Sin; what is it?

I feel like I have to apologize for how long it takes me to get these out.  It seems like God, each time, has to overcome this huge obstacle inside of me that quails at the thought of even attempting to do this.  As for the subjects, it's funny, I'm really not sure how they come about.  I always want to examine one subject but end up having to do others before I can ever get there and then get sidetracked into something else entirely different from what I had intended.  This is the case today and it will probably take a few posts to cover all that I've found.


What is sin?  In the Volumes there are many different passages which deal with sin from many different angles:  voluntary vs. involuntary, original, venial, an act contrary to God's expressed Will, sin against the Holy Spirit, sin of pride, of passion.  But what is sin at it's core?  In it's basest form it is an act of the human will in opposition to God Will.

“My daughter, do you know what forms sin?  An act of the human will opposite to the Divine.  Imagine two friends who are in opposition; if the thing is light, you would say that their friendship is not perfect and loyal.  Be it even in little things, how can they love and yet oppose each other?  True love is to live in the will of the other, even at the cost of sacrifice.  If then the thing is grave, not only are they not friends, but they are fierce enemies.  Such is sin.  Opposing the Divine Will is the same as making God one’s enemy; be it even in little things, it is always the creature that puts herself in opposition to the Creator.”

Vol. 5, October 18, 1903

Sin is withdrawing from the Will of God to try to take something from our own will wanting to attribute something to ourselves separate from God.  It is in fact the creature attempting to make a god of herself in God's place.  This is the result of pride, the forerunner of the other sins.

    “My daughter, not only my hands and feet were nailed to the cross, but all the particles of my Humanity, soul and Divinity were all nailed in the Will of the Father.  In fact, the crucifixion was the Will of the Father, therefore I was nailed and transmuted completely in His Will.  This was necessary because, what is sin but withdrawing from the Will of God, from everything that is good and holy which God has given us, believing to be something of one’s own, and offending the Creator?  And I, in order to repair for this audacity and for this self idol which the creature makes of herself, wanted to dissolve my will completely and live from the Will of the Father at the cost of great sacrifice.”

Vol. 7, February 23, 1906

“My daughter, pride corrodes grace.  In the hearts of the proud there is nothing but a void all full of smoke, which produces blindness.  Pride does nothing but render oneself an idol, and so the proud soul does not have her God with her.  By sin, she has tried to destroy Him in her heart, and raising an altar within her heart, she places herself on it, and she adores herself.”
Vol. 3, November 19, 1899




But what we see as sin is only the very tip of the iceberg.  The far larger portion resides in the interior of man where only God can truly see it completely.




So, sin is formed first in the interior of man, and then comes outside; even more, many times what comes outside is the minimum part - the greatest remains in the interior. 
Vol. 12, May 8, 1919

“My daughter, sin is not just ugly, but horrible.  It is the black point of man!  As he sins, he undergoes a brutal transformation:  all the beauty I gave him is covered with such ugliness as to be horrible to the sight - and not only the particular sense that sins, but the whole of man runs along with it.  So, sin is his thought, his heartbeat, his breath, his motion, his step.  His will has dragged man to one single point, and from his whole being he emits thick darkness that blinds him, and a poisonous air that poisons him.  Everything is black around him - everything is deadly.  And whoever approaches him puts himself in a state of danger.  Horrible and frightening - such is man in the state of sin.”

Vol. 13, October 6, 1921

The only true image we have to help us understand how we are transformed by sin is in the wounded, crucified Humanity of our Jesus.

“My beloved daughter, look well at Me, that you may know my pains in depth.  My Body is the true portrait of the man who commits sin.  Sin strips him of the garments of my grace; and I let Myself be stripped of my garments so as to give grace back to him once again.  Sin deforms him, and while he is the most beautiful creature that came out of my hands, he becomes the ugliest one - disgusting and repugnant.  I was the most beautiful of men, and I can say that, in order to give beauty back to man, my Humanity took on the ugliest form.  Look at Me - how horrid I am.  I let my skin be torn off by dint of lashes, to the point that I could no longer recognize Myself.  Not only does sin take beauty away, but it forms deep wounds, rotten and gangrenous, which corrode the most intimate parts; they consume his vital humors, so everything he does are dead - skeletal works.  They snatch from him the nobility of his origin, the light of his reason - and he becomes blind.  And I, in order to fill the depth of his wounds, let my Flesh be torn to shreds; I reduced all of Myself to a wound, and by shedding my Blood in rivers, I made the vital humors flow in his soul, so as to give life back to him once again.  Ah! Had I not had the fount of the life of my Divinity within Me, which, since my Humanity died at each pain they gave Me, substituted for my life - I would have died from the very beginning of my Passion.

Vol. 14, February 9, 1922        




Sin has different effects but at it's core it places distance between God and the creature breaking off communication and trust.  It is as if someone would want to hide from the sun and in doing so only hurts themselves. 




In fact, sin alone is what puts distance between Creator and creature, breaking love, dispersing trust, and striking fear.
Vol. 15, December 8, 1922

A man can hide or place shelters so as not to enjoy the light of the sun and its beneficial effects, but he does nothing to the sun – the sun remains as it is, while all the evil will fall upon man.  In the same way, by sin, the sinner can move away from God and no longer enjoy His beneficial effects, but he does nothing to God – the evil is all his own.

Vol. 2, February 28, 1899




All of Creation was made as so many doors and ways to be with God and enjoy each others presence.  With sin we are the ones who shut the doors and bar the ways preferring our own company to that of God's.

“My daughter, created things were made by us in order to form so many ways (so that) man might be able to make use of them in order to come to us, because we left them all open, so that when he wanted to come he might not have need of knocking to open them in order to come to us.  He was our child, it was just and reasonable that he might hold all the ways open in order to go to his Celestial Father and stay together in order to love him and to be loved, and as child to ask graces and favors.  But do you know what the ungrateful child did?  He himself closed the ways, formed the bars, and with sin formed the doors, closing the correspondences with whom had given him life.

Vol. 31, September 8, 1932





Each time we sin we commit a triple transgression.  The first is the affront against God's love.  Lack of love is always the first step away from God.  The second is the affront against God's glory.  We rob him of his due fruits.  The third affront is the reality of what we have made of ourselves, degraded humanity itself which lacks the seed of the Divine destroying his work.  I think of it as a great artist, who for love alone, makes a magnificent work only to have it vandalized and ruined.  He has become robbed of the reciprocation of love he put in his work, robbed of the acclaim he would have received from it and robbed in the destruction of work itself.  We do this each and every time we sin, destroy God's work in one degree or another.

“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. 

Vol. 11, January 22, 1913




Sin then also is what is responsible for Justice being forced to act.  Justice acts to try to defend the rights of God's offended Love attempting to repair and reunite the Creator and the creature.

“My daughter, between Creator and creature there is nothing but currents of Love.  Sin breaks these currents and opens the current of Justice.  My Justice defends the rights of my offended Love, of my Love broken between Creator and creature; and making Its way into their midst, It would want to reunite this broken Love.  Ah! If man did not sin, my Justice would have nothing to do with the creature.  But as guilt begins, my Justice places Itself on the way.  Do you think that I wanted to strike man?  No, no; on the contrary, it grieves Me - it is hard for Me to touch him.  But he himself forces Me to, and induces Me to strike him.  You, pray that man may mend his ways, so Justice, quickly reuniting the current of Love, will be able to withdraw.” 

Vol. 14, April 12, 1922





Without love sin enters.  This is what happened to Adam and continues to happen with all sin.  Without love of God first and foremost there can be no true love, to God, to others or even to ourselves.

In fact, do you want to know why Adam sinned? Because he forgot that I loved him, and he forgot to love Me. This was the first seed of his fall. Had he thought that I loved him very much and that he was obliged to love Me, he would never have decided to disobey Me. So, love ceased first, and then sin began; and as he ceased to love his God, true love toward himself also ceased. His members and powers rebelled against him; he lost dominion, order, and became fearful. Not only this, but true love toward other creatures ceased, while I had created him with the same love which reigned among the Divine Persons, by which one was to be the image of the other, the happiness, the joy and life of the other. This is why, in coming upon earth, the thing on which I placed greatest importance was that they love one another as they were loved by Me, in order to give them my first love, to let the love of the Most Holy Trinity hover over the earth.

Vol. 16, September 6, 1923




God has made it so that creatures can perceive true sin.  The soul becomes agitated and loses it's peace which leads to impatience and anger.

...when there is true sin, it is not necessary for Me to say it; the soul already perceives it by herself, because sin, when it is voluntary, upsets the natural humors:  man undergoes as though a transformation in evil, he feels as though soaked with the sin he has voluntarily committed.  Just as true virtue transforms the soul in good, her humors remain all in harmony among themselves, and her nature feels as though soaked with sweetness, with charity, with peace – so it is with sin.  So, have you perceived this turmoil?  Have you felt as though soaked with impatience, with anger, with disturbances?”

Vol. 9, August 3, 1910

Recognizing sin for what it is leads to sorrow which leads to forgiveness and renewal.  Sorrow is a gift from God and Jesus shared in each sorrow in order to bring about forgiveness for each unique sin.





On hearing sin being mentioned, I said:  ‘Lord, tell me a little bit:  why are You so pleased when a soul feels sorrow for having offended You?’  And He:  “Sin is a poison that poisons the soul completely and renders her so disfigured as to make my image disappear from within her; sorrow destroys this poison and restores my image in her.  True sorrow is a counterpoison, and since sorrow destroys the poison, it forms a void in the soul, and this void is filled by my grace.  This is why I am pleased – I see the work of my Redemption risen again by means of sorrow.”
Vol. 4, February 22, 1903




“My daughter, I had a special sorrow for each sin, and upon my sorrow hung the pardon for the sinner. Now, this sorrow of mine is suspended in my Will, waiting for the sinner when he offends Me, so that, as he feels sorrow for having offended Me, my sorrow may descend to feel sorrow together with his, and immediately grant him forgiveness. But, how many offend Me and do not feel sorrow?
Vol. 18, October 21, 1925





Jesus did not just simply share in each sorrow over sin with the creature.  He cried each and every tear every creature would cry in sorrow to tie each one to the Divine forgiveness he held out to them and to lead them to tears of love.

See, then, how much I had to cry. I had to shed from my eyes the tears which creatures shed out of passion, so that mine might extinguish their passions. I had to shed the tears which are needed after sin, to give them the sorrow for having offended Me and the conviction of the evil they had done, preparing, with my tears, the resolution not to offend Me any more. I had to shed the tears in order to move souls to compassion, to make them comprehend the pains of my Passion; and I also shed abundant tears of love, in order to electrify souls to love Me, to draw their sympathy and their hearts, all for Me. It is enough to tell you that there is not one tear that arises on the human eye, which I did not shed from my eyes. No one knew of my many tears, of my much crying, hidden and secret. How many times, even as a tender Child, I flew from earth up to Heaven, and leaning my little head upon the knees of my Celestial Father, I cried and cried, and, sobbing, I said to Him: ‘My Father, You see, I am born in the world to tears and to sorrow, just like my brothers, who are born to tears, and die amidst crying. And I love these brothers so much, that I want to shed all of their tears from my eyes. Not even one do I want to let escape, so as to give to their tears, tears of love, of sorrow, of victory, of sanctification and of divinization.’ How many times my dear Mama, in looking at Me, was pierced in seeing Me all wet with crying; and because of the pain of seeing Me cry, She united Her tears to mine, and we cried together. And sometimes I was forced to hide Myself to give vent to crying, so as not to always pierce Her maternal and innocent Heart. Other times, I waited for the moment when my Celestial Mama, out of necessity, had to occupy Herself with housework, to give vent to my tears, in order to complete the number of tears of all creatures.”

Vol. 18, December 20, 1925




Sorrow works to purge voluntary sin however there are also involuntary defects in each soul for which simple resignation to the Divine is necessary in order purge the soul of this state.

Then, when the confessor came, I told him everything, and he said to me that it was not right - that it is sorrow that purges the soul and that resignation has nothing to do with this.  So, after I received Communion, I said:  ‘Lord, father told me that what You told me was not right.  Explain Yourself better and let me know the truth.’  And He, benignly, added:  “My daughter, when it is about voluntary sin, then it takes sorrow; but when it is about imperfections, weaknesses, coldnesses and the like, and the soul has added nothing of her own, then a perfect act of resignation is enough; and if needed, she is also purged of this state, because in doing this act, the soul first encounters my Divine Will, which purges her human will and embellishes it with Its qualities, and then she identifies herself with Me.”

Vol. 6, April 9, 1904





Luisa was given a true understanding of how ugly sin is and what an affront to God it is.  This knowledge gave her true sorrow, a gift from God, which brings about forgiveness and Confession renews, heals and restores life to the soul and vigor to the virtues.  After this we should not dwell on it anymore or we once again try to attribute something to ourselves but instead we should focus on loving God. 

He made me understand how ugly sin is – the affront that this miserable little worm had made to Jesus Christ, the horrendous ingratitude, the enormous wickedness, the harm caused to my soul.  I was so dismayed, that I did not know what to do in order to repair.  I did some mortifications, I asked for some more from the confessor, but few were given to me, so they all seemed shadows to me, and I did nothing but think about my sins, though clinging more and more to Him.  I had such fear of moving away and of doing worse than before, that I myself cannot express it.  When I was with Him, I did nothing but tell Him of the pain I felt for having offended Him.  I kept asking for His forgiveness, I thanked Him for having been so good to me, and I said to Him from the heart:  ‘See oh Lord, the time I have lost, while I could have loved You.’  I was unable to say anything but the grave evil I had done. 
Finally, one day, reprimanding me, He told me:  “I do not want you to think about it.  When a soul has humbled herself, being convinced of having done wrong, and has cleansed her soul in the Sacrament of Confession, and is ready to die rather than offend Me - it is an affront to my mercy, it is a hindrance to drawing her close to my love, because her mind is always trying to wrap itself with the mud of the past.  She also prevents Me from letting her take flight toward Heaven, because she is always with those ideas wrapped within herself, as she tries to think about it.  And then, see, I no longer remember anything; I have perfectly forgotten about it.  Do you see any rancor or shadow on my part?”

And I said to Him:  ‘No Lord, You are so good.’  But I felt my heart split with tenderness.

“So, are you the one who wants to carry these things on?”

And I:  ‘No, no, I don’t want to.’

And He:  “Let us think about loving and contenting each other.”

Vol. 1, The soul is sorry for the sins it committed in the past, but Jesus does not want it to lose its time thinking about them.

 

“My daughter, sin is a poisonous and deadly embrace to the soul, if it is grave; and not only to her, but also to all the virtues present in the soul.  If then it is venial, it is a wounding embrace, which renders the soul very weak and infirm, and together with her the virtues which she had acquired also become infirm.  What a deadly weapon sin is!  Sin alone can wound and give death to the soul!  Nothing else can harm her, nothing else but sin alone renders her opprobrious and odious before Me.”

While He was saying this, I comprehended the ugliness of sin and I felt such pain that I cannot even express it.  And Jesus, seeing me all contrite, raised His blessed right hand and pronounced the words of the absolution.  Then He added:  “Just as sin wounds and gives death to the soul, so does the Sacrament of Confession give life, heal the wounds, and give back vigor to virtues; and this, more or less, according to the dispositions of the soul – so does the virtue of the Sacrament operate.” 

Vol. 3, January 5, 1900


  

But even beyond sorrow it attention to not committing sin is better.  Being proactive draws grace to help the soul not to fall into sin.

“My daughter, attention on not committing sin makes up for the sorrow; and even if one were sorry, but in spite of this he committed sins, his sorrow would be vain and fruitless.  On the other hand, a continuous attention on not committing sins not only takes the place of sorrow, but pushes grace continuously to help the soul in a special way not to fall into sin, and it maintains the soul always purged.  Therefore, continue to be attentive on not offending Me even slightly, for this will make up for all the rest.”

Vol. 6, September 7, 1904

The Power of the Memory

In "The Memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection"  Father Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. wrote:

"When we hear the word 'memory' we naturally tend to think of mental activity - like the act of recalling an event or conversation from yesterday.  When we recall such events, however, we do not have actual contact with the previous day.  The past remains truly past.  We have, rather, an idea or an impression that reminds in our mind.

When the Church 'keeps he memory' of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection (CCC 1163), however, the situation is quite different.  She does have real contact with the Lord.  Indeed, Christ's saving works 'become in a certain way present and real' in the Church's liturgy (CCC 1363).  This is why the Catechism describes the Mass as a Eucharistic 'Memorial" (CCC 1409).  The Eucharist is a real memorial of the Lord's saving work.  Why?  The Eucharist is the same Savior who sacrificed himself for our sins and rose again for our salvation.

The Church alone is able to keep the memory of the Lord in this real and sacramental way.  The Church is the ride of Christ - a bride always united to her heavenly Bridegroom.  And her Bridegroom always remembers his Passion and Resurrection.  Indeed, our Lord remembers all of this so profoundly that his ver humanity bears the marks of his sacrificial love.  The very glorified body of Christ memorializes his Passion, for even in his glorified state in heaven, Jesus' resurrected body still retains the wounds of his love.

Through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, our Lord's glorified body is made really present.  The Church does not recall Jesus or his Passion in an airy or fanciful manner.  The divine Savior truly comes at every Mass - and, in his resurrected body, so do the Passion and the Resurrection he underwent.  The Body and Blood really present on the altar are the Body and Blood of the same Savior who suffered, die, and rose again 'for us men and for our salvation.'

How then do Catholics regard and enter into the memorial of the Lord's Passion at Mass?  The first and most important step is to be present with the Real Presence - to attend Mass at church on Sunday, the 'Lord's Day.'  Sunday is the sacred day on which the Church 'keeps the memory of the Lord's resurrection' (CCC 1163).  Jesus does not withhold himself from the Church - neither two thousand years ago on Calvary nor today, here and now, in the sacraments.  And all Catholics are called to avail themselves of the sacraments through with we truly encounter our loving Savior.

Second, Catholics apply their mins to the sacred mysteries commemorated through the Mass.  We do this by embracing Jesus with our loving thoughts and affections.  Thus, not only are we physically present at Mass, but we are also spiritual and prayerfully present at Mass.  We meditate upon the sacred mysteries present before us in the sacraments with a spirit of love and gratitude.

Third, we draw consolation from the fat that the Church never forgets the Bridegroom.  This is one of the reasons the Church is so precious for Catholics.  The Mystical Body of Christ is bigger than her members.  Even if a Catholic forgets - or even if many Catholics forget - about Jesus, the Church always remembers.  She makes up for our frailties.  Moreover, she is always happy to receive us when we recall how much we need our Savior - even if after many years.

In sum , the Church's Eucharistic memorial helps individual Catholics themselves to remember what she never forgets:  Jesu suffered, died, and rose again - for us."

I've heard it said by Fr. Robert that the memory is one of the least understood abilities of man.  That the memory often is simple regarded as reminiscing over the past but empty of any substance.  Therefore since beginning on this topic of the three powers of man I wanted to use a post to explore in the Volumes what the power of the memory consists in.

Luisa was taught early in the Volumes the power of the memory in overcoming temptation.

Jesus Christ taught me that the most effective means for the soul to be freed of every vain apprehension, of every doubt, of every fear, was to protest before Heaven, earth and the very demons, that she does not want to offend God, even at the cost of her life, and that she does not want to consent to any temptation of the devil.  And this, as soon as the soul feels the coming of the temptation, in the act of the battle, if she can, and as she begins to feel free - and also during the course of the day.  By doing this, the soul will not waste time in thinking about whether she has consented or not, because the mere memory of her promise will already give her peace; and if the devil tries to disturb her, she will be able to answer that if she had the intention of offending God, she would not have protested the opposite.  In this way, she will remain free of any concern.

Vol. 1,     Jesus teaches Luisa how to drive away the infernal spirits, thus overcoming the test she was subjected to.



So memory serves in this case to renew and reaffirm a promise.  And here, also in Vol. 1, Jesus teaches Luisa that the memory is meant to be centralized in Him.  His presence is to be brought to mind which will nurture a growing love of Him in the creature.  So that all things and people are looked at only through the lens of Jesus.

So, I say that first of all Jesus directed me to totally detach myself from all creation, and even from my own self, almost as though I was to live in perfect forgetfulness of all things.  With this, my interior would become disposed to have his sweet memory ever present to me, and a living and beating affection of love toward him, so that, being pleased with all my acts, he might form his permanent dwelling in my heart.  Outside of him, he said, I was no longer to know anyone:  not friends, not even my own self.  Only in him was the memory of everything and of everyone to be reawakened, since the creature necessarily can be found in him.  To achieve this, he added that I was always to act with holy indifference, mindless of what may be happening around me.  In other words, I was always to act uprightly and with the greatest simplicity, not keeping account of the pros and the cons of creatures.

Vol. 1,      Jesus gives four rules of life to the soul.

 

But memory is more than renewing a promise, nurturing love of God and shielding the creature from unholy attachments and judgments.  Here Jesus tells Luisa how memory gives the beginning to a good in making it her own.   Remembering Jesus' life leads to taking the fruits of those acts for oneself.  And these goods, when acquired, continue into the next life as a fount of goods which overflow from the soul for the good of others.

‘My daughter, how much great good does the memory of Me and of everything I did, suffered and said in my Life, procure for the soul. By compassionating Me and making my intentions her own, and by remembering, one by one, my pains, my works, my words, she calls them into herself and places them in neat order within her soul, in such a way as to come to take the fruits of what I did, suffered and said.     ....

The memory is the beginning of a good. The memory forms many sips for the soul in order to give her life. When some good - when things are forgotten, they lose the vital virtue for the soul, they lose their attractiveness, the gratitude, the correspondence, the esteem, the love, the value. And not only does this memory produce the origin of every good in life, but after one’s death also it produces the origin of glory. Have you not heard your late confessor – how he delighted in speaking about the graces I have given you? This is because during his life he cared about hearing them, he remembered them, and his interior remained filled with them to the point of overflowing outside. And now, how much good did this not procure for him in the next life? It is for him like a fount of good which overflows for the good of others. So, the more the soul remembers what belongs to Me, my graces, the lessons I have given her, the more the fount of my goods grows within her, to the point that, unable to contain them, they overflow for the good of others.”

Vol. 16, June 1, 1924

 
By remembering the acts done by the Saints and by Jesus, which are conserved in His Will, we participate in this fount by renewing the goods accomplished in these acts.   Not only do we renew the glory that was obtain through these acts but we double it for God and for the one who worked it and for the benefit of those still on the earth.

“My daughter, there is no thing suffered and worked by all the saints in the story of the world, in which my Will has not had his part doing as actor and concurrent with strength, with help, with support, with that sacrifice or work that they have done.  Now the soul offering them to God as homage of glory, recalls the memory of that sacrifice and work, and my Divine Will recognizes that which he has put forth of his in such acts and he gives the virtue to double the glory of that sacrifice, for God and for the one who has had the good of sacrificing themselves and of working in order to complete my Divine Will.  True good never ceases, neither in Heaven nor in earth, one creature who remembers and offers them is enough he renews the glory in Heaven and the effects of that good descend in earth to the benefit of creatures.  Therefore the life of true good is not subject to die.  In fact who is the life of my Church?  Who feeds her and acts as Teacher, if not the brief course of my life down here?  I can say that it is my sufferings that sustain her, it is my doctrines that teach her.  So that all the good that I did didn’t die, but remained with the fullness of life and life that vivifies, conserves, feeds and grows continually, and gives itself to whoever wants it.  And as the creature remembers, she already puts herself in rapport with my goods, and as she goes offering them, thus they double themselves in order to give themselves to her, and I feel the glory doubled of that which I did for love of creatures. 

Vol. 29,  March 2, 1931



With remembering all the acts of the past and using them to call anew the Kingdom of the Divine Will we renew them, honor them and we also act as a guard to them to protect them, but not only this but they in turn act as a guard to us to protect us.

“My daughter, when the creature remembers, honors, glorifies that which her Creator and her Redeemer has done for her love in order to put her in safety, and (that) all the saints have done, she becomes protectress of all these acts.  The sky, the sun and all the creation feel protected by the creature.  My terrestrial life down here, my sufferings, my tears feel sheltered in her and they find their protectress; the saints not only find protection in her memory, but the acts of them vivified, renewed in the midst of creatures, in short they feel life re-given in their acts.

“Oh, how many beautiful works and virtues remain as buried in the base world, because there is no one who remembers and honors them!  The memory recalls the works of the past and makes them as present.  But do you know what happens?  An exchange happens:  the creature becomes protectress with her memory; all our works, the creation, the redemption and all that which the saints have done, they make themselves protector of their protector.  They put themselves around Her in order to protect her, to defend her, they do as sentinel, and while they shelter themselves in her in order to be protected, every work of ours, all my sufferings and all the works and virtues of my saints, make competition giving the exchange to make (an) honor guard for her, so that she remains defended by everything and by everyone.  And then there is no greater honor that you can give when you make use of them to ask for in every act the Kingdom of the Divine Will.  They feel called and put themselves to do as messengers between heaven and earth to a kingdom so holy.  You should know that (the) past, present and future, all must serve to the Kingdom of the Divine Fiat.  Now [with] your memory, asking for this kingdom through means of our works, virtues and acts of everyone, all feel put to the service of Him and they take their office and post of honor.  So that your turning is necessary, because it serves to prepare the Kingdom of the Divine Will.  Therefore be attentive and continuous.”

Vol. 30, Feb. 24, 1932




Where the Divine Will reigns he brings with Him all that which belongs to Him and this includes all the lost and forgotten acts of the past saints and all his own unknown acts.  Only one who lives in the Divine Will has the ability to bring to the present again all these lost and unknown acts. 

And in all things he turns around her, and it seems that he says to her:  ‘look at me it is I, know me, I come in order to form my life in you’; and doing as (an) assailant to her he assails her inside and outside, in a way that one who pays attention, feels my Divine Will regurgitate inside and outside of herself, that is forming the prodigy of his divine life which is not given to them to resist his power, and do you know what this Divine Will of mine does? he re-gives life, recalls everything to life, makes arise in this life all that which he has done, and what has been done of good by all creatures, he arouses the sweet remembrance of his works, as present and in act, as if he might repeat them, nothing escapes from this life, she feels the fullness of everything, and oh! how the creature feels happy, rich, powerful, holy, she feels outfitted with all the good acts of the others, and she loves for all, glorifies the Divine Fiat as if they might be hers, and my Volition feels his works re-given to him by her, hence the love, the glory of his divine works, and repeats with the memory the glory and the love of the other creatures.  Oh! how many works put in oblivion, how many sacrifices, how many forgotten heroic acts, that have been done by the human generations, that they don’t think of anymore and hence there is neither the continuous repetition of the glory, nor one who renews the love of those acts, and my Divine Will forming his life in the human littleness, makes arise the memory of everything, in order to give and in order to receive everything, centralizes everything in her and forms his divine encampment.  Therefore be attentive to receive these waves of my Volition, they re-pour themselves over you in order to change your fate, and if you receive them, you will be his fortunate creature.”

Vol. 32,  Sept. 17, 1933



The power of the memory working in concert with the intellect and the will of the creature living in the Divine Will is much more than a simple reminiscence of past events.  The memory has the power to renew past promises and intentions, re-strengthening these bonds.  When centered on God it focuses the love of the creature in God.  Memory allows the creature to make it's own the goods that it sees both in the Creation and in the acts of others.  And in remembering these acts the creature redoubles the glory of God and of the Saint whom had the great benefit of preforming the act.  These in turn then go and act as a shield and protector to the creature.  It seems to me that our time here on earth is so short we should take advantage of it to use the power of our memory to win eternal founts of good.  How often I know I've used it instead to dwell on past hurts and judgments and idle day dreams.  When I see in the world all the people who become robbed of their memory through disease and accidents it is always a reminder to me of how little time we might actual have to put this power to use to do good.  And to know that we have the power to make a feast for all, the saints, those creatures still on the earth, the holy souls in Purgatory, all of Creation and a feast for God himself, it overwhelms me how great is the potential of the memory in a creature living in the Divine Will.  In conclusion I wanted to end with a reading where Jesus talks to Lusia about his great joy in seeing the creature remember the love with which she was created and the great gifts that he makes to her.

“Blessed daughter, the sweetest memory that I enjoy more immensely is when the creature remembers my love in the Creation, in a special way that of man; our love eviscerated itself more than a mother when she puts forth her dear child to the light.  Our love raced, raced, in order to enclose it in Himself, so that wherever, inside and outside of himself, he might be able to find the knoll of our love that says to him:  ‘I love you, I love you.’  The sweet sound of our love whispers to the ear, beats in his heart, resounds strongly and kisses ardently the lips, tightly embraces (him) in our Paternal arms, as triumph of our love, that at whatever cost wants to love the creature.  So that there is nothing more sweet, more pleasant, than remembering with how much love we created man and all things.  And so much is our pleasure, that the fortunate creature that comes before our Adorable Majesty, in order to remember this love of ours so great, we redouble our loving bonds with her, we give her new graces, new light and we call her the repeater of our feast, because in the Creation everything was feast for us and for everyone.  And the creature with remembering that which we did in the Creation puts in feast our love, our power, our creative wisdom, that had created the whole universe with so much inimitable mastery, and then the mastery in creating man, that exceeds everything.  Hence all our Divine qualities celebrate, and the creature looking, has put in feast with her memory and with her little exchange of love, she makes competition between them and some double the love, some the goodness, some the sanctity, in short every single Divine quality of ours wants to give of his, in order to repeat with her that which we did in the Creation.

“Therefore repeat often the sweet memory of our insuperable love, that we had in the Creation, it was a creature of ours, one of our images, one child of ours that we put forth to the light, and therefore we showed off so much in love, and to feel the remembering of it we feel (ourselves) love her more.  So that all the Creation is none other than a display of our loving Will toward the creature, and in his loving display he goes repeating:  ‘Fiat, Fiat’, in order to pearl all the Creation with his display of love.

Vol. 29,  June 8, 1931