Showing posts with label Sufferings equal Grace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sufferings equal Grace. Show all posts

Monday 18 December 2017

#100 St. Cassian of Imola – At Times One Must Beware the World More than Demons – The World is Murderous and Merciless

Ecstasy date December 3, 1878


This is my name, I am St. Cassian, Martyr. I was tormented by my students, of whom I was the instructor chosen to teach them the truths of the Catholic religion. Here are the projects that were plotted against me (by) my students.


(“It seems that these pagan students had been pushed to make this gesture by the imperial magistrate, accusing their teacher for his refusal to worship idols.” Note: This note in parenthesis appears to be an observation added by the curators of the “Friends of Marie-Julie/ Sanctuary Website”.)


St. Cassian continued:

Seeing me absorbed in contemplative prayer, the evil spirit aroused great discord among my students. And it was, on one night, all assembled together, they pierced me with arrows and then with razors as strong as swords. They bound me and then closed (gagged?) my mouth. It is at their hands I suffered martyrdom.

One group fled quickly. Only two, tormented by remorse, stood next to my lifeless body covered with wounds. They felt pressured to confess their crime. One of them went to the minister who absolved and forgave and immediately, the justice of men entered my house and there, the crime of these young hearts was found.  (It appears from the context of the following sentences the saint is referring to the Justice of God, not earthly magistrates.) But I obtained close to God, that they (all his students) would be spared and they would escape the justice they would have to suffer.  The Angel brought the rolled banner containing this request for forgiveness and they were spared. But they were regarded as the executioners of a father (i.e. a priest?) and as the workers of infernal malice.  Three were struck by sudden death and the two remorseful ones later became repentant and solitaries (hermits?) to atone for their crime.


God generously rewarded His martyr. After my death, the Saviour allowed to dwell at the place of my martyrdom a blazing star that was visible every day. Those who came, in that place, prayed with reverence, and the Saviour accorded them wonders. At the place of my martyrdom a chapel was built that bears my name.


Now, a word on behalf of Our Lord.


Dear brothers and sisters, we see (or, must be on guard) around us, sometimes, the world is more dangerous than the demons. The demons do not give death to man and the world makes attempts on the life of man. The world loves the murder of its brothers and sisters. It has no mercy when when the rage of the dark prison cells pushes it in the biggest depth of evil. (? Probably an expression Marie-Julie could understand but is not explained to us here. Apparently, the saint is saying the rage of the world against the followers of Christ reaches its height when it begins to throw them into prisons, outright public persecution, etc.)


Dear brothers and sisters, let us put our trust in God our Father and say to our Guardian Angels, "Mount your guard around us, because traps are stretched against all men." The blackness of jealousy torments the hearts of men against their brothers!


Why this cruel jealousy? Because, again, souls who love God and who love Him with all their might, are hated and persecuted. It is a Divine Seal, dear brothers. You wear it visibly, not invisibly. That is why they read in your words and in your heart, in your face, your strength and all the good that lives in you, it says that you are the chosen souls, blessed, surrounded by the tenderness of God. That is what causes the rage of men who do not like God or His religion.


Dear brothers and sisters, like the example of the Divine Crucified, submit yourselves and forgive all your enemies. This forgiveness opens the door of Heaven, softens the heart of God and gives the soul an invigorating dew.


Dear brothers and sisters, you will have on earth but one sure refuge, it is in the Adorable Wounds of the Saviour that you are safe, in this prison of love and tenderness.

The world suffers and endures a kind of martyrdom that is sometimes more painful than the agony of the iron, the martyrdom of execution, because the world makes it languishing, tormenting without a subject. (i.e., the suffering the world gives is long, laborious, and appears pointless.)  The world crucifies slowly, while the martyrdom of iron is rapid.

The Lord has His eyes open to the sufferer, who is accused, persecuted, slandered. God makes the road shine on which he travels, loaded with mountains of all kinds of persecution.  Before you where you walk you see a band of elite and of the Blessed.
These are your Guardian Angels who bear your cross, the mountains of your persecution. And you walk on, you, dear brothers and sisters, unloaded and freely. The men believe you are laden under the weight so heavy while you feel the lightness of loving blessing …

Walk bravely through this life of suffering, watering it with our sweat and our tears. The Eternal Spouse comes to meet those who suffer and mourn, held by chains of captivity without reason and without crime. The Lord will wipe away the tears from His chosen and shows them the eternal crown and their names inscribed on His Heart.


Courage! You who are still in death. (I.e. in this world still subject to death and sorrow.) Soon you will be in life when there will be no sorrow, no tears, no anxieties. It is eternal happiness. Pray, dear brothers. I will pray for you. The Hand of the Lord threatens to strike. His angry look says to the earth to be on guard. His promise consoles and strengthens the just and crushes the sinners (the unrepentant) like a speck of dust.

In Heaven, we are happy. In Heaven, all are nourished with love. Heaven, we live in delight. Heaven, we adore, we love, we enjoy the delights of love. Dear brothers and sisters, I wish you the triumphant arrival of happiness ...”


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Notes: Saint Cassian of Imola (a city in northern Italy) was martyred c. 250 AD. According to the laus of the Roman Martyrology (1930 Rome edition): “The birthday of holy Cassian the martyr. When he refused to worship idols, the persecutor summoned certain boys whose hatred Cassian had incurred by acting as their schoolmaster, and afforded them (through his teaching) the opportunity of killing him. As their efforts were puny, so was his suffering bitter above the ordinary and his death protracted.” Feast Day, August 13 

(Image: statue of St. Cassian by Adam Baldauf, b.1580- d.1631. )

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Thursday 14 December 2017

#99 A Message of Encouragement – Love for Our Lady is Greatly Rewarded




Ecstasy date December 3, 1878


Our Lady: It is I, my children, I come to say a word of tenderness and kindness.

My children, my Son said:

"Blessed are those who suffer!"

Those who suffer are the privileged friends of the gifts of the love of my dear Son.


My children, I incline with love to the suffering soul. I soothe his troubles with the balm of my heart. I come to smile upon the soul that suffers. I come to spread my rose of hope to the overwhelmed soul. My maternal heart is your rest. This is where you take a sleep that gives you strength, in the most loving Heart of a Mother.


My children, if you knew my maternal tenderness, you would come with even more joy to your Heavenly Mother. My children, I look at your heart like gardens where I come, too, to pour out the pain I suffer because of so many souls who live outside of grace.

My children, I promise to assist you, to strengthen you, especially at the time of your death. I will be at your bedside with the torch of peace and hope …

My children, love me very much and make me known as much as you can. Proclaim my greatness, victim souls, from the height of the pulpit of Truth. I will reward you so greatly you will be flooded with love.

My children, if souls were thinking about all that my Divine Son suffered for them, all His life, they would feel reborn in them a love to love, a tenderness for compassion, and shed tears for the time they lost without this thought of Calvary.

My children, very few souls meditate on the pain of Calvary of my Son and His Mother. Yet what good, what benefits, what perfection this meditation draws forth! I bless you all ...”

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Thursday 7 December 2017

#98 St. Hermenegild – Holiness is Produced by Suffering


Ecstasy date December 2, 1878


I am Saint Hermenegild, I suffered martyrdom for God and His Holy Cause. I was born to a high condition, a family of nobility. There are penalties and crosses everywhere, in the homes of the rich as in the homes of the poor.

They tried to shake my faith and courage in threatening me with torture and death. I stood up and I told my tormentors: "I am a Christian and a soldier of Jesus Christ. My life is in your power, but my soul will never deny my faith and my God!" It was decided to pronounce my death and I heard my conviction. I remained inflexible, my faith and my courage inspired me and strengthened me. I was bound and dragged on the pavement and was torn apart by blows and instruments of torture. Then, this demand was made to me:

"Have you decided to obey to save your life? You are from a high scion, we hope that you will hold on to your title."

Immediately, I opened my tunic, I took the Crucifix that I had since my youth and I told them:

This is my title! My Glory! Here is my Good!”


These three words strongly irritated the tyrant and he ordered that my head be cut off. I climbed to the scaffold and singing in my heart about the departure from this life and the entrance into glory. I received several blows on my body that were very terrible and on the most sensitive parts. Nothing shook me, I persevered and I died a Christian, a child of God and of His Church. I was beheaded amidst blaspheming and mocking. But all these blasphemies and ridicules could not give me any thought of distraction. They let fall the instrument of death and my head was separated from my body. Never was there a joy and a happiness so sweet. Never had so much peace reigned in my soul.


The hangman and the chief of my executioners ordered that my body be cast out of this place because he looked upon me like a foul poison. My body was dragged to a remote place and there I remained for weeks, when an unknown and disguised traveller passed this place. O Sweet Providence! He collected my body, wrapped it in some of his clothes and laid it to rest under a stone that was in this place. This is where the Lord had manifested His glory more than once. (I.e. miraculous marvels took place there.) Later, when all these times of confusion had passed, my body was taken away by the hands of Christians and laid in consecrated ground in the place where they bury all Christians. The Lord rewarded my martyrdom by making signs and wonders about my courage and my faith.


Now a word on behalf of Our Lord.


Dear brothers and sisters, that still live on this earth, keep your courage, die rather than deliver (I.e. lose) your soul that is a Divine Temple. Oh! He who draws sublime strength in the Christian Faith! … Oh! He who draws sublime rewards and riches in the suffering of this life! It is a crowning glory of this mortal life! ... Suffering is a fountain that washes us and cleanses us, and it develops the immortal seed that death can not destroy. This immortal seed that death will not take is holiness produced by suffering.


All of you, dear brothers and sisters, you are prisoners of Calvary, the prisoners of the word of Mary, the prisoners of the dew of the fertile Sacred Wounds of the Saviour. Your jail is not built of stones and earth. It is built of pearls mixed with diamonds. These are the walls of your prison. It is closed and covered by the Supreme and Divine Will of God. It is furnished as suffering, hardship, persecution and sacrifice and of merits ... Your prison is paved by the thoughts, words of Our Divine Lord. It is fragrant with the perfume of the Heart of Mary and the fire that warms you is not produced by the wood of the earth, it is the Love of Jesus that is the foyer of your jail, it is the love of Cross that is wood to the wood of the flame, it is the love for the Heart of Mary that embalms this
asylum after Jesus …


At the foot of the Cross, it is there as at all times the Divine appoints you, where all souls receive the preparation of the immortal crown. It is at the foot of the Cross that the crown is given. I leave you, courage! ...”



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Notes: Saint Hermenegild was the son of Leovigild, King of the Visigoths of Spain in the sixth century. He was raised an Arian at the court of Seville. Despite his father's opposition, he became a Catholic when he married the daughter of King Sigebert of Austrasia, (then King of the Franks), who converted him. After his conversion, his father disinherited him. Hermenegild took up arms to reclaim his rightful inheritance, was defeated, captured, and when he refused to give up his Catholic faith.  was martyred on Easter Sunday at the instigation of his stepmother in 585 AD because he refused to take Holy Communion from an Arian bishop.  St. Gregory the Great attributes to the intercession of St. Hermenegild the conversion of the Goths.  Feast Day, April 13.


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Sunday 3 December 2017

#97 St. Victorian – The Secret of Happiness and the Road that Leads to Heaven

Ecstasy date November 28, 1878.


I am Saint Victorian, Bishop and Martyr. I was a martyr for God, preferring death rather than give up my Divine Treasure. Hidden under my clothes, on my heart, I removed It (the Blessed Sacrament) from the cruelty of the barbarians ... I fled and I bore Jesus on my heart. I was stopped by the guard of the Emperor so dreaded and cruel. I was bound, stripped and searched. My body was set on fire and put to instruments of torture. At all times my right hand rested on my chest to keep the Treasure I was bearing. I fell on my knees and prayed Our Lord to please tear Himself from sacrilegious hands as I was bound and surrounded by the enemies of the Divine King.


After this prayer, I was dragged in chains to the place of execution where I left the earth. The precious Treasure still reposed on my heart. What pain of delivering my Saviour! Once the sword was about to cross my heart and my body, I felt a sweet consolation. Our Lord stood gently on my heart and rose above the barbarian men in the form of the Child Jesus, the most tenderest, the kindest, weeping tears of pain. All the barbarians (took no notice) of this Divine marvel. On the contrary, their rage and ferocity redoubled. It was there that I received the palm of victors. My heart was broken, my body pierced and my head separated.


Now a word on behalf of Our Lord.


O rich suffering, which contains an abundant Divine harvest and where our Lord finds the precious pearls to form our crowns! Dear brothers and sisters, if we could enter into the secret of happiness it is the secret of suffering, after it is returned to us, we could say: "I saw, I tasted, everything that Heaven possesses is more sweet and more happier!"


This is the way to enter into the secret. This is the first complete and perfect resignation that makes us enjoy the Heaven before they tasted the true eternal rest. O too little honoured suffering, you have charms for the heart of the Christian faithful! You make in his heart the beginning of a paradise, the beginning of an almost complete satiation, until the fullness comes to quench the eternal thirst and hunger forever. Your sufferings are golden ears (of grain). These spikes are responsible for a rich harvest which is another love that enter into the seed of Immortal Love. These two loves join and complete reality is made to come out of this life. Dear brothers and sisters, you who are suffering now, do you not feel this flood of happiness that raises, expands you?


This Divine torrent comes from Heaven. It works in your human suffering, it changes and turns them so they shine in the eyes of the Lord as rich diamonds. And God, proud of your generous suffering, sends you double grace and strength …


Dear brothers and sisters, the soul that is not on the cross, the soul that feels no pain and or sorrow, has not yet entered in the road that gently leads to Heaven. For its sweetness, this path charms your souls and gives them the sublime intoxication of Hope ... How sweet it is to fall asleep in the Lord after many trials of suffering and pain! To all, courage!”



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Notes: As St. Victorian declares in this vision he is a Martyr of the Eucharist, the “Friends of Marie-Julie / Sanctuary Website” identifies him as Saint Victorian who was martyred at Adrumetum in 484 under the Vandal King, Hunneric, who was an Arian. The Arians denied the divinity of Christ and persecuted the Catholic faithful. Many priests, bishops, deacons and faithful preferred to die rather than let heretics profane or desecrate the consecrated Host, thereby demonstrating their faith in the Real Presence of Our Lord, His Body, His Blood, His Soul and Divinity in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. St. Victorian's account to Marie-Julie is in keeping with this.


However, according to traditional accounts of his life, Victorian of Adrumetum was a wealthy Catholic who had been appointed proconsul by Hunneric, and is not recorded as being a bishop. He served as an obedient administrator to the king until he was asked to convert to Arianism, which he refused. It is possible the saint was correcting this detail of his life during his visit to Marie-Julie, revealing he was in fact a bishop.


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Tuesday 14 November 2017

#91 St. Distérique – God's Love for Us – Sufferings Grant us Merits - God Consoles – God Controls All


Ecstasy of October 29, 1878

I am Saint Distérique, bishop and martyr for the cause of the Holy Religion, and for supporting the Holy Church, Mother of us all. I was struck hard on all parts of the body ... I was then laid on a rack and struck again terribly. I received like Our Lord the blow of the spear from the hands of my tormentors. I was left lying in my blood on the pavement waiting for some kind souls to give burial to my body …


Now, a word on behalf of Our Lord.


Oh! How the love of Our Lord is strong! How sweet it is, when you taste It with submission. Love gives life to souls. Love adorns the heart with the Divine warmth and delectable tenderness. What can make you fear when you have the love of Christ? ... But know this well, on the earth all men suffer. They are overwhelmed with pain and sorrow. But the merits of this portion is so great, so perfect and noble in the eyes of the Good Lord! It is why He visits us lovingly with His pains and His sorrows when we are agreeable (open) to Him ...


On earth there are souls who enjoy the happiness of consolation, there are others that seem abandoned and are not subject to any charity, it seems. Our Lord regards this contempt as a great and culpable indignity because He Himself loves all souls, because to Him they are all infinitely precious. (i.e. it is an indignity againt the virtue of charity to not be a source of Christian comfort). Our Lord also wants, sometimes, wishes Himself to be the consoling Father of these souls. That is why He wants them to have no consolation, no assurance, no light from men. (i.e. sometimes souls are allowed to be left with no earthly consolation because God Himself wishes to be their consolation.)


Our adorable Lord has all power, all grandness. He can do whatever He wants and everything He does is very powerful. All men together are unable to make the smallest part of what God does Himself. They seem to touch upon it but they are very, very far. That is why all that God made, everything that He commands is resistant to men and will resist them by a powerful force. However, there is to be found on the earth souls who seem to want to blame God and want to order Him (around)! What is the word of man, the creature? It is a breath before the wind ... Our adorable Lord needs neither advice nor powers, nor permission of creatures, to do what He wants. This is why we must submit and without passing judgement. (i.e submit to His will in all things). God does what He wants ... All who suffer for the glory of His name will one day be richly rewarded and recompensed ...”


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Note: St. Distérique apparently is a previously unknown saint. There are no details about his life in the general biographies of the saints, and Internet searches have not turned up anything, including searches with exchanged letters and attempts to Latinize the name.

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Thursday 9 November 2017

#90 St. Vitus – You Are Not Alone – A Warning About Those Who Place All Their Trust in Science without God


St. Vitus visits Marie-Julie Jahenny and corrects details about his Martydom – Every Christian is a martyr either by blood or by suffering – God Guides the soul: you are not alone or abandoned, even when priests seem indifferent – Unbelief in the Divine Tenderness a sign of a lack of Faith – Without Faith Man cannot make any progress whatsoever or make a single act pleasing to God – A Warning about those who place all their trust in Science alone.





Ecstasy date October 28, 1878


I am St. Vitus, brother of St. Modestus, Martyr. I was tortured at a time when Christian blood flowed so abundantly at the hands of barbarian emperors who made so many martyrs and who made the Holy Religion and the Holy Church suffer. I fell under their treacherous hands. I did not run away. I waited quietly for the hour of my martyrdom without fear. Nothing moved me.



I was martyred for having supported firmly and with faith the Sacraments instituted by Our Lord. For this reason I shed my blood. The Emperor was angry, cursed and condemned all that God had established. I supported with strength and courage the infallibility of my God. I was stabbed, stoned and torn. My whole body was in tatters. My arms and chest were bare and without fear, without regret and without losing courage, I could contemplate with my mortal eyes, my flesh all torn to shreds. My torturer ordered them to cut off my head. The order was executed. But I kept my eyes open and alive though my body was separated from my head. I saw with my mortal eyes, all the torments that they made my body suffer. I saw my flesh thrown in pieces on the blood-covered paving stones. I saw, until the end, the last shred of my flesh before my eyes closed forever. Nothing could turn my eyes, nothing could close my eyes before the hour of the Lord had arrived … (I.e. miraculously, his head was kept alive until God decided the moment of death.)


Now a word on behalf of Our Lord.


Oh! How we carry in our hearts a valuable field and a garden enriched with the most heavenly gifts! This field, this garden, is the soul of a brother Christian or sister Christian. Our Lord designates every Christian a martyr on earth, not one martyr is the same. God wants from some their blood and the others a martyrdom of suffering, anxiety and depression. But what should make us rejoice on earth is that we exist by the Divine Will and that we are planted on earth of the Lord to be made fruitful in the holy virtues (that are so ) necessary.

Our adorable Lord gives us all, from the heights of Heaven, a thread to His most Divine Tenderness. It is through this thread that God directs us, to make us walk and lead us. When people say 'I walk alone on earth', no, dear brothers, you do not walk alone! The thread of the immense love of God and His love leads you, guides you and follows you everywhere. No one walks alone. Every soul has this thread of love to guide and direct. Our Lord, from the height of Heaven, is our driver and our guide. The heart and the power of man are small compared to the immense power of God. The heart of man is good. It is generous, sensitive. But none of this goodness, nor his feelings, nor his mercies, come close to the Divine Heart of Our Heavenly Father as He is good, as He is tender, as He is full of love! Do not consider yourself as being on the earth alone, neglected and abandoned. If a pastor moves away and seems to be indifferent to some of his sheep, will the Divine Shepherd of souls leave it there? No, He collects it, He caresses it, He consoles it. Why is this pastor (I.e. priest / religious) indifferent? He has, in his heart, a ray in which lives and reigns charity, where it stays and grows. But love has faded, collapsed with sorrow. A vein in in his heart broke and it is perhaps most necessary for himself and for his own good and for his graces.


God is not indifferent. God wants the pastor to love all the sheep of His flock, because God is not indifferent. He protects it, He retains the ungodly, He gives him all His goods. He makes to grow in his field that (which) grows in the field of Christian faithful. God is just and He announces this justice to all the hearts on earth. Let us live His justice! Let us imitate His love! (I.e. by being kind to those who are evil as well as with those who are good as God does). You, brothers of the Cross, who are called on earth to bear the immense treasures of God's blessings, these treasures, it is the cross that the Lord gives you. You are not crushed. You do not even feel the weight because you are called to bear the burden, you are counted as His true disciples. That is why the burden is light. The soul that is not required to bear the burden is crushed, it is in anguish because it is not required to enter the home of the chosen disciples of the Lord.

(An interpretation: since St. Vitus points out that God is good to the evil as well as to the just, this is the 'burden' and the cross spoken of in this passage, for Christ's disciples are known by love for one another, loving enemies and doing good to those who persecute them. Those who are not Christ's disciples, possibly indicated by the phrase 'the soul not required to bear the burden', cannot understand this and therefore are crushed under the burden of the cross. It is not a source of treasure for them but confusion. They cannot understand the 'Gospel of Suffering', or how a 'tender and loving God' could allow suffering, and this becomes the reason for their lack of Faith, as we see in the following paragraphs)


St. Vitus: The path of our life on earth, which seems so painful, so sorrowful and sometimes so dark in the eyes of our body, is, by the eyes of our soul, filled with stars and lights. It is brighter than the day in summer, illuminated by the sun.

There is on earth, many souls who do not believe these Divine tenderness and Divine kindnesses. These souls have a Faith so weak that if they had to enter the depths of their souls, we find that pale ray of the Faith nearly wiped out, almost consumed with desires and incredulous thoughts produced by this lack of Faith and confidence. It is the lack of Faith, it is Faith eroded, it Faith tarnished and extinguished by a hardened and rebellious mind that makes them believe that the Faith does not (lead to) progress in the life of man.

Without faith, it is forbidden for man to progress, (even make) a single act pleasing to God. Faith is the treasure. The lack of Faith is a dark hell. There are incredulous minds that shape in the mind of man the idea that God does not really exist in all His power or that He uses His power in the sun, the stars or anything else. They make them believe that God, existing in both parties, the sun and stars, no longer exists on earth or in power. It is all in these two objects. 

  (i.e. a reference to atheistic 'men of science' who disbelieve in God and turn only to that which they can see, like the study of physics, cosmology, the search for knowledge, that the universe and everything in it like the sun and moon created themselves according to 'natural laws', but that there is no God, etc. ... As St. Vitus reminded us: WE ARE NOT ALONE: there is a God! To think we are alone in this universe is dangerous to our salvation. See the quote below by the infamous English occultist and magician Aleister Crowley, inventor of the 'Thelema' occult religion that inspired the infamous occult 'Spirit Cooking' performance art rituals presented by Marina Abramovic.)





St. Vitus: What nonsense! What lightness! What madness! Since God is everywhere at once! Carry your cross and follow the path of death that is established on this earth. In leaving this earth, we enter into life. The crosses are so precious, they are so rich, they contain so much love,happiness, that once the soul has entered such tenderness, you can not take it away or pull it out of the huge furnaces that you find it in. The Cross raises the soul to heaven, quickly, lightly. The cross gives the soul great benefits, huge favours, because all souls that are inflamed with this love are regarded mercifully through the Divine eyes of Our Lord. The arrival in Heaven is a joy for them. God rewards doubly when they arrive (to be with) Him forever. You who have the experience of suffering and pain of the Holy Cross, you will see, one day, if my word sent to your souls will not be full of sweetness, charms and delights in the Supreme Court of the Lord.


Now I am leaving. Courage, dear brothers and sisters of the Cross, your portion is beautiful because you have the Cross that has been the portion of all the elect, of all the Saints who reign in glory! Persevere through all times and until death! I wish you peace and courage ...”

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Notes: St. Vitus is also known as St. Guy. His feast day is celebrated June 15 with St. Crescentia and St. Modestus. According to tradition, these saints were Sicilians, St. Vitus is described as a child, St. Crescentia his nurse, and St. Modestus her husband. St. Vitus is patron of those who suffer epilepsy. He was martyred during the persecution of Diocletian in 303, in Lucania (Southern Italy).

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Friday 3 November 2017

#87 - St. Desiderius of Vienne – A Generous Martyrdom Releases the Soul from Purgatory – Expect to Suffer - The Cross is a Source of Spiritual Treasure


St. Desiderius of Vienne – A Generous Martyrdom Releases the Soul from Purgatory – Expect to Suffer - The Cross is a Source of Spiritual Treasure





Ecstasy date October 15, 1878



I am a saint Didier, (i.e. Desiderius) Bishop and Martyr of Vienne. I come to tell you a word on behalf of Our Lord.

I was martyred in defence of the Faith, defending the Holy Church and the honour of the Fathers of the Church. I was put to torture for the cause, so to speak in the prime of my ministry. I suffered greatly. But my courage did not betray me because by it was the glory or the loss of my soul. (i.e. he did not lose courage because this was a life and death matter of eternal glory or damnation. Despite the prospect of great suffering, the choice was really no choice at all when the assurance of eternal salvation is at hand.)


When I was condemned, my persecutors gave me a cross on the forehead, tearing my flesh with a sharp knife. After this initial pain, I was put to the torture and three times they put at my feet my episcopal cross so that I would deny my God and my faith. Immediately, I raised my eyes toward heaven, spread out my arms to my God. I told Him publicly, from the depths of my soul: "I am ready to have my body pass under the press and to be milled to Your glory!" This invocation ended up throwing rage into the hearts of my tormentors. There, I was crucified on a kind of iron plate. I was bound, chained and tortured and my body was torn to shreds with fury and rage. My martyrdom was so sweet that I had but one regret, that I would die only once for One I loved so much! Then my head was, for a few days, hung from a tree which was not far from my place of martyrdom and a few souls in the darkness, retrieved my head with respect and closed my eyes, that had adored my Saviour, descending on the Altar, in my dedicated hands. My body remained unburied for some time because the Christians were stoned as soon as they noticed (them perform) a work of charity. It was when the fury died down a little, a few souls collected the scattered remnants of my body and carried them in a shroud. I was finally laid to rest in Christian ground. That is a word about my martyrdom.


Dear brothers, if you could conceive the joy of my soul ascending to my God! Martyrdom frees the soul from Purgatory when it suffers generously.


Now a word on behalf of the Heavenly Bridegroom.


Dear Brothers in the same grace at the foot of the Holy Altar, we have enemies everywhere who work for the glory of our precious progress. (The saint is ironically pointing out that while evil enemies persecute God's people, these enemies are preparing for them more glory!) Rejoice, you who are on the stormy sea when the storm is brewing for a long time! Be brave to the end, because the Good Lord will decide the happiness of His children and also the terrible justice to the thankless souls who forget their benefits. Remember, dear brothers and sisters need to be milled (ground down) on earth as the dead to be resurrected in the pure glory of the earth which is a preparation for eternal glory. Allow yourself to be stoned, torn, insulted for the love of the Great King. Your reward will be beyond your expectations. We must thank, on your knees and the heart, your dear enemies for all the good they procure you, of all the honour that they give you on earth. (i.e. the glory they prepare for you in Heaven when they make you suffer while on the earth.) It is by this means they dig in the heart, a river of love that overflows from all sides. By this means we heal the wounds of the Bridegroom of Calvary.

Persecution existed at all times, but this epoch will be a passage and a remarkable flower for all to see who will be protected by the Bridegroom of Calvary …


Expect to suffer. This will be the beginning of your crowns and a beautiful preparation to receive your triumphant palm. For every soul on earth is a martyr. But love is so strong and so noble in your souls that all this suffering is a fertile seed that will enrich the Treasury of the Church. Oh sweet pain, if you were well known, how your fertility is rich in this world that is nothing but a road of pain! You who are on the Cross, dear brothers and sisters, this cross is not wood, it is precious stones and pearls of love, it is composed of diamonds of heaven, because you have the love of Holy of Holies that fills you with His intoxicating favours.


Courage, hungry soul longing for the Adorable Spouse, a prisoner on the altar! That hunger will be satisfied. God is preparing to collect His harvest. That is why He gives so much pain, tears and sacrifice. The road of Heaven opens. Lift up your eyes to His paternal love for it must be that the suffering flowers are picked from the ground when the Justice of His wrath will break out. That is why the Good Saviour gives so much faith and hope ...”


Marie-Julie: “It is true that the sea is troubled, threats, contempt and persecutions, nothing tarnishes our peace, nothing weakens our Hope.”


St. Desiderius: “This grace is the announcement of a happier one to come, but no longer on earth. It is entirely in the bliss of heaven. Dear Brothers of the Cross, you are stung by the thorns, they are stained with your blood. What mark of charity you give to God on this earth, suffering and praying for your dear enemies! This is the real,the invaluable portion all the brothers and sisters who have suffered and rest in peace! I will retire, by inviting you, dear brothers get close to the great river of love and strength. This river is hidden in the Cross. Approach this Holy Cross that will open the vast treasures of Happiness. This is the River where every soul will find the strength and the love to love …


Fear not! God knows what to do with you. Accept without seeing, without knowing the size and depth of what God gives you. (I.e. as in crosses). Fear not, for the good which you wait for is so great that persecution is a joy and a pleasure. I leave you at the foot of the Cross, this is where you find the strength in the days of bitterness. The Lord will soon water the evil ones with bitterness. Pray for the Church. The storm and the storm roaring around her, but the waves are powerless, because the Lord guards and protects. Carry your cross, dear brothers and sisters, it is the most beautiful portion (I.e, as in inheritance) ...”

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Notes: Saint Didier (also known under the name of Desiderius), was a native of Autun, educated at Vienne, where he became archdeacon and then bishop. He was persecuted by the Queen of the Visigoths, Brunhild, who was instrumental in securing his murder at the place now called Saint-Didier-sur-Chalaronne. He was martyred in the year 608. The Visigoth Kings were Arians, and did not believe in the divinity of Christ. Hence their persecution against Roman Catholics. (Feast days, Feb. 11 and May 23.)

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Tuesday 24 October 2017

#81 St. Felix of Dunwich – Abandonment to the Divine Will also makes us Friends of God

St. Felix of Dunwich gives a detailed account of his mission, then gives a short message to the Friends of the Cross.



Ecstasy September 23, 1878


I am St Felix, who worked to convert the English. I come to say a word on behalf of Our Lord. ... I suffered all sorts of painful accusations and black persecutions. I did not cast it off, I continued my hard work. ... I continued my mission from Heaven. I was often struck by the infidel souls who were far from God. I was brought before the tribunal, but I did not waver.


After winning a multitude of souls to God, I took some rest in the middle of the English. I was cared for at their hands and their hearts sympathized with my sufferings. It was in this great suffering, the Lord opened to me the beauty of Heaven. It was on the cross that I entered the sweet intimate conversation of God's secrets. To reward me, the Lord sent me all kinds of sorrows. I was crucified in every limb, privately, to work for the salvation of souls. Suddenly, our Good Lord rendered the life of the members of my body dry. I could still, for some years, work to convert the Great of England who had remained obstinate in their refusal (to accept) the Faith. I went to London where there were a great number of souls in the grip of hell. I was stoned twice, I was insulted. But God in His loving power can always do everything for His Glory. He supported me. In the midst of these cruel persecutions, I was bruised, covered with wounds. In the night, an angel came with a jar, closed my wounds and the next day, I was completely and miraculously restored.


I made a large number of conversions in London and they persevered. I returned then to the middle of the English and I found their faith strong and powerful. ... But I had still to suffer terrible assaults. I was threatened with being put in prison by the guards. I was about to stand trial because I was slanderously accused. But my innocence before God was without blame. I was delivered by the voice of an unknown young man. On the eve of trial, I saw him enter the cell where I retired to pray and do penance. He said, "Now leave England and go to the nearest town of France." This voice was unknown to me, but its sweetness ravished my soul. I resisted. In the deep of night, the same voice called me back and said, "Leave quickly because they are ready to take you and lead you before your accusers." Immediately, I followed the young man who took me to that city that touches the edge of France (Dover), and there I spent a month and a few days. The persecution had relaxed a little, but I was still threatened.


I returned to England. I armed myself with a huge cross of the old days and I faced my judges and my detractors. I told them: "Here is the victim, I put myself at your disposal, judge me, condemn me. But, in judging me and condemning me, you condemn Him whom I bring attached on the Cross." These words produced consternation on their faces. I won the victory. I was then pressed to preach and I was greatly inspired by Heaven. My judges and my accusers fell at my feet. I converted them. Here is the reward of terrible persecution. The Goodness of Heaven fell upon the poor accused victim, innocent ... Then I travelled through many countries, I have always suffered, persecution still followed my steps.


Dear Brothers and Friends of the Cross, we make joy from the bread of bitterness since it is only by contempt that we a rendered into glory. And it is not only by persecution that we are made the true friends of God ... Let us be detached. Remain indifferent to what they say about our person.  It is in abandonment to the Divine Will where we find a powerful force that recreates all in us.

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Observation: judging from the account St. Felix gave his his difficult life and mission, 'abandonment' to the Divine Will does not mean sitting around doing 'nothing' and expecting God to do it all!  As we see, 'abandonment' means accepting what comes freely and without murmuring, be it suffering, persecutions, hard work, etc., all accepted in a spirit of detachment, not letting human respect or our own wills and self-interest mar the work God puts before us.

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Notes: Saint Felix of Dunwich bishop and apostle of England, was originally from Burgundy, hence is he also known as St. Felix of Burgundy. He brought about the conversion of Sigebert, King of the East Angles, when that prince was in exile, and later was summoned by Siegbert to evangelize East Anglia. St. Felix undertook the mission with the approval of St. Honorius of Canterbury, and placed his episcopal see at Dunwich, now washed away by the sea. He preached with great success in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, opening schools on the French model. He died in the year 648. Feast Day March 8.

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