Editorial
Hope for Poor Sinners
Sinners will find in My Heart an infinite ocean of mercy.
– Our Lord to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
ON Jan. 21, 1970, Our Lord said to the Portavoz: (Maria Concepcion) "Help Me to bring everyone to the truth. Every day I am in hands that are more stained than these. All of you, do not be shocked at faults and at human defects. Love everyone, and win their souls for heaven, by drawing them away from error. Be prudent and patient, and bear with one another. Stretch forth your hand to those who have fallen, and invite them to arise.
"My daughter, unite together in charity and preach the truth, with the one and only longing of helping me, so that My truth and My justice may reign upon earth."
Do Not Be Shocked at Faults
Our Lord has manifested his desires to chosen souls, that he does not want to be left alone and abandoned. He made a request for holy hours, not only to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, but to all men and women of good will. Our Lord has to endure the ingratitude and coldness of so many hearts, and he is asking us to console him. "Could you not watch one hour with me?"
Our Lord wants us to repair and make atonement for the laziness and indifference of so many souls, by means of holy hours or any other acts we can give him. One of the intentions in our holy hours is the conversion of sinners. Christ predicted that many scandals would come, and now we can see the fulfillment of what he said. There are so many scandals everywhere, there is so much indifference, so much coldness, so many souls are in darkness and without anyone to guide or help them. When we take all these facts into consideration, we should not be surprised at all to see so many of our neighbors falling into mortal sin. Our Lord told us: "Do not be shocked at faults and at human defects." If we were shocked at the faults of others, we would be similar to the Pharisees, not realizing that pride and despising others is the worst of all vices. All sins offend God, but pride offends him more than the others. At least let us make the resolution of not being like the Pharisees, of not despising our weak and sinful neighbors, of not committing the ugliest of all vices, pride and stubbornness.
We should not despise those in mortal sin, because we do not know if we ourselves will persevere in grace. If people do not have spiritual leaders or anyone to teach them, of course they will make many mistakes and errors.
Our Lord once told the Portavoz (Maria Concepcion) that no one can understand these spiritual truths, unless he first receives the gratuitous grace of conversion. Our rosaries and holy hours might help to obtain this precious grace. For this reason we are requesting all our subscribers to please make holy hours. Holy hours will console our Lord so much, precisely because they might obtain the conversion of a sinner. To convert a sinner is greater than creating heaven and earth, it is greater than healing the sick or resurrecting the dead. It is resurrecting the dead, souls dead in mortal sin.
When we make holy hours, it is not only to console our Lord and for our own benefit (they help to make us more fervent), but above all it is for the benefit of others. Those living in mortal sin NEED holy hours, that is, they need someone to pray for them. If they do not have anyone to pray for them, the majority will end in the eternal abyss of hell. A holy hour is just one hour of time, but it might make a difference that could last for the endless ages of eternity.
Victimhood in Little Things
Some persons are afraid of the word victimhood, because it means heroism, and not everyone has the vocation to be a hero. If people feel repugnance toward this word, that is understandable: Christ himself felt repugnance in the Garden of Gethsemani. It is an ordinary human feeling and is no defect.
Not everyone can offer heroic sacrifices, but everyone without exception can offer little things to God. A headache, an illness, a misunderstanding, being with an impolite person, a small failure, --these events happen in the lives of nearly everyone, and we can offer all these little sufferings to God, remembering that we ourselves are sinners and that we need purification (only the pure will enter heaven), and offering all these little events in union with the passion of Christ, for the conversion of sinners. It cannot be emphasized too much, that we should think so often, as often as possible, of the passion of Christ. Everything that we may suffer in our lives: being abandoned by our friends, being rejected, misunderstood, etc., all that happened to Christ. Every time we have to suffer a physical or moral pain, we should always think: Christ suffered the same situation himself. He also was misunderstood, rejected, abandoned by his friends, etc.
A Promise of Final Triumph
Satan and his unfortunate and miserable followers may triumph for a few months or even for several years, but by the very fact that they are fighting against God, they are on the losing side. Their triumph is only for a time: God’s triumph will last for ever. And those on God’s side will rejoice for ever in the heavenly Jerusalem, and even upon earth they will rejoice by means of hope. Hope is a beautiful virtue, because it creates joy, in the midst of the most difficult situations.
Omnipotence and Impotence
People are accustomed to thinking: God is almighty, and therefore he can do whatever he wants. In regard to inanimate creatures, or creatures without free will, the answer is yes: he is omnipotent. In regard to human beings gifted with free will, the answer is: he is impotent. If people decide to give God nothing, they will make him sad (according to our human manner of speaking): if they decide to give him a little, they will give him a little happiness, and if they decide to give him much, they will give him great happiness. In regard to the human power of willing, God is impotent: he accepts what we decide to give him (many by ignorance give him nothing at all). In regard to human beings, he cannot enforce his will. He can only beg.
By means of his saints and his messengers, he is begging for our love: "Could you not watch one hour with me?" We exhort our subscribers to be as generous as possible with his request, and to give him as much time as possible. The more you give Him, the happier you will be. And you will be creating happiness not only for yourself, but for the poor sinners, now living in darkness, who need help so much.
May it be for the glory of God
"All those who yield themselves to My way of the cross and suffering, will be blessed for all eternity." –Our Lord to the Portavoz: April 23, 1969
Hope For Sinners. -- "If your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made white as snow; and if they be red as crimson, they shall be made white as wool." (Is. 1, 18). "For I have come to call sinners..." (Matt. 9, 13). "Her sins, many as they are, shall be forgiven her, because she has loved much." (Luke 7, 47). "Him who comes to Me, I will not cast out." (John 6, 37).
Following His Footsteps
by Anselmo del Álamo
Chapter 7. Mortification, Suffering
48. If the Lord granted you the power to resurrect the dead, he would grant you less, than when he makes you suffer. For the gift of working miracles, you would remain his debtor, but when he makes you suffer, (if you suffer with patience), he becomes your debtor. And if you had no other reward except that of suffering for a God who loves you, would not this be a very great reward? He who loves understands what I say. St. John of the Cross
49. The greatest of all graces is that of being worthy to suffer for our Lord Jesus Christ. This is indeed a perfect crown, and a reward not inferior to the future reward. Without doubt, it is a greater grace to be enchained for Jesus Christ, than to be placed upon one of the twelve thrones; greater than being an apostle, doctor or evangelist. He who loves Jesus Christ understands what I say. When God gives someone the power of resurrecting the dead, he gives him a smaller grace than when he allows him to suffer, because by miracles I remain a debtor of God, but if I suffer with patience, Jesus Christ is converted into my debtor. St. John Chrysostom
50. Souls who are beloved of God are especially predestined to suffer, and this becomes so pleasing and agreeable that they would prefer to die, rather than not suffer, since for them, loving and suffering are the same. St. Louise de Marillac
51. Those who are not acquainted with God bear their trials with murmuring; the friends of God endure them with resignation, but those who are truly sons of God accept them with gratitude.
St. Bernard
52. Adversities and tribulations of this life are very singular graces and highly to be desired; God reserves them for his dearest friends.
St. Joseph of Cupertino
The Story of Epifanio
Note. Some of our subscribers were pleased with the story of Wong Li, in the previous issue. We are continuing it with the story of Epifanio, whose life is similar to Wong Li. They both had diseases that disfigured their face. For several years Epifanio earned his living, but for a few years at the end of his life he lived like a beggar. But the most wonderful similarity is that they are both now in the heavenly Jerusalem, where the Lamb wipes away all tears from their eyes. (Apoc. 7).
The Story of Epifanio
1. THE SPECIAL NIGHT
In the year 1971 I traveled to central Mexico, to join a recently founded religious congregation. At that time the Superior wanted us to renew our permission to stay in Mexico every six months, and in order to do so, we had to travel to the border.
For this reason, in March of 1974 I was at the Mexican border, for a few days, in Juarez, state of Chihuahua (next to El Paso, Texas).
One night I walked into a small cafe, named "Cafe Mexico," and ordered a cup of coffee. There were several soldiers at other tables, and some standing in the background, all wearing green uniforms. I saw two soldiers sitting at a table and decided to go to it. So I walked over to them, sat down, and we started talking.
We talked about several subjects... I cannot remember exactly what they were, it was so many years ago. Then suddenly one of them got up and walked out of the cafe.
The other soldier and myself were sitting there for about 30 seconds, without saying anything.
He was short of stature, thin, with a plain-looking face, and dark-colored skin.
He was looking down at the table. Then he raised his face, looked up at me and said, very shyly:
"Yo me llamo Epifanio."
("I am named Epifanio.")
Then I answered and said that means manifestation.
Then he continued and said that ever since the age of 16 he had felt alone, and had felt that God was preparing something special for him, but that nothing had happened so far and that often he was sad. And he concluded his short discourse with this phrase:
"Y ahora esto."
(And now this.)
He was 20 years old, but his voice and manner of acting were almost that of a child. (He was the most innocent person I have ever known. Not even God could create another person exactly like him.)
So because of his childlike way of thinking, he thought that something special was going to happen very soon, because this was the first occasion in his life that he had ever met someone from the United States, with a foreign accent and foreign-looking face, who got into unusual conversations.
We talked a little more, and then left, and I took him to where I was staying and we ate a small meal together. He told me he was a Mazahua Indian (pronounced ma-sa-wa), and that he had been born near Toluca, Mexico. He did not speak Mazahua fluently, but when he was a boy he knew people who lived near him who did. He also told me that the word Toluca meant "the place where the gods meet."
His complete name was Epifanio Tapia Quintana. (Tapia: father's last name. Quintana: mother's last name. In Latin America both the father's and mother's name are used in one's own name.)
He also mentioned that a few years before he had fallen in love with a young lady, but was sad because she never loved him in return. He also mentioned that he had stopped communicating with his parents because of something that had happened. He never mentioned having brothers or sisters. I never found out about them until many years afterwards. Then I learned more details about all this. At the end he thanked me and left. It was about 10 p.m.
Because of the way he acted, moved and spoke, I was more than ever convinced that he was the most innocent person I had ever met, and that we were predestined to be together in the future.
2. THE PERIOD OF WAITING
To understand this period, some facts should be made known. The congregation of Franciscan Minims of the Perpetual Help of Mary was founded by the Mexican Portavoz (messenger), Maria Concepcion Zuniga, a mystic who received revelations, and some of them had already been published in Spanish and English and other languages. Most of the persons who joined in those years, (1969--1975) joined because of the revelations, including myself.
So we lived in an atmosphere of thinking about and studying prophecies and revelations, and hoping for their fulfillment. (Read More Here)
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The Holy Hour
To Beg Mercy for Sinners
During a retreat that St. Margaret Mary made in the year 1673, Our Lord revealed to her the manner in which He wished her to ask pardon for sinners:
"Thou shalt lift up thy heart and thy hands to heaven," He said, "with the offering of prayer and good works, presenting Me continually to My Father as a Victim of love, in sacrifice and oblation for the sin of the whole world, and placing Me as a secure bulwark between His justice and sinners, to obtain mercy, with which thou wilt feel encompassed when I shall be pleased to grant My favors to any of these sinners. Thou must, then, offer Me to My Father in thanksgiving for the mercy I have shown."
Here, then, we learn from the lips of Christ how we may best obtain pardon for sinners. It is by offering our Divine Lord Himself, His adorable Body and Blood, His soul and Divinity, in Holy Mass and in the Blessed Eucharist: offering, too, to His Eternal Father His life and labors; His bitter Passion and Death, and every thought, action and suffering of His mortal life on earth; His five most precious Wounds, the merits He amassed, and the infinite satisfaction that He made to His Eternal Father. In all this we have an infinite treasure from which we can draw at will, to make atonement for our own sins, and for those of all mankind.
Our Compassion Consoles the Suffering Heart of Jesus
Our Lord desires that those who venerate His Sacred Heart, should continually meditate on His bitter Passion and Death. For this reason He appointed Friday for the majority of practices of devotion to His adorable Heart. The lives of the saints furnish numerous revelations which have for their object His bitter Passion and Death. Our Lord said to Blessed Angela of Foligno: "Be you blessed by My Father, you who have compassion with My tribulations and walk in My way, for thereby you have merited to have your garments washed in My Blood. Be you blessed, you who compassionate My inexpressible sorrows, and the Death I endured to rescue you from eternal torments, to make satisfaction in your stead, to pay the purchase-money for you, who have been found worthy to share My poverty, My humiliations and sorrows. Be blessed by the Father and the Holy Ghost, be blessed with the blessing which I Myself shall pronounce on the day of judgment. For instead of repulsing Me as My persecutors have done, when I came unto My own, you offered Me in your heart a place of refuge. When I was tortured by hunger and thirst, pierced by nails, when I was in My last agony on the Cross, you desired to be My companions and comforters, and thus exercised mercy toward Me."
Ought not these considerations urge us to watch an hour with our Savior every Thursday, to venerate His immeasurable sufferings on Mount Olivet, to comfort His heart by saving souls? Oh, let us not refuse this loving service to our abandoned Lord!
Prayers
With Jesus on Mount Olivet
From the Prayers of St. Gertrude
O my Jesus, my God and Savior, how full of grief was Thy last day on earth! The hours were passed in bitter anguish, and as the moment approached in which by Thy own will, Thou wast to die for us sinners, Thy suffering became so intense that it pierced Thy loving Heart. In spirit I see Thee go forth to the Garden of Gethsemane, sorrowful and desolate. Thou dost ascend the mount of Olives, Thou dost fall on Thy knees in prayer and wring Thy hands in anguish. The unspeakable burden of sins which Thou hast taken upon Thyself weighs Thee to the ground. The chalice which Thou art to drink even to the last drop is filled with most bitter sorrow and grief. A nameless horror seizes Thee, a bloody sweat bursts forth from every pore of Thy Sacred Body, and falls to the earth. Raising Thy holy Countenance heavenward, I hear Thee call out with inexpressible anguish: "Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from Me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt." As, how piteously Thou dost plead for mercy, while the pains press deeper and deeper into Thy loving Heart!
O beloved Jesus, the contemplation of Thy anguish and abandonment on Mount Olivet fills me with shame and contrition for my sins. By my sins I have shared in causing Thee this pain, this anguish. Oh, pardon my wickedness by which I have so sorely offended Thee! Behold, I prostrate myself upon the earth beside Thee in the Garden of Gethsemane. Ah, by my loving affection let me console Thy afflicted Heart, let me wipe the bloody sweat from Thy adorable Countenance. I beseech Thee, grant me the grace to participate in that anguish and suffering which Thou didst endure for me on the Mount of Olives; permit me to share in Thy bitterness, that I may be filled with horror for every sin, and may be moved to tender compassion for Thee, my agonizing Redeemer.
O heavenly Father, for the sake of the agony endured by Thy Divine Son, have mercy on me and on all sinners, and forgive us our sins. Amen.
Mother of Divine Grace
Kings and queens with their ostentation of majesty, inspire terror, and cause their subjects to fear to approach them: but what fear, says St. Bernard, can the miserable have to approach this Queen of Mercy, for she inspires no terror, and shows no severity, to those who come to her, but is all sweetness and gentleness. ‘Why should human frailty fear to go to Mary? In her there is no austerity, nothing terrible: she is all sweetness, offering milk and wool to all.’ Mary is not only willing to give, but she herself offers milk and wool to all: the milk of mercy to animate our confidence, and the wool of her protection against the thunderbolts of Divine justice.
Prayers for a Holy Hour
Invocation.
Leader. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created.
Response. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
L. Let us pray.
R. O God, You who have taught the hearts of Your faithful people, by sending them the light of your Holy Spirit, grant us by the same Spirit to have a right judgment in all things, and evermore to rejoice in His holy comfort. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
For a Visit to the Blessed Sacrament
L. Lord Jesus Christ, who through the love which You bear to men remain with them day and night in this Sacrament, full of mercy and of love, expecting, inviting, and receiving all who come to visit You. I believe that You are present in the Sacrament of the Altar. From the depths of my nothingness I adore You, and I thank You for all the favors which You have bestowed upon me, particularly for having given me Yourself in this Sacrament, for having given me for my advocate Your most holy Mother Mary, and for having called me to visit You in this church.
R. I this day greet Your most loving Heart for three reasons: first, I wish to thank You for this great gift; second, I wish to make reparation, for all the injuries You have received from Your enemies in this Sacrament; and third, I wish by this visit to adore You in all places, where You are least honored, and most abandoned in the holy sacrament.
L. My Jesus, I love You with my whole heart. I am sorry for having offended Your infinite goodness. I resolve, with the help of Your grace, never to offend You again; and, at this moment, miserable as I am, I consecrate my whole being to You. I give You my entire will, all my affections and desires, and all that I have. From this day forward do what You want with me and with whatever belongs to me. I ask and desire only your love, the gift of final perseverance, and the perfect fulfillment of Your will.
R. I recommend to You all poor sinners and the dying. Finally, my dear Savior, I unite all my affections with the affections of Your most loving Heart; and, thus united, I offer them to Your Eternal Father, and I entreat Him in Your name and for Your sake to accept them. Amen. (St. Alphonsus Liguori).
Adoration
Prayer of Adoration
L. My God and Savior Jesus Christ, true God and true man, with that deep humility which faith itself inspires in me, I love You with all my heart, and I adore You hidden here.
R. I wish to make reparation for all the irreverences, profanations, and sacrileges, which You receive in the most adorable Sacrament of the Altar. I adore You, my God, though not so much as You deserve, nor so much as I should, yet as much as I am able.
Would that I could adore You with that perfect worship, which the angels in heaven can offer You. My Jesus, may You be known, adored, loved, and thanked by all men, at every moment, in this most holy and divine Sacrament. Amen.
L. I adore You every moment, O living bread from heaven, great Sacrament.
R. Jesus, my God, I adore You here present in the Sacrament of Your love.
L. Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary and only Son of the living God, I adore You and acknowledge You as my God, the only true God, one and infinitely perfect. You have made out of nothing all things that are outside of You, and You preserve and govern them with infinite wisdom, sovereign goodness, and supreme power.
R. I beg of You, by the mysteries that were fulfilled in Your sacred Humanity, to cleanse me in Your Blood from all my past sins. Pour forth abundantly upon me Your Holy Spirit, together with His grace, His virtues, and His gifts. Make me believe in You, hope in You, love You, and labor to merit the possession of You through each of my actions. Give Yourself to me some day in the brightness of Your glory, in the company of all Your saints. Amen.
Thanksgiving
For a Greater Love for Jesus
l. I greet You, sacred Heart of Jesus, living and life-giving Fountain of eternal life, infinite Treasure of divinity, glowing Furnace of divine love! You are my place of rest and my most sure refuge.
R. My dear Savior, enkindle my heart with that burning love with which Your own is on fire. Pour into my heart the manifold grace, of which Your Heart is the source. Let Your will be mine, and let mine be forever obedient to Yours. Amen.
L. Behold, my most loving Jesus, how far Your great love has reached! You have prepared for me a divine table of Your own Flesh and most precious Blood, in order to give Yourself entirely to me. What has brought You to such generous love? Surely nothing but Your most loving Heart.
R. Adorable Heart of my Jesus, burning furnace of divine charity, receive my heart within Your most sacred wound, that in this school of love, I may learn to return love to God, who has given me such wondrous proofs of His own love. Amen.
L. Sweet Heart of my Jesus, grant that I may always love You more.
R. Heart of Jesus, burning with love for us, set our hearts on fire with love of You.
Counsels and Thoughts of Padre Pio
Walk the way of the Lord in simplicity. Do not torment your spirit. Say the truth, always the truth.
Do not be so given to the activity of Martha as to forget the silence of Mary. May the Virgin who so well reconciled the one with the other be your sweet model and inspiration.
That which proceeds from God begins with a salutary fear, and finishes with peace of mind.
Jesus and your soul must cultivate the vineyard together. It is for you to pick up and carry away the stones, to pull out the thorn bushes. It is the task of Jesus to sow, plant, cultivate, to water.
"In the cross is salvation: in the cross is life; in the cross is protection from enemies. In the cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness, in the cross is strength of mind. In the cross is joy of spirit. In the cross is height of virtue. In the cross is perfection of sanctity."---- Imitation of Christ, Bk. 2, Ch. 12
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Laus Deo
May it be for the glory of God
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Revelations of Saint Gertrude
Chapter 9
Of another admirable manner in which
St. Gertrude was closely united to God.
Soon after, during the fast when I was confined to bed for the second time by a severe sickness, and the other sisters were occupied elsewhere, so that I was left alone one morning, the Lord, who never abandons those who are deprived of human consolation, came to verify these words of the prophet: "I am with him in tribulation." (Ps. xv.). He turned His right Side towards me, and there came forth from His blessed and inmost Heart a pure and solid stream, like crystal; and on His Breast there was a precious ornament, like a necklace, which seemed to alternate between gold and rose-colour. Then our Lord said to me: "This sickness which you suffer will sanctify your soul, so that each time you go forth from Me, like the stream which I have shown you, for the good of your neighbour, either in thought, word or act, even then, as the purity of the crystal renders the colour of the gold and the rose more brilliant, so the co-operation of the precious gold of My Divinity and the rose of the perfect patience of My Humanity, will render your works always agreeable to Me, by the purity of your intention."
O greatness of this little bit of dust, which this celestial Lover has taken from the mire to encase in His Jewels! O excellence of this little flower, which the ray of the true Sun Himself has drawn from the marsh, to make it beautiful as Himself! O happiness of this blessed and favoured soul, which the Lord of glory has esteemed so highly, that though He can create whatever He pleases, He attracts it so sweetly and beautifies it by uniting it to Himself! This soul, I say, though it is adorned with His image and likeness, is nevertheless, as far from Him as the creature from the Creator. Therefore is he blessed a thousand times who has received the grace to persevere in this state, to which, alas! I fear I shall never attain, even for a single moment.
O gift surpassing all gifts, to be satisfied with the sweetness of the Divinity and to be superabundantly inebriated with Divine charity in the cellar where it is reserved, so that our feet are no longer free to roam to any place where its Divine fragrance is not perceived, unless, indeed, they are led forth by charity, when they pour out on others the wealth of the Divine faithfulness, and enable them to partake of their surpassing sweetness.
I hope, my Lord and my God, that Thou, in Thy most benign love, wilt grant me this grace, which by Thine almighty power Thou canst impart to all Thine elect. It is true Thine inscrutable wisdom alone knows how Thou canst do this, notwithstanding my unworthiness. I honour and I glorify Thy wise and merciful almightiness. I glorify and magnify Thy almighty and all-merciful wisdom. I praise and adore Thy wise and omnipotent mercy. I bless and thank Thy omnipotent and wise kindness, O my God, because Thou hast bestowed on me graces so far beyond my deserts, notwithstanding all the obstacles I opposed to Thy bounty.
Chapter 10
How the Lord obliged her to write these things, and how He inspired her. (To be continued)
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Musical Notes ♫
• Hymn: All people that on earth do dwell - Westminster Abbey
• Easter Oratorio, by J.S. Bach.
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Website about Traditional Catholic Spirituality and Devotions
• Lifting the Veil -
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