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GRM 28.2

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

28.2 They meet a shepherd, who cuts across the road with his herd, moving from the grazing ground on the right-hand side of the road to the one of the left-hand side. Joseph bends down to say something to him. The shepherd nods in assent. Joseph takes the donkey and drags it behind the herd into the grazing ground. The shepherd pulls a coarse bowl out of his knapsack, he milks a big sheep with swollen udders and hands the bowl to Joseph who offers it to Mary.

«May God bless you both,» exclaims Mary. «You for your love, and you for your kindness. I will pray for you.»

«Are you coming from far?»

«From Nazareth,» replies Joseph.

«And where are you going?»

«To Bethlehem.»

«A long journey for a woman in Her state. Is She your wife?»

«Yes, She is.»

«Have you got a place where to go?»

«No, we haven’t.»

«That’s bad! Bethlehem is overcrowded with people who have come from all over to register there, or are on their way to register elsewhere. I don’t know whether you will find lodgings. Are you familiar with the place?»

«Not really.»

«Well… I will explain it to you… for Her… (and he points to Mary). Find the hotel, it will be full. But I will tell you just the same, to guide you. It’s in the square, in the largest one. This main road will take you to it. You can’t miss it. There is a fountain in front of it, it is a long and low building with a very big door. It will be full. But if you do not find room in the hotel, or in any of the houses, go round to the back of the hotel, towards the country. There are some stables in the mountain, which are used sometimes by merchants to keep their animals there, on their way to Jerusalem, when they don’t find room in the hotel. They are stables, you know, in the mountain: they are damp and cold and there are no doors. But they are always a shelter, because your wife… She can’t be left on the road. Perhaps you will find room there… and some hay to sleep on and for the donkey. And may God guide you.»

«And may God give you joy,» answers Mary. Joseph instead replies: «Peace be with you.»

Detail

Mary and Joseph go to Bethlehem for the census edict. It's winter. On the way, they meet a shepherd, who advises them to seek shelter in the mountains, if they can find no refuge in Bethlehem itself.

GRM 28.4-5

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

28.4 They go out and they follow the wall of the hotel. They turn into a little street that runs between the hotel and some poor houses. They then turn behind the hotel. They look for the stables. At last, here are some grottos, a kind of cellar, I would say, rather than stables, because they are so low and damp. The best have already been taken. Joseph is utterly disheartened.

«Ehi! Galilean!» an old man shouts. «Down there, at the end, under those ruins, there is a den. Perhaps there is nobody in it yet.»

They hurry to the «den». It is really a den. Among the ruins of an old building there is a hole, beyond which there is a grotto, an excavation in the mountain, rather than a grotto. It seems to consist of the foundations of the old building, with the roof formed by rubble supported by coarse tree trunks.

There is hardly any light, and to see better Joseph pulls out tinder and flint and he lights a little lamp that he takes out of the knapsack he is carrying across his shoulders. He goes in and is greeted by a bellow. «Come in, Mary. It is empty. There is only an ox.» Joseph smiles. «It’s better than nothing!…»

28.5 Mary dismounts from Her donkey and goes in.

Joseph has hung the little lamp on a nail of one of the supporting trunks. They see the vault covered with cobwebs, the soil

— stamped ramshackle earth, with holes, rubbish, excrement — the soil is strewn with straw. In the rear, an ox turns its head round and looks with its large quiet eyes while some hay is hanging from its lips. There is a rough seat and two big stones in a corner near a loop-hole. The black remains in that corner is a clear sign that a fire is normally lit there.

Mary goes near the ox. She is cold. She puts Her hands on its neck to feel its warmth. The ox bellows but does not stir. It seems to understand. Also when Joseph pushes it aside to take a large quantity of hay from the manger and make a bed for Mary, the ox remains calm and quiet. The manger is a double one: that is, there is one out of which the ox eats, and above it there is a kind of shelf, with some spare hay, which Joseph pulls down. The ox makes room also for the little donkey that, tired and hungry as it is, starts eating at once.

Joseph discovers also a battered bucket, turned upside down. He goes out, because he saw a little stream outside, and he comes back with some water for the little donkey. He then finds a bunch of twigs in a corner and he tries to sweep the floor with it. He next spreads the hay and makes a bed with it near the ox, in the most sheltered and dry corner. But he realizes that the poor hay is damp, and he sighs. He then lights a fire, and with the patience of job, he dries the hay, a handful at a time, holding it near the fire.

Mary is sitting on the stool, She is tired, She watches and smiles. The hay is now ready. Mary sits down more comfortably on the soft hay, with Her back leaning against one of the tree trunks. Joseph completes… the furnishings by hanging his mantle as a curtain on the hole that serves as a door. It is a makeshift protection. He then offers some bread and cheese to the Virgin, and he gives Her some water out of a flask.

«Sleep now,» he says. «I will sit up and watch that the fire does not go out. There is some wood, fortunately, let us hope that it will burn and last. Thus I will be able to save the oil of the lamp.»

Mary lies down obediently. Joseph covers Her with Her own mantle and with the blanket that She had around Her feet earlier.

«But you… you will be cold.»

«No, Mary. I’ll be near the fire. Try and rest now. Things will be better tomorrow.»

Mary closes Her eyes without insisting. Joseph creeps into his little corner, sits on the stool, with some dry twigs near him. They are very few. I do not think they will last long.

They are placed as follows: Mary is on the right hand side, with Her back to the… door, half hidden by the tree trunk and the ox which has lain down on the litter. Joseph is on the left side, towards the door, and since he is facing the fire, his back is turned towards Mary. But he turns round now and again to look at Her, and he sees She is lying quietly, as if She were sleeping. He breaks the little sticks as quietly as possible and throws them one at a time onto the little fire, so that it may not go out and may give some light and yet make the wood last longer. There is only the dim light of the fire: at times bright at times very faint. The lamp in fact has been put out and in the half light only the whiteness of the ox and of Joseph’s hands and face can be seen. All the rest is a confused mass in the dull dim light.

GRM 29

The Gospel as revealed to me

Detail

Chapter title: The birth of Jesus. The saving power of Mary's divine maternity.

Date of vision and dictation: Tuesday, June 6, 1944

Calendar: Wednesday, December 11, year -5

Location (map): Bethlehem

Cycle: Birth and childhood of Jesus

Summary: Mary and Joseph are in the manger in Bethlehem. Joseph has fallen asleep, but Mary is not. She sees that her husband is asleep and smiles, then quietly moves into a position of prayer. The Virgin prays intensely. Joseph finally wakes up and says a few words to Mary, to see if she needs anything. Then he too decides to pray by the fire.

The moonlight comes to Mary and at one point she raises her head, as if answering a call. She smiles, and the light grows stronger and stronger, enveloping her completely. When the light becomes bearable for Maria, the Immaculate Conception holds her Son in her arms. The baby cries and she calls to her husband. He is as if struck by lightning when he sees the Savior, but Mary invites him to come closer and offers him to the Father with Joseph. She then entrusts Jesus to his putative father while he fetches the swaddling clothes. But once he has him in his arms, he abandons his original intention and cares for him as if he were the apple of his eye. Together with Mary, they put him in swaddling clothes and wrap him in a blanket that they have warmed by the fire, then his Mother rightly asks where they are going to put the Child. Joseph then suggests placing her in a manger next to the ox, as the wood will protect her from draughts, the hay will serve as a pillow, and the animal's breath, which is peaceful and quiet, will warm her a little. And so they do. And then they both adore the Redeemer who came down from Heaven to save us.

Mary then gives Maria a dictation. She announces to Maria a time of suffering, but tells her that it is through pain that we gain peace, "as well as grace for ourselves and for others". She speaks of Jesus-Man, who became Jesus-God again after the Passion, but who did not have peace at the moment of his trial, for otherwise he would not have suffered.

Next, the Mother gives a lesson for all, explaining how she participated in the redemption of woman through her divine motherhood.

She overcame pride by humbling herself to the depths. She overcame the greed of our first parents by renouncing her Child in advance. She overcame greed for knowledge and pleasure by accepting to know only what God wanted her to know. The Full of Grace overcame lust, which is gluttony carried to the point of gluttony. Finally, she gave the woman peace at the foot of the Cross, as she watched her Son die. The Virgin died at that moment, to become the Mother of Grace.

She emphasizes that it was for women that she did all this, so that we might become saints of God.

Chapter contents: 29.1: Mary and Joseph at prayer. 29.2: A light transfigures Mary. 29.3: The child is born in a dazzling light. 29.4: The child is offered to God and given to Joseph. 29.5: Haste to protect him from the cold. 29.6 : Peace is won through suffering. 29.7: I have redeemed Eve's fourfold sin. 29.8: Humility versus pride. 29.9: Renunciation versus greed. 29.10: Hunger for God versus gluttony. 29.11: Chastity versus lust. 29.12: Peace obtained at the foot of the cross. 29.13: Participating in redemption.

GRM 29.5

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

29.5 Mary has opened the trunk and has pulled out the linen and swaddling clothes. She has been near the fire warming them. She now moves towards Joseph and wraps the Baby with the warm linen and then with Her veil to protect His little head. «Where shall we put Him now?» She asks.

Joseph looks around, thinking… «Wait,» he says. «Let us move the animals and their hay over here, we will then pull down that hay up there and arrange it in here. The wood on the side will protect Him from the air, the hay will serve as a pillow and the ox will warm Him a little with its breath. The ox is better than the donkey. It is more patient and quiet.» And he bustles about, while Mary is lulling the Baby, holding Him close to Her heart, and laying Her cheek on His tiny head to warm it.

Joseph makes the fire, without economy this time, to have a good blaze, and he warms the hay and as it dries, he keeps it near his chest, so that it will not get cold. Then, when he has gathered enough to make a little mattress for the Child, he goes to the manger and sorts it out as if it were a cradle. «It is ready,» he says. «Now we need a blanket, because the hay stings, and also to cover Him.»

«Take My mantle,» says Mary.

«You will be cold.»

«Oh! It does not matter! The blanket is too coarse. The mantle is soft and warm. I am not cold at all. Don’t let Him suffer any longer!»

Joseph takes the wide mantle of soft dark blue wool, he double folds it and lays it on the hay, leaving a strip hanging out of the manger. The first bed for the Saviour is ready.

And the Mother, with Her sweet, graceful gait, moves to the manger, lays Him in it, and covers Him with the strip of Her mantle. She arranges it also around His bare head, almost completely covered by the hay, from which it is protected only by Mary’s thin veil. Only His little face, the size of a man’s fist, is left uncovered. Mary and Joseph, bending over the manger, are blissfully happy watching Him sleep His first sleep, because the warmth of the clothes and of the hay has appeased His crying, and made Him sleepy.

GRM 73

The Gospel as revealed to me

Detail

Christ, Judas, John and Simon have arrived in Bethlehem, near Rachel's tomb. They are approached by a local woman, who learns that Jesus has come to bring his Mother's salvation to some people in Bethlehem. She invites him to her home, and her husband welcomes them. But there is strong hostility towards the Messiah, as the massacre of the Innocents has taken place and left deep wounds among the people of Bethlehem. The Nativity shepherds, in particular, are hated by the locals, and the man who receives them is convinced that they let themselves be duped thirty years ago. So he curses the shepherds and the Magi, and blames himself for their credulity at the time. Jesus points out, however, that cursing is not permitted, as it is contrary to the commandment of love, and asks him if he is sure that his judgment is right, since the shepherds and magi may have told them the truth. He speaks of biblical prophecies - the Most High having anticipated the Savior's coming in an excess of love - and in particular mentions the star and the predictions in the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah. His host recognizes him as a rabbi, but when Jesus wants to know where the shepherds Elijah and Levi are, he becomes openly hostile, as Jesus enjoins him not to hate them and declares that the Messiah has indeed been born here.

Judas then gets on his high horse, but Jesus calms him down and the group leaves. A little further on, the Iscariot explodes and would have liked Jesus to be worshipped, but he doesn't want to reduce to ashes all those who sin against him.

Finally, Jesus takes them to the place of his birth, the grotto in Bethlehem. John and Simon are moved, Judas is disgusted at first, but is then overcome by emotion. And Jesus tells them the story of his birth...

GRM 73.10-11

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

73.10 It is dark. Everything is white in the moonlight. The nightingales sing amongst the olives-trees. A brook is a silvery resounding ribbon. One can smell the scent of hay of the mown fields: a warm, I would say, carnal smell. Bellows and bleats can be heard. And stars, stars and stars… stars strewn on the heavenly curtain, a canopy of living gems, spread over the hills of Bethlehem.

«But here!… There is nothing but ruins here! Where are You taking us? The town is over there.»

«I know. Come. Follow the rivulet, behind Me. A few more steps and then… then I will offer you the abode of the King of Israel.»

Judas shrugs his shoulders and becomes quiet.

A few more steps, then a heap of ruined houses: the remains of houses… A cave between the clefts of a big wall.

Jesus asks: «Have You any tinder? Light it.»

Simon lights a small lamp which he has taken out of his knapsack and he gives it to Jesus.

«Come in» says the Master lifting the lamp. «Come in. This is the nativity room of the King of Israel.»

«You must be joking, Master! This is a filthy den. Ah! I am not going to stay here! I loathe it: it is damp, cold, stinking, full of scorpions and perhaps also snakes…»

«And yet… My friends, here the night of the twenty-fifth of Chislev, Feast of the Lights, Jesus Christ, was born of the Virgin, the Emmanuel, the Word of God made flesh, for the love of man: I Who am speaking to you . Also then, as now, the world was deaf to the voices of Heaven speaking to the hearts of men… and it rejected the Mother… and here… No, Judas, do not avert your eyes in disgust from those fluttering noctules, from those green lizards, from those cobwebs, do not lift with disgust your beautiful embroidered mantle, lest it may trail on the ground covered with animal excrement. Those noctules are the daughters’ daughters of the ones that were the first toys to be tossed before the eyes of the Child, for Whom the angels sang the “Gloria” heard by the shepherds, intoxicated only by an ecstatic joy, a true joy. The emerald green of those lizards was the first colour to strike My eyes, the first, after My Mother’s white face and dress. Those cobwebs were the canopy of My royal cradle. This ground… oh! you may tread on it without disdain… It is littered with excrement… but it is sanctified by Her foot, the foot of the Holy, the Most Holy, Pure, Immaculate Mother of God, Who gave birth, because She was to give birth, because God, not man, told Her and covered Her with His shadow. She, the Faultless One, trod on it. You can tread on it, too. And may the purity diffused by Her, by the will of God, rise from the soles of your feet to your heart…»

73.11 Simon is on his knees. John goes straight to the manger and cries, leaning his head against it. Judas is terrified… he is overcome by emotion, and no longer worried about his beautiful mantle, he kneels on the ground, takes the edge of Jesus’ tunic and kisses it and beats his breast saying: «Oh! My good Master, have mercy on the blindness of Your servant! My pride vanishes… I see You as You are. Not the king I was thinking of. But the Eternal Prince, the Father of future centuries, the King of peace. Have mercy, my Lord and my God, have mercy on me!»

«Yes, you have all My mercy! Now we will sleep where the Infant and the Virgin slept, over there where John has taken the place of the adoring Mother, here where Simon looks like My putative father. Or, if you prefer so, I will speak to you of that night…»

«Oh! yes, Master, tell us of Your birth.»

«That it may be a bright pearl shining in our hearts. And we may tell the whole world.»

«And we may venerate Your Virgin Mother, not only as Your Mother, but also as… as the Virgin!»

Judas was the first to speak, then Simon and then John, whose face smiles and cries, near the manger.

«Come and sit on the hay. Listen,…» and Jesus tells them of the night of His birth. «…as the Mother was near Her time to have Her Child, a decree was issued by the imperial delegate Publius Sulpicius Quirinus on instructions from Caesar Augustus, when Sentius Saturninus was governor of Palestine. The decree stated that a census had to be taken of all the people of the empire. Those who were not slaves were to go to their places of origin and register in the official rolls of the empire. Joseph, the spouse of the Mother, was of the line of David and the Mother was also of David’s line. In compliance with the decree, they left Nazareth and came to Bethlehem, the cradle of the royal family. The weather was severe…».

Jesus continues the story and it all ends in this way.

GRM 207

The Gospel as revealed to me

Detail

Chapter title: In Bethlehem, Mary recalls the birth of Jesus.

Date of vision: Tuesday, July 3, 1945.

Calendar: Thursday, April 6, 28 (Nissan 24, 3788)

Location (map): Bethlehem

Cycle: Apostolate in Judea

Summary: The apostolic group goes to Bethlehem with the women disciples. Peter reveals his desire to go to the grotto of the Nativity with Mary. It is quickly agreed that the Virgin will tell them her memories of Jesus' birth, which she does with great emotion. The Mother of the Lord recounted where they had stopped, and the state she and Joseph were in. Joseph was worried, but the All-Pure One was burning with love for God. They stopped by Rachel's tomb before setting off again. They met Elijah, who advised them where to stay, and then arrived in Bethlehem itself. The Virgin recounts her impressions of the town before heading for the grotto. She explains how a sleep fell over the Righteous One, and how she felt at Christ's birth. She was in ecstasy, and when she held Jesus close to her heart, she adored him, offered him to the Father, wrapped him in swaddling clothes and cared for him with Joseph. Mary tells of the arrival of the shepherds, and when asked what she did the next day, she explains that it was all very simple: she took care of her baby like any other mother. Mary of Alphaeus then pointed out that the Holy Family could have left later, for Les Encénies, but Mary knew that Jesus would be born there, and there was no question of waiting. What's more, for Joseph, it was a way of washing away every last trace of the suspicion he'd had against her, since the Scriptures had come true.

Peter is pleased with this account and explains that he will revere her as a Queen and be her slave. Jesus then intervenes, and after stating the Trinity, he explains that his Pontiff will have power where Mary will have love. He must always treat her as Queen, but without being a slave. The group then pauses, and while Mary speaks with the women, the apostles wonder if verses from the Song of Songs announce the promised Virgin. Christ then confirms that she has been spoken of since the beginning of the Book, and will continue to be spoken of in the books to come.

Judas then declares that the Word could not have humiliated Himself by subjecting Himself to the miseries of infancy. He could have come down to earth in flesh that was already adult, and had an adoptive mother like his putative father. The Master then declares that his real Incarnation was a just thing, and that heresies about his Incarnation will circulate. But he confirms that he is real flesh and that Mary is really the Mother of the Word made flesh. What's more, he confirms that he is eternally One with the Father and united with God as Flesh, for Love can do all things. His Incarnation is intended to make amends for all man's errors.

Chapter contents: 207.1: Mary recalls the past. 207.2: How Mary felt during the journey. 207.3: Rachel's tomb and the encounter with Elijah. 207.4: How the city of Bethlehem appeared to her. 207.5: Settling into the grotto. 207.6: The ecstasy of the birth. 207.7 : The visit of the shepherds. 207.8 : The next day, woman and adorer. 207.9: Peter and Mary: power and love. 207.10: Mary, the tree of redemptive fruit. 207.11: Judas would have liked a different birth. Discourse on the carnal reality of Jesus.

Previous edition: Volume 3, chapter 69