January 1—After Communion, as I was asking Him for the keynote for the year:
“Prayer . . . At-onement.”
January 2—After a very mediocre day.
“You see that you can do nothing by yourself. Throw yourself into My arms every morning and ask Me for strength to pay attention to the little details.
“Life is made up of little things, you know. Don’t count on yourself any more. Count on me.”
January 5—“The days that lie ahead of you are fewer than those behind you. Then you and I should spend this last period of your life like two beings in perfect accord, heart calling to heart before they come face to face.
“My little friend, aren’t you loved like a very little one, the weakest of all?”
January 17—“You don’t always feel Me in the same way, but don’t let the darkness hinder you from going forward. Humble yourself and go on your way faithfully. Keep going. You don’t see Me or feel Me, but I’m there—love itself, holding out My arms to you. Nothing ever makes Me lose sight of My children on earth. Their ideas and thoughts are short-lived, and so they imagine I am like them in this. But I am perfect poise, the same yesterday, today, and forever. I am the Presence, the loving look. The entire cosmos is cradled in Me. I am this second of time and I am eternity. I am the lavishness of love, the one who calls so that you may come without fear and throw yourself upon My heart. I call. You, at least you, My child, be the response.”
January 26—In the freezing cold train. Valencia.
“If I had another way of bringing you closer to Me than suffering, I would choose it.”
Forty Hours.
“Don’t you understand that the bonds of My union with a soul must be tightened as it draws near to eternity? Try to be no longer in yourself but in Me. You were touched when you read that I was in the Gospels, hidden in the sacrament of the words. But how much more am I present in the sacrament of man himself. Oh, My children who live in grace, let us never leave one another.”
In a moment of doubt.
“But you readily admit that there is a soul in your body, don’t you? And yet you don’t see your soul. Then why have you so much difficulty in admitting that I live in you when you are in a state of grace, even though you can’t see Me? I am there. Don’t leave Me alone. Talk to Me.”
February 2—In the morning.
“ ‘Give back your soul. . . .’ How true this expression is. I gave you your soul; I enfolded it with such love. You must give it back to Me with your utmost affection and tenderness to honor Me who first loved you.
“So when I come to pluck you, beloved soul, give Me your breaking like a fragrance.”
February 18—At the Elevation.
“I am the one who atones. Place all your sins, beginning with the first, on the altar, and speak to the Father tenderly of your sorrow.
“Your little share in any action is your love-will. Bring it to everything you do, and you may expect all the rest from Me.
“Every Christian in a state of grace is another Christ. They sometimes say that there are several men in one. The Christ was all men. He bore all their sins. Be one with Him when He was you, when He took upon Himself the burden of your shortcomings. On earth you cannot understand the compenetration of Christ in each person. He was God in man. His power of salvation was infinite, His divinity never having left His humanity. Treat Me as the most intimate one who not only excuses the sins confided to Him but who takes them upon Himself in order to obtain the Father’s pardon.”
February 24—After Communion I was asking Him to engrave faith, hope, and love upon my heart.
“I do this when you believe that I am going to do it. But afterwards you must cultivate the seeds I have sown.” . . .
March 1—“Hasn’t it ever occurred to you that this or that grace was given to you because of some prayer said for you, or some priest’s blessing, or what your parents won by their efforts, or because of My divine compassion, or the goodness of My mother? Don’t ever get the idea that the cause is any goodness of your own or anything in yourself.”
March 5—After Communion.
“When you see that your will is suddenly going to run away with you, just put your hand in Mine and look at Me and then it will go My way for My service.”
March 6—“You know how cold and sad an empty house is, how different from one that’s filled with youth and life and joy. That is the difference between a soul where I cannot live because sin has driven Me out and the soul that I in-dwell. Say to yourself often, ‘He is in me,’ and love your Host wherever you take Him. Tell Him everything that your love inspires. Tell Him simply, very simply.”
March 7—“Perhaps I created you only to console Me and to give Me a refuge in your heart where you sing Me the hymn of love. Why shouldn’t I have a home on earth? Must I still have no stone on which to rest My head? Open to Me. Fling the doors of your heart wide open, dear little one.”
March 11—After Communion.
“This is the test of your faithfulness to Me: When you are working, work well; when you are occupied with your business affairs, give your whole attention to them. But during the hours of prayer and love, let nothing distract you from Me. You enter into Me; there you abide, looking after Me and My interests. Follow this from now on, my faithful child.”
After an unkind word.
“My little child, be afraid of being less holy than the one you are running down.”
“Lord, I should like to talk with you with as much grace as the first woman when you came to visit Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.”
“But you have much more cause for loving Me than your first parents. I was only their Creator and Benefactor, the one who gave them Light, whereas I am your Savior and Redeemer, your tender Victim, love unveiled. I do more than visit you. I in-dwell you. You partake of Me as food. I never leave you unless you drive Me away. Then find within you heart-melting words of love.”
March 12—“Sometimes you say, ‘If only one could have several lives!’
“Instead of that, every morning awaken to the thought that a new life is given to you, and make better use of it than yesterday. You see how rapid your progress in perfection would be? No, perhaps you wouldn’t see it. But I know everything.”
Palm Sunday—Nantes cathedral.
“Is it a reality to you that I have bought you? Purchased you with pain? Then you are Mine much more than you can ever believe.”
March 25—Aboard the Nantes- Fresne train.
“And now that you are coming to the end of your life, sing your hymn of thanks to Me every day. Because I gave you this life. It was a free gift, you understand? And yet I foresaw all your ingratitude. I gave it to you with the thought of all the happiness that I am preparing for you. Oh, My children, you are My extravagance of love.”
March 29—In the country. In the great hall: “Perhaps I talk to You too familiarly?”
“But since we are on familial terms nothing could give Me greater pleasure. One who understands My desire opens his heart at all times. I have so much love for a soul that its faintest call finds an echo in Me. Don’t be afraid of expressing yourself. Put your mouth to My ear. I’m listening.”
While I was digging around the hydrangeas.
“Be one with Me in My toil as a carpenter. It is not what you do that matters, but the way you love Me while you work. And love is oneness. Give Me the spectacle of a soul engulfed in its Savior, and this will be joy, My joy.”
In a country church, seeing that I was making no progress, I said, “Lord, I’ve come to the end of looking after myself, so I’m putting myself entirely in Your hands.”
“If you only knew what a joy it is for Me to count for something in a life at last. I can make a new woman of you.
“When you were little you wanted someone to take your hand when you crossed the street. Ask Me often to take your hand, because you are always little. Don’t ever think that you can do anything good without Me.”
March 30—“You love our solitude? But I want you to know that if you leave Me for some social duty you please Me just as much. And if you leave Me for a work of love, you find Me. A day will come when you will never leave your Savior and God.”
April 2—Before receiving guests.
“Make everything tidy and attractive remembering that I am the Master of the house.” . . .
Visit to the Blessed Sacrament. I said, “Do I even know that I love You? What a strange love one gives to someone one has never seen.”
“That is the love that pleases Me. What merit would there be in loving Me after you had seen Me? This is the test of life. Pass through it victoriously.”
April 7—“Even by your ordinary actions you can make amends for ingratitude and save sinners. I saved while sweeping the workshop. Always be one with Me.”
April 9—“Don’t think a saint must appear saintly in the eyes of men. He has his outward nature, but it is the inner nature that counts. There is fruit whose rough, even thorny skin gives no inkling of its sweet and juicy taste. That’s how it is for My saints: their value is in their hearts.”
April 12—The Way of the Cross.
“I should like you to follow Me without any stress or strain. Just go along My path beside Me very simply, ready to give Me the delicate touches of your tenderness that I’ll enjoy ‘as if it were all real.’ ”
April 14—“Aren’t you going to enter the period of the long trust? Aren’t you beginning to understand that the words of your prayers have been shaped like arrows, not to beat the air, but to go straight to the heart of the Father who receives them with love? Every prayer has its arrow. Be certain of receiving an answer. A Father, just think of it! If He doesn’t give you the answer you were hoping to get, it will be another—a better one . . . But you are heard by the one who is enthroned in your very center.”
April 15—I was listening to some children playing.
“I love children. It is I who gave them all these delicate thoughts and feelings: complete trust, docility, a thirst for Jesus, candor and purity, absolute surrender and the forthright glance. You must keep the same sentiments with you right through life. For they come from Me and I so love to find them again in you when you are grown up. So find your child-soul again and give it to Me.”
“Lord, is it possible for everyone in the whole world living in our time to be saved?”
“All things are possible through the merits and the name of Jesus Christ.”
April 18—“Ask My dear mother to help you respond to My tenderness with your own. Alone you cannot, you cannot, you cannot.”
April 19—Before Communion.
“Consider the height—the greatness of the gift. The depth—God himself. The ‘breadth—the gift for everyone’ in My Eucharist. And bring others to It.”
April 22—“Lord, have you advanced this work of holiness in my poor soul that I gave back to You?”
“Don’t let anything shake your faith. Look at Me often. Look at Me always. This is the most direct route—the shortcut. You learn many things in the Cleft of the Rock, My little soul.”
May 4—“Today I ask you to keep your mind in a state of naked simplicity, your thoughts rising pure like candle flames toward My power and majesty and toward My love of Father and bridegroom.
“Even if you don’t see the result of your prayers or efforts, don’t let this hold you back. Just keep in mind that I know everything, and place yourself once more in the hands of your Redeemer. Remember this: I’ll be for you what you want Me to be. If you treat Me as a stranger, I’ll be only a judge. If you trust Me, I’ll be your Savior. If you live in My love, I’ll be your loving bridegroom, the being of your being.”
May 9—Holy Hour.
“Today you will be the one who speaks to Me. You see, I’m here listening to you with all My heart.”
I said, “Pity me, my Savior, as I pity You.”
“Don’t you think that My pity is greater than yours? (As though smiling.) But this is only natural. . . .
“You come to Me so that I may gift you. You show your pity for Me by easing My heart, always so eager to give. Oh, My little children, let Me enrich you. Give Me every freedom to sanctify you; can you beautify yourselves . . . alone? Call Me. Stretch out your hands to Me. Look at Me very simply and trustfully. Think, ‘He is great. He can do whatever He wishes, and He is my Father, my friend.’ After that . . .
“Ask the Father to let Me live in people. How could they be said to live if they don’t cultivate My life in them? How wonderful it would be if I were there like a guest, the dearest of all guests, the one surrounded with every attention by night and day, knowing that every little act of tenderness touches His tenderness and that His poverty is often so great that the smallest offering pierces Him with love!”
May 10—Vigil of Pentecost.
I was thinking, “The Holy Spirit must give grace to celebrate His feast.”
“The grace He gives is not just for His feast. It is for always. He doesn’t take back what He has given. How could love ever take away His gifts? Ask Him. He will heap grace upon grace. Simplifying.”
I was thinking of the holiness of the Blessed Virgin, who harmonized with every grace, “Dear Mother, give me a little.” And He answered:
“My little girl, all My merits are yours. They are for all My children. You are My heiress, My child, by the communion of saints. But you must believe this and speak to God about it.”
May 11—When I had an obsession.
“You know what that is—just a fly. You brush it away once, several times; in the end it always goes away. Your little spiritual trials are your devotions. Be patient and cheerful.”
At Mass, before the elevation (gently).
“On the way to Calvary, the crowd jostled Me and I fell to the ground. My robe was soiled and although I was not going to wear it much longer, even in the midst of so many other sufferings, I was distressed about it because My mother had given it to Me.
“You see, I’d like to spare you trials because I love you. And yet at the same time I’d like to give them to you because I love you and because I can see the reward.”
May 21—Battle of Arras. Departure of the Belgians. Battle of Vervins.
“Comfort all those who are suffering as you would comfort Me.”
German invasion. As I was praying for victory.
“Do you want the salvation of the country or that of souls? Look upon the salvation of souls as more important. Renewal comes from humility, and glory from humiliation.”
May 25—“Awaken your trust in My omnipotence. This is what honors Me. It can change the face of the earth when it is matched with the feeling of your nothingness. Remember the centurion.”
May 29—“My grace? Often you do not see it. But it grows like a seed. Only you must make the earth ready for the planting.”
May—On the terrace.
“Lord, of what is love for God made?”
“The will.”
June 2—“I gave you everything, even My mother.”
June 3—“Love Me in any and all of your doings. Where is the one who will give Me the joy of beginning his heaven on earth? Will you? Love Me unceasingly, that is all.”
June 6—The Way of the Cross. I was offering it for France.
“Remember that every event comes by the will of God. See Him in this and it will help you.”
June 13—Holy Hour.
“Have this blessed assurance that the anxieties and toil of the world are not to be compared with the reward. And the reward is your Christ. Just think of it!
“So take heart. Bear everything for love in order to win love. To win paradise, to win the eternal God . . . there is your work. You have seen how ephemeral everything of time is. But remind yourself of that understanding you had of eternity. It was as though you had always just arrived and the earth seemed so small to you, a mere point, so far away and like a dream. Then since you are still in the midst of earth’s battle, accept the loss of everything. You will find everything again, and for always.
“Do you believe in My love?”
“Yes, Lord.”
“Do you firmly believe in My love?”
“Yes, Lord.”
“Do you always believe in My love?”
“Yes, Lord.”
“Then give yourself in your wholeness to Me without ever taking yourself back. That means denying your preferences, wanting My joy and My kingdom of love. It means forgetting yourself and remembering Me—My being—not an exacting tyrant but a Lamb slain for love.
“All of you one: one body, one soul, one prayer. I choose some only to reach the others. Let us be one, all of us together.”
June 19—Escaped providentially in a livestock train as far as Nantes. After that in a good second-class coach with kindly people. Twenty-four hours in the Luon station. Then in a cheese truck with ten Ursulines fleeing from Beaugency. Put down at Curzon near La Tranche, I was thanking Him for all His care.
“One would say You had not left me for a single instant.”
“Did you doubt it?”
June 20—Curzon. In the beautiful fifteenth-century church. After Communion.
“All day long remember that My body has lived in your body. Even your gestures will take on gentleness from this. Bring as it were a spring tide of graciousness to this country. The misery of others is Mine. Give comfort with your little cheering words. Don’t ever grow weary. You know that I’m there.”
I noticed with distress that the enemy had come quite close.
“But who should utterly abandon themselves to Me if not My most intimate friends, My chosen ones? So practice this abandonment frequently in these hours that have struck your people and you will please Me so much, My little child.”
German invasion. Taking refuge at C . . .
“Give Me your trusting thoughts. They honor Me as an incense to My goodness. Haven’t I told you that as you have believed so you shall receive? So don’t be afraid if the Germans come. It will be I in you who will receive them.
“Now is the hour of trial. Lose nothing of it.”
In the clearing of a solitary wood where I often came to think of Him, hosts of butterflies crowded around the purple clover.
“You see, even in nature they all need each other. No living creature escapes from the duty of giving itself. Give, My child; My children, give as I Myself gave. The habit of giving—what an armor of power and joy! This is the negation of self. This is My public life after My nights of prayer.”
June—“You see, there is a way of ceasing to think of your little anxieties: just think about Mine.”
June 26—“With Me, do everything well: the ordinary things in imitation of My hidden life, and the difficult things in imitation of My public life.”
June 28—Curzon. Stations of the Cross.
“Tell Me that it doesn’t bother you to go along beside Me. What you do cheerfully for Me pleases Me more.
“I am in the position of one who fears to impose on his friend and so is overjoyed when that friend expresses his ever-new happiness to be with him. I am not an exacting Master. I am the fullness of love. So give yourself with open arms. You know how little children leap to be caught and lifted up into the arms of their father.”
July 4—Return to my home which I found full of German officers. I understood what He had said to me on June 20:
“If the Germans come, it will be I who will receive them.”
His bust had been uncovered and He was presiding in the living room where the enemy slept.
“Always speak to My goodness since you know it. I am here for you. For your littleness I have My greatness and My power. Make use of your elder brother. Above all, don’t doubt. Seeing in the dark—there is your victory! Being sure, with the assurance of love.”
July—After a cutting word.
“I permitted that in order to reward you for the humiliation you gaily accepted for My kingdom. My triumph will be made out of such wounds.”
“Then give me many others, Lord.”
“I make your garment to measure.”
July 19—Distraction after Communion.
“That’s nothing. Can one stop the leaves from stirring when the wind blows? But take Me back right away into your thoughts, just as though you had never left Me.
“I take My rest in people who give themselves to Me; the more work I have to do in them, the more I rest. And while I’m working in you, if you keep your eyes on Me all day long, my work will be more fruitful.”
July 25—“Be just as gracious toward the little ones as toward the great ones. Make an effort particularly when you are with people who seem vulgar to you. Go to everyone with the same gentleness. You are all brothers in Me. Wasn’t I everyone’s brother? Don’t take your eyes off your model.”
August 8—Holy Hour.
“Don’t be discouraged. There are many ways of advancing, even by your stumblings. Call out to Me. Don’t be afraid to cry if you fall. But let your cry go straight to your matchless friend. Believe in My power. Didn’t I catch hold of Peter when he was sinking beneath the waves? And don’t you think I’m more ready to help you than to lose you?
“My poor little girl, how little I am known!” . . .
I was thinking of my weaknesses.
“The smaller and weaker a child is, the more closely one holds it to one’s heart.”
August 21—“Lord, since all time is present before You, see my desire right now to offer my death as a perfect sacrifice of love and repentance.”
“Remember . . . My very little flower that I coaxed into bloom, give Me your breaking like a fragrance.”
“Don’t be astonished at being fragile; but place your fragility in My strong hands.”
August 22—Le Fresne.—Holy Hour.
“Lord, before I die, won’t I have some inspiration greater than the rest? Won’t there be some more heroic effort? Or am I going to vegetate in my usual petty ways?”
“Take power from the power of the saints. From the power of the holy one. Be one with them. Give Me the joy of helping and transforming you. Surrender everything. Let yourself go. Tell Me often about your great longing. Do you think I would resist? That would be to misunderstand Me. If you are generous, how much more am I! You know the violent wind? The bird of prey? I too carry off. I am the ravisher. Don’t struggle. And because you let yourself be taken captive, I’ll bring you into my secret garden among the flowers and fruit. You will wear the wedding ring on your finger. Your step will be in tune with Mine, and I’ll stoop down to your littleness so that we may talk together easily. How beautiful it will be like that My friend, My little soul. You too will ask Me for pavilions . . . But we shall make only one. And as you gaze on Me you will understand that the suffering that passes leads to life eternal, and you will say, ‘How simple it is!’ Because in love, everything is simple. You will say, ‘You were nothing but goodness and mercy and I didn’t know it.’ Then the veil will be rent and you will have the face-to-face vision of all that I suffered for you. Now you are working and fighting in the dark, in the night . . . But even now you must say, ‘Lord, I believe, I adore You in the mystery of it all. To whom should I go but to You?’
“Then surrender yourself to Me in peace . . . Oh, may I have the consolation of leading My little girl wherever I wish. Would you like to come with Me, keeping your eyes closed?”
August 26—“May the invisible be more present to you than the visible.”
August 27—Visit to church.
“If it wearies You to talk to me, say nothing today.”
“But it rests Me to talk to you, to put a little of My heart into yours, My child . . . So say to Me often, ‘Your little servant is listening.’ ”
“Lord, set fire to France; set fire to society.”
“They must desire this; they have only to desire Me and I’ll wait no longer to come. How long I’ve waited for them! Pray as best you can. Help them. Help Me. Be the poor little stone that no one notices, the one that lets loose the avalanche that fills the abyss.”
August 29—Holy Hour.—“Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit present in me.”
“Even if you were to do nothing but repeat this wish for the whole hour, you would not have wasted your time, since not one of your prayers goes unheard. If people only knew how attentive the Father is to the actions and words of His little children; for in fact many of them remind Him of His only Son toiling on earth.
“The Holy Trinity is in each one of you, more or less according to the room that you allow It, for, as you know, God never forces anyone. He asks and waits. And when you are faithful, you are sure of the joy—I was going to say the celestial joy—that it gives heaven. Keep this thought always before you: it is when you are living on earth that I enjoy you, My beloved faithful ones. But in heaven it will be you who will enjoy Me.
“My little children, consider My simplicity and how easy it is for you to please Me. It means only doing everything that you do as well as you can for My love’s sake, in order to grow, to advance, to go higher. Hold out your two weak arms to me. I’ll help you. We’ll do the work together in unequal shares. It is for the Father to shoulder the heavier end of things. And if the little child fixes his eyes lovingly on the Father’s eyes, the painful task will seem so little. A look of love . . . what power for you! What joy for Me! Anyone who loves Me has the right to see Me. Even if you loved Me each day with a heroic love, it would be so little compared with the love you will have for Me throughout all eternity. Then love Me continually. Tell Me about it and live your love-of-Me. I’ll receive it day by day, new in your heart and ever new for Me. Do I ever grow weary of you?”
September 12—Le Fresne. Holy Hour.
“Never drink your cup of pleasure to the last drop. Keep a little for Me as a sacrifice—My part—you understand what I mean? Since in secret we are together in everything. If you took it all, what would I have? You would be alone with yourself. ‘May God be with you!’ Otherwise you force Me to stand by and watch you without merging with you. Oh, this desire of My eternal love for oneness. I begin My life on earth again with each one of you—My life wedded to yours—if you want to invite Me. You remember how I walked with the disciples of Emmaus? . . . I do this for you. I walk along the same path with you, the path that I chose for you from all eternity—in this family, in this country where you live. It is I who placed you there with a special love. So live there, full of faith, remembering that there is where you will win heaven, where you will win eternal love for this brief moment in time . . . So pass through this life with the great desire to respond to all My tenderness and with constant impatience to know Me at last—to know Me, your loving Savior. Haven’t you always been a thought in My eternal mind? It would be only just for yours to be filled with Me, My poor little children, so often ungrateful.”
“Lord, can we always make amends, even for the faults that we are not aware of, but that Your sensitivity sees?”
“Don’t you know that because of My compassion a single act of perfect love atones for a whole lifetime? That one humble and tender look from you pierces My heart with love? That I am sensitive to every cry of your hearts?
“Sometimes I stand at the door waiting even before you call Me. Do you remember this or that danger you escaped? And you believed it all happened by itself. Nothing happens by itself. So never lose sight of My watchful, kindly providence. And thank Me for My invisible care. My love loves to plan for you and does everything for your good.
“In this hour of agony for your country, see My infinite quest for souls. I am like a hunter who would let himself be wounded to death in order to lure His coveted prey. I am the one who has caught the leprosy from the leper He loves. I have suffered all things, for I have known all things. I have atoned for everything. I, the pure one, by My blood that flowed drop by drop. Then let no one be afraid to come to Me. The greatest sinner will know the joy of being pressed to My wide-open heart. But let him come without any fear; it’s easy enough if he keeps his mind on Me rather than on himself . . . And it will be his path of peace. Go with your prayerfulness and find sinners for Me. Go and seek them.”
September 14—“Live in My heart. You’ve discovered the warm nest of the golden-crested wren, hidden in your acacia tree? It’s within reach of any hand, but invisible.
“Invite the angels to help you in your upward climb. So great is My longing to have you come nearer. I have so much to say to you, so much to give you . . . Come. Nearer, always nearer . . .”
September 19—Holy Hour.
. . . “A presence . . . How much there is in a presence! You do everything—work, prayers, thinking, talking—just as though I were there, and I actually am there. Don’t you find this infinitely wonderful? When you wake up, I’m there. When you rest, I’m there. So you can say, ‘He never leaves Me alone.’ This is what makes your solitude divine.
“After the death of your faithful maid, you remember how you hesitated at the thought of being waited on again? I invited you to remain alone; I said, ‘Would you love Me enough to do this?’ And now you regret nothing, do you? Together we have gone through the years, the evenings of solitude.
“You tried to come closer to God and I helped you, for you were able to unite your aloneness with Mine. Have you ever known the desert—the forty days, the nights when I escaped from everyone to pray before My Father? And among the crowds have you known the vast solitude of not being understood, of hostility, of hate, of rejected friendship? It was all for My children—for you, My child. And later there was the solitude of the Garden of Gethsemane. The solitude of churches for My Eucharist, and of the hearts who forget Me after receiving Communion. Oh, may the warm and faithful thoughts of My friends come unceasingly to comfort Me! And I shall comfort them when they fall asleep to awaken in that other Life.
“It’s a strange thing, isn’t it, that a creature can comfort his God. And yet this is a fact. My love reverses the roles, inventing a new way for people to reach Me, by allowing them to give Me a protecting tenderness. So great is My need of all your ways of loving, all your ways of being tender.”
September 21—“To offer a sacrifice doesn’t mean that you won’t feel the pain of it; on the contrary, the pain will return many times to stir up its bitter waters. But at each new tide of distress, come back again to Me in a spirit of sacrifice, and a rainbow of blessings will light up the earth. So many things are invisible to you. They emanate from your actions like a healing aureole. You know how evil tends to spread and gain ground? Then why should I not give love the blessed and all-victorious wings of light. Who can stop the flight of good from soul to soul right to the very end of the world? Will you ever know the consequence of one or another of these lines read through the lens of My love? Yes, ask Me that everyone may find joy and comfort in them. Can I deprive Myself of giving you anything?”
Holy Hour.
“See how important the sun’s rays are for the things of the earth. Will people ever understand that God is their life-giving sun, the great Enchanter of all their days, the unique goal of their existence?
“Keep in mind this prayer, ‘Lord, deliver me from anxiety about trifles!’ Everything is insignificant apart from God whose life in you should daily seek to increase. In the next life you will ask yourself, ‘How could I ever remain a single instant without loving Him?’
“With your merit in mind, I wanted you to seek Me in the darkness and to discover Me again in the half-light. Light untold will be for later on. Didn’t I Myself pass through dark hours when My divinity seemed to drift apart from My humanity? How I fraternized with you, taking upon Myself all your weaknesses, My poor little ones. I was indeed ‘a man’ among men. And even before My passion, I knew what suffering was. I loved it for the love of you, My children. Love it for love of Me. I’ll transform it into transformations for others, and into glory for you, since you find everything again in heaven. So take courage for suffering, My little children. There are some people who can’t do without suffering, so deeply have they experienced how it brings them close to Me. Although I love you unceasingly, I look with special love upon My children who suffer. My look is more tender, more affectionate than that of a mother. Of course . . . isn’t it I who made the heart of a mother?
“Then turn your sorrowful eyes upon Me. Show Me your suffering, My dear little ones. You are already in My heart even though you thought you were so far from Me, so far. Day by day, try to find Me in you, and there, like very little children, give Me the marks of tenderness that you would give to a mother or a beloved father. How happy you will be when you have acquired this habit. How sweet your life will become!
“And I’ll bless you, because you will at last have responded to My call . . . the call of the one who stood at the door listening to the life stirring in the house, and wondered whether it would welcome Him or not. For if He stands outside waiting, it is because He knows that He may be driven away. Sometimes they don’t even want Him to wait. They say, ‘Never will You come under my roof.’ As though He were an evil-doer, He who died for love of them . . . But when they say, ‘Come in, and stay with us,’ then this poor, lonely one knows the joy He describes as ‘His delight to be with the children of men.’
“This is something unknown to you, but God knows it. And you will learn later on how much delight you have given your Savior . . .”
Visit. I said, “Lord, I love You.”
“Say it again, so that it may chime once more on My ear. Prolong its vibration like music. Never shall I grow weary of listening. Tell Me why you love Me and how this love began; tell Me all that you want to do for My love. Of course, I know all about it, but to hear it from you is a joy to Me, like a story ever new.”
After lunch. In the heat, I lay down for a rest.
“Rest with My moments of rest. If you were not one with Me, it would be better for you to be breaking stones on the Sahara road if such toil would tighten the bonds of our union.
“As I often tell you, no matter what you may be doing, it is this love-oneness that you bring to it that alone gives it value.”
September 30—Visit.
“Of course you often have to be busy with material things during the day. But do even these common tasks with Me, near Me, because I did them too when I was on earth, and because I am here. I never leave you . . .
“Give Me everything with your will firmly intent on pleasing Me. How astonished you will be when you discover your treasures. It takes only tiny little stones to make flowers in magnificent mosaic floorings.”
October 11—Holy Hour.
“You, who are there, I want to ask that You be loved by everyone. I should be so happy, Lord!”
“Not only ask Me, but offer all that you do for this. Nothing could bring Me more balm, for although it may seem strange to you, there is grace that I cannot give unless you ask Me for it.
“This grace is the work of two—your Christ and man. You know how much I love to be one with you. We each have our share, and since I never impose on you, you must invite Me; you must make Me act with you. In this way I live My life again on earth.
“That is why I sometimes say to you, ‘My little girl, continue Me.’ Your life is a gift from me; give it to Me in all your actions. Don’t you feel the greatness of it—to make God live. And it’s so simple. If you only knew!
“Just imagine what it would be like if at this moment all the people on the earth let Me live in them by grace. What a spectacle for heaven! Because you are all performing before the angels and saints. (As though smiling.) You see, you are still on the stage . . .
“If you thought about this, how much more effort you would make to do everything perfectly. And if you remembered that I never let you out of my sight—that this is a reality—wouldn’t you be more careful? Wouldn’t you love Me a little more?
“My poor little ones, don’t neglect anything that can increase your tenderness. In that alone lies your happiness. As soon as a truth or a thought touches you, keep it in your soul the day long and look at it as though you were seeing Me in a mirror.
“Call Me very often. Isn’t an earthly father happy when his little one calls him? Sometimes he doesn’t answer, so that the child will call again. You remember My seeming refusal of the Canaanite woman? I wanted to lead her to her beautiful answer so full of humility . . . And so if I seem not to hear you, call Me again and you will give Me joy.
“I’m always eager for you—above all for My very little ones, My very poor ones. The weakest are already right inside My heart. Oh, happy unfortunate ones!”
October 17—Holy Hour. Feast of Saint Margaret Mary.
. . . “How grateful I am to those who console Me for the refusal of others and to those who call Me and long for Me. Yearn for Me often; I was going to say always, so eagerly does My heart wait for you. My handmaid Margaret Mary knew this and made Me happy, for it was as though our two hearts were living together. O My Gabrielle, let us have the same home on earth, since we shall have the same one in heaven!
“Let us begin heaven. It would be such balm for Me. Do you want to give joy to your Savior-God? Then let your thoughts forever turn to Me. . . .
“Hide Me in your heart as though in this way you could save Me from wounding insults. For I receive them, above all in My Holy Eucharist. There, in your heart, thank Me, adore and console Me. Tell Me about yourself as I so often tell you about Myself, My little girl. Be very little; the smaller you are, the more your great friend will in-dwell you.”
October 20—23rd Sunday after Pentecost.
“Jesus turning around, saw her, and said to her, ‘Be of good heart.’ ”
“I turned round for you too, for I had already passed by. And you had not noticed. Now that you have recognized Me, don’t let Me ever pass by without taking hold of Me. I do not always turn round.”
October 24—Holy Hour.
“Allow me, Lord, to console You in Your agony as though I had been created for that alone.”
“Direct everything in you to this end—all that I have given you, for it is I who gave you everything—your heart, your understanding, your memory. It is I who gave you an imagination capable of stirring your heart. Is it too much to expect that you will use My gifts for Me? When you offer them I forget that I have given them to you. I receive them as though they came from you, and My heart is so touched. If you only knew! I am like a happy father: ‘My little girl did that for Me.’ And I am much more than an ordinary father. But only in heaven will you see these delicate touches I’ve received from my children.
“Let this encourage you to live very close to Me, to find life impossible without Me. Let Me share everything. Disappear ceaselessly in My heart. And be sure that I’ll replace you. Always act as though you saw Me, for I am really there. And aware of the great yearning, the intense thirst that I have for souls, surrender yourself unceasingly as though it were for the first time. For Me, it will always be like a first joy to receive you.
“Don’t get the idea that it is the greatest number of prayers that touches your God. It’s the way you speak to Him. Be irresistible in love, abandonment, and humility. And when you ask Him for bread, He will not give you a stone, but a double portion . . . When you tidy your house, think that it is Mine and you will make it more beautiful. When you prepare your meals think that it is to honor Me. And when you rest your body, think that it is My body, My friend; and this is the reality, since all that you have is first Mine, isn’t it? You will see Me everywhere. I’ll be your host and your guest, the one who receives and the one received. The one who has taken your heart and asks the free gift of it. Two lives in one.”
October—After Communion. Notre Dame. Nantes.
“You remember when I called you in C’s little chapel, how you wished that there were a chapel in every house. You didn’t know then that I was in you, that there was no sanctuary more secret than that of your heart. You do not even need to open a door, just a look, a longing, and you are at My feet. There I will tell you, ‘Climb higher. Rest on My heart, My friend, My chosen one, and breathe the air of the mountain peaks to take strength for a new upsoaring, My frail little child.’ ”
November 4—Nantes. Recreation time.
“Do you at last believe with all your heart that I created you in order to make you eternally happy? It was out of pure love that I made you—not for My own interest but for yours: to give you infinite bliss.
“O thank Me for your creation. Turn your life toward Me. Never cease to look at My love enfolding you; and feeling loved, love Me.
“You know how much more intensely one loves when one feels loved. It’s like an animated conversation. Only in this one there is no need for any words. We love; that’s all. And I am so much yours that you don’t even feel that I come down or that you rise up, but it seems quite simple to you that we talk to each other on the same level, share as equals, even exchange our two hearts, since for bridegroom and bride everything is in common, and although you give yourself utterly, you keep your personality and only enhance it the more.”
November 6—Holy Hour.
“Take care in setting down My words so that what springs from My heart will be light and joy, easy to capture. I have so great a desire to give Myself. If you only knew the effort it was for Me—not to give to you, but to refrain from giving . . . That is why your requests relieve Me. My heart is a fire that suffers when its consuming flame is diminished. Fan it. Fan it. The conquest of the whole world is not too great for My fire. Ask without any fear of exaggerating. Do you feel the warmth of My zeal for you? Who will help Me in this work, if not you, My intimate friends?
“We are as though in a secret upper room where our merits, united before the Father, can reach out for this or that people, for this or that nation, before the end of time.
“Multiply your sacrifices. Two or three a day are not many, but united with Mine—can you imagine what a fortune that would be? . . . To pray is itself a sacrifice like the smoke rising toward heaven from the holocaust. You can pray by working and you can take a rest from praying by singing to Me. Then, just look at Me in the silence, in this silence laden with the love that is worth more than whole Rosaries that you recite mechanically. Oh, these ways of yours of approaching your Savior and God who is waiting for you . . . Waiting for you! Then if you didn’t come, how could He downflow His grace that is like a burden upon Him. And when your day has been spent so near—within My very aura, so to speak, what a happy day, My Gabrielle . . . You understand, I am like someone suffering from cold who, without a word, awaits the tender pity of some passerby, hoping to receive alms. It isn’t so much the gift that will fill Me with joy as the gesture of the heart. You can understand My agony on seeing the indifference and hatred right to the end of the world. My cold sweat . . . My burning sweat . . . My sweat of blood . . .
“You are the one who passes by. You pass by in life. Cover Me with your love—all of it. I want to be your now. I want to be you, your breathing, and the beating of your heart right to the very last . . . And even if after that final heartbeat your soul has not yet been liberated from your body, I want your last thought to be for Me.
“Try to understand the demands of love. You see, My little girl, I paid for everything on the cross—for everything. I can take as well!”
November 9—I was thinking fearfully about suffering.
“You may be sure that human nature cannot love suffering for itself. My human nature didn’t love it either. But supernature uses it as an instrument to serve God, either for His own purposes—and this is most perfect—or for the grace that we want to obtain if it is the Father’s will to give it.
“And always, My little child, you must be one with Me in My sufferings. To quicken your love-will you may choose some of My sufferings—those of My childhood, My adolescence, My public life, those caused by people’s words and acts, and by the ingratitude of those I loved. And My suffering for the anguish I caused My mother and My friends during the ordeal of My passion.
“Don’t waste one of your precious sufferings. Steep them in supernatural joy.”
November 11—At Benediction with the Reparatrix nuns before the Blessed Sacrament exposed.
“Begin by closing all the gates of the senses to the outer world. Then place Me before your soul like a sure presence. Finally, enter deeply into Me. . . . You can imagine, can’t you, that there were thousands of good deeds in My human life. Don’t grow weary of hailing them, of loving them, since they are yours for the taking. Oh, this oneness with your elder brother—how it enriches you and how it touches Me. Take everything. It was all lived for you, My dear little ones. I am so happy when you consent to accept them. It astonishes you, doesn’t it? This great generosity of your Savior? Then what will you say when you see Him as He is, when you understand?”
November 14—Holy Hour.
I was trying to be one with Him in His agony.
“The last evening of My life among you—how sweet and solemn it was . . . I gave Myself not only to the Twelve, but to every one of you right to the end of the world.
“My child, I was already in your hearts by My yearning for you. I had so great a desire that everyone, everyone, might receive the sacrament of My love, since I came to invent it for you. And I saw all the benefits that you would find in it. But in My agony, I also saw desecrations and sacrileges; I saw what I had done with such love become an object of hatred and loss. What an exchange for the infinite delicacy of My love! And I was alone in My suffering.”
. . . “You who have the joy of receiving Me every day, ask that this same grace be given to others. Say to Me, ‘Choose them—you who know all the secrets of souls—and apply my prayer to them.’
“And if you are the means of bringing one or many into frequent fellowship with Me, do you think that I could fail to be grateful, not only for the glory gained by it, but above all for the joy it brings to My heart. I’ll let you feel this joy reflected upon you.”
November 25—I had experienced intense joy.
“Thank Me as spontaneously as you would thank someone very dear to you. I’m not just a Messenger of suffering as so many imagine. I am also the Giver of joys and I love your thanks, My little children; don’t deprive Me of this.”
November 28—Holy Cross. Holy Hour.
“I temper the wind to the shorn lamb. There are even people like you who show Me greater signs of their spontaneous love when I send them joys. You often recognize Me in them and you give yourself from your very heart’s depths. And isn’t this what I’m seeking in you—real tenderness?
“My agony was the most terrible of all the agonies on earth, as much on account of the sufferings that preceded it as the sensitivity of My nature and My deep insight. Come close to Me. Try to enter as best you can into My anguish of soul. Offer this anguish to the Father for all times, for your time. If you could only help Me save everyone in your time . . .”
December 8—I was at the feet of the Blessed Virgin.
“Here is a way of doing everything well: act as though you had just left the Communion table, and you will see how your interior life blossoms out in peaceful communion with your heart.”
December 12—Holy Hour. . . .
“Lord, there are still these poor girls in the brothels. I wish so much that they would give up this terrible life. Every Sunday I pass in front of the doors so that You, who are in me, will send grace to someone inside.”
“You remember? I told you that when you cannot enter a place yourself, your prayer will enter. There is no sin that I cannot forgive, no soul fallen so low that I cannot heal. You see in the Gospels how some people were scandalized. And I am always the same. My heart always goes to the most unfortunate. . . . Love Me, love intensely. You can never know all that you can obtain and transform with your love on earth. But I know.”
“Lord, I am so poor in love.”
“Take Mine since you know it is yours, that it belongs to all My children. Offer it to the Father, with full assurance of your power over Him. And then ask, ask, ask!
“My little children all down the ages, clothe yourselves with your Jesus as Jacob clothed himself to resemble Esau. Then the Father will give you the heritage of all His treasure. And I’ll be full of joy at having paid with My tears, the blows I received, and My blood. Oh, My little children, My very own.”
December 19—Holy Hour.
“Don’t grow weary of Me . . . I go away and I come back to you. And when I go away, you remain close to Me. Don’t be like the people who, in a season of dryness, flee from me and abandon Me. They don’t know their Savior. It is because I love you that I hide Myself. Must I not test and try My dear flock? Even if everything is dark in your heart, if My voice seems to have vanished forever, think: ‘He loves me and He gave Himself for me.’
“Gave Himself . . . if you only knew what this meant for Me . . . You would need to know all the cruelty of My executioners to understand My courage sustained by My love. Yes, I loved you, each one of you, even to such suffering as that. Then don’t ever doubt Me, for I am infinite.”
“Lord, help our faith, help our hope, help our love.”
“Have no confidence in yourself; expect nothing from your little resources. Then I’ll help you, for when you are emptied of self I’ll be able to fill you. Admit your nothingness.
“And I, the all, will act in you and by you. Put your feeble smallness often into My powerful hands. The power of a Father, a bridegroom—what power, my little girl! How glad you will be that you gave everything back to Me—everything, all I have given you. Give it back to Me with the sole desire of pleasing Me and working better for My glory. Oh, cultivate this desire within you. Let it grow into a passion. Turn all your actions toward this end as some flowers turn toward the sun until they fade and fall. Please Me and increase My glory. Your Christ; never you. And if you forget yourself to this extent to think only of Me, how could I ever resist this charm in My child . . . I’ll give you over and above all your needs, and My glory will shine forth. You know how disproportionate My rewards are to your efforts. What I need is this élan of surrender; you must go out of the door of yourself to enter into Me. And if you do this humbly and joyously, what joy you give Me! I forget the suffering that so many cause Me and I take refuge with all My favors in your heart-center. We are happily at home . . . And there, within your heart I have a place where I may rest My head.”
December 24—I was reading, “Mary had a faith that no other human being will ever have.”
“All that a mother has also belongs to her children. Have you ever met a mother who refused to share? She gives you everything if you ask her. Everything! So grow rich through her, for My glory, My poor little girl.”
Christmas—In my bedroom.
“Has it ever occurred to you that the love your mother and your sister Clemence had for you—not to mention the love of others who are interested in you—was a little of the love of My mother for you? A little . . . Thank her warmly for it. And by your tender thoughts for her, show gratitude for the gentle care of her heart.”
December 29—“Thank Me for your nature, even with all its faults and failings, for this can be a source of merit for you.”