FROM THE TWENTY-FOUR HOURS OF THE PASSION

The Painful Way to Calvary.

My most patient Jesus, I see You take the first steps under the enormous weight of the Cross. I unite my steps to yours, and when You, weak, bled dry and staggering, are about to fall, I will be at your side to sustain You; I will place my shoulders beneath It, so as to share its weight with You. Do not disdain me, but accept me as your faithful companion. Oh Jesus, You look at me, and I see that You repair for those who do not carry their crosses with resignation, but rather, they swear, get irritated, commit suicide, and commit murders. And for all You impetrate love and resignation to their crosses. But your pain is such that You feel crushed under the Cross. You have taken only the first steps, and You already fall under It. As You fall, You knock against the stones; the thorns are driven more into your head, while all your wounds are embittered, and pour out new blood. And since You do not have the strength to get up, your enemies, irritated, try to make You stand with kicks and shoves.

My fallen Love, let me help You to stand, let me kiss You, dry your blood, and repair together with You for those who sin out of ignorance, fragility and weakness. I pray You to give help to these souls.

Follow Jesus

Vatican City, 8 September 2013 (VIS) –Pope Francis: Jesus states the condition for his disciples: to put nothing before their love for Him, carrying their cross, and following him.

The Holy Father explained that many people approached Jesus, especially in the wake of some prodigious dream, that indicated Him as the Messiah, the King of Israel. But Jesus knows that in Jerusalem the cross awaits Him and does not wish to create illusions; he knows that the path will lead him to sacrifice Himself for the redemption of our sins. “Following Jesus does not mean taking part in a triumphal parade!” the Pope said. “It means sharing in His merciful love, becoming part of His great mission of mercy towards each and every man. … And this universal forgiveness, this mercy, comes through the cross. Jesus does not want to carry out this mission alone: He wants to involve us too, in the mission that the Father entrusted to Him. …

From the Twenty-Four Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ

 Eighteenth Hour

Ah, my Jesus, the Cross is too light for Your Love, but the weight of our sins adds to that of the Cross – enormous and immense, as the expanse of the Heavens. And You, my wearied Good, You feel crushed under the weight of so many sins. Your soul is horrified at their sight, and feels the pain of each sin. Your sanctity remains shaken before so much ugliness, and as the Cross weighs upon your shoulders, You stagger, You pant, and a mortal sweat creeps through your Most Holy Humanity. I beg You, my Love – I don’t have the heart to leave You alone – I want to share the weight of the cross with You; and to relieve You from the weight of sins, I cling to your feet. I want to give You, in the name of all creatures, love for those who do not love You, praises for those who despise You, blessings, thanksgivings, obedience on behalf of all. I promise that in any offense You receive, I intend to offer You all of myself in reparation, to do the acts opposite to the offenses the creatures give You, and to console You with my kisses and continuous acts of love. But I see that I am too miserable; I need You to be able to really repair You. Therefore I unite myself to your Most Holy Humanity, and together with You I unite my thoughts to Yours in order to repair for the evil thoughts – mine, and of all; my eyes to Yours, to repair for the evil glances; my mouth to Yours, to repair for the blasphemies and the evil discourses; my heart to Yours, to repair for the evil tendencies, desires and affections. In a word, I want to repair everything that Your Most Holy Humanity repairs, uniting myself to the Immensity of Your Love for all, and to the Immense Good You do to all. But I am not yet content. I want to unite myself to Your Divinity, and I dissolve my nothingness in It, and in this way I give You everything. I give You Your Love to quench Your Bitternesses; I give You Your Heart to relieve You from our coldness, lack of correspondence, ingratitude, and the little love of the creatures.

I give You Your harmonies to cheer your hearing from the deafening blasphemies It receives. I give You your beauty to relieve You from the ugliness of our souls, when we muddy ourselves in sin. I give You Your Purity to relieve You from the lack of righteous intention, and from the mud and rot You see in many souls. I give You Your Immensity to relieve You from the voluntary constraints into which souls put themselves. I give You Your Ardor to burn all sins and all hearts, so that all may love You, and no one may offend You, ever again. In sum, I give You all that You are, to give You infinite satisfaction, Eternal, Immense and Infinite Love.

DIVINE LOVE

“…the Divine Love is Sacrificial Love.

Love does not mean to have and to own and to possess.  It means to be had and to be owned and to be possessed.  It is not a circle circumscribed by self, it is arms outstretched to embrace all humanity within its grasp.

– Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

From the Hours of the Passion

Fourth Hour

From 8 to 9 PM

The washing of the feet

But, my affectionate Good, while You are all intent on washing the feet of the apostles, I look at You, and I see another sorrow which pierces your Most Holy Heart. These apostles represent all the future children of the Church, and each of them, the series of each one of your sorrows. In some, weaknesses, in some, deceits; in one, hypocrisies, in the other, excessive love for interests; in Saint Peter the lack of firmness and all the offenses of the leaders of the Church; in Saint John the offenses of your most faithful ones; in Judas all of the apostates, with all the series of great evils which they commit.

 Fifteenth Hour

From 7 to 8 AM

Jesus before Pilate. Pilate sends Him to Herod

My bound Good, Jesus, your enemies, together with the priests, present You to Pilate; and faking sanctity and scrupulousness, because they have to celebrate the Passover, they remain outside the lobby. And You, my Love, seeing the depth of their malice, repair for all the hypocrisies of the religious body. I too repair together with You. But while You occupy Yourself with their good, they begin to accuse You before Pilate, vomiting all the poison they have against You.

Showing himself unsatisfied with the accusations they make against You, Pilate calls You aside, to be able to condemn You with reason, and, alone, He examines You and asks You: “Are You the King of the Jews?”

And You, Jesus, my true King, answer: “My Kingdom is not of this world; otherwise, thousands of legions of Angels would defend Me.”

And Pilate, moved by the sweetness and the dignity of your words, surprised, says to You: “So, You are King?”

And You: “You say it – I am, and I have come into the world to teach the Truth.”

Without wanting to know anything else, convinced of your innocence, Pilate goes out to the lobby and says: “I find no guilt in this Man.“

Enraged, the Jews accuse You of many other things, and You remain silent; You do not defend Yourself. You repair for the weaknesses of the judges, when they are faced by the arrogant; You repair for their injustices, and You pray for the innocent, oppressed and abandoned.

Then, seeing the fury of your enemies, Pilate sends You to Herod, to get rid of You.

FROM THE LETTERS OF THE SERVANT OF GOD, LUISA PICCARRETA

124.

My good daughter in the Divine Volition,

I recommend that you never move away from the Divine Will.  Live always in Its maternal arms, like a baby in the arms of her mother.  Place your sufferings in Its maternal hands, that It may use them to make you a saint and to do good to all creatures.  How happy you will feel, thinking that your sufferings serve to save souls, to console Jesus, to kiss His wounds, to tell Him that you love Him!  In every pain you suffer, tell Jesus to bring you His Love.  Love Him always, and Jesus will be wounded by your love and will love you more… Think that every pain you suffer is an “I love you”, a kiss, an affection, a hug that Jesus sends you.  In this way you will feel strength in your sufferings, and the joy which the pains suffered for Jesus bring.  May the Divine Will be your dwelling, your food, your life.  May the continuous word on your lips be:  “I want to do your Will and live in It!”  In this way you will feel strengthened, and the pains you suffer will be sweetened.

I leave you in the Divine Will to make yourself a saint (…)

Corato, November 13, 1943

From the Twenty-Four Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Fourteenth Hour

From 6 to 7 AM

Jesus before Caiphas again, who confirms

His condemnation to death and sends Him to Pilate

My sorrowful Jesus, You are now out of the prison; You are so exhausted that You stagger at each step. I want to place myself at your side in order to sustain You, when I see that You are about to fall.

But I see that the soldiers take You before Caiphas; and You, O my Jesus, reappear in their midst like a Sun, and even though disfigured, You spread light everywhere. I now see that Caiphas is overjoyed in seeing You reduced so badly. At the reflections of your Light, He becomes more blinded, and in his fury, He asks You again: “So, are You really the true Son of God?”

And You, my Love, with supreme majesty, with the grace of your word, and with your usual sweet and moving tone, such as to enrapture the hearts, answer: “Yes, I am the true Son of God.”

And your enemies, though feeling all the power of your word within themselves, suffocating everything, wanting to know nothing else – in one voice, cry out: “He is guilty to death, he is guilty to death!”

Caiphas confirms the sentence to death, and sends You to Pilate. And You, my condemned Jesus, accept this sentence with so much love and resignation, as to almost snatch it from the iniquitous Pontiff. You repair for all the sins committed deliberately and with all malice, and for those who, instead of afflicting themselves because of evil, rejoice and exult over sin itself, and this leads them to blindness and to suffocating any enlightenment and grace. My Life, Jesus, your reparations and prayers echo in my heart, and I repair and pray together with You.

Seventeenth Hour

From 9 to 10 AM

Jesus is crowned with thorns. Presented to the people:

“Ecce Homo!”  Jesus is condemned to death

…But under those thorns and that Blood, your Most Holy Face appears, radiant with sweetness, with peace, and with love. And the executioners, wanting to complete the tragedy, blindfold You, place a reed in your hand as scepter, and begin their mockeries. They hail You King of the Jews, they beat You on the crown, they slap You, and say to You: “Guess who hit You!”

…With this reed You hold in your hand, You repair for so many works – good, but empty of interior spirit and also done with evil intentions. In the insults and the blindfold, You repair for those who ridicule the holiest things, discrediting them and profaning them; You also repair for those who blindfold the sight of their intelligence in order not to see the light of Truth. With this blindfold, You impetrate that the blindfolds of passions, of riches and of pleasures may be removed from us.

 Eighteenth Hour

10 AM to 11 AM

Jesus is stripped and crowned with thorns for the third time.

“My child, how much souls cost Me! This is the place where I wait for everyone in order to save them, where I want to repair for the sins of those who arrive at degrading themselves lower than beasts, and are so obstinate in offending Me as to reach the point of not being able to live without committing sins. Their minds remain blinded, and they sin wildly. This is why they crown Me with thorns for the third time.

Nineteenth Hour

11 AM to 12 PM

Second Part: Jesus Crucified. With Him we disarm Divine Justice.

“Holy Father, here I am, loaded down with all the sins of the world. There is not one sin which does not pour upon Me; therefore, no longer unload the scourges of your Divine Justice upon man, but upon Me, your Son. O Father, allow Me to bind all souls to this Cross, and to plead forgiveness for them with the voices of my Blood and of my wounds. O Father, do You not see how I have reduced Myself? By this Cross, by virtue of these pains, concede true conversion, peace, forgiveness and sanctity to all. Arrest your fury against poor humanity, against my children. They are blind, and know not what they are doing. Look well at Me, how I have reduced Myself because of them; if You are not moved to compassion for them, may You at least be softened by this Face of mine, dirtied with spit, covered with Blood, bruised and swollen by the so many slaps and blows received. Have pity, my Father! I was the most beautiful of all, and now I am all disfigured, to the point that I no longer recognize Myself. I have become the abject of all; and so, at any cost, I want to save the poor creature!”

Laetare Sunday

Fourth Sunday in Lent

Catholic Encyclopedia

The fourth, or middle, Sunday of Lent, so called from the first words of the Introit at Mass, “Laetare Jerusalem” — “Rejoice, O Jerusalem“. During the first six or seven centuries the season of Lent commenced on the Sunday following Quinquagesima, and thus comprised only thirty-six fasting days. To these were afterwards added the four days preceding the first Sunday, in order to make up the forty days’ fast, and one of the earliest liturgical notices of these extra days occurs in the special Gospels assigned to them in a Toulon manuscript of 714. Strictly speaking, the Thursday before Laetare Sunday is the middle day of Lent, and it was at one time observed as such, but afterwards the special signs of joy permitted on this day, intended to encourage the faithful in their course through the season of penance, were transferred to the Sunday following. They consist of (like those of Gaudete Sunday in Advent) in the use of flowers on the altar, and of the organ at Mass and Vespers; rose-coloured vestments also allowed instead of purple, and the deacon and subdeacon wear dalmatics, instead of folded chasubles as on the other Sundays of Lent. The contrast between Laetare and the other Sundays is thus emphasized, and is emblematical of the joys of this life, restrained rejoicing mingled with a certain amount of sadness. The station at Rome was on this day made at the church of S. Croce in Gerusalemme, one of the seven chief basilicas; the Golden Rose, sent by the popes to Catholic sovereigns, used to be blessed at this time, and for this reason the day was sometimes called “Dominicade Rosa”. Other names applied to it were Refreshment Sunday, or the Sunday of the Five Loaves, from a miracle recorded in the Gospel; Mid-Lent, mi-carême, or mediana; and Mothering Sunday, in allusion to the Epistle, which indicates our right to be called the sons of God as the source of all our joy, and also because formerly the faithful used to make their offerings in the cathedral or mother-church on this day. This latter name is still kept up in some remote parts of England, though the reason for it has ceased to exist.

FROM THE HOURS OF THE PASSION

Eighteenth Hour

Jesus embraces the Cross.

My tortured Good, with You I repair, with You I suffer. But I see that your enemies hurl You down the stairs; the people await You with fury and eagerness; they make You find the Cross ready, which You long for with many sighs. And You – with love You gaze on It, and with firm step You approach It and embrace It. But, before that, You kiss It, and as a shiver of joy runs through your Most Holy Humanity, with highest contentment You gaze on It again, measuring Its length and breadth. In It, already, You establish the portion for each creature. You dower them all, enough to bind them to the Divinity with a bond of marriage, and make them heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. Then, unable to contain the love with which You love them, You kiss the Cross again, and say:

“Adored Cross, finally I embrace you. You were the longing of my Heart, the martyrdom of my love. But you, O Cross, have delayed until now, while my steps were always toward you. Holy Cross, you were the goal of my desires, the purpose of my existence down here. In you I concentrate my whole being, in you I place all my children, and you will be their life, their light, defense, custody and strength. You will assist them in everything, and will bring them gloriously to Me in Heaven. Oh Cross, Pulpit of Wisdom, you alone will teach true sanctity; you alone will form the heroes, the athletes, the martyrs, the Saints. Beautiful Cross, you are my Throne, and since I have to leave the earth, you will remain in my place. To you I give all souls as dowry – keep them, save them; I entrust them to you!”

 FROM THE LETTERS OF THE SERVANT OF GOD, LUISA PICCARRETA

46.  In Voluntate Dei!

Most esteemed one in the Lord,

I assure you my poor prayers.  Have great confidence, which conquers God, Who surrenders to your needs.  Offer some Holy Masses to plead for what you want.  Then put everything with filial abandonment into the hands of God and of the Queen – They, who love us so much and want to be loved.  All that will happen will be always the best for you and for poor Jesus.  Crosses make us be reborn to a new life of sanctity and of Grace; therefore the crosses which are borne with true resignation make us like Jesus and are our rebirths in good, in Love and in the Divine Volition, which wants to be our life.  So, let us make everything flow in the Holy Will, if we want It to perform Its prodigies of love in our soul…

I commend myself to your prayers, and from the heart I will do it for you.  And sending you the greeting of the Divine Volition, that may bring peace to you and balm to your pains, I say,

most affectionately yours,

the little daughter of the Divine Will

15.  To Mrs. Copparo La Scola from Termini Imerese, Palermo.

In Voluntate Dei!

Most esteemed and blessed daughter in the Divine Volition,

Here I am to make you content.  I believe that the Queen of Heaven and the great King of sorrows will reward you for your great goodness and charity, and will be generous to you with celestial favors, as you interest yourself so much in promoting His Passion and that which regards His Divine Will.  Greater love cannot be given to the Lord.

Now let’s come to us.  You say you have many crosses.  Good sign, my daughter.  Crosses are divine jealousies and little coins that our Lord gives us.  His jealousy is the great love He has in making of us saints; He takes everyone away from us and He Himself, God, Maker and Martyr, with little crosses and with His own hands, works our souls and makes of them His images.  What love for us, as we can say, through little and large crosses,  “I am similar to my dear Jesus”!

But do you want to know why you feel the weight of your miseries?  Because many times you do not try to be together with Jesus and to convince yourself that He is already with you, and you do not unite the pains of Jesus with yours.  Before the pains of Jesus, yours lose hardness, empty themselves of their weight, become small, and almost smile, because they love to adorn our souls with the same ornaments as those with which we see Jesus being adorned.  What pleasure, what joy, to be able to say:  “You have suffered for me, and I for You”!  Together with Jesus, pains change their look, miseries disappear; and from pains, miseries and weaknesses the most beautiful conquests, celestial riches and the strength of God arise, and the very Angels and Saints envy our lot.

Therefore, my daughter, here is the secret to becoming a saint:  be together with Jesus, never deny Him anything, and in everything you do, even in necessary things of life – in the pains you suffer, in the prayers you say, in the work, in the food, in the sleep, say to Him from the heart:  “Jesus, I want to do always your Will.”  In this way, you will always keep the Fiat on your lips, in your mind, and in your heart.

If you do this, you will form the joy of the Heart of Jesus, and He will not be able to deny you anything, not even the sanctity of your children… It seems that you are very much concerned for them.  Do not fear; place them in the hands of Jesus and on the lap of the Celestial Mama.  Advise them to read often the book of the Queen of Heaven in the Kingdom of the Divine Will, and you will see the great things the Lord will do with them.

I finish by recommending that you never lose peace… Be careful not ever to be disturbed, not even for your miseries, and not even for the illness of your husband.  Let us adore the judgments of God, just and holy, Who disposes everything for our good and to make us holy.

I commend myself to your prayers, and from the heart I will do it for you and for all those who buy the book, so that all may become saints.  I leave you in the sea of the Divine Volition, and with a thousand regards, I say,

most affectionately yours,

The little daughter of the Divine Will

Corato, November 25, 1934

From the Hours of the Passion

The Eighteenth Hour

From 10 to 11 AM

Jesus takes up the Cross and walks toward Calvary,

where He is stripped

My Jesus, insatiable love, I see that You give Yourself no peace, I feel Your fidgets of Love, Your Pains. Your Heart beats strongly; in every heartbeat I feel bursts, tortures, violences of Love; and unable to contain the Fire that devours You, You pant, moan, sigh, and in each moan I hear You say: “Cross!” Each drop of Your Blood repeats: “Cross!” All Your Pains, through which You swim as though in an interminable sea, repeat among themselves: “Cross!” And You exclaim: “O Cross, beloved and longed for, You alone will save My children, and I concentrate in You all My Love!”

Letters from the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta

2.  To Sister Giovannina.

Fiat

To my dear Sister M. Giovannina, in memory of her vows, always with Jesus.

The mind toward Heaven, the gaze to the Cross, the heart loving Him, the arms always in the act of hugging Him, the steps calling Him, the words saying always “Fiat”.  In each thing never escape from acquiring a degree of sanctity.  Make yourself a saint; Jesus wants it, make Him content.

The little daughter of the Divine Will

Corato, May 14, 1932

4.  “For the good Sister Giovannina”.

J.M.J.
Fiat

Blessed daughter,

Thank you for your wishes; as for my wishes, I send you the Crucifix, so that you may look at Him and copy Him, love Him and enclose Him in your heart.  And to console Him, may you place your will into His Hands, so that He may Reign in you, and form His Heaven of Love and of Perennial Peace.

Pray for me.

Mgr. Fulton J. Sheen

Communism and the Conscience of the West (1948)

“[Satan] will set up a counterchurch which will be the ape of the [Catholic] Church. . . . It will have all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content.”

Quote:

The Antichrist will not be so called; otherwise he would have no followers. He will not wear red tights, nor vomit sulphur, nor carry a trident nor wave an arrowed tail as Mephistopheles in Faust. This masquerade has helped the Devil convince men that he does not exist. When no man recognizes, the more power he exercises. God has defined Himself as “I am Who am,” and the Devil as “I am who am not.”
Nowhere in Sacred Scripture do we find warrant for the popular myth of the Devil as a buffoon who is dressed like the first “red.” Rather is he described as an angel fallen from heaven, as “the Prince of this world,” whose business it is to tell us that there is no other world. His logic is simple: if there is no heaven there is no hell; if there is no hell, then there is no sin; if there is no sin, then there is no judge, and if there is no judgment then evil is good and good is evil. But above all these descriptions, Our Lord tells us that he will be so much like Himself that he would deceive even the elect–and certainly no devil ever seen in picture books could deceive even the elect. How will he come in this new age to win followers to his religion?
The pre-Communist Russian belief is that he will come disguised as the Great Humanitarian; he will talk peace, prosperity and plenty not as means to lead us to God, but as ends in themselves. . . .
. . . The third temptation in which Satan asked Christ to adore him and all the kingdoms of the world would be His, will become the temptation to have a new religion without a Cross, a liturgy without a world to come, a religion to destroy a religion, or a politics which is a religion–one that renders unto Caesar even the things that are God’s.
In the midst of all his seeming love for humanity and his glib talk of freedom and equality, he will have one great secret which he will tell to no one: he will not believe in God. Because his religion will be brotherhood without the fatherhood of God, he will deceive even the elect. He will set up a counterchurch which will be the ape of the Church, because he, the Devil, is the ape of God. It will have all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content. It will be a mystical body of the Antichrist that will in all externals resemble the mystical body of Christ. . . .
. . . But the twentieth century will join the counterchurch because it claims to be infallible when its visible head speaks ex cathedra from Moscow on the subject of economics and politics, and as chief shepherd of world communism.

(Fulton J. Sheen, Communism and the Conscience of the West [Bobbs-Merril Company, Indianapolis, 1948], pp. 24-25)