p10 – at a celebration of Our Lady of Lourdes with many in attendance:
“are you happy, dear Jesus, about all these devout souls who have come to You?” He replied in a sad tone of voice:
Jesus: “Yes, but they are in such a hurry. They do not give Me time to grant them My graces.”
p25: Elizabeth: “Lord, I usually sleep deeply. What if I cannot wake up to keep watch?”
Jesus: “I will help you with that as well. If there’s anything too difficult for you, confidently tell our Mother. She also spent many nights in prayer vigils.”
p41: Jesus: “Let your sacrifices always be fervent. I would like to increase my graces in you. However, to do that, I need greater acceptance of sacrifices. Accept My plea, be very humble and renounce every pleasure which does not serve Me. . . . .
. . . . You must renounce more of your sleep. I ask you for two hours of prayer, so that you have to get up twice every night for one hour. My beloved, can I count on you? I, the Man-God, ask this of you.”
OFFER YOUR NIGHT VIGILS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AND CHILDREN
I found the nightly vigil very difficult. To rise from sleep cost me much. I asked the Blessed Virgin: “My Mother, I beg you, wake me up. When my guardian angel wakes me up it is not effective enough.”
The next night, the Blessed Virgin awakened me. I wanted to get dressed because I did not think it was respectful to speak with the Blessed Virgin while I lay in bed. But the time for the vigil had not yet arrived; it was just midnight, not 2:00 a.m. The Blessed Virgin said:
Mary: “Stay in bed, my little one. This is not lack of respect. A mother can speak to her daughter any place and any time.
Listen to me, I beg you, do not let your mind be distracted during the night vigil . . . as it is an extremely useful exercise for the soul, elevating it to God. Make the required physical effort. I also did many vigils myself. I was the one who stayed up nights while Jesus was a little baby. Saint Joseph worked very hard so we would have enough to live on. You should also be doing it that way. Even on Sunday, your day of rest, you will do vigils and attend as many Masses as possible. Offer them for the youth. Think of the many children guided every year to my Divine Son. How many souls are lost, not taking root because no one is concerned about their spiritual progress. Offer these days especially for the young. Even when my Most Holy Son was tired, He wanted the children to come to Him. That is why you also must never be tired. You know it is Him who asked you to continually share in His work of Redemption.”
p52: On June 2, the sweet Savior awakened me for the nightly prayer with these words:
“IN THE QUIET OF THE NIGHT, I SEEK SOULS”
Let whoever might one day read these lines not take it badly that once more I have to indicate that I was in tears. His tenderness and attention filled my eyes with tears. Then, He said:
Jesus: “Since this so pleases you, from now on, when I awaken you, these will be my words: In the quiet of the night, I seek souls.”
From these words, I knew that his eternal thought is to seek souls.
P58: I was sick. For days, I could not pray because I was so weak. . . . When I felt a little stronger, I firmly resolved to return to prayer at night. I asked Jesus, “My adored Jesus, give me strength.” At 3:00 a.m., the Lord awakened me by His presence and His words.
Jesus: “In the loneliness of the night, I seek hearts.”
p69: The Lord Jesus promised to give me a special strength for the nightly prayer because I am already exerting all possible effort. He promised that He would wake me up. What happiness fills my soul to experience His presence when He awakens me. The night prayer goes so quickly in His presence. While I was joined in union with Him, something special happened. [Elizabeth then describes Jesus blessing her home]
p79: While praying before dawn, the Blessed Virgin spoke with me about the effect of grace of her Flame of Love.
Mary: “From today on, when you, together with the person designated to you as companion, are in vigil, to you who already know my Flame of Love, I will grant the following grace: as long as your night vigil will last, my Flame of Love will act upon those who are dying throughout the whole world. I will blind Satan so that my Flame, gentle and full of grace, will save them from eternal damnation.”
p120: During the day, the Evil One laughed mockingly: “Listen, listen, I wanted to open your eyes to make you set aside your foolishness. Enough of this fasting and nighttime vigils! Leave it all behind. It makes no sense at all.”
p167: Mary: “You see, my little one, once the Flame of Love of my heart lights up on the earth, its effect of grace will also spread out to the dying. Satan will be blinded and, through your prayer at the nighttime vigil, the terrible struggle of the dying against Satan will end. Coming under the gentle light of my Flame of Love, even the most hardened sinner will convert.”
p234: While it was almost dawn, but still night, the Blessed Virgin said:
Mary: “My little one, I see that because of your great pains, you cannot rise for the nighttime adoration. In spite of that, you must regain all your strength. When you wake up, you will offer your sorrowful vigil for the dying.”
p257: Mary: “My little one, I ask you again to give immediately your confessor the instructions on how to make the night vigils united to the merits of my Divine Son. You have not yet given these to him. I want the holy night vigils – by which I want to save the souls of the dying – to be organized in every parish so there is not even one moment without someone praying in a vigil. This is the instrument that I place in your hands. By this, you and your companions will save the souls of the dying from eternal damnation. By the light of my Flame of Love, Satan will remain blind.”
p259: [The context is Jesus changing Elizabeth’s sufferings from doubts to a burning desire for the salvation of souls] I do not want you to think that I am possessed by melancholy. This would go against my happy nature. Nevertheless, a silent withdrawal dominates my soul and I feel as if I did not belong to the earth. This happened on other occasions also, but the Lord Jesus said that now it will continue until the end of my life. Since then, I have used greater surrender and greater fidelity in keeping the fasts requested by the Lord. As to the night vigil, which before cost me the most, I have now doubled it.
The Lord Jesus had first asked me to make a one-hour vigil twice. Now, by the grace of God, since the fire of charity is burning me, I have neither night nor day. All that I could do for the Lord seemed so small. I spend each night in prayer from midnight to 5:00 a.m. Then I go to church where I continue my adoration. Then, at the Holy Mass of 7:00 a.m., I receive the sacred Body of the Lord. I spend the day helping my family. All during this time, the Lord’s presence fills me to such a degree that my soul is lifted above my bodily activities, because my soul remains next to the Lord without any interruption.
P262: It hurts me so much, my adored Jesus, that because of tiredness, I cannot pray tonight for the souls of the dying. But you see in my soul my great desire to do so.” In my great pain, He consoled me with these words:
Jesus: “I accept your soul’s great desire which you offer for the dying. Yes, I will grant this also in favor of the souls of the dying.”
I was calmed and went to bed. During the night, I woke up often and I immediately began to implore for the dying. However, I did not have the strength to get up to pray. During the same night, the Lord Jesus assured me that He accepted “my desire to keep vigil,” as He expressed it Himself.