Royal Garments

I initially thought that I just had a little postscript to add on to the last blog but after looking through the Volumes on this next topic have found something which will again take a couple of posts to cover due to the amount of material.  In the last post it focused on the Resurrection of our Lord and talked about his appearance all of light.   



The garment of light of the risen Humanity of Jesus.

This morning, finding myself outside of myself, for a little while I saw my adorable Jesus in the act of His Resurrection - all clothed with refulgent light, so much so, that the sun remained obscured before that light. I was enchanted, and I said: ‘Lord, if I am not worthy to touch your glorified Humanity, let me at least touch your garments.’ And He told me: “My beloved, what are You saying? After I rose again I had no more need for material garments; rather, my garments are of sun, of most pure light which covers my Humanity, and which will shine eternally, giving unspeakable joy to all the senses of the Blessed. This has been conceded to my Humanity because there was no part of It which was not covered with opprobrium, with pains, with wounds.” Having said this, He disappeared, and I could find neither His Humanity nor His garments; or rather, as I would take His sacred garments between my hands, they would escape me and I would not be able to find them.

Vol. 4, March 30, 1902

This led me to think of one of the passages in the Bible which has always puzzled me before of the guest arriving without the wedding garment and the seemingly harsh reaction he got because of it.

² “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son, ³ and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast; but they would not come. ⁴ Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have made ready my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.’ ⁵ But they made light of it and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, ⁶ while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. ⁷ The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. ⁸ Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. ⁹ Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find.’ ¹⁰ And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

¹¹ “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment;¹² and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. ¹³ Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.’ ¹⁴ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Matt. 22:2-14



In Vol 3, Luisa describes the uniform that she is dressed in in order to attend the feast.

After this, my beloved Jesus transported me inside a garden in which there were many people preparing themselves to attend a feast, but only those who received a uniform were able to attend, and few were those who received this uniform.  A great yearning arose in me to receive one, and I did so much that I obtained the intent.  So, as I reached the place in which one would receive it, a venerable matronly woman clothed me in white first, and then placed on me a pale blue shoulder band on which a medal was hanging with the imprint of the face of Jesus.  While being a face, it was also a mirror, and in looking at it, one would detect the slightest stains, which the soul, with the help of a light coming from within that face, could easily remove.  It seemed to me that that medal contained a mysterious meaning.  Then she took a mantle of finest gold and covered me all over.  It seemed to me that dressed in this way I could compete with the virgins in Heaven.  While this was happening, Jesus told me:  “My daughter, let us go back to see what men are doing; it is enough for you to be dressed – when the feast begins, I will take you there to attend.”  So, after we went round for a little while, He transported me inside my bed.

Vol. 3, May 20, 1900

Jesus speaks of this wedding garment which we were originally given with the creation of man.

“My daughter, the true marriage with humanity was done in Creation. Nothing was lacking either to the soul or to the body; everything was done with royal sumptuousness. An immense palace was prepared for the human nature, such that no king or emperor can have one similar to it, which is the whole Universe: a starry heaven and its vault, a Sun which would never extinguish its light; flourishing gardens in which the happy couple, God and man, was to stroll, amuse itself and maintain the continuous, uninterrupted feast of our marriage; and garments, woven not with matter, but formed of purest light by Our power, as befitted royal persons…

Vol. 24, June 12, 1928

 The role of garments is often seen in the Passion and Jesus makes clear that his first thought was to restore the royal robes to man in making amends for the garments which he stripped himself of in the garden.

 

 

The Divine Will was everything for man, and with It he needed nothing. Before being scourged, Jesus wanted to be stripped in order to give back to the creature the royal garment of the Divine Will.

          I was accompanying the mystery of the scourging, compassionating my sweet Jesus when He saw Himself so confused in the midst of enemies - stripped of His garments, under a storm of blows. And my lovable Jesus, coming out of my interior in the state He was in when He was scourged, told me: “My daughter, do you want to know why I was stripped when I was scourged? In each mystery of my Passion, first I occupied Myself with joining the split between the human will and the Divine, and then with the offenses which this split produced. When man, in Eden, broke the bonds of the union between the Supreme Will and his will, he stripped himself of the royal garments of my Will, and clothed himself with the miserable rags of his will – weak, inconstant, impotent to doing anything good. My Will was a sweet enchantment for him, which kept him absorbed within a most pure light, which made him know nothing but His God, from whom he had come, and who gave him nothing but innumerable happinesses. And he was so absorbed within the so much giving of his God to him, that he would give not a thought to himself. Oh! how happy man was, and how the Divinity delighted in giving him so many particles of His Being for as many as the creature can receive, in order to make him similar to Himself. So, as soon as he broke the union of Our Will with his, he lost the royal garment, he lost the enchantment, the light, the happiness. He looked at himself without the light of my Will, and in looking at himself without the enchantment which kept him absorbed, he came to know himself, he felt ashamed, he became afraid of God; so much so, that his very nature felt the sad effects of this: he felt the cold and his nakedness, and felt the vital need to cover himself. Just as Our Will kept him within the port of immense happinesses, so did his will put him in the port of miseries. Our Will was everything for man, and in It he found everything. It was right that, having come out of Us and living in Our Will as Our tender child, he would live of It; and this Will was to make up for everything he needed. Therefore, as he wanted to live of his own will, he became needy of everything, because the human will does not have the power to make up for all needs, nor does it contain the fount of good within itself. So, he was forced to procure for himself, with hardship, the necessary things of life. Do you see, then, what it means not to be united with my Will? Oh! if all knew It, they would have one yearning alone: that my Will come to reign upon earth. So, had Adam not withdrawn from the Divine Will, his nature also would have had no need of clothing; he would not have felt ashamed of his nakedness, nor would he have been subject to suffering cold, heat, hunger, weakness. But these natural things were almost nothing; rather, they were symbols of the great good which his soul had lost.

          Therefore, my daughter, before being tied to the pillar to be scourged, I wanted to be stripped in order to suffer and repair for the nakedness of man when he stripped himself of the royal garment of my Will. I felt such confusion and pain within Me in seeing Myself stripped in the midst of enemies who were mocking Me, that I cried over the nakedness of man and I offered my nakedness to my Celestial Father, so that man might be clothed once again with the royal garment of my Will. And as ransom, so that this would not be denied to Me, I offered my blood, my flesh torn to shreds, and I let Myself be stripped not only of my garments, but also of my skin, to be able to pay the price and satisfy for the crime of this nakedness of man. I poured out so much blood in this mystery, that in no other did I pour so much – so much as to be enough to cover him with a second garment, a garment of blood, so as to cover him again, and then warm him and wash him, to dispose him to receive the royal garment of my Will.”

          On hearing this, surprised, I said: ‘My beloved Jesus, how can it be possible that, because he withdrew from your Will, man felt the need to clothe himself, was ashamed, was afraid; but then, You always did the Will of the Celestial Father, You were One with Him, your Mama never knew Her own will - yet, the two of You had need of clothing and food, and You felt the cold and the heat?’ And Jesus added: “Yet, my daughter, it is precisely so. If man felt ashamed of his nakedness and was subject to many natural miseries, it was precisely because he lost the sweet enchantment of my Will; and even though it was his soul that did evil, not his body, the body, however, indirectly was as though accomplice with the wicked will of man, and so his nature remained as though profaned by the bad volition of man. Therefore both the soul and the body had to feel the pain of the evil committed. As for Me, indeed I always did the Supreme Will, but I did not come to find an innocent man, a man before sin; rather, I came to find a sinful man and with all his miseries. And so I had to associate Myself with men, taking upon Myself all of their evils, and subjecting Myself to all the necessities of life, as if I were one of them. However, in Me there was this prodigy: if I wanted, I would need nothing, either clothing, or food or anything else. But I did not want to make use of it out of love for man. I wanted to sacrifice Myself in everything, even in the most innocent things created by Me, in order to prove my ardent love to him. Even more, this served to impetrate from my Divine Father that out of regard for Me and for my will completely sacrificed to Him, He would give back to man the noble royal garment of Our Will.”

Vol. 16, Jan. 14, 1924


The objective of Jesus' redemptive blood which washes the creature and puts him in safety is to prepare man to receive once again the royal garments which he wore before the fall.  Then again in the Passion where they divided and cast lots for Jesus' garments, I'm guessing we've all wondered about the meaning behind that.

Lament of Jesus in His Passion, in seeing His garments being divided, and lots drawn for His tunic.  How Adam, before sinning, was clothed with light, and as he sinned, he felt the need to cover himself.

I was doing my usual acts in the Supreme Fiat, and my adored Jesus came out from within my interior and told me:  “My daughter, in my Passion there is a lament of mine which came out with immense sorrow from the depth of my tormented Heart:  ‘They divided my garments and drew lots for my tunic.’  How painful it was for Me to see my garments being divided among my very executioners, and my tunic being gambled away.  It was the only object I possessed, given to Me, with so much love, by my sorrowful Mama; and now, they not only stripped Me of it, but they made of it a game.  But do you know who pierced Me the most?  In those garments, Adam became present to Me, clothed with the garment of innocence and covered with the indivisible tunic of my Supreme Will.  In creating him, the uncreated Wisdom acted as more than a most loving mother; more than with a tunic, It clothed him with the unending light of my Will – a garment which is not subject to being either disarranged, or divided, or consumed; a garment which was to serve man in order to preserve the image of his Creator and the gifts received from Him, and which was to render him admirable and holy in all his things.  Not only this, but It covered him with the overgarment of innocence.  And Adam, in Eden, with his passions divided the garments of innocence, and he gambled away the tunic of my Will – a garment which is incomparable and of radiant light. 

What Adam did in Eden was repeated under my eyes on Mount Calvary.  In seeing my garments being divided and my tunic gambled away – symbol of the royal garment given to man, my sorrow was so intense that I made of it a lament.  It became present to Me when creatures, in doing their own will, make a game of Mine, and the so many times in which they divide the garment of innocence with their passions.  All goods are enclosed in man by virtue of this royal garment of the Divine Will; once this is gambled away, he remains uncovered, he loses all goods, because he lacks the garment which kept them enclosed within himself.  So, among the many evils that creatures do by doing their own will, they add the irreparable evil of gambling away the royal garment of my Will – a garment which cannot be substituted with any other garment.”

After this, my sweet Jesus showed me Himself placing my little soul inside a sun, and with His holy hands He held me still within that light, which was such that, as it covered me completely, inside and out, I could not see, nor was I able to see anything but light.  And my adored Good added:  “My daughter, in creating man, the Divinity placed him inside the Sun of the Divine Will, and all creatures in him.  This Sun served as garment not only for his soul, but its rays were such as to cover also his body, in such a way as to serve as more than a garment for him, rendering him so adorned and beautiful that neither kings nor emperors have ever appeared so adorned as Adam appeared, with this garment of most refulgent light.  Those who say that, before sinning, Adam went naked are wrong.  False, false.  If all things created by Us are all adorned and clothed, he who was Our jewel, the purpose for which all things were created – was he not to have the most beautiful garment and the most beautiful ornament of all?  So, to him befitted the beautiful garment of the light of the Sun of Our Will; and since he possessed this garment of light, he had no need of material garments in order to cover himself.  As he withdrew from the Divine Fiat, so did light withdraw from his soul and from his body; he lost his beautiful garment, and in seeing himself no longer surrounded with light, he felt naked.  Feeling ashamed in seeing that he was the only one to be naked in the midst of all created things, he felt the need to cover himself, and he made use of superfluous things, created things, to cover his nakedness.  This is so true, that after my highest sorrow of seeing my garments divided and my tunic gambled away, as my Humanity rose again I took no other garments, but I clothed Myself with the most refulgent garment of the Sun of my Supreme Will.  That was the same garment as the one which Adam possessed when he was created, because in order to open Heaven, my Humanity was to wear the garment of the light of the Sun of my Supreme Will – a royal garment; and as it gave Me the insignia of King and dominion into my hands, I opened Heaven to all the redeemed ones; and presenting Myself before my Celestial Father, I offered Him the garments of His Will, whole and beautiful, with which my Humanity was covered, so as to make Him recognize all the redeemed ones as Our children.  So, while It is life, at the same time my Will is the true garment of the creation of the creature, and therefore It holds all rights over her.  But how much do they not do to escape from within this light?  Therefore, be still in this Sun of the Eternal Fiat, and I will help you to maintain yourself in this light.”

On hearing this, I said to Him:  ‘My Jesus and my All, how is this?  If Adam in the state of innocence had no need of garments because the light of your Will was more than garment, the Sovereign Queen, however, possessed your Will as whole, and You Yourself were your Will Itself; yet, neither the Celestial Mama nor Yourself wore the garments of light, and both of You made use of material garments to cover Yourselves.  How is this?’  And Jesus continued, saying:  “My daughter, both my Mama and I came to set fraternal bonds with creatures; We came to raise decayed humanity, and therefore to take up the miseries and humiliations into which it had fallen, in order to expiate for them at the cost of Our lives.  Had they seen Us clothed with light, who would have dared to approach Us and to deal with Us?  And in the course of my Passion, who would have dared to touch Me?  The light of the Sun of my Will would have blinded them and crushed them to the ground.  Therefore, I had to make a greater miracle, hiding this light within the veil of my Humanity, and appearing as one of them, because It represented, not Adam innocent, but Adam fallen, and so I was to subject Myself to all of his evils, taking them upon Myself as if they were my own, in order to expiate for them before Divine Justice.  But when I rose again from death, representing Adam innocent, the new Adam, I ceased the miracle of keeping the garments of the refulgent Sun of my Will hidden within the veil of my Humanity, and I remained clothed with most pure light; and with this royal and dazzling garment I made my entrance into my Fatherland, leaving the doors open which had remained closed up to that point, so as to let all of those who had followed Me enter. 

Therefore, by not doing Our Will, there is no good which one does not lose, and there is no evil which one does not acquire.”

Vol. 20, Dec. 12, 1926


The reason man does not walk the earth naked as people think we should like animals is the inherent shame we feel for not being clothed as we were meant to be.  The garments seen by those who witness Jesus resurrected are the garments with which Adam was originally clothed and are the garments which we require in order to enter into the Kingdom.  They were bought with the Blood of our Lord and anyone who is not clothed in them will not be allowed to the wedding feast between man and God.

 

The Hour of Death

There is a connection between the Agony in the Garden and the Agony on the Cross.  One is to be help to all so that they might die well, the other is specific help at the last moment, even the last breath.




“My daughter, in a special way I wanted to suffer the agony in the Garden, in order to help all of the dying to die well. Look well at how my agony is combined with the agony of Christians: tediums, sadnesses, anguishes, the sweat of blood – I felt the death of all and of each one, as if I were really dying for each one in particular; so I felt the tediums, the sadnesses, the anguishes of each one within Me, and with my own I offered help, comfort and hope to all, so that, as I felt their deaths in Me, they all might receive the grace to die in Me, as though in one single breath - with my breath, and to be beatified immediately by my Divinity.

“If the agony in the Garden was in a special way for the dying, the agony on the Cross was for help at the last moment, at the very last breath. They are both agonies, but one is different from the other: the agony in the Garden, full of sadnesses, of fears, of anxieties, of frights; the agony on the Cross, full of peace, of imperturbable calm. And if I cried out‘I thirst!’, it was the insatiable thirst that all might breathe their last in my last breath; and in seeing that many would go out of my last breath, out of grief I cried out ‘Sitio!’ [‘I thirst!’], and this ‘sitio’ still continues to cry out to all and to each one like a bell at the door of each heart: ‘I thirst for you, oh soul! O please, never go out of Me, but enter into Me and breathe your last in Me!’

“So, six are the hours of my Passion which I gave to men in order to die well: the three in the Garden were for help in the agony; the three on the Cross for help at the very last sigh before death. After this, who could not look at death with a smile? More so for one who loves Me, for one who tries to sacrifice himself on my very cross. Do you see how beautiful death is, and how things are changed? In life I was despised; the very miracles did not produce the effects of my death; even up to the Cross there were insults. But as soon as I breathed my last, death had the power to change things: all beat their breasts, confessing Me the true Son of God; my very disciples plucked up courage, and even those who were hidden became brave and asked for my body, giving Me honorable burial. Heaven and earth, in full voice, confessed Me the Son of God. Death is something great, something sublime; and this happens also for my own children: in life they are despised, oppressed; those very virtues which, like light, should make those who are around them start, remain half-veiled; their heroisms in suffering, their abnegations, their zeal for souls, cast lights and doubts in those who surround them; and I Myself permit these veils, so as to preserve with more safety the virtue of my dear children. But as soon as they die, I withdraw these veils since they are no longer necessary, and the doubts become certainties, the light becomes clear, and this light makes others appreciate their heroism - they pay esteem to everything, even to the smallest things. Therefore, what cannot be done in life, is made up for by death. This, as for what happens down here. That which happens up there, then, is truly surprising and enviable to all mortals.”

Vol. 9, July 4, 1910




"..and in seeing that many would go out of my last breath..."

I've always been amazed in the type of death that God chose for his Son, Jesus, in the crucifixion.  The details of the physical agony are mind numbing in their horror and all combined could not have been endured by one who was only human in nature.  There are a couple of links below that go into detail on his physical sufferings if you haven't already read into it.  Jesus says that each aspect of his suffering is full of divine wisdom and one part that that has particularly hit me is that with crucifixion, unlike other deaths, the last breath is an inhalation.  Jesus even in his last breath sought to draw all souls into him to save them.

Adequate exhalation required lifting the body by pushing up on the feet and by flexing the elbows and adducting the shoulders (Fig 6) ² However, this maneuver would place the entire weight of the body on the tarsals and would produce searing pain.⁷ Furthermore, flexion of the elbows would cause rotation of the wrists about the iron nails and cause fiery pain along the damaged median nerves.⁷ Lifting of the body would also painfully scrape the scourged back against the rough wooden stipes. ², ⁷ Muscle cramps and paresthesias of the outstretched and uplifted arms would add to the discomfort. ⁷ As a result, each respiratory effort would become agonizing and tiring and lead eventually to asphyxia. ²,³, ⁷, ¹⁰, ¹¹

^{http://www.frugalsites.net/jesus/crucifixion.htm}

Another excellent site to reflect on the physical extremes Jesus suffered can be found below, A Physician Analyzes the Crucifixion.
http://www.frugalsites.net/jesus/physician.html


Jesus states that at this last point of death of the creature is when he will pull out all the stops, so to speak in order to save the creature.

             “Our goodness, our love is so much, that we try all routes, we use all means in order to tear her from sin, in order to put her in safety, and if we don’t succeed there in life, we make the ultimate surprise of love at the point of death.  Now, you must know that at that point it is the ultimate spying of love that we do to the creature, and we furnish her with graces, with light, with goodness; there we put such tenderness of love, as to soften and to overcome the hardest hearts.  And when the creature finds herself between life and death, between the time that finishes and the eternity about to begin, almost in the act that the soul is about to go forth from the body, I, your Jesus, make myself seen with an amiability that enraptures, with a sweetness that captivates and softens the bitterness of life, specifically at that extreme point; then, my look..., I look at her, but with so much love as to tear an act of sorrow from her, an act of love, an adherence to my Will.

                “Now, in that point of disillusionment, in seeing, in touching with (one’s) hand how much we have loved and love them, they feel such sorrow that they repent for not having loved us, and they recognize our Will as beginning and completion of their life, and as satisfaction they accept death in order to complete an act of our Will.  Because you must know that if the creature doesn’t do not even one act of the Will of God, the doors of heaven are not opened, nor is she recognized as heir of the celestial fatherland, nor can the angels and saints admit her among them, nor would she like to enter there, because she would know that it doesn’t belong to her.  Therefore without our Will there is neither true sanctity, nor salvation.  And how many become saved in virtue of this spying of ours all of love, except the most perverse and obstinate, although it will be necessary for her to make the long stopover of purgatory.  Therefore the point of death is our daily catch, the recovery of lost man.”

                Afterwards he added:

                “My daughter, the point of death is the hour of disillusionment, and all things are presented in that point the one after the other, in order to say:  ‘Good-bye, the earth for you is finished, eternity for you begins.’  It happens for the creature as when she finds herself closed in a room, and it comes to be said to her:  ‘Beyond this room there is another room, in which there is God, paradise, purgatory, hell, in short eternity’; but she sees nothing, if she listens to it asserted by others, and since those that say it it has not yet come to them, they say it in a way almost as not believing, not giving a great importance as to make one believe reality, certainty, (of) that which they say in words.

                “Now, one beautiful day the walls fall, and she sees with (her) eyes that which they said before; she sees her Father God, who with so much love has loved her; the benefits that he has done for her one by one, and all the injured rights of love that she owed him; how her life was of God not hers.  Everything (brings) itself before her: eternity, paradise, purgatory, hell; the earth escapes her, pleasures turn (their) shoulders/(backs), everything disappears, and only that which is present to her is in that room in which the walls have fallen, that is eternity.  What change happens for the poor creature!

                “My goodness is so much, that I want everyone safe, that I allow that these walls fall when creatures find themselves between life and death, between the soul going forth from the body in order to enter into eternity, so that at least they make an act of sorrow and of love for me, and they recognize my adorable Will upon them, I can say (that) I give (them) an hour of truth, in order to put them in safety.  Oh, if everyone might know my industries of love that I do at the last point of life, so that they don’t escape from my more than fatherly hands, they would not wait for that point, but they would love me for all (of their) life.”

Fiat!!!

Vol. 35, March 22, 1938


It's necessary for the creature to do at least one act of the Will of God.  One, and they are saved. 

 

The Garden of Gethsemani

I remember a talk given by a priest awhile ago in which he talked about the hour of the Passion which most moved him in the atrocious agony of Jesus;  he went on to talk about the crucifixion.  I remember being a bit disappointed in a way.  I'm not saying that it wasn't a horrible moment in his Passion even beyond human understanding but the hour which most moved me in Jesus' Passion for the sheer unimaginable weight of his sufferings has always been the Agony in the Garden.  I've felt this even before reading the Volumes but could never have explained why I felt so.  But it was in the Volumes where I found the confirmation for why I had felt so about this point in his Passion.

In previous posts (http://littledivinelights.blogspot.com/2013/02/interior-sufferings.html) it already talked about how internal sufferings are much more grievous than external/physical sufferings.  Jesus specifically speaks in the Volumes about how his three hours in the Garden of Gethsemani outweighed all his other agonies.

“My daughter, men did nothing but work the skin of my Humanity, while the eternal Love worked all of my interior.  So, in my agony, the eternal Love, the immense Love, the incalculable Love, the hidden Love - not men - opened large wounds in Me, pierced Me with flaming nails, crowned Me with burning thorns, made Me drink boiling gall.  And my Humanity, unable to contain so many different martyrdoms at the same time, poured out large streams of Blood; It writhed, and reached the point of saying:  ‘Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from Me; yet, not my will, but Yours be done’ - which It did not say in the rest of the Passion.  Everything I suffered during the course of the Passion, I suffered all together in the agony – but in a more intense, more painful, more intimate way, because Love penetrated deep into the marrow of my bones and into the most intimate fibers of my Heart, which creatures could never reach.  But Love reaches everything; there is nothing that can resist It.  So, my first executioner was Love.  This is why in the course of my Passion there was not even a reproachful glance in Me toward those who acted as my executioners – because I had a more cruel, more active executioner in Me:  Love.  And where the external executioners could not reach, or a little part of Me was spared, Love would continue Its work and spare Me nothing. 

“This happens in all souls:  the first work is done by Love, and once Love has worked her and filled her with Itself, what appears on the outside is nothing but the outpouring of the crafting that Love has performed inside.”

Vol. 9, Nov. 25, 1909


In  all the rest of Jesus' Passion he didn't seek the help of creatures in fact while carrying the cross he talks about how he felt relief in consoling the women who wept for him.

I was thinking about Jesus carrying the Cross to Calvary, especially when He met with the women, and He forgot about His pains and occupied Himself with consoling, answering and also instructing those poor women.  How everything was love in Jesus!  He was the one who needed to be consoled, yet He was consoling – and in what a state He was consoling!  He was all covered with wounds, His head pierced with most pricking thorns, panting and almost dying under the cross – and He was consoling others!  What an example, what a humiliation for us – a little cross is enough to make us forget the duty to console others!  So I remembered the many times in which, finding myself oppressed by sufferings or by the privations of Jesus that pierced and lacerated my interior through, and being surrounded by people, Jesus would spur me on to imitate Him in this step of His Passion; and I, though embittered down to the marrow of my bones, would strive to forget about myself in order to console and instruct others.  And now, finding myself free and without having to deal with people, because of and thanks to obedience, I was thanking Jesus for I no longer found myself in those circumstances… I feel I can breathe a freer air, to be able to occupy myself only with myself.

And Jesus, moving in my interior, told me:

 
“My daughter, yet for Me it was a relief, and I felt as though refreshed, especially in those who were truly coming to do good.
Vol. 9, Sept. 2, 1910


However in the Agony in the Garden he went back to his Apostles more than once seeking comfort and help and even reached the point of asking the Father to let the chalice pass, if possible.

This agony of my Will is so painful, that my Humanity, which wanted to suffer it in the Garden of Gethsemani, reached the point of seeking help from my very Apostles - and even that I did not obtain; and the spasm was such that I sweated living blood.  And feeling Myself succumbing under the enormous weight of the agony of my Divine Will, so long and terrible, I invoked the help of my Celestial Father, saying to Him:  ‘Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from Me’.  In all the other pains of my Passion, as atrocious as they were, I never said:  ‘If it be possible, let this pain pass’.  On the contrary, on the cross I cried out:  ‘I thirst’ – I thirst for pains.  But in this pain of the agony of the Supreme Will, I felt all the weight of an agony so long, all the torment of a Divine Will that agonizes - that writhes in the human generations.  What sorrow! There is no sorrow that can equal this.

Vol. 20, Nov. 19, 1926


Jesus states he was left without help but he continues to go on to tell of how he did have two supports which allowed him to bear the weight of the Agony and which carried him through the rest of his Passion.

“My daughter, my agony in the garden was hard and painful, maybe more painful than that of the Cross.  In fact, if that was the fulfillment and the triumph over all, here in the garden it was the beginning, and sufferings are felt more at the beginning than when they are ended.  But in this agony the most harrowing pain was when all sins came before Me, one by one.  My Humanity comprehended all their enormity, and each crime carried the mark,  ‘Death to a God’, armed with sword to kill Me!  Before the Divinity, sin appeared to Me as so very horrifying and more horrible than death itself.  Just in comprehending what sin means, I felt I was dying - and I did really die.  I cried out to the Father, but He was inexorable.  Not even one was there to help Me, so as not to let Me die.  I cried out to all creatures to have pity on Me - but in vain.  So, my Humanity languished, and I was about to receive the last death-blow.

“But do you know who prevented the execution and sustained my Humanity from dying?  The first was my inseparable Mama.  In hearing Me ask for help, She flew to my side and sustained Me; and I leaned my right arm on Her. Almost dying, I looked at Her, and I found in Her the immensity of my Will intact, without ever a break between my Will and hers.  My Will is Life, and since the Will of the Father was immovable and death was coming to Me from creatures, another creature, who enclosed the Life of my Will, gave Me Life.  And here is my Mama who, in the portent of my Will, conceived Me and gave Me birth in time, now giving Me Life for the second time to let Me accomplish the work of Redemption. 

“Then I looked to my left, and I found the little daughter of my Will.  I found you as the first, followed by the other daughters of my Will.  Since I wanted my Mama with Me as the first link of Mercy, through which we were to open the doors to all creatures, I wanted to lean my right arm on Her.  And I wanted you as the first link of Justice, to prevent It from unloading Itself upon all creatures as they deserve; therefore I wanted to lean my left arm on you, so that you might sustain It together with Me.    

“With these two supports I felt life come back to Me, and as if I had not suffered anything, with firm step, I went to meet my enemies.  In all the pains that I suffered during my Passion, many of which were capable of giving Me death, these two supports never left Me.  And when they saw Me nearly dying, with my own Will which they contained, they sustained Me, as though giving Me many sips of life.  Oh! prodigies of my Will.  Who can ever count them and calculate their value?  This is why I love so much one who lives in my Will:  I recognize my portrait in her, my noble features; I feel my own breath, my voice; and if I did not love her I would defraud Myself.  I would be like a father without offspring, without the noble cortege of his court, and without the crown of his children.  And if I did not have the offspring, the court and the crown, how could I call Myself a King?  My Kingdom is formed by those who live in my Will, and from this Kingdom, I choose the Mother, the Queen, the children, the ministers, the army, the people.  I am everything for them, and they are everything for Me.”

Vol. 13, Nov. 19, 1921

Those that live in his Will, his own Mother taking the first role, followed by Luisa and all those who who then want to live in his Will become his support.  Mary on his right he states was his support to accomplish the work of Redemption, "the first link of Mercy.  Luisa and all who follow to live in his Will he states are "the first link of Justice."  The first opens the doors to all creatures to be saved, the second prevents Justice "from unloading Itself upon creatures."  This will need another post to examine but it seems the message here is that in his most atrocious agony which he states outweighed all the rest of his Passion in which he found no comfort from either his own apostles or the love of the Father he found his support to endure from the children of the Divine Will.  To be able to bring comfort to God is no small matter indeed and remember Jesus will never be outdone in generosity.

Triple sufferings

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

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

Vol. 11, Jan. 22, 1913

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

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

Vol. 6, Sept. 26, 1904


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

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

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

Vol. 4, Jan. 11, 1902

Interior sufferings

I think we all know on a level after enough life experience that interior sufferings can be far more painful than physical pain.  This is also true in Jesus' sufferings.  There is a great mystery which Jesus himself states in the Volumes that all the pains witnessed and inflicted upon him by men were only the barest "similes" of his interior pains.  His true suffering, his interior suffering, was so much that he called the pains suffered from his Passion at the hands of men "reliefs" in comparison.  He also states that these pains are "incomprehensible to human nature." 

"My child, come into these tied arms of mine. Rest your head on my breast and you will see more intense and bitter pains, because those you see on the outside of my humanity are but the overflowing of my interior pains."

The Hours of the Passion, Jesus again before Pilate

"Oh! how much will creatures love Me, when they come to know what my Humanity did in the Divine Will, and what It made Me suffer for love of them. My Cross was not of wood – no; It was made of souls. It was them that I felt palpitating in the Cross on which the Divine Will laid Me - and It let none of them escape Me, It gave a place to each one, and in order to give a place to all, It stretched Me in such a harrowing way, and with pains so atrocious, that I could call the pains of my Passion little, and reliefs. Therefore, hasten, so that my Will may make known all that this Eternal Volition operated in my Humanity. This knowledge will win so much love, that creatures will bend to let It reign in their midst.”

Vol. 15, Feb. 16, 1923

     As I was in my usual state, sweet Jesus made me suffer part of His pains and of His deaths, which He suffered for each creature.  From my little pains I could comprehend how atrocious and mortal the pains of Jesus had been.  Then He told me:

 

     “My daughter, my pains are incomprehensible to human nature, and the very pains of my Passion were shadows or similes of my interior pains.  My interior pains were inflicted on Me by an Omnipotent God, and not one fiber could dodge His blow; those of my Passion were inflicted on Me by men who, having neither Omnipotence nor All-seeingness, were not able to do what they wanted, nor to penetrate into every single fiber of mine.

      "My interior pains were incarnate, and my very Humanity was transformed into nails, into thorns, into scourges, into wounds, into martyrdom, so cruel as to give Me continuous deaths; and these were inseparable from Me - they formed my very Life.  On the other hand, those of my Passion were extraneous to Me; they were thorns and nails which could be driven inside, and eventually, they could also be removed; and the mere thought that a pain can be removed is a relief.  But my interior pains, which were formed of my own flesh - there was no hope that they might be removed, or that the sharpness of a thorn or the piercing of the nails might be lessened. 

      "My interior pains were so great and so many that I could call the pains of my Passion reliefs and kisses given to my interior pains; and uniting together, they gave the last proof of my great and excessive love for the salvation of souls.  My external pains were voices which called everyone to enter into the ocean of my interior pains, to make them comprehend how much their salvation cost Me.  And then, from your own interior pains, communicated by Me, you can somehow comprehend the continuous intensity of mine.  Therefore, pluck up courage - it is love that pushes Me to this.”

Vol. 14, Aug. 19, 1922



These sufferings of our Lord were not limited to the time of his Passion but encompassed the entirety of his Humanity from the moment of his conception.

 

"O most loving Father, consider that if my humanity has now reached the extremes of it sufferings, my heart as well bursts for the bitterness and the intimate pains and unheard-of agonies which it has suffered for the duration of thirty-four years, beginning from the first instant of my incarnation.  O Father, you know the intensity of these interior bitternesses which would have been capable of making me die of pure agony in every moment, if our omnipotence had not sustained me to prolong my suffering up to this extreme agony.  Yes, if until now I have offered you all the pains of my most holy humanity to appease your justice which is hanging over everyone, and to draw upon everyone your triumphant mercy, now, in a particular way for the souls consecrated to us who have gone astray, I present my heart to you, crushed, pressed and broken under the press of all the moments of my mortal life."

The Hours of the Passion, The Crucifixion

These pains were witnessed by the Virgin Mary and therefore she became the depository of them and shared in them.

Continuing in my usual state, I felt oppressed because blessed Jesus often allows that I suffer while the confessor is present; and I lamented to Him, telling Him:  ‘My Love, I pray You, I implore You, do not again allow that I suffer in the presence of anyone.  Let everything pass between You and me, and that You alone be aware of my pains.  O please! make me content, give Me your word that You will not do it any more.  Even more, make me suffer twice as much; I am happy, as long as everything is hidden between You and me.’

And Jesus, interrupting my speaking, told me:  “My daughter, do not lose heart; when my Will wants it, you too must surrender.  Besides, this is nothing other than a step of my Life.  My very hidden Life, my interior pains and everything I did, always had at least one or two spectators; and this, with reason, out of necessity, and in order to obtain the purpose of my pains themselves.  The first spectator was my Celestial Father, from whom nothing could escape; since He Himself was the One who inflicted those pains upon Me, He was actor and spectator.  If my Father had seen and known nothing, how could I satisfy Him, give Him glory, and bend Him to mercy for mankind at the sight of my pains?  Their purpose would have failed. 

Secondly, my Mama was spectator of all my pains of my hidden Life, and this was necessary.  Having come from Heaven to earth to suffer, not for Myself, but for the good of others, I had to have at least one creature in whom I was to place that good which my pains contained, and therefore move my dear Mama to thank Me, to praise Me, to love Me and to bless Me, letting Her admire the excess of my Goodness; so much so that, captured, enraptured and moved at the sight of my pains, She prayed Me that in the face of the great good which my pains brought to Her, I would not exempt Her from being identified with my own pains in order to suffer them, to repay Me, and to be my perfect imitator.  If my Mama had seen nothing, I would not have had my first imitator - not a ‘thank you’, no praise.  My pains and the good they contained would have remained without effect because, since no one would have known them, I could not have made the first prop, and the purpose of the great good which the creature was to receive would have been lost.  See how necessary it was that at least one creature be aware of my pains?

Vol. 14, Oct. 3, 1922

   

We have the opportunity to unite ourselves with these sufferings of Jesus which are now revealed to us through these Volumes which the previous saints did not have access to.  Mary, Jesus and Luisa all experienced these sufferings and we can approach each and all of them as depositories of them, although I'd like to add Luisa and Mary will always be creatures while Jesus is God. 

The Passion

With it being lent I feel drawn to spend some time on the Passion of our Lord and a specific book by Luisa, The Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

I first would like to take some time exploring in the Volumes where it talks about this work and it's worth to the individual who meditates on them, it's worth to all souls and it's value to Jesus himself.  In going through the Volumes however I've found so much on this and on the Passion itself I'll need to do this in segments.

Just by reflecting on Jesus' Passion in reference to our own minor sufferings it causes our own crosses to become easier to bear.

“My daughter, crosses, mortifications, are as many baptismal founts, and any kind of cross which is dipped in the thought of my Passion loses half of its bitterness and its weight decreases by half.” 

Vol. 6, June 5, 1905

“My daughter, keep the light of my Passion ever before your mind, for in seeing my most bitter pains, yours will seem little to you, and in considering the cause for which I suffered so many immense pains, which was sin, your littlest defects will seem grave to you.  On the other hand, if you do not reflect yourself in Me, the littlest pains will seem heavy to you, and you will hold grave defects as nothing.”

Vol. 2, Sept. 2, 1899



Reflecting on his Passion is also a way to fortify ourselves against the event of falling into sin and of helping others from doing the same.  It also thereby keeps Divine Justice from having to act.

“My virtues and the merits I acquired for man in my Passion, are as many towers of fortitude on which everyone can lean along the journey on the way to Eternity.  But man, ungrateful, running away from these towers of fortitude, leans on mud and conducts himself along the way of perdition.” 

Vol. 4, Jan. 30, 1901

“My daughter, my Passion, my wounds, my Blood, everything I did and suffered, are in continuous act in the midst of souls, as if I were operating and suffering at this very moment. They serve Me as props on which I can lean, and as props on which souls can lean so as not to fall into sin, and be saved. Now, during these times of scourges, I am like someone who lives up in the air, with no ground underneath, and amid continuous blows: Justice knocks Me from Heaven, and creatures, through sin, from the earth.

“Now, the more the soul remains around Me, kissing my wounds, repairing Me, offering my Blood - in a word, re-doing, herself, what I did during the course of my Life and Passion - the more props she forms so that I can lean on them and not fall, and the larger the circle becomes in which souls find support so as not to fall into sin, and be saved. Do not get tired, my daughter, of being around Me, and of going over my wounds, over and over again. I Myself will administer to you the thoughts, the affections, the words, so that you may remain around Me. Be faithful to Me – times are short, Justice wants to unfold Its fury, and creatures irritate It. It is necessary that these props multiply more; therefore, do not fail the work.”

Vol. 11, August 14, 1915

Reflecting on his Passion is also a cure, a counter to every difficultly in which we find ourselves and in being crucified Jesus makes himself available to the creature in whatever way the creature needs.

“My daughter, the world has become unbalanced because it has lost the thought of my Passion. In darkness, it has not found the light of my Passion which would illuminate it; and as it would make known to it my love and how much souls cost Me, it might turn to loving the One who has truly loved it; and the light of my Passion, guiding it, would put it on its guard against all dangers. In weakness, it has not found the strength of my Passion which would sustain it. In impatience, it has not found the mirror of my patience which would infuse in it calm and resignation; and in the face of my patience, feeling ashamed, it would make it its duty to dominate itself. In pains, it has not found the comfort of the pains of a God which, sustaining its pains, would infuse in it love of suffering. In sin, it has not found my sanctity which, placing itself in front of it, would infuse in it hate of sin. Ah! man has made an abuse of everything, because in everything he has moved away from the One who could help him. This is why the world has lost balance. It behaved like a child who no longer wanted to recognize his mother; or like a disciple who, denying his master, no longer wanted to listen to his teachings, or learn his lessons. What will happen to this child and to this disciple? They will be the sorrow of themselves, and the terror and sorrow of society. Such has man become – terror and sorrow; but a sorrow without pity. Ah! man is getting worse and worse, and I cry over him with tears of blood!”

Vol. 11, Feb. 2, 1917

Continuing in my usual state, I was thinking about the Passion of blessed Jesus; and He, making Himself seen crucified, shared with me a little bit of His pains, telling me:

“My daughter, I wanted to be crucified and lifted up on the Cross, so that, if they want Me, souls may find Me. So, someone wants Me as Teacher for he feels the necessity to be instructed, and I lower Myself to teach him both the small things and the highest and most sublime, such as to make of him the most learned. Another moans in abandonment, in oblivion; he would like to find a father, he comes to the foot of my Cross, and I make Myself Father, giving him a home in my wounds, my Blood as drink, my Flesh as food, and my very Kingdom as inheritance. Another one is infirm, and he finds Me as Doctor who, not only heals him, but gives him the sure remedies in order not to fall again into infirmities. Another one is oppressed by calumnies, by scorns, and at the foot of my Cross he finds his Defender, to the point of rendering calumnies and scorns back to him as divine honors; and so with all the rest. So, whoever wants Me as Judge finds Me as Judge; whoever wants Me as Friend, as Spouse, as Advocate, as Priest… such do they find Me. This is why I wanted to be nailed, hands and feet: to oppose nothing of what they want - to make Myself as they want Me. But woe to those who, seeing that I am unable to move even one finger, dare to offend Me.”

While He was saying this, I said: ‘Lord, who are those that offend You the most?’

And He added: “Those who make Me suffer the most are the religious who, living in my Humanity, torment and lacerate my flesh within my very Humanity; while one who lives outside of my Humanity lacerates Me from afar.”

Vol. 6, 1905



Just thinking about our Lord's Passion and offering him compassion fills us with Jesus and embellishes us in his light which carries on through eternity.

 

“My daughter, each pain I suffered, each drop of Blood, each wound, prayer, word, action, step, etc., produced a light within my Humanity, which embellished Me in such a way as to keep all the Blessed enraptured. Now, at each thought that the soul has about my Passion, at each act of compassion, reparation, etc., she does nothing other than draw light from my Humanity, and be embellished in my likeness. So, each additional thought about my Passion will be one more light which will bring her eternal joy.”

Vol. 11, April 23, 1916

'I add that I was thinking to myself about the sweet Mama, and Jesus told me:

“My daughter, the thought of my Passion never escaped my dear Mama, and by dint of repeating it, she filled all of Herself with Me, completely. The same happens to the soul: by dint of repeating what I suffered, she arrives at filling herself with Me.”'

Vol. 11, March 24, 1913


The very act of meditating on Jesus' Passion comforts him and repairs the outrage suffered by him and in doing so Jesus gives the creature a new corresponding grace.

“My daughter, one who meditates continuously on my Passion and feels sorrow for it and compassion for Me, pleases Me so much that I feel as though comforted for all that I suffered in the course of my Passion; and by always meditating on it, the soul arrives at preparing a continuous food.  In this food there are many different spices and flavors, which form different effects.  So, if in the course of my Passion they gave Me ropes and chains to tie Me, the soul releases Me and gives Me freedom.  They despised Me, spat on Me, and dishonored Me; she appreciates Me, cleans Me of that spittle, and honors Me.  They stripped Me and scourged Me; she heals Me and clothes Me.  They crowned Me with thorns, mocking Me as king, embittered my mouth with bile, and crucified Me; while the soul, meditating on all my pains, crowns Me with glory and honors Me as her king, fills my mouth with sweetness, giving Me the most delicious food, which is the memory of my own works; and unnailing Me from the Cross, she makes Me rise again in her heart.  And every time she does so, I give her a new life of grace as recompense.  She is my food, and I become her continuous food.  So, the thing that pleases Me the most is meditating continuously on my Passion.”

Vol. 7, Nov. 9 1906

So just meditating on the Passion of our Lord is of immeasurable worth to the soul which overflows to the good of all creatures and the glory of our Lord.  Jesus ascribes a special value to those who will read and meditate on his Passion using the book The Hours of the Passion.

“My daughter, one who always thinks about my Passion forms a fount within her heart, and the more she thinks about It, the larger this fount becomes.  And just as the waters that spring up are waters common to everyone, in the same way, this fount of my Passion which is formed in her heart serves for the good of the soul, for my glory, and for the good of all creatures.” 
 

And I:  ‘Tell me, my Good, what will You give as recompense to those who will do the Hours of the Passion the way You taught them to me?’
 

And He:  “My daughter, I will look at these Hours, not as yours, but as done by Me.  I will give you my same merits, as if I were in the act of suffering my Passion; and the same effects, according to the dispositions of the souls.  This, while they are on earth - and I could not give them a greater reward.  Then, in Heaven, I will place these souls in front of Me, darting through them with darts of love and of contentments for as many times as they did the Hours of my Passion; and they will dart through Me.  What a sweet enchantment this will be for all the Blessed!”     

Vol. 11, April 10, 1913


To look at these Hours as done by him with the same merits, as if presently in the act of suffering his Passion....  The difference between God acting and his creature acting... it's the difference between a spark of fire which is immediately extinguished and the sun... but this will be another topic for another day.