1. In the previous
chapter we left Jesus after the Marriage Feast of Cana on the way to
Capharnaum accompanied by His Mother, His cousins and other disciples, as
the Gospels tell us (John II, 12), to which we add that Mary Salome also
went; she dwelt in the latter town, and in her home the Divine Master and
His Divine Mother stayed. Jesus remained in the neighborhood of the Sea of Galilee for
the space of ten days counting from the 24th of February of the year 31,
teaching in public, giving proof of His Messiahship with miracles, and
converting many; since, as Divine Physician He had come to heal not only
the body, but principally the soul, as the prophet Isaias foretold when he
placed on Jesus' lips: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because
the Lord hath anointed Me: He hath sent Me to preach to the meek, to heal
the contrite of heart, and to preach release to the captives, and
deliverance to them that are shut up" (Isaias LXI, 1).
2. We confirm the
teaching of the eminent Doctor, Saint Anne Catherine Emmerich, that Jesus
already taught the Our Father during this stay in Capharnaum, explaining
in detail the content of each of the petitions which this prayer par
excellence encloses. However, we assert that Jesus taught it for the first time,
in private, to the four disciples Peter, Andrew, James and John in
Jerusalem, on the way to Galilee from the Jordan where He had just
baptized them; a journey that took place in February of the year 31, and
which we recounted in the previous chapter.
Saint Luke mentions this latter occasion when Jesus taught the Our
Father where he says: "And it came to pass, that as He was in a
certain place praying, when He ceased, one of His disciples said to Him:
Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples" (Luke XI,
1); and following this, the Evangelist shows Jesus reciting some portions
of the Our Father (Luke XI, 2-4), although we teach that He recited it in
full; this we shall consider later on when we speak of the version given
by Saint Matthew. The "certain
place" that Saint Luke speaks of (XI, 1) is the Grotto of the Pater
by the Church of Eleona on the slopes of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem,
where the tradition is kept; this Our Lord Jesus Christ confirmed to His
Holiness Pope Gregory XVII to be true when He spoke to him from the Holy
Eucharist during the Mass he celebrated in the Grotto on the 9th of July
1979. We also confirm that
Jesus taught the Our Father for the first time in public at the Marriage
at Cana, and that with this prayer He often began His sermons.
3. With respect to the
disciples, we record that Jesus, as well as baptizing them, made them a
very special invitation to follow Him, as we interpret in the case of the
first call to Philip, when Jesus said to him "Follow Me" (John
I, 43); and He warned them, as well to prepare for the definitive
call which would come later; so they con-tinued at their occupations in
the meantime, as the eminent Doctor, Saint Anne Catherine Emmerich,
correctly teaches when telling how Peter and Andrew, as well as the sons
of Zebedee - James and John - busy at their fishing, were descried by
Jesus from a nearby hill, and some followers of His doctrine who were with
Him said to Him: "How can those men still go around fishing after
seeing what Thou hast done and hearing Thy teaching?
Jesus replied: I have not yet called them: They have a large
business, and much work, especially Peter; and many men and families
depend for their living on that employment.
I have told them to carry on as they are and to hold themselves in
readiness until I call them." For
this reason, until their definitive vocation, the disciples remained
active in their trades, from which they little by little became detached,
in accordance as Jesus taught and prepared them for their future
apostolate. The event
described by the Mystical Doctor occurred during these ten days that Jesus
laboured intensively close to the Sea of Galilee.
4. The Evangelist
Saint John (II, 13) relates that as the Pasch of the Jews was at hand,
Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Availing
ourselves of certain details found in the different mystical and prophetic
revelations, particularly in Saint Anne Catherine Emmerich, this Holy
Council gives the following account of the journey: Jesus, accompanied by
His Most Holy Mother, the first eleven disciples and a number of other
followers, as well as the holy women, left Capharnaum on the 5th of March
and headed for the Jordan. Following
the river, first through Decapolis, then through Samaria and lastly
through Peraea, He arrived at Bethabara, - where He had been baptized, -
and remained a number of days there, being the place preferred by the
Baptist for his preaching and as a result crowded with his followers.
From there, passing through Jericho, He went on to Bethany,
hometown of Lazarus and Martha, whom He joined on Wednesday the 13th of
March of the year 31. On the
journey Jesus taught and baptized with the help of His disciples.
5. On the occasion of
His stay in Bethany, Jesus attended a feast in the synagogue on the first
day of Nisan, which fell that year on the 15th of March, and visited the
poor and the sick, some of whom He cured of their ailments.
Two days later, accompanied by His Mother and His disciples, He
visited the Temple in Jerusalem, and announced to priests and pilgrims the
closeness of the Kingdom of God and the fulfillment of all the Messianic
prophecies and symbols, including that of the Paschal Lamb itself; and He
dwelt on the manner to prepare interiorly for the worthy celebration of
the Passover, which brought the admiration of many of those who listened
to Him, for His Divine Teaching set their hearts aflame.
6. His work in the
Temple over, on that same day, Sunday the 17th of March, accompanied by
His Mother and His disciples, He journeyed to the city of Hebron in
response to an invitation from certain relatives of Elizabeth and Zachary,
both now deceased, where He taught every day, particularly in the
synagogue, and proved His Word with miracles.
He remained in the city of the Patriarchs until Saturday the 23rd
of March.
7. On the Saturday
evening, His mission concluded, Jesus and those who accompanied Him
returned to Jerusalem, and on the next day, the 24th of March, visited the
Temple. When they reached the court called "of the
Gentiles", they found it turned into a den of merchants.
Although the Levitical authorities had been tolerating this abuse
for personal interests, it was not the place for the sale of the animals
destined for sacrifice, there being a space for that purpose outside the
sacred enclosure of the Temple, next to one of the entrances in the old
walls of the city called the Sheep Gate, close to the present Gate of
Saint Stephen. Jesus, aware
that this profane commerce was owing to a certain ignorance of the respect
and honour due to the Temple on the part on the merchants, with sovereign
patience and kindness approached the dealers and made them see how
offensive that all was to God. Some,
due to their good will, agreed at once to the explanations given by Jesus,
and removed their stalls from the Temple court; others promised to do so
as soon as possible; and there were also those who pledged their word, but
not in good faith, - rather out of plain hypocrisy.
Jesus left the Temple amidst the expectancy of many, who saw in Him
superhuman gifts of authority and uprightness, although others, more
perverse of heart, took Him to be an intruder full of arrogant, boundless
presumption. The priests,
scribes and pharisees were scandalized and confounded by Jesus' behaviour,
and revealed their indignation to the people, urging them to refrain from
joining with Him and not to listen to His teaching.
This, however, did not abate the interest that most people had in
seeing Jesus, particularly during this feast, when there were many
witnesses to His miracles and preaching.
8. On the following
day, Monday the 25th of March, from Bethany Jesus returned to the Temple
with His disciples, and there taught with courage and authority.
Again He approached the merchants, most of whom had resumed their
trade within the sacred enclosure, since many that had shown good will in
obeying Jesus the day before desisted from their resolutions, influenced
by their fellow tradesmen and, in particular, by the ecclesiastical
authorities, who foresaw a great loss to their interests in the affair.
This time Jesus spoke to them with greater severity, intimating
that He would act with far greater rigour the next time; and their
reaction to this warning was with like promises and simulations.
9. On Wednesday the
27th of March, eve of the solemn day of the Passover, the expulsion of the
merchants from the Temple took place, related by the Evangelist Saint John:
"And the Pasch of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to
Jerusalem. And He found in
the Temple them that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of
money sitting. And when He
had made, as it were, a scourge of little cords, He drove them all
out of the Temple, the sheep also and the oxen, and the money of the
changers He poured out, and the tables He overthrew.
And to them that sold doves He said: Take these things hence, and
make not the house of My Father a house of traffic.
And His disciples remembered, that it was written: The zeal of Thy
house hath eaten Me up." (John II, 13-17).
We complete this Gospel passage affirming that Jesus made His
Divine Authority felt by the merchants in such a way that He filled them
not only with deep respect, but also with irresistible dread, since from
His Divine Countenance shone forth all-consuming rays of zeal for the
House of His Father; whilst at the same time, He showed in His manner
superhuman dignity and firm-ness. His
voice penetrated so deeply that it not only shook their senses, but also
their consciences, and made them see their own guilt and recognize in Him
His just conduct. Many of the
devout pilgrims expressed their acquiescence, whilst there were also the
few bold characters who, without revealing themselves, murmured and
rebuked Jesus; but in general, there reigned an impressive silence in
which could be heard only the hasty pacing of the animals, the moving of
the tables, and the awed whispering of the people.
The Evangelist goes on to say that the Jews asked Jesus what sign
did He show them of His authority to do these things (II, 18), and that He
replied: "Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it
up" (John II, 19), referring thus to the Temple of His Body, as the
same Evangelist tells us (John II, 21-22).
Jesus, aware of their intention to kill Him, indicated His Body
with His hand while He replied to them, so that the Jews under-stood
perfectly that Jesus was referring to the Temple of Himself and not to
that of Jerusalem. However,
with refined malice they distorted the meaning of His words, saying to Him:
"Six and forty years was this Temple in building; and wilt Thou raise
it up in three days?" (John II 20).
Therefore Jesus, seeing their hypocrisy, kept a majestic silence.
10. On another
occasion towards the end of His life, Christ acted in similar fashion
towards the merchants who profaned the Temple.
That event is recounted by the other three Evangelists (Matt. XXI,
12-13; Mark XI, 15-17; Luke XIX, 45-46), and we shall discuss it at the
proper time.
11. When the solemn
day of the Passover arrived, that is, the 15th of Nisan, Jesus celebrated,
according to the Law of Moses (Exodus XII, 6-8), the supper of the Paschal
Lamb in the evening: because as we know the Jewish day began with the
setting of the sun; and that particular evening coincided, in the year 31,
with that of the 28th of March of the Christian era.
He celebrated this ritual meal in a house belonging to Lazarus in
Jerusalem, and was accompanied by His Divine Mother, the eleven disciples,
Mary Cleophas, Mary Salome, Lazarus and his sister Martha, as well as
other pious women. To that end, in the afternoon of the 14th of Nisan (Exodus
XII, 6), Lazarus had taken a lamb to the Temple; and once sacrificed, it
was brought to the house. When
the Passover supper was ready, Jesus
blessed the victim and, when all had recited the Our Father, He
Himself proceeded to give to each their portion.
He first set aside His own, then distri-buted to His Mother and
afterwards to the rest. This
rite took place with all standing in readiness according to the Law of
Moses (Exodus XII, 11).
12. The Evangelist
Saint John (II, 23) relates that when Jesus was in Jerusalem upon the
solemn day of the Pasch, many believed in Him.
And he goes on to say: "But Jesus did not trust Himself unto
them, for that He knew all men, and because He needed not that any should
give testimony of man: for He knew what was in man" (John II, 24-25),
concerning which we teach that the reason Jesus did not trust most of
those who believed in Him on that day was because He saw their faith would
not be matched by works, since they were disposed neither to follow Him
nor to put His teachings into practice.
13. One of the persons
in whom Jesus placed no trust, amongst those who believed in Him on the
solemn day of the Pasch, was Judas Iscariot, who was in Jerusalem for the
feast. Having seen the things that Jesus did, he manifested a lively
desire to follow in His company, motivated in part by a certain degree of
piety, but above all by self-interest and prestige. That is why the next day, that is, Friday the 29th of March,
when Jesus was again in the Temple with His disciples, Judas approached
Him, asking to be admitted amongst them.
Although the Divine Master was aware of Judas' egoistic disposition,
He accepted him, for He ardently wished to save his soul, and to teach us
in this way that His Heavenly Father despises no one who shows at least a
minimum of good will, as was the case with this new disciple.
The latter was baptized by Jesus that same day in the Brook Cedron,
next to the Garden of Olives where he would later betray Him.
The Gospel of Saint John says that Judas was son of Simon Iscariot
(John XIII, 26). He came to
have this surname because his forebears were of the town of Carioth in
southern Judea.
14. On the 30th of
March, Jesus kept the Sabbath in the synagogue at Bethany, together with
His twelve disciples. In the
evening there visited Him, in the home of Lazarus, a friend of the latter
called Nicodemus, a distinguished pharisee and, as a member of the
Sanhedrin, ruler of the Jews (John III, 1).
He recognized the Divine Master as one sent from God on account of
His miracles, and he was instructed by Jesus on the mysteries of salvation,
as can be seen in the sublime colloquy recorded by the Evangelist Saint
John (III, 1-21), at which were present the Divine Mary, the twelve
disciples, Lazarus Martha, other relatives of the family, and guests.
With divine authority Jesus spoke of the necessity of Baptism and,
in general, of the Work of Redemption, which would be brought to fruition
by His ignominious death on the Cross, taking the burden of all the sins
of the world; on account of which His Most Sacred Humanity would be loaded
with opprobrium and contempt, and which He likened to a repulsive animal -
the serpent - saying: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up" (John III, 14).
For the serpent is a symbol of sin because Satan, the father of
lies, took the form of a serpent in order to tempt our first parents in
Para-dise, (Genesis III, 1) - causing them to sin, and in them the whole
of fallen mankind. Moses, in
the desert, prefiguring Christ nailed to the Cross - made sin for us as
Saint Paul says (2 Corinth. V, 21) - set up the serpent of bronze which,
at the same time as repre-senting the sin of the Israelites' murmuring,
was the sign of their bodily salvation from the punishment due to that sin
(Numbers XXI, 8-9).
15. Following this
brief commentary on the doctrine contained in Jesus' colloquy with
Nicodemus, we shall now examine in depth the last five verses of the
Gospel text (John III, 17-21). To
that end, we first set out the doctrine which follows, which we base on
the dogmatic definitions of His Holiness Pope Gregory XVII and the
infallible interpretation that he himself gives of those dogmas: death
comes upon each human being in two stages; - the first, clinical death,
when the soul ceases to vivify the body; and the second, true death, when
the soul leaves the body. In
most cases, several minutes elapse between clinical death and true death.
Moreover, those human beings who have reached the age of reason
receive, between clinical death and true death, first a visitation from
Satan, who endeavours to seduce them with a discourse of lies; and then a
visitation from the Divine Mary, Who endeavours by means of Her salvific
discourse, to convert those who have reached clinical death in a state of
spiritual misfortune with their soul in the state of sin.
Once this last discourse is heard, they receive, if they decide to
take refuge once and for all in the saving Work of Redemption, the Drop of
Blood of the Divine Mary; and in this way continue to belong to the Church
Militant if they already did so, or become members of it if they were not
so beforehand, since no one can be saved outside the true Church.
However, if they do not take refuge in the saving Work of
Redemption after Mary's discourse, they themselves decide once and for all
their eternal condemnation. With respect to those who reach clinical death in the state
of grace, they retain forevermore the Drop of the Divine Mary's Blood
which they possess; and on hearing the discourse of Satan, they hurl him
from sight, crushing his infernal head.
The discourse of Mary, on the other hand, is not now for their
conversion, but as a foretaste of the joy of Heaven.
16. Before we turn our
attention to the interpretation of the above-mentioned Gospel text (John
III, 17-21), we teach that there is only one Judgement in which our good
and bad works are valued in order to determine the final sentence we are
to receive, and this is the Particular Judgement that takes place between
clinical death and real death; since, as we know, the Last Judgement is
the universal display of the glorification of the saved and the
condemnation of the reprobate, both decided beforehand in the Particular
Judgement. It is appropriate
to distinguish in the latter the following: For all, the tribunal of God
is as follows: in the centre, Christ Jesus, the Supreme Judge without appeal; on His right,
the Divine Mary, Advocate and Refuge of sinners; and on the other hand,
Satan, the accuser before Christ, and seducer to the accused. However, as each is judged according to his own works, the
Particular Judgement differs in certain aspects according to the case,
since one who dies in the grace of God is not judged with the same rigour
as the impenitent soul who dies in mortal sin, or one who dies bearing the
sin against the Holy Ghost; and in each of these divisions, the Judgement
possesses special features according to the state of the soul.
Having made this distinction, we go on to interpret the Gospel text
referred to above:
17. Saint John says:
"For God sent not His Son into the world, to judge the world, but
that the world may be saved by Him" (John III, 17), with which we are
shown that in His first Coming Jesus came as Father to offer to all the
possibility of being saved, for He appeared as Saviour, and not as Judge.
18. The Evangelist
goes on to say: "He that believeth in Him is not judged.
But he that doth not believe, is already judged: because he
believeth not in the name of the only-begotten Son of God" (John III,
18). As a basis for our interpretation, we first of all state that
the term "judged" has the meaning here of "condemned".
19. The expression
"he that believeth in Him is not judged" contains the following
doctrine: He that believes in Jesus is baptized in the true Church, and
reaches clinical death in the state of grace, is infallibly saved.
Let us consider, however, the nature of the Particular Judgement in
this case: The Supreme Judge without appeal deals with the soul as Father
of Goodness. As regards the
intervention of Satan, the latter accuses the soul only of her
imperfections and as well the venial faults not forgiven beforehand by the
Church if she has any, since he is not permitted any accusation for sins
already absolved, these having been forgotten in the eyes of God.
Moreover, with his discourse of lies he endeavours to seduce the
soul and conquer her. After
this comes the discourse of the Divine Mary, which is a foretaste of
Heavenly joy. She, as
Advocate, lays before the Supreme Judge the virtues and good works of the
accused, whom She encourages to make necessarily an act of perfect love of
God, by which the soul is pardoned all her venial faults, if any, since
the sufferings of Purgatory do not produce the forgiveness of sins.
The soul has the possibility too, of acquiring new merit and either
partial or full remission of temporal punishment.
This is the moment when the soul, now before the Supreme Judge,
ratifies her firm determination to be saved, which ratification is a mere
formality of the Judgement since, having been confirmed in grace after
clinical death, she is unable to choose other than her salvation; and by
means of this supreme act of love of God, she once and for all crushes the
head of the infernal serpent, and receives
then the favourable sentence of Christ; immediately true death occurs, and
the soul separates from the body in order to enter Heaven or Purgatory as
the case may be.
20. Now we come to the
following part of the text given above: "But he that doth not believe,
is already judged: because he believeth not in the name of the only-begotten
Son of God" (John III, 18). We
teach that here is contained the doctrine of those condemned with the sin
against the Holy Ghost, which is the deliberate and permanent rejection of
Redemption. In order to
clarify this doctrine, we here present other pronouncements of Christ:
"And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be
forgiven him: but he that shall speak against the Holy Ghost, it shall not
be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come" (Matt.
XII, 32); and in Saint Mark's Gospel He says: "...he that shall
blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, shall never have forgiveness, but shall
be guilty of an everlasting sin" (Mark III, 29).
We teach, therefore, that the sin against the Holy Ghost in the
highest degree, that is, conscious and hardened obstinacy in evil-doing
out of hatred for God and His Church, although not absolutely irremissible
in this life, is nonetheless in practice unpardonable: not because God is
opposed to this, but because the unrepentant soul closes off the channels
of grace in suchwise that its reception in her becomes impossible, since
purposely she does not wish to be saved, and God respects, necessarily,
her free will. All those who
reach clinical death in this lamentable state of soul are already
condemned by Christ's own words: "...it shall not be forgiven him,
neither in this world, nor in the world to come" (Matt. XII, 32); for
we teach that the expression "in this world" indicates life on
earth until the moment of clinical death; and the expression "in the
world to come" indicates a period immediately following this life in
which there is yet the possibility of conversion for all other sinners;
and this is the interval between clinical death and true death.
For those who are guilty of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, the
Particular Judgement contains these special characteristics: the discourse
of Satan is for the guilty soul a foretaste of everlasting fire; for,
besides accusing her of all her wicked deeds, he incites her to greater
hatred of God, and the degree of her condemnation thereby augments. The discourse of the Divine Mary, on the other hand, is to
place on record that the guilty soul did not lack even this last oppor-tunity
of saving herself; and as well to demonstrate to her that, if she is
condemned, it is for having deliberately and obstinately rejected the
graces poured out by Christ on the Cross.
Since the guilty soul continues unrepentant, in that same moment
she ratifies, before the Supreme Judge, her firm determination to be
damned; this is a mere formality of judgement, since the soul, having been
confirmed in disgrace after clinical death, is unable to choose other than
her condemnation; and through this abominable act of hatred towards God
she rejects, irrevocably, the Divine Mary.
She now receives the condemnatory sentence of Christ; immediately
true death takes place, and the soul separates from
the body in order to cast herself into Hell.
21. Finally, we treat
of the last three verses of the above-mentioned text of Saint John: "And
this is the judgement: because the light is come into the world, and men
loved darkness rather than the light, for their works were evil (19).
For every one that doth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to
the light, that his works may not be reproved (20). But he that doth truth, cometh to the light, that his works
may be made manifest, because they are done in God" (21) (John III,
19-21). In these three verses
are contained, in mysterious and sublime manner, the characteristics of
the Particular Judgement corresponding to the members of the Church who,
for diverse reasons, reach clinical death in the state of mortal sin.
In them are also contained, therefore, the two discourses, in the
order already defined: the discourse of Satan as prosecutor finds
doctrinal expression in verse 20, since the Evil One says to Christ that
the accused has acted wickedly, has hated the light and has not sought the
light, and in this way endeavours that the sentence of the Supreme Judge
be condemnatory. Satan's
mission as seducer is to be found in the final words of the above-mentioned
text: "that his works may not be reproved" (John III, 20); for
the devil tries to tilt the balance in his own favour, praising the guilty
soul and telling her that she has done well by her sins, and in this way
make her unrepentant and later reject Mary, that thereby she herself
decide her own condemnation. The
Divine Mary's discourse, contained in verse 21, consists in telling the
guilty soul that there yet remains time to work in truth through her
repentance, and thus come to the Light, Christ, in order that this
meritorious act performed before the tribunal of God be rewarded, as
likewise any other meritorious act performed during life.
During Her sermon the Divine Mary imposes on the soul, in addition,
conditions to her salvation, and even asks her if she is willing to take
up life once more in order to repudiate all her evil works.
Under these conditions the guilty soul determines her eternal
destination: if she wishes to be saved, her mortal and venial sins are
forgiven her by means of a necessary act of perfect contrition, electing
Mary once and for all, Who then gives the Drop of Her Most Pure Blood, and
the soul is confirmed in grace. The
latter can thus acquire merits even greater than those acquired in the
world, including indulgences that reduce the pains of Purgatory, as far as
their possible total remission; and through her self-determination of
eternal happiness, the blessed soul crushes once and for all the head of
the infernal serpent. The
pronouncement of Christ's favourable sentence now takes place, and
immediately afterwards true death, in which the soul separates from the
body in order to enter Purgatory or Heaven, as the case may be.
However, if she makes a definitive decision to reject Mary's
discourse, she incurs the sin against the Holy Ghost and elects Satan,
thus determining once and for all her eternal condemnation, by reason of
which she is confirmed in disgrace. She
then receives the condemnatory sentence of Christ; immediately true death
occurs, and the soul leaves the body to plunge into Hell.
22. The Particular
Judgement of those who reach clinical death in the state of sin of
apostasy or unbelief is identical to that of members of the true Church
who reach clinical death in mortal sin, with the exception of certain
special features, as for example: during the discourse of Mary, apostates
are also made aware of the errors into which they have fallen, so as to
retract them; and unbelievers are first of all evangelized, so that they
accept the Gospel. And in
both cases, if perfectly contrite they decide once and for all their
salvation, on receiving Mary's Drop of Blood they come to form part of the
Church Militant, since no one is saved outside the true Church.
As regards the Particular Judgement of those who reach clinical
death before the age of reason, we distinguish the following:
23. Baptized children,
members of the true Church, who die before the age of reason first receive,
after clinical death and before real death, the use of reason and
confirmation in grace; then, the discourse of Satan, to give them
opportunity to crush his infernal head; following this, the discourse of
the Divine Mary as foretaste of heavenly joy, and for them to be able to
acquire merit of their own by virtue of the degree of love with which they
accept salvation in the Particular Judgement, and which, necessarily, they
themselves choose, thereby crushing the devil's head prior to the
favourable sentence of Christ. Immediately
true death occurs, and their souls enter Heaven.
24. With regard to
validly baptized children who die outside the true Church before the age
of reason, we distinguish, in turn, two periods:
a) Up until the
Apostolic Constitution of His Holiness Pope Gregory XVII of the 30th of
July 1982: Since these children had the character of Baptism and the
imperfect grace of justification, they received, between clinical death
and true death: the use of reason; afterwards, the discourse of Satan, to
give them opportunity to crush his infernal head; following this, as a
foretaste of the joy of Heaven the discourse of the Divine Mary, and the
Drop of Her Most Pure Blood by which they were incorporated into the
Church Militant; and they acquired merit of their own as well according to
the degree of love with which they accepted salvation in the Particular
Judgement, and which, necessarily, they themselves chose, thereby crushing
the devil's head prior to the favour-able sentence of Christ.
Immediately true death occurred and their souls went to Heaven.
b) As from the
Apostolic Constitution of His Holiness Pope Gregory XVII of the 30th of
July 1982: Those children who possessed the imperfect grace of
justification lost it, on inheriting the sin of apostasy.
Those who die before the age of reason receive, between clinical
death and true death: the use of reason, and the imperfect grace of justification
by which they are cleansed of the sin of apostasy and the devil departs
from their souls; afterwards, the discourse of Satan, to give them
opportunity to crush his infernal head; following this, as a foretaste of
the joy of Heaven, the discourse of the Divine Mary, and the Drop of Her
Most Pure Blood by which they are incorporated into the Church Militant;
and they acquire merit of their own as well, according to the degree of
love with which they accept salvation in the Particular Judgement, and
which, necessarily, they themselves choose, thereby crushing the devil's
head prior to the favourable sentence of Christ.
Immediately, at true death, they go to Heaven.
25. We record the
doctrine that all children not come to the use of reason, validly baptized
outside the true Church before the Apostolic Constitution of the 30th of
July 1982, had no relationship or vinculum with the Mystical Body of
Christ, in spite of possessing the imperfect grace of justification, and
for that reason were completely separated from the true Church.
In the same position were children baptized in the true Church who
had yet to reach the age of reason and who lost the Holy Ghost at the
apostasy of their parents or guardians.
With regard to children who died with neither the imperfect grace
of justification nor Baptism, we shall distinguish:
26. In the era up
until Calvary, those children who died before the age of reason with
neither the imperfect grace of justification nor the Baptism of Christ,
according to the period, received the use of reason following clinical
death, and without then being judged, their souls left their bodies at
true death to enter Children's Limbo.
There they possessed the indwelling of Satan, but the latter had no
influence or power over them, and they enjoyed perfect, purely natural
well-being. As soon as Christ
died, the children in Limbo received, first, a very short discourse of
Satan from within their souls where he dwelt; and then a discourse from
Christ, - Who had descended there on expiring - in which they received an
elementary knowledge of the principal truths of the Faith, such as the
existence of God, the Creation of the world, original sin, Redemption, the
existence of the Divine Mary, the mission of the Church, His Second Coming,
eternal happiness etc.; He also gave them to know that it was on account
of original sin, and because they had not received even imperfect
justification before death, that they found themselves in Limbo, where
they would have to remain until His Return, and that they would then pass
to live in the Messianic Kingdom on earth until the Nuptials of the Lamb,
though already enjoying the glory of the Blessed.
Following this sermon Our Lord Jesus Christ conferred upon them the
imperfect grace of justification, by virtue of which Satan, without having
heard the divine teaching, was driven from their souls, which became
vinculated to the Church.
27. As from Calvary,
unbaptized children who die before the use of reason, receive, following
clinical death and before true death, the use of reason; afterwards, a
very brief discourse given by Satan from within their souls, where he
dwells; and then a discourse given by Joseph Most Holy - commended to him
since Calvary - in which they receive an elementary knowledge of the
principal truths of the Faith, as we mentioned in the last paragraph.
In addition, he gives them to know that on account of original sin,
and because they did not receive baptism, they are to go to Limbo and
remain there until the Return of Christ, when they will pass to live,
until the Nuptials of the Lamb, in the Messianic Kingdom on earth, though
already enjoying the glory of the Blessed.
After this discourse, Most Holy Joseph confers upon them the
imperfect grace of justification, by virtue of which Satan, without having
heard the Patriarch's teaching, is driven from their souls.
Then, without being judged, true death follows, and they enter
Children's Limbo.
Let us, consider now some other points of doctrine regarding
children who die without Baptism:
28. Children's Limbo,
from the very instant that Our Lord Jesus Christ descended there after
expiring on the Cross, began to be called the Church Expectant, inasmuch
as the souls there ardently await the Second Coming of Christ.
In virtue of the imperfect grace of justification or reflection of
the Holy Ghost, received in accordance with the divine plan, the souls of
Limbo are vinculated members of the Mystical Body of Christ, similar to
the vinculated souls of the Old Testament who waited in the Bosom of
Abraham. The latter, however,
were unable to acquire merit since they had already been judged.
29. Since the souls of
Limbo have nothing for which to atone, they do not suffer: they are fully
content in accordance with that place of expectation, for they possess a
heavenly, albeit imperfect joy which comes to them from the reflection
they have of the beatific vision veiled, which is the reflection of the
Faith. There, without cease,
they offer finite, imperfect sacrifices of praise and adoration to God as
demonstration of love and gratitude, and as a result acquire personal
merit. The finite sacrifices
of the souls of Limbo are of imperfect finite value as corresponds to the
imper-fect grace of justification; and they acquire perfect finite value
when vinculated to the infinite Sacrifice of Calvary through the
sacrificial immolation of the priest at Mass, once these sacrifices are
given over by Most Holy Joseph. In
this way they are wholly supernaturalized and prepared in advance for
their future espousal to the Infinite Sacrifice.
Naturally, the sacrifices of Limbo posterior to the last Mass
celebrated before the Messianic Kingdom will be wholly supernaturalized
and prepared for espousal to the Infinite Sacrifice when the souls of
Limbo receive the Drop of Blood of the Divine Mary.
The Church Suffering and Church Militant benefit from the
sacrifices of Limbo in virtue of the application in advance of the
infinite value they shall
acquire when united to that of Calvary.
30. The children in
Limbo shall have their Particular Judgement immediately before Christ's
Return to the earth to implant the Messianic Kingdom: First they will have
the discourse of Satan, to give them opportunity to crush his infernal
head; then, the discourse of the Divine Mary to evangelize them; and on
determining, necessarily, their own salvation, they shall receive the Drop
of Her Most Pure Blood, and thus crush the head of
Satan.
Moreover, following the Divine Mary's discourse, and prior to
Christ's favourable sentence, they shall acquire further merit of their
own according to the degree of love with which they accept salvation.
Immediately afterwards, concurring with the General Resurrection,
their bodies shall rise from the dead, all with the age of thirty three;
and they shall live in the Messianic Kingdom until the Nuptials of the
Lamb, though already enjoying the glory of the Blessed of Heaven.
31. Another question
which we wish to make clear concerning the children of Limbo is that,
possessing the reflection of the Souls of Christ and Mary by virtue of
imperfect justice, their souls are vinculated to the heart of the
ministerial priest and, through the latter's mediation, to the Most Chaste
Priestly Heart of Saint Joseph. As
far as their sacrifices are concerned, we should distinguish: whilst they
have finite, imperfect value, they are vinculated to the heart of the
ministerial priest and to the Heart of Most Holy Joseph.
Once they acquire finite, perfect value through the Holy Sacrifice
of the Mass, they become enthroned in the heart of the priest, and
consequently in the Heart of Saint Joseph.
32. It can be deduced
from the foregoing that sacrifices performed by members of the Church
Militant in the state of grace already have finite, perfect value per se,
and therefore become vinculated to the Infinite Sacrifice of Calvary at
the very instant they are realized. They
later become espoused to the Infinite Sacrifice by means of the Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass, though perfect sacrifices are purified by Saint
Joseph before giving them over to the priest in Holy Mass.
33. We teach that all
sacrifices of the children of Limbo or Church Expectant, as well as those
sacrifices of the members of the Church Militant which at the Return of
Christ have yet to be united, shall be espoused to the Infinite Sacrifice
of Christ and Mary in the Mystical Heart of all ministerial priests in the
state of glory, when the latter, together with the rest of the Just, are
enthroned in the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and through this Heart, in the
Deific Heart of Jesus. This is how the Church born on Calvary of the transpierced
and Most Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and of the heart of Saint John,
also transpierced, at the Advent of Christ shall be reborn in glory of the
same three hearts, that is to say, of the Deific Heart of Jesus, the
Immaculate Heart of Mary and
the Mystical Heart of all ministerial priests.
