BOOK OF HEAVEN
From the writings of the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta,
The Little Daughter of the Divine Will
VOLUME 30
March 6, 1932
One who Lives in the Divine Will feels the need to go around the Divine Works; and how all the Divine Works go around the creature. The purpose, seed of light.
I was continuing my round in the Divine Works. I feel my poor mind as though fixed around the Works of my Creator; and it does its race, almost continuous, around them. In fact, since they are Works done for Love of me, I feel the duty to recognize them, to use them as stairways in order to ascend to He who so much Loved me, and Loves me, and to give Him my little love because He wants to be loved. But while I was doing this, I thought to myself: “And why does my mind have to always run? It seems to me that a Powerful Force is over me, maintaining my race.”
And my sweet Jesus, making me His tiny little visit, told me: “My daughter, everything goes around the creature: the heavens go around, and do not let her escape from under their azure vault; the sun goes around, and with its little rounds of light it gives her light and heat; the water goes around the creature; the fire, the air, the wind—and each element gives her the properties it contains. My very Life and all My Works are in continuous round around the creatures, to be in continuous Act of giving Myself to them. Even more, you must know that as soon as a baby is conceived, My Conception goes around the conception of the baby, to form him and keep him defended. And as he is born, My Birth places itself around the newborn, to go around him and give him the helps of My Birth, of My tears, of My wailings; and even My Breath goes around him to warm him. The newborn does not love Me, though unconsciously, and I Love him to folly; I Love his innocence, My Image in him, I Love what he must be. My Steps go around his first vacillating steps in order to strengthen them, and they continue to go around unto the last step of his life, to keep his steps safe within the round of My Steps. In sum, My Works go around his works, My Words around his, My Pains around his pains; and when he is about to breathe the last breath of his life, My Agony goes around him as support of his own, and My Death, with Unconquerable Strength, goes around to give him unexpected helps, and with Jealousy, all Divine, it presses itself around him so that his death may not be death, but True Life for Heaven. And I can say that even My Resurrection goes around his sepulcher, waiting for the propitious time in order to call, by the Empire of My Resurrection, his Resurrection of the body to Immortal Life.
“Now, all the Works that have come out of My Will, all of them go round and round—for this purpose were they Created. To stop means to have no Life and not to produce the fruit established by Us—which cannot be, because the Divine Being knows not how to do either dead works or works without fruit. So, one who enters into My Divine Will takes her place in the Order of Creation and feels the need to go around together with all created things; she feels the necessity to make her rapid rounds around My Conception, My Birth, My tender Age and everything I did upon earth. And the Beauty of it is that while she goes around all Our Works, Our Works go around her; in sum, they compete in going around each other. But this is all the effect and fruit of My Divine Will, such that, since It is continuous Motion, one who is in It feels the Life of Its Motion, and therefore the need to run together with It. Even more, I tell you: if you do not feel the continuous race of going around Our Works, it is a sign that your life is not permanent in My Will, but you make some exits, some little escapes; and therefore the race ceases, because the One who gives it the Life of running is missing; and as you enter into It, so It puts you in the Order, and you continue the race, because another Will, Divine and Operating, has entered into you. Therefore, be attentive, because you have to deal with an Omnipotent Will, which always runs and embraces everything.”
After this, I was thinking to myself: “What will be the good, the utility of this race of mine, of this going round and round in the Acts of the Divine Will?”
And the Celestial King Jesus added: “My daughter, you must know that each act of creature contains the value of the purpose with which she animates her act. The purpose is like the seed which, buried under the earth, pulverizes with the earth—yet, not in order to die, but to be reborn and form the little plant, loaded with branches, with flowers and fruits that belong to that seed. The seed cannot be seen, it is hidden in its little plant, but from the fruits one knows the seed—whether it is good or bad. Such is the purpose—it is seed of Light, and it can be said that it remains as though buried, and it pulverizes in the act of the creature. And if the purpose is holy, all the acts that come from that purpose will all be holy acts, because there is the First Purpose, the first seed that animates and gives Life to the sequence of the acts of the First Purpose; and these acts form the Life of the Purpose, and in them appear flowers and fruits of True Sanctity. And as long as the creature, with Full Knowledge of her will, does not destroy the Original Purpose, she can be sure that her acts are enclosed in the First Purpose. Now, your race in My Divine Will will have the Purpose that you want—that Its Kingdom be Formed—and therefore all its acts are centralized in My Fiat; and converting into seed of Light, they all become Acts of My Will, that eloquently, with Ancient and Divine Voices, ask for this Kingdom so Holy into the midst of the human generations.”
Fiat!!!
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The pilgrimage of Lourdes is founded on the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin to a poor, fourteen-year-old girl, Bernadette Soubiroux. The first apparition occurred 11 February, 1858. There were eighteen in all; the last took place 16 July, of the same year. Bernadette often fell into an ecstasy. The mysterious vision she saw in the hollow of the rock Massabielle was that of a young and beautiful lady. “Lovelier than I have ever seen” said the child. But the girl was the only one who saw the vision, although sometimes many stood there with her. Now and then the apparition spoke to the seer who also was the only one who heard the voice. Thus, she one day told her to drink of a mysterious fountain, in the grotto itself, the existence of which was unknown, and of which there was no sign, but which immediately gushed forth. On another occasion the apparition bade Bernadette go and tell the priests she wished a chapel to be built on the spot and processions to be made to the grotto. At first the clergy were incredulous. It was only four years later, in 1862, that the bishop of the diocese declared the faithful “justified in believing the reality of the apparition”. A basilica was built upon the rock of Massabielle by M. Peyramale, the parish priest. In 1873 the great “national” French pilgrimages were inaugurated. Three years later the basilica was consecrated and the statue solemnly crowned. In 1883 the foundation stone of another church was laid, as the first was no longer large enough. It was built at the foot of the basilica and was consecrated in 1901 and called the Church of the Rosary. Pope Leo XIII authorized a special office and a Mass, in commemoration of the apparition, and in 1907 Pius X extended the observance of this feast to the entire Church; it is now observed on 11 February.
Never has a sanctuary attracted such throngs. At the end of the year 1908, when the fiftieth anniversary of the apparition was celebrated, although the record really only began from 1867, 5297 pilgrimages had been registered and these had brought 4,919,000 pilgrims. Individual pilgrims are more numerous by far than those who come in groups. To their number must be added the visitors who do not come as pilgrims, but who are attracted by a religious feeling or sometimes merely by the desire to see this far-famed spot. The Company of the Chemins de Fer du Midi estimates that the Lourdes station receives over one million travellers per annum. Every nation in the world furnishes its contingent. Out of the total of pilgrimages given above, four hundred and sixty-four came from countries other than France. They are sent by the United States, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Italy, England, Ireland, Canada, Brazil, Bolivia, etc. The bishops lead the way. At the end of the year of the fiftieth anniversary, 2013 prelates, including 546 archbishops, 10 primates, 19 patriarchs, 69 cardinals, had made the pilgrimage to Lourdes. But more remarkable still than the crowd of pilgrims is the series of wonderful occurrences which take place under the protection of the celebrated sanctuary. Passing over spiritual cures, which more often than not escape human observance, we shall confine ourselves to bodily diseases. The writer of this article has recorded every recovery, whether partial or complete, and in the first half-century of the shrine’s existence he has counted 3962. Notwithstanding very careful statistics which give the names and surnames of the patients who have recovered, the date of the cure, the name of the disease, and generally that of the physician who had charge of the case, there are inevitably doubtful or mistaken cases, attributable, as a rule, to the excited fancy of the afflicted one and which time soon dispels. But it is only right to note: first, that these unavoidable errors regard only secondary cases which have not like the others been the object of special study; it must also be noted that the number of cases is equalled and exceeded by actual cures which are not put on record. The afflicted who have recovered are not obliged to present themselves and half of them do not present themselves, at the Bureau des Constatations Médicales at Lourdes, and it is from this bureau’s official reports that the list of cures is drawn up.
The estimate that about 4000 cures have been obtained at Lourdes within the first fifty years of the pilgrimage is undoubtedly considerably less than the actual number. The Bureau des Constatations stands near the shrine, and there are recorded and checked the certificates of maladies and also the certificates of cure; it is free to all physicians, whatever their nationality or religious belief. Consequently, on an average, from two to three hundred physicians annual visit this marvellous clinic. As to the nature of the diseases which are cured, nervous disorders so frequently mentioned, do not furnish even the fourteenth part of the whole; 278 have been counted, out of a total of 3962. The present writer has published the number of cases of each disease or infirmity, among them tuberculosis, tumours, sores, cancers, deafness, blindness, etc. The “Annales des Sciences Physiques”, a sceptical review whose chief editor is Doctor Ch. Richet, Professor at the Medical Faculty of Paris, said in the course of a long article, apropos of this faithful study: “On reading it, unprejudiced minds cannot but be convinced that the facts stated are authentic.”
(Taken from Catholic Encyclopedia)
The fruit of the Spirit is…patience
2/6/2017
From Luisa Piccarreta Official Website
Patience doesn’t mean resignation. Patience derives from patior, a Latin verb that means: I share, I feel the same thing. It is the virtue of great souls, very much necessary in everyday life. We often encounter physical and moral difficulties, painful family situations, people that need to be listened to and are in need of compassion; situations that we must face with patience, imitating the patience of God who is patient, for He became flesh and came to share our situation and human condition. Unfortunately, we almost always overlook the fact that the best evangelization campaign can be our own life. In fact, if we let ourselves be totally guided by the Holy Spirit who is in us, our life would produce a precious fruit that would end up drawing the interest of and attracting people to Christ.
The characteristics of this fruit, described in Gal 5:22, set believers apart and make them a light in the midst of darkness. God desires that His children be similar to Him, and we can be, giving space to His Spirit in our minds, in our hearts and in our souls. Jesus explains to Luisa the greatness of the virtue of patience and affirms that patience is superior to purity, because without patience, the soul easily breaks free and it is difficult to remain pure, and when one virtue needs another virtue in order to have life, the latter virtue is called superior to the former. In fact, one can say that patience is the guardian of purity and not only that, but it is the ladder in order to climb the mountain of fortitude, in such a way that if one went up without the ladder of patience, he would immediately plummet from the highest point to the lowest.
In addition to this, patience is the seed of perseverance and this seed produces branches called firmness. How firm and stabile in the good undertaken is the patient soul! She pays no attention to rain, frost, ice, or fire, but all of her attention is on bringing to completion the good she has started. For there is no greater foolishness than that of one who today does some good and tomorrow, because he finds no more pleasure, neglects it. What would one say about an eye that at one hour possesses sight and at another remains blind? Of a tongue that now speaks and now remains mute? Patience alone is the secret key to open up the treasure of virtues; without the secret of this key, the other virtues do not come out to give life to the soul and render her noble.
Patience seems like something as long extinct as the “dinosaurs”! For us human beings, this word might exist only as an exclamation of exasperation or of resignation. Indeed, patience is divine. God demonstrates an immense patience towards man, but also asks us to be patient like Him, patient in circumstances, patient with others, patient in trials, patient with ourselves. Patience is not an option for us believers. Without this characteristic, the fruit of the Holy Spirit is not complete.
Given that none of the parts comprising the fruit of the Spirit exclude the others, since they are all fundamentally connected to each other, patience, which is more useful than all the others in everyday life, is linked to love. You cannot love without being patient and you cannot be patient if you do not love. Love produces patience, it manifests itself in patience and, if it is the love of God making us capable of love, to cultivate this love is patience.
Jesus again states in the writings of Luisa that, in addition to the food of love, He desires the bread of patience from the soul, for patient and suffering love is the most solid, the most satisfying and strengthening food because if love is not patient, one can say that it is wretched love, light and without any substance, lacking the necessary material in order to form the bread of patience. In imitation of Jesus, Christian patience is the free acceptance of that which crucifies us in life, a loving conformity to the Will of God. Patience, in fact, can be defined as the virtue of those who know how to tolerate serenely and for a long time all that which, to a greater or lesser extent, is unpleasant, irritating, painful: the ability to know how to wait for things to come and to remain firm during adversity, the capacity to know how to wait for God in His time and in His plans. Jesus says to Luisa that the most certain sign of loving the Lord is the cross, but the cross borne with patience and resignation, because where there is patience and resignation in crosses, there is Divine Life. Since our nature is so reluctant to suffer, if there is patience, it cannot be something natural but divine, and the soul no longer loves the Lord only with her love, but united to the love of the Divine Life: therefore, what doubt can she have whether she loves or not, if she arrives at loving Him with His same love? If she lacks patience, she lacks love because love is only known by sacrifice, while the cross, patience and resignation are fruits that produce only grace and love.
Jesus continues to emphasize that the cross is a treasure. And where is the most secure place to put this precious treasure in safety? The soul is the most secure place when she is disposed with patience, with resignation and with the other virtues to receive this treasure, for the virtues are many keys that guard it from being squandered and exposed to thieves, and if this treasure does not find especially the golden key of patience, it will find many thieves that will steal and squander it. In addition, every suffering that the soul suffers is a dominion of herself that acquires more because patience in suffering is regime. Ruling herself, the more the soul suffers, the more dominions she acquires and she does nothing but expand and enlarge her kingdom of Heaven, purchasing immense riches for eternal life. For every additional thing that one suffers, one acquires another kingdom in her own soul, which is a kingdom of grace corresponding to a reign of virtue and glory.
In his letter to the Colossians, the apostle Paul exhorts us to clothes ourselves with patience: “Put on, then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience” (Col 3:12). It is up to us, therefore, not to God, to cloth ourselves with patience. It is our responsibility to do it, because what will happen to us in the future depends on how we cloth ourselves. Just as in the natural we dress ourselves daily, so also in the spiritual we must wear the garment of patience every day, not occasionally.
Once again Jesus explains to Luisa how patience feeds the virtues. Patience is the nourishment of perseverance, because patience keeps the passions in their place and strengthens all the virtues, and the virtues, receiving the act of continuous life from patience, do not feel the fatigue that inconstancy produces, so easy to the creature. Therefore the soul does not get despondent if she is mortified or humiliated because patience immediately administers to her the necessary food and forms there a stronger and more stable knot of perseverance.
We must exercise our patience, above all, in our relationship with God. When the fruit of the Spirit grows and becomes more mature, so does the quality of our relationship with God, ceasing the monologue and starting the listening. The Scriptures urge us to learn how to wait in silence and to place ourselves in a listening position in order to be able to grasp the counsel of God, knowing that the first to have patience is God, who waits for everyone to come to repentance. If at times there are moments of temptation, we must not get disturbed. For Jesus reassures us, telling Luisa that often it is He who leads the soul into the depths of the abyss in order to be able to then lead her more directly to Heaven. Furthermore, patience, humiliation, the offering to God of that which one suffers in times of temptation form the satisfying bread that one gives to our Lord and that He accepts with much delight.
Let us strive, then, to put on patience and fortify ourselves in it. Let us reflect on the negative effects produced by our lack of patience and ask God to forgive us for the tensions and resentments that its absence in us has produced in our lives. Let us try to always keep the smile in our eyes, peace on our face and sweetness in our words.
Father Mariano from Torino, whose heroic virtues were recognized, used to say: “I don’t know if there is a saint by the name of Patience, but there should be because it is necessary; in fact, three things are needed for living: a pinch of science, a spoonful of prudence and a barrel of patience”.
If there isn’t a saint by the name of Patience, it is however certain that patience is sanctifying.
Tonia Abbattista
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1 . The Large majority of humanity shall be gone after the Chastisements:
V2 – Oct. 4 1899 – “My daughter, man is a product of the Divine Being, and since Our food is love, always reciprocal, alike and constant among the Three Divine Persons, since he came out of Our hands and from pure and disinterested love, he is like a particle of Our food. Now, this particle has become bitter for Us; not only this, but the majority of them, by moving away from Us, have made themselves pasture for the infernal flames and food for the implacable hatred of demons, Our capital enemies and theirs. This is the Main Cause of Our sorrow in the loss of souls: they are Ours – they are something that belongs to Us. Likewise, the cause that pushes Me to chastise them is the Great Love that I have for them, so as to place their souls in Safety.”
2. The Blessed Mother shall Mark all Her little children of the Divine Will and they shall not be harmed by the Chastisements:
V33 – June 6, 1935 – “You Must Know that I always Love My children, My beloved creatures. I would eviscerate Myself in order to not see them stricken, So Much So that in the mournful times that shall come, I have placed them all into the hands of My Celestial Mama. I have entrusted them to Her, so that She keeps them secure for Me under Her mantle. I shall give to Her all those that She shall want, death itself shall not have power over those who shall be in the custody of My Mama.” Now while He said this, my dear Jesus made me see with deeds that the Sovereign Queen descended from Heaven with an indescribable Majesty and a Tenderness all Maternal, and She went around in the midst of creatures in all the nations and She Marked Her dear children, and those who Must Not be touched by the scourges.”
3. The Chastisements shall have little or no effect upon the little children of the Divine Will:
V33 – June 6, 1935 –“…Each one My Celestial Mama touched, the scourges had no power to touch those creatures. Sweet Jesus gave the right to His Mama of placing in safety whomever She pleased. How moving it was to see the Celestial Empress making her Round through all the parts of the world, that She took them in Her Maternal Hands, She entrusted them to Her bosom, she hid them under Her Mantle, so that no evil could harm those whom Her Maternal Goodness kept in Her custody, guarded and defended. O! if everyone could see with how Much Love and Tenderness the Celestial Queen did this Office, they would cry from consolation, and they would Love She who Loves them So Much.
4. The Survivors of the Chastisements shall be the little children of the Holy Divine Will:
V36 – Oct. 2, 1938 – “Daughter, I wanted to do this, by winning man through My Love, but human perfidy does not allow Me. Therefore I shall use Justice. I shall sweep the earth, I shall take away all the harmful creatures who, like poisoned plants, poison the innocent plants. Once I have purified everything, My Truths shall find the way to Give to the Survivors the Life, the Balm and the Peace that They contain; and everybody shall receive Them, Giving Them the kiss of Peace, to the confusion of those who did not believe in Them and even condemned Them. My Truths shall Reign and I shall have My Kingdom on earth: My Will be done on earth as It is in Heaven. Therefore, once again, let’s not move in anything. Let’s do Our Way and We shall Sing Victory; they can do their way, in which they shall find confusion and shame of themselves. It shall happen to them as to the blind, who don’t believe in the light of the sun because they don’t see it: they shall remain in their blindness, while those who See It shall Enjoy and Show Off the Goods of the Light with Complete Happiness.”
Fiat!
FEAST DAY OF ST. SCHOLASTICA
Saint of the Day for February 10
Saint Scholastica’s Story
Twins often share the same interests and ideas with an equal intensity. Therefore, it is no surprise that Scholastica and her twin brother, Benedict, established religious communities within a few miles from each other.
Born in 480 of wealthy parents, Scholastica and Benedict were brought up together until he left central Italy for Rome to continue his studies.
Little is known of Scholastica’s early life. She founded a religious community for women near Monte Cassino at Plombariola, five miles from where her brother governed a monastery.
The twins visited each other once a year in a farmhouse because Benedict was not permitted inside the monastery. They spent these times discussing spiritual matters.
According to the Dialogues of St. Gregory the Great, the brother and sister spent their last day together in prayer and conversation. Scholastica sensed her death was close at hand and she begged Benedict to stay with her until the next day.
He refused her request because he did not want to spend a night outside the monastery, thus breaking his own Rule. Scholastica asked God to let her brother remain and a severe thunderstorm broke out, preventing Benedict and his monks from returning to the abbey.
Benedict cried out, “God forgive you, Sister. What have you done?” Scholastica replied, “I asked a favor of you and you refused. I asked it of God and he granted it.”
Brother and sister parted the next morning after their long discussion. Three days later, Benedict was praying in his monastery and saw the soul of his sister rising heavenward in the form of a white dove. Benedict then announced the death of his sister to the monks and later buried her in the tomb he had prepared for himself.
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Padre Pio bore the stigmata, but one secret wound was more painful than the others
The saint only revealed it to one person — Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John
Aleteia.org
Padre Pio bore the stigmata, but one secret wound was more painful than the others The saint only revealed it to one person — Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II Gelsomino Del Guercio – Aleteia Spain January 31, 2017February 1, 2017 Public Domain Padre Pio is one of the few saints who has suffered the wounds of Christ’s Passion in his body, the stigmata. In addition to the wounds of the nails and the spear, St. Pio was also given the laceration that Our Lord endured on his shoulder, a wound caused by carrying the cross, which we know about because Jesus revealed it to St. Bernard. The wound that Padre Pio had was discovered by one of his friends and spiritual sons, Brother Modestino of Pietralcina. This friar was from Pio’s native land and helped him with domestic services. The future saint told him one day that changing his undershirt was one of the most painful things he had to endure. Brother Modestino didn’t understand why this would be, and presumed that Pio was referring to the pain that came from pulling the cloth away from the wound in his side. He realized the truth after Padre Pio had died, when he was organizing the vestments of his spiritual father. Modestino had been given the task of collecting all of Padre Pio’s belongings and sealing them. On the priest’s undershirt, he found a large stain on the right shoulder, close to the shoulder blade. The stain was some four inches across (somewhat similar to the stain on the Shroud of Turin). He realized that for Padre Pio to take off his shirt, peeling the cloth from this open wound would have caused tremendous pain. –
“I immediately informed the father superior of what I’d found,” Brother Modestino recalled, and the superior asked him to make a brief report. He added: “Father Pellegrino Funicelli, who had also assisted Padre Pio for many years, told me that many times in assisting Father in changing the woolen undershirt that he used, he would always note — sometimes on the right shoulder, sometimes on the left — a circular hematoma.” Wojtyla, his confidante Padre Pio did not speak about this wound except to the future John Paul II. If the holy brother revealed it only to him, there must have been a reason. Historian Francesco Castello writes of an encounter in San Giovanni Rotondo, in April of 1948, between Father Wojtyla and Padre Pio. It was then that Pio told the future pope about his “most painful wound.” Brother Modestino later reported that Padre Pio, after his death, gave him a special understanding of this wound. “One night, before I went to sleep, I made a petition to him in prayer. ‘Dear Father, if you really had that wound, give me a sign.’ And then I went to sleep. But at 1:05 in the morning, a sharp and sudden pain in my shoulder awakened me from a tranquil sleep. It was as if someone had taken a knife and stripped the flesh from my shoulder blade. If the pain would have continued a few minutes more, I think I would have died. In the midst of this, I heard a voice that said, ‘That is how I have suffered.’ An intense perfume surrounded me and filled my cell. I felt my heart overflowing with love for God. I felt a strange sensation: to have this unbearable pain taken away from me seemed even more difficult than enduring it. The body wanted to reject it but the soul, inexplicably, desired it. It was extremely painful and sweet at the same time. Finally I had understood!”
[Translated and adapted from Aleteia’s Spanish edition]
Hours of the Passion
… The Eighteenth Hour: From 10 to 11 AM Jesus takes up the Cross and walks toward Calvary, where He is stripped
….In saying this, eager, You let It be placed upon Your Most Holy Shoulders. Ah, my Jesus, the Cross is too light for Your Love, but the weight of our sins unites to that of the Cross—enormous and immense, as the expanse of the Heavens. And You, my wearied Good, You feel crushed under the weight of so many sins. Your soul is horrified at their sight, and feels the pain of each sin. Your Sanctity remains shaken before so much ugliness, and as the Cross weighs upon Your shoulders, You stagger, You pant, and a mortal sweat creeps through Your Most Holy Humanity. Oh please, I pray you, my Love—I don’t have the heart to leave You alone—I want to share the weight of the Cross with You; and to relieve You from the weight of sins, I cling to Your Feet. I want to give You, in the name of all creatures, love for those who do not love You, praises for those who despise You, blessings, thanksgivings, obedience on behalf of all. I promise that in any offense You receive, I intend to offer You all of myself in reparation, to do the acts opposite to the offenses the creatures give You, and to console You with my kisses and continuous acts of love. But I see that I am too miserable; I need You to be able to really Repair You. Therefore I unite myself to Your Most Holy Humanity, and together with You I unite my thoughts to Yours in order to Repair for the evil thoughts—mine, and of all; my eyes to Yours, to Repair for the evil glances; my mouth to Yours, to repair for the blasphemies and the evil discourses; my heart to Yours, to repair for the evil tendencies, desires and affections. In a word, I want to Repair everything that Your Most Holy Humanity Repairs, uniting myself to the Immensity of Your Love for all, and to the Immense Good You do to all. But I am not yet content. I want to unite myself to Your Divinity, and I dissolve my nothingness in It, and in this way I give You Everything. I give You Your Love to quench Your bitternesses; I give You Your Heart to relieve You from our coldness, lack of correspondence, ingratitude, and the little love of the creatures. I give You Your Harmonies to cheer Your hearing from the deafening blasphemies It receives. I give You Your Beauty to relieve You from the ugliness of our souls, when we muddy ourselves in sin. I give You Your Purity to relieve You from the lack of righteous intention, and from the mud and rot You see in many souls. I give You Your Immensity to relieve You from the voluntary constraints into which souls put themselves. I give You Your Ardor to burn all sins and all hearts, so that all may Love You, and no one may offend You, ever again. In sum, I give You all that You are, to give You Infinite Satisfaction, Eternal, Immense and Infinite Love.
The Painful Way to Calvary
My Most Patient Jesus, I see You take the first steps under the enormous weight of the Cross and I unite my steps to Yours, and when You, weak, bled dry and staggering, are about to fall, I will be at Your side to sustain You; I will place my shoulders beneath It, so as to share Its weight with You. Do not disdain me, but accept me as Your faithful companion. O Jesus, You look at me, and I see that You Repair for those who do not carry their crosses with resignation, but rather, they swear, get irritated, commit suicide, and commit murders. And for all You impetrate Love and resignation to their crosses. But Your pain is such that You feel crushed under the Cross. You have taken only the first steps, and You already fall under It. And as You fall, You knock against the stones; the thorns are driven more into Your Head, while all Your Wounds are embittered, and pour out new Blood. And since You do not have the strength to get up, Your enemies, irritated, try to make You stand with kicks and shoves.
My fallen Love, let me help You to stand, let me kiss You, dry Your Blood, and repair together with You for those who sin out of ignorance, fragility and weakness. I pray You to give help to these souls.
My Life, Jesus, making You suffer unheard-of spasms, Your enemies have managed to put You on Your feet, and as You walk, staggering, I hear Your panting Breath. Your Heart beats more strongly and new pains pierce It intensely. You shake Your Head in order to clear Your eyes from the Blood that fills them, and You gaze anxiously. Ah, my Jesus, I understood everything—Your Mama, who is searching for You like a moaning dove, wants to tell You one last word, and receive Your last gaze; and You feel Her pains, Her Heart lacerated in Yours, and moved and wounded by Her Love and by Yours. You notice Her now pushing Her way through the crowd, wanting at any cost to see You, to hug You, to give You the last good-bye. But You are more transfixed in seeing Her mortal paleness, and all of Your pains reproduced in Her by force of Love. If She lives, it is only by a miracle of Your Omnipotence. You now move Your steps toward hers, but You can hardly exchange a glance!
O, pang of Your two Hearts! The soldiers notice it, and with blows and shoving prevent Mama and Son from exchanging the last good-bye. The torment of both is such that Your Mama remains petrified by the pain, and is about to die. Faithful John and the pious women sustain Her, while You fall again under the Cross. Then, Your sorrowful Mama does with Her soul what She cannot do with Her Body, because She is prevented: She enters into You, makes the Will of the Eternal One Her own, and associating Herself in all Your pains, performs the office of Your Mother, She kisses You, Repairs You, soothes You, and pours the balm of Her sorrowful Love into all Your Wounds!
My suffering Jesus, I too unite with the pierced Mama. I make all Your pains, and every drop of Your Blood my own; in each Wound I want to act as a mama for You, and together with Her, and with You, I repair for all the dangerous encounters, and for those who expose themselves to occasions of sin, or, forced by necessity to be exposed, remain entangled in sin.
Meanwhile, You moan, fallen under the Cross. The soldiers fear that You may die under the weight of so many martyrdoms, and from the shedding of so much Blood. In spite of this, by lashes and kicks, with difficulty, they manage to put You on Your feet again. So You repair for repeated falls into sin, for mortal sins committed by every class of people, and You pray for obstinate sinners, shedding tears of Blood for their conversion.
My Love, overcome with pain, while I follow You in these Reparations, I see You stagger under the enormous weight of the Cross. You now are shivering all over. At the continuous shoving You receive, the thorns penetrate more and more into Your Most Holy Head. The Cross, with Its heavy weight, digs into Your shoulder, to the extent of forming a Wound so deep that the bones are exposed. And at every step, it seems that You are dying, and unable to move any further. But Your Love, which can do everything, gives You Strength, and as You feel the Cross penetrate into Your shoulder, You Repair for the hidden sins; those which, not being repaired, increase the bitterness of Your spasms. My Jesus, let me place my shoulder under the Cross to relieve You and repair with You for all hidden sins.
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Saint Blaise
Saint Blaise’s Story
We know more about the devotion to Saint Blaise by Christians around the world than we know about the saint himself. His feast is observed as a holy day in some Eastern Churches. In 1222, the Council of Oxford prohibited servile labor in England on Blaise’s feast day. The Germans and Slavs hold him in special honor, and for decades many United States Catholics have sought the annual Saint Blaise blessing for their throats.
We know that Bishop Blaise was martyred in his episcopal city of Sebastea, Armenia, in 316. The legendary Acts of St. Blaise were written 400 years later. According to them Blaise was a good bishop, working hard to encourage the spiritual and physical health of his people. Although the Edict of Toleration (311), granting freedom of worship in the Roman Empire, was already five years old, persecution still raged in Armenia. Blaise was apparently forced to flee to the back country. There he lived as a hermit in solitude and prayer, but he made friends with the wild animals. One day a group of hunters seeking wild animals for the amphitheater stumbled upon Blaise’s cave. They were first surprised and then frightened. The bishop was kneeling in prayer surrounded by patiently waiting wolves, lions and bears.
The legend has it that as the hunters hauled Blaise off to prison, a mother came with her young son who had a fish bone lodged in his throat. At Blaise’s command the child was able to cough up the bone.
Agricolaus, governor of Cappadocia, tried to persuade Blaise to sacrifice to pagan idols. The first time Blaise refused, he was beaten. The next time he was suspended from a tree and his flesh torn with iron combs or rakes. Finally, he was beheaded.
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