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Psalm 33:22
Jesus says:
“Not only the death of the sinner is horrible. But also his life. One should not be deceived by their outward appearance. It is a veneer, a curtain placed there to cover the truth. In truth I tell you that one hour, just one hour of the peace of the just - not to mention an hour of the jubilation of the beloved ones resting on my breast - is incalculably richer in happiness than the longest life of sin.
“Is the appearance different? Yes, it is different. But as to the eyes of the world the wealth of joy of a saint of mine does not appear, so, too, the abyss of restlessness and discontent which is in the heart of the unjust does not appear to the eyes of the world; an abyss which, like the crater of an erupting volcano, continually spews forth acrid, corrosive, poisonous vapors which intoxicate these wretched ones more and more. Yes, to seek to smother restlessness, those not acting with goodness try to obtain for themselves the satisfactions which can appeal to their depraved hearts. Evil satisfactions, then, for from their ferment only poison can come.
“This is the key which explains certain very obscure lives wherein obscurity grows from day to day, as if falling by leaps and bounds into the deepest abysses. It is the very weight of their actions as outlaws - I am speaking of my Law, on which, moreover, all human laws rest which aim to keep men within the rules of morality - which drags them lower and lower.
“The ones who see - because they are already raised up into God they can see what is invisible to the eyes of the living - are horrified on contemplating the perfection in evil of obstinate, impenitent sinners. Their death, as the psalm says, is a horror. A horror which hurls them into the other Life so that they will sink into a greater Horror.
“There are giants in sin because their social position also makes them giants in society already. But there are also great sinners who are mixed up with the crowd and do not stand out externally for special actions, but who are corrupted within by the sins which cry out against God and against one’s neighbor. “How many! The good, when, by a special grace, they are able to know spiritually are horrified, as with putrefaction. And they really are putrefaction altering color and features and polluting with its stench, in which the smell of Satan and Hell is perceptibly present.
“But remember - O all of you that are good - your Master. Do they cause you repugnance? You? And what must they have caused Me, pure and holy? Disgust. And yet I loved them to the point of dying to try to save them.
“Love them, then, with the greatest love: that which overcomes everything to save. Do you fail to save? It doesn’t matter. Love that soul all the same just because it is the work of God. Is it now soiled by Satan’s excrement? Cleanse it with the constant dew of supernatural love. True love. Because it is stripped of all human attraction - indeed, heroic, for it withstands in spite of the fact that your humanity and even your soul feel sickened by this fetid den of vermin.
“If you save it, you will receive great joy. If you do not save it, the merit will be yours all the same, and you will have it, for you will have loved according to my command.”516
The Same Day. Thursday Evening at 9 p.m.
St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus says:
“Yes, it is really I who come to spend this hour of agony with you and to spend it by recalling Jesus, whose face is altered with the sweat of blood and begins to take on the painful expression which is what makes us, his little victims and brides, rave with compassionate love.
“It is I. I, too, come to caress you.517 It is my hour. For when the ‘great silences’ are about to begin, which are the touches of perfection of the Divine Artificer of our souls, it is necessary to have a friend nearby who is familiar with them.
“Do not be afraid. Our Jesus also died of thirst....518 Oh, divine thirst! And yet, though nearly unable to speak any more because of his dried out jaws, He uttered the saving words. And He uttered the saving prayer: ‘Father, forgive them’; ‘Today you shall be with Me’; ‘Into your hands I entrust my spirit.’519 Almost mute with thirst and the agony, almost blind with the scab of blood on his eyelids and approaching death, He was able to say the saving prayers and go on seeing and adoring the Father’s will.
“It is not necessary to do much when we are close to immolation, little sister. It suffices to be able to remain faithful. And to see God beyond the scab of pain ulcerating our hearts and say to God that we still love Him, always....
“Do not be afraid. God is content with you. He sends me to tell you so. Do you think you are not a ‘child in spiritual childhood’?520 You are. Because you do everything with simplicity. Even your imperfections. And you do not try to conceal them with the craftiness of an adult in a false robe of justice. You are ‘small’ in the way I taught, for Jesus likes the ‘small’ and said that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them.521 And you are a ‘victim.’ An adult, then. For the spirit voluntarily choosing to be immolated, even if that of a small child, is an adult spirit.
“Yesterday you wondered what the ‘twofold love’ is which I requested for myself. For you it is this, little sister: to be a child and love Jesus with the simplicity of a child and to be a victim and love Him with the heroism of a martyr. With Him in the poor cradle of straw, with Him on the rough cross. Always with Him. So as never to leave Him alone. To make Him smile. To drink his tears and die with Him.
“How He loves you! He has given you his two holiest beds: the cradle over which the Mother watches and the cross over which all of Heaven bends. They are the places where his love calls you to a divine appointment of love. From them you will take flight for Heaven.
“Rest now, little sister. I remain here to pray with you. But believe that it suffices to love, to love very much, and say only: ‘Jesus, I love you!’ and say it with true love to be not only justified, but loved by God with a preferential love.
“Happy are those who with every heartbeat are able to say, ‘I love You.’ They will expire with this profession of love in their minds, in their hearts, and on their lips. And it will open Paradise for them. For God loves whoever loves Him and gives Himself to whoever loves Him.”
I was uncertain, feeling these new caresses by a delicate hand which was, however, longer than Mary’s. I don’t even know if it was longer, but surely different in shape and weight and the manner of caressing. I saw only the hand, the back of which was nearly covered by a long brown sleeve. A beautiful tapering hand, but it really seemed to be longer than that of the Mother. I felt it grazing my head from time to time. I was happy. My physical suffering, which is very intense, was consoled by that touch. But I did not dare say to myself, “It’s St. Thérèse.” I was also mistaken yesterday morning. But when it was not only a caress, but also the sight of the hand, I had no more doubts.
I saw nothing else, however. The hands and the voice, very beautiful and sweet, and a great peace, security, and a warm sense of friendship - I cannot explain very clearly. Her words, moreover, made me even happier.
I have been very ill since yesterday afternoon on account of my heart. Whereas yesterday morning, after the Mother came, I was so relieved, physically as well, that I even sang a love song to Jesus which I composed, both music and lyrics. But it does not matter. I am very happy to have received a visit from my beloved little saint - so happy that the physical pain seems like nothing to me....
516 John 13:34-35.
517 Like Our Lady the day before.
518 John 19:28.
519 Luke 23:34, 43, 46.
520 A reference to June 23 and to the writer’s observations thereafter.
521 Matthew 19:14; Mark 10:14; Luke 18:16-17.