The devotion to the holy wounds and the pierced heart of Jesus

If the Savior thus discovered all the beauty and richness of his divine wounds to the humble religious, could he perhaps fail to open the treasures of his great wound of love to her?

"Contemplate here the source from which you should draw everything ... it is rich, above all, for you ..." he said pointing out his bright wounds and that of his Sacred Heart, which shone among others with an incomparable splendor.

"You have only to approach the Plague of my divine side, which is the Plague of love, from which very fiery flames are released".

Sometimes, later, for several days, Jesus granted her the sight of his most holy glorious Humanity. He then remained close to his servant, conversed amicably with her, as in other times with our holy sister Margherita Maria Alacoque. The latter, who never departed from the Heart of Jesus, said: "This is how the Lord showed himself to me" and meanwhile the good Master repeated his loving invitations: "Come to my heart and do not fear anything. Put your lips here to take possession of charity and spread it in the world ... Put your hand here to collect my treasures ".

One day He makes her share in his immense desire to pour out the graces that overflow from his Heart:

“Collect them, because the measure is full. I can no longer contain them, so great is the desire to give them. " Another time it is an invitation to use those treasures again and again: “Come and receive the expansions of my heart that wishes to pour out its excessive fullness! I want to spread my abundance in you, because today I received in my mercy some souls saved by your prayers ”.

In every instant, in different forms, he calls out to a life of union with his sacred Heart: “Keep yourself well attached to this heart, to draw and spread my blood. If you want to enter the light of the Lord, it is necessary to hide in my divine Heart. If you want to know the intimacy of the bowels of mercy of the One who loves you so much, you must bring your mouth close to the opening of my Sacred Heart, with veneration and humility. Your center is here. No one will be able to prevent you from loving him nor will he make you love him if your heart does not match. Everything creatures say cannot tear your treasure, your love away from me ... I want you to love me without human support. "

The Lord still insists addressing to his bride a pressing exhortation: “I want the religious soul to be stripped of everything, because to come to my Heart it must have no attachment, no thread that binds it to the earth. We must go to conquer the Lord face to face with him and seek this heart in your own heart. ”.

Then return to Sister Maria Marta; through his docile servant, he looks to all souls and especially to consecrated souls: “I need your heart to repair offenses and keep me company. I will teach you to love me, because you don't know how to do it; the science of love is not learned in books: it is revealed only to the soul who looks at the divine Crucified One and speaks to him from heart to heart. You must be united with me in each of your actions. "

The Lord makes her understand the wonderful conditions and fruits of intimate union with her divine Heart: “The bride who does not lean on the heart of her husband in his pains, in his work, wastes time. When he has committed shortcomings, he must come back to my Heart with great confidence. Your infidelities disappear in this burning fire: love burns them, consumes them all. You must love me by abandoning me completely, leaning, like St. John, on the heart of your Master. Loving him in this way will bring him a very great glory. "

How Jesus wishes our love: He begs him!

Appearing to her one day in all the glory of her Resurrection, she said to her beloved, with a deep sigh: “My daughter, I beg for love, as a poor man would do; I am a beggar of love! I call my children, one by one, I look at them with pleasure when they come to me ... I await them! ... "

Taking truly the appearance of a beggar, he repeated to her again, full of sadness: “I beg for love, but most, even among religious souls, refuse it to me. My daughter, love me purely for myself, without taking into account neither the punishment nor the reward ”.

Pointing to her our holy sister Margaret Mary, who "devoured" the Heart of Jesus with her eyes: "This loved me with pure love and only for myself, only for me!".

Sister Maria Marta tried to love with the same love.

Like an immense fire, the Sacred Heart drew it to itself with unspeakable ardor. She went to her beloved Lord with transports of love that consumed her, but at the same time they left in her soul a completely divine sweetness.

Jesus said to her: “My daughter, when I chose a heart for you to love me and do my will, I light the fire of my love in it. However I do not incessantly feed this fire, for fear that self-love gains something and that my graces are received out of habit.

Sometimes I withdraw to leave the soul in its weakness. Then she sees that she is alone ... making mistakes, these falls keep her in humility. But because of these shortcomings, I do not abandon the soul I have chosen: I always look at it.

I don't mind small things: forgiveness and return.

Each humiliation unites you more intimately to my Heart. I don't ask for big things: I simply want the love of your heart.

Cling to my Heart: you will discover all the goodness with which it is full ... here you will learn the sweetness and humility. Come, my daughter, to take refuge in it.

This union is not only for you, but for all members of your community. Tell your Superior to come to lay down in this opening all the actions of your sisters, even the recreations: there they will be as in a bank, and they will be well guarded ".

A moving detail among a thousand others: when Sister Maria Marta became aware of that night, she could not help but stop to ask the Superior: "Mother, what is a bank?".

It was a question of his candid innocence, then he began to communicate his message again: “It is necessary that for humility and annihilation your hearts unite with mine; My daughter, if you knew how much my Heart suffers from the ingratitude of so many hearts: you must unite your pains with those of my Heart. "

It is even more particularly to the souls in charge of the direction of the other Directors and Superior that the Heart of Jesus opens with its riches: “You will make a great act of charity by offering my wounds every day for all the Directors of the Institute. You will tell your Master that she comes to the source to fill her soul and, in a tomorrow, her heart will be full to spread my graces above you. She has to lay down the fire of holy love in souls, speaking very often about the sufferings of my Heart. I will give everyone the grace to understand the teachings of my sacred Heart. At the hour of death, all will arrive here, for the commitment and correspondence of their souls.

My daughter, your Superiors are the custodians of my Heart: I must be able to place in their souls all that I would like of grace and suffering.

Tell your mother to come and draw from these sources (the Heart, the Wounds) for all your sisters ... She must look at my Sacred Heart and confide in everything, regardless of the gaze of others ".

PROMISES OF OUR LORD
The Lord is not content to reveal his holy wounds to Sister Maria Marta, to expose to her the pressing reasons and benefits of this devotion and at the same time the conditions that ensure its outcome. He also knows how to multiply the encouraging promises, repeated with such frequency and in so many and varied forms, which force us to limit ourselves; on the other hand, the content is the same.

Devotion to the holy wounds cannot deceive. “You do not have to fear, my daughter, to make my wounds known because someone will never be deceived, even when things seem impossible.

I will grant all that is asked of me with the invocation of the holy wounds. This devotion must be spread: you will get everything because it is thanks to my Blood which is of infinite value. With my wounds and my divine heart, you can get everything. "

The holy wounds sanctify and ensure spiritual progress.

"From my wounds come fruits of holiness:

As the gold purified in the crucible becomes more beautiful, so it is necessary to place your soul and those of your sisters in my sacred wounds. Here they will perfect themselves like gold in the crucible.

You can always purify yourselves in my wounds. My Wounds will repair yours ...

The holy wounds have a wonderful efficacy for the conversion of sinners.

One day, Sister Maria Marta, anguished at thinking about the sins of humanity, exclaimed: "My Jesus, have mercy on your children and do not look at their sins".

The divine Master, answering her request, taught her the invocation that we already know, then added. “Many people will experience the effectiveness of this aspiration. I want priests to recommend it often to their penitents in the sacrament of confession.

The sinner who says the following prayer: Eternal Father, I offer you the wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ, to heal those of our souls he will obtain conversion.

The holy wounds save the world and ensure a good death.

“The holy wounds will infallibly save you ... they will save the world. You have to take a breath with your mouth resting on these sacred wounds ... there will be no death for the soul that will breathe in my wounds: they give real life ".

The holy wounds exercise all power over God. "You are nothing for yourself, but your soul united with my wounds becomes powerful, it can also do various things at a time: to deserve and get for all needs, without having to go down to the details ".

Placing his adorable hand on the head of the privileged darling, the Savior added: “Now you have my power. I always take pleasure in giving the greatest thanks to those who, like you, have nothing. My power lies in my wounds: like them you too will become strong.

Yes, you can get everything, you can have all my power. In a way, you have more power than me, you can disarm my justice because, although everything comes from me, I want to be prayed for, I want you to invoke me. "

The holy wounds will particularly safeguard the community.

As the political situation became more critical every day (says our Mother), in October 1873 we made a novena to the holy wounds of Jesus.

Immediately our Lord showed his joy to the confidant of his Heart, then he addressed these comforting words: "I love your Community so much ... never will something bad happen to it!

May your Mother not get upset about the news of the present time, because the news from outside is often wrong. Only my word is true! I tell you: you have nothing to fear. If you left out the prayer then you would have something to fear ...

This rosary of mercy acts as a counterweight to my justice, keeps my revenge away ”. Confirming the gift of her holy wounds to the community, the Lord said to her: "Here is your treasure ... the treasure of the holy wounds contains crowns that you must gather and give to others, offering them to my Father to heal the wounds of all souls. Someday these souls, to whom you will have obtained a holy death with your prayers, will turn to you to thank you. All men will appear before me on the day of judgment and then I will show my favorite brides that they will have purified the world by means of the holy wounds. The day will come when you will see these great things ...

My daughter, I say this to humiliate you, not to overpower you. Know well that all this is not for you, but for me, so that you may attract souls to me! ”.

Among the promises of our Lord Jesus Christ, two must be mentioned especially: the one concerning the Church and the one concerning the souls of Purgatory.