Our Lady Priests 1979

To the Priests, Our Lady's Beloved Sons

From the writings of Don Stefano Gobbi

http://our-lady-priests.blogspot.it/

Year 1979

THE SIGNS OF THE PURIFICATION

167

January 1, 1979

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

The Plan o f Merciful Love

a "Beloved children, I am close to you at the beginning of this new year. Have confidence in my Immaculate Heart!

b Enclosed within my Heart is the plan of the merciful love of my Son Jesus, who wants to lead the world back to the Father for the perfect glorification of God.

c The world is not lost, even though it is now walking along the road of perdition and of its own destruction. Through a trial which I have foretold to you many times, it will in the end be saved by an act of the merciful love of Jesus, who has entrusted you to the action of your heavenly Mother.

d Sin still covers the earth; hatred and violence are erupting everywhere; the greatest crimes are crying out daily for vengeance in the sight of God.

e You are beginning a year during which all will be particularly aware of the powerful hand of God, which will be stretched out over the world to help it through the irresistible force of his merciful love.

f And so, my children, events which you cannot imagine are awaiting you.

g But there are also the prayers of the good, the sorrows of the innocent, the hidden sufferings of many, the tears and supplications of numerous victims scattered throughout the world. Through them, I have hastened the time of my extraordinary intervention.

h The Church, my beloved Daughter, is now emerging from a great trial because the battle between me and my Adversary has been waged, even at her very summit. Satan has attempted to infiltrate to the very point of threatening the rock on which the Church is founded, but I have prevented him from doing so.

i Precisely when Satan was under the illusion that he had conquered, after God had accepted the sacrifice of Pope Paul VI and of John Paul I, I obtained from God for the Church the Pope who had been prepared and formed by me.

j He has consecrated himself to my Immaculate Heart and has solemnly entrusted to me the Church, of which I am the Mother and Queen.

k In the person and the work of the Holy Father, John Paul 11, I am reflecting my great light which will become stronger, the more the darkness envelops everything.

l Priests and faithful consecrated to my Immaculate Heart, children whom I have gathered from all parts of the world into my cohort for the great battle which awaits you, unite, all of you, about the Pope, and you will be clothed in my own strength and in my marvelous light!

m Love him; pray for him; listen to him! Obey him in all things, even to wearing the ecclesiastical dress according to the desire of my Heart and his will which he has already made known to you. Offer me the suffering you may experience if, because of this, you are sometimes ridiculed by your own confreres.

n For the Church too, which has a sure guide in the person of the Pope, the time of purification will be shortened, in accordance with my loving plan.

o This then is your hour, the hour of the apostles of my Immaculate Heart.

p Spread courageously the Gospel of Jesus; defend the truth love the Church; help all to flee sin and to live in the grace and the love of God.

q Pray: suffer: make reparation!

You are entering the conclusive period of the purification and the time might not be measured by you, because it is now ordered according to a design of love that you are called to see soon in all of its splendor"

168

January 28, 1979

The First Sign: Confusion

a "Beloved children, take refuge in my Immaculate Heart.

b The glorious reign of Christ will be preceded by a great suffering which will serve to purify the Church and the world and to lead them to their complete renewal.

c Jesus has already begun his merciful work of renewal with the Church, his Spouse.

d Various signs indicate to you that the time of purification has come for the Church: the first of these is the confusion which reigns there. This in fact is the time of its greatest confusion.

e Confusion is spreading within the Church, where everything in the field of dogma, liturgy and discipline is being subverted.

f These include truths revealed by my Son and which the Church has defined once and for all, through her divine and infallible authority.

g These truths are unchangeable, as the very truth of God is unchangeable. Many of these form part of real mysteries in the strict sense of the word, because they are not and never can be understood by human intelligence.

h Man must accept them with humility, by an act of pure faith and firm trust in God who has revealed them and proposed them to men of all times, through the Magisterium of the Church.

i But now there is spread abroad a most dangerous tendency of wanting to penetrate and understand everything even mysteries to such a point that only that part of the truth is accepted which can be understood by human intelligence. There is a desire to unveil the very mystery of God.

j Any truth which is not understood by reason is rejected. There is an inclination to propose all revealed truth in a new and rationalistic way, under the illusion of making it acceptable to all.

k Thus truth is being corrupted with error. Error is being spread in a most dangerous way, namely, as a new and modern way of understanding the truth, and it ends by subverting the very truths which are the foundation of the Catholic faith.

l They are not denied openly, but they are accepted in such an equivocal way that doctrine is most seriously compromised by error in an unprecedented manner.

m As a result, talk and discussion go on and on; but there is no longer any belief, and the darkness of error spreads.

n The confusion which tends to prevail within the Church and to subvert its truths is the first sign which indicates to you with certainty that the time of her purification has come.

o The Church is in fact Christ who is living mystically in your midst.

p Christ is the Truth. The Church must therefore always shine with the light of Christ who is the Truth.

q But at present, its Adversary has succeeded, through his subtle and deceitful works, in bringing much darkness into its interior.

r And today the Church is darkened by the smoke of Satan.

s Satan has first of all bedimmed the understanding and the thinking of many of my children, seducing them through vainglory and pride, and through them he has darkened the Church.

r You, beloved sons of your heavenly Mother, you, the apostles of my Immaculate Heart, are being called today for this purpose: to fight by word and example that the truth may be more and more accepted by all. Thus the darkness of confusion will be defeated by the light.

u For this reason, you must live the Gospel of my Son Jesus to the letter.

v You must be, purely and simply, the living Gospel. Then you must proclaim to all, with strength and courage, the Gospel which you live. Your words will have the power of the Holy Spirit who will fill you and the light of the wisdom given you by your heavenly Mother.

For this, the more the confusion, having entered inside of the Church, the greater the suffering of her purification will increase, the more She, by means of you, will experience the comfort and help of my maternal action.

By you the Church will be helped to come out of the darkness, in order to be born again into the divine splendor of her immutable Truth.

169

February 2, 1979

Feast of the Presentation of the Child Jesus

The Second Sign: Lack of Discipline

a "Contemplate your heavenly Mother as she presents herself at the temple to offer her little Child.

b He is the Word of the Father, made man; He is the Son of God through whom the universe was created; He is the awaited Messiah to whom Prophecy and Law have been directed.

c And yet, from the very moment of his human conception, He becomes obedient in all things to the Will of the Father: `Behold, I come to do your Will, O God.' (Heb 10:7) And from his very birth, He submits Himself to all the prescriptions of the Law: after eight days, the circumcision and today, after forty days, the presentation in the temple.

d Just as every other first-born, mine also belongs to God, and He is ransomed by the prescribed sacrifice. From the priest, He returns to my arms that He might be offered anew by me through the wound of my Immaculate Heart, already pierced by a sword; and thus, our yes to the Will of the Father is pronounced together.

e Beloved sons, when I appeal to you to become littler, in my arms, it is to make you like my Child, Jesus, through docile and perfect obedience to the divine Will.

f Today my Heart is wounded anew by seeing so many of my beloved sons who live without docility to the Will of God, because they do not observe and often openly disdain the laws proper to their priestly state.

g Thus lack of discipline is spreading in the Church and reaping victims, even from among her very pastors.

h This is the second sign which indicates to you that, for the Church, the final time of purification has come: a lack of discipline which has spread throughout all levels, especially among the clergy

i It is lack of discipline to be wanting in interior docility to the Will of God, a lack of discipline which is manifested by the flouting of those obligations which are proper to your state of life: the obligation to pray, to give good example, to lead a holy and apostolic life. How many there are, among the priests, who allow themselves to become absorbed in excessive activity and who no longer pray! They habitually neglect the Liturgy of the Hours, meditation and the recitation of the holy rosary. They limit their prayer to a hurried celebration of Holy Mass.

j And so my poor sons become interiorly empty and no longer have the light and strength to resist the many snares amidst which they live. They thus become contaminated by the spirit of the world and accept its way of life, share its values, take part in its profane manifestations, allow themselves to be conditioned by its methods of propaganda and, in the end, come to adopt its very mentality. And so they end up by living as ministers of the world, according to its spirit which they justify and propagate, thus provoking scandal amongst many of the faithful.

k From this springs the growing rebellion against canonical norms which regulate the life of priests, and the recurring objection to the obligation of sacred celibacy, desired by Jesus as expressed by his Church, and which has at this time been once again strongly reaffirmed by the Pope.

l It is lack of discipline to disregard with ease the norms which the Church has laid down for the regulation of liturgical and ecclesiastical life.

m Today each one tends to direct himself according to his own tastes or free choice, and with what scandalous facility are violated the norms of the Church, which have been reaffirmed again and again by the Holy Father, such as the obligation for priests to wear the ecclesiastical dress!

n Alas, sometimes the first to continue disobeying this prescription are the pastors themselves, and it is their bad example which then fosters lack of discipline in all sectors of the Church.

o This disorder, which is spreading in the Church, indicates to you with clarity that the final moment of her purification has come.

p What must you do, beloved sons of your heavenly Mother, apostles of light of my Immaculate Heart?

q Let yourselves be carried in my arms, as my tiniest babes, and I will make you perfectly docile to the Will of the Father.

r Thus to everyone you will give a good example of perfect obedience to the laws of the Church, and your heavenly Mother will be able to make use of you to restore order in her house so that, after the suffering, the triumph of her Immaculate Heart may shine forth in the Church.”

170

February 11, 1979

The Third Sign: Division

a "I am your Immaculate Mother.

b I appeared on earth, in the poor grotto of Massabielle, in order to point out to you the road you must walk in these difficult times.

c It is my road: that of purity, of grace, of prayer, of penance.

d It is the road which my Son Jesus has already pointed out to you, to lead you all to the Father in his Spirit of Love. You have within you his own Spirit which causes you to cry out to God as Father because He has shared his divine nature with you.

e Walk the road of love. Make place within you for the Spirit of Love which is bringing you, in life, to be more and more united.

f Love one another as Jesus has loved you, and you will become truly one. Unity is the perfection of love.

g And so Jesus has desired that his Church be one, to make of her the sacrament of God's love for men.

h Today my Immaculate Heart trembles and is anguished to see the division within the Church.

i This division, which has penetrated the Church, is the third sign which indicates to you with certainty that the final moment of her painful purification has come.

j If, in the course of the centuries, the Church has many times been torn by division which has led many of my children to separate themselves from her, I nevertheless obtained from Jesus the singular privilege of her interior unity.

k But in these times, my Adversary has, with his smoke, succeeded in darkening even the light of this divine prerogative of the Church.

l This interior division is manifesting itself even among the faithful who often set themselves one against the other, in an attempt to defend and better promote the truth. Thus the truth is betrayed by even them, as the Gospel of my Son cannot be divided.

m This interior division sometimes even leads priests to set themselves against priests, bishops against bishops, and cardinals against cardinals, for never before as in these times has Satan so succeeded in finding his way into their midst, rending asunder the precious bond of their mutual love.

n This interior division is expressed by the tendency to leave to himself and to abandon, so to speak, the very Vicar of Jesus, the Pope, who is a son particularly loved and enlightened by me.

o My motherly Heart is wounded to see how the silence and neglect of my children often envelop the words and actions of the Holy Father, while he is increasingly struck and impeded by his adversaries.

p Because of this interior division, his very ministry is not sufficiently supported and furthered by the whole Church whom Jesus has wanted to be united about the successor or Peter.

q My motherly Heart grieves to see how even some pastors refuse to let themselves be guided by his enlightening and trustworthy words.

r The first way of being separated from the Pope is that of open rebellion. But there is also another way, more subtle and dangerous. It is that of proclaiming one's unity openly, but of dissenting from him interiorly, letting his teaching fall into a void and, in practice, doing the contrary of what he says.

s Oh, Church, Mystical Body of my Jesus, in your painful journey to Calvary, you have reached the eleventh station, and you see yourself wrenched and torn in your members, which are again nailed to the Cross!

t What must you do, my sons, apostles of my Immaculate and Sorrowful Heart? You must become a hidden seed, ready even to die for the internal unity of the Church.

u And so I am leading you each day to a very great love for, and fidelity to, the Pope and the Church united to him. For this reason I am now letting you share in the anxiety of my motherly Heart; for this reason I am forming you in the heroism of sanctity and leading you with me up Calvary. Through you also, I will be able to help the Church emerge from her painful purification, so that in her all the splendor of her restored unity may be manifest to the world.”

171

March 3, 1979

The Fourth Sign: Persecution

a "Remain, all of you, in the refuge of my Immaculate Hear and you will find your peace and interior serenity.

b My beloved sons, the storm which I foretold at Fatima has now unleashed its fury for the purification of the Church and all the world. This is the hour of the Father's mercy which, through the love of the Son's divine Heart, is made manifest at the moment when everyone's suffering is at its greatest.

c The fourth sign, which indicates to you that the culminating period of the Church's painful purification has come, is persecution. The Church is in fact being persecuted in various ways.

d She is being persecuted by the world in which she lives and journeys, pointing out to all the way to salvation. The real enemies of God are those who set themselves deliberately against God, in order to lead all humanity to live without Him; it is they who are persecuting the Church more and more.

e Sometimes she is persecuted in an open and violent manner; she is despoiled of everything and prevented from preaching the Gospel of Jesus.

f But in these times, the Church is often subjected to an even greater ordeal; she is persecuted in a subtle and painless manner, by being deprived bit by bit of the oxygen which she needs to live. Then an attempt is made to bring her to compromise with the spirit of the world, which thus enters into her and affects and paralyzes her vitality.

g Collaboration is often brought about through a most subtle form of persecution; an outward show of respect for her has become the surest way to strike her.

h A new technique has been discovered by which she can be put to death with no outcry and without shedding blood.

i The Church is being persecuted also from within, especially at the hands of those sons of hers who have reached a compromise with her Adversary. He has succeeded in seducing even some of her very pastors. Some of these are even knowingly collaborating in this plan of interior and hidden persecution of my Church.

j My beloved sons are being called to the trial of finding themselves sometimes obstructed, pushed aside and persecuted by some of their own confreres, while those who are unfaithful have free scope for their action.

k The same hours of suffering that my Son Jesus lived through are awaiting you too, beloved sons: the hours of Gethsemane, when He experienced the interior agony of being abandoned, betrayed and denied by his own.

l If this is the road trodden by the Master, it is also the road which you too must tread, you his faithful disciples, as the purification of the entire Church becomes more painful.

m Have confidence, beloved sons, apostles of my Immaculate Heart!

n No other trial will serve so much to bring about the complete renewal of the Church as this interior persecution. In fact she will emerge from this suffering purer, more humble, more enlightened, stronger.

o You must be ready to suffer more and more, the closer the final moment of purification comes. And so I have wished to prepare a safe refuge for you.

p In my Immaculate Heart you will be consoled and formed in the virtue of fortitude, as you become more and more aware of the presence of your heavenly Mother at your side. She will gather up all your sufferings, as beneath the Cross she did those of Jesus, because she must now carry out once again for the Church her maternal function as Co-redemptrix, and lead back to the Father all the children who have gone astray."

172

March 9, 1979

A Friday of Lent

Your Liberation Is Near

a "Beloved sons, consider with me the signs of the times which you are living. The hearts of men have grown cold, and the world has become a desert.

b But you should have all the more confidence in your heaven Mother! Look, with me, at the times in which you are living, and you will see the signs of my extraordinary intervention.

c When the first buds appear on the trees, you reflect that winter is now coming to an end and that a new spring is near.

d I have pointed out to you the signs of the cruel winter through which the Church is now passing, by way of a purification which has now reached its most painful peak. The Spouse of my Jesus appears again covered with wounds and obscured by my Adversary, who appears to be celebrating his complete victory.

e He is certain that he has won the victory in the Church, by the confusion which has subverted many of her truths, by the lack of discipline which has caused disorder to spread, by the division which has attacked her internal unity and by the insidious and hidden persecution which has crucified her anew.

f But see how, in this most cruel winter of hers, the buds of a renewed life are already appearing. They tell you that the hour of your liberation is near.

g For the Church, a new spring of the triumph of my Immaculate Heart is about to burst forth. She will still be the very same Church, but renewed and enlightened, made humbler and stronger, poorer and more evangelical through her purification, so that in her the glorious reign of my Son Jesus may shine forth for all.

h She will be the new Church of light, and even now her branches can be seen sprouting with many new buds: these are all they who have entrusted themselves to their heavenly Mother; you also are among them, you apostles of my Immaculate Heart.

i All of you are these buds, my little children, who have consecrated yourselves to me and who live by my own spirit.

j You are these buds, you faithful disciples of Jesus, who are desirous of living a life of contempt for the world and for yourselves, in poverty, in humility, in silence, in prayer and mortification, in charity and in union with God, while at the same time being unknown and scorned by the world.

k The time has now come for you to emerge from your hiddenness and to go out and enlighten the earth. Present yourselves to all as my sons, for I am always with you. Let faith be the light which illumines you in these days of darkness, and let it be zeal alone for the honor and glory of my Son Jesus which consumes you.

l Fight, sons of light, few though you still be! Many will follow in your footsteps and will become part of my cohort, because the hour of my battle has now come.

m In this most cruel of winters, it is you who are the buds which are burgeoning forth from my Immaculate Heart, and which I am placing on the branches of the Church, to tell you that her most beautiful springtime is at hand.

n This will be for her like a new Pentecost.

o Beloved sons, look with my eyes at the times in which you are living.

p Persevere in prayer, in suffering and in hope because the hour of your liberation is near.”

173

March 25, 1979

Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

Your Interior Equilibrium

a "I am the Mother of the Incarnate Word.

b By my yes I offered to the Father my personal co-operation in his plan of salvation.

c From the bosom of the Father the Word was placed in my maternal womb to assume from me his human nature. I became the true Mother of Jesus.

d This yes to the Will of the Father blossomed in my soul as the fruit of a long and silent preparation.

e Behold the road your Mother traveled to reach this ineffable moment: that of humility, of trust, of filial abandonment, of silence, of intimate and profound union with God.

f Already from my childhood, I offered myself completely to the Lord, putting myself as a slave at his service in perfect virginity, in hiddenness and in prayer.

g My soul opened itself to an ever greater light, and my life was formed in detachment from all creatures in order to love the Lord perfectly, by fulfilling his will and listening to his word. I fostered within myself a relish for seeking, for gathering in and for treasuring only the word of God.

h When the Father decided to place his Word in my virginal womb, He found your Mother ready to welcome Him with love and joy, being only intent upon the perfect fulfillment of the divine Will.

i My beloved children, contemplate your Mother at the moment of her annunciation, as with her Heart and her lips she says her yes to the Will of the Lord.

j You too should learn always to say yes to whatever the Lord now asks of you through the voice that comes to you from the Immaculate Heart of your heavenly Mother. You must no longer doubt! Do not seek elsewhere. Do not beg for confirmations or encouragement.

k I have arranged, through this work of mine, that your support should be founded solely in my Immaculate Heart. I will cause every support to collapse about you, and I will not allow you to put your trust in purely human encouragement or approval.

l My children, from you too I desire littleness, humility, hiddenness, silence and trust.

m You must tread the same road as your heavenly Mother: that of intimate union with God, of detachment from all creatures and of perfect service to the Lord. I am bringing you to say yes always to whatever Jesus asks of you. How few there are, even among those specially chosen by me, who know how to say yes to Jesus!

n Tread with me the road which I am pointing out to you and along which I am leading you, letting yourselves be guided with docility and filial abandonment. I am training you to listen to the word of God that it may be received, understood, loved and treasured by you, and put into practice.

o In these times of purification, many are led astray by other words. In fact, my Adversary succeeds in seducing even the good by false manifestations of the supernatural in order to bring about deception and confusion on all sides. He will succeed in working many prodigies which will beguile the minds of even the good.

p As for you, remain within the refuge of my Immaculate Heart, and there listen to the word of God which the Church guards, interprets and proclaims. Never before as at the present time has the Pope had such light with which to lead you along the road of clarity and truth.

q Within my Immaculate Heart I will build up your interior equilibrium, my beloved sons, because today you have need of being ever more prudent and well-balanced.

r This equilibrium will be a sign to all of what your heavenly Mother is doing in you and will assure the Church of finding in you faithful and wise sons."

174

April 13, 1979

Good Friday

Near My Son and My Sons

a "Today my place is here: near my Son who is suffering.

b The Will of the Father so disposed that I would not be near Jesus during his interior agony in Gethsemane, because the very absence of the Mother would make his abandonment more complete.

c `If it is possible, let this chalice pass from me.' (cf. Mt 26:39) But in my soul, during the night, I remained ever near my Son.

d Through prayer and suffering, I truly shared in all his agony in order to comfort and help Him, by uniting my yes to his in saying: `Father, not my will but yours be done.' (cf. Mt 26:39) And when the angel was sent to Him from heaven to comfort Him, he passed by me also, in order that I might place in his chalice all the love of my motherly Heart.

e Today my place is here: near my Son who is dying.

f The meeting takes place on the road to Calvary, after Jesus has been betrayed, denied and abandoned by his own. Of the twelve, there remains only one, whom I take by the hand to encourage him and to give him strength to remain with us. The condemnation is written on the scourged body of Jesus, and the thorns cover his eyes with blood.

g It is here that I meet my Son: I am at his side to help Him die. I feel the nails which pierce his flesh, the tearing of his body hung on the gibbet; his labored breathing; I hear his voice as it grows weaker with words of prayer and pardon, and He appears to me to be dying.

h But I continue to live, beneath the Cross, with a pierced Heart and a wounded soul, still miraculously alive because, as Mother, I must help my Son to die. No one will ever understand the hidden mystery of this moment.

i Today my place is here: near my buried Son.

j And now my sorrow bursts forth as a flooding river bursts through all its embankments. My tears bathe his face, my laments cradle his body, and with my hands I close the deep wounds, while my Immaculate Heart becomes his first sepulcher.

k Then when night casts a veil over all things, the vigil begins for the Mother. I am here, recollected in the faith which has never deserted me, in the hope which completely illumines me and in prayer which has become continual and unceasing as though to mark the passing of time which for me no longer has either day or night.

l The fervent prayer of the Mother penetrates heaven and is accepted by the Father who, to shorten my anguished wait, anticipates the moment of the resurrection of the Son.

m My place is here: near my risen Son.

n When Jesus comes to me in the light of his glorified body, receives me in his divine arms and bends down to kiss the wounds of my great sorrow, I understand that my mission on his behalf has been accomplished.

o I am beginning my maternal mission for you, for the Church which has been born of his great suffering and mine.

p Today my place is again here: near all my sons.

q Till the end of the world, I will always be close to you, sons begotten of the death of my only Son.

r Above all, I am with you during these moments of darkness and suffering, when you are called to live out what Jesus endured during his redemptive passion.

s I am always near you to help you to suffer, to die and to rise again, until the plan of the Father be fulfilled, and with Jesus, you too may rejoice in the glory of his kingdom of life."

175

May 13, 1979

Anniversary of the First Apparition at Fatima

The Woman Clothed with the Sun

a "I have come from heaven to reveal to you my plan in this struggle which involves everyone, marshaled together at the orders of two opposing leaders: the Woman Clothed with the Sun and the Red Dragon.

b I have shown you the road you must take: that of prayer and penance. I have called you to the interior conversion of your life.

c I have also prepared a refuge for you that you may be brought together, protected and strengthened during the present tempest which will become even more violent. The refuge is my Immaculate Heart.

d I am now announcing to you that this is the time of the decisive battle. During these years, I myself am intervening, as the Woman Clothed with the Sun, in order to bring to fulfillment the triumph of my Immaculate Heart which I have already begun through you, my beloved sons.

e Sufferings will be asked of you, but in my Immaculate Heart, you will be called to taste as well the intimate joy of my motherly love.

f The darkness will grow deeper, but the ray of light which comes from my Heart to show you the way will become even stronger. Sin will cover everything, but you will be helped by me to clothe yourselves in divine grace which must become ever more resplendent within you that you may give a witness of holiness to all.

g Listen to my voice with humility and docility. Let yourselves to be guided by me in each moment.

This plan, which for years in silence and in hiddenness I am carrying out, soon will be unveiled in all of its splendor. Then, to the whole Church, the great masterpiece of love of the divine and merciful Heart of my Son Jesus will appear."

176

Garabandal (Spain); June 14, 1979

Solemnity of Corpus Christi

Jesus in the Eucharist

a "My beloved sons, continue to walk trustingly along the road on which your heavenly Mother is leading you. My plan is about to be fulfilled through you who have responded to my motherly invitation.

b Second my action, the purpose of which is to transform you interiorly, in order to make you all priests according to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus. The triumph of my Immaculate Heart cannot take place except in the triumph of my Son Jesus, who will reign once again in the hearts, the souls and the lives of each person and nation: in all humanity.

c But as Jesus is truly in heaven, so also is He truly present on earth in the Eucharist: with his Body, his Blood, his Soul and his Divinity.

d His glorious reign will shine forth above all in the triumph of his Eucharistic Person, because the Eucharist will once again be the heart and center of the whole life of the Church.

e Jesus in the Eucharist will become the summit of all your prayer, which should be a prayer of adoration, of thanksgiving, of praise and of propitiation.

f Jesus in the Eucharist will once again be the center of all liturgical action, which will unfold itself as a hymn to the Most Holy Trinity, through the continual priestly action of Christ which will be carried out in the Eucharistic Mystery.

g Jesus in the Eucharist will once again be the center of your ecclesial gatherings, because the Church is his temple, his house which has been built above all that his divine presence may shine forth in your midst.

h Beloved sons, in these present times the darkness has alas obscured even the tabernacle; around it there is so much emptiness, so much indifference, so much negligence. Each day, doubts, denials and sacrileges increase. The Eucharistic Heart of Jesus is wounded anew by his own, in his own house, in the very place where He has taken up his divine dwelling in your midst.

i Become again perfect adorers and fervent ministers of Jesus in the Eucharist who, through you, makes Himself again present, immolates Himself anew and gives Himself to souls.

j Bring everyone to Jesus in the Eucharist: by adoration, by communion and by a greater love.

k Help everyone to approach the Eucharistic Jesus in a worthy manner, by cultivating in the faithful an awareness of sin, by inviting them to present themselves for the sacrament of Holy Communion in the state of grace, by educating them in the practice of frequent confession, which becomes necessary before receiving the Eucharist for those who are in mortal sin.

l Beloved sons, build a dam to hold back the flood of sacrileges. Never before as in these present times have so many communions been made and in such an unworthy manner.

m The Church is deeply wounded by the multiplication of sacrilegious communions! The time has come when your heavenly Mother says: enough!

n I myself will fill up the great void about my Son Jesus, present in the Eucharist. I will form a barrier of love about his divine presence. I myself will do this through you, beloved sons, whom I wish to set up as a guard of love round about all the tabernacles of the earth."

177

San Miguel (Azores); June 23, 1979

Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary

In My Immaculate Heart

a "Even in this remote archipelago you see my wonders. Today, from every part of the world, I am gathering you all into my Immaculate Heart. It is the refuge which your heavenly Mother has prepared for you.

b Here, you will be safe from every danger, and at the moment of the storm, you will find your peace.

c Here, you will be formed by me according to the plan which the Heart of my Son Jesus has entrusted to me. Thus each one of you will be helped by me to carry out in a perfect manner the divine Will alone.

d Here, I will give your hearts the capacity of love of my Immaculate Heart, and thus you will be formed in pure love for God and neighbor.

e Here, each day I beget you to your true life: that of the divine Grace with which my Son has filled me, in view also of my motherly function on your behalf.

f I am nourishing you, my beloved children, with this most pure milk, and clothing you with all my virtues. I am forming you interiorly and transforming you, because I am sharing with you my beauty and reproducing in you my image.

g Thus your life is becoming daily more conformable to my motherly plan, and the Most Holy Trinity can reflect its light in you and receive greater glory.

h My time has now come: this extraordinary intervention of mine must be clearly recognized by all.

i Therefore it is my desire that the feast of my Immaculate Heart be once again celebrated throughout the Church, with the devotion and liturgical solemnity that had once been determined by the Vicar of my Son when times were very tempestuous

j Today everything is becoming worse and plunging headlong toward a most painful ending.

k And so it must be apparent to the Church what that refuge is which I, the Mother, have prepared for all: my Immaculate Heart.

l With the Holy Father, this beloved son of mine who is shedding upon the Church the light which comes from my Heart, I encourage you all and bless you."

178

Fatima (Portugal); July 1-7, 1979

International Cenacle of Priests of the M.M.P.

Coming from the Five Continents

In This Cova da Iria

a "I have called you from every part of the world, and you, beloved sons, have replied with generosity to my maternal invitation.

b You have come here in great numbers to this Cova da Iria, where I manifested myself from heaven, to give you a message of assurance and of salvation for these difficult days in which you are living.

c United with you spiritually are all my beloved sons now scattered throughout all the parts of the earth.

d Why have I wanted you here this year?

e To press you all to my Immaculate Heart.

f What can a mother do when a great danger menaces her children? She can gather them in her arms and shut them up in a safe place, where they will be defended and protected.

g And here is the shelter that I am giving you, the protection that you need: my Immaculate Heart.

h In these days, I want to enclose you and all my beloved sons in the refuge of my Heart, to give your filial hearts the same dimensions as mine, and thus to transform you into an ever more perfect image of your heavenly Mother.

i The time has come when all of you must live, without doubts or reservations, the consecration which you have made to me.

j For this reason, I wish to put in the place of your little hearts, filled with sin, my Immaculate Heart, so as to give you my own capacity to love and thus transform the life of each one of you.

k And finally I have wanted you here to give each of you my spirit, in such a way that I might truly live and work in you. The time has come when I wish to manifest myself through you to the whole Church, because the time of the triumph of my Immaculate Heart has come.

l I am your heavenly Leader.

m I have wanted you here to gather you into my cohort, drawn up for battle, because now is the hour to go with me into combat.

n Do not be afraid, apostles of my Immaculate Heart, beloved sons of your heavenly Mother.

o At the orders of the Vicar of Jesus, go into every part of the earth, and spread the light which comes from my Heart.

p Soon you will understand fully the great gift which I have given to each one of you during these days; then you will all come to know why I have wanted you all here this year at Fatima, in a cenacle which has been full of extraordinary graces for you and for all my sons scattered throughout every part of the world."

179

July 29, 1979

Your Response

a "Beloved sons, each moment I look at you with the eyes of a mother, because I want from all of you an ever more perfect response to the desires which I have already made known to you in many ways.

b Only thus can you be ready for my great plan of love.

c Only thus can you be made use of by me for the battle which has begun.

d Only thus can you really form part of my cohort of which I am the Queen and the Leader.

e In order that my plan may be carried out, I must also be able to count on the response of each one of you.

f Let your response be generous, persevering and without reserve.

g You must respond to the great gift which I have given you, letting yourselves be nourished, formed and led docilely by me.

h Respond to my pressing invitation to be priests of prayer, focusing your every action on giving souls the light of the divine life of which you are ministers and dispensers. All your priestly prayer should be offered with me, on the altar of my Immaculate Heart.

i Respond to my motherly invitation to suffer. It is thus that I make you ever more similar to my crucified Son that you may cooperate personally in his work of redemption. It is through your sufferings, my beloved sons, that I can intervene in order to spare much suffering on the part of many of my poor wandering children.

j Respond to my invitation to walk towards that holiness to which I want to lead each one of you, because only thus can you be apostles of my Immaculate Heart, called to illumine the earth with the light of Christ, which must shine forth in your persons, in your lives and in all your apostolic actions.

k It is in this way, beloved sons, that the whole Church can be renewed. And then, through you, my great plan of love can be accomplished for the triumph of my Immaculate Heart, which is the triumph of the merciful love of God in the world.

l On your response depends whether I will be able to count on you in the great battle against Satan and his powerful army, which has already begun.

m I have told you that each of you has his post, prepared by me, a post which is unique and irreplaceable.

n Do not ask me what your post is, or how I am making use of you, or where I am leading you, because the particular role which each one must carry out has, through my motherly love, been assigned to each and all of you. And in silence and humility, each one must carry out this role to perfection.

o And so you must entrust yourselves to me with absolute confidence; you must believe in me, and you must let yourselves be led by me with docility and filial abandonment, without allowing yourselves to be stopped by doubts, or by the disbelief of those who surround you, or by your own desires, sometimes excessive, or by your curiosity which makes you want to know that which, for the present, you ought not to know.

p I am your Queen and your heavenly Leader, and I am bringing you together in my cohort, as I clothe you in my own invincible strength, terrible against my enemies.

q So now, you must obey my orders.

r Some are, however, still uncertain and insecure. They stop to ask confirmation and encouragement, and thus their response is neither prompt nor complete.

s This is now the time for you to be confident, because the time to go into combat has come. Soon each one of you will understand the great task to which you have been assigned, by the special predilection of my Immaculate Heart. For now, beloved sons, I ask of each one a response without reserve, so that my great plan of love may be accomplished, and your battle waged according to my orders."

180

August 4, 1979

Feast of St. John Vianney

First Saturday

The Five First Saturday

a "Beloved children, I look on you with motherly predilection and from all parts of the world, I am enclosing you more an more in my Immaculate Heart.

b These are the hours of battle, and therefore those weapons which I have prepared especially for you must be made use of

- the consecration to my Immaculate Heart,

- the frequent recitation of the holy rosary,

- and the practice of the five first Saturdays of the month in reparation for the offenses committed against my motherly Heart.

c During these Saturdays, I invite you to unite yourselves with me in the prayer of the rosary, in the meditation of its mysteries in confession, in taking part in Holy Mass and in a communion of reparation.

d To my daughter, Sister Lucy, I promised special protection at the moment of death and to obtain the graces necessary for salvation for all my children who, harking to my requests, will have devoutly carried out the practice of the five first Saturdays.

e At this time, when the danger of being eternally lost is so grave, bring souls to safety by entrusting them to the particular protection of your heavenly Mother.

f Today, reparation on the part of my children must also increase, because there is an ever increasing number of offenses committed against my Immaculate Heart, by insults against my Immaculate Conception, against my perpetual virginity, against my divine and universal motherhood and against my images and because, above all, the souls of the little ones are being alienated from me.

g Through you, this filial and loving crusade of reparation must spread and grow.

h Let the first Saturdays of every month be for you real encounters of reparative prayer and a generous response to the request which I have made of you. Above all, the religious and the faithful consecrated to my Immaculate Heart should, on these days, gather in cenacles of life with me.

i Now, as the battle grows more violent, I must provide moments of spiritual peace and repose for all. In these cenacles you will enter into my repose because, by praying and making reparation with your heavenly Mother, you will be consoled and strengthened by me.

j Thus, I will receive greater reparation from you, and you will receive new strength and light from your Mother, to walk along the difficult road of these times of yours."

181

August 22, 1979

Feast of the Queenship of Mary

Faithful, Prompt and Obedient

a "I am your Queen.

b I am calling you, my beloved children, to become, each and all, faithful, prompt and obedient subjects.

c You are being faithful when you always do what I ask of you, when you listen to my voice, and when you let yourselves be led by me with docility.

d Your faithfulness should increase each day, by your perfect fidelity to the duties of your particular state.

e In this you should be a good example to all.

f Whoever is faithful to me, makes of their life a mirror in which I can reflect my image and spreads about them the perfume of all my virtues.

g Whoever is faithful, moves ahead with confidence and abandonment along the road which I have pointed out, without looking to any creature, without waiting for human approval, without seeking support or encouragement, but, entering more and more into the depths of my Immaculate Heart, they allow themselves to be led by me along the way of the cross until they reach the summit of Calvary.

h The degree of your fidelity, which I desire to bring to the point of heroism, will be able to be measured by how you know how to suffer, to be silent and to offer things up.

i You are being prompt when you carry out my orders readily and without hesitation.

j During these years, I have pointed out to you the road you must take. Why do you not follow it with confidence and trust? Why do some of you come to a halt, still uncertain and insecure?

k My Adversary succeeds in bringing you to a halt with doubts, and paralyzes you with mistrust. I have already shown you my battle-plan, as I have formed you and led you by the hand to prepare you for the great battle which awaits you.

l You are being prompt when you make use of the weapons which I have given you: prayer, your priestly prayer, the frequent recitation of the holy rosary, suffering, and your priestly immolation.

m You must now be prompt to answer to the orders of your Queen, because you are about to enter into a most painful and decisive period.

n Very soon all could come to pass. You will be called to live through serious moments, following him whom God has placed at the head of my cohort, the Vicar of my Son Jesus who, with strength and courage, is advancing toward his perfect immolation for which I have long been preparing him, ready to give his very life for me and for you.

o You are being obedient when you give to all a witness of perfect docility to the norms which the Church prescribes for priests.

p This is your livery, and I want you all to be clothed in it to make you invulnerable in combat: your silent, humble and perfect obedience.

q Obedient to the Pope, to the bishops united with him and to the norms which regulate your priestly life.

r I want you to be disciplined in everything, even in the smallest things. Say always and with promptness your yes to the Father who calls you to follow his Son Jesus who, for your sake, made Himself a perfect example of obedience even to death on a cross.

s If all are faithful, prompt and obedient, I will be able truly to reign in each one of you. And through you I will be able to reign also in the whole world, preparing the way on which Christ the King is about to come to restore in your midst his glorious reign of love."

182

Altotting (Germany); September 8, 1979

Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

An Anguished Appeal

a "In the most venerated sanctuary of this great nation, so exposed to dangers, I have wanted you today to celebrate the feast of the birth of your heavenly Mother.

b In your person, I bless all my beloved sons scattered throughout the whole world. I have led you everywhere to gather into the refuge of my Immaculate Heart all those priests who, swept away by the tempest which has now been unleashed, are running the great danger of being lost.

c How many of my beloved sons are now responding with ever greater generosity and are consecrating themselves to my Immaculate Heart!

d All of you must hasten to entrust yourselves to me! Follow the example and the pressing invitation given you by the Vicar of my Son Jesus, who knows all and who perceives that the painful event, of which for years now I have been foretelling you, is now close at hand.

e Yes, a little longer, until the time which the Father has ordained will be complete, and then the battle between me and my Adversary will break out in all its fury and enter its final phase.

f I have prepared many of you for the supreme test. In my arms you will be immolated like little lambs so that, with the blood Jesus, yours too may serve to purify the Church and to renew the world.

g Others will have to undergo persecutions and sufferings such as you cannot now imagine. But have confidence because I will be at the side of each one of you, in an extraordinary way, to help you to fulfill my plan to the very last detail.

h I must hasten, and I am making to you now, as it were, a last and anguished appeal.

i Answer, each one of you, and entrust yourselves to me.

j Be little, docile, humble, poor.

k Be the most beautiful flowers about the crib of you infant Mother, who smiles on you and blesses you all.”

183

Nijmegen (Holland); September 29, 1979

Feast of the Holy Archangels

The Angels of the Lord

a "You have just ended a cenacle with these sons of mine, so dear to me, who are suffering because of the torn and confused situation in which my Church here finds herself

b Unite your anguish with mine, and be the expression of the maternal benevolence with which I look upon them, receive them, comfort and lead them.

c Pay no attention to the fact that they are few in number and, for the most part, frail because of age or poor health. They are nevertheless so faithful and generous that they console the great sorrow of my Immaculate Heart.

d To me they are very precious treasures. And through them, even here, how numerous are the children who are responding to my invitation, entering into the refuge of my Heart and are now being formed by me, in heroic fidelity to Jesus and his Church.

e Thus in this very place where my Adversary has begun his work of subtle destruction of the Church, I am replying to the challenge and forming my cohort.

f It is a cohort of the little, the poor and the humble whom I am gathering into my Immaculate Heart to give them my spirit of wisdom, that the pride of those who allow themselves to be seduced by false knowledge and the spirit of loftiness and vainglory may be defeated.

g Once again today, by means of this, my work, out of the mouths of babes and sucklings the Lord is receiving perfect praise.

h With you also, are the angels of the Lord; I am their Queen, and they are ready to follow my orders, because the Most Holy Trinity has entrusted the work of the renewal of the Church and the world to my Immaculate Heart.

i Saint Michael is at the head of my entire heavenly and earthly cohort, which is now drawn up for battle. Saint Gabriel is at your side to give each one of you the very invincible strength of God, and Saint Raphael is healing you of the numerous wounds which you often bring upon yourselves in the great struggle in which you are engaged.

j Be ever aware of the angels of God who are at your side and invoke their help and protection often. They have great power to defend you and to rescue you from all the snares which Satan, my Adversary and yours, sets for you.

k Their protection will now intensify and will be particularly experienced by you, because the time of the great trial has come and you are about to enter upon a period of greater anguish than you have ever before experienced.

l Under my command, become aware of the angels of the Lord at your side, who will be your defense and your guide so that each of you will be able to carry out what I have determined for the triumph of my Immaculate Heart."

184

Lourdes (France); October 7, 1979

Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

Anniversary of the Victory of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lepanto

Your Rosary

a "Here also, I have brought you to gather many priests, religious and faithful into cenacles of prayer and life with me.

b I am truly present in these cenacles, and I am joining in your prayer.

c By this prayer, you offer your heavenly Mother a powerful force in intervening for the salvation of many of my poor straying children and in disposing the painful events of your time according to the motherly plan of my Immaculate Heart.

d Your entire rosary, which you recite in the cenacle in accordance with the urgent request of your Mother, is like an immense chain of love and salvation with which you are able to encircle persons and situations, and even to influence all the events of your time.

e Continue to recite it, and multiply your cenacles of prayer, thus responding to the invitation which the first of my beloved sons, the Vicar of Jesus, has so urgently made to you.

f I am now able to make use of the power that comes to me from your prayer, and I want to intervene as a Mother to shorten the time of the trial and to comfort you in the sufferings which await you.

g Everything can still be changed if you, my children, listen to my voice and unite yourselves, through prayer, with the unceasing intercession of your heavenly Mother.

h For this reason, here, where I appeared as the Immaculate One I ask you again to continue with greater generosity and perseverance in the recitation of the holy rosary.

i The rosary is the prayer which I myself came down from heaven to ask of you.

j By it you are able to lay bare the plots of my Adversary; you escape from many of his deceits; you defend yourselves from many dangers which he puts in your way; it preserves you from evil and brings you ever closer to me, because I am able to be truly your guide and your protection.

k As has already happened in other critical situations, so also today, the Church will be defended and saved by its victorious Mother, through the power which comes to me from you, my little children, by means of the frequent recitation of the holy rosary.

l Take courage, beloved children! Pray, have confidence, and enter into the refuge of my Immaculate Heart, that you may form part of my victorious cohort.

m This is my hour, and soon the whole Church will be brought to a new splendor by her whom you invoke as Queen of Victories.”

185

November 21, 1979

Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

In the Temple of My Heart

a "Beloved sons, contemplate your heavenly Mother as she is being brought to the temple to offer herself in the perfect service of the Lord.

b Although, from the very moment of my conception, I was already prepared for the sublime mission which had been entrusted to me, yet even for me a time of silence and more intense prayer was necessary.

c In the temple, my soul opened itself to the light of the Spirit, who led me to the love and the understanding of his word. Thus, I was brought interiorly to participate in the most hidden mysteries, while the true meaning of divine Scripture became ever clearer to me.

d In the temple, my body was offered in an act of continual holocaust to the service of God, which was carried out by me in prayer and in the joy of fulfilling perfectly the humble tasks that were entrusted to me.

e In the temple, my Heart opened itself to an act of pure and uninterrupted love of the Lord, while detachment from the world and creatures prepared me, each day more and more, to pronounce my perfect yes to his divine Will.

f Priests, whom I so love, today you too must enter into the temple of my Immaculate Heart!

g Now that my time has come, it is necessary for you also to enter into a time of more intense recollection and fervent prayer, which will prepare you to carry out your important mission.

h In the temple of my Heart, your soul will be filled with divine wisdom, which I am now giving you in greater abundance, that you may shine forth ever more brightly and shed your light in these days of darkness. Thus, you will help many of my poor wandering children to return to my motherly arms.

i In the temple of my Heart, your body will be purified in the fire of innumerable trials, in such a way that it may be conformable in everything to that of my Son and your Brother, Jesus.

j Jesus wants to live once again in you, in order to realize at this time the great plan of his merciful love and to prepare for the coming of his glorious reign.

k For this, He assimilates your mortal body into his glorious body, so that you in Him might participate ever more fully in his glory, and that He in you might share in your sufferings by means of your human frailty.

l Once again,-through you, Jesus returns to act, to work, to love, to suffer and to immolate Himself for the salvation of all.

m In the temple of my Immaculate Heart, your heart too will be purified, to be formed by me to a pure and incessant act of love for the Lord. I am leading you on the road of perfect love, that you too may follow your Mother in saying your yes to the divine Will.

n For this, you must enter into the temple of my Heart. You have need of silence and of prayer, of detachment and of renunciation. Thus the design that God has on you will be revealed to you, and you will be free and ready to accomplish it to the end.

o Only in this way can the great mission which I have entrusted to you be accomplished by you.

p Take courage, my little children! My time has now come. And so, today, in the temple of my Heart, I want to offer you all to the Most Holy Trinity, in an act of supreme reparation and of maternal supplication.”

186

November 28, 1979

The Desert Will Blossom

a "You are on the eve of your departure for Africa, for this great continent which I love with such a special love, because so many of my children live in great want and therefore have need of my motherly tenderness.

b Go, and give to all the light which comes from my Immaculate Heart. Go forth with me in prayer, in love and in trust.

c Each day, your Mother will cause torrents of grace and mercy to gush forth from the Heart of her Son, torrents which will water the earth and purify souls.

d Beloved sons, you have been called by me to be, today, the workers of this divine wonder.

e I want to act through you.

f I want to manifest myself to the world through you. By means of you, I want to give my light to souls.

g And so I have called you from all sides to consecrate yourselves to my Immaculate Heart, that I may give you the grace to live habitually in me, and thus fill your little hearts with the plenitude of my love.

h Love all your brothers with my Heart, especially those who have lost their way today and are in great danger of being eternally lost.

i Love above all those who are furthest away, the sinners, the atheists and those who are rejected by everyone; love even the persecutors and the executioners. Say with love, 'Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.' (Lk 23:34).

j For those who hate, those who kill, those who work violence, those who do evil, those who blaspheme, those who give scandal, bear only love and say, `Father, forgive!'

k How many of these brothers of yours you will one day find in paradise, drawn on the way of salvation by the irresistible force of your love!

l For this, I have called you to prayer.

m Your priestly prayer, offered with me and joined to your suffering, has incalculable power. Indeed, it has the capacity to bring about a far-reaching chain reaction for good, in which the good effects spread and multiply everywhere in souls.

n Through it, you will always be able to reestablish equilibrium and to equalize the balance of the scale of God's justice.

o Precious is your life of prayer: the Liturgy of the Hours, meditation, the holy rosary, but above all the lived-out celebration of Mass which truly renews the Sacrifice of the Cross.

p Oh, what weight Holy Mass has to compensate for, and to destroy, the evil which is daily brought about by so many sins and by such a widespread rejection of God!

q And so I have called you to trust.

r Now that darkness covers everything and the forces of evil are being unleashed with horrible fury, you must above all grow in trust.

s God alone ever has been, and still is, in every circumstance, the victor. God conquers especially when He appears defeated.

t Therefore you must today imitate your heavenly Mother in exulting in God and in singing his immense mercy.

u You must believe that the light will always shine, even in those times when the darkness will become deeper still. And the Light is Christ, and He must shine through you, his faithful disciples, prepared and molded in my motherly Heart.

v A great wonder is about to be accomplished in your time, even though for the present it is happening in silence and mystery.

w In the struggle between the Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun, in which heaven and earth are taking part, the heavenly powers and those of hell, your Mother and Queen is each day accomplishing an important step in the realization of her victorious plan.

x Therefore I say to you: soon the desert will blossom, and all creation will become again that marvelous garden, created for man to reflect in a perfect manner the greatest glory of God.”

187

Nairobi (Kenya); December 3, 1979

Feast of St. Francis Xavier

Look at the Heart

a "Even in this great continent, where I am bringing you for the first time, you see everywhere the wonders of my Immaculate Heart.

b Look at the heart of these children of mine: they are so poor, so simple, and they love and honor me so!

c Like all the very poor people in general, they are the most defenseless and the most exposed to being exploited by others. And so especially here, there is increasing activity on the part of my Adversary, who never, as in this continent, has unleashed his fury in such a violent and dangerous manner.

d Through you, I want to offer today to these children of mine the secure refuge and the maternal protection of my Immaculate Heart.

e Here also you are aware that my Movement has spread spontaneously everywhere. This is yet another confirmation that it is solely my work and that I act in silence and hiddenness. I continue to choose as my preferred instruments those whom no one notices, and who know how to be silent, to pray, to suffer and to love.

f In this way, I can accomplish the marvels of love of my Immaculate Heart here also, among these children of mine who are suffering so much and in such need, who are so simple and good, and therefore so dear to me.

g Have you observed how many of my beloved sons live amid such poverty, solitude and lack of understanding? And how they have managed to share completely in the painful life of so many of their African brothers?

h Love each and every one of them, these beloved sons of mine. You yourself must be the expression of my motherly tenderness for them.

i Look at the heart of this whole people, and there you will find stamped the seal of love of your heavenly Mother.

j Look at the Heart of your heavenly Mother, and you will find gathered there, in ever increasing numbers, children of every continent. The whole world is now held in my merciful hands, for the coming triumph of my Immaculate Heart."

188

Douala (Cameroon); December 8, 1979

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

Mother of All

a "Today I am spreading my immaculate mantle over all the earth and gaze upon you all with a mother's tenderness.

b On this day, I find you here in this small nation of such a great continent. What poverty, what simplicity, what goodness have you not encountered everywhere!

c I have caused you to love all these brothers of yours with the heartbeat of the Heart of Jesus and that of my own motherly Heart.

d Here too, you have met many of my beloved sons and daughters who have spent their whole lives amidst sacrifices and renunciations, in order to bring the tidings of the Gospel to this land.

e And through them how very many have entered and become part of the Church and of the one and only flock under the care of the one sole Shepherd. Look before you at the immense spring which is in preparation.

f Many of them are nevertheless still living in the error of paganism or belong to religions other than the true one which ha been revealed to you by Jesus, the Eternal Word of the Father, to whom He desires to lead you all in his Spirit of Love.

g These also must the heavenly Mother, together with Jesus lead to the fullness of the truth, as even now I gather all into my Immaculate Heart.

h I am the Mother of all.

i Especially of those who are furthest away, who are still walking in darkness. And in particular, I am the Mother of those who are poorest, simplest, most abandoned and most vulnerable.

j And today, on the feast of my Immaculate Conception, I have wanted you here in prayer, in recollection and in suffering, to hold cenacles everywhere with me, so that you might be an expression of my maternal love and of my predilection for all these children of mine.

k Thus here too, the triumph of my Immaculate Heart takes place daily, as the reign of Jesus extends more and more in hearts and souls bearing the standard of peace, of love and of joy.

l With the Pope, the first of my beloved sons, I today bless all my children, especially those who are living in this great continent of Africa."

189

December 24, 1979

The Holy Night

How Great a Light

a "This is the holy night. Beloved sons, gather about me to welcome my divine Child.

b There is so much darkness all about.

c And yet, an ever increasing light shines within the cave. And now it appears entirely from heaven, while the Mother is deeply absorbed in prayer.

d How great a light descends from the bosom of the Father into the virginal womb of the Mother, who opens herself to his gift, to Life.

e And completely enveloped in this divine light, I behold for the first time his body: his eyes, his cheeks, his lips, his face, his arms, his hands; I feel his little Heart which has scarcely begun to beat. Each beat is a gift of love which now will never again be quenched.

f There is so much cold about us: the severity of the cold and the frost of those who have shut all doors on us.

g But here, within the cave, there is a pleasant and welcome warmth. It is the shelter that this poor place offers us; it is the warmth of little things; it is the help which a little straw gives us, and a manger which offers itself as a cradle...

h No place is so warm, now, as this most chilly cave. And the Mother bends happily over her Baby who has been given you by the Father, over her Flower finally come to bloom, over her Heaven now forever opened, over her God who has been awaited for so long.

i And my tears mingle with my kisses, while I gaze enraptured on my Son and my God, who has been born of me on this holy night.

j There is still a great night lying over the world. There is a great cold freezing hearts and souls.

k But the light has now conquered the darkness, and love has forever defeated all hate.

l My beloved sons, on this holy night, keep watch in prayer. In my Immaculate Heart, remain in readiness.

m His glorious return is now near. And new light and great fire will renew this world.”

190

December 31, 1979

Last Night of the Year

Your Last Hour

a "Beloved sons, keep watch with me in prayer and trust.

b This year, which has been for each of you one of extraordinary graces and gifts on the part of your heavenly Mother, is coming to a close.

c From my Immaculate Heart, I have poured out upon you each day torrents of light and love. And thus I have nourished and clothed you, prepared and strengthened you.

d Under my motherly and silent action, you have grown in your life of consecration, and in imitation of your Mother. You have become littler, more humble and docile, more trusting and strong.

e I gaze on you, one by one, with motherly tenderness, sons singled out and nurtured by me in the garden of my Immaculate Heart, to be offered to the glory of the Most Holy Trinity.

f In the course of this year, I have snipped many from among you to take them up here into paradise, to form a great crown of glory for Jesus and myself

g You, on the other hand, are still to remain on this earth and to prepare yourselves to carry out whatever has already been prepared for each one of you, according to my plan of love.

h You are now in your last hour: the hour of the great battle, the hour of the great immolation, the hour of the great victory.

i But everything has already been prepared for you by me. Even the time has been measured in accordance with the beating of my Heart, which no longer knows time. Here, all has already been accomplished which, in time, is yet to take place.

j Here, I see you all at the end of the journey which you have yet to complete, living and sacrificing yourselves for the glory of God. Here, I see you already in the glory which awaits you, at the end of your painful sufferings.

k You also should think of yourselves as being in the light of my Immaculate Heart, and live serene and content.

l Live in joy, because your names have already been written in heaven.

You go forward more and more into the conclusive period of the great purification: and everything that I have prophesied to you is about to be completed.

Even next year your will be called to live grave happenings: for this reason the love of my Immaculate Heart will become even more manifest. Dispose yourselves to live with trust and childlike abandonment this great and sorrowful hour."