Life, work and spirituality of Mother Clelia Merloni

To Experience the Lord in order to fall in love with His Will

Dearest daughter in Jesus Christ,

You are to have a great deal of trust in the Lord, who, while calling you, says to you:  “Come to Me you who are afflicted and burdened, and I will refresh you.  You who are thirsty, come to the fountain.”

You must follow this movement and divine call expecting to receive with it the impulse of the Holy Spirit so that you may, resolutely and blindly, throw yourself into the ocean of divine Providence of the eternal good Will, begging that it be fulfilled in you and that you be carried by these most powerful waves of divine pleasure, and without any resistance on your part, be transported to the port of your particular perfection and well‐being.   Having made this act, which you must repeat many times a day, strive and study, with as much assurance as you are able, interiorly as well as exteriorly, and with all the powers of your soul, to draw near to the things that excite you and make you praise God.

Always, these acts are to be without force or any violence to your heart so that they may not, because of indiscretions and awkwardness, weaken you and perhaps even harden you, and so, render you incapable of anything.

Guard yourself against forcing tears or any other devotion through the senses; but remain peaceful in your interior solitude, waiting for the divine Will to be fulfilled in you.  The key by which the secrets of spiritual treasures are opened is the denial of self at all times and in all things; and this same key locks the door to insipidness and aridity of mind when these are caused by our own fault; but when these come from God, they are united with the other treasures of the soul.

As much as you are able, try to remain, with Mary Most Holy, at the feet of Jesus and listen to what He is saying to you.  Be on guard that your enemies (the greatest of which is yourself) don’t become obstacles to this silence; and know that when you go to look for God with your intellect in order to rest in Him, you are not to set limits or make comparisons with your weak imagination because He is infinite wherever you may find Him.  You will find Him in your own soul every time you look for Him sincerely, that is, when you look for Him and not for yourself.

During meditation, don’t stay so bound to the points so that you want to meditate on them alone; but wherever you find refreshment, stop there and enjoy the Lord in whatever way He wants to communicate Himself to you.  And even if you should put aside what you had planned to do, don’t be scrupulous, because the whole purpose of these exercises is to enjoy the Lord.   The intent, however, is not to choose enjoyment as the primary goal, but to become more enamored of His works with the firm resolve to imitate Him as much as we are able.

One of the obstacles to true peace and quiet is the anxiety that is experienced in similar works binding the spirit and dragging it after this or that thing, forcing God to lead us by the road that we want, and forcing  ourselves to walk where our own imagination brings us while thinking we are doing His Will.  This is nothing other than searching for God while fleeing from Him, and wanting to please God without doing His Will.

You, daughter, are to have no other intention or desire than to find God; and wherever He shows Himself to you, stop everything and don’t go any further unless you have His permission, forgetting everything and resting in Jesus.

Meditate well on what I have written and, at the feet of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, decide whether you are well disposed to follow His divine Will or to do your own

I wholeheartedly bless you.

Your most affectionate Mother

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As we forgive…

Dearest daughters in Jesus Christ,

Remember, my daughters, that mutual tolerance is part of the precept of charity. These two things are so bound to each other that without mutual suffering, charity would not be possible, and it would be necessary to cancel this precept from the Gospel because every person on earth has his or her own defects and imperfections. There are no angels except in heaven. If you don’t bear with the defects and imperfections of others, you break that bond and charity is destroyed.   Everyone has his or her own particular nature. Inclinations and temperaments are not all the same; judgments and ways of feeling contradict each other; wills clash with one another; tastes vary. No, among so many contrary elements, the fusion of hearts to form one heart, only one soul, as charity demands, is not possible so long as people don’t bear with one another in their weaknesses and don’t suffer in a spirit of charity and patience all that offends them, all that displeases them, all that does not meet with their tastes nor their disposition.   Without this mutual tolerance the union of hearts would be likewise impossible, no different than the fusion of water with fire, of light with darkness. There would necessarily be among them divisions, arguments, discord.

Therefore, bear with one another with great humility. This excludes sensitivities and pretensions. This will teach you how to treat your neighbor. Do it with sweetness and patience and so you will exclude murmurs and grumbling, criticisms, sarcasm, stinging barbs, antipathies and impatience with displeasures received. Do this with great charity and this will teach you to treat your neighbor as you would like to be treated yourselves… God will not be indulgent toward our defects except in the measure that we are indulgent toward the defects of our brothers and sisters. If we do not support our neighbor, God will not support us; if we do not sympathize with others, God will not sympathize with us.   We ourselves, daughters, do recognize the demand of this law, and so we say: Forgive us, O Lord, our offenses as we forgive those who have offended us. We, therefore, must be indulgent toward our own faults in the measure that we are indulgent toward the faults of others. Justice itself obliges us to mutual tolerance.   Who does not feel the need for herself of this law of tolerance, of this law, which is protective of human weakness? Now if we want it to be observed in our regard, isn’t it a real injustice not to want to observe it regarding our neighbor?   We complain about the imperfections of others, but we don’t want others to complain about ours? [We complain] about their character and of their moods, but don’t we also have some critical moments? [We complain] about their impulsiveness, or of their discourtesy, but don’t we also fall into the impulse of a language that is too pointed and rude? It is not good, daughters, in fact, it is very bad, for us to want perfection in others to the point of not supporting in them any spot, any imperfection. Seriously probe your own conscience a little bit, daughters, and see how you support the defects of your neighbors.

I remain in Jesus, Your anguished Mother

Throw oneself blindly into the ocean of Providence

Dearest daughter in Jesus Christ,

I understand. Have courage and unlimited confidence in God. You, dearest daughter, must begin [your journey] little by little and with gentleness, with unbounded trust in the divine Heart of Jesus, who calls you saying: “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will comfort you. All you who are thirsty come to the fountain.”

You, daughter, must follow this action and divine vocation; you must continue to wait for the prompting of the Holy Spirit, so that, with determination you may throw yourself blindly into the ocean of divine Providence and of the Eternal Will and beg that it be fulfilled in you so that you may be carried along by the most powerful waves of divine kindness, unable to resist, and be transported to the shore of your particular perfection and spiritual well‐being.

Having made this decision, which you should repeat many times each day, study yourself and strive, with as much certitude as you can, interiorly and exteriorly, to draw near, with all the strength of your soul, to those things that excite you and bring you to appreciate ever more the goodness, the loveableness and the infinite charity of your beloved Jesus.

These acts are to be done always without pressure and violence to your heart so that they do not weaken you or maybe even incapacitate you.

Whenever you can, accustom yourself to the contemplation of the divine goodness and of His continuous and loving gifts, and humbly receive the droplets of His inestimable goodness that will descend into your soul. Guard yourself well against forced tears or other devotions of the senses, but remain tranquil in interior solitude awaiting the fulfillment in you of God’s divine Will. And then when He may give these to you, they will be sweet, without struggle or force, and you will receive them with gentleness and serenity and above all with humility.

Remember, daughter that the key to opening the secrets of spiritual treasures is in knowing how to deny oneself always and in all things, and it is this key that closes the door to tepidity and mental aridity when it is caused by our own fault. When these come from God, they join the other treasures of the soul.

Be pleased to stand with Mary as much as you can at the feet of Jesus and listen to what He tells you.   Be watchful so that your enemies (chief among whom is you, yourself) will be unable to impede this holy silence.

For now I will say no more because I hope you will put into practice what I have written.   Now I leave you at the feet of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, so that, with His strength, you will be able to distance yourself from any shadow of sin and continue along the narrow path of the Saints!

I bless you with all my heart, Your most affectionate Mother