Notes for this theme
Reading comfort
GRM 7.8
The gaps in your intelligence are the natural fruits of your fall from Grace and honesty. By losing Grace you banished Wisdom for centuries. As a meteor, which is hidden behind masses of clouds, Wisdom no longer reached you with its bright flashes, but through mist which your prevarications have rendered thicker and thicker.
GRM 7.8
Then Christ came and He restored Grace, the supreme gift of the love of God. But do you know how to keep this gem clear and pure? No, you do not. When you do not crush it with your individual will in sinning, you soil it with your continuous minor faults, your weaknesses, your attachment to vice. Such attempts, even if they are not a proper marriage with the septiform vice, are a weakening of the light of Grace and of its activity. And then, to weaken the magnificent light of intelligence that God had given the First Parents, you have centuries and centuries of corruption, which exert a harmful influence on the body and on the mind.
GRM 7.9
« Mary was not only the Pure, the new Eve created for the joy of God: She was the super Eve, the Masterpiece of the Most High, She was Full of Grace, the Mother of the Word in the mind of God.
Jesus Ben Sirach says: “Source of Wisdom is the Word”. Will the Son therefore not have put His wisdom on His Mother’s lips?
If the mouth of a Prophet was purified with embers, because he had to repeat to men the words that the Word, the Wisdom, entrusted to Him, will Love not have cleansed and exalted the speech of his infant Spouse Who was to bear the Word, so that She should no longer speak as a little girl and then as a woman, but only and always as a celestial creature melted in the great light and wisdom of God?
The miracle is not in the superior intelligence shown by Mary in Her childhood, as afterwards it was by Me. The miracle is in containing the Infinite Intelligence, that dwelled there, within suitable bounds, so that crowds should not be startled and satanic attention should not be awakened.
I will talk again about this subject which is part of the “remembrance” which saints have of God.»
Book of Ben Sira the Wise 1, 1-8
Si 1, 1-8 : ALL WISDOM comes from the Lord, and abides with him forever. The sand of the seas, the drops of rain, and the days of eternity, who can count them? The height of heaven, the breadth of earth, the depth of the abyss, who can estimate them? Wisdom was created before all things, and the depth of intelligence has always been there. The source of wisdom is the word of God in the highest heaven. Its paths are the eternal commandments. The root of wisdom, who has had the revelation, and its subtleties, who has had the knowledge? The science of wisdom, to whom was it manifested, and who profited from its great experience? There is but one wise and most formidable being, He who sits on His throne. He is the Lord (...).
Book of Isaiah, 6, 6-7
Is 6, 6-7 : One of the seraphim flew to me, holding a burning coal which he had taken with tongs from the altar. He brought it close to my mouth and said, "This has touched your lips, and now your fault is removed, your sin is forgiven."
A prophet commissioned to speak the words that the Word (...) inspired in him, i.e. Isaiah, as we see in Isaiah 6:6-7. This fact is cited several times in "The Gospel as it was revealed to me", whether in direct form (as here and, for example, in EMV 166.8 and EMV 626.2) or indirectly (as in EMV 364.8). But it is above all the Messianic prophecies that are recalled (see notes at EMV 561.11 and EMV 577.4).
GRM 10.4
10.4 This is My destiny. The secular Law of Israel wants every girl to be a wife, and every wife to be a mother. But, while obeying the Law, I must obey the Voice that whispers to Me: “I want You”; I am a virgin and a virgin I shall remain, How shall I succeed? This sweet invisible Presence that is with Me will help Me, because it is Its desire. I am not afraid. I have no longer My father and mother… and only God knows how My love for whatever human being belonged to Me was burnt in that pain. Now I have but God. I therefore obey Him unquestioningly… I would have done so also regardless of My father and mother, because I have been taught by the Voice that whoever wishes to follow It, must go beyond father and mother. Parents are loving patrols watching the hearts of their children, whom they wish to lead to happiness according to their plans… and they are not aware of other plans leading to infinite happiness… I would have left them My dresses and mantles, to follow the Voice that says to Me: “Come, My beloved Spouse”. I would have left them everything, and the pearls of My tears, for I would have cried having to disobey them, and the instincts of My blood, because I would have defied even death to follow the Voice calling Me who, would have told them that there is something greater and sweeter than the love of a father and mother and that is the Voice of God. But now, by His will, I am free from this tie of filial love. In fact, it would not have been a tie. My parents were two just people and God certainly spoke to them as He speaks to Me. They would have followed justice and truth. When I think of them, I imagine them in the quiet expectation among the Patriarchs and I hasten with My sacrifice the coming of the Messiah to open for them the gates of Heaven. I am My own guide on earth, or rather God guides His poor servant giving Her His commands and I fulfil them because it is a joy for Me to obey. When the time comes, I will reveal My secret to the spouse… and he will accept it.»
«But, Mary… which words will You find to persuade him? You will have the love of a man, the Law and life against you.»
«I shall have God with Me… God will enlighten the heart of the spouse… life will lose the incentives of the senses and become a pure flower with the fragrance of charity.
In this passage, Mary speaks of her future husband, whom she does not yet know.
GRM 10.9
What treasure of intelligence God gave man, Adam! The Fall impaired it, but My sacrifice reinstates it and opens the splendour of Intelligence, its wealth, its science for you. How sublime is the human mind united to God by His grace, sharing with God the power of knowledge!… The human mind united to God by Grace.
GRM 11.3
«You are no longer a girl, but a woman. And every woman must be a wife in Israel to bear a son to the Lord. You shall follow the commandment of the Law. Do not be afraid, do not blush. I am aware of Your royalty. The Law that prescribes that each man is to be given a woman of his own stock will protect You. But even if that were not the case, I would do so, so that Your magnificent blood might not be corrupted. Don’t You know anyone of Your stock, Mary, who might be Your husband?»
Mary lifts Her face full of blushes. Her eyes are shining with tears which begin to appear and with a trembling voice She replies: «No, nobody.»
«It is not possible for Her to know anyone, because She came here in Her childhood and David’s race has been struck too severely and scattered too widely to allow the various branches to gather like foliage around the royal palm» says Zacharias.
«We shall then leave the choice to God.»
The High Priest summoned Mary and told her the reason for his summons.
GRM 11.4
I loved the peace that hovered over the little grotto, and descended from the apple and olive-trees, now full of blossoms, then laden with beautiful fruit… And I do not know… the voice seemed to be saying to Me, yes, just to Me: “Come, specious olive; come, sweet apple; come, sealed spring; come, My dove”… Sweet is the love of a father, sweet the love of a mother… sweet their voices calling Me… but this, this one! Oh! in the earthly Paradise I think that she, who became guilty, heard it thus, and I do not understand how she could prefer a hiss to this voice of love, how she could desire any other knowledge that was not God… With My lips which still tasted of My mother’s milk, but with My heart full of celestial honey, I then said: “Here I am. I am coming. I am Yours. No one will have My body, but You, My Lord, neither will My soul have any other love…”
Marie recounts memories of her childhood in Nazareth.
GRM 12.4-5
12.4 A trumpet is heard beyond the curtain. They all become quiet and turn in an orderly way towards the door, which is now completely clear as the curtain has been pulled to one side. The High Priest enters surrounded by elders. They all make a deep bow. The Pontiff goes to the table and begins to speak, standing up.
«Men of the race of David, gathered here at my request, please listen. The Lord has spoken, glory be to Him! From His Glory a ray has descended and, like the sun in springtime, it has given life to a dry branch which has blossomed miraculously, whereas no other branch on earth is in bloom today, the last day of the Feast of Dedication, and the snow that fell on the mountains in Judah has not yet melted and everything is white between Zion and Bethany. God has spoken and has made Himself the father and the guardian of the Virgin of David Who has Him alone as Her protection. A holy girl, the glory of the Temple, She deserved the word of God to learn the name of a husband agreeable to the Eternal One. And he must be very just to be chosen by the Lord as the protector of the Virgin so dear to Him! For this reason our sorrow in losing Her is alleviated and all worries about Her destiny as a wife cease. And to the man appointed by God we entrust with full confidence the Virgin blessed by God and by ourselves. The name of the husband is Joseph of Jacob of Bethlehem, of the tribe of David, a carpenter in Nazareth in Galilee. Joseph: come forward. It is an order of the High Priest…»
(...)
«Come, Mary» says the Pontiff. «Here is the spouse that God has destined to You. He is Joseph of Nazareth. You will therefore go back to Your own town. I will leave You now. May God give You His blessing. May the Lord protect You and bless You, may He show His face to You and have mercy on You. May He turn His face to You and give You peace.
The high priest summoned the men of David's race. It was he who organized the preparations for the Virgin's wedding and renewed Aaron's staff test (Num 17:16-20).
Book of Numbers, 27, 8
Num 27, 8 : If a man dies without a son, the daughter becomes the heir.
GRM 12.6
I have obeyed because it is an order of the Priest, not because I wish to get married.
Saint Joseph said:
GRM 17.1.2-7
Do we not read in Genesis that God made man the overlord of everything on the earth, that is everything except God and His angelical ministers? Do we not read that He made the woman the companion of man in his joy and his domination over all living beings? Do we not read that they were allowed to eat of everything with the exception of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil? Why? What is the meaning of the words “that he might rule”? And what is the meaning of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil? Have you ever asked these questions, you man, who ask so many useless ones and never ask your soul about heavenly truths? (...)
If you knew how to question your soul, you would be told that the true, extensive meaning — as comprehensive as creation itself — of the words “that he might rule” is this: “That man might dominate everything, that is his three layers. The lower layer, the animal one. The middle layer, the moral one. The superior layer, the spiritual one. And all three of them are to be directed to one sole aim: to possess God”. To possess Him by deserving Him through a strict control which subdues all the power of one’s ego and conveys it to one only purpose: to deserve to possess God. Your soul would tell you that God had forbidden the knowledge of good and evil, because He had already granted good to His creatures gratuitously, and He did not want you to know evil, because it is a sweet fruit to taste, but once its juice becomes part of your blood, it causes a fever that kills you and produces a parching thirst, so that the more one drinks of that false juice, the more thirsty one becomes.
17.3
You may object: “And why did He put it there?” Because evil is a force that originated by itself like certain monstrous diseases in the most wholesome body.
Lucifer was an angel, the most beautiful of all the angels, a perfect spirit, inferior only to God, and yet in his bright essence a vapour of pride arose and he did not scatter it. On the contrary, he condensed it by brooding over it. And Evil was born of this incubation. It existed before man. God had hurled him out of Paradise, the cursed incubator of Evil, who had desecrated Paradise. But he is the eternal incubator of Evil and as he can no longer soil Paradise, he has soiled the earth.
That metaphorical tree proves this truth. God had said to the man and the woman: “You know all the laws and the mysteries of creation. But do not infringe on My right of being the Creator of man. My love will suffice for the propagation of the human race and it will spread among you and will excite the new Adams of the race without any lust of the senses but with purely charitable pulsations. I have given you everything. I am only keeping for Myself this mystery of the formation of man”.
17.5
Satan wanted to deprive man of this intellectual virginity and with his venomous tongue he blandished and caressed Eve’s limbs and eyes, exciting reflections and a perspicacity which they did not have before, because malice had not yet intoxicated them.
She “saw”. And seeing, she wanted to try. Her flesh was aroused. Oh! If she had called to God! If she had hurried to Him saying: “Father! I am sick. The Serpent has caressed me and I am upset”. The Father would have purified and healed her with His breath, which could have infused new innocence into her as it had infused life. And it would have made her forget the snake’s poison, even more it would have filled her with a disgust for the Serpent, as it happens in those who bear an instinctive dislike for diseases of which they have just been cured. But Eve does not go to the Father. Eve goes back to the Serpent. The sensation is a sweet one for her. “Seeing that the fruit of the tree was good to eat and pleasing and agreeable to the eye, she took it and ate it”.
And “she understood”. Now Malice was inside her and was gnawing at her intestines. She saw with new eyes and heard with new ears the habits and voices of beasts. And she craved for them with insane greed.
17.6
She began the sin by herself. She accomplished it with her companion. That is why a heavier sentence is laid on woman. Because of her, man has become rebellious towards God and has become acquainted with lewdness and death. Because of her, he was no longer capable of dominating his three reigns: the reign of the spirit, because he allowed the spirit to disobey God; the moral reign, because he allowed passions to master him; the reign of the flesh, because he lowered it down to the instinctive level of beasts. “The Serpent seduced me” says Eve. “The woman offered me the fruit and I ate of it” says Adam. And the triple greed has ruled the three dominions since then.
17.7
Only Grace can relax the hold of this ruthless monster. And if Grace is alive, thoroughly alive, and kept more and more alive by the goodwill of a faithful son, it will succeed in strangling the monster and will no longer have anything to fear. It will not be afraid of internal tyrants, which are the flesh and passions; neither will it be afraid of external tyrants, these are the world and the mighty ones on the earth. It will dread neither persecutions nor death. It is as Paul the Apostle says[3]: “I fear none of these things, neither do I care for my life more than I care for myself, provided I carry out the mission and the ministry the Lord Jesus gave me, and that was to bear witness to the Good News of God’s Grace”.