Hymn to love and suffering
"Only those who have known this heartbreaking anguish, pierced by spasms, cramps, suffocation, and collapse can say what it really is. I experienced it for the first time on Good Friday. During Jesus' agony, there was the agony of Maria of Jesus. I truly believed I was dying. Because of the crowd, I couldn't get out, and moreover, at those moments, one cannot walk... I almost had to undress in the Church, because anything tightens the body increasing the pain. But I was not afraid. I felt that Jesus was lifting me on the cross... Had I not asked him, for five years, to accept me as a victim? Now had come the Good hour of divine assent[1]."On Good Friday 1934, she was "pierced by love" while contemplating Jesus on the Cross. It was on this occasion that she composed her Hymn which she often repeated, especially at the most painful Hours, or during Lent. Two days later, Sunday, April 1st, she lay down never to get up again until her death.
Hymn to Love and Suffering[edit | edit source]
"Good Friday 1934.He is the Man of sorrows, the Beloved of my Heart. To resemble God, I must suffer too.
So come to me, dear thorns, sweet nails! Take your toll of me, take your toll of me, because the bride wants to adorn herself with the jewels of her King.
See how his gaze weakens, how his mouth is dried as he prays on the cross for the bad humanity.
My Heart, do you hear the "Voice" whispering words of love amid the sobs?
How great is his pain! He dies for us and forgives, he promises us paradise; bowing his sweet Face, he says: "I Thirst!", and he awaits our mercy.
"What can I offer to your blessed lips, to your suffering Heart, to soothe your final agony? By what balm to ease your chest, O Redeemer?
"By your faithful affection and your generous suffering."
Ah! Come to me, come, sweet thorns and dear nails! Surround me, take your toll of me, nail me to the hard wood! Let my King's head rest on my chest and on my Heart! I want, by my affection and my love, to wipe his tears, calm his fever, ease his agony.
Blessed be the suffering that makes me resemble you!
Blessed be your cross that lifts me to heaven!
Blessed be the love that gives wings to my pain!
Blessed be the day when your gaze fascinated me, Blessed be the moment when you consecrated me to yourself, but seraphic are the torments that unite me, O my Redeemer; to the cross, to suffering, for your glory, O God!
Ah, come to me, sweet thorns, dear nails! Adorn me, carve in me the face of my King!
Come, come, harsh wood of the cross purple-colored, it is you alone that I desire to seek here below to sustain me!
The Redeemer awaits me in heaven, in splendor, no longer languishing and groaning but shining for eternity.
To him I will fly one day, adorned with the cross, the head crowned with his thorns, consumed by love for him.
And among the praising Angels and seraphic splendors, he will transform torments and sufferings into as many jewels.
Blessed be suffering, blessed be the cross, blessed be the love that will be fully realized in heaven!"
She adds in her Autobiography:
"Writing in this way, only writing it, would have no merit. It could even be just a vain exercise of words. But as for me, I have certified these words and I still certify them by my suffering that I love God more than myself. And that gives full value to this cry, which was expressed in a moment of deep union with my crucified King.My illness continued to deepen both in intensity and in the amount of discomfort, but on my side I have not changed my refrain and I keep saying: “Blessed are pain, the cross, and love.” And I keep Calling: “So come to me thorns, nails, whips, for what the world flees constitutes my rest, for when the grip of suffering increases, Peace and bliss increase at the same time, and for every cell of my body that breaks and for every strength that annihilates itself, I feel that a cell of my new self is added for me which will live in heaven, for heaven belongs to those who have known how to die to the flesh before the flesh dies in them.”
I suffer with Christ and it is with him that I will be glorified. His life and passion manifest themselves in me who only asks to remain fixed on the cross, on this cross which is madness to the sons of perdition, but which is a divine strength for those who have entered the way of salvation, as says the apostle whose word is striking and Heart ardent[2].
Two days after this moment of Ecstasy and this cry of desire that pierced my chest, I was crucified. Christ was descending from it, in the glory of his Resurrection, I was going up there out of love for my dearest friends: Jesus and Souls. I had made an effort Against myself, so as not to worry Dad, and to avoid staying in bed that day. But I could not stand on my legs. I heard, from a nearby radio, the papal blessing, imparted after Don Bosco’s canonization. It was with this viaticum that I returned to bed. From then on we had transformed the living room into a bedroom and I took possession of it... and it is still there that I am[3]."
Going Further in Discovery[edit | edit source]
- Her spiritual life
- Her mystical calendar
- Her spiritual masters
- Act of Offering to Merciful Love and Divine Justice.
- Her Invisible Stigmata
- Tertiary of the Servites of Mary
- Her rosaries
- Our Lady of Fatima in the life of Maria Valtorta
Notes and references[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Autobiography, p. 340.
- ↑ St Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:17-25.
- ↑ Autobiography, pp. 429–430.