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649. 2 649. 32She is closing the chest when John, who had gone up to the terrace silently and had looked in to see what Mary was doing, perhaps worried because of Her long absence from the kitchen, as She had gone upstairs to spend the morning hours, makes Her turn round suddenly by asking Her: «What are You doing, Mother? » «I have put straight what is to be kept. All the souvenirs... Everything that is witness to His infinite love and sorrow. » «Why, Mother, do You reopen the wounds of Your heart by looking again at these sad things? You are pale and Your hand is trembling... So You suffer seeing them» John says to Her, ap­ proaching Her, as if he were afraid that, wan and trembling as She is She might feel ill and fall on the floor. «Oh! that is not why I am wan and I am trembling. It is not because they reopen My wounds... They, in fact, have never been closed completely. And yet peace and joy are in Me, and they have never been so complete as they are now. » «Never as now? I do not understand... The sight of those things, full of cruel memories, awakens in me the anguish of those hours. And I am only a disciple. You are the Mother... » «And you mean that as such I should suffer more. And from a human point of view, you are right. But it is not so. 3I am ac­ customed to enduring the sorrow of being separated from Him. It was always sorrowful, because His presence and closeness were My Paradise on Earth. But I always suffered them will­ ingly and serenely, because every action of His was wanted by His Father, it was obedience to the divine Will, and so I accepted it, because I also have always obeyed the will and plans of God for Me. Every time Jesus left Me, I suffered. Certainly. I felt lone­ ly. Only God has measured in its most real intensity My sorrow when He, a boy, left Me secretly, for the dispute with the doctors of the Temple. And yet, with the exception of the fair question that I, His mother, asked Him, as He had left Me in that manner, I did not say anything else to Him. Likewise I did not hold Him back when He left Me to become the Master... and I was already a widow, and therefore all alone, in a town that, with the excep­ tion of a few people, did not love Me. And I showed no surprise at His reply at the banquet in Cana. He was doing the will of His Father. And I was leaving Him free to do it. I could dare make a 516

suggestion or a request. A suggestion for His disciples, a request for some poor wretch. But more than that, no. I suffered every time He left Me to go into the world, hostile to Him and so sinful that to live in it was a great suffering to Him. But how much joy every time He came back to Me! It was really so intense that it recompensed Me seventy times seven for the sorrow of the sepa­ ration. The sorrow of the separation following from His Death was heart-rending, but with which words could I describe the joy I felt when He, risen from the dead, appeared to Me? Immense was the pain of the separation, which would end only when My earthly life would be completed, when He ascended to His Fa­ ther. 4I am now rejoicing, immense is My joy as immense was My pain, because I feel that My life is completed. I have done what I had to do. I have completed My earthly mission. The other one, the celestial one, will have no end. God has left Me on the Earth until I also, like My Jesus, have accomplished everything of what I had to do. And I have in Me that secret joy, the only drop of balm in His extreme tortures full of bitterness, that Jesus had when He was able to say: “Everything is accomplished”. » «Joy in Jesus? At that moment? » «Yes, John. A joy incomprehensible to men. But comprehen­ sible to the spirits that already live in the light of God and see the deep things hidden under the veil that the Eternal spreads over His secrets as King, thanks to that Light. I, so distressed, so upset by those events, associated with Him, My Son, in the abandonment of the Father, did not understand then. The Light was extinguished for the whole world in that hour, for the whole world that had not wanted to receive it. And also for Me. Not as a just punishment, but because, as I had to be the Co-Redeemer, I also had to suffer the anguish of the abandonment of divine com­ forts, the darkness, the desolation, the temptation of Satan of not making Me believe any longer that what He had said was possi­ ble, everything that He also suffered, in His spirit, from Thurs­ day to Friday. But later I understood. When the Light, that had risen forever, appeared to Me, I understood. Everything. Also the secret extreme joy of the Christ, when He was able to say: “I have accomplished everything that the Father wanted Me to accom­ plish. I have filled the measure of divine charity by loving” the Father even unto the sacrifice of Myself, by loving men even un-649. 4 517

to dying for them. I have accomplished everything that I had to accomplish. I am dying happily in My spirit, although lacerated in My innocent flesh”. I also have accomplished everything that, ab aeterno*, was written I should accomplish. From the genera­ tion of the Redeemer, to the help given to you, His priests, for 649. 5 your perfect formation. 5The Church is now formed and strong. The Holy Spirit enlightens it, the blood of the first martyrs ce­ ment it and multiply it, My assistance has cooperated in mak­ ing It a holy organism, that the love towards God and the broth­ ers nourishes and fortifies more and more, and in which hatred, ill-feelings, envy, slander, wicked plants of Satan, take no root. God is pleased with that, and He wants you to know that from My lips, as He wants Me to tell you to continue to grow in love in order to grow in perfection, and so also in number of Christians and in power of doctrine. Because the doctrine of Jesus is the doctrine of love. Because the life of Jesus, and also Mine, have always been guided and urged by love. We rejected nobody, we forgave everybody. One only we did not forgive, because he, al­ ready a servant to the Hatred, did not want our love that had no limits. Jesus in His last farewell before His death, gave you the commandment to love one another. And He also gave you the measure of the love that you had to have for one another, say­ ing: “Love one another as I have loved you. From this it will be known that you are My disciples”. The Church in order to live and grow, needs charity. Charity above all in its ministers. If you did not love one another with all your strength, and likewise you did not love your brothers in the Lord, the Church would become sterile. And difficult and scanty would be the restoration and the super-restoration of men to their rank of children of the Most High and coheirs to the Kingdom of Heaven, because God would cease helping you in your mission. God is love. Every action of His has been an action of love. From creation to the Incarnation. From this to the Redemption. And from this to the foundation of the Church. And finally from this to the celestial Jerusalem, that 649. 6 will assemble all the just so that they may rejoice in the Lord. 6I am telling you these things, because you are the Apostle of love and you can understand them better than the others... » * ab aeterno : since He beginning of time. 518

John interrupts Her saying: «Also the others love and love one another. » «Yes. But you are preeminently the Loving One. Each of you had his peculiarity, as, after all, is the case of every creature. You among the twelve, were always love, pure and supernatural love. Perhaps, no, certainly because you are so pure, you are so lov­ ing. Peter, instead, was always the man, the genuine impetuous man. His brother, Andrew, was as silent and timid as the other was not. James, your brother, was the impulsive one, so much so that Jesus called him the son of thunder. The other James, Jesus' brother, the just and heroical one. Judas of Alphaeus, his brother, the noble and loyal one, always. The Davidic extraction was ob­ vious in him. Philip and Bartholomew were the traditionalists. Simon Zealot, the prudent one. Thomas, the peaceful one. Mat­ thew, the humble one, who mindful of his past, strove to be un­ noticed. And Judas of Kerioth, alas! the black sheep of the flock of Christ, the snake warmed by His love, was the satanic liar, al­ ways. But you, who are all love, can understand better and can become the voice of love for all the others, for those who are far away, to give them this last piece of My advice. You will tell them that they are to love one another and everybody, also their per­ secutors, in order to be one thing with God, as I was, so as to de­ serve to be elected spouse of the Eternal Love, in order to con­ ceive the Christ. 7I gave Myself to God without limit, although I understood at once how much sorrow would come to Me for that. The prophets were present in My mind, and the divine light made their words very clear to Me. So from My first “fiat” to the Angel, I knew that I was consecrating Myself to the greatest sor­ row a mother can suffer. But nothing placed a limit to My love, because I know that it is, for those who make use of it, strength, light, magnet that attracts upwards, fire that purifies and beau­ tifies what it burns, transforming and transhumanising those caught in its embrace. 8Yes. Love is really a flame. The flame, that although it destroys what is perishable, be it a wreck, some rubble, a poor wretch, makes a purified spirit of it, worthy of Heaven. How many wrecks, how many men stained, corroded, worn out you will find on your ways of evangelizers! Do not de­ spise any of them. On the contrary, love them, so that they may reach love and be saved. Infuse love into them. Many a time man649. 7 649. 8 519

becomes wicked, because no one ever loved him or loved him badly. Do love them, so that the Holy Spirit, after the purifica­ tion, may come to dwell again in those temples, that many things made empty and filthy. God, to create man, did not take an angel or choice materials. He took some mud, the most worthless ma­ terial. Then infusing His breath into it, that is, His love again, He elevated the worthless material to the sublime rank of adop­ tive son of God. My Son, on His way, found many wrecks of men who had fallen into filth. He never trampled on them despising­ ly. On the contrary He gathered them and received them and He changed them into chosen souls of Heaven. Always bear that in 649. 9 your minds. And do as He did. 9Remember everything, the ac­ tions and the words of My Son. Remember His kind parables. Live them, that is, put them into practice. And write them, so that they may remain for future generations, to the end of time, and they may always serve as a guide for men of goodwill, to achieve life and eternal glory. You will certainly not be able to repeat all the bright words of the Eternal Word of Life and Truth. But write as many of them as you can. The Spirit of God, Who de­ scended upon Me so that I might give the Saviour to the world, and Who descended also upon you a first and a second time, will help you to remember, and when you speak to the crowds, in or­ der to convert them to the true God. You will continue that spir­ itual maternity that I began on Calvary to give many children to the Lord. And the same Spirit, speaking in the recreated chil­ dren of the Lord, will fortify them so that it will be pleasant for them to die among tortures, to suffer exile and persecutions, to confess their love to Christ and join Him in Heaven, as Stephen and James, My James, have already done, and others as well... 649. 10 10When you are the only one left, save this chest... » John, growing pale and becoming upset, even more than he blanched since Mary said that She felt that Her mission was ac­ complished, interrupts Her exclaiming and asking: «Mother! Why do You say that? Are You not well? » «No. I am well. » «Do You want to leave me, then? » «No. I shall be with you until I am on the Earth. But, My dear John, prepare yourself to be alone » «Then You are not well, and You want to conceal it from me!... » 520

«No, believe Me. I have never felt so strong, at peace, joyful, as I do now. But I have such a jubilation, such a fullness of su­ pernatural life, that... Yes, that I think that I shall not be able to endure it while continuing to live. I am not eternal, on the other hand. You must understand that. My spirit is eternal. My body is not. And it is subject, like the flesh of every man, to death. » «No! No! Don't say that. You cannot, you must not die! Your immaculate body cannot die like that of a sinner! » «You are wrong, John. My Son died! And I shall die as well. I shall not suffer the disease, the agony, the pang of death. But as far as dying is concerned, I shall die. In any case, bear in mind, son, that if I have a desire, all Mine and only Mine, and that lasts since He left Me, it is just this one. This is My first, mighty desire, entirely Mine. I can even say: My first will. Everything else in My life was nothing but the consent of My will to the divine will. The will of God, put in My heart of a little girl by God Himself, the will to be a virgin. His will: My marriage with Joseph. His will: My virginal divine Maternity. Everything in My life was done by the will of God and by My obedience to His will. But this desire, of wanting to join Jesus, is a will entirely Mine. To leave the Earth for Heaven, to be with Him forever and continuously! My desire of so many years! And now I feel it is on the point of becoming reality. 11Do not be so upset, John! Listen instead to My last wishes. When My body, deprived of the vital spirit, will lie in peace, do not subject Me to the customary embalmment of the Hebrews. Because I am no longer a Jewess, but a Christian, the first Christian, if one considers the situation properly, be­ cause I was the first to have Christ, Flesh and Blood, in Me, be­ cause I was His first disciple, because I was Co-Redeemer with Him and His continuator here, among you, His servants. No liv­ ing being, with the exception of My father and mother, and those who assisted at My birth, has seen My body. You often call Me: “The living Ark that contained the divine Word”. Now you know that the Ark can be seen only by the High Priest. You are a priest, and much holier and purer than the Pontiff of the Temple. But I want only the Eternal Pontiff to see My body at the right time. So, do not touch Me. In any case, see? I have already purified My­ self, and I have put on a clean dress, the dress of the eternal wed­ ding... 12But why are you weeping, John? »649. 11 649. 12 521

649. 13«Because the storm of sorrow is stirring up in me. I know that I am about to lose You. How shall I be able to live without You? I feel my heart being torn to pieces at this thought! I shall not be able to stand this grief! » «You will stand it. God will help you to live, and for a long time, as He helped Me. Because, if He had not helped Me, on Gol­ gotha and on the Mount of Olives, when Jesus died and ascended, I would have died, as Isaac died. He will help you to live and to remember what I have told you before, for the welfare of every­ body. » «Oh! I will remember. Everything. And I will do what You wish, also for Your body. I understand as well that the Hebrew rites no longer serve for You, a Christian, and for You, the Most Pure Mother, Who, I am sure, will not be subjected to the cor­ ruption of the flesh. Your body, deified as no other mortal body, both because You have been exempted from the Sin of Origin, and even more because in addition to being the full of Grace, You contained in You Grace itself, the Word, whereby You are His most true relic, Your body cannot experience the decomposition, the rottenness of all dead flesh. This will be the last miracle of God on You, in You. And you will be preserved as You are... » «Do not weep, then! » exclaims Mary looking at the upset face of the apostle, all washed by his tears. And She adds: «If I am preserved as I am, you will not lose Me. So, do not worry! » «I shall lose You just the same, even if You remain incorrupt. I feel it. And I feel as if I were caught in a hurricane of sorrow. A hurricane that breaks me and knocks me down. You were every­ thing for me, particularly since my relatives died, and the other brothers, both by blood and by mission, are far away, also be­ loved Marjiam, whom Peter has taken with him. I shall now be left alone, and in the strongest storm! » and John falls at Her feet, weeping even more bitterly. 13Mary bends over him, She lays Her hand on his head shaken by sobs and She says to him: «No. Not so. Why are you grieving Me? You were so strong under the Cross, and it was an incom­ parable scene of horror, both because of the cruelty of His mar­ tyrdom and of the satanic hatred of the people! And you were so strong in comforting Him and Me, then! And today, or rather, this Sabbath evening, so serene and calm, and in front of Me Who 522

am rejoicing for an imminent happiness of which I have a pre­ monitory feeling, you are so upset?! Calm yourself. Imitate, even more, join what is around us and in Me. Everything is peaceful. Be at peace as well. Only the olive-trees, with their gentle rus­ tling, break the absolute calm of this hour. But this gentle noise is so pleasant, that it sounds like the flight of angels around the house. And they are, perhaps, really here. Because angels, one or many, have always been near Me, when I have been in a spe­ cial moment of My life. They were at Nazareth, when the Spirit of God made My virginal womb prolific. And they were with Jo­ seph, when he was upset and uncertain about My state and how to behave with Me. And at Bethlehem a first and a second time, when Jesus was born, and when we had to flee to Egypt. And in Egypt when they ordered us to come back to Palestine. And-if not to Me, because the King of the angels Himself had come to Me, as soon as He had risen-and angels appeared to the pious women at the dawn of the first day after the Sabbath and gave them the order to tell you and Peter what you had to do. Angels and light always at the decisive moments of My life and of Je­ sus'. Light and ardour of love that, descending from the Throne of God to Me, His maid, and ascending from My heart to go God, My King and Lord, united Me to God and Him to me, so that what was written that was to be accomplished, should be accom­ plished, and also to create a veil of light spread over the secrets of God, so that Satan and his servants should not be aware of the accomplishment of the sublime mystery of the Incarnation, be­ fore the right time. 14Also this evening I feel the angels around Me, although I do not see them. And I feel a Light, an unsus­ tainable light, grow within Me, like the light that enveloped Me when I conceived the Christ, when I gave Him to the world. A light that comes from an impetuosity of love more powerful than usual. Through a similar power of love, I snatched the Word from Heaven before time, so that He might become the Man and the Redeemer. Through a similar power of love, as the one that assails Me this evening, I hope that Heaven will abduct Me and carry Me where I long to go with My spirit to sing My imperish­ able “Magnificat” to God, for the things He has done to Me, His maid, with the people of the saints and the choruses of the an­ gels, forever and ever. »649. 14 523

«Probably not only with Your spirit. And the Earth will reply to You, and with its peoples and nations will glorify and honour and love You until the end of the world, as rightly Tobias pre­ dicted* of You, although covertly, because You are really the One Who carried the Lord in Herself, and not the Holy of Holies. You have given God, by Yourself, as much love as all the High Priests and all the others of the Temple have not given Him throughout ages. Ardent most pure love. Because of that God will make You Most blessed. » «And He will satisfy My only wish, the only thing I want. Be­ cause love, when it is so complete as to be almost perfect, as the love of My Son and God, achieves everything, even what, accord­ ing to human opinion, would seem impossible to achieve. Re- 649. 15 member that, John. 15And inform also your brothers of that. Men will fight against you so much! All kinds of obstacles will make you be afraid of defeat, massacres by persecutors and de­ fections of Christians of... Iscariotic morality will dishearten your spirits. Be not afraid. Love, and be not afraid. In proportion to how you love, God will help you and will make you triumph over everything and everybody. Everything can be achieved, if one becomes a seraph. Then the soul, this wonderful eter­ nal thing, which is the very breath of God, infused by Him in­ to us, hurls itself towards Heaven, falls like a flame at the foot of the Divine Throne, speaks and is listened to by God, and ob­ tains from the Almighty what it wants. If men knew how to love as is prescribed by the ancient Law, and how My Son loved and 649. 16 taught people to love, they would obtain everything. 16I love thus. That is why I feel that I shall cease to be on the Earth, I through excess of love, as He died through excess of sorrow. Well! The measure of My capacity of loving is full. My soul and My body are no longer able to contain it. Love overflows from it, it sub­ merges Me and raises Me at the same time towards Heaven, to­ wards God, My Son. And His voice says to Me: “Come! Come out! Ascend to our Throne and to our Trine embrace! ” The Earth, what surrounds Me, disappears in the bright light that comes to Me from Heaven! Noises are drowned by this celestial voice! My moment for the divine embrace has come, My dear John! » * predicted, in: Tobit 13: 13-18. 524

17John, who had calmed down a little, although still somewhat upset, listening to Mary, and who at the last part of Her speech was looking at Her ecstatically, and almost enraptured as well, as pale in his face as Mary, Whose pallor, however, changes into a very white light, rushes towards Her to support Her, and in the meantime he exclaims: «You are like Jesus when He became transfigured on Tabor! Your flesh is shining like the moon, Your garments are as bright as a diamond sheet placed before a very white flame! You are no longer human, Mother! The heaviness and opacity of the flesh has disappeared! You are light! But You are not Jesus, He, being God, besides being Man, could stand al­ so by Himself, there, upon Tabor, as He did here, on the Mount of Olives, when He ascended. You cannot. You cannot stand. Come. I will help You to lay Your tired blessed body on Your little bed. Rest. » And he lovingly leads Her towards the poor bed, on which Mary lies, without taking off even Her mantle. 18Folding Her arms across Her breast, closing Her eyelids on Her kind eyes, bright with love, She says to John who is bent over Her: «I am in God. And God is in Me. While I contemplate Him and feel His embrace, say the psalms, and any other pages of the Scriptures becoming Me, particularly in this hour. The Spirit of Wisdom will point them out to you. Then say the prayer of My Son, repeat the words of the announcing Archangel and of Elizabeth to Me, and My hymn of praise... I will follow you with what I still have of Myself on the Earth... » John, struggling against the tears that rise from his heart, striving to control the emotion that upsets him, in his beauti­ ful voice, which, as years have gone by, has become very like Je­ sus'-which Mary notices with a smile, saying: «I seem to have My Jesus beside Me! »-intones* psalm one hundred and eight­ een, which he says almost entirely, then the first three verses of psalm fourty-one, the first eight of psalm thirty-eight, psalm twenty-two and psalm one. He then says the Our Father, the words of Gabriel and Elizabeth, the canticle of Tobias, the twen­ ty-fourth chapter of Ecclesiasticus. Lastly he intones the “Mag­ nificat”. But when he arrives at verse nine, he notices that Mary * intones : the numbers listed in the text refer to the “vulgate”, while in the “neo- vulgate” they have become: Psalm 119; Psalm 42: 1-3; Psalm 39: 1-8; Psalm 23; Psalm 1; Tobit 13; Sirach 24. 649. 17 649. 18 525

649. 19 649. 20does not breathe any more, although She is still natural in Her posture and appearance, smiling, peaceful, as if She had not no­ ticed that life had stopped. John, with a heart-rending cry throws himself on the floor against the edge of the bed, and calls and calls Mary. He can­ not convince himself that She is no longer able to reply to him, that Her body is now deprived of the vital soul. But he has to sur­ render to evidence! He bends over Her face, still fixed in an ex­ pression of supernatural joy, and tears stream copiously from his eyes on that sweet face, on those pure hands so gently folded on Her breast. It is the only washing that Mary's body had: the tears of the Apostle of love and of Her son of adoption by Jesus' will. 19When the first transport of sorrow is over, John, remember­ ing Mary's wish, picks up the edges of Her wide linen mantle, which were hanging from the sides of the little bed, and those of the veil, which were also hanging from the pillow, and he spreads the former over Her body, and the latter on Her head. Mary is now like a statue of white marble, laid on the cover of a sarcophagus. John contemplates Her at some length, and more tears fall from his eyes as he does so. Then he rearranges the room, removing all superfluous fur­ niture. He leaves only the bed, the little table against the wall and he places the chest with the relics on it, a stool, that he plac­ es between the door leading to the terrace and the bed on which Mary is lying, and a shelf, on which there is a lamp that John lights, as it is beginning to get dark. Then he hurries down to Gethsemane, to pick as many flowers as he can, and some branches of olive-trees, with olives already on them. He goes back up to the little room, and in the light of the lamp he arranges the flowers and the branches around Mary's body, as if it were in the centre of a huge wreath. 20While doing so, he speaks to the body on the bed, as if Mary could still hear him. He says: «You have always* been the lily of the valley, the sweet rose, the beautiful olive-tree, the fruit­ bearing vineyard, the holy ear of wheat. You have given us Your perfumes, and the Oil of Life, and the Wine of the strong, and the Bread that preserves the spirits from death, for those who * have always, in reference to: Song of Songs 2: 1-2 ; Sirach 24: 14-17; Psalm 104: 13- 15. 526

worthily feed on it. These flowers look lovely here around You, as they are simple and pure like You, adorned with thorns like You and peaceful like You. Now let us put this lamp closer. So, near Your bed, that it may watch over You and keep me company while I watch You, while awaiting for at least one of the miracles that I am expecting and for whose fulfilment I pray. The first one is that, according to his wish, Peter, and the others, whom I will get Nicodemus' servant to inform, may see You once again. The second one is that You, as in everything You had the same lot as Your Son, may wake up, like Him, within the third day, in or­ der not to leave me an orphan twice. The third is that God may give me peace, if what I hope may happen to You, as it happened to Lazarus, who was not like You, should not take place. But why should it not happen? Jairus' daughter, the young man from Nain, Theophilus' son, came back to life... It is true that then the Master acted... But He is with You, even if not in a manifest way. And You did not die of a disease like those who were raised by the deed of Christ. But are You really dead? Dead as every man dies? No. I feel it is not so. Your spirit is no longer in You, in Your body, and in that respect we could say it is death. But by the way Your passage took place, I think that Yours is only a temporary separation of Your soul, without sin and full of grace, from Your most pure and virginal body. It must be so! It is so! How and when the reunion will take place and life will come back to You, I do not know. But I am so certain of this that I will remain here, beside You, until God, either with His word, or with His action, will show me the truth on Your destiny. » John, who has finished arranging everything, sits on the stool, placing the lamp on the floor, near the little bed; and he contemplates the body lying on it, praying. 650. The glorious Assumption of Our Lady. 8th December 1951. 1How many days have gone by? It is difficult to ascertain it. If one judges by the flowers that form a crown around the dead body, one should say that only a few hours have gone by. But if one judges by the olive branches on which the fresh flowers are650. 1 527

650. 2lying, branches with leaves already withered, and by the other withered flowers lying like relics on the cover of the chest, one must conclude that some days have by now gone by. But Mary's body is exactly the same as it was when She passed away. There is no trace of death on Her face or on Her lit­ tle hands. There is no unpleasant smell in the room. On the con­ trary an undefinable scent like that of incense, of lilies, of ros­ es, of lilies of the valley, of mountain herbs, all mixed together, hangs in the air of the room. John, who I wonder for how many days has been awake, has fallen asleep, overcome by tiredness, sitting on the stool, his shoulders leaning against the wall, near the open door that leads to the terrace. The light of the lamp, which from the floor shines upwards on him, allows one to see his tired face, which is also very pale, except around his eyes, red with weeping. It must be already dawn, because in its faint light the terrace and the olive-trees surrounding the house are visible, a light that becomes stronger and stronger and that, penetrating through the door, makes more distinct also the objects in the room, of which, being far from the little lamp, it was previously possible to catch only a glimpse. 2All of a sudden a strong light fills the room, a silvery light, shaded with blue, almost phosphoric, and it becomes more and more intense, making the light of dawn and of the lamp vanish. A light like the one that flooded the Grotto in Bethlehem at the moment of the divine Nativity. Then in this paradisaic light, an­ gelic creatures show themselves, a light even brighter in the al­ ready strong light that appeared first. As it already happened when the angels appeared to the shepherds, a dance of sparks of all shades bursts forth from their gently moved wings, which emit a harmonious murmur, as sweet as if it were played by a harp. The angelic creatures place themselves around the little bed, they bend over it, they lift the immobile body, and flapping their wings more vigorously, which increases the sound existing pre­ viously, through a passage opened miraculously in the roof, as miraculously Jesus' Sepulchre was opened, they go away, tak­ ing with them the body of their Queen, a Most Holy Body, it is true, but not yet glorified, and therefore still subject to the laws 528

of matter, to which the Christ was not subject, because He was already glorified when He rose from the dead. The sound made by the angelic wings increases and it is now as powerful as the sound of an organ. 3John, who, although still asleep, had moved twice or three times on his stool, as if he had been disturbed by the strong light and by the sound of the angelic wings, awakes completely be­ cause of that powerful sound and because of a strong current of air that, descending from the opened roof and going out through the open door, forms a vortex that shakes the covers of the bed, by now empty, and John's garments, blowing out the lamp and closing the door with a loud bang. The apostle looks around, still half asleep, to realise what is happening. He notices that the bed is empty and that the roof is open. He understands that a wonderful event has taken place. He runs out on the terrace, and as if by spiritual instinct, or by a heavenly call, he raises his head, shading his eyes from the sun, in order to see, without being prevented from doing so by the ris­ ing sun. 4And he sees. He sees the body of Mary, still deprived of life, and completely identical to that of a person asleep, that ascends higher and higher, supported by the angelic group. As a last ges­ ture of farewell, a hem of the mantle and of the veil are agitat­ ed, probably by the wind caused by the rapid assumption and by the movement of the angelic wings; and some flowers, the ones that John had placed and renewed round the body of Mary, and that have certainly remained among the folds of the garments, rain on the terrace and on the ground of Gethsemane, while the mighty hosanna of the angelic group moves farther and farther away and thus becomes fainter. John continues to stare at that body that rises towards Heav­ en and, certainly through a prodigy granted to him by God, to comfort him and to reward him for hi's love for his adoptive Mother, he distinctly sees Mary, enveloped now in the beams of the sun that has risen, come out of the ecstasy that had separated Her soul from Her body, become alive, stand on Her feet, as She also now enjoys the gifts typical of bodies already glorified. John looks and looks. The miracle granted to him by God en­ ables him, against all natural laws, to see Mary as She is now,650. 3 650. 4 529

650. 5while She rapidly ascends towards Heaven, surrounded, but no longer helped to ascend, by the angels singing hosannas. And John is enraptured by that vision of beauty that no pen of man, or human word, or work of artist will be ever able to describe or reproduce, because it is of indescribable beauty. John, still leaning against the low wall of the terrace, contin­ ues to stare at that splendid shining form of God-because Mary can really be said to be so, formed in a unique manner by God, Who wanted Her immaculate, so that She might be the form for the Word Incarnate-while it ascends higher and higher. And the God-Love grants a last supreme prodigy to His perfect lov­ ing disciple: to see the meeting of the Most Holy Mother with Her Most Holy Son, Who splendid and shining as well, handsome with indescribable beauty, descends rapidly from Heaven, ar­ rives at His Mother, presses Her to His heart, and together, more refulgent than two major planets, returns with Her whence He came. 5John's vision is over. He lowers his head. On his tired face are visible both his sorrow for the loss of Mary and his joy for Her glorious destiny. But by now joy exceeds sorrow. He says: «Thanks, my God! Thanks! I foresaw that this would happen. And I wanted to be awake, in order not to lose any epi­ sode of Her Assumption. But I had not slept for three days now! Sleep, tiredness, joined to sorrow, overcame and defeated me just when Her Assumption was imminent... But perhaps You wanted that Yourself, o God, so that I should not upset that moment and I should not suffer too much... Yes. You certainly wanted it, as now You wanted me to see what, without a miracle of Yours, I could not have seen. You have granted me to see Her again, although already so far, already glorified and glorious, as if She were close to me. And to see Jesus again! Oh! most happy, unhoped for and not to be hoped for vision! O gift of the gifts of Jesus-God to His John! Supreme Grace! To see my Master and Lord again! To see Him near His Mother! He like a sun, She like a moon, both most splendid, because they were glorious and happy to be reunited forever! What will Paradise be like now that You both shine in it, You major planets of the heavenly Jerusalem? What is the jubila­ tion of the angelic choruses and of the saints? It is such joy that the vision of the Mother with Her Son has given me, a thing that 530

cancels every pain of His, every pain of theirs, even more, also mine ceases, and peace takes over in me. Of the three miracles that I had asked of God, two have been accomplished. I have seen life come back to Mary, and I feel peace come back to me. All an­ guish of mine ends, because I have seen You reunited in glory. Thanks for that, o God. 6And thanks for having made it possi­ ble for me to see, even for a most holy creature, but still human, what is the lot of saints, what it will be after the last judgement, and the resurrection of the bodies, and their rejoining, their fu­ sion with their spirits, that have ascended to Heaven at the mo­ ment of their death. I did not need to see to believe. Because I have always firmly believed every word of the Master. But many will doubt that, after ages and thousands of years, the flesh, that has become dust, can become a living body. I shall be able to tell them, swearing on the most sublime things, that not only the Christ became alive again, by His own divine power, but that also His Mother, three days after Her death, if death it can be called, came to life again, and with Her flesh joined to Her soul took up Her eternal abode in Heaven, beside Her Son. I shall be able to say: “Believe, o Christians, in the resurrection of bodies, at the end of time, and in the eternal life of souls and bodies, a blissful life of saints, horrible for unrepentant guilty people. Be­ lieve and live as saints, as Jesus and Mary lived, in order to have their same lot. I have seen their bodies ascend to Heaven. I can bear witness to that. Live as just people, so that one day you may be in the new eternal world, in body and soul, near Jesus-sun, and near Mary the Star of all stars”. Thank You again, o God! 7And now let us put together what is left of Her. The flowers that fell from Her garments, the olive branches left on the bed, and let us keep them. They will serve... Yes, they will serve to assist and comfort my brothers, whom I have awaited in vain. Sooner or later I will find them... » He picks up the petals of the flowers that had been shed in falling, he goes back into the room, holding them in a fold of his tunic. 8He then looks more carefully at the opening in the roof and exclaims: «Another miracle! And another wonderful proportion in the prodigies of the lives of Jesus and Mary! He, God, rose by Himself, and by His own will He overturned the stone of His650. 6 650. 7 650. 8 531

650. 9 650. 10Sepulchre, and only with His own power He ascended to Heav­ en. By Himself. Mary, the Most Holy Mother, but a daughter of man, by means of angelic help had the passage opened for Her assumption to Heaven, and always through angelic help She as­ cended there. In the Christ the spirit came back to animate His Body while it was still on the Earth, because it had to be so, to si­ lence His enemies and to confirm all His followers in their faith. In Mary the spirit came back when Her most holy body was al­ ready at the threshold of Paradise, because there was no other need for Her. Perfect power of the Infinite Wisdom of God!... » 9John now gathers in a piece of cloth the flowers and branches that were still on the little bed, he adds to them those that he had gathered outside, and lays them all on the cover of the chest. He then opens it and puts the little pillow of Mary and the cover­ let of the little bed into it; he goes down into the kitchen, he col­ lects other utensils used by Her-the spindle and distaff and Her kitchenware-and adds them to the other things. 10He closes the chest and sits on the stool exclaiming: «Now everything is accomplished also for me! Now I can go freely wherever the Spirit of God will lead me. I can go! And sow the Divine Word that the Master gave me so that I may give it to men. And teach Love. Teach them so that they may believe in Love and in its power. Let them know what the God-Love has done for men. His Sacrifice and His perpetual Sacrament and Rite, by means of which, until the end of time, we shall be able to be unit­ ed to Jesus Christ in the Eucharist and renew the Rite and the Sacrifice as He ordered us to do. All the gifts of the perfect Love! Make them love the Love, so that they may believe in Him, as we believed and believe. Sow the Love so that the harvest and the catch may be abundant for the Lord. Love achieves everything, Mary told me in Her last conversation with me, whom She justly defined, in the Apostolic College, the one who loves, the preemi­ nent loving one, the antithesis of the Iscariot, who was hatred, as Peter was impetuousness, and Andrew meekness, the sons of Al­ phaeus holiness and wisdom joined to nobility of manners, and so forth. I, the loving disciple, now that I no longer have the Mas­ ter and the Mother to love on the Earth, will go and spread love among the nations. Love will be my weapon and my doctrine. And by means of it I will defeat the demon, heathenism and will 532

conquer many souls. I will thus continue Jesus and Mary, Who were perfect love on the Earth. » 651. On the passage, the Assumption and the royalty of the Blessed Virgin. 18th April 1948. 1[Mary says: ] «Did I die? Yes, if you call death the separation of the choice part of the spirit from the body. No, if by death you understand the separation of the vivifying soul from the body, the corrup­ tion of the flesh no longer vivified by the soul, and before that, the lugubrious sepulchre, and before all these things, the pangs of death. How did I die, or better, how did I pass from the Earth to Heaven, first with My immortal part, then with the perishable one? As it was fair for Her Who did not become acquainted with the stain of sin. 2That evening, the Sabbatic rest had already begun, I was speaking to John. About Jesus and His things. The evening hour was full of peace. The Sabbath had abated all noises of human works. And the hour was abating every voice of man and bird. Only the olive-trees around the house were rustling in the even­ ing breeze, and a flight of angels seemed to graze the walls of the solitary house. We were speaking of Jesus, of the Father, of the Kingdom of Heaven. To speak of Love and of the Kingdom of Love, is to be­ come lit with the living fire, consuming the bonds of matter to let the spirit free for its mystic flights. And if the fire is con­ tained within the limits fixed by God to preserve creatures on the Earth, at His service, it is possible to live and burn, finding in the ardour not the consumption, but the completion of life. But when God removes the limits and gives freedom to the divine Fire to assail and attract the spirit to Itself without any measure, then the spirit, replying in turn without measure to the Love, detaches itself from matter and flies where the Love urges and invites it. And it is the end of the exile and the return to the Fa­ therland. 651. 1 651. 2 533

That evening, the incontainable ardour, the measureless vi­ tality of My spirit was joined by a sweet languor, by a mysterious sensation that matter was moving away from what surrounded it, as if My body, tired, were falling asleep, whilst My intellect, even livelier in its reasoning, was sinking, into the divine bright­ ness. John, the loving prudent witness of every action of Mine, since he had become My adoptive son, according to the will of My Only-Begotten Son, kindly convinced Me to rest on the little bed and he watched Me praying. The last sound I heard on the Earth was the murmur of the words of John, the virgin apostle. They were for Me like a lullaby of a mother near a cradle. And they accompanied My spirit in its last ecstasy, too sublime to be de­ scribe. They accompanied Me as far as Heaven. 3John, the only witness of this sweet mystery, arranged Me by himself, enveloping Me in My white mantle, without changing My dress or veil, without any washing or embalming. The spirit of John, as is evident from his words of the second episode of this cycle that goes from the Pentecost to My Assumption, already knew that I would not decay, and it taught the Apostle what to do. And he, chaste, loving, prudent with regard to the myster­ ies of God and his remote companions, decided to keep the se­ cret and to wait for the other servants of God, so that they could see Me again, and draw comfort and assistance from that sight for the pains and hardships of their mission. He waited, as if he were certain of their coming. But the decree of God was different. Good as always for the Favourite. Just as usual for all the believers. He made the eyes of the former heavy with sleep, so that he might be spared the tor­ ture of seeing also My body abducted from him. He presented the believers with a further truth that would encourage them to believe in the resurrection of the flesh, in the reward of an eter­ nal blissful life granted to the just, in the most mighty and pleas­ ant truths of the New Testament: My Immaculate Conception, My Divine virginal Maternity, in the divine and human Nature of My Son, true God and true Man, born not by human will but through divine nuptials and divine seed laid in My womb, and lastly, that they might believe that in Heaven there is My Heart of the Mother of all men, palpitating with anxious love for every­ 534651. 3

body, just people and sinners, eager to have you all with It in the blessed Fatherland forever. 4When I was taken out of the little house by the angels, had My spirit already come back to Me? No. My spirit was not to de­ scend again on the Earth. It was, adoring, before the Throne of God. But when the Earth, the exile, the time and the place of the separation from My One and Trine Lord were left forever, My spirit came back to shine in the centre of My soul, drawing the flesh from its sleep. So it is just to say that I ascended to Heaven in body and soul, not through My own capability, as it happened for Jesus, but through angelic help. I awoke from that mysterious and mystic sleep, I rose, I flew finally, because by now My flesh had achieved the perfection of glorified bodies. And I loved. I loved My Son, Whom I found again, and My Lord, One and Trine, I loved Him as is the destiny of all the eternal living beings. » 5th January 1944. 5[Jesus says: ] «When Her last hour came, like a tired lily that, after exhal­ ing all its scents, bends under the stars and closes its snow-white calyx, Mary, My Mother, lay on Her little bed and closed Her eyes on everything surrounding Her, to collect Her thoughts in a last serene contemplation of God. Bending over Her rest, the angel of Mary was anxiously wait­ ing for the climax of the ecstasy to separate that spirit from the flesh, for the time decreed by God, and to separate it forever from the Earth, while the sweet inviting command of God was already descending from Heaven. John, an earthly angel, bent, in his turn, over that mysterious rest, was watching the Mother Who was about to leave him. And when he saw that She had taken her last breath, he continued to watch Her, so that, not violated by profane curious eyes, She should remain, even beyond death, the Immaculate Spouse and Mother of God, so placid and beautiful in Her sleep. 6A tradition says that only flowers were found in the urn of Mary, when it was opened by Thomas. It is a sheer legend. No sepulchre swallowed the corpse of Mary, because there never was a corpse of Mary, according to human sense, because Mary did not die as whoever lived dies. 651. 4 651. 5 651. 6 535

651. 7 651. 8 651. 9By divine decree, She was only separated from Her spirit, and Her most holy flesh once again joined the spirit that had pre­ ceded it. By inverting the habitual laws, according to which an ecstasy ends when the rapture ceases, that is, when the spirit re­ turns to its normal state, it was Mary's body that went to join the spirit, after a long rest on the funereal bed. Everything is possible to God. I came out of the Sepulchre with no other help than My own power. Mary came to Me, to God, to Heaven, without experiencing the sepulchre with its horror of lugubrious rottenness. It is one of the most refulgent miracles of God. Not the only one, really, if we remember Enoch and Elijah who, being dear to the Lord, were abducted* from the Earth, without experiencing death, and translated elsewhere, to a place known only to God and to the celestial inhabitants of Heaven. They were just, but always nothing as compared with My Mother, inferior, in holiness, only to God. That is why there are no relics of the body or of the sepul­ chre of Mary. Because Mary had no sepulchre, and Her body was brought to Heaven. ». 8th and 15th July 1944. 7 [Mary says: ] «The conception of My Son was an ecstasy. A greater ecstasy to give birth to Him. The ecstasy of ecstasies was My passage from the Earth to Heaven. Only during the Passion no ecstasy made My cruel suffering endurable. 8The house, from which I was abducted to Heaven, was one of the countless generosities of Lazarus, for Jesus and His Mother. The little house of Gethsemane, near the place of His Ascension. It is useless to look for its remains. In the destruction of Jerusa­ lem by the Romans, it was devastated, and its ruins were scat­ tered in the course of ages. » 18th December 1943. 9 [Mary says: ] «As the birth of My Son was an ecstasy to Me, and from the rapture in God that seized Me in that hour, I came to Myself and * were abducted, as in Genesis 5: 24 ; Sirach 44: 16 ; 49: 14 (for Enoch); 2 Kings 2: 1-13; Sirach 48: 9 (for Elijah). 536

to the Earth with My Child in My arms, so My improperly called “death” was a rapture in God. Relying on the promise I had received on the bright morning of Pentecost, I thought that the approaching of the last coming of the Love, to abduct Me with Him, should manifest itself with an increase of the fire of love that always burnt in Me. And I was not wrong. As far as I was concerned, the more time passed, the more My desire to blend with the Eternal Love increased. I was urged by the desire to join My Son and by the certainty that I could nev­ er do so much for men as when I was at the foot of the Throne of God, praying and operating on their behalf. And with a motion more and more inflamed and rapid, I used to cry to Heaven with all the strength of My soul: “Come, Lord Jesus! Come, Eternal Love! ”. 10The Eucharist, that was for Me like dew for a parched flow­ er, was indeed life, but the more time passed the more it became insufficient to satisfy the irrepressible eagerness of My heart. It was no longer sufficient for Me to receive My Divine Creature in Me and carry Him within Me in the Sacred Species, as I had carried Him in My virginal body. My whole self wanted the God One and Trine, but not under the veils chosen by My Jesus to hide the ineffable mystery of the Faith, but as He was, is, and will be in the centre of Heaven. My Son Himself, in His Eucha­ ristic transports, inflamed Me with embraces of infinite desire, and every time He came to Me, with the power of His love, He almost eradicated My soul at first, then He remained calling Me with infinite fondness: “Mother! ”, and I felt that He was anxious to have Me with Him. I longed for nothing else. Even the desire to protect the new­ born Church was no longer in Me, in the last days of My mortal life. Everything was canceled by the desire to possess God, as I was convinced that one can do everything when one possesses Him. 11Endeavour, o Christians, to arrive at such total love. Let all earthly things be of no value. Aim only at God. When you are rich in this poverty of desire, which is an immeasurable wealth, God will bend over your spirits, to teach them first, to take them later, and you will ascend with them to the Father, to the Son, to651. 10 651. 11 537

651. 12 651. 13the Holy Spirit, to know them and love them for the blessed eter­ nity and to possess their riches of graces for your brothers. Men are never so active for their brothers as when they are no longer among them, but they are lights reunited to the Divine Light. 12The approach of the Eternal Love had the sign that I ex­ pected. Everything became devoid of light and colour, voice and presence in the brightness and the Voice that, descending from Heaven, open to My spiritual sight, were coming down upon Me to take My soul. People say that I would have rejoiced at being assisted, in that hour, by My Son. But My sweet Jesus was indeed present with the Father when the Love, that is the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Eternal Trinity, kissed Me for the third time in My life, with a kiss so powerfully divine that My soul exhaled, becoming lost in contemplation, like a drop of dew ab­ sorbed by the sun in the calyx of a lily. And I ascended with My spirit singing hosannas to the feet of the Three, Whom I had al­ ways worshipped. Then, at the right moment, like a pearl in a setting of fire, assisted at first, then followed by the procession of the angelic spirits who had come to assist Me in My eternal celestial birth, expected by My Jesus even before the threshold of Heaven, and on its threshold by My just earthly spouse, by the Kings and Pa­ triarchs of My stock, by the first saints and martyrs, I entered as Queen, after so much grief and so much humbleness of the poor maid of God, into the kingdom of infinite delight. And Heaven closed again on the joy of having Me, of having its Queen, Whose flesh, the only one among all mortal flesh, was acquainted with glorification before the final resurrection and the last judge­ ment. » December 1943. 13 [Mary says: ] «My humbleness could not allow Me to think that so much glory was reserved for Me in Heaven. In My mind there was the almost certainty that My human flesh, made holy by carrying God, would not have experienced decay, because God is Life, and when He sates and fills a creature with Himself, this ac­ tion of His is like an aroma that preserves from the corruption of death. 538

I had remained not only immaculate, not only I had been united to God with a chaste prolific embrace, but I was sated, even as far as My innermost recesses, with the emanations of the Divinity concealed in My womb and intent on being veiled with mortal flesh. But that the kindness of the Eternal Father had re­ served for His maid the joy of feeling again the touch of My Son's hand on My body, His embrace, His kiss, and of hearing again His voice with My ears, of seeing His face with My eyes, I could not think that this would be granted to Me, neither did I wish it. It would have been sufficient if these beatitudes had been grant­ ed to My spirit, and that would have filled My ego with blissful happiness. 14But, in witness of His first creative thought concerning man, whom He, the Creator, had destined to live, passing away with­ out death, from the earthly Paradise to the celestial one, in the eternal Kingdom, God wanted Me, the Immaculate, in Heaven, in body and soul, as soon as My earthly life ended. I am the certain witness of what God had thought and wanted for man: an innocent life and unaware of sin, a placid passage from this life to eternal Life, whereby, like one who passes over the threshold of a house to enter a palace, man with his complete being, made of a material body and a spiritual soul, would pass from the Earth to Paradise, increasing the perfection of his ego, given to him by God, with the complete perfection, both of the body and of the spirit, which was, in the divine mind, destined to every creature who had remained faithful to God and to Grace. Man would have reached this perfection in the full light that is in Heaven and fills it, coming from God, the eternal Sun Who il­ luminates it. 15God placed Me, elevated in body and soul to the glory of Heaven, before the Patriarchs, the Prophets, the Saints, the An­ gels and the Martyrs and He said: “Here is the perfect work of the Creator. This is what I cre­ ated in My truer image and likeness among all the sons of man, the fruit of a divine creative masterpiece, the wonder of the Uni­ verse that sees closed in one only being the divine, in the eter­ nal spirit like God and like Him spiritual, intelligent, free, holy, and the material creature in the most holy and innocent body, to which every other living being, in the three kingdoms of crea­651. 14 651. 15 539

tion, is compelled to bow. This is the witness of My love for man, for whom I wanted a perfect organism and a blissful destiny of eternal life in My Kingdom. This is the witness that I have for­ given man whom, by will of the Trine Love, I granted to be re­ instated and recreated in My eyes. This is the mystic stone of comparison, this is the link of junction between man and God, it is She Who takes the times back to the early days and gives My divine Eyes the joy of contemplating an Eve as I had created her, and now made even more beautiful and holy, because She is the Mother of My Word, and because She is the Martyr of the greatest forgiveness. For Her Immaculate Heart that never knew any stain, not even the lightest, I open the treasures of Heaven, and for Her head, that never knew pride, I make a wreath of My brightness and I crown Her, because She is most holy to Me, so that She may be your Queen”. 16There are no tears in Heaven. But in place of the joyful tears, that the spirits would have shed, if they were granted to weep- the liquid that trickles squeezed by an emotion-there was, after these divine words, a sparkling of lights, a changing of splen­ dours into more vivid splendours, a burning of charitable fires in a more ardent fire, an unsurpassable and indescribable playing of celestial harmonies, which were joined by the voice of My Son, in praise of God the Father and of His Maid forever blissful. » 1st May 1946. 17[Jesus says: ] «There is a difference between the separation of the soul from the body, through real death, and the temporary separation of the spirit from the body and from the vivifying soul, through ecstasy or contemplative rapture. While the separation of the soul from the body brings about death, the ecstatic contempla­ tion, that is, the temporary flight of the spirit outside the bar­ riers of senses and matter, does not bring about death. And that because the soul does not become completely detached and sepa­ rated from the body, but it does so only through its better part, that plunges into the fire of contemplation. All men, as long as they live, have a soul within themselves, dead or alive as it may be, through sin or justice; but only the deep loving souls of God arrive at real contemplation. 540651. 16 651. 17

This proves that the soul, that keeps the body alive while it is united to it-and this peculiarity applies to all men in the same way-has in itself a more noble part: the soul of the soul, or spirit of the spirit, which in just people is very strong, whereas in those who cease to love God and His Law, even if only through their tepidness and venial sins, it becomes weak, depriving the person of the capability to contemplate and know God and His eternal truths, as far as a human creature can do so, according to the de­ gree of perfection achieved. The more a creature loves and serves God with all its strength and power, the more the nobler part of its spirit increases its capacity to know, to contemplate and pen­ etrate the eternal truths. 18Man, gifted with a rational soul, is a capacity that God fills 651. 18 with Himself. As Mary, after the Christ, was the most holy of all creatures, She was a capacity so full of God, of His graces, char­ ity and mercy, as to overflow on the brothers in Christ of all ages and until the end of time. She passed away submerged by the waves of love. Now, in Heaven, where She has become an ocean of love, She overflows Her waves of charity on Her sons faithful to Her and also on Her prodigal ones, for their universal salvation, as She is the univer­ sal Mother of all men. » 652. Farewell to the Work. [28th April 1947. ] Jesus says: «The reasons that have induced Me to enlighten and dictate episodes and words of Mine to little John are, in addition to the joy of communicating an exact knowledge of Me to this loving victim-soul, manifold. But the moving spirit of all of them is My love for the Church, both teaching and militant, and My desire to help souls in their ascent towards perfection. The knowledge of Me helps to ascend. My Word is Life. I mention the main ones: I°. The reasons mentioned in the dictation dated 18th January 541

1947 and which little John will put here integrally. This is the most important reason because you are perishing and I want to save you. ______________________________ 3th February 1947. “The most profound reason for the gift of this work is that in the present time, when modernism, condemned by My holy Vicar Pius X, becomes corrupted in more and more harmful doctrines, the Church, represented by My Vicar, may have further material to fight against those who deny: the supernaturalness of dogmas; the divinity of the Christ; the Truth of the Christ God and Man, real and perfect both in the faith and in the history that has been handed down on Him (Gospel, Acts of the Apostles, Ap­ ostolic Letters, tradition); the doctrine of Paul and John and of the councils of Nicaea, Ephesus and Chalcedon, as My true doctrine verbally taught by Me; My unlimited science, as it is divine and perfect; the divine origin of the dogmas of the Sacraments of the Church One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic; the universality and continuity, until the end of time, of the Gospel given by Me and for all men; the perfect nature, from the beginning, of My doctrine that has not been formed, as it is, through successive transforma­ tions, but was given as it is: the Doctrine of the Christ, of the time of Grace, of the Kingdom of Heaven and of the Kingdom of God in you, divine, perfect, immutable. The Gospel for all those thirsting for God. To the red dragon* with seven heads, ten horns and seven di­ adems on its head, which with its tail drags a third of the stars from the sky and drops them-and I solemnly tell you that they drop even lower than the earth-and persecutes the Woman; to the beasts of the sea and of the earth that many, too many wor­ ship, allured as they are by their appearance and prodigies, I ask you to oppose My Angel flying in the middle of the sky, holding * the red dragon... it is the beginning of allusions to: Daniel 7; Revelation 12-20. 542

the Eternal Gospel well open, also at the Pages so far closed, so that men, through its light, may be saved from the coils of the huge serpent with seven jaws, that wants to drown them in its darkness, and upon My return I may find again faith and char­ ity in the hearts of those who persevere, and they may be more numerous than the work of Satan and of men allow one to hope they may be”. ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ II°. To rouse a keen love for the Gospel and for everything pertaining to the Christ in Priests and in laymen. First of all, re­ newed love for My Mother, in Whose prayers lies the secret of the salvation of the world. She, My Mother, is the Conqueress of the cursed Dragon. Assist Her power by means of your renewed love for Her and of your renewed faith and knowledge of what per­ tains to Her. Mary has given the Saviour to the world. The world will receive salvation again from Her. III°. To give spiritual masters and directors assistance in their ministry, by studying the different souls of the world in which I lived and the different methods used by Me to save them. Because it would be foolish to have only one method with all the souls. The way to attract to Perfection a just person who spontaneously tends to it, is different from that to be used with a believer in sin, and from that to be used with a Gentile. You have many of them also among you, if you succeed in judging, as your Master did, as Gentiles the poor people who have replaced the true God with the idols of power and arrogance, or of gold, or of lust, or with the idol of the pride of their knowledge. And dif­ ferent is the method to be used to save modern proselytes, that is those who have accepted the Christian idea, but not the Chris­ tian citizenship, as they belong to separated Churches. No one is to be despised, and these lost sheep less than everyone, Love them and try to lead them back to the Only Fold, so that the de­ sire of the Shepherd Jesus may be fulfilled. Some people, when reading this Work, will object: “It does not appear from the Gospel that Jesus was in touch with Romans and Greeks, and consequently we reject these pages”. How many things do not appear from the Gospel, or can just be detected be-543

hind thick curtains of silence, drawn by the Evangelists on epi­ sodes, of which they did not approve, because of their unbreak­ able Jewish frame of mind! Do you think that you know every­ thing I did? I solemnly tell you that not even after reading and accept­ ing this illustration of My public life will you know everything about Me. I would have killed My little John, in the fatigue of reporting all the days of My ministry and all the actions per­ formed on each day, if I had made him acquainted with every­ thing so that he might transmit everything to you! “Then there are other things done by Jesus, which, if written one by one, I think that the world would not be able to contain the books that should be written” says* John. Apart from the hyperbole, I sol­ emnly tell you that if all My single actions had to be written, all My particular lessons, My penances and prayers to save a soul, it would have taken the halls of one of your libraries, and one of the largest, to contain the books speaking of Me. And I also solemn­ ly tell you that it would be much more advantageous for you to burn so much useless dusty poisonous science, to make room for My books, than to know so little of Me and worship so much that press and is almost always soiled with lust and heresy. IV°. To reinstate in their truth the figures of the Son of Man and of Mary, true children of Adam by flesh and blood, but of an innocent Adam. The children of the Man were to be like us, if our First Parents had not depreciated their perfect human­ ity-in the sense of man, that is of a creature in which there is the double nature, spiritual, in the image and likeness of God, and the material nature-as you know they did. Perfect sens­ es, that is, subject to reason even in their great efficiency. In the senses I include both the moral and the corporal ones. Therefore total and perfect love both for Her spouse, to whom She is not at­ tached by sensuality, but only by a tie of spiritual love, and for Her Son. Most loved. Loved with all the perfection of a perfect woman for the child born of Her. That is how Eve should have loved: like Mary: that is, not for what physical enjoyment her son was, but because that son was the son of the Creator and out of * says, in John 2L25. 544

obedience accomplished to His order to multiply the human race. And loved with all the ardour of a perfect believer who knows that that Son of Hers is not figuratively but really the Son of God. To those who consider Mary's love for Jesus too affection­ ate, I say that they should consider who Mary was: the Woman without sin and therefore without fault in Her love towards God, towards Her relatives, towards Her spouse, towards Her Son, to­ wards Her neighbour; they should consider what the Mother saw in Me besides seeing the Son of Her womb, and finally that they should consider the nationality of Mary. Hebrew race, eastern race, and times very remote from the present ones. So the ex­ planation of certain verbal amplifications, that may seem exag­ gerated to you, ensues from these elements. The eastern and He­ brew styles are flowery and pompous also when commonly spo­ ken. All the writings of that time and of that race prove it, and in the course of ages the eastern style has not changed very much. As twenty centuries later you have to examine these pages, when the wickedness of life has killed so much love, would you expect Me to give you a Mary of Nazareth similar to the arid superficial woman of your days? Mary is what She is, and the sweet, pure, loving Girl of Israel, the Spouse of God, the Virgin Mother of God cannot be changed into an excessively morbidly exalted woman, or into a glacially selfish one of your days. And I tell those, who consider Jesus' love for Mary too affec­ tionate, to consider that in Jesus there was God, and that God One and Trine received His consolation by loving Mary, Who re­ quited Him for the sorrow of the whole human race, and was the means by which God could glory again in His Creation that gives citizens to His Heavens. And finally, let them consider that eve­ ry love becomes guilty when, and only when it causes disorder, that is, when it goes against the Will of God and the duty to be fulfilled. Now consider: did Mary's love do that? Did My love do that? Did She keep Me, through selfish love, from doing all the Will of God? Through a disorderly love for My Mother, did I perhaps repudiate My mission? No. Both loves had but one desire: to ac­ complish the Will of God for the salvation of the world. And the Mother said all the farewells to Her Son, and the Son said all the farewells to His Mother, handing the Son to the cross of His 545

public teaching and to the Cross of Calvary, handing the Mother to solitude and torture, so that She might be the Co-Redeem­ er, without taking into account our humanity that felt lacerated and our hearts that were broken with grief. Is that weakness? Is it sentimentalism? It is perfect love, o men, who do not know how to love and who no longer understand love and its voices! And the purpose of this Work is also to clarify certain points that a number of circumstances has covered with darkness and they thus form dark zones in the brightness of the evangelic picture and points that seem a rupture and are only obscured points, between one episode and another, indecipherable points, and the ability to decipher them is the key to correctly under­ stand certain situations that had arisen and certain strong man­ ners that I had to have, so contrasting with My continuous ex­ hortations to forgive, to be meek and humble, a certain rigidity towards obstinate, inconvertible opponents. You all ought to re­ member that God, after using all His mercy, for the sake of His own honour, can say also “Enough” to those who, as He is good, think it is right to take advantage of His forbearance and tempt Him. God is not to be derided. It is an old wise saying. V°. To have an exact knowledge of the complexity and dura­ tion of My long passion, that culminates in the sanguinary Pas­ sion accomplished in few hours, that had consumed Me in a daily torture that lasted for years and years, and that had increased more and more, and with the passion of My Mother, Whose heart was pierced by the sword of sorrow for the same length of time. And urge you, through this knowledge, to love us more. VI°. To show the power of My Word and its different effects according to whether the person receiving it belonged to the group of men of goodwill, or to that of those who had a sensual will, which is never righteous. The Apostles and Judas. Here are the two opposed examples. The former, very imperfect, rough, ignorant, violent, but with goodwill. Judas, learned more than most of them, refined by liv­ ing in the capital and in the Temple, but of evil will. Watch the evolution of the former in Good, their ascent. Watch the evolu­ tion of the latter in Evil, and his descent. 546

This evolution in perfection of the Eleven good ones should be watched above all by those who, through a visual mental fault, are accustomed to perverting the nature of the reality of saints, making of the man who reaches holiness by means of a hard, very hard struggle against heavy obscure powers, an unnatural being without incentives and emotions, and therefore without merits. Because merit is really consequent on the victory over disorder­ ly passions and temptations, a victory achieved through love for God and to attain the final aim: to enjoy God forever. It should be watched by those who claim that a conversion should come only from God. God gives the means to be converted, but He does not do violence to the will of man, and if man does not want to be converted, in vain he has what serves other people to become converted. Let those who examine the situation consider the manifold effects of My Word not only on the human man, but also on the spiritual man. Not only on the spiritual man, but also on the hu­ man man. My Word, when it is received with goodwill, trans­ forms both, leading to external and internal perfection. The apostles who through their ignorance and My humble­ ness treated the Son of Man with excessive familiarity-a good master among them, nothing more, a humble and patient master with whom it was permissible to take liberties at times excessive; but it was not irreverence on their part: it was ignorance, and it is to be excused-the apostles quarrelsome with one another, self­ ish, jealous of their love and of Mine, impatient with the people, somewhat proud of being “the Apostles”, eager for stupendous capacities, which point them out to the crowds as gifted with an extraordinary power, slowly but continuously change into new men, bridling their passions first to imitate Me and make Me happy, then, as they became more and more acquainted with My true Ego, changing manners and love so much as to see Me, love Me and treat Me as the divine Lord. At the end of My life on the Earth, are they still perhaps the superficial merry companions of the early times? Are they, above all after the Resurrection, the friends who treat the Son of Man as a Friend? No, they are not. They are the ministers of the King, first. They are the priests of God, later. They are completely different and completely trans­ formed. 547

This should be considered by those who will find the apostles' nature, which was as it is described, strong, and will judge it un­ natural. I was not a difficult doctor and a proud king, I was not a master who judges other men unworthy of him. I was indulgent to people. I wanted to form using raw materials, and fill empty vases with all kinds of perfections, proving that God can do eve­ rything, He can raise a son of Abraham from a stone, a son of God, and from a nonentity a master to confuse masters proud of their science, which has very often lost the scent of Mine. VII˚. Finally: to make you acquainted with the mystery of Ju­ das, that mystery which is the fall of a spirit that God had fa­ voured in an extraordinary manner. A mystery that is repeated too often and is the wound that aches in the Heart of your Jesus. To let you know how people fall changing from servants and sons of God into demons and deicides, who kill the God in them by killing Grace, so that such knowledge may prevent you from setting foot on the paths from which one falls into the Abyss, and it may teach you how to behave when trying to hold back the imprudent lambs that push on towards the abyss. Apply your intelligence to study the horrible and yet common figure of Ju­ das, a complex in which are agitated like snakes all the capital vices that you find and have to fight in this or that person. It is the most important lesson to be learned by you, because it is the one that will be more useful to you in your ministry of spiritual masters and directors. How many people, in every state of life, imitate Judas giving themselves to Satan and meeting eternal death! Seven reasons, as seven are the parts: I°. The Hidden Life (from the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary to the death of Saint Joseph). II°. The first year of the Public Life. III°. The second year of the Public Life. IV°. The third year of the Public Life. V°. Preparation for the Passion (from Tebeth to Nisan, that is from the agony of Lazarus to the supper at Bethany). VI°. The Passion (from the farewell to Lazarus to My Burial and following days until dawn on Easter Sunday). 548

VII°. From the Resurrection to Pentecost. This division of the parts is to be kept as indicated above, be­ cause it is the right one. And now? What do you say to your Master? You are not speak­ ing to Me. But you are speaking in your hearts, and only if you may be able to do so, you speak to little John. But in neither of these two cases you speak with the justice that I should like to see in you. Because you speak to little John to grieve him, trampling on the charity for the Christian sister and the instrument of God. I tru­ ly tell you once again that to be an instrument of Mine is not a placid joy: it is continuous fatigue and effort, it is sorrow in eve­ rything, because the world gives the disciples of the Master what it gave the Master: sorrow; and at least priests, and in particular confreres, ought to help these little martyrs who proceed under their crosses... And because in your hearts, speaking to your­ selves, you utter a complaint of pride, of envy, of incredulity and other things. But I will give you a reply to your complaints and to your scandalised surprise. In the evening of the Last Supper, I said to the Eleven who loved Me: “When the Comforter comes, He will remind you of everything I told you”. When I spoke I always bore in mind, in addition to those who were present, all those who would be My disciples in spirit, and with truth and a will to want. The Holy Spirit, Who already with His Grace instils the faculty of remem­ bering God into you, freeing souls from the torpor of the Origi­ nal Sin and relieving them of the obscurities that, because of the sad inheritance of Adam, envelop the brightness of the spirits created by God to enjoy His sight and spiritual knowledge, com­ pletes His work of Master by “reminding” the hearts of those who are led by Him and who are the children of God, of what I said, and which constitutes the Gospel. To remind here means to enlighten the spirit of it. Because it is nothing to remember the words of the Gospel if its spirit is not understood. And the spirit of the Gospel, which is love, can be made understood by the Love, that is, by the Holy Spirit, Who, as He has been the true Writer of the Gospel, is also its only Com­ mentator, because only the Author of a work knows the spirit of 549

it and understands it, even if he does not succeed in making its readers understand it. But where a human author fails, because every human perfection is rich in deficiencies, the Most Perfect and Wise Spirit succeeds. So only the Holy Spirit, the author of the Gospel, is also He Who remembers and comments and com­ pletes it in the inmost parts of the souls of God's children. “The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send you in My Name, will teach you everything, will remind you of everything I told you”. (John, 14: 26). “When that Spirit of Truth comes, He will teach you all the truth: because He will not speak by Himself, but will say eve­ rything He has heard and will announce you the future. He will glorify Me, because He will take what is Mine and will announce it to you. Everything the Father has is Mine; that is why I said that He will receive what is Mine and will announce it to you”. (John 16: 13-14-15). Then if you object to that, as the Holy Spirit is the true Author of the Gospel, one fails to understand why He did not remember what is mentioned in this work and what John makes one under­ stand did happen, in the last words that close his Gospel, I reply to you that the thoughts of God are different from those of men, and are always just and not liable to criticism. Further: if you object that the revelation was closed with the last Apostle, and there was nothing further to add, because the same Apostle says in Revelation: “If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him every plague mentioned in the book” (22: 18) and that can be understood for all the Revelation, the last completion of which is the Revelation by John, I reply to you that with this work no addition was made to revelation, but only the gaps, brought about by natural causes and by supernatural will, were filled in. And if I wanted to take pleasure in restoring the picture of My Divine Charity, as a restorer of mosaics does re­ placing the tesserae damaged or missing, reinstating the mosaic in its complete beauty, and I have decided to do it in this century in which Mankind is hurling itself towards the Abyss of dark­ ness and horror, can you forbid Me from doing so? Can you perhaps say that you do not need it, you whose spir­ its are dull, weak, deaf to the lights, voices and invitations from Above? 550

You ought really to bless Me for increasing with new lights the light that you have and that is no longer sufficient for you “to see” your Saviour. To see the Way, the Truth and the Life, and feel that spiritual emotion of the just of My time rise in you, at­ taining through this knowledge a renewal of your spirits in love, that would be your salvation, because it is an ascent towards perfection. I do not say that you are “dead”, but sleeping, drowsy. Like plants during their winter sleep. The divine Sun gives you its refulgence. Awake and bless the Sun that gives itself, receive it with joy so that It may warm you, from the surface to deep inside you, it may rouse you and cover you with flowers and fruits. Rise. Come to My Gift. “Take and eat. Take and drink” I said to the apostles. “If you only knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you: 'give me a drink', you would have been the one to ask, and he would have given you living water” I said to the Samaritan woman. I say that also now: to doctors and to Samaritans as well. Be­ cause both extreme classes need it, and also those need it, who are between the two extremes. The former not to be underfed and deprived of strength also with regard to themselves, and of supernatural nourishment for those who languish with lack of knowledge of God, of the God-Man, of the Master and Saviour. The latter because souls need living water, when they perish far away from the springs. Those in the middle, between the for­ mer and the latter, the great mass of those who are not big sin­ ners, and also of those who are static in not making any progress, through laziness, tepidness, because of a wrong concept of ho­ liness, those who are scrupulous of not being damned, of being observant, of becoming entangled in a labyrinth of superficial practices, but dare not take a step on the steep, very steep road of heroism, so that from this work they may receive the initial in­ centive to come out of that immobility and set out on the heroic way. I tell you these words. I offer you this food and this drink of living water. My Word is Life. And I want you in the Life, with Me. And I multiply My word to counterbalance the miasmata of Satan as they destroy the vital strength of the spirit. 551

Do not reject Me. I am anxious to give Myself to you, because I love you. And My anxiety is inextinguishable. I ardently wish to communicate Myself to you to make you ready for the banquet of the celestial nuptials. And you need Me in order not to languish, to dress yourselves with dresses adorned for the Wedding of the Lamb, for the great feast of God after overcoming the affliction in this desert full of snares, of brambles and snakes, which is the Earth, to pass through flames without suffering damage, to tread on reptiles and have to take poisons without dying, as you have Me in you. And I also say to you: “Take, do take this work and 'do not seal it', but read it and have it read 'because the time is close'” (John, Revelation, 22: 10) “and let those who are holy become ho­ lier” (ib. 22: 11). May the grace of your Lord Jesus Christ be with all those who in this book see an approach of Mine and urge it to be accom­ plished, to their defence, with the cry of Love: “Come, Lord Je­ sus! ”. » And to me in particular then Jesus says: «As introduction to the Work you will put the first chapter of the Gospel by John, from verse one to eighteen inclusive, inte­ grally, as it is written. John wrote those words, as you have writ­ ten all those related in the Work, from dictation of the Spirit of God. There is nothing to be added or to be taken away, as there was nothing to be added or taken away from the prayer of the Our Father and from My prayer after the Last Supper. Every word of these points is a divine gem and is not to be touched. There is only one thing to be done with regard to these points: ardently pray the Holy Spirit that He may enlighten them to you in all their beauty and wisdom. When you arrive at the point where My public life begins, you will copy the first chapter of John, also integrally, from verse nineteen to verse twenty-eight inclusive and the third chapter of Luke from verse three to verse eighteen inclusive, one after the other, as if they were only one chapter. There is all the Precursor, an ascetic of few words and hard discipline, and there is nothing else to be said. Then you will put My Baptism and you will go on as I told you from time to time. 552

And your fatigue is over. Now love remains and the reward to be enjoyed. My soul, and what should I say to you? With your spirit lost in Me you ask Me: “And now, Lord, what will You do with me, Your servant? ” I could say: “I will break the clay vase to extract its essence and take it where I am”. And it would be the joy of both. But I need you for a short while, and a little more, here, to exhale your perfumes which are still the scent of the Christ dwelling in you. So I will say to you as I said to John: “If I want you to stay until I come to get you, what does it matter to you to remain? ” Peace to you, My little untiring voice. Peace to you. Peace and blessings. The Master says to you: “Thanks”. The Lord says to you: “May you be blessed”. Jesus, your Jesus, says to you: “I will always be with you because it is pleasant to Me to be with those who love Me”. My peace, little John. Come and rest on My Chest. » And with these words also the suggestions for the drawing up of the work have come to an end and the last explanations have been given. Viareggio, 28th April 1947. Maria Valtorta. 553