May. 11, 2018

The Best Prayer

--“Ah, Father Saint Francis, it has been a long time since I have spoken with you.”

“Little Sister, I come because I love the servants of the Cross.”

-- “Speak, Father Saint Francis, our hearts are open.”

“Little sister, spines are from flowers, and the flowers often carry a curse. It would be better to gather some flowers in winter than in summer.

-- “I don't understand, Seraphic Father.”

“It would be better to seed the field when it is humid than when it is made of dust.

-- “I do not understand again.”

“Understand then that the field is humid when Grace waters it. The field made of dust is sterile and the harvest languishes there.”

-- “Ah! I understand.”

“It would be better to drink at a small running current of water than at the river. At the small running current, we sweetly drink the Graces of Heaven, a little at a time. Then, little by little, the small running current becomes a large stream where we drink with delight.”

-- “Father Saint Francis, when the soul is troubled, what can one do?”

“Remember the good counsels received, meditate on them, to strengthen the heart.”

-- “But when we cannot even pray, nor do anything?”

“You must say to God: I hand over my soul into Thy hands.”

-- “Will God be very content with that?”

“Little sister, it is the best prayer.”

-- “When we can neither pray, nor make our Sunday prayers?”

“One performs penance... Content yourself with that which you have. Do not ask to be happy.”

-- “I do not ask for any more than to save my soul.”

“The good Jesus will not leave you to be lost. Tonight I have come to bring calm into your heart.”

(9 January 1878)

[Source: pp. 186 – 187, Le Ciel en Colloque avec Marie-Julie Jahenny, by Fr. Pierre Roberdel].

Reflection on this prophecy:

Marie-Julie's soul is restless. She has been struggling to pray, even finding it impossible to pray the Propers on Sunday.

Saint Francis of Assisi, the Seraphic Father, comes to give the counsels, drawing his examples from the simple natural world of streams and fields, the world that Marie-Julie knows very well.

In praying, the Seraphic Father says that we all must begin slowly, “at the small running current”; that is, using short daily prayer sessions to draw sweetness from prayer: “At the small running current, we sweetly drink the Graces of Heaven, a little at a time.”

His next counsel is for us to cooperate with Grace, and not try to reach beyond the Graces that our souls are receiving for the moment.

This reminds us of the first verse of Psalm 126:

“Unless the Lord build a house,

They labour in vain that build it.”

Saint Francis of Assisi tells Marie-Julie that when we have trouble praying, we should “[r]emember the good counsels received, meditate on them, to strengthen the heart.”

In this way the Seraphic Father connects the idea of prayer and a strong heart; that is, that the regular practice of prayer helps to build an iron will.

But Marie-Julie's suffering has been intense, and so she confides:

“But when we cannot even pray, nor do anything?”

And here most of us will understand Marie-Julie's panic, because we have felt this way, feeling that restlessness in the soul which makes even thoughts fragmented and concentration for prayer impossible.

Saint Francis of Assisi has the perfect solution to when we cannot pray. He tells her: “You must say to God: I hand over my soul into Thy hands.”

He tells Marie-Julie that this is THE BEST PRAYER.

Why? Because God made us, He made our souls, and He knows best how to take care of our souls. Who best to keep our souls safe while in this condition than He who created us?

And we recall the second verse in Psalm 126:

Unless the Lord keep the city,

he watcheth in vain that keepeth it.

Marie-Julie guiltily admits that she has even been unable to do her Sunday duty; that is, pray the Propers for the Sunday Masses.

In response, Saint Francis of Assisi, this Saint of austerity, whose life was built upon countless penances, draws his next piece of advice from his own experience. She is to make a simple act of penance, and yet one which requires total negation of self love:

“One performs penance... Content yourself with that which you have. Do not ask to be happy.”

But one has to have the mettle of the Saints to not run away in fear, screaming, “Aahhhh!” at the prospect of not asking God to help us to be happy, for we are so miserable when we are not happy!

However, Marie-Julie has been a victim soul for nine years now. Recall that she has embraced a life of suffering for three main intentions: the Holy Father, the French Monarch, and in reparation for the loss of hope in God by persons living in the days of the persecution of the Papacy and the Church (these times).

But even despite her determination to suffer, we hear the great pain in her words when she admits, “I do not ask for any more than to save my soul.”

Think of it: Marie-Julie is afraid of being damned due to her inability to pray. She knows that God has made her to love and serve Him, but she fears that she can do neither if she is unable to at least pray simple prayers.

The Seraphic Father, Saint Francis, acts as a balm to her mental anguish. At the beginning of his apparition he tells Marie-Julie that he has come because he loves “the servants of the Cross.”

And now, in his parting words, he first reassures Marie-Julie that Christ is good. He calls Christ “[t]he good Jesus”.

Next, he brings the comforting remembrance that Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd who looks after each of His sheep: “The good Jesus will not leave you to be lost.”

And with this Divine Promise of the Bridegroom of our souls, Saint Francis of Assisi also adds his own fatherly comfort which gives Marie-Julie the assurance that the Franciscan Family in Heaven knows of her suffering, that she is never forgotten: “Tonight I have come to bring calm into your heart.”

And like when we are comforted by our own earthly father, who holds our hand when we are gravely ill, quietly praying his Rosary with his other hand, Marie-Julie is truly comforted. Her struggles and her pains are understood by her loving spiritual father.

Marie-Julie Jahenny lived her life by the Rule of Saint Francis of Assisi, as a Third Order Franciscan, and thus, she was a spiritual daughter of the Seraphic Father. When she died on March 4, 1941, she was buried in the Franciscan habit, as has always been the custom and privilege of Third Order Franciscans.

After the worldwide punishment of the 3 Days of Darkness, Catholics will convert to the Truth (being of right mind without the satanic controls) and the holy spiritual Orders will re-establish their disciplines. Deo gratias!

LINKS:  After the 3 Days   PREPARATIONS   Good Reads

"We declare, say, define and proclaim to every human creature that they by necessity for salvation are entirely subject to the Roman Pontiff ." - Decree of Pope Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam, Nov. 18, 1302, ex cathedra