Excerpts from Mystical City of God by Ven. Mary of Agreda

[Therese]

Thanks for the clarification earlier Therese.

Ingratitude.. It certainly costs us grace!

You are welcome, Shin.  I believe that ingratitude costing us grace is one of the teachings of Francisco de Osuna in his great contemplative work The Third Spiritual Alphabet.

[Shin]

I've said more than once and I should remember more myself, that gratitude is the secret to happiness. 

[Therese]

I've said more than once and I should remember more myself, that gratitude is the secret to happiness.  

Yes, and self-abandonment is the key to interior peace.  

I will work at thanksgiving all day today and from henceforth.  We owe our Lord thanksgiving, faithfulness, all our love, etc. for His goodness and love.

[Shin]

There are two priceless secrets of God.

I wonder what a third would be?

[Therese]

There are two priceless secrets of God.

I wonder what a third would be?

A third could be this: the secret to entering heaven is to enter like a child 100% confident in God, humble and totally dependent on Him, filled with love and admiration for Him, submissive and docile to His Will.  What do you think, Shin?

[Therese]

'She [Blessed Mary] did not feel in her body the force of weight and gravity; therefore She could walk without feeling the inconvenience usual to that kind of exercise; She could move about with instantaneous speed, without feeling any shock or fatigue as we would feel.  All this belonged naturally to the quality and condition of her body, so spiritualized and well-formed.  During the time of her pregnancy She felt even less the weight of her body; although, in order to bear her share of labors, She allowed hardships to produce their effect.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. II, 173

[Therese]

'Although death in all the sons of Adam was the stipend and punishment of sin (Rom. 6, 23), and therefore death and all the other effects and chastisements had no rights in me, who had not sinned; yet the Most High ordained, that I also, in imitation of my most holy Son, should enter into felicity and eternal life by the death of the body ( Luke 24, 26).'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. II, 176

[Therese]

'In such a way must thou study Him and unite thyself to Him, that no created being will come between thy soul and the true and highest Good.  At all times and in all places, occupations and operations thou must keep Him is sight, without releasing Him from the intimate embrace of they heart (Cant. 3, 4).  Therefore I command thee to treat Him with a magnanimous heart, with decorum and reverence, with deepfelt fear of the soul.  And whatever pertains to his divine worship, I desire that thou handle with all attention and care.  Above all in order to enter into his presence by prayer and petitions, free thyself from all sensible and earthly images.  And since human frailty can not always remain constant in the force of love, nor always experience the sweet violence of its movements on account of its earthly nature, thou should seek other assistance, such as will help thee toward the same end of finding thy God.  Such help, for instance, is afforded by his praise in the beauty of the heavens and of the stars, in the variety of plants, in the pleasant vista of the fields, in the forces of the elements, and especially in the exalted nature of the angels and in the glory of his saints.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. II, 188

[Therese]

'But bear continually in mind especially this particular caution, not to seek any earthly alleviation in any event or in any labor which thou art to undergo, nor to indulge in any diversion coming from human creatures; and especially not in those coming from men, for an account of thy naturally weak and yielding character, so much adverse to giving pain, thou placest thyself in danger of exceeding and overstepping the limit of what is allowed or just, following, more than is proper for the religious spouses of my most holy Son, thy sensible likings.  The risks of this negligence all human creatures incur; for if full reins are given to frail human nature, it will not give heed to reason, not to the true light of the Spirit; but, forgetting them entirely, it will blindly follow the impulse of its passions and pleasures.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. II, 189

[Therese]

'And in order that thou mayest be diligent, cultivate love; for love is a fire, which does not have its effect until the material in prepared; therefore let thy heart always be disposed and prepared.  Whenever the Most High bids thee or communicates to thee anything for the welfare of souls, or especially for their eternal salvation, devote thyself to it entirely; for they are bought at the inestimable price of the blood of the Lamb and of divine love.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. II, 199

[Therese]

'The heavenly Princess beheld the interior of her spouse, knowing all that passed within his soul; and in her prudence She reflected how it would naturally be unavoidable, that he should come to know of her pregnancy; for there would be no possibility of concealing it from her most beloved and chaste spouse.  The great Lady did not know at the time, how God would arrange this matter; yet, although she had not received any intimation or command to conceal this mystery, her heavenly prudence and discretion taught Her that it would be proper to conceal it as a great sacrament, greater than all other mysteries.  Therefore She kept it secret, saying not a word about it to her husband, neither after the message of the angel. nor during this journey [to the house of Zacharias], nor later on, during the anxieties occasioned to saint Joseph at becoming aware of her pregnancy.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. II, 204

[Therese]

'Tender compassion filled my heart, especially for the suffering and the infirm, and I tried to obtain some relief for all.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. II, 214

Mary cured people of their sicknesses.  In paragraph 207 we read about how our Lady commanded a fever to leave a maiden.  This miracle was not public, as were all of the miracles she performed. 

[Shin]

'Tender compassion filled my heart, especially for the suffering and the infirm, and I tried to obtain some relief for all.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. II, 214

Amen. 

[Therese]

Sorry that I could not post excerpts today.  I hope to tomorrow.  God bless you all! 

[Therese]

'At the same time the fortunate child [St. John the Baptist], looking through the walls of the maternal womb as through clear glass upon the incarnate Word, and assuming a kneeling posture, adored his Redeemer and Creator, whom he beheld in most holy Mary as if enclosed in a chamber made of purest crystal.  This was the movement of jubilation, which was felt by his mother Elisabeth as coming from the infant in her womb (Luke 1, 44).'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. II, 218

In paragraph 216 (two paragraphs prior to the above paragraph), Jesus, very tiny at eight days old, assumes this same posture of kneeling to ask in earnest prayer of His Father for the justification of St. John the Baptist, obtaining it from the Blessed Trinity. 

[Therese]

'I wish that in imitation of my cousin Elisabeth, thou do not enter into any friendship with any human creatures, except those, with whom thou canst and shouldst converse about the works of the Most High and of his mysteries, and with whom thou canst learn to pursue the true path of his divine pleasure.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, City of God, Vol. II, 230