Triple sufferings

The Passion of our Lord was the perfect act of reparation and of rendering to God the Father the glory due to him.  In order to do do as God is triple in his Trinity so his acts are triple as well and this can be seen in the Passion.   In the fall of man sin was a triple act as well involving his will, intellect and memory, that is the image in which he was created similar to his God, and this is reflected in the Passion. 

 

 

I was thinking about the Passion of my always lovable Jesus, especially of what He suffered in the Garden. I found myself all immersed in Jesus, and He told me:

“My daughter, my first Passion was of love, because the first step with which man, in sinning, gives himself to evil is the lack of love; so, since love is missing, he falls into sin. In order to be repaid through Me for the lack of love of the creatures, love made Me suffer more than anyone; It almost crushed Me, more than if I were under a press. It gave Me as many deaths for as many creatures receiving life.

“The second step that occurs in sin is defrauding God of His glory. So, in order to be repaid for the glory taken away by the creatures, the Father made Me suffer the Passion of sin, such that each sin gave Me a special Passion. Although there was one Passion, I suffered for sin as many Passions as there would be sins committed until the end of the world. So, the glory of the Father was restored.

“The third effect produced by sin is weakness in man. Therefore, I wanted to suffer the Passion from the hands of the Jews - my third Passion - to restore in man his lost strength.

“Therefore, with the Passion of love, love was restored and placed at the right level; with the Passion of sin, the glory of the Father was restored and placed at its level; with the Passion of the Jews, the strength of the creatures was placed at its level and restored. I suffered all this in the Garden, and the pain was so much, so many the deaths - the atrocious spasms inflicted upon Me, that I really would have died if the Will of the Father for my death had arrived.”

Vol. 11, Jan. 22, 1913

Then, after this, I saw blessed Jesus for just a little, and He told me:  “My daughter…” (and this, because I was thinking of how Our Lord let Himself be crowned with thorns, not once, but as many as three times; and since those thorns, broken, remained inside His head, as the crown of thorns would be driven in again the thorns which were already there would penetrate deeper.  And I said:  ‘My sweet love, why did You want to suffer this painful martyrdom as many as three times?  Was one time not enough to pay for our evil thoughts?’)  …So, making Himself seen, He said:

       “My daughter, not only was the crowning with thorns triple, but almost all the pains I suffered in my Passion were triple.  Triple were the three hours of agony in the garden; triple was the scourging, as they scourged Me with three different types of lashes; three times did they strip Me, and as many as three times was I condemned to death:  at nighttime, early in the morning, and in broad daylight.  Triple were my falls under the Cross; triple the nails; three times did my Heart pour out blood:  in the garden by Itself; in the act of the crucifixion from Its very center, when I was stretched well on the Cross - so much so that my body was all dislocated and my Heart was smashed inside and poured out blood; and after my death, when my side was opened with a lance.  Triple were the three hours of agony on the Cross.  If one wanted to ruminate on everything – oh, how many ‘triples’ he would find!  And this was not by chance, but everything was so because of divine disposition, to render the glory due to the Father complete, as well as the reparation owed to Him by creatures and the good to be earned for creatures themselves.  In fact, the greatest good that the creature has received from God was being created in His image and likeness, and endowed with three powers – intellect, memory and will – and there is no sin that the creature commits in which these three powers do not concur.  So, she stains and disfigures the beautiful divine image that she contains within herself, using the gift to offend the Giver.  And I, in order to restore this divine image in the creature and to give God all the glory that the creature owed Him, concurred with all my intellect, memory and will, in a special way with these ‘triples’ suffered by Me, in order to render both the glory due to the Father and the good which was necessary for creatures complete.”

Vol. 6, Sept. 26, 1904


In such suffering as our Lord took upon himself it is easy to focus on how much we have failed in causing such to occur but I think the greater focus is the immense love that our God has for us.  In each act we own him a triple act of love, active in our will, remembered and renewed in our memory, and understood and compassionated in our intellect.  But God will always be God and in this game of love he will never be outdone but will always overwhelm us in his goodness.

This morning, having received Holy Communion, I saw my adorable Jesus for a little while, and as soon as I saw Him, I said to Him:  ‘My sweet Good, tell me, do You continue to love me?’  And He:

  “Yes, but I am loving and jealous, jealous and loving.  Even more, I tell you that in order to be perfect, love must be triple, and in Me there are these triple conditions of love:  first, I love you as Creator, as Redeemer and as Lover.  Second, I love you in my omnipotence which I used in creating you, and in creating everything for love of you, in such a way that air, water, fire, and everything else, tell you that I love you and that I made them for love of you; I love you as my image, and I love you out of regard for you individually.  Third, I love you ab aeterno [from eternity], I love you in time, and I love you for all eternity.  And this is nothing but a breath that came out of my love; imagine, yourself, what must be the love I contain within Myself.  Now, you are obliged to return to Me this triple love, loving Me as your God in whom you must fix all of yourself, and let nothing come out of you which is not love for Me; loving me out of regard for yourself and for the good that comes to you; and loving Me for all, and in all.”

Vol. 4, Jan. 11, 1902