The Magi and gifts greater than Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh

I, like many, have always been drawn to the story of the Magi, foreign wise men and their gifts of; Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.
 
Born a King on Bethlehem’s plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again,
King forever, ceasing never,
Over us all to reign.

Frankincense to offer have I;
Incense owns a Deity nigh;
Prayer and praising, voices raising,
Worshipping God on high.

Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes a life of gathering gloom;
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,
Sealed in the stone cold tomb.

Glorious now behold Him arise;
King and God and sacrifice;
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Sounds through the earth and skies.

Symbols of Jesus' Kingship, divinity, and the prophecy of his death, (symbol of his humanity too,) but they are symbols greater still than just this.

The Magi are prophesied in the old testament;

“I see him, though not now; I behold him, though not near: A star shall advance from Jacob and a staff shall rise from Israel...” (Nm 24:17). Psalm 72 speaks of how the Gentiles will come to worship the Messiah: “The kings of Tarshish and the Isles shall offer gifts, the kings of Arabia and Seba shall bring tribute. All kings shall pay Him homage, all nations shall serve Him” (Ps 72:10-11). Isaiah also prophesied the gifts: “Caravans of camels shall fill you, dromedaries from Midian and Ephah; all from Sheba shall come bearing gold and frankincense, and proclaiming the praises of the Lord” (Is 60:6)
http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/religion/re0191.html

The Magi are heroic in the course they set.  Wise men through the divine vision but in their times they were mocked by their own people.  But this dominion of themselves which allows them to disregard the base human and set their sights on the divine is what allowed them to be among the first adorers of Jesus and messengers of his Kingdom come. 

Then, after this, I was thinking about the Holy Magi, when they visited the little Baby Jesus in the grotto of Bethlehem; and my always lovable Jesus told me: “My daughter, see the order of my Divine Providence: for the great portent of my Incarnation, I chose and made use of a Virgin, humble and poor; and, as my custodian, who acted as father to Me, the virgin Saint Joseph, who was so poor that he needed to work in order to support our lives. See how, in the greatest works –and the mystery of the Incarnation could not be greater – We make use of people whose outward appearance attracts no one’s attention, because dignities, scepters, riches, are always fumes which blind the soul and prevent her from penetrating into the celestial mysteries in order to receive a great act of God, and God Himself. But in order to manifest to the peoples the coming of Myself, Word of the Father, upon earth, I wanted and made us of royal authority, of learned and erudite men, so that, by their authority, they might diffuse the knowledges of the God now born and, eventually, also impose themselves on the peoples. But, in spite of this, the star was seen by everyone, yet only three of them move, pay attention and follow it. This says that, among all, these alone possessed a certain dominion of themselves, such that, as it formed a little empty space within their interior, beyond the appearance of the star, they felt my call echoing in their interior. And heedless of sacrifices, of gossip, of mockeries – because they were leaving for an unknown place and they had to hear much talking – disregarding everything and dominating themselves, they followed the star that was united to my call which, more than speaking star, resounded in their interior, enlightened them, attracted them, and spoke many things about the One whom they were to visit; and, drunk with joy, they followed the star.

See then, how in order to give the great gift of the Incarnation, a Virgin was needed who would have no human will, who would be more of Heaven than of the earth, as well as a continuous miracle which would dispose Her to this great portent. So, We had no need of external things and of human appearances, which might draw the attention of the peoples. However, in spite of this, also to manifest Myself, I wanted men who would have dominion of themselves, which would form a little empty space within their interior, to let the echo of my call resound in it. But what was not their surprise in seeing the star stop, not above a royal palace, but above a vile hovel? They did not know what to think, and were persuaded that there was a mystery – not human, but Divine. When they animated themselves with faith, and entered the grotto and, kneeling, adored Me, as they bent their knees, I revealed Myself, and I let my Divinity shine forth from my little Humanity, and they recognized Me as the King of kings – the One who was coming to save them; and, promptly, they offered themselves to serve Me and to lay down their lives for love of Me. But my Will made Itself known, and sent them again into their region, to let them be, in the midst of those peoples, the criers of my coming upon earth. See then, how necessary are the dominion of oneself and the empty space in one’s heart, in order to let my call resound, and to be fit for knowing the truth and for manifesting it to others.”

Vol. 20, Jan. 6, 1927

 

These few had the humble disposition, "the little empty space" to be able to recognize the divine behind the signs, symbolized in the star and the heroic disposition in having dominion over themselves to persevere to the end.  How many stars and signs in our lives do we miss due to earthly distractions and the lack of perseverance.  Mary tells us that all the little set backs in life, the disappointments, disillusionments, or a discovered truth, a new joy.  They are all stars calling us to seek out God and this new discovery is as his infancy which then grows and matures with our correspondence to Him.

 

"Now, my blessed child, the Divinity, which can deny nothing to one who loves It, makes a new star, more beautiful and luminous, arise under the azure heavens; and with its light, it goes in search of adorers, to say to the whole world, with its mute twinkling: “The One who has come to save you is born. Come to adore Him and to know Him as your Savior.”

"But - human ingratitude! - among many, only three individuals paid attention, and heedless of the sacrifices, put themselves on the way to follow the star. And just as a star guided their persons along the journey, so did my prayers, my love, my yearnings, my graces– for I wanted to make known the Celestial Baby, the Awaited One from all centuries - descend into their hearts like many stars, illumine their minds, guide their interiors, in such a way that, without yet knowing Him, they felt that they loved the One whom they were looking for, and they hastened their steps in order to reach and see Him, whom they so much loved.
"My dearest child, my Heart of Mother rejoiced at the faithfulness, correspondence and sacrifice of these Magi Kings, to come to know and adore my Son. But I cannot hide from you a secret sorrow of mine: among many, only three. And in the history of the centuries, how many times is this sorrow of mine and this human ingratitude not repeated! My Son and I do nothing but make stars arise, one more beautiful than the other, to call some to know their Creator, some to sanctity, some to rise again from sin, some to the heroism of a sacrifice. But do you want to know what these stars are? A sorrowful encounter is a star; a truth that one comes to know is a star; a love unrequited by other creatures is a star; a setback, a pain, a disillusion, an unexpected fortune, are as many stars that shed light in the minds of creatures. And caressing them, they want to make them find the Celestial Infant, who fidgets with love, and shivering with cold, wants a refuge in their hearts to make Himself known and loved. But, alas, I who hold Him in my arms, wait in vain for the stars to bring Me creatures, in order to place Him in their hearts, and my Maternity is constrained, hindered. And while I am the Mother of Jesus, I am prevented from being the Mother of all, because they are not around Me, they do not look for Jesus; the stars hide, and they remain in the Jerusalems of the world, without Jesus. What sorrow, my child, what sorrow! It takes correspondence, faithfulness, sacrifice, to follow the stars; and if the Sun of the Divine Will rises in the soul – how much attention does it not take. Otherwise, one remains in the darkness of the human will.

"Now, my child, as the holy Magi Kings entered Jerusalem, they lost the star, but in spite of this they did not stop looking for Jesus. However, as they went outside the city, the star reappeared and led them, festive, into the grotto of Bethlehem. I received them with love of Mother, and the dear Baby looked at them with great love and majesty, letting His Divinity shine forth from His little Humanity. And so, bowing down, they knelt at His feet, adoring and contemplating that celestial beauty; they recognized Him as true God, and remained enraptured, ecstatic, while enjoying Him; so much so, that the Celestial Baby had to withdraw His Divinity into His Humanity, otherwise they would have remained there, without being able to move from His divine feet.
"Then, as they came round from their rapture, in which they offered the gold of their souls, the incense of their belief and adoration, the myrrh of their whole beings and of any sacrifice He might want of them, they added the external offering and gifts, symbol of their interior acts: gold, incense and myrrh. But my love of Mother was not yet content; I wanted to place the sweet Baby in their arms, and – oh! with how much love they kissed Him and pressed Him to their breasts. They felt paradise in advance within them. With this, my Son bound all the gentile nations to the knowledge of the true God, and placed the goods of Redemption, the return to faith of all peoples, in common for all. He constituted Himself King of the rulers; and with the weapons of His love, of His pains and of His tears, ruling over everything, He called the Kingdom of His Will upon earth. And I, your Mama, wanted to be the first Apostle. I instructed them, I told them the story of my Son - His ardent love; I recommended that they make Him known to all, and taking the first place of Mother and Queen of all the Apostles, I blessed them, I had them blessed by the dear Baby, and, happy and in tears, they departed again for their regions. I did not leave them; I accompanied them with maternal affection, and to repay them, I let them feel Jesus in their hearts."

The Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will, Day 23

And how are we able to recognize these stars and follow them?  Jesus, in his response to Maria Valtorta in The Gospel as revealed to Me, explains that the secret lies in Faith, trust, humility and right intention:

"And now what shall I tell you, O souls who feel your faith is dying?  Those Wise Men from the East had nothing to assure them of the truth.  Nothing supernatural.  All they had was a astronomic calculation and their own considerations made perfect by a strictly honest life.  And yet they had faith.  Faith in everything:  in science, in their own conscience, in God's goodness.

Science made them believe in the sign of the new star, which could only be 'the one' expected by mankind for centuries:  the Messiah.  Because of their consciences they had faith in the voices of their consciences, which heard heavenly 'voices' saying to them:  'That is the star announcing the advent of the Messiah.'  Because of God's goodness they believed that God would not deceive them, and since their intention was good, He would help them in every way to reach their aim.

And they were successful.  Among so many people fond of studying signs, they were the only ones who understood that sign, because only their souls were anxious to know the words of God for an honest purpose, the main care of which was to praise and honor God immediately.

They did not seek any personal advantage.  On the contrary, they have to face hardships and meet expenses but they do not ask for any human reward.  They only ask God to remember them and save them for eternal life.

As they have no desire for any future human rewards, so they have no human worry, when they decide on their journey.  You would have had hundreds of problems:  'How will I be able to  make such a long journey in countries and among peoples speaking different languages?  Will they believe me or will they put me in prison as a spy?  What help will they give me to cross deserts, rivers and mountains?  And the heat?  And the winds of the highlands?  And the malarial fever along stagnant marshes?  And the floods and heavy rains?  And the different food?  And the different languages?  And... and... and...'  That is your way of thinking.  But they do not think like that.  With sincere, holy daring they say:  'You, O God, can read our hearts and You see the purpose we are aiming at.  We trust to Your hands.  Grant us the superhuman joy of adoring Your Second Person, Who has become Flesh to save the world.'"

The Gospel As Revealed to Me, by Maria Valtorta, Vol. 1, pgs. 213-214

The three Wise Men did not look for a reward other than adoring God in his Second Person, saving their souls and bringing his news back to their people.  But God who will never be outdone in generosity in return for the gift of their souls/gold, their belief and adoration/frankincense and the gift of their whole selves ready for any sacrifice/myrrh Jesus gives a three fold greater gift to the Magi which corresponds to their gifts.  In acknowledging his divinity through the gift of frankincense he communicates himself to them with beauty which detaches them from earthly things and binds them to the divine.  In acknowledging his humanity and portending his death through myrrh he communicates himself with love which detaches them from themselves to focus on him.  In acknowledging his kingship through the gift of gold he communicates himself to them with power which binds their hearts to him and obtains the gift of heroic bravery. 
 

As I was outside of myself, I seemed to see the moment when the holy Magi arrived at the grotto of Bethlehem.  As they arrived in the presence of the Baby, He pleased to let the rays of His Divinity shine externally, communicating Himself to the Magi in three ways - through love, through beauty and through power – in such a way that they remained enraptured and engrossed in the presence of Little Baby Jesus; so much so, that if the Lord had not withdrawn the rays of His Divinity internally again, they would have remained there forever, unable to move any more.  Then, as the Baby withdrew His Divinity, the holy Magi returned into themselves; they stirred themselves, stupefied, in seeing an excess of love so great, because through that light the Lord had let them understand the mystery of the Incarnation.  Then they stood up and offered their gifts to the Queen Mother, and She spoke at length with them, but I am unable to say everything She said.  I can only remember that She inculcated into them, strongly, not only their own salvation, but also taking to heart the salvation of their peoples, having no fear even to lay down their lives to obtain the intent.

After this, I withdrew inside myself and I found myself together with Jesus.  He wanted me to tell Him something, but I saw myself so bad and confused that I would not dare to tell Him anything.  Seeing that I was not saying anything, He Himself continued to speak about the holy Magi, telling me:  “By having communicated Myself to the Magi in three ways, I obtained three effects for them, because I never communicate Myself to souls uselessly; rather, they always receive some profit for themselves.  So, as I communicated Myself through love, they obtained detachment from themselves; through beauty, they obtained contempt for earthly things; and through power, their hearts remained all bound to Me, and they obtained the bravery to lay down their blood and lives for Me.”

Vol. 4,  Jan. 6, 1901

  

God will never be out done in generosity and what greater gift is there than to be bound threefold to your God, Lover and Savior.  So we are called to bind ourselves to God with the adoration of our sincere praise rising up as frankincense, the purified gold of our souls all intent on Him and the fragrant myrrh of our lives committed to His Will.  This binding can only and truly occur within the safety of Living in the Divine Will.  Ties that are secured by God Himself.

...do you know which gold I want now from souls?  Not material gold – no, but spiritual gold; that is, the gold of their will, the gold of their affections, of their desires, of their own tastes, the gold of the whole interior of man.  This is all the gold that the soul has, and I want it all for Myself.  Now, it is almost difficult for the soul to give this to Me without sacrificing and mortifying herself; and this is how myrrh, like electric wire, binds the interior of man, renders it more shining, and gives it the shades of multiple colors, giving all species of beauty to the soul.  But this is not all; it takes someone who maintains the colors and the freshness always alive, which, almost like fragrance and breeze, blow from within the soul.  It takes someone who offers and obtains greater gifts than the ones he gives; and it also takes someone who forces the One who receives and the One who gives to dwell in his own interior, keeping Him in continuous conversation and in continuous commerce with himself.  So, who does all this?  It is prayer, especially the spirit of interior prayer, which knows how to convert into gold, not only the internal works, but also the external works - and this is the incense.

Vol. 6, Jan. 6, 1904

Happy Epiphany.

Living Temples

Solomon's Temple

⁸ The centurion answered, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.  Matthew 8:8




The church recognizes the deeper meaning behind these words every time at mass we recite them saying:  "Lord I am not worthy that you should come under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed."   We were created to be a residence, a home for our Lord and not just a home but a temple.

After this, I remember that a few days passed and I received Communion.  I lost consciousness, and I saw, present before me, the Most Holy Trinity whom I had seen in Heaven.  I immediately prostrated myself at Their presence, I adored Them, I confessed my nothingness.  I remember that I felt so plunged within myself that I did not dare to utter a single word, when a voice came from Their midst and said:  “Do not fear, pluck up courage, We have come to confirm you as Our own, and to take possession of your heart.”  While this voice was saying this, I saw that the Most Holy Trinity descended into my heart and took possession of it – and there They formed Their dwelling.  Who can tell the change that occurred in me?  I felt divinized; it was no longer I who lived, but They were living in me.  It seemed to me that my body was like a residence, and that the living God was residing in it, because I could feel, sensibly, Their real presence in my interior.  I could hear Their voice clearly, coming from within my interior and resounding at the ears of my body.  It happened precisely as when there are people speaking inside a room, and their voices can be heard, clearly and distinctly, also outside.
From that moment on, I no longer had the need to go in search of Him somewhere else in order to find Him, but I could find Him there - inside my heart.  And when sometimes He would hide and I would go in search of Jesus, wandering around heaven and earth, searching for my highest and only Good, while I would be in the heat of my tears, in the intensity of my yearnings, amid unutterable pains for having lost Him, Jesus would come out from within my interior and say to me:  “I am here with you, do not look for me elsewhere.”

Vol. 1, The indwelling of the Divine Persons in the soul, of which they take possession and to which they give themselves.  It was then that they gave Luisa the gift of the Divine Will.


And again in Volume 2 he calls her his, "beloved dwelling", his "living temple."  And how much He loves us!  We are unable to comprehend it.

“How beautiful you are!  You are my simple dove, my beloved dwelling, my living temple, in which I am pleased to delight united with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  Your continuous languishing for Me relieves Me and refreshes Me from the continuous offenses that creatures give Me.  Know that the love I have for you is so great that I am forced to hide it in part, so that you may not go mad, but may live.  In fact, if I showed it to you, you would not only go mad, but would not be able to continue to live; your weak nature would be consumed by the flames of my love.” 

Vol. 2, Sept. 9, 1899




Sin robs us of  this indwelling and totally deforms us from that which we were designed to be and makes us a dwelling of the devil full of impurities.

“Oh, man, how you have disfigured, deformed, disennobled yourself!  Oh, man, I made you so that you might be my living temple, but you have made of yourself the dwelling of the devil.  Look, even the plants, by being covered with leaves, flowers and fruits, teach you honesty and the modesty you must have with your body; but you, having lost any modesty and even the natural reserve you should have, have become worse than the animals, so much so, that I have nothing else to which to compare you.  You were my image, but now I no longer recognize you; even more, I am so horrified at your impurities, that the mere sight of you nauseates Me, and you yourself force Me to flee from you.”

Vol. 2, Aug. 1, 1899




The human will is the only thing that has to ability to stop God from saving us.  A God for whom just to want is to do, but he will not go against the free will which he has given to man.  To do so would be to go against himself.  So if the creature does not give him full freedom to do and act in her as he wants than his plans will always remain frustrated and incomplete for that indivdual.

“You should know that when I elect a soul, I form there my residence, and I want to be free in my house to do that which I want, and to remain as pleases me, nor do I want restrictions from the part of the creature; I want absolute liberty, otherwise I would become unhappy and impeded in my way of acting.  It would be the greatest misfortune, even to the poorest (person), to not enjoy liberty in his little hovel, and I would incur the misfortune of a poor individual, that having formed a residence with so much love, when he has equipped it and put it in order he enters in order to live there, but with his sorrow there becomes made impositions and restrictions for him; it is said to him:  ‘In this room you can not sleep, in this one you can not receive, in this other one you are not able to pass.’  In short he can not remain as he wants nor do that which he wants, so that the poor little one feels unhappy, because he has lost his liberty, and he has repented of the sacrifices that he has made (in order) to build this residence.  Such am I; how many labors, how many sacrifices, how many graces have I not poured out in order to adapt one creature for my residence, and when I take the possession of her, more than everything I love and want liberty in my house, and when I find now the repugnancies, now the restrictions, instead of the residence adapting itself to me, I must adapt myself to her, hence I can’t develop either my life or my divine ways, nor is it given to me to complete the purpose for which with so much love I selected this residence.  Therefore I want liberty, and if you want to make me happy leave free to do that which I want.”

Vol. 29, May 4, 1931




When Jesus drove the money lenders out of the temple he was spiritually driving out the human will so that the Divine Will might reorder the human temple and restore it to what it was meant to be.

...when I took the ropes to drive the profaners out of the temple, it was the human will that I was driving out, so that Mine might enter, reigning and dominating, and they might be truly rich in their souls and no longer subject to natural poverty. 

Vol. 20, Oct. 26, 1926




The one time in which Jesus demonstrated an anger, a righteous anger was in cleansing the temple.  Those who profane and lead others astray rob Jesus of souls.  The profaning of Jesus' temples both the church and the soul is the catalyst which leads to other sins.  This is an act which can not be ignored by Divine Justice and brings about chastisements.

           I cried and prayed, saying to the Lord:  ‘Do not permit that they arrive at this – profaning your sacred temples – because who knows how many terrible chastisements You would unload upon your creatures because of these horrendous sins.’ 

           While I was saying this, He told me:  “My daughter, the cause of all these enormous crimes – because one sin is the cause and chastisement of making others fall into more sins – have been the sins of priests.  They have been the first to profane my holy temple hiddenly with sacrilegious masses, and by mixing impure acts in the administration of the Sacraments.  And under the appearance of holy things, they have reached the point of profaning not only my temples of stone, but of profaning and using violence on my living temples, which are the souls, and of profaning my very Body.  The secular have somehow perceived all this, and not seeing in them the light necessary for their journey – or rather, they have found nothing but darkness – they have been left so clouded as to lose the beautiful light of faith; and without light, it is no wonder that they reach such grave excesses.
Vol. 7, Oct. 20, 1906

Perhaps another sign of our times in the suspension of our being able to be present at Mass these days.  Jesus speaks in the above passage about how the priests have led to the lose of faith but Jesus also states that it is the human will that is the first profaner of his temple.  It requires sufferings to cleanse the temple from the effects of the human will.  Luisa was no exception to this.  She was cleansed even of her human will wanting the physical presence of Jesus to be with her over the Will of God.  So even in what appears holy to us we must bow before Gods Will even in the denial of receiving Sacrament Communion these days.

...your hard martyrdom is nothing other than the consummation of what does not belong to It. Don’t you know that the human will is the profaner of the creature? When it has its little ways, the slightest holes through which to enter into her, it profanes the holiest things, the most innocent ones. And my Will, which made of man Its sacred and living temple, in which to place Its throne, Its dwelling, Its regime, Its glory, feels that if the creature gives the little entries to the human volition, It feels Its temple, Its throne, Its dwelling, Its regime and Its very glory being profaned. Therefore, my Will wants to touch everything about you – even my very presence, to see whether Its dominion is absolute over you and you content yourself that It alone dominate you and have primacy in you. Everything in you must be Divine Will, so that It may be able to say: ‘I am sure, she has denied Me nothing – not even the sacrifice of the presence of her Jesus, whom she loved more than herself. Therefore, my Kingdom is safe.”

Vol. 23, Jan. 22, 1928

Each epoch; law, grace, and now the Kingdom of the Divine Will, has brought us closer and closer to Gods original plan for us.  Although some Christians might claim that now we are no longer bound by the law of Moses the law of grace is actually more exacting.  But even under grace there is still room for us to exercise our own wills.  The law of living in his Will brings us to the point where we are even more bound.  Now all must be under the dominion of God's Will and his law must be truly written on our hearts so that that which he wants we want too.

¹⁴ For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Romans 6:14

⁶ But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we are slaves not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit.

Romans 7:6

³ and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

⁴ Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. ⁵ Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, ⁶ who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

⁷ Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stone tablets, came in glory so that the people of Israel could not gaze at Moses’ face because of the glory of his face, a glory now set aside, ⁸ how much more will the ministry of the Spirit come in glory? ⁹ For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, much more does the ministry of justification abound in glory! ¹⁰ Indeed, what once had glory has lost its glory because of the greater glory; ¹¹ for if what was set aside came through glory, much more has the permanent come in glory!

¹² Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness, ¹³ not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside. ¹⁴ But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside. ¹⁵ Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; ¹⁶ but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

2Corinthians 3:3-18





Living in the Divine Will frees God to act completely and wholly as he Wills.  There is no hindrance from priests who might mislead his people or circumstances which inhibit his generosity and his love.  God unveils himself to the creature so that the creature might be transformed into his image from one degree to the next.

This is why I want to make the sanctity of living in my Will; in them, I will have no need of priests for Me to be consecrated, nor churches, tabernacles or hosts; but they will be everything together:  priests, churches, tabernacles and hosts.  My love will be more free; anytime I want to consecrate Myself, I will be able to do it - in every moment, day and night, in whatever place they might be.  Oh! how my love will have its complete outpouring.
Vol. 12, Nov. 27, 1917

Living in the Divine Will is not a completion unto itself it allows us to grow more perfectly in the image of God.  This step process continues with each act the soul does in the Divine Will and she goes becoming the repeater of the life of Jesus.  And although we give the Divine Will dominance in ourselves Jesus tells us that by doing so we also become the dominator of God.

And since the creature is incapable of giving us everything in one act, that which by Us is formed in one act alone, her littleness goes spacing in our Will, and she now takes one work of ours, and now another, and with the dominion that our Will gives her, she descends in the Incarnation of the Word, and oh how beautiful it is to see her invested with his love, pearled with his tears, adorned with his wounds, possessor of his prayers, all the works of the Word surround her inside and outside, and that which is more, it converts for her, into joys, into beatitude, into fortitude with the inseparability of her Jesus as in (a) sacred temple held in her heart in order to make her the repeater of his Life.  And oh, what moving scenes she does before God, with her Jesus in (her) heart, she prays, suffers, loves together with Jesus, and in her infantile littleness she says: I possess Jesus, He dominates me and I Him, indeed I give him that which He doesn’t hold, my sufferings in order to form his complete life in me.  He is poor of sufferings because glorious, he can not have any, and I supply him in that which he doesn’t hold, and He supplies me in that which I lack.  So that in our Will the creature is the true queen, everything is hers, and she makes us such surprises with our works, that it enraptures us, and forms our happiness, that the creature can give to us in our Most Holy Will.”

Vol. 33, Feb. 10, 1934

This growth in the Divine Will is defined by how much the creature is capable and wants from it.  The goal is always to both love the creature more and to make the creature capable of loving his God more and more.  And the most beautiful and precious gifts that God can give to the creature are knowledges.  It is only with a new or clearer truth that the creature is able to want that which comes from God and thereby ask for it allowing God to act.  This expands the field of action of the creature and grows and expands Gods residence in the creature.

“My daughter, the Creation of man was the center where our Divinity centralized all the goods that should rise in the creature, we put in her Divine Life and Divine Will, human life and human will; human life should serve us as residence, and the two Wills fused together should make life in common with highest accord, indeed the human will should take from ours in order to form her acts, and ours should remain in the continuous act to give of his, in order to make that the human will might remain modeled and all informed in the Divine Will.  Now, there is no life, as much human, spiritual and divine, that doesn’t have need of food in order to grow, in order to become stronger, to embellish and to felicitate himself.  More so that we put our Divine life in man, [and] because he was incapable of receiving the whole fullness of our Divine Being, we put in him how much he could contain of our life, giving him the liberty to let him grow how much more he could and wanted.  Hence our life in man for growth had need of food, behold the necessity to put in him a Divine Will; our Divine life would not have adapted himself to foods of the human will.  Behold therefore all the acts of the creature done in virtue of and in our Divine Will, would serve to feed and to make our Divine Life grow in her, in a way that as soon as she went doing her acts in our Fiat, now she took our love and fed us, now she took our fortitude, now our infinite sweetness, now our Divine joys in order to feed us.  What order, what harmony put between him and us in creating man between him and us, even to ask of him our own foods through his means, not because we had need, no, but in order to maintain the enthusiasm of love, the correspondence, the inseparable union between him and us.  And while he occupied himself with us, we occupied ourselves with feeding him and with conserving our dear residence, not only, but making him other more beautiful gifts in order to render him more happy, to love him more and make ourselves more loved.  But do you want to know what are our most beautiful gifts that we make the creature?  To manifest to her a knowledge of our Supreme Being, a truth that pertains to us, one secret of ours is the most beautiful gift that we make her; each of these gifts is one more bond that we put between Her and us, our every truth is a property that we put in her soul.  Behold therefore that in the soul where our Will reigns we find our Divine foods, our property for how much it is possible for a creature, our residence, hence we find ourselves in our house, in our center, in the midst of our properties. 

Vol. 29, Aug. 3, 1931





But now there is a wonderful reciprocity in all of this.   Even from the Old Testament in God's promise to David when he wanted to build a temple, a house for the covenant and thereby for God, we are not just the residence, the temple of God but God in fact becomes our residence, our temple.

¹¹ from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house.  2 Samuel 7:11

As God rested in his creature at the end of the work of Creation so he has promised that we too will rest in him where he becomes our residence, our temple and we will be free from any danger and happy.

The soul gives Jesus a dwelling in time, and He gives it to the soul in eternity.

Continuing in my usual state, I was saying to blessed Jesus:  ‘Oh, how I wish to love You, to be loved more by You!’  And He, in my interior, told me:  “I love you so much that I never leave you, and I dwell in you continuously.”  And I:  ‘Thank You for your benignity in dwelling in me, but I am not so content; I would be more content and would feel safer if I could dwell in You.’  And He:  “Ah, my daughter, in time you give a dwelling to Me, and in eternity I will give it to you; and be well content and sure that the One who dwells in you has the power to maintain your dwelling fortified and free of any danger.”

Vol. 7, Nov. 12, 1906

Jesus tells us that as the soul lives in grace she transforms from a simple residence to a Temple of God.  But when a soul then takes that step to live in the Divine Will God then makes himself the Temple of the soul.  The first always remains in danger of collapse due to the weakness of the human will but the second is secure and can not be overthrown by the enemy.  And the creature is given the freedom, true freedom, to act in a divine way.  She is given the authority  to call into action the acts of her Jesus, or that of Creation, or of Sanctification all as she wills.  And God and the creature will never be separated again  but will always be free to love and enjoy each other's company in the security of this Living Temple.

           "Now you should know that the soul in grace is the Temple of God.  However when the soul lives in our Will, God makes himself Temple of the soul, and oh, the great difference between the creature Temple of God and between God Temple of the soul; the first one is a temple exposed to perils, to enemies, subject to passions, many times our Supreme Being, finds himself in these temples as in temples of stone, not cared for, not loved as is appropriate, and the little lamp of her continuous love, that she should hold as homage to her God that resides in her, without pure oil is extinguished, and if ever she were to fall into grave sin, our temple collapses and she becomes occupied by thieves, ours and her enemies, that profane her and they make her foolish.

           “The second Temple, that is God Temple of the soul, is not exposed to dangers, enemies can not draw near, the passions lose life, the soul in this Divine Temple of ours is like the little Host that holds consecrated in Herself her Jesus, which with the perennial love that she draws, she receives and is fed, forms the little living lamp, that always burns, without ever going out, this Temple of ours occupies its regal post, his complete Volition and she is our glory and our triumph.  And the little Host what does she do in this Temple of ours?  She prays, loves, lives of Divine Will, substitutes for my Humanity upon the earth, takes my post of sufferings, calls the whole army of our works to make cortege, the Creation, the Redemption, she holds it as hers, and does (as) the commander above, and now puts it as army around in act of prayer, of adoration, now as army in act of loving us and glorifying us, but she (is) always at (the) head, to do that which she wants that our works do, and she always finishes with her little refrain so very appreciated by Us:  your Volition be known, loved and reign and dominate in the entire world.  So that all the anxieties, the sighs, the interests, the solicitudes, the prayers of this little Host, that lives in our Divine Temple, that our Fiat embraces everyone, puts apart all the evils of creatures, and with his almighty puff he makes his the post in the hearts of everyone, in order to make himself life of every creature.

           “Can one ever do (a) more beautiful office, more holy, more important, more useful to Heaven and earth, (than) this little Host that lives in our Temple?  Beyond this our love, our power makes all the shows, all the industries, all the stratagems, with one who lives in our Will, he makes himself little and encloses himself in the soul, in order to form his life, and of this remains only the castoffs in order to remain covered, he makes himself immense that is, and he forms (of) himself (a) sumptuous Temple, in order to hold her secure within, and to enjoy her company.  For one who does our Will she is always occupied with Us, and We are always occupied with her, therefore watch well to make yourself found always in our Will.”

Vol. 33, March 11, 1934


So if you want to be secure in holding onto the not just passing Sacramental presence of Communion but the real living presence of our Lord and God, secure as in his own Living Temple then look to living in the Divine Will.  It's the only way to obtain this to have his living presence even when circumstances in this world might otherwise deny Him to us.