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Mother Mariana Accepts the Cross of Interior Suffering
Mother Mariana would
have recourse to Mary Most Holy in all her trials and secret sufferings,
especially when she carried the heavy weight of the office of superior.
Our Lady would direct her in how to act and encourage her by reminding her of
the heavy cross Christ had carried for love of mankind.
In 1619, Our Lord invited
Mother Mariana to share His cross more profoundly, and presented her with the
precious cross of interior sufferings. As a divine victim, especially for
the 20th century, she was asked to accompany Our Lord in the major steps of His
sorrowful passion. “I will be with you always,” He promised his predilect
daughter. “Unite yourself to My Aggrieved Heart and, in the company of My
Most Holy Mother, bear these tribulations. Carry with valor and
perseverance the cross that I will place on your shoulders for you to bear
through your remaining years, which will not be many. For in all times I
have need of valiant souls to save My Church and the prevaricating world.”
Our Lord also made
Mother Mariana understand more clearly than ever before that devotion to His
Passion, to the Blessed Sacrament, and to Our Lady constitutes the support and
mainstay of religious communities.
On the Feast of Corpus
Christi, Thursday 1623, Mother Mariana was praying at the foot of the
Tabernacle when, suddenly, she fell into ecstasy. She saw, in a vision, that
this Country would be favored with graces and mercy as a result of the public
and solemn devotion that would be rendered to the Blessed Sacrament, in future
centuries.
She saw devout
processions that would be made through the main streets of the city that would
include religious men, women, children, youth, and persons from all the social
classes. She saw the profound recollection of all, and the great respect and
devotion of the diverse groups, with many of their members using instruments of
penance on their bodies. She saw the faith and piety of the faithful and the
complaisance of Our Lord Jesus Christ as He passed through the streets of the
city in those fortunate times to come. But, alas! She also saw how all this aroused
the fury of the Devil who would strive to raze this solid edifice of Catholic
piety founded upon the faith of the children of God. To achieve this evil
intent, he would avail himself of the sons of this country who would lose the
sentiment of faith, bequeathed to them by their parents and elders. These
countrymen would work to oppress the Church in their assemblies and prevent
this public devotion, for they would have already entered the party of Satan by
becoming members of the Masonic Lodges. She saw that this generation of men
without faith would be formed by unworthy children of the Catholic Church who
would impiously oppress her and put an end to the reverent processions that
attract the blessing of God. This would be a time of sorrow and grief for all
the faithful children of the Church, who, with their Prelates and pastors,
would be few in number. Our Lord showed her how the hideous and pestiferous
wild boar of Masonry would enter the beautiful, flourishing vineyard of the
Church, leaving it destroyed and in complete ruins. (…).
Mother Mariana returned
to herself in the arms of her Sisters, who were weeping, believing her to be
dead, for it was now five o’clock in the afternoon and she had shown no sign of
life since nine o’clock that morning. With a deathlike pallor, Mother Mariana
made an attempt to speak, stand up and walk but despite her greatest efforts,
she could not succeed (…). In this weakened state, she again lost her senses!
This time she saw the infidelity of the ministers of the altar to their holy
vocation, and the unworthy way that some would approach the Holy Sacrifice. She
considered the causes of this and her soul was overcome with a profound,
unearthly sorrow.
The Sanctuary Light is
Extinguished: The Five Meanings
The early morning of the
Feast of the Purification in 1634 found Mother Mariana praying before the
Blessed Sacrament, beseeching Him that she might be united with Him and be
engulfed in that love which belongs to the blessed. She also reminded Him
to protect and preserve His daughters in this beloved Convent.
As she finished this
prayer, she saw the sanctuary light extinguish itself, leaving the altar place
completely dark. Our Lady appeared to tell her that Our Lord had heard
her clamors and would end her earthly exile in less than year: “Prepare your
soul so that, increasingly purified, it might enter into the fullness of the
joy of Our Lord. O! If mortals, and in particular religious souls,
could know what heaven is and what it is to possess God! How differently
they would live! Nor would they spare themselves any sacrifice in order
to possess Him!” She then explained the five meanings of the Tabernacle light
that had been extinguished before Mother Mariana’s eyes.
“The first reason for
the lamp being extinguished is that at the end of the 19th century, and
advancing into a large part of the 20th, various heresies will be propagated in
this land, then a free Republic. As they come to dominate, the precious light
of Faith will be extinguished in souls by the almost total corruption of
customs. During this period, there will be great physical and moral
catastrophes, both public and private. The small number of souls who, hidden,
will conserve the treasure of the Faith and virtues will suffer an unspeakably
cruel and prolonged martyrdom. Many of them will succumb to death from the
violence of their suffering, and those who sacrifice themselves for their
Church and Country will be counted as martyrs. In order to free men from
bondage to these heresies, those whom the merciful love of My Most Holy Son
will destine for that restoration will need great strength of will, constancy,
valor and confidence in God. To test this faith and confidence of the just,
there will be occasions in which everything will seem to be lost and paralyzed.
This will be, then, the happy beginning of the complete restoration.”
These chosen souls, who
will restore the health of the Church, seem to be very similar to the apostles
of the latter times predicted by St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort.
“The second
reason,” she said, “for the lamp being extinguished is that my Community, being
greatly reduced in number, will be submerged in a fathomless ocean of
indescribable bitterness, and will seem to be drowning in these diverse waters
of tribulations. How many authentic vocations will perish because of the lack
of discretion, discernment and prudence on the part of the Novice Mistresses in
forming them! They should be souls of prayer and well-learned in the varied
spiritual ways. Woe to those souls who will return to the Babylon of the world
after having been in the secure port of this blessed Convent! During this
unfortunate epoch, injustice will even enter here, my closed garden. Disguised
under the name of false charity, it will wreak havoc in souls. The spiteful
demon will try to sow discord, making use of putrid members, who, masked by the
appearance of virtue, will be like decaying sepulchers emanating the pestilence
of putrefaction, causing moral deaths in some and lukewarmness in others. They
will thrust a two-edged sword into my faithful daughters, making them suffer a
continuous and slow martyrdom. These faithful daughters will weep in secret and
complain to their Lord and God, and their tears will be presented by their
Guardian Angels to our Heavenly Father, asking that They shorten such dire
times for love of the Divine Prisoner.
“The third reason for
the lamp being extinguished is because of the spirit of impurity that will
saturate the atmosphere in those times. Like a filthy ocean, it will inundate
the streets, squares and public places with an astonishing liberty. There will
be almost no virgin souls in the world. The delicate flower of virginity, timid
and threatened by complete destruction, will shine in the distance. Taking
refuge in cloisters, it will find good soil there that will take root, grow,
and live, its fragrance being the delight of My Most Holy Son and the shield
against Divine Ire. Without virginity, it would be necessary for fire from
Heaven to fall upon these lands to purify them. In his malicious pride, the
invidious and pestiferous Devil will try to intrude into even these closed
gardens of the religious cloisters to make this beautiful and delicate flower
wither. But I will confront him and crush his head under my feet. Alas, how
sorrowful! There will be careless souls who will voluntarily deliver themselves
into his claws. Others, returning to the world, will become instruments of the
Devil for the loss of souls.”
“The fourth reason for
the lamp being extinguished is that the Masonic Sect, having infiltrated all
the social classes, will be so subtle as to introduce itself into domestic
ambiences in order to corrupt the children, and the Devil will glory in eating
upon the exquisite delicacy of the hearts of children. During these unfortunate
times, evil will assault childhood innocence. In this way, vocations to the priesthood
will be lost, which will be a true calamity. It will fall to the religious
groups to sustain the Church and to labor with valorous, disinterested zeal for
the salvation of souls. For, during this period, the observance of the Rule
will shine in communities and there will be holy ministers of the altar, hidden
and beautiful souls, in whom my Most Holy Son and I will take our delight,
finding them to be excellent flowers and fruits of heroic sanctity. The impious
ones will rage a cruel war against them, letting fall on them vituperations,
calumnies and vexations in order to impede the fulfillment of their ministry.
But they, like firm columns, will remain unswerving and will confront
everything with that spirit of humility and sacrifice with which they will be
vested, by virtue of the infinite merits of my Most Holy Son, Who loves them as
the innermost fibers of His most holy and tender Heart. In this epoch, the
Secular Clergy will be far removed from its ideal, because the priests will be
careless in their sacred duties. Lacking the divine compass, they will stray
from the road traced by God for the priestly ministry and they will become
attached to wealth and riches, which they will unduly strive to obtain. How the
Church will suffer on that occasion the dark night of the lack of a Prelate and
Father to watch over them with paternal love, gentleness, strength, and
prudence. Many priests will lose their spirit, placing their souls in great
danger.”
Our Lady continued to
explain the fourth reason for the extinguishing of the Tabernacle light: “Pray
insistently without tiring and weep with bitter tears in the secrecy of your
heart, imploring our Celestial Father that, for love of the Eucharistic Heart of
my Most Holy Son and His Precious Blood shed with such generosity and by the
profound bitterness and sufferings of His cruel Passion and Death, He might
take pity on His Ministers and quickly bring to an end those ominous times,
sending to this Church the Prelate that will restore the spirit of its priests.”
“My Most Holy Son and I
will love this most favored son with a love of predilection, and we shall gift
him with a rare capacity, a humility of heart, a docility to divine
inspiration, the strength to defend the rights of the Church, and a tender and
compassionate heart, so that, like another Christ, he will assist the great and
the small, without despising the more unfortunate souls who ask him for light
and counsel in their doubts and hardships. With divine suavity, he will guide
souls consecrated to the service of God in the cloisters, making light the yoke
of the Lord, Who said, “My yoke is sweet, and my burden light.” Into his hand
the scales of the Sanctuary will be placed so everything is weighed with due
measure and God will be glorified.”
In the future
restoration of the Church, one man will have a fundamental role. Natural
human curiosity leads us to ask: Who will this privileged person be? In
the common Spanish language of the 17th century, prelado (prelate)
was a word that designated either a civil or ecclesiastical dignitary (from the
Medieval Latin praelatus). It seems to be that at the present
moment all discussion regarding this man, even if the arguments are good, are
established in the ambit of personal opinion. Only those who will see the
future restoration of the Church will be able to affirm with certainty who
this prelado is.
Our Lady continued, “The
lukewarmness of all the souls consecrated to God in the priestly and religious
state will delay the coming of this Prelate and Father. This, then, will be the
cause of the cursed Devil taking possession of this land, where he will achieve
his victories by means of foreign and faithless people, so numerous that, like
a black cloud, it will obscure the limpid heavens of the then-republic
consecrated to the Most Sacred Heart of My Divine Son. With these people, every
type of vice will enter, which will attract, in their turn, every type of
chastisement, such as plagues, famines, internal fighting and external disputes
with other nations, and apostasy, the cause of the perdition of so many souls
so dear to Jesus Christ and to me. In order to dissipate this black cloud, that
prevents the Church from enjoying the clear day of liberty, there will be a
formidable and frightful war, which will see the bloodshed of countrymen and of
foreigners, of secular and regular priests, as well as that of religious. This
night will be most horrible, for, humanly speaking, evil will seem to triumph.”
“This, then, will mark
the arrival of my hour, when I, in a marvelous way, will dethrone the proud and
cursed Satan, trampling him under my feet and fettering him in the infernal
abyss. Thus the Church and Country will be finally free of his cruel tyranny.”
“The fifth reason for
the lamp being extinguished is due to the laxity and the negligence of those
who possess great wealth, who will indifferently stand by and witness the
Church being oppressed, virtue being persecuted, and the triumph of evil,
without piously employing their riches for the destruction of this evil and the
restoration of the Faith. It is also due to the indifference of the people in
allowing the Name of God to be gradually snuffed out and adhering to the spirit
of evil, freely delivering themselves to the vices and passions. Alas! my
chosen daughter! If it were given to you to live in this tenebrous era, you
would die of sorrow to see all that I have revealed to you here take place. My Most
Holy Son and I have a great love for this land, our legacy, that we desire that
even now the application of your sacrifices and prayers to shorten the time of
such a terrible catastrophe!”
After this admirable
vision, all that had been narrated by Our Lady passed before the eyes of Mother
Mariana as if on a silent presentation. She was given to know the countless
number of souls who would be condemned for the above-mentioned reasons. Seeing
this, Mother Mariana fainted. There the sisters found her, as if dead, except
for the violent beating of her heart. All of the doctor’s efforts to
restore her to consciousness proved useless. In fact, humanly speaking,
her life should have ended from the shock she had received. The sisters
surrounded her, beseeching heaven to leave them their great treasure, the last
of the Founding Mothers, “the mainstay of observance, the column of the
house.” Two days later, Mother Mariana opened her eyes, encouraged her
sisters to continue to follow the rule, and consoled them that she would remain
with them yet a little longer, the last year of her life.
In the last ten months
of her life, Mother Mariana never fully recovered the vigor of her health and
was often obliged to remain in bed. In sickness as well as health, she
edified the community in her example. Amid her intense pains, she always
maintained a smile on her lips, an admirable serenity and an imperturbable
spirit, proper to a soul whose life had unfolded in the shadow of the Cross.
In this last phase of
her life in the Convent of the Immaculate Conception of Quito, she dedicated
herself to the formation of the novices, whom she taught and instructed about
the religious life. She possessed the gift of discernment of spirit,
which God often gives to founders of religious orders. Thus, she could
perceive which youths were called to a religious vocation and encourage and
foster them to fulfill it. At the same time, she used to explain to those
without this vocation that it was not necessary to be a religious in order to
serve God and save one’s soul, she would refuse to accept these young ladies
into the Convent. And her predictions were always correct. Those
whom she advised to marry and who followed her advice often became the mothers
of daughters who entered the Convent of the Immaculate Conception. Those
who refused to listen to her advice would go to other Convents and find that,
in fact, they did not have a vocation.
The life of Mother
Mariana during these last months of her earthly existence was one of continuous
prayer. Everything spoke to her of God and elevated her spirit.
When she was well, she employed all her free time in helping to care for her
sick sisters, assisting with the menial chores of the Convent and speaking with
her sisters, who never wanted to leave her side.
Since she could read the
hearts of her daughters, she would comfort and counsel them in how to progress
in the spiritual life. She explained how it was necessary to die to
oneself in order to practice real virtue, and repeatedly warned them to guard
the common life of the Convent and to obey the rule. When prayer and
community life are wanting, everything falls short, for the religious without
prayer is like a soldier without arms in combat. She told them to be
patient in their sicknesses, since illnesses are the best and most meritorious
penances, which free souls from illusions, vanity and pride, she especially
warned her daughters to guard against that “cursed human respect, which makes
one ask: ‘What will others say about this?’” Instead, she counseled, they
should conform their lives in the cloisters to the norms of the Gospel and
ground themselves firmly on the strong foundation of humility.
Some of the last
apparitions of the Our Lady to Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres contained
warnings about the corruption of the customs of priests and religious.
She foretold that many priests would come to live only a superficial life of
the soul and would be too greatly attached to family and wealth. They
would falsely think that they could reach sanctity by the practice of one or
two virtues, without constructing their spiritual lives upon
the solid foundation of a profound humility, without which no virtue can exist.
On November 2, 1634,
after receiving Holy Communion, Mother Mariana had a vision of Jesus Christ. He
was, however, but one wound, especially His Sacred Heart, which was covered
with small but piercing thorns which tormented Him with extraordinary cruelty.
He shed a deluge of tears, accompanied by tender lamentations and sighs.
Mother Mariana embraced
Him in her heart with all the tenderness and adoration for her Lord and God
that burned in her soul. In an outburst of sorrowful love, she cried out:
“Esteemed and adored Love of my soul, if it is possible, tell me what causes
Thee to suffer such a cruel martyrdom?”
“... You see how these
small thorns sting me cruelly. Understand that they are the grave as well as
slight faults of my priests, secular and religious, who I take from the world
and bring them to the cloisters. I lavish on them a deluge of spiritual graces,
giving them also serious, prolonged sicknesses so that they might become like
unto Me. But, ungrateful and heartless, they complain about My loving
Providence. They think I am being cruel to them, and withdrawing with
indifference, they leave Me alone. The spirit of such souls will wilt like a
parched flower, drying up and becoming unable to emit its fragrance in the
garden of my Immaculate Mother, to which such souls were called. With this
ungrateful behavior, they will thrust these tiny thorns into My Heart, cruelly
wounding It, which is all love and affection for My chosen souls. At the same
time they will frustrate the great designs that I have for them, for which
reason I test them in this manner, for the cross and tribulation are the
patrimony of the just here on earth. Instill in your present-day daughters the
love of the cross and sacrifice so that they can transmit this from generation
to generation, in this Convent as well as in the Order in general. Imbue them
also with a love for their religious vocation and regular observance, as well
as fraternal charity and love for poor sinners, and faithful correspondence to
the inspirations of grace. The times will come when doctrine will be spread
among the learned and the ignorant, accessible to priests and religious, and
even the common people. Many books will be written. But the practice of the
virtues and these doctrines will be found only in a few souls: for this reason,
saints will become rare. Precisely for this reason: My priests and religious
will fall into a fatal indifference. Their frigidity will extinguish the fire
of divine love, afflicting My loving Heart with these small thorns that you
see. For this reason, I desire that here there should be souls here in whom I
can rest from My fatigues and in whom I might take complacence. Their
afflicted, sacrificial lives will be the caressing, compassionate hands that
remove these tiny thorns from My Heart and apply the needed balsam. Alas! If it
were given to you to understand My intense interior suffering - which
accompanied Me from the Incarnation in the most pure womb of My Virgin Mother
until the moment when My Soul left Its lacerated Body, nailed on the Cross. And
this suffering is caused by the lack of correspondence to the deluge of graces
with which I inundate My priests and religious and, consequently, by the sins
that they commit! Know, moreover, that Divine Justice releases terrible
chastisements on entire nations, not only for the sins of the people but for
those of priests and religious persons. For the latter are called, by the
perfection of their state, to be the salt of the earth, the masters of truth,
and the shields to hold back Divine Ire. Straying from their sublime mission,
they degrade themselves in such a way that, before the eyes of God, they
increase the rigor of the punishments. When they detach themselves from Me,
they end up living a superficial life of soul, maintaining a distance from Me
unworthy of My Ministers. By their frigidity and lack of confidence, they act
as if I were a stranger to them.”
“Alas! If they knew, if
they were convinced of how much I love them and desire that they enter into the
very depths of their souls. There, without a doubt, they would find Me and
would necessarily live the life of love, light and continuous union to which they
were not only called, but chosen! Now, my spouse, in the few months of exile
that remain to you, labor untiringly for the perfection of My priests and
religious persons. In union with My infinite merits and those of My Immaculate
Mother and yours, offer all that you do - even to your least breath- for this.
I am greatly pleased by religious souls who take upon themselves the sublime
task of sanctifying the Clergy through their prayers, sacrifices, and penances.
In all times I will choose such souls so that, uniting themselves to Me, they
will labor, pray and suffer to attain of this most noble end, and a special
glory will await them in Heaven.”
After this moving
vision, Mother Mariana seemed transformed into a new creature. She seemed an
angel in human flesh and a seraph filled with God. Her words were flaming
arrows of divine love that sweetly wounded the hearts of the fortunate
daughters who lived with her.
After the joyful
celebration of the feast of the Immaculate Conception in December of 1634,
Mother Mariana went to the upper choir to pray for each of her daughters before
Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and His Holy Mother. As she pleaded
that they might be preserved from diabolical snares and the loss of their
religious spirit, the three Archangels appeared preceding their Queen, who
carried her Son in her left arm.
– St. Michael carried a
countless number of white tunics sprinkled with stars, adorned with burnished
gold. Each tunic was trimmed with an exquisite collar of fine pearls, from
which hung a most beautiful gold cross with every type of precious stone. In
the middle of the cross was a shining star engraved with the sweet names of
Jesus and Mary.
– St. Gabriel carried a
chalice bearing the Blood of the Redeemer, a ciborium filled with Hosts, and a
large quantity of fragrant, white lilies.
– St. Raphael bore a
large, precious ampulla, transparent and finely chiseled, which contained a
superb balsam, whose suave odor floated out from the receptacle and diffused in
the air, purifying the atmosphere and causing the soul to feel a supreme joy
and admirable tranquility. He also carried many violet-colored stoles that
shone with a splendorous brilliance and a writing quill of a shining and
refulgent gold, marked with the name of Mary.
The three Holy
Archangels stood before their Sovereign Queen, whose left arm sustained the
King of the Heaven and the Prince of Eternity. The nine angelic choirs, upon a
signal from St. Michael, began to sing with celestial harmony, with one
choir succeeding another until they reached the ninth.
“My most beloved
daughter and predilect spouse of the Spotless Lamb, you will soon leave this
earth, the sad place of exile of the just, and come forthwith to your
longed-for Fatherland. The hard winter of your mortal existence has passed, and
your eternal springtime begins, where the good works practiced during earthly
life are flowers of rare beauty, exquisite perfumes of great value, because
they are the price of the dolorous Redemption. If mortals only understood how
to appreciate the time given to them and would take advantage of each moment of
life, how different the world would be! And a considerable number of souls
would not fall to their eternal perdition! This disdain is the fundamental
cause for their downfall!”
“My daughter, have pity
on your imprudent brethren sinners and weep for them. Imploring your God and
Redeemer to send to their souls many special, efficacious graces, powerful
enough to withdraw them from the dark abyss where they lie. Do you see what the
three Archangels St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and St. Raphael carry with joy?”
"Know that the white
tunics, carried by St. Michael, are destined, first, for my faithful and
fervent daughters throughout time who will live in this cloister: to some for
having preserved their baptismal innocence and to others for having purified
themselves by austere penances (…). Second, the white tunics are also for
secular and regular priests, and laity of both sexes, who, loving my Most Holy
Son and myself with simple, upright hearts, also love this Convent of our
predilection. Ignoring criticism and scorn, they strive for its conservation
and dedicate themselves to propagating my devotion under the consoling
invocation of Good Success, which will be the sustenance and safeguard of the
Faith in the almost total corruption of the 20th century."
 |
| Pope Blessed Pius IX |
She then explained the
symbolism of the ciborium:
“St. Gabriel carries
this precious chalice bearing the Blood of the Redeemer: this signifies the
grace of the resurrection from death (from sin) and the restoration of souls by
means of the Sacrament of Penance, which the ministers of my Most Holy Son make
available abundantly to restore life to souls killed by the satanic jealousy of
the infernal dragon. See and contemplate the grandeur of this restoring and
life-giving Sacrament, so forgotten and even scorned by ungrateful mortals,
who, in their mad illusions do not realize that it is the only sure means of
salvation after losing one’s baptismal innocence. What is most grievous is that even the ministers of my Most Holy Son do not give to this Sacrament the value that they should. Many view with cold indifference this valuable and precious treasure, which has been placed in their hands for the restoration of souls redeemed by the Blood of the Redeemer. There are those who consider hearing confession as a loss of time and a futile thing. Alas! If priests were given to see directly that which you are now contemplating and were enlightened with the light that now illuminates you, they would recognize this divine gift! As you see, St. Gabriel
also carries a ciborium filled with Hosts: this signifies the most august
Sacrament of the Eucharist, which will be distributed by my Catholic priests to
faithful belonging to the Holy Roman, Catholic and Apostolic Church, whose
visible head is the Pope, the King of Christendom. His pontifical infallibility
will be declared a Dogma of Faith by the same Pope chosen to proclaim the Dogma
of the Mystery of my Immaculate Conception. He will be persecuted and
imprisoned in the Vatican by the unjust usurpation of the Pontifical States
through the iniquity, envy and avarice of an earthly monarch.”
[Comment: On Dec. 8,
1854, Pope Blessed Pius IX proclaimed the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin
as dogma of Church. He also proclaimed the dogma of Papal Infallibility
on July 18, 1870 during the First Vatican Council. Pius IX was persecuted
in the Vatican by Victor Emmanuel, who seized the last of the pontifical states
in 1870.]
“See the filled ciborium
so that you might comprehend the sublimity of this Mystery and the reverence
with which it should be treated and received by the faithful. It will be an
antidote against sin and an easy and powerful means for souls to unite
themselves to their God and Redeemer, Who, in the excess of His love, hides
Himself under the white accidents of the Host, exposed to the sacrilegious
profanations of His ungrateful sons. To make amends for these sacrileges is the
work of contemplative souls, and, in a special way, to the daughters of My
Immaculate Conception. Know that in the Divine Arcana, this hidden and
voluntary expiation was one of the designs of God in disposing the foundation
of this Order so dear to Him. These countless white lilies, beautiful and
exceedingly fragrant - that you see together with the chalice and the ciborium
borne by my Archangel Gabriel are all the good religious of my Order (and they
will be very numerous in cloisters throughout the World). Each one of them will
have a distinct mission and will receive torrents of graces unceasingly from
Heaven for this end. I recommend my daughters to suffer so that the seven
Sacraments, are received with perfection by the faithful, above all the third
(Holy Eucharist), the fourth (Confession) and the sixth Sacraments (Holy
Orders).”
She then explained the
significance of the ampulla:
“The large, transparent
and precious ampulla carried by my Archangel Raphael contains an extraordinary
balsam of the sweetest fragrance, which is diffused through the air and
purifies the atmosphere, communicating to the soul a supreme happiness and
admirable tranquility. It represents the cloisters and the convents. They are
chosen places that see the daily practice of the solid virtue, as well as the
observance of the Rule and austere penances of its inhabitants. The purity and
chastity that exist there are the exquisite aroma that perfumes the fortunate
countries that possess monasteries and convents. They purify the air polluted
by those in the world delivered over to the most shameful vices and passions.
At the same time, they transmit to souls that ineffable joy and admirable peace
that causes sinners to fall into themselves and turn toward God. This takes
place by virtue of the prayers raised up in these houses to Heaven incessantly,
day and night. Like Moses with his arms raised to Heaven, religious souls
supplicate and make penances for sinners to be converted and their nations
saved from the torrent of vices and passions that call down the terrible
chastisements of Divine Justice. Woe to the world should it lack monasteries
and convents! Mortals do not comprehend their importance, for, if they
understood, they would use their wealth to multiply them, because they provide
the remedy for all physical and moral evils. The Most Holy Trinity and I, the
Mother and model of religious persons, love these houses with great tenderness.
I am the channel for that river of precious graces that are not given to those
in the world. For in each monastery and Convent I am truly and tenderly loved;
their members have recourse to me with that confidence and love that sons and
daughters have for their tender and loving mother. Under different invocations,
they venerate me in all these places. The Archangels gather up their prayers,
tears, penances, sighs and lives of sacrifices and present them to me. I then
present them before the throne of the God for the salvation of the world. No
one on the face of the earth realizes whence comes the salvation of souls, the
conversion of great sinners, the deferral of great scourges, the production and
fertility of the lands, the end of pestilences and wars, and the harmony
between nations. All this is due to the prayers that rise up from monasteries
and convents.”
Our Lady explained the
innumerable violet-colored stoles and quill:
“The innumerable
violet-colored stoles carried by my Archangel Raphael, which shine resplendently
and illuminate the sanctuary, symbolize the effective action and zeal of good
priests, who, with self-abnegation, forget themselves to make Jesus Christ and
myself known and loved. Faithful to their mission confided to them by the
Father of the Family, they labor untiringly in the vineyard of the Lord to make
it grow and prosper and to save the souls ransomed by the Blood of the
Redeemer. These are the good and faithful servants who will enter into the joy
of their Lord. The quill of polished and shining gold marked with My Name is
for all the priests of both clergies (regular and secular) who write of my
glories and sorrows. It is also for those who by means of their writing diffuse
my devotion of Good Success of this Convent, as well as your life, which is
inseparable from this tender and consoling invocation. In the 20th century,
this devotion will work prodigies in the spiritual as well as temporal spheres,
because it is the will of God to reserve this invocation and knowledge of your
life for that century, when the corruption of customs will be almost general
and the precious light of Faith almost extinguished!”
“Now, my beloved
daughter, you realize the significance of all the things that you see in the
hands of my holy Archangels: Michael (Who is like unto God?); Gabriel (The
Strength of God); Raphael (The Medicine of God). Each Archangel fulfills a
mission in assisting decadent humanity.”
“Even if the rest of
mankind neglects invoking and venerating these holy Princes, I desire that you
and your present-day daughters, as well as those to come, should do this to
receive graces and favors - material and moral – for yourselves and
for this Convent. I also verify that they will always take care of my Statue
and of this beloved Convent so favored by the goodness of God.”
In the first five days
of 1635, Mother Mariana remained very weak, becoming worse every day. The
seventh day, she began to suffer prolonged swoons daily. She did not remain in
bed, however, but forced herself to always be with her beloved Sisters. On
January 11, after Communion, she lost consciousness again and, after trying to
stand, she fell to the ground. She then asked to be carried to the infirmary
because those were her last days. She knew she would expire on January 16. And
this day finally dawned. Mother Mariana assisted and consoled each Sister in
private, confessed herself, assisted to the Mass celebrated in the room with
the presence of the Bishop.
Surrounded by her
community and her Franciscan confessors, Mother Mariana made a solemn
profession of Faith and then asked, as a last favor, to die on the ground in
imitation of her seraphic father St. Francis. After receiving the Holy
Host and the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, she foretold the exact hour of her
death: 3 P.M. Before she died, she read her last will and testament, a
moving testimony that gave her daughters inestimable advice about the religious
life along with many prophecies concerning the Order. Also, in it, she was
asking, ordering and commanding that it be followed by her successors and
transmitted from generation to generation. She desired its text to always be at
hand.
At its end, she said:
“My fathers and sisters, the time has come for me to depart; recommend my soul
to God with the appropriate prayers. I thank you for everything.
Always, I beseech you, have this convent and your sisters in you care. I
die, as I lived, joyously and peacefully in the arms of my mother, the Seraphic
Order.”
After she finished
speaking, the Friar assisting her, placed his crucifix in her hands. She held
it tightly against her heart. At the conclusion of the prayers, two tears
rolled down her cheek, she sighed, and, with an angelic smile on her face, her
blessed soul left her body.
As the news reached the
streets, the inhabitants of Quito filled the Convent and clamored to see the
body of their cherished Mother Mariana. Throughout the three days that
her body was displayed for the public, it showed no signs of deterioration or
putrefaction. It remained flexible, her complexion rosy, and the charming
smile on her face gave her every appearance of being alive. During the wake,
the first miracle was recorded: when a flower from the crown that
encircled Mother Mariana’s head was touched to the eyes of a blind girl, her
sight was restored.
This is but a sampling
of the many prophecies and divine messages Mother Mariana received from Our
Lord, the Blessed Mother, her Seraphic Father St. Francis and the Conceptionist Foundress St.
Beatrice da Silva. It is also only a sketch of the admirable life of
Mother Mariana de Jesus, resplendent with virtues, prayer, extraordinary
penances and sacrifices. Yet, it is obvious that the hour she foretold
has arrived: it is time that the name be known and the devotion to Our Lady of
Good Success be spread and encouraged.
The twentieth century
ended in a great crisis of Faith and Morals. Everywhere the questions
arise: Where is the Church heading? What is the future of
Christendom? They are questions that almost no one dares to answer.
This confusion is not
only subverting the temporal sphere, but had also penetrated the walls of the
Church itself. Indeed, the corruption of customs has become general and
the precious light of Faith almost extinct. Yet the message of Our Lady
of Good Success ends on a note of great hope: When everything will seem
lost and paralyzed, that will be “The happy beginning of the complete
restoration. This will mark the arrival of my hour, when I, in a
marvelous way, will dethrone the proud and cursed Satan, trampling him under my
feet and fettering him in the infernal abyss.” It is the promise echoed
by Our Lady of Fatima in 1917: “In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph.”
Thus, it seems opportune
to turn to Our Lady of Good Success and invoke her, to beg her for every good
success – both temporal and spiritual. It is the moment to ask for her
orientation and certainty amid this storm, as well as the courage and strength
to keep aloft the standard of the Father. Finally, let us pray for the
intervention she promised to make at this calamitous moment in History so that
she may reign in glory as Queen of the Universe, alongside her Son, Jesus
Christ, Lord and King.
«Part 2 Novena»
Sources:
1. The Admirable Life of Mother Mariana Vol. 1 & 2 by Fr. Manuel Sousa Pereira O.F.M. (Note: with Ultra-Conservative Foreword by the Translator)
2. Our Lady of Good Success: Prophecies for Our Times by Marian Therese Horvat Ph.D. (Note: Marian is an Ultra-Conservative)
«Part 2 Novena»
