January 21, 1946prev home next
Jesus says:
“Thirty-three days ago I said to you, ‘I will give nothing more until I see that everything has been set in order, as prudence requires.’ And I told you so in such a way that you preferred to have Me repeat it in a clear dictation, not only to you, but to the one guiding you. And eight days later, when the occasion arose, I satisfied you.151 Now everything is in order, copied, and corrected, as should be done. I again repeat that in such a serious matter and with such an exhausted instrument it is right and proper not to let the work accumulate, but it should be copied progressively, and progressively corrected so that incomplete parts will not remain in the event of death or anything else.
“Never abuse trust which is no longer prudence. Act as if every hour were the last and always work through your backlog in all respects. And let this also be borne in mind in making provision for remaining close to the instrument until everything is completed. The painful experiences of Autumn 1944 branded the spokesman, who says, ‘I cannot trust others, and if I were to remain alone, I would no longer hand over a single word.’ But these painful experiences have not been hers alone! You, Romualdo, have had them as well. You have also seen the actions performed, and even though you have suffered much less on this account - for Maria’s suffering has been very profound, to the point of engraving an indelible sign even on her body - you have to understand that this event must not be repeated. If it is, I will approve Maria’s desire, and, while not depriving her of the joy of seeing, I will deprive all of you of the joy of receiving, for I will not have her write a word any longer.
“I cannot allow this work to be turned into a jest, or almost a jest, or remain a manuscript, not typewritten and corrected. We are dealing with an obtuse, evil world, even if it is an ecclesiastical world, a world which is not interested in reviewing in order to approve, perceiving Me in the work, but which with its full attention would vivisect the work to find a word which, because of either the spokesman’s uncertain handwriting or a mistake in copying, might appear to be a theological or even merely historical error. This is the truth. And I make provision so that hostility will be left disappointed.
“In these thirty-three days I have provided only two Gospel visions. And I offered them because I wanted to speak through them to you, Romualdo, as I do so often. These Gospel scenes of mine are lessons. Lessons for individual daily life, too, and in individual cases. If they were not such, I would not have provided intermittent scenes at the beginning of the visions, as I have done, but would have started from the first word in the four Gospels and continued in order. I instead furnished the episodes necessary for those specific moments to support the spokesman in the great cross she had to bear shortly thereafter (January - March 1944), in the one she was bearing (May - October 1944),152 and to evangelize Giuseppe B., struggling with Satan, to prepare him for the dictation which separated him forever from Satan and from his heresies. Afterwards, when the two aforementioned needs had been met, in regular and orderly fashion I carried on the reconstruction of the Gospel. But I very often speak to you, Romualdo, thereby or through the dictations I provide which are not connected with the Gospel. All of them are offered to give you guidance and light. And accordingly, to help you, I gave you the last two in an extraordinary manner, for I did not want to furnish anything until all that had previously been given was in order.
“Now remember and reflect that, as I have remained silent for thirty-three days, I could be silent forever. And I would do so if the enterprise encountered obstacles which could harm the work. You see that Maria can do nothing on her own. Neither see nor say. If, as a test, you said to her, ‘Repeat the last vision, too,’ you would see that not only would the words be lacking, but the description of the event would be deficient and impoverished. When taken away from my light, Maria is just another poor woman. In her there remains only the spiritual meaning, which increases her will to act in holy fashion in all things, according to the instruction received. But her intelligence does not benefit from what she has seen. Once the vision is over, it is no longer repeatable by her mind. If I, out of prudence, because there was no longer a way to conserve what she writes in print, were to stop asking her for descriptions of what she sees and hears, you would no longer receive a word. This daughter would still and always be in my arms. But all the others would be left without additional lessons. Reflect and cause this matter to be reflected upon.
“And now a lesson entirely for you, servant dear to Me. And it is not a reproach; do not take it to be one. It is a caress by one who loves you and does not want ingenuously false or useless steps in you. You would not regard it as bad if a good father said to you, ‘Give me your hand and I’ll guide you along the bumpy path,’ or ‘Do you see, my son? This flower, this berry is not good. It seems to be, but it’s not. Never taste them, then. They contain harmful fluids.’ Just the same, in you, immortal child, there must not be pain because I instruct you on something. You belong to my array: the array of those lacking malice who at heart are defenseless against the crafty world and Satan, extremely crafty in his works. It is a glory. But it is also a continuous danger. And I give special help to these defenseless ones precisely because they are such, so that they will not be deceived by lying appearances.
“You must not measure the supernatural entirely in one way. The supernatural is everything which lies beyond the natural world. Isn’t that so? But in the supernatural, the extranatural, there are two currents, two rivers: the one coming from God and the one coming from the Enemy of God.
“Phenomena, when taken externally and superficially, are almost identical, for Satan is able to simulate God, with the perfection of evil. But one sign of those who are mine is the deep peace and the order found in the phenomena and communicating themselves to those who are present; another sign is the incrementing of the natural faculties of intelligence and memory, for the heavenly supernatural is always Grace, and Grace augments man’s natural faculties, too, so as to be remembered exactly in its manifestations. In the phenomena which are not mine, on the other hand, there is always an effusion of something which disturbs or diminishes the habitual supernatural seriousness by prompting curiosity, that sense of breezy, empty interest you get when you go to a show at a theater, a show with jugglers and the like. In phenomena which are not mine there is always disorder. After the cracking of blinding rockets, there is smoke and mist taking away the purity of the previously existing light, and you have thus seen and heard, but afterwards cannot remember anything with complete precision and fall into contradictions, even unwillingly. Satan, with his longnailed hand, stirs and stirs to deride and exhaust.
“Finally, a very exact sign appears in subjects themselves. The action of a being always corresponds to my action in a being. Let me explain. When I instruct, everything is changed in the one instructed. There enters into him a zealous hurry to do what I say, and not in slow phases of elevation, as observed in ordinary desires to be sanctified; rather, in swift, but enduring movements, the soul rises and changes from what it was into what I want it to be. These are the souls seized by ‘good will.’ It grinds them and destroys all that was past, all that was the previous self and recomposes them in the new form according to my model. They are the tireless artificers of their immortal selves. They see they are changing for the better. But they are never content with the degree of goodness attained and work to arrive at greater perfection. Not because of their pride, but out of love for Me.
“In the souls that, in a contrary sense, are false contemplatives and false instruments, this untiring metamorphosis is lacking. In that case, as followers of Satan, they feed on and delight in what they have. And sometimes, at the beginning, they really received a gift from Me. They cradle themselves in the pride of being ‘something.’ And this ‘something’ grows day by day like an overfed animal. Indeed, it overfeeds on pride which Satan silently and abundantly showers around them. This ‘something’ gets big - big and monstrous. Yes, monstrous. It is a monster because it loses its primitive appearance – mine – and takes on a Satanic appearance. They put on a halo of false lights. They exploit more or less relative celebrity to crown themselves. And they contemplate themselves. They say, ‘I am taken care of. I have now gotten there!’ And they go blind that way, to the point where they cannot see what they are. And they go deaf that way, to the point where they cannot distinguish the different voices speaking in them. Mine is so different from Satan’s! But they no longer hear it. And as I withdraw, Satan gives them what they want: forms of vanity. And they array themselves with these....
“What can God do with these people desirous of Evil who prefer an iridescent robe, illuminations, and applause to the cross, nakedness, thorns, concealment, and assiduous work within and around themselves in Goodness and for their own and others’ good? What should God do with these mountebanks of sanctity, entirely caught up in idle stories and lies? God withdraws. He abandons them to the father of Deceit and Darkness. And they take pleasure in the gifts Satan gives them as a reward for their action. They profess to be ‘saints’ because they see they succeed in matters which are extranatural. They do not know that they are born of their pride, which Satan feeds. And they do not improve, you know? They do not. Even if they apparently do not regress, it is clear to even the most superficial that they do not improve.
“Romualdo, be careful with the multicolored glistening which dissolves into mist! I always leave light and concrete, orderly, clear elements. Watch out for the false saints, who are more injurious to my triumph than all the open sinners. The holy supernatural exists. I inspire it. It should be accepted and believed. But let every jar upon which there is written ‘Oil of Supernatural Wisdom’ not be accepted at first sight - or every closed book upon which there is written ‘God is here.’ Be sure that a hellish stench does not emerge from the former and heretical formulas do not emerge from the latter. Also observe the outside of the vase and the book, where and how it likes to remain. To use figurative language, observe whether it is humble on being approached and active to an extreme degree in terms of holiness. If you see that its evolution towards Goodness is slow or entirely lacking, open your eyes. Open them twice if you see in this soul pleasure at being noticed. Open them three, ten, or seventy times if you find it to be proud and deceitful.
“Peace be with you, Romualdo Maria. Peace be with you, Maria.”
151 December 25, 1945.
152 In terms of chronological accuracy, one of the two references to 1944 ought to be corrected - either the former should be changed to 1945, or the latter, to 1943.