So, back to speaking of the church and what she will undergo. Jesus speaks of those who pretend to be his children but in fact they will be his most fierce enemies as well as of the Church. He especially refers to false priests and and how few true ones there will be to administer the sacraments.
Chastisements. The children of the Church will be Her fiercest enemies.
The thought of the scourges, and of the fact that I might foment them by going out of that state by myself, pierced my heart. The confessor continued not to be well. I prayed and cried, and I could not make up my mind. Blessed Jesus would come like a flash and then run away, leaving me free. Finally, moved to compassion, He came, and compassionating and caressing all of me, told me:
“My daughter, your constancy conquers Me. Love and prayer bind Me and almost wage battle against Me. Therefore I have come to be with you for a little while, for I could resist no more. Poor daughter, do not cry - here I am, all for you. Patience, courage - don’t lose heart. If you knew how much I suffer… but the ingratitude of creatures forces Me to do this - their enormous sins, their incredulity, almost wanting to challenge Me. And this is the least - if I told you about the religious side... how many sacrileges! How many rebellions! How many pretend to be my children, while they are my fiercest enemies! These false sons are usurpers, self-interested and incredulous; their hearts are bilges of vice. These very sons will be the first to wage war against the Church - they will try to kill their own Mother! Oh! how many of them are already about to come out into the field. Now there is war among governments and countries; soon they will make war against the Church, and Her greatest enemies will be Her own children. My Heart is lacerated with sorrow. But in spite of all this, I will let this storm pass by, and the face of the earth and the churches be washed by the blood of the same ones who have smeared them and contaminated them. You too, unite yourself to my sorrow - pray and be patient in watching this storm pass by.”
But who can say my torment? I felt I was more dead than alive. May Jesus be always blessed, and may His Holy Will be always done.
Vol. 11, March 7, 1915
“Ah! my daughter, there will be contentions among them; death will claim many lives, and also priests. Oh! how many masks dressed as priests. I want to remove them before the persecution against my Church and revolutions arise; who knows - they might convert at the moment of death. Otherwise, if I leave them there, during the persecution these masks will remove the mask, will unite with the sectarians, and will be the fiercest enemies of the Church; and their salvation will be more difficult.”
And I, all afflicted, said: ‘Ah! my Jesus, what pain, to hear You speak of these blessed chastisements. And the peoples -what shall they do without priests? They are already few enough; You want to take away more – and who will administer the Sacraments? Who will teach your laws?’
And Jesus: “My daughter, do not afflict yourself too much; the scarce number is nothing. I will give to one the grace and the strength that I give to ten - to twenty; and one will be worth ten, or twenty. I can make up for everything. And besides, the many priests who are not good are the poison of the peoples; instead of good, they do evil, and I do nothing other than remove the first elements that poison the peoples.”
Vol. 12, Jan. 8, 1919
In the first reading he talked about those who pretend to be his children. There is one point where I found where he describes the characteristics of what a true child of God is. It certainly gives pause for self evaluation.
The characteristics of the children of God: love for the cross, love for the glory of God, and love for the glory of the Church.
Continuing in my poor state of privation and of unspeakable bitterness – at the most, He makes Himself seen in silence – this morning He told me: “My daughter, the characteristics of my children are: love for the cross, love for the glory of God, and love for the glory of the Church - to the point of laying down their lives. One who does not have these characteristics, in vain calls himself my son; one who dares to say it, is a liar and a traitor who betrays God and himself. Take a look into yourself, to see whether you have them.” And He disappeared.
Vol. 6, Feb. 8, 1905
Jesus gives Luisa a vision of an image of the Church.
An image of the Church.
As I told the confessor about my concerns that my state may not be Will of God, and that, at least as a test, I wanted to try to make an effort to go out of it and see whether I could manage or not, without raising his usual difficulties, the confessor said: “All right, tomorrow you will try.” So I was left as if I had been freed of an enormous weight. Now, after he celebrated Holy Mass and I received Communion, I saw my adorable Jesus in my interior for just a little, His gaze fixed on me, His hands joined, in the act of asking for pity and help. At that moment I found myself outside of myself, inside a room in which there was a lady, majestic and venerable, but gravely infirm. She was inside a bed with a headboard so high as to almost touch the vault, and I was forced to stay over this headboard, in the arms of a priest, in order to keep it still and to look at the poor ill one. While in this position, I saw a few religious surrounding and offering their cares to the patient, and saying among themselves with intense bitterness: “She is ill, she is ill - it would take nothing more than a little shake.” And I was taking care of keeping the headboard of the bed still, for fear that, if the bed moved, she might die.
But seeing that things were dragging on, and almost getting annoyed by that idleness, I said to the one who was holding me: ‘For pity’s sake, let me get down; I am doing nothing good, nor am I helping anyone – why stay here, so useless? If I get down, at least I can serve her, help her.’ And he: “Did you not hear that even a little shake could make her get worse and cause most sad things to happen to her? If you get down, since there is no one to keep the bed still, she may even die.” And I: ‘But how can it be possible that, by just doing this, this good can come to her? I don’t believe it - for pity’s sake, let me get down.’ So, after I repeated these words several times, he put me down on the floor, and by myself, with no one holding me, I drew near the ill one, and to my surprise and sorrow I saw that the bed was moving. At those movements, her face went blue, she trembled and emitted a death rattle. Those few religious were crying and saying: “There is no more time, she is in the extreme moments now.” Then some enemies entered – soldiers and captains – to beat the ill one; but, dying as she was, that lady got up with intrepidness and majesty to be wounded and beaten. On seeing this, I trembled like a reed, and I said to myself: ‘I have been the cause of this, I myself have given the push for so much evil to happen.’ And I understood that that lady represented the Church, infirm in Her members, with many other meanings which it seems useless to me to explain, because they can be comprehended by reading what I have written.
Vol. 5, Oct. 24, 1903
It seems to me in today's world we draw ever nearer this image between the sex scandals, the conflict between the Vatican and the religious and the differing desires among the secular. The Church is truly in a precarious position. Lusia later on goes on to further explain the vision by obedience to her confessor.
To obey the confessor, I continue to tell the other meanings I understood on the 24th of this month. So, the lady represented the Church, who is infirm, not in Herself, but in Her members; but even though She is laid low and insulted by enemies, and rendered infirm in Her very members, She never loses Her majesty and venerability. As for the bed She was in, I understood that while the Church seems oppressed, infirm, opposed, She yet rests with a perpetual and eternal rest, and with peace and safety in the paternal bosom of God, like a child on the lap of her mother. I understood that the headboard of the bed that touched the vault was the divine protection that always assists the Church, and that everything She contains has all come from Heaven: Sacraments, doctrine and other things – everything is celestial, holy and pure, in such a way that between Heaven and the Church there is continuous communication, never interrupted. As for the few religious who offered care and assistance to the lady, I understood that few are those who defend the Church with all of themselves - considering the evils She receives as though given to themselves. The room in which She resided, made of stone, represented the solidity, the firmness, and even the hardness of the Church in surrendering to no one the rights that belong to Her. The dying lady who, with intrepidness and courage, allows herself to be beaten by the enemies, represented the Church which, while She seems to be dying, rises again more intrepid– but how? Through sufferings and shedding of blood – the true spirit of the Church, always ready for mortification, as Jesus Christ was.
Vol. 5, Oct. 25, 1903
He also speaks of the triumph of the cross and the Church after the chastisements.
By shunning the cross one remains in the dark.
This morning my adorable Jesus came all glorious, with His wounds more refulgent than suns, and with a cross in His hand. In the meantime I also saw a wheel with four sections of it leaning out, while it seemed that another section shunned the light and remained in the dark. In this darkening the people remained as though abandoned by God, and bloody wars would happen against the Church and against themselves. Ah, it seemed that the things said by blessed Jesus in the past are approaching at a fast pace! Now, on seeing all this, moved to compassion, Our Lord drew near the dark part, and He cast the cross He had in His hand upon it, saying with sonorous voice: “Glory to the cross!” And it seemed that that cross would call back the light, and the peoples, stirring themselves, would implore help and aid. Jesus repeated: “All the glory and triumph will be of the cross, otherwise the remedies will make the very evils worse. Therefore, the cross, the cross!” Who can say how afflicted I was left, and concerned for what might happen?
Vol. 4, Sept. 15, 1901
... in one flash I saw the whole Church, the wars which the religious must go through and which they must receive from others, and wars among societies. There seemed to be a general uproar. It also seemed that the Holy Father would make use of very few religious people, both for bringing the state of the Church, the priests and others to good order, and for the society in this state of turmoils. Now, while I was seeing this, blessed Jesus told me: “Do you think that the triumph of the Church is far?” And I: ‘Yes indeed – who can put order in so many things that are messed up?’ And He: “On the contrary, I tell you that it is near. It takes a clash, but a strong one, and therefore I will permit everything together, among religious and secular, so as to shorten the time. And in the midst of this clash, all of big chaos, there will be a good and orderly clash, but in such a state of mortification, that men will see themselves as lost. However, I will give them so much grace and light that they may recognize what is evil and embrace the truth, making you suffer also for this purpose. If with all this they do not listen to Me, then I will take you to Heaven, and things will happen even more gravely, and will drag on a little longer before the longed-for triumph.”
Vol. 6, Aug. 15, 1904
It seems to me that that people have not listened and that things are now dragging on, but the triumph will still come. It is foretold by Jesus and will come as he states at most it will only be delayed for a bit. And what will bring about this triumph? He clearly states this as well. It is these very Volumes on the Divine Will which will renew the Church and bring about her triumph.
Do you see how necessary it is to make them understand that complete abandonment is needed in order to live in my Will? And you say it was not necessary to write about it. I feel compassion for you, because you do not see what I see, and therefore you take it lightly. But in my all-seeingness, I see that these writings will be for my Church like a new sun which will rise in Her midst; and drawn by its blazing light, creatures will apply themselves in order to be transformed into this light and become spiritualized and divinized, in such a way that, as the Church will be renewed, they will transform the face of the earth. The doctrine on my Will is the purest, the most beautiful, not subject to any shadow of the material or of interest, both in the supernatural and in the natural order. Therefore, like sun, it will be the most penetrating, the most fecund, and the most welcomed and appreciated. And being light, of its own it will make itself understood and will make its way. It will not be subject to doubts or suspicions of error; and if some word is not understood, it will be because of too much light which, eclipsing the human intellect, will not allow them to comprehend the whole fullness of the truth. However, they will find not a word which is not truth. At the most, they will not be able to comprehend it fully. Therefore, in view of the good which I see, I push you to neglect nothing in writing. One saying, one effect, one simile about my Will can be like beneficial dew upon souls, just as dew is beneficial on the plants after a day of burning sun, or like a pouring rain after long months of drought. You cannot understand all the good, the light, the strength contained in each word; but your Jesus knows it, and knows the ones whom it must serve and the good it must do.” Now, as He was saying this, He showed me a table in the middle of the Church, and all the writings about the Divine Will placed upon it. Many venerable people surrounded that table and became transformed into light and divinized; and as they walked, they communicated that light to whomever they encountered. Then Jesus added: “You will see this great good from Heaven, when the Church will receive this celestial food, which will strengthen Her and make Her rise again in Her full triumph.”
Vol. 16, Feb. 10, 1924
She states that she saw many venerable people being transformed into light and divinized by these very Volumes. This is not limited to priests or religious. All are welcome to reach for the heights that these Volumes can bring a soul. And what good can that soul than effect?! The very triumph of the Church.
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