A closer look at Marie-Paule Giguere and the Army of Mary (L'Armee de Marie)

April 25, 2015, 5:37 pm

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Marie-Paule Giguere (Mother Paul-Marie)

Marie-Paule Giguere and The Army of Mary (Part 2)

Click here for Part 1 of Marie-Paule Giguere, obituary/biography

From 1996 to 2007 this writer was a lay member of the international group called "The Army of Mary" (in French "L'Armee de Marie") that was founded and was lead by a mystic name Marie-Paule Giguere, who eventually became the mother superior of the Community and became known as Mere Paul-Marie (Mother Paul-Marie). For quite a number of years I, along with thousands of other persons in Canada, United States and abroad, was convinced of the authenticity of Marie-Paule Giguere's mystical gifts and charisms. As will be discussed below, in 2008 the Vatican condemned the Army of Mary and excommunicated those members who chose to remain associated with the movement.

In the article below I will endeavor to provide an informative, and at the same time neutral and un-opinionated presentation of the facts. While I was for 12 years a member of the Army of Mary, I left out of obedience to the Catholic church, and I bear no ill will or animosity towards the Army of Mary, or any of Its members. In fact, as mentioned in Part One of this article, I myself, like many other persons, was brought back to the practice of the Catholic faith through the Army of Mary and the spiritual writings of Marie-Paule, and for this I will always be indebted to Marie-Paule, and grateful for having known her.

As a member of the Army of Mary/Family of the Sons and Daughters of Mary, for 12 years I fervently participated in many of the celebrations and activities of the group, and I spent countless hours reading through much of the writings of Marie-Paule Giguere, most especially her autobiography entitled "Life of Love", and also I have read the vast majority of the Communities official newsletter "Le Royume" (The Kindgom), along with booklets that were published etc... In other words, I was not simply a passive member, but I took my commitment to the movement seriously and examined and studied the ideas and beliefs being presented within.

The American Fox News Network has a trademark saying "We report, you decide". I will modify their saying a little bit and state "We report, your discern". In presenting the facts below, I leave it to the reader to come to his/her own conclusions.

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Marie-Paule Giguere, known in her religious Community as Mere Paul-Marie (Mother Paul-Marie), was the foundress of five spiritual Associations. According to her autobiography entitled "Life of Love", Marie-Paule was brought up in a devout Catholic family and atmosphere, and as a young girl she offered herself up to God as a victim for the salvation of souls. Beginning at around the age of 12 she reported to begin receiving heavenly messages, primarily from God and the Immaculate Virgin Mary, which allegedly continued with ever greater intensity throughout her entire life, causing her to practice the Catholic faith devoutly and fervently throughout her childhood and adult life.

On July 1, 1944 at age 22 Marie-Paule married Georges Cliche of St Georges, Quebec, and together they eventually had five children. According to her autobiography, "Life of Love", Georges was a verbally abusive alcoholic who had much difficulty keeping a job, had an adulterous relationship with another woman, accused Marie-Paule of being a 'hypochondriac' due to her many illnesses, and thus because of these and numerous other reasons allegedly caused her and her children an immense amount of pain and suffering. Because of this the couple eventually split, leaving Marie-Paule to raise the children.

The Foundation of the Army of Mary- The first of five spiritual Associations

During her marriage and after splitting with her husband, Marie-Paule continued to (allegedly) receive heavenly messages from God and the Immaculate, and also more and more from St Michael the archangel, all of whom were guiding her along a certain path desired by God, purportedly in fulfillment of His holy Will. She often met with other fervent Catholics, and together they loosely formed a prayer group led by Marie-Paule, which often met on various feast days of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Marie-Paule Giguere at a ceremony

On August 28, 1971, the prayer group led by Marie-Paule gathered at a chapel in Lac-Etchemin, Quebec known as "The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lac-Etchemin" for a day of prayer and that night she was allegedly "informed" by heaven that this was the day that saw the founding of the "Armee de Marie" (Army of Mary). She was purportedly told by heaven that the Army of Mary was to be recognized by this trait- "Its fidelity to Rome and the Pope". Given the Army of Mary's eventual disobedience to Rome, which will be discussed later in this article, this statement of recognition has since become one of several apparent contradictions that has been troubling for some of those who have studied or followed the movement over the years.

Subsequently thereafter, Marie-Paule was purportedly inspired by heaven to found four other associations or "Works": the branch of The Family of the Sons and Daughters of Mary (laity) AND the Community of the Sons and Daughters of Mary (professed religious) on May 31, 1981; the Oblate-Patriots was founded on August 15, 1986, and lastly the Marialys Institute on May 31, 1992. 

Thus as a whole the "Community" and "Family" members consists of professed priests, professed religious brothers and sisters, and lay members, the majority of whom consecrate themselves as "Sons and Daughters of Mary" as members within the movement or "Work" as it is sometimes referred to as.

Beginning in 1979, Marie-Paule was "told" by heaven to publish her Autobiography, "Life of Love",which she began writing in 1958.  The volumes detail the daily life of Marie-Paule with all of its accompanying struggles and trials concerning her separation from her husband and the poverty that the separation brought upon her and her 5 children, along with the difficulties and sufferings from numerous physical illnesses that plagued her over the years. 

Most noteworthy however in the Volumes of "Life of Love" are the innumerable spiritual private revelations -allegedly from God, the Virgin Mary and St Michael the archangel, who purportedly guided her in preparation for what she felt was her upcoming mission in the Church as the "Lady of All Peoples." These private revelations or heavenly messages came normally through inner locutions although according to her volumes she was also allegedly given visions on numerous occasions, some heavenly and some demonic, revealing a certain battle that was allegedly taking place concerning her mission in the Church for the salvation of souls.

Although in the first few years after its foundation the Army of Mary was initially greeted with recognition and approval by the Catholic church in the form of a declaration as a "Pious Association" by Archbishop Maurice Roy of the Archdiocese of Québec in 1975, this recognition was later revoked by the Archbishop of Quebec, Cardinal Louis-Albert Vachon on March 25, 1987, citing numerous "doctrinal errors" found in the writings of a theologian within the group named Marc Bosquart. This revocation had the backing of the Vatican as in the months prior to Cardinal Vachon's revocation there came a letter of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which expressed concern about two books that had been circulated by the Army of Mary written by Mr. Bosquart entitled "De la Trinité Divine à l’Immaculée-Trinité," (The Divine Trinity and the Immaculate Trinity) and "Le Rédempteur et la Co-Rédemptrice." (The Redeemer and the Coredemptrice). In his letter to Cardinal Vachon, Cardinal Ratzinger stated that the books contained "gravely erroneous doctrines," and authorized Cardinal Vachon to take any needed actions up to and including suppression of the Army of Mary. This began the long and drawn out doctrinal difficulties between the Army of Mary/Community of the Sons and Daughters of Mary and the Catholic church.

As the years passed, several theologians and priests in the Community promulgated various ideas and conclusions taken primarily from the volumes of "Life of Love" that presented Marie-Paule as one of the greatest mystic-saint that the Church has ever seen, yet even much, much more than a mystic-saint: she was believed to be the "Lady of all Peoples", and the "Daughter of the Immaculate"--literally she was said to be like another Mary, except while Mary is the Immaculate Mother of God, Marie-Paule was purportedly the "Daughter" of the Immaculate. It was proposed that the Immaculate existed from the beginning, and was incarnated in the Blessed Virgin Mary (the Mother of God) and was reincarnated in Marie-Paule, the Daughter of the Immaculate. And, as the Lady of All Peoples, Marie-Paule was also fulfilling the role of Coredemptix in her person. Of course, such extraordinary declarations understandably became a great cause for concern among the Catholic hierarchy.

In the years after Archbishop Vachon's 1987 revocation of the Army of Mary status as a Pious Association, and after his having banned all celebrations organized by the Army of Mary in Quebec churches and other places of worship, the Vatican assigned a Pontifical Commissioner, Bishop Gilles Cazabon, and later Bishop Terrence Prendergast, in an attempt to guide the Communities "Sons of Mary" priests to accepting only the explicit teachings of the Church, and to reject the new revelations based on the heavenly messages received by Mother Paul-Marie, as presented by the theologians that were members in the Community.

Thus began a lengthily process over the years of the Church's efforts to lead the erring priests and members into acknowledging only the accepted doctrines of the Church, and to reject the new doctrines and ideas being taught and promoted by certain theologians in the group. After Cardinal Vachon's interventions in 1987, next came the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (C.C.C.B.) "Doctrinal Note" in 2001, wherein 91 of Canada's 93 bishops voted in agreement to issue the aforementioned "Doctrinal Note", which lists numerous doctrinal errors espoused by the Army of Mary. Next came a Pastoral Letter by the Quebec Cardinal Marc Ouellet on April 4, 2005, and also a Pastoral letter to the Sons of Mary priests from the Pontifical Commissioner, Archbishop Prendergast on April 4, 2005, followed by a letter to Mother Paul-Marie from the Pontifical Commissioner, Archbishop Prendergast on June 4, 2005 and two years later Cardinal Ouellet, Archbishop of Quebec, on March 26, 2007 issued a "Declaration on the Army of Mary" to name just a few of the many public and private attempts by the Catholic church to guide the Army of Mary and its associated branches to reject the new revelations concerning Mother Paule-Marie that were being promulgated within the Community, and to accept only the explicit doctrines of the Church.

Two sides to every story

For their part, the members of the Army of Mary/Community of the Sons and Daughters of Mary believed that Marie-Paule (Mother Paul-Marie) was guided by heaven and was given a special mission by God, as related in the paragraphs above. Thus, from their perspective, they have felt called to  "obey God rather than obey man", and in doing so they essentially ignored the many intercessions of the Church over the years, and have followed rather the inspirations of Mother Paul-Marie.

Unable to hold days of prayer in any of the Catholic churches in Quebec due to Cardinal Vachon's 1987 sanction, in the year 2000, guided by Mother Paul-Marie, the Community built a Spiri-Maria Chapel in Lac Etchemin, Quebec, known as "the Eucharistic and Marian Center Spiri-Maria" which encompasses two floors of rooms on both sides of the Chapel to house some of the priests/nuns in the group, along with retreatants. Henceforth, Spiri-Maria Chapel became the center of the Communities religious celebrations and activities. Needless to say the Chapel was built without the encouragement or blessing of the Archdiocesian authorities.  The building the Spiri-Maria chapel was allegedly inspired by heaven through Mother Paul-Marie from start to finish. From early on, perpetual Eucharistic adoration (24 hours a say, 7 days a week) has been ongoing at the Spiri-Maria Chapel up to this very day.

The Army of Mary will be recognised by this by this trait- "Its fidelity to Rome and the Pope".

Shortly after building the Spiri-Maria Chapel however the relationship between the Community of the Sons and Daughters of Mary and the Catholic church grew steadily worse. It began, as previously mentioned, with the Canadian Bishops Doctrinal note on August 15, 2001.

Next came the proposed war in Iraq. While President Bush was considering forming a coalition of nations and sending American troops into Iraq to overthrow the Iraqi dictator, Sadaam Hussien because of a supposed threat of weapons of mass destruction, for his part Pope John Paul II was fervently working to keep peace, and to push for diplomatic resolutions to resolve the purported Iraqi 'weapons of mass destruction' threat. On March 1, 2003, the Pope sent his papal envoy, Cardinal Pio Laghi, to an important meeting with President Bush to convey the Pope's request that the United States reconsider the decision to go to war with Iraq. This was a highly publicized meeting and was the last hope for the Pope and those who hoped for and pushed for a peaceful resolution.

Mother Paul-Marie however reputedly received indications from "on high" that Sadaam Hussein did indeed have hidden weapons of mass destruction (which incidentally to this day have never been found--and as most experts now agree never existed), and she was allegedly prompted to have one of the leading members of the Family of the Sons and Daughters of Mary in Connecticut USA write an official letter to President Bush, in the name of the American branch of the Community of the Lady of all Peoples, and in doing so using the official letterhead of the Community. The letter basically was an encouragement to President Bush in support of the using the military to resolve the purported Iraqi threat, and thus this letter was in direct contradiction to the Pope's wishes and actions for a peaceful resolution, and it came at the same time the Pope had sent Cardinal Laghi to press the President for a diplomatic resolution. This letter, supposedly inspired by heaven, openly contradicts the "primary trait" of the Army of Mary as set forth in Its institution ---that of fidelity to Rome and the Pope. But this was only one example of the many soon to be conflicts between Marie-Paule and the Communities she founded, and the Catholic Church. 

Some of the final events that led to the excommunication and separation from the Church

In some of the final efforts to try and reconcile the Army of Mary with the Church, Cardinal Ouelett, the Primate of Canada, for his part made an attempt to meet personally with Mother Paul-Marie to try to work out some of the differences between the Army of Mary and the Church authorities. He contacted her and requested a meeting at the rectory of St Germaine Church, which is the local parish Church in Lac Etchemin, a few miles from Marie-Paule's residence at Spiri-Maria Chapel and retreat center.

In response, Mother Paul Marie was allegedly "told" by heaven that the meeting was not to take place there, but that she should tell the Cardinal that the meeting should take place within the residence of the Community of the Sons and Daughters of Mary at Spiri-Maria. This location was rejected by Cardinal Ouellet for reasons we can only speculate upon, but the crux of the matter is that the meeting through which the Cardinal sought to attempt to make at least some reconciliation never took place. Yet, this event definitely does call into question whether heaven would truly inspire such a lack of effort in dialogue, and a lack of any attempt in explaining her position and submitting the private revelations she purportedly received to the very person (Cardinal Ouellet) who, through apostolic succession, represented the authority of the Church at the highest level in Canada.  

Funeral of Marie-Paule Giguere (Mother Paul-Marie)

Disobedience to the legitimate Church authority: Illicit Baptism and Ordinations

Without going into lengthily details (those interested can read more here) on January 1, 2006 there was illicit baptism that was performed at Spiri-Maria Chapel that was against Church regulations, and also the expressed directives of the pontifical commissioner (Bishop assigned by the Pope to monitor the Community) who had been informed of the proposed baptism beforehand.

But the culmination of the events that directly caused the Communities separation from the Catholic church was the attempted ordination of six men to the priesthood and the diaconate at Spiri-Maria chapel on June 3, 2007. The attempted ordination, performed by Father Pierre Mastropietro, a priest within the Community of the Sons and Daughters of Mary, is seen in the eyes of the Catholic church as a openly schismatic act, and thus initiated a Declaration of Excommunication from the Vatican dated July 11, 2007. As the declaration of excommunication states, any religious or lay member who failed to renounce their affiliation with the Community were thus formally excommunicated. This official public decree, was approved by Pope Benedict XVI and signed by Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the C.D.F., and was publicly announced by the archdiocese on September 12, 2007. Therefore due to the excommunication, current active members both religious and laity are officially no longer considered as being in communion with the Catholic Church.

The Quinternity: "The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone"

To boil it all down and cut to the chase--what precisely was the reason for the rejection of the Army of Mary by the Catholic church? Ultimately, it was the rejection of an alleged 'great mystery' espoused and promulgated by the Community; -Note that this will be the best description of my understanding of this purported mystery as revealed primarily by a prominent theologian within the Group: 

Marie Paule Giguère is to the Immaculate as Jesus is to God the Father. She is the Daughter of the Immaculate, as Jesus is the Son of the Father. In the beginning of creation, the Trinity created a feminine "being-person" called the Immaculate. God took from Himself and created the Immaculate, and God then created the world with and through the Immaculate. The Immaculate was incarnated into the person of Mary of Nazareth (as the Mother) and was reincarnated into Marie-Paule Giguère (as the Daughter) who, like Jesus, is called to bring about the Redemption of humanity--in her case as Coredemptix--and in her life and in her person she completes the redemptive work begun by Jesus. So, according to the Army of Mary, when it comes to the Persons in God, in addition to the Trinity, there is in fact, a "Quinternity" made up of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Mary of Nazareth and Marie-Paule Giguère.

The Church of Peter and the Church of John

The excommunication was in fact no surprise to the members of the Army of Mary/Community of the Sons and Daughters of Mary. For heaven, through Mother Paul-Marie, had long since been forewarning them of such a condemnation for quite awhile beforehand. Although to be very frank, anyone following the events saw it all coming even years beforehand, given the ever growing doctrinal conflicts between the Community and the Church.

In fact, ever since Cardinal Vachon's revocation of the groups canonical status back in 1987, there was an ever increasing sense and "atmosphere of persecution" within the Community, and a good number of persons seemed to thrive and appreciate the Communities dissension with the Catholic Church in Canada, which was seen by those of the Community as being too liberal. 

In the issues of the groups newspaper "Le Royume" starting around the year 2000, the writers began comparing the Community/Family of the Sons and Daughters of Mary to the Apostles and disciples in the early Church. It was (and is) this atmosphere of persecution coupled with a "hidden knowledge" of additional doctrines concerning Mother Paul-Marie which were obviously unknown to those outside the group that seemed to be attractive to many within the Community.

For the Community, because of the rejection of the Catholic church (identified as the Church of Peter) to Mother Paul-Marie and her mission as Lady of all Peoples and Coredemptrix, and her part in the "Quinternity",  God was therefore founding a new Church--the Church of John. And thus the excommunication became the door which opened for the persecuted Community, the way to the Church of John, which is identified as the "Church of Love". Throughout the entire history of the Army of Mary and its associated branches, it is believed that all of the events were foreseen and were guided by heaven through the instrument, Mother Paul-Marie.

Setting Christ against His Church

And now some 8 years have passed since the excommunication of the Community, leaving a considerable group of priests, nuns and laypersons from the Community outside the Catholic church. As for the members, they see themselves as Catholics, and do not recognise the excommunication as a seperation from the Catholic church.  For them, the Catholic "Church of Peter" is slowly metamorphisizing into the "Church of John", and they are simply the privileged and chosen souls who are the first to enter this new Catholic church, of which all Catholics will eventually become. For just as Jesus is the Son and Redeemer, Mother Paul-Marie is believed to be the Daughter and Coredmptrix, who is leading them (and all of us) into the Church of John, opening the way to the "Church of Love" and the "Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven". The Catholic church however sees the actions of the group as setting up Christ against His Church (or perhaps better worded as setting the Immaculate Mother against Her Son's Church).

The Church of John is given its first "Padre"

The Community compares their situation to the early apostles and disciples who were persecuted for their belief in Jesus by the Jews of the Temple (church) of their time, and who where thereby forced to go and establish their own Church, with Peter as its head. In other words, it is their belief that history is repeating itself, in very similar circumstances.

In light of this, Mother Paule-Marie purportedly received an indication from God that Father Pierre Mastropietro was chosen by heaven to become the "spiritual leader of the Church of John" and along with being given a new name, "Padre Jean-Pierre", and as shown in the photo (left), he is also assigned to wear a Mitre (special head covering only the Pope and Bishops wear) and also a shepherds crook staff---all of which obviously symbolizes a special authority as a shepherd and spiritual leader, very similar to that of a Pope or Bishop. 

As for this writer, I chose to leave the movement back in 2007, a few months prior to the official excommunication because of certain events that were occurring in the movement leading up to the excommunication, however many persons even up to this day have remained in the Army of Mary, even though the church at the highest level has come to a negative judgement and has formally excommunicated those who chose to remain in the Community. 

The simple explanation for this is that these members have chosen to follow the private revelations of an individual mystic over the highest authority of the Catholic church. And this is why I have written at that top of the home page of this website: "The author submits wholeheartedly to the infallible wisdom and judgement of the Catholic Church in regards to the persons presented on this website" because the great Saints and Mystics throughout the centuries have always taught that the private revelations of mystics and visionaries are always completely subject to the judgement of the rightful church authority (which under most circumstances is the local bishop), and that both the mystic and his or her supporters must always obey the Church's judgement and decisions. And this is why it is often said that for mystics and visionaries, obedience is the "Litmus test" that the Church often uses to test the authenticity of a mystic. 

Yet Marie-Paule and her followers respond to this apparent lack of obedience with the words of St Peter when he and John were brought before the high Priest: ...."Then the captain with the officers went and brought them [Peter and John], but without violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to bring this man’s [Jesus] blood upon us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men." (Acts 5: 26-29)

Mere Paul-Marie (Mother Paul-Marie)

In closing, since the passing of Marie-Paule Giguere, the current situation of the Army of Mary has been compared by some to the situation of the apostles and early disciples in relation to the situation between them and the Jewish leaders of the Temple, perhaps then those of us in the Church should imitate and take upon ourselves the wisdom of Gamaliel when he was questioned by his fellow members of the Temple concerning what to do with John, Peter and the other apostles who were found preaching in Jesus name:

"So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this undertaking is of men, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even find yourselves opposing God!" (Acts 5:36-39)

Gamaliel's advice seems very appropriate also for this  present case. May Jesus guide all peoples into one flock under one Shepherd. AMEN +
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-Click here for Part 1 of this article "Marie-Paule Giguere (Mother Paul-Marie) obituary/biography

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Mother Angelica's two miraculous cures

May 19, 2015, 8:15 pm

≫ Next: The Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus

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Mother Angelica (far right) at age 19 with the mystic Rhoda Wise

The two miraculous cures in the life of Mother Angelica through the intercession of two different mystics

In a miraculous instant, Mother Angelica tosses away both crutches and leg braces that she wore for 42 years.

By: Glenn Dallaire, May 2015

Through the ever popular long-running television series"Mother Angelica Live", many people throughout the world are very familiar with Mother M. Angelica, the foundress of the global Catholic television network EWTN. Many viewers of her network (this writer included) may recall some of the details of the miraculous healing that she received back in 1998 through the intercession of an Italian mystic named Paola Albertini--although at that time she fervently endeavored to keep most of the details of her miraculous healing under wraps.

What was known at the time was that on January 28, 1998, while saying the 4th decade of rosary with the mystic Paola Albertini, she went from using two crutches and wearing leg braces on BOTH legs, to tossing both crutches and leg braces aside, to having two restored legs and walking completely normal. We will delve more into this remarkable cure later in this article, but what most people do not know is that Mother Angelica was actually miraculously cured on another occasion some 54 years previously---that is, when she was only 19 years old.

Rita Rizzo (Mother Angelica)

Mother Angelica's first cure at the age of 19
 In January of 1943, when Mother Angelica (Rita Antoinette Rizzo) was age nineteen, she suffered from a painful condition known as "dropped" stomach, which involved a bulging lump in her lower stomach which made it extremely difficult for her to eat, and caused her to wear a tight corset around her waist to help mitigate the pain. The story of her miraculous healing is recounted in the book "Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles” by Raymond Arroyo.

To summarise the story, the young Rita Rizzo [Mother Angelica] was at her wits end because of the severe pain that she was experiencing in her stomach. Thankfully, a sympathetic friend brought her to a Ohio mystic and stigmatic named Rhoda Wise on January 8, 1943. (Those interested in reading more about Rhoda Wise can read the article I wrote about her here). At this providential meeting, Rhoda told young Rita Rizzo to make a Novena (9 days of prayer) seeking the holy intercession of St Therese of Lisieux, and she gave her a Novena prayer pamphlet to St Therese to recite, asking the intercession of St. Therese for a cure for her stomach illness. On the last day of the Novena to St Therese, that is precisely on Sunday, January 17, 1943 Rita Rizzo woke up in the middle of the night with a strong, sharp pains in her stomach -
"It seemed like something was pulling my stomach out", she later stated.

When she arose later that Sunday morning, she immediately thought of putting on the corset around her waist as she was often obliged to do to avert the pain, but she "heard" and inner voice telling her to get up, and then suddenly she realized that the usual pain was gone, and that she was miraculously cured. She looked into the mirror and indeed the bluish color around her waist and also the bulging lump on her lower abdomen was completely gone. And time has shown this cure to be permanent because over the many passing decades the stomach pain and swelling has never returned.

Concerning this first miraculous healing she stated:
"When the Lord came in and healed me I had a whole different attitude. I knew that God knew me and loved me and was interested in me. I didn’t know that before. All I wanted to do after my healing was give myself to Jesus.”

Mother Angelica's second miraculous cure
Before we begin the recounting of the story of Mother Angelica's second cure, it is important to point out a very public doctrinal tussle that was occurring at the time of her healing, because it seems to have played quite a large part in her miraculous cure. The doctrinal tussle was with the very liberal Cardinal Roger Mahony, who at that time was the Archbishop of Los Angeles.

When Cardinal Mahony issued a pastoral letter which to Mother Angelica watered down the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, Mother Angelica critiqued him, point-by-point, on her television program. Here the reader should remember that throughout the 25 years of his heading up the Los Angeles diocese, Cardinal Mahony was notorious for his support of various liberal agendas, such as his very public support for the homosexual "Rainbow Sash" movement, where at one Mass for example where there were some of the Rainbow Sash members present, he made an announcement encouraging them to come to the altar to receive Holy Communion. Additionally, unlike a number of other Bishops in the USA, he refused to withhold Communion to politicians who supported abortion rights. In fact, Cardinal Mahony had publicly celebrated such politicians, such as in 2005 when he held an an inauguration in the Diocesan cathedral for a pro-abortion mayor elect Antonio Villaraigosa, while just outside the cathedral some devout Catholic pro-life advocates who were protesting this inauguration were being escorted off the premises by Cathedral security guards.

On another occasion, Cardinal Mahony refused to give Communion on the tongue to a young woman saying to her "No, this isn't done here." Fortunately, Cardinal Mahony was eventually publicly disciplined and sanctioned in 2013--albeit after his retirement in 2011--by his successor Archbishop Jose Gomez, who dealt a humiliating and rare blow from one Bishop to another by censuring and removing Cardinal Mahony of all of his administrative and public duties, primarily for his role in covering up and protecting pedophile and actively homosexual priests during his tenure as Archbishop.

But going back to Mother Angelica's doctrinal battle with Cardinal Mahony over his not very zealous thoughts on the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, insiders have reported how the Cardinal went ballistic with anger over Mother Angelica's criticisms, of which she flatly refused to offer any apology, even when Cardinal Mahony's machinations with a few other liberal Bishops got her threatened with interdict (the loss of the Sacraments) and the possible closure of the religious Community she founded.

It was during this very public confrontation with Cardinal Mahony that the second miraculous cure in the life of Mother Angelica occurred. She was 74 years old. The story is told in the book "Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles” by Raymond Arroyo.

The story begins in the few days prior to the actual day of her healing, when there came to the monastery an Italian mystic named Paola Albertini along with a translator and two other friends who came asking to meet with Mother Angelica. Mother normally shunned such requests, and besides she was quite busy running the TV and radio networks, along with the religious Community which she had founded. However, at Paola and her companions repeated insistence, Mother Angelica eventually agreed to meet with her briefly on January 27, 1998.

Purported Italian mystic Paola Albertini

Paola Albertini was a former music teacher who was visiting the USA from Italy, and who had purportedly been receiving visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary since 1986.  Before we delve into the details of her intercession in Mother Angelica's second miraculous cure, I would like to first state that several people who have met Paola over the years have expressed caution and reservation concerning her, and one can sense this reservation also in the relation of the story by Raymond Arroyo. Nevertheless as he reported in detail his book, she was the instrument through which Mother Angelica was miraculously healed this second time in 1998, as we will now relate in more detail below.

But going now back to the story, after some initial conversation, Paola--through her Italian translator-- requested that she and Mother Angelica should recite the Rosary together the following day. Reluctantly, Mother Angelica agreed to recite rosary with Paola after her live television show at 8pm the following evening, that is on January 28, 1998.

After the "Mother Angelica Live" show,  Mother Angelica  met with her in her office and together they began reciting the Glorious Mysteries--Paola in Italian and Mother in Latin. At the Fourth decade, dedicated to the Assumption of Mary into heaven, Paola raised her eyes towards a portrait on the wall above Mothers desk of St Francis reaching up towards the crucified Christ. Sister Mary Claire who was present at that moment stated that suddenly there are was a "bright glow" surrounding the portrait, and Paola announced that "Our Lady is here".

Paola then gave a message to Mother Angelica purportedly from the Blessed Virgin Mary:
"What joy you give to the Heart of Jesus your beloved Spouse!....Defend the holy Eucharist even with your own life.  Yes, Jesus still today is being made a fool of and sneered at..... I bless this location; I bless you, my daughter, and with so much love I tell you: Don't stop! Go forword for the love of Jesus, unperturbed along the way that Jesus traced for you since you were in your maternal womb..."

While they then continued praying the fourth decade together, Mother Angelica had a sudden "feeling" that God wished to heal her. She then said to herself interiorly:
"Lord, all of these years You have used me as a comfort and an example for all of the handicapped and crippled. If You want to change this it is okay with me".
Moments later, Paola asked if she could pray for Mother. When Mother Angelica consented, Paola fell to her knees and recited a prayer in Italian.  After several minutes, Paola then requested that Mother remove both of her leg braces.

It should be noted here that while she was a young novice religious some 42 years prior to this miraculous event, Mother Angelica had severely injured her spine with a floor buffer machine, while waxing and polishing a floor.  This painful injury made it necessary for Mother Angelica to wear leg braces on both legs, and along with this it also necessitated the use of two crutches, thus allowing her to walk only with great difficulty.

In obedience to Paola's request, Mother Angelica unfastened both of her leg braces and then motioned to Sister Agnes to remove both of her shoes. Sr. Agnes did so very reluctantly, because she was worried that Mother would fall without her leg braces. Sr. Agnes was quite justified in in her concern because as she herself stated:"I had seen her try to walk [in the past]; her foot was just floppy.  It would drag."

Paola then took Mother Angelica by the hands, and led her across the floor, as a mother would do for her young child first learning to walk. The nuns accompanying Mother very nervously walked on both sides of her, worried that she would fall. Suddenly Mother faltered with her feet flopping inwards. "Come! Do not be afraid" Paola stated full of confidence.

"I walked to the door", Mother recalled, "and then I had a hard time turning around, because both legs were going every which way".

"Let her be!" the mystic shouted to the nuns, who were trying to hold Mother up.

"Mother, let's not do this" Sister Agnes then pleaded.

 "Agnes, I feel this warmth in my ankles. Do not be afraid." Mother Angelica replied, as she continued to move towards Paola.

Her legs became more and more stable as she walked across the room, her feet and legs straightening into the proper position, the weakened muscles regenerating and strengthening with every moment. When Mother Angelica paused for a moment, Paola placed a crucifix on her back and her legs."Lets walk" she then ordered. Mothers wobbliness and unbalance was now gone and she walked almost normal, unlike she had done in 42 years. She then opened the door and peered out at the security guards down the hall and stated:
"Look no braces and no crutches!"

In a burst of sudden (and quite understandable!) exhilaration she took the hands of a visiting guest who happened to be passing by at that moment, and to his great amazement she spun about the studio kitchen with him, radiant with joy. She then bounded up the television studio platform, which only an hour earlier she could not possibly make it onto without assistance.

Mother Angelica

The extraordinary news spread like wildfire, and the next day crowds gathered to witness the now miraculously healed Mother Angelica. Obliging the crowd, she came out from the cloister, to an effusion of tears and joy. Before announcing the remarkable healing publicly on the popular EWTN TV program "Life of the Rock"(the audio of which can be heard here #558) she first met and prayed once again with Paola Albertini---this time Paola told her to remove her back brace, which she did, but later she was obliged to put it back on."I have to be honest; it [her back] was not healed. I can go without it for a couple of hours but it is hard. Why should a fake something for somebody else?"

And so we see that it was God's will to heal only her legs, but to leave the back injury as it was---this "thorn" and its accompanying suffering, perhaps to show once again that suffering has a purpose and meaning for those who accept it and offer it to God. "For we know that all things work for the good of those who love God" (Romans 8:28).

With her trademark humor, that night Mother Angelica said to the EWTN TV audience that she had trouble remembering what to do with her arms while she walked, after 42 years of using them to maneuver her crutches. But, she said, "I think you're supposed to swing them, so I have begun doing so". She also showed off her new-found strength by executing a few dance steps for the  EWTN television live audience.

"I never asked for this healing," she said. "I was convinced that it was an apostolate for me."

And she also added:"I think we forget that the Rosary is powerful."

During this same live broadcast of "Life on the Rock" with Jeff Cavins which occurred the night after her healing Mother Angelica stated: "The purpose of this healing is to increase the faith of viewers and employees at the Network. He [Jesus] did it for you,” she said, and in a veiled allusion to the doctrinal scuffle with Cardinal Mahony she stated:
"Never in the history of the world has there been so much blasphemy, disbelief, error, schism and cruelty towards the Body and Blood of Jesus. The Father is going to make up for that, and Our Lady is going to make up for that in a brand-new way."

Mother Angelica also cautioned that others with physical pain and illness should not necessarily expect miraculous healing. Instead, she said that when medical means cannot produce healing, people should “offer up” their pain “as a way of saving souls.”

For his part, Cardinal Mahony's spokesman, Father Gregory Coiro stated "I have been telling people in jest that the healing [of Mother Angelica] was for my benefit, so I cannot be accused anymore of criticizing a crippled nun." 
Nevertheless, to this writer and to most others Mother Angelica's remarkable healing and the accompanying purported message of the Blessed Virgin Mary made it quite evident whose side God was on in this doctrinal dispute between the traditional nun and the liberal Cardinal.

In the week and months afterwords, as detailed in Raymond Arroyo's book, three separate physicians examined in Mother Angelica's legs. Two of the three physicians were not Catholic. All three testified that the healing was not medically explainable. Her primary care physician, Dr. David Patten, stated: "I'm a skeptic by nature. She told me about the healing and I looked. I have never seen anything like it. Physically I saw a [once] withered leg visibly better.   When muscle is atrophied for a long period of time, it usually does not come back."

After hearing the surprising story from his colleagues, Dr. Richard May, a Birmingham internist, examined Mother Angelica's legs quite unobtrusively (without her really recognizing the reason) while she was in the hospital for another matter. "What I saw were muscular legs with a rounded calves, and not the legs they should have been at her age and activity level.  These were the legs of someone who had walked a lot." 
To Raymond Arroyo, he then described both him and Dr. Patten as being"...cynical curmudgeons: A Methodist and an Episcopalian not given to rush after miracles."

Mother Angelica is currently 92 years old and is living in the monastery she founded in Hanceville, Alabama. In late summer 2001 she fell and broke her arm, and then shortly afterwards she suffered a series of debilitating strokes late in 2001, the first one beginning right after the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001, culminating with a severe stroke on Christmas Eve 2001.  Currently (as of May 2015) she has been bedridden for the past 6 years. Back in 1945, after one of her visions, Rhoda Wise, the mystic in Ohio who helped to obtain Mother Angelica's (then Rita Rizzo) first miraculous cure, sent a message to the newly veiled Sister Angelica. She wrote:“Tell Rita that every little worry will be erased from her heart. For each insult, each heartache, more stars.”

-Those interested can read updates on Mother Angelica here which are posted by her fellow nuns at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery.

The Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus

May 22, 2015, 4:05 pm

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Easter - Murder and Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Compiled by Joseph Costa, primarily from the writings of the Italian mystic, Maria Valtorta (1897-1961). This religious article should be read slowly, in order to understand it in its full truths.

In the Old Testament of the Bible, in Deuteronomy, real prophet Moses said to his fellow Hebrews:

"The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like myself, from among your own brethren; to Him, to every word of His, you must listen." (Deut.18.15)

Listen to Him...??!  First they bashed Him.  Then they crucified Him!!!   And finally they bribed a couple of Roman soldiers to lie, to say that Jesus did not resurrect from the dead.

The Jews wanted a military commander who would conquer the world for them for their bodies, not someone who would help them conquer Heaven for their souls.

There are of course many other quotes in the Old Testament of the Bible, from Hebrew real prophets themselves, that point to Jesus Christ being the Messiah of the Lord.

Pursuant to the Gospel that Jesus dictated to Maria Valtorta, Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, Infinite Mercy, Perfect, Infinite, Almighty, says to us:

"I am God and I am your Servant, and I stay here [on the Cross] waiting for each of you to say to Me: 'I hunger' in order to give Myself - Bread - to you. I am God and I expose Myself to your eyes, naked and cursed, on a piece of wood [Cross] that was an infamous gibbet. I am God and I implore you to love My Heart. I implore you. For love of you: because if you love you do yourselves good. I am God. With or without your love I am always God. But you, no. Without My Love you are nothing: dust."

[Jesus Bread = Jesus Eucharist, that nourishes + Jesus' Words, that instruct.]

In order to understand the Easter story better, we have to start a little before Good Friday, the day when Jesus was murdered at the behest and rabid insistence of the Jews then in Jerusalem, Judah. Nearly all of them are now in the eternal tortures and fires of Hell. The fifth immutable Commandment of God has always stood firm, the one given to real prophet Moses: "Thou shalt not kill." That divine Command is pretty clear, simple, and unambiguous. Killing is forbidden, including suicide.

At the time of Jesus' three years' evangelisation on earth, circa the end of the second year or early in the third, Jesus went to Kedesh, which was then a Levitical town, and a city of refuge in the nature as specified in the Old Testament of the Bible. There, inside the crowded synagogue, at the end of Jesus' sermon, the usual hissing snakes, the scribes and pharisees, a mob of them, said that they would believe in Him as being the Messiah and the Son of God if He were to recompose and revive an already decomposed body, saying further that only God could create a living body from mud. And then they went further again, additionally wanting a further proof: a sign. Those snakes weren't satisfied with the countless miracles that Jesus had already worked, nor with the beauty and truthfulness of the Doctrine He espoused and propagated: the Gospel. In reality, though, they were merely looking for a loophole, an excuse, any pretext whatsoever in order to discredit Him and what He stood for, to destroy Him.

As we now all know, Lazarus of Bethany, son of Theophilus, was to be the decomposed body to be recomposed and rise again, and that's why Jesus delayed His return to Bethany when Lazarus was dying in pain with holy resignation, without rebelling, rotting and smelling somewhat while yet still alive. And the sign to be given by Jesus was the sign of real prophet Jonah. Those hissing snakes could not possibly know that Jonah was the figure of Jesus' own Death and Resurrection. Jonah was in the belly of a whale for three days and three nights, and then spewed out alive intact on a beach; and then went on to obey the mission ordered by God, to tell the inhabitants of Nineveh to stop sinning and repent, under pain of imminent divine destruction. They duly obeyed, did penance, and so averted destruction. Incidentally, Sodom and Gomorrah, the sinful cities destroyed by God, lie at the bottom of the Dead Sea, never to rise again. The Great Flood that once covered the whole earth came about because man was irreparably sinful with all kinds of sins, especially carnal lust, insatiable in sex, including same-sex sex and sex with animals, otherwise known respectively as homosexuality and bestiality, which are horrid abominations in the eyes of the Lord our God: One and Three. Only Noah and his family, from whom we all descend, 8 men and 8 women, were saved by the ark, together with the selected animals.

When Lazarus was duly recomposed and brought to life after being dead and rotting in the tomb for 4 days, most of the hostile hissing snakes, the scribes and pharisees, became even more hostile and furious, enraged, and so arranged for a special meeting of the Sanhedrin, the then Jewish governing body which was composed mainly of clerics and of some elders, under the head of the then High Priest, the Pontiff, Caiaphas, for the purpose of killing, not only Jesus, but Lazarus as well as he was living proof of Jesus' divinity. So the Sanhedrin issued a warrant for the arrest of Jesus, and He thus became the Legally Persecuted One, and so had to flee to, and seek sanctuary in, Ephraim in then Samaria. His apostles accompanied Him. At the time, Samaria and Judah, both part of Palestine, shared little love for each other. Jesus' Mother, Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, naturally became even more distressed when She learned of His flight to Ephraim. She was already distressed by the hate and hostility of the then Jewish upper classes for Her divine Son, Jesus.

Jesus' final period of evangelisation, therefore, commenced from Ephraim and ended with His Death on the Cross on the mount of Golgotha, Jerusalem: the "Jerusalem, Jerusalem still murdering the prophets." On this particular journey, Jesus was accompanied by His sorrowful Mother, Virgin Mary, who knew that much pain and suffering were soon coming to Her and to Her beloved Son, and knew that from the Annunciation. Also with Jesus were His twelve apostles and other disciples, including, by now, well-converted holy Mary Magdalene and her holy sister Martha - the sisters of holy Lazarus, the man raised previously from the dead. Mary Magdalene, Mary of Magdala, the sinful woman at the banquet of Simon the pharisee, and the woman who poured oil over Jesus' Head in Lazarus' house (Simon's house), are all the same one woman: Mary Magdalene, a divorcee and a rather beautiful young woman with long blond hair down to her knees. Sometime after the Ascension of Jesus into Heaven, she went on to live, to expiate her forgiven many sins, as a hermitess and a holy penitent in the mountains somewhere, doing penance, after having disposed of all her wealth, and thereby becoming a great saint of the Catholic Church, the jewel of Redemption. Jesus, our gentle and adorable Lord our God, always forgives the sins of a truly repentant sinner, except sins against the Holy Spirit. The key words here are... "truly repentant." There cannot be any asked-for pardon without genuine repentance. God can never be fooled, though some may fool themselves into thinking or acting so. Woe to those who do evil using His Holy Name, God.

The mystic Maria Valtorta, affectionately known as the "Pen of Jesus"

So Jesus made his final journey from Ephraim to Jerusalem and preached along the way, until he arrived in Jerusalem about a week before Good Friday, and preached there. Although the warrant for the arrest of Jesus was still in force, the Sanhedrin was afraid to move against Jesus and arrest Him in public for fear of the multitude that still lauded Him for the time being. That's why He was finally arrested at night on Holy Thursday when He had only His apostles with Him in Gethsemane (mount of olives) where He could easily be arraigned. Judas Iscariot had previously left the Last Supper room alone, went to the leaders of the Sanhedrin, and informed them that Jesus could easily be arrested at Gethsemane, and so led them there for that purpose and for the money he was given. The so-called "soldiers" who arrested Jesus were mostly disguised bandits in the pay of the Sanhedrin, then headed by the High Priest, Caiaphas, the son-in-law of Annas. Judas was by now a long confirmed demon.

Almost immediately after Judas Iscariot had kissed Jesus' Face - the infamous betrayal with a kiss - Judas succumbed to satanic delirium [derangement], in the course of which, among other things, he was bitten on the right cheek of his face by a "dog," corresponding exactly where he had previously kissed Jesus' Face. That same "dog" also attacked Judas, and seemed to have been Satan himself in that form. Maria Valtorta said that the vision of Judas' satanic delirium was dreadful to see, and she hoped to be able to forget it quickly. And it's rather dreadful indeed; and so I will not mention anything else about it.

Judas Iscariot, Jesus' apostle and friend, whom Jesus loved the most among all His apostles, is currently in the tortures and fires of Hell for all eternity as the greatest sinner, additionally belching blood and inhaling blood because he betrayed the Blood of a God. What is perplexing, at least to me, is that Jesus once did severe penance for Judas Iscariot and He even asked His other eleven apostles to pray for him, but, further perplexingly, always knowing as God what Judas' final ending was to be. Maybe Jesus wanted to demonstrate to the Father that He, Jesus, had done all things possible in order to bring Judas to justice [to holiness]. Jesus additionally says that we ourselves make our own ending or destiny. For example, we know precisely what we each did yesterday of our own free will. It's just that Jesus has known from eternity that that would happen to each of us on that day. And He knows from eternity all the other days' happenings, seen and unseen, of every man... even his thoughts. So destiny or fate are really sham concepts, rather useless, but very useful to philosophers and religious theorists to help them while away the hours. The Jewish Essenes, very austere type monks, at the time when they existed, also had similar erroneous views. A belief in those views implicitly cast the true only God as being unjust, and of course the true only God, the God of the Bible, One and Three, can never ever be unjust as He is love. Sometimes, however, that love can be severe, "tough love," as when He dealt with Pharaoh in Egypt in ancient times in relation to the killing of all the first-born there. It was severe love, but still love, as the first-born were spared sinning like their fathers, and those fathers given time to repent of their sins. It was only after Pharaoh had lost his army in the Red Sea pursuing the Hebrews, that that loss finally convinced him absolutely that the God of the then Hebrews, of the Old Testament of the Bible, was the only true God, One and Three, and that there was no other god outside of Him; then, as still now, as in the future, for all eternity. False gods still abound, though, that men have fashioned for themselves to suit their tastes and Satan's. And how observant and reverential some people are in adoring those false gods!!  And here's the proof: not even one of those false gods has ever performed a miracle. Never, ever! And not even one of their followers has ever remained incorrupt after earthly death. They all putrefied. The Catholic Church has many followers of Jesus Christ, many Christians, who have remained incorrupt after earthly death, which Jesus has explained is the separation of the soul from the body.

For the betrayal of his Master, Jesus, the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, God, Judas Iscariot received 30 pieces of silver, which amount was the market price for an ordinary lamb during the then Jewish Passover festivities. Judas had wanted more money for his betrayal of Jesus, but some members of the Sanhedrin, in cynical 'ha, ha, ha, ha' laughing response, wanted to comply faithfully with the Scriptures, with what the Hebrew prophets had said, and so were determined to pay no more than what was specified: 30 silver pieces. They knew absolutely well, and admitted it explicitly, that Jesus was the Expected One, the Messiah, but rejected Him simply because they feared losing their cushy jobs by the Doctrine, by the Gospel being propagated by Jesus. To no avail: their magnificent Temple in Jerusalem was later destroyed, the Jews dispersed, they were supplanted by Christianity, and the centre of the knowledge of the true only God transferred from Jerusalem to Rome, among the very people they then vehemently hated the most: their rulers, the Romans [Luke 20.14-18]. The then Jews openly detested the Romans. But Jesus had advised the then Jews to be kind to the Romans, as they, the Romans, would in turn have become kind and protective of them. Jesus condemned violence in no uncertain terms. [Rome has always been called Roma in Latin and in Italian.]

When Jesus was finally arrested on holy Thursday night, He subsequently underwent sham trials, unfair trials, corrupt trials, in the extreme: before the Jewish Sanhedrin that was drunk with hate for Jesus and wanted Him dead at all costs; before lecherous king Herod who tried to amuse himself and his court by attempting to incite Jesus to carnal lust; and before procurator Pontius Pilate who was bored, indifferent, and seemed to view the affairs of the then Jews as an irritation. Pilate told them explicitly that Jesus was not guilty, but they did not want that: they wanted Jesus dead... dead, dead. [On a previous occasion, Pilate had called the then members of the Sanhedrin... "masters of falsehood."]

Now Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of all then Palestine (Judaea). But Pilate was weak, as he seemed to have gotten the job possibly through the obvious connections of his wife, Claudia, who was part of the then powerful Roman family, the Claudi.

Before Pilate assumed control of Palestine, of which Judah was part, he changed most of the Roman garrison there, due principally to a recent Jewish tumult, and seemingly appointed battle-hardened no-nonsense Roman centurion, Longinus, as its commander or to a senior post. You didn't mess with Longinus. So Pilate was not going to tolerate tumults. When he was in Jerusalem, his residence and offices were in the Tower of Antonia, a fortress. It has been unclear to me whether it was just inside the walls of the then Jewish Temple, or just outside.

So Pilate, at the insistence of the then howling Jews in Jerusalem before the Antonia fortress, initially balked at ordering that Jesus be crucified as repeatedly demanded by them. "Crucify Him!' they roared, again and again. But Pilate instead had Jesus initially scourged, hoping that that alone would have sufficed and satisfied and quietened down the then rabid multitude, and thus obviate the need for a crucifixion, as he did not really want to order it, and additionally was urged by his wife Claudia not to do so. She, together with some of her Roman lady friends in her circle, was by this time nearly fully converted to Jesus, to Christianity. Claudia in fact provided some of the spices that Mary Magdalene was going to use on early Easter Sunday morning, as both knew one another and appeared to be friends.

After having Jesus scourged, Pilate finally bowed, cowed to the insistent demands of the then Jews and ordered that Jesus be crucified. Pilate knew well it was patently unjust, absolutely wrong, having already previously pronounced that Jesus was not guilty, but ordered it just the same. Ha, sure, Pilate washed his hands visibly in public in an attempt to exculpate himself from the dastardly deed. But not so! Pilate's consent to obey the demands of the then roaring mob and his order to crucify Jesus were condemnable, as he thus became an accomplice of the then Jews' evil:the Crime. There was absolutely no legitimate reason whatsoever, not even the slightest, that could possibly have justified killing innocent Jesus, let alone to do it by cruel inhumane crucifixion. Pilate was part of the greatest military machine that ever existed, at the height of Rome's power and domination, and so he had the power and the means and the authority to refuse the demands for the unjust crucifixion of Jesus, by teaching the then recalcitrant Jews a lesson in obedience to the rule of Rome. Instead, Pilate chose the easy way out, as he was probably keen to return to his comforts. Some time much later, Pilate suffered some detriment, which has not been specified. But he was punished by God. Jesus says in His discourse on Temptation: "One can be tempted without one's consent thereto. One becomes a sinner only by one's consent." In essence, we are tempted without our consent, but we sin with our consent. Even Jesus was tempted, variously, no different from the various temptations we ourselves face daily, including that temptation. He never consented to sin, nor ever sinned... never!

The scourging ordered by Pilate was cruel and merciless, and the then Jews who lined the Way of the Cross were just as cruel and merciless. Contrary to popular mythology, and disgraceful biased movies that exculpate the then Jews and blame the Romans, it was not the Roman cohort and their commander, Roman centurion Longinus, who persecuted and struck Jesus in various ways along the Way of the Cross, but the then Jews; and the Romans in fact had to protect Jesus from their rabid raging murderous madness. With breathtaking ingratitude, some of them had even previously received healing miracles and other charity from Jesus. Also, again contrary to mythology, Virgin Mary did not embrace Her Son during the Way of the Cross. When She eventually met Him, She approached to embrace Her beloved Son but, when She got close, She immediately saw how terribly badly bashed up and lacerated His whole Body was: one great big wound. One does not touch a raw wound. So She balked and did not embrace Her Son because embracing that lacerated Body would have caused Jesus even more immense excruciating pain. They just exchanged simple loving words: "Son." "Mother." Moreover, Jesus was also carrying a board, tied at both ends with a rope, and the rope hung over His Neck, which board read His condemnation offence: "Jesus Nazarene King of the Jews."

When Jesus duly arrived at the Golgotha mount, on a hot day, He was crucified with three big nails: one through each Hand with one near His Wrist, and the third one through his crossed Feet. He had already lost a lot of weight through loss of Blood, and loss of Water through perspiration. It was a hot day. The Cross was the cross He carried, and it was properly mortised. A real cross, not the abominable misrepresentations we see today in order to mask that horror. Roman centurion Longinus kept a clear space of some metres around the actual Crucifixion site in order to keep the then maddened Jews well away, and so let no one near except Virgin Mary and St John, who at the time was probably about 20-22 years old. That exception was a mercy of Longinus, who had previously promised Jesus at the outset that he would not make Him suffer more than what was necessary. A hardened warrior that he was, and previously accustomed to slaughters in battle fields, I doubt he was able to stop his eyes from welling with tears later on. He was tough, sure, but not callous. It was he who forced the reluctant strong man from Cyrene to go and help Jesus when He collapsed exhausted on the road in a heap, amid Cross, ropes, and board. When the Cyrenean initially refused to obey Longinus' order, attempting to trifle with him, Longinus then gave the man two choices: to either go and help Jesus as ordered, or get 10 lashes and have his donkey confiscated. The man then obeyed the order. It seems that the Romans always gave a warning before inflicting punishment on recalcitrants.

Reading Maria Valtorta narratives of Jesus' scourging, Way of the Cross, and Crucifixion, is heart rending and it's impossible not to shed a tear or two or three or more on reading those narratives, on how man can be so mean, cruel, and satanic, for Jesus said: "He who is without charity is a brute and a demon."

Jesus, therefore died on the Cross at 3.00 PM on Good Friday, due mainly as a result of the extreme pain He suffered from the beatings, the scourging, and from the nails and crucifixion, which pain then additionally engendered tetanus that resulted in still further accompanying pains. The earth responded to Jesus' Death with a frightening rumble, an apocalyptic groan, bemoaning the murder of its Creator: with a more darkening of the clouds, with a cyclonic tornado, with many streaks of lightening, and with earthquakes. Many Jews were hit by the lightening bolts, or swallowed up in the fissures that opened in the ground. Golgotha was mayhem, with the Jews maddened in terror and panic. The Roman soldiers, still disciplined, made do the best they could, though tossed about as well. Even dwellings in Jerusalem proper caught fire.

By an "eternal decree," but unbeknown to Longinus at the time, it was to be he who in due course had to pierce Jesus' Heart with a lance. Longinus, a Roman warrior who must surely have seen much blood and gore in battles, in an act he perceived in his Roman way of thinking as being only an act of human dignity and mercy, did in fact pierce Jesus' Heart, while Virgin Mary was temporarily not looking at Jesus, saying as he did so: "It is done my friend. Better so. As for a knight. And without fracturing bones... He was really a Just Man!" You see, the then Jews convinced (or bribed) Pilate to order breaking the legs of Jesus and of the two thieves who were crucified alongside Him, so that they would already be dead before the morrow, the Passover Sabbath for the then Jews. 

The Legs of Jesus were therefore not broken. The repentant thief's name was Disma. Jesus, Infinite Mercy, would also have forgiven even His traitor, Judas Iscariot, had he repented and sought forgiveness from Him. But Judas refused, despite being presented with three opportunities to do so, including one opportunity where he was lovingly urged to do so by Jesus' own Mother, Virgin Mary, and She did so in a voice so imploringly that it should have converted even the most hardened demon. Instead, Judas ran away... to hang himself. His own mother, yes, Judas had a mother, hard to believe, Mary of Simon, a widow, a holy woman and a disciple of Jesus, broke down completely when she came to learn of her son's betrayal of Jesus. But Jesus had already arranged, well beforehand, for her to be cared for by a close friend of hers who was told that that betrayal was to transpire and additionally was told not to reveal it to Judas' mother before it actually happened. Mary of Simon was one of those whom Jesus appeared and spoke to after His Resurrection, to comfort her still ongoing grief. She was still inconsolable.

Judas Iscariot, an only child and heir to his family's property, was already somewhat of a scoundrel, incorrigible, and seemingly a debauchee, when he originally joined Jesus, though discouraged by Him, because he saw His power in action and hoped to be a "minister" in His "Administration" that he thought would soon realise the then Jews' ongoing dream of world domination. Judas even had the audacity to go to a "daughter of Rome," to Pilate's own wife, Claudia, as she was thought to have the greater power, and to demand the release of Palestine from Roman occupation and rule... demanded a lessening of world domination from the ruling Romans...? from those who thought that they alone were born to rule and dominate the world...? If it weren't so serious it would be hilarious. Judas was obviously blinded by his temporal ambitions! The quest for "world domination" is an "infectious disease" that can never be eradicated from the face of the earth. Throughout history, there's always been a joker wanting to be the "top dog" of the world. The Romans used the eagle as their standard or symbol of power and domination, something that has been copied and adopted by some countries around the world, including Indonesia, Germany, and the United States. The eagle has such powerful eyesight that, from its lofty height, it can distinguish small objects on the ground, and so is able to select and devour its chosen prey. Who has not copied from the Romans? Even the Scots' bagpipes and kilts were copied from them.

When Judas finally realised that Jesus was not going to establish a temporal power, an "Administration," and the burden of appearing good became much too heavy for Judas to bear, Judas switched sides in secret and joined the camp of the Sanhedrin, which welcomed him with open arms and promised him money, power, honour, and glory, which he craved oh so badly, so badly. Ahhhhh... it promised, not gave him! Unbeknown to him, he too was placed on its hit list, to be killed after Jesus' Death to silence him, to stop him from disclosing the Sanhedrin's cabal. Judas' suicide made his murder by the Sanhedrin obviously unnecessary.

Jesus was already dead when Longinus pierced His Heart with a lance, as Blood and Water trickled down His Chest. Had Jesus been alive then, the Blood and Water would have spurted out from a pulsating Heart.

Had Jesus not been killed, He would have brought peace throughout the world. The Blood He shed from His circumcision would have sufficed for Redemption.

Jesus' dead Body was taken off the Cross by St John, Nicodemus, and Joseph of Arimathea. Virgin Mary and the women disciples stood by (by a special grace, otherwise those women disciples would previously have fled as well). When Jesus' Body was finally pried off the Cross, Virgin Mary was waiting at the foot of the Cross to receive It, and placed the Body on Her lap in the manner as depicted famously by Michelangelo's masterpiece statue, "La Pietà." [La Pietà - Italian for "The Pity"]. Mary removed the crown of thorns from the Head, stinging Herself doing so, and then attempted to tidy up the lifeless Body of Her dead Son, and clean the Body with Her many tears and with the end of Her veil that was around the loins of the Body. Mary's deep, very deep distress was heart rending. She reluctantly let go of the Body of Jesus from Her lap, It was placed in a shroud and carried to a plot of ground nearby owned by Joseph of Arimathea, and placed on a slab-stone-table in the rock tomb there. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea then faithfully cleansed the Body of all the filth, including animal excrement, that was still stuck on It, that was thrown at Jesus by the then Jews as He wearily carried the Cross, and then applied spices on the Body in accordance with the Jewish traditions at the time. They then wrapped the Body in another clean shroud [Shroud of Turin], closed the tomb entrance by rolling the rock door over it, and then they all returned to the house of the Last Supper room, the property of Lazarus or of his sister, Mary Magdalene. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea soon left, and John and the rest remained, with Virgin Mary going to Her separate room and commenced to pray there alone, oh so sorrowfully: Our Lady of Sorrows.

The Virgin Mary was the only one who retained belief that Her Son would rise from the dead. She also made the perplexing statement that, had She not believed in the Resurrection of Her Son then, Redemption would have been nullified. This was not explained and therefore remains a mystery, like the countless other mysteries that concern the true only God, One and Three. God sometimes does not allow man to know or understand certain things. Those who want more than what God gives, Jesus has warned, repeat the imprudence and the errors of primogenitor Eve who, simply as a curiosity, went to the "apple-tree" of test to see what was so special about it, but instead found the Unknown One there, Satan disguised as an alluring jewel, as a serpent coiled around the tree, and led into sin. Yes, Adam and Eve also had sex under that tree ("to create like God, to be like God"), and sins of the flesh are the royal road to Hell. Satan gets many converts to come his way by showing them the allure and beauty of that road, but not, obviously, Hell sitting at the end of it, otherwise few would use it. Satan's not a dummy, eh? He's smart. He deftly mixes truths with lies and thereby gains countless converts. He still has the high intelligence he once had when he was magnificent Lucifer, till he got too smart by half, wanted to supplant his Boss, but instead got the boot... into Hell. So Satan's many converts take that royal road and, before they realise it, they soon walk off its edge and... drop into the Abyss, to remain down there forever. Satan also gets many of his faithful followers to say that neither he nor Hell exists, in order to deceive people into thinking and believing that sinning has no accompanying punishments, and so gets them to sin with abandon. Many people don't perceive or feel the existence of Satan, and that's because they and he have merged into one unit, and of course it's therefore patently understandable that they can't see or perceive him outside of that unit.

According to Jesus, among Satan's other sufferings, Satan burns with desire, with remorse, with nostalgia for what he has lost, suffering not only for not being an angel, but also for not being the head of the angels, then inferior in splendour only to God. Another of Satan's punishments, his thirst to be adored, is unbearable to him. At Jesus' agony in the "garden" of Gethsemane, where Satan tormented Jesus so cruelly and mercilessly that Jesus sweat Blood, Satan even asked Jesus to change him into a man. Satan is Deceiver, Liar, among all his other countless evil titles. Never believe him. At the time of their rebellion, Satan and all the other fallen angels failed the test to adore God by refusing to do so - obviously a sin against the Holy Spirit: "denying the known Truth." During his rebellion, Satan even taunted Jesus, saying to Him that if He didn't want a rival then He should not have created him, Satan, so powerful... the created taunting the uncreated. Satan is a name and an acronym for all things evil, ascribed by God to Lucifer after his fall.

On Holy Saturday, Longinus, visiting Virgin Mary in his civilian clothes in order to give Her the spear-head (still Blood stained) that he used to open the Heart of Her Son, that She had requested through Joseph of Arimathea, said to Her that the whole matter of the Crucifixion was a "terrible thing," inferring that all the blood and gore battles he had once been involved with were mere trifles in comparison, and praised the heroism of Her Son, and regretted not having had the opportunity to know about His Doctrine while He was still alive and so thought that everything was now all finished with His Death. But She responded by introducing him to some of Jesus' apostles who were then present (only Peter and John), as being His continuators and invited him to be part of the Church. Before leaving, Longinus, who was accompanied by a soldier also in civilian clothes, said to Mary: "I will come. A religion that has as its head such a Hero can be but divine. Ave, Domina!" [Ave Domina - Latin for "Hail She-Lord" or "Hail Lady"]. Longinus, together with the same or another Roman soldier and some of Claudia's Roman lady friends, went on later to be present at the first or a Mass celebrated by St Peter. Longinus was therefore converted to Christianity, as well as the soldier who accompanied him. The Roman ladies were already so. Longinus went on to become a saint.

Golgotha was the first Mass, the first sacrifice of the Mass. The Blood of Christ was indeed materially mixed with actual Water: with the tears of Jesus' own Mother, Virgin Mary. The cloth around the loins of Jesus on the Cross was Her tears-soaked veil. The decree of the Father, and known to Mary, was that She had to be there to celebrate the first Mass, however so painful. She obeyed, as She always obeyed throughout Her whole life, the will of God, and it was that absolute obedience to the Will of God that made Her great, not solely because She was the Mother of God, although that too. And the sacrifice was offered by the then howling or silent demons there: by men who were really under demonic possession. Demonic possession can be either loud or silent. People generally know about the former, but mostly not about the latter kind: silent demonic possession, and it still exists today, albeit not known. Jesus says to leave the mystery, of this first Mass being offered by demons, to God... as a mystery.

Jesus resurrected by His own Power in the very early morning of Sunday, Easter Sunday, and soon appeared in His glorified Body and glorified Stigmata to His still sorrowful Mother who was then alone in Her room on Her knees, praying. On hearing a sound and turning around on Her knees and seeing glorified resplendent Jesus, She humbly said: "Lord My God." But He replied:"Mother!" as Jesus still viewed Her to be His most sweet Mother (and ours), who then sprang up to Her feet in joy and rushed to embrace and kiss Her Son and His glorified Stigmata countless times. She could see and touch Jesus' glorified Body because She was absolute Purity and without sin, without even the lightest. Jesus says to us about His most sweet Mother and ours: "Who seeks Mary finds Jesus. Listen to Her word, it is the same as Mine only made sweeter." Longinus was obviously one of the few lucky ones to savour that sweetness. Just as Mary brought forward the coming of the Messiah by Her prayers, so too did She bring forward the Resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus, by Her prayers. She would have died through deep sorrow had Jesus not resurrected when He did. She's the only One who can stop the punishing decrees of the Eternal Father, not because She has great or greater powers, but because the Holy Trinity will never refuse a request from their Flower. By Her absolute Purity, by Her absolute Obedience, and by Her absolute Humility, She nullified the sins of primogenitor Eve who did the opposite. And Jesus nullified the sins of primogenitor Adam. But it was imprudent and careless Eve, though highly intelligent and full of knowledge, who first rebelled and sinned and, thereby enrolling in the service of Satan, led Adam to rebel and sin, and so bore the greater condemnation when they were both kicked out of the wonderful Garden of Eden, which was then sited around Engedi, next to the now Dead Sea, about 10 miles north of Masada. Jesus says that we must not succumb to pride, as Eve did by going to the forbidden tree: the pride of believing that we can place ourselves in situations of sinning and concurrently believe that we will be strong enough not to do so. Pride invariably precedes the fall.

Jesus then showed Himself to Mary Magdalene, the first of His disciples and apostles to see Him resurrected. It is unclear whether He showed himself to her in the form of Jesus of Nazareth or in His glorified Body. But it's more likely in the former. And then in due course He appeared to many others, many concurrently: multi-location. Altogether about 500 persons or more saw, or spoke with, Jesus after His Resurrection.

It would be too long a task to give further particulars about Jesus' Way of the Cross and His Crucifixion, but I can give some particulars about His scourging, as the narrative is relatively short, and the material evidence of it is impressed on the Shroud of Turin, the real burial cloth of Jesus, though hotly disputed by some captious [fault-finding] disbelievers: today's pharisees! There's always a tribe of them around, always disputing or disparaging the truths. The journal of the Messenger of St Anthony once commissioned a team of scientists to examine the Shroud, and they found that the Shroud indicated many lashing marks with ending hammer blows. These are obviously consistent with the scourging of Jesus as narrated by Maria Valtorta below.

The so-called "scientific" study (Carbon-14 dating) which was putatively done on the Shroud in 1988 by so-called "experts" was totally and fatally flawed. Careless! Hopeless! The sample of cloth which they got putatively cut out of the Shroud, was instead cut from an attached patch added to the corner of the Shroud many centuries in the past. So while the Carbon-14 dating was indeed correct, it was not done on the Shroud proper, but on a later-day patch added thereto by a master of invisible repairs. Wrong airport.

Below, Maria Valtorta narrates the flogging of Jesus, Who was already previously bashed up by the then Jews. Note carefully that the lashing marks on the Body of Jesus in the Shroud, are fully consistent with Valtorta's description of the flogging of Jesus, hereunder:

"Jesus is led by four [Roman] soldiers to the court-yard beyond the hall [where Pontius Pilate was]." In the middle of that court-yard, which is all paved with coloured marbles, there is a high column like the one in the porch. At about three metres from the floor it has an iron bar protruding at least a metre and ending with a ring, to which Jesus is tied, with His hands joined above His head, after He has been undressed. He has on only short linen drawers [underpants] and sandals. His hands tied at His wrists are raised up as far as the ring, so that, although tall, He rests only the tips of His toes on the floor... And even that position is a torture.

"Behind Him stands one who looks like an executioner, with a clear Jewish profile; in front of Him, another man, looking like the previous one. They are armed with scourges, made of seven leather strips tied to a handle and ending with small lead hammers. They begin to strike Him rhythmically, as if they were practising. One in front and one behind, so that Jesus' trunk is in a whirl of lashes and scourges. The four soldiers, to whom He has been handed, are indifferent and are playing dice with other three soldiers who have just arrived. And the voices of the players follow the rhythm of the sound of the scourges, which hiss like snakes and then resound like stones striking the stretched skin of a drum. They beat the poor body [of Jesus], which is so slender and as white as old ivory, and then becomes covered with stripes that at first are a brighter and brighter pink shade, then violet, then it displays blue swellings full of blood, then the skin breaks letting blood flow from all sides. They redouble their cruelty on His thorax and abdomen, but there are no shortage of blows given to His legs, arms and even to His head, so that no fragment of His skin may be left without pain.

"And not a moan [from Jesus]... If He were not held up by the rope, He would fall. But He does not fall and does not groan. Only His head hangs over His chest, after so many blows, as if he had fainted.
" 'Hey! Stop! He must be alive when He is killed,' shouts a soldier scoffingly.
"The two executioners stop and wipe their perspiration.
" 'We are exhausted,' they say. 'Give us our pay, so that we may have a refreshing drink...'
" 'I would give you the gallows! But here you are...' And a decurian [Roman officer] throws a large coin to each executioner."

Those soldiers then pressed down, after a few failed attempts, a crown of thorns on Jesus' Head - seemingly not ordered by Pilate - made up of branches of wild hawthorn that had long hard thorns.

The late Dr. Nicholas Pende, Italian physician and world renowned endocrinologist, who especially marvelled at Maria Valtorta's adroit narration of Christ's Crucifixion, said:

"As a physician, the greatest admiration and astonishment was aroused in me for the skill with which [Maria] Valtorta describes a phenomenon [Christ's Crucifixion] that only a few consummate physicians would have known how to explain. It is the scene of Jesus' agony on the Cross: the spasms of pain, the most atrocious suffering of the Redeemer [Jesus] from the wounds of His head, of His hands and feet supporting, in those punctures, the weight of His body. In Valtorta's account, these [sufferings]provoke rigid contractions of the whole body - tetanus-like stiffening of the trunk and limbs - which do not cloud the consciousness or the will of the Dying Man [Jesus], even though they are the expressions of the greatest physical pain, produced by the greatest of tortures. The whole phenomenal progression of the agony of Jesus, as described in this Work [Poem of the Man-God - the Writings of Maria Valtorta], shows that it had been the immense pain of His body which had stopped the breathing and heart of the Son of Man [Jesus]. The greatest pity and emotion invade the Christian reader on reading in Maria Valtorta's manuscript, this astonishing page, written in a truly medical style.
[Valtorta was not a physician. God, One and Three, had given her the ability to write well as she was to write the Gospel dictated by Jesus in Italian to her. Though highly proficient herself in Italian literature, she marvelled at the literary high standard of Jesus' dictations in Italian, as also did Blessed Gabriele Allegra (who translated the Bible in Chinese). Of course, it must be remembered that Jesus merely spoke in the language, Italian, that He Himself had once created. The English translations, though excellent and convey what they are supposed to convey, do not fully compare in literacy to the original Italian.]

Pursuant to the Gospel according to Christ as dictated by Him to Italian mystic, Maria Valtorta, Jesus Himself explains how His Shroud of Turin came into being, as follows:

"You [men] have seen the crown of bruises round My kidneys. Your scientists, to give proof to your incredulity with regard to that evidence of My suffering, which is the Shroud, explain how the blood, the cadaveric perspiration and the urea of an overfatigued body, when mixed with the spices [applied to His Body upon burial pursuant to then Jewish traditions], can have produced that natural drawing of My dead tortured Body.

"It would be better to believe without the need of so many proofs to believe. It would be better to say: 'That is the Work of God' and bless God, Who has granted you an indisputable proof of My Crucifixion and of the tortures preceding it!

"But as now you are no longer able to believe with the simplicity of children, but you need scientific proofs - how poor is your faith, that without the support and the spur of science cannot stand up straight and walk - you must know that the cruel bruises of My kidneys have been the most powerful chemical agent in the miracle of the Shroud. My kidneys, almost crushed by the scourges, were no longer able to work. Like those burnt by fire, they were unable to filter, and urea accumulated and spread in My Blood, in My Body, bringing about the suffering of uraemic intoxication and the reagent that oozed out of My corpse and fixed the impression on the cloth [Shroud]. But any doctor among you, or anyone suffering from uraemia, will realise what sufferings the uraemic toxins caused to Me, as they were so plentiful as to produce an indelible impression."

"The veil of Veronica [that has the image of the Face of Christ on the Way of the Cross] is also a goad [a sting] to your sceptical souls. Since you, O rationalists, O tepid people vacillating in your faith, proceed through arid examinations, compare the face of the Veronica with that of the Holy Shroud. One is the Face of a living person, the other of a dead one. But length, width, somatic types, form, distinctive features, are identical. Superimpose the images. You will see that they correspond.  It is I.  I Who wanted to remind you how I was and how I had become out of love for you. If you had not gone astray, if you were not blind, those two Faces should be enough to bring you to love, to repentance, to God."

The killers of Jesus Christ were punished by God. Except for a very, very few, the rest of the then Jerusalem Jews who killed Jesus in 33 A.D. [A.D. - Anno Domini - Latin for "Year of the Lord"] are now in Hell; and their magnificent Temple in Jerusalem, of which they were so fiercely proud, destroyed in 70 A.D. via the hands of the Romans, never to rise again.

Jerusalem was also reduced to ruins and, depending on which authority one uses, a flexible estimate is that, in all the revolt areas in Palestine, altogether about 1,000,000 Jews were killed and about 90,000 -250,000 of them enslaved. Israel as a nation therefore ceased to exist, and the Jews' persecution of Christians finally spent. Masada, a wicked fortress town in the time of Jesus, also suffered a terrible end, and perhaps an even more atrocious beginning in the afterlife. Its inhabitants, stiff-necked, rebellious, cocky, an ant having delusions of superiority, of being able to overpower an elephant that was then the mighty Roman military machine, rather than submitting to the rule of Rome, instead essentially committed suicide, by freely consenting to kill one another. A handful refused, hid in the water cisterns, and lived to tell the tale when the Romans finally took the fortress. Some years prior to this, circa 32 A.D., in one of His then journeys of evangelisation, Jesus and His twelve apostle went to Masada, but its inhabitants menacingly drove them all out of the town. Jesus and His apostles had to flee fast, running and fearing for their lives. So maybe Masada could actually have undergone Justice.

Today's geographical Israel, in which the occasional suppressed bubbles of anti-Christianity surface from time to time, including the outrageous, disgraceful, ongoing anti-Catholic Christian slurs by the Jewish Yad Vashem museum, seems strong and invincible today, having a vast array of hundreds of nuclear missiles and of other lethal weapons, but it will fall again, for it carries the curse of God the Father for the Jews of 33 A.D. having killed His Son, whom they did not want nor guard that Gift. The Father is still waiting for the Jews’ crying repentance so that He may forgive them. Israel, meaning the Jews, will be the last to acknowledge Jesus as God and the Messiah, but then it will be too late as it will then be the end of the world, followed some time after that by the resurrection of the dead, and thence by the Last Judgement by Jesus Christ the Judge, Who will then have a face different to what people like to believe He will have: the Face of theJudge, not of the sacrificed meek Lamb of 33 A.D. when He was bashed, lashed, and then nailed and murdered on a Cross. After the Last Judgement, only two abodes will remain... eternally:Heaven and Hell.

Despite what the Jews of 33 A.D. did to Jesus Christ, Christians generally do not hate the Jews. Jesus taught us to love one another, even our own enemies. The Gospel of Jesus is one of love, not hate, and hate is censured by Jesus, as it's a cognate of Hate, that is Satan. Love and Hate cannot co-exist. Where Satan is present, God is absent. And, if one looks carefully around the world today, it will be immediately apparent where Satan is present and God is absent. War is hate!!!

Jesus says that the antidote to the Jews' predicament is found along the same lines as carried out by their murderous ancestors: the Body and Blood of Christ, meaning converting to (Catholic) Christianity and then eating the Body of Christ and drinking His Blood, meaning of course taking Holy Communion: the consecrated Host and the consecrated Wine, but only after Confession and in consequence of being admitted to the Catholic faith - as a free willing choice, without coercion or ill intent. Of course, the consecrated Host, the Eucharist, is the real Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ under the appearance of a piece of bread, and the consecrated Wine is the real Blood of Jesus Christ under the appearance of wine: the miracles of every day, of every hour, of every minute, in the Catholic churches throughout the world. Woe to those who profane the consecrated Host, the Eucharist, and the consecrated Wine! Woe to those who touch the Eucharist, the Body of God, with profaned hands or with hands polluted by carnal lust, by sex of any kind.

It must always be remembered that Jesus Christ is true God and true Man, and that nothing whatsoever is impossible to Him. When the Father asked Jesus to become a Man in order to redeem and save man, Jesus at no time ceased being the Son of God, even when He was being formed in the Womb of His human Mother, Virgin Mary. So obviously when He died on the Cross, He died only in His human nature, but not in His divine nature which lived on. God can never die, as He is eternal, as is also eternal the created soul of every man. The soul is a particle of God. Human death, Jesus says, is the separation of the soul from the body.

Additionally, it must never be forgotten that the true only God is One and Three: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit, three divine Persons, the Most Holy Trinity, yet only one God. Man has not been given the faculties to understand this holy mystery. But those in Heaven understand.

God the Holy Spirit explains the mystery of the Holy Trinity, God, in the following terms:

"There is no other God except Him: God the Father, Creator and Lord of Heaven and Earth, First Person of the most Holy Triad [Trinity] who was generated by no one because He is Eternal, and by Himself, through divine generation, He generated His Word [His Son, Jesus Christ] - through whom all things were made - the Second Person, divine, eternal, immense and perfect, equal in everything to the First [Person, God the Father] in whom He delights, just as the Son delights in the Father who generated Him, giving through this two-fold joy an origin to the Holy Spirit [Third Person] who proceeds from the Father and the Son and who is their same love, the bond which embodies them, the embrace which unites them, the fire who fuses them without creating a confusion of Persons, the peace in whom they tirelessly work and rest together in Love [Holy Spirit], through Love and with Love which proceeds from Them and which is the major attribute and the very essence of God."
[Generation does not mean created.]

Be careful, extremely careful at the outmost, in relation to the above Words of the Holy Spirit, because offending the Holy Spirit is a sin that is never forgiven throughout eternity, and that means going to Hell for the sinner of that particular sin. [(Matthew 12.32) (Mark 3.28-29) (Luke 12.10)]. Jesus has explained that one sins against the Holy Spirit by negating the known Truth, and thatthat sin is more prevalent than what many people may think. So be extremely careful, O you religious theorists! And also you, all you so-called philosophers! Maybe everyone might be better off if you all got yourselves a real job! Eh? Worth a try? Jesus' Doctrine, the Gospel, is not difficult nor convoluted. It's pretty simple: obeying the Decalogue, the immutable Ten Commandments, which He summarised in just 4 words: "Love God, love neighbour." He said that obeying the first 3 Commandments constitutes loving God, and obeying the other 7 Commandments constitutes loving one's neighbour, with the first neighbour to love is our own parents. The 7 Sacraments He instituted, as applicable, fortify man to obey the above Law... to be holy. Sorrow, He said, is the uninstituted 8th Sacrament, and the 9th Beatitude. A discussion on pain, suffering, and sorrow is beyond the scope of this religious article.

Man's purpose on earth is to conquer Heaven: boundless, so there's more than enough room there for everyone. Entrance therein is based solely on merit, not on pedigree, "arrogant right," or other fanciful entitlement such as being part of the "chosen people," whatever that "chosen people" may mean. Entrance is a long, hard, wearisome conquest. And to do so, God has given every man a free will, a length of time, and an easy roadmap to get there: obeying the immutable Ten Commandments, man's "apple-tree" test of obedience, no different in principle to what progenitors Adam and Eve once faced. Jesus says to us, break any of these Ten Commandments and you will lose eternal Life; follow His Counsels (4 Gospels) and you will grow in holiness. The 7 Sacraments, as mentioned above, provide extra strength to be holy.

Jesus also wants us to make an effort to study and know the true only God: obviously the God of the Bible, One and Three, for knowledge of God is love of God, which knowledge gathering is prayer, as is also honest work, except that the former is the "better part" or "best part," as illustrated by Jesus when He refused holy Martha's request to draw away her sister, Mary Magdalene, from His side and to help do the catering, honest work, that was underway to feed Him and all his apostles and disciples who came along with Him. Martha was then honouring Jesus as a "man," as an honoured guest, whereas Mary Magdalene was honouring Him "better" as God, the better or best part. But soon after Jesus went and consoled Martha so that she would not suffer too much from His truthful Words. Martha was always an efficient "manageress," holy, motherly, and greatly loved by Jesus, Who said that she made up for the sweetness He missed from His Mother when He was away from Her. 

Martha's sister, Mary Magdalene was Jesus' jewel of Redemption, and the parable of the lost sheep was specifically aimed at her who was then hiding nearby, weeping uncontrollably, bemoaning and genuinely repenting bitterly her life as a public sinner. And both women's brother, Lazarus, was holy and Jesus' best friend. Martha and Mary Magdalene became saints.

Before going to Jerusalem to meet His Death on the Cross, Jesus told Lazarus, who groaned, what was soon to happen to Him there, and told him to remain at his home in Bethany, and to make welcome all His apostles and disciples who would then flee in fear, but come to him seeking solace and sanctuary. Jesus also told Lazarus to forgive them in His name.

Lazarus was known as Lazarus of Bethany as well as Lazarus of Theophilus, and he seems more than highly likely to be the "Theophilus" mentioned by Luke at the beginning of his Gospel and of his Acts of the Apostles, and could have commissioned both Books as seems obviously the case. Lazarus was highly educated, had ample means, loved Jesus greatly, and obviously would have wanted to preserve in writing the memory of his best Friend, Jesus, God... Who brought him back from the dead. In due course Lazarus left Bethany, probably because the Sanhedrin still wanted him dead, and could possibly have gone to live, out of reach of the murderous Sanhedrin, at Antioch (in today's Turkey) where he had a large estate nearby and where Christianity had taken root as a result of the initial seeds of evangelisation planted there by Syntyche and Felix (John of Endor), both of whom were previously run-away slaves taken in and protected by Jesus, and soon converted to Him. The story of both personages, together with the involvement of yet another of Judas Iscariot's many treacheries, is another story beyond the scope of this one herein.

Jesus' continuators, His apostles and their continuators, have propagated His Doctrine, the Gospel, throughout the world. Now (April 2015), after 20 centuries of Christianity, society worldwide today seems just as pagan, if not even more so, as in the time when Jesus walked the earth, but with a very big difference: men now know clearly who Jesus is, know clearly what they are supposed to do, know clearly what they are disobeying, yet still strike Him just the same. Men are not obeying Jesus' Law and His Gospel, and many are striking Him or persecuting Him in His followers.

Jesus, addressing all the persecutors who "shed the blood of the good, whom they persecute because they are good," warns them of the dire consequences, clearly in the afterlife: "... that God will not one day force you to satisfy your hunger and your thirst with the blood you have shed..." Obviously, many persecutors are already doing so in Hell. Life in the eternal tortures and fires of Hell for those culprits who have persecuted Christians must indeed be so atrocious a horror as to be beyond verbal description, that will last for those persecutors throughout all endless eternity... without relief or end.... never ending!  Don't go there!

Satan, the god and beloved father of all persecutors, including those who use or abuse or lie to the courts to persecute, is a shrewd "businessman," as he gets a mighty return on his "investment." He gives his followers a temporary pleasure on earth, whatever that pleasure might be, and in return gets their eternity in Hell. Satan is a hideous monster, repulsive, animal-like, both in looks and in action. Satan hates everyone, even his own followers who love him, as he is Hate. He can never love. Tell him to nick off: "Be gone Satan, in the Most Holy Names of Jesus and Mary."

In relation to His second coming, Jesus Christ says:

"Unfortunately, I will come [again]. I say, 'unfortunately' because My coming will be one of Judgement, and tremendous judgement. If I were to come to save you, I would not speak like this and would not seek to put off the times of My coming, but, on the contrary, would anxiously rush to save you still. But My second advent [coming] will be an advent of severe, inexorable, general Judgement, and for most of you it will be a judgement of condemnation [to hell]."

And so, will the Catholic Christian Vatican follow in the steps of its ancient predecessor, the Jewish Sanhedrin, and lose the faith? As already prophesised by Our Lady of La Salette, Virgin Mary? Whose apparitions have already been approved by the Catholic Church herself as being authentic? A Catholic bishop once tried to cast a slur on those apparitions by casting a slur on one of the two seers, Melanie, accusing her of suffering from a mental illness. Instead, that same bishop himself contracted that same mental illness and never recovered from it. Presumably he's now in Hell, for Jesus said: "... who treats him [someone] as a madman, and consequently has harmed him, will be condemned by God."

Never ever offend Jesus' Mother, Virgin Mary, the Flower of the Holy Trinity, who jointly created Her Soul immaculate as an exception.

_______________________________

The foregoing is pursuant to various sources, including the Bible and mostly the Gospel that Jesus dictated to Maria Valtorta, which Gospel many religious theorists have rejected because It explains, in a clear way, the meanings of the 4 Gospels and many parts of the Old Testament. Those religious theorists, who fancifully call themselves theologians, today's pharisees, don't want their theories overturned by someone whom they seem to view as being an upstart. God will punish them, just as He punished the Jews for rejecting Jesus [Luke 20.14-18].  Who can dictate how Jesus, God, ought to manifest Himself?   Or When?  Or to whom?  Who can presume to give instructions to God?   Who is like God?... which is what St Michael the Archangel asked Lucifer [Satan] before thrusting him into Hell.  Michael means: Who is like God? I doubt that Satan is the only one in Hell for thinking, believing, and saying he was God. There is no other God outside of the God of the Bible, the God that is One and Three: Perfect, Infinite, Almighty.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Joseph Costa

This article is one of a trilogy of articles compiled from the writings of Maria Valtorta (1897-1961) by Joseph Costa. The three articles are:

-The Birth of Jesus

-The Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus

-The Final Judgment of Humanity by Jesus the Judge

Also, for a short biography on the Italian mystic, Maria Valtorta see:

-Maria Valtorta, The Pen of Jesus

-------------------------------------------------
Excerpts from the Writings of Maria Valtorta cited herein are with permission from the Italian publisher:
Centro Editoriale Valtortiano srl, Viale Piscicelli 89-91, 03036 Isola del Liri (FR), Italy.
http://www.mariavaltorta.com/
email: info@mariavaltorta.com
-------------------------------------------------

The Final Judgement of Humanity by Jesus the Judge

May 30, 2015, 11:13 am

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Last Judgement by Jesus Christ--as the Judge

Compiled by Joseph Costa from the writings of the Italian mystic, Maria Valtorta (1897-1961). This religious article might be somewhat frightful for some people. Death and Judgement are hardly joyous topics that men usually relish discussing. Those who may be susceptible to being frightened should not read on.

Pursuant to the Gospel that Jesus dictated to Maria Valtorta, He says to us:

"The knowledge of a definite judgement must not paralyse you during your lifetime or at the hour of your death. It must be a spur and a restraint, a spur urging you to do good, a restraint deterring you from evil passions."

According to Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, the earthly death of a man occurs when the soul, a spirit, separates from his body. While the body lives on, the soul remains imprisoned in that body, though always longing to return to its Origin: God. Too many souls do not return There, including those of atheists if they die unrepentant and unforgiven.

The Father creates the souls as needed. During the initial brief moment of the Father's creation of a soul, it is identical to the ones given to primogenitors Adam and Eve, but it remains pure only for "a thousandth of an instant," and then is darkened by Original Sin. The Father does not create things impure. Therefore, the soul within each of us has the knowledge of all the laws and mysterious of the universe that were once known to Adam and Eve. Original Sin has darkened all that, and done other things besides. So the knowledge is already there within us, if only we could get to it. [Don't ask me how, as I don't know.]

The soul has a better part, which Jesus calls the "soul of the soul." This better part of the soul can temporarily separate from the soul in respect of some people, but it's not death, as it returns back to the soul and body. This obviously explains the once inexplicable phenomena that some people call, "out-of-body experiences."

A soul is a particle of God, Who is Infinite, and, like Him, is eternal. The soul is infused into the woman's egg-foetus at conception, and it carries a remembrance of its Origin: God, One and Three. The first thing that commences to be formed upon conception is the heart. Abortion is therefore murder, carried out in the killing fields of their sinful mothers:  their wombs. By rebelling, Satan took away the joy of God from being the Father of all His children, men, created by His power.

Every man is subject to three judgments:
-The first judgement is made by a man himself, by the way he chooses, of his own free will, to live on earth.
-The second judgement is made by Jesus Christ upon a man's earthly death, which results in his soul being consigned into Heaven, or Purgatory and thence into Heaven, or into Hell. Limbo still exists.
-The third judgement, the Last Judgement, is of course the subject of this article and is explained here under.

While a man lives on earth, his soul, a spirit and therefore unseen by the human eye but seen by the Eye of God, takes on the shape of his living. If a man is holy, his soul takes on a beautiful shape; but if a man is sinful, his soul takes on a monstrous hideous shape. And so, after the resurrection of the dead, when the body is finally reunited to its soul, the body then takes on the shape of that soul:  beautiful if holy and set to live eternally in Heaven with God, or monstrous and hideous if set to live eternally in the tortures and fires of Hell with Satan. That reunion of body and soul of every man, from primogenitors Adam and Eve to the last man on earth, constitutes the Last Judgement. The damned souls in Hell are temporarily removed from that horror for this Last Judgement, and thence cast back into Hell again with body and soul reunited. Don't go there! The pleasure of a temporary mortal sin on earth is not worth an eternity of pains and sufferings in Hell.

There are no other Judges in the afterlife outside of Jesus Christ. Woe to those who have struck Him, either directly or in His followers, the persecuted Christians.
A sketchy vision (or prophesy) of the resurrection of the dead has been in existence for centuries in the Old Testament of the Bible, as narrated by real prophet Ezekiel. I was not aware that it was such until Jesus explained that it was such via His Dictations to Maria Valtorta, who received a much fuller vision.

Below, therefore, are the respective visions shown to Ezekiel and to Maria Valtorta, followed by some Comments by Jesus Christ, the only Judge in the afterlife.
Ezekiel outlines his vision of the resurrection of the dead:  In the Old Testament of the Bible, in the Book of Ezekiel, Ezekiel says:

"So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And as I looked, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them;"   (Ezekiel 37.7-8)

Hereunder, Maria Valtorta outlines her much fuller vision of the resurrection of the dead and of the Last Judgement by Jesus Christ the Judge, together with His Comments:

"What I see this evening:

"An immense expanse of land. A sea, so great it is without limits. I say 'land' because there is some land as in fields and in roads. But there is not one tree, not one stalk, not a blade of grass. Dust, dust and more dust.
"I see this in a light that is not light. A brightness barely outlined, livid, of a violet-green shade like one notices at the time of a very violent storm or of total eclipses. A light, causing fear, of extinguished stars. Lo: the sky is deprived of astral lights. There are no stars, no moon, no sun. The sky is empty, as also the earth. The former stripped of its flowers of light, the latter of its vegetal and animal life. They are two immense remnants of what [once] was.
"I have all the leisure [I need] to see this desolate vision of the death of the universe, which I think would have [had] the same appearance at its first moment; when there was already a sky and earth, but the former unpopulated with stars and the latter naked of life: a globe already solidified but still uninhabited, flying through space while awaiting the Finger of the Creator [Jesus]to give it grasses and animals.

"Why do I understand that this is a vision of the death of the universe? Through one of those 'second voices' which I know, not from whom they come, but which within me do what the chorus does in the ancient tragedies: [play] the part of guides about special aspects which the protagonists do not illuminate. This is just what I mean and which I will tell you about later.
"While I swing my gaze around on this desolate scene, the necessity of which I do not understand, I see, erect in the middle of a limitless plain - and emerged from where I do not know - I see Death. A skeleton which laughs with Its bared teeth and Its empty eye-sockets, Queen of that dead world, and wrapped in Its shroud as in a mantle. It has no scythe. It has already scythed. It swings Its empty gaze over Its harvest and smirks.

"It has its arms folded on Its breast. Then It unfolds them, those skeleton arms, and opens Its hands of nothing more than naked bones and, since It is a giant and omnipresent figure - or better said, a very near  figure - It rests a finger on me, the index finger of the [its] right hand, on my forehead. I feel the iciness of the pointed bone which seems to perforate my forehead and enter like a needle of ice into my head. But I understand that this has no other significance than that of wanting to recall my attention to what is about to happen.

"In fact, with Its left arm It makes a gesture indicating to me the wide expanse on which we stand there: It, Death, the Queen, and I, the only one alive. At Its mute command, given with the skeleton fingers of Its left hand and with a rhythmical turning to the right and to the left of Its head, the earth is cleft [parted] into thousands and thousands of fissures. And in the bottom of these dark furrows are scattered white things, but I don't understand what they are.
"While I try to think of what they are, Death continues with Its gaze and command to plough the sod as with a ploughshare, and the land is opened up always more, as far as the distant horizon; and Death furrows the waves of the seas - which are deprived of any sails - and the waters are opened up in liquid chasms.

"And then from the furrows of the land and from the furrows of the sea those white things that I saw scattered and dislocated rise up, recomposing themselves. There are millions and millions and millions of skeletons which surface from the oceans, which straighten up on the ground. Skeletons of all heights. From the tiny ones of infants with small hands like little dusty spiders, to those of adult men, and even giants whose bulk make one think of certain antediluvian beings.  And they stand[there] astonished and as if trembling, like those awakened suddenly from a deep sleep and who are disoriented as to where they are.

"The sight of all those skeleton bodies, growing white in that 'non-light' of the Apocalypse, is dreadful.

"And then, around [each of] those skeletons, there slowly condenses a mist, like a fog rising from the opened ground, from the opened seas. It takes on form and density, it becomes flesh, a body like ours, like us who are living. The eyes - or rather the eye-sockets - fill in with irises; the cheek-bones become covered with cheeks and over the naked jaw-bones the gums spread out, the lips reform themselves, the hair returns on the skulls, the arms shape themselves, the fingers become nimble, and the whole body comes alive again, just as ours is.

The same [as ours], but different in appearance.
"There are very beautiful bodies, of a perfection of forms and colours which make them like masterpieces of art. There are others of them that are hideous, not from lameness or deformities true and proper, but in their general appearance which is more that of a brute beast than of a man. Grim eyes, a contorted face, a beastly appearance and, what strikes me more, a gloom that emanates from the body increasing the lividness of the air that surrounds them. While the most beautiful ones have laughing eyes, a serene face, a gentle appearance, and they emanate a luminosity that forms a halo around their being from head to feet, and radiates around them.

"If all were like the former [ugly bodies], the darkness would have become total, to the point of concealing everything. But by virtue of the latter [beautiful bodies], the luminosity not only perdures [continues to exist] but increases, so much so that I can notice all quite well.

"As for the ugly ones, about whose destiny as the accursed I have no doubts, since they bear this curse marked on their forehead, they are silent, casting frightened and grim looks around, below and above them, and they group themselves on one side at some intimate command which I don't hear, but which must be given by someone and perceived by these risen ones. The very beautiful ones also join themselves together smiling and looking with pity mixed with horror at the ugly ones. And they sing, these very beautiful ones, they sing a slow and soft chorus of blessing to God.

"I forgot to say that the bodies were all naked but that it didn't make sense, as if malice were dead too: in them and in me. And then, for the bodies of the damned, their darkness made a screen, and for that of the blessed, their very light made a garment. Therefore what is animality in us disappeared under the emanation of the internal spirit, a master [who is] quite cheerful or quite despaired of the flesh.
"I see nothing else. I understand that I have seen the final resurrection.... 
"And now Jesus begins to speak:"

Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, explains...
"When time is ended and life must be only Life in the heavens, the whole world [earth] will return, as you [Maria Valtorta]thought, to being what it was in the beginning, before it is completely dissolved. Which will happen when I have judged [it].

"Many think that from the moment of the end [of time] to the universal Judgement will be only a moment. But God will be good to the end, O daughter [Maria Valtorta]. Good and just.

"Not all those living at the last hour will be saints, nor all damned. Among the former will be those who are destined for Heaven but who have something to expiate. I would be unjust if I cancelled for them the expiation [in Purgatory] that I also threatened for all those who preceded them and found themselves in the same condition as these [last saved ones] at the hour of their death.

"Therefore, while justice and the end will come for other planets, and like torches on which one puffs, the stars of the heavens will be extinguished one by one, and darkness and cold will go on increasing, in My hours which are your centuries  - and already the hour of darkness has begun, in the firmament [universe] as in hearts  -  those living in the last hour, those who have died at the last hour, and have merited Heaven but still need to be cleansed, will go into the purifying fire [of Purgatory]. I will increase the heat of that fire so that their purification may be quicker and the blessed do not wait too long to bring their holy flesh to glorification and make it, too, enjoy their God, their Jesus, in His perfection and in His triumph.

"This is why you saw the earth devoid of grasses and trees, of animals, of men, of life; and the oceans deprived of sails:motionless expanses of still waters, since there will be no need of their movement any more in order to give life to fish in those waters, as there will be no need of heat any more for the earth to give life to crops and to beings. This is why you saw the firmament [universe] emptied of its luminaries, with no more fires and with no more lights. Light and heat will no longer be necessary for the earth  -  now an enormous corpse carrying in itself the corpses of all the living, from Adam [first created man]to the last [descendant] son of Adam.

"Death, My last handmaid on Earth, will accomplish Its final task, and then It too will cease to be. Death will be no more. But only Life eternal - in bliss, or in horror. Life in God, or life in Satan for your 'I' (ego) re-composed in soul and body."

Thereafter, only two things will remain which are eternal:  "Paradise:  light, joy, peace, love;  Hell:  darkness, sorrow, horror, hatred."

Jesus says:  "Man is frugal [careful] in his days [living on earth], and death horrifies him. The more he is enveloped in the darkness of false religions or in unbelief, the more he fears death. But he who comes to the true Faith [true Christianity] is no longer terrified of death because he knows that beyond death there is an eternal life where spirits [souls] will meet again and where there will be no more pains or separations."

The foregoing is pursuant to the Gospel that Jesus dictated to Maria Valtorta.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Joseph Costa

This article is one of a trilogy of articles compiled from the writings of Maria Valtorta (1897-1961) by Joseph Costa. The three articles are:

-The Birth of Jesus

-The Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus

-The Final Judgment of Humanity by Jesus the Judge

Also, for a short biography on the Italian mystic, Maria Valtorta see:

-Maria Valtorta, The Pen of Jesus

------------------------------------------------------

Excerpts from the Writings of Maria Valtorta cited herein are with indirect permission from the Italian publisher --
Centro Editoriale Valtortiano srl, Viale Piscicelli 89-91, 03036 Isola del Liri (FR), Italy.
http://www.mariavaltorta.com/ 
info@mariavaltorta.com.

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Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

June 2, 2015, 7:53 pm

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The Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus begins Thursday, June 4, 2015

The most Sacred Heart of Jesus! The burning Heart of God which pours forth His infinite love for us! It is perhaps the greatest of all the devotions, as it is centered in the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus. It is said to be St Padre Pio's favorite devotion and he recited the novena prayer below every day for all those who asked his prayers. Like many Saints, Padre Pio knew the power of the infinite love and mercy that comes forth from the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 

This year (2015), the Church celebrates the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Friday, June 12,  and so this year the Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus begins Thursday, June 4, 2015. 

By far the most popular and traditional novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus would be the one below that St Margaret Mary Alocoque herself promulgated. It is also the novena that St Gemma Galgani recited when she was miraculously cured by Jesus, and also the one that St Padre Pio recited daily, as mentioned above. The beauty of it is that it incorporates both a tender love for Jesus and His most Sacred Heart, and also a tender devotion to His Mother, the most Blessed Virgin Mary. 
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Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
(To be recited daily for 9 consecutive days)

I.) O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you." Behold I knock, I seek and ask for the grace of...... (here name your request)
Our Father....Hail Mary....Glory Be to the Father....
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

II.) O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you." Behold, in your name, I ask the Father for the grace of.......(here name your request)
Our Father...Hail Mary....Glory Be To the Father....
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

III.) O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away." Encouraged by your infallible words I now ask for the grace of.....(here name your request)
Our Father....Hail Mary....Glory Be to the Father...
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

O' Sacred Heart of Jesus, for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us poor sinners and grant us the grace(s) which we ask of you, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, your tender Mother and ours.

Hail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears! Turn, then, O most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary; pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for us.

--Novena promulgated by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690)
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Some of the promises that Jesus made to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque for those who make the devotion to His most Sacred Heart:

(1) "I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life. 

(2) I will establish peace in their homes. 

(3) I will comfort them in all their afflictions. 

(4) I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all, in death. 

(5) I will bestow abundant blessings upon all their undertakings. 

(6) Sinners will find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy. 

(7) Lukewarm souls shall become fervent. 

(8) Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection. 

(9) I will bless every place in which an image of my Heart is exposed and honored. 

(10) I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts. 

(11) Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in my Heart. 

(12) I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Fridays in nine consecutive months the grace of final perseverance; they shall not die in my disgrace, nor without receiving their sacraments. My divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment." 

The unique spiritual events in the life of St Joan of Arc

June 10, 2015, 7:15 pm

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The remarkable heavenly graces in the life of St. Joan of Arc

"Act, and God will act." -St Joan of Arc

Even the greatest Saints have occasionally completely misinterpreted the prophesies given to them
Towards the end of her harsh and very unjust imprisonment, a Voice from heaven revealed to St Joan of Arc:
"You will be released on May 30th!"

Oh, how her heart leaped with joy at the revelation of her imminent release from the torturous prison, after having suffered a rigorous imprisonment for one year! She gloriously shared this great news of her forthcoming release with the few people who were allowed to visit and attend to her.

What she didn't know, but soon learned, was that the promised "release" consisted of the terror of her being burned alive at the stake, her soul thus being released from this life, to fly to heaven to be with her Jesus. -How different is the perspective from heaven than that of us here on earth! "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord."(Isaiah 55:8) And so we see how even the greatest Saints can completely misinterpret what would seem to be a very simple and straightforward prophesy.

Thus we ourselves would be very wise not to have too much confidence in our capacity to understand and interpret the messages from heaven! For in her great humility, St Joan of Arc recognized her human frailty, and during her tortuous imprisonment and trial she told her friends that out of her human weakness she could not be sure what things she might say under torture or duress – and told them to please give witness to others of her intention to serve the Lord faithfully, regardless of whatever she might say while in agony. As it turned out, she publicly kept her faith in God to the painful end – but in her great humility she recognized her human frailty and thus she made provisions for it if she weakened. Oh, the wisdom of a 19 year old that shines before men!

St. Joan of Arc prays and brings a dead baby back to life so that it might be baptized. -Baby said to have been dead for 3 days
In the Spring of 1430, Joan had just arrived in Lagny-sur-Marne, France, where she was to lead the French forces there against the English. It was there, in the midst of war, that the miracle occurred.

According to her own testimony, she was called upon to join some other young women who were praying in a Church beseeching God and the Blessed Virgin Mary on behalf of a dead baby, that it might be revived long enough to baptize it. Here is Joan's own testimony
"I was told that the girls of the town were gathered before the statue of our Lady and wanted me to come and pray to God and our Lady to bring a baby back to life. So I went and prayed with the others. And finally life appeared in him, and he yawned three times. Then he was baptized, and soon afterwords he died, and was buried in consecrated ground.

For three days, I was told, he had shown no signs of life, and he was as black as my jacket. But when he yawned his color began to come back. And I was on my knees there with the other girls, praying before our Lady."

Her obedience to the heavenly "Voices"
During her unjust trial before the tribunal, Joan revealed under oath some details of who were the heavenly voices and visitors that guided and led her into battle against the English, and how often they came to her. The heavenly visits began in the summer of 1424 at age 13, when she says she was suddenly "...surrounded by a great light, and then I heard a revelation from God through a Voice which told me to be prayerful, to frequent the sacraments of the Church, and to always trust in the Lord for help."

At first she did not know whom the Voice was, but on the third occasion she then "knew" it was the voice of an Angel. During her trial she specifically stated that during her lifetime she had received numerous visits from 4 heavenly Visitors:  St. Michael the Archangel and the Angel Gabriel, particularly leading up to, and during the battles against the English. The two other primary heavenly visitors who guided and helped her were St. Catherine of Alexandria and also St Margaret of Antioch.

Without going into details here--for there are numerous biographies on the internet about St Joan of Arc---suffice it to state that through the holy Will of God, these heavenly voices and visions led the teenage Joan to become the leader of the French army, who through her extraordinary courage and guidance, eventually ousted the occupying English forces from France, and restored Charles, the king of France, to his rightful throne.

While many biographers rightly point out that Joan was almost * always obedient to her "Voices", even unto her horrible death at the stake, it should also be pointed out that she also remained obedient to the Church, as is revealed on a number of occasions during her trial, where she sought to obey even the often unjust requests and directives of Bishop Pierre Cauchon, her primary accuser. And during her trial when asked if she would submit herself to the determination of the Church, she replied:
"I refer myself to our Lord who sent me, to Our Lady, and to all of the blessed Sants in Paradise. It seems to me that our Lord and the Church are one and the same, and that no one should make difficulties about this. Why do you make difficulties about Them being one and the same?"

The fact remains that she was never given any directives by the legitimate Church authority concerning her heavenly visitors, so she remained free throughout her life to obey her "Voices." Had her priest spiritual director, confessor or other legitimate Church authority told her otherwise, one can only assume that she would have obeyed their directives. Yet we must concede something here---During her trial when she was asked about obedience to the Church, she replied: “They [the Voices] do not order me to disobey the Church, but God must be served first.”

*One has to say that she was almost always obedient to her Voices, because on one occasion while in prison she jumped out of the window of the  Beaurevoir Tower in an effort to escape, and she herself admits that: "Almost every day St. Catherine warned me not to jump; that God would help me and also the people of Compiegne. [The English were then advancing on the city of  Compiegne] And I said to St Catherine that if God intended to help the people of Compiegne, then I intended to be there helping too."  The height of the jump was said to be at least 65 feet, nevertheless she only received a few bumps and bruises, but she was immediately recaptured. Afterwards, her testimony during the trial reveals that she was deeply repentant for having disobeyed St. Catherine.

To sum up very succinctly this topic of her obedience to the heavenly voices, His Excellency Thomas Basin, bishop of Lisieux wrote the following not long after her holy death:

"Regarding her mission, and the apparitions and revelations that she said she had, everyone has the right to believe as he pleases, to reject them or not, according to his point-of-view or way of thinking. What is important regarding these visions is the fact that Joan had herself no shadow of a doubt regarding their reality, and it was their effect upon her, and not her natural inclination, that impelled her to leave her parents and her home to undertake great perils and to endure great hardships — and, as it proved, a terrible death.  It was these visions and voices, and they alone, which enabled her to believe that she would succeed in saving her country and in placing her king on his throne.  It was these visions and voices which finally enabled her to do those marvelous deeds, and accomplish what appeared to all the world as impossible."

The greatest Saints are human too! In a moment of weakness, Joan momentarily renounces her visions and mission
On May 24, 1431 Joan was taken to a scaffold set up in the cemetery next to Saint-Ouen Church, and told that she would be burned immediately unless she signed a document renouncing her visions and that she must agree to stop wearing soldiers' clothing. Under deep duress after a years worth of privation in a torturous prison, she signed the document saying: "I would rather sign it than burn."

On May 28, Joan recanted her previous abjuration, donned men's apparel once more, and was accused of relapsing into heresy. In reply to this new charge of relapse she said:
"What I said, I said for fear of the fire. Since then, my Voices have told me that I did a very wicked thing in confessing that what I had done [by leading the war against the English] was not well done. They told me that God, through St. Catherine and St. Margaret, helped me to understand the great treason that I consented to by making that abjuration and revocation to save my own life, and that I was damning myself to save my life. If I should say that God had not sent me I should damn myself. It is true that God has sent me.

"Pray for those who persecute you"- St Joan of Arc pleads to her enemies to retreat before leading the attack against them
We may take yet another important lesson from the heroic life of St. Joan of Arc. Despite the fact that she is often portrayed with armor and sword, the truth is that she disliked bloodshed and longed for peace. She refused to wield her own sword in battle: it was used as a threat to the enemy and held aloft as a signal to her soldiers.

For about an hour prior to many of her battles, before leading the attack she would tearfully plead with the English soldiers to surrender or withdraw. She would have been perfectly happy for them to withdraw from the French positions they held, for she bore them no animosity. Usually during that hour she would be the recipient of the most vulgar and obscene taunts from the Englishmen. Once she was satisfied she could not persuade them to retreat, the battle commenced, and the teenage girl who had been tearfully pleading a few moments earlier, would encourage her men to fight heroically and fiercely.

Thus, she loved her enemies, bore them no ill will, and would have been perfectly content for them to withdraw to their own territory, and live in peace. Many of her fellow soldiers testified how after the bloody battles she often wept upon seeing the dead soldiers on both sides. There is even one occasion that is widely reported where she held one of the dying enemy soldiers in her arms during his last moments, encouraging him in making his confession to the accompanying priest.

Some notable replies from Joan at her trial an at her holy death
-“Do you know if you are in the grace of God?”
“If I am not, may God place me there; if I am, may God keep me there. I should be the saddest in all the world if I knew that I were not in the grace of God. But I think, if I were in a state of sin, the Voice would not come to me. And I wish that everyone heard It as I do! – Saturday, Feb. 24, 1431

-“Was it God who prescribed to you the dress of a man?” [Concerning her 40 pound suit of armor]
“What concerns this dress is a small thing – less than nothing. I did not take it by the advice of any man in the world. I did not take this dress or do anything but by the command of Our Lord and of the Angels.”

-“Which did you care for most, your banner or your sword?”
“Better, forty times better, my banner than my sword!”

-“In what likeness did Saint Michael appear to you?”
“I did not see a crown; and I know nothing of his dress.”

-Was he then naked?”
“Do you think God has not wherewithal to clothe him?”

Warning Joan of Arc issued to her judges:
"You say that you are my judge; take good heed of what you do, because in truth I am sent by God, and you put yourself in great peril. I give you this warning so that if our Lord punishes you for it, my duty to warn you is done." 

Joan of Arc's response to the threat of torture:
"Truly, if you were to tear me limb from limb and separate my soul from my body, I would not say anything more. Yet, if I did say anything, afterwards I would always declare that you made me say it by force!" 

Joan's response when she learned how she would die:
"Oh! Am I to be so horribly and cruelly treated? Alas! That my body, clean and whole, which has never been corrupted, should this day be consumed and burned to ashes! Ah! I would far rather have my head chopped off seven times over, than to be burned!" 

Joan speaking to Bishop Pierre Cauchon after learning of her impending execution:
"Bishop, I die through you" 

At her death, Joan asking for a crucifix to be held level with her eyes:
"Hold the crucifix up before my eyes so I may see it until I die." 

St. Joan of Arc's last words:
"Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!" 
_______________________
"I place trust in God, my creator, in all things; I love Him with all my heart."-St Joan of Arc
-St Joan of Arc, pray for us!

Beware of psychic mediums: Spirit guides are demonic and evil

June 19, 2015, 3:30 pm

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Spirit guides, known as "familiar" spirits, are almost always demonic in nature

"Uncle Ponto"- the familiar spirit who almost led a despairing man to suicide
The exorcist, Fr. Malachi Martin, in his popular book “Hostage to the Devil: The Possession and Exorcism of Five Contemporary Americans" (which can be read for free here) relates a true story of a "spirit guide"--often called a "familiar spirit"---known as "Uncle Ponto", who attached himself to a young California man in the 1970's named Jamsie.

This "Uncle Ponto" as this demon called himself, was a deformed looking person who began appearing to Jamsie during a troubled period in his teens. “All I’m asking for, all I ever asked for,” Jamsie remembers Uncle Ponto saying softly as he drove onto Highway 101,“is that you let me come and live with you. I won’t be in the way. You need a friend like me.”

Uncle Ponto would often appear out of nowhere, suddenly sitting in the back seat of Jamsie's car for example, showing himself through Jamsie's rear view mirror. At first, Jamsie was quite startled upon first seeing Uncle Ponto, for Ponto's appearance was a strange looking caricature of a man, and he had always thought in the back of his mind that Uncle Ponto might be an evil spirit, yet as time went on there were times he appreciated and even relished the eerie company of Ponto, and often he got a kick out of their encounters.

As time went on, little by little the familiar spirit Uncle Ponto began to appear more and more to Jamsie, often giving him day to day suggestions on what he should do in different areas of his life. In fact, he often became overbearing, and did not like it if Jamsie did not take his advice. And as the years continued to pass, Ponto became more and more of a pestering nuisance. Ponto continually sought to isolate Jamsie, saying that he was his only true friend and that nobody else understood him like he did.

Fortunately through a friend Jamsie met a Catholic priest named Fr. Mark. On that evening Jamsie had visited with the priest, Fr. Mark had treated him to mushroom soup made from his own recipe. Afterward, Jamsie had talked with him into the small hours of the morning, telling him of his early life, of Ponto’s harassment, and of his own growing deep despair and continual anger against life.

But several times during that conversation, Jamsie had found himself incapable of going along with what Mark proposed: to get rid of Uncle Ponto. Always, at that point, Jamsie felt an unaccountable fear. If Ponto no longer existed in his life, what would happen? It was just as if Ponto represented some form of security.

Spirit guides\Familiar spirits will never say the holy name of Jesus with devotion
Yet, two very important lessons came out of  Jamsie's meeting with Fr. Mark:
1) Uncle Ponto did not like Fr. Mark at all, and interestingly he was not present at all during Jamsie's visit with Fr. Mark, but afterwards Ponto told him never to speak with Fr. Mark again, and Ponto derisively nicknamed Fr Mark “Mushroom-Souper,”

2)  One of Fr. Mark's suggestions to Jamsie to rid himself of "Uncle Ponto" was to say the holy name of Jesus in his presence, and if he somehow could not, then to spell it out the Name of Jesus one letter at a time. On one occasion soon afterwards, Ponto was being more overbearing than usual, and Jamsie had had enough. In an attempt to silence Ponto, Jamsie said“You’re the son of the Father of Lies!” he shouted poisonously at Ponto. “That’s what Mark said Jesus called him . .”---at the word "Jesus" Jamsie’s ears were split by a high-pitched scream from Ponto.“DON’T!” Ponto shouted. “Don’t mention that person’s name in my presence. Don’t mention THAT!”

Sr. Josefa Menendez

We see this hatred from the demons for the holy Name of Jesus revealed through the lives of numerous mystics. In fact, it is the easiest and simplest way to "test the spirits", as John the apostle advises in (1 John 4:1). With this in mind we can see for example how in her journal Sr. Josefa Menendez writes:
"On the night of the 13th or 14th of January, 1922  the devil began once more to torture me. He tried to force me to abandon my vocation. In his increasing fury he even tried to deceive me by taking on the appearance of Jesus."

And since in the following days and weeks the demon continued to try to appear to her as Jesus, and as various Angels and Saints, eventually to remedy this problem her spiritual director, Father Boyer O.P. at first had her renew her profession vows [as a nun] whenever a "heavenly" visitor would appear, which would naturally repel and fill an evil spirit  with disgust, but after consulting the lives of the Saints and their experiences in this area, he then advised her that immediately upon the appearance of any "visitor", he told her to recite the 'Divine Praises' of which she was to ask the visitors to immediately repeat after her. In their great pride and hatred for God the demons could never utter any of the "Blessings" of the Divine Praises [ie- the "Blessed be God" and "Blessed be Jesus Christ" etc..]

Josefa's spiritual director likely discovered this powerful weapon in discerning the heavenly vs. demonic visitors from the life of St Gemma Galgani (1878-1903), for it was precisely through the reciting of the "Divine Praises" that Gemma was finally able to thwart the devil who was frequently appearing to her under different disguises in an effort to deceive her. For as Gemma learned (thanks to her spiritual director, Venerable Fr. Germanus C.P.) that the devil with his polluted lips is never able to utter such words of praise and benediction. In Gemma's case, when a visitor would appear, she would simply say "Blessed be Jesus and Mary!"  If the spirit was sent from God, the spirit would always reply back to her with the same exclamation"Blessed be Jesus and Mary!"

If however the spirit was not of God, it would either not reply to her exclamation, or it would say simply "Blessed be!", the simple reason being that demons will never utter the holy Names of Jesus and Mary with devotion, however the heavenly visitors were more than happy to oblige in their response with great love and devotion. With this testing of the spirits, both Josefa Menendez and St Gemma were then always able to immediately identify the authenticity of her "visitors."

One very important thing to note here is the significant difference between the authentic mystics of the Church, and psychic mediums is that the heavenly visitors of the mystic-Saints come on their own accord by the divine will and permission of God, whereas the visitors of the psychic mediums are channeled and called upon by the mediums themselves. And this latter action of channeling spirits is the biblical sin of necromancy.

Unfortunately for Jamsie and many others, by the time they realize the truth concerning their familiar spirits, the spirits already have quite a hold on their whole life, and will influence and control much of what they do, or don't do. These "spirit guide" entities have no intentions of letting go, and their unfortunate victims will become trusting and eventually dependent upon these spirits. And as long as they're oppressed and obsessed with these spirits, they typically feel little or no need to pray to God, or to seek Him in any way. In other words, demons wean people away from a close personal relationship with Jesus with beliefs and ideas that are contrary to the Gospel.

The demonic deception of mediums and psychics--Why bother with all of this "Jesus stuff" if all of my deceased relatives are happy and in the light?
The 'modus operandi' or primary purpose of the demons is to very discreetly deceive and to tempt---for sure they do not come to us with horns on their head and a pitchfork! At first they gladly seek to deceive us and lead us away from God through pleasant thoughts and ideas, which on the surface seem innocuous, such as encouraging the idea that all of our deceased relatives are "in the light" and are very happy in the next life, without of course any specific mention of heaven though, because this would bring God into the picture.

Yet, if all of our deceased relatives are in the light of heaven as the channeled dead spirits of the psychic mediums would have us believe, then what need is there of the Gospel message of repentance for sin? Why then bother with going to Church to worship God and all of the "Jesus stuff" and the need for forgiveness of sins? What need is there then of even loving and praying to God, if even your deceased "Uncle Fester", the blasphemous domestic abuser, is now happy and in the light? -There we have the primary nature of the demons seduction when it comes to psychics and mediums. And in their deceptions the demons do not counterfeit copper, but only gold.

If at first the demons can deceive a person with happy feel good doctrines in this way, they will then later inspire one to other deceptions against God, and will eventually tempt one to despair. They are in it for the long game, and one's eternal soul is the steaks.

The prevalence of the demonic in the world today- Many Christians are giving away their inheritance for "a bowl of stew"
"Then Jacob gave Esau bread and stew; and he ate and drank, and rose and went on his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright." Genesis 25: 29-34
Genesis 25 shows us how Esau despises his birthright as firstborn consecrated to God, and sells it to his brother for a bowl of stew.

As the owner of this website, it is very disheartening for me to see that of the 115+ articles on this website, by far the most visited article each day is the article I wrote on "How to get rid of Evil Spirits, Demons and Ghosts" 

I had written this article on how to get rid of evil spirits a few years ago in reply to the numerous emails I have received from people who are plagued by malevolent spirits, who were often driving them to despair. It is sad for me to see that this one article is always at the top of the website page visit list each day, when there are so many inspiring and edifying articles on this website. This simply shows how our Western culture is now heavily besieged by evil spirits which have deeply infiltrated our societies once based on Christian principles and ideals. Many of the christian baptized have sold their birthright to Spiritualist and "New Age" beliefs and practices by personally visiting psychic mediums and clairvoyants, or attending seminars and workshops on "How to get in touch with your Spirit guides" and similar themed conferences.

It's no wonder then that many souls in our Western society are now under the influence of the demonic, and have replaced christian beliefs and practices with pagan ones. If one abandons the crucified Jesus and His teachings on sacrificial love and repentance for sin etc. to seek after more "happy and easy" doctrines, such as where everybody goes to a happy place of light, then what inevitably happens? "To where else would we go, for You alone have the words of eternal life" as Jesus disciples had wisely once said.

Spirit guides may at first seem benevolent, but will inevitably turn malevolent
Closing now the true story of Jamsie and the familiar spirit "Uncle Ponto" who at first seemed benevolent, but in time became malevolent and harassed and plagued him almost constantly. In deep despair Jamsie almost committed suicide by jumping off a cliff, all the while the malignant Ponto was encouraging him to jump, saying: “Jamsie! Be a man. Get it over with!” and repeating over and over: “Jump-uh! Jump-uh! Jump-uh! Jump-uh!”

In the last moment Jamsie remembered Father Mark and his instructions. The trick, that was it! The trick! He began desperately spelling out the name of Jesus again and again: J-E-S-U-S. J-E-S-U-S. J-E-S-U-S. Then he ran all the letters together like an incantation- J-E-S-U-S-J-E-S-U-S-J-E-S-U-S!

That name that Ponto so hated sent him to flight, leaving Jamsie free to collect his thoughts. He immediately decided to call Fr. Mark who came and picked him up. Later, it would be the same Fr. Mark who would perform the sacred Catholic Rite of Exorcism with Jamsie, completely freeing him of Uncle Ponto for good.

-Lord Jesus Crucified, have mercy upon us!

The time of the Purification of Humanity

June 26, 2015, 11:15 am

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The flaming Sword of Justice cleanses and purifies Adam and Eve

The Great Storm Is Coming Upon Us

Then Jesus told the crowds, "When you see a cloud coming in from the west, you immediately say, 'There's going to be a storm,' and so it happens." (Luke 12:54)

On April 18, 2013 I published the article "God's Warning For Humanity Has Been Delayed-The Time Of Mercy Has Been Prolonged."
 On November 7, 2013 I published "The Great Purification That Is Soon To Come For All Of Humanity"

This present article completes the Trilogy of the Warning. The alleged mystic I wrote about in a veiled way in Parts 1 and 2 has recently passed from this life. If (and I do mean "if") she had in fact helped to withhold the arm of God up until this point, well that help is no longer with us in this life. Yet, I know that there are other victim souls in the world at this time, but eventually God's justice must be brought forth for the salvation of souls, because for sure many souls are being lost in our current culture and the ever growing Godless society in which we are living.

Three laymen whom I deeply respect for their integrity, wisdom and devotion to God have each recently issued warnings that the "Storm-Purification" is soon coming upon us, perhaps in the months of September-October, 2015. The recent forewarning of this impending "Storm" for humanity comes from Mark Mallett of The Now Word and his article "The Hour of Lawlessness" here, Michael Brown of Spirit Daily and his "Special Report" article here, and Charlie Johnston of The Next Right Step and his article "The Fullness of the Storm" here.

If what these men along with a number of others in the Catholic-Christian world are foretelling is indeed true--and this writer believes it is---very soon God will allow a great Storm-Purification to overtake us for a time, all in an effort to set things right, that evil may not triumph. The truth is, in the end, it will be the Immaculate Heart of Mary that will Triumph.

In the upcoming months we are all going to suffer for our own good, and for the good of humanity. Our pride and all that is contrary to God and His laws must be crushed and rooted out. The majority of the world is currently living in Godless cultures and societies, and so the supporting structures of our current civilizations prideful 'tower of babel' against God will be removed, and the collapse will be great. Those who have ears to hear ought to hear. We must prepare now, while we can; spiritually first, then also materially, for it is very prudent to do so (and very foolish not to). We ought to endeavor to be like the wise Virgins and to fill our lamps with oil, both spiritually and materially.

The website Rorate Caeli has published a translation of a remarkable interview, originally published in 2008, with Cardinal Cardinal Carlo Caffara of Bologna. In it, he references correspondence he had with Sister Lucia, one of the visionaries of Our Lady at Fatima:

Question: There is a prophecy by Sister Lucia dos Santos, of Fatima, which concerns “the final battle between the Lord and the kingdom of Satan”. The battlefield is the family. Life and the family. We know that you were given charge by John Paul II to plan and establish the Pontifical Institute for the Studies on Marriage and the Family.

Yes, I was. At the start of this work entrusted to me by the Servant of God John Paul II, I wrote to Sister Lucia of Fatima through her Bishop as I couldn’t do so directly. Inexplicably however, since I didn’t expect an answer, seeing that I had only asked for prayers, I received a very long letter with her signature – now in the Institute’s archives. In it we find written: The final battle between the Lord and the reign of Satan will be about marriage and the family. Don’t be afraid, she added, because anyone who operates for the sanctity of marriage and the family will always be contended and opposed in every way, because this is the decisive issue. And then she concluded: however, Our Lady has already crushed its head.

Talking also to John Paul II, you felt too that this was the crux, as it touches the very pillar of creation, the truth of the relationship between man and woman among the generations. If the founding pillar is touched the entire building collapses and we see this now, because we are at this point and we know it. And I’m moved when I read the best biographies of St Padre Pio, on how this man was so attentive to the sanctity of marriage and the sanctity of the spouses, even with justifiable rigor on occasion.

Lot and his daughters fleeing Sodom, with Lots wife turning to a pillar of salt

Do not look back on what is lost when our society collapses
As I write these lines, I am reminded of the very providential Mass reading's today (June 30, 2015) which directly pertains to our current situation:
The first reading, (Gen.19, 15-29) is the story of Lot and his family being led out of Sodom by two Angels, just prior to Its destruction by the will of God.

For sure there are a number of  lessons that speak directly to our current situation, given the recent Supreme court decision, and also the referendum vote in Ireland last month, but the most important lesson for us is that Lot and his family were warned by the Angels when they were told to flee "Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley [of Sodom]". 

Unfortunately in her attachment to what was left behind, Lots wife did look back at Sodom, and she was instantly turned into a pillar of salt. We must endeavor to free ourselves to our attachments to the things of this world, and seek to bind ourselves completely to Jesus. Economies will collapse and infrastructures will fail, for the paper and paste that holds them together will soon become unglued. Do not weep over the what will soon become lost, for the Storm will sweep away many things in our current world, so we must endeavor not to be attached to them. The current era in which we are living is passing, and God is going to make things new, with the help of our heavenly Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

And then in today's Gospel (Mt. 8:23-27) we find Jesus seemingly sleeping at the head of the boat, when suddenly a great Storm suddenly falls upon Him and the apostles.
"They woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?”
Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm.

Jesus alone is our Savior and He alone calms the Storm. We are to trust in Him completely. Thus, we would do well to internalize the important lessons from both of these Scripture readings. 

In closing we must never forget that God is love. And all that He does, and all that He allows in our lives is out of His infinite love and concern for us, even though it may cause us to suffer for a time. He wills and desires that all of us be with Him in heaven someday, and being our loving Father He will do all that He possibly can to save our souls, while at the same time always respecting our own free will.

-Lord Jesus Crucified, have mercy upon us! St Michael the Archangel, pray for us!

---

Anneliese Michel--A unrecognized and misunderstood victim soul. A closer look at her possession, exorcism and death

June 30, 2015, 6:09 pm

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The German book "Anneliese Michel and her demons"

The Exorcism and death of Anneliese Michel--Why did she die?

-A unrecognized and misunderstood victim soul. The case of a young German woman who died at age 23 during a series of official exorcisms

By Glenn Dallaire on July 1, 2015. the 39th anniversary of the death of Anneliese Michel

Beginning on September 24, 1975, Anneliese Michel underwent a series of exorcisms. The official rite was administered during the course of 10 months by two Catholic priests, Rev. Ernst Alt and Arnold Renz, who were given permission to do so by the local Ordinary, Bishop Stangl, in an effort to free Anneliese of at least six demons that were believed to have been possessing her.

During the early morning hours of July 1st, 1976 Anneliese died of what an autopsy later determined to be malnutrition/dehydration, yet without many of the normal accompanying physical signs of such. Because she was not only under the care of her parents, but also the two exorcist priests, worldwide publicity immediately followed her sudden death, and afterwards Annelise's parents and the two exorcists were brought to trial, and were convicted of negligent homicide.

The case of Anneliese Michel is well documented in two books: Anneliese Michel: A true story of a case of demonic possession by Fr. Jose Antonio Fortea and Lawrence E.U. LeBlanc and also "The exorcism of Anneliese Michel" by Dr. Felicitas D. Goodman. The motion pictures 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose' , 'Requiem' and 'Anneliese: The Exorcist Tapes' were all based on the case, but in the movies there were quite a number of details that were added as hollywood fiction. Contrary to normal procedures, many of the exorcisms were recorded on audio tape, and have been subsequently "leaked" and released to the public over the years.

Anneliese Michel's death was a very painful case for the Church in Germany and abroad, most especially for the priests and bishop involved, but the case did bring about some very important worldwide changes as to how exorcisms are now evaluated and performed. Details of her case can be read in the above mentioned books, and there are also many details on the internet. The emphasis of this article will be why she was possessed, and why she died.

Anneliese Michel

A virtually unrecognized victim soul of the Church
“She died to save lost souls, to atone for their sins. Anneliese was a kind, loving, sweet and obedient girl. But when she was possessed, it was something unnatural, something that you cannot explain.”
-Statement of Anna Michel, Anneliese’s mother, in 2005.

In September of 1973, Anneliese told a physician named Dr. Luthy that she was having visions of "Fratzen", the German word for ghastly demonic beings. Later that fall she also stated to another physician that she was experiencing horrible stenches, which at that time only she herself could smell. Later however, others in her family and the priests who performed the exorcisms would also smell the horrid stench during the times she was losing consciousness and being overtaken by the demons. Without going into all the details of her possession and exorcism, which are readily available in the above mentioned books and online, suffice it to say that two priests, Fathers Ernst Alt and Arnold Renz, were eventually given permission by the local Bishop to perform the Rite of Exorcism upon Anneliese, after providing numerous proofs of her possession.

This leads us to the first of two popular misunderstandings concerning Anneliese:
1) The false belief that Anneliese was mentally ill, and not possessed,
2) The lack of understanding that Anneliese was a victim soul for the Church and the conversion of sinners.

Concerning the first misunderstanding, that of her being possessed and not mentally ill, there is the statement of Fr. Alt which shows that possession was the consensus of all of the priests who knew Annelise Michel: 
"As her spiritual director, which I was from 1973 to 1975, I cannot allow that her terrible possession and her conscious acceptance of this as expiation [for sin], which both Father Renz and I have established, be passed over as if it were some “theological accident.” Anneliese Michel was possessed. All the priests who took part, Rev. Ferdinand Habiger, Rev. Karl Roth, Rev. Eduard Herrmann, and the expert on cases of exorcism, Rev. Adolf Rodewyk, S.J., were all of this conviction."

Next we will address the second misunderstanding--That lack of recognition of the fact that Anneliese was a victim soul.

The Blessed Virgin Mary makes and appearance

The choice to be freed of the demons, or to save souls- The Blessed Virgin Mary makes an appearance
One Sunday afternoon in July, 1975, Anneliese and her boyfriend Peter decided to go for a walk around an area called Paradise Mill, near Rollbach, just east of Klingenberg . They drove up to Paradise Mill, but during this period in 1975 Anneliese could barely walk without help.

After they parked they set out for a walk. Because she had so much difficulty in walking it was excruciatingly slow. Suddenly Anneliese stopped and dropped to her knees. Peter tried to communicate with Anneliese several times but she was unresponsive and appeared to be seeing a vision. A few minutes later, Anneliese stood up and shouted with excitement,“I can walk, look at me! I’m free! I’m free!”

Peter was amazed at the sudden change in Anneliese’s physical and emotional condition. He asked her what had happened to bring about this sudden change. Anneliese replied that she had seen the Blessed Virgin Mary. Unable to contain their excitement, Peter and Anneliese rushed home to share the good news with her parents and sisters. Anneliese ran upstairs and exclaimed to her mother, “Mom, mom look at me! I can walk again, I can jump, I can dance! The Mother of God appeared to me!”  As for Peter, he was completely stunned by Anneliese sudden cure.

Things remained quite calm for the next two months until Anneliese had another apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary---this time at Engelberg Monastery, which is a Franciscan monastery where Anneliese would often visit to pray. This time, the Blessed Virgin Mary complained to Anneliese:

"It is a great suffering for my heart that so many souls are lost! It is necessary to do penance for priests, for the youth and for your country. Would you be willing to do penance for these souls, so that not so many are lost?”

The Mother of God told her not to answer right away, but to think it over. Anneliese spoke to her mother Anna concerning the request made to her by the Blessed Virgin Mary, and her mother in turn discussed it with her husband, Anneliese's father, Josef. Her parents were understandably very concerned and worried, for they knew that the "penance" that Anneliese would have to undergo would in large part be that the demons would once again freely and ferociously terrorize her, and they all surmised it would likely be significantly worse than before.  

Anneliese spent much of the next days praying before a crucifix. When Anna suggested to Anneliese that she could not go through with this, Anneliese responded,“I can mom. If I don’t, souls may be lost!” 

We know that Anneliese said yes to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and it likely occurred a few days later in the family kitchen, when in Anna’s presence she heard Anneliese say:“Mother Mary, you are so beautiful!”  Anna wasn’t able to understand anything else, but she stated that Anneliese seemed to be seeing a vision. Soon afterwards she told Peter that "things will get bad again."

This time things got so bad that while prior to this point Bishop Stangl had refused to allow the Rite of Exorcism to be given to Anneliese, now on August 3, 1975 the Bishop gave permission for a "minor" Exorcism as a test to see if demons were actually present inside of her, which quickly became readily apparent during the "test". A few weeks later later he gave his consent for the full Rite of Exorcism to be given to her, which began on September 24, 1975.

Some remarkable events during her Possession and Exorcism
On one occasion Father Renz brought in three unmarked glasses of water. One contained holy water from Lourdes, one water from San Damiano, the other tap water. When Anneliese picked up the water from San Damiano she stated: “San Damiano shit water.” She then only drank the tap water.

During one exorcism, the demon stated: “I can speak any language but speak to me in German.” Although Father Renz normally read from his prayer book in Latin, on one occasion he spoke freely without his book. The demon through Anneliese immediately pointed out that he had made a mistake and that his Latin was poor. It was also astonishing to the priests to see the demons immediate responses to questions put to Anneliese in Dutch and Chinese.

On one occasion during an exorcism, Lucifer said through Anneliese:"Today, hardly anyone believes any longer in the Immaculate Conception. And the Church? At present, most believe it is only a community. The modernists are killing it evermore. We are hard at work at this  and we throw much poison into the Church, so it might be discredited. By now, those who believe in the Church and are faithful and believe in her are very few. The rosary? They do not think it is "modern". Many believe that after life, everything is finished. They are very many, and they live accordingly, because they do not pray any longer. Sins reach Heaven: but the thing will not last long. The one of 1917 (the Virgin of Fatima) said it. But only a few have listened to her. Death, tribulations, and famine, O yes, they will come again!”

Why couldn't the exorcists just cast the demons out of Anneliese?
During one exorcism session, the demons were desperately complaining:

"We are damned eternally! Out! Out! We wish to come out of the snotnose. We cannot bear staying in her any longer. That filthy slut stays the whole day in the church. We are damned! Damned!” Exorcist:“Then come out!”
Judas: “We cannot, because He does not allow it. The one up there, that one does not want it! He wants us to remain. We want to get out from her, who goes to Communion, and she goes every day! We cannot bear this! We wish to come out, out, out!...We wish to come out, but the one up there does not allow us!”

-Thus we can see that it was God who permitted the demons to oppress Anneliese, so that sinners might be converted and be saved from damnation.

Anneliese towards the end of her life

Reported mystical graces
During this time period she reported that she was receiving visits from two deceased family members, her grandmother Furg who had died three months earlier, and her sister Martha, and then also Siegfried, the recently deceased nephew of Fr. Roth, who all reportedly came to comfort and strengthen her.  Also, there were a few occasions where she reportedly knew exact times and places when persons were praying for her. There were even reports of stigmata as witnessed by family members, Fr. Alt and Peter, who purportedly saw small but clearly visible oval wounds on her feet. She insisted that these wounds were not self-inflicted. She continued to feel pain in her feet after the wounds had healed.

Concerning the purported stigmata, her mother Anna related the following: “One morning I entered Anneliese’s room and said, Anneliese, you are in bed today. I usually found her kneeling before the crucifix or doing some other form of penance. I noticed the wounds on her feet which were very swollen. This had occurred during the night. She later received the same on her hands. Her hands were not as bad as her feet. She suffered very much from these wounds.”
Even the physician Dr Roth reportedly stated upon first seeing her on one of these occasions: "My God, she has the stigmata!" but he later denied stating this in the Court proceedings. 

"You will become a great saint"
In Anneliese’s diary on October 20, 1975 we read: 
Savior:“There is still something that you must write down.” 
Anneliese “What is that?” 
Savior:“What I told you last night.” 
Anneliese:“I did not want to write that down because I thought it was from Satan. Besides, my nature revolts against the idea. Savior demands that I obey, therefore I will write it down. 
Savior:“You will become a great saint.” 
Anneliese:” I still did not want to believe it, and then the Savior, to prove that I had heard correctly, made me weep tears.” 

We can note here that Jesus is likely not referring to Anneliese becoming a canonized Saint of the Catholic church, but a great saint in heaven. When Jesus made this very same statement to St Gemma Galgani, He specifically said:"Within some years, you will be a Saint, will do miracles and will be raised to the altars."

With in regards to Anneliese, the state of possession endured with patience and love certainly works powerfully towards ones sanctification. Since enduring the possessed state is significantly more challenging than voluntary sacrificial acts, there is little doubt Anneliese sanctified herself in a heroic way by accepting these sufferings in union with Jesus for the benefit of others. Jesus tells Anneliese this in her Diary: Savior:“Every suffering, even the most commonplace, bears much fruit when it is united to my suffering.”

A visit from a soul in heaven
Diary undated, but sometime in mid-October 1975: 
"The nephew of Father Roth (named Siegfried, who was paralyzed since childhood, and who had died the week before) was here with me on the evening of October 10 and let me know he was in heaven. I did not want to believe this at first. I did come around to believing it. First because he came to me this morning and several times during the day (as far as seeing is concerned, I see nothing) and secondly because he always tries to give me courage. When I asked him why he visited me so often, he said it was because I also had to suffer, as he suffered when he was alive. He promised to give me support in all my tribulations."

During an exorcism on October 31, 1975 the demons were exceedingly upset, stating that there were a number of heavenly visitors present in the room, including the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, St. Padre Pio, Anneliese's deceased sister Martha, Siegfried, both of Anneliese’s grandmothers, Therese Neumann [a well known mystic and stigmatic who had lived in the same region of Germany], and St. Michael the Archangel. In fact, both St Padre Pio and Therese Neumann reportedly came
a number of times--to the great dismay of the demons---to assist at the exorcisms. And it was on this day, Oct 31,  that all of the demons, except for one, were temporarily driven out of Anneliese. A few days later however it was discovered that they were allowed back, along with other "mute" demons which were permitted to enter her.

Anneliese Michel

Why did she die?
The autopsy report stated that Anneliese died of malnutrition/dehydration. Certainly many people have contested this conclusion, like the author Dr. Felicitas Goodman, who felt that the prescription drug Tegretol (and she was also given numerous presrciptions for Dilantin), which Anneliese had been taking for awhile, likely played a significant role in her death.

For sure, in her final months, Anneliese insisted on many occasions that she "was not allowed to eat" and she was very adamantly opposed going to the physician or a hospital because she believed that they would declare her mentally ill, and place her in a mental illness facility. The demons admitted it was their desire to have Anneliese in a mental institution. There, she would not have the benefit of the priests and the exorcism prayers and they would thus be able to torment her more freely, and she would be out of the public view where the world would not have been aware of her possession and sufferings.

Irregardless, the "how" of her death is nowhere near as important as the "why" did she die? Exactly why did God allow her to die?

The simple answer is that Anneliese died for the same reason as St Joan of Arc: That is her mission in this life was completed.

Towards the end of her harsh and very unjust imprisonment, a Voice from heaven revealed to St Joan of Arc:
"You will be released on May 30th!"

Oh, how Joan's heart leaped with joy at the revelation of her imminent release from the torturous prison, after having suffered a rigorous imprisonment for one year! She gloriously shared this great news of her forthcoming release with the few people who were allowed to visit and attend to her. What she didn't know, but soon learned, was that the promised "release" consisted of the terror of her being burned alive at the stake, her soul thus being released from this life, to fly to heaven to be with her Jesus. -How different is the perspective from heaven than that of us here on earth! "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord." (Isaiah 55:8) And so we see how even the greatest Saints can completely misinterpret what would seem to be a very simple and straightforward prophesy.

In April, 1976, Anneliese told Father Alt that "May and June were going to be very tough months, but July would bring a resolution". Repeating the same message, on May 1st, Anneliese told her boyfriend Peter that she "would have to suffer until July", and once again on May 9, 1976, Anneliese told her father, mother, Peter and her sister Barbara that"The months of May and June were going to be bad, but that July would bring relief."

Yet at Ettleben in April, Anneliese privately stated very seriously to Father Alt: “I know now what will happen, I know this coming summer will be hard and terrible and I know I will not survive. No one can tell me any different. I will not survive.” 

During the last weeks and days, everyone--including Anneliese herself--were hanging on heavens words to Anneliese, that being that she would be freed of the demons in July. On the morning of July 1, 1976, Anna called Father Alt to inform him that Anneliese had died during the night. Like St Joan of Arc, she was indeed now free. Not in the way we here below would have it, but in the way that God would have it, for God sees with the eyes of eternity that our lives here on earth are only a temporary pilgrimage, whereas our true life is with Him in heaven for all eternity. Her sacrificial mission as a victim soul was completed, and now she was to receive her eternal reward.

When the news spread of her death, many mourned what they saw as the tragic and sad death of a young mentally ill woman who died because of the neglect of her parents and two priests, much in the same way that many people view what appears on the surface to be the tragic and sad deaths of many mystics and victim souls who give their lives wholly to God.
"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord." (Isaiah 55:8)

To quote from the book referenced below: "Since these events may be regarded from a spiritual perspective as a way of participating in Christ’s sufferings, the death of Anneliese was by no means a failure of exorcism. It has to be understood in the same way as Christ’s death. What may be seen, in the eyes of the world, as a failure, may in reality be success in the eyes of God."
LeBlanc, Lawrence (2012-09-19). Anneliese Michel--A true story of a case of demonic possession Germany-1976 (Kindle Locations 1569-1571). 

For those interested in learning more about the life of Anneliese, I highly recommend the book Anneliese Michel: A true story of a case of demonic possession by Fr. Jose Antonio Fortea and Lawrence E.U. LeBlanc. I can state upfront that I personally do not receive any remuneration from book recommendations, so this is simply a sincere recommendation on the subject.

"Oh, Father, I never thought it would be as cruel as this. I always thought I would want to suffer for others so they would not have to go to hell, but I did not realize it could be this bad and this cruel and terrible. People think suffering is an easy matter, but when things get really awful you don’t want to go on, you don’t want to take a single step further." -Anneliese Michel to Fr. Arnold

“You will pass all of your tests (the tests at her school), but you will be called upon to undergo tests of a different kind. I will give you my grace, and you will be faithful until death.”  Reported words of Jesus in a vision to Anneliese on Nov 10, 1975

-Some quotes from Anneliese Michel:
“You can mark one thing for sure--I want to go to heaven, cost what it may; to gain heaven, nothing is too much for me…On that account I should place my life at the disposal of others out of love for God, and hope more for the reward of God, than for the reward of men."

From Anneliese’s diary, October 24, 1975: 
Savior:“You will suffer a great deal and do penance, even now. But your sufferings, your sadness and desperation will help me to save souls.”

Anneliese’s diary, October 29, 1975: 
Mother of God:“Later you will also have visions.”
"If I understood her correctly, it will be as compensation for the satanic countenances that I saw in the past and those I still see. I am not sure though if this was something Satan deluded me with.

(Savior:)"Do not worry about the future. Unburden everything on Me. Seek every minute you can to listen to Me, to fulfill My will, My slightest wish, by listening to My voice. The lambs know the voice of their shepherd. I am the good shepherd and I love My lambs."
-Quote taken from four notebooks given by Anneliese to Father Renz.
___________________________________________________________

Those interested in getting a better understanding of victim souls and also some thoughts on possession-expiation should see the article "MARY CRUSHES THE SERPENT -30 Years of Experiences As An Exorcist Told In His Own Words"

St Veronica Giuliani -An extraordinary mystic and victim soul

July 4, 2015, 11:02 am

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St Veronica Giuliani

St. Veronica Giuliani -Mystic, Stigmatic, Victim Soul, Incorruptable

The webmaster would like to gratefully thank Mrs. Angelica Avcikurt for creating this article from various Italian and English sources. May God reward her for her efforts in translating from the original Italian many of the inspiring and informative passages below.

St. Veronica Giuliani (Feast day July 9) is one of the greatest Italian mystics of the 18th century. She is a saint of the stature of St. Teresa of Avila or St. Francis of Assisi. She was a soul chosen by God from her early childhood to reach the highest mystical graces which she described in her diary. Born on December 27, 1660 at Mercatello, she was given the baptismal name, Ursula. At the age of 17 she entered the cloistered Capuchin Convent at Citta di Castello in Umbria and took the name Veronica. She remained there until her death on July 9, 1727.

Her Diary
St. Veronica left us a spiritual treasure, her Diary, which she wrote under obedience to her confessor, Fr. Gerolamo Bastianelli. She began writing it in April, 1693 and finished writing it thirty four years later in 1727. She wrote a total of twenty-two thousand pages. This was a great penance for her. She did not neglect her other duties and would write late at night in her cell. The devil would often try to scare her to disrupt her writing. He would hide and break her pencils, and sometimes even attacked her physically: “After Matins, when I wanted to make an act of obedience and write for a quarter of an hour, I suddenly got a big punch in the eye and heard a voice saying, ‘damned writings!’” During the last fifteen years of her life, Veronica was so ill that a painting of Our Lady of Sorrows in her cell would come to life, and the Blessed Virgin Mary herself dictated to her the last chapters of the Diary.

Jesus made two promises to Veronica about this diary: “The Lord himself made me understand I should write everything; because He wanted it thus; and that these writings would be of great benefit to many souls; and that he wanted it to be for the whole of Christianity.” And on another occasion Jesus told her: “I inform you that I want to give special graces to whomever will trouble himself with this work. And I want everything, everything revealed. These are My works, My gifts, they are My singular graces, and all shall be for My glory.”

It is interesting to note that both saints and mystics have been entrusted with the publication of this diary. It was not until one hundred and fifty years later that Francois Dausse started to work on its publication, but his work remained unfinished because of his death. After this, St. Annibale Maria di Francia started working on this diary and managed to publish the first volume under the title, A Hidden Treasure, The Diary of St. Veronica Giuliani (1891-92). However, St. Annibale had to stop working on this Diary because the local Bishop asked him to start reviewing the writings of mystic, Luisa Picarreta in order to give them the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur. Later, a Jesuit priest, Pietro Pizzicaria, managed to publish the next 8 volumes under the same title before he died and the last two volumes were published by Professor Umberto Bucchioni in 1927.

The diary of St Veronica Giuliani

The main source that I am using for this article, Il Diario by Edizioni Cantagalli, is a one volume abridgement of Veronica’s Diary by Maria Teresa Carloni, a twentieth century mystic and stigmatic herself. Maria Teresa was asked by her spiritual director to undertake the task of condensing the ten volumes of the Diary of St. Veronica Giuliani into one volume in order to make it more accessible to the public. This makes this volume doubly precious because it has the spirituality of St. Veronica and the commentary by the mystic, Maria Teresa Carloni.

When Maria Teresa Carloni started working on this project, she started to have doubts and fear that she would not be able to give it that “luminous touch,” of the original work, but then she notes that obedience is always rewarded. The Blessed Virgin Mary herself came to encourage her, saying: “Why are you seeking help only from men, and when you lack it, you falter? Aren’t I the hope of those who are hopeless, the Advocate, the Mediatrix between man and God? Turn to me with the same simplicity of my little Ursula (St. Veronica Giuliani) and I will help you as I helped her. Put into my hands your act of obedience and you will see that it will not be fruitless. Entrust yourself to me and finding yourself at my feet, I will tell you everything. As I have told her (St. Veronica), I repeat it to you: write, my daughter, I want you to follow Holy Obedience. Your spiritual father asked you to start this work to bring to light again the things that happened in the life of our saint and the special graces that God and I obtained for her, and you, docile to this command and full of hope in having supernatural help, read that which I dictated to her and transcribe everything faithfully. Afterwards, you will see that the work will be complete and that it will not be lacking the master touch, the imprint of genius.”

A final note about her writing style, St. Veronica, out of humility, often starts the sentences with “It seemed to me….” And she also uses the word “longing” frequently. I have kept these expressions while translating to stay true to her expressive mode.

Her Childhood
Ursula enjoyed spiritual favors since she was a little girl. At the age of 3 or 4 she remembers having seen the child Jesus in the garden while she was picking flowers. He told her, “I am the true flower” and then disappeared. This experience left her with a longing for heavenly things.

Her mother, Benedetta Mancini, was a deeply religious woman who used to read the lives of saints and martyrs to Ursula and her four sisters (two other siblings had died). This led Ursula to start doing some rather harsh penances and desire to suffer out of love for Jesus at an early age following the example of St. Rose of Lima. Benedetta died at the age of 39 when Ursula was just seven years old. Ursula was with her mother when she received the Viaticum. Before her mother died, she consecrated each of her five children to each of the Five Holy Wounds of Jesus. Ursula was consecrated to the wound of Jesus’ side. Throughout her diary it is clear that St. Veronica had a great devotion to the Holy Wounds.

Ursula had longed to receive Holy Communion and finally at the age of ten she was able to make her First Holy Communion on February 2, 1670. This is how she described her experience: “Going for the first time to Communion, it seemed to me that at that act I felt outside of myself. I seem to remember that when I took the Holy Host, I felt such a great heat that flared up inside of me, especially, my heart was burning…I felt that the Lord had really come to me, and with my whole heart I told him, “My God, it is now time to take complete possession of me. I give myself only to You and it is only You I want.” I seem to remember that He answered, “You are Mine and I am all yours.” When she went home afterwards, she felt different, transformed, and she realized she had a vocation to the consecrated life, “Oh God! What joy! I cannot explain what I felt. I only know that I was left with an ardent longing to become a nun, and that I could not wait for the moment to marry God.”

Life as a Cloistered Capuchin Nun Begins

After some opposition to her vocation by her father and relatives, Ursula finally obtained permission to join the Capuchin Convent at Citta di Castello and entered the cloister at the age of seventeen on October 28, 1677. Upon entering, Bishop Sebastiani, who performed the ceremony, told the nuns, “Keep this girl as a precious treasure because she will become a great saint.”  This Bishop was also the one that chose her religious name, “From now on your name will be Sister Veronica, which means true and unique, which is, you and God alone.”

This is what she experienced on the day of her clothing as a religious:

“After a long battle between human nature and the spirit, I suddenly seemed to experience something or other-I don’t know if it was recollection or rapture-which took me out of my own senses. But I was unable to understand what it was. At that very moment I think I had a vision of the Lord, who was leading me; I think he had hold of my hand. I could hear harmonious sounds and angelic singing-in fact I think I was in heaven.

“I remember I could see such a variety of things, but all seemed the delights of paradise. Then I saw a multitude of men and women saints. I think I also saw the Blessed Virgin.

“I remember that the Lord gave me a great welcome. He was saying to everyone: ‘This one is ours now’, and then he turned to me and said: ‘Tell me what you want’. I asked Him for the grace to love Him and he seemed to communicate His love to me then and there. Several times He asked me what I was longing for. Now I can remember asking Him for three favors. One was that I should live up to the state of life I had undertaken; the second, that I should never depart from His holy will; and the third was that He would always keep me on the Cross with Him.  

“He promised to grant me everything. And He said to me: ‘I have chosen you for great things, but you will have to suffer much for love of Me.’”        

The incorrupt body of St Veronica Giuliani

Her Vocation:  A mediator between God and sinners 

It seems that from the beginning, Veronica was concerned about the fate of sinners and performed great penances in order to obtain their conversion. About the time she was a novice she wrote: “Most nights I spent crying, but I did not know what I was crying about. It seems that thinking about the offenses committed against God and thinking about His Passion moved me to tears; but I don’t remember well the reason for crying so frequently. I seem to remember that I felt that there was an obstinate sinner that did not want to be converted to God and this pained me so much that I could not rest day or night, and I would tell the Lord, ‘My God, here I am ready for any suffering as long as you convert all those who offend you.’…Sometimes when I was going to rest, I heard like a real voice telling me, ‘It is not time to rest but to suffer.’ I would get up immediately and kneel in front of the crucifix saying, ‘My God, I ask you for souls. Let these Your Wounds be voices for me and say with me: O souls redeemed by the Blood of Christ, come to this source of love. I am calling you and these Holy Wounds speak for me, but all of you come.”

She had visions of souls that were about to fall into sin and this made her suffer and increase her penances. Sometimes as a reward, Jesus would let her know of specific souls that had changed their ways and turned to Him. At other times, Jesus would let her know of a specific sinner that she needed to pray for. Sometimes she felt that Jesus wanted to give her a special grace and she would feel a longing for the conversion of sinners which would incite her to do more penances. Once when this happened, she took the crucifix that she had in her cell and said, “‘Lord, I won’t leave you until I feel that you want to convert a soul. Yes, my God, since my voice is not efficacious, let Your Holy Wounds speak for me.’ Suddenly I felt something new, as if I were outside myself. It seems to me that I understood that praying for sinners was so pleasing to the Lord. I showed off as if I was a mediator between God and sinners, but afterwards I felt it was presumptuous. I went to His feet to ask forgiveness.”

Her longing to be a mediator between God and sinners was not a presumption as she thought, since it was later confirmed by Jesus himself. “I seem to remember that one time this crucifix told me with an audible voice: ‘My wife, I am pleased with the charity you show towards those who are in my disgrace, that is why I confirm you as a mediator, something for which you have been longing.’”

Her prayers and penances were rewarded one day when she was working at the infirmary. She was gazing at the crucifix there and begging Jesus for the conversion of sinners when she experienced this: “He detached His arm from the cross and signaled me to come close to His Holy Side. Then, I don’t know how it happened I found myself hugged by the crucifix and He told me: ‘All this that I am now doing to you, I do it for you to know how pleased I am with your prayers.’” This experience left an imprint of the sorrows and sufferings of the passion in her, that she would often do the Way of the Cross carrying a heavy cross around the garden under all sorts of inclement weather.     

Tormented by the Tempter and Visions of Hell

As expected of any soul that is close to God, St. Veronica was tormented and attacked by the devil, whom she referred to as ‘the tempter’. When she entered the convent, he used to tempt her by making her feel guilty for having left her sister whom she loved dearly. At other times, he attacked her physically, made noises to scare her, appeared to her under the form of a cat, and even impersonated Jesus Mary, and the Bishop.

Her penances and prayers greatly bothered the evil spirits. “While I was doing penance it seemed that all hell broke loose. I heard noises, screams, hissing as if from a snake. At the end I seemed to hear a confusion of many voices, I could not understand what they were saying. I only remembered that at the end they said, ‘Accursed are you. We will make you pay.’ As they were saying this, the room where I was went up in flames but just for a moment.”      

One day the devil showed her a vision of hell. “It seems that the tempter showed my soul hell being opened, and that in fact he had placed it (her soul) in it, and that only a small push was needed to cast it inside. It seemed then that I heard screams and voices of lamentation from the damned. I only saw infernal monsters, many serpents, many ferocious animals, and an infernal stench and extremely hot flames, which were so big that their height could not be measured. I could only compare it to the distance between heaven and earth. As far as the size of the place, one could not see the beginning or the end. You could hear many blasphemies and curses against God. How sad. What torment this caused my soul.”        

She was shown hell once more: “At that moment I was once again shown hell opened; and it seemed many souls descended there, they were so ugly and black that they struck terror in me. They all dropped down in a rush, one after the other, and once they had entered those chasms there was nothing to be seen but fire and flames.” This vision led Veronica to offer herself as a victim of Divine Justice: “My Lord, I offer myself to stand here as a doorway, so that no one may enter down there and lose You.” Then she stretched out her arms and said, “As long as I stand in this doorway, no one shall enter. O souls, go back! My God, I ask nothing else of You but the salvation of sinners. Send me more pains, more torments, more crosses!”

The Blessed Virgin Mary speaking to Veronica about her trips to hell told her, “When you were going around hell, you came across torments and tormentors at every step; but that time when you went by the seat of Lucifer, you were terrified at seeing so many souls were on the seat of Lucifer himself. This is in the center of hell and is seen by all the damned, by all the devils, and this sight causes all of them great suffering. I also let you know that, in the same way that the sight of God in Paradise constitutes Paradise itself; down there in hell, the sight of Lucifer is what constitutes hell.”

The Blessed Virgin Mary also told her, “Many do not believe that hell exists, and I tell you yourself, who have been there, have understood nothing of what hell is.”

St Veronica Giuliani with crown of thorns

She receives the Crown of Thorns

The first great mystical gift that Jesus gives this victim soul is His Crown of Thorns. This took place on April 4, 1681. This is her account: “I remember that since the beginning when I became a religious, I always asked the Lord to let me experience some suffering from His Passion. A few years later, dressed in this holy habit, a felt this longing during all of lent. When Holy Week started, I felt I don’t know what during prayer and I understood that I should prepare myself because the Lord wanted to make me happy…On Good Friday, I seemed to have a vision…the Lord showed himself to me all wounded and crowned with thorns…I felt the sorrow of sorrows that the Lord felt and at the same time I felt a deep sorrow for my sins and the offenses that I had committed. I was between two points: His infinite Love and my ungratefulness. And it seems that I was telling Him: ‘My Lord, no more ingratitude or sins. Now I want to start to love you…Lord, come to me and give me that crown so that the pricks of the thorns be voices for me to tell you how much I long to love you.’  While I was saying this, it seems that the Lord came closer to me…and I knew that He wanted to grant me the grace that I was asking Him….I was anxious for this suffering when He took the crown from his head and told me something that I don’t remember. He put this crown on my head and I seemed to have felt the thorns pierce through into the inside of my mouth, ears, all my head, my eyes, my temples, and my brain. It was so much suffering; I fell on the ground as if dead. The Lord lifted me up and told me: ‘You will feel these pains as long as you are alive, more or less according to my wish.’ Again, I fell down and the Lord lifted me. I fell for a third time. Oh God! I cannot describe what the Lord communicated to me about His sufferings: I know very well that in a certain way he left an imprint of His Passion in my heart that I have never forgotten.”      

Her head was so swollen after this event that they took her to a doctor. She endured many painful treatments without revealing the real cause of the swelling. On another occasion, she had a vision of Jesus on a throne with the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Catherine of Siena. Jesus took the crown of thorns from St. Catherine’s head and replaced it with a crown of precious jewels. Then, he put the crown of thorns that he had taken from St. Catherine on Veronica’s head. She felt great pain and understood that this was the pain St. Catherine had felt when receiving the crown of thorns, a grace Jesus was giving to her.

Visions
St. Veronica had numerous visions during her lifetime, some celestial and some infernal. In one of her visions, she saw a vast area with a multitude of souls carrying heavy crosses on their backs dressed in different colors, but they were facing earth and could not move forward. Another group of souls dressed in white, which were mostly religious, were floating. Jesus appeared in a luminous light among them but only few of them would look at him. This caused her great suffering and made her exclaim: “I wish I had had as many eyes as there were souls there to supply for the loving gazes to my Greatest Good.” There was like a veil between them and God which did not allow them to enjoy this vision, and she understood that this meant that these souls lacked purity of intention. She continues: “These souls are cold, and with the cold comes sin, and with sin, they offend God, the Great Creator. And then…justice…chastisement. I seemed to see the Lord with three spears in hand, and He made me understood that He wanted to punish Christianity for the offenses and sins committed. Now He made me see every sort of weapon, I seemed to see a great war. Everyone was killing each other. It scared me a lot. I didn’t see anything but dead people, and there was a stench in the air, that seemed to make everything stink. This also made me feel sorry. Suddenly I seemed to see everyone’s health in obvious danger. Almost everyone was cursing God; and I seemed to see them die in dire need. At this point, I seemed to understand that the three spears were war, disease and poverty”

On another occasion the Lord made her see some souls that were deformed and monstrous. Their sight terrified her so that she thought she would die. Then she heard a voice that told her: “For these there is no longer My mercy. They are and will be forever deprived of Me.” The she said: “Oh Lord, where is your pity? Who are these? Are they dead or alive?” She understood they were alive and she heard the reply, “They are those who are dead to grace.”

The Chalice of Bitterness
On August 15, 1694, Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to her holding a chalice. She had seen this chalice before, it was the Chalice of Bitterness, and on this day it was finally presented to her:

“The Lord showed himself to me surrounded in splendor and glory, suspended in mid-air and surrounded by many angels. At that point it seems that I also saw the Blessed Virgin Mary surrounded by innumerable other angels and many saints. Only two of them made themselves known to me. One was St. Catherine (of Siena) and the other one was St. Rose. I seemed to hear sounds and singing, but I don’t know how to explain it. I felt that everything was drawing me to a closer union with the Lord. I felt the invitations.

At that point I seemed to be as if flying, transported closer to that vision. It seems that the two saints had me suspended in midair between them and in front of me were the Lord and the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Suddenly, I seemed to see the chalice in the Lord’s hand. It was so full that it was almost overflowing. The color of the liquor inside was a yellowish white. At times, it appeared to be boiling; this signified the great bitterness in it. In the meantime, I saw that the Lord gave the chalice to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and she turned to me and said, ‘Daughter, I give you this gift on behalf of my Son.’

Saying this, both were holding the chalice; and both saints were telling me to get closer and gave me permission to accept it. Having said this, the chalice remained suspended in midair, as if in the middle of a cloud and everything else disappeared. Only the chalice remained. I had such a desire to drink it that I would have taken it, but I was not permitted to touch it.”

After this, Veronica suffered very much from temptations from assaults from the devil and felt abandoned by God. On August 20, Jesus appeared to her and told her that she was already drinking from the chalice but that He wanted her to do it with joy. This vision renewed her strength, so she started saying “sitio, sitio” (I thirst). All the while, she kept seeing this mystical chalice before her getting filled. When she suffered something, she would see the chalice spill over. She describes her suffering as all bitterness, like the agony of death.

St. Augustine appeared to her together with Jesus and many angels on the night of August 28th, and told her, “This is a precious gift, because it is given to you by God himself.” In the meantime, the angels were gathering in glasses made of gold, the liquor that overflowed from the chalice. Veronica was made to understand that those glasses contained all the suffering she had offered until now that the angels were taking to the throne of God and how pleasing this suffering was to God.

Engagement and Mystical Espousal

Before the beginning of Lent in 1694, Veronica had a vision of Jesus and St. Catherine of Siena on a beautiful throne surrounded by a multitude of angels. Jesus told her, “Here is Catherine, my beloved spouse; I assign her to you as a companion so that she may be an intercessor between you and Me.” Then Jesus taking St. Catherine’s hand showed Veronica the beautiful ring on her finger. Veronica understood that she would receive the gift of the espousal during Easter.

On Easter Sunday, when she went to receive Holy Communion, she could hear the choirs of angels singing, “Come, spouse of Christ”. Soon after she went into ecstasy and saw Jesus in all His glory with His Holy Wounds all resplendent. Jesus was seated on a throne made of gold with precious stones and there was another throne next to him made of alabaster and precious stones. This was the throne of the Virgin Mary. Veronica mentions that the materials she saw here were not like anything in this world, that our sun would seem like darkness. Then, St. Catherine appeared. Veronica could not explain how but she felt she was being dressed and adorned with precious stones and white lace. Then, she saw Jesus like this, “He was so beautiful that I cannot describe it…His hands, feet and side, that is, His Wounds, were so resplendent that it seems to me that instead of wounds, they were beautiful precious stones. Only the wound of the side seemed to be open and from it came out rays of sun…it seems that inside this holy wound was the ring that I was to wear…At this time it seems that the Lord raised his right hand as if to bless me and said again, ‘Come spouse of Christ.’ The Virgin Mary, together with all who were present said, ‘Accept the crown which God prepared for you from all eternity.’”  Then St. Catherine started undressing her and Jesus asked the Virgin Mary to redress her. The Virgin Mary took St. Catherine’s cloak and put it on Veronica. This cloak was covered with precious stones that seemed to change colors, which symbolized the virtues. Then, Jesus took the ring from His side wound and placed it on the Virgin Mary’s hand. The ring seemed to be made out of gold and covered by enamel which formed the name of Jesus on the precious stone. When Jesus put the ring on her finger, she felt a greater union with Him.

Her Prayers
St. Veronica’s spontaneous prayers often invoked the Wounds of Christ in an original way asking them to be ‘voices’:‘My God, I ask you for souls. Let these Your Wounds be voices for me and say with me: O souls redeemed by the Blood of Christ, come to this source of love. I am calling you and these Holy Wounds speak for me, but all of you come.”

Other prayers seem very similar to the prayers in the Divine Will by Luisa Picarreta. In these prayers, Veronica tries to encompass all creation in her praise and thus multiply the intention of her prayer: “O stars, o sky, help me. I would like to have as many tongues as there are stars in order to praise God and to invite the whole world to love Him.”  And on another occasion she prayed: “My Lord, I intend to call you as many times as there are plants and leaves in the whole world; and I would like to have as many hearts, as many tongues, as there are grains of sand in the ocean, as there are grains of dirt in the whole world.”

She was also very concerned with the conversion of non-Christians: “Now I would call the Jews, now the Turks, now all the nations of infidels. I would make an act of faith and say: ‘Oh my God, if I could supply for all of them in praising You, in loving You, in doing Your Holy Will. But I cannot do it by myself. Nevertheless, I come to You and offer You, Yourself with all your attributes and infinite perfections in satisfaction of all that we should do in terms of blessing, praise and gratitude towards You, my greatest Good.”

Mystical Wounding of her Heart and her Reception of the Stigmata
Like many other great mystics, Veronica also received the wound in her heart, known as the transverberation. This happened on Christmas Eve, 1696: “I only remember that the child Jesus had like a bow and arrow in his hands, and it seemed that he sent it to my heart. I felt great pain. When I came back to my senses, I saw that my heart had been wounded and it was bleeding. I cannot express in writing or with words what the Lord communicated to me at that moment. I only remember that I experienced an intimate union with Him and He made me understand that this wound was nothing compared to the wound He would inflict on me soon.”  This wound would remain open and bleeding for several days and then it would close. She describes that she felt pain all the time and like a flame inside the wound. The wound would reopen at times and stay open for several days again. She would offer the pain of this wound in union to the sufferings and wounds of Jesus for the conversion of sinners.

The wound Jesus “would inflict on her soon” took place on March 8, 1697 before a crucifix: “Being in front of Him, very close, it seemed that He detached His right arm and with that great nail that He held in his hand, He wounded my heart. I felt great pain, and quickly returned to myself.”

A drawing of the mystical wounds that Jesus imprinted upon the heart of St Veronica Giuliani

She mentions that Jesus assigned her to the school of His Holy Wounds, and told her: “You should not start any work at all without entering first in these loving Wounds, in order to learn how to do that work…I had willed to imprint these Wounds truly in your heart so that your heart would be all mine. Now it is no longer yours.”

It is interesting to note that as a special grace, Jesus let Veronica see in a vision how He wounded the heart of St. Teresa of Avila: “At some point I saw her as if suspended in midair in ecstasy. In front of her there was a shining angel. He had a gold arrow in his hand and he put it in St. Teresa’s heart. She became like a fiery furnace, consumed by love. In an instant, in the same place close to the Lord, she offered herself completely to God and it seems that the Lord made me understand that when she was wounded by love, in that act, she became completely detached from everything, so much so that she did not want to know anything about the world anymore. Detached from everything and everyone, she remained in God alone and did not have any other thought except God and her soul.”

On Good Friday, April 5, 1697, Veronica received the stigmata. She had a vision of Jesus crucified and the Virgin Mary, as Our Lady of Sorrows. She wrote: “In an instant, I saw five shining rays shooting out from His Wounds, coming towards me. I watched as they turned into little flames. Four of them contained the nails, and the fifth one contained the lance, golden and all aflame, and it pierced my heart. The nails pierced my hands and feet.”

A Summary of Graces
In 1701, 26 years before her death, Veronica wrote in her dairy all the graces God had given to her: “In an instant, I saw all the special graces God had given to my soul. There were really so many that I could not tell their number. I will only tell you what I understood in detail. He made me understand that He had renewed the sorrow in my heart 500 times, and again many times had renewed the wound in it; that He had in that period given me the special grace of sorrow for my sins, adding to it knowledge of myself and of my faults; that He had made me understand every sort of virtue, and how to exercise them; that He had given me so many inspirations and teachings that if I wanted to tell them all, there would be no end to it.”

“He also made me understand that He had renewed His marriage to my soul on 60 occasions. 33 times He made me experience His holy Passion in a special way, and understand the pains which are known only to the souls dearest to Him. 20 times He showed Himself to me all wounded and dripping with blood, and He asked me to carry out His holy will, but I did just the opposite. O God, how confused I was in those days! I can write nothing in words of what I went through when these things were revealed to me one by one.”

“Three times He gave me a delightful embrace by detaching His arm from the cross and holding me there at His side; 5 times He gave me to drink from the liquid that flowed from that side of His; 15 times He washed my heart in His precious Blood, which came from His side like a ray and touched my heart; 12 times He delved into my heart and gave me the grace of purifying it and removing all the filth, the rottenness of my imperfections and the residue of my sins; 9 times He had me touch my lips to Wound in His holy Side; 200 times he gave my soul delightful embraces in a special way, not counting the others He gave constantly; and 100 loving wounds He made in my heart, in a secret manner.”

In the Communion of Saints
We have already seen the special roles that St. Catherine of Siena, St. Rose of Lima and St. Teresa of Avila had in Veronica’s life and mystical graces. Other saints that helped Veronica were St. Joseph, St. Augustine, St. Phillip Neri, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Ignatius Loyola, Saint Bonaventure and St. Florido, protector of Citta di Castello. St. Paul, whom she referred to as “my Saint Paul” held a special place in her heart. Also, on the feasts of St. Francis of Assisi, her ‘holy father’ and St. Clare, her ‘holy mother,’ she always received special graces.

Her Guardian Angel
Veronica’s guardian angel had an important role in her life. He helped her get up when she fell under the weight of the Cross, defended her when she was attacked by the devil, and helped her with the chores. Later on during her life the BVM appointed another guardian angel to her because she was so much attacked by the devil. Her angels accompanied her on her visits to hell. God revealed to Veronica that upon the election of a new Pope, heaven appoints to him an additional ten guardian angels to assist him.

Veronica fights for the salvation of a dying soul
Veronica took great care of Sister Angelica Berioli during her last illness. According to the accounts of the convent, Sister Angelica was not very observant of the rules and had always been Veronica’s adversary. However, Veronica offered many prayers and penances for the salvation her soul and prayed at her bedside day and night saying, “My Lord, Your Most Precious Blood and Your infinite merits can obtain this grace.”

One day, when Sister Angelica was still semiconscious, Veronica told her: “Before I go, I want you to tell me something, and I want you to call on Jesus and not on the devil as you do.” Sister Angelica listened to her and promised she would do it and asked Veronica not to abandon her. After this incident, Sister Angelica lost the use of reason for the most part and only once in a while would be heard saying the name of Jesus.

The devil was not happy that Veronica was taking this soul from him and tried to prevent her many times from praying. “On two occasions the devil gave me many blows and told me I would pay for this. One night while I was watching over this sister, he appeared under the form of a cat, and he wanted to jump unto her bed. I tried to shoo him away, and he came close to me as when he tried to jump on me…More and more I would visibly see the demons here around her bed and they would threaten to make me pay for this.”

On the evening that Sister Angelica died, June 21, 1701, Veronica saw how four demons were tempting the dying sister, telling her there was no hope for her. Veronica was made to understand; however, that the demons had lost. When she realized that Sister Angelica was about to die, Veronica asked permission to her confessor to visit the Blessed Sacrament. On her way to the chapel, the devil appeared to her under the form of a cat and jumped on her. She had to fight the cat off up to the door of the chapel, whereupon he disappeared, saying, “You won, but you will pay for it.” After Veronica prayed before the Blessed Sacrament, she understood that she needed to go back to Sister Angelica who would soon expire, and it did happen that way. Then, the Lord let her know that Sister Angelica had been saved but that she would be in Purgatory for a long time and showed Veronica the place of expiation. Veronica commented, “A very dark and scary place.” Then, Veronica had a vision of this soul who had turned into “a terrifying animal.”

Sister Angelica appeared to Veronica the following night and told her: “This is not diabolical. It is true that I suffer. If you understood my suffering, you would die of pain.”

On another occasion, Veronica saw the place where she was in purgatory: “I saw a place so terrible and full of torment that I thought it was hell. I can’t explain it in writing but it struck me with fear and terror. It seemed to me that I saw all sorts of tortures that tormented many souls at the same time. One soul, among the others, suffered more than the others and I seem to understand that it was this soul (Sister Angelica).”

Veronica understood, however, that this soul could not benefit from the prayers said for her because during her life she had not prayed for the requests of others. The penances and prayers that Veronica was offering for this soul were being applied to other souls in purgatory.

The second time that this soul appeared to Veronica, she told her,  “I can’t and I shouldn’t” Veronica understood that ‘can’t’ referred to ‘what she was suffering’ and ‘shouldn’t referred to ‘why she was suffering’.  But then the soul of Angelica said, “It is up to you to get me out of this great suffering.I will not forget (your help).”

Even though the Lord made Veronica understand that this soul should have remained in purgatory until the Final Judgement, He also was willing to accept Veronica’s sacrifices for this soul. Veronica suffered greatly and even experienced her own personal judgment in atonement for this soul, which she was finally able to release from purgatory.

Veronica and the souls in Purgatory

Sister Angelica was only one of many souls that Veronica got out of purgatory by taking upon herself the expiation they required to enter into Heaven, often telling these souls, “Go on to Heaven, I will remainhere in order to atone for your sins.” In expiation, she had even suffered her own final judgement, and to inflame her with a desire for the salvation of souls God had allowed her to see, hell and also purgatory. She often visited purgatory: “I spent tonight as usual in Purgatory, in the midst of fire and ice, sorrows and sufferings, in complete abandonment and without any one’s help. May the Will of God be praised.”

It seems that her confessors abused her charity by making her expiate for many souls. Among the souls she atoned for are the soul of her father, Francesco Giuliani, Pope Clement XI, some of her confessors and many sisters such as sister Angelica.

Mystical trip to Shrines
Around the years1714-1715, since she had such a great devotion to the BVM, her confessor told her to ask the Lord to help her make a trip to the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin’s House in Loreto. Mario Cursoni, one of her confessors, explains, “She was ordered to pray to the Lord, asking Him to grant her the possibility of a pilgrimage in vision, to the Sanctuary of Loreto, stopping at the hermitage of Monte Corona, where at that time, Fr. Crivelli was carrying out his spiritual exercises, to receive a blessing; from there to the church of the Holy Virgin Mary of the Angels, to that of St. Nicholas of Tolentino, and finally to the Sanctuary of Loreto to take Holy Communion.”  Veronica was taken there in vision by an angel and this is what Fr. Cursoni reports: “When I questioned her about this journey, she replied that the Lord had granted her to make it in a vision and described the sanctuaries with so much accuracy of detail that she could not have done better even after having bodily visited them various times, and even I who have visited them various times could not have done better.”

St Veronica Giuliani receiving the Stigmata

The Blessed Virgin Mary in the Life of St. Veronica
The presence of the Virgin Mary becomes central in the life of Veronica in the year 1700, when on April 29 the BVM takes her as her disciple. These were the years that Veronica was to suffer greatly from percussion from within the convent and from the Holy See because of her stigmata. Like Padre Pio, Veronica was in confined for a while to the infirmary, only being allowed to go to Holy Mass accompanied by two other nuns.

During this time of trials and percussion, she received many graces from the BVM. On December 24, 1702 she receives a new name, “Veronica of Jesus and Mary” and on July 1715 when the hearts of Jesus, Mary and Veronica become one, she is called “Veronica of the Divine Will, daughter and devotee of Mary Most Holy.”

Veronica stressed very much the importance of consecrating oneself to the Virgin Mary. On 1715, she experienced the grace of a mystical union with the soul of Mary. She wrote: “It seems to me that at this point the Blessed Virgin Mary had transformed herself into me; but I have no way of explaining or recounting this, because my soul has become one with Mary.” This happened one year after she received the grace of the three graces: union, transformation, and mystical espousal, during each Holy Communion.

When the Holy office lifted the ban that prevented her from becoming abbess, she was elected Mother Abbess of the Monastery on April 1716. Veronica placed the keys of the convent in the hands of the BVM and said, “You are the Abbess, I will do as you order me.” To which the Virgin Mary replied, “I am the superior, you must accept my guidance in everything.”

The Blessed Virgin Mary put out a fire in the convent, which had started in the chapel by a candle carelessly left lit on a wooden reading table. Veronica writes, “At half past six, the sisters and I were terribly frightened by a vast fire in the church. It seemed that everything was going up in flames, I appealed to the Holy Virgin, I asked her in her mercy to put out the fire and in my heart I felt that my appeal would be granted. So, with faith in Mary I approached the place of the fire, when I made the sign of the cross, the flames receded. In an instant everything was over. Blessed be God and Mary.” The BVM later confirmed to her that without her prayers the entire convent would have burnt.

The BVM also took the place of Veronica as abbess when Veronica was mystically away in hell for hours. Once Sister Maria Biovanna Maggio went to talk to Veronica and she noticed a “majestic and extraordinary expression on her face.”  She left consoled by the words from her abbess but wondered why she had spoken to her so little. When she told this to Blessed Florida, the latter smiled and said, “Keep in mind that today Mother Veronica is in hell sacrificing for the conversion of sinners. The person who was with you was the Holy Virgin who appears in place of Mother Veronica.” Blessed Florida (who was beatified by Pope John Paul II on May 16, 1993) knew well all the details of Veronica’s life because Veronica’s confessors had imposed on her the obedience to inform Sister Florida about everything in her spiritual life.

From 1720 onwards, it was the BVM who dictated to her the diary. During that period she began narrating in the second person. On the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, 1727, the BVM tells her to put an end to writing the diary with this last sentence, “Fa punto.” (Put a period.)

The incorrupt body of St Veronica Giuliani

Into Life Eternal
Veronica spent the last years of her life in continuous union with God. She wrote, “When God gives His graces of union and transformation, these are the same as those enjoyed by the blessed souls in heaven. They enjoy God in God: it is a continuous banquet of love with love.”

On June 6th, at the moment of Holy Communion she had a stroke. From that time she suffered for 33 days a purgatory on Earth: physical and moral sufferings and temptations from the devil. On July 9, 1727 at dawn, she received permission to die from her confessor and went to her eternal abode. Her last words were, “Love has let Himself be found.”

Veronica was beatified on June 17, 1804 by Pope Pius VII and canonized on May 26, 1839 by Pope Gregory XVI.

The Autopsy
An autopsy was performed on Veronica the day of her death after lunch. During her lifetime, Veronica had told Blessed Florida that her heart bore certain symbols of the passion and that it had been engraved with the letters representing the vows she had taken. Blessed Florida made a sketch of her heart with all the signs that Veronica described. When her heart was dissected in half during the autopsy, it revealed mysterious incisions shaped like the outlines of the instruments of the Passion, the seven swords of Our Lady, and a number of letters.

Prayer:
O Lord Jesus Christ, who did glorify St. Veronica by the marks of Thy suffering, grant us the grace to crucify our flesh and thus become worthy of attaining to the joys of eternity. Who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.

-St Veronica Giuliani, pray for us!

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References:

Emmanuele Del Cuore Immacolato e Addolorato di Maria, Fr. “Santa Veronica Giuliani Vera Discepola e Apostola di Maria” Gloria.tv. September 16, 2013.

Giuliani, S. Veronica. Il Diario. Compiled by Maria Teresa Carloni. Siena, Italy:Edizioni Cantagalli, 2010. Print.

Leonardi, Fr. John, o.f.m.Cap. Saint Veronica Giuliani. Loreto, Italy, Litografia Lauretana, 1986. Print.

Lord, Bob and Penny. “Saint Veronica Giuliani.” Visionaries, Mystics and Stigmatists down through the Ages. Journeys of Faith, 1995. 257-285. Print.

The Life and Teachings of St. Veronica Giuliani. Delaware: Two Hearts Media Organization, 2006. Print.

Claude Newman Conversion Story, Part 2

July 6, 2015, 9:51 am

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An investigation into the story of Claude Newman's remarkable conversion -Part 2

Part 1 of this story dealt with Fr. O'Leary's report of the miraculous conversion of prisoner Claude Newman in 1943. A friend named Mary visited the area of Vicksburg, Mississippi and personally investigated many of the details of the story. Below is an email describing much of what she found:

Mon, Jun 29, 2015 at 10:04 AM.
Hello Glenn,

I pray this message finds you well. I just returned from Vicksburg searching for the truth and found it. What you choose to do with the information is up to you, but I believe it would do a great service to the faithful to update the site. First, I found no evidence that James Hughes had any sort of outburst before he was executed. There were 3 newspaper reporters there and all said that he was calm and walked to the chair unaided. He was a member of the Holy Roller - Pentecostal faith but did say a Catholic prayer as he was strapped into the chair: "He looked calmly up at the few present and said in clear cut tones: 'I am not afraid to confess the Lord Jesus Christ here tonight before man. May he have mercy on my soul, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.'" So it appears that he was converted at some point, just not in the execution chamber.  This story is corroborated by the nuns who had aided Mildred Johnson in her conversion.

I was told by Fr. Malcolm O'Leary (their names are coincidences), 75 years old, who knew Fr. Robert O'Leary when he was in high school and is now the current parish priest at St. Mary's, that Fr. Robert O'Leary was a good priest, gave the best homilies, liked to "color outside the lines" sometimes and voluntarily left the order in the 1950s. The tape was made in the 1970s in Kenosha, WI (where Fr. O'Leary retired) and it was never intended to be heard by such a large audience. I met with Dr. Ralph F. who had researched the story in 2011 and 2013 and discovered Fr. O'Leary's 1945 handwritten account of the events. There is no mention of Mary appearing to Claude and no mention of James Hughes' last minute conversion. He did say that Claude grasped the catechism quickly and Fr. O'Leary was surprised by that. Claude received the medal in a gentle manner (it was not thrown to him on the floor) and when the fellow prisoner ran out of information, he
 suggested that Claude talk to a priest.

At this point, my project regarding Claude is done, although he may be a saint in heaven yet. I was duly impressed with the conversion of Mildred Johnson and I may explore that story some more. The trip was fruitful and my prayer for truth was answered. Dr. Ralph will be writing an article with his findings this summer. If you would like me to send you copies of the newspaper articles (I tried to attach them, but my computer is fussy this morning) I would happy to send them to you.

God bless you,
Mary
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I would like to personally thank Mary for all of her efforts in getting these important details concerning this story. Below are the newspaper clippings she obtained on the capture and execution of James Samuel Hughes: (Click on photos to enlarge)

Capture of James Samuel Hughes

Execution of James Samuel Hughes, Part 1

Execution of James Samuel Hughes, Part 2 (Click on photos to enlarge)

Marian Revelation for the Third Millennium

July 25, 2015, 1:01 pm

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A friend of mine offered me in-depth reflections about the topic of «public Revelation» and «private revelations». It was in reaction to my 2-part article about Marie-Paule Giguère or Mother Paul-Marie, the Foundress of the Army of Mary (see Part 1 and Part 2). The author of this essay is Father David Lorange, a member of the Army of Mary and the Community of the Lady of all Peoples. Furthermore, he’s one of the six men who became «priests» during the attempted ordination performed by Father Pierre Mastropietro, on June 1, 2007, at the Eucharistic and Marian Center Spiri-Maria, in Lac-Etchemin, Province of Québec. Father David and I met on a few occasions in the past, and we also developed a correspondence on different topics pertaining to this website, in the spirit of the Gospel, that is: cordiality, charity, mutual respect, and, crucially, humble and earnest truth-seeking and mystery-believing. Christians believe in Jesus Christ (the Redeemer) and the Trinity (Father, Son and Spirit). Paulians, as they identify themselves, while keeping the Christian faith, also believe that Marie-Paule is the Co-Redemptrix and that God has a feminine aspect, bringing the Trinity to the Quinternity (Father, Mother, Son, Daughter, Spirit) [note: the Mother is the Virgin Mary of Nazaret; the Daughter is Marie-Paule]. This implies a development in Revelation and doctrine. Is the very possibility of this development in contradiction with the Gospel and the Catholic Church’s teaching? Father David Lorange thinks not, despite the attempts by some theologians to declare that the Revelation is «closed»... The author takes the full and sole responsibility of his text and I’m happy to present him here on this blog as a guest writer.

Glenn Dallaire

July 25, 2015, Feast of Saint James, Apostle

*****

What follows represent my humble research about the «teaching of the Church» on private revelations and their connection with public Revelation. I’m not infallible myself (of course!) and I don’t pretend to exhaust the subject. I hope, Glenn, that you and your readership will appreciate my honesty in presenting the magisterial teaching integrally, as best as I could.

*****

There is a theological axiom, often heard of in recent times, to the point of even being used by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, in their Doctrinal Note concerning the Army of Mary (2001).

Here is the axiom:

«[Public] Revelation ended, or was completed or closed, with the death of the last Apostle.»

In all intellectual honesty and rigour, I tried to find a [Roman] magisterial statement supporting that axiom. The closest I found that resembles that axiom comes from a decree of the Holy Office, entitled Lamentabili, 3 July 1907, with the approval of Pope Saint Pius X.

That decree was aimed at the errors of modernism and rationalism. The context, which is worth noting, is a lack of faith toward public Revelation, not an excessive trust or belief in private revelations. Here is Proposition 21, one of the modernist errors condemned by the decree:

«Revelation, constituting the object of the Catholic faith,

was not completed with the Apostles.»

That’s the closest I found that resembles the axiom above-mentioned, concerning the «completeness or completion of Revelation with the Apostles». Not everything is «infallible» in a Church document, not even in a «dogmatic constitution» (much less in a decree from the Holy Office). And every expression needs to be interpreted in the proper context.

Before Lamentabili, I found nothing (of importance or expressed in strong words) about «Revelation completed or closed», neither in the Council of Trent (decree De canonicis Scripturis), nor the Council of Vatican I (dogmatic constitution Dei Filius). After Lamentabili, the most important magisterial document on the topic is the dogmatic constitution Dei Verbum, from the Second Vatican Council (18 November 1965). In there, we can find the idea or concept of «completion or fullness of Revelation», but also the evolution toward the «fullness of truth».

«By this revelation then, the deepest truth about God and the salvation of man shines out for our sake in Christ, who is both the mediator and the fullness of all revelation.» (n. 2)

«The Christian dispensation, therefore, as the new and definitive covenant, will never pass away and we now await no further new public revelation before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ.» (n. 4)

«Therefore Christ the Lord in whom the full revelation of the supreme God is brought to completion /.../.» (n. 7)

«For as the centuries succeed one another, the Church constantly moves forward toward the fullness of divine truth until the words of God reach their complete fulfillment in her.» (n. 8)

«For the Lord Jesus was with His apostles as He had promised (see Matthew 28:20) and sent them the advocate Spirit who would lead them into the fullness of truth (see John 16:13).» (n. 20)

Afterward, I also found this passage from the dogmatic constitution Lumen gentium, again from the Second Vatican Council (21 November 1964):

«But when either the Roman Pontiff or the Body of Bishops together with him defines a judgment, they pronounce it in accordance with Revelation itself, which all are obliged to abide by and be in conformity with, that is, the Revelation which as written or orally handed down is transmitted in its entirety through the legitimate succession of bishops and especially in care of the Roman Pontiff himself, and which under the guiding light of the Spirit of truth is religiously preserved and faithfully expounded in the Church. The Roman Pontiff and the bishops, in view of their office and the importance of the matter, by fitting means diligently strive to inquire properly into that revelation and to give apt expression to its contents; but a new public revelation they do not accept [in French it says: receive] as pertaining to the divine deposit of faith.» (n. 25)

The context is the dogma of infallibility, promulgated by the Council Vatican I, with the dogmatic constitution Pastor aeternus (18 July 1870). The passage I underscored in Lumen gentium then refers to Pastor aeternus, especially the following sentence:

«For the Holy Spirit was not promised to the successors of Peter that by His revelation they might make known new doctrine, but that by His assistance they might inviolably keep and faithfully expound the Revelation, the Deposit of Faith, delivered through the Apostles.» (chapter IV)

It means, according to me, that it is not the mission of the Pope to propose a new revelation, but to guard and to protect the deposit of faith. (I think Dei Verbum, n. 4, quoted previously, can be read in that light too.) At the same time, even the Pope must remain open to God’s intervention in human history.

In fact, every theologian worthy of the name will acknowledge this: the Mystery of God was progressively revealed through history and, consequently, our understanding or knowledge of that Mystery also evolved and deepened through history. George Weigel, in a column dated 27 August 2014, hammered that idea home, as we can see in the following quotes:

«The first Christians, pious Jews, were strict monotheists. That Christianity came to embrace the doctrine of the Holy Trinity ― indeed, that it put that doctrine at the center of its creed, along with its other key doctrine, the Incarnation ― is one of the great surprises of religious history. The two are linked. And that link is found, not in the abstract speculations of theologians, but in the historical experience of the Christian community.»

«We know the Trinity, not because we have reasoned our way to it, but because we have been touched by the Trinity’s entry into history.»

If the «Trinity’s entry into history» is true thanks to Jesus Christ (the Redeemer), why the «Quinternity’s entry into history» couldn’t be true as well, 2000 years later, thanks to Marie-Paule (the Co-Redemptrix)? We, as «pious Christians» who became the «first Paulians», believe so, in the «historical experience» of the Community of the Lady of all Peoples.

*****

After Vatican II, here is what we have:

1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, nn. 65-67 (15 August 1997).

There, the Catechism quotes Heb 1:1-2, the oft-quoted passage from Saint John of the Cross and Dei Verbum (nn. 2 and 4). (Click on the link above to read those quotes.)

Based on these sources, the Catechism summarizes through the two subtitles:

― «God has said everything in his Word»

― «There will be no further Revelation»

We also have a specific mention of «private revelations», as a matter of secondary importance, in n. 67.

2. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, theological commentary about the «Third Part of the Secret of Fatima» (27 June 2000).

That commentary offers some reflections on «public Revelation and private revelations». Cardinal Ratzinger, based on the Catechism, speaks of the «definitiveness» and «completeness» of the public Revelation, in the line of the axiom quoted at the beginning of this study (indeed, it’s almost the axiom itself with a different wording):

«In Christ, God has said everything, that is, he has revealed himself completely, and therefore Revelation came to an end with the fulfilment of the mystery of Christ as enunciated in the New Testament.»

He also quotes Cardinal Prospero Lambertini (the future Pope Benedict XIV) and Flemish theologian E. Dhanis. Since Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote a «theological commentary», we can assume he wrote it as a theologian himself.

3. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger), declaration Dominus Iesus, nn. 5-8 (6 August 2000).

The context of this document is the moral and religious relativism of contemporary society (again, a lack of faith toward public Revelation). Here, the affirmation of «the definitiveness and the completeness of the public Revelation» possibly reaches its pinnacle. The whole section begins as follows:

«As a remedy for this relativistic mentality, which is becoming ever more common, it is necessary above all to reassert the definitive and complete character of the revelation of Jesus Christ.» (n. 5)

But the document itself concedes:

«Therefore, the words, deeds, and entire historical event of Jesus, though limited as human realities, have nevertheless the divine Person of the Incarnate Word, “true God and true man” as their subject. For this reason, they possess in themselves the definitiveness and completeness of the revelation of God’s salvific ways, even if the depth of the divine mystery in itself remains transcendent and inexhaustible.» (n. 6)

Among the chief references are Dei Verbum and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. But there is also an important quote pertaining to our subject, from the encyclical Redemptoris missio of Pope Saint John Paul II (7 December 1990), that previously slipped my notice in my research.

«God’s revelation becomes definitive and complete through his only-begotten Son: “In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom he also created the world.” (Heb 1:1-2; cf. Jn 14:6) In this definitive Word of his revelation, God has made himself known in the fullest possible way. He has revealed to mankind who he is. This definitive self-revelation of God is the fundamental reason why the Church is missionary by her very nature. She cannot do other than proclaim the Gospel, that is, the fullness of the truth which God has enabled us to know about himself.» (n. 5)

4. Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger), post-synodal apostolic exhortation Verbum Domini, n. 14 (30 September 2010).

Finally, n. 14 of that document summarizes all of the above, especially making reference to Dei Verbum, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Saint John of the Cross and the theological commentary about Fatima of 2000.

*****

It’s interesting to note that the Doctrinal Note of the Canadian Bishops was asked by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger on 29 February 2000. Because of the lack of unanimity (2 votes against and 1 abstention), that Note needed to receive Rome’s recognitio, which came on 10 August 2001, and then it was published on 15 August 2001. Coincidentally, in that same period (the summer of 2000), were published the theological commentary on Fatima and Dominus Iesus, both documents of Cardinal Ratzinger.

I also want to observe that the specific theme of «private revelations» arises explicitly only in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the theological commentary (Joseph Ratzinger) and Verbum Domini (Benedict XVI). I find that corpus of [Roman] magisterial statements on that topic rather thin. Not only, but the topic of private revelations is also in great part a subject open to debate among theologians.

[In 1978, the Vatican issued norms for the discernment of private revelations. These norms were made public in 2011, with a preface.]

Before I quote some theologians, I just want to give my personal evaluation of our fashionable theological axiom (used in the Doctrinal Note):

«[Public] Revelation ended, or was completed or closed, with the death of the last Apostle.»

This is only a theological axiom, not an infallible dogmatic statement. I even found one theologian, on Internet, criticizing this axiom, especially «the death of the last Apostle claim» (click here).

For me, that phrase can be used mistakenly (like in the Doctrinal Note) as a radicalization of the theme of «the definitiveness and the completeness of the public Revelation» in Jesus Christ. I personally understand the «definitiveness» and «completeness» of the Revelation of Jesus like this: Christ’s Revelation is superior to the revelations and inspirations contained in the Old Testament, and also in the other religions; it also gives all that is sufficient and necessary for our salvation; it reveals us the Most Blessed Trinity: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Concerning the following quotes, I want to underscore some nuances:

«/.../ we now await no further new public revelation before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ» (Dei Verbum, n. 4)

«In giving us his Son, his only Word (for he possesses no other), he [God] spoke everything to us at once in this sole Word ― and he has no more to say [y no tiene más que hablar] /.../ because what he spoke before to the prophets in parts, he has now spoken all at once by giving us the all who is his Son. Any person questioning God or desiring some vision or revelation would be guilty not only of foolish behaviour but also of offending him, by not fixing his eyes entirely upon Christ and by living with the desire for some other novelty.» (Saint John of the Cross, quoted by the Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 65)

With the supreme revelation in Jesus, we should not «await», or «desire» a new revelation, or «question» God, because the Gospel is «sufficent» and «necessary» for salvation. But God keeps his supreme liberty of initiative in the realm of revelation and advancement of his Plan of Love for humanity. The Church, here, ought to be humble, because she’s only a means to reach God. The Church (bishops, cardinals, even a pope) must resist the temptation to control God.

Even though he’s a Doctor of the Church, Saint John of the Cross is also a man with human fallibility. I agree with him that we must be detached from the desire of some new vision or revelation. But I won’t buy a radicalization of «[God] has no more to say». No theologian, no Doctor of the Church, no Pope, nor any other man can muzzle God and say to him: «You have no more to say! You said everything!» For me, God has again spoken to humankind through his Daughter (Marie-Paule), like he did through his Son (Jesus Christ). Of course, at the time of Saint John of the Cross, God possessed only one Word, the Son: the Daughter was not yet sent or manifested.

When the Catechism says: «God has said everything in his Word», we must understand «everything» necessary for our salvation. And when it says: «There will be no further Revelation», it modifies, wrongly I think, Dei Verbum’s «we now await no further new public revelation». «We don’t await» does not equal «There won’t be».

After Jesus, the subsequent private revelations will refer back to him and the Gospel, but the door remains open to my eyes to Marie-Paule’s Revelation (which is unique after Jesus’ Revelation) about the Immaculate and the Quinternity (that is, the Feminine in God), and about the regeneration of souls and the resurrection during the terrestrial Kingdom.

The Catechism (n. 67) says it’s not the role of private revelations to «improve» or «complete» or «surpass» or «correct» the public Revelation culminating in Christ. I want to observe that n. 67 is written in small print, which indicates «observations of an historical or apologetic nature, or supplementary doctrinal explanations» (CCC, n. 20), but surely not is a definitory and infallible statement of the Magisterium. Because, in fact, if imprudently we radicalize this God-has-no-more-to-say approach, I want to ask, in all humility and honesty: how should we understand this passage from the Gospel:

«I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.» (John 16:12-15)

Marie-Paule and Life of Love do refer back to Jesus and the Gospel (being totally impregnated with Jesus and filled with the Gospel), they do not contradict the Bible but, on the contrary, are therein contained in embryo (whatever says the Doctrinal Note). Marie-Paule, as the Daughter, does belong to the Father and to the Son («he [the Spirit of truth] will take from what is mine /.../ everything that the Father has is mine»). The feminine complement brought by Marie-Paule to the work of Jesus Christ in no way abolishes the Gospel, but yes, it does bring some sort of fulfillment (Matthew 5:17).

When the Doctrinal Note says:

«The presumed private revelations, upon which members of the Army of Mary stake their claim, do not merely urge Catholics to follow the Gospel more faithfully; they include spurious new doctrines that are without foundation in Scripture or Tradition.»

For me, the underscored part is simply an error or a lie.

Furthermore, we understand that we are living the Time of the Apocalypse, time entrusted to the Woman. Apocalypse = Revelation. At the Three Fountains in Rome, the Immaculate said to Bruno Cornacchiola in 1947: «I am the Virgin of the Revelation.» All modern apparitions of Mary, in our eyes, are a preparation to the «personal presence of Mary on earth» in Mother Paul-Marie. The heart or crux of the Book of Revelation is:

«A great sign appeared in the sky, a Woman!» (Revelation 12:1)

Thanks to her, we now know the Quinternity!

«At the time when you hear the seventh angel blow his trumpet, the mystery of God shall be fulfilled, as he promised to his servants the prophets.» (Revelation 10:7)

[Raoul Auclair demonstrated the «eschatological» or apocalyptic aspect of all modern Marian epiphanies, which established the role of the Woman and explained the times we are living: (using the symbolisms of the Apocalypse) the Great Prostitute (Western Christianity having apostatized faith), the Beast of the Sea (communist Russia and the Eastern Bloc) and the Beast of the Earth (Antichrist) mystically AGAINST the Woman (the Lady of all Peoples, the Co-Redemptrix, Marie-Paule).]

More than once quoted by Marie-Paule, here is a declaration from Sister Lúcia of Fátima:

«She [Mary] told me that, the other means scorned by men having been exhausted, she was giving us, trembling, a powerful (ultimate) anchor of salvation which is THE MOST HOLY VIRGIN MARY IN PERSON.» (see for example: Marie-Paule, The White Book IV, The Covenant between Heaven and Earth, p. 57).

[The Immaculate-Mother (the Virgin Mary) was giving us the Immaculate-Daughter (Marie-Paule).]

[The origin of Sister Lúcia’s declaration is an interview by Father Augustine Fuentes on December 26, 1957, at her convent in Coimbra, Portugal.]

[Events led Marie-Paule to be in contact with many other mystics (like Marthe Robin or don Stefano Gobbi), who received messages that tended to confirm the reality that she was the «personal presence of Mary on earth». We don’t say she is the reincarnation of the Virgin Mary. More accurately, we say that the Virgin Mary is the incarnation of the Immaculate (as Mother) and Marie-Paule is the reincarnation of the Immaculate (as Daugther). Both the Mother and the Daughter are the Immaculate, like both the Father and the Son are God. But we maintain the distinction between the Persons. We continue to be «strict monotheists» but from «Trinitarian monotheists», we became «Quinternitarian monotheists».]

*****

In her writings, Mother Paul-Marie offers reflections on the theme of «private revelations». I would summarize in 5 key ideas:

1.Everything, in the «public Revelation», was at first «private revelations»: God communicated privately to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, to the Patriarchs, to Moses, to the Prophets, to Saint Joseph (Matthew 2:13.19-20), to the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:26-38), even to Jesus himself (John 15:15). Later, through the Church’s authority, those revelations became «public, mandatory, universal, Catholic Revelation» [the deposit of faith].

2.Some mystics received a special charisma with immediate evidence of God’s revelations (for example Joan of Arc), or sometimes the charisma is so purified that the human aspect cannot slipped through (I believed it’s the case of Mother Paul-Marie). These are more exceptional cases.

[Joan of Arc, condemned by Bishop Pierre Cauchon, said that she would be damned if she would deny her voices or her mission; she believed in the apparitions to her of Saint Michel the Archangel as firmly as in the mystery of Redemption. Some theologians conclude that such mystics have to believe with supernatural and divine faith in the authority of God manifesting himself. Cf. Jacques Maritain, quoted in our paper Le Royaume: «Sainte Jeanne dʼArc et les révélations privées» (Le Royaume, n. 149, mai-juin 2001, p. 16).]

3.With the mind open to supernatural realities, we have a certain duty or obligation to believe authentic private revelations, as beneficiary or as witness, according to Saint Paul:

«Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophetic utterances. Test everything; retain what is good.» (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21)

Based on Saint Paul, I think it’s not quite true when we hear that we are not obliged to believe private revelations (when deemed authentic).

[If Pope Gregory XI didn’t pay attention to Saint Catherine of Siena, the papacy would have remained in Avignon, and the Devil might have succeeded in destroying the Church or seriously jeopardizing her. Actually, the Lord preserved the Church through the private revelations to Catherine. Saint Joan of Arc preserved royalty in France, which contributed also to preserve the Church. Both women were prefigurations of Mother Paul-Marie who saved the Church at an incomparably higher level (through the Church of John). And why Popes visited the sites of Marian apparitions and even instituted liturgical feasts in their honor?]

4.God reveals himself to the childlike, the little, the humble, the simple, the pure of heart.

«I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike.» (Matthew 11:25; Luke 10:21)

5.Persecution, trials, suffering + love, charity, forgiveness = a strong sign of authenticity.

*****

A few times, Marie-Paule also quoted theologians about the theme of private revelations (I only have the French references, as quoted in our paper Le Royaume):

1. Cornelio Del Zotto, o.f.m.

Cf. article «L’éternelle Immaculée Conception» (Le Royaume, n. 98, mars-avril 1994, pp. 4-5; cf. p. 11).

2. Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, o.p.

Cf. article «La théologie doit céder le pas aux affaires de mon Fils» (Le Royaume, n. 100, juillet-août 1994, p. 6).

3. Gabriel M. Roschini, o.s.m.

Cf. article «La pédagogie divine: splendeur de simplicité» (Le Royaume, n. 113, september-octobre 1996, p. 8).

4. Robert Ernst

This last theologian is particularly important, because Marie-Paule quotes him many times and lengthily. Robert Ernst is the author of the book Y a-t-il encore des révélations? [literally, Are There Still Revelations?], published in 1958. It was Father Veilleux, Marie-Paule’s spiritual director, who gave her that book. That is reported in Life of Love, volume II, chapter 53. That chapter, where Marie-Paule also comments the thought of Saint John of the Cross, is important for our topic and a must-read.

Then, very long quotes of Robert Ernst are provided in the following article:

«Qu’est-ce que l’Armée de Marie?» (Le Royaume, n. 24, septembre 1984, pp. 8, 10-11).

That article (containing these quotes) was later published in the brochure n. 4 L’Armée de Marie et la Dame de tous les Peuples (cf. pp. 25-26, 32-36 in French).

Finally, in Life of Love, Appendix IV (pp. 15-16 in French), of which the English version exists but is not yet published, we can find other very long quotes of Robert Ernst. It’d be nice to quote that theologian lengthily, but I will for now limit myself to this passage:

«But on the other hand, a prophet or person endowed with a charism can never take advantage of obedience as a reason for denying the truth of what he has been given by God to see or to repeat ― and for that matter, no one can ever do so who is convinced, by reason of the facts of personal experience, of the authenticity of a revelation. In this case, the one privileged with a charism, or his witness, is under the obligation to be ready to suffer any penalty, even excommunication, rather than to act contrary to his conviction, or to tell a lie.» (Robert Ernst)

Also, Robert Ernst says that the judgment of the Church (either the local Bishop or the Holy See) in matters of private revelations is not infallible, and thus can be mistaken. Interpreting God’s language isn’t easy, it first requires an humble attitude of faith and patience, attentiveness to events, a childlike trust. Only later, we do finally understand.

*****

That’s it Glenn!

Of course, in this essay of mine, I haven’t quoted in extenso all the references I gave you (also because I don’t have all the English translations), but they exemplify what I said earlier: that the topic of private revelations «is also in great part a subject open to debate among theologians». If we are seekers of truth, which I believe you and I are, we must get to the bottom of things and not remain superficial.

When we look at the entire life of Mother Paul-Marie, endlessly punctuated with trials, at all the charisms and celestial indications which constantly proved right subsequently by events, at the intensity of purification of those charisms (where the «human» was absent, which prevents me to speak of «self-fulfilling prophesies»), not to mention miraculous healings through her which are not illusions or human interpretations;

when we see all the serious priests who supported her during her life, all the providential events conducting Marie-Paule and the Work through incredible adversities from top religious authorities, the total lack of justice and truth in the manoeuvres of late Cardinal Louis-Albert Vachon ― God rest his soul ― and other religious authorities toward the Army of Mary, and the total lack of authentic theological dialogue with Marc Bosquart;

when we consider how Marie-Paule lived her life without understanding it and obeying all the time, despite the contradiction of different authorities; how coherent was the progression of her mystical life and the evolution of the Work, in the build-up of a complex reality in which all the elements fall into place and that no human imagination could invent or ever conceive; how innumerable fruits of conversion and spirituality that Work has done (even my own conversion-vocation and your own conversion or «reversion» back to religious Catholic practice);

when we finally contemplate the infinite charity and love Marie-Paule constantly had for everyone, even the enemies, and the way she lived her suffering, especially during her 5-year long agony;

and when we understand she was mystically abandoned by everyone (as prophetically foretold: «You will be alone to the very end, without the support of the religious authority»), even by her Paulian followers, from top apostles to simple disciples who had difficulty to understand her Spirit, and nonetheless she continues mystically and divinely to keep the Work on an even keel (because humanly speaking that Work should have died long long ago);

well, I can only make an act of faith, hope and love, saying, with the Centurion (just upon seeing the way she suffered and died, and even before any glorious manifestation which would affix the seal of confirmation):

«Truly this woman was the Daughter of God!»

(cf. Mark 15:39)

-Father David Lorange

The Prophecy of Madeleine Porsat

July 31, 2015, 5:36 pm

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The book "The Christian Trumpet" from 1873

The coming Era of the Holy Spirit and Mary- The Prophecy of Madeleine Porsat

-The 6th and 7th Sorrows of Mary for humanity: An upcoming global bankruptcy followed immediately by universal confusion

MADELEINE PORSAT was a humble and illiterate domestic servant for over fifty years. She worked primarily in the home of a family named Labbe, in the town of St. John de Bournay, Isere, France. In the year 1843 she purportedly began receiving heavenly messages and visions--one such event occurred specifically in the chapel of the Poor Clares convent in Lyon, France. After communion she claims to have heard a voice saying:
'Arise, my child, and tell my people of the end times.'
And she replied: "How am I to do this when I am the poorest and most ignorant of my village?
"Go my child, for I am with you" purportedly said the voice from heaven. Thus she began speaking of the predictions that were revealed to her.

In May of 1866, Mr. Gabriel-Désiré Laverdant, one of the editors of the French periodical‘Memorial Catholique’ interviewed Magdalene Porsat and recorded many of her prophesies, which he published with some commentaries in the above-mentioned monthly review later that year, and in more detail also in 1868. Two of the books in the Refrences section below state that Mr. Gabriel-Désiré Laverdant then interviewed Madeleine a second time in June of 1869, and confirmed with her, line by line, the prophesy presented below. In 1873, a summary of these predictions was then published in English in a book entitled “The Christian Trumpet” by Gaudentius Rossi.

For the first time on an English website the prophecy of Madeleine Porsat is presented below for your own discernment. As with all yet to be approved mystics and visionaries, I publish this information under the category of "We report, you discern". 
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The prophesied Era of the Holy Spirit and Mary

The foretelling of the Third Era, that of the Holy Spirit and Mary
"Listen, my children, to what Mary our Mother charges me to announce to you:

"Behold the end of times! Behold the end of evil and the beginning of good. What is going to happen
is not an ordinary event. It is a great epoch which is going to commence. It is the third (era of the world).

 [Editors Note: I will list here the three Epochs (or Era’s) of humanity as interpreted by many theologians:
-First Epoch of humanity: The time of God the Father [Old Testament], beginning with the creation of Adam until the universal deluge (great flood), OR to the birth of Christ.
-Second Epoch: The time of God the Son [Jesus-New Testament] beginning at the birth of Jesus
-Third Epoch: The time of God the Holy Spirit and Mary—During this time period, many mystics also prophesy about a pontificate of an angelic Pope and of a great future monarch of France who together will lead the people of God out of a great crisis in the Church and the world.]

"After the Father who has created us, in order that we may know, love, and serve him; after  the Son, who has saved us; behold now the Father and the Son to console us, are sending to us the Triumphant Spirit with Mary His Spouse. This is a great miracle!

"Mary comes from Heaven. She comes accompanied by a legion of angels. The elect living upon earth must fervently rise up in order to go forward and meet the messengers of God. Behold the Army of the Lord! Many holy women, but only a few St. Johns. Behold the armor of God! No guns or muskets, no clubs or batons, no bars and bolts, no watch-dogs, no material force, no human means. New times and new ways!

"It is now twenty-six years since I announced to you what are the seven crises; the seven wounds and sorrows of Mary which should have to precede Her triumph and our healing, namely :
1. Inclemency of seasons and weather;
2. Diseases to animals and plants;
3. Cholera over men;
4. Revolutions;
5. Wars;
6. A universal bankruptcy;
7. Confusion.

The 6th and 7th crisis of humanity- the collapse of commerce and ensuing confusion
"The preceding plagues have been lessened through Mary's intercession, who restrained the arm of her Son, Jesus. Behold now the sixth calamity, the commercial crisis. Commerce marches to its ruin, because the axle, confidence, will be shattered. There will be no respite between the sixth and seventh crises; the passage shall be rapid. The year 1789 upset France only [The French Revolution-editor]; that which is coming shall cause the revolution of the whole world. The seventh crisis shall be extreme confusion, but will culminate in a birth. Men shall believe that all is lost and annihilated. Immense turbulence and trouble shall be over the tormented sea! Whoever is not on the barque of Peter shall be engulfed. The barque goes up and down, this way and that. [Here Madeleine with her hands makes a movement like that of a vessel agitated by billows of waves.]
Peter, have confidence! The Ark comes out of the storm, and a calm will ensue. Pius IX is the last pope of the Church oppressed*. Cross of the cross. To him sorrow, but also joy. After him comes deliverance. Lumen in Celo. Light in Heaven. This is Mary's eye.  In the Church, everyone will think that all is lost. Mary arrives. Behold there is confusion; confusion even in the sanctuary, and among the priests. Notwithstanding, it is to the Catholic priests that one shall have to go for absolution and blessing. Mary is powerful but She cannot give us absolution. This is the function of the priest.

*[Gabriel-Désiré Laverdant reports that a certain individual, having found fault with Magdalene for saying that Pius IX was to be the last pope to be oppressed, she replied that at Pius IX was the last pope of an epoch. This writer is not sure how to justify this part of the prophesy other than to say that she likely misinterpreted this part of the revelation given to her.]

Mary will reveal to each person their individual sins -The illumination of conscience
"Many of the first shall come last. The children, in whom there is no evil, will be the first to hear and see their Immaculate Mother. They will open the way to Mary; and after will come the holy religious men and women, then the good people, rich and poor; All those of good will shall enter: everything is possible in God. Mary comes and to each one she opens the book of his or her conscience. [Here Madeleine forms her hands into a book open towards the public.) The book is not thus turned towards the world, open to the eyes of all: that is kept for the final judgment. But it is open thus: (Here Madeleine opens her hands towards her face). God keeps this first opening of the conscience private to each soul, through the intercession of Mary, tender Mother! This will be a mysterious examination between the Mother and her children; there will be no wounding of self-respect. It will be Mary's confessional. But what abasement! What horror of ones sins! What remorse! What anguish, when in the presence of Mary's purity, each one will see in his mirror his own baseness. And what tears of repentance to wash everything clean! That poor Satan! He thinks he has tied everything together against God but he has not bound Mary. She will overtake him and crush his head under Her heel!

"Mary, oh mystery! Mary comes to meet the prodigal son: we are that prodigal son, all of humanity, and she says, 'Come. I love you! Without you, without your felicitous fault, would all ages have called me blessed? I owe My glory to you, poor child’…

"Place a piece of iron in the fire and it comes out of it purified: so it is with the soul in the fire of heaven. In these times we confess to evil, but we do not drive out the evil. We break off the weed, but we do not uproot it; we retain the root of the old man. Now, Mary Immaculate desires that we should be completely purified so that our works may become pure. When the wicked shall see their children raised up in the glory of Mary, they will then let themselves go with their children, and through Mary they will be reconciled to God. Thus will God draw everyone into His glory, even the wicked.

“Do you think that Mary will come to destroy the work of her Son? The Pope holds the place of God upon earth; so does the bishop in every diocese, and the parish priest in every parish. Behold the representative of Jesus Christ, as a good and religious mother is the image of Mary. Go to your pastors who have been appointed by God. But woe ! woe ! to mercenaries who go to the side of the world! Look at that field where among bad weeds and every kind of damaged wheat there are also some good ears; that is a figure of how human society is now seated in wickedness. What should be done with it? Good souls should not be allowed to perish. The sound ears are good souls. Well! Mary comes to help with the harvest of the elect from the earth.

"A grand event shall have to take place in order to terrify the wicked to their advantage. After this, Mary all powerful shall change all men into good wheat. All shall become good. The Pharisees (the hypocrites) will be the last to be converted; the great sinners will arrive beforehand. The Jews who have refused to receive Jesus Christ in his humiliation will acknowledge Him at the glorious arrival of Mary.

"The dove (the peace and grace of God through Mary) comes to us from heaven, wearing on her breast a white cross, a sign of reconciliation, and waving a sword of fire, symbol of love. She seats herself on a throne of solid gold, a figure of Noah's ark; for She comes to announce the end of a deluge of evils. Behold, she comes, our Mother! The Church prepares everything for the glorious arrival of Mary. The Church forms for her a guard of honor to go before the angels. The triumphal arch is nearly accomplished. The hour is not far distant. It is Mary in person! But yet She has Her precursors, — holy women, apostles, who shall cure the wounds of the body as well as the sins of the heart. Holy women, images of Mary, shall have power to work miracles. After them comes Mary to prepare the place for her Son in His triumphant Church.

“Behold the Immaculate Conception of the kingdom of God that precedes the arrival of Jesus Christ! It is the mansion of God upon earth, which is going to purify and prepare itself to receive Emmanuel. Jesus Christ cannot come into this hovel of the world! It is necessary that God should send His Holy Spirit to renew the face of the earth by means of another creation, to render it a worthy mansion for the God made man. Behold! After the fire from below that will burn everything and leave no stone unturned, behold next the fire from above to enkindle and transform everything! The love of God comes to embrace and transfigure the world.

“I see the earth rendered almost level; its valleys are raised ; its mountains are lowered; there is nothing more than gentle hills and beautiful vales. Since I am as I am, I see nothing else before us but union and universal fraternity and community. All men living in reciprocal love. One helps the other. They are all happy.  There is almost no large scale cultivation; there is only small cultivation with gardens with lovely fruit and flowers everywhere. With Mary, all of nature is a garden and everywhere there is fragrance.  All serves to the glory of God through Mary.“

References:
-"VOIX PROPHETIQUES- SIGNES, APPARITIONS ET PRÉDICTIONS MODERNES" by L'ABBÉ J. -M. CURICQUE, 2^nd Edition, 1872.

-“The Christian Trumpet” by Gaudentius Rossi, 2nd edition, 1873.

-"Ce qui va nous arriver: guerre et révolution" By Novaye, Mery, 1896
_________________________________________________________________________
Part of the mission of this website is to provide truthful information about the lesser known purported mystics of the Church. The above prophesy of Madeleine Porsat follows in this spirit, and it is the first time her prophesy has been published in English on the internet. In my investigation I discovered that a few French and Spanish websites incorrectly have Madeleine listed as being born in 1773 and died in 1843---This is completely inaccurate because all three of the books listed in the references above state that it was the prophetic message that was given to her in 1843, and that she was interviewed by Gabriel-Désiré Laverdant in 1866 and again in 1869, and that she was still living at the time of publication of the first two books, 1872, 1873.

Secondly, several French and Spanish websites also have Madeleine Porsat listed as becoming a Poor Clare nun (presumably later in life) and also being declared "Venerable". Now, concerning the possibility of her being Venerable, I contacted Padre Angelo Paleri, the Postulator General of the Franciscans in Rome who consulted the Index ac Status Causarum (1999) and its Supplementum (2000-2007) published by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and he was unable to find her name listed there. Also, I contacted several communities of Poor Clare's (sometimes referred to as Clarisse nuns--see email to the left). Likewise, thus far I have been unable to confirm that she became a Poor Clare nun. The three books listed at the bottom of this article that were written during or soon after her lifetime state only that she was a domestic servant (a maid) for over 50 years. This writer thinks it likely that because she was in the chapel of the Poor Clares convent in Lyon, France when she was first told of her mission, perhaps someone assumed that she was a poor Clare, and the misinterpretation went from there. It is also possible that she was attached to the Third Order (Franciscans) as a layperson.

Maria Teresa Carloni, A modern day mystic and stigmatic

January 13, 2015, 6:46 pm

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Maria Teresa Carloni, A modern day mystic

Maria Teresa Carloni, (1919-1983) A modern day stigmatic with exceptional mystical gifts

-The mystic who came back to the Catholic faith at age 32

The webmaster would like to gratefully thank Mrs. Angelica Avcikurt for translating from the original Italian the inspiring and informative passages below. May God reward her for her efforts.

Introduction

Maria Teresa Carloni, a twentieth century mystic, is better known in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria than in her native Italy. Known as the “Voice of the Silenced Church”, she dedicated her whole life to the persecuted Church under the Communist Regime during the Cold War.

Early Years
Maria Teresa was born in Udine, Italy on October 9, 1919 into a rich and aristocratic family. At the age of four, she became an orphan, and together with her brother Adolph, went to live with her grandmother. As a child and adolescent, she suffered from terrible scruples. This together with the fact that she met some priests and religious that were not leading edifying lives, kept her away from the Church.  

However, she desperately wanted to find God. At the age of 17 she tried once more to go to confession, but was misunderstood by the priest. She walked out of that church thinking she would never return but she turned to the Crucifix and said to Jesus, “We will meet again.”

From 1939-1943, she studied to become a nurse. Although she felt she was far from God, she offered many sacrifices for the conversion of her patients and was even fired from a hospital unit for opposing abortion.

When the Second World War started, she worked as a nurse for the Sovereign Order of Malta in Rome. Because of her outstanding service, she was given the Silver Medal of Valor by the military.

While she was living in Rome, she fell in love with a young doctor. This young doctor, however, was tragically killed on the St. Angelo Bridge when they were together on a medical visit at night.

Maria Teresa Carloni and Pope Paul VI

Her First Meeting with Pope Pius XII

After the bombings of the San Lorenzo neighborhood in Rome during WWII, everyone went there to assist the wounded, including Pope Pius XII. Maria Teresa was there aiding the wounded when she saw a “priest dressed in white.” She did not recognize the Pope and told him, “Hurry, Reverend Father.” And he did as he was told.

Sometime later, she accompanied the soldiers from the hospital to an audience with the Pope at the Vatican. He recognized her and said to her, “How come you have not come here in such a long time?” [meaning to Church]. Not knowing what to answer, she said, “I haven’t been well.” To this, he replied, “So, you lie to the Pope?” Later, remembering this moment, she said she wanted the ground to swallow her.

Her Conversion at age 32

After finishing a degree in Pedagogy in 1946, she returned to her native Urbania. On April 16, 1951, at the age of 32, she had a conversion. She made an appointment with the Parish Priest of St. Francis Church, Father Cristoforo Campana, because her grandmother was dying. She also wanted to speak with him, and told him all about her bad experiences with the Church and that this was her final attempt to come back. Fr. Campana accepted to be her spiritual director and she returned to the Church.

On June 16, 1951, after asking her spiritual director, Maria Teresa makes a vow of perpetual virginity. From then on, her prayer and penitential life became more intense.

The Beginning of her Mystical Experiences: Inner Locutions

While working as nurse at the Bonomelli Foundation of Milano, a charitable institution, she was sent to the small town of Spotorno, to do educate children about TB prevention. Soon after her arrival there, an epidemic broke out and she was quarantined with the children. This is when her first mystical experiences started and she then began writing letters about it to her spiritual director, Fr. Campana.

She felt that another person was talking inside her head and when it stopped, she would answer. At the beginning these dialogues lasted just a few minutes, but as they became longer, she used to leave whatever she was doing and hide somewhere so that people would not become alarmed.

Her spiritual father, of course, was cautious, and told her not to pay attention to this Voice, that it was probably her imagination. However, no matter how much she tried to ignore this, it continued and her fighting it took a toll on her health.

Once she was back in Urbania at the end of March, 1952, Father Campana wanted to look into what was happening to her. This is what he wrote:

“While she was speaking to me, I noticed that she would half close her eyes, become distant, and start talking to “someone” invisible. It would last from between fifteen minutes to half and hour. Then everything would return to normal. She would become embarrassed when she realized I was there and would say:- 'It is not my fault. You are still here?”

Fr. Campana, consulted many books about mystical phenomenon, and since her conversations were highly spiritual and he found no doctrinal error in them, he decided to allow this to continue. This took place regularly every Friday.

Maria Teresa receives the Stigmata
One Friday when Fr. Campana was present, he heard the “Voice” say to him, through Maria Teresa, “I want to repeat my Passion in this creature. You, being her spiritual father, can accept or reject this from happening, because you are the authority that represents Me, but know that this is My will.”

Even though Fr. Camapna understood who was talking to him, he asked, “But who are you?” 

“I am Jesus. This soul has offered herself to me and I have accepted her offer. She will be a victim for the salvation of many, according to what she has told you.” 

“What should I do?” 

“Next Good Friday, her hands feet and heart will be pierced. The wounds will not appear externally, because everything must remain hidden, as you said, but later, whenever you want, you can make them appear and they will be seen visibly.”

In this dialogue, we can see the greatness of the priesthood in Jesus’ words. Jesus leaves the decision of whether the stigmata will be internal or external up to Maria Teresa’s spiritual director, Fr. Cristoforo Campana, who later became a Monsignor.

When Maria Teresa regained consciousness, she did not remember anything of what was said in this dialogue between Jesus and her spiritual director. Fr. Campana then asked her, “If Jesus wanted a closer union with you, to unite you to His sufferings, what would you say?” 

“If He wanted this, then I am willing.”

“He wants it.” Fr. Campana replied.

On Good Friday, April 11, 1952, [which incidentally is also the feast day of another stigmatic, St Gemma Galgani] Fr. Campana went to see her at 2:45pm and found her suffering in bed. He asked her if she was suffering much, and with her teeth clenched almost unable to open her mouth, she said, “So much.” At 3:00pm Fr. Campana witnessed her terrible suffering as she appeared to be nailed to the Cross and then it appeared she had given her last breath and expired. She remained like that for a few minutes, and then opening her eyes, she smiled and said, “It is done.” However, she was not able to get out of bed until midnight.

Mystical Espousal
On December 20, 1952, Maria Teresa received the grace of the spiritual marriage. The “Voice” had asked Fr. Campana to bring her to Church. At 9:30 she knelt before the Altar and almost immediately a dialogue between her and Jesus began. Fr. Campana heard the following: “Jesus accepts to be your husband but he wants his wife to be like him, persecuted, trampled on, slandered, and suffering always in body and spirit.”

Fr. Campana then heard Jesus tell him, “Go up to the altar, lift the tablecloth, take the gold ring and put it on my wife as a tangible sign of my espousal to her.” The priest found the ring and placed it on Maria Teresa’s finger telling her, “It is not from me. “Someone” is giving it to you as a sign of His union with you.”

That ring had been left at the Altar by a wife who was disappointed with her marriage.

Her Special Mission, Victim soul and Bi-location
On January 4, 1953, Fr. Campana finds out that Ivana Puskin had died. Ivana was the great granddaughter of Alexander Sergeevic Puskin, considered to be the father of contemporary Russian literary language. Ivana was Catholic and was active in the underground Church movement. She had offered herself as a victim for the salvation of Russia, but had purposely excluded Stalin’s salvation because of the horrendous crimes he had committed.

One Friday, when Maria Teresa was suffering the Passion of Jesus in her body, Jesus informed Fr. Campana of the death of Ivana Puskin and asked him to tell Maria Teresa if she wanted to take the place of this victim for the salvation of Russia and the other countries ruled by the doctrine of atheistic materialism. Maria Teresa answered, “If the Lord wants it and gives me the necessary strength, I accept.”  With this acceptance her spiritual and physical sufferings increased and so did the demonic attacks.

At the beginning of March, 1953, Stalin was dying. The following Friday the “mysterious voice” told Fr. Campana, “Now, I will ask you something, if you allow it and this creature agrees. Before Stalin dies, I want to give him the possibility of being saved, like I do with all redeemed souls, despite his crimes. If you two accept, I ask you to offer these three hours for the soul of Stalin. But don’t be alarmed by the sufferings that this creature will undergo.”

Maria Teresa accepted this and suffered terribly for three hours. Fr. Campana who was with her, could not stop crying and saying, “Enough.” After the three hours she came back to normal. It seems, however, that Stalin did not benefit from the grace that Jesus offered him at the moment of his death. Blessed Elena Aiello, another Italian mystic, was granted a vision of hell in which she saw the soul of Stalin and a place for his followers.

After Stalin’s death, the persecution of the Church in the Communist countries continued. In the meantime, Maria Teresa’s sufferings increased and according to Fr. Camapana new mystical phenomena started. One Sunday afternoon, Fr. Campana heard the “Voice” tell him that Cardinal Stepinac, from the place he was confined, had managed to organize in the mountains surrounding Krasic, groups of faithful which he visited with other clandestine priests, Croatians, and refugees from nearby countries. He used to go see them once in a while to encourage their faith. That Sunday, the Cardinal’s legs were hurting him more than usual because of bad circulation, but he wanted to attend at all cost that meeting in the mountains. The “Voice” asked Fr. Campana to tell Maria Teresa if she would take the Cardinal’s pain upon herself to free him from it so that he could go to this meeting. She accepted and immediately went to bed because of the pain in her legs. In the meanwhile, Cardinal Stepinac was able to fulfill his mission.

This taking upon herself the sufferings of others, together with the phenomenon of bilocation, started happening almost daily as she assisted priests who were being tortured in communist countries.

Maria Teresa Carloni with Pope Paul VI

Fr. Campana noted that Maria Teresa started sweating blood on Good Friday, 1954 and bilocated for the first time on December 6 of the same year. This  first bilocation was to Cardinal Wyszynski, who was suffering because of having been tortured.

Actually, she became like a transmitter-receiver for persecuted persons. She could hear people calling for help from far distances. These mystical phenomena allowed Fr. Campana to make contact with leaders of the persecuted Church, who could not contact the Holy See. Through this special mission of Maria Teresa, Fr. Campana would keep the Pope up to date with what was happening in these places.

Besides traveling by bilocation, Maria Teresa also traveled physically to many of these places and was able to visit leaders of the Church even in prison. Her first trip was to Innsbruck, where she met with Card. Stepinac, and visited Card. Mindszenty in prison. She wrote a report about this trip entitled, “From Innsbruck to Rome,” which was given personally to Pope Pius XII.

Often she went by bilocation wherever she was needed. After the failed rebellion in Hungary, Fr. Campana sent her there in bilocation to encourage the Hungarian people. These trips in bilocation would take a toll on her physically and spiritually making her very weak.

Her mystical ability to read souls and detect blessed objects, and Pope Pius XII
Earlier we mentioned her first providential encounter with Pope Pius XII in the Roman neighborhood of San Lorenzo after a bombing. Because of her special mission, she would get to meet many times with Pope Pius XII in the Vatican. Her spiritual father would make the appointment with the Pope. When she would arrive in Rome at the train station, a Swiss Guard would come pick her up to take her to the Vatican. She sometimes had dinner with the Pope and then they talked all night. The Pope was very interested in what was happening in those areas, he even cried when he heard of the tortures and the sufferings those people had to endure. Pope Pius XII also invited her to Castel Gandolfo.

At that time, in 1955, Pope Pius XII was concerned about the Eucharist and about how Mass was being celebrated by priests. Since he knew that among the many spiritual gifts that Maria Teresa had, was the gift of being able to tell apart consecrated hosts from unconsecrated hosts, he ordered Maria Teresa to attend all the Masses celebrated on June 13, 1955 from 7-8:30 in St. Peter’s Basilica and keep a record of how many Masses where celebrated by priests who were in a state of grace, how many in a state of grace but with imperfection, how many in venial sin, how many in mortal sin, how many were sacrilegious, and how many were celebrated in a distracted manner.

Maria Teresa later met the Pope to give him the report: Masses celebrated with attention and intention, 6; Masses where the celebrant was distracted but the Mass was still valid, 8; Masses in which the celebrant was so distracted that the consecration did not take place, 1; Masses celebrated by priests with deliberate venial sins, 5; Masses celebrated by priests in mortal sin but not sacrilegious, 2; sacrilegious Masses, 0.

A Eucharistic Miracle
The day she gave the Pope this report, she had lunch with him and then they took a walk in the Vatican Gardens. During their walk, the Pope took out of his pocket a theca with 4 hosts. He showed them to Maria Teresa and asked, “Which of these 4 hosts are consecrated?” 

Maria Teresa, making two of them fall on the ground, pointed to the two left in his hand and said, “These ones are consecrated.” 

To this, the Pope said, “Let’s ask the Lord to give us a sign that these are consecrated.”  Then suddenly, two blots of blood appeared on the two hosts that the Pope was holding. The Pope was moved to tears and knelt and so did Maria Teresa. She gave one of these hosts to Maria Teresa and told her to put it in a Theca and keep it close to her heart under her clothes.

There were many meetings between Pope Pius XII and Maria Teresa Carloni. On September 30, 1956 at Castel Gandolfo, Pope Pius XII was present during Maria Teresa’s mystical suffering of the three hours of agony. She lay on the papal bed and the Pope knelt at the bedside crying.

Her last audience with Pope Pius XII was on September 29, 1958 at Castel Gandolfo. At this meeting Maria Teresa told him about her recent trip to Russia (August 6-17, 1958) The Pope cried a lot when he heard of the terrible sufferings of the people there, and then said to Maria Teresa, “Goodbye, my daughter.”

On October 9 at around 3:00am, the Pope appeared to Maria Teresa at her home in Urbania to entrust to her the Silent Church [the Church in persecuted areas under the Communist regimes]. At 3:52, Pope Pius XII was dying in Castel Gandolfo.

Many years later, when Maria Teresa was distressed because of problems and tensions among the Curia in Urbania, Pope Pius XII appeared to her dressed in red on the anniversary of his death. She asked him, “Why are you not wearing white?” He replied, “Because you love the martyrs and not the clergy. You are “anticlerical” but I understand you. It is not your fault. You are just a victim. At the end of my life I was also “anticlerical.” Being “anticlerical” today means being against those priests who are not priests, and not against God and the clergy who defend him.” 

“But where are those priests?” she asked

“There are very few, even though there are many priests in the world. Good night.” and then he disappeared.

Maria Teresa and Pope John XXIII

Maria Teresa had four audiences with Pope John XXIII. In the audience of December 20, 1959, in the presence of Cardinal Ottaviani and Cardinal Wedel. Maria Teresa informed the Pope of what was happening in the persecuted Church. This report was based on her visits in bilocation to the leaders of the Church in those countries from December 1-17. The Pope gifted her with a chasuble which she kept in her private chapel in Urbania.

During the audience on March 1961, Maria Teresa spoke to the Pope about the problems of the Church in Sudan, after her recent trip there. She spiritually adopted many seminarians from Sudan and prayed and suffered for them.

On June 3, 1963, she went in bilocation to the dying pope. This is what she wrote:

I went to the sick bed of John XXIII who was dying. He recognized me and entrusted to me the Silent Church. These were his exact words: “I have offered my life for the Council and for the Silent Church. Now I am dying but you should live for this. Upon my death, build the reason for your life and live for that. This is the inheritance that I leave you.”

After Pope John XXIII died, she had several audiences with Pope Paul VI, who encouraged her to continue with her mission.

Her pilgrimage to the Holy Land--Jesus appears three times as a shepherd to Maria and her friend
Maria Teresa made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in January of 1967. In her diary, she writes about three encounters that she and her traveling companion had with Jesus. The first encounter happened at the Garden of Gethsemane. She was with a companion, named Jesus, and they were wondering about the exact location where Jesus had prayed in the garden. Maria Teresa said that they would need to ask Jesus himself where to kneel down and adore. The following is taken from her diary:

January 3, 1967

An unknown group was ahead of us and a friar, who was their guide, led them to the inside of the Basilica. The two of us remained alone in the garden; we looked at the Kidron Valley down below and Jerusalem above. We went from one centuries-old olive tree to the next, caressing all of them with tenderness, trying to avoid the protrusion of the rocks that peek out from the ground, and we asked each other almost at the same time, “Which do you think is Jesus’ spot? We must be very close.” From behind us came the answer in perfect Italian: “You are here indeed, foreigners.” We turned around suddenly, certain that it must be a priest, but instead our eyes met a flamboyant young man, dressed in a local outfit, solemn and not excessively tall. His face was very tanned from the sun; his hair, semi hidden by a veil that covered his back down to his feet like a cape, was a copper red and long like that of a woman; his beard was the same color; his eyes which were a deep sea green revealed a look of unusual intelligence, his voice was baritone yet sweet. The tunic with the veil above his head was sky blue. His habit was white and long down to the ground and tied at the waist with a white belt. His right arm was straight along his side, his left hand, tapered and not rough like that of a working man, was holding a rough and long cane, like the ones that are still used today by shepherds. It serves as a support and to align the sheep. He was wearing sandals made with strips of leather. He was a very common man, except that he was elegant and pristine.

My gaze, maybe for a second, got lost in the stranger’s gaze, and then he turned to my friend, who had turned so pale that he looked like a cloth that had been soaked in lye and he seemed dazed…I had an olive twig in my hand that I had broken off a random tree; it was a beautiful twig, young, green, vibrant. I squeezed it in my fist and hurt it. I realized that that man’s features were not beautiful, rather awkward and ugly but they emanated such manliness that they were attractive. We were three human beings but we looked like three statues. Even nature seemed to have become petrified. I… intended to break the ice, the silence, the stillness, and almost violently asked, “You speak Italian. Who are you?!” That baritone voice, not at all shaken by my explosion, but rather sweet and not less solemn than before, responded “I am the Shepherd.” I remained motionless not realizing the significance of the article, “the” and not “a” shepherd.   Why- I was thinking- did he say “the” and not “a”? He apparently did not give any importance to my thought. He came close to me stretched his right arm to reach one of the centuries-old olive trees that was behind me and gave me a twig. He could not have chosen an uglier twig than that one! Its leaves were dry, dirty, with holes, shriveled. “This olive tree–he said placing the twig in my hand- is the one you were looking for. That is the one that saw the sleepiness of the apostles and the pain of God.” “But it is so ugly – I answered – mine is more beautiful.” “But mine–he replied- is the real one.”

The scene was becoming awesome: my friend was still dazed and had not recovered, he was pale, his eyes were fixed without seeing, and with his mouth open like an idiot.  I could react externally but I felt tormented. The unknown voice continued, calmly and melodiously, “You were looking for the holy spot on the rock: it is here, a stone’s throw away. Put your foot here and turn you back to Jerusalem and you – he told my friend picking up a stone- throw it with your eyes closed. Where it falls, there I cried.” While he obeyed, I, trying to keep my eyes opened, protested, “You are going to break the window of the Basilica.” The hand of the Shepherd took hold of mine without saying a word. The rock flew and seemed to hit an invisible obstacle a few centimeters away from the mosaic window and fell to the ground moving itself to the left. . He said, “It is done: there I cried.” I arrived to that place before my friend because I had seen where the rock had fallen, he had his eyes closed. I bent down and amidst the barren soil the small top of a rock stuck out. He also came running and prostrated himself, he dug his hands into the soil with so much violence that his nails were broken; then he jumped to his feet and yelled like a madman with his arms towards heaven, “It is Him. It is Him. It is Jesus.” The eyes of the Shepherd sparkled with happiness and he started to go away.

I, stunned by what was happening, was anxious to recover my voice as the man was walking away; finally I exploded in a cry, “Stop him. Tell him to stay with us.” My friend didn’t have much voice either but the Shepherd had ears. He was far away and little in our sight, but his words seemed to come from inside of us. He turned around, extended his right hand towards us and we heard him say, “I am not leaving you. We will see each other again.” Then he went on his way, getting farther away until he disappeared. He disappeared from our sight because he was too far. To say that he vanished would be a lie.

They did see Jesus again when they were visiting Mount Tabor. Jesus remembered the Transfiguration and told them that it was erroneously referred to as a “miracle.” It was in fact the cessation of the miracle, since that was his real divine essence. The miracle was his humanity. Then Jesus continued showing them around the places mentioned in the Gospels.

The third time they met Jesus was when then went to see the Mount of the Beatitudes on January 7th:

We were trying to imagine what it was like to be blessed [like the souls in heaven], and the Shepherd came towards us.  He was always the same, only that this time his cape was red and not blue. We were sitting on the grass looking at the lake: “It is very calm here, right?” With these words he reawakened us and we did not get a chance to stand up because he had already sat in front of us.

“It is a peacefulness that bores men– he continued – a peacefulness that is perhaps monotonous for those who do not like contemplation and silence.  But monotony raises the mind and the heart of he who has faith; on the other hand, hustle and commotion, cloud the brain. In a strong and changeless peace such as this, the God of Justice will judge souls. They will not be asked details about their lives, they won’t be asked how many hours they worked or prayed, but they will have to answer about charity towards their neighbor. Have you been humble? Have you been meek? Have you suffered worthily? Did you hunger and thirst for justice? Did you have mercy? Have you been pure? Were you instruments of peace? Have you been persecuted for love of me? In truth I tell you, that souls will be judged only based on this, that is, on charity.” Getting up, he blessed us saying, “See you in the Kingdom of my Father. I am waiting for you among the blessed.”

Maria Teresa and Pope John Paul II -Visits the Pope through bilocation
She met Karol Wojtyla during her trip to Poland when she went to meet Card. Wyszynski, who was the Bishop of Cracow at the time. During the Papacy of John Paul II, she had two audiences with him on January 20, 1979 and February 21, 1980. She was supposed to meet with him one more time but could not attend the audience due to her poor health.

On May 13, 1981, when the Pope was shot, Maria Teresa went to see him at the hospital in bilocation. Fr. Campana left a written testimony indicating that she had gone to see the Pope in bilocation at 8:30 that evening. He considered this to be an extraordinary grace received by the Pope because Maria Teresa had not bilocated for a long time due to her weak state of health. That was probably her last bilocation. She said she remained with the Pope from 8:30pm until 1:00 am. Pope John Paul II recognized her when she went to his bedside but he had never seen her like that before, in bilocation. The following day, Fr. Campana interrogated her as to the details of what she had seen and she described everything in the room. He asked her then, “When you are like that (in bilocation), how are you, young, old?” She answered, “I am not a child nor an old lady, neither big nor small, but I feel I am in the fullness of life.”

Towards the end
During the last years of her life, Maria Teresa suffered many physical ailments and mental anguish. At the same time the supernatural sufferings and gifts started to disappear. She died from a Peritonitis on January 17, 1983 at 11:20am. She was buried at the cemetery in Urbania. Following her wishes, the following epitaph was written on her tombstone, “Mihi vivere Christus est, et mori lucrum.”

All documentation about her life and activities were given to the Marian Shrine of Jasna Gora in Czestochowa, Poland.

References:
Di Chi, Alberto, and Luciana Mirri. Martirio e Speranza: Il Carisma di Maria Teresa Carloni.Perugia, Italy: Edizioni Frate Indovino, 2009. Print.

Speziale, Vincenzo. Maria Teresa Carloni: Stimmatizzata.Tavagnacco, Italy: Edizioni Segno, 2014. Print.

Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich

February 2, 2015, 5:52 pm

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Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich

Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, German Stigmatic and Victim Soul (1774-1824)

Anna Katharina Emmerick (or Anne Catherine Emmerich in English) was born on September 8, 1774 at Flamske, Westphalia, West Germany, to a small farming family. Her parents, Bernard Emmerich and Anne Hiller, were poor peasants, but very devout and pious.  Anne Catherine was baptized at the St. James Church at Coesfeld. As a child, she spent alot of her time as a maid and seamstress until her entrance into the Augustinian Order on November 13, 1803. 

At age 29 she joined the Convent of Agnetenberg at Dulmen, Westphalia. Even during these youthful years, Anne was extraordinarily gifted with ecstasies and visions of Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary, her guardian angel, and many of the saints. Although never given an adequate education, Anne had perfect recollection of her childhood days, and she seemed to understand Latin beginning in her very early years. Almost from infancy Anne reportedly had the gifts of discerning holy from unholy objects, consecrated objects or locations, and the identification of relics and from which saints they came. Also during these early years, Anne was often seen making the entire Way of the Cross in her bare feet, even when the snow had covered the ground.

Anne receives the Crown of Thorns
The following is the account she herself has given of the circumstances under which she received the crown of thorns:
"About four years prior to my admittance into the convent, that is in 1798, it happened that I was in the Jesuits' Church at Coesfeld, at about twelve noon, kneeling before a crucifix and absorbed in meditation, when all on a sudden I felt a strong but pleasant heat in my head, and I saw my Divine Spouse, under the form of a young man clothed with light, come towards me from the altar, where the Blessed Sacrament was preserved in the tabernacle. 

In His left hand he held a crown of flowers, and in His right hand a crown of thorns, and He bade me choose which one I would like to have. I chose the crown of thorns; He placed it on my head, and I pressed it down with both hands. Then He disappeared, and I returned to myself, feeling, however, violent pain around my head. I was obliged to leave the church, which was going to be closed. One of my companions was kneeling by my side, and as I thought she might have seen what happened to me, I asked her when we got home whether there was not a wound on my forehead, and spoke to her in general terms of my vision, and of the violent pain which had followed it. She could see nothing outwardly, but was not astonished at what I told her, because she knew that I was sometimes in an extraordinary state, without her being able to understand the cause. The next day my forehead and temples were very much swelled, and I suffered terribly. This pain and swelling often returned, and sometimes lasted whole days and nights. I did not remark that there was blood on my head until my companions told me I had better put on a clean cap, because mine was covered with red spots. I let them think whatever they liked about it, only taking care to arrange my head-dress so as to hide the blood which flowed from my head, and I continued to observe the same precaution even after I entered the convent, where only one person perceived the blood, and she never betrayed my secret.'

Anne receives the Stigmata

In 1811, Anne was forced to leave her convent along with all the sisters when King Jerome Bonaparte closed all of the Religious houses during his reign. Four years before the suppression of her convent, Anne made a visit home with her family in Flamske. One day while she was kneeling and praying for hours before the Cross of the Church of St. Lambert at Coesfeld, Anne had asked our Lord for a share in His Passion as a sacrifice for the sake of her convent. From that time on, she began experiencing terrible pains in her hands, feet and side, an indication that God had given her the invisible stigmata. 

On August 28,1812 (the Feast of St. Augustine), Jesus appeared to her in a vision and imprinted a cross-shaped wound on her breast directly above the heart. Later that same year, specifically on the 29th December 1812, at about 3pm she was lying on her bed in her little room, extremely ill, but in a state of ecstasy and with her arms extended, meditating on the sufferings of her Lord, and beseeching him to allow her to suffer with him. She said five Our Fathers in honour of the Five Wounds, and felt her whole heart burning with love. She then saw a light descending towards her, and distinguished in the midst of it the resplendent form of her crucified Saviour, whose wounds shone like so many furnaces of light. Her heart was overflowing with joy and sorrow, and, at the sight of the sacred wounds, her desire to suffer with her Lord became intensely violent. Then triple rays, pointed like arrows, of the colour of blood, darted forth from the hands, feet, and side of Jesus, and struck her hands, feet, and right side.

When she recovered her senses she was astonished when she beheld blood flowing from the palms of her hands, and felt violent pain in her feet and side. It happened that her landlady's little daughter came into her room, saw her hands bleeding, and ran to tell her mother, who with great anxiety asked Anne Catherine what had happened, but Anne begged her not to speak about it. She felt, after having received the stigmas, that an entire change had taken place in her body; for the course of her blood seemed to have changed, and to flow rapidly towards the stigmas. She herself used to say: 'No words can describe in what manner it flows.'

In 1813, Anne was examined by a group of both medical and Church authorities; an inquiry which lasted for five months. The examiners found Anne to be mentally sound, and they could not find any medical or temporal explanation for the wounds of the stigmata.

Anne lives off the Eucharist alone for 12 years

From the moment she received the Sacred Wounds until her death, Anne Catherine Emmerich took no solid food, existing only on the Sacred Host. In fact, when she would try to eat or drink she would have a severe reaction and would vomit violently when attempting to consume food, even broth. She was however able to consume the Holy Eucharist and her diet consisted only of the Eucharist. 

In 1819 she was once again investigated by high-ranking secular authorities. She was taken away from all of her acquaintances and moved to a house in the country belonging to one of the authorities. They referred to her as 'The Imposter'. She was locked up for three weeks with the authorities watching her 24x7 in 6 hour shifts. Much to the aggravation of her captors, she still consumed no food and bled through her Stigmata even though she prayed not to bleed so they would release her. After three weeks, she was finally sent back to her home in Dulmen by her frustrated captors. Two of them became very sympathetic to her cause. During her last few years, she did not sleep at all, a miracle in itself according to the testimonies of many doctors. She was given shelter by various charitable people in the area, and was bedridden for the rest of her life. God had chosen this gifted soul to become His victim, and she voluntarily suffered and sacrificed as a means of atonement and expiation for the souls that were living in sin.

Because of the great trouble caused by her visible stigmata, Anne implored our Lord to remove them, a prayer which was granted - at least partially - starting in 1819. Over the next seven years, her wounds became less visible until finally they disappeared, except for on special occasions or particular feast days of the Church calendar. They would reappear and continue to bleed, however, during each Lenten season, particularly on Good Fridays. There were other occasions when Anne Catherine Emmerich's wounds would manifest and bleed severely, including some Holy Thursdays and a few Fridays outside of Lent. Yet she was never without the stigmata, for the rest of the time they were invisible but equally as painful.

Her remarkable visions

It is though that the most extraordinary gift that Anne possessed was that of her extraordinary visions, also known as ecstasies. She was given visions of almost the entire life of Jesus, and most of the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary also. These private revelations of Jesus and Mary’s life included the most intimate details and can be considered a complete vision of the Gospel story. The visions of the life of Jesus as witnessed by Anne Catherine are compiled and published in the popular book “The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ” which many view as a true treasure, and her visions of Mary are published under the title “The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary- From The Visions Of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich”.

Other visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich include those of Heaven, Hell, Purgatory along with intimate details in the lives of many Saints. Many of these Saints she conversed with, and she often witnessed events in their lives as if she were right there beside them. The list is truly impressive so only some of their names will be mentioned here: Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, her own guardian angel, St. Agnes, St. Agatha, St. Emerentiana, St. Paula, St. Dorothea, St. Apollonia, St. Benedict, St. Scholastica, St. Paschal, St. Cyprian, St. Isidore, St. Stephen, St. Lawrence, St. Nicodemus, St.Clare, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Perpetua, St. Felicity, St. Justina, St. Denis, St. Ursula, St. Hubert, St. Gertrude, St. Cecilia, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Augustine, St. Francis de Sales, and St. Jane Frances de Chantal. And this is far from being a complete list. In addition to all of this, she also received many prophecies about future events. Many of these revelations have come true, sometimes with remarkable accuracy.

Angels and devils

Anne Catherine Emmerich was favored since her childhood with the guidance and protection of her guardian angel. God allowed her to entrust her will to this angelic creature, who in turn enlightened her to God's designs upon her soul. Anne even revealed that her angel often took her to various places during her ecstastic moments, throughout all of Europe and even to the Holy Land. Often too, this favored soul would communicate with the poor souls in Purgatory via the guidance of her angel, who led her safely through this place of purification in order that she might visit those who implored her aid. In turn, Anne would pray and suffer in order to help free them from their pain and to help gain their entrance into the heavenly kingdom.

And in regards to the Angels, Anne Catherine stated:

“I see the angels without aureolas (ie. “halos”). They appear to me, indeed, under a human form with faces and hair, but they are more delicate, more noble, more beautiful than men. They are immaterial, perfectly luminous and transparent, but in different degrees. I also see blessed souls surrounded by a material light, rather white than resplendent, and around them a many-colored glory, an aureola whose tints correspond to their kind of purification , I see neither angels nor saints moving their feet, excepting in the historic senses of their life upon earth, as men among men. I never see these apparitions in their real state speaking to one another with the mouth; they turn to one another, interpenetrate one another .... “ (p. 419-420.)

Her Angel guides her in bilocation
"The angel calls me and I follow him to various places. He takes me to people I know or who are complete strangers. We cross the sea as quickly as thought travels. It is he who took me to see the Queen of France in prison. When he comes to take me on a journey, I see a glimmering light, then his luminous form appears before me like a flash from a lantern open in the dark. As we journey along in the darkness a faint light floats over our path. We pass over countries in distant regions, passing over roads, deserts, rivers and seas. We always travel on foot, my knees and feet ache. I often have to climb mountains. My guide is in front of me or at my side. I never see his feet move. "

"He is silent, he makes few motions, sometimes he follows his replies by gestures of the hand or inclinations of the head. He is transparent. He is grave but very kind. His hair is smooth, flowing and shining. His head is uncovered and his long white robe, like a priest`s. I address him freely and never look him fully in the face. I never ask him many questions, as I am satisfied just being near him. I call to him to go to the Angel of the person for whom I am praying. I say,'Now I shall stay here, but do go to such or such place where thy help is need and then I see him go'. When I come to broad waters and know not how to cross, I find myself all at once on the other side and I look back in wonder."

For chosen souls like Anne Catherine who receive mystical graces, our Lord often allows them to be attacked and assailed by the demons, so as to keep them from being prideful and to teach them complete trust in God. Anne Catherine knew all too well the attacks that spring forth from the devil. She once received blows to the face from a demon who appeared to her in the form of a great, black dog. Another time, the evil one tried to hurl her down a ladder. She even experienced icy-cold hands grabbing at her feet with the intention of throwing her to the ground.

In 1813, Anne Catherine was subjected to intense ecclesiastical and medical evaluations lasting for five months. This is only natural, for anyone so highly favored with frequent  states of ecstasy and hundreds of supernatural visions needs to be evaluated by the proper Church authorities; yet a Dr. William Wesener, upon examining her, said the following:"In our communications, I always found Sister Emmerich simple and natural, kind and gracious toward everyone" (March, 1813). 

And here is a statement from an ecclesiastical authority:

“Not only in the spiritual life was Sister Emmerich passive and obedient to her confessor, but in everything, without exception, she sought to regulate her conduct by his directions. Her longing for religious obedience had increased with her inability to practice it due to the frequent ecstasies that would bring her consciousness out of this world and into the next. Her humble forgetfulness of self led her friends to look upon her as being relatively healthy, when in fact she was suffering physically in a variety of ways. Simple, obliging and industrious, she never aspired to be noticed”. --Rev Father Carl E. Schmoger, C.SS.R

Anna Catharina Emmerich

Hierognosis- The ability to discern blessed objects

Hierognosis is a gift which involves the ability to discern holy things from those which are not holy, including the following: whether or not a Host has been consecrated; if an object has or has not been blessed; the presence of a good or evil spirit; and the ability to find lost or hidden objects and holy relics. This charism is closely related to the gift of kardiognosis, and is very common among God's stigmatists; therefore, it is only fitting to believe that souls who are unusually holy themselves would be able to sense when a holy presence is in their midst.

Anne Catherine Emmerich was unusually gifted in the discernment of holy things. Her remarkable ability to sense when an ordained priest was near (even when she did not see him), or the identification of relics or their whereabouts is well-documented.

Father Carl E. Schmoger, C.SS.R., described some of these discernments in his study of this most unusual stigmatist:

"With the gift of prophecy, Sister Emmerich had also received the power of discerning holy objects, even by the senses. Bells that had been blessed by a priest had for her a melody all their own, a sound essentially different from every other that struck her ear; her taste detected the blessing imparted to holy water as readily as others can distinguish water from wine; her sense of smell aided her sight and touch in recognizing the relics of saints; and she had as lively a perception of the sacerdotal benediction (blessing of a priest) sent her from afar, just as if it were given in her presence..." (The Life of Anne Catherine Emmerich: Volume II, p. 394.)

Anne herself explained these holy things which she was able to distinguish, such as blessed objects or relics:

“I see the blessing and the blessed object endowed with a healing and helping power. I see them as luminous and radiating light; while evil, crime and malediction appear before me as darkness radiating darkness and working destruction. I see light and darkness as living things, enlightening or obscuring .... (p. 395.)

"I feel irresistibly drawn to look for these relics. They are attracted to me, and I sighed for them! It is easy to recognize them at such times, for they shine with a different light. I see little pictures like the faces of the saints to whom they belong, toward which rays of light dart from the particles. I cannot express it! It was a wonderful state! ..." (p. 417.)

House of the Virgin Mary in Ephesus, Turkey found through Emmerich's visions

How the House of the Blessed Virgin Mary (House of the Dormition) was found due to Anne Catherine's descriptions of the location taken from her visions

In 1891, Anne Catherine's writings of one of the visions she received of the House of the Virgin Mary (the house where the Virgin Mary allegedly lived in towards the end of Her life) led a group of Lazzarist priests from the city of Izmir, Turkey to set out to try to find the place Blessed Emmerich described in Ephesus, or, in the case of one of the priests, to demonstrate that Blessed Emmerich was wrong.

The Lazzarist priests spent two hot summer days looking around Ephesus, finding nothing. When their water ran out, they asked some local women where they could find a well and were directed up the hill to the "monastery." There they found a spring next to the ruins of a little chapel half hidden by the trees in a scene almost exactly as Blessed Emmerich had described.

Afterwards, excavations led to the conclusion that the chapel was built no earlier than the seventh century, but that part of it was erected on the foundation of a much older building, one constructed with materials that the archaeologists said were similar to those used in the first centuries.

Anne Catherine Emmerich died at 8:30pm on February 9, 1824. It was only during the last five years of her life that she began to write down the history of her visions which have become a treasury for many of the faithful. She was Beatified on October 3, 2004 by Pope John Paul II.

Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, pray for us!

______________________________________________

"Man's value before God is judged by the dispositions of his heart, its uprightness, its good-will, its charity, and not by keenness of intellect or extent of knowledge."  Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich

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Blessed Marguerite Bays, lay mystic and stigmatic

February 12, 2015, 5:17 pm

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Blessed Marguerite Bays -a Swiss mystic who received the stigmata later in life

-Was born on the birthday of the Virgin Mary and miraculously cured on the day that Pope Pope Pius IX solemnly proclaimed the Dogma the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

Marguerite Bays was born on September 8, 1815--the Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary--in La Pierraz, a hamlet of Chavannes-les-Forts, Fribourg, Switzerland, in a French-speaking part of the country. 

Marguerite Bays was the second eldest child of Pierre-Antoine Bays and of Josephine Morel Bays. Her father was a cobbler and had a family farm.  The Bays had five more children: Jean, Mariette, Joseph, Blaise (who died at the age of 12) and Seraphine (the youngest daughter). Marguerite was confirmed in 1823, and received her First Communion in 1826. She attended school in Chavannes-les-Forts for a few years. As she grew into young adulthood, Marguerite learned the craft of a seamstress, and she made ends meet as a "day laborer" seamstress, offering her services each day from one household to another.

Daily life: Prayer, Mass and Work
Without jumping too far ahead in this little biography of her life, Marguerite spent her entire life in the little hamlet of La Pierraz. She was humble in her silence and kept all the favors that God granted her a secret. No extraordinary acts drew attention to her. On the outside nothing distinguished her from her fellow villagers. She remained quiet, unnoticed and this was her intention. Privately in her bedroom she had erected an altar where the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary stood among iridescent bunches of primroses, daisies and violets. She would wake up very early, recite a prayer before the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, then she would help milk the cows and help with the other farm work of the morning. Then she would grab her missal and set off for daily Mass--the Church was a 20 minute walk, and she went each day, year round.

After daily Mass, she would go from household to household, diligently performing her work as a seamstress. Marguerite was not only loved for the quality of her work, but also for the positive influence she had on children. When she took a break from work, she took an interest in them and told them about the life of Jesus.  

Fervent prayers for the conversion of sinners
Marguerite always sought to live continually in the presence of God without drawing attention to herself. She was discrete and quiet, shunning gossip and arguments, which can easily lead to malicious rumors and slander. Without speaking very much herself, while at work she would listen and pay very close attention to the stories the women would tell concerning this or that person in town, for she cared very deeply about the conversion of sinners and the salvation of souls. Her experience was not limited to her own personal salvation, and it deeply hurt her to hear of or see people living in sin, and not practicing their Catholic faith. So she would take these persons to her prayers, praying for their conversion. She offered her sacrifices and sufferings for them. She went as far as to spend half of her nights praying when she knew that someone was behaving badly. She prayed in reparation for their sins, and occasionally she would very discreetly ask one or two devout friends to pray with her for a certain sinner.

Her humility
Marguerite considered herself as a mere sinner before God. She once said "Only the soul which knows her own misery can have great confidence in God, and unless she has such knowledge, it is impossible for her to have true confidence in Him."
While at first glance, Marguerite Bays seemed to be just like anyone else, however those who came to know her were immediately struck by her humility. She always tried to stay in the background and did not want to attract attention to herself. Yet, Marguerite's humility acquires a new dimension for us when we know the divine favors that she received. She did not talk at all about them and endeavored to hide them. The greater God's graces, the more humble she became.

Marguerite makes eleven 125 mile pilgrimages on foot to the Chapel of Einsiedeln
Notre-Dame des Ermites (Our Lady of Hermits) is a sanctuary situated in Einsiedeln, in the canton of Schwyz. In the 19th century, pilgrims went to Einsiedeln on foot. Marguerite was 20 years old when she went there for the first time. At the crack of dawn, she would leave La Pierraz with her bundle. She would then meet her companions and they journeyed together, saying the rosary and other prayers of the faithful. The 125-mile walk took three days, that is to say about 40 miles each day from dawn to dusk. At night, they slept in a barn, giving their hosts a little money. The next two mornings, although very tired and sore, they rose early and without complaint despite the burning sun, the long roads, the weariness and the foot injuries--all for the love of Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary! After a couple of days spent in prayer and devotion, they would make the return trip, once again on foot. All told, Marguerite made eleven of these 120 mile (240 mile round trip) pilgrimages on foot to the Chapel of Einsiedeln.

Marguerite is miraculously healed on the day the Pope proclaimed the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception
In 1853, at age 38 Marguerite began to experience dizziness, acute pain in her stomach and nausea which caused her to vomit. Up until this point in her life she had never had any health troubles despite her frail appearance, and she was in fact a very active woman, generous in her work and capable of walking for hours, as we see in her pilgrimages to Notre-Dame des Ermites in Einsiedeln.

At first she wanted to hide her disease, not take any medicines and suffer silently. However, when her family noticed her critical condition, they made her see a doctor. The diagnosis was serious: intestinal cancer. Surgery was useless in changing the course of the disease and Marguerite's condition became increasingly worse. Marguerite turned to God through the intercession of the Virgin Mary. Her prayers were answered and a miracle took place on December 8.

On December 8th, 1854, Pope Pius IX solemnly proclaimed as a sacred Dogma the Immaculate Conception of Mary. On that day, Marguerite Bays was bedridden and suffering great pain. She prayed nevertheless, sharing the joy of the Church with her heart full of faith. She prayed the Virgin Mary while applying a medal bearing the image of the Immaculate Conception to her wound. At the same moment, she regained her strength, the pain disappeared and the wound healed. Suddenly she was able to stand up. When her family got back from church, they found her sitting on the big stone stove in her room. She was saying the rosary. She was miraculously cured in an instant. She had received from the Blessed Virgin Mary the great grace that she had asked for. However, she did not beg God to ease her pain. On the contrary, she offered herself to God to suffer for the conversion of sinners in any way that He may choose.

Marguerite receives the stigmata
To this writers knowledge, there does not seem to be a description from Marguerite of exactly how she first received the stigmata. What is known is that shortly after her miraculous cure at age 39, Marguerite saw and felt intensely burning red blotches appear on her hands, on her feet and on her chest, and from then on, she was to be linked very closely to Jesus' suffering in His Passion. Marguerite began falling into ecstatic raptures on Fridays, during which she relived the painful Passion and Crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  Bleeding wounds opened in her hands, feet and side, and in her great humility, Marguerite hid the wounds from the outside world to the best of her ability, but eventually word got out and the news spread about the miracle.

Marguerite's reaction to the reception of the stigmata was deeply humble. Her humility made her strongly avoid being seen as an elected soul. After receiving the stigmata and recovering from the vision of our Lord's Passion, she was very concerned that her secret might be discovered against her wishes. Fearing that she would be publicly exposed, she supplicated the Lord that He remove the visible marks from her body. The Lord granted her prayers and the stigmata disappeared for awhile. However, Marguerite continued to be closely linked to the Passion of Christ. On Fridays---especially on Good Friday--she experienced the particular grace of accompanying Our Lord as He climbed up Mount Calvary bearing His Cross.  Never did she talk about the divine favors and the confidences she received. When the stigmata reappeared, she would wear gray cotton mittens which covered her hands, except for her fingers.

Except for the medical examination in April 1873, only a handful of people had ever seen her stigmata. One of those who witnessed it was the former regional prefect Jules Grangier who stated:
"...I had vaguely heard of a person bearing the stigmata in the area of Siviriez. I asked a few clerics for information and they told me that a very simple and modest woman from La Pierraz had actually experienced supernatural phenomena on every Good Friday for fifteen or twenty years. I asked if I could see her, but it was pointed out that Marguerite wanted to remain unknown as far as possible and that her family did not like receiving visitors. However, my curiosity kept growing and, like Thomas, I wanted to see to believe. One day, I was ushered into Marguerite's room. I saw a woman in her 50's lying on a bed with her forehead bound. She seemed to be suffering in great pain. I only saw her right hand. On the back of the hand between the bones linking the middle finger and the ring finger, I noticed a round, indented wound...The palm did not bear any marks."

A neighbor of Marguerite, the Dean Prancois Menetrey, wrote the following testimony*:
"On every Good Friday at 3 pm, she was transported out of herself, living an ecstasy which lasted one hour. I keep very clear memories of having been able to contemplate the Servant of God during her ecstasy... Marguerite gradually fell in a deathlike state. All life seemed to have faded away from her. She looked like a real corpse. I had been there since 3 pm. Signs of life gradually reappeared a few minutes after 4 pm. She would begin to breathe again, slowly at first, then very fast, then normally. Color came back to her cheeks. She seemed to be awakening from a sound, deep sleep. Divine and intense joy illuminated her face. She then sighed and then she said words ablaze with faith, love and gratitude to God, Our Lord Jesus Christ."
*From: Summarium, part 1, p. 238

The medical inquiry into her stigmata
Given the interest aroused by her stigmata, the priest of Siviriez made a wise decision and opened an inquiry. He sought the unbiased opinion of Dr. Alex Pegaitaz, a 35-year-old doctor from Bulle whose diagnoses were well respected. Known for his keen intelligence and scientific ideals, his skepticism made him a great candidate for an investigation. The diocese tacitly approved of his engagement. On Good Friday, April 11 1873, not long before 3 pm, Doctor Pegaitaz arrived-in La Pierraz with a few clerics. District prefect Jules Grangier gave his own account of Pegaitaz' inquiry:

"At the beginning of the examination, the doctor only accepted the presence of Marguerite Bays' niece. I do not know what happened between the doctor and his patient. All I can say is that we could hear poor Marguerite sighing and screaming loudly from the nearby room. More than once we had to calm the mayor, her brother, for he wanted to throw out the doctor who was increasing his sister's suffering. When the screaming had finally died down, the clerics went into Marguerite's room. I was also allowed to do so. 

"Doctor Pegaitaz bared Marguerite's feet and let us see the stigmata, which were perfectly similar to those on her hands. I  then withdrew to the nearby room. The moaning gradually died down and stopped completely. The ecstasy had begun. It was around 3:20 pm. All the visitors entered to see the devout woman. She was immobile, with her eyes closed and a smile on her lips. She seemed totally absent . from what was happening around her. The doctor wanted to overcome her insensibility. So he began to tickle the soles of her feet. Then he pricked her between the toes with a sharp instrument until she bled. Nevertheless, her limbs remained motionless and her features expressed nothing. The doctor decided to deal with Marguerite's head. He inserted an instrument into her nose, in her eyes and under her eyelids. In vain. The doctor then successively opened both her eyes, but. they did not follow the movements of the light he shone on them. On the contrary, they seemed to focus on a fixed object sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left. He also tried to light a candle and put it right under her nose, but it did not work any better. So he took pliers to remove skin from the stigmata on Marguerite's feet and showed it to us, saying the skin had been burnt. The stigmatized seemed dead. The doctor then closed one of her hands, it stayed closed. He raised one of her arms, it fell back softly. He made her sit on her bed, she fell back naturally.

"After about half an hour of ecstasy, the scientific trials over, leaving Marguerite in peace, she eventually woke up smiling and looking around her. The Vicar went up to her and asked her how she was doing. 'I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm very well, oh I'm feeling very well!' she answered. And her face was glowing with joy."

"All agreed that Dr. Alexis Pegaitaz carried out a reliable examination and he had to admit that there was something he had not been able to analyze. He stated: "What confusion! What astonishment! I have been confronted with the supernatural and prodigious state of this stigmatized persons and it is beyond science. Science cannot understand or explain this phenomenon."

Years later Dr. Alexis Pegaiiaz died in Lausanne. When he became seriously ill, he had his friend Rev. Dean Henry Python, the chaplain of  Les Sciernes come to visit him. He asked for and received the last rites of the Church with great faith.

Visions and prophesies
One day as she was praying in her room, she "saw" three travelers walking towards La Pierraz. They went past the Notre-Dame du Bois chapel. One of them, a Brother from the Hauterive Abbey, entered the chapel and said a prayer to Mary. When the three of them reached the Bays' farm, Marguerite said: "Brother Joseph, it was good of you to go and pray the Blessed Virgin as you went past her chapel!"

At times she was given to know of certain events in the future. Mariette was the daughter of her brother Jean. Mariette's piety was so great that the sisters from the Fille-Dieu Abbey wanted her to share their devout life. But Marguerite told the Abbess: "Mariette will not come because she is going to get married. But her daughter will one day join your Community." And so it was that her great-niece Bernadette, who was born three years after Marguerite's death, eventually entered the Fille-Dieu Abbey and later she became Its Abbess, just as Marguerite had predicted many years earlier.

Her last years were a painful martyrdom. She spent most of the time lying in her room. A kind of inner fire kept burning her. She suffered acute pain in her head, in her throat and in her chest. Nobody knew what was wrong with her. And she would not say a word. She lived only on the Eucharist and drank primarily cool herbal tea and she had become very thin. Her brother Jean said that she felt like a bag of bones when he carried her. Her illness however did not make her at all demanding. She did not want to be relieved and did not do much to ease her suffering. She was given vinegar compresses and ice. She was administered unsuitable medicines, which she first took but then gave up. Eventually she became totally worn out, however she did not complain and patiently endured her great suffering. She did not want people to visit her because she did not want to show how much she suffered.

During Lent 1879, her state continued to deteriorate and she suffered tremendously before she died. She could only stand a few herbal tea's and a panade (a light bread soup with a little milk) every two days. A witness said that an ordinary person would not have survived so long and that Marguerite must have been strengthened by God. Rev. Dean Francois Menetrey alleged that she only lived on the Holy Communion at the end of her life.

An Angel gives her Holy Communion
Another extraordinary grace was reported by Sister Lutgarde Fasel, the Fille-Dieu Abbess and one of Marguerite's great-nieces. One day, her grand-father, Jean, confidentially told her: "I am going to tell you something I have never told anyone before. I am the only one to know this story along with Dean Jean Maillard and my sister, because my sister told him. During her last illness, Marguerite had longed all night for the Eucharist, we tried but we had not been able to fulfill her wishes. So the Good Lord took pity on His servant and an angel came and brought her the Holy Communion. I saw it, and I myself could not believe what I was seeing."

Her holy death on the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
Marguerite never complained. She endured her pain with angelic patience. She submitted silently to the medical treatments even if she had already realized that human remedies were useless. She suffered without telling anybody, simply repeating that one has to resign oneself. She often kissed her crucifix and contemplated the picture representing Notre-Dame des Sept Douleurs (Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows). She said that praying gave her patience. Marguerite had begged God the grace to die during the feast day of the Sacred Heart and God answered her prayers. She gave her beautiful soul back to God during the octave (eighth and last day) of the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. And so it was that on Friday, June 27, 1879 at 3 pm. the Servant of God died, worn-out by her suffering and sacrifices. She had once said "I am willing to breath my last breath in the wound of Thy Sacred Heart."and since she died on the feast day of the Sacred Heart, it seems that the good Jesus granted this special grace to her.

Marguerite Bays' reputation of sanctity has spread beyond Switzerland and numerous pilgrims have come from abroad to see and pray in the places where she lived. Her beatification by Pope John Paul II on October 29,1995 officially confirmed her sanctity, and reinforced the current of fervor and confidence in her holy intercession before God.
-Blessed Marguerite Bays, pray for us!
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A few sayings of Blessed Marguerite:
-"We will pray for each other. Pray for me especially because I am really pitiful.  I need the love of God; this love for which I have so much difficulty in meriting." 
-"Honor Our Lady of Seven Sorrows. We will never realize how much She suffered for us."
-"Oh holy Victim! Draw me to Thy side and we shall walk together!"
-"I am willing to breath my last breath in the wound of Thy Sacred Heart."
-"The poor are the favorite friends of Our Lord"
-Blessed Marguerite Bays 

-Primary Source: "A closer acquaintance with the Blessed Marguerite Bays" by Father Claude Morel, 2008.

Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done, On Earth As It Is In Heaven

March 4, 2015, 6:52 pm

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Adam and Eve talking with God in the Garden of Eden.  By Thomas Cole

The upcoming time of the renewed Man on the renewed Earth---Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done, On Earth As It Is In Heaven!

By: Glenn Dallaire

The sense of the nearness of God was a part of God's Divine Intimacy with Man that was lost at the Garden of Eden, the Terrestrial Kingdom
Apart from Original sin coming into the world through the sin of Adam and Eve, perhaps one of the greatest additional losses for humanity that stemmed from their disobedience was the loss of the direct communication between God and man, along with the sense of the nearness of the presence of God. In the Garden of Eden, the Father shared a Divine intimacy with Adam and Eve that likely can only be compared to the intimacy between God the Father (in union with the Holy Spirit), and the Blessed Virgin Mary--a most intimate bond between Creator and creature. But we must realize that God's original intention for mankind was to share in an intimate union with him, literally feeling his divine presence and conversing with Him, as a child with his loving Father.
"Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." (Genesis 3:8-10)

Oh! how close and intimate was the communication between God and Adam and Eve, and how close they felt His Divine Presence! The Garden of Eden was truly a Paradise lost!

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven
The Lord's prayer---the only prayer Jesus ever taught us in the Gospel---states in part"Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

But what is this Earthly Kingdom to come that Jesus is referring to in His prayer, wherein God's Will will be done upon the earth, as it is in heaven? Apart from sin, what is there that differentiates our relationship with God here on earth, in comparison to the beings of heaven with God? While those in heaven enjoy the beatific vision of God, they also enjoy His Divine presence and they participate in open and free communication in Divine intimacy with God in an intense closeness and union. Not only do the beings and creatures in heaven see God, and gaze upon His infinite glory, they literally feel His love and closeness to them at every moment, and they communicate openly with Him.

Now while Adam and Eve did not completely share in the Divine Presence to the extent that the beings in heaven do, they certainly did have an deep sense of the nearness of God, and they communicated with Him openly, as we read in the Book of Genesis. It is because of the sin of Adam and Eve that we--as the sons and daughters of these our first parents---lost a significant part of the Divine intimacy and communication with God that our first parents originally had, along with the sense of the presence and nearness of God. However we must recognize and realize that in the story of the Terrestrial Paradise, this loss of ours was not God's original intention, for His Will was and is based in an infinitely loving desire for an intimate, unitive, and communicative relationship with humanity, His beloved children. While He has remained ever present with us, through the sin of Adam and Eve we lost the intimate sense of feeling His closeness and nearness to us.

The new Adam and the new Eve
 Jesus came as the new Adam, and the Immaculate--Virgin Mary, Mother of God--was sent as the new Eve, to open the gates of heaven which were closed through the sin of Adam and Eve. Through His passion and death on the cross, Jesus took upon Himself the sins of humanity, so that we might be forgiven of our sins and enter heaven. He did not come to restore humanity's place in the Garden of Eden or what was lost in the fall-- he came to cancel Original sin, along with our own personal sins, thereby opening the gates of heaven once again.

God's original Will for humanity will be restored upon the earth
Many theologians and scholars believe that God's original will for mankind in the Garden of Eden, that is, His desire for his creature to feel His closeness and His Divine presence strongly, will one day be restored upon the earth.  Some even believe that all the individuals of humanity will once again be able to openly communicate with God in a renewed Divine intimacy and conversation.

The Mystics share in a special Divine intimacy with God, and therefore foreshadow the people of the upcoming Kingdom

The Mystics of the Church are a prefigurement to the people of the upcoming Earthly Kingdom
Earlier in this article it is stated: "In the Garden of Eden, God shared a Divine intimacy with Adam and Eve that likely can only be compared to the intimacy between God the Father (in union with the Holy Spirit), and the Blessed Virgin Mary--a most intimate bond between Creator and creature."

We can also recognize how Mystics of the Church foreshadow the people who will live in upcoming earthly kingdom. In their ecstatic visions, the Mystics see Jesus, and they speak with Him in conversations so very loving and intimate. They almost constantly feel His nearness and closeness to them, and they live with a deep and abiding trust in Him. In this most intimate union, some even share in His wounds, and in their suffering as victim souls, His blood is mixed with theirs for the conversion of sinners.  And so it is that the mystics of the Church foreshadow the people of the upcoming "Kingdom come, on Earth as it is in Heaven."

Not that the people of the upcoming Kingdom will be "mystics" in a strict sense, but they will be more mystical, because they will have the renewed sense of God's nearness and closeness to them, but in a very ordinary and natural way. And it may very well be that they will not simply talk TO God, they will talk WITH God, as Adam and Eve did in the Terrestrial Paradise. The people on the renewed Earth will see most everything from a heavenly perspective, unlike the people of this current age in many ways. It is believed that the Kingdom come will be very much like a restoration of the way things were between God and Adam and Eve before the fall---not in all ways of course, but in many ways. And some believe also that in the upcoming earthly Kingdom, God will communicate with the individual, and they with God, much like Adam and Eve in the Garden. In other words, the people of the Kingdom will be much more closely united with God in their overall disposition than we (humanity) are now. They will sense His nearness and closeness to them in a most extraordinary way. Oh, how blessed are those who will live in the renewed Kingdom on earth!

The Kingdom on Earth---"When all will seem lost, in the end My Immaculate Heart will Triumph"
The words of Our Lady of Fatima were a prophesy:"When all will seem lost, in the end My Immaculate Heart will Triumph". It will be the Immaculate Heart of Mary who will bring forth this Kingdom of a renewed humanity upon a renewed earth, but first will come a period of intense purification for all of humanity.  And many sense that it will likely be very, very soon. We must recognize that for this to happen---"Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."---we (humanity) will all first have to be brought to our knees, in recognition of our sins and of how far we have strayed from God and His commandments, and thus humbled, we will deeply repent of our sins and will thus draw down upon us the infinite mercy of God, and through the Immaculate Heart of Mary we will obtain our miraculous Rescue, and thus it will be the Immaculate who will give birth to the Kingdom on Earth.

Then it will be that God's original Will and desire in what He intended His relationship and interaction to be between His beloved sons and daughters---much in the way it was between Him and our first parents in the Garden of Eden---will be in many ways renewed once again. Or to put it as a great friend of mine has stated it:
"....The world will remain perfectly ordinary and completely transformed: people will know and love God as Father - and want to be friends with Him."

Prayer for the conversion of sinners and for those who persecute you

March 5, 2015, 1:38 pm

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Maria Graf Suter, Swiss Mystic.

Praying for the Conversion of the “Sauls” of Today, as inspired by the 20th century mystic, Maria Graf Suter

Pray for those who persecute you

By: Mrs. Angelica Avcikurt

Persecution is again at our doorstep. The blood of martyrs is flowing anew like it did at the beginning of Christianity or other decisive times in history. How do we respond to this?  Some just watch the news dumbstruck trying to understand how this could happen in the 21st century; many others storm heaven with prayers for peace in the Middle East and the protection of those who are persecuted; yet few are there who pray for the conversion and salvation of our persecutors.

God does not want the death of the wicked but that they turn from their ways and live (Ezekiel 33:11). This is why He sent Jonah to preach to the Ninevites who were known for their cruelty. This is why He called Saul, one of the greatest Christian persecutors, to become St. Paul, a great and zealous apostle. So listen to Jesus now as he tells you to “love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matt 5:44).  

Revelation of Divine Love for the conversion of sinners

Maria Graf Suter, a twentieth century Swiss mystic, had interior locutions from Jesus and Mary from an early age. These were published in a book entitled, Revelation of Divine Love, which has an Imprimatur. It is an urgent appeal to have recourse to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and to pray the rosary for the conversion of sinners. She was revealed the following about the enemies of Christ:

I heard about the crimes committed against the Cardinal of Hungary and his fellow brothers persecuted for their faith. I thought one should pray for them because their spiritual need was great. But Jesus told me: “I am close to them. Without Me you all cannot do anything. Pray for the enemies of the Church! In that way, your people will be saved.” I prayed the Rosary.

I prayed with all the strength of my soul united to His suffering Heart: “Father, forgive them because they don’t know what they do.” Then, it was as if I saw His open Sacred Heart enlarge and turn into an ocean of love; and I understood how Jesus prayed for His enemies, because after the first sin committed in Eden, they are under a curse and are tormented by Satan. The first and worst action of our enemy is that of blinding men so that they are no longer able to see the danger of sinning, so they don’t pay attention to it and therefore they fall into sin. Jesus loves these souls with a love I cannot express.

Again, when I heard of the persecution of my brothers in the faith, I felt my heart ache. I begged Jesus, asking Him why He did not listen to my prayers and stop the enemies of the Church. Jesus answered me, “My Blood has to be poured for them.” I understood that Jesus wanted His Precious Blood to be offered to the Heavenly Father for the conversion of the enemies of the Church. This was the message I received from Him. Every morning and evening I was to offer the Blood of Jesus to the Heavenly Father praying that it may not be lost, but applied for the enemies of the Church.

Oh why did God made me see that the Holy Spirit remains on the Altar under the appearance of a flame while the celebrant receives Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament? And why do these priests consider the enemies of the Church as their personal enemies who deprive them of the earthly goods which they love, to the detriment of souls? Especially for these enemies, Jesus prays, “They do not know what they do.”

Today, a good priest, who truly offered himself to the Heavenly Father in union with Christ’s sacrifice on the Altar, prayed for his enemies as Jesus did, saying with Him, “Forgive them because they do not know what they do.” Now, he has offered the Perfect Sacrifice in a perfect way. Now he will receive with Jesus all the love of the Holy Spirit, with which will enable him to act in conformity to the Divine Will.

When Maria Graf-Suter heard about the atrocities committed during the Korean War in 1950, like the ancient prophets, she asked God, “How long, Lord, will you permit these enemies to strike your Church? Let me know if you wish to destroy them.” But Jesus answered in a way she did not expect, “My Mercy is without limits.” So she understood that she was called to pray for them and love them, without excluding anyone. Jesus told her, “I want to hear the prayers of the just, those souls dear to me, in order to forgive my enemies.”

Prayers of Maria Graf-Suter

PRAYER FOR THE HOLY CHURCH

In union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I salute and adore the Holy Wound of Your right hand, oh Jesus, and I place in this Wound all the priests of Your Holy Church. Give them, every time they celebrate the Holy Sacrifice, the fire of Your Divine Love, so that they may be able to communicate it to the souls entrusted to them. Glory be… Amen.

I salute and adore the Holy Wound of Your left hand, and I place in it all those who are in error and all the unbelievers, those poor souls that do not know you. For the love of these souls, please send, Jesus, workers to your vineyard, so that they may find their way to Your Sacred Heart. Glory be… Amen.

I salute and adore the Holy Wounds of Your feet, and place in them all the hardened sinners that choose to live in the world. I especially entrust to You those who will die today. Don’t permit, Jesus, that Your Precious Blood be lost to them. Glory be…Amen.

I salute and adore the Holy Wounds of Your Holy Head, and I place in these Holy Wounds the enemies of the Holy Church, those who are still striking you today and persecuting you in your Mystical Body. I beg you, Jesus, convert them and call them like you called Saul to make him St. Paul, so that soon there will be but one fold and one shepherd. Glory be…Amen.

I salute and adore the Holy Wound of Your Sacred Heart, and place in it, Jesus, my soul and all those for whom you want me to pray, especially those who suffer, who are afflicted, all who are persecuted and abandoned. Give them, O Sacred Heart of Jesus, Your Light and Your Grace. Fill them with Your Love and Your true Peace. Glory be… Amen.

Heavenly Father, I offer you through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your Beloved Son, and myself with Him, in Him, and through Him, with all His intentions and in the name of all creatures. Amen.

Prayer to Ask for a Torrent of Graces

My Jesus and my all, let a torrent of graces flow from Your Holy Wounds, and from Your Heart, the Fire of Your Divine Love for me and for those dear to me who are also Your children! Keep them in Your Love and Grace! Let a torrent of graces flow from Your Holy Wounds, and the Fire of Your Love, my Jesus, for the Holy Father and all your servants. Give them the Fire of Your Love in order to suppress in them the love for the things of this world, so that they will be able, in Your Love, to lead to You the souls that have been entrusted to them! Send, my Jesus, a torrent of graces and the Fire of Your Divine Love to those You have chosen as instruments of Your Love. For love of Your Holy Wounds, remit to those who show you love and compassion, the curse of sin and its consequence. For the love of Your Sacred Heart, heal the wounds of their souls and their bodies. Pour a torrent of graces, my Jesus, and the fire of Your Love on all poor sinners that are in danger of going deeper into sin. Have mercy especially on those who will die today. Give to all, oh Heart full of Love, the grace of repentance, so that they may be with You in Heaven soon.

Pour torrents of graces and Your Love, oh my Jesus, over all Your enemies. Oh my Jesus, have mercy on them because you don’t desire the death of the sinner. Your mercy is without limits. Give to all of them the grace of conversion, like you gave it to Saul. May they recognize you as the only and true God.

My Jesus, I expect everything through your Holy Wounds. Forgive! “They don’t know what they do.”

Luigina Sinapi, Italian Mystic

March 6, 2015, 6:03 pm

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Luigina Sinapi

Servant of God Luigina Sinapi, Mystic (1916-1978)

-Was born on the feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary and was miraculously cured on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary

Early Life

Luigina Sinapi was born September 8, 1916 at Itri (Latina), Italy. She was the eldest of five children of Francis Paul Sinapi, a cabinet maker, and Filomena Catena, a licensed midwife. She was born together with a twin girl, who tragically died the same day. Her parents feared they might lose Luigina also, and therefore her birth was registered only two days later. She was baptized with the name of Luigia, but her family and friends always called her Luigina or simply just Gina.

“Beginning in her early childhood, Luigina felt a strong love for Jesus that manifested itself in a desire to live in intimate union with Him, to which she felt herself particularly attracted” writes Cardinal Vallini. Her mother was a pious Catholic, and on one occasion she went to San Giovanni Rotondo to recommend her husband and her daughter to Padre Pio. The good Padre said to her mother: "You have one child in Heaven [referring to Luigina’s twin sister who died at childbirth] and the Lord has great designs on the other who is here on earth”. This was confirmed by Fr. Tarcisio, OFM. Cap. (Zurlo) from Cervinara, the sacristan who was the assistant to Padre Pio.

In 1922 at age 6 she started elementary school, and at age eight she received Jesus for the first time in Holy Communion and also the Sacrament of Confirmation, as was the custom at that time. From that day she never neglected to receive the Eucharist, and if she was sometimes prevented to receive it for I serious reasons she cried, and to whomever derided her she said; "If I don't receive Jesus in my heart, I don't live."

She was "lively and impulsive", remembered one of her younger brothers, as she had the habit of reading to them a passage from the Gospel while their mother was out working, "she would even comment on it", her brother stated. Concerning herself she said with a slight smile "I was always a terrible child.", but others who knew her all recall her being a very good girl.

At 16 years old, Luigina was fascinated by the ideal of the Daughter of St Paul 'to spread the Gospel by the most modern means of communications', so overcoming the resistance of her parents she entered the institute the Pious Society of the Daughters of St. Paul in Rome. Unfortunately she was obliged to leave the institute because of her delicate health. She was comforted by her spiritual director, Blessed Father Guiseppe Timoteo Giaccardo, who exhorted her to offer her life for souls, and to remain in the Pauline family as a laywoman.

Her miraculous cure on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, August 15

Some particularly extraordinary events marked her life. When she was 17 her mother died suddenly, and she took over the care of her younger brothers. It was not long after that she began experiencing extreme pain in her stomach and she was soon diagnosed with a tumour on the bottom part of the right intestine. The physician could not operate as he believed she would not survive the operation. As the days passed she grew more and more ill and her pain and suffering became more and more acute. 

On August 15, 1933, she and others believed that her last day had arrived. Luigina asked her grandmother to dress her and prepare her for the great passage from earth to heaven, and with much devotion she received the Sacrament of the Sick. She was already in what seemed to be her last agony when suddenly Jesus appeared close to her bed and smiled at her. In her simple childlike confidence and love which from her earliest years she had always addressed Jesus in her prayers Luigina looked at Jesus and said to Him in a loving reproach: "You have not shown Yourself to me for two long years and now that I am dying, you come?"

Then smiling Jesus replied to her:“I have come to give you a beautiful gift. Look!" and He looked towards the other side of the bed where to her great surprise Luigina saw a most beautiful woman sweetly smiling at her. Luigina, believing that it was her own mother who had come with Jesus to take her, exclaimed: "Oh! you have become so beautiful in Heaven, mother? So much so I don't recognize you!" 

But then Jesus said to her: "Look at little closer!"

Luigina Sinapi

Luigina then realized that the beautiful woman was the Blessed Virgin Mary. Jesus asked her: "We have come to make you a proposal. You are free to choose. Do you want to die and to ascend into paradise, or would you be willing to offer yourself as a victim for the Church and for Priests? ".

As in a very fast film, the Servant of God saw then the situation of the Church and so many priests and religious who were living in danger of losing their souls. She then decided to stay and offer her future life to Jesus, "accepting the hidden sacrifice of victim for the Church, and for priests."

Jesus tells her that she is not to become a nun, but to remain as a lay person in the world. He tells her that she will often be misunderstood, and that she will suffer much, and that she will die alone. He told her she is to be like a violet, hidden but always perfumed. Jesus then presented His Mother to her, to be her special advocate, guide and comfort. "From this point on, the Madonna entered into the life of Luigina by special right", commented Fr. Tarcisio. When Jesus finished speaking, her guardian Angel Samuel took her by the hand, and suddenly she found herself completely healed.

After her miraculous cure, the Blessed Virgin Mary would appear to her on First Saturdays and other special Feast days of the Church.  

From that day, she was always faithful to the simple program which she had clearly felt inside herself: to be a simple lay person living her intense spiritual life mostly hidden from the eyes of the world; to suffer much, and be "a little mustard seed in a furrow in Rome".

In 1934 the family home was lost and the family dismembered, her little brothers were taken by relatives or sent to boarding school while Luigina went to Rome to live with an aunt, working at home, then at the Post Office, and then in the Bureau of Statistics.

Luigina is linked to the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Bruno Cornacchiola at Tre Fontane

On April 12, 1937, as President of the Daughters of Mary she had taken a pilgrimage to Tre Fontane, where St. Paul had suffered martyrdom. One woman who travelled with her (and later chose to enter religious life and became Sister Lidia) remembers:  "You saw that she [Luigina] would pray fervently, but seemingly without much effort. I only now understand what was happening at that time: she was a person of an intense interior life, one who is continuously in relationship with God, very balanced, simple, and very amiable...these people often do not distinguish themselves in any thing, however they distinguish themselves in this."

While she was walking in a grotto near a grove of eucalyptus trees, Luigina saw something that deeply aroused her piety: she found some small bones that would seem human, and she realized they were likely the gruesome remains of an abortion. Saying a prayer or mercy and forgiveness she dug a little and buried a Miraculous medal together with the little bones.

Suddenly in a great light before her she saw the Blessed Virgin Mary, Who said to her:

"I will return to this place of sin and I will convert and make use of a man who combats the Church, and who will desire to kill the Pope. Go to St. Peter's Square and there you will find a lady dressed in black, who will take you to her brother who is a cardinal. To him you will transmit what I have just told you, and you are to tell him also that soon he will become Pope".

Luigina did as told; she went to St Peters square and came upon the woman dressed in black—it was the Marquise Pacelli, who introduced her to Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli. Luigina confided to him the message that she had for him, who answered only:"If they are roses they will bloom ". Two years later he was elected Pope with the name of Pius XII.

Bruno Cornacchiola

In 1947, exactly ten years later and in the same place which The Virgin appeared to Luigina - where there is now the Sanctuary of "Blessed Mary of the Third Millennium at the Tre fontane" - the Virgin had then appeared to a certain Bruno Cornacchiola with his children to tell him:"Enough! Re-enter into the true sheepfold of Christ... my Body could not decay and it did not decay ... ". 
Bruno was a protestant tram driver, a former soldier in Spain, and deeply hostile to the Catholic Church. It was just in the days prior to the Blessed Virgin Mary appearing to him that he had decided to assassinate the Pope. But now he began a most extraordinary conversion which shocked and stunned many in the Catholic church in Rome.

For his part, Pope Pius XII didn't hesitate at all and immediately believed in the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Bruno Cornacchiola at Tre Fontane since he was already aware of it for years through the message of Luigina Sinapi. Six months later, October 5, 1947, in St. Peter's Square, Pope Pius XII blessed the statue of the 'Virgin of Revelation" of actual human height, brought to Tre Fontane in solemn procession. Bruno Cornacchiola himself was received subsequently in audience by the Pontiff so that he could consign to him the dagger with which he intended to kill him. When the Pope was asked about all this, Fr. Gabrio Lombardi stated that the Pope had simply replied: "I already knew".

Padre Pio appears to Luigina in Bilocation

In 1950, Luigina was given the grace to see Padre Pio. She had been making visits to the Four Major Basilicas in Rome when she repeatedly saw in front of herself a Franciscan Capuchin, but always from the back. She sensed however that there was something special about him. At the end of the pilgrimage this Capuchin appeared again and suddenly he turned towards her and it was Padre Pio; but in: bilocation!

The strong spiritual bonds between Padre Pio and Luigina have come to be known from the testimony of Fr. Tarcisio in a written statement he gave on April 17, 1982. Once Luigina felt the need to ask counsel of the holy Capuchin regarding the appearances of the Madonna to her; he attentively listened to Luigina and then he encouraged her:"When the Madonna comes, kiss her feet for me".

In 1953, Luigina was unjustly accused theft at the shop where she was employed and she lost her job and lodging. Under accusation, abandoned by everyone, and not knowing what to do she went to San Giovanni Rotondo to see Padre Pio.  Fr. Tarcisio perfectly remembers this occasion, that when he saw before himself this woman who he never saw before, he wondered to himself how it was that she was greeted as “an old friend” of Padre Pio, not realizing at that time the spiritual and mystical bond between the two. He (Padre Pio) gave her a banknote of five lire and also he gave her a closed envelope for a police officer friend who lived in her town: it contained the name of the guilty party. While afterwards she was recognized as being completely innocent, for Luigina it was a period of great sadness and mortifications.

For about twenty-five years she had to live on other people's hospitality, in exchange for her company and her domestic help, and through this she had to bear a number of bitter crosses. A friend that welcomed her in Statute Street, Maddalena Tizian, was witness to some of Luigina supernatural manifestations, to which she personally didn't want to easily accept as being authentic:"I was really the first one to fight her, to not want to believe her, and this made her suffer greatly", she said. And she once said to Luigina that for many people she (Luigina)“was a question mark".

On May 13, 1953, while she was a guest in the house of a member of the Sistine Chapel Choir, Luigina met Fr. Raffaele Preite O.S.M., who recommended to her the maximum prudence in divulging her presumed supernatural experiences. He encouraged her rather to write them down. Thus began with that the understanding that he was to be for twenty five (25) years her spiritual director, to whom she referenced with these words: ''For so many years I have begged the Lord if He wished to grant me a true spiritual guide and finally he granted it to me, when by now I didn't count on it anymore. After having obtained him I made a novena of thanksgiving. I compare myself to an unbridled horse in its gallop, untamed at the bridle. ). I place myself before the judgment of my spiritual father, who I feel to be very close to the Holy Spirit, that he know me well and reveal to me all of my faults. From now on I want to renounce my will in everything. Through him Jesus will trace the way”

A portrait of Luigina Sinapi

A religious sister that served as her nurse, Sister Gerardina Sanita, remembered that Luigina, " ... asked permission for everything from her spiritual director, who she used to teasingly call “Bear”,because he was always seemingly severe with her". Truly because she distrusted herself, she continually sought the advice and the guidance of the priest, to whom she always placed herself entirely. Many can testify that, whatever person came to her, Luigina always sent them first to her spiritual director or the priests whom she knew, and whatever decision she would make, she always passed it through their counsel in obedience to them.

In the later years of her life, Luigina Sinapi was given the great privilege of having Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharist present in the small Chapel inside her home on Urbino Street, where it was possible to celebrate daily and Sunday Mass. Her modest home became thus always more, the "center of fervid spirituality up until her death", as afterwards stated Fr. Cammarota. The authorization to have the Blessed Sacrament in her home - which was always renewed by the Vicariate of Rome—was due to Monsignor Pietro Bianchi, who had a deep respect and admiration for the piety and devotion of Luigina.

In 1970, after having lost her secretary job, Luigina continued her true work with even more fervor---she called it an "apostolate of consolation". People came to her and she deeply interested herself in other people's problems, giving and helping in every way she could, without ever asking anything in return. She had little, but her home was always open to all, without time limits she kept company with those who were suffering, and listed to their heartaches, and gave encouragement, and offering advice when necessary.

Her holy death

Concerning Luigina, Cardinal Vallini states (in part):"In her autobiographical slogan ‘A mustard seed in a furrow in Rome’, we see a clear image of the style of the life of the Servant of God: to suffer and to offer her life, in union with the sacrifice of Christ. In the spirit of the Gospel, she wanted to consider herself a small mustard seed left to fall in a furrow for the Church. Luigina, a daughter of the Church, was in service to the Church in so many ways and circumstances, with prayer, counsel, discernment, teaching, material and spiritual help, offering herself as a victim. Truly her spirituality can be synthesized in the expression "to suffer and to offer".

Luigina Sinapi died a holy death at Rome, April 17, 1978, a voluntary victim of the merciful love of Jesus and the Virgin Mary, in a holocaust for the Church and the world".

Her attending medical doctor, Dr. Mark Grassi testified that the last days were of great suffering for Luigina. Yet she was very peaceful, loving and happy. On one occasion, smiling she was overheard murmuring, "I am waiting!"

At the moment she died she was completely alone, just as Jesus had foretold her many years earlier. She was found with her face toward the tabernacle. The funeral was celebrated in the Basilica of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem in Rome, and she is buried in the cemetery Verano in Rome.

Servant of God Luigina Sinapi, pray for us!

Primary Source for this article is the book "Servant of God Luigina Sinapi" by Re. Edward J. Kelty and Rosalina Azaro Pulvirenti, 2011, Editrice Velar.

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“When I am asked to help my neighbor, may I never complain like Simon of Cyrene first did when asked to help carry the Cross of Jesus.”–Servant of God Luigina Sinapi

Mystics who were born or miraculously cured on Feast days of the Virgin Mary

March 9, 2015, 4:00 pm

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Luigina Sinapi, born on Sept 8 and cured on Aug 15th

Mystics who were born on the Feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary and were miraculously cured on the Assumption or the Immaculate Conception of the the Blessed Virgin Mary

It is really amazing---A few weeks ago I published an article about the mystic Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, and I had noted how she was born onSeptember 8--the feast day of the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The next mystic I wrote about--just two weeks ago---was Blessed Marguerite Bays, and once again, like Anne Catherine Emmerich, she was born on September 8, and also I noted that she was miraculously cured on the day the Pope proclaimed the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary,December 8, 1854.

And then came the article on the Servant of God, Luigina Sinapi, that I just published two days ago, and once again in this case not only was she born onSeptember 8, she was also miraculously cured by Jesus on August 15, the Feast day of the Assumption of Mary into heaven!  So here we have three mystics who were all born on September 8 (Feast of the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary) and two of the three were miraculously cured on the two major Marian Feast days, the Assumption and the Immaculate Conception!

In regards to the feast of September 8th, we can recall also where on that day the Blessed Virgin Mary said to the Servant of God, Edvidge Carboni:  “Today is September 8th, the feast of my birthday, my daughter; trust in me. All the graces go through my hands. This date is one of the dates the infernal enemy hates the most, because with my birth came also the salvation of the world.”

And so, obviously seeing the hand of God in the Providential choosing of these specific three dates, I was then therefore compelled to go through this website and gather all of the mystics who were born on September 8 and/or were cured on August 15th or December 8th. And here is the list:

Blessed Marguerite Bays, born on Sept 8 and cured on Dec 8th

Mystics born on September 8--the feast day of the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary:
-Saint Catherine of Bologna, born September 8, 1413
-Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, born September 8, 1774
-Blessed Marguerite Bays, born September 8, 1815
-Servant of God, Luigina Sinapi, born September 8, 1916

Mystics who were miraculously cured on the feast days of the Assumption (August 15) or Immaculate Conception (December 8):
-Servant of God, Luigina Sinapi--miraculously cured on her death bed of a stomach tumor on the Feast of the Assumption, 1933
-Rhoda Wise--miraculously cured of complex foot and lower leg fractures through the intercession of St Therese of Lisieux on the Feast of the Assumption, 1939.
-Blessed Marguerite Bays, miraculously cured on her deathbed on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8th, 1854.
-St Stanislaus Kostka--On August 9, 1568, Stanislaus became very ill with a fever. To those around him he predicted he would soon die, and he then wrote a letter to the Virgin Mary asking that he be in heaven on the feast day of her Assumption on Aug. 15, just six days away. And so it was that at age 18 his mission on this earth was completed, and Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary called Stanislaus to Themselves on the great Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, August 15, 1568.

Finally, as a side note, St Therese of Lisieux was miraculously cured on another Marian date--that of May 13, 1883 which Providentially that year was also the feast of Pentecost, and also the great devotee of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St Maximilian Kolbe, died in the concentration camp of Auschwitz on the vigil of the Assumption, August 14, 1941.

And so we can see how God often providentially arranges significant dates in the lives of His beloved children--especially those dates that honor the most Blessed Virgin Mary.Blessed be God in His glorious Providence!