Text of the Eucharistic adoration of May 14, 2017

Feast of consecrated souls

Today, for us is a feast we feel very much, it is the feast of our spiritual mother. It's a feast involving not only our spirituality but also our feelings and emotions. May 13 is a date we have always associated with Marisa since we knew her, for she particularly loved the event she had in her mind: the vows of chastity, obedience, and poverty she had with her Bridegroom. These vows endorsed an even deeper union and every year the emotion she felt in celebrating this day became increasingly intense. As time passed, it was evident how this love grew every day more and more and each year, on the eve of May 13, she found her heart all the more full with the love for God. We like to think of this day as the day of love when the bridegroom welcomes the bride and the bride is giving herself to the bridegroom with even greater dedication.

The Bridegroom to the bride

I sent you, my beloved, to the world,

in the land of deserted heart

to cure the wounds of my love,

tormentors are my favorite children.

Bitter still is my chalice

seeing the careless physician

of my suffering people.

The one who should have pity

avaricious is, does not care

the wounded soul that suffers.

Your promise to Me

to give all of yourself,

to recover lost souls,

to heal wounded spirits,

to revive dried hearts,

is balm for my scars,

is perfumed oil for Me,

soothes the pain

of the royal crown.

You took on yourself

part of the cross,

you lightened the weight,

but it was your love

to lighten my heart.

Every moan, every lament,

every look, every smile,

every bitter blow of those who laughed at you

forged the ladder

leading to Heaven.

Rejoice my beloved,

now, here, with Me.

The vows of chastity, obedience, and poverty have inspired Marisa's will to adhere perfectly to the plans God had on her. This woman, a pure maiden, pure in the beauty of her soul, never wanted to say no to her All, and the sweet Mother of Heaven as accomplice who guarded and comforted her with her protective embrace whenever the pain resulting from her "Yes" was more excruciating. The covenant that was established between Heaven and Earth saw a wonderful conjunction link. Marisa, since she was a child, was used to the sweetness of Heaven, growing up playing with angels and assisted by Our Lady who was for her mother, friend, confidant and educator. As a delicate flower she was watered by the gentlest dew, to fortify her spirit and make it ready and aware of the "Yes" that years later she would have uttered. Throughout the years of her preparation she experienced alternating moments of bitterness and joy, sadness and consolation as few souls, chosen by our Lord, did. We always remember, lucidly, how much it was asked from her; nights and the days of hard suffering went on incessantly, as the years went by... And her Bridegroom was not content with little; He knew his bride's ability to never deny, to always say "Yes" by virtue of that love that had captured her. Our beloved Bishop, more than once, told Marisa to gently ask God to diminish, to alleviate her sufferings, and she, although pressed to obey the Bishop of the Eucharist, made her requests timidly and subtly, but nevertheless ready to bear the passion that more and more imprisoned her. The measure of love is not based on how much happiness can be bestowed to the beloved, but on how much one can endure for his love. The Divine Master showed us the way; with His passion, death, and resurrection, He really showed us what God willed to undergo to make us understand how much He loves us. Marisa gave her Bridegroom her most precious jewels, those vows that are precious gemstones and that she wanted to set it in a ring of abandonment and dedication. And her Bridegroom gladly accepted this gift and kept it with Him, knowing that it would become one of the brightest jewels in Heaven.

The bride to the Bridegroom

Maiden I was taken,

captured in the net.

Ropes of love and suffering

crowned my heart.

I walked the path,

she as the moon,

light in the night,

the heavenly Mother,

pointed to my eyes

full of wonder

what awaited me,

the bright star,

The sun, the Eucharist,

source of all joy.

How to deny me,

how to hide

in the light of my Groom,

in the voice of my Everything.

What to donate you

that you did not ask me,

that binds us

beyond any limit.

Three gifts tied us,

three knots united us,

three those roses to you donated,

nurtured by your perfume.

And then my heart

began to beat with yours,

your wounds are my wounds,

your joy is my relief,

my life in yours.

Here he is, is my Spouse!

Marisa has always taught and urged us to turn, whatever we are, whatever we are doing, and even our thoughts, to Jesus. My Lord, we are here today in profound worship, we want to thank You once more for this extraordinary creature you put on our path; We thank You because, through her, you have made us understand in a tangible way how great Your love for your creatures is. We humbly ask You, by virtue of the gift you have given us, to address her directly...

Very dear Marisa, it has been 8 years since you flew to Heaven... For years we prayed for this moment to come soon; you wanted it and we were with you because it became really too difficult to witness your continued suffering and you were completely worn out. The greatness of God's work lies in the fact that even though there was not even an ounce of physical strength in you, your love became even greater; you no longer would communicate with words, you did not have any strength, but you could still convey the good you nourished for us all. Today, however, is a day of celebration and despite that our scars, due to your absence, are still painful, we want to remember the happy moments spent with you, every time God allowed you to get up from your bed of pain and be present among us during any big feast. Sometimes you also loved joking about your painful situation, becoming an example of how we can smile through tears; but above all, we remember the happiness in your eyes for every baby who came, as God's gift, in this community. Your love for children, you innocent maiden, was such that while smiling you loved to define them “your” children... and how to deny it! For each of them, you poured tears and sufferings. If today we can contemplate these wonderful jewels we owe it to God, but to you too. We are encouraged to think, and you promised it, that they will always have a loving spiritual mother as you are, to keep watch over them. We miss you so much, this is the truth, even if your presence always hovers among us and we can feel it during the H. Mass and in particular on the feasts we celebrate here, in the thaumaturgic place, so dear to you. Our joy is your happiness, now that we know you are close to your Bridegroom and with you is your beloved spiritual father whose sacrament you would sustain with all your strength, your and our Bishop of the Eucharist.

Thank you Jesus for what you wanted to give us, giving us the affection and care of this unique creature.