nl-Chapter 20 – Mary, the Motherly Love of God
Mary's Earthly Life in Humility
1. Mary is the flower of my heavenly garden, whose essence has always been in my Spirit.
2. Do you see these flowers here, which hide their beauty in humility? So too was and is Mary: an inexhaustible fountain of beauty for those who can behold her in purity and reverence, and a treasure of goodness and tenderness for all beings.
3. Mary walked through the world and concealed her divine essence; she knew who she was and who her Son was, yet instead of boasting of that grace, she declared herself merely a servant of the Most High, an instrument of the Lord's counsel. (8, 42–43, 46)
4. Mary knew that she would conceive a King mightier and greater than all the kings of the earth. But did she therefore crown herself queen among men? Did her lips proclaim in the squares, on the streets, in the humble huts, or in the palaces, that she would become the Mother of the Messiah, that the "only-begotten Son" of the Father would come forth from her womb?
5. Certainly not, my people: the greatest humility, gentleness, and grace were within her, and the promise was fulfilled. Her heart as a human mother was filled with joy, and even before she gave birth—at that time and thereafter throughout her Son's entire life—she was the most loving of mothers, who spiritually knew Jesus' destiny, the mission He was to fulfill among humanity, and the purpose for which He had come. She never opposed this destiny, for she shared in the same work.
6. When she sometimes shed tears, it was the weeping of a human mother; it was her physical nature that felt the pain in her Son, her own flesh.
7. But was she a disciple of the Master, her Son? No. Mary had nothing to learn from Jesus. She was in the Father Himself and had incarnated only to fulfill that beautiful and difficult task.
8. Was that excellent mother's heart limited to loving only her most beloved Son? Certainly not; through that small human heart, the motherly heart revealed itself in comfort and sublime words, in counsel and acts of kindness, in miracles, in light, and in truth.
9. Never did she put herself on display; never did she misinterpret the Master's word. But just as she was at the foot of the manger that served as her cradle, so too was she at the foot of the cross where the Son, the Master, the Father of all creation died and took his last breath as a human being.
10. Thus she fulfilled her destiny as a human mother and set a sublime example for all mothers and all people. (360, 28–31)
Mary and Jesus
11. People have often wondered why Jesus, even after He had been crucified, allowed Himself to be seen by the sinner Mary Magdalene and subsequently sought out His disciples, whereas there is no record of Him having visited His mother. To this I say to you that it was not necessary for Me to reveal Myself to Mary in the same way that I did to those others. For the bond between Christ and Mary has always existed, even before the world was.
12. Through Jesus, I revealed Myself to humanity to save sinners, and after the crucifixion, I allowed them to see Me in order to strengthen the faith of those who needed Me. But truly, I tell you, Mary—as a human being, my loving Mother—did not need to purify herself of any stain, nor could she have any lack of faith, for she knew who Christ was even before she offered Him her maternal womb.
13. It was not necessary to humanize My Spirit in order to visit her, she who, with the same purity and gentleness with which she conceived Me in her womb, returned Me to the Kingdom from which I had come. Yet who could know the manner in which I spoke to her in her solitude, and the divine caress with which My Spirit enveloped her?
14. Thus I answer those who have asked Me this question, for they often thought that Jesus' first visit should have been to His mother.
15. How different must the form in which I revealed Myself to Mary have been from that which I used to make Myself known to Magdalene and My disciples. (30:17–21)
The Virginity of Mary
16. On the summit of the mountain where the Master is, there is also Mary, the universal Mother—she who became a woman in the "Second Age" so that the miracle of the Incarnation of the "Divine Word" might become a reality.
17. Man has often judged and scrutinized Mary and the manner in which Jesus came into the world, and these judgments have torn the garment of purity of the maternal Spirit, whose heart poured forth His blood upon the world.
18. In this time, I have drawn back the veils of the unknown to dispel the unbeliever's doubt and to impart to him the knowledge of spiritual teachings.
19. From My truth, which is like a path, people have created many side paths on which they mostly go astray. While some seek the intercession of the Heavenly Mother and others fail to recognize her, her mantle of love and tenderness eternally enfolds all.
20. From the beginning of time, I revealed the existence of the Spiritual Mother, of whom the prophets spoke even before she came into the world. (228, 1-5)
21. Mary was sent to reveal her virtue, her example, and her perfect divinity. She was not a woman like all others among humanity. She was a woman of a different nature, and the world observed her life, came to know her way of thinking and feeling, and recognized the purity and grace of her soul and body.
22. She is an example of simplicity, humility, selflessness, and love. Yet although her life was known to the world of that time and to subsequent generations, there are many who do not acknowledge her virtue or her virginity. They cannot explain the fact that she was both a virgin and a mother. The reason for this is that human beings are by nature unbelieving and do not know how to judge divine works with an awakened spirit. If they were to study the Scriptures and explore the Incarnation of Mary and the lives of her ancestors, they would finally know who she is. (221, 3)
23. God's most tender love for His creatures has no form*. Nevertheless, in the Second Era, it took the form of a woman in Mary, the mother of Jesus.
* The form of Mary known from the Marian apparitions is therefore to be regarded only as a spiritual form of revelation assumed for a short time.
24. Understand that Mary has always existed, since her essence, her love, and her tenderness have always been in the Godhead.
25. How many theories and errors have people created about Mary! About her motherhood, her conception, and her purity. How much have they blasphemed in doing so!
26. On the day they truly comprehend that purity, they will say to themselves: "It would have been better for us if we had never been born." Tears of fire will burn in their souls. Then Mary will enfold them in her grace; the Divine Mother will protect them with her mantle, and the Father will forgive them and say with infinite love: "Watch and pray, for I forgive you, and in you I forgive and bless the world." (171, 69–72)
Mary as a Model for Women
27. The life of your Master is a model for all people. But since women lacked instruction regarding their role as mothers, Mary was sent to them as the embodiment of Divine Tenderness, who appeared among humanity as a woman to give you likewise her divine example of humility. (101, 58)
28. Blessed women: You, too, belong to my band of apostles. There is no difference between the spirit of a man and your own, even though you are physically different and your respective roles are distinct.
29. Take Jesus as the Master of your spirit and follow Him on the path that His love has laid out. Make His Word your own and embrace His cross.
30. I speak to your spirit with the same words with which I speak to men, for you are spiritually equal. Nevertheless—if your woman's heart seeks a model to emulate; if you need perfect examples as a support to perfect yourselves in life, then remember Mary, observe her throughout her entire life on earth.
31. It was the Father's will that Mary's humble life be recorded by My disciples, who knew her throughout her ministry and conversed with her.
32. That life—humble to those who know it—was radiant from birth until its end in this world. With the humility of her spirit, with her infinite tenderness, with the purity of her heart, and with her love for humanity, Mary wrote many pages of loving instruction, which she expressed more through silence than through words, for she knew that He who was to speak to humanity was Christ.
33. Mary's spirit was the very maternal love that emanated from the Father, to give humanity the perfect example of humility, obedience, and gentleness. Her passage through the world was a trail of light. Her life was simple, majestic, and pure. In her, the prophecies were fulfilled that foretold the Messiah would be born of a virgin.
34. Only she had been able to carry the seed of God in her womb; only she was worthy to remain, after fulfilling her task toward Jesus, as the Spiritual Mother of humanity.
35. Therefore, Mary is your perfect model, women. But turn to her and take her as your example in her silence, in her works of humility, in her infinite self-denial out of love for the needy, in her quiet suffering, in her compassion that forgives all, and in her love, which is intercession, comfort, and sweet support.
36. Virgins, wives, mothers, orphaned girls or widows, lonely women who have hearts pierced by sorrow—call Mary your loving and caring Mother, call upon her in your thoughts, receive her in your spirit, and feel her in your hearts. (225, 46–54)
Mary as Advocate, Comforter, and Co-Redemptrix of Mankind
37. Mary walked silently through the world, yet she filled hearts with peace, interceded for the needy, prayed for all, and finally shed her tears of forgiveness and compassion over the ignorance and wickedness of mankind. Why should you not turn to Mary if you wish to come to the Lord, since it was through her that you received Jesus? Were not Mother and Son united in the hour of the Redeemer's death? Did not the blood of the Son mingle with the tears of the Mother at that moment? (8, 47)
38. From the cross, I bequeathed to the world the Book of Life and spiritual wisdom—a book that was to be interpreted and understood by humanity over the course of centuries, ages, and epochs. That is why I said to Mary, shaken by grief at the foot of the cross: "Woman, this is your son," pointing with My gaze to John, who at that moment embodied humanity—but humanity transformed into a good disciple of Christ, spiritualized humanity.
39. I also turned to John with the words: "Son, this is your mother"—words that I will now explain to you.
40. Mary embodied purity, obedience, faith, tenderness, and humility. Each of these virtues is a rung on the ladder by which I descended into the world to become human in the womb of that holy and pure woman.
41. That tenderness, that purity, and that love are the divine womb in which the seed of life is fertilized.
42. That ladder upon which I descended to you to become human and dwell among My children is the same one I offer you so that you may ascend upon it to Me, transforming yourselves from human beings into spirits of light.
43. Mary is the ladder; Mary is the maternal womb. Turn to her, and you will meet Me. (320, 68–73)
44. I left you with Mary at the foot of the Cross, on that hill that received My blood and the Mother's tears. There she remained, awaiting her children, for it will be she who takes the Cross from their shoulders and shows them the way to Heaven. (94, 73)
45. Mary's message was one of comfort, tender care, humility, and hope. She had to come to earth to make her maternal nature known and to offer her virginal womb, so that in it the "Word" might become flesh.
46. Yet her mission did not end on earth. Beyond this world lay her true home, from which she can spread a mantle of compassion and care over all her children, from where she can follow the steps of those who have gone astray and pour out her heavenly consolation upon the suffering.
47. Many centuries before Mary was to be born into the world—to become human in a woman and fulfill a divine destiny—a prophet of God announced her. Through him you learned that a virgin would conceive and give birth to a son who would be called Immanuel, which means: God with us.
48. In Mary, a woman without blemish upon whom the Spirit of the Heavenly Mother's love descended, the divine promise announced by the prophet was fulfilled.
49. Since then, the world has known her, and people and nations speak her name with love, and in their pain they long for her as a mother.
50. You call her the Sorrowful Mother because you know that the world thrust the sword of sorrow into her heart, and that sorrowful face and that expression of infinite grief do not fade from your imagination.
51. Today I wish to tell you that you should remove that everlasting image of sorrow from your hearts and instead think of Mary as a kind, smiling, and loving Mother who works spiritually and helps all her children to develop upward along the path laid out by the Master.
52. Do you now realize that Mary's mission was not limited to motherhood on earth? Nor was her manifestation in the "Second Era" the only one; rather, a new epoch is reserved for her, in which she will speak to humanity from spirit to spirit.
53. My disciple John, a prophet and seer, beheld in his ecstasy a woman clothed with the sun, a virgin radiant with light.
54. This woman, this virgin, is Mary, who will no longer conceive in her womb a new Savior, but a whole world of people who will nourish themselves within her with love, faith, and humility, in order to follow the divine footsteps of Christ, the Master of all perfection.
55. The prophet saw how that woman suffered as if she were giving birth; yet that pain was the purification of humanity, the atonement of souls. When the pain is over, light will shine in the souls, and joy will fill the spirit of your Universal Mother. (140, 44–52)
The Divine Nature of Mary
56. The mantle of your Heavenly Mother has cast a shadow over the world from all eternity and lovingly protects my children, who are also hers. Mary as Spirit was not born into the world; her maternal essence has always been a part of Me.
57. She is the spouse of My purity, of My holiness. She was My daughter when she became a woman, and My Mother when she conceived the "Incarnate Word." (141, 63–64)
58. Mary is divine in her very essence; her Spirit is one with the Father and with the Son. Why then do they judge her by human standards, when she was the chosen Daughter, announced to humanity from the beginning of time as the pure creature in whom the "Divine Word" would be incarnated?
59. Why, then, does man blaspheme and doubt My power, and scrutinize My works without respect? The reason is that he has not immersed himself in My divine teaching, has not reflected on what the Scriptures say, nor has he submitted to My will.
60. Today, in the "Third Era," he likewise doubts that Mary reveals herself to humanity. Yet I tell you that she shares in all My works, for she is the embodiment of the most tender love that dwells in My Divine Spirit. (221, 4–6)
61. Mary is the Spirit so deeply fused with the Divine that she constitutes one of its aspects, as represented by the three forms of revelation: the Father, the Word, and the Light of the Holy Spirit. In this sense, Mary is that Spirit of God who reveals and embodies divine providence. (352, 76)
62. How many hope to reach the highest heaven to meet Mary, whom they always imagine in human form as the woman she was in the world, as the mother of Christ made man, and whom they envision as a queen on a throne, beautiful and powerful.
63. Yet I tell you that you should no longer give form to the Divine in your minds. Mary, your Spiritual Mother, exists; but she has neither the form of a woman nor any other form. She is the holy and loving tenderness whose mercy extends to infinity. She reigns in souls, yet her reign is one of humility, mercy, and purity. But she has no throne, as people imagine it.
64. She is beautiful, but with a beauty that you cannot even imagine with the most beautiful face. Her beauty is heavenly, and you will never be able to comprehend the heavenly. (263, 30)
The Universal Radiance of Mary
65. Mary, your Universal Mother, lives within Me, and she bestows the most tender caresses upon her beloved children. She has been in your hearts to leave within them her peace and the preparation of a sanctuary. Mary watches over the world and spreads her wings over it like a lark to protect it from one pole to the other. (145, 10)
66. In My Divinity lives interceding love; it is Mary. How many hearts that had remained closed to faith have opened themselves through her to repentance and love! Her maternal essence is present throughout all creation; it is felt by all, and yet some deny it with their very own eyes. (110, 62)
67. Those who deny Mary's divine motherhood deny one of the most beautiful revelations that the Godhead has given to humanity.
68. Those who acknowledge the divinity of Christ yet deny Mary do not realize that they are forsaking the most tender and loveliest aspect of My divinity.
69. How many there are who believe they know the Scriptures and yet know nothing, because they have understood nothing. And how many there are who, despite their belief that they have discovered the language of creation, live in error.
70. The maternal Spirit is lovingly at work in all beings; you can see its image everywhere. Her divine motherly love has fallen like a blessed seed into the hearts of all creatures, and every realm of nature is a living testimony to it, and every mother's heart is an altar erected before that great love. Mary was a divine blossom, and the fruit was Jesus. (115, 15–18)