Old Testament

“Forgive us our debts as we forgive those who are in debt to us”.

There are material debts and spiritual ones. There are also moral debts. The money or the goods that one has received as a loan and must give back, are a material debt. Esteem extorted and not given back and love wanted and not returned are a moral debt. To obey God, from Whom one would exact much giving Him very little, and to love Him are a spiritual debt. He loves us and is to be loved, as a mother, a wife, a son, from whom so much is exacted, are to be loved. A selfish man wants to receive, but does not give. But an egoist is poles apart from Heaven. We are in debt to everybody. From God to a relative, from a relative to a friend, from a friend to our neighbour, to a servant, to a slave, because they are all beings like ourselves. Woe to him who does not forgive! He will not be forgiven. God, out of justice, cannot remit the debt of a man who is in debt to Him, the Most Holy One, if man does not forgive his fellow man.

• Esteem
• God's mercy and forgiveness
• Love
• Love of neighbor
• Loving God
• Mercy and forgiveness
• Obedience
• Silver

«How can we make room, clearance and elevation for our souls?»

«By demolishing the useless things you have in your “ego”. Clear it of all wrong knowledge, and with the debris make the elevation for the sovereign temple. A soul is to be carried higher and higher, on the three steps. Oh! you Romans love symbols. Look at the three steps in a symbolic light. They can tell you their names: penance, patience, perseverance. Or: humbility, purity, justice. Or: wisdom, generosity, mercy. Or, finally, the splendid trinomial: faith, hope, charity. Look also at the symbol of the ornate strong enclosure which encircles the area of the temple. You must surround your soul, the queen of the body, the temple of the Eternal Spirit, with a barrier which may protect it without obstructing light or oppressing it with ugly sights. An enclosure that must be safe and free from the love and desire of what is inferior: flesh and blood, and must aim at what is superior: the spirit. The chisel of freedom is your will-power, which will smooth corners, and remove clefts, stains and flaws in the marble of your ego, so that it may be perfect around your souls. And at the same time, the enclosure protecting the temple is to be used by you as a merciful shelter for the more unhappy people who do not know what Charity is. The porches: they are the effusion of love, of piety, of your desire that more people may come to God, and are like the loving arms stretched like a veil over the cradle of an orphan. And beyond the enclosure: the most beautiful and most scented trees are a homage to the Creator. The trees, planted on a soil previously barren and subsequently cultivated, symbolise all kinds of virtues and form the second living flowery enclosure around the sanctuary; and among the trees, that is among the virtues, there are the fountains, a further effusion of love and another purification before approaching the propylaeum near which one must sacrifice one’s carnality and repudiate all forms of lust before ascending the altar. And then you may proceed further, to the altar and lay your offer on it and finally, crossing the vestibule, you may approach the cell, where God is. And what will the cell be like? Abundance of spiritual wealth, because you can never adorn God too much. Have you understood? You asked Me how Faith is built. I said to You: “Following the method used to build temples”. You can see that it is true.

• Apostolate - Evangelism
• Cardinal and theological virtues
• Charity
• Constance
• Generosity
• Hope - Espoir
• How to perfect and sanctify yourself
• Humility
• Justice
• Love
• Love of neighbor
• Mercy and forgiveness
• Patience
• Penance
• Please
• Purity
• Spiritual wealth
• Virtues
• Wisdom

«Listen. It is a beautiful parable that will guide you with its light in many cases.

A man had two sons. The elder was a serious, affectionate, obedient worker. The younger was more intelligent than his brother who was actually somewhat dull and preferred to be guided rather than tire himself making decisions by himself, but he was also rebellious, absent-minded, fond of luxury, pleasure loving, a squanderer and idle. Intelligence is a great gift of God. But it is a gift to be used wisely. Otherwise it is like certain medicines that, when taken in the wrong way, kill instead of curing. His father, as it was his right and duty, used to recall him to a more sensible life. But it was all in vain, the only result was that he answered back and became more obstinate in his wicked ideas.

Finally one day, after a fierce quarrel, the younger son said: “Give me my part of the estate. So I will no longer hear your reproaches and my brother’s complaints. Let each have his own and no more about it”. “Be careful” replied the father, “because you will soon be ruined. What will you do then? Consider that I will not be unfair to favour you and I will not take a farthing off your brother to give it to you”. “I will not ask you for anything. You may be sure. Give me my part”.

The father had the estate and valuables assessed, and since money and jewels were worth as much as the real estate, he gave the elder brother the fields and vineyards, the herds and olive-trees, and the younger one the money and jewels, which the young man changed immediately into money. And after doing that in a few days, he went to a distant country where he lived like a lord, squandering all his money on a life of debauchery, making people believe that he was the son of a king, because he was ashamed to admit that he was a countryman and thus he disowned his father. Banquets, friends, women, robes, wines, games… he led a loose life. He soon saw that his money was coming to an end and that poverty was in sight. And to make matters worse, the country experienced a severe famine, which compelled him to spend his last penny.

205.4

He would have liked to go back to his father. But he was proud and decided not to. So he went to a wealthy man of the country, a friend of his in his happy days, and he begged him saying: “Take me among your servants, remembering the days when you enjoyed my wealth”. See how foolish man is! He prefers the lash of a master rather than say to his father: “Forgive me. I made a mistake!”. The young man had learned many useless things with his bright intelligence, but he did not want to learn the saying of Ecclesiasticus: “How ill-famed is he who deserts his father and how accursed of the Lord is whoever angers his mother”. He was intelligent, but not wise.

The man that he turned to, in exchange for the grand time he had enjoyed with the foolish young man, sent him to look after his pigs, because it was a pagan country and there were many pigs. So he was sent to pasture the herds of pigs in the farm. Filthy, in rags, stinking and starving — food in fact was scarce for all the servants and particularly for the lowest ones and he, a foreign ridiculed herdsman of pigs was considered such — he saw the pigs glut themselves with acorns and sighed: “I wish I could fill my stomach with this fruit! But they are too bitter! Not even starvation can make them palatable”. And he wept remembering the sumptuous banquets when he acted the “grand seigneur” only a short while before, laughing, singing, dancing… and then he would think of the honest substantial meals at his far away home, of the portions his father used to make impartially for everybody, keeping for himself the smallest one, happy to see the healthy appetite of his and he remembered the helpings his just father gave the servants and he sighed: “My father’s servants, even the lowest, have plenty of bread… and I am dying here of starvation…”. A long meditation, a long struggle to subdue his pride…

205.5

At last the day came when his humility and wisdom revived and he got up and said: “I will go back to my father! This pride of mine is silly, as it deprives me of my freedom. And why? Why should I suffer in my body and even more in my heart when I can be forgiven and receive comfort? I will go back to my father. That is settled. And what shall I say to him? What has matured in my heart here, in this abjection, in this filth, suffering the pangs of hunger! I will say to him: ‘Father, I have sinned against Heaven and against you, I am no longer worthy of being called your son; treat me therefore as the least of your servants, but bear me to stay under your roof. That I may see you moving about… I cannot say to him: ‘… because I love you’. He would not believe me. But my behaviour will tell him and he will understand and before dying he will bless me once again… Oh! I hope so. Because my father loves me”. And when he went back to town in the evening he gave up his job and begging along the way he went back home. And he saw his father’s fields… and the house… and his father supervising the work… he was old, emaciated by grief but always kind and good… The guilty son seeing that ruin caused by him stopped frightened… but the father, looking around, saw him and ran to meet him, because he was still far away. And when he reached him, he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. Only the father had recognised his son in the dejected beggar and he was the only one to be moved with love.

The son, clasped in his father’s arms, with his head resting on his father’s shoulder, whispered sobbing: “Father, let me throw myself at your feet”. “No, son! Not at my feet. Rest on my heart, which has suffered so much because of your absence, and now needs to revive feeling your warmth on my chest”. And the son, crying louder, said: “Oh! father! I have sinned against Heaven and against you, I am no longer worthy to be called son by you. But allow me to live among your servants, under your roof, seeing you, eating your bread, serving you, and you will be the breath of my life. Every time I take a morsel of bread, every time you breathe, my heart, which is so corrupt, will change and I will become honest…”

But the father, embracing him all the time, led him towards the servants, who had gathered together watching in the distance and he said to them: “Quick, bring the best robe, and basins of scented water here, and wash him, spray him with scents, clothe him, put new sandals on his feet and a ring on his finger. Bring a fattened calf and kill it. And prepare a banquet. Because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life, he was lost and has been found. Now I want him to find the innocent love of a child once again, and my love and the celebration of the household for his return, must give it to him. He must realise that he is always my dear last-born child, as he was in his childhood a long time ago, when he used to toddle beside me making me happy with his smile and his prattling”. And the servants did so.

205.6

The elder son was out in the country and he did not know anything until his return. Coming towards the house in the evening, he saw that it was brightly lighted and he heard the sound of instruments and dancing coming from it. He called a servant who was bustling about and asked him: “What is happening?”. And the servant replied: “Your brother has come back! Your father had the fattened calf killed because his son has come back to him safe and cured of his wickedness and he ordered a celebration. They are only waiting for you to start”. But the first-born was angry because he thought that such a feast for his younger brother was unfair, as he was not only younger, but had also been wicked. And he did not want to go in, on the contrary he was about to walk away from the house.

But the father, informed of the situation, ran out and reached him and endeavoured to convince him, begging him not to spoil his joy. The elder brother replied to his father: “And you expect me not to be upset? You are unfair to your first-born and you hold him in contempt. I have served you since I was able to work, and I have done that for many years. I have never disobeyed an order of yours, not even a simple desire. I have always been near you, and I have loved you for two, to make you recover from the wound inflicted on you by my brother. And you have not even given me a lamb to have a feast with my friends. You are now honouring my brother and you have killed the best calf for him, who offended and abandoned you, and has been a lazy spendthrift and has now come back because he was driven by starvation. It is really worth while being a hard honest worker! You should not have done that to me”.

The father then, clasping him to his heart, said: “Son! Can you believe that I do not love you, because I do not celebrate your behaviour? Your deeds are holy by themselves, and the world praises you because of them. Your brother, instead, needs to be rehabilitated both in the eyes of the world and in his own. And do you think that I do not love you because I give you no visible prize? But day and night, in every moment of my life, you are present to my heart, and I bless you every moment. You have the continuous reward of being always with me, and what is mine is yours. But it was fair to have a feast, a celebration for your brother who was dead and has come back to good life, who was lost and has come back to our love”. And the first-born yielded to his father’s desire.

205.7

And that, My friends, is what happens in the House of the Father. And whoever feels that he is like the younger son of the parable must believe that if he imitates him in going to the Father, the Father will say to him: “Not at My feet. But rest on My heart, which has suffered because of your absence and is now happy because you have come back”. He who is in the situation of the first-born and without any fault against the Father, must not be jealous of the Father’s joy, but must take part in it and love the redeemed brother.»

• Bible - Book of Ben Sira the Wise - Ecclesiasticus or Sirach
• Bible - Gospel of Luke
• Lessons and Teachings for the Apostles
• Material wealth
• Parable of the prodigal son
• Parables
• Repentance and contrition

The Kingdom of Heaven is the house of the nuptials of God with souls. The moment a soul enters it, is the day of the nuptials.

Now listen. It is a custom with us that virgins escort the bridegroom when he arrives, to take him with lights and songs to the nuptial house together with his sweet bride. When the procession leaves the house of the bride, who wearing a veil and deeply moved turns her steps to the place where she will be queen, that is, to a house which is not hers, but will become hers the moment she becomes one body with her husband, the procession of the virgins, who are generally friends of the bride, runs to meet the happy couple, forming a circle of lights around them.

Now it happened that in a town there was a wedding. While the bride and bridegroom were making merry with relatives and friends in the house of the bride, ten virgins went to their place, that is, to the hall in the groom’s house, to be ready to go out and meet him when the sound of cymbals and songs warned them that the young couple had left the bride’s house to come to the groom’s. But the feast in the house of the nuptials extended and night fell. As you know, the virgins always keep their lamps lit, so that they do not waste time at the right moment. Now, of these ten virgins, five were wise and five were foolish, and all their lamps were lit and shining. The wise ones, full of wisdom, had provided themselves with small flasks full of oil, to fill up their lamps in the event they should have to wait longer than expected, whereas the foolish ones had only filled their little lamps.

One hour went by after the other. Cheerful conversation, tales and jokes made their waiting pleasant. But later they did not know what to say or what to do, and weary and tired, the ten girls sat down more comfortably and slowly fell asleep with their lamps lit and close to them.

206.3

At midnight a cry was heard: “The bridegroom is coming, go and meet him!”. The ten girls got up on hearing the order, took their veils and garlands, adorned themselves and ran to the shelf where the lamps were. The light of five of them was already fading… The wicks, no longer sustained with oil, which was finished, were smoky, their light was becoming fainter and fainter and they would go out at the least whiff of air, whereas the flames of the other five lamps, which had been refilled by the wise virgins before they fell asleep, were still bright and became even brighter when more oil was added to the lamps.

“Oh” begged the foolish girls “give us some of your oil, otherwise our lamps will go out as soon as we move them. Yours are already so beautiful!…” . But the wise virgins replied: “The wind is blowing in the night outside and heavy drops of dew are falling. There is never enough oil to give a flame strong enough to withstand the wind and dampness. If we give you some, also our lights will begin to fade away. And the procession of the virgins would be really a sad one without the flickering flames of lamps! Go, run to the nearest vendor, beg, knock, make him get up to give you some oil”. And the foolish girls, panting, creasing their veils, staining their dresses, losing their garlands while pushing one another and running, followed the advice of their companions.

But while they were on their way to buy some oil, the bride and the bridegroom appeared at the end of the street. The five virgins, with their lamps lit, ran to meet them and the young couple entered the house in the midst of them for the final ceremony, when the virgins at the end would escort the bride to the nuptial room. The door was closed behind them and those who were outside were left out. And that was the case of the five foolish bridesmaids, who at last arrived with the oil, but found the door closed and in vain they knocked, hurting their hands and moaning: “Lord, lord, open the door for us! We were in the wedding procession. We are the propitiatory virgins chosen to bring honour and good luck to your wedding”. But the bridegroom, leaving for a moment the closest guests whose leave he was taking while the bride was entering the nuptial room, from the upper part of the house said to them: “I tell you that I do not know you. I do not know who you are. I did not see you rejoicing around my beloved bride. You are usurpers. You are therefore left out of the nuptial house”. And the five foolish girls, weeping, went away along the dark streets, with their useless lamps, their creased dresses and torn veils, while their garlands were practically destroyed or lost.

206.4

And now listen to the meaning of the parable. I told you at the beginning that the Kingdom of Heaven is the house of the nuptials of God with souls. All the faithful are called to the celestial wedding because God loves all His children. Sooner or later everybody arrives at the moment of the nuptials and it is a great fortune to arrive.

But listen further. You know how girls consider it an honour and fortune to be invited as bridesmaids of the bride. Let us see whom the various people represent and you will understand better. The Bridegroom is God. The bride is the soul of a just person who, after the period of engagement in the house of the Father, that is under the protection of and in obedience to God’s doctrine, living according to justice, is taken to the house of the Bridegroom for the wedding. The virgin-maids are the souls of the faithful, who following the example set by the bride – the fact that she was chosen by the Bridegroom because of her virtues means that she was a living example of holiness – endeavour to achieve the same honour by sanctifying themselves.

206.5

They are in a white, clean, fresh dress, with white veils, crowned with flowers. They are holding lighted lamps in their hands. The lamps are very clean, and the wicks are nourished with the purest oil so that they may not be unpleasant.

In a white dress. Justice steadily practised gives a white dress and the day will soon come when it will be most white, without even the most remote remembrance of stain, it will be of supernatural, angelical whiteness.

In a clean dress. One must always keep the dress clean through humility. It is so easy to dim the purity of the heart. And those

whose hearts are not pure cannot see God. Humility is like water that washes. A humble man soon notices that he has darkened his robe, because his eyes are not dimmed by the fumes of pride and thus he runs to his Lord and says: “I have stained the purity of my heart. I weep at Your feet to be cleansed. Oh! my Sun, purify my heart through Your benign forgiveness and Your paternal love!”

In a fresh dress. Oh! the freshness of a heart! Children have it by gift of God. The just have it by gift of God and through their own will. Saints have it by gift of God and through their will elevated to heroism. But will a sinner, whose soul is torn, burnt, poisoned and disgraced, ever be able to have a fresh robe? Oh! of course he will. He begins to have it the moment he looks at himself with disgust. He increases its freshness when he decides to change life. He brings it to perfection when through penance he washes, detoxicates, cures and recomposes his poor soul. And with the help of God, Who does not refuse assistance to anyone who asks Him for holy help, and through his own will elevated to super-heroism — because it is not necessary for him to protect what he has, but to rebuild what he destroyed and thus he must work twice, three times, seven times as much — and with untiring penance, relentless against his sinful ego, he will take his soul back to the freshness of a child’s soul. A new freshness, made precious by experience, which makes him the master of other people who were once like him, that is, sinners.

With white veils. Humility! I said[1]: “When you pray or do penance, do not let the world see you”. In the Wisdom Books it is written[2]: “It is right to keep the secret of the King”. Humility is the candid veil worn to defend the good we do and the good God grants us. We must not be proud of the privileged love granted to us by God, nor seek foolish human glory. The gift would be taken away at once. But from the depth of our hearts we must sing to our God: “My soul proclaims Your greatness, o Lord… because You have looked upon Your lowly handmaid”.»

Jesus makes a short pause and casts a glance at His Mother, Who blushes under Her veil and bends forward as if She wanted to tidy the hair of the boy sitting at Her feet, but in actual fact to conceal her deep-felt remembrance…

Crowned with flowers. A soul must weave its daily garland of virtuous deeds, because nothing withered or slovenly looking is to appear in the presence of the Most High. I said daily. Because a soul does not know when God-Bridegroom may appear and say: “Come”. Therefore you must never tire renewing the garland. Be not afraid. Flowers wither. But the flowers of virtuous wreaths do not wither. God’s angel, whom every man has at his side, picks up these daily wreaths and takes them to Heaven. And they will be there in the throne for the new blessed soul when it enters the nuptial house as the bride.

206.6

Their lamps are lit. They have them to honour the Bridegroom and to see the way. How refulgent faith is, and what a kind friend it is! It gives a flame as bright as a star, a flame that smiles because it is sure in its certainty, a flame that also brightens the instrument supporting it. Also the flesh of man nourished with faith seems to become brighter and more spiritual, even in this world, free from premature withering. Because he who believes holds onto God’s words and commandments in order to possess God, his ultimate aim, and therefore he shuns corruption, he is not perturbed or afraid, he feels no remorse, he is not compelled to make an effort to remember lies or to conceal evil deeds and remains young and handsome by means of the beautiful incorruptibility of saints: flesh and blood, mind and heart free from lust to contain the oil of faith, to give light without smoke. A constant will to feed that light forever. Everyday life, with its disappointments, ascertainments, contacts, temptations, disagreements, tends to diminish faith. No! It must not happen. Go every day to the source of the sweet, sapiential oil of God. A lamp with little oil can be put out by the least puff of wind or by the heavy dew of the night. The night… The hour of darkness, of sin, of temptation comes for everybody. It is night for the soul. But if the soul is filled to the brim with faith, its flame cannot be put out by the wind of the world or by the fog of sensuality.

And finally vigilance, vigilance, vigilance. He who is unwarily trustful and says: “Oh! God will come on time, while my light is still on”, and makes up his mind to go to sleep instead of keeping awake, and goes to sleep without providing what is necessary to get up and be ready at the first call, and he who waits until the last moment to procure the oil of faith or the strong wick of goodwill, runs the risk of being left out when the Bridegroom arrives. Be vigilant, therefore with prudence, perseverance, purity, confidence, so that you may always be ready for God’s call, because you really do not know when He will come.

206.7

My dear disciples, I do not want you to be afraid of God, on the contrary I want you to have faith in His goodness. Both you who will remain here, and you who will be going away, must consider that, if you do what the wise virgins did, you will be invited not only to escort the Bridegroom, but like the virgin Esther, who became queen[3] in the place of Vashti, you will be chosen and elected to be brides, as the Bridegroom “found more approval and favour with you than with anybody else”. I bless you, who are about to go away. Take My words with you for yourselves and for your companions. May the peace of the Lord always be with you.»

Jesus goes near the peasants to say goodbye to them once more, but John of Endor whispers to him: «Master, Judas is here now…»

«It does not matter. Take them to the wagon and do as I told you.»

• Bible - Book of Esther
• Bible - Gospel of Luke
• Esther (biblical character)
• Kingdom of God - Kingdom of Heaven
• Parable of the ten virgins
• Parables
• Vashti (biblical character)

Humility! I said: “When you pray or do penance, do not let the world see you”. In the Wisdom Books it is written: “It is right to keep the secret of the King”. Humility is the candid veil worn to defend the good we do and the good God grants us. We must not be proud of the privileged love granted to us by God, nor seek foolish human glory. The gift would be taken away at once. But from the depth of our hearts we must sing to our God: “My soul proclaims Your greatness, o Lord… because You have looked upon Your lowly handmaid”.

• Acting in secret
• Bible - Book of Tobit
• God's gifts
• How to perfect and sanctify yourself
• Humility
• I'm a useless servant: I've only done my duty
• Penance
• Praise and acclaim
• Prayer

How refulgent faith is, and what a kind friend it is! It gives a flame as bright as a star, a flame that smiles because it is sure in its certainty, a flame that also brightens the instrument supporting it. Also the flesh of man nourished with faith seems to become brighter and more spiritual, even in this world, free from premature withering. Because he who believes holds onto God’s words and commandments in order to possess God, his ultimate aim, and therefore he shuns corruption, he is not perturbed or afraid, he feels no remorse, he is not compelled to make an effort to remember lies or to conceal evil deeds and remains young and handsome by means of the beautiful incorruptibility of saints: flesh and blood, mind and heart free from lust to contain the oil of faith, to give light without smoke. A constant will to feed that light forever. Everyday life, with its disappointments, ascertainments, contacts, temptations, disagreements, tends to diminish faith. No! It must not happen. Go every day to the source of the sweet, sapiential oil of God. A lamp with little oil can be put out by the least puff of wind or by the heavy dew of the night. The night… The hour of darkness, of sin, of temptation comes for everybody. It is night for the soul. But if the soul is filled to the brim with faith, its flame cannot be put out by the wind of the world or by the fog of sensuality.

• Acts - Actions
• Anxiety - Fear - Fearfulness
• Commandments
• Corruption
• Disorder
• Faith
• How to perfect and sanctify yourself
• Light
• Lust
• Nuit de la foi - Abandoning God
• Purity
• Sensuality - Pleasure of the senses - Enjoyment
• Sons of Light
• Temptation
• Will

Simon of Jonah comes forward, he reaches Jesus’ group and asks: «Is this the road to Bethlehem? John says that the last time You took another road.»

«That is true» replies Jesus. «But that was because we were coming from Jerusalem. This one is shorter. At Rachel’s sepulchre, which the women wish to see, we will part, as you decided some time ago. We will meet later at Bethzur, where My Mother wishes to stop.»

• Bible - Book of Genesis
• Locations - Bethsur - Bet-Çur - Bethsour
• Places - Rachel's tomb
• Rachel (biblical character)

They proceed westwards, along the cool valley. The road then bends lightly to the north along a protruding hill and they thus reach the road which takes from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, near a cube-shaped building surmounted with a small dome, which is Rachel’s tomb. They all go near it and pray reverently.

«Joseph and I stopped here… Everything is exactly the same as then. Only the season is different. It was a cold day in the month of Chislev. It had rained and the roads were muddy, then an ice-cold wind began to blow and perhaps during the night there was frost. The roads had hardened, but furrowed by cart-wheels and crowded with people, they were like a sea crowded with boats and My little donkey had difficulty in proceeding…»

«And did You not, Mother?»

«Oh! I had You!…» and She looks at Him with a tender blissful face. She then resumes speaking: «It was getting dark and Joseph was very worried… a biting cold wind was blowing stronger and stronger… People were rushing towards Bethlehem, pushing one another and many took to abusing My little donkey because it was going so slowly in an effort to find suitable places for its hooves… It seemed to be aware that You were there… and that You were sleeping for the last time in the cradle of My bosom. It was cold… But I was warm. I could feel You coming… Coming? You could say: “Mother, I had been there nine months”. Yes. But now it was as if You were coming from Heaven. Heaven was bending down over Me and I could see its brightness… I could see God inflamed with joy for Your oncoming birth and those flames pierced Me, burned Me, abstracted Me from everything… Cold… wind… crowds… it was all… nothing! I saw God… Now and again, with an effort, I would succeed in bringing My spirit back to the earth and I would smile at Joseph, who was afraid I might be cold and tired, and he led the little donkey lest it should stumble and he wrapped Me in a blanket lest I should get cold… But nothing could have happened to Me. I felt no jolts. I seemed to be moving along a starry path, among snow-white clouds, supported by angels… And I smiled… First at You… I looked at You, through the barrier of the flesh, while You were sleeping, with Your little fists closed, in Your cradle of living roses, My lily-bud… Then I smiled at My spouse, who was so distressed, to encourage him… And then at the people who were not aware that they were already breathing the air of the Saviour…

We stopped near Rachel’s tomb to let the donkey rest for a moment and to eat a little bread and some olives, the provisions of poor people. But I was not hungry. I could not be hungry… I was nourished with My joy…

• Bethlehem donkey
• Bible - Book of Genesis
• Places - Rachel's tomb
• Rachel (biblical character)

«Come out here, now, near the stream, in the shade of the good tree, which, if it were later in summer, would give you its apples in addition to its shade; come. We shall eat before going… Where, Son?»

«To Jala. It is near. And tomorrow we shall go to Bethzur.»

They sit in the shade of the apple-tree and Mary leans against its robust trunk.

Bartholomew watches Her, so young and still heavenly moved by the recollection She made, while She accepts from Her Son the food He has blessed and She smiles at Him with loving eyes, and he whispers: « “In His shade I am seated and His food is sweet to My taste”.»

Judas Thaddeus replies to him: «It is true. She is sick with love. But we cannot say that She was awakened under an apple-tree.»

«Why not, brother? What do we know about the secrets of the King?» replies James of Alphaeus.

And Jesus smiling says: «The new Eve was conceived of the Thought at the foot of the paradisiacal apple-tree in order to put to flight the serpent and detoxicate the poisoned fruit by means of Her smile and Her tears. She became the tree of the redeeming fruit. Come, friends, and eat of it. Because to be nourished by its sweetness is to be nourished by the honey of God.»

«Master, please satisfy an old desire of mine for some clarification. Does the Song which we are reciting[3] foresee Her?» asks Bartholomew in a low voice while Mary is looking after the boy and speaking to the women.

«The Book speaks of her from its beginning and future books will speak of Her until the word of man changes into the everlasting hosanna of God’s eternal City» and Jesus turns towards the women.

«You can hear that He descends from David! What wisdom, what poetry!» says the Zealot speaking to his companions.

• Barthélémy - Nathanaël (apostle)
• Bible - Song of Songs
• David (biblical character)
• James of Alphaeus (apostle)
• Jude of Alphée (apostle)
• Simon the Zealot (apostle)
• The Virgin Mary
• The Virgin Mary - New Eve

«Listen» the Iscariot who is still in the mood of the previous day and speaks very little, although he endeavours to emulate the freedom he had before, joins in the conversation «listen, I would like to understand why the Incarnation had to take place. Only God can speak in such a way as to defeat Satan. Only God can have the power of redeeming. And I do not doubt it. But I think that the Word might have lowered Himself less than He did by being born like every other man, submitting Himself to the miseries of childhood and so on. Could He not have appeared in human form already adult, in the appearance of an adult? And if He really wanted a mother, could He not have chosen one, an adoptive one as He did for a father? I think I asked Him once, but He did not reply at length, or I do not remember.»

«Ask Him! Since we are on the subject…» says Thomas.

«I won’t. I upset Him and I feel as if I have not been forgiven yet. Ask Him on my behalf.»

«I beg your pardon! We accept everything without so many clarifications and you expect us to ask questions? It is not fair!» retorts James of Zebedee.

«What is not fair?» asks Jesus.

There is silence, then the Zealot speaks on behalf of everybody repeating Judas Iscariot’s questions and the replies of the others.

«I do not bear a grudge. That is the first thing. I make the comments that I must make, I suffer and I forgive. That applies to him who is afraid, which is still the consequence of his perturbation. With regards to My real Incarnation I say: “It is just that it took place”. In future many people will make mistakes concerning My Incarnation, ascribing to Me the erroneous forms that Judas would like Me to have taken. A man seemingly solid in body, but in reality fluent like a lighting effect, so that I would and would not be flesh. And Mary’s maternity would and would not be a real maternity. I am really flesh and Mary is really the Mother of the Word Incarnate. If the hour of My birth was but an ecstasy, that is because She is the new Eve without the burden of sin and without the heritage of punishment. But I did not lower Myself by resting in Her. Was the manna enclosed in the Tabernacle perhaps humiliated? No, on the contrary it was honoured by being in that abode. Others will say that I, since I was not real flesh, did not suffer and did not die during My stay on the earth. Of course, since they cannot deny that I was here, they will deny My real Incarnation or My true Divinity. No, I am really One with the Father forever, and I am united to God as Flesh, because as a matter of fact it is possible that Love reached what is unreachable because of His Perfection, by becoming Flesh to save flesh. A reply to all these errors is given by My whole life which shed blood from birth to death and was submitted to everything that is common to man, except sin. Yes, I was born of Her. For your welfare. You do not know how much Justice has been mitigated since the Woman has become its collaborator. Have I satisfied you, Judas?»

«Yes, Master.»

«Do likewise with Me.»

The Iscariot bends his head, is abashed and perhaps he is really touched by so much kindness.

The rest is protracted in the cool shade of the apple-tree. Some fall asleep, some doze. But Mary gets up and goes back into the Grotto and Jesus follows Her…

• God the Father
• Heresies and doctrinal errors
• Holy Trinity
• Humility of Jesus Christ
• Incarnation
• James of Zebedee (apostle)
• Jesus Christ - God-Man
• Jesus Christ - Word of God
• Judas de Kérioth (apostle)
• Manna
• Motherhood of the Virgin Mary
• Redemption
• Simon the Zealot (apostle)
• Suffering and pain of Jesus Christ
• The Virgin Mary - Co-Redemptrix
• The Virgin Mary - Mother of God
• The Virgin Mary - New Eve
• Thomas (apostle)