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GRM 3.5-10

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

3.5 Jesus says:

«The just are always wise, because, as friends of God, they live in His company and are taught by Him, yes, by Him, Infinite Wisdom.

My grandparents were just and therefore they possessed wisdom. They could quote accurately from the Book, singing the praises of Wisdom from its context: “I loved her and searched for from my youth: I resolved to have her as my bride”.

Anne of Aaron was the strong woman of whom our Ancestor speaks. And Joachim, a descendant of king David, had not sought as much charm and wealth as virtue. Anne possessed a great virtue. All holy attributes joined together like a sweet-smelling bunch of flowers to become one beautiful thing that was this exceptional Virtue. A real virtue, worthy of being set before the throne of God.

Joachim had therefore married wisdom twice, “loving her more than any other woman”: the Wisdom of God enshrined in the heart of a just woman. Anne of Aaron had not sought anything else but to join her life to that of an honest man, certain that family joy lies in honesty.

3.6 And to be the emblem of the “strong woman” she lacked only the crown of children, the glory of the married woman, the justification of marriage, the one of which Solomon speaks, as for her happiness she lacked children, the flowers of a tree that has become one thing with the adjoining tree and obtains thereof abundance of new fruit, in which the two good qualities blend into one, because she had never experienced any disappointment on account of her husband.

3.7 Although she was now approaching old age and had been Joachim’s wife for many years, she was always for him “the spouse of his youth, his joy, the most dear hind, the graceful fawn”, whose caresses always had the fresh charm of the first nuptial evening and sweetly charmed his love, keeping it as fresh as a flower sprinkled with dew, and as ardent as a fire continuously kept burning. Therefore, in their affliction of their childless state, they spoke to each other “words of consolation in their thoughts and troubles”.

3.8 And when the time came, after having taught them in life, eternal Wisdom enlightened them with dreams at night, visions of the poem of glory that was to come from them and it was the Most Holy Mary, My Mother. If their humility made them hesitant, their hearts trembled in hope at the first hint of God’s promise. There was already certainty in Joachim’s words: “Do hope… We shall gain our favour from God by our faithful love”. They were dreaming of a child: they got the Mother of God.

3.9 The words of the book of Wisdom appear to be written for them: “By means of her I shall acquire glory before the people… by means of her, immortality shall be mine and I shall leave an everlasting memory to my successors”. But to obtain all this they had to become masters of a true and lasting virtue which no event marred. Virtue of faith. Virtue of charity. Virtue of hope. Virtue of chastity. The chastity of a married couple! They possessed it, because it is not necessary to be virgins to be chaste. And chaste nuptial beds are guarded by angels and from them descend good children who make the virtue of their parents the rule of their lives.

3.10 But where are they now? Now children are not wanted, neither is chastity. I therefore say that love and marriage are desecrated.

Annotation

In all truth, they could repeat what the Book says when it sings the praises of Wisdom in the book of the same name: See Wis 8:2 below.

Anne, daughter of Aaron, was the strong woman of whom our forefather speaks. Solomon, from whom Jesus descended. Author of the "Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel" (Proverbs 1:1). For the quotation, see Proverbs 31:10-27.

Joachim had thus twice married wisdom "loving her more than any other woman": God's wisdom contained in the heart of the righteous woman. See Wis 8:9 below.

To be the emblem of the "strong woman", all she needed was to be crowned with children, for this is the glory of a wife, the justification of marriage, of which Solomon speaks. See Pr 31, 28.

Now an old woman, Joachim's wife for decades, she remained for him "the wife of his youth, his joy, his beloved hind, his graceful gazelle". See Pr 5:18-19. Almost unanimous tradition has it that Anne was married for more than 20 years (4 lustres) (cf. P.V. Charland, Les trois légendes de Madame Saincte Anne, volume 1 1898, page 11), and that she had Mary in her old age. This tradition is also confirmed by Marie d'Agreda(La Cité mystique de Dieu - Livre 1, Chapitre 15, § 209, page 518), as well as by Anne-Catherine Emmerich (La Vie de la Vierge Marie, Presses de la Renaissance, 2006, page 45).

In their sadness at being childless, they spoke to each other "words of comfort in their cares and woes": see Wis 8, 9 below.

The words of the Book of Wisdom seem to have been written for them: "For her sake I will have glory among the multitudes... For her sake I will have immortality, and I will leave an everlasting memory for those who come after me. "See Wis 8, 9-10.

Book of Wisdom 8, 2 and 8, 9-10

Wis 8, 2 : I loved her and sought her out from my youth; I sought her as my wife, and was enamored of her beauty.

Wis 8:9-10 : So I resolved to take her as my life's companion, knowing that she would be to me a counsellor of all good, and a comfort in my cares and sorrows. Through her, I said to myself, I would have glory in the assemblies, and, still young, honor with the old men.

Book of Proverbs 5, 18-19

Pr 5, 18-19 : Bless your spring, and rejoice in the wife of your youth. Charming doe, graceful gazelle, - let her charms intoxicate you at all times, be always enamored of her love!

Book of Proverbs 31, 10-31

Pr 31, 10-31 :

THE STRONG WOMAN.

ALEPH. Who can find a strong woman? Her price far outweighs that of pearls.

BETH. Her husband's heart trusts her, and profits will not fail her.

GHIMEL. She does him good, not harm, all the days of her life.

DALETH. She seeks wool and flax, and works with her cheerful hand.

HÉ. She is like the merchant's vessel, bringing her bread from afar.

VAV. She rises while it is yet night, and gives food to her house, and task to her maids.

ZAIN. She thinks of a field, and acquires it; with the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard.

HETH. She girds her loins with strength, and strengthens her arms.

TETH. She feels that her gain is good; her lamp is not extinguished in the night. YOD. She puts her hand to the distaff, and her fingers take up the spindle.

CAPH. She stretches out her hand to the unfortunate, she opens her hand to the needy.

LAMED. She does not fear the snow for her house, for all her house is clothed in crimson.

MEM. She makes herself blankets, byssus and purple are her garments.

NUN. Her husband is well known at the city gates, when he sits with the elders of the land.

SAMECH. She makes shirts and sells them, and delivers belts to the merchant.

AÏN. Strength and grace are her adornment, and she laughs at the future.

PHE. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and good words are on her tongue.

TSADÉ. She watches over the paths of her house, and does not eat the bread of idleness.

QOPH. Her sons rise up and proclaim her happy; her husband rises up and gives her praise:

RESCH. "Many daughters have shown themselves virtuous; but you, you surpass them all."

SCHIN. Deceitful is grace, and vain is beauty; the woman who fears Yahweh is the one who will be praised.

THAV. Give her the fruit of her hands, and let her works declare her praise at the gates of the city.

GRM 5.8-9.11-12

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

5.8 Come and read Her glories in the Book of the Ancestor. “God possessed me at the beginning of His works, from the beginning, before the Creation. From everlasting I was firmly set, in the beginning, before earth came into being, the deep did not yet exist and I was already conceived. The springs did not yet gush with water and the mountains had not yet risen in their huge masses, neither were the hills jewels in the sun, when I came to birth. God had not yet made the earth, the rivers and the foundations of the world, and I was there. When He prepared the Heavens I was present, when with immutable laws He enclosed the deep under the surface, when He fixed the Heavens firm and He suspended the springs of water there, when He assigned the sea its boundaries and gave laws to the waters, when He ordered the waters not to invade the shore, when He laid down the foundations of the earth, I was with Him arranging everything. I always played joyfully in His presence, I played in the universe…” You applied these words to Wisdom, but they speak of Her: the beautiful Mother, the holy Mother, the Virgin Mother of Wisdom that I am and Who is now speaking to you.

5.9 I wanted you to write the first line of the song at the top of the book that speaks of Her, so that She might be contemplated and the consolation and joy of God might be known; the reason for the constant, perfect, intimate delight of this God One and Triune, Who rules and loves you and Who received from man so many reasons for being sad; the reason why He perpetuated the human race, even when, at the first test, humanity deserved to be destroyed; the reason for the forgiveness you have received.

To have Mary that loved Him! Oh! It was well worth while creating Man and allowing him to exist and decreeing to forgive him, to have the Beautiful Virgin, the Holy Virgin, the Immaculate Virgin, the Loving Virgin, the Beloved Daughter, the Most Pure Mother, the Loving Spouse! God has given you so much and would have given you even more to possess the Creature of His delight, the Sun of His sun, the Flower of His garden. And He continues to give you so much on account of Her, at Her request, for Her joy, because Her joy flows into the joy of God and increases it with flashes that fill the light, the great light of Paradise with brilliant sparkles and every sparkle is a grace to the universe, to mankind, to the blessed souls who reply with a jubilant cry of alleluia to each generation of divine miracle, created by the desire of the Blessed Trinity to see the sparkling smile of joy of the Virgin.

(...) The Supreme Mind, that knows everything, even before man existed, knew that man would be his own thief and his own murderer. And as the Eternal Goodness has no limits in being good, before Guilt existed, He thought of the means to obliterate Guilt. The means: I, the Word. The instrument to render the means an efficient instrument: Mary. And the Virgin was created in the sublime mind of God.

5.12

Everything was created for Me, beloved Son of the Father. I-King should have had under my Divine Royal feet carpets and jewels such as no royal palace had, and songs and voices and servants and ministers around me as no sovereign ever possessed, and flowers and gems, all the sublime, the greatness, the kindness that may derive from the thought of a God.

But I was to be Flesh as well as Spirit. Flesh to save the flesh. Flesh to sublime the flesh, taking it to Heaven many centuries before its time. Because the flesh inhabited by the spirit is God’s masterpiece and Heaven had already been made for it. In order to become flesh I needed a Mother. To be God it was necessary that the Father was God.

Then God created His Spouse and said to Her: “Come with Me. At My side see what I am doing for our Son. Look and rejoice, eternal Virgin, eternal Maiden and may Your smile fill this Empyrean and give the angels their starting note and teach Paradise celestial harmony. I am looking at You. And I see You as You will be, Immaculate Woman, Who are now only a spirit: the spirit in which I rejoice. I am looking at You and I give the sea and the firmament the blue of Your eyes, the holy corn the colour of Your hair, whiteness to the lily and a rosy colour to the rose, like Your silky skin. I copy the pearls from Your minute teeth, I make the sweet strawberries watching Your mouth and I give the nightingale Your notes and the turtle-doves Your weeping. And reading Your future thoughts and listening to the beats of Your heart, I have a reason for guidance in creating. Come, My joy, have the worlds as a plaything as long as You will be the dancing light of My thoughts have the worlds for Your smile, have wreaths and necklaces of stars; place the moon under Your gentle feet; make Galatea Your stellar scarf. The stars and planets are for You. Come and enjoy looking at the flowers that will be a childish joy for Your Baby and a pillow for the Son of Your womb. Come and see sheep and lambs, eagles and doves being created. Stay beside Me when I make the hollows of the seas and grooves of the rivers and I raise the mountains and I adorn them with snow and forests. Stay here while I sow fodder and trees and vines, and I make the olive-tree for You, My Peaceful One, and the vine for You, My Vine branch who will bear the Eucharistic Bunch of grapes. Run, fly, rejoice, My Beauty. And may the universe which is created hour by hour learn from You to love Me, My Love, and may it become more beautiful owing to Your smile, Mother of My Son, Queen of My Paradise, Love of Your God”. And again, seeing the Fault and admiring the Faultless One: “Come to Me, You Who wipe away the bitterness of human disobedience, of human fornication with Satan and of human ingratitude. I will take with You My revenge over Satan”.

Annotation

Book of Proverbs, 8, 22-31

Prov 8, 22-31: The Lord made me for himself, the principle of his action, the first of his works, from everlasting.

Before the ages I was formed, from the beginning, before the earth appeared. When the abysses did not yet exist, I was born, when there were no springs. Before the mountains were fixed, before the hills, I was born, before the Lord made earth and space, the primitive elements of the world.

When he established the heavens, I was there, when he traced the horizon on the surface of the abyss, when he gathered the clouds in the heights and mastered the springs of the deep, when he imposed his limits on the sea, so that the waters could not violate his order, when he established the foundations of the earth. And I grew up beside him. I was his delight day after day, playing before him at all times, playing in the universe, on his earth, and finding my delight with the sons of men.

Read the glories of Mary in the book of the Ancestor. In the Septuagint, the Bible of Jesus' time, the book of Proverbs is called "Proverbs of Solomon". He was the son of David and the ancestor of Jesus (cf. Matthew 1:6: "David, from his union with the wife of Urias, begat Solomon").

This text, applied to Mary, is commented on in the Book of Azarias, on December 8, feast of the Immaculate Conception (see note 13 below). Indeed, it has been retained by the liturgy as applying to the Immaculate Conception. This relationship - from all eternity - between Christ and the Virgin Mary, in whom he becomes incarnate, is developed and documented by Fr. G.M. Roschini in The Virgin Mary in the works of Maria Valtorta, synthesis of Valtorta's Marian theology, Part 1, Mary in eternity, pp. 66-71. He also refers to Sirach (Ecclesiasticus), 24:3ff.

Many theologians believe that the words of Proverbs 8:22-31 refer to both Jesus and Mary. The Liturgy of December 8, feast of the Immaculate Conception, retained this text which cannot be applied to Jesus alone (the Word of God through whom all things were made). In fact, the text describes another feminine person (especially verses 27 to 31) alongside the Creator. Some have seen this attribution to the Virgin Mary as heresy, but can the Liturgy be heretical? We see in this text the foreknowledge of God in whom everything exists (cf. e.g. Ephesians 1:4 : "He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love". The foreknowledge of the Passion also exists in the Bible, long before its realization at the appointed time, let alone at the end of time. The same is true of the immaculate creation of Mary's soul infused into a human pulpit at the appointed time.

Jesus speaks of this again in EMV 196.7.

St Albert the Great (1200-1280), says: "God took extreme care to keep from all defilement the woman he had predestined from all eternity to be his mother in time" (Sermones de sanctis 38).

GRM 6.6

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

6.6 Jesus says:

«Solomon in his Wisdom says: “Whoever is childlike, let him come to me”. And really from the stronghold, from the walls of her city, Eternal Wisdom said to the Eternal Maiden: “Come to Me”, longing to have Her. Later the Son of the Most Pure Maiden will say: “Let little children come to Me because the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs, and those who do not become like them will not have any part in My Kingdom”. The voices follow one another and while the voice of Heaven cries to little Mary: “Come to Me”, the voice of Man says, and thinks of His Mother in saying so: “Come to Me if you can be like children”.

I give you My Mother as a model.

Here is the perfect Maiden with the pure and simple heart of a dove, here is the One Whom years and worldly contacts do not make defiant in the cruelty of a corrupted, twisted, false spirit. Because She does not want it. Come to Me, looking at Mary.

Annotation

Solomon says: Proverbs 9:4.

Later, the Son of the All-Pure Child would say: "Let the little children come to me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven; he who is not like them has no part in my kingdom. "Jesus will saythis in EMV 378.8 and in Matthew 19:14-15; Mark 10:13-14, and Luke 18:15-17.

Gospel of Matthew 19, 14-15

Mt 19, 14-15 : Jesus said to them, "Leave these little children, and do not hinder them from coming to me, for the kingdom of heaven is for those who are like them. "And laying his hands on them, he went on his way.

Gospel of Luke 18, 15-17

Lk 18, 15-17 : Some people also brought their little children to him to touch them; when his disciples saw this, they rebuked them. 16But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like them. 17Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, will not enter it. "

Gospel of Mark 10, 13-14

Mk 10, 13-14 : Little children were brought to him to touch. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are like them."

GRM 7.4

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

She resumes: «But will the King of Israel, the Lord’s Anointed, allow Me to serve Him?»

«Have no doubts about that. Does King Solomon not say: “There are sixty queens and eighty concubines and countless maidens?” You can see that in the King’s palace there will be countless maidens serving the Lord.»

«Oh! You can see then that I must be a virgin? I must. If He wants a virgin as His Mother, it means that He loves virginity above all things. I want Him to love Me, His maiden, because of the virginity which will make Me somewhat like His beloved Mother… This is what I want… »

Detail

Marie as a child talks to her mother, Anne.

Annotation

Song of Songs 6, 8-11

Ct 6, 8-11 : There are sixty queens, eighty concubines, and maidens without number: only one is my dove, my immaculate one; she is the only one of her mother, the favorite of the one who gave birth to her. The maidens have seen her and proclaimed her blessed; the queens and concubines have seen her and praised her: "What is this one who appears like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, pure as the sun, but terrible as battalions? "

GRM 7.8

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

7.8 What is reason? A gift of God. God can therefore give it as He wishes, to whom He wishes and when He wishes. Reason in fact is one of the things that makes you more like God, the Intelligent and Reasoning Spirit. Reason and intelligence were graces given by God to Man in the Earthly Paradise. How full of life they were, when Grace was alive, still intact and active in the spirit of the first two Parents!

The Book of Jesus Ben Sirach states: “All wisdom is from the Lord, and it is His own forever”. What wisdom, therefore, would men have had, had they remained children of God?

Annotation

Book of Ben Sira the Wise

Si 1, 1 : All Wisdom comes from the Lord, and remains with Him forever.

GRM 7.9

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

« 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.»

Annotation

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 8.7-8

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

8.7 Jesus says:

«The High Priest had said: “Walk in my presence and be perfect”. The High Priest did not know that he was speaking to the Woman Who was inferior in perfection only to God. But he was speaking in the name of God, and therefore his order was a sacred one. It is always sacred, particularly with regards to the Virgin Full of Wisdom.

Mary had deserved that “Wisdom should precede Her and show Itself to Her first”, because “from the beginning of Her day She had watched at Its door, and wishing to be taught, out of love, She wanted to be pure to achieve perfect love and deserve to have Wisdom as Her teacher”.

In Her humility She did not know that She possessed Wisdom before being born and that the union with Wisdom was but the continuation of the divine pulsations of Paradise. She could not imagine that. And when God whispered sublime words to Her in the depths of Her heart, in Her humility She considered them thoughts of pride and raising Her innocent heart to God, She besought Him: “Lord, have mercy on Thy Servant!”

Oh! It is true that the True Wise Virgin, the Eternal Virgin, had only one thought from the dawn of Her day: to raise Her heart to God from the morning of life and to watch for the Lord, praying before the Most High, asking forgiveness for the weaknesses of Her heart, as Her humility convinced Her, and She was not aware that She was anticipating the request for forgiveness for sinners, which She would later make at the foot of the Cross, together with Her dying Son.

“When the great Lord will decide, She will be filled with the Spirit of intelligence” and will then understand Her great mission. For the time being She is only a child, who in the sacred peace of the Temple, establishes and re-establishes closer and closer connections, affections and memories with Her God.

This is for everybody.

8.8 But for you, My little Mary, has your Teacher nothing special to tell you? “Walk in My presence, be therefore perfect”. I am slightly modifying the sacred phrase and I am giving it to you as an order. Be perfect in love, perfect in generosity, perfect in suffering.

Look once again at Mother. And consider what so many ignore or wish to ignore, because sorrow is too irksome to their taste and their spirit. Sorrow. Mary suffered from the very first hour of Her life. To be perfect as She was, implied the possession of a perfect sensitivity. Consequently sacrifice was to be more piercing. And thus more meritorious. He who possesses purity possesses love, he who possesses love possesses wisdom, he who possesses wisdom possesses generosity and heroism, because he knows why he makes a sacrifice.

Raise your spirit, even if the cross bends you, breaks you and kills you. God is with you.

Annotation

Book of Wisdom 6, 13

Wis 6, 13 : She warns those who seek her, and shows herself to them first.

Book of Ben Sira the Wise 39, 6

Si 39, 6 : If the Sovereign Lord wills, he will be filled with the spirit of understanding, he will pour out his words of wisdom like a shower, and in prayer he will give thanks to the Lord.

GRM 9.1-5

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

9.1 Jesus says:

«Like a quick winter twilight when an ice-cold wind gathers clouds in the sky, the lives of My grandparents had a quick decline, after the Sun of their lives was placed to shine before the Sacred Veil of the Temple.

9.2 But is it not said: “Wisdom brings up her own sons, and cares for those who seek her… Whoever loves her loves life, those who wait on her will enjoy peace. Those who serve her, minister to the Holy One and the Lord loves those who love her. If he trusts himself to her he will inherit her and his descendants will remain in possession of her because she accompanies him in his trials. First of all she selects him, then she brings fear and faintness on him, ploughing him with her discipline, until she has tested him in his thoughts and she can trust him. In the end she will make him firm, will lead him back to the straight road and make him happy. She will reveal her secrets to him, She will place in him treasures of science, and knowledge of justice”?

Yes, all this has been said. The books of wisdom may be applied to all men, who will find guidance in them and a light for their behaviour. But happy are those who can be recognised amongst the spiritual lovers of Wisdom.

I surrounded Myself with wise people, in My human kinship. Anne, Joachim, Joseph, Zacharias, and even more Elizabeth, and then the Baptist, are they not real wise people? Not to mention My Mother, the abode of Wisdom.

9.3 Wisdom had inspired My grandparents to live in a way which was agreeable to God, from their youth to their death, and like a tent protecting from the fury of the elements, Wisdom had protected them from the danger of sin. The sacred fear of God is the root of the tree of wisdom, that thrusts its branches far and wide to reach with its top tranquil love in its peace, peaceful love in its security, secure love in its faithfulness, faithful love in its intensity: the total, generous, effective love of saints.

“He who loves her, loves life and will inherit Life” says Ecclesiasticus. This sentence is linked with Mine20: “He who loses his life for My sake, will save it”. Because we are not referring to the poor life of this world, but to the eternal life, not to the joys of one hour, but to the immortal ones.

Joachim and Anne loved Wisdom thus. And Wisdom was with them in their trials.

How many trials they experienced, whilst you, men, do not want to have to suffer and cry, simply because you think that you are not completely wicked! How many trials these two just people suffered, and they deserved to have Mary as their daughter! Political persecutions had driven them out of the land of David, and made them excessively poor. They had felt sadness in seeing their years fading through without a flower that would say to them: “I shall be your continuation”. And afterwards, the anxiety of having a daughter in their old age when they were certain they would never see Her grow into a woman. And then the obligation of tearing Her from their hearts to offer Her on the altar of God. And again: their life became an even more painful silence, now that they were accustomed to the chirping of their little dove, to the noise of Her little steps, to the smiles and kisses of their creature, having to wait for the hour of God, their only company being the memories of the past. And much more… Diseases, calamities of inclement weather, the arrogance of mighty ones of the earth… so many blows of battering rams on the weak castle of their modest possessions. And it is not enough: the pain for their far away creature, who was going to be left lonely and poor and, notwithstanding their cares and sacrifices, would get only the remains of Her father’s property. And how will She find such remains, since they will be left uncultivated for many years, awaiting Her return? Fears, trials, temptations. And yet, loyalty to God forever!

9.4 Their strongest temptation: not to deny their declining lives the consolation of their daughter’s presence. But children belong first to God and then to their parents. Every son can say what I said to My Mother: “Do you not know that I must be busy with My Father’s affairs?” And every father, every mother must learn the attitude to be maintained looking at Mary and Joseph in the Temple, at Anne and Joachim in the house of Nazareth, a house which was becoming more and more forlorn and sad, but where one thing never diminished, but increased continuously: the holiness of two hearts, the holiness of a marriage.

What light is left to Joachim, an invalid, and to his sorrowful wife, in the long and silent nights of two old people who feel they are about to die? Only the little dresses, the first pair of little sandals, the simple toys of their little daughter, now far away, and memories of Her, memories… And peace when they say: “We are suffering, but we have done our duty of love towards God”.

And then they were overcome by a supernatural joy shining with a celestial light, a joy unknown to the children of the world, a joy that does not fade away when heavy eyelashes close on two dying eyes: on the contrary, it shines brighter in the last hour, illuminating the truth that had been hidden within them throughout their lives. Like a butterfly in its cocoon, the truth in them gave faint indications of its presence, just soft flashes, whereas now it opens its wings to the sun and shows its beautiful decorations. And their lives passed away in the certainty of a happy future for themselves and their descendants, their trembling lips murmuring words of praise to God.

9.5 Such was the death of my grandparents. Such as their holy lives deserved. Because of their holiness, they deserved to be the first guardians of the Virgin Beloved by God, and only when a greater Sun showed itself at the end of their days, they realized the grace God had granted them.

Because of their holiness, Anne suffered no pain in giving birth to her child: it was the ecstasy of the bearer of the Faultless One. Neither of them suffered the throes of death, but only a weakness that fades away, as a star softly disappears when the sun rises at dawn. And if they did not have the consolation of having Me present, as Wisdom Incarnate, as Joseph had, I was invisibly present, whispering sublime words, bending over their pillows, to send them to sleep, awaiting their triumph.

Someone may ask: “Why did they not have to suffer when generating and dying, since they were children of Adam?” My answer is: “If the Baptist, who was a son of Adam, and had been conceived with original sin, was presanctified by Me in his mother’s womb, simply because I approached her, was no grace to be granted to the mother of the Holy and Faultless One, Who had been preserved by God and bore God in Her almost divine spirit, in Her most pure heart, and was never separated from Him, since She was created by the Father and was conceived in a womb, and then received into Heaven to possess God in glory forever and ever?” I also answer: “An upright conscience gives a peaceful death and the prayers of saints will obtain such a death for you”.

Joachim and Anne had a whole life of upright conscience behind them and such a life rose like a beautiful landscape and led them to Heaven, while their Holy Daughter was praying before the Tabernacle of God for Her parents far away, whom She had postponed to God, Supreme Goodness, and yet She loved them, as the law and Her feeling commanded, with a perfect supernatural love.»

Annotation

Book of Ben Sira the Wise 4, 11-18

Si 4, 11-18 : Wisdom leads her sons to greatness; she cares for those who seek her. To love her is to love life; those who seek her from the dawn will be filled with happiness; he who possesses her will obtain glory as an inheritance; where he enters, the Lord gives his blessing.

Those who worship wisdom celebrate the holy God, those who love her are loved by the Lord; he who listens to her will judge the nations, he who clings to her will be secure in his dwelling. If he trusts in her, he will possess her, and all his descendants will inherit her.

To begin with, she will lead him along winding paths, bringing fear and apprehension upon him, tormenting him with the severity of her education, until she can trust him; she will test him with her demands. Then she'll come straight back to him, filling him with happiness as she reveals her secrets.

Every son can say what I said to my Mother: "Don't you know that I must look after the interests of the Father in Heaven?" In Luke 2:49 (cf. EMV 41.12).

GRM 9.2

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

The books of wisdom may be applied to all men, who will find guidance in them and a light for their behaviour. But happy are those who can be recognised amongst the spiritual lovers of Wisdom.

Annotation

There are five wisdom books in the Bible: Proverbs - Ecclesiastes (Qohelet) - Song of Songs - Job - Wisdom (of Solomon) - Ecclesiasticus (Sirach).

GRM 9.3

The Gospel as revealed to me

Quotation

“He who loves her [Wisdom], loves life and will inherit Life” says Ecclesiasticus. This sentence is linked with Mine20: “He who loses his life for My sake, will save it”. Because we are not referring to the poor life of this world, but to the eternal life, not to the joys of one hour, but to the immortal ones.

Annotation

Book of Ben Sira the Wise 4, 12-13

Si 4, 12-13 : To love her is to love life; those who seek her from the dawn will be filled with happiness; he who possesses her will obtain glory as an inheritance; where he enters, the Lord gives his blessing.

Gospel of Matthew 16:25

Mt 16, 25 : For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Gospel of Mark 8:35 and Gospel of Luke 9:24

Mk 8:35 / Lk 9:24: For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake and the Gospel's will save it.

See EMV 346.9.