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

Royal Garments

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



The garment of light of the risen Humanity of Jesus.

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

Vol. 4, March 30, 1902

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

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

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

Matt. 22:2-14



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

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

Vol. 3, May 20, 1900

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

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

Vol. 24, June 12, 1928

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

 

 

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

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

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

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

Vol. 16, Jan. 14, 1924


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vol. 20, Dec. 12, 1926


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

 

The Fruitful Land

In today's first reading at mass I saw in the passage a glimpse of God's creature not only redeemed but sanctified and justified.  Jerusalem, the image of God's chosen spouse becomes his delight again.  God works tirelessly to win us back to him and vindicate us, taking us into a covenant of marriage.  We are the land and we become fruitful once again.

For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out like the dawn,
and her salvation like a burning torch.
² The nations shall see your vindication,
and all the kings your glory;
and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will give.
³ You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
⁴ You shall no more be termed Forsaken,
    and your land shall no more be termed Desolate;
but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her,
    and your land Married;
for the Lord delights in you,
and your land shall be married.
⁵ For as a young man marries a young woman,
so shall your builder marry you,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride,
so shall your God rejoice over you.
Isaiah 62:1-5

The land and earth are common images of the creature.  The name Adam means red/fair earth.  An even clearer example is found in the book The Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will where she speaks of her birth.

'Child of my Heart, my birth was prodigious; no other birth can be said to be similar to mine.  I enclosed within Myself the Heaven, the Sun of the Divine Will, and also the earth of my humanity - but a blessed and holy earth, which enclosed the most beautiful flowerings.  And even though I was just newly born, I enclosed the prodigy of the greatest prodigies:  the Divine Will reigning in Me, which enclosed in Me a Heaven more beautiful, a Sun more refulgent than those of Creation, of which I was also Queen, as well as a sea of graces without boundaries, which constantly murmured:  “Love, love to my Creator.” '

The Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will, Day 10

Mary was immaculate from the moment of her conception not containing the stain of original sin and therefore it's effects.  Because of this all her acts were holy and fruitful animated by the Divine Will as her human will was kept sacrificed to God.  These are the types of fruitful acts that we were created to do and because of original sin and it's effects we are then prevented from doing them so.

"You must know that I knew my human will only to keep it sacrificed in homage to my Creator.  My life was all of Divine Will; from the first instant of my Conception, I was molded, warmed and placed into Its light, which purified my human seed with Its power, in such a way that I was conceived without original sin.  Therefore, if my Conception was spotless and so glorious as to form the honor of the Divine Family, it was only because the Omnipotent Fiat poured Itself upon my seed, and I was conceived pure and holy.  So, if the Divine Will had not poured Itself upon my seed more than a tender mother, in order to prevent the effects of original sin, I would have encountered the sad destiny of the other creatures, of being conceived with original sin.  Therefore, the primary cause was, entirely, the Divine Will; to It be honor, glory, thanksgiving, for my having been conceived without original sin.

In the Our Father one line is often translated, "...on earth, as it is in Heaven."   If one looks at the King James Bible and in some other christian religions and languages that line is instead translated "...in earth, as it is in Heaven."  It's such a small word that it can be overlooked yet it has significant meaning.  We, ourselves, are the earth that Jesus is referring to in the prayer of the Our Father.  He is praying that his Kingdom will reign in the earth of each creature and in that way it will then become manifest upon the earth as well.

It is in allowing God permission to reestablish his Kingdom in us by giving him our will so that his might reign that we become fruitful again with our acts pleasing to God.  This also is the marriage of the creature to her "builder," God.  God can not live and reign in a divided kingdom but only in one where one Will reigns.  When this happens it is as marrying the creature and the permanent indwelling of God in his creature then occurs bringing with him all his manifold effects.

"My child, listen to Me:  look for nothing else, if you want to have everything in your power, and give Me the contentment of being able to make of you my true child, and child of the Divine Will.  Then will I take on the commitment of forming the marriage between you and the Fiat; and acting as your true Mother, I will bind the marriage by giving you the very Life of my Son as dowry, and my Maternity and all my virtues as gift."

The Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will, Day 25