39. Preparations for Jesus' Coming of Age and Departure from Nazareth. 25th November 1944. I have received a promise from Him. I was saying to Him: « Jesus, I would like to see the ceremony of Your majority! » And He replied: « I will give it to you as first thing as soon as we can be “ourselves” without upsetting the mystery. And you will put it after the scene of My Mother, My teacher and the teacher of 39. Preparations for Jesus' Coming of Age and Departure from Nazareth. 120 Judas and James, shown to you recently (29th October). You will put it between this one and the Dispute in the Temple. » 19th December 1944. I see Mary bending over a tub, rather an earthenware vessel, in which She stirs something that steams in the cool clear air which fills the kitchen garden in Nazareth. It must be the depth of winter, because, with the exception of the olive-trees, all the plants and trees are bare and look like skeletons. High above, the sky is very clear and there is beautiful sunshine. But it does not mitigate the bitterly cold wind that shakes the bare boughs and the little green-grey branches of the olivetrees. Our Lady is wearing a heavy dark-brown dress, which is so dark that it is almost black, and She has tied in front of it a rough piece of cloth, like an apron, to protect it. She takes out of the vessel the stick with which She was stirring its contents and I can see some beautiful ruby-red drops dripping from it. Mary looks at them, She wets Her finger with them, checks the color against Her apron and seems satisfied. She goes into the house and then comes out with a lot of skeins of snow-white wool. She dips them patiently and carefully into the vat, one by one. While She is busy doing that, Her sister-in-law, Mary of Alphaeus, comes in, and she is coming from Joseph's workshop. They greet each other, and start conversing. « Is it coming all right? » asks Mary of Alphaeus. « I hope so. » « That Gentile lady assured me that it is exactly the color, and that is exactly how they do it in Rome. She gave it to me only because of You, because of the embroidery work You did for her. She said that not even in Rome is there anyone who can embroider so well. You must have become blind doing it… » Mary smiles and shakes Her head as if to say: « It was a mere trifle! » Her sister-in-law looks at the last skeins of wool, before handing them over to Mary. « How beautifully You have spun them! They are so thin and smooth that they look like hair. You do everything so well. And You are so quick! Will these last ones be of a lighter color? » « Yes, they are for the tunic. The mantle is darker. » The two women work together at the vat. They then pull out the skeins of a beautiful purple color and they run quickly to dip them into the ice-cold water that fills the little vessel under the thin spring of water that tumbles babbling softly. They rinse them over and over again, then they lay the skeins on canes which they fasten to the branches of the trees. « They will dry very well and rapidly in this wind » says Her sister-in-law. « Let us go to Joseph. There is a fire in there. You must be frozen » says Our Blessed Lady. « It was very kind of you to help Me. I did it very quickly, and without working so much. I am very grateful to you. » « Oh! Mary! What would I not do for You! To be near You is a great joy. And then… all this work is for Jesus. And He is such a dear, Your Son!… I will feel that He is also my Son, if I help You with His feast when He comes of age. » The two women go into the workshop, which is full of the smell of planed wood, as is usual in carpenters' workshops. And the vision comes to a halt… to start again with Jesus, Who is now twelve years old, setting out for Jerusalem. He looks most handsome, and has grown so well that He looks like a younger brother of His very young Mother. He already reaches up to Her shoulders with His blond curly head, His hair is no longer short as in the first years of His life, but long down to His ears, and looks like a small golden helmet fully wrought in bright curls. He is dressed in red: a beautiful light ruby-red. A long tunic hangs down to His ankles so that only His sandal clad feet can be seen. His tunic is loose, with long wide sleeves. Round His neck, at the end of His sleeves, at the hems, there is a Greek fret woven color on color, and it is most beautiful… --------------- (When copying the vision, wait for the remainder which will be in a new copybook). 39. Preparations for Jesus' Coming of Age and Departure from Nazareth. 121 20th December 1944. I see Jesus with His Mother going into the dining room (let us call it so), in Nazareth. Jesus is a handsome young boy, twelve years old, tall, well built, strong but not fat. He looks older than His years, because of His complexion. He is already tall, in fact He reaches up to the shoulders of His Mother. His face is the rosy round face of a child and later, in His youth and then in His manhood, it will get thinner and thinner and it will become colorless, the color of certain very delicate alabasters with a hue of yellowish pink. Also His eyes are still the eyes of a child. They are large, wide open when looking, with a sparkle of joy lost in the seriousness of His glance. Later they will not be so wide open… His eyelashes will cover half of them to conceal the excessive wickedness which is in the world, from the Pure and Holy One. Only when working miracles, they will be open and bright, even brighter than now… to cast out demons and death, to heal diseases and sins. And they will no longer have that sparkle of happiness mingled with seriousness… death and sin will be more and more present and close, and with them the knowledge, also the human knowledge of the uselessness of His sacrifice, because of the unwillingness and aversion of man. Only in most rare moments of joy, when He is with faithful believers and particularly with pure people, mostly children, will His holy mild kind eyes shine again with happiness. But now He is at home with His Mother, in front of Him there is Saint Joseph who is smiling lovingly, and there are His little cousins who admire Him, and His aunt Mary of Alphaeus who is patting Him… He is happy. My Jesus needs love to be happy. And in this moment He has it. He is dressed in a loose woollen tunic which is a light ruby red color. It is soft, perfectly woven in its compact thinness. Round the neck, in the front, at the ends of the long wide sleeves and at the bottom of the tunic which hangs down to the ground, so that only His feet can be seen, there is a Greek fret which is not embroidered, but woven in a darker color into the ruby of the tunic. He is wearing new sandals which appear to be very well made, they are not just the usual soles tied to the feet by means of straps of leather. His tunic must be the work of His Mother because Her sister-in-law admires it, and praises it. His lovely blond hair is already somewhat darker than when He was a little boy, with auburn reflections in the curls ending under His ears. They are no longer the soft graceful curls of His childhood. It is not yet the wavy long hair of His manhood, reaching down to His shoulders, ending there in a soft, big curl. But it already resembles more the latter in its color and style. « Here is our Son » says Mary lifting Her right hand which is holding Jesus' left one. She seems to be introducing Him to everybody and confirming the paternity of the Just man who is smiling. And She adds: « Bless Him, Joseph, before leaving for Jerusalem. There was no ritual blessing for His first step in life, because it was not necessary for Him to go to school. But now that He is going to the Temple to be proclaimed of age, please bless Him. And bless Me with Him. Your blessing… » (Mary sobs softly) « will fortify Him and give Me strength, to detach Myself a little more from Him… » « Mary, Jesus will always be Yours. The formality will not affect our mutual relationship. Neither will I contend with You for this Son, so dear to us. No one deserves, as You do, to guide Him in life, o my Holy Spouse. » Mary bends down and takes Joseph's hand and kisses it. She is the respectful, loving spouse of Her consort! Joseph receives the sign of respect and love with dignity, he then lifts the hand which She has kissed and lays it on the head of his Spouse and says to Her: « Yes. I bless You, o Blessed One, and I bless Jesus with You. Come to me, my only joys, my honor and essence of my life. » Joseph is solemn. With his arms stretched out and the palms of his hands turned down above the two heads which are bent down, both equally blond and holy, he pronounces his blessing: « May the Lord look upon You and bless You. May He have mercy on You and give You peace. May the Lord give You His blessing.. » And then he says: « And now let us go. The hour is favorable for the journey. » Mary takes a wide dark brown mantle and She drapes it on the body of Her Son. How She caresses Him in doing so! They go out, they close up the house. They set off. Other pilgrims are going in the same direction. Outside the village the women separate from the men. The children go where they like. Jesus stays with His Mother. The pilgrims go along through the country which is so beautiful in the happiest springtime, and they sing psalms most of-the time. The meadows are fresh and the crops are fresh, and the leaves on the trees have just begun to bloom. You can hear men singing -in the fields along the roads and birds singing their songs 39. Preparations for Jesus' Coming of Age and Departure from Nazareth. 122 of love among the branches of the trees. Clear streams reflect like mirrors the flowers on the banks, while little lambs are jumping about near their mothers… Peace and happiness under the loveliest April sky. The vision ends thus
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