The  Way  of  Divine  Love,

      by  Sister  Josefa  Menendez

             Josefa Menendez died in 1923, Poitiers, France.

* The Way of Divine Love . html                   But the way of the just is as the shining light,
                                                                    that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
                                                                                        -- Proverbs 4:18

. . . . . . . . . . 

. . . . . . . . Sister Josefa Menendez.
. . . Religious of the Sacred Heart
                1890 -- 1923. . .                   Download Way of Divine Love, pdf. -- Way of Divine Love. ---

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Video. When Jesus appeared to Josefa Menendez. 14 minutes.

 

Short excerpt from her writings.

 

From June 1920 until her death on December 29, 1923, Our Lord appeared to Sister Josefa Menendez, with His visible Sacred Heart enflamed, and asked her to write His words in a diary, which would be made known after her death. Under obedience to her superiors she obeyed this command, though it cost her humility much, and though she feared receiving such extraordinary graces.

On October 20, 1922, Our Lord said to Sister Josefa: “I am all Love; I cannot treat with severity the souls which I love so much. And although it is true that I love all, I have among all “my preferred ones.” I have chosen them to console Myself with them and to heap upon them my most sweet caresses… Their wretchedness does not matter… and I want them to know that, after they have fallen in some weakness, if they humbly cast themselves into My Heart, I forgive them, and I love them with more tenderness than before"… I told Him that, is that why He loves me so much… For when I again ask pardon of Him, immediately, with another proof of His love, He shows me that He has pardoned me. “Do you not know that the more miserable souls are, I love them all the more? You have stolen My Heart, on account of your littleness and your wretchedness.”

I then asked for the Cross and asked Him why He was carrying it; perhaps some soul was giving Him suffering? “I carry the Cross, because there are many chosen souls, who in little things resist Me; and these resistances form today’s Cross. Do you know what is the cause of these resistances? A lack of love… Yes; a lack of love for My Heart… Excessive love of themselves… After a moment of silence He continued: “When a soul has enough generosity to give me delight in all that I ask of him, he gathers a great treasure for himself and for souls, and he takes many souls off of the path of perdition. “The souls that My Heart chooses are charged with distributing My graces to the world." 

 

short selection. pdf

 

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The  Mercy  of  His  Heart  is  Infinite

 

I am God, but a God of love! I am a Father, but a Father full of compassion and never harsh. My Heart is infinitely holy but also infinitely wise, ahd knowing human frailty  and infirmity stoops to poor sinners with infinite mercy.

I love those who after a first fall come to me for pardon. I love them still more when they beg pardon for their second sin, and should this happen again,  I do not say a million times, but a million million times, I still love them and pardon them, and I will wash in my blood  their last as fully as their first sin.

Never shall I weary of repentant sinners, nor cease  from hoping for their return, and the greater their distress,  the greater my welcome.  Does not a father love a sick child  with special affection? Are not his care and  solicitude greater?  So is the tenderness and compassion  of My Heart more abundant  for sinners than for the just.

Words of Christ to Sister Josefa Menendez, June 11, 1923. Taken from "Way of Divine Love".
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I will make known that the measure of my love and mercy for fallen souls is limitless. I want to forgive them. It rests me to forgive. I am ever there, waiting with boundless love, till souls come to me. -- Words of Christ, 1922.

* Mary of Egypt * The story of a woman who fell into grievous sins of the flesh for many years, and Christ converted her by means of a miracle.

Christ made known to Sister Josefa that he wanted other souls, called victim souls, to help him save souls by their prayers, actions and sufferings. For more information about victim souls, see the page "Atonement: Legion of Victim Souls."

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Biblical  Character  of  Our  Lord's  Teaching

What stands out in Christ's teaching to Sister Josefa, is its Biblical character, which sets in relief the guiding principles of the Christian faith.

Divine Providence
Presence of Grace
Value of Life-giving union with Christ
Participation in the infinite merits of Jesus Christ
The Communion of Saints
An Appeal of Love and Mercy

Divine Providence. The whole history of Josefa is indeed that of Divine Providence, which makes no mistakes in its ways. "As you are very small," Our Lord said to her, "you must let yourself be controlled and guided by my fatherly hand, which is powerful and infinitely strong" (26 May 1923). "I will mould you as is best for my glory and for souls." (7 Aug. 1922). "Do not fear, for I am looking after you with jealous care, such care as the tenderest of mothers takes of her little child." (3 May 1923). Magnificent definition of divine fidelity, which can say to us at the turning point of life, as he said to Josefa: "I never fail My word!"

Presence of Grace. We are constantly reminded of the presence of grace, giving life to the soul, the foundation of the incorporation with Christ. "I am in her," he said, "I live in her! I delight in making but one thing with her." (5 Dec. 1923). But in return He asks her never to leave Him alone, to consult Him about everything, to ask Him for everything, to clothe herself with Him and disappear beneath His life. "The more you disappear, the more shall I be your life." (5 June 1923). Is not this a commentary on the words of Scripture, St. Paul: I live, now not I, but Christ liveth in me. -- Galatians 2:20.

Value of life-giving union with Christ. The least activities are transformed, by gilding them with the supernatural. More than once and in tangible ways Our Lord showed Josefa what love can make of the most insignificant actions when they are united to Him. So, He wanted to revive in souls the joy of believing in the wealth at our disposal. "How many souls would regain courage," He said, "if they realized the results of their efforts." (7 Aug. 1922). "And how great is the value of a day of divine life." ( 2 Dec. 1922).

Participation in the infinite merits of Jesus Christ. Our Lord constantly reminds Josefa of this power over the treasures of His redemption given to the baptized soul.  If he asks her to complete what is wanting in His passion (Colossians 1:24), to repair for the world and to satisfy the Father's Justice, it is always with Him, through Him, in Him. "My Heart is yours; take it and repair with it." (15 Oct. 1923). Then he makes those offerings all-powerful over the Heart of the Father, which Josefa heard and passed on to us; "Good Father, holy Father, merciful Father, accept the blood of your Son, His Wounds, His Heart! Look upon His head, pierced with thorns. Do not allow His blood to be once more useless." (26 Sep. 1922). "Do not forget that the time for justice has not yet come, but that now is the hour of mercy." (11 Feb. 1922).

Communion of Saints. The great reality of the communion of saints runs through the warp and weft  of Josefa's vocation and forms the background of the picture  of her life. Our Blessed Lady, Mother of mercy, has her special place in the center of this wonderful exchange of graces  and merits,  between the saints in Heaven, the souls in Purgatory, and the church militant on earth.  Only Hell is excluded.  Josefa, a tiny member of the mystical body of Christ,  learns from Him the repercussions  in the world of souls of fidelity, sacrifice,  suffering, and prayer.

An Appeal of Love and Mercy. One day she said to her Master, "Lord, I do not understand what this work is, that you are always telling me about." He answered, "You do not know what My work is? It is love. I want to use you to reveal more than ever before the mercy and love of My Heart. The words or desires that I give to the world through you will arouse zeal in many souls and will prevent the loss of many others, and they will gain an ever fuller realization that the mercy of My Heart is inexhaustible." (22 Nov. 1922).

Jesus wants to reign in souls, by giving them a more profound knowledge of His goodness, His love and His mercy. This is the testimony that He came on earth to give His Father: Deus caritas est, God is love, (1 Jn. 4:16), and this is what He wants his followers to know and say of Him.

 

Scriptures

 

Galatians 2:20
I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

First John 4:16
Deus caritas est. God is love. And he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him.

Colossians 1:24
I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh, for his body's sake, which is the church.