Jeannine T. Blanchette

“There Are Always Dawns for the
Sons of the Light”

Heaven designated the year 2009 as the “Year of the Rainbow” which “always expresses a unity of relations, of exchanges between heaven and earth” (Dictionary of Symbols). On this same theme, we can also read in the Old Testament that it is a “sign” that encourages us to give thanks to God: “Behold the rainbow! Then bless its Maker, for majestic indeed is its splendor. It spans the heavens with its glory, this bow bent by the mighty hand of God.” (Sir 43:11-12) Moreover, this “sign” was present on the morning of January 1, 2009, above Spiri-Maria, like a divine seal affixed upon this new “Holy Land”.

"In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph."

It is fitting to note as well that at the end of the memorable days we lived at Spiri-Maria during the recent triduum, several  people from various areas of Quebec indicated having seen a rainbow appear in the firmament on the evening of May 31. That “sign” reminded us that salvation comes from On-High, as is the case in every victory of good over evil. In the spirit of that day of grace, we could have made our own the signal motto of Judas Maccabee: “Victoria de coelo” (2 Mc 13:15), for the canonization of our Foundress, announced such a long time ago, is most certainly a victory of God’s Heart.

FATIMA AND THE LADY: ONE AND THE SAME MYSTERY

In the White Book IV, Mother Paul-Marie wrote: “The programs foreseen for May 30 and 31 distress and crush me. It will be the triumph of Mary of Fa­tima.” (p. 210) Now, concerning those apparitions, let us analyze two historical elements allowing us to see that there is definitively a link between Fatima and the Lady. During the month of Mary, on May 5, 1917, Pope Benedict XV prepared the way for those apparitions. Let us note the mystical aspect of the number: Benedict XV, that is, 5+5+5; thus this Pope bore in his name the mystical number of the Lady. Moreover, it was on May 5, that is, the 5th day of the 5th month of the year, that he proclaimed Mary “Queen of Peace”. Once again, by that very fact, he was linked to the mystical number of the Lady. So, this Pope designated Mary as “Queen of Peace”, and the following Sunday, through celestial circumstances, the apparitions at Fatima began. And so it was that “at the hour of the Angelus, the Queen of Peace came to Portugal, to the Cova da Iria, the Valley of Irene, which is the Greek word for ‘peace’. (Raoul Auclair, La Prophétie des Papes, pp. 56-57)

Pope
Benedict XV
(1914-1922)

Pope
Pius XII
(1939-1958)

Another Pontiff, Pope Pius XII, was also mystically attached to Fatima while being, at the same time, united to the Lady’s mystery. Heaven willed that, in 1950, this Pope should see, in the Vatican gardens, the phenomenon which had taken place at Fatima during the miracle of the sun. We should note that this Pope’s coat of arms bore the dove of peace holding in its beak an olive branch. This symbol, according to Raoul Auclair, “is like the guarantee that the earth would soon be purified, the Church soon renewed”. (Id., p. 62) Therefore, it was not by chance that Heaven indicated to Mother Paul-Marie that she should request this Pope’s blessing which he granted right away. Based on what Raoul Auclair said, Pope Pius XII’s coat of arms already announced the renewed Church of John.

Bringing together a same mystery, these two Popes, each in their own way, were mystically linked to the Lady of All Peoples through whom the triumph of Fatima was realized last May 31.

MAKING THE CROSS BLOSSOM AGAIN

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

Marie-Paule appears as the one whose mission it was to cause the wood of the cross to blossom again, as it is symbolically represented in the sanctuary at Spiri-Maria. Just as her Life of Love represents the quintessence of the mystical life, so too there exists a relationship of soul between her and all the men and women who have already been canonized as saints, but even more so with the little Saint of Lisieux. An eloquent sign: it was on a September 14 that Thérèse of Lisieux chose to cause the wood of her crucifix to blossom by pulling off “rose petals which then slipped off her bed onto the floor of the infirmary”. (Ma Vocation, c’est l’Amour, p. 11) The picture describing Thérèse covering her crucifix with petals is really touching, as these petals would then spread on the floor of this place where illness raged, a certain September 14. Is it not possible to see in this a symbolic image prefiguring the fact that our world sick from sin would ultimately be saved by the beflowered cross, thanks to the Lady’s “Fiat”, she who was born on a September 14? For this latter was charged with a sublime mission: to make of the earth submerged by all kinds of ills, a new Terrestrial Paradise. Having surrendered herself entirely at the age of twelve to the divine will, Heaven became her guide. Saint Thomas Aquinas said in this regard: “Those God chooses for something, He prepares them and disposes them in such a way that they will be considered capable of doing that for which they were chosen.” (Quoted by J.-M. Perrin, pp. 43-44) Through the total giving of herself, Marie-Paule was able to give a purified earth back to God.

She gave of herself to the utmost limits of her strength in order to build up God’s Work, defending it despite all the obstacles, having had to have recourse so often to her pen to clear away the filth thrown at it by the adversaries, demonstrating a heroic courage at every moment like those Israelites who built the walls of Jerusalem, working with one hand and holding a sword in the other. Her volumes of Life of Love are like her “walls of Jerusalem” against which so many underhanded attacks were and will continue to come to nought, for all her prophecies, with but a few exceptions, have now been fulfilled. This Work was written with the “blood of the heart”, to use her own words, amid all kinds of tribulations and continuous suffering, everything always hidden by a smile, to the point where her smile was as though “crucified on her face”, to take up again Marc Bosquart’s very suggestive phrase.

THE SPIRITUAL FRUITFULNESS OF “LIFE OF LOVE”

Perhaps we will never be able to exhaust the riches of Life of Love which is like a diamond with a thousand faces in which each one can discover in it his share of light. Saint Thomas, following Denis the Areopagus, declared that good is diffusive of self: “Bonum diffusivum sui”. (The SummaTheologica)

Life of Love has already begun to uplift the moral level of humanity by arousing thousands of souls that atone and compensate for others, as it could be remarked during the last triduum. To the excesses of evil, they oppose excesses of good, which caused certain right-thinking persons to declare: “In the Army of Mary, you do too much! You are more Catholic than the Pope!” In these times of widespread apostasy, it is no doubt true that our members have had to acquire “a supplement of soul” for those who are without.

Hans Urs von Balthasar said that it was from the Virgin Mary that Christ learned to say “yes” all during His life. The same is true for Marie-Paule who learned from Mary to utter her “FIAT” which led her to the end of her mission. Her entire life has been but one uninterrupted act of love.

Thanks to the opening of the Church of John, the recognition of her holiness has now become official. Her mission is accomplished. Henceforth, it will be a matter for us of opening our arms and our hearts to the men and women who are sincerely seeking the truth about this divine Work and even to those who ridiculed it.

As we ask for the help of the Holy Spirit while respecting their progression, it will be a matter of helping them understand that on this desolate earth has passed she who has beetn its liberator, as the beautiful hymn “O Reine du Rosaire” designates her, reminding them at the same time “that we must not despair, for regardless of the darkness prevailing over the world, there are always dawns for the sons of light.” (Canon Coubé) And Mother Paul-Marie will have paid dearly for it.

Jeannine Thiffault Blanchette