From the writings of Sister Josefa Menendez...

The Holy Passion of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

"Write for My Souls, so that those who thirst may be refreshed and that those who hunger may be satisfied." 

Our Lord to Sister Josefa Menendez (1890 - 1923) a twentieth Century Mystic, during the Lent of 1923.

The following account of the Passion of Our Lord is a transcription of an audio tape which is entitled "The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ". This tape is sold by The Servants of Mary,  Help of Christians who are based in Sydney Australia. This account can also be found in a book entitled, "The Way of Divine Love" by Sister Josefa Menendez. 

"Humble yourself. Kiss the ground and then come with Me. Let us go to Gethsemane and may your heart be immersed in the feelings of bitterness and sadness with which Mine was submerged. After having preached to great crowds, healed the sick, given sight to the blind, raised the dead, after having lived three years with My Apostles to train them and teach My Doctrines to them, I finally willed to teach them by example how to love one another, to put up with one another and how mutually to serve each other. And this I did by washing their feet and making Myself their food. 

The hour had come for the Son of God made Man, Redeemer of the human race to shed His Blood and give His Life for the world. And that I might surrender Myself to My Father's Will, I betook Myself to prayer. Dearly Loved Soul, come and learn from your model that the one thing necessary whatever the results of nature is surrender to God's Will in humble submission. And by a supreme act of the will to accomplish the will of God whatever the circumstances may be. 

Learn also from Him that all important actions should be preceded and vivified by prayer. For only in prayer can a soul obtain the strength needed in life's difficulties. In prayer, God will communicate Himself, will counsel and inspire, even if His action is unfelt. I was due in the Garden of Gethsemane, that is to say,into solitude. God is to be sought within, away from distractions and noise. To find Him the soul must enforce silence on all the disturbances by which nature often fights against grace, on arguments prompted by self love or sensuality. These constantly tend to stifle the inspirations of grace and keep the soul from finding God within. In order to give you an example, My Beloved Ones, I took with Me three of My Disciples, from which learn that the three powers of your soul must accompany and help you in your prayer. 

Let memory recall the benefits and perfections of your God; His power, goodness, love and mercy. Let your understanding seek out the way of responding to the wonderful graces which He has given you. Let the will be strengthened in its resolve to do evermore and better for Him. Offer yourself to work for sinners and apostolic labors, or in the silence and prayer of a humble and hidden life. Submit your will to His, adore His will for you whatever it is and humble yourself as befits a creature before its Creator. It was thus I offered Myself to carry out the redemption of the world. At that moment I felt all the torments of My Passion burst overwhelmingly upon Me. The Calumnies and the Insults, the Scourging and the Crown of Thorns, the Thirst, the Cross, all these sufferings thronged before My Eyes and pressed upon My Heart. 

While at one and the same time I saw all the offenses, sins and crimes that were to be committed throughout the ages. I not only witnessed them but was invested in them, so that under the burden of their ignominy I was constrained within Myself before the face of My All Holy Father and implored Him to show mercy. And there burst upon Me the wrath of an angry and offended God. And in order to appease His Majesty, I offered Myself as security for sinful man. I, His son, to calm His Anger and satisfy His Justice. But so great was the anguish and so mortal the agony of My human nature under the strain and weight of so much guilt, that a sweat of blood pooled from Me to the ground. OH SINNERS WHO DOST TORTURE ME!! 

Will this Blood bring salvation and life or will it be shed in vain for you? How can I express My sorrow at the thought of this sweat, this anguish, this agony, this blood, useless for so many souls? 

That is enough for today Josefa. Console My Heart. Tomorrow we shall go on. Remain close to Me in Gethsemane that My Blood may fertilize and strengthen the root of your littleness." 

Our Lord to Sister Josefa Menendez during the 12th of March, 1923.

Draw near Me, and when you see Me submerged in an ocean of grief, rise up and go with Me to the three disciples whom I had left a stone`s throw away. I had chosen them that they might share My Agony, pray with Me and by their company afford Me some consolation. What were My feelings to find them asleep? Oh the pang of loneliness and to have none to share in My sorrow!! How often My heart suffers the same grief? How often? Hoping to find solace among the souls it loves. It finds them slumbering. It is useless for Me to attempt to awaken them, to make them leave themselves and their pre-occupations, their vain and fruitless conversation. Too often the reply that reaches Me in act if not in words in answer; `I cannot now. I'm too busy, too tired, I need repose`, then gently insisting I say to the soul, `Come for a little while. Come and pray with Me. I need you. Be not afraid of sacrificing your rest for Me. I will be your reward.` The same answer is repeated. Poor sleeping soul!! You cannot watch one hour with Me. 

Beloved souls, learn from this how useless it is to seek comfort in creatures. How often you will receive only an increase of distress, because they are asleep and respond neither to your hope or love. I went back to My prayer and again falling on My Face, I worshipped My Father and implored His help. I did not call Him My God, but My Father. It is when harrowed with pain, that you too must call God your Father. Beg for His help. Show Him your woes, your fears, your longings and let your cry of anguish remind Him that you are His child. Tell Him that your body is exhausted, your heart is sorrowful even unto death, that your soul is experiencing what seems a very sweat of blood. Pray with a child's confidence and expect relief from your Father's Heart. He Himself will comfort you and give you the strength necessary to endure the tribulation or suffering, whether it be your own or that of the souls confided to your care. My soul, already shattered and a prey to sadness, had to endure still more deadly grief. For crushed by the weight of the sins of man, and in return for so much suffering and love, I saw only outrages and ingratitude. 

The Blood now pooling from My Body would be in vain for so many souls. Many would be lost, a still greater number would sin against Me and myriads would not so much as hear My Name. I would pour out My Blood for all, offer My Merits to each soul, Blood of a God, infinite merits, yet to be in vain for how great a number? Yes, I will shed My Blood for all and all will be loved with great love. But for some, that love would be more tender, more intimate, more ardent. So from those chosen souls I shall expect more consolation and love, more generosity and abnegation. In a word, a fuller response to My loving kindness. Alas!! At this moment I see how many will turn from Me, some will not listen to My call, others will hear but will not follow Me, others will respond for a time with a certain amount of generosity to the call of My Heart, but then will gradually grow drowsy and one day will say to Me by their deeds, `I have worked enough! I have been faithful to every detail of my duty. I have overcome nature. I am no longer a child. So many privations! So much vigilance are no longer necessary. I need no longer endure this restraint and so on.` 

Poor soul, is this how you begin to go to sleep? Soon I shall return, and as you are asleep you will not hear Me. I shall offer you My Grace and you will not receive it. Is there any hope that later on you will be roused? Or will you grow weak through lack of food and be unable to throw off your lethargy? Beloved Soul, know that death has stolen upon masses while they were sleeping soundly. Where and by what means have they been awakened? I saw all this and felt it in My Heart. What should I do? Turn back? Ask My Father to free Me from this torment? Show Him the uselessness of My Sacrifice for so many souls? No, again I surrendered Myself to His Holy Will, and accepted this chalice to drink it to the dregs. 

Oh souls that I love, I did it to teach you not to faint under your burdens. Never count them as useless, even if you are unable to reckon the result. Submit your judgment and leave the Divine Will free to do with you whatever it will. I Myself would neither go back, nor escape. And knowing that My enemies would come and seize Me in that very garden, I stayed where I was. Be on the alert Josefa, that I might find you awake when I need you." 

Our Lord to Sister Josefa Menendez during the 13th of March,1923.

"After being comforted by an angel sent by My Father, suddenly I saw Judas coming. One of the twelve. And with him, those who were coming to take Me prisoner. They carried staves and stones, chains and ropes to seize and bind Me. I rose, and drawing near I said to them, `Who is it you are looking for?` And Judas, putting his hands upon My Shoulders, gave Me a kiss. `Ahh!! Judas!! What are you doing? Why do you betray Me with a kiss?` To how many souls do I say, what are you doing? What do you mean by this kiss? Oh Beloved Soul, you who come to receive Me so often assure Me of your affection and you have hardly left Me when you have already betrayed Me to My enemies. You know very well that in that company you find so attractive there will be conversations that wound Me. You who communicated this morning, and tomorrow will do so again. These are the occasions in which you lose My costly grace. 

And why do you carry on transactions of doubtful integrity? I say to another, Do you not know these are unlawful gains, unlawful, this rise, in social positions, wealth? And in so doing, you receive Me as Judas did with a kiss. When a few moments, a few hours at most, you would give My enemies a sign by which they would recognize Me and so lay hands on Me. Now I speak also to you Christian souls. You betray Me by this dangerous friendship. You cast stones at Me and cause another to betray Me in the same way. Why do you do it? You who know Me and so often have gloried in your alms giving and Church going. These acts which might be highly meritorious are but a cloak for your malice. My friend, on what errand have you come? Judas, do not betray the Son of Man with a kiss, Your Master, Your Lord, He who loves you and is ready to forgive again. One of the twelve who sat at My table and whose feet I have washed.

 How often must I speak like that to the souls I love most dearly? I do not ask you to free yourself. For I know well it is not always in your power. But what I do ask of you is to keep up the struggle against your passions, what are passing pleasures if not the thirty pieces of silver for which Judas sold Me. And what did he gain? The loss of his soul. Come any who sold Me and will sell Me for the price of a passing pleasure. Alas!! Poor souls, who is it you are looking for? Is it I, this Jesus, whom once you knew and loved? Listen to My words, `watch and pray`. Fight your evil inclinations and do not allow them to grow into confirmed habits. The grass in meadow lands has to be mowed every year and in some cases every recurring season. The ground needs to be ploughed up, manured and freed from weeds. And similar work must be carried on in souls and evil tendencies carefully collected. 

Do not imagine that it is always a serious fault that leads to the worst sin. The greatest faults are often the result of neglect of little things. A small satisfaction indulged in, a moment of weakness yielded to, a consent to do a thing in itself lawful but immortified. A pleasure not sinful but ill advised here and now. All these things recur unheeded, and little by little the soul is blinded, grace loses its power, passion increases and finally triumph. Ahh!! How infinitely sorrowful for the Heart of God whose love is boundless to see so many insensibly approaching near and near the abyss. 

That will suffice for today Josefa. Do not forget My Heart is drawn here not by your merits, but by your misery and the compassion I feel for you." 

Our Lord to Sister Josefa Menendez during the 14th of March, 1923. 

"When the soldiers came forward to seize Me I said to them,`It is I.` Such too is the word I utter when a soul is about to yield to temptation. It is I. You`ve come to betray Me and to deliver Me up. No matter, come. For I am your Father and if you consent, then it will not be you that bind Me with chains of sin, but I shall bind you with chains of love. Come, it is I who loves you. It is I who have poured out all My Blood for you. I pity your weakness. I long to open My arms and cast you in love's embrace. Come My chosen one. Come My priest. I am infinite mercy.

 Do not fear that I shall punish you. I shall not repulse you, but shall open My Heart to you and love you with even greater tenderness. I shall wash away your sins in the Blood of My Wounds. All heaven shall rejoice and wonder at your regained beauty and My Heart shall find rest in yours. Alas!! How sick at Heart I Am, and after words so tender there still remain some who would bind Me and lead Me to My death. After he had given Me the traitor's kiss, Judas left the garden, and realizing the gravity of his crime gave way to despair. Who can measure My sorrow at the sight of My Apostle casting himself into hell? 

The hour has come. So yielding to the soldiery, I meekly gave Myself up as a lamb into their hands. At once, they dragged Me to the house of Caiphas where they heaped insults and mockery on Me, and where one of the soldiers struck Me a blow in the face. The first buffet. Mark My words Josefa! Do you think it gave Me more pain than the scourges of the flagellation? Doubtless no, but I saw in this first blow the first mortal sin of many souls who until then have lived in My Grace. And after the first, how many more and how great the number of souls who follow that example and fall into the same danger? Perhaps into a likeness fortune, death in mortal sin. 

Tomorrow we shall continue. Meanwhile Josefa, spend the day in reparation and prayer that many souls may realize where their dangerous path is leading them." 

Our Lord to Sister Josefa Menendez during the 15th of March, 1923. 

"Continue writing for the sake of souls. My disciples have all fled. Peter alone, impelled by curiosity but full of fear sinks in among the soldiery. All around Me are false witnesses uttering lie upon lie, calculated to increase the anger of iniquitous judges. They call Me a seducer, a profaner of the Sabbath, a false prophet. The servants, stimulated by these accusations utter cries and threats against Me. Where then were you My Disciples and Apostles, witnesses of My Life, of My Doctrines and of My Miracles, and all those from whom I had every reason to expect help and protection? None was there to defend Me. I was alone. 

Accused of the worst crimes, surrounded by soldiers no better than wolves, they all ill-treated Me. One strikes Me in the face, another spits upon Me, a third makes a laughing stock of Me. And while I offer Myself to be thus ill-used for the sake of souls held captive by sin, Peter whom I had constituted head of My Church, Peter who but a few hours before had vowed to go with Me to torment and to death, Peter who has the opportunity of giving testimony of Me, answered a simple question first by a denial. And when the question is repeated as fear takes on ever strong a hold of him, he swears that he has never known Me and has never been My Disciple. `Ahh Peter!! Do you swear that you do not know your Master?` You not only swear it, but at the third question you deny Him, uttering horrible implications. 

Oh My chosen followers, can you fathom the pain of My loving Heart when My own chosen ones deny Me, when the world revolts against Me and so many souls pour scorn upon Me, ill-treat Me, seek My death and then turning to My own I find nothing but loneliness and desertion? What sorrow!! What bitterness for My heart!! To you as to Peter I say, `Have you forgotten the proofs of love I have given you? The links that bind Me to you? The often repeated promises of fidelity given to Me and of defending Me even to death itself? If you are weak and afraid of yielding to human respect have recourse to Me for strength to conquer yourself. Do not trust yourself but come to Me confidently, for I will sustain you.` All who live in the world in the midst of peril and occasions of sin be on your guard against danger. For would Peter have fallen if resisting courageously he had not yielded to vain curiosity? 

All you who labor in My Harvest Field or in My Vineyard, if at some time you feel yourselves drawn to work by the attractions of a merely human enjoyment, FLY!! But if obedience, a zeal for My Glory, for the good of souls imposes a duty upon you, have no fear. I will defend you and you will pass victoriously through the danger. While the soldiers were leading Me to prison, I saw Peter in the crowd and I looked at him. Turning, he looked at Me and at once began to weep bitterly for his sin. 

It is thus that I look on guilty souls. But they? Do they look at Me? Do our eyes meet? Alas!! How often do I look in vain! That soul does not see Me, for he is blind. I urge him gently but he does not respond. I call the sinner by name but receive no answer. I send a trial that might awaken him and still he slumbers. Beloved souls, unless your eyes are turned heavenward, you will in time become like animals that have no reason. Lift up your head. Gaze on your true Fatherland that awaits you. Seek your God. You will find that He returns your earnest look. In His glance are peace and life. 

Here we stop for today Josefa. Keep My Cross and comfort Me." 

Our Lord to Sister Josefa Menendez during the 16th of March, 1923. 

"Contemplate Me in the prison where I spent the greater part of the night. The soldiers came and adding words to injuries, insulted Me, mocked Me, outraged Me and gave Me blows on My face and My whole body. Tired of their sport at length, they left Me bound and alone in the dark, in the noisy place, where seated on a stone My aching body was cramped with cold. Compare the prison with the tabernacle and especially with the hearts that receive Me. In the prison I spent only part of one night, but in the tabernacle, how many days and nights? In the prison I was insulted and ill-treated by soldiers who were My enemies. In the tabernacle most often it is they who call Me their Father who treat Me thus.

 In prison I endured cold, sleeplessness, hunger and thirst, pain, shame, solitude and desertion. And there passed before My mind's eye all the tabernacles where in the course of ages I would lack the shelter of love. The icy cold hearts that would be as hard and unfeeling as the stones of the prison floor were to My numb and wounded body. And how often would I wait for this or that other soul to visit Me in the Blessed Sacrament and receive Me into his heart? How many nights would I spend longing for his coming? But he would let business or carelessness or anxiety for his health get the better of him and he would not come. 

How often would I hunger for souls, for their fidelity, for their generosity? Would they satisfy that eager hunger with a little victory over self or by a slice in mortification? Would they comfort Me in My sorrow by their tenderness and compassion? In some hard moment, would they endure the pain, neglect, scorn, opposition, grief of soul or family? Would they come to Me and say, `This I offer you to console your sadness, to keep you company in your solitude?` Oh if they would unite themselves to Me in that way, with what peace they would face difficulties? How much fortitude would they win? And they would gladden My Heart. In prison, what shame I felt at the obscene words of those around Me and My distress was increased by the thought that words like this would one day fall from lips I love. And blows and buffets were rained upon Me by the filthy hands of the soldiery which recall to My mind how often those who would receive Me into their hearts, fouled by unrepentant sin would shower reiterated blows on Me by habitual and willed sin. And in the prison where they pushed Me and let Me fall to the ground bound and helpless, so many were present in My mind who would prefer a moment's satisfaction to Me, would load Me with chains by their ingratitude, would push Me back and again cause Me to fall by leaving Me alone.

 Oh you who are consecrated to Me, draw near the bridegroom of your souls in His prison. Gaze steadfastly upon Him during that night of pain and see that sorrow continues in the loneliness of countless tabernacles in the coldness of many hearts. If you are desirous of proving your sympathy, open your hearts and let Me find a prison therein. Bind Me with chains of love, clothe Me with loving attention, appease My hunger by your generosity, quench My thirst by your zeal, comfort Me in My Sorrow by keeping Me faithful company and wiping away My shame by your purity and uprightness of intention.

 If you wish Me to take My rest in you, prepare for My coming by acts of self denial. Master your imagination and calm the tumults of your passions. Then in the stillness of your soul I shall sleep in peace and you will hear My Voice speaking gently within you. Oh bride of My heart, today you are My repose, but for all eternity I shall be your rest. Tenderly and with love you have harbored Me in the prison of your heart. I shall be your reward exceeding great and you will never regret the sacrifice you have made for Me during your life." 

Our Lord to Sister Josefa Menendez during the 17th of March, 1923. 

“Let us write for souls. After having spent the greater part of the night in the damp, obscure and sordid prison, after having been subjected to outrages and ill-treated by the soldiery, to the insults and mockeries of the servants who curious to see what would become of Me, and My body was already exhausted by so many torments, listen Josefa to the burning desires of My Heart. What filled Me with love and made Me long for more suffering was the thought of so many who would follow in My Footsteps. I saw them faithfully imitating Me and learning from My Heart not only to accept suffering and contempt with patience and serenity, but also to extend their love to those who would persecute them. Like Me, they would rise to the height of offering themselves up in sacrifice to those who ill-treated them. So in the midst of our traitors and infamous treatment, this prospect enkindled Me with the burning fire to carry out the Divine will in all things. 

Hence alone and in much pain but in close union to the Will of My Father, I offered Myself to make amends to His outraged Glory. You o religious souls who live in the prison chosen by love, often deemed useless and even dangerous in the eyes of the world, have no fear. In your solitude and moments of stress let the world rant against you. Only join your heart yet closer to God, the one object of your affections and do all you can to repair for the sins and outrages of mankind. At dawn next day Caiphas ordered Me to be taken to Pilate that he might condemn Me to death. Pilate questioned Me shrewdly, hoping to discover a true cause for My condemnation. But finding none, his conscience soon told him of what a grave injustice he would be guilty. So to evade the responsibility he sent Me to Herod. 

Pilate`s soul is typical of those who tossed between the impulses of grace and the allurement of their passions, blindly yield to human respect and excessive self love. For if they are faced by a temptation or a dangerous occasion of sin, they blind themselves and argue until they gradually persuade themselves that there is no harm, no peril in it. They are wise enough to decide for themselves and have no need for advice. They are afraid of seeming ridiculous in the eyes of the world. They lack energy to overcome themselves and not making use of grace, they fall into one occasion of sin after another until like Pilate, they deliver Me up to Herod.” 

Our Lord to Sister Josefa Menendez during the 20th of March, 1923.

“To all Pilate`s questions, I answered nothing. But when he said, `Are you the King of the Jews?`, then gravely and with full responsibility I replied, `I Am King. But My kingdom is not of this world.` So when an occasion of conquering human respect and accepting gravely either humiliation or suffering, even if it could be easily avoided presents itself, a soul should answer, `My kingdom is not of this world. For that reason I do not seek human favor. I go to my true Fatherland where rest and joy await me. Meanwhile I will do my duty faithfully and make no account of the opinion of the world. If for this I must seek humiliation or suffering, I will not draw back. I will listen to the voice of grace and disregard that of nature. If I am unable to do this alone I will ask advice, for I know how often self love and passion blind me and entice me into the powers of evil. Pilate therefore, overcome by human respect and the fear of shouldering his responsibilities, ordered Me to be led to Herod. 

A perverse man who sought only to satisfy his unruly passions. He was glad when he saw Me appear before his court because he hoped for entertainment from My Words and miracles. Consider O beloved souls My repulsion when brought face to face with so vicious a man whose questions, gesticulations and movements filled Me with shame. Oh virgin souls and pure, come near Me and defend Me. Listen to the false witnesses. See the implacable desire of this crowd avid for scandals and before which I am made a laughing stock. Herod expected Me to reply to his sarcastic comments, to justify and defend Myself, but I opened not My Lips and kept the most profound silence in his presence. This silence testified to My sovereign dignity. For the obscene comments of so perverted a man were not worthy of exchange of words with the All Pure. During this interview My Heart was closely united to My Heavenly Father.

 I desired ardently to shed the last drop of My blood for souls whom I loved so much. And I was all inflamed with love at the thought of those who could follow My Example and My generosity. Not only did I rejoice during this terrible interrogation, but I was urged from within to hasten the moment of My suffering on the Cross. After undergoing these ignominies in complete silence, I allowed Myself to be treated as a fool and a reign in a white garment, sign of derision, and thus was I led back to Pilate amid the jeers of the multitude. Look at Pilate. See how afraid and disturbed he is. He's at his wit`s end. In order to calm the fury of the people who demanded My death, he orders Me to be scourged. Such as the soul that has not enough courage and generosity to break energetically for the world's demands, to nature or her passions.

 Instead of obeying conscience and making short work for temptation which you know does not come from the good spirit, she yields to one fancy or another, to a slight satisfaction. If she overcomes herself on one point, she gives in on another which would need greater effort. If she does some mortification, she hesitates about others which would ensure her fidelity to grace or the rule that would deprive her of some small pleasure. She allows herself half of what nature or passion demands and so soothes her conscience. Who will suppose that there is question of divulging some thought, real or imagined, that she's found in another. 

It is neither fraternal charity nor zeal for the general good that prompts her, but a hidden envy. The result of passion which is her true motive. Grace and conscience alarm her and act as a warning of the spirit, inspiring the injustice she is about to commit. There may be a moment of interior struggle, but immortified passion soon deprives her of the light and courage to reject so diabolic a purpose. Then she can try to weigh a suppressing part of what she knows, but not all, consoling herself with the thought that it is right that such things should be known. I will compare myself to a limp & so on. Like Pilate, you give Me up to the scourges. 

Do not think you will satisfy passion that way. Today so much, tomorrow more. Contemplate Me O My beloved being led away as a weak lamb to the shameful and terrible punishment of the scourging. Blow by blow is discharged by the executioners on My Body, already covered with bruises and broken with fatigue. With whips and knotted cord they strike Me with such violence that My very bones are shaken, and I am torn with innumerable wounds. Bits of My Divine Flesh are rent off by the scourges, blood flows from every limb and I am reduced to such a pitiable stigmatic that no longer to resemble a human being. Can you contemplate Me in this sea of sorrow and remain unmoved? Pity I did not expect from My executioners, but from you O My chosen souls I do look for compassion. See My Wounds!! Who has suffered for love of you as I have?” 

Our Lord to Sister Josefa Menendez during the 21st of March, 1923.

“Then at last, exhausted by their exertions, these hard and cruel men desisted. They wove the crown of thorns and drove it deep into My Head. And as they filed before Me, they mockingly cried out,`We salute You O king!` Some insulted Me, others savagely struck Me on the Head, and each and all added new agonies to those which already racked My Body. O you whom I love, contemplate Me condemned to death, given over to the insults and profanations of the mob, scourged at the pillar, and as though all this were not sufficient to reduce Me to the most humiliating condition, now crowned with thorns, clothed in a purple rag and derisively hailed as a mocked king and treated as a fool. I, the Son of God, who holds the universe in the palm of My hand willed that in men`s eyes I should appear as the last and less contemptible of all. 

Far from flying from such humiliations, I endured them to expiate men`s pride and draw souls to follow in My Footsteps. I expiated by this painful crowning the pride of those who refused to accept anything that lowered them in the eyes of the world. I allowed My shoulders to be covered by that cloak of mockery and Myself to be treated as a fool so that many souls would not scorn to follow Me in a way that the world holds as vile and humiliating, and which to them might seem beneath their condition. No path is contemptible or humbling when it is once marked out by the will of God. You who feel interiorly drawn to this way, do not resist. 

Do not try by the arguments of pride to do God's Will while you follow your own. You will not find peace and joy in a position more or less brilliant in the eyes of men, but only in the accomplishment of God's Will and in entire submission to all that He may require of you. There are also in the world a number of souls who are bent on settling their future here on earth. Perhaps one or other feels drawn by a secret attraction towards someone in whom she finds good qualities, honor, piety, conscientiousness in business matter, a sense of duty to his family, all that she longs to see in one she loves. But suddenly, pride takes possession of her mind. Doubtless in this way the longings of her heart will be satisfied, but not her vain ambition to shine in the eyes of the world. Then the soul turns away looking for what will gain for her more attention from creatures by making her appear richer and nobler. 

How deliberately she is blinding herself!! No indeed, you will not find the happiness you seek in this world, and God grant that although you put yourself in such grave danger, you may find it in the next. And what should I say to those whom I call to a life of perfection and love, but who turn a deaf ear to My voice? How exposed to illusion are those who imagine themselves ready to do My Will, to follow Me and unite themselves to Me and yet thrust deeply into My Head, the thorns of My Crown!! There are souls whom I desire for My own. I know them intimately, and loving them as I do with infinite tenderness, I draw them in the direction in which My Wisdom has prepared the most sure way of sanctity for them. There I propose to unveil My heart to them. There they will give Me most love and most souls do, but what resistance and what disappointment?

 How many of them blinded by pride or the desire to satisfy nature or paltry ambition, their minds filled with vain thoughts and by turning away from the path marked out by love? O souls especially chosen by My Heart, do you think that in following your inclinations, you are giving Me the glory I expect of you? Or doing My Will when you resist the call of grace or refuse through pride to follow Me in the way of love? Ah Josefa!! How many souls are blinded by pride! Today, will you multiply acts of humility in submission to the Divine Will to win for many souls the grace of following the way I have prepared for them with so much love?” 

Our Lord to Sister Josefa Menendez during the 22nd of March, 1923.

“We are going to make souls understand how many allow themselves to be deceived by pride. Crowned with thorns and clothed in the purple mantle and amidst overwhelming insults and mockery, I was brought back by the soldiers to Pilate. Finding in Me no crime worthy of death, he questioned Me again and asked Me why I did not reply seeing that he had the power to crucify Me or release Me. Then breaking silence I said,`You would have no power over Me, unless it were given you from above, but the scripture must be fulfilled,` after which I resumed My silence, surrendering Myself wholly to God.

 Pilate meanwhile, troubled by a message from his wife and worried by the remorse of his conscience and fearing that the people might turn against him if he refused to sentence Me to death, sought for a pretext to release Me. But presenting Me to the people in the pitiable plight to which I had been reduced, he offered to free Me and condemn instead Barabbas the thief. But the crowd cried out angrily with one voice,`Let Him die. He must die. And let Barabbas be set free.` O all you who love Me, consider how I was compared to a thief, or rather valued lower than a degraded criminal, one of the wickedest of men. Hear their cries of rage against Me and their ferocious shouts for My death. Far from seeking to escape  therefrom, I lovingly accepted it for the love of souls, for the love of you as I could show you that My love was leading Me not only to death, but to contempt, ignominy and hatred of those very men for whom I was about to shed My Blood in such profusion. 

I was treated as a disturber of the peace, as insane, a madman, and I accepted it all with the utmost meekness and humility. Do you think that in My human nature, I felt no repugnance and grief? I willed to know experientially all that would have to be undergone by you, that you might draw strength from My Example for all the circumstances of your life. So I did not free Myself,  this would have been easy. I accepted all lovingly that you might understand how to sacrifice every repugnance, in order to accomplish the Holy Will of God My Father, repair His glory, expiate the sins of the world and win the salvation of many souls. Here I once more addressed Myself to the souls to whom I served yesterday. 

You who have been called to a life of perfection, who parley with grace and answer thus, `How can I live in continual obscurity? I am not accustomed to that kind of life, to such lowly work. My family and friends will think me ridiculous. For I am gifted and could be more useful elsewhere and so on.` To you I make answer,`When I was to be born of poor and humble parents, far from My country and home, in a stable, in the severest season of the year and the coldest of nights, did I hesitate? Did I refuse? During thirty years, I knew the hard toil of an obscure workshop, bearing the contempt and indifference of those for whom My Father Saint Joseph worked. Nor did I disdain to help My Mother in the humble and hidden occupation of her poor household. Had I not more knowledge than was needed for the humble trade of a carpenter? I, who at twelve years of age taught the doctors at the temple. But such was My Father's Will. And consequently it was in this way that I gave Him glory.

 From the beginning of My public life, I could have made Myself known at once as the Messiah and Son of God, so as to attract the attention and veneration of men to My teaching. I did not do so, because My one desire was to follow in all things, My Father's Will. And when the hour of My Passion had struck, see how in spite of the cruelty of some, the insults of others, the desertion of My own, the ingratitude of the crowds, the unspeakable martyrdom of My body and the intense repugnance of My human nature, I embraced with ever more love that Holy Will. Thus when you submit yourself generously to the will of God in spite of the natural interior opposition to it, the resistance of your family, the judgments of the world, when you have given yourself generously to the will of God, then shall you be closely united to Him and taste ineffable sweetness. 

What I have said to souls who experience this keen repugnance to a humble and hidden life, I repeat to those called on the contrary to spend themselves in the service of the world, when their whole attraction is for a life of solitude and hidden labor. O chosen souls, your happiness and perfection do not lie in following your attraction, nor in living known or unknown in the world, in using or hiding the talents with which you have been endowed, in being thought much of or little, in having good health or not, but ONLY and SOLELY in embracing with love, God's Will and being in perfect conformity with it in all it requires of you for His glory and your holiness. 

Enough for today Josefa. We shall go on tomorrow. Love and carry out My Will with joyful hilarity since it will mark out the path of love for you in all things. “ 

Our Lord to Sister Josefa Menendez during the 23rd of March, 1923.

“Meditate for a moment on the martyrdom of My Supremely Tender and Loving Heart at finding Barabbas preferred to Me and how I had seen Myself so scorned. I felt cut quick by the cries of the crowd urging My death. I called to mind the sweet caresses of My Mother when she pressed Me to her heart. The toils of My adoptive father and the care with which he surrounded My life. I reviewed in spirit the benefit so liberally dispensed by Me on this ungrateful people. How I had given sight to the blind, health to the sick, healing to the lame, how I had fed the multitude in the desert and even raised the dead to life. And see now to what a contemptible state I Am reduced, condemned to death as an infamous thief.

The crowd has demanded My death. Pilate has now given sentence. O all you who love Me, pretend and see the sufferings of My Heart. After the betrayal in the Garden of Olives, Judas wandered away, a fugitive, a prey to the reproaches of his conscience which taxed him at the most inexpiable of sacrileges. And when he heard that I was condemned to death, he gave himself up to despair and hanged himself. Who can measure the deep and intense grief of My Heart when I saw the soul so long taught by love, the recipient of My Doctrine, one who had so often heard from My lips words of forgiveness for the most heinous crimes, finally throw himself into hell-fire.

`Ah Judas!! Why not throw yourself at My Feet that I may forgive you too? If you are afraid to come near Me because of the raging mob that surrounds Me, at least look at Me. My Eyes will meet yours. For even now they are lovingly intent upon you. Oh all you who are steeped in sin and for a time more or less long have lived as wanderers and fugitives because of your crimes. If the offenses of which you have been guilty have hardened and blinded your hearts, if to grant satisfaction to one or other of your passions, you have sunk into evil ways, Ah when the motives or accomplices of your sins have forsaken you and you realize the state of your soul, oh then, do not yield to despair.

For as long as a breath of life remains, a man may have recourse to mercy and ask for pardon. If you are still young, if already the scandals of your life have lowered you in the eyes of the world, do not be afraid, even if there is reason to treat you as a criminal, to insult and cast you off. Your God has no wish to see you fall into the flames of hell. On the contrary, He ardently desires you to come to Him so that He may forgive you. If you dare not speak to Him, at least look at Him and let the sighs of your heart reach Him. And at once you will find His kind and Fatherly Hand stretched out to lead you to the springs of pardon and life. Should it happen that you have spent the greater part of your life in impiety and indifference and as the sudden approach of the hour of death fills you with blinding despair, ah do not let yourself be deceived for there is still time for pardon. If only one second of life remains in you, in that one second you can buy back eternal life.

If your whole life has been spent in ignorance and error, if you have been a cause of great evil to other men, to society at large or to religion, and if through some set of circumstances you have come to realize that you have been deceived, do not allow yourself to be crushed by the weight of your sin and of the evil of which you have been the instrument. But with a soul penetrated with deep contrition, throw yourself into the abyss of confidence and hasten to Him who awaits your return, only to pardon you. The case is the same for a soul that has been faithful to the observances of My lowly childhood but who has gradually cooled off into the tepid and unspiritual way of an easy life. She has so to say, forgotten her soul and its high aspiration. God was asking of her greater efforts. But blinded by habitual failings she has fallen into tepidity, worse than actual sin. For her dead and drowsy conscience neither feels remorse or hears the voice of God. Then maybe that soul awakens to the shock, to realization, life appears to have been a failure, empty and useless for her salvation. 

She has lost innumerable graces and the Evil One loathes to lose her, makes the most of her distress, plunges her into discouragement, sadness and dejection, and finally casts her into fear and despair. O soul whom I love, pay no heed to this ruthless enemy, but as soon as possible have recourse to Me. And filled with deepest contrition, implore My Mercy and have no fear, I will forgive you. Take up again your life of fervor and you will have back your lost merit and My Grace will never fail you. Finally, shall I speak to My chosen souls? Supposing that one has spent long years in the constant practice of the rule and of her religious duty. 

Soul that I have favored with My Grace and instructed by My Counsel. A soul long faithful to My voice and to the inspirations of grace. And now this soul has cooled in her fervor on account of some petty passion, occasions of faults not avoided, some yielding to the claims of nature in general, relaxation of effort and in consequence has fallen to a lower level, to a common faith kind of life and lastly to give it its true name, tepidity. If for one cause or another you awake from this tepid state, the Devil will instantly attack you in every way, jealous of a soul he hopes to claim. He will try to persuade you that it is too late, that any effort is useless. He will accentuate your repugnance to make a reviewal of your state of soul. He will so to speak, throttle you to prevent you from seeking and accepting the light. He will do his best to stifle trust and confidence in your soul. 

But listen rather to My Voice and let Me tell you how to act. As soon as your soul is touched by grace and before the struggle has even begun, hasten to My Heart. Beg of Me to let a drop of My Blood fall on your soul. Ah hasten to My Heart. You know that in your superiors whoever they may be, I am concealed under the veil of faith. Lift the veil and tell Me all about your sufferings, miseries and full of complete confidence, receive My Words with respect and be without fear for the past. All has been swallowed up in the abyss of My Mercy and My Love is preparing new graces for you. The memory of your lapses will be an incentive to humility and the source of merit. And you cannot give Me a greater proof of perfection than to count on My full pardon and to believe that your sins will never be as great as My Mercy, which is infinite. 

Remain hidden Josefa in the abyss of My Love, praying that souls may be filled with the same sentiment.” 

Our Lord to Sister Josefa Menendez during the 24th of March, 1923.

“Let us go on Josefa. Follow Me bowed under the weight of the Cross of Calvary. While the loss of the soul of Judas was filling Mine with sadness, the executioners devoid of every feeling of humanity, now placed a hard and heavy Cross upon My lacerated Shoulders. I was to consummate on the Cross, the mystery of man's redemption. Angels of Heaven, look on the God before whom you are ever prostrate in adoration. See the Creator of all the world's wonders going to Calvary, carrying that holy and blessed Cross on which He is to die. O souls who desire to imitate Me faithfully, gaze on Me likewise. Wearily, I dragged Myself forward. For My Body was broken by many torments and bathed in sweat and blood. 

I suffered, but there was none to show compassion to Me. A Crowd followed Me. Soldiers pitiless as ravening wolves surrounded Me. No one had pity on Me. So great was My exhaustion and so heavy the Cross, but I fell on the way. See how roughly the inhuman soldiery raise Me to My feet once more. One seized My arm, another My garments which clung to My open wounds, a third grasped hold of Me by the neck, another by the hair, some showered blows on Me with their clenched fists and others brutally kicked My prostrate Body. Cross which fell upon Me, crushed Me with its weight. My Face bruised and torn, mingled the blood that covered it with the dust of the highway. Blinding My Eyes and adhering to My Sacred Face, I became the vilest and most contemptible of all creatures.

Come a little further with Me. There you will see My Blessed Mother whose heart is pierced with grief. She comes to meet Me, and that for two reasons; To see Me her God, she may have fortitude to endure and then to give Me her Son courage to carry on and complete the work of redemption, helped by the sight of her heroism. Consider the martyrdom of these two hearts. What does this Mother love more than her Son? And far from being able to help Him, she knows the sight of her anguish increases His. 

And I, what do I love more than My Mother? Not only can I offer her no comfort, but I know that the terrible plight in which she sees Me pierces her heart with a sorrow like My Own. For if I suffer death in the body, she suffers death in her heart. See those eyes fixed on Mine, as Mine dulled and blinded with blood are fixed on hers. No word is spoken, but what a world of communion our two hearts exchange in one heart-rending glance. Yes, My Mother was present in spirit at all the torments of My Passion by Divine Revelation. Some of the disciples, they were far of the fear of the Jews also tried to find out what was going on in order to report it to her. As soon as she knew that My death sentence had been pronounced she came forth to meet Me and did not leave Me anymore till I was placed in the tomb." 

Our Lord to Sister Josefa Menendez during the 26th of March, 1923.

“Meanwhile, the procession advanced on the way to Calvary. Fearing that I might die before crucifixion, those wicked men inspired by hatred not compassion looked around for someone to help Me carry the Cross. And for that purpose, offering a small reward seized on a man of that neighborhood called Simon. Contemplate Me on the way to Calvary. Loaded with My heavy Cross, watch Simon carrying it behind Me and consider two things; Though he was a man of good will, yet he was mercenary and if he carried My Cross it was for pay. So when he began to tire he allowed the weight to bear more and more on Me. And that is how I fell twice. Secondly, this man helped Me to bear part of My Cross but not the whole of it. 

There are many souls following in My Footsteps who accept to help Me carry My Cross, but they are troubled about their own rest and comfort. Many consent to come after Me and for that reason embrace a perfect life, but they do not give up all self interest. It still in some cases remains their chief interest. They hesitate and let My Cross fall when it weighs too heavily on them. They try to avoid suffering, count the cost of abnegation and turn away from humiliation, work or fatigue whenever they can. They look back regretfully at what they have given up and try to obtain at least certain pleasures. In a word, their souls are so egotistical and selfish that they follow Me more for their sake than for Mine.

 They accept only what they cannot avoid or what is of strict obligation, and so carry only a small part of My Cross and in such a way as barely to acquire the merit indispensable for salvation. In the next world they will see how far behind they lagged. On the other hand, there are many souls who urged on by the hope of salvation, but still more by the motives of love are resolute in their determination to follow Me in the way of the Cross. They eagerly embrace the perfect life and devote themselves to My service in order to carry not part of the Cross, but the whole of it. Their one desire is to relieve and comfort Me. They offer themselves for all My Will may ask and seek out all that may give Me pleasure. They think neither of reward nor of their own merits, nor of the fatigues and sufferings that may accrue to them. Their one object being to show Me their love and console My Heart. If My Cross comes to them in the shape of illness, if it is hidden under some employment that goes against the grain, or is little adapted to their talent, if it has all the appearance of being the result of forgetfulness or opposition from those around them, they recognize and accept it with all the submission of which their will is capable. 

Sometimes it happens that urged by great love and zeal for souls, they have done what seemed to them best in such and such a circumstance or things turn out differently from their expectations and there follows a whole trail of humiliations and trials. These souls, moved solely by love, joyfully accept these unexpected consequences of their actions. For in them they see My Cross. They worship it, offer it up and use it to procure My greater glory. These are the souls that truly bear the Cross after Me. Their interests and their gain are none other than love. These are they who repose and glorify My Heart. Be persuaded that if your self denial and suffering bear fruit but late or bear no fruit at all, they have not been in vain or useless. 

Some day you will bear abundant sheaths and reap a great reward. When a soul truly loves she neither measures what she does or weighs what she suffers, never looking for reward and seeking only what she believes to be for God's greater glory. She never says enough when labor or fatigue are in question. And because of the purity of her aim, whatever the result, she neither excuses herself nor protests her good intention. Her motive being love, her efforts and sufferings always give glory to God. She is not troubled, nor does she lose her peace of mind if she meets with contradiction or persecution or humiliation. That the sole motive is love and she leaves results in love's hands. These souls are not mercenary. They only want Me to be consoled. They desire only My rest and glory. That too is why they have shouldered the whole of My Cross and carry its full weight.” 

Our Lord to Sister Josefa Menendez during the 27th of March, 1923.

“We have nearly reached Calvary. The crowd is growing excited while I dragged Myself along with the utmost difficulty. And soon, worn out with fatigue, I fall for the third time. By My first fall, I obtained for sinners rooted in evil the grace of conversion. By My second fall, encouragement for those souls blinded by sadness or anxiety, so that rising up they might make a fresh start in this way of virtue. My third fall will help souls to repent in the supreme hour of death. We have now reached the summit. Look at the viciousness with which these hardened sinners surround Me. 

Some seize hold of the Cross and lay it on the ground, others tear My garments from Me, re-opening all My Wounds. My Blood flows are fresh. Think dear souls of My shame in seeing Myself as exposed to the gaze of the mob. What physical agony!! What confusion for My Soul!! The tunic woven by My Mother with which she had so lovingly clothed Me in My infancy and which has grown with My stature, these cruel men despoil Me of it and draw lots whose it shall be. Think of the affliction to My Mother as she witnessed this terrible scene. How she longs to take possession of that tunic now impregnated with My Blood. The hour has come. 

The executioners stretch Me upon the Cross. They violently seize and extend My Arms that My Hands may reach the holes they have prepared in the wood. Every shock causes My thorn crowned Head to come into violent contact with the Cross. The thorns are driven deeper and deeper into it. Hear the first sound of the hammer that fixes My right hand deep into the very earth. It resounds. Listen again. They fasten My left hand. The very heavens tremble and the angels fall prostrated at the sight. As for Me, I keep My deepest silence. Not a murmur escapes My Lips. Having nailed My Hands, they pull pitilessly at My Feet. My Wounds burst open and fresh, the nerves are severed, the bones dislocated, torture is unspeakable!!! They pierce My Feet and My Blood is poured forth upon the ground. 

Stay awhile and contemplate these pierced Hands and Feet, this Body covered with Wounds, this Head pierced through and through by cruel thorns, showered with dirt, bathed in sweat and blood. Wonder and marvel at My silence, patience and resignation under such brutal treatment. Ask yourself, who suffers? Who's the victim of such barbarity? It is Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, Maker of heaven and earth and of all things, who causes the plants to grow and every living thing to prosper, who created man and whose power sustains all things. 

Behold Him unable to move, an object of scorn, despoiled of all. But soon, what a multitude will follow Him, throwing away fortune, comfort, honor, family and homeland, everything that the world can give to render Him honor and glory and the love that is His due. Be attentive oh yea angels of heaven and all yea who love Me. The soldiers are about to turn the Cross in order to ride up the nails, so as to prevent the weight of My Body from drawing them out. My Sacred Body gives the kiss of peace to the guilty earth.

Then Calvary witnesses a wonder indeed!! At My Mother's prayer, for though she stands unable to help Me, she is imploring mercy of My Heavenly Father. At her prayer, legions of angels crowd around to support My Body and prevent it from being grazed by the earth and crushed by the weight of the Cross. Then while the soldiers inhumanely make the air ring with their blows, the earth trembles. There is silence in heaven. Angelic spirits are prostrate in adoration. God is nailed to the Cross. Josefa, see your Jesus extended on the Cross. He cannot stir Hand or Foot. He's exposed naked without honor or liberty.

 Nothing remains to Him, no one pities Him, none compassionate to His suffering. But instead, fresh mockeries, new insults, more and more pain are added to what He already endures. If you love Me truly, what will you do to resemble Me? Will you refuse anything My love asks? Will you spare any efforts to console Me? And now Josefa, prostrate to the ground and listen to My Words. May My Will triumph in you, may My Love consume you, may your misery glorify Me!!" 

Our Lord to Sister Josefa Menendez during the 28th of March, 1923.

“I have made My Sufferings known to you Josefa. Follow Me in them. Accompany Me and share in My Agony. This is the hour for the world's redemption. They are about to lift Me up as a spectacle of derision to the crowd, but also of admiration to souls. Peace has come to the world. The Cross hitherto an instrument of torture on which criminals were made to die was changed into the light and peace of the world and the object of the most profound veneration. Sinners will draw pardon and life from My Sacred Wounds. My Blood will wash away and efface all their filth and foulness. Pure souls will come to My Wounds, there to quench their thirst and kindle flames of love in their hearts. There they will find a refuge and forever make a home. The world has found a Redeemer and chosen souls the model they must copy. 

And as for you Josefa, these Hands are yours to give you support, these Feet to follow you and never leave you alone. Write all that you see. Father forgive them for they don't know what they are doing. They have not known Him who is their life. On His Shoulders they have heaped the fury of their iniquities. But I beseech You Father, heap upon them the full measure of Your Mercy. Today you will be with Me in Paradise. For your faith in your Savior's Mercy has wiped out all your offenses and will lead you to eternal blessedness. Woman behold your Son. O Mother Mine, these are My brethren, Keep them, love them. 

You for whom I died are no longer alone. You have a Mother to whom you can have recourse in every necessity. My God, why have You forsaken Me? Yes, henceforth a soul has the right to say to its God, `Why have You forsaken Me?` After the mystery of the redemption was consummated, Man became the son of God, Christ is his brother, eternal life his heritage. I thirst. 

Oh My Father, I thirst indeed for Your glory. And behold the hour is at hand. Men shall henceforth know through the fulfillment of My Words that You have indeed sent Me and You shall be glorified. I thirst for souls and to appease this thirst I have given the last drop of My Blood. And so I can say, `All is consummated!` Now at length is accomplished that great mystery of love in which a God delivers up His own Son to death. I came into this world to do Your Will. Oh My Father, it is accomplished. Into Your Hands I commend My Spirit. To You I give back My Soul. Souls that do My Will have the right to say this in all truth;

`All is consummated my Lord and my God. Receive my soul which I commit unto Your Hands.

`Josefa, write down what you have heard. I want souls to hear and to read what is written so that they who thirst may drink and the hungry may be filled.” 

Our Lord to Sister Josefa Menendez during the 30th of March, 1923.