Aug. 9, 2019

Exile to the Desert

In this week's ecstasy, Catholic mystic and victim soul, Marie-Julie Jahenny, experiences being in the Church during this time of Exile, and how submissive prayer to God's Holy Will brings relief from the common sufferings of these times.

Adolphe Charbonnier (one of the secretaries) notes that Marie-Julie has let her arms fall, inert, beside her body. Her crucifix has escaped from her right hand. While she speaks, large tears sometimes fall from her eyes; her voice is exhausted, she is panting.

After 15 minutes of immobility, she begins to stir, to sigh.

“I entered,” says she, “in the desert of the Exile… I remained alone, searching in vain for the word by which Holy Church teaches us the eternal Truths. (1)

(Footnote 1: We think of the Church in Exile, which Marie-Julie prefigures).

“I could not find them. My soul, plunged into agony, lifted its eyes, veiled by tears, toward He who said: ‘I am the Voice who consoles and strengthens on the day of distress.’

“My soul did not hear anything. She felt herself dig deep down within her soul as if it were a temple where no lamp is lit, nothing but darkness.

“The sky appeared loaded down with immense clouds of pain. There would be no hope! I do not know what happens and is done… My soul can never say that it despairs… but my soul sees that word around it. My soul does not pronounce this word of despair, but it escapes from her.

“Since nothing is ordered anymore, I do not command myself and I say: ‘I am leaving this desert.’ In complete abandon, I would look at the sky… The entirety of its creatures are reduced to the same degree of pain. Everything is in the same state.

“In a last effort, my soul says:

‘Glory to the Father, glory to the Son, glory to the Holy Ghost, now and always, now more than ever, as in the beginning and forever and ever.’

“That is all my soul can find.”

The End of Marie-Julie’s vision.

Marie-Julie again takes her Crucifix in her hand, but she seems hardly able to hold the weight. She does this, for the first time, without a surge of love. Her eyes, red from tears, express a profound anxiety. She speaks in a low voice; she sees the sky half open, but nothing appears to her.

A mysterious voice says to her: “No consolation!”

She replies, as always: “May Thy Holy Will be done!”

This voice, without a doubt that of the Lord, is moved a bit and says:

“I am not a murderer; I am a Father of love. I am going to bless you, but I will not reveal Myself.”

                               Christ's Blessing follows.

(Part of ecstasy of 23 August 1880)

[Source: pp. 259 - 260, Cris du Ciel, by P. Roberdel].

 Reflection on this ecstasy:

In this ecstasy Marie-Julie is mystically taken into our time, to the time of the Exile of Holy Mother Church. We do not know which Pope has been elected during this time of Exile that Marie-Julie experiences because there is no teaching coming from the Hierarchy.

This is important, because it is a time of Divine Punishment for mankind, and the silence from the Hierarchy seems to be a result of the necessary hiddenness of the Vicar of Christ.

In this ecstasy, Marie-Julie is taken to experience the shock and the suffering of this time of Exile for the laity.

It is so strong, that she is deeply affected even after the ecstasy is over.

Let us contemplate what Marie-Julie experiences:

First, she finds herself alone: “I entered,” says she, “in the desert of the Exile… I remained alone, searching in vain for the word by which Holy Church teaches us the eternal Truths.” There are no true Catholics around her. No one is speaking in a Catholic way, or living in a Catholic way. There is no Papal presence to be listened to for guidance. As a result, the eternal Truths have been utterly trampled underfoot and Marie-Julie is unable to find a single reference to anything remotely Catholic.

As a result, Marie-Julie feels extreme suffering: She lifts her eyes, “veiled by tears” to God. Seeking a consolation common to all of us, she goes to her Catholic reading, recalling: “ ‘I am the Voice who consoles and strengthens on the day of distress.’ ”

But the bleak desert situation does not change: “My soul did not hear anything. She felt herself dig deep down within her soul as if it were a temple where no lamp is lit, nothing but darkness.” Marie-Julie is caught in a spiritual darkness, and the silence from God that is all around her has even entered her mind and soul. She finds no comfort, no light to guide her.

All around her, there is an equal pain and also despair: “There would be no hope! I do not know what happens and is done…” Here we sense the confusion that only holy hope can lessen, but “[t]here would be no hope!”

God help those poor suffering souls who, knowing of the Exile of the Papacy, fall into a despair, a loss of all hope, as time goes on!

We must always remember that this time of Exile is a time of Divine Punishment for a sinful world, and that the hiddenness of the Papacy is a result of the Divine Will, and may be a necessary measure to ensure that the Papacy endures to the end of time, as Christ promised Saint Peter:

“Thou art Peter, and upon this Rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Mt.16: 18-19).

We must never give up hope in God’s Divine Plan, even if we do not understand the particulars of why the Hierarchy must be silent.

We must cling to the Catholic Truth that the Holy Ghost guides the Holy Father.

We must also be humble enough to admit that we are not entitled to know God’s Holy Will.

Marie-Julie knows that it is a sin against the Holy Ghost to despair against God, however, even she comes very close to despair herself: “My soul can never say that it despairs… but my soul sees that word around it. My soul does not pronounce this word of despair, but it escapes from her.”

Without the voice of the Catholic Church to create order out of chaos, Marie-Julie seems to rebel: “Since nothing is ordered anymore, I do not command myself and I say: ‘I am leaving this desert.’ She who is a holy victim soul is so badly shocked and deeply anguished by the satanic environment that we endure around us today, that she seems desperate to leave.

But God reminds her that all souls, whether Catholic or not, are caught in the same horrible suffering: “In complete abandon, I would look at the sky… The entirety of its creatures are reduced to the same degree of pain. Everything is in the same state.”

And now, our dear friend remembers her God-given role to suffer and make reparation for souls who would otherwise be damned: “In a last effort, [her] soul says:

‘Glory to the Father, glory to the Son, glory to the Holy Ghost, now and always, now more than ever, as in the beginning and forever and ever.’

Here is the heroism that we who know Marie-Julie Jahenny as a true friend and a privileged soul have come to expect from her: She says, “That is all my soul can find.” And with these words, we know that hers has been a super-human effort to pray to glorify God in His Holy Will. She gives her yes.

By accepting the Divine Punishment of the Exile, Marie-Julie is removed from her suffering, and comes out of her ecstasy. The experience has left her shaken, and she is absolutely exhausted. She takes up her crucifix in her hand again, but “she seems hardly able to hold the weight” of it.

Her secretary, Adolphe Charbonnier, who has been faithfully recording this ecstasy, writes: “Her eyes, red from tears, express a profound anxiety. She speaks in a low voice; she sees the sky half open, but nothing appears to her.”

There is no Virgin Mother or Saint friend to come to console her. Saint Joseph is not there, Christ is not there either, but she hears His Voice saying, simply:

“No consolation!”

And Marie-Julie understands that this is God’s Holy Will. Adolphe Charbonnier records: “She replies, as always: ‘May Thy Holy Will be done!’ ”

We have our holy friend back, with all of her obedience and faith intact!

How perfectly Marie-Julie models for us what our response should always be to whatever sufferings God justly gives us: “May Thy Holy Will be done!”

And God will bless our faithfulness to the Roman Catholic Faith and to prayer, for as He tells Marie-Julie:

“I am not a murderer; I am a Father of love. I am going to bless you, but I will not reveal Myself.”

Let us now carefully consider these powerful final words of our Lord.

So many people have contacted us, wanting to know where the nearest church building is where they can go to receive the true Holy Sacraments, in communion with Pope Gregory XVIII, the reigning Pope in Exile.

Others look for regular spiritual guidance for their lives.

These decades of the Exile of the Papacy have been very difficult years, years of real suffering.

Christ says it in this ecstasy: “No consolation!”

A Roman Catholic’s consolation is to be able to receive the Holy Sacraments on a regular basis. During this time of Exile of the Papacy, this consolation has been removed because the Authority, the Vicar of Christ, has been removed. The result is that most so-called "bishops" and "priests" are not truly able to provide the laity with the Holy Sacraments.

Roman Catholics who are aware of the Exile of the Papacy suffer lives of prayerful penance because they are without the Holy Sacraments for long periods of time. But they remain in Communion with the Vicar of Christ, exiled or not.

They know: Where Peter is, there is the Church.

Those souls newly out of the Church of Darkness (= any of the false groups out there who claim to be the Roman Catholic Church, but are not in communion with the exiled Pope) do not always understand how to be at peace with this Divine Punishment: the Silence of the Exile.

Their restlessness is a struggle of acceptance of God’s Holy Will, based on the very real shock of suffering that they experience for the first time in their lives.

The secret to come away from despair, anger, and/or rebellion is steadfast, daily prayer; especially prayer of the Most Holy Rosary, our greatest weapon!

It is Marie-Julie’s prayer which praises God which releases her from her intense suffering and brings her relief.

We who are living through this time can only find peace through daily prayer! We have learned to establish our prayer routines, morning and evening.

We laity who are living this Exile with the Holy Father, Pope Gregory XVIII, and His Hierarchy are spiritually uniting ourselves to the Rock, and thus the Barque, in our prayers.

And by doing so, we unite ourselves with God Himself.

Deo gratias for this ecstasy which reminds us of the peace that comes from prayerful communion with God! May the Holy Father, Pope Gregory XVIII, the Hierarchy, and all of the Elect be perfected so that we may live this time of Exile with the courage of the Saints!

 "We declare, say, define and proclaim to every human creature that they by necessity for salvation are entirely subject to the Roman Pontiff ." - Decree of Pope Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam,Nov. 18, 1302,ex cathedra