And although I am about to withdraw, I remain close to all of you in prayer, and I am sure that you too will be close to me, even if I am hidden from the world. (Pope Benedict XVI, 14 February 2013)
The call to adoration and reparation is, at the same time,
a call to silence, and to hiddenness,
and to separation from the world.
It was when Our Lord Jesus Christ was lifted up from the earth,
and held in the narrow enclosure of the Cross,
that He exercised His priesthood supremely
by offering Himself in sacrifice to His Father.
Suspended upon the Cross,
He entered into the silence and hiddenness of the Holy of Holies
and, there, He offered Himself as Victim to the Father.
The mystery of what He was doing was hidden,
even from the eyes of those looking on.
His disfigured Face, and bruised and bloodied Body
displayed nothing of the glory that shone upon Him
in this, the Hour of His sacrifice.
Even His most holy Mother,
who entered the Holy of Holies with Him
to make her offering in union with His,
saw and felt nothing of the Divine Glory
into which His oblation was received by the Father,
in the Holy Spirit.
The experience of the Mother of Sorrows
was one of silence, and hiddenness,
and separation from all that surrounded her in that Hour.
Mary is the model of all who would unite themselves
to the oblation of Jesus as victims.
Words are useless.
One must enter in, beyond the veil.
One must leave behind and outside
all consideration for earthly things.
In silence, in hiddenness, and in solitude
is Christ's one oblation made perfect in souls.
Consent, then, to become silent.
Accept to disappear.
Cherish hiddenness.
Leave all behind
to enter with Christ the Priest
into the inner sanctuary of His oblation to the Father.
Especially now,
in the light of the Holy Father's personal choice,
I see clearly that a monastery of adoration and reparation
must be characterized by silence,
and by hiddenness,
and by disappearance into the inner sanctuary beyond the veil.
There, and only there,
will souls be able to be offered in union with
the victimhood and priesthood of Jesus,
in a way that gives immense glory to the Father
and saves souls.
Learn from the contemplation of the Sacred Host
how to be silent,
how to disappear,
how to leave the world.
Look at Our Lord in the Sacrament of His redeeming love.
Is He not silent?
Is He not hidden?
Is He not separated from all things and, at the same time,
present to all things?
This is the pattern of our life here.
Prefer it to all else.