He will return with his immense heart, with his heart of fire, his poor man's soul
and his smile. He will return! And the Immaculate Heart of Mary will triumph!

THE LIGHT IN THE NIGHT (5)

2. SORROWFUL MYSTERIES: THE UNIQUE MODEL

JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD

THE HUMILITY OF A GOD MADE MAN

THE MERCY OF A GOD MADE MAN

JESUS, OUR PHYSICIAN

JESUS, OUR REDEEMER

THE BODY AND THE BLOOD OF THE LORD

MARY, CO-REDEMPTRIX

The Imitation of Jesus Christ teaches that « the entire life of Christ was a cross and martyrdom ». This is what the three seers contemplated on 13 October 1917, after the vision of the Holy Family, which was already a call « to the sacrifice and immolation that the giving of oneself always implies » (Apelos, Ch. 18, p. 163; He is Risen no 15, Nov. 2003, p.15): « Shortly afterwards, this apparition [of the Holy Family] having disappeared, relates Sister Lucy in her Memoirs, I saw Our Lord, and Our Lady who I had the impression was Our Lady of Sorrows. Our Lord seemed to bless the world in the same manner that Saint Joseph had [in the previous vision]. Eighty years later, Sister Lucy explains the « call » that arises from this vision:

« The seventeenth Call of the Message: In the second of the three further apparitions, Our Lord appeared as the Perfect Man and Our Lady as Our Lady of Sorrows.

« What is the meaning of this apparition? I am not absolutely certain, but I say what I think and what God has enabled me to understand, by meditating on these events. It may be that Holy Church sees another meaning in them or has a different interpretation; if so, I would be fully in agreement. However, in expressing my own humble opinion, I say that this apparition is a call to the practice of the Christian life as Jesus and His Mother lived it here on earth and which, by His example and His teaching, He taught us to follow in His footsteps. »

This is why Sister Lucy entitles this chapter “The Call to perfection in the Christian life” She begins by showing that before suffering to redeem the world, Jesus dispensed a teaching to make us understand its necessity, otherwise this redemption would have remained a dead letter:

« Jesus did not come into the world as our Redeemer only, but also as our Teacher, to teach us the way that we are to follow in order to go to the Father: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one can come to the Father except through Me. If you know Me, you will know My Father too.” (Jn 14.6-7). Now, this Way and this Life call for knowledge of God and of His Son, whom He sent into the world as our Teacher and our Saviour. Hence, Christ said: “If you know Me, you will know My Father too (...). Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father (...). Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? What I say to you I do not speak of My own accord: it is the Father, living in Me, who is doing His works. You must believe when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; or at least believe it on the evidence of these works.” (Jn 14.7-11). »

So the vision of « the Perfect Man and of Our Lady as Our Lady of Sorrows » gives Sister Lucy the opportunity to write the most “Christocentric” chapter of her book. And in this way she puts an end to the objections raised by the Second Vatican Council against the title of « Co-redemptrix » which falls to the Mother of our unique Redeemer, as she is going to say in concluding this rich chapter.

JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD

To begin with, Sister Lucy establishes that there is no true faith in God without faith in the divinity of Jesus Christ:

« Jesus Christ left us the works He accomplished and that bear witness to Him as a proof of His divinity. Let us now take a brief look at these works so that they can confirm us in our conviction that He is truly our Teacher, the guide of our steps, and the example that we are to copy.

« Jesus lived in the world as a perfect man who did His Father’s will in all things. These were His words: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me; and him who comes to Me I will not cast out. For I have come down from Heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me; and this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I should lose nothing of all that He has given Me, but raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (Jn 6.37-40) Hence it was in order to do His Father’s will that Jesus came into the world. »

It is worth noticing that Sister Lucy provides as “proof” of the divinity of Jesus Christ His words according to St. John in the Fourth Gospel rather than His most spectacular miracles. The guards that had been sent by the authorities of Jerusalem to seize Jesus had declared: « No-one has ever spoken like this man ! » The Abbé de Nantes comments: « His teaching is a “light” which gives “life”; the entire Gospel of St. John pleads in favour of such brilliance that it bears within itself the proof of its divine origin. Jesus works miracles so that all might believe; but it is enough to “see” Jesus and to hear Him: He is the source of light like the midday sun. » (CCR n^o 306, Feb. 98, p. 9)

This commentary on Jesus’ discourse, in which He proclaims Himself to be the « light of the world » (Jn 8.12), can be literally applied to the second vision of 13 October 1917, which Sister Lucy is commenting on here; so it is not surprising that she should prefer to quote the Gospel of St. John rather than the others.

« And the will that Jesus is to fulfil is that He should not lose any of those whom the Father has entrusted to Him, but that He should save them and raise them up on the last day. However, this resurrection requires our co-operation or, in other words, our faith: “For this is the will of My Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” Yes, it requires our faith: we must believe in the Son so that He may raise us up on the last day. The first step in our Christian life is to live the life of faith; to believe in the Son and in the Father who sent Him, to believe in His word and abide by it. It was this that Jesus urged us to do: “Come to Me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me; for I am meek and humble of Heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is sweet, and My burden light.” (Mt 11.28-30) »

THE HUMILITY OF A GOD MADE MAN

This humility on the part of Jesus, Son of God, sets Him at the centre of history. That is precisely what “christocentrism” is! As Servant and Son, Jesus offers us the archetype of the perfect man, thus overcoming the “cult of man”. Those who are to be saved are those who, day after day and with humility, are faithful to Christ in His humility and His humiliation:

« When the time was drawing near for Him to give up His life for our redemption, Jesus, during the Last Supper that He took with His disciples, wanted to give them one more proof of His love and His profound humility. In accordance with a Jewish custom of the time – one day He himself had pointed out that it had not been followed in His own case: “I entered your house, you gave me no water for My feet.” (Lk 7.44) –, the Lord himself, contrary to all the customs and norms of the time, took a basin of water and washed His disciples’ feet, wiping them with a towel which He had fastened round His waist. When He had finished, He sat down again at the table and said to them: “You call Me Master and Lord, and rightly; so I am. If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you must wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done for you.” (Jn 13.13-15) The fundamental basis of our faith is humility; Christ teaches this to us by His own example. »

Washing the feet of a guest is an act of servitude. It prefigures the Redemption that Jesus brought us when He was raised up on the Cross after preparing Himself for this by a life of obedience and work, which he offers us as a model. Sister Lucy endeavours to describe this life to us, illustrating the fact that Jesus is a model of the docility that a good son owes to his Heavenly Father as well as to his earthly parents who are invested with His Authority:

« The Gospels tell us that after Jesus, as a young boy, had gone with His parents to the Temple to pray, He returned with them to their home in Nazareth, “and was subject to them.” (Lk 2.51) That was how He spent the first thirty years of His life: there He passed His childhood and adolescence and there He grew to perfect manhood. As a child subject to His parents, or as a young apprentice preparing for life, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favour with God and man.” (Lk 2.52)

« We see in this passage that Jesus studied, and showed signs of His growth in wisdom before men, even though some of the leaders of the Jews said that He had not been to school. The episode took place in Jerusalem, when Jesus went up into the Temple and taught, “the Jews were astonished and said: How does this man know Letters without having studied? Jesus replied : My teaching is not from Myself, but from the One who sent Me.” (Jn 7.15-16) »

Sister Lucy then applies this revelation of the relationship of the Father and the Son in God, to man who this same God has created in His likeness. Even though Sister Lucy says time and time again that she is not a theologian, the fact remains that her recommendations presuppose the Abbé de Nantes’ entire “relational” metaphysics, which bases social morality on the “relationship of origin”, that is, on the family into which one is born, not on “human rights”:

« Besides the mystery of the Trinitarian communion between the Father and the Son that these words express, they also enable us to say that schools are not the only places where one can study and learn; with the help and grace of God, every family must be a school where its members are instructed in the knowledge of the natural and supernatural life. More than once, Jesus declared that He had been taught by His Father in Heaven: “It is the word of the Father who sent Me and who commanded Me to say what I had to say and to make known And I know that His commandment is eternal life. What I tell you, therefore, is what the Father told Me to tell you.” (Jn 12.49-50)

« Jesus Christ learnt from the Father what He was to teach to us, and this is what He did: “the One who sent Me is true, and what I declare to the world I have learnt from Him (…). When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I AM and that I do nothing of My own accord. What I say is what the Father has taught Me ; He who sent Me is with Me, and has not left Me to Myself, for I always do what pleases Him.” (Jn 8.26-29) »

Thus, this lesson is addressed not only to children, but to parents too:

« When we reflect that every father of a family represents God for his children, then the father, like God, must be the teacher of his children; but in order to do this, he must have the necessary grounding in the knowledge of natural and supernatural things.

« Jesus Christ was also our model as a worker. He is a worker who, fulfilling the law of work, earns His living with the sweat of His brow, as God had ordered all human beings to do: “in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life (...). In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread.” (Gn 3.17; 19) Being a humble worker, Jesus was known as the son of the carpenter; this is what the people of Nazareth said of Him when they saw Him teaching in the synagogue: “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son?” (Mt 13.54-55). He is a worker who humbly works in His father’s workshop; a modest, submissive young man, falling in with the opinions and the orders of His parents.

« That home was one where there was joy, peace and well-being, because there was a supernatural spirit. United with one another, parents and Child prayed together, worked together, respected one another and loved one another. Hence, God was there in that house. He was present to them and bestowed on them His grace, His blessing and His Fatherly help. Let us recall the words of the Angel to Mary: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with You!” (Lk 1.28) »

So, Mary’s universal mediation already made itself felt at Nazareth: from the day of the Annunciation, it is through Her that the Son of God spreads His grace throughout the world. This was already the case during Mary’s visitation to Her cousin Elisabeth, when what the Angel had announced to Zachariah concerning John the Baptist was fulfilled. « He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. » And filled he was… upon hearing Mary’s voice: « And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. » Thus, it was through Mary’s mediation that John the Baptist received a miraculous baptism even in his mother’s womb.

« When the day came that had been ordained by the Father for Him to begin His public life, Jesus Christ prepared Himself by baptism, penance and prayer. The accounts in the Gospels show us that everything was ready and waiting for Him: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea (...), in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness; and he went into all the region about the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (...). As the people were in expectation, and all men questioned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he were the Christ, John answered them all: I baptise you with water, but He who is mightier than I is coming, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie; He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Lk 3.1-3. 15-16)

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptised by him. John would have prevented Him, saying, “I need to be baptised by You, and do You come to me?" But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all justice. Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptised, He went up immediately from the water (...). Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness (...). And He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards He was hungry.” (Mt 3.13-16; 4.1-2).

« Prayer and penance are the solid foundation on which Jesus Christ rests His sacred mission of Master; Physician and Redeemer. »

THE MERCY OF A GOD MADE MAN

Jesus expounds both the Law and the Prophets for us. He possesses the key to understanding them not only because He was the one who inspired them, but also because He came in this world to fulfil them at the time appointed by the Father:

« As Master, He clarifies and explains passages in the Sacred Scriptures that were obscure or had been misinterpreted, summing up His position as follows: “Think not that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them.” (Mt 5.17) “Fulfil the Scriptures”, not in the sense of adding any norms and regulations that might have been missing, but carrying out to the full the essence of the Law: charity. Thus, the Lord corrects a certain intransigence on the part of the Pharisees when He says to them: “Have you not read what David did, when he was hungry, and those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and ate the bread of the Presence, which it was not lawful for him to eat nor for those who were with him, but only for priests? »

The Pharisees attacked Jesus’ disciples who, while walking with Him through crops¸ had picked ears of wheat and had eaten them.  And this was on the Sabbath day, when working was forbidden!

« Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the Temple profane the Sabbath, and are guiltless? I tell you, something greater than the Temple is here. And if you had known what this means, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, you would have not condemned the guiltless.” (Mt 12.3-7) We have here a lesson in charity and justice, showing us how to give pride of place to compassion and mercy for one’s neighbour who is in need. »

In teaching us charity, Jesus shows us how to draw a distinction between what comes from God and what comes from man, for it is not the same thing! That which is from God is to be a good son. This is the source of purity of heart:

« On another occasion, the Master teaches us and invites us to differentiate between the divine and the human in the rules of life. The Pharisees and the Scribes “said: Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat. He answered them: And why do you transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded: Honour your father and your mother, and: He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die. But you say: If any one tells his father or his mother: What you would have gained from me is given to God, he need not honour his father. So, for the sake of your tradition, you have made void the word of God You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: This people honours Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me: in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.” And He called the people to Him and said to them: “Hear and understand! not what goes into the mouth defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man. (...) what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and ... out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defiles a man.” (Mt 15.1-20)

« For His part, Jesus, too, challenged His hearers to ask questions about obscure passages in Sacred Scripture in order to discover in them the secrets of God: “Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying: What do you think of the Christ? Whose son is He? They said to Him: "The son of David. He said to them: How is it then that David inspired by the Spirit, calls Him Lord, saying: The Lord said to My Lord, sit at My right hand, till I put Your enemies under Your feet? If David thus calls Him Lord, how is He His son? And no one was able to answer Him a word” (Mt 22.41-46), as they still did not know that the son of David was the Son of God Himself.

« Even though He possesses all this divine and human authority, Jesus did not wish to impugn the authority of the teachers of the time in the eyes of the people, so He restricted Himself to reprimanding in them the lack of coherence between their words and their deeds: “The Scribes and the Pharisees sit on the chair of Moses; so practise and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practise (...). You are not to be called rabbi; for you have one Teacher, and you are all brethren (...). Neither be called masters, for you have one master, the Christ. He who is greater among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Mt 23.2-12)

« In these lovely lessons of Jesus Christ which I have just transcribed, and many others that He has left to us, we see the obligation we all have to practice charity and to avoid any impurity which makes us unworthy to be with God and our neighbour. We also see how we enhance our own nobility when we respect authority and practise the virtue of humility. As our Master has said: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Mt 23.12)

After having in this manner learned some « lovely lessons from Jesus Christ », our Master, a “total” moral of submission and of humility that leaves not the slightest place for “human rights”, Sister Lucy begins to show how Jesus « fulfils » not only the Law, but the Prophesies as well:

« The teaching of Jesus Christ is light and life to us on our way. By following it, we are sure not to stray. Many years before Our Lord came into the world, the prophet Isaiah foretold His coming in these words: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. You have multiplied the nation, You have increased its joy; they rejoice before You as with joy at the harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.” (Is 9.2-3) And Jesus Himself confirmed that this prophecy had been fulfilled: “I have come into the world as light, to prevent anyone who believes in Me from staying in the dark. If anyone hears My words and does not keep them faithfully, it is not I who shall judge such a person, since I have come not to judge the world, but to save the world. Anyone who rejects Me and refuses My words has his judge already: the word itself that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day. The word you hear is not My own: it is the word of the Father who sent Me and who commanded Me to say what I had to say and to make known. And I know that His commandment is eternal life. What I tell you, therefore, is what the Father told Me to tell you.” (Jn 12.46-50)

« To conclude: Jesus Christ is our Master and Teacher, and His word is the Word of God. Through it, if we follow it, we shall be saved: It marks out the way that we are to follow all the days of our life. »

JESUS, OUR PHYSICIAN

The path to salvation is, therefore, well staked out. Still it is up to us to take this path. The entire history of Israel, the custodian of the Law and the Prophets, demonstrates that, wounded by sin, man is powerless to observe God’s Law. Jesus comes to treat and cure this wound, not out of some kind of “solidarity”, as would a member of “Doctors without Borders” but out of divine mercy, as Saviour of the world.

« But Jesus, in His public life, also presented Himself as our Physician, who cures our spiritual and bodily infirmities. One day, Jesus was having a meal in the house of Matthew – He had just called him to be His disciple – and the Pharisees, who were shocked to see Him eating with publicans and sinners: “said to His disciples: Why does your teacher eat with the tax collectors and sinners? But when He heard this, He said: Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, and not sacrifice. For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mt 9.11-13) Jesus confirmed the certainty of this truth when He went as a guest to the house of Zacchaeus and witnessed this man’s conversion: “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Lk 19.9-10)

« His primary concern is always to heal the wounds inflicted on our souls by sin, and to save those suffering from such great evils. We have an example of this in the way He forgave the sinful woman who had repented. While He was at table, a woman came to Him who was known publicly as a sinner; throwing herself at His feet, she began to weep over her sins. Jesus turned to her and said: “Your sins are forgiven (...). Your faith has saved you; go in peace” (Mt 7.48-50) »

Once again it is the Heart of Jesus which expresses itself in the miracles of compassion granted to those who request them with faith:

« However, He did not limit Himself to healing souls, converting sinners and forgiving sins. He also performed physical cures. Interesting in this connection is the healing of the paralysed man in Capharnaum, because Jesus pointed to the physical cure as a proof of the power He possessed to cure spiritual ills. In fact, that is how He began: “Be of good heart, son, your sins are forgiven”, but He was accused of blasphemy for saying those words. Jesus defended Himself, saying: “But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins – He then said to the paralytic – Rise, take up your bed and go home. And he rose and went home.” (Mt 9.6-7)

« Christ performed many other similar miracles for the benefit of people who were in despair on account of their suffering. One day, one of the leaders of the synagogue, called Jairus, came to Him and asked Him to go to his house to heal his daughter, who was at the point of death. Jesus granted his request and went with him. While they were on their way, a woman, who had been suffering from a flow of blood for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched the hem of His garment, thinking to herself that she only needed to touch Him in order to be healed. And that is what happened: “And immediately the haemorrhage ceased; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease (...). Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” (Mk 5.29-34) While this was happening, “there came from the ruler’s house some who said, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?’ But ignoring what they had said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue: ‘Do not fear, only believe.’ (...) He put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with Him, and went in where the child was. Taking her by the hand He said to her: ‘Talitha cumi’,which means: ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise!’ And immediately the girl got up and walked; for she was twelve years old.” (Mk 5.35-42)

One day, Jesus was walking along and “two blind men followed Him, crying aloud: Have mercy on us, Son of David! When He entered the house, the blind men came to Him; and Jesus said to them: Do you believe that I am able to do this? They said to Him: Yes, Lord. Then He touched their eyes, saying: According to your faith be it done to you. And their eyes were opened.” (Mt 9.27-30)

« Another day they brought a mute man to Him who was possessed by the Devil. Jesus drove out the Devil and the mute man spoke. When the crowd saw this, they cried out: “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” (Mt 9.33) And this happened a good many times! “And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity.” (Mt 9.35)

« Jesus did all this out of compassion for those who were suffering, in the conviction that every opportunity was a good one for doing good. On another occasion, He went to the synagogue. There He encountered a man who had a withered hand, and the bystanders asked Jesus: “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” He said to them: “What man of you, if he has one sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then He said to the man: “Stretch out your hand” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, whole like the other. (Mt 12.10-13)

« When John the Baptist sent his own disciples to Jesus to ask Him whether He was Himself the Messiah or whether they were to wait for an other to come, the Lord replied: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Good News preached to them. And blessed is he who takes no offence at me!” (Mt 11.4-6) This reply to the disciples of John the Baptist has the same meaning and weight as another reply that Christ made to the Jewish leaders when they asked Him the same question: “If you are the Christ, tell us openly.” Jesus answered them: I have told you, but you do not believe. The works I do in My Father’s name are My witness (...). If I am not doing My Father’s work, there is no need to believe Me; but if I am doing it, then even if you refuse to believe in Me, at least believe in the work I do; then you will know for certain that the Father is in Me and I am in the Father.” (Jn 10.24-25; 37-38)

« Even before that, Jesus had touched on this subject in His preaching to the Jewish leaders: “You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth (...). I have a greater testimony than that of John (the Baptist) for the work which the Father has given Me to perfect, the works themselves which I do give testimony of Me that the Father has sent me. The Father Himself who sent Me has given testimony of Me but you have not heard His voice at any time nor have you ever seen His Face. And you have not His word abiding in you for Him Whom He has sent, Him you believe not. You search the scriptures for you think in them to have life everlasting, and the same are they that give testimony of Me and you will not come to Me that you may have life!” (Jn 5.33-40)

« Thus Jesus Christ has left us His works and the sublime nature of His teaching as a proof of His divinity. And we do not wonder at it! He only asks us to use in His regard the same criterion that on another occasion He recommended to us to enable us to distinguish between true and false prophets: “You will know them by their fruits (...). So every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit (...). Thus you will know them by their fruits.” (Mt 7.16-20) »

The good tree of which Jesus, His works and His doctrine are the fruit, is the Cross on which He paid the price for our salvation.

JESUS, OUR REDEEMER

« Finally let us look at the sacred mission of Redeemer which was entrusted to Jesus Christ by the Father when He sent Him to earth. Various passages of Sacred Scripture present Him in this light, namely as Saviour of the world:

« When St. John the Baptist was administering the baptism of penance in the River Jordan, “John saw Jesus coming towards him and he said: Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn 1.29) And He took it away. The author of the sacred text just quoted – St. John the Evangelist – later wrote in his first Epistle: “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all (...). If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the Blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin (...). If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 Jn 1.5-9).

« When holy Simeon finally had the joy of finding the Child Jesus in the Temple, he greeted in Him the salvation that all the people were waiting for, and exclaimed joyfully: “Lord, now You let Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.” (Lk 2.29-32) Echoes of a number of prophetic oracles are to be heard in Simeon’s words, including that of the prophet Isaiah: “I will give You as a light to the nations, that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (Is 49.6)

« Throughout His public ministry, Jesus Christ revealed by His words and deeds that He was the Saviour. He reached out to people in order to lead them in the ways of salvation. His comment on the parable of the Good Shepherd is significant: “I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full (...). Just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father ; and I lay down My life for My sheep (...). I give them eternal life ; they will never be lost and no one will ever steal them from My hand.” (Jn 10.10; 15; 28)

« It was this pastoral concern that led Jesus Christ to wait for the Samaritan woman at the well of Sichar and to ask her for a drink: “Give Me to drink.” (...) The Samaritan woman said to Him, "What you a Jew, ask of me to drink who am a Samaritan woman? (...) Jesus answered her, If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says to you: Give Me to drink, you perhaps would have asked of Him and He would have given you living water (...). He that drinks of this water will thirst again. He that shall drink of the water that I will give shall not thirst for ever. The water that I will give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into life everlasting.” The woman said to Him: “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” (Jn 4.7. 9-15)

« Jesus had won this soul and, with hers, those of many of the others who came to listen to Him. That was why, when the disciples urged Him to eat, He said to them: “I have food to eat which you know not (...). My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me; that I may perfect His work.” (Jn 4.32, 34)

« To the woman taken in adultery, after her accusers had gone away and left her, Jesus said to her: “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? – "No one, Sir”, she replied. "Neither do I condemn you”, said Jesus. "Go, and now sin no more.” (Jn 8.10-11) It is mercy which, when met with repentance, grants forgiveness, though on one condition – do not sin again – because that is how one is saved.

« In the same way, when Jesus later encountered the paralytic whom He had cured by the pool of Bethzatha, He said to him: “See, you are made whole! Sin no more, lest something worse happen to you.” (Jn 5.14) And the same is true of us today. He forgives us our sins but on condition that we are truly resolved not to sin again. A firm purpose of amendment is one of the requirements for a good confession. »

This would be an impractical requirement unless confession is followed by the communion of “reparation”, also found in the revelation of Pontevedra, and which provides the grace required to keep a good resolution.

THE BODY AND THE BLOOD OF THE LORD

« In order to help us, Christ chose to remain on earth with us: “I shall not leave you orphans. I shall come to you. In a little while the world will no longer see Me; but you will see that I live and you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in My Father and you in Me and I in you. Whoever holds to My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and whoever loves Me will be loved by My Father and I shall love him and reveal Myself to him.” (Jn 14.18-21)

« It is not a question of a mere spiritual presence within us. Jesus wished to be truly with us, under the consecrated appearances of bread and wine, in the Sacrament of the Altar. Here He remains as victim and priest on our behalf until the end of time, since He is an eternal priest: “So it is with Christ : He did not confer on Himself the glory of becoming high priest ; it was granted Him by God, who said to Him : You are a priest for ever, in the order of Melchizedek.” (Hb 5.6)

At the very moment when she calls to mind « the consecrated appearances of bread and wine » in which Jesus wanted to remain amongst us in the Sacrament of the Altar, Sister Lucy chose, with a marvellous relevance, the passage of the Epistle to the Hebrews which approaches the closest to what she experienced with her two little cousins, when they saw « the Angel of peace », « the Guardian Angel of Portugal », Our Lady’s forerunner, who brought to them, at the time of his third apparition in 1916, the “Bread of Angels”, « a Chalice, with a Host, from which some drops of Blood fell into the Chalice » Now, it is said that Melchizedek “king of Salem” « brought bread and wine » (Gn 14.18). In the same manner he returned three times in 1916, and the third time, he brought bread and wine, just like four thousand years ago. However, it was no longer « bread and wine », but the Body and Blood of Christ in Person!

That being the case, how can the revelations that renew in the web of our contemporary history the events of patriarchal history be called into question? The apparitions of the Angel in 1916, of Our Lady in 1917, unfold once again all the events of Sacred History under the gaze of three unimpeachable witnesses, chosen by God as were Abraham, Moses and David in times past!

« Now, “when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent – not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. He entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but His own Blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more shall the Blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore He is the Mediator of a New Covenant.” (Hb 9.11-15) »

After the consecration, the Roman canon calls to mind the sacrifices of the Old Testament, figures of that of Christ: by offering the « Holy Bread of eternal life and the Chalice of eternal salvation », the celebrant asks the Father to accept them as He accepted « the gifts of your servant Abel, the sacrifice of Abraham, our Father in faith, and the bread and wine offered by your priest, Melchizedech » Being familiar with this daily mystery, Sister Lucy continues:

« Thus, Jesus Christ is the high priest who offers Himself daily on our altars, in order to offer to the Father suitable reparation for our sins. We see this in the words He used in consecrating the bread “Take; this is My Body”, and the wine “This is My Blood of the Covenant, which is poured out for many.” (Mk 14.22, 24) »

The first words: « Take; this is My Body », pronounced over the bread, which is its conversion into Christ’s Body does not of itself evoke sacrifice but rather the full gift of a Presence that is nourishing and consoling for the days of separation and trials ahead. This is why Sister Lucy had firstly placed it in relationship to the promise not to be left orphans. This Presence « in all the tabernacles of the world » continues the blessing of the Incarnation and of Jesus’ daily life among men, among His own.

On the contrary, the second words: « This is My Blood of the Covenant, which is poured out for many. » pronounced over the wine to change it into the Blood of Christ, calls to mind the supreme sacrifice that the “Guardian Angel ” taught to Lucy, Francisco and Jacinta to constantly offer by reciting this prayer:

« Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly, and I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for all the insults, sacrileges and indifferences whereby He Himself is offended. Through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I ask of Thee the conversion of poor sinners. »

Then the Angel gave them communion, the Sacred Host to Lucy, the Precious Blood to Francisco and Jacinta, saying:

« Eat and drink the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Make reparation for their crimes and console your God »

This call to « console God » would not pierce our heart, if the sorrow of God the Father could not be read on the face of our Mother.

MARY, CO-REDEMPTRIX

« In this Call of the Message we also have the apparition of Our Lady as Our Lady of Sorrows, with a meaning that we must not fail to recall. By means of this vision, God will have wished to show us the value of suffering, sacrifice and immolation for the sake of love. In the world of today, hardly anyone wants to hear these truths, such is the extent to which people are living in search of pleasure, of empty worldly happiness, and exaggerated comfort. »

The other day, I do not recall which former senator, deputy and minister, proclaimed this same rejection of suffering in a blasphemy, declaring that « suffering is not redemptive » and demanding « the right to die with dignity » through the decriminalisation of euthanasia. Here is the only reply that can be given to him:

« But the more one flees from suffering, the more we find ourselves immersed in a sea of afflictions, disappointments and suffering. » And when one flees from it through euthanasia, which is a suicide, one falls into a sea of fire for eternity…

« Life brings with it the martyrdom of the Cross. »

Today we understand this: Sister Lucy reveals in veiled terms the Third Secret which, at the time when the Calls were being written, was still kept secret without due cause. It is understandable that she be filled with the thought of this large Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with its bark contemplated on 13 July 1917, beneath the two arms of which, there were two Angels gathering up the blood of the Martyrs.

Here then is the meaning of these visions of the Lady of Sorrows and of the large Cross:

« There is no one in the world who does not have to suffer in some way. We have inherited the mystery of suffering as a consequence of the sin committed by the first parents of the human race: “Because you (...) have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you: You shall not eat of it, cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.” (Gn 3.17) The reference here is to the suffering to which all human beings are subject. »

Sister Lucy is then going to explain to us how we must, through suffering, climb towards the tree of life, this « large Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with its bark », whose fruit gives life back to us; for not everyone is destined for martyrdom, but no one escapes suffering. To understand its true worth, contemplate Mary, the Lady of Sorrows:

« Jesus Christ came to redeem us by suffering; and His Mother shared as co-Redemptrix in the atrocious suffering of His Passion, having been given to us as Mother at the foot of the Cross. » This word expresses the truth that is held in contempt by modern theologians who are only concerned with not displeasing Protestants! Yet this is the great revelation of 13 October 1917.

While the crowd saw the sun falling towards them, « She presents herself to us [Lucy, Francisco and Jacinta] in the image of suffering. The Church calls Her the Mother of Sorrows, Our Lady of Sorrows, because in Her Heart She suffered the martyrdom of Christ, with Him and by His side. It is through the merits of Christ that all suffering has value and purifies us from sin. It is by our union with Christ that suffering can make us victims pleasing to the Father, and make us holy. »

Our Lord is therefore the unique Mediator of our salvation, so we all agree. Theologians preoccupied with ecumenism repeat this ad nauseam, with the recommendation inherited from the Council, to not exalt the Virgin to be the equal of Her Son! If I dare say so, Sister Lucy does even better: she places the Virgin Mary above Her Son, as is appropriate for a mother, all the more so with regards to the Mother of God, to have authority over Her Son and over all of God’s children:

« Mary was chosen by God to be the Mother of His Son – the Mother of Jesus Christ – and the Mother of His Mystical Body, the Church, which is Her spiritual progeny. When He was dying in agony on the Cross, Jesus gave Her to us all as Mother, in the person of St. John: “Behold your Mother.” (Jn 19.27) We are the children of the suffering and bitterness of the Heart of Jesus Christ, and of the Heart of His Mother, and ours. »

And these two Hearts are but one since « love in passion calls for compassion and when this Passion is a fruitful Paternity and the gift of Life, compassion itself is fruitful and glorious », writes the Abbé de Nantes, for the fourth station of his Way of the Cross, as though his thought is very much like that of Sister Lucy. There is nothing surprising in this: the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is for both of them the common source.

« Who would ever be able to imagine the immensity and the fullness of the union of your two Hearts, O Adam and Eve of the New Alliance, O Man most holy of God and Woman sanctified more than all others, in this moment when You are but one, in this cruel Passion which inundates Your two beings with its ocean of love and bitterness. » Mary suffers in Her compassionate Heart all the torments of Her Son. And Jesus suffers, not only in His Body but also in His Heart, to see the Heart of His Mother pierced in this manner.

« It is for this reason that all suffering united with His completes our dedication and commitment to God and contributes to the salvation of our brothers and sisters who have gone astray. Jesus said: “And there are other sheep I have that are not of this fold, and I must lead these too.” (Jn 10.16) In order to collaborate with Christ in this mission, we must suffer, work, pray and love because it is by charity that we shall win back our lost brethren, as the Lord Himself said: “It is by your love for one another that everyone will recognise you as My disciples.” (Jn 13.35) »

As for his part, our Father concludes this fourth station in the same thought:

« From that moment and right to the end, Your mutual love burns with its strongest flame, Your common love of the Heavenly Father unites You more deeply still, and Your unique love of us sinners, flowing from Your Sacred Heart, O Jesus, into Your Immaculate Heart, O Mary, obtains for You at last a beatifying fruitfulness. Teach us pure love! »

To see this prayer answered we only have to follow Sister Lucy who ends this chapter:

« Love is the magnet which draws souls, and it is for them that we offer to God our sacrifices, our acts of self-denial, our infirmities, our pains and aches, and our physical and moral sufferings. By means of them, we offer our entire consecration to God, and it is by means of them that our prayer is lifted up to Him before His altar. Thinking of them, we wish to be able, like Christ and with Christ, to say to the Father: “I have watched over them and not one is lost, except the son of perdition.” (Jn 17.12) This was because Judas withstood Your grace, was unfaithful to Your call and despised Your Fatherly Love. If it is still possible, Father, save him!

« Ave Maria ! » (To be continued)

Brother Bruno de Jesus