Take up your Cross...

23 Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. ²⁴ For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.
Luke 9:23-24


I was reading the way of the cross by Catalina Rivas and I came upon the 12th station where this passage struck me.

The Twelfth Station - Jesus Dies on the Cross

...My children, there are no glorious crosses on earth. They are wrapped in mystery, darkness and exasperation. They are wrapped in mystery because you do not understand them; wrapped in darkness, because they confuse the mind; and wrapped in exasperation for they strike exactly in places where you do not want them to strike.

The Stations of the Cross, Catalina Rivas

 

How often we romanticize the cross on earth.  We think of severe illnesses, or a woman enduring a difficult marriage, or severe pain, or supernatural crosses like someone suffering the stigmata.  These certainly are crosses and they are obvious when they hit making us turn immediately to God for help, but the vast truth for most of us is something else.  Those daily crosses that we're asked to bear are the annoying co-worker that gets under your skin, the neighbor that always seems to be yelling or swearing, the person that keeps leaving the toilet seat up or the cabinet open, the person that cuts you off or the one who is driving too slow in single lane traffic, these are the crosses we are often asked to carry.  It's all those little encounters that make you want to swear or lose patience with someone and in turn lose your own peace, those people that drive you crazy and you're never quite sure why they bother you so much, guess what?  They're crosses sent by God.

Now there are a couple of former posts, one is a talk given by Fr. Gary, The Cross of Wood and the Cross of Light, and another The Crucifixion of Divine Will, both of which deal with the more spiritual aspects of the cross.  But I thought I'd take another look through the Volumes and look at what Jesus has to say about all those daily crosses we receive on this earth.  This is what I've found.

Jesus himself, states that the cross disposes the soul to look to Heaven by causing the soul boredom and bother.  It is meant to destroy the three evil kingdoms of the World, the Devil and the Flesh which is rooted in man in order to restore the three good and holy kingdoms the Spiritual, the Divine and the Eternal Kingdom created by God for man.

“The cross disposes the soul to patience.  The cross opens Heaven, and unites Heaven and earth together – that is, God and the soul.  The virtue of the cross is powerful, and when it enters into a soul, it has the virtue of removing the rust of all earthly things.  Not only this, but it causes her boredom, bother and contempt for the things of the earth, giving her, instead, the flavor and the enjoyment of celestial things.  However, few are those who recognize the virtue of the cross; therefore they despise it.”

Vol. 2, May 16, 1899

“My daughter, do not want to become tired in suffering, but rather, act as if at each hour you were just beginning to suffer.  In fact, if the soul lets herself be dominated by the cross, the cross destroys three evil kingdoms in her, which are the world, the devil and the flesh, and it constitutes in her three more good Kingdoms:  the Spiritual, the Divine and the Eternal Kingdom.” 

Vol. 6, June 3, 1904



He also states that crosses make the soul transparent in such a way that even little stains become strikingly apparent.



“The cross communicates such splendor to the soul as to render her transparent.  Just as one can give all the colors he wants to an object which is transparent, in the same way, with its light the cross provides all features and the most beautiful shapes that can possibly be imagined, not only by others, but by the very soul who experiences them.  Furthermore, on a transparent object one can immediately detect dust, little stains, and even a shadow.  Such is the cross:  since it renders the soul transparent, it immediately reveals to the soul the little defects, and the slightest imperfections, so much so, that there is no hand of master more capable than the cross in keeping the soul prepared, to make of her a residence worthy of the God of Heaven.” 
Vol. 2, July 22, 1899 




Crosses are means to detach us from earthly people and things, crosses of disillusion as Jesus calls them.  We are not meant to be co-dependent on other people, to love others above God.  God alone deserves all our love and we should love others for the love of God.  Or if we raise self esteem, or riches or any other thing or person above the love of God Jesus will send us these crosses so that we might once again look to Heaven first and lose our taste for the earth.  And if we submit to these crosses and accept the lessons they gives us we avoid a judgment at the hour of death.  Whether we accept these crosses or not will be our glory or our shame at our judgment.  Those little annoying moments that seem to needle us add up.

“My daughter, these are the crosses of the loss of illusion, which I keep always ready to disillusion the creatures.”  As He was saying this, we found ourselves in the midst of people, and as soon as blessed Jesus would see that someone would become attached to creatures, He would take the cross of persecution from that bundle and would give it to him; and that person, seeing himself persecuted, unpopular, would be disillusioned and would comprehend that those were the creatures, and that God alone deserves to be loved.  If someone would become attached to riches, He would take from that bundle the cross of poverty and would give it to him; and that person, seeing that riches had vanished away from him and he was now poor, would comprehend that everything down here is smoke, and that true riches are eternal, and so he would attach his heart to everything that is eternal.  If someone else would become bound to his self-esteem, to knowledge, blessed Jesus, with all sweetness, would take the cross of slanders and of confusions and would give it to him; and that person, confused and slandered, would remove as though a mask from himself and comprehend his own nothingness, his being, and would order his whole interior in the order of God, and no longer of himself.  And so on with all the other crosses.
After this, my adorable Jesus told me:  “Have you seen the reason why I have this bundle of crosses in my arms?  It is my love for creatures that forces Me to keep it, remaining in continuous attitude for them.  In fact, the cross is the primary disillusion and the first thing that judges the works of creatures, in such a way that if the creature surrenders, the cross will make him avoid the judgment of God, as I am satisfied when one submits to the judgment of the cross during his life.  If then he does not surrender, he will find himself in the sphere of the second judgment at his death, and will be judged with much more severe rigor by God; more so, since he has shunned the judgment of the cross, which is a judgment all of love.” 

Vol. 4, March 5, 1903

“My daughter, sufferings, crosses, are like many citations which I send to souls.  If the soul accepts these citations - whether they are citations that notify the soul to pay some debt, or it is a notification to obtain some gain for eternal life - if the soul responds to Me by resigning herself to my Will, by thanking Me, by adoring my holy dispositions, we are immediately in accord, and the soul will avoid many inconveniences that are possible, like being cited again, having advocates involved, going through the suit, and receiving the condemnation of the judge.  Responding to the citation with resignation and with thanksgiving alone will make up for all this, because the cross will be citation, advocate and judge for her, with nothing else needed for her to take possession of the eternal Kingdom.  If then she does not accept these citations - think about it, yourself, into how many abysses of disgraces and troubles she throws herself, and what the rigor of the judge will be in condemning her for having shunned the cross as her judge - so much milder, more compassionate, more prone to enriching her rather than judging her, more intent on embellishing her rather than condemning her.”

Vol. 6, March 5, 1904

“My beloved, the cross allows one to distinguish the reprobates from the predestined.  Just as on the Day of Judgment, the good will rejoice upon seeing the cross, so even now it can be seen whether one will be saved or lost.  If, as the cross presents itself to the soul, she embraces it, carries it with resignation and patience, kissing and thanking that hand which is sending it – here is the sign that she is saved.  If, on the contrary, as the cross is presented to her, she gets irritated, despises it, and even reaches the point of offending Me – you can say that that’s a sign that the soul is heading on the way to hell.  So will the reprobates do on the Day of Judgment:  upon seeing the cross, they will grieve and curse.  The cross tells everything; the cross is a book that, without deception and in clear notes, tells you and allows you to distinguish the saint from the sinner, the perfect from the imperfect, the fervent from the lukewarm.  The cross communicates such light to the soul that, even now, it allows one to distinguish not only the good from the evil, but also those who are to be more or less glorious in Heaven – those who are to occupy a higher or a lower place.  All other virtues remain humble and reverent before the virtue of the cross, and grafting themselves to it, they receive greater glory and splendor.”

Vol. 1, The judgment of the cross.



God often uses the cross like a bridle on a horse to tame and guide man.  Otherwise he states man would throw himself off a cliff and there would be an untold more number of evils in the world.

“My daughter, the cross is to the creature as the rein to the horse.  What would happen to the horse if man did not use the rein?  It would be untamed, unrestrained, and would but go from precipice to precipice, to the point of becoming fierce and noxious to man and to itself.  On the other hand, with the rein it can be conducted, it becomes tame, walks straight, serves the needs of man as a faithful friend, and stays safe from any precipice, because man keeps it and protects it.  Such is the cross to man.  The cross tames him, restrains him, arrests the course of his hurling himself along the paths of passions which he feels within himself, and which devour him like fire.  So, instead of raging against God and hurting himself, the cross dampens his passions, softens him, conducts him, and serves the glory of God and his own salvation.  Oh, if it wasn’t for the cross which, by Its mercy, Divine Providence holds as a rein in order to restrain man – oh, amid how many more evils would one see poor humanity lie!”
Vol. 7, October 8, 1906

The cross is bothersome, prickly and painful but only through patience can it reveal the treasure it has within and there is no sanctity or virtue that comes to one without the cross.  This ability to bear the cross is not something we can do by ourselves it is only through divine help that we progress.

“My daughter, the cross is a thorny fruit, which is bothering and prickly on the outside, but once the thorns and the cortex are removed, one finds a precious and delicious fruit. But only one who has the patience to bear the bothers of the prickings, can arrive at discovering the secret of the preciousness and flavor of that fruit. And only one who has come to discover this secret, looks at it with love, and goes in search of this fruit with avidity, without caring about the prickings, while all the others look at it with contempt, and despise it.” And I: ‘But, my sweet Lord, what is this secret contained in the fruit of the cross?’ And He: “It is the secret of eternal beatitude, because in the fruit of the cross there are many little coins which circulate only to enter into Heaven, and with these little coins the soul is enriched and makes herself blessed for eternity.”

Vol. 7, May 9, 1907



Ah! daughter, no kind of sanctity is without cross; no virtue is acquired without union with pains. 
Vol. 12, June 16, 1919




“My daughter, the way of the cross is a way strewn with stars, and as one walks through it, those stars change into most luminous suns.  What will be the happiness of the soul for all eternity in being surrounded with these suns?  Furthermore, the great reward I give to the cross is so great that there is no measure, either of width or of length – it is almost incomprehensible to the human minds; and this, because in bearing crosses, there can be nothing human – all is divine.”

Vol. 2, October 22, 1899 

 

Furthermore Jesus refers to the cross as Sacrament, not a sacrament, but Sacrament.  Where one sacrament removes sin, another unites us with God, the cross, however, has the ability to apply all the effects of all the sacraments and in a very short time can render the soul similar to the origin from which she came, that is God.  It forms the permanent union between the soul and God.

“My daughter, the Cross is Sacrament.  Each one of the Sacraments contains Its special effects – one removes sin, another confers grace, another unites one with God, another gives strength, and many other effects.  But the Cross alone unites all these effects together, producing them in the soul with such effectiveness as to render her, in a very short time, similar to the original from which she came.” 

Vol. 4, April 25, 1902

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

Vol. 6, June 5, 1905

“My daughter, how precious is the cross!  See now:  in giving Itself to the soul, the Sacrament of my Body unites her with Me, It transforms her, to the point that she becomes one with Me.  But as the species are consumed, the union, truly established, ceases.  Not with the cross.  The cross takes God and unites Him with the soul forever, and It places Itself more surely as a seal.  Therefore, the cross seals God in the soul, in such a way that there is never separation between God and the crucified soul.”

Vol. 3, April 21, 1900

“My daughter, if the Eucharist is the deposit of the future glory, the cross is the disbursement with which to purchase it.  If the Eucharist is the seed which prevents corruption – like those aromatic herbs that prevent decomposition when applied to cadavers – and gives immortality to soul and body, the cross embellishes and is so powerful that if debts have been contracted, it becomes their guarantor, and it more surely obtains the restitution of the debt’s deed.  And after it has satisfied every debt, it forms for the soul the most refulgent throne in the future glory.  Ah, yes, the cross and the Eucharist alternate, and one operates more powerfully than the other.”

Vol. 3, May 1, 1900

 
The cross prepares the soul so that divine virtues and truths can communicate themselves to the creature.  The greater the truth the creature is to receive the greater the cross to strip the creature of all that is human.


 

“My daughter, crosses, sorrows, pains, are like a press for the soul. Just as the wine-press serves to crush and peel the grapes, in such a way that the wine remains on one side and the skin on the other; in the same way, crosses and pains, like a press, peel the soul of pride, of love of self, of passions, and of all that is human, leaving the pure wine of virtues. And so my virtues find the way to communicate themselves and lay themselves within the soul as on a snow-white canvas, with indelible characters. How can you fear, then, if every time I have manifested to you my truths on my Will, these truths have always been preceded by crosses, sorrows and pains – and the higher the truths, the more intense and the stronger the pains? It was nothing other than the pressure of the press which I exercised in you, in order to peel you of all that is human. It was my interest, more than yours, that these truths would not be mixed with the skin of human passions.”

Vol. 16, December 26, 1923

The cross is the truest sign as to whether one loves God or not.  When someone bears their cross with patience and resignation than it is a sure sign that someone truly loves God.  Not because of their own merit but because one can only do so with divine help and that is the sign that the soul is united with the love of the divine life residing in the soul so that the soul loves with God's love.

I was thinking about why it is the cross alone that makes us know whether we really love the Lord, while there are many other things, like the virtues, prayer, the Sacraments, which could make us know whether we love the Lord. While I was thinking of this, blessed Jesus came and told me: “My daughter, it is really so, the cross alone is that which makes one know whether he really loves the Lord - but a cross carried with patience and resignation, because where there is patience and resignation in crosses, there is divine life. Since nature is so reluctant to suffering, if there is patience, it cannot be something natural, but divine, and the soul no longer loves the Lord with her love alone, but united with the love of the divine life.

Vol. 8, February 16, 1908

This divine help also secures the treasure of the cross in the soul which leads to the soul's sanctification.  Each cross secures another seed of virtue when the soul accepts it and submits to it.

“My daughter, the cross is a treasure, and the safest place in which to keep this valuable treasure is one’s own soul.  Or rather, it is a safe place when the soul is disposed to receive this treasure with patience, with resignation and with the other virtues, because the virtues are as many keys that secure it, so as not to spoil it or expose it to thieves.  But if it does not find especially the gold key of patience, this treasure will find many thieves, who will steal it and spoil it.”

Vol. 7, August 11, 1906

This morning, Jesus showed me a soul who was crying, but it seemed, rather, to be a crying of love. Jesus clasped her, and it seemed that inside His Heart there was a cross which, pressing against her heart, made her feel abandonments, coldness, agonies, distractions, oppressions; and the soul wriggled about, and a few times she escaped from the arms of Jesus to put herself at His feet. Jesus wanted that, in her state, she would hold on, remaining in His arms, telling her: “If you are able to hold on in this state, remaining in my arms without wavering, this cross will be your sanctification; otherwise you will always stay at the same point.”

Vol. 10, January 27, 1912

 

“My daughter, the cross is seed of virtue, and just as one who sows harvests for ten, twenty, thirty, and even one hundred - in the same way, the cross, being seed, multiplies virtues and perfections, and it embellishes them in an admirable way.  So, the more crosses thicken around you, the more seeds of virtue are sown into your soul.  Therefore, instead of afflicting yourself when a new cross comes to you, you should rejoice, thinking that you are acquiring another seed, with which you can enrich, and even complete, your crown.”

Vol. 6, January 28, 1905



One of the treasures of the cross it the ability to form the marriage between the soul and God.  Jesus deposited in the cross all the dowries sufficient to marry him but we have to accept these crosses.  If we don't we nullify the dowry and break the proposal.

“My daughter, when I received the Cross, I embraced It as my dearest treasure, because in the Cross I dowered souls and espoused them to Myself.  Now, upon looking at the Cross – at Its length and breadth – I rejoiced, because I saw in It sufficient dowries for all my spouses, and none of them could fear not being able to marry Me, because I held in my own hands – in the Cross – the price of their dowry.  But with this condition alone:  that if the soul accepts the little gifts I send to her - which are the crosses - as the pledge of her acceptance of Me as her Spouse, the marriage is formed and I give her the gift of the dowry.  If then she does not accept the gifts – that is, if she is not resigned to my Will – everything is undone, and even if I want to dower her, I cannot, because in order to form a marriage, it always takes the will of both sides; and since the soul does not accept my gifts, it means that she does not want to accept the marriage.”

Vol. 7, July 27, 1906




All of those little crosses and the large ones too, add up to form immense, eternal riches, beauties to enrapture God himself. 

“My beloved, do you want to be beautiful?  The cross will give you the most beautiful features that can possibly be found, both in Heaven and on earth; so much so, as to enamor God, who contains all beauties within Himself.” 

Jesus continued:  “Do you want to be filled with immense riches - not for a short time, but for all eternity?  Well then, the cross will administer to you all kinds of riches - from the tiniest cents, which are the little crosses, up to the greatest amounts, which are the heavier crosses.  Yet, men are so greedy to earn a temporal penny, which they soon will have to leave, but do not give a thought to earning one eternal cent.  And when I, having compassion for them, in seeing their carelessness for all that regards eternity, kindly offer them the opportunity - instead of cherishing it, they get angry and offend Me.  What human madness – it seems that they understand it upside down.  My beloved, in the cross are all the triumphs, all the victories, and the greatest gains.  You must have no aim other than the cross, and it will be enough for you, in everything. 

Vol. 1, The excellence of the cross.  In place of the cross she had till now, Luisa receives another much larger one.

 

“If you knew what good the cross contains within itself, how precious it renders the soul, and what a gem of inestimable value one acquires, who has the good of possessing sufferings…  It is enough to tell you only that, in coming upon earth, I did not choose riches or pleasures, but I cherished as dear and intimate sisters, the cross, poverty, sufferings and ignominies.”

Vol. 1, Preciousness of the cross.  Jesus renews Luisa’s crucifixion many times.



Before Jesus came and sanctified the cross sufferings were believed to be dishonors and those that look at them outside of Jesus will still remain blind to the good they contain.  But in them are the spiritual mirror where the soul can acquire the likeness of God.

“My Spouse, virtues become weak if they are not strengthened and fortified by the grafting of the cross.  Before my coming upon earth, pains, confusions, disgraces, calumnies, sufferings, poverty, illnesses, and especially the cross, were considered dishonors; but from the moment they were borne by Me, they were all sanctified and divinized by my contact.  They all changed their appearance, becoming sweet, pleasant, and the soul who has the good of having some of them, receives honor - and this, because she has received the vestment of Me, Son of God.  Only those who look and stop at the cortex of the cross experience the contrary; finding it bitter, they are disgusted by it, they complain, as if someone had done wrong to them.  But those who penetrate into it, finding it enjoyable, form their happiness in it.  My beloved daughter, I yearn for nothing else but to crucify you, body and soul.” 

Vol. 1, Third marriage:  the Marriage of the Cross.

“The cross is a mirror in which the soul admires the Divinity, and by reflecting herself in it, she acquires the features and the likeness which most resembles God.  The cross must not only be loved and desired, but one must consider it an honor and a glory.  This is to operate as God and to become like God by participation, because I alone gloried in the cross and considered suffering an honor, and I loved it so much that in my whole life I did not want to be one moment without the cross.”

Vol. 3, April 20, 1900

“The cross absorbs the Divinity into the soul, renders her similar to my Humanity, and reproduces my own works in her.”

Vol. 3, June 14, 1900




In summary Jesus had Luisa speak to him about the cross and all that she had learned about it.

...to make Him content I began to say:  ‘My Beloved, who can say to You what the Cross is?  Your mouth alone can speak worthily of the sublimity of the Cross; but since You want me to speak, I will do it.

The Cross, suffered by You, freed me from the slavery of the devil, and espoused me to the Divinity with an indissoluble bond.  The Cross is fecund and gives birth to Grace in me.  The Cross is Light, It disillusions me of what is temporal, and reveals to me what is eternal.  The Cross is fire, and reduces to ashes all that is not of God, to the point of emptying my heart of the tiniest blade of grass that might be in it.  The Cross is coin of inestimable value, and if I have, O Holy Spouse, the fortune of possessing it, I will be enriched with eternal coins, to the point of becoming the richest in Paradise, because the currency that circulates in Heaven is the Cross suffered on earth.  The Cross, then, makes me know myself; not only this, but It gives me the knowledge of God.  The Cross grafts all virtues into me.  The Cross is the noble pulpit of the uncreated Wisdom, that teaches me the highest, the finest and most sublime doctrines.  So, only the Cross will reveal to me the most hidden mysteries, the most secret things, the most perfect perfection, hidden to the most erudite and learned of the world.  The Cross is like beneficent water that purifies me; not only this, but It administers to me the nourishment for the virtues, It makes them grow, and only then does It leave me, when It brings me back to Eternal Life.  The Cross is like celestial dew, which preserves and embellishes for me the beautiful lily of purity.  The Cross is the nourishment of Hope.  The Cross is the beacon of operating Faith.  The Cross is like hard wood, which preserves the fire of Charity, keeping it always lit.  The Cross is like dry wood, which dispels and puts to flight all the smokes of pride and of vainglory, producing the humble violet of humility in the soul.  The Cross is the most powerful weapon that offends the demons, and defends me from all of their claws.  Therefore, the soul who possesses the Cross is the envy and admiration of the very Angels and Saints, and the rage and indignation of the demons.  The Cross is my Paradise on earth, in such a way that if the Paradise of the Blessed up there, is of delights, the Paradise down here is of sufferings.  The Cross is the chain of most pure gold that connects me to You, my Highest Good, and forms the most intimate union which can possibly be given, to the point of making my being disappear.  And It transforms me in You, my Beloved, to the point that I feel lost within You, and I live from your very Life.’

After I said this (I don’t know whether it is nonsense), my lovable Jesus was all delighted in listening to me, and taken by enthusiasm of love, kissed me all over, and said to me:  “Brava, brava, my beloved - you spoke well!  My Love is fire, but not like the terrestrial fire which, wherever it penetrates, renders things sterile and reduces everything to ashes.  My fire is fecund, and it renders sterile only that which is not virtue.  To all the rest it gives life, it makes beautiful flowers bloom, it makes the most delicious fruits mature, and forms the most delightful celestial garden.  The Cross is so powerful, and I communicated so much grace to It, as to render It more effective than the very Sacraments; and this, because in receiving the Sacrament of my Body, the dispositions and free concourse of the soul are needed in order to receive my graces, and many times these may be lacking; while the Cross has the virtue of disposing the soul to grace.”

Vol. 3, December 2, 1899

Heaven or Bust

From An Unpublished Manuscript on Purgatory it would seen that most everyone will be destined to have some stopover in Purgatory.  Also from the Volumes in the past posts it can be seen why that is the case especially if every act that we do in life we are obligated to do with the fullness of love for God and any act not done so needs to be purged.  Jesus has outlined a way however to not only avoid Purgatory but for a soul to go straight to Heaven.  You do not need to be a mighty spiritual warrior or accomplish great works or be a martyr of the faith.  All it takes is the simple acceptance, trust and dependence of a child.




¹³ People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. ¹⁴ But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”

Mark 10:13-15

² He called a child, whom he put among them, ³ and said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 18:2-4

Everything hinges on the Will of God and how much the creature has accomplished of it.  No one enters into Heaven without having some amount of the Divine life in her soul which comes from doing good, which only comes from doing the Will of God.  But only those who are filled to the brim with the love and life of God enter Heaven directly.  All others must stop in Purgatory to have empty acts purged and filled by the way of fire.  This filling of one's acts with the life and love of God can not be done on one's own but only through the Will of God.  So it takes one who recognizes that they have nothing of their own to bring to the table and readily takes only from God, like a little child, totally dependent on those around him.

Now I want to tell you another consoling surprise, so much is our gratification, when the creature decides with immovable firmness to live in our Volition, that that which we should do at the point of death, of confirming her in the good, in which she finds herself, because you should know that all that which she has done in life, prayers, virtue, pains suffered, good works, these serve to form our little Divine life in her soul, not one blessed enters into Heaven if she doesn’t possess this divine life according to the good that they will have done, and if they have loved me and completed my Will more, thus they will have some a little lesser, some a little greater, because true happiness, true joys must be possessed within, so that they will have every one inside and outside of them their God, who will always give them new joys, so much so that if the souls dying are not filled up to the brim with love and with my Will, I confirm them yes, but they don’t enter into Heaven, I send them into Purgatory to fill these voids of love and of my Will, by way of pains, of anxieties and of longings, and when they are entirely filled in a way that one doesn’t see it in them(,) that they are indeed all transformed in my love and in my Will, then they take flight toward Heaven.

Vol. 34, July 12, 1937



In fact when the soul firmly decides to want to live in the Divine Will and does not want to live of her own anymore, God himself takes it upon himself to purge her of any stain or misery which might exist.  And he always holds himself ready to continuously purge her so that his divine life might be able to live and grow in her.

“My daughter, you should know that no sooner than the creature truly decides to want to live in my Divine Will, and at whatever cost to not ever do hers, my Fiat, with an indescribable love, forms the germ/seed of his life in the depth of the soul, this with such power, with such sanctity, that he doesn’t grow if first he doesn’t put the soul at post, freeing her from her weaknesses, miseries and stains if there are (some), one can say that he forms the anticipated purgatory, purging her of all that which might impede that a life of Divine Will might be formed in her, because my Will and sins can not exist, nor remain together, at the most some apparent weakness could belong, that with his light and heat becomes immediately purified.  He always holds the purificatory act in his hands, so that no obstacle might be in the soul, that might impede not only growth, but development of his acts in the acts of the creature.  Hence the first thing that my Will does is to take away the purgatory beforehand, making it done anticipated, in order to be more free to make her live in Him and to form his life as pleases him more.  Whence if the creature might die after a definite and willed act to live in my Volition, she will take the flight toward Heaven, rather my same Will will carry her in his arms of light as triumph, as his birth, and as his dear child, and if this were not so, it could not be said:  be done your Will as in Heaven so in earth; it would be a way of saying, not a reality, in Heaven because He reigns there are neither sins, nor purgatory, thus in earth if he reigns in the soul, there can be neither sin, nor fear of purgatory.  He knows how to clear everything, because he wants to be alone in his post regent and dominant.”

Vol. 33, October 27, 1935  



Furthermore Jesus states that this is not a one time deal but it is a continuous cleansing.  So even though one might live in the Divine Will there are still situations where one can see involuntary defects in people which require the constant attention of God to maintain his host holy and pure so that His Will might have life.  And when the creature gives all of herself to God in life Jesus promises that he will give all of himself to her at her death so that she might enter eternal beatitude immediately. 

When a soul comes to rendering Me the master of her mind, of her arms, of her heart and of her feet, sin cannot reign; and if something involuntary enters into her, since I am the master and the soul is under the influence of my lordship, she is in continuous attitude of purgation, and that something immediately goes out of her.  Furthermore, since I am Holy, it is difficult for her to retain within herself anything which is not holy.  Even more, since she has given all of herself to Me in life, it is justice that I give all of Myself to her at her death, admitting her to the beatific vision without delay.  So, if one gives herself completely to Me, the flames of Purgatory have nothing to do with her.”

Vol. 5, July 3, 1903

Purgatory is for those who live outside of God's Will, by desiring God's Will above all else the creature gives God the greatest worship possible which identifies her with her God.  Because of this union there is nothing left to be purged in Purgatory.

 

I added:  ‘My sweet Good, as for myself, I want nothing but your Most Holy Will.  I do not look at whether I suffer or I enjoy – your Will is everything for me.’  And He added:  “And this is what I want, this is my design upon you, and this is enough for Me and contents Me.  This is the greatest and most honorable worship that the creature can render Me, and that she owes Me as her Creator; and as the soul does so, it can be said that her mind lives and thinks in my mind; her eyes, being in mine, look through my eyes; her mouth speaks through my mouth, her heart loves through Mine, her hands operate within my own hands, her feet walk within my feet.  And I can say:  “You are my eye, my mouth, my Heart, my hands and my feet.”  And, likewise, the soul can say:  “Jesus Christ is my eye, my mouth, my heart, my hands and my feet.”  Being in this union, not only of wills, but personal, when the soul dies there is nothing left of her to be purged, and therefore Purgatory cannot touch her, because Purgatory touches those who live outside of Me, whether completely or in part.”

Vol. 6, February 8, 1904

Instead if they might have done in earth with calling our life in their acts, every act (would) be one greater glory, one beauty more sealed by the works of her Creator.  Oh!  With how much love these souls are received that in them they have given the post to the Divine act with Us, We recognize Ourselves in her, and she recognizes herself in Us and recognizing each other, the happiness is such and so much on both parts that all Heaven remains surprised in seeing the joys, the glory, the beatitudes that the Supreme Being pours over this fortunate creature.  Therefore I want you always in my Will and in my love, so that the love burns that which doesn’t belong to Me, and my Will with his brush of light forms there our act, in your act.”
Vol. 33, March 10, 1935

Jesus further assures Luisa that the soul who lives in his Will can not go to Purgatory.  Anything that she might be lacking at the moment of death will be provided for her by Jesus himself.

“My daughter, one who does my Will can by no means go to Purgatory, because my Will purges the soul of everything.  After keeping her so jealously during her life, in the custody of my Volition, how could I allow the fire of Purgatory to touch her?  At the most she may lack some clothing, but my Will, before revealing the Divinity to her, will clothe her with all that she may lack.  And then I reveal Myself.”

Vol. 11, March 8, 1914

 

 

 

Jesus again reassures Luisa and tells her that it is absolutely impossible for a soul who is living in the Divine Will to go to Purgatory.  All of Creation would rise up to defend her from such a fate because she belongs to all the universe as much as she belongs to God.

 

Then, I don’t know how, a thought came to me: ‘If I died and went to Purgatory, what will I do? If while being here imprisoned in my body, caged more than in a narrow prison, my poor soul feels it so much when Jesus deprives me of His adorable presence that I don’t know what I would do and suffer to find Him again - what would happen if, when the prison of my body is broken and my soul, free and loose, takes its rapid flight, I did not find my Jesus, the center in which I must take refuge - never to go out again? And instead of finding my life, the center of my rest, I found myself flung into Purgatory? What would be my pain and my torment?’
Now, while I felt oppressed by these thoughts, my beloved Jesus clasped me all to Himself, and added: “My daughter, why do you want to oppress yourself? Don’t you know that one who lives in my Will has the bond of union with the heavens, with the sun, with the sea, with the wind, and with all Creation? Her acts are fused in all created things, because my Will has placed everything in common with her as her own things, in such a way that all of Creation feels the life of this creature. And if she could go to Purgatory, they would all feel offended, the entire universe would rebel, and they would not let her go alone to Purgatory. The heavens, the sun, the wind, the sea… - all would follow her, moving from their places and, offended, they would say to their Creator: ‘She is Yours and ours – the life that animates all of us animates her. How is this – in Purgatory?!’ The heavens would claim her with their love; the sun would speak up with its light, the wind with its lamenting voices, the sea with its tumultuous waves – all would have a word to defend the one who has lived a common life with them. But since one who lives in my Will absolutely cannot go to Purgatory, the universe will remain in its place, and my Will will have the triumph of bringing to Heaven the one who has lived in It on this earth of exile. Therefore, continue to live in my Will, and do not want to darken your mind and oppress yourself with things that do not belong to you.”
Vol. 24, April 29, 1928

The Will is the depository of all.  The Divine Will encompasses and conserves everyone and everything, the human will is the bearer of all the acts done by it.  Each act takes on a life animated by the will and the intent with which it was given birth.  (The human will fount of all evil or good is a post which goes into more detail about the function and capacity of the human will.)

Hence the Divine Volition (is) depositary and bearer of everyone and everything, the human volition (is) depositary and bearer of itself.  What triumph will it be eternally, what honor and glory for one who has piously thought and worked?  And what confusion for one who has deposited in the human volition sins, passions, unworthy works, and rendered herself bearer of her own evils?  And if the evils are very grave she will be pasture of the infernal flames, and if less grave, she will be pasture of the purgative flames, that by way of fire and sufferings will purify that dirtied human will, but she can not restitute the good, the holy works that she has not done.  Therefore be attentive that everything becomes numbered and written, you don’t lose, neither you, nor us anything, even one thought, one word will have its perennial life, and they will be as faithful friends and inseparable of the creature.  Hence it is necessary that you form your holy and good friends, so that they can give you peace, happiness and perennial glory.”

Vol. 32, March 19, 1933   

 

 

 Acts done by someone living in the Divine Will are considered the property of Heaven and have no need to go to Purgatory to be purged.  Because they have been animated by the Divine Will they are already confirmed and do not need to be judged.  Only acts done solely with the human will require judging and then they are either confirmed or condemned, or purged in Purgatory before they can go to Heaven.

“My daughter, you should know that every act of the creature holds its post around God; as every star holds its post under the vault of heaven.  Thus the acts of them, each one holds its post.  But which are those that depart for the regal way, as property of the Celestial Country, and take the most honored post and give divine glory to their Creator?  The acts done in my Will.

“When one of these acts depart from the earth, the Heavens lower themselves, all the blessed go to meet it and they accompany that act to the post of honor around the supreme Throne.  They all feel glorified in that act, because the eternal Will has triumphed in the act of the creature and has put there his divine act.  Instead the acts not done in my Will, and perhaps even good, they don’t depart by the regal way, they depart by the tortuous ways and they cover a long stop over by going through purgatory and there wait for the creature in order to purify themselves together with ways of fire; and when they finish purifying themselves, then they depart for heaven in order to take their post, but not in the high-class posts, but in the secondary posts.  Do you see the great difference?  [For] the first acts, no sooner than [the act is] formed, it doesn’t even remain together with the creature, because being stuff of Heaven it can not remain upon the earth, and therefore immediately takes its flight into its Country; not only, but all the Angels and Saints demand in heaven that which has been done by the Divine Will as their stuff, because all that which becomes done by him, as much in earth as in Heaven, are all proprieties of the Celestial Country.  Therefore his every little act is demanded by all of heaven, because they are all fonts of joys and eternal beatitudes, that belong to them.  All to the contrary (for) one who doesn’t work in my Will.”

Vol. 30, Feb. 16, 1932

“You should know that one who works in my Divine Will, her works, her acts, her adorations, her love toward God they become deeds and formed in the ambient of eternity.  Because my Divine Will is eternal, and all that which one can do in Him doesn’t go out from within eternity and they remain confirmed always in works, adorations, divine and perennial love.  One can call them works of the creature transfused in God, in which God himself has worked, the human doesn’t enter neither in the Divine Volition nor in eternity, and if she enters she must lose (her) life in order to reacquire the life and the works of God himself.  Therefore one who lives in our Volition becomes looked at by us not in time, but in eternity, and for our decorum and honor, her acts must be our acts, her love, our love.  We feel that the creature comes into our Volition in order to give us the occasion to let us work and to give our love to her in order to let her love with our same love.  Everything must be ours and all that which she does must be coined with the image of her Creator.  Instead one who works outside of my Divine Will works in time, loves, adores in time, becomes looked at in time.  And all that which one does in time, are works without confirmation, rather they must await the judgment in order to be confirmed or condemned, or else purified by the fire of purgatory, and they are looked at as works of creatures in which there can lack (the) fullness of sanctity, fullness of love and fullness of infinite value.  All to the contrary (for) one who lives and works in our Will being our acts all is fullness of sanctity, of love, of beauty, of grace, of light and of infinite value.  There is such distance between the one and the other that if everyone might be able to understand it, oh! how attentive they would be to live in our Volition, so that they might remain emptied of the human act and filled with the working act of a Divine Will.

Vol. 31, November 6, 1932

There is a saying; "You are your own worst enemy."  It runs true for someone living of their own will.  Acts done outside of God are each a further division between her and God.  Good only comes from God and without him our acts become our own worst enemies.

Without my Divine Will the creature becomes as a besieged city, in which the enemies constrain her to die of hunger, and torture her in all (her) members, with this difference, that the executioners that tear (her) members are her own will, they are not enemies that torment her, but she herself makes herself enemy of herself.  If you might know the sorrow that I feel when I see souls torn to shreds, every act of her will is a division that she forms between God and her, it is a move away from the beauty of her Creation, it is chilling herself from the true and pure love, it is losing herself from her origin, it is preparing herself, if the will precipitates into grave evil, or an anticipated hell, or a purgatory if the evil is slight.

Vol. 31, March 5, 1933


What is not often understood that by doing our own will it not only forms our own Purgatory but it also forms a Purgatory for God as well.  In not opening the door to God we keep him from sharing his love with us and thereby suffocate him with his own flames of love.  While he always stands at the ready to give abundantly if we say "no" then we stop him from being able to do the good he wants. 

“Blessed daughter of my Volition, how happy I feel that you have understood that you can not live without my Fiat, for the one who doesn’t live in Him, it not only forms her living Purgatory, but impedes all my prepared goods for her, she closes them for Me in my Heart and makes me racked with spasms of pain, she forms the Purgatory to my love, suppresses my flames without the relief of being able to communicate my breath, my life, hence I feel my breath suffocated, my Life impeded, without the good of being able to communicate myself to the creature.  Now you should know that there is no thing done by me in which there is not my primary purpose of making her live of my Will.  The Creation truly serves to this, to make the creature live of my Will and not living she suffocates this life of mine in created things and my coming upon the earth was the life of Him that I came to give her.  Rather you should know that no sooner than the soul decides to want to live in my Volition, my Most Holy Humanity takes post in her, my Blood as copious rain rains on her, my sufferings as impregnable wall surround her, strengthen her, embellish her in an admirable way as to enrapture this Divine Will of mine to live in her, my death itself forms the continuous resurrection of the soul to live in Him.  So that the creature feels continually regenerated in my Blood, in my sufferings, in my love, even in my breath, in which she finds sufficient grace in order to live of my Divine Will, because I put all at her disposition, as my Most Holy Humanity held my Divine Volition at its disposition, thus I put him inside and outside of the creature, in order to give life to my Will in her.  Now, even to such that she doesn’t decide to live in Him, my Blood doesn’t rain, because it doesn’t have whom to regenerate into Divine, my sufferings don’t form the wall of defense, because the human volition forms the continuous collapse to my works and renders my death as impotent, so that all might re-arise in my Volition.  Now my Life, my sufferings, my Blood, if the soul does not live of Him, they remain at the door of the human volition, waiting with unconquered patience in order to enter, to assail her from all sides, in order to give her grace to live of my Volition, and everything not entering it remains as suffocated in Me, my Blood, my sufferings, my Life, and oh, how I suffer in seeing that she does not give Me liberty to give her the good that I want, my love tortures Me, my sufferings, my wounds, my blood, my works, as so many compassionate voices say continually to Me:  this creature impedes Us, renders Us useless and as without life for her, because she doesn’t want to live of Divine Will.  My daughter, how sorrowful it is to want to do good, to be able to do it and not do it.”

Vol. 33, October 7, 1935