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Friday, March 20, 2009
Prayer to St. Joseph (over 1900 years old)
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Let us prepare for Divine Mercy Sunday - April 19, 2009
Dear Family and Friends,
During the Lenten season, let us pray for the grace to follow Gods will in our lives, the grace of forgiveness. It is this time of the year again that we celebrate a beautiful gift given to us by Jesus the Divine Mercy. On Sunday April 19, 2009 is the Feast Day of the Divine Mercy (Sunday after Easter Sunday).
Enclosed are the materials that tell and remind us of the importance of this devotion and in particular the graces to be received on this feast day. Among the requirements would be to have a good sacramental confession before that day.
Please take time to read this and please pass this to others and encourage more people to avail of these blessings!
Let us celebrate the promise of Jesus to St. Faustina on that special day!
"The soul that will go to confession and receive holy communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment . On that day are opened all the divine floodgates through which graces flow. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it thoughout all eternity. The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is my desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Found of My mercy "
Let's not deny ourselves and our loved ones taking that one step closer to heaven.
God bless!
www.freewebs.com/ourdivinemercy
THE DIVINE MERCY DEVOTION
Please help spread the devotion to the Divine Mercy. After all, this devotion is the fulfillment of Jesus' promise that He will offer mercy to mankind before He comes as God of justice. It is now UP TO US to take His offer willingly, with complete trust and a faithful YES.
There may be a lot of impediments because there is no denying the other side is fighting very very hard to make it IMPOSSIBLE for people to receive this grace. You will encounter all kinds of deterrents and excuses internally and externally. But as Padre Pio said " Have courage and do not fear the assaults of the devil. Remember this forever, IT IS A HEALTHY SIGN IF THE DEVIL SHOUTS AND ROARS AROUND YOUR CONSCIENCE, SINCE THIS SHOWS THAT HE IS NOT INSIDE YOUR WILL . " So if you are confronted by IMPOSSIBLE, will it and make it POSSIBLE. Most especially, inform you loved ones especially those who are old and those who are sick. They will find solace in this grace and find that as long as they are ready, there is nothing to fear. It's now your choice .
For additional information, please go to www.ourdivinemercy.info and www.ourdivinemercy.multiply.com These sites are continously updated but nonetheless contains most information (prayers, etc) needed related to the devotion to the Divine Mercy.
May we all radiate God's love and mercy to more people.
Please pass this to others.
HAVE A HOLY WEEK. HAVE A HOLY LENTEN SEASON.
Why We Should Remember to Celebrate the Feast of the Divine Mercy
DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY
On Sunday, 30 April 2000, Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass for the canonization of Sr. Mary Faustina Kowalska, a 20th-century Polish religious known as the apostle of Divine Mercy. In his homily ( Sr. Faustina: God's Gift to Our Time), the Pope said, "It is important then that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the word of God on this Second Sunday of Easter (also referred to as Sunday after Easter, 1st Sunday After Easter, Second Sunday of Easter and Low Sunday), which from now on throughout the Church will be called 'Divine Mercy Sunday.'"
Words of Jesus to St. Faustina, from the Diary of St Faustina
"No soul will be justified until it turns with confidence to My mercy and this is why the first Sunday after Easter is to be the Feast of Mercy….."(570)
"This feast emerged from My most tender pity and it is confirmed in the depths of My Mercy......I desire that it be celebrated with great solemnity on the first Sunday after Easter........I desire that the feast of mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. The very depths of My tender mercy are open on that day. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon souls who will approach the fount of My Mercy!" (I, 175; ii, 138).
"I want to grant a complete pardon to the souls that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My mercy (1109)…"
"Whoever approaches the Fountain of Life on this day will be granted complete forgiveness of sins and punishments (300)…"
"The soul that will go to confession, and receive holy communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment (699)..........let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though it's sins be as scarlet!". (ii, 138).
About confession with the Priest
" When you go to confession, to this fountain of mercy, the Blood and Water which came forth from My Heart always flow down upon your soul (1602)... In the Tribunal of Mercy [the sacrament of Reconciliation]...the greatest miracles take place and are incessantly repeated (1448) ...Here the misery of the soul meets the God of Mercy……(1602)."
" Come with faith to the feet of My representative (1448)...I myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest... I Myself act in your soul (1602)... Make your confession before Me. The person of the priest is, for Me, only a screen. Never analyze what sort of a priest it is that I am making use of; open your soul in confession as you would to Me, and I will fill it with My light (1725)... .."
The importance of PLENARY INDULGENCE to the Catholic faithful:
Please don't neglect to avail of the PLENARY INDULGENCE offered to all who will hear mass on DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY, the sunday after easter.
Plenary indulgence means the COMPLETE FORGIVENESS OF SINS INCLUDING PUNISHMENTS. Through this, we are able to fully reconcile with the Lord and prepare ourselves better for a life worthy of heaven (compounded each time we receive indulgences plenary or partial)
When we confess, our sins are forgiven but the punishments remain. When we die, we will go through purgatory ( which is actually a part of heaven but acts as sort of a cleansing area ) to serve the punishments we merited until we are cleansed. Then we can go to heaven.
If one receives plenary indulgence, all sins including punishments are erased. Therefore, if you receive it today and die tomorrow, you will go straight to heaven. If you die a year after, you will only pay for that one year. That is why the plenary indulgence is a beautiful gift. All God is waiting for is for us to open that gift.
The conditions to receive PLENARY INDULGENCE are only the following:
To receive plenary indulgence, one must:
- Be in a state of grace.
Jesus said to St. Faustina... "My daughter, know that without doubt, and once
and for all, only mortal sin drives Me out of a soul, and nothing else."
To be in a state of grace means to have no mortal sin at that time (which presumes that the sacrament of confession was availed as well). A good and sincere sacramental confession will put us in a state of grace. A good sacramental confession is one where we do not knowingly withhold any sin (that we feel ashamed of) because that will constitute sacrilege to the sacrament and nullify it. When we confess to a sin but with no serious desire to rectify it, the or without a contrite intention of doing anything to prevent yourself from sinning again, it also nullifies it. (ex. you confess that you missed mass which is a mortal sin but plan on missing mass the next day or dont intend to go to mass the next sundays).
One is considered to have committed mortal sin when one consciously makes a choice to do something that he/she knows is wrong or not in keeping with our Catholic faith. And the consequence of this action causes "damage" to ones self, others you know or even others you do not know. Let us consider three reasons-.
- As a catholic bred person, we may have thought mortal sin was a violation of the ten commandments only
- When one commits mortal sin, which is a conscious and intellectual choice (though not an intelligent one), you are choosing to separate yourself from God. God is unable to give us the graces He wants to give if we are the ones who distanced ourselves from Him. Simple as a parent would reluctantly withhold privileges from a child who ran away until the child comes home and reconciles (not even learn to the lesson because that takes a long time sometimes). Mortal sin drives Jesus away.
- Sometimes you have to ask to receive. To be forgiven, we have to say sorry and ask for forgiveness. As we usually expect others who have hurt us. This without prejudice to other denominations who have their own teachings on how to ask forgiveness and be forgiven. This should be viewed without conflict. Sacramental confession applies to us Catholics. No imposition on others then. Let us reconcile with the fact that by our human nature alone, we are open and giving to people who reconcile with us and often find ourselves closed out to people who have hurt us or distanced themselves. It is exactly the same concept.
- Receive holy communion on Divine Mercy Sunday
- Do an act of mercy extended to others through words, deeds and/or prayers. This is to celebrate the intention for which we are receiving this grace.
- Venerate the image of the Divine Mercy
Please also offer an Our Father, A Hail Mary and a Glory Be for the intentions of our Pope.
DIVINE MERCY IMAGE
"I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is his image with the signature, "Jesus, I trust in You." (327)
"By means of this Image I shall be granting many graces to souls; so let every soul have access to it .: (570)
DIVINE MERCY CHAPLET
"Say unceasingly this chaplet that I have taught you. Anyone who says it will receive great Mercy at the hour of death. Priests will recommend it to sinners as the last hope. Even the most hardened sinner, if he recites this Chaplet even once, will receive grace from My Infinite Mercy. I want the whole world to know My Infinite Mercy. I want to give unimaginable graces to those who trust in My Mercy...."
"Encourage souls to say the Chaplet which I have given you (1541)…Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death (687) ....When they say this Chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person not as the just judge but as the Merciful Savior (1541) ".
"Through the Chaplet you will obtain everything, if what you ask for is compatible with My will (1731)."
3 O CLOCK PRAYER
"At three o' clock, implore My mercy, especially for sinners; and if only for a brief moment, immerse yourself in My Passion, particularly in My abandonment at the moment of agony. This is the hour of great mercy for the whole world. I will allow you to enter into My mortal sorrow. In this hour, I will refuse nothing to the soul that makes a request of Me in virtue of My passion…." (1320)
"In this hour you can obtain everything for yourself and for others for the asking; it was the hour of grace for the whole world- mercy triumphed over justice" (1572)
| How to Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet To pray the Chaplet, use rosary beads and begin with these prayers: (1) Our Father... Hail Mary... I believe in God... On the large bead (Our Father beads) of each decade, pray:
(2)"Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world."
On the ten small beads of each decade, pray: (3) "For the sake of His sorrowful passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world."
Repeat (2) and (3) for the 5 decades.
After five decades to conclude, pray three times: (4)"Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world." "Jesus, I trust in You." | 3 O'CLOCK PRAYER "YOU DIED, JESUS, BUT THE SOURCE OF LIFE FLOWED OUT FOR SOULS AND THE OCEAN OF MERCY OPENED UP FOR THE WHOLE WORLD. O FOUNTAIN OF LIFE, IMMEASURABLE DIVINE MERCY, COVER THE WHOLE WORLD AND EMPTY YOURSELF OUT UPON US!" (IV. 59) "O BLOOD AND WATER, WHICH FLOWED OUT FROM THE HEART OF JESUS AS A FOUNTAIN OF MERCY FOR US, I TRUST IN YOU." (I,35) |
DIVINE MERCY NOVENA (Beginning Good Friday, ending Saturday before Divine Mercy Sunday)
This novena is a great offering to Jesus because this novena asks nothing for ourselves and instead intercedes and asks for many others. However, many attest that even before the novena is over, many graces and answered prayers are received by the one who says the novena.
Jesus further asked that this Feast of the Divine Mercy be preceded by a Novena of Chaplets to the Divine Mercy which would begin on Good Friday and ends saturday eve of Divine Mercy Sunday. Say one chaplet each day following the novena intention. Include in your daily intention a list of people you've noted down for which you offer the novena to. In her diary, St. Faustina wrote that Jesus told her:
"On each day of the novena you will bring to My Heart a different group of souls and you will immerse them in this ocean of My mercy... On each day you will beg My Father, on the strength of My passion, for the graces for these souls. By this novena I will grant every possible grace to souls." (Diary 1209, 796)
Jesus said to St. Faustina “I desire that during these 9 days you bring souls to the fount of My mercy that they may draw therefrom strength and refreshment and whatever graces they need in the hardships of life and especially at the hour of death.”
First Day: “Today bring to Me ALL MANKIND, ESPECIALLY ALL SINNERS immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. In this way you will console Me in the bitter grief into which the loss of souls plunges me.”
Prayer: Most Merciful Jesus whose very nature it is to have compassion on us and to forgive us, do not look upon our sins, but upon the trust which we place in Your infinite goodness. Receive us all into the abode of Your Most compassionate Heart and never let us escape from it. We beg this of You by your love which unites You to the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Oh Omnipotence of Divine Mercy, Salvation of sinful people, You are a sea of mercy and compassion; You aid those who entreat you with humility.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon all mankind and especially upon poor sinners, all enfolded in the Most Compassionate .Heart of Jesus. For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion show us Your mercy that we may praise the omnipotence of Your mercy forever and ever. Amen.
Second Day: ”Today bring to Me the SOULS OF PRIESTS AND RELIGIOUS and immerse them in My unfathomable mercy. It was they who gave me strength to endure My bitter Passion through them, as through channels, My mercy flows out upon mankind.”
Prayer: Most Merciful Jesus from whom comes all that is good, increase Your grace in men,and women consecrated to Your service that they may perform worthy works of mercy and that all who see them may glorify the Father of mercy who is in heaven.
The fountain of God’s love dwells in pure hearts, bathed in the sea of mercy, radiant as stars, bright as the dawn.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the company of chosen ones in Your vineyard, upon the souls of priests and religious and endow them with the strength of Your blessing. For the love of the Heart of your Son, in which they are enfolded, impart to them Your power and light, that they may be able to guide others in the way of salvation and with one voice sing praise to your boundless mercy for ages without end. Amen.
Third Day: Today bring to Me ALL DEVOUT AND FAITHFUL SOULS and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. These souls brought Me consolation on the Way of the Cross. They were that drop of consolation in the midst of an ocean of bitterness.”
Prayer: Most Merciful Jesus, from the treasury of Your mercy, You impart Your graces in great abundance to each and all. Receive us into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart and never let us escape from it. We beg this of You by that most wondrous love for the heavenly Father with which Your Heart burns so fiercely. The miracles of mercy are impenetrable.
Neither the sinner nor just one will fathom them. When you cast upon us an eye of pity, You draw us all closer to your love.
Eternal Father, turn Your Merciful gaze upon faithful souls as upon the inheritance of Your Son. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, grant them Your blessing and surround them with Your constant protection. Thus may they never fail in love or lose the treasure of the holy faith, but rather, with all the hosts of Angels and Saints, may they glorify Your boundless mercy for endless ages. Amen.
Fourth Day: “Today bring to me THOSE WHO DO NOT BELIEVE IN GOD AND THOSE WHO DO NOT YET KNOW ME. I was thinking also of them during My Bitter Passion, and their future zeal comforted My Heart. Immerse them in the ocean of My Mercy.”
Prayer: Most compassionate Jesus. You are the Light of the whole world. Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who do not believe in God and of those who as yet do not know You. Let the rays of Your grace enlighten them that they too, together with us may extol Your wonderful mercy and do not let them escape from the abode which is Your Most compassionate Heart.
May the light of Your love enlighten the souls in darkness; Grant these souls will know you and together with us praise Your mercy.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls of those who do not believe in You and of those who as yet do not know You but who are enclosed in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. Draw them to the light of the gospel. These souls do not know what great happiness it is to love You. Grant that they too may extol the generosity of Your mercy for endless ages. Amen.
Fifth Day: “Today bring to Me the SOULS OF THOSE WHO HAVE SEPARATED THEMSELVES FROM MY CHURCH and immerse them in the ocean of My Mercy. During My bitter Passion they tore at My body x and Heart, that is My Church. As they return to unity with the Church, My wounds heal and in this way they alleviate My Passion.”
Prayer: Most Merciful Jesus, goodness itself, you do not refuse light to those who seek it of You. Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who have separated themselves from your Church. Draw them by Your light into the unity of the Church and do not let them escape from the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart but bring it about that they too come to adore the generosity of Your mercy.
Even for those who have torn the garment of Your unity, a fount of mercy flows from Your heart. The omnipotence of Your mercy Oh God, can lead these souls also out of error.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls of those who have separated themselves from your Son’s Church, who have squandered Your blessings and misused Your graces obstinately persisting in their errors. Do not look upon their errors but upon the love of Your own Son and upon His bitter Passion, which He underwent for their sake, since they too are enclosed in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. Bring it about that they also may glorify your great mercy for endless ages. Amen.
Sixth Day: “Today bring to Me THE MEEK AND HUMBLE SOULS AND THE SOULS OF LITTLE CHILDREN and immerse them in My mercy These souls most closely resemble My Heart. They strengthened Me during My bitter agony. I saw them as earthly Angels who would keep vigil at My altars. I pour out upon them whole torrents of grace. Only the humble soul is able to receive My grace. I favor humble souls with my confidence.”
Prayer: Most Merciful Jesus, You Yourself have said,”Learn from Me for I am meek and humble of heart.” Receive into the abode of Your Most compassionate Heart all meek and humble souls and the souls of little children. These souls send all heaven into ecstasy and they are the heavenly Father’s favorites. They are a sweet smelling bouquet before the throne of God. God himself takes delight in their fragrance. These souls have a permanent abode in Your Most Compassionate Heart o Jesus and they unceasingly sing out a hymn of love and mercy.
A truly gentle and humble soul already here on earth, the air of paradise breathes, and in the fragrance of her humble heart, the creator Himself delights.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon meek and humble souls and upon the souls of little children who are enfolded in the abode which is the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. These souls bear the closest resemblance to your Son. Their fragrance rises from the earth and reaches Your very throne. Father of mercy and of all goodness, I beg You by the love You bear these souls and by the delight you take in them. Bless the whole world that all souls together may sing out the praises of Your mercy for endless ages. Amen.
Seventh Day: “Today bring to Me THE SOULS WHO ESPECIALLY VENERATE AND GLORIFY MY MERCY and immerse them in My mercy. These souls sorrowed most over my Passion and entered most deeply into My Spirit. They are living images of My compassionate Heart. These souls will shine with a special brightness in the next life. Not one of them will go into the fire of hell. I shall particularly defend each one of them at the hour of death.”
Prayer: Most Merciful Jesus, whose Heart is Love itself, receive into the abode of Your Most compassionate Heart the souls of those who particularly extol and venerate the greatness of Your mercy. These souls are mighty with the very power of God Himself. In the midst of all afflictions and adversities they go forward, confident of Your Mercy. These souls are united to You O Jesus, they carry all mankind on their shoulders. These souls will not be judged severely but Your mercy will embrace them as they depart from this life.
A soul who praises the goodness of her Lord is especially loved by Him. She is always to the living fountain and draws graces from mercy Divine.
Eternal Father turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls who glorify and venerate Your greatest attribute that of Your fathomless mercy and who are enclosed in the Most compassionate Heart of Jesus. These souls are a living gospel. Their hands are full of deeds of mercy and their spirit overflowing with joy, sings a canticle of mercy to you. O Most High! I beg You O God. Show them Your mercy according to the hope and trust they have placed in You. Let there be accomplished in them the promise of Jesus, who said to them “ I Myself will defend as my own glory, during their lifetime, and especially at the hour of their death”, those souls who will venerate My fathomless mercy.
Eight Day: “Today bring to Me THE SOULS WHO ARE IN PRISON OF PURGATORY and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. Let the torrents of My Blood cool down their scorching flames. All these souls are greatly loved by Me. They are making retribution to My justice. It is in your power to bring them relief. Draw all the indulgences from the treasury of my Church and offer them on their behalf. Oh if you only knew the torments they suffer, you would continually offer for them the alms of the Spirit and pay off their debt to My justice.”
Prayer: Most merciful Jesus, you Yourself have said that You desire mercy so I bring into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls in Purgatory, souls who are very dear to you and yet who must make retribution to Your justice. May the streams of blood and water which gushed forth from your heart put out the flames of the purifying fire that in that place, too, the power of Your mercy may be praised.
From the terrible heat of the cleansing fire rises a plaint to Your mercy and they receive comfort, refreshment, relief in the stream of mingled blood and water.
Eternal Father, turn Your most merciful gaze upon the souls suffering in Purgatory, who are enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. I beg You, by the sorrowful Passion of Jesus Your Son, and by all the bitterness with which His most Sacred Soul was flooded, manifest your mercy to the souls who are under Your just scrutiny. Look upon them in no other way but only through the Wounds of Jesus, Your dearly beloved Son; for we firmly believe that there is no limit to Your goodness and compassion. Amen.
Ninth Day: “Today bring to me THE SOULS WHO HAVE BECOME LUKEWARM and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. These souls wound My heart most painfully. My soul suffered the most dreadful loathing in the Garden of Olives because of lukewarm souls. They were the reason I cried out “Father take this cup away from me, if it be Your will. For them the last hope of salvation is to run to My mercy.”
Prayer: Most Compassionate Jesus, You are Compassion itself. I bring lukewarm souls into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart. In this fire of Your pure love let these tepid souls, who like corpses, filled You with such deep loathing, be once again set aflame. O Most Compassionate Jesus, exercise the omnipotence of Your mercy and draw them into the very ardor of Your love and bestow upon them the gift of Holy love for nothing is beyond Your power.
Fire and ice cannot be joined. Either the fire dies or the ice melts but by Your mercy oh God, You can make up for all that is lacking.
Eternal Father turn Your merciful gaze upon lukewarm souls who are nonetheless enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus, Father of Mercy. I beg You by the bitter Passion of Your Son and by His three hour agony on the Cross, let them too, glorify the abyss of Your mercy. Amen
PRAYER FOR THE GRACE TO BE MERCIFUL TOWARDS OTHERS
"O MOST HOLY TRINITY! AS MANY TIMES AS I BREATHE, AS MANY TIMES AS MY HEART BEATS, AS MANY TIMES AS MY BLOOD THROBS THROUGH MY BODY, SO MANY THOUSAND OF TIMES DO I WANT TO GLORIFY YOUR MERCY! I WANT TO BE COMPLETELY TRANSFORMED INTO YOUR MERCY AND TO BE YOUR LIVING REFLECTION, O LORD! MAY THE GREATEST OF ALL DIVINE ATTRIBUTES, THAT OF YOUR UNFATHOMABLE MERCY, PASS THROUGH MY HEART AND SOUL TO MY NEIGHBOUR!
HELP ME, O LORD, THAT MY EYES MAY BE MERCIFUL, SO THAT I MAY NEVER SUSPECT OR JUDGE FROM APPEARANCES, BUT LOOK FOR WHAT IS BEAUTIFUL IN MY NEIGHBOURS' SOULS AND COME TO THEIR RESCUE.
HELP ME, O LORD, THAT MY EARS MAY BE MERCIFUL, SO THAT SO THAT I MAY GIVE HEED TO MY NEIGHBOURS' NEEDS AND NOT BE INDIFFENT TO THEIR PAINS AND MOANINGS.
HELP ME, O LORD, THAT MY TONGUE MAY BE MERCIFUL, SO THAT I SHOULD NEVER SPEAK NEGATIVELY OF MY NEIGHBOUR, BUT HAVE A WORD OF COMFORT AND FORGIVENESS FOR ALL.
HELP ME, O LORD, THAT MY HANDS MAY BE MERCIFUL AND FILLED WITH GOOD DEEDS, SO THAT I MAY DO ONLY GOOD TO MY NEIGHBOURS AND TAKE UPON MYSELF THE MORE DIFFICULT AND TOILSOME TASKS.
HELP ME, THAT MY FEET MAY BE MERCIFUL, SO THAT I MAY HURRY TO ASSIST MY NEIGHBOUR, OVERCOMING MY OWN FATIGUE AND WEARINESS. MY TRUE REST IS IN THE SERVICE OF MY NEIGHBOUR.
HELP ME, O LORD, THAT MY HEART MAY BE MERCIFUL SO THAT I MYSELF MAY FEEL ALL THE SUFFERINGS OF MY NEIGHBOUR. I WILL REFUSE MY HEART TO NO ONE. I WILL BE SINCERE EVEN WITH THOSE WHO, I KNOW, WILL ABUSE MY KINDNESS. AND I WILL LOCK MYSELF UP IN THE MOST MERCIFUL HEART OF JESUS. I WILL BEAR MY OWN SUFFERING IN SILENCE. MAY YOUR MERCY, O LORD, REST UPON ME.
YOU YOURSELF COMMAND ME TO EXERCISE THE THREE DEGREES OF MERCY. THE FIRST: THE ACT OF MERCY , OF WHATEVER KIND. THE SECOND: THE WORD OF MERCY - IF I CANNOT CARRY OUT A WORK OF MERCY, I WILL ASSIST BY MY WORDS. THE THIRD: PRAYER - IF I CANNOT SHOW MERCY BY DEEDS OR WORDS, I CAN ALWAYS DO SO BY PRAYER. MY PRAYER REACHES OUT EVEN THERE WHERE I CANNOT REACH OUT PHYSICALLY. O MY JESUS, TRANSFORM ME INTO YOURSELF, FOR YOU CAN DO ALL THINGS!" (I, 78)
[THIS PRAYER GIVES US A TRUE MEASURE OF OUR MERCY, A MIRROR IN WHICH WE CAN OBSERVE OURSELVES AS OTHER MERCIFUL CHRISTS. WE CAN WELL MAKE IT OUR MORNING INVOCATION AS WELL AS OUR EVENING EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE.]
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The Miraculous Conversion Story of Prisoner Claude Newman (1944)
The True Account of Prisoner Claude Newman (1944) by John Vennari, from the March 2001 issue of “Catholic Family News.
”The following true story of Claude Newman took place in Mississippi in 1944. The account was told by Father O’Leary, a priest from Mississippi, who was directly involved with the events. He has left for posterity an audio recording it.
Claude Newman was a negro man who worked the fields for a landowner. He had married when he was 17 years old to a woman of the same age. One day, two years later, he was out plowing the fields. Another worker ran to tell Claude that his wife was screaming from the house. Immediately Claude ran into his house and found a man attacking his wife.
Claude saw red, grabbed an axe and split the man’s head open. When they rolled the man over, they discovered that it was the favorite employee of the landowner for whom Claude worked. Claude was arrested. He was later sentenced for murder and condemned to die in the electric chair.
While he was in jail awaiting execution, he shared a cell-block of some sort with four other prisoners. One night, the five men were sitting around talking and they ran out of conversation. Claude noticed a medal on a string around another prisoner’s neck. He asked what it was, and the Catholic boy told him that it was a medal.
Claude said, “What is a medal?”
The Catholic boy could not explain what a medal was or what its purpose was. At that point, and in anger, the Catholic boy snatched the medal from his own neck and threw it on the floor at Claude’s feet with a curse and a cuss, telling him to take the thing. Claude picked up the medal, and with permission from the prison attendants, placed it on a string around his own neck. To him it was simply a trinket, but he wanted to wear it.
During the night, sleeping on top of his cot, he was awakened with a touch on his wrist. And there stood, as Claude told the priest later, the most beautiful woman that God ever created. At first he was very frightened.
The Lady calmed down Claude, and then said to him, “If you would like Me to be your Mother, and you would like to be My child, send for a priest of the Catholic Church.” With that She disappeared. Claude immediately became terrified, and started to scream, “a ghost, a ghost”, and fled to the cell of one of the other prisoners. He then started screaming that he wanted a Catholic priest.
Father O’Leary , the priest who tells the story, was called first thing the next morning. He arrived and found Claude who told him of what had happened the night before. Then Claude, along with the other four men in his cell-block, asked for religious instruction, for catechism.
Initially, Father O’Leary had difficulty believing the story. The other prisoners told the priest that everything in the story was true; but of course, they neither saw nor heard the vision of the Lady. Father O’Leary promised to teach them catechism, as they had requested. He
went back to his parish, told the rector what had happened, and returned to the prison the next day to give instruction.
It was then that the priest learned that Claude Newman could neither read nor write at all. The only way he could tell if a book was right-side-up was if the book contained a picture. Claude had never been to school. And his ignorance of religion was even more profound. He knew nothing at all about religion. He did not know who Jesus was. He did not know
anything except that there was a God.
Claude began receiving instructions, and the other prisoners helped him with his studies. After a few days, two of the religious Sisters from Father O’Leary’s parish-school obtained permission from the warden to come to the prison. They wanted to meet Claude, and they also wanted to visit the women in the prison. On another floor of the prison, the Sisters
then started to teach some of the women-prisoners catechism as well.
Several weeks passed, and it came time when Father O’Leary was going to give instructions about the Sacrament of Confession. The Sisters too sat in on the class. The priest said to the prisoners, “Okay, boys, today I’m going to teach you about the Sacrament of Confession.”
Claude said, “Oh, I know about that!” “The Lady told me,” said Claude, “that when we go to confession we are kneeling down not before a priest, but we’re kneeling down by the Cross of Her Son. And that when we are truly sorry for our sins, and we confess our sins, the Blood He shed flows down over us and washes us free from all sins.”
Father O’Leary and the Sisters sat stunned with their mouths wide open. Claude thought they were angry and said, “Oh don’t be angry, don’t be angry, I didn’t mean to blurt it out.”
The priest said, “We’re not angry. We’re just amazed. You have seen Her again?”
Claude said, “Come around the cell-block away from the others.” When they were alone, Claude said to the priest, “She told me that if you doubted me or showed hesitancy, I was to remind you that lying in a ditch in Holland, in 1940, you made a vow to Her which She’s still
waiting for you to keep.” And, Father O’Leary recalls, “Claude told me exactly what the vow was.” This convinced Father O’Leary that Claude was telling the truth about his visions of Our Lady.
They then returned to the catechism class on Confession. And Claude kept telling the other prisoners, “You should not be afraid to go to confession. You’re really telling God your sins, not this priest, or any priest. We’re telling God our sins.” Then Claude said, “You know,
the Lady said [that Confession is] something like a telephone. We talk through the Priest to God and God talks back to us through the Priest.
About a week later, Father O’Leary was preparing to teach the class about the Blessed Sacrament. The Sisters were present for this too. Claude indicated that the Lady had also taught him about Holy Communion, and he asked if he could tell the priest what She said. The priest agreed immediately. Claude related, “The Lady told me that in Communion, I will only see what looks like a piece of bread. But She told me that THAT is really and truly Her Son. And that He will be with me just for a few moments as He was with Her before He was born in Bethlehem. And that I should spend my time like She did, in all Her time with Him, in loving Him, adoring Him, thanking Him, praising Him and asking Him for blessings. I shouldn’t be bothered by anybody else or anything else. But I should spend those few minutes with Him.”
Eventually they finished the instructions, Claude was received into the Catholic Church, and the time came for Claude to be executed. He was to be executed at five minutes after twelve, midnight.
The sheriff asked him, “Claude, you have the privilege of a last request. What do you want?”
“Well,” said Claude, “you’re all shook up. The jailer is all shook up. But you don’t understand. I’m not going to die. Just this body. I’m going to be with Her. So, can I have a party?”
“What do you mean?”, asked the sheriff.
“A Party!” said Claude. “Will you give Father permission to bring in some cakes and ice cream and will you allow the prisoners on the second floor to be turned loose in the main room so that we can all be together and have a party?”
“Somebody might attack Father,” cautioned the warden
Claude turned to the men who were standing by and said, “Oh no, they won’t. Will you fellas?”
So, the priest visited a wealthy patron of the parish, and she supplied the ice cream and cake. They had their party.
Afterwards, because Claude had requested it, they made a Holy Hour. The priest had brought prayer books from the Church and they all said together the Stations of the Cross, and a had a Holy Hour, without the Blessed Sacrament.
Afterwards, the men were put back in their cells. The priest went to the chapel to get the Blessed Sacrament so that he could give Claude Holy Communion.
Father O’Leary returned to Claude’s cell. Claude knelt on one side of the bars, the priest knelt on the other, and they prayer together as the clock ticked toward Claude’s execution.
Fifteen minutes before the execution, the sheriff came running up the stairs shouting, “Reprieve, Reprieve, the Governor has given a two-week reprieve!” Claude had not been aware that the sheriff and the District Attorney were trying to get a stay of execution for Claude to save his life.
When Claude found out, he started to cry.The priest and the sheriff thought it was a reaction of joy because he was not going to be executed. But Claude said, “Oh you men don’t know. And Father, you don’t know. If you ever looked into Her face, and looked into Her eyes, you wouldn’t want to live another day.”
Claude then said, “What have I done wrong these past weeks that God would refuse me my going home?” And the priest said that Claude sobbed as one who was brokenhearted.
The sheriff left the room.
The priest remained and gave Claude Holy Communion. Claude eventually quieted down. Then Claude said, “Why? Why must I still remain here for two weeks?”
The priest had a sudden idea. He reminded Claude about a prisoner in the jail who hated Claude intensely. This prisoner had led a horribly immoral life, and he too was sent to be executed. The priest said, “Maybe Our Blessed Mother wants you to offer this denial of being with Her for his conversion.” The priest continued, “Why don’t you offer to God every moment you are separated from Her for this prisoner so that he will not be separated from God for all eternity.”
Claude agreed, and asked the priest to teach him the words to make the offering. The priest complied. At the time, the only two people who knew about this offering were Claude and Father O’Leary.
The next day, Claude said to the priest, “That prisoner hated me before, but Oh! Father, how he hates me now!” The priest said, “Well, that’s a good sign.”
Two weeks later, Claude was executed.
Father O’Leary remarked, “I’ve never seen anyone go to his death as joyfully and happily. Even the official witnesses and the newspaper reporters were amazed. They said they couldn’t understand how anyone could go and sit in the electric chair actually beaming with happiness.”
His last words to Father O’Leary were, “Father, I will remember you. And whenever you have a request, ask me, and I will ask Her.”
Two months later, the white man, who had hated Claude, was to be executed. Father O’Leary said, “This man was the filthiest, most immoral person I had ever come across.” His hatred for God, for everything spiritual,” said the priest, “defied description.”
Just before his execution, the county doctor pleaded with this man to at least kneel down and say the Our Father before the sheriff would come for him. The prisoner spat in the doctor’s face. When he was strapped into the electric chair, the sheriff said to him, “If you have something to say, say it now.” The condemned man started to blaspheme. All of a sudden the condemned man stopped, and his eyes became fixed on the corner of the room, and his face turned to one of absolute horror. He screamed. Turning to the sheriff, he then said, “Sheriff, get me a priest!”
Now, Father O’Leary had been in the room because the law required a clergyman to be present at executions. The priest, however, had hidden himself behind some reporters because the condemned man had threatened to curse God if he saw a clergyman at all.
Father O’Leary immediately went to the condemned man. The room was cleared of everyone else, and the priest heard the man’s confession. The man said he had been a Catholic, but turned away from his religion when he was 18 because of his immoral life. When everyone returned to the room, the sheriff asked the priest, “What made him change his mind?”
“I don’t know ” said Father O’Leary, “I didn’t ask him.”
The sheriff said, “Well, I’ll never sleep if I don’t.”
The Sheriff turned to the condemned man and asked, “Son, what changed your mind?”
The prisoner responded, “Remember that black man Claude - who I hated so much? Well he’s standing there [he pointed], over in that corner. And behind him with one hand on each shoulder is the Blessed Mother. And Claude said to me, ‘I offered my death in union with Christ on the Cross for your salvation. She has obtained for you this gift, to see your place in Hell if you do not repent.’ I was shown my place in Hell, and that’s when I screamed.”
This, then, is the power of Our Lady.
We see many parallels between these facts of Claude Newman story and the Message of Fatima in 1917. There is the emphasis on:
- Sacramental Confession
- Holy Communion
- Making sacrifices for Sinners
- The vision of Hell.
“Many souls go to Hell” said Our Lady of Fatima, “because they have no one to pray and make sacrifices for them.”
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Divine Mercy Mission Schedule June - July 2009
| Start: | Jun 10, '09 3:00p |
| End: | Jul 12, '09 |
The Holy Mass - Explained to Catalina by Jesus and Mary
Dear Family and Friends, In the onset of the lent season, we wish to share with you this piece on the importance of the HOLY MASS. Please make time for this. We trust you will find value in it as much as we have. After reading this piece, may you have a stronger appreciation and deeper respect for the holy mass. God bless!
The Holy Mass Explained to Catalina by Jesus and Mary
Catalina Rivas of Cochabamba, Bolivia, who now dwells in Mérida, Yucatán, México. She is said to receive Messages from Jesus, Mary, and the angels. She has the approval of her Bishop, René Fernández Apaza, who has given his imprimatur to her Messages. The following text is the reproduction of booklet, “The Holy Mass,” in which Our Lord and Our Lady explain to Catalina what is really going on during the Mass in the spiritual realm, and how we should be more concentrated on the great mysteries that are taking place. Bo. Daniel Gagnon, OMI, of the Commission for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Archdiocese of Mexico, wrote about this book: “I do not find anything against the faith or the customs of the Church. It is not my function to confirm its supernatural character; nevertheless, I recommend it for its spiritual inspiration.” The testimony of Catalina In a marvelous catechesis, the Lord and the Virgin Mary have been instructing us first on how to pray the Rosary, that being to pray it with our hearts, and meditate and enjoy the moments when we encounter God and our Blessed Mother. They have also instructed us on the way to make a good confession and, in this document, a teaching on what happens during the Holy Mass and how to live it with our hearts. This is the testimony that I must and want to give to the whole world, for the greater Glory of God and for the salvation of all of those who want to open their hearts to the Lord. It is also given so that many souls consecrated to God will rekindle the fire of their love for Christ, some of whom are the owners of the hands that have the power to bring Him to our world so that He can become our nourishment. It is also given for others so that they break lose of the “routine practice” of receiving Him, and relive the amazement of their daily encounter with Love. And it is given so that my lay brothers and sisters from the entire world live the greatest Miracle with their hearts: the celebration of the Eucharist. It was the vigil of the Annunciation, and the members of our group had gone to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Some of the ladies of the prayer group had not been able to do it, and so they left their reconciliation for the next day before the Mass. When I arrived at church the next day, a little bit late, the Archbishop and priests were already coming out of the sacristy. The Virgin Mary said with Her soft and feminine voice that sweetens one's soul: “Today is a day of learning for you, and I want you to pay close attention because of what you will witness today. Everything that you will experience today, you will have to share with all of humanity.” I was deeply moved without understanding why, but I tried to be very attentive. The first thing I noticed was a choir of very beautiful voices that was singing as if it was far away. For moments the music came closer and, then, it went further away like the sound of the wind. The Archbishop started Mass and, when he reached the Penitential Rite, the Blessed Virgin said: “From the bottom of your heart, ask the Lord to forgive your faults that have offended Him. In this way, you will be able to participate worthily in this privilege of assisting at the Holy Mass.” I thought for a fraction of a second: “Surely I am in a state of grace of God; I went to confession last night.” She answered: “Do you think that since last night you have not offended the Lord? Let Me remind you of a few things. When you left to come here, the girl who helps you approached to ask you for something and, as you were late and in a hurry, you did not answer her in a very nice way. There was a lack of charity on your part, and you say, you have not offended God...? “While on the way here, a bus crossed over your lane and almost hit you. You expressed yourself in a very non-advisable way against that poor man, instead of saying your prayers and preparing yourself for Mass. You have failed in charity and lost your peace and patience. And you say you have not hurt the Lord? “You arrive at the last minute when the procession of the celebrants is already coming out to celebrate the Mass... And you are going to participate without previous preparation...” I replied, “All right, my Mother, say no more to me. You do not have to remind me of more things because I am going to die of grief and shame.” “Why must you all arrive at the last moment? You should have arrived earlier to be able to pray and ask the Lord to send His Holy Spirit that He may grant you a spirit of peace and cleanse you of the spirit of the world, your worries, your problems, and your distractions so as to enable you to live this so sacred a moment. However, you arrive almost when the celebration is about to commence, and you participate as if it is an ordinary event, without any spiritual preparation. Why? This is the greatest of Miracles. You are going to live the moment when the Most High God gives His greatest gift, and you do not know how to appreciate it.” This was enough. I felt so bad that I had more than enough to ask for forgiveness from God. It was not only for the offenses of that day, but also for all the times that, like so many other people, I had waited for the priest to finish his homily before entering the Church. It was also for the times that I did not know or refused to understand what it meant to be there, and for the times that perhaps my soul was full of more serious sins, and I had dared to participate in the Holy Mass.
How different was that Gloria! Suddenly I saw myself in a far off place full of light, before the Majestic Presence of the Throne of God. With so much love I went on thanking Him, as I repeated: “For your immense Glory we praise You, we bless You, we adore You, we give You glory, we give You thanks, Lord, God, Heavenly King, God the Father Almighty.” And I recalled the paternal face of the Father, full of kindness. “Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world...” And Jesus was in front of me, with that face full of tenderness and Mercy... “For You alone are the Holy One, You alone are the Lord, You alone are the most High Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit...”, the God of beautiful Love. He, Who at that moment, caused my whole being to tremble... And I asked: “Lord, deliver me from all evil spirits. My heart belongs to You. My Lord, send me Your peace so that I can gain the finest benefits from the Eucharist and that my life may produce the best fruits. Holy Spirit of God, transform me, act within me, guide me. Oh God, give me the gifts that I need to serve you better!” The moment of the Liturgy of the Word arrived, and the Virgin Mary made me repeat: “Lord, today I want to listen to Your Word and produce abundant fruit. May Your Holy Spirit clean the interior of my heart so that Your Word grows and develops in it, purifying my heart so that it may be well disposed.” Our Lady said: “I want you to be attentive to the readings and to all of the homily of the priest. Remember that the Bible says that the Word of God does not return without bearing fruit. If you are attentive, something from all that you heard will remain in you. You should try to recall, all day long, those Words that left an impression on you. Sometimes it may be two verses, other times the reading of the entire Gospel, or perhaps only one word. Savor them for the rest of the day, and it will then become part of you, because that is the way to change one's life, by allowing the Word of God to transform you. “And now, tell the Lord that you are here to listen, that you want Him to speak to your heart today.” Once again I thanked God for giving me the opportunity to hear His Word. And I asked Him for forgiveness for having had such a hard heart for so many years, and for having taught my children that they had to go to Mass on Sundays because it is commanded by the Church, and not for love and the need to be filled with God. I had attended so many Eucharistic Celebrations mostly out of obligation and, because of this, I believed I was saved. But I did not live it and, much less, did I pay attention to the readings or to the priest's homily! How much pain I felt for so many years of needless loss because of my ignorance! How superficial is our attendance at the Mass when we go only because someone is getting married, or for a funeral Mass, or because we have to be seen by society! How much ignorance about our Church and the Sacraments! How much waste in trying to instruct and enlighten ourselves about the things of the world, which in a moment can disappear, leaving us with nothing and, at the end of our life, not serve to extend a minute to our existence! However, we know nothing of that which will give us a little of heaven on earth and, afterwards, eternal life. And we call ourselves cultured men and women! A moment later the Offertory arrived, and the Holy Virgin said: “Pray like this: (and I repeated after Her) Lord, I offer all that I am, all that I have, all that I can. I put everything into Your Hands. Build it up, Lord, with the little thing that I am. By the merits of Your Son, transform me, God Almighty. I petition You for my family, for my benefactors, for each member of our Apostolate, for all the people who fight against us, for those who commend themselves to my poor prayers. Teach me to lay down my heart as if on the ground before them so that their walk may be less severe. This is how the saints prayed; this is how I want all of you to do it.” Thus, this is how Jesus asks us to pray, that we put our hearts as if on the ground so that they do not feel its severity, but rather that we alleviate the pain of their steps. Suddenly some characters, whom I had not seen before, began to stand up. It was as if from the side of each person present in the Cathedral, another person emerged, and soon the Cathedral became full of young, beautiful people. They were dressed in very white robes, and they started to move into the central aisle and, then, went towards the Altar. Our Mother said: “Observe. They are the Guardian Angels of each one of the persons who are here. This is the moment in which your guardian angel carries your offerings and petitions before the Altar of the Lord.” At that moment, I was completely astonished, because these beings had such beautiful faces, so radiant as one is unable to imagine. Their countenance was very beautiful with almost feminine faces; however, the structure of their body, their hands, their height were masculine. Their naked feet did not touch the floor, but rather they went as if gliding. That procession was very beautiful. Some of them were carrying something like a golden bowl with something that shone a great deal with a golden-white light. The Virgin Mary said: “They are the Guardian Angels of the people who are offering this Holy Mass for many intentions, those who are conscious of what this celebration means. They have something to offer the Lord.” “Offer yourselves at this moment; offer your sorrows, your pains, your hopes, your sadness, your joys, your petitions. Remember that the Mass has infinite value. Therefore, be generous in offering and in asking.” Behind the first Angels came others who had nothing in their hands; they were coming empty handed. The Virgin Mary said: “Those are the angels of the people who are here but never offer anything. They have no interest in living each liturgical moment of the Mass, and they have no gifts to carry before the Altar of the Lord.” At the end of the procession came other angels who were rather sad, with their hands joined in prayer but with their eyes downcast. “These are the Guardian Angels of the people who are here, but do not want to be, that is to say, of the people who have been forced to come here, who have come out of obligation, but without any desire to participate in the Holy Mass. The angels go forth sadly because they have nothing to carry to the Altar, except for their own prayers.” “Do not sadden your Guardian Angel. Ask for much, ask for the conversion of sinners, for peace in the world, for your families, your neighbors, for those who ask for your prayers. Ask, ask for much, but not only for yourselves, but for everyone else. “Remember that the offering which most pleases the Lord is when you offer yourselves as a holocaust so that Jesus, upon His descent, may transform you by His own merits. What do you have to offer the Father by yourselves? Nothingness and sin. But the offering of oneself united to the merits of Jesus, that offering is pleasing to the Father.” That sight, that procession was so beautiful that it would be difficult to compare it to another. All those celestial creatures bowing before the Altar, some leaving their offerings on the floor, others prostrating themselves on their knees with their foreheads almost touching the floor. And as soon as they arrived at the Altar, they would disappear from my sight. The final moment of the Preface arrived, and when the assembly said, “Holy, Holy, Holy”, suddenly everything that was behind the celebrants disappeared. Behind the left side of the Archbishop, thousands of Angels appeared in a diagonal line, small angels, big angels, angels with immense wings, angels with small wings, angels without wings. As the previous ones, all were dressed with tunics like the white robes of the priests or altar boys. Everyone knelt with their hands united in prayer, and bowed their heads in reverence. Beautiful music was heard as if there were many choirs with different voices, all singing in unison together with the people: Holy, Holy, Holy... The moment of the Consecration, the moment of the most marvelous of Miracles had arrived. Behind the right side of the Archbishop appeared a multitude of people also in a diagonal line. They were dressed in the same tunic, but in pastel colors of: rose, green, light blue, lilac, yellow, in short, in different and very soft colors. Their faces were also brilliant, full of joy. They all seemed to be the same age. You could note (I can't say why) that they were people of different ages, but their faces looked the same, without wrinkles, happy. They all knelt down as well at the singing of “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord...” Our Lady said: “These are all the Saints and the Blessed of Heaven, and among them are the souls of your relatives who already enjoy the Presence of God.” Then I saw Her, exactly to the right of the Archbishop, a step behind the celebrant. She was suspended a little off the floor, kneeling on some very fine, transparent but, at the same time, luminous fabric, as crystalline water. The Holy Virgin, with hands joined, was looking attentively and respectfully at the celebrant. She spoke to me from there, but silently, directly to the heart, without looking at me: “It surprises you to see Me standing a little behind Monsignor [the Archbishop], does it not? This is how it should be... With all the love that My Son gives Me, He has not given Me the dignity that He has given the priests of being able to perform the daily Miracle with My hands as they do with their priestly hands. Because of this, I feel a deep respect for priests and for the miracle that God carries out through them, which compels Me to kneel here behind them.” My God, how much dignity, how much grace the Lord pours over the priestly souls, and neither we, nor perhaps some of them, are conscious of this.
Before the Altar, there appeared some shadows of people in a gray color with their hands raised. The Holy Virgin said: “These are the blessed souls of Purgatory, who await your prayers to be refreshed. Do not stop praying for them. They pray for you, but they cannot pray for themselves. It is you who have to pray for them, in order to help them depart so that they can be with God and enjoy Him eternally. “Now you now see it; I am here all the time. People go on pilgrimages, searching for the places where I have appeared. This is good, because of all the graces that they will receive there. But during no apparition, in no other place, am I more present than during the Holy Mass. You will always find Me at the foot of the Altar where the Eucharist is celebrated; at the foot of the Tabernacle, I remain with the angels because I am always with Him.” To see that beautiful countenance of the Mother at that moment of the words “Holy, Holy, Holy...” as well as all the others with their radiant faces, with hands joined, awaiting that miracle which repeats itself continuously, was to be in Heaven itself. And to think there are people who can, at that moment, be distracted in conversation. It hurts me to tell you, many men, more than women, stand with their arms crossed, as if paying homage to the Lord as one equal to another. The Virgin Mary said: “Tell all people that never is a man more manly then when he bends his knees before God.” The celebrant said the words of the Consecration. He was a person of normal height, but suddenly, he began to grow, becoming filled with light, a supernatural light between white and gold that enveloped him and grew very strong around the face. And because of it, I could not see his features. When he raised the Host, I saw his hands, and on the back of his hands, he had some marks from which emanated a great deal of light. It was Jesus! It was Him Who was wrapping His Body around the celebrant, as if He were lovingly surrounding the hands of the Archbishop. At that moment, the Host began to grow and became enormous, and upon it the marvelous face of Jesus appeared looking at His people. By instinct, I wanted to bow my head, and Our Lady said: “Do not look down. Look up to view and contemplate Him. Exchange your gaze with His, and repeat the prayer of Fatima: Lord, I believe, I adore, I trust, and I love You. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not trust, and do not love You. Forgiveness and Mercy... Now tell Him how much you love Him, and pay your homage to the King of Kings.” I told it to Him, and it seemed as if I was the only one He was looking at from the enormous Host. But I learned that this was the way He gazed at each person, with love to the fullest. Then I lowered my head until I had my forehead on the floor, as did all the Angels and the Blessed from Heaven. Perhaps for a fraction of a second, I wondered how Jesus was taking on the body of the celebrant and, at the same time, He was inside the Host. And as he lowered the Host, it returned to its normal size. Tears ran down my cheeks; I was unable to let go of my astonishment. Immediately, the Archbishop said the words of the Consecration of the wine and, as the words were being said, lightning appeared from the heavens and in the background. The walls and ceiling of the church had disappeared. All was dark, but for that brilliant light from the Altar. Suddenly, suspended in the air, I saw Jesus crucified. I saw Him from the head to the lower part of the chest. The cross beam of the Cross was sustained by some large, strong hands. From within this resplendent light, a small light, like a very brilliant, very small dove, came forth and flew swiftly all over the Church. It came to rest on the left shoulder of the Archbishop, who continued to appear as Jesus because I could distinguish His long hair, His luminous wounds, and His large body, but I could not see His Face. Above was Jesus crucified, His head fallen upon His right shoulder. I was able to contemplate His face, beaten arms and torn flesh. On the right side of His chest, He had an injury, and blood was gushing out toward the left side, and toward the right side, what looked like water, but it was very brilliant. They were more like jets of light coming forth towards the faithful, and moving to the right and to the left. I was amazed at the amount of blood that was flowing out toward the Chalice. I thought it would overflow and stain the whole Altar, but not a single drop was spilled. At that moment, the Virgin Mary said: “This is the miracle of miracles. I have said to you before that the Lord is not constrained by time and space. At the moment of the Consecration, all the assembly is taken to the foot of Calvary, at the instant of the crucifixion of Jesus.” Can anyone imagine that? Our eyes cannot see it, but we are all there at the very moment that they are crucifying Jesus. And He is asking for forgiveness to the Father, not only for those who killed Him, but also for each one of our sins: “Father, forgive them, because they know not what they do.” From that day on, I do not care if the world thinks I am crazy, but I ask everybody to kneel and try to live, with their heart and with all their sensibility that they are capable of, this privilege that the Lord grants us. When we were going to pray the Our Father, the Lord spoke for the first time during the celebration, and said: “Wait, I want you to pray with the deepest profundity which you can summon. At this moment, bring to mind that person or persons which have done you the greatest harm during your life, so that you embrace them close to your bosom, and tell them with all your heart: `In the Name of Jesus, I forgive you and wish you peace. In the Name of Jesus, I ask for your forgiveness and wish my peace.' If the person is worthy of that peace, then the person will receive it, and feel better for it. If that person is not capable of opening up to that peace, then peace will return to your heart. But I do not want you to receive nor offer peace when you are not capable of forgiving and feeling that peace in your heart first. “Be careful of what you do,” continued the Lord, “you repeat in the Our Father: forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. If you are capable of forgiving but not forgetting, as some people say, you are placing conditions upon the forgiveness of God. You are saying: You forgive me only as I am capable of forgiving, but no more.” I do not know how to explain my pain, at the realization of how much we can hurt the Lord. And also how much we can injure ourselves by holding so many grudges, bad feelings and unflattering things that are born from our own prejudices and over-sensitivities. I forgave; I forgave from the heart, and asked for forgiveness from all the people whom I had hurt at one time or another, in order to feel the peace of the Lord. The celebrant said, “...give us peace and unity...” and, then, “the peace of the Lord be with all of you.” Suddenly, I saw that among some (not all) of the people who were embracing each other, a very intense light placed itself between them. I knew it was Jesus, and I practically threw myself to embrace the person next to me. I could truly feel the embrace of the Lord in that light. It was Him Who embraced me giving me His peace, because in that moment, I had been able to forgive and remove from my heart all grief against other people. That is what Jesus wants, to share that moment of joy, hugging us and wishing us His peace. The moment of the celebrants' Communion arrived. There I once again noticed the presence of all the priests next to the Archbishop. When he took Communion, the Virgin Mary said: “This is the moment to pray for the celebrant and the priests who accompany him. Repeat together with Me: `Lord, bless them, sanctify them, help them, purify them, love them, take care of them, and support them with Your Love. Remember all the priests of the world, pray for all the consecrated souls...' Dear brothers and sisters, that is the moment in which we should pray for them, because they are the Church as we, the laity, are also. Many times we, the laity, demand so much from the priests, but we are unable to pray for them, to understand that they are human, and to comprehend and appreciate the solitude that many times can surround a priest. We should understand that the priests are people like ourselves and that they need to be understood, to be cared for. They need affection and attention from us because they are giving their life to each one of us, as Jesus did, by being consecrated to Him. The Lord wants the people of the flock that God has entrusted to the priest to pray and help in his sanctification. Someday, when we are on the other side, we will understand the marvels that the Lord has done, giving us priests who help us to save our souls. The people began to leave their pews on their way to Communion. The great moment of the encounter had arrived. The Lord said to me: “Wait a moment; I want you to observe something...” An interior impulse made me raise my eyes towards the person who was going to receive Communion on the tongue from the hands of the priest. I should clarify that this person was one of the ladies from our group who the previous night was unable to go to confession, but this morning was able to do so before the Holy Mass. When the Priest placed the Sacred Host on her tongue, a flash of light, like a very golden white light, went right through this person, first through her back, then surrounding her from the back, around her shoulders, and then her head. The Lord said: “This is how I Myself rejoice in embracing a soul who comes with a clean heart to receive Me.” The tone of voice of Jesus was that of a happy person. I was astonished to see my friend return to her pew surrounded by light, embraced by the Lord. I thought of the marvel that we miss so many times by going to receive Jesus with our small or large offences, when it should be a feast.
Many times we say that there are no priests to whom to go to confess at any given moment. But the problem is not about confessing at each moment, but the problem resides in our ease of falling into evil again. On the other hand, in the same way that we make an effort to search for a beauty parlor, or men search for a barber when we have a party, we have to also make an effort to seek a priest when we need to remove all that dirt from ourselves. We must not have the audacity to receive Jesus at any moment with our hearts full of ugly things. When I went to receive communion, Jesus told me: “The Last Supper was the moment of the greatest intimacy with My own. During that hour of love, I established what could be thought of as the greatest act of lunacy in the eyes of men, that of making Myself a prisoner of Love. I established the Eucharist. I wanted to remain with you until the end of the centuries because My Love could not bear that you remained orphans, you whom I loved more than My life.” I received that Host which had a different flavor. It was a mixture of blood and incense that inundated me entirely. I felt so much love that the tears ran down my cheeks without me being able to stop them. When I returned to my seat, while kneeling down, the Lord said: “Listen...” A moment later, I began to hear the prayers of the lady who was seated in front of me and who had just received communion. What she said, without opening her mouth, was more or less like this: “Lord, remember that we are at the end of the month, and I do not have the money to pay the rent, the car payments, nor the children's school. You have to do something to help me... Please, make my husband stop drinking so much. I cannot bear any more his being intoxicated so often, and my youngest son is going to repeat the year again, if you do not help him. He has exams this week... And do not forget our neighbor who must move. Let her do it right away. I cannot stand her anymore, etc., etc.” Then the Archbishop said: “Let us pray,” and obviously all the congregation stood up for the final prayer. Jesus said in a sad tone: “Did you take note of her prayer? Not a single time did she tell Me that she loves Me. Not a single time did she thank Me for the gift that I have given her by bringing down My Divinity to her poor humanity, in order to elevate her to Me. Not a single time has she said: thank You, Lord. It has been a litany of requests, and so are almost all of those who come to receive Me.” “I have died for love, and I am risen. For love I await each one of you, and for love I remain with you... But you do not realize that I need your love. Remember that I am the Beggar of Love in this sublime hour for the soul.” Do you all realize that He, Love, is begging for our love, and we do not give it to Him? Moreover, we avoid going to that encounter with the Love of Loves, with the only love who gives of itself in a permanent oblation. When the celebrant was going to give the blessing, the Holy Virgin said: “Be attentive, take care... You do any old sign instead of the Sign of the Cross. Remember that this blessing could be the last one that you will receive from hands of a priest. You do not know when, leaving here, if you will die or not. You do not know if you will have the opportunity to receive a blessing from another priest. Those consecrated hands are giving you the blessing in the Name of the Holy Trinity. Therefore, make the Sign of the Cross with respect, as if it was the last one of your life.” How much we miss in not understanding and not participating every day at the Holy Mass! Why not make an effort to begin the day a half hour earlier and run to the Holy Mass and receive all the blessings that the Lord wants to pour over us? I am aware that, because of their obligations, not everybody can attend daily Mass, but at least two or three times a week. So many avoid Mass on Sundays with the smallest excuse, that they have a child, or two, or ten, and, therefore, they cannot attend Mass. How do people manage when they have other important types of commitments? They take all the children, or take turns and the husband goes at one hour and the wife another, but they carry out their duty to God. We have time to study, to work, to entertain, to rest, but WE DO NOT HAVE TIME, AT LEAST ON SUNDAY, TO GO TO THE HOLY MASS. Jesus asked me to remain with Him a few minutes more after Mass had finished. He said: “Do not leave in a hurry after Mass is over. Stay a moment in My company and enjoy it, and let Me enjoy yours...”
“Lord, truly, how much time do You stay with us after Communion?” I suppose that the Lord must have laughed at my silliness, because He answered: “All the time that you want to have Me with you. If you speak to Me all day long, offering Me some words during your chores, I will listen to you. I am always with you. It is you who leaves Me. You leave the Mass, and the day of obligation ends. You kept the day of the Lord, and it is now finished for you. You do not think that I would like to share your family life with you, at least that day.” “In your homes, you have a place for everything and a room for each activity: a room to sleep, another to cook, another to eat, etc. Which place have you made for Me? It should not be a place where you only have an image, which collects dust all the time, but a place where at least five minutes a day the family meets to give thanks for the day and for the gift of life, to ask for their needs of the day, to ask for blessings, protection, health. Everything has a place in your homes, except Me.” “Men plan their day, their week, their semester, their vacations, etc. They know what day they are going to rest, what day they will go to the movies or to a party, or visit grandmother or the grandchildren, the children, their friends, and to their amusements. How many families say at least once a month: `This is the day for our turn to go and visit Jesus in the Tabernacle,' and the whole family comes to talk to M<%18>e<%0>? How many sit down in front of Me and have a conversation with Me, telling Me how it has been since the last time, telling Me their problems, the difficulties they have, asking Me about what they need, making Me part of these things? How many times? “I know everything. I read even the deepest secrets of your hearts and minds. But I enjoy your telling Me about your life, your letting Me participate as a family member, as your most intimate friend. Oh, how many graces does man lose by not giving Me a place in his life!” When I remained with Him that day and on many other days, He continued to give us teachings. Today I want to share with you this mission that He has entrusted to me. Jesus said: “I wanted to save My creature, because the moment of opening the door to Heaven has been impregnated with too much pain...” “Remember that not even one mother has fed her child with her own flesh. I have gone to that extreme of Love to communicate My merits to all of you. “The Holy Mass is Myself prolonging My life and My sacrifice on the Cross among you. Without the merits of My life and My Blood, what do you have with which to come before the Father? Nothing, misery and sin... “You should exceed in virtue the angels and archangels, because they do not have the joy of receiving Me as nourishment like you do. They drink a drop from the spring, but you that have the grace of receiving Me, you have the whole ocean to drink.” The other thing that the Lord spoke about with pain concerned people who encounter Him out of habit, of those who have lost their awe of each encounter with Him. That routine turns some people so lukewarm that they have nothing new to tell Jesus when they receive Him. He also said that there were so many consecrated souls who lose their enthusiasm of falling in love with the Lord, and have made their vocation an occupation, a profession to which nothing more is given, except that which is demanded of one, but without feeling... Then the Lord spoke to me about the fruits that must come from each Communion that we take. It does happen that there are people who receive the Lord daily but do not change their lives. They spend many hours in prayer and do many works, etc., but their life does not go on transforming, and a life that does not transform cannot bear true fruits for the Lord. The merits we receive in the Eucharist should bear the fruits of conversion in us and fruits of charity toward our brothers and sisters. We the laity have a very important role in our Church. We do not have the right to be silent, because the Lord has sent us out, as all the baptized, to go forth and announce the Good News. We do not have the right to absorb all this knowledge and not share it with others, and to allow our brothers to die of hunger when we have so much bread in our hands. We cannot watch our Church crumble as we stay comfortable in our parishes and homes, receiving and receiving so much from the Lord: His Word, the homilies of the priests, the pilgrimages, the Mercy of God in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the marvelous union with the nourishment of Communion, the talks of preachers. In other words, we are receiving so much and we do not have the courage to leave our comfort zone and go to a jail, to a correctional institution, to speak to the neediest. To go and tell them not to give up, that they were born Catholic and that their Church needs them there, suffering, because their suffering will serve to redeem others, because that sacrifice will gain for them eternal life. We are not capable of going where the terminally ill are in the hospitals, and by praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet, helping them with our prayers during that time of struggle between good and evil to free them from the snares and temptations of the devil. Every dying person has fear, and just taking their hand and talking to them about the love of God and the marvel that awaits them in Heaven next to Jesus and Mary, next to their departed ones, gives them comfort. The hour in which we currently live does not allow us to be indifferent. We must be an extension of the hands of our priests and go where they cannot reach. But for this, we need courage. We must receive Jesus, live with Jesus, nourish ourselves with Jesus. We are afraid to commit ourselves a little more, and when the Lord says, “First seek the Kingdom of God, and the rest will be added onto you,” He says it all, brothers and sisters. It means to seek the Kingdom of God, by all possible means and with all means, and to open your hands in order to receive EVERYTHING in addition! This is because He is the Master Who pays the best, the only One Who is attentive to your smallest needs. Brothers, sisters, thank you for allowing me to carry out the mission that was entrusted to me, that of having these pages reach you. The next time you attend Holy Mass, live it. I know the Lord will fulfill for you His promise that “your Mass will never again be the same.” And when you receive Him, love Him! Experience the sweetness of feeling yourself resting against the folds of His side, pierced for you in order to leave you His Church and His Mother, to open for you the doors to His Father's House. Experience this so that you are able to feel for yourself His Merciful Love by means of this testimony, and try to reciprocate with your childlike love. May God bless you this Easter. Your sister in the Living Jesus, Catalina Copyright © 2004 by The Great Crusade of Love and Mercy. All rights reserved. This booklet is published in coordination with The Apostolate of the New Evangelization. Translated from the April 2003 Revision of the original Spanish edition, published in Merida, Mexico. Permission is granted to reproduce this booklet in its entirety with no changes or additions and as long as the reproduction and distribution is done solely on a not-for-profit basis. This document is available at no cost online, and can be downloaded and printed from the following Web Sites: in English at: www.greatcrusade.org and Spanish at: www.grancruzada.org For information on ordering printed copies of this booklet and other books and videos, please write to: The Great Crusade of Love and Mercy, Inc., P.O. Box 857, Lithonia, Georgia 30058 USA, or visit the ministry's Internet Site at: www.loveandmercy.org.
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It was a feast day, and the Gloria was to be recited. Our Lady said
As a child, I had heard someone say that the Lord remained with us for five or ten minutes, after Communion. I asked Him at this moment:
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