Q&A with Mystic Alicja Lenczewska, Part 3
June is a month especially dedicated to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is the time when we give particular honor to the humility, love, and mercy of Our Blessed Lord, who died in atonement for our sins.
Among the many Polish hymns sung on this occasion, one that Alicja surely knew by heart after singing it hundreds of times begins with these words: Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make our hearts like unto Thine! It could hardly have been otherwise, since she lived for many years in the Sacred Heart Parish in Szczecin. It was there, among other places, that her mystical conversations took place, and Jesus Himself told her that โthis is the sanctuary of His Heart.โ
Thus, our spiritual journey today leads us to humility as a gateway to Heaven. How is it attained, and is it even possible? How should we respond when confronted with blatant injustice?
In her journals, the word humility, in all its forms, appears many times and in a variety of contexts; however, for lack of space, I have selected only a few excerpts, arranging them deliberately in reverse chronological order, beginning with what our mystic heard four years before her death.
Let us now turn to what she recorded on this subject.
JESUS DESIRES LOVE, NOT PERFECTION
(Saturday, December 12, 2008)
โ Lord, despite the many years I have walked this path with You, I find that I am still the same person, burdened by all my old faults and failings…
โ I do not desire your perfection; I desire your love. To love Me and to immerse yourself in My Love will soften all things. It will bring you peace and bear fruit in goodness and kindness toward others and all creation.
Learn to look at yourself with holy detachmentโeven at your physical body, whose strength naturally fades with age. Your outward activity in the world is becoming more limited, and this is a grace. It is slowly preparing you for your departure from this life. This world is no longer the primary place of your labour. Your activity must now take place within your heart, within your soul.
Use the silence of your lips as a veil, allowing the language of the heart to grow. In that silence, offer Me everything your senses perceive: the people you encounter, the events of the day, and the whole world. Look upon them with love, compassion, and mercy, just as I doโalways ready to help, never quick to judge.
โ But Lord, I am often haunted by the memory of my past sins and the ways I have hurt others…
โ That is a temptation! I have freed you from every evil to which you once fell prey, and I have healed those you wounded. You must not return to what has already been washed away in Confession.
It is enough to remain aware of your human frailty. Let this awareness root you in humility and fill you with gratitude toward Me and toward your neighbours, who bear with your falls. Do not focus on yourself. Live in love and gratitude as you look forward to our meeting.
Luke 10:41โ42: โ…you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing.โ
HUMILITY: THE KEY TO HEAVEN
(Friday, January 11, 1991)
โ The journey of aging teaches you humility and total abandonment to God. You also learn humility through an honest recognition of your own sinfulness. In the end, humility is what determines your eternityโit shapes the very nature of the Heaven you will experience.
ACHIEVING HOLINESS IS A PROCESS
(Thursday, July 12, 1990)
โ To receive My gifts here on earth, you must renounce everything bound up with the sin of rebellion against your Creatorโeverything that resists surrender.
Do not think that anyone has ever achieved holiness on their own. It is true that many have sought sanctity by practicing moral acts and cultivating virtues. Whenever they did so out of love for Me and showed mercy to their brothers and sisters, they attained it. Through such acts, the doors of their souls remained open, allowing Me to build holiness within them.
However, if someone desires holiness merely to feel superior to others, I lead that person to holiness through humbling purification. I lead them through the pain and hardship needed to form humility, simplicity, and a merciful gaze toward their neighbour. If they have enough self-denial to embrace this, they will attain the calling for which they were destined. Only then am I able to fill their soul with pure Love.
I am the One who builds holiness day by day. I arrange the daily circumstances that shape the soul, making it increasingly open to receiving My gifts and equally open to sharing those gifts with others. An unceasing stream of Love then flows through that soulโa stream by which the soul ascends to Heaven, and through which Heaven descends to earth to embrace others.
CORNERSTONES OF HOLINESS
(Sunday, November 26, 1989)
โ Contrition and humility are the very foundation of your holiness. When you encounter evilโwhether in injustice or sufferingโlet your first impulse be a humble examination of conscience. Look closely at your heart, your thoughts, your words, and your actions. Stand before My justice and My mercy, recognizing your own littleness and the brokenness that dwells within you. Seek within yourself the roots of what you experience in life, and desire to make reparation to My divine justice.
Ask for the light to know the truth and for mercy upon your spiritual poverty. Do not let anger rise within you; do not insist on your own way; and do not look for malice in others or injustice in God or in man. Avoid complaining or feeling sorry for yourself when you think you have been wronged. In truth, you have encountered My grace and My mercy, for I am calling you back to My path from the dead ends into which you have wandered.
Thank God for this grace of being called backโfor the gift of contrition and the opportunity for penance that I give you. Set your soul in order and ask Me to remove everything from it that is not pure love of God and neighbour. Fight against your own ego, your sin, and the stains upon your soul rather than against the people I have used to call you back.
They are not your enemies. Your true enemy lies at the threshold of your soul, and it is IโImmaculate Loveโwho fight him through all that you experience in life. I am calling you because I desire your purification. I desire your holiness.
BLESSED FALLS
(Monday, November 17, 1986)
โ Do not be anxious, and do not fear your own weakness. Your heart is being transformed, and for this work to continue, you must face the truth about yourself. This self-knowledge will protect you from pride.
Reflecting on the notion of humility, I turn to St. Teresa of Avila. โI was wondering once, why Our Lord so dearly loved this virtue of humility; and all of a suddenโwithout, I believe, my having previously thought of itโthe following reason came into my mind: that it is because God is Sovereign Truth and TO BE HUMBLE IS TO WALK IN TRUTH.โ
Editorโs Note: This article is part of a CE original series on a twentieth-century Polish mystic, entitled Q&A with Mystic Alicja Lenczewska. Follow along here, and catch up on previous articles on Alicjaโs writings here.
Authorโs Note: Excerpts taken from Alicja Lenczewska, A Word of Instruction (Slowo Pouczenia), Testymony, (ลwiadectwo) published by Wydawnictwo Agape (Poznaล, 2016).
Photo by Sterling Lanier on Unsplash
