Don't get Discouraged

I had been feeling rather discouraged.  Nothing seemed to be working or going right and everything that could go wrong seemed to go wrong and there was no clear path ahead that anything would go right again in the near future.  I felt paralyzed. So I did a little research on the topic.  In the old Testament it speaks of not being afraid or discouraged you will not suffer disgrace or shame.  I was given the insight that perhaps my discouragement was more based on my own perception of myself and what I thought I should be able to do instead of focusing on God's Will in all things.  Ashamed of "bearing bad fruit" I'd become discouraged.

Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; do not be discouraged, for you will not suffer disgrace; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the disgrace of your widowhood you will remember no more.

Isaiah 54:4

Jesus tells St Faustina how anxiety and discouragement are the greatest obstacle to holiness and are the result of self-love rather than loving God wholly and trusting in him.

Jesus: My child, know that the greatest obstacles to holiness are discouragement and an exaggerated anxiety. These will deprive you of the ability to practice virtue. All temptations united together ought not disturb your interior peace, not even momentarily. Sensitiveness and discouragement are the fruits of self-love. You should not become discouraged, but strive to make My love reign in place of your self-love. Have confidence, My child. Do not lose heart in coming for pardon, for I am always ready to forgive you. As often as you beg for it, you glorify My mercy.

Divine Mercy in my Soul, n.1488

Jesus describes discouragement as an infection which invades the whole person destroying it's beauty and withering them.  The remedy comes from watering the soul with the contrary humor, confidence. Discouragement is so dangerous because it disguises itself as a type of companion that sympathizes and comforts the soul all the way to death.

He told me:  “Discouragement is an infectious humor, which infects the most beautiful flowers and the most pleasant fruits, and penetrates down to the bottom of the root, in such a way that, by invading the whole tree, that infectious humor renders it withered and squalid.  And if one does not remedy it by watering it with a contrary humor, since the bad humor has infiltrated deep into the root, it will make the root wither and the tree fall to the ground.  So it happens to the soul who becomes soaked with this infectious humor of discouragement.”

In spite of all this, I still felt discouraged, all huddled within myself, and I saw myself as so bad that I did not dare to fling myself toward my sweet Jesus.  My mind was occupied with the thought that it was useless for me to hope for His continuous visits as before, for His graces, for His charisms – everything was over for me.  And He, almost scolding me, added:  “What are you doing?  What are you doing?  Don’t you know that lack of confidence renders the soul moribund?  Thinking that she has to die, she no longer thinks of anything - neither of gaining anything, nor of making it circulate, nor of embellishing herself more, nor of remedying her sicknesses - she thinks of nothing else but that everything is over for her.” 

Ah, Lord, I imagine seeing this specter of the lack of confidence - squalid, emaciated, fearful and all trembling; and all of his mastery, with no other ingenuity but fear alone, leads souls to the tomb.  But what is more, this specter does not show himself as an enemy so that the soul may sneer at his fear, but he shows himself as a friend, and infiltrates so sweetly into the soul, that if the soul is not attentive, seeing him as a faithful friend who agonizes with her and even dies together with her, she will hardly be able to free herself from his artificious mastery.

Vol. 3, February 4, 1900

Jesus reaffirms that discouragement kills the soul and even calls it a vice, killing more souls than all the other vices.  The countermeasure to discouragement is courage which has the power to revive the soul renewing hope and thereby undoing herself and redoing herself in God.

He told me:  “My daughter, don’t you know that discouragement kills souls more than all other vices?  Therefore, courage, courage, because just as discouragement kills, courage revives, and is the most praiseworthy act that the soul can do, because while feeling discouraged, from that very discouragement she plucks up courage, undoes herself and hopes; and by undoing herself, she already finds herself redone in God.”
Vol. 6, September 8, 1904

But how does one gain courage/confidence?  Humility is the key.  Only true Humility produces confidence.  If there is no confidence accompanying it then it is false.  True Humility must be invested with the spirit of Faith otherwise it is not true and will do harm instead causing one to become discouraged and paralyzed.  Knowledge of oneself is only good when balanced with knowledge of God so that in knowing the first, one will lean on God for all things.

Finally, Jesus showed Himself a little more clearly, and in seeing me so annihilated, He told me:  “If you knew how much I like humility… Humility is the littlest plant that can be found, but its branches are so high as to reach Heaven, wind their way around my throne, and penetrate deep into my Heart.  This little plant is humility, and the branches which this plant produces, are confidence; so, there cannot be true humility without confidence.  Humility without confidence is false virtue.”  From the words of Jesus it shows that my heart was not only annihilated, but also a little discouraged.

Vol, 2, April 3, 1899  

My good Jesus, always benign with this miserable sinner, came and told me:  “Contempt of yourself is praiseworthy when it is well invested with the spirit of Faith; but when it is not invested with the spirit of Faith, instead of doing you good, it can harm you.  In fact, in seeing yourself as you are, unable to do anything good, you will be discouraged, disheartened, without daring to take one step on the path of good.  But by leaning on Me – that is, by investing yourself with the spirit of Faith – you will come to know and despise yourself, and at the same time, to know Me, confident of being able to do anything with my help.  And here is how, by acting in this way, you will walk according to the truth.”

How much good these words of Jesus have done to my soul!  I understood that I must enter into my nothingness and know who I am, but I must not stop there.  Rather, immediately after I have known myself, I must fly into the immense sea of God, and stop there, to draw all the graces that my soul needs; otherwise, nature becomes weary and the devil will look for means in order to cast it into discouragement.  May the Lord be always blessed, and may everything be for His glory.

Vol. 2, May 26, 1899 

Faith also produces fortitude which allows one to remain strong in sufferings keeping one united with God.




This morning I was feeling all discouraged and embittered because of the loss of my adorable Jesus; and while I was in this state, He let His most sweet voice be heard, saying to me:  “My daughter, all things take origin from Faith.  One who is strong in Faith is strong in suffering; Faith makes one find God in every place, it makes one see Him in every action, touch Him in every movement, and every new occasion that presents itself is a new divine revelation that one receives.  Therefore, remain strong in Faith, for if you are strong in it, in all states and circumstances, Faith will administer fortitude to you, and will make you be always united with God.”

Vol. 6, March 20, 1904

And Hope keeps one at peace throughout all things.  With obsessing over imagined difficulties and misfortune one can actually bring about that reality.  

“My daughter, do not be disturbed – Hope is peace.  And just as I, in the very act in which I make justice, remain in the most perfect peace, you too, by immersing yourself in Hope, must remain at peace.  The soul who is at peace, by wanting to afflict herself, become disturbed or lose trust, would run into the misfortune of one who, though possessing millions upon millions of coins, and even being queen of various kingdoms, keeps fantasizing and lamenting, saying:  ‘What shall I live on?  How shall I clothe myself?  Ah, I am dying of starvation!  I am so unhappy!  I will be reduced to the meagerest misery and I will end up dying.’  And while she says this, she cries, sighs and spends her days in sadness and squalor, immersed in the greatest melancholy.  But this is not all; the worst thing about her is that if she sees her treasures, if she walks within her properties, instead of rejoicing, she afflicts herself more, thinking of her nearing end; and if she sees food, she does not want to touch it to sustain herself.  And if anyone tries to persuade her by letting her touch her riches with her own hands, showing her that it cannot be that she will be reduced to the meagerest misery, she is not convinced, she remains dazed, and cries even more over her sad lot.  Now, what would people say about her?  That she is crazy, that it shows that she has no reason, that she has lost her brain.  The reason is clear, it cannot be otherwise.

Yet, it can happen that she may run into the misfortune over which she keeps fantasizing.  But in what way?  By going out of her kingdoms, abandoning all of her riches, and going into foreign lands in the midst of barbarian people, where no one will deign to give her a crumb of bread.  Here is how the fantasy has become reality – what used to be false, is now true.  But who has been the cause of it?  Who should be blamed for a change of state so sad?  Her perfidious and obstinate will.  Such is precisely the soul who is in possession of Hope:  her wanting to become disturbed or discouraged is already the greatest madness.”

Vol. 2, October 14, 1899 

So to avoid the pitfall of discouragement Faith and Hope are required.  Now these 2 can never be far from Charity, the three theological virtues, veiling of the Trinity.

“Faith and Hope give way to Charity, and Charity connects all the rest of the other two together, in such a way as to make them one, while they are three.  And here It is, oh my spouse, veiled in the three theological virtues, the Trinity of the Divine Persons.”

“If Faith makes one believe, and Hope makes one hope, Charity makes one love.  If Faith is light and serves as the sight of the soul, and Hope, which is the nourishment of Faith, provides the souls with courage, peace, perseverance and all the rest - Charity, which is the substance of this light and of this nourishment, is like that most sweet and fragrant ointment which, penetrating everywhere, relieves and soothes the pains of life.  Charity makes suffering sweet, and makes one reach the point even of desiring it.  The soul who possesses Charity diffuses fragrance everywhere; her works, all done out of love, give off a most pleasing odor.  And what is this odor?  It is the odor of God Himself.  The other virtues render the soul solitary and almost unrefined with creatures; Charity, on the other hand, being substance that unites, unites the hearts.  But where?  In God.  Being a most fragrant ointment, Charity spreads everywhere and with everyone.  Charity makes one suffer the most ruthless torments with joy, and one reaches the point of not being able to be without suffering.  And when she sees herself deprived of it, she says to her spouse Jesus:  “Sustain me with the fruits, which is suffering, because I am languishing with love; and where else can I show You my love other than in suffering for You?”  Charity burns, consumes all other things, even the virtues themselves, and turns them all into itself.  In sum, it is like a queen who wants to reign everywhere, and does not want to surrender to anyone.”

Vol. 1, Jesus prepares Luisa for the renewal in heaven of the Mystical Marriage, with the approval of the Blessed Trinity; so he speaks to her of the three theological virtues. 

So discouragement is the natural state of the soul that attempts to work by itself and it ends in first the immobilization of the soul and then it's death.  The soul can only climb out of this by focusing on God and being imbued with the three Cardinal Virtues of Faith, Hope and Love.  These fortify, pacify and sweeten the soul allowing it to continue it's course regardless of it's circumstances.  Because now instead of focusing on it's path it now focuses on God.


In conclusion Luisa wrote several letters where she would encourage people.  Here they are in review to continue their work and encourage us too.  

In Luisa's letters she consoled the General Superior Fathers and the Daughters of the Divine Zeal over the loss of M. Gesuina.

Therefore, all we can do is to say "Deo gratias" for the fortunate M. Gesuina, and "Fiat" for ourselves who have lost her, and this "Fiat" will remedy everything. So, let us not get discouraged by sorrow and losses; they are always bearers of graces, light, and most surprising aids. We have an omnipotent Will with us; therefore there is nothing to fear. This Divine Volition will change hearts in order to form the ones who are needed. Blessed Jesus and our Celestial Mama will be together with you, to guide you and dispose all things according to their adorable Will.

1. To the General Superiors of the Rogationist Fathers and of the Daughters of the Divine Zeal.

February 24, 1932

Look at what a beautiful gift the operating Divine Will is sending you, as It wants to make of you a saint. Do not get discouraged; these are works that It wants to do, and when It is determined to do them, It won’t listen to reason: if It does not finish Its work, It is not content.

Therefore, my daughter, be at peace, rest in Its arms like a little baby. I repeat the greetings of the "Fiat".

5. J.M.J.

Send everything - pains, bitterness, strains - into the Divine Will; tell Him from the heart that you want nothing but His Will, and look at all things as bearers of a Will so holy, and you will see that the Fiat will defend you. Don’t get discouraged, do not fear, do not lose peace, abandon yourself more than ever in the arms of the Divine Will, and be tranquil, waiting in full confidence for the helps and means which are necessary to you.

My good daughter, how bad did your words sound to me, "I am afraid to be lost"! Don’t you know that sufferings are the certainty, the seal, of our salvation? Sufferings form the carriage which brings us to Heaven, and the more the sufferings, the faster it will go. So, each additional pain is a faster ride which takes us soon and straight to Heaven.

Therefore, courage, courage. All other things are left; while sufferings are brought to Heaven, and form our most beautiful throne and never ending glory.

Corato, January 5, 1935

18. To Mrs. Costanza Benedetta Pettinelli from Siena

My good daughter in the Divine Volition,

Let us thank from the heart the Lord and the Celestial Queen for having consoled you. This is why we should never get discouraged or lose peace, when we are not answered immediately. When there is prayer, the hour of the Lord will come and He will give us more than we ask for. Our part must be to remain always in our place, to always do the Divine Will, because this is the greatest of miracles, and Our Lord will provide and take care of everything; more than that we ourselves would not do. If we always do the Divine Will, our names will be written in Heaven and our salvation, our sanctity, will be secured. Jesus will be all ours; and what will He not give to us? Everything. Therefore, think about making yourself a saint, and the rest will come by itself. 

31. J.M.J.

My good daughter,
I received your letter and with sorrow I learned of the state of your health. Patience, my daughter, dear Jesus wants to make you mature more in sanctity, and His Divine Volition wants to hasten Its life in your soul. Crosses are firewood: the more the wood, the more the fire grows; or like the sun to the plants, which caresses the plants with its light and heat, matures them, and gives them sweetness and taste. Without a cross we are like unripened fruits - like sterile plants, which do more harm than good. However, my daugther, remove the sadness from your soul; do not get discouraged or disturbed; hold peace as the greatest treasure. Jesus is good, He won’t harm you, but will dispose everything for your good.

39. To Sister Remigia

My good daughter in Jesus Christ,
Do not get discouraged, never lose trust. What I recommend is that you look at your crosses as many visits from Jesus, Who brings you the life of the Divine Will, to make It reign in you and to give you all His love as food; to make you grow in His likeness within His arms, and to make of you such a rare beauty as to enrapture even Himself. If you do the Will of God, you will feel a strength in all your sufferings; you will feel an invisible hand which helps you, guides you, and does whatever you do within you. In fact, when one does the Will of God, the work is more of God than ours. Therefore, I wouldn’t know what else to say: do the Divine Will - live in It, and you can be sure that you will make yourself a saint. You will feel the bond and the association with the Divine Family. What is Theirs will be yours. So, banish fear and fright, and all the most painful circumstances will bring you the kiss, the strength – the life of the Divine Will, embalmed by Its love and joy.

85. To Mrs. Mazari, from Bari

My good daughter in the Divine Volition,
I recommend that you do not lose peace, and that you live so abandoned in the Divine Will as to feel It as your own life. If you do so, this Will so holy will take you upon Its maternal knees, more than a tender mother; It will hold you tightly to Its Divine Heart; It will raise you as Its beloved daughter. So, in all your pains, you will feel your Mama near you, assisting you, guiding you and changing your little pains into a Sun and into little coins for Heaven. In each pain, dear Jesus will give you a kiss, a hug, and will adorn your soul with most refulgent gems. Therefore, courage, my daughter; never lose heart; never get discouraged. It is Jesus that wants His daughter similar to Himself; aren’t you happy? So, do not care about anything else but to live abandoned in His arms. With this you will feel a new strength, and you will no longer feel alone; sufferings will turn for you into sanctity and into celestial joys. Dear Jesus will give you His pains as courtship, strength and company.

108. To Teresa

And when we need to we can unite ourselves in Jesus' Hours of the Passion where he specifically makes reparation for discouraged souls and obtains the antidote for them.

At your dignified words everyone trembles.  But, oh, what wickedness!  Wanting to honor Annas, a servant with an ironclad hand comes up to you and slaps you so hard that you stagger, and your most holy face turns livid.

               My gentle life, now I understand why you woke me.  You were right.  Who was going to hold you up in this moment when you were about to fall?

               Your enemies burst out in satanic laughter, in hisses and clapping, applauding such an unjust act.  Meanwhile, you stagger, having no one to lean on.

               My Jesus, I embrace you.  I even want to form a wall with my being [for you to lean on].  And I courageously offer you my cheek, ready to support any pain for your love.  I sympathize with you for this outrage; and together with you I make reparation for the timidity of so many souls that easily become discouraged, for those that out of fear do not tell the truth, for the lack of respect due to priests, and for murmurings.

The Hours of the Passion, From 2 A.M. to 3 A.M.  Jesus Is Presented to Annas

Nothing escapes your gaze.  You forgive everyone and say good-by to all.  Then, gathering all your strength, with a powerful and resonant voice you cry:

               "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit!"

               And bowing your head, you die....

...

My dead Jesus, with this cry you put all of us as well into the hands of the Father so that he won't reject us.  So, you not only cry out with your voice, but with all your pains and with the voices of your blood as well:

               "Father, into your hands I place my spirit and all souls."

               My Jesus, I too abandon myself in you.  Give me the grace to die completely, in your love and in your Will.  I pray you never to permit me, neither in life nor in death, to go out of your Most Holy Will.

               Meanwhile, I intend to make reparation for all those who do not abandon themselves perfectly to your Most Holy Will, thus losing or diminishing the precious fruit of your redemption.  What sorrow your heart feels, O my Jesus, to see so many creatures escape from your arms and become discouraged!  Have pity on everyone, O my Jesus!  Have pity on me!

The Hours of the Passion, From 2 P.M. to 3 P.M.    The Death of Jesus

What's the deal with Purgatory?

I wanted to explore the topic of Purgatory, especially in the Volumes, and it has taken me much longer than I would have ever imagined plus my life seems to have gotten in the way as well.  This will once again take more than one post to go through all this material.  Jesus mentions in the Volumes that charity towards the souls in Purgatory is the most pleasing to Him.  He sees these souls as bound closely within Himself but they are helpless to help themselves.  They can't help but love Him but are forced to remain isolated from Him.

 

“The charity most acceptable to Me is toward those who are closest to Me, and those who are closest to Me are the purging souls, because they are confirmed in my grace and there is no opposition between my Will and theirs.  They live continuously in Me, they ardently love Me, and I am forced to see them suffer within Myself, impotent to give themselves the slightest relief on their own.  Oh, how tortured my Heart is by the position of these souls, because they are not far away, but close to Me – not only close, but inside of Me!  And how pleasing to my Heart one who interests himself with them.  Suppose you had a mother or a sister who lived with you in a state of sorrow, incapable of helping themselves on their own, and then someone else, foreign, who lived outside of your house, also in a state of sorrows, but capable of helping himself by himself.  Would you not be more pleased if someone occupied himself with relieving your mother or your sister, rather than the foreign one who can help himself on his own?” 

Vol. 4, Jan. 16, 1901

 

 

This isolation from Jesus is so true that when he had asked Luisa to go to Purgatory in order to suffer some and free certain souls she was afraid and although willing asked that Jesus might come with her.  He told her he couldn't come with her since his very presence would change any sorrows into joys.

He transported me outside of myself, close to a deep place, full of liquid fire, and dark – the mere sight of it struck horror and fright.  Jesus said to me:  “Here is Purgatory, and many souls are crammed in this fire.  You will go to this place to suffer in order to free the souls I choose, and you will do this for love of Me.”

Though trembling a little, immediately I said to Him:  ‘Everything for love of You, I am ready, but You must come with me, otherwise, if You leave me, You do not let Yourself be found any more, and then You make me cry quite a bit.’  And He:  “If I come with you, what would be your Purgatory?  With my presence, those pains would change into joys and contentments for you.”  And I:  ‘I do not want to go alone, but as we go into that fire, You will remain behind my shoulders, so I will not see You, and I will accept this suffering.’

So I went into that place filled with thick darkness, and He followed me from behind.  For fear that He might leave me, I grabbed His hands, holding them tightly upon my shoulders.  As I arrived down there… who can describe the pains that those souls suffered?  They are certainly unutterable for people clothed with human flesh.  But as I entered that fire, it would be destroyed, and the darkness would be dispelled, and many souls would come out, and others would be relieved.

Vol. 3, November 28, 1899



A place full of thick darkness and liquid fire where one is isolated from God.  We think of it as a punishment where souls go to suffer before they are allowed into Heaven but Jesus states instead that it is a mercy of God.  If a soul still had a stain within it and it came before God it would be "the greatest torment for them".  A suffering which he states would surpass the pains of hell.  So as not to torture souls more he firsts allows them to be purged of any stain and then he brings them into his presence.

In fact, if these are without Me, it is because of the sins with which they see themselves smeared, and which prevent them from seeing Me; and they themselves do not dare to come before Me, because before my infinite Sanctity there is not a tiny flaw that can stand before my presence.  And if I allowed them to be before Me, this would be the greatest torment for them, such as surpass the very pains of hell.  The greatest torture I could give to a soul would be to keep her, stained, before Me.  So, in order not to torture her more, first I let her be purged, and then I admit her to my presence.

Vol. 14, April 1, 1922



Jesus, in the Volumes, tells Luisa that the whole purpose of Purgatory is to fill in voids of love in the creature.  If everything is love in the creature and all her acts throughout her life were done with love than there is nothing that Purgatory would do and the creature passes on to Heaven.

I asked: ‘Lord, yesterday I went to confession; if I had died, since confession remits sins, would You not have brought me straight to Heaven?’

And He: “My daughter, it is true that confession remits sins, but the surest and most certain thing to be exempt from Purgatory is love. Love must be the predominant passion in the soul. Love - her thought, her word, her movements… everything, everything must be enveloped by this love. In this way, finding her all love, the Uncreated Love absorbs the created love within Itself. In fact, Purgatory does nothing but fill the voids of love that are present in the soul; and once It has filled these voids, It sends her to Heaven. But if these voids are not there, it is not something that belongs to Purgatory.”

Vol. 8, July 14, 1907


Jesus affirms this again to Luisa telling her that every act must be an encounter with the Will of God so that she might receive all his love and avoid any painful encounters after death. 

Oh! how many moans of sorrows come from the prisons of Purgatory, how many shouts of desperation can be heard from hell, because my Will was not encountered on earth. Therefore, my daughter, may your first act be to encounter my Will; may your first thought and heartbeat be to encounter the eternal heartbeat of my Will, that you may receive all my love. Try to make continuous encounters in everything, that you may be transformed in my Will and I in yours, so as to dispose yourself to make the final encounter with my Will at your last hour. In this way, you will have no painful encounter after your death.”

Vol. 16, July 23, 1923



In  An Unpublished Manuscript on Purgatory there are several descriptions of Purgatory to try to make people understand it's nature better.

When I spoke to you of the great and the second Purgatory, it was to try to make you understand that there are different stages in Purgatory. Thus I call that stage of Purgatory great or worst where the most guilty souls are, and where I stayed for two years without being able to give a sign of the torments I was suffering. The year when you heard me groaning, when I began to speak to you, I was still in the same place.

In the second Purgatory, which is still Purgatory but very different from the first, one suffers a great deal, but less than in the great place of expiation. Then there is a third stage, which is the Purgatory of desire, where there is no fire. The souls who did not desire Heaven ardently enough, who did not love God sufficiently are there. It is there that I am at this moment. Further, in these three parts of Purgatory, there are many degrees of variation. Little by little, as the soul becomes purified, her sufferings are changed.

...

I can tell you about the different degrees of Purgatory because I have passed through them. In the great Purgatory there are several stages. In the lowest and most painful, like a temporary hell, are the sinners who have committed terrible crimes during life and whose death surprised them in that state. It was almost a miracle that they were saved, and often by the prayers of holy parents or other pious persons. Sometimes they did not even have time to confess their sins and the world thought them lost, but God, whose mercy is infinite, gave them at the moment of death the contrition necessary for their salvation on account of one or more good actions which they performed during life. For such souls, Purgatory is terrible. It is a real hell with this difference, that in hell they curse God, whereas we bless Him and thank Him for having saved us.

Next to these come the souls, who though they did not commit great crimes like the others, were indifferent to God. They did not fulfill their Easter duties and were also converted at the point of death. Perhaps they were unable to receive Holy Communion. They are in Purgatory for the long years of indifference. They suffer unheard of pains and are abandoned either without prayers or if they are said for them, they are not allowed to profit by them. There are in this stage of Purgatory religious of both sexes, who were tepid, neglectful of their duties, indifferent towards Jesus, also priests who did not exercise their sacred ministry with the reverence due to the Sovereign Majesty and who did not instill the love of God sufficiently into the souls confided to their care. I was in this stage of Purgatory. In the second Purgatory are the souls of those who died with venial sins not fully expiated before death, or with mortal sins that have been forgiven but for which they have not made entire satisfaction to the Divine Justice. In this part of Purgatory, there are also different degrees according to the merits of each soul. Thus the Purgatory of the consecrated souls or of those who have received more abundant graces, is longer and far more painful than that of ordinary people of the world. Lastly, there is the Purgatory of desire which is called the Threshold. Very few escape this. To avoid it altogether, one must ardently desire Heaven and the vision of God. That is rare, rarer than people think, because even pious people are afraid of God and have not, therefore, a sufficiently strong desire of going to Heaven. This Purgatory has its very painful martyrdom like the others. The deprivation of the sight of our loving Jesus adds to the intense suffering.

An Unpublished Manuscript on Purgatory



So there are three levels of Purgatory and several degrees within each.  The first is the closest to Hell and only differs in that souls there can still thank and bless the Lord for saving them.  In the second stage are those who still have unfinished expiation of their sins.  Both in the first and second level of Purgatory the souls are subjected to fire.  She refers to the third level of Purgatory as the Purgatory of desire and states that almost everyone must experience this level at least.  Only souls who have no fear of God and who have desired Him above all in life can hope to pass by this stage.  Here the soul experiences the deprivation of God.  But there are some that serve their Purgatory at near the altar and receive relief from the hidden presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.




I have told you there are some souls who do their Purgatory at the foot of the altar. They are not there for faults they have committed in church, because those faults which attack Jesus directly, Jesus present in the Tabernacle, are punished with terrible severity in Purgatory. The souls that are there in adoration are there as a reward for their reverent behavior in the Sacred Presence. They suffer less than if they were in Purgatory itself, and Jesus, whom they contemplate with the eyes of their soul and of faith, softens their pains by His invisible Presence.
An Unpublished Manuscript on Purgatory


Luisa's parents, through graces received through her sufferings as allowed by Jesus, entered into this third Purgatory.  It was revealed to Luisa that her mother was allowed to enter into the acts of Jesus' humanity.  She was not yet in Heaven proper as Jesus said the Divinity was denied her but that she would also enjoy that soon as well and that everyone must pass through his Humanity before being given access to the Divinity.


⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6

Now, since I do not remember everything distinctly, I will tell of the past, all together and confusedly, starting from where I left when I was praying that He would take my mother to Paradise without her touching Purgatory.  Then, on March 19, the day dedicated to Saint Joseph, in the morning, while I was in my usual state, my mother passed from this life into the sphere of eternity; and blessed Jesus, allowing me to see her as He was taking her, told me:  “My daughter, the Creator takes his creature.”

At that moment, I felt I was being invested, inside and out, with a fire so alive that I felt my bowels, my stomach and all the rest burning; and if I would have something, it would convert into fire, and I would be forced to bring it up immediately after I had swallowed it.  This fire consumed me and kept me alive.  Oh, how I understood the devouring fire of Purgatory which, while consuming the soul, gives her life!  The fire does the office of food, of water, of death and of life; but I was happy in that state.  However, since I had only seen that Jesus had taken her, but He had not showed me where He had taken her, my happiness was not full, and from my very sufferings I would draw concern, since those would be the sufferings of my mother if she was in Purgatory.  And seeing blessed Jesus, who in these days has almost never left me, I would cry and say to Him:  ‘My sweet love, tell me – where did You take her?  I am content that You have taken her away from us, because You keep her with Yourself; but if You do not have her with Yourself, this I do not tolerate, and I will cry so much until You content me.’  And He seemed to enjoy my crying; He would embrace me, He would sustain me, He would dry my tears, and would say to me:  “My daughter, do not fear, calm yourself; and once you have calmed yourself I will let you see her, and you will be very pleased.  Besides, you can have the certainty that I have contented you from the fire that you feel.”

But I would continue to cry, especially when I would see Him, since I felt in my interior that something was still lacking to the beatitude of my mother; so much so, that the people who surrounded me, who had come because of the death of my mother, in seeing me cry so much, thinking that I was crying because of the death of my mother, were almost scandalized, thinking that I had moved away from the Divine Will, when, more than ever, I was swimming in this sphere of the Divine Will.  But I do not appeal to any human tribunal, because it is false – only to the divine, which is full of truth.  And good Jesus was not condemning me; on the contrary, He would compassionate me, and in order to sustain me, He would come more often, almost giving me a reason to cry more, because if He would not come, with whom was I to cry to impetrate what I wanted?  The people were right because they judged from the outside; and then, after all, since I am so very bad, it is no wonder that the others would be scandalized by me.

Then, after quite a few days, as good Jesus came, He told me:  “My daughter, be consoled, for I want to tell you and show you where your mother is.  Since before and after she passed away, you have suffered continuously that which I earned, did and endured for her good in the course of my life, she partakes in what I did and enjoys my Humanity.  Only the Divinity is concealed from her, but It will shortly be unveiled to her as well, and the fire you feel, and your prayers, have served to exempt her from any other pain of senses, which all must have, because my justice, receiving satisfaction from you, could not take it from both.”  At that moment, I seemed to see my mother within an immensity which had no boundaries, and in it there were many delights and joys - for as many words, thoughts, sighs, works, sufferings, heartbeats…; in sum, for everything that the Most Holy Humanity of Jesus Christ contained.  I understood that It is a second Paradise for the Blessed, and in order to enter the Paradise of the Divinity, all must pass through this Paradise of the Humanity of Christ.  Therefore, the fact of having touched no other purgatory had been a most singular privilege for my mother, reserved for very few.  However, I understood that even though she was not amid torments, but rather, amid delights, her happiness was not perfect, but almost halved.
Vol. 7, May 9, 1907



With Luisa's father she was not allowed to suffer as she had for her mother but after some time and graces bestowed and some suffering to mitigate his Purgatory he was allowed into a church so that he could benefit from the presence of Jesus in he sacrament and the masses said.



I continue by saying that only about ten days had passed from the death of my mother, when my father fell gravely ill, and the Lord made me understood that he too would die. I gave him to Him as a gift in advance, and I repeated the same pleas which I made for my mother – that He should not let him touch Purgatory. But the Lord showed Himself more reluctant, and would not listen to me. I feared greatly, not for his salvation, because good Jesus had made me a solemn promise almost fifteen years before that, of my family and of those who belong to me, no one would be lost; but I feared very much about Purgatory. I kept praying, but good Jesus would hardly come. Only on the day my father died, that is, after about fifteen days of illness, did blessed Jesus make Himself seen, all benign, clothed in white, as if He were in feast, and He told me: "Today I am waiting for your father, and for love of you I will let Myself be found, not as a judge, but as a benign father. I will welcome him in my arms." I insisted about Purgatory, but He did not listen to me, and He disappeared. After my father died, I did not have any new suffering as had happened with my mother, and from this I understood that he had gone to Purgatory. I prayed and prayed again, but Jesus would make Himself seen flashing by, without giving me time; and what’s more, I could not even cry because I had no one with whom to cry, and the One who, alone, could listen to my crying, would run away from me. Adorable judgments of God, in His ways.

Then, after two days of interior pains, while I was seeing blessed Jesus and asking Him about my father, I felt he was behind the shoulders of Jesus Christ, as though bursting into tears and asking for help; and then they disappeared. I was left lacerated in my soul, and I kept praying. Finally, after six days, as I was in my usual state, I found myself outside of myself, inside a church, and there were many purging souls. I was praying to Our Lord that He would at least let my father come inside a church to make his purgatory, because I could see that the souls in the churches receive continuous reliefs from the prayers and Masses that are said, and much more, from the real presence of Jesus in the Sacrament; it seems that that is a continuous refreshment for them. At that moment, I saw my father, venerable in his appearance, and Our Lord let me place him near the Tabernacle. So it seems I was left less lacerated in my interior.
Vol. 7, May 9, 1907

Eyes to See, The Intellect

I've spent some time struggling with this post to organize it and make sense of what I found.  I've found it's hard to explore the topic of the intellect without including the topic of faith.  And faith is intrinsically bound to hope and charity which would be another whole spin off of topics.  Just thinking about faith the questions come up:  What is faith?  How does one receive faith?  Why do some not receive faith?  So I will try to cover what I've found in the Volumes on the intellect in this post without veering off too much from the topic.

I think most people have run up on this passage in the Bible and scratched their heads as I have.  Just as Pharaoh's heart was hardened how is it that God allows some to believe while others are blinded from the truth?



When Jesus had said this, he departed and hid himself from them. ³⁷ Though he had done so many signs before them, yet they did not believe in him; ³⁸ it was that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

“Lord, who has believed our report,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

³⁹ Therefore they could not believe. For Isaiah again said,

⁴⁰ “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart,
lest they should see with their eyes and perceive with their heart,
and turn for me to heal them.”

⁴¹ Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke of him.

John 12:36-41



So why do some people seem to understand and know God while others do not.  The Gospel is known by all to exist but so many don't recognize it as being from God.  How is it that people seem to not have the ability to see clearly with their intellect to know that God exists and understand His truths.  Ultimately it is always Will of God and perhaps not given to us to understand.   "God saves whom He will and reprobates likewise; hence no one merits election; election is not because of antecedent merits or foreseen deeds." http://www.romancatholicism.org/jansenism/augustine-194.htm

However here in the Volumes Jesus does speak of belief being the first step to understanding.  Belief appears to be a choice.

 

“My daughter, in order to comprehend a subject well it takes belief, because without belief everything is dark in the human intellect.  On the other hand, the mere believing turns on a light in the mind, and by means of this light one can recognize with clarity truth and falsehood, when it is grace that operates, when it is nature, and when the devil.  See, the Gospel is known to all, but who comprehends the meaning of my words, and the truths contained in It?  Who keeps them in his heart and makes of them a treasure with which to purchase the eternal kingdom?  One who believes.  As for all others, not only do they not understand a thing, but they use my words to mock them and to make fun of the holiest things.  So, it can be said that everything is written in the hearts of those who believe, hope and love, while nothing is written for everyone else.  The same with you:  one who has a little bit of belief sees things with clarity and finds the truth; one who does not, sees things as all confused.”

Vol. 4, Jan. 9, 1903


So belief first is necessary in order to understand a subject.  This is referring to the gift of faith and where faith is found so is found hope and charity.  The three are as tightly bound as the memory, intellect and the will but it is faith which acts as the light to the eyes of the intellect.


“In order to obtain, one must believe.  Just as for the head without the sight of the eyes, everything is darkness, everything is confusion, so much so, that if one wanted to walk, he would stumble now at one point, now at another, and would end up falling completely, the same for the soul without Faith – she does nothing but go from precipice to precipice.  But Faith serves as the sight of the soul, and as the light which guides her to eternal life. 
Vol. 1,   Jesus prepares Luisa for the renewal in heaven of the Mystical Marriage, with the approval of the Blessed Trinity; so he speaks to her of the three theological virtues. 



The intellect of man is endowed by the Son to communicate wisdom and knowledge so that man might come to know and understand God more and thereby come to love Him more.  But with original sin man now uses his intellect to turn away from God to deny God himself.

“Now, as second act, I, Son of God, concurred by endowing man with intellect, communicating to him my wisdom and the knowledge of all things, so that by knowing them, he might enjoy them and delight in what is good.  But, alas, what a bilge of vices is the intelligence of the creature!  He has used knowledge to deny his Creator.
Vol. 14, April 8, 1922

So it seems to me that man without faith turns his intellect in on himself instead of out towards God.  It is this choice that we make.  It is what enchants our eye the most the image of our self or the image of God in whom we were created.  So even further perhaps it is the intrinsic nature within each of us.  But when God finds this character within the creature he then delights in teaching her and drawing her closer to him through his truths.

“My daughter, when I see the character of the purpose of Creation impressed in the soul, feeling satisfied with her because I see so well accomplished the work created by Me, I feel a duty - or rather, not a duty”, He immediately added, “because in Me there are no duties, but my duty is a more intense love to repay her, advancing for her part of the celestial happiness - that is, manifesting to her intellect the knowledge of the Divinity; attracting her with the food of eternal truths; amusing her sight with my beauty, making the sweetness of my voice resound to her hearing; to her mouth, my kisses; to her heart, my embraces and all my tendernesses.  And this corresponds to the purpose for which I created her, which is:  to know Me, to love Me, to serve Me.” 

Vol. 5, Oct. 29, 1903


And here we have an insight into this passage in the Bible.


²⁹ For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
^{Matthew 25:29}


It is in having this character that they then are able to receive and thereby correspond and then receive more.  Where by one who does not even have this character within themselves does not possess the ability to receive.

Now, you must know that as I form my life in the thought of the creature that lives in my Volition, I feel the company of the human intelligence that courts me, and loves me, understands me and gives me its memory, the intellect, the will in my power and since in these three powers was created our image, I feel our eternal memory given to me for company that doesn’t forget anything, I feel the company of my wisdom that understands me, and then the company of the human will fused with mine, that loves me with my eternal love; how not to multiply in every thought of hers as many of our lives, when we find that she understands us and loves us more?  We can say, we find our profit; because how much more life we form so much more we make ourselves understood, we give her double love and she loves us more; if we form our life in the word, we find the company of hers, and since our Fiat is hers, we find all the prodigies that he has worked when our Fiat was pronounced; if we form it in her breath, we find hers that breathes together and the company of our omnipotent breath, when creating we infused life (in) her; if we form it in her motion, we find her hands that embrace us squeezing us strongly, that don’t want to leave us anymore; if we form it in the steps they follow us anywhere.  What beautiful company, one who lives in our Will, there is no peril that they ever leave us alone, we both are inseparable.

Vol. 36,  August 21, 1938




So Luisa wanted to know that if it is through these knowledges on the Divine Will that creatures will come to know God, desire his Will and long for his Kingdom why he didn't allow Adam to know them so that he might pass them on to all the generations to dispose mankind.  Jesus in fact tells her that Adam did know them but in withdrawing from the Divine Will his intellect became obscured and he lacked the ability to pass them on to others.

On hearing this, I said:  ‘My Love, Jesus, if these knowledges on your adorable Will contain so much virtue, why did You not manifest them to Adam, so that, by making them known to posterity, they would have loved and appreciated more a good so great, and this would have disposed the hearts for the time when You, Divine Repairer, would decree to give us this great gift of the Kingdom of the Supreme Fiat?’  And Jesus, resuming His speaking, added:  “My daughter, as long as he remained in the terrestrial Eden, living in the Kingdom of the Supreme Will, Adam knew all the knowledges, as much as it is possible for a creature, of that which belonged to the Kingdom he possessed.  But as soon as he went out of It, his intellect was obscured; he lost the light of his Kingdom, and could not find the fitting words in order to manifest the knowledges he had acquired on the Supreme Will, because that very Divine Volition which would hand to him the necessary terms to manifest to others what he had known, was missing in him. 

Vol. 20, Sept. 17, 1926

 

While in the Kingdom Adam could understand the truths of God but after sinning his intellect became darkened.  So while we remain on earth we must work through the veils that hide the truths and only then will we be able to understand them.  

 

“My daughter, all things down here, both in the supernatural order and in the natural order, are all veiled. Only in Heaven are they unveiled, because in the Celestial Fatherland there are no veils, but things can be seen as they are in themselves. So, up there the intellect does not need to work in order to comprehend them, because of their own they show themselves for what they are; and if there is any work to do in the blessed dwelling – if it can be called work at all – it is that of enjoying and delighting in the things which, unveiled, one sees. On the other hand, down here it is not so. Since the human nature is spirit and body, the veil of the body prevents the soul from seeing my truths; the Sacraments and all other things are veiled. I Myself, Word of the Father, had the veil of my Humanity; all my words, my Gospel, in the form of examples and of similes; and only those who drew near Me to listen to Me with faith in their hearts, with humility and with the will to know the truths that I manifested to them in order to put them into practice, could comprehend Me. By doing this, they tore the veils that hid my truths, and found the good that was in them. Through faith, through humility and by wanting to know my truths, it was a work that they were doing; and with this work they would tear the veil and find my truths as they are in themselves; and therefore they remained bound to Me and to the good that my truths contained. Others, who would not do this work, would touch the veil of my truths, not the fruit that was inside; therefore they remained on an empty stomach, they could not understand anything; and turning their back to Me, they departed from Me.
So are my truths which, with so much love, I have manifested to you about my Divine Will. So that they may shine like unveiled suns, as they are, creatures must do their work, walk the way in order to touch them – which is faith; they must desire to want to know them, and pray, and humble their intellect in order to open it, so as to let the good and the life of my truths enter into them. If they do this, they will tear the veil and will find them, more than refulgent sun; otherwise, they will remain blind, and I will repeat the saying of the Gospel: ‘You have eyes and do not see, ears and do not hear, tongue and are mute.’
See, also in the natural order all things are veiled. Fruits have the veil of the skin. Who enjoys the good of eating them? One who does the work of drawing near the tree, of picking it, of removing the skin that hides the fruit. This one enjoys and makes the desired fruit his food. The fields are veiled by straws. Who takes the good that those straws hide? One who uncovers them of those straws has the good of taking the grain in order to form the bread to make of it his daily food. In sum, all things down here have the veil that covers them, to give to man the work and the will, the love to possess them and enjoy them. Now, my truths surpass natural things by far, and they present themselves to the creature like noble queens, veiled, in the act of giving themselves to them. But they want their work; they want them to draw near them by the steps of their will, in order to know them, possess them and love them – necessary conditions in order to tear the veil that hides them. Once the veil is torn, with their light, of their own they make their way, giving themselves in possession to those who have searched for them.
This is the reason for those who read the truths on my Divine Will and show that they do not comprehend what they read - even more, they are confused: because the true will of wanting to know them is lacking. It can be said that the work in order to know them is lacking; and without work nothing can be acquired, nor do they deserve such a great good. And I, with justice, deny to them that which I abundantly give to the humble and those who yearn for the great good of the light of my truths. My daughter, how many truths of mine, suffocated by those who do not love to know them and do not want to do their little work in order to possess them. I feel that they want to suffocate my very Self, if they could. And I, in my sorrow, am forced to repeat what I said in the Gospel, and I do it in deed: I take away from those who do not have, or who might have a little something of my goods, and I leave them in squalid misery, because, not wanting them and not loving them, these would hold them without esteeming them and without fruit; and I will give more abundantly to those who have, because these will hold them as precious treasures which will bear fruit more and more.”
Fiat!!!
Vol. 28, Aug. 2, 1930

 

 

The little work we must do to understand God's truths is spelled out above:  one must have "faith; they must desire to want to know them, and pray, and humble their intellect in order to open it, so as to let the good and the life of my truths enter into them."  Here we see Faith, Hope and Charity in act.  The belief of Faith, the Hope beyond our limited intellect, and the active Love of wanting the good of these truths in act.  But in order for us to possess we must want with the Will of God, in order to want we must hope in God beyond our own limitations and it all begins with the simple but huge leap of faith or the belief in the absence of firm knowledge.  In this way the intellect will understand when it first has the light of faith.