Divine Will and Divine Mercy

Divine Will and Divine Mercy

DIVINE WILL (BOOK OF HEAVEN)

AND DIVINE MERCY (DIARY OF ST. FAUSTINA)

Divine Will – Luisa Piccarreta was born on April 23, 1865, (the Sunday after Easter Divine Mercy Sunday).    A few hours after Luisa’s birth, her father wrapped her in a blanket and took her to the main church for Baptism.

Divine Mercy  - Jesus to St. Faustina, “I desire that the first Sunday after Easter be the Feast of Mercy.  (Diary #299)  (On Luisa’s birthday of April 23, Pope John Paul II solemnly instituted the Universal Feast of Divine Mercy Sunday)

Divine Will – Luisa, having accepted the role of victim soul, came to experience a most peculiar condition: every morning she found herself rigid, immobile, huddled up in bed, and no one could move her because of her weight, as if she were a large piece of lead, nor could they stretch any of her members.  Her arms, head and legs were strongly stiffened and no one was able to stretch her out.  Her body assumed a rock-like hardness.  Her tiny frame grew so heavy that no one could lift it.  In this death-like state, Luisa was totally paralyzed.  It required the presence of a Priest who, by blessing her with the sign of the Cross with his thumb on the back of her hands, reciting at the same time the Trisagion prayer of the Byzantine liturgy, “Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, Have Mercy on us.”  This would dispel the corpse like rigidity and Luisa could then be moved into a sitting position. 

Divine Mercy – Jesus to St. Faustina, “This prayer will serve to appease My wrath.  You will recite it for nine days, on the beads of the Rosary, in the following manner:  First of all, you will say one Our Father and Hail Mary and the I Believe in God.  Then on the Our Father beads, you will say the following words:  ‘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 Hail Mary beads you will say the following words:  ‘For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.’  In conclusion, three times you will recite these words, ‘Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.’” (Diary  #476)

God’s Mercy

Divine Will  - Continuing in my usual state, I found myself outside of myself, and I saw a multitude of people, and in their midst one could hear noises of bombs and gun shots. People were dropping dead or wounded, and those who were left would flee up to a palace nearby; but the enemies would go up there and kill them, more surely than those who remained outside. So I said to myself: ‘How I wish I could see whether the Lord is there in the midst of these people, so as to say to Him: ‘Have mercy – pity on these poor people!’ So I went round and round and I saw Him as a little Child; but little by little He kept growing, until He reached the perfect age. I drew near Him and I said: ‘Amiable Lord, don’t You see the tragedy that is happening? You don’t want to make use of mercy anymore? Do You perhaps want to keep this attribute as useless, which has always glorified your Incarnate Divinity with so much honor, forming a special crown on your august head, and bejeweling You with a second crown, so wanted and loved by You - which is souls?’  Now, while I was saying this, He told me: ‘Enough, enough, do not go any further; you want to speak of Mercy, and what about Justice – what are we going to do with It? I have told you and I repeat to you: ‘It is necessary that Justice follow Its course’.” So I replied: ‘There is no remedy - why then leave me on this earth when I can no longer placate You and suffer in the place of my neighbor? Since it is so, it is better if You let me die.’ At that moment I saw another person behind the shoulders of blessed Jesus, and He told me, almost making a sign with His eyes: “Present yourself to my Father and see what He tells you.’ I presented myself, all trembling, and as soon as He saw me, He told me: “Why have you come to Me?” And I: ‘Adorable Goodness, infinite Mercy, knowing that You are Mercy Itself, I have come to ask for your Mercy – Mercy on your very images, Mercy on the works created by You; Mercy on nothing else but your creatures themselves.’ And He said to me: “So, it is Mercy that you want. But if you want true Mercy, after Justice has poured Itself out It will produce abundant fruits of Mercy.” (Vol. 6, April 16, 1904)

Divine Mercy – In answer to Luisa’s request for Mercy, St. Mary Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament was born the following year on August 25, 1905.

Food of the Divine Will

Divine Will – The Archbishop, Giuseppe Bianchi Dottula (Dec. 22, 1848 – Sept. 22, 1892) came to know of what was happening in Corato.  He delegated to Luisa a special confessor, Fr. Michele De Benedictis.  Fr. De Benedictis ordered Luisa to eat at least once a day, even if she immediately threw up everything she had swallowed.  Luisa was to live on the Divine Will alone.  It was under this Priest that she received permission to stay in bed all the time as a victim of expiation. 

Divine Mercy – St. Faustina “Jesus-Host, whom I have this very moment received into my heart, through this union with You, I offer myself to the Heavenly Father as a sacrificial host, abandoning myself totally and completely to the most merciful and holy will of my God.  From today onward, Your Will, Lord, is my food.  Whatever Your Fatherly hand gives me, I will accept with submission, peace and joy.”  (Diary #1264)

Trust

Divine Will – Continuing in my usual state, as soon as blessed Jesus came, He told me:  My daughter, the souls who will shine the most, like bright gems in the crown of my Divine Mercy, are the souls who have more trust, because the more trust they have, the more they give space for the attribute of my Mercy to pour into them any grace they want. On the other hand, the soul who does not have true trust herself, closes the graces within Me remaining always poor and unequipped, while my love remains constrained within Me, and I suffer very much. And in order not to suffer so much, and to be able to pour out my love more freely, I deal more with those souls who trust than with the others. With these I can pour out my love, I can play, I can cause loving contrasts, since there is no worry that they might take offense or become fearful; on the contrary, they become more brave and take everything in order to love Me more. Therefore, trusting souls are the outpouring and the amusement of my love, the ones who receive more graces, and the richest.”    (Volume 11, April 10, 1912)

Divine Mercy – “When you say this prayer with a contrite heart and with faith on behalf of some sinner, I will give him the grace of conversion.  This is the prayer: O Blood and Water which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of Mercy for us, I trust in You.”  ( Diary, #186-187)

“My Heart rejoices in this title of Mercy.”  (Diary, #300)  Proclaim that mercy is the greatest attribute of God.  All the works of My Hands are crowned with mercy.”  (Diary, #301)

FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING – KING OF MERCY

Divine Will – I was thinking about today’s Feast – that is, the Feast of Christ the King; and my sweet Jesus, moving in my interior, told me:  “My daughter, the Church does nothing but intuitively grasp what She must know on my Divine Will and how Its Kingdom must come.  Therefore, this Feast is the prelude of the Kingdom of my Divine Fiat. Indeed, the Church is doing nothing other than honoring my Humanity with those titles which, by right, are due to It; and when She has given Me all the honors that befit Me, She will move on to honor and to institute the Feast to the Kingdom of my Divine Will, by which my Humanity was animated. The Church proceeds step by step, and now She institutes the Feast to my Heart, now She consecrates the century, in all solemnity, to Christ the Redeemer, and now She moves on, with greater solemnity, to institute the Feast to Christ the King. Christ the King means that He must have His Kingdom, He must have peoples worthy of such a King. And who will ever be able to form for Me this Kingdom if not my Will? Then, yes, will I be able to say: ‘I have my people – my Fiat has formed it for Me.’ Oh! if the leaders of the Church knew what I have manifested to you about my Divine Will, what I want to do, Its great prodigies, my yearnings, my sorrowful heartbeats, my anguishing sighs, for I want my Will to reign, to make everyone happy, to restore the human family - they would feel that in this Feast of Christ the King is nothing other than the secret echo of my Heart which, echoing in them, without their knowing it, has them institute for Me the Feast of Christ the King in order to call their attention and reflection. ‘Christ the King…. And His true people – where are they?’ And they would say: ‘Let us hasten to make His Divine Will known; let us let It reign, that we may give a people to Christ the King, whom we have called so. Otherwise, we have honored Him with words, but not with facts’.”  (Vol. 25, 10/28/1928)

Divine Will – In 1994, on the day of the Feast of Christ the King, in the main Church, Archbishop Carmelo Cassati, in the presence of a large crowd, including foreign representatives, officially opened the beautification cause of the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta.

Divine Mercy – “Write this:  before I come as the just Judge, I am coming first as the King of Mercy.”

(Diary, #83, told to St. Faustina in 1934)

REFLECTION OF GOD

Divine Will – Continuing in my usual state, my always lovable Jesus came, and placing His holy hand under my chin, He told me:  “My daughter, you are the reflection of my Glory.”  Then He added:  In the world I need mirrors to which to go and look at Myself.  Only then can a fount serve as mirror in which people can reflect themselves, when the fount is pure; but it is of no use for the fount to be pure if the waters are cloudy.” (Vol. 10, Feb. 3, 1912)

Divine Mercy – “O Most Holy Trinity!  As many times as I breathe, as many times as my heart beats, as many times as my blood pulsates through my body, so many thousand 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.”

(Diary, #163)

EFFECTS OF MEDITATING CONTINUOUSLY ON THE PASSION

Divine Will – Finding myself in my usual state, I was thinking about the Passion of Our Lord, and while I was doing this, He came and told me:  “My daughter, one who meditates continuously on my Passion and feels sorrow for it and compassion for Me, pleases Me so much that I feel as though comforted for all that I suffered in the course of my Passion, and by always meditating on it, the soul arrives at preparing a continuous food.”  (Vol. 7, Nov. 9, 1906)

Divine Mercy – “Jesus told me that I please Him best by meditating on His sorrowful Passion and by such meditation, much light falls upon my soul.  He who wants to learn true humility should reflect upon the Passion of Jesus.”  (Diary, #267)

“My daughter, meditate frequently on the sufferings which I have undergone for your sake, and then nothing of what you suffer for Me will seem great to you.  You please Me most when you meditate on My Sorrowful Passion.  Join your little suffering to My Sorrowful Passion so that they may have INFINITE value before My Majesty.”  (Diary, #1512)

(Saint Hannibal Maria Di Francia – Messina, Oct. 29, 1926:  “We begin with this first printing, the publication of more than 20 handwritten volumes of sublime revelations which, always excepting the judgments of the Holy Church,  we believe to have been given by Our Lord Jesus Christ to a soul, a dearest daughter and disciple of His, who is the pious author of the Hours of the Passion.  Even now we make known that these revelations, which are continuing and will continue, we don’t know for how much longer, have as their goal the establishment of the complete Triumph of the Kingdom of the Divine Will upon earth.”  )

LIVING HOSTS

DIVINE WILL - “It seems that the souls who do my Will do nothing, while they do everything, because, being in my Will, they act in a divine manner, in a hidden and surprising way. So, they are light that illuminates, they are winds that purify, they are fire that burns, they are miracles that make others do miracles. Those who do miracles are channels; but in these souls resides the power. Therefore, they are the foot of the missionary, the tongue of the preachers, the strength of the weak, the patience of the sick, the regime of the superiors, the obedience of the subjects, the tolerance of the slandered, the firmness in dangers, the heroism of the heroes, the courage of the martyrs, the sanctity in the saints, and so with all the rest. Being in my Will, they concur with all the good that can exist both in Heaven and on earth. This is why I can surely say that they are my true hosts - but living hosts, not dead ones. In fact, the accidents that form the host are not full of life, nor do they influence my life; but the soul is full of life, and by doing my Will, she influences and concurs with all that I do. This is why these hosts consecrated by my Will are more dear to Me than the very sacramental hosts, and if I have reason to exist in the sacramental hosts, it is to form the sacramental hosts of my Will. “   (Vol.  11, Mar. 15, 1912)

Divine Will - Continuing in my usual state, my always lovable Jesus, on coming, told me: “My daughter, as the soul emits her acts in my Will, she multiplies my Life. So, if she does ten acts in my Will, she multiplies Me ten times; if she does twenty, a hundred, a thousand and yet more, so many times am I multiplied. It happens as in the sacramental consecration: as many hosts as they place, so many times am I multiplied. The difference which exists is that in the sacramental consecration I need the hosts in order to multiply Myself, and the priest who would consecrate Me; while in my Will, in order to be multiplied, I need the acts of the creature in which, more than in a living host - not a dead one, like those hosts before my consecration - my Will consecrates Me, and It encloses Me in the act of the creature, and I remain multiplied at each one of their acts done in my Will. Therefore, my love has its complete outpouring with the souls who do my Will and live in my Volition. They are the ones who always substitute, not only for all the acts that creatures owe Me, but for my very Sacramental Life.” 

(Vol. 14, March 24, 1922)

DIVINE MERCY – When I had received Jesus in Holy Communion, my heart cried out with all its might, “Jesus, transform me into another host!  I want to be a living host for you.  You are a great and all-powerful Lord; You can grant me this favor.”  And the Lord answered me, You are a living host, pleasing to the Heavenly Father.  But reflect:  What is a host?  A sacrifice.  And so…?”   “O my Jesus, I understand the meaning of ‘host’, the meaning of sacrifice.  I desire to be before Your Majesty a living host; that is, a living sacrifice that daily burns in Your honor.”   (Diary, #1826)

NOTES:  Taken from “The Gift of Living in the Divine Will in the Writings of Luisa Piccarreta, Rev. Joseph Iannuzzi, pg. 511

Jesus reveals to the Canadian mystic who was beautified, Dina Belanger, “The grace of incarnating Me, of living and growing in your soul, never to leave it, of possessing you and of being possessed by you as in one and the same substance…is the grace of graces.”  “I want to deify you in the same way as I united My humanity with My divinity…”

Similarly, Jesus reveals to the Mexican mystic, who was declared Venerable, Conchita deArmida, “While saying at the last Supper: ‘The is My Body, this is My Blood’, I had in mind the extension of this Body and this Blood in My priests transformed in Me, fully formed also, in this sense, Living Eucharists, and with the same end of living immolated on behalf of all the world.  Then I beheld in My soul that they would disappear, and in a certain sense, like the substance of bread and wine, remain transformed into Me for the salvation of souls.”

Jesus reveals to Faustina Kowalska:  “You are a living host, pleasing to the Heavenly Father.”

O Blood and Water which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of Mercy for us,

I trust in You

L. Bauer

Divine Appeal

DIVINE APPEAL

With His Father and the Holy Spirit, the Divine King appeals to His children on earth to come now and enter into the Kingdom of His Will.

My dear and beloved children,

I come into your midst with My Heart all drowned in flames of Love. I come as a Father to be among My children because I love you so very much. My Love is so great that I come to remain with you so that we may live together with one, single Will; with one, single Love…. As I come to you, I bring with Me My pains, My Blood, My works, and even My very death.

Look at Me. Each drop of My Blood, each of My pains and steps, and all the things I did compete with one another because they want to give you My Divine Will. Even My death wants to give rebirth to the Life of My Will in you.

I have prepared everything for you in My Humanity; and I have prayed for and obtained graces, helps, light and strength for you to receive a Gift so Great. On My part I have done everything; so now I am waiting for you to do your part. Who would be so ungrateful as to turn Me away and not welcome the Gift I am bringing to you?

Know that My Love is so great that I will forget about your past life, your sins, all your evils; and I will bury them in the ocean of My Love to burn them all away; and then we will begin a new life together, all of My Will.

Who would have the heart to refuse Me and send Me away without accepting My visit which is so full of a Father’s Love? But, if you will welcome Me, I will remain with you as a Father in the midst of His children. Then we must be in the greatest accord and live together with one Will alone.

Oh, how much I long for this! How I moan, how I cry, even going into delirium, and weeping because I want My dearest children to gather around Me and live with My very own Will.

It has been almost six thousand years; and My Humanity has sighed so much and shed so many bitter tears because I want My children to come back and live together with Me. I want them around Me to make them holy and happy again. I weep and weep as I call to them to come back to Me. Who would not be moved to compassion over My tears and My Love which goes so far as to suffocate Me, even choking Me. Among sighs and agonies of Love, I go about repeating: “My children, where are you? Why don’t you come back to your Father? Why do you go away from Me? Why do you want to wander about poor, and full of so many miseries? Your misfortunes are wounds to My Heart. I am weary of waiting for you.” And, since you do not come back to Me, I come in search of you because I can no longer contain the Love that consumes Me; and I am bringing you the great Gift of My Will. Oh, I beg you, I plead with you, be moved to compassion for My so many tears and ardent sighs!

I come to you not only as a Father but also as a Teacher among His disciples… I want you to listen to Me because I will be teaching you surprising things, lessons of Heaven, which will carry with them a Light that will never go out and a blazing Love which endures forever…. My lessons will give you a divine strength, an invincible courage, a holiness which keeps growing more and more. These lessons will light the way for your steps and will guide you along the way to your Heavenly Fatherland.

I come as a King to live among His people, but not for the purpose of levying taxes and heaping burdens upon you. No, no! I come because I want your will, your miseries, your weaknesses, all your evils. My sovereignty is really this: I want everything that distresses you and causes you to be unhappy and restless so that I can hide it within My Love and burn it all away. As the beneficent, pacific, and magnanimous King that I am, I want to exchange My Will for yours, filling you with My most tender Love, with My riches and happiness, with My peace and most pure joy.

If you will give Me your will, all will be done just as I have said; and you will make Me happy, and you will be happy too. I long for nothing else than for My Will to reign among you. Heaven and earth will be smiling at you. My Heavenly Mamma will be sure to be a Mother and Queen to you. She knows the great good that theKingdomofMy Willwill bring to you; and, in order to satisfy My ardent desires and to stop My weeping, and because She loves you as Her true children. She is traveling amongst the people of the nations disposing and preparing them to receive the dominion of the Kingdom of My Will. It was She who prepared the people for Me so that I could descend from Heaven to earth. And now I am entrusting to Her, and to Her Maternal Love, the task of disposing the souls of our people to receive a Gift so great.

So please listen to Me. And I beg you, My children, to read very attentively these pages that I am placing before you. If you will do this, you will feel the need to live in My Will and I will be standing right beside you when you read, touching your mind and your heart so that you will understand what you read and truly want the Gift of My Divine “Fiat.”

The Resurrection

The Resurrection is the Confirmation of the Fiat Voluntas Tua  on earth as It is in Heaven.

The Queen of Heaven in the Kingdom of the Divine Will. Limbo.

Day 28 - The Expectation.

Victory over Death: the Resurrection.

The soul to her Queen Mother:

My pierced Mama, your little child, knowing that You are alone, without your beloved Good, Jesus, wants to cling to You to keep You company in your most bitter desolation. Without Jesus, all things change into sorrow for You. The memory of His harrowing pains, the sweet sound of His voice which still resounds in your ear, the charming gaze of dear Jesus, now sweet, now sad, now swollen with tears, but which always enraptured your maternal Heart – as You don’t have them with You any more, they are like sharp swords which pierce your maternal Heart through.

Desolate Mama, your dear child wants to give You relief and compassion for each pain. Even more, I would like to be Jesus, to be able to give You all the love, the comforts, the reliefs and the compassion which Jesus Himself would have given You in your state of bitter desolation. Sweet Jesus gave me to You as your child; therefore, put me in His place in your maternal Heart, and I will be all for my Mama; I will dry your tears, and I will always keep You company.

Lesson of the Desolate Queen and Mother:

Dearest child, thank you for your company; but if you want your company to be sweet and dear to Me, and bearer of relief to my pierced Heart, I want to find in you the Divine Will operating and dominating, and that you do not surrender even one breath of life to your will. Then will I exchange you with my Son Jesus, because, His Will being in you, in It I will feel Jesus in your heart. Oh, how happy I will be to find in you the first fruit of His pains and of His death! In finding my beloved Jesus in my child, my pains will change into joys, and my sorrows into conquests.

Now, listen to Me, child of my sorrows. As my dear Son breathed His last, He descended into Limbo, triumpher and bearer of glory and happiness to that prison in which were all the Patriarchs and the Prophets, the first father Adam, dear Saint Joseph, my holy parents, and all those who had been saved by virtue of the foreseen merits of the future Redeemer. I was inseparable from my Son, and not even death could take Him away from Me. So, in the ardor of my sorrows I followed Him into Limbo, and was spectator of the feast and of the thanksgivings which that whole great crowd of people gave to my Son, who had suffered so much, and whose first step had been toward them, to beatify them and to bring them with Himself into celestial glory. So, as He died, conquests and glory began for Jesus and for all those who loved Him. This, dear child, is symbol of how, as the creature makes her will die through union with the Divine Will, conquests of divine order, glory and joy begin - even in the midst of the greatest sorrows.

Even though the eyes of my soul followed my Son and I never lost sight of Him, at the same time, during those three days in which He was buried, I felt such yearning to see Him risen, that in the ardor of my love I kept repeating: "Rise, my Glory! Rise, my Life!" My desires were ardent, my sighs, of fire - to the point of feeling consumed.

Now, in these yearnings, I saw my dear Son, accompanied by that great crowd of people, leaving Limbo and going back to the sepulcher. It was the dawn of the third day, and just as all nature had cried over Him, now it rejoiced; so much so, that the sun anticipated its course to be present at the act in which my Son was rising. But – oh marvel! - before rising again, He showed that crowd of people His Most Holy Humanity - bleeding, wounded, disfigured; the way it had been reduced for love of them and for all. All were moved, and admired the excesses of love and the great portent of Redemption.

Now, my child, oh, how I wish you to be present in the act of the Resurrection of my Son! He was all Majesty; from His Divinity, united to His soul, He unleashed enchanting seas of light and beauty, such as to fill Heaven and earth. Then, triumphantly, making use of His power, He commanded His dead Humanity to receive His soul again, and to rise, triumphantly and gloriously, to immortal life. What a solemn act! My dear Jesus triumphed over death, saying: "Death, you will be death no longer - but life!"

With this act of triumph, He placed the seal on the fact that He was Man and God; and with His Resurrection, He confirmed the Gospel, His miracles, the life of the Sacraments, and the whole life of the Church. And not only this, but He obtained triumph over the human wills, weakened and almost extinguished to true good, to let triumph over them the life of that Divine Will which was to bring the fullness of Sanctity and of all goods to creatures. And at the same time, by virtue of His Resurrection, He sowed into the bodies the seed of resurrection to everlasting glory. My child, the Resurrection of my Son encloses everything, says everything, confirms everything, and is the most solemn act that He did for love of creatures.

Now, listen to Me, my child; I want to speak to you as a Mother who loves her child very much. I want to tell you what it means to do the Divine Will and to live of It; and the example is given to you by my Son and by Me. Our life was strewn with pains, with poverty, with humiliations, to the point of seeing my beloved Son die of pains; but in all this ran the Divine Will. It was the life of our pains, and We felt triumphant and conquerors, to the extent of changing even death into life; so much so, that in seeing Its great good, We voluntarily exposed ourselves to sufferings because, since the Divine Will was in Us, no one could impose himself on It, or on Us. Suffering was in our power, and We called upon it as nourishment and triumph of the Redemption, so as to be able to bring good to the entire world.

Now, dear child, if your life and your pains have the Divine Will as their center of life, be certain that sweet Jesus will use you and your pains to give help, light and grace to the whole universe. Therefore, pluck up courage; the Divine Will can do great things where It reigns. In all circumstances, reflect yourself in Me and in your sweet Jesus, and move forward.

The soul:

Holy Mama, if You help me and keep me sheltered under your mantle, acting as my celestial sentry, I am certain that I will convert all my pains into Will of God; and I will follow You, step by step, along the unending ways of the Supreme Fiat, because I know that your charming love of Mother and your power will win over my will, and You will keep it in your power and exchange it with the Divine Will. Therefore, my Mama, I entrust myself to You, and I abandon myself into your arms.

Little Sacrifice:

Today, to honor Me, your will say seven times: "Not my will, but Yours be done", offering Me my sorrows to ask Me for the grace always to do the Divine Will.

Ejaculatory Prayer:

My Mama, for the sake of the Resurrection of your Son, make me rise again in the Will of God.

Book of Heaven, Vol. 4, April 7, 1901:  Luisa, “…I saw my adorable Jesus for a little, in the act of His Resurrection, with His face so refulgent as to not be comparable to any other splendor. It seemed to me that the Most Holy Humanity of Our Lord, though It was living flesh, was so bright and transparent that one could see with clarity the Divinity united to the Humanity. Now, while I was seeing Him so glorious, a light that came from Him seemed to tell me: “My Humanity received so much glory by means of perfect obedience which, destroying the ancient nature completely, gave Me back the new nature, glorious and immortal. In the same way, by means of obedience, the soul can form within her the perfect resurrection to virtues. For example: if the soul is afflicted, obedience will make her rise again to joy; if restless, obedience will make her rise again to peace; if tempted, obedience will administer to her the strongest chain with which to bind the enemy, and will make her rise again victorious over the diabolical snares; if she is besieged by passions and vices, by killing them, obedience will make her rise again to virtues. This, to the soul, and in due time, it will also form the resurrection of the body.”

By their fruits you shall know them

“Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them.”  Mt 7:20

When you hear of people, especially family and friends who are close to you, who have told you about their experiences while in Medjugorje - do not doubt but believe.

When you hear of the many people coming back to the Church and to the Sacraments because of Medjugorje - do not doubt but believe.

When you hear of the many Priests who have been called to their vocations due to Medjugorje – do not doubt but believe.

My conversion came even before I visited Medjugorje. It was on a trip to a horse show in Ocala, FL when my husband was telling me about a place where the Blessed Mother was supposed to be appearing that he had heard about from a friend.  We talked about this all the way to Ocala from where we lived which was about two hours away.  Just as we got to Ocala, we were passing a Catholic Church on the way to the showgrounds.  Noticing that people were just going into the Church, my husband decided that we should go.  I fought him as I did not want to go, but after much persuading, I decided to join him.

As I sat listening to the Homily given by the Priest, I sat in amazement hearing him speak about exactly what my husband was telling me on our two-hour trip there – all about the Blessed Mother appearing in a place called Medjugorje!

If that were not enough to get my attention, the Priest asked everyone to pray the prayer that was in the bulletin.  As I was leaving the Church, I felt compelled to take one of the bulletins, and opening it I read the prayer to the Holy Spirit (“Breathe on me breath of God”) that he requested we pray.  Even though I read this prayer only one time, it was imbedded in my heart and I never forgot it.

Well, we did go to Medjugorje a few years later, but it wasn’t that I had to go there to believe – that happened well before then.  I never had any doubt about Our Mother’s presence there, and I will thank Her for all eternity for bringing me to Her Son.

And what do I owe to this august Queen?  What do we all owe to Her?  We owe Her our life – the true life in God.  She has come to bring us back to life in the Divine Will.  So, open your heart and listen to those who have been converted because of our Lady’s visit to Her children, and thank Her – do not doubt but believe.

“Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them.”   Mt. 7:20

Lynne B. Dec. 27, 2016

The Third and Fourth Watch

(Sometime in 2007 during Adoration)  I heard within my interior, “You are in the third watch.”

(Ron L. told me, “The third watch is the midnight watch – it is before the dawn.  Most of the time the enemy would attack then because most are asleep.”)

Shortly after this I was lead to read:

Exodus 14:  Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord swept the sea with a strong east wind….

The Egyptians followed in pursuit:  all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and charioteers went after them right into the midst of the sea.  In the night watch just before dawn, the Lord cast through the column of the fiery cloud  upon the Egyptian force a glance that threw it into a panic; and he so clogged their chariot wheels that they could hardly drive.  With that, the Egyptians sounded the retreat before Israel, because the Lord was fighting for them against the Egyptians.  Then the Lord told Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea that the water may flow back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and their charioteers.”  So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea flowed back to its normal depth. The Egyptians were fleeing head on toward the sea, when the Lord hurled them into its midst.  As the water flowed back, it covered the chariots and the charioteers of Pharaoh’s whole army which had followed the Israelites into the sea.  Not a single one of them escaped.   But the Israelites had marched on dry land through the midst of the sea, with the water like a wall to their right and to their left.

The Dawn

“To the Priests” from the Marian Movement of Priests, Our Lady says:

“I am the dawn which precedes the day.”  (#252)

“I am the dawn which is arising to announce the great day of the Lord.” (#344)

“I am the daybreak which precedes the sun; I am the dawn which begins the new day.” (20)

From the Book of Heaven, The Divine King Appeals to His Children:  “She (Our Lady) is traveling amongst the people of the Nations disposing and preparing them to receive the dominion of the Kingdom of My Will.  It was She who prepared the people for Me so that I could descend from Heaven to earth.  And now, I am entrusting to Her the task of disposing the souls of our people to receive a Gift so great.” (The Gift of living in the Divine Will)

 Vol. 24 – May 26, 1928:  “And just as the Holy Virgin put an end to the night hours of the patriarchs and prophets and formed the dawn to make the Sun of the Eternal Word rise, so will this one form the Dawn to make rise the Sun of the Fiat Voluntas Tua on earth as It is in Heaven.”

Vol. 35 – Sept. 26, 1937:  “…just as nature has its day in human life, during which all the actions of life are performed, in the same way my Divine Will forms Its Day in the depth of the creature who lives in my Will.  As the creature begins to form her acts in It, calling It to her as her own Life, she starts her day, forming a most shining Dawn in the depth of her soul.  This Dawn gathers its Power, renewing in the creature the Power of the Father, the Wisdom of the Son, the Virtue and Love of the Holy Spirit.  So she starts her Day together with the Most Holy Trinity, which descends in the most tiny acts and hiding places of the creature in order to live together with her, and to do whatever she does.  This Dawn is the first rest of God within the room of the soul – it is the beginning of the eternal Day in which the Life of the Supreme Being starts together with the creature.”

The Sea and the Wall

Vol. 13 – July 20, 1921:  “…when my love will make arise the Era of my Will – the new Era of maximum benefit for creatures – then will the seas and rivers of my Volition overflow; and as their gigantic waves rise, they will sweep everything into My Will – but no longer hiddenly; rather, Its roaring waves will make themselves seen by everyone and will touch everyone.  And those who want to resist the current will run the risk of losing their lives.”

Vol. 7 – Feb. 12, 1906:  “…but the wall of the soul who lives in the Will of God is a wall so high and deep that neither its depth nor its height can be found… since this wall is in the Divine Volition – that is, in God – God Himself keeps it, and there is no power that can defy God.”

Vol. 19 – Aug. 8, 1926:  “It happens as between the sea and a little stream which is separated from the sea only by a wall; so much so, that if the wall were removed, the sea and the little stream would become one single sea… My daughter, the sea is God…the wall that separates them is the human nature, which makes one distinguish God and the creature, the overflowings, the waves which rise continuously to unload themselves into the little stream, are my Divine Will that wants to give so much to the creature, that the little stream, being filled and swelled up, may overflow, may form its waves, swollen by the wind of the Supreme Will, and may pour back into the Divine Sea, only to be filled again.”

Vol. 19 – Aug. 14, 1926:  These knowledge’s will be an immensely high and strong wall, more than the terrestrial Eden, which will prevent the enemy from entering in order to molest those who, conquered by It, will pass to live in the Kingdom of My Will.”

Rev. 15:2:  “And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands.  And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb…

Rev. 16:15:  “Lo, I am coming like a thief!  Blessed is he who is awake, keeping his garments that he may not go naked and be seen exposed!”

THE FOURTH WATCH (The new era – the era of peace)

MT 14:[21] And the number of them that did eat, was five thousand men, besides women and children. [22] And forthwith Jesus obliged his disciples to go up into the boat, and to go before him over the water, till he dismissed the people. [23] And having dismissed the multitude, he went into a mountain alone to pray. And when it was evening, he was there alone. [24] But the boat in the midst of the sea was tossed with the waves: for the wind was contrary. [25] And in the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking upon the sea.

[26] And they seeing him walk upon the sea, were troubled, saying: It is an apparition. And they cried out for fear. [27] And immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying: Be of good heart: it is I, fear ye not. [28] And Peter making answer, said: Lord, if it be thou, bid me come to thee upon the waters. [29] And he said: Come. And Peter going down out of the boat, walked upon the water to come to Jesus. [30] But seeing the wind strong, he was afraid: and when he began to sink, he cried out, saying: Lord, save me.

[31] And immediately Jesus stretching forth his hand took hold of him, and said to him: O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt? [32] And when they were come up into the boat, the wind ceased. [33] And they that were in the boat came and adored him, saying: Indeed thou art the Son of God.

The fourth watch – (the time following the third watch)

“Seeing Him…”  “they cried out in fear…”  - “It is an apparition” 

“…when they were come up into the boat, the wind ceased. [33] And they that were in the boat came and adored him, saying: Indeed thou art the Son of God.     (The boat – the Catholic Church John Bosco’s dream, the wind - persecution)  Those who enter into the Catholic Church after the warning will come to believe and those who remain in the Church will adore Him.

 “…seeing the wind strong, he was afraid: and when he began to sink, he cried out, saying: ‘Lord, save me.’” (persecution of the Church)

[31] And immediately Jesus stretching forth his hand took hold of him, and said to him: O thou of little faith, why didst thou doubt? [32] And when they were come up into the boat, the wind ceased. [33] And they that were in the boat came and adored him, saying: Indeed thou art the Son of God.

Book of Heaven, Vol. 13 – July 20, 1921:  “…when my love will make arise the Era of my Will – the new Era of maximum benefit for creatures – then will the seas and rivers of my Volition overflow; and as their gigantic waves rise, they will sweep everything into My Will – but no longer hiddenly; rather, Its roaring waves will make themselves seen by everyone and will touch everyone.  And those who want to resist the current will run the risk of losing their lives.”

Twelve-hour night time division
(Roman night watch division was adopted after Roman occupation began in 63 BC)

THE NIGHT WATCH IN THE 1ST CENTURY AD

Sundown to 9PM	First watch
9PM to midnight	Second watch
Midnight to 3AM	Third watch *
3AM to sun rise	Fourth watch

---

^*  A trumpet call, known as the cockcrow signaled the end of the 3rd and beginning of the 4th watch.

So stay awake, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming: evening, midnight, cockcrow or dawn.  Mark 13:35

Above taken from:  http://www.agapebiblestudy.com/charts/jewishtimedivision.htm

Above added 10/20/15

Lynne Bauer

More on the Fourth Watch from Msgr. Charles Pope:

Jan 09, 2014

Why Did Jesus “mean to pass by” his Disciples when He was walking on the water?

By: Msgr. Charles Pope

In the Gospel for daily Mass on this past Wednesday we read from Mark Chapter 6. It is the familiar story of Jesus walking on the water after having multiplied to loaves and fishes earlier that day.

There is to our modern ears an odd turn of phrase that takes place about midway through the gospel. It says: About the fourth watch of the night, [Jesus] came toward them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them… (Mark 6:48)

This seems odd. Why would Jesus approach them walking on the water, (astounding miracle that it is), and simply mean to pass on by?

The problem is, we think that it means that he will not to stop, but will keep walking passed them. But actually this is not what it means.

This expression of God “passing by” is common in the Theophanies of the Old Testament. For example, when Moses was up on the mountaintop, The text teaches us in Exodus, that he revealed himself to Moses by “passing by.” The text says:

Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.” (Exodus 33: 18-23)

Another example of this is in the appearance he made to Elijah who was hiding in a cave after his flight from Jezebel. At one point, God called him out of the cave so that he could “pass by” The text says,

The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. (1 kings 19:11-13)

Some other example of this “passing by are:

1. When John the Baptist saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” (Jn 1:36)
2. Now hearing a crowd going by, [the Blind Man] began to inquire what this was. They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”… (Lk 18:37-38)

Hence, for Jesus to “pass by” is not for him to walk past us in hiding. Rather, it is just the opposite, it is for him to reveal himself to us and summon us to Faith. This is also the case in the Old Testament texts where God “passes by” not to hide, but reveal himself and summon us to faith.

Some may argue that these phrases should be translated differently so that we can better grasp their meaning. Why not just say “He came toward them to reveal himself to them” ??

Perhaps there is some merit in this. But I would counter that more mileage is sometimes gained by the text causing us to ponder, and pray. Consider that in “decoding” this text we have looked at four other passages. Further, we have deepened our appreciation of what it means for God to “pass by.”