on His Body’ [13].” (0:55)
Z “‘Moreover, this hunger and thirst, instead of being satisfied after receiving the Blessed Sacrament, keeps increasing more and more. Once I have this Supreme Good, the abundance of sweetness is truly so great that I am near to saying to the Lord Jesus: ‘That is enough because I can hardly do anymore.’ I almost forget that I am in the world; the soul and heart desire nothing more, and it happens that I voluntarily desire nothing else for a long time. However, the sweetness of love is sometimes mixed with such grief, overwhelming me for my sins, that I think I will die of pain. Then, too, the demon very often tries to fill my heart with bitterness, usually suggesting to me the afflicting thoughts’ (Listy Ojca Pio, Łódź 2002, p. 179).” [14] (1:16)
B Beloved Jesus! May the words of the prayer of the fifth mystery of the Holy Rosary unite us now with You, who are giving Your life for us on Golgotha. (0:15)
Completion of the Holy Rosary
(Duration of meditations: about 4 min.)
W Song: I Greet You – 1-2 stanza (1:12)
W Beloved Jesus! Together with You, who are descending into the Abyss, and together with Your Mother Mary, who is receiving Your dead body under the Cross, we stand in prayerful reverie. How great is Your love, O Beloved, since You did not begrudge us such a great gift… To move our hearts, You gave Your life in immense pain… In the silence of my heart, I confess my love for You, O Jesus… A LONG MOMENT OF SILENCE (0:41)
J Most beloved Jesus! In order to move our hearts, You did not hesitate to impose great suffering on Your beloved Mother as well… You knew that this suffering of Yours together was necessary to bestow infinite good on us all – the moving of hearts to open to love and enabling them to abide with God and His saints forever! In the silence of my heart, I confess my love to You, O Jesus, and to You, O Mary… A LONG MOMENT OF SILENCE (0:46)
P Your Sacrifice, O Jesus, profoundly moves me and convinces me that in mortal life, it is even worth losing everything, so long as eternal life is gained, so long as we help others to enter eternal life. Your love, O Beloved, mobilizes all my energies towards the intense search for God’s Will and its most perfect fulfillment… Your Sacrifice gives me the courage to take the risk of admonishing my sisters and brothers in defense of truth and righteousness. In the silence of my heart, I confess my love for You, O Jesus… A LONG MOMENT OF SILENCE (0:54)
Adoration during the glory time
of the Risen Lord Jesus
(Duration of meditations: about 26 min.)
D Reading from the Gospel of St. John: “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.’” (John 20:19-23). (1:02)
W Song: Winner of Death – 1-2 stanza (1:42)
L Beloved Savior! With the Apostles in the Cenacle, we stand on the morning of Resurrection in awe of what we are currently experiencing: You come to us as a victor… You come as a conqueror of Satan… as our invincible defender. You come in the light of mercy… You breathe into us the Holy Spirit of God, and He gives us spiritual gifts necessary to fulfill life’s calling for each of us… O Holy Spirit, coming with Jesus on the morning of Resurrection, we open our hearts to Your presence… A LONG MOMENT OF SILENCE (1:02)
L Song: Veni Creator Spiritus – 1-3 stanza (1:00)
A Beloved Jesus! With the Apostles, we touch Your holy wounds and experience Your presence. Together with them, we listen to Your instruction… Together with them, we experience what St. Luke described thus, “They were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, ‘Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.’ And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.” (Luke 24:37–40). To You, O Christ, we sing a song of praise. (1:05)
A Song: Wipe away your tears, weepers! – 1-2 stanza (2:14)
Z Risen Jesus! We read further in St. Luke, “While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them. He said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.’” (Luke 23:41–44) (0:52)
Z Song: Wipe away your tears, weepers! – 3-4 stanza (2:14)
B Beloved Jesus! St. Luke describes the further course of Your meeting with the Apostles on the day of Resurrection, “Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. And he said to them, ‘Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.’” (Luke 24:45–48). With You, O Jesus, who are breathing the Holy Spirit into our hearts, we sing a song. (0:53)
B Song: Veni Creator Spiritus – 4-6 stanza (1:00)
W Our meeting with You today, O Almighty God, fills us with new life through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. We know that You, O Lord, are counting on us, on our witness of faith, when we will go out from this Cenacle into the world. This witness is expected of us by St. John Paul II, who wrote in the exhortation Vita Consecrata (No. 84 b) as follows: “In the history of the Church, alongside other Christians, there have been men and women consecrated to God who, through a special gift of the Holy Spirit, have carried out a genuinely prophetic ministry, speaking in the name of God to all, even to the Pastors of the Church. True prophecy is born of God, from friendship with him, from attentive listening to his word in the different circumstances of history.” (1:22)
W Song: Come Holy Spirit – 1-2 stanza (1:04)
J Then the Pope wrote: “Prophets feel in their hearts a burning desire for the holiness of God and, having heard his word in the dialogue of prayer, they proclaim that word with their lives, with their lips and with their actions, becoming people who speak for God against evil and sin. Prophetic witness requires the constant and passionate search for God’s will, for self-giving, for unfailing communion in the Church, for the practice of spiritual discernment and love of the truth. It is also expressed through the denunciation of all that is contrary to the divine will and through the exploration of new ways to apply the Gospel in history, in expectation of the coming of God’s Kingdom.” (1:10)
J Song: Come Holy Spirit – 3-5 stanza (1:36)
P Dearest Jesus! We accept with a grateful heart the task set before us by John Paul II. In the power of the Holy Spirit, we desire every day to courageously oppose all evil, the evil hidden in the darkness of our hearts and the hearts of our beloved sisters and brothers. We desire to demolish by Your power the strongholds of evil which, if not rebuked, would be capable of paralyzing the Church, its vocation to live fully – in true fraternal unity. (0:52)
D Beloved Savior! We realize that the Church is Your and our joint Mystical Body, one holy organism for which we all should take care. We know that it depends on each of us to what extent the Church will be a healthy organism, a community capable of fulfilling the tasks given to us by the Church’s shepherds, inspired by the Holy Spirit. It also depends on us to what extent the Church will be a healthy conscience of humanity, mobilizing everyone to rise from their falls and reach the heights of holiness… (0:57)
L We know, O Beloved Jesus, that we can always count on the power of the Holy Spirit. We know that the time of the fullest opening of the heart to His coming is the one we are experiencing now – the time of sacramental union with You in Holy Communion. St. John Paul II teaches us about this, about whose Eucharistic celebrations and prayers after the Eucharist the Rev. Archbishop Nowak of Czestochowa said this: (0:44)
A “The Holy Father John Paul II, author of the Eucharistic encyclical “Ecclesia de Eucharistia” and so many other official statements of the Church on this great sacrament of love, lived the Eucharistic mystery daily in every inch of his personality. The direct witnesses of his daily life were greatly impressed by the anointing with which he celebrated the holiest sacrifice of the Mass. Many of us also had the grace of experiencing the Holy Mass while he was celebrating it in his private chapel at the Vatican. Looking at the Pope then, I felt he was seeing the Lord present on the altar.” [15] (1:04)
Z The archbishop then added, “In particular, his thanksgiving after Holy Communion was incredibly impressive. He used to cover his face in the presence of the majesty of the Eucharistic Lord or when he watched Him in the state of Golgotha… Likewise, during long adorations, one could see that he was entering into some totality of the mystery happening before the eyes of his faith. In a word, his Eucharistic spirituality was nourished by experiencing the great God in his incomprehensible remoteness from us and at the same time in his incomprehensible closeness to us.” [16] (0:55)
B Lord Jesus! In imitation of St. John Paul II, we abide today in prayer after Holy Mass. We realize that our sacramental union with You allows us to really accompany You in this saving work You accomplished two thousand years ago. In the first part of our adoration, we consciously participated in Your way from the Upper Room toward Death on Golgotha. We were doing this under the teaching of St. Paul in the First Letter to the Corinthians, who instructs, “For as often as you eat this bread or drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord…” (1 Cor 11:26). Also according to this command, we were in a moment of silence after completing the Fifth Sorrowful Mystery of the Holy Rosary, contemplating the mystery of Your descent into the Abyss – into the land of death. (1:22)
W O Lord Jesus! By participating after the Eucharist in Your gradual entering into death, we have fulfilled the Apostle’s command to proclaim Your death after receiving the Eucharistic bread and cup. However, we remember that the Apostle wrote a little more, namely: “For as often as you eat this bread or drink the cup, you proclaim the death of the Lord until He comes” (1Cor 11:26). We became participants in Your coming in glory in the second part of our adoration. We gratefully opened and continue to open our hearts and minds to the Holy Spirit’s empowering, enlivening, and enlightening work. We thank You from the bottom of our hearts for this adoration – for the grace to remain steadfast in prayer. We adore You, Jesus! We adore You, Holy Spirit! We adore You, God the Father! We adore You, O Most Holy Divine Trinity! Amen. (1:28)