Revelations of Jesus Christ to Capucin John of Medina

Source: Annales des Frères Mineurs Capucins, Caluze 1675

My son, Jesus Christ continues in a third article of his revelations, I want you also to know that I ask especially from the children of this Order a particular trust in my favors toward them, so that those who place all their hope and thoughts in me, and who depend entirely on my Providence, will be especially dear to me. I love them, I sustain them, and I embrace them as my most beloved children.

On the contrary, I am saddened that many brothers of this congregation, who profess the evangelical counsels and who ought to depend on my Providence by the commitment of their institute, distrust me in such a way and scorn so much the advice of their holy Father Francis, who exhorted them to place all their thoughts in me, that they act as if I had no care for them. They provide themselves with food during their travels, gather long supplies of provisions under false pretenses, and do many similar things without faithfulness, which drive away from them the favors of my Providence. Yet they should remember a very true thing: that no one who fully trusts in my goodness ever lacks what is most necessary for the pursuit of their salvation and the maintenance of their life.

Let those who serve me in this Rule understand that I have stripped them of all possessions and called them to extreme poverty in all things, so that I might show in them the riches of my generosity and my Providence, and make them more dependent on my infinite goodness. Let them, then, strive only to be faithful observers of their Rule, and never doubt my Providence. For I, who feed the birds of the sky and clothe the lilies of the fields, how could I abandon my children who have entrusted to me all the care of their lives?

As Jesus Christ took great pleasure in speaking with his servant John, he continued his revelations and said to him: My son, the laws of the holy and demanding Constitutions, which explain in what spirit one should understand the Rule and the Evangelical Counsels, and which, through my Goodness alone, have made observance easier for the Order, were given out of my pure Mercy, as strong ramparts, surrounding it on all sides and defending it from the assaults of the flesh and of the senses, its most cruel enemies.

I am greatly displeased that some Superiors of the Order violate these laws for too slight reasons, that they weaken their force too easily, and exempt themselves without just cause.

On the other hand, I do not approve that others, without regard for the charity owed to their Brothers, or to the rules of prudence, or to the guidance of my Spirit, but rather driven by the impetuosity of their own impulses, confine them within limits that are too harsh, by an indiscreet austerity.

I therefore want them to be upheld by the Superiors of the Order as strong defenses of regular observance, and to be observed in the same spirit in which they were given, so that they may maintain and preserve the entire Reform in its splendor and holiness.

… my Savior added a fifth article of his revelations to his servant John, and said to him: My son, the Brothers of this Congregation must depend entirely on my will, and in all their affairs look only to the guidance of my Spirit, so that, being free from everything that ought to be reserved for my choice, they submit all their cares and desires to the rule of my divine will.

Those who live in such a way that they entrust to my orders their persons and all their interests, and who wait for my guidance in whatever I please to grant, whether honors or insults, sorrows or joys, I embrace them as my dearest friends. I take particular care of them, I accomplish my will in them, and I am glorified in them. They are the ones who sleep in my bosom and rest in me in great peace.

But those who seek too eagerly after the things they ought to expect from my Providence, and who, in order to obtain them against my will, either turn to the favor of men or devote all their energy to pursuing them, these most certainly cannot be pleasing to me, because they stray too far from the commands of my will.

Therefore, the Brothers who wish to serve me and obey me more perfectly must especially take care to have a soul free from all desire for things, and, except for the virtues of the soul and the heavenly help that leads them toward those virtues, let them ask nothing of me, neither human nor temporal goods, however good and honorable they may seem, nor preaching assignments, nor even the goods of eternity. Let them leave all to my will, and have a spirit so detached from all worldly desires that they allow me to dispose of all things according to the laws of my wisdom and my will. Let them receive everything from me without anxiety, since this Order, which is in the most perfect state, must be free from those things that weaken perfect hope and true charity, whose nature and strength lie in this: that apart from the pursuit of divine glory, they despise all else as being too full of imperfections and shortcomings.

… Brother John then asked Jesus Christ in what manner the Order should henceforth behave regarding the obedience it had rendered until then to the Minister General of the Conventual Friars Minor, because the timid consciences of the Brothers were then troubled, almost scrupulously, by the principal obedience that the Holy See was commanding them to render to the Minister General of the Order of Observant Friars Minor. And he received this answer, spoken very lovingly:

My son, let the Brothers know that they owe obedience, as imposed by their Rule, principally to three kinds of persons: to me, to whom they even promise to observe the Holy Gospel; to the Pope, as the Head of the Church and my Vicar on earth, to whom they owe submission; and to their Father Saint Francis and his successors, as the Rule explains, so that the order and structure of religious hierarchy may be better observed, which involves a subordination of inferiors to their superiors.

As for the first two Persons, since the Brothers do not doubt this, I will say nothing further, my Son.

As for the third, about which they are somewhat troubled, let them observe this rule: when the Rule commands them to obey Saint Francis and his successors, they should consider who truly are the successors of Saint Francis. They are those whom I establish as their superiors, not by antiquity, nor by the passage of years, nor by the primacy of the Order, but by a legitimate institution and, above all, by their observance of the Rule. These are the ones to whom I intend them to render their obedience, since Saint Paul once said: Not all who are of Israel are Israelites, nor are all who are of the seed of Abraham his children. This is what I also taught in my Gospel when, speaking to the Hebrews who gloried in being of Abraham’s blood, I declared to them: If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham.

Therefore, the fear of the Brothers on this matter is entirely unnecessary, since they have a leader established by my Providence and confirmed by the authority of the Pope, my Vicar on earth, they are bound to obey him as the legitimate successor of Saint Francis.

For this reason, they would search in vain for other successors, and their fear would be without cause, since the Brothers of this Congregation, and the head who leads them, must be great observers of the Rule, and the legitimate children of their Father Saint Francis, so that they may lawfully succeed him, these as inferiors, and he as their superior.

So warn the General, my Son, that free from all fear, he should see to the observance only of those things that are ordered under my authority or will be established by the Apostolic See. In this way, the Brothers, observers of their Rule, under obedience to the Pope and to their General, will fulfill my will and that of their Father Saint Francis, and will be regarded as his legitimate children.