Venerable Sister Consolata Betrone was a Capuchin nun born in 1903 in Italy, died in 1946, yet the messages she conveyed — lessons she believed to be directly from the Lord — remain a fresh inspiration.
“I believe it is a message for our time, a time when the storm clouds are gathering in our country — indeed in our world — bringing a storm that could likely be the test of tests for many of us,” writes the author, Father Lorenzo Sales (The Ceaseless Act of Love).
Much, much can be taken from this. Acted upon, it cleanses. Acted upon, it calls one a step closer to Heaven. “Love Me and you will be happy,” Jesus putatively told the nun. “And the more you love Me, the happier you will be. Oh, if people loved Me, what joy would reign in the miserable world.”
“Don’t omit a single act of love for Me, see Me in everyone and say a resolute ‘yes’ to all, with firm confidence that My help will never fail you.
“And smile. Always smile. I Myself will be smiling through you,” is another message.
We present the book and its messages for your discernment, since it is based on locutions. Certainly, it is a prime book to consider during Lent (the subtitle, quoting Jesus: “I Will Think of Everything; You, Think Only of Loving Me”).
Notes the author, “Jesus is saying that a ceaseless act of love consists not just in making acts of love to Him through prayer, but it also must include acts of love to our neighbors.
“Our service can be an act of love when we see not the person or persons we are serving, but see Jesus, and do all for love of Jesus.”
A sure recipe for life, this is.
A sure pathway to Heaven.
A sure buffer of protection here on fallen earth.
Few realize that smiling at — expressing kindness toward others, even just mentally — is a form of spreading the Gospel; evangelization.
Much in the book is said about Mass. It is, as the author writes, “the highest form of praise, the perfect prayer. It is perfect, because it is an act of God: it is Jesus offering Himself to the Father. Even if music is not great or the sermon not so interesting, it is still the perfect prayer; it is the offering the Son of God makes of His life to God the Father.”
“There are some who go to Mass regularly, but do not go regularly to Confession. In spite of that, almost everyone attending Mass goes to Holy Communion. To receive Jesus in Holy Communion and benefit by it, we must be in a state of Grace.”
Perhaps more importantly, Jesus allegedly told the sister: “I desire a continuous act of love from one Communion to another.” That’s a Lenten challenge!
It’s also a great means of sanctification.
“Consolata, tell souls that I prefer an act of love and a Communion of love over any other gift they could offer Me,” the Lord Savior told the devout nun. “Prepare the world, for the coming of My Love.”
There’s more — much more. We’ll not spoil it. Is discernment necessary? Always. Sister Consolata was a stigmatic, which necessitates especially intense scrutiny. When it comes to dramatic mysticism, Scripture teaches us to test all spirits, take what is good, and leave the rest.
And much good is there in this new book.
“Love Me continually,” says Jesus yet again. “It doesn’t matter if your heart is made of stone or ice!
“Everything is contained in, everything is dependent on a continual act of love.
“Say goodbye forever to all that is created and to this world, and escape into a ceaseless act of love.
“You see, each has his own tastes.
“Here are mine: smallness, nothingness, annihilation, but love.
“It doesn’t matter if the demon, if your passions, set loose every possible tempest within your soul.
“Thunder, wind, lightning will be impotent against you.”
[resources: The Ceaseless Act of Love and Michael Brown retreat, Saturday]
