Book of Heaven
7/1/24 – Vol. 17

I felt very oppressed because of the privation of my adorable Jesus. Oh, how my heart bleeds, as I feel subjected to suffer continuous deaths! I felt I could not go on without Him, and that my martyrdom could not be harder than that. And while I was trying to follow Jesus in the different mysteries of His Passion, I arrived at accompanying Him in the mystery of His painful Scourging. At that moment, He moved in my interior, filling all of myself with His adorable Person. Upon seeing Him, I wanted to tell Him of my hard state, but Jesus, imposing silence on me, told me: “My daughter, let us pray together. There are certain sad times in which my Justice, unable to contain Itself because of the evils of creatures, would want to flood the earth with new scourges; and so prayer in my Will is necessary, which, extending over all, places itself as defense of the creatures, and with its power, prevents my Justice from approaching the creature to strike her.”

How beautiful and touching it was to hear Jesus pray! And since I was accompanying Him in the sorrowful mystery of the Scourging, He made Himself seen pouring out Blood, and I heard Him say: “My Father (God the Father), I (God the Son, Jesus) offer You this Blood of Mine. O please, let It cover all the intelligences of creatures, rendering vain all their evil thoughts, dimming the fire of their passions, and making holy intelligences rise again. May this Blood cover their eyes and be a veil to their sight, so that the taste of evil pleasures may not enter them through their eyes, and they may not get dirty with the mud of the earth. May this Blood of Mine cover and fill their mouths, and render their lips dead to blasphemies, to imprecations, to all of their bad words. My Father, may this Blood of Mine cover their hands, and strike terror in man for so many evil actions. May this Blood circulate in Our Eternal Will in order to cover all, to defend all, and to be a defending weapon for the creature before the rights of Our Justice.” …

Book of Heaven
7/14/23 – Vol. 15

As I (Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta) was in my usual state, my good Jesus came, but all afflicted.  It seemed to me that He could not detach from me, and, all goodness, told me:  “My daughter, I have come to make you suffer.  Don’t you remember when I wanted to chastise man and you did not want Me to, wanting to suffer yourself in their place, and in order to make you content, I told you that instead of doing ‘ten’, for love of you I would do ‘five’?  Now the nations want to fight against one other, and those which believe themselves to be the most powerful are taking up arms to their teeth in order to destroy the weak nations.  This is about total destruction, my daughter.  This is why I have come to make you suffer – to give you that ‘five’ which I promised you.  My justice will give to fire and water the power of the office which they contain, in order to destroy peoples and entire cities; therefore, a little bit of your suffering is necessary in order to reduce the chastisements by half.” 

Now, while He was saying this, He moved in my interior, as though holding many instruments in His hands; and as He moved them, sufferings and pains were formed, with such tearing of all my members that I don’t know how I remained alive.  And when He would see me moaning and shivering because of the intensity of the pains, with the air of one who has triumphed over everything, Jesus would say to me:  “You are my Life, and with my Life I can do whatever I want.”  And He would continue His crafting to make me suffer.  May everything be for the glory of God, for the good of my soul, and for the salvation of all.

Then, afterwards, He added:  “My daughter, the whole world is upside down, and everyone is awaiting changes, peace, new things.  They themselves gather to discuss about it, and are surprised at not being able to conclude anything and to come to serious decisions.  So, true peace does not arise, and everything resolves into words, but no facts.  And they hope that more conferences may serve to make serious decisions, but they wait in vain.  In the meantime, in this waiting, they are in fear, and some prepare themselves for new wars, some hope for new conquests.  But, with this, the peoples are impoverished, are stripped alive, and while they are waiting, tired of the sad present era, dark and bloody, which enwraps them, they wait and hope for a new era of peace and of light.

The world is exactly at the same point as when I was about to come upon earth.  All were awaiting a great event, a new era, as indeed occurred.  The same now; since the Great Event, the New Era in which the Will of God may be done on earth as It is in Heaven, is coming – everyone is awaiting this New Era, tired of the present one, but without knowing what this new thing, this change is about, just as they did not know it when I came upon earth.  This expectation is a sure sign that the hour is near.  But the surest sign is that I am manifesting what I want to do, and that turning to a soul, just as I turned to my Mama in descending from Heaven to earth, I communicate to her my Will and the goods and effects It contains, to make of them a gift for the whole of humanity.

Book of Heaven
2/9/22 – Vol. 14

Finding myself in my usual state, I was following the Hours of the Passion; and while I was accompanying my sweet Jesus in the mystery of His painful scourging, He made Himself seen all skinned. His Body was stripped, not only of His garments, but also of His flesh; His bones could be counted one by one. His sight was not only harrowing, but horrible to look at, such as to strike fear, fright, reverence, and love at the same time. I felt mute before such a harrowing scene. I would have wanted to do who knows what to relieve my Jesus, but I could do nothing – the sight of His pains gave me death; and Jesus, all goodness, told me: “My beloved daughter, look well at Me, that you may know my pains in depth. My Body is the true portrait of the man who commits sin. Sin strips him of the garments of my grace; and I let Myself be stripped of my garments so as to give them back to him once again. Sin deforms him, and while he is the most beautiful creature that came out of my hands, he becomes the ugliest one – disgusting and repugnant. I was the most beautiful of men, and I can say that, in order to give beauty back to man, my Humanity took on the ugliest form. Look at Me – how horrid I am…! I let my skin be ripped off by dint of lashes, to the point that I could no longer recognize Myself. Not only does sin take beauty away, but it forms deep wounds, rotten and gangrenous, which corrode the most intimate parts of him; they consume his vital humors, so everything he does are dead – skeletal works. They snatch from him the nobility of his origin, the light of his reason – and he becomes blind. And I, in order to fill the depth of his wounds, let my flesh be torn to shreds; I reduced all of Myself to a wound, and by shedding my Blood in rivers, I made the vital humors flow in his soul, so as to give life back to Him once again.

Ah! Had I not had the fount of the Life of my Divinity within Me, which, since my Humanity died at each pain that they gave Me, substituted my Life – I would have died from the very beginning of my Passion.

Now, my pains, my Blood, my flesh which fell off in shreds, are always in the act of giving life to man; but man rejects my Blood so as not to receive life; he tramples upon my flesh so as to remain wounded. Oh, how I feel the weight of ingratitude!” And throwing Himself into my arms, Jesus burst into tears. I clasped Him to my heart, but He was crying strongly. What torment, to see Jesus crying! I would have wanted to suffer any pain so that He would not cry. So I compassionated Him, I kissed His wounds, I dried His tears; and He, as though cheered, added: “Do you know how I act? I act like a father who loves his son very much. This son is blind, deformed, crippled; and his father who loves him to folly – what does he do? He plucks his own eyes out; he cuts his own legs, tears his own skin off, and gives everything to his son, saying: ‘I am happier to remain blind, crippled, deformed myself, as long as I see that you, my son, can see, can walk, and are beautiful…’ Oh, how happy is that father, in seeing his son looking with his eyes, walking with his legs, and covered with his beauty! But what would the sorrow of the father be, if he saw his son, ungrateful, throwing away his eyes, legs and skin, contenting himself with remaining ugly as he is? So I am: I took care of everything, but men, ungrateful, form my most bitter sorrow.”

Fr. Jerabek reciting the Vesting Prayers as he prepares to celebrate
the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. 

Today is the anniversary of the legal document written by (now Emeritus) Pope Benedict XVI, Summorum Pontificum, which made it clear that the old Latin Mass was never abrogated, and that the faithful (and priests, who are also part of the faithful) still have the right to it.

As Benedict wrote in the letter that accompanied that document:

What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.  It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place.

Thus the Holy Father invited us to reconcile with our history – not reject it – realizing that the older form of the Mass was a source of culture, a source of good, and a source of holiness, not something which we must now look down upon, spurn, or pretend never existed.

Liturgy is traditionally a hot-button issue in Church circles and of course there were many who did not appreciate Pope Benedict’s actions in that regard – as if one could pick and choose which aspects of the Papal magisterium one finds acceptable and follow only those.

While the “old Latin Mass” (which is no longer to be considered old, since it is part of the life of the contemporary Church also) may not be everyone’s cup of tea, it is something that is perfectly acceptable and makes up part of the great diversity that is found within the unity of the Church.

I have learned how to celebrate the “Extraordinary Form” of the liturgy (at least in some of its variety: I have a lot to learn still) and am sure that I will do so from time to time as the opportunities present themselves. Learning that form of celebration has certainly enriched my own spirituality and understanding of the priesthood.

Let’s put it this way: in the Church there are a lot of forms of spirituality, and a diocesan priest has to show himself open to all forms that are legitimate, even if he doesn’t personally share all of them. What right does a diocesan priest have, then, to spurn the Latin Mass? It’s simply not coherent.

In the Diocese of Birmingham today we have a personal parish (in Huntsville) for those who prefer this form, a monastery (near Cullman) where it is regularly offered, and also a parish (in Birmingham) where it is celebrated on Sundays. So we give thanks for Pope Benedict’s act of reconciliation and generosity, which has enriched the lives of many, even here close to home.

Let’s remember to say a special prayer for Benedict XVI on this day, since he faced a great deal of opposition in writing and promulgating the above document, but courageously stood firm and did what he knew to be God’s will for the Church. May God reward him and give him peace and consolation.

DEVOTION OF THE FIVE FIRST SATURDAYS

The following is an explanation of the conditions contained in Our Lady’s request regarding the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays of the Month.

1. Confess and receive Holy Communion

   On February 15, 1926 the Child Jesus alone came to visit Sr. Lucia and asked if the devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary was being propagated. Sr. Lucia spoke of a difficulty some people have in confessing on the first Saturday, and asked if they might be allowed eight days in order to fulfill Our Lady’s requests. Jesus answered:“Yes, even more time still, as long as they receive Me in the state of grace and have the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

2. Recite the Rosary

   Five decades of the Rosary may be recited at any time or place; yet, since one will be attending Mass in order to receive Holy Communion, a very desirable time and place would be before or after Mass in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Meditation on the mysteries according to one’s capacity is an essential condition for praying the Rosary. Yet, involuntary distractions do not rob the Rosary of fruit if one is doing the best he can.

3. “Keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary.”

   The question is often asked: Does the meditation while reciting the Rosary fulfill this condition, or is there required an additional fifteen minutes of meditation? That an additional 15 minutes of meditation is required was recently confirmed by Sr. Lucia of Fatima. It is clear too from a statement by the first Bishop of Fatima.

   The last entry in the chronology of Fatima, published in the official Calendar of the Sanctuary for the year of 1940, and signed by Dom Jose Correia da Silva, the first Bishop of Fatima, gave a summary of Our Lady’s requests concerning the Five First Saturdays. From that official statement in the Calendar of the Sanctuary, we read the Bishop’s enumeration of the various items that pertain to the devotion of the five Saturdays:

   It consists in going to Confession, receiving Communion, reciting five decades of the Rosary and meditating for a quarter of an hour on the mysteries of the Rosary on the first Saturday of five consecutive months. The Confession may be made during the eight days preceding or following the first Saturday of each month, provided that Holy Communion be received in the state of grace. Should one forget to form the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, it may be formed at the next Confession, occasion to go to confession being taken at the first opportunity.

   The meditation embraces one or more mysteries; it may even include all, taken together or separately, according to individual attraction or devotion; but it is preferable to meditate on one mystery each month.

   Speaking of the requirement of “keeping me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary,” the Bishop’s comment that “it is preferable to meditate on one mystery each month” could apply only to an extra fifteen minutes, for each decade of the Rosary must have its own particular meditation. This is clear from the definition of the Rosary given in the official document of the Church on indulgences, the ENCHIRIDION OF INDULGENCES published by Pope Paul VI in 1968. It describes the Rosary as follows:

   “The Rosary is a certain formula of prayer, which is made up of fifteen decades of HAIL MARYS with an OUR FATHER before each decade, and in which the recitation of each decade is accompanied by pious meditation on a particular mystery of our Redemption.” (n. 48)

   * * * * * * * * * *

   Like the Rosary, this meditation may be made any time or place during the first Saturday. Yet again, like the Rosary, a very fitting time and place would be in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament before or after Mass. The question has been asked: “Would an extra Rosary, which would require about fifteen minutes, fulfill this request? It would seem, if fruitfully meditated, that it would. Or again, the time could be spent reading meditatively on one of the fifteen mysteries, which is a form of mental prayer that involves reading with frequent pauses to reflect on the matter read.

4. With the intention of making reparation.

   All of the conditions mentioned above – in numbers 1 to 3 – should be fulfilled with the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. On the occasion of the visit of the Child Jesus to Sr. Lucia (Feb. 16, 1926), she asked: “My Jesus, what about those who forget to make the intention?” Jesus answered: “They can do so at their next confession, taking advantage of their first opportunity to go to Confession.”

   The above are the minimum requirements for fulfilling the conditions of Our Lady’s promise to obtain for us“at the hour of death the graces necessary for salvation.” Yet, these Communions of reparation, as has been pointed out, are only a portion of the devotion of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. These few pages are meant to help bring about a frame of mind and heart that will make us aware of the need of reparation all through the month, and not just on the first Saturday.

    

   WHY FIVE SATURDAYS?

    

   It is sometimes asked why Our Lady asked for Communions of reparation on five first Saturdays, instead of some other number. Our Blessed Lord answered that question when He appeared to Sr. Lucia May 29, 1930. He explained that it was because of five kinds of offenses and blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, namely: blasphemies against her Immaculate Conception, against her perpetual virginity, against the divine and spiritual maternity of Mary, blasphemies involving the rejection and dishonoring of her images, and the neglect of implanting in the hearts of children a knowledge and love of this Immaculate Mother.

Come to speak to Jesus and tell Him what is in your heart.
Jesus longs for souls to come receive His mercy.
(There is Live Online Adoration on the Web)

You are greatly needed! The Church and the world have a great need of Eucharistic worship. Your hour with Jesus will repair for the evils of the world and bring peace.

All thanks and praise be to our Lord!

St John Bosco has said: “There is nothing the devil fears more than these two things: a well made Communion and frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament.”

Jesus will bless you, your family and the whole world for this hour of faith you spend with Him in the Blessed Sacrament.

Jesus has promised peace to our country: “If my people humble themselves and pray, and seek My Presence, I will revive their land.” (2Ch 7:14)

“My delight is to be with you.” (Prov. 8:31)

Twelve BIBLICAL reasons
for wanting to spend one hour with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.

1. He is really there: “I myself Am the Living Bread come down from Heaven.” (Jn 6:35)

2. Day and night Jesus dwells in the Blessed Sacrament because of His Infinite love for us: “Behold I will be with you always even to the end of the world,” (Mt 28:20;) 3. The specific way that Jesus asks us to love Him in return is to spend one quiet hour with Him in the Blessed Sacrament: “Where your treasure is, there is your heart…” “Could you watch one hour with Me?” (Mt 6:21; 26:40)

4.When we look upon the Sacred Host, we look upon Jesus, the Son of God: “Indeed, this is the will of My Father, that everyone who looks upon the son and believes in Him shall have eternal life. Him I will raise up on the last day.” (Jn 6:40)

5. Day and night Jesus dwells in the Blessed Sacrament because you are the most important person in the world to Him! “Christ is reserved in our churches as the spiritual center of the heart of the community, the universal Church and all humanity, since within the veil of the species, Christ is contained, the Invisible Heart of the Church, the Redeemer of the world, the center of all hearts, by Him all things are and of whom we exist.” (Pope Paul IV, Mysterium Fidei)

6. Jesus wants you to do more than to go to Mass on Sunday. “Our communal worship at Mass must go together with our personal worship of Jesus in Eucharistic adoration in order that our love may be complete.”(Pope John Paul II, Redeemer of Man)

7. You grow spiritually with each moment you spend with Jesus! “Our essential commitment in life is to preserve and advance constantly in Eucharistic life and Eucharistic piety and to grow spiritually in the climate of the Holy Eucharist.” (Pope John Paul II, Redeemer of Man)

8. The best time you spend on earth is with Jesus, your Best Friend, in the Blessed Sacrament! “How great is the value of conversation with Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, for there is nothing more consoling on earth, nothing more efficacious for advancing along the road of holiness!” (Pope Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei)

9. Just as you cannot be exposed to the sun without receiving its rays, neither can you come to Jesus exposed in the Blessed Sacrament without receiving the Divine Rays of His Grace, His Love, His Peace. “Christ is truly the Emmanuel, that is, God with us, day and night, He is in our midst. He dwells with us full of grace and truth. He restores morality, nourishes virtue, consoles the afflicted, strengthens the weak.” (Pope Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei)

10. If Jesus were actually visible in church, everyone would run to welcome Him, but He remains hidden in the Sacred Host under the appearance of Bread, because He is calling us to faith, that we may come to Him in humility. “The Blessed Sacrament is the Living Heart of each of our churches and it is our very sweet duty to honor and adore the Blessed Host, which our eyes see, the Incarnate Word, Whom they cannot see.” (Pope Paul VI, Credo of the People of God)

11. With transforming mercy, Jesus makes our heart one with His. “He proposes His own example to those who come to Him, that all may learn to be like Himself, gentle and humble of heart, and to seek not their own interest but those of God.” (Pope Paul VI, Mysterium Fidei)

12. If the Pope himself would give you a special invitation to visit him in the Vatican, this honor would be nothing in comparison to the honor and dignity that Jesus Himself bestows upon you with the invitation of spending one hour with Him in the Blessed Sacrament. “The Divine Eucharist bestows upon the Christian people an incomparable dignity.”
(Pope Paul VI)

***

George Washington The Praying General at Valley Forge

From Anthony:  What a joy to celebrate the great freedoms we now share on this 4th of July! Amazing to discover that in the minds of early Patriots, the 4th of July signified a religious holiday like Christmas. To many of the followers of Jesus Christ, who by The Grace of Almighty God, had helped form this nation of ours, God who became Man had granted us freedom of knowing God and becoming like Christ; and the brave men and women who had sacrificed their lives for our freedom, had done so with their faith in God to grant us the gift by His Grace of a free nation.

On July 2, 1776, Congress approved complete separation from Great Britain.  On July 4th, John Hancock, President of Congress and Charles Thompson, Secretary of Congress, signed the early draft of The Declaration of Independence. On July 8th, the document was read aloud in Philadelphia when The Liberty Bell with the inscription from Lev. 25:10″ Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof” was rung.

The day Congress approved The Declaration of Independence, John Adams wrote to Abigail that this day ”ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.” and he also foresaw us celebrating our independence by God’s Grace as he wrote: “This day will be the most memorable epic in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.”

Thanks to another fantastic article from David Barton, we discover from the annals of history, an amazing speech by John Quincy Adams whereby he asked: Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on the Fourth of July? His answer:

“Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity?”

According to John Quincy Adams, Christmas and the Fourth of July were intrinsically connected. On the Fourth of July, the Founders simply took the precepts of Christ which came into the world through His birth (Christmas) and incorporated those principles into civil government.