Alan of Lille, MARY the City of God

Mary in Saturday 26 September 2015
Night Office - Patristic Reading, 

   

Cistercian Fathers  Book 23

   (M) MARY; General Cistercian XII century

MARY the City of God:  on Alan of Lille

"Of you are told glorious things, O City of God”.

In order that the image of His Trinity might be found in all things, the King of Kings who rules the wind and sea and whose city is the true pole of the earth, has built for himself a three-fold city. The world is the first part, the Church is the second, and Mary, the Virgin of virgins is the third.

In a very fitting manner is the world termed a city. Any city-state is the organised assembly of various elements, among which some are in authority, others fulfil their tasks, and others are obedient. And so in the world, as in a great city, there is God who controls, angels who carry out his word, and man who is obedient. It is fitting, likewise, that the Church should be called a city for it has its hierarchy of authority. The wall of this city is the foundation of Christian faith, the mortar as the blood of the martyrs, the ramparts are the example of the saints, the fullness of charity forms its squares, while true humility is the fortification around it.

With very good reason is Mary the Virgin of all virgins spoken of as a city, for in her, reason gave commands which were put into practice by the senses and to which the flesh was obedient. In her as a city, steadfastness was the wall, self-control was the mortar, courage the rampart, and prudence the surrounding fortification. Faith formed the eastern gate through which the Sun of Justice shone on her; the southern gate was true love, open to the Holy Spirit who increased her love. Virginity was the northern gate, kecp.i.ng under control all desires; and the western gate was humility, rejecting all worldly pleasures. The river of God's grace flows so abundantly in Mary's heart and strengthens this city that it has no fear of hostile invasion. Truly can be applied to her the text, 'The waters of a river give joy to God's city.'

Within this city there is an enclosed and sealed garden, a garden well-watered, planted with trees and radiant with flowers: this is the heart of the Blessed Virgin. Here as in a garden of paradise, true virtue produces the fruit of good works; God-filled desires increase the ardour of a loving heart, and good deeds are the perfume of mutual encouragement.

Here, in this three-fold city, and in the heart of Mary, the King of Kings has made his dwelling place among the sons of men.

PL.210; col.200B - 201B

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia

Alanus_de_Insulis_(Alain_de_Lille).
Woodcut._Wellcome

Alanus ab Insulis (Alain de Lille).

Alain de Lille (or Alanus ab Insulis) (c. 1128 – 1202/1203) was a French theologian and poet. He was born in Lille, some time before 1128. His exact date of death remains unclear as well, with most research pointing toward it being between April 14, 1202, and April 5, 1203.[1]

Translations[edit]

 Alan of Lille, A Concise Explanation of the Song of Songs in Praise of the Virgin Mary, trans Denys Turner, in Denys Turner, Eros and Allegory: Medieval Exegesis of the Song of Songs, (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1995), 291–308

Saint Gregory the Great 3rd September 2015

Pope Saints, Patristic Reading

Gregory might well be writing the words, 
"The preacher must dip his pen into the blood 
of his heart; then he can also reach 
the ear of his neighbour."
(E. Lev)

SAINT GREGORY THE GREAT Saint Gregory the Great (+ 604) was one of the most important popes and influential writers of the Middle Ages.

MEDITATION OF THE  3RD, SEPTEMBER

   MAGNIFICAT com appreciated.

•

'They followed him"

All of us have been called; all of us have come to the marriage feast of the heavenly King. We believe and confess the mystery of his Incarnation. We partake of the banquet of the divine Word. The King will come in on the coming day of judgement. We know we have been called; we do not know whether we have been chosen.

Each of us must disparage himself in humility in proportion to his ignorance of whether or not he has been chosen. Some start nothing good; some do not persist in the good they have begun. We see one person spending almost his entire life in wickedness, but toward its end his sorrow and strict repentance call him back from it. Another seems to be leading the life of a chosen one, yet it comes about that he turns aside toward its end to wicked error. One makes a good start and a better ending; another plunges into evil actions at an early age, and finishes in the same, always becoming worse. Everyone should be anxious and fearful for himself the more ignorant he is of what is in store for him, because-this must be said often and not forgotten-Many are called, but few are chosen.

The example of the faithful often transforms the hearts of listeners more than a teacher's words.

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

Through Christ the teacher, 0 Lord,
instruct those you feed with Christ, the living Bread,
that on the feast day of Saint Gregory
they may learn your truth
and express it in works of charity.
Through Christ our Lord .

 

+ + + + + +

   

Tesday, 3 September 2013

Saint Gregory the Great, pope, 3 September 2013

St Gregory the Great
Carlo Saraceni (c. 1580-1620)

iBreviary

Tuesday, 3 September 2013

Tuesday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time

SECOND READING   

From a homily on Ezekiel by Saint Gregory the Great, pope
(Lib. 1, 11, 4-6: CCL 142, 170-172)

For Christ's love I do not spare myself in speaking of him

Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Note that a man whom the Lord sends forth as a preacher is called a watchman. A watchman always stands on a height so that he can see from afar what is coming. Anyone appointed to be a watchman for the people must stand on a height for all his life to help them by his foresight.

How hard it is for me to say this, for by these very words I denounce myself. I cannot preach with any competence, and yet insofar as I do succeed, still I myself do not live my life according to my own preaching.

I do not deny my responsibility; I recognize that I am slothful and negligent, but perhaps the acknowledgment of my fault will win me pardon from my just judge. Indeed when I was in the monastery I could curb my idle talk and usually be absorbed in my prayers. Since I assumed the burden of pastoral care, my mind can no longer be collected; it is concerned with so many matters.

I am forced to consider the affairs of the Church and of the monasteries. I must weigh the lives and acts of individuals. I am responsible for the concerns of our citizens. I must worry about the invasions of roving bands of barbarians, and beware of the wolves who lie in wait for my flock. I must become an administrator lest the religious go in want. I must put up with certain robbers without losing patience and at times I must deal with them in all charity.

With my mind divided and torn to pieces by so many problems, how can I meditate or preach wholeheartedly without neglecting the ministry of proclaiming the Gospel? Moreover, in my position I must often communicate with worldly men. At times I let my tongue run, for if I am always severe in my judgments, the worldly will avoid me, and I can never attack them as I would. As a result I often listen patiently to chatter. And because I too am weak, I find myself drawn little by little into idle conversation, and I begin to talk freely about matters which once I would have avoided. What once I found tedious I now enjoy.

So who am I to be a watchman, for I do not stand on the mountain of action but lie down in the valley of weakness? Truly the all-powerful Creator and Redeemer of mankind can give me in spite of my weaknesses a higher life and effective speech; because I love him, I do not spare myself in speaking of him.

  

Gregory might well be writing the words,
"The preacher must dip his pen into the blood
of his heart; then he can also reach
the ear of his neighbour."
(E. Lev)

   

RESPONSORY

He drew his moral and mystical teaching from the source of holy Scripture;
through him the life-giving streams of the Gospel flowed out to all nations.
– Though he is dead he still speaks to us today.

As a soaring eagle sees all on the earth below,
so he cares for both the great and small with his all-embracing charity.
– Though he is dead he still speaks to us today.

Saint Augustine,Doctor of Grace. 28 August

    Night Office Saints, Patristic Reading, 

St. Augustine Doctor of Grace  

      Dom Donald's Blog: Saint Augustine, bishop, confessor and doctor, Mem...: Breviary Wednesday, 28 August 2013 Wednesday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time SECOND READING From the Confessions of Saint...

Wednesday, 28 August 2013

Saint Augustine, bishop, confessor and doctor, Memorial

Breviary

Wednesday, 28 August 2013

Wednesday of the Twenty-First Week in Ordinary Time

SECOND READING

From the Confessions of Saint Augustine, bishop

(Lib. 7, 10, 18; 10, 27: CSEL 33, 157-163, 255)

O eternal truth, true love, and beloved eternity

Urged to reflect upon myself, I entered under your guidance into the inmost depth of my soul. I was able to do so because you were my helper. On entering into myself I saw, as it were with the eye of the soul, what was beyond the eye of the soul, beyond my spirit: your immutable light. It was not the ordinary light perceptible to all flesh, nor was it merely something of greater magnitude but still essentially akin, shining more clearly and diffusing itself everywhere by its intensity. No it was something entirely distinct, something altogether different from all these things: and it did not rest above my mind as oil on the surface of water, nor was it above me as Heaven is above the Earth. This light was above me because it has made me; I was below it because I was created by it. He who has come to know the truth knows this light.

O Eternal truth, true love and beloved eternity. You are my God. To you do I sigh day and night. When I first came to know you, you drew me to yourself so that I might see that there were things for me to see, but that I myself was not yet ready to see them. Meanwhile you overcame the weakness of my vision, sending forth most strongly the beams of your light, and I trembled at once with love and dread. I learned that I was in a region unlike yours and far distant from you, and I thought I heard your voice from on high: “I am the food of grown men; grow then, and you will feed on me. Nor will you change me into yourself like bodily food, but you will be changed into me.”

I sought a way to gain the strength which I needed to enjoy you. But I did not find it until I embraced the mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who is above all, God blessed for ever. He was calling me and saying: I am the way of truth, I am the life. He was offering the food which I lacked the strength to take, the food he had mingled with our flesh. For the Word became flesh, that your wisdom, by which you created all things, might provide milk for us children.

Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.

  http://www.ibreviary.com/m/breviario.php  

     

   The_Saint_Augustine_Taken_to_School_by_Saint_Monica.
_Pinacoteca,_Vatican.7_Nicolo_di_Pietro._1413-15._   

          The Oil and the Virgins         

There is the oil, the precious oil; this oil is of the gift of God. Men can put oil into their vessels, but they cannot create the olive. See, I have oil; but didst thou create the oil? It is of the gift of God. Thou hast oil. Carry it with thee. What is "carry it with thee"? Have it within, there please thou God.

 ...10. For, Io, those "foolish virgins, who brought no oil with them," wish to please men by that abstinence of theirs whereby they are called virgins, and by their good works, when they seem to carry lamps. And if they wish to please men, and on that account do all these praiseworthy works, they do not carry oil with them. Do you then carry it with thee, carry it within where God seeth; there carry the testimony of thy conscience. For he who walks to gain the testimony of another, does not carry oil with him. If thou abstain from things unlawful, and doest good works to be praised of men; there is no oil within. And so when men begin to leave off their praises, the lamps fail. Observe then, Beloved, before those virgins slept, it is not said that their lamps were extinguished. The lamps of the wise virgins burned with an inward oil, with the assurance of a good conscience, with an inner glory, with an inmost charity. 

Yet the lamps of the foolish virgins burned also. Why burnt they then? Because there was yet no want of the praises of men. But after that they arose, that is in the resurrection from the dead, they began to trim their lamps, that is, began to prepare to render unto God an account of their works. And because there is then no one to praise, every man is wholly employed in his own cause, there is no one then who is not thinking of himself, therefore were there none to sell them oil; so their lamps began to fail, and the foolish betook themselves to the five wise, "give us of your oil, for our lamps are going out." They sought for what they had been wont to seek for, to shine that is with others' oil, to walk after others' praises. "Give us of your oil, for our lamps are going out."   

 ...11. But they say, "Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you, but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves." This was not the answer of those who give advice, but of those who mock. And why mock they? Because they were wise, because wisdom was in them. For they were not wise by ought of their own; but that wisdom was in them, of which it is written in a certain book, she shall say to those that despised her, when they have fallen upon the evils which she threatened them; "I will laugh over your destruction." What wonder then is it, that the wise mock the foolish virgins? And what is this mocking?

 ...12. "Go ye to them that sell, and buy for yourselves:" ye who never were wont to live well, but because men praised you, who sold you oil. What means this, "sold you oil"? "Sold praises." Who sell praises, but flatterers? How much better had it been for you not to have acquiesced in flatterers, and to have carried oil within, and for a good conscience-sake to have done all good works; then might ye say, "The righteous shall correct me in mercy, and reprove me, but the oil of the sinner shall not fatten my head." Rather, he says, let the righteous correct me, let the righteous reprove me, let the righteous buffet me, let the righteous correct me, than the "oil of the sinner fatten mine head." What is the oil of the sinner, but the blandishments of the flatterer?

 ...13. "Go ye" then "to them that sell," this have ye been accustomed to do. But we will not give to you. Why? "Lest there be not enough for us and you." What is, "lest there be not enough"? This was not spoken in any lack of hope, but in a sober and godly humility. For though the good man have a good conscience; how knows he, how He may judge who is deceived by no one? He hath a good conscience, no sins conceived in the heart solicit him, yet, though his conscience be good, because of the daily sins of human life, he saith to God, "forgive us our debts;" seeing he hath done what comes next, "as we also forgive our debtors." He hath broken his bread to the hungry from the heart, from the heart hath clothed the naked; out of that inward oil he hath done good works, and yet in that judgment even his good conscience trembleth.

 ...14. See then what this, "Give us oil," is. They were told "Go ye rather to them that sell." In that ye have been used to live upon the praises  ...of men, ye do not carry oil with you; but we can give you none; "lest there be not enough for us and you." For scarcely do we judge of ourselves, how much less can we judge of you? What is "scarcely do we judge of ourselves"? Because, "When the righteous King sitteth on the throne, who will glory that his heart is pure?" It may be thou dost not discover anything in thine own conscience; but He who seeth better, whose Divine glance penetrateth into deeper things, discovereth it may be something, He seeth it may be something, He discovereth something. How much better mayest thou say to Him, "Enter not into judgment with Thy servant"? Yea, how much better, "Forgive us our debts"? Because it shall be also said to thee because of those torches, because of those lamps; "I was hungry, and ye gave Me meat." What then? did not the foolish virgins do so too? Yea, but they did it not before Him. How then did they do it? As the Lord forbiddeth, who said, "Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men to be seen of them, otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven: and when ye pray, be not as the hypocrites, for they love to pray, standing in the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have received their reward." They have bought oil, they have given the price; they have bought it, they have not been defrauded of men's praises, they have sought men's praises, and have had them. These praises of men aid them not in the judgment day. But the other virgins, how have they done? "Let your works shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." He did not say, "may glorify you." For thou hast no oil of thine own self. Boast thyself and say, I have it; but from Him, "for what hast thou that thou hast not received?" So then in this way acted the one, and in that the other.

 ...15. Now it is no wonder, that "while they are going to buy," while they are seeking for persons by whom to be praised, and find none; while they are seeking for persons by whom to be comforted, and find none; that the door is opened, that "the Bridegroom cometh," and the Bride, the Church, glorified then with Christ, that the several members may be gathered together into their whole. "And they went in with Him into the marriage, and the door was shut." Then the foolish virgins came afterwards; but had they bought any oil, or found any from whom they might buy it? Therefore they found the doors shut; they began to knock,but too late.

 ..

St. Augustine

.16. It is said, and it is true, and no deceiving saying, "Knock, and it shall be opened unto you;" but now when it is the time of mercy, not when it is the time of judgment. For these times cannot be confounded, since the Church sings to her Lord of "mercy and judgment." It is the time of mercy; repent. Canst thou repent in the time of judgment? Thou wilt be then as those virgins, against whom the door was shut. "Lord, Lord, open to us." What! did they not repent, that they had brought no oil with them? Yes, but what profiteth them their late repentance, when the true wisdom mocked them? Therefore "the door was shut." And what was said to them? "I know you not." Did not He know them, who knoweth all things? What then is, "I know you not?" I refuse, I reject you. In my art I do not acknowledge you, my art knoweth not vice; now this is a marvellous thing, it doth not know vice, and it judgeth vice. It doth not know it in the practice of it; it judgeth by reproving it. Thus then, "I know you not."  

 ...17. The five wise virgins came, and "went in." How many are ye, my Brethren, in the profession of Christ's Name! let there be among you the five wise, but be not five such persons only. Let there be among you the five wise, belonging to this wisdom of the number five. For the hour will come, and come when we know not. It will come at midnight, Watch ye. Thus did the Gospel close; "Watch, for ye know neither the day nor the hour." But if we are all to sleep, how shall we watch? Watch with the heart, watch with faith, watch with hope, watch with charity, watch with good works; and then, when thou shalt sleep in thy body, the time will come that thou shalt rise. And when thou shall have risen, make ready the lamps. Then shall they go out no more, then shall they be renewed with the inner oil of conscience; then shall that Bridegroom fold thee in His spiritual embrace, then shall He bring thee into His House where thou shall never sleep, where thy lamp can never be extinguished. But at present we are in labour, and our lamps flicker amid the winds and temptations of this life; but only let our flame burn strongly, that the wind of temptation may increase the fire, rather than put it out. 

  http://kingsgarden.org/English/Organizations/LCC.GB/LCIS/Scriptures/Fathers/Doctors/AugustinOfHippo/Sermons/Sermon43.html 

Louisa's writings! as "the Sun of my Eternal Will rises... light crammed with love... belonging to the creature who with her act in my Will, made the Sun rise... the full Afternoon of our Eternal Sun formed within the creature."

COMMENT:
Bible, Patristic, Mystic.

Dear William,

Thank you taking a great pleasure and contribute the gentle response.

  yours, Donald

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: William ...
To: Donald    
Sent: Monday, 22 June 2015, 14:30
Subject: Re: Samson=sun, Jesus SUN of Righteousness... Dawn

Dear Father Donald,

Thank you for sharing this with me... as the parallel SUN connection was given you, it will have been one of those moments of SUNRISE, the day being asked please to delay!

How many untold depths am I to further discover in Louisa's writings! as "the Sun of my Eternal Will rises... light crammed with love... belonging to the creature who with her act in my Will, made the Sun rise... the full Afternoon of our Eternal Sun formed within the creature."

Pondering upon Louisa's writings into the night, the very Presence of Our Lord in the Divine Will given to her caught my breath this morning (Office of Readings) in Psalm 72...

23 Yet I was always in your presence; you were holding me by my right hand. You will guide me by your counsel and so you will lead me to glory. What else have I in heaven but you? Apart from you I want nothing on earth. My body and my heart faint for joy;God is my possession for ever. To be near God is my happiness.

It is as if a personal relationship with Our Lord in His Divine Will  has only just been revealed to me - at the bedside of Louisa...

I confess to being somewhat bewildered by the purity and intensity of her writing, deeply drawn by her spiritual transparency.

Thank you Father, most truly.

With my love in Our Lord Jesus,

William

Samson (sun), Lord Jesus is truly the Sun of Righteousness 

the Prophet thus names the Lord Jesus: The sun of righteousness shall rise over you, and there will be healing in its wings. The Lord Jesus is truly the Sun of Righteousness, for he enlightens the minds of all believers with heavenly light. 

A Word In Season for the Liturgy of the Hours
Sunday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time Year I

A READING FROM THE BOOK OF THE JUDGES

(The birth of Samson is announced: Judges 13:1-25)

And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had no children. And the angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have no children; but you shall conceive and bear a son. Therefore beware, and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for lo, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from birth; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines.” ...

...And the woman bore a son, and called his name Samson; and the boy grew, and the LORD blessed him. And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshta-ol.

  

A READING FROM THE COMMENTARY ON JUDGES BY RABANUS MAURUS

Let me summarise briefly everything that is said about Samson. Samson, who in his day was a Nazirite of the Lord, is allegorically a type of Christ; first, because his birth was foretold by an angel; secondly, because he was called a Nazirite and delivered Israel from its foes; and, finally, because he overthrew their Temple, causing many thousands of people who had mocked him to perish.

As the birth of Samson was foretold by an angel, so the Lord’s bodily birth was foretold by the Prophets, as well as by the angel who said to Mary: Hail, Mary, full of grace; you have conceived in your womb and will bear a son, and you shall call him ‘Emmanuel’, for he shall save his people from their sins.

The name ‘Samson’ means ‘sun’. But our Redeemer too is called ‘sun’; listen to how the Prophet thus names the Lord Jesus: The sun of righteousness shall rise over you, and there will be healing in its wings. The Lord Jesus is truly the Sun of Righteousness, for he enlightens the minds of all believers with heavenly light. He is the true Nazirite and Holy one of God, and it is only by analogy with him that this other man was called a Nazirite.

When Samson was travelling to the wedding he encountered a roaring lion. As he travelled to a foreign people in quest of a wife, a lion came out to meet him and he killed it. Who should we see foreshadowed by Samson if not Christ who, when about to gather the Church from among the Gentiles, said: Rejoice, for I have overcome the world.

What does it mean that Samson took honey from the mouth of ­the slain lion except that, as we ourselves see, the nations of the earthly kingdom who formerly raged against Christ have lost their ­savagery and, moved by the sweetness of the Gospel preaching make their votive offerings? Also significant is what we see in ­Samson’s own person: he killed few in his lifetime, but countless ­were the enemies he slew when he died by destroying the Temple. So too the Lord in his lifetime rescued few from the arrogance of unbelief, but he rescued many when the temple of his body was ­destroyed; and those Gentiles who were arrogant and whom he bore with in his lifetime, he laid low by his death.

Rabanus Maurus, Commentary on Judges, 2.20 (PL 108:1198); Word in Season V.

!

"Catholic Divine Will " ... in thirty-six volumes by Luisa Piccarreta

December 14, 1937

Just as human nature has its day, the Divine Will forms Its own day in the depth of the soul of the creature who lives in It. Miracles that happen in the Divine Will.

I felt immersed in the Divine Volition. It seemed that, as I was doing my acts in the FIAT within Its waves of light, that light would become larger and would centralize itself more within me; and I felt a growing need to love It and to breathe It - more than my own life. Without It, I felt out of breath, without warmth and without heartbeat; but as I came back to do my acts in the Divine Volition, I felt the breathing, the warmth and the Divine heartbeat coming back, to delight my poor existence. Therefore, it is a need for me - a need of life - to live in the Divine Will. 

Then, my sweet Jesus, coming back to visit my little soul, all goodness told me: “My blessed daughter, just as nature has its day in human life, during which all the actions of life are performed, in the same way my Divine Will forms Its Day in the depth of the creature who lives in my Will. 

As the creature begins to form her acts in It, calling It to her as her own Life, she starts her day, forming a most shining Dawn in the depth of her soul. This Dawn gathers its Power, renewing in the creature the Power of the Father, the Wisdom of the Son, the Virtue and Love of the Holy Spirit. So she starts her Day together with the Most Holy Trinity, Which descends in the most tiny acts and hiding places of the creature in order to live together with her, and to do whatever she does. This Dawn puts to flight the darkness of the soul, so that all becomes light for her, placing Itself as a vigil sentry, so that all her acts may receive the Light of the Divine Will. 

 This Dawn is the first rest of God within the room of the soul - it is the beginning of the Eternal Day in which the Life of the Supreme Being starts together with the creature. My Will does not move - It is not able, nor does It know how to do without the Adorable Trinity. At the most, It goes forward - being the actor, but always pulling with It, in an irresistible way, the Adorable Trinity, forming the divine chamber in which the Divine Persons can enjoy their beloved creature. Wherever It reigns, my Will has the Power to centralize everything - even our Divine Life.  

How beautiful is the beginning of the Day of one who lives in our FIAT. It is the enchantment of the all Heaven. If the Celestial Court were subject to envy, It would envy the one who is so fortunate as to possess, within her soul - while still living in time - the beginning of the eternal Day - the precious Day in which God begins to live His Life together with the creature.

Now, as soon as she begins the second act in the Divine Volition, the Sun of my Eternal Will rises. The fullness of Its light is such as to invest the whole of earth, visiting all hearts and bringing the ‘good morning’ of light and new joys to all the Celestial Court. This light is crammed with love, adoration, thanksgiving, gratitude, glory and benediction - but who do these belong to?: to the creature who, with her act in my Will, made the Sun rise which shines over all, so that all may find the one who loved God for them - the one who adored Him, thanked Him, blessed Him and glorified Him. Everyone finds the thing which he was supposed to do for God. She compensates for everyone. One act in my Will must enclose everything. It has the power and the capacity to make up for everyone and to do good to all; otherwise It could not be called ‘act, done in my Will.’ These acts are full of unheard-of prodigies, worthy of our Creative Work.   

Now, as she turns to her third act in our Will, the full Afternoon of our Eternal Sun is formed within the creature. Do you know what she gives Us with this full Afternoon? She prepares a banquet for Us. And do you know what she gives Us for food? The Love We have given to her - our divine qualities. Everything carries the mark of our beauty and of our chaste and pure perfumes. We like it so much that we eat our fill; and even if something may be missing for our status, since the creature is in our Will, she is the owner of all our goods; she takes from our treasure whatever is needed, and prepares for Us the most beautiful banquet, worthy of our Supreme Majesty. And We invite all the Angels and the Saints to sit at this celestial banquet, so that they may take and eat with Us, of the Love which We received from the creature who lives in our Will. Now, after we’ve banqueted together, the other acts that she does in our Will serve - some to form for Us celestial melodies, some loving chants, some the most beautiful scenes; some others repeat our Works, which are always in action. In sum, she keeps Us always busy. And when she has given course to all her actions in our Will, we give her rest, resting together with her. After the rest, we begin the work, starting another day, and so forth.

Many times, this loyal daughter of ours - since true loyalty consists in living in our Divine Will - seeing that her brothers and sisters are about to be struck by the deserved chastisements for their sins, doesn’t close her day, but prays and suffers to beseech graces for their souls as well as for their bodies. The life of one who lives in my Divine Will is new joy and glory for Heaven, and help and graces for the earth.”

Fiat!

  http://catholicdivinewill.blogspot.co.uk/2008/06/divine-will-volume-thirty-five_26.html  

August 9, 1937

Prodigies of love in the Divine Volition. How the Divine Will redoubles Its love, in order to be loved with Its own love. How the Queen will form the new Hierarchy in her inheritance.   (Luisa Piccarreta) 

Luisa Piccarreta, The Holy Mass. Saint Augustine, Two kinds of life

 Mystic, Patristic Reading, 

COMMENT:

Luisa Piccarreta, Book of Heaven Volume 1m pp. 113-166.

The Holy Mass Effects excerpt illuminates our completed Redemption ...

In this Eastertide, beside the mystic quotation, it is re-enforced by the patristic Ascension Reading from St. Augustine, 'Two Kinds of Life'.

 + + +

The Holy Mass and Its Effects. 

In particular, the Bodily Resurrection of the Dead.

I can now say that while I was listening attentively to the Divine Sacrifice, Jesus made me understand that the Mass, in the depth of the Mystery that unfolds, encompasses all the mysteries of our religion. Yes, the Mass enables us to observe everything; and it silently speaks to the heart of the infinite Love of God with unheard-of developments given for the good of man. It always reviews our completed Redemption and makes us remember each part of the sufferings that Jesus bore for us who are ungrateful for his Love. Thanks to the institution of this permanent Sacrifice, He makes us understand that He, not satisfied with dying just once on the Cross for us, wants to diffuse Himself in his immense Love, and continue his status as Victim in the Holy Eucharist.

Jesus made me understand that the Mass and the Holy Eucharist are a perennial remembrance of his Death and Resurrection, and that they communicate the antidote for our mortal life. The Mass and Eucharist tell us that our disintegrated bodies, which will decay and be reduced to ashes through death, will be resurrected on the last day, to immortal life. For the good, it will be glorious; but for the wicked, it will end in torment. Those that have not lived with Christ will not resurrect in Him; but the good who have been intimate with Christ during their lifetime, will have a resurrection similar to that of Jesus .

He made me understand well that the most consoling thing contained in the Sacrifice of the Mass is Jesus in the Sacrament of his Resurrection. It is superior to any of the other mysteries of our holy religion. This, together with his Passion and Death, is mystically renewed on our altars whenever the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is celebrated. Under the veil of unleavened Sacramental Bread, Jesus actually gives Himself to the communicants so as to be their companion along life's pilgrimage of mortal existence. By means of his grace that comes from the Bosom of the Holy Trinity, He gives everlasting life to those that participate, with soul and body, in this Sacrament. These mysteries are so profound that only in our immortal life will we fully understand. However, now in the Sacrament, Jesus gives us, in many ways-almost tangibly-a foretaste of what He will give us in Heaven.

Foremost, the Mass disposes us to meditation on the Life, Passion and Death of Jesus, who has been gloriously resurrected. Christ's Humanity, through the vicissitudes of life, was accomplished in thirty-three years; whereas in the Mass, mystically, and in a brief period of time, it is all renewed in a state of true annihilation, in which the sacramental species contain Jesus, living and real, up to the time they are consumed. Afterwards, his real presence no longer exists Sacramentally in our hearts. He returns to the bosom of his Divine Father, just as He did when He arose from the dead. Then, consecrated anew in the Mass, under the forms of bread and wine, He descends to assume the Victim state of peace and propitiating love. His "Sacramental state" is renewed for our good as wayfarers, and for the glory and satisfaction of his Eternal Father.

Thus, in the Sacrament, He reminds us of the resurrection of our own bodies into glory. Just as He resides in the bosom of his Father when He ceases his Sacramental state, so too will we pass to our eternal residence in the bosom of God when we cease to exist in our present life. Our bodies will be consumed like the Sacramental forms that seem to exist no longer. Then, on the universal Day of Resurrection, by the miracle of God's Omnipotence, our bodies will acquire "life"; and joined to our souls, will go to enjoy the eternal beatitude of God. Others, to the contrary, will go away from God to suffer atrocious, eternal torments.

If these marvellous effects flow from the limpid and unobscured Sacrifice of the Mass, why do Christians not accustom themselves to profit from it? For a soul that loves God, can there be anything more consoling and beneficent? In the Sacrament, He nourishes a soul so that it can be worthy of Heaven; and He gives the body the privilege of becoming beatified in the Eternal Will of God.

It seems to me that on that great day, a supernatural event will occur like the natural event that takes place after we have contemplated the starry heavens-and the sun appears. What happens? The sun, in its dazzling light, absorbs the light of the stars and, even though they disappear from the observer's sight, each star keeps its light, and stays in place. When the sun sets, the stars receive new light and shine in the firmament.

Like the stars, the souls that find themselves in front of the Universal Judgment in the Valley of Jehosophat as it was before the arrival of Jesus, will be able to observe other souls. The light acquired and communicated by the Most Holy Sacrifice and Sacrament of Love will be observable to each soul. But when Jesus, the Judge and Eternal Sun of Justice, appears in his great light, He will absorb into Himself, all the blessed souls that shine like stars. He will allow them to exist always, to swim in the immense sea of God's perfection.

And what will happen to souls deprived of this Divine Light? If I wanted to answer this question, I could write indefinitely. But if the Lord wishes, I shall reserve this for another time and say something else about the object of his Love. He had me understand, simply, that the bodies that are re-united to the souls with resplendent light, will be eternally united with God. On the other hand, other souls, because of the lack of light from not wishing to participate in the Sacrifice and Sacrament of Love, will be thrown into the depths of the thickest darkness; and because of their ingratitude, knowingly committed against so great a Giver, they will be placed in the slavery of Lucifer, the prince of darkness. They will be eternally tormented by terrible and terrifying remorse.

000

After the Ascension:

God has given us a new birth into living hope, alleluia.
– By raising Jesus Christ from the dead, alleluia.

FIRST READING

From the first letter of the apostle John
3:11-17

Love one another

RESPONSORY
1 John 3:16, 14

By this we have come to know the meaning of God’s love:
Christ laid down his life for us,
– and we should lay down our lives for our brothers, alleluia.

We know that we have passed from death to life,
because we love our brothers.
– And we should lay down our lives for our brothers, alleluia.

SECOND READING

From the treatise on John by Saint Augustine, bishop
(Tract. 124, 5, 7: CCL 36, 685-687)

Two kinds of life

The Church recognizes two kinds of life as having been commended to her by God. One is a life of faith, the other a life of vision; one is a life passed on pilgrimage in time, the other in a dwelling place in eternity; one is a life of toil, the other of repose; one is spent on the road, the other in our homeland; one is active, involving labor, the other contemplative, the reward of labor.

The first kind of life is symbolized by the apostle Peter, the second by John. All of the first life is lived in this world, and it will come to an end with this world. The second life will be imperfect till the end of this world, but it will have no end in the next world. And so Christ says to Peter: Follow me; but of John he says: If I wish him to remain until I come, what is that to you? Your duty is to follow me.

You are to follow me by imitating my endurance of transient evils; John is to remain until my coming, when I will bring eternal blessings. A way of saying this more clearly might be: Your active life will be perfect if you follow the example of my passion, but to attain its full perfection John’s life of contemplation must wait until I come.

Perfect patience is to follow Christ faithfully, even to death, but for perfect knowledge we must await his coming. Here, in the land of the dying, the sufferings of the world must be endured; there, in the land of the living, shall be seen the good things of the Lord.

Christ’s words, I wish him to remain until I come, should not be taken to imply that John was to remain on earth until Christ’s coming, but rather that he was to wait because it is not now but only when Christ comes that the life he symbolizes will find fulfillment. On the other hand, Christ says to Peter: Your duty is to follow me, because the life Peter symbolizes can attain its goal only by action here and now.

Yet we should make no mental separation between these great apostles. Both lived the life symbolized by Peter; both were to attain the life symbolized by John. Symbolically, one followed, the other remained, but living by faith they both endured the sufferings of this present life of sorrow and they both longed for the joys of the future life of happiness.

Nor were they alone in this. They were one with the whole Church, the bride of Christ, which will in time be delivered from the trials of this life and live for ever in the joy of the next. These two kinds of life were represented respectively by Peter and John, yet both apostles lived by faith in this present, passing life and in eternal life both have the joy of vision.

And so for the sake of all the saints inseparably united to the body of Christ, to guide them through the storms of this life, Peter, the chief of the apostles, received the keys of the kingdom of heaven with the power to bind and loose sins; and for the sake of those same saints, to plumb the depths of that other, hidden life, John the evangelist reclined on the breast of Christ.

For it is not only Peter but the whole Church that binds and looses from sin; and as for the sublime teaching of John about the Word, who in the beginning was God with God, and everything else he told us about Christ’s divinity, and about the trinity and unity of the Godhead, which now, until the Lord comes, is all like a faint reflection in a mirror, but which will be seen face to face in the kingdom of heaven—it was not only John who drank in this teaching that came forth from the Lord’s breast as from a fountain. All who belong to the Lord are to drink it in, each according to his capacity, and this is why the Lord himself has spread John’s gospel throughout the world.

RESPONSORY
1 Peter 5:10; 2 Corinthians 4:14

The God of all grace has called us to glory in Christ Jesus.
– He will restore, support and strengthen us
after we have suffered for a little while, alleluia.

He who raised Jesus from the dead
will also raise us up with Jesus.
– He will restore, support and strengthen us
after we have suffered for a little while, alleluia.

CONCLUDING PRAYER

Let us pray.

Father,
at your Son’s ascension into heaven
you promised to send the Holy Spirit on your apostles.
You filled them with heavenly wisdom:
fill us also with the gift of your Spirit.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
– Amen.

Or: