Eyewitness
account by Abbé Gouron: An unknown martyr comes to visit: St. Grelut
– The Necessity of Prayer, Especially Mental Prayer – Mental
Prayer Bread of the Soul – Which Type of Mental Prayer is More
Pleasing to God
Ecstasy
date November 6, 1878.
“We
are three travel companions: Father Le Golf, vicar of Plougoumelen,
Father Bihan, vicar of Mériadec and I. On Wednesday, November 6,
1878, we took the train to St. Anne. The next day we were walking
towards Fraudais, a small country village, famous for the presence of
the stigmatized Marie-Julie ... We are in the mud of a dirty road
that leads directly into the hamlet so desired.
We
entered, it was on Thursday evening about half past one. A young
peasant came to receive us, and her first word is this: "We do
not accept strangers on Thursday."
Her
mother, a woman of 60 years, came out of a room, she considered us
and repeated the same refusal. However, we said we came from afar to
attend the ecstasy today.
“That
does not matter,” she replied, “we can not accept visits on
Friday.”
Then
after a moment's reflection, she says:
“Where
are you from?”
“We
are from the vicinity of Sainte-Anne d'Auray.”
At
the name of Saint Anne, there is a comforting smile on all their
faces:
“So
you who have written from Sainte-Anne Auray?”
“Yes,
ma'am.”
“We
do not accept strangers on Thursdays, however, enter.”
And
the door to the room opens. We are in a sanctuary. Vis-à-vis from
the door in the end of the room, there is a bed, and on the bed,
there was lying on their back, a person of 28 years. Although fully
clothed, she was under blankets that were folded up to her chest to
leave her arms out. Her hands were joined to hold and tighten two
crucifixes with a few wild flowers, if the flowers were natural or
not, I do not know. Her head rested gently on a pillow, and her eyes
remained closed as in ecstatic sleep. From the first glance, I saw
very well the crown of thorns and the stigmata of her hands. She
was there, speaking in a slow voice, accentuated and strong enough.
Beside her in the casing of the window was a man bent over a
hand(ful) of paper: He wrote with all the speed of his fingers, the
words that fell from the lips of the stigmatist. This scribe is an
old notary from Nantes who, like Clement Brentano, left everything to
gather the visions and revelations of Marie-Julie.
(Note:
Clemens Brentano was a German author who set aside his career to
record the famous biblical revelations of Bl.. Catherine Emmerich.)
The
noise of us as we sat in chairs, passed completely unnoticed. The
ecstatic saw and heard nothing. So finally, we gave her ear. For
three hours, Monsieur Charbonnier, the former notary wrote what was
dictated by the young person. But as we were forbidden to take notes,
I can only remember the main ideas that I will try to coordinate
(reproduce) here.
First,
she spoke of a Saint and this Saint would be there before the eyes of
her soul, dictating what she had to say. At the time of our entrance,
she said:
“Your
name, O Saint, is difficult to pronounce.”
“My
name is Grelut,” said the Saint.
Here,
as at the end of each sentence, the stigmatist experienced a very
pronounced chest movement as if to breathe in the Holy Spirit. Then
she continued:
“It
was,” he said (St. Grelut), “during the great persecution. I was
lying on iron bars. They had put under my body hot coals, they also
put them equally on top, so I was locked in fire, as in a tomb.
Never,” said the Saint, “did I spend a day so delectable! The
next day I was tied to a pole topped with iron spikes. They bound me
with small bands covered with sharp points. They opened my chest with
a sharp cutting instrument, and they introduced flaming coals by this
wide opening that they reclosed by means of strips, the hour of my
deliverance was at hand,” says the Saint. “My body was thrown
into the river and my soul flew to heaven.”
Then
comes a beautiful description of heaven, it is impossible to
reproduce.
After
this historical vision, Marie-Julie was silent for three or four
minutes. Then, as if waking up, she breathed strongly and spoke on
another topic.
“I
see,” she says, “the Holy Spirit descending from heaven. I see
Him resemble a dove. He says 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. I
come to spread on the earth a spirit of love, a spirit of truth,
knowledge, wisdom. Let us rest a moment in the Heart of Our Lord
before entering the Holy Novitiate in the love and the splendours of
God.'
While
waiting for the continuation, we chat among ourselves. I remember
also that she is in the 13th degree of her novitiate. (I.e. The Holy
Novitiate of the Cross). It is the mystic ladder that she climbs
gradually as she advances in holiness. This ladder is only 14
degrees, Jesus walked the 14 degrees Himself since there are 14
stations in the Stations of the Cross. So when she has mounted the
14th, her novitiate is completed and she will enter eternal
splendour. Louise Lateau also journeys (spiritually) on the same
mystical ladder and it is said she was some time ago in the fifth
degree.
(Note:
Ann Louis Lateau was a Belgian mystic and stigmatist. 1850-1883. She has been
officially declared a “Servant of God” and her cause for
beatification was opened in 1991.)
This
is the awakening, we listen: here she (Marie-Julie) talks about the
mystic study, that is to say the highest part of theology that St.
Thomas, St. Therese, Saint Francis de Sales have cultivated so much.
After a magnificent preamble in which the words dictated show that
the Holy Spirit speaks for Itself, It addresses the prayer of the
soul, that is to say one of the most sublime parts of the mystical
divine.
“The
soul,” says the Holy Spirit, “needs to pray. Its prayer ascends
to God as a pleasant fragrance. God hears and immediately there
descends upon this soul a heavenly dew which penetrates, moistens it
and fragrances it. Strengthened by these graces, the soul ascends to
God. Its prayer rises to the throne of the Eternal, and there, turns
into thousands of little pearls. In the middle of each of these
little gems is the object of the prayer. God hears and causes to
descend on (the soul) a great pearl full of the riches and divine
grandeurs. This large pearl penetrates the soul and fills it with
virtues. The soul in this state lives only for God and, like its
Beloved, is eager to carry His cross. Oh! They are happy to suffer on
earth,” says the Holy Spirit.
Then,
with admirable developments, she shows the immortal soul, taking her
cross by communication with her body all the effects of this carrying
of the cross. First come the stigmata, then the delivery of all the
corporal necessities of the cross. “I see,” she said, “the
pipes that accept their refreshment.”
(Note:
“Pipes”? Strange
expression that I am unable to translate from the French. Could be a reference to
'conduits', i.e. the sources of grace that come from the Cross.)
Finally,
demonstrating the cross became the only consolation, the only hope,
happiness of the soul and body. Then she exclaimed:
"How
happy we are to suffer on earth. The Cross, said the Holy Spirit is
the pledge of love that the Spouse gives to His spouse. The Holy
Spirit told me that the work of high contemplation is much more
tiring than the work of all the earth, we need to relax a
moment."
Then
she was silent for about five minutes. Suddenly we see her chest
rise, breathing strongly and she recommences as follows:
“The
Holy Spirit reminds me right now with a very short word about mental
prayer. Mental prayer is the bread of the soul, the fortress of the
soul. 'Three things are absolutely necessary,' He said, 'He, God,
to make mental prayer. The first, that the soul penetrates this
thought; that it speaks to its God, its sovereign, its Creator,
Redeemer, and that it is detached from all exterior objects, it
forgets all to move in God.'” Then he said, the Holy Spirit, 'It
(the soul) must have a great uprightness (purity) of intention, a
calm and untroubled mind, it must be (abased? i.e. brought low) in
its meanness and its nothingness by a sincere humility.' Then she
goes on to corroborate this thought by several beautiful periods of
phrases. She ended by saying: “ 'This pleases God supremely,' says
the Holy Spirit.
Meanwhile,
He said, He, the Holy Spirit: 'The meditation by words is less
perfect than the meditation by thoughts, for certain words are
sufficient to preoccupy the mind and lead it off of prayer. Just a
thought to meditate for an hour or even two hours,' said the Holy
Spirit 'is what the soul feeds on and advances it quickly in
perfection. This is how it takes off and flies like a dove to the
bosom of God.'.”
At
this moment, Marie-Julie was silent. The ecstasy came to an end
because it was 4½. (i.e., the time of day, 4:30?) However, she
raised her voice again to say that the Holy Spirit would close the
way, and invited her to rest.
Then
occurred the return of ecstasy. I approached the bed and I bent my
head to understand the words she whispered, holding her crucifix to
her lips. There she was, eyes open and the pupils fixed looking to
the sky. Her tears flowed and her lips murmured against the crucifix
these broken words: "My sweet Jesus, inflame me. I pray for X
and X". However, the way was closed more and more, (i.e., the
light by which she saw heavenly things?) she would be on
the earth. So it was with an outpouring of grief and unspeakable love
she whispered these words:
"Oh,
still on this earth!"
Deeply
impressed by this last scene, we left wishing good night to the
family and telling him (we would) see him tomorrow. Before leaving
that day, I still want to add one thing very remarkable, and which I
myself experienced. While Marie-Julie was silent in this state I
would call a sleep of ecstasy, we got up to give her our blessing.
The ecstatic remained in her immobility and did not notice it. So, we
wet the tip of our fingers in holy water, and we commenced.
Surprising! Every blessing, she trembled without opening her eyes,
but with a visible air of joy and pleasure. We repeated the
experiment several times and always with the same success. This was
the Thursday visit.
At
five and a half, (5:30) we were in the mud, coming painfully to
Blain, but the heart was happy.”
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