(1) Instructions, Teachings and Counsels from Mary

(Reader Note: This website only includes selected instructions by the editor. Please refer to the Complete Edition on Kindle and/or Free Audio Book as your guide on your very short earthly pilgrimage. ~Thank you) 

Venerable Sr. Mary of Agreda:

 "In the chapters of this history of the Blessed Mother, I said a few times that the Queen and Mother of mercy had promised that when I should begin to describe the first operations of Her faculties and virtues she would instruct me how to model my life after her own; for this would be the principal purpose of showing it to me as in a mirror. And this great Lady, most faithful to Her promises, besides continuing to assist me by her heavenly presence and the explanation of these mysteries, began to acquit Herself of this promise in this chapter (Volume 1 Book 1 Chapter 16) and told me to expect the same as long as I should continue to write this history.  Accordingly at the end of each chapter I will write down what Her Majesty shall teach me.." 

Blessed Mary explains why Sr. Mary of Agreda was chosen to write Her life history

Read or listen to the complete chapter for a better understanding of these Spiritual Directives and Counsel's from Blessed Mary provided here. 

LISTEN (Vol 4 Bk 2 Chap12)

INSTRUCTION WHICH THE QUEEN OF THE ANGELS, MOST BLESSED MARY, GAVE ME.

“My daughter, first of all I wish to enlighten you concerning certain doubts of your heart regarding the exalted and extraordinary mysteries of this history. Two misgivings have disturbed your interior: first, whether you, who knows yourself to be such an insignificant useless and ignorant woman, are a fit instrument for recording these mysteries; whether it would not be better to let some other person, more learned and perfect in virtue, write them and thus give them more authority; since you are the least of all, the most useless and ignorant.” 

“Secondly, whether these mysteries, which are so extraordinary and never heard of, especially the frequent beatific and intuitive visions of the Divinity during my life, shall ever find credit among those who read of them.” 

“To your first doubt I answer, that in truth you are the least and most useless of all; since you have heard it from the mouth of the Lord and I confirm it. But remember that belief in this history and in all that it contains, does not depend on the instrument, but on its Author, who is the highest truth, and upon the contents of your writing; and in this regard not even the highest seraph could add thereto, nor can you diminish or omit anything.” 

“That an angel should write this history is not befitting; and if he should, the unbelievers and the sluggish of heart will nevertheless find occasion to slander him. It is necessary that the instrument be a human person; but it was not proper that this person be the most learned or wise; for then this work might be ascribed to his knowledge and thus occasion the danger of having the Divine light esteemed no higher, or even lower, than human knowledge, or it might be attributed entirely to human forethought and industry.” 

“It is more to the glory of God, that this person should be a woman, who can rely neither on her own knowledge, nor her own industry. I likewise take special pleasure and honor from the fact that you are this instrument; because you (and all others) will know, that there is nothing of your own in this history and that you must not attribute more to yourself than to the pen with which you write, since you are but the instrument in the hands of the Lord and the repeater of my words. And, as you are such, so insignificant and sinful, you will not be disturbed in seeing mortals refuse to believe; since, in disbelieving what you write, they will not do any wrong to you, but by their unbelief fail in proper reverence for my words.” 

“Although your faults and shortcomings are many, they can all be neutralized by the charity and kindness of the Lord, who has not looked for any other instrument of this work, but has raised you from the dust and manifested in you His liberal power. He has communicated His doctrine by one in whom the power of His truth would appear more plainly; and hence I desire that you follow it up in your conduct and reach the perfection you desire.”

“In answer to the second misgiving and anxiety, whether the greatness of these mysteries will not prevent belief in what you write, I have said many things in the course of this history. Those that take care to attain a worthy concept and appreciation of me, will find no difficulty in believing me; for they will understand the relation and proportion of my privileges to the dignity of Mother of God. They will understand that God's works are perfect; and if anyone begins to doubt in these matters, it is certain that he does not know what God is, or what I am.”  

Read or listen to the complete chapter for a better understanding of these Spiritual Directives and Counsel's from Blessed Mary provided here. 

LISTEN (Vol I Bk 1 Chap XXVI)

INSTRUCTION WHICH THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN GAVE ME REGARDING THIS CHAPTER 

“My daughter, I wish that you reap for yourself the fruits which you desire from the description of the mysteries and sacraments of my holy life; and let the reward of your labors be the greater purity and perfection of your life, disposing yourself by the grace of the Most High to practice what you hear is the will of my Divine Son, that you exert all your powers toward that which I shall teach you, and that you apply yourself with all your heart to my virtues and works.” 

“Hear me with attentive faith, for I will speak to you words of eternal life and teach you the most holy things of a perfect Christian life and what is most acceptable to God. Begin even now to dispose yourself for the reception of the light, in which you shall see the hidden mysteries of my most holy life and the doctrine, which you desire."

"Continue in this exercise and write down that which I will teach you in this regard. And now listen. It is an act of justice due to the Eternal God that the creature coming to the use of reason, direct its very first movement toward God. By knowing, it should begin to love Him, reverence Him and adore Him as its Creator and only true Lord.” 

“The parents are naturally bound to instruct their children from their infancy in this knowledge of God and to direct them with solicitous care, so that they may at once see their ultimate end and seek it in their first acts of the intellect and will. They should with great watchfulness withdraw them from the childishness and puerile trickishness to which depraved nature will incline them if left without direction. If the fathers and mothers would be solicitous to prevent these vanities and perverted habits of their children and would instruct them from their infancy in the knowledge of their God and Creator, then they would afterwards easily accustom them to know and adore Him.” 

“My holy mother, who knew not of my wisdom and real condition, was most solicitously beforehand in this matter, for when She bore me in her womb, she adored in my name the Creator and offered worship and thanks for His having created me, beseeching Him to defend me and bring me forth to the light of day from the condition in which I then was.”

“ So also parents should pray with fervor to God, that the souls of their children, through His Providence, may obtain Baptism and be freed from the servitude of original sin. And if the rational creature has not known and adored the Creator from the first dawn of reason, it should do this as soon as it obtains knowledge of the essential God by the light of faith. From that very moment the soul must exert itself never to lose Him from her sight, always fearing Him, loving Him, and reverencing Him.”

“Thou, my daughter, owes this adoration to God from the beginning of your life; but now I desire you to practice it in a more perfect manner, as I shall show you. Direct the eyes of your soul toward the essence of God, which is without beginning and without limit, contemplate His infinite attributes and perfections. Consider that He alone is the true holiness, the highest Good, the most noble object of creatures, that He alone gave being to all things and without having need of them, sustains and governs them. He is consummate beauty without defect, He is eternal in His love, true in His words and most faithful in His promises. He it was who gave His own life and subjected Himself to sufferings for the good of His creatures without waiting for any merits on their part.”

“Over this wide field of Goodness and of benefits extend your vision and occupy your faculties without forgetting or wandering away therefrom. For, having obtained such a great knowledge of the highest Good, it would be a loathsome meanness and disloyalty to forget Him, and horrible would be your ingratitude, if, after having received an enlightenment so much above the common and ordinary, and divinely infused by faith, you would allow your understanding and will to swerve from the course of Divine love.”

“If at any time in your weakness it should nevertheless happen, then quickly seek it again with all dispatch and diligence and return more humbly to the Most High to give Him honor, glory and eternal praise. Remember that you must consider it your special duty to do this incessantly for yourself and for all the other creatures and in this I desire you to exert all your diligence”

“In order to excite yourself to greater efforts, confer in your heart what you know of my own conduct; how at the first sight of the highest Good, my heart was wounded with love, giving myself entirely to Him in order never to separate myself thereafter.” 

“My whole life was consumed in this and I ceased not to press forward in order to arrive at the center of my desires and affections; for since the Object is infinite, so love can have no rest or cessation until It is attained. With the knowledge of God and the love of Him should also go the knowledge of yourself, remembering and considering your insignificance and vileness. Advert that when these truths are well understood, repeated, and meditated upon, they will cause Divine effects in the soul.” 

Read or listen to the complete chapter for a better understanding of these Spiritual Directives and Counsel's from Blessed Mary provided here. 

LISTEN (Vol IV Bk II Chap X)

INSTRUCTION WHICH MARY THE MOST BLESSED QUEEN OF THE ANGELS, GAVE ME. 

“My daughter, through the whole course of my life is evident how gratefully I kept in mind the works of the Redemption, the passion and death of my Divine Son, especially after I had actually seen Him sacrificed on the Cross for the salvation of men." 

"But in this chapter particularly have I wished to draw your attention to the care and the continual exercises, by which I renewed in me not only the remembrance, but the sufferings of the Passion. 

I desire that the knowledge of this cause men to feel reproach and confusion at their monstrous forgetfulness of the incomprehensible benefit of the Redemption. 0’ what a shameful, what a horrible and dangerous ingratitude of men is this! Forgetfulness is a clear proof of contempt, for one does not forget so easily, what one holds dear. What reason or excuse then can there be, that men forget the eternal blessings they have received? That they should despise the love, with which the eternal Father has delivered over to death His only begotten Son?" 

"The charity and patience with which His and my Son accepted it for them (John 3, 16.) The insensible earth responds to the efforts of those that cultivate it; wild beasts become tame and domesticated in return for benefits. Men among themselves are beholden to their benefactors; and when such thankful feelings are not forthcoming, they resent it, condemn it, and call it a great offense." 

"What is the reason then, that only toward their God and Redeemer they should be ungrateful and forget what He suffered in order to rescue them from eternal damnation? And in view of this very evil return, they complain of not receiving His assistance as they desire." 

"In order that they may understand what fearful guilt they load upon themselves by their ingratitude, I will remind you, my daughter, that Lucifer and his demons, seeing so many souls oblivious of the sufferings of Christ, draw the following conclusions and say of such souls: "This soul does not remember or hold in esteem the benefit of God's Redemption and we are certain of gaining it over to our side; for the soul that is so foolish as not to remember such a blessing, will certainly not detect our wiles. Let us proceed to tempt and destroy it, since it is deprived of its strongest defense."

"Having in their large experience found their reasoning on this point to be almost infallible, they zealously seek to blot out the memory of the Passion and Death of Christ and to excite a contempt for the preaching or discoursing about it among men; and they have succeeded to a great extent, causing dreadful damage to souls." 

"On the other hand, they are wary and fearful of tempting those who have accustomed themselves to the meditation and the remembrance of the sufferings of Christ; for from this source, they feel issuing against them a force and influence, which often prevents them from approaching those who thus piously cherish the memory of the Passion." 

"I desire you then, my dearest, not to detach from your bosom and heart this bouquet of myrrh (Cant. 1, 12) and to imitate me closely in the contemplation and the exercises of the Passion. For thus must you keep alive the memory of the sufferings of my Divine Son and satisfy for the injuries and blasphemies inflicted upon His Divine Person by His enemies who crucified Him. Seek as long as you shall be upon earth, to compensate for the ingratitude and forgetfulness of mortals. And in order to do it as I desire, never let your remembrance of Christ crucified, afflicted and blasphemed be extinguished. Persevere in your exercises, never omitting them except in obedience or in a just cause; for if you imitate me in this, I shall make you a participant in the effects I myself felt." 

"In order to dispose yourself day by day for Holy Communion, you should apply whatever you perform in these exercises; imitate also the other works and practices, which you have come to know of me. If I, the Mother of Him whom I was to receive, deemed myself unworthy of Communion and by so many means sought the purity necessary for such a Sacrament, consider what you must do, so poor and subject to so many miseries and imperfections! Purify the temple of your interior, scrutinizing it by the Divine light and adorning it with great virtues, since it is the eternal God, whom you are to receive; One, of whom nobody but Himself is worthy. Invoke the intercession of the angels and saints to obtain grace from the Lord." 

"Above all I exhort you to call upon me and ask me to help you; for you must know, that I am the special Advocate and Protectress of those who desire to arrive at great purity for receiving Holy Communion. Whenever they invoke me for this purpose, I present myself before the throne of the Most High, and, as one well knowing the disposition required for harboring God himself, I ask His favor and grace for those who are about to receive Him in the Holy Sacrament. I have not lost in heaven the solicitude and zeal, which I exhibited upon earth. Having asked me, proceed to ask also the intercession of the angels, for they also are very anxious to see souls approach the Holy Eucharist with great devotion and purity.”

Read or listen to the complete chapter for a better understanding of these Spiritual Directives and Counsel's from Blessed Mary provided here. 

LISTEN (Vol IV Bk II Chap XI)

INSTRUCTION WHICH THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN, MOST HOLY MARY, GAVE ME

 
 ..”lamentable and inexcusable is the ignorance of men in so knowingly forgetting the eternal glory, which God has prepared for those who dispose themselves to merit it. I wish that you bitterly bewail and deplore this pernicious forgetfulness; for there is no doubt, that whoever willfully forgets the eternal glory and happiness is in evident danger of losing it." 

"No one is free from this guilt, not only because men do not apply much labor or effort in seeking and retaining the remembrance of this happiness; but they labor with all their powers in things that make them forget the end for which they were created." 

"Undoubtedly this forgetfulness arises from their entangling themselves in the pride of life, the covetousness of the eyes, and the desires of the flesh (John 2, 16); for employing therein all the forces and faculties of their soul during the whole time of their life, they have no leisure, care or attention for the thoughts of eternal felicity. Let men acknowledge and confess, whether this recollection costs them more labor than to follow their blind passions, seeking after honors, possessions or the transitory pleasures, all of which have an end with this life, and which, after much striving and labor, many men do not, and can never attain." 

"How much easier is it for mortals to avoid such perversity, especially for the children of the Church, since they have at hand the easy means of faith and hope for attaining the truth! Even if to gain eternal happiness were as difficult to obtain as honors and riches and other apparent advantages, it would be very foolish to labor as much for the false as for the true advantages for eternal punishment as for eternal glory." 

"This abominable foolishness you will perceive and bewail with tears. If you will consider the world in which you live: how it is disturbed by wars and discords; how many unhappy ones it contains, who seek death in exchange for a short and vain honor, vengeance and other most vile advantages, while they do not think or care for eternal life (any more) than irrational animals. It would be a blessing for them if like animals they could end altogether with the temporal death; but as the most of them act against justice, and others, who still seek to be just, live in forgetfulness of their end, the ones as well as the others incur the eternal death."

"This is a sorrow beyond all sorrows, and a misfortune without equal and without remedy. Afflict yourself, lament and grieve without consolation over this ruin of so many souls bought by the blood of my divine Son." 

"I assure you, my dearest, that, if men would not make themselves so unworthy of it, my charity would urge me, in the celestial glory where you know me to be, to send forth a voice through the whole world exclaiming: Mortal and deceived men, what are you doing? For what purpose are you living? Do you realize what it is to see God face to face, and to participate in His eternal glory and share His company? Of what are you thinking? Who has thus disturbed and fascinated your judgment? What will you seek, if once you have lost this true blessing and happiness, since there is no other? The labor is short, the reward is infinite glory, and the punishment is eternal.”

"In connection with this sorrow, which I am trying to excite in you, seek to labor assiduously in order to evade the danger. A living example you have in my life, which was a continual suffering such as you have known; but when I came to my reward all of it seemed as nothing, and I forgot it as if it had not occurred." 

"Resolve, my dear, to follow me in my labor; and though your labor seem to exceed that of all the mortals, look upon it as most insignificant; let nothing seem to you difficult or hard, or bitter, even to passing through fire and sword. Extend your hand to great things, and shield your domestics, the senses, with double vestments (Prov. 31, 19, 21), against hardships and sufferings to the utmost of their powers. At the same time I wish you to be free from another error, that of men who say: let us secure salvation: greater or less glory does not matter; we shall all be together in that life. 

By this false principle, my daughter, eternal life is not made secure but rather put at hazard; since it arises from great foolishness and want of divine love." 

"Who seeks to make such a bargain with God, offends Him, and tempts Him to permit such souls to live in continued danger of perdition. Human weakness always tends to do less good than it desires to do; and when this desire is small, then it will execute very little, and hence risks losing all. He who contents himself with the mediocre or lowest in virtue, always leaves in his will and in his inclinations an opening for earthly affections and love of the passing things. Such an opening is contrary to divine love and therefore unavoidably causes the loss of the latter and the ascendency of the former." 

"When the creature resolves to love God from all its heart and with all its powers, as He commands, God overlooks its human defects and shortcomings and is pleased with their resolve to reap the highest rewards. But to despise them or willfully undervalue them shows not the love of children or of true friends, but the base fear of slaves, who are content to live and be let alone." 

"If the saints could return to merit some additional degree of glory by suffering all torments to the day of judgment, they would doubtlessly return; because they have a true and perfect knowledge of the value of the reward and they love God with a perfect charity. It is not proper that this privilege be granted to the saints; but it was conceded to me, as you have recorded in this history; and my example confirms this truth." 

"It also reproves the foolishness of those, who, in order to avoid suffering and the cross of Christ, are looking for a curtailed reward, one which is contrary to the inclination of God's goodness and contrary to His desire of seeing souls multiply their merits and gain copious rewards in the eternal felicity.”

Read: Vol 3 Bk 1 Chap 20

TEACHING OF THE MOST HOLY MARY, THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN. 

“My daughter, weep with bitterest sorrow over the stubbornness and blindness of mortals in not understanding and acknowledging the loving protection, which they have in My Divine Son and in me as a relief from all their troubles and necessities. 

My Lord spared Himself no exertion and left no means unemployed in order to gain for them inestimable treasures of heaven:

He garnered up His infinite merits in the holy Church, the most important fruit of His Passion and Death; 

He left the secure pledges of His glorious love; and procured for them most easy and efficacious means in order that all of them might enjoy and apply them for their use and for their eternal salvation;

He offers them moreover His protection and mine; 

He loves them as children; 

He cherishes them as His chosen friends; 

He calls them by His inspirations; 

He invites them by His blessings and graces; 

He awaits them as a most kind Father; 

He seeks them as their Pastor; 

He helps them as the most Powerful; 

He rewards them as One possessing infinite riches, and governs them as a mighty King. 

All these and innumerable other favors, which are pointed out by faith, offered by the Church and presented before their very eyes, men forget and despise; as if blind, they love the darkness and deliver themselves up to the fury and rage of those cruel enemies. 

They listen to his lies, obey his wicked suggestions and confide in his snares; they trust and give themselves up to the unquenchable fire of his wrath. He seeks to destroy them and consign them to eternal death, only because they are creatures of the Most High, who vanquished and crushed this most cruel foe. 

Guard yourself, therefore, my dearest, against this deplorable error of the children of men and disengage your faculties in order that you may clearly see the difference between the service of Christ and that of Belial. 

Greater is that difference than the distance between heaven and earth. Christ is Eternal Life, the true light and the pathway to Eternal Life; those who follow Him He loves with imperishable love, and He offers them His life and His company; with it, an eternal happiness, such as neither eyes have seen, nor ears have heard, nor ever can enter into the mind of man (John 14, 6).

Lucifer is darkness itself, error, deceit, unhappiness and death; he hates his followers and forces them into evil as far as possible, and at the end inflicts upon them eternal fire and horrid torments.

Let mortals give testimony, whether they are ignorant of these truths, since the Holy Church propounds them and calls them to their minds every day. If men believe these truths, where is their good sense? Who has made them insane? Who drives from their remembrance the love, which they ought to have for themselves? Who makes them so cruel to themselves?

0 insanity never sufficiently to be bewailed and so little considered by the children of Adam! All their life they labor and exert themselves to become more and more entangled in the snares of their passions, to be consumed in deceitful vanities and to deliver themselves over to an inextinguishable fire, death and everlasting perdition, as if all were a mere joke and as if Christ had not come down from heaven to die on a Cross for their rescue!

Let them but look upon the price, and consider how much God himself paid for this happiness, who knew the full value of it. 

The idolaters and heathens are much less to blame for falling into this error; nor does the wrath of the Most High enkindle so much against them as against the faithful of His Church, who have such a clear knowledge of this truth. If the minds of men, in our present age, have grown forgetful of it, let them understand that this happened by their own fault, because they have given a free hand to their enemy Lucifer. He with tireless malice labors to overthrow the barriers of restraint, so that, forgetful of the last things and of eternal torment, men may give themselves over, like brute beasts, to sensual pleasures, and unmindful of themselves consume their lives in the pursuit of apparent good, until, as Job says (Job 21, 13), they suddenly fall a prey to eternal perdition.

 
Such is in reality the fate of innumerable foolish men, who abhor the restraint imposed upon them by this truth. Do you, my daughter, allow me to instruct you, and keep yourself free from such harmful deceit and from this forgetfulness of the worldly people.

Let the despairing groans of the damned, which begin at the end of their lives and at the beginning of their eternal damnation, ever resound in your ears: O we fools, who esteemed the life of the just as madness! O how are they counted among the sons of God, and their lot is among the saints ! We have erred then from the path of truth and of justice. The sun has not arisen for us. We have wearied ourselves in the ways of iniquity and destruction, we have sought difficult paths and erred by our own fault from the way of the Lord. What has pride profited us? What advantage has the boasting of riches brought us? All has passed away from us like a shadow. O had we but never been born! 

 
This, my daughter, you must fear and ponder in your heart, so that, before you go to that land of darkness and of eternal dungeons from whence there is no return, you may provide against evil and avoid it by doing the good. During your mortal life and out of love do you now perform that of which the damned in their despair are forced to warn you by the excess of their punishment.”

Read or listen to the complete chapter for a better understanding of these Spiritual Directives and Counsel's from Blessed Mary provided here. 

LISTEN (Vol 4 Bk 1 Chap 11)

INSTRUCTION GIVEN TO ME BY THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN, MOST HOLY MARY 

“My daughter, when mortals, having run the short course of their lives, come to the end at which God expects them to merit eternal life, then will they also by their own experience, see the finish of all their errors and deceits." 

"Then the just will see in what consisted of their real salvation and happiness, and the reprobate, wherein lay their lamentable and everlasting perdition. 0 how happy, my daughter, is the man, who during the short instant of his life seeks to anticipate the Divine science, which he is so soon to possess by experience!" 

"This is the true wisdom, not to wait for the end until knowing that end, but look to the end in the beginning of the course, and enter upon it, not with so many doubts whether we shall attain the end, but with some security of attaining it. Consider then, with what sentiments those must be animated, who, at the beginning of a race, see a great prize, which they can attain by pressing on their course for a time with great diligence (I Cor. 9, 24). Certainly, they will set out with all speed, without turning aside or permitting themselves to be detained by any cause whatsoever. And if they press not on, or if they cease to look to the prize at the end of their course, they will be held either as foolish, or as ignorant of what they were losing." 

"Such is mortal life of men, a short course, the end of which shall bring to the runner either eternal glory or everlasting torment as a reward or punishment. All men are born to run this race by the use of their reason and free will; and no one, much less the children of the Church, can plead ignorance as an excuse. Hence, where is the judgment and good sense of those in the Catholic faith? Why does vanity still retain its hold upon them? Why do they ensnare themselves in the love of what is only apparent and deceitful? Why do they ignore the end to which they shall come so soon? Why will they not understand what there awaits them?" 

"Do they perhaps not know that they are born but to die (Ps. 138, 49), that life is but momentary, death infallibly certain, the reward or punishment unavoidable and eternal? (II Cor. 4, 1i). What can the lovers of this world answer to these questions?  Those that consume all of their short life (for even the longest lives are very short), in accumulating honors, or riches, in wasting their strength and powers in the enjoyment of corruptible and most vile pleasures?"

"Alas, my friend, consider how false and treacherous is the world in which you are born and which your eyes behold. In it I desire you to show yourself as my disciple, my follower, a child of my desires, and a fruit of my prayers." 

"Forget it entirely with a heartfelt abhorrence: do not lose sight of the end toward which you run so swiftly, the purpose for which your Creator formed you out of nothing; sigh for it continually, and direct toward it your anxious solicitude; do not permit yourself to be drawn away by the fleeting, vain and deceitful things of the world; let the Divine love alone dwell in you and engage all your forces; for that is not a true love, which permits any part of them to be diverted to other things, or which does not free them and mortify them entirely from passing things, and subject them to the one great end. Let this love be in you strong as death (Cant. 8, 6), so that you may be renewed entirely as I desire. Do not hinder the will of my Divine Son in all that He wishes to accomplish in you, and be assured of His fidelity, which rewards a hundredfold (Matth. 19, 29).” 

Read or listen to the complete chapter for a better understanding of these Spiritual Directives and Counsel's from Blessed Mary provided here. 

LISTEN (Vol 2 Bk 2 Chap 29)

INSTRUCTION GIVEN TO ME BY THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN, MOST HOLY MARY.

"My daughter, from the very beginning of this history of my life you was made to understand, that among other purposes, the Lord wished to call the attention of mortals to the debt contracted by their unfeeling forgetfulness of His Divine love and of mine toward them."

"It is true that all His love is included and made manifest in His having died on the Cross for them, for this was the extremity of His immense charity (John 3, 16). But many ungrateful men are loath to remember even this blessing. "

"For such and for all others the knowledge of what He did for them during the thirty-three years should be a new incentive and spur of love; since each of His acts was worth an infinite price and merited our eternal gratitude."

"The Almighty set me as a witness to all of them: and I assure you, that from the first instant of His conception in my womb, He ceased not to clamor to the Father for the salvation of men. From that moment He began to embrace the Cross (Heb. 10, 5), not only in desire, but also as far as was possible in effect, placing Himself in the position of one crucified from His infancy and continuing these exercises during His whole life."

" I also imitated Him in this, joining Him in His prayers and labors for mankind and in the very first acts of His most sacred humanity by which He rendered thanks for the salvation of men."

"Let therefore mortals beware, lest I, who was a Witness and Co-operatrix of this salvation, be not also a Witness and Co-operatrix in the day of judgment, proclaiming how well justified is the cause of God with men. If on that day I most justly refuse my intercession to those, who have foolishly despised and forgotten so many and so great favors and blessings, the results of the Divine love of my Son and my own: what answer, what excuse or evasion shall those then bring forward, who have been so well informed, so much admonished and enlightened by the truth? How can these ungrateful and pertinacious mortals expect mercy of the most just and righteous God, when He has given them sufficient and opportune time, invited them so often, called them, waited and worked for them, and conferred upon them immense blessings, while they abused and wasted all of them in the pursuit of vanity?"

"Fear, my daughter, this, the greatest of all blindness. Refresh ever the memory of the most holy works of my Son and of me, and imitate them with all thy fervor. Continue the exercises of the cross under the guidance of obedience, in order to keep yourself mindful of what you must imitate and give thanks for. Take notice at the same time, that my Son and Lord could have redeemed the human race without suffering so much and that He wished to increase His sufferings only on account of the immensity of His love for souls. The return for such condescension should be, that the creature content not itself with little, as is ordinarily the case with ignorant men. Add you virtue to virtue and seek thereby evermore to meet all your obligations, imitating the Lord and me in our labors for the salvation of the world. All your merits offer up for souls, uniting them with His merits in the presence of the eternal Father." 

Read or listen to the complete chapter for a better understanding of these Spiritual Directives and Counsel's from Blessed Mary provided here. 

LISTEN (Vol 4 Bk 1 Chap 15)

INSTRUCTION GIVEN TO ME BY THE QUEEN OF THE ANGELS, MOST HOLY MARY

“My daughter, none of the faithful should be ignorant of the fact, that the Most High could have drawn and converted saint Paul without resorting to such miracles of His infinite power. But He made use of them in order to show men, how much His bounty is inclined to pardon them and raise them to His friendship and grace, and in order to teach them, by the example of this great Apostle, how they, on their part, should cooperate and respond to His calls." 

“Many mortal souls the Lord wakes up and urges on by His inspiration and help. Many do respond and justify themselves through the Sacraments of the Church; but not all persevere in their justification and still a fewer number follow it up or strive after perfection: beginning in spirit, they relax, and finish in the flesh.” 

“The cause of their lack of perseverance in grace and relapse into their sins is their not imitating the spirit of saint Paul at his conversion, when he exclaimed: Lord, what is it Thou wish with me, and what shall I do for Thee? "

"If some of them proclaim this sentiment with their lips, it is not from their whole heart, and they always retain some love of themselves, of honor, of possessions, of sensual pleasure or of some occasion of sin, and thus they soon again stumble and fall.” 

“But the Apostle Paul was a true and living example of one converted by the light of grace, not only because he passed from an extreme of sin into that of wonderful grace and friendship of God; but also because he cooperated to his utmost with the call of God, departing at once and entirely from all his evil dispositions and self-seeking and placed himself entirely at the disposal of the divine will and pleasure for the Lord Jesus.”  

“This total denegation of self and surrender to the will of God is contained in those words: "Lord, what do Thou wish to do with me?" and in it consisted, as far as depended upon him, all his salvation. As he pronounced them with all the sincerity of a contrite and humbled heart, he renounced his own will and delivered himself over to that of the Lord, resolved from that moment forward to permit none of his faculties of mind or sense to serve the animal or sensual life into which he had strayed. He delivered himself over to the service of the Almighty in whatever manner or direction should become known to him as being the divine will, ready to execute it without delay or questioning. And this he immediately set about by entering the city and obeying the command of the Lord given through the disciple Ananias.” 

“As the Most High searches the secrets of the human heart, He saw the sincerity, with which saint Paul corresponded to his vocation and yielded to His divine will and disposition. He not only received Him with great pleasure, but multiplied exceedingly his graces, gifts and wonderful favors, which even Paul would not have received or ever have merited without this entire submission to the wishes of the Lord.” 

“Conformably to these truths, my daughter, I desire thee to execute fully my oft-repeated commands and exhortations, that you forget the visible, the apparent and deceitful. Repeat very often, and more with the heart than with the lips those words of saint Paul: "Lord, what does Thou wish to do with me?" For as soon as you begin to do anything of your own choice, it will not be true, that you seek solely the will of the Lord.” 

“The instrument has no motion or action except that imparted to it by the artisan; and if it had its own will, it would be able to resist and act contrary to the will of the one using it. The same holds true between God and the soul of His mortal creatures: for, if it entertains any desire of its own independently of God, it will militate against the pleasure of the Lord.  As He keeps inviolate the liberty of action conceded to man, He will permit it to lead man astray, as soon as he decides for himself without reference to the direction of his Maker.” 

“And since it is not proper that the doings of creatures in this mortal life should be miraculously governed by the Divine power, God, in order that men might not advance false excuses, has implanted a law into their hearts and also constituted his holy Church, in order that they might know the Divine will and regulate their conduct in the fulfilling of it. Moreover, for additional security, He has appointed superiors and ministers in His Church, in order that hearing and obeying them, men might obey the Lord in them.” 

“All this security you, my dearest, possess in fullness, so that you should neither admit of any movement, thought, desire of your own, nor fulfill your own will in anything independently of the will and direction of him who has charge of your soul; for him the Lord sends to you, just as He sent Ananias to saint Paul.” 

“Moreover you are in a particular manner obliged to this obedience, because the Most High looks upon you with an especial love and grace and desires to use you as an instrument in His hands, assists you, governs you, and moves you directly as well as indirectly through me and His holy angels; and all this He continues to do faithfully, as is well known to you.” 

“Consider then, how much reason you have to die to your own desires and live only for the will of God, and that it alone should give life to all your actions and operations. Cut short therefore all your reflections and self-reliance and remember, that, even if you should have the wisdom of the most learned, the counsel of the most prudent, and the natural intelligence of the angels, you could, with all this, know how to execute His will far less perfectly than by resigning and leaving all to His divine pleasure. He alone knows what is suitable to you and seeks it with an eternal love; He chose your ways and governs you in them.” 

“Permit yourself to be guided by his divine light, without losing time in doing your duty; for in this delay lurks the danger of erring, and in my doctrine lie all security and success. Write it in your heart and fulfill it with all your strength, in order that thou mayest merit my intercession and, through it, to be brought near to the Most High.”

Read or listen to these complete chapter for a better understanding of these Spiritual Directives and Counsel's from Blessed Mary.

Read or listen to the complete chapter for a better understanding of these Spiritual Directives and Counsel's from Blessed Mary provided here. 

LISTEN (Vol 3 Bk 2 Chap 9)

INSTRUCTION OF MOST HOLY MARY.

  "I wish you also to ponder, what a horrible crime it is in the eyes of the Lord, in mine, and in those of all the saints, that men should despise and neglect the frequent reception of the holy Communion, and that they should approach it without preparation and fervent devotion."

"Principally in order that you may understand and record this warning, I have manifested to you, what I did on that occasion and how I prepared myself so many years for receiving my most blessed Son in the holy Sacrament and also the rest, which you are yet to write for the instruction and confusion of men. For if I, who was innocent of any hindering sin and filled with all graces, sought to increase my fitness for this favor by such fervent acts of love, humility and gratitude, consider what efforts you and the other children of the Church, who every day and hour incur new guilt and blame, must make in order to fit yourselves for the beauty of the Divinity and humanity of my most holy Son? "

"What excuse can those men give in the last judgment, who have despised this ineffable love and blessing, which they had always present in the holy Church, ready to fill them with the plenitude of His gifts, and who rather sought diversion in worldly pleasures and attended upon the outward and deceitful vanities of this earthly life? Be amazed at this insanity as were the holy angels, and guard thyself against falling into the same error."

Read or listen to the complete chapter for a better understanding of these Spiritual Directives and Counsel's from Blessed Mary provided at the end of this chapter.  

LISTEN (Vol 3 Bk 2 Chap 24)

INSTRUCTION GIVEN ME BY THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN, MOST HOLY MARY.

“O how many thousand-fold blessings do those creatures lose who, forgetful of their true happiness, employ all the time of their life and all their powers in attending upon visible things, pursuing the momentary pleasures and seeking the apparent and deceitful goods of this world! In the knowledge and light vouchsafed to you I would wish, my daughter, that you withdraw yourself from this danger, and that your intellect and memory occupy themselves continually with the reality of the existence of your God." 

"In this endless sea, engulf and annihilate yourself, repeating without cessation: "Who is like to God our Lord, that dwells on high and looks upon the humble in heaven and on earth?" (Ps. 112, 5). Who is like to Him, that is almighty and depends upon no one? ..that humbles the proud, and casts down those whom the blind world calls powerful, that triumphs over the demon and hurls him to the abyss?”

Read or listen to the complete chapter for a better understanding of these Spiritual Directives and Counsel's from Blessed Mary provided here.  

LISTEN (Vol 3 Bk 1 Chap 21)

INSTRUCTION GIVEN ME BY THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN, MOST HOLY MARY.   

“In order to understand better what you have written, you must keep in mind three motives of our Lord in entering upon this battle with Lucifer, and this understanding will furnish you great light and strength against Satan and his followers. His first motive was to destroy sin and the seeds of sin, sown in the human nature by Satan in the first transgression of Adam." 

"These seeds are the seven capital vices: pride, avarice, lust and the others, being the seven heads of the dragon. Lucifer appointed an infernal chieftain over each one of these vices in the battle of hell against the human race, and the evil spirits were distributed into squadrons under these leaders in order to maintain the sort of orderly confusion, which I have described in the first part of this heavenly history (Part I, No. 103)." 

"Accordingly my divine Son entered into conflict with each one of these princes of darkness, vanquishing them and destroying their power. In the Gospels only three temptations are mentioned, being those which are more manifest to the senses; but the conflict and the triumph was far more extensive, for Christ our Lord overcame all these princes and their vices." 

"Pride He overcame by His humility; anger, by His meekness; avarice, by His contempt for riches; and all the other vices, by their corresponding virtues. The greatest defeat and consternation, however, overtook these enemies at the foot of the Cross, when they became certain that it was the incarnate Word who had conquered and crushed them. Since that time they are timid in entering into conflict with those men, who rely on the power and triumph of my Son." 

"The second motive for engaging in this conflict was obedience to the command of the eternal Father, who not only wished Him to die for men, and redeem them by His Passion and Death, but also to enter into battle with the demons and vanquish them by the force of His incomparable virtues." 

"The third motive, and the one that was consequent upon the second, was to furnish mankind an example and a model for triumphing over their enemies and to take away from all men any cause of wonder or surprise at being tempted and persecuted by the devils. He wished that all should have this consolation in their temptations and conflicts, that their Redeemer and Teacher first suffered them in His own Person (Heb. 4, 15); for, though in some respects his temptations were different from ours, yet in substance, they were entirely the same, only of greater satanic force and malice." 

"My Lord permitted Lucifer to strain all his powers in his battle with Him, in order that by His Divine power He might crush and enfeeble hell in its battles against mankind, making it more easy for us to overcome them, if we wish to avail ourselves of the advantages gained by this very conflict of our Redeemer." 

"All mortals have need of this instruction, if they are to vanquish the demon; but you, my daughter, need it more than many generations on account of the wrath of this dragon against you and on account of your natural weakness in battle, when not assisted by my teaching and this example. Before all see that you keep in subjection your flesh and the influences of the world. Mortifying your flesh and flying the world by retiring from creatures to the interior of your soul, thus conquering both these enemies and preserving the blessed light of grace, which you there receive, and loving nothing except in as far as well ordered charity permits." 

"For this purpose renew in yourself the memory of the narrow path pointed out to you; for the Lord has given you a natural faculty of ardent love, and We wish that you consecrate this faculty entirely to the love of God."

"Consent not to any movement of your appetites, no matter in how small a matter; and allow your senses no liberty, except for the exaltation of the Most High, or for suffering or doing something for the benefit and love of your neighbor. If you obey me in all things, I will see that you are protected and strengthened against this cruel dragon for the battles of the Lord (I King 25, 28). A thousand shields will surround you both for defense and offense against the demon. Accustom yourself always to use against him the words of holy Writ, not deigning to exchange many words with such an astute enemy." 

"Weak creatures should not indulge in conferences or arguments with their mortal enemy and the master of lies; since even my Divine Son, who was All powerful and infinitely wise, did not do so.

In this He gave the souls an example how circumspectly they are to act with the devil. Arm yourself with living faith, unwavering hope and love of humility, for these are the virtues by which the dragon is crushed and vanquished and against which he dares not make a stand. He flies from them because they are powerful weapons against his pride and arrogance.”

Read or listen to the complete chapter for a better understanding of these Spiritual Directives and Counsel's from Blessed Mary provided here. 

LISTEN (Vol 3 Bk 1 Chap 19)

TEACHING OF THE MOST HOLY QUEEN, MARY.

“My daughter, I see thee astonished at the information, which I give thee concerning the mysterious works of my most holy Son and concerning my own share in them. For you see on the one hand, how powerful they are for making an impression on human hearts, and on the other, that many of them have remained hidden until now." 

"Your wonder should not be that men have not known these mysteries, but that, having been informed of so many others concerning the life and activity of their own and my Lord, they have held them in such contempt and forgetfulness."

"If they were not so ignoble of heart, and would lovingly contemplate the Divine truths, they would find in my Son's and in my own life, as far as it is known to them, most powerful motives for thankfulness. By the articles of faith and by the many other truths taught and preached in the holy Church, many worlds could be converted. For these truths exhibit clearly, that the Onlybegotten of the eternal Father clothed Himself in the mortal flesh of sinful man in order to redeem the human race by the frightful death of the Cross (Philip 2, 7), acquiring for them eternal life by the loss of his own, and recalling and liberating them from everlasting death." 

"If this blessing were taken at its true value and mortals were not so ungrateful to their God and Savior and so cruel toward themselves, none would lose their chance of salvation or bring upon themselves eternal damnation. In your amazement then, my dearest, weep ceaselessly over the terrible loss sustained by so many insane and thankless souls, who are forgetful of God, of their duty and of their own selves.”

“On former occasions I have already told you, that the number of those foreknown as doomed, is so great, and of those that save themselves is so small, that it is not expedient to say more in particular. 

"For if you have the sentiments of a true daughter of the Church, the spouse of Christ, my Son and Lord, you would die at seeing such misfortune. What you may know, is, that all the loss and misfortune apparent in Christian nations and governments, as well among chiefs as among subjects of the Church and of the secular state, all originate and flow from the forgetfulness and contempt of the works of Christ and of the works of his Redemption."

"If there were a way of rousing them to a sense of thankfulness and to a sense of their duty as faithful and acknowledged children of their Creator and Redeemer, and of me, who am their Intercessor, the wrath of the Divine Judge would be appeased, and there would be some diminution of the widespread ruin and Perdition among Catholics. The eternal Father, who is justly zealous for the honor of His Son and rigorously chastises the servants, who know the will of their Lord and refuse to fulfill it, would again be reconciled.” 

“The faithful in the Church make much of the sin of the infidel Jews in taking away the life of their God and Master. They are right in doing so, for it was a most heinous crime and merited the punishments decreed against that people."

"But Catholics forget, that their own sins are rendered heinous by other elements of guilt surpassing that of the Jews; for although their error was culpable, they esteemed it as truth in the end; then also the Lord delivered Himself up to them, allowing them to follow the counsels of hell, by which they were oppressed for their sins (Luke 22, 53)."

"In our days the Catholics are not in ignorance, but in the fullness of the light, by which they know and understand the Divine mysteries of the Incarnation and Redemption. The holy Church has been founded, spread out, made illustrious by miracles, by saints, by holy writings, by the knowledge and proclamation of truths unknown to the Jews. In spite of all these multiplied advantages, blessings, truths and enlightenments, many live like infidels and as if they had not before their eyes so many inducements to draw them on and oblige them, nor so many chastisements to fill them with dread."

"How can Catholics then, under these circumstances, imagine that the sins of others were greater or more grievous than their own? How can they presume that their punishment shall not be more lamentable? O my daughter, ponder well this doctrine, and be filled with a holy fear!"

"Humiliate yourself to the dust and confess yourself the lowest of the creatures before the Most High. Look upon the works of your Redeemer and Master. Imitate them and apply them sorrowfully to satisfy for your own faults in sorrow and penance. Do imitate and follow me in my ways, as far as you are enlightened from on high. And I wish that you labor not only for your own salvation, but also for the salvation of your brethren. This you must do by praying and suffering for them, charitably admonishing those you can, and eagerly doing for them more than is your duty. Show yourself even more anxious to benefit those who have offended you, be patient with all, and humiliate yourself below the most abject. According to the directions given you before, be solicitous to assist, with fervent charity and firm assurance, those that are in the dangers of death.”

Guard yourself - the number of the reprobate will be uncountable

READ Vol 2 Bk 1 Chap 23

INSTRUCTIONS WHICH THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN GAVE ME

"Guard yourself, my dearest, against those living in darkness and the lovers of the world more than against fire; for the wisdom of the sons of this world is carnal and diabolical, and their ways lead to death. In order to walk the way of truth, even at the cost of the natural life, it is necessary to preserve the peace of the soul."

"Three dwelling-places I point out for you to live in, from which must never intentionally come forth. If at any time the Lord should bid you to relieve the necessities of your fellow creatures, I desire that do not lose this refuge. Act as one who lives in a castle surrounded by enemies, and who perchance must go to the gate to transact necessary business. He acts with such wariness that he will pay more attention to safeguard his retreat and shield himself, than to transact business with others, being always on the watch and on guard against danger. So must you live, if  you wish to live securely; for doubt not, that enemy is more cruel and poisonous than asps and basilisks surround you." 

"Your habitations shall be the Divinity of the Most High, the humanity of my most holy Son, and your own interior. In the Divinity you must live like the pearl in its shell, or like the fish in the sea, allowing your desires and affections to roam in its infinite spaces. The most holy humanity shall be the wall, which defends you; and His bosom shall be the place of your rest, and under His wings shall you find refreshment (Ps. 16, 8). Your own interior shall afford you peaceful delight through the testimony of a good conscience (Cor. 2, 12), and it will, if you keep it pure, familiarize you with the sweet and friendly intercourse of your Spouse." 

"In order that you may be aided therein by retirement of the body, I desire that you remain secluded in your choir or in your room, leaving it only, when obedience or charity make it inevitable. I will tell you a secret: there are demons, whom Lucifer has expressly ordered to watch for the religious, who come forth from their retirement, in order to beset them and engage them in battle and cause their fall. The demons do not easily go into the rooms, because there they do not find the occasions afforded by conversations and the use of the senses, wherein they ordinarily capture and devour their prey like ravenous wolves. They are tormented by the retirement and recollection of religious, knowing that they are foiled in their attempts, as long as they cannot entice them into human discourse."

"It is also certain that ordinarily the demons have no power over souls, unless they gain entrance by some venial or mortal fault. Mortal sin gives them a sort of direct right over those who commit it; while venial sin weakens the strength of the soul and invites their attacks. Imperfections diminish the merit and the progress of virtue, and encourage the enemy. Whenever the astute serpent notices that the soul bears with its own levity and forgets about its danger, it blinds it and seeks to instill its deadly poison. The enemy then entices the soul like a little heedless bird, until it falls into one of the many snares from which there seems to be no escape."

"Admire then, my daughter, what you have learned by Divine enlightenment and weep in deepest sorrow over the ruin of so many souls absorbed in such dangerous tepidity. They live in the obscurity of their passions and depraved inclinations, forgetful of the danger, unmoved by their losses, and heedless of their dealings. Instead of fearing and avoiding the occasions of evil, they encounter and seek for them in blind ignorance. In senseless fury they follow their pleasures, place no restraint on their passionate desires, and care not where they walk, even if to the most dangerous precipices. They are surrounded by innumerable enemies, who pursue them with diabolical treachery, unceasing vigilance, unquenchable wrath and restless diligence. What wonder then, that from such extremes, or rather from such unequal combat, irreparable defeats should arise among the mortals?" 

"And that, since the number of fools is infinite, the number of the reprobate should also be uncountable, and that the demon should be inflated by his triumphs in the perdition of so many men? May the eternal God preserve you from such a misfortune; and do weep and deplore that of your brethren, continually asking for their salvation as far as is possible."

Read or listen to the complete chapter for a better understanding of these Spiritual Directives and Counsel's from Blessed Mary provided here.  

LISTEN (Vol 2 Bk 2 Chap 3)

INSTRUCTION GIVEN TO ME BY THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN.

  “In his malice and astuteness, the ancient serpent strains all his powers to destroy in the human heart the science of humility, sowed by the Redeemer as a seed of holiness in the human heart; and in its place he seeks to sow the cockle of pride (Matth. 13, 25)." 

"In order to root out these and allow free growth to the blessing of humility, it is necessary that the soul consent and seek to be humiliated by its fellow creatures and that it asks the Lord incessantly and in all sincerity of heart for this virtue and for the means to attain it. Very scarce are the souls that apply themselves to this science and reach the perfection of this virtue; for it requires entire conquest of one's whole self to which few attain, even among those who profess to be virtuous." 

"This contagion of pride has so deeply penetrated into the human faculties, that it is communicated to nearly all of men's doings and there is scarcely one among men who is without pride, just as the rose never grows without thorns or the grain without husks." 

"On this account the Most High makes so much of the truly humble; and those who entirely triumph over pride, He exalts and places with the princes of his people, esteeming them as His favored children and exempting them from the jurisdiction of the demon. Thus it comes that the devil dares scarcely approach them, because he fears the humble and their victories over him more than the fires of hell." 

"I desire, my dearest, that you attain the inestimable treasure of humility in all its fullness, and that you offer to the Most High a docile and yielding heart, in order that He may impress upon it, like on soft wax, the image of my own most humble activity." 

"As you has been informed of such deeply hidden secrets concerning this sacrament, you are under great obligations to correspond to my wishes, not losing the least occasion of humiliation and advancing in this virtue. Neglect none of them, since you know how much I sought after them, who was the Mother of God Himself, most pure and full of grace." 

"The greater my prerogatives, so much the greater was my humility, because in my estimation they far exceeded my merits and only increased my obligations." 

"All you children of Adam (Ps. 50, 7), were conceived in sin, and there is none who has not sinned on his own account. If none can deny this infection of his nature, why should not all humiliate themselves before God and before men? Lowering themselves to the very dust and placing themselves in the last place is not such a great humiliation for those who have sinned, for even then they will always be more honored than they deserve." 

"The truly humble must lower themselves beneath that which they have deserved. If all the creatures would despise and abhor them, or offend them; if they would consider themselves worthy of hellfire, they would only fulfill justice, but not the requirement of humility, since that would only be admitting their deserts." 

"But real, deep humility goes to the length of desiring a greater humiliation than that due to one's self in justice. On this account there is no mortal who can attain to the kind of humility which I practiced, such as you has understood and described; but the Most High will be satisfied with and ready to reward the efforts of those who humble themselves as far as they can and as they deserve in justice. 

Let then the sinners admit their baseness and understand how they make of themselves monsters of hell by imitating Lucifer in his pride. For pride found him beauteous and endowed with great gifts of grace and nature; and although he dissipated these blessings, he had nevertheless possessed them as his own." 

"But man, who is mere slime, and moreover has sinned and is full of ugliness and baseness, is a monster, if he bloats himself up in vain pride. By such absurdity he surpasses even the demon; since man possesses a nature neither so noble, nor was ever gifted with such grace and beauty as Lucifer. 

He and his hellish followers despise and laugh over men, who in such inferiority swell up in pride; for they can well understand this vain and contemptible madness and delirium." 

"Mind well therefore, my daughter, this lesson, and humiliate yourself lower than the earth, showing just as little sense of injury as the dust, whenever the Lord, either Himself or through others, sends you humiliation. Never judge yourself injured by anyone nor consider yourself offended; if you abhor pretense and lying, remember, that the greatest offense is to aspire after honor or high position. 

Do not attribute to creatures that which God brings about in order to humiliate you or others by affliction and tribulations; for this is protesting against mere instruments, while it is Divine mercy which inflicts punishment on men for their humiliation." 

"This, if they would only understand, is really what is happening by the disposition of the Lord to the kingdoms of our day." 

"Humiliate yourself in the Divine presence for yourself and for all your fellowmen, in order to placate his wrath, just as if you alone were guilty; and as if you never had made any satisfaction; since during mortal life no one can ever know whether he has satisfied for his transgressions.

Seek to appease Him as if you alone had offended Him; and in regard to the gifts and favors which you have received and does receive, show yourself grateful as one who deserves much less and owes much more. By these considerations humiliate yourself more than all others, and labor without ceasing to correspond to the Divine clemency, which has shown itself so liberal toward you.”

Read or listen to the complete chapter for a better understanding of these Spiritual Directives and Counsel's from Blessed Mary provided here. 

LISTEN (Vol 2 Bk 2 Chap 16)

INSTRUCTIONS FROM OUR QUEEN, BLESSED MARY.

  "My daughter, although you have described my spouse, saint Joseph, as the most noble among the princes and saints of the heavenly Jerusalem; yet neither can you properly manifest his eminent sanctity, nor can any of the mortals know it fully before they arrive at the vision of the Divinity. Then all of them will be filled with wonder and praise as the Lord will make them capable of understanding this sacrament." 

 
"On the last day, when all men shall be judged, the damned will bitterly bewail their sins, which prevented them from appreciating this powerful means of their salvation, and availing themselves, as they easily could have, of this intercessor to gain the friendship of the just Judge. The whole human race has much undervalued the privileges and prerogatives conceded to my blessed spouse and they know not what his intercession with God is able to do. I assure you, my dearest, that he is one of the greatly favored personages in the Divine presence and has immense power to stay the arms of Divine vengeance." 

 
"I desire that you be very thankful to the Divine condescension for vouchsafing you so much light and knowledge regarding this mystery, and also for the favor which I am doing you therein. From now on, during the rest of your mortal life, see that you advance in devotion and in hearty love toward my spouse, and that you bless the Lord for thus having favored him with such high privileges and for having rejoiced me so much in the knowledge of all his excellences. In all your necessities you must avail yourself of his intercession. You should induce many to venerate him and see that your own religious distinguish themselves in their devotion to him." 

 
"That which my spouse asks of the Lord in heaven is granted upon the earth and on his intercession depend many and extraordinary favors for men, if they do not make themselves unworthy of receiving them. All these privileges were to be a reward for the amiable perfection of this wonderful saint and for his great virtues; for Divine clemency is favorably drawn forth by them and looks upon saint Joseph with generous liberality, ready to shower down its marvelous mercies upon all those who avail themselves of his intercession."

Read or listen to the complete chapter for a better understanding of these Spiritual Directives and Counsel's from Blessed Mary provided here.   

LISTEN (Vol 3 Bk 1 Chap 23)

INSTRUCTION WHICH THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN, MOST HOLY MARY, GAVE ME.

  “My dearest daughter, the wisdom of the flesh has made men ignorant, foolish and hostile to God, because it is of the devil, deceitful, earthly and rebellious to the Divine laws (Rom. 8, 7). 

The more the children of Adam study and exert themselves to reach the evil objects of their carnal and animal passions, and to attain the means of indulging them, so much the more will they fall into ignorance of Divine things, by which alone they can come to their true ultimate end. This ignorance and worldly prudence is still more abominable and still more hateful in the eyes of God, when it occurs in the children of the Church." 

"By what right can the children of this world call themselves sons of God, brethren of Christ and inheritors of His possessions? The adopted son must be, in all that is possible, like unto the natural son. A brother is not of different blood or position from that of his brother. One is not called an heir merely because he is in some way concerned with the possessions of his father, but because he has the full enjoyment and comes into the possession of the principal property of the testator. How then are those heirs of Christ, who love, desire and seek only earthly goods and are perfectly satisfied with them? How can those be His brothers, who so widely depart from His position, His teachings and His holy rule of life? How can they be similar to Him and claim to be His image and likeness, when they so often destroy in themselves all likeness of Him and allow themselves to be so often sealed with the image of the infernal beast? (Apoc. 16, 2)." 

"By Divine light you know, my daughter, these truths, and how much I exerted myself to make myself the image of the Most High, namely, my Son and Lord. Do not think, that I have given you such deep insight into my works without some purpose; for it is my wish that this remain written in your heart and be forever before your eyes, serving you as a rule for all your conduct during the remainder of your life, which cannot be of very long duration now." 

"Do not allow yourself to be retarded and snared away from my following by intercourse with creatures; let them alone, avoid them, despise them in so far as they can hinder you on your way. In order that you may advance in my school, I wish to see you poor, humble, despised, abased yet always with a cheerful heart and countenance. Do not try to repay yourself with the applause or the love of any creature, nor allow human sentiment to rule you; for the Most High has not destined you for such useless entanglements, or for occupations so lowly and adverse to the religious state to which He has called you. Think attentively and humbly of the tokens of His love received at His hands; and of the treasures of His grace, which He has showered upon you."

"Neither Lucifer nor any of his ministers and followers are ignorant of them: they are filled with wrath against you and in their cunning they will let no stone unturned for your destruction. His greatest efforts will be directed against your interior, where he has planted his battery of cunning and deceit. Do live well prepared and watchful against all his attacks, close the portals of your senses and preserve the authority of your will, without allowing it to be spent on human undertakings no matter how good and upright they may appear to you: for if in the least point you curtail the love which God requires of you, this very point will be seized upon by your enemies as a portal of entrance."

"All the kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17, 21), keep it there, and there will you find It, and in It all the good you desire. Forget not my teachings and discipline, lock it up in your bosom and remember how great is the danger and damage from which I thereby wish to preserve you. That you are called to imitate and follow Me, is the greatest blessing, which you can ever desire. I am ready in my extreme clemency to grant you this blessing, if you dispose yourself to high resolves, holy words and perfect works, which alone can raise you to the state which the Almighty and I desire you to attain.”

Read or listen to the complete chapter for a better understanding of these Spiritual Directives and Counsel's from Blessed Mary provided here. 

LISTEN ( Vol 4 Bk 1 Chap 9)

INSTRUCTION WHICH THE QUEEN OF THE ANGELS, MOST HOLY MARY, GAVE ME.

"My daughter, you have so far been well informed of my life and activity, considering that you are a mere creature. Besides me, there is no other created being, which you can better use as your model and original for your greater holiness and perfection. But now you have entered upon the description of the supreme state of virtue reached by me in mortal life. This favor should oblige you to renew your desires and direct all the attention of your faculties toward the perfect imitation of all that I teach you. It is time, my dearest, and there is reason, that you deliver yourself entirely over to my will in what I seek of you." 

"In order that you may animate yourself to the attainment of this blessing, I wish you to take notice, that, though the species of the Sacrament are consumed, my Divine Son, whenever souls receive Him with reverence and fervor and prepare for Him a pure and ardent heart, remains with them with special graces, by which He assists them, enriches and directs them in return for their hospitality. Few are the souls, who partake of this blessing, because many knowing of it, approach the holy Sacrament without the proper disposition, as if by haphazard or habit, and without being solicitous for the reverence and holy fear due to it. But as you are now informed of this secret, I desire that, since by the orders of your superiors you receive it every day, you prepare yourself worthily each time and thus partake of this great blessing." 

"For this end you must avail yourself of the remembrance of what I did, and by it regulate your aspirations, your fervor, your love, and all that is necessary to prepare your heart as a temple and habitation of your Spouse and highest King. Labor then to collect all your powers within yourself; before and after receiving observe all that pertains to the fidelity of a Spouse, and especially must you place a guard over your eyes and a watch over all your senses, in order that no profane or foreign image may enter into the temple of the Lord. Keep your heart entirely pure and unspotted; for when it is impure or preoccupied, the plenitude of Divine light and wisdom cannot enter (Wis. 1, 4)." 

"All this you will know from what God has shown you, if you have attended to it with an upright purpose. Even supposing that you cannot exempt yourself from all intercourse with creatures, it is befitting that you hold your senses in great subjection, and that you do not permit them to introduce the image of any sensible thing, by which you would not be assisted in striving after the most holy and pure of virtue. Separate the precious from the worthless, the truth from deceit. In order that you may imitate me perfectly, I wish that from now on you attend to the choice you are to make in all things great or small, so that you err in none, perverting the order of Divine light." 

"Consider attentively the common deception of mortals and the woeful damage they suffer. For in the decisions of their will they ordinarily are moved solely by what they perceive through the senses, and they immediately proceed to act upon their choice without further consideration or counsel. Since the sensible impressions immediately move the animal passions and inclinations, it is evident that men do not act according to right reason, but according to the impulse of passion, excited by the senses and their objects. Hence, he that considers only the injury and pain caused, is straightway moved to vengeance; he that follows only his hankering after strange property, as soon as he lays his eyes upon it, is impelled to injustice. In the same manner act so many unfortunates, who follow the concupiscence of the eyes, the movements of the flesh, and the pride of life, because these are the only things offered by the world and the devil. In their blind deception they follow darkness as their light, taste the bitter as sweet, take deadly poison for remedy of their souls, and hold that for wisdom which is nothing but diabolical and earthly ignorance. Do you guard yourself against these pernicious errors, and never resolve on anything, or govern yourself by anything that is merely sensible or arising from sensible impressions, nor pursue the advantages held out through them."

"In your actions take counsel first of all from the interior knowledge and light communicated to you by God, in order that you may not go blindly forward; and He shall always grant you sufficient guidance. Immediately seek the advice of your superiors and teachers, if you canst do so before making your choice. And if your superior or teacher is not at hand, seek counsel of others, even inferiors; for this is more secure than to follow your own will, which may be disturbed and blinded by passion." 

"This is the rule to be followed especially in the exterior works, pursuing them with recollection, with secrecy, and according to the demands of circumstances and fraternal charity as they occur. In all of them it is necessary not to lose out of sight the north-star of interior light, while moving in the profound gulf of the intercourse with creatures, where there is continual danger of perishing."

Read or listen to the complete chapter for a better understanding of these Spiritual Directives and Counsel's from Blessed Mary provided here. 

LISTEN (Vol I Bk II Chap XIII)

 INSTRUCTION WHICH THE QUEEN OF THE ANGELS, MOST HOLY MARY, GAVE ME.

  “If I was the model to be imitated in the way I responded to the coming of God into the soul and into the world by showing due reverence, worship, humility, and thankful love, it follows, that if you, (and in the same way the rest of the souls), art solicitous in imitating Me, the Most High will come and produce the same effects in you as in myself; though they may be not so great and efficacious.” 

“For if the creature, as soon as it obtains the use of reason, begins to advance toward the Lord as it should, directing its footsteps in the path of life and salvation, His Most High Majesty will issue forth to meet it, (Wis. 6, 15), being beforehand with His favors and communications; for to Him it seems a long time to wait for the end of the pilgrimage in order to manifest Himself to His friends.” 

“Thus it happens, that by means of faith, hope and charity, and by the worthy reception of the Sacraments, many Divine effects, wrought by His condescension, are communicated to the souls. Some are communicated according to the ordinary course of grace and others according to a more supernatural and wonderful order; and each one will be more or less conformable to the disposition of the soul and to the ends intended by the Lord, which are not known at present. And if the souls do not place any obstacle on their part, He will be just as liberal with them as with those who dispose themselves, giving them greater light and knowledge of His immutable being, and by a Divine and exceedingly sweet infusion of grace, transforming them into a likeness of Himself and communicating to them many of the privileges of the beatified. For after He is found He allows Himself to be taken possession of and enjoyed by that hidden embrace, which the Spouse felt, when She said: "I will hold Him and not dismiss Him" (Cant. 3, 4). Of this possession and of His presence the Lord himself will give many token and pledges, in order that the soul may possess Him in peace like the blessed, although always only for a limited time. So liberal as this will God, our Master and Lord, be in rewarding the objects of His love for the labors accepted by them for His sake and fearlessly undertaken to gain possession of Him.”

“In this sweet violence of love the creature begins to withdraw from and die to all earthly things; and that is why love is called strong as death. From this death arises a new spiritual life, which makes the soul capable of receiving new participations of the blessed and their gifts; for it enjoys more frequently the overshadowing of the Most High and the fruits of the highest Good, which it loves." 

"These mysterious influences cause a sort of overflow into the interior and animal parts of the creature, producing a certain transparency and purifying it from the effects of the spiritual darkness; it makes it courageous and as it were indifferent to suffering, ready to meet and endure all that is adverse to the inclinations of the flesh. With a certain subtle thirst it begins to seek after all the difficulty and violence incident to the attainment of the kingdom of heaven (Matth. 11, 12); it becomes alert and unhindered by earthly grossness, so that many times the body itself begins to feel this lightness in regard to its own self; the labors, which before seemed burdensome, become easy. Of all these effects you have knowledge and experience, my daughter, and I have described and rehearsed them for you, in order that you mayest dispose thyself and labor so much the more earnestly; so that the Divine activity and power of the Most High, in working out His pleasure in you, may find you well disposed and free from resistance and hindrance.”

Read or listen to the complete chapter for a better understanding of these Spiritual Directives and Counsel's from Blessed Mary provided here. 

Read: Vol 3 Bk 1 Chap 16

INSTRUCTION WHICH THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN, MOST HOLY MARY, GAVE ME REGARDING SAINT JOSEPH

"My daughter, although you have described my spouse, saint Joseph, as the most noble among the princes and saints of the heavenly Jerusalem; yet neither can you properly manifest his eminent sanctity, nor can any of the mortals know it fully before they arrive at the vision of the Divinity. Then all of them will be filled with wonder and praise as the Lord will make them capable of understanding this sacrament.” 

“On the last day, when all men shall be judged, the damned will bitterly bewail their sins, which prevented them from appreciating this powerful means of their salvation, and availing themselves, as they easily could have, of this intercessor to gain the friendship of the just Judge.” 

“The whole human race has much undervalued the privileges and prerogatives conceded to my blessed spouse and they know not what his intercession with God is able to do. I assure you, my dearest, that he is one of the greatly favored personages in the Divine presence and has immense power to stay the arms of Divine vengeance.” 

“I desire that you be very thankful to the Divine condescension for vouchsafing you so much light and knowledge regarding this mystery, and also for the favor which I am doing you therein.” 

“From now on, during the rest of your mortal life, see that you advance in devotion and in hearty love toward My spouse, and that you bless the Lord for thus having favored Him with such high privileges and for having rejoiced me so much in the knowledge of all His excellences.” 

In all your necessities you must avail thyself of his intercession. Thou should induce many to venerate him and see that your own religious distinguish themselves in their devotion to him. 

That which my spouse asks of the Lord in heaven is granted upon the earth and on his intercession depend many and extraordinary favors for men, if they do not make themselves unworthy of receiving them. 

All these privileges were to be a reward for the amiable perfection of this wonderful saint and for his great virtues; for Divine clemency is favorably drawn forth by them and looks upon Saint Joseph with generous liberality, ready to shower down its marvelous mercies upon all those who avail themselves of his intercession."

  Read or listen to the complete chapter for a better understanding of these Spiritual Directives and Counsel's from Blessed Mary provided here. 

Read: Vol 3 Bk 1 Chap 16

Although the great Lady persevered in the belief and hope of a seasonable intervention of the Lord, and therefore remained silent in order not to reveal the sacrament, concerning the disclosure of which the King had given Her no command; yet She was much afflicted by the resolve of saint Joseph to leave Her; because She reflected upon the great inconvenience of being alone, without a companion and a protector, on whom She could rely for consolation and support in the natural order; for She well knew that She could not expect all to proceed according to the supernatural and miraculous. 

Yet all her sighs could not prevent Her from exercising the most exalted virtues with a magnanimous spirit, such as patience in bearing her afflictions and the suspicions of saint Joseph and its results; prudence, in withholding the disclosure of the mystery on account of its greatness; silence, in signalizing Herself as a woman who knew how to refrain from speaking about that which so many human reasons urged Her to make known; forbearance and humility, in silently submitting to the suspicions of saint Joseph. Many other virtues did She exercise in this trouble in a wonderful manner; by which She taught us to hope in the Almighty for our deliverance in the greatest tribulations.

INSTRUCTION WHICH MARY, THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN, GAVE ME.

“My daughter, the example of my silence, which you have been writing about, should teach you to use it as a guide in your treatment of the favors and sacraments of the Lord, namely that you keep them concealed within your heart. Although it might at times seem useful to reveal them for the consolation of some soul, you must not act upon this opinion without having first consulted God in prayer, and then your superiors. For these spiritual matters must not be made dependent upon human feeling, which are so much subject to the passions and inclinations of nature.” 

“There is always great danger of considering that to be an advantage which is harmful, and a service to God, what is injurious. It is not given to eyes of the flesh and blood (I Cor. 2, 14) to discern the interior movements, so as to decide which of them are Divine and caused by grace, or which are human, engendered by the disorderly affections. Although there is great difference between these two kinds of affections and their causes, nevertheless, if the creature is not highly enlightened and dead to its passions, it cannot recognize this difference, nor separate the precious from the vile (Jer. 15, 19).”

“This danger is greater when some temporal or human motive is mixed up with or underlies our actions; for then our natural selflove is wont to creep in and take away discretion and supervision of heavenly and spiritual things, leading on to many sudden and dangerous falls.”

“Let it therefore be to you as a rule always to be followed that you reveal nothing to anyone except to your spiritual guide, unless I command otherwise. Since I have constituted myself your Teacher, I will not fail to give advice and direction in this and in all other things, lest you stray from the path appointed to you by the will of my most holy Son.”

“Yet I admonish you to appreciate highly all the favors and revelations of the Most High. Preserve them with a magnanimous heart; esteem them, give thanks for them, and put them to practice in preference to anything else, especially in preference to anything originating from your own inclinations.”

“The reverential fear of God bound me to silence, having (as was proper) such a high regard for the Treasure deposited in me. Notwithstanding the natural feeling of love and obligation toward my master and spouse saint Joseph, and in disregard of the sorrow and compassion for his afflictions, of which I so desired to free him, I hid the secret of my state in silence, preferring the pleasure of the Lord to all these, and leaving to Him the defense of my cause.” 

“Learn also from this never to defend thyself against accusations, no matter how innocent you may be. Oblige the Lord to do it by confiding in His love. Charge your reputation to His account; and in the meanwhile overcome by patience and humility, by sweet and kind words, those who have offended you.”

“Above all things I admonish you never to judge evil of anyone, even if you see with your own eyes the outward warrants of your judgment; for perfect and sincere charity will teach you to find a prudent evasion and excuse for all faults of your neighbor.”

“God has placed my spouse, saint Joseph, as a shining example for such a course of action, since no one had more evident proofs of evil, and no one was more discreet in deferring his judgment. For in the law of discreet and holy charity it must be held as prudence, not temerity, to suspect higher causes, as yet unseen, rather than to judge and condemn our neighbors for faults in which his guilt is not clearly evident.” 

“I do not give you special instructions for those that are in the state of matrimony, since they can derive them manifestly from the whole course of my life. But from the above instruction all can profit, although just now I have in view your own advancement, because I desire it with especial love. Hear me, daughter, and fulfill my counsels and follow these my words of eternal life.”