January 1—Keynote for the year:
“This year you will love Me in My brothers. Do for them what you would do for Me.
“If I give you favors of tenderness, it is to encourage you to stoop to make sacrifices for your brothers. Give as you have received. I want to go down to the very heart of your heart and make My home there. It will be simple and habitual.”
January 2—While I was mending my gloves, I was wondering, “Does this count for love?” And He replied,
“When I was planing wood, didn’t this count for the salvation of the world?”
January 4—“Consolations? Give them to others.”
January 15—Notre Dame. During my Stations of the Cross before leaving for Brest.
“At each of the stations you will think about My love.”
In the train. “Be careful. I want you to go up higher. Hide yourself in the Cleft of the Rock.” (His heart.)
January 16—Brest.—On the stage during Act Three of The Old Maid and Thirteen Youngsters, I was repeating the words, “It’s not time that makes a saint; it’s the will,” and He said:
“Do you have this will? Do you have it every day?”
February 4—I was hurt by a lack of friendliness.
“I allowed this so that you might understand what it is for love to be rejected.”
In the evening. “Confess your faults and failings of the day to Me in the secrecy of our two hearts, and I’ll forgive them.”
February 5—“Go lovingly right to the end of your suffering and your sacrifice. Don’t stop of your own will. Do good deeds in order to avoid laxity.”
February 6—In the tram, I was saying my prayers mechanically as I was eyeing the pedestrians and the shops. Gently He said to me:
“If I were just a man I should ask, ‘Are you making fun of me?’ ”
After Communion.
“Change your nature. Be exquisitely kind. Even when your neighbor is not present, speak well of him. Keep watch on your manner, the very little touches. This is what gives charity its charm.”
As I was considering the fame of certain actresses and theatrical productions, He said:
“Let Me look after you.”
Moulins. In the train.
“Desire . . . Desire . . . To desire is to increase your capacity to receive.”
February 8—After Communion.
“The angels had not yet seen God when they sinned. If they had seen Him they wouldn’t have been able to disobey Him. So look at God as much as you can. Gaze on Him.
“Gaze and gaze on Him.”
February 23—Nantes. In the avenue at 5:30 AM, I said, “We’re all alone, Jesus.” And He said:
“Say ‘My Jesus.’ Don’t you prefer to be called ‘My Gabrielle’?”
March 1—Shrove Tuesday.
“The reflection of My soul on your soul before My Father . . . You’ve heard of the aurora borealis in Canada, the reflection of the sun on polar ice . . . What a spectacle! . . .”
March 10—In the country. I was staying in thought with the Holy Family, near good Saint Joseph, the most holy Mother, and the only Son, when He said, ever so tenderly:
“Be the little sister.
“Don’t be impressed by your impressions. Do what you should do.”
March 12—Montauban.
I had a trial after the success of yesterday’s performance.
“That was to purchase the good done yesterday.”
April 1—Montmartre, Friday.
“Be My happy little friend. Speak to Me, as it were, with smiles. So many people look upon Me as an executioner or an inexorable judge. My heart wants to be your gentle friend. What would I not do for those who really want to give themselves to Me in confident and childlike surrender!”
In the metro. “Talk to Me. Talk to Me.”
April 4—“Oh, how difficult it is for you to flow right out of yourselves and into Me!”
Chalon-sur-Saône. “Give importance only to what is eternal.”
In the train. “You are consecrated to Me. Smile always. You remember in one of your plays you said, ‘I’d like to be a smile merchant.’ ”
Angers. “If you don’t listen to Me, you won’t hear Me.”
“Be in Me. Don’t be in yourself. I give you everything that I received from my Father. Give to others exactly what I have given you.”
I asked Him to take care of a treasure I had in my baggage, and He replied:
“Perhaps if you lost it and accepted the loss for love of Me, it would be a greater treasure than the treasure you have now.”
April 7—In the train between Paris and Grenoble. A young married couple were talking tenderly in the dining car. “If only you talked to Me with the same joy . . . It would be so simple . . . so wonderful . . .”
Watching the high Alps, their peaks white with snow, their foothills flushed with the rose of peach trees, I was adoring His power and tenderness. I invited Him to come down into these wild regions, and so that the ice might not freeze His feet, I laid down a carpet of love.
“From now on spend your life delighting Me. You will feel transformed. Please Me. Live for Me. This is the true meaning of your godhood.”
April 14—In the desert before the mirages I said to Him, “Perhaps I’ll see You, too, in a mirage?” And He replied, “Seek truth above everything else.”
April 17—Visiting the White Fathers.
“Ask Me for every grace. Don’t ever think ‘That’s impossible. He couldn’t give me that.’ ”
April 19—In the desert, on the way to El-Goléa.
“Plant seeds: Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit—so that these places may be sanctified in honor of the Father . . . our Father.”
April 23—In the desert. Oued Ouaouseur.
“Ask Me to give you a love for what is eternal.”
“You remember when you were little you said to Me, ‘If some day there is anything good in me, please keep it from showing, and keep me from knowing anything about it.’ ”
April 29—Carthage.—As I kept myself in spirit in His heart I wondered how I should find the time to be as near to the Blessed Virgin, and He said to me, “Be in this heart formed in My mother’s womb.”
May 2—Tunis.
“My mother lived for God alone. There was no selfishness in her, no egotism. Her life was a perfect response to the purpose for which the Creator had fashioned her. Imitate her.”
May 9—From Tunis to Constantine I was looking at thousands of prairie flowers.
“Daily multiply your ‘acts of love’ with the thought of giving joy to My eyes.”
May 10—Constantine. Cathedral, after Communion.
“My delight is to be with the children of men.”
May 22—Algiers. Notre-Dame d’Afrique, after Communion.
“I am the living heart.”
At the station where Christ is stripped of His garments.
“Keep a careful watch on your words. Possess your poverty.”
After a little suffering. “I must recognize Myself in you.”
May 30—“When you devoted a whole day to a dear and intimate friend, do you remember how happy you were? Give Me your times of solitude with still greater joy. . . .
“Live in the home of your Lord and bridegroom (His heart). Do you believe in Him? . . . Ask Me for love. Ask Me, I am burning with desire to give it to you.”
June 8—As I was asking the Blessed Virgin for a conversion. “A soul is costly. It takes time, sacrifices. Suffer for it. Unite your sufferings with Mine so that they may be more pleasing to the Father.”
June 10—Anniversary of my First Communion, as I was looking at some magnificent roses.
“That’s for you, so that you may love Me more.” I was thinking of a variety of roses that fold their petals over their hearts when the sun sets, and He said to me after Communion:
“Fold yourself on Me.”
June 12—Versailles.
“When you see something reprehensible in priests, instead of criticizing them, stop and ask yourself, ‘Have I prayed for them?’
“Get out of yourself. Surrender the helm of your life to Me. Let your soul be lost in Mine. Why do you want to do everything? Give Me your trust and then just let yourself drift along wherever I take you.”
June 14—Le Fresne.
“Talk to Me. For Me there is no sweeter prayer.”
June 15—After a work of charity. “Give me Your goodness; mine stops halfway.”
“Take everything. My little girl, for you alone I would have come down to earth, suffered, and died” (in such a tender voice).
June 17—“Say ‘good morning’ to Me every time you awaken just as though you were arriving in heaven.
“You remember your First Communion? You didn’t dare to move, you were so sure that I was in your body? Well, I am there.”
June 21—After Communion.
“Certainly I am there to receive your praises, but above all I’m with you to serve you. So take what you want. All of you, come and take.
“When you say ‘Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us’ with love, I grant more grace than for a long-drawn-out prayer that you repeat mechanically.”
As I was thanking Him for the day’s songsters, the blue sky, the Loire, and all the flowers.
“You thank Me for My sun, and you do well. But be just as grateful for the dark weather. Everything comes from My providence.”
June 23—I was thanking Him for all the Hosts since my first Communion.
“They are yours forever. A Host received is eternally given. This is the treasure of the elect.”
June 24—Feast of the Sacred Heart.
“All that is Mine is yours. Tell Me that you share everything with Me. Tell Me often.”
June 26—Nantes. Corpus Christi, at Notre Dame. Under the canopy the Blessed Sacrament was waiting for the procession to go out. Few people in the church, the crowd in the square, choir boys in line. Seeing Him come out of His tabernacle I said, “Are You happy, Lord?” He showed me the people and said:
“There are My children.”
It was said so simply, in tones of infinite tenderness, inexpressible kindness—sadness too for those who were not there, and touching gratitude for the faithful ones.
June 29—As I was considering the poverty of my feelings.
“Give Me everything that you can. Go the whole way. Have the intention of never keeping anything for yourself. Give Me . . . I take even your shortcomings as well as your efforts to be good.”
June 30—Feast of the Eucharistic Heart.
“You remember Jos.? What a power of love hers was! And Eltt. and J.? The power of My heart surpasses theirs by all the distance between God and man. Just think of it. No human being is capable of loving as I love.”
As I saw my countless shortcomings, I was thinking, “I’ll never succeed in correcting myself.”
“No, you will never succeed. But we two—together we’ll succeed.”
I said, “My beloved, when shall we see each other? You see me, but I can’t see You.”
“Always act as though you saw Me.”
July 2—After Communion.
“Nothing for you. Everything for Me. Nothing without Me.”
August 17—From the church of Clayette seen from the train.
“An action without an intention would be like a body without a soul. You get the picture? A body without a soul.”
September 2—At night.
“As you begin to act, put yourself in My presence: ‘Jesus is there.’ Then at the end of your action say, ‘My Jesus, I love you,’ and put your heart into it.”
September 4—Le Fresne. As I was thanking Him for His marvelous sunshine.
“If only to have the joy of your thanks, I would create weather like this.”
September 8—After Communion, I asked Him to deliver me from my instabilities and shortcomings.
“On earth you will always have these battles. Now is the time of the Crusading Church.”
September 17—“Sometimes I create frightening situations in order to test your confidence. Give it to Me often.”
Bourges.—“If you have the intention of loving Me when you pray, I’ll accept your prayer even when you are distracted.”
September 24—Combourg.
“Live in My presence in all simplicity, without any tension. Tell the world about My love . . . again and again. Offer Me your death now for the conversion of sinners. Be like Me.
“Don’t be afraid. It will be clear to others that it’s not because you deserve it that I speak to you, but because My compassionate heart needs to do so.”
October 4—“Above all, confidence! When you have an anxiety and you can do nothing about it, just think, ‘He will straighten that out for me’—and go back into the peace within Me.”
October 7—“A presence . . . you know what a presence is. Then live in My presence wherever you go.”
October 8—Saint-Jean d’Angely.
“Even in the joyful mysteries, My mother found suffering and sacrifices. Give Me My share in your joys.”
October 11—Feast of the Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin.
“Mother . . . not only Mine but yours. Throughout this whole day, call her your mother.”
October 19—Le Fresne.
“Don’t you understand that I want to be always with you? Why do you act by yourself when you are in Me? I am your intimate one. Then find it impossible to think outside of Me.”
October 20—On the train for Tours-St.-Avertin. “Grace of the mystery of the Crowning with Thorns, descend into our souls” . . . He said:
“When you call upon the grace of each mystery of the Rosary in this way, believe that it enters into you.”
November 7—Saint-Rambert-d’Albon.
I was praising Him for these touching landscapes, and He said to me:
“They are the outflowing of My tenderness.”
November 23—Calvi, Corsica.—I was alone in the miserable nave of the little church of the Citadelle, near the ruined house of Christopher Columbus.
“My little girl is there and she’s keeping Me company.”
Bastia, Corsica.—“Every day say to Me, ‘I’ll be better than yesterday.’ And then look for opportunities to improve.”
Tempted to give up the work and stay at home. “Did the apostles retreat to their homes so that they could give themselves up to contemplation?”
November 25—Bastia.
“Be glad to be little, since that’s the way I love you.”
November 29—Corte. Chapel of Christ the King. I said, “Take care of me, Lord.”
“I’ve taken care of you to the point of dying for you. So you may trust Me.”
December 3—Arrival of Msgr. Llosa at the cathedral. I was praying for him.
“When you talk to My mother, be one with Me as I poured out My heart to her on the earth.
“Use your feet, your hands, and your breath as though they were Mine. What I want most is to be one with you.
“When you pray to the Father, pray with My lips.
“If you are humiliated, remember that your humiliations complete Mine. One does not feel sorry to be sacrificed to love.”
December 5—Ajaccio, on the Solario Mountain. I was admiring the sight of the full moon and the setting sun transfiguring the milky waters of the bay.
“I am the sun that transfigures souls.”
And He showed me how His merits belong to us.
December 6—Ajaccio. After Communion.
“Don’t let any cloud come between us. If you do something wrong, make amends immediately by saying ‘I love you’ with all your heart.
“Show more tenderness and respect toward your friends.”
December 18—“Humble yourself often as My mother did.”
December 23—Bastia.
“Do you remember when you were little how you wrote in an exercise book, ‘Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth’?”
Christmas—In France.
“Don’t be amazed that I called the shepherds first. They were the image of My beloved priests, My other selves.”
December 25—Nantes. Midnight Mass.
I was wondering why the child Jesus didn’t show himself more as God even in the manger.
“That wasn’t the moment. That is reserved for My second coming.” (End of time.)
December 27—“I am the Son of God. Through Me, you are the daughter of God.”