What The World Needs Now…

… is SAINTS! ‘Save me, O Lord, for there is now no saint: truths are decayed from among the children of men’ (Ps. 11:2).

It is said of St. Teresa of Avila that, by a single burning prayer, she – or rather, God acting in her – converted 10,000 criminals! Bl. John Massias obtained the release of 1.2 million souls from Purgatory. On the day St. Mechtilde died it was revealed to St. Gertrude, her intimate confidante, that no soul was lost (Rev. Auguste Saudreau notes this; another work says that “not one Christian soul” was lost. I defer to the experts; I have not read the Latin original.) Such anecdotes could be multiplied.

The question is: how do we account for this? Blosius provides the answer:

“Those, indeed, who are united to God without any medium, and allow Him freely to work in them, are the most dear friends of God, and in one little hour are of more advantage to the Church than others who have not attained to this union can be in many years.”
– Ven. Louis de Blois (Blosius), O.S.B. (‘A Book of Spiritual Instruction’)

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The Saints are Eager to Share Their Spiritual Goods

St. Mechtilde on the Feast of St. Agnes
“St. Mechtilde, when chanting… the responsory, ‘Amo Christum’ (“I love Christ”), interiorly complained to Our Lord that she had not, like Agnes, loved Him with her whole heart from childhood. Upon which He said to St. Agnes:
“Give her all that thou hast.”

By that word St. Mechtilde understood that God has conferred upon the Saints the privilege of being able to bestow all that His grace has worked in them upon those who (i) love them,
(ii) who thank Him, in their name,
(iii) and delight in the gifts He has bestowed on them.

St. Agnes, having done as Our Lord desired, Mechtilde was filled with ineffable joy, and asked the Queen of Virgins to give thanks for her [Agnes] to her Divine Son. Mary, complying with her request, gave her [Mechtilde] a share of all her riches, so, with them and the gifts of Agnes, she loved, honoured, and fully glorified God, for the past and for the present.

O admirabile commercium! Oh, most precious friendship with the Saints! We give them our praises, our thanksgivings, our love; and they, in return, make us participators in
all the gifts which God has so lavishly bestowed upon them for His glory.”
(Rev. Andre Prevot, SJ, ‘Love, Peace, and Joy: A Month of the Sacred Heart According to St. Gertrude,’ Benziger Brothers)

A Powerful Practice: Communicating in Honour of the Saints
Next time you participate in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, unite yourself to the Divine Victim and offer Him – an infinitely pleasing, living Oblation – to the Father in honour of a Saint or Saints. Also, receive Holy Communion in honour of a particular Saint, asking them to give you a share in their riches. A suitable petition would be the following: ‘I beseech thee that in me may be thy double spirit.’ (4 Kg. 2:9)

Do this often and you will see that the Saints do not forget! In this way do we discover one of the many reasons why the great Bl. Cardinal Schuster wrote the following: “The love of God is displayed chiefly through the Divine Liturgy.” (p. 149, vol. 3, ‘The Sacramentary’)

What is the Ultimate Reason for the Incarnation?

Why Was The Word Made Flesh?
To what end did the second Person of the Most Blessed Trinity, in all things equal to the Father (cf. Heb. 1:3, Jn. 3:35, Jn. 10:30 etc.), become man (Jn. 1:14)? Was it to call ‘sinners to penance’ (Lk. 5:32)? Was it that we ‘may not remain in darkness’ (Jn. 12:49), but rather that we might see (Lk. 9:39)? Was it to bring us to the ‘Bosom of the Father’ (Jn. 1:18; Ps. 18:6, Vulgate)? Yes: the Word became Flesh for all these reasons. ‘For God indeed was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself…’ (2 Cor. 5:19)

But that is not all.

Love Seeks Union
While it is true that God desires ‘all men to be saved’ (1 Tim. 2:4), He does not will that we merely be saved; it is not enough, in an of itself, for a love like His, that we be in a state of sanctifying grace; love seeks union, and the greater the love, the more sublime the union.

More than our reconciliation, then, God desires our sanctification – that is, the most complete reconciliation possible. He wants us to be one with Himself; He wants to consume us in His Word, in the fire of His Love. To adapt a well-known saying of St. Augustine, you might say that the Sacred Heart of Jesus is restless until It rests in us. ‘My son, give me thy heart! … I thirst!’ (Prov. 23:26; Jn. 19:28)

Aim Higher
“I’ll be lucky to get to Purgatory!” some say. But that is not enough. It is in affront to Divine Love to hope for anything less than the greatest intimacy with God (‘Be ye perfect…’ – that is, all His). Why so? Because God, as infinite and undivided Love, has given Himself to us without reserve (cf. Rom. 8:32); He is a ‘jealous God’ (Deut. 4:24), Who created us for one thing: Love. “I alone,” said Our Lord to St. Mechtilde, “can fill the heart of man.” Creatures, He further explained, cannot satisfy us, nor can any number of earthly goods, for they are less than man; they were created for us, not we for them.

To love us: this is His great joy, His solace, His glory. How He thirsts for our love! ‘If thou didst know the gift of God, and Who He is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink; thou perhaps wouldst have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water’ (Jn. 4:10).

God: Our Common Vocation
Think about it: the God-Man, in Whose Sacred Heart is contained an infinite ocean of love, thirsts for our love! How He longs – He Who ’emptied Himself’ (Phil. 2:7) – to pour Himself out upon us, thereby giving us to share, with Him, in an ineffable communion with the Most Blessed Trinity: As the Father hath loved me, I also have loved you. Abide in My love. (Jn. 15:9) “[T]he works of grace,” writes Ven. Juan G. Arintero OP, “since they make us enter into the joy of the Lord, into the intimate and secret life of the Divinity, and into friendly and familiar fellowship with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, raise us up to a participation in those ineffable communications which are effected ad intra, in the very Bosom of God.” (quoted in ‘Cradle of Redeeming Love’ by John Saward)

What a vocation! ‘I press towards the mark, to the prize of the supernal VOCATION OF GOD in Christ Jesus.’ (Phil. 3:14) St. Therese was right: “MY VOCATION IS LOVE!” ‘God is Love.’

This brings us to the answer to our initial question: What is the ultimate reason for the Incarnation? The answer?

The Ultimate Reason for The Incarnation
We will let Our Lord speak:

+ ‘I am come THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE, and may have it more abundantly… UNTO THE PRAISE OF THE GLORY OF HIS GRACE.’ (Jn. 10:10; Eph. 1:6)

And what is this Life of which our Saviour speaks? It is His own Life:

+ ‘By this hath the charity of God appeared towards us, because God hath sent His only begotten Son into the world, THAT WE MAY LIVE BY HIM.’ (1 Jn. 4:9)

There is the answer: Our Lord came that we might live ‘THROUGH HIM, AND WITH HIM, AND IN HIM’ for the Father’s glory (cf. Per ipsum of the Mass; Eph. 1:3-10).

This all brings us to the means by which God effects this sublime union: the Adorable Eucharist.

The Sacrament of Love
As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me. (Jn. 6:58)
That they all may be one, as Thou, Father, in me, and I in Thee; that they also may be one in Us; that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me.
And the glory which Thou hast given Me, I have given to them; that they may be one, as We also are One: I in them, and Thou in Me; THAT THEY MAY BE MADE PERFECT IN ONE: and the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as thou hast also loved Me.’ (Jn. 17:21-23)

“My beloved,” said Our Lord to Sister Catherine Agnes Planche, “I wish you to love Me with the same love that I have eternally for My Father.”

‘For by ONE OBLATION He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.’
– Heb. 10:14

The Power of Praise: A Sublime Revelation Given to St. Mechtilde

A Sublime Revelation to St. Mechtilde
On a certain day, while the Benedicite* was being sung in choir, Our Lord addressed these words to St. Mectilde:

“Whenever anyone sings that hymn, or a similar one [e.g. Psalms 148 – 150] in which all creatures are summoned to praise God, those creatures all come spiritually into My presence and praise Me for that person and for all men in general for all the benefits I have given them.” (Pt. 3, Ch. 7)

[*i.e. The Benedicite. This is a text based on Chapter 3 of the book of Daniel, the first verse of which is: ‘BENEDICITE omnia opera Domini, Domino: All ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord.’]

A Biblical Foundation
If this seems far-fetched, listen to St. Paul:

‘For all things are yours,
whether it be Paul, or Apollo, or Cephas,
or the world,
or life,
or death,
or things present,
or things to come;
for all are yours;
and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.’
– 1 Cor. 3:22-23

And yet again:

‘He that spared not even His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all,
how hath he not also, with Him, given us all things?’
– Rom. 8:32

This ought to be the source of all our confidence! The treasury of Christ’s riches are ours! We access these riches by faith. This explains Our Lord’s words to St. Mechtilde: “CONFIDENCE BY ITSELF CAN EASILY OBTAIN ALL THINGS.”

A Model of Confidence
There are many: St. Therese, Bl. Columba Marmion, St. Gertrude, Sr. Benigna Consolata, St. Gemma Galgani, etc. But let’s take another example: Mechtilde of Magdeburg (another holy Mechtilde). “She took all Christendom,” writes Bl. Columba Marmion, “in the arms of her soul to present it to the Eternal Father that it might be saved.
‘Let be,’ said Our Lord to her, ‘it is too heavy for thee.’
‘No, Lord,’ replied the Saint, ‘I will lift it up and bear it to Thee with Thine own Arms, that so Thou mayest bear it Thyself upon the Cross.’

“This Divine Life that Jesus possesses personally and in its plenitude, He wills to communicate and lavish upon us:
I am come that they may have life,
and may have it more abundantly.”
– Bl. Columba Marmion

 

The Fruit of Good Intentions: A Vision Given to St. Mechtilde

‘A lady once consecrated her child to God, even before it was born, and desired that, if it proved to be a girl, she should be promised to God (in religion); but the child died at the age of two. Her soul appeared to St. Mechtilde as a most beautiful virgin, and said to her:

“All the gifts that I would have received from the Lord, if I had really taken the religious habit, have been given to me now by Him by an act of His great munificence, and I have in addition a special reward for having been consecrated to God from my mother’s womb.”

As this greatly surprised Mechtilde, the Lord said to her:

“Why be astonished? Are not baptised children saved through the faith of others? I accepted the very definite will of the mother for the deed, and in her child I reward all the good things she had desired for her.”
“But why, O Beloved,” asked the saint, “did You take that child so soon?”
“She was so attractive,” replied the Lord, “that it was inexpedient for her to remain on earth. Her father would, later on, when her elder sister died, have broken her mother’s vow, and would have kept her for the world.”
– ‘Divine Communications,’ Vol. I, p. 56 (Rev. Auguste Saudreau)

St. Mechtilde, along with St. Gertrude, may well be called the Saint of desires. It was the near-constant practice of these two mystics to unite their prayers, their desires, their intentions, their works – in a word, everything that they did – to something greater than themselves; to something far greater than their own “little” hearts could offer. And God Himself took great delight in this; He encouraged it, and He often explicitly made known that He took the intention or desire for the act! What generosity! It is as if a peasant wished to honour his king, but, having nothing of his own to give, told the king that, if he were rich, he would make over his riches to the king.

To give one example: St. Mechtilde would unite her intentions before receiving the Adorable Eucharist, to all the loving intentions with which Our Lord has ever been received; for example, by Our Lady and the Saints. Likewise, we may unite our praise of Mary to the praise given her by the Archangel Gabriel, St. Elizabeth, and the Blessed in Heaven. There is great joy in “inventing” such ways to perfect our prayers, to honour God, and to grow in confidence.

God’s generosity is immeasurable; we should particularly take advantage of God’s goodness – so to speak – at Holy Mass. Fr. Garrigou Lagrange, O.P., reminds us that the bounty of God is infinite; we may ask of Him 5 things or 500 things. Be bold in your prayers; it is better to ask too much than too little. Don’t be too calculating; even God Himself does not know arithemtic, as Little Therese says.

Have no worries at all that you will be damned; if you fall, kiss the Adorable Face of your Divine Friend, renew your good resolutions, and move on. This was the practice of St. Therese. “There,” she would say; “all is forgiven.” Better still, imitate St. Mechtilde and thank God *here and how* for saving you; He cannot fail to reward such confidence (provided that we sincerely make an effort to love Him). Read St. Mechtilde and St. Gertrude if you doubt this.

‘Once when Mechtilde was praying for a certain person, she saw that person’s soul as [if] it were a little child within the Divine Heart. And Our Lord said:

“Let her come to Me thus in all her troubles, let her cling to My Divine Heart and seek comfort there, and I will never abandon her.”
– ‘Divine Communications,’ Vol. I, p. 125

Little St. Therese, pray for us.
St. Gertrude, pray for us.
St. Mechtilde, pray for us.
Sr. Gertrude Mary, pray for us.
Sr. Benigna Consolata, pray for us.

[The computer I am currently using has forced me to use a different format for posts… hopefully I will resolve this soon, so I can include pictures etc.]

Devotion to the Holy Face: A Key to Happiness and Final Perseverance!

“I will defend them, I will preserve them and I assure them of Final Perseverance.”

– Jesus to Sr. Mary of St. Peter

(The revelation above is taken from the promises He gave her, regarding those who devote themselves to making reparation to His Holy Face).

Shrove Tuesday (February 9): Feast of the Holy Face

This coming Tuesday (February 9) is the Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus. How I have come to love this devotion! Some have a devotion to the Precious Blood; others to the Holy Wounds; others to the Sacred Humanity; others to the Passion of Our Lord – these are all admirable devotions. But do we realise that devotion to the Face of Christ, in a sense, combines all of these devotions?

Behold the Face of Christ, which was spat upon, beaten and mocked; behold the Precious Blood dripping down His Adorable Face; look upon the Wounds left by the Crown of Thorns; look at that Sacred Flesh torn by the malice of our sins; consider that, according to several chosen souls, the pain inflicted by the Crown of Thorns was one of His most intense sufferings! How can we not console this God, Who suffered so much for us? What will we do for Him? ‘I looked about, and there was none to help: I sought, and there was none to give aid…’ (Is. 63:5)

The Feast of the Holy Face is a truly glorious Feast; if you have the opportunity to attend Mass, you must! At every Mass, the Risen Lord is made present on our Altars; that Adorable Face, which is the delight of the Blessed, looks at us with infinite sweetness, hoping that our eyes will meet His. How blessed are those who make their souls a living Tabernacle for Love Incarnate! How fortunate, we say, was St. Thomas, to have placed his hand in the side of Christ. Do we not realise that we receive the same Christ into our souls?!

Before looking in greater detail at what some of the Saints have written about the Holy Face, let us pause to consider a few of the reasons why devotion to the Holy Face is so important:

1. The Scriptures frequently tell us to seek the Face of God. ‘Seek ye the Lord, and his power: seek ye His Face evermore.’(1 Chron. 16:11) ‘Seek ye the Lord, and be strengthened: seek His Face evermore.’(Ps. 105:4)
2. The Face of Jesus gives us confidence. His Divine Countenance is full of love and mercy; He is love and mercy, and His Face reflects the Love that consumes His Sacred Heart. How often have sinners been converted by looking at an image of Christ! Who can look at the Face of Jesus Crucified and not be moved? Our Lord said to St. Faustina that His Face on the image she had struck (the Divine Mercy image) resembles His expression from the Cross. Similarly, Our Lord told Sr. Benigna Consolata that, while hanging on the Cross, He unopened His bloody Eyes to look with tenderness upon His executioners, upon us!
3. The Face of Jesus radiates light, warmth and life. “Frequently during her meditations, St. Gertrude saw the Divine Countenance of our Saviour resplendent as the sun, illuminating priests, inflaming the devout and converting sinners. Once she asked why the blessed Countenance of our Redeemer shone like the sun, and she received this explanation:

“Like the sun, My Countenance illuminates, warms and fructifies.”

4. Jesus demands reparation in these very sinful times. Jesus is the Head of the Church; when the Church is persecuted, Jesus suffers (retroactively; He cannot suffer now). Our Lord has revealed to many of His Saints that the world is going to ruin because there is no one to make reparation. “Souls are not saved if nothing is done for them.” (Jesus to Sr. Benigna Consolata) The Face of Christ is suffering much; we must offer It, then, in reparation for sins. To the extent that the Divine Countenance is obscured by the wounds inflicted upon It by sinners, we must adore It.
5. The Face of Jesus is one of the most efficacious means of effacing sins, growing in Divine Love, and saving our souls (as we shall see).

The Saints and the Holy Face

Many of the Saints had an ardent devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus; they loved Him by contemplating Him in His sufferings, and in His glory. Some of these holy souls include St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, St. Mechtilde, St. Gertrude, Ven. Leo DuPont, Sr. Mary of St. Peter, St. Edmund and Bl. Maria Pierina de Micheli.

Some Anecdotes and Revelations

+ “My child, as long as you look at Me, you will love Me; as long as you look at Me, you will serve Me; when you do not look at Me, you will not follow Me.” – Jesus to Armelle (‘Divine Communications,’ p. 235, Vol. 1)

++ “O Lord,” said St. Mechtilde; “enlighten the face of my soul with the brightness of Thy countenance.” Our Lord replied:

“The face of thy soul is the image of the Holy Trinity. The soul should see this image reflected in My face as in a mirror, and see whether he finds some stain in that image.”

Mechtilde understood that we should often contemplate our soul in this divine Mirror, the face of Jesus Christ, so as to discover any stains that might disfigure it, and wash them away before Holy Communion. Purity of conscience, then, is the first preparation, but the Sacred Heart expects more.”

+++ “All those who meditate frequently on the vision of My Divine Face, attracted by the desires of love, shall receive within them, by the virtue of My Humanity, a bright ray of My Divinity, which shall enlighten their inmost souls, so that they shall reflect the light of My countenance in a special manner in eternity.”

– Jesus to St. Gertrude

++++ “At the hour of Terce, our Lord appeared to St. Gertrude in the position in which He was when tied to the pillar between two executioners, one of whom tore Him with thorns, and the other bruised Him with a whip full of large knots; both striking His Face, which seemed so disfigured, that her very heart melted away with compassion; nor could she restrain her tears whenever she recalled that mournful spectacle during the day, since it appeared to her that none upon earth had ever been so cruelly used as her sweet Lord Jesus. Even the very pupil of the eye was torn and inflamed, both by the thorns and the blows of the scourge. It appeared also to her that her Lord turned His blessed Face from side to side; but when He turned it from one executioner, the other struck it still more furiously; then He turned to her, and exclaimed:

“Have you not read what is written of Me: Vidimus eum tanquam leprosum? “We have thought Him as it were a leper” (Is. liii. 4).

The Saint replied: “Alas, Lord ! what remedy can we find to soothe the agonising pains of Thy Divine Face!”

Our Lord replied:

“The most efficacious and the tenderest remedy which you can prepare for Me is to meditate lovingly on My Passion, and to pray charitably for the conversion of sinners. These two executioners represent the laity, who offend God openly, striking Him with thorns, and the religious, who strike Him still more unpitiably with the knotted cords of secret sins. But both offend Him to the face, and outrage the very God of heaven.”

+++++ Meditation on the Sixth Station of the Cross (revealed to Sr. Benigna Consolata): Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

The religious soul, My spouse, says the Lord, is the little Veronica, who wipes My face every time that she mortifies herself: the veil with which she wipes it, is her soul in which I leave My divine Features portrayed. The more pure and spotless the soul is, the more capable is she of receiving My divine Lineaments. If thou wouldst arrive near to Me thou must pass across My enemies, who are thine also, and from whom thou wilt have much to suffer; but the consolation which a single one of My divine Looks will impart, will repay thee with usury.

Pause, O good Jesus! I am very small, but I will rise on tiptoe to wipe Thy Face. I will use the very finest linen, the whitest and most delicate; and I will prepare this linen for Thee by my fidelity in three things: purity of intention, charity toward my neighbor, and the most ardent love possible toward Thee; and do Thou, O Jesus, celestial Beauty, give me a perpetual remembrance of Thee!

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!

++++++ “As Gertrude prayed for a person who had an ardent desire to advance in perfection, she received this instruction:

“Tell her from Me, that if she desires to unite herself to Me by the tie of special love, she must, like a noble bird, make a nest at My feet of the branches of her own nothingness and the palms of My greatness, where she may repose by a continual remembrance of her unworthiness, because man is always inclined to evil of himself, and not to good, unless he is prevented by My grace. Let her often reflect on My mercy, and on the paternal goodness with which I am ready to receive men when they have fallen, if they return to Me by penance. When she desires to leave this nest in order to seek for food, she must fly into My bosom, wherein, with affectionate gratitude, she must reflect on the different blessings with which I have enriched her by My superabundant kindness. If she desires to fly further, and to ascend higher on the wings of her desires, she must rise with the swiftness of an eagle to the contemplation of heavenly things, which are above her; she must fly around My face, supported like a seraph on the wings of charity, and gaze with the piercing eyes of her spirit upon the glory of the King of kings.”

Some Scriptures about the Holy Face

‘My heart hath said to thee: My face hath sought thee: thy face, O Lord, will I still seek.’ (Ps. 27:8)

‘The Lord turn his countenance to thee, and give thee peace.’ (Num. 6:26)

‘I have seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved.’ (Gen. 32:30) [We can pray this at every Mass during the Elevation of the Sacred Host]

‘Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: and teach me thy justifications.’ (Ps. 119:135)

‘For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Christ Jesus.’  (2 Cor. 4:6)

The Delight of St. Gertrude

“When Thou didst display Thy most adorable Face, the source of all blessedness, as I have said, embracing me, unworthy, a light of inestimable sweetness passed through Thy Deified eyes into mine, passing through my inmost being, operating in all my members with admirable power and sweetness: first, it appeared as if the marrow were taken from my bones; then, my flesh and bones appeared annihilated; so much so, that it seemed as if my substance no longer had any consciousness save of that Divine splendour, which shone in so inexplicable and delightful a manner that it was the source of the most inestimable pleasure and joy to my soul.”

————

Sources: ‘The life and revelations of Saint Gertrude, virgin and abbess, of the Order of St. Benedict,’ ‘The Love of the Sacred Heart (St. Mechtilde),’ ‘Vademecum Proposed to Religious Souls (Sr. Benigna Consolata),’ ‘Devotion to the Holy Face’ (TAN Books), ‘The Golden Arrow’ (TAN Books).

For an excellent read:

http://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2011/10/maria-pierina-de-micheli-holy-face-of.html

————

“Those who by words, prayers or writings defend My cause in the Work of Reparation, especially My priests, I will defend before My Father, and will give them My Kingdom.“

– Jesus to Sr. Mary of St. Peter

 

Last post until the New Year…

Dear readers,

Today I will be leaving home to embark on a 5 week trip around Europe. I was hoping to post part 2 of the last article, but I simply haven’t had the time.

Please pray that I, and those with whom I travel, may be safe. I will be arriving in Paris in approximately 30 hours.

From Paris I will be travelling to Italy, Portugal, Germany, Hungary, and most likely, Poland.

I will not forget to pray for the readers of “Littlest Souls”, asking Mary, the Mother of Mercy, to draw you, and many other souls, to the Heart of her Beloved Son. Be a “little soul” and all will go well for you.

Jesus to St. Mechtilde: “I, who am the Creator of the Universe, need no reward, but you yourself are My reward since My Heavenly Father has given you to Me to be My spouse and My child.”

St. Mechtilde: “Why, most loving Lord, do you act thus towards me, who have nothing of good in me?”

Jesus: “Because of My Goodness, because I have placed the delights of My heart in you.”

Pax Domine!

St. Mechtilde: Some Anecdotes

St. Mechtilde is one of my favourite Saints. What I admire most about her, apart from her great charity, is her bold confidence in Almighty God. She expected everything from Him. He was ever in her heart, and she was ever in His.

Earlier today, the thought came to me to read some of the beautiful revelations that were given to St. Mechtilde. How consoled I was.

Later, it came to my attention that today is the Feast Day of St. Mechtilde! It is in gratitude to St. Mechtilde, therefore, that I dedicate this post.

Some Anecdotes from the Life of St. Mechtilde

+ “It was thought by those present at her birth that she was coming into this world only to leave it, and she was taken in great haste to be baptized by the priest who was about to celebrate Mass, probably, from this circumstance, in the castle and chaplain of the family. He was a man of remarkable holiness, and after he had performed the ceremony he turned to those around who trembled for the infant’s life and said:

“Why are you afraid? this child will not die, but will become a holy nun in whom God will work great marvels, and she will finish the days of her life in a good old age.”

+ “Another time this same Saint being in via said to our Lord in a spirit of great abasement: “The greatest of Thy miracles Lord I consider to be that the earth bears the weight of so great a sinner” and our Lord, who loves to exalt the humble, replied:

“Willingly may the earth bear thee, when the whole dignity of heaven expects with immense exultation that most joyful hour when the honour of bearing thee shall be given it.”

+ “…all her holiness, her zeal for the Work of God, and her union with Him, she had her very human difficulties; once during the ceremonies of a Solemn Mass she gave way to sloth and sleepiness, and afterwards being much ashamed of herself she bewailed her negligence with sorrow to God, who answered her:

“If you found nothing to displease you in yourself, in what would you recognise My goodness?”

And surely the little faults of so great a Saint are a great encouragement to us; they put her more within reach of our imitation, and draw our attention to that spiritual teaching which assures us that perfection and holiness are not always synonymous.”

+ And she said to Him: “O Lord, God who art the unfailing Truth, Thou hast deigned to declare to me, unworthy though I am, that Thou wilt increase Thy delights in us and our love for Thee, how then is it that some of us complain today of feeling more cold in our love towards Thee?”

He answered:

“I am He who contains in Myself all good things and I distribute them in their due time to each one as is best for him.”

+ “What thanksgiving can be rendered to Thee, only sweetness, for that wound of love which Thou didst receive on the cross for man, when love pierced Thy most sweet Heart with the dart of unconquerable love, whence flowed for our salvation water and blood: and thus, vanquished by the greatness of Thy love for Thy Spouse, Thou didst die a death of love?”

And the Lord answered:

“That a man should conform his entire will to Mine; and that My will should content him in and above everything.”

References

1. To read her Life and Revelations (from which the anecdotes are taken):  https://archive.org/details/lifeofstmechtild00rome
2. To read some of her incredible prayers (and those of St. Gertrude, whose Feast Day was three days ago): https://archive.org/details/PrecesGertrudianae (Speaking of this book, Servant of God Fr. Paul of Moll said: “Of all prayer books, this is the most beautiful.”)

St. Mechtilde, pray for us!

St. Gertrude, pray for us!

Our Lady Comforts Her Children at the Moment of Death

The Necessity of Devotion to Our Lady

The more one reads about what the Church has to say about Our Lady, the harder it is to disagree with the consensus of the Saints, namely, that a tender love of Mary is a true indication that one loves and is loved by God.

“Many have proved invincibly, from the sentiments of the Fathers – among others: St. Augustine, St. Ephrem, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Germanus of Constantinople, St. John Damascene, St. Anselm, St. Bernard, St. Bernardine, St. Thomas, and St. Bonaventure – that devotion to Our Most Blessed Virgin is necessary for salvation [true devotion consists in charity], and that it is an infallible mark of reprobation to have no esteem or love for the Holy Virgin while, on the other hand, it is an infallible mark of predestination to be entirely and truly devoted to her. The figures and words of the Old and New Testaments prove this. The sentiments and examples of the Saints confirm it. Reason and experience teach and demonstrate it. Even the Devil and his crew, constrained by the force of truth, have often been obliged to avow it in spite of themselves.”

St. Louis de Montfort

Mary Protects the Mystical Body of her Son

Many perish because they are led into heresy. Devotion to Mary is a safeguard against heresy. Our Lady protected Our Lord, so you can be certain that she will not abandon His Mystical Body, the Church, “the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15).

“Follow her and you cannot go wrong, says St. Bernard. There is no danger of a true child of Mary being led astray by the devil and falling into heresy.”

– St. Louis de Montfort

Like us, Mary is an instrument of God’s Blessings

Jesus uses the members of His Mystical Body, the Church, as channels for His grace. This should be obvious enough; look at the Saints. Mary is simply the channel of grace par excellence. To draw near to Mary, therefore, is to draw near to her Son, her All. He lives in and through her without restraint; she offers her Son no resistance; she is perfectly docile to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. “Fiat voluntas tua!” (“Thy Will be done” – Mt. 6:10).

Mary leads us to her Son

All those who love Mary come to love her Son. This is because Mary’s will is God’s will; her entire life and being is fixed on God, her All. “Where Mary is, there is the Son!” (St. Paul of the Cross). She cannot fail to lead us to Him. If you think the Saints led many souls to God, look at Mary and what the Saints say about her!

“She is the mediator between us and Christ, just as Christ is the mediator between us and God.”

– St. Bonaventure

Our Lady appears to her children at the hour of death

When death comes, God will judge us as He finds us. If we stay close to Mary, she will take special care of us; she will do everything in her power to ensure that we are led safely to Jesus.

Our Lady has appeared to many Saints and holy souls throughout the centuries – and even to great sinners. And her message is always the same. She reminds us that there is an abyss of love and mercy for us if we will take her hand and approach God with confidence. In her great love for us, her children, she has promised to protect us, or even appear to us at the moment of death if only we serve her faithfully (cf. the Three Hail Marys devotion). And how do we serve her? “Stay close to my Son,” she said to one Saint. In a word, we must love Jesus and let Him act in and through us. “Fiat voluntas tua!”

“I will, as a most loving mother, without fail be present at the death of all those who piously and holily serve me, and will console and protect them.”

– Our Lady to St. Mechtilde

You can be sure that Jesus will be there with her!

A Revelation That Most Catholics Are Saved (Pt. 2)

St. Mechtilde believed that Our Lord said to her that the number of Catholics who go to Heaven when they die, exceeds the number of those who go to Hell (Liber specialis gratiae. In Sanctae Mechtildis, virginis ordinis sancti Benedicti, Liber specialis gratiae accedit sororis Mechtildis ejusdem ordinis Lux divinitatis. Book 6, Chapter 15. Ed. Monks of Solesmes. Paris: Oudin, 1877). Nevertheless, Our Lord assured her that His justice will claim its due; many souls will go to Purgatory before they are pure enough to enter the Kingdom of God.

Whether or not we can apply this revelation to every generation is not certain (private revelations, in themselves, are uncertain*). It may be the case that the majority of Catholics will, in the end, be saved.

Either way, let us thank God for His mercy! And let us not be presumptuous! We will be saved if we seek God with all our heart. If we are tepid in our faith, there is a danger that we will fall from sin to sin, without even realising how far we have fallen. We must imitate the holy monk that St. Leonard tells us about, who said that, even if one soul were damned, he would do absolutely everything in his power not to be that soul.

*Still, if they are consistent with Church teaching, and if they have been given to a humble and obedient soul, such as St. Mechtilde, then we are safe in believing them, so long as we subordinate them to the Magisterium… This site only quotes from the revelations of those whose virtue has been recognised by reputable authorities.

The Eternal Father to St. Hildegard:

“Does anyone think it possible to see into the deep wisdom of the Most High and into the discernment of His knowledge, and count the number of those who are to be saved? His judgements are incomprehensible to all people. Your task is to run; for the kingdom of God is prepared for you.” (p. 315, Scivias)