The Book of Heaven
—Unofficial Version—

October 29, 1921

Meaning and effects of the three hours of imprisonment of Jesus.

I spent last night in vigil. My mind would often fly to my Jesus, who was bound in prison... I wanted to cling to those knees which staggered for the painful and cruel position in which the enemies had tied Him. I wanted to clean Him of the spit with which He was smeared... But while I was thinking of this, my sweet Jesus, my Life, made Himself seen as though within thick darkness, through which I could barely see His adorable Person; and sighing, He told me: "Daughter, the enemies left Me alone in prison, horribly bound and in the dark. Everything around Me was thick darkness. Oh, how this darkness afflicted Me! My clothes were wet from the filthy waters of the stream. I could smell the stench of the prison and of the spit with which I was smeared. My hair was disheveled, without a pitying hand which would remove it from my eyes and from my mouth. My hands were bound by chains, and the darkness did not allow Me to see my state - alas, too painful and humiliating. Oh, how many things did my state, so painful, tell in this prison!

I remained in prison for three hours. With this I wanted to rehabilitate the three ages of the world: that of the law of nature, that of written law, and that of the law of Grace. I wanted to release all, reuniting them all together, and give them freedom as children of Mine. By being there three hours I wanted to rehabilitate the three ages of man: childhood, youth and old age. I wanted to rehabilitate him when he sins out of passion, out of his will, and out of obstinacy. Oh, how the obscurity I saw around Me made Me feel the thick darkness which sin produces in man! Oh, how I cried over him, saying: ‘Oh! man, your sins have thrown Me into this thick darkness, and I suffer it to give you light! Your evils have smeared Me like this, and their darkness is such that I cannot even see them! Look at Me - I am the image of your sins. If you want to know them, look at them in Me!’

However, know that on the last hour I spent in prison the dawn broke, and a few glimmers of light entered through the fissures. Oh, how my Heart breathed in being able to see my painful state! This signified man when, tired from the night of sin, receives grace, which surrounds him like dawn, sending him glimmers of light in order to call him back. So, my Heart heaved a sigh of relief; and in this dawn I saw you, my beloved prisoner, whom my Love was going to bind in this state, and you would not leave Me alone in the darkness of the prison. Waiting for the dawn at my feet, and following my sighs, you would cry with Me over the night of man. This relieved Me, and I offered my imprisonment to give you the grace to follow Me.

But this prison and this darkness contained another meaning. This was my long staying in the prison of the Tabernacles; the loneliness in which I am left, such that many times I have no one to whom to say a word, and send a gaze of Love. Other times, I feel in the Holy Host the impressions of unworthy touches, the stench of rotten and muddy hands; and there is no one who touches Me with pure hands and perfumes Me with his Love. And how many times human ingratitude leaves Me in darkness, without even the miserable light of a lamp! Therefore, my imprisonment continues, and will still continue. And since both of us are prisoners - you, prisoner in bed, only for Love of Me; I, prisoner for you - with my Love I want to bind all creatures, with the chains that keep Me bound. In this way, we will keep each other company, and you will help Me to extend the chains in order to bind all hearts to my Love."

After this, I thought to myself: ‘How few are the things that are known about Jesus, while He has done so much! Why did they speak so little about all that my Jesus did and suffered?’ And Jesus, coming back, added: "My daughter, everyone is stingy with Me, even the good. How much stinginess they have toward Me, how many restrictions; how many things they do not manifest, of that which I tell them and which they comprehend about Me! And you, how many times are you not stingy with Me? Each time you either do not write what I tell you, or do not manifest it, is an act of stinginess toward Me, because each additional knowledge that one acquires about Me is one more glory, one more Love that I receive from creatures. Therefore, be attentive and more generous with Me, and I will be more generous with you."