The Cradle, the Cross, and the Charity of Christ

“At the end of our lives, we shall all be judged by charity.”
~St. John of the Cross

On Palm Sunday, Our Lord was hailed and honored by the entire city of Jerusalem, with hails of “Hosanna to the Son of David” ringing in his ears. Before the week was ended, He manfully and meekly allowed Himself to suffer a most terrible Passion and Death on the Cross. As we continue to meditate during Holy Week, we must never forget that the whole Life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Second Person of the Most Holy Trinity, is the Perfect Example of How to Carry the Cross.

“God was under no obligation to assume our nature and to save us. He became Man of his own free will…that He might redeem us from all iniquity…To the eternal observer, the interval between the sufferings of Christ’s Nativity and the ignominies of His Passion, seems to have passed partly in the calm repose of domestic seclusion, and partly in the wondrous triumphs of His public mission. But to the reflecting mind which penetrates beyond the surface, the life of Jesus Christ, from its beginning to its close, presents but one continued martyrdom. His Divine Heart was ever ‘mourning within Him, its sorrow above all human sorrow’ (Jer. 8:18).”

“From the first moment of His Incarnation, Our Blessed Lord had ever before His eyes the prospect of His approaching Agony and Death. It was present to Him, not vaguely and uncertainly – as future pain and suffering are to us now – but vividly and distinctly, as at the actual time when He suffered. Never for a single moment was it absent from His thoughts…Every moment of His life, Jesus suffered and merited grace and help for us – 'He loved me and delivered Himself up for me.’ ‘Forget not the kindness of thy Surety, for He hath given His life for thee,’ is a word addressed to us by the Holy Spirit. Jesus loves us to recognize and realize His love for us. It is in His Sacred Passion that He specially desires to be remembered by us.”

What are our own dispositions toward the Cross when we ourselves are asked to carry it? Do we accept it, as Christ did, with a charitable love toward God and our fellow man? We might be surprised to think of possessing charity toward God but, lest we forget: “Charity is the virtue by which we love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength, and by which we love our neighbors for the love of God.”

Charity, as the Church teaches, is not a “feeling.” We don’t necessarily “feel charitable” even when we are charitable. Rather, charity is a virtue, but we will not possess that virtue, or any other, without accepting the graces God sends us and without directing our Free Will to use them as God intended. Charity, the highest virtue, is always directed first toward God and second, to our fellow human beings because God created them, loves them, and wills their (and our) eternal salvation through the Holy Roman Catholic Church.

Charity is what moved Jesus Christ to be “conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary” and became Man – the Son of God Who offered His entire Life, and Death, as the Eternal Sacrifice to an offended God and His lost people. “The charity of Christ presses us” – in other words, it urges us to follows His Holy Example.

Love, says St. Frances de Sales, naturally inspires reciprocation – not to mention gratitude. Imagine a king of great majesty bestowing his affections on a peasant, a love so great that the king willingly offered his own life to save that of the peasant’s. This is what Christ the King has done for each one of us. Our Lord Himself said, “Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down is life for his friends.” (John 15:13)

Christ died to offer us Redemption, but it is up to us to attain salvation. If we love God, why is it we cannot die to self, suffering with the sinless Christ, and offering it all to Him - not only for ourselves but for other sinners?

The offering of our daily duties and trials to God possess merit only because we are members of the Mystical Body of Christ. St. Paul explained this when he taught, “If so ye continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and immoveable from the hope of the Gospel which you have heard, which is preached in all the creation that is under heaven, whereof I Paul am made a minister. Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ, in my flesh, for His Body, which is the Church.” (Col.1:23-24) As the Douay-Rheims Bible footnote explains: “There is no want in the sufferings of Christ in Himself as Head: but many sufferings are still wanting, or are still to come, in His Body the Church, and his members the faithful.”

We are called "the faithful" because we are members of the Mystical Body of Christ – the Catholic Church, the One and Only Church of God. We hope to become saints by working out our salvation in fear and trembling, just like all the Saints throughout the ages who have followed Christ in His Passion did before us. We, too, suffer – sometimes in great ways, sometimes in little ways. But what do we “do” with our suffering? Do we gripe and complain? Or do we remember that all that we suffer – every headache, every pain, every annoyance, every disappointment, every difficulty, every worry, every embarrassment and humiliation - can be offered in sacrifice to God, in reparation for our own sins, for other sinners, for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, and for the needs of the Church?

Even with all of our good intentions, we will still fall. “Even the just man sins seven times a day.” If a just man can commit 49 sins a week, how many sins do we commit? But we will not despair when we remember Christ’s example.

The sinless Christ fell three times as He carried the Cross – laden with the offenses of our repeated sins, He fell. And each time, He gathered the little strength left to Him, and He picked up His Cross and continued on the Sorrowful Road to His Crucifixion…and His Resurrection. We, who are not sinless, must do the same for love of God, Who will give us the strength to carry on.

When we examine ourselves honestly, we will discover our repeated failings. We will truly know all of our “interior and exterior dispositions in regard to the Cross of Christ” and ask ourselves, “Shall I not embrace the Cross of Christ? Shall I not devote myself, without stint or reserve, to the service of my Lord and Master, sparing no effort, however irksome or fatiguing, that will fit me to work more efficiently for Him? Such devotion will do great things for Our Lord, and [we] will discover the secret of the best and highest kind of happiness which is attainable upon the earth. There never was a greater need and opportunity for showing devotion, and proving our love for Our Lord.”

During these last days of Holy Week, may we not forget to make a thorough examination of conscience, followed by a good Confession, and practice charity, the highest virtue, as we offer all that comes our way in reparation to Jesus through Mary. In this way, we will not only live a “Holy Week” with Our Lord, but a holy life.

Holy Thursday: If You Love Me, Keep My Commandments

"If you love Me, keep My commandments."

~ John 14:15

 

The Last Supper combined the Old Testament’s ceremonies, which are now superseded forever, with the New and Eternal Covenant. The Paschal lamb, which lay pierced by a spit in the form of a cross, preceded the institution of the Blessed Eucharist. The sacrificial lamb served as a mere figure-type for Jesus Christ while the flat bread with bitter herbs prefigured  the Eucharist, which is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, both Sacrifice and Sacrament.

On this holy night, Jesus gave us Himself, through the power He bestowed upon the Apostles so that the Eternal Sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist would be daily given. He made many promises and prophecies to encourage the Apostles so they would afterward remember His words and know that He knew all things. He warned of the betrayal soon to come, not for His own sake but as a final attempt save Judas from the suicidal despair that led to the eternal damnation of his soul.

He taught the Apostles once more, when they argued who would have first place in the kingdom of God.

He washed their Feet, as an example to them, the hierarchy of the Church, to practice the virtues of charity and humility and to always remember that the only purpose of the priestly vocations is the salvation of souls.

He spoke to Peter, so that the first Pope would later remember that when he failed, he would truly repent and truly be forgiven;  he would learn a bitter lesson that would lead him to the next stage of his spiritual conversion, and inevitably Peter, as his special office decrees, would strengthen the other Apostles: “Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren.” (Luke 22: 31-32)

He spoke again of His forthcoming suffering, because He also wanted to restore the peace of the Apostle’s souls: “Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me. I go to prepare a place for you…. And I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you also may be. And wither I go, you know, and the way you know.” (John 14: 1-4)

St. Thomas, always questioning, said: “Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?” And Jesus answered, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No man cometh to the Father, but by Me. If you had known Me, you would without doubt have known my Father also: and from henceforth you shall know Him, and you have seen Him.” (John 14: 5-7)

St. Philip was not satisfied, so he said: “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus, sounding astonished, said to him, “Have I been so long a time with you; and have you not known Me? Philip, he that seeth Me seeth the Father also. How sayest thou, Show us the Father? Do you not believe, that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you, I speak not of Myself. But the Father who abideth in Me, He doth the works. Believe you not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? Otherwise believe for the very works' sake. Amen, amen I say to you, he that believeth in Me, the works that I do, he also shall do; and greater than these shall he do. Because I go to the Father: and whatsoever you shall ask the Father in My name, that will I do: that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you shall ask Me any thing in My name, that I will do. If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14; 8-15)

Our Lord, Jesus Christ prepares a place for all of us - “that where I am you also may be” - but we must keep His commandments. All that He said on the night He was betrayed came from the depths of His Most Sacred Heart. All of His suffering life and His bitter Passion and Death will be offered for this end. He took on our human nature to save us, but nothing will satisfy Him unless we remember and live by this Truth: If He wishes us to be with Him now in poverty, in labor, in suffering, in charity and humility, it is only because it is His will “that where I am you also may be” – with Him forever in Heaven.

Holy Thursday: Three of Christ’s Many Virtues

“In the head of the book it is written of Me

that I should do Thy Will, O God.”

   ~Epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews, 10:7

 

  On the night we know as Holy Thursday, Our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist. Earlier in the day, He had called the disciples and told them to prepare the Paschal Lamb. He mysteriously told Peter and John of a man who would meet them near the city gate; He instructed them to follow this man into his house and there prepare the meal.

This command reveals three of Jesus’ many virtues: His loving and willing Obedience; His wise Prudence; and His utter Poverty.

Our Lord’s obedience to all that was required of the Jewish Pasch is the perfect example of the obedience we now owe to His Church and Her laws.

Our Lord’s prudence made itself manifest because He did not want to give Judas, who probably would have performed such duties as a rule, any immediate opportunity to betray Him. Jesus willed that enough time was allowed to institute the Sacred Mystery of the Holy Eucharist, as well as all else that transpired in the Cenacle.

Our Lord’s poverty is once more revealed, because He had no place of His own with which to celebrate the Pasch. He gave all that He had to save souls, by preaching the “Good News,” telling the people that “the kingdom of God is at hand,” and working miracles, not for sensational reasons, but for the Glory of God.

And so - the Lamb of God ordered the preparations that marked the beginning of His own Sacrifice. On this final night of His earthly life, Our Lord was still attempting to save a soul. He did not show anger with Judas or expose him, but instead He attempted every means to save him. Imagine being in the daily Presence of Jesus and yet look for a way to betray Him!

To be a loyal disciple and Apostle of Christ was the only means that would have saved Judas from his evil inclinations – if only he had not trifled with the grace of his vocation.

What a terrible tragedy to lose a vocation – to let the spirit of the world have entrance to a heart that has given itself to Our Lord. It is Our Lord’s will and desire in calling persons to any special vocation that they live the supernatural interior life – not the natural, material, carnal life of worldly people.

St. Ignatius tells us to imitate the Angels so that we can be like God's angels on earth. By daily uniting ourselves to the suffering and Sacred Heart of Jesus, we will better keep our wills in conformity with God's, seeking His Glory, and not ours.

Holy Thursday: Why the Lamb of God?

"Behold the Lamb of God, behold He Who taketh away the sins of the world."
~John 1: 29

Before Our Lord suffered, He celebrated the Jewish rite which, above all, foreshadowed His own sacred sufferings. The Paschal Lamb was an exact figure type of Him, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Almighty God, the Father, gave the Paschal lamb as the figure-type to the future Messiah and the means to deliver His people from their cruel bondage in Egypt. The lamb’s blood on the doorposts of the people’s houses caused the avenging Angel to “pass over” and leave those within unharmed…

The Jews annually remembered the night that God released them from the slavery of Egypt and spared their lives as the Angel of Death passed over the land. The Paschal lamb was drained of the last drop of its blood. With it, there were also bitter herbs, unleavened bread, wine and water.

The promise of the Jewish Pasch is completely fulfilled in Jesus, the Lamb of God, Who has released us from the bondage of sin with His Most Precious Blood. Like the Paschal Lamb, the Lamb of God gave His Life as a sacrifice, His Blood pouring and trickling from Him until He was drained of It. The last drops of His Most Precious Blood gushed forth with water when His Most Sacred Heart was pierced by a lance. How can we ever thank Him? How can we ever love Him enough?

The little lamb endures meekly. It never murmurs against its lot, or struggles against those who lead it here and there, unlike swine, who grunt and grumble at every attempt to control them. None was ever so submissive as the Lamb of God --- “Lo, I come to do Thy will, O my God.” Christ, Our Lord, was telling His Father: I am ready to do it – I long to do it! Can we echo those words?

The name by which St. John the Baptist first greeted Jesus was that of “Lamb of God.” From this we learn the prominent features of Our Lord’s character ---the gentleness, meekness, simplicity, and guilelessness of the Lamb. This is what made Him so attractive; His sweetness drew all to Him. Our Jesus is just the same now. In Heaven, He is still the Lamb: still gentle and loving as ever. With what confidence we ought to approach Him and tell Him of all our love, all our difficulties, and more.

All of the beautiful, winning gentleness and sweetness of the Lamb of God is not merely natural. It is the Divine Charity manifesting itself in the Sacred Humanity.

Jesus, the Son of God, the Son of Mary – all of Mary’s children must excel in these virtues, since they are bound to be close imitators of Christ. God will give those virtues to us if we persevere in seeking them and practicing them. "Grace perfects nature;" God’s almighty Grace can make us gentle and meek.

The office of the Lamb of God – the work He was sent to do – was to “take away” the sins of the world. Meekness possesses a wonderful power – “the meek shall possess the land.” Meekness takes away sin. To bear reproaches meekly is one of the best means of expiating our own sins and those of others. Meekness wins for sinners the grace of repentance. Meekness obtains God’s peace for our souls.

When we contrast our hearts with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Lamb of God, do we find that we are trying to imitate Him to the best of our ability?

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine!

Before the Passion: The Judas Factor

“In the world you shall have distress, but have confidence; I have overcome the world.”
~John 16:33


Before the Passion...

The Great Council of the Sanhedrin had decided to arrest Jesus. In regard to the time, it was probably on Wednesday that the council assembled. It may have been “at the hour when Our Lord assured His disciples that He would be crucified, on the Feast of the Pasch: ‘You know that after two days shall be the Pasch, and the Son of Man shall be delivered up to be crucified.’ ”

“The meeting place of the Council was not, it would appear, the assembly room in the Temple, but the palace of Caiphas the High Priest, because the decision was kept secret, and all care was taken to avoid attracting attention.”

“Nevertheless, the Sanhedrin seemed to have been represented in every essential point, for the three classes – chief priests, ancients, and scribes – of which it was composed, are mentioned. It was, therefore, an official session. The subject of the deliberations was no longer whether or not to put Jesus to death – that had been decided upon long ago, but the manner in which is was to be accomplished - whether openly by force, or secretly by crafty surprise. The occurrences of the last few days, the complete defeats by which Our Lord has put His enemies to shame, His increasing influence – all of this urged them to sudden action.”

“As we know, their decision was that the arrest was to be secretly, by craft.” Their plan was to surprise and take Our Lord, but when and how they could best do it was their dilemma.

They had decided that Jesus’ execution was not to take place on the feast day, but after the Pasch was over. “This was because they feared the people. At the Paschal season, there were multitudes of people in Jerusalem, and the crowds were much inclined to disturbances and tumult. Our Lord had many adherents among them, especially among the excitable Galileans.”

So the Sanhedrin feared only resistance and risk, especially if the Romans would be forced to interfere. “For this reason, the arrest must be made whenever it could be done best, but secretly, and the sentence was not to be passed until after the feast days, when the people had dispersed. Such was the decision of the Council – and such their dispositions for the great feast. They feared – not God, but the people.”

And then, suddenly, a boon - Judas, apostle of Jesus Christ - went to Our Lord’s enemies.

“What will you give me, and I will deliver Him unto you?” What a terrible question Judas asked of the Sanhedrin! “To put Jesus into competition with Self! Judas had entertained the thought of the betrayal of Our Lord for a long time. No one suddenly falls away from faithfulness to Jesus – “it is neglect in little things which gradually leads to a serious fall.”

How did Judas come to such a resolution? What were the causes? As Meditation on the Passion explains it:

1. “The fundamental cause was probably the shallowness, untrustworthiness, and superficiality of his character. He seems to have been a man of no depth or moral stamina.”

2. “The second cause was his worldliness, ambition, and avarice. One can scarcely conceive of his ever having had any idea of the Kingdom of the Messiah other than that which the majority of Jews entertained – a temporal king, a temporal kingdom. Judas allowed himself to be wholly influenced by a worldly spirit – the same spirit which is directly opposed to the spirit of Jesus Christ.”

“The world is Our Lord’s enemy and therefore the enemy of the Catholic Church and all Her members. The world is composed of those who center their happiness in earthly things, who detest and shun poverty, suffering and humiliation while they worship wealth, pleasure, and personal dignity, esteeming these as the only treasures worthy of man’s ambition, and deliberately sacrificing their souls in order to attain them.”

“Our Lord Himself formally excluded the world from His last solemn prayer for His disciples on the night of His Passion. He predicted, too, that as the world had hated and persecuted Him, so would it persecute and hate His followers. If we really desire a place near Our Lord, we must, like Him, engage in an unceasing conflict with His mortal foe. Jesus Christ is light, and the world is darkness; and as light and darkness cannot exist together – because one casts out the other – so neither can Our Lord and the world be one. When the spirit of the world gets entrance into the human heart, Our Lord is cast out and rejected. And in proportion as the Holy Spirit of Our Lord gains ground in the soul, the spirit of the world is cast out and rejected.”

“ ‘If any man love this world, the charity of the Father is not in him’ ” (John I: 2:15). Judas’ downfall is a sad confirmation of this great principle – i.e., that Jesus Christ and the world are mortal enemies. By generous, persevering efforts to rid ourselves of everything savoring of the worldly spirit, we shall make solid, genuine advance in sanctity. To triumph over the world is not the work of a moment, but of a lifetime. Therefore, we must follow faithfully in the footsteps of God’s servants, the Saints, by generous fidelity in lesser trials, by which we merit Divine Help in greater ones.”

3. The third cause of Judas’ fall was unbelief. Gradually, he lost the faith he first had. Loss of faith is the usual result of worldliness.

4.The fourth cause was weariness and discomfort of the life led by Our Lord and the Apostles. Judas loved his own ease and comfort. He grew tired of the life He led with Jesus – one of poverty and constant labors and journeys. He was especially tired of Jesus’ personal disinterest as He labored for others.

Judas was absolutely selfish, and so “he had acquired the habit of thieving from the purse that Our Lord entrusted to him. He tried to make use of his position for worldly gain. The enthusiastic love and devotion of the other Apostles, much less His followers, must have annoyed Judas. How exaggerated and extravagant they must have seemed to him, until at least he took a positive dislike to the presence and Person of Jesus. This dislike to the Person of Jesus showed itself plainly when Magdalen anointed Our Lord’s Sacred Feet at Bethany. The unbelief, irreverence, and callousness of Judas on this occasion almost stun us.”

5. “A last cause - which, however, was also at work in all the other influences – was the influence and seduction of the devil, which grew more powerful the more Judas gave way to unbelief and passion. And thus it was that his diabolical resolution to abandon Jesus became matured. Under these circumstances, Judas wished to see Jesus’ plans thwarted and the company of the Apostles dissolved, that he might be freed from all the inconveniences – and he thought he might as well gain a little something by it, too.”

“How mean, cowardly and disgraceful was this act of Judas – he, an Apostle, a friend of Jesus, a member of His family! Judas’ conduct meant no small slight shame, and no small pain to the tender, loving Heart of Our Lord. And Judas took this step quite of his own accord. He hastened to the priests himself, and he asked, in the most shameless and unblushing manner, what they would give him for his treachery. Judas knew well the men he had to deal with, and yet he promised to deliver Our Lord Jesus - his Master, his Benefactor, his God and greatest Good – for the price of killing a slave.”

“And to whom does Judas sell Our Lord? To His worst and most bitter enemies who lie in wait to devour Him. Judas delivered Our Lord to all the tortures of His Passion and Death. Self-interest, avarice, ingratitude, cowardice, faithlessness, hard-heartedness, and cruelty are all included in Judas’ act. And oh, what pain, what deep humiliation, it brought to our dear Lord and Savior!”

“What a terrible thing for a Christian to be the slave of worldly principles, of a selfish spirit, of human respect! Our Lord declared expressly and positively that He would die on the feast, and by a violent death. The Son of God knows the counsels of God and the hearts of men. No on can work against God, not even in secret. His Providence guards His own. He watches over His faithful servants – not a hair of their heads can be touched without His permission. Nothing can happen without the permission of God.”

Jesus had his Judas. And since the servant is no better than his Master, as Our Lord taught, it stands to reason that Christ’s Bride, the Catholic Church, will always have Judases in Her midst, and that we, members of the Church Militant, children of the Bride, and members of the Mystical Body, will also suffer from “the Judas Factor” in our own lives.

Here we have serious matter for reflection – God wills that we know, love and serve Him, but if we wish to rightly and justly serve, we must get to know ourselves. “Self-knowledge is a most necessary step to the knowledge and love of Jesus – no one is safe until well grounded in self-knowledge. If Judas had known his own evil nature, he might have been saved. He would have distrusted and dreaded himself and clung to Jesus, Who would have saved him, for He loved Judas and called him to be His disciple with the sole view of saving him.”

But Judas used his free will to thwart the tender, merciful designs of Jesus – and no one can be saved against his will. “What a terrible lesson is here given! Like Judas, we also have our evil dispositions – our weaknesses, which, unless known and fought against, will lead us to very serious consequences.”

What have we to say to our Divine Lord? What graces do we ask of Him? What thanksgiving do we make? What reparation, sympathy, and love do we have to offer the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus?

Sweet Jesus, Savior of my soul, deign in Thy Goodness to hear my petitions, strengthen my will to give Thee my best, and give it fearlessly and with all the love of my heart.

Mother of God, my mother, help me to remember that a ‘valiant lover standeth his ground in temptation and yieldeth not to the crafty persuasions of the enemy.’

“Have pity on me, Lord Jesus, have pity on me according to the mercy of Thy loving Heart. The thought that I am yet be made holy, that I can yet become a true and loyal disciple of Thy Heart, encourages me. Help me, O Jesus Most Merciful, and give me courage. Behold, dear Lord, now I begin!”

“O Mother, I have need of Thee!”

De Novissimis: Remember Your Four Last Things

“Here is a short medicine,” wrote St. Thomas More, “containing only four herbs, and they are common and well known: death, judgment, pain, and joy. This short medicine has a marvelous potency: the ability to keep us, all our life, from sin.” [1] To this the saint added, “The Scriptures do not bid you to know the four last things, but to remember your four last things.” [2]

Perhaps only the cheerful and witty St. Thomas More could describe the recollection of the four last things as a “short medicine” (an effective herbal remedy, comprised of a short list of ingredients, to cure illness – hence, “short medicine”). While it is true that we are not explicitly bidden to know the four last things, they have been made known to us. Death is something which all mankind experiences, and the knowledge of the other three – judgment, Hell, or Heaven – were received through Divine Revelation.

In the last decade or so, there developed a motto of sorts, “It’s the journey that matters. To the journey! ” That modern maxim is true, “as such” - but to be entirely truthful, it needs an important clarification: “It’s the journey that matters – because the path we choose determines our final destination. To the journey! ”

Above and beyond this, Jesus our Savior instructs us, “Enter ye in at the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth unto destruction, and many there are that go in thereat. How narrow is the gate and strait is the way that leadeth unto life, and few there are that find it!” [4]

Preoccupied as we are with the joys and sorrows of this life, we are prone to forgetfulness. We forget that God gave us a specific road to travel and that He Himself assists us through the valley of tears. We forget that He created us to know Him, love Him and serve Him in this world so as to be happy with Him in the next world. We forget that, as St. Jean Marie Vianney wrote, “man, gifted with reason and a free will, is in his nature the image of God. Endowed with reason we must perceive the truth, investigate and distinguish lies from truth. And endowed with will power, we must choose, love and perform the good…Furthermore, we sin against reason which makes us the image of God, if we do not endeavor to attain that knowledge which is necessary for every Christian to his calling.” [5]

To soberly reflect on the four last things helps us to practice well the Holy Ghost’s gift of Fear of the Lord, as well as His other six gifts: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, and Piety. All of these gifts, if used rightly, “help us by making us more alert to discern and more ready to do the will of God.” [8]

So we should not shrink in pondering the four last things, because they are four realities. As St. Alphonsus de Liguori is so careful to remind us, “The business of eternal salvation is to us the most important of all affairs; but it is also the most neglected by Christians…It is the most important affair, because if the soul is lost, all is lost.” [9]

Passing from this Life“To die and to be dead are not one and the same,” reflected St. Thomas More. “It is true that we are never dead while we live; but it is, it seems to me, just as true not only that we die while we live, but also that we die all the while we live. For what is dying? Is it anything other than the passing and going out of this life?" [10]

Death, the separation of soul from the body, is the first herb of our “short medicine.” God creates each person as body and soul, which “are united in a substantial union to form one complete human nature.” [11] It was never Our Lord and Creator’s positive Will that body and soul should be cleaved apart. Death is a consequence of Adam’s sin by his own free will. [12] With the fall of Adam, God in His Justice allowed the terrible sentence of physical death to fall upon the entire human race.

That which with the Holy Trinity had bestowed upon Adam and Eve elevated their natural condition to the supernatural. The gift of sanctifying grace made them children of God and gave them the right to heaven. As the Baltimore Catechism explains, “It raises men to the supernatural order, conferring on them powers entirely above those proper to human nature. Together with sanctifying grace, God gave Adam and Eve the supernatural virtues and the gifts of the Holy Ghost.” [13] 

The first man and woman also possessed preternatural gifts – the Garden of Paradise, integrity (complete control of the faculties, passions, and appetites by reason and the free will), immortality, and impassibility (freedom from suffering and death).[14] Before creating Eve, the “Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise of pleasure, to dress it, and to keep it.” [15] Then God said to Adam, “Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat. For in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death.” [16] The Holy Bible does not reveal for how long Adam and Eve obeyed this command, thus enjoying the Garden of Paradise, but we do know that God allowed them to be tested.

“Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil,” [17] said the tempter to Eve and, in this, he told a half-truth, for “the gods of the earth” [18] are demons. Our first parents failed a very simple test of fidelity to God; both Adam and Eve abused the gifts of reason and free will through pride, which led to ingratitude of heart, and then disobedience.

But when Adam fell, so did all mankind. As head and father of the human race, Adam knowingly threw away the chief gift of sanctifying grace, thereby losing the friendship of God and the right to Heaven. This holy inheritance was lost not only to Adam but to all of his descendants. After all, Adam could not give to his children what he no longer possessed; he could only bequeath Original Sin, so-called because “it comes down to us through our origin, from Adam.” [19]

Since that terrible moment in our history, every human being is subject to the consequences of disease, suffering, and death. Earthly life became a painful period of probation, and the soul’s passing from this life to the next became known as “the death agony.”

“We know from the testimony of Our Redeemer Himself that no agony is like the agony of death,” wrote Fr. Martin von Cochem, 19th century author of The Four Last Things. “Nowhere do we find that at any period of His life the greatness of the pains He bore extorted from Our Lord a cry of anguish. But when the moment came for Him to expire, and the ruthless hand of death rent His Heart asunder, we read that He cried out with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. Hence it is evident that at no period of the Passion did Christ suffer so acutely as at the most painful separation of His sacred soul from His blessed body.” [20]

Above all things, the thought that our dear Jesus – God Himself – cried out at the moment of His own death should not incite fear but both compunction of heart and solace. Through His Death and Resurrection, He has offered us the means to a happy death.

What Our Lord said to the grieving sister of Lazarus, He also says to us: “I am the Resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, although he be dead, shall live. And every one that liveth, and believeth in me, shall not die for ever. Believest thou this?” [21]

In the Twinkling of an Eye: From Death to Judgment
The infallible Scriptures teach, “…it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this judgment.” [22] The time of merit and trial is over, and at the very moment life ends, the immortal soul remains in the state in which death claimed it. [23] “In the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.” [24]

A compelling meditation was presented by Fr. von Cochem, the 15th century priest previously mentioned, when he wrote:

“Consider, first of all, what a strange new sensation it will be for thy soul, when she finds herself separated from the body, in an unknown world. Hitherto she has known no existence apart from the body; now she is suddenly separated from it.”

“Hitherto she was in time; now she has passed into eternity.”

“Now for the first time her eyes are opened, and she sees clearly what eternity is, what sin is, what virtue is, how infinite is the being of the Deity, and how wondrous is her own nature.”

“All this will appear so marvellous to her that she will be almost petrified with astonishment. After the first instant of wonder, she will be conducted before the tribunal of God, that she may give an account of all her actions; and the terror that will then seize upon the unhappy soul surpasses our powers of conception.” [25]

What is called “the Particular Judgment” of each soul takes place at the very moment of death.[26] Jesus Himself is the Judge, as the Gospel of St. John reveals: “Neither does the Father judge any man, but all judgment He has given to the Son.” [27] We also know that each soul will give Jesus Christ an account of its earthly life.

“Each individual,” said St. Jerome, “will see what he has done.” [28] Every thought, every word, every action, and every neglect will be judged in the balance of God’s Justice.[29] Nothing will remain hidden, as St. Alphonsus reminds us, and he also writes, “Consider the accusation and scrutiny: The judgment sat and the books were opened. (Dan. 7:10)…In the balance of divine justice…works only will have weight.” [30] As St. Paul wrote, “Each one will receive his pay, according to his works.” [31]

“Let us remember,” observes the catechism My Catholic Faith, “that even while the relatives gather around the bed of the departed one, even while his body is still warm, the particular judgment is gone through and finished; the judgment is passed, and the soul gone to his reward or punishment. If we remember this, we shall be more fervent in praying for the dead, in helping others die a happy death, so that they may meet God at the judgment without fear.” [32]

The Particular Judgment will give only one of two possible verdicts: eternal salvation or everlasting perdition. Salvation is for the soul who either dies in baptismal innocence, or has already offered complete reparation for confessed and absolved sins; such a soul will be sent at once to Heaven. The soul who dies in the state of grace but in venial sin, or who has not fully atoned for repented and confessed sins, is also among the saved; this soul will first make expiation in Purgatory (which is not, properly speaking, one of the four last things, because souls do not endure Purgatory forever). Last, the soul “who dies in mortal sin will be sent at once to hell.” [33]

“Eternity! Eternity! Heaven or Hell, one of the two we must choose by our lives,” exclaims the author of Charity for the Suffering Souls .[34] “For the things which are seen, are temporal; but the things which are not seen, are eternal.” [35]

Fr. Arminjon, whose written conferences so greatly inspired St. Therese the Little Flower, provides sound spiritual advice when he counseled, “Let us say with the prophet, ‘I consider the days of old; the years long past I remember.’[36] Let us judge ourselves severely, and we shall not be judged. Let us live with the Lord Jesus all the days of our life, and then we shall be freed from all fear, for there is no condemnation upon those who dwell with the Lord.” [37]

“Remember the last things, and you will never sin.” (Sirach 7:36)
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This article was first published in Catholic Family News, November 2010 issue. All Rights Reserved world-wide by the author.
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Notes


[1] St. Thomas More, The Four Last Things: The Supplication of Souls; A Dialogue on Conscience. [New York/Princeton, NJ: Scepter Publishers, 2002]: p. 12.
[2] Ibid., p. 22. [Emphasis in the original.]
[3] Fr. Charles Arminjon, The End of the Present World and the Mysteries of the Future Life. [French original published 1881 under the title Fin du Monde Présent et Mystèries de la vie Future. English translation published in Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute Press, English translation by Susan Conroy and Peter McEnerny 2008]: Foreward, p. xix.
[4] Matt. 7:13-14. (The Holy Bible, Douay-Rheims version, with Challoner Revisions 1749-52; 1899 Edition of the John Murray Company).
[5] St. Jean Marie Vianney, Sermons of the Cure of Ars [Long Prairie, MN: The Neumann Press, 1995. Reprinted from the 1901 edition]: p. 290.
[6] Ps. 110:10.
[7] Ecclus. 1: 16.
[8] Baltimore Catechism and Mass, # 3 [Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America, 1949]: p. 71.
[9] St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Preparation for Death [Republished in Brooklyn, NY: Redemptoris Fathers, 1926]: pp. 126-127.
[10] More, op. cit., p.33.
[11] Baltimore Catechism #3, op. cit., p.32.
[12] Gen. 2:17, Rom. 5: 12.
[13] Baltimore Catechism #3, op. cit., p. 33.
[14] Canon George D. Smith et al, The Teaching of the Catholic Church, Vol. I [NY: The MacMillan Co., 1959): p. 323.
[15] Gen. 2: 15.
[16] Gen.2: 16-17.
[17] Gen. 3:5.
[18] Soph. 2:11.
[19] Most Rev. Louis LaRavoir Morrow, D.D., Bishop of Krishnagar, My Catholic Faith: A Manual of Religion [Kansas City, MO: Sarto House, 2003. Reprinted from the 1954 edition]: p. 41.
[20] Father Martin von Cochem, O.S.F.C., The Four Last Things: Death, Judgment, Hell and Heaven [15th century manuscript republished in New York: Benziger Brothers, 1899]. Contributed by Derrick D’Costa to the Catholic Tradition website [http://www.catholictradition.org/Classics/4last-things1d.htm]
[21] Jn. 11: 25-26.
[22] Heb. 9:27
[23] 2 Cor. 5:10; Jn. 9:4; Lk. 12:40; Lk. 16:19.
[24] Eccl. 1:13
[25] Fr. Martin von Cochem, op. cit. [http://www.catholictradition.org/Classics/4last-things1e.htm]
[26] Lk., 16:22, Lk. 23:43, Acts 1:25.
[27] Jn. 5:22.
[28] St. Jerome, as cited by St. Alphonsus de Liguori, op. cit., p. 244.
[29] Matt. 12:36, Lk. 12:48.
[30] St. Alphonsus di Liguori, op. cit. p. 244.
[31] 1 Cor 3:8.
[32] Most Rev. Morrow, op.cit., p. 155.
[33] Ibid.
[34] Rev. John A. Nageleisen, Charity for the Suffering Souls: An Explanation of the Catholic Doctrine of Purgatory [Rockford, IL: TAN Books & Publishers, 1982. Reprinted from the 1895 edition]: p. 5.
[35] 2 Cor. 4:18.
[36] Ps.77:6.
[37] Fr. Charles Arminjon, op. cit., pp. 107-108.

Dread Nothing So Much

Charity is the highest virtue, even above obedience. But obedience to God’s laws is necessary for salvation. Dread nothing so much as following your own inclinations.
~From Miniature Life of Mary, Virgin and Mother, 1880

Spiritual Reading: A Quick Thought

You will not see anyone who is really striving after his advancement who is not given to spiritual reading. And as to him who neglects it, the fact will soon be observed by his progress.

~St. Athanasius

Our Lady of LaSalette: The Madonna in Tears

In “modern times,” as error begat error, Our Lady began to plead with her children to stop offending God. Appearing at the Rue-de-Bac (Paris, France) in 1830, She made prophecies of the future that came to pass by the year 1870; She also gave a great sacramental to the world, commonly called "the Miraculous Medal." (Its official name is the Medal of the Immaculate Conception.) Our Lady came again to the world in 1836 and in 1840 to offer special spiritual helps, but the world paid little heed.

Some souls were led back to God through the Miraculous Medal (1830), the Archconfraternity of the Immaculate Heart (1836), and the “Badge of the Immaculate Heart” (1846), commonly known as “the Green Scapular.” Miracles of grace were given, as in the famous case of Alphonse Rathisbonne. But as a whole, the world continued to ignore Our Lady’s messages.

"As men of science made new discoveries," pride in intellectual prowess led most of them and others "to thrust God into the background" and then abandon Him altogether. “Books attacking religion were coming off the presses in great numbers. The ranks of freethinkers, agnostics and atheists were swelling every day.”

“An ordinary creature would have been tempted to leave the world to the fate it so richly deserved” – but not Our Lady! On September 19, 1846 - the eve of the “Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows” - the Madonna appeared in a one-time apparition to two children, the eleven-year old Maximin Giraud and the fifteen-year old Melanie Mathieu Calvat. At the moment these simple, barely catechized children first saw the Lady, they had been "tending cows on the slope of Mt. Gargas, which rises above the village of La Salette in southeastern France."

The children first “saw a globe of dazzling white. While they gazed in wonderment, the globe opened and they saw a woman seated on some stones” near a spring that was dry at the time. “The Lady’s elbows rested on her knees, her face was buried in her hands, and she was weeping.” The children were very afraid, not knowing who the Lady was or why She was so desperately crying.

The Lady rose, crossed her arms, and “in the sweetest of tones,” said:

“Come near, my children. Do not be afraid. I am here to tell you important news.”

Advancing closer to the Lady, the children saw that “Her face was beautiful, though her eyes were filled with tears. She wore white shoes encircles by roses. Her apron was golden and descended to the bottom of her full white robe. Her arms were concealed within broad straight sleeves which reached beyond her finger tips. A white cape bordered with roses hung over her shoulders. She wore a thin chain upon which hung a crucifix," upon which the Body of Christ seemed very real. "Her head-dress was white; above it was a royal diadem wreathed with roses of many hues.” Her beauty was “so radiant and dazzling that the children could scarcely look at her.” They would later say that “nothing could begin to compare with her beauty.”

“The Lady spoke again in a voice sweeter than the sweetest of melodies” but tears continued to fall from Her eyes as She spoke.

“If my people will not submit, I shall be forced to let go the hand of My Son. It is so strong, so heavy, I can no longer withhold it.”

“How long a time do I suffer for you! If I would not have My Son abandon you, I am compelled to pray to Him without ceasing. But, as to you, you take no heed of it.”

“However much you pray, however much you do, you will never recompense the pains I have taken for you.”

Halt for just a moment…think of those beautifully stirring words issued by the Virgin Mary, Mediatrix of All Graces! Although eternally happy in heaven, She showed Herself as the Weeping Madonna - weeping over the greater number of her spiritual children on earth who have left the Narrow Road. Why did they leave - and why do they continue in this vein - to seek so many “easy” but dangerous paths, unless the cause was at least one of the seven capital sins? For example, only spiritual sloth or anger could lead a baptized Catholic to desecrate the Sabbath or use Our Lord’s name in vain – and it was these two particular, latter sins of which Our Lady of LaSalette would speak.

She wept because too many dismissed and forgot the love Her Divine Son. Too many were calling down the punishment of God on their own heads as well as upon the heads of innocents, for such are the mysteries of the Mystical Body of Christ. To save Europe from the punishments, Our Lady revealed that She prayed unceasingly to withhold the Justice of Our Lord but still – “you take no heed of it.”

“Blessed are the poor in spirit” – this Beatitude from Our Lord Himself, which centers on the virtue of humility coupled with trust in God, comes to mind even as we recall Our Lady’s words at LaSalette: “However much you pray, however much you do, you will never recompense the pains I have taken for you.” The best each faithful member of the Mystical Body can hope to accomplish here on earth is the work expected of one of God’s servants. We shouldn’t congratulate ourselves at all because if any good is accomplished, it is only through the grace of God. Knowing that, we should attempt to do more – in thought, word, and action - since we can never hope to recompense either Our Lord or His Virgin Mother for Their Sufferings on our behalf.

As if the Lady’s preceding tears and sad words were not enough, She continued to speak to the children:

“If the harvest is spoiled, it is your fault. I gave you warning last year in the potatoes, but you did not heed it. On the contrary, when you found the potatoes spoiled you swore, taking My Son’s Name in vain. The potatoes will continue to decay, so that by Christmas there will be none left.”

The Virgin made clear that the calamities then falling on the world were a result of two sins, seriously offending Her Son and wounding the Mystical Body of Christ. How many more of the Commandments are broken in our own day – and to what a greater extent!

Then Our Lady foretold the continuing failure of the potato crop if the people did not repent.

Most curious is the fact that, up to this point, Our Lady spoke in the noble French of the cultured classes, not the “patois” dialect of the children. Melanie did not understand the “cultured” French word for “potatoes,” so she turned to Maximin and asked him for the meaning of “pommes de terre.”

“Ah, my children,” said the Lady, “you do not understand. I will say it in a different way.” (Of course, there can be no doubt the Our Lady already knew the children could not understand the “noble” French. It is clear She had a purpose for first speaking it – which was to place yet another piece of evidence before the Church authorities who would later investigate the claims of these very poor and uneducated children.)

So the Lady then proceeded in “patois”:

“If you have wheat, it is no good to sow it; all that you sow the insects will eat. What comes up will fall into dust when you thresh it.”

Then, the conditional prophecy became even more sorrowful:

“There will come a great famine. Before the famine comes, the children under seven years of age will be seized with trembling and will die in the arms of their mothers. Others will do penance by famine.”

“The walnuts will become worm-eaten; the grapes will rot.”

“But if the people are converted, the stones and the rocks will become heaps of wheat and the potatoes will be self-sown.”

Our Lady was asking for repentance, in itself an important form of “conversion,” and at the same time making clear that if Her requests were not heeded, God would impose terrible penances on the populace. If they did listen, the punishments would be withheld and their material needs abundantly met.

Suddenly, the Lady’s message became more personal. She spoke separately to each of the children, who later reported they could see Her lips moving as She spoke, first with one and then the other, but neither could hear Her words addressed to the other child. Then She asked both of them, “Do you say your prayers well, My children?”

“Not very well, Madame,” they both admitted. Of course, the Lady already knew that the children were poorly catechized, due to the grave neglect of their parents, but She was going to further the grace of faith given to them at baptism. In their adult lives, both children would fail in developing "heroic virtue," but they remained constant in the Faith and never denied the Vision of Our Lady of LaSalette. To the children's response about their prayers, Our Lady sweetly and seriously replied:

“You must say them well, morning and evening. When you cannot do better, say at least an ‘Our Father’ and a “Hail Mary.’ When you have time, say more.”

Once again, She complained of the few people who attend Mass on Sunday. When it came time for Her departure, Our Lady spoke again in the noble French.

“Well, my children, you will make this known to all the people.” She crossed the little stream and then turned to them to repeat, “Well, my children, you will make this known to all the people.”

"Moving along the tips of the grass, the Lady ascended the mountain for a short distance, then gently rose about a yard from the ground. Remaining in that position for a moment, She lifted her gaze heaven-ward and then back to the earth. Then She disappeared, but the light remained for another moment."

“Maximin had no idea who the Lady was…When She spoke of the heavy arm of Her Son, he thought She meant her son had been beating her.” Melanie was not much better informed than Maximin, but she was older and perhaps a bit more reflective. “Maybe she is a great saint,” she said.

This was a new idea to Maximin, who enthusiastically responded, “If we had known she was a great saint, we could have asked her to take us to heaven!”

“Oh, I wish she was still here,” answered Melanie.

It is reported that both children were “rather slow of mind.” Melanie was judged by a teaching nun "not to have sufficient knowledge to receive Holy Communion until her 17th year," and Maximin was unable to remember the “Our Father” until he was 15. Yet when questioned about the apparition – together or separately – they never failed to give complete details which never contradicted the other's testimony.

Although people began flocking to LaSallete, and miracles took place through use of the spring’s now-flowing waters, not enough responded to Our Lady’s call for repentance (much less reparation) and “the calamities foretold by Our Lady took place. The famine had already begun in 1845," as a heavenly warning. "In 1846, this famine was so severe in Ireland that Queen Victoria of England had to appeal to Parliament for special funds.” (The injustice done to Ireland, dear reader, is another sorrowful story in itself.) “The wheat shortage was so severe in Europe that more than a million people died. A grape disease decimated all of the vineyards in France. Babies and little children died trembling...just as Our Lady foretold.”

Within two years of Our Lady’s appearance at LaSalette, France lived through the horrors of the “February Revolution,” the “March Revolution” and then the “June Days.” The year 1848 saw Communism arising in France.

The punishments, so severe and sorrowful, may have been even greater if Our Lady had not continued to intercede before the throne of Her Divine Son and also because some people, at least, did respond to Her entreaties. Many began attending Mass again, the shops were closed on Sundays, people stopped doing unnecessary work on the Sabbath, and cursing and swearing became less common.

After a thorough investigation, the Bishop of the diocese was satisfied that the appearance was authentically supernatural (which means issuing from God) and made his official declaration to that effect. Later, Pope Pius IX would also approve devotion to Our Lady of LaSalette and his successor, Pope Leo XIII, built a great basilica on the mountain. Five years after the apparition, Pope Pius IX would inquire about the Secrets of LaSalette and the children would agree to write down their secrets for him on two conditions: That the Secrets would be placed in sealed envelopes and that they would be directly delivered to the Pope. “Maximin wrote his four or five paragraphs quickly” but Melanie took awhile longer. As she was writing, she asked for the proper spelling of the word “infallibility” and the meaning of the word “anti-Christ.”

The two secrets were taken to Rome by two priests, Frs. Rousellot and Gerin of the Grenoble diocese. On July 18, 1851, the Holy Father Pope Pius IX received them in audience, took the sealed envelopes, and opened them in the presence of the two Fathers. He chose to first read Maximin’s letter. After finishing it, the pope smiled and said, “Here is all the candor and simplicity of a child.”

To read Melanie’s letter, however, he walked over to a window and opened the shutters for better light. Her letter was longer and its contents seemed to be more serious, for the Holy Father did not smile; in fact, “the Pope pressed his lips more tightly together and puffed out his cheeks.”

“Calamities threaten France,” he said to the two priest witnesses, “but she is not the only guilty nation. Germany, Italy, and all Europe are guilty and deserve punishment. I have less to fear from open impiety than from indifference and human respect. It is not without reason that the Church is called militant, and here,” he said, as he touched his breast, “you see Her Leader.”

That is all of what is officially known of the Secrets of Our Lady of LaSalette. Through the years, there has been much speculation about the revelations later made by Melanie in regard to the Secret given to her. One thing we must recall are the words of Pope Leo XIII, who said: “Do you want to know the secret? This is it: Unless you do penance, you shall perish.”

In this year of Our Lord 2008, we can deduce much of Melanie's Secret by the history that has already come to pass, as well as the hints and traces given by Pope Leo XIII and Melanie’s questions as she wrote the Second Secret imparted to her.

---We know that France, Germany, Italy and all of Europe suffered from war, famine and desolation – not once but many times since 1846. At LaSalette, the Virgin gave the reasons for these temporal chastisements. And, as Our Lady would later reveal at Fatima, "War is a punishment for sin."

---We know that the dogma of papal infallibility was defined in 1870 at Vatican I - about 25 years after LaSalette. It was Melanie who, as she wrote down her secret, asked for the spelling of the word "infallibility," so we know at least a part of the Secret had to do with papal infallibility.

---Because not enough people heeded the Weeping Madonna's requests, we know that an even greater chastisement fell upon France as well as other nations. Communism has spread not only through France but also -as Our Lady would prophesy at Fatima in 1917 – throughout the world. Many people understand the connection between Communism and the growing spirit of anti-Christ.

---Recalling Pope Pius' remarks after reading Melanie's secret: "Religion indifferentism" has infilitrated the Church, replacing the cardinal virtues of faith, hope, and charity. This great sin is born of "human respect," which itself has replaced a holy fear of the Lord.

---Furthermore, Pope Pius' words, "It is not for nothing that the Church is called militant, and here you see Her Leader" suggest that Melanie' Secret has to do with the sacred duties of the Holy Father's office if not also the daily duties of the entire Church Militant - an astonishing similarity to what Our Lady would later reveal at Fatima.

---Finally, we might wonder at Melanie's question about "anti-Christ." Some declare that she never really asked about that particular word or that it did not appear in the Secret she wrote down. Can they be so certain? Since Melanie's Secret (nor Maximin's, for that matter) has never been officially released, and since the passage of time provides us with a different historical vantage point, we must again consider the unfolding importance of history and the reasons for Our Lady's continuing apparitions, especially those at Fatima (the crown of all the Marian apparitions proven to be supernatural and therefore worthy of belief):

"If my requests are not heeded, Russia will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father. Good people will be martyred...various nations will be annihilated." What else could be the cause of obstinate sin and the resulting terrible chastisements, except the spirit of anti-Christ permeating the world?

“The keynote of Our Lady's message at LaSalette lay in the words: ‘If my people will not submit.’ Although She still calls us Her people, "She summed up the great evil of our times – human pride. Her message was for all times and all places, but particularly was it meant to show how false was the idea that man no longer needs God.”

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(All excerpts are denoted by quotations and come from “The Woman Shall Conquer” by Don Sharkey, now out-of-print)