Luisa Post-it, 'souls of all kinds'

   

Post-it
Souls of all kinds
the ones sleepy with love
the ignorant of love
the crazy of love
the learned of love
... what interests me the most

      And Jesus added: “I make souls of all kinds: I make the ones sleepy with love, the ignorant of love, the crazy of love, the learned of love.  But, of all this, do you know what interests me the most?  That everything be love.  Anything else which is not love is worth not even a glance.” 

July 23, 1912

The heart must be empty of everything.

Finding myself with my always lovable Jesus, I was lamenting to Him because, in addition to His privations, I also felt my poor heart insensitive, cold, and indifferent to everything, as if it no longer had life.  What a pitiful state mine is!  And even so, I myself am unable to cry over my misfortune.  ‘Since I myself am unable to have compassion for myself - You, have compassion for this heart, which You have loved so much, and which You intended so firmly to receive.’ 

And Jesus: “My daughter, do not afflict yourself for something that deserves no affliction.  Instead of having compassion for these laments and for your heart, I am pleased and I say to you:

‘Rejoice with Me, because I have made a complete purchase of your heart.  And since you no longer feel anything of your very contentment and of the life of your heart, I alone come to enjoy your contentment and your very life.’ 

“You must know that when you do not feel anything from your heart, I draw your heart into my Heart and I keep at rest, in sweet sleep, while I enjoy it.  If you do feel it, then the enjoyment is together.  If you let Me act, after I have given you rest in my Heart and enjoyed it from you, I will come to rest in you and I will make you enjoy the contentment of my Heart.”

“Ah, my daughter, this state is necessary for you, for Me and for the world.  For you: if you had been awake, you would have suffered very much in seeing the chastisements which I am sending now, and the others which I will send.  Therefore, it is necessary to put you to sleep so as not to make you suffer so much.  It is necessary for Me: how much I would have suffered had I not made you content - had I not condescended to what you wanted, since you would not permit Me to send chastisements.  So, it was necessary to put you to sleep.  In certain sad times, with necessity of chastisements, it is necessary to choose ways in the middle in order to be less unhappy.  It is necessary for the world: if I wanted to pour Myself out with you and make you suffer as a lance used to do - and therefore making you content by sparing the world the chastisements - faith, religion, salvation, would be banished even more from the world, especially considering how souls are disposed in these times.  Ah, my daughter, let Me act, whether I have to keep you awake or asleep.  Did you not tell Me to do with you whatever I wanted?  Do you perhaps want to withdraw your word?” 

And I: ‘Never, O Jesus!  Rather, I fear that I have become bad, and because of this I feel I am in this state.’ 

And Jesus: “Listen, my daughter, is it perhaps that some thought, affection or desire which is not for Me has entered into you?  If this were the case, you should fear; but if this is not, it is a sign that I keep your heart in Me and I make it sleep.  The time will come - it will come - when I will have it wake up; then you will see that you will take the attitude of before, and since you will have been at rest, this attitude will be greater.” 

Then He added: “I make souls of all kinds: I make the ones sleepy with love, the ignorant of love, the crazy of love, the learned of love.  But, of all this, do you know what interests me the most?  That everything be love.  Anything else which is not love is worth not even a glance.” 

   

Padre Pio Stigmata and Luisa Piccarreta Mystic

COMMENT:   
Thoughts -comparative mystics.
 Luisa's writings at the insistence of Jesus described the experiences of  of learning the Creation, the Redemption and Sanctification at the Divine Will of the Saviour.
Padre Pio's is a very different mystic in the dramatizing the stigmata and the letters limited,
........

Padre Pio, Luisa Piccarreta, and the Divine Will Part 1  www.divinewill.cc/padrepio_luisa.htm  

“He knew and loved Luisa and her Writings”—an interview with Adriana Palotti.

Adriana Pallotti is a wonderful lady who lives in San Giovanni Rotondo (Foggia, Italy),where she founded the “House of Prayer for the Kingdom of the Divine Will.” She is originally from Modena (Northern Italy), but she moved to San Giovanni Rotondo many years ago, “...to live close to Padre Pio...”, as she says. Padre Pio, then, became her Confessor and Spiritual Director.

In San Giovanni Rotondo, she attended the Cenacles of Federico Abresch on the Divine Will, when Luisa was still alive. During the 40's , Federico Abresch became a close friend and disciple of Luisa. He used to visit her house and learn, directly from her and from her manuscripts, of the Sublime Truths of Living in the Divine Will. He exchanged frequent correspondence with Luisa.

In the following interview, made in 1994, on the occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the passage into Heaven of Luisa Piccarreta, Miss Adriana Pallotti gives clear testimony on the fact that Padre Pio knew and loved Luisa and her Writings. She also gives wonderful testimony on the conversion of Federico Abresch through Padre Pio, on the First “Divine Will” Cenacle in the San Giovanni Rotondo, and on direct and specific comments of Padre Pio regarding the spreading of the writings of Luisa.

I was surprised upon seeing that the lunch of Luisa consisted of just 4 or 5 orecchiette 

[pasta with the shape of “little ears", typical food from Puglia] and a few grapes, which I myself had brought an hour before. Everything was placed on a little plate. After my aunt put grated cheese on it, she told me: “Take it to Luisa.”

Surprised by this strange meal, I brought the food to the little room of Luisa. She welcomed me with a smile, placed the plate on the appropriate bed table, made the sign of the cross, and began to eat. Feeling my state of amazement, Luisa smiled at me again, then took a grape and offered it to me. When Luisa finished her lunch (so to speak), she rang a little bell, and soon my aunt appeared,

Padre Pio and Luisa Piccarreta

Padre Pio and Luisa Piccarreta

carrying a little tray in her hands. Here began the scene, which I will never be able to forget: Luisa brought up everything in a strange way; I say this, because I felt no repugnance; on the contrary, a strange fragrance diffused throughout the room. Then, removing the little bed table, my aunt closed the shutters and said:“Come Peppino, let’s go eat, for Luisa has to sleep.” My aunt brought to the table the food brought up by Luisa, and there it remained

during our lunch. I counted the orecchiette – they were six, and all the grapes, whole and bright – precisely eleven.

+

MYSTICS
      www.ewtn.com/padrepio/mystic/stigmata.htm
 

Stigmata On the morning of the 20th September 1918, after having celebrated Holy Mass, the priest Padre Pio retired to the choir stalls for his usual thanksgiving. The place was S. Giovanni Rotondo and the church, Our Lady of Grace. Outside in the small piazza the morning was similar to most other mornings on the Gargano. The friary, lying at the foot of the mountain, high above the village, seemed isolated and remote, altogether cut off from the world. Peace and quiet hung heavy in the mountain air filling the huge spaces with indescribable serenity and calm. Chirpings of birds, muted and subdued, coming as if from far off and the monotonous drone of myriad flying insects were sounds to accentuate the silence of the place. They adorned but did not disturb it. Already the clear lines of morning were fading and merging into the heat of midday. High up, a blazing sun seared the massive garganic granite, sending all creatures hurrying to the cool oasis of shuttered rooms. Only a few old folk long accustomed to this midday furnace moved slowly about, entering the small church to say their devotions, then emerging and making their way across to the ancient yew-tree dominating the middle of the piazza to rest silently in its shadow. A day like other September days with little hint that it could be any different from those which had preceded it or from those which must assuredly follow it. For the young priest, however, just then kneeling in the chapel of the church, this morning was to be very different, a fateful morning like no other, containing within it a destiny, a summons whose imperious and exalted demands he would attempt to fulfill to the end. Here inside the church the silence was very great. Not a sound penetrated the thick walls from outside as P. Pio, oblivious to everything except the memory of his recent Mass, slowly prostrated in loving adoration before the outspread, bloodied figure on the crucifix. With that marvelous facility possessed by the mystics by which all external objects are abandoned he withdrew into himself, his spirit yielding to the peacefulness which invaded his whole being, a peacefulness, he later wrote, "similar to a sweet sleep". In this absolute silence he prayed, mind and heart totally wrapped in the burning love which consumed him like some incurable fever. A sweet calm heralding the forthcoming storm. What happened next can best be told in the simple, unadorned words of P. Pio writing to P. Benedetto little more than a month afterwards: "It all happened in a flash. While all this was taking place, I saw before me a mysterious Person, similar to the one I had seen on August 5th, differing only because His hands, feet and side were dripping blood. The sight of Him frightened me: what I felt at that moment is indescribable. 'I thought I would die, and would have died if the Lord hadn't intervened and strengthened my heart which was about to burst out of my chest. The Person disappeared and I became aware that my hands, feet and side were pierced and were dripping with blood" (Ep., V. 1, no. 5 10, p. 1094). P. Pio had just received the visible stigmata. There was nobody about. Silence settled once more round the brown robed figure now lying huddled on the floor. A long Calvary had just begun and with it the answer to a prayer: the prayer of his profound desire to identify with Christ crucified not only by participation in the priestly apostolate but in some mysterious way in that supreme immolation of Our Lord on Calvary (cf. Le Stimmate di P. Pio, G. Cruchon, SJ, Colana "Spiritualità", No. 1, p. 102). He had not desired this physical conformity and when he had recovered somewhat from the immediate experience his embarrassment was extreme: "I am dying of pain because of the wound and because of the resulting embarrassment which I feel deep within my soul. . . Will Jesus who is so good grant me this grace ? Will he at least relieve me of the embarrassment which these outward signs cause me" (Ep., V. 1, p. 1904). Not the wound, not the pain did he wish removed but only the visible signs which at the time he considered to be an indescribable and almost unbearable humiliation. Later, much later, however, he would come to love and cherish these divine marks of predilection, drawing from them that rich source of superhuman energy which from then on marked his apostolate of love and suffering. With Catherine of Siena he could truly say: "My wounds not only do not afflict my body, but they sustain and fortify it. I feel that what formerly depressed me, now invigorates me." His wounds, hitherto invisible but now manifested exteriorly, mark a definitive stage of his soul's transformation into the object loved, namely, the Lord who suffered and was crucified. For the next fifty years they would confound impartial science; their continuous and profuse effusion of blood, accompanied often by the sweetest fragrance, came to be regarded as a prolonged miracle, because, as the experts correctly state, blood for its production requires nourishment while this friar's extraordinary frugality was such as hardly to maintain the life of a small child. The remarkable nature of this miraculous gift becomes more apparent when it is considered how such loss of blood was simply inconsonant with and disproportionate to the stamina and energy with which P. Pio with ever greater activity and zeal conducted his life in all matters relating to the service of God. Such are the bald facts of P. Pio's stigmata. From his correspondence it is clear that very early in his priestly life there were, at least, indications of what eventually came to pass. Writing to P. Benedetto as early as 1911, only a year after ordination, P. Pio described a phenomenon which he had been experiencing for almost a year: "Then last night something happened which I can neither explain nor understand. In the middle of the palms of my hands a red mark appeared, about the size of a penny, accompanied by acute pain in the middle of the red marks. The pain was more pronounced in the middle of the left hand, so much so that I can still feet it. Also under my feet I can feel some pain" (Ep., V. 1, p. 234). This is his first mention of the phenomenon to his spiritual father because, as he says, he was overwhelmed with shame. He simply did not want to talk about it, hoping no doubt that it was a passing thing which would soon clear up and then be forgotten. Four years later, in 1915, his beloved P. Agostino demands certain information in the name of Jesus: When did Jesus first favour him with celestial visions ? Has Jesus made him a gift of his stigmata even though invisible? How often does he feel the crown of thorns and the scourging? P. Agostino asks these questions not out of curiosity but for the glory of God and the salvation of souls (Ep., V. 1, p. 659). In his reply to this letter P. Pio recognizes the express will of God and willingly answers all three questions. To the first he replies that Jesus began to favour "his poor creature" not very long after his novitiate (Jan. 1903 to Jan. 1904); to the second, whether Jesus made him a gift of the stigmata, the reply is affirmative and we learn that from the start the wounds were visible, especially in one hand, but that P. Pio was so terrified in the face of this phenomenon that he begged the Lord to withdraw them. From then on they did not appear again until September 1918 although their pain remained and were felt more acutely under certain circumstances and on determined days. The final question he also answers affirmatively. He experiences the pain of the crown of thorns and the scourging. How often he cannot say except that at the time of writing he has been suffering from them almost once a week for some years (cf. Ep., V. 1, p. 669). The rest is history. News of the event spread like wildfire and by the following year there began that afflux of pilgrims to the tiny friary which has not ceased since. At first in a tiny stream they came, later in the tens of thousands, flocking to glimpse this priest with the wounds of Christ, to assist at his Mass, to kiss those mittened hands and for those who could speak Italian the privilege of confessing to him. In all this, of course, there were dangers. The danger of a "personality cult"; of the possibility of self-induced wounds produced by a morbid, impressionable, temperament; the danger of fraud and deception, deliberate or otherwise, with the intent of leading a credulous faithful astray; that the stigmata was nothing more than an effect of natural causes rather than a supernatural gift; and finally, there was the dangerous possibility of preternatural and diabolic activity. In the light of this, and in retrospect, it is understandable why the Church authorities took a course of action that at the time seemed harsh and cruel but which today can be seen, at least in part, as the anvil on which P. Pio's sanctity was hammered out, put to the test and purified to become the luminous and diaphanous veil through which men glimpsed God.   [From: The Spirituality of Padre Pio, Augustine Mc Gregor, O.C.S.O., edited by Fr. Alessio Parente, OFM Cap. (San Giovanni Rotondo: Edizioni "Padre Pio of Pietrelcina" of Our Lady of Grace Monastery, 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo, FG, Italy, 1974). Used with permission of: The National Center for Padre Pio, 2213 Old Route 100, Barto, PA 19504, through which a subscription may be obtained.]

"In order to attract us, the Lord grants us many graces that we believe can easily obtain Heaven for us. We do not know, however, that in order to grow, we need hard bread: the cross, humiliation, trials and denials." Padre Pio His Spiritual LifePadre Pio and the Immaculate Heart Padre Pio and the Sacred Heart Mysticism in general Padre Pio's mysticism Bilocation and Odor of Sanctity Stigmata Poor Souls Guardian Angels Some Prayers and Meditations by Padre Pio The Man  -  The Franciscan  -  The Priest The Mystic  -  The Saint  -  Multimedia

Luisa. Repeating your ‘I love You’. Water for the tree of love - Wm.

COMMENT from William:

  

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: William ...
To: nunrawdonald    
Sent: Tuesday, 22 September 2015, 22:44
Subject: Re: Water for the tree of love - Luisa

Dear Father Donald,

"Nothing can be formed with one single action.  The actions must be repeated over and over again"..."water for the tree of love...water to nourish the divine and eternal tree of my Will"

Those words of Louisa capture thoughts from my walk today, to the rise overlooking the river, as I sat on my walking-aid-seat arrangement watching and listening to the water: the swallows and the martins sadly are flown, so my eyes focused upon the flow of the river before me, endless in its intention, its continuous flow alone maintaining it, for else would it not be but a parched hollow? Thus the effect of Grace constantly flowing into and through our lives that we may be a 'channel of love'. I cannot see the source, or its journey hereon, but know of its destination, and the appeal of the breadth and the depth of the ocean brings an expansive desire.  

(Perhaps my prayer is a twig throw into the current that may reach there to represent my desire!).

[Health] It is now the second week ....

Unsleeping, I wish I could walk before the dawn on the morrow (if not within your Abbey's cloisters) to sit again on the rise before the river and look through the cathedral of trees as their arches rise high into the air - my soul so earth-bound at present whereas their topmost branches catch the rising air!

Thank you Father, a message from Luisa...

With my love in Our Lord,

William

  

     

Sent: Tuesday, 22 September 2015, 20:38
Subject: Hymsandchants com

    Volume 18

October 4, 1925

“Repeating your ‘I love You’ for Me procures for you water for the tree of love.  Continual patience waters and nourishes the tree of patience.  Repeating your actions in my Will brings water to nourish the divine and eternal tree of my Will.  Nothing can be formed with one single action.  The actions must be repeated over and over again.  Only your Jesus contains the virtue of forming all the greatest things with one single act, because I contain the creative power.” 

    

Sent from my iPad

Book of Heaven.    

COMMENTS following Fr. Edmond's teaching on St. John's Gospel

Thanks of Mary's Comments.

Adding William's COMMENTS like Mary T.  

     COMMENTS following Fr. Edmond's teaching on St. John's Gospel                                                                                       .

Fw: The Mystical City of God

Sancta Maria Abbey: http://www.nunraw.com.uk (Website)     Blogspot :http://www.nunraw.blogspot.co.uk, Doneword :http://www.donewill.blogspot.co.uk    |domdonald.org.uk,   Emails: nunrawdonald@yahoo.com, nunrawdonald@gmail.com

----- Forwarded Message -----From: William Wardle <williamwardle2bp@btinternet.com>
To: Dom Donald.McGlynn <nunrawdonald@yahoo.com> 
Sent: Sunday, 13 September 2015, 14:43Subject: The Mystical City of God

Dear Father Donald,

What a delight, thank you!       http://www.ecatholic2000.com/agreda/mystical/city.shtml     

Link saved into my favourites along with Gabrielle Bossis and Luisa Piccarreta - such gems that you have placed before me. 

I have noticed a change in my spiritual reading desire, away from direct theology to reflection and inspiration. 

Yes, I will continue inquiry into matters biblical and theological, but am now far more drawn and at ease with mystical reflection and inspiration.

    I hope you had a good Youth event yesterday, Nunraw being a blessing to them, both destination and providing the focal point, the Mass. I imagine you will have had a large gathering for which to cater! 

[Health] Yesterday .............

So it is a joy for me today to have access to the "City of God", and the abridged version will suit me well... a lovely surprise, thank you Father.

With my love in Our Lord,

William

 

Sancta Maria Abbey: http://www.nunraw.com.uk (Website)     Blogspot :http://www.nunraw.blogspot.co.uk, Doneword :http://www.donewill.blogspot.co.uk    |domdonald.org.uk,   Emails: nunrawdonald@yahoo.com, nunrawdonald@gmail.com

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: mary mcglynn <mt.mcglynn@yahoo.co.uk>
To: Donald McGlynn <nunrawdonald@yahoo.com>
Sent: Wednesday, 16 September 2015, 20:24
Subject: Thanks

Dearest Donald, (James Aloysius)

Many thanks for your good e-mail just received. ..... 

I had great memories of our holiday pilgrimage to St. Ninian's  Cave (one year many moons ago) when I saw your photo and read the interesting article. I think Mary Pat and Eileen were also with us that day, as I remember when we were driving off  you remarked how well and quickly their car was following us. Happy days.! 

I think the Irish like the Poles love a pilgrimage and sacred places where in fact, they sense a Presence and receive blessings. John Paul  once said  "When you go on pilgrimage on foot, you pray with your feet. Even today such pilgrimages  to very distant Shrines are popular in Poland e.g. from the North of Poland to Krakow in the South. It takes several days and hospitality is offered on the way. One of the Novices told me that before she entered  a group of about 20 from her village went,stayed over a night or two and then took the train back home.   

By the way, I continue to receive so much blessing from "He and I " which you gave me a few years ago. It is truly a treasure. I have just become aware of how many times Jesus offers tips on prayer and am beginning to make a note of them.  What I love is the simplicity, humility and tender love of Jesus.  I love  Gabrielle and also Pica but this latter  is very deep and beyond me at times. 

Your Ecce/ Fiat salutation was perfect as it is very much in line with our spirituality. My first ring at Final  vows had the inscription "Ecce Ancilla Domini". A later ring had "Ecce  Fiat". 

I liked Fr. Edmond's teaching on St. John's Gospel. and have saved it for further perusal in Lent/Easter! as i am still going through your retreat talks which I find excellent..  

I hope you and all the  Brothers are keeping well, including our dear Brendan. 

As ever united in the hearts of Jesus and Mary  

Love and prayers 

Your ... sister, 

Mary fmm  XXX

THE BLESSED BIRTH OF MARY IMMACULATE in Mary of Agreda Popular Abridgment

Bl. Mary of Agreda

 

Sancta Maria Abbey: http://www.nunraw.com.uk (Website)     Blogspot :http://www.nunraw.blogspot.co.uk, Doneword :http://www.donewill.blogspot.co.uk    |domdonald.org.uk,   Emails: nunrawdonald@yahoo.com, nunrawdonald@gmail.com

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Donald Nunraw <nunrawdonald@yahoo.com>
To: Donald McGlynn <nunrawdonald@yahoo.com> 
Sent: Saturday, 12 September 2015, 15:45
Subject: Fw: Name of Mary add Mary of Agreda best for reading

 

Sancta Maria Abbey: http://www.nunraw.com.uk (Website)     Blogspot :http://www.nunraw.blogspot.co.uk, Doneword :http://www.donewill.blogspot.co.uk    |domdonald.org.uk,   Emails: nunrawdonald@yahoo.com, nunrawdonald@gmail.com

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Donald .....
To: William J. ..... 
Cc: ......
Sent: Saturday, 12 September 2015, 11:21
Subject: Fw: Name of Mary add Mary of Agreda

William, 

I found an ONLINE of  Mary of Agreda:

  ecatholic2000.com   

To surprise this is the ABRIDGED VERSION.

Not the 4 Volumes as here also on the shelf  

In haste preparing for the special YOUTH Pilgrimage at Haddington and WALKING to NunrAW at 11am and Mass later at 4pm.   

God love,

Donald

P.S. Our memorial today was St.  Peter Tarentaise.

Would have preferred Name of Mary, the octave from 8 Sept. Nativity.

Hence the interest below.

 

Sancta Maria Abbey: http://www.nunraw.com.uk (Website)     Blogspot :http://www.nunraw.blogspot.co.uk, 

Doneword :http://www.donewill.blogspot.co.uk    |domdonald.org.uk,   Emails: nunrawdonald@yahoo.com, nunrawdonald@gmail.com

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Donald ....
Sent: Saturday, 12 September 2015, 7:14
Subject: Name of Mary

Octave from Nativity 8 Sept.

Thinking of Mary of Agreda Book of God

Sent from my iPad.    

  

The Most Holy Name of Mary - Optional memorial
The Most Holy Name of Mary (Optional memorial)         St. Bernard says and we say with him: "Look to the star of the sea, call upon Mary... in danger, in distress, in doubt, think of Mary, call upon Mary. May her name never be far from your lips, or far from your heart... If you follow her, you will not stray; if you pray to her, you will not despair; if you turn your thoughts to her, you will not err. If she holds you, you will not fall; if she protects you, you need not fear; if she is your guide, you will not tire; if she is gracious to you, you will surely reach your destination."  (Pope Benedict XVI address at Heiligenkreuz Abbey, September 9, 2007) Collect Grant, we pray, almighty God, that, for all who celebrate the glorious Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary, she may obtain your merciful favor. Though our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. © Copyright 2007 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

   

Is this the full text, iPad small part.

     

City of God

Conception Book 1, Chapter 7

  ecatholic2000.com     

THE BLESSED BIRTH OF MARY IMMACULATE

The most holy Mary, being conceived without sin as described above, was entirely absorbed in spirit and entranced by her first vision of the Divinity. At the first instant, and in the narrow dwelling of the maternal womb, began the love of God in her most blessed soul, never to be interrupted, but to continue through all the eternities of that high glory, which She now enjoys at the right hand of her divine Son.

The most happy mother, holy Anne passed the days of her pregnancy altogether spiritualized by the divine operations and by the sweet workings of the Holy Ghost in all her faculties. Divine Providence, however, in order to direct her course to greater merit and reward, ordained, that the ballast of trouble be not wanting, for without it the cargo of grace and love is scarcely ever secure. In order to understand better, what happened to this holy woman, it must be remembered, that satan, after he was hurled with the other bad angels from heaven into the infernal torments, never ceased, during the reign of the old Law, to search through the earth hovering with lurking vigilance above the women of distinguished holiness, in order to find Her, whose sign he had seen (Gen. 3, 15) and whose heel was to bruise and crush his head. Lucifer’s wrath against men was so fierce, that he would not trust this investigation to his inferiors alone; but leaving them to operate against the virtuous women in general, he himself attended to this matter and assiduously hovered around those, who signalized themselves more particularly in the exercise of virtue and in the grace of the Most High.

Filled with malice and astuteness, he observed closely the exceeding great holiness of the excellent matron Anne and all the events of her life; and although he could not estimate the richness of the Treasure, which was enclosed in her blessed womb (since the Lord has concealed this as well as many mysteries from him), yet he felt a powerful influence proceeding from saint Anne. The fact that he could not penetrate into the source of this activity, threw him at times into greater fury and rage. At other times he quieted himself with the thought, that this pregnancy arose from the same causes as others in the course of nature and that there was no special cause for alarm; for the Lord left him to his own hallucinations and to the vagaries of his own fury. Nevertheless the whole event was a source of great misgiving to this perverse spirit, when he saw how quietly her pregnancy took its course and especially, when he saw, that many angels stood in attendance. Above all he was enraged at his weakness in resisting the force, which proceeded from the blessed Anne and he suspected that it was not she alone, who was the cause of it.

Filled with this mistrust, the dragon determined, if possible, to take the life of the most felicitous Anne; or, if that was impossible, to see that she should obtain little satisfaction from her pregnancy. For the pride of Lucifer was so boundless as to persuade him of his ability to overcome or take away the life of Her, who was to be the Mother of the incarnate Word, or even the life of the Messias and Redeemer of the world, if only he could obtain knowledge of their whereabouts. His arrogance was founded upon the superiority of his angelic nature to the condition and power of mere human nature; as if both were not subject to grace and entirely dependent upon the will of their Creator. Audaciously therefore he set himself to tempt holy Anne, with many suggestions, misgivings, doubts and diffidences about the truth of her pregnancy, alleging her protracted years. All this the demon attempted in order to test the virtue of the saint, and to see, whether these temptations would not afford some opening for the perversion of her will.

But the invincible matron resisted these onslaughts with humble fortitude, patience, continued prayer and vivid faith in the Lord. She brought to naught the perplexing lies of the dragon and on account of them gained only additional grace and protection from on high. For besides the protection abundantly merited by her past life She was defended and freed from the demons by the great princes, who were guarding her most holy Daughter. Nevertheless in his insatiable malice the enemy did not desist on that account; and since his arrogance and pride far exceeds his powers, he sought human aid; for with such help he always promises himself greater ease of victory. Having at first tried to overthrow the dwelling of saint Joachim and Anne, in order that she might be frightened and excited by the shock of its fall, but not being able to succeed on account of the resistance of the holy angels, he incited against saint Anne one of the foolish women of her acquaintance to quarrel with her. This the woman did with great fury, insolently attacking saint Anne with reproach and scorn; she did not hesitate to make mockery of her pregnancy, saying, that she was the sport of the demon in being thus found pregnant at the end of so many years and at so great an age.

The blessed Anne did not permit herself to be disturbed by this attack, but in all meekness and humility bore the injuries and treated her assailants with kindness. From that time on she looked with greater love upon these women and lavished upon them so much the greater benefits. But their wrath was not immediately pacified, for the demon had taken possession of them, filling them with hate against the saint; and, as any concession to this cruel tyrant always increases his power over his victims, he incited these miserable dupes to plot even against the person and life of saint Anne. But they could not put their plots into execution, because divine power interfered to foil their natural womanly weakness. They were not only powerless against the saint, but they were overcome by her admonitions and brought to the knowledge and amendment of their evil course by her prayers.

The dragon was repulsed, but not vanquished; for he immediately availed himself of a servant, who lived in the house with Joachim and Anne, and exasperated her against the holy matron. Through her he created even a greater annoyance than through the other women, for she was a domestic enemy and more stubborn and dangerous than the others. I will not stay to describe, what the enemy attempted through this servant, since it was similar to that of the other woman, only more annoying and malicious. But with the help of God saint Anne won a more glorious victory than before; for the watcher of Israel slumbered not, but guarded his holy City (Ps. 120, 4) and furnished it so well with sentinels, chosen from the strongest of his hosts, that they put to ignominious flight Lucifer and his followers. No more were they allowed to molest the fortunate mother, who was already expecting the birth of the most blessed Princess of heaven, and who, enriched by heroic acts of virtue and many merits in these conflicts, had now arrived at the fulfillment of all her highest wishes.   

         para   8-14

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  The day destined for the parturition of saint Anne and for the birth of Her, who was consecrated and sanctified to be the Mother of God, had arrived: a day most fortunate for the world. This birth happened on the eighth day of September, fully nine months having elapsed since the Conception of the soul of our most holy Queen and Lady. Saint Anne was prepared by an interior voice of the Lord, informing Her, that the hour of her parturition had come. Full of the joy of the Holy Spirit at this information, she prostrated herself before the Lord and besought the assistance of his grace and his protection for a happy deliverance. The most blessed child Mary was at the same time by divine providence and power ravished into a most high ecstasy. Hence Mary was born into the world without perceiving it by her senses, for their operations and faculties were held in suspense.

She was born pure and stainless, beautiful and full of grace, thereby demonstrating, that She was free from the law and the tribute of sin. Although She was born substantially like other daughters of Adam, yet her birth was accompanied by such circumstances and conditions of grace, that it was the most wonderful and miraculous birth in all creation and will eternally redound to the praise of her Maker. At twelve o’clock in the night this divine Luminary issued forth, dividing the night of the ancient Law and its pristine darknesses from the new day of grace, which now was about to break into dawn. She was clothed, handled and dressed like other infants, though her soul dwelt in the Divinity; and She was treated as an infant, though She excelled all mortals and even all the angels in wisdom. Her mother did not allow Her to be touched by other hands than her own, but she herself wrapped Her in swaddling clothes: and in this Saint Anne was not hindered by her present state of childbirth; for she was free from the toils and labors, which other mothers usually endure in such circumstances.

So then saint Anne received in her arms Her, who was her Daughter, but at the same time the most exquisite Treasure of all the universe, inferior only to God and superior to all other creatures. With fervent tears of joy she offered this Treasure to his Majesty, saying interiorly “Lord of infinite wisdom and power, Creator of all that exists, this Fruit of my womb, which I have received of thy bounty, I offer to Thee with eternal thanks, for without any merit of mine Thou hast vouchsafed it to me. Dispose Thou of the mother and Child according to thy most holy will and look propitiously down upon our lowliness from thy exalted throne. Be Thou eternally blessed, because Thou hast enriched the world with a Creature so pleasing to thy bounty and because in Her Thou hast prepared a dwelling–place and a tabernacle for the eternal Word (Sap. 9, 8). I tender my congratulations to my holy forefathers and to the holy Prophets, and in them to the whole human race, for this sure pledge of Redemption, which Thou hast given them. But how shall I be able to worthily to treat Her, whom Thou hast given me as a Daughter? I that am not worthy to be her servant? How shall I handle the true ark of the Testament? Give me, O my Lord and King, the necessary enlightenment to know thy will and to execute it according to thy pleasure in the service of my Daughter.”

The Lord answered the holy matron interiorly, that she was to treat her heavenly Child outwardly as mothers treat their daughters, without any demonstration of reverence; but to retain this reverence inwardly, fulfilling the laws of a true mother toward Her, and rearing Her up with all motherly love and solicitude. All this the happy mother complied with; making use of this permission and her mother’s rights without losing her reverence, she regaled herself with her most holy Daughter, embracing and caressing Her in the same way as other mothers do with their daughters. But it was always done with a proper reverence and consciousness of the hidden and divine sacrament known only to the mother and Daughter. The guardian angels of the sweet Child with others in great multitudes showed their veneration and worship to Mary as She rested in the arms of her mother; they joined in heavenly music, some of which was audible to blessed Anne. The thousand angels appointed as guardians of the great Queen offered themselves to her service. This was also the first time, in which the heavenly Mistress saw them in a corporeal form with their devises and habiliments, as I shall describe in another chapter and the Child asked them to join with Her in the praise of the Most High and to exalt Him in her name.

At the moment of the birth of our Princess Mary the Most High sent the archangel Gabriel as an envoy to bring this joyful news to the holy Fathers in limbo. Immediately the heavenly ambassador descended, illumining that deep cavern and rejoicing the just who were detained therein. He told them that already the dawn of eternal felicity had commenced and that the reparation of man, which was so earnestly desired and expected by the holy Patriarchs and foretold by the Prophets, had been begun, since She, who was to be the Mother of the Messias, had now been born; soon they would now see the salvation and glory of the Most High. The holy prince gave them an understanding of the excellence of the most holy Mary and of what the Omnipotent had begun to work in Her, in order that they might better comprehend the happy beginning of the mystery, which was to end their prolonged imprisonment. Then all the holy Patriarchs and Prophets and the rest of the just in limbo rejoiced in spirit and in new canticles praised the Lord for this benefit.

All these happenings at the birth of our Queen succeeded each other in a short space of time. The first exercise of her senses in the light of the material sun, was to recognize her parents and other creatures. The arms of the Most High began to work new wonders in Her far above all conceptions of men, and the first and most stupendous one was to send innumerable angels to bring the Mother of the eternal Word body and soul into the empyrean heaven for the fulfilling of his further intentions regarding Her. The holy princes obeyed the divine mandate and receiving the child Mary from the arms of her holy Mother Anne, they arranged a new and solemn procession bearing heavenward with incomparable songs of joy the true Ark of the covenant, in order that for a short time it might rest, not in the house of Obededon, but in the temple of the King of kings and of the Lord of lords, where later on it was to be placed for all eternity. This was the second step, which most holy Mary made in her life, namely, from this earth to the highest heaven.

Who can worthily extol this wonderful prodigy of the right hand of the Almighty? Who can describe the joy and the admiration of the celestial spirits, when they beheld this new and wonderful work of the Most High, and when they gathered to celebrate it in their songs? In these songs they acknowledged and reverenced as their Queen and Mistress, Her, who was to be the Mother of their Lord, and the source of the grace and glory, which they possessed; for it was through his foreseen merits, that they had been made the recipients of the divine bounty. But above all, what human tongue, or what mortal could ever describe or comprehend the heart–secrets of that tender Child during these events? I leave the imagination of all this to Catholic piety, and still more to those who in the Lord are favored with an understanding of it, but most of all to those who, by divine bounty shall have arrived at the beatific vision face to face.  

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   Borne by the hands of the angels the child Mary entered the empyrean heaven where She prostrated Herself full of love before the royal throne in the presence of the Most High. Then (according to our way of understanding), was verified what long before had happened in figure, when Bethsabee entered into the presence of her son Solomon, who, while presiding over his people of Israel, arose from his throne, received her with honor and reverence, and seated her at his side as queen. Similarly, but in a more glorious and admirable manner, the person of the divine Word now received the child Mary, whom He had chosen as Mother, as Queen of the universe. Although her real dignity and the purpose of these ineffable mysteries were unknown to Mary, yet her infant faculties were strengthened by divine power for the reception of these favors. New graces and gifts were bestowed upon Her, by which her faculties were correspondingly elevated. Her powers of mind, besides being illumined and prepared by new grace and light, were raised and proportioned to the divine manifestation, and the Divinity displayed Itself in the new light vouchsafed, revealing Itself to Her intuitively and clearly in a most exalted manner. This was the first time in which the most holy soul of Mary saw the blessed Trinity in unveiled beatific vision.

The sole witnesses of the glory of Mary in this beatific vision, of the sacraments then again revealed to Her, of the divine effect that overflowed into her most pure soul, was God the Author of this unheard of wonder, and the astounded angels, who in some measure perceived these mysteries in God Himself. The Queen seated at the side of the Lord, who was to be her Son, and seeing Him face to face, was more successful in her prayer than Bethsabee (III Kings 2, 21). For She prayed that He bestow the untouched Sunamite Abisag, his inaccessible Divinity, upon his sister, human nature by the hypostatic union be fulfilled in the person of the Word. Many times He had pledged Himself to it among men through the ancient Patriarchs and Prophets and now Mary besought Him to accelerate the reparation of the human race, expected for so many ages amid the multiplied iniquity and the ruin of souls. The Most High heard this most pleasing petition of his Mother, and acting more graciously than Solomon of old toward his mother, He assured Her that soon his promises should be fulfilled, and that He should descend to the world in order to assume and redeem human nature.

In this divine consistory and tribunal of the most holy Trinity it was determined to give a name to the Child Queen. As there is no proper and legitimate name, except it be found in the immutable being of God himself (for from it are participated and determined according to their right weight and measure all things in infinite wisdom) his Majesty wished himself to give and impose that name in heaven. He thereby made known to the angelic spirits, that the three divine Persons, had decreed and formed the sweet names of Jesus and Mary for the Son and Mother from the beginning before the ages, and that they had been delighted with them and had engraved them on their eternal memories to be as it were the Objects for whose service They should create all things. Being informed of these and many other mysteries, the holy angels heard a voice from the throne speaking in the person of the Father: “Our chosen One shall be called MARY, and this name is to be powerful and magnificent. Those that shall invoke it with devout affection shall receive most abundant graces; those that shall honor it and pronounce it with reverence shall be consoled and vivified, and will find in it the remedy of their evils, the treasures for their enrichment, the light which shall guide them to heaven. It shall be terrible against the power of hell, it shall crush the head of the serpent and it shall win glorious victories over the princes of hell.” The Lord commanded the angelic spirits to announce this glorious name to saint Anne, so that what was decreed in heaven might be executed on earth. The heavenly Child, lovingly prostrate before the throne, rendered most acceptable and human thanks to the eternal Being; and She received the name with most admirable and sweet jubilation. If the prerogatives and graces, which She then was favored with, were to be described, it would necessitate an extra book of many volumes. The holy angels honored and acknowledged most holy Mary as the future Mother of the Word and as their Queen and Mistress enthroned at the right hand of her Son; they showed their veneration of her holy name, prostrating themselves as it proceeded from the throne in the voice of the eternal Father, especially those, who had it written on the devises over their breast. All of them gave forth canticles of praise for these great and hidden mysteries. In the meanwhile the infant Queen remained ignorant of the real cause of all that She thus experienced, for her dignity of Mother of the incarnate Word was not revealed to Her till the time of the Incarnation. With the same reverential jubilee did the angels return in order to replace Her into the arms of holy Anne, to whom this event remained a secret, as was also the absence of her Daughter; for a guardian angel, assuming an aerial body, supplied her place for this very purpose. More than that, during a great part of the time in which the heavenly Child remained in the empyrean heaven, her mother was wrapped in ecstasy of highest contemplation, and in it, although she did not know what was happening to the Child, exalted mysteries concerning the dignity of the Mother of God, to which She was to be chosen, were revealed to her. The prudent matron kept them enshrined within her breast, conferring them in her thoughts with the duties she owed to her Child.

On the eighth day after the birth of the great Queen multitudes of most beautiful angels in splendid array descended from on high bearing an escutcheon on which the name of MARY was engraved and shone forth in great brilliancy. Appearing to the blessed mother Anne, they told her, that the name of her daughter was to be MARY, which name they had brought from heaven, and which divine Providence had selected and now ordained to be given to their child by Joachim and herself. The saint called for her husband and they conferred with each other about this disposition of God in regard to the name of their Daughter. The more than happy father accepted the name with joy and devout affection. They decided to call their relatives and a priest and then, with much solemnity and festivity, they imposed the name of MARY on their Child. The angels also celebrated this event with most sweet and ravishing music, which, however, was heard only by the mother and her most holy Daughter.

WORDS OF THE QUEEN

The Virgin Mary speaks to Sister Mary of Agreda, Spain

My admonition to thee, whom in spite of thy weakness and poverty I have chosen with such generous kindness as my disciple and companion, is this: that thou strive with all thy powers to imitate me in an exercise, in which I persevered during my whole life from the very first moment of my birth, omitting it on not a single day, however full of cares and labors it might have been. This exercise was the following: every day at the beginning of dawn, I prostrated myself in the presence of the Most High, and gave Him thanks and praise for his immutable Being, his infinite perfections, and for having created me out of nothing; acknowledging myself as his creature and the work of his hands, I blessed Him and adored Him, giving Him honor, magnificence and Divinity, as the supreme Lord and Creator of myself and of all that exists. I raised up my spirit to place it into his hands, offering myself with profound humility and resignation to Him and asking Him to dispose of me according to his will during that day and during all the days of my life, and to teach me to fulfill whatever would be to his greater pleasure. This I repeated many times during the external works of the day, and in the internal ones I first consulted his Majesty, asking his advice, permission and benediction for all my actions.