In his anguish he prayed even more earnestly, and his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood (Luke 22, 44). On July 1st, HERE in the Basilica of Gethsemane is the feast of the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Sacred Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, makes many references to the blood, in which God, the Creator and Author of life, is fully involved and present. Our prayer, in this month of July, focuses even more on the Rock that welcomed the drops of the Precious Blood of the Lord that fell HERE. It is the blood of God made flesh, the blood of the covenant, the blood of the innocent Lamb delivered for us. If through the 'shedding' of the blood of Abel humankind turns away from God, through the 'shedding' of the blood of the innocent Lamb humanity is redeemed and carried back home. We look with eyes of faith every drop of blood that still today falls into the earth and reaches and is picked up by the Lord. In past, at present, in silence or noise, how many innocent lives are delivered with blood and united to the redemptive sacrifice of Christ! With full consciousness or in a fast and sharp moment, they reach the Eternal, who knows everything and welcomes them in his infinite Wisdom, which goes beyond our limited mind… nothing is lost! Let us pray, give thanks, praise, repair and intercede before the Lord, who unceasingly leans toward us, wiping every tear and collecting every drop of blood shed.
Hora Sancta
We are the sons of St. Francis, and we are THE custodians, according to the will of God, of one of the places that Jesus loved the most: the garden called GETHSEMANE. This is a unique place in the world. It is the place where the Lord manifested his Yes forever by being ready to enter where nobody else had ever entered, where he plunged into darkness, in the final battle against death, in which humanity has always ended up being a loser.