The Way of Divine Love

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CHAPTER VIII - THE LENT OF 1923

LOVE’S GREAT DAY March 29th, 1923


“Love humbles Itself . . . Love surrenders Itself.” (Our Lord to Josefa)

“JOSEFA, today is My great day, the day of Love. . . . Its feast day,” said Our Lord on the morning of Holy Thursday.

She was at prayer in her cell and suddenly He came as on the preceding day, with a Heart surrounded with flames. She renewed her vows and fell on her face in adoration before Him. He spoke:

“Today is the day on which I give Myself to souls, that I may be for them just what they wish: If they will look on Me as their father I shall be a father to them. . . . If they desire Me as their beloved I shall be their Beloved. . . . If they need strength I will be their strength and if they long to console Me, I will let them console Me. . . . All I want is to give Myself to them . . . and to fill them with graces prepared for them. . . . I cannot withhold them any longer. What, Josefa, shall I be to you?

“My All, Lord, for I am nothing!”

Tranquil peace and gratitude filled Josefa’s heart, and so she went to Mass, then to Holy Communion. On returning to her place she at once renewed the complete offering of her whole person to her good and beloved Master, definitely abandoning herself into His hands forever. Jesus ratified the offering:

“It is on account of your nothingness and utter misery that you must let Me kindle your heart’s fire, consume and destroy it. You surely know that ‘nothing’ and ‘misery’ cannot resist . . .”

Josefa spent the whole day under the power of “Love that gives” . . .”and Love that humbles Itself before Its own” . . . She would hear these words from Our Lord’s lips while in the silence and recollection of that day she lived through the ceremonies of religious life, the last actions, the last outpourings of the love of our Saviour among His own.

At about four in the afternoon Josefa was at prayer in her cell near a statue of Our Blessed Lady, and was thinking over the mysterious words of Jesus, when He Himself appeared.

“Yes, Josefa, I did indeed say that Love gives Itself to Its own and it is true. . . . Come, draw near My Heart and enter in, and taste and see what Its overwhelming emotions are.”

“ ‘Love gives Itself as food to Its own and this food is the substance which gives them their life and sustains them.

“ ‘Love humbles Itself before Its own . . . and in so doing raises them to the highest dignity.

“ ‘Love surrenders Itself in totality, It gives in profusion and without reserve. With enthusiasm, with vehemence It is sacrificed, It is immolated, It is given for those It loves. . . . The Holy Eucharist is love to the extreme of folly.’ ”

It looked as if Our Lord at that moment was unable to restrain the burning effusions of His Heart, then His voice changed and He spoke with gravity, saying: “This love will lead Me to My death! . . .”

Then, turning to Josefa, He addressed her directly: “Today you are sustained, consoled, and strengthened by love; tomorrow, Josefa, you will accompany Me to Calvary and suffer with Me.”

The somber shades of the Passion were about to descend on a day which had been all light. During the night, spent in part in the Chapel in prayer at the “Sepulchre,” she was again allowed to share in the Cross, the Crown, the anguish and the sorrows of her Master, treasures she had learnt to bear and to esteem for His sake.

Towards midnight He appeared and called on her to share with Him the solitude of the dungeon. His white tunic was in shreds and stained with blood; His sacred countenance bore vivid traces of the injuries and ignominy to which it had been subjected. “Josefa,” He said, “you have been My comfort . . . now I come to take back My Cross.”

“Keep Me company now. . . . Do not leave Me alone in prison. . . . When I raise My eyes, let Me find yours looking at Me. The presence of a sympathetic heart greatly consoles one who suffers. Do you realize this? You who have experienced the tenderness of My Heart, can gauge what My heartache is at being so outraged by My enemies and deserted by My friends. . . .”

Jesus then left her, saying: “No need to say adieu, for are you not always with Me?”

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CHAPTER VIII - THE LENT OF 1923

GOOD FRIDAY The Seven Words March 30th and 31st, 1923


“Write all that you see.” (Our Lord to Josefa)

FROM very early on Good Friday morning Our Lord united Josefa with Himself in the scenes of the Crucifixion.

He was about to manifest His dolours to her visibly, so that they should be imprinted both on her body and on her soul. Following in His footsteps she would share the compassion of His Mother, whilst hour by hour the happenings of that dread day were unfolded before her eyes.

Who can say how intimate, intense and real, was Josefa’s participation in the sufferings of Jesus Christ?

She endeavored to write down something of what she was privileged to see, to hear, and to suffer. But her power of expression broke down in the attempt. Nevertheless the simplicity of her record gives it special value.

“At about six in the morning when at prayer,” she noted, “I saw Him as during the night, but a red mantle had been thrown over His white tunic. He seemed utterly spent. At once He said to me: ‘Josefa, My enemies are soon going to load the Cross on My shoulders. It is so heavy.’

“I implored Him to let me carry it, for I so long to help Him. . . .

“ ‘Yes, take it,’ He said, ‘and may your love mitigate My pain. . . . I have made My sufferings known to you . . . follow Me in them . . . accompany Me and share in My agony.’ ”

In the course of the morning He returned to dictate to her the Stations of the Cross He had made with her two days before.

“His face was torn,” she wrote, “His eyes swollen and filled with blood. . . . He let Me kiss His feet at the seventh, the eleventh and the thirteenth Stations, and before leaving He said to me: ‘The hour of the Crucifixion is approaching. . . . I will warn you when the time comes.’

“Towards half past twelve I saw Him again,” she continued. “His tunic had been wrenched off half His body.

“ ‘Now is the moment when the executioners are about to fasten Me to the Cross, Josefa.’

“Then,” she wrote, “such an agonizing pain shot through my hands and feet that my whole body was shaken. . . . At the same time I heard the strokes of the hammer, slow and resounding afar. . . . In a faint and dying voice He said these words: ‘Now is the hour for the world’s Redemption! They are about to lift Me up as a spectacle of derision to the crowd . . . but also of admiration to souls. . . . ’

“I saw Him a few moments later. He was fastened to the Cross, and it had been lifted up erect.

“ ‘Peace has come to the world! . . . The Cross, hitherto an instrument of torture on which criminals were made to die, is changed into the light and peace of the world and the object of the most profound veneration.

“ ‘Sinners will draw pardon and life from My sacred wounds . . . My Blood will wash away and efface all their filth and foulness.

“ ‘Pure souls will come to My wounds, there to slake their thirst and kindle flames of love in their hearts . . . there they will find a refuge, and forever make a home.

“ ‘The world has found a Redeemer, and chosen souls the Model they must copy.

“ ‘And as for you, Josefa, these hands are yours to give you support, these feet to follow you and never leave you alone.

“ ‘Write all that you see.’ ”

Once again Josefa attempted to describe Our Saviour as she saw Him. She knew that this manifestation was made to her for the sake of souls, that she might transmit to them the testimony of His torments. Putting all her powers to the task, she tried to omit no part in her narrative:

“He was nailed to the Cross. The Crown of Thorns encircled His brow and great spiky thorns furrowed deep into the flesh. One longer than the rest had pierced its way through His forehead and emerged near the left eye which was much swollen. His face covered with blood and filth leaned forward a little to the left. Though His eyes were very swollen and bloodshot, they were open and gazed earthwards. All over His wounded body were to be seen the weals and welts caused by the scourges which in some parts had tom away fragments of flesh and skin. Blood flowed from His head and from His other wounds. His lips were purple and His mouth slightly twisted, but when I saw Him for the last time at about half-past two, it had assumed its normal shape. The sight was so pitiful that it wrung my heart with compassion . . . what caused me most sorrow was that He could not use a hand to touch His face.

“What strength this sight gave me, Jesus nailed hands and feet . . . strength to leave all and to submit to His Will in everything, however costly.

“I also noticed as I gazed at Him on the Cross how they had torn away His beard. It had given such majesty to His face . . . and His once beautiful hair which used to add such grace to His Person was all matted, tangled, and clotted with blood, and falling across His face.”

This painful spectacle left Josefa, so to speak, annihilated, and this is not hard to understand. She seemed drowned in sorrow. She spent all the afternoon in the little cell that had witnessed so many favors, and that today by God’s Will had taken on the semblance of the summit of Calvary. A silence, gripping in its intensity, reigned there, and Josefa in prayer associated herself with the sacrifice of the Redeemer.

“Towards half-past two,” she wrote, “Jesus spoke again in a faint and faltering voice.” Josefa listened to the Seven Words of Jesus, amplified by the last outpourings of His love.

“ ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do:

“ ‘They have not known Him who is their life. On His shoulders they have heaped the fury of their iniquities. But I beseech Thee, Father, heap upon them the full measure of Thy mercy.

“ ‘Today thou shalt be with Me in Paradise. . . .

“ ‘ . . . for thy faith in thy Saviour’s mercy has wiped out all thy offenses and it will lead thee to eternal blessedness.

“ ‘Woman, behold thy Son!

“ ‘O Mother Mine! . . . these are My brethren . . . keep them . . . love them. . . . You for whom I died are no longer alone; you have a Mother to whom you can have recourse in every necessity.’ ”

Here Josefa interrupted her narrative:

“I saw near the Cross the Blessed Virgin, standing erect. She was gazing at her Son. She wore a purple garment and veil and spoke in a voice which was firm though full of deep sadness:

“ ‘See, my child, the state to which His love for souls has reduced Him! . . . He whom you see in so sad and pitiable a state is my Son. Love is driving Him to His death . . . and it is love that constrains Him to make all men brethren by giving them all His own Mother.’

“ ‘My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?

“ ‘ . . . Yes, henceforth a soul has the right to say to its God: “Why hast Thou forsaken me?” After the mystery of the Redemption was consummated, man became the son of God, Christ is his brother, eternal life his heritage.

“ ‘I thirst!

“ ‘O My Father, I thirst indeed for Thy glory, and behold now is the hour at hand! Man shall henceforth know through the fulfillment of My words that Thou indeed hast sent Me, and Thou shalt be glorified.

“ ‘I thirst for souls, and to appease this thirst I have given the last drop of My Blood . . . and so I can say:

“ ‘All is consummated!

“ ‘Now at length is accomplished that great mystery of love in which a God delivers up His own Son to death. I came into this world to do Thy Will; O My Father, it is accomplished!

“ ‘Into Thy hands I commend My spirit!

“ ‘To Thee I give back My soul. Thus shall souls that do My Will have the right to say in all truth: “All is consummated.” . . . My Lord and My God, receive My soul which I commit into Thy hands.

“ ‘Josefa, write down what you have heard. I want souls to hear and to read what is written . . . so that they who thirst may drink and the hungry may be filled.’

“After these words,” said Josefa, “He disappeared.

“In unspeakable sadness of heart I kept the Cross and the nails, till about six o’clock that evening; when suddenly all ceased except the pain of the Crown of Thorns.”

Our Lord’s very frequent visits came to an end on Good Friday evening. All Holy Saturday Josefa was weighed down by the recollection of the previous day’s revelations.

At about half-past two on Easter morning Our Lady appeared, radiant in loveliness. She spoke only these words:

“Daughter, my Son and your divine Master suffers now no more, He is risen and glorious. . . . His wounds are a fountain from which innumerable souls will draw grace, and a shelter where the most wretched will find a home.

“Be prepared, daughter, to adore His glorious wounds!”

She vanished instantly.

“I cannot say how sad I was at seeing her go . . .” wrote Josefa. “I should have loved to fly after her, so as not to remain alone—but I saw her no more. . . .”

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CHAPTER IX - MARMOUTIER

PART I. THE LIFE OF FAITH April 1st–May 2nd, 1923


“God’s ways are impenetrable to the eyes of man.” (Words of Our Lady)

EASTER Sunday had dawned at last, and Josefa was preparing to adore the glorious Wounds of her Master. But Our Lady’s words signified a far different preparation, for only nine months separated her now from her entry into the Kingdom where forever the elect slake their thirst at the Saviour’s fountains.

Here below, it was but in passing that a few drops of that saving water were to be her portion, just enough for the next phase. Jesus, who had opened His Heart to her so widely, that she might pass on the meaning of His sufferings to other souls, having strengthened her by associating her with His Passion, now left her to herself, as a tool (for the time at least) no longer required.

No doubt He had His own designs in thus abandoning her to her own limitations, and though she was unaware of it, He still carried on the great work of love. It was one which involved death and destruction, and so it would always be, that room might be made for His life and complete liberty of action in her.

Josefa’s faith in this action was great, she was sure of His love, and she abandoned herself wholly to all He decreed, but there came a moment when her sensitive soul feared that the absence and silence of her Master had been caused, in some way, by herself.

“The whole of Easter Week passed by,” she wrote, “and Jesus did not return. . . . Am I keeping Him away?”

But faithful and courageous as usual, she went back to her duties in the workroom, where indeed her Sisters had never lacked her help all during Lent.

This workroom was the center of most of her life of devotedness during this last year of her life.

It was a very large room on the first floor of the old monastery. The windows on two sides opened onto the Chapel, which at this point is separated from the main structure only by a small interior courtyard.

For many months Josefa slept in one of the cubicles there, for at one time it was a dormitory. The place where Our Lord so often appeared to her with His Cross is still venerated; it was there that in the December of 1921, she suffered the first attacks of the devil, and there too, that Our Lady bestowed on her for the first time the drops of the Precious Blood (October 16th, 1922).

This large room was somewhat remote from the rest of the house, and being light and spacious, had been transformed into a workroom, where Josefa had charge of the making of the school uniforms. There she spent the major part of her day, training the Novices and Postulants, whose work she followed up closely. From the very beginning she made of this little sphere of her influence one of prayerful industry. She and her Novice helpers rarely lost sight of the presence of God . . . she taught them to turn towards the Tabernacle and unite themselves to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament . . . Surely Our Lord must have found in this busy workroom a refuge of peace and joy for His Heart, by the silent fidelity to Rule, tender charity, and mutual helpfulness to be found there.

The intentions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, constantly in the minds of those whose horizon was nothing smaller than the whole world, stimulated adroit fingers and loving hearts to give of their best.

Josefa’s thought for their fervor never allowed her to neglect the careful training of each of her Sisters.

She felt her responsibility, but also found real joy in being able to make the Novices serve the Society more usefully. She spared no pains and no labor, and with tactful discernment assigned to each of her helpers what she was fit to do, and with patient good nature repaired unskillful blunders, and corrected and finished off the work of beginners, exacting with the utmost sweetness the interest, care, and perfection that ought never to be absent from good work.

“We never saw her impatient or out of temper,” was the testimony of one of them. “If work had been done carelessly, she would say: ‘Don’t let us ever do anything carelessly in Our Lord’s service!’ “ Her firm and gentle ways won love and respect and her example was a constant lesson in religious life.

Josefa had a great love for children, especially the little ones, and it showed itself in all her dealings with them. The children felt her love and joy in serving them and appreciated her devotedness. How often she went through the dormitories at night to make sure that they had all that they required; she would stop to sew a button here, mend a torn garment there or come to the rescue of a little child in trouble. All was done so quietly, so unobtrusively, that it was taken as a matter of course, but the mistresses and the children too remembered the ideal of religious life wholly given to God that they noticed in this humble Sister.

Although she was so devoted, as soon as she was alone she gladly gave herself up to recollection, but without stopping her work. One evening after the Novices had left the workroom a nun came to ask a service of Sister Josefa. She was sewing energetically, but her attitude showed the direction of her thoughts. The nun watched her with respect for a few moments and then called her gently. Josefa started, turned to the speaker with an effort, Our Lord still seeming to hold her gaze; but quickly she stood up with her usual deference, though her soul seemed to have been very far away.

Many of the nuns came in contact with Sister Josefa, for she was ever ready to perform any little service that was in her power. They gladly asked her help; one would come with a seam to be done on the machine, another with a bit of needlework to be finished off or ironed, or perhaps a garment to be cut out, etc. . . . And on holidays she helped in dressing up the children for charades or plays. The mistresses of the needlework classes, too, could always appeal to her ingenuity and dexterity.

When the season of First Communions came round how loving was the care she put into the making of the white frocks and veils for the occasion, and when the long-expected morning dawned, one could be sure that nothing would be wanting in the little piles so carefully prepared for each child by her reverent care, and laid on tables draped in white and adorned with flowers.

These details, one may say, are mere trifles, but when they are inspired by love, and persevered in with no thought of recognition or return, they cannot but be the outward indication of a soul entirely surrendered and disinterested.

Josefa’s devotedness was far from being concentrated on her workroom alone. We have already spoken of the many services she was able to render in almost every kind of housework, but what is chiefly worthy of notice is her untiring energy and invariable spirit of sacrifice, especially if we remember that her interior and hidden life was so extraordinary, and yet never prevented her from carrying out her daily and very humble duties.

Our Lord left her all through the month of April 1923 in this common and ordinary service, while He pursued His divine plans, though Josefa was unconscious of them. But surely each of her laborious days was penetrated by divine influence.

The Octave of Easter came to an end and she was still waiting for her Lord, but dark days were in store for her in the weeks that followed. The roaring lion was prowling about, seeking to devour his prey, and was never far away in the difficult moments through which Josefa had to pass. Suddenly he reappeared in full power to lay siege to her faculties by darkening her mind, inspiring her heart with crushing misgivings, and causing vacillation in her will, accompanying all this with physical persecution day and night, all aimed at shaking her fidelity. Her courage, so wonderfully renewed during Lent at the sight of her Master’s Passion in which she had been so intimately associated, helped her face the assaults of the devil, but she still felt how weak she was in herself.

On the Friday of Low Week, April 13th, a soul that a few weeks previously had come from Purgatory to ask her prayers, now visited her from Heaven to give her strength. After telling Josefa who she was, she said: “I come from Him who is my eternal Beatitude and the one Object we both love, to encourage you to persevere in suffering in the path His goodness has marked out for you, for your own sanctification and that of many other souls. One day, not in time but in eternity, you will contemplate the marvels of Divine Love reserved for those He loves best. You will then understand the value of what you now endure, and will enter into bliss too great for any human being on earth to sustain.

“Courage! peace will soon return. The work of Redemption can be done only by suffering. But suffering purifies and strengthens the soul, and makes it rich in merits before God.”

These words of encouragement from the other world were a great comfort to Josefa. But her trial continued till Thursday, April 19th, when Mary herself came to still the raging storm.

Josefa had not seen her since early on Easter Sunday morning, April 1st, and her heart leaped with happiness. She recommended to her intercession a soul she knew to be in danger, for her prayers and interest were ever far more centered on souls than on herself.

“Suffer . . . suffer . . .” was Our Lady’s response. “Only at a high price can things of great value be bought.”

Then she added: “That soul will be saved. Offer for her all your pain and leave the result and the glory in God’s hands. But I say again, my child, that soul will not be lost.”

Then tenderly and forcefully she opened out a totally new and unexpected prospect of sacrifice to Josefa. “Jesus wants you,” she said, “to make the sacrifice of this house.”

Josefa was struck dumb at these words. Had not Our Lady once assured her that she would die at Les Feuillants? What would become of her, frail and vulnerable as she knew herself to be, without the help Our Lord Himself had bestowed on her in her present Superiors? . . . How could she, alone and unaided, bear the responsibility of the path in which she was being led? She was troubled and deeply distressed.

“Do not be astonished, my child,” said Our Lady in her gentle, firm voice, infinitely reassuring. “The ways of God are impenetrable to the eyes of man. . . . Do not fear. This sacrifice is necessary both for your soul and for many others. . . . Jesus loves you . . . live only for Him.”

The next day Friday, April 20th, Our Lord Himself confirmed the decision that was His express will . . . and in answer to her fears, He said: “Am I not always there, Josefa? And can you not confide everything to Me and talk it all over with Me? . . . What is your love for Me? . . . Only a shadow compared with Mine for you! I want this proof of love from you, for My work must pass through the crucible of suffering. But have no fear that the secrecy with which I have wrapped you round will be revealed . . . and My work will prosper more than ever . . . for I will leave traces of My passage there.”

Then, giving her new courage and confidence: “A new phase in your life is about to begin. You will live in peace and in love, and we shall prepare for our eternal union. Already nothing separates us, Josefa, you love Me and I love you . . . souls are being saved . . . nothing else matters.

“I want you to grow,” added Jesus, with tenderest compassion, “for you are so very little . . . but I shall not leave you alone. . . .”

Unexpected as this express Will of Jesus was, it coincided with the arrangements made by Superiors. It seemed best to them that Josefa’s short religious life should not be deprived of the graces brought by the changes of residence so frequent in the Society of the Sacred Heart. It was thought that others besides the habitual witnesses of her life should see and appreciate her simple and solid virtue, her detachment, her obedience, her fidelity, and her humble and total disinterestedness. Above all it was meet that the spirit by which she was led should be tried in this manner, so that it could never afterwards be doubted. These wise reasons fell in with the divine plan and it was decided that Josefa should start immediately for Marmoutier.

Marmoutier, near Tours. In 1923 it was the house of Noviceship of the Society of the Sacred Heart in France.

No indication of her extraordinary life was to be given to her new Superiors. God who led her would Himself provide; Josefa belonged to Him, she was His work, more even than His instrument, and she must be committed to His sole guardianship.
The end of April found Josefa serene and ready for whatever obedience had decided in her regard.

“Though it costs me much to leave this house that I love so much, and all the rest with it, what does it matter?” she wrote. “I shall go wherever Jesus wants me to go, for He is my sole love, and I desire only to please Him.”

Our Lord, who discerns the deepest thoughts of our hearts, must have looked with complaisance on Josefa’s.

“Josefa, you comfort Me,” He said to her on Monday, April 23rd, while she was noting down the subject of her particular examen, namely: “To multiply little acts of fidelity, and never refuse anything to Jesus.”

“Yes, I like that examen. If you are faithful to these tiny details of love, I will not be outdone in generosity. Your soul will be filled to overflowing with peace, nor shall I leave you alone, and in your very littleness you will be great, for I shall live in you.”

Then to give her courage, He added: “Love guides you and Love sustains you. Now you must grow and run in the way till you reach the plenitude of beatitude that I am preparing for you with so much love.”

The day of departure arrived, and Josefa, who was taking very little away with her, had no great preparation to make, so, up till the last evening, she led her usual life, serene and simple. Her soul had no difficulty in embracing the Will of God, this did not prevent apprehension and heartache for the double reason that she was feeling the separation keenly, and could not entirely repress her nameless fears in bearing alone her weighty secret.

“Go,” said Our Lord to her on Sunday, April 29th. “Go there and I shall meet you, so have no fear. I will tell you what to do, and I will not forsake you.”

On Wednesday, May 2nd, Josefa, uniting her offering to that of Jesus in the Holy Mass, and fortified by Holy Communion, made a pilgrimage of good-bye to all the spots dear to her grateful heart . . . Saint Madeleine Sophie’s cell, the oratory of Our Lady in the Noviceship, the little Auxiliary Chapel she so loved . . . hardly had she crossed its threshold than she met Our Lord:

“He came to me,” she wrote, “with His Crown of Thorns. How glad it made me, for I had not worn it for a long time. It was indeed comforting to go away with that treasure. . . . Jesus placed it on my head, saying: ‘Take it, and follow Me.’ ”

A few minutes later she left Les Feuillants.

“On the platform of the station,” she wrote in the notebook in which she recorded His words during her absence, “He passed quite close to me, and said: ‘I go before you.’ ”

He repeated the same words a little later, when the train carrying her to her new destination had started: “Yes, Josefa, I go before you and My Heart is glorified. . . . How many souls are going to be saved . . . and what surprises I am preparing for you!”

“I saw Him no more,” she added, “but I knew He was there, and in my heart we talked together. I offered myself with my whole heart to do His Will, and many times I renewed my vows, asking Him to teach me to love Him every day more and more, for I seek and love Him alone . . . I delivered myself over entirely to His keeping, and it was a great joy to me on reaching my journey’s end to have been able to give up for His sake the House and Mothers I so loved.”

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CHAPTER IX - MARMOUTIER

PART II. HEAVENWARD, BUT IN SOLITUDE May 8th–20th, 1923


“Love guides you . . . and Love will sustain you. . . .” (Our Lord to Josefa, May 2nd, 1923)

THE grand old monastery of Marmoutier can be seen from a great distance on account of its massive bell-tower which rises over the twelfth-century gateway, and the imposing mass of its buildings standing out from the valley on the rocky hillside of Rougemont near the river Loire. It is at no great distance from the town of Tours, to which in olden times it was connected by an underground tunnel. . . . The site is historic and the aura of the Benedictine legends hangs over it.

It was at Marmoutier that ancient Gaul was converted to Christianity by St. Gatien, St. Leobard, and St. Patrick, whose names may still be deciphered on the rock of its ancient caves and grottos. This is the France of bishops and monks, of its great founder Saint Martin of Tours, of Saint Brice and the Seven Sleepers, and Richelieu himself was one of its Commendatory Abbots. The France of 1791 witnessed the expulsion of the Benedictines from Marmoutier, the devastations committed by the ‘Bande noire,’ and the final abandonment of the monastic buildings.

But there is one thing that never dies, for it consecrates holy sites, and that is sanctity. One day, Saint Madeleine Sophie on one of her apostolic journeys down the Loire, felt this mysterious spell, and in her heart of hearts resolved that she would revive its religious life. In 1847 she sent her own daughters to this spot of ancient glory where saints had once lived.

Josefa, therefore, had come on Wednesday, May 2nd, 1923, to where centuries of spiritual life had accumulated treasures of holiness, and to it she also brought her own little contribution of love, and something of the divine riches of which the Sacred Heart of Jesus had made her the Messenger. She was to spend only a month there in hidden and laborious toil such as had all along been her share.

From the first moment of her arrival she gave herself wholeheartedly to the service of the community. Nothing distinguished her in any way, unless we except what from the first was her characteristic: “fidelity in little things and eagerness to render service in the humblest employments, silence, recollection and gentle cordiality that soon endeared her to all.” Such was the testimony of the Mother in charge of the Sisters.

This was not without merit on her part, for her keenly sensitive nature soon detected an undefined uncertainty which her presence aroused in the minds of those around her, discernible in spite of the charity and kindness with which she had been welcomed. The question existed though it was never openly expressed. Why had she left Les Feuillants? Why had she been sent to Marmoutier since she was not replacing any other Sister?

“Here,” said Our Lord to her the first evening, “you will learn to love humiliations, Josefa, for they are coming to you. But they will make your soul grow, and will glorify Me.” And He repeated: “But you need have no fear, for Love has brought you here, and Love will take care of you. Let love be your life, that you may die of love.”

The following day, Josefa was sent to help the Portress. This was an office to which she was new, and ignorance of places and people complicated it for her. Nothing however could lessen her ardent wish to be useful. Often she could be seen going through the long corridors of the house, many a time she lost her way, but she did her best to repair the involuntary mistakes and each time she passed the chapel door, by a fervent genuflection, she renewed the spirit of joy Our Lord unfailingly recommended to her.

Again and again He repeated to her: “Do not fear. I take care of you as a mother cares for her babe. I am the joy of your soul; you will suffer, but in deep peace.”

These words sum up the plans of His Sacred Heart. This stage in her life was meant to ripen her soul in suffering, while at the same time it gave a more evident proof that the work of which she was the instrument and of which the foundations were being laid was divine in its origin.

In retrospect we can see clearly God’s design in its wisdom and love. Deprived of the help of her guides, Josefa experienced, not solitude of the heart, for she had given all her heart to her new surroundings and at once felt at home at Marmoutier. . . . but an isolation of soul, which was weighed down by the secret she must keep for God alone. By nature open and communicative with her Superiors, she felt the privation of not being able to reveal the depths of grace or of trial which lay at the very roots of her interior life, and from which she could not draw back without betraying her vocation. Our Lord willed her to undergo this ordeal in order to strengthen her faith, but even more to prepare by detachment and purification the very depths of her being of which His love would take possession. He was to meet with no obstacle in her soul. He kept her direction for Himself alone, and caused her to climb the steep ascent of suffering and of grace that her stay at Marmoutier proved to be.

Let us follow her in her pilgrimage. During her first days at Marmoutier, Our Lord kept reminding her of all His Heart was for her: His presence, all joy . . . His guidance, all security. He appeared to her at her prayer, He flashed past her in the corridors. When at nightfall she was about to take her rest, He was there again, and she gathered from His sacred lips assurances that her lively faith had never doubted, but which the circumstances threw into greater relief.

“Speak to Me,” He said, “for I am near you. . . . You are not alone, for I see you even when you do not see Me. . . . I follow you. . . . I hear you. . . . Speak to Me. . . . Smile at Me, for I am your Spouse . . . your inseparable Companion.”

And alluding to Les Feuillants. “You are in My Heart here, just as you were there. . . .”

On the First Friday of the month, May 4th, from early dawn, He opened His Sacred Heart to her:

“Come, enter in,” He said, “and spend the day therein. You are in Me, Josefa, and that is why you do not always see Me. . . . But I see you, and that suffices.”

Then, summing up for her what is in reality the whole theology of the divine presence in the soul by grace: “You in Me, I in you—could any bond of union be closer?”

Josefa noted at this time:

“I see every day more dearly that He alone is my sole Happiness, my only Love! . . . O may He give me the strength to be faithful. . . .”

During her thanksgiving, she offered herself to this divine presence who was her All: “At once I saw Him . . . O how beautiful and fatherly He was!”

That is how Josefa tried to express the feelings of security engendered by the glance of Jesus’ love.

“I am in you, Josefa, supporting you, so that in the midst of pain you should never lose the peace that surpasses all earthly joys, and that nothing will ever be able to take from you. My peace . . . Yes, My peace will fill you with holy joy . . . it will strengthen you and bear you up under suffering.”

And in answer to her cry for help—“for,” as she wrote, “I so long to give Him glory and many souls”—Jesus Himself completed His thought: “Love will purify you, will consume your defects, and the very strength of that pure and ardent love will lead you to sanctity. . . . I will do it all.”

On Saturday, May 5th, Our Lord told her of the cooperation of love that His Sacred Heart expected, and how it must feed on His good pleasure, hidden under the circumstances of the moment as they occur.

“I want you to learn to be generous,” He said, “for generosity is the fruit of love. Later on I will explain this to you, but now I only give you a practical lesson in it: you will meet with many circumstances and in them you must see only Me . . . and if something is done to you that pains you, or something said that wounds you, look up generously and with love as if I Myself were speaking to you, and smile.”

As if to encourage her, without interrupting her work, Jesus manifested Himself to her, now here, now there . . . all loving reminders of His presence.

“Suffering passes, but merit is eternal . . . you are ever in My inmost Heart. . . . Do not lose sight of Me. . . . Love guides you . . . leave yourself to My care . . . I am your all. . . .”

Our Lady came to her succor while she was treading this more difficult path:

“It is the very road my Son trod,” she reminded her. “Thank Him for allowing you to tread it with Him. . . . You will share the agonies of His Heart more than once, but in peace.”

“Do not fear suffering,” she said on Sunday, May 6th, “for by enduring it you can draw down new graces on souls . . . But be gay, and let your whole exterior reflect the peace within.”

On Wednesday, May 16th, while Josefa was thinking over the graces and trials of the ten months since her vows, Mary, her incomparable Mother, once more encouraged her to confidence:

“Jesus knows you, child; He knows what you are, and He loves you. . . . Your miseries will continue, that you may never be without struggle and conflict. Be humble, but do not lose courage. . . . You know what His Heart is! If He asks and wants your misery and nothingness, it is that His mercy and goodness may consume and transform them. He is so good. . . . O! if souls but knew Him better, they would love Him so much more.”

Then Mary blessed her, saying: “Peace and joy, my child, humility and love.”

Saint Madeleine Sophie also followed her up with vigilant affection in the old monastery so dear to her.

Every stone was known to the Saint. Her cell has been transformed into an oratory and crowns the so-called ‘portail de la crosse,’ a place of pilgrimage to her daughters, to which Josefa had not been slow in finding her way, there to have recourse to her motherly intercession.

“I was at a loss how to act in between the visits of Jesus,” she noted in her diary, “when asked why I am here . . . if I am ill . . . if I shall remain here, etc. . . . So I asked her to help me and suddenly she came herself: ‘So, my child, you are here!’ ”

She was so understanding that Josefa trustfully poured out her troubles and the holy Mother answered: “I have but one word to say to you, and you must turn it over all day, my child: ‘Love meets with no difficulties that it does not change into food for the flame of love . . . later I will explain this to you, but while you are here just love . . . love . . . love . . .”

On Monday, May 28th, to which day that year her feast had been transferred, Josefa saw her again. She had been begging her intercession regarding the unworthiness and wretchedness of which every day she became more conscious in herself. Saint Madeleine Sophie could not resist this appeal of humble trust. She showed herself to her in the Chapel, and making the Sign of the Cross on her forehead, said to her: “My own dear child! I love you as you are, little and miserable. . . . I, too, was just the same and as little as you, but I found means to utilize my nothingness by giving it totally to Jesus who is so great! I abandoned myself to His holy Will and sought the glory of His Heart only. I tried to live in the knowledge of my lowliness and nothingness, and He took charge of everything. So, child, live in peace and confidence. Be very humble, and deliver yourself over wholly to the Heart that is all love.”

We must now return to the second week in May, when Josefa entered on a more difficult phase of her pilgrimage.

By the questions asked and the watchfulness with which she felt herself regarded, she quickly realized that her Superiors felt some uncertainty about her. Neither their kindness nor their thoughtfulness suffered any diminution, nor did the cordial charity of her Sisters change. But her soul was too sensitive not to be aware of the shadows which, though slight, were gradually descending upon her. Nothing could have given her more pain. . . . Her Master knew it well, and He only allowed this trial to persist and increase daily, in order to impel His child to closer union with Himself. She had to rise ever higher, leaning solely on God; but in order to help her at this stage He deigned to tell her of a desire of His Heart.

Daily He encouraged her efforts, directing them towards the realization of His wishes which were to lead her step by step to the Cross.

No doubt, poor little Josefa, alone and sorely troubled, though courageous and faithful, typified many another soul to whom He was pleased to reveal the desires of His Sacred Heart, and, with them, the secret of generous self-forgetfulness in suffering.

On Thursday, May 10th, Feast of the Ascension, He appeared to her during her thanksgiving:

“He was shining, bright,” she wrote, “and all His wounds radiant in splendor. ‘How beautiful Thou art, O Lord!’

“ ‘Today My sacred Humanity entered Heaven,’ He replied with warmth. . . . ‘Would you like Me to make of your soul another heaven in which to find My delight?’ ”

Josefa’s answer was to humble herself to the dust.

“It matters little what your misery is, Josefa, I will make of it a throne, and I will be your King. My clemency will wipe out your ingratitude. I will both consume and destroy [‘self ‘ in] you. . . . Tell Me, do you consent to give Me your heart that I may make of it a heaven of bliss?”

How could she express her complete gift of self?

“I answered,” she wrote, “that my heart belongs to Him . . . that with my whole soul, I give it to Him . . . that He alone is my All in all . . . that I love Him and that for Him, I am ready to leave everything.”

Jesus seemed pleased with her loving protestations.

“I shall in very truth always live in you. I shall hide in your heart to forget the offenses of sinners . . . and day by day I will entrust to you one of My Heart’s desires which you will strive to realize.

“Today My wish is that you should live in My joy. You will pray that souls may learn to despise the pleasures of this world in order to acquire those that are eternal. You will rejoice at the sight of your Bridegroom entering as Man His heavenly home, accompanied by myriads of souls who have waited so eagerly and so long for the opening of this heavenly dwelling. . . . Adieu, keep Me, hide Me in your heart. Live in My joy. . . . Soon glory unending will be yours. Till that day dawns, let Me take My rest in you.”

Josefa spent all that day with eyes fixed on the bliss of her Master: Heaven where He forever reigns and triumphs; on her own soul which He had deigned to make another Heaven which no shadow could cloud.

Again on Friday, May 11th, before the end of her thanksgiving Our Lord came to tell her of His next desire:

“Are you there, Josefa?” she heard Him say.

“I answered that I wanted Him more than ever.

“ ‘I, too, want you,’ was His reply. ‘Today must be a day of peace . . . but peace in suffering. And as you yourself can do so little, I will see to it that many occasions of self-denial come your way. Gain advantage from them, and tonight offer Me a sheaf of them exquisitely fragrant. Have no fear, for I Myself am Peace, and as I live and reign in you, you will live in My peace.’ ”

Faithful to His promise, that day He spared her neither difficulties nor sacrifices. In the evening, she met Him.

“All this will pass,” He said, “but Heaven will never end! So, courage! I am your All and therefore your strength. . . . Now, Josefa, rest in My peace.”

This stage of Josefa’s life was lived from one Communion to another, and each morning her Master assigned her the day’s intention.

The next day, Saturday, May 12th, at the very moment when she was about to receive Communion. “Open your heart, Josefa, that I may enter in.”

She could only murmur that her heart was ever open to Him:

“I know it,” He answered tenderly, “but I desire and want My entry into your heart to be daily more of an event, and that your desire be so keen, your hunger for Me so great that your very soul faints . . . If you only knew how much I love you . . . if you could but understand it . . . but you are too little. . . .”

Then, with all the eagerness of burning affection, He added: “Today, Josefa, must be our day of zeal! . . . I will kindle in your heart a thirst for souls like that which consumes My own. Ah! souls . . . souls. . . .”

Already Josefa felt her heart aflame. She could think of nothing, pray for nothing but these precious souls, for her whole life was consecrated to this work of redemption whose meaning she had learnt from the very Heart of Jesus.

“When He had said this,” she wrote, “I began to speak to Him of those for whom I am concerned . . . and He answered: ‘Yes, pray . . . pray . . . do not grow tired nor fear to be importunate, for prayer is the key that opens every door. So, Josefa, today is a day of zeal for souls . . . for souls . . . for souls!’ ”

And He vanished.

That day the thought of souls never left her. What would she not do to assuage her Master’s thirst for them?

On Sunday, May 13th, Our Lord invited her to tread the path that is redemptive par excellence.

“We shall spend a day of humility,” He said to her after Communion. “You need not seek for occasions, for I will provide them. . . . Go on praying for souls and humbling yourself for them, and then Josefa, through it all, let Me see your smile!”

She left no record of that day, but in the evening during her adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, Jesus who read her through and through came to answer a question that was puzzling her.

“You cannot understand why I brought you here, Josefa? First and foremost to ground you in complete abandonment to My Will, in absolute detachment from all things, even from what seemed to you absolutely necessary. . . . Then I wanted to make you more than ever aware of how much you need support, so that the last traces of pride might expire within you. . . . Then, too, I wanted this parting to profit souls, and I am making out of it one of the foundation stones of the edifice of My great work.”

Josefa listened in adoring love to the words that fell from her Master’s lips.

“So now, Josefa,” He said, as He was about to depart, “this is a day of humility, but joyous humility. I am your Happiness . . . what else matters?”

Next day, Monday, May 14th, Our Lord explained to her for the second time, but with greater precision, what her part in the redemptive work of His Heart was soon to be.

“Do you belong entirely to Me?” He asked her during her prayer. “Do you want nothing but My glory? . . . Have you but one desire, that My great work should be realized?”

To each of which questions she answered: “Yes, Lord.” Then gravely He went on to say:

“I am going to manifest the plan of My Heart to you. I have already told you that three times before your death you will see the Bishop

On the preceding December 3rd (1922), while the Bishop of Poitiers was cele brating Mass at Les Feuillants, Our Lady came and told Josefa from Our Lord: “That is the Bishop to whom your Mother will have to transmit the words of my Son. You will speak three times with him before your death.” It so happened that three times Josefa had to transmit a personal message from Our Lord to the Bishop, but she saw him many other times unofficially.

. . . . It is necessary for the good of My work that you should entrust it to him just before your death, for I want My words to be known immediately after you die.”
And though Josefa trembled, He made His Will quite clear.

“There is no need to be afraid, for I will tell you all that you have to say . . . But I want you to have now the merit of this costly act.”

He comforted her after Communion:

“Today is to be a day of abandonment and confidence. I can refuse nothing to one who relies entirely on Me.

“Souls are too little conscious of how much I want to help them and how much I am glorified by their trust. Josefa, you must hope all things from Me. . . . Speak to Me . . . ask . . . trust My Heart, for you are guarded by Me.”

The progressive upward steps of the week were to end in love: love that explains and enlightens all things, yet a love which in God’s good time demands everything.

On Tuesday, May 15th, while at prayer, Josefa, who could not suppress a certain fear at the prospect opened out before her by Our Lord, asked earnestly for the love she knew to be the secret and the power of every offering.

“He came unexpectedly,” she wrote, “and showing me His Heart in the midst of flames, He said: ‘Josefa, look at My Heart, study It, and from It you will learn love. . . . True love is humble, generous, disinterested. . . . so if you want Me to teach you to love, begin by forgetting yourself. Do not stop at sacrifices. Do not be checked by what costs you . . . ignore what attracts you personally, and do all things because you love.’ ”

It was in such wise that Our Lord encouraged the soul of His little bride: today, a day of Love; tomorrow the sign of love will light up the horizon: soon there will be a proof of true love demanded.

On Wednesday, May 16th, Josefa noted for the first time the apparition of the Cross.

“It was the Cross of Jesus,” she wrote, “for I recognized it, having so often carried it. It was lit up as if a light from above was reflected onto it.”

For several days the flaming Heart of Jesus and His Cross resplendent in light shone upon her path alternately, but in silence, and her Master did not appear. On Whit-Sunday, May 20th, 1923, the Cross thus lit up was before her during the whole time of her prayer; her eyes were fascinated by it and her love made more ardent, but she was nevertheless somewhat mystified.

“Lord, why is this Cross illuminated, but without Thee?” she queried.

During her thanksgiving, Jesus answered the question:

“ Josefa, do you not know that I and the Cross are inseparable? If you meet Me, you meet the Cross, and when you find the Cross, it is I whom you have found. Whoever loves Me loves the Cross, and whoever loves the Cross loves Me. Only those who love the Cross and embrace it willingly for love of Me, will possess eternal life. The path of virtue and of holiness is composed of abnegation and suffering. Whoever generously accepts the Cross walks in true light, follows a straight and sure path, with no danger from steep inclines down which to slide, for there are none there.

“My Cross is the door of true life, that is why it is illuminated. And the soul that knows how to accept and love it, just as I have chosen it for her, will enter by it into the glory of life eternal.

“Do you now understand how precious the Cross is? Do not shun it. . . . Love it, for it comes from Me, and I shall never leave you without strength to bear it. I bore it for love of you, will you not bear it for love of Me?”

In what manner she would have to carry the Cross of her Master, Josefa was about to learn. Up to this time, the divine plan had but rarely admitted anything in the nature of suspicion or mistrust on the part of Superiors. Our Lord had Himself foreseen and guaranteed to Josefa the security of their support as also of their control over her in the extraordinary ways in which it pleased Him to guide her. The attacks of Satan had necessitated such support, and their help had hitherto never failed her. The grace of opposition was, however, too precious for God to withhold it from one so dearly loved by Him. The hour had come when she was to experience it, and it was to be laid on her shoulders by the gentle and strong hands of Jesus Himself, who let it sink, too, deeply into her heart.

[Stone]

BOOK THREE - THE MESSAGE OF LOVE

PART TWO

CHAPTER X. AN APPEAL TO THE WHOLE WORLD

RETURN TO POITIERS, FEAST OF THE SACRED HEART  June 2nd–10th, 1923

“I will speak in you, and My words will reach souls and will not pass away. I will love you, and by that love souls will discover My love for them. I will forgive you, and souls will recognize My mercy by that with which I have wrapped you round.” (Our Lord to Josefa, Feast of the Sacred Heart, 1923)

ON Saturday, June 2nd, Josefa returned to Poitiers. It was for her a totally unexpected event which filled her with gratitude, and the whole community rejoiced with her, for she had their love, such true love as is found in religious houses. But in her case there was something quite indefinable which attracted their respect and affection, and made her return among them a real feast day. At once she resumed her place among the Sisters and claimed for herself the large share in daily devotedness that had always been hers. The following Monday saw her back, too, at the head of the Novices’ workroom, and soon it seemed as if she had never been away.

Superiors were much struck by her spiritual progress during the month’s absence. She had come back to them invested, so to speak, by a supernatural influence.

“How God has worked in that soul,” wrote her Superior to the Very Reverend Mother General. “I cannot say how changed we find her . . . and in so short a time! What a distance between her and us! . . . We are so impressed by her. God seems to have begun the crowning of His graces in her, the loftiness of which is beyond us, but her attitude of simplicity, obedience, and detachment are unchanged and must be very pleasing to our Blessed Mother Foundress. Our Lord seems to be hastening on her transformation with truly giant strides. She has resumed her life of silence and humble labor, but her body is exhausted by suffering and more so by the interior fire consuming her day by day.”

Josefa, on her side, wrote on Monday, June 4th:

“Since May 20th, when Our Lord took my heart, I feel in myself such burning fervor . . . such a longing to love Him . . . and console Him . . . and give Him souls . . . that all the rest fades into nothingness, and though I have no difficulty in loving, yet I feel a sort of detachment from all things . . . such a desire for Jesus, that my only longing is to die in order to go to Him . . . and my soul seems imprisoned . . . a state impossible to express. . . .”

The realization of her own nothingness at times overpowered her. She continued:

“I feel disconcerted and ashamed to see myself such as I am . . . anybody overwhelmed with graces such as mine would be a saint . . . and I become daily more unworthy, more ungrateful, and perhaps, God knows, sinful, too! It is very painful to realize this, and though I do not lose my peace of mind over it, it is nevertheless very grievous to bear.”

Whilst she was kneeling in the cell where, in accordance with obedience, she had once more begun to write her daily notes, Jesus appeared:

“ ‘You must not be troubled, Josefa,’ He said gently. ‘I want you to be nothing, that I may be All.

“ ‘The smaller a thing is the more easily it can be handled. It is just because you are so paltry a thing that I can use you as I like. You know well that I need nothing . . . and all I ask of you is to be plastic in My hands. . . . Your misery is of little account in My eyes. . . . Remain as you are, nothing . . . but look, and you will see what I who am All can fashion out of your nothingness!’

“Then,” Josefa’s notes continue, “I saw a multitude of souls pass before Him, so many that I could not reckon the number, and Jesus said: ‘All of them will come to Me.’ ”

That evening, June 4th, Our Lord renewed for the first time the mysterious grace of the 26th of May.

During night prayers He showed her His Heart in a veritable sea of fire, and taking a flame from this furnace, He said: “This flame will replace the one I have already placed in your heart.”

She assured her Master that the first still burnt her with desire to be united to Him in love, and was her greatest suffering.

“For,” she wrote, “my will yearns . . . but I believe that I do not know how to love.

“ ‘Ah! Josefa,’ came the ready response, ‘that is nothing to what will be some day. . . . I will set you on fire . . . I will utterly consume you.’ ”

Letting the flame fall on Josefa, He vanished. She still perceived His Heart for a short time . . . and from the wound came a fiery ray. “O! my God,” she wrote, “what suffering that I cannot love Thee as I would!”

Such wonderful graces were repeated several times during the month of June 1923. Josefa noted them down with the same unimaginative simplicity, never succeeding in expressing adequately the state of her soul, thus consumed by divine fire.

“I know of no pain in the world I would not be ready to endure for Him,” she wrote on June 5th. “My soul is full of peace, but its hunger is unsated. . . . I believe it is from Jesus . . . that I may never be separated from Him, that I may love Him. . . . These are things too lofty for me to understand . . . all I know is that there are moments when I cannot restrain my soul. . . .”

This Tuesday, June 5th, was the third anniversary of the day when the Heart of Our Saviour appeared to her for the first time (1920). During her prayer Jesus again manifested Himself to her, and kept her long immersed in the fiery rays of love that issued from His wounded Heart. Josefa could scarcely endure their ardor, and they did not cease when she went to Mass.

“The more I see how great and good He is, the more unworthy I feel,” she wrote, “and never would I dare approach Him if I had not Our Blessed Lady to help and guide me.

“I saw Him again after Communion, my Jesus, so gentle, gracious and fatherly, no word can describe Him . . . and opening His Heart to me, He said: ‘The less there is of you, the more I shall be your life, and you will be My heaven of rest.’

“ ‘How can I, Lord, miserable as I am?’

“ ‘Do you not know, Josefa, that on earth My heaven is in souls?’ ”

Then her apostolic heart thrilled:

“I asked Him how to win many souls to knowledge and love, a burning love of Himself.

“ ‘Pray, Josefa, pray intensely. . . . Yes, beg for souls this burning love!’ ”

Though the Master drew her so powerfully to His Heart, He did not allow her to forget her great natural weakness. He left her the repugnances and difficulties of her character, and wanted her to reproach herself with even her smallest imperfections. “Yes, I see how weak you are,” He said to her that evening, when at her night prayers she recalled some feelings for which she was sorry.

“He told me all my failings,” she wrote, “and then said: ‘What are you, Josefa, after all? A mere pinch of dust that one blows away with a breath.’ ”

From the bottom of her heart she begged His forgiveness.

“You know that I always forgive you. If I tell you of your faults, this is because of My love for you, that your ‘self ‘ may disappear and I may live in you. And now, I will change the flame in your heart and kindle it afresh to give you new vigor for the work of your own effacement.”

“Then,” wrote Josefa, “He did as yesterday, and left me in great pain. For some time past my body seems to have lost all power and I suffer in every limb. Over my soul hangs an oppression that I cannot understand, but it leaves me in an ever deepening peace.”

“I shall return every evening,” said Our Lord to her on Wednesday, June 6th, “to consume all your failings, and rekindle the flame which I have put in place of your heart.”

And so He did that very evening, and after listening in all tenderness to the recital of her failings and miseries, He said: “You know that it is the property of fire to destroy and to enkindle. In the same way My Heart’s property is to pardon, love, and purify. Never think that I shall cease to love you because of your miseries. No, My Heart loves you and will never forsake you.”

Then Jesus, grasping a flame from His burning Heart, let it fall on her. As the flame of Divine Love struck her Josefa’s whole being quivered; she clasped her hands over her heart as if to restrain its fire, her eyes were fixed with indescribable longing on the Heart of her Master, which remained visible to her for some moments longer while gradually she regained her panting breath. It was a moving scene, and was repeated on several successive days in her poor cell.

A quarter of an hour or so later Josefa, under the eyes of the Mothers who were kneeling in prayer by her side, was seen slowly to come out of her rapture. Her breathing became normal once more; she joined her hands and lowered her eyes. All had disappeared, but her soul remained for some time yet plunged in that all-consuming fire, her body a prey to excruciating pain that sometimes lasted all night till early dawn.

Those who were present and saw these happenings have thus described them, but how depict what each of these divine intrusions into her inmost being left of capacity for love and suffering and union with the redemptive work of the Sacred Heart of her Lord. . . .

It was in the midst of these exceptional favors, now, as ever, silently kept from all but the two aforesaid witnesses, that the triduum of preparation before the Feast of the Sacred Heart ran its course. They were days of recollection and intense prayer, when the nuns, without interrupting their usual apostolic work, were preparing for the renovation of their vows.

On the evening of the vigil, Thursday, June 7th, the whole household was gathered in the Chapel for a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament. Josefa was there, lost amid the throng of her Sisters. In the silence of prayer, Our Lord, looking on her with special love, deigned to manifest Himself to her.

Josefa noted next day:

“I should have liked to comfort Him, but the consciousness of my unworthiness filled me with confusion as well as with grief. I told Him of my desires, and how I dared not ask pardon for the sins of the world, considering I have committed so many sins myself! . . .

“Suddenly He came, and said compassionately: ‘Why these fears? Have I not told you that My one desire is to forgive? Do you think that I have chosen you because of your virtues? I know well that you have nothing but misery and weakness, but as I am a purifying fire, I will wrap you round in the flame of My Heart and consume you. Ah! Josefa, how often I have told you that My one longing is for souls to bring Me their miseries! Come . . . and let Love consume you.’

“Then, as on the preceding day, a flame escaped from His Sacred Heart, and falling on mine, set it all aglow.”

A moment or two passed in the unspeakable ardor which Josefa had now experienced several times, but which she could never express.

“After that,” she wrote, “I prayed to Him for several souls that require His help, and He answered me:

“ ‘When a king espouses the daughter of a subject he assumes the obligation of providing all that the new rank to which he has raised her requires.

“ ‘I have chosen you and have undertaken thus to provide for your every want. . . . I require nothing of you beyond what is already yours. Give Me an empty heart and I will fill it . . . give me a heart destitute of all adornment and I will make it beautiful. Give it Me with all its miseries and I will consume them. What is hidden from you I will reveal, and all that you lack, I take on myself to supply.’

“By this He made clear to me how He helps souls who desire only to please Him, and how He supplies their every want, and all they lack.”

Then reminding Josefa once more of her incapacity and weakness, He repeated:

“You know well, Josefa, that had I been able to find anywhere a creature more miserable than you, I would assuredly have chosen her, in order to manifest the longings of My Heart through her, but not finding one, I chose you.

“You know, too, what happens when an insignificant little flower devoid of charm or fragrance springs up on a high-road full of traffic. It quickly gets trampled underfoot by the passers-by, who pay not the slightest attention to it, nor so much as notice its existence. And think, Josefa, what would have become of you if I had left you, frail and miserable as you are, to the cold of winter, the heat of summer, to be the sport of wind and rain; assuredly you would have died. But because I want you to live, I transplanted you into the garden of My Sacred Heart, tending you with My own hands, that you may grow up under the beams of the Sun with Its vivifying and restoring power, whose strength is tempered in your regard, that no injury may come to you. Ah! Josefa, leave yourself, such as you are, to My care, and let the sight of your nothingness never lessen your trust, but only confirm you in humility.”

Josefa reaffirmed her entire confidence, and asked Him to prepare her for the renovation of her vows by cleansing her in His sacred blood.

Eagerly Our Lord rejoined: “If your desire is so great Mine far exceeds it! I will purge and cleanse you in the fires of love. . . . What glory I shall be given here tomorrow!”

Surprised, Josefa questioned this assertion and Jesus answered: “Do you not know what store I set on the complete donation made in public to Me by a soul?

“Remain in peace and live in My love.”

Early on the morning of the Feast of the Sacred Heart, Friday, June 8th, 1923, Josefa’s divine Master Himself prepared her for the renovation of vows.

This ceremony of solemn renovation, which with the Sacred Host held before her at the moment of Communion, each nun makes individually, is not in the Society of the Sacred Heart the remaking of a promise that has lapsed. The First Vows as the Last are made forever. Rather is the ceremony an act of devotion, signifying the reaffirmation of a promise that will last till death, and that is made by each religious in the joy of her heart.

Our Lord began the day by showing Josefa His Heart, all aflame, and during her prayer, He plunged her into its fiery depths.

She wrote: “I implored Him to give me true contrition for my sins . . . for the greater the graces He gives me, the more unworthy I know myself to be. . . . On the one hand, my soul is urged by love to unite itself to Him, and on the other, the consciousness of my sins keeps me away and makes me fear to approach Him . . . with all the intensity of which I am capable I begged Him to purify me before I renew my vows.”

A little later, when Mass had begun, and the chapel was filled with the whole assembled household, Jesus showed Himself to her. “Open your soul,” He said, “for I Myself have come to purify you.”

Then He drew Josefa’s attention to what each of the vows implied and to the plenitude of self-sacrifice which is demanded by each.

“Despoil yourself of all things,” He said, “keeping back no desire, no attraction, no personal judgment. . . . Then, submit yourself wholeheartedly to the Will of your Beloved. Let Me do with you what I like, and not what you desire. You ought so to conform yourself to Me that My Will in you becomes your own, by total submission to My good pleasure. You have given over to Me all your rights by the vow of obedience.

“Would that souls understood that never are they more free than when they have thus given themselves up to Me, and that never am I more inclined to grant their desires than when they are ready to do My Will in everything. . . . Clasp tight those chains that sweetly bind you to Me. Go and renew the vows that bind you to My feet, to My hands, and introduce you into My Heart.”

Josefa went up to the altar-rails, and when the Sacred Host was held before her, she renewed her loved vows, then received Communion and returned to her place. Then Jesus once more manifested Himself to her and with overwhelming love said: “Josefa, you have just told Me that you love Me alone . . . that you have voluntarily despoiled yourself of everything for My sake . . . that you will never have any other liberty or will than Mine . . . My Will is yours, your will is Mine . . . I shall be Master of your thoughts, of your words and of your actions. If you have nothing, I will provide everything for you. I will live in you, speak in you, love you, and forgive you.”

Taking up each of these words, Our Lord made His thought clear:

“I will live in you and you in Me.

“I will speak in you, and My words will reach souls and will not pass away.

“I will love you, and by that love souls will discover My love for them.

“I will forgive you, and souls will recognize My mercy by that with which I have wrapped you round.

“Many believe in Me, but few believe in My love . . . and among those who do, too few rely on My mercy. . . . Many know Me as their God, but how few trust in Me as their Father.

“I will manifest Myself . . . especially to those who are the objects of My predilection. I will show them through you that I ask nothing of them that they do not possess. But I do ask that all they have they should give Me, for all is Mine.

“If they possess nothing but miseries and weaknesses, these I desire . . . even if they have only faults and sins . . . I desire them also. I beg them to give them to Me. Give them to Me; yes, give all to Me and keep nothing, but trust My Heart: I forgive you, I love you, I will sanctify you Myself.”

Such graces from Our Lord ought surely to have anchored Josefa in the great work for souls in which she found herself more and more involved, as its destined messenger.

Yet, strange to say, in the little notebook where she put down her personal and secret thoughts, we find how to the very end of her life she had to fight in order to accept the role assigned to her. Our Lord allowed her to feel the repugnance in order that the generosity of her will should constantly have to be brought into play, adhering to His Will. It kept her humble, and the unremitting struggle was in itself a very sure sign that this mission, none of her seeking, was of divine origin.

That very day she wrote: “Yes, my Jesus, I accept all. I will do and say all thou askest of me, disregarding my own likes and dislikes. I accept the path Thou hast chosen for me solely because I know it is Thy Will. . . . With all my heart I renew the offering have made to Thee of all my tastes, inclinations, person and life.”

These same loyal and generous protestations recur repeatedly in her notes. Her Master accepted and appreciated their value, and read in every line of them Josefa’s wholly given and ardent soul.

But she had become more pliant, and Jesus was once more to use her as His instrument, and by her send His Message to the world.

“Tomorrow,” He said to her on the evening of Saturday, June 9th, “I will go on telling you My secrets for souls, for I want them all to come to Me. O! pray for souls, you especially who are the privileged ones of My Heart. . . . More than others you must console Me and make reparation. Yes, pray earnestly for souls.”

Before the end of the Octave of the Sacred Heart, Saint Madeleine Sophie gave Josefa some valuable teaching about the motto she had previously given her at Marmoutier: “Love knows no obstacles.”

On Sunday, June 10th, she appeared at Josefa’s side during Mass, and blessing her, said:

“Daughter, I have come today to tell you how to love, so that true love may find no opposition in you.

“The basis of love is humility; for it is often necessary to submit and sacrifice our likes and dislikes, our comfort and our self-love if we wish to give proof of true love . . . and this act of submission is none other than one of humility, for it is abnegation, self-denial, generosity and adoration in one. In fact, to prove this love in something that costs us very much we have to think in this way: ‘If it were not for Thee, O my God, I would not do it. But as it is for Thee, I cannot say no; I love Thee and I submit to Thy Will. It is my God who asks this of me, so I must obey. I do not know why He asks it, but He knows.’ And so because of love we humble ourselves, and with submission do what we do not understand and do not like, unless with a supernatural love and solely because it is the Will of God.

“Daughter, it is by loving that you will change interior resistance and any difficulties that occur into love that is humble, strong and generous. Let them be an act of perpetual adoration of the one Lord and God who is Master of all souls. Never resist, never question, never falter. Do what He asks of you; say what He wants you to say, without fear or vacillation or omission. He is All-holy and Wisdom itself, Master and Lord and Love. Adieu, my child.”

[Stone]

BOOK THREE - THE MESSAGE OF LOVE

PART TWO

CHAPTER X. AN APPEAL TO THE WHOLE WORLD

DO MEN KNOW?  June 10th–14th, 1923

“All My longing is to set hearts on fire . . . to set the whole world on fire.” (Our Lord to Josefa, June 12th, 1923)

THE time has now come, when according to the Divine Will, Josefa was to transmit the desires of the Sacred Heart to the Bishop of Poitiers. Very gravely Our Lord prepared her for the continuation of His Message on Sunday, June 10th. It looked as if He wanted all possible security for His words, while at the same time He reassured and strengthened His frail intermediary, Josefa.

“While I was writing in my cell this morning Jesus came,” noted Josefa. “His wonderful beauty was enhanced by the majesty and sovereign power that the tone of His voice expressed. ‘Josefa,’ He said, ‘humble yourself, and make an act of entire submission to God’s holy Will.’

“I prostrated myself in adoration before Him and He continued: ‘Offer My Heart the profound, tender, and generous love of yours.’

“This I did from the very depths of my being. Then He was silent, as if waiting for something further. . . .

“I renewed my vows. I told Him that I belong to Him and that I am ready to do whatever He wills. I think that was what He was waiting for, for then He said: ‘As I have triumphed over your heart and your love, you will not refuse Me anything, will you?’

“ ‘No, dear Lord, I am Thine forevermore.’

“ ‘Then tomorrow I will come and tell you what in the first place you are to communicate to the Bishop.’ ”

Josefa was filled with fear. “I was unable to hide it,” she wrote, “and I told Him how frightened I feel at the mere thought of it.”

“You need have no fear,” He replied. “My Heart is watching over you, and besides, it is for souls.”

This assurance somewhat allayed her anxiety.

“When I think of having to speak of all those things to His Lordship the Bishop, I am very frightened,” she noted, “but I am certain that Jesus will give me the courage I need.

“That evening, when Jesus came to forgive my sins, I again told Him of my fear.

“ ‘You will have to suffer, Josefa, but it is for souls, and did I not suffer Myself to redeem and save them?’ ”

Our Blessed Lord stimulated her generosity by laying such motives before her, and her close union with His Sacred Heart also helped her to accept all that was to be demanded of her.

On Monday, June 11th, in the quiet of her thanksgiving after Communion, something of the vastness of His plans was revealed to Josefa.

“Why are you afraid?” He said. “Do you not know that I love you and am watching over you? It is all for souls. . . . They must know Me . . . they must love Me more. . . . Children ought to make their father known. You are My well-loved daughter specially chosen, that through you I may be revealed and that My Heart may be glorified. You need not fear, for I am strong and will make you strong; I am Love and will sustain you. . . . I will not abandon you.”

A few minutes later Our Lord rejoined her in her cell. “I am now about to tell you, Josefa, the first thing that you are to tell the Bishop. Kiss the ground!”

She renewed her vows and prostrated herself at His feet. Then Jesus began to speak and Josefa wrote:

“I am Love! My Heart can no longer contain its devouring flames. I love souls so dearly that I have sacrificed My life for them.

“It is this love that keeps Me a prisoner in the Tabernacle. For nearly twenty centuries I have dwelt there, night and day, veiled under the species of Bread and concealed in the small white Host, bearing through love, neglect, solitude, contempt, blasphemies, outrages, sacrileges. . . .

“For love of souls, I instituted the Sacrament of Penance, that I might forgive them, not once or twice, but as often as they need to recover grace. There I wait for them, longing to wash away their sins, not in water, but in My blood.

“How often in the course of the ages have I, in one way or another, made known My love for men: I have shown them how ardently I desire their salvation. I have revealed My Heart to them. This devotion has been as light cast over the whole earth, and today is a powerful means of gaining souls, and so of extending My kingdom.

“Now, I want something more, for if I long for love in response to My own, this is not the only return I desire from souls: I want them all to have confidence in My mercy, to expect all from My clemency, and never to doubt My readiness to forgive.

“I am God, but a God of love! I am a Father, but a Father full of compassion and never harsh. My Heart is infinitely holy but also infinitely wise, and knowing human frailty and infirmity stoops to poor sinners with infinite mercy.

“I love those who after a first fall come to Me for pardon. . . . I love them still more when they beg pardon for their second sin, and should this happen again, I do not say a million times but a million million times, I still love them and pardon them, and I will wash in My blood their last as fully as their first sin.

“Never shall I weary of repentant sinners, nor cease from hoping for their return, and the greater their distress, the greater My welcome. Does not a father love a sick child with special affection? Are not his care and solicitude greater? So is the tenderness and compassion of My Heart more abundant for sinners than for the just.

“This is what I wish all to know. I will teach sinners that the mercy of My Heart is inexhaustible. Let the callous and indifferent know that My Heart is a fire which will enkindle them, because I love them. To devout and saintly souls I would be the Way, that making great strides in perfection, they may safely reach the harbor of eternal beatitude. Lastly, of consecrated souls, priests and religious, My elect and chosen ones, I ask, once more, all their love and that they should not doubt Mine, but above all that they should trust Me and never doubt My mercy. It is so easy to trust completely in My Heart!”

Here Jesus ended His appeal. He gave Josefa a few indications to be transmitted to her director, who was to lay the whole matter before the Bishop, and reading in Josefa’s soul all the anxiety she felt: “Why, why do you fear?” and tenderly He soothed her. “You know that I love you. . . . You know, too, that it is for souls and for My glory. Do not be troubled. . . . Just carry out My directions and give Me all the time that I want.”

The following day, Tuesday, June 12th, on entering her cell at about eight in the morning, she found her Master already there, and waiting for her. After a few moments spent in adoration, she renewed her vows and once more offered herself to His Will. Jesus then continued from where He had stopped the day before.

“I want to forgive. I want to reign over souls and pardon all nations. I want to rule souls, nations, the whole world. My peace must be extended over the entire universe, but in a special way over this dear country where devotion to My Heart first took root. . . . O that I might be its peace, its life, its King. I am Wisdom and Beatitude! I am Love and Mercy! I am Peace, I shall reign! I will shower My mercies on the world to wipe out its ingratitude. To make reparation for its crimes, I will choose victims who will obtain pardon . . . for there are in the world many whose desire is to please Me . . . and there are moreover generous souls who will sacrifice everything they possess, that I may use them according to My Will and good pleasure.

“My reign will be one of peace and love and I shall inaugurate it by compassion on all: such is the end I have in view and this is the great work of My love.”

Then with divinest condescension Our Lord explained to Josefa, that she might tell the Bishop the reasons that caused His choice of the Society of the Sacred Heart to be the intermediary to the world of His designs. “It is founded on love, its end is love, its life is love . . . and what is love but My Heart?”

Thus did Our Lord outline in a few brief words the bond that was to exist between His work and the Society.

“As for you,” He said to Josefa, “I have chosen you as a useless and incapable being, so that it may be clearly I who speak, who ask, who act.

“My appeal is addressed to all: to those consecrated in religion and to those living in the world, to the good and to sinners, to the learned and to the illiterate, to those in authority and to those who obey. To each of them I come to say: if you seek happiness you will find it in Me. If riches, I am infinite Wealth. If you desire peace, in Me alone is peace to be found. I am Mercy and Love! and I must be sovereign King. . . .”

Then, turning to Josefa, who was kneeling and had just transcribed the last burning words of her Master: “This is what you will first give the Bishop to read.”

There followed again a few brief words, a personal communication for His Lordship. Our Lord then continued: “Let him not be surprised at the kind of instruments I use, for My power is infinite and self-sufficient. Let him trust Me. I will bless his undertakings. . . . And now, Josefa, I shall begin to speak direct to the world, and I desire that My words be made known after your death. As regards yourself, you will live in the most complete and the deepest obscurity, and because I have chosen you as My victim you will suffer, and overwhelmed with pain, you will die! Do not look for rest or alleviation; you will find none, for so have I disposed things. But My love will uphold you, and never shall I fail you!”

In these few moments, Jesus revealed to Josefa the last stage of her life: her meeting with the ecclesiastical authority whose control was to be an assurance of God’s blessing . . . the Message that she was charged to deliver to all souls thirsting for mercy, peace, and happiness . . . her mission as a victim inseparable from the Message and the source from which it would draw its fruitfulness . . . the hiddenness which would continue to veil her suffering days and nights . . . and finally her death, overwhelmed by pain. All this, down to the minutest details He Himself arranged; her part was full adherence to His work of love, which so soon now He would complete in her and by her means.

That night Our Lord once more renewed the gift of a flame from His Heart: “I come to consume you with fire and set you alight,” He told her. “All My longing is to set souls on fire . . . those of the entire world. . . . Alas! they turn from the flame, but I shall triumph, they will be Mine, and I shall be their King. Suffer with Me, that the world may know Me, and that souls may come to Me. It is by suffering that love will triumph.”

It was on Wednesday, June 13th, that, as He had said, Our Lord gave a direct Message to the crowd of souls on whom He had compassion . . . the throng of the hungry and thirsty, of those in labor and strife, who suffer and weep in hopeless misery . . . who seek, want, long for, but do not find the security and happiness they so eagerly desire. To all of them Jesus opened His Heart.

“Mankind must know Me,” He said. “I want men to know My love. Do they know what I have done for them?”

And this was precisely what He was about to explain to them.

It almost seemed as if the days in Galilee had returned, when Jesus, seated in the midst of a great concourse of people on the peaceful hillsides, taught them in parables and held them fascinated by the wisdom of His words, and absorbed by the radiance of truth. Then all alike, high and low, sinners and sinless, the lettered and the ignorant, all listened to Him. Some were stirred to their souls’ depths, others were rebellious to the secret pleadings of Love . . . some drawn by the simplicity of His parables, and others again subdued by the clarity of His instructions. “The sower went forth to sow the seed,” He said, “and it fell abundantly.” He watched, as He alone could, able to penetrate into the depths of each soul, and see the answer it would give.

So now once again Jesus spoke to the world in a parable, this time to make known the vastness of His all-embracing love.

“So now, Josefa, write.

“A father had an only son.

“They were rich and powerful, served by devoted retainers, and surrounded by all that makes for honor, comfort and pleasure in life, and nothing, neither person nor thing, was wanting to their good fortune. The son was all in all to the father, and the father to the son, and each found in the other perfect contentment, though not so as to exclude others, for such noble and generous hearts felt sympathy for anyone in distress, however slight it might be.

“Now it came to pass that one of the servants of this good master fell ill, and as the danger increased, the only hope of saving his life lay in the application of powerful remedies and most careful nursing.

“But this servant lay at his poor and lonely home. At which the master felt alarm, for if left deserted, the man would certainly die. What was to be done? True, a fellow servant could be sent to minister to him; but such service, done for gain rather than love, gave no assurance against possible neglect.

“So, moved with compassion, the master called his son, and told him of his anxiety. He explained how near death the poor man was, and that the most unremitting care alone could save him.

“Like father, like son! The offer to go himself to succor the dying man is made at once. He will spare neither trouble, fatigue nor night watches until the servant’s health is fully re-established.

“The father accepts his son’s offer, and willingly allows him to take on the likeness of a servant, that he may serve him who is his slave.

“Many months go by, months of anxious watching by the sick-bed, till at length health is restored, for nothing has been spared that could not only cure his sickness, but also ensure his complete well-being. And what of the servant? With a heart overflowing with gratitude, he asks what he can do in return for such marvelous charity.

“ ‘Go,’ said the son, ‘seek out my father and with restored health offer yourself to become his most faithful servant in return for his liberality.’

“Overwhelmed by his obligations, the man stands in humble gratitude before his benefactor and proffers his services gratis, forever. What need has he of remuneration from such a master, who has treated him not as a servant, but as a son.

“This parable is but a pale image of the love I bear to mankind, and of the loving return I look for from them. I will explain it so that all men may know My Heart.”

There was a moment’s silence . . . then Jesus turned to Josefa. With ardor He urged: “Help Me, Josefa; help Me to let men know how I love them! For this am I come, that they may know that they will never find true happiness except in Me . . . suffer, Josefa, and love, for we two are out to conquer souls!”

The remainder of that day she passed in humble labor and fidelity like that of the other Sisters, but her mind was preoccupied and absorbed in her Master. When night came, again Jesus exchanged the flame for her heart, leaving her on fire with love. Before leaving, He said: “I thirst . . . yes, I thirst for a soul that must die tonight.”

Josefa asked if it was a sinner to be rescued. . . . No, it was a soul very much loved by His Heart. “But I want your suffering to make up for the graces which, owing to her frailty, she has neglected, so that in the short span of life that remains to her she may attain a higher degree of glory.”

We can but wonder at Our Lord’s all-powerful goodness to the souls He loves! He watches over them, to increase, if possible, their perfection, even to their last breath. Who would not be touched at the thoughtful kindness with which such an intention is presented to apostolic prayer and sacrifice! We know that sinners need the prayers that are to save them from eternal damnation, but cooperation in prayer for saintly souls who are about to die is no less important in His eyes, for in the last and supreme hour He puts the finishing touch to His handiwork.

For Josefa, after a day of labor the night was full of pain, till suddenly a bright light broke in on the darkness of her cell, and a deep peace overwhelmed her soul. Every vestige of suffering disappeared.

“That soul has entered into glory,” Our Lady told her next day after her Communion. Such were the apostolic victories that more than made up to Josefa for whatever she had to expend in prayer and suffering, and attached her more deeply than ever to the interests of the Sacred Heart.

On Thursday, June 14th, when she was awaiting Our Lord in her cell, “He appeared,” she wrote, “vested in extraordinary majesty.”

“Josefa,” He said, “humble yourself to the very ground. Adore your God, to make reparation for the contempt and offenses He receives from the greater part of mankind. . . . Love Him, to make up for their ingratitude. . . . And now write.”

Our Lord then explained the parable of yesterday:

“God created man out of pure love. He placed him on the earth in circumstances that ensured his happiness until the day of eternal bliss should dawn for him. But to have a right to such felicity he is bound to keep the sweet and wise laws laid down by his Maker.

“Man, unfaithful to this law, fell grievously sick; sin was committed by our first parents, and all mankind, their descendants, contracted this guilt and lost their right to the perfect beatitude promised them by God; and pain, suffering and death became henceforth their lot.

“Now God, in perfect bliss, has no need of man or of his services. He is sufficient unto Himself. Infinite is His glory and nothing can diminish it.

“Infinite in power, He is also infinite in goodness; hence He will not allow man, created out of love, to perish; instead, He met the grave evil of sin with a remedy infinite in price: one of the divine Persons of the Blessed Trinity, assuming human nature, will repair in a godlike manner the evil of the Fall.

“The Father gives His Son, the Son sacrifices His glory. He comes to earth not as an all-powerful Lord and Master, but in poverty as a servant and as a child.

“The life He led on earth is known to you all.

“You know how from the first moment of the Incarnation I submitted to all human afflictions. In My childhood I endured cold, hunger, poverty, and persecution.

“In My life of labor, how often humiliation and contempt were meted out to the carpenter’s son. How often after a hard day’s work we, My foster-father and I, found that we had earned hardly sufficient to support us. . . . and this I continued for thirty long years.

“Then, forgoing the sweet company of My Mother, I devoted Myself to the task of making My heavenly Father known. I went about teaching men that God is Love.

“I went about doing good to bodies as well as souls: to the sick I gave back their health; the dead I raised to life; and to souls? . . . Ah! to souls I restored liberty . . . that liberty which they had lost through sin, and I opened to them the gates of their everlasting home—Heaven.

“Then came the hour when to win salvation for them the Son of God willed to surrender life itself.

“And how did He die? . . . Was He surrounded by friends? . . . Acclaimed as a benefactor? . . . Beloved ones, you know that the Son of God did not will to die thus. He who had preached nothing but love was the victim of hatred. . . . He who had brought peace to the world was treated most cruelly. . . . He who came to bring men freedom was imprisoned, bound, ill-used, calumniated, and finally died on a cross between two thieves . . . contemned, abandoned, abject and despoiled of everything.

“It was thus He surrendered Himself for man’s salvation. It was thus He accomplished the work for which He had voluntarily left His Father’s glory. Man was sick and wounded, and the Son of God came down to him. He not only restored fallen man to life, but earned for him both strength and power to acquire in this life the treasures of eternal beatitude.

“And what was man’s response?

“Did he, like the grateful servant, offer his ministrations gratis and renounce any other but his Master’s interests? . . .

“Let us consider and distinguish . . . for there are different ways in which a response has been made by man.

“But this is enough for today. Remain in My peace, Josefa, and do not forget that you are My victim. Love, and leave all the rest to Me.”

[Stone]

BOOK THREE - THE MESSAGE OF LOVE

PART TWO

CHAPTER X. AN APPEAL TO THE WHOLE WORLD


THE RESPONSE MADE BY MANKIND June 15th–19th, 1923

“My words will have such power and be accompanied by such grace that even the most obdurate will be won by love.” (Our Lord to Josefa, June 19th, 1923)

THE whole of Friday, June 15th, Our Lord did not appear. As usual Josefa had awaited His coming. “He did not come,” she wrote, and, ever fearful, she examined the inmost recesses of her heart, and thought to have discovered a momentary yielding to the never-absent distaste she could not completely overcome for all that was extraordinary in her life.

“Jesus had made me understand very clearly, that not only is His Heart saddened, but souls, waiting for the grace these little acts win for them, are left without the help they need. So when He came in the evening, I begged Him to forgive my want of generosity.

“Very tenderly, He replied: ‘Yes, Josefa, open your heart to the light. Nothing that is done in love is small. No, there are no small things in My sight, for the very force of love makes them great.’ ”

This was a lesson that we have heard from His lips before, and He was never tired of reiterating it that souls might, on their side, never tire of offering Him their smallest efforts.

After her return from Marmoutier, Josefa never had a full night’s rest. She spent them in moral and physical pain—for when Our Lord left her after renewing the gift of the flame of His Heart, she generally remained a long time under its influence. These sufferings of body and soul made it impossible for her to forget the crucifying fact that she had been chosen as God’s victim for the work of His Heart’s love.

However, each morning she was at meditation with the other Sisters and also at Holy Mass, after which she went through the whole round of her daily occupations about the house. Her energy was unconquerable and her smile endeavored to hide, not always successfully, the utter exhaustion of her body.

“Today,” she noted, Saturday, June 16th, “Our Lord came at eight o’clock, and showing me His Heart, said: ‘Behold this Heart; It is that of a Father, and is consumed with love for His sons; would that they knew It!’ ”

Then He explained to Josefa the different responses of mankind to God’s offer of love.

“Some have truly known Me, and urged by love, have ardently desired to make an entire sacrifice of themselves to My service, which is that of My Father. They begged to be told the greatest thing they could do for Him, and My Father answered thus: ‘Leave your home, give up your possessions, and having surrendered self, come, follow Me, and do whatever I tell you.’

“Others, moved by all that the Son of God had done for their salvation, offered themselves to Him, endeavoring with good will to make a return for His goodness, by working for His interests, but without entire renunciation of their own. To these My Father says: ‘Observe the law which the Lord your God has given you. Keep His commandments, and erring neither to right nor left, live in the peace which belongs to faithful servants.’

“There are others again who have little understanding of God’s great love, yet they have an upright will and live under the law, but without love.

“These servants have not volunteered to carry out all God’s orders . . . yet a slight indication of His Will is often enough to enlist their service, since they are men of good will.

“There are yet others who submit to their God, not so much through love as through self-interest, and only fulfill the law as far as is necessary to ensure their salvation.

“Yet, do all men offer God their service? Are there any who through ignorance of the great love of which they are the object, make no response to all that the Son of God has suffered for them?

“Alas! . . . there are many who know and despise it . . . but a far greater number are entirely ignorant of it. . . .”

For each of these Jesus Christ has a word of love:

“I will speak in the first place to those who do not know Me:

“My sons, who from infancy have lived apart from your Father, come, I will tell you why you do not know Me . . . for once you realize the affection I bear you, you will not resist My love.

“It is often the case that those brought up far from their parents have little affection for them; but when by chance the sweet love of father or mother is manifested to them, there awakens a keener appreciation of this warm devotion than is found in those who have never left home.

“To you, who not only do not love, but hate and persecute Me, I say: ‘Why this hatred? . . . What have I done to deserve persecution at your hands? . . . There are many who have never asked themselves this question. Today when I ask it, they will perhaps say: ‘We do not know.’ Behold, I will answer for you: ‘If from childhood you have never known Me, it is because no one has ever taught you about Me; and as you grew up, nature also was developing in you love of pleasure and enjoyment, a longing for wealth and freedom. Then came the day when first you heard of Me, and how to live according to My Will; that to do so you must love and bear with your neighbor, respect his rights and his goods and gain a mastery of your own nature, in a word, live subject to a law. Hitherto, subject only to your own natural inclinations, if not to your passions, not knowing even of what law there was question, to you I say, is it to be wondered at that you should protest, should wish to enjoy life, to be free, and to be a law unto yourself?

“In this lies the beginning of your hatred and persecution of Me. But I, your Father, love you, and even as I see your blind revolt, My Heart is filled with tenderness for you.

“So the years in which you led this life sped by, and they were, perhaps, many. . . .

“Today I can no longer restrain My love for you, and the sight of you at war with your best friend compels Me to enlighten you as to Who I am.

“Dearly loved son, I am Jesus, which name signifies Saviour! why else are My hands transfixed with nails which fasten them to a cross? On it, for love of you, I died. My feet are wounded, My Heart wide open, riven by the lance after death. . . . Thus do I stand before you that you may know Who I am and what My law is. But do not fear—My law is one of love . . . and in knowing Me you will find peace and joy. It is sad to live as an orphan: come, My sons, come to your Father.

“Let us stop here, Josefa; we shall continue tomorrow, and do you, meanwhile, love your Father, and live by this love.”

At these words Our Lord disappeared, but Josefa, under the impression of the divine presence, remained for some time longer in silent recollection. After which she rose and, handing to the Mothers the notebook in which she had rapidly written Our Lord’s words for the whole world, she went back to the active labors of her workroom, no one there so much as suspecting the stupendous happenings of the morning.

But her strength was wearing out. Though sustained by her love, she was no longer able to withstand the overpowering lassitude which took possession of her at times, and which she condemned in herself with characteristic self-reproach as cowardice.

“Have no fear,” said Our Lord, when He came to her that evening. “If your weakness is great, My love for you is immense, and My strength will work on this very weakness.”

Again He tenderly addressed her on Sunday, June 17th:

“Josefa, if you knew that a sick person was about to die, would you not do your utmost to restore her to health? . . . Yet, what is the life of the body when compared to that of the soul? . . . And many, so many, will recover their life, thanks to the words I am confiding to you. . . . Think no more of yourself. . . .”

He then resumed the subject of the preceding day.

“Let us return to the souls who persecute Me because they do not know Me. I want to tell them Who I am and what they are:

“I am your God and your Father, your Creator and your Saviour. You are My creatures, My sons, bought at the price of My life and Heart’s blood, which I shed to free you from slavery and the tyranny of sin.

“You have souls great and immortal, destined for eternal happiness, wills capable of all good, hearts made both to give and receive affection. . . .

“The thirst for contentment and love can never be appeased by earthly and fleeting gains, which will always leave you hungry and unsatisfied. Perpetual conflict, sadness, anxiety, and affliction will still be your portion.

“If you are poor and have to earn a living by work, the miseries of life will embitter you; you will be hostile to your employers, and may even wish them ill, that like yourselves they may experience the hard grind of daily toil.

“Fatigue, disgust, even despair will weigh heavily on your spirits, for the way is rough and in the end comes death! . . .

“O! how great are these calamities when viewed from a human standpoint. But I come to show you life under a different aspect.

“All you who are deprived of this world’s goods and obliged to labor for your daily bread under a master, reflect that you are not slaves, but created for the freedom of eternity. . . .

“All you whose craving for affection is unsatisfied, remember that you were made to love that which is eternal, not that which passes with time.

“You who love your homes and labor to support your families and provide them with comforts and happiness, do not forget that though death will one day sever every tie, this is only for a time. . . .

“You who serve a master, and owe him respect, love, care for his interests, hard work and fidelity, forget not that he is your master only for the short span of a lifetime. How soon this will pass away and give place to an eternity, where you will no longer be workers but reign as kings forever and ever.

“Your souls, created by a loving Father who bears you a limitless and eternal affection, will find one day in the bliss of Heaven prepared for you a final answer to all your aspirations.

“There, every labor will be rewarded. . . .

“There, you will find your family for whom you worked so hard on earth.

“There, you will live eternally, for earth is but a passing shadow, Heaven will never pass away.

“There, you will be united to your God and Father. . . . O! if you but knew how great is the beatitude that awaits you. . . .

“Perhaps you will answer Me: ‘I have no faith, nor do I believe in a future happiness.’

“Have you no faith? Then how is it that you persecute Me? . . . Why do you rebel against My laws, and war against those who love Me? . . . And since you desire freedom for yourselves, why not grant it to others?

“You say you do not believe in a future life? . . . Tell Me, are you perfectly contented here and do you never feel a yearning for that which it is not possible to obtain here below?

“If after seeking for enjoyment, you succeed in obtaining it, does it satisfy your cravings? . . .

“If after pursuing riches, you at last possess them, have you ever enough? . . . If you feel the need of affection, and one day find it, are you not soon tired of it? . . .

“None of these things is what you long for, and here below you will never obtain all that your heart desires. Your craving is peace, not the peace of this world, but that of the children of God; and how do you expect to find it in the midst of rebellion? . . .

“That is why I have come to show you where true peace and happiness are to be found, and where you can slake the thirst that for so long has consumed you.

“Do not rebel when I tell you that all these things are to be found in accomplishing My law. Do not fear this word law, for My law is no tyranny but a law of love, because I am your God and your Father.

“Listen while I explain this law to you, and the kind of Heart that imposes it on you; a Heart that you do not know and so often wound. You pursue Me to give Me death, while I seek you out to impart life. Which of us will prevail? And will your souls continue to harden themselves against Me who have laid down My life for you and given you all My love?

“Adieu, Josefa, love this Father who is your Saviour and your God.”

Josefa had no difficulties in that direction. . . . All through her long day’s work the thought of the souls who suffer through ignorance, error, or ingratitude, pursued her.

She had gone to rest at length, but had hardly laid her head upon her pillow, when Our Lord stood by her side on that Sunday night. She quickly rose and prostrated herself in adoration at His feet, renewing her vows:

“His wounds,” she wrote, “were open and from them issued flames. In one hand He carried the Crown of Thorns and the Nails; with the other He held up His Cross.

“ ‘Josefa, are you willing to listen to My desires? See My wounds! O! that I could draw in all sinners!

“ ‘Yes, into these wounds many sinners must be drawn this night. . . . Take My Cross, My Crown and the Nails . . . I go in search of sinners and I shall enlighten them when they are on the point of falling into the bottomless pit, that they may find their way home.

“ ‘Take My Cross, guard it well. . . . You know that it is a great treasure.’

“At the same moment,” she wrote, “I felt the heavy weight of the Cross on my shoulder.

“ ‘My Crown,’ and He pressed it down upon my head. ‘I crown you Myself, and the wounds caused by its thorns will obtain enlightenment for blind souls.’

“ ‘Take, too, the Nails. . . . See how I trust you; but then you are My beloved, so I have no fear in confiding them to your care. I know they will be safe.

“ ‘And now I go in search of souls, for I want them all to know and love Me!’

“And as He uttered these words, His Heart shone with incomparable brilliancy . . . and He continued speaking with the same vehemence:

“ ‘I cannot any longer restrain My love for them . . . love so strong must triumph over their callousness. O yes, they must love Me! I want to be their King. Let us draw them all into My wounds. . . . I go in search of them, and when I have found them I will return and take back My Cross. Suffer for Me, Josefa! . . . but wait, before I go, let Me sink the arrow of purifying love into you . . . for pure you must be, like all who are My victims.’

“The same flame issued from His Heart as on previous evenings; then I saw only His Sacred Heart, till gradually all faded away.”

Long hours of unutterable torment followed; her head, hands and feet, her whole body suffered from the Crown, the Nails and the weight of the Cross.

“The night seemed interminable,” wrote Josefa. “I was even under the impression that it had lasted for more than one. . . .

“Suddenly, He appeared in great radiance. Behind Him, on each side, in the light from His hands, came many souls.

“ ‘See,’ He said, ‘all these have followed Me.’

“ ‘They all recognized Me. Poor, poor, souls! They would have been lost had I not been at hand. . . . But I was there to cast light on their gloom. Now they will follow Me . . . and be faithful sheep in My fold.

“ ‘And now, give Me back My treasures and rest a while in My Heart. . . . ’

“He took the Cross and the Nails, but left me the Crown of Thorns.”

What energy Josefa needed when after such a night she threw herself into her usual work. None knew of the splendors which lighted up her poor cell that night, when she guarded her Master’s treasures, whilst He went in search of souls. What grace must have upheld her, so utterly worn out as she was!

Our Lord again sought her out in her cell, on Monday, June 18th, for another, by no means the last of her redemptive ventures. There was once more question of a soul to be saved.

“He appeared as one begging,” she wrote. “I cried out, ‘Lord, what has happened? Why art Thou like that?’ . . . I renewed my vows with fervor, and He replied: ‘Comfort Me, for I must give up a priest’s soul, a soul consecrated to Me!’

“ ‘O no, that is not possible, dear Lord. . . . Remember what Thou didst say about sinners . . . that Thou lovest them and art ever ready to forgive.’

“ ‘Look, though, and see the state to which he has reduced My Heart. I am about to leave him to his own efforts.’

“I was so sorely grieved to see His Heart covered with wounds, and above all to think that a poor sinner was to be given up, that I implored Him to be mindful of His mercy and love.

“ ‘If you can bear the pain,” He replied, “that this soul causes Me, I will entrust his soul to you.’

“I answered: ‘Gladly, if Thou wilt help me.’ And I did my best to console Him. I offered Him all the love He receives in this house, in the whole world, from holy souls, and from priests . . . then I kissed the ground many times, and recited the Miserere . . . and as I could think of nothing else, I begged of Him to tell me what I could do.

“ ‘Yes, I will tell you. Spare nothing to comfort Me,’ He answered, ‘since he spares Me nothing that wounds Me.’

“I went on offering Him whatever I thought might lighten His grief, and little by little He seemed to throw off His extreme sadness.

“ ‘The obstinacy of a guilty soul wounds My Heart deeply,’ He said. ‘But the tender affection of one who loves Me not only heals the wound, but turns away the effects of My Father’s Justice.’

“Then He vanished, and I endured great pain of body and soul all day.”

The succeeding night was one of the worst in Josefa’s long experience of making reparation for sinners. When at nightfall Jesus came, as was His wont, to purify her soul, He brought His Crown, His Cross, and the Nails:

“ ‘I will not only purify you,” He said, “but kindle in you the zeal that consumes My Heart.

“ ‘This night we shall have to suffer again for that priest’s soul, for he is flying from Me. . . . Take My Cross, My Crown and the Nails. Keep united to Me while I go once more in pursuit of him.’

“He left me . . . and when a long time after, He returned, He said: ‘You are in pain, Josefa, and that soul is still resisting. . . . I call him . . . he despises My love!’

“Then there was silence, and as if to Himself, I heard Him murmur:

“ ‘It is not so much an actual sin that wounds Me, but his obduracy. If he continues deaf to My appeals, I shall have to leave him to himself.

“ ‘Rest now, Josefa, while I make yet another appeal.’

“He took away His Cross, but how could I sleep, haunted as I was with the thought of His grief, and of that soul?”

While the next day, Tuesday, June 19th, she was making her thanksgiving, Our Lord showed Himself to her, resplendently beautiful, and said: ‘That soul is going to listen to My pleading, and though his mind is not yet quite made up, he is beginning to turn to Me . . . You are charged not only with his conversion but with his sanctity. . . . I want him to realize that no goods here below are comparable to those of eternity. . . . You must obtain him the grace to embrace all the mortifications of the hard way I want him to tread. Otherwise his peril will be very great. Poor, poor soul, he needs light.”

Josefa renewed the offering of herself for this soul so precious to Our Lord’s Heart. Emboldened by His kindness, she confided to Him her deepest aspirations. Since He had begun to transmit to her His Message for the world, she had often questioned in prayer if souls, all souls would respond to His appeals as He hoped. And the thought of possible heedlessness was a cruel torment to her loving heart. Jesus, she felt, must not be subjected to such a disappointment.

She had been for some days anxiously trying to find a solution, but had not dared to ask Him about it. Today, however, she could hide this trouble no longer.

Then in a voice of such grave and majestic dignity that she could not find words to express it, Jesus answered her:

“Have no fear, Josefa. You know what happens when a volcano is in eruption? So great is the force of the flowing lava, that it is capable of removing mountains and destroying them. Do men then need to be told that a devastating power has been unloosed? Such will be My words, accompanied by grace; a strength that will conquer even the most obdurate by love. Society becomes perverted, when those in authority do not act according to truth and justice. But if the ruling power knows how to govern, the majority will see and follow the light, though no doubt some will still fail to keep straight. . . . I tell you once more that grace will accompany My words and those who make them known. Truth will triumph and peace will reign over souls and the world . . . and My kingdom will come!”

Mi gracia acompañará a las palabras y a las personas encargardas de hacerlas conocer. La verdad triumfará … la paz gobernará las almas y en el mundo … y mi reino llegará.

Josefa was struck by the energy with which Our Lord uttered these words, her doubts were dispelled and her trust greatly reinforced. She knew that His promises would be accomplished, and each day she realized better that nothing would be able to hinder Love’s work with all its vast implications. No opposition could finally break the impetus of Divine Mercy, which would soon inundate the whole world. . . .

A few minutes later Our Lord dictated to her the final paragraphs of His appeal to souls:

“Josefa, do you love Me?” He asked earnestly, when He rejoined her in her cell.

“Lord, this is my only desire.”

Then, with ineffable tenderness, He replied:

“I, too, love you, because your lowliness is wholly Mine.”

Then: “Write:

“Come; My sons, and hear what your Father asks of you as proof of your love:

“You know that in a well-regulated army discipline must be maintained, just as in a household there must be established customs. So in the great family of Jesus Christ there must be law, albeit a law of love.

“In the order of nature sons are not recognized as such unless they bear their father’s name; so My sons bear the name of Christian given them at their birth in Baptism. All ye who bear this name are My sons, and as such have a right to your Father’s estate.

“I realize that you do not know Me or love Me, but rather detest and persecute Me. On My part, I love you with an infinite tenderness, and I want you to know this heritage which is yours by right, and know also the means to acquire it:

“Believe in My love and My mercy.

“You have sinned against Me; I forgive you.

“You have persecuted Me; I love you.

“You have wounded Me both by word and deed; still I wish to do you good and to let you share all My treasures.

“Do not imagine that I am ignorant of your state of soul. I know that you have despised my grace, perhaps even profaned My Sacraments. Yet you have from Me a full pardon.

“If then you would be happy in this world and at the same time secure your eternal salvation, do as I tell you:

“If you are poor, do the work that necessity forces on you with submission, and remember that I, too, lived for thirty years in subjection to the self-same law, for I was needy and poor.

“Do not consider your masters as tyrants. Banish all hatred from your hearts. . . . Never wish them ill, but further their interests and be faithful to them.

“If, however, you possess this world’s goods and employ workers and servants, be fair to them in all your dealings; pay them a just wage, and show them both gentleness and kindness. If you have an immortal soul, so too have they, and if you abound in wealth, it is not for your sole comfort and enjoyment, but that you may administer it wisely and practice charity to your neighbor. Both employer and employed must accept the law of labor with submission, acknowledging a Supreme Being over all created things, who is both your God and your Father.

“As God, He demands of you the accomplishment of His divine law.

“As your Father, He asks you to accept His commandments in a spirit of filial piety.

“Thus, when you have spent a week in the pursuit of work, business or sport, He claims but one half-hour, that you may fulfill your Sunday duty. Is this excessive?

“Go then to your Father’s House, where day and night He awaits your coming, and as Sundays and Holy Days recur, give Him the homage of this half hour by assisting at the Mystery of Love and Mercy, that is, Holy Mass.

“Tell Him about everything: about your families, your children, your business, your desires. . . . Lay at His feet your sorrows, difficulties and sufferings . . . believe in the interest and love with which He listens to your prayer.

“You may perhaps say to Me: ‘I have not entered a church for so many years that I have forgotten how to hear Mass.’ Do not be afraid on that account. . . . Come, spend this half-hour with Me; your conscience will tell you what to do, and be docile to its voice. . . . Open your soul wide to grace, and it will inspire you. . . . Gradually it will teach you how to act in a given circumstance, how to treat with your family, what to do in regard to your business . . . how to bring up your children, love those who depend on you, and honor those in authority over you. . . . It may make you feel that such and such a concern must be given up, such a friendship relinquished, or such a meeting avoided. . . . Again, it may tell you that you are hating a certain person quite unreasonably; or it may put it into your mind to sever your connection with some person you feel drawn to and whose advice is doing you harm. Only give grace a chance, and gradually its power will grow stronger in you, for just as evil increases insensibly, once it is given in to, so will each new grace prepare your soul for a still greater one. If today you listen to My voice and let grace act, tomorrow its influence will be stronger and so steadily increase as time goes on; light will grow in your soul, peace envelop you, and the reward will be eternal bliss.

“Man was not created to live forever here below. He was made for eternity. . . . If then he is immortal, he should live, not for the passing things of time, but for that which will never die.

“Youth, wealth, wisdom, human glory, all that is nothing, it will all end with this life; God only will endure forever.

“The world is full of hate, races are in perpetual conflict with one another, so are nations, and even individuals, and all this is due to the decay of faith. Only let faith reign once more over the world and peace and charity will return to it.

“Faith in no way impedes civilization and progress. The more it is rooted in individuals and peoples, the more wisdom and learning increase, for God is infinite in wisdom and knowledge. But whenever faith is completely lacking, peace, civilization and true progress likewise vanish . . . for God is not in war . . . and in their place come enmities, clash of opinions, class wars, and within man himself, rebellion of passions against duty. All that is noble in humanity is exchanged for revolt, insubordination and warfare. . . .

“Let yourselves be convinced by faith and you will be great. Let yourselves be ruled by faith, and you will be free; live by faith, and you will escape eternal death.”

Such were the last words of Christ’s Message to the world.

Then He looked down at Josefa and said: “Adieu. You know that I expect reparation and love from you all. Love is proved by deeds, so let all your works prove your love. Be messengers of love in things great and small. Do all for love. Live by love.”

He vanished.

[Stone]

BOOK THREE - THE MESSAGE OF LOVE

PART TWO

CHAPTER XI. THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS


ANNIVERSARY OF FIRST VOWS June 20th–July 16th, 1923

“Tell Me once more your joy in being My bride.” (Our Lord to Josefa, July 16th, 1923)

THE parting from Our Lord was to last a long while, and the devil who for a space had been restrained, was once more granted freedom. He was beginning to gauge how stupendous was the divine plan which was to shatter his kingdom of darkness. His hatred broke out in the vain hope of countering it, and God allowed this to deepen still more the nothingness of His instrument.

On June 20th, Josefa avowed humbly that she had yielded to the repugnance for the extraordinary in her life, which sometimes seemed invincible . . . Her Lord no longer visited her . . . His absence reawakened in her soul the clear realization that she could not now withdraw herself from His divine Will, to which she so completely surrendered herself.

In spite of these momentary weaknesses which she so sincerely deplored she took back nothing of her surrender. Her Master knew this well, and though He allowed her to be tempted by her enemy, He nevertheless defended and hid her in the very depths of His Heart.

But the knowledge of this, and so the consolation, was hidden from her, and while the fiend as of old haunted her path, she struggled and fought in utter desolation.

So the month of June, which had opened so luminously for her, faded away in the dark of a cheerless night.

But with the first days of July it seemed to her that on the distant horizon a dim light was beginning to glimmer, for July 16th was the anniversary of her First Vows.

She concentrated, therefore, all her efforts on preparing this renewal of the total donation she had made of herself, and brought to it all the trust, courage and generosity she could muster. How it must have touched and glorified the Heart of her Master who knew that no tribulation or distress could diminish her oblation.

On July 13th, after a night of terrible ordeal, she suddenly found herself in the presence of her Lord . . . and hardly dared to believe the evidence of her senses.

“Fear not. Come, Josefa. . . .”

And as she hesitated: “If you dare not come to Me, then I will go to you. . . . You cannot possibly measure My love for you . . . and however great is the number of your frailties, far greater are the mercies of My Heart.”

Did she not know it? . . . All doubt and diffidence vanished. “O! how loving and kind He is,” she wrote. “I begged Him to forgive me, to save sinners and not to allow me to hinder His great work.”

This is ever her first preoccupation, even in the midst of temptation and suffering.

“You are more than forgiven, Josefa, and none of the graces I have prepared for sinners will be lost . . . they will not remain hidden, and I shall pour them out over the world. Do not, however, refuse Me anything. Leave Me free to train you and use all necessary means, even the most drastic, to destroy [‘self ‘ in] you. Do and say all I tell you, and never fear. I loved you before this trial, and I still love you. My love never changes.”

Such words imparted a divine fortitude to Josefa. Let the devil assault her again . . . his rage would always break on the rock of her faith in love. He suggested too that he would somehow prevent the coming of the Bishop of the Diocese, and “stop,” as he said, “that important advance” in Our Lord’s work. But this did not shake her trust.

On Saturday, July 15th, eve of Josefa’s renovation, Our Lady herself came during Mass to preside at her vigil of recollection. It was nearly a month since last she had seen that Blessed Mother, and her joy can be imagined. Her first impulse as always was to tell her how weak she felt. She would like to promise, so much . . . for her desire to be faithful to the work of Jesus was utterly sincere and deep. But what could be expected of her? . . . especially when He asked her to transmit messages and declare His wishes? . . .

“ ‘Do not be afraid, my child,’ Our Lady said in tender pity. ‘He will never ask anything of you without giving you grace. Then try to overcome your repugnance by remembering that all His commissions are given you because of His goodness and love for souls.’

“I told her then of the horror that the sights and sounds of Hell inspire in me.”

Then gently, with a mother’s love, Our Blessed Lady explained the meaning of these mysterious happenings and the part they played in her Son’s work of love.

“ ‘You must not be afraid,’ she told me, ‘for every time Jesus allows you to endure those torments He means you to draw from them a three-fold fruit: First: Great love and deep gratitude to the Divine Majesty who in spite of your faults prevents you from falling eternally into Hell. Secondly: Boundless generosity and ardent zeal for the salvation of souls, with the desire of saving many for Him by your sacrifices and even your tiniest acts, for you know how much these please Him. Thirdly: The sight of such innumerable crowds of souls lost forever . . . of souls, of which not one can so much as make an act of love, ought to make you who can love, send up unceasingly to Him echoes of love’s clamor to drown the blasphemous vociferations of that impious abode.

“ ‘Therefore, great generosity for the salvation of souls, daughter, and much love. . . . Let my Son use you as He wills. . . . Let Him finish His work.’

“She blessed me, I kissed her hand, and she disappeared.”

It was certainly in a spirit of generosity and love that Josefa spent her day of retreat. “I took my resolutions,” she wrote, “and God helping, I will be faithful to them unto death.”

Henceforth this anticipation of death was clear. She mentioned it explicitly in the little notebook in which at every stage of her life she wrote her resolutions and desires.

On July 15th, 1923:

“Eve of the first anniversary of my Vows:

“I am the miserable creature that it has pleased Jesus to use for His work of love. It matters not at all how much it costs me, I owe Him entire submission. . . . If He tells me to write, I will write, if to speak, I will speak, and so with all the rest. . . . O my Jesus, what sorrow that I have responded so badly to Thy love.

“But I mean to do better, and with Thy grace I will try to live the few months that remain to me without allowing myself to be troubled or refuse Thee anything whatsoever. I will say anything Thou willest at once, even if it is to His Lordship the Bishop, and I will do everything Thou askest of me. That is my first resolution. The second is to obey my Mothers in everything, especially when it is to write, which always costs me so much. The third is to make immediate avowal of my temptations

What Josefa calls “temptations” are always her constant repugnances to the path by which Our Lord is leading her.

and the devil’s threats, for these often begin by quite small things, and when I keep them to myself, they end by worrying me. The fourth is to make many acts of humility and loving service, because I know this is pleasing to Thee.
“Thou wilt see, O my Jesus, how hard I am going to try to be faithful till death . . . four or five months will soon pass . . . and I hope Thou wilt take me to Heaven for Christmas, or at latest for the Epiphany.

For the last few months Our Lord continued secretly to make clearer to Josefa the time of her approaching death.

I am glad to die, for this world is a very sad one and I am afraid of my weakness. In Heaven, I will still save souls for Thee and help them. That is why I ask today with all my heart, that during these few months I may repair for all the failings of my life, and as I am so little, and Thou art my Beloved, I take Thy Heart and Thy merits and plunge everything I do in them, so that they may acquire a value so great that, while repairing my own sins, they may likewise save many souls.
“Adieu, my Jesus; ask whatever Thou wilt of me, and hide me in Thy Heart until Thou takest me to Heaven. Do not forget my littleness and please never forsake me who am

“Your helpless little bride,
“JOSEFA.”

Sunday, July 16th, dawned on her humble and fervent hopes:

“I repeated the formula of my vows before Communion, just as I did a year ago,” she wrote, “with the firm determination of being faithful until death. A moment afterwards, Jesus stood by me and showing me His burning Heart:

“Josefa,’ He said, ‘and I? . . . I have never ceased being faithful to you, have I?

“ ‘Have no fear about your wretchedness and misery, your carelessness or even your faults. . . . I Myself will supply for all. My Heart is the repairer par excellence. How, then, could it not be so for you?’ ”

Then Josefa repeated to Him her loving promises, and begged Him, in spite of her weakness, to complete His great work for the salvation of the world.

“Even if I did not do so for love of you, Josefa, I would do it for souls, for I love them. Nothing, indeed, is wanting to My heavenly beatitude, which is infinite, but I yearn for souls . . . I thirst for them, and want to save them.”

Long ago, Jesus had endowed Josefa with something of His own love for souls but every day it seemed to grow stronger. “I asked Him that there might be many saints among His consecrated souls, and in the world as well . . . many souls to console and glorify Him. How I wish that I were better, so as to obtain this grace.”

“ ‘Do not worry, Josefa, about what you can and what you cannot do. You know very well that you can do nothing. But I am He who can and will do all. Yes, I will do all, even what seems to you impossible. Only let Me make use of you to transmit My words and hopes to souls. I will see to the rest, and supply for all that you lack or cannot do. I ask you only for your liberty.’ ”

Then bending towards her: “Tell Me once again your joy in being My bride!”

How could she express her happiness? . . . She could find no adequate words.

Our Lord continued: “Still, all that is nothing, you have not yet tasted true happiness. But you shall do so soon . . . and then you will possess it without fear of ever losing it. Meanwhile, let us go on with our secrets!”

The prospect of the Bishop’s visit remained in spite of all a grave anxiety for Josefa. She entreated her Master to help her and to explain exactly what she had to say, for she could not overcome her fear.

“I will tell you all that you have to do,” Our Lord answered patiently. “Do not be frightened. I will tell you all and help you in it all. Let Me work.”

“Then,” she wrote, “I told Him of the resolutions I had taken yesterday in my monthly retreat. He listened attentively, and had a little comment to make on each. Then He added: ‘I bless these resolutions, Josefa, and if at times you are too weak to carry them out, come to Me. . . . Tell Me what troubles you . . . and what you fear . . . and I will give you strength, I will give you peace. Go now, remain in My love and abandon yourself to My Will.’ ”

Thus ended a radiant day for Josefa, in the peace and joy of belonging wholly to Him.

“I am so happy,” she wrote. “I have now but one desire, to refuse nothing to Him during the few remaining months of my life. But I never cease entreating Him for His strength and His love, for I am afraid of myself.”

Yet another grace awaited Josefa that evening; she wrote:

“I had gone at about seven o’clock to the oratory of our Holy Mother, when suddenly I saw her there, simple and humble as ever. I had hardly time to renew my vows, when she said to me: ‘So, my child, it is already a year since you made them!’ ”

Josefa, whose trust in this best of Mothers was unbounded, poured out her joy at belonging to Our Lord forever, but also told her of her sorrow for what she termed her “ingratitude.”

“But, my child, surely you know that His Heart is a blazing furnace, and its fire exists only to consume our miseries. As soon as you have owned them to Jesus, He remembers them no more. And if, in exchange, He has already granted you so many graces, He is prepared to grant you others greater still. His Heart is an inexhaustible Fountain: the more He gives, the more He desires to give. The more He forgives, the more He wants to pardon.”

As Josefa told her of her promises of fidelity until death, death which she knew was near, our Holy Mother encouraged her:

“ ‘Believe me, child, Jesus has forgiven and forgotten all your failings and all your strivings against His Will, but He never forgets your good resolutions and He takes pleasure in them. His Heart is an abyss of mercy, and it will never fail you. It is, too, an abyss of riches which will never diminish, however largely distributed. Love Him as much as you can. He cares for nothing else. Acknowledge your littleness, and be submissive and ready to surrender to His Will in all things.

“ ‘Let Him rest in you and do you rest in Him. When you receive His graces, then you repose in Him; when He tries you in one way or another, then He reposes in you.

“ ‘Thank Him with your whole heart for the singular favor He has done you in choosing you to be the bride of His Heart; and while you recognize how unworthy you are to belong to Him, love the Society of His Heart which is so particularly His own choice. . . .

“ ‘Adieu. Be generous, be humble. Do not forget your nothingness. Only mercy like His could so love you in spite of it. But trust Him always, and as you of yourself can do nothing let yourself be guided, and live full of gratitude, peace and love. Adieu, my child.’

“She gave me her blessing, I kissed her hand, and she was gone.”

Would Our Blessed Lady allow the anniversary to pass by unnoticed? Josefa’s hopes ran high, but it was already night, and the last bell had rung. Alone in her cell, as she knelt before the statue of her Immaculate Mother into whose virginal hands she committed the keeping of her soul, suddenly she was surrounded with a luminous radiance; it was Mary herself who appeared to her child.

“I am always with you,” she said.

And in response to the prayer Josefa had just made:

“Yes, daughter, you will be faithful to the end, if you never rely on yourself, but only on Jesus. He will be your strength and will help you . . . and so shall I. . . .”

Josefa never could keep any of her most secret thoughts from this incomparable Mother, and she poured out her heart to her, entreating her not to abandon her in face of the devil’s wiles and the long and terrible trials of Hell, the very remembrance of which filled her with apprehension and anxiety.

“ ‘Do not forget what your Holy Mother Foundress said to you,’ answered Our Lady. ‘When you suffer, it is Jesus who reposes in you, so what is there to fear? Abandon yourself to His Will. You cannot imagine now what your joy will be for all eternity in Heaven, when you see the many souls saved by your little acts and sacrifices. Life is of no account, and yours will pass like a flash! Use every moment of it to merit, by giving your Heavenly Bridegroom the glory of complete surrender to His good pleasure. Live in His peace and love, and above all leave Him free to use you.’

“She stretched out her hand to bless me and vanished.”

[Stone]

BOOK THREE - THE MESSAGE OF LOVE

PART TWO

CHAPTER XI. THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS


TRIALS July 16th–August 24th, 1923

“Have no fear, all is arranged and controlled by My love.” (Our Lord to Josefa, August 30th, 1923)

WE rarely find in Josefa’s life long hours of radiant happiness which were not the forerunners of pain, and though Our Lord’s own privileged one was never free from suffering at any time, yet there were moments of greater trial bringing with them greater love.

As Josefa’s death drew near, the law of God’s dealings with her could be seen more clearly. She must fulfill in herself that which was wanting to the Passion of Christ. Victim she must be in every sense of the word, and the Message she was to pass on to the world, must be given no otherwise than through her pain and anguish.

The devil remained to the very end the scourge that belabored her. No human opposition or persecution, however severe, could have equaled his in intensity, or as surely reached the very depths of her being which it was God’s intention to sanctify by suffering.

So we must not be surprised at the somber days about to break upon her, for they were part of a design of love, quite as much as the ecstatic joys of the months of May and June had been. They call for our admiration of God’s secret ways of dealing with souls which, though hidden from themselves, lead through darkest night to brilliant dawn.

So it was with Josefa from the close of the month of July 1923. The anniversary of her First Vows, when Our Blessed Lady’s hand had rested in blessing on her head, had scarcely gone, when the devil suddenly once more crossed her path. He had never left her in peace for any length of time, but at this stage, like the saintly Curé d’Ars, she constantly saw him under the guise of a huge black dog, of hideous and furious appearance, which attacked her, without however succeeding in overthrowing her. At the same time, long sojourns in Hell occupied the major part of her nights, and there her mind was racked with acute distress by all she saw and heard. . . . As if it depended on his efforts to wreck God’s designs, Satan vaunted with insolent effrontery his counter-plans to prevent the intervention of the Bishop of Poitiers, which he presumed all important. Josefa, who had formerly shown herself vulnerable enough to his lying boasts, never flinched this time, and as she had promised Our Lord, she sought and obtained the courage she needed, by humbly admitting her frailty.

The last days of July, however, brought her some alleviation and an assurance, doubly welcome, that God’s great work was progressing, and that she herself was safely in His keeping. On Friday, July 27th, St. John the Evangelist appeared to her while she was praying before the Blessed Sacrament:

“Majestic beauty enveloped him,” she wrote. “I renewed my vows, and he said: ‘Soul whom Jesus loves, as the Lord intends you to make His mercy and His love known to many souls, prepare the way for His coming.

“ ‘May you be docile and entirely submissive to His holy Will. May the flame of His Heart purify and consume you. And when He deigns to visit you, receive His words with all reverence and love, for He who speaks to you is none other than He before whom the whole heavenly court forever sings a canticle of praise and love.’

“Then, joining his hands: ‘May the Lord guard you and fill your soul with the heavenly delights of His Heart.’

“He disappeared,” said Josefa, “and a minute later I saw the Heart of Jesus alone. . . . Its wound opened wide and emitted a flame which fell upon my own heart, as it used to when He came every evening to consume my sins. . . . This fire is a scorching flame and it fills me with such longing for Him that the whole world appears to me to be but dust and ashes.”

Two days later Our Lady came, in the evening of July 29th, to bring her the glad tidings of the speedy return of Our Lord. She held the Crown of Thorns in her hand, and placing it on Josefa’s forehead said:

“Daughter, I bring you the jewels of your Beloved, so as to adorn you myself for His coming. . . . As soon as you have finished your adoration, go up to your cell. He will be there. Meanwhile prepare for His coming by acts of humility, surrender and love.”

And as if sensing her child’s apprehension at what new sacrifices would be required of her:

“Adieu,” she said as she blessed her. “He will help you, for it is His own work. Trust Him and be of good courage . . . and remember: submission, humility, love and surrender.”

Josefa had no doubts about the importance of a meeting prepared with such unusual solemnity. A few minutes later, Our Lord appeared. She fell on her knees in adoring love, and offered herself unreservedly to His sovereign Will.

“Yes, Josefa,” He said, “it is I; have no fear, for I have disposed all things, and they are ruled by love.”

In the impressive silence Josefa wrote, while Jesus dictated all that she was to say and do to make the Bishop of Poitiers acquainted with His Will. Every contingency was foreseen and provided for; nothing was left to chance, so that it might be clear—clearer even than in any of the incidents that had preceded it, that here grace was at work.

As He ended, Jesus reiterated: “Have no fear, I will help you, I will guide you. Love and trust My Heart, for I will never abandon you.”

On Monday, July 30th, at the request of Fr. Boyer O.P., Josefa’s director, the Bishop granted him what proved to be a most friendly interview, and received the first personal message from Our Lord’s Sacred Heart.

The last graces and the last trials that Josefa was to undergo henceforth had his most valuable and reassuring support. So notable a step forward was followed, as was only to be expected, by a recrudescence of diabolic fury and persecution.

Did the devil think he could hinder the plans of the Almighty? Reading Josefa’s notes from July 30th to August 12th, one almost fancies it might be so, for the assaults of the devil increased both in number and intensity . . . his beatings, his lying affirmations . . . his apparent assurance that he was about to triumph, not only over Josefa and the Bishop, but in thwarting the very plans of God.

Thus it was that, tossed by storms, she resolutely kept loyally on her way, doing her share of Love’s great work. “You are not alone,” Our Lord said to her on Sunday, August 12th, “for I am your life, your support, and without Me you never could bear such a weight of tribulation. Surely you know this!”

The next day, August 13th, He again appeared to tell her in detail all He wished transmitted to the Bishop.

We are led to conjecture, from the words of Our Lord, the detailed directions He gave His messenger, and the care with which this first interview was prepared, how great were the results He expected for the realization of His plans. At the same time His gentle kindness reassured Josefa, who still feared the prospect, not only of issuing from her carefully guarded obscurity to discuss the things that were the very soul of her soul with a stranger, but also of giving so grave a message from her Master to the Bishop. She felt such a trial to be beyond her strength, and greater than any that had hitherto been asked of her generosity, unless Our Lord gave her an exceptional grace of strength and of peace.

“Do not fear,” He said before leaving her that morning. “Love will always lead and bear you up. I will tell you what to say and I will help you. . . . There is nothing to fear; I am sheltering you in the depths of My Heart. I love you; surely that will give you courage!”

The feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Lady, August 15th, 1923, brought another short interval of radiant happiness to Josefa, for towards evening on that glorious day Our Lady appeared in all her beauty. With motherly love, she listened to Josefa’s troubles, to her fears for the future on account of her frailty and weakness.

“Daughter,” she replied, “do not be discouraged by your weakness, acknowledge it in all humility, but always with confidence, because you know well that Jesus made choice of you for the very reason of your misery and worthlessness . . . so be humble, but also very trustful.”

And alluding to the devil’s increasing persecutions: “Do not be afraid, for he can only do one thing, that is, give you opportunities of increasing your merit. Do you not know that I am watching over you and that Jesus will never abandon you?”

So Josefa threw off the burden of her personal preoccupations to rejoice in the bliss of her Heavenly Mother, of whom the whole world was celebrating the Assumption into Heaven.

A thrill of joy transfused the face of Our Lady, as she recalled the beatitude of the eternal present she now possessed.

“ ‘Today,’ she said, ‘in very truth, there began for me a beatitude which was perfect and unalloyed, for during the whole of my life in this world my soul was transpierced by a sword of grief.’

“ ‘I asked her,’ wrote Josefa naively, ‘if the presence of the Child Jesus, so small and so lovely, had not been the best of consolations?’

“ ‘Listen, child,’ Our Lady went on. ‘From childhood I knew of divine things and the hopes centered in the coming of the Messiah. So when the Angel declared the mystery of the Incarnation to me, and I found myself chosen as the Mother of the Redeemer of mankind, though my heart adhered to the Divine Will with entire submission, it was drowned in a sea of bitterness and woe. For I knew all that this tender and heavenly Child was destined to endure, and Simeon’s prophecy only confirmed the anguish of my mother’s heart.

“ ‘Can you, then, imagine how I felt while contemplating my Son’s charms, His heavenly countenance, His hands and feet which I knew were to be so cruelly ill-treated?

“ ‘I kissed those little hands, and felt my lips already stained with the Precious Blood that one day would gush from their wounds.

“ ‘I kissed His feet, and already saw them nailed to the Cross.

“ ‘And as I carefully tended His hair, I pictured it all clotted with blood and entangled in the cruel thorns.

“ ‘And when at Nazareth, He first ventured on a few steps, hastening with outstretched arms to meet me, my tears fell as I pictured them extended on the Cross on which He was to die.

“ ‘When He reached boyhood, He was so divinely beautiful that none could contemplate Him unmoved . . . yet in my heart, the heart of a mother, the sword was turned at the thought of the tortures that were to be inflicted on Him, of which I felt beforehand the savage recoil.

“ ‘Then He left me for three years during His apostolic life, and there followed the terrible hours of His Passion and death. What a martyrdom!

“ ‘When after three days I saw Him in the glory of His risen life the trial changed, for I knew that He could suffer no more . . . but O! how sad it was to part from Him! My sole relief then lay in consoling Him, by repairing for the sins of men. And my long exile began. . . . How I sighed for the hour of everlasting union. . . . What was life without Him? . . . How dim was my light! . . . How ardent my desires! . . . How long, long, He was in coming!

“ ‘I was about to enter my seventy-third year, when my soul passed like a flash from earth to Heaven. At the end of three days the Angels fetched my body and brought it in triumph and jubilation to reunite it to my soul. . . . What adoration! . . . What admiration! . . . What sweetness, when at long last my eyes beheld in glory His Majesty surrounded by the angelic choirs . . . my Son . . . my God!

“ ‘And how, daughter, can I express the amazement of my lowliness when I was crowned with such gifts and overwhelmed with jubilations and rejoicings? . . . Sorrow had indeed passed away, never to return. . . . For all eternity, glory, sweetness and love were mine.’ ”

Our Lady spoke with enthusiasm, Josefa remarked later, yet all her words still mirrored sweetest humility.

There was silence for a short time, for Our Lady seemed absorbed by the recollection of that marvelous entry into Heaven. Then once more turning to Josefa, and looking lovingly upon her, she said: “All things pass away, daughter, and bliss is everlasting. Suffer and love. My Son will soon crown your efforts and labors. Do not fear, He and I both love you!”

Then, after giving her a few motherly counsels, Our Lady said as she left: “Be faithful to Him and refuse Him nothing. Pave the way for His coming by the little acts He so loves, for He will come soon. Courage, courage, generosity and love. . . . Life’s winter is short, and its springtide eternal.”

Josefa noted down that she could not recall Our Lady’s exact words.

“On Friday, August 17th,” she wrote, “when I went to my cell to try to write it all out, Our Lady herself came, radiant and lovely, and smiling gently, repeated all she had said on the evening of her feast. Then, after allowing me to kiss her hand, she blessed me and disappeared.”

A few more days of peace were granted her till Monday, August 20th. Josefa was making her prayer on “Jesus is the Light of the world”—

“When suddenly I saw before me a great wooden cross all in light. In the center was the glowing Heart of Jesus, wounded and surrounded with a thorny crown. A vivid flame issued from the wound, and I heard a voice which said: ‘Lo! the Heart that gives life to the world . . . but from the Cross. So must the victims whom I have chosen to aid Me spread this life and light over the world allow themselves to be nailed to the Cross in utter surrender, after the example of their Master and Saviour.’ ”

To the very end, therefore, the Cross was to be her light and safety. Josefa knew it and she made the offering required. That evening Our Blessed Lady came to encourage and strengthen her in her generous resolve.

Josefa had gone to the oratory of the Novitiate, and was kneeling before the statue of Our Lady, when she appeared:

“Yes, Josefa, give me your heart and I will guard it; give me all your activities and I will transform them; give me your love, your life . . . and I will pass them on to Jesus for you.”

Drawing near, she blessed her, saying: “With all a Mother’s love, I bless you. May this blessing give you courage and generosity to accomplish to the full all that Jesus expects of you. What is there to fear, my child, if your trust is in Him? You know well that He is Almighty . . . that He is Good . . . that He is all Love!”

Josefa did know it, but her soul shrank from her mission in spite of herself. She had, however, centered great hopes on the retreat which was about to open. This she told Our Lady, entreating her help, for she knew that it was the opening phase of the last days of her life.

Our Lady answered: “If you want your soul to profit fully by the retreat, prepare for it by often repeating the prayer that my son St. Ignatius used to say so fervently. . . . ‘Take, O Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding and my will. . . . ’ Offer everything to Jesus that He may make use of you according to His good pleasure. Make many little acts of humility, of mortification, and generosity. . . . That is how you can make your soul ready to receive the graces Our Lord destines for you during these days. Do not forget that these are the last Spiritual Exercises of your life, so let Jesus work and prepare you as He pleases for the union which will be eternal.”

Then reminding her of the secret of generous self-surrender: “And as you love souls, think of them, and let yourself be ground to powder, as their salvation may demand.”

These last words made Josefa pensive. And as Our Lady looked long and lovingly at her, she felt that some new sacrifice was about to be asked of her.

“Bear in mind, daughter, how unworthy you are of the graces God bestows on you. Yet thank Him that He has chosen you in your worthlessness and nothingness to be the means of saving many souls, by manifesting to them the greatness of His mercy.”

Then in a tone of maternal authority, she disclosed to Josefa what the immediate future held in store for her: she was to go to Rome, in order to carry a secret, personal message to the Mother General.

Josefa was struck with consternation. The meeting with the Bishop had already filled her with fear which it had taken all her fortitude to overcome. . . . Was she then to be brought still further into the open out of her hitherto well-guarded obscurity and silence? . . . It involved a journey abroad . . . and worse than all was the prospect of having to make known herself things that she found hard to tell even the Mothers at Les Feuillants.

For the moment Josefa was seized with panic, but Our Lady kept her long at her feet, and little by little calmed the storm that had swept over her soul. Her inmost will all along adhered to God’s Will, and a powerful grace enabled her finally to triumph over her reluctance, and accept blindly all that Love’s great work could demand of her.

Our Lady concluded with these parting words:

“Have no fear. Jesus who loves you so specially will Himself tell you His wishes . . . and all will be carried out easily, simply and humbly. . . . It is a very great grace for all of you, my dear daughter, to be God’s instrument in this great work.”

Our Lady had gone. “How shall this be done?” Josefa did not even ask the question. . . . Our Lord who was Himself training her in abandonment had now caused her to make a giant stride. She handed over Our Lord’s project to her Superiors and until the moment of departure never so much as asked a question about it. As on the day of her first arrival, so now, but with how much deeper significance, her motto remained: “God is leading me.”

On Friday, August 24th, during her thanksgiving, Our Lord confirmed this offering which only love could warrant: “Tell Me, Josefa, all you would say if you did not see Me. For though you love listening to Me, I, too, rejoice and am pleased to listen to you.”

“Then,” she wrote, “I told Him how I longed to love Him, to be faithful and never refuse Him anything. But He knows better than anyone what a weakling I am. . . . He was gazing at me all the time with such a look of affection that this beautiful and kind gaze filled me with trust.”

“ ‘Give Me that proof of your love, Josefa,’ He said, ‘for love makes all things easy. Do as you see My Heart does; for having created souls out of love, I want to save them by love. Let them in their turn show Me their love. And if I so ardently long for the love of every soul . . . how much more do I yearn for that of those consecrated to Me by vow. . . . Love can only be paid in the same coin, so love Me in return! And show it by your acts.’

“ ‘My acts, Lord! How wretched and small they are! . . . ’

“ ‘Never mind, give Me your misery and I will enrich it . . . and for every sacrifice you offer Me, I will pay you back with the love of My Heart.’ ”

But heavenly barter is of a different kind from this earth’s exchanges. Josefa had experienced this and would make further discoveries in the near future. Her faith, however, would recognize, under the ever-deepening shadow of the Cross, the return of love, infinitely strong and yet tender, of the Heart of Jesus.

Before the journey to Rome took place another painful phase had to be gone through which, in God’s own way, prepared her for the graces that awaited her.

[Stone]

BOOK THREE - THE MESSAGE OF LOVE

PART TWO

CHAPTER XI. THE SHADOW OF THE CROSS


A SUFFERING RETREAT August 25th–October 2nd, 1923

“My work is wrought in the dark, but when it sees the light, all will wonder at its every detail.” (Our Lord to Josefa, August 30th, 1923)

THERE were still nine days to wait before Josefa entered on her much-longed-for retreat . . . the last of her life . . . they were nine days of deepening cloud, on which no glimmer of light shone. “I cannot find words in which to say how I suffered till August 29th, on which day the retreat began,” she wrote.

The days of agony which she had just gone through so depressed her spirit that she hardly felt equal to any new effort. In her private notes we read:

“O Jesus, hast Thou forsaken me? . . . Do look at me. . . . Yet I love Thee. . . . Yes, I love Thee more than all the world. . . . I long to do all Thou requirest of me, but I am unsettled . . . full of doubts as to how I shall act next. . . . I place my trust in Thee, I surrender myself to Thee. . . . I know Thou wilt support and forgive me. I am sure of Thy love for me.”

Again we read a little later:

“Thou alone, O my Jesus, knowest the anguish of my soul . . . This cross seems too heavy . . . more than I can bear. . . . Lord, come to my assistance . . . raise me up . . . give me light.

“On that same evening of August 29th,” she wrote, “Jesus came for an instant. I saw His Heart and once more understood that His love for me is immeasurable. His very glance told me. I threw myself at His feet and there unburthened my heart into His.

“ ‘What does it all matter?’ He said. ‘I am rich, powerful, loving and faithful. How often have I not told you that it is your utter misery and frailty that attracts My love. Believe what I say . . . and remain in peace. . . . Use this retreat to respond with great love to the graces with which I have loaded you. Every day you will say the Miserere five times and add a Pater, to honor My Five Wounds. . . . Hide in these Wounds . . . let them ever be your shelter. Be humble and do not fear. I am your support and life, and I will always defend you.’

“Ah!” she wrote, “such words would make a saint of anybody except me . . . and my soul is cold as stone . . . O God! how I suffer. . . . Thou alone knowest and yet I yearn to love Thee. . . . Do not let me be separated from Thee!”

Jesus could not resist such appeals and on the morning of Thursday, August 30th, suddenly she was herself again. “Behold me at Thy feet, Lord, just as I am, miserable, sinful, ungrateful and worthy only of the deepest contempt; but I see Thee as Thou art—all mercy, love and kindness.”

Jesus loved to hear such protestations, and He was attracted, too, by such humble trust in Him.

“Suddenly He appeared before me,” she wrote, “so beautiful and so kind!

“ ‘Do not fear. Do you not know that My Heart has only one desire: to consume your wretchedness and to consume you yourself. . . . I know you, and love you . . . and I shall never grow tired of you.’

“The nearer I get to Him,” she went on to say, “the more I grieve at not knowing how to love Him; I can only beg His forgiveness.”

“ ‘You know very well,’ He answered, ‘that I am ready to forgive you, not once, but every time that, through frailty, you fall. If you are feeble, I am strong; if you are misery itself, I am consuming fire. Draw near with trust and let me purify your soul.’

“ ‘And now, take My Crown as proof of My love and forgiveness. Follow the guidance that is given you, be very humble and faithful. I am leading you . . . and My action is ruling you.’

“I gave humble thanks and asked Him never to allow me to become a hindrance to Love’s work.”

Jesus then encouraged her with words which only He could say: “Fear nothing. My work is wrought in the dark, but when it sees the light, all will wonder at its every detail.”

No te apures! Yo trabajo en la oscuridad y al fin mi Obra saldrá a la luz de domo que se puedan admirar todos los detalles.

The peace brought to Josefa through Our Lord’s intervention proved to be no more than a breathing-space. With her characteristic simplicity, she threw herself into the meditations of the first days of the Retreat, and noted down her reflections:

“I made the meditation on death,” she wrote on September 1st, “and was filled with awe, on reflecting how near it is for me, but I took courage and was even consoled to think that I should be taking that definite step in four or five months’ time. Why should I fear it? True, I have no merits of my own, but those of Jesus are mine. . . . I must count on Him who is all power and all mercy. Yes, how good He is . . . how merciful, and He is my Spouse. If I live in Him, I shall die in Him, and then there will be no fear of ever losing Him. O come, divine and eternal union! Even while I call for it, I feel no desire . . . my nature is full of fears . . . and my heart may betray me. . . . O God, Thou knowest this heart of mine, and how it loves and gets attached . . . but no, I leave all in Thy hands. . . . Thou alone, my Jesus . . . Thy Heart alone. . . .”

It was in very truth the moment to lean on Him alone, for that Saturday, September 1st, brought notification from His Lordship the Bishop that, in response to the communication he had received, he would call at the Convent on the following day, and would be pleased to have a few minutes’ interview with Sister Josefa.

The visit was well timed, for owing to the whole household being in retreat, the desired incognito and silence would be assured.

Our Lord Himself was directing all things through human happenings, and for the time being the powers of darkness themselves, subject to His divine Will, were held in abeyance. “You are in My hands, so have no fear,” Jesus said to Josefa during Holy Hour. “Act simply. I shall be with you, and will tell you all you have to say.”

“Today, September 2nd,” she wrote, after the Bishop’s visit, “I spoke for the first time to His Lordship. I was, at first, rather intimidated, but after a while I acted just as I would had it been Our Lord, and my peace of mind was very great. I told him how repugnant that path was to me, how I was tempted to escape from it, of my weakness in resisting, and then of the distress that takes hold of me when I see how weak I am in keeping my resolutions. His Lordship spoke so kindly that his words strengthened and comforted me very much.”

Josefa added nothing more about the interview which was to have such an effect on the work of Love. She had faithfully followed the directions of her Master, she had given the Bishop the message intended for himself alone, and which had remained secret. She told him of Our Lord’s plans for the world, then answering all his questions very simply, she poured out her whole soul to him who stood to her as the very paternity of God Himself.

That same day her Superior wrote the following letter to the Mother General in Rome:

“This morning’s interview was simple and consoling. His Lordship came alone and said Mass in the oratory of Saint Stanislaus for the community in retreat. The Polish novices sang very nicely,

At that time the Sister Novices numbered about thirty; nearly all from Poland where there were many vocations.

and he then addressed a few words to them all, truly a great grace. We then followed point by point the line of conduct drawn up by Our Lord so clearly and with such love. How faithful His Heart has been to us! His Lordship in a most fatherly and kind way—Father Boyer had prepared him for what was to come—saw Josefa privately for about forty minutes. . . . After the interview he kindly told us how moved he had been by the artless candor of the child who had talked to him without the slightest pose, in her picturesque French, but as one full of God. He took away with him the words personally addressed to him on June 11th and 12th, and asked us to pray very much, telling us that he intended to enter fully into God’s plans. He will certainly return before November. . . . But what reassur ance and peace this first visit has left to us!”
Once again Our Lord’s words had been literally fulfilled. “I will do all,” He had said.

Josefa was to see the Bishop again several times. Mgr. Durfort had become and remained a sure support to her to the end of her life. He read all her notes and was good enough to interrogate and encourage her.

From his hands she received the last anointing, and he presided when she made her final vows of Religious Profession. More than that, he spoke with her and blessed her several times in those last hours before her death, and when her offering had been consummated, it was he who performed the last rites over her body.

But for the moment, her divine Master seemed jealous of her humility and her complete obscurity. These few hours of respite were meant only to tide over a grave and important step, and already on the third day of the retreat, Monday, September 3rd, dark night once more enveloped Josefa’s soul. Dryness, abandonment, desolation, temptations to despair . . . nothing was spared her . . . and it was in this state of suffering that she continued to follow the Spiritual Exercises. . . . Her little notebook has but one more record, a cry of anguish: “Sixth day: I have lost my Jesus. . . . How have I made this retreat? . . . God knows!”

Yes, surely, He knew, and it was through such sufferings that Love’s work was accomplished, and His victim’s whole-burnt offering consummated. By His permission she descended to the very depths of human destitution of spirit . . . He crushed her under the weight of divine severity. He made her realize most vividly her approaching death, the emptiness of her life, the overwhelming responsibility of the graces which she had received, and all the while He reduced her to complete helplessness, and brimmed her chalice with an insatiable thirst of love for Him.

Josefa could not express this distress, to which was added the complete wearing out of her physical powers.

“On Friday, September 14th,” she wrote, “I saw Father Boyer and he helped me to regain confidence, although I am suffering much because I cannot love Jesus as I long to. But I am at peace, for I expect nothing of myself, but everything from His merits and mercy.”

The infinitely compassionate Heart of Jesus who had all along sustained and upheld her, though unfelt and unknown by her, suddenly appeared to her on the morning of September 18th.

“During my thanksgiving,” she wrote that Tuesday, “I was adoring and loving Him by the Heart of His Mother, since I myself can do nothing, when suddenly I saw Him in His beauty, His Heart aflame. With incomparable sweetness He said to me: ‘Come, Josefa—draw near this furnace of love. Bring to It all your miseries that they may be consumed in Its fires.’

“I asked Him to have pity on me, for every day I grow more unworthy, not only of His graces, but of His pardon and of His mercy.

“ ‘Why fear? The more miseries I find in you, the more love you will find in Me.’

“Then I told Him all my longings . . . and my sins, too, that He may forgive them.

“ ‘I know your wretchedness, Josefa,’ He said, ‘and I take on Myself to make reparation for it; you on your part, make reparation for souls.’ ”

So convinced was she of her unworthiness and nothingness that it came as a surprise to her to find that He still counted on her cooperation. “Have I not told you that I have taken charge of everything? I will make reparation for you, and you for souls.”

After He had revivified her confidence, and once again directed her eyes towards the vast horizon of souls, He told her that He had a new mission to entrust to her:

“Listen attentively,” He said. “I have several things to tell you for the Bishop and for your Mother General. . . . No doubt you are unworthy to be the messenger of My words, but I use you because of My love for souls.

“Meanwhile,” He added, “you know what I like best . . . many little acts of humility. Let Love choose them, and you, be generous.”

On two more occasions—Friday, September 21st and 28th—the obscurity of her path was enlightened by the radiance of her Lord’s presence. He came to make her write under His direction the Message reserved for the Society of the Sacred Heart, which she was to hand over to the Very Reverend Mother General. “I want you to tell her yourself,” He insisted.

These were grave happenings, and Josefa fully realized their importance. They so far surpassed, in the greatness of their design, both her thoughts and even her fears and forebodings, that her own nothingness as an instrument was more than a palpable reality to her. Complete surrender in the blindness of faith was all that she could contribute, and this consummation, so desired by her Master, she seemed now to have reached.

“Let yourself be led blindfolded,” He said to her on September 18th. “My eyes are wide open to lead you, and am I not your Father?”