St. John of the Cross visits Marie-Julie: Love of the Cross Perfects Viritues Within - How to Suffer Well and not Badly - Suffering a sign God loves us and we are the friends of God - The Importance of the Morning Offering, it pleases God
Ecstasy dated July 11, 1878
“I am Saint John of the Cross. I come to say a word before you enter the Holy Novitiate. Love the cross, all carry the cross. Cherish the cross and we all take comfort in the Cross. It is the love of the Cross which perfects within us the beautiful virtues that the Lord wants to give us in His generosity.
Without the cross and without the tribulations, we must not rely on the supreme happiness, because happiness is in pain, in suffering, in the Cross, in persecutions in this world. The Cross is a valuable book, but so few know how to read (it).”
Marie-Julie: “It is true, good saint, but teach us.”
St. John of the Cross: “The Cross of the Divine Master contains all the lights and all the sublime riches. It is necessary to start our study there during (our) life because that is where the perfection of the soul begins. The more the Lord sends us pain, suffering in this world, the more He loves us, the more it brings us closer to Him, He caresses us more in His blazing love. The pains of the earth and all the miseries of life are infinitely precious merits before the Lord. Many suffer on earth, but many suffer badly.”
Marie-Julie: “Teach us good saint.”
St. John of the Cross: “To suffer well is to procure the immense glory of peace, wealth, love on earth, the recovery of the bliss of repose of the soul. I also lived on earth in the midst of crosses and tribulations, but I was never weary, because I felt so great perfection, a tenderness of love in suffering, as if I could take all the suffering of the earth, I would have done so for my God. If you are the friends of God, you must expect to suffer. And you, the friends of God, He will help you, sometimes in His joy, sometimes His dear Cross on which He has suffered so much.”
Marie-Julie:“Thank you, good saint, this is good.”
St. John of the Cross: “It is a sure sign that God loves us when He makes us suffer on earth. He who does not suffer, is not the true friend of God. The Lord admits us (into) His grace, thank him. Remember that when we feel the pains of life, we experience His grace. When the Lord begins a work in which He wants His glory to break forth, he surrounds it first with persecutions, the cross, neglect, all kinds of penalties. This is the real charm of the Finger of God. It is necessary that one who is in the friendship of the Lord be tested, that everything in his soul is purified.”
Marie-Julie: “I always fear offending the Lord, teach us, good saint, what to do not to displease
Him in the smallest things.”
St. John of the Cross: “First, we must maintain humility, obedience, submission, love can say to the Divine Jesus: 'I offer you in advance what will happen, penalties, crosses, or love and joy,' that is the real way not to displease God, for all has been offered to Him in advance ...” (A reminder of how the Morning Offering each day pleases God!)
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Notes: Saint John of the Cross was a great Spanish mystic and theologian who worked with St. Teresa of Avila in the founding of the Order of Discalced Carmelites (1542-1591). He was canonized in 1726 and declared Doctor of the Church in 1926. His work in the field of mystical theology is authoritative. He studied with great precision, all stages of the ascent of the contemplative soul in its return to God. It is a long path of light and love, of painful purification and enlightenment gradually, resulting in the total and indissoluble union of the soul with God. Saint John of the Cross describes his personal experience which gives him an invaluable skill. His presence in La Fraudais should reassure those who still doubt the atmosphere of truth and obedience to the Church. He was just appointed to guide Marie-Julie in the ways of the Holy Novitiate. For several months she was taught by the Holy Spirit on the essential place of the Cross in the spiritual life of Christian souls on earth to heaven. (Biography provided by the Friends of Marie-Julie / SanctuaryWebsite.)
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