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Level V · Eucharistic Presence · practice 3 of 3

The Gethsemane Meditation

Keeping watch one hour with Christ in His agony, as He asked of His disciples.

Why this practice

When Our Lord revealed His Heart to St. Margaret Mary, He recalled the night in the garden when His friends slept while He suffered alone, and He asked that the Holy Hour be kept in memory of that abandonment.

The Gethsemane meditation is the inner content of the Holy Hour: to sit with the agonizing Christ, to be one of the few who stayed awake, to console Him by simply being present. It is reparation in its most personal form — companionship offered to a friend in his worst hour.

How to begin

1Set aside an hour — Thursday night is traditional — alone or before the Blessed Sacrament.
2Read slowly the account of the Agony in the Garden (Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22).
3Place yourself in the garden. Do not perform; simply stay. Let the silence be your company to Him.
4When your mind wanders, return with a word: "I am here. I will not sleep."
5Close by offering Him the coming week's sufferings in union with His.

Could you not watch one hour with Me?

— Matthew 26:40

A prayer for this practice

Lord Jesus, in the garden You were left alone by those You loved. Let me be among those who stay. I cannot take away Your sorrow, but I can refuse to sleep. Keep me awake beside You, this hour and in the trials of my life, that I may console Your Heart by my poor, faithful presence.

Amen.

Go deeper — Level VI

The Act of Reparation →