Reflections for the “Holy Hour”
during adoration after the Holy Mass
on the second Thursday, 10 Dec 2015,
at the Church of Divine Providence in Bielsko-Biała.
Dr. Wojciech Kosek
in cooperation with Beata Krochmal
Please click here to download the same text in format: a/. Word, b/. PDF
Meditations led by eight people:
A, B, D, G, J – women; P, W, Z – men.
(Duration of the meditations with songs: about 64 minutes.)
(Duration with recitation of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy: about 72 minutes.)
This translation was published here on 16 Sep 2023.
To see the original Polish text ← click, please!
Full text of St. Faustina’s Diary at https://www.saint-faustina.org/ ← click, please!
Introduction to adoration
(Duration of the meditations with songs: about 14 min.)
G Beloved Savior, King of Mercy! A moment ago, the sacred Eucharistic liturgy ended… A moment ago, the priest called by You, performing the sacred ministry of uniting God with His People, gave us a blessing at the end of the Mass. We believe, O Jesus, that You, through his person a moment ago, have completed the celebration of this extraordinary liturgy that unites Heaven and Earth… We believe that You, O Savior, have given us a blessing just now through his priestly hands and heart… Be glorified, O Lord, in Your priests, ministers of divine mercy… (1:04)
G Song: Jesus, Veiled in the Sacred Host – 1 stanza (0:41)
P Dearest Jesus! During the Eucharist, we received with poignancy from the priestly hands You, hidden under the most humble vestment of the Most Holy Host. Aware of the extraordinary Gift that You are, burning with merciful love for every one of us, we now wish to enter consciously into this reality of Your very near presence. We begin our next prayer vigil to continue our encounter with You in the Eucharist. With an inner sense of the extraordinary bestowal of love, we desire to abide at Your feet, gaze into Your loving eyes, and adore You… We desire to listen to the voice of the Bridegroom – Your voice, O Jesus; O Jesus how close, so very, very close… (1:18)
P Song: Jesus, Veiled in the Sacred Host – 2nd stanza (0:41)
D Beloved Jesus! On 8 Dec 2015, Pope Francis opened a new Holy Year, the Year of Mercy. On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Holy Father opened the Holy Door as a sign that, behold, a time of grace has now been opened, a time in which we are allowed not only to cry out for Your mercy but also to expect to receive it, to receive it in abundance. In a bull published on this occasion, the Pope wrote thus: (0:45)
Z “The Holy Year will open on 8 December 2015, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. This liturgical feast day recalls God’s action from the very beginning of the history of mankind. After the sin of Adam and Eve, God did not wish to leave humanity alone in the throes of evil. And so he turned his gaze to Mary, holy and immaculate in love (cf. Eph 1:4), choosing her to be the Mother of man’s Redeemer. When faced with the gravity of sin, God responds with the fullness of mercy. Mercy will always be greater than any sin, and no one can place limits on the love of God who is ever ready to forgive. I will have the joy of opening the Holy Door on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. On that day, the Holy Door will become a Door of Mercy through which anyone who enters will experience the love of God who consoles, pardons, and instills hope.” [1]
Z Song: Jesus, Veiled in the Sacred Host – 3rd stanza (0:41)
B Beloved Savior, King of mercy! Gazing with the eyes of the flesh at the whiteness of the Most Holy Host, we try to arouse with the eyes of the spirit a holy fear in our hearts, for we are aware how close… how immeasurably close we are communing with You. Oh, how extraordinary that You desire to be close to us, thirsting for our proximity… Your love burns with longing for our loving reciprocation… Your closeness to us – longingly cries out for our love… for our heartfelt closeness to You. (0:55)
B Song: The Hidden Jesus– 1st stanza (0:53)
W Dearest Jesus! Gradually we are beginning to realize the existence of a colossal disproportion, which, through our fault, still and again exists between the greatness of Your love, given to us in Holy Communion, and the slenderness of our awareness of the uniqueness of this Gift. For You allow us to commune so closely with You, O Beloved, but we participate all too often too superficially in this encounter… How little are our hearts involved in the encounter with God Himself, who descends to us in sacramental Communion…. The Eucharistic encounter should penetrate us to the depths with trembling and fascination that here is God, the Source of all existence, coming to me and being with me – He is as God-Man, He is with me and for me, genuinely thirsting for my love… (1: 24)
W Song: Your Heart, Jesus, is Burning with Love – 1st stanza (0:50)
A O Jesus, Mercy! O Jesus, Mercy! O Jesus, Mercy for our weakness! O Jesus, Mercy for our frigidity! O Jesus, Mercy for our inability to love You consciously in Holy Communion… O Jesus, Jesus, Jesus… O Jesus, have mercy on us… O Jesus, pour out now, in this hour of grace, in this hour of sacramental communion with You – pour out upon us the wellsprings of grace… Make us, O Beloved, to begin burning with spousal love for You… Make us, we ask, to begin burning now with that love You desire to receive from us. Make, we ask, that right now, at this very moment, we begin to burn with that love which You hopefully expect from us. (1:15)
A Song: Your Heart, Jesus, is Burning with Love – 2-3rd stanza (0:50)
P Beloved Lord Jesus! We now wish to enter with St. Faustina into Your painful experiences which, out of love for the Father and for us, You did not hesitate to accept, entering into the Passion of Gethsemane, into the time of Your capture, into the experience of unjust judgments, into the drama of Your dying at Calvary…. We are aware that this took place immediately after the end of the Last Supper, and therefore at a time that is also given to us now, as we abide in union with You after the end of the Holy Mass… We believe, O Beloved, that the wonderful power of Eucharistic union makes it possible that You, going out from the Upper Room among the Apostles, go out also with us, the participants of the Holy Mass. Lord, guide us… (1:11)
Meditations for the Chaplet of Divine Mercy
(Duration of these meditations: about 11 min.)
Meditation I – The Lord Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane
M “Jesus, Eternal Truth, our Life, I beg and plead for Your mercy on poor sinners. Sweetest Heart of my Lord, full of pity and unfathomable mercy, I am pleading on behalf of poor sinners. O Most Sacred Heart, Fount of mercy from which rays of immeasurable graces fall on the entire human race, I am begging You for light for poor sinners. O Jesus, mindful of Your bitter Passion, do not allow souls redeemed so dearly with Your Most Precious and Holy Blood to be lost. O Jesus, when I think upon the great price of Your Blood, I rejoice in its greatness, for just one drop would have been enough for all sinners. (1:08)
Z Although sin is an abyss of evil and ingratitude, yet the price laid down for us shall never be matched. Therefore, let every soul trust in the Lord’s Passion, let it find hope in His mercy. God shall deny His mercy to no-one. Heaven and Earth may change, yet Divine mercy shall never be exhausted. O, what joy kindles in my heart when I see Your goodness beyond all measure, O my Jesus. I want to bring all sinners to Your feet, so they may for endless ages sing the praise of Your mercy.” (Faustina’s Diary, No. 72) O Lord Jesus, O King of Mercy, we are with You in the hour of Your Passion, in the hour of Your agony in Gethsemane… (1:10)
Meditation II – The Lord Jesus scourged
G Jesus, Divine prisoner of love, when I ponder on Your love and self-sacrifice for my sake, my senses stop. You conceal Your unfathomable majesty and abase Yourself down to my miserable being. O King of glory, although You hide Your splendour, yet my soul’s sight tears down the concealment. I see the choirs of angels continuously singing Your praise, and all the heavenly Powers continuously worshipping You and continuously saying, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy.’ (0:46)
W O, who can comprehend Your love and Your unfathomable mercy for us. O, Prisoner of Love, I lock up my poor heart in this tabernacle, so that it may adore You without cease, day and night. I know no obstacle to this adoration, and even if I am physically far removed, my heart shall always be with You. Nothing can put a stop to my love for You. No obstacles can keep me away. O my Jesus, I shall comfort You for all the ingratitude, blasphemies, cold-heartedness, for the hatred in the godless, for all the acts of sacrilege. O Jesus, I desire to be set ablaze as a pure and immolated sacrifice before the throne of Your concealment. (1:03)
D I plead before You without ceasing for dying sinners. O Holy Trinity, O One indivisible God, be blessed — for the great gift and testament of mercy. O my Jesus, to recompense You for blasphemers, I shall remain silent whenever I am unjustly rebuked, to render You just a small portion of atonement. In my soul I am continuously singing a hymn to You, and no-one knows or can understand it. Only You, O my Creator and Lord, know my song.” (Faustina’s Diary, No. 80–81) O Lord Jesus, O King of Mercy, we are with You in the hour of Your Passion, in the hour of the cruel scourging… (1:02)
Meditation III – The Lord Jesus crowned with thorns
P “Oh, how much I want every soul to praise Your mercy. Happy is the soul that calls on the Lord’s mercy; it shall have what the Lord has promised, to defend it as His glory, and who shall dare to fight with God? All ye souls, praise the mercy of the Lord,[63] by your trust in His mercy, all your lives and especially at the hour of death, never fear, dear soul, whoever you are, fear nothing at all; the greater the sinner, the greater his right to Your mercy, O Lord.
B O unfathomable goodness, it is God who comes down to the sinner first. O Jesus, I want to praise Your mercy for thousands of souls. I know very well, O Jesus, that I am to tell souls of Your goodness, of Your unfathomable mercy.” (Faustina’s Diary, No. 598) O Lord Jesus, O King of Mercy, we are with You in the hour of Your Passion, in the hour of the crowning with thorns… (0:37)
Meditation IV – The Lord Jesus carries the cross to Calvary
Z “O Jesus, I feel so sorry for the poor sinners. Grant them the grace of contrition and repentance, be mindful, O Jesus, of Your bitter passion: I know You are infinitely merciful, and I cannot bear the thought of a soul which cost You so much being lost. Jesus, give me the souls [267] of sinners; may Your mercy rest upon them; take away everything from me, but give me their souls; I want to be a sacrificial host offered up for sinners; let the outer shell of my body conceal my sacrifice, just as Your Sacred Heart is concealed in the communion wafer, though of course You are a living sacrifice. (0:55)
A Transform me into Yourself, O Jesus, so that I might be a living sacrifice pleasing unto You; all the time, I want to make it up to You for poor sinners; the sacrifice of my spirit is concealed within my body; no human eye notices it, and that is why it is pure and pleasing to You. O my Creator and Father of great mercy, I trust in You, for You are goodness itself. Souls, do not be afraid of God, trust in Him, for He is good, and His mercy is from age to age forever.” O Lord Jesus, O King of Mercy, we are with You in the hour of Your Passion, in the hour of Your carrying the cross to Calvary… (1:00)
Meditation V – The Lord Jesus dies on the Cross at Calvary
W “My daughter, I remind you, every time you hear the clock strike three, immerse yourself completely in My mercy, praising and glorifying it; beg the omnipotence of My mercy on the whole world, and especially on poor sinners, for at that moment mercy was flung wide open for each and every soul. Whatever you ask for at that hour, for yourself and for others, will be granted you; at that hour grace came upon the whole world – mercy superseded justice. (0:49)
M My daughter, at that hour try to make the Stations of the Cross, insofar as your duties permit it; and if you can not, then at least go into the chapel for a while and worship My Heart, Which is full of mercy in the Blessed Sacrament; and if you can not get to the chapel, then immerse yourself in prayer wherever you are, even for a little while. I want all creatures to worship My mercy, but I want you to be the first to worship it, because I have given you a deeper knowledge of this mystery.” (Faustina’s Diary, No. 1572) O Lord Jesus, O King of Mercy, we are with You in the hour of Your Passion, in the hour of Your dying on Calvary… (1:10)
Adoration after the Chaplet of Divine Mercy
(Duration of these meditations with songs: about 40 min.)
P O my Love, O Sacred Host, O Savior hidden in my depths… Your saving Death becomes my share as well… In some mysterious way, I die with You… Behold the grace of my Beloved, my Dearest Savior: I die now for the world of sin to live for God… I die for the world of flattery to live for the world of true values… I die by Your power, O Beloved Jesus, to rise – by Your power – from the dead to a new life: to a fuller love toward the Triune God and toward those whom God loves… Jesus, I love You… (1:01)
P Song: I Greet You – 1st stanza (0:36)
G Beloved Jesus! We participate with faith in the Eucharistic close intercourse with You at the Holy Mass and adoration. We believe that thanks to the mysterious simultaneity between the celebration of the Holy Mass and the Last Supper, which You celebrated in the Upper Room before the Passion, we are with You and the Apostles in the Upper Room during each Holy Mass. We believe that during the Transubstantiation, when we hear the words of consecration, You, by the power of Your divine right hand, carry us with the Apostles to Calvary into the time of Your saving Dying. (1:00)
G Song: I Greet You – 2-3 stanza (1:12)
Z Dearest Savior! Gazing with the eyes of the body at the Most Holy Host, we gaze with the eyes of the spirit at the love of Your Heart. Desiring to open our hearts more and more to You, we will now listen to the testimony given by a person who visited San Giovanni Rotondo during Padre Pio’s lifetime and wrote about the celebration of the Holy Mass by this saint capuchin. Why is this important for us now? (0:43)
D It is because Holy Father Francis has ordered that Padre Pio’s life and testimony should become a unique source of spiritual inspiration in the Year of Mercy. The Pope has ordered that on the occasion of this Year of Mercy, Padre Pio’s relics be transported from San Giovanni Rotondo to the Vatican; in doing so, he has made them particularly important. We believe, O Beloved Jesus, that not by chance but by Your Divine Providence, the relics of this saint are kept in our church as well… We believe that it is worth listening to the words of the testimony of the Polish writer, Maria Winowska, who showed the depth of Padre Pio’s celebration of Mass: [2] (1:06)
W “1. His face transformed as he stood at the steps of the altar. It does not take a sage to understand that he has found himself in a world inaccessible to us. Suddenly, I comprehended why the Holy Mass celebrated by him attracts crowds, why he attracts and conquers them. From the first moment, we are abruptly drawn deeper into the mystery. Like blind people surrounding a seer. For we are blind, residing beyond the boundaries of reality. It is precisely the mission of mystics. They bring to life our inner eyes that have atrophied, eyes destined to behold a dazzling brightness, incomparably more powerful than the light seen by the mortal eye…” (1:13)
B Then Maria Winowska adds, “From myself, I can say that in San Giovanni Rotondo I discovered in the sacrifice of the Holy Mass abysses of love and light, before barely discernible. This moment is crucial… Its task is not to do “something different” or “better than others” but to make it accessible for us to understand, experience, and absorb in ourselves this unique sacrifice in the world, which is the Holy Mass…. 2. I do not know into what darkness his faith descends. However, I am sure I have seen his gaze reach into the depths, piercing the shell of appearances. Whoever would doubt the Real Presence should participate in the Holy Mass celebrated by Padre Pio.” (1:10)
B Song: I Greet You – 4th stanza (0:36)
P We ask You, O Bridegroom, to make us already now to burn with that love which You desire to look upon from many, many years… O Jesus, Mercy! What an unspeakable gift it will be for every of us to have now a spiritual possibility to look into the splendor of Your Divine Majesty with deep faith, with holy fear, with spiritual poignancy… O Jesus, Mercy! What a poignant spiritual experience it will be when You bestow upon us now, at this moment, the gift of such faith that allows us to experience the greatness of God – God who hides beneath the whiteness of the Sacred Host… (1:01)
P Song: Your Heart, Jesus, is Burning with Love – 4th stanza (0:50)
A Beloved Jesus! Receiving You at the Holy Mass in Holy Communion, we participate with the Apostles and all believers of all times in Your Dying on the Cross. We participate in this saving Event with Immaculate Mary… we participate in it also with St. Padre Pio. We realize how much we lack that depth of spiritual participation that characterized Your Mother Mary standing with a heart pierced with sorrow at Your feet nailed to the Cross. We believe that we should strive by Your grace and our cooperation with it to win ourselves to this kind of love with which Padre Pio flamed during the Eucharist. (1:09)
A Song: Your Heart, Jesus, is Burning with Love – 5th stanza (0:50)
Z Dearest Jesus! Looking at You, hidden under the whiteness of the Most Holy Host, we offer You our hearts in love. We desire to love You more and more fully, listening to the witness given by the saints. Padre Pio instructs us on the importance of remaining in prayerful contemplation for some time, not only during the Holy Mass but also after its end. He prayed for about an hour and a half after the end of the liturgy. Words of testimony were left by himself and those who encountered him. (0:53)
M Beloved Jesus! Through cooperation with Your grace, Saint Padre Pio discovered what an incomprehensible gift of intimacy You grant us after coming in Holy Communion. After the Holy Mass, “Padre Pio used to kneel first 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’ ” [3] (18.04.1912). (0:57)
M Song: Your Heart, Jesus, is Burning with Love – 6th stanza (0:50)
W O Jesus, Mercy! We know, O Dearest Bridegroom, that the Angels tremble with apprehension as they enter before the throne of Your Glory in Heaven to gaze into Your Holy Face… We know, O Dearest Bridegroom, that the Angels tremble with apprehension as they raise their eyes to gaze into Your beautiful Face… We know, O Beloved One, that the Angels tremble with holy fear when they see that poignant radiance of love that You bestow individually upon each angel and all of them in their unity… And we? Each of us often arrives to the Holy Banquet hastily, full of absentmindedness, preoccupied with one’s affairs, unable to go out towards You hidden under the ordinariness of the Holy Food… (1:11)
W Song: Your Heart, Jesus, is Burning with Love – 7th stanza (0:50)
G Are we not with the same impenetrably holy Creator daily when we receive Him in the Blessed Sacrament? Yes, O Lord, it is with the same Lord that we are – yes, yes, yes! – it is with You, Jesus, that we are when we receive You in Holy Communion… we are with You, who are truly the Creator of all beings, we abide with You in such unspeakable closeness when we receive You in Holy Communion… Do we, however, treasure those moments that are given to us, and are not given to the Angels? We must confess, O Beloved, that we are again and again far from deeply experiencing such closeness… Why? That is the secret of our hearts… Lord, heal our hearts of such secret, heal our hearts of this inability to profoundly encounter You as Lord, King, Bridegroom thirsting for the greatness of our love…. (1:29)
G Song: Your Heart, Jesus, is Burning with Love – 8th stanza (0:50)
P Beloved Jesus! In this hour of grace, we implore You for a new life for our hearts, a life of awe of You and Your love for each of us… In this hour of grace, we humbly ask for a living faith in Your true, real, bodily presence as God who became Man and who, as God-Man, comes to us in Holy Communion… Make it so now, O Beloved, we beseech You… Make us value more and more the Church’s gift of faith. Make us, we beseech You, the King of Mercy, to value more and more this situation of faith, by which we can be in such closeness to You that even the Angels cannot obtain… (1:09)
P Song: Your Heart, Jesus, is Burning with Love – 9th stanza (0:50)
D Make us, O Jesus, to worship, praise, and glorify You in the Blessed Sacrament… Make us, O Dearest Savior, to love You when, with the eyes of the flesh, we cannot see Your extraordinary beauty… Make us, O Dearest Savior, to love You by the grace of seeing You through faith…. Make us, O Dearest Savior, to love You in the Blessed Sacrament and to access the gift of consciously being with You in that extraordinary closeness which You grant to us and which is not available to the angels… (0: 59)
D Song: The Hidden Jesus – 2nd stanza (0:53)
Z Dearest Jesus! On the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that is, on the Feast of Thy Incarnation, Saint Faustina recorded these words: “In the morning, during Meditation, I was overwhelmed by the presence of God in a special way, seeing God’s immense greatness and, at the same time, His coming down to His creatures. Then I saw Our Lady who said, ‘O, how God likes the soul that faithfully follows the inspiration of His grace. I gave the world its Saviour, and you are to tell the world of His great mercy and prepare the world for His second coming, when He will come not as a merciful Saviour, but as a just Judge. O, that day is terrible. The day of judgement has been determined, the day of God’s anger, the angels tremble at the thought of it. Tell souls of His great mercy, while there is still time for mercy; if you should remain silent now, you shall be held responsible on that terrible day for a great number of souls. Do not be afraid of anything, be faithful right unto the end. I feel compassion for you.’ ” (Faustina’s Diary, No. 635). (1:47)
Z Song: The Hidden Jesus – 3rd stanza (0:53)
B Beloved Jesus! In the words with which, through St. Faustina, You have now moved our hearts, You utter the concern for the eternal happiness of each of us. We know that You desire our happiness, our fullness of life in eternal closeness with You – as close as possible… However, we know that, unfortunately, it is also possible for us to make such wrong choices and adopt attitudes with which we grieve You… with which we even expose ourselves to Your wrath. Instructed by the Church, we note that, especially by becoming too fraternized toward You, we can earn this poignant wrath of God. (1:02)
B Song: Adoro Te Devote – 1st stanza (0:42)
W Dearest Savior! We know that You love us very much, but that does not mean that You are willing to permit our every whim, every shallowing of the demands that You place as a task before us. We realize that this is especially true of our being with You in the miracle of the Eucharist. We know that You, out of love for us, do not want us to grasp it in a shallow, sinful way. (0:40)
W Song: Adoro Te Devote – 2nd stanza (0:42)
A St. John Paul II wrote about it in his encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia, No. 10, thus: “At times one encounters an extremely reductive understanding of the Eucharistic mystery. Stripped of its sacrificial meaning, it is celebrated as if it were simply a fraternal banquet. … How can we not express profound grief at all this? The Eucharist is too great a gift to tolerate ambiguity and depreciation.” (0:50)
A Song: Adoro Te Devote – 3–4 stanza (1:24)
P We believe, O Beloved Jesus, that we do not deserve Your wrath if we make every effort to show love not only to our brothers and sisters in need but also to You personally, coming and present in Holy Communion… We believe that we should repeatedly study the teaching of the Church and her saints about this miracle that is the Eucharist. (0:35)
P Song: Adoro Te Devote – 5–6 stanza (1:24)
M We also believe that in the Year of Mercy, we can cry out to Your Divine Majesty for a miracle – for the outpouring of the grace of the Eucharistic awakening of the Church and, in this, of ourselves. Jesus, Merciful Jesus, we ask You for the miracle of the Eucharistic springtide of the Church… Jesus, Merciful Jesus, we ask You for the miracle of the Eucharistic spring of our diocese… Jesus, Merciful Jesus, we ask You for the miracle of the Eucharistic spring of our parish… Jesus, Merciful Jesus, we ask You for the miracle of the Eucharistic spring of our adoring community. Amen. (0:56)
M Song: Adoro Te Devote – 7th stanza (0:42)
Z Most beloved Savior! In the words of St. John Paul II that we have heard now, we read the love of Your Heart – the love that desires to wake our hearts from sleep to life, from not-seeing to seeing, from not-hearing to hearing, from not-loving to loving… We adore You, O Divine Spouse, in Your demanding love. To You, O Christ, coming out from the Abyss and freeing us from the impotence of our hearts… to You, O God, reviving our hearts through the breath of the Holy Spirit, we sing a song: (0:54)
Z Song: Come Holy Spirit – 1-2nd stanza (1:04)
G Beloved Jesus! How good it is to believe in You, present in the Blessed Sacrament! How happy is the person who consciously encounters You present in such extraordinary closeness… What happiness it is to know that You love me with a love that knows no twilight… What happiness it is to discover that You come to me in the Holy Communion… (0:38)
G Song: Come Holy Spirit – 3–4th stanza (1:04)
W What extraordinary happiness to discover that You come to me in Holy Communion because You long for my love… What happiness is for me to discover love in my heart – love for You, who long for my love… Jesus, I thank You from the bottom of my heart for such delightful discoveries – delightful signs of Your tender love, which You grant us through the Holy Spirit… (0:40)
W Song: Come Holy Spirit – 5th stanza (0:32)