St.
Lambert of Maastricht, Bishop and Martyr gives revelations of his
martyrdom in defence of the Faith – Suffering is Sweet when you
have the True Christian Faith – The Sufferings of Life the Shortest
Way to Reach Perfection – God Loves a Soul that is Spiritually
Detached - Why God Allows Us to be Overwhelmed at Times – A Sign of
Love
Ecstasy
of September 16, 1878
“My
name is St. Lambert, Bishop and Martyr. I suffered martyrdom by
supporting the truths of God and the Church, because I did not want
to break the law and deny my Christian faith. There have been many
martyrs from the time when I was martyred. There has been much blood
shed by men and impious barbarians who rejected the faith in Jesus
Christ. (Note: this paragraph and especially the last sentence
seems to suggest he was murdered by heretics / apostates. According to historical accounts, he died defending the sacrament of marriage.)
My
martyrdom was long and with tortures of all kinds. They could not
take my life. I was tortured in a manner hideous and merciless. My
limbs were twisted, crushed under a sort of instrument of iron. Then,
after having been ground, so to speak, I was exposed on a wire fence
bristling with sharp points that pierced my flesh and tore my body. I
was beaten with iron rods on all parts of my body, so that I could
not make any movement. The last execution was even more painful. They
made openings on all
parts
of my body and I shed my blood to support the Faith.
Now,
I will say a word on behalf of Our Lord.
It
is sweet to suffer and endure martyrdom when you have the true
Christian faith. Nothing frightens, nothing detracts, nothing is
discouraging when it comes to the Holy Will of Him who died for us.
Throughout my life I suffered much while on earth. I was accused, I
carried a burden of accusations. When the love of God is based in
souls, everything becomes light so that
one does not feel the arrival of greater pain. Suffering on behalf of
men is very sweet because we feel superhuman strength that comes from
Above and gives us courage so that we are ready to face all dangers,
all threats and all condemnations. .. Our Lord has planted in our
hearts the vigour of courage and Hope to revive in us a lively faith,
a love so strong, that God has great recognition. (i.e., is
recognised as part of this great work of suffering and receives much
honour and glory?)
God
alone knows the price of this loving grace. The sufferings of this
life are the shortest way to reach perfection. The man, who does not
suffer in his body, or in his soul or his heart, has much to fear and
worry, because he is far from Holy perfection. (This) perfection
leaves on man's face beaming features that announce the elevation of
his soul, his heart, his thoughts toward God, which is his Hope.
Our
Lord put us on earth, in a kind of dark prison, closed, black, and
that prison, it is our human miseries, which rise like walls, to make
us even greater captives. Our sweet Lord did not put us on earth
to enjoy and relax or to be perfectly happy. He has placed us on
earth to love Him first and then to make us participants of His
Divine Kingdom. To spend life on earth without loving God is to
spend life without life, without waiting to be rewarded. Our adorable
Lord, in His fatherly love, permits sometimes that we be crushed,
mangled, blackened. These moments are very rich, very precious full
of love.
If
we knew at that moment that Our Lord prepares us, promises us and
give us (these
sufferings),
we would live outside ourselves, in the Divine Hope. Our Lord looks
at our soul so tenderly, so lovingly, that he embellishes it with His
eyes. He removes the dust, that is to say the miseries that surround
our souls and He adorns it with beauty and splendour. He gives a
greater freedom to taste how sweet it is to rise to the desire to
love perfection. At the time of depression and neglect, (i.e. the
'dark night' of the soul) the soul gains a treasure of graces from
God. It enters the friendship of its Creator. It is there
where you need to pass, more or less deeply.
We
must quickly remove our attachments to the earth and give it (our
soul) to the Supreme Creator of all things. God does
not love a soul that has a home rising to heaven and another home
down on earth. (i.e. when a soul is still spiritually attached
to the things earth). As always the attachment of the earth will
destroy the strength of the other.
We
must cut this too human attachment where charity is not always
perfect. In humanity, there is imperfection, misery, lightness (i.e.
shallowness?).
In contrast, in the Divine attachment, everything is perfect,
everything becomes perfect, all elevates in complete perfection.
Sometimes
the weakness of the heart finds solace in the weakness of the human
voice. Do not look for and enjoy the consolation (I.e. in human
attachments) because, in this searching, in the time you spend, the
thought of God is forgotten. Human thought, is in its full force
and extent, occupied with vile miseries and imperfect affections. Our
Lord sends us His cross, tenderly, so that our soul, our heart, our
mind, our thoughts are occupied only with God and His Cross. When
He sends His dear cross, He desires that we be occupied with Him and
His Cross. He wants everything else to disappear. It is to
make us think of Him that He overwhelms us more deeply, sometimes
…
Courage!
If God overwhelms you, it is a sign that He loves you, He prepares
you, that He destines you and you are predestined, like workers for a
great work. Live without consolation, without assurances, without
human support, so to speak, without light. This is the greatest
sorrow, it is true, but the most meritorious. I am going to
pray for all my brothers in the Cross and above the Cross, as, on
earth, you are all workers of the Cross, workers, labourers for the
work of God, workers for the work of the Holy Trinity.
::::
Notes:
Saint Lambert was born in 640, died in 709. Born in Maastricht, he
became bishop of that city in 668, but in 674 he was driven from his
see by the tyrant Ebroin. Afterwards, he lived for seven years at the
Benedictine abbey of Stavelot as a simple monk. He was recalled to
his see by Pepin of Heristal, father of Charlemagne, and did much to
foster the apostolate of St. Willibrord. He was murdered in Liége,
and has ever since been venerated as a martyr. Feast day, September
17.
Of
great interest, Wikipedia has the following information: “Lambert
is said to have denounced King Pepin's adulterous liaison with
Alpaida, who was to become the mother of Charles Martel. This aroused
the enmity of either Pepin, Alpaida, or both. The bishop was murdered
at Liege by the troops of Dodon, Pepin's domesticus
(manager of state domains), father or brother of Alpaida. (...).
Lambert came to be viewed as a martyr for his
defence of marital fidelity.”
As
St. Lambert said he died in defence of the True Faith to Marie-Julie
Jahenny, we can see from this revelation that defending the sacrament
of marriage from those who would profane or redefine it contrary to
Church teaching is to defend the true Faith, and in fact, by
encouraging the Children of the Cross, with his revelations: “I
suffered martyrdom by supporting the truths of God and the Church,
because I did not want to break the law and deny my Christian faith.
There have been many martyrs from the time when I was martyred. There
has been much blood shed by men and impious barbarians who rejected
the faith in Jesus Christ.
(...) It
is sweet to suffer and endure martyrdom when you have the true
Christian faith,” it
seems
this
struggle to defend this sacrament will be the greatest source of
persecutions before the Victory of the Cross will occur.
It is
interesting that those who attempt to destroy or redefine what
marriage is, usually end up heretics. Notice the martyrdom of St.
Thomas More who gave his life in defence of the sacrament when King
Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic Church over the issue of
marriage validity. Instead of being obedient to God's law, he
invented his own religion, unleashing a bloody period of martyrdom
and persecution in England.
(Image: Right: The reliquary of St. Lambert of Maastricht. Left: A depiction of his martyrdom.)
****
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