4 hours ago
Here Begin the Consolations Which She Did Have When Thinking upon the Passion of Christ
First Consolation of the Passion of Christ
As I was once meditating upon the Passion and poverty of the incarnate Son of God, Christ appeared unto me and showed unto me His great poverty, the which He was minded to put into my heart in order that I might clearly see it and diligently reflect upon it. I likewise beheld those for whose sakes He had become poor, and for them I felt such great grief and aversion that my heart did almost fail me.
After this, He did show His Passion unto me more fully. Then I beheld Him poor of kindred and of friends, and moreover so poor of Himself that, having regard unto His humanity, He was not able to help Himself.
Again after this it pleased Him to make me understand more things concerning His Passion than I had ever hitherto heard related. Then did I understand how in His Passion Christ saw that the hearts of those wicked and obstinate men were all turned against Him; He saw how all the members carefully destroyed His name, and how they used great attention and diligence to destroy it speedily; He saw the subtlety, the cunning machinations with which they conspired against Him, and He saw their evil designs, their slanders, rage, and fury, and the plans and preparations which they had made in order that they might most cruelly afflict Him. Of a certainty, the cruelty of the Passion was very great, inasmuch as He foresaw all the pain, the injury and shame.
My soul beheld far more of the Passion than I have will to say, yea, rather will I keep silence. Therefore did my soul then cry aloud, saying:
"Holy Mary, mother of Him who is thus afflicted, give me something of this Passion of the Son of God, for thou hast seen more of it than hath any other saint. Thou hast seen Him with the eyes both of thy body and thy mind, and most intently hast thou observed Him, because thou hast loved Him more than all." And my soul cried again, saying, "Is there here any saint who can tell me aught concerning this Passion, of which I do hear nothing spoken, nor any mention made, in the manner in which my soul hath seen it? For so great is it that I myself cannot describe it. My soul hath seen the Passion of Christ to be so great that, even if Saint Mary saw it in many respects more plainly than did any other saint, not even she — and far less any other — could describe it. And if there be any who can describe it, methinketh it is Thou who hast borne it."
When I had thus seen the Passion of the Son of God, I fell into a much greater grief than ever before, and if my heart had failed me then it would have been no marvel, for when I do even now remember me of these things I begin to grieve, seeing that I have lost that strength of mind which did formerly keep me joyful, wherefore for a long time have I felt no joy.
First Consolation of the Passion of Christ
As I was once meditating upon the Passion and poverty of the incarnate Son of God, Christ appeared unto me and showed unto me His great poverty, the which He was minded to put into my heart in order that I might clearly see it and diligently reflect upon it. I likewise beheld those for whose sakes He had become poor, and for them I felt such great grief and aversion that my heart did almost fail me.
After this, He did show His Passion unto me more fully. Then I beheld Him poor of kindred and of friends, and moreover so poor of Himself that, having regard unto His humanity, He was not able to help Himself.
Again after this it pleased Him to make me understand more things concerning His Passion than I had ever hitherto heard related. Then did I understand how in His Passion Christ saw that the hearts of those wicked and obstinate men were all turned against Him; He saw how all the members carefully destroyed His name, and how they used great attention and diligence to destroy it speedily; He saw the subtlety, the cunning machinations with which they conspired against Him, and He saw their evil designs, their slanders, rage, and fury, and the plans and preparations which they had made in order that they might most cruelly afflict Him. Of a certainty, the cruelty of the Passion was very great, inasmuch as He foresaw all the pain, the injury and shame.
My soul beheld far more of the Passion than I have will to say, yea, rather will I keep silence. Therefore did my soul then cry aloud, saying:
"Holy Mary, mother of Him who is thus afflicted, give me something of this Passion of the Son of God, for thou hast seen more of it than hath any other saint. Thou hast seen Him with the eyes both of thy body and thy mind, and most intently hast thou observed Him, because thou hast loved Him more than all." And my soul cried again, saying, "Is there here any saint who can tell me aught concerning this Passion, of which I do hear nothing spoken, nor any mention made, in the manner in which my soul hath seen it? For so great is it that I myself cannot describe it. My soul hath seen the Passion of Christ to be so great that, even if Saint Mary saw it in many respects more plainly than did any other saint, not even she — and far less any other — could describe it. And if there be any who can describe it, methinketh it is Thou who hast borne it."
When I had thus seen the Passion of the Son of God, I fell into a much greater grief than ever before, and if my heart had failed me then it would have been no marvel, for when I do even now remember me of these things I begin to grieve, seeing that I have lost that strength of mind which did formerly keep me joyful, wherefore for a long time have I felt no joy.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre