The Twenty-Four Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ

The 24 Hours of the Bitter Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ by Luisa Piccarreta, the Little Daughter of the Divine Will

† Eleventh Hour: From 3 to 4 AM †

Jesus before the Court of Caiaphas, Falsely Accused and Declared Guilty of Death

Preparation before Each Hour

Afflicted and forsaken Jesus! Weak nature demands its rights. But even slumber is often interrupted by the upsurges of love and the outbursts of pain in Your divine Heart.¹ Between waking and sleeping I feel the blows Your enemies give You. My Jesus, You are forsaken by all. Is there no one to take over Your defense? I sacrifice my life to offer You a foothold when they push You back and forth. Now I hear a deafening clamor of people running together, mocking and reviling. My dear, why are they all against you? What have you done to make them want to tear you apart like ravenous wolves? My blood freezes in my veins when I see what Your enemies are up to. I tremble and am sad because I don't know how to defend you.

It seems to me as if You want to say to me: "My child, I have not yet accomplished everything. Heroic love makes every sacrifice. Love is invaluable, we are only at the beginning. You are in My heart. Pay attention to everything, love Me, be silent and learn. Your blood, congealed with compassion, offer Me to give refreshment to My blood, which burns like fire. One with Me, you will become strong and inflamed with love to share in My suffering. This will be the best defense you can make for Me. Be faithful and mindful of everything."

My sweet love! Your enemies are becoming more and more violent. I hear the clanking of the chains with which they have bound You so tightly. Fresh blood runs from Your wrists, marking Your path.

Now You arrive at Caiaphas. You stand there full of gentleness, modesty and humility. Your gentleness and patience inspire awe even in Your enemies. But Caiaphas, who is enraged, seems to want to tear You to pieces. What a contrast between innocence and sin!

My dear, you appear before Caiaphas as the most guilty one to be condemned. He is already asking the witnesses about Your offenses. He would have done better to question Your love. One accuses You of this, the other of that. But they talk nonsense and contradict each other. While they make their accusations, the soldiers pull You by the hair, strike You in the face so cruelly that it echoes in the courtroom, abuse You, give the blows,² and You suffer in silence. When You look at Your enemies, the light of Your eyes shines into their hearts, and since they cannot resist this gaze, they let go of You.

Now others take their place to mock you. Your heart is pounding so hard it feels like it wants to burst from the pain. Yet You bear all the mistreatment of Your enemies with love, indeed, You wait for it and offer it up for our salvation. Thus Your Heart, with its unwavering calm, atones for slander, hatred, false testimonies and all the evil that is deliberately inflicted on the innocent; it also atones for those who offend, incited by those above them, and for the insults of souls consecrated to You.

As I perform the same acts of reparation with you, I notice how a new pain grieves Your tender heart, a pain such as You have never experienced before. Tell me, my Jesus, why this pain? Let me share in everything that troubles You. And Jesus speaks:

"My child, do you want to know? I hear the voice of Peter, who says he does not know Me. He swears, swears falsely and renounces Me. How, Peter, you do not know Me? Do you not remember how much good I have done for you? When others let Me die of outward pain, you let Me die of pain of the soul. How badly you have acted, first following Me from afar and then exposing yourself to the danger of falling!"

My denied good! How quickly the insults follow from those who are dearest to You! I want every beat of my heart to merge with Yours in order to soften the bitter torment that You endure. This beat of my heart swears loyalty and love to You and repeats a thousand and one thousand times with an oath that it knows You. But your heart does not yet calm down and You look around for Peter. At Your loving gaze, flushed with tears of pain at his denial, Peter goes into himself and leaves, weeping. Once You know that he is safe, You calm down and atone for the offenses of the souls consecrated to You, especially those who voluntarily expose themselves to opportunities to sin and fall miserably in the process.

Your enemies continue in their accusations. Caiaphas, seeing that no one answers their accusations, cries out, “I beseech you by the living God to tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of the living God!” And You, my love, who always have the word of truth on Your lips, assume the majestic and dignified posture. With a clear and yet gentle voice, so that everyone is affected, even the evil spirits fall into the eternal abyss, You answer: "You have said it. From now on, you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power of God and coming on the clouds of heaven to judge all the peoples of the world." - At these words there is a profound silence, everyone trembles with terror. After a few moments, however, Caiaphas regains his composure. Angrier than a wild animal, he exclaims: "Why do we still need witnesses? He has blasphemed God. He is guilty of death”. To add emphasis to his sacrilegious words, he tears his robe with such force that everyone shouts: “He is guilty of death, he is guilty of death!”

The rough soldiers approach Jesus again. One of them punches Him with his fists, another slaps His cheeks. Still others spit in His face and kick Him. They make You, my Jesus, suffer such torment that the earth trembles and the heavens are shaken. My love and my life, how they torment You! My heart is torn by pain. Allow me, Jesus, to step out of Your heart and suffer these insults in Your place. Oh, if it were possible for me, I would like to snatch You from the hands of Your enemies. But You do not want it. This is what the salvation of mankind demands and I am forced to submit. So I will keep myself locked up in Your heart. I see that Caiaphas is withdrawing and leaving You in the hands of the henchmen. But I worship You and You bless me. Give my soul also the kiss of mystical love. I remain in the fiery furnace of Your divine Heart to rest a little, my head bowed to Your Heart.

Reflections and Practices

by St. Fr. Annibale Di Francia

Jesus, presented to Caiaphas, is unjustly accused and subjected to unheard-of tortures. Questioned, He always says the truth.

And we—when the Lord allows that we be slandered and unjustly accused, do we look only for God, Who knows our innocence; or do we rather beg esteem and honor from creatures? Does truth always arise on our lips? Are we averse to any trick and lie? Do we bear with patience the mockeries and the confusions that creatures give us? Are we ready to give our life for their salvation?

O my Sweet Jesus, how different I am from You! Please, let my lips always speak the truth so as to wound the heart of those who listen to me, and lead everyone to You!

¹ The soul has taken its resting place in the Heart of Jesus, therefore it perceives what is going on here.

² That Christ was even mistreated by the soldiers during the trial with Caiaphas is also reported by Katharina Emmerich, op. cit.

Sacrifice and Thanksgiving