Friday, june 14, 1996 7:35 p.m.
- The Angelus.
Representatives of this institute, of this hospital of San Rafael Arcangel, its priests, superiors, the Sisters of Charity who God has in charged to help with their hands the innocent children, the small ones who are growing, to soothe their grief, their diseases, alleviating them, comforting them, and giving them the nectar of the flowers of Mary, because our Heavenly Mother is Mary who has come to visit them, she is Mary who comes in search of her people: Maracaibo.
Yes, Maracaibo, she loves Maracaibo so much, the Blessed Virgin, the Chinita, the Mother of God, Mary Virgin and Mother Reconciler of all People, all titles… it is the same Mother of God. The Blessed Virgin of Chiquinquira, our Mother Chinita and the Virgin Mary Reconciler of all People are the same Mother. She is Mary under different titles, but she is the Mother of God, Mary, the sweet Heavenly Mother who comes to comfort us in our grief, who comes to bring us peace, serenity in our anguish, in the eagerness of our daily life, especially to us mothers.
Yes, because we, mothers, suffer when we see our children… fathers also suffer looking here and there. “My God, can my son be cured, what can I do in this situation?” But Mary with her humility, with her simpleness, with her serenity gives them a glance, a glance of love, of tenderness, telling them: “Little children, do not fear, here I am with my hands to comfort you, so you may grow full of fervor, of love to my Divine Son Jesus Christ, because Jesus is the motive of all my actions on Earth. Therefore, I came bringing my Son to the world so the world could be saved, so that the Gospel could truly be lived.”
“And it is in these times, little children, when I come to visit you at Maracaibo bringing you my word of love, of faithfulness to the Holy Church so you may be faithful also because it is our Catholic, apostolic, Roman, and universal Church. She is your mother, the mother of the Church, the beautiful mother, the great mother to shelter you all in her motherly bosom with a ruling Pope who gives himself to all of his children on Earth with humility and patience.”
“Therefore, I come seeking you. Do not fear because you are cradled here in my chest in my bosom.”
“Yes, my little children, remember that everything you request may be obtained if it is the will of Our Heavenly Father in my Divine Son and in the Holy Spirit, to enlighten your souls, so you may grow with greater intensity everyday, with greater warmth in the bosom of that Holy Church. Therefore: Love your Church.”
”The Church is the mother that cradles her lost children, and calls them to reflect, so they may enter and fill themselves with the warmth of the love of Jesus, with the Eucharist, Jesus the nourishment of man. It is Jesus, it is his Mystical Body giver of new life, He is the King of kings who appears like the humble Son of God in the Eucharist, waiting for all, there in the tabernacle.
“Little children, collect yourselves, collect yourselves at this moment and think that I live among you, I live among you day and night, I do not neglect your homes, nor your families, let alone the petitions that you make me. You shall be compensated with whatever you ask for today, you shall truly see that I live among you.”
My brothers, Our Blessed Mother truly loves us, she loves us in such a way that she is calling us to collect ourselves to prayer, meditation, penance, the Eucharist. The Eucharist is our food, the Eucharist is the bread that represents the Body of Christ, that Bread is alive, it is the Bread that we take, that we take to our mouth when the priest gives it to us, and we must receive it with infinite emotion, with sweetness that springs from our soul, with new hope to live an authentic Christian life.
We must reflect about our Church this afternoon, in this beautiful chapel, where Saint Raphael the Archangel is, who was my great devotion since I was a little girl, because I was born in a town that is called: San Rafael of Barrancas. I was born in Monagas State with much humility, and he comes to receive me, and he truly has come to live here among you also.
Saint Raphael cures the wounds in such a way, he rises the fallen one, and he comforts the children, the patients, the sad ones. When one is sad and we turn to him, he covers us with his sweet and soft eyes to soothe us from the burden we have, and to heal us in our diseases, because God chose him for this. And here he is fulfilling a mission beside these sisters who are giving it all, who have surrendered to Jesus.
The religious life is the most beautiful life, the most complete, and beautiful life, I would say. Yes, we, mothers, very well, but they left behind… they resigned to the world, they let everything behind to follow Jesus.
Who is not going to follow the Son of God, Lord? Therefore, those of us who are not religious must understand them, be soft with much charity, and come to the house of the Lord with much love, to the house for children, for patients who come looking for consolation and relief, and to heal their ailments.
Therefore, when they told me: “It is the Hospital of Saint Raphael”, I felt my heart beating. O Lord, You are so grand! You are the one, Lord, who rings a bell inside of me saying: “Go, daughter, go; do not stop. That you are tired, that you are ill, no; that is nothing. There are so many children who demand a word of comfort, of relief to their grief. They want to cure themselves to serve Me, my daughter, and what other service do I need, but for the small innocent ones to grow?”
So, brothers, I tell you: Invoke Saint Raphael Archangel and help, and contribute with the growth of this labor, so that they may have what to count on everyday… resources for those children. The children are the men of tomorrow, men and women of the future. It is necessary to work for the children, it is necessary to be united in a consistent block, in one heart to soothe and comfort the mothers who have their ill children.
So, brothers, I thank you all, the priests, the nuns for this warm welcome to my Blessed Mother because it is she, Mary, she is the Mother who is leading us; she is Mary who rises to reconcile us. Without reconciliation there cannot be unity among people and nations, and we must reconcile by all means, because the health of the People of God depends on this. Our Christian people, amiable people, people that love and feel their Church, because we all love that Church.
I have faith that those Catholics who lead a life in accordance with the Church will be able to say: The Mother of God lives among us in our houses, in our families, in our homes with her Son Jesus Christ. And if we go to our Holy Mother the Church, and go to confession, and truly regret our doubts, our distrust because of our anguish, our grief, our sins we will be absolved by the priest who represents Jesus in the world.
Because the priest represents Christ. Who are like them? There is no one, children, I tell you so, because they are the only ones who have the right of absolving sins, and the only ones who have the right to hoist the Lord, to raise Him in their hands; only them. That is the great gift that if the world, man, would realize… they would love priesthood so much, despite the weaknesses that some could have. No, it does not matter, Lord, there are so many holy priests.
So, let us love the Church, let us love the priests, and let us love the nuns who left their parents, their mothers, and went in pursuit of Jesus to be united with Him forever.
I am nothing, children, I am a poor woman like anyone of you, but yes, God has given me a heart that loves and feels its brothers. Because it was Mary, my Mother who took me by the hand since I was a little girl, in order to lead me to Betania, and there she told me: “The land of promises shall come, little children, little daughter, await, it shall come, and I will make myself present. All shall see me, little children, all my children who go with fervor and love shall see me. I shall make myself present in order to soothe your burden, comfort your hearts and give you peace, serenity, and the joy of daily life.” And so it occurred.
Then, we must trust very much, and have much peace, and humility. I always say: Humility is the crystal bridge that leads us to heaven… humility. It is not the humility of dressing in rags and saying: I am humble; no, no. It is that something that we feel in the heart for our brothers, it is love, it is fidelity to that beloved Church. Because I love the Church, the Pope, priests, nuns, my people, People of God, the people who are sad, the people who moan, the people who are in need, the beloved People of Jesus.
Let us all love one another, let us hold hands, and let us truly live the Gospel.
I thank Maracaibo, this is the second time that I come. Well, I was coming to a wedding… a family member of the doctor, one of the relatives of Dr. Arrieta, and I know the boy because I am the godmother of almost all of his brothers, of the boy who is going to marry her, I am their godmother. God gave them to me, and they invited us so we could be their bridesmaid and best-man, Geo and I. Imagine that Dr. Arrieta told me: “O Mrs. Maria Esperanza, you in Maracaibo! Since you are going to the wedding… could you give us a word?” And I told him: Well, if it is the will of God, doctor, yes I will go.
I am going to tell you, I have spent four years traveling almost every month; every month we have traveled to the United States, to Canada, to Rome, to Jerusalem. Well, I went to several places, and this year I have submitted myself due to my health and to the fact that my husband has felt a little bit bad; I have been a bit… I have not dared to travel much, and this is my first trip in these days, here to Maracaibo. And I think that the Lord is calling me to continue my route, my path, in order to spread his Word, the word of Mary that is love, fidelity, consolation, hope, and is base to grow spiritually.
I believe we are growing at this moment, that we are all looking at each other in the eye, that we are contemplating one another, that we are watching ourselves, and that we are sincere. When we look at each other, we see Mary because her reflection is there with her humility, serenity, and her motherly capacity of taking care of everyone, and of helping us grow spiritually, so we live the Gospel.
Therefore, this is the time of the Gospel. Our people need evangelization; we all need evangelization, improving our inner life everyday with the seal of Jesus, of Our Jesus.
- Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in You.
- Sacramental Jesus, You are the living hope of our hearts; may we receive You everyday, forever, forever, Jesus, receive You, feeding us with your Sacrosanct Body, Lord.
Let us nourish ourselves.
Tonight I ask you: Do the hour of adoration all Eucharistic Thursdays as our Mother Church asks us, and if it is possible, receive the Lord everyday.
Communion sanctifies the soul, it purifies the spirit, and it truly teaches us to be humble of heart, so we may love Christ, in order to feel Him in our chest, giving of ourselves the best. Because that best we have comes from the Lord, it does not come from ourselves. We are sinners, we are proud, we have many flaws, and we must change, we truly must grow spiritually, as I said before.
I thank the sisters, thank you sisters for allowing me… the Lord and my Blessed Mother have wanted it to be so… that I could come.
I am glad, I am happy, Lord, and tears escape my eyes because I truly see my Lord, I see Him in each one of you, in your countenances, in those who love Him and feel Him, in those who truly bear their burden silently, their grief, their preoccupations.
The Lord is going to comfort you. You cannot imagine what you are receiving with the coming of my Mother at this moment. The image that you see there… it is a miracle of heaven – if I only told you –. The story has remained in silence; it is something so great. Ask her anything you want. She came by her own feet, she came from Spain. O Lord, this is something so great! And the one who carved such a beautiful image has died. May he rest in peace. He was a great man, a great sculptor who grew in the task of making images, and among them, my Blessed Mother. His name was Corredo. May his soul rest in peace.
So, brothers, I thank you.
And now let us collect our thoughts, and let us feel the soft dew of the clear morning, with the softness of Mary; let us also receive the soft breeze of the dusk of tonight with the scents of the roses of my Blessed Mother, and let us live a moment with Jesus, with Mary. We are nothing, but if we are humble of heart and we love our brothers, we forgive each other, we bear, we help one another mutually, we will be able to say: O Lord, we thank You in order to be able to go on and truly live an authentic Christian life! And I say: Authentic Christian life; I repeat so, because we must be honest with ourselves and live an authentic life of the Lord, God, Christ, the Church, and the Holy Church that we all must love.
It is not simply: “I go to the Church because it is my duty to go on Sunday.” No, no, no; it is that you feel the voice of the Lord who calls you; He wants you to receive Him, to carry Him in your heart, in your chest to soothe and comfort you, in order to reaffirm your steps in the life, so you may live correctly, and above all with much humility, with much love. Love to all who love you, who do not love you, who do not cherish you, it does not matter. Jesus will fill such emptiness in your heart. Jesus makes Himself felt in that chest, Jesus comforts you, and helps you discern the message you must receive by the grace of the Holy Spirit.
And now, let us collect our thoughts for a moment.
Thank you, sisters; thank you very much, brothers; I thank the priests very much, the superior, all those who are giving a hand to the children helping them grow and live the Gospel.
And now, let us unite, let us think in our homes, houses, the poorest, the children, those who live under the bridges, especially in Caracas where there is so much poverty, so much grief… now as ever. I have felt it so as ever. How many souls, how many children are dying? How are the hospitals? Let us think about them.
Let us pray very much, and let us confirm that whoever prays with humility will be heard. Let us ask Mary for her blessing; let us ask Jesus to bless us; let us ask the Father to strengthen our back in order to not hesitate on the path we have undertaken; let us ask the Holy Spirit, Light of Heaven, for the gift of understanding to truly understand what God wants from each one of us, why He wants us, where He wants to place us, what we should do, how we must live, and let us ask that we truly may live full of infinite kindness, of the mercy of God, of the tenderness of Mary, of the love of the angels who are around her contemplating and singing the Angelus, and so on….
“In the Name of my Father, I bless you, my children.
In the name of my Mother, I heal your body and soul,
and I keep you here in my Heart, I shall keep you, keep you, keep you,
I shall keep you here in my Heart from today on and forever.”
May peace be with you, and may the light of the Holy Spirit enlighten your souls. You are in peace and in harmony with the whole world.
Thank you, my little ones.
Brothers, sometimes I feel ashamed because I do not know what you are thinking, but the Lord loves us so much that He truly wants us all to unite to his Heart filled with love and tenderness, so we may live peacefully and harmonized with all our brothers on Earth. And Mary, our sweet Mary, his Mother invites us, from today on to gather with our families holding the rosary in hand everyday, of course, sometimes one arrives late from work, or the children… school, but do it; those who are at home, pray the holy rosary.
The life of Mary is the rosary; the Immaculate Heart of Mary is the rosary. She is giving herself, and will continue to do so to reconcile us all.
Blessed be the Lord.
May God keep us all.
Thank you, thank you very much.
(Applause.)
