Conchita,
A Mother's Spiritual Diary

Edited by Marie-Michel Philipon, O.P.
Translated by Aloysius J. Owen S.J.

To the Mother of the Incarnate Word, whose life was most simple and most divine
 

Contents

Letter of His Eminence Cardinal Miranda, Archbishop Primate of Mexico
Preface
Introduction

PART I
 The Life Story of a Wife and Mother
"My Life unrolls before my eyes - the joys, the sufferings, my marriage
and my children, and the Works of the Cross"

Chapter I
Daughter of Mexico
"I have grown like the grass of the fields"

  1. Land of Volcanoes; the family environment

  2. The first delights of my soul

  3. An elegant amazon

  1. Fiancée at the age of thirteen
  2. Longing for God
  3. Tragic death of her brother Manuel: starting point of a
    new life



Chapter II
Wife and Mother
"To be wife and mother was never a hindrance to my spiritual life"

  1. My marriage

  2. With my husband and my children

  3. Relatives and friends

  4. Spiritual ascent

  5. "Your mission will be to save souls"

  6. J.H.S.

  7. Spiritual wedding with Christ

  1. A new stage: joy in suffering
  2. Apostle of the Cross
  3. Transfigured daily life
  4. The "inner cloister"
  5. Divine Illuminations
  6. "They assure me that
    my spirit is of God"



Chapter III
Widow
 "Oh night of solitude, of sorrows, of suffering!..."

  1. The death of my husband

  2. Visit to the cemetery 

  3. Portrait of my husband

  4. Alone with my eight orphans

  5. Meeting with Father Rougier

  6. The Divine Scalpel

  7. Divine favors

  8. The "Central Grace" of her spiritual life

  9. Voyage to the Holy Land and to Rome
  1. Teacher of her children
  2. Manuel, her Jesuit son
  3. Her daughter Concha, the nun
  4. The four surviving children
  5. The portrait of a mother drawn by her children
  6. Testament of a mother
  7. Mexico: a terrible persecution
  8. Solitude
  9. Christ's countenance

PART II
Great Spiritual Themes
 "All Mysteries are found in Christ"

Chapter I
The Mystical Writer
"I am going to write out of obedience"

The Mystical writer

Chapter II
The Doctrine of the Cross
"The doctrine of the Cross - it is My Gospel"

  1. The Gospel of the Cross

  2. Basic Viewpoint: "Jesus and Jesus
    Crucified" in His interior sufferings as
    Priest and Host

  3. The Primacy of the Holy Spirit

  4. Intuition-Key: From love to love
    through Crucified Love
  1. Man's destiny
  2. Asceticism and penance
  3. Christian virtues and the
    gifts of the Holy Spirit
  4. The Mystical Incarnation

Chapter III
The Virgin of the Cross
"Mary was the first to continue My Passion"

  1. Her Marian horizon

  2. The Virgin of the Cross

  3. Her favorite mystery: The
    Presentation of Jesus in the Temple

  1. "Solitude" of the Mother of God
  2. Pastoral riches of this
    new devotion

Chapter IV
The Mystery of the Church
 "My Church is founded on Love"

  1. Global perspective

  2. The Church of the Incarnate Word

  1. The Church of the Holy Spirit
  2. A new Pentecost

Chapter V
The Abysses of the Trinity
 "In the clarity of these lights I contemplate the abysses of the Trinity"

  1. "I have a great devotion to the Most
    Holy Trinity"

  2. Her early experiences

  3. Toward union

  1. Trinity and Mystical Incarnation
  2. From union to unity
  3. Trinity and Christian mystery
  4. "When the stars shine in the night"

Epilogue
Her mission in the Church
"A new Pentecost through the Cross"

  1. The greatest degree of Holiness is attainable for everyone

  2. You belong to My Church

  1. The Gospel of the Cross
  2. A new Pentecost

Appendix

  1. Principal dates in the life of
    Concepción Cabrera de Armida

  1. Her spiritual directors


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