I myself have struggled with going to Confession in the past and I just recently ran into a practicing Catholic who told me, "I don't do anything really bad, so I don't go to Confession." Going to Confession in the past had been a struggle for me, I always knew it was a pride thing. Standing in line there were always all sorts of attacks from the devil trying to get me to leave. Of course at the time, I didn't recognize them as attacks. It is humbling to go to a priest and admit sins and faults to someone else that you wouldn't tell anyone. When I finally realized, however, that Confession did not just give me forgiveness from my sins but gave me the corresponding graces to counter them and grow stronger in my relationship with God I now go as regularly as possible. Also over the years I've discovered that Confession is key to keeping communication channels open with God. The longer I've put Confession off the less and less I can sense God in my soul and without this I can't sense his often subtle promptings.
There are several sites which go into all the Spiritual and Psychological benefits of Confession. I remember when hearing that Catholics were reported by Psychologists as one of the most psychologically healthy populations in the country. Of course that was when Catholics frequented Confession. Here is one site I found, Fr. Hardon also addresses how Confession of even venial sins is important: The Spiritual and Psychological Value of Frequent Confession, Fr. Hardon.
In this blog I wanted to review some passages concerning Confession. Here are some messages from Our Lady of Medjugorje through the years they can all be found at this site: Messages of our Lady of Medjugorje. In them our Lady repeatedly calls us to conversion through the first step of Confession. It's promised as the remedy to the Western Church and the only way to beat through the wall of arrogance which and obtain peace and joy through union with Jesus. She states that an impure heart can never be united with Jesus.
Friday, August 6, 1982 (Feast of the Transfiguration)
A response to questions which were asked concerning Confession:
"One must invite people to go to Confession each month, especially the first Saturday. Here I have not spoken about it yet. I have invited people to frequent Confession. I will give you yet some concrete messages for our time. Be patient because the time has not yet come. Do what I have told you. They are numerous who do not observe it. Monthly Confession will be a remedy for the Church in the West. One must convey this message to the West."
Messages of our Lady of Medjugorje
December 1983
"Monthly confession will be a remedy for the Church in the west. Whole sections of the Church could be cured, if the believers would go to confession once a month."
March 24, 1985 (Sunday) "Today I wish to call you all to confession, even if you have confessed a few days ago. I wish that you all experience my feast day within yourselves. But you cannot experience it unless you abandon yourselves completely to God. Therefore, I am inviting you all to reconciliation with God!"
January 25, 1995 "Dear children! I invite you to open the door of your heart to Jesus as the flower opens itself to the sun. Jesus desires to fill your hearts with peace and joy. You cannot, little children, realize peace if you are not at peace with Jesus. Therefore, I invite you to confession so Jesus may be your truth and peace. So, little children, pray to have the strength to realize what I am telling you. I am with you and I love you. Thank you for having responded to my call."
November 25, 2002 "Dear children! I call you also today to conversion. Open your heart to God, little children, through Holy Confession and prepare your soul so that little Jesus can be born anew in your heart. Permit Him to transform you and lead you on the way of peace and joy. Little children, decide for prayer. Especially now, in this time of grace, may your heart yearn for prayer. I am close to you and intercede before God for all of you. Thank you for having responded to my call."
March 25, 2014 "Dear children! I am calling you anew: begin the battle against sin as in the first days, go to confession and decide for holiness. The love of God will begin to flow through you into the world, peace will begin to rule in your hearts and God's blessing will fill you. I am with you and intercede for all of you before my Son Jesus. Thank you for having responded to my call."
July 2, 2007 "Dear children! In the great love of God, I come to you today to lead you on the way of humility and meekness. The first station on that way, my children, is confession. Reject your arrogance and kneel down before my Son. Comprehend, my children, that you have nothing and you can do nothing. The only thing that you have and that you possess is sin. Be cleansed and accept meekness and humility. My Son could have won with strength, but He chose meekness, humility and love. Follow my Son and give me your hands so that, together, we may climb the mountain* and win. Thank you."
May 2, 2011 "Dear children; God the Father is sending me to show you the way of salvation, because He, my children, desires to save you and not to condemn you. That is why I, as a mother, am gathering you around me, because with my motherly love I desire to help you to be free of the dirtiness of the past and to begin to live anew and differently. I am calling you to resurrect in my Son. Along with confession of sins, renounce everything that has distanced you from my Son and that has made your life empty and unsuccessful. Say 'yes' to the Father with the heart and set out on the way of salvation to which He is calling you through the Holy Spirit. Thank you. I am especially praying for the shepherds (priests), for God to help them to be alongside you with a fullness of heart."
July 2, 2011 "Dear children; today I call you to a difficult and painful step for your unity with my Son. I call you to complete admission and confession of sins, to purification. An impure heart cannot be in my Son and with my Son. An impure heart cannot give the fruit of love and unity. An impure heart cannot do correct and just things; it is not an example of the beauty of God's love to those who surround it and to those who have not come to know that love. You, my children, are gathering around me full of enthusiasm, desires and expectations, and I implore the Good Father to, through the Holy Spirit, put my Son faith, into your purified hearts. My children, obey me, set out with me."
Monday, November 7, 1983
To Jelena:
"Do not go to confession through habit, to remain the same after it. No, it is not good. Confession should give an impulse to your faith. It should stimulate you and bring you closer to Jesus. If confession does not mean anything for you, really, you will be converted with great difficulty."
In the Diary of St Maria Faustina Kowalska, Divine Mercy in my Soul, she is allowed to experience the terror of an unprepared death even though it did not lead to her death. She implores people to frequent Confession to avoid this terror.
321 A sudden illness-a mortal suffering. It was not death, that is to say, a passing over to real life, but a taste of the sufferings of death. Although it gives us eternal life, death is dreadful. Suddenly, I felt sick, I gasped for breath, there was darkness before my eyes, my limbs grew numb-and there was a terrible suffocation. Even a moment of such suffocation is extremely long.... There also comes a strange fear, in spite of trust. I wanted to receive the last sacraments, but it was extremely difficult to make a confession even though I desired to do so. A person does not know what he is saying; not finishing one thing, he begins another. Oh, may God keep every soul from delaying confession until the last hour! I understood the great power of the priest's words when they are poured out upon the sick person's soul. When I asked my spiritual father whether I was ready to stand before the Lord and whether I could be at peace, I received the reply, "You can be completely at peace, not only right now but after each weekly confession." Great is the divine grace that accompanies these words of the priest. The soul feels power and courage for battle.
Diary, St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, Divine Mercy In My SoulAgain in the Diary she receive instructions on how to benefit from the sacrament of Confession.
113 And again, I would like to say three words to the soul that is determined to strive for sanctity and to derive fruit; that is to say, benefit from confession.
First word-complete sincerity and openness. Even the holiest and wisest confessor cannot forcibly pour into the soul what he desires if it is not sincere and open. An insincere, secretive soul risks great dangers in the spiritual life, and even the Lord Jesus Himself does not give Himself to such a soul on a higher level, because He knows it would derive no benefit from these special graces.
Second word-humility. A soul does not benefit as it should from the sacrament of confession if it is not humble. Pride keeps it in darkness. The soul neither knows how, nor is it willing, to probe with precision the depths of its own misery. It puts on a mask and avoids everything that might bring it recovery.
Third word-obedience. A disobedient soul will win no victory, even if the Lord Jesus himself, in person, were to hear its confession. The most experienced confessor will be of no help whatsoever to such a soul. The disobedient soul exposes itself to great misfortunes; it will make no progress toward perfection, nor will it succeed in the spiritual life. God lavishes His graces most generously upon the soul, but it must be an obedient soul.
Diary, St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, Divine Mercy In My SoulJesus in The Diary tells St Faustina that he anxiously waits for souls to come to him so that he can pour forth abundant graces in their souls, but there is needed trust on their parts, trust and humility.
1602 Today the Lord said to me,
Daughter, when you go to confession, to this fountain of My mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flows down upon your soul and ennobles it. Every time you go to confession, immerse yourself entirely in My mercy, with great trust, so that I may pour the bounty of My grace upon your soul. When you approach the confessional, know this, that I Myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of mercy. Tell souls that from this fount of mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust. If their trust is great, there is no limit to My generosity. The torrents of grace inundate humble souls. The proud remain always in poverty and misery, because My grace turns away from them to humble souls.
Diary, St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, Divine Mercy In My Soul In the Volumes one of Jesus' initial teachings to Luisa is about how horrible sin is and how often it is through a lack of humility, a lack of wanting to stay close to Jesus. Even though it is a huge grace and it is important to recognize how ugly even slight sin is it is also important once confessed to refocus on God and not keep ourselves occupied with revisiting our past faults.
The soul is sorry for
the sins it committed in the past, but Jesus does not want it to lose its time
thinking about them.
I
remember that one morning, while He spoke to me about the same virtue, He told
me that because of lack of humility I had committed many sins, and that if I
had been more humble, I would have kept closer to Him and I would not have done
so much evil. He made me understand how ugly sin is – the affront that this
miserable little worm had made to Jesus Christ, the horrendous ingratitude, the
enormous wickedness, the harm caused to my soul. I was so dismayed, that
I did not know what to do in order to repair. I did some mortifications,
I asked for some more from the confessor, but few were given to me, so they all
seemed shadows to me, and I did nothing but think about my sins, though
clinging more and more to Him. I had such fear of moving away and of
doing worse than before, that I myself cannot express it. When I was with
Him, I did nothing but tell Him of the pain I felt for having offended
Him. I kept asking for His forgiveness, I thanked Him for having been so
good to me, and I said to Him from the heart: ‘See oh Lord, the time I
have lost, while I could have loved You.’ I was unable to say anything
but the grave evil I had done.
Finally, one day, reprimanding me, He told me: “I do not want you to think about it. When a soul has humbled herself, being convinced of having done wrong, and has cleansed her soul in the Sacrament of Confession, and is ready to die rather than offend Me - it is an affront to my mercy, it is a hindrance to drawing her close to my love, because her mind is always trying to wrap itself with the mud of the past. She also prevents Me from letting her take flight toward Heaven, because she is always with those ideas wrapped within herself, as she tries to think about it. And then, see, I no longer remember anything; I have perfectly forgotten about it. Do you see any rancor or shadow on my part?”
Vol. 1Finally, one day, reprimanding me, He told me: “I do not want you to think about it. When a soul has humbled herself, being convinced of having done wrong, and has cleansed her soul in the Sacrament of Confession, and is ready to die rather than offend Me - it is an affront to my mercy, it is a hindrance to drawing her close to my love, because her mind is always trying to wrap itself with the mud of the past. She also prevents Me from letting her take flight toward Heaven, because she is always with those ideas wrapped within herself, as she tries to think about it. And then, see, I no longer remember anything; I have perfectly forgotten about it. Do you see any rancor or shadow on my part?”
Sin places a wall between the soul and God which can only be removed by God through confession. Luisa, who by our standards, was always a "good" person, even as a child took ~7 hours to do a complete confession of sins with our Lord in the true light of her soul before God. All of our powers and senses are meant to praise God and find joy in Him alone. Any other use is an affront to God and a usurpation of His rights.
Luisa confesses her sins to
Jesus.
I remember confusedly that, when I would
be with Our Lord, I would often ask for sorrow for my sins and for the grace to
be forgiven of all the evil I had done; and at times I reached the point of
saying that only then would I be content, when I would hear Him say, from His
own lips: “I forgive all your sins.” And blessed Jesus, who can
deny nothing when it is for our good, one morning made Himself seen and told
me: “This time I Myself want to do the office of Confessor. You
will confess all your sins to Me, and in the act in which you do this, I will
make you comprehend, one by one, the sorrows you have given to my Heart in
offending Me, so that, by comprehending what sin is, as much as it is possible
for a creature, you may be resolved to die rather than to offend Me. You,
in the meantime, enter into your nothingness, and recite the Confiteor.”
On entering myself, I could see all of my
misery and my wicked deeds, and I trembled like a leaf before His
presence. I lacked the strength to pronounce the words of the Confiteor,
and if the Lord had not infused new strength in me, by telling me: “Do no
fear. If I am a Judge, I am also your Father. Courage, let us
proceed”, I would have remained there, without uttering one word.
So I said the Confiteor, all full of confusion and humiliation, and since I saw myself all covered with my sins, at one glance, I saw that the greatest one, which had given affront to Our Lord, was pride. So I said: ‘Lord, before your presence, I accuse myself of the sin of pride.’ And He: “Draw near my Heart, and place your ear upon It – you will hear the cruel torment that you have caused my Heart with this sin.” All trembling, I placed my ear upon His adorable Heart – but who can tell what I heard and comprehended in that instant? Especially now, after so much time - I will say something confusedly. I remember that His Heart was beating so strongly, that it seemed that His breast was going to crack. Then it seemed to me that It was torn to shreds, and was almost destroyed by the pain. Ah! if I could have, I would have reached the point of destroying the Divine Being with pride.
I will give you a simile in order to make myself understood, otherwise I have no words to express myself. Imagine a king, and at the feet of this king, a worm, which, rising and swelling up, begins to believe it is something, and reaches such audacity as to rise little by little, reaching the head of this king, wanting to remove the crown from him and put it on its own head. Then, it strips him of his royal vestments; then, it throws him off his throne, and finally, it tries to kill him. But what’s more about this worm, is that it itself does not know its own being; it very much deceives itself, while, to get rid if it, it would take the king nothing but to put it under his feet and crush it – and so it would end its days. In reality, if this could be, it would make arise indignation and pity, as well as ridicule, toward the pride of this worm. So did I see myself before God, and this filled me with such confusion and sorrow, that I felt the torment that blessed Jesus suffered being renewed in my heart.
So I said the Confiteor, all full of confusion and humiliation, and since I saw myself all covered with my sins, at one glance, I saw that the greatest one, which had given affront to Our Lord, was pride. So I said: ‘Lord, before your presence, I accuse myself of the sin of pride.’ And He: “Draw near my Heart, and place your ear upon It – you will hear the cruel torment that you have caused my Heart with this sin.” All trembling, I placed my ear upon His adorable Heart – but who can tell what I heard and comprehended in that instant? Especially now, after so much time - I will say something confusedly. I remember that His Heart was beating so strongly, that it seemed that His breast was going to crack. Then it seemed to me that It was torn to shreds, and was almost destroyed by the pain. Ah! if I could have, I would have reached the point of destroying the Divine Being with pride.
I will give you a simile in order to make myself understood, otherwise I have no words to express myself. Imagine a king, and at the feet of this king, a worm, which, rising and swelling up, begins to believe it is something, and reaches such audacity as to rise little by little, reaching the head of this king, wanting to remove the crown from him and put it on its own head. Then, it strips him of his royal vestments; then, it throws him off his throne, and finally, it tries to kill him. But what’s more about this worm, is that it itself does not know its own being; it very much deceives itself, while, to get rid if it, it would take the king nothing but to put it under his feet and crush it – and so it would end its days. In reality, if this could be, it would make arise indignation and pity, as well as ridicule, toward the pride of this worm. So did I see myself before God, and this filled me with such confusion and sorrow, that I felt the torment that blessed Jesus suffered being renewed in my heart.
After this, He left me, and I felt such
pain, comprehending how ugly the sin of pride is, that it is impossible to
describe it. After I chewed all this thoroughly within myself, my good
Jesus came back and told me to continue the confession of my sins. And I,
all trembling, continued to make the accusation of my thoughts, words, works,
causes and omissions; and when He would see that I was unable to continue the
confession because of the pain I felt at having offended Him so much… in
fact, I had such a vivid clarity, being in front of that Divine Sun;
especially, I could see my littleness, the nonentity of my being, and I was
stunned at how daring I had been, wondering from where had I taken that courage
to offend a God so good, who, in the very act in which I was offending Him,
assisted me, preserved me, nourished me. And if He had any rancor with
me, it was for the sin I committed, which He greatly hated, while He loved me
immensely, He excused me before divine justice, and was all occupied with
removing that wall of division between the soul and God, which sin had
produced. Oh! if all could see who God is, and who the soul is in the act
of sinning, they would all die of sorrow, and I believe that sin would be
exiled from the earth …So, when blessed Jesus would see that I could not
take any more because of the pain, He would withdraw and leave me, to allow me
to comprehend well the evil I had done. And then He would come back
again, and I would continue the accusation of my sins.
But who can tell all that I understood,
and explain, one by one, the different affronts and the special sorrows which I
had caused Our Lord with my sins? I feel it is almost impossible for me
to explain myself - also because I don’t remember it too well.
Then, when I finished the accusation, which lasted about seven hours, lovable Jesus took the aspect of a most loving father. And since I was exhausted in my strengths because of the sorrow - more so since I saw that that sorrow was not enough to be sorry as it befitted my sins - to encourage me, He told me: “I Myself want to make up for you, and I apply to your soul the merit of the pain I had in the Garden of Gethsemani. This alone can satisfy the divine justice.” After He applied His pain to my soul, then I seemed to be disposed to receive the absolution.
Then, when I finished the accusation, which lasted about seven hours, lovable Jesus took the aspect of a most loving father. And since I was exhausted in my strengths because of the sorrow - more so since I saw that that sorrow was not enough to be sorry as it befitted my sins - to encourage me, He told me: “I Myself want to make up for you, and I apply to your soul the merit of the pain I had in the Garden of Gethsemani. This alone can satisfy the divine justice.” After He applied His pain to my soul, then I seemed to be disposed to receive the absolution.
All humbled and confused as I was,
prostrated at the feet of the good Father Jesus, through the rays He was
sending into my mind, I tried to excite myself more to sorrow by saying -
though I don’t remember everything: ‘Great, immense, has been the evil I
have done against You. These powers of mine and these senses of my body
were meant to be as many tongues with which to praise You. Ah! instead,
they have been like many poisonous vipers which were biting You and were even
trying to kill You. But, holy Father, forgive me – do not want to cast me
away because of the great wrong I have done to You by sinning.’
And Jesus: “And you - do you promise
to sin no more, and to banish from your heart any shadow of evil that might
offend your Creator?”
And I: ‘Ah! yes, with all my heart I
promise You. I would die a thousand times rather than sin again.
Never again, never again.’
And Jesus: “And I forgive you, and I
apply to your soul the merits of my Passion, and I want to wash it in my
Blood.”
And as He was saying this, He raised His
blessed right hand and pronounced the words of the absolution – exactly like
the words that the priest says, when he gives absolution. And in the act
of doing this, a river of blood poured down from His hand, and my soul was
completely inundated by it.
After this, He said to me: “Come, oh
daughter, come to make penance for your sins by kissing my wounds.”
All trembling, I stood up and I kissed His
most sacred wounds; and then He said to me: “My daughter, be more
vigilant and attentive, because today I give you the grace not to fall, ever
again, into voluntary venial sin.”
Then He gave me other exhortations, which
I don’t remember too well; and He disappeared.
Vol. 1
January 5,
1900
Effects of sin and of Confession.
Effects of sin and of Confession.
As I was in my usual state, I felt I was going
outside of myself, and I found my adorable Jesus; but – oh, how full of sins I
saw myself before His presence! In my interior I felt a strong desire to
make my confession to Our Lord, and so, turning to Him, I began to tell my
sins, and Jesus was listening to me. When I finished speaking, turning to
me with a face full of sadness, He told me: “My daughter, sin is a poisonous
and deadly embrace to the soul, if it is grave; and not only to her, but also
to all the virtues present in the soul. If then it is venial, it is a
wounding embrace, which renders the soul very weak and infirm, and together
with her the virtues which she had acquired also become infirm. What a
deadly weapon sin is! Sin alone can wound and give death to the
soul! Nothing else can harm her, nothing else but sin alone renders her
opprobrious and odious before Me.”
While He was saying this, I comprehended the
ugliness of sin and I felt such pain that I cannot even express it. And
Jesus, seeing me all contrite, raised His blessed right hand and pronounced the
words of the absolution. Then He added: “Just as sin wounds and
gives death to the soul, so does the Sacrament of Confession give life, heal
the wounds, and give back vigor to virtues; and this, more or less, according
to the dispositions of the soul – so does the virtue of the Sacrament
operate.” It seemed to me that my soul had received new life; I no longer
felt the bother of before, after Jesus gave me the absolution. May the
Lord be always thanked and glorified!
Vol. 3Confession is a key to drawing souls to Catholicism and if one doe not avail themselves of it they can not be called a true Catholic.
How to draw souls to Catholicism.
Since the confessor had given me the obedience
to pray to the Lord that He would manifest to me what should be done in order
to draw souls to Catholicism and to remove so much unbelief,
...
I
heard Jesus behind my shoulders saying: “All other societies know who
belongs to their party, only my Church does not know who Her children
are. The first step is to know who those are who belong to Her, and these
you can know by establishing a reunion one day, to which you will invite them,
so that who is Catholic should convene to the appointed place for this reunion;
and there, with the help of the lay Catholics, they should decide what it is
advisable to do. The second step is to oblige to confession those
Catholics who convene, which is the most important thing that renews man and
forms the true Catholics. And this, not only for those who are present,
but they should oblige the leaders to oblige their subjects to confession; and
if they do not succeed with gentle manners, they should dismiss them from their
service. Once each priest has formed the body of his Catholics, then will
they be able to advance to superior steps. In fact, recognizing the
opportunity of the moment, the way to penetrate into other parties, and the
prudence in exposing themselves, is like the pruning of trees, which makes them
produce large and mature fruits. But if the tree is not pruned, it does
make, yes, a beautiful display of leaves and of flowers, but as soon as a frost
comes, or a wind blows, since the tree does not have enough sap and strength to
sustain so many flowers in order to change them into fruits, the flowers fall
off, and the tree remains stripped. The same happens in the things of
religion: first you must form a suitable body of Catholics, so as to be
able to confront the other parties, and then you can come to penetrating into
the other parties to form one single party.”
Vol. 3
Going to Confession by itself is not enough. One must go with the right intention and being at least submitted to the Will of God otherwise the soul will not receive the effects of the sacrament even worse to go without these intentions or the resolution to sin no more makes a mockery of Jesus and it is as though he is before Herod all over again.
I tell you that the
Sacraments themselves produce fruits according to how souls are
submitted to my Will. They produce effects according to the connection
that souls have with my Volition. And if there is no connection with my
Will, they may receive Communion, but will remain on an empty stomach; they may go to Confession, but will remain always dirty; they may come before my Sacramental Presence, but if our wills do not meet, I will be as though dead for them, because my Will alone
produces all goods and gives life to the very Sacraments in the soul who lets
herself be subdued by It. And those who do not understand this - it means
that they are babies in religion.”
Vol. 11, September 25, 1913
“My
daughter, not only then was I clothed like a madman, sneered at and mocked, but
creatures continue to give Me these pains; even more, I am amid continuous
mockeries, and by all kinds of people. If a person goes to Confession and
does not maintain his resolutions not to offend Me - this is a mockery that he
makes of Me.
Vol. 13, September 16, 1921
Worse even than making a mockery of Jesus' passion is that by not going with the right intention instead of forgiveness we will then receive fiery justice and even death, death to our relationship with God. Each step bringing us closer to an eternal break in our relationship with God, that is Hell, eternal death. Furthermore one should greatly consider that in receiving communion without true sorrow for our sins and going to Confession as we can beforehand what we are subjecting our God to, the only true lover of our soul.
But, do not stop,
keep flying, and you will hear the anguishing moans of the Holy Spirit in the
Sacrament of Penance. How much ingratitude, how many abuses and profanations,
on the part of those who administer it and on the part of those who receive it.
In this Sacrament, my Blood places Itself in act over the contrite sinner, in
order to descend upon his soul, to wash him, embellish him, heal him and
strengthen him, to give back to him the lost grace, to place in his hands the
keys of Heaven, which sin had snatched away from him; to impress on his
forehead the peacemaking kiss of forgiveness. But, ah! how many harrowing
moans, in seeing souls approaching this Sacrament of Penance without sorrow,
out of habit, almost as a vent of the human heart. Others – horrible to be said
– instead of going to find the life of their souls, of grace, go to find death,
to pour out their passions. So, the Sacrament is reduced to a mockery, to a
nice chat; and my Blood, instead of descending as a bath, descends as fire,
which withers them even more. And so, in each Confession, Our love cries
inconsolably and, sobbing, repeats: ‘Human ingratitude, how great you are.
Everywhere you try to offend Me; and while I offer you life, you turn the very
life I offer you into death.’ See, then, how Our moans await your requital of
love in the Sacrament of Penance
Do not let your
love stop; go through all the Tabernacles, through each Sacramental Host, and
in each Host you will hear the Holy Spirit moan with unutterable sorrow. The
Sacrament of the Eucharist is not only their own life that souls receive, but
is my very Life that gives Itself to them. So, the fruit of this Sacrament is
to form my Life in them, and each Communion serves to make my Life grow, to
develop It, in such a way that one may be able to say: ‘I am another Christ’.
But, alas!, how few take advantage of it. Even more, how many times I descend
into hearts and they make Me find the weapons to wound Me, and repeat for Me
the tragedy of my Passion. And as the sacramental species are consumed, instead
of pressing Me to stay with them, I am forced to leave bathed with tears,
crying over my sacramental lot; and I find no one who calms my crying and my
sorrowful moans. If you could break those veils of the Host, which cover Me,
you would find Me bathed with crying, knowing the lot that awaits Me in
descending into hearts. Therefore, let your requital of love for each Host be
continuous, in order to calm my crying, and to render less sorrowful the moans
of the Holy Spirit.
Vol. 18, November
5, 1925
