Mary, Mother of the Eucharist and Mother of all men

Prayer vigil of October 23, 2004

It is the second year that we celebrate the feast of the Mother of the Eucharist in the day of the anniversary of the beginning of the public apparitions.

The subjects chosen for the prayer vigil want to point out some aspects of Mary's figure, just like made us know them both the Bishop and Our Lady herself, by the innumerable God's letters that she has been bringing to us for many years.

We will dwell especially upon the motherly love that Mary has shown to all men since the first moment of her conception, because she has always known that she would have become the Mother of Jesus, the One who will sacrifice his life to save mankind.

As St. Paul says in the letter to the Ephesians, we are "adoptive children by means of Jesus Christ" and just being that, the Lord gave us Mary as mother, who through each deed of hers, each prayer of hers, each thought of hers, she gives us her great love and indicates us the way to Jesus the Eucharist and to holiness.

The sweetness of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist

It is reductive to affirm that Mary is the quintessence of sweetness, because our evaluation is always based on human criteria and considerations. When we think about a sweet person, someone comes into our mind who speaks to us tenderly, who addresses us with a confidential and motherly glance, who warms our heart; in a few words, someone who holds us tightly with a sincere hug. No, Mary is much more than this. The roots of her sweetness reach an immensity which is impossible to understand, it is not comparable to the one of other creatures on the Earth, because Mary lives her love and maternity in an enormously greater way than any other human being can do.

We never dwell enough upon this aspect of the Mother of the Eucharist, and yet Mary is like this, she is that mum who prefers to hide herself behind a "veil", so that neither her shadow can minimally obscure the greatness and sweetness of her Son Jesus, just like we read in the Canticle of Canticles: "How beautiful you are, my friend, how beautiful you are! Your eyes are doves, behind your veil…". It is up to us being able to perceive, as much as possible, the brightness of that treasure, precious in God's eyes Who, addressing her, said: "Mary, my sweet creature…" (Our Lady's life, Chapter 2); a treasure that God allows us to appreciate, admire and enjoy each time we need it and that she gives with her hands full to all her children, comforting, reassuring, urging to go on in the difficult moments: "During the day if you face some difficulties, don't get discouraged, but go on and say a prayer" (Letter of God, 11th February 2001).

Lovableness has accompanied her for all her life; shines through the book of her life how sweet she was in the relationship with the little Jesus and her beloved spouse Joseph.

Her way of speaking, the passion that induces her to love God and the men, the enthusiasm that she infuses into us in praying and in letting ourselves be led by God, in abandoning ourselves to Him, everything is sweetness in her, even a motherly reproach.

She says of herself: "I am queen, but servant of everybody, servant of God, servant of the men" (Letter of God, 23rd August 1999), because her authority doesn't originate from her royalty, but from the immensity of her motherly love that leads and supports us. Maybe a superficial listener cannot understand the infinite sweetness and regret that the heavenly Mother lives when she must reproach us.

When a person reproaches us it doesn't mean that he is not sweet, that he doesn't love us, but that in virtue of this love, he must reproach us, even in a severe way if necessary. So Our Lady corrects us, but she suffers when she sees we are wrong, when she corrects us and even she asks forgiveness when she addresses us in some way: "My beloved children, forgive me if I have spoken to you like that, but I am the Mother of Heaven and Earth, me too, I have to obey God" (Letter of God, 25th March 2001).

How many times should we ask forgiveness for not putting into practice her teachings?

Nevertheless it is limitative to speak about Mary's sweetness in human terms; her quality is fed and supported by the precious gifts given to her by God: "Human creature gifted by God with supernatural, preternatural and natural talents"; this is what we read in the litanies written by our Bishop. That's why Mary's sweetness must be considered not only as an expression of her love, but also as the fruit of God's grace that abounds in her.

Prayer

Here she is, she comes,

with a beam of light,

her, daughter, bride, mother.

She is sent by the one who is all,

our hearts call her unceasingly.

The anxiety of our spirit

is placated by the balm of her words.

Like a child who leans forward,

and eagerly waits for a hug,

we are held tight by her love,

protected my her mantle.

She gives us motherly reproaches,

the feelings in their excess

are placated by her sweet caress.

She is mother, she is always with us,

she suffers, rejoices, prays with us.

Her scent

melts our hardness,

arrives as a light breeze,

fills our loneliness,

the sad heart is lessened.

No, any human word

even if sweet,

cannot figure

her greatness.

The immensity is contained

in a ray of moonlight.

The company of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist

This is an other extraordinary gift given by God to mankind and to us, little flock, called to live so extraordinary experiences. Surely we enjoy particularly the company of the Mother of the Eucharist when she brings to us the letters of God and also when her presence is less tangible, she is always there, as she repeated a lot of times: "I am always next to you; also when you don't notice it I am with you" (Letter of God, 23rd January 1994).

It is a company of whole and intimate comprehension: "I had the gift of seeing everything, of seeing you one by one, I know what passes inside your heart" (Letter of God, 5th February 1994); she knows us intimately, she sees our problems, but also our defects, limits and faults and continuously she corrects, advices and encourages us. The Mother of the Eucharist gives us much, many times we discovered that she reads inside our heart and gratuitously fulfils our prayers by interceding with God.

Her company is full of solidarity: Mary prays with us when we pray the holy Rosary, she prostrates before her Son Jesus when we do the eucharistic adoration. She is always next to Marisa and supports her in the endless moments of passion. If Mary's presence were not so strong and constant, our sister would not be able to bear the physical, moral and spiritual sufferings after so many years. As a matter of fact, one of the greatest sufferings asked by God to Marisa is the abstinence from seeing Our Lady.

On November 1, 1993 the Mother of the Eucharist said: "I am always with you, I want to help you. During the holy Mass I am next to the Priest, I unite myself with you and I also pray my Son Jesus for the whole world". The Bishop the Eucharist, who is particularly united with Christ's sufferings, was gifted by God with the presence of the Mother of the Eucharist when he celebrates the holy Mass. The Bishop values much this gift, which is a great gift also for us the faithful, to live the holy Mass more deeply and to kneel down like Mary to adore her Son Jesus during the consecration. He often confided to us to feel the Mother of the Eucharist close to him and to wish her motherly hug.

Her company is made of sharing and participation: the Mother of the Eucharist, when she appears to our sister Marisa, suffers for all that happens in the world, so she is often sad, cries and asks us to pray for the sick, the poor, the children of the third world. She suffers together with the Bishop and Marisa and doesn't make them miss her motherly comfort. At the same time she shares also our joys, like the birth and baptism of a new child and the steps forward taken by the community in the spiritual field.

Her company is sweet, discrete, but active and working: she gains for us the graces we need. She helps us in everything, both in the spiritual field and in the ordinary everyday life, in our relationships with the others, even in the most little duties, to bring us step by step to holiness.

Her company is full of love: when she greets us at the end of every apparition she says: "I bring you all tight to my heart"; she holds us tight, she hugs us strongly to show us her love. Anywhere we are and whatever we do, we are held tight to Mary's heart. Then, before going away and coming back to the Father, the heavenly Mother adds: "I cover you with my maternal mantle"; so she always protects us and especially in the difficult moments, when we feel alone, weak and fragile, let's think about her mantle reassuring us; as a matter of fact, she said many times: "Cling to my mantle, don't worry, it doesn't get torn" (Letter of God, 11th February 1997).

It is very important to remind that, to enjoy Mary's company, it is necessary to live in a state of grace: "I will be always with you. You know that when my Son went to evangelize with the apostles, I was always with Him in bi-location and now I am doing the same with you; even if you do not see me, I am near the people, but only if they are in a state of grace" (Letter of God, 27th May 2004). On March 5, 1994 she addressed her children like this: "If I am with you, my Son Jesus is with you, God the Father is with you, God the Holy Spirit is with you". So being with Our Lady leads us to a more intimate union with God, with Jesus and the Holy Spirit. It is a company that bears spiritual fruits in the one enjoying it.

Prayer

Oh Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, thank you for calling us and putting along our path a holy priest like our Bishop and a holy creature like Marisa.

During these eleven and more years you have taken us by the hand, you have followed, spured and addressed us motherly reproaches to correct us and make us grow in the spiritual life, you have lifted us up again when we have fallen down.

Without your great love and constant support, we would have not walked along this way and would not be here.

Thank you for your continuous intercession with your Son Jesus.

Thank you for your precious catechesis, by which you opened our heart and mind.

When we pray you pray with us and our prayer becomes richer and you bring it to God the Father, to God the Son, to God the Holy Spirit who doesn't dole out mercy and graces grudgingly to us.

When we do the eucharistic adoration we know that you kneel down with us, before Jesus the Eucharist.

When Our Bishop celebrates the holy Mass, you are next to him and when our sister Marisa suffers and moans, you are there and dry her tears and wounds.

Thank you, Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, you always keep us good company.

The scent of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist

As soon as I reach the top of the short step-ladder leading into the garden, before entering into the Basilica, I stop for a while to greet the white statue of Our Lady, always plunged in the green of the hedge decorating it. And my remembrance flies immediately to the first times of our meetings here, in the thaumaturgical place, before her: there was nothing but her in the garden, as beautiful and white as now, to welcome us for the holy Rosary, gathered like a corolla around her image, a few seats brought by the guys for those who could not pray standing. I remember that I was satisfied with a little pine trunk to sit down every so often: that was enough for me.

Marisa, yet on the wheelchair, reached us with Don Claudio, when the Rosary was at the fifth mystery, she went soon into ecstasy and often, after the eucharistic miracles began, she stood up, took some steps with her hands stretched towards Our Lady and there on the palm of one of them appeared the Eucharist. Deeply moved, we all smelt wafting, even so, in the open air, an intense scent of flowers resembling that of the most odorous ones (lily of the valley, gardenia, jasmine?), but really so far from them, being so much particular and soft.

It was, and is, the scent of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, always present in our meetings, praying with us, accompanying us, as vigilant and solicitous as a mum with her children, along the long, bristly, suffered path of Marisa and of Our Bishop's special mission.

Present her, present her scent, so much that soon we got used to recognize and inhale it as soon as we smelt it with joy, like a real gift of her being in our midst for all the time of the meeting. Heavenly scent issuing from her, from the hosts brought by her and Jesus, always the same, unmistakable sign of grace, love and deep, total union of the Mother with the Son.

And when by divine grace we could receive Communion with a fragment of those hosts, we tasted even with rapture the inexpressible fragrance and intensity of a scent resistant for hours in the mouth.

Her, the marvellous Mum, united with her Son Jesus and marvellously united with us by her merciful and mysterious will of bringing us to holiness. For many years sometimes, by unexpected, fast ignitions, we inhale the scent of Mary in our midst, a promise of heavenly life, an intimate joy exploding inside our soul; us, poor creatures, so close to the Queen of Heaven that we can smell her scent!

Before the white statue I look around myself: from the little pine trunk where I sat, today I sit on one of the pews of the Basilica, no more under rain, either wind, or scorching sun. Also this one is a miracle of technics and of Our Bishop's sensibility, of his strength, of his courage. The buildings around us are the same we saw from the garden, while praying, with the glance lost between the foliage of the pines. We are no more the same: taken by the hand by Mary and Jesus, accompanied by their scent, we have walked into the depth of our soul to get closer to Them, hoping to answer with our life to their expectations and to their ineffable promises.

Prayer

Cross - Resurrection - Eucharist

Truths penetrated into my soul since I was a child, through the religious formation received in the family, truths I tried to compare with my life, that was spiritually rich in the years of youth.

Then life began to make me feel its weight and living a so austere Christianity had become difficult, but the Lord knows how to wait.

The news of the first eucharistic miracles in via delle Benedettine got to my ears and the need of running to the thaumaturgical place was immediately strong.

Here I understood that my faith was lacking an important pillar, it was Mary, the root of the Eucharist.

Loving the one without the other is impossible, taking care of the tree and neglecting the roots is sterile.

The scent of Mary at the foot of the cross made my faith joyous, Mary's company with the Resurrected made the Hope, Certitude. Staying in adoration before the Eucharist with Mary is living the Paradise. Thank you, Jesus, for bringing me to Mary. To her goes all my gratitude for manifesting herself to me in one thousand ways.

I smelt everywhere the trail of the scent: in the garden, in the chapel, during the apparitions, when I received Jesus the Eucharist.

I still feel its presence in difficult and demanding moments of my life, I feel it when I need encouragement, I feel it when I wish to make order in my soul, particularly when I prepare myself to receive Jesus, as if Our Lady wanted to replace my heart with hers not to let her Son long for the Paradise He has left to keep company to my heart, which cannot love as He wants.

Mother of the Eucharist, never get tired to stay next to each one of us. Particularly today I beg you to widen your maternal mantle to give the possibility to all brothers and sisters who went away from you, from this thaumaturgical place, to cling to an edge of your mantle to come back here with a new heart.

Always protect the souls chosen by God for a so difficult mission, protect the children, the youth on which are projected all the hopes of the Church that revives in this place.

To us, the older, give joy, strength and vitality to support, help, defend them as the parents do with their children and especially to be close to them with prayer and life in a state of grace.

Be always read on our face the joy of living in the company of Jesus and his Mother.

Thank you, Mother of the Eucharist, for all that you gave us with any merit of ours. Help us to prize highly and make fructify the gifts we received and to the Venerable Iolanda, who is now enjoying the Paradise, I ask to intercede with God to defend this little flock from the attacks of the devil and to make us go towards holiness.

The Mum everybody wishes

Jesus loves us with an immense love and, just before dieing on the cross, He wanted to give us an other greatest gift: his Mother. "It was so painful for me to see my Son Jesus dying on the cross after being tortured and crowned with thorns. You have to understand that I wasn't offended when my Son told me "Woman, here is your son" and then, turning to John the disciple He added: "Here is your Mother". I wasn't offended, because I knew which was the mission of my Son Jesus, even like a Mother and like any other mother I could say: "My Son, I am your Mother, I have suffered with you since the day I carried you in my womb". I wasn't rebel, I wasn't offended, but bowing my head I accepted everything my beloved Son on the cross was telling me. He left me, He gave me another son, John, who, in that moment, represented the entire mankind" (Letter of God, 15th September 2004). The universal maternity was accepted with great love by Mary, who abandoned herself to the will of her All; only to her, the "full of grace", could be entrusted a so great mission; at the same time the Lord wanted to exalt in the eyes of men the greatness of this so perfect human creature.

After Jesus' death and resurrection, Our Lady helped the apostles to make the new-born Church, according to her Son's teachings. Also our Bishop and Marisa have grown up for many years at the school of the Mother of the Eucharist, who never let them miss her help, comfort and love. This way we, the members of the community, have been followed in all moments of our spiritual walk since the first apparition, by receiving teachings, helps and motherly caresses: "My beloved children, I have chosen you to help you and take you by the hand to bring you gently, step by step, towards holiness. On the first Sunday of each month I will give you some teachings so that you may progress in the school of my Son Jesus" (Letter of God, 2nd October 1988). As a matter of fact, the greatest Our Lady's wish is that of leading us to love more and more Jesus the Eucharist and to love each other, so she never drew back when she had to reproach us. Like a mother of the Earth reproaches her children when they don't behave well, Our Lady corrects our faults, even the most little ones, to help us growing in the spiritual life and reaching holiness. She is a mother who truly loves her children, she always exhorts them to change and doesn't let them go towards a wrong way, but always tries to save them in all ways. As a matter of fact, she got to beg her children to live always in a state of grace and not to go away from Jesus the Eucharist and this witnesses her great love, inferior only to God's one, love that we are not able to understand: "I, your Mother, sometimes reproach you, but notwithstanding this, you are not able to change" (Letter of God, 5th November 1989). All Our Lady's reproaches must be seen in the light of God's infinite love, transmitted to us by his Mother and we must have the humility of accepting them and try to go always forward, with the certitude of being accompanied by the Lord who takes us by the hand together with Mary.

Mary's motherly love is addressed especially to priests, who she calls "favourite children"; the reproaches she addressed to priests were not often accepted and sometimes she was also accused to speak ill of them, to throw discredit on her apparitions in the thaumaturgical place, but Our Lady answered to her favourite children: "These priests, when they read the letters of God are shocked and say: "Our Lady is talking about us!". Of course I am talking about them, God has called them up, they are God's beloved sons and how do they repay all this?" (Letter of God, 29th May 2002). The Mother of the Eucharist always encouraged the priests and gave them many advices to live a holy priesthood: "I am your Mother, I cannot leave you, I want to help you and I let you be helped by generous souls who love Priesthood. (…) If you are with God, meditate upon the ten reminders I addressed to you with my heart full of love for each one of you" (Letter of God, 30th January 1994). The example of how priesthood must be lived is given by the Bishop ordained by God. The Mother of the Eucharist taught us to live every holy Mass as it was the last of our life and she exhorted her favourite children to celebrate every holy Mass as if it was the last of their life.

In these years, in a so critical moment for mankind, corresponding also to a very difficult moment for the Church, the Lord has never abandoned his children and kept on sending his Mother to help us: in the latest times Our Lady's apparitions take place only in the thaumaturgical place. We never have to take for granted this greatest gift that we enjoy, but which is for all mankind. Our Lady wants to make us understand that she is a queen without crown and not a detached and unreachable figure; we must consider her like a mum who is always next to us and we must have with her a simple and direct relationship, finding refuge in her hug each time we suffer, because she shares it with us, as she always did with her Son Jesus. Many times we heard the Mother of the Eucharist saying to our Bishop: "Courage, Excellency!", but she addresses these words to each one of us every time our walk becomes hard. Each time we run to pray in the thaumaturgical place we feel the silent presence of this Mother; sometimes we are wrapped up by her scent, because she wants to make us understand that she is close to us and when we pray before the tabernacle, resound in our heart her sweet words she has said for many years of apparitions. The Mother of the Eucharist taught us to abandon ourselves completely to God's will, she exhorted us to speak with Jesus, to address to Him all our questions, our reflections and our daily worries. She is a Mum who will never abandon us, she just asks us to live united with her Son Jesus and so we will be inevitably united with her.