Tuesday, april 19, 1994 7:00 p.m.
(Applauses.)
MOTHER ANGELICA: Thank you. Well, tonight we have a fantastic audience, as you can see; well, you cannot see, because half of them are in the kitchen, and the other half is near the door.
(Laughing.)
Before we begin, we have a marvelous guest this evening, someone I never thought we would get here. It was kind of strange when I wrote the letter to Maria – we have Maria Esperanza here tonight, with her husband and two translators – when I wrote to her, Sister Mary Corde told me after I wrote, “Do you know, Mother, that sometimes Maria can read the souls?” I said, Well that blew that one.
(Laughing.)
Anyway, it did not blow it at all. So she is here. You know in the Church today, in the world today, in this country there is a tremendous amount of discouragement, sadness, distrust and fear. We have all kinds of fears, we do not have fear of the Lord however, and that is what we need. And what does that mean? Fear of the Lord means that I love the Lord so much I want to do his will and I do not want to offend Him. That is what fear of the Lord means.
We have Maria Esperanza here with us tonight. We all know what might happen: chastisement, purification; we all know that our sins deserve that, we all know that, we do not have to have a prophecy to tell us that. But Maria is not here tonight to talk about chastisement or even purification, I think she is here tonight to tell you and I a very important message, and that message is: We must repent, we must be willing to accept the mercy of God, we must know that He is our only Lord, our only God, and we depend upon Him for everything.
We must also understand that Maria is not one who does not know the future, or is unrealistic, she is very realistic and she knows the one important thing, and that is: To be transformed into the image of Jesus. If we can do that, there does not need to be a chastisement, the Church will be renewed again and we shall be a new people.
I want to introduce to you a very great woman, a woman who has received great graces from God, great gifts from God; she is here to share her love, her hopes and her desires.
Let us welcome, Maria Esperanza de Bianchini.
(Applauses.)
Maria, tell us a little bit about Betania.
MRS. MARIA ESPERANZA DE BIANCHINI: Betania is light of the world, it is hope for the aching mankind, that is to say, for those souls who are seeking my Mother, Our Lady, Mary Virgin and Mother Reconciler of all People and Nations. Betania is a small village where many poor and needy people live, but the environment is peaceful, serene, and the people there have the joy of their daily life filled with the promises of the Blessed Mother, who has come to bring us happiness and has come to tell us, “My little children, my Heart I gave you, my Heart I am giving you, and I shall give you my Heart forever.”
She is a Mother who comes offering us her Heart so we may change our attitude in life, and we may truly live the Gospel. Mary is calling us to evangelize, to prepare ourselves, yes, because difficult times are coming, this aching mankind is deteriorating itself and it is necessary to stop this for good. You may wonder how? By changing our attitude in life with humility, and fervent generosity to our brothers, because we must recall the commandment of loving one another.
So, it is the time to reflect and to look for our own truth: What do we bear inside? How can we change our attitude in life? What does the Lord want from us? Why has Our Lady come, not only in Betania?
Our Heavenly Mother has come to other nations bringing a message of love to all of her children. I think – and in the beginning I said this – that Betania is light of the world because I am sure that men will awaken, and that it will be a wonderful awakening with the joy of the innocent child who meets with his Lord and with his Mother, Mary of Nazareth, the Flower of Mount Carmel, the humble and generous woman who surrendered everything especially at the foot of the Cross when her Son drew his last breath on the arms of that Cross. O wonderful death of Christ! And such unmatched beauty when his voice pronounced, “I thirst.” He meant thirst of souls. Jesus still thirsts on the Cross because He truly wants to meet us just the way we are, and especially as this woman that you have here, is.
She is a Mother who is giving everything to her children, who reaches all the nations of the world with her message from here. You have had her for a long time now. Those who hear her are so joyous, and they truly know how to appreciate how great her kindness and her tenderness are. And do you know why this is so? Because she loves Mary, because she consecrated herself to Jesus, she gave Him the best her life.
We also must meditate that although we are not nuns, or men are not priests, we all have a mission, a daily task, a feeling of that something that we deeply long for, filled with emotion because we all have aspirations in life. We frequently may feel under pressure by so many things in life and we may ask, “Lord, why is there so much sadness and pain? Mothers have wept so much because of war. Recently, three of four years ago, the United States took a step forward to a rough and ferocious encounter, but it stood unhurt, of course, there were losses, but they died with great courage and with fatherland love to the oppressed.
So, we the Catholics, the Christians, if we intend to be good Catholics and good Christians, we must give our life for our brothers without thinking that we are wasting our life. We must give our life to our brother in order to save him and help him improve by many means: stretching out our hand to the poor, giving a word of courage and consolation to the incarcerated, going in pursuit of the sick in the hospitals with a smile, with a holding of hands. This is what the Lord wants from us; He wants us to be simple and generous. The Lord is not into the big things, in the summit, no. The Lord is with the least; therefore, we must open our arms to all those who come to us looking for that something they wish to find… comprehension, hope and loyalty. There still are souls that are faithful to the commandments of Jesus Christ, Our Lord, who gave his life for us.
Thus, you see me here, my Mother Reconciler of all People asked me, “Little daughter, go from one place to another. If you are invited, do not deny your word.” Of course, I told her, But, Mother, I am not prepared, I do not have a great education, I know nothing. And I felt that soft voice in my heart telling me, “It does not matter, daughter, I shall accompany you. It is the hope you can give, it is a dream you can give to so many who live in ignorance, without knowing that there is a God in perfection, that there is a Mother who is offering her ship, a ship where everyone can embark in, and feel the warmth and the love of a Mother who continues to give of herself.” She gave of herself in Calvary, and continues giving of herself elsewhere to soothe those who suffer, and to comfort, give health and life to those who need it. Mary grants us supernatural life, hope, and joy in small things that touch the heart, as when you see the smile of a child, or an elderly person stooped by age unable to walk and you stretch out your arm to help him walk. My God, this is so beautiful!
I am seeing so much tribulation, so many sad families that are suffering in their homes because their son left, because the husband left with another woman. What is this, my Lord? So I wonder if we are going to go on like this. Especially in these moments we have to address a very important issue. I do not understand how this can be so, no… it is a small being you carry in your womb… society, the world… your society is that being you carry in your womb, perhaps, the baby was conceived in a moment of pleasure, but this being has to come to the world. Where are we going? So many things – drugs – so many new things at the same time. What is this, my Lord? If we have something that is so beautiful, that is our Catholic, apostolic, roman and universal religion; because our Catholic religion is universal. I am going to tell you something, as long as men do not acknowledge Jesus in this world, man will keep on living in a state of spiritual deterioration, of depression.
Jesus is here, He lives among us with Mary, Virgin and Mother of the Church, they live among us, we do not see them, but we can feel them in our world, They tell us when we are hurting someone, They correct us, They teach us when we are making a mistake, the thing is that we pretend we are not listening. We have to learn how to listen, we have to answer the grace of the Holy Spirit to feel renewed.
Therefore, we have to pray the holy rosary with our family very much. This has been said in Fatima and in other apparitions, but now you must know this is the most difficult time that man is living because of the confusion, there is spiritual decay, hardship and weeping in families, due to the children who leave making their mothers suffer, turn sad, and be battered when they see their children leave, the children they love, will continue to love, and for whom they did so much. These are the problems of this life.
Therefore, I speak to family mothers, correct the little ones, we must make them see things, we cannot let them be too loose because someone can come and snatch them from our hearts; we cannot let them be snatched away to live with other hearts who do not know where they come from nor how to reach the goal, because their minds are going astray. So we family mothers, let us reflect in order to save our children and our families that are the prime basis of all Christians: to love their family, to wish to have their family by their side, to share regardless of how much one can have, all together in their heart open to the grace of the Holy Spirit working a renewal in us.
I am truly emotional, many may be thinking so, but this happens when I talk about family, our faith in Jesus, our beloved religion. I love Jesus, I love my Mother. If the Lord would had granted me any wish, I also would be… serving Him as a nun; but, Lord, I think that we have to fulfill our mission wherever we are.
And now I have something to say that is very important, there are difficult times for us the Christians, there are tough and painful moments that deeply touch my heart. In the Chair of Saint Peter there is a great man, Our Holy Father, John Paul II; let us pray for him, for his health, for his life that has been surrendered going from one place to another, looking for all of his children, imitating Jesus, calling us, helping us; let us pray for his health. Let us pray for the priests so they may continue to be submissive, loyal and just to the Pontiff, because it is human dignity that cannot be lost, that has to be defended through the grace of the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit – you must know – is blowing for everyone; light, freedom and divine knowledge of man.
When I say light, it is the light that comes to us so we can find ourselves and improve as human beings, as people that we are; and when saying knowledge it is the knowledge that He gives teaching us to live the laws of life that we have in front of us, a life that reemerges with hope of improving our inner life, because according to how we love we will be able to answer the grace that comes to us to enlighten our steps, truly making us know what we are good for. Each person has a grace and we have to develop it because it comes from the Lord, so we must do the best we can to fulfill ourselves through that knowledge that the Lord gives us, that I believe is understanding. I love the gift of understanding very much because it helps us understand what the Lord wants from us, what we have to do; and Lord, it helps us understand how to acknowledge your holy will.
I am going to tell you that before coming I asked the Lord, What do you want me to do? When I received your invitation, your letter, it was wonderful; it was the first invitation I answered immediately affirmatively. I always think them over for a little while, I let some time elapse, a month or so, but this time I felt I had to say yes. I have come with humility and simplicity – this is how Our Lord wants us to be – I have not come with great words or things, no; I come with my heart to give you the torrent of love of a Mother, it is Mary who transmits love to your hearts, who helps you in your necessities, who encourages you, lends you a hand, who helps you with your families and brothers with her grace.
And something else important, I am going to repeat it because I already said it softly before: Let us pray for our priests, we need holy priests, we need martyrs if it is necessary. We have to go back to the time in which Jesus traveled around the Earth, then He gave his life and many followed Him. We saw that Saint Peter abandoned Rome, that he trembled with fright, and that in Quo Vadis, because of the child in the carriage, He said, “I am returning to Rome to let myself be crucified once again”. Behold, Peter rose to the occasion and offered his life to his Lord in a holocaust of love. You have seen Peter, Saint Paul who also gave his life in Rome. Do we not have heroes? Heroes of God, heroes serving the Church, the beautiful and splendid Church that suffers for each one of her children; the Holy Father suffers for us, he is the representative of Jesus, he is the one who has the right to give the guidelines to his children, so they may obey with heartfelt humility and generosity.
So, I believe that there will be a change. There are many good people in the world, not everyone is bad. What has happened is that if some have made mistakes in life it was because, perhaps, when they were young they were alone in the world, left on their own, and they felt distressed in their community because they saw that no one would give them a hand, so they went in pursue of sin and evil.
I speak to all those who feel uncertain and do not know what to do in this divergence of the present time in which they are feeling the lack of love in Our Lord. Look for that lack of trust in your heart, and your heart will beat with voices of joy singing: I have found my Lord and the Lord has given me a hand to help me walk correctly in life, with the knowledge that a strong, perfect, great, omnipotent and unique God exists; a God who created us as his own image and likeness, but a God who chose Jesus as the Son of his delights to save us all.
So, we have a Savior in his divine mercy. You have seen this, you have seen how the Lord appeared to Blessed Maria Faustina shedding Blood and water from his Heart in these modern times. First He appeared to Saint Mary of Alacoque as the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and now to Blessed Maria Faustina.
- Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of mercy for us, I trust in You!
Let us live the divine mercy of the Lord everyday, with the rosary in our hand too; let us pray the holy rosary to the Mother of God, let us also pray to the divine mercy and to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
- Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of mercy for us, I trust in You!
I talk to you about mercy because it is the time of the great mercy of the Lord, Jesus will come soon. You may wonder, how can it be that the Lord is coming? He is coming, let us trust; the Lord lives among us but He may have not made Himself felt, He is quiet, He is beating in our hearts, but the time will come when we will see Him radiating light, a light that will blind us, but we will see Him once we are free from all flaw or defect that we could have had, free from sickness, free from all ill thoughts; we will rise with Him, it is the new rising.
So, I ask this audience and those who are far away listening to this poor woman to be understanding, the understanding of a person who is full of hope for serving God, because we have to serve God with much comprehension of our brothers. We must all help each other and hold hands because this is what the Mother of God is asking us to do in Betania. Everything that I have said, is like a summary of the beautiful things that my Mother has said: Receive your brothers regardless of how they come or where they come from, receive them; they have the right to live a worthy and honest life serving the Church, our beloved Church, our holy Church that is giving of herself, that will continue giving of herself eternally because the matters of God are long-lasting.
I know that many here are thinking what does this lady want? I am going to answer truly. I wish for all those young ladies who are over there, the nuns, to give their lives, to persevere, daughters, to persevere in what you intend to do in life, to love the Lord, to be faithful to your people, to your congregation. To the priests I see here, I wish to be delivered from all temptation, free of committing any mistakes. No. When we surrender to Jesus, to Christ it is an eternal oath, it is like holy Matrimony that cannot be dissolved. May the Lord enlighten you and grant you perseverance. There are holy priests; I know holy and good priests, but there also could be some that because they are young or because of any other reason, they are… we cannot change the law of a doctrine, of a reigning pope, the norms of a Church cannot be changed – excuse me – but rather truly live the Gospel, souls must keep straight offering their lives if it is necessary for the Holy Mother Church, that the Lord granted us with his Divine Son Jesus Christ.
There are many things that could be said, the rest will be said by Mother. She has been like a gift to me in these days, because she is a veteran. Despite my age, I was fearful of the people, I was scared of people, when I was young I would hide, then I surrendered, I gave my youth to the Lord. I wanted to be a nun, but the Lord wanted me in the world, and here I am struggling with a husband, seven children and fourteen grandchildren.
(Laughing.)
So, Mother Angelica… I thank you all, thank you for this splendid night that you have given me when I see your eyes showing your pain, sorrow, grief and your joy. I am sure that my Mother will do her miracles tonight. It is she, my Mother, it is Jesus, her Son, who healed the sick, who heals them and will heal them, soothe them. You will leave renewed with joy, love, gratitude to the Mother because it is she, Mary, who comes to conduct us in her ship so we can immediately embark to live a true, Christian and authentic life. Thank you.
MOTHER ANGELICA: We are not through though.
(Laughing and applauses.)
Maria, you have given us many graces from the Lord because you renew within us our inmost desires. We have a tendency to forget the higher things and sometimes we are always down in the negative, the things that are wrong. So it is wonderful to have someone so close to the Lord, who has seen the Lord, who has heard the Lord, who has heard Our Blessed Mother, whose place is filled with many graces for thousands and thousands of people who go to Betania. She is one who is a gift from God to remind us that: we are called to be holy, we were created to be holy, we were created to be with God, and we were created to live the Gospel.
I am just so grateful that she is here.
We have a call. Hello, hi, where are you from, what is your question?
A YOUNG MAN: Hi, Mother, I am from Wisconsin. I had a brother that died three years ago, and we have a rare disease in our family. My sister and I are affected with the disease although we show no symptoms yet, but according to statistics sometime in our life we will get this disease. But it seems that since my brother died I have had problems relating to my parents and to my family, it seems I am getting into arguments and fights all the time. It seems I really try to be a better person by going to confession every two weeks, but it seems that just does not help anymore; it seems I am trying my best to be a better person, but it is not helping.
MOTHER ANGELICA: What is it not helping?
UN JOVEN: It seems that what is not helping is going to confession; I do not know if I know how to pray or not.
MOTHER ANGELICA: Are you talking about feelings?
UN JOVEN: Yeah. How do I keep myself from talking back to my parents, from getting into arguments with other people?
MOTHER ANGELICA: Maria.
MRS. MARIA ESPERANZA DE BIANCHINI: Do not worry. You are going to feel the caress of Mary in your soul, my son. The Blessed Virgin is going to stop what is wrong, and all your family is going to feel renewed. I know there has been weeping and grief in your souls, that you are suffering very much, but the hand of the Blessed Mother is going to caress you, a caress that will turn into a miracle of love. I know nothing, I am a poor woman, but I love my brothers, I feel their sorrow and I want to take it because the Lord gives me the strength to resist. Be calm, son. I do not know who you are, but I know you have a heart and human sensitivity because you are drawing close to the Lord in the midst of all these adverse factors; however, there is a coming together. That is a lot, and that a lot, is very much, and this very much, is God who is inside, and this is what is important, together with the hope of having a healthy family.
May God keep you and bless you.
MOTHER ANGELICA: Praise God. God bless you. We have another call. Hello, where are you from?
UNA SEÑORA: Hello, I am from New Orleans and I want to ask a question to Maria Esperanza in Spanish, can I do that?
MOTHER ANGELICA: You can.
A LADY: ¿Maria Esperanza, my name is Silvia and I want to know what else can I do to bring my daughter, Miriam, and my spiritual son, Manuel, to Our Heavenly Mother and to Our Lord?
MRS. MARIA ESPERANZA DE BIANCHINI: My love, prayer is the efficient balsam for the souls as long as we pray with solicitous tenderness to the Blessed Mother. Pray to her very much, continue praying, continue drawing close to the Eucharist and be firm in your intention so everything may go back to its normal and just state.
So, be calm and think that my Mother from tonight on will make herself felt in your home. You will see. But, daughter… prayer, meditation, penance and the Eucharist, these are the basis.
MOTHER ANGELICA: Praise God. We have another call. Hello, where are you from and what is your question?
A YOUNG WOMAN: Hello, I am from New York. I have a brain problem and I worry a lot because I cannot pray the way I want to, and I feel that I cannot make any spiritual progress if I cannot pray.
MRS. MARIA ESPERANZA DE BIANCHINI: Look, my love, I know you are suffering a lot. It is hard when we believe our mind is not working well, but think that you are going to get better. Faith… the faith that is born deep down in our heart will help you very much. Think that the Lord is with you and your head, your whole body is going to feel soothed slowly, serenely in the arms of Mary… rest there.
Think that she is the good Mother who has come to save us and reconcile us with our divided brothers. She comes, she has come and is knocking at the doors of your heart; open the doors of your home, open your heart to her and tell her, “It has been enough, Mother, please have mercy on me”. And Mary sweetly will answer, “Daughter, I am with you, I am watching over you, I am trying to make you better and to soothe you. Everything passes… be calm and joyful. I am by your side, I forsake you not”.
MOTHER ANGELICA: Thank you, Jesus. We have another call. Hello, where are you calling from and what is your question?
A YOUNG WOMAN: Hello, from Alabama. Mother, my mother and two aunts recently visited Betania. I had been prepared to ask a question about the Church, but my mother just called me and she said, “Please, ask Maria about my daughter.” One of my sisters left the Church, and my mother has been praying and praying so hard that I think she needs some words of encouragement. My initial question was about all the hurt in the Church – the disobedience – and I was going to ask if this was a time of trail in the Church. So I hope that Maria can address both of these concerns.
(Mrs. Maria Esperanza makes a signal to Mother Angelica so she would answer. Laughing.)
MOTHER ANGELICA: She is worried about her sister; could she answer that question first?
SRA. MARÍA ESPERANZA DE BIANCHINI: Yes, daughter, I will answer your question. Look, perhaps, maybe, but I am almost sure, there was a friend, and because of that friendship such indifference came, and since then problems began. You can be sure that although she drew far away from our beloved Church, she will come back. Do not worry, I know that all the family is suffering but she is going to see the light, the Holy Spirit will enlighten her soul and she will live an honest and worthy life following the faith her parents and family taught her. You also must pray; prayer is the light that enlightens our steps in life appraising our faith and helping us harmonize with all the brothers we have near us, even with those who are far.
All of this is a compendium of new life that the Lord is offering us everyday in order to lead a soft, tender and natural life full of the love of a Mother, it is Mary who does not let us fall into oblivion.May God bless you and your sister. Mary takes her by the arm and will take her back to the path she must follow, following the cross.
MOTHER ANGELICA: We have a lot of questions, Maria, people are very distressed over the condition of the Church in their area and many people have asked about the final times. What would you like to say?
MRS. MARIA ESPERANZA DE BIANCHINI: Well, this century is agonizing and of course, many souls are agonizing too because they find themselves going through very difficult times. Man has stopped fulfilling – excuse me – not everyone, but doubt has penetrated many, that is to say, distrust; they have tried to find the truth where havoc, grief and weeping are, because a group of people live a disorderly life in that environment.
Behold, the fall. The life of many people is decaying, it is in ruins: temptation, people who abuse doing things that are not righteous, that are unworthy, wanting to know how it feels – excuse me – unbridled passion, all this brings moral ruin and a state of abandonment takes over. One thing after another and man looses the wonderful current of the love he shares with his God.
Therefore, in the midst of this agonizing century, and in the midst of all these people who are, let us say, mutilated by the mistaken family disorder they live in, seeking things that are not righteous, begin to decay and to go, let us say, if not mad, perhaps…
MOTHER ANGELICA: We have two minutes left. Is Jesus coming?
MRS. MARIA ESPERANZA DE BIANCHINI: Yes.
(Applauses.)
MOTHER ANGELICA: Yeah, okay.
(Applauses.)
MRS. MARIA ESPERANZA DE BIANCHINI: Jesus is coming soon and his divine current will embrace us all, filling us with infinite tenderness.
I call all countries of the world, all races, people, nations, people of all beliefs to come together in only one heart, in one feeling vibrating with the love of a Risen Christ, because we all must rise with Him. Those who do not believe, accept the Son of God, the man who has been accepted by all generations, the One who came and continues giving of Himself.
It is the time to awaken to open routes and paths for those who are coming behind us, for the little ones.
MOTHER ANGELICA: The important thing is: He is coming!
(Laughing and applauses.)
MRS. MARIA ESPERANZA DE BIANCHINI: How beautiful!
MOTHER ANGELICA: I want to thank you. Muchas gracias. Is that alright?
(Laughing.)
MRS. MARIA ESPERANZA DE BIANCHINI: Muchas gracias.
(Applauses.)
