Transcription
Heat. Heat.
At that particular time, Louisa was exactly 35 years of age when her brand new spiritual confessor finally arrived at the family estate. A distinguished man whose full and formal name was known to everyone there as Don Canaro deanero.
At that time in the year 1899, this spiritual confessor ordered her to write down, to put in writing, every single detail of everything that had transpired between her and our Lord. Before encountering this current confessor, Louisa had never truly opened up her heart or shared her thoughts with any of her previous confessors. So she kept all of her inner struggles locked deep inside and was extremely hesitant and unwilling to talk about what was happening within her.
With this new confessor, Louisa felt confident enough to fully reveal her soul and began following the order to document every single detail of her experiences in writing. She wrote down her entire story. As we are well aware, volume one specifically refers to the extensive account of everything that had transpired from the very earliest moments Louisa could remember up until those specific dates, serving as a profound spiritual autobiography that she was carefully writing. In contrast, volume 2 and all of the subsequent volumes leading up to volume 36 were the sacred places where she diligently recorded the many mystical things that were happening to her in her daily life at that particular time. From that moment onward, it was no longer merely a story about what had happened 20 years ago, but rather about what was happening to her on that very day or the day before. She was strictly required to write only about what occurred between Jesus and herself. And this is a very important detail because it is the essential part of the whole matter.
Those who have carefully read Louisa's writings will see that she rarely, if ever, refers, for example, to the visits she received, the various people who came to see her, what they talked about, the specific words that were said, or even what the weather was like. Louisa was not required to write about those things. Louisa was required to write only about what happened between Jesus and herself. She has stated this herself.
Dead having happened 15 or so different occurrences which I am under no obligation to write about. And so, in this very first introductory volume, which essentially serves as, let's say, the foundational narrative and the core story we are following, as we might call it, over the course of about 90 years of Louisa's profound spiritual life, as was later recorded in various writings, several major themes can be clearly distinguished. These central pillars of her faith serve to more or less summarize and encapsulate the entirety of that earlier period, offering a clear overview of her mystical journey and the wisdom she shared with the world in that volume.
First of all, the very first major theme that can be clearly found throughout this work is, well, that essential period of preparation for the coming of Christmas, specifically the traditional Christmas novena, which some of you gathered here today may still vividly remember, especially as during the month of December, we spent two full days deeply meditating on the spiritual significance of that holy novena together.
She then begins to vividly describe her difficult struggle against the demons that were haunting her and that period and a step. This period and a very significant first step in her personal spiritual journey, her story, her spiritual life, that intense confrontation with the demons. Louisa describes it very clearly. For those of you who have already read her writings, she describes in great detail exactly how she was able to go through such incredibly intense and difficult battles against the devil. She explains to us that first of all, she had already become quite accustomed to the constant presence of our Lord. So, because she was having the holy presence of our Lord with her, the various attacks from the devil were ultimately insignificant and left her without much effect. But there comes a moment when our Lord himself tells her, "Now, I am going to leave you alone. You will not feel my presence. You will have to fight the demons on your own." Furthermore, he provides her with several specific recommendations to always remain closely united to him through constant prayer and deep humility.
In short, addressing the entire subject of battling against spiritual demons, in this battle against the demons, firstly, what the enemy specifically wanted was to discourage Louisa because the demon foresaw it. He sensed that Louisa would truly serve for the great glory of God. And he did everything to make her sin, to defeat her spirit, to discourage her, and to lead her astray from her path with just a single word. And the demon sensed it.
There is also another significant part, a specific chapter where our Lord explains to Louisa that the ancient promise from the book of Genesis, made right after the fall and the original sin, stating that a woman will eventually crush the serpent's head, meant that the demon from that very moment on was constantly searching to find which woman would be the one to crush his head. And whenever he observed any sign of human weakness in someone, such as a bit of vanity or some small moral defect, he would confidently say to himself, "This is certainly not the one." And so time went by. It passed like that. Throughout the long history of the Old Testament, he carefully watched woman after woman to see which specific one it would be because he lived in constant fear of God's ancient threat that one day a woman's offspring would finally crush his head.
Then, at the perfect moment in time, the Blessed Virgin Mary arrived on the scene to fulfill the sacred narration and definitively crush his head once and for all. Time keeps passing on, and even the devil himself, our Lord says it, as if he is truly and deeply amazed, says, "Well, this Queen of Heaven has already been here, the most beautiful creature, the one I could not do anything to at all, but I still have my kingdom." Because despite the Blessed Virgin and the sacred promise, we know that for these 2,000 years, it is still the reign of the human will. And man continues to be the devil's unfortunate and helpless plaything. In this world, the struggle remains.
So we must ask ourselves, what exactly happens in this spiritual struggle? It is that the devil, despite the constant presence of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and since he feels that the specific mission, not just to crush the head, but the ancient promise of God and the divine threat, has not yet been fully fulfilled, has continued to meticulously examine woman after woman over these last 2,000 years of history. He does this to see which particular one would be the chosen one who, through the coming reign of the divine will, or in other words, acting as the very first perfect copy of that woman who would crush his head, would be the one destined to finally carry out that powerful threat from the beginning of time.
And after having finally laid eyes upon Louisa, the very smallest of them all, he became enraged against her. As for the others, and pardon the expression, he saw them with the common flaws and imperfections that we all have. But when it came to Louisa, there was something unique that led him to realize that being the smallest, she was destined to serve for the great glory of God. And deeply concerned and fearing that she might be the one, he commences and unleashes an incredibly fierce and absolutely relentless battle unlike any he has ever fought or waged against any other woman. Firmly convinced that she is certainly not the one from whom he anticipates his ultimate defeat.
Therefore, when we look at it in this specific context, the unrelenting struggle of the demon against Louisa is clearly revealed as the fiercest battle that has ever taken place between the demon and any mortal creature. Furthermore, our divine Lord graciously permits Louisa to enter into this battle precisely in order to ultimately defeat the enemy. And he solemnly established the sacred promise and the looming threat that a woman would eventually crush to be at your head. So from that very moment on, the malevolent demon, as I mentioned a moment ago, commences his fierce battle against Louisa to ultimately cause her downfall.
Well, then, this spiritual activity lasts for a period of about 3 years, during which time our Blessed Lady leaves her entirely alone with the demons. And after this period has ended, in some way, Louisa overcomes the demon. At that specific point, she is already firmly consolidated. Let's consider the idea, acting as a loyal and proven friend. She was recognized as a true friend of God and was fully approved. Then all the other subsequent battles that came throughout the course of her life and that extend even to our present days, which is very interesting to note, were first aimed at bringing her down and making her fall. Then, since they hadn't succeeded in doing so, they tried to prevent her from writing her message. This is a second stage, and that's why Louisa often had difficulties writing because the devil would also provoke her so that she wouldn't write. Third, the devil couldn't succeed because she wrote everything Jesus wanted her to write, the 36 volumes. Then, what was the devil's struggle against Louisa? That those writings would not be read by anyone. And so they were sent to the Vatican. And since they were not officially published in this specific area, the sacred manuscripts remained secretly hidden deep within the Vatican archives. It was as if the devil was gloating, triumphantly, saying, "Well, I may not have defeated Louisa while she wrote, but now I have all her words well hidden where they cannot be found."
Now the sacred writings are finally being released to the world, all 36 complete volumes. So the devil keeps steadily losing more and more of his ground. He did not succeed in bringing Louisa down. Instead, Louisa wrote her messages, and now those writings have been released to the public. So now the great struggle is directed against us, so that we do not see them, so that we do not pay any attention to them, so that we do not give them any importance, both for ourselves and for the entire world in general. And this is where he is also beginning to lose the battle because there are a great number of devoted individuals who are already deeply interested in reading it.
Those who strive to overcome the various spiritual difficulties and obstacles, even within our very selves, in that intense and constant internal battle. We have to fight to truly want to die to our own personal will. And the devil himself continually tempts and distracts us so that we do not take that necessary step and so that we ultimately choose to set aside the profound writings of Louisa. But even in this area, he is losing. And in his last, his last defense, his last stronghold, is that we don't see them, that we don't make them part of our lives.
Well, this would be the initial and foundational chapter of the long story of Louisa's relentless and harrowing battle against the demons. A conflict which continues in its diverse and evolving manifestations right up until our own modern era. And perhaps we will still witness even more surprising and dark revelations as we progress further into this game of the demon who wants to prevent these writings from coming out at all costs. Because with them, he has now completely and definitively lost his kingdom, which he had gained when man in paradise, as we know, by turning away from the divine will, gave free reign to human will, making himself a plaything of the demon. And with these writings, man returns to the beginning from which he came, and the defeat of the demon is indeed absolute. He himself will confine and imprison himself away in the most profound and darkest depths of hell before the holiness of the divine will working in our souls. He will lock himself away all on his own because this divine will working within us ultimately becomes the very source of his eternal hell. His personal hell becomes even more unbearable and agonizing when he witnesses that the very thing he hates, the holy will of God, becomes the vibrant life within each and every one of us and works truly divine wonders that are immense, infinite, and encompassing all the glorious adjectives that must be attributed to the divine nature. And it is this profound realization that creates his double hell.
Well, this would be that aspect of the struggle with the devil. That specific topic, which we have already touched upon, even if we only did so quite briefly for a moment, regarding the intense spiritual struggle against the devil, now directly brings into play the entire complex aspect of being completely bedridden and confined to one's couch. Exactly how it all happens and how Jesus Christ himself intervenes through the work of the confessors to leave her in a state of being permanently bedridden here.
Then Louisa doesn't really go into a lot of detail, but we can imagine she does say that she had many problems. First, a brutally intense war all with her family. Then there was a fierce opposition and a spiritual war launched by the high priest. And it was entirely logical and expected. A young girl who, as she herself says, had always been so timid, reserved, and incredibly bashful throughout her life. Somewhat isolated at times because of her spiritual life from a very young age and the Lord's call that kept her attention fixed on him. She was, in some ways, a strange child. She rarely took an active part in various family matters. And when she eventually started to become completely bedridden, you can easily imagine her mother thinking she was just a stubborn girl who didn't want to go to school, that she was simply a lazy girl, or perhaps that she was just a sickly girl. And our Lord allowed things to unfold naturally, just as they normally would in any typical family. So all of that conflict and tension within the family also lasted for a very long time, especially once she started to become bedridden.
Some people said the same thing. And there were countless different opinions. Some saying that she was sick, others saying that she needed certain specific medicines, that no, that she was not actually physically ill, but that she was just a willful and stubborn young girl who simply wanted attention. And for Louisa, it was an immense and deep suffering because she understood very well that all of this, our Lord, because our Lord had personally revealed and told her so, was allowing it and, in some way, even causing it. And as I said before, it was not easy at all for Louisa at that time to fully open her heart and her soul to the priests or, in this case, to her family and say, "No, I am not doing anything. It is Jesus. It is the Lord who wants me to suffer." No, she never spoke about any of this. She was always closed off.
So then came that difficult and painful battle which began first against the members of her own family. And with a bit of imagination, we can vividly picture how it all unfolded, how every detail of the situation developed, and how much deep suffering it brought to Louisa.
Following those specific events, another difficult stage came. A new period of struggle involving the local religious priests because when the doctors were no longer enough, in some way, they called upon the priests, and the final result was exactly the same. Some said she was a mere fantasist, that she was a... all those kinds of opinions that can come up until Louisa began to decline, not only bedridden but also in her condition, her usual state of losing consciousness. And at that moment, both the family and the priest became deeply concerned because they couldn't figure out that it was something divine coming from heaven, that it was something sent from our Lord, that it was a profound matter of spiritual life until one day, one of the priests went and solemnly blessed Louisa, and somehow she revived. She slowly came back to herself. And so they slowly and painfully began to realize that it might actually and truly be something supernatural.
But the priests were not always available. And the poor girl, who was just 16 or 17 years old, had to remain in that difficult state, facing constant and harsh opposition from everyone around her. And she simply could not do anything about it because it was not up to her. She always acknowledges that this experience of leaving herself was actually Jesus calling her, or that he draws her in different ways, that it is not within her will either to enter or to leave that state, nor to come out of it. So the priest, the struggle was that they had to go every day to wake her up in much the same way. They just imagine the suffering of Louisa and that suffering of having the constant need for the confessor every single day to return once again to herself. That suffering lasted for her. This condition lasted for almost her entire life. And it was truly one of the heaviest and most profound sufferings that Louisa had to endure: the constant burden of having to trouble the local priest so that he would be forced to come to her house practically every single day to wake her from her deep supernatural state of spiritual ecstasy.
Several times she asked our Lord that she would be willing to suffer anything. But she prayed that our Lord himself would free her from that state of losing her senses and the sufferings she endured during those moments, that she would gladly do it as long as Jesus was the one to put her in that state and Jesus himself would free her. And yet, Jesus consistently and firmly refused this, repeatedly saying and insisting to her, "No, it must be through the spiritual guidance of the confessor." Because obedience will also truly enter into your soul as the executioner that transforms you into a sacrificial victim. And Jesus Christ himself, in that very moment, the virtue that was so incredibly dear to him and which was one of the very first things he instilled in Louisa, obedience to the confessor. Jesus himself submitted to the obedience of the confessor. So in such a way that if the confessor gave Louisa the obedience to suffer, our Lord would make her suffer. Now the crucifixion, now the crowning with thorns. If the confessor suspended it, Jesus certainly would not come to cause her to suffer. And this is a most beautiful and sacred act that our Lord performed in those very moments to bestow divine authority upon the priest and to fully acknowledge the authority given by our Lord Jesus Christ himself and to show how Jesus wanted all of this to be done through the sacred channels established by him, such as the holy priesthood and the weight of priestly authority to which he himself submitted.
I recall that on one particular occasion, the confessor said to her, "Tell Jesus not to come anymore," and that put an end to her greatest sorrow. Then Jesus appears, and she says to him, "Lord, the confessor has said that you should not come, so please leave." And then Jesus departs from the area, and he remained at a distance for a period of about 15 days until, once again, the confessor released her from that obedience, telling her, "Well, if it is Jesus, that's fine. Tell him to come." All of this also served as unmistakable and profound indicators for the spiritual director, told that every single thing occurring in Louisa was truly and undeniably from our Lord.
After these various stages, the family eventually came to recognize that what was happening to this young woman was not due to whims or illnesses, but was instead something divine coming from heaven. The same was true for the priests. As time went by, those who were with her discovered through everything I have mentioned that the work being done in Louisa was truly from Jesus. And it was not a simple whim, imagination, schizophrenia, or any of those other things.
So this style of warfare, these battles, eventually came to a stop. The family now dedicated themselves to caring for her with great attentiveness and love, especially one of her sisters who was devoted. The priests also began to truly value her, particularly her spiritual confessors, as they came to understand that truly great things were happening there. And, um, and eventually all of this intense war and this difficult battle on that front finally came to a final end.
At times, there are many souls who want to enjoy eternal life. But souls who want to resemble Jesus, even in his most bitter sufferings, are very few indeed. Louisa. By the time she had already reached the age of 35, as recorded in the second volume of her writings, our Lord had deeply instilled and profoundly rooted in her such divine knowledge and an overwhelming sacrificial love for the Holy Cross. There is a specific profound chapter, and I truly do not know if you have had the chance to read it yet, that serves as a beautiful and true praise of the Holy Cross which Louisa makes. She wrote this because she had already deeply understood its mystery, and it seems very much worth repeating today for two vital reasons. First, so that we might all learn something deeper about the cross ourselves. And second, so we can truly know how Louisa spoke about the cross, how she loved it with all her heart, how she regarded it with such reverence, and exactly how many miraculous effects and spiritual graces from the cross Louisa knew she could personally draw.
Furthermore, when we reflect deeply upon the mystery of the cross, it is not enough to consider only the great and heavy sufferings that we ourselves may endure in this life. In truth, almost anything we do in our daily journey can eventually become a significant cross of suffering and even a profound cross of death. In every single act we perform in the divine will and every act we sincerely intend to perform in the divine will, it is to place our own will on the cross and surrender it completely to death so that it may rise again in the glory of the divine will. Even though this is not a state of suffering, but rather eventually transforms into pure joy, once all the various spiritual benefits that come from it are known, it is still death. Well, and death on the cross, on the cross of one's own will.
Jesus says to me, "Today I feel like spending some time with you. So tell me something." And I respond, "Louisa, you know that all my happiness is simply to be with you. And having you, I truly have everything. So possessing you, it seems to me that I have nothing more to wish for or even to say here." She wants to dodge it, as if saying, "Well, that's it. So why are you making me talk?" And Jesus, "Let me hear your voice. Let it delight my ear. Let's talk together for a while. I have spoken to you on many different occasions regarding the cross. And now I would like to hear you speak about it in your own words."
I felt utterly and completely bewildered and didn't know what to say. But he sent me a brilliant ray of intellectual light. And to please him, I began to say, "My beloved, who in this world can truly tell you what the cross is and what it does? Only your lips can worthily speak of the sublimity of the cross. But since you want me to speak, then I will."
The sacred cross endured by you has delivered me from the slavery of the devil and bound me to the divinity with an unbreakable bond. The profound and lasting effect of the passion, the consequences of the passion of our Lord has graciously liberated us from the slavery of the devil and clothed us once again with the divinity with an indissoluble bond. The sacred cross is profoundly fruitful. Though we often mistakenly believe it to be entirely barren and empty, the holy cross is truly fruitful and it never ceases to give birth to an abundance of divine grace for all of humanity throughout every generation. The cross, like a mother, gives birth to grace for us. The cross is a light that strips away the illusions of the temporal and clearly reveals to me the eternal. We find ourselves deeply attached to earthly things and to the temporary, fleeting things of this world. The Holy Cross disillusions us of the fleeting things of this world and leads us to focus on eternal things.
If we truly want to live our lives just as Jesus lived his life, any cross that our Lord sends us, be it illness, poverty, various difficulties, or great adversities, how many people are there right now, for a specific example, struggling without any form of employment? Well, I say this about the situation in Mexico. There are many in Mexico, and I do not know exactly how it is here. Well, since we are so similar, the same thing will happen then. That heavy cross of disillusionment where hard-working people find themselves suddenly left without work and are forced to give up everything they once knew, to leave behind a previous life of more or less luxury, ease, and material comfort, and must learn to adapt to a much simpler, more humble way of life. If they truly know how to live it and embrace the change, it is a profound cross that should ultimately disillusion them with everything that is merely temporary in this world and finally reveal to them the beauty of what is truly eternal and lasting. It is not the one who knows how to live it who reaps this fruit, but the one who does not know how to live it because they do not love that cross. They might even blaspheme. Perhaps I am slightly exaggerating, right? They will blaspheme and say, "Why me? I lost my job." And will try by any means necessary to maintain their standard of living, falling deeper and deeper into debt, and the problems will continue along with the credit card bills and everything else. But for the one who, through the cross, becomes disillusioned with what is temporary and has the eternal revealed to them, the cross has worked that miracle for them. If we know how to live it in union with our Lord, to fully draw out this transformative effect.
The cross is fire, and everything that is not of God, it reduces to ashes. It completely hollows out my heart of even the slightest blade of grass that could possibly remain within it. This leads us to the very same thing, the complete and total annihilation of our earthly selves. That is the total surrender of our own human will. Removing and cleansing from the very depths of our hearts everything that is not of God so that the presence of God may come to dwell and abide within our hearts.
The cross is truly a coin of inestimable value. And if I have, holy spouse, the great good fortune of possessing it, I will strive to enrich myself with these eternal coins until I become the very richest person in all of paradise. This is because the true currency that circulates in heaven is the weight of the cross suffered on earth. And I want you to take careful notice that it does not mention other things. No, it clearly says the cross. It does not say that the spiritual currency which circulates within the kingdom of heaven is simply practiced devotions. For we know that many types of devotions can be practiced quite easily without ever carrying a cross. What truly circulates there, the currency that circulates in heaven is the weight of the cross that has been suffered here on earth. And it doesn't specifically say that the currency that circulates in heaven is the sacraments received, because the sacraments can be received but without a cross. There are those who go receive the holy sacrament unworthily and continue living their life badly. You will find that there is no cross there. Even if there is a sacrament, that's why that is not what circulates in heaven. On the other hand, whoever receives the sacraments and lives a life of grace, and we will see it later in the divine will, there, besides the sacrament, is the cross, and that is the cross enriched by the sacrament. That cross is the currency that circulates within heaven.
The cross allows me to understand myself better. And not only this, but it provides me with a profound knowledge of God. Looking at it, the cross, um, helps me know myself. How very interesting this is. Understanding that the cross helps me truly understand myself. I'm going to be much more attentive from now on. To a celestial magnet of Louisa Picareta. How important this is. How many times have we thought that the cross makes us know ourselves? Whether we truly love God or we don't love him, or we only love ourselves. The one who faces a bit of the cross and, as the father says, turns away from it. Well, that's how he knows himself. The one who faces a small cross, a setback, and lives through it all. And that is the way he gains an understanding of himself. The cross tells us many things. The cross grafts all virtues into me. Without the cross, there are no virtues.
The cross is the noble pulpit of eternally uncreated wisdom. Almighty God, listen very closely. Carefully designed the cross. He used it as a sacred pulpit to teach us. And what exactly was it that he wanted to teach us? It was the cross of the death of our own human will so that we might live only by the divine will. That is the pulpit, the cross, the noble pulpit of uncreated wisdom that patiently teaches me the highest, most intricate, subtle, and sublime doctrines. So only the sacred cross will truly reveal to me the most hidden mysteries, the most deep and profound things, and the very highest perfection which remains hidden from even the most learned and wise in this world. As St. Paul once declared, "God forbid that I should ever preach any other Christ than Christ crucified." That is to say, the message of the cross, a significant stumbling block to the Jews, and foolishness to the gentile pagans.
The cross is like aromatic water that purifies me. And not only that, but it provides me with nourishment for the virtues. It makes me grow and does not leave me alone when it leads me to eternal life. The cross is like celestial dew that preserves and beautifies in me the beautiful lily of purity. It is deeply intertwined with the virtues, and how the holy cross nourishes those virtues. The cross is the constant nourishment of our hope. The cross is the radiant and burning flame of an active faith, not just of simple belief. The cross is that solid wood that preserves and always keeps the fire of charity burning. The cross is also that dry wood that vanishes and puts to flight all the fumes of pride and vain glory and produces in the soul the humble violet of humility. The cross is the most powerful weapon that attacks the demons and defends me from their claws. So the soul that possesses the cross is to be envied and admired by the very angels and saints. And it is rage and anger for the demons.
The cross is my paradise on earth. At this moment, then, there are only three people: Jesus, the Most Holy Virgin, and Louisa. For them, the cross is their true paradise here on earth. So if the eternal paradise of the blessed above is joy, the paradise down here is found in suffering. The cross is the golden chain, most pure, that joins me to you, my supreme good, and forms the most intimate union possible, even making my being disappear and transmuting me into you, my cherished and beloved object. So much so that I feel lost in you and live your very life.
After I said this, my love, Jesus, hearing me, was completely pleased and carried away by an enthusiasm of love. He kissed me all over and said to me, "Bravo, bravo, my dear daughter, you have spoken well. My love is a burning fire, but it is not like a common earthly fire which, wherever it penetrates, makes the land sterile and reduces everything to ashes. My fire is fruitful and only makes sterile those things that are not of virtue, but to everything else, it gives a new life and makes beautiful flowers bloom, and it produces the most exquisite of fruits, and it turns the soul into the most delicious celestial garden."
The cross is immensely powerful, and I have graciously bestowed so much grace upon it that I made it more effective than the sacraments themselves. The cross is very powerful, and I bestowed so much grace upon it that I made it more effective than the sacraments themselves. And this is because when receiving the sacrament of my body, the dispositions and the free concurrence of the soul are needed to receive my graces, which can often be lacking. On the other hand, my cross has the virtue of disposing the soul to grace.
We went through this too quickly because everything that Louisa says, we could linger a bit longer here. The most important thing was to see how, right from the very beginning, Louisa truly loved the cross and loved suffering. And God had carefully placed this profound love and all these deep concepts of the Holy Cross within her soul so that she could, upon all of this solid ground, go on building everything he would later teach her about his divine will working in the creature. And we see how the cross prepares us, helps us, and ultimately makes us enter to live fully in the divine life will. And this was another relatively distinct and clear period of time that she distinguishes within the pages of her personal writings. Afterwards, with all those concepts of the cross, active participation in the passion, and participation in other sufferings, for Louisa, they were, as she herself sometimes says, well, remarkably sweet.
Heat. Heat.