52.In her revelations, the eminent Doctor Saint Anne Catherine Emmerich says that the centurion's name was Cornelius, and this has given us cause to examine the Acts of the Apostles (Chapters X and XI), which mention a centurion of the same name.It is evident in effect that they refer to the same person, due to the coincidence of unmistakable characteristics.The aforementioned sacred text relates that the centurion was in Caesarea Maritime.We affirm that he moved there, from Capharnaum, after Christ cursed the latter town in the year 33.Furthermore, from the Acts of the Apostles it is clear that the centurion Cornelius referred to was a Gentile, already baptized and eminently religious, since the sacred text says that he was "a religious man, and fearing God with all his house, giving much alms to the people and always praying to God", (Acts X, 2).Further probing the text mentioned, we teach that Cornelius, seeing the attitude of many of the Christianized Jews against the evangelization of the Gentiles, and in the face of Saint Peter's indecision, vehemently implored God that the difficulties impeding the universal preaching of the Gospelcease.While praying, there appeared to him an Angel Who, as can be discerned from the Acts of the Apostles (X, 4) was Christ Himself, since he calls Him "Lord", Who commanded him to invite the Apostle Saint Peter to his house.Thanks to Cornelius' prayers, the Lord also made the first Pope understand more clearly that His Most Precious Blood had been shed the Cross not only for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles.This He first shows by way of a symbolic vision (Acts X, 11-16), in which He commands him to kill and eat of animals,- shown him in the vision -, animals declared unclean by the Law.As Saint Peter refused to do so, the Lord said to him: "That which God hath cleaned, do not thou call common" (Acts X, 15).God manifests to Peter also His most vehement desire for the evangelization of the Gentiles with the descent of the Holy Ghost the Christians converted from heathendom assembled in Cornelius' house, in the presence of the first Pope who, at such a transcendental event, exclaims: "Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Ghost, as well as we?" (Acts X, 47).With the expression "as well as we", Saint Peter makes clear that the grace of Confirmation which the Apostles, already baptized, received in the Jewish Pentecost in Jerusalem, was received also by Cornelius and his household in the Gentile Pentecost that took place in Cornelius' home; and that in both cases the grace of Confirmation was conferred without the external signs proper to the Sacrament.Besides, in the above words, the first Pope refers to the urgent need for the evangelization of the Gentiles, but not for that of the centurion Cornelius nor of his relatives and intimate friends upon whom the Holy Ghost had descended, they having already been baptized some time before and, therefore, as seen by the words which Saint Peter addresses to them in the Acts of the Apostles, already evangelized (Acts X, 36-39).We teach as well that Saint Peter, in this Papal visit to Cornelius, ordained him priest, along with others, and moreover consecrated him bishop, the Centurion thereby becoming the first episcopal authority elected among the Gentiles, with See at Caesarea Maritime.We read in the Acts of the Apostles too, that Saint Peter commanded "them to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts X, 48), words by which is indicated that the first Pope, moved by an ardent zeal, promulgated the Apostolic Law of the evangelization of the Gentiles, and charged Bishop Cornelius and the new priests to devote themselves fully to this important mission.They, that same day, baptized a number of Gentiles who had visited the house learning of Peter's presence and of the prodigy of this second Pentecost.In the Acts of the Apostles it can be seen that the official evangelization of the Gentile world began from this mandate of Saint Peter (Acts XI, 1).We clarify the true meaning of the Angel's words to Cornelius when He commanded him to call Saint Peter to his house: "Who shall speak to thee words whereby thou shalt be saved, and all thy house" (Acts XI, 14).That is, that by the papal decree of the evangelization of the Gentiles, the latter, who were represented in Cornelius and his family, would be saved.It is admirable how Christ, on the occasion of the healing of the centurion's servant in Capharnaum mysteriously foretold years beforehand thefuture mission of the evangelization of the Gentiles which Cornelius would accomplish, when He said: "Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in Israel.And I say unto you that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven: But the children of the Kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness.There, shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew VIII, 10-12).It is said in the Acts of the Apostles too (X, 1) that Cornelius was centurion of a company called Italica, whereby we affirm that he was born in the ancient Roman town of that name, situated close to Seville in Spain, the ruins of which may still be seen.

53.After this digression, in which we have identified the Centurion of Capharnaum as the Centurion Cornelius of the Acts of the Apostles, we resume our Gospel narrative with the following text of Saint Luke, which we affirm relates Jesus' journey to the Temple for the feast of Pentecost: "And it came to pass, when the days of His assumption were accomplishing, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem" (Luke IX, 51).Concerning these mysterious words we teach that each time Jesus decided to go to Jerusalem His Soul was overwhelmed by immense sorrow and joy at the same time, for in that city He was to suffer, in the last year of His public life, a most bloody Passion and Death, through which He would make reparation to the Father and redeem mankind.However, as He had been seriously threatened with death in Jerusalem during the last Passover, at the thought of going there again for the feast of Pentecost, His sorrow and joy were such that this journey appeared to Him more especially as if it were already the way to His supreme immolation the Cross, and this is the meaning of the word "assumption".Jesus left Capharnaum the 16th of May in the year 32, accompanied by His Divine Mother, the Apostles, a number of His disciples, as also some holy women and other followers.His itinerary He passed along the western shore of the Lake, and leaving Mount Thabor to one side, entered the town of Naim, where Sunday the 17th of May He resuscitated Martial, the son of the widow Maroni, a miracle recounted by Saint Luke (VII, 11-17).Jesus remained in the town until the 24th of the same month accomplishing a great apostolate and baptizing many.

54.After leaving Naim He continued the journey southward, and before reaching a town which we affirm to have been the ancient Samaria or Sebaste, sent a messenger ahead of Him to obtain lodgings.But Jesus was not received by the Samaritans, ill-disposed because His journey was to Jerusalem.This event, interpreted by us, is referred to by Saint Luke (IX, 52-53), who also mentions the anger of James and John at the Samaritans as well as their desire for vengeance they said: "Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from Heaven and consume them?"; words which prove the power the Apostles possessed to do extraordinary things in the name of Jesus.He, however, reproached them on account of their bad disposition, since they were forgetful of the love which they owe inclusivelyto their enemies (Luke IX, 54-56) receiving no welcome in Samaria, they all went to Sichem.That is why the Evangelist says: "And they went into another town."

55.His mission here concluded, Jesus resumed His journey to Jerusalem, passing through the towns of Gophna and Bethel announcing the Kingdom of God wherever He went.During this journey there took place the episode of the three candidates whose vocation Jesus put to the test, as the Evangelist Saint Matthew (VIII, 19-22) tells us, referring to two of them, as likewise the Evangelist Saint Luke (IX, 57-62), who confirms the two mentioned by Saint Matthew and speaks also of a third.We present here the text of Saint Luke: "And it came to pass, as they walked in the way, that a certain man said to Him: I will follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest.Jesus said to him: foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests; but Son of Man hath not where to lay His head.But He said to another: Follow Me.And he said: Lord, suffer me first to go and to bury my father.And Jesus said to him: Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the Kingdom of God.And another said: I will follow Thee, Lord; but let me first take my leave of them that are at my house.Jesus said to him: No man putting his hand to the plough and looking back is fit for the Kingdom of God" (Luke IX, 57-62).

56.On the 30th of May Jesus, with those accompanying Him, reached Bethany, the home town of Lazarus and Martha, and as it happened to be the Sabbath, He preached in the synagogue.Accompanied by His Apostles, He visited the Temple daily, where He taught with authority regardless of human respect, despite all the obstacles put in His way by the scribes and pharisees,- who, however, dared not lay hands Him.During this visit to Jerusalem many who believed in Jesus because of the moral force of His teaching and because of His miracles were baptized by the Apostles in the Cedron Brook.

57.Once they had fulfilled the precept of the Jewish Pentecost in the Temple, which that year 32 was celebrated Friday the 5th of June, the Divine Master, His Most Holy Mother, the Apostles and the other companions, including Lazarus and Martha, left Bethany that same day, and passed through the heart of the territory of Samaria.After reaching Galilee, and when passing through the town of Magdala, Jesus was invited by a pharisee named Simon to eat in his home (Luke VII, 36), where took place the episode of the conversion of Mary Magdalen, sister of Lazarus and Martha, related by Saint Luke (VII, 37-50).The town of Magdala lay next to the Lake of Genesareth, a few kilometers to the north of Tiberias.

58.It is Saint Luke who relates the conversion of Mary Magdalen, although in his narrative he does not identify her by name, but rather as a sinful woman (Luke VII, 37); nonetheless, a little later, in another passage of his Gospel (Luke VIII, 2) he mentions, among the women that followed Jesus, a certain Mary called Magdalen, from whom seven devils had goneforth.Moreover, she appears in the Gospels with this name, when they speak of the Death of Christ (John XIX, 25) and of His Resurrection (Matthew XXVII, 56 etc.).Saint John (XI, 1-2) says that Lazarus and Martha had a sister called Mary, and furthermore identifies this Mary as the sinful woman referred to above by Saint Luke (VII, 37).Saint Matthew (XXVI, 7) and Saint Mark (XIV, 3) speak of a woman who poured a precious balm over the head of Jesus; and Saint John (XII, 3), narrating the same event, which occurred in Bethany, says that the woman was Mary, and from the context she is seen to have been the sister of Lazarus and Martha.The Gospels do not explicitly say that Mary Magdalen was Mary the sister of Lazarus and Martha, but in Chapter XX of this Treatise it was defined that in actual fact she was.Consequently, both the woman sinner mentioned by Saint Luke (VII, 37) who anointed the feet of the Lord, as well as the woman who anointed the head of the Lord at Bethany (Matthew XXVI, 7; Mark XIV, 3), as likewise the woman known in the Gospels as Mary Magdalen (Luke VIII, 2; John XIX, 25 etc.), are the same person, that is to say, Mary, sister of Lazarus and Martha.

59.Before speaking of the conversion of Mary Magdalen, we present some details of her family, as well as of her infancy and youth.The parents of the brother and sisters of Bethany were Syron and Eucharia, both of noble birth, very rich and of great prestige among the Jews, above all account of their exemplary virtues.Lazarus was the eldest of the children, followed by Martha, with Mary the youngest.When their parents died they inherited a great fortune, of which we give prominence to the house of Bethany,- so often visited by Jesus -, a spacious and comfortable mansion with gardens and with several outbuildings; and as well the Castle of Magdala, inherited by Mary, to which she resorted in her youth for her reckless pastimes.The mystical Doctor Saint Anne Catherine Emmerich says that the family of Lazarus was already friendly with the Holy Family during the infancy of Jesus, and we affirm this to be true.Furthermore, in this Treatise it has already been defined that Noemi, aunt of Lazarus of Bethany and his sisters, was the mistress of the Divine Child Mary in the Temple, and that all were Essenes.We now teach that Lazarus, when young, as well as Martha and Mary when still children, were sanctified on the occasion of one of the visits made by the Holy Family to their home at Bethany.

60.Although Lazarus and his two sisters had received a painstaking education from their parents, Mary Magdalen, of striking beauty and passionate nature, nevertheless was from childhood already much inclined to vanity and caprice, which in her youth led her - after the death of her parents -, to abandon her virtuous brother and sister and with her servants to remove to the luxurious Castle of Magdala, in a beautiful Galilean setting close to the Lake of Genesareth, there giving herself up to a licentious life.Lazarus and Martha prayed intensely for the conversion of their sister and visited her on some occasions in an attempt to persuade her to reform.However, as she turneda deaf ear to their advice, they entrusted this difficult task to the Divine Virgin Mary, Who frequently sent some of the pious women to visit her and to speak to her of Jesus' teachings and miracles, and to invite her as well to hear for herself the words of the Divine Master.As a result of this she sometimes went out of curiosity, accompanied by her friends, to hear His sermons.Little by little the rebellious attitude of Mary Magdalen lessened, and the profound bitterness that overwhelmed her, caused by so much vice, contributed to this in great part.

61.However, let us now see how this sinful woman received the impulse needed for her conversion.Saint Anne Catherine Emmerich says that Mary Magdalen, at the invitation of her sister Martha, attended with some friends one of the sermons given by Jesus on a mount close to the town of Magdala, and we affirm that it was Saturday the 13th of June, when the Divine Master was passing through the town after the celebration of Pentecost in Jerusalem.The mystical Doctor, whose teaching we set forth in accordance with our interpretation, goes to say that when Mary Magdalen heard Jesus speak of the Kingdom of God, of sin, of eternal punishment and of the need for penance, she was deeply moved and began to weep.Then when Jesus, addressing Himself benevolently to sinners, invited them to come to Him if they truly desired to be healed in soul, Mary trembled in suchwise that she was about to throw herself at His feet, but restrained herself.The Divine Master, knowing the heart of the sinner, said whilst looking at her: If only a spark of penance, of repentance, of love, of faith, of hope, fall into a heart and bear fruit, I wish to care for it and make it increase in order to take it to My Father.At which Mary Magdalen was more deeply penetrated by repentance, her love for Jesus now transpiercing her soul for having offended Him.It is here, by virtue of perfect contrition, that Mary recovers Sanctifying Grace and is freed from the seven devils who had possessed her and enslaved her to the seven capital sins, and whom Saint Anne Catherine Emmerich saw departing like dark shadows.

62.For our part as well, we teach that when Jesus had finished speaking, Martha took the Magdalen to the Most Holy Virgin, and the Magdalen besought Her to intercede before Her Divine Son and ask for mercy and pardon.Meanwhile, Jesus had departed with His Apostles, Lazarus and the other disciples for the home of Simon the pharisee who, as we know, had invited Him to a banquet, at which a considerable number of people partook.Mary Magdalen, brought by the Divine Mary and accompanied by Martha and some of the pious women, arrived at the home of Simon the pharisee.And, in face of the apprehension of the latter and of his table companions, who knew her to be a public sinner, she went up to Jesus and, as the Evangelist says, "standing behind at His feet, she began to wash His feet with tears and wipe them with the hairs of her head and kissed His feet and anointed them with the ointment" (Luke VII, 38).The Evangelist then refers to the hasty judgement which Simon the pharisee made of Jesus as wellas to his inner contempt of the Magdalen, when he said to himself: "This Man, if He were a prophet, would know surely who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth Him, that she is a sinner" (Luke VII, 39).However, as Jesus knew his perverse thoughts,- we affirm too that Simon despised the very woman with whom he had sinned many times -, He corrected him by making him see, in the parable of the two debtors (Luke VII, 39-46), the contrast between his small-mindedness and the generosity of the sinner who, for her sublime display of love, received her well- deserved public eulogy from Jesus.He, besides absolving her of her sins, remitted all the temporal punishment due to them, and endowed her with a special strength, through which Mary Magdalen never again sinned, neither mortally or venially.That is why Jesus says of her to Simon the pharisee that "many sins are forgiven her, because she hath loveth much" (Luke VII, 47), with which He left the following teaching to the Church: In the Sacrament of Penance instituted by Him after His death, attrition at least, is required for the forgiveness of sins.Nevertheless, in the Sacrament, perfect contrition obtains more abundant graces for the penitent, since the measure of remission of the temporal punishment due to one's sins as well as the supernatural strength received in order to avoid relapses, is commensurate with one's degree of love.That is the meaning of the second part of the abovementioned verse: "But to whom less is forgiven, he loveth less" (Luke VII, 47), the doctrinal interpretation of which is: "To him who loveth less, less is forgiven".Mary Magdalene was baptized by Jesus the same day as her conversion, that is, the 13th of June.Jesus then left for Capharnaum, accompanied by the group of His followers as well as by Lazarus of Bethany with both his sisters.

63.It remains for us to say that Simon the pharisee, sincerely moved by the repentance of Mary Magdalen, humbly begged the Lord to forgive him his sins also, and consequently was baptized that same day together with many others.From then Simon took a very close interest in Jesus, and led a most exemplary life.We affirm that this Simon the pharisee is the same Simon the Leper mentioned by the Evangelists Saint Matthew (XXVI, 6) and Saint Mark (XIV, 3) whom they situate in Bethany.And he is the leper Jesus had cured on the outskirts of Magdala some time previously, as seen in Chapter XXX.The eminent Doctor Saint Anne Catherine Emmerich supports our teaching, for she says that in Bethany there was a man named Simon who had been cured of leprosy and who was also called Simon the pharisee; and, in addition, that he did not always live in Bethany.To this we add that after the conversion of the Magdalene, the abovementioned Simon did live for periods of time in Bethany.

64.After His arrival at Capharnaum, Jesus remained there with His Apostles and disciples, including Lazarus, until the 23rd of June of the year then current, that is 32, in the morning of which He set out to journey through Galilee, as we shall see later.The Divine Virgin Mary and the pious women, including the sisters Martha and Mary, withdrew to the communityresidence, where Mary lived several days of intense prayer and penance.

86.Saint Luke continues our Gospel narrative: "And as He was speaking a certain pharisee prayed Him that He would dine with him.And He going in, sat down to eat" (Luke XI, 37).We interpret these words to mean that during the sermon of Jesus referred to above, which took place in the conventual house, as we know, on the night of Friday the 1st of January in the year 33, Lea's spouse invited the Divine Master to dine at his home, an invitation to which He acceded.Jesus arrived at the pharisee's home around midday on Saturday the 2nd of January, accompanied by His Divine Mother, the Apostles, and some disciples and pious women.Prior to the meal, Lea's husband offered Jesus a receptacle containing water in order for Him to wash His hands; but He dispensed with that ceremony, not out of contempt for cleanliness, but because it was a pharisaical ritual custom.However, Saint Luke says that "...the pharisee began to say, thinking within himself, why He was not washed before dinner.And the Lord said to him: Now you, pharisees, make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter: but your inside is full of rapine and iniquity.Ye fools, did not He that made that which is without make also that which is within?" -(Luke XI, 38- 40).We see in these words how Jesus corrects the pharisee for his erroneous morals.For whilst he preoccupied himself excessively with exterior purification, he had abandoned the interior, when for God what matters most is cleanliness of heart, since bodily uncleanliness does not spiritually defile a man, whereas moral uncleanliness does.When the banquet was almost at an end, the pharisee,- through the teaching of Jesus, Who had shown him not only his thoughts but also the deplorable state of his soul -, moved by grace and repenting his sins, expressed the desire to change his life.Jesus baptized him in the presence of the guests, amongst whom were other pharisees.Perceiving that the heart of Lea'shusband, now cleansed by the waters of Baptism, interiorly aspired to a more perfect life, Jesus invited him to follow Him.But first he had to divest himself of all his possessions, as his wife already desired.This teaching is discerned from the following words of Saint Luke, in accordance with our doctrinal interpretation after consulting the Greek text: "But nevertheless what remains for you to do is to give your goods in alms; and behold, all things are clean unto you" (Luke XII, 41).Which is to say: and you will be more perfect.Jesus spoke this phrase in the second person plural, since at the side of the pharisee was his wife, and thus the Divine Master acceded to Lea's desire to join the pious women.The pharisee followed Jesus as a disciple and his wife as a religious.

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