BLESSING OF MARCH 5TH 2011, FIRST SATURDAY OF MONTH.

AT PRADO NUEVO, IN EL ESCORIAL (MADRID)

 

OUR LADY:

      Raise all your objects; all will be blessed for the miserable sick.

      I bless you, my children, as the Father blesses you, through the Son and with the Holy Spirit.

 

 

MESSAGE OF OCTOBER 23th 1983

AT PRADO NUEVO DE EL ESCORIAL (MADRID)

   

OUR LADY:

 I ask you, my children, for the salvation of souls. My children, if you don’t make sacrifices and pray, you won’t be able to save your souls. With sacrifice and prayer you can save all Humankind, my children.

 

I bless you, my children, as the Father blesses you, through the Son and with the Holy Spirit.

Good-bye.

 

 

COMMENTARY UPON MESSAGES

(October, 23rd 1983)

 

“I ask you, my children, for the salvation of souls. My children, if you don’t make sacrifices and pray, you won’t be able to save your souls. With sacrifice and prayer you can save all Humankind, my children.

I bless you, my children, as the Father blesses you, through the Son and with the Holy Spirit. Good-bye.” (Our Lady)

This is one of the shortest messages of Prado Nuevo. It shows a great concern: the salvation of souls. It should be our main concern too. It is also the mission of the Catholic Church, according to the Second Vatican Council: “The mission of the Church pertains to the salvation of men, which is to be achieved by belief in Christ and by His grace“(1) pointing out in another document that Tradition, Scripture and Magister of the Church “each in its own way under the action of the one Holy Spirit contributes effectively to the salvation of souls. “ (2). Indeed, as saint Paul writes in his First Letter to Timothy, “God our Savior (…)He wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge of the truth. “ (3)

     We talk so little of eternal salvation! How many times do we preach this transcendental topic in homilies, catechesis, etc.? However, it was always one main matter in sermons and saint’s words. Jesus Christ himself, when asked about what is necessary to follow him, only says “'If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. What, then, will anyone gain by winning the whole world and forfeiting his life? Or what can anyone offer in exchange for his life? “(4). Saint Ignatius of Loyola also asked Saint Francis Xavier this last question when he wanted to make him think about his vocation. It is so worthy to save a soul that Saint James says in his letter, “My brothers, if one of you strays away from the truth, and another brings him back to it, he may be sure that anyone who can bring back a sinner from his erring ways will be saving his soul from death and covering over many a sin.” (5)

 

 This should encourage us to work for the salvation of souls! It is a transcendental ideal that will never go out of fashion although it is hardly preached nowadays. The Spanish poet Campoamor wrote:

 

“The most precious science

Is that Man’s life will end.

And at the end of his journey,

If he saves himself, he will know everything.

And if he doesn’t, he will know nothing”

 

The salvation of souls is an important and transcendental task! Indeed, it should be our first task. In saints’ life it is a never-ending concern. The great saint of Avila spent all her life trying to guide souls to the eternal salvation for the love of God and the neighbor: “Thus when I’m reading in the lives of the saints how they converted souls, I have more devotion, more tenderness and envy, than when I read all the pains of martyrdom they underwent; for this is an attraction the Lord has given me; and I think he prizes one soul which of his mercy we have gained for Him by our prayer and labor more than all the service we may render him” (6)

      Although souls’ salvation is granted by God, every soul is free to accept this gift; this is necessary and confirms what Saint Augustine said, “He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent.” (7)

      However,  in this way to salvation beginning the path is not enough; we have to get to the end of it; that is to say, Heaven. Thus, Jesus says in the Gospel, “but it is a narrow gate and a hard road that leads to life, and only a few find it“(Mt 7, 14) For this reason, Our Lord states, “anyone who stands firm to the end will be saved. “ (8).  The way to the Glory requires perseverance, considered as a virtue, moderates certain passions, namely fear of weariness or failure on account of the delay.”(9)

 

     The following thought of Saint Robert Bellarmine, doctor of the Church, will conclude this commentary, “If you judge it wisely, you will understand that you have been created for the glory of God and for your eternal salvation. You will understand that this is the aim of your soul, the treasure of your heart. If you achieve it, you will be happy; if you do not achieve it, you will be miserable“(10)

 

 

 

[1][1] Apostolicam Actuositatem, 6.

[2][2] Dei Verbum, 10.

[3][3] 1 Tm 2, 3-4.

[4][4] Mt 16, 24-26.

[5][5] Jas 5, 19-20.

[6][6] Fundaciones I, 7.

[7][7] Sermon 169.

[8][8] Mt 10, 22; cf. Mt 24, 13; Mc 13, 13.

[9][9] Cf. Saint Thomas of Aquinas, Summa Theologica, II-II, q. 137, a. 2, ad 2.

[10][10] The Mind's Ascent to God, step 1.