Sister Mary of the Cross: “Do the souls in Purgatory console each other mutually?”
In Purgatory our only consolation, our only hope is in God alone. On earth, God sometimes allows us to be consoled in our sufferings of soul or body by the heart of a friend, but then again if the love of Jesus does not fill that heart, the consolations are vain. Here the souls are lost, drowned as it were, in the Divine Will and God alone can soften their pains. Each soul is tormented according to its guilt, but all have one common sorrow that surpasses the rest, the absence of Jesus who is our very element, our life, our all. And we are separated from Him through our own fault.
After an action you must not waste your time going over it to examine if you have done well or ill. Certainly you must examine your actions each day to be able to do better in the future, but this must not be at the expense of the soul.
God loves simple souls. You must go to Him, therefore, with good will, always ready to sacrifice yourself to please Him. You must act with Jesus as a little child does with its mother, trusting in His goodness and placing all your spiritual and temporal interest with great confidence in His Divine Hands. Having done this, try to please Him in everything without troubling yourself about anything else. God does not regard great acts or heroic deeds as much as He does simple actions or small sacrifices, provided these are done with love for Him.
Sometimes even a tiny sacrifice, which was known only to God and to the soul, may be far more meritorious than a great one that was loudly applauded. One must be very interior on order not to take for oneself any of the praise given one. God seeks souls empty of self so as to fill them with His love. He finds but a few. Self-love leaves no place for Jesus. Do not let any opportunity to mortify self pass by, especially interior mortification. Jesus has many graces to give you during Lent. Therefore, prepare yourself by a redoubling of your fervor, but above all, love Jesus. He is so little loved by the world and so outraged by it.
The Blesses Virgin loves you very much. On your part love her with all your heart and do all you can to procure her the greatest possible glory.
You will never be able to understand well enough the goodness of God. I people only took the trouble to think about it sometimes, it would be enough to make them all saints, but they do not sufficiently know the merciful goodness of the Heart of Jesus in the world. Each one measures it according to his way of thinking and this way is wrong. This is the reason why they pray badly. Yes, very few people pray as Jesus wants them to pray. They are wanting in confidence and yet Jesus only grants our prayers according to the ardor of our desires and the strength of our love. This is why the graces we often ask remain ineffective.
To be happy in religion we should be deaf, dumb and blind. That is to say, we must hear many things that we could repeat but which are far better kept to ourselves. We shall never be sorry for having kept silent. We are obliged to see and hear many things and to act as if we had neither seen nor understood.
Oh, if only you knew how paltry these little nothings are about which some make such a fuss. The devil makes use of these little straws to check the progress of a soul and obstruct all the good that she is called to do. Do not lest yourself be caught in these meshes. Have a large heart and pass over all these little miseries without even noticing them. Jesus should be a sufficient attraction for you to prevent your being hindered by anything whatsoever outside of Him. See everything as coming from His bounty, whether He afflicts or consoles you. It is His love that arranges everything for the benefit of His friends. Never allow yourself to be discouraged. In a few hours, or even in the twinkling of an eye, Jesus could bring you the summit of perfection which He desires for you. But no, He prefers your own effort s and He wants you to see for yourself how hard and rugged is the way to perfection.
Be very generous. Jesus has bestowed more graces on you than on many others and He will give you still more, but in return He hopes to find in you a soul devoted to Him and ready for any sacrifice.
Above all, He wants of you great love, and when you have fought against yourself and your failings and acted in a spirit of profound faith, then faith will seem a reality. Before this can take place, you must act as if Jesus were always visibly present to you in a natural way, whereas His presence is supernatural.
Preachers and directors of souls do good only in proportion to their union with Jesus. In their spirit of prayer and in watching over their interior, they must always have their eyes directed towards Jesus, sacrificing all for the salvation of the souls entrusted to their care.
Sister Mary of the Cross: “Are the promises made to those who recite the rosary of St. Michael true?”
The promises are real, but you need not think that people who recite it out of routine and without any pains to become holy are taken out of Purgatory at once. That would be false. St. Michael does more than he promises, but he is not over anxious to relieve those who are condemned to a long Purgatory. Certainly as a reward for their devotion to the Archangel their sufferings are shortened, but as to delivering them at once, not so. I, who used to say it, can serve as an example of this. Immediate deliverance takes place only in the case of those who worked with courage at their perfection and who have little to expiate in Purgatory.
France is indeed very guilty, but unfortunately she is not the only one. At this moment there is not a single Christian kingdom that is not openly or by underhanded means trying to expel God from its midst. The secret societies and their master, the devil, are tormenting and stirring all this trouble.
This is now the hour of the prince of darkness. While he is in power he may do his worst, but God will show that He alone is Master. He may use severity to manifest His power, but even in His vengeance, Jesus is yet always merciful.
By the permission of God we in Purgatory know what is happening on earth at this moment so that we may pray for those great needs, but only our prayers alone will not suffice. I f Jesus could only find some really good souls who were willing to make reparation and disarm His outraged Majesty, it would indeed please His Divine Heart now deluged by so much bitterness. Such souls might obtain His mercy, since God desires to pardon those who humble themselves. Tell this to the Mother Superior.
St. Michael will intervene in the personal struggle of the Church which is so terribly persecuted, but not so easily destroyed as the wicked think. It is he who is also the special patron of France and who will help her to take rank as the eldest daughter of the Church, because notwithstanding all the wickedness that is committed in France, there is still much good and so many devoted souls there. I do not know when St. Michael will intervene; you must pray very much for this intention. Invoke the Archangel, remind him of his titles and beseech him to intercede with Christ, over whose Heart he has such influence. But be sure that the Blessed Virgin is not forgotten. France is her kingdom, privileged over all others. She will save it. Those who promote the recitation of the Rosary everywhere deserve praise. It is this prayer that is the efficacious in the present time of need.
The heroic act is very pleasing to God and of great help to the souls in Purgatory, and very helpful to the generous souls who make it. By giving up a part of their merits, they do not lose but actually gain.
As for the plenary indulgences, I may as well tell you that few, very few people gain them entirely. There has to be such a wonderful disposition of heart and will that is rare, much rarer than you think it is, to have the entire remission of one's faults. In Purgatory, we receive only the indulgences applied to us by the way of suffrage, as God permits according to our dispositions.
It is true that we have no inclination to sin, but we are no longer in the reign of Mercy but under that of Divine Justice, so that we receive only what God wants us to have. When a soul is near the objects of its desires, namely Heaven, it may be delivered and admitted to eternal joy by the efficacy of one plenary indulgence well gained, or even gained only in half and applied to its intentions, but for other souls it is not so. They often during life despised or made little use of indulgences, and God who is always just, rewards them according to their works. They gain something, as it pleases God, but hardly ever the full benefit of the indulgence.
May 1880. Work without ceasing and with all your strength at your own perfection. If you want to, you can become what Jesus wishes you to be, for you have enough strength of character to overcome all the difficulties which stand in your way of your union with Him. Your life will be a continual martyrdom, but a martyrdom in which you will nevertheless taste the sweetest joys. When a soul suffers, He for whom she suffers gives her at each sacrifice, each renunciation, a fresh grace which encourages her to go steadily onward in her devotedness. Nothing gives Jesus greater pleasure that to see a soul that notwithstanding all the obstacles which obstruct her path, forces herself to be very more and more devoted in procuring the glory of God and promoting His love.
You are sad in seeing how God is insulted in Paris, but those poor people do not know what they are doing, in spite of all their blasphemies. Jesus is more outraged by the sins of those consecrated to Him than by the more violent crimes of those who are not His friends. How many souls whom Jesus has called to perfection remain always worthless because they have not corresponded to Divine Grace. One must put oneself out and constantly check and keep oneself up to a very high standard to be happy in God's service. How very few interior souls there are in the world, and even in religious communities. Each one seeks her own ease and comfort and refuses to be inconvienced in the smallest thing. And yet God would be so happy (if one may so speak ) if they would only love Him without constraint and with all their hearts. If He could only find such joy in this community, what innumerable graces He would shower upon it. For yourself, work your hardest at self-conquest and at loving Jesus, which He has been seeking from you for such a long time. Jesus desires that you should love Him with a love of a child, that is, with the tenderness with which a child seeks to give pleasure to beloved parents. You are still so cold towards Jesus and this is not what He expects of you when He in turn loves so much.
August 1880. There are numbers of useless actions, many days futile, without any love for Jesus or purity of intention. They are all lost since they have no value for Heaven.
You do not direct your intention with the purity that God wills. For instance, instead of offering up your intentions vaguely, you could do so with much more fruit, if you only made your intention more definite. When you take your meals for example, say, " O my Jesus nourish my soul with your Divine Grace while I nourish my body." When you wash your face and hands say, "My Jesus, purify my soul as I am purifying my body," and so on, for each f your actions. Accustom yourself to be always speaking heart to heart with Jesus, and let Him be the mainspring of all you do and say. Do you understand me?
You must never excuse yourself. What difference does it make to you whether others think you guilty if you are innocent? And if you see that you have failed in any way, humble yourself and keep silence. Never excuse yourself even in your own thoughts.
September 2nd - Retreat. You told the Father this morning that it annoyed you very much to hear me and that you would prefer to be like everyone else. During the year you wrote the same thing to him and you have often said the same to Mother Superior. Why do you fret like this? Is it not God who allows everything? It has nothing to do with you. Try to profit by these graces and stop complaining. You have not yet heard all that you will hear and you have not yet seen all that you will see. Tell that to your Father and tell him also that I am not the devil. He does not think so. It is only you who have these fears. Calm yourself and profit from this retreat. From this moment you must change absolutely. Do not give way to all these reflections thinking only about yourself. That is self-love and nothing else. Instead open your heart to grace, cling to Jesus and do not waste your precious time in wondering why this and why that.
God plans to give you great graces, and to him also whom He has sent to you to tell you what He wants from you. Adore His designs without seeking to understand them. The Father will say many things in the sermons which are for you, though he will not think of that. Jesus allows this; therefore, profit by this holy retreat for it will be decisive for you.
It is only those actions done with great love and under the eye of God, wishing to do His Holy Will, that will receive their reward immediately, without the soul passing through Purgatory. What great blindness these is in the world about all this.
November. The retreat is finished for all the rest, but for you it must not finish at all. You must go on with it all the year and always in your heart, even in the midst of your most absorbing occupations. Have your own little cell where you can recollect yourself and speak heart to heart with Jesus and never lose sight of Him. Last year you were you much distracted. Now it must be so no longer. You have promised God and you have also promised the Father that you are going to begin a new life. You must then, keep your word at any price. It will cost you effort, but will it cost you less later on? No, alas, everything passes by so quickly and you, like the rest, do not pay attention to this. Jesus has been pursuing you for such a long time, surely you will not refuse to abandon yourself entirely into His hands after all the graces He has showered upon you? If you would only let Him have His way, you would become a saint and He wants you to be a great saint. Has the Father not told you again during these days, in the same name of God, that there is no middle course for you? How many people have already told you the same thing and you are indifferent, though these warnings should have been sacred to you. It seems to me that this time you have paid more attention to and have been more impressed by this word, again repeated to you. Think often about it, for it is very serious. I have told you that Jesus is waiting for a small effort on your part and He will do the rest. Be very generous. What could you not obtain from God if only you were what He wants you to be. What a close union He desires to have with your soul. What joys He has in store for you, if only you knew how good Jesus is to you. Often reflect upon the choice gifts bestowed on you. Mother Superior told you that it was especially for you and that she asked for the same Father this year for the retreat, and you did not believe her. Nevertheless it was true. She followed the inspiration given her by God, who wished you to know the Father better and also that he should know you better. Profit by this grace, which will not be the last. Put into practice all he tells you to do. You are free, so open up to him your heart so that he may read it like a book. If he only knew you as I do. One does not know you at first sight; it takes time.
All those thoughts you had yesterday were diabolical. The devil will do his utmost to hinder the good that will be done in spite of him. Cherish most gratefully all the graces of the retreat and never lose sight of them. Do not be afraid to sacrifice yourself morning to night in order to do God's will. He will reward you magnificently.
Sister Mary of the Cross: “Why was I so thrilled when I heard the Father's first words?”
That was already the prelude to the graces which you were to receive during the retreat. There are certain attractions between souls which are not understood here on earth. God has made the soul of that Father and yours for each other, and that is why you were so impressed when he spoke and you will often experience the same sentiment in the future. Pray much for this Father, whom Jesus has given you to help you to raise your soul to Him. He needs stronger and higher graces than most people, in order not to be discouraged. In his work he meets with repulsive and tiring days that impose upon his nature. His life is hard and penitential. You must help him by your prayers. So far you have done so but it is not enough. You must offer up your works and some of your exterior sufferings, some of your sacrifices, in a word, unite his intentions to all you do and unite yourself with his works.
Jesus has great designs upon him as he has also upon you, for this reason He allows you to speak to him and open your heart to him. Regard him as your father and be submissive to him as a true child, and God will be pleased. Do not be disturbed because I say all this to you. You have been carrying out most of what I said to you. I had to tell you this and you must repeat it to the Father. Do you hear me?
This retreat has been very pleasing to God and very profitable to souls. It is with joy that Jesus sees the souls of religious turning to Him and seeking Him as their one end. It is for this that Jesus calls into His service, but how easy it is on earth to forget what is most sacred.
A good retreat helps souls to renew their first fervor and this is what happened in the one you have just made. It has greatly consoled the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
What are the few moments we have to pass on earth compared to eternity? At the hour of death, you will not find that you have done too much. Be very generous, do not listen to yourself but always look at the goal to which Jesus calls you. That is sanctity, pure love. Then go forward and never look back. Great crosses, crosses that often break the heart, so to say, are the portion of God's own friends.
You recently complained to Jesus that He sent you very many sorrows this year. It is true, but why do you find these crosses so heavy? It is because you do not love enough, and yet, you have not come to the end of your trials. Those that you have had up to now are only the forerunners of what you may expect. Did I not tell you that you would suffer always in body and in soul, and often in both together? There is no holiness without suffering. When you allow grace to work freely in you, when Jesus really reigns over your will and you allow Him to be absolute master of your whole being, then, no matter how heavy the crosses are, you will not feel their weight. Love will absorb everything, but until that time comes you will suffer, and suffer much, because the soul does not for one minute detach itself from everything so as to act only for pure love. God sees your efforts with pleasure. Oh, if only He were better known and understood on earth. But no, He is forgotten. At least, do you love Him and console Him.
Let your efforts always grow in intensity so as to give Him more pleasure. Work hard without relaxing, so that you may soon reach the degree of sanctity that He desires of you.
September 16th. You are a little more satisfied with yourself these last few days, and so is Jesus, because you are making efforts to please Him and to become more closely united to Him. But do not think that it is as yet completed. It is but a tiny beginning of the union He desires to have with your soul. Oh, how little people on earth understand what a degree of detachment Jesus demands of a soul whom He wishes to make all His own. People think they love and will soon become saints because they feel a little more sensible devotion than usual, but all these natural devotions are as nothing. A soul must rise up and detach itself from its self-love, its passions, in order to free itself from all human love. It is hard, and how few there are who understand what all this means. You who, by the great mercy of God, do understand a little of it, you whom He loves so much, begin to follow His path of self-denial and death to yourself. Think often of all the marks of His love Jesus has given to you. Consider how far He went to seek you and how He smoothed away all the obstacles in your path. He has done more for you than for anyone else. Each day He loads you with His choicest graces. Just reflect how generous He has been to you these last days. In return, He expects great generosity on your part, more than from others whom He has not blessed so richly and from whom He does not expect such a high degree of perfection. From you He expects a surrender of self as proof against all trials and above all, great love.
Your whole heart and soul must be submerged in Him, so that you do nothing except what is His pleasure. Rise above earthly things and your surroundings to lose yourself entirely in His will. You must strive never to lose sight of Him even for a moment. Do not think that for this reason you will be so absorbed as not to be able to attend to your duties. You will experience the very opposite, that the soul must closely be united to Jesus will be the one most exact in all her duties, since Jesus, whom she loves, acts for her. He is, so to say, only one with her. Thus you see that she is ably helped and directed an all she ha to do.
It is only recollected souls who will have any influence for the good around them. Things done differently have no value. The soul that is united to Jesus is the only one that has power over His Heart. She is mistress there and He refuses her nothing. I have many things to tell you on this subject but you would not understand them now. We must wait for the moment willed by God. If you wish it, it will not be long in coming. Jesus has such a great desire to unite Himself entirely to you, more than you can ever understand, and He wishes it more than ever at this moment. Be very attentive in watching over yourself.
It is true that Mother Superior has suffered much these last few days, but one day of great suffering such as she sometimes endures is far more profitable for her soul and for all the community then ten days or more of good health in which she is able to go about and do all the duties of her office.
September 29th. Yes, I did know all the suffering of your Father. That is why, when you asked me if he had gotten over his fatigue, I said , "no," and nothing more. I did not want to worry you. You would have been upset knowing him to be in such sorrow and, as you were thinking of him more than usual before God, evidently by inspiration, I thought it better that he himself should tell you all the heartbreaks he has been enduring. Jesus will remember all of it. The souls he is suffering for are at present in Purgatory but for a short time only. Among them is the priest whom Jesus wants to reward, also there are two young men whom He wanted to save, by taking them out of the world where the best can so easily be corrupted. Tell him to be consoled in thinking that Jesus loves very much and keeps a special place for him in His Sacred Heart, in preference to many others. It is there that he must go in spirit to rest and renew his strength of soul, so as to carry on what he has undertaken to do for His Divine Master.
October 2nd. Say many times a day, "My God, fulfill in me all Thy designs and grant that I may never place any obstacles in the way by any act of mine. My Jesus, I will what Thou willest, because Thou willest it, as Thou willest it."
Sunday, October 3rd. If only it were given you to understand with what scorn and indifference Jesus is treated on earth, not only by the world in general, but how He is insulted, mocked and held in derision even by those who ought to love Him. Such indifference is found even in religious communities of men and women, His chosen people, where He ought to be treated as a Friend, a Father, a spouse. Often He does not even receive the consideration shown to a stranger. This indifference is found also among the clergy, at present more than at any other time. He is treated as an equal by those who should tremble at the thought of the awful and august mission with which they have been entrusted. The most sacred reality is often treated with coldness and boredom. How many are there who have the interior spirit? I can assure you that there are but a few. Here in Purgatory the priests who are expiating their indifference and their want of love are numerous. Their culpable negligence must be atoned for in the midst of fire and torture of all kinds. You can judge from this that God whim is so good and loving to all His creatures finds few who love and console Him.
Alas, there are few. That is the sorrow of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the ingratitude of His own. Yet His Sacred Heart is full of overflowing love and seeks only to share it. He wants to find some souls bereft of self so as to overpower them with His love, more than He has as yet done for anyone. Oh, how little Jesus is understood on earth, and how little are His mercy and His love understood! People try to seek everything except that which gives real happiness. How pitiable!
You must never be irritated, exteriorly or interiorly. Strive to avoid all annoyances, whether occasioned by the awkwardness or malice of others. Always remain calm. Why get upset because of someone else's fault? It does not improve matters, but rather makes two faults instead of one.
October 14th - During my thanksgiving after Holy Communion. The least infidelity on your part, a slight forgetfulness, the least indifference towards Jesus is very painful to Him and hurts His loving Heart far more than any injury from an enemy. Be very careful in examine yourself, do not omit anything. Let Jesus be able to come with joy to rest in your heart, so that you may be able to console Him for all the grief with which He is overwhelmed by the world. Act towards Him s to the best of fathers, the most devoted of spouses. Console Him, repair by your love and tenderness the injuries He received daily. You must take His interests and glory greatly to heart. Forget yourself in His presence and be quite sure that in doing so your interests will becomes His and He will do far more for you that if you bothered yourself about them.
October 16th. It is useless for you to worry about the souls entrusted to you, to reprove them or to try to make them a little more spiritually inclined. You will only succeed in as far as you yourself are spiritual. It is only through the overflow of your own piety that you can put it into their hearts. If you yourself are not what you ought to be, if you are not closely united with Jesus, your words will reach their ears but will not enter into their hearts, and so your effort will not be fruitful. Do you see how good it is to be united to Jesus? That is the only true happiness on earth.
November, 1880. When you have to reprove anyone who has committed a small or even a grave fault, do so with great gentleness. Be firm when the fault demands it, say few words, and never speak when in a passion, for then the reproof will harm the soul of both the one receiving it and the one giving it.
Avoid calling attention to former faults, especially when correcting children. This is the common mistake and very displeasing to God, and those who do it are wrong. How do they know that it has not already been pardoned? Then why refer to it again? God has not set such an example. Our own sins should constantly humble us and we should weep over them in bitterness of our hearts before the Lord, but we should never refer to the past sins of another.
A Christian soul, and above all a religious soul, to be pleasing in the sight of Our Lord, will treat her neighbor as she expects our Lord to treat her. Remember this well and when the opportunity comes, practice it faithfully.
Do not let the duties, cares or worries of life, take so much of your time, so as to prevent you from uniting yourself each moment to Jesus, and from knowing and fulfilling His holy will.
If you have any difficulty, accept it with resignation because it is permitted by Our Lord who, from the evil He permits, knows how to draw the greatest good. Kneel before the Tabernacle and there offer to Jesus the trials of your soul, which at times almost seem unbearable. His Heart will lighten everything. If, on the contrary, you have some joy, especially that happiness which one tastes occasionally in the service of God, accept it in the spirit of humility and gratitude, and remember that the earth is not a place of rest but rather a land of exile, of hard work, and of all kinds of sufferings. Accept all things with a tranquil spirit, letting nothing interfere with your goal. Your only satisfaction, your whole rest must be found in Jesus alone. You must only act for Him, His love must sustain your courage and you can never do enough for so loving a God. The more you detach yourself from earthly things, the more will Jesus shower His choicest graces and Divine caresses upon you. You will often feel quite indifferent to things that formally attracted you. God in His mercy permits this because He loves you and gradually wants you to wean you from material things. That is the way God proceeds with souls to become weary of things that are not for His interest, and they experience an aversion for all things that do not serve God's purpose. God permits this to empty their hearts of everything human, so that He may occupy them and fill them with His grace and love.
November. On days when you receive Communion at the first Mass, take only a little breakfast before eight o'clock, say about three minutes. I am telling you this because Our Lord would like to prolong your thanksgiving. This would give you an extra quarter of an hour, besides your usual quarter, and you would then have more time to converse with Jesus since you have so many things to tell Him. And so the second quarter would be spent for Him alone. Continue in like manner during the Little Hours and during the greater part of the Mass. Ask Mother Superior's permission to do this. How many more graces would you receive! By a special favor the Sacred Species remain with you after Communion for a long time. Spend these happy moments in heartfelt gratitude with Him whom Heaven itself cannot contain. Thus you can obtain all that your heart desires. What love God thus shows to His poor creature, to lower Himself so as to be able to commune with her as friend to friend. During these moments, adore, thank and beg Him for help, above all make reparation for the injuries that Jesus receives from this ungrateful world of ours. He is so offended. Do love Him well. You know that He loves you. There is sufficient proof for it.
While you are still on earth, it is impossible to understand what God demands of a soul expiating its sins in Purgatory. You are under the impression that many prayers, well said, will place a soul almost at once in possession of eternal happiness. It is nothing of the kind. Who could fathom the judgments of God? Who can understand how pure a soul must be before He admits it to share His eternal happiness? Alas, if people only knew, if they would only consider it while on earth, what different lives they would lead?
Seriously reflect how many venial sins one who is careless about her eternal salvation commits in one day. How many minutes does she offer up to God? Does she think of Him seriously at all? Well, there are 365 days in one year, and if there are many such years, that person dies charged with a multitude of venial sins which have not been blotted out because she has not even thought of them.
When such a soul appears before God to be judged there is scarcely a spark of love left in that soul when she comes to render an account of her life to Him who demands it back from her. Such all but sterile lives have to be begun all over again, when they reach this place of expiation. Lives lived without love for God will have to be atoned for here in Purgatory with intense sufferings. Whilst on earth, they did not profit by the mercy of God, but lived merely for the sake of the body. Now to regain their first splendor, they have to make satisfaction to the last farthing. That is what happens to indifferent souls. For souls of greater guilt, it is far worse.
Try to love God now so much that you will not have to come here in order to learn how to love Him through sufferings which are without merit. The sufferings and trials on earth are meritorious, therefore, do not lose one of them - but above all, love. Love wipes out many faults and makes one avoid them so as not to give pain to the One we love. That is why a soul that really loves Jesus is constantly on its guard to avoid everything that would grieve His Divine Heart. There are many souls in Purgatory depending on you to deliver them from this place of suffering. Pray with all your heart for them.
1881. To be a friend to Jesus on earth entails suffering of body and soul. The more He loves a soul, the more He shares with it the sorrow He endured for us. Happy is the soul thus privileged. What an opportunity for merit! That is the short cut to Heaven. So do not shun suffering, rather welcome it, since it unites you more intimately with Him, whom you truly love. Have I not told you before that love makes everything sweet? Sorrows appear bitter because you do not love enough. The infallible means arriving quickly at close union with Jesus is love, but love united to suffering. You have had up to this time many crosses and yet you do not love them as Jesus wants you to.
If only you were aware how beneficial sufferings are for the soul! They are the most tender caresses which the Divine Spouse can give to her whom He wishes to unite more closely to Himself. He sends to that favored soul cross upon cross, suffering upon suffering, in order to detach itself from this world. Then He can speak to her heart. What passes during these celestial communications! You would know if only you desired it. Jesus is holding back all the graces which He will upon you, until He sees you prepared and fit to receive them. Our Lord wishes you to act for Him alone and to direct all your actions to His greatest glory, to make Him the confidant of all your joys and sorrows. Do not do the least thing without asking for His advice and guidance, and wish for no other recompense in all you do than just His love alone. You attempted do this several years ago! You the said to Him, " My Jesus, may I never meet with any gratitude on earth for the little good I may do. You alone is enough for." How does this request appear to you now? Has it been fulfilled? Jesus never allows Himself to be outdone in generosity. You will experience that. You may know also that it is not so much your prayers that will obtain eternal joy for me, as will your actions done perfectly and in close union with Jesus. Be assured that He has great designs for your soul when He sent me to you in this way. If I could only tell you all that I know regarding this matter. How great is the love of Jesus for you! What kindness, what consideration He has shown you, and He is not discouraged by your indifference. How cold and forgetful you are sometimes towards so good a God!
Ask His pardon for all these shortcomings and respect Him as the most loving Father. Do not fear to importune Him. I like ego see more confidence in your soul. Always try to please Him, from the time you awake in the morning until night, without ever listening to your own nature.
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In Purgatory our only consolation, our only hope is in God alone. On earth, God sometimes allows us to be consoled in our sufferings of soul or body by the heart of a friend, but then again if the love of Jesus does not fill that heart, the consolations are vain. Here the souls are lost, drowned as it were, in the Divine Will and God alone can soften their pains. Each soul is tormented according to its guilt, but all have one common sorrow that surpasses the rest, the absence of Jesus who is our very element, our life, our all. And we are separated from Him through our own fault.
After an action you must not waste your time going over it to examine if you have done well or ill. Certainly you must examine your actions each day to be able to do better in the future, but this must not be at the expense of the soul.
God loves simple souls. You must go to Him, therefore, with good will, always ready to sacrifice yourself to please Him. You must act with Jesus as a little child does with its mother, trusting in His goodness and placing all your spiritual and temporal interest with great confidence in His Divine Hands. Having done this, try to please Him in everything without troubling yourself about anything else. God does not regard great acts or heroic deeds as much as He does simple actions or small sacrifices, provided these are done with love for Him.
Sometimes even a tiny sacrifice, which was known only to God and to the soul, may be far more meritorious than a great one that was loudly applauded. One must be very interior on order not to take for oneself any of the praise given one. God seeks souls empty of self so as to fill them with His love. He finds but a few. Self-love leaves no place for Jesus. Do not let any opportunity to mortify self pass by, especially interior mortification. Jesus has many graces to give you during Lent. Therefore, prepare yourself by a redoubling of your fervor, but above all, love Jesus. He is so little loved by the world and so outraged by it.
The Blesses Virgin loves you very much. On your part love her with all your heart and do all you can to procure her the greatest possible glory.
You will never be able to understand well enough the goodness of God. I people only took the trouble to think about it sometimes, it would be enough to make them all saints, but they do not sufficiently know the merciful goodness of the Heart of Jesus in the world. Each one measures it according to his way of thinking and this way is wrong. This is the reason why they pray badly. Yes, very few people pray as Jesus wants them to pray. They are wanting in confidence and yet Jesus only grants our prayers according to the ardor of our desires and the strength of our love. This is why the graces we often ask remain ineffective.
To be happy in religion we should be deaf, dumb and blind. That is to say, we must hear many things that we could repeat but which are far better kept to ourselves. We shall never be sorry for having kept silent. We are obliged to see and hear many things and to act as if we had neither seen nor understood.
Oh, if only you knew how paltry these little nothings are about which some make such a fuss. The devil makes use of these little straws to check the progress of a soul and obstruct all the good that she is called to do. Do not lest yourself be caught in these meshes. Have a large heart and pass over all these little miseries without even noticing them. Jesus should be a sufficient attraction for you to prevent your being hindered by anything whatsoever outside of Him. See everything as coming from His bounty, whether He afflicts or consoles you. It is His love that arranges everything for the benefit of His friends. Never allow yourself to be discouraged. In a few hours, or even in the twinkling of an eye, Jesus could bring you the summit of perfection which He desires for you. But no, He prefers your own effort s and He wants you to see for yourself how hard and rugged is the way to perfection.
Be very generous. Jesus has bestowed more graces on you than on many others and He will give you still more, but in return He hopes to find in you a soul devoted to Him and ready for any sacrifice.
Above all, He wants of you great love, and when you have fought against yourself and your failings and acted in a spirit of profound faith, then faith will seem a reality. Before this can take place, you must act as if Jesus were always visibly present to you in a natural way, whereas His presence is supernatural.
Preachers and directors of souls do good only in proportion to their union with Jesus. In their spirit of prayer and in watching over their interior, they must always have their eyes directed towards Jesus, sacrificing all for the salvation of the souls entrusted to their care.
Sister Mary of the Cross: “Are the promises made to those who recite the rosary of St. Michael true?”
The promises are real, but you need not think that people who recite it out of routine and without any pains to become holy are taken out of Purgatory at once. That would be false. St. Michael does more than he promises, but he is not over anxious to relieve those who are condemned to a long Purgatory. Certainly as a reward for their devotion to the Archangel their sufferings are shortened, but as to delivering them at once, not so. I, who used to say it, can serve as an example of this. Immediate deliverance takes place only in the case of those who worked with courage at their perfection and who have little to expiate in Purgatory.
France is indeed very guilty, but unfortunately she is not the only one. At this moment there is not a single Christian kingdom that is not openly or by underhanded means trying to expel God from its midst. The secret societies and their master, the devil, are tormenting and stirring all this trouble.
This is now the hour of the prince of darkness. While he is in power he may do his worst, but God will show that He alone is Master. He may use severity to manifest His power, but even in His vengeance, Jesus is yet always merciful.
By the permission of God we in Purgatory know what is happening on earth at this moment so that we may pray for those great needs, but only our prayers alone will not suffice. I f Jesus could only find some really good souls who were willing to make reparation and disarm His outraged Majesty, it would indeed please His Divine Heart now deluged by so much bitterness. Such souls might obtain His mercy, since God desires to pardon those who humble themselves. Tell this to the Mother Superior.
St. Michael will intervene in the personal struggle of the Church which is so terribly persecuted, but not so easily destroyed as the wicked think. It is he who is also the special patron of France and who will help her to take rank as the eldest daughter of the Church, because notwithstanding all the wickedness that is committed in France, there is still much good and so many devoted souls there. I do not know when St. Michael will intervene; you must pray very much for this intention. Invoke the Archangel, remind him of his titles and beseech him to intercede with Christ, over whose Heart he has such influence. But be sure that the Blessed Virgin is not forgotten. France is her kingdom, privileged over all others. She will save it. Those who promote the recitation of the Rosary everywhere deserve praise. It is this prayer that is the efficacious in the present time of need.
The heroic act is very pleasing to God and of great help to the souls in Purgatory, and very helpful to the generous souls who make it. By giving up a part of their merits, they do not lose but actually gain.
As for the plenary indulgences, I may as well tell you that few, very few people gain them entirely. There has to be such a wonderful disposition of heart and will that is rare, much rarer than you think it is, to have the entire remission of one's faults. In Purgatory, we receive only the indulgences applied to us by the way of suffrage, as God permits according to our dispositions.
It is true that we have no inclination to sin, but we are no longer in the reign of Mercy but under that of Divine Justice, so that we receive only what God wants us to have. When a soul is near the objects of its desires, namely Heaven, it may be delivered and admitted to eternal joy by the efficacy of one plenary indulgence well gained, or even gained only in half and applied to its intentions, but for other souls it is not so. They often during life despised or made little use of indulgences, and God who is always just, rewards them according to their works. They gain something, as it pleases God, but hardly ever the full benefit of the indulgence.
May 1880. Work without ceasing and with all your strength at your own perfection. If you want to, you can become what Jesus wishes you to be, for you have enough strength of character to overcome all the difficulties which stand in your way of your union with Him. Your life will be a continual martyrdom, but a martyrdom in which you will nevertheless taste the sweetest joys. When a soul suffers, He for whom she suffers gives her at each sacrifice, each renunciation, a fresh grace which encourages her to go steadily onward in her devotedness. Nothing gives Jesus greater pleasure that to see a soul that notwithstanding all the obstacles which obstruct her path, forces herself to be very more and more devoted in procuring the glory of God and promoting His love.
You are sad in seeing how God is insulted in Paris, but those poor people do not know what they are doing, in spite of all their blasphemies. Jesus is more outraged by the sins of those consecrated to Him than by the more violent crimes of those who are not His friends. How many souls whom Jesus has called to perfection remain always worthless because they have not corresponded to Divine Grace. One must put oneself out and constantly check and keep oneself up to a very high standard to be happy in God's service. How very few interior souls there are in the world, and even in religious communities. Each one seeks her own ease and comfort and refuses to be inconvienced in the smallest thing. And yet God would be so happy (if one may so speak ) if they would only love Him without constraint and with all their hearts. If He could only find such joy in this community, what innumerable graces He would shower upon it. For yourself, work your hardest at self-conquest and at loving Jesus, which He has been seeking from you for such a long time. Jesus desires that you should love Him with a love of a child, that is, with the tenderness with which a child seeks to give pleasure to beloved parents. You are still so cold towards Jesus and this is not what He expects of you when He in turn loves so much.
August 1880. There are numbers of useless actions, many days futile, without any love for Jesus or purity of intention. They are all lost since they have no value for Heaven.You do not direct your intention with the purity that God wills. For instance, instead of offering up your intentions vaguely, you could do so with much more fruit, if you only made your intention more definite. When you take your meals for example, say, " O my Jesus nourish my soul with your Divine Grace while I nourish my body." When you wash your face and hands say, "My Jesus, purify my soul as I am purifying my body," and so on, for each f your actions. Accustom yourself to be always speaking heart to heart with Jesus, and let Him be the mainspring of all you do and say. Do you understand me?
You must never excuse yourself. What difference does it make to you whether others think you guilty if you are innocent? And if you see that you have failed in any way, humble yourself and keep silence. Never excuse yourself even in your own thoughts.
September 2nd - Retreat. You told the Father this morning that it annoyed you very much to hear me and that you would prefer to be like everyone else. During the year you wrote the same thing to him and you have often said the same to Mother Superior. Why do you fret like this? Is it not God who allows everything? It has nothing to do with you. Try to profit by these graces and stop complaining. You have not yet heard all that you will hear and you have not yet seen all that you will see. Tell that to your Father and tell him also that I am not the devil. He does not think so. It is only you who have these fears. Calm yourself and profit from this retreat. From this moment you must change absolutely. Do not give way to all these reflections thinking only about yourself. That is self-love and nothing else. Instead open your heart to grace, cling to Jesus and do not waste your precious time in wondering why this and why that.
God plans to give you great graces, and to him also whom He has sent to you to tell you what He wants from you. Adore His designs without seeking to understand them. The Father will say many things in the sermons which are for you, though he will not think of that. Jesus allows this; therefore, profit by this holy retreat for it will be decisive for you.
It is only those actions done with great love and under the eye of God, wishing to do His Holy Will, that will receive their reward immediately, without the soul passing through Purgatory. What great blindness these is in the world about all this.
November. The retreat is finished for all the rest, but for you it must not finish at all. You must go on with it all the year and always in your heart, even in the midst of your most absorbing occupations. Have your own little cell where you can recollect yourself and speak heart to heart with Jesus and never lose sight of Him. Last year you were you much distracted. Now it must be so no longer. You have promised God and you have also promised the Father that you are going to begin a new life. You must then, keep your word at any price. It will cost you effort, but will it cost you less later on? No, alas, everything passes by so quickly and you, like the rest, do not pay attention to this. Jesus has been pursuing you for such a long time, surely you will not refuse to abandon yourself entirely into His hands after all the graces He has showered upon you? If you would only let Him have His way, you would become a saint and He wants you to be a great saint. Has the Father not told you again during these days, in the same name of God, that there is no middle course for you? How many people have already told you the same thing and you are indifferent, though these warnings should have been sacred to you. It seems to me that this time you have paid more attention to and have been more impressed by this word, again repeated to you. Think often about it, for it is very serious. I have told you that Jesus is waiting for a small effort on your part and He will do the rest. Be very generous. What could you not obtain from God if only you were what He wants you to be. What a close union He desires to have with your soul. What joys He has in store for you, if only you knew how good Jesus is to you. Often reflect upon the choice gifts bestowed on you. Mother Superior told you that it was especially for you and that she asked for the same Father this year for the retreat, and you did not believe her. Nevertheless it was true. She followed the inspiration given her by God, who wished you to know the Father better and also that he should know you better. Profit by this grace, which will not be the last. Put into practice all he tells you to do. You are free, so open up to him your heart so that he may read it like a book. If he only knew you as I do. One does not know you at first sight; it takes time.
All those thoughts you had yesterday were diabolical. The devil will do his utmost to hinder the good that will be done in spite of him. Cherish most gratefully all the graces of the retreat and never lose sight of them. Do not be afraid to sacrifice yourself morning to night in order to do God's will. He will reward you magnificently.
Sister Mary of the Cross: “Why was I so thrilled when I heard the Father's first words?”
That was already the prelude to the graces which you were to receive during the retreat. There are certain attractions between souls which are not understood here on earth. God has made the soul of that Father and yours for each other, and that is why you were so impressed when he spoke and you will often experience the same sentiment in the future. Pray much for this Father, whom Jesus has given you to help you to raise your soul to Him. He needs stronger and higher graces than most people, in order not to be discouraged. In his work he meets with repulsive and tiring days that impose upon his nature. His life is hard and penitential. You must help him by your prayers. So far you have done so but it is not enough. You must offer up your works and some of your exterior sufferings, some of your sacrifices, in a word, unite his intentions to all you do and unite yourself with his works.
Jesus has great designs upon him as he has also upon you, for this reason He allows you to speak to him and open your heart to him. Regard him as your father and be submissive to him as a true child, and God will be pleased. Do not be disturbed because I say all this to you. You have been carrying out most of what I said to you. I had to tell you this and you must repeat it to the Father. Do you hear me?
This retreat has been very pleasing to God and very profitable to souls. It is with joy that Jesus sees the souls of religious turning to Him and seeking Him as their one end. It is for this that Jesus calls into His service, but how easy it is on earth to forget what is most sacred.
A good retreat helps souls to renew their first fervor and this is what happened in the one you have just made. It has greatly consoled the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
What are the few moments we have to pass on earth compared to eternity? At the hour of death, you will not find that you have done too much. Be very generous, do not listen to yourself but always look at the goal to which Jesus calls you. That is sanctity, pure love. Then go forward and never look back. Great crosses, crosses that often break the heart, so to say, are the portion of God's own friends.
You recently complained to Jesus that He sent you very many sorrows this year. It is true, but why do you find these crosses so heavy? It is because you do not love enough, and yet, you have not come to the end of your trials. Those that you have had up to now are only the forerunners of what you may expect. Did I not tell you that you would suffer always in body and in soul, and often in both together? There is no holiness without suffering. When you allow grace to work freely in you, when Jesus really reigns over your will and you allow Him to be absolute master of your whole being, then, no matter how heavy the crosses are, you will not feel their weight. Love will absorb everything, but until that time comes you will suffer, and suffer much, because the soul does not for one minute detach itself from everything so as to act only for pure love. God sees your efforts with pleasure. Oh, if only He were better known and understood on earth. But no, He is forgotten. At least, do you love Him and console Him.
Let your efforts always grow in intensity so as to give Him more pleasure. Work hard without relaxing, so that you may soon reach the degree of sanctity that He desires of you.
September 16th. You are a little more satisfied with yourself these last few days, and so is Jesus, because you are making efforts to please Him and to become more closely united to Him. But do not think that it is as yet completed. It is but a tiny beginning of the union He desires to have with your soul. Oh, how little people on earth understand what a degree of detachment Jesus demands of a soul whom He wishes to make all His own. People think they love and will soon become saints because they feel a little more sensible devotion than usual, but all these natural devotions are as nothing. A soul must rise up and detach itself from its self-love, its passions, in order to free itself from all human love. It is hard, and how few there are who understand what all this means. You who, by the great mercy of God, do understand a little of it, you whom He loves so much, begin to follow His path of self-denial and death to yourself. Think often of all the marks of His love Jesus has given to you. Consider how far He went to seek you and how He smoothed away all the obstacles in your path. He has done more for you than for anyone else. Each day He loads you with His choicest graces. Just reflect how generous He has been to you these last days. In return, He expects great generosity on your part, more than from others whom He has not blessed so richly and from whom He does not expect such a high degree of perfection. From you He expects a surrender of self as proof against all trials and above all, great love.
Your whole heart and soul must be submerged in Him, so that you do nothing except what is His pleasure. Rise above earthly things and your surroundings to lose yourself entirely in His will. You must strive never to lose sight of Him even for a moment. Do not think that for this reason you will be so absorbed as not to be able to attend to your duties. You will experience the very opposite, that the soul must closely be united to Jesus will be the one most exact in all her duties, since Jesus, whom she loves, acts for her. He is, so to say, only one with her. Thus you see that she is ably helped and directed an all she ha to do.
It is only recollected souls who will have any influence for the good around them. Things done differently have no value. The soul that is united to Jesus is the only one that has power over His Heart. She is mistress there and He refuses her nothing. I have many things to tell you on this subject but you would not understand them now. We must wait for the moment willed by God. If you wish it, it will not be long in coming. Jesus has such a great desire to unite Himself entirely to you, more than you can ever understand, and He wishes it more than ever at this moment. Be very attentive in watching over yourself.
It is true that Mother Superior has suffered much these last few days, but one day of great suffering such as she sometimes endures is far more profitable for her soul and for all the community then ten days or more of good health in which she is able to go about and do all the duties of her office.
September 29th. Yes, I did know all the suffering of your Father. That is why, when you asked me if he had gotten over his fatigue, I said , "no," and nothing more. I did not want to worry you. You would have been upset knowing him to be in such sorrow and, as you were thinking of him more than usual before God, evidently by inspiration, I thought it better that he himself should tell you all the heartbreaks he has been enduring. Jesus will remember all of it. The souls he is suffering for are at present in Purgatory but for a short time only. Among them is the priest whom Jesus wants to reward, also there are two young men whom He wanted to save, by taking them out of the world where the best can so easily be corrupted. Tell him to be consoled in thinking that Jesus loves very much and keeps a special place for him in His Sacred Heart, in preference to many others. It is there that he must go in spirit to rest and renew his strength of soul, so as to carry on what he has undertaken to do for His Divine Master.October 2nd. Say many times a day, "My God, fulfill in me all Thy designs and grant that I may never place any obstacles in the way by any act of mine. My Jesus, I will what Thou willest, because Thou willest it, as Thou willest it."
Sunday, October 3rd. If only it were given you to understand with what scorn and indifference Jesus is treated on earth, not only by the world in general, but how He is insulted, mocked and held in derision even by those who ought to love Him. Such indifference is found even in religious communities of men and women, His chosen people, where He ought to be treated as a Friend, a Father, a spouse. Often He does not even receive the consideration shown to a stranger. This indifference is found also among the clergy, at present more than at any other time. He is treated as an equal by those who should tremble at the thought of the awful and august mission with which they have been entrusted. The most sacred reality is often treated with coldness and boredom. How many are there who have the interior spirit? I can assure you that there are but a few. Here in Purgatory the priests who are expiating their indifference and their want of love are numerous. Their culpable negligence must be atoned for in the midst of fire and torture of all kinds. You can judge from this that God whim is so good and loving to all His creatures finds few who love and console Him.
Alas, there are few. That is the sorrow of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the ingratitude of His own. Yet His Sacred Heart is full of overflowing love and seeks only to share it. He wants to find some souls bereft of self so as to overpower them with His love, more than He has as yet done for anyone. Oh, how little Jesus is understood on earth, and how little are His mercy and His love understood! People try to seek everything except that which gives real happiness. How pitiable!
You must never be irritated, exteriorly or interiorly. Strive to avoid all annoyances, whether occasioned by the awkwardness or malice of others. Always remain calm. Why get upset because of someone else's fault? It does not improve matters, but rather makes two faults instead of one.
October 14th - During my thanksgiving after Holy Communion. The least infidelity on your part, a slight forgetfulness, the least indifference towards Jesus is very painful to Him and hurts His loving Heart far more than any injury from an enemy. Be very careful in examine yourself, do not omit anything. Let Jesus be able to come with joy to rest in your heart, so that you may be able to console Him for all the grief with which He is overwhelmed by the world. Act towards Him s to the best of fathers, the most devoted of spouses. Console Him, repair by your love and tenderness the injuries He received daily. You must take His interests and glory greatly to heart. Forget yourself in His presence and be quite sure that in doing so your interests will becomes His and He will do far more for you that if you bothered yourself about them.
October 16th. It is useless for you to worry about the souls entrusted to you, to reprove them or to try to make them a little more spiritually inclined. You will only succeed in as far as you yourself are spiritual. It is only through the overflow of your own piety that you can put it into their hearts. If you yourself are not what you ought to be, if you are not closely united with Jesus, your words will reach their ears but will not enter into their hearts, and so your effort will not be fruitful. Do you see how good it is to be united to Jesus? That is the only true happiness on earth.
November, 1880. When you have to reprove anyone who has committed a small or even a grave fault, do so with great gentleness. Be firm when the fault demands it, say few words, and never speak when in a passion, for then the reproof will harm the soul of both the one receiving it and the one giving it.
Avoid calling attention to former faults, especially when correcting children. This is the common mistake and very displeasing to God, and those who do it are wrong. How do they know that it has not already been pardoned? Then why refer to it again? God has not set such an example. Our own sins should constantly humble us and we should weep over them in bitterness of our hearts before the Lord, but we should never refer to the past sins of another.
A Christian soul, and above all a religious soul, to be pleasing in the sight of Our Lord, will treat her neighbor as she expects our Lord to treat her. Remember this well and when the opportunity comes, practice it faithfully.
Do not let the duties, cares or worries of life, take so much of your time, so as to prevent you from uniting yourself each moment to Jesus, and from knowing and fulfilling His holy will.
If you have any difficulty, accept it with resignation because it is permitted by Our Lord who, from the evil He permits, knows how to draw the greatest good. Kneel before the Tabernacle and there offer to Jesus the trials of your soul, which at times almost seem unbearable. His Heart will lighten everything. If, on the contrary, you have some joy, especially that happiness which one tastes occasionally in the service of God, accept it in the spirit of humility and gratitude, and remember that the earth is not a place of rest but rather a land of exile, of hard work, and of all kinds of sufferings. Accept all things with a tranquil spirit, letting nothing interfere with your goal. Your only satisfaction, your whole rest must be found in Jesus alone. You must only act for Him, His love must sustain your courage and you can never do enough for so loving a God. The more you detach yourself from earthly things, the more will Jesus shower His choicest graces and Divine caresses upon you. You will often feel quite indifferent to things that formally attracted you. God in His mercy permits this because He loves you and gradually wants you to wean you from material things. That is the way God proceeds with souls to become weary of things that are not for His interest, and they experience an aversion for all things that do not serve God's purpose. God permits this to empty their hearts of everything human, so that He may occupy them and fill them with His grace and love.
November. On days when you receive Communion at the first Mass, take only a little breakfast before eight o'clock, say about three minutes. I am telling you this because Our Lord would like to prolong your thanksgiving. This would give you an extra quarter of an hour, besides your usual quarter, and you would then have more time to converse with Jesus since you have so many things to tell Him. And so the second quarter would be spent for Him alone. Continue in like manner during the Little Hours and during the greater part of the Mass. Ask Mother Superior's permission to do this. How many more graces would you receive! By a special favor the Sacred Species remain with you after Communion for a long time. Spend these happy moments in heartfelt gratitude with Him whom Heaven itself cannot contain. Thus you can obtain all that your heart desires. What love God thus shows to His poor creature, to lower Himself so as to be able to commune with her as friend to friend. During these moments, adore, thank and beg Him for help, above all make reparation for the injuries that Jesus receives from this ungrateful world of ours. He is so offended. Do love Him well. You know that He loves you. There is sufficient proof for it.
While you are still on earth, it is impossible to understand what God demands of a soul expiating its sins in Purgatory. You are under the impression that many prayers, well said, will place a soul almost at once in possession of eternal happiness. It is nothing of the kind. Who could fathom the judgments of God? Who can understand how pure a soul must be before He admits it to share His eternal happiness? Alas, if people only knew, if they would only consider it while on earth, what different lives they would lead?
Seriously reflect how many venial sins one who is careless about her eternal salvation commits in one day. How many minutes does she offer up to God? Does she think of Him seriously at all? Well, there are 365 days in one year, and if there are many such years, that person dies charged with a multitude of venial sins which have not been blotted out because she has not even thought of them.
When such a soul appears before God to be judged there is scarcely a spark of love left in that soul when she comes to render an account of her life to Him who demands it back from her. Such all but sterile lives have to be begun all over again, when they reach this place of expiation. Lives lived without love for God will have to be atoned for here in Purgatory with intense sufferings. Whilst on earth, they did not profit by the mercy of God, but lived merely for the sake of the body. Now to regain their first splendor, they have to make satisfaction to the last farthing. That is what happens to indifferent souls. For souls of greater guilt, it is far worse.
Try to love God now so much that you will not have to come here in order to learn how to love Him through sufferings which are without merit. The sufferings and trials on earth are meritorious, therefore, do not lose one of them - but above all, love. Love wipes out many faults and makes one avoid them so as not to give pain to the One we love. That is why a soul that really loves Jesus is constantly on its guard to avoid everything that would grieve His Divine Heart. There are many souls in Purgatory depending on you to deliver them from this place of suffering. Pray with all your heart for them.
1881. To be a friend to Jesus on earth entails suffering of body and soul. The more He loves a soul, the more He shares with it the sorrow He endured for us. Happy is the soul thus privileged. What an opportunity for merit! That is the short cut to Heaven. So do not shun suffering, rather welcome it, since it unites you more intimately with Him, whom you truly love. Have I not told you before that love makes everything sweet? Sorrows appear bitter because you do not love enough. The infallible means arriving quickly at close union with Jesus is love, but love united to suffering. You have had up to this time many crosses and yet you do not love them as Jesus wants you to.
If only you were aware how beneficial sufferings are for the soul! They are the most tender caresses which the Divine Spouse can give to her whom He wishes to unite more closely to Himself. He sends to that favored soul cross upon cross, suffering upon suffering, in order to detach itself from this world. Then He can speak to her heart. What passes during these celestial communications! You would know if only you desired it. Jesus is holding back all the graces which He will upon you, until He sees you prepared and fit to receive them. Our Lord wishes you to act for Him alone and to direct all your actions to His greatest glory, to make Him the confidant of all your joys and sorrows. Do not do the least thing without asking for His advice and guidance, and wish for no other recompense in all you do than just His love alone. You attempted do this several years ago! You the said to Him, " My Jesus, may I never meet with any gratitude on earth for the little good I may do. You alone is enough for." How does this request appear to you now? Has it been fulfilled? Jesus never allows Himself to be outdone in generosity. You will experience that. You may know also that it is not so much your prayers that will obtain eternal joy for me, as will your actions done perfectly and in close union with Jesus. Be assured that He has great designs for your soul when He sent me to you in this way. If I could only tell you all that I know regarding this matter. How great is the love of Jesus for you! What kindness, what consideration He has shown you, and He is not discouraged by your indifference. How cold and forgetful you are sometimes towards so good a God!
Ask His pardon for all these shortcomings and respect Him as the most loving Father. Do not fear to importune Him. I like ego see more confidence in your soul. Always try to please Him, from the time you awake in the morning until night, without ever listening to your own nature.
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