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

[Therese]

'While receiving his own body and blood Christ our Lord composed a canticle of praise to the eternal Father and offered Himself in the Blessed Sacrament as a sacrifice for the salvation of man.  He took another particle of the consecrated bread and handed it to the archangel Gabriel who brought and communicated it to the most holy Mary....When saint Gabriel with innumerable other angels approached, She received it, the first after her Son, imitating his self-abasement, reverence and holy fear.  The most blessed Sacrament was deposited in the breast and above the heart of the most holy Virgin Mother, as in the most legitimate shrine and tabernacle of the Most High.  There the ineffable sacrament of the holy Eucharist remained deposited from that hour until after the Resurrection, when saint Peter said the first Mass and consecrated anew, as I shall relate in its place.  The Almighty wished to have it so for the consolation of the great Queen and in order to fulfill his promise, that He would remain with the children of men until the consummation of the ages (Matth. 28, 20); for after his death his most holy humanity could not remain in his Church any other way than by his consecrated body and blood.  This true manna was then deposited in the most pure Mary as in the living ark together with the whole evangelical law, just as formerly its prophetic figures were deposited in the ark of Moses (Heb. 9, 4).  The sacramental species were not consumed or altered in the heart of the Lady and Queen of heaven until the next consecration.  Having received holy Communion, the blessed Mother gave thanks to the eternal Father and to her divine Son in new canticles similar to the ones the incarnate Word had rendered to his Father.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 486

[Therese]

'The perfidious and treacherous Judas, hearing the command of his Master to partake of holy Communion, resolved in his unbelief not to comply, but if he could do so without being observed, determined to secrete the sacred body and bring it to the priests and pharisees in order to afford them a chance of incriminating Jesus by showing them what He had called his own body; or if he should not succeed therein, to consummate some other vile act of malice with the divine Sacrament.  The Mistress and Queen of heaven, who by a clear vision was observing all that passed and knew the interior and exterior effects and affections of the Apostles at holy Communion, saw also the accursed intentions of the obstinate Judas.  All the zeal for the glory of her Lord, existing in her as his Mother, Spouse and Daughter, was aroused in her purest heart.  Knowing that it was the divine will, that She should make use of her power as Mother and Queen, She commanded the holy angels to extract from the mouth of Judas the consecrated particles as well of the bread as of the wine and replace them from whence they had been taken.  It well befitted her on this occasion to defend the honor of her divine Son and prevent Judas from heaping such an ignominious injury upon Christ the Lord.  The holy angels obeyed their Queen, and when it was the turn of Judas to communicate, they withdrew the consecrated species one after the other, and purifying them from their contact with Judas, the most wicked of living men, they restored them to their place, altogether unobserved by the disciples.  Thus the Lord shielded the honor of his malicious and obstinate Apostle to the end.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 488

[Therese]

'But while the omnipotent and just Judge who is so greatly incensed against the Catholics for having outraged his justice by their unmeasurable and continual transgressions even under the aegis of their grand faith, none are found to consider and weigh the fearful damage, nor to approach the easy remedy of receiving the holy Eucharist with a contrite and humble heart; nor does any one ask for my intercession.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 490

[Shin]

Three priceless quotes.

The one about Judas at the Last Supper is especially relieving, I always wondered exactly what happened. What a privilege to finally know!

Blessed Mother, intercede we pray, to protect Our Lord's Sacred Body and Blood.

[Therese]

Three priceless quotes.

The one about Judas at the Last Supper is especially relieving, I always wondered exactly what happened. What a privilege to finally know!

Blessed Mother, intercede we pray, to protect Our Lord's Sacred Body and Blood.

Dear Shin, if there is one work that everybody should read in its entirety (besides the Holy Bible), it is Mystical City of God.  There is so much in this work that I have not posted that you would feel most privileged to know!

[Therese]

Note:

Enoch and Elias were sent by the angels to the Last Supper and received Holy Communion.  Other men were present at the Last Supper besides the Apostles, Enoch and Elias.  Blessed Mary and other holy women were in a nearby room as the Last Supper took place, Mary interiorly could see all that was taking place in the other room where her Son celebrated the Last Supper.

[Therese]

'In this prayer Christ our Lord offered Himself anew to the eternal Father in satisfaction of his justice for the rescue of the human race; and He gave consent, that all the torments of his Passion and Death be let loose over that part of his human being, which was capable of suffering.  From that moment He suspended and restrained whatever consolation or relief would otherwise overflow from the impassible to the passible part of his being, so that in this dereliction his passions and sufferings might reach the highest degree possible.  The eternal Father granted these petitions and approved this total sacrifice of the sacred humanity.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 498

[Therese]

'Secluding Herself with these three [Marys] as her more intimate companions, She begged the eternal Father to suspend in Her all human alleviation and comfort, both in the sensitive and in the spiritual part of her being, so that nothing might hinder Her from suffering in the highest degree in union with Her divine Son.  She prayed that She might be permitted to feel and participate in her virginal body all the pains of the wounds and tortures about to be undergone by Jesus.  This petition was granted by the blessed Trinity and the Mother in consequence suffered all the torments of her most holy Son in exact duplication, as I shall relate later.  Although they were such, that, if the right hand of the Almighty had not preserved Her, they would have caused Her death many times over; yet, on the other hand, these sufferings, inflicted by God himself, were like a pledge and a new lease on life.  For in her most ardent love She would have considered it incomparably more painful to see Her divine Son suffer and die without being allowed to share in his torments'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 508

[Therese]

'Though to die for his friends and for the predestined was pleasing to Him and longingly desired by our Savior; yet to die for the reprobate was indeed bitter and painful; for with regard to them the impelling motive for accepting the pains of death was wanting....This chalice then was so bitter for Christ our Lord, because he knew that his drinking it would not only be without fruit for the reprobate, but would be a scandal to them and redound to their greater chastisement and pain on account of their despising it (I Cor. 1, 23).

Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 502





I understood therefore that in this prayer Christ besought his Father to let this chalice of dying for the reprobate pass from Him.  Since now his Death was not to be evaded, He asked that none, if possible should be lost; He pleaded, that as his Redemption would be superabundant for all, that therefore it should be applied to all in such a way as to make all, if possible, profit by it in an efficacious manner; and if this was not possible, He would resign Himself to the will of his eternal Father.  Our Savior repeated this prayer three times at different intervals (Matth. 26, 44), pleading the longer in his agony in view of the importance and immensity of the object in question (Luke, 22, 43).  According to our way of understanding, there was a contention or altercation between the most sacred humanity and the Divinity of Christ.  For this humanity, in its intense love for men who were of his own nature, desired that all should attain eternal salvation through his Passion; while his Divinity, in its secret and high judgments, had fixed the number of the predestined and in its divine equity could not concede its blessings to those who so much despised them, and who, of their own free will, made themselves unworthy of eternal life by repelling the kind intentions of Him who procured and offered it to them.  From this conflict arose the agony of Christ, in which He prayed so long and in which He appealed so earnestly to the power and majesty of his omnipotent and eternal Father.

Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 503

[Therese]

'Estimate then, and weigh within thy soul, how important is the eternal predestination or reprobation of souls, since my most holy Son looked upon it with such great anxiety, that the difficulty or impossibility of saving all men added such immense bitterness to the Death, which He was about to suffer for us all.  By this conflict He manifests to us the importance and gravity of the matter under consideration, He prolonged His supplications and prayers to his eternal Father and his love for men caused his most precious blood to ooze forth from his body on perceiving, that the malice of men would make them unworthy of participation in the benefits of his death.  The Lord my Son has indeed justified his cause in thus having lavished his love and his merits without measure for the purchase of man's salvation; and likewise the eternal Father has justified Himself in presenting to the world such a remedy and in having made it possible for each one freely to reach out for such widely different lots, as death and life, fire and water (Eccli. 15, 71).

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 510

[Shin]

This chalice then was so bitter for Christ our Lord, because he knew that his drinking it would not only be without fruit for the reprobate, but would be a scandal to them and redound to their greater chastisement and pain on account of their despising it (I Cor. 1, 23).

This really makes one think of the depths of Our Lord's love.

[Therese]

This chalice then was so bitter for Christ our Lord, because he knew that his drinking it would not only be without fruit for the reprobate, but would be a scandal to them and redound to their greater chastisement and pain on account of their despising it (I Cor. 1, 23).

This really makes one think of the depths of Our Lord's love.

Jesus has proven to us over and over again that His love for us is infinitely abysmal.  How can some people not be moved to return love for love?  How can we fail to love Him above all else?

[Therese]

"His [our Lord Jesus'] enemies could not understand or fathom the true meaning of these words:  I am He [spoken in the Garden of Gethsemane].  But his most blessed Mother and the angels understood them, as did also, to a great extent, the Apostles....As the Lord spoke with divine power, his enemies could not resist and when his words struck their ears, they all fell backwards to the ground (John 18, 6).  This happened not only to the soldiers, but to the dogs, which they had brought with them, and to the horses on which some of them rode:  all of them fell to the ground and remained motionless like stones.  Lucifer and his demons were hurled down with them, deprived of motion and suffering new confusion and torture.  Thus they remained for some seven or eight minutes, showing no more signs of life than if they had died.

"Sadly our divine Lord contemplated the picture of eternal damnation exhibited in them and listened to the prayer of his most holy Mother to let them rise, for upon her intercession his divine will had made that dependent.'

Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 518-519

[Therese]

'Consider the ignorance of men who wish to come to the Father without following Christ, since they expect to reign with God without suffering or imitating his Passion, yea without even a thought of accepting any part of his suffering and Death, or of thanking Him for it.  They want it to procure for them the pleasures of this life as well of eternal life, while Christ their Creator has suffered the most bitter pains and torments in order to enter heaven and to show them by his example how they are to find the way of light.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 526

[Therese]

'Eternal rest is incompatible with the shame of not having duly labored for its attainment.  He is not a true son of his father, who does not imitate him, nor he a good disciple, who does not follow his Master, nor he a good servant, who does not accompany his lord; nor do I count him a devoted child, who does not suffer with me and my divine Son.  But our love for the eternal salvation of men obliges us, who see them forgetful of this truth and so adverse to suffering, to send them labors and punishments, so that if they do not freely welcome  them, they may at least be forced to undergo them and so be enabled to enter upon the way of salvation.  And yet even all this is insufficient, since their inclinations and their blind love of visible things detains them and makes them hard and heavy of heart; they rob them of remembrance and affection towards these higher things, which might raise them above themselves and above created things.  Hence it comes, that men do not find joy in their tribulations, nor rest in their labors, nor consolation in their sorrows, nor any peace in adversities.  For, altogether different from the saints who glory in tribulation as the fulfilment of their most earnest desires, they desire none of it and abhor all that is painful.  In many of the faithful this ignorance goes still farther; for some of them expect to be distinguished by God's most intimate love, others, to be pardoned without penance, others, to be highly favored.  Nothing of all this will they attain, because they do not ask in the name of Christ the Lord and because they do not wish to imitate Him and follow Him in his Passion.'

'Therefore, my daughter, embrace the Cross and do not admit any consolation outside of it in this mortal life.  By contemplating and feeling within thyself the sacred Passion thou wilt attain the summit of perfection and attain the love of a spouse.  Bless and magnify my most holy Son for the love with which He delivered Himself up for the salvation of mankind.  Little do mortals heed this mystery; but I, as an Eyewitness, assure thee, next to ascending to the right hand of his eternal Farther, nothing was so highly estimated and so earnestly desired by Him, as to offer Himself for suffering and death and to deliver Himself up entirely to his enemies.  I wish also that thou lament with great sorrow the fact that Judas, in his malice and treachery, has many more followers than Christ.  Many are the infidels, many the bad Catholics, many the hypocrites, who under the name of a Christian, sell and deliver Him and wish to crucify Him anew.  Bewail all these evils, which thou understandest and knowest, in order that thou mayest imitate and follow me in this manner.'

Our Lady to Ven. Mary of Agreda, Mystical City of God, Vol. III, 527-528

[Shin]

The consolation of Our Lord's Passion...