The Queen of Peace

On this anniversary of Our Lady's first apparition in Medjugorje and her title "Queen of Peace," I wanted to look in the Volumes on this topic.

Jesus states that His Kingdom, a Kingdom of Peace, was in the heart of His Mother.  She never experienced a single moment where she was disturbed or anxious even in the Passion.  Without any such disturbance Jesus was able to extend His Kingdom in her to freely in fullness.  This shows how important it is for us to remain in the Peace of Jesus so that He can always extend His Kingdom in us. 

This morning, Jesus renewed in me the pains of the crucifixion; our Queen Mama was also present, and Jesus, speaking of Her, said: “My Kingdom was in the Heart of my Mother, and this, because Her Heart was never disturbed even slightly; so much so, that in the immense sea of the Passion, She suffered immense pains, and Her Heart was pierced through by the sword of sorrow, but She did not receive the slightest breath of disturbance. Therefore, since my Kingdom is a Kingdom of peace, I was able to lay my Kingdom within Her, and to reign freely without any obstacle.”

Vol. 2, July 4, 1899

In the book, The Virgin Mary In The Kingdom Of The Divine Will, Mary tells her story that in learning about the sad story of mankind how her heart went out and she began pleading with God to save us.  God in turn satisfies her giving her the title of Peacemaker between God and man.  He tells her that the destiny of mankind is in her hands.

Now, in the middle of our loving stratagems, I remembered the painful state of my human family upon earth, for I too was of their offspring - and how I grieved and prayed that the Eternal Word would descend and put a remedy to it.  And I would say this with such tenderness as to reach the point of changing smile and feast into crying.  The Most High was so moved by my tears, more so, since they were the tears of a little one; and pressing Me to the divine bosom, They dried my tears and said to Me:   “Daughter, do not cry, pluck up courage.  Into your hands We have placed the destiny of mankind; We gave You the mandate, and now, to console You more, We make of You the Peacemaker between Us and the human family.   So, to You it is given to reconcile us. The power of Our Will that reigns in You compels Us to give the kiss of peace to poor humanity, decayed and unsafe.”

Who can tell you, my child, what my Heart felt at this divine condescension?  My love was so great that I felt faint and, in delirium, I was restless, looking for more love as relief for my love.

Now a word to you, my child.  If you listen to Me by banishing your will and giving the royal place to the Divine Fiat, you too will be loved with striking love by your Creator; you will be His smile, you will put Him in feast, and will be bond of peace between the world and God.

THE VIRGIN MARY IN THE KINGDOM OF THE DIVINE WILL, Day 9

Jesus elaborates on this by saying that all who lives in the Divine Will also takes on the vocation of peacemaker between God and man.  The human will began and wages war with God it is with those who submit themselves to live in the Divine Will and allow Him to reign in them that God will form bonds of order, peace and love to overcome mankind.  

“My daughter, one who lives in my Volition becomes the peacemaker between God and the creature; all her acts, words, steps, her prayers, her little sacrifices, are like so many bonds of peace between Heaven and earth, they are as weapons of peace with which she combats her Creator with weapons of peace and love in order to disarm him and to make him propitious and exchange the scourges into mercy.  And as the human will formed the war in order to wage war with He who had created her, not only, but broke the accord, the order and the peace, thus my Volition, with the force of his omnipotence reigning in the creature converts that which the creature does into bonds of accord, of order, of peace and of love.  So that from her goes forth as a little white cloud, that elevating itself spreads out and rises up even to the Divine throne, that bursts forth in so many voices for how many acts she has done (and) says:  ‘Great God, I bring you peace from the earth, and You give me your peace in order to bring it as bond of peace between You and the human generation.’  This little cloud rises and descends, descends and rises and does the office of peacemaker between Heaven and earth.”

Vol. 29, July 13, 1931

And here we see the meaning behind the small white cloud of Elijah which has been seen as a symbol of Mary.  A small cloud that brought about the great rain ending the drought. ( How a cloud in the Bible became a symbol of Mary )

42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; there he bowed himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees. 43 He said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” He went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” Then he said, “Go again seven times.” 44 At the seventh time he said, “Look, a little cloud no bigger than a person’s hand is rising out of the sea.” Then he said, “Go say to Ahab, ‘Harness your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’” 45 In a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind; there was a heavy rain. Ahab rode off and went to Jezreel. 46 But the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; he girded up his loins and ran in front of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

1Kings 18:  42-46

We are all called to live in the Divine Will.  We are all called to be a Peacemaker between man and God.  We are all called to be the small white cloud rising to God and descending to the earth bringing the beneficial rain to mankind ending the long drought.  None can equal our Lady, Queen of Heaven in whom the Divine Will reigned from the moment of her conception but we are all called to share in her work.  All are called but few will respond and be chosen.

The Meaning behind The Miracle of the Sun

miracle sun fatima

While reading in the Volumes I came across one which pointedly reminded me of the Great Miracle of the Sun in Fatima and the nearly daily miracles of the Sun which continue in Medjugorje.  It occurred to me that in all this time, in all these recounts of these events no one has asked the question what was the point of the miracle, what was the message.  Was it merely to scare people to convert? God doesn't do things without purpose.  He doesn't just do things to scare people or put on a great light show.  Everything he does is with highest reason, power, beauty and utility.

So first let's review the Miracle of the Sun which occurred October 13, 1917....

The Great Miracle of the Sun

The greatest miracle to occur since the Resurrection is also the only miracle ever precisely predicted as to date, time of day and location. Although it is popularly known as “The Miracle of the Sun” and October 13, 1917 has come to be known as “The Day the Sun Danced,” a great deal more took place. The solar phenomena included the dancing of the sun, its fluctuations in color, its swirling and its descending toward the earth. There was also the stillness in the leaves of the trees in spite of howling winds, the complete drying of the rain-soaked ground and the restoration of clothes all wet and covered with mud so that, as eye-witness Dominic Reis, put it, “They looked as tho they had just come back from the cleaners.” Physical cures of the blind and the lame were reported. The countless unreserved public confessions of sin and commitments to conversion of life attest to the authenticity of what they saw.

The miracle is reported to have been seen from as far as 15-25 miles away, thus ruling out the possibility of any type of collective hallucination or mass hypnotism. Doubters and skeptics had become believers. Even O Seculo’s chief editor, Avelino de Almeida, now reported affirmatively and stood by his story later on in spite of harsh criticism.

Fatima's Miracle of the Sun

Many feared it was the end of the world resulting in many converting and people going to confession.  Also in Medjugorje, although perhaps not as dramatic as Fatima, there has been nearly a daily observance of the dancing Sun.

For many of the youth, growing up in Medjugorje, the spinning of the sun has become almost a natural occurrence, as this has been happening daily since they were born. ...

“On August 2, 1981, the Feast of Our Lady Queen of the Angels, in the late afternoon, before the sun had set, the sun was seen to spin in its orbit, then descend toward the watching people of approximately 150, then retreat – a ‘dance of the sun’ that reminded the people of the miraculous phenomenon at Fatima.

Sun Miracles at Medjugorje


The sun has always been a great symbol of the unity of the Trinity in it's fire, light and heat.  See The Trinity  for further discussion on this topic.  The sun is a lesson given to us by God, a lesson of love and purity from which all goods can trace their origin just as the sun is the source of all the good effects which it brings to the earth.

But you must know that all of creation, and each created thing, gives a lesson to man.  They all narrate Our Divine qualities, and each thing gives a lesson about the quality that it contains: the sun gives a lesson in light, and teaches that to be light it is necessary to be pure, stripped of every material thing.  Light always contains heat united to it - you cannot detach the light from the heat - so if you want to be light you must love only your Creator, and this will bring to you, like the sun, the fecundity of good. 

Vol. 21, April 22, 1927

Just as the sun is a lesson on how we should be it is also a lesson on the very nature of God and his trans-formative power.  There is no darkness, pain, vice or sorrow which the Divine Will can not transform into beauty.

“My daughter, as the sun, when it rises, makes the darkness flee, so it brings with it the dawning of the light which replaces the dampness of the night which has so invested the plants that they have become oppressed, numbed, and dejected.  As the sun rises, that dampness changes into pearls making everything glisten:  plants, flowers, and all of nature.  It’s silvery brilliance restores joy and beauty as it removes the stupor of the night; and with its enchantment of light it seems as if it gives a hand to all of nature to vitalize her, make her beautiful, and give her life.  The sea, the streams, and the springs become all armed and enlarge the diversity and vivacity of the colors.

“Similarly, as My Volition rises, all human acts rest enveloped with light, they take their place of honor in My Will, [and] each receives its special tint of beauty and the tone of the Divine colors - in such a way that the soul remains transfigured and covered with an indescribable beauty.  As the Sun of My Volition rises It places in flight all the evils of the soul and takes away the numbness produced by the passions.  Rather, before the Light of the Divine Fiat the same passions taste that light and seek to convert themselves into virtues so they may give homage to My Eternal Volition.  As It rises all becomes joy, [even] the very sufferings [which], like the seas of the night, create fear in the poor creature.  Where My Volition rises It puts to flight the night of the human will, and removing every fear It thoroughly forms Its gold in those pains, and with Its Light It invests the bitter waters of suffering and crystallizes them into seas of sweetness so as to form an enchanting and admirable horizon.  What can My Volition not do?  It can do all, and wants to give all; [and] where It rises, It does things worthy of Our creative hands.”

Vol. 21, March 22, 1927

But if the sun were to leave it's orbit and come too close to the earth, as was witness in the Great Miracle of the Sun, the earth would burn up being transformed into the very fires of the sun losing it's own form and essence.  This is also a symbol of the difference between creatures living off of the effects of grace or the effects of the light of the sun and those who are called to live in the Divine Will or in the very unity of it.

I was thinking about the unity of the Divine Fiat, and was saying to myself: ‘How could all those who have done good, so many great works, do them, if they did not possess Its unity?’ And Jesus, always benign, added: “My daughter, all the good done until now by creatures has been done by virtue of the effects of my Divine Will, because there is no good without It; but as for living totally and fully in Its unity – none until now, only my Queen Mama; and this is why She drew the great prodigy of the Incarnation of the Word. Had there been someone, the earth would have returned to the state of Eden; and then, the one who would possess the unity of my Will could neither have contained It, nor endured without speaking about It. It would have been as if the sun wanted to enclose itself inside a vase of crystal, without spreading its rays. Would it not, instead, crack the glass with its heat so as to be free to spread its rays? To possess the unity of my Fiat and not to speak about It, and not to spread Its rays, the beauty of Its knowledges, would have been impossible for her; her heart would crack if she did not give it vent to manifest, in part, the fullness of Its light and of Its goods. So, good has been done by virtue of the effects of It.

The same happens with the sun which, by virtue of the effects which its light contains, makes the plants germinate, and makes the earth produce so much good. It seems that the earth and the effects of the sun work together to produce plants, fruits and flowers for the creatures. But the earth does not rise into the sphere of the sun; if it did so, the sun would have so much strength as to remove the dark side of the earth, and all of its atoms of dust it would convert into light - and the earth would become sun. But since the earth does not rise, nor does the sphere of the sun descend down below, the earth remains earth, and the sun does not transform it into itself. It seems that they look at each other from afar, they help each other, and they work together by means of the effects of the light, which the sun spreads over the earth from the height of its sphere. But even though the earth receives many admirable effects, produces the most beautiful flowerings, there passes a great distance between the earth and the sun, they do not resemble each other, nor does the life of one become the life of the other. And so the earth is unable to speak about the sun, nor tell all the effects it contains, or how much heat and light it possesses. In such condition is the creature who does not possess the unity of my Will. She does not rise into Its extremely high sphere to become sun, nor does my divine Sun descend to form her life; but, in wanting to do good, she moves around Its light, and my Will communicates the effects to make the good that she wants to germinate, because my Fiat does not deny Itself to anyone; on the contrary, with Its light, It wakens the human nature, to make it turn green again and make it produce fruits of good works.”

Vol. 23, February 2, 1928

So the Divine Will when it can not fuse itself with it's beloved creature does not turn away from her but still, even from a distance, communicates his effects in order produce fruits and good effects in her.  But it becomes limited and constrained by the will of the creature and what she will accept.  Still the object of love is unity, fusion, and a relationship from a distance can never wholly satisfy and when there is distance there will always be inconstancy and doubts.

Whence feeling oppressed and all full with intense bitterness, my sweet Jesus making himself seen and sustaining me between his arms said to me:

“My daughter, courage, think that a Divine Volition reigns in you, that he is the source of happiness and of perennial joy; whence your bitterness and oppressions form the clouds around the Sun of my Will, which impede his rays from shining in all your being, because wanting to make you happy he feels the happiness that he wants to give you rejected by your bitterness.  And in spite that you possess a divine Sun at your disposition, in virtue of your bitterness you feel the rain that oppresses you, that fills you even to the brim of your soul.  Because you should know that one who lives in my Will lives in the center of the sphere of the divine Sun, and can say:  ‘The Sun is all mine.’  Instead one who doesn’t live in Him lives in the circumference of the light that the divine Sun spreads everywhere, because my Volition neither can with his immensity deny himself to anyone, nor does he want to deny himself, he finds himself as the Sun that is constrained to give light to everyone, although not everyone might want it, and why is this?  Only because he is light and the nature of the light is to give itself to everyone, to whom doesn’t want him and to whom wants him.  But what great difference there is between one who lives in the center of my Divine Sun and between one who lives in his circumference?  The first one possesses the properties of the light and all his goods that are infinite; the light holds her defended from all evils, so that sin can not have life in this light, and if bitternesses arise, they are as clouds that can not have perennial life, a little breeze of my Will is enough in order to put in flight the densest clouds, and the soul finds herself sunk in the center of the Sun that she possesses.  More so that bitternesses of one who lives in my Volition are always for my cause, and I can say that I am embittered together with you, and if I see you cry, I cry together, because my same Will makes me inseparable from one who lives in Him and I feel her sufferings more than if they might be mine.  Indeed my same Will that resides in the soul calls my Humanity in one who suffers, in order to make him repeat his living life upon the earth; and oh, (the) divine prodigies that happen, the new currents that are opened between Heaven and earth, for the new life of sufferings that Jesus holds in his creature.  And my Heart while it is human, it is divine, it possesses the sweetest tenderness, they are such and so many the attractions and the powerful tendernesses of my Heart, that as I see one who loves me suffer, my most tender love liquefies my Heart and repours all of itself out over the sufferings and over the heart of my beloved creature.  Therefore I am with you in the suffering and do two offices:  as Actor of sufferings and (as) Spectator, in order to enjoy the fruits of my sufferings that I want to go developing in her.  Therefore for one who lives in my Will I am Sun and center of her life, hence we are inseparable, I feel her palpating life in me and she feels my palpating life in the intimacy of her soul.  Instead for one who lives in the circumference of the light because the sun of my Divine Will spreads everywhere, she is not proprietor of the light, because true mastery is said when a good resides in oneself, and no one can take away the good of within, neither in life nor after death, instead the good of outside is subject to peril nor does it hold power to hold us in security, and the soul suffers weakness, inconstancy, passions that torment her, and she arrives to feel as distant from her Creator.  Therefore I want you always in my Will, in order to let me continue my life upon the earth.”
Vol. 29, February 13, 1931

Now Jesus said in the beginning of this "...but as for living totally and fully in Its unity – none until now, only my Queen Mama;"  Only Mary up until Luisa has lived in the total unity of the Divine Will.  Only she is "the full of grace."   And as she is fully united with the Will of God just as God will have his Kingdom and victory in the end so will the Queen Mama.

July 13, 1917

In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.”

Fatima's Miracle of the Sun

There is a great deal which can be said about the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  Her every act done in the Divine Will was in fact a triumph but her complete triumph will not occur until God Kingdom reigns supreme, that is it reigns within the creature just as it reigned within her.  I've explored this topic more in depth in:  The Queenship of Mary.  Instead I'd like to close this topic with looking at the difference between Jesus and Mary.  For no matter how lofty Mary is above all creatures she is still a creature before the face of God.  She may be the perfect reflection of His light being constantly bathed with the fullness of His light to the point where she is the mediatrix of all grace but Jesus contains within Himself the source of all.

“My daughter, between Myself and the Celestial Queen, one was the Will that animated Us, one the life; however, between She and I passed this difference: between a house which is such that the sun enters into it from all sides - in a way that the light invests it, dominates it, and there is not one part of this house in which the light does not act as queen, and therefore it is prey to the light, receives always light, and grows under the influence of the light - and another house which possesses the sphere of the sun within itself, therefore it does not receive the source of the light from outside, but possesses it inside. Is there not difference between one and the other? Now, this is the difference that passes between Me and my Mama. She is the house invested by the light, She gave Herself prey to it, and the Sun of my Will kept giving to Her, always; It nourished Her with light, and She grew within the endless rays of the eternal Sun of my Fiat. On the other hand, my Humanity possessed within Itself the sphere of the Divine Sun, Its source which always arises without ever decreasing; and the Sovereign Queen drew from Me the light which gave Her life and the glory of Queen of light, because one who possesses a good can be called queen of that good.”

Vol. 23, March 11, 1928

So in conclusion the Great Miracle of the Sun was a foreshadowing of the Triumph of the the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  Her Triumph being having children living in the unity of the Sun of the Divine Will, not just by it's effects.  Her triumph is the coming of the Kingdom of God, the return of the creature "... to the order, to her post and to the purpose for which she was created by God."  This is the very title of the Volumes given by Jesus himself written by Luisa.  

Confession, more than Forgiveness

Josefina de Vasconcellos



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 Soul


Again 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 Soul



Jesus 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. 1



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.

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.

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.

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. 3



Confession 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

 

The Importance of Prayer

Ever wonder why in the messages of Medjugorje from our Lady she almost constantly asks for prayer and fasting.  I think that people often get a bit tired of hearing the same message over and over hoping for something new wondering why she keeps repeating the same thing when we know this one already. Just by doing a quick search of her messages for "pray" I came up with 1,337 different messages.  It was while reading the Poem of the Man God that I first came across something which started to make me think differently about prayer.  It's where Jesus brought the twelve apostles to a place to pray and fast for their formation as apostles.  Here is his explanation for doing so.

     "I have brought you here to speak to your spirits, to nourish your spirits, to make you spiritual.  I shall not speak many words.  I have told you so many in approximately one year that I have been with you!  Enough of that.  If I should have to change you by means of words, I would have to keep you ten years... one hundred years, and you would still be imperfect.  It is now time that I make use of you.  And to make use of you, I must form you.  I will have recourse to the great medicine, to the great weapon:  to prayer.  I have always prayed for you.  But now I want you to pray by yourselves.  I will not yet teach you My prayer.  But I will tell you how to pray and what prayer is.  It is the conversation of sons with the Father, of spirits with the Spirit, an open, warm, trustful, quiet and frank conversation.  Prayer is everything:  it is confession, knowledge of ourselves, repentance, a promise to ourselves and to God, a request to God, all done at the feet of the Father.  And it cannot be done in a turmoil, among distractions, unless one is a giant in prayer.  And even giants suffer from the clash with the noise of the world in their time of prayer.  You are no giants, but pygmies.  You are but infants in your spirits.  You are deficient in your spirits.  You will reach here the age of spiritual reason.  The rest will come later.

The Gospel as Revealed to Me, by Maria Valtorta, pg. 34.  (Formally known as the Poem of the Man God.)

So a couple of things I've noticed here; even being in the presence of Jesus for a year and hearing him speak and teach it was not enough by itself to effect a dramatic change in the apostles and their prayer mainly consisted of opening themselves up to conversation with God.  They did not pray the "Our Father" he does go on to say that they would gather together three times a day "...to pray with the old words of Israel and to break our bread, then each of  you will go back to his grotto, in front of God and of his soul..." pg. 35, but mostly their prayer was a form of meditation without route recitation.  This started an exploration on the subject and the power of prayer for me which has gone on now for some time.  Here is what I've found in the Volumes. 


Jesus enlightened Luisa that vocal prayer maintained a correspondence with God but only combined with interior meditation does it draw God to an intimate conversation with the soul.

Since He was still not coming, I kept saying:  ‘My good Jesus, do not make me wait so long.  This morning I don’t feel like getting upset and looking for You so much, to the point of tiring myself.  Come once and for all, quickly quickly – as simple as that.’  And in seeing that He was not coming, I kept saying:  ‘It shows that You want me to get tired and even reach the point of getting upset; otherwise You do not come.’

While I was saying this and other nonsense, He came and told me:  “Would you be able to tell Me what it is that maintains the correspondence between the soul and God?”  And I, but always through a light that came from Him, said:  ‘Prayer’.  And Jesus, approving of my answer, added:  “But what is it that draws God to intimate conversation with the soul?”  I did not know what to answer,  but immediately the light moved in my intellect, and I said:  ‘If vocal prayer serves to maintain the correspondence, certainly interior meditation must serve as nourishment in order to maintain the conversation between God and the soul.’ 

Vol. 3, September 1, 1900



Furthermore it is in the ongoing effort of the soul to remain in continuous prayer that draws the Divinity to intimate conversation with the soul manifesting now one thing and now another to her expanding her knowledge of God.

“What I recommend to you is a spirit of continuous prayer.  The continuous effort of the soul to converse with Me, whether with her heart, or with her mind, with her mouth, or even with a simple intention - renders her so beautiful in my sight, that the notes of her heart harmonize with the notes of my Heart.  I feel so drawn to converse with this soul, that I manifest to her not only the works ad extra [external] of my Humanity, but I keep manifesting to her something of the works ad intra [interior] which the Divinity did in my Humanity.  Not only this, but the beauty that a spirit of continuous prayer makes her acquire is so great, that the devil is as though struck by lightning, and remains frustrated in the snares He lays in order to harm this soul.”

Vol. 4, July 28, 1902



Luisa was also requested by Mary to pray and here she receives a lesson from her on the most effective prayers to move the Heart of Jesus.

I felt the Queen Mama near me, and She told me:  “My daughter, pray.”  And I:  ‘My Mama, let us pray together, for by myself I don’t know how to pray.’  And She added:

           “The most powerful prayers over the Heart of my Son, and those which move Him the most, are for the creature to clothe herself with everything He Himself did and suffered, since He gave everything as gift to the creature.  Therefore, my daughter, surround your head with the thorns of Jesus, bead your eyes with His tears, impregnate your tongue with His bitterness, clothe your soul with His Blood, adorn yourself with His wounds, pierce your hands and feet with His nails, and like another Christ present yourself before His Divine Majesty.  This sight will move Him in such a way that He will not be able to deny anything to the soul who is clothed with His own insignia.  But – oh! how little do creatures know how to make use of the gifts which my Son gave them!  These were my prayers upon earth, and these are my prayers in Heaven.”

Vol. 11, June 15, 1916 



So prayers which renew the sacrifice of our Lord before God are the most effective in moving the Heart of Jesus.  But also prayer must be done in an attitude of humility or it will not even be listened to by God.



No prayer is listened to by my ears, and moves my Heart to compassion, if it is not perfumed by the fragrance of humility. 
Vol. 3, January 12, 1900

I seemed to see Him in such great suffering as to arouse compassion.  Throwing Himself into my arms, He said to me:  “My daughter, break the fury of my Justice, otherwise….”  At that moment, I seemed to see divine Justice, armed with swords, with darts of fire, such as to strike terror; and also the fortitude with which She can act.  All frightened, I said:  ‘How can I break your fury if I see You so strong as to be able to annihilate heaven and earth in one simple instant?’  And He:  “Yet, a suffering soul and a most humble prayer make Me lose all my strength, and render Me so weak as to let Myself be bound by that soul as she pleases.” 

Vol. 4, October 17, 1900



Even though Jesus said that prayer "...cannot be done in a turmoil, among distractions, unless one is a giant in prayer..." he also says that there will be times when the distractions and disturbances will be too great to recollect oneself in prayer.  But this is where humility comes into play again.  Jesus says that one should accept these disturbances confessing that one deserves these pains and then offer them up to God as a sacrifice which will then draw down new graces and charisms and will drive the devil away.

Don’t you know that I am Spirit of Peace, and the first thing I recommend is that you do not disturb the peace of the heart?  When in prayer you are not able to recollect yourself, I do not want you to think of this or that – of how it is, or how it is not – because in doing so, you yourself call the distraction.  Instead, when you find yourself in that state, the first thing to do is to humble yourself, confessing that you deserve those pains, and placing yourself in the arms of the executioner, like a humble little lamb that licks his hand while he kills it.  The same for you:  while seeing yourself beaten, disheartened and alone, you will resign yourself to my holy dispositions, you will thank Me with all your heart, you will kiss my hand that strikes you, recognizing yourself unworthy of those pains.  Then, you will offer to Me that bitterness, anguish and tedium, praying Me to accept them as a sacrifice of praise, of satisfaction for your sins, and of reparation for the offenses that they give Me.  If you do so, your prayer will ascend before my throne as most fragrant incense; it will wound my Heart, and you will draw new graces and new charisms upon you.  In seeing you humble and resigned, all plunged into your nothingness, the devil will not have the power to get close.  And here is how, where you thought you were losing, you will make great gains.”
Vol. 1  The soul experiences that it cannot do anything without Jesus and that everything it does is all due to him.  Jesus, the true spiritual director, teaches the soul what to do in various situations.

And how often have I experienced and I've heard others say that Jesus often seems to like to wait until the last moment.  More so Jesus tells Luisa that for all the things that he wants to give to us it is necessary that we "earn" these things through a set number of prayers, acts, pains and sighs.  If the set number is not complete he can not give.  So although it often seems like the last moment before we are answered it is more so Him waiting for the set number of acts and prayers on our part before He can answer us.  Just as it says in the Bible:



⁵ And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; ⁶ for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ ⁷ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ ⁸ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.
⁹ “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
Luke11: 5-10


So Jesus reaffirms in the Volumes:

“My daughter, continue on – do not want to stop. You must know that everything has been determined by the Supreme Being – prayers, acts, pains, sighs, which the creature must do in order to obtain that which We Ourselves want to give her, and which she longs to receive. So, if these are not performed, the longed for Sun does not rise from Us in the midst of the long night of the human will, to form the day of the Kingdom of the Divine Fiat. This is why many times it happens that many acts and prayers are done, and nothing is obtained; but then, because of another little sigh and prayer, one obtains what he so much longed for. Was it perhaps the last act to obtain the deed of grace? Ah, no! It was the continuation of all the acts and prayers; and if one sees that he obtains through that last act, it is because that one was needed to complete the number established by Us.
Vol. 24, May 20, 1928

Now just as it says above that when one wants to receive they must preform a set number of prayers and acts to obtain that divine gift in the case of a universal good which is to be given to many so too are there a set number of acts and prayers which must be done by a set number of people.  These prayers and holy desires dispose people to a holier life, a more spiritual life just as Jesus used "the great medicine, the great weapon" of prayer to transform the apostles.  As it was for the Kingdom of the Redemption so is it for the Kingdom of His Divine Fiat.

Now, my daughter, the Kingdom of Redemption and the Kingdom of my Divine Fiat hold hands, and since It is also a universal good, such that, if they want so, all can enter into It, it is necessary that many know the news about It, and that It be conceived in the minds, in the words, in the works and hearts of many, so that, through prayers, desires, and a holier life, they may dispose themselves to receive the Kingdom of my Divine Will into their midst. If the news is not divulged, my manifestations will not act as trumpeters, nor will the knowledges about my Divine Fiat fly from mouth to mouth, forming the conception of It in the minds, prayers, sighs and desires of creatures. My Divine Volition will not make Its triumphant entrance, coming to reign upon earth.

Vol. 25, January 13, 1929



And here we have the reason for Mary's incessant call to prayer in the messages of Medjugorje.  She needs us to be transformed into a holier life through prayer and fasting in order to bring about the Triumph of her Immaculate Heart.  And what greater Triumph is there for Mary than to see the full and complete Reign of the Kingdom of her Son, of the Divine Fiat, the Divine Word living and reigning within each and every creature on earth hence bringing about the full Kingdom upon the earth.

"Dear children, do not be of a hard heart towards the mercy of God, which has been pouring out upon you for so much of your time. In this special time of prayer, permit me to transform your hearts that you may help me to have my Son resurrect in all hearts, and that my heart may triumph. Thank you."

Our Lady's message for April 2, 2007


Fiat