A Victim for the
20th Century
During the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries there live
in Quito, Ecuador, a Spanish nun whose
little-known but extraordinary life has a direct connection
with our days. Mother Mariana of Jesus Torres y Berriochoa,
a nun of the Conceptionist Order, surpassed the already
strict discipline of her congregation in the traditional
penances she undertook. Beyond even those, she lovingly
accepted unprecedented sacrifices and sufferings directly
asked of her by Our Lord and Our Lady.
Her frequent contact with heavenly
beings and her supernatural sufferings stand in such contrast
to the ways of our impious century and are so extraordinary
in themselves that a word needs to be said of their credentials.
Mother Mariana left a full written
account of her life at the command of her superiors. This
account was approved by the Most Reverend Pedro de Oviedo,
Quito’s tenth bishop, who was privileged to know and direct
her. Additionally, with fresh memories of all the extraordinary
facts not only of her life but also of those of her eight
holy companions, the Franciscan Fathers who had been their
spiritual directors and brothers wrote their biographies.
In 1650, fifteen years after Mother
Mariana’s death, Diego Rodríguez Docampo published a story
of her life endorsed by an official document from the King
of Spain and the Royal Court of Quito.
Between 1760 and 1770, after new
facts and more abundant documentation surfaced, Fr. Bartholomew
Ochoa de Alacano, O.F.M., a Spaniard living in Quito, published
a series of articles that formed a large volume about Mother
Mariana. This work received widespread circulation and enthusiastic
response in the Franciscan monasteries of Spain and Portugal.
This book includes chronicles from the convent and the sermon
preached by Bishop Oviedo at Mother Mariana’s funeral.
In 1790, Fr. Manuel Souza Pereira,
O.F.M., published an extensive work based on the earlier
documents. Father Souza Pereira, of illustrious Portuguese
lineage, joined the military as a young man. A series of
Providential events and several apparitions of Mother Mariana
of Jesus convinced him that his true calling was to the
Franciscan Order. Later, having been sent to Quito, he became
known there for the austerity of his life and solid virtue.
A decisive moment for him was an invitation to accompany
his Bishop into the Papal cloister where his holy protectress
had lived and died. There he traced her footsteps and venerated
her incorrupt body. With his heart aflame, he vowed not
to rest until he had finished a complete account of what
he was to title The Admirable Life of Mother Mariana of
Jesus. It is largely on this account that we have based
this article.
One day in the year 1582, a young
nun prayed before the Blessed Sacrament in the choir of
her convent in Quito. Suddenly, she heard a terrifying rumble
and saw the church enveloped in a thick, smoke-filled darkness.
The main altar alone remained illuminated, as if in broad
daylight. There, the tabernacle door swung open and our
crucified Lord came forth, nailed to a life-size cross.
The Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist, and
Saint Mary Magdalen stood by, as on Calvary. Our Lord was
agonizing.
The young nun heard a voice: “This
punishment is for the twentieth century.” Then she saw three
swords hanging over Our Lord’s head, each with an inscription.
On the first was written, “I shall punish heresy”; on the
second, “I shall punish blasphemy”; and on the third, “I
shall punish impurity.”
Then the Blessed Virgin addressed
the young nun: “My daughter, do you wish to sacrifice yourself
for these people?”
“I am ready,” responded the nun.
At that, the three swords plunged into the nun’s heart,
and she fell dead by the violence of the pain.
Is this a fairy-tale? An incredible
allegory? The fantastic figment of someone’s fertile imagination?
No, these are facts.
God occasionally visits the earth
with the “magic touch” of His omnipotence. By Divine discretion
He makes an exception to the earthly standards of everyday
and introduces the extraordinary. We learn of His interventions
and miracles as if the veil of Faith is lifted a little,
and we get a glimpse of Heaven, helping us feel closer to
our celestial home.
Many claim to have received this
magic touch, yet just a few bear the august mark of authenticity,
which is usually a purifying process of the favored soul
through acute suffering.
Mariana
In the year 1563 a little girl
was born to Don Diego Torres and Dona Maria Berriochoa, both
noble Spaniards and fervent Catholics. At the baptismal font
the girl, their first child, received the name of Mariana
Francisca. This privileged girl was singled out by Divine
Providence from her earliest days. To begin, she was graced
with a rare angelical beauty.
As she grew, her one fascination
was Jesus hidden in the Blessed Sacrament, before Whom she
knelt for hours even at the age of six. Because of her spiritual
maturity, her confessor allowed her to receive Communion
at nine years, an age then considered very early for first
communicants.
So intense was Mariana’s joy at this
first meeting with her Sacramental God that she swooned
and fell into a deep faint. During this “faint” she saw
Our Lord Jesus as a young boy of her own age placing a beautiful
ring on her finger, claiming her for Himself. Mariana readily
accepted this proposal. The Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint
Joseph witnessed the event and stood as sponsors to this
“engagement.”
In this same vision the Blessed Virgin
showed her that she was destined to belong to her Order
of the Immaculate Conception. This order had recently been
founded by another privileged soul, Saint Beatrix da Silva,
a Portuguese woman of noble lineage.
The Order of the Immaculate
Conception
The great love of Saint Beatrix
was the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God. After
many sufferings and difficulties, she founded this new
order to honor this exalted privilege of Mary Most Holy,
centuries before it was declared a dogma of our Faith.
The new order adopted the Franciscan
rule and took Saint Francis of Assisi as their mentor
and father. Their habit is white and blue, the colors
of the Immaculate Conception, with a black veil.
A request from the colony
of Ecuador
Some influential and pious ladies
in the then Spanish colony of Ecuador learned of this
recently established order. Delighted with the new institute’s
devotion, these ladies wished to have it established in
Quito, their country’s capital.
They submitted their request for
this to King Philip II of Spain. Acceding to their petition,
he named a nun of great virtue, Mother Maria of Jesus Taboada,
to head the foundation of the new convent. This virtuous
and holy nun, an aunt of Mariana, was to be accompanied
by six other nuns, all women of great merit and solid virtue.
They were Mothers Francisca of the Angels, Anne of the Conception,
Lucy of the Cross, Magdalen of Saint John, Catherine of
the Conception, and Maria of the Incarnation.
The separation
Mariana was then just nine years old,
but God wished to pluck this rose before it even budded.
One day as she received Holy Communion He again appeared
to her and told her that He wished her to leave her father’s
house and to embrace His cross in a far-off land.
Mariana understood that she was to
go with her aunt as part of the expedition to found the
order of the Immaculate Conception in the Americas. Burning
with love for her crucified Jesus, she had already reached
that stage of love where sufferings pose no obstacle.
Broken hearted but resigned, her
most Christian parents gave her over to her holy aunt, who
now promised to be her true mother.
The voyage
The devil could not bear the thought
of this foundation being accomplished. No sooner had the
nuns’ ship left port than a terrible tempest, the likes
of which had seldom been seen before, overtook them. The
sky changed from clearest day to the darkest night. The
frightened sailors did not know what to do and thought all
was lost. In fact, the ship seemed doomed.
It was then that both aunt and niece
saw in the raging waters a horrible and gigantic snake with
seven heads, attempting to destroy the ship. Mariana screamed
at seeing this and lost consciousness. Mother Maria prayed
to God with all her soul, asking that if He truly willed
that the foundation be accomplished, He quell the storm.
As soon as Mother Maria said this
prayer, Mariana opened her eyes and the light of day overcame
the darkness. But a terrible voice was heard: “I will not
allow this foundation to come about; I will not allow it’s
progress; I will not allow it to endure to the end of time;
I will persecute it.”
Mother Maria knew that Mariana had
seen something during her faint and, retiring with her to
a secluded place, asked her to relate all she had been shown.
“I don’t know where I have been,
my Mother,” answered the girl, “but I saw a serpent bigger
than the sea, twisting and contorting itself. Then I saw
a lady of incomparable beauty, garbed with the sun and crowned
with stars and with a babe in her arms. On the lady’s breast
I saw a monstrance with the Blessed Sacrament. In one of
her hands she held a golden cross having a lance point.
Anchoring the lance over the Blessed Sacrament and in the
infant’s hand, she struck at the serpent’s head with such
force that it was completely split. At that moment the serpent
cried out all his horrible threats about not allowing the
founding of the Order of the Immaculate Conception.”
Mother Maria understood all that
this vision signified and was later to have a large medal
cast depicting the scene. To this day, the nuns of the Immaculate
Conception of Quito wear this medal over their habits.
Foundation
Arriving in Quito on December 30,
1576, the foundresses were received with great joy and housed
in a few of the inhabitable buildings of the convent, which
was still under construction. When the construction was
concluded, the official founding took place on January 13,
1577.
Soon, several young girls of Quito
began to request admission to the convent of the Immaculate
Conception and the conventual life was in full bloom.
Nuptials
At fifteen, Mariana entered the novitiate
and, a few years later, professed.
As she pronounced her vows before
Mother Maria Taboada on the day of her nuptials, she was
taken up in a sublime ecstasy. While on earth her lips formed
the words for the formula of her vows and her body remained
supple for the clothing, her soul was in the presence of
God Our Lord.
Our Lord Jesus presented His own
cross to His spouse and showed her all the enormous sufferings,
persecutions, sicknesses, and temptations she would undergo
for His sake and ours. He preserved her only from temptations
against purity. She was never to have a single thought or
inclination against this angelic virtue.
Life of penance
After her profession, Our Lord again
appeared to Mother Mariana and gave her the schedule to
be observed in the free hours of the community and the penances
she should perform during the week.
These penances were so severe that
Mother Maria Taboada feared for her health. But, in another
vision, Our Lord placed a drop of crystalline water from
His wounded side on Mariana’s lips and fortified her in
a marvelous way for all He asked of her.
The penances practiced by this angel
in human flesh can only be understood when we consider that
she was called to be a victim for the twentieth century.
For an example, she wrapped nearly her whole innocent body
in wires with iron points, even her ears, leaving only her
face and hands free. Thus she lived a penitential, prayerful
life, ever increasing in virtue.
Vision of the twentieth century
We come then to that day in the year
1582 when she was praying before her Eucharistic Lord and
suddenly saw the church, except the main altar, immersed
in darkness. The rest, until her painful death by means
of three swords plunged into her heart as an expiation for
the sins of our current century, we have related at the
opening of this article.
Resurrection
Mariana, always the first at all the
acts of the community, did not appear on the day following
her vision of Our Lord on His cross. Noting her absence,
the abbess and the other nuns searched for her. They found
her dead in the lower choir, her body already cold. With
enormous grief they carried the young nun’s remains to her
cell and laid her on her bed.
The doctor, Don Sancho, and the Franciscan
Friars who attended the convent were all called. Don Sancho
confirmed that death had occurred and there was nothing
to be done except give her proper burial.
Outside, the people of Quito clamored
at the convent doors to see the body of their beloved benefactress,
for Mother Mariana had become well known in the town, having
helped many with her counsels, penances, prayers, and even
miracles.
The two crowns
Mother Mariana appeared before
the Divine Judge. Finding no fault in her, He said, “Come,
beloved of my Father, and receive the crown We have prepared
for you from the beginning of the world.” She was thus
in heaven before the Blessed Trinity and the celestial
court, in unutterable happiness.
Meanwhile, on earth, the prayers
of Mother Maria and all her sisters as well as those of
the Franciscan Fathers and the townspeople rose to the
throne of the Holy Trinity. The sisters could not bear
the thought of living without this angel and true lightning
rod of God’s justice for their community. Sighing and
weeping, they begged God to return her to them.
Wishing to lend an ear to the supplications
of these children on earth, Our Lord presented Mother Mariana
with two crowns, one of glory and the other of lilies intertwined
with thorns. He bade her choose one, making her understand
that by choosing the crown of glory she would remain in
heaven, as was her right, but by choosing the other, she
would return to earth and resume her suffering.
The humble virgin then asked her
Beloved to choose for her. “No,” answered Our Lord. “When
I took you for my spouse I tested your will, and now I wish
to do the same.”
The Blessed Virgin Mary now spoke:
“My daughter, I left the glories of heaven and returned
to earth to protect my children*. I want you to imitate
me in this, for your life is very necessary for my Order
of the Immaculate Conception.
“Woe to the colony in the twentieth
century!’’ continued the Virgin. “If then there are no souls
who, with their life of sacrifice and holocaust following
your example, will appease Divine Justice, fire will come
from heaven and, consuming its inhabitants, will purify
Quito.”
Hearing this, the humble virgin agreed
to return to earth. She was to have a long life of incredible
sufferings, since part of her mission on earth was to atone
for the sins of our poor, chaotic, corrupted, and sinful
century.
Stigmata, sickness, and death
Because Mariana of Jesus was destined
for extraordinary graces all her life, Our Lord spared her
nothing that could possibly contribute to her purification
and perfection.
Thus, on the night of September 17,
1588, as Mother Mariana prayed, she received the holy wounds
of Our Lord Jesus in her hands, feet, and side. She cried
out and was left trembling, and had to be helped to her
bed. The stigmata appeared in the palms of her hands and
the soles of her feet like puncture wounds; on her side
was a reddish-purple mark like a sword wound.
After this, she sickened terribly
and entered an excruciating trial. She could not move a
single member of her body. Aggravating her sufferings, the
devil did his utmost to break her by suggesting to her that
her life had been in vain, a lie, a hoax. He prowled around
her bed constantly in the form of a hideous serpent, the
sight of which tormented her unceasingly.
One night, no longer being able to
bear this terrible five-month ordeal, she called on the
Most Blessed Virgin. Then, feeling a hand caressing her
head, she looked up to see the Queen of Heaven, beautiful,
kind, and majestic in a nimbus of light.
She could now move and no longer
saw the hideous serpent. Her condition still worsened, however,
and, to the distress of the entire community, she once again
breathed her last. It was Holy Saturday and her body was
laid in state in the low choir. The multitudes came to view
it and cried aloud: “The saint is dead! Our angel is gone!”
Yet, the next morning as the community
filed into the high choir to recite the Office they found
her praying! Like her Divine Spouse, Whom she sought to
copy in everything, she had been resurrected on Easter morning
and returned to life once more to continue suffering for
souls and for the world.
Superior
In 1589, feeling her health failing
and wishing to prepare herself for her approaching end,
which had been predicted to her, Mother Maria Taboada suggested
that a new superior be elected. She had ruled for sixteen
years by the unanimous wish of her convent, who thought
no one more suited for the task than the holy foundress.
Now, in deference to her wishes,
they unanimously elected Mother Mariana of Jesus, trusting
in her exalted virtue despite her being only thirty. She,
as mother superior, guided the convent with great wisdom,
prudence, charity, and goodness in the ways of the Lord,
fulfilling every point of the holy rule, omitting nothing.
Mariana knew she would still have her aunt with her for
a while and took full advantage of her counsel and guidance.
Predictions about the community
Several times both Mother Mariana
and Mother Maria received revelations about the future of
their convent.
They knew each and every nun who
would profess in their community to the end of the world.
They knew that in every age there would be souls of great
virtue, merit and holiness in this blessed house, but ungrateful
and disobedient ones as well. The holy souls would divert
great calamities from Ecuador and would maintain the faith
burning even during the calamitous twentieth century.
The devil plots to destroy the
convent from withinBoth holy women were also shown that
very soon, incited by mankind’s enemy, some unruly and disobedient
nuns of their convent who wanted a less stringent rule than
the Franciscan rule would attempt and obtain the separation
of their community from the direction of the Franciscan
Friars. Since the order of the Immaculate Conception was
like a branch on the tree of the Franciscan Order, this
separation caused the faithful nuns most grievous suffering.
Death of Mother Maria Taboada
In 1594 Mother Maria Taboada, who
had been truly a mother to Mother Mariana and all those
under her care, rendered her soul to God. She had suffered
greatly before her death, and the community was inconsolable
at the loss of their beloved foundress.
Nevertheless, from heaven she continued
to guide her monastery as she had promised in her last words
before entering her agony. Then she had suddenly sat up
in bed, all traces of the illness gone and her face as fresh
and young as when she was thirty three, the age at which
she founded the monastery. She had left them with the most
touching of farewells, promising them continuing assistance
from heaven.
In fact, she frequently spoke with
Mother Mariana in visions when the latter sought her guidance
and counsel.
First Apparition of the Mother
of Good Success
Around this time Mother Mariana suffered
cruelly with all the cares of her community. They lacked
proper financial support, and the added cross of the threatening
separation from the Franciscans inflicted a real martyrdom
on her.
In the early morning of February
2, 1594, Mother Mariana was praying in the high choir. Prostrate
with her forehead touching the floor, she implored help
for her community and mercy for the sinful world.
She then heard a sweet voice calling
her name. Rising quickly, she beheld a most beautiful lady
in an aura of light. On her left arm she held the Child
Jesus and on her right a crosier of the purest gold adorned
with such precious stones as are not to be found on this
earth.
“Who art thou, beautiful lady?” she
asked, “and what dost thou wish? Dost thou not know that
I am but a poor nun, filled with love for God, true, but
suffering and tried to the utmost?”
The lady answered: “I am Mary of
Good Success, the Queen of Heaven and Earth. Precisely because
you are a religious soul full of love for God and for His
Mother who now speaks to you, I have come from heaven to
sooth your burdened heart.”
Then the Mother of God showed her
how her prayers and penances pleased God. She explained
that she held the golden crosier in her right hand because
she wished to govern the convent herself, and that the devil
would do all in his power to destroy the convent by means
of some ungrateful daughters of hers dwelling there.
“He will not attain his goal,” she
continued, “because I am the Queen of Victories and the
Mother of Good Success. Under this invocation I wish, in
the centuries to come, to perform miracles for the preservation
of this, my convent, and its inhabitants.
“Until the end of the world I will
have holy daughters, heroic souls, in the obscure life of
their convent, who, suffering persecutions and slanders
from within their own community, will be much loved by God
and His Mother… Their lives of prayer, penance, and sacrifice
will be extremely necessary in all times. After having spent
their lives unknown to all, they will be called to heaven
to occupy an exalted throne of glory.”
She then revealed to Mother Mariana
that hers would be a long and suffering life, but she bid
her never lose courage.
Saying this, she placed the Infant
Jesus in the humble virgin’s arms. Clasping Him tightly
to her heart, Mother Mariana felt the strength to suffer
all for His honor and glory and the good of souls.
Our Lady was to appear several times
to Mother Mariana under the title of the Mother of Good
Success. During some of these apparitions she prophesied
many things about the twentieth century.
Separation from the Franciscans
The ominous day predicted both to
Mother Maria and Mother Mariana had arrived, the day in
which their small flock would be separated from their divinely
appointed shepherds. There had been new elections for a
superior and Mother Magdalena of Jesus Valenzuela, the newly
appointed prioress, lost no time in accomplishing this.
This lady was not a bad person, but being weak, she often
served as a tool in the hands of other nuns with evil intent.
Quickly, she worked to annul the
obedience to the sons of Saint Francis and to submit the
direction of the monastery to the Bishop of Quito. This
was a sad day for the heroic and saintly foundresses and
all the obedient Conceptionists of that house. As the Franciscan
Fathers said farewell, Mother Mariana and all the obedient
nuns wept unconsolably. Nevertheless, they obediently submitted
to the new authority.
The Father Provincial of the Franciscans
left them with words of encouragement and consolation, assuring
them of their future return. For the unruly ones he left
words of malediction.
Prison
Immediately, with Mother Valenzuela
at the helm but manipulated by the unruly faction, observance
of the rule began to decline, prescribed times of silence
were no longer observed, and abuses multiplied.
Worried and afflicted in her heart
with this situation, which defeated the true purpose of
the conventual life, Mother Mariana humbly approached her
new superior, begging as foundress and ex-prioress that
these infractions and deviations be corrected for the good
of the community.
The secular ecclesiastical prelate
now in authority over the convent heard of this appeal.
But the rebellious faction made sure he received the worst
possible report, making Mother Mariana out to be unruly,
insubordinate, and much more.
As a result, he ordered the innocent
virgin to be imprisoned for three days. He also ordered
that her veil be removed, that she receive a public scourging
at meal times in the refectory, and that she eat kneeling
on the floor. These three days were spent in a dark, underground
prison. There, Sister Mariana had to expiate her perfect
innocence.
After three days, she was removed
to a solitary room. The Spanish foundresses, unable to contain
themselves seeing her suffering, visited her there. For
this they were ordered to be incarcerated along with Mother
Mariana for a full month. Others who showed solidarity with
them also joined the holy foundresses in prison. At one
time they were twenty-five thus paying for their fidelity.
Divine consolations
One night, a small cross that Mother
Mariana had painted on the wall began to shine intensely.
As the light increased marvelously to the astonishment of
the innocent prisoners, the seven foundresses were each
taken up in a sublime ecstasy and each shown a different
vision.
As an example of these visions, Mother
Francisca of the Angels, one of the Spanish foundresses,
saw their Seraphic Father, Saint Francis of Assisi, in a
state of fury and going about the convent with a bow, shooting
arrows right and left. As one of the arrows pierced the
heart of one of the disobedient nuns, she fell dead instantly.
Then Saint Francis said to Mother
Francisca: “This nun is the one mainly responsible for the
separation from the Franciscans and the laxity introduced
in the monastery. She will be held accountable for all the
sufferings and lack of observance of the rule in the centuries
to come until the jurisdiction of the Franciscan family
returns. Then the rule given us by Pope Julius II will be
perfectly observed. But I will see to it that in all times
there will be souls who, loving the Seraphic Order, will
sustain the regular observance of the monastery with their
penitent and dedicated lives.”
The next morning, that nun was found
dead in her cell, her face a blackish purple. The prisoners
were made to carry her body for burial. Imagine Mother Francisca’s
sorrow on having to carry the body of this sister she had
loved and served but was not able to save!
Mother Magdalen of Saint John beheld
Saint John the Evangelist. He revealed to her that on the
day of the Last Supper, as he reclined his head over Our
Saviour’s heart, one of the secrets that had been revealed
to him was the foundation of this monastery. Our Lord let
him know how much He loved this house and that in it would
live Eucharistic souls who would take upon themselves to
offer reparation for the sacrileges committed against the
Divine Victim.
Thus did these holy souls spend those
bitter days of imprisonment within their own house, persecuted,
reviled, and abandoned by their own.
Freedom
Tortured
by pity and remorse, Mother Valenzuela could no longer bear
the thought of these innocent and holy nuns incarcerated
in that awful place. She wrote a letter to the Bishop confessing
her weakness in allowing the rebellious nuns to manipulate
her and cause the imprisonment of these perfectly innocent
women. The prelate was very upset on receiving this message.
He reprimanded Mother Valenzuela severely and ordered the
immediate release of the victims.
On being
released, the poor suffering souls humbly kissed the feet
of their prioress and those of their persecutors.
Despite
this, it would take a veritable book to relate the continuing
episodes of intrigue, calumny, and persecution stirred up
by the father of lies against the faithful nuns. Let it
suffice to say that this was only the beginning of the terrible
persecution suffered by these holy souls, who were later
returned to that awful prison.
Once more, election and...imprisonment
After this release from imprisonment,
Mother Mariana was again elected prioress, receiving the
majority of the votes from the obedient faction of the convent.
This caused such a fury in the rebellious band that again
she was slandered to such a point that the Bishop, not knowing
what to do, had her isolated in a cell. The hate-filled,
unruly bloc wished to send her to the dark prison again
but Mother Valenzuela would not hear of it.
Further prophecies about the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries
One day during this second period
of isolation, as she prayed and suffered, Mother Mariana
again beheld a lady of incomparable majesty and beauty surrounded
by light. Once more the lady called herself Mary of Good
Success. Again she carried her infant Son and the golden
crosier. A diamond-studded cross shimmered like so many
suns on the crosier; rubies adorned the center of the cross
and the name of Mary was engraved on this ruby star, shimmering
with many different lights.
This time, among many other things,
the Mother of Good Success said: “In the nineteenth century
a truly Christian president will govern Ecuador. He will
be a man of character to whom God Our Lord will grant the
palm of martyrdom on this same central square where my convent
stands. He will consecrate the Republic of Ecuador to the
Sacred Heart of my most holy Son, and this consecration
will sustain the Catholic Faith in the years to come, which
will be ominous for the Church.
“During these years, in which Masonry,
that accursed sect, will take over the government, there
will be a cruel persecution against religious communities.
They will also violently attack this convent which is particularly
mine. To those wretched men this monastery will seem finished,
but unbeknown to them, I live and God lives to raise in
their very midst powerful defenders of this work. We will
also place insurmountable difficulties in their paths, and
the triumph shall be ours.”
These predictions were fulfilled
to the letter.
Gabriel Garcia Moreno
Gabriel Garcia Moreno was a man of
unshakable courage, brilliant intellect, and ardent love
for the Church and the Papacy. As president of Ecuador,
he led the republic in the paths of Faith and righteousness
for several years, accomplishing tremendous religious, moral,
educational, and economic reform.
Shortly after his reelection, in
a great impulse of manly fervor, he shouldered a huge wooden
cross during a Holy Week procession and led the cortege
through the streets of Quito. Shortly thereafter, the Masonic
lodges of Peru sent an assassin to kill him.
He was brutally murdered on August
6, 1875, in front of the presidential palace as he returned
from Mass and Holy Communion in the Cathedral. He fell in
the square on which stands the convent of the Immaculate
Conception, just as Our Lady had predicted.
It is said that while dying in a
pool of blood from multiple machete wounds, he managed to
dip his finger into his own blood and write on the pavement,
“Dios no muere” — God does not die.
The Mother of God asks that
a statue be made
During this same apparition the Blessed
Virgin of Good Success asked Mother Mariana to have a statue
of her made exactly as Mother Mariana saw her. She wished
this statue to be placed in the Prioress’ seat in the high
choir so that, from there, she might effectively rule over
her convent. She wished a crosier to be placed in her right
hand as a sign of her authority as superior, along with
the keys of the monastery so she might defend it in the
centuries to come.
Defend it she did. On several future
occasions, hostile governmental officials sought to move
the sisters or close the convent. Not one of these attempts
succeeded. In some cases the person in charge died or was
removed from office before the order was carried out. On
one occasion, a large number of men assigned to converge
on the convent at a specified time all forgot the rendezvous
until the time had passed.
The Blessed Virgin is measured
Mother Mariana was puzzled over how
to obtain the Heavenly Lady’s exact measurements. Noticing
her confusion, Our Lady had her remove the cord from the
waist of her habit. Then, with immeasurable grace, she took
one end of the cord and held it at her forehead while Mother
Mariana touched the other end to Our Lady’s foot. The cord,
too short for such a measurement, stretched to the perfect
length.
For some unknown reason, Mother Mariana
experienced some temptations and difficulties in believing
the validity of this apparition. Consequently, many years
went by before the statue requested by the Mother of Good
Success was made.
Trouble in the convent continues
Affairs remained far from settled
in the Convent of the Immaculate Conception. Always spurred
by the devil who had vowed to destroy this holy house that
caused so much havoc to his plans, the same brood of rebellious,
disgruntled, and envious nuns never ceased plotting.
Again came time for a new election
for superior. The revolutionary element raised so much friction
that after many sessions a decision had not been reached.
The Bishop himself had to intervene and preside over the
new election.
Blinded by envy and hate, the leader
of the rebellion, a small nun known as “La Capitana” request
ed the post of prioress for herself while reviling and insulting
Mother Mariana and the Spanish foundresses. She also requested
their return to Spain.
This proved a fatal mistake for the
revolted ones, for the Bishop now clearly saw with whom
he was dealing. Indignant, the Bishop ordered La Capitana
to be immediately removed and locked in the prison where
her innocent victims had formerly suffered so much. As to
the others, he revoked their right to vote and ordered that
they be given the hardest and most menial work in the convent.
If they resisted, they were to join their leader in prison.
They were also expelled from the voting room.
Finally, Mother Valenzuela was elected
prioress once more.
The immense sacrifice
As this hate-filled and crazed creature
spoke to the Bishop, Mother Mariana was sitting quietly
in a corner of the room, whence she beheld hideous monkeys
approaching this nun. Their mouths, eyes, and nostrils vomited
fire that they poured into her heart and into those of her
rebellious followers.
Mother Mariana saw that this unhappy
nun and several of her followers would not be saved. But,
well aware of Mother Mariana’s unbounded love for souls,
Our Lord appeared to her and proposed the unimaginable.
There was but one way to save this soul from the eternal
flames of Hell that she well deserved for her many sins
and the harm caused to the community for the coming centuries:
This way was for Mother Mariana to agree to suffer five
years in Hell for her.
The heroic nun trembled to her very
core, but she accepted.
La Capitana
One day, the prioress and ex-prioress
heard ugly voices issuing from the prison. Mother Valenzuela
asked Mother Mariana what she thought these might be, to
which the holy nun responded: “Mother, this poor sister
is a victim of the devil. Let us go and visit her and bring
her out to the garden so she does not despair. We must look
after her soul.”
On seeing them, the miserable creature
began running around the prison hitting her head against
the walls and screaming: “I’m dying! I’m dying! The devil
is going to take me!” Then she fell face to the ground.
Turning to Mother Valenzuela, Mother
Mariana beckoned, “Come, Mother.”
“No,” answered the superior, Mother
Valenzuela, much frightened, “your Reverence must go alone.”
Bending down to the fallen nun, Mother
Mariana, turned her over, weeping as she did so. Her tears
bathed the face of the wretched creature, who was foaming
at the mouth and had blood flowing from her nose. Mother
Mariana cleaned and rubbed her, attempting to bring her
back to her senses. Then she asked for Mother Francisca
of the Angels, who was the infirmarian, to provide a few
remedies.
“Are you going to be all right?”
asked Mother Valenzuela, who had remained panic-stricken
at the door.
“Do not worry, Mother. Jesus and
Mary are with me,” was the calm answer.
Exorcism
As Mother Mariana waited, she suddenly
noticed two black creatures crouching against the wall in
a corner of the room, timidly trying to hide from her. Indignant,
she addressed them in a loud voice: “Vile and abominable
beasts, what are you doing here? Go back to your cruel home,
for this is a holy place, a house of prayer and penance.
All your efforts to snatch my sister’s soul will be in vain.
Jesus Christ died for her and, in spite of you, she will
be saved. I command you in the name of the mysteries of
the Most Holy Trinity, of the Divine Eucharist, of the Divine
Maternity of Mary Most Holy and the glorious Assumption
of her body and soul into Heaven, that you immediately leave
this holy place. Leave it, and never more return to torment
any of my sisters with your abominable presence.”
As she pronounced these last words,
there was a terrible noise. The ground shook and horrible
screams were heard. Then the devils were gone.
Infirmary and death
On returning to her senses, the sick
nun was very embarrassed, but she would talk only to Mother
Valenzuela. She spent a terrible night suffering the cruelties
of a criminal conscience. Still, envy had such a hold over
her heart that she could not bring herself to ask pardon
of Mother Mariana, much less bring herself to love her.
At the doctor’s orders, she was moved
to a room where she could be nursed, for she had a contagious
disease and was very sick. Mothers Mariana and Francisca
nursed her with great love, tenderness, and affection. Yet,
the sick woman treated them rudely, complaining about everything.
Despite every care and treatment,
her condition worsened to the point that death was imminent.
Feeling herself dying, she cried in a terrible agitation:
“It is too late for me. I cannot love her nor forgive her.
I want to be saved but cannot. Oh! Get those black creatures
to go away! Help me, because they will take me!” She pathetically
clung to Mother Mariana, who silently wept a torrent of
tears over the head and face of the dying nun.
A priest was called, but she would
not confess. The priest left, saddened by this scene of
dying impenitence. She then breathed her last.
Mother Mariana continued to hold
the corpse in her arms. Her Spanish sisters and co-foundresses
begged her to lay her back on the bed, but Mother Mariana
said: “My Sisters and Mothers, do not so soon forget my
sacrifice that was accepted to save this soul. Pray to God
fervently for her. She is now before the judgment seat of
God and she has realized all the evil she has done. She
will live again. Do not be frightened; remain calm because
she will repent and amend. Later she will die and be saved,
but her Purgatory will last to the day of Judgment. This
the Lord has revealed to me.”
As she finished saying this, the
dead nun’s body quivered and she opened her eyes. She looked
all around the room as if seeking someone. Then, fixing
her eyes on Mother Mariana, she wanted to speak but her
voice choked in a torrent of tears. The angelic Mother Mariana
dried them with a mother’s love and spoke to her words of
confidence in the goodness of God. The poor creature finally
felt how much she was loved.
After a general confession, she slowly
began to recover. She was now as docile as a child and never
wanted to be away from her holy benefactress.
Mother Mariana enters Hell
Some time later, Our Lord appeared
to Mother Mariana. He reminded her that the time had come
for her to pay the price for the salvation of La Capitana’s
soul. He let her know that next day, after receiving Holy
Communion, as soon as the sacramental species dissolved
within her, she would enter Hell.
The next day, as she approached to
receive her God in Holy Communion and to take leave of her
intimate relationship with Him for the long duration of
five years, she felt as if her heart would break. She sought
to hold on to Him as much as possible, but as soon as the
divine species dissolved, she felt a terrible pain as if
her heart had been wrenched from her chest. From that moment
she became totally insensitive to God.
Although
she was to remain five years in the state of a damned soul,
she lost the notion of the time and was convinced that it
would be endless. Her sublime love for God and her most
holy Mother now changed into a feeling of hate, disgust,
and despair.
Meanwhile, as her soul suffered all
the torments of the damned, her five bodily senses were
steeped in incredible torture. Her body was like a glowing
ember, burning without being consumed amidst unspeakable
pains. Her eyes beheld the most horrible infernal scenes
while the most atrocious blasphemies constantly assaulted
her ears. Her sense of smell was plagued by all the filth
of humanity, and her sense of touch was tormented by sharp
points penetrating to the very center of her body. Her palate
was tortured by a horrible, unknown taste, while demons
forced melted sulphur down her throat. At the same time,
the demons beat her head to the point of spilling her brains,
thus inciting her to wrath, despair, and blasphemy.
She suffered all this while living
her daily life in the convent. She never opened her lips
with a single complaint to the community. Rather, she remained
a perfect example of sweetness, humility, and obedience.
Only the Franciscan priest who directed her and the other
foundresses knew what Mother Mariana endured, and they prayed
for her unceasingly.
The only exterior sign of the hell
she suffered was that her cheeks, normally rosy and healthy,
enhancing her natural beauty, lost their color and became
sallow. In the end, she was a walking cadaver.
Death of La Capitana
Five years later, while in prayer,
Mother Mariana cried out and fell as if dead. She was unconscious
for a long time and then finally, sighing deeply, opened
her eyes, which filled with tears of relief. Her hell was
over. Gradually she recovered her beautiful color and health.
Not long after, La Capitana fell
sick once again and approached her end. She confessed all
her sins and died calmly, assisted by Holy Mother Church.
Mother Mariana of Jesus saw the sister’s
judgement, where she was shown that her salvation was owed
to her mother’s five years in Hell. She carried this immense
gratitude with her to eternity. In Purgatory she was much
helped by her benefactress, who did not cease to pray for
her. After Mother Mariana’s death, this soul in Purgatory
was gradually forgotten.
Miracle worker
The life of this angelic creature
was a steady succession of divine revelations, interventions,
and miracles. During her life she levitated, bilocated to
save a soul, multiplied bread, cured the sick, reconciled
families, predicted the future, worked conversions. These
are simply too numerous to relate here.
We will limit our story to the remarkable
making of the statue of Our Lady of Good Success and the
detailed revelations about the twentieth century, which
we have printed at the end of this article.
The miraculous statue
On January 21, 1610, the Blessed Mother
of Good Success appeared for the second time, now accompanied
by the three archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, to
request again that her statue be made.
Then the sweet Queen indicated the
artist who was to carry out this holy task. It was to be
Francisco del Castillo, a man of good family and a consummate
sculptor. Moreover, he was God-fearing, honest, and upright
and, with his wife and children, scrupulously ruled his
life by the ten commandments.
“But Lady and dear Mother of my soul,”
said Mariana, “this tiny little ant before thee will never
be able to convey to any artist thy beautiful features.…
It would really be necessary that one of the archangels
accompanying thee sculpt this holy image that thou desirest.”
The heavenly Queen quieted her worries
by assuring her that Francisco del Castillo would sculpt
it and that her angels would refinish it.
Again the holy nun asked to take
the heavenly Lady’s measurements. Again, as in the first
instance, Mary Most Holy graciously took one end of the
cord and placed it to her forehead while Mother Mariana
touched the other end of the miraculously extended cord
to her foot. But this time, so that the Blessed Virgin could
easily place the end of the cord to her forehead, the three
archangels raised her magnificent golden crown slightly
above her head, then gently set it down again with boundless
care and reverence.
Mother Mariana
still hesitates; Our Lady insists
Incredibly, even after these two requests
of Our Lady herself, Mother Mariana still hesitated.
She feared that the Bishop would
doubt her and pose obstacles to the erection of such an
image. She also feared that the Indian population of Quito,
only recently catechized and still with inclinations to
idolatry, would offer the wrong reverence to such a magnificent
representation of God’s Mother.
On February 2 of that same year,
Mother Mariana knelt before the Blessed Sacrament, finishing
her customary nightly prayer, when she felt her heart leap
within her in a mixture of joy and no little fright.
In an instant, she found herself
before the Queen of Heaven, who stood bathed in glowing
lights within an oval frame of glimmering stars. Mariana
felt an impulse to escape but something restrained her.
She saw the sovereign Queen looking at her with severity
and without saying a word.
Mother Mariana begged Our Lady not
to look at her like that and promised to carry out all she
commanded even if it cost her her life.
The Heavenly Lady then reprimanded
her patiently, asking her why she doubted and feared despite
knowing her to be a powerful Queen. She assured Mother Mariana
that there would be no danger of idolatry. Much to the contrary,
this statue was not only meant for the good of the convent
but also that of the people in general throughout the centuries.
Then Mother Mariana begged Our Lady
that her own name be hidden so that she, Mary Most Holy
be glorified.
This Our Lady granted, pleased at
her humility, and assured Mariana of Jesus that the facts
concerning the making of this statue and of Mother Mariana’s
life would only come to be known in the twentieth century.
The statue is made
Word of Our Lady’s request profoundly
moved the Bishop. He reprimanded Mother Mariana for not
having conveyed it to him sooner.
With the Bishop’s permission and
full support, Francisco del Castillo was contacted. The
poor man could scarcely contain his surprise, joy, and gratitude
at having been named by the Mother of God herself for this
holy project. He refused any payment, considering himself
fully compensated solely by this selection. He asked only
that his family and descendants always remain in the prayers
of the community.
To find material for the statue,
he travelled outside Quito and only returned when he was
sure he had found the best wood, paints, and finishes the
country had to offer.
Mother Mariana described to him as
best she could the features of the Heavenly Queen as she
had appeared and then gave him the exact measurements. According
to these measurements, the Blessed Virgin Mary stood five
feet, nine inches tall.
Miraculous completion
In January, 1611, when the statue
was nearly done and lacking only the final touches of paint
and varnish, Francisco del Castillo informed Mother Mariana
that because this last application was the most important
one, he wished to make sure that he had the very finest
materials. He said he would return in two weeks, on January
16, and resume work after receiving Holy Communion.
During those days the community talked
of little else but the holy image that was about to be finished,
blessed, and installed as Queen and Superior of their convent.
On the morning of January 16, as
the sisters approached the high choir to pray the morning
Office, they heard a beautiful melody. On entering the choir
they beheld the statue, bathed in a celestial light, while
angelic voices sang the “Salve Sancta Parens.”
They saw that the statue had been
exquisitely finished and that its face emitted rays of the
brightest light!
Francisco del Castillo, arriving
and beholding the image, fell to his knees saying, “Mothers,
what do I see? This precious statue is not the work of my
hands. I do not know how to describe what I feel in my heart.
This was made by angelic hands!” In fact, the outer layer
of the statue lay on the ground.
The Bishop, coming and kneeling before
it, likewise acknowledged the prodigy as large tears welled
in his eyes. He attested that the image had been modified
and enriched by other than human hands. Afterwards, calling
Mother Mariana, who was abbess once again, he asked her
to come into the confessional. He knew that she must know
something of what had occurred.
Finished by heavenly hands
Mother Mariana then revealed that
a great light had filled the church and the choir while
she prayed there in the early hours of January 16. She had
beheld the Most Holy Trinity present in the church and understood
the infinite love of the three Divine Persons for Mary Most
Holy, who was also present, resplendent and queenly.
The nine choirs of angels then praised
and offered reverence to her. The three archangels Saints
Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael each knelt before her, saying
in turn: “Hail Mary, daughter of God the Father,” “Hail
Mary, Mother of God the Son,” “Hail Mary, most chaste Spouse
of the Holy Ghost.”
Then Saint Francis appeared with
his sacred wounds shining like suns. Approaching the unfinished
statue and taking his cincture from around his waist, he
tied it around her waist, placing his beloved convent of
the Immaculate Conception in her hands and asking her to
be its defender, teacher, and mother in the difficult times
to come.
Meanwhile, the statue shone as if
in the midst of the sun. Lo and behold, the Blessed Virgin,
approached and entered it as the rays of the sun penetrate
a transparent crystal. At that moment the statue took on
life and sang the Magnificat!
This happened at three o’clock in
the morning. Mother Mariana also saw her aunt, Mother Maria
Taboada, who congratulated her for such graces granted to
her and the community and once again showed her all the
battles the convent would face, especially in the twentieth
century. She also spoke of the holy souls whose names were
inscribed in the Hearts of Jesus and Mary and who not only
would maintain the community, but would also avert many
calamities from the people in those times.
At this, Mother Mariana returned
to her senses. Looking at the statue, she saw it radiant
and finished in a marvelous way!
Home
At three o’clock on the morning of
February 2, 1634, Mother Mariana had just finished her prayer
in the upper choir when she noticed that the sanctuary lamp
had gone out. Instinctively she prepared to descend to the
church in order to re-light it, but an unknown force immobilized
her so that she could not take a single step. At this moment
Our Lady of Good Success appeared carrying the Divine Infant
in her left hand and the crosier in her right. Calmly approaching,
she said: “My beloved daughter, today I bring you the pleasant
notice of your death, which shall occur in eleven months.
Your eyes will then close to the material light of this
world in order to open to the brilliance of eternal light.
Prepare your soul so that, purified ever more, it may fully
enter into the enjoyment of your Lord.”
And so it happened. Mother Mariana’s
health began to fail, but she still went about her duties
in the convent for as long as possible. Yet, a time came
when she had to be confined to bed.
Knowing the day and hour of her death,
she prepared her aggrieved daughters for her final voyage
to eternity. She was to go to her Lord at 3 p.m. on January
16, 1635. She was then seventy-two years of age.
Around one o’clock of that day, she
asked the Mother Abbess to summon the community. When they
arrived she read aloud her magnificent testament, which
began by affirming that she died a faithful daughter of
the Holy, Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. Then, with
a voice vibrant with emotion but firm with the strength
of faith and sincerity, she echoed Her Master’s words: “It
is necessary that I go but I will not leave you orphans.
I go to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God,
and the Divine Consoler will descend to comfort you.”
After receiving the Holy Viaticum,
she, on fire with love, calmly closed her eyes and ceased
breathing. Mariana of Jesus was with God.
A rose at her feet
We cannot refrain from mentioning
a most touching and golden episode as an ending to our story.
Several years before, an anxious
expectant mother had come to ask Mother Mariana to pray
for her condition, which had been diagnosed as precarious.
Cordial and kind as ever, the holy
nun gave her some aniseed water — with which she had performed
innumerable cures — and allayed her fears by assuring her
she would give birth to a beautiful baby girl. The comforted
mother then asked her protectress to pray for her baby.
Mariana of Jesus responded: “You
do not have to ask for my prayers, for this girl is more
mine than yours. She is a soul chosen by God and will perfume
this cloister with the aroma of her virtues. Bring her here
often, for I wish to see her. She shall dress my body for
burial.”
As predicted, a beautiful and healthy
girl was born, receiving the name Zoila Blanca Rose. At
the age of ten she begged to be admitted to the convent
where she was already an example of virtues as well as
a ray of sunshine by her ever joyful and innocent disposition.
In the convent she became Zoila Blanca Rose of Mariana of
Jesus.
When her beloved Mother Mariana fell
ill for the last time, Zoila devotedly nursed her. Yet,
the sunshine left her beautiful face, for she could not
bear the thought of living without her saintly Mother.
One day she emerged from the sick
room radiant again. On being asked the reason for such unbecoming
joy in view of her Mother’s approaching death, she explained
that Mother Mariana had promised to take her with her.
As Mother Mariana’s body was laid
out in the low choir, surrounded by a profusion of flowers,
Rose of Mariana knelt at her Mother’s feet and leaned her
head on them. After a while, the prioress approached to
bid her take some rest. She did not answer. On moving her,
the nuns saw that she was cold and her mouth was filled
with blood. They immediately summoned the doctor. After
a thorough examination the doctor said, “She died instantly
when the main artery of her heart was wrenched.”
All the flowers prescribed by the
Rule for the adornment of their sisters’ bodies had been
used for Mother Mariana. Improvising a bier, they carried
the body of their youngest member to the low choir devoid
of flowers, amidst sobs and canticles. As they passed the
patio, they saw it abloom with most magnificent white roses,
fragrant and double the normal size. Zoila’s body was covered
with those roses, laden with perfume and the essence of
miracles, and placed by that of her holy Mother Mariana.
Blessed be God in his saints!
Our Lady’s prophecies about the
twentieth century
The Pope’s “infallibility will be declared
a dogma of Faith by the same Pope chosen to proclaim the dogma
of the mystery of my Immaculate Conception. He will be persecuted
and imprisoned in the Vatican through the usurpation of the
Pontifical States and through the malice, envy, and avarice
of an earthly monarch.”
“Unbridled passions will give way
to a total corruption of customs because Satan will reign
through the Masonic sects, targeting the children in particular
to insure general corruption. Unhappy, the children of those
times! Seldom will they receive the sacraments of Baptism
and Confirmation. As for the sacrament of Penance, they
will confess only while attending Catholic schools, which
the devil will do his utmost to destroy by means of persons
in authority.
“The same will occur with Holy Communion.
Oh, how it hurts me to tell you that there will be many
and enormous public and hidden sacrileges!
“In those times, the sacrament of
Extreme Unction will be largely ignored.… Many will die
without receiving it, being thereby deprived of innumerable
graces, consolation, and strength in the great leap from
time to eternity.
“The sacrament of Matrimony, which
symbolizes the union of Christ with the Church, will be
thoroughly attacked and profaned. Masonry, then reigning,
will implement iniquitous laws aimed at extinguishing this
sacrament. They will make it easy for all to live in sin,
thus multiplying the birth of illegitimate children without
the Church’s blessing…
“Secular education will contribute
to a scarcity of priestly and religious vocations.
“The holy sacrament of Holy Orders
will be ridiculed, oppressed, and despised, for in this
both the Church and God Himself are oppressed and reviled,
since He is represented by His priests. The devil will work
to persecute the ministers of the Lord in every way, working
with baneful cunning to destroy the spirit of their vocation
and corrupting many. Those who will thus scandalize the
Christian flock will bring upon all priests the hatred of
bad Christians and the enemies of the One, Holy, Roman Catholic,
and Apostolic Church. This apparent triumph of Satan will
cause enormous suffering to the good pastors of the Church...and
to the Supreme Pastor and Vicar of Christ on earth who,
a prisoner in the Vatican, will shed secret and bitter tears
in the presence of God Our Lord, asking for light, sanctity,
and perfection for all the clergy of the world, to whom
he is King and Father.”
“Unhappy times will come wherein
those who should fearlessly defend the rights of the Church
will instead, blinded despite the light, give their hand
to the Church’s enemies and do their bidding. But when [evil]
seems triumphant and when authority abuses its power, committing
all manner of injustice and oppressing the weak, their ruin
shall be near. They will fall and crash to the ground.
“Then will the Church, joyful and
triumphant like a young girl, reawaken and be comfortably
cradled in the arms of my most dear and elect son of those
times. If he lends an ear to the inspirations of grace –
one of which will be the reading of these great mercies
that my Son and I have had toward you – we shall fill him
with graces and very special gifts and will make him great
on earth and much greater in Heaven. There we have reserved
a precious seat for him because, heedless of men, he will
have fought for truth and ceaselessly defended the rights
of the Church, deserving to be called ‘martyr.’”
“At the end of the nineteenth century
and throughout a great part of the twentieth, many heresies
will be propagated in these lands.…
“The small number of souls who will
secretly safeguard the treasure of Faith and virtues will
suffer a cruel, unspeakable, and long martyrdom. Many will
descend to their graves through the violence of suffering
and will be counted among the martyrs who sacrificed themselves
for the country and the Church.
“To be delivered from the slavery
of these heresies, those whom the merciful love of my Son
has destined for this restoration will need great will-power,
perseverance, courage, and confidence in God. To try the
faith and trust of these just ones, there will be times
when all will seem lost and paralyzed. It will then be the
happy beginning of the complete restoration….
“In those times the atmosphere will
be saturated with the spirit of impurity which, like a filthy
sea, will engulf the streets and public places with incredible
license…Innocence will scarcely be found in children, or
modesty in women.
“He who should speak seasonably will
remain silent.
“There shall be scarcely any virgin
souls in the world. The delicate flower of virginity will
seek refuge in the cloisters.…Without virginity, fire from
heaven will be needed to purify these lands.…
“Sects, having permeated all social
classes, will find ways of introducing themselves into the
very heart of homes to corrupt the innocence of children.
The children’s hearts will be dainty morsels to regale the
devil.…
“Religious communities will remain
to sustain the Church and work with courage for the salvation
of souls.… The secular clergy will fall far short of what
is expected of them because they will not pursue their sacred
duty. Losing the divine compass, they will stray from the
way of priestly ministry mapped out for them by God and
will become devoted to money, seeking it too earnestly.
“Pray constantly, implore tirelessly,
and weep bitter tears in the seclusion of your heart, beseeching
the Eucharistic Heart of my most holy Son to take pity on
His ministers and to end as soon as possible these unhappy
times by sending to His Church the Prelate who shall restore
the spirit of her priests”
