Divine Martyrdom

                                                           Divine Martyrdom

Volume 4 - January 15, 1901

"My daughter, you constitute the greatest torment for Me, for I cannot show Myself to you when I have to give out a punishment because you bind Me everywhere and you do not want Me to do anything. When I don't come to you, you deafen Me with your complaints, with your laments and expectations, so much so that while I am busy punishing, I am obliged to think of you and hear you and My Heart is torn to pieces to see you in your painful state of deprivation. Indeed the most painful martyrdom is the martyrdom of love. The more two people love each other, the more painful are the sufferings caused... not by others, but by themselves. Therefore, remain quiet and calm, and do not wish to increase My sufferings by means of your sufferings."

Then He disappeared and I remained quite mortified to think that I constitute the torment of Dear Jesus, and that, in order to prevent Him from suffering so much, I have to remain quiet. But who could make this sacrifice? It seems impossible to me, and I will be obliged to continue tormenting us in turns.

Volume 6 - September, 13, 1904

Being in the usual state He showed that He was very close to me by holding my heart in his hands.  Staring at me, He said:  "My daughter, when a soul has given Me her will, she is not free to do as she wishes, otherwise it would not be a true gift.  You must always sacrifice your will to the one you gave it to.  This is a continual martyrdom that the soul offers to God.  What would you say of a martyr that offered to suffer anything, then goes back on it?  You would say that he didn't have true disposition, and one of these days he may renege his faith.  The same I say for the soul that offers, then takes back, that she is not ready to sacrifice herself to Me, true martyrdom must be continual.  You may say you are resigned, identified but not a martyr.  You may end up pulling back from Me.  Be careful to give Me full freedom to do with you in any way I wish."

Volume 16 - December 26, 1923

“Beloved daughter of my Will, look inside of Me, how my Supreme Will did not concede even one breath of life to the will of my Humanity; and even though It was holy, not even that was conceded to Me.  I had to remain under the pressure - more than of a press – of a Divine, infinite, unending Will, which constituted the life of each one of my heartbeats, words and acts; and my little human will died in every heartbeat, breath, act, word, etc.  But It died in reality – It actually felt death, because It never had life.  I only had my human will to make die continuously, and even though this was a great honor for my Humanity, it was the greatest of portents:  at every death of  my human will, it was substituted by a Life of Divine Will.  However, this continuous dying was the greatest, the hardest, the most bitter and painful martyrdom of my Humanity.  Oh, how the pains of my Passion shrink before this continuous dying of mine!  And only through this did I complete the perfect Glory of my Celestial Father, and I loved Him with a love which surpasses every other love for all creatures.

Volume 16 - May 29, 1924

Your life can be called a continuous pain of losing Me and a continuous joy of acquiring Me.  But between the pain of the loss and the joy of acquiring Me, how many surprises have I not made you?  How many things have I not told you?  It was pain and the painful martyrdom of losing Me to prepare you and dispose you to hear the sublime lessons on my Will.  In fact, how many times it seemed to you that you had lost Me, and while you were immersed in your harrowing pain, I would come back to you with one of the most beautiful lessons on my Will, and I would make the new joy of gaining Me come back, to dispose you once again to the piercing pain of my absence?  I can say that the pain of remaining deprived of Me has delivered within you the effects, the value, the knowledges, the foundation of my Will. 

Volume 17 -  January 4, 1925

Listen, my daughter:  to live in my Will surpasses even martyrdom in merit.  Martyrdom kills the body, but living in my Will implies that the creature kills her own will with a divine hand, and It gives her the nobility of a divine martyrdom.  And every time the soul decides to live in my Will, my Volition prepares the blow in order to kill the human will, and forms the noble martyrdom of the soul.  But in order to reach this happy state, the human will and the Divine Will must be tied together:  one has to give the place to the Other, and the human will must be content with remaining extinguished under the power of the Divine Will.  Therefore, every time you dispose yourself to live in my Volition, you dispose yourself to undergo the martyrdom of your will.  

Do you see, then, what it means to fuse oneself in my Will?  It is to be the continuous martyr of my Supreme Will.  And you think it’s trivial, or not important?”

Volume 35 - November 29, 1937

When the creature listens to our I love you and returns it, in our emphasis of love - as if reconciled by her love, we say:  ‘Finally, we’ve been heard.  Our Love found one to go to, a place for refuge.  We have been recognized.  We found one who says I love you.’  Then our Love makes a feast.  But when we cannot find one who says I love you, we don’t find one who recognizes Us, who listens to Us - one who loves Us.  How hard it is to love, not being loved!  How I wish that everybody knew that with my Love I sustain them, I hug them, I love them and I make them breathe; I love them and I give them a heartbeat; I love them and I give them speech; I love them and I give them the step; I love them and I give them motion, thinking, food, water.... All that they are and receive is the effect of my flowing Love.  So, isn’t not loving me a horrible ingratitude?  It is making our Love a martyr - because we loved, and we are not loved.”

Volume 35 - December 8, 1937

This Holy Creature (Mary), conceived without original sin, felt the Life of her Creator - His operating Will, which did nothing less than make new seas of Love arise.  Oh, how much She loved Us!  She could feel Us inside and outside of Herself.  Oh, how She ran, in order to be everywhere and in every place - wherever the Life of Her Creator was!  It would have been the hardest and most cruel martyrdom for Her, not to have been able to be everywhere together with Us, to love Us.  Our Will gave Her wings, and our Life, while still being within Her, made Itself found everywhere, to be loved and to enjoy the One It loved so much, and Who loved It in return.  Now, listen to another surprise.  As soon as she was conceived, she started her race, and We loved her with infinite Love - not loving her would have been the greatest martyrdom for Us, too. 

Volume 36 - November 13, 1938

Therefore, one who lives in my Will possesses a strength that is never extinguished; a love that does not love anybody, but truly loves all in God.  To how many sacrifices she exposes herself for all - and for each one in particular.  Poor daughter, she is the true martyr and victim of all.  Oh!, how many times in seeing her suffering, I look at her with so much tenderness and compassion, and to cheer her up I say:   'My daughter, you received my same destiny.  Poor daughter, courage; your Jesus loves you more.'  And in feeling more loved by me, she smiles in the sufferings and abandons herself in my arms.  My daughter, to experience, to possess  what my Will can do, creatures need to be inside of It; otherwise they won't understand a thing."

Luisa - Letter 99

More so, since every time we do an act in the Divine Will, the human will goes through a martyrdom – not of blood, but of will, which never dies.  And the Lord is so pleased that He places on it the seal of a divine martyrdom.  So we can say to God:  “I am your continuous martyr.  I die not just once, but so many times for as many times I don’t do my will…”  Enough for now; let us move to something else.

Luisa - Letter 17

Oh, how happy will you feel, if in every pain you say,  “This pain serves Jesus”!  Then you will feel His invincible patience, filial trust, and courage of heroes.  Patience, trust, courage, is the bread of the strong, the heroism of martyrs.  Therefore, courage!  Those who think of the past lose the present.  The Lord has disposed everything:  crosses, illness, state of marriage; in a word - everything.  The Lord had to prepare the material in order to make of you a saint; and He has prepared enough of it.  So, all you have to say and do is this:  “The Heart of Jesus wants me a saint:  I must become a saint!”  Have we understood each other?