Courage, Boldness

Saint Joan of Arc (1882) by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882).

Courage is a great quality, very useful during the Trials of life. To obtain it or strengthen it, there is the help of prayer, especially that addressed to the Holy Spirit to give us one of His seven gifts which is strength.

In "The Gospel as it was revealed to me"

• This is how it must be done. I do it too. Move forward. Without weariness. Weariness is yet another root of human Pride. And likewise, eagerness.
• Jesus to Andrew the Apostle at the Beautiful Water: "((The friendship of God) must give us boldness, even with men. Believe it: only one who has evil conduct must fear his fellow man. Not one who is just like you."
• Mary says of Saint Joseph, her chaste spouse and earthly adoptive father of Jesus, who, at the beginning of the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, had human fears and worries: "Then he comes to hope. In the cave, before the birth of Jesus, he says: 'Tomorrow will be better.' Jesus who comes already gives him courage with this hope which is, among the gifts of God, one of the greatest. From hope, when he is sanctified by contact with Jesus, he passes to boldness.
• I am not one of those who fear men, myself. And now, I am no longer afraid of God either. I know how Good He is good for repentant souls... (Mary Magdalene)
• Prayer of John the apostle to have courage in the Trials, shortly before the Passion of Jesus: "(...) our eternal Father! But I am afraid. I am afraid! For He speaks of death, and of painful death and of betrayal and of horrible things... I am afraid! I am afraid, my God! Strengthen my Heart, Lord eternal. Strengthen the Heart of this poor child, as surely You strengthen that of Your Son for the coming events... Oh! I feel it! He came here for that, to hear You more than ever, and to strengthen Himself in Your love. I imitate Him, O Most Holy Father! Love me and make me love You to have the strength to suffer everything without cowardice to comfort Your Son."

In other works of Maria Valtorta

Notebooks of 1943

• Jesus in the Catechesis of Thursday, June 17, 1943 : "It is true that I told you to be wise as serpents, but not with human prudence.
  I also told you that to follow Me requires boldness Against everything and everyone, Against self-love, Against the power when it persecutes you because you are My Disciples; Against the father, the mother, the spouse, the children when these, out of human affection and earthly concern, want to prevent you from following My way.
  For only one thing is necessary: to save your Soul, even if you must lose the life of the flesh to obtain eternal life."
• Catechesis of Monday, June 14, 1943: "When I was arrested, the Apostles and Disciples fled, those who had known how to follow Me by swearing their fidelity until the breaking of the bread. Only two followed Me, John the affectionate and Peter the impulsive. But Peter’s momentum, as in all impulsive souls, broke against the first obstacle of difficulty and fear, and he stopped at the door. John, who was all love, defied everything and everyone, and entered.
  
  There was more courage in John at that moment than in the rest of his life. Afterwards, throughout his apostolate, he was strengthened by the Holy Spirit and helped, during the first years, by My Mother, mistress of firmness and apostolate. Also, he had been confirmed in the faith by My Resurrection, by the first miracles, by the fact that he saw My Doctrine spreading more and more.
  
  But that night, he was alone. Against him was a raging crowd, Satan blowing his Doubts to lead the others, especially the faithful, into Doubt which is the first step towards denial. Against him was the cowardice of his flesh which sniffed danger where the Master was, and sensed that this same danger overflowed onto His Disciples."

Notebooks from 1945 to 1950

In the Dictation of May 17, 1945, Jesus says: (...) I am the Spirit of Love. But I am also Justice. The more one sacrifices for Me, the more I give of Myself. Let him who has ears to hear, hear! (...) I am the one who strengthens and I want strong faithful (...)
Courage, my children, courage! The earth is a place of combat. Happiness is here, where I am. But to get there... It is like a pathway of broken jasper: a torture. Yet every torture is a merit. The Son of God knew only that one. Would you want a better one? Renew yourselves in My Fire".

In other sources

Marian apparitions of Pellevoisin

At Pellevoisin, the Virgin Mary invites to keep "courage, calm, and trust", three Graces which become like beacons on the path leading to God.

Friday, December 8, 1876, the feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Virgin Mary appears for the fifteenth and last time to Estelle Faguette. She was 32 years old in 1876. Younger, she wanted to be a nun and had made her novitiate. But she had to leave the Augustinian sisters after a few years due to a knee injury that prevented her from meeting the physical demands of consecrated life.

Then she falls seriously ill and is condemned to die from an infection that was eating away at her intestines.

Trusting and stubborn, with a child's heart, she writes to the Blessed Virgin to ask for her healing: "Grant me then from your divine Son the health of my poor body for His glory." She obtains this at the 5th apparition, a grace of healing that the Church will recognize as supernatural. Then, the Virgin Mary appears to her ten more times.

Calm, trust, courage:

Mary says to her ‘‘Courage!’’: Estelle is brought back to her Christian courage: Through the Trials of her life, she participates in the story of the Redemption by being united to the Passion of Jesus-Christ.

Calm is Mary’s pedagogy par excellence: the Virgin even teases Estelle: ‘‘You have the French character. He wants to know everything before learning, and to understand everything before having learned.’’

Estelle acquires this calm when she understands that the Virgin Mary will always be by her side, visible during these Apparitions, then invisibly.  

Trust, finally, comes to her when she grasps that Mary paid in advance for her Salvation, at the foot of the Cross, when she suffered the torture of witnessing the agony and death of her divine Son.

Mary comes to visit Estelle to teach her to grow in faith, hope, and charity. She educates her in love with remarks and advice to help her be more trusting toward God and lead a life full of mercy. Mary educates Estelle, who is afraid of her fragility and her weaknesses, so that she does not put limits on her trust.

Mary comforts her: “Courage and Trust,” “Do not fear, I will help you.” Mary at Pellevoisin teaches us not to let go of her hand and to trust her in every circumstance.

The Blessed Virgin also says to her about her words "Calm, trust, courage (and others): “Repeat them often; may they strengthen and console you in your Trials. You will not see me again.” […]

And she gives Estelle the mission to spread the devotion of the Carmelite Scapular.