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CHAPTER VIII - THE LENT OF 1923
PART II. THE SECRETS OF THE PASSION: THE CENACLE February 18th–28th, 1923
“Josefa, spouse and victim of My Heart, we are going to speak of My Passion, that your soul may constantly feed on the remembrance of it, and that My souls may find in it food for their hunger and drink for their thirst.” (Our Lord to Josefa, May 2nd, 1923)
THE great love-story of the Passion was about to be unveiled to Josefa stage by stage from the Cenacle to Calvary, during the Lent of 1923. We must not look for an account of facts of which the Gospels are, of course, the official and authorized record. Jesus meant to disclose to Josefa the secrets of His Heart’s depths, spoken to one who would understand and sympathize with His most intimate sufferings. This revelation was made, then, to every soul that longs to penetrate into the sacred depths of His Heart to share Its feelings and to refuse nothing that the Cross may demand of it.
Josefa was to be the first to enter into this sanctuary, treading in the footsteps of her Master, and while He discovered Himself to her in the solitude of her cell, she would continue recording the Message of a suffering love made manifest to the world.
A few days passed, however, before the divine promise was fulfilled. Our Lord was making His instrument pliant by keeping her waiting and abandoned to His Will. Three times every week, Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, Josefa had permission to offer herself to His good pleasure before retiring to rest.
After the night from Saturday to Sunday, February 18th, she wrote:
“I offered myself to His sweet will, but as I was afraid of falling asleep, I asked Him to be kind enough to wake me.
“Hardly had I gone to bed than I fell asleep . . . I do not remember what the time was when I awoke at the sound of His voice calling me. ‘Josefa!’
“Stupefied with sleep, I said: ‘O, my Jesus, forgive me. What time is it?’
“ ‘What does that matter, Josefa? . . . It is Love’s hour.’
“How beautiful Jesus looked. He was bearing His Cross. I renewed my vows and rose at once, and He continued: ‘It is the hour when Love comes in search of comfort and relief by leaving you My Cross. Let us go and beg for pardon and mercy for souls. . . . Take My Cross that I may rest a while.’
“He gave me His Cross, which weighed me down, and I also felt the pain in my side, and my soul was overwhelmed with anguish. . . . I longed to be able to comfort Him . . . but I felt so unworthy of bearing His Cross. . . .
“ ‘That does not matter,’ He said. ‘My Cross will lean upon your misery and I will rest in your littleness. . . . My Cross will strengthen you and I will support you.
“ ‘When a soul comes to Me for strength, I do not leave her to herself; I hold her up, and if in her weakness she stumbles, I will raise her.
“ ‘Now let us ask pardon for souls . . . let us repair the offenses committed against the Divine Majesty. Say with Me: “O God most holy and just . . . Father of all clemency and of infinite goodness, Thou who didst create man out of love and through love hast made him heir to eternal blessings; if he has sinned against Thee through frailty and if he deserves chastisement, accept the merits of Thy Son who offers Himself to Thee as a Victim of expiation. By those divine merits, forgive sinful men, and deign to reinstate them as heirs of Heaven. O My Father, pity and mercy for souls!’
“ ‘Josefa, I leave you My Cross, that you may ease My burden; I am your strength, console Me’ . . .
“Then He left me His Cross and went away.”
On Monday evening, February 19th, she renewed the same offering before falling asleep.
“I cannot tell whether it was His voice or His presence that woke me at about eleven o’clock. . . . Jesus was there, bearing His Cross, and I heard Him say: ‘Josefa, do you love Me?’
“Conscious of my misery and that I do not know how to love, I did not dare reply. . . . I asked Him to forgive me for letting myself be troubled by very small happenings which really are not worth it.
“ ‘Yes, make use of all these small occasions to win souls for Me.’
“Then with His usual kindness He went on: ‘Take My Cross, and we shall repair together the many sins committed at this hour of the night. . . . If you but knew how many throw themselves into sin.’
“He gave me His Cross and I humbled myself in His presence . . . I adored Him, for more than ever I realized my unworthiness in contrast with His greatness. He joined His hands and said: ‘Come, let us adore God’s Majesty, outraged by so many offenses. Let us repair this multitude of sins!
“ ‘O God infinitely holy . . . Father infinitely merciful, I adore Thee. I long to expiate the insults heaped upon Thee by sinners all over the world and at every moment of the day and night. Would that I could at least repair for those being committed at this hour. O My Father, I offer Thee all the acts of adoration and reparation made by souls who love Thee. Above all, I offer Thee Thy Divine Son, immolated on the altar in every corner of the world . . . at every moment of this hour. O Father, infinitely good and compassionate, accept His pure Blood in reparation for all the outrages committed by mankind, wipe out their sins and have mercy on them.’
“Then we remained in silence. Jesus was looking towards Heaven. . . . My soul was in great anguish and my heart crushed with sorrow. . . . After a time He spoke again: ‘Offer your whole being in reparation for so many sins, and to satisfy the Divine Justice.’
“I told Him that I felt unworthy to do this, as I, too, am a great sinner.
“ ‘If your unworthiness and your sins are great, come and immerse them in the torrent of My Heart’s blood and let yourself be purified. Then accept generously all the sufferings My Will sends you, and offer them up to My Heavenly Father. Your heart should burn with desire to console an outraged God, and repair for so many sins through My merits.’ “
“Si tu indignidad y tus pecados son grandes, ven a sumergirte en el torrente de sangre de mi Corazón y déjate purificar! … y después acepta generosamente todos los sufrimientos que mi Voluntad te envia para ofrecerlos a mi Padre Celestial. Deja que tu alma se abrase en deseo de consolar a un Dios ultrajado y toma mis Méritos para reparar tantos pecados.”
As Jesus was about to go, Josefa ventured to remind Him of His promise to speak to her of His Passion.
“Yes, I will come back,” He said. “Meanwhile comfort My Heart and do all you can in reparation.”
These nights of reparation were renewed regularly, but they never prevented her from resuming her work as soon as it was light. During the night of Wednesday to Thursday, February 22nd, Our Lord again awoke her, for, worn out, she had fallen asleep quickly. “Here I am,” He said. “I have come to rest in you.”
Promptly she rose, renewed her vows, and offered herself to ease His divine shoulders of the heavy Cross. “Yes, I will give it to you, Josefa, and with it all the pain in My Heart.”
“At once,” she said, “He gave me His Cross . . . and I did my best to comfort Him. . . . He went on to say: ‘Tell Me, do you know a heart more loving than Mine, and any that meets with less response to Its love? Is there a heart to be found that consumes itself with greater willingness to forgive? And yet in payment for so much love I receive only great outrages. Poor souls . . . let us go and ask pardon, and repair for their sins.
“ ‘O My Father, have pity on souls. Do not chastise them as they deserve, but have mercy on them according to the entreaties of Thy Son. I long to make reparation for their sins, and render Thee the glory which is due to Thee, O God, infinitely Holy! But cast Thine eyes on Thy Son, He is the Victim who will expiate all these sins.’
“ ‘Remain united to Me, Josefa, and accept with entire submission the sufferings that are yours during this hour.’ ”
Jesus went away and an hour was spent by Josefa crushed by excessive pain. “Suddenly,” she wrote, “the devil appeared before me and with a shriek of rage he cried: ‘It is my turn now.’ ”
The rest of that night was passed under his blows, threats, and blasphemies. Exhausted, Josefa recovered only enough strength to drag herself to the chapel to receive Holy Communion. The time had come when, having brought her down to the very depths of her weakness and nothingness, Jesus would stoop, and use her as one uses a perfectly mended instrument. That very morning, Thursday, February 22nd, when she had gone to her cell to snatch a few moments rest in transcribing the prayers she had repeated after her Master the night before, suddenly He stood beside her: “Josefa, spouse and victim of My Heart,” He said gravely, “we are going to speak of My Passion, that your soul may constantly feed on the remembrance of it, and that My souls may find in it food for their hunger and drink for their thirst.”
“I did not dare interrupt Him,” she said. “However, I asked His leave to renew my vows.
“ ‘Yes, renew them; it gives Me glory when you tighten the bonds that unite Me to you, and I fill your soul with so much grace that not only is it as pure as on the day of your vows, but each time it gains a new degree of merit which makes it more pleasing in My sight. Thus, all souls united to Me by these close and sacred bonds clothe themselves in new merit and draw nearer to My Heart which delights in them, each time they renew their vows.
“ ‘And now, Josefa, I will begin by discovering to you the thoughts that filled My Heart, while I was washing the feet of My disciples.
“ ‘Mark how the whole Twelve were gathered together, none excepted: John the beloved was there, and Judas who was so soon to deliver Me to My enemies. I will tell you why I willed to have them all assembled together and why I began by washing their feet.
“ ‘I gathered them all together because the moment had come for My Church to be manifested to the world, and for all the sheep to have but one Shepherd.
“ ‘It was My intention, also, to show souls that I never refuse grace even to those who are guilty of grave sin; nor do I separate them from the good whom I love with predilection. I keep them all in My Heart, that all may receive the help required by their state of soul. . . .
“ ‘But how great was My sorrow to see in the person of My unhappy disciple Judas the throng of those who, though often gathered at My feet and washed with My blood, would yet hasten to their eternal perdition.
“ ‘I would have these to understand that it is not the fact of being in sin that ought to keep them from Me. They must never think that there is no remedy for them, nor that they have forfeited forever the love that once was theirs. . . . No, poor souls, the God who has shed all His blood for you has no such feelings for you!
“ ‘Come all of you to Me and fear not, for I love you all . . . I will wash you in My blood and you shall be made whiter than snow. All your offenses will be submerged in the waters in which I Myself shall wash you, nor shall anything whatsoever be able to tear from My Heart Its love for you.
“ ‘Josefa, let your soul be seized today by an ardent desire to see all souls, especially sinners, come and purify themselves in the waters of repentance . . . Let them give themselves up to thoughts of confidence, not fear, for I am a God of pity, ever ready to receive them into My Heart.’ ”
Here ended the first of Our Lord’s dictated messages. Josefa, who had written rapidly for some twenty minutes, said that He spoke “with such eagerness” that it seemed as if He were pouring out His Heart and taking intense pleasure in thus expressing His feelings. As quickly as she could, she committed to paper His burning words, which were only interrupted from time to time by a brief pause.
These are the burning outpourings of the Heart of Jesus taken down by Josefa whilst her Master spoke, and translated from the Spanish (through the French in this instance), large extracts of which will be found in the following pages. Our Lord did not exactly dictate, but He spoke with ardor and Josefa wrote down His words as they fell from the divine lips.
He then stopped, gave a long look at Josefa, who had put down her pen and was kneeling at His feet; a word of farewell, and He was gone.
Josefa, steeped in the thoughts evoked by what she had just heard and written down, remained a few minutes spellbound before her open notebook. She did not re-read it, but handed it to her Superiors, who were always present. Then she hurried off to the workroom, where her sewing awaited her, but all day she turned over in her mind the sorrowful secrets that Christ had confided to her.
Our Lord did not leave her long without asking her for more reparation for souls in peril. The evening of that same Thursday, February 22nd, as she was just finishing the Stations of the Cross, He came to remind her that He counted on her cooperation.
This time it was for three souls in peril “who are not only My own dearly loved ones, but especially singled out by My Heart’s affection.”
“That is why I come here to seek comfort in your midst . . . Notice, Josefa,” He added, “that what the devil said to you this morning is true: many souls find salvation here.”
Then after making His thought clear: “You attract them to truth, souls so loved of My Heart, by your miseries and your love.”
Josefa was surprised at these words: “Yes,” He continued, “two things predominate here: miseries and love. Love is the reason why so many souls find here new life, and it is misery that fixes the eye of God on this group of religious.”
The next evening, Friday, February 23rd, at the end of the Stations of the Cross that Josefa and the Novices had just made, Our Lord became visible to her.
“He was standing in front of the altar rails,” she wrote. “He was bearing His Cross and His loving gaze was on us all. He said: ‘How much comfort you give Me! Ah! could you but see . . . what marvels you would discover. . . . How your prayers are transmuted into treasure for souls!”
“As He said these words, He came close to me . . . and gave me His Cross. I told Him my fears; these last nights the devil had never stopped insulting this house. . . .
“ ‘Have no fear, Josefa; he can only threaten you, for you are guarded by Me who am almighty. If he hates you, it is because I love you. Ah, if only you realized the important work that is carried out in this house, and how much is done for My Heart and for souls here. . . . ’
“After having thus poured out His overflowing Heart, Our Lord continued: ‘But now My Heart is deep in grief because of those three souls whom I entrusted to you. . . . I shall come here for consolation as long as they continue to offend Me . . . I leave you My Cross; do not leave Me alone.’ Then He added: ‘Love Me and comfort Me, Josefa.’ ”
The Cross in its most painful form was to weigh on Josefa, for the devil, who had been given special power at this time, continually vented his rage on her. She was expiating for those souls, Christ’s “specially loved ones,” who had allowed themselves to be seduced, and she was purchasing the light that would bring them back to the truth.
On Sunday, February 25th, Jesus visited her in her cell very early in the morning.
“Why do you fear?” He said gently to her. “Perhaps, because you have still many imperfections, but there is no question of the sins the devil accuses you of. . . . Yes, renew your vows strengthening the bonds that unite us. . . . And now, Josefa, do not forget that you are but a tool, and a very useless and wretched one.
“Kiss the ground and write . . . for we are going on with Love’s secrets.
“I will tell you My reasons for washing the feet of My Apostles before the Last Supper.
“In the first place I would teach souls how pure they must be to receive Me in Holy Communion.
“I also wished to remind those who would have the misfortune to sin that they can always recover their innocence through the Sacrament of Penance.
“And I washed the feet of My Apostles with My own hands, so that those who have consecrated themselves to apostolic work may follow My example, and treat sinners with humility and gentleness, as also all others that are entrusted to their care.
“I girded Myself with a white linen cloth to remind them that apostles need to be girded with abnegation and mortification, if they hope to exert any real influence on souls. . . .
“I wished also to teach them that mutual charity, which is ever ready to excuse the faults of others, to conceal them and extenuate them, and never to reveal them.
“Lastly, the water poured on the feet of My Apostles denotes the zeal which burned in My Heart for the salvation of the world.
“The hour of Redemption was at hand. My Heart could no longer restrain its love for mankind nor bear the thought of leaving them orphans.
“So, to prove My tender love for them and in order to remain always with them till time has ceased to be, I resolved to become their food, their support, their life, their all. Could I but make known to all souls the loving sentiments with which My Heart overflowed at My Last Supper, when I instituted the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist . . .
“My glance ranged across the ages, and I saw the multitudes who would receive My Body and Blood, and all the good It would effect. . . . how many hearts I saw that from Its contact would bud forth virginity! . . . and how many others that It would awaken to deeds of charity and zeal! . . . How many martyrs of love did I see. . . . How many souls who had been enfeebled by sin and the violence of passion would come back to their allegiance and recover their spiritual energy by partaking of this Bread of the strong! . . .
“Who can describe the overwhelming emotions that filled My Soul? Joy, love, tenderness . . . but, alas, bitter sorrow also. . . .
“Later I shall continue, Josefa. Go now in My peace; console Me, and do not be afraid; the well-spring of My blood is not exhausted, and It will cleanse your soul.”
Here Jesus stopped.
“Adieu, kiss the ground. I shall return.”
She waited several days for this return. Every morning found her faithfully in her cell, but He did not come; the devil, on the other hand, tormented her ceaselessly.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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CHAPTER VIII - THE LENT OF 1923
THE BLESSED SACRAMENT AND SINNERS March 1st–11th, 1923
“The Holy Eucharist is the invention of Love, but how few souls correspond to that love which spends and consumes itself for them!” (Our Lord to Josefa, March 2nd, 1923)
ON the First Friday, March 2nd, at about nine o’clock, Josefa, active and alert, hurried to her workroom. She had waited long for the coming of Our Lord in her cell, but once again He had not come. She wrote in all sincerity: “I was rather glad to have the time, for I had a lot of sewing to do. . . . At times I am haunted by the idea that I do no work at all, and that I am of no use, what with all those things. . . .”
This was a return of the old temptation which the devil never failed to suggest to her eager and devoted nature.
“On reaching the foot of the ‘Saint Michael’ staircase, I came face to face with Jesus. He stopped me and said: ‘Josefa, where are you going?’
“ ‘I am on my way to iron the uniforms in the linen-room, Lord.’
“ ‘Go to your cell,’ He said, ‘for I want you to write.’ ”
She smothered the secret wish she had to get on with her work, and went upstairs and found that Jesus had already preceded her.
“Who made you, Josefa?” was His first question after she had renewed her vows.
“Thou, Lord.”
“Has anyone shown you more love than I? . . . Who has forgiven you so often as I, and who will do so again? . . .”
Full of shame, she was at His feet in an instant.
“Yes, humble yourself, Josefa; kiss the ground, and never resist My Will. Now write for My souls:
“I want to tell them of the poignant sorrows which filled My Heart at the Last Supper. If it was bliss for Me to think of all those to whom I should be both Companion and Heavenly Food, of all who would surround Me to the end of time with adoration, reparation, and love . . . this in no wise diminished My grief at the many who would leave Me deserted in My tabernacle and who would not even believe in My Real Presence.
“Into how many hearts defiled by sin would I not have to enter . . . and how often this profanation of My Body and Blood would serve for their ultimate condemnation. . . .
“Sacrileges and outrages, and all the nameless abominations to be committed against Me, passed before My eyes . . . the long, lonely hours of the day and of the night in which I would remain alone on the altars . . . and the multitudes who would not heed the appeals of My Heart. . . .
“Ah! Josefa, let the thoughts of My Heart sink deep into yours.
“It is love for souls that keeps Me a Prisoner in the Blessed Sacrament. I stay there that all may come and find the comfort they need in the tenderest of Hearts, the best of Fathers, the most faithful of Friends, who will never abandon them.
“The Holy Eucharist is the invention of Love . . . Yet how few souls correspond to that love which spends and consumes itself for them!
“I live in the midst of sinners that I may be their life, their physician, and the remedy of the diseases bred by corrupt nature. And in return they forsake, insult and despise Me! . . .
“Poor pitiable sinners, do not turn away from Me. . . . Day and night I am on the watch for you in the tabernacle. I will not reproach you . . . I will not cast your sins in your face. . . . But I will wash them in My blood and in My wounds. No need to be afraid . . . come to Me. . . . If you but knew how dearly I love you.
“And you, dear souls, why this coldness and indifference on your part? . . . Do I not know that family cares . . . household concerns . . . and the requirements of your position in life . . . make continual calls upon you? . . . But cannot you spare a few minutes in which to come and prove your affection and your gratitude? Do not allow yourselves to be involved in useless and incessant cares, but spare a few moments to visit and receive this Prisoner of love! . . .
“Were you weak or ill in body surely you would find time to see a doctor who would cure you? . . . Come, then, to One who is able to give both strength and health to your soul, and bestow the alms of love on this Divine Prisoner who watches for you, calls for you, and longs to see you at His side.
“When about to institute the Blessed Sacrament, Josefa, these were My feelings, but I have not yet told you what My Heart felt at the thought of My chosen souls; My religious, My priests . . . but I will tell you all this later on. Go, now, and do not forget that My Heart loves you . . . and, Josefa, do you love Me? . . .”
It was by her courageous fidelity more than by her words of love that Josefa replied to this question of her Master. During the following night, which was more full of pain than ever, she gathered from the blasphemies of the devil that the three souls so specially dear to the Heart of Jesus and for which she had suffered so much during the past fortnight were about to return to Him. This encouraged her.
On the evening of the First Saturday, March 3rd, she was in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, when Our Lord appeared to her with His Heart all gloriously aflame.
“Josefa,” He said with eager voice, “let Me rest a while in you, let Me tell you of My joy: those three souls that I had entrusted to you have come back to Me. . . .”
And He continued: “My Cross is heavy. . . . That is why I come here to rest and to give a share of it to each of My well-beloved souls. . . . My Heart is in search of victims to lead the world to love, and I find them here.”
With what joy Josefa joined in her Master’s exultation. She offered Him all the desires of the house, which she knew were sincere and ardent, that His Heart might find comfort and that many erring souls might return to Him. Then, as she could not forget what Our Lord dictated to her yesterday, she asked Him if He would not tell her for His chosen souls what He expected of them in the Holy Eucharist.
“Yes,” He answered, “I want to tell you this, that My best-loved and specially favored souls, My priests and My consecrated nuns, may learn it through you. If their infidelities wound Me deeply, their love consoles and delights My Heart to such a degree that I, so to speak, forget the sins of many others on their account.”
“Then,” said Josefa, “He spoke to me at length on that subject, but as we were in the Chapel, I told Him that I could not possibly remember it all so as to write it down afterwards.
“ ‘Never mind; let Me speak to you and pour out all that My Heart feels.’ ”
Towards the evening of Sunday, March 4th, just as she was finishing the Stations of the Cross, Jesus appeared.
“If you want to console Me,” He said, “now is the time. Tonight, very near here, they are holding a meeting in which I shall be much insulted. Offer yourself as a victim in such a way as to make reparation for the outrages committed by these souls. Poor souls! . . . How they sin against Me! . . . And afterwards . . . How will they manage to keep out of that place? . . .”
A few minutes later Jesus joined her in her cell, where already she was in prayer, interceding for those sinners. He gave her His Cross and Himself guided her prayer:
“ ‘O My Father! whilst these sinners offend Thy Sovereign Majesty and furiously outrage the Blood of Thy Son, look upon this willing victim which united to My Heart suffers and makes reparation. Deign to receive her sufferings in union with My merits, O Father of all goodness.’ Then He added: ‘Now let Me plunge your soul in the bitterness that is in My Heart.’
“And He vanished, leaving me in unspeakable anguish under the Cross.”
Night came down on this state of woe and distress which lasted till the Master returned.
“About ten o’clock,” she wrote, “He came back and said to me: ‘Give Me back My Cross. You have comforted Me.’
“I thanked Him for letting me know that He was somewhat comforted and I promised Him unconditional surrender. . . .
“ ‘Yes, whenever I need you, come and dress the wounds that sinners have caused.
“ ‘You have given Me to drink,’ He added finally, ‘and I will give you a share in the Kingdom of Heaven.’ ”
There followed a few days of interruption; then once more on Tuesday, March 6th, Jesus came at eight o’clock in the morning.
“ ‘Josefa, are you expecting Me?’ He asked. ‘I am going to reveal to you the greatest mystery of My love . . . of love for My chosen consecrated souls. Begin by kissing the ground. . . . When about to institute the Holy Eucharist, I saw the privileged throng who would be nourished by My Body and Blood; some would find there the remedy for their shortcomings, others consuming fire for their imperfections. . . . I likewise saw them gathered round Me as in a garden, each separately rejoicing Me with her flowers and their scent. . . . As a vivifying sun, My sacred Body gave them life, and warmed their cold hearts. . . . To some I went for comfort, to others for refuge, to others again for rest. . . . Would that all these cherished souls knew how easily they can console Me, harbor Me, or give rest to Me their God.
“ ‘It is this infinitely loving God who after freeing you from the slavery of sin has given you the incomparable grace of your vocation and has mysteriously attracted you into the enclosed garden of His delights. This God who is your Saviour has made Himself your Bridegroom.
“ ‘And He Himself feeds you with His immaculate Flesh, and slakes your thirst with His Blood. If you are sick, He will be your Physician; come to Him, He will cure you. If you are cold, come to Him, He will warm you. In Him you will find rest and happiness, so do not wander away from Him, for He is life, and when He asks you to comfort Him, do not sadden Him by a refusal. . . .
“ ‘Alas, what sorrow it is to see so many who have been endowed with My choicest graces become a cause of pain to My Sacred Heart! Am I not always the same? . . . Have I changed? . . . No, My love is unalterable and will endure to the end of time with the same tenderness and predilection.
“ ‘That you are unworthy I well know; but not for that do I turn away from you. On the contrary, with anxious solicitude I look for your coming, that I may not only ease your troubles, but also grant you many favors.
“ ‘If I ask your love, do not refuse it. It is so easy to love Love Itself.
“ ‘If I should ask you for things that cost, know that at the same time I will give you all the grace and strength you need to conquer yourself.
“ ‘I hope to find in you My comfort, therefore have I chosen you. Open your whole soul to Me, and if you are conscious of having nothing worthy of Me, say with humility and trust: Lord, Thou knowest both the flowers and fruits of my garden . . . come and teach me how I may grow what will please Thee most. To one who speaks in this way and has a genuine desire of showing love, I answer: Beloved, if such is your desire, suffer Me to grow them for you . . . let Me delve and dig in your garden . . . let Me clear the ground of those sinewy roots that obstruct it and which you have not the strength to pull up. . . . Maybe I shall ask you to give up certain tastes, or sacrifice something in your character . . . do some act of charity, of patience, or self-denial . . . or perhaps prove your love by zeal, obedience or abnegation; all such deeds help to fertilize the soil of your soul, which then will be able to produce the flowers and fruit I look for: your self-conquest will obtain light for a sinner . . . your ready patience under provocation will heal the wounds he inflicted on Me, will repair for his offense and expiate his fault . . . a reproof accepted patiently and even with joy will obtain for a sinner blinded by pride the grace to let light penetrate his soul and the courage to beg pardon humbly.
“ ‘All this I will do for you if you will give Me freedom. Then will blossoms grow quickly in your soul, and you will be the consolation of My Heart.’
“ ‘Lord, Thou knowest my readiness to let Thee do with me whatsoever Thou wilt. . . . Alas, I have fallen and displeased Thee . . . wilt Thou forgive me once again? I am so wretched and can do no good! . . . ’
“ ‘Yes, My beloved, even your falls comfort Me. Do not be discouraged, for this act of humility which your fault drew from you has consoled Me more than if you had not fallen. Take courage, go forward steadily, and let Me train you.
“ ‘All this was present to Me when I instituted the Blessed Sacrament, and My Heart glowed with desire to become the food for just such souls. If I have taken up My abode among men it is not merely to live among the perfect, but to uphold the weak, and sustain the lowly. I will make them grow and become strong. Their good resolves will be My solace and I will rest in their wretchedness. . . .
“ ‘But are there not some among these chosen souls who will inflict sorrow on Me? . . . For will they all persevere? . . . Such is the cry of grief that breaks from My Heart. . . . I want souls to hear it.
“ ‘Enough for today, Josefa. Farewell. You comfort Me when you entrust yourself entirely to Me. Let Me tell you My secrets for souls, since I cannot speak to them thus every day. Let Me make use of you whilst you are still alive.’ ”
The very next day, Wednesday, March 7th, Josefa heard the dolorous plaint of His Heart. “Kiss the ground in all humility,” He said as was His wont.
She fell down in adoration at His feet, and when she had risen, He spoke: “Write today concerning the pain endured by My Heart, when being constrained by the fire that consumed It, I devised the marvel of love, the Holy Eucharist. And while I looked at those many souls that would feed on this Heavenly Bread, I could not but see also the indifference by which so many others . . . consecrated souls . . . priests . . . would wound Me in this Sacrament. There were those who would grow cold . . . gradually yield to routine . . . and worse than routine . . . to weariness and lassitude, and little by little to tepidity. . . . Still, I wait all night and watch in the Tabernacle for that soul . . . fervently hoping that she will come and receive Me . . . that she will converse with Me with all the trust of a bride . . . telling Me of her sorrows, her temptations, her sufferings . . . asking My advice and begging for the graces she needs for herself or others. . . . Perhaps she has dependent on her or in her family souls that are in danger and far from Me? . . . ‘Come,’ I say to her, ‘let us discuss everything with perfect freedom . . . Be concerned about sinners. . . . Offer yourself to make reparation . . . Promise Me that at least today you will not leave Me alone . . . then see if My Heart is not asking something more of you to comfort It. . . . ’ This is what I hoped to obtain from that soul and from many another. . . . Yet when she receives Me in Holy Communion she barely says a word to Me . . . she is distracted, tired or put out . . . her whole mind is absorbed by her occupations . . . her family cares . . . her acquaintances . . . or maybe anxiety for her health . . . she does not know what to say to Me . . . she is indifferent, bored . . . wishes it were time to go. . . . Is it thus that you receive Me, O soul whom I have chosen and for whom I have watched with all the impatience of love throughout the livelong night?
“Yes, I yearned for her coming that I might rest in her and share her anxieties. . . . I had prepared fresh graces for her, but she does not want them . . . she has nothing to ask of Me, neither advice nor strength . . . she just complains to herself without so much as addressing Me. . . . It seems then that she has come simply out of routine, to go through a customary formality, or perhaps because no grave sin prevented it. But it is not love nor a true desire for close union with Me that has impelled her coming. Alas, that soul does not possess the delicate love I had hoped to find in her. And priests? . . . Who can express all I expect from each of My priests. . . . They are invested with My own power, that they may forgive sin. . . . I Myself am obedient to their word when they summon Me from Heaven to earth. . . . I am totally surrendered into their hands; they may confine Me to the tabernacle or give Me to the faithful in Holy Communion. . . . They are, so to say, My almoners.
“To each I have entrusted souls that by their preaching, their direction and above all their example, they may guide them in the path of virtue.
“What response do they make? . . . Do they all fulfill Love’s mission? . . . Will this My minister at the altar confide the souls of his charges to Me today? Will he make reparation to Me for the offenses I receive, the secret of which has been entrusted to him? . . . Will he entreat of Me the strength he needs to carry out in holiness his sacred ministry? . . . zeal to work for the salvation of souls. . . . courage in self-sacrifice, more today than yesterday? . . . Will he give Me all the love I expect . . . and shall I be able to rely entirely on him as on My dear and well-beloved disciple? . . . O what cruel sorrow for My Heart, when I am forced to say: ‘The world wounds Me in My hands and in My feet and it sullies My countenance. . . . My chosen souls and My consecrated religious, My priests, they rend and break My Heart. . . . How many priests after giving back grace to many souls are themselves in a state of sin! . . . How many say Mass thus . . . receive Me thus . . . live and die thus! . . .
“Now you know what anguish oppressed Me at the Last Supper when I saw in the midst of the Twelve the first unfaithful Apostle . . . and after him so many more who would follow him in the course of the ages.
“The Blessed Sacrament is the invention of Love. It is life and fortitude for souls, a remedy for every fault, and Viaticum for the last passage from Time to Eternity. In it sinners recover life for their souls; tepid souls true warmth; fervent souls, tranquility and the satisfaction of every longing . . . saintly souls, wings to fly towards perfection . . . pure souls, sweet honey and rarest sustenance. Consecrated souls find in it a dwelling, their love and their life. In it they will seek and find the perfect exemplar of those sacred and hallowed bonds that unite them inseparably to their heavenly Bridegroom.
“Indeed, O consecrated souls, you will find a perfect symbol of your vow of Poverty in the small, round, white and smooth Host; for so must the soul that professes poverty be: no angles, that is to say no petty natural affections, either for things used nor for her employments, nor for family or country . . . but she must ever be ready to leave, or give up, or change. . . . Her heart must be free, with no attachments whatever. . . .
“This by no means signifies insensibility of heart; no, for the more it loves the more it will preserve the integrity of the vow of Poverty. What is essential for religious souls, is first, that they should possess nothing without the permission and approbation of Superiors; and secondly, that they should possess and love nothing that they are not ready to give up at the first sign. Later, Josefa, I will tell you the rest.”
Several days passed without any mitigation of her suffering state. It seemed to her that several times she had yielded to the violent rebukes of the enemy, and she trembled lest she should have wounded her Master.
“I even lost a Communion,” she wrote sorrowfully.
On Laetare Sunday, March 11th, Jesus returned once more, and gave her the full sense of security that she was forgiven.
“Take My Crown and have no fear,” He said. “The mercy of God is infinite and never refuses to forgive sinners, and more especially when there is question of a poor little creature like you.”
Then alluding to the Communion she had missed: “O, Josefa, if only you had known how I was longing for you to hide Me in your heart!”
She could think of nothing to say to make Him forget that pang.
“You will make amends,” He said with the utmost kindness, “by preparing yourself today with very fervent longing for tomorrow’s Communion. My Heart is consoled each time you tell Me of this longing . . . and then,” He went on, “the spirit of faith and blind obedience always.
“Continue now to write for My souls: Tell them how they will find in the small white Host a perfect symbol of their vow of Chastity. For under the species of bread and wine the Real Presence of God lies concealed. Under this veil, I am there whole and entire, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity.
“It is thus that one consecrated to Jesus Christ by the vow of Virginity must be hidden under a veil of modesty and simplicity, so that under the appearances of her humanity, a purity like that of the angels may be concealed.
“And understand well, you who form the court of the Immaculate Lamb, that the glory you give Me surpasses incomparably that of the angelic spirits; for they have never experienced the frailties of human nature, and have neither to struggle nor to conquer in order to remain pure.
“You thus acquire a relationship with My Mother, who being a mortal creature was nevertheless of spotless purity . . . subject to all human miseries, yet at every instant of her life absolutely immaculate. She has glorified Me more than all the celestial spirits, and God Himself, drawn by her purity, took flesh of her and dwelt in His creature.
“Further, the soul that is consecrated to Me by the vow of Chastity resembles Me, her Creator, as far as it is possible for a human being to do so, for when I clothed Myself in human nature, its miseries not excepted, I lived uncontaminated by the slightest blemish.
“That is how the soul by its vow of Chastity becomes a pure white host, which unceasingly renders homage to the Divine Majesty.
“Religious souls, you will find in the Holy Eucharist the model of your vow of Obedience.
“For hidden and annihilated there, are the greatness and power of God. There, you see Me apparently lifeless, who nevertheless am the life of souls and the support of the world. I can no longer go away or remain, be alone or surrounded: Wisdom, Power, Liberty, all are hidden beneath the Host. . . . The species of bread are the bonds that chain Me and the veil that covers Me.
“In like manner, the vow of Obedience is the chain that binds a religious soul, and the veil under which she must disappear, so that she no longer has either will, judgment, choice or liberty, except according to the good pleasure of God as manifested to her by her Superiors.”
Our Lord then stopped after this long discourse and Josefa allowed her heart to speak:
“This morning there was a ceremony of First Communion,” she wrote, “and I reminded Him of the consolation He doubtless felt in these pure and innocent souls.
“His Heart was moved at the remembrance: ‘Yes,’ He said tenderly, ‘it is in souls such as these and in those of My nuns that I take refuge in order to forget the iniquities of the world. The children are like fair rosebuds to Me, where I seek shelter. As for My religious, I hide and rest in them, for they are full-blown roses who defend Me by their thorns, and comfort Me by their love. And you, Josefa, give Me that love. Be ready to follow Me to Gethsemane. There I will teach you how to suffer, and I will strengthen you by the sweat of blood drawn from Me by the sins of men. Meanwhile console Me by your desire to hide Me in your heart. In that way you will repair for that lost Communion.
“ ‘Adieu, do not forget Me. Long for Me as I long for you. . . . Love Me as I love you. . . . Seek Me as I seek you. . . . You see that I never forsake you.’ ”
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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CHAPTER VIII - THE LENT OF 1923
GETHSEMANE march 12th–15th, 1923
“Stay close to Me in Gethsemane and let My Blood water and strengthen the root of your littleness.” (Our Lord to Josefa, March 12th, 1923)
THE very next day, Monday, March 12th, Our Lord called Josefa to Gethsemane. He began by reassuring her, for the night before Satan had multiplied his threats about her Communion, to which she had so eagerly looked forward on the preceding day.
“Have no fear,” He said, “the power of the evil one is not greater than Mine. It pleases Me to hear you call Me, and I am so consoled that every desire of your heart cries out to Me; it is as if so many who do not communicate, went to Communion.
“Humble yourself, kiss the ground, and then come with Me . . . let us go to Gethsemane, and may your heart be immersed in the feelings of bitterness and sadness with which Mine was submerged.
“After having preached to great crowds, healed the sick, given sight to the blind, raised the dead . . . after having lived three years with My Apostles to train them and teach My doctrine to them . . . I finally willed to teach them by example how to love one another, to put up with one another, and how mutually to serve each other; and this I did by washing their feet and making Myself their food.
“The hour had come for the Son of God made man, Redeemer of the human race, to shed His blood and give His life for the world. And that I might surrender Myself to My Father’s will I forthwith betook Myself to prayer.
“Dearly loved souls, come and learn from your Model that the one thing necessary, whatever the revolts of nature, is surrender to God’s Will in humble submission and by a supreme act of the will to accomplish the Will of God whatever the circumstances may be. Learn also from Him that all important actions should be preceded and vivified by prayer, for only in prayer can a soul obtain the strength needed in life’s difficulties. In prayer God will communicate Himself, will counsel and inspire, even if His action be unfelt.
“I withdrew into the Garden of Gethsemane, that is to say into solitude. God is to be sought within, away from distraction and noise. To find Him the soul must enforce silence on all the disturbances by which nature often fights against grace; on interior arguments prompted by self-love or sensuality. These constantly tend to stifle the inspirations of grace and keep her from finding God within. . . .
After these words, Our Lord continued:
“Adore His Will for you, whatever it is . . . and humble yourself as befits a creature before its Creator. . . .
“It was thus I offered Myself to carry out the Redemption of the world.
“At the same moment I felt all the torments of My Passion burst overwhelmingly upon Me: the calumnies and the insults . . . the scourging and the Crown of Thorns, the thirst . . . the Cross. . . . All these sufferings thronged before My eyes and pressed upon My Heart, while at one and the same time I saw all the offenses, sins and crimes that were to be committed throughout the ages . . . I not only witnessed them all, but was invested in them . . . so that under the burden of their ignominy I was constrained to present Myself before the face of My all-holy Father and implore Him to show mercy.
“And there burst upon Me the wrath of an angry and offended God, and in order to appease His Majesty I offered myself as security for sinful man, I, His Son, to calm His anger and satisfy His Justice. But so great was the anguish and so mortal the agony of My human nature under the strain and weight of so much guilt, that a bloody sweat poured from Me to the ground.
“O sinners who thus torture Me . . . will this blood bring salvation and life, or will it be shed in vain for you? How can I express My sorrow at the thought of this sweat, this anguish, this agony, this blood . . . useless for so many souls.
“That is enough for today, Josefa. Console My Heart; tomorrow we shall go on. . . . Adieu. Remain close to Me in Gethsemane that My blood may fertilize and strengthen the root of your littleness.”
How was it that Josefa succeeded after such confidences in adjusting herself to the ordinary give and take of common life? Yet she was seen to be ever the same, working from morning till night. Only a very special grace could thus keep her present to all, whilst she was at the same time oppressed by those momentous disclosures from the divine lips.
That night from the 12th to 13th of March, Jesus returned with His Cross. It was her right, ratified by obedience; and while still reminding her of her unworthiness, Jesus entrusted her with this treasure which they shared.
“I rest in your nothingness,” He said, “but I find comfort and relief as well in the midst of My consecrated nuns, for though they are unaware of it, I entrust them too with souls who are saved and return to Me. . . . Keep My Cross, and tomorrow I will tell you more of My secrets.”
The night as usual was spent in diabolic attacks, and early next morning Jesus resumed His narrative.
“Kiss the ground,” He said to His messenger, whom He liked to see thus lowly at His feet. “I am not attracted by your merits but by My love for souls.”
“Yes,” He continued, “I have come to reveal to you the feelings of My Heart, and also to rest among you all. Ah! how happy I am when souls receive Me with joy . . . for I come either to console them or to seek in them My consolation. But they do not always recognize My presence, especially when it is accompanied by suffering.
“And now let us continue our prayer in Gethsemane:
“Draw near Me, and when you see Me submerged in an ocean of grief, rise, and go with Me to the three disciples whom I had left a stone’s throw away.
“I had chosen them that they might share My agony, pray with Me and by their company afford Me some consolation. . . . What were My feelings to find them asleep? O the pang of loneliness, and to have none to share in My sorrow. . . .
“How often My Heart suffers this same grief . . . how often, hoping to find solace among the souls It loves, It finds them slumbering! . . .
“It is useless for Me to attempt to awaken them, to make them leave themselves and their preoccupations, their vain and fruitless conversations . . . too often the reply that reaches Me in act if not in words amounts to: ‘I cannot now, I am too busy . . . too tired . . . I need repose.’ Then gently insisting I say to this soul ‘Come for a little while. Come and pray with Me, I need you, do not be afraid of sacrificing your rest for Me; I will be your reward. . . . ’ And the same answer is repeated. . . . Poor sleeping souls who cannot watch one hour with Me. . . .
“Beloved souls, learn from this how useless it is to seek comfort in creatures. How often you will receive only an increase of distress because they are asleep and respond neither to your hope nor love.
“I went back to My prayer, and again falling on My face I worshipped My Father and implored His help. . . . I did not call Him ‘My God’ but ‘My Father.’ It is when harrowed with pain that you too must call God your Father. Beg for His help, expose your woes . . . your fears, your longings . . . and let your cry of anguish remind Him that you are His child. Tell Him that your body is exhausted . . . your heart is sorrowful even unto death . . . that your soul is experiencing what seems a very sweat of blood. Pray with a child’s confidence and expect relief from your Father’s Heart. He Himself will comfort you and give you the strength necessary to endure the tribulation or suffering, whether it be your own or that of the souls confided to your care.
“My soul, already shattered and a prey to sadness, had to endure still more deadly grief, for crushed by the weight of the sins of men, and in return for so much suffering and love, I saw only outrages and ingratitude. The blood now pouring from My body and which I was soon to shed from countless wounds would be in vain for so many souls . . . many would be lost . . . a still greater number would sin against Me . . . and myriads would not so much as hear My name . . . I would pour out My blood for all, offer My merits to each soul. . . . Blood of a God . . . infinite merits . . . yet to be in vain for how great a number!
“Yes, I will shed My blood for all and all will be loved with great love . . . but for some that love will be more tender, more intimate, more ardent . . . so from these chosen souls I will expect more consolation and love, more generosity and abnegation . . . in a word, a fuller response to My loving-kindness.
“Alas! At this moment I see how many will turn away from Me . . . some will not listen to My call . . . others will hear but will not follow Me . . . others will respond for a time with a certain amount of generosity to the call of My Heart, but then will gradually grow drowsy and one day will say to Me by their deeds: ‘I have worked enough . . . I have been faithful to every detail of my duty . . . I have overcome nature . . . I am no longer a child . . . so many privations . . . so much vigilance are no longer necessary . . . I need no longer endure this restraint, etc. . . . ’
“Poor soul! is this how you begin to go to sleep? . . . soon I shall return and as you are asleep you will not hear Me . . . I shall offer you My grace and you will not receive it . . . Is there any hope that later on you will be roused? Must one not fear that you will grow weak through lack of food and be unable to throw off your lethargy? . . .
“Beloved souls, know that death has stolen upon masses while they were thus sleeping soundly! . . . Where and by what means have they been awakened? . . .
“I saw all this and felt it in My Heart. What should I do . . . turn back, ask My Father to free Me from this torment? . . . Show Him the uselessness of My sacrifice for so many souls? . . . No! again I surrendered Myself to His holy Will and accepted this chalice, to drink it to the dregs.
“O souls that I love, I did it to teach you not to faint under your burdens. Never count them as useless, even if you are unable to reckon the result; submit your judgment and leave the divine Will free to do with you whatsoever it wills.
“I Myself would neither go back nor escape, and knowing that My enemies would come and seize Me in that very Garden, I stayed where I was.
“Tomorrow we shall continue, Josefa; be on the alert, that I may find you awake if I need you.”
A full hour passed in silence in the cell where Josefa, still on her knees, had not stopped writing for a moment. At last she ended her task and Jesus looked down at her and said: “Kiss My feet and remain in My peace. I am always with you even when you do not see Me.”
He went away, but not for long, and early on Wednesday morning, March 14th, without further introduction, He resumed His narrative:
“After having been comforted by an angel sent by My Father, suddenly I saw Judas coming, one of the Twelve, and with him those who were come to take Me prisoner. They carried staves and stones, chains and ropes to seize and bind Me. I arose, and drawing near, I said to them: ‘Whom seek ye?’ Then Judas, putting his hands upon My shoulders, gave Me a kiss. Ah! Judas, what are you doing? . . . Why do you betray Me with a kiss?
“To how many souls cannot I also say: ‘What are you doing? . . . What does this kiss mean?’
“Beloved soul, you who come to receive Me, so often assure Me of your affection . . . and you have hardly left Me than already you have betrayed Me to My enemies! You know very well that in that company you find so attractive there will be conversations that wound Me, you who communicated this morning and tomorrow will do so again . . . these are the occasions in which you lose My costly grace. . . .
“And why do you carry on transactions of doubtful integrity? I say to another. Do you not know these are unlawful gains, unlawful this rise in social position . . . this wealth? . . . In so doing you receive Me as Judas did with a kiss, for in a few moments, a few hours at most, you will give My enemies a sign by which they will recognize Me and so lay hands on Me. Now I speak also to you Christian souls: you betray Me by this dangerous friendship, you cast stones at Me and cause another likewise to betray Me. Why do you do this? You who know Me and so often have gloried in your almsgiving and church-going? . . . These acts which might be highly meritorious are but a cloak of your malice. . . . O soul whom I love . . . why are you enslaved by passion? . . .
“Friend! whereto art thou come? . . . Judas, dost thou betray the Son of Man with a kiss, your Master and your Lord! He who loves you and is ready to forgive again . . . one of My Twelve! . . . who sat at My table and whose feet I have washed? . . .
“How often must I speak thus to the souls I love most dearly?
“I do not ask you to free yourself, for I know it is not always in your power, but what I do ask of you is to keep up the struggle against your passions. . . . What are passing pleasures . . . if not the thirty pieces of silver for which Judas sold Me, and what did he gain? The loss of his soul.
“How many have sold Me and will sell Me for the low price of a passing pleasure? . . . Alas, poor souls, whom seek ye? Is it I? This Jesus whom once you knew and loved . . .
“Listen to My words: ‘Watch and pray, fight your evil inclinations and suffer them not to grow into confirmed habits.’
“The grass in meadowlands has to be mown every year, and in some cases even at every recurring season. The ground needs to be ploughed up, manured, and freed from weeds, and so must work be carried on in souls and evil tendencies carefully corrected. Do not imagine that it is always a serious fault that leads to the worst sins. The greatest faults are often the result of neglect of little things: a small satisfaction indulged in, a moment of weakness yielded to, a consent to do a thing in itself lawful but immortified, a pleasure not sinful, but ill-advised here and now. . . . All these things recur unheeded, and little by little the soul is blinded, grace loses its power, passion increases and finally triumphs.
“Ah! how infinitely sorrowful for the Heart of God, whose love is boundless, to see so many insensibly approaching nearer and nearer the abyss. . . .
“That will suffice for today, Josefa. Do not forget that My Heart is drawn here not by your merits, but by your misery and the compassion I feel for you.”
Late next night, Josefa awoke at the call of her Master. He brought her His Cross, as had been agreed, and only said: “Take My Cross and be afraid of nothing. Never will it be beyond your strength to bear, for I have measured and weighed it in the balance of love. Ah! do you know the depth of My love for you and for souls? . . . It is for them that I use you, for little as you are, and worthless, yet I make use of your littleness by keeping it united to My merits and close to My Heart.
“Keep my Cross, and suffer for souls and for love of Me.”
This nightly endurance of pain, so dear to the Heart of Jesus as also to Josefa, continued till dawn. Jesus was thus preparing her for the tryst He had not failed to keep for many days.
No sooner had Josefa reached her cell on the morning of Thursday, March 15th, the Feast of the Five Wounds, than He joined her. Standing before the table in front of which she knelt after having renewed her vows, He said as usual: “Kiss the ground and humble yourself, Josefa.”
By this act she each time offered herself once more to do His Will.
“I have told you, Josefa, how those who offend Me gravely deliver Me over to My enemies to put Me to death, or rather they make themselves My enemies and the arms they use against Me are their sins.
“But it is not always a question of grave lapses . . . there are souls and even highly favored ones that are false to Me by habitual faults, by evil tendencies acquiesced in, concessions to immortified nature, failings against charity . . . obedience . . . silence, etc. And if sin and ingratitude from worldlings are hard for My Heart, how much more grievous when inflicted by those I dearly love. . . . If the kiss of Judas caused Me so much grief, this was because he was one of the Twelve, and from him I expected more love, more consolation, more sympathy!
“O chosen souls, marked out by Me for My home of rest, the garden of My delights, from you also I expect more tenderness, consideration and attentions prompted by love, than from others who are not so closely united to Me.
“You can be a healing balm to My wounds, you can cleanse My defiled and disfigured countenance . . . you can help Me to enlighten blind souls who in the darkness of night seize Me to bind Me and lead Me to death.
“Leave Me not alone . . . awake and pray with Me, behold the enemy is at hand.
“When the soldiers came forward to seize Me I said to them: ‘It is I.’ Such, too, is the word I utter when a soul is about to yield to temptation: ‘It is I.’ You come to betray Me and to deliver Me up. . . . No matter, come, for I am your Father, and if you consent, then it will not be you that bind Me with chains of sin, but I that shall bind you with chains of love!
“Come, it is I who love you, it is I who have poured out all My blood for you. . . . I pity your weakness, I long to open My arms and clasp you in Love’s embrace!
“Come, My chosen one, come My priest . . . I am infinite mercy . . . do not fear that I shall punish you. . . . I shall not repulse you, but shall open My Heart to you and love you with even greater tenderness. I shall wash away your sins in the Blood of My wounds. All Heaven will rejoice and wonder at your regained beauty, and My Heart will find rest in yours.
“Alas, how sick at heart I am when after words so tender there still remain some who would bind Me and lead Me to My death. . . .
“After he had given Me the traitor’s kiss, Judas left the Garden, and realizing the gravity of his crime, gave way to despair. Who can measure My sorrow at the sight of My Apostle casting himself into Hell! . . .
“The hour had come, so yielding to the soldiery I meekly gave Myself up as a lamb into their hands. At once they dragged Me to the house of Caiphas, where they heaped insults and mockery on Me and where one of the soldiers struck Me a blow in the face.
“The first buffet. . . . Mark My words, Josefa, do you think it gave Me more pain than the scourges of the flagellation? Doubtless no, but I saw in this first blow the first mortal sin of many souls who until then had lived in My grace. . . . And after the first, how many more . . . and how great the number of souls who would follow that example and fall into the same danger . . . perhaps into a like misfortune: death in mortal sin. . . .
“Tomorrow we shall continue; meanwhile, Josefa, spend the day in reparation and prayer that many souls may realize where their dangerous path is leading them.”
The Feast of the Five Wounds was not to pass without the favor of a visit from Our Lady, and the gift of the drops of blood, which has already been related. The visit, however, was a brief one, and when Josefa timidly asked if she might state some of her difficulties, she answered: “I will return, and then you can ask me whatever you like.”
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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CHAPTER VIII - THE LENT OF 1923
THE FLIGHT OF THE APOSTLES March 16th, 1923
“I will make My plaint resound by My Apostles of the past and by My chosen souls of today.” (Our Lord to Josefa, March 16th, 1923)
OUR Blessed Lord came, anticipating His Mother, on the morning of the 16th of March, and Josefa thanked Him for the signal grace conferred on her the day before.
“If you are faithful in your love,” He answered, “shall I not be faithful, too, in consoling you? I am preparing another proof of My love for you. Yesterday, Josefa, you received a few drops of My Heart’s blood, today you will share the pain of the nails. . . . I will leave you My Cross, that you may bear it all day and that your love may comfort Me. I will sustain you, for I also do not cease loving you. Do you not see that I give you proofs of My affection? I shall go on doing so till the day when I take you to Heaven with Me.
“Now continue writing for the sake of souls:
“My disciples have all fled; Peter alone, impelled by curiosity, but full of fear, slinks in among the soldiery. All around Me are false witnesses uttering lie upon lie calculated to increase the anger of the iniquitous judges. They call Me a seducer, a profaner of the Sabbath, a false prophet, and the servants and menials, stimulated by these accusations, utter cries and threats against Me.
“Where then were you, My disciples and Apostles, witnesses of My life, of My doctrine, and of My miracles? . . . And all those from whom I had every reason to expect help and protection—none was there to defend Me. I was alone, accused of the worst crimes, surrounded by soldiers no better than ravening wolves.
“They all ill-treat Me; one strikes Me in the face, another spits upon Me, a third makes a laughing-stock of Me. . . .
“And while I offered Myself to be thus ill-used for the sake of souls held captive by sin, Peter, whom I had constituted Head of My Church . . . Peter, who but a few hours before had vowed to go with Me to torments and to death . . . Peter, who has the opportunity of giving testimony of Me, answers a simple question, first by a denial . . . and when the question is repeated, as fear takes an ever stronger hold of him, he swears that he has never known Me and has never been My disciple. . . .
“Ah! Peter, do you swear that you do not know your Master? You not only swear it, but at a third question you deny Him, uttering horrible imprecations . . .
“O My chosen followers . . . can you fathom the pain of My loving Heart when My own chosen ones deny Me? When the world revolts against Me, when so many souls pour scorn upon Me, ill-treat Me, seek My death, and then turning to My own, I find nothing but loneliness and desertion. . . . What sorrow, what bitterness for My Heart!
“To you as to Peter I say: ‘Have you forgotten the proofs of love I have given you . . . the links that bind you to Me . . . the oft-repeated promises of fidelity given to Me, and of defending Me even to death itself? . . .
“If you are weak and afraid of yielding to human respect, have recourse to Me for strength to conquer yourselves. Do not trust yourselves, but come to Me confidently, for I will sustain you.
“All you who live in the world in the midst of perils and occasions of sin, be on your guard against danger, for would Peter have fallen, if resisting courageously he had not yielded to vain curiosity?
“All of you who labor in My harvest-field or in My vineyard, if at some time you feel yourselves drawn to work by the attraction of a merely human enjoyment, fly. But if obedience, zeal for My glory or the good of souls, imposes a duty on you, have no fear; I will defend you, and you will pass victoriously through the danger.
“While the soldiers were leading Me to prison, I saw Peter in the crowd and I looked at him . . . turning, he looked at Me and forthwith began to weep bitterly for his sin. . . .
“It is thus that I look on guilty souls—but they? . . . Do they look at Me? . . . Do our eyes meet? . . . Alas, how often I look in vain . . . that soul does not see Me, for he is blind! I urge him gently, but he does not respond. . . . I call the sinner by name, but receive no answer. . . . I send the trial that might awaken him, and still he slumbers. . . .
“Beloved souls, unless your eyes are turned heavenward, you will in time become like animals that have no reason. Lift up your heads, gaze on your true fatherland which awaits you. Seek your God. You will find that He returns your earnest look and in His glance are peace and life.
“Here we stop for today, Josefa; tomorrow we shall continue. Keep My Cross and comfort Me.”
It was now three weeks since Our Lord had begun to reveal to Josefa for souls the secrets of His Passion.
So forcibly did she become associated with His feelings that her life was saturated by this mysterious participation, and she was unable to detach her thoughts from it. She went about, she worked and prayed and devoted herself, without for a moment losing sight of the sorrows that each morning were imprinted on her soul.
Nights of reparation had their place in this consecrated life, continually bringing to Josefa’s mind the fact that she had been chosen not only to transmit a Message to souls, but to cooperate effectively in their salvation. The unity of this twofold mission was inscribed by Our Lord on every page of her life. She is victim, she is apostle, such is the true meaning of her vocation.
On March 16th Our Lady responded to Josefa’s request of the day before, and gave her a fresh proof of her motherly love.
“You wanted to ask me something yesterday?” she said kindly, when that evening she came while Josefa was at her needlework. “What was it?”
Josefa answered that she wanted to know how best to pray to Our Lord so as to give Him pleasure.
“I shall tell you,” was Our Lady’s reply, “but go up to your cell, where you can write.”
She had hardly reached her cell when she was joined by Our Lady.
“What pleases My Son most is love and humility—so write: ‘O sweet and dearly loved Jesus, wert Thou not my Saviour, I should not dare to come to Thee, but Thou art both my Saviour and my Bridegroom, and Thy Heart loves me with the most tender and burning love, as no other Heart can love. Would that I could correspond with this love of Thine for me. Would that I had for Thee, who art my only love, all the ardor of the Seraphim, the purity of the angels and virgins, the holiness of the Blessed who possess Thee and glorify Thee in Heaven.
“ ‘Were I able to offer Thee all this, it would still be too little to honor Thy goodness and mercy. That is why I offer Thee my poor heart such as it is, with all its miseries, its weakness and good desires. Deign to purify it in the blood of Thy Heart, to transform and inflame it Thyself with an ardent and pure love. Thus the poor creature that I am, who can do no good but is capable of every evil, will love and glorify Thee as do the Seraphim who in Heaven are consumed with adoring love.
“ ‘Lastly, I ask of Thee, O gentle Jesus, to give my heart the very sanctity of Thy Heart, or rather to plunge it in Thy Divine Heart, that in It I may love and serve and glorify Thee, and lose myself in Thee for all eternity. I beg this same grace for all those whom I love. May they render Thee for me the glory and honor of which my sins have deprived Thee.’ ”
Then Josefa shyly asked this most kind and indulgent Mother to tell her of an ejaculatory prayer that she could repeat over and over again while at her work.
“Say these words which He will love: ‘O my Beloved, who art also my God, make my heart a flame of pure love for Thee.’
“And every evening before you fall asleep, say with much respect and confidence:
“ ‘O Thou who knewest all my misery before Thine eyes were fixed on me—Thou didst not turn away from my wretchedness . . . but because of it Thou didst love me with a love more sweet and tender. I beg pardon for having corresponded so little to Thy love. . . . I beg of Thee to forgive me, and to purify my actions in Thy Divine Blood. I am deeply grieved at having offended Thee, because Thou art infinitely Holy. I repent with heartfelt sorrow and I promise to do all in my power to avoid these faults in the future.’
“After which in all tranquility and joy take your rest.”
The day came when Our Lord matched the gentle courtesy of His Mother, but in order to recount this sequel of divine condescension we shall have to anticipate, and go on to August 26th of this last year of Josefa’s life.
“Josefa,” He said to her that night, “is it true that you would like something to say to My Mother that would please her? Write what I tell you.”
“Then in ardent, burning, even enthusiastic words,” she noted, He said this prayer:
“ ‘O tender and loving Mother, most prudent Virgin, Mother of my Redeemer, I come to salute you today with all the love that a child can feel for its mother.
“ ‘Yes, I am indeed your child, and because I am so helpless I will take the fervor of the Heart of your Divine Son; with Him I will salute you as the purest of creatures, for you were framed according to the wishes and desires of the thrice-holy God.
“ ‘Conceived without sin, exempt from all corruption, you were ever faithful to the impulses of grace, and so your soul accumulated such merit that it was raised above all other creatures.
“ ‘Chosen to be the Mother of Jesus Christ, you kept Him as in a most pure sanctuary, and He who came to give life to souls, Himself took life from you, and received nourishment from you.
“ ‘O incomparable Virgin! Immaculate Virgin! Delight of the Blessed Trinity, admiration of all angels and saints, you are the joy of Heaven. Morning Star, Rose blossoming in springtime, Immaculate Lily, tall and graceful Iris, sweet-smelling Violet. Garden enclosed kept for the delight of the King of Heaven . . . you are my Mother, Virgin most prudent, Ark most precious containing every virtue! you are my Mother, most powerful Virgin, Virgin clement and faithful! you are my Mother, O Refuge of sinners! I salute you and rejoice at the sight of the gifts bestowed on you by the Almighty, and of the prerogatives with which He has crowned you!
“ ‘Be blessed and praised, Mother of my Redeemer, Mother of poor sinners! Have pity on us and cover us with your motherly protection.
“ ‘I salute you in the name of all men, of all saints and all angels.
“ ‘Would that I could love you with the love and fire of the Seraphim, and this is too little to satisfy my desires . . . and to render you filial homage constant and pure for all eternity.
“ ‘O incomparable Virgin, bless me, since I am your child. Bless all men! Protect them and pray for them to Him who is almighty and can refuse you nothing.
“ ‘Adieu, tender and sweet Mother; day and night I salute you, in time and for eternity.’
“Now, Josefa, praise the Mother with the words of the Son, and the Son with those of His Mother.”
“Never,” said Josefa, “had I seen His Heart so resplendent, nor heard in His voice such burning enthusiasm!”
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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CHAPTER VIII - THE LENT OF 1923
FROM THE PRISON TO THE SCOURGING March 17th–21st, 1923
“Look at My Wounds! Has anyone else suffered so much to prove His love?” (Our Lord to Josefa, March 21st, 1923)
“IT is twenty-two years today,” wrote Josefa (Saturday, March 17th, 1923), “since I heard the voice of Jesus for the first time, when I was preparing for my First Communion. I was reminding Him of this during my thanksgiving when suddenly He appeared . . . such loveliness! His garment seemed of gold and His Heart one blaze of fire. . . . How can I describe It?”
“ ‘Josefa,’ I said to you then, ‘I want you to be all Mine.’ Today I can say to you: ‘You are all Mine.’ Then I was preparing to attract you to My Heart . . . today you are imprisoned in It. Come . . . enter and rest therein, since It is your dwelling.”
Then He opened His Heart to admit Josefa. . . .”It was like Heaven,” she wrote, “and I thought myself no longer on this earth . . .”
These ineffable moments were of short duration; every time that she enjoyed their strength and peace she knew it to be but a pause between two phases. Such were Heaven’s designs.
A few hours later she was at her post of waiting, till it pleased Him to lead her still further into His sorrowful Passion:
“Contemplate Me in the prison where I spent the greater part of the night. The soldiers came and, adding words to injuries, insulted Me, mocked Me, outraged Me, and gave Me blows on My face and on My whole body.
“Tired of their sport, at length they left Me bound and alone in the dark and noisome place, where, seated on a stone, My aching body was cramped with cold.
“Compare the prison with the Tabernacle . . . and especially with the hearts that receive Me.
“In the prison I spent only part of one night . . . but in the Tabernacle, how many days and nights?
“In the prison I was insulted and ill-treated by soldiers who were My enemies. In the Tabernacle most often it is they who call Me their Father who treat Me thus, but how unlike that of children is the treatment! . . .
“In the prison I endured cold, sleeplessness, hunger and thirst, pain, shame, solitude, and desertion. And there passed before My mind’s eye all the Tabernacles where in the course of ages I should lack the shelter of love . . . the icy-cold hearts that would be as hard and unfeeling as the stones of the prison floor were to My numbed and wounded body.
“And how often should I wait for this or that other soul to visit Me in the Blessed Sacrament and receive Me into his heart . . . how many nights should I spend longing for his coming . . . but he would let business or carelessness or anxiety for his health get the better of him . . . and he would not come!
“How often should I hunger for souls . . . for their fidelity . . . for their generosity . . . would they satisfy that eager hunger by a little victory over self or by a slight mortification? . . . Would they comfort Me in My sorrow by their tenderness and compassion? . . . In some hard moment would they endure the pain . . . neglect . . . scorn . . . opposition . . . grief of soul or family . . . would they come to Me and say: ‘This I offer Thee to console Thy sadness, to keep Thee company in Thy solitude.’ O! if they would thus unite themselves to Me, with what peace would they face difficulties . . . how much fortitude they would win and how they would gladden My Heart!
“In the prison what shame I felt at the obscene words of those around Me . . . and My distress was increased by the thought that like words would one day fall from lips I love.
“When blows and buffets were rained upon Me by the filthy hands of the soldiery it recalled to My mind how often those who would receive Me into hearts fouled by unrepented sin would shower reiterated blows on Me by habitual and willed sin.
“And in the prison when they pushed Me and let Me fall to the ground bound and helpless, so many were present to My mind who would prefer a moment’s satisfaction to Me, would load Me with chains by their ingratitude, would push Me back and again cause Me to fall, by leaving Me alone.
“O you who are consecrated to Me, draw near to the Bridegroom of your souls in His prison. Gaze steadfastly upon Him during that night of pain and see that sorrow continued in the loneliness of countless Tabernacles and the coldness of many hearts.
“If you are desirous of proving your sympathy, open your hearts and let Me find a prison therein. . . .
“There bind Me with chains of love . . . there clothe Me with loving attentions. . . . Appease My hunger by your generosity. . . . Assuage My thirst by your zeal. . . . Comfort Me in My sorrow by keeping Me faithful company and wiping away My shame by your purity and uprightness of intention.
“If you wish Me to take My rest in you, prepare for My coming by acts of self-denial . . . master your imagination and calm the tumult of your passions . . . then in the stillness of your soul you will hear My voice speaking gently within you: Today you are My repose, but for all eternity I shall be your rest. . . . Tenderly and with love you have harbored Me in the prison of your heart. I shall be your reward exceeding great and you will never regret any sacrifice you have made for Me during your life!
“Let us end, Josefa, and let Me spend today in the prison of your soul. Keep it in deep silence, that you may hear My words and respond to the wishes I shall confide to you.”
Three days were spent in this contemplation, not without bringing to Josefa the grace of tribulations through which she kept watch with the Divine Prisoner. She was unconscious of the role assigned to her, which one would have expected would always be nothing but a delight to her. But the kind of love her Master demanded was of a sterner sort, fed on strife, humiliation, and suffering: “It is good for you,” Our Lady had once said to her, “to love without knowing or feeling it.”
Throughout this history this will be the one lesson Jesus and His Mother never cease inculcating on those chosen souls who are to be the instruments of His infinite mercy and of His redeeming love.
In the evening of Tuesday, March 20th, while she was hanging out the linen in the garden, suddenly Josefa met Our Lord, who looked at her with compassion.
“Go up to your cell,” He said. “I want you to write.”
Hardly had she reached it than He rejoined her. He was bearing the Crown of Thorns on His head, and she begged Him to give it to her.
“Yes, I will give it to you with great love. . . . Take it and let us write for My souls.
“After having spent the greater part of the night in the damp, obscure and sordid prison . . . after having been subjected to outrages and ill-treatment by the soldiery . . . to the insults and mockeries of the servants, who were curious to see what would become of Me . . . when My body was already exhausted by so many torments . . . listen, Josefa, to the burning desires of My Heart:
“What filled Me with love and made Me long for more suffering was the thought of so many who would follow in My footsteps.
“I saw them faithfully imitating Me and learning from My Heart not only to accept suffering and contempt with patience and serenity, but also to extend their love to those who would persecute them.
“Like Me they would rise to the height of offering themselves up in sacrifice for those who ill-treated them.
“I saw them, strengthened by grace, answer the divine call, become religious, imprison themselves in solitude, bind themselves with chains of love, give up all they cared for, endure courageously rebellions of nature, accept willingly misjudgments, contempt, slander, the condemnation of their life as foolishness . . . and throughout all this keep their hearts intimately united to their God and Lord.
“So, in the midst of outrages and infamous treatment this prospect enkindled Me with a burning desire to carry out the Divine Will in all things. Hence, alone and in much pain, but in close union with the Will of My Father, I offered Myself to make amends to His outraged glory.
“You, O religious souls who live in the prison chosen by Love, often deemed useless and even dangerous in the eyes of the world, have no fear; in your solitude and moments of stress, let the world rant against you . . . only join your heart yet closer to God, the one object of your affections, and do all you can to repair for the sins and the outrages of mankind.
“At dawn the next day, Caiphas ordered Me to be taken to Pilate, that he might condemn Me to death.
“Pilate questioned Me shrewdly, hoping to discover a true cause for My condemnation, but finding none, his conscience soon told him of what a grave injustice he would be guilty . . . so to evade the responsibility He sent Me to Herod.
“Pilate’s soul is typical of those who, tossed between the impulses of grace and the allurements of their own passions, blindly yield to human respect and excessive self-love; for if they are faced by a temptation or a dangerous occasion of sin, they blind themselves and argue, until they gradually persuade themselves that there is no harm, no peril in it . . . they are wise enough to decide for themselves and have no need of advice . . . they are afraid of seeming ridiculous in the eyes of the world . . . they lack energy to overcome themselves, and not making use of grace they fall into one occasion of sin after another, until, like Pilate, they deliver Me up to Herod.
“When it is question of a religious, there is perhaps no intention of offending Me gravely. But to resist, a humiliation would have to be accepted, or some annoyance borne . . . and if, far from following the inspiration of grace, and honestly manifesting the temptation, this soul in self-interrogation decides that there is no reason to avoid this danger or to refuse herself this satisfaction, she will soon fall into graver peril. . . . Like Pilate, she will be blinded and lose the courage to act with straightforwardness, and gradually, if not soon, she will come to delivering Me to Herod.”
Jesus stopped, and addressing Himself to Josefa, said: “Remain in peace and in the consciousness of your miseries and nothingness. It takes so little to shake you . . . but have no fear; My mercy and love are infinitely greater, and your weakness will never surpass My strength.”
This principle Our Lord never grows tired of repeating. He wants through Josefa to teach other souls of whose wretchedness He is fully aware, but whose humble trust and brave hearts rejoice His; they will learn that nothing interferes with His plans, and that weakness does no more than hinder them for a moment.
At eleven o’clock He came again, but He was not bearing His Cross, which at once made Josefa anxious.
“For,” she said, “He always brings it at night, and I have the permission of my Mothers to wait for Him at this time only in order to comfort Him. . . . I care nothing for my own rest; I only want His.”
Jesus read this in her heart—He loved the simple and very true protestations of the affection which He knew so well. “Have no fear,” He said. “Where I am, there is My Cross.” And suddenly she felt its weight upon her shoulder. Jesus continued:
“Carry it with reverence and affection for the salvation of many souls that are in peril.”
After a few minutes of silence spent in an attitude of intense supplication, He united her with Him in prayer and said gravely:
“Offer to My Eternal Father the sufferings of My Passion; say with Me:
“O Heavenly Father! look upon the wounds of Thy Son and deign to accept them, that souls may accept Thy grace.
“May the nails which pierced His hands and feet pierce those hardened hearts, and His blood touch them and lead them to repentance. May the weight of the Cross on the shoulders of Jesus Thy Divine Son obtain for them the grace to unload themselves of their sins in the confessional.
“I offer Thee, O Heavenly Father, the Crown of Thorns of Thy beloved Son. By the agony it caused Him, grant true contrition to souls for all their sins.
“O Father! O God of mercies, I offer Thee the abandonment of Thy Son on the Cross, His thirst and all His pain, that sinners may recover peace and consolation in sorrow for their sins.
“Lastly, O God of all compassion, in the name of the persevering prayer of Jesus Christ Thy Son for the very men who were crucifying Him, I beg and implore Thee to grant to souls love of God and perseverance in well-doing.
“And just as the torments of Thy beloved Son ended gloriously in eternal bliss, so may the sufferings of penitent souls be crowned by the everlasting reward of your glory.”
“Keep my Cross, Josefa—remain united to My sufferings and continually offer to God the Father the wounds of His Son.”
After a few moments’ pause Jesus departed, leaving Josefa alone with the weight of the Cross on her shoulder.
On the morning of March 21st He returned and resumed the same subject as on the previous day:
“Go on writing, Josefa.”
“To all Pilate’s questions I answered nothing, but when he said ‘Art Thou the King of the Jews?’ then gravely and with full responsibility I replied: ‘Thou sayest it; I am King, but My Kingdom is not of this world.’
“So, when an occasion of conquering human respect and accepting bravely either humiliation or suffering (even if it could easily be avoided) presents itself, a soul should answer: ‘My Kingdom is not of this world,’ for that reason I do not seek human favor; I go to my true fatherland, where rest and joy await me. Meanwhile I will do my duty faithfully and make no account of the opinion of the world. If for this I must seek humiliation or suffering, I will not draw back; I will listen to the voice of grace and disregard that of nature. If I am unable to do this alone, I will ask advice, for I know how often self-love and passion blind me and entice me into the paths of evil.”
“Pilate therefore, overcome by human respect and the fear of shouldering his responsibilities, ordered Me to be led to Herod, a perverse man who sought only to satisfy his unruly passions. He was glad when he saw Me appear before his Court because he hoped for entertainment through My words and miracles.
“Consider My repulsion when brought face to face with so vicious a man, whose questions, gesticulations, and movements filled Me with shame.
“O virgin souls and pure . . . come near Me and defend Me. . . . Listen to the false witnesses . . . see the implacable desire of this crowd avid for scandals and before which I am made a laughingstock. Herod expected Me to reply to his sarcastic remarks, to justify and defend Myself, but I opened not My lips and kept the most profound silence in his presence.
“This silence testified to My sovereign dignity, for the obscene comments of so perverted a man were not worthy of exchange of words with the All-pure.
“During this interview My Heart was closely united to My Heavenly Father. I desired ardently to shed the last drop of My Blood for souls whom I love so much, and I was all inflamed with love at the thought of those who would follow My example and My generosity. Not only did I rejoice during this terrible interrogatory, but I was urged from within to hasten the moment of My suffering on the Cross.
“After undergoing these ignominies in complete silence, I allowed Myself to be treated as a fool and arrayed in a white garment, the sign of derision, and thus was I led back to Pilate amid the jeers of the multitude.
“Look at Pilate! See how afraid and disturbed he is; he is at his wits’ end in order to calm the fury of the people who demanded My death; he orders Me to be scourged.
“Such is the soul that has not enough courage and generosity to break energetically with the world’s demands, her nature or her passions. Instead of obeying conscience and making short work of temptation which she knows does not come from the good spirit, she yields to one fancy or another, to a slight satisfaction . . . if she overcomes herself on one point, she gives in on another, which would need greater effort; if she does some mortification, she hesitates about others which would ensure her fidelity to grace or the Rule, but would deprive her of some small pleasure. She allows herself half of what nature or passion demands and so soothes her conscience.
“We will suppose that there is question of divulging some fault, real or imagined, that she has found in another. It is neither fraternal charity nor zeal for the general good that prompts her, but a hidden envy, the result of passion, which is her true motive. Grace and conscience alarm her, and act as a warning of the spirit inspiring the injustice she is about to commit. There may be a moment of interior struggle, but immortified passion soon deprives her of the light and courage to reject so diabolic a purpose. Then she contrives a way of suppressing part of what she knows, but not all, consoling herself with the thought that it is right that such things should be known. . . . I will confine myself to a hint . . . etc.
“Like Pilate you give Me up to the scourges! Do not think you will satisfy passion thus . . . today so much, tomorrow more. . . . And if you have given in on only a small provocation, how will you act when temptation is violent?
“Contemplate Me, O My beloved, being led away as a meek lamb to the shameful and terrible punishment of the scourging.
“Blow after blow is discharged by the executioners on My body, already covered with bruises and broken with fatigue. . . . With whips and knotted cords they strike Me with such violence that My very bones are shaken and I am torn with innumerable wounds . . . bits of My divine flesh are rent off by the scourges . . . blood flows from every limb, and I am reduced to such a state of pitiable disfigurement as no longer to resemble a human being.
“Can you contemplate Me in this sea of sorrow and remain unmoved? Pity I did not expect from My executioners, but from you, O My chosen souls, I do look for compassion!
“See My wounds! who has suffered for love of you as I have? Then addressing Josefa, Jesus continued:
“Contemplate Me in this state of ignominy, Josefa.”
Jesus was silent and Josefa raised her eyes to the Master she so loved. . . . He stood there before her in the woeful state to which the scourging had reduced Him. For a long time He kept her eyes on that sorrowful sight as if to imprint it forever on her soul. Breaking silence at last:
“Tell Me,” He said, “will not My wounds give you strength to conquer and resist temptation? . . .
“Tell Me if you find not in them generosity wherewith to hand yourself over and sacrifice everything to My Will?
“Yes, Josefa, gaze on My wounds and let yourself be guided by grace and by the desire to comfort Me who am the victim of sin.
“Do not be afraid that your torments will ever equal Mine. . . . My grace will help you to do whatever I ask of you.
“Adieu, keep Me thus before your eyes!”
Our Lord then disappeared, and Josefa, her eyes closed, remained motionless, with an expression of unspeakable emotion on her face. Silence reigned in the little cell where such an amazing scene had just been enacted. Jesus had reminded souls that “it is not for nothing” that He has loved them with a love we can only call “frighteningly serious.” Little by little Josefa came back to herself; her tears began to flow freely . . . speech was impossible . . . but she remembered that she was merely the instrument to carry a Message, a witness to the excesses of this love, and that souls had a right to receive from her the message of boundless love.
She took up her pen, and still trembling, wrote:
“I saw Him in the state in which the scourging had left Him. This sight has filled me with such compassion that it seems to me that I should have courage to endure any suffering, however intense, to the end of my life. . . .
“No pain could come anywhere near His agony. . . .
“What struck me most was the expression of His tortured eyes—those eyes usually so beautiful and so expressive . . . today they were closed, swollen and filled with blood, especially the right eye. His hair damp with blood fell over His face, eyes and mouth. He was standing, but bent and bound to something . . . but I saw nothing but Him—His hands were tied together at the height of His waist and covered with blood. His body was furrowed with wounds and dark bruises, the veins of His arms all swollen and blackened. From His left shoulder hung a fragment of torn flesh about to detach itself, and the same was the case in several other parts of His body. His garments lay at His feet, crimsoned with His blood. A very tight cord held a rag of cloth round His waist, but its color was quite indistinguishable, so impregnated was it with blood.”
Here Josefa stopped; she was unable to go on . . .”I cannot give an account of what I saw . . . for words fail me . . .”
The whole day passed under the unspeakable sensations caused by what Josefa had witnessed, which her face expressed in its deep sadness. Nothing else, however, betrayed this consuming inner life.
Who would have imagined that on this Wednesday in Passion week Our Lord would have deigned to manifest His wounds to the most obscure and hidden of His consecrated religious? No doubt His divine eyes were fixed on the many souls who would read in this account the proof of His infinite love, and who, with faith reanimated at the thought of such tortures endured for love of them, would, like Josefa, draw courage to refuse Him no sacrifice.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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CHAPTER VIII - THE LENT OF 1923
FROM THE CROWNING WITH THORNS TO THE DESPAIR OF JUDAS March 22nd–25th, 1923
“Be attentive, O souls that I love, to the sufferings of My Heart.” (Our Lord to Josefa, March 24th, 1923)
JOSEFA had not seen Our Blessed Lady for several days, but it was she, who in the night of March 21st–22nd, brought her the Cross.
“I was awakened by a slight noise,” wrote Josefa, “and at once I saw her standing by my bed. She was bearing the Cross on her right arm:
“ ‘It is I, daughter,’ she said, ‘and I come to entrust the Cross of Jesus to you, that you may comfort Him, for a great many sinners are offending Him. But one in particular is causing Him intense grief.’ ”
Then after reminding her that the first and best way of repairing was to allow herself to be used according to His Will, she concluded: “Now keep this precious treasure and pray for souls. . . .”
Her prayer for souls, begun thus under the Cross of Christ, was continued in the pains of Hell, where for some time past she had nightly “fulfilled that which was wanting in the Passion of Christ.”
On Thursday, March 22nd, Our Lord appeared to her just as she was preparing to leave her cell at nine o’clock in the morning. “Kiss the ground,” He said, “and let your whole soul be penetrated with what I am about to confide to you.”
Humbly she threw herself at His feet; she rose, to write rapidly the sorrowful confidences that escaped the divine lips.
“When at last, exhausted by their exertions, these hard and cruel men desisted, they wove a crown of thorns and drove it deep into My head, and as they filed before Me, they mockingly cried out: ‘We salute Thee, O King!’ Some insulted Me, others savagely struck Me on the head, and each and all added new agonies to those which already racked My body.
“O you whom I love, contemplate Me condemned to death, given over to the insults and profanations of the mob, scourged at the pillar, and as though all this were not sufficient to reduce Me to the most humiliating condition, now crowned with thorns, clothed in a purple rag, and derisively hailed as mock king . . . and treated as a fool. . . .
“I, the Son of God, who hold the universe in the palm of My hand, willed that in men’s eyes I should appear as the last and most contemptible of all. Far from flying from such humiliations, I willingly endured them to expiate man’s pride and draw souls to follow in My footsteps.
“I expiated by this painful crowning the pride of those who refuse to accept anything that lowers them in the eyes of the world.
“I allowed My shoulders to be covered by that cloak of mockery and Myself to be treated as a fool, so that many souls would not scorn to follow Me in a way that the world holds as vile and humiliating and which to them might seem beneath their condition.
“No path is contemptible or humbling when it is once marked out by the Will of God. You who feel interiorly drawn to this way . . . do not resist, do not try by the arguments of pride to do God’s Will while you follow your own. You will not find peace and joy in a position more or less brilliant in the eyes of men, but only in the accomplishment of God’s Will and in entire submission to all He may require of you.
“There are also in the world a number of souls who are bent on settling their future here on earth. Perhaps one or other feels drawn by a secret attraction towards someone in whom she finds good qualities, honor, faith, and piety, conscientiousness in business matters, a sense of duty to his family, all that she longs to see in one she loves . . . But suddenly pride takes possession of her mind. Doubtless in this way the longings of her heart will be satisfied, but not her vain ambition to shine in the eyes of the world. Then this soul turns away, looking for what will gain for her more attention from creatures by making her appear richer and nobler. How deliberately she is blinding herself. . . . No, indeed, you will not find the happiness you seek in this world; and God grant, that although you put yourself in such grave danger, you may find it in the next.
“And what shall I say to those whom I call to a life of perfection and love and who turn a deaf ear to My voice? How exposed to illusions are those who imagine themselves ready to do My Will, to follow Me and unite themselves to Me . . . and yet thrust deeply into My head the thorns of My crown. . . .
“There are souls whom I desire for My own; I know them intimately, and loving them as I do with infinite tenderness, I draw them in the direction in which My wisdom has prepared the most sure way of sanctity for them. There I propose to unveil My Heart to them, there they will give Me most love . . . and most souls, too. . . .
“But what resistance and what disappointment! How many of them, blinded by pride or the desire to satisfy nature or paltry ambition, their minds filled with vain thoughts, end by turning away from the path marked out by love.
“O souls specially chosen by My Heart, do you think that in following your inclinations you are giving Me the glory I expect of you . . . or doing My Will when you resist the call of grace or refuse through pride to follow Me in the way of love?
“Ah! Josefa, how many souls are blinded by pride! Today will you multiply acts of humility and submission to the Divine Will, to win for many souls the grace of following the way I have prepared for them with so much love.
“Tomorrow, Josefa, we shall come back on this essential point.”
Early on the morning of March 23rd, Friday in Passion week, Josefa was waiting, but her Master did not come; she therefore took her needlework and sat by the table on which her notebook lay open. Suddenly He appeared: “ Josefa, are you expecting Me?”
“Yes, Lord,” was her answer.
“I have been here some time, but you did not see Me. Kiss the ground, and kiss My feet, too. We are going to make souls understand how many allow themselves to be deceived by pride.
“Crowned with thorns and clothed in the purple mantle, and amidst overwhelming insults and mockeries, I was brought back by the soldiers to Pilate. . . . Finding in Me no crime worthy of death, he questioned Me again and asked Me why I did not reply, seeing that he had power to crucify Me or release Me.
“Then breaking silence I said: ‘Thou wouldst have no power over Me unless it were given thee from above, but the Scriptures must needs be fulfilled.’ After which I resumed My silence, surrendering Myself wholly to God.
“Pilate, meanwhile troubled by a message from his wife, and worried by the remorse of his conscience, and fearing that the people might turn against him if he refused to sentence Me to death, sought for a pretext to release Me. So, presenting Me to the people in the pitiable plight to which I had been reduced, he offered to free Me and condemn instead Barabbas the thief. But the multitude cried out angrily with one voice: ‘Let Him die! . . . He must die and let Barabbas be set free.’
“O all ye who love Me, consider how I was compared to a thief . . . or rather valued lower than a degraded criminal, one of the wickedest of men. Hear their cries of rage against Me and their vociferous clamors for My death.
“Far from seeking to escape this affront, I lovingly accepted it for love of souls, for love of you . . . desirous of showing you that My love was leading Me not only to death, but to contempt, ignominy and hatred of those very men for whom I should shed My blood in such profusion.
“I was treated as a disturber of the peace, as insane, a madman, and I accepted it all with the utmost meekness and humility.
“Do you think that in My human nature I felt no repugnance and grief? . . . I willed to know experimentally all that would have to be undergone by you, that you might draw strength from My example for all the circumstances of your life. So I did not free Myself, though this would have been easy, I accepted all lovingly, that thus fortified you might understand how to sacrifice every repugnance in order to accomplish the holy Will of God, My Father . . . repair His glory . . . expiate the sins of the world and win the salvation of many souls.
“Here I once more address Myself to the souls to whom I spoke yesterday. You who are called to a life of perfection, who parley with grace, and answer thus: ‘How can I live in continual obscurity? . . . I am not accustomed to that kind of life . . . to such lowly work . . . my family and friends will think me ridiculous . . . for I am gifted and could be more useful elsewhere, etc.’
“To you I make answer: ‘When I was to be born of poor and humble parents . . . far from My own country and home . . . in a stable . . . in the severest season of the year and the coldest of nights . . . did I hesitate? did I refuse?’
“During thirty years I knew the hard toil of an obscure workshop, bearing the contempt and indifference of those for whom My father St. Joseph worked . . . nor did I disdain to help My Mother in the humble and hidden occupations of her poor household. Had I not more knowledge than was needed for the humble trade of a carpenter—I who at twelve years of age taught the Doctors in the Temple? But such was My Father’s Will and consequently it was in this way that I gave Him glory. . . .
“From the beginning of My public life, I could have made Myself known at once as the Messiah and Son of God, so as to attract the attention and veneration of men to My teaching. I did not do so, because My one desire was to follow in all things My Father’s Will.
“And when the hour of My Passion had struck, see how in spite of the cruelty of some, the insults of others, the desertion of My own, the ingratitude of the crowds . . . the unspeakable martyrdom of My body and the intense repugnance of My human nature, I embraced with ever more love that holy Will.
“Thus when you submit yourselves generously to the Will of God in spite of natural interior opposition to it . . . the resistance of your family . . . the judgments of the world . . . when you have given yourself generously to the Will of God, then shall you be closely united to Him and taste ineffable sweetness.
“What I have said to souls who experience this keen repugnance to a humble and hidden life, I repeat to those called on the contrary to spend themselves in the service of the world, when their whole attraction is for a life of solitude and hidden labor.
“O chosen souls, your happiness and perfection do not lie in following your attraction, nor in living known or unknown to the world, in using or hiding the talents with which you have been endowed, in being thought much of or little . . . in having good health or not . . . but only and solely in embracing with love God’s Will, and being in perfect conformity with it in all it requires of you for His glory and your holiness.
“Enough for today, Josefa; we shall go on tomorrow. Love and carry out My Will with joyful alacrity, since it will mark out the path of love for you in all things.”
That evening, Josefa made the humble avowal that her Master’s recommendation was very much to the point. He wanted her through self-conquest to obtain a like grace for souls very much in need of it. We can learn His valuable lesson from her words.
“I again feel in myself,” she wrote, “a sort of revolt at this extraordinary kind of life. It disturbs my peace, I should so like to be allowed to work hard. . . .”
But Our Lord took no notice of this revulsion of feeling in her which changed neither His Will nor hers, and on Saturday, Passion week, March 24th, He was once more there to keep His tryst with her.
“Let us now return to the Passion,” He said to her, as if to drag her away from her own thoughts. This is undoubtedly the means of self-forgetfulness that Jesus offers to all souls.
“Meditate for a moment on the martyrdom of My supremely tender and loving Heart at finding Barabbas preferred to Me, and how, at seeing Myself so scorned, I felt cut to the quick by the cries of the crowd urging My death.
“I called to mind the sweet caresses of My Mother when she pressed Me to her heart . . . the toils of My adopted father, and the care with which he surrounded My life. . . .
“I reviewed in spirit the benefits so liberally bestowed by Me on this ungrateful people . . . how I had given sight to the blind . . . health to the sick . . . healing to the lame . . . how I had fed the multitude in the desert . . . and even raised the dead to life . . . and see now to what a contemptible state I am reduced . . . more hated, too, than perhaps any man has ever been . . . condemned to death as an infamous thief . . . the multitude has demanded My death. . . . Pilate has now given sentence. O all ye who love Me, attend and see the sufferings of My Heart!
“After the betrayal in the Garden of Olives, Judas wandered away, a fugitive, a prey to the reproaches of his conscience which taxed him with the most execrable of sacrileges. And when he heard that I was condemned to death, he gave himself up to despair and hanged himself.
“Who can measure the deep and intense grief of My Heart when I saw this soul so long taught by love . . . the recipient of My doctrine, one who had so often heard from My lips words of forgiveness for the most heinous crimes, finally throw himself into Hell fire?
“Ah! Judas, why not throw yourself at My feet that I may forgive you too? If you are afraid to come near Me because of the raging mob that surrounds Me, at least look at Me. . . . My eyes will meet yours, for even now they are lovingly intent upon you.
“O all you who are steeped in sin, and who for a time more or less long have lived as wanderers and fugitives because of your crimes . . . if the offenses of which you have been guilty have hardened and blinded your hearts . . . if to grant satisfaction to one or other of your passions you have sunk into evil ways . . . Ah! when the motives or accomplices of your sin have forsaken you, and you realize the state of your soul, O then, do not yield to despair! For as long as a breath of life remains a man may have recourse to mercy and ask for pardon.
“If you are still young, if already the scandals of your life have lowered you in the eyes of the world, do not be afraid. . . . Even if there is reason to treat you as a criminal, to insult and cast you off . . . your God has no wish to see you fall into the flames of Hell. . . . On the contrary He ardently desires you to come to Him so that He may forgive you. If you dare not speak to Him, at least look at Him and let the sighs of your heart reach Him, and at once you will find His kind and fatherly hand stretched out to lead you to the springs of pardon and life.
“Should it happen that you have spent the greater part of your life in impiety and indifference, and that the sudden approach of the hour of death fills you with blinding despair. . . . Ah! do not let yourself be deceived, for there is still time for pardon. If only one second of life remains to you, in that one second you can buy back eternal life!
“If your whole life has been spent in ignorance and error . . . if you have been a cause of great evil to other men, to society at large, or to religion, and if through some set of circumstances you have come to realize that you have been deceived . . . do not allow yourself to be crushed by the weight of your sins and of the evil of which you have been the instrument; but with a soul penetrated with deep contrition throw yourself into an abyss of confidence, and hasten to Him who awaits your return only to pardon you.
“The case is the same for a soul that has been faithful to the observance of My law from childhood, but who has gradually cooled off into the tepid and unspiritual ways of an easy life. She has so to say forgotten her soul and its higher aspirations. God was asking of her greater efforts, but blinded by habitual failings, she has fallen into tepidity worse than actual sin, for her deaf and drowsy conscience neither feels remorse nor hears the voice of God.
“Then, perhaps, that soul awakens with a shock of realization: life appears to have been a failure, empty and useless for her salvation. . . . She has lost innumerable graces, and the evil one, loath to lose her, makes the most of her distress, plunges her into discouragement, sadness and dejection . . . and finally casts her into fear and despair.
“O soul whom I love, pay no heed to this ruthless enemy . . . but as soon as possible have recourse to Me, and filled with deepest contrition implore My mercy and have no fear. I will forgive you. Take up again your life of fervor, and you will have back your lost merits, and My grace will never fail you.
“Finally, shall I speak to My chosen souls? Supposing that one has spent long years in the constant practice of the Rule and of her religious duties . . . a soul that I have favored with My grace and instructed by My counsels . . . a soul long faithful to My voice and to the inspirations of grace . . . and now this soul has cooled in her fervor on account of some petty passion . . . occasions of faults not avoided . . . some yielding to the claims of nature and a general relaxation of effort . . . and in consequence has fallen to a lower level . . . to a commonplace kind of life . . . then lastly, to give it its true name, tepidity. If, for one cause or another, you awake from this torpid state, the devil will instantly attack you in every way, jealous of a soul he hopes to claim. He will try to persuade you that it is too late, and that any effort is useless, he will accentuate your repugnance to make an avowal of your state of soul . . . he will, so to speak, throttle you to prevent you from speaking and accepting the light . . . he will do his best to stifle trust and confidence in your soul.
“But listen rather to My voice, and let Me tell you how to act: As soon as your soul is touched by grace, and before the struggle has even begun, hasten to My Heart; beg of Me to let a drop of My blood fall on your soul. . . . Ah! hasten to My Heart . . . and be without fear for the past; all has been swallowed up in the abyss of My mercy, and My love is preparing new graces for you. The memory of your lapses will be an incentive to humility and a source of merit, and you cannot give Me a greater proof of affection than to count on My full pardon and to believe that your sins will never be as great as My mercy, which is infinite.
“Remain hidden, Josefa, in the abyss of My love, praying that souls may be filled with the same sentiments.”
Passion week was to close with a sorrowful appeal in which the tender and strong compassion of the Heart of Jesus for souls once more became apparent.
It was some days since the night of March 21st, when Our Lady had brought Josefa the Cross of Jesus and told her: “Many sinners are grievously offending Him, but one especially is filling His Heart with sorrow.”
Such words were never wasted on Josefa. Anxiety about souls was an ever present appeal for her prayer, her work, her sufferings. But when she knew of some soul in need of her special acts of reparation, because it was causing Him sorrow, she could scarcely distract her mind from it.
On Saturday, March 24th, Our Lord appeared to her at half-past eight in the evening, just as she was coming out of her cell. He stopped her and said: “Josefa, are you willing to comfort Me for that soul that is wounding Me?”
He was carrying His Cross, and His face was sad but full of beauty. Prostrate at His feet, she instantly offered herself to do whatever He wished.
“Take My Cross and help Me to bear its weight,” He said. “Let us go and beg of My Heavenly Father to give her a ray of light to enlighten her and help her to repel the danger that threatens her. Let us present ourselves before Him as intercessors, that He may have compassion on that soul. . . . Let us beg Him to help her, to enlighten her, to sustain her, that she may not fall into temptation. Repeat with Me these words:
“ ‘O most loving Father! God, infinitely good, look upon Thy Son Jesus Christ, who placing Himself between Thy divine justice and sinners implores Thy pardon.
“ ‘O God of Mercy, pity human frailty. Send Thy light upon wandering souls that they may not be seduced and entrapped. . . . Strengthen souls that they may avoid the snares laid for them by the enemy of their salvation, and with fresh fervor return once more to the paths of virtue.
“ ‘O Eternal Father, look on the sufferings which Jesus Christ Thy divine Son endured in His Passion. Behold Him as a victim offered up to obtain for souls light and vigor, pardon and mercy.’
“Josefa, unite your sorrow with Mine, your anguish with My anguish, and offer them to My Eternal Father together with the merits and sufferings of all just souls. Offer Him the agonies of My Crown of Thorns to expiate the perverse thoughts of that soul. Say with Me once more:
“ ‘O all-holy God, in whose presence the angels and saints are not worthy to stand, forgive all the sins committed by thought and desire. Receive in expiation of these sins the thorn-crowned Head of Thy Son. Accept the blood that flows so copiously from His wounds. Purify minds that are sullied . . . enlighten and illumine the darkness of their understanding, and may this blood be their strength, their light, and their life.
“ ‘Receive, O Holy Father, the sufferings and the merits of all who, united to the sufferings and merits of Jesus Christ, offer themselves to Thee, with Him and by Him, that Thou mayest extend Thy pardon to all mankind.
“ ‘O God of mercy and love, be the strength of the feeble, the light of the blind, and may all men love Thee.’
“A long time was spent thus in prayer,” Josefa wrote. “Jesus was silent from time to time. The heavy weight of the Cross was on my shoulder and I endured keen suffering both of body and soul. He said again: ‘Repeat with Me:
“ ‘O God of love, Father of all goodness, by the prayers and sufferings of Thy Beloved Son give that soul the light she needs, that strengthened by Thee she may reject evil and with energy accomplish Thy holy Will. Do not allow her to be the cause of so much evil both for herself and for other pure and innocent souls.’
“It was getting late. Jesus said: ‘Now, Josefa, keep My Cross till that soul has realized the truth and has opened her heart to admit true light.’
“Then He went away, and I remained suffering much, till morning dawned.”
These mysterious sufferings were of great intensity; Josefa bore them humbly and with singular courage, uniting herself to her Master. She knew that He alone gave them a reparatory value and could render them efficacious to transform that poor soul.
She spent the whole of Palm Sunday in painful intercessory prayer, and while she offered herself as a victim, Jesus was drawing, detaching, touching and once more taking possession of that wandering soul. O marvelous exchange of the communion of Saints!
That evening the Good Shepherd with exulting Heart would bear the lost sheep home, while Heaven rejoiced in Love’s victory.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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CHAPTER VIII - THE LENT OF 1923
HOLY WEEK March 25th–April 1st, 1923
“You will adore Me, you will humble yourself to the dust, you will comfort Me, and all this in a spirit of zeal to obtain that many others may do the same.” (Our Lord to Josefa, March 25th, 1923)
WHILST Josefa was in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament exposed on Palm Sunday, March 25th, Our Lord showed Himself to her. He came to outline all He expected of her during the great week about to begin, the crowning of so many graces received during Lent.
“This,” He said, “is My wish:
“You will devote these days to adoring My divine Person outraged by the torments of the Passion. I will keep you constantly in My presence. I will manifest Myself to you, now with the Majesty of the Deity, again with the severity of a Judge, and oftenest covered with wounds and the ignominies of My Passion. Thus in your adoration, profound humility, and reparation of every moment, I shall find relief for My great sadness and bitterness.”
Hardly had a few minutes elapsed than Josefa witnessed this triple manifestation of Jesus: as God, as Judge, as Saviour.
“I suddenly saw Him again,” she wrote, “unchanged as to features, but surrounded with such Majesty that my soul was crushed with extreme reverence and confusion. I wanted nothing so much as to hide myself, and disappear from His presence. After renewing my vows, I begged Him to purify me that my nothingness might bear the sight of His Majesty. He replied to me in tones that were grave and awe-inspiring:
“ ‘Humble yourself before the Majesty of your God, and repair thus the pride of human nature, which is so often rebellious against the rights of its Creator.’ ”
Then Josefa felt, weighing her soul down to the very earth, the pressure of Divine Justice, and filled with terror she prostrated herself at His feet.
“I reminded Him,” she wrote, “that He is my Saviour, my Father, and my Beloved, and that He can, if He so wills, forgive all my sins and consume my wretchedness. Jesus, when answering me, spoke kindly but with great authority. ‘You speak rightly. I am your Saviour, your Father and your Beloved, and it is My intention to consume your miseries in the burning flame of My love. But I wish you to understand, Josefa, how greatly you must humble yourself, annihilate yourself, and retire into nothingness in your will and whole being, so that God’s Will may reign and triumph, not only in your person, but in many other souls. They must acknowledge their sinfulness and misery, and they, too, must humble themselves by yielding entirely and wholly to the Divine Will.
“ ‘That is what I expect of you this week; you will adore Me, you will humble yourself to the dust and will comfort Me and do all this in a spirit of zeal to obtain that many others may do the same.
“ ‘Adieu. Later on I will tell you what I want of you.’ ”
These holy days thus dawned on Josefa’s attentive soul. Step by step her Master would lead her through the rugged ways He had assigned her, and in which she was to follow Him.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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CHAPTER VIII - THE LENT OF 1923
MONDAY IN HOLY WEEK On the Way to Calvary March 26th, 1923
“The procession winds its way to Calvary; Josefa, follow Me still.” (Our Lord to Josefa)
EARLY on Monday in Holy Week, March 26th, 1923, Our Lord summoned Josefa to meet Him in her cell, for He had other secret sorrows to confide to her.
“Kiss the ground and acknowledge that you are nothing,” He began. “Adore the power and majesty of your God, but do not forget that if He is infinitely just and powerful, He is also infinitely merciful.
“And now let us go on, Josefa. Follow Me, bowed under the weight of the Cross, to Calvary.
“While the loss of the soul of Judas was filling Mine with sadness, the executioners, devoid of every feeling of humanity, now placed a hard and heavy Cross upon My lacerated shoulders. I was to consummate on the Cross the mystery of man’s redemption. “Angels of Heaven! look on the God before whom you are ever prostrate in adoration . . . See the Creator of all the world’s wonders going to Calvary carrying that holy and blessed Cross on which He is to die.
“O souls who desire to imitate Me faithfully, gaze on Me likewise: wearily I dragged Myself forward, for My body was broken by many torments and bathed in sweat and blood. I suffered, but there was none to compassionate Me. The crowd followed Me, the soldiers pitiless as ravening wolves surrounded Me, no one had pity on Me. So great was My exhaustion and so heavy the Cross that I fell on the way. . . . See how roughly the inhuman soldiery raised Me to My feet once more . . . one seized an arm, another My garments which clung to My open wounds . . . a third grasped hold of Me by the neck . . . and another by the hair. Some showered blows on Me with their clenched fists and others brutally kicked My prostrate body. . . . The Cross which fell upon Me crushed Me with its weight. My face bruised and torn, mingled the blood which covered it with the dust of the highway, blinding My eyes and adhering to My sacred face. I became the vilest and most contemptible of all creatures!
“Come a little further with Me. . . . There you will see My blessed Mother, whose heart is pierced with grief.
“Consider the martyrdom of these two Hearts. What does this Mother love more than her Son? . . . And far from being able to help Him, she knows that the sight of her anguish increases His.
“And I, what do I love more than My Mother? Not only can I offer her no comfort, but I know that the terrible plight in which she sees Me pierces her heart with a sorrow like My own; for if I suffer death in the body, she suffers death in her Heart.
“See those eyes fixed on Mine, as Mine dulled and blinded with blood are fixed on hers! No word is spoken, but what a world of intercourse our two Hearts exchange in one heart-rending glance. . . .”
There was silence. . . . Jesus appeared absorbed by the memory of His Mother’s agonized look. . . . Josefa was penetrated by this long silence, which at last she broke timidly by asking Him if Our Lady knew of His sufferings during those dreadful hours?
“Yes,” He answered, “My Mother was present in spirit at all the torments of My Passion by divine revelation. Some of the disciples, though afar off for fear of the Jews, also tried to find out what was going on in order to report it to her. As soon as she knew that My death sentence had been pronounced she came forth to meet Me and did not leave Me any more till I was placed in the tomb.
“Meanwhile the procession advanced on the way to Calvary. . . .
“Fearing that I might die before crucifixion, those wicked men inspired by hatred, not compassion, looked around for someone to help Me carry the Cross, and for that purpose, offering a small reward, seized on a man of that neighborhood, called Simon. . . .
“This is enough for today, Josefa; we shall continue tomorrow. Go and ask whether you may make a Holy Hour every day this week and also whether I may be free to call you whenever I want you.”
Josefa felt an instinctive hesitation rising within her at these words, but her Master spoke forcibly: “Do not forget that I have every right over you. Your Superiors alone who represent Me can dispose of you, and they grant Me full liberty.”
“Full of confusion,” wrote Josefa humbly, “I fell at His feet and begged His forgiveness.”
The cause of this momentary weakness was never the fear of suffering but her vehement desire to work and to serve—a desire she was never quite able to extinguish. To the very end, this would be to her a source of renunciation and food for her love.
That evening, according to Our Lord’s desire a series of magnificent Holy Hours was inaugurated, and during them His Heart again revealed Itself to souls.
He was waiting for her at nine o’clock in the little tribune of St. Bernard. His whole appearance bore the impress of one under the burden of overwhelming sadness. His face was covered with dust and blood.
“Josefa,” He said, as soon as she had renewed her vows, “I want you to keep Me company during this hour, and share My sorrow in the prison. See Me in the midst of that insolent group. . . . Look into and penetrate My Heart deeply . . . watch It, consider how It suffers from loneliness, for all have forsaken Me. . . . My friends have all abandoned Me.
“O Heavenly Father, I offer Thee the sadness and solitude of My Heart, that Thou mayest deign to be the companion and support of those who are facing the passage from time to eternity.”
“I adored Him,” she wrote, “and then begged Him to let me have His Cross.
“Yes,” He said, “I will give it to you and your heart will be pierced with the same sadness as Mine.
“O how great is your littleness, Josefa, when you are one with Me. . . . Fill your heart with sentiments of humility, of zeal, of submission and of love, just as I did when bearing the affronts to which I was subjected during My Passion. My only object was to glorify My Father, to give Him the honor of which He had been deprived by sin, and to repair for the many offenses committed against Him. That was why I lowered Myself in such profound humility, by submitting to all that His good pleasure demanded and full of zeal for His glory and of love for His Will, I accepted such suffering with complete resignation.”
Again there was a long pause, then Jesus continued:
“My God and My Father, may My dolorous solitude glorify Thee! May My patience and submission appease Thee. Restrain Thy just wrath against sinful souls and look upon the face of Thy Christ.
“See His hands bound by the chains with which His executioners loaded Him. In the name of the admirable patience with which He bore such tortures, forgive sinners, support them, permit them not to fall under the weight of their iniquities, be with them in the hour when they suffer imprisonment, and give them the grace to bear up under the miseries and misfortunes of this life, perfectly submissive to Thy holy Will.”
After a long silence, Jesus finally said: “Go now, Josefa; take My Cross and do not leave Me alone this night, but keep Me company in My prison.”
“How shall I manage, Lord?” she asked diffidently. “I am afraid of falling asleep and of not being able to think of Thee any more.”
With divine condescension Jesus replied:
“Yes, Josefa, you must sleep and you can do so without leaving Me alone. When souls are unable to remain long hours in My presence as they would like to, either because they must take their rest or go to preoccupying work which takes up all their attention, there is nothing to prevent their making a convention with Me, for when love is ingenious it can prove its worth in this way even more than by the ardor of its devotion when free and tranquil.
“So go to rest as you must, but before doing so, lay on the powers of your soul the obligation of rendering Me all night the worship of your love. Set the tenderest affections of your heart free, that through the slumber of your senses, they may not cease to remain in presence of the only object of your love. One instant is enough to say to Me: ‘Lord, I am going to sleep or to work, but my soul will keep Thee company. Its activity alone will rest tonight, or is engaged in this work, but all my powers will still belong to Thee and my heart keep for Thee its tenderest and most constant affection.’
“Go in peace, Josefa, and may your heart remain attached to Mine.”
This direction, carefully preserved by Josefa, was to be one of her great comforts during her last months here below. Her wording is perhaps unskillful, but faithful souls will know how to draw from these lines the value that lies in intention when it is directed to the ever-present Guest within, who in all the wealth of His life dwells there. Hours that otherwise might seem to be wasted will acquire, through union with Him, full redemptive significance.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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CHAPTER VIII - THE LENT OF 1923
TUESDAY IN HOLY WEEK Simon of Cyrene March 27th, 1923
“When a soul loves truly, she neither measures what she does nor weighs what she suffers.” (Our Lord to Josefa)
ON Tuesday morning in Holy Week Our Lord resumed the dictation that had been interrupted the day before.
Before beginning, Jesus required of Josefa an act of conformity to the Divine Will, and in the silence of her little cell she repeated after Him the offering He deigned to teach her.
“My Lord and my God, behold me here in company with Thy Divine Son, who in spite of my unworthiness is also my Bridegroom. I submit my will to Thine and I deliver myself over to do and to suffer whatsoever Thou wilt ask of me, with the one intent of giving glory to Thy infinite Majesty and cooperating in the salvation and sanctification of souls. Receive then for this intention the merits of the Heart of Jesus Christ Thy Son who is my Saviour, my Father and my Beloved.”
Josefa then kissed the ground and took up her pen in readiness.
“And now,” said He, “let us carry on our work.
“Contemplate Me on the way to Calvary loaded with My heavy Cross, watch Simon carrying it behind Me and consider two things; though he was a man of good will, yet he was mercenary, and if he carried My Cross, it was for pay. So when he began to tire, he allowed the weight to bear more and more on Me, and that is how I fell twice.
“Secondly, this man helped Me to bear part of My Cross, but not the whole of it.
“There are many souls following in My footsteps who accept to help Me carry My Cross but they are troubled about their own rest and comfort. . . . Many consent to come after Me, and for that reason embrace a perfect life, but they do not give up all self-interest, which still in some cases remains their chief interest. They hesitate and let My Cross fall when it weighs too heavily on them. They try to avoid suffering, count the cost of abnegation, turn away from humiliation, work or fatigue whenever they can. They look back regretfully at what they have given up and try to obtain at least certain pleasures. In a word, their souls are so egotistical and selfish that they follow Me more for their own sake than for Mine. They accept only what they cannot avoid, or what is of strict obligation . . . and so carry only a small part of My Cross and in such a way as barely to acquire the merit indispensable for salvation. In the next world they will see how far behind they lagged.
“On the other hand, there are many souls who, urged on by the hope of salvation but still more by the motive of love, are resolute in their determination to follow Me in the Way of the Cross. They eagerly embrace the perfect life and devote themselves to My service in order to carry, not part of the Cross, but the whole of it. Their one desire is to relieve and comfort Me. They offer themselves for all My Will may ask and seek out all that may give Me pleasure. They think neither of reward nor of their own merits, nor of the fatigues and sufferings that may accrue to them, their one object being to show Me their love and console My Heart.
“If My Cross comes to them in the shape of illness, if it is hidden under some employment that goes against the grain or is little adapted to their talents . . . if it has all the appearance of being the result of forgetfulness or opposition from those around them, they recognize and accept it with all the submission of which their will is capable.
“Sometimes it happens that, urged by greater love and zeal for souls, they have done what seemed to them best in such or such a circumstance and things turn out differently from their expectations and there follows a whole train of humiliations and trials. These souls, moved solely by love, joyfully accept these unexpected consequences of their action, for in them they see My Cross; they worship it, offer it up, and use it to procure My greater glory.
“These are the souls that truly bear the Cross after Me. Their interests and their gain are none other than love. These are they who repose and glorify My Heart!
“Be persuaded that if your self-denial and suffering bear fruit but late or bear no fruit at all, they have not been in vain or useless. Some day you will bear abundant sheaves and reap a great reward.
“When a soul loves truly, she neither measures what she does nor weighs what she suffers; never looking for reward, and seeking only what she believes to be for God’s greater glory, she never says ‘enough’ when labor or fatigue are in question . . . and because of the purity of her aim, whatever the result, she neither excuses herself nor protests her good intentions; her motive being love, her efforts and sufferings always give glory to God. She is not troubled nor does she lose her peace of mind if she meets with contradiction or persecution or humiliation, as her sole motive is love and she leaves results in Love’s hands.
“These souls are not mercenary; they only want Me to be consoled; they desire only My rest and glory. That, too, is why they have shouldered the whole of My Cross and carry its full weight.”
Jesus wants generous and devoted souls to help Him carry His Cross, and their love must be loyal and disinterested.
If He has deigned to delineate the kind of cooperation His Heart loves is it not perhaps to reawaken the love of many such as were described by Saint Teresa, “one whom you know belongs wholly to you” . . . souls totally abandoned to Him, ready to follow Him whithersoever He goes . . . even to the death of the Cross . . . resolute souls, who will carry His Cross after Him, never letting its full weight fall on Him. . . .
That night, when silence reigned in Les Feuillants, Jesus brought His Cross once more to Josefa. She was awaiting His coming in the tribune where she had gone to make her Holy Hour.
“Josefa! are you there? . . . Come, stay with Me. . . .” and Jesus handed her His Cross. “Come quite close to Me to defend Me from the insults and outrages to which I was subjected in the presence of Herod.”
“Contemplate the shame and the confusion with which I listened to the railleries and derision poured on Me by that man. . . .
“Josefa, give Me constantly loving proofs of your adoration and reparation.
“Adieu. Keep My Cross. . . . Tomorrow I shall prepare you for the great day of Love.”
The night ended for Josefa in diabolic persecutions. Our Lord had taught her once again to recognize His Cross and help Him carry it, no matter under what aspect it was presented. She trusted His love in all these sufferings.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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CHAPTER VIII - THE LENT OF 1923
WEDNESDAY IN HOLY WEEK The Crucifixion March 28th, 1923
“Be attentive, Angelic Spirits, and all ye who love Me.” (Our Lord to Josefa)
ON the morning of Wednesday in Holy Week Our Lord was to lead Josefa after Him to Calvary.
“Kiss the ground,” He said to her as He entered her cell at nine o’clock that day. “Humble yourself, for you are not worthy to hear the words I am about to speak. . . . But I love souls and it is for their sakes that I come to you.
“We have nearly reached Calvary. The crowd is growing excited while I drag Myself along with the utmost difficulty, and soon, worn out with fatigue, I fall for the third time.
“By My first fall I obtained for sinners rooted in evil, the grace of conversion. . . . By My second fall, encouragement for those weak souls blinded by sadness and anxiety, so that rising up they might make a fresh start in the way of virtue. My third fall will help souls to repent in the supreme hour of death.
“We have now reached the summit. Look at the officiousness with which these hardened sinners surround Me . . . some seize hold of the Cross and lay it on the ground . . . others tear My garments from Me, reopening all My wounds . . . My blood flows afresh. . . .
“Think, dear souls, of My shame in seeing Myself thus exposed to the gaze of the mob . . . what physical agony, what confusion for My soul. Think of the affliction of My Mother as she witnessed this terrible scene. . . . How she longs to take possession of the tunic now impregnated with My blood!
“The hour has come! The executioners stretch Me upon the Cross. They violently seize and extend My arms that My hands may reach the holes they have prepared in the wood. Every shock causes My thorn-crowned head to come into violent contact with the Cross . . . the thorns are driven deeper and deeper into it. Hear the first sound of the hammer that fixes My right hand . . . deep into the very earth it resounds. Listen again: they fasten My left hand. The very Heavens tremble, and the Angels fall prostrate at the sight. . . .
“As for Me, I keep the deepest silence—not a murmur escapes My lips.
“Having nailed My hands, they pull pitilessly at My feet; My wounds burst open afresh . . . the nerves are severed . . . the bones dislocated . . . the torture is unspeakable! . . . They pierce My feet and My blood is poured forth upon the ground!
“Stay a while and contemplate these pierced hands and feet . . . this body covered with wounds . . . This head pierced through and through by cruel thorns, fouled with dirt, bathed in sweat and blood.
“Wonder and marvel at My silence, patience, and resignation under such brutal treatment. Ask yourself who suffers? Who is the victim of such barbarity? It is Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, Maker of Heaven and earth and of all things . . . who causes the plants to grow and every living thing to prosper. . . . Who created man, and whose power sustains all things. . . . Behold Him unable to move, an object of scorn, despoiled of all. But soon what a multitude will follow Him, throwing away fortune, comfort, honor, family and homeland . . . everything that the world can give, to render Him honor and glory and the love that is His due.
“Then while the soldiers inhumanly make the air ring with their blows . . . the earth trembles . . . there is silence in Heaven, angelic spirits are prostrate in adoration. . . . God is nailed to the Cross!
“Josefa, see thy Jesus extended on the Cross, without honor or liberty. He cannot stir hand or foot. . . . Nothing remains to Him.
“No one pities Him, none compassionate His sufferings, but instead fresh mockeries, new insults, more and more pain are added to what He already endures. If you love Me truly what will you do to resemble Me? Will you refuse anything My love asks? Will you spare any efforts to console Me?
“And now, Josefa, prostrate to the ground and listen to My words:
“May My Will triumph in you. . . .
“May My love consume you. . . .
“May your misery glorify Me.”
Long Josefa remained prostrate on the ground. What secret intercourse passed between her and her Master? To what depth of annihilation was it not His Will to see her reduced? . . . What words were exchanged between them? His words are never in vain, and in one instant are able to effect what He wills in the soul that is wholly abandoned to His divine action.
When at last she rose Jesus had departed.
It was ten o’clock when she went to the Auxiliary Chapel to follow Him to Calvary. Jesus was waiting for her. “I will accompany you in the state in which I was when I went through the streets of Jerusalem bearing My Cross.”
“He was wearing a red mantle over His white tunic,” she wrote; “it was soiled with blood and torn in many places. The Crown of Thorns was pressed deep on His forehead and His mournful face bore traces of the ill-treatment He had received and was all disfigured with clotted blood. He came to me and said: ‘Josefa, come and contemplate Me on the sorrowful way of Calvary, adore My Blood so copiously shed and offer it to My Heavenly Father for the salvation of souls.’ ”
She rose and followed Him. He went before her and stopped at each Station. She on her part prostrated herself on the ground, kissed it to adore the Precious Blood and then listened to the outpourings of the Sacred Heart. . . . He reminded her in a few words of the measure of His sufferings and made an appeal for love to the souls whom He calls to follow Him.
Two days later, on the morning of Good Friday, Our Lord came to repeat and dictate the secrets of the Via Dolorosa thus showing how careful He was that none of His words should be lost.
Josefa spent the whole day in this atmosphere of pain and love, for her soul was penetrated through and through by it. How could it be otherwise?
Yet, as in the past and in the future to the very end, so now she allowed nothing to interfere with her daily duties which she faithfully carried out . . . truly a mystery of heavenly fortitude which possessed and used her according to the Divine Will and the grace of the present moment.
In the evening of Wednesday in Holy Week whilst all slept in the great old monastery of Les Feuillants, Josefa went to the tribune where she had leave for a Holy Hour. She had hardly begun her prayer when Jesus Christ manifested Himself to her. He was resplendent in beauty, every trace of pain had disappeared, and His Sacred Heart seemed to be plunged in a sea of fire.
“Josefa,” He said with vehemence, “tomorrow is the day of Love! Look at My Heart: It cannot contain the ardor with which It longs to impart Itself, and deliver Itself over, and remain always with sinners. How I long for them to open their hearts to Me, to enclose Me in them, and that the fire that consumes Mine should fortify and enkindle theirs.”
“His Heart dilated in the midst of the flames. How lovely It was! No words can express it,” wrote Josefa. “I asked Him to consume me with this true love which never resists Him, and He went on speaking:
“ ‘Let Me enter into you, work at you, consume and destroy [“self” in] you, so that it is no longer your will that acts, but Mine. Behold My Love exulting at the sight of souls who tomorrow will receive Me, accept divine grace, and console Me.
“ ‘Yes, tomorrow Love will flow over . . . will give itself . . . O happy and consoling memory . . . My soul is devoured with longing . . . to sacrifice Itself for them . . . and that they should give themselves to Me. . . . You at least, Josefa, give Me all your heart, and let your littleness be no obstacle. Let Love possess and transform you.’ ”
Saying these words, Jesus vanished. . . . Josefa spent the remainder of that night in the thought of Christ’s great love for souls.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre
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