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630. 8«Mary is there. She is always there. As if She were in continu­ ous ecstasy. Her face shines with ineffable light. It is the joy that irradiates from Her Heart. Yesterday She said to me: “Consider, John, how much happiness has spread through all the kingdoms of God”. I asked Her: “Which kingdoms? ” I thought that She was acquainted with some wonderful revelation on the kingdom of Her Son, Who had defeated also death. She replied to me: “In Paradise, in Purgatory, in Limbo”. Forgiveness to those in Pur­ gatory. Ascent to Heaven of all the just and of all those who had been forgiven. Paradise peopled with blissful souls. God glori­ fied in them. Our ancestors and relatives up there, in jubilation. And happiness also to the kingdom which is the Earth, where the sign is now shining, and the fountain, that defeats Satan and cancels the Sin and sins, is opened. No longer just peace to men of goodwill, but also redemption and re-election to the rank of children of God. I see the crowds, oh! how many! descend to this Fountain, and plunge into it and come out renewed, beautiful, in wedding-dresses, in royal garments. The wedding of souls with Grace, the royalty of being children of the Father and brothers of Jesus”. » They have gone out into the street, while speaking, and they go away, as it grows dark. 8The street is not very crowded, particularly at this time, when people gather round tables for supper. Jerusalem, after the stream of people that flooded it at Passover, and abandoned it after the festivities, which were so tragical this year, looks even more empty than usual. And Thomas notices it and makes the others notice it. «That's what it is. The foreigners, who were terrorised, left the town precipitately after the Friday, and those who had re­ sisted the great fear of that day, ran away at the second earth­ quake, the one that certainly took place when the Lord came out of the Sepulchre. And also those who were not Gentiles fled. Many, I am certain of this, did not even consume the lamb and they will have to come back for the supplementary Passover. And also the citizens of this place have fled or run away, some to take their dead relatives away, those who had died in the earthquake on Preparation Day, some out of fear of the wrath of God. It has been a very strong example» says the Zealot. 316

«And it was a good thing. Lightning and stones on all sin­ ners! » imprecates Bartholomew. «Don't say that! Don't say that! We deserve the punishments of Heaven more than anybody else. We also are sinners... Do you remember in this place?... How long ago? Ten? Ten evenings... or ten years, or ten hours? So remote and so near my sin seems to me, those hours, that evening... that I never know... I am dull- witted! We were so sure, so bellicose, so heroical! And then? And then? Ah!... » and Peter strikes his forehead with his hand and points at the little square, where they already are: «There. And I was already afraid there! » «Enough! Enough, Simon! He has forgiven you. And Mary, before Him. Stop it! You are torturing yourself» says John. «Oh! I wish I were! You, John, must always support me, you know? Always! It's because you can guide people that He gave you His Mother. It is just. But I, a faint-hearted lying worm, need to be guided more than Mary does. Because I have scales on my eyes and I cannot see... » «You will really get them if you behave like that. You will re­ ally burn your eyes, and the Lord will not be here to cure them... » says John again, embracing his shoulders to comfort him. «It would suffice me to see well with my soul. And then... my eyes do not matter. » «But they do matter to many people!! 9What will sick peo­ ple do now? Yesterday you saw how desperate was that woman! » says Andrew. «Yes... » They look at one another and then all together they admit: «And none of us felt worthy of imposing our hands on her... » Humbleness, brought about by the recollection of their behaviour, crushes them. But Thomas says to John: «But you could have done it. You did not run away, you did not deny, you were not incredulous... » «I have a sin as well. And it is a sin against love, like yours. Near the arch of Joshua's house, I caught Helkai by the neck and I would have strangled him, because he was abusing the Mother. And I hated and cursed Judas of Kerioth! » says John. «Be silent! Don't mention that name. It's the name of a demon, and I am under the impression that he is not in hell yet, and that he is wandering about here, around us, to make us sin again»630. 9 317

630. 10says Peter with real terror. «Oh! he is in hell all right! But even if he were here, his power is over now. He had everything to be an angel, and he was the de­ mon, and Jesus has defeated the demon» says Andrew. «All right... But it is better not to mention his name. I am afraid. Now I know how weak I am. As far as you are concerned, John, do not feel guilty. Everybody will curse the man who be­ trayed the Master! » «It is right to do so» says Thaddeus, who has always had the same opinion of the Iscariot. «No. Mary said to me that the judgment of God is enough for him and that we must cherish only one feeling: gratitude for not being the traitors. And if She does not curse, although She is the Mother Who saw the tortures of Her Son, shall we do so? Let us forget... » «That's foolish! » exclaims his brother James. «And yet it is the Master's word for Judas' sins... » says John with a sigh and then becomes silent. «What? Are there others as well? You know... Speak up! » «I have promised to try and forget, and I am striving to do so. With regard to Helkai... I was guilty of excess... But on that day each of us had his angel and his demon beside him, and we did not always listen to the angel of light... » The Zealot says: «Do you know that Nahum is crippled and his son was crushed by a wall or a landslip? Yes. On the day of His death. He was found later. Oh! much later, when he already was putrid. He was found by one who was coming to the mar­ ket. And Nahum was with others like him, and I do not know what happened to him, whether he was struck by a rock or he had a stroke of apoplexy. I know that he looks like shattered and does not even understand. He looks like a beast, he slobbers and howls, and yesterday with his only sound hand he caught by the throat his... master who had gone to him and he shouted and shouted: “Because of you! Because of you! ” If the servants had not rushed there... » «How do you know, Simon? » they ask the Zealot. «I saw Joseph yesterday» he replies laconically. 10«I think that the Master is late in coming. And I am wor­ ried» says James of Alphaeus. 318

«Let us go back... » suggests Matthew. «Or let us stop here at the little bridge» says Bartholomew. They stop. But James of Zebedee and the other James, An­ drew and Thomas, go back, and pensive, they look at the ground, they look at the houses. Andrew, growing pale, points at the wall of a house, where a red-brown spot stands out on the white of the lime, and he says: «It is blood! Perhaps Blood of the Master? Was He already losing blood here? Oh! tell me! » «And what do you want us to tell you, if none of us followed him? » says James of Alphaeus dejectedly. «But my brother, and above all John, followed Him... » «Not at once. Not at once. John told me that they followed Him from Malachi's house onwards. There was nobody here. None of us... » says James of Zebedee. They look, as if they were hypnotised, at the large dark spot on the white wall, a little off the ground, and Thomas remarks: «Not even the rain has washed it away. Not even the hailstones, which fell so heavily these past days, have scraped it... If I knew that it is His Blood, I would scrape that wall... » «Let us ask the people of the house. Perhaps they know... » suggests Matthew, who has joined them. «No, you know? They might recognise us as His. apostles, they might be enemies of the Christ and... » replies Thomas. «And we are still cowards... » ends James of Alphaeus with a deep sigh. Very slowly they have all approached that wall and they look... 11A woman passes by, a late-comer who is coming back from the fountain with pitchers dripping cold water. She watches them. She lays her pitchers on the ground and questions them. «Are you looking at that spot on the wall? Are you disci­ ples of the Master? You seem to be so, even if you are haggard­ faced and... even if I did not see you follow the Lord, when He passed by here, captured to be put to death. This makes me feel uncertain, because a disciple, who follows the Master in pleas­ ant hours and is proud to be His disciple, and looks severely at those who are not as prompt as he is to leave everything in or­ der to follow the Master, should follow the Master also in un-630. 11 319

pleasant hours. He should at least do that. And I have not seen you. No. I have not seen you. And if I did not see you, it means that I, a woman from Sidon, went behind Him Whom His Jew­ ish disciples did not follow. But I received a favour from Him. You... Had He perhaps never favoured you? It seems strange to me, because He helped Gentiles and Samaritans, sinners and also robbers, giving them eternal life, if He could no longer give them the life of their bodies. Did He perhaps not love you? Then that means that you were worse than asps and unclean hyenas, although, I really think that He loved also vipers and jackals, not because they are such, but because they were created by His Father. That is blood. Yes. It is blood. The blood of a wom­ an from the shores of the great sea. Once it was the land of the Philistines, and its inhabitants are still somewhat despised by the Hebrews. And yet she was able to defend the Master, un­ til her husband killed her, throwing her there with so much strength, after beating her, that her head was split, and brains and blood squirted out on the wall of the house, where her or­ phans are now weeping. But she had been helped. The Master had cured her husband, who was unclean with a horrible dis­ ease. So she loved the Master. She loved till she died for Him. She preceded Him in Abraham's bosom, as you say. Also An­ naleah preceded Him, and she also would have been able to die like that, if she had not died unexpectedly beforehand. And al­ so a mother, further up, has washed the street with her blood, with the blood of her womb opened by her brutal son, to defend the Master. And an old woman died of grief, when she saw Him, Who had given eyes back to her son, pass by wounded and beat­ en. And an old man, a beggar died, because he stood up to de­ fend Him, and his head was struck by the stone destined to the head of your Lord. Because you believed Him to be such, did you not? The valiant men of a king die around him. But none of you died. You were far away from those who were striking Him. Ah! no! One died. He killed himself. But not out of grief. Not to defend the Master. First he sold Him, then he pointed Him out with a kiss, then he killed himself. He had nothing else to do. He could not grow any more in iniquity. He was perfect. Like Beelzebub. The world would have stoned him to remove him from the earth. Oh! I think that that compassionate woman, 320

who died to prevent the Martyr from being struck, I think that old Anne, who died of grief seeing Him in that state, and the old beggar and Samuel's mother and the virgin who died and I, who am not able to go up to the Temple, because I feel sorry for the lambs and doves that are sacrificed, I think that we would have had the courage to stone him, and we would not have trembled seeing him torn by our stones... He was aware of that, and he spared the world the trouble of killing him, and he spared us the trouble of becoming executioners to avenge the Innocent... » She looks at them with contempt. Her contempt has become more and more evident as she has spoken. Her large black eyes have the hardness of the eyes of rapacious animals, while she looks at the group that does not know how to react and cannot react... The last word is hissed through her teeth: «Bastards! », and she picks up her pitchers and goes away, and she is happy that she has spat her scorn on the disciples who abandoned their Master... They are crushed, with their heads lowered, their arms hang­ ing, enervated... The truth overwhelms them. They meditate on the consequences of their cowardice... They are silent... They dare not look at one another. Even John and the Zealot, the two who are free from this fault, have the same attitude as the oth­ ers, probably because of their sorrow seeing their companions so mortified and because of their impossibility to cure the wound brought about by the sincere words of the woman... 12The road is by now in a dim light. The moon, in her last days, rises late, so twilight deepens quickly. There is dead silence. Not a noise or a human voice. And only the bubbling of the Kidron reigns in the silence. So, when Jesus' voice resounds, it makes them start, as if it were a frightening sound, whilst it is so gen­ tle when it says: «What are you doing here? I was waiting for you among the olive-trees... Why are you contemplating dead things when Life is awaiting you? Come with Me. » Jesus seems to be coming towards them from Gethsemane. He stops beside them. He looks at that spot, on which are fixed the terrified eyes of the apostles and He says: «That woman is already in peace. And she has forgotten her sorrow. Inactive for her children? No. Twice as active. And she will sanctify them, because that is all she asks of God. »630. 12 321

630. 13 630. 14He sets out and they follow Him, in silence. But Jesus turns round and says: «Why do you ask in your hearts: “And why does she not ask for the conversion of her hus­ band? She is not holy if she hates him... “ She does not hate him. She forgave him since the time he killed her. But, being a soul that has entered the Kingdom of Light, she can see with wisdom and justice. And she sees that there is no conversion and forgive­ ness for her husband. So she prays for those who may benefit by her prayer. 13No, it is not My blood. And yet I lost so much of it also on this road!... But the steps of My enemies have spread it, mixed it with dust and filth, and the rain has dissolved and car­ ried it away among the layers of dust. But there is so much of it, still visible... Because so much flowed out of Me that steps and water will not be able to cancel it easily. We will go together, and you will see My Blood shed for you... » «Where? Where does He want to go? To the place where He wept? To the Praetorium? » they ask each other. And John says: «But Claudia went away again two days af­ ter the Sabbath, and they say that she was indignant and even frightened of being near her husband... The Roman lance told me. Claudia, separates her responsibility from her husband's. Because she had warned him not to persecute the Just Man, as it is better to be persecuted by men rather than by the Most High, Whose Messiah was the Master. And neither Plautina nor Lydia are here. They followed Claudia to Caesarea. And Valeria has gone to Bether with Johanna. If they had been here, we could have gone in. But now... I do not know... Longinus is not here ei­ ther, as Claudia wanted him to escort her... » «It will be where you saw the grass wet with blood... » Jesus, Who is ahead of them, turns round and says: «At Gol­ gotha. There is so much of My Blood there, that the dust is like hard ferrous mineral. And there is someone who has preceded you... » 14«But it is an unclean place! » shouts Bartholomew. Jesus smiles compassionately and replies: «Every place in Je­ rusalem is unclean after the dreadful sin; and yet you feel no oth­ er uneasiness to stay there, except that of fear of the crowds... » «Highwaymen have always died there... » «I died there. And I have sanctified it forever. I solemnly tell 322

you, that until the end of times, there will be no holier place than it, and from all over the Earth and in all ages crowds will come to kiss that dust. And there is already someone who has preceded you, without fearing mockery and revenge, without being afraid of being contaminated. And yet, the person who has preceded you had double reason for being afraid of that. » «Who is it, Lord? » asks John, whose side Peter prods with his elbow to make him ask the question. «Mary of Lazarus! As she picked the flowers trampled on by My feet as I entered her house, before Passover, a souvenir of joy that she distributed to her companions, so now she went up to Calvary, and with her hands she dug the earth, hard with My Blood, and she came down with her load and laid it on My Moth­ er's lap. She was not afraid. And she was known as “the Sinner” and as “the disciple”. Neither She, Who in Her lap received that earth of the place of the Skull, thought She would be contami­ nated. My Blood has cancelled everything, and holy is the clod of earth where it fell. Tomorrow, before the sixth hour, you will go up to Golgotha. I will join you... But who wants to see My Blood, here it is. » He points at the parapet of the little bridge. «My mouth struck here, and blood came out... My mouth had ut­ tered but holy words, and words of love. So why was it struck, and why did no one treat it with a kiss?... » 15They go into Gethsemane. But Jesus first has to open a lock, that now blocks the entrance to the Garden of Olives. A new lock. A strong fence, with sharp points, tall, closed with a strong new lock. Jesus has the key, which is so new that it shines like steel, and He opens the lock in the light of a burning branch that Philip has lit in order to see, as it is now completely dark. «It was not here... Why?... » they whisper to one another, look­ ing at the enclosure that isolates Gethsemane. «Lazarus certain­ ly did not want anybody here any more. Look over there. Stones and bricks and lime. It is wood now, later it will be a wall... » Jesus says: «Come. Do not attend to dead things, I tell you... Here. You were here... And here I was surrounded and captured, and you ran away there... If this enclosure had been there at that time... It would have prevented you from running away at once. But how could Lazarus think, since he was so anxious to fol­630. 15 323

630. 16low Me, while you were anxious to run away, that you would run away? Am I making you suffer? I suffered previously. And I want to cancel that sorrow. Kiss Me, Peter... » «No, Lord! No! The gesture of Judas, here, at the same hour, no, no, no! » «Kiss Me. I want you to make with sincere love the insincere gesture of Judas. Afterwards you will be happy. We shall be hap­ pier. You and I. Come, Peter. Kiss Me. » Peter does not only kiss Him. With his tears he washes the cheek of the Lord and he withdraws, covering his face and sit­ ting on the ground to weep. One after the other, the others kiss Him in the same place. Some more, some less, they all have tears on their faces... 16«And now let us go. All together. I separated you from Me that evening after fortifying you with My Body, and for a few hours. But you fell immediately. Always remember how weak you were, and that without the help of God you would not be able to remain in justice for one hour. Here. Here I told those, who considered themselves the strongest, to keep watch, they considered themselves so strong as to ask to drink at My chal­ ice and to proclaim, even at the cost of their death, that they would not deny Me. And I left them, advising them to pray... I left them, and they fell asleep. Remember this and teach it: he who is left by Jesus, if he does not keep in touch with Him through prayer, is overcome by drowsiness and can be cap­ tured. If I had not waked you up, you could really have been killed in your sleep and have appeared at the judgement of God heavily laden with humanity. Come here... There you are! Lower the branch, Philip. There! Who wants to see some of My Blood, should look. Here, in the greatest anguish, like one who is dying, I sweated blood. Look... So much, that the earth is hard with it and the grass is still red, because the rain was not able to melt the clots of blood that had dried up among stalks and corollas. There! And I leaned there and the angel of the Lord hovered here to comfort Me in My will to do the Will of God. Because, remember this, if you always wish to do the Will of God, where the creature cannot persist, God comes with His angel to support the exhausted hero. When you are in anguish, do not be afraid of falling into cowardice or abjuration, if you 324

persist in wanting what God wants. God will make you giants of heroism, if you remain faithful to His will. Remember that! Remember that! I told you once that after the temptation in the desert I was assisted by angels. Now you must know that here also, after the extreme temptation, I was assisted by an angel. And the same will happen to you and to all those who will be My believers. Because I solemnly tell you that what I have had as help, you also will have. I would obtain it for you Myself, if it were not already the Father, in His loving justice, to grant it to you. Only your sorrow will always be inferior to Mine... Sit down. The moon is rising in the east. She will shed her light on us. I do not think that you will sleep tonight, although you are still so much and only men. No. You will not sleep because an agent, that you did not have previously, has entered into you. It is remorse. A torture, that is true. But it serves to pass to high­ er stages, both in good and in evil. In Judas of Kerioth, as he moved away from God, it brought about desperation and dam­ nation. In you who have never come away from the closeness to God-I can assure you, because in you there was not the will and the full consideration of what you were doing-it will cause a trustful repentance that will lead you to wisdom and justice. 17Remain where you are. I am withdrawing over there, within a stone's throw, awaiting dawn. » «Oh! do not leave us, Lord! You have said what we are, when we are far from You! » implores Andrew on his knees, his hands stretched out, as if he were begging for an offer of pity. «You have your remorse. It is a good friend in good people. » «Do not go away, Lord! You told us that we would pray to­ gether... » beseeches Thaddeus, who no longer dare take the friendly attitude of a relative towards the Risen Master and is standing with his tall person lightly bent forwards in venera­ tion. «And is meditation not the most active prayer? And have I not made you contemplate and meditate and have I not given a sub­ ject on which to meditate since I met you on the road, moving your hearts with true acts of holy feelings? This is prayer, men: to get in touch with the Eternal and with the things that help to lead the spirit far beyond the Earth, and from the meditation on the perfections of God and the miseries of man, of one's ego,630. 17 325

630. 18rouse acts of a will, which is either loving or repairing, but al­ ways adoring, even if it is a will rising from a meditation on a fault or a punishment. Evil and good serve for the final purpose, if one knows how to make use of them. I have told you many a time. Sin is an irremediable ruin only if it is not followed by re­ pentance and atonement. In the opposite case, the contrition of a heart makes a solid mortar to keep the foundations of holiness compact and its stones are good resolutions. Could you keep stones joined together without mortar? Without the substance, that is apparently ugly and base, but without which clean stones and polished marbles will not remain united together to form a building? » 18Jesus is on the point of going away. John, to whom his brother and the other James with Peter and Bartholomew have spoken in low voices, stands up and follows Him saying: «Jesus, my God. We were hoping to say the prayer to Your Father with You. Your prayer. We feel that we have been forgiven only a little, if You do not grant us to say it with You. We feel that we need it so much... » «Where two are united in prayer, I am in the middle of them. So say the prayer together, and I shall be among you. ». «Ah! You no longer judge us worthy of praying with You! » shouts Peter with his face concealed in the grass, not all clean of the divine Blood, and he weeps bitterly. James of Alphaeus exclaims: «We are unhappy, brot... Lord. » He corrects himself at once, saying: “Lord” instead of “brother”. And Jesus looks at him and says: «Why do you not say brother to Me, you, who are of My blood? A brother to all men, I am so twice, three times to you, as son of Adam, as son of David, as son of God. Complete your word. » «Brother, my Lord, we are unhappy and foolish, as You know, and the dejection in which we are makes us more foolish. How can we say Your prayer with our souls, if we do not know its meaning? » «How many times, as to boys under age, have I explained it to you! But more stubborn and obstinate than the most ab­ sent-minded pupil of a pedagogue, you have not remembered My word! » «That is true! But now our minds are fixed on our torture 326

of not having understood You... Oh! we have understood noth­ ing! I confess it on behalf of everybody! And we do not under­ stand You well yet, Lord. But, I beg You, take the indulgence for our evil from the same evil that makes us dull-witted. You had taken Your last breath and the great rabbi shouted the truth on the dullness of Israel, over there, at the foot of Your Cross. And You, omnipresent God, Spirit of God freed from the prison of the Body, heard those words: “Ages and ages of spiritual blindness are upon the interior sight”, and he made this request to You: “Since You are the Liberator, come into my poor thought, which is a prisoner of formulas”. O my adored and adorable Jesus, Who have saved us from the original Sin, taking our sins upon Your­ self and consuming them in the ardour of Your perfect love, take and consume also our intellects of obstinate Israelites, give us new mentalities, as pure as that of a new-born baby, make us lose our memories, to fill us only with Your wisdom. So many things of the past died on that horrible day. Dead like You. But now that You have risen from the dead, make a new thought come into our minds. Create new hearts and new minds for us, my Lord, and we shall understand You» begs John. 19«That task is not for Me, but for Him of Whom I spoke to you at the last Supper. Every word of Mine is lost in the abyss of your thoughts, all or in part, or remains locked and closed in its spirit. Only the Paraclete, when He comes, will draw My words from- your abyss and will open them to you, to make you understand the spirit of them. » «But You have infused Him into us» says the Zealot object­ ingly. «But You said that, when You had gone to the Father, He, the Spirit of Truth, would come» objects also Matthew with the Zealot. «Tell Me: when a baby is born, has he a soul infused in him? » «Of course he has! » they all reply. «But has that soul the Grace of God? » «No. There is the Sin of origin on it and it deprives it of Grace. » «And where do the soul and Grace come from? » «From God. » «Why then does God not give man a soul in grace directly? »630. 19 327

630. 20«Because Adam was punished, and we in him. But now that You have become the Redeemer, it will be so. » «No. It will not be so. Men will always be born impure in their souls, that God created and that Adam's inheritance has stained. But, through a rite that I will explain to you another day, the soul infused into man will be vivified by Grace, and the Spirit of the Lord will take possession of it. But you, who were baptised with water by John, will be baptised with Fire by the Power of God. And then the Spirit of God will really be in you. And it will be the Master, Whom men cannot persecute or drive away, and Who in your interior will explain the spirit of My words to you and many other instructions. I have infused it into you, because only through My merits everything can be obtained and be valid. God can be obtained and the word of a delegate of God can obtain va­ lidity. But the Spirit of Truth is not yet in you as Master. » «Well, let it be so. In due course it will come. But in the mean­ time, let us feel that You have forgiven us. Be our Master, my Lord. Again, again, because You said that we must forgive sev­ enty times seven» insists John and he concludes-he is always the most confiding and loving one-daring to take in his own hands Jesus' left Hand, which is hanging down His side and on which the moonlight seems to enlarge the hole of the nail, say­ ing: «Since You are the eternal Light, do not allow Your serv­ ants to remain in darkness» and he kisses His fingers lightly, on the tips, these fingers which have remained a little bent just like those of one who has been wounded and is cured, but the nerves are left slightly contracted. 20«Come. Let us go farther up and we will say the prayer to­ gether» says Jesus obligingly, leaving His hand in those of John, while He already walks towards the highest limit of Gethse­ mane, towards the higher road which, through the Field of the Galileans, goes to Bethany. Here also one can see that the delimitation works wanted by Lazarus are in course. Even more, here, farther away from the house of the keeper of the olive-grove, they have built a smooth high wall, that follows the hedge and the winding path that were the limit of Gethsemane. Jerusalem, below, comes slowly out of darkness, also on the western side, because the moon is now at her zenith and illu­ 328

minates everything with the white light of her thin crescent, as bright as a diamond flame laid on the dark firmament, where there are palpitating the shining corollas of an incalculable number of stars, of the unbelievable stars of the eastern skies. 21Jesus stretches out His arms in His usual attitude of prayer and intones: «Our Father Who art in Heaven. » He stops and comments: «That He is a Father is proved to you by the fact that He has forgiven you. You, obliged to be perfect more than anybody else, you, who have received so many favours, and so, as you say, unsuited for the mission, which Lord, who were not your Father, would not have punished you? I have not punished you. The Father has not punished you. Because the Son does what the Father does, because the Father does what the Son does, as we are one only Divinity united in Love. I am in the Father, and the Father is with Me. The Word is always near God, Who is without beginning. And the Word is before all things, since always, since an eternity named always, since an eternal pre­ sent near God, and is God like God, being the Word of the di­ vine Thought. 22So, when I shall have gone, and in this manner you will pray our, My, your Father, whereby we are brothers, I the first-born, you, the younger brothers, be always willing to see also Me in My Father and yours. Be willing to see the Word, Who was “the Master” for you, and loved you even to accepting death and be­ yond death, leaving Himself to you in food and drink, so that you may be in Me and I in you as long as the exile lasts, and then you and I in the Kingdom, for which I taught you to pray, saying: “Thy Kingdom come”, after you have implored that your work may sanctify the Name of the Lord, giving Him glory on Earth and in Heaven. Yes. There would be no Kingdom for you in Heav­ en, the Kingdom for those who will believe like you, if first you did not want the Kingdom of God in yourselves through the real practice of the Law of God and of My word, which is the perfec­ tioning of the Law, having given, in the time of Grace, the Law of the chosen ones, that is, of those who are, beyond the civil, moral, religious constitutions of the Mosaic time, already in the spiritu­ al Law of the time of Christ. You see what it is to have the closeness of God, but not God630. 21 630. 22 329

in you; what it is to have the word of God, but not the real prac­ tice of that word. Man has committed every crime by having God close to him, but not in his heart; by having the knowl­ edge of the word, but not the obedience to it. Everything! Eve­ rything because of that. Dullness and delinquency, deicide, be­ trayal, tortures, the death of the Innocent and of His Cain; eve­ rything has come through that. And yet, who was loved by Me like Judas? But he did not have Me-God in his heart. And he is the damned deicide, infinitely guilty as an Israelite and as a disciple, as a suicide and a deicide, in addition to his seven deadly sins and every other sin of his. 23You can now have the Kingdom of God in yourselves more easily, because I have obtained it for you with My death. I have redeemed you with My sorrow. Bear that in your minds. So let no one trample on Grace, because it cost the life and the Blood of a God. So let the Kingdom of God be in you, men, through Grace; let it be on the Earth, through the Church, let it be in Heaven, for the blessed souls who, having lived with God in their hearts, united to the Body of which Christ is the Head, united to the Vine of which every Christian is a branch, deserve to rest in the Kingdom of Him for Whom all things have been made: Me, Who am speaking to you and Who have given Myself to the Will of the Father, so that everything might be accomplished. I can there­ fore teach you, without hypocrisy, that you must say: “Thy; Will be done on Earth as It is in Heaven”. How I have done the will of My Father can be told even by the clods of earth, by plants, by flowers, by the stones in Palestine, by My wounded Body and by a whole population. Do as I did. To the very end. Even unto death on a cross, if God so wishes. Because, remember, I have done it, and there is no disciple who deserves mercy more than I do. And yet I have consumed the greatest sorrow. And yet I have obeyed with per­ petual renunciations. You know. You will understand even more in future when you resemble Me drinking a draught at My chal­ ice... Let this thought be constantly present to you: “Through His obedience to the Father, He saved us”. And if you want to be saviours, do what I have done. There will be some who will be acquainted with the cross, some with the tortures of tyrants, some with the torture of love, some with the exile from Heaven, 330630. 23

to which they will tend until a very late age before ascending there. Well, in everything let the will of God be done. Consider that the torment of death or the torment of life, while you would like to die to come where I am, are the same in the eyes of God, if they are suffered with cheerful obedience. They are His Will. So they are holy. 24“Give us this day our daily bread”. Day by day, hour by hour. It is faith. It is love. It obedience. It is humbleness. It is hope, this asking for the bread for one day, and accepting it as it is. Sweet today, bitter tomorrow, much, little, with spices or with ashes. Always as it is just. God, Who is a Father, gives it. So it is good. Another time I will speak to you of the other Bread, which it would be healthy to eat every day, and to pray the Father to keep it. Because woe betide that day and those places where there should be none through the will of men! Now you can see how mighty men are in their deeds of darkness. Pray the Father that He may defend His Bread and give you it. The more darkness will try to suffocate the Light and the Life, as it did on Prepara­ tion Day, the more He may give you of it. The second Preparation Day would be without resurrection. Remember that, all of you. If the Word can no longer be killed, His doctrine could still be killed and the freedom and will of loving Him could be extin­ guished in too many people. But then also Life and Light would come to an end for men. And woe betide that day! Let the Temple be an example for you. Remember, I said: “It is the great Corpse”. 25“Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against us”. Since you are all sinners, be meek with sinners. Remember My words: “Why do you observe the splinter in your brother's eye, if first you do not take the plank out of your own eye? ” That Spirit that I infused into you, that order that I gave you, grant you the authority to remit the sins of your neighbour, in the name of God. But how will you be able to do that, if God does not remit them to you? I will speak again of that. For the time being I say to you: Forgive those who offend you, in order to be forgiven and to be entitled to absolve or to condemn. He who is without sin can do so with full justice. He who does not forgive, while he is in sin and feigns to be scandalised, is a hypocrite and Hell awaits him. Because, if there is still mercy for wards, severe will be the ver­630. 24 630. 25 331

630. 26 630. 27 631. 1diet against the guardians of wards, guilty of the same or greater sins, although they had the fullness of the Spirit to assist them. 26“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”. That is humbleness, the fundamental stone of perfection. I solemnly tell you to bless those who humiliate you, because they give you what is necessary for your celestial thrones. No. Temptation is not a ruin, if man remains humbly near the Father and asks Him not to allow Satan, the world and the flesh to triumph over him. The crowns of the blessed souls are adorned with the gems of the temptations they overcame. Do not look for them. But do not be cowards when they come. Humble, and thus strong, shout to My Father and yours: “Deliver us from evil”, and you will defeat evil. And you will really sanctify the Name of God with your deeds, as I said at the beginning, because every man, when seeing you, will say: “God exists, because they live as gods, so perfect is their behaviour”, and they will come to God, multiplying the citizens of the Kingdom of God. Kneel down, that I may bless you and My blessing may open your minds to meditate. » 27They prostrate themselves on the ground and He blesses them, then He disappears, as if He were absorbed by a moon­ beam. Shortly afterwards the apostles raise their heads, surprised at not hearing any more words, and they realise that Jesus has disappeared... They prostrate themselves again with their faces on the ground, in the age-old fear of every Israelite who experi­ ences the sensation of having been in touch with God, as He is in Heaven. 631. The apostles go along the way of the Cross up to Golgotha. Their return to the Supper room. 14th April 1947. 1Jerusalem is already burning hot in the midday sun. A shady archivolt is a relief for one's eyes dazzled by the sun, that blaz­ es down on the white walls of houses and makes the surface of streets exceedingly hot. And the incandescent white of the walls and the dark of the archivolts make Jerusalem a whimsical pic-332

ture in black and white, a succession of bright lights and dim lights, and the contrast with the bright lights makes the latter look dark, a succession as tormenting as an obsession, because it deprives one of the faculty of sight, because the light is either too strong or too dim. People proceed with half-closed eyes, striv­ ing to walk fast in the areas of light and heat, slowing down un­ der the archivolts, where one must go slow, because the contrast between light and darkness prevents one from seeing anything, even if one's eyes are open. That is how the apostles proceed in a town that the midday heat makes deserted. And they perspire and wipe their faces and necks with their head-coverings and they pant... But when they have to leave the town, they no longer have the relief of the archivolts. The road that runs along the walls and disappear towards the north and the south like a dazzling ribbon of incandescent dust, gives the impression of a furnace ground. The heat rising from it is like that of an oven, a heat that dries one's lungs. The little torrent that flows beyond the walls has a thin trickle of water in the centre of its bed of stones, that the sun makes as white as desiccated skulls. The apostles rush towards that stream of water and drink it. They immerse their head-coverings into it, and after washing their faces, they put them on their heads still dripping. They wallow in it, in that thin trickle of water, with their bare feet. Of course, it is a very poor relief. The water is as warm as if it had been poured out of a pot hanging over a fire. And they say so: «It is warm and scanty. It tastes of mud and lye. When it is so little, it tastes of the washing done at dawn. » 2They begin to climb Golgotha. The scorched Golgotha, where 631. 2 the blazing sun has dried the sparse grass that looked like thin down on the yellowish mountain fifteen days previously. Now only stiff and very rare tufts of thorny plants, all aculei and no leaves, here and there prick up their skeleton-like stems, of a yellowish green because of the dust of the mountain, exactly like bones just taken out of the earth. Yes. They do look like bunches of desiccated bones stuck into the ground. There is one of them, which after a straight stem about two spans long, has a sudden bend that ends in five twigs after a kind of palette. It really looks like the hand of a skeleton, stretched out to catch whoever passes 333

631. 3by and hold him in that place of nightmares. «Do you want to take the long road or the short one? » asks John, who is the only one who has already been up that moun­ tain. «The shorter one! The shorter one! Let us be quick! One suf­ focates to death here! » they all say, except the Zealot and James of Alphaeus. «Let us go! » The stones of the paved street are as hot as plates taken out of a fire. «But it is not possible to go on here! It is impossible! » they say after a few metres. «And yet the Lord climbed up as far as that spot, where that thorn-bush is, and He was already wounded and was carrying the cross» remarks John, who has been weeping since he has been on Calvary. They proceed. But they soon throw themselves on the ground, utterly exhausted and gasping for air. Their head-coverings which they had dipped into the stream, have already been dried by the sun, on the other hand their garments are wet with per­ spiration. «Too steep and too hot! » says Bartholomew, puffing and blowing. «Yes. Far too much! » confirms Matthew, who is congested. «The sun is the same everywhere. But to go uphill, let us take that road. It is longer, but not so toilsome. Longinus also took it to make it possible for the Lord to climb it. See there, where that rather dark stone is? The Lord fell there and we thought He was dead, as we were looking from there, from the north, over there, see? where that cavity is, before the slope rises steeply. He did not move any more. Oh! the cry of His Mother! It resounds in me here! I will never forget that cry! I will not forget any of Her moaning... Ah! there are things that make one an old man in one hour and they give the measure of the sorrow of the world... Come on, let us go! Our Martyr, the Lord, did not stop here as long as you have done! » says John urging them. 3They stand up looking astonished and they follow him as far as the intersection of the paved road with the spiral path, and 334

they go along the latter. Yes. It is not so steep. But as far as the sun is concerned! Its heat is even stronger, as the slope, which the path skirts, reflects its heat on the wayfarers already scorched by the sun. «But why make us come up here at this time?! Could He not have made us come up at dawn, as soon as there was enough light to see where we were putting our feet? All the more that we were outside the walls and we could have come without awaiting the gates to be opened. » They complain and grumble among them­ selves. Men, still and always men, now, after the tragedy of Good Friday, which is more the tragedy of their proud and cowardly humanity, than a tragedy of the Christ, Who is always the trium­ phant hero even when dying; men as they were previously, when they were inebriated with the shouts of hosannas of the crowds, and they were overjoyed thinking of the feasts and sumptuous banquets in Lazarus' house... Deaf, blind, dull-minded to all the signs and warnings of the impending storm. James of Alphaeus and the Zealot are weeping silently. Al­ so Andrew no longer complains after John's last words. John speaks also now, remembering, and his recollections are a brotherly admonition, an exhortation not to complain... He says: «This is the hour in which He came up here. And He had already walked for a long time. Oh! I could say that, since He left the Supper room, He did not have a moment's rest! And it was a very warm day! There was the sultriness of the oncoming storm... And He was burning with a high temperature. Nike says that she had the impression of touching fire when she laid the linen cloth on His face. The place where He met the women must be somewhere here... As we were on the opposite side, we did not see the meeting. But, as Nike and the other women told me... Come on. Let us go! Just consider that the Roman ladies, who are accustomed to moving about in litters, walked up this road exposed to the sun from the morning, from the third hour, when He was sentenced to death. Oh! they, the heathen wom­ en, preceded everybody, and they sent slaves to warn the others who were absent for some reason... » 4They proceed... That road is a burning torture! They even 631. 4 stagger. 335

Peter says: «If He does not work a miracle, we shall fall struck by the sun. » «Yes. My heart is burning in my throat» says Matthew in agreement. Bartholomew no longer speaks. He seems to be inebriated. John holds him by the elbow and supports him, as he did with the Mother on the cruel Good Friday. And to comfort them he says: «Not far from here there is some shade. Where I took the Mother. We will rest there. » They proceed, more and more slowly... They are now at the rock where Mary was. And John tells them. There is in fact a little shade. But the air is still and hot. «If there were at least a stalk of anise, a mint leaf, a blade of grass. My mouth is like parchment placed near a fire. But noth­ ing! Nothing! » moans Thomas, whose veins are swollen at his neck and forehead. «I would give the rest of my life for a drop of water» says James of Zebedee. Judas Thaddeus bursts into tears and shouts: «My poor broth­ er, how much You suffered! He said... He said, do you remem­ ber? that He was dying of thirst! Oh! now I understand! I had not understood the full meaning of those words! He was dying of thirst! And there was not one who gave Him a drop of water, while He was still able to drink! And He was feverish, in addi­ tion to the sun! » «Johanna had taken Him a refreshment... » says Andrew. «He was no longer able to drink, by that time! He could not speak any more... When He met His Mother over there, ten steps from here, all He could say was: “Mother! ”, and He could not even kiss Her, not even from afar, although Simon from Cyrene had relieved Him of the cross. His lips were dry, hard­ ened by the wounds... Oh! I could see Him clearly, from behind the line of legionaries! Because I did not pass here. I would have taken His cross, if they had allowed me to pass! But they were afraid for me... because of the crowd that wanted to stone us... He could not speak... or drink... or kiss... It was almost impos­ sible for Him to look with His painful eyes through the crusts of blood that ran down from His forehead!... His garment was torn near His knee, that one could see wounded, bleeding... His 336

hands were swollen and wounded... He had a wound on His chin and cheek... The cross had made a wound on His shoulder, al­ ready cut by the scourging... The ropes had cut into His waist... His hair was dripping with the blood of the wounds made by the thorns... He had... » «Be quiet! Be quiet! It is not possible to listen. Be quiet! I beg and I order you! » shouts Peter, who seems to be tortured. «It is not possible to listen to me! You cannot listen to me! But I had to see and hear Him in His torture! And His Mother? What about His Mother, then? » They bend their heads, sobbing and they resume going on... They no longer complain. But now they all weep over Christ's sorrows. 5They are now at the top. On the first esplanade: a slab of fire. The reflection of the heat is such that the earth seems to be trembling, because of that phenomenon caused by the sun on the burning sands of deserts. «Come. Let us go up here. The centurion made us pass here. Me as well. He thought I was Mary's son. The women were over there. And the shepherds there. And over there the Judaeans... » John points out the various places and concludes: «But the crowd was below, below, they covered the slope down to the valley, down to the road. They were on the walls, on the terraces near the walls. As far as one could see. I saw that when the sun began to be veiled. Previously it was as it is now, and I could not see... » In fact Jerusalem looks like a mirage trembling down at the bottom. The excess of light acts as a veil for those who want to see it. And John says: «In other hours-Mary of Lazarus said so, but I did not know when and why she had come here-one can see the black remains of the houses set on fire by lightning. The houses of the most guilty ones... of many, at least, among them... Look! Here (John counts his steps, he reconstructs the scene) Longinus was here and Mary and I here. And here was the cross of the repentant robber and over there the other one. And this is where they cast lots for His garments. And over there the Mother fell when He died... and from here I saw His Heart be­ ing pierced (John becomes as white as death) because His Cross was here» and he kneels down on the ground, worshipping with his face on the earth that had been dug in this way: 631. 5 337

631. 6 631. 7that is along the whole length of earth covered with blood under the transverse bar of the cross and around the vertical stake of it. The Magdalene must have worked hard to dig so much earth, about a good span deep, in a soil so hard, mixed with stones and rubble, that make it a compact crust! They have now thrown themselves on the ground to kiss the dust, which they now wet with their tears... 6John is the first to stand up, and lovingly pitiless, he recalls every episode... He no longer feels the heat of the sun... Nobody feels it... He tells them how Jesus refused the wine with myrrh, how He took His clothes off and put on His Mother's veil, how He appeared so badly scourged and wounded, how He lay down on the cross and shouted at the first nail, and then He no longer shouted, so that His Mother should not suffer so much, and how they lacerated His wrist and dislocated His arm to pull it to the right point and how, when He had been completely nailed, they turned the cross over to hammer in the nails, and it lay heavy on the Martyr, Whose panting could be heard, and the cross was turned over again and raised while they were dragging it, and it was dropped into the hole and earthed up, and how His Body fell down tearing His hands, and the crown moving tore His head, and the words He spoke to His Father in Heaven, His words ask­ ing forgiveness for those who crucified Him and forgave the re­ pentant robber, and His words to His Mother and to John, and the arrival of Joseph and Nicodemus, so openly heroic in defying the whole world, and the courage of Mary of Magdala, and His cry full of anguish to His Father Who had abandoned Him, and His thirst, and the vinegar with gall, and His last agony, and His feeble entreaty to His Mother, and Her words, with His soul al­ ready at the point of death because of the torture, the torture... and His resignation and abandonment to God, and His last hor­ rible convulsion and the cry that made the world tremble, and Mary's cry when She saw Him dead... «Be quiet! Be quiet! Be quiet! » shouts Peter, and he seems to be pierced by the lance. Also the others implore him saying: «Be silent! Be silent!... » 7«I have nothing further to say. The sacrifice was over. The burial... our torture, not His. There is no value in it other than the Mother's grief. Our torture! Does it perhaps deserve corn-338

passion? Let us give Him it, instead of asking compassion for ourselves. We have always avoided sorrow, fatigue and aban­ donment too much, leaving all that to Him, to Him alone. We have really been worthless disciples, as we loved Him for the joy of being loved, out of pride of being great in His kingdom, but we did not love Him in His sorrow... Now no longer so. Here. We must swear here, this is an altar, and it is high up, facing Heaven and Earth, that it will no longer be so. Now joy for Him, the cross for us. Let us swear it. It is the only way to give peace to our souls. Here Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, the Lord died, to be the Saviour and Redeemer. Let the man, that is, what we are, die here, and the true disciple rise. Rise! Let us swear in the Holy Name of Jesus Christ that we want to embrace His doctrine to the extent of being able to die for the redemption of the world. » John seems a seraph. While he is gesticulating his head-cov­ ering has fallen off, and his fair hair shines in the sun. He has climbed on some rubble thrown on one side, probably the sup­ ports of the crosses of the robbers, and he unintentionally takes the stretched-out arms attitude, that Jesus often took when teaching, and in particular the attitude He had on the cross. The others look at him, so handsome, so fervent, so young, the youngest of them all, and so mature spiritually. Calvary has made him reach a perfect age... They look at him and shout: «We swear it! » «Let us pray then, so that the Father may ratify our oath: “Our Father Who art in Heaven... ”» The chorus of the eleven voices becomes confident, more and, more confident as it proceeds. And Peter beats his breast while he says: «forgive us our trespasses», and they all kneel down when they say the last supplication: «deliver us from evil. » They remain so, bent to the ground, meditating... 8Jesus is among them. I have not seen when and whence He appeared. One would say from that part of the mountain that is inaccessible. He shines with love in the bright midday light and He says: «He who remains in Me will have no harm from the Evil One. I solemnly tell you that those who are united to Me in serv­ ing the Most High Creator, Whose desire is the salvation of every man, will be able to expel demons, to make reptiles and poisons631. 8 339

harmless, to pass among wild beasts and through flames with­ out being hurt, for all the time that God wants them to remain on the Earth to serve Him. » «When did You come, Lord? » they say raising their heads, but remaining on their knees. «Your oath called Me. And now, now that the feet of My apos­ tles have trodden on these clods, go down quickly to town, to the Supper room. The women from Galilee will leave in the even­ ing with My Mother. You and John will go with them. We will all meet in Galilee, on the Tabor» He says to the Zealot and John. «When, Lord? » «John will know and he will tell you. » «Are You leaving us, Lord? Will You not bless us? We need Your blessing so much. » «I will give you it here and in the Supper room. Prostrate yourselves! » He blesses them, and the brightness of the sun envelops Him as in His Transfiguration, but here it conceals Him. Jesus is no longer there. They look up. There is nothing but the sun and the parched earth... «Let us get up and go! He has gone! » they say sadly. «His staying with us is becoming shorter and shorter! » «But today He looked happier than yesterday evening. Don't you think so, brother? » Thaddeus asks James of Alphaeus. «Our oath has made Him happy. May you be blessed, John, for making us take it! » says Peter, embracing John. «I was hoping that He would speak of His Passion! Why did He make us come here and then say nothing? » asks Thomas. «We will ask Him this evening» says Andrew. «Yes. But let us go now. It is a long way and we want to spend some time with Mary, before She goes away» says James of Al­ phaeus. «Another pleasantness that comes to an end! » says Thaddeus with a sigh. «We are remaining orphans! What shall we do? » They turn towards John and the Zealot and, with a touch of envy in their voices, they say: «You, at least, are going with the Mother! And you remain with Her, all the time. » John makes a gesture, as if to say: «It is so. » But they, whose 340

envy is not malicious but gentle, say at once: «However, it is right. Because you were here with Her and you had to forgo be­ ing here out of obedience. We... » 9They begin to descend. But as soon as they set foot on the 631. 9 second esplanade, the lower one, they see a woman who arrives there, in the sun, from the steep road, and who looks them up and down without speaking, directing her steps resolutely to the upper esplanade. «People are already coming here! It is not only Mary who comes. But what is she doing? She is weeping, looking at the ground. Did she perhaps lose something on that day? » they ask one another. In fact it may be so, because one cannot see who she is. The face of the woman is completely covered with her veil. Thomas shouts in his strong deep voice: «Woman! What have you lost? » «Nothing. I am looking for the place of the Lord's Cross. I have a brother who is dying and the good Master is no longer on the Earth... » she says weeping under her veil. «Men have driven Him away! » «He has risen, woman. He exists forever. » «I know that He exists forever. Because He is God, and God does not perish. But He is not among us any more. A world did not want Him and He has gone away. A world has denied Him, even His disciples abandoned Him as if He were a highway­ man, and He has abandoned the world. And I have come look­ ing for a little of His Blood. I have faith that it will cure my brother, more than the imposition of the hands of His disciples, because I do not believe that they can work miracles after being unfaithful. » «The Lord was here not long ago. He has risen in soul and body and is still among us. The perfume of His blessing is still on us. Look, He rested His feet here only a short while ago» says John. «No. I am looking for a drop of His Blood. I was not here and I do not know the place... » she says, while she is bent, searching the ground. John says to her: «This is the place of His cross. I was here. » «Were you? As a friend or as one of those who crucified Him? People say that only one of His favourite disciples was under His 341

631. 10 631. 11cross, and a few more disciples faithful to Him, near here. But I should not like to speak to one of His executioners. » «I am not, woman. Look, here where the cross was, there is still earth red with His blood, although they have dug it. He lost so much blood that it penetrated deeply. Take this. And may your faith be rewarded. » John with his fingers has dug in the hole where the cross was, and has taken out some reddish earth, that the woman places in a little linen cloth, and thanking him, she goes away quick with her treasure. «You did the right thing in not revealing who we are. » «Why did you not say who you are? » say the apostles. As usu­ al, human thoughts are contrasting. John looks at them but does not speak. He is the first to set out down the steep paved road. 10If it is easier to descend than to ascend, the sun is still very hot, and when they are down at the foot of Golgotha, they are really very thirsty. But there are some sheep in the stream and some shepherds who have certainly come out of some pen nearby to pasture them before evening. The water is muddy and it is not possible to drink it. Their thirst is such that Bartholomew addresses a shepherd saying: «Have you a drop of water in your flask? » The man looks at them severely and is silent. «A little milk, then. The udders of your sheep are swollen. We will pay for it. We should have liked something cold to drink, but it is enough to have a drink. » «1 have neither water nor milk for those who abandoned their Master. I recognise you, you know? I saw you one day at Bethzur and I listened to you. You, exactly you, who are ask­ ing... But I did not see you when I met those who were carry­ ing the killed Master down. Only that one was there. There was no water for Him, I was told by those who were on the moun­ tain. And there is no water for you either. » He whistles to his dog, be gathers the sheep, and goes away northwards, where the ground begins to rise and is covered with olive-trees and strewn with grass. The depressed apostles cross the bridge and go into town. 11They walk close to the walls, their head-coverings lowered over their eyes, stooping a little. Because the roads are becoming 342

busy again with pedestrians, as the great heat of the early after­ noon hours is over. But they must cross the whole town, before arriving at the house of the Supper room, and there are too many people who know the apostles and consequently it is practically impos­ sible for them to pass through without any incident. And they are soon met with a lashing burst of laughter, while a scribe (I really thought I was not going to see any of them, which made me happy) shouts to the people, who are numerous in that nar­ row cross road where a fountain gurgles: «There they are! Look! Here are the remains of the army of the great king! The valiant faint-hearted disciples of the seducer. Contempt and mockery on them. And the pity one has for madmen! » It is the beginning of a turmoil of sneers. Some shout: «Where were you when He was suffering? »; some: «Are you convinced now that He was a false prophet? »; and some: «In vain you have stolen and concealed Him. The idea is dead. The Nazarene is dead. Jehovah has struck the Galilean by lightning. And you with Him»; and some with false compassion: «Leave them alone. They have become aware of it and have repented, too late, but still in time to run away at the right moment! »; and some ha­ rangue the common people, consisting mainly of women, who seem inclined to side with the apostles, saying: «As you still doubt our justice, let the attitude of the most faithful followers of the Nazarene enlighten you. If He had been God, He would have fortified them. If they had recognised Him as the true Messiah, they would not have run away, considering that no human power could triumph over the Christ. Instead He died in the presence of the people. And in vain His corpse has been stolen, after they at­ tacked the guards who had fallen asleep. Ask the guards wheth­ er that is the truth. He is dead, and His people have been scat­ tered, and great in the eyes of God is he who frees the holy soil of Jerusalem from the last traces of Him. Anathema on the follow­ ers of the Nazarene! Get stones, O holy people, and let us stone them outside the walls. » It is too much for the still shaky courage of the apostles! They have already withdrawn a little towards the walls, in order not to instigate the rising with an imprudent challenge to the accus­ ers. But now, rather than prudence, fear is the winner. And they 343

turn round and save themselves by running away towards the gate. James of Alphaeus and James of Zebedee, with John, Peter and the Zealot, are those who, being more calm and having more self-control, follow their companions without running. And an odd stone reaches them before they go out of the gate, and above all they are struck with a lot of dirt. 12The guards, who have come out of the guard-room, ensure that they are not followed beyond the walls. But they run and run and take shelter in the apple-orchard of Joseph, where the Sepulchre was. The place is calm and silent, and pleasant is the light under the trees that in those days have come into leaf, still thin, but so emerald green as to form a veil of a gentle hue under the strong trunks. They throw themselves on the ground, to overcome their palpitation. At the end of the vegetable garden a man is hoeing and earth­ ing up vegetables, helped by a young man, and he is not aware of them, who are hiding behind a hedge. After scanning the sky and saying in a loud voice: «Come, Joseph, and bring the donkey to tie it to the water-wheel», he heads towards them, where there is a rustic well, hidden in a group of bushes that shade it. «What are you doing? Who are you? What do want in the vegetable gar­ den of Joseph of Arimathea? And you, fool, why do you leave the gate open, that Joseph wants closed, now that he has put it there? Do you not know that he does not want anybody here, where the Lord was laid? » I tell the truth when I say that, in the pain of assisting at Je­ sus' deposition, and in the amazement of His Resurrection, I had never noticed whether the vegetable garden, in addition to the enclosure of a green hedge of boxes and bushes, had a gate or not, but I think it was put there recently, because it is completely new and it is supported by two square pillars, the plaster of which does not look old. Also Joseph, like Lazarus, has enclosed the places sanctified by Jesus. John stands up, with the Zealot and James of Alphaeus, and without any fear he says: «We are the apostles of the Lord. I am John, this is Simon, a friend of Joseph, and this is James, a broth­ er of the Lord. The Lord had called us to Golgotha and we went. He ordered us to go to the house where His Mother is, and the 344631. 12

crowds have chased us. We have come in here, awaiting even­ ing... » 13«But are you wounded? And you! and you! Come, that I may 631. 13 help you. Are you thirsty? You are panting. You... quick, draw some water. The first water is pure, afterwards the buckets make it muddy. And give them some to drink, then wash some of that fresh lettuce, and oil them with the oil we use to tie grafts. I have nothing else to give you. My house is not here. But, if you wait, I will take you with me... » «No. No. We must go to the Lord. May God reward you. » They have a drink and they let them dress their wounds. They all have wounds on their heads. The Jews are good shots! «Go out on the road, and look, without drawing people's at­ tention, whether there is any spy» the gardener orders the boy. «There is no one, father. The road is deserted» says the boy coming back. «Have a look towards the door and come back quickly. » He picks some anise stalks and offers them, apologising that he has nothing but legumes and those anises, as the fruit trees have just lost their blossoms. The boy comes back. «Nobody, father. The road on the other side of the door is deserted. » «Let us go, then. Harness the donkey to the cart and throw the refuse of the herbs on it. We shall look like men who are com­ ing back from the country. Come with me. You will go the long way round... But it is better than being pelted with stones. » «We shall always have to enter the town... » «Yes. But we will go in by a different part, along dark lanes. Come without fear. » He locks the strong gate with a big key, he makes the older ones get on the cart, he gives hoes and rakes to the others, he puts a bundle of trimmings on Thomas' back and a bale of hay on John's, and he goes away resolutely, along the walls south­ wards. «But your house... It is desert here. » «The house is over there, on the other side, and will not run away. My wife will wait. First I serve the servants of the Lord. » He looks at them... «Eh! We all make mistakes! I was frightened as well! And we are all hated because of His Name. Even Joseph. 345

But what does it matter? God is with us. People!... They hate and love. They love and hate. And then! What they do today, they for­ get tomorrow. Of course... If there were no hyenas! But they are the ones who instigate the people. They are furious because He has risen. Oh! if He only showed Himself on the top of a pinna­ cle of the Temple, so that the people would be certain that He has risen. Why does He not do that? I believe. But not everybody is capable of believing. And they give large sums of money to those who tell the people that He has been stolen by you, when He was already decomposed, and that He has been buried or cremated in a grotto of Josaphat. » They are now in the southern side of the town, in the Hinnom valley. «There you are. There is the Zion Gate. Do you know how to get to the house from there? It is not far. » «We know. May God be with you because of your kindness. » «As far as I am concerned, you are always the saints of the Master. You are men and I am a man. He alone is more than Man and was able not to tremble. I can understand and pity. And I say that you, who are weak today, will be strong tomorrow. Peace to you. » He relieves them of the herbs and of the agricultural tools and goes back, while they enter the town as fast as hares and steal away along suburban lanes towards the house of the Sup­ per room. 14But the misfortunes of that day are not yet over. A group of legionaries, on their way to a nearby inn, meets them, and one watches them and points them out to the others. And they all laugh. And when the poor ill-treated disciples are compelled to pass before them, one of the soldiers leaning against the door addresses them: «Hey! Calvary did not stone you and men have struck you? By Jove! I thought you were more courageous! And that you were not afraid of anything, since you had the cour­ age to climb up there. Have the stones of the mountain not re­ proached you for being cowardly? And were you so daring as to go up there? I have always seen guilty people run away from the places that reminded them of their sin. Nemesis pursues them. Perhaps she dragged you up there to make you tremble with hor­ ror today, since you did not tremble with pity, then. » 346631. 14

A woman, probably the mistress of the tavern, comes to the door and laughs. She has the frightening face of a rascal and she shouts in a shrill voice: «Hebrew women, look at what your wombs produce! Vile perjurers, who come out of their dens when the danger is over! Roman wombs conceive nothing but heroes. Come and drink to the greatness of Rome. Choice wines and beautiful, girls... » and she goes away, followed by the soldiers, into her dark cave. 15A Hebrew woman looks at them-there are some women in the street with amphorae, where one can hear the fountain gurgle near the house of the Supper room-and she takes pity on them. She is an elderly woman. She says to her companions: «They made a mistake... but a whole people did wrong. » She ap­ proaches the apostles and greets them: «Peace to you. We do not forget... Tell us only this. Has the Master really risen from the dead? » «He has risen. We swear to it. » «Then, be not afraid. He is God, and God will triumph. Peace to you, brothers. And tell the Lord to forgive this people. » «And we ask you to pray that the people may forgive us and forget the scandal we have given. Women, I, Simon Peter, ask you to forgive me. » And Peter weeps... «We are mothers and sisters and wives, man. And your sin is that of our sons, brothers and husbands. May the Lord have mer­ cy on everybody. » These pious women have accompanied them to the house and they knock at the closed door. And Jesus opens the door, filling the dark room with His glorified person, and He says: «Peace to you for your compassion. » The women are petrified with astonishment. They remain so, until the door is closed on the apostles and on the Lord. They then come to themselves. «Have you seen Him? It was He. Handsome! More than pre­ viously. And alive! Not a phantom! A real man. His voice! His smile! He moved His hands. Did you notice how red were His Wounds? No, I was watching His chest breathe like that of a liv­ ing person. Oh! let no one come and say it is not true! Let us go! Let us go and tell everybody! Let us knock at the door to see Him again. What are you saying? He is the Son of God, He has ris­631. 15 347

631. 16en. It is already a great thing that He has shown Himself to us, poor women! He is with His Mother, the women disciples and the apostles. No. Yes... » The wise ones win. The group goes away. 16In the meantime Jesus has gone into the Supper room with His apostles. He watches them and smiles. They have taken their head-coverings off, which before entering the house they were wearing like bandages, and they put them on again as is custom­ ary. So their bruises can no longer be seen. They sit down tired and silent, more grieved than tired. «You are late» says Jesus kindly. Silence. «Are you not going to say anything to Me? Speak up! I am al­ ways Jesus. Has your boldness of today already vanished? » «Oh! Master! Lord! » shouts Peter, falling on his knees at Je­ sus' feet. «Our boldness has not vanished. But we are destroyed as we realise the harm we have done to Your Faith. We are crushed! » «Pride dies, humbleness is born. Knowledge rises, love in­ creases. Be not afraid. You are becoming apostles, now. That is what I wanted. » «But we shall not be able to do anything any more! The peo­ ple, and they are right, deride us! We have destroyed Your work. We have destroyed Your Church! » They are all distressed. They shout and gesticulate... Jesus is solemnly calm. Sustaining His words with a gesture, He says: «Peace! Peace! Not even Hell will destroy My Church. It will not be the unsteadiness of a stone, not fixed properly yet, that will cause the building to perish. Peace! Peace! You will work. And you will do much good, because now you humbly ac­ knowledge what you are, because now you are wise with a great wisdom: the knowledge that every act has very wide repercus­ sions, at times, indelible, and that who is high up-remember what I told you* about the lamp that is to be placed high up so that it may be seen, and just because it is seen by everybody its flame must be pure-and that who is high up has the obligation, more than those who are not high up, to be perfect. See, My chil­ dren? What passes unnoticed or excusable when it is done by a * what I told you, in 169. 7. 348

believer, does not pass unnoticed if it is done by a priest, and the judgement of the people is severe. But your future will cancel your past. I did not speak to you on Golgotha, but I let the world speak. I comfort you. Come on, do not weep. 17Take some refresh­ ment now, and let Me cure you. So. » He touches their wounded heads lightly. Then He says: «But you had better go away from here. That is why I said: “Go to Mount Tabor to pray”. You will be able to stay in the nearby villages and go up every morning at dawn awaiting Me. » «Lord, the world does not believe that You have risen» says Thaddeus in a low voice. «1 will convince the world. I will help you to defeat the world. Be faithful to Me. I do not ask for anything else. And bless those who humiliate you, because they sanctify you. » He breaks the bread, He divides it into parts, He offers it, hands it out, saying: «This is My viaticum for you who are going away. I have already prepared the food there for My pilgrims. Do the same yourselves, in future, with those among you who will be leaving. Be paternal to all the believers. Everything I do, or I make you do, do it yourselves as well. In future, make also the journey to Calvary, meditating and making people meditate on the stations of the Cross. Contemplate! Do contemplate My sor­ rows. Because it is through them, not through the present glory, that I have saved you. In the other room there is Lazarus with his sisters. They have come to say goodbye to the Mother. You may go in, too, because My Mother will be leaving shortly in Lazarus' wagon. Peace be with you. » He stands up and goes out quickly. 18«Lord! Lord! » shouts Andrew. «What do you want, brother? » asks Peter. «I wanted to ask Him so many things. I wanted to inform Him of those who ask to be cured... I don't know! When He is among us, we are not able to say anything! » and he runs away looking for the Lord. «It is true! We are like absent-minded people! » they all agree. «And yet He is so good to us. He called us: “children” with so much kindness that it opened my heart! » exclaims James of Al­ phaeus. «But He is so much God, now! I tremble when He is near me, as if I were near the Holy of Holies» says Thaddeus. 631. 17 631. 18 349

632. 1 632. 2Andrew comes back: «He is no longer here. Space, time and walls are subjected to Him. » «He is God! He is God! » they also say, full of veneration... 632. Jesus appears to various people in different places. 16th and 17th April 1947. I. To Annaleah's mother. 1Eliza, Annaleah's mother, is weeping disconsolately in her house, closed in a little room, where there is a small bed with­ out any bedclothes, probably Annaleah's bed. Her head is resting on her arms, which, in turn, are lying stretched out on the little bed, as if she wanted to embrace it all. Her body lies heavy on her knees in a languid posture. There is nothing vigorous about her but her tears. A faint light comes in through the open window. The day has just dawned. But there is a bright light when Jesus enters. I say: enters, meaning that He is in the room, whilst previously He was not. And I will always say so to mean His appearing in a closed place, without repeating myself as to how He shows Himself from behind a great brightness, which recalls that of the Trans­ figuration, from behind a white fire-allow me the comparison -that seems to melt walls and doors to allow Jesus to enter with His real, breathing, solid, glorified Body: a fire, a brightness that closes itself in Him and conceals Him when He goes away. But afterwards, it takes the beautiful aspect of the Risen Master, but a Man, a real Man, a hundred times more beautiful than He was before His Passion. It is He, but it is He the glorious King. 2 «Why are you weeping, Eliza? » I do not know how the woman does not recognise the unmis­ takable voice. Perhaps sorrow overwhelms her. She replies as if she were speaking to a relative, who has probably come to her af­ ter Annaleah's death. «Did you hear those men yesterday evening? He was nothing. Magic power, but not divine. And I was resigning myself to the death of my daughter, thinking that she was loved by God, in peace... He had told me!... » she weeps more loudly. «But many have seen Him risen. God only can raise Himself from the dead by Himself. » 350

«That is what I also told those people yesterday. You heard me. I fought against their words. Because their words were the death of my hope, of my peace. But they-did you hear them?-they said: “It was all a make-believe of His followers, in order not to admit that they were fools. He is dead, dead and buried, and decom­ posed, they have stolen and destroyed His corpse, and now they say that He has risen”. That is what they said... And that is why the Most High sent the second earthquake, to make them feel His wrath for their sacrilegious lie. Oh! I have no more consolation. » «But if you saw the risen Lord with your own eyes, and you touched Him with your own hands, would you believe?... » «I am not worthy of that... But I should certainly believe! It would be sufficient for me to see Him. I should not dare touch His Body because, if it were so, it would be a divine body, and a woman cannot approach the Holy of Holies. » 3«Raise your head, Eliza, and see Who is standing in front of you! » The woman raises her white-haired head, her face disfigured by tears, and she sees... She drops even lower on her heels, she rubs her eyes, she opens her mouth to utter a cry that wants to come up, but is stifled in her throat by amazement. «It is I. The Lord. Touch My Hand. Kiss it. You sacrificed your daughter to Me. You deserve it. And on this hand find again the spiritual kiss of your child. She is in Heaven. She is blessed. You will speak to the disciples about that and about this day. » The woman is so enraptured that she dare not make the ges­ ture, and it is Jesus Himself who presses the tips of His fingers against her lips. «Oh! You have really risen!!! Happy! Happy I am! May You be blessed for comforting me! » She stoops to kiss His feet, and she does so, and she remains like that. The supernatural light envelops the Christ in its brightness and the room is devoid of Him. But the mother's heart is full of unshakeable certainty. II. To Mary of Simon at Kerioth, with Anne, the mother of Jo­ hanna, and old Ananias. 4The house of Anne, the mother of Johanna. The country house where Jesus, in the company of Judas' mother, worked the mira­632. 3 632. 4 351

cle* of curing Anne. Here also there is a room and a woman lying on a bed. A woman who is altered beyond recognition by mortal anguish. Her face is worn out. Fever devours it, inflaming her cheekbones, so sunken are her cheeks. Her eyes, black ringed, red with fever and tears, are half closed under her swollen eye­ lids. Where there is no reddening caused by fever, her complex­ ion is yellowish, greenish, as if bile were spread in her blood. Her lean arms and thin hands are relaxed on the bedclothes, which are raised by her rapid panting. Near the sick woman, who is no one else but Judas' mother, there is Anne, Johanna's mother. She wipes perspiration and tears, she waves a fan of palm, she changes the cloths, dipped in spicy vinegar, on the forehead and throat of the sick woman, she caresses her hands and loose hair, that in a short time has become more white than black, and is spread on the pillow, and, wet as it is with perspiration, adheres to her ears, which have be­ come transparent. Also Anne weeps, uttering words of comfort: «Don't, Mary! Don't! Enough! He... he has sinned. But you, you know how the Lord Jesus... » «Be quiet! That Name... to me... said to me... is profaned... I am the mother... of the Cain... of God! Ah! » Her quiet weeping changes into exhausted heart-rending sobbing. She feels she is choking, she catches hold of the neck of her friend, who assists her while she vomits some bile. «Peace! Peace, Mary! Don't! Oh! what shall I tell you to con­ vince you that He, the Lord, loves you? I repeat it to you! I swear it on the things which are most holy to me: my Saviour and my child. He told me when you brought Him to me. He had for you words and providence of infinite love. You are innocent. He loves you. I am certain, certain that He would give Himself once again to give you peace, poor martyr mother. » «Mother of the Cain of God! Can you hear it? That wind, out there... It says so... The voice goes all over the world... the voice of the wind, and it says: “Mary of Simon, the mother of Judas, he who betrayed the Master and handed Him over to His execution­ ers”. Can you hear it? Everything says so... The stream out there... The doves... the sheep... The whole Earth shouts that I am... No, I * worked the miracle, in 3 9 5. 352

do not want to recover my health. I want to die!... God is just and He will not punish me in the next life. But here, no. The world does not forgive... it does not distinguish... I am becoming mad, because the world howls... : “You are Judas' mother”. » She is exhausted and collapses on the pillows. Anne recom­ poses her and goes out to take away the dirty linen cloths... Mary, her eyes closed, deadly pale after the effort she made, moans: «The mother of Judas! of Judas! of Judas! » She pants, then resumes: «But what is Judas? What did I give birth to? What is Judas? What have I... » 5Jesus is in the room, which is lit up by a trembling light, be­ cause daylight is still too faint to illuminate the large room, in which the bed is at the end, very far from the only window. He calls her gently: «Mary! Mary of Simon! » The woman is almost delirious and does not attach impor­ tance to the voice. Her mind is far away, carried away by the vor­ tex of her grief, and she repeats the ideas that haunt her brain, monotonously, like the tick-tack of a pendulum-clock: «The mother of Judas! What have I given birth to? The world shouts: “The mother of Judas”... » Two tears well up in the corners of Jesus' very mild eyes. I am surprised at them. I did not think that Jesus could weep also af­ ter His resurrection... He bends. The bed is so low for Him Who is so tall! He lays His hand on the feverish forehead, pushing aside the cloths damp with vinegar, and He says: «A poor wretch. That and nothing else. If the world shouts, God covers the shout of the world saying to you: “Have peace, because I love you”. Look at Me, poor moth­ er! Gather your lost spirit and put it in My hands. I am Jesus!... » Mary of Simon opens her eyes, as if she were coming out of a nightmare and she sees the Lord, she feels His Hand on her fore­ head, she covers her face with her trembling hands and moans: «Do not curse me! If I had known what I was giving birth to, I would have torn my womb to prevent him from being born. » «And you would have sinned. Mary! oh! Mary! Do not depart from your justice because of the sin of another person. The moth­ ers who have fulfilled their duty must not consider themselves responsible for the sins of their sons. You have done your duty, Mary. Give Me your poor hands. Be calm, poor mother. »632. 5 353

632. 6«I am Judas' mother. I am unclean like all the things that de­ mon t ouched. The mother of a demon! Do not touch me. » She struggles to avoid the divine Hands that want to hold her. The two tears of Jesus fall on her face burning once again with fever. «I have purified you, Mary. My tears of compassion are on you. I have not shed My tears on anybody since I con­ sumed My sorrow. But I am weeping over you with all My loving pity. » He has succeeded in getting hold of her hands and He sits, yes. He really sits down on the edge of the little bed, holding her trembling hands in His. The loving compassion of His bright eyes caresses, envelops and cures the poor wretch, who calms down weeping silently and whispering: «Have You no grudge against me? » «I have love. That is why I have come. Have peace. » «You forgive! But the world! Your Mother! She will hate me. » «She thinks of you as of a sister. The world is cruel. That is true. But My Mother is the Mother of the Love, and She is good. You cannot go about in the world, but She will come to you when everything is at peace. Time pacifies... » «Make me die, if You love me... » «A little longer. Your son was not able to give Me anything. Give Me a period of time of your suffering. It will be a short one. » «My son has given You too much... Infinite horror he has giv­ en You. » «And you your infinite sorrow. The horror is over. It no long­ er serves. Your sorrow serves. It joins these wounds of Mine, and your tears and My Blood wash the world. All sorrows join together to wash the world. Your tears are between My Blood and the tears of My Mother and around them there is all the sorrow of the saints who will suffer for the Christ and for men, for My sake and for the sake of men. Poor Mary! » He lays her down gently. He crosses her hands and watches her as she calms down... 6Anne comes back in and stops dumbfounded on the thresh­ old. Jesus, Who is now standing, looks at her saying: «You have complied with My wish. There is peace for obedient pe ople. Your soul has understood Me. Live in My peace. » He lowers His eyes again on Mary of Simon, who looks at 354

Him through a stream of tears which are now more calm, and He smiles at her again. And He says to her: «Lay your hope in the Lord. He will give you all His comfort. » He blesses her and is about to go away. Mary of Simon utters a passionate cry: «They say that my son betrayed You with a kiss! Is it true, Lord? If it is so, allow me to wash it by kissing Your Hands. There is nothing else I can do! I cannot do anything else to cancel... to cancel... » She is struck with deeper grief. Jesus, oh! Jesus does not give her His hands to kiss, those hands on which the wide sleeve of His snow-white tunic reach­ es down to half the metacarpus concealing the wounds, but He takes her head in His hands and He bends and with His divine lips He lightly touches the burning forehead of the most unhappy of all women, and standing up again He says to her: «My tears and My kiss! No one has ever had so much from Me. So be at peace, because there is nothing but love between you and Me. » He blesses her and, after going across the room quickly, He goes out behind Anne, who did not dare to come forward, or to speak, but is weeping deeply moved. 7But when they are in the corridor that leads to the main door, Anne dares to speak and to ask the question which she has at heart: «My Johanna? » «For fifteen days she has rejoiced in Heaven. I did not men­ tion it there, because too big is the contrast between your daugh­ ter and her son. » «It is true! A great torture! I think she will die of it. » «No. Not soon. » «Now she will be more at peace. You have consoled her. You! You Who more than anybody... » «I Who pity her more than anybody else. I am the Divine Pity. I am the Love. I tell you, woman: if Judas had only cast a glance of repentance at Me, I would have obtained God's forgiveness for him... » How sad is Jesus' face! The woman is struck by it. Words and silence struggle on her lips, but she is a woman, and curiosity is the winner. She asks: «Was it a... an... Yes, I mean: did that wretched man sin all of a sudden, or... » «He had been sinning for months and no word of Mine, no act632. 7 355

of Mine was able to stop him, so strong was his will to sin. But do not tell her that... » «I will not!... Lord! Because now, when Ananias ran away from Jerusalem, the very night of the Preparation Day, without even completing the Passover, he came in here shouting: “Your son has betrayed the Master and has handed Him over to His en­ emies! He betrayed Him with a kiss. And I have seen the Mas­ ter beaten, covered with spittle, scourged, crowned With thorns, laden with a cross, crucified and dead through the action of your son. And our name is shouted with obscene triumph by the en­ emies of the Master, and they relate the feats of your son, who, for less than the price that a lamb costs, has sold the Messiah and with the betrayal of a kiss has pointed Him out to the guards! ”, Mary fell on the ground, and became black all of a sudden, and the doctor says that her liver has burst and the bile has flown out and all her blood is corrupted by it. And... the world is bad. She is right... I had to bring her here, because they came near her house in Kerioth to shout: “Your son is a deicide and a suicide! He has hanged himself! And Beelzebub has taken his soul, and Satan has come to take even his body”. Is that horrible wonder true? » «No, woman. He was found dead, hanging from an olive- tree... » «Ah! And they shouted: “Christ has risen and is God. Your son has betrayed God. You are the mother of the betrayer of God. You are the mother of Judas”. At night, with Ananias and a faithful servant, the only one left to me, because no one wanted to stay near her... I brought her here. But Mary hears those cries in the noises of the earth, in everything. » «Poor mother! It is horrible, indeed. » «But did that demon not think of all this, Lord? » «It was one of the reasons I had recourse to, to hold him back. But to no avail. Judas went so far as to hate God, as he had nev­ er loved his father and mother or any other neighbour with true love. » «That is true. » «Goodbye, woman. May My blessing comfort you to bear the mockery of the world because of your compassion for Mary. Kiss My hand. I can show it to you. It would have done too much harm to her to see this. » He throws the sleeve back, uncovering the 356

pierced wrist. Anne utters a groan as with her lips she lightly touches the tips of His fingers. 8The noise of a door that is opened and a stifled cry: «The Lord! » A rather old man prostrates himself and remains so. «Ananias, the Lord is good. He has come to comfort your rel­ ative and to comfort us as well» says Anne to console also the el­ derly man, who is too deeply moved. But the man dare not move. He weeps saying: «We are of hor­ rible blood. I cannot look at the Lord. » Jesus goes to him. He touches his head, repeating the same words as He said to Mary of Simon: «Relatives who have done their duty must not consider themselves responsible for the sin of a relative. Take heart, man! God is just. Peace to you and to this house. I have come and you will go where I send you. For the sup­ plementary Passover the disciples will be at Bethany. You will go to them and you will tell them that on the twelfth day from His death, you saw the Lord at Kerioth, alive and true, in Body and Soul and Divinity. They will believe you, because I have already been with them quite a lot. But it will confirm them in their faith on My Divine Nature to know that I am everywhere on the same day. And before that, this very day, you will go to Kerioth to ask the leader of the synagogue to gather the people together, and in the presence of everybody you will say that I came here, and that they are to remember My words of the farewell*. They will certainly say to you: “Why did He not come to us? ” You will re­ ply so: “The Lord told me to say to you that, if you had done what He told you to do to the innocent mother, He would have shown Himself. You failed in your duty of love, and that is why the Lord has not shown Himself”. Will you do that? » «That is difficult, Lord! It is difficult to do that! They con­ sider us all as heart lepers... The leader of the synagogue will not listen to me, and he will not let me speak to the people. He may beat me... However, I will do it, because You want it. » The elder­ ly man does not raise his head. He speaks bent in deep prostra­ tion. «Look at Me, Ananias! » * My words of the farewell, in 394. 3. 357632. 8

632. ! 632. 10The man looks up trembling with veneration. Jesus is as bright and handsome as He was on Mount Tabor... The light envelops Him, concealing His features and His smile... And the corridor is left without Him, without any door being moved to let Him pass. The two worship and worship, as they have become all adora­ tion through the divine manifestation. III. To the children of Juttah with their mother Sarah. 9The orchard of Sarah's house. The children who are playing under the leafy trees. The youngest one who rolls on the grass near a thick row of vine-leaves, the other bigger ones who chase one another with joyful cries of swallows, playing at hide-and- seek behind hedges and vines. Jesus appears near the little one to whom He gave His name*. Oh! holy simplicity of the innocents! Jesai is not surprised seeing Him there all of a sudden, but he stretches out his little arms, so that Jesus may take him in His, and Jesus takes him: there is the greatest simplicity in the acts of both. The others arrive running-and once again the blessed sim­ plicity of children!-and without any astonishment they ap­ proach Him happily. Nothing seems to have changed for them. They probably do not know. But after Jesus has caressed each of them, Mary, the oldest and most sensible one, says: «So do You no longer suffer, Lord, now that You have risen? I was so sorry!... » «I no longer suffer. I have come to bless you before I ascend to My Father and yours, in Heaven. But also from there I will al­ ways bless you, if you are always good. You will tell those who love Me that I have left My blessing with you today. Remember this day. » 10«Are You not coming to the house? Mother is there. They will not believe us» says Mary again. But her brother does not ask. He shouts: «Mummy, mummy. The Lord is here!... » and running towards the house, he repeats that cry. Sarah rushes, she looks out of the window... just in time to see * He gave His name, in 76. 9/10. 358

Jesus, very handsome at the edge of the orchard, disappear in the light that absorbs Him... «The Lord! But why did you not call me before?... » says Sarah as soon as she is able to speak. «But when? where did He come from? Was He alone? How foolish you are! » «We found Him here. A moment before He was not here... He did not come from the road or from the kitchen garden. And He had Jesai in His arms... And He told us that He had come to bless us and to give us His blessing for those who love Him in Jutta and to remember this day. And now He is going to Heav­ en. But He will love us if we are good. How handsome He was! He had wounds in His hands. But they no longer hurt Him. Also His feet were wounded. I saw them among the grass. That flower there touched just the wound of one foot. I will pick it... » they all speak together, excited with emotion. They even perspire in the excitement of speaking. Sarah caresses them whispering: «God is great! Let us go. Come. Let us go and tell everybody. You, innocents, will speak. You can speak of God. » IV. To young Jaia, at Pella. 11The young man is working with zeal around a cart. He is loading it with vegetables picked in a nearby vegetable garden. The little donkey beats the hard surface of the country road with its hoof. When lie turns round to take a basket of lettuce, he sees Jesus Who smiles at him. He drops the basket on the ground and he kneels down; rubbing his eyes, incredulous of what he sees, and he whispers: «Most High, do not lead me into illusions! Lord, do not allow me to be deceived by Satan by means of false seducing appearances. My Lord is really dead! And He was buried, and they now say that His corpse has been stolen. Have mercy, Most High Lord! Show me the truth. » «I am the Truth, Jaia. I am the Light of the World. Look at Me. See Me. That is why I gave your sight* back to you, so that you may witness My power and My Resurrection. » «Oh! It is really the Lord! It is You! Yes! You are Jesus! » He *I gave your sight, in 358. 10. 632. 11 359

drags himself along on his knees to kiss His feet. «You will say that you have seen Me and have spoken to Me and that I am really alive. You will say that you have seen Me to­ day. My peace and My blessing to you. » Jaia remains alone. He is happy. He forgets the cart and the vegetables. In vain the restless donkey beats the road and brays, protesting because of the long wait... Jaia is enraptured. 12A woman comes out of the house near the kitchen garden and sees him there, wan with emotion, his face with a far-away look. She shouts: «Jaia! What is the matter with you? What hap­ pened to you? » She rushes towards him and shakes him. She brings him back to earth... «The Lord! I have seen the Risen Lord. I have kissed His feet and seen His wounds. They have told lies. It was really God and He has risen. I thought it was a deceit. But it is He! It is He! » The woman trembles thrilled with emotion and whispers: «Are you quite sure? » «You are good, woman. For His sake you have taken my moth­ er and me as your servants. Do not refuse to believe!... » «If you are sure, I believe. But was He really flesh? Was He warm? Did He breathe? Did He speak? Did He really have a voice, or did you think so? » «I am certain. It was the warm flesh of a living being, it was a real voice, it was breath. As handsome as God, but Man, like me and you. Let us go, let us go and tell those who suffer or are in doubt. » V. To John of Nob. 13The old man is all alone in his house. But he is serene. He is repairing a chair as on one side the nails have come out, and he smiles at I wonder which dream. There is a knock at the door. The old man, without leaving his work, says: «Come in. What do you want, you who come? Still one of those? I am too old to change! Even if the whole world shouted to me: “He is dead”, I say: “He is living”. Even if I had to die to say so. So, come in! » He gets up to go to the door, to see who knocks without going in. But when he is near it, the door opens and Jesus goes in. «Oh! Oh! Oh! My Lord! Alive! I believed! And He comes to re­ 360632. 12 632. 13

ward my faith! Blessed! I did not doubt. In my grief I said: “If He sent me the lamb* for the banquet of joy, it means that He will rise this day”. Then I understood everything. When You died and the Earth was shaken, I understood what I had not yet under­ stood. And they thought that I was mad, at Nob, because at sun­ set on the day after the Sabbath, I prepared a banquet and I went and invited some beggars saying: “Our Friend has risen! ”. They were already saying that it was not true. They were saying that they had stolen You during the night. But I did not believe them, because since You died I understood that You were dying to rise again, and that that was the sign of Jonah. » 14Jesus, smiling, lets him speak. Then he asks: «And do you still wish to die now**, or do you want to stay to witness My glo­ ry? » «Whatever You want, Lord! » «No. What you want. » The old man is pensive. He then decides: «It would be lovely to go out of this world, where You no longer are as You were previ­ ously. But I forgo the peace of Heaven to say to the incredulous: “I have seen Him! ”. » Jesus lays His hand on his head blessing him and He adds: «But it will soon be also peace, and you will come to Me with the rank of confessor of the Christ. » And He goes away. In this case, probably out of pity for the old man, He did not appear or disappear in a wonderful way, but He did everything as if He were the Jesus of days gone by, when He used to enter or come out of a house in a normal human way. VI. To Matthias, the old solitary man near Jabesh-Gilead. 15The old man is working at his vegetables and is talking to himself: «All wealth that I have for Him. And He will never taste them again. I have worked in vain. I believe that He was the Son of God, that He died and has risen. But He is no longer the Mas­ ter, Who sits at the table of the poor or of the rich and shares the food with equal love, perhaps, no certainly with more love with the poor than with the rich. Now He is the Risen Lord. He has risen to confirm us, His believers, in our faith. And they say that * sent me the lamb, in 576. 2. ** you still wish to die now, as in 529. 8. 632. 14 632. 15 361

632. 16it is not true. That no one has ever risen by himself. No one. No. No man. But He did. Because He is God. » He claps his hands to drive away the pigeons that come down to steal the seed in the earth that has just been dug and sown, and he says: «It is useless now for you to procreate! He will never rel­ ish your little ones again! And you, useless bees? For whom do you produce honey? I was hoping to have Him at least once with me, now that I am not so poor. Every thing has flourished here, after He came... Ah! but with that money, that I have never touched, I want to go to Nazareth, to His Mother, and say to Her: “Make me Your servant, but let me stay here where You are, because You are still He”... » He wipes a tear with the back of his hand... 16«Matthias, have you some bread for a pilgrim? » Matthias looks up, but, as he is on his knees, he cannot see who is speaking from behind the tall hedge, that surrounds his small property lost in this green solitary place beyond the Jor­ dan. But he replies: «Whoever you may be, come, in the name of the Lord Jesus. » And he stands up to open the fence. He finds himself facing Jesus, and he remains with his hand on the latch, unable to make a gesture. «Do you not want Me as your guest, Matthias? You did once*. And you were regretting that you could not do so again. I am here and are you not opening to Me? » says Jesus smiling... «Oh! Lord... I... I... I am not worthy that my Lord should come in here... I... » Jesus passes His hand over the fence and opens the lock say­ ing: «The Lord enters wherever He wants, Matthias. » He goes in, He proceeds along the humble kitchen garden, He goes towards the house and on the threshold He says: «So, you can sacrifice the little ones of your pigeons. Take your vegeta­ bles away from the garden and the honey from your bees. We will share the bread together, and your work will not have been use­ less, and your desire vain. And this place will be dear to you, and you will not have to go where there will soon be silence and aban­ donment. I am everywhere, Matthias. He who loves Me, is always with Me. My disciples will be in Jerusalem. My Church will arise there. Make sure you are there for the supplementary Passover. » * You did once, in 359. 362

632. 17 363«Forgive me, Lord. But I could not resist in that place and I ran away. I arrived there at the ninth hour the day before Prepa­ ration Day, and the day after... oh! I ran away as I did not want to see You die. Only for that, Lord. » «I know. And I know that you went back, and you were one of the first, to weep over My sepulchre. But I was already out of it. I know everything. Here, I will sit here and rest. I have always rested here... And the angels know that. » 17The man busies himself, but he seems to be moving in a 632. 17 church, so reverently he moves about. Now and again he wipes a tear, which is about to mingle with his smile, while he comes and goes to get the little pigeons, kill them, prepare them, poke the fire, pick and wash the vegetables, and put the early figs in a plate, and lay the table with the best tableware. But when every­ thing is ready, how can he sit down and eat? He wants to serve, which seems a great deal to him, and does not want anything else. But Jesus, Who has offered and blessed the food, offers him half of the pigeon, which He has cut, placing the meat on a piece of bread, that He has dipped into the sauce. «Oh! as to a favourite! » says the man, and he eats, weeping for joy and emotion, without taking his eyes off Jesus, Who eats... drinks, enjoys the vegetables, the fruit, the honey, and offers His chalice to him after taking a sip of wine. Previously He had al­ ways drunk water. The meal is over. «I am really alive, as you can see. And you are quite happy. Remember that twelve days ago I was dying by the will of men. But nothing is the will of men when the will of God does not agree to it. And more than that, the contrary will of men be­ comes a servile instrument of the eternal Will. Goodbye, Matthi­ as. As I said that he will be with Me, who gave Me a drink when I was the Pilgrim about Whom every doubt was lawful, so I say to you: you will have a part in My celestial Kingdom. » «But I am losing You now, Lord! » «In every pilgrim see Me; in every beggar, Me; in every sick person, Me; in everyone needing bread, water and clothes, Me. I am in whoever suffers, and what is done to those who suffer, is done to Me. » He stretches out His arms blessing and disappears.

VII. To Abraham of Engedi, who dies in His Arms. 18The square of Engedi: pillared temple of rustling palm- trees. The fountain: mirror for the April sky. The pigeons: low murmur of organ. Old Abraham passes through it with his work­ ing tools on his shoulders. He looks even older, but serene like one who has found relief after a violent storm. He passes also through the rest of the town, and goes to the vineyards near the fountains. The beautiful fertile vineyards, already promising abundant crops. He goes in and begins to hoe, to prune, to tie. Now and again he stands up, he leans on the hoe, he ponders. He smooths his patriarchal beard, he sighs, he shakes his head, in an inward conversation. A man, all wrapped in his mantle, comes up the road towards the fountains and the vineyards. I say: a man. But it is Jesus, because it is His garment and His gait. But for the old man it is a man. And the Man asks Abraham: «May I stop here? » «Hospitality is sacred. I have never denied it to anybody. Come. Come in. May the rest in the shade of my vines be pleasant to you. Do you want some milk? Some bread? I will give you what I possess here. » «And what can I give you? I have nothing. » «He who is the Messiah has given me everything, for every man. And no matter what I give, it is nothing when compared to what He has given me. » «Do you know that they crucified Him? » «I know that He has risen from the dead. Are you one of those who crucified Him? I am not allowed to hate, because He does not want hatred. But, if I were allowed, I would hate you if you were. » «I am not one of His crucifiers. Do not worry. So you know everything about Him. » «Yes, everything. And Elisha... He is my son, you know? Eli­ sha did not come back any more from Jerusalem, and he said: “Dismiss me, father, because I am leaving all my wealth in order to preach the Lord. I will go to Capernaum to look for John, and I will join the faithful disciples”. » «So your son has left you? So old and alone? » «What you call abandonment is the joy I have dreamt of. Had leprosy not deprived me of him? And who gave him back to me? The Messiah. And am I losing him because he preaches the Lord? 364632. 18

Of course not! I shall find him again also in eternal life. 19But you speak in a way that makes me suspicious. Are you an emis­ sary of the Temple? Have you come to persecute those who be­ lieve in the risen Master? Strike! I will not run away. I will not imitate the three wise men of remote days. I will stay. Because if I fall for Him, I shall join Him in Heaven and my prayer* of last year will be answered. » «That is true. You then said: “I anxiously waited for the Lord, and He heard me”. » «How do you know? Are you one of His disciples? Were you here with Him when I prayed Him? Oh! if you are such, help me to make my cry reach Him, so that He may remember. » He pros­ trates himself, thinking that he is speaking to an apostle. «It is I, Abraham of Engedi, and I say to you: “Come”. » Jesus stretches out His arms towards him, revealing Himself, and in­ viting him to throw himself into them, relaxing on His Heart. At that moment a boy comes into the vineyard. He is followed by an adolescent and he shouts: «Father! Father! Here we are to help you. » But the trilling cry of the boy is drowned by the powerful cry of the old man, a true cry of liberation: «Here I am! I am coming! » And Abraham throws himself into the arms of Jesus, shouting again: «Jesus, Holy Messiah! Into Your hands I commit my spirit! » A blessed death. A death I envy! On the Heart of Christ, in the serene peace of the April flowery country... 20Jesus lays the old man gently on the flowery grass that waves in the breeze, at the foot of a row of vines, and He says to the children, who, astonished and frightened, are about to burst into tears: «Do not weep. He died in the Lord. Blessed are those who die in Him! Go, boys, and tell those of Engedi that their synagogue leader has seen the risen Lord and had his prayer an­ swered by Him. Do not weep! Do not weep! » He caresses them while leading them to the exit. He then goes back to the deceased man and tidies his beard and hair, He lowers his eyelids, which were half closed, He puts the body in order, and on it He lays the mantle that Abraham had * three wise men, in 309. 6; my prayer, in 390. 4. 632. 19 632. 20 365

632. 21 632. 22taken off to work. He remains there until He hears some voices coming from the road. Then He stands up. Wonderful... Those who rush there see Him. They shout. They run faster to reach Jesus. But He disappears from their eyes in the refulgence of beams brighter than the sun. VIII. To Elijah, the Essene of Mount Cherith. 21The harsh solitude of the rough mountain at the bottom of which flows the Cherith. Elijah is praying, even more emaci­ ated and bearded, wearing a coarse woollen garment, which is neither grey nor brown, and makes him look like the rocks sur­ rounding him. He hears a noise resembling that of wind or thunder. He looks up. Jesus has appeared on a rock hanging balanced over the precipice, at the bottom of which there is the torrent. «The Master! » He throws himself on the ground, face down­ wards. «I, Elijah. Did you not hear the earthquake* on Preparation Day? » «Yes, I did, and I went down to Jericho and to Nike. I did not find any of those who love You. I asked after You. They hit me. Then I felt the earth tremble once again, but not so violently, and I came back here to do penance, thinking that the dam of celes­ tial wrath had opened. » «Of Divine Mercy. I died and have risen. Look at My wounds. Join the servants of the Lord on Mount Tabor and tell them that I sent you. » He blesses him and disappears. IX. To Dorcas and her child in the castle of Caesarea Philippi. 22Dorcas' little boy, supported by his mother, is taking his first steps on the rampart of the fortress. And Dorcas, bent as she is, does not see the Lord appear. But when, having left the little boy somewhat free, she sees him walk steadily and fast towards the corner of the rampart, she straightens herself up to run, so that he may not fall and may perish passing through the battlements or openings made on purpose for offensive weapons. And in do­ * the earthquake, foretold in 381. 10. 366

ing so she sees Jesus, Who takes up the child, pressing him to His heart and kissing him. The woman dare not make a gesture. But she utters a loud cry. A cry that makes those of the courts look up and causes faces to lean out of windows: «The Lord! The Lord! The Messiah is here! He has really risen. » But before people can rush there, Jesus has already disappeared. «You are mad! You were dreaming! Plays of light have made you see a ghost. » «Oh! He was really alive! See how my son is looking there and how he is holding in his hands an apple as beautiful as his little face. He is gnawing at it with his little teeth. I have no apples... » «Nobody has ripe apples these days, and so fresh... » they say rather shocked. 23«Let us ask Tobias» say some of the women. «What do you want to do? He can hardly say “mummy”! » say the men mockingly. But the women bend over the little boy and say: «Who gave you the apple? » And the lips, that can hardly say the most simple words, in a joyful smile that displays his tiny little teeth and his still empty gums, without any hesitation says: «Jesus. » «Oh! » «Hey! you call him Jesai! He can say his name. » «Jesus you, or Jesus the Lord? Which Lord? Where did you see Him? »insist the women. «There, the Lord. Jesus the Lord. » «Where is He? Where did He go? » «There. » He points at the sky full of sun and smiles happily and bites his apple. And while the men go away shaking their heads, Dorcas says to the women: «He was handsome. He seemed to be dressed in light. And on His hands He had the signs of the nails, as red as gems against so much whiteness. I saw Him very well, because He held the child so» and she makes the gesture of Jesus. 24The superintendent hastens there, he makes them repeat the story, he ponders, and concludes: «The psalm says*: “On the * says, in Psalm 8: 3. 632. 23 632. 24 367

632. 25 632. 26lips of children and babes in arms You have placed the perfect praise”. And why not the truth? They are innocent. And we... Let us remember this day... No! I am going to the village of the disci­ ples. I am going to see whether the Rabbi is there... And yet... He was dead... Who knows!... » And with this «who knows! » that ends its conclusion inter­ nally, the superintendent goes away, while the women, full of ex­ citement, continue asking questions of the child, who laughs and repeats: «Jesus, there. And then there. Jesus Lord» and he points at the place where Jesus was, then at the sun where he saw Him disappear, happy, happy. X. To the people gathered in the synagogue of Kedesh. 25The people of Kedesh are gathered in the synagogue and are discussing the last events with Matthias, the synagogue leader. The synagogue is rather half dark, because the doors are closed and the curtains are lowered on the windows, heavy curtains that the April wind hardly moves. A lightning illuminates the room. It looks like a lightning, but it is the light that precedes Jesus. And Jesus shows Him­ self, astonishing many people. He stretches out His arms and the wounds on His hands and feet appear clearly visible, because He shows Himself on the last of the three steps that lead to a closed door. He says: «I have risen from the dead. I remind you of the dispute* between the scribes and Me. I have given the wicked generation the sign that I had promised. That of Jonah. I give My blessing to those who love Me and are faithful to Me. » Nothing else. He disappears. «But it was He! Where from? And yet He was alive! He had said so! Well! Now I understand. The sign of Jonah: three days in the bowels of the Earth and then the resurrection... » A babble of comments... XI. To a group of rabbis at Giscala. 26A poisonous group of rabbis who try to convince some hesi­ tating men of their requests. They would like to get these men to go to Gamaliel, who has closed himself in his house and does not * the dispute, in 342. 6/7. 368

want to see anybody. These men say: «We tell you that he is not here. We do not know where he is. He came. He consulted some rolls. He went away. He did not say one word»; «He was frightening, so upset and aged he was» reply the others. With a bad grace the rabbis turn their backs on those who have spoken and they go away saying: «Also Gamaliel is as mad as Simon! It is not true that the Galilean has risen! It is not true! It is not true! It is not true that He is God. It is not true. Noth­ ing is true. We alone are in the truth. » The very pain they take in saying that it is not true, proves that they are afraid that it is true, that they need to be reassured. They have walked along the wall of the house and they are near Hillel's tomb. Howling their denials all the time, they raise their heads... and they run away shouting. The Jesus extremely kind to good people is there, frighteningly powerful, with His arms opened out as on the cross... The wounds on His hands are as red as if they were still dripping blood. He does not utter one word. But His eyes fulminate them. The rabbis run away, they fall, they get up, they wound them­ selves against trees and stones, mad, driven mad by fear. They look like homicides who have been taken back into the presence of their victim. XII. To Joachim and Mary of Bozrah. 27«Mary! Mary! Joachim and Mary! Come outside. » The two, who are in a quiet room, illuminated by a lamp, one intent on sewing, the other on making up accounts, raise their heads, look at each other... Joachim, growing pale with fear, whispers: «The voice of the Rabbi! It comes from the other life... » The woman, frightened, presses against her husband. But the call is repeated and the two, holding on tightly to each other, to pluck up courage, dare to go out, in the direction of the voice. In the garden, illuminated by the crescent of the new moon, there is Jesus, shining in a light much stronger than many moons. The light surrounds Him and makes Him God. His very sweet smile and loving eyes make Him Man: «Go and tell those of Boz­ rah that you have seen Me, real and alive. And you, Joachim, say632. 27 369

632. 28 632. 29so at Tabor, to those who have gathered there. » He blesses them and disappears. «But it was He! It was not a dream! I... Tomorrow I will go to Galilee. He said at the Tabor, did He not?... » XIII. To Mary of Jacob, at Ephraim. 28The woman is kneading flour to make bread. She turns round, upon hearing that she is being called, and she sees Jesus. She throws herself on the floor, face and hands on the floor, in si­ lent adoration, a little frightened. Jesus speaks: «You will tell everybody that you have seen Me and that I have spoken to you. The Lord is not subjected to the sepulchre. I rose on the third day as I had predicted. Do perse­ vere, you who are on My way, and do not let yourselves be se­ duced by the words of those who crucified Me. My peace to you. » XIV. To Syntyche, at Antioch. 29Syntyche is preparing a travelling bag. It is evening, be­ cause a little lamp is lit, its faint light flickers, and it is placed on a table near the woman intent on folding some garments. The room is brightly lit up and Syntyche raises her head, sur­ prised, to see what is happening, what is the source of such a bright light in that room which is completely closed. But before she can see, Jesus forestalls her: «It is I. Be not afraid. I have shown Myself to many people to confirm them in their faith. I am showing Myself also to you, My obedient faithful disciple. I have risen. See? I no longer suffer. Why are you weeping? » The woman, before the beauty of the Glorified Master, finds no words... Jesus smiles at her to encourage her and He adds: «I am the same Jesus Who gladly received you* on the road near Caesarea. Although you were so timid then, you did speak to Me and you did not know Me. And now, can you not say one word to Me? » «O Lord! I was about to leave... To relieve my heart of so much anxiety and sorrow. » «Why sorrow? Did they not tell you that I had risen? » «They told me and denied it. But I have not been upset by * Who gladly received you, in 254. 4/7. 370

their contradictions. I knew that You could not rot in a sepul­ chre. I wept over Your martyrdom. I believed, even before they told me, in Your resurrection. And I continued to believe when others came to say that it was not true. But I wanted to come to Galilee. I was thinking: I can no longer do Him any harm. He is now more God than Man. I do not know whether what I say is right... » «I understand what you mean. » «And I said: I will worship Him, and I shall see Mary. I was thinking that You would not remain long among us, and I was hastening my departure. I used to say: when He has gone back to His Father, as He said, His Mother will be somewhat sad in Her joy. Because She is a soul, but She is also a mother... And I will try to comfort Her, now that She is alone... I was proud! » «No. You were compassionate. I will inform My Mother of your thought. But do not come there. Remain where you are and continue to work for Me. Now more than previously. Your brothers, the disciples, need the work of everybody to propa­ gate My doctrine. You have seen Me. Mary is entrusted to John. Do not worry any more. You will be able to fortify your spirit with the certainty of having seen Me and with the power of My blessing. » 30Syntyche is longing to kiss Him. But she dare not. Jesus says to her: «Come. » And she dares to drag herself on her knees close to Jesus and makes the gesture of kissing His feet. But she sees the two wounds and dare not. She takes the hem of His tunic and kisses it weeping. And she whispers: «What they have done to You! » Then she asks a question: «And John-Felix? » «He is happy. He remembers nothing but love and lives in it. Peace to you, Syntyche. » He disappears. The woman remains in her adoring attitude, on her knees, her face raised, her hands stretched out a little, tears on her face, a smile on her lips... XV. To Zacharias, the Levite. 31He is in a small room. Zacharias, the Levite*, is pensive. He * the Levite, in: 201. 4-281. 11. 14-490. 9/10-506. 1-507. 2. 10/12. 632. 30 632. 31 371

632. 32is sitting, with his head reclined on one of his hands. «Do not be in doubt. Do not listen to the voices that upset you. I am the Truth and the Life. Look at Me. Touch Me. » The young man, who has looked up at the first words and has seen Jesus, and has fallen on his knees, shouts: «Forgive me, Lord. I have sinned. I received in me the doubt concerning Your truth. » «Those who try to seduce your spirit are more guilty than you are. Do not yield to their temptations. I am a real living body. Feel the weight and the warmth, the solidity and strength of My hand. » He takes him by the forearm and lifts him with His strength, saying: «Rise and walk in the ways of the Lord, out of doubt and fear. And you will be blessed if you can persevere till the end. » He blesses him and disappears. The young man, after a moment's dumbfounded amazement, runs out of the room shouting: «Mother! Father! I have seen the Master. It is not true what the others say! I was not mad. Do not persist in believing falsehood, but bless the Most High with me, as He has had mercy on His servant. I am going away. I am go­ ing to Galilee. I will find some of His disciples. I am going to tell them to believe that He has really risen. » He does not take a sack with food and garments. He puts on his mantle and runs away, without giving his parents time to re­ cover from their amazement and to be able to intervene to hold him back. XVI. To a woman of the Sharon plain, who obtains the heal­ ing of her son. 32A coast road. Perhaps the one that links Caesarea to Joppa, or another one. I do not know. I know that I see a country on one side and the sea on the opposite side, a deep-blue sea beyond the yellowish line of the shore. The road is certainly a Roman thor­ oughfare, as is evidenced by its paving. A woman in tears is going along it in the early hours of a clear morning. The day has just dawned. The woman must be very tired, because now and again she stops and sits down on a mile­ stone or on the road. Then she gets up and proceeds, as if some­ thing were urging her to go on, notwithstanding her great tired­ ness. 372

Jesus, a wayfarer wrapped in a mantle, sets off beside her. The woman does not look at Him. She proceeds absorbed in her grief. Jesus asks her: «Why are you weeping, woman? Where are you coming from? And where are you going all alone? » «I am coming from Jerusalem and I am going back home. » «Far? » «Half way between Joppa and Caesarea. » «On foot? » «In the valley, before Modin, some highwaymen took my don­ key and what was on it. » «It was unwise of you to go all alone. It is not customary to come by oneself at Passover. » «I did not come for Passover. I remained at home, because I have, and I hope I still have him, a boy who is ill. My husband had gone with other people. I let him go ahead and four days lat­ er I set off. Because I said: “He is certainly in Jerusalem for Pass- over. I will look for Him”. I was somewhat afraid. But I said: “I am not doing anything wrong. God sees. I believe. I know that He is good. He will not reject me, because... ”» She stops, as if she were frightened, and casts a quick glance at the man who is walking beside her, and who is so covered up that one can hardly see his eyes, the unmistakable eyes of Jesus. 33«Why have you become silent? You are afraid of Me. Do you think that I am an enemy of Him Whom you were looking for? Because you were looking for the Master of Nazareth, to ask Him to come to your house and cure the boy while your husband was away... » «I see that you are a prophet. It; is so. But; when I arrived in town, the Master was dead. » Tears choke her... «He has risen. Do you not believe it? » «I know. I believe it. But I... But I... For some days I hoped to see Him myself... They say that He has shown Himself to some people. And I delayed my departure... every day a torture, be­ cause... my boy is so ill... my heart was divided... whether I should go to comfort turn at his death... or stay looking for the Master... I did not expect Him to come to my house, but to prom­ ise to cure him. » «And would you have believed? Do you think that from afar?... »632. 33 373

632. 34«I believe. Oh! if He had said to me: “Go in peace. Your son will recover”, I should not have doubted. But I do not deserve it, because... » she weeps, pressing her veil against her lips, so as to be prevented from speaking. «Because your husband is one of the accusers and crucifiers of Jesus Christ. But Jesus Christ is the Messiah. He is God. And God is just, woman. He does not punish an innocent person be­ cause of a guilty one. He does not torture a mother because a fa­ ther is a sinner. Jesus Christ is Mercy alive... » «Oh! are you perhaps one of His apostles? Perhaps you know where He is? You... Perhaps He sent you to me to tell me this. He has heard, He has seen my grief, my faith, and He has sent you to me as the Most High sent the archangel Raphael to Tobit. Tell me whether it is so, and although I am so tired as to be feverish, I will retrace my steps to look for the Lord. » «I am not an apostle. But the apostles have remained in Jeru­ salem for many days after His Resurrection... » «That is true. I could have asked them. » «So. They continue the Master. » «I did not think they could work miracles. » «They have still worked them... » «But now... I was told that one only remained faithful, and I did not think... » «Yes. Your husband told you so, sneering at you in his frenzy of false triumpher. But I tell you that man can sin, because God alone is perfect. And he can repent. And if he does repent, his strength grows, and God increases His graces in him for his con­ trition. Did the Most High Lord not forgive David? » 34«But who are you? Who are you who speak so gently and wisely, if you are not an apostle? An angel perhaps? The angel of my child. He has perhaps died and you have come to prepare me... » Jesus lets His mantle fall off His head and face, and passing from the humble aspect of a common pilgrim to His magnifi­ cence of God-Man, risen from the dead, with kind solemnity He says: «It is I. The Messiah crucified in vain. I am the Resurrec­ tion and the Life. Go, woman. Your son lives, because I have re­ warded your faith. Your son is cured. Because, if the Rabbi of Nazareth has finished His mission, the Immanuel continues His 374

until the end of time for all those who have faith, hope and char­ ity in the One and Trine God, of Whom the incarnate Word is one Person, Who through divine love left Heaven to come to teach, to suffer, to die in order to give the Life to men. Go in peace, wom­ an. And be strong in faith, because the time has come when in a family the husband will be against his wife, the father against his sons, and these against him, out of hatred or love for Me. But blessed are those whom persecution will not tear away from My Way. » He blesses her and disappears. XVII. To some shepherds on the Great Hermon. 35A group of herds and shepherds. They have stopped on some 632. 35 slopes with wonderful pastures. And they are speaking of the events of Jerusalem. And they are distressed, saying to one an­ other: «We shall no longer have the friend of shepherds on the Earth», and they recall the many meetings they had with Him here or there... «Meetings»says an old man «that we shall never have again. » Jesus appears as if He were setting foot in that place from be­ hind an entangled wood, where the tall trees are embraced by low bushes that conceal the sight of the path. They do not recognise Him in the solitary man, and seeing Him so wrapped in white garments, they whisper: «Who is it? An Essene? Here? A rich Pharisee? » They are puzzled. Jesus asks them: «Why do you say that you will never meet the Lord again? Because He, of Whom you are speaking, is the Lord. » «We know. But do you not know what they have done to Him? Now some people say that He has risen, some say that He has not. But even if He has risen, which we prefer to believe, He will have gone away by now. How can He love and remain among people who have crucified Him? And we, who loved Him, even if not everyone had made His acquaintance, are sad because we have lost Him. » «There is still a way to have Him. He taught it. » «Oh! yes. By doing what He taught us. Then one has the King­ dom of God and is with Him. But one must first live and then die And He is no longer among us to comfort us. » They shake their heads. 375

«My dear children, for those who live what He taught keep­ ing His teachings in their hearts, it is just the same as if they had Jesus in their hearts. Because Word and Doctrine are one thing only. He was not a Master Who taught things that were not as He was. So, he who does what He said, has Jesus alive in himself and is not separated from Him. » «What you say is correct. But we are poor men and... we want to see also with our eyes to feel our joy properly... I have never seen Him, neither has my son, nor Jacob, nor Melkiah, nor James, nor Saul. See, only among us, how many have not seen Him? We have always looked for Him, but when we arrived, He had left. » «Were you in Jerusalem on that day? » «Oh! we were there! But when we heard what they wanted to do to Him, we ran away like madmen up the mountains, and we went back to town after the Sabbath. We are not guilty of His Blood, because we were not in town. But we did the wrong thing in being cowards. We would at least have seen Him and greet­ ed Him. He would certainly have blessed us for our greetings... But we did not really have the courage to look at Him amid tor­ tures... » «He blesses you now. Look at Him Whose face you wish to know. » He shows Himself, magnificently divine on the green of the meadow. While their amazement throws them on the ground, but glues their eyes to His divine Face, He disappears in a reful­ gent light. XVIII. At Sidon, to the little boy born blind. 36The little boy is playing all alone under a thick pergola. He hears someone call him and he finds himself in front of Jesus. Not in the least frightened, he asks Him: «But are You not the Rabbi Who gave me my eyes*? » and he fixes his limpid eyes of a child, of the same blue hue as Jesus', on the divine sparkling eyes. «It is I, My child. Are you not afraid of Me? » He caresses his head. «No, I am not afraid. But my mother and I have wept very much, when my father came back before the time and he told us * gave me my eyes, in 473. 2/6. 376632. 36

that he had run away because they had taken the Rabbi to put Him to death. He did not celebrate Passover and now he has to leave again to celebrate it. So, did You not die? » «I died. Look at My wounds. I died on the cross. But I have risen again. Tell your father to remain for some time in Jerusa­ lem, after the second Passover, and to stay near the Mount of Ol­ ives, at Bethphage. He will find there who will tell him what to do. » «My father was thinking of looking for You. At the Feast of the Tabernacles he did not succeed in speaking to You. He want­ ed to tell You that he loves You because of the eyes that You have given me. But he was not able to do so, neither then nor now... » «He will do so through his faith in Me. Goodbye, My dear child. Peace to you and to your family. » XIX. To Johanan's peasants. 37Johanan's fields kissed by the moon. Dead silence. The poor houses of the peasants, in a sultry night that compels people to keep at least a door open in order not to die stifled by the heat in the low rooms, where too many bodies are crammed in compari­ son with the capacity of the place. Jesus goes into one large room. The very moon seems to lengthen her beams to form a royal carpet for Him on the floor of beaten earth. He bends over a man who is sleeping, lying face downwards in the heavy sleep of fatigue. He calls him. He pass­ es on to another one, to another one. He calls them all, His poor faithful friends. He passes as lightly and quickly as an angel in flight. He goes into other hovels... Then He goes to wait for them outside, near a group of trees. The peasants, half asleep, come out of their hovels. Two, three, one only, five together, some women. They are surprised that they have all been called like that, by a known voice, that said the same words to everybody: «Come to the apple-orchard». They go there, the men finishing to put on their poor clothes, the women to arrange their plaits, and they speak in low voices. «It sounded like the voice of Jesus of Nazareth to me. » «Perhaps His spirit. They killed Him. Did you hear that? » «I cannot believe it. He was God. » «And yet also Joel saw Him pass under the cross... »632. 37 377

632. 38«I was told yesterday, while I was waiting for the bailiff to deal with his market business, that some disciples passed through Jezreel and they said that He has really risen. » «Be quiet! You know what the master says. Who says that, gets scourged. » «Is put to death, perhaps. But would it not be better, rather than suffer like this? » «And now He is no longer here! » «And they are even more wicked, now that they have succeed­ ed in killing Him. » «They are wicked, because He has risen. » They speak in low voices while going to the place pointed out to them. 38«The Lord! » shouts a woman, the first to fall on her knees. «His fantasm! » shout others, and some are afraid. «It is I. Be not afraid. Do not shout. Come forward. It is re­ ally I. I have come to confirm your faith, as I know that other people are laying snares for it. See? My Body casts a shadow be­ cause it is a real body. You are not dreaming. My voice is a real one. I am the same Jesus Who shared bread with you and gave you love. And also now I give you love. I will send My disciples to you. And it will be still I, because they will give you what I used to give you and what I have given them in order to be able to communicate with those who believe in Me. Bear your crosses, as I bore Mine. Be patient. Forgive. They will tell you how I died. Imitate Me. The way of sorrow is the way to Heav­ en. Follow it in peace and you will have My Kingdom. There is no other way beside that of resignation to the will of God, of generosity, of charity towards everybody. If there were another one, I should have pointed it out to you. I have come along this one, because it is the just way. Be faithful to the Law of Sinai, which is immutable in its ten commandments, and to My Doc­ trine. My disciples will come to teach you, so that you may not be abandoned to the intrigues of wicked people. I bless you. Al­ ways remember that I have loved you and that I have come to you before and after My glorification. I solemnly tell you that many people would like to see Me now, and they will not see Me. Many mighty people. But I show Myself to those whom I love and who love Me. » 378

A man dares to say: «So... Does the Kingdom of Heaven really exist? Were You really the Messiah? They influence us... » «Do not listen to their words. Remember Mine, and receive those of My disciples who are known to you. They are words of truth. And those who receive them and put them into practice, even if he is a servant or a slave here, will be a citizen and coheir to My Kingdom. » He blesses them stretching out His arms and disappears. 39«Oh! I... I no longer fear anything! » «Neither do I. Did you hear that? There is a place also for us! » «It is necessary to be good! » «To forgive! » «To have patience! » «To be able to resist. » «To look for the disciples. » «He has come to us, poor servants. » «We will tell His apostles. » «If Johanan knew! » «And Doras! » «They would kill us so that we could not speak. » «But we will keep quiet. We will only tell the servants of the Lord. » «Micah, do you not have to go to Sephoris with that load? Why do you not go to Nazareth and tell... » «Whom? » «The Mother. The apostles. They may be with Her... » They go away, whispering their plans. XX. To Daniel, a relative of Helkai, the Pharisee, with Si­ mon, the member of the Sanhedrin. 40Helkai, the Pharisee, is discussing with some of his peers what to do with Simon, the member of the Sanhedrin, who be­ came insane on Good Friday and now speaks too much and says too many things. There are various proposals, Some say that he should be isolated in some desert place, where his shouting can be heard only by a very faithful servant, who is of their same mind, some, more benignly, feel sure, as it is a transient illness, that it is sufficient to leave him where he is. Helkai replies: «I brought him here, because I do not know632. 39 632. 40 379

632. 41any other place where I can take him. But you know that I mis­ trust my relative Daniel very much... » Others, who are even more wicked than Helkai, say: «He wants to run away, to go by sea. Why not please him? » «Because he is incapable of orderly actions. All alone at sea he would perish, and none of us is capable of steering a boat. » «And then! Even if we were! What would happen at the land­ ing-stage, considering what he says? Let him choose the way... In the presence of everybody, also of your relative, let him say what he wants to do, and let it be done as he wishes. » This proposal is approved and Helkai calls a servant and or­ ders him to bring Simon and to call Daniel. They both come and, if Daniel, looks like a man who feels ill at ease in the company of certain people, the other looks just like an idiot. «Listen to us, Simon. You say that we are keeping you in pris­ on because we want to kill you... » «You must. Because that is the order. » «You are raving, Simon. Be quiet and listen. Where do you think you would recover your health? » «At sea. At sea. Out in the open sea. Where no voice is heard. Where there are no sepulchres. Because sepulchres open and the dead come out and my mother says... » «Be silent! Listen. We love you. Like one of our blood. Do you really want to go there? » «I certainly do. Because the sepulchres here open up and my mother... » «You will go there. We will take you to the seaside, we will give a boat and you... » «But you are committing a homicide! He is mad! He cannot go by himself! » shouts honest Daniel. «God does not do violence to the will of man. Could we do what God does not do? » «But he is insane! He no longer has a will. He is more foolish than a new-born baby! You cannot!... » «Be silent. You are a farmer and nothing else. We know... To­ morrow we will leave for the sea. Cheer up, Simon. For the sea, do you understand? » «Ah! I shall no longer hear the voices of the Earth! No more the voices... 41 Ah! » a long cry, a delirious agitation, eyes and ears 380

close. And another cry, of Daniel, who runs away terrorised. «Who is it? What is happening? Stop that madman and that fool! Are we all losing our wits? » shouts Helkai. But he whom Helkai calls a “fool”, that is his relative Dan­ iel, after running away a few metres, prostrates himself on the ground, whereas the other one froths at the mouth, where he is, in a frightful convulsion, and shouts, shouts: «Make Him be qui­ et! He is not dead and He shouts and shouts and shouts! More than my mother, more than my father, more than He did on Gol­ gotha! There, there, can you not see there? » He points at the place where Daniel is, placid, smiling, with his face upwards, after be­ ing with his face downwards on the ground. Helkai reaches him and shakes him violently, furious as he is, without bothering about Simon, who rolls on the ground and foams, uttering beastly shouts amid all the others who look ter­ rified as they surround him. Helkai says to Daniel: «You vision­ ary idler, will you tell me what you are doing? » «Leave me. Now I know who you are. And I am going away from you. I have seen, benign to me, dreadful to you, Him Who you want me to believe is dead. I am going away. I want to pro­ tect my soul rather than money and wealth. Goodbye, you cursed one! And if you can, try to deserve God's forgiveness. » «But where are you going? Where? I do not want! » «Are you entitled to keep me prisoner? Who gave you that right? I leave you what you love and I will follow what I love. Goodbye» he turns his back on him and goes away, as fast as if he were drawn by a superhuman power, down the green slope of olive-trees and orchards. Helkai is livid with rage, and he is not the only one. Rage chokes them all. Helkai threatens to take vengeance upon his relative, upon all those who «with their frenzies», he says, maintain that the Galilean is alive. He wants to say, he wants to do... One, I do not know who it is, says: «We will do, we will do, but we shall not be able to close all the mouths, all the eyes, that speak, because they see. We are defeated! The crime is upon us. Now comes the expiation... » and he beats his breast, seized with such anguish, that he looks like one who is climbing the steps of the scaffold. «The revenge of Jehovah» he also says, and all the 381

632. 42age-old terror of Israel resounds in his voice. In the meantime Simon, wounded, frothing at the mouth, frightened, raves shouting like a damned soul: «Parricide*, He said to me! Make Him keep quiet! Quiet! Parricide! The same word as my mother's! So do all the dead speak the same words?!... » XXI. To a Galilean woman, who obtains the resurrection of her dead husband. 42The moon, which is almost on the point of setting, is about to conceal her still thin crescent of a new moon behind the summit of a mountain. And her light is, therefore, very faint, and before long she will no longer shine on the wide country. And yet a wayfarer is on the solitary road, a small road, a path among the fields, more than anything else. He is walking holding a very simple lantern hanging from a ring, one of those which, being as old as the world, I think are generally used by carters to have light at night. As glass was not a common thing -I think it was completely unknown, as I never happened to see any in any house, such as a drinking glass, or a vase, or as a shel­ ter at windows-the flame was protected by something, that could be either mica or parchment. The light that filters is so faint, that it illuminates only a small space around the lantern. But as the moon is completely concealed, the light of the poor lantern seems to grow stronger, forming a clear dancing point in the darkness of the country. The wayfarer walks, walks... Dawn begins to appear in the sky at the extreme horizon. But it is so feeble, at present, that it does not illuminate anything, and the poor lantern is still need­ ed. Another wayfarer, all wrapped in a mantle, is waiting or rest­ ing near a little bridge. The one with the lantern, who is making for that bridge, stops in a doubtful attitude. He is uncertain whether he should pass there or go back, where in the gravel-bed of a little torrent, there are large stones that can serve to cross over the little water at the bottom. * Parricide, as in 548. 15, with reference to 520. 6/11 and 535. 11. 382

The one sitting on the rustic parapet, made of the trunk of a tree with a white-green bark still on it, raises his head, watching the one who has stopped. He stands up and says: «Be not afraid of Me. Come forward. I am a good companion, not a highway­ man. » It is Jesus. I recognise Him more by His voice than by His appearance, which is veiled by the deep twilight, that the lan­ tern cannot penetrate as far as Jesus. But the person stops, still doubtful. «Come, woman. Do not be afraid. We shall go together for a stretch of the road and it will be a good thing for you. » The woman, now I know that it is a woman, comes forward, won over by the kindness of the voice or by a mysterious force and she shakes her head as she proceeds, whispering: «There is no more good for me. » 43They now proceed side by side along the path, which is so 632. 43 wide as to allow only two pedestrians to pass. The advancing dawn shows, on one side of the path, a stiff forest in miniature of ripe corn awaiting the sickle. On the other side the corn has al­ ready been cut and is lying in sheaves in the field despoiled of its glory of a ripe harvest. «May they be cursed! » says the woman in a low voice, casting a glance at the sheaves lying in the field. Jesus is silent. The day is advancing. The woman puts out the poor lantern and, to do so, she uncovers her face disfigured by tears. And she raises her head to look eastwards, where a yellow pink line an­ nounces the rising of the sun. She shakes her fist eastwards and she says again: «May you be cursed, too! » «The day? God made it. As He made the corn. They are fa­ vours of God. They are not to be cursed... » says Jesus kindly. «And I curse them. I curse the sun and the crops. And I have a reason for that. » «Have they not been good to you for so many years? Did the former not ripen your daily bread, the grapes that change into wine, the vegetables and the fruit of the kitchen garden, did it not make the pastures grow to feed sheep and lambs, on whose milk and meat you fed and with whose wool you wove your garments? And did the corn not give bread to you, to your chil­ dren, to your father and to your mother, to your husband? » 383

She bursts into tears and shouts: «I no longer have my hus­ band! They have killed him! He went to work as a day-labour­ er, because we have seven children and the little we have of our own was not sufficient to appease the hunger of ten people. And yesterday evening he came and said: “I am tired and I feel out of sorts” and he threw himself on the little bed, burning with fever. His mother and I assisted him as best we could, as we intended to send for the doctor in town today... But after cock-crow he died. The sun killed him. Yes, I am going to town. To get what is necessary. I will inform his brothers when I come back. I left his mother to watch her son and my children... and I came away to do what is to be done... And should I not curse the burning sun and corn? » So reserved as she was previously, so much so that I would not have thought she was a woman, and above all a distressed one, she has now broken the barriers to her sorrow, which over­ flows violently. She says what she did not say at home «in order not to wake up the children sleeping in the next room», what weighed so much on her heart as to give her the sensation that it was about to burst. Recollections of love, dismay for the future, grief of a widow, pass confusedly like rubble carried away by the swollen waves of a river in spate... 44Jesus lets her speak. Because Jesus knows how to pity sor­ row, He allows it to give vent to its feelings, so that man may be relieved thereby, and the tiredness itself, that follows the im­ petuousness of sorrow, may make him capable of understanding who comforts him. He then says kindly: «At Nain and at Naza­ reth, and in the places between the former and the latter, there are the disciples of the Rabbi of Nazareth. Go to them... » «And what do You expect them to do? If He were still here!... But they? They are not saints! My husband was in Jerusalem on that day. And he knows... Oh! no! He knew! He knows nothing any more! He is dead! » «What did your husband do on that day? » «When the uproar of the street woke him, he ran up to the ter­ race of the house where he was with his brothers and he saw the Rabbi pass by, as He was taken to the Praetorium, and with other Galileans he followed Him until He died. They pelted him and the others with stones, when they found out that they were Galileans, 384632. 44

up there on the mountain, and they repelled them farther down. But they were there until everything was accomplished. Then... they came away... And now he is dead. Oh! if at least I knew that he is at peace because of his compassion for the Rabbi! » Jesus does not reply to that wish. But He says: «He will then have seen that there were some disciples on Golgotha. Were all the Galileans perhaps like your husband? » «Oh! no. Many, also from Nazareth, abused Him. It is known. What a shame! » «So, if many people also from Nazareth showed no love for their Jesus, and yet He has forgiven them, and many will be­ come holy in future, why do you want to judge all the disciples of Christ in the same way? Do you want to be more severe than God is? God grants much to those who forgive... » «The good Rabbi is no longer! here! He is no longer here! And my husband is dead. » «The Rabbi has given His disciples the power to do what He did. » «I am prepared to believe that. But He alone could defeat death. He alone! » «And do we not read that Elijah gave the spirit back to the son of the widow of Zarephath? I solemnly tell you that Elijah was a great prophet, but the servants of the Saviour, Who died and has risen because He was the Son of the true God and be­ came incarnate to redeem men, have even a greater power, be­ cause on the Cross He forgave them their sins, and they were the first to be forgiven, as He was aware, through divine wisdom, of the true sorrow of their contrite spirits, He sanctified them after His resurrection forgiving them again, and He infused the Holy Spirit into them, so that they could represent Me worthily both with their words and their deeds, and the world might not re­ main desolate after My departure from it. » 45The woman steps back livelily, dumbfounded. She throws her veil back to look at her companion. But she does not recog­ nise Him. She thinks that she has misunderstood. But she dare not speak any more... «Are you afraid of Me? First you thought that I was a high­ wayman ready to snatch the money you have in your breast and serves to buy what is necessary for the burial. And you were632. 45 385

632. 46afraid. Are you now afraid to know that I am Jesus? And is Jesus not the One Who gives and does not take? He Who saves and does not ruin? Go back, woman. I am the Resurrection and the Life. Sudarium and spices are not necessary for him who is not dead, who is no longer dead, because I am He Who defeats death and rewards who has faith. Go! Go home! Your husband is alive. Not one with faith in Me is left without reward. » He makes the ges­ ture of blessing her and going away. The woman comes out of her petrification. She does not ask, she does not doubt... Nothing. She falls on her knees, adoring. Then, at last, she opens her mouth and, searching in her breast, she pulls out a small purse, the poor purse of poor people, to whom misery forbids solemn honours for their dead relatives, and offering her purse she says: «1 have nothing else... nothing else to tell You my gratitude, to honour You, to... » «I no longer need money, woman. You will take it to My apos­ tles. » «Oh! yes. I will go to them with my husband... But what can I give You, my Lord? What? You appeared to me... this miracle... and I did not recognise You... and I so upset... yes, unjust even with things... » «Yes. And you did not think that they are because I am, and that everything that God made is good. If there had been no sun, if there had been no corn, you would not have had the pre­ sent grace. » «But how much sorrow!... » The woman weeps remembering it. Jesus smiles and shows His hands saying: «This is the least part of My sorrow. And I consumed it all, without complaining, for your welfare. » The woman stoops to the ground to confess: «It is true. For­ give my lament. » 46Jesus disappears in His light, and when she looks up she sees that she is alone. She stands up, looks round. Nothing can pre­ vent her from seeing, because it is broad daylight, and there is nothing but fields of crops around. The woman says to herself: «And yet I have not dreamt! » Perhaps the demon tempts her to make her doubt, because she is in a state of uncertainty for a mo­ ment, while she weighs her purse in her hands. 386

But then faith triumphs, and she turns her back to the place where she was going, retracing her steps, as fast as if the winds were carrying her without making her fatigue, her face shining with a joy which is greater than any human joy, so peaceful it is. Now and again she repeats: «How good is the Lord. He is re­ ally God! He is God! Blessed be the Most High and He Whom He sent. » She cannot say anything else. And her litany mingles with the singing of birds. The woman is so absorbed that she does not hear the greet­ ings of some reapers who see her pass by and ask her where is she coming from at that early hour... One joins her and says to her: «Is Mark better? Have you been for the doctor? » «Mark died at cock-crow and has risen from the dead. Be­ cause the Messiah of the Lord has done that» she replies, walk­ ing fast all the time. «Sorrow has made her insane! » whispers the man, and he shakes his head joining his companions, who have begun to cut the corn. The fields are filling with more and more people. But curi­ osity overwhelms many who decide to follow the woman, who quickens her steps more and more. 47She goes on. There is a very poor house, low, solitary, lost in the country. She directs her steps towards it, pressing her hands against her heart. She goes in. But as soon as she sets foot in it, an old woman throws herself in her arms shouting: «Oh! my daughter, what a grace of the Lord! Take heart, daughter, because what I have to tell you is so great, so happy, that... » «I know, mother. Mark is no longer dead. Where is he? » «You know... How? » «I met the Lord. I did not recognise Him, but He spoke to me and when it pleased Him, He said to me: “Your husband lives”. But here... when? » «I had just opened the window, and I was looking at the first sunbeam on the fig-tree. Yes, just so. The first beam touched the fig-tree then, against the room... when I heard a deep sigh, like that of one who wakes up. I turned round frightened and I saw Mark sit up and throw behind him the sheet that I had laid on his face, and look up with a face, a face... Then he looked at me and632. 47 387

632. 48 632. 49said: “Mother! I am cured! ” I... I almost died myself, and he as­ sisted me, and he realised that he had been dead. He does not re­ member anything. He says that he remembers up to the moment we put him to bed, and then nothing else till he saw an angel, a kind of angel who looked like the Rabbi of Nazareth and who said to him: “Rise! ” And he rose. Just when the sun had com­ pletely risen. » «Just when He said to me: “Your husband lives”. Oh! mother, what a grace! How much God has loved us! » 48Those who come in find them embraced, weeping. And they think that Mark is dead and that his wife, in a moment of clear­ ness of mind, has realised her misfortune. But Mark, upon hear­ ing the voices, appears, looking serene, with a child in his arms, and the others holding on his tunic, and he says in a loud voice: «Here I am. Let us bless the Lord! » The newcomers beset him with questions, and as is usual with human things, discrepancies arise. Some believe in a real resur­ rection, and some, the majority, say that he had only fallen into a torpor, but he had not died. Some admit that Christ has ap­ peared to Rachel and some say that it is a lot of nonsense, be­ cause some say: «He is dead» and some: «He has risen, but He is so indignant, He must be, that He works no more miracles for His murderous people. » «You can say what you like» says the man losing his patience «and say it where you like. As long as you do not say it here, where the Lord has raised me from the dead. And go away, o un­ fortunate people! And may Heaven enlighten your heads so that you may believe. But go away now and leave us in peace. » He drives them out and closes the door. 49He presses his wife and mother to his heart and says: «Naz­ areth is not far. I am going there to proclaim the miracle. » «That is what the Lord wants, Mark. We will take this money to His disciples. Let us go and bless the Lord. Just as we are. We are poor, but He also was poor, and His apostles will not despise us. » She busies herself tying the laces of the children's sandals, while her mother puts some provisions in a bag and closes doors and windows, and Mark goes to do I do not know what. They go out when they are ready and walk fast, the little ones 388

in their arms, the others happy and somewhat bewildered, east­ wards, towards Nazareth, obviously. Perhaps this place is still in the Esdraelon plain, but in a different part than that of Jo­ hanan's estate. 633. Jesus appears on the shores of the lake. The mission conferred to Peter. 19th April 1947. 1A calm sultry night. There is not a breath of wind. The stars, 633. 1 large and throbbing, crowd the clear sky. The lake, so calm and still, as to look like a very large basin sheltered from winds, re­ flects with its surface the glory of that sky that palpitates with stars. The trees along the shores form a block with no rustling. The lake is so calm that its surge on the shore is reduced to a very light lapping. Some boats off-shore, hardly visible as roaming forms, that at times place little stars at a short distance from the waves, with their tiny lights tied to the masts of the sails, to illu­ minate the interiors of the small hulls. I do not know which part of the lake it is. I should say the more southern one, where the lake is about to become a river again. At the outskirts of Tarichea, I should say, not because I can see the town, which is hidden by a group of trees, that stretch on the lake forming a little hilly promontory, but be­ cause I am led to think so by the little stars of the lights of the boats, that move away northwards, when they depart from the shores of the lake. I say outskirts, because there is a little group of poor houses gathered there at the foot of the little promon­ tory, but they are so few that they cannot even be considered a village. They are poor houses, almost on the shore, certainly of fishermen. Some boats are beached on the little shore; others are already prepared to sail, in the water, near the shore, and they are so still as to seem fixed to the ground, instead of floating. 2Peter puts his head out of a hovel. The flickering light of a 633. 2 fire lit in the smoky kitchen illuminates the sturdy figure of the apostle from behind, making it show up like a drawing. He looks at the sky, he looks at the lake... He comes forward, as far as 389

633. 3the edge of the shore. Then-he is wearing a short tunic and is bare-bare foot, he paddles in the water up to half his thigh, and stretching out his brawny arm, he caresses the gunwale of a boat. Zebedee's sons join him. «Lovely night. » «It will soon be moonlight. » «Fishing night. » «But with oars. » «There is no wind. » «What shall we do? » They speak slowly, with detached sentences, like men accus­ tomed to fishing and to the manoeuvres of sails and nets, for which attention is required and so, few words. «We ought to go. We could sell part of the catch. » Andrew, Thomas and Bartholomew come and join them on the shore. «What a warm night! » exclaims Bartholomew. «Will there be a storm? Do you remember that night? » asks Thomas. «Oh! no! Calm, fog perhaps, but no storm. I... I am going fish­ ing. Who is coming with me? » «We are all coming. Perhaps it will be cooler out there» says Thomas, who is perspiring, and he adds: «The woman needed that fire, but it was like being at the hot baths... » «I am going to tell Simon. He is all alone over there» says John. 3Peter is already preparing the boat with Andrew and James. «Shall we go as far as our house? A surprise for my mother... » asks James. «No. I do not know whether I can get Marjiam to come. Be­ fore... before... Well, yes! Before going to Jerusalem-we were still at Ephraim-the Lord told me that He wanted to celebrate the second Passover with Marjiam. But later He said nothing to me... » «I think He said that He would» says Andrew. «Yes. The second Passover, yes. But I do not know whether He wants the boy to come here first. I have made so many mistakes that... Oh! are you coming, too? » «Yes, Simon of Jonah. This fishing will remind me of many things... » 390

«Eh! it will remind everybody of many things... Things that will never come back again... We used to go out on the lake with the Master in this boat... And I loved it as if it were a royal pal­ ace, and I thought I could not live without it. But now that He is no longer here, well, I am in the boat and I do not enjoy it» says Peter. «No one has the joy of past things. It no longer is the same life. And also in looking back... between the hours of the past and the present ones there is always that dreadful period of time... » says Bartholomew with a sigh. «We are ready. Come. You at the rudder and we at the oars. We are going towards the bend of Hippos. It is a good spot. Pull-ho! Pull-ho! » Peter sets the rate and the boat slides on the calm water, with Bartholomew at the rudder. Thomas and the Zealot act as serv­ ants ready to cast the net, which they have already spread out. The moon rises, that is, she is over the mountains of Gadara (if I am not mistaken) or Gamala, that is, the ones on the (eastern shore towards the south of the lake, and the lake is illuminated by her rays that trace a road of diamonds on the still water. «She will be with us until morning. » «If there is no mist. » «The fish leave the bottom attracted by the moon. » «If we have a good catch, it will be a blessing, because we have no more money. We will buy bread and will take fish and bread to those who are up the mountain. » Words uttered slowly, with long pauses between one voice and the next one. «You row very well, Simon. You have not lost the stroke!... » says the Zealot admiring him. 4«Yes... Damn! » 633. 4 «What is the matter with you? » the others ask him. «The... The matter is that the recollection of that man haunts me everywhere. I remember that day when in two boats we com­ peted to see who was the best oarsman, and he... » «I instead was thinking that one of the first times that I had the vision of his abyss of wickedness, was when we met, or rath­ er, we came into collision with the boats of the Romans. Do you remember? » says the Zealot. «Eh! we do remember! However!... He defended him... and 391

633. 5 633. 6we... what with the defensive attitude of the Master, what with the double-dealing of... of our companion, we never clearly un­ derstood... » says Thomas. «H'm! I more than once... But He would say: “Do not judge, Simon! ”» «Thaddeus always suspected him. » «What I cannot believe is that this fellow here never knew anything about it» says James, poking his brother in the ribs. But John, bending his head, is silent. «Now he can speak... » says Thomas. «I am trying to forget. That is what I have been ordered. Why do you want me to disobey? » «You are right. Let us leave him alone» says the Zealot de­ fending him. 5«Cast the net. Slowly. Row. Row slowly. Turn to port, Bar­ tholomew. Haul. Veer. Haul. Veer. Is the net spread? Is it? Oars up and let us wait» orders Peter. How beautiful is the placid lake in the peace of the night, kissed by the moon! So pure that it is paradisiac. The moon from the sky is fully reflected in it and gives it the appearance of di­ amonds, her phosphorescence quivers on the hills, it disclos­ es them and makes the towns on the shores as white as snow... Now and again they haul the net. A cascade of diamonds play­ ing arpeggios on the silver of the lake. It is empty. They cast it again. They change place. No luck... Hours go by. The moon sets, while the light of dawn begins to appear, uncertain, green-blue... A heat mist steams towards the shores, particularly towards the southern end of the lake. Tiberias is veiled with it, and Tarichea is also veiled with it. A low fog, not dense, that will melt in the early sun. In order to avoid it they prefer to go along the eastern side, where it is less dense, whilst to the west, as it comes from the marsh beyond Tarichea on the right bank of the Jordan, it thick­ ens as if the marsh were steaming. They row carefully to avoid possible dangers of the depth, familiar as they are with the lake. 6«You, on the boat! Have you anything to eat? » shouts a man's voice from the shore. A voice that makes them start. But they shrug their shoulders, replying in a loud voice: «No»; then they say to one another: «We always seem to be hearing Him!... » 392

«Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find them. » The right-hand side is off-shore. They cast the net, rather perplexedly. Jerks, weight that makes the boat bend on the side where the net hangs. «But that is the Lord! » shouts John. «The Lord, are you sure? » asks Peter. «And do you doubt it? We thought it was His voice, but this is the proof of it. Look at the net! It is like that time! I tell you that it is He! Oh! my Jesus! Where are You? » They all open their eyes wide to see through the veils of fog, after fastening the net safely to drag it in the wake of the boat, as it would be a dangerous manoeuvre to try to hoist it and they row to go back to shore. But Thomas has to take the oar of Peter who, after hurriedly slipping on his short tunic over his very short trousers, the only garment he had on, like that of all the others, except Bartholomew, jumps into the water and swims with vigorous strokes in the calm water, preceding the boat. He is the first to set foot on the desert little beach, where on two stones sheltered by a thorny bush, a fire of dry twigs is gaily blazing. And near the fire, there is Jesus, smiling and be­ nign. «Lord! Lord! » Peter is breathless because of his emotion and is unable to say anything else. Dripping wet, as he is, he dare not even touch the tunic of his Jesus, and prostrated on the sand with his tunic sticking to him, he adores. The boat rubs on the shingly shore and stops. They are all standing, excited with joy... 7 «Bring some of those fish here. The fire is ready. Come and have something to eat» orders Jesus. Peter runs to the boat and helps the others to heave the net, and he gets hold of three big fish in the wriggling heap, he beats them on the gunwale of the boat to kill them and guts them with his knife. But his hands shake, oh! not with cold! He rinses the fish, he takes them where the fire is and puts them on it, and he watches them cooking. The others are worshipping the Lord, a little away from Him, timorous, as always, of Him Who has risen so divinely powerful. «Here you are. Here is the bread. You have worked all night633. 7 393

633. 8and you are tired. Now you will take some refreshment. Is it ready, Peter? » «Yes, my Lord» says Peter in a voice that is more hoarse than usual, bent over the fire, and he wipes his eyes, which are wet with tears, as if the smoke made them weep, irritating them and his throat at the same time. But it is not the smoke that is the cause of that voice and of those tears... He takes the fish, which he has laid on a rough leaf, it looks like the leaf of a gourd, hand­ ed to him by Andrew after he had rinsed it in the lake. Jesus offers and blesses, He breaks the bread and the fish, making eight portions which He hands out, and He tastes some as well. They eat with the respect with which they would fulfil a rite. Jesus looks at them and smiles. But He also is silent, until He asks: «Where are the others? » «On the mountain. Where You said. And we came to fish, be­ cause we have no more money and we do not want to take advan­ tage of the disciples. » «You are doing the right thing. But from now on, you apostles will stay on the mountain in prayer, edifying the disciples with your example. Send them fishing. It is better for you to remain there in prayer and to listen to those who are in need of advice or may come to give you information. Keep the disciples in a very united group. I will come soon. » «We will do that, Lord. » «Is Marjiam not with you? » «You did not tell me to make him come so soon. » «Make him come. The time of his obedience is over. » «I will make him come, Lord. » 8There is silence. Then Jesus, Who had been with His head bent a little, thinking, looks up and fixes His eyes on Peter. He looks at him with the glance of the moments when He worked the greatest miracles or was most authoritative. Peter is startled, almost frightened and he withdraws a little... But Jesus, laying a hand on Peter's shoulder, holds him firmly and while holding him so, He asks him: «Simon of Jonah, do you love Me? » «Certainly, Lord! You know that I love You» replies Peter de­ cidedly. «Feed My lambs... Simon of Jonah, do you love Me? » «Yes, my Lord. And You know that I love You. » His voice is 394

not so bold, and he is rather surprised at the repetition of the question. «Feed My lambs... Simon of Jonah, do you love Me? » «Lord... You know everything... You know whether I love You... » Peter's voice trembles, as he is sure of his love, but he is under the impression that Jesus is not sure. «Feed My sheep. Your treble profession of love has cancelled your treble denial. You are completely pure, Simon of Jonah, and I say to you: put on the pontificals and take the Holiness of the Lord among My flock. Fasten your clothes at your waist and keep them fastened, until from Shepherd you also become lamb. I solemnly tell you that when you were young, you put on your own belt and you went where you liked, but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and somebody else will put a belt round you and will take you where you would rather not go. But now it is I Who say to you: “Gird yourself and follow Me on My own way”. Stand up and come. » Jesus stands up and Peter stands up going towards the shore, and the others begin to put out the fire smothering it under the sand. 9But John, after picking up the remains of the bread, follows Jesus. Peter hears the shuffling of steps and turns round. He sees John, and pointing him out to Jesus, he. asks: «And what will happen to him? » «If I want him to stay* until I come back, what does it matter to you? You are to follow Me. » They are on the shore. Peter would like to go on speaking, but Jesus' majesty and the words he has heard detain him. He kneels down, imitated by the others and adores. Jesus blesses them and dismisses them. They get on the boat and go away rowing. Jesus looks at them go. * If I want him to stay... the sense of this reply, also testified by John 21: 21-23 might be found in 508. 2. 633. 9 395

634. 1 634. 2634. Jesus appears on mount Tabor. Teachings to the apostles and to about five hundred disciples. Marjiam consoled. 20th April 1947. 1All the apostles are there, all the shepherd disciples, also Jonathan, whom Chuza has dismissed from his service. There is Marjiam and Manaen and many of the seventy two disciples and many more. They are in the shade of trees, which with their fo­ liage mitigate light and heat. They are not up towards the sum­ mit, where the Transfiguration took place, but half-way up the hill, where a wood of oak-trees seems to be wanting to veil the summit and support the sides of the mountain with its powerful roots. Almost everybody is dozing, because of the hour and also be­ cause of the inactivity and the long wait. But the cry of a boy-I do not know who he is, because I cannot see him from where I am-is sufficient to make them all stand up, in a first impulsive movement, which soon changes into prostration with their faces among the grass. «Peace to all of you. Here I am among you. Peace to you. Peace to you. » Jesus passes amid them greeting and blessing. Many weep, many smile blissfully. But there is so much peace in everybody. Jesus goes and stops where the apostles and the shepherds form a thick group with Marjiam, Manaen, Stephen, Nicolaus, John of Ephesus, Hermas, and some of the more faithful disci­ ples, whose names I do not remember. I see the man from Ko­ razim who left off burying his father in order to follow Jesus, and another whom I have seen at other times. Jesus takes in His hands the head of Marjiam, who weeps looking at Him, He kisses his forehead and then presses him against His heart. He then turns round towards the others and says: «Many and few. Where are the others? I know that many are My faithful disciples. Why here there are hardly five hundred people here, without taking into account the children of this one or that one among you? » 2Peter, who had remained kneeling on the grass, stands up and speaks on behalf of everybody: «Lord, between the thir­ 396

teenth and twentieth day from Your death, many people have come here from many towns in Palestine, saying that You were among them. So many of us, in order to see You sooner, went some with this one, some with that one. Some have just left. Those who came here said that they had seen You and spoken to You in dif­ ferent places, and, what was wonderful, they all said that they had seen You on the twelfth day from Your death. We thought this was a deceit of some of those false prophets, that You said will rise to deceive the chosen ones. You said so, on the Mount of Olives, the evening before... before... » Peter, seized again with grief at that recollection, lowers his head and becomes silent. Two tears, followed by more, fall from his beard on the ground... Jesus lays His right hand on the shoulder of Peter, who quiv­ ers at that contact and, as he dare not touch that Hand with his own, he bends his neck, his face to caress that adorable Hand with his cheek, and touch it lightly with his lips. James of Alphaeus continues the narration: «And we dis­ couraged people from believing those apparitions, that is those among us who got up to run towards the great sea, or towards Bozrah, or Caesarea Philippi, Pella or Kedesh, to the mountain near Jericho and to the plain, and also to the Esdraelon plain, to the great Hermon and to Beth-horon and Beth-shemesh, and to other places which have no names, as they are isolated houses in the plain near Japhia or Gilead. Too uncertain. Some people said: “We have seen Him and heard Him”. Others sent word that they had seen You and had even a meal with You. Yes, we want­ ed to hold them back, because we thought that they were either snares of those who oppose us, or even phantasms seen by just people, who think of You so much that they end up by seeing You where You are not. But they wanted to go away. Some here, some there. And so we are reduced to less than one third. » «You were right in insisting to hold them back. Not because I have not really been where those, who came to tell you, said. But because I had ordered you to stay here, united in prayer awaiting Me. And because I want My words to be obeyed, particularly by those who are My servants. If My servants begin to be disobedi­ ent, what will the believers do? 3Listen all of you who are around here. Remember that in an organism a hierarchy is required, so that it may be really active634. 3 397

634. 4 634. 5and wholesome, that is, someone who commands, someone who transmits orders, and those who obey. That is what happens in the courts of kings, as well as in religions. From our Hebrew re­ ligion to the others, even if they are so impure, there is always a chief, his ministers, the servants of the ministers, and lastly the believers. A pontiff cannot act by himself. A king cannot act by himself. And their dispositions concern only human contin­ gencies, or the formalism of rites... Yes. Unfortunately, now, al­ so in the Mosaic religion, there is nothing left but the formal­ ism of rites, the continuation of the movements of a device that goes on making the same gestures, even now that the spirit of the gestures is dead. Dead forever. Their Divine Animator, He Who gave value to the rites, has withdrawn from them. And the rites are gestures, nothing else. Gestures that any histrion could mime on the stage of an amphitheatre. 4Woe, when a religion dies, and from a real living power be­ comes a clamorous exterior pantomime, an empty thing behind a painted scenery, behind pompous garments, the movements of devices performing certain actions, just as a key activates a spring, but neither key nor spring is conscious of what they do. Woe! Ponder! Remember this truth and tell your successors about it, so that it may be known throughout ages. The fall of a planet is less frightening than the fall of religion. If the sky should be depopulated of its stars and planets, it would not be for peoples as bad a misfortune as if they remained without religion. God would provide with provident power for the needs of men, because God can do everything for those who, in a wise way, or in the way that their ignorance knows, seek and love the Divinity in a right spirit. But if the day should come when men no longer loved God, because the priests of every religion had made only an empty pantomime of it, as they were the first not to believe in their religion, woe betide the Earth! 5Now, if I say so for those religions that are impure, as some have come through partial revelation to a wise person, some de­ rive from the instinctive need of man to create a faith for him­ self to nourish his soul to love a god-as this need is the strong­ est incentive of man, the permanent state of research for Him Who is, and Who is wanted by the spirit even if the proud intel­ lect refuses to pay homage to any god, even if man, unaware of 398

the soul, is unable to give a name to such need that stirs within him-what shall I say for this religion that I have given you, for this one that bears My Name, for this one of which I have created you pontiffs and priests, for this one that I order you to propa­ gate all over the world? For this religion Unique, True, Perfect, Immutable in the Doctrine taught by Me, the Master, completed by the continuous teaching of He Who will come, the Holy Spirit, the Most Holy Guide for My Pontiffs and for those who will help them, second chiefs in the various Churches created in the vari­ ous regions where My Word will be asserted. These Churches, although various in number, will not be different in thought, but will be one thing only with the Church, as with their individual parts they will form the great building, greater and greater, the great new Temple, that with its pavilions will reach all the cor­ ners of the earth. Not different in thought, nor contrasting with one another, but united, brotherly to one another, all subjected to the Head of the Church, to Peter, and to his successors until the end of time. And those that for any reason should separate from the Moth­ er Church, would be members cut off, no longer nourished with the mystic blood that is Grace coming from Me, the divine Head of the Church. Like prodigal sons, separated through their own will from the paternal house, in their short-lived wealth and constant and graver and graver misery, they would be blunting their spiritual intellects by means of too heavy foods and wines, and then they would languish eating the bitter acorns of unclean animals until they returned to the paternal house, saying with contrite hearts: “We have sinned. Father, forgive us and open the doors of your abode to us”. Then, whether it is a member of a separated Church, or an entire Church-oh! if it were so, but where, when will so many imitators of Me arise, capable of redeeming these entire separated Churches, at the cost of their lives, to make, to remake only one Fold under only one shepherd, as I ardently wish?-then whether it is only one person or an assembly that comes back, open the doors to them. 6Be fatherly. Consider that all of you, for one hour or for many, perhaps for years, were, individually, prodigal sons engulfed in concupiscence. Do not be hard on those who repent. Remember!634. 6 399

634. 7Remember! Many of you ran away twenty two days ago. And was your running away perhaps not an abjuration of your love for Me? Therefore, as I received you as soon as you, repentant, came to Me, do the same yourselves. Do everything I did. That is My command. You lived with Me for three years. You know My deeds and My thoughts. When, in future, you will find yourselves in front of a case to be decided, look back to the time when you were with Me and behave as I behaved. You will never go wrong. I am the living perfect example of what you have to do. And remember also that I did not refuse Myself even to Ju­ das of Kerioth... A priest must try to save, by all possible means. And let love always prevail, among the means used to save. Con­ sider that I was not unaware of Judas' horror... But, overcom­ ing all disgust, I treated the wretch as I treated John. You... you will often be spared the bitterness of knowing that nothing is of any use to save a beloved disciple... And you will therefore be able to work without the tiredness that affects one, when one knows that everything is useless... One must work even then... always... until everything is accomplished... » 7«But You are suffering, Lord!?! Oh! I did not believe that You could suffer any more! You still suffer because of Judas! Forget him Lord! » shouts John, who does not turn his eyes away from his Lord for one moment. Jesus opens His arms, in His usual attitude of resigned con­ firmation of a painful fact, and He says: «It is so... Judas has been and is the deepest sorrow in the sea of My sorrows. It is the sorrow that remains... The other sorrows have come to an end with the end of the Sacrifice. But this one remains. I loved him. I consumed Myself in the effort to save him... I was able to open the doors of Limbo and bring out the just, I was able to open the doors of Purgatory, and bring out those who were being purified. But the place of horror was closed upon him. In vain I died for him. » «Do not suffer! Do not suffer! You are glorious, my Lord! Glo­ ry and joy to You. You have consumed Your sorrow! » implores John again. «No one really thought that He could still suffer! » they all say, amazed and moved, whispering to one another. «And do you not think of how much sorrow My Heart will 400

still have to suffer throughout ages, for every unrepentant sin­ ner, for every heresy that denies Me, for every believer who ab­ jures Me, for every-torture of all tortures-for every guilty priest, the cause of scandal and ruin? You do not know! You do not know as yet. You will never know fully, until you are with Me in the Light of Heaven. Then you will understand... In contem­ plating Judas, I contemplated the chosen ones whose election is changed into ruin through their wicked will... Oh! you who are faithful, you who will form the future priests, remember My sorrow, grow holier and holier to comfort My sorrow, make them holy so that, as far as possible, there may be no repetition of this sorrow, exhort, watch, teach, fight, be as heedful as mothers, as untiring as teachers, as vigilant as shep­ herds, as manlike as warriors, to support the priests that will be formed by you. Ensure, oh! do ensure that the sin of the twelfth apostle may not have too many repetitions in future... 8Be as I was with you, as I am with you. I said to you: “Be as 634. 8 perfect as the Father in Heaven”. And let your humanity tremble at that command, now even more than when I told you. Because now you are aware of your weakness. Well, to encourage you I will say to you: “Be like your Master”. I am the Man. What I have done, you can do. Also miracles. Yes, also them. So that the world may know that it is I Who send you, and he who suffers may not weep, disheartened by this thought: “He is no longer among us to cure our sick people and to comfort our sorrows”. During these days I have worked miracles to comfort hearts and convince them that the Christ is not destroyed because He was put to death. On the contrary, He is stronger, eternally strong and powerful. But when I am no longer among you, you will do what I have done so far, and what I will still do. But not so much out of the power or working miracles, but because through your holiness the love for the new Religion will grow greater. And it is over your holiness, not over the gift I transmit to you, that you must be jealously watchful. The holier you are, the dearer you will be to My Heart, and the Spirit of God will enlighten you, while the Goodness of God and His Power will fill your hands with the gifts of Heaven. A miracle is not a common and essential act for the life in faith. On the contrary, blessed are those who will be able to re­ 401

634. 9main in the faith without extraordinary means to help them to believe! But neither is a miracle an act so exclusively reserved to special times, that it must cease when they cease. There will al­ ways be miracles in the world. Always. And the more numerous are the just in the world, the more numerous will the miracles be. When you see that the true miracles are becoming very rare, you can then say that faith and justice are languishing. Because I said: “If you have faith, you will be able to move mountains”. Because I said: “The signs that will accompany those, who have true faith in Me, are the victories over demons and diseases, over elements and snares”. God is with those who love Him. The sign of how My believers are in Me will be the number and the power of the miracles they will work in My name and to glorify God. To a world without true miracles, it will be possible to say, without slander: “You have lost faith and justice. You are a world without saints”. 9So, to go back to what I was saying at the beginning, you did the right thing in trying to detain those who, like children se­ duced by the noise of music or by something glittering strangely, run away absent-mindedly from what is certain. But, see? They have their punishment, because they lose My word. But you have been wrong as well. You did remember that I told you not to run here and there at every rumour saying that I was in a certain place. But you did not remember that I also said that, in His sec­ ond coming, the Christ will be like lightning striking in the east and flashing into the west, in a time shorter than the blinking of an eye. Now this second coming began at the moment of My Res­ urrection. It will culminate in the apparition of the Christ Judge to all the risen. But before that, how many times I will appear to convert, to cure, to console, to teach, to give orders! I solemnly tell you: I am about to go back to My Father. But the Earth will not lose My Presence. I shall be watchful and friend­ ly, Master and Doctor, where bodies or souls, sinners or saints, will need Me or will be elected by Me to transmit My words to other people. Because, and this also is true, Mankind will be in need of a continuous act of love from Me because it is so hard to bend, so easy to wane, ready to forget, eager to descend instead of ascending, that if I did hot detain it with supernatural means, the law, the Gospel, the divine assistance administered by My 402

Church would be of no avail to keep Humanity in the knowledge of the Truth and in the will to reach Heaven. And I am speaking of the Humanity that believes in Me... Always little when com­ pared to the great mass of the inhabitants of the Earth. 10I will come. Let those who will have Me remain humble. 634. 10 Let those who will not have Me, not be eager to have Me, to be praised thereby. Let no one wish what is uncommon. God knows when and where to give you it. It is not necessary to have ex­ traordinary things to enter Heaven. On the contrary, they are a weapon, that, when it is badly used, may open hell instead of Heaven. And now I will tell you how. Because pride may arise. Because a state of the spirit may intervene, despicable in the eyes of God, as it is like a torpor in which one may relax to caress the treasure received, considering oneself already in Heaven hav­ ing been granted that gift. No. In that case, instead of flame and wing, it becomes ice and boulder, and the soul falls and dies. And also: a gift badly used may give rise to the eagerness to have even more, in order to be more praised. Then, in that case, the Spirit of Evil might replace the Lord to seduce the imprudent believers by means of impure prodigies. Always keep away from all kinds of enticements. Avoid them. Be happy with what God grants you. He knows what is useful to you and in what manner. And always consider that every gift is also a trial, in addition to being a gift, a trial of your justice and will. I have given everyone of you the same things. But what improved you, ruined Judas. Was it there­ fore a bad gift? No. But wicked was the will of that spirit... 11The same now. I have appeared to many people. Not only to 634. 11 console and assist, but also to make you happy. You have begged Me to convince the people that I have risen, because the members of the Sanhedrin are trying to convince them of what they think. I have appeared to children and to adults, on the same day, in places so distant from one another, that it would take many days' walk to reach them. But I am no longer subjected to distances. And My simultaneous appearances have puzzled you as well. You have said to one another: “These people have seen phantasms”. So you have forgotten part of My words, that is, that from now on I shall be east and west, north and south, wherever I think it is just that I should be, without anything preventing Me from do­ ing so, and as fast as lightning flashing across the sky. I am a re-403

al Man. Here are My limbs, My solid warm Body, capable of mov­ ing, breathing, speaking, as you do. But I am true God. And if for thirty three years My Divinity, for a supreme purpose, was con­ cealed in My Humanity, now the Divinity, although joined to the Humanity, has overwhelmed the latter, and My Humanity enjoys the perfect freedom of glorified bodies. Queen with the Divinity no longer subjected to what is limitation for Humanity. Here I am. I am here with you and I could be, if I wanted, in a moment at the end of the world to draw to Myself a spirit seeking Me. 12And what effect will have the fact that I have been near Cae­ sarea on the Sea and at the high Caesarea, and at the Cherith, and at Engedi, and near Pella and Juttah, and in other plac­ es in Judaea, and at Bozrah, and on the Great Hermon, and at Sidon and at the borders of Galilee? And that I cured a boy, and I brought back to life one who had died shortly before, and I con­ soled an anguished person, and I called to My service one who had mortified himself with hard penance, and to God a just man who had begged Me to do so, and I gave My message to some in­ nocents and My orders to a faithful heart? Will that convince the world? No, it will not. Those who believe, will continue to be­ lieve, with greater peace, but not with greater strength, because they already really believed. Those who did not believe with true faith will remain doubtful, and the wicked will say that My ap­ paritions are frenzy and falsehood, and that the dead man was not dead, but was sleeping... Do you remember when I told you the parable of Dives? I said that Abraham replied to the damned soul: “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not believe even one who rises from the dead to tell them what they have to do”. Did they per­ haps believe Me, the Master, and My miracles? What did Lazarus' miracle achieve? My hurried death sentence. And My Resurrec­ tion? An increase of their hatred. Even My miracles of these last days among you will not convince the world, but only those who no longer belong to the world, as they have chosen the Kingdom of God with its present fatigue and pains and its future glory. But I am glad that you have been confirmed in the faith and that you have been faithful to My order, by remaining upon this mountain waiting, without being in a hurry to enjoy things that are also good, but are different from the ones I mentioned to you. 404634. 12

Disobedience gives one tenth and takes away nine tenths. They went away and will hear words of men, always those. You have remained and you have heard My Word which, even if it repeats things already said, is always good and useful. The lesson will serve as an example for all of you, and also for them, for the fu­ ture. » 13Jesus looks around at those faces gathered there and calls: «Elisha of Engedi*, come here. I have something to tell you. » I had not recognised the ex-leper, the son of old Abraham. Then he was a ghastly skeleton, now he is a buxom man in the prime of life. He goes near, prostrating himself at the feet of Jesus, Who says to him: «A question is trembling on your lips since you heard that I have been to Engedi. And it is this: “Have You com­ forted my father? ” I say to you: “I have more than consoled him! I have taken him with Me”. » «With You, my Lord? And where is he, since I do not see him? » «Elisha, I am still here for a short time. Then I will go to My Father... » «Lord!... You mean... My father is dead! » «He died peacefully on My Heart. Sorrow is over also for him. He consumed it all, and by remaining always faithful to the Lord. Do not weep. Had you not left him to follow Me? » «Yes, my Lord... » «Well. Your father is with Me. Therefore, by following Me, you still come near your father. » «But when? And how? » «In his vineyard, where he heard Me speak for the first time. He reminded Me of his prayer of last year. I said to him: “Come”. He died a happy death, because you left everything to follow Me. » «Forgive me if I weep... He was my father... » «I do appreciate grief. » He lays His hand on his head to com­ fort him and says to the disciples: «Here is a new companion. Love him, because I took him from his sepulchre, so that he may serve Me. » 14He then calls: «Elias. Come to Me. Do not be shy like one * Elisha of Engedi and Abram his father in 390-391 and in 632. 18/20. 634. 13 634. 14 405

634. 15who is a stranger among brothers. All the past is destroyed. And you come, too, Zacharias, who left father and mother for Me, go among the seventy-two with Joseph of Cintium. You deserve it, as you have defied the ways of the mighty ones for My sake. And you, Philip, and you, his companion, who do not want to be called with your name any more, as it sounds horrible to you, so take that of your father, who is a just man, even if he is not yet among those who follow Me openly. Can you all see? I do not exclude anybody of goodwill. Nei­ ther those who followed Me already as disciples, nor those who performed good deeds in My name, even if they did not belong to the groups of My disciples, nor those who belonged to sects, that not everybody loves, as they can always take the right road and are not to be rejected. Do, as I do. I join these to the old disciples. Because the Kingdom of Heaven is open to all those of goodwill. And, although they are not present, I tell you not to reject the Gentiles either. I have not repelled them, when I knew that they were anxious to know the Truth. Do what I have done. And you, Daniel, who have really come out, not of the pit of the lions, but of the jackals, come and join these. And you, Benja­ min. I join you to these (he points to the group of the seventy-two which is almost complete) because the harvest of the Lord will be very rich and many labourers are required. Now let us be united here for a short time, while the day wears on. In the evening you will depart from the mountain and at dawn you apostles and you two, whom I have mentioned sepa­ rately, will come with Me, with all those who are here of the sev­ enty-two (He points at Zacharias and at this Joseph of Cintium, who is not new to me*). The others will remain here, waiting for those who have run away here and there like idle wasps, to tell them in My name that one cannot find the Lord by imitating unwilling disobedient children, and that they all have to be at Bethany twenty days before Pentecost, because later they would look for Me in vain. Sit down now, and rest. 15You, come with Me a little aside. » He sets out, holding Marjiam by the hand all the time, fol­ * who is not new to me: the possessed Roman cured by Jesus in 129. 3 came from Cintium. Joseph of Cintium might be his brother who accompanied him and who deserved a promise from Jesus (129. 6). 406

lowed by the eleven apostles. He sits down in the thickest part of a thick wood of oak-trees, and draws to Himself Marjiam, who is very sad. So sad that Pe­ ter says: «Comfort him, Lord. He was already sad, now he is even more so. » «Why, child? Are you not with Me? Should you not be happy to know that I have overcome sorrow? » Marjiam's only answer is to burst into tears. «I do not know what the matter is with him. I have asked him in vain. And today I was not expecting these tears! » grumbles Peter, somewhat annoyed. «But I know» says John. «So much the better for you! So why is he weeping? » «He did not begin to weep today. He has been weeping for days... » «Eh! I have noticed that! But why? » «The Lord knows, I am sure. And I know that He alone has the word that can comfort him» says John smiling. «That is true. I know. And I know that Marjiam, a good disci­ ple, is really a little boy just now, a little boy who does not see the reality of things. But, My beloved one among all the disciples, do you not consider that I went to corroborate wavering faiths, to absolve, to receive lives that had come to an end, to annul poi­ sonous doubts with which the weaker ones had been imbued, to reply with pity or severity to those who still want to fight against Me, to testify with My presence that I have risen from the dead, where they were more eager to say that I was dead? Was there any need for Me to come to you, a child, whose faith, hope, char­ ity, whose goodwill and obedience are known to Me? Should I have come to you for a moment, when I shall have you with Me, as now, much more often? Who will celebrate Passover with Me, except you alone among all the other disciples? Can you see all these? They have celebrated their Passover, and the flavour of the lamb and of the caroset, of the unleavened bread and of the wine became completely like ashes and gall and vinegar for their palates immediately afterwards. But you and I, My dear boy, will consume our Passover joyfully, and it will be like honey that trickles and remains such. Who wept then, will rejoice now. Who rejoiced then, cannot expect to rejoice again. » 407

634. 16 16«Really... We were not very cheerful that day... » whispers Thomas. «Yes. Our hearts trembled... » says Matthew. «And we were boiling over with suspicion and indignation, at least I was» says Thaddeus. «And so you all say that you would like to celebrate the sup­ plementary Passover... » «It is so, Lord» says Peter. «One day you complained because the women disciples and your son were not taking part in the Passover banquet. Now you complain because who did not rejoice then, must do so now. » «That is true. I am a sinner. » «And I am He Who is compassionate. I want you all to be around Me, and not you only, but also the women disciples. La­ zarus will give us hospitality once again. I did not want your daughter, Philip, or your wives, I did not want Myrtha, Naomi, and the young girl who is with them, and this boy. Jerusalem, in those days, was not a place for everybody! » «True! It is a good thing that they were not there» says Philip with a sigh. «Yes. They would have seen our cowardice. » «Be quiet, Peter. It has been forgiven. » «Yes. But I confessed it to my son and I thought that that was why he was so sad. I confessed it, because every time I confess it, it is a relief. It is as if I removed a big stone from my heart. I feel more absolved every time I humiliate myself. But if Marjiam is sad because You have shown Yourself to other people... » «For that and for nothing else, father. » «Then, cheer up! He loved you and He loves you. You can see that. But I informed you of the second Passover... » «I thought that I had done the obedience that Porphirea had given me in Your name not too willingly, Lord. And that, there­ fore, You were punishing me. And I also thought that You did not show Yourself to me because I hated Judas and those who cruci­ fied You» confesses Marjiam. «Do not hate anybody. I have forgiven. » «Yes, my Lord. I will not hate any more. » «And do not be sad any longer. » «I will not be so any more, Lord. » 408

Marjiam, like all very young people, is not so timid with Jesus as the others are, and he relaxes confidently in Jesus' arms, now that he is sure that Jesus is not angry with him. And even more, like a chick under its mother's wing, he takes shelter in the arms of Jesus, Who presses Him against Himself, and as the anxiety that had made him sad and upset for so many days ceases, he blissfully falls asleep. «He is still a boy» remarks the Zealot. «Yes. But how much he has suffered! Porphirea told me when, informed by Joseph of Tiberias, she brought him to me» Peter re­ plies to him. Then he says to the Master: «Porphirea also at Jeru­ salem? » How much eagerness there is in Peter's voice! «All the women. I want to bless them before I ascend to My Fa­ ther. They have served as well, and very often better than men. » 17«And to Your Mother? Are You not going? » asks Thaddeus. «We are together. » «Together? When? » «Judas, Judas, and do you think that I, Who have always found joy near Her, should not stay with Her now? » «But Mary is all alone in Her house. My mother told me yes­ terday. » Jesus smiles and replies: «Only the High Priest goes behind the Holy of Holies. » «So? What do You mean? » «That there are beatitudes that cannot be described and known. That is what I mean. » He gently moves Marjiam away from Himself and entrusts him to the arms of John, who is the one closest to Him. He stands up. He blesses them. And while they all, with their heads low­ ered, on their knees, with the exception of John, who has Mar­ jiam's head in his lap, receive His blessing, He disappears. «He is really like the lightning of which He speaks» says Bar­ tholomew. They remain meditating, awaiting sunset. 18The Lord wants me to take another copy book for the last in­ structions and visions, as they could not be contained here, the pages being too few. 634. 17 634. 18 409

635. Further teachings: a lesson on the Sacraments and the predictions about the Church. 635. 1 635. 222nd April 1947. 1They are up on another mountain, which is even more cov­ ered with woods, not far from Nazareth, to which a road leads running along the foot of the mountain. Jesus makes them sit down in a circle, the apostles closer to Him, behind them the disciples (those of the seventy-two who did not go away here and there) with Zacharias and Joseph. Mar­ jiam is at His feet in a privileged position. Jesus speaks as soon as they are all sitting and quiet, paying attention to His words. He says: «Pay attention to Me, because I will tell you things of the greatest importance. You will not understand them all, neither will you understand them all well. But He Who comes after Me, will make you understand them. So, listen to Me. 2Nobody is more convinced than you are, that without the help of God man sins easily, as his very weak constitution was debilitated by the Sin. So I should be an imprudent Redeemer, if after giving you so much to redeem you, I did not give you also the means of retaining you in the effects of My Sacrifice. You know that all the easiness to commit sin derives from the Sin that, by depriving men of Grace, despoils them of their strength: of the union with Grace. You have said: “But You have given Grace to us”. No. It was given to the just up to My Death. To give it to future people a means is required. A means that will not be only a ritual figure, but on those who receive it will really impress the real character of children of God, as Adam and Eve were, whose souls vivified by Grace, possessed sublime gifts, given by God to His beloved creatures. You are aware of what man had and what man lost. Now, through My Sacrifice, the gates of Grace have been reopened and its river can descend on all those who ask it out of their love for Me. Men will therefore have the character of children of God through the merits of the First-Born among men, of Him Who is speaking to you, your Redeemer, your eternal Pontiff, your Brother in the Father, your Master. It will be by Jesus Christ and through Jesus Christ that present and future men will be able to 410

possess Heaven and enjoy God, the last purpose of man. Up to the present time, even the most just among the just, although circum­ cised as children of the chosen people, were not able to attain that purpose. Although their virtues were taken into consideration by God, and their places were ready in Heaven, the latter was closed and the enjoyment of God was denied to them, because on their souls, blessed flower-beds blooming with every virtue, there was also the cursed tree of Original Sin, and no action, no matter how holy it might be, could destroy it; neither is it possible to enter Heaven with the roots and foliage of so evil a tree. On Preparation Day the sighs of the patriarchs and proph­ ets, and of all the just of Israel, appeased in the joy of the ac­ complished Redemption, and their souls, whiter than mountain snow, such was their virtue, lost the only Stain that segregated them from Heaven. But the world continues. Generations and generations arise and will arise. Peoples and peoples will come to the Christ. Can the Christ die with each new generation to save it, or for each people that comes to Him? No. He cannot. The Christ died once, and He will never die again, forever. Then, must these genera­ tions, these peoples, become wise through My Word, but not pos­ sess Heaven and enjoy God, because they are injured by Origi­ nal Sin? No. It would not be just, neither for them, because their love for Me would be useless, nor for Me, because I would have died for too few. So? How can the different things be conciliat­ ed? Which new miracle will the Christ work, and He has already worked so many, before leaving the world for Heaven, after lov­ ing men to the extent of dying for them? 3He has already worked one, by leaving you His Body and His Blood as a fortifying and sanctifying food and as a remembrance of His love, by giving you the order to do what I have done in memory of Me and as a sanctifying means for the disciples, for the disciples of the disciples, until the end of time. But that evening, when you were already purified exteriorly, do you remember what I did? I girded Myself with a towel and I washed your feet, and to one of you, who was scandalised at that too humiliating gesture, I said: “If I do not wash you, you will have no part in common with Me”. You did not understand what I meant, of which part I was speaking, which symbol I per­635. 3 411

635. 4 635. 5formed. Well, I will tell you. Besides teaching you humbleness and the necessity of being pure, in order to enter and take part in My Kingdom, in addition to bringing benignly to your notice that from a man, who is just, and therefore pure in his spirit and intellect, God exacts only a last wash of the part that is neces­ sarily easier to become contaminated also in just people, even only with the dust that the necessary cohabitation among men lays also on clean limbs, on bodies, I have taught you another thing. I washed your feet, the lowest part of body, the one that goes among mud and dust, at times among dirty things, to sig­ nify the flesh, the material part of man, which part always has some imperfections, with the exception of those who are without the Original Sin, either through the deed of God or by the Na­ ture of God, and such imperfections are at times so slight that only God can see them, but really, one must watch them, so that they may not grow stronger and turn into natural habits, and fight them to extirpate them. 4So I washed your feet. When? Before breaking the bread and wine and transubstantiating them into My Body and My Blood. Because I am the Lamb of God, and I cannot descend where Sa­ tan has his mark. So, I washed you first. Then I gave Myself to you. You also will wash with Baptism those who will come to Me, so that they may not receive My Body unworthily and it may not change for them into a dreadful death sentence. You are dismayed. You are looking at one another. With your eyes you are asking: “And Judas, then? ” I say to you: “Judas ate his death”. The supreme act of love did not touch his heart. The last attempt of his Master knocked against the stone of his heart, and on that stone, in the place of the Tau, was engraved the hor­ rible initial of Satan, the sign of the Beast. So I washed you before admitting you to the Eucharistic ban­ quet, before listening to the confession of your sins, before in­ fusing the Holy Spirit into you and consequently the character of both true Christians reconfirmed in Grace, and of My Priests. Let the same be done to the others whom you will have to pre­ pare for the Christian life. 5Baptise with water in the Name of the God One and Trine and in My Name and through My infinite Merits, so that the Original Sin may be cancelled from hearts, sins may be remit-412

ted, Grace and the Holy Virtues may be infused, and the Holy Spirit may descend to dwell in consecrated temples, that is, in the bodies of men living in the Grace of the Lord. Was water necessary to cancel the Sin? Water does not touch the soul. But neither does the immaterial sign touch the sight of man, who is so material in all his actions. I could very well have infused Life also without a visible means. But who would have believed it? How many are the men who can firmly believe if they do not see? So take the lustral water* of the ancient Mo­ saic Law, the water that was used to purify unclean people and admit them again to the camps, after they had become contami­ nated by a corpse. In actual fact, every man who is born is con­ taminated, by having contact with a soul dead to Grace. So let it be purified of the unclean contact by the lustral water and made worthy of entering the eternal Temple. And let water be a dear thing to you... After expiating and re­ deeming through thirty-three years of laborious life, which cul­ minated in the Passion, after giving all My Blood for the sins of men, then the wholesome waters to wash the Original Sin were drawn from the bloodless consumed Body of the Martyr. By means of the consumed Sacrifice I redeemed you from that stain. If on the point of death a divine miracle of Mine had made Me de­ scend from the cross, I solemnly tell you that with the blood I had shed I would have redeemed the sins, but not the Sin. The full consummation was required for it. Really, the wholesome wa­ ter of which Ezekiel speaks** came out of this Side of Mine. Im­ merse souls into it, so that they may come out of it spotless, to receive the Holy Spirit Who, in recollection of that breath which the Creator breathed on Adam to give him the spirit and thus the image and likeness of Himself, will come to breathe and dwell in the hearts of men who have been redeemed. Baptise with My Baptism, but in the Name of the God Trine, because, really, if the Father had not wanted and the Spirit had not acted, the Word would have not become incarnate and you would have had no Redemption. So it is just and fair that every man should receive the Life through Those Who joined together in wanting to give it to him, mentioning the Father, the Son and the ______ ______ * lustral water, as in the prescribed ritual in Numbers 19: 17-22. ** speaks, in Ezekiel 47: 1-12. 413

635. 6 635. 7Holy Spirit in the act of Baptism, which takes the name of Chris­ tian after Me, to distinguish it from the others past and future, which will be rites, but not indelible signs on the immortal part. 6Take the Bread and the Wine as I did, and bless them, break them and hand them out in My Name; and let Christians feed on Me. And of the Bread and Wine make an offering to the Father of Heavens, consuming it then in memory of the Sacrifice that I of­ fered and consumed on the Cross for your salvation. I, Priest and Victim, by Myself offered and consumed Myself, as no one, if I had not wanted, could do that of Me. You, My Priests, do that in memory of Me and so that the infinite treasures of My Sacrifice may ascend imploringly to God, and descend propitiously on all those who invoke them with firm faith. Firm faith, I said. No science is called for to avail oneself of the Eucharistic Food and of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, but faith. Faith that in that bread and in that wine, that one authorised by Me and by those who will come after Me-you Peter, the new Pontiff of the new Church, you James of Alphaeus, you John, you Andrew, you Simon, you Philip, you Bartholomew, you Thomas, you Judas Thaddeus, you Matthew, you James of Zebedee-will consecrate in My Name, is My true Body, My true Blood, and he who feeds on it receives Me in Flesh, Blood, Soul and Divinity and he who offers Me really, offers Jesus Christ, as He offered Himself for the sins of the world. A child or an ignorant person can receive Me, just like a learned man and an adult. And a child and an ignorant person will receive the same advantages from the Sacrifice offered, as those that anyone among you will have. It is sufficient that faith and the grace of the Lord are in them. 7But you are about to receive a new Baptism, that of the Holy Spirit. I promised it to you and it will be given to you. The very Holy Spirit will descend upon you. I will tell you when. And you will be replete with It, in the fullness of sacerdotal gifts. You will be able, therefore, as I did with you, to infuse the Spirit with which you are replete, to confirm the Christians in grace and in­ stil the gifts of the Paraclete into them. As a regal Sacrament, little inferior to the Priesthood, it must have the solemnity of Mosaic consecrations* with the imposition of hands and the unc­ * Mosaic consecrations, like those prescribed in Exodus 29: 1-35; Leviticus 8. 414

tion with scented oil, which was once used to consecrate Priests. No. Do not look at one another so frightened! I am not speak­ ing sacrilegious words! I am not teaching you sacrilegious acts! The dignity of a Christian is such, I repeat it, that it is little infe­ rior to a priesthood. Where do priests live? In the Temple. And a Christian will be a living temple. What do priests do? They serve God with prayers, sacrifices and taking care of the believers. That is what they should have done... And a Christian will serve God with prayer and sacrifice and with brotherly love. 8And you will listen to the confession of sins, as I listened to yours and to those of many and I forgave where I saw true re­ pentance. Are you becoming upset? Why? Are you afraid that you may not be able to distinguish? On other occasions I have already spo­ ken of sin and of the judgement of sin. But remember, when judg­ ing, to ponder on the seven conditions* whereby an action may­ or may not be sinful and of different gravity. I will recall them. When one sinned and how many times, who sinned, with whom, with what, which is the matter of the sin, which is the cause, why did one sin. But be not afraid. The Holy Spirit will assist you. What I implore you with all My heart to observe is a holy life. It will increase the supernatural lights in you to such an extent, that you will succeed in reading the hearts of men without mis­ taking, and you will be able, with love or with authority, to tell sinners, who fear to disclose their sin or refuse to confess it, the state of their hearts, helping the timid and humiliating the un­ repentant. Bear in mind that the Earth is about to lose its Ab- solver and that you must be what I was: just, patient, merciful, but not weak. I said to you: what you will loose on Earth will be loosed in Heaven and what you bind here will be bound in Heav­ en. So with measured deliberation judge every man without al­ lowing yourselves to be corrupted by likes or dislikes, by gifts or threats, being impartial in everything and with everybody as is God, bearing in mind the weakness of man and the snares of his enemies. I remind you that at times God allows also His chosen ones to fall, not because He likes to see them fall, but because a great­ * seven conditions, like those stated and explained in 126. 2/8. 635. 8 415