222. The tyrannic sway of Lucifer over this world was
not any more so unobstructed as it had been in the
ages preceding the Incarnation of the divine Word;
for from the hour in which the Son of the
eternal Father descended from heaven and assumed
flesh in the bridal chamber of his virginal Mother, this
strongly armed one felt a superior force, which oppressed
and crushed him, as I have related in its place (Luke
11, 21). After the birth of Christ he felt this power,
when the Infant Jesus entered into Egypt (Vol. II 130,
643), and on many occasions afterward this dragon was
routed and overcome by the force of divine truth issuing
from the great Queen. Comparing- and connecting these
past happenings with all the new experiences related in
the foregoing chapter, the ancient serpent was beginning
to be much troubled by his fears and suspicions, lest a
new and vast force had established itself on the earth.
But as the sacrament of the Incarnation was deeply hidden
from him, he lived on in his blind fury without suspicion
of the truth, although, since his fall from heaven, he had
most anxiously tried to ascertain when and how the divine
Word would leave heaven and assume human flesh ; for
this wonderful work of God was what his arrogance and
pride feared most of all. This anxiety induced him to
convoke the many council meetings, of which I have
spoken in this history, and also the one of which I now
speak.
223. Finding himself then full of uncertainty concern
ing the experiences of the demons and of Himself with
Jesus and Mary, this enemy of the human race questioned
himself by what power he had been vanquished and put
to flight in his attempts to ruin the dangerously sick and
the dying and in his other encounters with the Queen of
heaven. As he could not clear the mystery for himself,
he resolved to consult those of his associates who excelled
in malice and astuteness. He gave forth a roar or tre
mendous howl in hell, using the language understood by
the demons, and called together those who were subject
to him. All of them having been gathered together, he
made them a speech, saying : "My ministers and compan
ions, who have always followed me in my just opposition,
you well know that in the first state in which we were
placed by the Creator of all things, we acknowledged Him
as the universal source of all our being and thus also
respected Him. But as soon as, to the detriment of our
beauty and pre-eminence, so close to the Deity, He im
posed upon us the command, that we adore and serve the
person of the Word, in the human form, which He in
tended to assume, we resisted his will. For although I
knew, that this reverence was due Him as God, yet as He
chose to unite Himself to the nature of man, so ignoble
and inferior to mine, I could not bear to be subject to
Him, nor could I bear to see, that He did not favor me
rather than the creature man. He not only commanded
us to adore Him, but also to recognize as our superior a
Woman, his Mother, a mere earthly creature. To these
grievances I took exception and you with me. We ob- ;
jected to them and resolved to deny Him obedience. On
account of our behavior at that time we are punished and |
made to suffer the pains of our present condition. Al
though we are aware of these truths and acknowledge
them with terror among ourselves, it will not do to con
fess them before men (Jas. 2, 19). And this I put as a
command upon you all, in order that they may not know
of our present difficulty and weakness."
224. "But if this Godman and his Mother are really
to come, it. is clear, that their coming into this world
shall be the beginning of our greatest ruin and torment,
and that, for this reason, I must seek with all my strength
to prevent it and to destroy Them, even at the cost of
overturning and destroying all the world. You all know
how invincible has been my strength until now, since
such a great portion of the world obeyed my command
and is subject to my will and cunning. But in the last
few years I have noticed on many occasions, that your
powers seemed to have decreased and weakened, that you
were oppressed and overcome, and I myself feel a superior
force, which restrains and intimidates me. Several times
I have searched with you through the whole world, trying
to find some clue for this loss and oppression which we
feel. If this Messias, who is promised to the chosen
people of God, is already in the world, we not only fail
to discover Him on the whole face of the earth, but we
see no certain signs of his coming and we perceive none
of the pomp and outward show naturally attendant upon
such a person. Nevertheless I have my misgivings, lest
the time of his coming from heaven onto this earth be al
ready near. Therefore we ought all be eager to destroy
Him and the Woman whom He shall choose for His
Mother. Whoever shall distinguish himself in this work,
shall not complain of my thankfulness and reward. Until
now I have found guilt and the effects of guilt in all men,
and I have seen no such majesty and grand magnificence
as would induce the Word to become man and which
would oblige mortals to adore Him and offer Him sacri
fice, for by this homage we shall be able to recognize Him.
The certain indication of his coming and the distinguish
ing mark of the Messias will no doubt be, that neither sin
nor its consequences, common to other children of Adam,
will ever be able to touch Him."
225. "So much the greater therefore," continued Luci
fer, "is my confusion at present; for, if the eternal Word
has not yet come into the world, I cannot understand
these new experiences, nor whence comes this strong op
position which overpowers us. Who drove us out and
hurled us from Egypt? Who destroyed the temples and
crushed the idols of that country in which we were adored
by all the inhabitants ? Who oppresses us now in the land
of Galilee and its neighborhood, and prevents us from
perverting many of the persons in danger of death ? Who
keeps away from sin so many souls as if they were with
drawn from our jurisdiction, and who causes so many
to better their lives and begin to seek the kingdom of
God? If this damaging influence is allowed to continue,
great misfortune and torment may arise for all of us
from this secret force, which we do not comprehend. It
is necessary to put a stop to it and search anew all over
the world, whether it does not contain a great prophet or
saint, who seeks our destruction ; I have not been able to
discover any one to whom I could ascribe such a power.
Only I have a great hatred against that Woman, our
enemy, especially since we persecuted Her in the temple
and later on in her house at Nazareth. For we have al
ways been vanquished and terrified by the virtue which
shields Her and resists our malice. Never have I been
able to search her interior or come near her person. She
has a Son, and, when Both of Them attended at his
father s death, all of us were unable to approach the place
where They were. They are poor and neglected people;
She is an unknown and helpless little woman : but I pre
sume without a doubt, that both Son and Mother must be
counted among the just. For I have continually sought
to draw them into the failings common to men, and yet
I have never succeeded in causing them to commit the
least of the disorderly or reprehensible of actions, which
are so common and natural with other people. I know
that the Almighty conceals from me the state of these
souls ; and this doubtlessly argues some hidden danger for
us. Although the interior condition of some other souls
has been concealed from us on certain occasions, yet this
was but rarely and not in the manner as with these Two.
Even if this Man is not the Messias, it is certain that they
are just and our enemies, which is sufficient reason for
persecuting Them and ruining Them, and especially for
seeking to find out who They are. Do you all follow
me in the enterprise with all diligence, for I shall be
your leader in our fight against Them."
226. With this exhortation Lucifer concluded his long"
speech, in which he gave to the demon much other infor
mation and malicious counsel. But I need not mention
them here, since this history will contain other references
to the hellish plots to make us understand the cunning of
that venomous serpent. Immediately the prince of dark
ness, together with countless legions of evil spirits, issued
forth from hell and spread over the whole world. They
persisted in roaming through it many times, searching out
in their malice and cunning all the just, tempting those
they recognized as such and provoking them and other
men to commit the evil deeds hatched out in their own in
fernal minds. But Christ our Lord in his wisdom con
cealed his own person and that of his Mother for many
days from the haughty Lucifer. He did not permit him
to see or recognize Him, until He betook Himself to the
desert, where He allowed and wished the devil to tempt
Him after his long fast; and Lucifer did tempt Him, as
I shall relate in its place.
227. When this meeting was held in the infernal re
gions, Christ, to whom as our divine Master all was
known, betook Himself to prayer against the malice of the
dragon and among other petitions He prayed as follows :
"Eternal and most high God and Father, I adore Thee
and exalt thy infinite and immutable Essence; I confess
Thee as the highest and boundless Good and I offer Myself
in sacrifice to thy divine will for the vanquishing and
crushing of the infernal powers and of their malicious
counsels against my creatures. I shall battle for them
against my and their enemies, and by my own works and
victories I shall leave them an encouragement and example
of what they must do, so that those who serve Me from
their heart, may prevail against Lucifer s malice. Defend,
my Father, the souls from the snares and cruelty of the
serpent and its followers, and grant to the just the power
of thy right hand, in order that through my intercession
and Death they may gain victory over their temptations
and dangers." Our great Queen and Lady had a like
knowledge of the evil counsels of Lucifer and saw all that
passed in her divine Son and the prayer He offered. As
the Coadjutrix of his triumphs She joined in the prayers
and petitions of her Son to the eternal Father. The Most
High granted all of them, and on this occasion Jesus and
Mary obtained immense assistance and rewards from the
Father for those that battle against the demons in the
name of Jesus and Mary. So great was the efficacy of
their prayers, that all those who pronounce these names
in reverence and faith, overcome their hellish enemies and
precipitously repel them in virtue of the prayers, tri
umphs and victories of our Savior and of his most
holy Mother. On account of the protection thereby
offered to us against the arrogant giants of hell, and on
account of all the other helps furnished us in the holy
Church of our Lord, no excuse is left us for not battling
legitimately and valiantly, or for not overcoming and
vanquishing the demon, as the enemy of the eternal God
and our own. For in this we should follow the example
of our Savior according to our ability.
TEACHING OF THE MOST HOLY MARY, THE QUEEN
OF HEAVEN.
228. My daughter, weep with bitterest sorrow over
the stubbornness and blindness of mortals in not under
standing and acknowledging the loving protection, which
they have in my divine Son and in me as a relief from all
their troubles and necessities. My Lord spared Himself
no exertion and left no means unemployed in order to
gain for them inestimable treasures of heaven. He
garnered up his infinite merits in the holy Church, the
most important fruit of his Passion and Death; He left
the secure pledges of his glorious love; and procured
for them most easy and efficacious means in order that all
of them might enjoy and apply them for their use and for
their eternal salvation. He offers them moreover his
protection and mine ; He loves them as children ; He cher
ishes them as his chosen friends; He calls them by his
inspirations ; He invites them by his blessings and graces;
He awaits them as a most kind Father ; He seeks them as
their Pastor; He helps them as the most Powerful; He
rewards them as One possessing infinite riches, and
governs them as a mighty King. All these and innum
erable other favors, which are pointed out by faith, offered
by the Church and presented before their very eyes, men
forget and despise; as if blind, they love the darkness
and deliver themselves up to the fury and rage of those
cruel enemies. They listen to his lies, obey his wicked
suggestions and confide in his snares ; they trust and give
themselves up to the unquenchable fire of his wrath. He
seeks to destroy them and consign them to eternal death,
only because they are creatures of the Most High, who
vanquished and crushed this most cruel foe.
229. Guard thyself, therefore, my dearest, against this
deplorable error of the children of men and disengage thy
faculties in order that thou mayest clearly see the differ
ence between the service of Christ and that of Belial.
Greater is that difference than the distance between
heaven and earth. Christ is eternal life, the true light and
the pathway to eternal life; those who follow Him He
loves with imperishable love, and He offers them his life
and his company; with it, an eternal happiness, such as
neither eyes have seen, nor ears have heard, nor ever can
enter into the mind of man (John 14, 6) . Lucifer is dark
ness itself, error, deceit, unhappiness and death ; he hates
his followers and forces them into evil as far as possible,
and at the end inflicts upon them eternal fire and horrid
torments. Let mortals give testimony, whether they are
ignorant of these truths, since the holy Church propounds
them and calls them to their minds every day. If men
believe these truths, where is their good sense? Who
has made them insane? Who drives from their remem
brance the love, which they ought to have for themselves ?
Who makes them so cruel to themselves? O insanity
never sufficiently to be bewailed and so little considered
by the children of Adam! All their life they labor and
exert themselves to become more and more entangled in
the snares of their passions, to be consumed in deceitful
vanities and to deliver themselves over to an inex
tinguishable fire, death and everlasting perdition, as if all
were a mere joke and as if Christ had not come down
from heaven to die on a Cross for their rescue ! Let them
but look upon the price, and consider how much God him
self paid for this happiness, who knew the full value of it.
230. The idolaters and heathens are much less to blame
for falling into this error ; nor does the wrath of the Most
High enkindle so much against them as against the faith
ful of his Church, who have such a clear knowledge of
this truth. If the minds of men, in our present age, have
grown forgetful of it, let them understand that this hap
pened by their own fault, because they have given a free
hand to their enemy Lucifer. He with tireless malice
labors to overthrow the barriers of restraint, so that, for
getful of the last things and of eternal torment, men may
give themselves over, like brute beasts, to sensual
pleasures, and unmindful of themselves consume their
lives in the pursuit of apparent good, until, as Job says
(Job 21, 13), they suddenly fall a prey to eternal perdi
tion. Such is in reality the fate of innumerable foolish
men, who abhor the restraint imposed upon them by this
truth. Do thou, my daughter, allow me to instruct thee,
and keep thyself free from such harmful deceit and from
this forget fulness of the worldly people. Let the despair
ing groans of the damned, which begin at the end of their
lives and at the beginning of their eternal damnation, ever
resound in thy ears: O we fools, who esteemed the life
of the just as madness ! O how are they counted among
the sons of God, and their lot is among the saints ! We
have erred then from the path of truth and of justice.
The sun has not arisen for us. We have wearied our
selves in the ways of iniquity and destruction, we have
sought difficult paths and erred by our own fault from
the way of the Lord. What has pride profited us ? What
advantage has the boasting
1 of riches brought us ? All has
passed away from us like a shadow. O had we but never
been born ! This, my daughter, thou must fear and pon
der in thy heart, so that, before thou goest to that land of
darkness and of eternal dungeons from whence there is
no return, thou mayest provide against evil and avoid it
by doing the good. During thy mortal life and out of
love do thou now perform that of which the damned in
their despair are forced to warn thee by the excess of
their punishment.
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