January 1—“The keynote? Faithfulness, with the thought of comforting the heart of your Christ.”
January 2—On my way home from Mass I bought a loaf of bread.
“You see the difference? Bread for the body and the living Bread.”
January 3—Le Fresne.
I thought of the way I had been spoiled by everyone at Nantes and of all the good things awaiting me here, with the magnificent panorama of the Loire river gilded by the intense cold, and I said, “How beautiful and good You are everywhere, Lord!”
“Then why do you have such difficulty in believing in My love? This scenery that you find so enchanting is My love. And that sunset that calls to your mind a bleeding Host. . . . All the kindness you received during your eight days in Nantes and that unexpected opportunity you had of being really helpful—isn’t it perfectly clear to you now that My love arranged all this for you? Then why didn’t this thought occur to you without My having to remind you? You always think that these things just happen. Nothing just happens. I am in everything. And I am all love. Be imbued with this thought.”
“How can I?”
“Look at it often in your heart. By trying, by trying again and again you will become sure. You will live with love. You will never leave love. And when you call Me, you will no longer say, ‘My God’ but, ‘My love.’ And this will be the reality. And your heart will be flooded with tenderness as the soil by a torrent.
“But think, dwell upon love, since this pleases Me. I so yearn for you to believe. What a poor idea you have of Me! Remember that man is made in the image of God. Does a child understand his father? Aren’t there mysterious bonds between them? And isn’t it love that gives life to the heart?
“Why are you on the defensive? Why do you run away? Come!”
January 10—Flu: feverish, dazed, coughing.
“Lord, shall I be able to take down Your dear words today?”
“Haven’t I always taken your inability into account? Even when you were traveling and when we were not always alone? Has anything changed in our heart-to-heart communion? Don’t you find in this the adaptability of a Presence, the Presence of your God?
“Then don’t worry about anything. Come as a little girl who has to be taken by the hand. Humble yourself always as someone utterly useless.
“You remember the joy you felt this week during your illness? ‘Perhaps I’m going to the Father’s home,’ you thought. And your soul was flooded with peace and longing. Never think that this comes from you. Even the thought could not occur to you if the Spirit didn’t inspire it. I want you always to keep in mind your constant poverty. It honors Me for you to do so, and it is the true picture of yourself. You were conscious of it when you felt an astonishing force, and with it came the thought, ‘What is the use of staying in a beautiful home when one is about to die?’ So many opinions change, don’t they, when one is on the threshold of the eternal home?
“Be grateful when you are surprised by a sudden illumination. Welcome this light; make it your own. Follow its beam as far as it shines. It is a blessing from God. You are discovering His love. And how often in a single day! Then is it too much to offer Him everything in that same day? Isn’t it as though you said to Him. ‘The soul You gave me returns lovingly to You with all that You have given it.’ ”
January 17—Holy Hour.
“Don’t you see that faith should permeate everything you do? Faith in My actual Presence in you. Faith in the love that is leading. When you are very sure of the love living in you, what a change in your life, My child!
“You know the difference between a solitary voyage and one with a companion—two dear friends, or a man and his wife? There is no comparison, is there? Well, when you have given Me the joy and honor of sharing everything with My all-loving Presence, your being will be, as it were, enfolded in another being—Mine. So try to form the habit of seeing everything with the eyes of faith. You can practice this many times during the day. You don’t like to run out of wool or thread for your spinning wheel, do you? And you find it easy to make provision for all these earthly things. Then how could you go through this life, so brief in reality yet so seemingly long, without this spirit of faith so necessary for holiness? Faith—the living spring of the fountain of love.
“And do you realize that love is the one and only goal and that everything should serve to lead you to it. A very little thing becomes big if it takes you to love. And an important work is absolutely nothing if it fails to lead to love. O humility . . . contrition—if love enlivens you what power is yours close to the heart of the Man-God! And how could you love if you did not believe in the love living in your heart? My home is there.”
March 21—Holy Hour.
“All night long I waited for you in My Eucharist—waited to give Myself to you in the morning. Why should this astonish you? You believe in My presence in the tabernacle, don’t you? You believe in My immense love? Then put the two together. And when you wake up during the night, look at the one who is already longing for the dawn to bring you to Him. This will quicken your love and give you confidence in My power.”
“Your power, Lord, is greater than all atomic energy, isn’t it?”
“All power comes forth from My power and is nothing compared with it. Even My tenderness is invested with My power, for there is no tenderness like Mine.
“Do you ever think of adoring each of my qualities? This would be a tribute to My glory.
“Let Me profit by the days of your life; they are not many. Prolong Me in them as much as you can. Don’t let a day go by without doing something for Me, for there is not a single day when I am not at work in you for your own happiness. Do you believe Me?”
“Yes, Lord.”
“Then humble yourself for not having responded better to all the loving-kindness of your Creator.
“You know how I love to forgive? You know how your confidence attracts My compassion? Your trust can win anything from My heart. Count on Me. Call Me. Don’t you love your name? I love to hear Mine on your lips. Don’t deprive Me.”
March 28—Holy Hour.
“Why be so anxious about the opinion of others? Isn’t Mine enough? If you are with Me, let them talk. Take your place on My shoulder and forget everything.
“You’re walking in My footsteps; you’re seeking to please Me, aren’t you? You may judge yourself on this desire to please Me at all times. And you may be sure that this does not come from you but from the Spirit who is in you—in your inner temple when you are in grace. Then could you find cause for anything else but humility?
“Seize upon every opportunity of keeping silent and give Me this silence just as though you were picking a flower for Me. Oh, this beautiful silence full of peace, humility, serenity, and intimacy with God! How much you can obtain in these blessed moments!
“And then there is the silencing of your thoughts and memories.”
“This inner silence is not easy.”
“Try. If you don’t succeed one way, find another. You remember the branch of the tree that you couldn’t cut down in your garden until you tried cutting from another direction? It fell by itself then. But it takes patience. Never think you have fully succeeded.
“Aim to the best of your ability. Isn’t it for God? Why should you give up? My very little girl, you must begin to be happy to suffer for Me. You know that I was happy to suffer for you. Don’t two friends seek to give one another things? Would you be content just to receive?
“Take the initiative in love. Above all, don’t lose your smile. Give it to Me so that I may bless it.”
April 4—Holy Hour.
They had forgotten to put back the altar covering. In thought I made a mantle for Him with my arms.
“If you cover Me like that this evening you may be sure that in heaven where the evenings are eternal mornings, I shall offer you this same mantle, and its folds will shelter our secret conversations. Do you think that My gifts come to an end with your life on earth? Don’t you expect to receive new ones, still more powerful ones? Then long for them and increase your faith by looking forward to them.”
“Lord, I think You give me all I need for my salvation.”
“And suppose I wish to overflow you, to overflow Myself? If, relying on My power, you expect more than you ask or think, could anyone restrain My generosity? Don’t you believe rather that My infinite heart loves to give infinitely? That’s the divine principle, isn’t it?
“Prepare your soul as you prepare your garden. You turn over the soil and bury the weeds. Come the sun and the rain, the new flowers—the ones you weren’t expecting, the ones you hadn’t thought of. That’s how it will be for your soul. And once again you will say, ‘There is nothing of me. Everything comes from Him.” For everything always comes from Me. Just look back over your life; don’t you see My face in this or that event? And that other one, that took you to a place where you had not thought of going, wasn’t that also to your measure? It was heavy, I know, but you could bear the weight.
“Don’t be afraid of anything. Death? Of course not. You will receive the grace to clothe yourself in death. You will enter into it as you enter into a task received from Me, I helping you as always. You know what actual grace is—what you call ‘grace for the moment?’ I am grace. When you are with Me, are you afraid? Didn’t I always say to My apostles after the resurrection, ‘Don’t be afraid!’ My little girl, if you were afraid I should be hurt.”
April 11—“Have faith. Everything becomes simple then. It will be simple to love Me, simple to serve Me, simple to be happy to suffer for Me. Believing is almost the same as seeing. To see Me! . . . What progress, what riches to exploit, when you speak to Me, when you tell Me that you love Me.
“The proof of your love for God is the affectionate care you take of your neighbor. Be sure that you see Me in him, that you charm Me when you charm him. This will keep you humble beside him. Always be the smallest. Think of the size of the Host. Begin today to do your best to speak to Me when you speak to your neighbor. I expect this of you this afternoon when you get together with your friends. You would not want to refuse Me anything this week of My passion, would you? Begin. I’ll continue. When you were very little, your mother would say, ‘Three stitches on the canvas,’ and that was all you did; she finished the row. Look at Me. Am I not still more tender than your mother? How happy you will be when you believe in love as it is, as I give it to you now, and as I want to give it to you in eternity.
“Hunt for Me everywhere. I’ll let Myself be captured with such joy. How could you expect to find Me if you didn’t search? And when you have found Me, give Me to others. There are people I’m waiting to reach only through you. This is the mission foreseen for you from all eternity. Don’t be unfaithful. I was faithful even to torment, even to public disgrace.
“Look full in My face and try to understand. Enter into the inner stillness. Everything was for My children. For you, My child—like a love letter written to you with My blood and received by you long afterward. But I am always alive and My love is always the same.”
Holy Thursday—Alone in the church near the Blessed Sacrament.
“Tell Me that you are beginning to be more certain of the power of My love, although you know you are unworthy. Tell Me this to comfort Me for the ones who do not believe. You will give My heart ease. Let us make an alliance between your poverty and My riches. Never fail to lean on Me. Have no confidence in yourself, not even for a moment. Where would it lead you? Does one call upon nothingness to help nothingness? Who better than a father can understand his child? My eleven children in the Upper Room knew that, and they were so deeply touched during their thanksgiving that some were in tears. And what about My own emotion! Adore it. It comes from my tenderness. The next day at the same hour will I not already have died for them? For you . . . Aren’t the last moments of a man sentenced to death lived more intensely?”
April 26—Holy Hour. In the empty church.
“Empty . . . but filled with Me. You don’t think often enough that I am everywhere, that nothing exists where I am not present. Think of this. It will help you to reach Me. One thing only I ask of you: oneness with Me. Since we are united in the morning in My Eucharist, let us not be separated by your indifference; it leads to constant mind-wandering. When people are in love they never stop thinking of the beloved, do they? Then what should I conclude if you don’t think of Me? Come to Me directly; I’m waiting for you. Let our life together be vibrant with your life.
“Vary your ways of loving. Charm Me. Be at My feet in humility like Mary Magdalene; or on My heart, resting there like John; or taking care of Me like My mother; or glorifying Me, as in heaven; or taking your place with Me beneath the Spirit hovering above our heads.
“And when you suffer, suffer with My sufferings. You understand? Oneness. Never separation, not even nascent in the twilight of forgetfulness.
“Be alive in Me. I live in you; let Me feel everything in you. Of course, even your faults. Am I not compassion personified? Haven’t I the power to blot out everything? To make crooked things straight?”
“Lord, reform me. I am nothing but pride from morning to night.”
“Tell Me about it every day and humble yourself. It is I who unfold each one of your days. There is Jesus in the Holy Eucharist; there is Jesus, too, in circumstances, in encounters, in happenings. See Me everywhere. Follow Me everywhere. I have been what you are on the earth, except for sin. Be filled with the divine science. Let your heart overflow to those who come near you, just as though you were carrying a vase filled with precious nectar spilling over with every step you take. My poor little girl, enriched by My riches alone, may she be careful never to think she is worth anything by herself. But may she be conscious of her power through My power.”
May 9—I went into church saying, ‘Lord, your little nothing is coming in.”
“Who is anything beside the infinitely great God? And you, particularly chosen to be showered with blessings—you are nothing but wretchedness. I feed this wretchedness every morning with My Eucharist because I want to keep you in My friendship, for I am drawn to the weakest and the poorest. Give Me everything that you blame in yourself, since I am the one who transforms even the ugliest, the lowest, the most vile. I transmute everything into the gold of My glory. How can this be done? By love.”
“I should so much like to do something for You! Even in giving all of myself, I give nothing. What can I do?”
“Take Me and offer Me to Myself with all the trust I always expect from you. Since I am yours, you are rich. You are only poor when you count on yourselves and expect to act in your own unaided strength. How destitute you are then! But if you lay hold of My merits with humility and hope, what a priceless fortune is yours? And above all, never doubt Me. I won My merits only to give them to you. My poor children. You don’t think of this, because you are living in the mists that veil the delicate touches of your divine friend—the touches full of charm.”
May 16—Holy Hour.
“Lend Me your hand to write. Lend Me your voice to teach the little ones the living truth. Lend Me your gestures to love them. And to cheer your pastor in his duties, lend Me your kindness. In this way, through you, I shall be among them, among yours. Your influence will be increased and you will think less of yourself. ‘This is not the fruit of my own effort,’ you will say. ‘Jesus was there with me.’ Say it to yourself over and over again; it will keep you humble. And humility is truth.
“Lend Me your body too, when you travel, when you toil, when you eat, and when you sleep. I did all these things when I lived among men. Make Me live again among them; and they must be aware of Me.
“The grace of God—this beautiful, this wondrous grace—is never withheld from those who, through the instrumentality of someone (it could be you if you wish), leave behind their usual indifference and begin to aspire to greater intimacy with their Savior.
“As for you, don’t bargain with Me, but go joyously to your post when I call you. Say to yourself, ‘He wants me there.’ And with that, you remain courageous and at peace. You remember what courage it took Me to fulfill My mission to the very end?
“Imitate Me. Am I not the elder brother, who sets an example because the Father has confided His secrets to Him? Confide in Me, My child. Tell Me about yourself quite simply. I understand everything so well. You know that, don’t you? And yet, I love to have you explain all your emotions and fears and desires. Would you love Me as much if I were more distant?
“I am your center and your end. I am your circumference. Wherever your eyes may turn, they will see Me. In you, all around you. Everywhere.”
May 23—“You remember the prophet’s advice: ‘Go and wash in the river’? And the leper, finding this too easy, wanted to go away. But his servant said to him . . . ‘Something simple can always be tried.’
“I ask My children for the most ordinary actions: eating, drinking, sleeping, working, your whole day united with Mine in the past, your actions dipped in My blood and clothed in My merits. There is nothing difficult about this; it heals you of your usual poverty and wraps you in the richest garment. Then, My little child, couldn’t you try something so simple? Acquire the habit by gazing at Me as I gaze at you. You love this look of your great friend? It’s like a caress. Always it is power. Like My words. Like My Eucharist. Everything about Me is power. Life-Power. Isn’t that a joy? Doesn’t it give wings to your love in a greater understanding of the divine being? If you only knew who God is . . . And how much He deserves to have you study His unsearchable riches, His generosity, His extreme goodness, His love, and again—yes, and always—His love, for love is the essence of His being.
“When you have entered into the treasure-house of His love, you will stay there. You will make it your home. That’s where you belong. And from there, as from a lofty balcony, you will see life, your neighbor, service for God’s glory from a new viewpoint that will completely change your usual petty opinions. The saints saw things differently from others and that is why they seemed to lead strange lives. They didn’t have the same eyes.
“The atmosphere of the world is so false that it is foreign to truth. So go deep into My domain of love and lock yourself in.”
May 30—Ascension.
“Do you believe—do you really believe in My mysteries?”
“Yes, Lord, I do believe, and they are the source of my greatest happiness.”
“But do you believe to the point of merging your thought entirely with Mine? To the point of living for one thing only—to please the ever-living heart of your bridegroom, to be a faithful comforter for Him? Do you believe enough to find in each Eucharist the food that should strengthen your love? You know that this is all that counts: to make love grow in your heart. When you love Me perfectly and above all things, all beings, all ideas, everything will be fulfilled in you because you will have attained the end for which I created and redeemed you. Don’t be afraid to offer yourself to the fulfillment of My dream of you, as though I were waiting to be encouraged by your burning desires. Say, ‘Lord, make me what You wanted me to be.’ At least form the wish that we never be of two minds and that, seeking to know all My will for you, you take care to respond as faithfully as you can. And this too will comfort Me for the lack of love, the scorn and hatred that I meet, just as I did during My life on earth.
“My child, take care of Me. Haven’t I taken care of you? Tenderly?”
June 13—“Don’t you feel full of Me? Don’t you see how your physical trials drew Me to you? And your heartbeats that you were able to count tonight—didn’t My own heart beat to the same rhythm? ‘It’s His heart,’ you thought. And right away your faith was enriched and your soul became like a watered garden. You forgot everything so that you might think only of our oneness.
“Of course. You must see everything through Me, as one sees a drawing through the architect’s tracing paper. ‘That’s what it is to be a saint.’ Didn’t someone tell you that? Keep on trying. It’s frequent practice that makes perfect. Practice love in order to love, since I reward every effort with a greater grace with which you must harmonize. For we never remain long on the same plane, My child. We are going to the Father, and this means daily ascension. The Father is waiting for all of you. Have you felt His impatience? Don’t keep love waiting. Yes, love. You have the blessed assurance that God is love. Let every one of your thoughts and actions be a trysting place with Him. Poor little helpless one, He will help you. Doesn’t He rule the infinite stars in their harmonious course through the nightly heavens if only to respond to your trust? There is always a response even if you don’t hear it. If you only knew the heart of God!”
“Lord, don’t ever let me be ungrateful. I want to be always on the lookout for Your will.”
“Not by fear but by love; remember that. For it is love that waits upon love.”
June 20—Corpus Christi.
“I give my whole self to You today, on this great feast of my Lord.”
“You know, often it’s the one who is feted who gives the presents. Haven’t I always something to give? You need so many things.
“Supposing this evening I offered you the desire for heaven—a yearning for Me? Yearning is thirst. If I gave you this thirst? . . . You can’t have it unless I give it to you.”
“Lord, give me whatever can make me less poor in Your eyes.”
“It’s enough for Me that you show Me your poverty, since that is what always draws Me to you.”
June 28—Feast of the Sacred Heart.
“Love, rest in my heart. Sleep in my heart.”
. . . “Darling child, rest your head on My heart and listen . . . You don’t listen enough, so how can you hear? And how can we have intimate conversations, not just mouth to mouth, but heart to heart? Without any words, with sighs, with the soul’s breath. What beautiful intimacy, what utter purity!
“And what joy that one gives Me who shows himself as he is, in the hope that his humility will bring Me the glory and love that the world has weaned away from Me.
“You, child, love Me. Love Me for others. Love Me for Me.”
July 4—“Thank You for wanting to come tomorrow morning to my old house, since my leg hinders me from going to Your house.”
“You have only to call Me and I come.”
July 5—He came.
“Why should you doubt? You were deeply stirred when you saw Me there on your little table. My loving kindness could go as far as that. Has anyone ever measured the goodness of God?
“Won’t you praise this goodness by trying to imitate it? Draw power from it often and ever so simply. If only you spoke to Me as often as the blackbird you hear singing from four o’clock in the morning to ten in the evening without a break. Sometimes he warbles sotto voce, but his pure voice never ceases to rise. And he’s only a bird . . . And little children prattle constantly to their parents, don’t they?—without any reason, just for the pleasure of feeling near them.
“You, child, shouldn’t you speak unceasingly to My loving-kindness, if only to be close to it. It would enrich you more than you could ever suspect. Talk to it just for the pleasure of greeting it. Never mind if you don’t have a reason. Ask Me to make My loving-kindness known to others through you. O don’t lose a single opportunity of being the representative of God’s goodness, even if it be only by a gesture. Think about this. Ask Me to help you to think about it; ask Me very simply, your lips to My ear.”
July 11—Holy Hour.
“All this month is consecrated to My precious blood, and you think so little about it . . . And yet, there is fruit for your picking. The season of flowers is over. Now we are in the more solemn time of the harvest for the eternal garnering.
“Don’t be surprised at having to suffer for Me or at being tested and tried for My sake. These are records to be filled out for eternity. You take your place in the sacrifice for which the crown is prepared. You play your part in the unfinished symphony of My passion. Love these last sufferings. They are part of your travel wardrobe. The most ordinary sufferings—heat, insects, unforeseen mishaps, petty annoyances that you offer Me in expiation—are part of the harvest of the autumn of your life in this ever-marvelous springtime of love. Aren’t the seasons simultaneous in the bride-soul where the light of love never goes out? This little light illuminates everything in her, but she is so simple that she is not even aware of it. As for Me, I see. You feel far from Me; you’re afraid that you have left Me, and there I am in your center.
“Just keep your will for Me; that’s enough. Your will in Mine—that’s everything—for My joy and yours. I want you to be completely joyous. You will be when you have emptied yourself of self. Then you will no longer feel the gravity of life, but the gentle and buoyant breath of uplifting joy. Do you believe what I’m telling you? Live in the home of the beloved ones.”
July 25—Holy Hour.
“Don’t you find that the inward smiles I’ve asked for and that you give Me make your life joyous? And don’t you think that your neighbor will notice this radiant peace and find comfort in it? A personal grace very rarely fails to brim over to everyone. It’s the overflow of My love that always spreads out in freshets in all directions. Accept everything from Me, child, as a faithful and docile instrument, ready to echo it all to the whole world with the ardent longing for My glory.
“You often ask that My kingdom may come. Aren’t you happy if you can contribute to the coming of this kingdom? This is why you need to be holy—to increase My glory. Think about this.
“Believe in the effectiveness of your work as part of the universal work of the saints. Think of the ‘living stone’ that you are adding to the spiritual house—this stone that no one else but you is called upon to place in just this same position. This ought to encourage you to make efforts of every kind. Some of them remain a secret between you and Me, and aren’t they the most charming because of this intimacy?
“Above all, don’t ever grow weary of our intimacy. Vary. Improvise. Perfect. Increase. Call upon the Spirit of love to help you. Ask My mother to show you—she who never left Me. Even when you feel good for nothing, give Me this nothing. Didn’t I create with nothing?
“All I ask of you is the will to give yourself to Me at all times, in cloud or sunshine. And I’ll take you into the happy Upper Room of My servants and My friends.”
August 17—On the altar I recognized two little vases that I had offered and that I had treasured as family souvenirs.
“They are in My house but they are still yours.”
August 22—“Why do you sometimes think of Me as a severe master waiting for a chance to find fault with you? Wouldn’t you rather see in Me a very loving friend, ready to make excuses for you if you fall? The friend who keeps watch over you. Don’t you think I’m like that?
“Wake up your tenderness. Live in love’s trust. Ask Me for your God’s science of love, the love He gives you and the love you owe Him.”
September 11—I was weeding in the garden.
“Of course. Instead of thinking that you are working for yourself, why not think that it is for Me all day long. My meals, My walks, My garden, My room, My mending. Won’t that be more tender? Won’t it be balm for you?”
September 12—“Ask Me for everything you have lost through neglecting to harmonize with My grace. Ask humbly, with confidence, and My compassionate heart will give it to you because with love nothing is impossible and My love is victorious. I’ll help you pick up those dropped stitches of your life. You will have light that you have missed and you will find your wedding ring again. Don’t ever give way to the distress that keeps you aloof from Me. Be sure that My goodness is infinitely greater than the sinfulness of My children. If you didn’t count on Me for help, to whom would you turn? Hope and trust to the utmost in Me, and you will honor Me. And I’ll answer every time you call.
“I alone know how to answer you. I alone can satisfy you. Haven’t you felt My tenderness? Are My attractions new to you? Remember all the times you have hungered for Me. Didn’t I come quickly? And although you didn’t see My face, didn’t you recognize Me? Then make short shrift of your doubts. And although on the earth you are constantly exposed to weaknesses and failure, come back immediately and throw yourself into My arms, for I make whole.
“Look often at your friend, your Savior. This is what I expect of you and what I love in you. It is life together and it is My delight. How I wish you believed Me!”
September 19—“Lord, at certain moments I feel full of You, and at others, I feel dry and deserted.”
“You are always full of Me, for in yourself you are only nothingness. I am life, and you live by Me alone. But sometimes I leave you to your littleness so that you take stock of all that you lack and send Me those secret cries for help with sincere and humble tenderness.”
September 26—Holy Hour.
“Try to grasp what I’m saying: I am the one and only End. You are still too little for Me to tell you that the only end is suffering, for suffering, you see, is the surest way of coming close to Me and of being like Me. But when you accept a joy and thank Me for having given it to you, this gives Me both delight and glory. Knowing how weak you are, My providence gave you all these little happy incidents that you noticed this week and for which you thanked Me spontaneously. At each joyous cry of thanks I blessed you. You know how I bless a very beloved friend or bride? I take her on My heart. She doesn’t see, but she feels strengthened and ready for greater devotion to her neighbor. Oh, when you help others, let it be for Me and not just for the satisfaction of being kind.
“Purify your look at Me. Make it keener. Do everything to assure our intimacy. It’s not sure enough, is it? Not constant. It is troubled by strange earthly thoughts.
“I only; your only one. Engrave this on your heart. Remember that everything exists by Me alone.”
“Lord, I know this. Then how is it that I can forget it as though I never knew?”
“You are always My little girl. But be careful not to wander off. Better to stay closely bound to Me, face to face as it were, so that nothing will be lost. I let Myself overflow. Are you there to receive Me? . . . And if you are not there, which of us suffers the most?”
October 3—Holy Hour.
“Consider yourself to be very little, like the little Saint Thérèse, and you will ravish My heart. Realize that everything comes from Me. The faults in your work—that’s all that you should count as yours. Recognize this in all the imperfections of everything you undertake. See yourself as you are—weak, poor, and yet full of self-love. Think of your stream of thoughts and the few remembrances you offer Me, for Me or for My cause. Get rid of yourself. Adopt Me, your Father, your Center, your Source, the one who helps you hold up your head and make all your movements, the one in whom you breathe. I: love! And to remain in tune with My thought do everything for My loving will.”
October 17—“Are you near Me?”
“Yes, Lord, I’m listening to You.”
“Are you quite ready to understand that joys can serve Me as well as trials if you give them to Me, if you live them for Me? If you recognize them as My special gifts, and if you love Me more because of them? And am I not free to bestow happiness where I wish and as much as I wish? Sometimes you like to prepare a lovely surprise and your whole heart is alight with the joy of it. Can you imagine My joy when you thank Me for making your cup run over? And I never come to the end of all My gifts. Doesn’t everything belong to Me?
“Merged with Mine, let your heart overflow at the thought of such loving-kindness. You have only a fragmentary idea of it. In your Homeland you will see it in all its fullness. Such love is beyond your power to imagine, although you have already been dazzled by My blessings. Sometimes you are embarrassed by My favors, for no one is worthy of them. You can lay it all to My goodness and never to your own credit, poor child.
“Hide yourself under My robe all woven of My virtues. I’m a bigger size than you and can wrap you up entirely in it. The Father will see no one but Me.”
October 23—After Communion.
“I am praying to the Father for you.”
“Lord, tell Him what You would like me to say.”
December 5—Holy Hour.
“Come very close to Me in the garden of My agony where My sweat is like drops of blood. You understand? I’ll be less alone . . . The others are sleeping. No one is here. Except My mother, who is thinking about Me. They are sleeping. This is the picture of those whose life is one long sleep where I’m concerned. Indifference. Distraction. Forgetfulness. How sad for them! Even among My friends, a little more fervor would keep them awake.
“Ask My forgiveness if you accuse yourself of any omission—not at My feet but on My heart. Remember that if the mighty ones of this world are honored with noisy eulogies and public fanfare, I am honored by the silent and attentive heart, by a delicate sacrifice known to no one, by a secret surrender, a tender inner glance. It is in this way, very simply, that My children console Me.
“Try to offer Me something of your own creation, as if every day were My feast. ‘What charming thing can I do for Him today? What more tender words shall I say to Him?’
“And in the quietest room within your secret inner shrine, dedicate yourself to Me as you dedicate your thread to the distaff. But this will be the thread of your life.
“Don’t be alarmed when your imagination gallops. It is your will that concerns Me. I died to make your will Mine. Do you want to give it all to Me? Don’t just treat Me as the guest of your great moments, but as the beloved you never leave. You know what ‘never’ means? As often as you think of yourself you find Me, because you are always before My face.”
December 12—As we were going in procession to place a statue of Christ in the theater, I asked Him to transform the country and He said, “Help Me.”
Holy Hour (later)—“Yes, even in your thoughts you must aim at perfection. Get a clear picture of their importance. Your acts and words flow from them. They are the fountainhead. Does one stir up the waters of a spring? Let your mind be like a limpid pool upturned to My face, mirroring the desires of My heart. Could you believe that I’m waiting for your efforts to increase My glory? You feel unworthy, and you are right. But you do not know the goodness and tenderness of your God. Adore these attributes. Love them. Crucify yourself for them. And give thanks. For is there at this moment another home as happy as yours? And not because you deserve it in the least. Well then, since there is every good reason to be grateful, let your heart talk. When you speak I listen as one who is in love, My poor little child.”
December 19—“Like a poor man I’m waiting at your door for what you want to give Me. Try to find the moment when you pleased Me the most today. Wasn’t it when you were little with the little ones—with the greatest simplicity?”
I had a great many rehearsals at the theater and only came to Him late in the evening.
“Don’t you find Me the most patient of friends, even though I am the most impatient to have you? You remember the poor man at the church, so humble, eyes lowered, shy and shivering with cold. I am that cold one rejected by the world. Then don’t be surprised to know that a faithful heart is a joy for Me and try to imagine Me as I wait My turn. Be altogether Mine in this moment given to us, this moment that will never come back again in the same manner and in the same setting—the winter with all its intimacy.
“Don’t be afraid to discover how little it takes to touch Me. I am the hypersensitive one and you can never know how your gestures make music in My heart. Be afraid of hurting Me. Always try to give Me joy and above all don’t imagine Me to be far off. You realize that I’m in you, don’t you? And if you do, why don’t you think of it more often? I was going to say ‘always.’ Then My longing for you would be completely satisfied. I am the same for all people. They are all My children. I long for every one of them. So in offering yourself, offer the others too, with My joy in mind.”
December 26—“You see, in the manger I am like you, so that you may all become like Me. Try to resemble Me in every way. Keep thinking, ‘What would He have done? What would He have said? How would He speak to His Father in this situation?’ You understand? Always take your inspiration from Me. Be one with Me and believe that this pleases Me. Didn’t I come in order to be one with you—so that we should be only one being? Don’t try to shut out this thought. Of course you’re not worthy, but it is My desire. And nothing on earth can give you an idea of what this oneness is that I ask of you. It is God’s oneness; that means the oneness of a love above every other love. I alone can help you find it. So think of this and ask Me for it. Above all, don’t be afraid of loving Me. Don’t you know that the more you love, the happier you are? Because this is your end, the end for which you are created. Don’t you feel that you are made to love Me, so much so that outside of Me there is nothing but emptiness?
“You remember your desolation one evening? Let Me fill you with joy.”