True Humility

TRUE HUMILITY

(excepts from The Book of Heaven)

“I have made great designs upon you, as long as you correspond to Me – I want to make of you a perfect image of Me, beginning from the moment I was born up to my death. I Myself will teach you, little at a time, the way you will do it.” And it happened in this way: every morning, after Communion, He would tell me what I was supposed to do during the day. I will say everything briefly, because after so much time it is impossible to say everything. I don’t remember for sure, but it seems to me that He told me that the first thing which was necessary in order to purify the interior of my heart, was the annihilation of myself – that is, humility.”  “…in the hearts which reek of pride. I cannot even enter into their hearts because they are so swollen with themselves that there is no space in which to put Myself. The miserable ones take my graces into no account, and they go from fall to fall, up to their ruin. Therefore, on this day I want you to make continuous acts of humility; I want you to be like a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, who can move neither a foot to take a step, nor a hand to work, but expects everything from his mother. In the same way, you will stay close to Me like a baby, always praying Me to assist you, to help you; always confessing to Me your nothingness – in sum, expecting everything from Me.”  Vol. 1

“If you knew how much I like humility…. Humility is the littlest plant that can be found, but its branches are so high as to reach Heaven, wind their way around my throne, and penetrate even into my Heart. This little plant is humility, and the branches that this plant produces are confidence; so, there cannot be true humility without confidence. Humility without confidence is false virtue.”  April 3, 1899

“Humility is the safeguard of the celestial favors. Humility clothes the soul with such safety that the tricks of the devil cannot penetrate inside of her. Humility places all celestial graces in safety, so much so, that when I see humility, I let flow, abundantly, any kind of celestial favors. Therefore, do not want to disturb yourself for this, but rather, with simple eye, look always into your interior, to see whether you are invested with beautiful humility; and all the rest – do not bother about anything.”    ““I communicate Myself both to the humble and to the simple, because they immediately believe in my graces and take them into great consideration, though they may be ignorant and poor. But with these others that you see, I am very reluctant, because the first step which draws the soul near Me is belief; and it happens that these ones, with all their science and doctrine, and even holiness, never experience a ray of celestial light – that is, they walk along the natural way, and they never arrive at touching, even slightly, that which is supernatural. This is also the reason for which in the course of my mortal life there was not one learned, one priest, one man of power, among my followers, but all ignorant and of low condition – because these were more humble and simple, and also more disposed to make great sacrifices for Me.” May 19, 1899

“My daughter, the main thing so that I may enter into a soul and form my dwelling is total detachment from everything. Without this, not only can I not dwell in her, but not even any of the virtues can form its abode in the soul. After this, once the soul has made everything go out of herself, then do I enter, and united with the will of the soul, we build a house. The foundations of it are based on humility, and the deeper they are, the higher and stronger the walls will be.”  October 29, 1899

“My daughter, only the little ones let themselves be handled as one wants; not those who are little of human reason, but those who are little yet filled with divine reason. I alone can say that I am humble, because in man, that which is said to be humility should rather be called knowledge of self; and one who does not know himself already walks in falsehood.”   

“Oh daughter, here is the immense difference between my humility and the humility of creatures, even that of all of my Saints, which is only a shadow in the face of mine; because the creature is always a creature and does not know, as I know, how great is the weight of sin. Even though heroic souls, following my example, have offered themselves to suffer the pains of others, their pains are not different from those of the other creatures; they are not new things for them, because they are made of the same clay. Moreover, the mere thought that those pains are the cause of new gains, and that they glorify God, is a great honor for them. Furthermore, the creature is restricted within the circle in which God placed her, and she cannot go out of those limits within which she has been circumscribed by God. Oh, if it were in their power to do or undo things, how many other things they would do - everyone would reach the stars! But my divinized Humanity had no limits, yet It voluntarily constrained Itself within Itself; and this was the braiding of all my works with heroic humility.  This had been the cause of all evils which inundate the earth – lack of humility”   “ No prayer is listened to by my ears, and moves my Heart to compassion, if it is not perfumed by the fragrance of humility. If the creature does not arrive at destroying that seed of honor, of esteem – and this can be destroyed by arriving at loving to be despised, humiliated, confused – she will feel a braiding of thorns around her heart; she will feel a void in her heart which will always bother her, and will render her very dissimilar from my Most Holy Humanity. If she does not arrive at loving humiliations, at the most she will be able to know herself a little bit, but will not shine before Me, clothed with the garment of humility, beautiful and worthy of sympathy.”  January 12, 1900

“…humility draws grace; humility breaks the strongest chains, which are sin. Humility surmounts any wall of division between the soul and God, and brings her back to Him. Humility is a little plant, but always green and flowery, not subject to being gnawed by worms; nor will winds, hail or heat be able to do harm to it, or make it wither, even slightly. Though being the littlest plant, humility produces very high branches, which penetrate even into Heaven, braiding around the Heart of Our Lord; and only the branches which come from this plant have free access into that adorable Heart. Humility is the anchor of peace during the storms of the sea waves of this life. Humility is the salt which spices all virtues and preserves the soul from the corruption of sin. Humility is the little grass which sprouts along the way treaded by wayfarers; while being treaded, it disappears, but soon one can see it sprout again, more beautiful than before. Humility is like a gentle graft, which renders the wild plant gentle. Humility is the sunset of guilt. Humility is the coin of grace. Humility is like the moon, which guides us in the darkness of the night of this life. Humility is like that shrewd merchant who knows well how to trade his riches, and wastes not even one cent of the grace that is given to him. Humility is the key of the door of Heaven, such that no one can enter into It if he does not keep this key in good custody. Finally – otherwise I would never end and I would be too long – humility is the smile of God and of all Heaven, and it is the crying of all hell.”  January 12, 1900

“What is the passport to enter into the kingdom of grace? It is humility. Through humility, by always looking at her nothingness and seeing that she is nothing but dust or wind, the soul will place all her trust in grace, so much so, as to make of it her master. And grace, taking dominion over all of the soul, leads her along the path of all virtues, and makes her reach the summit of perfection.”  Jan. 31, 1900

“Now, it is not sufficient to be resigned, but the soul must be convinced that the greatest good for herself and the best way to glorify Me is to always do my Will. Here is the necessity of the signature of humility, because humility produces this knowledge. 

But who ennobles these two virtues? Who fortifies them; who renders them persevering; who chains them together in such a way that they cannot separate; who crowns them? Obedience. Ah, yes, completely destroying one’s will and everything which is material, obedience spiritualizes everything, and like a crown, places itself around them. So, resignation and humility without obedience are subject to instability, but with obedience they will be fixed and stable. Here is the strict necessity of the signature of obedience: so that this passport may circulate in order to pass into the reign of spiritual beatitude, which the soul can enjoy down here. Without these three signatures, the passport will have no value, and the soul will be rejected by the reign of beatitude, and will be forced to remain in the reign of restlessness, of fears and of dangers; and to her misfortune, she will have her own self as god, and this self will have the cortege of pride and of rebellion.”  April 16, 1900

“Lack of esteem for others is lack of true Christian humility and of sweetness, because a humble and sweet spirit knows how to respect everyone and interprets the things of others always for the good.” Having said this, He disappeared, without my saying to Him even a word. May He be always blessed for He wants it this way, and may everything be for His glory.”  June 3, 1900

“…the most perfect, the most sublime humility is that of losing every reason and of not discoursing on ‘why’ and ‘how’, but of undoing oneself in one’s own nothingness. And while the soul does this, without realizing it, she finds herself dissolved in God, and this produces in the soul the union most intimate, the love most perfect toward her highest Good. This, however, to the greatest advantage of the soul, because in losing her own reason, she acquires divine reason, and in losing every discoursing about herself – whether she is cold or warm, whether the things that happen to her are favorable or adverse – she will be interested in and will acquire a language fully celestial and divine. In addition to this, humility produces a garment of safety in the soul, in such a way that, wrapped in this garment of safety, the soul remains in the most profound calm, embellishing all of herself in order to be pleasing to her dearest and beloved Jesus.”  June 20, 1900

“…the cross alone is the nourishment of humility.” “The Cross is like dry wood, which dispels and puts to flight all the smokes of pride and of vainglory, producing the humble violet of humility in the soul. “June 24, 1900

Luke 9:46-48 – And an argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest.  But when Jesus perceived the thought of their hearts, he took a child and put him by his side, and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me; for he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”

“You will be simple of heart and rich in spirit…You will not praise yourself, but be humble in everything.  You will not seek (your own) glory.  You will not harbor evil intentions against your neighbor, nor fill your souls will recklessness.”  Epistula Barnabae, 19,2-3

L. Bauer May 2, 2018