WORDS OF THE LORD
Several times we have
referred to the writings of Conchita Cabrera, fruit of her
charism of prophecy, authenticated by excellent theologians.
We have mentioned already that this charism consists of
transmitting messages sent by God. In this chapter we will
select some of what Conchita wrote about the Religious of
the Cross, who were later known as missionaries of the Holy
Spirit.
The principal sources of
these texts are: "History of the Foundation of the
missionaries of the Holy Spirit", written by Conchita, and
her "Account of Conscience", her spiritual journal.
"When the Lord spoke to me
about the Congregation of the Religious of the Cross, in
February of 1804, He said:
-There will also be a
congregation of men, when the women's congregation has been
approved. But I will speak about this when the time comes."
(History of the missionaries of the Holy Spirit p.1.)
"The promises of the Lord to
this chosen group were very great. He said it would multiply
like the stars in the sky and that it would give glory to
the Christian religion, martyrs and saints to His Church."
(Ibid.)
"Once in a while, among the
10 year period, He alluded to this promise, especially when
He complained about the sins of some priests; and he
referred to the future apostles of the Cross as to a place
where He could rest."(Ibid.)
The Lord said:
-"I want these priests to be
perfect, full of love for the Holy Spirit and the Cross, and
I want them to set the world on fire with the divine fire
which I long to see burning in all souls.
-"I want them to be men of
prayer; who find their delight at the foot of my tabernacle
and take from it that fire which they are to communicate in
their ministry." (Ibid).
"Look, my daughter," the Lord
told me one night, "I suffer a great deal because of bad
priests, especially when they consecrate the Eucharistic
bread and receive me in Communion with an impure soul. Many
of those that world believes are mine really are not.
I want the priests of the
Cross to really love me and belong to me.
And I multiplied my prayers
and sacrifices to hasten the advent of this Congregation of
pure and sacrificial men." (Ibid.)
"Ten years had gone by since
the Lord had made the announcement referring to the Priests
of the Cross, and my anxiety grew regarding the fulfillment
of those promises.
I endured great sufferings,
mortal sicknesses, and widowhood... And finally I put that
idea aside, placing everything in the hand of Jesus. Then
came the year of 1903, when on the 4th of February, the Lord
led me to Father Félix Rougier, of the Society of Mary in a
providential manner." (Ibid).
April 29, 1903. "Today, after
going to Communion, the idea came to me that it would be
impossible to establish the foundation for men because there
would be a great deal of difficulty. But I heard a voice
that said to me: --What is mine is carried out infallibly.
What do you fear? What is man's passes away, but my promises
will not pass away." (Journal)
"On June 19th, the Lord told
me:
-A host of holy priests will
appear. They will set the world on fire with the fire of the
Cross.
I asked him:
-Will these priests belong to
the Congregation you have told me about, my Jesus?
-Yes. They will be formed
with singular perfection with the doctrine I have given to
you, which is the essence of the Gospel. You will be the
spiritual mother of many, but it will cost you a thousand
martyrdoms. Be true to me and do my will." (Journal, June
1903).
April 14, 1904. "Today I
finished writing the Constitutions for the Congregation of
men. The only thing lacking is the chapter on the Course of
Studies, because I don't know anything about that. But I
understood that it is the will of the Lord that instead of
having much human science, they have the science of the
Cross of Christ, and that at all limes they consider the
spirit first. Because it would not do any good for them to
be wise if they are not holy. The Lord is tired of priests
conceited about their own talent, who seek applause and
glory for themselves and not for God."
"The virtues which will
characterize the Religious of the Cross will be modesty,
purity and mortification. They ought to be a deep well of
science, but of a science that makes them more and more
aware of their nothingness. Of course they should have
enough knowledge for spiritual direction, but what is
important is that the paths and virtues they teach be paths
they have walked and virtues they have practiced." (Journal)
"Msgr. Valverde told me that
I should regard my sorrows as precious coins with which the
Lord wills that I pay for the Works of the Cross. Oh, yes,
yes! With all my heart I will offer up everything I can so
that the longed for foundation of the priests of the Cross
take place." (Journal May 8, 1904).
July 22, 1912. "Archbishop
Ibarra came to Mexico City and we went over the points for
the Directory that the Lord wants, which will be a spiritual
treasure for the Priests of the Cross. It will be divided
into four parts:
1. Their
life as sons of God the Father.
2. Their relationship to the Incarnate Word by the fact of
being priests.
3. Their relationship to the Holy Spirit because they are
religious.
4. Their intimate affiliation with Mary." (Journal)
"Lord, when will I see the Religious of the Cross? I said.
And He answered me:
-They will come, my daughter,
and you will see them. They will give me much glory and will
be my chosen Congregation." (History p. 260).
"The Lord has said that
unless they be saintly, spiritual and mortified, they will
make noise, but they will not bear fruit for heaven".
(Journal V.6 p.86).
"This work will be very
helpful in the renewal of the world. Through it the
Incarnate Word comes to renew the mystery of Redemption and
to plant His Cross, not on the ground but in the hearts of
many; and it will make souls burn with the fire of the Holy
Spirit." (1911. Journal V.25 p. 44)
"Look, daughter, the Priests
of the Cross will drink from this fountain, and they will be
found all over the world. They will go, as did the Apostles,
teaching Jesus and the reign of His Cross. The Holy Spirit
will accomplish these marvels and they will glorify my
Father. These religious will organize something like a new
crusade throughout the world, they will do much good, and
everywhere there will be a great renewal.” (Journal 1913,
October 17).
"Those religious will
complement the Works of the Cross. They will offer
themselves to the Father as victims with Me, and in this way
will reach salvation and perfection for many souls and they
will give Me much glory." (Journal V.25 p.25)
"I want them to offer
themselves with me to the Father, saying as I do: “THIS IS
MY BODY, AND THIS IS MY BLOOD.” Only in this way will they
be worthy of saying these words when they celebrate the Holy
Sacrifice, transformed in ME by the faithful imitation of my
life and my surrender.
"Oh, daughter, there are many
priests who dare pronounce those most holy words without
being in any way like Me...!" (Journal V.41 p. 319).
"The world collapses, and the
Incarnate Word comes to save it once more. He comes to point
out a new path, a new area of perfection, to sanctify souls
through very easy and perfect means, to counteract the flood
of vices.
"It is the task of the
Priests of the Cross to accomplish this conquest. That is
why they will live my life, they will imitate me in the
purity of their bodies and the holiness of their souls and
they will transform themselves in Me through loving
sacrifice." (History V.1 p. 108)
"I promise you that many of
the Priests of the Cross will reach very high degrees of
perfection in the spiritual life, in the mystical life,
where special manifestations of the Holy Trinity can occur.
This kind of spiritual life has almost died out in the world
today, because the souls which decide to embrace the Cross
for love of Me are really very few.
"But this spiritual apathy,
this world of the flesh, which has made its way even among
religious will be destroyed. And this century, which indeed
is a century of great sins and great natural disasters will
also be one of spiritual reaction, a mystical resurrection,
and an army of apostles will arise who will give glory to
God.
-But, when will this be, my
God?
-Very soon." (History V. l p.
108).
"This Work is important
because it is mine. It is not man's, but God's. It is a
plant that will grow and will be a flourishing tree in my
Church. It will give many fruits of sanctity and will save
many souls. But it needs the watering of the Cross, that is
why those religions will constantly unite their sacrifices
to mine. I will be with them, and those who belong to this
Work or help to extend it, will receive a special reward.
"It is necessary that the
Priests of the Cross be more concerned with their own
personal sanctification than with the activities of their
ministry; that they understand all this well and that they
explore in depth my will regarding them. I do not wish
external fanfare, but rather spiritual strength. I do not
want them to twists my plans. Only if they should live an
intense spiritual life will they have my blessings and
fulfill my designs on earth. I am before all things.
"This Congregation has its
particular ends, its special being, a divine character that
it must preserve. This is very serious and they should be
attentive to it if they do not wish to spoil my plans and
risk a failure.
"If they love Me, and wish to
preserve the genuine spirit of the Congregation, let them
study what I have asked of it, that they be formed according
to that spiritual plan and live in its totality the
spirituality I have given them.
Then they will join Me and we
will form as one soul and one will." (Journal V.25. p. 236.)
"I am the first Priest of the
Cross and the model for those who are to come, because I am
priest and victim. I will be the first among the members of
that foundation, and all those who enter will follow only Me
and will therefore be truly my brothers, I will be the one
to govern those priests of the Cross, because I want them to
be holy. I will pour over them my Holy Spirit in every
special way, and it will kindle their minds and hearts. And
my Father will have special regard for them and will pour
his perfection into each heart that corresponds to the
singular grace of serving Him in this Congregation."
(History V. 1 p. 105. See Journal February 10, 1907).
"My only true Bride is the
Church. I chose her from all eternity to make her the
repository of all the riches of heaven. Don't you see/hat I
live in her and delight in her?
"Well, the Religious of the
Cross will form a choice part of my Church, I promise you,
and they will provide important leverage lot the salvation
of the world. Those who give themselves wholly to the ideals
of this Congregation will receive immense treasures of
sanctity, to share them with my whole Church." (History V.
1. p. 107).
"This is my plan for the
Priests of the Cross. That is why I want to be their elder
brother, to guide them, to be their model at all times, to
live with them, not only exteriorly in the Sacrament of the
Eucharist, but especially in each heart, with the intimacy
of a brother, of a spouse, of a friend, of everything."
(History V. 1 p. 112).
"I will be the cloister of
the true Religious of the Cross. The material cloister is
only a means, but living in Me is its end. "I wish to fill
the heart of these brothers of mine I have mentioned to you,
of those chosen children, of those pure souls. I want them
to drink the science of love and of the Cross from Me; this
is the science of the true saints". (Hidden Manna. p.186)
When the missionaries of the
Holy Spirit read these things, we feel really concerned. We
know that when God enters into a covenant, he makes great
promises, but they are conditioned on the fidelity of man.
God promised that this Congregation would be founded despise
any opposition and He fulfilled his promise, because our
founders were faithful to Him to a heroic degree. But He
also promised that we would be very numerous, that there
would be many saints among us and that we would be a
powerful force for salvation in the Church.
However, the truth is that we
are not very numerous, nor do we see many saints among us,
nor do we do great things in this world of God...
What is happening to us? Has
not the Lord been faithful in pouring in abundance His
Spirit over us? Undoubtedly He has been faithful, and each
of us is a witness to His love and boundless mercy. But we
have not responded as generously. That is why we are only
good.
It is always possible to
change; to take seriously the love of God has for us, to
choose new and just options, "to straighten the paths, so
the salvation of God will come to us."
Be patient Lord! We are going
to pay our debts to you....
Then you will make us
numerous as the stars in the sky to sanctify many in your
church. Amen.
