Words from Jesus for the New Year

From ‘The Life of Ven. Mary Crescentia Hoss’:

“On New Year’s day, [Saint] Crescentia had, according to her wont, made a New Year’s gift of herself to the Lord, offering herself with extraordinary fervor as a holocaust, to be immolated according to the divine will, and consumed in the holy fire of suffering, of crosses, and of love. She fell into an ecstasy, and heard from the lips of Christ these words:

“This thine offering pleases Me; but thou must know that

I do not allow Myself to be surpassed in love.”

Then showing her His opened heart, He said:

“Behold My heart, laid open by love;

I give it thee as a habitation, a security,and an asylum against all thine enemies.”“

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Happy New Year, dear reader! And happy 100th anniversary of Our Lady’s appearance at FATIMA!

Pray much for the Church and the world. The message of Fatima has not been heeded.

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Update: I am currently working on an article about consecration to Our Lady. Due to a want of time, this might take a while to complete.

For now, let these words suffice:

“How can the world be saved, from the disaster that is about to crash down upon the misleading nations, if man does not repent of his errors and failings? The only salvation is a complete repentance and return to God, and a true devotion to my Immaculate Heart, particularly in the daily recitation of my Rosary.”

– Our Lady to Bl. Elena Aiello (d. 1961)

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10 Inspiring Sayings from the Saints

“I would a thousand times rather die than consent to anything which might displease Thee.”
– St. Veronica Giuliani [pictured] (d. 1727)

“O Lord, perfection or death.”
– Bl. Elizabeth Canori–Mora (d. 1825)

“I would not for the sake of all creation, or for the purpose of saving my life, consider committing a single venial sin.”
– St. Ignatius of Loyola (d. 1556)

“Love has chosen me; Love has called me, I give myself in love to Love.”
– Soeur Gertrude–Marie (d. 1908)

“… O Jesus, either to co–operate with Thy grace, or to die.”
– Soeur Jeanne-Bénigne Gojoz (d. 1692)

“God’s Will is my will.”
– St. Maria Crescentia Hoss (d. 1744)

“I would rather lift a straw from the ground by the will of God, than raise a hundred dead men to life by my own will.”
– St. Maria Crescentia Hoss (d. 1744)

“No pleasure save the good pleasure of Almighty God.”
– Soeur Marie–Catherine Putigny (d. 1885)

“I will have nothing but Thyself and Thy Divine Will.”
– Sr. Mary Cherubina

“TO SERVE GOD IS TO REIGN.”
– Bl. Aimo Taparelli

Daily Revelation and Reflection: The Love of God (#9)

“My child, thou shalt suffer and rise again with Me.”

– Jesus to St. Crescentia

No suffering = no Resurrection. Each of us must undergo a spiritual death whereby we “die daily” to self. Why? So that Jesus may live in and through us. What does this involve? Death to sin. Sin is death – the death of the soul. Mortal sin is infinitely worse than physical death.

Every suffering, accepted with faith, is a form of death (in a good sense); but more importantly, it is a form of life. To die to our lower nature is to rise to the Divine Nature. Grace elevates and perfects our nature; it makes us capable of knowing and loving God.

When you suffer, suffer with and for Jesus. He is “the Resurrection and the Life.” To be united to Him, especially in suffering, is to be assured of His Divine presence, His grace, His love and His promise of salvation. Keep your eyes on Him and you will not stray far from Him. He will soon reveal to you the sweetness of having something to offer Him – something for which you will receive an eternal reward! Suffering, you see, is a treasure.

“The Cross is the way to Paradise, but only when it is borne willingly.” (St. Paul of the Cross) Picture to yourself Jesus on the Cross, with God the Father above Him, looking down upon His Beloved Son with ineffable love. Now, take Jesus’ place on the Cross, and know that the Most Blessed Trinity is looking upon you with the same love. Read the writings of Bl. Dom Columba Marmion in particular if you doubt this. He will dispel all doubts.

Some Powerful Motives to Love God

Reflect on these profound words of St. Crescentia, and strive to make the same resolution as her:

“BY LOVE, I can draw down from Heaven, into my heart, Thee, the Supreme Good, and with Thee I can pass through every wall.

BY LOVE, I can soften the obdurate hearts of sinners; I can break the chains made through sin.

BY LOVE, I can redeem the captives of purgatory.

BY LOVE, I can conquer my evil wishes, my vicious nature, my wicked self-will.

BY LOVE, I can defeat all the attacks and temptations of hell.

BY LOVE, I can endure all hardships and pains.

BY LOVE, I can constantly love God more and more.

Therefore, I will now begin, in all earnestness and fervour, to love God in a very holy manner, so that I may attain the end for which I was created, and that by me He may be praised, loved, and honoured through all eternity.”

To love God is to believe in His love, and to do His Adorable Will. We must submit faithfully to the teachings of the Catholic Church. One cannot love Our Lord, Who is the Head of the Church, if they do not love His Mystical Body.

If faith were alive today, our churches would be filled to the brim. Jesus is truly present in the tabernacle. If we visit Him frequently, we will soon be touched by the flames of His love, as St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi says. If we despise the countless graces that God offers us through His holy Church, it is to be feared that we will meet the same fate as the following individual, who this same saint saw in a vision. It is reported that “she saw the soul of an unhappy man at the moment that he passed from his death bed to the eternal torments. God revealed to her that the chief cause of his damnation was his having held in contempt the treasures of Holy Church, laughing at the indulgences and all the other graces the Church benignly imparts to her faithful.”

Is this not the attitude of many indifferent Christians today? Sadly, this has been my attitude at times. But God has rescued me from the wide gate that leads to perdition.

Whatever we may have done in the past, we must not become discouraged. We must have the same confidence as St. Crescentia. She was no stronger than us; like us, she could do absolutely nothing without God’s grace. But she had faith in God. She relied on Him entirely, and was docile to His inspirations. If I do this; if you do this, our faith will invigorate us and we will find joy and salvation from the Lord.

“I am your Spouse – when will you make up your mind to love Me truly? I am all yours; I come to you to draw you to Myself; I come to you to make you one with Me; I come to you to change you completely into Myself.”

– Jesus to St. Veronica Giuliani

A Prayer EVERY Christian Should Know and Love…

(Every person, actually – we are all impoverished without prayer – but we’ll let that pass for now.)

This prayer has been called “a priceless treasure inspired by God” (St. Louis de Montfort), “the storehouse of countless blessings,” (Bl. Alan de la Roche), “the greatest method of praying” (St. Francis de Sales), “the most efficacious means of attaining eternal life… the remedy for all our evils…” (Pope Leo XIII); for centuries it has been the source of countless miracles; St. Padre Pio held it very dear, and it was never far from his lips or his thoughts; by it, Bl. John Massias released thousands upon thousands of souls in Purgatory; for the saints it was a powerful weapon to convert even the most hardened and despairing sinners; it is a perpetual source of light to the blind, strength to the weak, hope to the despairing, and joy to the sorrowful; and in recent times, Mary, the Theotokos herself, has encouraged us to pray this prayer EVERY DAY.

What is this powerful prayer, of which the Saints speak with so much respect, love and admiration? My friends, it is none other than the Holy Rosary!

Greatly detested by the Serpent, but loved by all the Elect, the Rosary is a compendium of the Gospel: it is a meditation on the mysteries of Our Saviour’s life, death and resurrection. In a word, it is a meditation on Divine Love: ‘and in my meditation a fire shall flame out.’ (Ps. 39:3).

Properly said – i.e. attentively, reverently, confidently and humbly [thus forming the unintentional acronym ARCH] – the Rosary is extremely pleasing to Our Lord and Our Lady.

The arguments in favour of praying the daily Rosary (i.e. at least 5 decades) are innumerable. For those of you who have doubts about the orthodoxy or efficacy of the Rosary, you might consider asking Our Lord for light (as we all must), then make a resolution – perhaps for one month – to pray and reflect daily upon the following words of Scripture:

‘Hail [Mary], full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.’ (Lk. 1:28)
‘Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb [Jesus].’ (Lk. 1:42)

Surely no harm can come from this practice. In fact, nothing but good will come from this. Our Lord encouraged St. Francis of Assisi to seek perfection under the guidance of Mary. Should we not do the same? Can we possibly be led astray by one who seeks only to unite us to her Son, saying: ‘Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye’? (Jn. 2:5) Can we possibly be led astray if we follow the same path that the Saints (who are now in Heaven) have always taken?

One day St. Francis of Assisi had a vision in which his fellow religious were trying to reach Jesus by a very steep, red ladder; but after ascending a few of its rungs, they would lose their ground. Our Lord then revealed to Francis a different ladder; this ladder was white, it was much less steep than the previous ladder, and at the summit was the Blessed Virgin Mary. Jesus then said to Francis: “Advise your sons to go by the ladder of My Mother.”

As Mary’s spiritual children we ought to love her, to trust in her, and seek to please her. She has an ardent desire to help us! She is more than able to help us! We need her help!

We are truly Mary’s children, and as her children, we require nourishment. And with what, we might ask, does Our Lady nourish us? With the fruit of her womb: with Jesus!

‘I am the mother of fair love… Come over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with my fruits.’ (Ecclus. 24:24, 26)

To illustrate this point, we have a story from the life of Bl. Benvenuta Bojani. One day while she was praying in church, “she beheld a poor child of exquisite beauty, and, calling him to her, she inquired if he could say the Hail Mary.”
“Can you say it?” asked the child.
Benvenuta immediately began to recite it; and, when she came to the words: “Blessed is the fruit of thy womb,” the Child said: “And I am He,” and then disappeared.” (Words taken from ‘Dominican Saints’)

A similar event occurred in the life of St. Crescentia (one of my favourite Saints!). One day as she was praying thus: “Praised and blessed be thy noble treasure, Mary, which thou didst receive from the Holy Ghost! and praised be the blessed Fruit of thy womb,” Our Lady appeared to her with the Divine Child, saying: “This is the blessed Fruit of my womb.”

We must not think that honour given to Our Lady detracts from God’s glory. On the contrary, we love Mary because God loved her first; we honour her because He honoured her first; we ask for her prayers because He gave her to us to be our mother; and what mother is not eager to help her children? Can anyone truly doubt that Mary loves us as her most dear children, when we even find the prophet David dedicating himself to Mary as her son, despite the fact that she had not yet been born? ‘Save the son of thy handmaid,’ he said. (Ps. 86:16) “Whose handmaid? She who says: Behold the handmaid of the Lord.” (St. Augustine)

“My mother Mary,” said Our Lord to St. Bridget, “on account of her compassion and charity, was made mother of all in heaven and on earth.” “I have become mother of all of you,” said Our Lady to St. Gertrude, “in the womb of my charity, and you have become my children, the brethren of Jesus.” (cf. Luke 2:7).

Now, Almighty God has commanded us to honour our parents. ‘Honour thy father and thy mother.’ (Eph. 6:2) Nothing could be clearer. Well, if Mary is our mother, then we have the duty to honour her and to obey her as we would our biological mother.

With this in mind, let us all take seriously the words of Our Lady in some of her recent apparitions, which simply confirm the constant teaching of the Church and her Saints. Here are some of her words to us, her dear children:

1. “I am the Lady of the Rosary. Continue always to pray the Rosary every day.” – Our Lady of Fatima (in Portugal), October 13, 1917

2. “Pray and do penance. Pray the Rosary frequently. It is the only powerful weapon to attract the blessings from Heaven.” – Our Lady to Servant of God, Edvige Carboni (of Italy), March 1942

3. “Spread the devotion to my Immaculate Heart, in order that many souls maybe conquered by my love and that many sinners may return to my Maternal Heart. Do not fear, for I will accompany with my maternal protection my faithful ones, and all those who accept my urgent warnings, and they — especially by the recitations of my Rosary — will be saved.” – Our Lady to Bl. Elena Aiello (d. 1961)

4. “Each day, recite the prayers of the Rosary… Pray the Rosary often.” – Our Lady of Akita (in Japan), October 13, 1973

5. “Pray the Rosary. Meditate on the mysteries. Listen to the Word of God spoken in them.” – Our Lady of Cuapa (in Nicaragua), 1980

+ “My daughter, do not be afraid of me. I am your loving Mother whom you praise so faithfully every day. Be steadfast and persevere; I want you to know that the Angelic Salutation gives me so much joy that no man could ever really explain it.” – Our Lady to a member of the Confraternity of the Rosary

+ “Never has any man composed anything more beautiful than the Hail Mary. No salutation could be dearer to my heart than those beautiful and dignified words that God the Father addressed to me Himself.” – Our Lady to St. Gertrude

Some final words:

“Mary has recommended the Rosary at Lourdes and Fatima because of its exceptional value for us and our times.” – St. Padre Pio
“The power of the rosary is beyond description.” – Ven. Archbishop Fulton Sheen

“NOBODY WHO PERSEVERES IN THE ROSARY WILL BE DAMNED, BECAUSE SHE (MARY) OBTAINS FOR HER SERVANTS THE GRACE OF TRUE CONTRITION FOR THEIR SINS AND BY MEANS OF THIS THEY OBTAIN GOD’S FORGIVENESS AND MERCY.” – A revelation to St. Dominic

A Helpful Tip for Overcoming Temptation.

One day St. Rose of Lima complained to Our Lord that He let her be exposed to a great danger of falling into sin. Perhaps we have been in this position before. Perhaps we have even fallen into mortal sin many times, despite what we thought to be our best efforts. Maybe we have become so discouraged that we almost expect to fall again…

Whatever the case may be, the good news is that God has not given up on us: if we desire Him, He desires us far more; for we cannot seek God without His grace.

“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.” (Our Lord to Sr. Josefa Menendez)

If we etch the following truths deep in our hearts and minds, we will be preserved from many sins (provided that we persevere in prayer).

1. Grace is all–powerful. Grace is a participation in the Divine Nature; it is invincible, like God Himself. There is no sinner, however hardened, who cannot abandon his sins and be saved, provided that he calls on Almighty God with confidence and a will to turn from his wickedness. “Ask and you shall receive.”

2. God will not allow us to be tempted beyond our strength. We must not blame God for our falls. Deliberate sin, especially mortal sin, can always be avoided. If we fall, we can turn to God in humility, saying: “My Jesus, mercy! Help me to love You more! Please increase my humility. Help me to trust in you. Without You I am nothing and can do nothing.” And so forth. By our confidence we honour the infinite goodness of God. This is a sure way of obtaining great graces.

3. Without Grace we can do nothing. Everyone receives actual grace – absolutely everyone. Were God to withdraw His grace from us, we would not so much as be able to think a good thought. All life, all holiness, all wisdom, all intelligence, all goodness comes from Him. Pride is a perversion, a lie, spiritual theft, insanity (to a greater or lesser extent).

4. With God we can do all things. Every temptation we have overcome, any good we have ever done, any prayer we have made, any good we possess, is a gift from God. Why, then, do we not trust in Him?

Applying this knowledge to the pursuit of perfection – to which we are all called – it becomes evident that if we are to grow in love/holiness, we must place all our confidence in Almighty God, knowing that we can never place too much trust in Him, just as we can never place too little trust in ourselves!

St. Crescentia certainly distrusted herself, and she was profoundly humble and loving. It is written of her that if she heard of someone committing a mortal sin, she would say: “I should have fallen much lower than this unfortunate man, if Almighty God had not so powerfully upheld me; had the man, on the other hand, had the grace I possess, he would live a thousand times more piously than I do. He that thinketh himself to stand, let him take heed lest he fall.” Reflect seriously on these words, dear reader. We can never be too humble.

If we do fall into sin, we must not think: “But my spiritual life was going so well… I had avoided sin for so long… I was soaring with the saints!” No. We must attribute all our former success to God. Likewise, we must only expect to overcome sin with God’s help. Unless we trust in Our Lord, our efforts will be in vain.

“Let Me do it!” This is what Our Lord used to say to St. Veronica Giuliani. He says the same to us. If we are tempted, let Him do it: He will be our strength. If we desire holiness, let Him do it: He will sanctify us. Provided that we follow His inspirations and do not give in to a state of presumptuous passivity, He will lead us into His Sacred Heart.

I said earlier that St. Rose of Lima once complained to Our Lord that He allowed her to come close to falling into sin (or so she thought). This was Our Lord’s reply:

“Would you have conquered if I had not been in your heart? I am always with you and My grace forsakes you not; therefore weep no more.”

On another occasion, He said to her:

“They must no longer be deluded as to the meaning of pain; trial is the path to perfection; by it they attain beauty of soul and the summit of grace, and the glory of the Children of God. The Cross is the true and only ladder to reach Heaven. Without the Cross this ascent is impossible.”

Next time you are tempted, recall these words:

“Would you have conquered if I had not been in your heart? I am always with you and My grace forsakes you not.”