Christmas

To all readers of this news, usual or occasional, my best wishes for Holy Christmas.

Jesus is the Lord, the Alpha and the Omega.

Maranatha!

APRIL 3 - Tuesday Easter

I have not lived, not risen with Jesus. My eyes did not see, my ears have not heard, my heart did not love, my body felt nothing but pain. The look of my eyes was not mine, nor the hearing of my ears, nor the feeling of my body, nor the love of my heart, nor the smile that covered all this, nothing of this was mine. Who did they belong to? Jesus knows, I cannot say anything. Joy is for those whom Jesus wants to give it, but not for me.

But I'm content. I do not live; He lives in souls with His divine life. I did not rise, may they arise to Jesus. I have no love to offer my Lord, may He accept the love of all hearts and the total offering of all His creatures. I have no language to praise Him, may He accept the praise of all heaven and earth. All heaven and earth praise and bless Him; only I, poor thing, am excluded, though I am part of it. I cannot join myself with the blessed in heaven, nor with the righteous of the earth. All the wickedness and misery of the world are mine.

A colloquy of Alexandrina with Jesus and our Lady

MARCH 30, 1945 – HOLY FRIDAY (Alexandrina’s birthday)

I am wrapped in the same cloud that descended upon me yesterday. It has been a day that was only night, and a life that was only death. I lacked the longing to receive my Jesus. I suffered more in recent days with the memory of not receiving him than for not actually taking communion today. I suffered by feeling little pity.

Indifferent to everything, my soul felt, and my body also, that I had been imprisoned, and was being derided by some among a large rabble who could hear the opinions of the vile wretch who condemned me to death. My ears could hear, as if from a single voice, the words "die, be condemned". Oh, what howling from that crowd!

I took the cross, falling repeatedly; each step was a death. When I fell the cross was on top of me.

Not out of pity, but out of fear, they wanted someone who would help me to lift it. There was someone who did this, not for love, but because it was imposed; yet how much love I felt going out to him from my heart! What a great payment!

My body was given over to criminals, my spirit was alone in God.

On Calvary, the blood ran down from all the wounds in my body.

What hours of agony!

I felt in my soul all the sighs that Jesus gave; all the looks He lifted up to heaven were recorded in my soul.

Moments before Jesus expired he gave one long, long sigh. And during those moments it seemed as if He had no life. And in my soul I felt it all.

Oh, how beautiful it was! What beautiful lessons Jesus gives us! So mistreated yet so full of tenderness and love!

His most holy Body still suffering on earth while His Blessed Soul flew to heaven; flew and dispensed blessings and a deluge of love on the earth.

My Jesus came and made me forget the pain for a while. My heart began to swell and burst into flames.

- I come, my daughter, to congratulate you, to greet you, to praise you on your birthday, for your life so full of wonders, so rich in virtue, so rich in love! Your life is a river of gold and a mine of jewels! The world has never seen or come to see the like; you are the life of souls! It is with this wealth they are rescued, they are saved.

- Speak, speak, my Jesus, all the congratulations, greetings and praise are for you.

What do I do without You, my Jesus? What am I without You? All I can say, all I can express is that greatness is Yours, misery is mine.

- I praise you for your faithfulness and correspondence to my divine grace! I praise you for your reparation!

How many victims have I chosen, and received a refusal; how many I have called who did not listen to Me! How many I invited to enter a higher plane for my sake, and I received nothing...

In you I console Myself, because from you I receive all. You are the instrument of souls, you are the conqueror of Christ! Your whole life is one of wonders!

If you could but see the souls that were saved by you!... Especially during these last three years of your fasting! ...

What a great way to respond to sinners!.. I show here my power, my cravings and my love for them.

I said nothing on the anniversary of your fasting, to take from your disappointment all sweetness to Myself for the full advantage to souls. And I am just preparing you for your last stage.

Martyrdom accompanied with fasting is the greatest means, the ultimate means of salvation! There will not be only rich rivers of gold and precious seams, but it will be a golden world, a world of the same stones!

Martyrdom will lift you to the peak and love will reach its fullness!

The love of Jesus, the pain for souls, unique reparation! ...

Receive now, my daughter, the Blood of My Divine Heart, it is the life that you need, it is the life you give to souls!

I saw the Divine Heart of Jesus consumed with flames, overflowing with love. Attached to my lips, I felt my Blood to rush and my heart dilate for a long time.

- My daughter, Heaven praises Me for having created you, praises Me for the honor that you give Me and praises Me for that which already I get from earth.

Heaven praises Me and will ever praise Me! From earth I receive already praise and soon the whole world will praise Me for my victim, the new redeemer.

Prepare yourself, dear daughter, I'll give Myself to you. It's a sign that, though hidden, I always  dwell in you. Listen, Heaven descends upon you. I give Myself to you in a real communion, in Eucharistic communion.

The vault of heaven came down upon me.

- How beautiful, how beautiful! - I exclaimed.  It is worth it, my Jesus, worth all the pain and suffering to own heaven!

There were so many, so many the angels who extended their wings and gave homage to Jesus!

This time they did not sing. They bowed and worshiped as a sign of reverence in the presence of Jesus. They said the words Ecce Agnus Dei, then Corpus Domini Jesu Christi (1).

It seems good that I have stretched my tongue to receive Jesus. We stayed for a few moments in a deep silence, in a great union! Then Jesus called for His Heavenly Mother.

- Blessed Mother, come and greet and caress Our dear daughter, Our victim!

She came, took me onto her lap, covered me with treats and laced Her most holy arms with those of the Jesus, and embraced us both of us at the same time.

- My daughter, sweet-smelling flower of my Jesus, I love you, I love you along with Him. Receive all Our love.

I greet you for the praise, the honor and the souls you give us. Suffer, suffer peacefully! It is a Mother pleading for Her children, is your Mother who is pleading for your brothers.

Jesus kissed me on one side and my Heavenly Mother on the other. Jesus added:

- Go, dear daughter, and write everything! In everything you say, everything you do, you will always have the light of the Holy Spirit; He is speaking in you.

- Thank you, Jesus, thank you, Heavenly Mother!

Soon I had doubts about everything and was steeped in so much pain: there was no comfort from my loved ones around me. Then came sharp thorns to pierce me. For all I blessed the Lord, praying the Magnificat at the end.

(1) On April 11, she asks me: "What do these words mean? And the other, Corpus Domini Jesu Christi?" I also noticed that she usually does not know these phrases and, referring to them, says: "that words Jesus said in communion"(Father Humberto?)

March 29, 1945, Holy Thursday

It's already night and my soul feels as never before that it is the night of love, that it is the most holy of nights. Jesus will depart yet He wants to stay among us. What an entanglement of love, what are the ties of His Heart to the hearts of those who are dear to Him! What anxiety between going and staying!

My heart experiences all this. I am bread, I am wine, I am the host, I am the tabernacle.

What a rich night, what beautiful night! The angels descended from heaven to worship so great a mystery.

But, oh, what awaits Jesus! What treachery, what false traps surround Him!

I see Gethsemane, I see the blood: everything is silent, so that only Jesus hears and feels.

And what unconcern of those beloved of His Heart! Little do they understand the pain and grief of Jesus.

At Balasar

We were today at Balasar when it was about ten o'clock. The weather was cloudy and threatening rain, but there were plenty of people, especially in the church.

We learned that the pilgrimage of the Alexandrina Society came last Saturday, when also came another which included people of Croatia.
Please pray for the canonisation of Bd Alexandrina.

St. Therese of Lisieux and Blessed Alexandrina

Now that we are on the way to the 13th, let’s read this brief dialogue between St. Therese of Lisieux and Blessed Alexandrina from the Sentiments of the Soul 3 October 1947. St. Therese promises that will meet Alexandrina in her “passage to eternity."

St. Therese came dressed in light, with a very nice diadem. As she was beautiful and kind!
Hugged me, kissed me in a quite long hug and told me:
- My Sister, wife of My Spouse and daughter of my Lord, have courage!
Great glory awaits you in heaven! What a beautiful crown made ​​of your martyrdom!
Suffer with joy, you have my protection here on earth and I’ll meet you in the passage to eternity.
- St. Therese, my dear St. Therese, I trust on you, I count on your protection, love Jesus for me and Blessed Mother and the whole Trinity.

Image of St. Therese that exists in the Alexandrina room and which is photograph of the sculpture existing in the Póvoa’s Church of Mercy.

Saint Teresa of Avila by Mary’s Dowry Productions

The life of Spanish mystic, author, reformer and Doctor of Prayer St. Teresa of Avila is looked at in detail in this biographical film presentation that is suitable for all.  

St. Teresa’s early life, devotions, trials and decisions as well as her novitiate, conversions, development of prayer, her reformation of the Carmelite Order and much more are here carefully presented.  

St. Teresa’s natural qualities, humour, devotion and writings attracted and inspired many during her lifetime and continue to do so today.  

Good humoured, determined and deeply in love with God she is a great example for all.  Sacred art, paintings, photographs and maps of Spain, a simple costumed visual, scenery, narrative and music combine to present a creative, detailed and devotional film presentation of the life of St. Teresa of Avila.

This NEW DVD is available worldwide from our online shop

www.marysdowryproductions.org 

or from Amazon.com and 

Amazon.co.uk.

The writings of the great mystic St. Teresa of Avila are indispensable for the study of Blessed Alexandrina.

The last moments of earthly life of Blessed Alexandrina

In the biography of Blessed Alexandrina For Love Alone!, Eugenia Signorile collects this testimony of Dr. Irene de Azevedo, daughter of Dr. Azevedo (dear friend who often had written, instead of Deolinda, what Alexandrina dictated to her diaries), about the last moments of earthly life of the biographed: 

One of the last photographs of Blessed Alexandrina. 

We had the sensation that in that room of pain something tremendously great and mysterious was happening: that the last moments had arrived for a victim who had been asked for a great reparation.
Standing next to her, I tried to give to her a little consolation by wetting her dry lips. I did not dare to speak to her, for fear of increasing her suffering (...)
She insistently asked that God take her quickly to Heaven: it was the only prayer worthy of her. (...) What an expression she had! Holy resignation to the will of God, but suffering to the point of terror, such suffering that a soul can only undergo with the grace and a great help of the Lord.
Since then I have an idea of what the Passion and Death of the Lord would have been. (...) Contemplating her most painful face, I seemed to hear the phrase of Jesus:
“Father, why have you abandoned me?”
Everything was consummated.

13th October

We are preparing an extensive monograph on the parish of Balasar. That and some difficulty in collecting news for this blog have prevented us from keep it updated.

On the 13th October, the anniversary of the Blessed Alexandrina flight to Heaven, is expected in Balasar a pilgrimage of members of the Alexandrina Society of Ireland and Scotland.

St. Anthony of Padua and St. Piran of Cornwall Film News

After several requests that we produce a simple, contemplative look at the life of St. Anthony of Padua we are pleased to be able to offer our new production on DVD this week.

A subtle and effective blend of beautiful artwork, historical imagery, photographs of Padua, Lisbon and places linked to St. Anthony combine with a simple costumed image of the Saint beneath an informative and devotional narration that includes quotes from his writings.  The film is available now through our online shop:

http://www.marysdowryproductions.org/shop/dvds/anthony-of-padua-saint-dvd

and Amazon UK, Amazon COM.

Also available this week on DVD is our NEW look at St. Piran, the early British Saint of Cornwall who is most famous for his rediscovery of tin smelting, commemorated today in the Cornish national flag.  A pleasant and enjoyable look at St. Piran’s life includes relevant artwork, a glimpse at St. Buriana the Irish Princess who accompanied St. Piran for part of his journey, sacred art and some enjoyable footage of the sea, beaches and coast as well as a fascinating segment about RELICS and their place in the Church from its very beginnings.

St. Piran of Cornwall is OUT NOW on DVD through our online shop:

http://www.marysdowryproductions.org/shop/dvds/piran-of-cornwall-saint-dvd

and Amazon UK, Amazon COM.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the Guardian Angel

I was plunged in unspeakable bitterness, pain drowned me. After telling Jesus that I did not want to sin, I repeated often: "Jesus, Mary, Joseph." I heard a voice saying to me:

- O victim, O beloved spouse of Jesus, I am your Guardian Angel, the angel chosen by Jesus to support you and defend you, to serve you and to guide you. I come in the name of the same Jesus to tell you that you have not sinned, and to take you to your customary position.

I was soon on my pillow and, even after so great an affirmation, the pain and the fear of having sinned continued. I didn’t cease to invoke the sweet names of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, not with the wish of any vision, because I wasn’t thinking of that, but because I am used to invoking these holy names hundreds of times a day, even in silence, when others are present. 
I do not know how many times I had repeated the names, when I saw in front of me Jesus, Mary, Joseph, all three sitting. Jesus was in the middle. The house in which they lived was modest but it was illuminated by the glow that came out of them. Oh, how beautiful it was!

Sentiments of the Soul, March 22, 1945

Few news

We have been studying and writing the history of Balasar and we have published a volume with the title “Balasarenses” (Balasar's outstanding people) and maybe we will publish another later in the year with the title "Balasar Antiga" (Ancient Balasar). On the other hand, we didn’t have been aware of material events to report on. Hence this blog look like it is standing still.

About two weeks ago we saw in Balasar a group of pilgrims from Korea.

Mary's Dowry Productions go on producing their nice CDs on English Saints and Martyrs.

Oh, how I see the world running on the road to perdition!

Oh, how I see the world running on the road to perdition! Oh, what so tremendous pain, pain that is impossible to explain! To be a mother, mother who loves without having the corresponding love, and to see humanity escape me; all my dear children die. Die in the vices, in the pleasures, in the follies of sin. They mad for joy, and I mad with love for them, to save them!

The light I own penetrates everything and everyone. The light is not mine nor is for me, but with it I see the greatest disorders and miseries. This light sees everything that goes on land and feel that itself wants to rebel against the same land. Its rays cannot face the slime and disgusting mud that earth contains.

The tower (see here) that arose in me is going up, up, goes to heaven. I feel that goes so high, but its eyes do not reach its aim. It goes up and, as upshot, with it rises the light; and from above sees the world, enlightens the world, over it spreads its rays, rays that try to climb to itself because they cannot think of the world.

I wished to say so much about this light, wanted to make me understood and do not know.

And now, poor me, I am in complete and total abandonment; I have nobody for me either on earth or in Heaven. It's what I feel, but I trust that is not reality.

Sentiments of the Soul, March 20, 1945

Colloquy of Jesus with Alexandrina (fragment, March 16, Friday)

- Far from Me, my daughter, far, far away, is the sinner hardened and mad by passions. Far, far away live the sinners lost to addiction and to flesh, maddened and blinded by all vices.

Come here, my daughter, come, my white dove, to receive from your Jesus, Father and Spouse, the medicine, the life and light to lead them to Me.

Jesus united His Divine Heart to mine, as well as His holy face and His lips also approached mine. He caressed me and light, love, comfort and life passed from His Heart to mine. He gave me everything He had. He continued:

- Go, dear daughter, medicine of souls, go and give them all this; I chose you to be their salvation, I chose you to support them, I chose you to be their light.

Give it to them, pluck them out of darkness. Go with my love and your unmatched pain to pluck them from the clutches of Satan; they are stuck in the mud and in thorns. You are the light of lights, the madness, the love of loves.

- O my Jesus, give me what you will, give me what is Yours, only with what is Yours can I steal them from the devil, only with the light of Thy divine love can I give them light. I thirst, I thirst, Jesus, to give You souls, all souls.

- Your thirst is mine, my dear one: I quench myself with it. I thirst and hunger for souls; it is a thirst and hunger that causes death. Look, so many are trapped, stuck in those thorns! If you do not go to extract them, they will die there, and from there they will pass to hell.

- Now, now, my Jesus, I go, I want to go there to release them, whatever the cost.

- My daughter, but you will leave you own flesh there...

- No matter, my Jesus, I want to save them.

- My daughter, you will shed your blood there...

- No matter, my Jesus, You also shed Yours to the last drop. I want to go there, whatever the cost, whatever I lose. I'm going, Jesus, I am going even if I fall apart in those thorns and my bones remain there. Because of Thy Divine love I give all, all for souls.

How harrowing was the vision of these thorns! Without great help, without the strength of Heaven, never, never would so many lambs be freed from there. 
- O pure one, O beautiful one, O winner of souls, you fly the flag of victory! You are the lily of the valley, tender flower of the meadows! Your virtues are lilies, they are flowers from the angelic garden that adorn the throne of divine Majesty!

What good it will do to souls when your life is known, preached and read, your heavenly life, your unique life!

Oh, how I crave that the light that you have received from Me will penetrate the hearts of all mankind! Oh, how I yearn for it to learn from this book of virtues and divine sciences!

In Poland the cult of Alexandrina is growing!

In Poland the devotion to Blessed Alexandrina is growing. On a meeting on which she was presented were many thousand people. And she is doing many miracles when people pray.
See here the website of a Polish magazine with an article on Bld Alexandrina.

O love, how great and strong you are!

In the Gospel of St. John, near the end of the Last Supper, Jesus gives a solemn commandment to his apostles and disciples: "What I command you is to love one another". It is about love that Blessed Alexandrina speaks in the poem below, about the love to Jesus.

Holy Easter!

Speak, speak, my heart,
Say, at least in these lines, how much you desire to love your Jesus!
Speak, speak, my heart,
Tell your Jesus you only want Him, and only in Him do you want to rest!

Do not tire, do not stop speaking about love!
Love which is real love, true and pure love,
Cannot keep silent, cannot stop expressing itself.
It has to speak and be forever proving that it loves:

It loves day and night, it loves in pain and in joy, it loves in exaltation
And, if it is a truly pure love, it loves still more when it is mortified.

O love, how great and strong you are!

Pilgrims groups at Balasar

There is a new issue of the Blessed Alexandrina Bulletin of Graces. At the bottom of page three it registers the movement of pilgrims occurred in the previous year.

In 2013, Balasar received 391 groups (75 more than in 2012), ie, there was an increase of 24%.

From Portugal came 366 groups, which corresponds to 94% of the total; 25 groups came from abroad, representing 6% (Philippines, Italy, Brazil, Spain, South Korea's, Croatia, Ireland, Reunion Island, USA, France, Germany, Canada, Latin America).

The Holy Spirit

This time we put subtitles on the transcribed extract of the monthly page. Were copied from the colloquy.

The importance of the first two transcripts does not need to be highlighted; those of the end have a surprising actuality in these times when the crimes of the flesh were legalized by the states as if they were a normal thing. In the last Alexandrina is seen as a source of hope for the world; this gives urgency to the disclosure of her message.

When I had suffered, I began to feel in my soul a flutter of wings: they descended on me from on high. With the eyes of the soul I could see a dove, full of brightness which made ​​my heart its nest. It rose, beat its wings, flew up then fluttered down around me and with its little beak gave me life, and with its brilliance gave me light. Then it returned again to rest in its nest. In these moments, I soaked myself in all that brilliance, in that light, and my soul ceased to suffer. And Jesus, my Jesus, began to say to me:

- You are full of grace, my daughter, because Jesus is with you.

You are full of light, purity and love, because the Holy Spirit has now come down to you from Heaven.

He always lived in you, but now as never before He has come down to you; He has left His throne of glory and come to My throne, My paradise, My heaven on earth. He has come to the nest of your heart.

He has descended on you as He once descended upon the apostles. From now on, you have light, all the light, so that you understand and know the greatness of my love, my power, my mercy and the severity of the injury done to my Divine Heart.

You are a book of sciences, you are the safe where are deposited all the divine sciences, all that belongs to the Father, to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

Oh, wonder! Oh, prodigy without equal!

Your life is the life of the crucified Christ

- O my Jesus, yes, I want to know the greatness of your love, I want to know everything You say, because this what you desire. But ah, to know sin, the seriousness of it, I'm afraid, my Jesus, I'm afraid to offend Thee!

- No, my daughter, no.

You are my beloved spouse, I want you pure, pure, worthy of me. That is why you possess the riches of the Divine Trinity and the riches of Mary.

You will know sin as offense against me, but not in the seriousness and evil of the creatures.

Your life is the life of the crucified Christ.

For nearly twenty centuries the Redeemer has walked through the world, but now he has chosen a new redemptrix. Now, yes, because the world needs her.

The Savior hasn’t come with a savior to continue the same work.

You can accomplish everything, you can possess everything, because I am with you.

I have great desire for your life to be known, but it is not possible without great pain, immolation and sacrifice.

The pain is for you, the glory is for me, the advantage is for souls.

The time has come: let there be light, let it be light! The world needs, the world hungers for, my hidden life in you.

Hurry, hurry, penance, reparation for the sins of the flesh!

Ask for prayer, reparation, amendment of life. Ask for it, my daughter, ask for it, it is not done without being asked for; it cannot be asked for without my divine wish that it be known.

Hurry, hurry, penance, reparation for the sins of the flesh!

Impurity is an open window which gives entry to all mortal sins.

It is urgent that the world converts.

Woe to him, who does not convert quickly! Woe to him, woe to Portugal! Blessed homeland, privileged land for the protection of the Virgin and for the victim who encloses within herself wonders and divine riches without equal!

It's your world; I entrusted it to you, but Portugal is more yours, because you are the safe of the divine riches which I came to give it.

O world, O Portugal, come quickly to your God!

O world, O Portugal, come quickly to your God, arise from the mud, abandon your sins! If you don’t do it, you shall soon weep and cry under the weight of divine justice.

Daughter, my beloved spouse, Heaven wants you, longs for you, will come soon to get you. And the virtues of your life here on earth will shine, will glow like stars in the sky, will spread their brightness to the whole world, the world that is yours.

Your blessing, the fruitful dew of your love will always fall on the earth, while the earth exists

You will come to Heaven, but your blessing, the fruitful dew of your love will always fall on the earth, while the earth exists. You will receive everything from me to give everything to souls. You are of Jesus, you live in Jesus, you give to souls that which is of Jesus.

- Thanks, Jesus. I want to repeat every moment of my life, day and night, without ceasing: I am your victim, I only want to comfort You, I only want to save souls.

At the same time Jesus left me and I fell back into my pain; fell into night and into my martyrdom.

I accept everything because I want to comfort and love my Jesus.

Accept, O Lord, my regret at not knowing how to speak about you, for not knowing how to take your Divine Heart to all souls.

Sentiments of the soul, March 9, 1945

Leo Madigan

Many English speaking friends of Blessed Alexandrina knew her through the book that Leo Madigan wrote, which is for sale in Balasar and that has been translated into Latvian. Wikipedia has a short biography on this writer and expert of Fatima and he recently created a new website. See and hear him still here.

The night of the greatest miracle, of the greatest love of Jesus

At nightfall, I felt reunited with friends. O my God, what happened, what different pictures!

I was Jesus and against my heart felt someone leaning and that someone was me. I was the altar, I was the bread and the wine, I was the chalice from where it was poured, I was the dish from which the food was served. I was Judas. I was all.

I was the sweetness and gentleness of Jesus, I was the despair and betrayal of Judas.

What a night, what holy night, the biggest of all nights, the night of the greatest miracle, of the greatest love of Jesus! His Divine Heart was imprisoned to those who were so dear to Him. To be able to leave, he had to stay among them; to ascend to heaven, had to stay on earth, thus was his Divine Love forced.

I need to clarify all these scenes, but I do not know how.

Sentiments of the Soul, March 8 1945

Well Known Saints

Mary’s Dowry Productions are pleased to launch 2 new DVDs – Well Known Saints: Volume 5 and Well Known Saints: Volume 6. 

This popular series of DVDs presents the stories of some of our most beloved Saints in the Church in an easy to use format with 7 short films per DVD, each accessible individually from a DVD menu.
Volume 5 tells the stories of Saint Louis de Montfort, Saint Rita, Saint John Bosco, Saint Mary Magdalene, Saint Christopher, Saint Gemma Galgani and Saint John of Avila.
Volume 6 tells the stories of Saint Jean Vianney, Saint Juan Diego, Saint Philomena, Saint Margaret of Scotland, Saint Hildegard of Bingham, Saint Anthony of the Desert and Saint John of the Cross.

Each DVD is available worldwide from our online shop or through Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Happy 2014!

As we have been investing much time in the study of the history of Balasar, we’ve rarely found information worthy of appearing on this blog. But we believe that our work is very useful because it provides in-depth knowledge of the parish where Blessed Alexandrina was born, lived and died, that was unknown.

Came out a new issue of the Bulletin of Graces. Was created on Facebook the page "Santuário Alexandrina Balasar".

Our book Balasarenses is being subjected to a comprehensive review work.

To all readers our wishes of a happy 2014.