May I also offer Thee some relief, O Jesus …Padre Pio’s feast is September 23. Let us grow closer to God through the writings and reflections of this great saint.
Name your petition for this novena and then consider the following reflection from St. Pio:
His desolate Heart has need of comfort. The desolation in which He finds Himself, the battle which He is fighting alone, seems to make Him go in search of someone who could comfort Him. Slowly, therefore, He rises from the ground and, staggering takes a few steps. He approaches His disciples in search of comfort. They, having lived so long with Him, they, His confidants, could well understand His internal grief. And with this expectation He goes to them. They will surely know how to provide a little comfort for Him.
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They, however, heavy with sleep, hardly hear the voice of Jesus, they barely perceive Him as a faint shadow, so much so that they are not aware of His countenance all disfigured from the internal agony which tortures Him.
O Jesus, how many generous souls wounded by this complaint have kept Thee company in the Garden, sharing Thy bitterness and Thy mortal anguish . . . How many hearts in the course of the centuries have responded generously to Thy invitation . . . May this multitude of souls, then, in this supreme hour be a comfort to Thee, who, better than the disciples, share with Thee the distress of Thy heart, and cooperate with Thee for their own salvation and that of others. And grant that I also may be of their number, that I also may offer Thee some relief.
~ Taken from “The Agony of Jesus”
