Clocks of the Passion

Just in time for the Triduum, here's an offering of various Clocks of the Passion, meditations on the last 24 hours of the earthly life of Our Lord.

This 17th century etching by Pierre Miotte presents the Sacred Heart as the Passion Clock alongside the Instruments of the Passion. The set also includes scenes of the individual hours (not all have survived).

Next is a hand painted Passion Clock from the 1920s being sold on Etsy. This only includes the last 12 hours.

Fr. Neal Nicholas, F.S.S.P., commissioned the next Passion Clock based on the artwork of 1950s hand missals. New Liturgical Movement also covered the story in 2016.

This French Passion Clock is titled Horloge du Chretien ("Clock of the Christian") and includes meditations on the sufferings of Our Lady.

The forerunner of textual Passion Clocks is St. Alphosus de Liguori with the following meditations:

5 to 7 PM. Jesus, having taken leave of Mary, celebrates his last supper.

8 PM. Jesus washes the feet of the apostles, and institutes the Most Holy Sacrament.

9 PM. Discourse of Jesus; he goes to the Garden of Olives.

10 PM. Prayer of Jesus in the garden.

11 PM. Agony.

Midnight. The sweating of blood.

1 AM. Jesus is betrayed by Judas, and is bound.

2 AM. Jesus is led before Annas.

3 AM. Jesus is taken before Caiphas, and receives a blow in the face.

4 AM. Jesus is blindfolded, struck, and scoffed at.

5 AM. Jesus is led to the council, and declared guilty of death.

6 AM. Jesus is taken to Pilate, and accused.

7 AM. Jesus is mocked by Herod.

8 AM. Jesus is conducted to Pilate, and Baraboas is preferred to him.

9 AM. Jesus is scourged at the pillar.

10 AM. Jesus is crowned with thorns, and exhibited to the people.

11 AM. Jesus is condemned to death, and goes to Calvary.

Midday. Jesus is stripped and crucified.

1 PM. Jesus prays for his murderers.

2 PM. Jesus recommends his spirit to his Father.

3 PM. Jesus dies.

4 PM. Jesus is pierced with a lance.

5 PM. Jesus is taken down from the cross, and delivered over to his Mother.

6 PM. Jesus is buried, and left in the sepulchre.

Finally, this article would not be complete without the Passion Clock by the patron of our chapel, St. Anthony Mary Claret. This excerpt from the 1985 collection Ecritos espirituales ("Spiritual Writings") is freely translated (without introduction or footnotes) into English below:

7 PM. Jesus sups with his disciples and washes their feet. He instructs and mandates them and us towards humility.

8 PM. Jesus Christ institutes the Most Blessed Sacrament so as to remain until the consummation of time. What love! Out of love and gratitude we should assist at Mass, visit the Sacrament and receive communion with fervor. Love is paid with love.

9 PM. Jesus gives a sermon to His disciples. We should love hearing the divine word and put it into practice.

10 PM. Jesus Christ goes to the garden with his disciples. To them and to us He commands and shows how to pray.

11 PM. Jesus is comforted by and angel. And He showed us to do the will of God and not our own.

12 AM. Jesus Christ is imprisoned. And He showed us the patience with which we should suffer persecutions, imprisonments and all evils.

1 AM. Jesus Christ is led to the house of Annas, where Malchus gives Him a slap to the face. And He showed us the meekness with which we should suffer the dishonors and ingratitude of men.

2 AM. Jesus Christ is presented to the Court of the high priests, and they condemn Him to death. And he showed us the silence with which we should suffer the injustices and contempt done to us.

3 AM. Jesus Christ is brought to a palace dungeon, and those that guarded Him covered His eyes and struck and maltreated Him. And He showed us the suffering with which we should endure the insults of evil men.

4 AM. Jesus Christ is denied by Saint Peter. Jesus looked at him, Peter converted, and all his life he wept over this sin. And He showed us that we should never give the proximate occasion to sin, or, if not, we will fall like Peter; but if, we happen to falter, we should repent and confess, and we should always weep over our faults and sins, like Peter.

5 AM. Jesus Christ is again presented before the Council, and again condemned and insulted. And He showed us constancy amidst suffering.

6 AM. Jesus Christ is led to Pilate. And He showed us to acknowledge the authority of God and the authority of men.

7 AM. Jesus Christ is delivered to King Herod, who lived sinfully, whom Saint John had reprimanded, and for that he had him killed. Jesus did not wish to speak to him. And in that way He showed us that we should not converse with dishonest men and that we should flee from them.

8 AM. Jesus is led to Pilate and is passed over in favor of Barabbas. And He showed us the humility with which we should desire to be passed over everyone, even the most evil of men.

9 AM. Jesus is scourged. And He showed us the love which we should have towards penance, to remit our sins and those of our neighbor.

10 AM. Jesus Christ is crowned with thorns. And He showed us love for contempt and jeers.

11 AM. Jesus Christ is condemned to death and carries the cross. And He showed us the love with which we should carry our cross and follow Him.

12 PM. Jesus Christ is crucified. And He showed us how we should be crucified to the world, and the world to us.

1 PM. Jesus Christ asks the eternal Father to pardon those who crucified Him. And He showed us how we should pardon and love our enemies.

2 PM. Jesus Christ gives us as our Mother the Most Holy Mary. And He has charged us that we receive her as Mother, and that she sees us as her children.

3 PM. Jesus breathes His last. And He showed us that we should suffer death over sin, that we should accept death to satisfy for our sins and to make this gift to the supreme dominion of God.

4 PM. Jesus Christ is pierced by a lance in the heart, from which flowed blood and water, from which formed the seven sacraments of the Church. And He showed us the love that He had and the esteem we should have towards the sacraments and the fervor with which we should receive them.

5 PM. Jesus Christ is lowered from the cross. And he showed us how He loves to have the nails removed from Him through a good confession, because he who sins, nails Him, and the who confesses well, removes those nails.

6 PM. Jesus Christ is placed in a new stone sepulchre. And He showed us how He loves that we place Him, through communion, in our hearts, which should be made new through confession, made of stone through constancy and with aromas of the virtues.