Feast of the Seven Sorrows of Mary

In the Kingdom of the Divine Will

 From the Writings of

The Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta

The Little Daughter of the Divine Will

Feast of the Seven Dolors (Sorrows) of

the Blessed Virgin Mary

The seven dolors of the Blessed Virgin are the chief sorrowful events in the life of Our Blessed Lady. They are:

1. The circumcision of our Lord — when she saw his blood shed for the first time;

2. Her flight into Egypt — to save the life of the Infant Jesus, when Herod sought to kill Him;

3. The three days she lost her Son in Jerusalem;

4. When she saw him carrying the cross;

5. When she saw him die;

6. When His dead body was taken down from the cross;

7. When it was laid in the sepulchre or tomb.

Volume 19 – July 11, 1926

“My little daughter, you yourself are saying how necessary knowledge is.  If it is necessary for you, much more so for others.  Now, you must know that in order to form the Kingdom of Redemption, those who distinguished themselves the most in suffering were my Mama and I.  And even though apparently She suffered none of the pains that the other creatures knew, except for my death which was known by all, and which was the fatal and harrowing blow for Her maternal Heart, more than any most sorrowful death, however, since She possessed the unity of the light of my Will, this light brought to Her pierced Heart, not only the seven swords told by the Church, but all swords, spears and pricks of all sins and pains of creatures, which martyred Her maternal Heart in a harrowing way.  But this is nothing.  This light brought Her all my pains, my humiliations, my torments, my thorns, my nails, the most intimate pains of my Heart.  The Heart of my Mama was the true Sun:  though one can see nothing but light, this light contains all the goods and effects that the earth receives and possesses; so, one can say that the earth is enclosed in the Sun.  The same for the Sovereign Queen:  one could only see Her person, but the light of my Supreme Will enclosed in Her all possible imaginable pains; and the more intimate and unknown these pains were, the more valuable and powerful they were over the Divine Heart, to impetrate the longed for Redeemer; and more than solar light, they descended into the hearts of creatures, to conquer them and bind them in the Kingdom of Redemption.

So, the Church knows so very little of the pains of the Celestial Sovereign Queen, that one can say that She knows only the visible pains, and this is why She gives the number of the seven swords.  But if She knew that Her maternal Heart was the refuge, the deposit of all pains, and that the light of my Will brought everything to Her, sparing Her nothing, the Church would not speak of seven swords, but of millions of swords.  More so, since they were intimate pains, and therefore God alone knows the intensity of the sorrow.  This is why, by right, She was constituted Queen of martyrs and of all sorrows.  Creatures can give a weight, a value to exterior pains, but they do not know enough of the interior ones to be able to attribute to them the right price.  Now, in order to form in my Mama, first the Kingdom of my Will, and then that of Redemption, so many pains were not necessary because, since She had no sin, the inheritance of pains was not for Her – Her inheritance was the Kingdom of my Will.  But in order to give the Kingdom of Redemption to creatures, She had to submit Herself to so many pains.  So, the fruits of Redemption were matured in the Kingdom of my Will possessed by Me and by my Mama.  There is nothing beautiful, good or useful, which does not come from my Will.

 First Sorrow – The circumcision of our Lord

Meditation 2 – The Queen of Heaven in the Kingdom of the Divine Will

Now, you must know that only eight days had passed from the birth of the Divine Infant. Everything was feast and happiness; the very Creation, taking a festive attitude, celebrated Its Baby Creator. But duty interrupted our joys, because in those times there was a law that all firstborn sons were to undergo the cruel cut of circumcision. My Heart of Mother bled with sorrow in having to submit my dear Son, my Life, my own Creator, to such a bitter pain. Oh, how I would have wanted to take His place! But the Supreme Volition imposed Itself on my love, and giving Me heroism, commanded Me to circumcise the Baby God. My child, you cannot comprehend how much it cost Me; but the Divine Fiat won, and I obeyed, united with Saint Joseph. In mutual agreement, we had my dear Son circumcised. At the painful cut, I felt my Heart being torn, and I cried. Saint Joseph cried too, and my dear Baby sobbed, and His pain was such that He shivered, and looking at me, He sought help. What an hour of pain and spasm for the three of us! It was such that, more than a sea, it engulfed all creatures, to bring them the first pledge and the very Life of my Son, to place them in safety. Now, blessed child, you must know that this cut enclosed profound mysteries: first, it was the seal that impressed in the little Humanity of the Celestial Baby His brotherhood with the whole human family; and the blood He shed was the first disbursement before Divine Justice in order to ransom all human generations. The dear Baby was innocent – He was not obliged by the law; but He wanted to submit Himself, first, to give the example; and then, to infuse trust and courage, saying to all: “Do not fear; I am your little brother, similar to you. Let us love one another, and I will place you all in safety. I will bring you all to my Celestial Father, as my dear brothers.” My child, what an example the Celestial Baby gives! He, Who is the Author of the law, obeys the law. He is born only eight days ago, yet He makes it a duty for Himself, submitting Himself to the cruel cut of circumcision; an indelible cut – as indelible as the union He came to form with degraded humanity. This says that sanctity is in doing one’s own duty, in the observance of the laws, and in fulfilling the Divine Will. Sanctity without duty does not exist. It is duty that places order, harmony, and the seal on sanctity.

 Second Sorrow – Her flight into Egypt

Day Twenty-four – The Queen of Heaven in the Kingdom of the Divine Will.

My dearest child, today the Heart of your Mama is swollen with love and with sorrow, so much so, that I cannot refrain from crying. You know of the coming of the Magi Kings, who caused rumor in Jerusalem, asking about the new King. And cruel Herod, for fear of being removed from his throne, has already given the mandate to kill my sweet Jesus, my dear life, together with all the other children. My child, what pain! The One who has come to give life to all, and to bring into the world the new era of peace, of happiness, of grace…they want to kill Him! What ingratitude! What perfidy! Ah, my child, to what extent the blindness of the human will reaches! To the extent of becoming ferocious, of tying the hands of the Creator Himself, and of making itself the owner of the One who created it. Give Me your compassion, my child, and try to calm the crying of the sweet Baby. He cries because of human ingratitude, because, only a newborn, they want Him dead; and in order to save Him, we are forced to flee. Dear Saint Joseph has already been advised by the Angel to leave for a foreign land. Accompany us, dear child; do not leave us alone, and I will continue to give you my lessons on the great evils of the human will. Now, you must know that as man withdrew from the Divine Will, he broke off with his Creator. Everything on earth had been made by God for him – everything was his; but man, by not wanting to do the Divine Will, lost all rights, and one could say that he did not know where to place his foot. So He became a poor exiled one, a pilgrim who could not have a permanent residence; and this, not only for the soul, but also for the body. All things became mutable for poor man; and if he did possess any fleeting thing, it was by virtue of the foreseen merits of this Celestial Baby. This, because the whole magnificence of Creation was destined by God for all those who would do His Will and live in Its Kingdom. All others, if they manage to take anything, are the true petty thieves of their Creator; and with reason: they do not want to do the Divine Will, but they want the goods which belong to It? Now, dear child, listen to how much this dear Baby and I love you: at the first dawn of His life, He goes into exile, and into a foreign land, in order to free you from the exile in which your human will placed you; to call you to live, not in a foreign land, but in your fatherland – the Kingdom of the Supreme Fiat – which was given to you when you were created. Child of my Heart, have pity on the tears of your Mother, and on the tears of this sweet dear Baby – crying, We ask you never to do your will. But We beg you, We implore you: come back into the bosom of the Divine Will, which so much longs for you! Now, dear child, in the midst of the sorrow for human ingratitude, and in the midst of the immense joys and happinesses that the Divine Fiat gave us and the feast that all Creation made for the sweet Baby, the earth became green and flowery again under our steps, to give homage to its Creator. The sun fixed on Him, and praising Him with its light, it felt honored to give Him its light and heat. The wind caressed Him; the birds, almost like clouds, alighted around us, and with their trills and songs, made the most beautiful lullabies for the dear Baby, to calm His crying and favor His sleep. My child, since the Divine Will was in us, we had power over everything. So we arrived in Egypt, and after a long period of time, the Angel of the Lord told Saint Joseph that we should return to the house of Nazareth, because the cruel tyrant had died. So we repatriated to our homeland.

Now, Egypt symbolizes the human will – a land full of idols; and wherever Baby Jesus passed, He would knock down these idols and cast them into hell. How many idols does the human will possess! Idols of vainglory, of self-esteem and of passion, which tyrannize the poor creature! Therefore, be attentive; listen to your Mama. I would make any sacrifice never to let you do your will; and I would also lay down my life, to give you the great good of living always in the bosom of the Divine Will.

 Third Sorrow – The three days she lost her Son in Jerusalem

Meditation 5 – The Queen of Heaven in the Kingdom of the Divine Will.

We continued to spend our lives in the quiet little house of Nazareth, and my dear Son grew in grace and in wisdom. He was charming because of the sweetness and the gentleness of His voice, the sweet enchantment of His eyes, and the loveliness of His whole person. Yes, my Son was truly beautiful, unsurpassingly beautiful! He had recently reached the age of twelve, when we went to Jerusalem according to custom, in order to solemnize the Passover. We set out on the journey – He, Saint Joseph and I. Very often, as we proceeded, with devotion and recollected, my Jesus would break the silence and speak to us now of His celestial Father, now of the immense love for souls which He felt in His Heart. Once in Jerusalem, we went directly to the temple, and as we arrived, we prostrated ourselves with our faces to the ground, adoring God profoundly, and praying for a long time. Our prayer was so fervent and recollected as to open the heavens, draw and bind the Celestial Father, and therefore hasten the reconciliation between Him and men. … After we had fulfilled our duty in the temple and celebrated the Passover, we prepared to return to Nazareth. In the confusion of the crowd, we were separated; I remained with the women, and Joseph joined the men. I looked around to see whether my Jesus had come with Me, but, not seeing Him, I thought He had remained with his father Joseph. But what was not the surprise and the concern I felt when, as we arrived at the place at which we were to reunite, I did not see Him at his side! Unaware of what had happened, we felt such fright and such pain that we both remained mute. Overcome with sorrow, we went back hurriedly, anxiously asking those whom we met: “O tell us if you have seen Jesus, our Son, for we can not live without Him!” Crying, we would describe His features: “He is all lovable; His beautiful azure eyes sparkle with light and speak to the heart; His gaze strikes, enraptures and binds; His forehead is majestic; His face is beautiful, of an enchanting beauty; His most sweet voice descends deep into the heart and sweetens all bitternesses; His hair, curly and like finest gold, renders Him striking and charming. All is majesty, dignity and sanctity in Him. He is the most beautiful among the sons of men!” But in spite of our searching, nobody was able to tell us anything. The sorrow I felt was so cruel as to make Me weep bitterly, opening, every instant, deep gashes in my soul, which caused Me true spasms of death. Dear child, if Jesus was my Son, He was also my God; therefore my sorrow was wholly within the divine order – that is, so powerful and immense as to surpass all other possible torments together. If the Fiat which I possessed had not sustained Me continuously with Its divine strength, I would have died of shock. Seeing that no one was able to give us information, I anxiously questioned the Angels who surrounded Me: “But, tell Me, where is my beloved Jesus? Where should I direct my steps in order to find Him? O, tell Him I can bear no more; bring Him into my arms on your wings! My Angels, have pity on my tears, help Me – bring Me Jesus!” In the meantime, as every search had turned out in vain, we returned to Jerusalem. After three days of most bitter sighs, tears, anxieties and fears, we entered the temple. I was all eyes and looked everywhere, when, finally, overcome with jubilation, I saw my Son in the midst of the doctors of the law! He was speaking with such wisdom and majesty as to make those who were listening remain enraptured and amazed. Just in seeing Him, I felt life come back to Me, and immediately I understood the secret reason of His being lost. And now, a little word to you, dearest child. In this mystery, my Son wanted to give to Me and to you, a sublime teaching. Could you perhaps assume that He was ignoring what I was suffering? On the contrary, my tears, my searching, and my cruel and intense sorrow, resounded in His heart. Yet, during those hours, so painful, He sacrificed to the Divine Will, His own Mama, the one whom He loves so much, in order to show Me how I too, one day, was to sacrifice His very Life to the Supreme Will.

 Fourth Sorrow – When she saw him carrying the cross

Hours of the Passion – The Eighteenth Hour

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, moved and wounded by Her love and by Yours. You see Her 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 move your steps toward hers, but you can hardly exchange a glance! Oh, 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 that which 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, 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.

 Fifth Sorrow – When she saw him die

Hours of the Passion – Twenty-second Hour

My dying Crucified, Jesus, You are now about to give the last breaths of your mortal life; your Most Holy Humanity is already stiffened; your Heart seems to beat no longer. With Magdalene I cling to your feet and, if it were possible, I would like to give my life to revive Yours. Meanwhile, O Jesus, I see that You open your dying eyes again, and You look around from the Cross, as though wanting to give the last good-bye to all. You look at your dying Mama, who no longer has motion or voice, so many are the pains She feels; and You say: “Good-bye Mama, I am leaving, but I will keep You in my Heart. You, take care of my children and yours.” You look at crying Magdalene, faithful John and your very enemies, and with your gazes You say to them: “I forgive you; I give you the kiss of peace.” Nothing escapes your gaze; You take leave of everyone and forgive everyone. Then, You gather all your strengths, and with a loud and thundering voice, You cry out: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”. And bowing your head, You breathe your last. My Jesus, at this cry all nature is shaken and cries over your death – the death of its Creator! The earth trembles strongly; and with its trembling, it seems to be crying and wanting to shake up souls to recognize You as true God. The veil of the Temple is torn, the dead are risen; the sun, which until now had cried over your pains, has withdrawn its light with horror. At this cry, your enemies fall on their knees, and beating their breasts, they say: “Truly He is the Son of God.” And your Mother, petrified and dying, suffers pains harder than death. My dead Jesus, with this cry You also place all of us into the hands of the Father, because You do not reject us. Therefore You cry out loudly, not only with your voice, but with all your pains and with the voices of your Blood: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit and all souls.” My Jesus, I too abandon myself in You; give me the grace to die completely in your love – in your Will, and I pray that You never permit me, either in life or in death, to go out of your Most Holy Will. Meanwhile I intend to repair for all those who do not abandon themselves perfectly to your Most Holy Will, therefore losing or maiming the precious gift of your Redemption. What is not the sorrow of your Heart, O my Jesus, in seeing so many creatures escaping from your arms and abandoning themselves to themselves? Have pity on all, O my Jesus – have pity on me.

Sixth Sorrow – When His dead body was taken down from the cross

Hours of the Passion – Twenty-third Hour

My dead Jesus, I see that your disciples hasten to depose You from the Cross. Joseph and Nicodemus, who have remained hidden until now, with courage and without fearing anything, now want to give You an honorable burial. So they take hammers and pincers, to perform the sacred and sad unnailing from the Cross, while your pierced Mama stretches out Her maternal arms to receive You on Her lap. My Jesus, while they unnail You, I too want to help your disciples to sustain your Most Holy Body; and with the nails they remove from You, nail me completely to Yourself. With your Holy Mother, I want to adore You and kiss You, and then enclose myself in your Heart, never to leave again.

Seventh Sorrow – When it was laid in the sepulchre or tomb.

Hours of the Passion – Twenty-fourth Hour

Tormented Mama, I see You hasten, because those who surround You want to close the sepulcher. Almost flying, You take the Hands of Jesus between yours, You kiss them, You press them to your Heart; and placing your hands in His, You take for Yourself the pains and the piercings of those Most Holy Hands. Then You fly over the Feet of Jesus, looking at the cruel torture which the nails have made in them; and as You place your feet in them, You take for Yourself those wounds, and You offer Yourself to run toward sinners in the place of Jesus, in order to snatch them from hell. Anguishing Mama, I see You give the last good-bye to the pierced Heart of Jesus. Here You pause. It is the last assault to your Maternal Heart; You feel It being torn from your breast because of the vehemence of love and pain and, alone, It runs to place Itself in the Most Holy Heart of Jesus. And You, in seeing Yourself without a heart, hasten to take His Most Holy Heart into yours – His Love rejected by many creatures, His many ardent desires not fulfilled because of their ingratitudes, and the pains and piercings of that Most Holy Heart, which will keep You crucified for the rest of your life. In looking at the wide wound, You kiss it, You lap up the Blood; and feeling the Life of Jesus in Yourself, You have the strength to fulfill the bitter separation. Then You embrace Him, and You allow the sepulchral stone to close on Him.

Exaltation of the Holy Cross

 From the Writings of

The Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta

The Little Daughter of the Divine Will

Exaltation of the Holy Cross

 Volume 1

One morning – it was the day of the Exaltation of the Cross – my sweet Jesus transported me to the holy sites; and first, He told me many things about the virtue of the cross. I don’t remember all, but just a few things:  “My beloved, do you want to be beautiful? The cross will give you the most beautiful features that can possibly be found, both in Heaven and on earth; so much so, as to enamor God, who contains all beauties within Himself.” 

 Jesus continued: “Do you want to be filled with immense riches – not for a short time, but for all eternity? Well then, the cross will administer to you all kinds of riches – from the tiniest cents, which are the little crosses, up to the greatest amounts, which are the heavier crosses.  Yet, men are so greedy to earn a temporal penny, which they soon will have to leave, but do not give a thought to earning one eternal cent.  And when I, having compassion for them, in seeing their carelessness for all that regards eternity, kindly offer them the opportunity – instead of cherishing it, they get angry and offend Me.  What human madness – it seems that they understand it upside down.  My beloved, in the cross are all the triumphs, all the victories, and the greatest gains.  You must have no aim other than the cross, and it will be enough for you, in everything.  Today I want to make you content; that cross which until now has not been enough to lay you on and crucify you completely, is the cross that you have carried up to now.  But since I have to crucify you completely, you need new crosses which I will let descend upon you.  So, the cross you have had until now, I will bring to Heaven, to show it to the whole celestial court as pledge of your love, and I will make another one descend from Heaven – a larger one, to be able to satisfy the ardent desires I have upon you.” 

 While Jesus was saying this, that cross which I had seen the other times made itself present before me. I took it and I laid myself on it.  As I was in this way, the Heavens opened and Saint John the Evangelist came down, carrying the cross that Jesus had indicated to me.  The Queen Mother and many Angels, when they arrived near me, lifted me from that cross and placed me over the one which they had brought me, which was much larger.  Then, an Angel took the cross I had before and took it to Heaven with him.  After this, with His own hand, Jesus began to nail me to that cross; Queen Mama assisted me, while the Angels and Saint John were handing the nails.  My sweet Jesus showed such contentment, such joy in crucifying me, that just to be able to give that contentment to Jesus, I would have suffered not only the cross, but yet more pains.  Ah! it seemed to me that Heaven was making new feast for me, in seeing the contentment of Jesus.  Many souls were freed from Purgatory and took flight toward Heaven, and quite a few sinners were converted, because my Divine Spouse let everyone participate in the good of my sufferings.  Who can tell, then, the intense pains I felt while being stretched so well over the cross, and pierced through by the nails in my hands and feet?  But especially the feet – the atrocity of the pains was such that they cannot be described.  When they finished crucifying me and I felt I was swimming in the sea of pains and sufferings, Queen Mama said to Jesus:

“My Son, today is a day of grace – I want You to let her share in all of your pains. There is nothing left but to pierce her heart through with the lance, and to renew for her the crown of thorns.”

So, Jesus Himself took the lance and pierced my heart through; the Angels took a crown of thorns, well thickened, and handed it to the Most Holy Virgin – and She Herself drove it into my head.

What a memorable day that was for me – of sufferings, yes, but of contentments, of unspeakable pains, but also of joy. It is enough to say that the intensity of the pains was such, that for that entire day Jesus did not move from my side, but remained close to me in order to sustain my nature, which was failing at the liveliness of the pains.  Those souls from Purgatory who had flown up to Heaven, descended together with the Angels and surrounded my bed, cheering me with their canticles, and thanking me affectionately because through my sufferings I had freed them from those pains.

It happened, then, that after five or six days of those intense pains, to my great regret, they began to diminish, and so I would solicit my beloved Jesus to renew the crucifixion. And He, sometimes quickly, and sometimes with some delay, would be pleased to transport me to the holy sites and to let me share in the pains of His Sorrowful Passion… now the crown of thorns, now the scourging, now the carrying of the cross to Calvary, now the crucifixion – sometimes one mystery per day, and sometimes everything in one day, as He pleased.  This would be of highest pain and contentment for my soul.  But it would become very bitter for me when the scene would change, and instead of I being the one who suffered, I would be the spectator, watching most loving Jesus suffer the pains of His Sorrowful Passion.  Ah! how many times I found myself in the midst of the Jews together with Queen Mama, seeing my beloved Jesus suffer.  Ah! yes, it is indeed true that it is easier for one to suffer himself, than to see the beloved suffer.

Other times, I remember that, in renewing these crucifixions, my sweet Jesus would say to me:

“My beloved, the cross allows one to distinguish the reprobates from the predestined. Just as on the day of judgment, the good will rejoice upon seeing the cross, so even now it can be seen whether one will be saved or lost.  If, as the cross presents itself to the soul, she embraces it, carries it with resignation and patience, kissing and thanking that hand which is sending it – here is the sign that she is saved.  If, on the contrary, as the cross is presented to her, she gets irritated, despises it, and even reaches the point of offending Me – you can say that that’s a sign that the soul is heading on the way to hell.  So will the reprobates do on the Day of Judgment:  upon seeing the cross, they will grieve and curse.  The cross tells everything; the cross is a book that, without deception and in clear notes, tells you and allows you to distinguish the saint from the sinner, the perfect from the imperfect, the fervent from the lukewarm.  The cross communicates such light to the soul that, even now, it allows one to distinguish not only the good from the evil, but also those who are to be more or less glorious in Heaven – those who are to occupy a higher or a lower place.  All other virtues remain humble and reverent before the virtue of the cross, and grafting themselves to it, they receive greater glory and splendor.”

 Who can tell what flames of ardent desires this speaking of Jesus would cast into my heart? I felt devoured by hunger for suffering, and in order to satisfy my yearnings – or rather, to say it better, in order to satisfy that which He Himself infused in me – He would renew the crucifixion.

I remember that sometimes, after renewing these crucifixions, He would say to me:

“Beloved of my Heart, I ardently desire not only to crucify your soul and to communicate the pains of the cross to your body, but also to mark your body with the mark of my wounds; and I want to teach you the prayer in order to obtain this grace. This is the prayer:  ‘I present myself before the supreme throne of God, bathed in the Blood of Jesus Christ, praying Him, by the merit of His most luminous virtues and of His Divinity, to concede to me the grace of being crucified’.”

 Volume 3 – December 2, 1899

Eloquent praise of the Cross.

… Jesus: Let Me hear your voice that cheers my hearing. Let us converse together a little; I have spoken to you many times about the Cross; today, let Me hear you speak of the Cross.

I felt all confused; I did not know what to say. But as He sent mea ray of intellectual light, to make Him content I began to say:

My Beloved, who can say to You what the Cross is? Your mouth alone can speak worthily of the sublimity of the Cross; but since You want me to speak, I will do it.

The Cross, suffered by You, freed me from the slavery of the devil, and espoused me to the Divinity with an indissoluble bond.

The Cross is fecund and gives birth to Grace in me.

The Cross is Light, It disillusions me of what is temporal, and reveals to me what is eternal.

The Cross is fire, and reduces to ashes all that is not of God, to the point of emptying my heart of the tiniest blade of grass that might be in it.

The Cross is coin of inestimable value, and if I have, O Holy Spouse, the fortune of possessing it, I will be enriched with eternal coins, to the point of becoming the richest in Paradise, because the currency that circulates in Heaven is the Cross suffered on earth.

The Cross, then, makes me know myself; not only this, but It gives me the knowledge of God.

The Cross grafts all virtues into me.

The Cross is the noble pulpit of the uncreated Wisdom, that teaches me the highest, the finest and most sublime doctrines. So, only the Cross will reveal to me the most hidden mysteries, the most secret things, the most perfect perfection, hidden to the most erudite and learned of the world.

The Cross is like beneficent water that purifies me; not only this, but It administers to me the nourishment for the virtues, It makes them grow, and only then does It leave me, when It brings me back to Eternal Life.

The Cross is like celestial dew, which preserves and embellishes for me the beautiful lily of purity.

The Cross is the nourishment of Hope.

The Cross is the beacon of operating Faith.

The Cross is like hard wood, which preserves the fire of Charity, keeping it always lit.

The Cross is like dry wood, which dispels and puts to flight all the smokes of pride and of vainglory, producing the humble violet of humility in the soul.

The Cross is the most powerful weapon that offends the demons, and defends me from all of their claws. Therefore, the soul who possesses the Cross is the envy and admiration of the very Angels and Saints, and the rage and indignation of the demons.

The Cross is my Paradise on earth, in such a way that if the Paradise of the Blessed up there, is of delights, the Paradise down here is of sufferings.

The Cross is the chain of most pure gold that connects me to You, my Highest Good, and forms the most intimate union that can possibly be given, to the point of making my being disappear. And It transforms me in You, my Beloved, to the point that I feel lost within You, and I live from your very Life.

After I said this (I don’t know whether it is nonsense), my lovable Jesus was all delighted in listening to me, and taken by enthusiasm of love, kissed me all over, and said to me:

 Brava, brava, my beloved – you spoke well! My Love is fire, but not like the terrestrial fire which, wherever it penetrates, renders things sterile and reduces everything to ashes. My fire is fecund, and it renders sterile only that which is not virtue. To all the rest it gives life, it makes beautiful flowers bloom, it makes the most delicious fruits mature, and forms the most delightful celestial garden. The Cross is so powerful, and I communicated so much grace to It, as to render It more effective than the very Sacraments; and this, because in receiving the Sacrament of my Body, the dispositions and free concourse of the soul are needed in order to receive my graces, and many times these may be lacking; while the Cross has the virtue of disposing the soul to grace.

Volume 3 – April 20, 1900

The Cross gives us the features and the likeness of Jesus.

 My adorable Jesus continues to come, for just a little and like a shadow, and even when He comes He does not say anything. This morning, after He renewed in me the pains of the cross as many as two times, looking at me with tenderness while I was suffering the spasm of the piercings of the nails, He told me:

The cross is a mirror in which the soul admires the Divinity, and by reflecting herself in it, she acquires the features and the likeness that most resembles God. The cross must not only be loved and desired, but one must consider it an honor and a glory. This is to operate as God and to become like God by participation, because I alone gloried in the cross and considered suffering an honor, and I loved it so much that in my whole life I did not want to be one moment without the cross.

Who can say what I understood about the cross from this speaking of blessed Jesus? But I feel mute in expressing it with words. Ah, Lord, I pray You to keep me always nailed to the cross, so that, having this divine mirror ever before me, I may clean all my stains and embellish myself ever more in your likeness.

Volume 3 – April 21, 1900

More than Sacrament, the Cross seals God in the soul.

 As I was in my usual state, or rather, with a little bit of concern about something that it is not necessary to say here, my sweet Jesus, on coming, told me:

And they are sacred vessels, and every once in a while it is necessary to dust them off. Your bodies are as many sacred vessels, in which I make my dwelling, therefore it is necessary that I do some little dusting every now and then, that is, that I visit them with some tribulation, so that I may remain in them with more decorum. Therefore, be calm.

Later, after I received Communion, having renewed in me the pains of the crucifixion, He added:

My daughter, how precious is the cross! See now: in giving Itself to the soul, the Sacrament of my Body unites her with Me, It transforms her, to the point that she becomes one with Me. But as the species are consumed, the union, truly established, ceases. Not with the cross. The cross takes God and unites Him with the soul forever, and It places Itself more surely as a seal. Therefore, the cross seals God in the soul, in such a way that there is never separation between God and the crucified soul.

Volume 3 – May 1, 1900

The Eucharist and the Cross; Suffering is not to be feared.

 After I received Communion, my sweet Jesus made Himself seen all affability; and as it seemed that the confessor was placing the intention of the crucifixion, my nature felt almost a repugnance to submit itself. My sweet Jesus, to cheer me, told me:

My daughter, if the Eucharist is the deposit of the future glory, the cross is the disbursement with which to purchase it. If the Eucharist is the seed which prevents corruption, like those aromatic herbs that prevent decomposition when applied to cadavers, and gives immortality to soul and body, the cross embellishes and is so powerful that if debts have been contracted, it becomes their guarantor, and it more surely obtains the restitution of the debt’s deed. And after it has satisfied every debt, it forms for the soul the most refulgent throne in the future glory. Ah, yes, the cross and the Eucharist alternate, and one operates more powerfully than the other.

 Then He added:

The cross is my flowery bed, not because I did not suffer harrowing spasms, but because by means of the cross I delivered many souls to grace, and I could see many beautiful flowers bloom, which would produce many celestial fruits. So, in seeing so much good, I held that bed of suffering as my delight, and I delighted in the cross and in suffering. You too, my daughter – take pains as delights, and delight in being crucified on my cross. No, no, I do not want you to fear suffering, almost wanting to act as a sluggard. Up, courage! Be brave and, on your own, expose yourself to suffering.

Volume 3 – May 3, 1900

The Feast of the Cross in Heaven.

 This morning I found myself outside of myself, and I saw all of Heaven studded with crosses, some small, some large, some medium; some which were larger, emanated more splendor. It was a most sweet enchantment to see so many crosses adorning the firmament, more refulgent than suns. Then, it seemed that Heaven opened, and one could see and hear the feast that the Blessed were making for the cross. Those who had suffered more were celebrated more on this day. One could distinguish in a special way the martyrs and those who had suffered in a hidden way. Oh, how esteemed were the cross and those who had suffered more, in that blessed dwelling!

As I was seeing this, a voice resounded throughout the whole of Heaven, saying:

If the Lord did not send the crosses upon the earth, He would be like a father who has no love for his own children – who wants to see them poor and dishonored, instead of honored and rich.

 The rest that I saw during this feast I have no words to describe. I can feel it within me, but I am unable to express it; so I remain silent.

Volume 6 – March 16, 1904

The cross is festive, jubilant, joyful and desiring.

 … On hearing Him tell me that, I did not know what else to say – I remained in silence, content with being with Him; and He added:

“You have forgotten to tell the confessor another thing about the cross.

 And I: ‘My adorable Lord, I don’t remember, repeat it to me and I will tell him.’

And He: “My daughter, among the many titles that the cross has, it has the title of ‘feast day’, because when one receives a gift, what happens? One makes feast, rejoices and is more content. Now, since the cross is the most precious, the noblest gift, and is given by the greatest and most unique Person that exists, it is more pleasing and brings more feast, more gladness than all other gifts. So, you yourself can say what other titles can be given to the cross.”

And I: ‘As You say, it can be said that the cross is festive, jubilant, joyful, desiring.’

And He: “Good – you spoke well. However, the soul comes to experience these effects of the cross when she is perfectly resigned to my Will and has given all of herself to Me, without keeping anything for herself. And I, so as not to be surpassed in love by the creature, give her all of Myself, and in giving Myself I also give my cross; and the soul recognizing it as my gift, makes feast and enjoys.”

Volume 6 – June 3, 1904

The cross destroys three evil kingdoms and constitutes three good Kingdoms in the soul.

This morning, since blessed Jesus was not coming, I felt all oppressed and tired. Then, when He came, He told me:

“My daughter, do not want to become tired in suffering, but rather, act as if at each hour you were just beginning to suffer. In fact, if the soul lets herself be dominated by the cross, the cross destroys three evil kingdoms in her, which are the world, the devil and the flesh, and it constitutes in her three more good Kingdoms: the Spiritual, the Divine and the Eternal Kingdom.”

 And He disappeared.

Volume 7 – February 23, 1906

How Jesus was nailed to the Cross in the Will of the Father.

 This morning I was thinking of Our Lord in the act in which they were nailing Him to the cross; I was compassionating all of Him, and blessed Jesus told me:

“My daughter, not only my hands and feet were nailed to the cross, but all the particles of my Humanity, soul and Divinity were all nailed in the Will of the Father. In fact, the crucifixion was the Will of the Father, therefore I was nailed and transmuted completely in His Will. This was necessary because, what is sin but withdrawing from the Will of God, from everything that is good and holy which God has given us, believing to be something of one’s own, and offending the Creator? And I, in order to repair for this audacity and for this self idol which the creature makes of herself, wanted to dissolve my will completely and live from the Will of the Father at the cost of great sacrifice.”

Volume 7 – July 27, 1906

In the Cross, Jesus dowered souls and espoused them to Himself.

 This morning, as my adorable Jesus made Himself seen embracing the Cross, I thought in my interior: ‘What were His thoughts in receiving the Cross?’

And He said to me: “My daughter, when I received the Cross, I embraced It as my dearest treasure, because in the Cross I dowered souls and espoused them to Myself. Now, upon looking at the Cross – at Its length and breadth – I rejoiced, because I saw in It sufficient dowries for all my spouses, and none of them could fear not being able to marry Me, because I held in my own hands – in the Cross – the price of their dowry. But with this condition alone: that if the soul accepts the little gifts I send to her – which are the crosses – as the pledge of her acceptance of Me as her Spouse, the marriage is formed and I give her the gift of the dowry. If then she does not accept the gifts – that is, if she is not resigned to my Will – everything is undone, and even if I want to dower her, I cannot, because in order to form a marriage, it always takes the will of both sides; and since the soul does not accept my gifts, it means that she does not want to accept the marriage.”

 Volume 7 – August 11, 1906

The cross is a treasure.

 Finding myself in my usual state, I saw my adorable Jesus with a cross in His hand, all full of white pearls. Giving it to me as gift, He placed it on my breast, and it sank into my heart as inside a room. Then He told me:

“My daughter, the cross is a treasure, and the safest place in which to keep this valuable treasure is one’s own soul. Or rather, it is a safe place when the soul is disposed to receive this treasure with patience, with resignation and with the other virtues, because the virtues are as many keys that secure it, so as not to spoil it or expose it to thieves. But if it does not find especially the gold key of patience, this treasure will find many thieves, who will steal it and spoil it.”

Volume 8 – October 4, 1907

The exaltation of the cross; The cross grafts Divinity to humanity.

Continuing in my usual state of privation, and therefore with little suffering, I was saying to myself:

Not only of Jesus am I deprived, but also the good of suffering is taken away from me. Oh, God! You want to put me to fire and the sword, and touch the things which are most dear to me, and which form my very life: Jesus and the cross. If I am abominable to Jesus because of my ingratitude, He is right in not coming; but you, O cross ? what have I done to you, that you left me so barbarously? Ah, did I perhaps not welcome you when you came? Did I not treat you as my faithful companion? Ah, I remember that I loved you so much that I could not be without you, and sometimes I even preferred you to Jesus. I didn’t know what you had done to me, that I could not be without you. Yet, you left me! It is true that you have done much good to me; you were the way, the door, the room, the secret, the light in which I could find Jesus. This is why I loved you so much. And now, everything is over for me.

 While I was thinking of this, blessed Jesus came for just a little and told me:

Daughter, the cross is part of one’s life, and only one who does not love his own life, does not love the cross, because it was with the Cross alone that I grafted the Divinity to lost humanity. Only the cross continues Redemption in the world, grafting anyone who receives it into the Divinity; and if one does not love it, it means he knows nothing of virtues, of perfection, of love of God, and of true life. It happens as to a rich man who has lost his riches, and is presented with the means to reacquire them again – and maybe even more. How much does he not love this means? Does he perhaps not put his own life into this means in order to find life again in his riches? Such is the cross. Man had become so very poor, and the cross is the means not only to save him from misery, but to enrich him with all goods. Therefore, the cross is the richness of the soul.

And He disappeared, while I remained more embittered, thinking of what I had lost.

Volume 8 – February 16, 1908

How the cross is the surest sign to know whether we love the Lord.

 As I was in my usual state, I was thinking about why it is the cross alone that makes us know whether we really love the Lord, while there are many other things, like the virtues, prayer, the Sacraments, which could make us know whether we love the Lord. While I was thinking of this, blessed Jesus came and told me:

My daughter, it is really so, the cross alone is that which makes one know whether he really loves the Lord – but a cross carried with patience and resignation, because where there is patience and resignation in crosses, there is divine life. Since nature is so reluctant to suffering, if there is patience, it cannot be something natural, but divine, and the soul no longer loves the Lord with her love alone, but united with the love of the divine life. So, what doubt can she have whether she loves or not, if she arrives at loving Him with His own love?

On the other hand, in the other things, and even in the very Sacraments, there also may be someone who loves, who contains this divine life within himself, but these things cannot give the certainty of the cross. It may be there, or it may not, because of lack of dispositions. One can very well go to Confession, but if he lacks the dispositions, it certainly cannot be said that he loves and that he has received this divine life within himself. Another may receive Communion; indeed he receives the divine life, but he can only say that this divine life remains within him if he had the true dispositions. In fact, it can be seen how some receive Communion or go to Confession, but as occasions arise, the patience of divine life cannot be seen in them; and if patience is missing, love is missing because love is recognized only through sacrifice. And so here are the doubts; while the cross, patience, resignation, are fruits produced only by Grace and by love.

 Volume 9 – July 4, 1910

The agony in the Garden was, in a special way, for the help of the dying; the agony on the Cross was for help at the last moment, at the very last breath.

 Continuing in my usual state full of privations and of bitterness, I was thinking about the agony of Our Lord, and the Lord told me:

My daughter, in a special way I wanted to suffer the agony in the Garden, in order to help all of the dying to die well. Look well at how my agony is combined with the agony of Christians: tediums, sadnesses, anguishes, the sweat of blood, I felt the death of all and of each one, as if I were really dying for each one in particular; so I felt the tediums, the sadnesses, the anguishes of each one within Me, and with my own I offered help, comfort and hope to all, so that, as I felt their deaths in Me, they all might receive the grace to die in Me, as though in one single breath – with my breath, and to be beatified immediately by my Divinity.

 If the agony in the Garden was in a special way for the dying, the agony on the Cross was for help at the last moment, at the very last breath. They are both agonies, but one is different from the other: the agony in the Garden, full of sadnesses, of fears, of anxieties, of frights; the agony on the Cross, full of peace, of imperturbable calm. And if I cried out “I thirst!”, it was the insatiable thirst that all might breathe their last in my last breath; and in seeing that many would go out of my last breath, out of grief I cried out “Sitio!” [“I thirst!”], and this “sitio” still continues to cry out to all and to each one like a bell at the door of each heart:

“I thirst for you, oh soul! O please, never go out of Me, but enter into Me and breathe your last in Me!”

 So, six are the hours of my Passion that I gave to men in order to die well: the three in the Garden were for help in the agony; the three on the Cross for help at the very last sigh before death. After this, who could not look at death with a smile? More so for one who loves Me, for one who tries to sacrifice himself on my very cross. Do you see how beautiful death is, and how things are changed? In life I was despised; the very miracles did not produce the effects of my death; even up to the Cross there were insults. But as soon as I breathed my last, death had the power to change things: all beat their breasts, confessing Me the true Son of God; my very disciples plucked up courage, and even those who were hidden became brave and asked for my body, giving Me honorable burial. Heaven and earth, in full voice, confessed Me the Son of God. Death is something great, something sublime; and this happens also for my own children: in life they are despised, oppressed; those very virtues which, like light, should make those who are around them start, remain half-veiled; their heroisms in suffering, their abnegations, their zeal for souls, cast lights and doubts in those who surround them; and I Myself permit these veils, so as to preserve with more safety the virtue of my dear children. But as soon as they die, I withdraw these veils since they are no longer necessary, and the doubts become certainties, the light becomes clear, and this light makes others appreciate their heroism – they pay esteem to everything, even to the smallest things. Therefore, what cannot be done in life, is made up for by death. This, as for what happens down here. That which happens up there, then, is truly surprising and enviable to all mortals.

 Volume 14 – February 24, 1922

The cross of one who lives in the Divine Will becomes similar to the Cross of Jesus.

 As I was in my usual state, my always adorable Jesus made Himself seen in the act of taking up His Cross and placing It on His most holy shoulders; and He told me:

My daughter, when I received the Cross, I looked at It from top to bottom, to see the place that each soul would take in my Cross. Among so many of them, I looked with more love and I paid a more special attention to those who would be resigned, and would live life in my Will. I looked at them, and I saw their cross, long and large just as Mine, because my Will made up for all that their cross lacked, making it longer and larger like Mine. Oh! how your long cross stood out; so very long because of many years of bed – and suffered only to fulfill my Will. My Cross existed only to fulfill the Will of my Celestial Father; and yours, to fulfill my Will. One gave honor to the other, and since both of them had the same measure, they blended together.

 Now, my Will has the virtue of softening hardness, of sweetening bitterness, of extending and enlarging short things. So, when I felt the Cross upon my shoulders, I felt the softness and the sweetness of the cross of the souls who would suffer in my Will. Ah! My Heart heaved a sigh of relief, and the softness of the crosses of these souls made my Cross adapt to my shoulders, sinking so much into it as to cause Me a deep wound; and although it gave Me a sharp pain, I also felt the softness and the sweetness of the souls who would suffer in my Will. And since my Will is eternal, their suffering, their reparations, their acts, ran within each drop of my Blood, in each wound, in each offense. My Will made them be as though present at the offenses of the past, from the moment the first man sinned, at the present and at the future offenses. They were the ones who returned the rights of my Will to Me; and for love of them, I decreed Redemption. And if others enter into It, it is because of these souls that they partake in It. There is no good I concede, either in Heaven or on earth, which is not because of them.

Volume 14 – June 6, 1922

By living in the Divine Will, cross and sanctity become similar to those of Jesus.

 I was thinking to myself:

How is it that my good Jesus has changed with me? Before, He would be all delighted in letting me suffer; everything was participation in nails and cross. Now, everything has vanished. He no longer delights in letting me suffer; and if sometimes I suffer, He looks at me with such indifference; He no longer shows that taste of the past. Now, while I was thinking of this, my sweet Jesus, moving in my interior, sighing, told me:

My daughter, when there are superior tastes, minor tastes lose their delight, their attractiveness, and therefore one looks at them with indifference. The cross binds grace; but who nourishes it? Who makes it grow to the proper stature? My Will. My Will alone completes everything and allows my highest designs to be accomplished in the soul. If it wasn’t for my Will, even the cross, as much power and greatness as it contains, can cause souls to remain half of the way. Oh, how many suffer, but since the continuous nourishment of my Will is missing, they do not reach the destination – the undoing of the human will. And the Divine Will cannot give the last blow, the final brush stroke of Divine Sanctity.

 See, you say that nails and cross have vanished. False, my daughter – false. Before, your cross was small and incomplete; now my Will, raising you into my Will, makes your cross become large, and each act you do in my Volition is a nail that your will receives. And as you live in my Will, yours extends so much as to diffuse you in each creature, and for each one of them it gives Me that life which I gave them, so as to render Me the honor, the glory and the purpose for which I created her. See, your cross extends not only for you, but for each creature; therefore I see your cross everywhere. Before, I saw it only in you, now I see it everywhere. Your fusing yourself in my Will, with no personal interest, but only to give Me that which all should give Me, and to give all the good that my Will contains to everyone, is only of the Divine Life, not of the human. So, my Will alone is that which forms this Divine Sanctity in the soul. On the other hand, your previous crosses were human sanctity, and that which is human, as holy as it may be, cannot do great things, but small ones; and even less can it elevate the soul to the sanctity and to the fusion with the working of her Creator; she remains always within the limitedness of creature. But my Will, destroying all human barriers, flings the creature into the divine immensity, and everything becomes immense in her: cross, nails, sanctity, love, reparation – everything. My goal in you was not human sanctity, although it was necessary to first do the small things in you, and this is why I delighted so much.

 Now, as I made you go beyond, and having to make you live in my Volition, in seeing your littleness, your atom, embrace immensity in order to give Me love and glory for all and for each one, to render Me all the rights of the whole Creation, I am so delighted that all other things give Me no taste any more. Therefore, your cross, your nails, will be my Will which, keeping yours crucified, will complete the true crucifixion in you – not at intervals, but perpetually, fully similar to Mine, as I was conceived crucified and died crucified. My Cross was nourished by the Eternal Will alone, and therefore I was crucified for all and for each one. My Cross marked everyone with Its emblem.

Volume 16 – November 28, 1923

The newborn of the Divine Will; The cross of the Divine Will was the largest and longest for Jesus; How each act of the human will opposed to the Divine was a distinct cross for Jesus.

 I feel always sunken in the Holy Will of my Jesus, and I seemed to see my little soul like a newborn baby, whom blessed Jesus was raising in His arms with the breath of His Will, with such jealousy as to want that she look at nothing, hear nothing, touch nothing. And so that nothing might distract her, He kept her enchanted with the sweet enchantment of His teachings on His Most Holy Will. And the little newborn would grow and be nourished with the breath of the Will of her Jesus. And not only this, but He covered me with many little crosses of light, in such a way that, in looking at myself, I could see a cross of light impressed in each part of me. And Jesus amused Himself, now in multiplying these crosses, now in wanting me to keep my gaze fixed on Him in order to count all His words, which served me as food and means of growth. Then, afterwards, my Jesus told me:

“My little daughter, my newborn of the Divine Will, my Volition conceived you, made you be born, and now raises you with all love. Don’t you see with how much love I hold you in my arms, and do not permit that you take any other food but the breath of my Will? It is the most beautiful, the dearest, the most precious thing that has been issued in Creation until now – the newborn of my Will. Therefore, I will keep you with such jealousy as to let no one touch my newborn. My Will will be everything for you: It will be life, food, garment, clothing and cross for you, because, since It is the greatest thing, it would be unbefitting for your Jesus to mix It with other things which are not a birth from Our Will. Therefore, forget everything, so that no other waters may surround you, inside and out, but the immense sea of the Eternal Volition. I want in you the honor, the nobility, the decorum, of the true newborn daughter of my Will.”

 On hearing this, instead of rejoicing, I felt myself die of confusion, and I only had the courage to say:

‘Jesus, my Love, I am little, it is true – I myself see it. But I am also a bad little one; and yet, you are saying all this? How can it be? Maybe You want to make fun of me? I know that many make You cry, and to be cheered from your crying, You want to amuse Yourself with me by playing this joke on me. But even though I feel confusion because of your jokes, go ahead and do it, and let it be the joke of your Will.’

And Jesus, pressing me more tightly to Himself, continued:

“No, no, your Jesus does not make fun of you. I amuse Myself, yes, and the sure sign that what I tell you is true is the crosses of light with which my Will has marked you. Know, my daughter, that the largest, the longest cross for my Humanity, which never left Me, was the Divine Will. Even more, each act of the human will opposed to the Divine was a distinct cross that the Supreme Will impressed in my inmost Humanity. In fact, when the human will moves from the earth in order to act, the Divine moves from Heaven in order to encounter the human volition and make it one with Its own, so as to make torrents of grace, of light, of sanctity flow in that act. But by not receiving the encounter with the Divine, the human will puts itself as though at war against its Creator, and rejects into the celestial regions the good, the light, the sanctity which He was about to pour upon it. So, the Supreme Will, offended, wanted to be repaid by Me, and in each act of the human will, It inflicted a cross upon Me; and even though, together with the cross, I received all the good rejected by them, in order to keep it deposited within Me for the time when the creature would dispose herself to receive into her acts the encounter with the Divine Will – in spite of this, I could not exempt Myself from feeling the intense pain of so many crosses.

Look at Me, in my interior: how many billions of crosses my Humanity contained. Therefore, the crosses of my Will were incalculable; Its pain was infinite, and I moaned under the weight of an infinite pain. This infinite pain had such power as to give Me death at each instant, and to give Me a cross for each act of the human will opposed to the Divine. The cross of my Will is not made of wood, which only makes one feel the weight and the pain; rather, it is a cross of light and of fire, which burns and consumes, and impresses itself in such a way as to form one single thing with one’s very nature. If I wanted to tell you of the cross which my Divine Will gave Me, I should braid all the acts of creatures, make them present to you, and let you touch with your own hand how my Will, demanding fair satisfaction, inflicted on Me cross upon cross. Had it perhaps not been a human will that offended the Divine and broke up with It?

 So was now a Divine Will to crucify and cause pain to my human nature and will. All the rest of man can be called superficial; the fount, the root, the substance of either evil or good is in the depth of his will. Therefore, only the Divine Will could make Me expiate the evil of so many human wills. This is why I want you all in my Will – to make known what this Divine Will has done, what It made Me suffer, what It wants to do. And this is why you are marked with many crosses of light – because your cross has been my Will, which has changed everything into light in order to dispose you to be the true newborn of my Will, to whom I will entrust the secrets, the joys and the sorrows of It as to a faithful daughter, who, uniting herself to my acts, may open the Heavens to make It descend upon earth, and to make It known, received and loved.”

To my dear Sister M. Giovannina, in memory of her vows, always with Jesus.

The mind toward Heaven, the gaze to the Cross, the heart loving Him, the arms always in the act of hugging Him, the steps calling Him, the words saying always “Fiat”. In each thing never escape from acquiring a degree of sanctity. Make yourself a saint; Jesus wants it, make Him content.

 The little daughter of the Divine Will

Corato, May 14, 1932

The Cross from the Hours of the Passion

 Jesus takes up the Cross and walks toward Calvary,

where He is stripped

 The Eighteenth Hour – From 10 to 11 AM

 My Jesus, insatiable love, I see that You give Yourself no peace, I feel your fidgets of love, your pains. Your Heart beats strongly; in every heartbeat I feel bursts, tortures, violences of love; and unable to contain the fire that devours You, You pant, moan, sigh, and in each moan I hear You say: “Cross!” Each drop of your blood repeats: “Cross!” All your pains, through which You swim as though in an interminable sea, repeat among themselves: “Cross!” And You exclaim: “O Cross, beloved and longed for, You alone will save my children, and I concentrate in You all my Love!”

 Jesus embraces the Cross.

My tortured Good, with You I repair, with You I suffer. But I see that your enemies hurl You down the stairs; the people await You with fury and eagerness; they make You find the Cross ready, which You long for with many sighs. And You – with love You gaze on It, and with firm step You approach It and embrace It. But, before that, You kiss It, and as a shiver of joy runs through your Most Holy Humanity, with highest contentment You gaze on It again, measuring Its length and breadth. In It, already, You establish the portion for each creature. You dower them all, enough to bind them to the Divinity with a bond of marriage, and make them heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. Then, unable to contain the love with which You love them, You kiss the Cross again, and say:

“Adored Cross, finally I embrace you. You were the longing of my Heart, the martyrdom of my love. But you, O Cross, have delayed until now, while my steps were always toward you. Holy Cross, you were the goal of my desires, the purpose of my existence down here. In you I concentrate my whole being, in you I place all my children, and you will be their life, their light, defense, custody and strength. You will assist them in everything, and will bring them gloriously to Me in Heaven. Oh Cross, Pulpit of Wisdom, you alone will teach true sanctity; you alone will form the heroes, the athletes, the martyrs, the Saints. Beautiful Cross, you are my Throne, and since I have to leave the earth, you will remain in my place. To you I give all souls as dowry – keep them, save them; I entrust them to you!”

 The Painful Way to Calvary.

My most patient Jesus, I see You take the first steps under the enormous weight of the Cross. 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. Oh 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. 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.

The Crucifixion

 The Nineteenth Hour from 11 AM to 12 PM

…my Jesus, You look at the Cross that your enemies are preparing for You. You hear the blows of the hammer with which your executioners are forming the holes into which they will drive the nails that will hold You crucified. And your Heart beats, more and more strongly, jumping with divine inebriation, yearning to lay Yourself upon that bed of pain, to seal with your death the salvation of our souls. And I hear You say:

“Please, O Cross, receive Me soon into your arms, I am impatient of waiting! Holy Cross, upon You I shall come to give completion to all. Hurry, O Cross, fulfill the burning desire that consumes Me, to give life to souls. Delay no more; I anxiously yearn to lay Myself upon You in order to open the Heavens to all my children.

 Oh Cross, it is true that You are my martyrdom, but in a little while You will also be my victory and my most complete triumph; and through You I will give abundant inheritances, victories, triumphs and crowns to my children.”

 As Jesus is saying this, His enemies command Him to lay Himself upon It; and promptly He obeys, to repair for our disobedience.

My Love, before You lay Yourself on the Cross, allow me to hold You more tightly to my heart, and to kiss your loving and bleeding wounds. Hear me, O Jesus, I do not want to leave You; I want to come with You, to lay myself on the Cross and remain nailed to It with You. True love does not tolerate separation, and You will forgive the daring of my love. Concede that I be crucified with You. See, my tender Love, I am not the only one to ask this of You, but also your sorrowful Mama, inseparable Magdalene, faithful John: we all say to You that it would be more bearable to be nailed with You to Your Cross, than to see You crucified alone! Therefore, together with You I offer myself to the Eternal Father – identified with your Will, with your Heart, with your reparations and with all your pains.

Ah, it seems that my adored Jesus says to me:

 “My child, you have anticipated my love; this is my Will: that all those who love Me be crucified with Me. Ah, yes, come and lay yourself on the Cross with Me; I will give you life with my Life, I will hold you as the beloved of my Heart.”

 “Holy Father, here I am, loaded down with all the sins of the world. There is not one sin which does not pour upon Me; therefore, no longer unload the scourges of your Divine Justice upon man, but upon Me, your Son. O Father, allow Me to bind all souls to this Cross, and to plead forgiveness for them with the voices of my Blood and of my wounds. O Father, do You not see how I have reduced Myself? By this Cross, by virtue of these pains, concede true conversion, peace, forgiveness and sanctity to all.

 Oh Jesus, while You are transfixed on the Cross, your soul is no longer on earth, but in Heavens with your Divine Father to defend and plead the cause of our souls.

The Prayer to Disarm the Divine Justice:

 …Meanwhile, O Jesus, I see that your Blood flows in torrents from your hands and from your feet.

The Angels, weeping, surrounding You like a crown, admire the portents of your immense love. I see your sweet Mama, pierced by pain, at the foot of the Cross; your dear Magdalene, beloved John – all taken by ecstasy of awe, love and pain! O Jesus, I unite myself to You and I cling to your Cross; I take all the drops of your Blood and I pour them into my heart.

When I see your Justice irritated against sinners, I will show You this Blood in order to appease You. When I want the conversion of souls obstinate in sin, I will show You this Blood, and by virtue of It You will not reject my prayer, because I hold its pledge in my hands. And now, my Crucified Good, in the name of all generations, past, present and future, together with your Mama and with all the Angels, I prostrate myself before You and say:

“We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.”

The burial of Jesus.  Most Holy Desolate Mary

 Twenty-fourth Hour – From 4 to 5 PM –

 But I see that You are forced to return to Jerusalem along the path from which You came. After only a few steps, You are already before the Cross on which Jesus suffered so much, and died. You run to embrace It, and in seeing It colored with Blood, the pains that Jesus suffered on It are renewed in your Heart, one by one. Unable to contain the pain, You exclaim:

“O Cross, how could You be so cruel with my Son? Ah, You have spared Him nothing! What wrong had He done to You? You have not permitted Me, His sorrowful Mama, to give Him even a sip of water, while He was asking for it; and to His parched mouth You gave gall and vinegar!

 I felt my pierced Heart melt, and I wanted to offer It to His lips to quench His thirst, but I had the sorrow of seeing Myself rejected. O Cross, cruel, yes, but holy, because divinized and sanctified by contact with my Son! Turn that cruelty which You used with Him into compassion for miserable mortals; and for the sake of the pains He suffered on You, impetrate grace and strength for the souls who suffer, so that not one of them may be lost because of tribulations and crosses. Souls cost Me too much – they cost Me the life of a Son God; and as Co-Redemptrix and Mother, I bind them to You, O Cross.”

 And after kissing It over and over again, You leave.

LUISA’S PRAYER TO OBTAIN THE GRACE OF

ALWAYS BEING CRUCIFIED

“Beloved of my Heart, since you ardently desire the fragrance that my pains emit from the Cross, I satisfy your desire by crucifying your soul and communicating to you every suffering; but if you were not so averse to demonstrate to everyone how much you love Me, I also would want to seal your body with my visible, bloody wounds. Toward this end I want to teach you the following prayer to say to obtain this grace:

‘I come before the throne of the Most Holy Trinity and, since I am bathed in the Blood of Jesus Christ, I yearn to prostrate myself in a form of profound adoration and beseech You, through the merits of the most illustrious virtues of Jesus and his Divinity, to concede to me the grace of being always crucified.’

Amen!

The Most Holy Name of Mary
 

by Mark Alessio

“O name of Mary! Joy in the heart, honey in the mouth, melody to the ear of Her devout clients!”
—–St. Anthony of Padua +1231

Background

  In 1513, a feast of “The Holy Name of Mary” was granted by Papal indult [Pope Julius II] to the diocese of Cuenta in Spain. It was assigned with proper Office on September 15, the octave day of Our Lady’s Nativity. With the reform of the Breviary undertaken by Pope St. Pius V, the feast was abolished, only to be reinstituted by his successor, Pope Sixtus V, who changed the date to September 17. From there, the feast spread to the Archdiocese of Toledo [1622] and, eventually, to all of Spain and to the Kingdom of Naples [1671].

Throughout this time, permission to celebrate the feast was given to various religious orders in a prudent manner as has been the custom throughout Church history regarding feast-days, their dates, offices, liturgical expression, etc. However, this Feast of the Holy Name of Mary would one day be joyfully extended to the Universal Church, and this on account of rather dramatic circumstances involving one of Poland’s great military heroes, John Sobieski  [1629-1696].

While acting as field-marshal under King John Casimir, Sobieski had raised a force of 8,000 men and enough provisions to withstand a siege of Cossacks and Tartars, who were forced to retire unsuccessfully and at a loss. In 1672, under the reign of Michael Wisniowiecki, Sobieski engaged and defeated the Turkish army, who lost 20,000 men at Chocim.

‘When King Michael died, Sobieski, a beloved hero at that point, was crowned King of Poland. But, even before his coronation could take place, he would again engage and drive back the Turkish hordes in separate battles including the raising of the siege at Trembowla. Once crowned, he advanced to the Ruthenian provinces, where, having too few soldiers to attack the Turks, who outnumbered his men ten to one, he literally wore out the enemy, garrisoning his troops at Zurawno. Because of this heroic effort, he was able to regain, by treaty, a good portion of the Ukraine.

With both Turks and Poles weary from battle, peace reigned for a time . . . until the Turks set their sights on Austria, setting out through Hungary with an army of approximately 300,000 men. Fleeing from Austria, Emperor Leopold asked for Sobieski’s assistance, a plea which was seconded by the Papal Nuncio. In July 1683, the Grand Vizier Kara Mustapha had reached Vienna and laid siege to the city, which was being defended by only 15,000 men. Sobieski set out for Vienna in August, his forces marching behind the banner of the Blessed Virgin. Passing by the Sanctuary of Mary in Czestochowa, they implored Our Lady’s help and blessing. Writing centuries later to the bishops of Poland, Pope Pius XII recalled the supplications of Sobieski to Mary at the Sanctuary on Jasna Gora [i.e., “Bright Hill”], the site of the Shrine:

“To the same Heavenly Queen, on Clear Mountain, the illustrious John Sobieski, whose eminent valor freed Christianity from the attacks of its old enemies, confided himself.”
[Letter, Cum iam lustri abeat, 1951]

In September, the men joined with the German troops under John George, Elector of Saxony, and Prince Charles of Lorraine. On the eighth day of the month, the Feast of the Nativity of Mary, Sobieski prepared himself for the ensuing conflict by the reception of Holy Communion.

Battle was engaged before the walls of Vienna on September 12, 1683, with Sobieski seemingly put to flight by “the fierce Turkish forces. However, this retreat was a minor setback only. The Hussars renewed their assault and charged the Turks, this time sending the enemy into a retreat. The combat raged on, until Sobieski finally stormed the enemy camp. The Turkish forces were routed, Vienna was saved, and Sobieski sent the “Standard of the Prophet” to Pope Innocent XI along with the good news. In a letter to the Pontiff, Sobieski summed up his victory in these words: Veni, vidi, Deus vicit —–“I came, I saw, God conquered!” To commemorate this glorious victory, and render thanksgiving to God and honor to Our Lady for their solicitude in the struggle, Pope Innocent XI extended “The Feast of the Holy Name of Mary” to the Universal Church. Although the feast was originally celebrated on the Sunday after the Nativity of Mary, Pope St. Pius X [+1914] decreed that it be celebrated on September 12, in honor of the victory of the Catholic forces under John Sobieski. The history of this feast reminds us in some ways of that of “Our Lady of the Rosary,” which was instituted to celebrate and commemorate the victory of the Catholic forces over the Turkish navy at the Battle of Lepanto in 1571: “And thus Christ’s faithful warriors, prepared to sacrifice their life and blood for the welfare of their Faith and their country, proceeded undauntedly to meet their foe near the Gulf of Corinth; while those who were unable to join them formed a band of pious supplicants, who called on Mary and, as one, saluted Her again and again in the words of the Rosary, imploring Her to grant victory to their companions engaged in battle. Our sovereign Lady did grant Her aid.” [Pope Leo XIII, Supremi Apostolatus, 1883]

Pondering the Meaning of Mary

In Hebrew, the name Mary is Miryam. In Our Lady’s time, Aramaic was the spoken language, and the form of the name then in use was Mariam. Derived from the root, merur, the name signifies “bitterness.”

Miryam was the name of the sister of Moses; and the ancient rabbinical scholars perceiving in it a symbol of the slavery of the Israelites at the hands of the Egyptians, held that Miryam was given this name because she was born during the time of the oppression of her people. The Old Testament, chronicling as it does the “Time of Expectation” of the Redeemer, is filled with “types,” or foreshadowings of people and events which would be made manifest during the “Time of Redemption,” when. Christ walked the earth. Jesus Mary and Joseph, the Sacrament of Baptism, the Eucharist, the Sacrifice of Calvary, etc., are all foreshadowed in the Old Testament, but we view them there “through a glass darkly,” so to speak, under the guidance of the Catholic Church, which alone possesses the authority to interpret the sacred texts.

Miryam, the sister of Moses is a “type” of the Blessed Virgin. Miryam was a prophetess who sang a canticle of thanksgiving after the safe crossing of the Red Sea and the destruction of Pharaoh’s army; Mary prophesied in Her Magnificat that all generations would honor Her, and She sang of how God would topple the proud and raise the lowly. Miryam supported her brother, Moses, the liberator of his people; as the Co-Redemptrix who united Her sufferings to those of the One Mediator on Calvary, Mary labored alongside the Redeemer, the true Liberator of His people. Just as Jesus was the “antitype” [i.e., fulfillment] of Moses, so was Our Lady the “antitype” of Miryam, the fullest realization of the courageous woman standing beside, and laboring with, the one who comes to free captives.

Throughout the centuries, Saints and scholars have put forth different interpretations for the name “Mary.” A mixture of etymology and devotion has combined to produce an interesting array of meanings:

“Mary means enlightener, because She brought forth the Light of the world. In the Syriac tongue, Mary signifies Lady.” [St. Isidore of Seville +636]

“Let me say something concerning this name also, which is interpreted to mean Star of the sea, and admirably suits the Virgin Mother.” [St. Bernard +1153]

“Mary means Star of the sea, for as mariners are guided to port by the ocean star, so Christians attain to glory through Mary’s maternal intercession.” [St. Thomas Aquinas +1274]

“This most holy, sweet and worthy name was ’eminently fitted to so holy, sweet and worthy a virgin. For Mary means a bitter sea, star of the sea, the illuminated or illuminatrix. Mary is interpreted Lady. Mary is a bitter sea to the demons; to men She is the Star of the sea; to the Angels She is illuminatrix, and to all creatures She is Lady .” [St. Bonaventure +1274]

“God the Father gathered all the waters together and called them the seas or maria [Latin, seas]. He gathered all His grace together and called it Mary or Maria . . .This immense treasury is none other than Mary whom the Saints call the ‘treasury of the Lord.’ From Her fullness all men are made
rich;” [St. Louis de Montfort +1716]

The hallowed title, “Star of the Sea,” dates back to St. Jerome [+420]. It has been said that the great Doctor had originally used the phrase Stilla Maris to describe Mary as a “drop of the sea,” the sea being God. A copyist’s error, then, could have resulted in stilla [drop] being written down as stella [star]. Of course, the hallowed title, “Star of the Sea,” suits Our Lady perfectly:

” ‘And the Virgin’s name was Mary.’ Let us say a few things about this name, which can be interpreted to mean Star of the sea, an apt designation for the Virgin Mother. She is most beautifully likened to a star, for a star pours forth its light without losing anything of its nature. She gave us Her Son without losing anything of Her virginity. The glowing rays of a star take nothing away from its beauty. N either has the Son taken anything away from His Mother’s integrity.

“She is that noble star of Jacob, illuminating the whole world, penetrating from the highest heavens to the deepest depths of Hell. The warmth of Her brilliance shines in the minds of men, encouraging virtue, extinguishing vice. She is that glorious star lighting the way across this vast ocean of life, glowing with merits, guiding by example.

“When you find yourself tossed by the raging storms on this great sea of life, far from land, keep your eyes fixed on this Star to avoid disaster. When the winds of temptation or the rocks of tribulation threaten, look up to the Star, call upon Mary!” [St. Bernard, Second Homily on the Missus Est]

The interpretation “Lady” for Mary was also proposed by St. Jerome, based on the Aramaic word, mar, meaning “Lord”. This would render the meaning “Lady” in the regal or noble sense [as in “Lord and Lady.”] Catholic sensibility, however, recognizing in Mary the simple dignity of a Mother, as well as the grandeur of a Queen, did not hesitate to add an affectionate touch to this majestic title. Mary is not just “Lady;” She is “Madonna,” Notre Dame—–i.e., She is Our Lady. This aspect of Mary —–“Lady” or “Mistress”—–is close to Our Lord’s Heart. We read in the Scriptures how, for a time, the youthful Christ made Himself “subject” to Her and St. Joseph, an act of Divine condescension which caused St. Bernard to wonder:

“Which shall we admire first? The tremendous submission of the Son of God, or the tremendous God-given dignity of the Mother of God? Both are marvels: both amazing. When God obeys a woman, it is humility without precedent. When a woman commands her God, it is sublime beyond measure.” [First Homily on the Missus Est]

It is not difficult to see why these various interpretations of the name “Mary” should have been proposed and cherished, for they encapsulate many of our Marian doctrines and beliefs. “Bitter sea [mara = bitter; yam = sea],” for instance, in addition to the interpretation given by St. Bonaventure, also calls to mind Our Lady’s Seven Sorrows and the sword which “pierced” Her soul on Calvary, recalling the lamentation of the mother-in-law of Ruth, who had lost a husband and two sons: “Call me not Noemi, [that is, beautiful,] but call me Mara, [that is, bitter,] for the Almighty hath quite filled me with bitterness [Rt. 1: 20].” Maror are “bitter herbs,” such as are found on the seder plate at Passover.

The “Illuminated” points us to St. John’s apocalyptic image of the “Woman clothed with the Sun,” a dual image encompassing both the Catholic Church and Mary, the Mother and Image of the Church. In addition, the “Illuminated” has also been rendered as the “Enlightener” and, like St. Bernard, St. Aelred [+1167] combines this meaning with that of the Stella Maris in a powerful passage:

“Therefore a certain Star has risen for us today: Our Lady, Saint Mary. Her name means Star of the sea; no doubt the Star of this sea which is the world. Therefore, we ought to lift up our eyes to this Star that has appeared on earth today in order that She may lead us, in order that She may enlighten us, in order that She may show us these steps so that we shall know them, in order that She may help us so that we may be able to ascend. And therefore it is a beautiful thing that Mary is placed in this stairway of which we are speaking, there where we must begin to climb. As the Evangelist says, Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, so immediately at the very moment of our conversion She appears to us and receives us into Her care and enlightens us in Her light and accompanies us along this laborious path.” [Sermon 24, For the Nativity of Holy Mary]

There is another interpretation for the name “Mary” which is quite interesting in that it relates to the Church as well. This supposes the name to be derived from the Hebrew verb mara, meaning “to be fleshy or robust. In the East, such descriptions implying corpulence were used to indicate beauty and fecundity. Here, then, Our Lady’s name would indicate “The Beautiful One,” quite fitting for the Immaculate Conception. [Tota Pulchra Es, M aria!—–“You are all beautiful, Mary!”] The Psalms prophetically describe the Church in this manner, all alluding to the fruitfulness and spiritual gifts of the Holy Ghost:

“The mountain of God is a fat mountain. A curdled mountain, a fat mountain . . . A mountain in which God is well pleased to dwell.” [Ps. 67:16-17]

This image resonates with the prophecy of Isaias concerning the New Dispensation [and the Church], and with the words of Our Lord:

“And in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all the nations shall flow unto it [Is. 2: 2] . . . You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a mountain cannot be hid.” [Mt. 5: 14]

It is here that the Psalms intersect with St. John’s Apocalyptic vision, to present the maternal function of the Church, a virginal maternity mirroring that of Our Lady, which begets new “brethren” of Christ, new sons and daughters of Mary [“the rest of Her seed,” as Catholics are called by St. John in his Apocalypse] and new children of God the Father:

“But as many as received Him, He gave them power to be made the sons of God, to them that believe in His name. Who are born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” [Jn. 1: 12-13]

“The foundations thereof are in the holy mountains: The Lord loveth the gates of Sion above all the tabernacles of Jacob. Glorious things are said of Thee, O city of God . . . Shall not Sion say: This man and that man is born in Her? And the Highest Himself hath founded Her.” [Ps. 86: 1-3, 5]

The inspired texts prophesy that the Church will be “exalted”—–It shall be exalted above the hills, and all the nations shall flow unto it. So, too, will be the Mother of the Church, She who prophesied that “all generations shall call Me blessed.” Another proposed meaning for the Blessed Virgin’s name reflects this exaltation, the majesty of the Queen of Heaven. It derives from ancient Canaanite literature, where the word mrym [pronounced somewhat like Maryam] means “height” [sharing the same derivation as marom, the Hebrew word for “height”]. This would render Mary’s name as “Highness” or “The Exalted One.”

This fascinating—–and very, very Catholic—–desire to explore the meaning and depths of the holy name of “Mary” is not merely a pious pursuit, unrelated to any theological concerns. In the various interpretations set forth, a wealth of Marian doctrine is made manifest, not in the clinical language of theology , but in rich, colorful meditations on Our Lady’s name, and sacred truths are explored and taught in language easily comprehended and appreciated by all.

In his fine book, The Wondrous Childhood of the Most Holy Mother of God, St. John Eudes [+1680] offers meditations on seventeen interpretations of the name “Mary,” taken from the writings of “the Holy Fathers and by some celebrated Doctors. “Among these are “God born of my race,” [St. Ambrose] “Rain of the sea, falling at convenient time and season,” [St. Peter Canisius] “Myrrh of the Sea,” [St. Jerome] and “The hope of those who voyage on the stormy sea of this world.” [St. Epiphanius] It is quite clear—–from Scripture, Tradition and history—–that the Church owes so much to Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer and our Mother “in the order of grace.” How does the gratitude and affection of Her spiritual children manifest itself in the beautiful Feast of the Holy Name of Mary, and what does this cherished name mean to those who love and venerate the Mother of God?

The Virtue and Power of Our Lady’s Name

A balanced view of salvation history will grant to the Blessed Virgin Her proper place in both the Incarnation of the Second Divine Person and in the Kingdom won by Him on Calvary. Therefore, She is venerated with thanksgiving as both the one who, in union with the Blessed Trinity, gave Jesus to the world, and as the one who stood by Him during His Passion, uniting Her “Com-Passion” to His Salvific Passion for the restoration of fallen mankind to the friendship of God. It was prophesied in Eden that the Mother of Christ would be given a share in the work of the One Mediator and, because of this, a unique share in His glory. As had been prophesied by Simeon in the Temple, the soul of the Co-Redemptrix was pierced beneath the Cross on Calvary. The Mother of the Church, who experienced no physical labor pains during the birth of the Incarnate God at Bethlehem, did undergo unimaginable spiritual ‘labor pains’ as Her Son hung on the Cross, dying the cruelest death imaginable. And God, in His wisdom, has decreed that these sufferings of Mary count for something, and something indescribably precious, in the economy of salvation. They were not the sufferings which redeemed humanity, like those of Jesus. They were not needed in order to augment or complete the superabundant Sacrifice of Jesus, which alone could and did atone for all the sins of the world. Yet, God decreed that Our Lady unite Her Sufferings to those of Jesus, the Woman of Genesis standing beside Her Seed during the restoration of the world.

Our Lady did this—–suffered as She did—–for us, for the spiritual progeny bequeathed to Her by Jesus in the person of St. John: “Woman, behold Thy son!” Therefore, we truly are brethren of Jesus, “the rest of Her seed:”

“And a great sign appeared in Heaven: A Woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under Her feet, and on Her head a crown of twelve stars: And being with child, She cried travailing in birth, and was in pain to be delivered . . . And She brought forth a man Child, Who was to rule all nations with an iron rod: and Her son was taken up to God, and to His throne . . . And the dragon was angry against the Woman: and went to make war with the rest of Her seed, who keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” [Apoc, 1-2, 5,17]

The Woman prophesied in Eden . . . The Virgin prophesied by Isaias . . . The Beautiful One of the Canticles . . . When the time had finally come, the world knew Her name at last: “And the Virgin’s name was Mary.” This woman uniquely honored with the title, Co-Redemptrix, was rewarded by Her Lord and Redeemer with a queenly crown in His Kingdom . . . and with the role of Mediatrix of All Graces, to dispense those graces which had cost Her Son so dearly on the Cross.

And so, we call out to this Mother and Queen in confidence: Ave Maria . . . Salve Regina . . . Ave Maris Stella . . .  Ave Regina Caelorum. Because of this, we honor, respect and set aside in our hearts a special place for Her Holy Name, “Mary,” for it was the beacon of our redemption. During the nine months that Jesus rested in His Mother’s womb, no one encountered Christ except through Mary, as did the infant St. John the Baptist in the womb of St. Elizabeth. Men and women still, and always will, go to Jesus through Mary:

“Considering things as they are, because God has decided to begin and accomplish His greatest works through the Blessed Virgin ever since He created Her, we can safely believe that He will not change His plan in the time to come, for He is God and therefore does not change in His thoughts or His way of acting.” [True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin]

Mary, the daughter of Joachim and Anne . . . She is not a goddess, not a mythological warrior-queen, not a curious, elusive character recalled through the mists of antiquity. She is a person, a uniquely blessed and honored individual, but a person still. “When you approach the time for reading about Mary Immaculate,” wrote St. Maximilian Kolbe [+1941], “always remember that you are entering into contact with a living, loving person.” No wonder, then, that Catholics [members of Christ’s Mystical Body and, therefore, the “rest” of Mary’s seed] should hold their Blessed Mother’s name in such esteem. It reminds us of God’s goodness, of His mercy and generosity to struggling mankind:
“The name of Mary is a name of salvation for those who are regenerated; it is the insignia of virtue, the honor of chastity, the sacrifice agreeable to God, the virtue of hospitality, the school of sanctity, a name altogether maternal.” [St. Peter Chrysologus +450]

Of course, in a proper understanding of doctrine and Scripture, such a declaration will not be misinterpreted as any contradiction to the words of St. Paul concerning Our Lord and His sacred Name:

“For which cause God also hath exalted Him, and hath given Him a name which is above all names: that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in Heaven, on earth, and under the earth: and that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.” [Phil. 2: 9-11]

St. Peter Chrysologus did not say that the name of Mary is a “name of salvation.” He wrote that “the name of Mary is a name of salvation for those who are regenerated.” A person who wishes to follow Christ, yet denies the Mother given to him by Jesus on Calvary, is fooling himself. Through the inspired Gospels, Our Lady has been presented to the world as Advocate and Mediatrix [in the Visitation and Wedding at Cana episodes], and as Spiritual Mother [on Calvary]. Because there are no empty shows or meaningless displays with God, then we are bound to understand Mary’s advocacy and spiritual maternity as active, vital components in the life of the soul, for it is the good of souls that moved God to ordain the Incarnation:

“For God so loved the world, as to give His only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting [Jn. 3: 16] . . . For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” [Lk. 19: 10]

The Blessed Virgin, then is a Divine bestowal, a gift bequeathed to the Church by Her dying Savior. And Her name? Her name will become more than a name It will be a sign of Our Lord’s solicitude, a pledge of His love . . . and a prayer unto itself:

“We scarce remember now that once this name was spoken softly in a time before the Aves rang. Perhaps across some threshold it was said, so casually, by one who called to Her, ‘Mary.’ Then, She might have turned and come, obedient from where the children played together in the dusk: and no one knew that more was said than just a young girl’s name.”
[Fr. John W. Lynch, A Woman Wrapped in Silence]

The Introit for the Mass of the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Mary, taken from Psalm 44, is an eloquent testimony to the reason we celebrate this beautiful name:

“All the rich among the people shall entreat Thy countenance: after Her shall virgins be brought to the King: Her neighbors shall be brought to Thee in gladness and rejoicing . . . My heart hath uttered a good word: I will speak my works to the King.”

We are presented to Christ by His Mother. She presents our needs and petitions to Him; She is the instrument of His mercy and of the disposition of the “Treasury of Grace” won by Him for us on Calvary; She consoles our hearts and through Her maternal care, imparts to Her children whatever peace or happiness we can know in this vale of tears—–nothing less than the peace of Christ. We may struggle to maintain this peace in our bruised and weary hearts, but Our Lady is always ready and eager to share it with us again and again. Yes, the name of Mary, this brief, simple name, speaks volumes to us. “There is hidden in that Divine name [of Mary] a spell so potent,” wrote Abbé Orsini, “and of such marvelous sweetness, that merely to pronounce it softens the heart, merely to write it beautifies the style.” St. Bonaventure declared the the name of Mary “cannot be pronounced without bringing some grace to him who does so devoutly.”

BOOK OF HEAVEN

From the writings of the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta, The Little Daughter of the Divine Will

1/4/19 – Vol. 12

 Effects of the pains suffered in the Will of God.

Continuing in my usual state, I was all afflicted because of the privation of my sweet Jesus. However, I tried to remain united with Him doing the Hours of the Passion. I was just at the hour of Jesus on the Cross when, at the summit, I felt Him in my interior, joining His hands and saying with articulate voice: “My Father, accept the sacrifice of this daughter of Mine – the pain that she feels because of my privation. Do You not see how she suffers? Pain makes her almost lifeless, deprived of Me, to the extent that, although hidden, I am forced to suffer together with her in order to give her strength; otherwise she would succumb. O please, Father, accept it, united to the pain which I suffered on the Cross, when I was abandoned even by You; and concede that the privation she feels of Me, be light, knowledge, Divine Life in other souls, and all that I Myself pleaded with my abandonment.”

After He said this, He hid again. I felt as if petrified for the pain, and although crying I said: ‘My life, Jesus – ah!, yes, give me souls. May the strongest bond that forces You to give them to me be the tormenting pain of your privation. May this pain run within your Will, so that all may feel the touch of my pain, my incessant cry, and may surrender.’

Then, around evening, blessed Jesus came for just a little, and added: “Daughter and refuge of Mine (Luisa), what sweet harmony did your pain form today in my Will! My Will is in Heaven, and since your pain was in my Will, it harmonized in Heaven, and with its cry it asked the Sacrosanct Trinity for ‘Souls!’. And as my Will was flowing in all the Angels and Saints, your pain asked them for ‘Souls!’ – to the extent that all remained struck by your harmony, and together with your pain they all cried out before my Majesty: ‘Souls, souls!’ My Will flew in all creatures, and your pain touched all hearts, and cried out to all of them, ‘Be saved, be saved!’ My Will centralized Itself in you (Luisa), and like a refulgent sun, It placed Itself on guard for all, in order to convert them. See what great good – yet, who takes the care to know the value, the incalculable price of my Volition?”