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Take me with you!
The Work of the Living Tabernacles
in the original manuscripts of Vera Grita
With presentations by Fr François-Marie
Léthel OCD and Fr Roberto Carelli SDB

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Vera Grita, a teacher and Salesian Cooperator, was like a grain of wheat dropped from heaven onto
earth to bear fruit. The aim of this book is to bring together her precious legacy for us: the contents
of the 13 handwritten notebooks that make up the Work of the Living Tabernacles, dictated to Vera
by Jesus in the Eucharist during the last two years of her earthly life (1967–1969) are provided here.
This publication by the Centro Studi Opera dei Tabernacoli Viventi (“Work of the Living Tabernacles”
Study Centre) in Milan, is further enriched by the presentations of two authoritative theologians,
Carmelite Fr François-Marie Léthel, Lecturer in Dogmatic and Spiritual Theology at the Teresianum’s
Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Rome, and Salesian Fr Roberto Carelli, Lecturer in Systematic Theology
at the Pontifical Salesian University’s Turin campus.
The work is further embellished by the Nihil Obstat of the Bishop of Savona, Bishop Calogero Marino,
and the letter of accompaniment from the Rector Major of the Salesians, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime.
The Centro Studi Opera dei Tabernacoli Viventi was established in February 2001 in the Salesian
Province of Milan. Dedicated to Vera Grita and Fr G. Zucconi sdb, it proposes to study the spirituality
and realise the message of the Work of the Living Tabernacles, to promote the spiritual enrichment
of the members of the Work through study and prayer days, retreats, and by proposing life models of
Saints significant for their Eucharistic and Marian charism.
English translation by the Australia-Pacific SDB Province

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Contents
Nihil Obstat
5
The Rector Major
6
A comment on the translation
7
Foreword
9
Introduction
11
1. Living Tabernacles: a Eucharistic vocation for the life of the world
11
2. Living Tabernacles: at the service of Charity and Mercy
12
3. In the charism of Don Bosco: “da mihi animas, coetera tolle”
13
4. Paul VI and the Work of the Living Tabernacles
14
5. Paul VI and the Work
18
Vera Grita in the “carousel of saints”
19
Vera's testimony in the context of the years from 1967-1969
20
Vera in the “carousel of saints”, along with Saint Thérèse of Lisieux and
Venerable Cardinal François-Xavier Van Thuân
21
A prophetic message for today's and tomorrow's Church
27
“Take me with you”!
30
1. The Ark of the Covenant and the “Living Tabernacles”
30
2. “Let me deal with souls”: Jesus is outgoing
32
3. Real presence and “Eucharistic indwelling”
34
A biographical and spiritual profile of Vera
36
She went unnoticed in her short life on earth
36
4 July 1944 the day Savona was bombed, Vera is trampled underfoot by the fleeing crowd 37
In the Mystery of the Cross Vera gave her “Fiat”
37
From a distance the Lord looked down on me: “I have loved you with an
everlasting love” (cf. Jer 31:3)
38
Salesian Cooperator: 24 October 1967
39
With pen in hand and God in her heart
40
Final years of teaching: 1967–1969
41
The experience at the Desert of Varazze
41
Towards her total offering
43
The introduction of Vera of Jesus’ Cause of Beatification and Canonisation
46
Biographical profile of the priests
48
Fr Giovanni (John) BOCCHI SDB
48
Fr Gabriello (Gabriel) ZUCCONI SDB
50
Fr Giuseppe (Joseph) BORRA SDB
54
Fr Guido ROASCIO OCD
56
BOOKLET 1
60
BOOKLET 2
69

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BOOKLET 3
77
BOOKLET 4
91
BOOKLET 5
102
BOOKLET 6
113
BOOKLET 7
121
BOOKLET 8
122
BOOKLET 9
123
BOOKLET 10
124
BOOKLET 11
125
BOOKLET 12
126
BOOKLET 13
127

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Nihil Obstat
Calogero Marino
Bishop of Savona - Noli
The Nihil Obstat is granted for the publication of the book “Take me with you!" The Work of the Living
Tabernacles in the original manuscripts of Vera Grita.
Published by the CENTRO STUDI “OPERA TABERNACOLI VIVENTI” (MILANO)
Savona, 25 July 2017.

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The Rector Major
Prot. 17/0297 Rome 29 July 2017
I have come to know of the Work of the Living Tabernacles, the result of the mystical experience of
Vera Grita (1923-1969), Salesian Cooperator, and I have been informed of the new edition of the book
containing the Messages dictated to her by Jesus.
This is why I thank the Lord from the bottom of my heart for the gift given to the Church and to
our Salesian Congregation to revive faith and love in the Eucharistic presence of Jesus who desires to
reach out and transform the lives of men and women in our time.
I bless this Work that it may respond ever better to the purpose for which it was inspired and has
come about.
I authorise and instruct our General Postulation to accompany all the steps needed for the Work,
in collaboration with the Work of the Living Tabernacles Study Centre, to continue to be studied,
promoted in our Congregation and recognised by the Church, in a spirit of obedience and charity.
May Mary the Immaculate Help of Christians, the First Living Tabernacle, and Don Bosco, apostle
of the Eucharist, intercede on our behalf and support us, that we may be signs and bearers of the
Eucharistic Love for the men and women of our time, and especially the young.

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A comment on the translation
‘I Jesus, Holy Spirit, who have descended into your little soul, will speak the language that
the poor can speak… What others must see is the truth of my Messages, not the ‘form’, the
substance and not the ‘style’.’ Message, 25-11-1968.
Over the many years that ‘translation’ has become a discipline in its own right, there has been much
debate over whether the translation act is one of bringing the reader to the writer or the reverse. In
other words, do we ‘domesticate’ what we see written (or hear spoken) or do we take an ethical stance
that receives the ‘foreign’ as foreign.
This debate surely finds focus in the Messages that Vera writes from Jesus, messages ‘dictated’ but
expressed in ‘your way of speaking, of expressing yourself to speak, to reach other souls’ (Message
26-12-1967), so suffice it to say that in this case, lending further credence to the fact that it is Jesus
speaking through Vera, the translator has taken the ‘ethical stance’ referred to above!
This has certain implications for the English reader, of course. Vera is writing in Italian, and her
cultural baggage is largely limited to Liguria, with its capital in Genoa and with towns like Varazze,
Savona, Alassio… lying to its west until we reach the border with France. Real Don Bosco country!
The translator, and the reader, needs to recognise that certain expressions will sound a little strange,
even in English. For example, Jesus is often represented (and represents himself) as Gesù Eucarestia
or ‘Jesus Eucharist’. While this appositional form would not be entirely obscure in English, most
readers today would be more comfortable with ‘Jesus in the Eucharist’, and that is the choice that has
largely, though not always, been made. Our Jesus in the Eucharist often uses the verb desiderare, which
could be anything from ‘craving’ to merely ‘wanting’ or ‘hoping’, but the translator has mostly been
literal in this case. To ‘desire’ is something that belongs to the language of love and these messages are
languages of love. And do we translate the verb portare as ‘carry’, ‘bring’, ‘take’, ‘lead’… all of which are
possibilities? In fact it is used in pretty much all those senses across the entire text, but the translator
has translated the title as ‘Take me with you’ rather than ‘Carry me with you’, since the former stresses
the missionary aspect of this carrying, and the messages have a decided missionary feel to them. Jesus
in the Eucharist is to be ‘carried’ by the Living Tabernacle, but in order to be given to others.
English readers will have heard of James Joyce and some (perhaps few) will have read, for example
Finnegan’s Wake. It can be a disconcerting experience! Joyce uses a narrative technique known
as stream of consciousness, a flow of myriad impressions – visual, auditory, physical, associative,
subliminal, at times bending the language to accommodate this ‘stream’ in ways we are not accustomed
to. Students of Joyce will know, too, that he was himself a student of Medieval mysticism. We are
not claiming that Vera Grita is another James Joyce! But if the reader gets a sense of a flow of myriad
impressions (a ‘river flowing’ lots of ‘pouring forth’, colour, mainly the red or even vermilion of blood,
the blue of the firmament, the fragrance of flowers, the sound of thunder…), then seeing this text as
a whole as a kind of stream of consciousness (or even spiritual pillow talk between Jesus Love and his
bride, Vera!) will not be far off the mark. The translator, then, has not attempted to break long sections
into paragraphs, as one might be tempted to do in English.
The reader will need to pay close attention to second person address. This is quite clear in Italian
(tu/voi and their respective conjugated forms) but much less so in English where ‘you’ could be
either. So careful attention to the context will usually help, though even here, at times, it will not
be so easy to work out who is being addressed. Take the Message on 16-3-1969 as a good example
of this. It opens with reference to ‘humanity’ (“Write my Words because only these can restore
humanity’s confidence.”). Here is the clue that what follows is addressed to those who make up this
humanity (the Italian here is uomini but the one accommodation the translator has made to modern
English gender sensitivity is to translate this with terms like ‘humanity’, ‘humankind’, ‘people’, just as

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fratelli invariably becomes ‘brothers and sisters’.) So the ‘you’ in what follows: ‘you will recognise the
fulfilment of my revelations… be ready and do not doubt’, is a plural reference. But do not be surprised
if Jesus suddenly switches back to Vera (before Vera is clearly mentioned further on) with ‘I gave you
the revealing sign of the Pope’. This constant switching is a feature of many of the Messages.
There is also the problem of occasional fragments, sometimes indicated quite deliberately with
words like ‘interrupted’, ‘resume’, or on one occasion by reference to a telephone call! Occasionally
there is an ellipsis (suspension points, three dots…), and from time to time Jesus seems to suddenly
remember something (the ‘manuscripts’ for example, and the urgent need to get them to the Pope to
read), then switch back to what he was saying before that. The translator has made no attempt to ‘fill
in’ these gaps.
Italian as a whole, and certainly the Messages, makes considerable and considered use of the
subjunctive. It is an essential mood in Italian narrative to convey certain ideas or feelings. English has
largely abandoned the subjunctive, and where it still exists (God save the King is one case) it is rarely
recognised as such, unfortunately… after all, our pious wish is that he save the King, but we are not
ordering him to do so! The translator has made abundant use of ‘let’ to express the subjunctive, as well
as the obvious ‘may’.
As for the rest, if there are some little oddities that do not seem to follow the canons of
contemporary English, this is because the translator has made little attempt to alter the text as received,
with its punctuation (a rather more frequent use of the semicolon, typical of Italian rather than
English) capitalisation (‘Me’, for example, but not always!) and emphasis (the use of bold and italics).
The Study Centre in Milan tells us that Vera used capitals (including entire phrases!) and sometimes
underlining for emphasis. Those who transcribed her text have adopted bold and italics, and initial
capitals for certain words, but did not add or subtract from what Vera attempted to emphasise. We
would not normally use so much emphasis (of any of those kinds) in English, but the translator has
been faithful to the edited version of the original in this regard.
Translation is really much more than answering the question of whether to bring the reader to the
text or the strange text to the reader. The translator is not simply navigating a sea (or a flowing river)
of words, but looking at a message, and in the case of this text, many messages, and working out how
best to convey it/them. Jesus has reminded us of this in the quotation that begins this comment. The
translator is caught up in the hermeneutical circle! Both versions (source and target) and their truth
are present in the translator’s mind. The writer’s culture, the translator’s culture, the reader’s culture
are all involved. The message, the real content of the original text to be translated is the same in both
languages. The reader of ‘Take me with you’ will do well to read the introductory presentations to get
a grasp of what is at stake here – and to appreciate the challenge for translator and reader.

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Foreword
Vera Grita (1923-1969), a teacher and Salesian Cooperator, was called by the Lord to be the “Voice”
of the living God in the Salesian Family and the Church, the voice of Jesus in the Eucharist who,
through the gift of inner locutions, dictated “the Work of the Living Tabernacles” to her for the
salvation of souls. The Messages have been studied by Fr Giuseppe Borra, the Salesian who wrote the
first biography of Vera.1
In 1989, at the initiative of Vera’s sisters, Giuseppina and Liliana Grita, the Messages were
published in the book titled Opera dei Tabernacoli Viventi,2 with the ecclesiastical approval of the
Bishop of Savona and Noli, Bishop Giulio Sanguineti. It is to the credit of Vera’s sisters and Segno
Publishers that in recent years they have published the Opera dei Tabernacoli Viventi, an initiative
that up until the present has allowed knowledge and diffusion of the message which Vera was the
spokesperson for, as well as the subsequent establishment of the first groups of Living Tabernacles
in Italy. Our gratitude also goes to Liliana Grita for publishing the book titled Mia sorella Vera di
Gesù,3 which contains Vera’s letters written to the Salesian priests who gave her spiritual direction: Fr
Gabriello Zucconi, Fr Giovanni Bocchi and Fr Giuseppe Borra. The publication of correspondence
between Vera and the Salesian priests, also containing the three priests’ letters, will be the subject of
study for an upcoming publication by the “Work of the Living Tabernacles” Study Centre in Milan.
Vera wrote the Messages of the Work of the Living Tabernacles in thirteen notebooks which
were entrusted to her mother, Mrs Marianna Zacco from Pirrera, at her death, then to the Curia
in Savona where they can be found today. By kind courtesy of the Curia, the “Work of the Living
Tabernacles” Study Centre in Milan has photocopied the original thirteen notebooks now published
as a whole for the first time in this book, enriched by reports from two authoritative theologians,
Carmelite Fr François-Marie Léthel, and Salesian Fr Roberto Carelli.4 By contrast with the earlier
Segno publication, based on the typewritten manuscript passed on to Liliana Grita by the Salesian
Rector, Fr Buttarelli, after Fr Borra’s death, the current publication is based on the photocopies of
Vera’s notebooks, offering their entire content.
Groups of the “Work of the Living Tabernacles” have been formed in recent years in Italy. These
are made up of individuals who have chosen to deepen their understanding of the Mystery of the
Eucharist under the guidance of a priest, starting from the message which Vera was the inspiration for,
and to conform their spiritual lives and apostolic activity to the call they have received. Groups have
arisen in Lombardy, Versilia, Liguria, Piedmont, Sardinia, Veneto. Altogether they involve more than a
hundred individuals. Among them are many extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist. On 11 February
2001, in the Salesian Province of Milan, Salesians Fr Enrico Mozzanica, Fr Ermanno Montagnoli
(1928-2014) and Maria Rita Scrimieri, a Salesian Cooperator and consecrated member of the Work
of the Living Tabernacles, opened the Centro Studi Opera dei Tabernacoli Viventi (The Work of the
Living Tabernacles Study Centre) dedicated to Vera Grita and Fr Gabriello Zucconi SDB, with the
aim of studying the spirituality and carrying out the message of the work. They promote the spiritual
formation of the members through monthly days of study and prayer as well as an annual retreat, and
propose models of life of saints who have been particularly significant for their Eucharistic charism.
In 1999, at the initiative of Liliana Grita, who together with Salesian Fr Pietro Ceresa (1920–1997)
began the first group of faithful in Turin to come together around Vera’s message, the Curia in Turin
1 G. Borra, Grita Vera. Notizie biografiche, Editrice Terzo Millennio, Caserta 1984.
2 L. Grita (ed.), Opera dei “Tabernacoli Viventi”, Il grande dono di Gesù agli uomini tramite Vera Grita, Edizioni Segno,
Tavagnacco (UD) 2014 (1989).
3 L. Grita, Mia sorella Vera di Gesù, Edizione extra commerciale, Scuola Grafica Salesiana, Torino, 1999.
4 Fr Roberto Carelli SDB, Lecturer in Systematic Theology at the Pontifical Salesian University, Turin Campus; Fr François-Marie
Léthel, Lecturer in Dogmatic and Spiritual Theology at the Pontifical Theological Faculty, the Teresianum in Rome.

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approved the Association of Living Tabernacles as a Eucharistic Adoration group. A further step in
carrying out the Work from various aspects was taken in January 2007 at the Archiepiscopal Curia in
Milan, where the Study Centre presented the Statutes and Rule of life of the Association of the Work of
the Living Tabernacles.
The Work of the Living Tabernacles has had its headquarters in Portugal since May 2103, at the
International Centre for Salesian Spirituality, Balasar. It came into being with the aim of studying
and spreading the message of two figures of the Salesian Cooperator who are especially significant
today for their Eucharistic and Marian mission in the Salesian Family and the Church: Portuguese
Alexandrina Maria da Costa (Balasar 1904-1955), beatified in 2004, and Italian Vera Grita.
On the 50th anniversary of the first message written by Vera on 19.9.1967, the Study Centre’s
initiative to publish a complete edition of the Work seeks to be an expression of our gratitude to
the Blessed Trinity for the gift of Vera and of the Work of the Living Tabernacles to the Salesian
Congregation and the Church. Through this initiative we hope to contribute to the development and
full realisation of the Work in the Church for the greater glory of God and the good of salvation of all
souls.
We would like to thank all the Members of the Work of the Living Tabernacles and friends who
have sustained us in this work through their prayer. Particular thanks goes to Fr Pierluigi Cameroni
sdb, Postulator General of the Causes of Saints of the Salesian Family, who has keenly followed the
initiative and has collaborated in preparation of this book.
Fr Enrico Mozzanica sdb
Maria Rita Scrimieri
The Work of the Living Tabernacles Study Centre
Milan, 16 July 2017
The Feast of Our Lady of Carmel

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Introduction
The Work of the Living Tabernacles, gift and mission
for the Salesian Congregation and the Church
Maria Rita Scrimieri
“Work of the Living Tabernacles” Study Centre, Milan
1. Living Tabernacles: a Eucharistic vocation for the life of the world
The Work of the Living Tabernacles is presented as a new way of evangelisation based on the
Eucharistic presence of Jesus the Way, the Truth and the Life. It involves priests, sisters dedicated
to works of charity, lay people and young people called to give themselves to the Lord in order to
be his new temple, his new dwelling in society among human beings, through Mary the first Living
Tabernacle.
This charismatic grace, corresponding to the gift of self in this call, is the “Eucharistic dwelling”
of Jesus in the soul, through which Jesus promises to save the souls who are far from him by pouring
out divine life through his new Tabernacle.
We find an historical precedent in the lives of saints of our time, in Saint Faustina Kowalska, who
at various points in her Diary makes reference to her experience of this Eucharistic grace: “Today I
have understood many of God’s mysteries. I have come to know that holy Communion lasts in me
until the next holy Communion. God’s living and sensible presence remains in my soul. My heart is
a living tabernacle in which the living host is preserved.”1 And again: “During the holy Mass I saw
the Baby Jesus in the chalice. He told me: ‘This is how I dwell in your heart, as you see Me in this
chalice.’ After holy Communion I felt Jesus’ heart beating in my heart. Given that I have known for a
long time that that holy Communion lasts in me until the next holy Communion, today for the entire
day I adored Jesus in my heart and I prayed that though his grace he may protect children from the
evil that threatens them. The living presence of God, also physically noticeable, has accompanied me
throughout the day and has in no way disturbed me from carrying out my duties.”2
We find another very significant historical precedent in the Founder of the Claretians,
Saint Anthony Mary Claret (1807–1870), Archbishop of Santiago, Cuba, who describes in his
autobiography the Eucharistic grace he received on 26 August 1861, which he called the great Grace:
“…at La Granja, while I was praying in the church of the Rosary, I received the exceptional grace from
the Lord of preserving the sacramental species in my breast by day and night, so that I had the Blessed
Sacrament within me day after day.
“This miracle imposes constant and intimate recollection on me. It obliges me – this is the Lord's
word – to pray and deal with all the evils of Spain.”3 A year later, on 16 May, when the holy bishop
considered removing from his diary what he had written about the great Grace he had received, the
Blessed Virgin prevented him from doing so and “later, at Mass, Jesus Christ told me he had granted
this grace to remain in me sacramentally.”
Commenting on this immense grace, Frs Vinas and Bermejo write: “The great grace, as he calls it,
of the preservation of the Eucharistic species from one Communion to another, indicates his arrival at
a particular degree of conformity with Christ. We should consider two important aspects of it: 1) this
grace was ordered to the fulfilment of his mission, his apostolate, now more universal and effective
1 F. Kowalska, Diario di santa Maria Faustina Kowalska. La misericordia divina nella mia anima, Libreria Editrice
Vaticana, Città del Vaticano 1992, p. 435.
2 Ibid., p. 597.
3 G. Papasogli, F. Stano, Antonio Claret, l’uomo che sfidò l’impossibile, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Città del Vaticano
1983, pp. 566-568.

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than ever; 2) this grace was granted him almost certainly through the intercession of the Virgin Mary.
Also, the great miracle happened at a time that coincides with the Saint’s greatest human prestige, but
also at a time of secret and decisive preparation: the Saint was approaching days of earthly sorrow and
ruination. He would always have the Lord in him, then, and would pass through earthly storms as a
living tabernacle.”4
All the images relating to his person depict him with the luminous Host at his breast.
The holy bishop carried out an intense missionary apostolate, intervening to make customs moral,
to form the clergy and to assist the poor. The Work of the Living Tabernacles also stands out for
another aspect. While having historical precedents in the Church’s history, it takes on a new dimension
in Vera Grita’s writings. In fact, among the Living Tabernacles there are some (priests, sisters dedicated
to works of charity, prepared lay people) who are called to be also “Bearers of Jesus in the Eucharistic
Species” in their workplace, in schools, in the mission, so that the Eucharistic Jesus can spread his divine
life and saving love to those he meets and sees through the new Tabernacle.
We find an historical precedent along these lines in the letter that the Servant of God, Fr Dolindo
Ruotolo (1882–1970) wrote to Pius XI on 23 December 1924 on the eve of the Jubilee in 1925. In
this letter, the priest put to the Holy Father some of Jesus’ wishes, such as an increase in holy Masses
celebrated during the day, communion of the faithful for every Mass heard, and finally Fr Dolindo
wrote: “That you would allow the bishops to carry Jesus in the Sacrament in a pyx over their heart and
thus be living Pastors in and for Him.
“Your Holiness should be the first living Temple of Jesus in the Eucharist. Pius IX took him with
him while fleeing Rome on his journey to Gaeta. “Let Your Holiness take Him with you to spread the
Eucharistic Life in the world. In time you could also form more devoted priests and souls consecrated
to God, the living temple of Jesus…
“Let this, Holy Father, be the Jubilee of Jesus’ love […].”5
Vera Grita was born in Rome a year before this letter, on 28 January 1923. In 1967–1969 she
would be called by the will of the Lord to be the spokesperson of the Work of the Living Tabernacles
in the Salesian Family and the Church, a Work through which the Lord extends to priests, consecrated
individuals and suitably prepared lay people what had been requested in restricted form of the Pope
in 1924 through the Servant of God Fr Dolindo Ruotolo.
2. Living Tabernacles: at the service of Charity and Mercy
The Work of the Living Tabernacles has been entrusted in the first instance to the Salesian
Congregation. This Congregation, at the explicit wish of the Lord, must be its promoter so that it may
be realised and spread in the Church (dioceses, parishes, religious institutes…). Later the Carmelite
Family was also indicated in Vera’s writings as a beneficiary of the messages for them to be carried out.
The Work of the Living Tabernacles can be a valuable contribution in the Church for tackling the
challenges of the third millennium for the benefit of humanity: increasingly widespread secularisation,
the crisis of vocations, the disintegrating forces that attack the human family and society, peace among
nations and the Church itself seem to require, today more than ever, not so much and not only human
solutions as the unifying and sanctifying power of the divine life of Jesus Christ in our souls, the
diffusion of Eucharistic life throughout the world.
In the light of the changes that have taken place in society, it is necessary to bring the source of Life,
Jesus in the Eucharist and his Word, to where people live, among them, in the family, in workplaces,
in schools, through the streets: Jesus thirsts to give himself to souls. He thirsts to give Life, divine Life,
and therefore seeks out simple souls who are ready to give themselves to Him to be, like the Virgin
Mary and, in Mary, his new Tabernacle. He needs to renew the power of the priesthood in priests,
4 Ibidem.
5 Apostolate of the Press, Fui chiamato Dolindo, che significa dolore… Pages from the autobiography of Fr Dolindo
Ruotolo, Napoli, third ed. 1973 p.432.

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giving them all of Himself in the Eucharistic gift through which He will pour out strength, light, and
especially the love that saves.
Therefore, to this end, and with due authorisation from the Pope, it is necessary to give the
possibility to priests and souls called to this mission to carry Jesus in the Sacred Species in a Pyx, hidden
and silently, to extend the fruits of the Eucharistic Gift to all those who live far from the Lord and the
Church. Through his Eucharistic presence Jesus can extend his life-giving and liberating action to all
those he meets and on whom he casts his merciful gaze, touching their hearts and drawing them to
himself through the power of his love. In other words, it is about allowing the Lord’s mercy to reach
souls who are far from him, through this “new Eucharistic way” by means of priests, religious and
lay people called to more closely share with Jesus the work of redemption and the yearning to save
souls. This aspect was at the heart of all of Don Bosco’s mission and one he summed up in the famous
expression: “Da mihi animas, coetera tolle”.
3. In the charism of Don Bosco: “da mihi animas, coetera tolle”
The Work of the Living Tabernacles has been entrusted to the Salesian Congregation through the
charism of its founder:
“The Salesian Fathers”, we read in the message of 30.11.67, “will spread this way of love among
souls to prepare them for my League. They are the first ones called to revive Me, and through my
Priesthood and through the spirit of the Founder which pervades their apostolate.” And also: “For
all the Salesians their founder, St John Bosco, will be, from where he is in my Glory, a loving Father, a
comforting protector, support… Yes, Don Bosco ritorna (Don Bosco returns) among you because Jesus
wants to renew in you his life, his love, his Priesthood, all of himself. I in you and you in Me, to give
‘fruits’ to my Father, to save souls, to die for souls. I, Jesus, your Life, your Way, your Truth: to you
beloved Priests; to you, all and always Me.” Message 4.2.1968.
In imitation of Jesus the Good Shepherd who gives his life for his sheep, the Living Tabernacle
is called to give all of itself to the Lord so that he, alive and active in the soul, can make it his new
dwelling among people and his new Temple from which he constantly offers himself to the Father for
the salvation of humankind: “[…] And I, I will lift up my hands to Heaven in the small Hosts to once
again cry out, from my Living Tabernacles: ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’
And the Father, through you, will see Me in each of you: his Son; he will see Me, so many Jesuses, so
many children; he will see a spotless Lamb in everyone: his Victim, Me! I love my Living Tabernacles;
I love them now; I have loved them from the moment I gave myself to you as food for the soul. I have
seen you, I see you, I look for you. Welcome me: I am Jesus in the Eucharist, I am the Love that gives
and gives.” Message 14.5.1968.
This corresponds fully with pastoral charity, the inner and dynamic principle recalled in the
Salesian Constitutions, that is to animate the life of every member of the Salesian Family: “Pastoral
charity is the virtue with which we imitate Christ in the gift of self and in his service. It is not only
what we do, but the gift of ourselves, that shows the love of Christ for his sheep. It is the unconditional
availability to the action of the Spirit that consecrates the human heart to God’s plan, the gift of self to
the work of salvation to the point of giving one’s life, the search for and building up of communion
as a gift and task of the love of Christ the Lord.”6
The Work of the Living Tabernacles springs from the priestly heart of Christ to bring his mercy
to every part of the world. The aim and spirit it is imbued with is well-highlighted in the Message of
11.6.1968 sent to Pope Paul VI. Here we offer the passage where the Salesians are given the mandate
to bring this Work about, and the invitation for Paul VI to be the first Living Tabernacle, bearer of
Jesus in the Eucharist.
Purpose: to reach out to all souls, be close to them, touch them in the intimacy of their heart
with my Fatherly love.
6 La Famiglia Salesiana di Don Bosco, Edizione extra commerciale, Rome 2000, p.19.

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Goal: to prepare, down below, infinite and holy Living Tabernacles to cover the earth. They
will be the “Chalices” offered to God the Father for the salvation of humanity.
Programme: I want those who must become Living Tabernacles to be consecrated souls.
Priests of fervent love, great charity, pure love (…) Let it be among the Salesian Fathers that my
Work of love is born. May it develop and spread, since my Mother Mary Help of Christians
will be guide and teacher for every soul, for every Living Tabernacle […] Let Living Tabernacles
be chosen also among the young, among lay people so that I can go into schools, families, and
share the life of humanity […]
And you, Paul VI, who represent me in the Church as my Vicar, receive my words with a spirit
of deep faith […] The League of my Work of love in the authority of the Church – spread it,
let it go forth into the whole world. You, my first Living Tabernacle, who go with Me to visit
the furthest parts of the Earth to give Me, see that bearers of Me, like you, increase and grow
following your secret example, and reach the earth, seas and skies… Take me with you: it is my
Voice of Love. I want to remain with you: it is my Heart that is asking you for this. I in you and
upon you because you are in Me, can bring every greater fruits. I through you, my Vicar, to
all the Priests, to the Salesians, to my souls, to small souls: small and humble ones. I, through
you, to all of humanity. Bless and authorise my Work of Love…Jesus, High and Eternal Priest,
to Pope Paul VI, for his Glory and the Coming of his Kingdom of love in souls.
The Eucharist and the Virgin Mary were the pillars in the life of Don Bosco the priest and
educator: the very heart of his educational system, the ultimate aim of which was to establish and
develop Trinitarian life in the souls of the young in his oratories. It was based on frequent confession,
holy communion and participation in daily Mass. Contrary to an educational system based on violence
and lack of respect for the other, he embodied the kindness of the Father who educates his children
with “loving-kindness, reason and religion”, and in the Heart of Christ the Good Shepherd who gives
his life for his sheep, he indicated the model of the pastoral and educational vocation and for those
who worked closely with him. The Work of the Living Tabernacles is based on the same “pillars” as
Don Bosco’s: the Eucharist and the Help of Christians.
Everyone knows the famous dream of the “two columns in the middle of the sea” which Don Bosco
had in May 1862, in which the Eucharist and the Immaculate Virgin save the Church from various
persecutions after the Church, represented by the ship, anchors itself to Jesus in the Eucharist and
Mary, the columns of the Mystical Body of Christ. In the Message of 3.12.68, dictated to Vera by
Jesus, there is explicit reference to a prophecy given to the Salesian Family; it is our belief that this was
precisely the prophecy of Don Bosco’s “two columns”:
[…] To you, little soul, I, Jesus, have revealed my Work of Love in the gift of the Living
Tabernacles. This Work of mine stands on its own and must not be confused with other
Works. It must remain intact and in the light of the grace with which I have desired and
dictated it. Jesus’ Work of Love is the fruit of my Eucharistic love. Jesus in the Word of Grace
opens his mercy to all humankind through himself in their souls. This Work, therefore, is
unique and bears my holy Name: Jesus. Turin, in Mary Help of Christians, will be the cradle
of my Work of Love. Rome will be its Mother. Let the Salesian Superiors rejoice in my holy
Name, Jesus; let them rejoice because great are the graces reserved for them from my priestly
Heart. I want the doubts in their hearts to vanish, and for them to see Me, hasten to work for
Me. And, my daughter, let me add this revelation. A prophecy was given to them in its own
time; now the prophecy comes true: it is Me, it is my Work. It is my Living Tabernacles. My
Word is the Way, it is Truth, it is Life because it is Me: Jesus.
4. Paul VI and the Work of the Living Tabernacles
The Work of the Living Tabernacles came into existence during years characterised by huge social
changes and youthful protest that burst upon society in many parts of the world around 1968.
Historically it can be located at a time of “crisis” in society and Church: crisis of values, crisis of faith,
crisis of discipline. The time of protest was, in fact, a strong and stormy hour also for the Church that

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had recently concluded the Second Vatican Council. This harsh crisis was paid for with a significant
drop in vocations and with many priests and consecrated men and women abandoning their vocation.
During the General Audiences over those years, Paul VI did not fail to give voice to the anxieties
and tensions of the modern world and the Church. In the audience of 25 April 1968 he expressed
himself as follows:
Because, as you know, the Church is currently going through a spiritual moment in its history
that is not serene, especially in certain countries. This is a cause of great apprehension and
sometimes great bitterness for the pastors of the Church and for ourselves. It is so not only
because the whole modern world, captivated by the wealth of its scientific and technical
achievements, is losing the sense of God; not only because these achievements – to use the
unfortunate expression employed by some – demand “the death of God”, that is to say,
a mentality that is atheistic and far removed from all religion, whereas these characteristic
advances of the modern world would rather demand a higher, more penetrating, more adoring
sense of God, a purer and more lively religion that would crown human knowledge; This is so,
we say, not only because of the practical apostasy which is so widespread, but also and especially
because of the anxiety which troubles certain sectors of the Catholic world and affects the
sensibilities of those who have responsibilities in the Church.
Everyone knows that after the Council the Church has experienced and is still experiencing
a great and magnificent revival which We are the first to recognise and to encourage. But the
Church has suffered and still suffers from a whirlwind of ideas and actions which are certainly
not inspired by the right spirit and do not announce that renewal of life which the Council
promised and promoted.7
And in the General Audience on 17 September 1969 he noted:
[…] not a few symptoms seem rather to prelude serious ills for the Church itself. We have
pointed out some of them ourselves, such as a certain decline in doctrinal orthodoxy in some
schools and among some scholars. And no one can fail to see what a danger to religious truth
and to the saving efficiency of our religion it is to consider only the human and social aspect at
the expense of the primary, sacred and divine aspect, that of faith and prayer. Thus, one cannot
observe without apprehension the ease with which the virtue of ecclesial obedience, which is
a constitutive principle in the design established by Christ for the stability and development
of his mystical and visible body, which is precisely the Church, is contravened. Perhaps we
have gone beyond the permitted limit in the effort, laudable in itself, to insert the priest into
the social structure, completely secularising his habit, his way of thinking and living, pushing
him back onto the path that is not his own of temporal competitions, thus debasing his
vocation and his function as a minister of the Gospel and of Grace; his celibacy has been
questioned too much; and the vigour of Christian asceticism and the irreversible character of
the sacred commitments made before God and the Church are being weakened too much…It
will take time to extract what may be good even in these restless expressions of Catholic life
and to reabsorb them into their own harmony. There are even those who have spoken of
its decomposition; we are not of this opinion, and we once again confirm our trust in the
assistance of Christ and the help of good people.8
Paul VI holds a central place in the Work of the Living Tabernacles, not just because his blessing
and authorisation as Supreme Pontiff was essential for the Work to be carried out, but also because
Paul VI, like Pope Pius XI in 1924, was called to be the first Living Tabernacle, the first “stone” of the
Work, just as Saint Peter was the first “stone” of the emerging Church. In the four messages expressly
addressed to him, Jesus invites the Pope to be His first Living Tabernacle. That is, he invites him to
take him with him, in the Sacred Species, on his apostolic voyages that the Holy Father was about
7 Paul VI, General Audience of 25 April 1968, http:w2.vatican.va/content/paul-VI/it/audiences/1968/documents/hf-p
-vi-aud-19680425.html
8 Ibidem.

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to undertake to Colombia (1968) and then Uganda (1969). He we offer in chronological order a
summary of the 4 Messages of the Work addressed to Pope Paul VI.
In the Message of 14 May 1968, Jesus the Eternal Priest addresses himself to the First Priest of
his Church, Paul VI, Pontiff, to entrust him with the message of the Work, the gift of love and mercy
for the Church and for humankind ravaged and battered by the social storms that saw their historic
beginning in May 1968:
To Pope Paul VI my beloved Pastor. Paul, my beloved son, chosen by the Blessed Trinity,
As the helmsman of my barque amidst the storms of battered humanity, I place in your hands
my message of love and salvation for all souls. My Work of Love directed by Me, Jesus, must
be spread soon and from you must spring those enlightenments whose light must embrace
humanity. I give Myself to the souls consecrated to Me, and I will be for them. I will go through
the ways of the world. I have chosen new temples: living temples…I, Jesus, will come with
you, upon you, in you! I go under the Eucharistic Species to seek that which is about to be lost;
I go to seek the sheep that do not want to seek my fold; I go to call those who no longer hear
me…Confirm my divine Will: give it to consecrated souls, give it to the world, and entrust
everything to her whom you love so much with me. Jesus, Eternal Priest, to the First Priest of
his Church: Pope Paul VI.
A month later, on 11 June 1968, the Lord dictated his second Message for the Holy Father to
Vera. It is the Message that presents the Work as a whole, its purpose, and the Salesian Congregation
is indicated as the initiator of the Work. Paul VI as Supreme Pontiff is asked to give it his blessing and
authorisation:
Jesus addresses himself to our Supreme Pontiff Paul VI. I am Jesus who comes to you in
his great Eucharistic Love to offer you the Mercy of my Father’s Heart, my Heart as Priest,
Friend, Brother. It is for humanity, for the salvation of the peoples, the nations. It springs from
a source of living water from my wounded Heart. It comes down from Heaven as a new and
final light to shed light on the darkened ways of the world. It bathes the arid earth, renew souls
in the service of the apostolate, gathers those called to Me in the army of salvation. I am this
Light, this Water: Jesus! I come to bring a new “way” of Love on earth for people who await
me and love me. A Way based on Truth that is my divine and human reality in the Eucharistic
Presence; a way that will lead to the life of Grace and to so many souls who are far from Me.
My Way lies in Truth and gives My Life. This Way is Me. I am Jesus in the Eucharist…I pour
out my Spirit of Love from the Tabernacles. Now I have chosen new temples, new Tabernacles
to guard Me. Living Tabernacles to take Me through the ways of the world, to lead Me among
those people who do not think of Me, who do not seek Me, who do not love Me…[From the
Living Tabernacles] I will pour out My Grace to a great extent so that sinners become sensitive
to My calls. I shall walk, as once I walked in the land of Palestine, I shall reach the ends of the
earth; to all I shall extend my grace, to all I shall offer Salvation […] The Work must involve
Salesian life and activity, because from the Work of St John Bosco my Work of Love must
blossom as a “continuation” of the former…I through you, my Vicar, to all the priests, to the
Salesians, to my souls, to the little souls: small and humble ones…Bless and authorise my Work
of Love…Jesus, Supreme and Eternal Priest, to Pope Paul VI, for his Glory and the coming of
his Kingdom of Love in souls.
The Holy Father was on the eve of a new apostolic voyage that would take him to Colombia from
22 to 25 August 1968, to Bogotà, to take part in the International Eucharistic Congress and then to
Medellin to the General Conference of Bishops of Latin America. It was the first visit of the Pope to
Latin America and, let us recall, in September 1965 he gave the Church the Encyclical “Mysterium
Fidei” concerning the doctrine and worship of the Eucharist. Jesus was in a hurry for his Message
to get to the Holy Father before his departure, because he wanted to leave with him, on him, in the
Sacred Species. Fr Gabriello Zucconi, Vera's spiritual father, saw that the two messages addressed to
him got to the Holy Father, and at the indication of the Superiors he went to Rome at the beginning of
August 1968. Here, through the parish priest at Castel Gandolfo, who was a Salesian, he passed on the

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two letters, one for the Pope’s personal secretary, Mons. Bossi, and the other for Paul VI. They were
handed over personally by the parish priest. The Vatican replied by writing to the Curia in Genoa. Fr
Raineri, at that time the Provincial of the Ligure-Toscana Province, was asked to provide news about
Fr Zucconi, and sent what was requested to the Curia in Genoa.9 Two months later, on 20 October,
Jesus dictated the third Message for Paul VI. It was a message of great spiritual value in which the
mystical priestly union between the Heart of Jesus and the heart of Paul VI emerges, a heart wounded
by love and sorrow for humanity. From this wound in the heart of the Church that is the heart of the
Pope comes the Living Tabernacles he blessed.
Jesus to his First Bearer Paul VI Supreme Pontiff. Message of love to my beloved Vicar
on Earth, Paul. If the Living Tabernacles are soon to be the expression of my tenderest and
deepest love as Father, Brother, Friend, Spouse, you, Paul, are and will be ever more my Heart
wounded by love and pain. The beatings of your heart are mine, and already there are no
longer two hearts, but my one Heart that suffers, groans and loves in yours. The throbbing of
Eucharistic love with which I proclaim my Death for humanity is in your heart as Pastor of
souls. With this throb of love you, Paul, will give Me to consecrated souls so that I, Jesus in the
Eucharist, may increase Grace in them. You will give Me as I gave Myself to My Apostles at
the Last Supper so that My souls may become My new dwellings, My new Temples through
which I, Jesus, may visit all humankind…I have brought a new Cross of Love to earth to give
it to those whom I have called. Behold, I now place it in your hands as Pontiff. Bless it, give it
to my souls so that embracing it with gratitude and respect and love, they may be transformed
by this Cross of love and suffering into the Crucified One who goes and seeks his souls on all
the world’s roads.
The new year, 1969, began with the announcement that these Messages would be the last. The
final Message for the Holy Father was dictated to Vera on 15 July, two weeks before Paul VI left for
his journey to Uganda for the First Pan-African Episcopal Conference (31.7 – 2.8.1969). It was the
first pilgrimage of a pontiff to African lands. The Pope went to Uganda for the consecration of the
sanctuary dedicated to the 22 Ugandan Martyrs, lay people whom he had canonised in 1964. Vera was
forewarned by Jesus: “We will soon write to the Pope, to my beloved Vicar Paul VI, before his voyage to
Uganda. I want my Tabernacle to accompany him.” Message 7.7.1969. And in fact a week later, Jesus
dictated the message for the Pope. In this message Paul VI is invited to increase his apostolic journeys
throughout the world.
Now these words of mine must reach my Vicar on earth, Paul VI: your journeys must
increase because I, Jesus the Teacher and Redeemer, also want to visit all the peoples of the
earth in you who represent me, with My Holy Humanity, before the day comes when God
the Father will bring justice. Ask Me for the graces that I, Jesus, have promised in My Work
of Love…I desire that you approve and authorise this, so that I, Jesus, may fulfil what I have
promised. Go, My beloved Paul, and I with you: in the Cross, in the Holy Cross that I have
given you, and with your head crowned for Me and in Me with thorns; go and take Me, give
Me, and in the Holy Eucharist spread Me. I gather my little victims, and in Me, in my continual
holocaust, I offer them to My Father so that you may be given freedom to authorise what is
the beating heart of love, what is the Life, the Truth, and the Way: Jesus in the Sacred Species
in the Church that goes out, proceeds so that it may advance and meet and bless all before that
day…Jesus, Eternal Priest, to His Vicar on earth, Paul VI. I bless all suffering humanity you
will visit with Me, in the Most Holy Trinity, in my glorious Mother the Immaculate, in my
Saints and in my Angels. I, Jesus Crucified, am in you.
The following year Paul VI went to the Far East, Australia and Oceania (1970).
9 M. R. Scrimieri, Relazione sull’iter seguito da don Zucconi presso i Superiori ed il Papa Paolo VI per l’Opera dei Tabernacoli
Viventi. Work of the Living Tabernacles Study Centre (Unpublished).

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5. Paul VI and the Work
The Supreme Pontiff was sent the four messages addressed to him, a summary of them first, and then
the complete Work. Fr Gabriello Zucconi, a Salesian and Veras spiritual director, took care of this and,
obeying both his Provincial, Fr Giovanni Raineri, and the Rector Major, Fr Luigi Ricceri, used their
advice and suggestions to send the Work to the Holy Father with the request for his Apostolic blessing
and the necessary authorisation.
Twice the Holy See made contact with the Curia in Genoa, asking for information about Fr
Gabriello Zucconi, and a second time with the Curia in Savona asking for information about Vera
Grita and the Work. The Bishop of Savona, Bishop Perego, sent the Holy See a positive reply about
Vera: “A worthy person of faith.”10 Fr Formento, Canon at the Cathedral in Savona who knew Vera
very well, was her guarantor before the Bishop.
On the other hand, there are no written documents relating to the authorisation of the Living
Tabernacles “Bearers of Jesus in the Eucharist”, while the private audience of 22 September 1977,
during which Paul VI blessed the Work of the Living Tabernacles, is documented in the personal
diary of Fr Zucconi. It should be noted, however, that the Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist
were instituted under the pontificate of Paul VI, in 1972, a first step to bring and give Jesus to the sick
and elderly.
Further steps would be necessary with the Holy Father to fully realise the Work according to the
wishes expressed by Jesus to Vera and in obedience to Mother Church.
10 Cf. V. Grita, Letter of 20.3.1969 to Fr Zucconi.

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Vera Grita in the “carousel of saints”
Fr François-Marie Léthel OCD
The writings of Vera Grita (1923–1969) published in this book offer us a splendid Eucharistic
spirituality, one that is hugely relevant and a prophetic force for the Church of the future. They are the
expression of the mystical experience she had in the final two years of her life, an experience which is
testimony to, and in some way a “verification” of the great truth of Catholic Faith concerning the Real
Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. In the consecrated Host the Church recognises, loves and adores the
real Body of the Son of God, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified for us, and who died and was risen:
Ave verum Corpus natum de Maria Virgine, vere passum, immolatum in Cruce pro homine! In the
Eucharist, Jesus calls the disciple to be a Living Tabernacle, telling that person: Take me with you!
These are the most characteristic expressions of Vera’s spirituality.
The literary form of these writings is that they are messages, that is, biblical prophecy in which the
Lord himself speaks in first person through someone he has chosen. This is also a classic approach of
Christian mystical experience, but one that needs to be interpreted well and in some way “decrypted”.
More precisely, we are dealing with typical “female prophetism”, so important in the history of
the Church in emblematic figures like Saint Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church, and Saint
Brigid of Sweden at the end of the Middle Ages. Through these women mystics Jesus speaks to the
Church and the world, especially to the Pope and to pastors, and it is a strong a bold message of
love and consolation, but also of conversion and the call to holiness (especially for priests). Brigid left
the Church an extensive collection of her Revelations, while Catherine's main written work was the
Dialogue in which the Saint listened to the voice of God the Father who replied to her questions on the
Mystery of Christ and the Church. The same literary form of dialogue between Jesus and his disciple is
found in the Imitation of Christ, the book that shaped the spiritual life of many saints. Then there are
so many other examples of female prophets with this extraordinary approach of locutions and vision.
We could mention the names of Saint Joan of Arc, Margaret Mary Alacoque, Catherine Labouré,
Bernardette Soubirous, Gemma Galgani, Faustina Kowalska, Blesseds Dina Bélanger and Alexandrina
Maria da Costa (Salesian Cooperator), Venerable Louise-Marguerite Claret de la Touche, etc.
It is important to interpret these messages well. They are of great value when they come from
individuals whose holiness has been recognised by the Church (Saints, Blesseds and Venerables). They
make the great truths of the Christian faith shine out in love, through their mystical experience.
Even though Vera's Cause for beatification has not yet been opened, her writings and the testimonies
gathered in this book lead us to a very beautiful soul, a holy soul,1 filled with love for the Lord and her
neighbour, so humble and obedient, so marked by physical and spiritual suffering, yet always followed
up by Salesian superiors and her directors. Rather than being “Private Revelations”, these messages are
Vera’s personal listening to the inner voice of Jesus, that makes itself heard in so many different ways in
the prayers of the saints, according to the personality of each one, their sensitivity, their culture. This
is how Benedict XVI explained the message of the holy seers of Fatima.2
1 Fr Guido Roascio, Discalced Carmelite, who knew Vera in the final year of her life when she was a guest at the Desert of
Varazze, was not afraid to say: “Vera was a saint!”
2 Here are his words: “In 2000, in my presentation, I said that an apparition – a supernatural impulse which does not come
purely from a person’s imagination but really from the Virgin Mary, from the supernatural – that such an impulse enters
into a subject and is expressed according to the capacities of that subject. The subject is determined by his or her historical,
personal, temperamental conditions, and so translates the great supernatural impulse into his or her own capabilities for
seeing, imagining, expressing; yet these expressions, shaped by the subject, conceal a content which is greater, which goes
deeper, and only in the course of history can we see the full depth, which was – let us say – “clothed” in this vision that
was accessible to specific individuals.” (Benedict XVI, In-flight interview during his trip to Fatima, 11 May 2010).

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In this regard, it must be added that the messages published in this volume are the voice of Jesus
heard by a typical Italian mystic (such as Catherine of Siena and Gemma Galgani) with many words
and repetitions. By contrast, French mystics are often more concise, with few words (like Joan of Arc
and Bernadette Soubirous)!
To interpret these texts well, we need to recall the historical context of Vera's mystical experience
at the end of her life, and then consider it in the light of certain saints who have been masters of
Eucharistic spirituality. In fact, saints throw light on each other. Considered together, they do not add
to one another but multiply each other. Thus we need to contemplate Vera in this “carousel of saints”
as painted by Blessed Fra’ Angelico, where the saints and the angels give one another a hand, and also
give a hand to help us to journey towards holiness.3 Vera is close to the saints we have just named,
but with regard to her specific Eucharistic spirituality, she is even closer to Saint Thérèse of Lisieux,
Doctor of the Church, and to Venerable Cardinal François-Xavier Van Thuân, who come to confirm
in full her Eucharistic spirituality of the Living Tabernacles.
Vera's testimony in the context of the years from 1967-1969
Vera had this mystical experience in the last two years of her life (September 1967–December 1969),
a period that was also a dramatic one in the life of the Church. They were years that were most
characteristic of the great crisis of the Church after the Council, under the pontificate of St Paul VI,
the main beneficiary of Vera’s messages. For the Pope we are talking about a profound crisis of faith
within the Church and this is why he wanted to establish a Year of Faith beginning 29 June 1967 on
the Solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul, ending the following year on the same feast day.
Protests in society and the Church broke out in May 1968, and a month later, Paul VI concluded
the year of faith with his great Credo of the People of God (30 June 1968). It was a clear and
detailed exposition of the main truths of the faith, particularly developing those that were then
most threatened: Jesus in the Eucharist, the Virgin Mary and the Church. Already in his Encyclical
Mysterium Fidei on the Eucharist, signed on 3 September 1965 (the feast of St Pius X at the time),
shortly before the end of the Council (8 December), Paul VI had reaffirmed the faith of the Church,
calling on the bishops to promote Eucharistic worship, Eucharistic spirituality, insisting on the
inseparable elements of the sacrifice of the Mass, the value of daily communion and its prolongation in
Eucharistic adoration. Also bound up with the crisis of faith in the Eucharist was a deep crisis in the
priesthood with thousands of priests abandoning their ministry. Hence, in 1967, Paul VI once more
proposed genuine priestly spirituality in his Encyclical Sacerdotalis Caelibatus. Then, with Marialis
Cultus in 1974, the Pope would offer the Church a beautiful proposal of Marian spirituality. Thus, in
Paul VI's magisterium, as in his personal testimony of holiness, faith and love, Jesus in the Eucharist,
the Priesthood, Mary and the Church are inseparable, in other words Mary in the Mystery of Christ
and the Church (Lumen Gentium, VIII). Jesus' Love has its centre in the Eucharist, and is lived
with Mary in the Church. Authentic Catholic spirituality as witnessed by the saints is, inseparably,
Eucharistic, Marian and ecclesial.
3 This was the icon of the retreat I had the grace to preach at the Vatican for Benedict XVI and the Roman Curia in 2011.
Pope Benedict himself made reference to this image in his spontaneous address to me at the end of this retreat: “You have
inserted s within the circle of these Saints and have shown us that it is precisely the “little” Saints who are the “great” Saints.
You have shown us that the scientia fidei and the scientia amoris go together and complete one another, that great reason
and great love go together, and indeed that great love sees more than reason alone.” (Address on 19 March 2011). The
scientia fidei is the intellectual approach of the theology of the saints (for example St Thomas), while the scientia amoris is
the mystical approach. This is how John Paul II declared Teresa of Lisieux Doctor of the Church as an “expert in scientia
amoris” (Novo Millennio Ineunte, no. 42).

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A consecrated laywoman in the Salesian Family as a Cooperator, Vera lived this spirituality at
the school of Don Bosco, under the guidance of her Salesian directors,4 also making reference to the
Marian teaching of Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort (the “slavery of love”) and to Carmelite
spirituality (above all in her final year at the Carmelite's “Desert of Varazze”). For de Montfort as for
Don Bosco, Mary is the Living Tabernacle par excellence of the Incarnate Word. She is the Mother
who always gives her Son, fruit of her womb, and who teaches the faithful to receive him and keep
him with them in faith and love in the Eucharist. Thus de Montfort's Treatise on True Devotion to the
Blessed Virgin concludes with the Eucharist: experiencing holy communion fully with Mary and in
Mary (no. 266-273). There we find the Totus Tuus that St John Paul II constantly breathed.5
We find the same testimony in these years of crisis in Servant of God Chiara Lubich, founder of the
Work of Mary (Focolare Movement), in Mary’s and the Church’s love of Jesus in the daily Eucharist, in
full communion with Paul VI.6 Even before the Council and Dei Verbum, Chiara placed the emphasis
on the food that is the Word of God, “Word of Life”, inseparable from the Eucharistic Bread of Life.
Certainly, the Work of the Living Tabernacles begun by Vera in these years is small and hidden,
humanly speaking, but it is great and prophetic in its profound truth. It is like a new development
and a new application of faith in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. It concerns preserving in
oneself the Eucharistic presence of Jesus received in communion, in order to bring him to others. This first
way of being a Living Tabernacle can already be experienced by everyone in the Church. But there is
a second way that is not yet fully possible: preserving the Consecrated Host and carrying it on oneself
among people. This would need the Pope’s permission, and it is this that Vera asked for in her messages
to Paul VI. Vera was quietly supported by the Salesian superiors and by some theologians (Salesians
Dominicans and Carmelites) who passed on her messages to the pope. Paul VI would bless the Work
after Vera’s death. But there are no documents relating to the requested authorisation to carry Jesus
in the Eucharist. However, one positive fact is that during his pontificate, Extraordinary Ministers of
the Eucharist were instituted in 1972: men and women,lay and consecrated whose mission is to bring
the Eucharist to the sick and elderly. These can already fully live out Jesus' words to Vera: “Take me
with you”!
Vera in the “carousel of saints”, along with Saint Thérèse of Lisieux and Venerable Cardinal
François-Xavier Van Thuân
With regard to Eucharistic spirituality, it is worth looking at how Vera, in the “carousel of saint”,
gives one hand to Thérèse of Lisieux (1873–1897) and another to Venerable Cardinal François-Xavier
Nguyen Van Thuân (1928-2002).
4 Mainly Fr Gabriello Zucconi, but also Fr Giovanni Bocchi and Fr Giuseppe Borra who would be her first biographer
(1984). Then, Fr Borra would be the spiritual father of another mystic, Teresa Musco di Caserta (1943-1976) who had
the stigmata, and who life he would write in 1986, a year before her death. These figures of Salesian spiritual priests are
important, along with the outstanding example of Venerable Fr Giuseppe Quadrio SDB (1921-1963), a great mystic and
great theologian.
5 This is the brief formula of consecration to Jesus through Mary, to Mary to receive Jesus. Benedict XVI recalled its importance
throughout the life of John Paul II in his homily at the Beatification on 1 May 2011: “The motto ‘Totus tuus’ corresponds
to the famous expression of Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, in which Karol Wojtyła found a fundamental
principle for his life: Totus tuus ego sum et omnia mea tua sunt. Accipio Te in mea omnia. Praebe mihi cor tuum, Maria – I
am all yours and all that is mine is yours. I take you for my all. Give me your heart, O Mary (L-M. Grignion de Montfort,
Treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin, no. 266). These words in Latin were constantly written by Karol Wojtyła
on the first pages of his manuscripts already when he was secretly a seminarian.
6 I can also add my own personal testimony, because these last two years of Vera's life were also my first years of religious life. I
am moved by the fact that Vera had received her first message on 19 September 1967, while I entered Carmel two days later,
on 21 September, on the feast of Saint Matthew. I made my religious profession in 1968, and I personally experienced this
great crisis of the Church, always listening to the voice of Paul VI. Eucharistic adoration was much fought over, even called
‘idolatry’ by some! I had to fight for two years to get permission for an hour of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament
exposed once a week, and only optional, for a small group! There was no longer talk of a tabernacle, but of a “Eucharistic
reserve” only functional for taking communion to the sick, and no longer as a place of prayer.

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Thérèse of Lisieux
The theme of the Living Tabernacle is very much present in the writings of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux
but, by contrast with Vera, without any extraordinary phenomenon of messages or locutions.7 There
are spiritual intuitions, profound illuminations, almost always received in a Eucharistic context, often
during the time of thanksgiving after communion. Thérèse is one of the greatest mystics but without
any mystical phenomenon.
Let us remember that the Saint lived at the end of the 19th century when the Church had not yet
expressed itself definitively in favour of daily communion. Thus, in her Offering to Merciful Love –
the essential text published at the end of the Story of a Soul8 – the Carmelite tells Jesus:
I feel in my heart immense desires and it is with confidence I ask You to come and take
possession of my soul. Ah! I cannot receive Holy Communion as often as I desire, but, Lord, are
You not all powerful? Remain in me as in a tabernacle and never separate Yourself from Your
little victim.
This is Thérèse's most profound “cry” regarding communion, her desire for daily communion and
to be able to keep the Eucharistic presence of Jesus within her “as in a tabernacle”, that is, as a Living
Tabernacle! It is a most significant request faced with the mistaken notion, widespread at the time,
that this Eucharistic presence was “fleeting”, lasting just a few moments and disappearing once the
‘accidents‘ of the bread had dissolved in our body, with the ridiculous consequence that it would be
better to take communion with a large host than with a small fragment, to enjoy a longer presence!
Instead, Jesus said: “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide (or dwell: menei in the Greek
text) in me, and I in them” (Jn 6:56). This is the truth that Thérèse believed and lived.
Thérèse did not have permission to receive communion every day at the Carmel in Lisieux.9 She
suffered a lot from this, with the hope that things would change in the future. And she was not alone:
we see the same desire and suffering in many holy religious women of her time.10 The negative influence
of Jansenism, decidedly against frequent communion, had been strong. The God of the saints was no
longer near, but on the contrary was a distant God who did not let the faithful approach him. This
was a disaster for God's people. However, already in the Middle Ages, while Eucharistic spirituality
emphasised faith in the Real Presence (against the errors of Berengar and the rationalist theologians),
in the form of adoration, frequent communion was not yet recommended. On this point St Catherine
of Siena is a happy exception, as the great prophetess of daily communion, something that scandalised
7 This is another approach, perhaps more essential, of mystical experience, listening to the Word of Jesus in the Gospel: “It
is above all the Gospel that entertains me during prayers; I find in it everything that is necessary for my poor soul. There
I discover ever new lights, hidden and mysterious meanings. I understand and I know from experience ‘that the kingdom
of God is within us’. Jesus has absolutely no need of books nor doctors to instruct souls. Doctor of all doctors, he teaches
without the noise of words. I have never heard him speak, but I feel that He is in me, and guides me every instant, inspires
what I must say or do. I discover, precisely at the moment I need to, lights that I had never yet seen: most often it is not
during the prayers that are most abundant, but rather among the occupations of the day”(Ms A, 83v).
8 Published now in an authentic text, exactly as the saint had written it, the Story of a Soul brings together the three Autobiographical
Manuscripts (Ms A, B and C, with sheet numbers), with the addition of two of her most important prayers: The prayer
on the day of her profession (Pr 2), and her Offering to Merciful Love (Pr 6). This is Thérèse's main text that sheds light
on all her other writings: Letters (LT), Poems (P), Pious Recreations (PR) and Prayers (Pr) (It is the contents of the Opere
Complete, translated and published in Italian in 1997 by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana, from the original French: Oeuvres
Complètes, Paris, 1992, ed. Cerf/DDB). We have recently published a new edition of the Storia di un’anima, with the
Preface by Benedict XVI (Rome, 2015, edizioni OCD).
9 Nevertheless, there was an exception during the influenza epidemic which resulted in he death of many Sisters: “For as
long as the community was thus tried, I was able to have the ineffable consolation of daily Holy Communion…Ah, how
sweet it was!…Jesus spoiled me for a long time, longer than His faithful brides, because He allowed them to give Him to
me without the others having the happiness of receiving Him” (Ms A, 79v).
10 This was also the greatest suffering of Saint Joan of Arc (Thérèse of Lisieux’s most beloved saint and along with her, Patron
Saint of France): being deprived of communion during the four months of her trial. She often requested it but was refused.
Only on the morning of her death, on 30 May 1431, before being led to the scaffold, did she receive Jesus in the Eucharist
in prison.

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her contemporaries.11 Thérèse of Lisieux, the other saints of her time, picked up on and intensified
this prophetic desire in the certain belief that the Church would express herself in favour of daily
communion. This would happen a few years later with the Decrees of Saint Pius X in 1905. So, in
Thérèse's Eucharistic spirituality, communion is at the centre.
For Thérèse. the Eucharist is the sacrament of Jesus’ merciful Love par excellence, of the Divine
Love that lowers itself, makes itself small, wants to unite itself with us, live with us and in us poor
sinful children. Put briefly, Thérèse sums up all her Eucharistic spirituality in her final letter written
for a future priest, seminarian Maurice Bellière, her first spiritual brother. It is an image that represents
the Child Jesus in the consecrated Host in the hands of the priest, next to which Thérèse wrote these
simple words: “I cannot fear a God who has made himself so small for me! I love him! Because he alone
is Love and Mercy” (LT 266). In a nutshell, it is like the Eucharistic testament of the saint. In the
Eucharist, Jesus is the God who is near, the God of Merciful Love, the God who makes himself small,
who is not frightening, but who arouses our response of trust and love. He is the true Body born of
the Virgin Mary as a Child, He is the Crucified and Risen One!
In recounting her first communion, Thérèse expresses the intimacy of her union with Jesus as
“fusion”. She describes it as “the first kiss of Jesus in my heart.” This is already an experience of conjugal
love, of total, mutual and definitive love between Husband and bride. To Jesus, who “gave himself so
lovingly to her”, Thérèse replied, “I love You, and I give myself to You forever” (Ms A 35rv). For the
Carmelite, mystical union with Jesus, spiritual matrimony, is none other than Eucharistic communion
experienced fully with the help of Mary.12
Thérèse said to Mary: “Give me Jesus and unite me to him” (P 5). Contemplating her as pregnant
she called her “the Tabernacle that veils the divine beauty of the Saviour” (P 54). During the time of
communion she was not afraid to identify herself with Mary at the Annunciation when the Son of
God came down from heaven and became incarnate in her virginal womb:
O beloved Mother, despite my littleness,
Like you I possess The All-Powerful within me.
But I don’t tremble in seeing my weakness;
The treasures of a mother belong to her child,
And I am your child, O my dearest Mother.
Aren’t your virtues and your love mine too?
So when the white Host comes into my heart,
Jesus, your Sweet Lamb, thinks he is resting in you!… (ibid.).
In the same way, the priest must learn from Mary all of her love for the Body of Jesus.13 Like Vera,
Thérèse speaks inseparably of Jesus in the Eucharist, Mary and priests. As a minister of the Eucharist,
the priest must be the first Living Tabernacle who, together with Mary, receives Jesus in faith and love
and gives him to people. In this light, the saint goes to the heart of life and the priestly vocation when
she says: “I feel in me the vocation of a priest! With what love, O Jesus, would I bear you in my hands,
when at the sound of my words you came down from heaven! With what love would I give you to
souls!” (Ms B 2v). Thérèse is Patroness of the Missions, always with this Eucharistic dynamic.
11 In this regard we can quote the words of the Dominican Tommaso Caffarini, Catherine's witness and biographer: “First
of all we must know that, although the custom of Christians of her time was to avoid frequent communion, Catherine
also wished to receive communion every day […]. If she could have, she would have taken Communion every day, since
she knew that the venerable Sacrament was the only way to be united body and soul with her eternal Spouse.” (Legenda
Minor, c XII).
12 We have an example in these words of the saint: “Heaven for me is hidden in a little Host Where Jesus, my Spouse, is veiled
for love. I go to that Divine Furnace to draw out life, And there my Sweet Saviour listens to me night and day. Ah, what
a happy moment when you in your tenderness come, my Beloved, to transform me into yourself. This union of love, this
ineffable intoxication, this is my heaven!” (P 32).
13 Thus, praying for her spiritual brother, seminarian Bellière, Thérèse says to Our Lady: “Teach him already with what love
you touched the Divine Child Jesus and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, so that he may one day ascend to the Holy
Altar and carry the King of Heaven in his hands” (Pr 8).

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With regard to communion, Thérèse places the main emphasis not on our desire to receive Jesus
but on Jesus' desire to come to us, unite himself with us and abide with and in us. Jesus does not want
to remain locked in the cold Tabernacle of stone but wants to come into the Tabernacle of flesh, the
living Tabernacle of our heart. She says this very clearly: “Our Lord does not come from heaven every
day to stay in a golden ciborium. He comes to find another heaven, the heaven of our soul in which
he loves to dwell.”14
The saint had already expressed this thought when she was a novice, in her letter of 30 May 1889
to her cousin Marie Guérin who had ceased receiving communion because of scruples (concerning
chastity). Here are some of her most characteristic words:
Oh, my darling, think, then, that Jesus is there in the Tabernacle expressly for you, for you
alone; He is burning with the desire to enter your heart so don’t listen to the devil, mock
him, and go without any fear to receive Jesus in peace and love! […] Your heart is made to love
Jesus, to love Him passionately; pray so that the beautiful years of your life may not pass by
in chimerical fears. We have only the short moments of our life to love Jesus, and the devil
knows this well, and so he tries to consume our life in useless works…Dear little sister, receive
Communion often, very often…That is the only remedy if you want to be healed […] Have no
fear of loving the Blessed Virgin too much, you will never love her enough, and Jesus will be
pleased since the Blessed Virgin is His Mother.
Saint Pius X loved this letter very much. Her Cause of Beatification opened under his pontificate,
and it as he who foretold that Thérèse would be “the greatest saint of modern times”! It was he who, in
1905, spoke definitively of the value of daily communion, following the intention of Jesus himself who
had chosen bread, the human being's daily nourishment. According to Saint Pius X, it was not only
permissible but also advised for every member of the faithful to receive communion every day if they
did not have grave sin on their conscience (in which case they should receive Mercy in the Sacrament
of Reconciliation). Tanks to this decisive intervention of the holy Pope, almost all the saints of the
20th century, including lay people, have been saints of daily communion. Saint Pius X also opened up
communion to little children. Thus, Venerable Antonietta Meo (“Nennolina”), who died at 6 years
of age, made her first communion when she was 5!
Cardinal Van Thuân
On 4 May 2017, Pope Francis recognised the heroic virtues of Cardinal François-Xavier Nguyen Van
Thuân. This new Venerable is an excellent figure of holiness, a witness to Christ particularly close
to Saint John Paul II who made him cardinal in 2001, a year before his death. The Pope had invited
him to preach the retreat in the Vatican for the great Jubilee in 2000, on the theme of hope. He was
a great mystic, witness to a stupendous Eucharistic and Marian spirituality, fully realising in his life
everything that Vera had foretold regarding the Living Tabernacles. This fact is so impressive because he
had probably never heard of Vera and her Work. Instead, he was very close to Chiara Lubich, sharing
the Focolari spirituality, but was also profoundly influenced by Thérèse of Lisieux and Louis-Marie
Grignion de Montfort.
In 1967, Paul VI appointed him Bishop of Nha Trang, Vietnam. A young bishop just thirty-nine
years old, he committed himself totally to the service of his people during the dramatic years of the
war. Highly respected by Paul VI, he was appointed Coadjutor Archbishop of Saigon in April 1975,
but immediately afterwards, with the communist victory, he was arrested on 15 August 1975 and
without trial spent more than thirteen years in prison, nine of them in solitary confinement, until
he was freed on 21 November 1988. For him, the two Marian feasts of the Assumption and the
Presentation had a profound meaning, shedding light on all of this dramatic period of his life. He then
14 Ms A, 48v. In the same way she writes: “O mystery of love! Jesus, you are my daily bread […] Your favourite golden pyx
among all, Jesus, is me!” (P 24).

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went through a profound mystical experience with the Eucharist at its centre in all its dimensions of
sacrifice, communion, presence and adoration.
Thus, on 7 October 1976, after a year of very tough prison, he wrote this prayer which sums up
his Eucharistic spirituality:
Beloved Jesus, this evening, in the darkness of my cell, without light, without a window, very
hot, I think with great nostalgia of my pastoral life. […] Once I celebrated with the golden
paten and chalice, now your blood in the palm of my hand […] Once I went to visit you in the
tabernacle, now I carry you, day and night, with me in my pocket. Once I celebrated Mass before
thousands of faithful; now in the darkness of the night, passing communion under mosquito
nets […] I used to impart the solemn blessing with the Blessed Sacrament in the cathedral, now
I do Eucharistic adoration every evening at 9 p.m., in silence, softly singing the Tantum Ergo,
the Salve Regina.15
So many other priests have celebrated Mass in similar conditions in Nazi or Communist
concentration camps. But I wanted to highlight the most original aspect regarding precisely the
spirituality of the Living Tabernacles, that is, carrying the consecrated host on oneself. He experienced
this as priest and bishop but, during this same period of communist persecution, the more fervent lay
people went through the same experience. In fact, the bishops in Vietnam had given the faithful, men
and women, permission to carry the Eucharist with them to give communion in places where priests
could not go. It was the same at the time of the French Revolution.
This fact of carrying the consecrated host on oneself had also struck his archbishop who, in his
report sent to Rome in 1978 wrote: “He had adopted the habit of keeping a small consecrated host on
his person after Mass.” At the same time, he went through times of extreme suffering together with
Jesus in Gethsemane. According to his sister's testimony, “on seeing the suffering of prisoners with
him and his own suffering, he became aware that only the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist could give
meaning and strength in that situation of life.”
Van Thuân was not afraid to share this Eucharistic spirituality of the Living Tabernacle with
others. Another priest, the Rector of the Diocesan Seminary who was a prisoner with him, testifies to
this:
As a sign of hope he gave me another gift that I found very valuable. He had made a ring out of
tin cans, which he gave me and asked me what it was, and I told him it was a toy, but he told me
that it was a ring in which he had hidden a piece of the consecrated Particle so that I would always
carry Jesus in the Eucharist with me. I found it extraordinary and am still moved to think of
what he had done for me.
This was the fulfilment of Jesus’ words to Vera: Take me with you! Later, after he was freed, Van
Thuân often testified to this Eucharistic experience he had in prison.
He had told a group of priests how, from the beginning of his time in prison, he had succeeded
in having a little bit of wine in a flask as “medicine for stomach-ache” as well as some small hidden
hosts. So he was able to celebrate Mass each day with three drops of wine in the palm of one hand and
a fragment of host in the other. In the re-education camp, he celebrated clandestinely for the other
prisoners, gave out communion and distributed these humble secret tabernacles, also by carrying Jesus
in the Eucharist on himself:
We make little bags out of cigarette packet paper to keep the Blessed Sacrament. Jesus in the
Eucharist is always with me in my shirt pocket. […] Every week there is an indoctrination session,
in which the whole camp must participate. At break time, with my Catholic comrades, we
take the opportunity to pass a small packet to each of the other four groups of prisoners: they
all know that Jesus is in their midst, it is He who cures all physical and mental suffering. At
night, the prisoners take turns in adoration; the Eucharistic Jesus helps tremendously with His
15 Many texts have been published, others can be found, together with testimonies, in the excellent Positio for his Cause of
Beatification and Canonisation.

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silent presence. Many Christians return to the fervour of faith during these days; Buddhists
and other non-Christians also convert. The power of Jesus' love is irresistible. The darkness
of the prison becomes light, the seed has germinated underground during the storm. I offer
Mass together with the Lord: when I distribute communion I give myself together with the
Lord to make myself food for all. This means that I am always totally at the service of others.
Every time I offer Mass I have the opportunity to stretch out my hands and nail myself to the
Cross with Jesus, to drink the bitter cup with him. Each day, reciting or hearing the words
of consecration, I confirm with all my heart and soul a new covenant, an eternal covenant
between Jesus and me, through his Blood mixed with mine (1 Cor 11:23-25). Jesus on the
cross began a revolution. Your revolution must begin at the Eucharistic table and be carried
on from there. Then you will be able to renew humanity.
I spent 9 years in solitary confinement. During this time I celebrated Mass every day towards
3 in the afternoon: the time when Jesus lay dying on the cross. I am alone, I can sing my Mass
as I wish, in Latin, French, Vietnamese…I always take the little package with me that contains
the Blessed Sacrament: “You in me and I in you.” They were the most beautiful Masses of my
life. In the evenings, from 9-10 p.m. I did an hour of adoration and sang Lauda Sion, Pange
lingua, Adoro Te, Te Deum and hymns in Vietnamese, despite the noise of the loudspeaker
that last from 5 in the morning until 11.30 in the evening. I felt a special peace of spirit and
heart, and the joy, the serenity of the company of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. I sang Salve Regina,
Salve Mater, Alma Redemptoris Mater, Regina coeli…in unity with the universal Church.
Despite the accusations, lies against the Church, I sang Tu es Petrus, Oremus pro Pontifice
nostro, Christus vincit…Just as Jesus fed the crowd that followed him into the desert, in the
Eucharist it is he himself who continues to be the food of eternal life. In the Eucharist we
proclaim the death of Jesus and we proclaim his resurrection. There are moments of infinite
sadness, so what do I do? Look at the crucified Jesus abandoned on the cross. To human eyes,
Jesus' life was a failure, useless, frustrated, but in God's eyes, Jesus on the cross fulfilled the most
important action of his life, because he poured out his blood to save the world. How united
Jesus is with God, when, on the cross, he can no longer preach, heal the sick, visit people,
perform miracles, but remains in absolute immobility!
Mary is always intimately present in this Eucharistic experience. After having given the Gift of his
Body and Blood, Jesus gave his Mother to us:
As the son of Mary, especially during the holy Mass, when I say the words of consecration
I identify myself with Jesus in persona Christi. When I ask what Mary meant in my radical
choice for Jesus, the answer is clear: on the cross Jesus said to John: “Here is your mother!” (Jn
19:27). After the institution of the Eucharist, The Lord could leave us nothing greater than
his Mother. For me Mary is the living Gospel, in pocketbook format, with the widest spread,
closer to me than the lives of all the other saints. But Mary is my mother: the one Jesus gave
me. A child's first reaction when he is sick or afraid is to call out: “Mummy!” This word, for a
child, is everything. Mary lived entirely and exclusively for Jesus.
He has told us that at times of extreme desolation he succeeded only in saying the Hail Mary.16 At
the worst time of his solitary confinement he wrote this prayer of consecration and total entrustment
to Jesus through Mary:
Mary, my Mother, Mother of Jesus, our Mother, in order to feel united with Jesus and with
everyone, my brothers and sisters, I want to call you Our Mother. […] In me, O Mother,
continue to work, pray, love, sacrifice; continue to fulfil the Father's will, continue to be the
Mother of humanity. Continue to live the passion and resurrection of Jesus. O Mother, I
consecrate myself to you, all to you, now and forever. Living in your spirit and that of Joseph,
I will live in the spirit of Jesus, with Jesus, Joseph, the angels, the saints and all souls. I love you,
16 In my priestly ministry for the terminally ill and dying, I have been able to experience this power of the Hail Mary,
especially its final words “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinner, now and at the hour of our death.”

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O Mother of ours, and I will share your toil, your concern and your fight for the kingdom of
the Lord Jesus, Amen.
It is the Montfort consecration itself, experienced by John Paul II and Vera, that leads to an
“identification of the faithful with Mary in her love for Jesus, in her service of Jesus”.17
This powerful Eucharistic and Marian spirituality is essentially apostolic: taking Jesus with him
to communicate his love to others, friend or foe. Van Thuân left us an extraordinary testimony of love
of enemies. Speaking of his tough communist jailers, he wrote: “I had decided to love them.” And it
was not him, it was Jesus always present with him who loved them and gradually made them friends!
A prophetic message for today's and tomorrow's Church
It is the same Voice of Jesus speaking to His Church through the Magisterium and the saints. Vera’s
Eucharistic message is fully confirmed and strengthened by St Thérèse of Lisieux and the Venerable
Van Thuân. They are, therefore, neither illusions nor pious exaggerations of an exalted individual but
a powerful prophecy for the Church, a “word of Life” addressed to all God’s people: the Pope, bishops
and priests, deacons, extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, religious men and women, and all lay
people living in marriage or celibacy. It is a wonderful way to reaffirm the centrality of the Eucharist
in the life of the Pilgrim Church. Jesus in the Eucharist is like the sun that illuminates and warms the
whole people of God on their way to the Celestial Homeland. St Catherine of Siena already spoke of
this.
With her theme of the Living Tabernacles, Vera invites us to rediscover the wonder of the Real
Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist as the great Mystery of the closeness of God who is Love to human
beings. Like Saint Catherine of Siena, Vera listens to the voice of this God who is “madly in love”
with us, and who has approached us in an ineffable and unsurpassable way in the Mysteries of the
Incarnation, the Redemption and the Eucharist. He really is Emmanuel, God with us! It is he who
tells us this most characteristic word in Vera’s messages: “Take me with you!”
We have been focusing on the most recent period by considering the Eucharistic spirituality of
Thérèse and Van Thuân, but in reality there is an entire dynamic in the Church’s historical journey
to bring the Eucharist ever closer to the faithful, and the faithful to the Eucharist. It is often the saints
(and women saints in particular) who have urged ecclesiastical authority to take new steps on this path
to greater closeness. For example the feast of Corpus Domini: the first move came from Saint Juliana
in Liège in the 13th century. Then came the decision of Pope Urban IV and the work of St Thomas
Aquinas, the great theologian of the Eucharist. It was the response of the faith of God's people and
true theology, confirmed by the Pope, in the face of erroneous opinions about the Real Presence.
The other great step in this direction was daily communion, so much desired by Thérèse and saints
of the 19th century and definitively approved by Saint Pius X at the beginning of the 20th century.
Then another step was the shortening of the Eucharistic fast first to just three hours and then one hour
before communion. Earlier it began from midnight, which was onerous for priests and the faithful,
and made evening Mass practically impossible.
Paul VI, who had so wisely guided the Second Vatican Council, offered the whole Church a
renewed Eucharistic spirituality in the light of the Council, faced with new widespread errors at the
time. Following the years of the great crisis there was a new flourishing of Eucharistic Adoration in
the Church along with the Renewal in the Holy Spirit and Marian spirituality in various Movements
and new communities.
Still in the same direction of greater closeness of Jesus in the Eucharist, new steps were taken
by Paul VI and his successors with the restoration of the permanent diaconate, the institution of
extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, community celebrations of the Word with Eucharistic
communion (in the absence of the priest) and the permission of communion in the hand by which
17 This is John Paul II’s expression in his important Letter to religious of the Montfort Family of 8 December 2003 (no. 5).
Following in de Montfort's footsteps, Chiara Lubich also insisted on this aspect: “Become another Mary, a little Mary”
CIT.

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the faithful can also touch the true Body of Jesus with faith and love. It is the same loving and adoring
familiarity with Jesus experienced by Thérèse and Vera.
Today, many bishops have extended permission to keep the Eucharist at home: for priests (in their
presbyteries), for the sick, small communities of consecrated men and women, for families involved in
service to the poor and the more afflicted, for consecrated members of the Ordo Virginum, hermits,
though always with careful discernment of circumstances to avoid abuses. Thus Vera’s prophecy with
regard to the Living Tabernacles is being realised in the life of the Church, and certainly to tackle
difficult times. It was in persecution that Van Thuân was able to fully experience being a Living
Tabernacle, and there is much persecution to be found in today's Church, under various forms.
On the other hand, there is no shortage of new difficulties and obstacles today that again tend to
drive the faithful away from their daily encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist. The biggest problem
is evidently the insufficient number of priests, with a terrible crisis of vocations in Europe and
North America, to such an extent that it becomes very difficult for the faithful to attend Mass every
day. Another problem is the de-Christianisation of the world’s regions themselves and consequent
widespread religious indifference. Churches are empty and often closed because very few of the
faithful go to pray before the tabernacle. Added to this is the problem of the increasingly frequent
desecration of the Eucharist by satanic sects, which results in the removal of the Blessed Sacrament in
many churches or chapels. Although profanations are a horrible thing, the most diabolical thing is the
removal of Jesus in the Eucharist, who becomes inaccessible to those who love him! It must be added
that the risk of these desecrations in deserted churches is greater than in the homes of the faithful or
in the small hidden pyxes of the ministers of the Eucharist.
Another problem also comes from a theological and pastoral current of thought that is fairly
widespread today, one that suggests a so-called Eucharistic fast to the faithful and priests, that is, that
they voluntarily abstain from the Eucharist at least one day a week.18
This current of thought rightly insists on the importance of the Sunday Eucharist, but relativises
the daily Eucharist too much, as if it were an exaggeration. First of all, to speak of Eucharistic fasting
in this sense is an abuse of language, because this traditional expression means just the opposite:
giving up any food (now for the brief time of an hour) in order to receive the Eucharistic Food! The
intention would also be to avoid the routine of daily life, but it is enough to listen to the saints of
daily communion (such as St Gemma Galgani), to see the opposite: it is the ever new feast of Love
on a daily basis! Eucharistic hunger, the desire for daily communion, is not a “spiritual gluttony” that
should need mortification. Thérèse of Lisieux showed us that it is our response to Jesus' “great desire”
(cf. Lk 22:15) to be united with us every day, to come into us and to be with us. Finally, this current is
directly opposed to the teaching of Saint Pius X, confirmed by the Council and Paul VI, on the value
of daily communion. This is in no way progress, but a backward step! I think it would be important
to have a fraternal debate with the representatives of this current of thought, who are often spiritual
and committed people in the life of the Church.
Due to these problems, many faithful will experience the spirituality of the Living Tabernacles as
Thérèse of Lisieux did, making use of her prayer: “Ah, I cannot receive Holy Communion as often as I
desire! but, Lord, are You not all powerful? Remain in me as in a tabernacle and never separate Yourself
from Your little victim!” Like Thérèse of Lisieux, Vera helps us to understand not only how much
Jesus loves us, but also “how much he wants to be loved”. This is how she explains the meaning of her
Offering to Merciful Love (Ms A, 84r) which she immediately shared with her Sisters and then with
all the baptised.
Vera’s message is relevant and valuable for everyone, and especially for priests, ministers of the
Eucharist called to be the first Living Tabernacles, in order to help them grow in love for this
great Sacrament, through daily celebration of the Mass, during long moments of prayer before the
tabernacle (as all holy priests have done), and through the mission to bring communion to the sick and
18 I had already experienced this in the 1970s, before my priestly ordination (1975), in one of our Carmelite communities
in France, where this ‘Eucharistic fast’ was practised one day a week. But rightly so, the superior allowed me to take
communion alone. Father René Voillaume was very concerned about this current of thought, and had told me about it at
our last meeting, shortly before his death. He had been invited by Paul VI to preach the retreat at the Vatican in 1968.

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elderly. It is also a call to nurture priestly fraternity, something Pope Francis insists so much on, among
young and older priests, among the more conservative and the more innovative. The Eucharist, the
sacrament of Jesus’ Love, is the sacrament of fraternal Love, of the Church’s unity; it is, par excellence,
the sacrament of priestly fraternity.
It is also a strong message for religious and the laity so that they may experience daily Eucharist
better through participation at Mass (or only in communion when there is no priest), and to pray each
day before the Blessed Sacrament. There is no doubt that the Pope and the bishops in communion
with him will know how to take new steps to bring the faithful closer to Jesus in the Eucharist, each
day, in communion and adoration.
The proposal of the Living Tabernacles, then, is very relevant for this direction, and already finds
completion in the ministry of the extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, with Vera’s profoundly
mystical and apostolic intention: Take Jesus with you to give him to your brothers and sisters. It is a broad
proposal open to all, to “little souls” who want to be on the path to holiness. There again, Thérèse and
Vera clasp hands to fully experience the Eucharist as the great Sacrament of Jesus' Love.
Avon, 6 July 2017 on the feast of Saint Maria Goretti

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“Take me with you”!
Theological and spiritual notes on the spirituality of the Living Tabernacles
Fr Roberto Carelli SDB
Without prejudice to the unquestionable decrees of God, whose thoughts are not our thoughts and
whose ways are not our ways (cf. Is 55:8), there is much that is reasonable in the fact that God
chose to entrust the inheritance of Vera Grita’s mission to the sons of Don Bosco. On Vera’s part
the request was more than explicit, but the theological convenience is equally recognisable. The
theological and spiritual architecture of the messages received by Vera is in fact manifestly Eucharistic
and Marian, that is, articulated on the core beliefs of the Church, that which assures its personal and
eschatological profile, and character of holiness and fruitfulness. In this respect, Vera’s messages seem
to be the prolongation and realisation of the famous dream of the “two columns”. It is true that the
Eucharist-Mary axis has always, and especially in modern times, been the main cornerstone and most
unmistakable mark of Catholicism, but its twofold nuptial and apostolic projection belongs to our
own days. The interest of Vera’s testimony is in this sense already recognisable in the fact that the very
timbre of the messages is intimate without being intimist, spiritually demanding but apostolically
oriented; and it is a message that asks a lot of those near to her, but aims at those far from her. There is
something beautiful and promising in the spirituality of the “tabernacles”: because, one understands,
it is one thing to think of Our Lady as the Bulwark of faith, and yet another to think of her as the Star
of evangelisation.
Our intention in these introductory pages is to offer some theological room to the theme of the
“Living Tabernacles”, seeing in it an extension of the redemptive work that is suited to the time of new
evangelisation, and in this way able to expand the potential of the Salesian charism. In practical terms,
we see three orders of consideration inspired by Vera's messages, in tune with the indications of the
most recent pontiffs, and in line with our personal convictions. Here is the summary:
1. The Church can only redeem her face as Bride and Mother if she develops the theological and
pastoral conviction that Jesus and Mary together are a single principle of redemption, and thus
free herself from the ballast of a predominantly institutional, doctrinalistic and moralistic image
(without giving in to the contrary temptation to blur the contours of her reality as Mystical Body
and of the Truth and Life of which she is the bearer).
2. Under the impulse of Evangelii Gaudium, the invitation to interpret all of the Church’s activity
in missionary terms seems clear, both ad intra and ad extra. The overcoming of the Church’s
entrenchment and its potential for missionary extroversion find their focus in the theological and
practical development of what John Paul II laid down in his Encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia,
the understanding of the Eucharistic mystery as the source of evangelisation and the first step of
mission.
3. The mystical intuition of a reality such as the “Living Tabernacles” asks sacramental theology to
explore a possible development of the delicate theme of the “real presence”, capable of subtracting its
hermeneutics from the shoals of physicalist interpretations and apologetic imputations, in order
to show that in the mystery of the Eucharist, the real and the symbolic are not excluded but mutually
implied, are not alternatives but rather do they co-participate and co-determine each other.
1. The Ark of the Covenant and the “Living Tabernacles”
The importance of the “two columns” of the Eucharist and Mary for Christian life was something
Don Bosco pondered day and night, and it undoubtedly found extraordinary pastoral emphasis in

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him. But the two pillars are nothing less than the real foundation of the Church as a new humanity
founded on the personal archetypes of Jesus and Mary as the new Adam and the new Eve, the two
who have been raised and in whom every human being can find redemption and resurrection. And
this is a fact widely shared by many spiritualities.
Every human being needs God’s Grace and the ability to accept it and make it fruitful. Hence there
is this need for Jesus and Mary who are inseparable: Jesus is Grace and Mary the fullness of Grace, the
Mother of Grace and Mediatrix of all graces. In relationship to Grace, Mary never loses her personal
prerogatives as Virgin, Spouse and Mother which together characterise the Church in her ways of
being and acting. In Mary, they are already present in her fiat at Nazareth, they mature painfully in
her stabat at the foot of the Cross, are fulfilled in her Assumption into Heaven and are distributed with
a mother’s heart to every person who seeks God or who has found him or lost him. In the Church,
starting with Mary, the same prerogatives are respectively the integrity of faith, the obedience of faith
and the fruitfulness of faith. And here it is good to recall how, in Vera’s writings, Our Lady is invariably,
from time to time, the Immaculate, Our Lady of Sorrows, and Help of Christians, precisely the titles
that correspond to her virginal, marital and maternal stance on which Jesus modelled the Church and
to which he wants to conform the heart of every believer.
From another angle, Mary, as Mother of the High Priest, fully realises the common priesthood
of the entire Church. If in fact the priesthood is to bring God to people and people to God, Mary
realises the priestly ideal in her femininity, and therefore in a virginal, conjugal and fruitful way, that
is, conjugal and fruitful for the faith, precisely for the Eucharistic faith, the faith in the real and active
presence of the Lord in history. In this framework, one understands the density of the “take me with
you” that expresses Jesus’ desire and request of Vera and those who would follow in her footsteps. This
is where the mystery of the Eucharist is at stake in feminine, Marian, ecclesial terms: “carrying” Jesus
in oneself and bringing him to others. The masculine, Christological, apostolic approach is different:
Jesus, the one who has always existed in the bosom of the Father, does not want to work alone, but with
us, and he does not simply want to “come” into the world or “go” to us, but he wants to be “carried”,
kept, displayed, taken, placed and exposed. God never acts in a solitary way but in a Trinitarian way,
just as man cannot act fruitfully without woman. And in fact, Jesus is carried first by Mary, Ark of the
Covenant, carried each time by the Apostles in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, kept in the tabernacle,
exposed in adoration, carried in procession, placed in hearts and displayed in charity.
When carefully reading Jesus’ messages to Vera it becomes immediately clear – and it is important
to stress this – that the “take me with you” is not immediately apostolic but above all it is inseparably
nuptial: it is keeping him on oneself in order to bring him to others. And the Marian counterpoint to
this Eucharistic request is timely: the dispositions of mind, fundamentally the humility and charity
necessary to bring Jesus in full transparency and without opacity, are not things that are improvised,
and without Mary’s help we would never be able to give everything in order to receive everything and
give everything back without reserve. Thus says Jesus to Vera:
You represent fragile humanity, poor in virtue, in tribulation and suffering; wretched
humanity that yearns for God, but could never rise without me, without my Mother […] Gifts
of my Mother’s Heart, and you will unite them with your miseries, your nothingness, your
too-small heart. I will take everything.
It is only thanks to Mary that the Church and Christians can realise in ever more perfect form the
fundamental dynamic of salvation history, that is, the forms of the polarity which is God’s grace and
man’s correspondence: the concentration that is Christmas and the radiating out from the Epiphany,
the obnoxiousness and glory of the Cross, the life-giving dedication and the life-giving Resurrection,
abiding in Jesus and bearing fruit in Him, the systole and diastole of discipleship and apostolate,
consecration and mission, chastity and charity, purity and transparency.
What we see brought about in Jesus’ messages to Vera is the Christological and Marian ideal from
Grignion de Montfort to Chiara Lubich, that outlines the marvellous reciprocity of the ad Jesum
per Mariam through the per Jesum ad Mariam. Jesus is explicit and direct with Vera regarding this
reciprocity:

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I have told you that I speak to you in the Heart of My Mother, and my Voice comes to you
through that sword that pierces her Motherly Heart. Listen to me from “Her” […]. For “this
work” you must entrust yourself to my Mother, in particular to Our Lady of Sorrows. I want
“you to be the humble slave of Mary Most Holy.” I entrust you to her, and you must abandon
yourself to her with the tenderness of a daughter.
Similar terms are used when Jesus refers to the Living Tabernacles that will follow:
I now point out my way. Through Mary, my Mother and theirs, let them abandon themselves
into her maternal arms and learn with docility the “slavery of Love” of this sweetest Mother.
Let them allow themselves to be worked on by her; let them be formed by this admirable
Mistress of souls. She will prepare her children for me, so that they may be imbued more and
more with my Grace, my Love so that, as my Apostle Paul said, it is no longer they who will
live, but I, Christ in them.
So far, it is nothing but the confirmation of a fully ecclesial faith. The new element of the
spirituality of the Living Tabernacles is, in our opinion, what we might call a shortening of the distance
between the Eucharistic heart of Mary and the Eucharistic heart of the Christian. It is true that Mary’s
special quality is that she is a woman of the Eucharist already by reason of the incarnation (cf. Ecclesia
de Eucharistia, 53-58), and that her physical union with Jesus is what makes her inimitable. It is
also true that the Christian’s Eucharistic union is mystical and sacramental instead. But this first
and elementary consideration cannot and should not create an excessive distance between us and our
Blessed Mother. Mary’s privilege is not to our disadvantage, but is advantageous for us: in her faith
we too can have faith, in her way of being united to Jesus we too can be united to Him, and in her
motherhood we too can find fruitfulness. Jesus’ own words encourage us. Surprisingly, Jesus does
not spend a single word mitigating the “scandal” of his Eucharistic offering: his Body is true food
and his Blood is true drink; his Body and His Blood are Bread of Life and Bread of the Way, and the
Eucharistic Bread is really his Body and His Blood (cf. Jn 6). We also need to consider that on the one
hand the Incarnation of the Word takes place in Mary’s heart before it does in her body – prius mente
quam ventre, St Augustine said – and that this makes her imitable. On the other hand, it should not
be underestimated that the specific nature of Eucharistic grace, compared to the other dimensions of
the life of grace, is precisely Communion with the Lord in all its paschal fullness, inclusive of body,
blood, humanity and divinity. In this sense, the ideal of “Living Tabernacles” becomes an emphasising
and deepening of the Eucharistic realism that integrates the biblical figure of the Ark of the Covenant
and the sacramental figure of the Eucharistic reserve with the personal and affective, historical and
practical sensibility that is proper to our time.
Jesus’ messages to Vera attest on every page to this supernatural realism of the life of grace as the
indwelling of Jesus in the believing soul and of the believing soul in Jesus. And first and foremost this
means being a “living tabernacle”. It is not about mental or moral union that does not involve somatic
intimacy. By implication, the mystery of the Incarnation must fully unfold.
2. “Let me deal with souls”: Jesus is outgoing
As has been noted, at the heart of the work of the Antichrist is a misunderstanding of God in the
flesh (cf. 1 Jn 2:22; 2 Jn 7). And indeed, in modern times, the Evil one’s attacks have taken the form
of protest regarding incarnational aspects of the faith; in practice, as Pope Francis would say, we are
dealing with a combined attack on the “three white loves”, Mary, the Eucharist and the Pope, or
in other words, denial of the “Body of Christ” in its historical, sacramental and ecclesial form. It is
significant here that the time of the messages and the time of Vera’s death were concomitant with this,
around 1968, when things in the Church and the world would no longer be as they were before. The
dictatorship of “one way of thinking”, which prolongs and exacerbates the previous dictatorships of
rationalism and relativism, seeks in every way to neutralise the meaning of bodies, and aims to make
them indifferent to any kind of difference: one can speak of God, but not of Jesus Christ; speak of

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man, but as if God were not there and as if man himself were God; speak of bodies, but not as sexed,
or of affections, but without ties, or of justice, but without mercy, and of mercy, but without justice.
Even the boundaries between man, animal and object have thinned out. Many scholars interpret our
use of the category of “post-human” as the end of man’s claims to excellence over all other creatures,
the end of man as the image and likeness of God. Man is merely an “ingenious animal” who does not
have to answer to any God, for he is simply “a self-experiment”.
Vera Grita, inspired by the Lord Jesus, responds with a luminous indication to this wave of
“disincarnation” or “excarnation” resulting in widespread apostasy with its corresponding psychic
discomforts and globalised social conflicts: “Living Tabernacles”! Such a revival of Christian
Eucharistic realism does not seem in keeping with the signs of the times, at least without some aspect of
novelty to it. It is the realisation that the Eucharist cannot be of worth only as a confirmation of identity,
but must be recognised as a source of mission: given the current level of confrontation between Christ
and Satan, it must be recognised that it is no longer a time for offering signals that are predominantly
apologetic in nature, but is a time for radiating a welcoming presence. Jesus himself wants to be brought
closer to those who have turned away, because words and explanations, but often also gestures and
testimonies, are insufficient and ineffective. As we know, evangelisation takes place first and foremost
as presence and proximity, by diffusion and contagion of holiness, but our times require something
more, something like the presence and diffusion of Jesus himself, the source of all holiness in the
Church.
Around this apostolic expansion of the Eucharistic mystery, Jesus’ words to Vera are abundant,
and their fundamental message is a real deepening of that closeness of God which the Fathers called
”divine condescension” and which radically qualifies the face of the Christian God. In other words,
the logic underlying the spirituality of the Living Tabernacles is the divine willingness to share Jesus
becoming our neighbour with the most sensitive and willing believers. It is, in our opinion, a deepening
of the redemptive work in its Eucharistic realism that is in continuity with the slow and prudent
historical advances that tend more and more to Eucharistic “exposition” rather than “repositioning”:
a centrifugal mystagogy as a necessary integration of a centripetal mystagogy, an approaching of the
mystery as a development of the approaching to the mystery.
So the idea is to extend the fruits of the Eucharistic gift from those who are near to those who are
distant. It is thinking of the Eucharist not only as food for the strong, but also as bread for the poor.
It is to remove Jesus from isolation in the name of his will for Communion. This was well expressed
by Card. Parolin on the occasion of the Diocesan Eucharistic Congress in Cesena (May 30, 2016),
Jesus, alive and present in the consecrated bread and wine, does not intend to remain isolated.
Yes, central in tabernacles and in churches, but almost peripheral and unknown to the world.
On the contrary, he wishes to go out into the streets to be met and served with a commitment
and devotion that cannot be limited to the intimacy of one’s conscience, but should translate
into practical action of charity and mercy.
In this respect, the novelty inherent in Jesus’ impassioned pleading to Vera “to take me with you”
expresses first and foremost the desire to expose and extend Eucharistic grace from those who recognise
it to those who still cannot and will not. It is the shift from “bringing to Jesus” to ”bringing Jesus”. For
example:
O my child, I have established my dwelling in you: I want to make a living tabernacle of you
to go to souls…I go under the Eucharistic Species to seek what is about to be lost; I go to seek
the sheep who do not want to seek my fold; I go to call those who no longer listen to me…let
me return among souls, let me deal with souls…Behold, I return to the world, I return among
souls, to speak to them, approach them, deal with them directly, until the “veil falls” and they
recognise me in every brother and sister.
The Father’s merciful heart finds full expression in Jesus’ messages to Vera:

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None of the souls far from Me welcomes Me spontaneously because they do not seek Me,
because they have excluded Me from their lives. I am Father and I love, I love all my creatures;
I want to return to this earth in search of the souls who do not seek, do not think of My fold.
Indeed, the “take me with you” does not represent any reversal of Eucharistic logic from intimacy
to extroversion, but a desirable and necessary deeper understanding. Indeed, Jesus’ desire confided
mystically to Vera is the desire to radicalise the faith of those who are close to him in order to reignite the
faith of those far from him. For it takes much purity and much faith to be transparent of Jesus and to
arouse or rekindle faith in others. Here is the programme in general terms:
Now I have chosen new churches, new Tabernacles that will watch over Me. Living
Tabernacles to take Me through the ways of the world, to lead Me among those people who
do not think of Me, who do not seek Me, who do not love Me […]. I want to pass, through
humble and willing souls, to other souls still insensitive to my calls […]. through self-denial,
that I may live and act in them. May their goal be to disappear in order to make room for Me
who wants to be at work in their souls and in other souls through them.
The confirmation of the Eucharistic logic of repose and exposition, of intimacy and fruitfulness,
is unequivocal:
It is I, Jesus, who want the Living Tabernacles, my new Eucharistic dwellings. I want to live in
you for two reasons: First for yourselves, so that I may be the Guide, the most intimate Master
of your soul, educator of your heart, to instil in you that confidence in Me which I desire from
every creature of mine. Second so that I may go out to the world, to other souls in you and
upon you The Living Tabernacle must learn to give Me, for I will be in that person for other
souls.
The need for souls nourished by the Eucharist, for the Eucharist to reach souls, is understandable.
It takes very specific dispositions of mind, which only Jesus can communicate and Mary educate, to
be “bearers” of Christ to our brothers and sisters. This is the style of mercy which concretely involves
identification with the poor as an implication of identification with Jesus (cf. Mt 25):
Do not look for the sceptics, the presumptuous, heavy-handed and obstinate. Sometimes it
will be enough for them to feel loved by “one” of these souls for My Grace to fulfil its effects.
Here we have a mystical union that demands considerable ascetic work:
I will use your way of speaking, of expressing yourself to speak, to reach other souls. Give me
your faculties that I may meet with everyone and everywhere. In the beginning it will be a
work of attention, vigilance for the soul, to discard everything that poses an obstacle to my
dwelling in her.
3. Real presence and “Eucharistic indwelling”
Speaking to Vera and referring to the future Living Tabernacles, Jesus expresses himself thus:
The soul must know this, however, because I want her adherence to my Eucharistic abiding
in it; I want this soul to also give me her voice to speak to others, her eyes so that mine may
meet the gaze of her brothers and sisters, her arms so that I may embrace others, her hands to
caress the little ones, the children, the suffering.
In this respect, too, if the Christian miracle is already the “presence of mystery,” and if its eminent
historical form is the “real presence” of Jesus in the Eucharist in the hearts of Christians and in
tabernacles in churches, we now seem to discern a noteworthy advance. In the light of the messages
received from the mystic of Savona taken in their entirety and detail, we seem to discern an invitation to
think about the real presence by shifting the emphasis from “reality” to “presence”. The theological weight

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of such an invitation is entirely in line with the inclination of contemporary thinking, to rethink
metaphysics in more personalistic terms, substance in terms of relationship and, in theology, to rethink
Christian activity from a Trinitarian perspective. Indeed, the anti-gnostic function of Eucharistic
realism is an inheritance now acquired from the time of the early Fathers and confirmed at the time of
the Counter-Reformation, but the development of real union with Jesus in terms of presence, however
much it finds its roots in the Gospel and ecclesial experience, is only in its infancy.
In this area, it is precisely the experience of the saints and mystics that is our textbook. We need
to listen to their testimony to unfold the full implications of Jesus’ invitation to his disciples to abide
and work in him in order to find joy, experience the efficacy of prayer, and bear much fruit (cf. Jn
15:4-11). Contemporary anthropology, for its part, confirms what even common sense experiences,
namely, that presence, and especially the quality of presence, really does make a difference. The presence
of love, sometimes even in the absence of specific words and gestures, is, per se, communicative and
operative. The physical presence of the mother and the authoritative presence of the father consolidate
the child’s confidence, developing the child’s ability to assert and give of itself. Simple presence, then,
is the basic nourishment of friendship. The loving, vigilant and industrious presence of educators is
the unfailing element of Don Bosco’s preventive education. The prayer of simple presence and gaze is
not inferior to discursive prayer, and it is the antechamber to contemplative prayer.
Now, if presence is already in human relationships the thing that makes the difference compared
to other forms of relationships which otherwise easily lapse into the functional, welfare-type activity,
pedagogy and didactics, the paternalistic and the maternalistic, all the more will it be necessary to
grant that the presence of Jesus in his Eucharistic fullness can have a specific efficacy for those who
enter his sphere of presence. Through the Living Tabernacles, Jesus thus wants to reach the farthest
hearts, those who would otherwise be unreachable because of too many inner or outer resistances
that distance them from an encounter with God. The idea is the extremes of God’s mercy in the sense
of succeeding with those who are distant, those who neither come to him nor allow themselves to be
brought to him: it is to these who do not recognise him, worship him or feed on him that Jesus wants
to be brought!
Here, then, looms the element of novelty that Vera’s mystical experience seems to suggest: the
Living Tabernacles, similar to yet differently from other tabernacles, realise and deepen a form of the
Lord’s presence particularly suited to the times of the new evangelisation, where the impact of novelty
of the first evangelisation is now exhausted and neutralised by the weight of historical judgement and
ideological prejudice, by the deforming lenses of progressivism and conservatism which corrupt the
authentic sense of the Christian tradition. This element of novelty is the deepening of the real presence
of Jesus not only in the charity he communicates to the believer, but in the presence of his own Charity,
thus not only in the apostolic fire that flows from communion with Him, but in the thirst for souls
that burns in his own Heart.
From this perspective, real presence is understood more fully as the efficacy of Jesus’ “indwelling”
and “proximity” as such Ultimately, this is an explication and concretisation of the Council’s dictate
where it affirms that by virtue of his Incarnation, and a fortiori of his Paschal and Eucharistic
diffusion, ‘Christ has united Himself in some fashion with every man” (cf. GS 22). The direction that
theological and pastoral reflection could take in this respect is to deepen the Eucharistic characterisation
of Christian life, drawing a line between the celebratory sacramental gift and the charitable ecclesial
action through the direct action of the Lord, which in any case is inseparable from the co-activity of
those who believe in Him.

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A biographical and spiritual profile of Vera1
“I have given you my holy Name, and from now on you will call yourself and will be Vera of Jesus.”2
Vera Grita, Salesian Cooperator, born in Rome on 28.1.1923 and who died in Pietra Ligure on
22.12.1969, is one of the grains of wheat whom heaven let fall on earth to bear fruit, over time, in
silence and concealment. Father Giuseppe Borra wrote of her: “Vera’s soul with her messages and
letters enters that band of charismatic souls called to enrich the Church with flames of love of God
and Jesus in the Eucharist for the spread of the kingdom.”3
Vera belongs to that band of “little” and “humble” souls whom Saint John Paul II recalled in his
Apostolic Letter Divini Amoris Scientia: “THE SCIENCE OF DIVINE LOVE, which the Father of
mercies pours out through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit, is a gift granted to the little and the humble
so that they may know and proclaim the secrets of the kingdom, hidden from the learned and the wise;
for this reason Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, praising the Father who graciously willed it so (cf. Lk
10:21-22; Mt 11:25-26).”4
It is precisely in Vera’s fragility and humility that the Mystery of God’s Gift takes place. It becomes
a “Voice” in her, a “Voice” of the Spirit to dictate the messages that make up the Work of the Living
Tabernacles during her final two years of life on this earth.
She went unnoticed in her short life on earth
Vera did not do anything “great” in her life from a human perspective. She did not build schools,
hospitals, nor was there anything in her mystical experience which would have drawn the attention
of the mob. She went unnoticed in her short life on earth, She taught in schools in villages in the
Ligurian hinterland, where she earned the respect and affection of her pupils and school principals
for her exemplary teaching skills and her good, meek character that never changed over years that
were increasingly marked by physical suffering. She lived simply and in fidelity to the commitments
of her daily life, including the extraordinary event that burst into her life: the divine Master was
calling her and preparing her for the mission for which she had been chosen from eternity: to be the
messenger, the spokeswoman of Jesus for the Work of Living Tabernacles. Even her death was marked
by simplicity and "poverty": she died, at the age of 46, in a small room at the Ospedali Riuniti di Santa
Corona (Combined Hospitals, Santa Corona) in Pietra Ligure (Savona), on 22 December 1969: her
mother was by her side, and her funeral took place on a gray December day, involving her loved ones
and a few close friends.5
Let us go back over the main stages of her life. The second of four sisters, she spent her early
childhood in a family known for its peace and strength of family affections, but troubled by the
economic crisis that struck Europe in the 1930s plunging many families into financial collapse. Vera’s
was also affected, and her father Amleto, a photographer for generations, and her mother, Zacco
Marianna della Pirrera from a noble family, decided to move from Rome to Savona.
The loss of economic well-being caused a further change in Vera’s life: at the age of twelve she
experienced separation from her family:she and her sister Liliana went to join her paternal aunts in
Modica, Sicily, who were unmarried and affectionately willing to care for their nieces. A short time later
1 Already published contribution: M.R. Scrimieri, Vera Grita e l’Opera dei Tabernacoli Viventi, Edizione extracommerciale,
Milano 2000, pp.13-29 and updated here with Vera’s act of offering her life, and the testimonies of Frs G. Roascio and G.
Bocchi, and the contribution by Fr P. Cameroni regarding Vera’s Cause of Beatification and Canonisation.
2 Jesus to Vera, 3.12.1968.
3 G. Borra SDB Grita Vera. Notizie biografiche, Ed. Terzo Millennio Caserta1984, p. 112.
4 John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Divini Amori Scientia, 19 October 1997.
5 G. Formento, Letter to Fr G. Zucconi, in Grita Vera. Notizie Biografiche, op. cit. p.19.

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Pina, the eldest, also joined her sisters; Rosa, the youngest, remained at home with her parents. Vera
spent five years with her aunts, during which she continued her studies and completed her religious
formation. “The aunts were very careful,” recalls her sister Liliana, “to pass on values and principles
of true faith to us. In the evening, when the family was all together, we prayed Holy Rosary and in the
morning, prayers together. In Modica, Vera and I made our First Communion and Confirmation at
the Institute of the Sisters of Mary Help of Christians. We received the Holy Eucharist frequently, but
first the aunts always made us go to confession. They prepared us for Easter by having us participate
in a retreat. May, then, was all about Our Lady; Vera was particularly devoted to Mary Help of
Christians.”6
In 1940, by then seventeen years old, Vera joined the family in Savona again and it was there, the
following year, that she gained her teacher’s certificate at the Teachers College in the city.
Before long Vera experienced a further loss far more painful than the previous ones: the death
of her father on 23 September 1943, after suffering from an incurable disease over a long period. Vera
had to interrupt her university studies to help her family financially by working as a clerk at the Savona
military district.
After affecting her financial situation, family stability and continuity of affection, and her
aspirations for study, Vera also experienced dispossession of a physical kind which deprived her forever
of her health in a traumatic way. This occurred on the day the city of Savona was bombed.
4 July 1944 the day Savona was bombed, Vera is trampled underfoot by the fleeing crowd
Europe experienced the tragic hour of World War II. On 4 July 1944, Savona was bombed during
a sudden air raid on the city. Vera ran to a nearby tunnel with her work colleagues to seek shelter;
at the same time, on the street, a flood of terrified people fled to the same tunnel. In the confusion,
Vera tripped and fell and was trampled underfoot by the fleeing crowd: she lay on the ground for long
hours among many injured and dead people. By evening, when she was brought home by the Red
Cross she had “her face swollen, her dress in tatters, barefoot but alive.”7 She was later found to have
severe lumbar and back injuries.
Vera was 21 years old, and from that time on, no treatment could cure her physical ills, which
began to be part of her ordeal; moreover, she often could not use any medication, the logical relief
for her, because she suffered from drug intolerance. “She was bedridden for quite some time with
bilateral exudative pleurisy,” recalls her sister Liliana, “and the fever did not leave her for a single day.
From then on, it was all a succession of hospitalisations, operations, tests, excruciating headaches and
pain all over her body. Terrible diseases were diagnosed, a variety of treatments were attempted. The
affected organs did not respond to treatment and, in that inexplicable disorder, one of her attending
physicians, declared with amazement, “We do not understand how this patient could possibly could
have found her balance.”8
In the Mystery of the Cross Vera gave her “Fiat”
The hour of the encounter with Jesus on the Cross had struck for Vera. It prepared her, through the
mystery of the Cross, for her mission: to write what Jesus would dictate to her in the following years
through the gift of inner locutions. And in the mystery of the Cross Vera gave her “fiat” through
Mary’s “fiat”. “She took refuge in lengthy meditations,” her sister continues, “in prolonged adoration
before the Blessed Sacrament – Thy Will be done, Thy Kingdom come. Vera’s desire, by now, was
only to be before Jesus, adore Jesus, contemplate His Cross… Everything was in readiness now for her
6 L. Grita, Mia sorella Vera di Gesù, op. cit, p. 40.
7 Ibid., p. 41.
8 Ibid., p. 11.

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give herself to him in sublime love, in offering and renunciation, and this was several years before the
‘Voice’ revealed itself to her.”9
At the feet of the grotto at Lourdes, where Vera made several pilgrimages, she did not ask for
healing but offered her suffering, and herself, for the conversion of hearts. “I still remember how
much my friend did for the salvation of souls,” recalls her friend and work colleague, Maria Mattalia.
“One day she confided in me at the Santa Corona hospital in Pietra Ligure where she was repeatedly
hospitalised that she had generously offered her sufferings, an heroic offering of herself for someone’s
conversion.”10
Despite her precarious physical condition, Vera wanted to enter a competition to teach in
elementary schools. She won it and left the military district to begin teaching in the small villages of
the Ligurian hinterland, subjecting her already suffering body also to the fatigue of the travel required
to travel to school sites far from Savona. She taught in elementary schools in Rialto, Erli, Alpicella,
and the Desert of Varazze.
From a distance the Lord looked down on me: “I have loved you with an everlasting love”
(cf. Jer 31:3)
In Alpicella, a hamlet of Varazze, on October 6 1959, Vera heard the “Voice” dictating the first message
to her for the first time: the Father’s merciful gaze had looked upon her through the Sacrifice of his
Son in the Holy Mass, and in the immensity of his Love had rested on her to draw her to himself in
the gift of the call.
There is a call from Heaven: Heaven bending over one of his creatures to give her the greatest
Grace in her sadness. There is God the Father, pure Spirit, who in his perfection turns his
Merciful Gaze on the most bewildering imperfection and looks upon it through a Golden
Lake: the Sacrifice of the innocent Victim, the Holy Mass. Heaven, sweet and tender mantle
of Mary Most Holy, opens and attracts a soul. And up there, meanwhile, it is the great vigil of
a feast, the feast of Love, for nothing triumphs on high that does not come from Love. A poor
soul senses this ineffable gift and feels lost. From afar, and yet nearby, it draws near, the Divine
approaching is distinguished. The poor soul trembles in her misery – so strong and immense
is her God who awakens her and draws near to her. Nothing else knows the imperfect but
this sweet force that has taken her today more than yesterday, that calls her and leads her there
where he is on this earth, that leads her to look up, look up there. And it is from up there that
the Father emanates, his strength mighty but undefined. His Call. Infinite as he is, infinite his
language. He digs into the soul and leaves his Sign. The soul knows nothing of what it is: it
knows that her Father has seen her worthy, has looked upon her. Here is the overwhelming
point. Suspended at his call the soul knows not how to look but there where the mysterious
language, made of unspeakable motives, has come down to her. Then it would like to say,
What is all this, My Father? “It is love, Daughter, Love promised to you by my Son.” Why do
you look at me like this, My Father? “Because in the Lake of Gold I saw your soul.” Why do I
live, Lord? “To die twice in my Son. I am He who was, is and will be; whoever keeps my law
and follows Me will have eternal life that is Eternal and the Eternal is I. I am your Father, your
God, I am the Voice that speaks in you, shakes you, saves you. Blessed is the One who comes
in my Name and in the Name of my Son: I will open my Arms to him and call him Son and
set him at table with Me. He shall be humble and pitiful, poor in himself and rich only in Me.
He will have to present himself as a poor man because poor he is. I will cleanse him and give
him a new robe and introduce him into my Glory. Then it will be the great feast. Today only
the vigil has begun. Humble yourself and lift up praises to Heaven that great grace is coming
to you in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, in the Name of Her who wept
so much for you.
9 Ibid.
10 G. Borra, Grita Vera. Notizie biografiche, op. cit., p. 104.

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For the first time, Vera has the experience of feeling that she is looked upon and loved by God the
Father, and in the encounter with the divine gaze that reveals to her the love of predilection and the
dignity of being a daughter, the vigil of the feast begins for her that will usher her into the great feast of
the eternal wedding with the immolated Lamb. In bewilderment and confusion over the gulf that Vera
feels between her own misery and the immensity of God who has come so close to her, there remains
indelibly in her soul the certainty of that look of love that from now on will bind her definitively and
in a special way to her Lord and her God.
To be is to be seen by God, wrote Cardinal Martini.
This gaze, he continued, is creative, like that of the origins which makes the goodness it loves
and loves the goodness it makes. If one exists to the extent that one is in the eyes of the other, to
be is to be seen by God. In all the vocation scenes the Evangelist Mark places Jesus’ gaze before
his word (Mark 1:16,18; 2:14). This gaze, which triggers the dynamic of following him, is the
gateway to the Kingdom. Only those who meet and welcome this gaze can know who the Lord
is, love him with all their heart and follow him, because they discover that they are a wonder
in the eyes of the one who loves him because he made him. Otherwise, like Adam, he runs far
away and hides from him. At the origin of every response to the call to the Kingdom is always
the discovery of the precious pearl (Mt 13:45), the Lord’s love “for me,” his eye in which I
see who he is for me, seeing who I am for him. This alone is able to snatch me from “my”
righteousness, and put me in the Lord’s following. This is what the sinner Levi saw (Mark
2:14) and Paul testifies to us, “he loved me and gave himself for me.”11
A long silence followed this first mystical experience that Vera had and kept in the secret of her
heart: this first message was only the announcement of the call for a mission that began to take place 8
years later, in September 1967, when Jesus began to dictate to her the Work of the Living Tabernacles.
Salesian Cooperator: 24 October 1967
Her life continued without change, except for the gradual deterioration of her health. This did not
take away her passion for and commitment to teaching, to which she devoted her whole self without
sparing any effort, despite considerable physical suffering.
When she was in Savona, before going to school Vera always attended morning Mass at the Church
of Mary Help of Christians run by the Salesians, getting up at 5:30 a.m. just to be able to attend. In
1963, Salesian Fr Giovanni Bocchi was appointed rector of this church: every Saturday Vera went to
confession to him. At that time, whenever it was possible for her, she attended meetings of the Salesian
Cooperators, sometimes also attending meetings of Catholic Action and ADMA (The Mary Help of
Christians Association.
It was, however, in the summer of 1967 that Vera’s choice turned definitively towards the Salesian
Family, entering it as a Cooperator. It happened in July, during the week of retreat in Finale Ligure, led
by Salesian Fr Gabriello Zucconi and organised by Fr Bocchi. In those days Vera expressed to Fr Bocchi
her decision to become a Salesian Cooperator, and her certificate of enrolment in the Association,
then called the Pia Unione, bears the date 24 October 1967. At the same time she asked Fr Gabriello
Zucconi for his spiritual direction.12
In the light of subsequent events, we could say that from afar the Help of Christians had prepared
this meeting and had brought together for the first time those whom in the following months the Lord
would call into the Work of the Living Tabernacles: Vera, Fr Bocchi and Fr Zucconi, all belonging to
the Ligure-Toscana Salesian Province. They would also be joined by Salesian Fr Giuseppe Borra, then
rector in Lombriasco (Turin) who was called to study the message of the Living Tabernacles. The
summer passed, and in September Vera heard the “Voice” again. It would now not leave her until her
death two years later.
11 C.M. Martini, Le virtù del cristiano. Meditazioni per ogni giorno, Piemme, Segrate (MI)1988, pp. 295-296.
12 From the testimony of Fr G. Bocchi, in Vera de Jesus e a Obra dos Sacrarios Vivos, ed. M. R. Scrimieri, Edizioni Salesiane,
Porto 2000.

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With pen in hand and God in her heart
On 19 September 1967, Vera heard the “Voice” again while she was in Church, before the Blessed
Sacrament exposed on the altar: “Jesus: The wine and the water are us: I and you, you and I. We are
one. I dig, I dig to build me a temple; let me work, do not put obstacles in my way.” (The soul now
invokes the Holy Spirit). “Jesus: And My Father's will is this: that I abide in you, and you in Me.
Together we shall bear great fruit.” This was the first of the messages that Vera wrote over a period
of about two years, which she faithfully transcribed and submitted to Fr Gabriello Zucconi. From
that time on, struggling with fears of deception and obeying her spiritual father, Vera served the Lord
by making herself totally available to him, humbly accepting his Voice and writing down what was
dictated to her for herself, for priests and for souls.
Jesus. Easter, Resurrection! […] I give you My Love, My Wounded Heart, My Hands…; give
Me yours so that I may join them with mine. I, Jesus Crucified and Resurrected, will sanctify
your poor hands; I will bind them with Love and gift to the Church, to Me. You will write for
the Church, for Me, for souls. Yes, this is the Voice of Jesus in the Holy Spirit. I give you these
enlightenments. I draw the soul to Me so that you may hear Me. There will still come days of
sadness, of pain for you, that your soul may be purified in this washing. Gather yourself in my
Heart as a nest of Love and comfort and solace. While you wait, write for your Jesus. I wish
to speak to my Salesian priests I desire the dawning and flourishing of my Work of Love from
them. I desire that they come to know my Messages of Love, for I, Jesus, will bestow spiritual
graces on those who meditate on my Words. Therefore, let them pray for the Holy Father to
bind you to my Work of Love. I want my outpouring of Love to pass from priests to souls;
I want the Salesians to give Me to youth; I want to make a dwelling in them also, even if it is
brief; for whoever will have carried me with a spirit of Love, of reparation, of self-giving to their
brothers and sisters by my Means, will receive the wound of My Love. When the “manuscript”
will be known by my priests, I will communicate myself to whomsoever I wish by means of
you, through my Hands in you. Then you will disappear, my child, for my Word lives on. Now
offer yourself to Me in my Immolation. I will receive you.
Jesus in Vera, Vera in Jesus, “one heart and soul,” a single hand writing for the Glory of the
Father and the good and happiness of souls. With pen in hand and God in her heart, Vera faithfully
corresponded to the Lord’s wishes: she continued to write, hidden from everyone in humble service.
She followed the Lord’s will through a vow of obedience to her spiritual father, Fr Zucconi, accepted
the detachment from family, and lived first with the Canossian Sisters and then the Carmelite
Hermitage so she could attend better to the inner silence needed to write down what Jesus dictated
to her. She accepted the triple crown of thorns that Jesus offered her on the Feast of Christ the King
in October 1967, dealing with the physical, moral and spiritual suffering she encountered, sustained
only by her faith in the Lord God who called her as part of his plans, and by the hope that He who had
begun this Work would lead her to its fulfilment. She was also sustained by the love that wrapped her
in the fire of Love and transformed her into a living host, a little victim in the one and only Victim,
Jesus Christ.
This is what she wrote to Father Gabriello Zucconi sdb in her letter of 2 March 1968: “In His
Priestly Hands I renew the vow of a little victim in Jesus13 for His Priests and offer Him the
obedience of the copied dictates. Like water and wine: one in the chalice offered to God the Father. I
have nothing to give Jesus but his own gifts, for the vows of obedience are but the expression of Jesus’
love for his unworthy sinner. Jesus has given me all of himself and I give him all of me.”14
Throughout the asceticism that transformed her more and more into a Eucharistic soul, a Living
Tabernacle, Vera remained simple and humble, kept her mystical experience in silence, sharing the
secret of her call only with the priests called to the Work. None of her family members, in fact, were
made aware of her experience and the suffering that accompanied it. Only Rosa, her younger sister,
13 She had taken the vow to be a “little victim” in the years immediately before, during Fr Bocchi’s spiritual direction.
14 L. Grita, Mia sorella Vera di Gesù op. cit, p. 88

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later shared Vera’s secret, living intensely the spirituality of the Living Tabernacles and helping her
sister to transcribe the messages when Vera’s health deteriorated. Vera shared the Eucharistic message,
partly with her friend and work colleague, Maria Mattalia, revealing Jesus’ desire to her friend to find
souls willing to give themselves totally to him to be his new dwelling place among human beings.
Around this desire, Vera gathered the commitment of her friend and other souls inwardly ready to
bring this about.15 She sketched out the first programme for them, calling the Work a “League of
souls who live in grace and carry Jesus in their hearts.”16 its aim being “a loving response to the request
for love that comes from Jesus himself.”17
Final years of teaching: 1967–1969
During the 1967–1968 school year, Vera taught at Casanova di Varazze, and each day she had to face up
to the journey from Savona to Casanova and back. In addition to physical fatigue due to her precarious
health, Vera also felt the difficulty of conserving the necessary recollection and inner silence when she
returned to her family. In December, providentially, she was able to move to the Canossian Sisters
in Casanova di Varazze and here, in the silence of her room and in the atmosphere of the religious
community, she was able to attend to the task of writing down what the Lord communicated to her:
“Jesus: I am calling on you to fulfil a mission. Do not be afraid, you have My Strength. I will lead you
along rough and winding paths, but in the end you will recognise Me because I will be there waiting
for you…I want you for Me alone, I will remove you from the world, from your affections. Place
everything and everyone in My Fatherly Hands and I will think of them; but you are to think only
and always of Me. You will have to ‘depart’ from this world, leave it for Me, detach yourself for Me. A
Bride does not belong to the Bridegroom if she is not crucified with him. I draw you to the madness
of the Cross. See, I am giving you the gift of my riches, of my passions: passion of Love, of Sorrow;
sacrifice, offering, immolation of my Blood.” Message 16.11.1967.
“Yes, in the Holy Mass there is the divine encounter, the Union. I draw you to Me, I immerse you
in my Holy Sacrifice and you finally cease to live for yourself, but you live, more alive than ever, for
Me.” Message 15.7.1968.
The following year, 1968–69, she was assigned to the school at the Desert of Varazze, at the
Hermitage of St Joseph belonging to the Discalced Carmelites, where the municipality had rented
a room for the primary school children. Vera moved to the Hermitage, returned to her family at
weekends and on Sunday evenings returned to the Desert, a guest of the Carmelite Fathers. This was
the last year of Vera’s life and the Messages from September 1968 to June 1969 refer to this period.
The experience at the Desert of Varazze
Vera got to know Father Guido Roascio18 at the Desert of Varazze, a young discalced Carmelite and
spiritual assistant to the children. In the Message of 28 February 1969, Jesus indicated the Carmelite
Family as well as the Salesians, for the first time, as beneficiaries of Messages of the Work. Vera spoke
about the Work to Father Guido Roascio and gave him a manuscript with the messages she had
received.
What Vera’s experience at the Desert was can be understood from the letters she wrote to Fr
Gabriello Zucconi that year. The Desert was indeed sacrifice, solitude, it was physical suffering, it
was total dedication to the children; it was the encounter with the goodness and availability of the
Carmelite Fathers, Father Benedetto Cecconi and Father Guido Roascio. It was a place of peace and
15 On 21.10.1967 Jesus had dictated to Vera: “I want to pass, through humble and willing souls, to other souls still insensitive
to my calls. These souls must purify themselves to receive Me; they must offer themselves in Me to my Heavenly Father,
that I may live in them. I will return to souls, I will still seek souls so.”
16 G. Borra, Grita Vera. Notizie Biografiche, op. cit., p.72.
17 Ibid.
18 Father Guido Roascio OCD (1937–2015).

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prayer, but above all it was the profound encounter with the Crucified Jesus, the heart of Vera’s
mystical experience in this period and which in the miraculous Crucifix of the Hermitage had a visible
source made alive and vital by the “Voice” that spoke to her heart to draw her to Himself and lead her
into God’s “desert”: the agonising priestly Heart of Christ, victim of love to return the lost children
to the Father and to give a Father to the “orphans” of all times. Vera was often seen by Father Guido
Roascio kneeling at the foot of the miraculous Crucifix at the Hermitage of St Joseph, heedless of the
cold, spending much time in recollection and prayer. At the foot of the Crucifix, the “little martyr
of the Word”, as Jesus liked to call her, received further light on the redemptive significance of his
Wounds, together with the invitation to participate with Jesus and in Jesus in the Work of Redemption
in the ways that the Lord Himself indicated to her from time to time. Under the guidance of Jesus the
Eternal Priest, Vera realised her spiritual motherhood through the gift of self lived in communion
with the Immaculate and Sorrowful Virgin, the “root and nourishment” of all spiritual motherhood.
In this regard, the 5 messages on the Wounds which Jesus dictated to Vera from 26 September 1968 to
10 January 1969 are enlightening. We have called them Luminous Wounds because in these Messages,
the Grace which flows from the Wounds themselves through adoration, prayer and participation in
the work of salvation is emphasised above all. Jesus, through the gift of himself in the Most Holy
Eucharist, performed the last miracle of His priestly Love in Vera’s fragile humanity: to make her the
bride in him crucified for the return of priests who had abandoned the Priesthood, for the birth of the
Work of the Living Tabernacles and for its diffusion in the world. Significant milestones and dates in
the spiritual journey of this period are 5 November 1968, 3 December 1968 and 6 March 1969.
On the first date, 5 November, Jesus dictated the beautiful prayer of her offering of her life to the
Father for Jesus’ triumph over souls, “for the Living Tabernacles, and for the spread of the Work of
Jesus’ love throughout the world”:
O most clement Father of ours, I am a poor thing without you, I am all in your Jesus. I am your
creature and I belong to you, I am only to give you honour and glory. O Father of ours, through
the hands of Jesus, your only Son and our Lord, before my sweetest Mother, Mary Help of
Christians, before the nine choirs of angels, before St Joseph, spouse of the ever Virgin Mary,
before all the Christian Martyrs, before all the Saints, and especially before my patron Saints, I
offer myself to you, Almighty God, in your only Son Jesus, in the only Victim worthy of you,
in the only Offering pleasing to you: again I humbly offer myself to you for your greater glory,
for the triumph of the love of Jesus in the Eucharist, for the Living Tabernacles, for the spread
of Jesus’ Work of Love throughout the world. When you, good and merciful Father, call me to
you, remember that in the Name of Jesus I have given myself to you, my God. Receive me, O
Father, in the shadow of your wings, so that even the death of the poorest and most unworthy
and miserable of your creatures may, in the holy Name of Jesus, render to you, my God, One
and Three in one, all honour and glory, and so that people of good will may bear witness to
the truth of your word. The least of your creatures, to you, my God, our Creator and Lord,
through the Holy Wounds of Jesus in which I hope, through your paternal goodness, to see
and understand myself, as you allow your beloved Jesus to act for your glory and the salvation
of souls. O Father, in Jesus I pray to you, in Jesus hear me, in Jesus forgive me my sins; in Jesus
bless this very poor instrument that offers you her life in Life so that Jesus may give it to all
souls because he has given it to me, and I offer my earthly life to you in the Life of Jesus.19
A month later, on 3.12.1968, Vera received her new name from Jesus, for her fidelity and love: “I
have given you my holy Name, and from now on you will call yourself and will be Vera of Jesus.”
And in the third stage, on 6.3.1968, by the will of Jesus Vera was in Rome to offer herself in him to
the Father, and to climb the Holy Stairs, a prelude to joining Jesus in his Passion, climbing Calvary.20
And finally the “Desert” was the agony of Vera’s soul, which only in the Holy Mass found its
resurrection in Jesus, Life and Flame of Love: “Through desolating darkness where I am (it seems to
19 Message of 5.11.1968 dictated at the desert before the Blessed Sacrament (the message written in the semi-darkness of the
Church in the flickering candlelight).
20 Cf. Message of 6.3.1969 and others following it.

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me) outside the intimate life of Jesus and outside the world, now and then there is a little light during
some dictation where everything seems unreal. There remains the flame of the Holy Mass, the divine
spark that animates me, gives me life, then work, the children, the family, the impossibility of finding a
quiet little place there where I can isolate myself to pray, or physical tiredness after school all overcome
me and I feel my soul groaning, suffocated. As Jesus asked me, I offer Him everything, but this is truly
a ‘desert’… On Sundays, when the rest is over, I return to the desert to take up the Cross from here.”21
Towards her total offering
The mystery of the Holy Mass brought about the death of the old creature and the resurrection of
the new each day: the new Living Tabernacle. During her final hospitalisation (June 1969), having
been informed by the doctors of the need for surgery for an intestinal tuberculoma, Vera expressed
herself thus in a letter written to Fr Gabriello Zucconi: “This is the gift of Jesus’ love with which he
prepares the ‘poor girl’ and purifies ‘her’ squalid tabernacle. I am happy to no longer belong to myself,
to feel that he disposes of me according to his immense Mercy. It comforts me to think that the Golden
Temple of the Holy Spirit, the Immaculate One, looks charitably on this poor ‘living tabernacle’ and
intercedes with her Son so that it may be purified. I am serene and even more so also because Jesus,
every now and then, says these words to me: Vera of Jesus, Daughter of Jesus. Then he falls silent, but
I embrace him strongly, strongly.”22
Vera suffered everything and offered everything to the Lord for the recognition of the Work by
the Ecclesiastical Authorities without seeing this desire crowned in her lifetime. She died on 22nd
December 1969, in the little room of the hospital where she had spent the last stretch of her ordeal,
remaining there during the last six months of her life. In addition to intestinal tuberculoma, Addison’s
disease and adenomesenteritis, there was an abscess in her stomach which, when incised, caused a
terrible haemorrhage and led to her death.23 The “little martyr of my Word” as Jesus had called her,
had completed her mission: to write down what the “Voice” had dictated to her in the Holy Spirit.
Fr Borra, who studied Vera’s messages, said in her biography: “I meditated somewhat on the
Messages and saw wonderful doctrine in them. How many souls will benefit greatly from this reading.
The Messages are an affirmation of the genuine values and traditional truths of the Church. The
manner of exposition, on the other hand, is new. Such a wonderful pearl could not and should not
have remained hidden any longer.” “The Spirit,” Fr Borra continues, “dwells in the Church and in the
hearts of the faithful like a temple and prays in them and bears witness to filial adoption (1 Cor 3:16;
Gal 4:6). The Holy Spirit distributing his gifts to each one as he pleases (1 Cor 12:11) dispenses special
graces among the faithful of every order, by which he makes them fit and ready to take on various tasks
and missions useful to the Church and its development. These charisms, whether extraordinary or
21 L. Grita, Mia sorella Vera di Gesù, op. cit., p. 146.
22 L. Grita, Mia sorella Vera di Gesù, op. cit., p. 149.
23 Vera Grita’s time spent in hospitals and clinics:
Ospedali Civili di Genova: from 20.2.49 al 1.3.49; from 5.11.49 to 29.11.49; from 27.10.51 to 28.10.51; from 8.4.57 to
12.4.57; from 25.10.57 to 20.11.57; from 6.10.60 to 27.10.60 for suspected Addison’s disease and hypersurrenalism.
Clinica Villa dei Pini di Anzio: from 22.8.55 to 23.11.56 (Addison’s disease).
Istituto ospedalieri Santa Corona - Pietra Ligure (SV): from 31.1.58 to 10.8.58; from 14.7.59 to 20.8.59; from 7.11.60 to
20.2.61 diagnosis: genital morbid process having long-standing pleural lesion as a starting point.
Ospedale Civico S. Paolo di Savona: February 1959 surgical intervention for laparatomia.
Ospedale Carlo Forlarini di Roma: for brief periods in summer 1961, April 1962, always for Addison’s disease, and
intolerance to drugs.
Clinica Due Riviere di Savona: In February 1967 her wisdom tooth was removed because it was impacted and her jaw was
broken. Her mouth was tied but she could feed herself with a straw. She wanted to receive Holy Communion and, no one
knows how, the ligaments that welded her teeth together during the night had broken. She received Holy Communion
and then they made her a plaster helmet. When they took it off her jaw had welded so that she could no longer open her
mouth and, therefore, chew. Thus more suffering to be able to feed herself normally.
Ospedali Riuniti di S. Corona - Pietra Ligure (SV): December 68 to February 69 (operation) June 69 to 22 December 69
(operation to remove fluid from the knee); on the latter date Vera died after repeated operations. An abscess in the centre
of her stomach opened a hole that would never close again and caused incessant bleeding, despite every transfusion.

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even simpler and more widely experienced, are appropriate to the needs of the Church and therefore
are to be welcomed with gratitude and joy (Lumen Gentium 12). Vera’s soul, with these messages and
letters, enters the ranks of those charismatic souls called to enrich the Church with flames of love for
God and Jesus in the Eucharist for the expansion of the Kingdom.”24
Vera's life even as a Salesian Cooperator was short, but the ray of Salesian spirituality was already
reflected in the spirit that animated her work, life and prayer. We can recognise this in the recollection
of her colleague Maria Mattalia:
We saw each other for the first time in the classroom of a small school in the Ligurian
hinterland and we immediately loved each other. We were together with our pupils, the
children that Vera loved so much. She devoted herself to them with every care for their learning
and especially for their religious, moral and social education. Vera had faith in the children and
gave them confidence, especially the less gifted. With her love, she was always at the side of the
child in difficulty, the child who suffered from a delay in intellectual development, a difficult
family situation, an illness or even some small worry that the teacher knew how to soothe with
a caress, her sweet smile, her affectionate delicacy. I followed and admired Vera in her humble
but very precious life, I saw her strength of will in the sacrifice with which she faced her worries,
her work, her sufferings every day. I particularly noted how the centre of Vera’s entire spiritual
life was the Eucharist, Mass, daily communion; the Eucharist was everything for her, it was
the immense love of Jesus who remained with us and who gives himself to our souls.25
The Eucharist was always, in fact, the source from which Vera drew daily strength to spiritually
sustain a situation that was difficult to sustain with human strength alone. Her love for Jesus in the
Eucharist and for Mary Help of Christians, for whom Vera had a predilection since childhood, are
thus also recalled by Fr Bocchi:
It was in the confessional that I got to know Vera Grita’s spirit: she was very pious, simple,
serene, humble, passionate about Jesus in the Eucharist, zealous in her duty as a teacher,
devoted to the Virgin Mary, faithful to her religious commitments. When she was in Savona,
she attended morning Mass first thing every day: I could see her in her usual place and pew,
left side of the entrance to the Church, composed, absorbed, contemplative, sometimes with
her eyes closed, often with the rosary beads in her hands. She always went to confession once a
week, on Saturdays. During the three years I stayed in Savona (1963-66), Vera always attended
our church (Mary Help of Christians): I was thus able to know her love for Jesus in the
Eucharist and her devotion to the Virgin Mary Help of Christians. Vera’s health was very
precarious, but I never heard her complain; on the contrary, I did not know the ordeal she had
been experiencing in her body for more than 20 years. […] She often went on pilgrimage to
Lourdes and each time she would bring me a small souvenir: rosary beads, medals, pictures of
Our Lady.26
And finally we recall the testimony of Carmelite Fr Guido Roascio. During the spirituality days
organised by the Study Centre he never failed to say : “Vera was a saint!”
I got to know Vera Grita during the 1968–69 school year at the Desert of Varazze where there
was a State Primary School campus within the Convent. Here Vera taught during the last year
of her life. I had come from the community at the Desert in April 1968, after completing
my Theology in Rome. Since she did not have a driving licence and lived in Savona, Vera
would stay at the Desert, in the guest room, from Monday to Friday evening or Saturday
morning, then return to her family for the weekend. I can immediately say that Vera was a
saint. I have a very positive memory of her in terms of the manifestation of her faith. More than
just small in stature she was petite, slender. Her eyes were serene and bright, even though so
24 G. Borra, Grita Vera. Notizie biografiche, op. cit., p. 112.
25 G. Borra Ibid, p. 103.
26 M.R. Scrimieri, Vera de Jesus e a Obra dos Sacrarios Vivos, Edizioni Salesiane, Porto 2000, pp.170-171.

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much suffering sometimes transpired from them. Her language was gentle, never impetuous.
When speaking, she was never psychologically aggressive. She was calm, soothing, capable
of softening everything with a smile. I never saw her laugh immoderately, perhaps because
there was little to laugh about at the Desert. She was very thoughtful and five minutes of
conversation were enough to reveal her as amiable, well-disposed, attentive and interested
in the problems of others; sincere, open, available for communion with all. She was very
respectful of others; I never heard her speak ill of anyone, and neither did I hear her introduce
them harshly. Gentle in temperament, she argued in honeyed terms. I am convinced that
during the year she spent at the Desert of Varazze she suffered a lot from the cold and loneliness,
especially during the winter period. She was very discreet; she did not go looking for someone
to talk to. She kept to herself, no doubt attending to her lessons and prayers. Frail, anaemic
and infirm as she was, she seemed devoured by the cold. Yes, she had an electric heater in her
little room, but that could do little against the winter frost. And then? Was it always working?
And was the food suitable for her given her condition? I really can't say, but I have my doubts.
Yet she never complained. Prayer was her daily bread. She used to pray for long periods before
the Blessed Sacrament or at a beautiful miraculous crucifix which is venerated at the Desert of
Varazze: it is made of ivory, carved by an anonymous Indian artist; it sweated blood and was
brought to Italy by the missionary Father Michelangelo of the Genoese religious province.
The centre of her piety was Holy Mass with the reception of Jesus in the Eucharist. She
loved all children. She devoted herself passionately to teaching them. She instilled a deep
love for her friend Jesus in their hearts, nourished concretely and psychologically through
a personal notebook that each child had as a diary, and through conversation with Him. I
never heard any shouting coming from the classroom where she was teaching, as happens just
about everywhere when the children make their teachers lose even the last bit of patience. In
conclusion, I remember that year at the Desert with much pleasure, because Vera’s humble
presence still continues, after so long, to do me good.27
There are many of the faithful who hope and pray that one day the Church will be able to
pronounce on Vera’s holiness. We are grateful to her for her heroic “yes” to the Father’s will, sealed
with the offering of her life for the Work of the Living Tabernacles to generate in Mary Most Holy,
the first Living Tabernacle, many other living Tabernacles, Eucharistic souls who will imitate her in
her life of communion and self-gift to the Lord for the good of the Church and her brothers and
sisters. Vera is the “grain of wheat” that, having fallen to the ground, will not remain alone but will
generate many other “Veras”, new “poor brides” of Jesus:
“Jesus in the Eucharist to you, little bride promised to Me. Follow me!... And I now seek, I will
seek ‘poor brides’ like you. Say that I seek these brides who, in time, will take faith and trust from
you. You will be the first example I will reveal to people. It will be a greater grace when you will be
but a representative figure for the world who other souls will be able to reflect on and come to Me
confidently, for your God has revealed an inexpressible Love for creatures who cannot rise from the
earth to Me, without Me, Jesus in the Eucharist, ‘falling’ with them to lift them up, to make them
come to Me.” Message 7.8.1968.
Vera's body lies in the cemetery at Zinola, Savona, and for the Bride of Eucharistic Love, there are
not flowers on the grave but ears of wheat as Jesus wished: ‘Then the wheat, the golden ears, will be the
symbol of my predilection; and for you, not flowers on your graves, not flowers near the lifeless body,
but ears of wheat, wheat that produces bread, raw wheat flour that produces the sacred particles: those
which you will have humbly borne upon you, and received into your soul.” Message 7.8.1968.
27 Centro Studi Opera dei Tabernacoli Viventi, Magnificat! Anno 2- N.1 “Vera era una santa!” by Fr Guido
Roascio OCD p. 2.

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The introduction of Vera of Jesus’ Cause of
Beatification and Canonisation1
Vera Grita’s testimony of Christian life, the mission Jesus called her to and the Work of the Living
Tabernacles that has spread over these 50 years from the initial Message dictated by Jesus to Vera, have
always been accompanied by a significant reputation for holiness in Vera Grita’s regard, even though
until now no official steps have been completed regarding the opening of her Cause of Beatification
and Canonisation. However, it should be noted that over time, a great deal of testimonial and
documentary evidence has been collected about Vera Grita and the Work of the Living Tabernacles,
which is a valuable starting point for the potential opening of the Cause. Also deserving special
attention is the new set of circumstances in the process of canonisations, introduced by Pope Francis
on 11 July 2017 with the Motu proprio Maiorem Hac Dilectionem, on the offering of life. With this
act, Pope Francis opened the way for the beatification of those faithful who are motivated by charity
to heroically offer their lives for their neighbour by freely and voluntarily accepting a certain and
premature death with the intention of following Jesus: “He laid down his life for us — and we ought
to lay down our lives for one another.”(1 Jn 3:16).
Vera Grita, too, inspired by the example of Christ and motivated by the mission to which she was
called, freely and willingly offered and sacrificed her life for her brothers and sisters in a supreme act of
charity, which was the direct cause of her death. In the ordinary exercise of Christian life, she grew to
the point of a free and voluntary decision to give her life in a supreme act of Christian love, imitating
Christ, who offered himself to the Father for the world, on the cross.
In Vera’s case, her offering of life, and her death which occurred within a short space of time, is
striking. The act of offering her life took place on 5.11.1968 at the Desert of Varazze at the Discalced
Carmelites’ St Joseph’s Hermitage: from the following month, December, Vera alternated teaching
with a series of increasingly prolonged hospital stays. A brief interlude was in March 1969, when by
the Lord’s will, she went to Rome to the Holy Stairs with her notebooks with the messages clutched
to her heart. “You had to be here to offer yourself to my Father in my precious Blood, to receive the
blessing that my holy Pontiffs bestowed on you.” In June 1969 Vera was hospitalised and never left the
hospital again: she was operated on twice during the summer. An abscess formed which was incised
and caused her death by haemorrhage on 22.12.1969, about a year after she had offered her life. She
was 46 years old. During the long hospital stay Vera had also offered her freedom to the Lord: “How
long will I stay at Santa Corona? Only God knows! […] I would be happy to offer him my freedom.”2
This act of offering is also to be understood in terms of the meaning that Jesus himself explains
to Vera: “I have set you as a sign of proof of my Word, and you will see your most intimate desire for
union with Jesus, the Eternal Priest, fulfilled in Me.” Message 5.11.1968.
The act of offering follows these words. She explicitly asks in the same prayer that even her death
may render God all honour and glory and men of good will bear witness to the truth of his word (the
Work of the Living Tabernacles). And it is for this end that she offers her life. It is interesting to note
the harmony with Jesus’ priestly prayer: “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them
because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to
take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to
the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you
have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” (Jn 17:14-21).
1 Contribution by Fr Pierluigi Cameroni, Postulator General of the Salesian Congregation.
2 Letter to Fr Zucconi of 12 August 1969, in Mia sorella Vera di Gesù, op. cit., p. 151.

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Certainly it will have to be demonstrated with testimonial and documentary evidence that
Vera sealed her life with an heroic act of charity and therefore can be considered a perfect disciple
of Christ and, as such, deserving to be proposed as a model of Christian life, if God Himself
guarantees her authenticity and exemplarity through the reputation of holiness, the proof of miracles
and the favourable judgement of the supreme authority of the Church. The papal document very
appropriately states in Article 2:
“The offer of life, in order that it be valid and effective for the beatification of a Servant of God,
must respond to the following criteria:
a. a free and voluntary offer of life and heroic acceptance propter caritatem of a certain and untimely
death;
b. a nexus between the offer of life and premature death;
c. the exercise, at least as ordinarily possible, of Christian virtues before the offer of life and, then,
unto death;
d. the existence of a reputation of holiness and of signs, at least after death;
e. the necessity of a miracle for beatification, occurring after the death of the Servant of God and
through his or her intercession.”3
It is hoped that this publication, the spread of knowledge about Vera Grita and the Work of the
Living Tabernacles, and the growth of her reputation for holiness and signs, will help to take the
necessary steps so that the Cause of this Salesian Cooperator can be set in motion.
3 Holy See, Apostolic Letter in the form of the Motu Proprio “Maiorem Hac Dilectionem” on the offering of life, Vatican
City, 11.7.2017.

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Biographical profile of the priests
Fr G. Bocchi SDB, Fr G. Zucconi SDB, Fr G. Borra SDB, Fr G. Roascio OCD
Salesians Fr Bocchi, Fr Zucconi, Fr Borra and Carmelite Fr Guido Roascio were the priests who not
only knew Vera over the years of her mystical experience, but were also the first ones called by the Lord
to accept and bring about the Work of the Living Tabernacles.
Fr Guido Roascio had to be the first among the Carmelites to know of the Work’s “Message”,
meditate on it and store it away in silence and prayer. Difficulties and lack of understanding were not
lacking in the lives of these priests. Such things always accompany the realisation of God’s works: “My
Work of Love enters the world through the narrow way, the holy way. Wait for me: I will return to
support you because I am with you,” Jesus had written to Vera in the message of 28.9.1969. The Lord
had predicted suffering and crosses for Fr Zucconi and Fr Bocchi: they were both victims for the birth
of the Living Tabernacles and for the spread and authorisation of the Work in union with other souls
who were victims for the Work.
In this section we offer a brief biographical profile, well aware that each priest deserves an in-depth
study which we reserve for the near future. We present them in order of “entry” into Vera’s life, in the
belief that each at different times and with different functions, performed a unique and unrepeatable
task both in helping Vera to fulfil God’s will and in welcoming the Work of Living Tabernacles by
responding to a personal call.
Vera’s gratitude to these priests was always great: the letters she wrote them are testimony to how
Vera never failed to recognise the Lord’s supernatural activity in the priest; therefore she could only
but be grateful to them for the gifts of grace she received through them. At times gratitude and joy
becomes song, as in the Virgin Mary’s Magnificat, and Vera expressed herself this way in a letter to Fr
Bocchi : “And my ‘thank you’ is never ending because it is a ‘thank you’ that begins with Jesus, passes on
through Him, and returns to Jesus in a song of love and glory that I cannot put into words but Jesus can
understand and hear it.”1
Fr Giovanni (John) BOCCHI SDB
Pugliano di Minucciano (Lucca) 8.3.1929
Pugliano di Minucciano 1.5.2016
Fr Bocchi was born on 8 March 1929 at Pugliano di Minucciano (Lucca) high up in the Apuan Alps,
in beautiful and unspoiled nature.
He entered the Salesian house at Collesalvetti (Livorno) at 13 years of age with the help of the
parish priest, without “knowing the Salesians at all”.2 After completing secondary school he was
admitted to the novitiate at Varazze and made his first profession there on 28 August 1947.
Then he completed his study of philosophy in Rome at the “San Callisto” community, his
practical training among the boys at Alassio and in 1952 he consecrated himself definitively to the
Lord. His priestly formation involved theological studies at Bollengo, Ivrea, where he was ordained
priest on 1 July 1957. As a priest, Fr Bocchi worked in a number of communities: as a teacher in
Salesian and State schools, then in Pisa in via dei Mille (1958–1959), but he was particularly active in
the Oratories: Livorno (1960–1963), Sampierdarena Genoa (1968–1970) and in parishes. He became
1 M.R. Scrimieri, Report “Cara figlia della Croce” – Unpublished correspondence between Fr Bocchi and Vera of Jesus,
the “Work of the Living Tabernacles” Study Centre, Milan 2008.
2 Salesian Work at La Spezia, Lettera mortuaria, La Spezia May 2016.

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Provincial Delegate for Social Apostolates. He followed specialisation courses in catechetics at the
Pontifical Salesian University in Rome in 1969–1970.
From 1964 to 1966, Fr Bocchi was rector at Savona, and then at Canaletto La Spezia (1970–1976);
still in La Spezia he was rector at Nostra Signora delle Neve (Our Lady of Snows) (1981–82).
Then came the call to go to Africa. Fr Bocchi was among the founders of the mission in Africa as
rector and parish priest in Cameroon: at Sangmelina (1982–1983), Ebolowa (1983–1989) and then
Yaoundè in his second period as a missionary.
In December 1989, Fr Bocchi returned to Italy due to serious health problems; he was operated
on for a heart attack, recovered and was then asked to be rector first at Livorno (1990–1992), then
Pietrasanta (1993–1995). But he soon returned to Africa to the mission in Yaoundé (1995–1996)
where he was appointed parish priest (1996–1999). Fr Bocchi returned for good to Italy in 1999: the
job had become too heavy for him and his generous heart could no longer keep up with the missionary
pace. He first went to help out at Canaletto, La Spezia, then briefly at Prato, and again as rector and
parish priest in Pisa CEP 2000–2004.
Fr Bocchi finally returned to “San Paolo” La Spezia in 2004, helping out in the Parish and Shrine
of Our Lady of Snows, where he placed himself at the service of the community in all simplicity and
joy, constantly being available for penitents in the confessional. He died on 1 May 2016 at 87 years of
age.3
Fr Bocchi and the Work of the Living Tabernacles
Fr Bocchi came to know Vera at Savona over the years he was rector of the Sanctuary of Mary Help
of Christians (1963–1966), shortly before Vera’s mystical experience began. He was her confessor and
spiritual director over those years.
It was during Fr Bocchi’s spiritual direction that Vera made the vow as a little victim, thus giving
value to all her suffering which up to that point she had accepted and lived in a Christian way.
The mostly unpublished letters that Vera and Fr Bocchi began to exchange some months before
this Salesian priest was transferred to Sampierdarena (1966), are significant and enlightening. There
are not many of them but they are of great value since they allow us to understand how Fr Bocchi,
during this phase, wisely guided Vera to accept herself in her fragile suffering humanity and helped her
to see the value of her cross by anchoring herself in love for the crucified Jesus to the point of receiving
the charism of suffering through her vow to be a little victim. It is no coincidence that Fr Bocchi’s
letters all begin with the words: “Dear daughter of the Cross”, or “Vera crucified with Jesus”.4
The value of Fr Bocchi’s priestly ministry during this phase of Vera’s spiritual journey focuses on
this important aspect of suffering which prepares Vera for the mystical experience that is about to
break into her life: accepting the new cross from Jesus, his “Voice” dictating the Work of the Living
Tabernacles to her in her inmost being. It would then be up to Fr Gabriello Zucconi, who would take
Fr Bocchi’s place in spiritual direction, to help Vera accept the extraordinary gift of the Lord in the
Word given to her, and to “bear” this new cross out of love and gratitude for Jesus. The seed sown by
Fr Bocchi would develop fully from there in good time under Fr Zucconi’s spiritual direction as the
faithful “guardian” of the Lord’s Work of Love and Mercy.5
The Lord drew up what was almost a personal programme for Fr Bocchi in the message of
4.2.1968: “Father John Bocchi, it is I who am writing to you, me, Jesus. Place your trust in Me and
I will reveal myself to you. I want you to begin My Work of Love in Sampierdarena among the souls
of the priests. I want you to make my messages of Love known to your confreres; I want them also to
bring Me, so you will all be transformed into Me. I want my league of souls to become stronger, I want
3 Biographical information taken from the mortuary letter of the Salesian community of “Nostra Signora delle Neve”, La
Spezia, May 2016.
4 The correspondence between Vera and Fr Bocchi concerns the years 1966–1969, meaning the period in which Fr Bocchi
was no longer rector in Savona but had been transferred to Canaletto, La Spezia.
5 M.R. Scrimieri, Report “Cara figlia della Croce” – Unpublished correspondence between Fr Bocchi and Vera of Jesus,
“Work of the Living Tabernacles”, Study Centre Milan 2008, Unpublished.

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it to become great and to go beyond the borders of Italy. I want it to be formed in mission lands, and
there where my beloved John Bosco founded his works, there where in him I established the kingdom
of Love.” Message 4.2.1968.
And indeed Fr Bocchi would depart as a missionary to Cameroon in 1982, where he would found
the Salesian mission, leaning solely on Jesus in the Eucharist whom he always carried with him, and
from whom he received strength, courage and love in the long lonely nights spent in the forest: “If I did
not have Jesus… I would not have survived the fatigue and discouragement!”6 He lived the spirituality
of the Living Tabernacles intensely: “I have already given him my Heart,” Jesus dictated to Vera in
another message, “so as to give it to souls.” “I gave him my own thirst of love, for my love is never
exhausted, and in him I continue to thirst for souls. Let him seek me among sinners, for among these I
suffer and weep. Let him give me souls, seek my souls, for I expect a great harvest from him.” Message
25.1.1968.
On the occasions he returned to Italy, he established the first cenacle (group) of lay people in
Versilia (1994), guiding them to love the message of the Living Tabernacles. When he returned to Italy
for good, he established another group of lay people in his final years, based on the spirituality of the
Living Tabernacles. This was at the Salesian Work in “San Paolo” La Spezia.
In January 2017, the “San Paolo” Salesian community at La Spezia dedicated a room to him in
which a large mural depicts him during three significant moments of his priestly life: as a Salesian,
with Don Bosco beneath the gaze of Mary Help of Christians, guiding new vocations for the Church;
as a missionary in Africa bringing the good news of the Gospel and the joy of the Risen Christ; and
finally, in adoration before the Tabernacle. An inscription has a thought of Jesus from the Work of
Living Tabernacles encapsulating the union of Jesus the Priest with His priests. It was Fr Bocchi’s
spiritual programme. “I in you, and you in Me, to bring ‘fruits’ to My Father, to save souls, to die for
souls” Message 4.2.1968.
Fr Gabriello (Gabriel) ZUCCONI SDB
Pistoia 11 May 1919 – Rome 5 February 1980
Vera of Jesus’ spiritual director
Fr Gabriello Zucconi was born in Pistoia on 11 May 1919, but lived first in Novara and then in Genoa
where the family moved to. After obtaining his Teaching Qualification he enrolled in the Teaching
faculty. In September 1940 he was admitted to the Salesian novitiate in Varazze, finishing with his first
three-year Profession. From 1946 to 1949 he attended the Theology studentate in Bagnolo and the
following year in Bollengo for the fourth year, when he took perpetual vows.
As a priest he would be Prefect of Studies at the hostel in Pisa, then teacher at Borgo San Lorenzo,
La Spezia, Valle Crosia, Livorno, Florence and Alassio from 1965 to 1967, when he was transferred to
Florence. In 1969 he moved to Bova Marina where he was parish priest at Condofuri. He remained
there until October 1976 when he returned to the “Sacred Heart” community in Rome and, from
1977 until his death in 1980, he was at “Don Bosco” helping out in the parish.
“Beloved Apostle of my Work of Love”
Fr Gabriel was Vera’s spiritual father from September 1967 when, for the first time, Vera became
aware of the divine “Voice” dictating the Work. It was thanks to Fr Gabriel’s wise and enlightened
direction that Vera continued to write down what Jesus dictated to her; filled with doubts and the
fear of being deceived, Vera was tempted not to write things down, but Fr Zucconi asked her to do
so out of obedience to and love for Jesus. So decisive was this indication, that on the first page of the
first notebook of manuscripts Vera wrote “Written out of obedience to Jesus in Father Gabriel, Salesian
6 M.R. Scrimieri, Vera de Jesus e a “Obra dos Sacrarios Vivos”, Edizioni Salesiane, Porto, 2000 p.173.

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priest”. Throughout the unfolding of the mystical experience, Fr Zucconi supported her in carrying
the cross of the “Voice”, showing her his faith in the Messages she received, his joy at a God who was so
close and who spoke to his priestly heart through Vera, and his sorrow at not being able to correspond
to such a great gift.
At the Lord’s explicit wish, Fr Zucconi was the “guardian” of the Work of the Living Tabernacles:
when Vera died he collected and typed up all the Messages, then sending them to the Superiors and
various confreres. He took it upon himself to see that the Messages addressed to the Pope reached
the Holy Father Paul VI and to see that the Work was complete. More than 150 letters of Fr Zucconi
written to Vera remain, and we see from them the spiritual grandeur of this priest. From the first
moment he embraced and espoused Jesus’ Work of Love and Mercy, holding to it with every fibre of
his human and priestly being.
Fr Giuseppe Borra, who for a time was Fr Zucconi’s spiritual director, wrote of him, “The figure
of the spiritual father stands out by reflection both in Vera’s letters and in the Messages. Just as on the
stage it is difficult to portray a character because he is too big, but he stands out because others speak
of him and from various angles bring him to life, so Fr Gabriel emerges from Jesus’ words and Vera’s
letters to an extent that makes him shine out for his qualities as a priestly soul and guide despite the
human aspect.”7 So who was Fr Zucconi? Fr Borra goes on to say:
A priest living his vocation without deviation in the interests of God and souls alone: such
was Fr Zucconi. Whence did he draw the thirst for souls that so distinguished him? From his
family formation in his youthful years, from the study of Don Bosco whose anxieties were also
his, so much so that the young men who encountered him found in Fr Gabriel a friend, a valid
director of conscience. He had gifts from the Lord that made him sensitive to the problems of
anxious spirits on the path to perfection. He lived in various Don Bosco colleges: his special
love, besides school, [was] parish work. Fr Gabriel was a victim for the Work, along with Vera,
for its birth and spread. Jesus often turned to Father and encouraged him to not only spread
the “Messages” but to obtain the proper permissions for the Living Tabernacles from the
ecclesiastical authorities. Fr Gabriel faced difficulties and especially lack of understanding in
his regard arising from unbelief and suspicion. His path was fraught with stumbling blocks.
Nevertheless he wrote to his Superiors, wrote to and met with the Bishops.8
When the dark night of the spirit began for Fr Gabriel, the night of trial and the cross due to the
incredulity and uncertainty he met, Jesus encouraged him, dictating two Messages for him which until
now have not been published but are of great spiritual value. Jesus called all the Messages he dictated
to Vera especially for Fr Gabriel and priests “letters of love”.
We reproduce the first one in its entirety, written by Vera on the eve of the feast of St John
Bosco: Jesus manifests his Priestly Love for all priests and his predilection for Fr Gabriel for believing
unwaveringly in Vera’s mystical experience. He encourages him to speak about the Work to Salesian
superiors, bishops, and to persevere until he sees the Glory of God:
Varazze 30 January 1968
Jesus, Eternal Priest, For Father Gabriel.
I have come to you with my open and wounded Heart to introduce your soul to my Wounded
side. Now I draw you to Me and you come to Me, close to my Heart. Your suffering, Gabriel,
comes from Love, from my Love for you. Listen to Me, yearn for Me and my Heart will open,
wounded still by Love to introduce your soul, your heart.
Thus will I communicate my Love, my Sorrow, my Desires, my Will.
I bring you to Me, Gabriel, hide you in Me and suffer with you, rejoice with you; I hide myself
in you and with you go through the streets, walk with you. I am with you Gabriel.
7 G. Borra, Grita Vera Notizie biografiche op. cit., p 73.
8 Ibid. p. 67.

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If only you knew the immensity of MY LOVE for you, for the Priests who serve me, who
struggle with Me and for Me.
If only you knew what your Priestly soul was for me!
I care for you, go before you, caress you, guide you. I pour into you the fragrances of my
Holiness, while your love consoles me.
Yes, I seek consolations, Gabriel! Give them to Me, give Me many for you, for those Priests
who still do not know how to love Me… Your love, Gabriel, is a strength, a strength that I have
given you: ask it for your Confreres, for all My beloved Priests… Come, come Gabriel to the
Love of your Father, of your God, of your Jesus, and you will always find My hands wounded,
yes, but because of this full of “graces”.
Come to Me Gabriel and I will speak to you of My Work of Love, of “our” Work of Love.
I will send souls, souls who sacrifice themselves as victims so that my Work may flow, like a
river of mercy through the world and you will not fail to spread Me, to spread Me to souls.
Go to Pistoia, go to Siena, go to the Superiors and present my Name, Jesus. I will enlighten
you. Have I not said that “you will see my Glory?” You who are called by My Father, you My
beloved and holy Priests, go, do not hesitate: I am with you, it is Jesus who wants to go, it is
Jesus who wants to "speak", it is Jesus who wants to say: I want to leave the Temple, I no longer
want to wait for the souls who will never look for Me.
I am the good Shepherd, I will go in search of the “sheep” that do not come back my fold.
It is Jesus who desires to walk, seek…
Go, Father Gabriel, in My Name, immerse yourself in Me, in My Grace, in My Life so that in
you there is only Me speaking, persuading and touching those who will listen to you with My
Grace.
Gabriel, My son, My Father embraces you in Me, blesses you, draws you to Himself.
I will comfort you, I will sustain you in your struggles, in your uncertainties. I will write to you
and you will be comforted by My Words. You are the one who had greater faith in the miserable
human hand; you believed and I will reciprocate your faith in Me, in My Words, with these
letters. Wait for Me. Gabriel, wait for me. I want to return to live in you and in you immolate
myself for My Father, for the Kingdom of My Souls. With these words, Gabriel, I bring you a
spring of Graces: they flow from my Heart wounded with Love for you, for my beloved Priests
and I want to communicate my Love, my Words to them, my embrace as Spouse, as Brother,
as Eternal Priest.9
In the second Message dictated to Vera two months later, Jesus encourages the priest to persevere
without getting discouraged:
I see you in pain, in sorrow for my Glory…These are the doubts, the uncertainties of the
moment because “my Work of Love” will see the Light through trials and sufferings, it will
require “victims”, will be bathed in my Blood because I, Jesus in the Eucharist, was immolated
in order to give myself to you. You “carry” the Immaculate Lamb sacrificed to My Father so
that your souls would come to the Light and “see” the Light.
Whoever “carries” Me shall resemble the Lamb and be immolated with It. The Lamb
immolated for you has now redeemed you, but you in Me will have to be meek and trusting
“little lambs” who in Me allow themselves to be led to the Sacrifice. “Yours” is beginning now.
Father Gabriel, go in My Name to Siena, Pistoia, go to Sampierdarena and knock - I will make
9 Unpublished Message – Archives of the General Postulation for the Causes of Saints of the Salesian Family – Rome.

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you open the door of priestly souls. Do not be discouraged by unbelief, do not be afraid…for I
will be with you always. You give me glory, and I will not remember your offence. I remember
your sufferings, your love, your sacrifices…I see your love.
I, Jesus, have spoken to you about “night”. You are entering the night and I, in my Eucharistic
Love, will be your only “Light”. […] I will write to you, I will support you and like a “little
boy” I will take you by the hand in the “night”. Your Jesus taking you into his Father's Heart,
God’s Heart!”10
In the summer of 1969, invited by the Bishop of Reggio Calabria, Bishop Ferro, to work in his
diocese, Fr Zucconi was given permission by the Salesian Superiors to move to Bova Marina near
the Salesian house, and was entrusted with the parish of Condofuri in October the same year. In
his meetings with Fr Zucconi, the bishop had shown a good acceptance of the Work of the Living
Tabernacles, seeing the possibility of it being established after having studied how it worked.11
Three months after Fr Zucconi moved to Bova Marina, Vera passed away in a room at the Ospedali
Riuniti di Santa Corona on 22 December 1969.
Fr Zucconi carried out his priestly ministry at Condofuri for seven years and at the end of these
seven years asked to return to community. These were not easy years; it was mission territory.
Returning to Rome in October 1976, a year later he was entrusted with being assistant parish
priest at Cinecittà, where he began his ministry on 8 September 1977. Shortly afterwards, on 22
September, he was received in private audience by Paul VI. Obeying the indications that the Lord had
given through Vera, Fr Zucconi had seen that the Messages addressed to the Pope, and subsequently
the entire Work, had reached the Holy Father. On 22 September, Paul VI blessed the Work of the
Living Tabernacles.
Suffering a heart attack, Fr Gabriel underwent several periods in hospital. After his last
hospitalisation on 26 November 1979, which lasted until 14 January 1980, he returned to the parish,
and on 17 January he wrote the following letter to a confrere in which he gave his “fiat” in union with
Jesus Crucified, for the success of the Provincial Chapter:12
Very Rev. Confrere,
As if it came to me from God, I joyfully accept the invitation you have given me to offer prayer
and sacrifices for the success of the Provincial Chapter.
Personally, there is little that I can offer, nevertheless I unite all of myself to the intentions of
the crucified Jesus, and I invoke every divine blessing on everything you have recommended
to me. Please keep me in your prayers.
With fraternal affection in D. Bosco,
Yours devotedly, Fr Gabriel Zucconi
Fr Zucconi’s earthly mission was over. The Lord was pleased with his offering and two weeks later,
on 5 February 1980, Fr Gabriel went on to eternal life to continue to be involved in the fullness of grace
of the Work of the Living Tabernacles with Vera of Jesus for the salvation of souls, for the good of the
Church and the Salesian Family. His body lies in the Verano cemetery in Rome.
The figure of Fr Gabriello Zucconi deserves to be studied separately, a study to bring out all the
value and richness of his priestly ministry exercised in difficult years, as well as his ability to understand
the mystical life in souls and the gifts he received for the Lord during his spiritual direction of Vera of
Jesus.
10 Ibid.
11 At the moment we have no documentation on the activities carried out by Fr Zucconi at Condofuri, including what
pertains to the Work. This research is the next to be undertaken.
12 Centro Studi Opera dei Tabernacoli Viventi. Letter discovered among the ones donated to us by his brother, Mr Augusto
Zucconi.

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The more than 150 letters written to Vera in 1967–1969, now available at the Living Tabernacles
Study Centre in Milan, are a very rich and significant source for future work on this grand and holy
son of Don Bosco.
Fr Giuseppe (Joseph) BORRA SDB
Bene Vagienna (Cuneo) 5.10.1914 – Rome 8.7.1987
Fr Borra was born in Bene Vagienna (Cuneo) on 5.10.1914 to Antonio and Agnese Borgogno, who
gave their children the example of a hard-working and upright life rich in faith.
Having finished secondary school and having shown a desire to consecrate himself to the Lord
in Salesian and priestly life, Joseph began to follow the usual formation path: novitiate at Monte
Oliveto ending with his first profession (1931); philosophy at Foglizzo (1931–33); practical training
at Valsalice and Valdocco (1933–39), during which he consecrated himself definitively to the Lord
through his Perpetual Profession (1937) and attended the State University, gaining an Arts Degree
(1939); he then did theology in Rome at the Pontifical Gregorian University and in Turin at the
“Crocetta” International Studentate (1939–1942), culminating in his ordination to the priesthood.
In 1954 he was made a rector, a role he fulfilled in the spirit of a pilgrim missionary in a number of
the Italian Provinces: Faenza (1954–1960), Alassio (1960–1966), Lombriasco (1966–1968), Caserta
(1968–1974) and finally at “Don Bosco” in Rome (1982–1987) and after a short time at “Sacred
Heart”, also in Rome, as principal and economer.
Fr Borra loved Don Bosco as a father and model to imitate with all his strength: like Don Bosco,
he based his life on the values of the Gospel; like Don Bosco he followed the obedient, poor and chaste
Christ in order to more strictly participate in the Paschal Mystery; like Don Bosco, he dedicated himself
entirely to the motherly and Immaculate Heart of Mary in order to be all hers for the redemption of
the world, and especially for the salvation of the young.
Many souls who came to know of his enlightened value as priest chose him as their spiritual
director.
He wrote in his Diary: “May I always carry the desire for holiness in my heart and radiate it beyond
myself into the world around me!”13 And again: “Only love can save souls. We are a poor canvas, a
nothing on which Jesus paints Himself. We must let ourselves be possessed by Him and love souls
with Him: then we can save them, united with Jesus. We must pay dearly for souls, accepting the
physical or moral suffering he permits…” (ibid.) And he concludes: “Jesus, I adore you and I love you:
even for those who do not adore you and do not love you…You see my heart, the thorns and pains of
my life.” (ibid.)
“And precisely along these lines,” the Provincial Fr Ilario Spera wrote of him, “to imprint more
clearly and more deeply in his minister’s heart the redemptive seal of the Cross, in the last nineteen
years of his life the Lord put him in contact with privileged souls.
“In January 1968, there was the meeting with Vera Grita, a wonderful creature, ‘…suffering, but
full of love for Jesus,’ Fr Borra wrote in his diary.
“Shortly afterwards, another significant meeting with a former miracle worker from Lourdes,
Maddalena Carini, founder in San Remo of the Ave Maria Family.
“A third great encounter in Caserta with Teresa Musco, who bore the stigmata, a martyr for love,
crucified with the Crucifix. He became her spiritual director and wrote her biography.
“On 8 July 1987, sitting on the seashore at Torvaianica, he looked intently at the sky of this land.
Suddenly, there was a sudden flash of lightning…, and he found himself contemplating the sky of
Eternity…. The Lord was punctually waiting for him…”
13 Biographical information taken from the Mortuary Letter – Fr Ilario Spera – “San Pietro” Roman Province, Rome, July
1987.

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Fr Borra as Vera’s biographer and scholar of the “Messages” of the Work of the Living
Tabernacles
Fr Borra got to know Vera in January 1968 while he was the rector at Lombriasco. At the explicit wish
of the Lord, Vera copied down for him all the messages written from September 1967 to February
1968 in 4 exercise books that she sent to Fr Borra:14 “Send what I have dictated to the priests I address
myself to. I am speaking for them, for others, for many, for everyone. Father Borra must read all the
libretti (booklets) and will be enlightened by Me to see.” Message 25.1.1968.
During the same year he was transferred to the Salesian Institute at Caserta.
From the letters that Fr Borra and Vera wrote to each other, although not numerous and mostly
unpublished, not only his gift of dealing with Vera’s mystical experience emerges, but also his deep
spirituality and his greatness as a priest in living the Mystery of Christ’s Sacrifice in the Holy Mass:
almost every letter from Fr Borra to Vera indicates the Salesian priest’s deep yearning to be united
with Christ crucified, with his Heart wounded with Love for the salvation of souls.
Like Fr Gabriello Zucconi, Fr Borra was the consoler of Jesus’ Heart in agony over priests who had
abandoned their priesthood, and Jesus did not fail to reach out to him through Vera with encouraging
words for his beloved priest: “For Father Borra, to you, my beloved Priest, the throbbing of my
Eucharistic love; to you the beating of my Heart. Come and rest on my breast. It is your Jesus who
listens to you.” Message 6.2.1969.
The move from Lombriasco to the Salesian Institute at Caserta in autumn 1968 caused him
more than a few problems and considerable suffering. Jesus did not fail to confirm to Fr Borra that
everything was part of his will and through Vera he sent him the comfort of his word to support him
in his labours:
Write for Father Borra: I want him to pray, to offer himself and his suffering for the triumph
of my holy Work of love. Then I, Jesus, will reveal myself to him, will communicate with him
and make my dwelling in him.
I want him to embrace my holy Cross of love so that he may soon be espoused to my Cause
through holy suffering. This suffering, which he bears with torment, will become joyful when
his priestly soul lives for my triumph. He is in Caserta by my will.15 My holy Mother will guide
him on the way to espouse Me in the Work of Love. Then I will be lavish with special graces
for him. Jesus to his beloved priest. Message 17.10.1968
In the letters that Fr Borra wrote to Vera during his stay in Caserta, he confided to her his sorrows,
his daily labours in dealing with people, his constant concern and care not to lack patience and charity
in their regard.
Jesus, once again, did not fail to console his priest and dictated to Vera for him while she was
hospitalised at Santa Corona Hospital:
Write to Fr Borra that Jesus knows all his afflictions, his sorrows, and that he desires holy
resignation for his own miseries because it is these that adorn his soul with so many virtues,
including humility.
For the rest he must surrender himself confidently to Me, to My divine mercy.
His priesthood is dear, pleasing, precious to Me, but I desire that his soul rest in Me, even amid
crosses.
14 Vera’s letter to Fr Borra on 24.2.1968 in L. Grita Mia sorella Vera di Gesù op. cit., p. 84.
15 Unpublished Message. “He is in Caserta by my will.” In Caserta Fr Borra met mystic Teresa Musco, (1943–1976) and
became her spiritual director. In 1951 the Blessed Virgin had predicted to Teresa Musco, a child at the time, and got her
to write it on a small sheet of paper, that she would leave the family in 1968 and live alone, and that she would meet Fr
Giuseppe Borra and have him as her spiritual director. She should show him the note she had written as a child. This is
what happened, and in 1968 Teresa Musco moved from Caiazzo to Caserta where she met Fr Borra. Regarding the Virgin
Mary’s prophecy to Teresa as a child, see: G. Roschini – T. Musco, Mistica del XX secolo, Ed. Ancora p. 62-63.

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He has my Mother as Mother and Protectress. He has the greatest gift I can give to a friend:
my own Mother. Let him take refuge in Her, and She will welcome him always in My holy
Name, Jesus.
The “distant” Priests are part of the Cross that I have offered him. You too [Vera] pray for
them. I, Jesus, love them! Message 9.11.1969
A month after this message, Vera went to Eternal life.
In Caserta, Fr Borra dedicated himself especially to the spiritual direction of Teresa Musco with
the stigmata, and wrote her biography. When he re-entered “Don Bosco” in Rome in 1982, he received
the letters that Vera had written to Fr Gabriello, who had died in 1980, from one of his penitents:
Having seen their contents and going back over days long past when I knew Vera Grita,
and having also read the Messages, I became aware of Vera’s spiritual personality and felt an
impulse, indeed a duty, to dedicate myself to her.
I meditated a little on the Messages and saw the wonderful doctrine. Such a wonderful pearl
could not and should not have remained hidden any longer.16
Thus, what Jesus had prepared years earlier when he had dictated to Vera: “Fr Borra must read
all the booklets”, and with the priests called to the Work, he would be “enlightened to see” came to
fruition.
Fr Borra had “seen”: the precious pearl given by the Lord to the Salesian Congregation and to the
Church for the good of humanity was there in his hands and he set to work writing Vera’s biography,
where he also presented a first and precious study on the concept of the Living Tabernacle and the
spirituality outlined in the set of the Messages of the Work.17
Three years later, in 1987, his earthly mission concluded, he died on the seashore while
contemplating the infinite horizon. Just beforehand he had written:
Today
I left
my heart
swimming in the infinite:
a sea covered me with warm sands
on the shores of time.18
His heart, wounded by the love and pain of Christ and united to Him, passed on to contemplate,
for eternity, the infinity of God, now in the bright and radiant Heart of the risen Christ.
Fr Guido ROASCIO OCD
6.9.1937 – 28.10.2015
Father Guido Roascio was born in Murialdo in Savona’s hinterland on 16 September 1937. He entered
the minor seminary at the Desert of Varazze, and after a year of novitiate at Loano (Savona) he made
his first temporary religious profession on 23 August 1955 and his perpetual profession at Sant’Anna,
Genoa on 7 October 1958. After graduating from the Arecco Institute in Genoa, run by the Jesuits,
he began a course in Theology at the Pontifical ‘Teresianum’ Faculty in Rome, where he was ordained
a priest on 5 April 1964 and where he graduated cum Laude in Dogmatic Theology in 1968.
On his return to Liguria he was rector of the Seminary at Arenzano for 6 years, teaching Latin and
Mathematics.
16 G. Borra, Vera Grita, Notizie Biografiche, op. cit., p. 7.
17 G. Borra, Vera Grita, Notizie Biografiche, op. cit.
18 Fr I. Spera, Lettera mortuaria, “San Pietro” Roman Province, Rome, July 1987.

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For the three years from 1975–1978 he was prior of the Convent of Sant’Anna. From 1978
for twelve years he edited the monthly magazine of the Sanctuary of the Child Jesus in Arenzano,
including a course in journalism in 1981–1982 in Milan.
In 1990 he was the Superior of the Mount Carmel Convent in Loano, and held this role for three
years. In 1991, at the request of the Bishop and with permission of the Superiors, while still living at
the Convent he was also parish priest at Ranzi di Pietra Ligure (Savona). From 1999 he was Superior
and parish priest of the convent and parish of St Peter’s in Savona.
He was in Arenzano from 2011 until his death on 28 October 2015 from a heart attack. His body
lies in the friars’ chapel in the cemetery in Arenzano.
It was during the 1968–69 school year that Father Guido Roascio got to know Vera at the Desert
of Varazze where she was teaching the primary school children at the Discalced Carmelite Hermitage
and Fr Guido was the young assistant to the children.
It was during the months of his stay at the Desert that the Lord for the first time also named
the Discalced Carmelites as recipients of the Work of the Living Tabernacles, and pointed to Father
Guido Roascio as the one who was to be aware of the Work at the time, to meditate on it and to guard
in silence this gift received.
In the various annual meetings held in Savona with Father Guido, and organised by the Study
Centre on the anniversary of Vera’s birth to Heaven, sympathetically and with a touch of humour
inherent in his character, he showed how he had kept to what the Lord had instructed him to do,
especially with regard to “keeping silent”. With great care and affection he had kept the original folio
that Vera had given him and where she had written down what Jesus had dictated to her for him and
for the Discalced Carmelites. Father Guido was happy to donate a photocopy of the original message
to the Study Centre, which we reproduce now in full:
Sv. 28.2.1969
Long live Jesus in the Eucharist!
Write, my name is Jesus!
Sv. 28.2.1969
… My Work of Love will then also have to be extended to the Discalced Carmelites, since I,
Jesus, have come to give my Love to everyone.
With the submission that you owe to the Priest, receive his consent to speak of “my Eucharistic
Gift” to Father Guido.
For now, he must listen, meditate and keep my Words, words of Jesus for the poor, in his
priestly heart.
Tomorrow, when you will be far away, everything will serve to glorify ME.
They must be partakers of ME, through MY WORK OF LOVE at the time appointed and
willed by ME.
For now it is sufficient that One among them knows until the end and…keeps silent. This is
the Will established by My Father.
After the consent, and in obedience to the Priest, prepare Father Guido and, finally, get him
involved by means of a typescript.
During these few months in the Desert you must “give ME”, entrust ME….
Father Guido retained a very vivid and intense memory of Vera, even though their meeting was
brief, just a school year; but Vera’s presence at the Hermitage and her mystical experience had left a
mark on the young Carmelite that he liked to remember as a touch of grace and holiness received at
the Desert of Varazze, which did his soul good every time he remembered Vera.

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A personal recollection: In the footsteps of Vera and her pupils with Father Guido Roascio19
Father Guido Roascio had no doubt regarding Vera’s holiness and hoped and expected that one day
her Cause for beatification and canonisation would be opened.
One day we went together to Casanova di Varazze and Alpicella, on the trail of Vera’s pupils. It
was not difficult in these small villages in the Ligurian hinterland to get out of the car, ask about Vera
Grita the teacher and immediately find someone to help us reconstruct the map of Vera’s pupils. So
it was at Casanova where Father Guido and I were accompanied to the home of former pupil Piero
Molinari, who welcomed us together with his mother Ida by interrupting his work in the fields. Both
still had a vivid memory of Vera when she was still alive. With her simple and welcoming humanity she
knew how to “make herself a gift” at school, in meetings with the children’s mothers, with colleagues.
Ida kept the rosary which Vera had given to Piero and which she kept with her on her bedside table
and with which she still prayed. When we asked what struck her most about the teacher, Ida answered
immediately and without hesitation: “Her humility… and her eyes. The eyes had something that told
you how to go on, that gave you courage. She was very humble, she made you feel good when you were
there talking. She was not awe-inspiring, she was simple and suffering, she had a lot of faith. I always
pray to her and remember her.”
In Alpicella, on the other hand, where Vera taught in the 1959-1960 school year, it was the parish
priest, Fr Lorenzo Caviglia, whom we met as soon as we got out of the car, and who told us about her:
he too remembered Vera very well, he had not forgotten the teacher, especially for a detail that attracted
his attention and amazement as a child: during the Stations of the Cross that all the children made with
the teacher, Vera cried. “At the time, I was amazed by this fact and it seemed even exaggerated… Later,
I understood,” Father Caviglia confided.
Little Lorenzo Caviglia, who became a priest, was the best we could have encountered as a
testimony to conclude our day tracking down Vera’s pupils: Vera loved priests very much and in order
to mystically accompany them in their apostolic labours Jesus had given her a special love. For them,
she accepted and offered up all suffering and discomfort at school, and Jesus guided and led her to the
wound in his side, to mystically unite her with Him, the Eternal Priest, in the ultimate immolation,
the offering of her own life for the birth and development of the Work and for the return of the priests
who had abandoned the priesthood during the heated years of protest. This matured during Vera’s
stay at the Desert of Varazze, in the last year of her life and teaching.
Returning to Savona, we recalled all this with Father Guido, who had known Vera in this last year
of her life and teaching.
19 Testimony of Maria Rita Scrimieri taken from: Vera Grita, la “maestrina di Savona”: testimonianze dal mondo della scuola.
Magnificat! Notiziario del Centro Studi Opera dei Tabernacoli Viventi, Anno 2, N.1 2002 p. 5.

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Vera of Jesus' notebooks
“These words are light,
and because they are mine,
they must shine out and not remain hidden.”
Jesus to Vera, Message 6.3.1969

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BOOKLET 11
Begun 19 September 1967
Ended 24 November 1967
Written out of obedience to Jesus in Father Gabriel, Salesian priest
For the greater glory of God, the Blessed Trinity
“May Your holy and adorable Will be done”
“Oh my Jesus, your Kingdom come!”
1 Primo Libretto or First booklet: term used by Vera for the notebooks she used to write down the Messages. In total, there
are 13 original booklets and thanks to the Curia at Savona they were photocopied by the Work of the Living Tabernacles
Study Centre and are now published in full in this new edition.

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19-9-1967 11:05 (Before the Blessed Sacrament)
J.2 : “The wine and the water are us: I and you, you and I. We are one. I dig, I dig to build me
a temple; let me work, do not put obstacles in my way.” (The soul now invokes the Holy Spirit). J.:
“…And My Father’s will is this: that I abide in you, and you in Me. Together we shall bear great fruit.”
20-9-’67 11:30 am
J.: “Take me with you, take me to Pina, to everyone. Let us go ‘together’, let us always be together.
If you are in doubt, make the sign of the Cross again and say: ‘Jesus’.”
22-9-’67 (in church)
J.: “I will keep you in the shadow of my wings. You are in the world but not of the world. Here, in
the Tabernacle, I want prayers, I want consolations from all souls. Take me with you: into your heart.”
22-9-’67 (11:00 am, at home)
Jesus: “I am with you, my daughter. I have not left you. Now it is you who will not leave me, not
leave me in my loneliness: the loneliness of the Tabernacle, the loneliness of souls. Write down once
more: I want to be loved, I want to be known by everyone. I want to give, give, give myself to souls.
Speak to them about Me; take me, give me to souls. My little daughter, how small you are, you are
nothing without Me. Let Me speak, let Me act: I want souls, small souls, very small souls. I want to
win them over to my Love. I am seeking them out in the world, gathering them beneath my wings.
Come with Me through the world.”
Soul:3 Lord I want to obey you, I will come, run to You, but you know that I can do nothing
without you: Order me. I offer you my hand, take it in yours, let us go together wherever you wish.
Strip me of everything so I may have nothing but You.
Jesus: “Yours is this Name, yours is my Love, yours is my Cross, my Sufferings, my Wounds, my
Blood: take my riches, my Gifts, they are for sinners, for souls. Hide yourself in these riches, in these
Gifts and offer yourself to God the Father according to the desires of my Heart. Together let us go out
into the world to gather souls. Behold, you are in Me in each of My Immolations, on the whole face
of the Earth. I in you and you in Me, as wine unites with water, as I am in the Father and the Father is
in Me, as the Holy Spirit, Love, shines in Us. I give you the free gift of everything. Are you happy? It
is Cross; it is Love: it is My Cross, it is My Love. Come, follow me! O My child, I have established My
dwelling in you: I want to make you a living tabernacle to go to souls. Give me everything.”
Soul: O my Jesus, I have nothing to give you, I find nothing but your own Gifts and I offer them
to you, I intend to offer them to you through the Heart of your and my sweet Mother together with
my poor will. O Jesus, do it, destroy me but so that I may not resist You make me humble, take my
whole heart: let it beat only for You and may I tell You in every beat that I love You, that I detest sin.
My life, may I have no life but Yours, no sigh but Yours, no breath but Yours.
Jesus: “In the holy name of obedience listen to My Voice: it is Cross, it is Love. My Love and my
Cross will never forsake you, so shall be MY VOICE. Accept it out of obedience, out of love and in a
spirit of humility and penance. Behold, I am in you in love and sorrow, sorrow love. This Voice, my
Voice, will be the fire that will purify you. I want MY TEMPLE to burn, to burn, to be consumed for
Me. Thank Me, My child, that My Father’s love is great for you. Tomorrow, at Holy Mass, you will
bring My Gifts, the Gifts of My Mother’s Heart, and you will unite them to your miseries, to your
nothingness, to your too small heart. I will take everything. Remember: the wine and the water. In
this mystery is union, donation. Only with Me does the offering rise to God the Father. O my child,
2 ‘J’ Stands for Jesus
3 ‘Soul’: stands for Vera

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immerse yourself in my love. Only my grace will sustain you. Look at Me on the Cross, love Me on
the Cross, gaze upon the Cross: I draw you to Me, Jesus. Do everything in my Name and for my Love.
When weariness crushes you, invoke Me: I will help you!”
Soul: O my Jesus, bless me!
22-9-’67 (4 pm)
Jesus: “I have united you in Me: Fr Gab. (Gabriel)4 and Fr B. (Bocchi)5 in the Father’s bosom,
in his sufferings, in his Crosses. I will seek other souls, I will gather you beneath my wings, and I will
bring you to the feet of the Holy Father. I want many victim souls: seek them out!”
The Soul: My Jesus, how can I go and find them? Help me. Command me because I want to obey
you.
Jesus: “Ask my Mother.”
Soul: I will obey you, Jesus. I offer you my poor suffering, my will, everything, all of me, accept
me as I am!
Jesus: “Give me more.”
Soul: I can find nothing to give you, but if You see something, take it, it is yours.
Jesus: “Let every action be performed out of obedience and love; you must not belong to yourself,
but to Me through your neighbour. No more desires, no more affections that are not Mine; you must
die to earthly life hour after hour in order to advance in Me. I, Jesus, promise never to abandon you.”
4 October, St Francis6
Jesus: “Write to Father Gabriel. I am with him, and he is in Me. He carries the torch of my Love
to the souls who await him. I give myself to souls in him, and he gives himself to my Father in me. I
want him to burn with this divine Love. He is in my Heart as the consoler of my agonies, as brother,
as friend. He is the Bridegroom who goes to meet the Bride. I hide in him to seek my sheep, to gather
my flock. I speak, act, suffer and, above all, love in him. I have gathered you under my wings (Father
Gabriel, you, poor creature, Fr Bocchi); other souls I will gather from my pastures and make them a
force: my Force. You will fight as soldiers, you will suffer and as my soldiers you will fall in the field, but
your victory will be written in heaven. Tell Father Gabriel that his Jesus loves him so much, and that
he would not hesitate a moment to give him all his Blood again. Behold, I am sending him into the
world as I once went into the world. He must take Me, he must give Me because he, Father Gabriel, is
in Me. Report what I have told you. Behold, I have spoken to you now that I may be heard. It is not
these words that will bring him joy, but the Grace I put into these words, for they are, they will be Me.
My daughter, wait for me, I will come to you.”
16 October ’67
4 Fr Gabriello Zucconi, Salesian (Pistoia, 11 May 1905 – Rome, 5 February 1980). Vera got to know Fr Zucconi in July 1967
during the Retreat preached by him. On that occasion Vera asked Fr Zucconi for his spiritual direction and also decided
to become a Salesian Cooperator.
5 Fr Giovanni Bocchi, Salesian (Pugliano, 8 March 1929 – La Spezia, 1 May 2016), Rector of the Basilica of Mary Help of
Christians in Savona. Delegate for the Salesian Cooperators, was Vera’s confessor. Together with Fr Zucconi he belonged to
the Ligure Toscana Procince, today part of the Central Italy Circumscription. He founded the Salesian work in Cameroon,
as the Lord had predicted in the Message of 4.2.1968.
6 In the Letter of 5 October 1967 to Fr Zucconi, Vera writes: “Yesterday, St Francis day, I begged Jesus to deign to tell me as
much as He could concerning it and I offered Him, many times, the humility of the Saint to repair my pride. I felt that He
was in me and, on my return I sought the solitude of my room. Again I prayed for you and then… I wrote ”, in L. Grita,
Mia sorella Vera di Gesù, op. cit., p. 69.

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Jesus: “Gift of God, Gift of Love. My Love has no boundaries, no barriers. It is not your miseries
that impede My Grace in you because My Grace is LOVE. It is your doubts, your uncertainties, the
limits that you place on your abandonment in ME: Jesus! How fragile you are, My child! Come to
ME: I am the STRENGTH, your strength. Think of the Tabernacle. You believe in MY PRESENCE
in the Tabernacle. Believe in ME, your Jesus does not deceive you. It is I, Jesus! I would speak to any
sinner if he had faith in Me, if he believed in Me, in My Love. I would show Myself to him as I once did,
even in My Holy Humanity, but he still would not believe because he has no Faith. If Faith has grown
in you, know that it is My Gift! Believe Me who am speaking to you and ask no more, no explanation
why: it pleased MY FATHER, so it pleases Me. Receive My Voice in humility and gratitude. Return
to Me, abandon yourself to My Love. Feel My Cross, feel My Yoke! Let yourself be permeated by Me.”
20 October ’67 Friday
Jesus: “I have given you light in abundance, walk in it, you will not be lost: seek Me, seek Me alone.
O my daughter, daughter of the Cross, of my Cross, listen to me: the path is short and long, it near
and far. Do not think of anything, do not think of others, think of Me. Detach yourself from yourself,
from all worries, think of Me. Close the windows of the world. Write, My child, so that you do not
forget how much I love you. Do you still not see Me in you? Do you not see Me? I am in the Cross,
I am in Sorrow, I am in your nothingness: a suspended thread that I hold with Love. My Voice does
not rise up clearly to you because you lend your ear to your troubles.”
Soul: Help me. My Jesus, help me!
Jesus: “Seek Mary, seek my sweet Mother, seek her Love, seek her motherly arms. Yes, I am
weighing you down, I am a burden, but you will not be able to do without it, and I will then be your
Weight: Jesus! O Vera, Vera, how much do you love me to accept me so? You are far from true LOVE.
Yet I, Jesus, want this Love from you. I want it in your every breath, in the day and in the night, in the
calm and in the storm. Come to Me, surrender yourself to Me. Tomorrow I will help you carry the
Cross, but you must not detach yourself from My CROSS because it is bread, light, joy, martyrdom
for you. Give Me your company: I, Jesus, am alone! Precisely because you can give me nothing I want
to be with you. I will give you EVERYTHING: ME. Bring MY messages, bring MY words, they will
come with MY GRACE. Today is Friday, and you must suffer so much for My Voice. Write to Father
Gabriel. Tomorrow, at the same time, I will wait for you here. You must die to everything to hear Me.
Do not fear, do not be afraid, I am Jesus, Jesus. Pray, My daughter, pray for Me to come into you, for
you to disappear and for me to live in you.”
Soul: I am not capable, Jesus, I am not capable: everything disturbs me and every little noise is
enough to distract me from You. Help me, help me. You know how it is impossible for Me… But if it
is YOUR WILL, I say to you with your Mother: FIAT. Not alone, I can’t, I can’t do it.…
Jesus: “Write, yes, write out of obedience, out of penance. O holy souls in Me, come to MY
HEART, come into this Heart of Father, Spouse, Friend, Brother, into the HEART of GOD. My souls,
bathed in the dew of My Grace, purified by a Fountain that gushes forth without ceasing from My
Heart. My souls, souls of Jesus, souls of my love, come to Me, I want to give you much, much more:
I, Jesus, always with you, you always with Me. Nothing separates the Father from the Son except exile
and the flesh, nothing separates Me from the soul because I immerse it in Me, unceasingly, in My love.
I cover miseries, afflictions, I purify, I sanctify so that the soul remains in Me, and I in it. No, no relief
tonight for you, and you hardly recognise My Voice, yet I have spoken to you, and also for you. Fear
not, you have done My Will. I remain in you.”
Soul:O Jesus, give me sorrow for my sins, a pure and holy LOVE; give me the gift of humility and
obedience. O Jesus give me “everything” for I have nothing. Thank you.
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Jesus: “Tomorrow, Fr Gabriel will be in Communion with Me, I will enlighten him in your regard
and you will receive my Orders. I will speak with you in silence and the voices of the world will not
draw you away from Me. I want to work in you with My Grace. Draw closer to Me, ever closer to Me. I
know how to wait… the hour of Grace is approaching… it is near. Wait for it with humility. Pray, suffer,
offer in communion with Me, with souls, with My PRIESTS. Suffer for My Voice, suffer in writing,
suffer. I do not promise you consolations, but sufferings. You will write only out of obedience.7 I,
Jesus, will sustain you in your innermost being. I did not come into the world to rejoice, but to suffer,
to do the will of My Father. I will not return in ‘certain’ souls who… to suffer with Me, to do, like Me,
the will of My Father. So I go through the world… and I search for souls. Let us go, let us go together,
let us seek souls ‘together’. Make room for me, clear your heart of everything: let me come into you.
Give Me everything, everything so that You do not exist, just be for Me. I, your Jesus, bless you. Now
go!”
Soul: Glory to God!
29-10-1967 “Feast of Christ the King”8
After invocations to the Holy Spirit, Mary Help of Christians, Alexandrina,9 my Guardian Angel,
I read these excerpts from the Holy Gospel, having opened the Holy Book randomly: (St John)
“I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see
me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.” An image of Padre Pio of San Giovanni
Rotondo, which was on that page, was followed by a call to my Guardian Angel from Padre Pio’s
Guardian Angel. Then again I asked for a Word of Jesus in the Holy Gospel to support my frailty. So
I read: “Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion, Look, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!”
St John. After the Holy Sign of the Cross and pronouncing the Most Holy Name of Jesus, as Father
Gabriel told me, I said: “Speak, O Lord, that your servant may hear you.”
Jesus: “I want you, my child, to obey me, I do not want interference, for now. My Voice is an order,
a command, it is the voice of the soul, it is the Voice of God! It comes to you through the darkness
of your being, and I seek a humble heart willing to hear me. Do you wish to receive me in Love? I do
not impose myself but I want to be sought, ardently desired. I am Jesus, Jesus in the Voice, Jesus in
Holy Grace. Draw near to Me, do not fear, receive the warmth of My Heart. ‘My ways’ are infinite,
unpredictable, and I cannot implement them if you do not have faith in Me. Believe in My Name,
Jesus, believe in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, in the Name of the Holy Spirit, believe in the
Name of My most sweet Mother, the ‘Immaculate Conception’. Father Gabriel suffers, he needs so
much Love, so much of My Love, and I, Jesus, will give it to him in connection with your suffering. I
want you to accept ‘My’ pains, and let yourself be penetrated by them. They will come to you like the
dew on the flowers, like the dawn that precedes the morning, like the ‘death’ that precedes true Life.
And Life is what I want to give, Life, Life, all my Life. I want to pass, through humble and willing souls,
to other souls still insensitive to My calls. These souls must purify themselves to receive Me, they must
7 “You will write only out of obedience…”. Vera wrote the Messages in obedience to Fr Zucconi who supported her in carrying
her cross of doubts, uncertainty, darkness. In the Letter of 10.11.1967 to Fr Zucconi, Vera writes: “…still other Messages
even though my poor soul is in the very depths of darkness.” In L. Grita, Mia sorella Vera di Gesù, op. cit., p.73.
8 Feast of Christ the King. From Vera’s letter to Fr Gabriel on 1 November 1967: “On the day of Christ the King, Jesus
dictated to me roughly as follows: ‘Do you want to accept My triple crown? It is made of moral, spiritual and physical
suffering.’ Yes I accepted it, but how weak I am and how immediately another suffering loomed on the horizon! […].” In
the Message of 7.11.1968 Jesus further explains the offering of her head for the crown of thorns: “This offering can be
issued by ‘my soul’ in many forms. For example, humbly bow your head in the face of all pain, offer your head for a crown
of thorns, so that roses of graces may flourish in the thoughts of human beings… I need leaders who know how to humble
themselves and with me, with their King, wear the same crown that I wore for all people, that I, Jesus, wore for love of you
so that, freely willed and loved, my Thought could dominate in you.”
9 Alexandrina Maria da Costa (1904-1955), Portuguese mystic, Salesian Cooperator beatified by John Paul II on 25 April
2004. Fr Bocchi had given Vera the book Tu sei amore che tutto vince, written by Salesian Fr Umberto Maria Pasquale,
Blessed Alexandrina’s second spiritual director.

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offer themselves in Me to My Heavenly Father that I may live in them. I will return to souls, I will
still seek souls like this. O my beloved daughter, what can you give me? Give me your heart! Father
Gabriel is there, waiting for Me, for My Words. I will lead him to the Sacred Mountain and tell him
of My Beauty: Light of Love, Light that burns and inflames, Light for his soul, Light for other souls:
My Light, Light of God! A Blazing Fire shall penetrate you, I shall penetrate through you into souls,
I shall reach souls, I shall return to you, I shall return among you and unite you from one end of the
world to the other, and you shall be My LEAGUE, My ARMY. Father Gabriel will have afflictions
and sorrows, he will have pains and trials, but he will have only and all Me as recompense. I love him,
oh how I love him! And love is what I ask of him, ‘pure and holy’ love, so much love for Me, for my
Things, for my Souls. His Jesus honours him with his Priesthood, invests him with his MINISTRY.
There I am in him, but he must become like Me. I want to make use of him, of My Priesthood in
him, for I ‘must work’ for My Kingdom, for My Souls. Let him be a pliable reed in My Hands, easy to
bend to My will but not to the world. I will soon make a permanent dwelling in him. He shall feel My
Power, and the Holy Spirit shall speak to him with a tongue that is not human. Be docile under the
Hand of God, and trust in Me: Jesus, Eternal Priest. To you, poor child of the Cross, may my return
be marked by the wounds of my wounded and bleeding Heart. Jesus in His Glory bless you!”
10-11-1967 Friday
Jesus: “Write: I am your Jesus. Yes, write again for yourself, for others, for everyone. My souls,
holy souls, blessed souls of my Father, where are you going? My Love reaches you, pursues you. Stop,
listen to my Voice: I am Jesus, I am your Jesus! I open my arms, I extend them over the Cross, I extend
them over all humanity, and I gather you up, I take you to My Heart and unite you to Me. How much
pain and how much love in this embrace! Who gives Me so much pain? Who gives me so much love?
And My Heart bleeds, groans, suffers and rejoices and does not cease to receive you, to welcome you.
Who will lead souls to my Heart? Who will lead them to the Wound in my Side? The Priest suffering
in Me. From him I accept all souls, from him I allow my Wound to open again by suffering, by dying
in Me. When he is all Me, I will receive him into My Side with ‘his’ souls, he will cross through my
Breast and immediately my Heart will receive them. Who will be able to separate Me any more from
him, from ‘our’ souls? You, too, teach the ‘way’ of love to everyone: big and small, good and less good.
Suffering Jesus calls you to his martyrdom: be strong. You will write greater things than these, and you
will suffer, you will suffer in My Name, in the Name of your Jesus; you will think you have gone mad
and even more so… My Grace will not abandon you and will be with you. Trust, My daughter, in the
Love of your Jesus. Open your arms too, extend them on the Cross with Me, and learn to embrace
all humanity with Me. I do not promise you help, except what is necessary, but a Father will always
understand you, for someone will always speak to you in My Name. Father Gabriel will receive ‘these
words’ in My Name; he will see Me, because in these words I, his Jesus, will speak to him. My Grace will
reach him with these messages and he will read them as in My Heart. It will not be you who will ‘give’
My Words, but there will be those who will ask you for them: then obey. Before the Blessed Sacrament
give Me your heart always, and leave it in the warmth of My Heart. Yes I will return to you with the
water of suffering, with the Blood of My Sacrifice, with the fruits of My Grace. Give me everything,
everything, because I, Jesus, have given and give everything to you. Amen.”
12-11-’67
Jesus: “Write, my child, a message of Love, of Light and of Love. I, Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son
of God, love ‘my’ souls with a special love. For them I give ‘my graces’ in superabundance. They are not
my servants but ‘my friends’. In them I dwell with my Grace, and the Grace is me, I am Jesus. Behold:
my ‘League‘ is increasing, ‘my little army’ is about to advance and is advancing with Me and for Me.
We are going together, you come with Me and you are in Me. Abandon the calls of the world, lay them
down before My Altar. You who are still in the world, never be of the world. That is why you still live
in the world: that you may be for Me, that you may come to Me: Jesus! Your soul is now immersed
in Me, but soon the darkness will cover it with its greyness. Look at Me then, look at Me more and
fix your gaze on Me on the Cross. Write, my child, write again for yourself and for all. Confide your

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heart in Mary, my Mother. Narrate to her the joys and the sorrows, the miseries and subjugations; raise
your hands to her, that they may work only with her; your mind to her, that you may think only with
her and like her; your soul to her, that belonging to her it may be hers, immersed in her. Finally, your
heart. Offer yourself to me, all of you and your heart, in the Heart of my Mother, Mary Immaculate.
My child, then make me suffer in you, make me return among souls, make me deal with souls. Will
you? Bend down… and receive my Cross! Your Jesus.
Soul: O Jesus, Life of my soul, I accept everything in Mary Most Holy and since I am nothing and
evil, I hide myself in the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
Thank you, O my good Jesus.
12-11-1967
Jesus: “I draw you to Me, do you not see! Do you feel the immensity of My Love? I welcome
you into My Home,10 beneath my very own ROOF. I remove you from the world, you are under My
Wings and My Shadow protects you. Here with Me you must learn to suffer and love as I wish; to seek
Me, to speak to Me, to tell Me everything. I am here, with you. I am in the Chapel, I am here while you
write, I am in your poor soul. They are my tears, I have given them to you! They are tears of love, of
sorrow, they are tears that flow from Me, from My Love. Here, in this House you are loved, and I have
placed you close to ‘my souls’. Together you serve My Glory. Yes, you are in the world but no longer
for the world, and from this I will always remove you. I want to build myself a Temple of Love, and I
have chosen you because you are ‘nothing’, too nothing. I want you humble, most humble. You will
obtain this virtue, dear to My Heart, from My Mother, but do not cease to invoke it. I want you at
the ‘service of all’, ready to obey all, serve all, for in this way you will serve Me. I want you ‘merciful
and prudent’ with everyone. I want you ‘good and generous’. I want you ‘martyred’ for My Love, for
My Glory. I want you to be a ‘martyr’ of Me. My Blood will purify you, and in your martyrdom the
Blood shed will still and always be Mine. Then you will be consumed for Me, and in Me, the Sacrifice
will be offered to My Father and consumed. Fear not, you have and will always have Me.”
Varazze 16.11.67
Jesus: “Now, My child, listen to Me: it is My Father’s will that you be recollected, humbly awaiting
Me. I am calling on you to fulfil a mission. Do not be afraid, you have My Strength. I will lead you
along rough and winding paths, but in the end you will recognise Me because I will be THERE waiting
for you. Yes, it is Jesus of the Tabernacles who speaks, who calls: ‘I am’. You have nothing to do, for
now, but wait for me. I am preparing ‘my ways’ by which you and many other souls will set out. I
want you for ME ALONE, I will remove you from the world, from your affections. Place ‘everything
and everyone’, your family members, in My Fatherly Hands and I will think of them, but you are to
think only and always of Me. You will have to ‘depart’ from this world, leave it for Me, detach yourself
for Me. A Bride does not belong to the Bridegroom if she is not crucified with Him. I draw you to
the madness of the Cross. See, I am giving you a ‘gift’ of my riches, of my passions: passion of Love,
of Sorrow; sacrifice, offering, immolation in my Blood. My poor daughter, you still see nothing of
all this! I, Jesus, the Way, the Truth, the Life will announce many things to you in due time. Remain
in humility, in my Love, in my Grace. With the forgiveness of your sins I have redeemed you, in the
washing of My Blood, I have purified you yesterday, today, always. You need this baptism of Blood
every day and only in My BLOOD does this happen. Prepare yourself, My child, soon I will come to
you. It pleased My Father so, it still pleases Him to use the poorest and most despicable creatures, but
10 This was the Institute of the Canossian Sisters in Casanova di Varazze where Vera had moved in the first days of November:
'“I asked Him [Jesus] for a quiet little place for me to attend to my work, which is ‘His work’, and to school, calmly. On
17 October I found a little room at the Canossian Sisters in Varazze. In the Institute there is the Chapel of Our Lady of
Sorrows and Holy Mass is celebrated every day at 4 p.m. Travelling makes me too tired and at the beginning of November
I will settle in with these Sisters, returning to the family on Saturdays and some days of the week to look after my nephew
at school.” Letter 1 November 1967 to Fr Zucconi, in L. Grita Mia sorella Vera di Gesù, op. cit., p. 71.

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redeemed by My Blood, for His will. You are too ‘nothing’ and this is why you are afraid. I have told
you that I am speaking to you in the Heart of my Mother, and my Voice is coming to you through that
sword which pierces her Motherly Heart. Listen to me from ‘Her’. Now pray, pray to my Father that
he may be pleased to fulfil your prayers. When they reach the Throne of My Father they must have the
fragrance of incense. Ask Me for incense in your prayers and then unite them to those of the Church,
of the Pope; take them to Father Gabriel for him to offer them to Me. Ask for My Kingdom, My Will,
My Love, My Grace, My Blessing on all humanity. Towards evening, I will descend into the world
among souls and look at them, seek them… Yes, I will descend with My Grace into the souls who have
served Me, infuse peace and serenity into their hearts: they are ‘My treasure’ on earth. Father Gabriel
will speak to the souls by My mouth, and My Voice will pass into their hearts. For this your heart must
suffer, it must bleed. Send it to Father Gabriel so that he may offer it to Me in the Heart of My Mother
of Sorrows. Write this so that he may know My Desires. will tell of My Love to other souls, I will use
them to embrace everyone. Conclude with this particular Blessing of Mine: I want you all, I want you
saved, I want you in My Kingdom. Yes, My child, I am your beloved Jesus, yes, yes, it is I: Jesus.”
20.11.’67
Jesus to the soul: “Remain in Me, fixed on Me, as one, one Soul, and live by Me. Now I say to you:
the soul that lets itself be taken up by Me alone is not of earth but of Heaven because it is immersed in
Me. Then I will leave it alone, I will have it walk alone so that it may understand that Love, Holiness,
Humility, Grace, come from Me. No, I will not let you fall because My Mother supports you but you
must always experience your miseries for My sake and for your good. Stay in Me and wait for Me. Soon
I will return to speak to you, prepare your heart. Jesus, your Life.”
21-11-’67 “With Mary Help of Christians”
Jesus to the soul: “You do not find me, you do not hear me, you experience your nothingness,
your limitations, your inability to do anything. Follow me in the dark, in the shadows because you
know the ‘way’. I will leave you for a while. Fear not, you are not alone: there is one who is guiding
you. Obey, obey all, and so you will obey Me. Leave it to My Love and increase your faith, your hope. I
will give you a reward: My Love! You need Me, My Love in you to love Me with My Love, to love Me in
others, in souls; to love Me in Creation, to seek Me as Creator, to raise to Heaven your praises, to adore
God, your Father, My Father, our Father in a pure spirit. Suffer in silence, in abandonment; offer in
Mary Most Holy, my Mother, your Mother, our Mother. Write as my command; if you doubt…know
how to suffer with humility, if you fear, know how to trust in ‘HE who’ guides you and loves you; if you
go astray, seek Her and seek Me: your Jesus. Stay united with Me. Do you want My Love? Do you want
Me to grow in you? Know how to wait for Me in humble and hidden sorrow, in the abandonment of
yourself to My Mother; know how to thank Me and bless Me in tribulations, in crosses, for it is I who
send them to you.” Jesus to the soul: (After commending Fr B. (Bocchi) and Fr G. (Gabriel) to Jesus,
according to the wishes of Mary Help of Christians Jesus says: “I will make two great priests of them.
Console me, my daughter, for how much they and others like them suffer because of me. There are
those who offend Me in them, there are those who persecute Me in the good, in the righteous. Repent,
offer yourself for Me, for My priests, for they are others of Myself.”
O Jesus, you will help them in their crosses, won’t you? And you, my Jesus, you will love them
very, very much, won’t you? But I insist: much, much more will you love Father Bocchi and Father
Gabriel.
Jesus: “Receive, receive My Grace, My child, do not limit yourself in Love. Ask for much Love,
and, as you said, ‘much, much more’, not only for the two of them, but, likewise, for others. A Father

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does not love one son less than the other. The time will come when you will ask Me for ‘priestly souls’
detached from Me.11
24-11-’67 5:20 pm
Jesus to the soul: “It is Friday. My Passion is reflected in you. My Heart groans in you, I still suffer
in you. Different sufferings, unequal sufferings, which I unify and transform into Me. Work of Love,
work of Grace. Marvellous work that the human mind can barely grasp, but the soul that already lives
by Me, knows, knows this mystery of faith, of purification, of the ‘entity’ of pain. ‘Crucified Bride’ in
Me. This is My ‘Way’ for you, this is ‘our goal’, this is ‘our Union’. See only Me in sorrows, work only
for Me, think only of Me, love everyone in Me, annihilate yourself for Me so that you always encounter
Me. I am more for you, as you see, than for my Brides (the Sisters), for small souls like yours have more
need of Me. With you I am going through the world, I am working in you to bring other souls closer to
Me, I am preparing a particular way which I will speak about, I will approach and… I will love souls so
that they feel that I love them. For ‘this work’ you must entrust yourself to my Mother, in particular,
to Our Lady of Sorrows. I want you to ‘be the humble slave of Mary Most Holy’. To Her I entrust
you, and you, with the tenderness of a daughter, are to abandon yourself to Her. Yes, my daughter,
may everything be for my Kingdom of Love. And always repeat with Me: FIAT. IT IS ME, JESUS.”
11 “You will ask Me for ‘priestly souls’ detached from Me.” Reference to the priests who abandoned the priesthood in large
numbers in the years immediately following the Council, and to Vera’s offering as a victim soul for their return. This
happened about a year later, during Vera’s stay at the Desert of Varazze at the Hermitage of the Discalced Carmelites. At
the foot of the miraculous Crucifix kept in the Hermitage, Jesus dictated to her: “Now go to my feet. You must bring me
my souls. It is the priests who have abandoned me. They lack the knowledge of divine love, that is, of Me. Purity of spirit
gives My knowledge, but they do not see, My child, the deception and error for this very reason. My separated priests have
reopened all My Wounds, and I, Jesus, seek and desire small, humble and generous souls who offer themselves in Me for
the return to My priestly Love of these souls of mine whom I have always loved and ardently awaited.” (From the Message
of 5.10.1968).

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BOOKLET 2
“Adveniat Regnum tuum”
FIAT VOLUNTAS TUA
For my Jesus “everything”, for me nothing

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29-11-1967 I am writing “Through Mary, with Mary, in Mary, from Mary… O my Mother and
Queen, I am all yours and everything I have is yours!” Your most unworthy slave of love, Vera.
29-11-1967
Jesus to the soul: “My conversation with you is a preparation of your soul to receive and hear
Me. You are now in Me. The act of faith and abandonment in Me conquers Me. Tell the good Father
Gabriel that the ‘League of My Souls’ is ready. It is a question of gathering it together. It will take
place at the feet of the Holy Father in Rome. You will not be there, but I, Jesus, will be with them,
with my souls as one, one soul. You are an arm [hand] that writes, a poor instrument that serves to
give me glory. Detach yourself from yourself and give me all of yourself. It does not matter, for now,
that you understand all my words. What matters is that you obey me, my Voice. I make you feel barren
and dry so that you do not become insolent, but, at the same time, I give you my Mother. There is no
consolation for you but my Grace. I will come to you in many guises, but the Blessed Virgin will help
you to recognise me. Everything will serve for my Glory, for my souls. Father Gabriel is not afraid: I, his
Jesus, will inspire him, I will guide him. If you did not suffer in writing these words, you would have
no merit. I am Jesus! I would like to find you willing to receive me more often. Remain recollected in
Me, and make every effort not to disperse the inner spirit that I, Jesus, give you. Soon I will give you a
comfort, a fleeting comfort so that your faith may grow, so that your poor soul may open itself to my
Love, to my Grace, and be disposed to receive Me. You must suffer, you must suffer much so that my
thoughts may be communicated to others, so that Father Gabriel may know them. I see you as such a
little thing, but for all that you lack, I, Jesus, make up for it. Dispose yourself to recollection, cultivate
your inner spirit, I will help you. May my Blessing be the pledge of my love for you. Yes, I will give you
a consolation, as fleeting as it may be, with my Eucharistic Presence. Yes, give me, give me glory! It is I,
it is Jesus.”
Gloria tibi Domine.
30-11-1967 St Andrew, pray for us!
Jesus to the soul: ‘I am in you in sorrow, I am in your anguish, I am in your barrenness, in
your doubt. I am, I am and I know… I know your meagreness, your nothingness, I know your
bewilderment. I know that you love me, but I know that you are so afraid. I, your Jesus, am not enough
to defend you! O Vera, my daughter, if you knew my cry of love and pain that I address from the Cross
to all souls, how unafraid you would be to fight for Me! I need your meanness, your nothingness, your
limitations in a humble and devoted heart. It is the work of My Love to draw all things from nothing,
and to create, to form beautiful works that give glory to God. I am the divine Restorer who never
ceases to renew souls to make them His own to unite with Him, to offer to the heavenly Father for the
souls themselves. Draw near to my Source and drink the purifying water, you are renewed for in it. I,
Jesus, want humble souls who, having passed through the world, are converted to Me by my Grace.
Be they people of humble or high social class, it matters not, I look within, to the heart. These souls,
because they have been tried by life or by their own errors which are forgiven and forgotten by Me, will
know through My love how to approach other souls who have turned away and are distant from Me;
they will know how to understand, love, help, pity. I want souls who reproduce My attitude before
the adulteress. None of the souls far from Me spontaneously welcome Me because they do not seek
Me, because they have excluded Me from their lives. I am a Father and I love, I love all My creatures;
I want to return to this earth in search of the souls who do not seek, who do not think of My fold. I
want to seek them through ‘my souls’, small, hidden, insignificant to the world. They must have ME.
I now point out my way. Through Mary, my Mother and theirs, let them abandon themselves to her
motherly arms and learn with docility the ‘slavery of Love’ of this most sweet Mother. Let them allow
themselves to be worked on by Her, let them be formed by this admirable Mistress of souls. She will
prepare her children for Me, that they may be penetrated more and more by My Grace, by My Love
so that, as my Apostle Paul said, it is no longer they who live, but I, Christ, in them. Behold, I return
to the world, I return among souls, to speak to them, to approach them, to treat them directly, until

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the ‘veil falls’ and they recognise Me in every brother and sister. All this is accomplished by charity, by
heroism, by martyrdom. Follow me, dear souls redeemed by my martyrdom; remember the Blood I
have given you, the martyrdom that came down on you as a second baptism: my Blood! Do not close
your hearts to selfishness, do not think only of your own souls, but look to the souls of your brothers
and sisters. Let me return to the world, among you, in you. I give you my help, my Love in the highest
degree so that your hearts may burn with charity. I give you, soul by soul, my most tender, special,
unique Mother. O souls who listen to me, open wide your souls to my Grace, to my return to the
world, to hide myself in you, to blend into Humanity. Come, my soul, your Bridegroom awaits you!”
The soul: Glory to God in the highest, and peace to people of good will.
30-11-1967 9:30 pm
Jesus to the soul: “All souls are called to this Work of Love but, in particular, those who have
received the gift of faith to a greater degree. They are those who would have perished without My
direct intervention, and I have brought them back from ruin by My Mercy. They are more grateful to
Me now, more faithful than many souls who have followed Me and, above all, they are more in love
with My Love. Called to this Work are all souls who yearn to die to themselves to be transformed in Me:
Jesus in you, and I, through you, to other souls. The Gospel will indicate to each soul its attitude when
faced with a sinful brother or sister. The soul that assumes Me must annihilate itself, conscious of its
limitations, its miseries. It must strip itself of itself, of everything that is an obstacle to My dwelling in
it. It must not lose contact with the world and society, but while living in it, it must deal with people,
speak, love, animated by an inner spirit that reflects my Spirit. Do not look for the unbelieving, the
presumptuous, heavy-handed and obstinate. Sometimes it will be enough for them to feel loved by
‘one’ of these souls for My Grace to have its effects. How will the soul called to this Work have loved?
To the extent that it will have made room for my Love in itself, it will have allowed me to take up
residence in its heart, in its soul. This which I have indicated is a mysterious Way, a subtle thread that
will unite Me to the soul called to the ‘League’. Yes, ‘League of Charity’ and ‘Way of Love’. The Salesian
Fathers will spread this ‘Way of Love’ among souls to prepare them for My League. They are the first
ones called to revive Me, and through my Priesthood and through the spirit of the Founder which
pervades their apostolate. You will always be a poor creature saved by My Love, by My Mercy. Fear
not, you have my Grace. Jesus, the Way, Truth and Life.”
2-12-1967 First Saturday. “O Mary conceived without sin pray for us who come to you!”
Jesus to the soul: “If you dispose yourself to recollection I will come. Believe, My child, believe,
believe in Me. Now write, write for Me, write for souls. If a soul hears ‘My Voice’ it is already My
delight to speak to it, it is already consolation for My Heart. Who listens to Me, who follows Me?
If I seek consolation among people it is because while I seek, I give. My Love is without measure,
without equal. Would that the soul, free from the lure of the world, would let itself be penetrated by
the splendour of my Grace! How bright and happy and holy it would be down here too. Do not go
away, resist temptation and listen to Me. No, My Voice is not a consolation for you. I told you it was a
‘cross’ and evermore it will be a cross: my Cross. This is a new Cross for you, different but so salutary to
your soul because it will give me glory. Yes, you saw me, you saw me with the eyes of your soul… Now
you know it was me because I myself come, I return to dispel doubts. You recognised me in yesterday’s
‘Way of the Cross’… Look at my Tunic, look at my robe, it must become familiar and dear to you,
precious, beloved, desired, because I will clothe you in my own robe. I will give you an enormous but
holy burden: my Tunic soaked in Blood. Fear not, my daughter, for I, Jesus, will not abandon you
and will give you the strength that you lack, I will sustain you with my consolations, I will purify you
with dryness. But accept everything, everything from Me, for you must see Me and recognise Me in
the days of your life, as if I were sensitively present to you. Now go, and then meditate on My Words,
hold them to your heart because they are Mine, of Me, of your Jesus. I will place Grace in these words,
also for you, so that they may become the food of your soul. Hold me close to your heart because I
seek, I desire so much love: love of souls, love of human beings. Rest in me, blessed daughter of my

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Cross, and find in me what you seek: my love, my peace. I am Jesus, and Jesus is for everyone, but very
much for you, the Way, Truth and the Life.”
Savona 20-12-1967
Jesus to the soul: “The one who fears does not listen, the one who believes adheres to Me. I have
not given you roses and consolations, I have given you thorns, uncertainties, darkness. I have not left
you nor forsaken you, but your miseries overwhelm you. I extend My Hand to you to lift you up,
to draw you to Me. Let My Light return to you! Like the dawn, like the day, My Light is advancing,
but…it will soon return in the evening. Wait for Me at every hour of the day and night, for always I
am: Jesus!”
Savona 21-12-1967
Jesus to the soul (while I was writing to Fr Gabriel): “Yours is not to warn, call to awareness, but to
obey. You must take me to souls. If you have forgotten the task I have entrusted to you, know that I will
provide you with Grace. You shall write down the practice of ‘my way of Love’, and the enlightenment
I will give you comes and will come only from Me. I have sown the ‘seeds’ in you, and now they must
sink into the soil of your soul, rot and take root. Little by little, you will understand. Why have I chosen
you? Because you represent fragile humanity, poor in virtue, in tribulation and suffering; wretched
humanity that yearns for God but could never rise without me, without my Mother. I will bring forth
My Glory. The distrustful will be able to draw near to Me. All souls, and every soul that receives Me
under the Eucharistic Species can become ‘Living Tabernacles’. Behold, I am in the soul that receives
me in humility, in charity with its brothers and sisters. Now, this soul makes other souls partake of
my gift: of Me, of my Grace. I am in the soul, also to give myself to other souls. Let this soul take me
beyond the walls of the church, and give Me to every brother and sister with whom it deals. Yes, let it
smile for Me, with Me, speak with charity and prudence for Me, and do everything with Me. Let the
day of this soul, in whom I wish to dwell as a ‘Living Tabernacle’, be imbued with Me more and more
every hour. In the evening I will console this soul who has made so much room for Me in it and has
let Me work through it among other souls so that I may reach them, pursue them and speak to them.
They must see me, they must know me, and you, you souls blessed through me by my holy Father, are
the ‘branches’, you are the ‘seeds’, you are the ‘bearers of Jesus’. One prepares oneself for this school
every day, hour by hour, but the soul that wishes to receive me not only for itself but also to give me to
other souls must become ‘little’ and similar to a child that trustingly abandons itself into its Father’s
arms. How much humility there must be in this soul! Charity, love, humility, obedience to my desires.
These virtues are fundamental pillars in the ‘Bearer of Jesus in the Eucharist’. I will make up for the
rest, for all that the souls lacks. Yes, Florence, Turin, Rome… here a furrow is traced where the ‘seeds’
of my Word will fall.
Varazze 22-12-1967
Jesus to the soul: “Now my gaze is upon you. I watch in sorrow… Few souls follow me, few await
me. Let me cry out my sorrow to you, let me, looking at you, weep for the lost souls, the hearts that do
not love me, the minds shrouded in darkness: machines that manufacture ideas, thoughts that fight
and exclude me. Who seeks me? Who waits for me? I gave my life for ‘those whom I called’, for my
chosen ones. They have fled, they continue to flee.1 O souls who listen to me, who follow me, unite
yourselves in my Name, unite yourselves in me, Jesus; make room for me in your heart, in your soul, so
that I may always dwell in you. Remember Me, my Eucharistic Presence in your soul. Be My Living
Tabernacles and make Me go out to the souls of your brothers and sisters. Keep Me present in you
in all My divine and human reality; then speak to Me, make Me partake of you, of your things;
converse with Me, yes, with Me, with Jesus. What friend, what confidant, what love more desirable
than mine? I promise you my Word in your soul, I promise you ‘conversation’ with Me; I come down
1 Clear reference to the great number of priests who abandoned the priestly ministry.

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to dialogue with the soul that makes room for Me. This soul will always have Me, and every day I will
renew My Eucharistic Presence in it, I will increase it through Holy Communion. If the soul partakes
of Me, of all Me, I too yearn to partake of it so that there may not be two separate beings, Creator
and creature, or united for a few moments, but one Being, one Soul. Who will make such a place for
me? Oh, my League! I see it. It rises from pain and love, it rises from the hearts that suffer and love, it
rises from the souls that are waiting for me. Gather them from every end of the world, and my Father
will keep them under his wings, for his only Son, Jesus, will dwell in them, among people, on Earth.
Behold, the grains of wheat fall in my Church among my souls. The grains are my Word; I am the
Good Sower, the souls the soil. I will send down my Word into every soul that will make room for
me, and it will be renewed and gain more and more strength to the extent that the soul makes itself
mine, lets itself be purified, penetrated by Divine Love. I am Jesus, Jesus, Love of the Holy Spirit,
Jesus who blesses, Jesus who suffers and loves, Jesus among human beings, Jesus with human beings,
Jesus here with you. Jesus who calls you, who pursues you, who seeks you, who abandons you to your
miseries; Jesus who returns, Jesus who waits for you, Jesus who penetrates and wounds you, Jesus who
has chosen you solely because He loves you. If you fulfil little of my desires, others will succeed better,
better than you. You serve the Glory of my Father. You must give Me obedience, your efforts, your
will, and accept this sword that is My Voice for you, My Word in you. Now rest and hide yourself in
Me. Your Jesus blesses you in His Glory!”
Savona 26-12-1967
Jesus to the soul: “Tomorrow will be a day of celebration on earth and in heaven. My Work
will have its cornerstone. Here is ‘my Temple’, here is my Living Tabernacle in you. We shall thus
go together towards all souls. I shall not remain ‘closed’ nor forgotten, because you will carry me in
the fullness of my Grace. The soul that encloses the Living Tabernacle within itself must behave thus
towards another Living Tabernacle: let one greet the other, adoring Me, Jesus, ‘together’ and giving
thanks for so much ‘gift’. Let each soul remain in the deepest humility, renounce itself to make way
for Me. I will be in each soul to the extent of the place she leaves for Me. My Grace will accomplish
great things. I, Living and Present in the soul, enter into families, into your home, I remain with you.
This morning I told you to take Me into the bosom of your family; your kiss was My kiss for each
of them. Then there will be ‘words’, and they will be your words. I will use your way of speaking,
of expressing yourself, to speak, to reach other souls. Give me your faculties, that I may meet with
everyone and everywhere. In the beginning it will be a work of attention, of vigilance for the soul to
discard everything that poses an obstacle to my Dwelling in her . My graces in the souls called to this
Work will be gradual. Today you will bring My kiss into the family; another time, something more,
until almost unbeknown to the soul itself, I will do, act, speak through it, love as many as will approach
this soul, that is to say, Me. There are those who act, speak, look, work, feeling guided only by my Spirit,
but I am already the Living Tabernacle in this soul and it does not know it. The soul must know this,
however, because I want her adherence to my EUCHARISTIC ABIDING in it; I want this soul to
also give me her voice to speak to others, her eyes so that mine may meet the gaze of her brothers and
sisters, her arms so that I may embrace others, her hands to caress the little ones, the children, the
suffering. However, this Work has love and humility as its basis. The soul must always have before it
its own miseries, its own nothingness, and never forget of what dough it has been kneaded. What I give
to the soul is a gift, a gift of Love from my Heavenly Father, through me to souls. It is still my Father
who sends me to you, among you, to mingle among you, as once in Bethlehem, to call you to the things
of Heaven. Give everything, everything of yourself, and whatever may oppose you is never my doing.
Now discern the assaults of the enemy. Be careful. I, Jesus, will give you my strength. Yes, my Words
are seeds and must soon fall into ‘my furrow’. The sowers are my Priests. You will deliver my Words
to Father Gabriel. He knows what to do. It is necessary to immediately initiate the souls called by Me
into this school. I am giving you a Teacher: my Mother. Let each soul pass itself through her Soul,
and deposit prayers, offerings, consecrations, graces in her Heart as the Mother of God and of human
beings. I will receive everything from my Mother. Let each soul consecrate itself to Her in the complete
giving of itself to Me through her. Then speak to me through the Heart of my Mother. Deposit the

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souls you are meeting, whose salvation you desire most ardently in the Heart of the Immaculate. I
will read these names in my Mother’s Heart: vow of obedience, deepest humility, stripping of one’s
ego, purity of spirit, purity of intentions, simplicity and abandonment. All this germinates in Love,
from Love, with Love, for Love. Father Gabriel will receive my Words, he will work for my Work. I will
enlighten him, and he will write, speak, fight for Me, for My League. His Jesus grants his supplications
and I am with him because he does My will. In him you must obey Me, for it is I who speak to you
in him. I will ask what I desire of you through Father Gabriel. Obey, obey: it is the easiest way by
which you will find peace, it is the way by which I will bring you closer to my Cross. Come, my soul,
come, and we will ascend the Mount of Calvary together: I and you, you and I, so that nothing may
divide us on this earth, but that everything, through love, may unite us and make of us one Cross,
one suffering Crucified One, so that one may no longer distinguish the human and miserable creature
from his Love, from his God: Jesus. My beloved Bride, I lead you to this marriage. Do you accept it?
Tomorrow, Tomorrow… O my daughter, tomorrow, tomorrow… you and I, you and I and the Priest.
Tomorrow I will place my stone in the first Priest of my Work. Rejoice, daughter of Zion, your King
comes to you, your Bridegroom advances. Do not leave me without your love, without your breath,
without you.”
Tomorrow: 27 December 1967. For goodness sake stop writing and go. I give you Me and you
take me there….
28-12-1967
Jesus to the soul: “O my daughter, soon, soon I shall be with you. Behold you already share in
My joy, you are already united with Me in a singular way. O my soul, nothing shall ever separate us:
I and you, you and I, one, one Love. Now our eyes meet, and you receive the immense wave of My
Love from the Tabernacle. I await my Bride at the foot of my Altar, I will come to her in mystical
union. You do not know what will happen. My poor, little, limited, imperfect soul… My Mother will
be near you, and I will receive you from Her, I will come to you through Her, I will dwell in you
with Her. Give thanks to My Father, and in this unite yourself to all creation, to My Saints, to the
Angels, to the nine Choirs, to the Church in Purgatory, to the Church Militant; unite yourself to My
Priests, to Pope Paul VI. Then come to Me by the “way of love and pain”, then we will go together
through the world. For Father Gabriel: he is already working for Me, for my Work, renouncing his
will, the apostolate he desires. He is in Florence by My will.2 He is in the period of trial, so he will
sow the seeds of my Word among his Confreres, among those who make him suffer. He must renew
the Salesian Work in Florence through me. He must give his Confreres Me: copy my attitude, draw
example from the Gospel, that is from Me; love, suffer, pray for his Confreres. He has this mission in
Florence. He must germinate my Word there where he lives, and with those with whom he shares the
day, with those with whom he sits at table to eat, with those who touch my Eucharistic Species. May
he humbly endure for love of Me and may My Passion always be before him as a teaching, a school,
a lesson. Only through this purification will his Confreres come to Me and into the union for which
they have been called. So with the permission of his Superiors, he will spread my Work of Love so that
my League of Priestly Souls may arise in Florence among priests. I will assist him, I will console him, In
due time I will send him a helper, a collaborator. He must first pass by the ‘way’ that I have indicated
to him. Do not doubt his Jesus, He is and always will be in him. He will travel this way, assisted by
my Mother. Therefore turn to Her and place yourself in Her hands; abandon yourself to Her like
a humble, obedient, loving, pure and innocent child. I also want the ‘slavery of love’ of Mary Most
Holy from Father Gabriel, for in this way she will be, besides being a most tender Mother, a Mistress,
guide, comfort, rest for him. He will receive my inspirations from my Mother. All are called to my
Work of Love, for they will belong to my League of Souls: no one excluded. They must come to this
after a careful preparation that leads the soul to Me, I will draw it to My Love with My Grace. There
are priestly souls ready for my Work. They must be prepared, and I will do the rest. All and always
2 Fr Gabriello Zucconi was transferred from the Salesian Institute in Alassio to the one in Florence.

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in the love of the Virgin Mary, who I give each soul as ‘Teacher’ as well as Mother under three guises:
Immaculate Conception, Mary Help of Christians, Our Lady of Sorrows. That is, purity, chastity for
the bearers of Jesus in the Eucharist; purity for all; help and support in struggles, in difficulties; pain
and suffering for all. My Work will have its victims in Me, and for many Souls there will be a sword
that will pierce their hearts. Go to her, my beloved souls, for I, your Eucharistic Jesus Christ, promise
you unspeakable love and for many, my word for comfort and support in trials, in tribulations. Father
Gabriel will convey my messages to priestly souls, but act with prudence. My Work of Love is almost
all revealed. I, Jesus, will announce the other furrows. Ask for prayers, pray, offer yourself in Me to My
Father for My Work. I want victim souls for My Return in the daily lives of people. I must go, I must
walk the ways of the world. Yes, the world: for I came to earth for all souls, and I gave my life for all of
them. Yes, there will be many struggles before arriving to the Pope in Rome. The enemy will hinder
us, and ‘my souls’ will suffer. Father Gabriel, entrust my Work, my souls, to the Blessed Virgin in her
triple semblance. She will open the ways for you. The Pope awaits you, the Pope will approve, the Pope
will be with you: for I am in him and he is in Me. Jesus blesses you from all his Tabernacles! Yes, to
Father Gabriel my Words, my priestly Love, my abode in him. You abide in Me, and let no breath be
lost without it being for Me.
Savona 1-1-1968
Jesus to the soul: “Nothing escapes the Heart of your Jesus, and I come to tell you that love
is suffering, cross, aridity, holiness. Crucified in Me is My Bride, and the one who carries Me carries
My Cross. Now let each one reflect on these thoughts to themselves, meditate on them and recognise
how much my Bride already shares with Me, how much she must share to attain union with Me. To
Vera I make an exhortation: persevere in humility and obedience, do not be discouraged, no, no… To
Lucia an admonition: be cautious and prudent. To Father Gabriel: let ‘my Gift’ bear copious fruits
of priestly souls. My Mother will hold him as a most tender child in her holy arms. To all my Brides,
my kiss of love and forgiveness. To you, my daughter, to you who suffer and groan under the crushing
weight of your frailty, to you my Strength each day more and more; to you ‘my Gift’ so that you may
always remember that he who loves you is with you and never abandons you.
Varazze 4-1-1968
Jesus to the soul: ‘Now I am with you, Living Tabernacle of My Love. I want to instruct you,
prepare you for a mission… Your soul must therefore live by Me immersed in Me. I will loosen it
from earthly bonds, I will purify it. I await you at the Baptismal Font for another purification, that
of the blood. Every gift brings with it a suffering, an offering, a renunciation. Every soul that ‘puts
on’ Me must disappear in Me, must give Me everything, must follow Me in My ways, made of paths
or shortcuts, but always ‘My ways’. Let the soul surrender itself to Me, and I will be trust, comfort,
guidance, support for it. Why do you still not do this? Yes, you are being tested, a trial of love. Proof
is your barrenness, proof is your incapacity, your confusion, proof is your rebellion, proof is your
frailty. Persevere in my Love, love me in the silence of your soul. Are you afraid of my words, Vera?
Write them down, they are of your Jesus, of your Jesus whom you no longer feel to be either near or
far, yet so much in you… No, my daughter, I want to remain with you, do not fear.”
Savona 6-1-1968
Jesus in the Eucharist: “You wrote correctly: I am Jesus in the Eucharist, alive, present in the
holy Tabernacle; alive and present with you, above you, and in you with my Grace. No, I do not leave
you, I do not abandon you, I am there, I have not fled because of your miseries because these too
will serve for my glory. Lean on Me, on your Jesus: do not fear, I want to give you trust, strength,
light. You will come, you will come to Me by the way that I have chosen for you. Let Me guide you,
for I am the Way, your Way. The time is not far away when we shall walk together in the ways of
love. Now it is suffering and tribulation, discouragement, sorrow. What then will your Jesus not give
you?! Yes, acts of love, many, many of them. This morning I explained it to you. In your neighbour,

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in your nearest neighbour you meet Me. Therefore patience, love, courtesy, understanding towards
everyone. All will be resolved through acts of love directed towards Me, through your neighbour. For
now, occupy yourself with what I have said and explained to you, for at times I teach you how to put
on My ‘Robe’. I will wait for you, I will wait for your weaknesses. I have given you a sorrow that will
serve you not to forget my Eucharistic Presence in you. It will increase more and more because I do
not want to be forgotten. It will be pain and comfort, it will be increasing pain that will invest your
whole body so that you will not move any member of your body without Me. The soul will receive
great good from this suffering and will prepare itself to come to Me. There is no ascent of soul and
spirit without suffering in loving union with Me. Yes, as with the blind man of Jericho I will give you
the sight of heavenly things. Fear not, fear not, for I, your Jesus, will not leave you alone a moment.
Return…I am waiting for you…your Jesus is waiting for you because He wants to ‘dictate’.”
Savona 7-1-1968
Jesus in the Eucharist. “In small things as in great things, I always work with My Grace. I gather
you, I bring you together, I divide you, but I always keep you united in Me under the shadow of My
wings. It is My Work that advances, I who descend among people, I who go among people, I who stay
in your families, I who call you. Jesus loves Father Gabriel very much. He gives me glory, and in him
I am consoled, loved, and… not forgotten. Father Gabriel must not be discouraged, he has My Grace,
he has Me. If the struggle crushes him, let him lean on Me, love in Me, suffer with Me. He will feel
My embrace as Father, Brother, Spouse. I am Jesus who came down from heaven to be among people,
to share your life with you, to live from you so that you might live from Me. Like the first Christians,
you are the first bearers of Jesus, the first Living Tabernacles. Yes, a new era of Me, of Christianity, of
Christ has begun in you. For you too, then, the struggles, the tribulations, but also for you the victory,
for I, Jesus in the Eucharist, will conquer, will triumph. Yes, the threads woven with my Grace in your
souls are beginning the stupendous work of sensitive and visible unification. The threads of my Grace
have now met in the plan of divine Providence, and my secret of Love is being revealed to many, to
those called by my Father. Yes, Father Gabriel will receive many graces from Me. Tell him that his trust
in Me must be without limit, for Mine is a Work of Faith and Love. I, the Eucharistic Jesus bless him,
keep him, immerse him in my precious Blood so that his soul may remain in Me, here, in my side. His
Jesus, suffering Jesus, eternal Priest Jesus, brother Jesus, bridegroom Jesus, dictated this to his poor
Vera so that my love for Father Gabriel, my predilection, might also be revealed to him through the
obedience and frailty of the poorest of his creatures. If this one was supremely unworthy, she is now
purified by my Blood, my Passion, my Grace. She is a bride in Jesus in suffering, for Sister Suffering will
be my constant Love for her. Let each of you draw a reason for love for Me, for everything is always the
Work of my Mercy. I chose Vera because she was the ‘World’ with sorrows, sins, suffering, distrust…
My Mother saved her, in my precious Blood her soul was washed. Now this one presents to God’s eyes
the scars of the past. Yes, she is in suffering and of this I will never deprive her, for she is married to
my Passion. She knows that suffering has been and will be the first Gift of Me. I will say more only to
her, that in Me alone she may find comfort. Not others, but only I for her, that she may have only Me.
Jesus, the Triune God embraces you and blesses you. Mary Most Holy, my sweet Mother, loves you,
blesses you, awaits you. Jesus.”

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BOOKLET 3
“League of souls” directed by Jesus, through Mary, in Mary, with Mary.
O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to You.
“WORK OF LOVE” DIRECTED BY JESUS

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Varazze 8-1-1968
Jesus in the Eucharist for Fr Gabriel. “His Confreres will love him in Me. I want them to be
good, holy priests; he shall be Me among them, that is, he shall behave like Me among My apostles and
disciples and teach with kindness and gentleness: he shall love and understand and show compassion. I
am in him to live among them, to share every hour with them. I want to take on his likeness to speak to
my other priests, for I desire all their hearts, all their love. He, Father Gabriel, is my victim, the victim
in Me of my Priests. I am in him for them also, for I love them with the same love. He is in Me there on
the Altar, in my Sacrifice offered by him to God the Father. Nothing divides us because I have hidden
myself in him with my Divinity and Humanity. Now he must pour it out upon others, for through
this branch I wish to renew the fruits of My Priesthood. They are Priests dear to Me, beloved by Me,
they are other Mes. Father Gabriel must strip himself of self, that is, of personal, human feelings which
I, Jesus, do not possess. He must therefore free himself from these last human chains so that I may live
and work in him with my Grace. This is my victim in the spotless Victim, in the Lamb of God. Great
will be my consolations for him who out of love wants to be all of Me and disappear with regard to
himself. Tell Father Gabriel that I await him in the night, in the streets in search of souls, for I am the
Good Shepherd who goes in search of the lost sheep. Even if it is only one soul, I cannot rejoice if I
do not have it in My fold. Courage, I will sustain your strength, I will nourish your faith. Each one of
you, Living Tabernacles, has already begun my work, for despite the little you know about how to put
my new teachings into practice, I now live close to so many other souls, and through you I place my
merciful eyes upon so much humanity. We shall call more souls to make more Living Tabernacles and
Vera will meet the other Priest prepared by Me for this Work. She will receive great joy and fruit, for she
will believe that He who dictates to her was, is, and always will be her Jesus. Pray for this ‘encounter’
desired by my Father, that He may be pleased to hasten it. Work in love and holiness, pray, suffer with
humility, I have come in you to ‘repeat’ my life. I ask everything of you out of love because only love
made me Man, made me Crucified, made me Eucharistic. Only out of love do I accept a sacrifice, a
renunciation, a tear, an offering. The love of the Creator and his creature live by my light, they share
in the glory of my Father. It is the Holy Spirit who fuses the Divine and the human, and to God,
through me, Jesus, rises honour and glory from every soul here below. Where are you, my child, when
you go astray? You are in the arms of the Father, the Bridegroom, Friend, Brother. Why are you still
afraid of me? Trust me, trust me. I wished to write to Father Gabriel, and your obedience, sustained
by my Grace, became a meritorious work very pleasing to me, to my most sweet Mother. I will bring
you together under My Roof, I will have you meet together, bearers of Me, of Jesus, and I will reveal
Myself to you and each one will speak by My mouth to the other so that you may recognise that in
you, with you and for you there is all of Jesus. Courage! My sweetest Mother helps you, blesses you,
is with you. It is She who leads my Work of Love, it is She who forms the League of my Souls: the
Living Tabernacles. Know how to wait in prayer and in humility for what Divine Providence, in its
merciful plans, is preparing and unveiling. Yes, the Pope knows, the Pope suffers, the Pope is waiting,
and together with him you are waiting for my return among you to the world, as I have told you. Yes, it
is madness for your poor humanity, a trial that crushes you… No, you will not go mad from that, but
from my Love yes, from my Love, from the Love of your God, of your Jesus. The night vigil is Love
and I permit it and often will permit it because I do not want to be forgotten. If daily occupations
have distracted you from Me, know that I will seek consolations and vigils in the night. Let each one
give what they can, but with love, for I will take your every breath. Be humble, be submissive to Me. I
am Jesus, Jesus with you.”
Varazze 9-1-1968
Jesus in the Eucharist: “Write, write and obey Me, and offer obedience to My Mother. I want
the Living Tabernacles to increase, to spread throughout the world, throughout humanity. I want to
go far, through the streets of the world, from one point to another of the earth, of the seas. Pray that
My Mercy may multiply, that My Love may spread in souls. Go, seek souls prepared by Me for My
Work of Love. Speak this evening of Me, of my Work of Love to the other soul who is near you, ask

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for prayers for this purpose: I will unite her in spirit with you, my Tabernacles, so that you may all
serve my cause. Tell Father Gabriel that I approve of his apostolate in the bosom of his family and that
I will draw great fruits with my Grace from his relatives. The Work must be taken to Turin, to the
Salesian priests under the protection of my Mother ‘Help of Christians’ so that she will not fail to give
you the celestial aids that must assist you so that I, the Eucharistic Jesus, may mingle with all kinds
of souls in your midst. Pray, pray that the souls prepared by Me may receive Me. I want my Work to
spread among Salesian priests in Turin, and they will know how to prepare other souls who live in
the world, but not of the world, to receive Me. These will take me into the streets, into homes, into
families, so that I may live close to other souls who are far from Me, so that they may constantly feel
my Eucharistic Presence: the rebellious will fall, wrong ideas will yield to the ‘Truth’, obstinacy to evil,
lies and falsehood will fall. All this will happen because unbeknown to them, I will stay close to them,
and my Grace will knock with loving insistence at the door of their soul until it opens to my love, to
faith. Other souls will have to leave Turin to take me elsewhere and everywhere. Everywhere: that is,
to towns, to other provinces and cities. From Florence, to Liguria and then to Rome. Yes, the Pope is
waiting for you, the Pope knows. Let priestly souls be prepared for this Work which I want to spread
throughout the world. Go to Turin.1 Present ‘my Work’ to the Salesian Work. I want it to begin there
soon, begin immediately. Send these messages to Father Gabriel, Father Borra, I will inspire them for
what they must do. You will leave everything for Me, for my Work, and this wound will accompany
you as long as you live. I will then give you the wound of my ardent love. When the time comes, know
how to give Me your Fiat, in the Fiat of My Mother and to My Eternal Father. Pray, pray that you
may recognise and meet the Priest I will send you to work, for a while, together. Ask for prayers, offer
sacrifices, mortifications, and what, in your miseries, you know how to give. The furrows must widen,
so that ‘my Life’ may flow there and always find paths prepared, ready to welcome me. These messages
that you, my daughter of the Cross, will transmit to Florence and Lombriasco are sufficient for now.2
The two Priests I have just recalled will be inspired to go where I will send them in My holy Name, for
My Glory among you, My well-spoken souls. Now go, and ask for prayers. Mary, my sweet Mother,
does not leave you, will never leave you. Mary, my Mamma, forgives you. She will help you, she will
draw you from the depths where you still are, but through suffering, and you know that suffering is
Jesus, that Jesus, your Jesus, is all in suffering, in the Cross, in the Cross of Love, in the union of the
Cross. I live by you, and I yearn for you to soon live by Me. Yes, of course, not only my greeting for
Father Gabriel, for Father Borra, but to them my Heart of the eternal Priest wounded, bleeding with
Love for them, for all my Priests. Behold, I now hide them in Me and envelop them in the Light of My
ardent Love. Jesus loves you, Jesus is happy to be with you, Jesus is consoled because He is with you.”
Varazze 10-1-1968
Jesus in the Eucharist. “I want you to read, to be instructed in my doctrine, in my Mercy, in my
Works. I will give you the books that you must read and consult. This sacrifice is necessary for you,
and you will understand why later. Your work must be directed more and more to Me, for you, in
your smallness, serve the glory of My Father. You must concern yourself for now with obeying Me,
My Voice. What worries you will be resolved by My Mercy. I want you to make an ever increasing act
of faith because your life must be founded on Faith. It is by the extra Faith that I have given you that
you have been called to work in My Work of Love. Hold fast to Me because I will not abandon you
and I keep My promises. Always be humble and this virtue will be given to you by my Mother: ask her
always, frequently. Do not look at the world, for you should only be interested in it as ‘souls’. Do not
let yourself be taken in by mistrust because you do not know what to do. This nothingness of yours
is part of My plan of love, for I will use it to attract other souls tomorrow. Am I not enough for you?
Yes, I am Jesus, Jesus who reminds you that He is also upon you. I am ‘One’ in many Particles, I am
1 The headquarters of the Generalate were also atValdocco, Turin , in the Mother House of the Salesian Congregation. In
1972 the Generalate moved to Rome to via della Pisana, 1111.
2 Florence and Lombriasco were where Fr Zucconi and Fr Borra were stationed, the latter as the rector there. By the will of
the Lord and in obedience to her spiritual father, Vera copied out the Messages and sent them to Frs Zucconi, Borra and
Bocchi, the first Salesians called to the Work.

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One in one Particle. You will perceive Me. My child, if only you knew where I wish to lead you! But
I cannot if you do not adhere completely to My Will. I need your Fiat. In a very special way, I give
you My Mother so that, through her, you may come to Me, by the way that I wish. As a humble and
devoted daughter of my Mother, as of now tell her that you desire to place yourself in her arms, tell
her to take you soon, tell her that her Jesus desires this. Call on her like this: Mother of Jesus, Mother of
beautiful Love, give love to my poor heart, give purity and holiness to my soul, give will to my character,
give holy light to my mind, give me Jesus, give me your Jesus forever. Go to Her in My Name, and present
yourself to Her in My Love, and then remain in Her so that She may fix Her holy eyes on your soul,
and through Me, through Me who is upon you, and may She never take them away from you. Copy
this invocation of mine on another sheet of paper, and say it many times in a day and you will feel its
holy efficacy.”
O Holy Virgin, tear this poor heart of stone from me and give me the Heart of Jesus that I may
love with the Heart of your Jesus. I ask you humbly in the Name and for the Love of your Jesus. Thank
you, Mother of Jesus, Thank you my Mother.
Varazze 12-1-1968
Jesus in the Eucharist: “I seek souls, humble and ardent souls for the Glory of my Father. I
seek you that my Mercy may triumph. I alone can give you eternal glory, draw you from the miseries,
from the tribulations that still afflict your soul. I want to make a Sanctuary where your soul will be
in contemplation of the Blessed Trinity and in this Sanctuary that I will form in you, you yourself
must not enter it alone, but preceded and accompanied by my Mother so that you may be received
and admitted to the divine Presence. This must be the goal of your soul. What a Work of Love I have
prepared for you! Thank me, thank me in my Mother, in my Saints, in my Angels who see so much
glory prepared for you, for the Bride of my Martyrdom, for the Bride of the ‘Living Tabernacle’. Do
not fail to invoke my Angels in Heaven and those who are beside you on earth, my Saints in Heaven
so that they may pray and intercede for you before the Heart of my Mother so that my plan of love
may be fully fulfilled in you and in other souls. My Grace brings you light, gives you light, and though
in darkness you are already walking in the light. Towards Me, towards My love which is the ‘exodus’
of your soul. Come out of your subjection and come to Me, come to the Land promised to you too:
I, Jesus. Sink the roots of your soul in Me. I will give water in abundance that the roots may sink and
be nourished by Me; I will feed you, I will sustain you in the winter, in the darkness of the spirit. The
Light will come to enlighten you, and then you will see the new plants, buds, flowers, abundant fruit.
Which of you wants to die in the world to be plunged into this darkness? I call everyone, everyone, but
the first called are you, for you are my first Living Tabernacles. You have no strength, no virtue to be
immersed in darkness. But I love you so much, too much to deprive you of such Grace. I will provide
for your deficiencies, I will fill the unfathomable voids and abysses of your soul. What can Love not
do? I want, I want you to burn for Me. Yes, for Me alone, and I am jealous of your little love because
in this I have placed Me, all of Me. Yes, I want you to write so that you may read again and not forget
Me. Yes, that ‘habit’ is also a subjection, it is a chain that clutches your feet. Without Me you will not
succeed. I want perseverance in prayer with the intention of asking Me for your deliverance. You will
obtain it only if you persevere, for every grace must be preceded by virtue. Yes, my Mother will always
save you. No, you do not sin, you do not offend Me but you are not all Mine, you are not all for Me
because that ‘thought’ turns you away. I see your incapacity in the struggle because I know its causes,
and therefore I tell you once again: you will not succeed without Me. I want this deliverance from you
and do what I told you before, through my Mother. The time has not yet come for you to go to Genoa.
A little longer, a few more days of waiting and then we will go together to those who are waiting for
us. I would like to dictate for Father Gabriel but I see your weariness and I have pity on you, for my
messages will always make you suffer. My daughter, my daughter of the Cross, I am happy with your
obedience. Keep yourself always ready for my desires, always willing, so that I may make my Voice of
Love come through you. Yes, you are my ‘spokesperson’ for my Voice to spread over humanity. You
must be silent. I will teach you to be silent, and I will lead you to places where I am always near you,
always around you, and there I will speak. I will speak as long as you have breath, for you will speak

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only for Me, of Me, in Me. My Voice in the world, my Voice for all humankind, my love for you, for
all humankind. You will have no voice but my Voice, you will have no words but my words, for I will
make a voice of you: my Voice. This is gift, gift of love, gift of Crucifixion. But then on the Cross we
shall be together, you and I one Being, one Victim, one Heart, and through you, again to my Father
the words of that time on the scaffold: ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.’ On the
scaffold my Fiat in your fiat, on the scaffold of the Cross my last breath in you, my Spirit to God the
Father in you. The Bridegroom loves the bride, and his gifts are shared by the bride; the Bridegroom
transforms his bride into Himself so that there are not two entities, but only one, for Jesus is one, for it
is always Jesus who gives Himself, who immolates Himself and, in Him His victims, in Him His little
victim, His poor True One where He has established His divine dwelling. From this holy abode I raise
my Voice and it will run over land, seas and gather souls, it will embrace them with one embrace, it will
renew them, it will love them with a Love that the soul does not yet know, with the love of a God alive
and present in it forever, already from this life as a foretaste of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus loves
you, Jesus is pleased with you, Jesus is pleased with the Living Tabernacles. Jesus desires that you say
to him many times: ‘I am happy, O Jesus, that you deign to be with me, I am happy and I love you, I
love you. O Jesus, teach me to love you, to love with your Heart.’ Jesus caresses you.”
Varazze 15-1-1968
Jesus in the Eucharist. “Give me your soul, give me your soul, I will hide it in the safe haven of
my Heart. I want to defend it from the assaults of the enemy. Jesus in the Eucharist blesses you, He
does not turn you away from Himself as you deserve, He does not want to inflict chastisements on
you because He is good. Mary, my sweet Mother, comes to you to support you so that you do not fall
again, do not fall any more. Rise up, my daughter, in your motherly love, in your Mercy. Do not come
to Me in weeping, but in joy, for today is a day of joy in Heaven. A mother of earth has ascended into
Heaven, and now she contemplates My Glory. My Mother gave her the garment of Jesus, of her Jesus,
the garment of innocence. Now she is happy with my Saints, with my Angels, in Me. I have also called
you to my Kingdom, and from you I await every renunciation for my Glory. Even if I have to crucify
you, I want everything, everything from you. Do not torment yourself over what I have not yet asked
of you. For now I want your soul from you, through my Mother the Immaculate; I want you to have
recourse to Her as often as a child who does not know how to walk nor how to stand upright, and calls
out for fear of falling, ‘mamma, mamma’. Your soul will grow in Grace only through Her. I want you
to depend on Her and let Her teach you. I want you to be a humble and devoted daughter of Her. In
this submission She will change your heart, and your desires for love will be fulfilled. Yes, Saturday and
Sunday and today too you doubted Me, My Love, My Mercy.3 Fear has made you deliberately forget
Me. What a mistake, my child! The desert of your soul was the natural chastisement that I did not
want to give you. Yes, Jesus is strong in love, strong in the pain He inflicts, Jesus weighs you down in
His Divinity. And I am bent over you with my Cross, breathing from your soul the pain of my love.
I would like to free you from the clutches that suffocate you, but for this martyrdom you must live
and suffer, for this martyrdom you must die to the world, to yourself, to your devious and overbearing
‘ego’. I am working in you with a chisel, for I have a Temple to prepare for Me. The barrenness, the
large and small crosses are My hammer. So, the blow will come, My blow at intervals. I must take
many, many things away from you: resistance to My love, distrust, fears, selfishness, useless anxieties,
non-Christian thoughts, worldly habits. Write, write what Jesus is demanding of you; write, write, it
is my will that you write to the last.”
3 Vera had received a Message contrary to the new direction of the Church after the Council. “In Church, in the explanation
of the Holy Gospel, I had confirmation that what the Priest was explaining was the opposite of what I had written. It was
the collapse. At the end of Mass I went before Mary Help of Christians with my booklet in my hand, ready to read to her
‘that part that was contrary’ to the new direction of the Church. I told Mother that I would not move from there unless
she enlightened me. And so I leafed through the booklet to find that ‘excerpt’ but I never found it again…” Letter to Fr
Borra, 2.2.1968, in L. Grita Mia sorella Vera di Gesù, op. cit., p. 80.

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Varazze 19-1-1968 “I look at you, my daughter, in my Mother’s eyes: they are looks of love, of trust,
of confidence.
Fear not, you are not crushed by Me. Your Jesus does not want to oppress you. You are in trial.
Trial of faith, of love, of perseverance. She is with you because I am with you, and where I am, She is:
my Mother. If you think you are falling, faltering in the trial, She will support you, for I have given
you my own Mother. Give me yours, that she may be drawn to Me. Come, Vera, come to Me with
a heart filled with joy, with My joy. Then you will be happy because you will possess Me, but now
you must believe without feeling; love, without feeling that you love; take refuge in Me while you
know that you will find neither comfort nor consolation, for you will feel that you do not find Me.
Faith in Me, in your Jesus, must be your strength. No, speak not if you are not questioned: I will reveal
Myself to you by the way established by Me. You have not drawn, nor will you draw comfort. You must
return serene so that you may be docile to My Voice, to what I am inspiring in you when you begin to
write. Only then will I resume speaking of my Work. I want you to be all and only for Me. Do not be
dismayed if the Divine bends down, humbles Himself over his poor creature and descends upon you,
for I seek every delicacy so as not to disturb your littleness. And I, Jesus, need precisely your littleness
for other souls. Yes, I know, you preferred to love me in normality, in tranquillity, but it is not you
who choose, it is I, it is the Father who chooses you, and the soul must lovingly obey. Here is your new
vow: obedience. Obedience to Me, through the Priests, my Priest, for I will manifest My will to you,
the way you must follow, through this. I will not do violence to your nature because I act gently, and
you will see… entrust yourself to Me, you will no longer be afraid because this does not come from Me.
Write to Father Gabriel. He is in pain for you, in pain for Me, for My desires. Now I have set a period,
albeit brief, of silence for My Work; now I want your serenity, your trust, your abandonment because
only by throwing yourself into My Fatherly arms will you find your way. And your way is My Way, for
you must walk in My Way, in the way of Jesus. Outside of Me you will find neither comfort nor peace
nor joy; and if you do not feel that you find this in Me, redouble, intensify your acts of abandonment
in Me until your poor little heart has conquered Me. And above all believe in Me, believe that Jesus is
with you, that Jesus, even if forgotten by you for so many hours, is with you, for no, He never forgets
you. O Vera, my little bride, do you not hear what I am saying to you? Is this not a beautiful love
letter that the Beloved writes to his Beloved? You have given me your arm, your hand to write, but I
have given you my Heart to dictate this time only to you and for you. But are you not happy to have
such a great Bridegroom? I make myself small for you, I unite myself to you in so many things so that
you have no fear of the Bridegroom, but only of God. I am Jesus, the same Jesus who ravished the
heart of the Magdalene, yet she was not afraid of Me; I am Jesus who manifested Himself visibly to
Margaret Alacoque: she too was not afraid of Me. I am Jesus of Bethlehem, of Nazareth, of Galilee, of
all Palestine, yet whoever loved Me was not afraid because I hid My Divinity. Now, I do not conceal
it from you, but in the Mystery of Faith in which I have veiled myself you have known me for a long
time, and why not serenely welcome the Voice of Love? Behold, I make myself small, so small for you,
behold I make myself a ‘child’ and in the likeness of a child I come to you to speak to you. Will you
welcome me as a child? Yes, I want to love you like a child, and talk to you like a child, and play with
you as children do. Do you prefer to think of me like that? Then seek me among the children, among
pure and humble hearts, for among these I will manifest myself to you. Seek me, I am playing; seek
me, I am hiding; seek me until you discover where I am hidden. Your child Jesus.”
21-1-1968
Jesus: “I want your soul to serve Me, glorify Me: it is mine and it belongs to Me. Therefore, have
the fervent intention of glorifying Me in all your actions. You will glorify Me if you are not afraid and
if you flee your fears; you will glorify Me if you love Me, you will glorify Me if you think of Me, if
you remember Me. I have made you for my Glory, and you must give me this Glory from down here,
from this valley of tears. You will glorify Me if you do not let yourself be troubled, if you increase your
faith and trust in Me. You will glorify Me if you serve Me in dryness, in abandonment. And are you
then certain that I abandon you? Are not your prayers said close to Me the sign of My Presence? Yes,

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when have I ever left you, truly abandoned you? Never. Yes, now go to those who wait for Me, for I
will be among you, and you humble ones, you My children, you My brides, make yourselves small, be
and become small for Me, for I desire to grow in you. I am already speaking to the heart of my Priest:
Father Bocchi. You have known for some time that I am in him, in his Priesthood with the fullness of
Grace because he is humble, because he loves Me, because he seeks My glory. He bears witness to Me,
he is strong in Me, and you are always so fragile. Your frailty gives you suffering but I want to draw
good for you from this: complete abandonment in Me. Take refuge in Me, in My Fatherly Heart,
and you will find comfort. I will wait for you there today, for you will see Me in My Love of Father,
Brother, Bridegroom. Today, My Gift will be manifested to your lowliness and your soul will exalt in
the Soul of My Mother, for nothing comes to you without passing through Her, and nothing I receive
from you without passing through My Mother and the Priest. You must always be submissive to the
Priests and in particular to those I make use of for my Work. You are subject to Me, Eternal Priest in
them, in my Priests. Therefore write to Father Gabriel, for I want to bring serenity to him through the
letters I dictate to you, for I inspire you. Yes, it is my Spirit, and he blows where he wills… I want you
obedient, docile; I want you pure, I want you to be a girl to play with your Child Jesus. Be patient,
humble among my pupils, divest yourself of your ‘ego’, and think of them as mine. Every pupil is a
Child Jesus: for so many children there is always only one teacher: Me. So become and return to being
a ‘girl’ if you want there to be only one Teacher for you too. No, loving reproach not chastisement;
follow my suggestions, and not… those counsels. I want your pupils in my Heart: give them to me!
Why do I go with you? Why am I with you? For souls, for little ones, so that they do not become…
‘adults’, so that they grow up in Me. The Child Jesus will now be at school in every school child…
Let the Divine Teacher guide you, and come to Me: see Me and deal with Me in every child. Begin a
new life at school now: a life of love, of encounters, of union. Your barrenness will find strength and
support in this renewed encounter among the children. Yes, the Child Jesus once came close to you,
for your soul saw him. I want to be with children. I come with you in the guise of a child, of a boy.
Vera, give me love, give me your labours, give me everything in those little children, for while human
life wanes, the life of the soul goes towards the Light. Today we will meet there, and I will be Jesus
of Love, Jesus the Bridegroom. Tomorrow, instead, at school, I shall be the Child Jesus and Divine
Teacher. Remain in Me through Mary, Queen of Hearts. I embrace you in my most precious Blood.
Your beloved Good comes. returns to you, my poor creature, for Mary’s holy Eyes are fixed upon your
soul. I, Jesus, embrace you with Her, with my Mother, and I receive you from Her. This, Jesus of Love,
to the most miserable of creatures who have ever existed in this world! This, Merciful Jesus, for her
soul, for all poor souls, poor in every virtue. This, Jesus of Love, for this creature who writes out of
obedience for herself and for all souls who are and will be in the world. These Words of Mine, filled
with My grace, will always be new, always mine, always a source of light, trust, rebirth, love for hearts of
good will, for I write them for each soul that seeks Me, that hopes to be loved by Me (yet it is already so
loved by Me) and seeks Me. I will satiate you with My Love, and each one will find the words it expects
from Me in these words. Behold, O my souls, I spoke to you before you sought Me, before the Earth
welcomed you into its womb; I spoke to you, I speak to you as you now seek Me in this world, and I
answer you. May my Voice soon reach the ends of the world, for I am speaking, I am seeking you in
your miseries, I am calling you, and whoever seeks me after having forgotten me does not know that
I have called them, just as I have called Vera to this task and her docility, her obedience and her poor
hand to which I have given my Hand to write. The one who writes is Jesus, Jesus who is Love, Jesus
who is Brother, Jesus who is Bridegroom, Jesus who is Father to all. What would a Father not do to
save his children in danger! Let not the hand of the creature surprise you, for I am writing with her, for
her; for she, truly nothing, is all in Me, all in her Jesus. I, Jesus, for all souls, for those who love Me, for
those who seek Me, for those who want to follow Me. Bring My Words, bring My Voice today. Your
Jesus, your Child Jesus who is waiting for a girl to ‘play with’: you, my little soul.”
Varazze 22-1-1968
“Jesus, Love. The Child Jesus, or Jesus the Teacher? Jesus Crucified, or Jesus Risen? If you had to
choose, how would you want me to come to you? Yes, I come to you as you desire me: a child. I want

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to make you smile, I want to take you far away among gardens full of flowers, shady trees, delicious
scents… Come, child, with Me. A host of souls await us, maiden souls. I am with you in the garden
of Love. No, do not worry; you ‘see’ and I will write, I will write for you. (I see so many ‘Jesuses’ in
their eyes, and my soul sees no more). Come, let me lead you higher, among my Angels. Come, let me
make you beautiful with my Grace. Here I am the little King, the child King and these Angels play
with Me. Come, let me take you elsewhere. Here are little soldiers: they have fought for Me and I am
their little leader. Let me bring you where there are many little ‘flowers’: they give off perfume for
Me: I am the Flower for whom they humbled themselves, for Me. Where do you want to go? Come,
come, I will show you my gardens. Let us go to the garden of ‘roses’. Which roses do you prefer? (Me
to Jesus: that rose with the dewdrop). Here it is, here is the pearl that they all drip from their petals:
the pearl of purity; here is the rose colour made of love, delicacy, a generous impulse towards Me.
Smell the perfume! It is their holiness. I am He who gave them holiness: now they give off perfume
for Me. Le me bring you among the ever white and spotless, ever fragrant lilies. Draw near to them.
They are watching you and waiting for you. And then avenues, long, tree-lined avenues, and perfumes
and twittering birds. All are singing praise to their Creator. Come, come with Me, and breathe these
fragrances into your soul, for… your body cannot. No, you are not yet a little girl to play with Me;
but I will teach you to enjoy My gardens, and then I will hide myself there for you to look for Me…
Then I will leave you as an ‘adult’ for the world, but always as a little girl for Me, so you can see Me as
the Teacher, your Divine Teacher. Then, at times, we will ascend Golgotha with My Mother. See, we
shall do everything together until My Heart is all in yours. For now let me lead you by the hand; come
and play in my gardens, among my Angels, come where my flowers are, come where you breathe my
Perfume. Come, let Me take you far away with Me, and be reborn in Me. Only thus will you return as
a ‘little girl’. Your child Jesus.”
O Jesus, how dear you are! What delicacy, what inexpressible love! O Jesus, let me learn from You
to be “reborn” as a little girl: the girl that You want. I, too, long to play with You.
Varazze 23 January 1968
To Mary, Mother of Jesus, the Immaculate,
To Mary, Mother of Jesus, the Help of Christians,
To Mary, Mother of Jesus, Our Lady of Sorrows, at the foot of the Cross I humbly offer the
obedience of this “dictation” out of love for her Jesus.
Jesus: “Write, my daughter, the river of words that gushes forth from my Heart. Behold, my Heart
is open for you to pour into you, my beloved creatures, my thoughts, my desires. Receive them with
deep humility, with jubilation, with gratitude. I speak to all the Living Tabernacles that are in the
world, to those Tabernacles that will be in time until eternity. You are my Temples of Love because
you guard Love. You carry me, you give me. No, not your thoughts for now, but mine, for I speak not
for you for now, but for everyone. Yes, ‘my Tabernacles’ are my refuge among people, my delight, and
they already know how to guard me. Now I say to you who bear me: love me, love me for I have chosen
my dwelling place in you already from this earth. Do not fear the crosses, the barrenness, the trials, for
these are efficacious for your sanctification. One day you will be reborn in Me, for your soul will be
invested with My Light, and you will come to love with My Heart, for I will take everything of you. Let
each Priest, living Tabernacle, patiently and humbly prepare other Priests to carry Me. I will inspire
them, for I choose souls, but let them be obedient to my inspirations. I am addressing Father Borra
and Father Bocchi, other Priests who already bear Me.4 Father Gabriel already knows his mission. I
want ‘my League of Souls’ to extend also among ‘consecrated’ souls, for it is time for it to grow. Father
Gabriel moves inspired by Me, and his failures are for now My Glory. But I will show him the way, for
he and I are together.”
4 Bearers of Jesus in the Eucharist.

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25-1-1968
“Jesus, Love, wants your soul to rest in Me; wants My WORK to spread. Prepare My paths where
My Grace can descend. There are souls, beautiful souls ready and prepared to receive Me. Go, go to
the Superiors, go to Turin, go to Milan, go, prepare my ways, and let everyone submit to the Pope. He
expects you, he is waiting for you and praying with you, praying with Me. I have explained to Father
Gabriel what ‘night’ is, what it means to wait for Me in the night, in the streets… I have chosen him
as a victim in Me, for my priests, for my Confreres; but My reward for him will be great. Let Father
Bocchi seek me among the souls entrusted to him, notice me, see me, and I will reveal myself to him
among the humble, the meek, the little ones. Let him seek me among sinners, for among these I suffer
and weep. Let him give me souls, seek my souls, for I await a ‘great harvest’ from him. I have already
given him my Heart to give it to souls. I have given him My own thirst for Love, for My Love is never
exhausted, and in him I continue to thirst for souls, in him I have established Me and in him I shall
live again. Send ‘my dictations’ to Father Gabriel, all of them, so that he may know that Jesus still
speaks, that Jesus speaks to you, and to you for so many souls who are and who will be. Send what
I have dictated to the priests I address myself to. I am speaking for them, for others, for many, for
everyone. Father Borra must read all the libretti (booklets) and will be enlightened by Me to see. Be
serene and calm for your work will increase. This small sacrifice is the act of love that you can offer Me
because you know that you are so poor. But I love you so much, I love you so much that I cover your
miseries. Behold, I, Jesus, call you, I call you even though you are nothing. No, my Love does not cease
in the face of ‘nothingness’, for I overcome nothingness. Don’t you think so? Come, my daughter,
the crucified Jesus forgives you, embraces you and always fixes things up for you, for all of you… It is
with my Blood that I baptise you, with the Blood of my Side. Do you not see me? My whole Body
is bloodied, I pour Blood from every pore. Take it, this Blood of mine is yours, it is yours, it is of my
Priests, it is for all souls. When I immolate Myself on the Altar, to My Father, you, together with Me,
receive the Baptism of Blood so that My Father in Heaven may see you in Me, in my Blood, and receive
you into His Fatherly Breast. Do not fail to adhere to Me, to My Immolation; do not lose My Gifts
of Love. Come and immolate yourselves in Me. I seek little victims; come and offer yourselves in Me:
I offer Myself for you. Come and give yourselves all to Me, for I have given it, given all to you. Love,
love one another, forget yourselves in Me: Jesus, your Brother, Eternal Priest, Victim immolated for
you. Through you I send my beloved Priests my gaze of Love, of tenderness. Write, write to them for
I wish to write to them, for I long to speak to them. Will it not be pleasing to them to receive a letter
from their Love, from their Jesus? Jesus writes through you and those who love me always welcome
and await my letters, as long as I have this poor medium that is you to write. You live in this world to
write for Me. Obey Me, listen to Me, do not fear: I am your Jesus.”
28-1-1968 “Jesus, true God and true Man, speaks to his little bride.”
(Jesus “dictates” and I listen).
“I am looking at your soul. I am purifying it. I am pouring My graces into it. I am penetrating it,
and it Me, I am in you and I want you to live by Me. I have chosen poverty: you, your soul, and I want
to give you everything, and everything I will give you with my Blood. With My Love I want to detach
you from the earth, so that you, My spouse, may journey towards Me, towards My Light, towards the
Highest. What I could tell you, truly, is divine, is Paradise. But even if I speak to you of Paradise, you
remain disturbed, and then, without my help, you cannot return serenely to your meagreness. I will
prepare you for Paradise… The sufferings of the past days are now a memory. You have given them to
Me because now all of you is Mine. Do not try to understand the reasons for the trials for you must
become a ‘little girl’. Others will understand, but you must care about loving Me and obeying Me.
Yes, I am here, I am with you, I am in your soul and I am happy to live near you. I, Jesus look at you
and would show myself to you were you not suffer so much from that for now. This human frailty
of yours is the means that will win other souls, many souls, to Me. I want to communicate my ‘thirst’
for souls to you. I will pour drops of the Water and Blood from my Side into you, for I want you to
think of souls. When we ascend Calvary you will give me your barrenness, your thirst, and I will give

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you my thirst. Thus we will meet in my Father. Yes, trust and faith in your Jesus. Trust in my words, in
my Dictations. Faith, faith, faith! I, Jesus, Eternal Priest, confirm my wishes through Father Gabriel,
and from this Priest chosen by Me for My Work of Love you will receive Me. Soon we shall write to
him, for I wish to communicate myself to him in writing. We will write to Father Borra, Father Bocchi.
We will write a lot because I want to pour out so much love, so much comfort, so much warmth for
my beloved Priests: the warmth of my Heart of the Eternal Priest. For them, too, Jesus performs a
unique Work of Love: Jesus writes to His Priests, to His ‘Himself’ on earth. They will feel me so, very,
very close, and my increasing Grace in them, my letters, will be of comfort, of joy, of peace. Yes, my
daughter, I love them so much, and if you wish to make me an acceptable gift, pray for them: for all
my Priests. I have chosen you, little victim in Me, for them and you are for them as they are for Me.
Wait in trusting prayer for the meeting with the Priest from Savona: he will come. I will send him to
Savona for my Work of Love. I would dictate much more but you are submissive to your duty, and
this you must do with love, as long as I allow it. That is why I want you to stop writing but do not
distract yourself from Me. I want you to remain immersed in Me so that you receive strength, love,
warmth from Me. I want your soul in Me and to imprint my Resemblance on it, through My Grace.
Love Me, love Me and rest in Me. Your Jesus: Love.”
Varazze 2-2-1968 Speak, O Lord, that your servant may listen.
Jesus: “Write for Me, write, My child, for My Glory. Let My ‘ways’ spread among you, in the
world, among ‘My’ souls. The Work must develop among you who know Me and, through you, it
must reach the souls who live in the world. It is time for the souls called by Me to be instructed in
the purpose of my ‘Message’. To this end it is necessary that this be known as soon as possible by the
Salesian Superiors, and they will think of presenting my Work to the Pope. It is a Work of Love, of
infinite and merciful Love that I, the Eternal Priest, pour into my Priests, and through them, into
souls. All dictations are messages of Love; all words, all letters addressed to you are messages of Love,
of my Love for you, for all souls. In each of My Words there is a doctrine of Love to be read, to be more
deeply understood, and I have given it to those who know how to make fruitful the branches that are
united to Me. Gather yourselves together in my Name, invoke and have Mary, my sweet Mother, as
Mistress of your souls to guide your steps, be light in your uncertainties. Hope and faith that I am, I
want the Work of Love, I want it spread. These booklets must be neatly copied into a single booklet
and given to Father Borra, who must read, must read everything.5 You will remain in the shadows, in
My shadow: in Me. You will always be the hand that will write what I will dictate to you under My
guidance. I want you to begin; I want you to fight for Me, for the triumph of My Mercy. Fight for Me
you who carry Me. Do not hesitate. Do not fear defeat, for I, Jesus, will triumph. The priests who will
become part of the ‘League of Jesus’ Souls’ must prepare the youth to ‘live’ from Me, to be for love,
Me, so that the youth may give Me to other youth. The young people who will be part of the League,
according to the judgement of the Priests who guide their souls, will be able to carry Me, that is, to
become Living Tabernacles. If these young men are called by Me to another path, such as marriage,
they will deliver Me at the foot of the Altar to the Priest: it is certain that I will remain spiritually
more imprinted in their souls, in their countenances. For those who will have carried Me and will no
longer be able to do so for this or other reasons will always have Me imprinted in their souls more
profoundly. The same applies to young women. Let them establish groups of young people, let them
meet to love one another in Me, and let them strive to know who is their true Master of life, holiness,
joy. I have chosen the Salesians because they live with young people, but their life of apostolate will
have to be more intense, more active, more heartfelt. This work must also extend to other priests, to
the parishes of towns and villages, for there the priest and souls must form a place of peace and rest
for me, tired, thirsty and hungry because of my long pilgrimage in search of souls. The priest and the
souls of a village, however few, must be a ‘Bethany’, that is, a place of peace, consolation and rest for
My Heart. From these souls I desire consolations, prayers, offerings and the gift of their hearts. I will
5 Vera copied all the dictations she received from September 1967 to February 1968 into 4 notebooks for Fr Borra, and sent
them to him.

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come to them to find these consolations; I will leave my ‘tears’ with them to resume my journey in
search of souls outside the fold. With them, like a wayfarer, I will refresh myself, for in them I wish
to find the love that is not given me by other creatures. Then I will depart, but they are to await me
ready and joyful because the Bridegroom returns to the Bride. The Work must arise in groups in the
city, but it must quickly take on a unified nature for I want you to be united, to know each other and
to visit each other, for you must love each other greatly in Me. Each Tabernacle is more than ever a
sibling to the other, therefore let each think of itself this way and act as a sibling. Let each one have
this programme of spiritual ascent: take on Me, My Resemblance, so that each one of you may be Me,
be Jesus. What I have dictated from the beginning (September-February) must be read, studied and
interpreted in My Light of faith and truth in order to be dealt with and put into action. Turin and
Florence must be linked by a path: the Pope who establishes you in his authority and who belongs as
the Bearer of Jesus, as the Living Tabernacle already in your midst, in my League because he, Paul VI,
is the first soul of my League of souls. He has already founded it in his life as Pastor of souls; he already
spreads it, but he is still alone, too alone and that is why he waits for you. He knows, he knows you in
Me, and he prays for you to come to him. Pray and make people pray so that the hour of my Mercy
may not be late in coming, but may come soon, for all souls. I am Jesus, Eternal Pontiff. Immaculate
Victim for the souls given to me by my Father: Victim for all Humanity that was, is, will be. I am Jesus,
Divine Master: I am the Way, the Truth, the Life. I am One and Three in one: I am the Father, the Son,
the Holy Spirit. I am Jesus: infinite Love.”
Varazze 4-2-1968
“Jesus comes to you with his Love. Priestly Love. Go to my Priests, bring them my Messages of
Love; fill their hands with my words: they are in Grace, in my Grace. Let them seek Me, discover Me
in these Messages, in the living Love that I want to bring among them, among souls. Go to Father
Bocchi, and lay my last dictations in his hands. I will work with my Grace in him so that the truth may
also be manifested to him, and he will also receive me through the writings. He is a path of my Way
chosen by my Father through whom ‘my word’ must pass, spread, extend. Prepare the ‘copies‘ for him
also, and I, Jesus, bless you in the very act of you disposing yourself to write for Me because you are
in obedience. Yes, speak to him directly, and in all humility write. Father John Bocchi, it is I who am
writing to you, me, Jesus. Place your trust in Me and I will reveal myself to you. I want you to begin
My Work of Love in Sampierdarena among the souls of the priests; I want you to make my messages of
Love known to your confreres; I want them also to bring Me, so you will all be transformed into Me.
I want my league of souls to become stronger, I want it to become great and to go beyond the borders
of Italy. I want it to be formed in mission lands, and there where my beloved John Bosco founded his
works, there where in him I established the kingdom of Love. Therefore, many young men must be
prepared, many priests who will bring, add to my Love, given in the world through John Bosco who
is other Love, other Gift which will help you to take on Me, to become Me.
I, Jesus in the Eucharist, wish to reach my souls in the world, to communicate with souls
through you; I have chosen another Temple: dwellings, streets, wherever you go. I have chosen other
Tabernacles, not in masonry, but ‘living’: you! This ‘gift’ must be known by my beloved Priests, by
the Salesians first, and my League will grow with you; and melt your souls in the Fire of my Love with
other souls, with the youth so that my League may be strong, healthy, glorious.
Father John Bocchi, Jesus has called you: listen to him. Father John Bocchi, I have called you to my
Work: work, work among the priests, work among the young. Meditate on these words in the Light of
the Holy Spirit: they are mine, of the Divine Master, of the Eternal Priest. I will make you understand
more than I have had written. In the fervent gift of Love I to you and you to Me, I am reviving in you,
and it is for you that I wish to reveal myself to the other Priests. You have the same mission entrusted
to Father Gabriel. Seek the maternal assistance of my Mother: Mary Help of Christians. Seek that
intimate and secret love that I give to you in these words for you; seek me in truth, because these
messages of love are Truth, they are Me, they are Jesus. For all the Salesians their founder, St John
Bosco, will be, from where he is in my Glory, a loving Father, a comforting protector, support. Yes,
Don Bosco also wants to return to live among you through my Work of Love. Yes, Don Bosco ritorna

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(Don Bosco returns) among you because Jesus wants to renew in you his life, his love, his Priesthood,
all of himself. I in you and you in Me, to give ‘fruits’ to my Father, to save souls, to die for souls. I,
Jesus, your Life, your Way, your Truth: to you beloved Priests; to you, all and always Me.”
Varazze 9-2-1968
“I leave it to you to write in my Name: Jesus.” [Vera] Jesus unites us in His Holy Name. He desires
that the League of His Souls make one soul with Him. The prayers, the offerings, the merits that each
soul can acquire in Jesus, are not only for its own soul, but for all the souls of the League; thus the
emptinesses of a weaker soul are filled with the virtues of the stronger soul. What one soul united with
Jesus suffers is so that another soul may receive the particular graces it needs from Jesus.
“Behold, I adorn you with the sadness of My Passion. The soul suffers in Me in this sadness because
it shares in the cross of another soul. And I purify you in this suffering, I make you one soul, I make
you one heart in Me. Behold, the League merges, and I merge you in Me, and I purify you, and it is I,
Jesus, who with My Love am working in you, I am transforming you into ‘living tabernacles’ You will
be given a special guidance to practise with love and fidelity so that I, Jesus, in the sacred Species, may
receive love, honour and glory from you who carry Me. I will give you all that is dear to me, but I want
humility from you, even more humility, pain and suffering. Yes, I come to ask you for your fiat. Place
it in the hands of My Mother and She will sustain you. She will unite it to Herself and give it to Me.
Then I will speak to you and tell you how you must honour Me, love Me, carry Me. Each of my graces
will spring forth as a gush of pure, fresh water from the rock, but each grace will have suffering, and
from suffering will grow love. My Love has redeemed you in my Blood, and I have given it to you by
suffering unto death. You receive my Baptism of Blood through love and suffering. O my blessed souls,
I clasp you to my Heart that you may be one soul and one heart. Thus I offer you to my Father in Me.
Receive My Gifts, the Gifts I have told you about, and in these you will receive Me more and more. You
suffer for your failures: you poor, frail little ones. Go, persevere, sink into Me; love one another in Me,
and I, Jesus, I, your Bridegroom, your Brother, your Priest, your Missionary, will work, I will seek…
whoever will listen to Me. I will open human hearts to My Love, their minds to Me, that the honour
and glory of those called from earth to Heaven before the Throne of God may ascend to My Father.
Behold, I am with you. The tree of Life is in your soul, and I pour My Grace into your soul. Behold,
I purify it, I enlighten it, I prepare it to be received into my Father’s bosom when Love and Sorrow
have given you the robe of innocence, and my Blood has given you my Martyrdom: my last Baptism.
Yes: Love, Incarnation, Purification, Light and Darkness; Darkness and Light, Passion, Resurrection,
Glory. Strength of spirit. Faithf ulness. Trust. Abandonment. Obedience. Humility. Patience.
Innocence. I have made Myself small for you that you may ascend and come to Me. There is no other
way but Love. Disappear into the abyss of My immense Love. Jesus has spoken. From Vera’s soul He
poured out His Word here that it might be known. I am Jesus in the Word.’
Varazze 11 February 1968
“I am Jesus. Write, write: I have opened a channel for my Grace, for my words to flow in you. You
know that I am in you, that I speak from you. Yes, it is My Voice: it rises from your soul because My
Word has established a dwelling in you. You will be strong in Me, and faith in My Word will grow
in you. You will sleep and I will be silent. Your rest is dear to Me because you are My poor and frail
creature who in love and obedience shall serve Me until I take you from the world so that your passing
away may be the witness of My Word for people. Rest in Me. Today your Jesus has been glorified in
the bosom of My Father for you, for what you do for Me is glory to God, and I promise you that
henceforth your every action, your every invocation performed with purity will be united and bound
to Me. Now I begin to live in you. Bride of Blood, of my Blood, abandon yourself to Me: my Heart is
open; it awaits you… Your Jesus, Divine Love, gave Himself entirely to the poorest of His creatures.
Rest in Me. Tomorrow I will return with My Word, but My Love will watch over you. Now your
obedience is Mine; now it ascends through Me, into Heaven… Now you are in Me, in My obedience.
Jesus embraces you, Jesus blesses you.”

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15-2-1968
“Jesus, in the Abyss of his Love. I am burning, burning away the impurities, the defects, the
resistance to My graces. I am burning, and in this fire I draw the soul to Me. When it receives this
purification, a gift of my Love, it suffers because it is drawn to the Divine. The soul yearns for Me,
the soul anxiously seeks Me, My Love, and is never satiated as long as it is here below. Thus began the
‘Martyrdom of Love’. I want your wounded soul: I immerse it in Me, I renew it in My Blood, I make it
pure, shining, white. My Blood will descend on your soul and the stains will be ‘mine’: those that I give
you. I join my Passion, your suffering to Mine; your heart to my Heart until there is only one Sufferer,
only one Heart: me, Jesus. Receive Me, for I come to you as I have told you. I have initiated the gift of
Love, for which the Beloved must be incarnated by the Beloved. It is the Bridegroom who prepares the
Bride for Mystical Union; it is the Bridegroom who gives, while the Bride waits for the Bridegroom
to come to her. You are too small to understand, but it does not matter. It is enough for Me that you
obey Me out of love, and always remain very humble in your smallness. Abandon your ‘ego’ because
it is of the world, and you are no longer of the world; let yourself be lifted up by My Love, and love
only in Me, in My Love, so that all human affection may be pure, holy affection through Me, may be
My Love. And thus I detach you from the world, thus I prepare my Temple, thus I lead you to Me.
Not a year will pass, not two years, not three years, before my Words will be manifest to all. Whoever
bears witness to my Word on earth shall find in heaven, before my Father, the testimony of my Love.
Whoever who bears witness with their life shall have the crown of the Martyrs of my Word in Heaven.
Whoever bears witness to me in the apostolate, sowing my Word, will have Me, the Eternal Priest,
in heaven, in the glorious vision of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Therefore I tell Vera, my poor and
humble bride (there was no poorer one on earth) to bear witness before people to my Word, receiving
in humility and obedience what the Holy Spirit dictates to her by the will of God; to bear witness
to my Word with faith and trust that her Bridegroom supports her, sustains her, defends her; to bear
witness to my Word, accepting in obedience what I, Jesus, desire her to do for Me, for my Work of
Love, accepting every mockery or slur, every joy and pain, every pain and sacrifice, out of love. Write,
obey, love, wait for… the Bridegroom. I, Jesus, have accepted your life from my Mother and if I will
soon take it for my Glory,6 know that this will be transformed for you into the Life that I give: Life
in Heaven. Now work: write, carry and send My Messages, until I have revealed the immensity of My
Love to My beloved Priests. We, you and I, must support them, encourage them in the struggles that
await them so that my Work may be known. I will dictate my letters, you will write and I will pursue
my Priests until my Grace is gratefully received by them. You are here in this little room to write for Me.
I will take care that you are always assigned a quiet place to listen to Me. I have told you that you now
live for Me, to write. This is your task and when it is finished you will bid farewell to earth for heaven.
I will give you the strength to copy things, but I, Jesus, want to remain with you even in suffering, for
you must become My bride of Blood in Me. One day I will receive you as the bride of my Passion, a day
will come when I, the Eternal Priest, will offer to my Father, in my Blood, the blood of the creature7
for whom I gave every drop of My Blood on the Cross. The creature in Me will be My Bride, and My
Father will receive her in Me. “I beseech You, My Father, to receive her in Me, for I offer her to You in
Me for Your Glory. I beseech You to acknowledge in Me the soul whom I have washed in My Blood, and
that poor means which I have used to make My message of Love to the world manifest to human beings.
My Father, I gave her everything because she was poor; I gave her my graces and my Word. My Father,
receive her in Your Glory, for in Me she has given Me obedience, humility, she has given Me her poor arm.
My Father, now I beseech You to receive her in You, for I offer her in Me, with Me, for Me, to You, My
Father, that this offering may give Glory to You and witness to my Word here below to priests, to people,
to nations, to the whole world. Receive her in Me, My Father, for Your greater Glory and the coming of
6 “this one […] I will soon take her”: Vera died on 22.12.1969.
7 “The day will come that I, the Eternal Priest, will offer to my Father, in my Blood, the blood of the creature…” Vera bled
to death during the incision of an abscess in her stomach, a year and a half after this message.

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My Kingdom of Love among souls. I, Jesus, thank you for having heard me.”8 I, Jesus, have revealed My
Love for you. Trust in my Words, and dispose yourself to write, to copy things down for love of me.
You will not be alone in the effort but will always have My Mother near you who will guide your life,
bringing it more and more to Me. Remember:
Trust in your Jesus, trust in my Mother, trust in my word.
Start copying for Father Borra. I desire no other sacrifice than these, and they are offered out of
love and obedience. Other sacrifices will be spared you as you serve Me, in this way, for the Glory of
My Father and the salvation of souls. I will write to the Priests soon. When I immolate myself on the
Altar, offer me your writings: my dictations, together with obedience and love. Tell the same to Father
Borra, Father Gabriel, because I receive everything from my beloved Priests. You must tell them thus:
‘It is Jesus who desires it, and I desire it as much as He does. Recollect yourself in Me, in My Love, so
that I may defend you from yourself, from the world, from temptations. Remain in the divine arms:
do not be afraid because I am strength, courage, serenity, trust, truth. Soon I will send you a comfort:
my beloved Priest, as a gift of Love. Jesus who loves you and blesses you.”
8 Beautiful prayer of Jesus to the Father to accept Vera's life offering in His Offering, for the Glory of God the Father and
for the testimony of His word in the Work of the Living Tabernacles.

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BOOKLET 4
I offer my obedience to the Blessed Virgin,
Mary Help of Christians

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Savona 18-2-1968
Jesus: “Write my Name! I am speaking to you, I am speaking my Word in this holy name, Jesus. I
have guided you along rugged paths, I have sustained your frailty; I have nourished you with My Grace,
I have protected you from yourself, I have helped you to walk towards Me. All was accomplished in
My Name: Jesus! Now you have seen the ‘Light’ in my Words; always receive them in my Name: Jesus.
My Words must now fall into the furrows as seeds that must rot in the soil of your souls. Therefore,
I have called prepared souls capable of understanding my Word. The ‘manuscript’ must be prepared
soon and sent to Father Borra. In the same way, another must be prepared for Father Bocchi. He will
receive my grace with the manuscript. I would have much to dictate but I want you to copy and give
this work to Me, this work which serves and will serve for the greater Glory. You are with the family
by My will. I will help you carry the Cross, for it is a time of reparation, renunciations, offerings. My
Work has its victims in Me, but it will see the light among sinners, it will give peace to the humble,
comfort to the afflicted, relief to the suffering, strength and courage to the weak, confidence to the
oppressed. But I say to you that whoever accepts these Words, accepts Me, Jesus. I am the ‘Sower‘ and
the ‘seeds’ that come from Me are the Word of God. Now it is time for you who are called to listen to
Me, receive Me, welcome Me. I want you to copy, My child, for time is short. I want you to take leave
of Me to copy. I will remain in you with My Grace. This is My desire: carry it out by obedience, and I
will give you Me, Jesus. I bless you in My Name, Jesus.”
Varazze 27-2-1968
Jesus: “I have wanted to dictate for so long… But you have eluded me. Now I am acting in you
more directly, and my calls will be more continuous, more frequent. Do you not see how I pursue
you? Now my grace, now my disapproval. Now I want to run to other souls in you, visit them, and
only late in the evening… see, see the truth. See Me in you running, unbeknown to yourself, and going
to your suffering sister. You don’t know why you are there, you don’t know why you are at her bedside
kissing her, while you were ignorant of everything. And still you do not see, you do not see Me acting
through you. When you guessed, for fear of being mocked, you did not say: ‘It was Jesus who brought
me to Pina.’ You referred to yourself and took the Glory away from Me.1 O miserable, poor creature!
What shall I do with you? Now write lest you forget! I will give you pain, burning pain to purify
you. And my Voice shall be a sword that shall pass through your soul. Write, write on your knees and
show your unworthiness to the Priests. Close with these words: I, Jesus, do not want many prayers but
works, works of love. From Vera I want humility, kindness. I want her to humble herself and give an
account of her deeds to Me, to Father Gabriel by confessing in writing. I will raise her up after she has
performed this act of humility. Offended Jesus.”
Varazze 28-2-1968
Jesus: “Write anyway, even if you do not hear me. I come to you in the humility of your heart.
I have seen it and now I am consoled. Now you have understood that your faults are your miseries.
You will never be able to correct yourself without Me! Focus yourself on this monosyllable that is
everything: Me! Me, that is, My Grace. I have enlightened you in confession, I have spoken to you by
pouring My Light into your spirit. Now you know what you must ask for: my Grace. You must ask
for it as the thirsty man seeks water, the hungry man, bread, the suffering man, relief, the blind man,
light, the wayfarer, rest. O Vera, my beloved daughter, only my Grace will save you, only my Grace will
give you the strength to write, to obey; only my Grace will transform my Gift into an act of love lived
and practised; only my Grace will imprint Me on your soul. Then I will live in your soul. I will strip
you of yourself so that, with my Grace, my Dwelling in you may be complete. Do you know what My
Grace is? It is the Love of the Father, of the Son, of the Holy Spirit. It is God descending into ‘his’
soul that is a prisoner of the body, and He dwells there and draws it to Himself, to His Love, to His
1 Reference to the episode when Vera went to the hospital to her sister Pina’s bedside guided by Jesus. She did not tell her
sister that it was Jesus who led her to her and showed her the place and the room where she was.

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Holocaust. You do everything by asking for my Grace. Oh! I suffer in mistreating you…, but I love you
too much, and I do not want to renounce the Gifts I have established for you! Come my soul, come
little soul, and rest upon my Heart. Oh, yes, I see your suffering…and it is dear to me! What is it that
you seek? Yes, it is my Love, it is my Glory, it is your Jesus.”
(9:30 pm) Jesus: “I am calling you to your task. There is a distant horizon I want to reach to
immerse my Wounds in you, to pour out my Blood: Blood of the Immaculate Lamb. My Blood must
be shed where there is hatred, rivalry, ambition. People shed their blood on people, sacrificing their
lives, and hatred is not quenched. I, Jesus, will visit those places in ruins, those afflicted people. I want
to give them, too, the Blood of the Immaculate Lamb. We will go before God the Father and offer
ourselves to Him for Peace among peoples. If human beings have woven their leagues to nourish hatred
and unleash wars, if they fight and destroy each other, I pity, I pity the poor, the unfortunate who
suffer the tyrannies of the leagues. I want to establish the ‘League of Souls’ in opposition to these, I
will gather you, my blessed souls, around Me, and you in Me will offer yourselves to my Father for Peace
among peoples, among Nations. You will always be my army of Love that I want to set in opposition
to the army of men: you are the army that advances in Me before my Father, and I, as the Immaculate
Lamb, want to implore Peace with you, with my League of Souls, as a message of Love to the humble,
the poor, the disinherited of goods, to those who love and hope in Me. My League is an army, an army
that fights and struggles with Me, and I will always be with you as your Commander. The boundaries
of the Earth are extensive, and I comprehend and contain them all in My Mercy. I, Jesus, as God and
Father, address My voice to the world, to the peoples, to brothers and sisters. I will soon visit you from
one end of the Earth to the other, so that My message of Love may be addressed to everyone, so that
souls may turn to Me who am the Author of Life. My Life will still pass among you as a thrill of Love
and Forgiveness. Oh! prepare my ways that you may wait for me, receive me, welcome me! My blessed
souls, what are you waiting for to make my Words known? Take my Message of Love to the Pope, and
be consecrated by the Pope, let him establish you in the Order that is the Order of Grace, of Salvation;
Order of Peace and Love. Behold, I will send you then as I once sent my Apostles among the nations,
among the peoples, that the new Message may come to them: the Gospel, the last message of Jesus’
Love through the Living Tabernacles. Behold, I will send you, and in you, with you, for you I will go
forth to accomplish the Work of Redemption for all humankind. Lent is beginning, the time that will
lead me to the Immolation. I seek victim souls, many victim souls, so that my League may grow, the
army increase, so that in Me you may be offered to God for the redemption of humanity. Soon evening
will come, then night, and we will be left alone to fight: me and my League, Jesus with his army, my
Mother with the souls consecrated to me through him. Soon it will be dark, and while there is light
I seek souls, victim souls: I seek you who wait for me, who seek me. I give Myself completely to you,
and you to Me, and together we will offer ourselves in the Love of the Father, of the Son, of the Holy
Spirit. Yes, I give My Grace in these Words: the Grace of Jesus in the Eucharist who wants to become
the Food of all souls contained in the world; the nourishment of the soul, the comfort and peace of
the world. Jesus has spoken, the Eucharistic Jesus who wants to be known, loved, carried. Jesus, King
of souls; Jesus, King of hearts. Jesus King of creatures.”
Savona 2-3-1968
Jesus: “And now write. I will reply to Father Gabriel in particular. I want his perfect adherence to
my Holy Will. I am Jesus who guides you, who remains with you so that you may always be moved
by Me. I am in Father Gabriel to speak to souls, to my souls: the priests. Abandon yourself to Me in
My Immolation, that I may draw your soul and invest it with my Grace. In the offering of Me to my
Father, let him give Me his whole self, and the souls that graze in my Heart through him. Let him
offer me poor Vera, offer me my priests and victim souls. I will wash your souls in my Blood, and in
this Baptism of Grace I will offer you to my Father for his Glory, for my Work of Love. Then Father
Gabriel will remain in Me, in my Heart of the Eternal Priest, and I will guide his steps, I will move
the children of my wounded Love so that they may approach the Light of my Calling. Let him speak,
speak in my Name, as he confidently places his soul of Priest, Apostle in the luminous Soul of my

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Mother. The Mother of the Children will be close to him: Mary Help of Christians. My Saint John
Bosco will be an example to him, he will infuse him with confidence. I will support him with my
Grace, and my Spirit, Spirit of Love, will be, by my will, like a dove on his Priestly heart. Let him speak
then, speak… and speak of Me, that I seek and want souls who are ‘victims’ in Me, priestly souls who
will increase My League. Say what I have dictated, let it all be read, for My will, My desires are not
manifested in one ‘dictation’, but in their continuity they all contain and express My Message of Love
for all souls, for priestly and consecrated souls, and through them, to the world. I have wanted the
poor creature chosen by Me in obedience to write the dictations, to copy what I have gradually said to
her in chronological order, because whoever reads, must read everything: meditate, reflect and ask for
my Enlightenment in holy humility. Father Gabriel must have his own manuscript, without which he
cannot fully manifest my Divine Desires. I will ask Vera for this Lenten sacrifice. Do not be surprised
by the simple and puerile form of my Words. I, Jesus, spoke to a poor creature, and I brought myself to
her level. Whoever comes to Me in faith can see the depth of My doctrine of Love. And whoever sees
will be the humble, the child, the pure, who already has a place in My Heart. I, Jesus, Eternal Priest,
will dictate still more, so that my Voice may reach the ends of the World. Yes, I will write to Father
Gabriel and soon. I will write to Father Bocchi so that my voice may shake him up, draw him to Me.
I, Jesus, will write, I will dictate through the least creature that exists, because she too in her poverty
already serves, and will serve for my Glory. My Voice suffers when the soul is in darkness. Come, my
daughter, let us climb that mountain of sorrow together, so that my Cross may radiate its Light of
Grace into the world. Jesus loves you in the Gift, forgives you in the Gift, embraces you in the Gift.
With my Mother I bless your obedience, and by this I draw your soul to Me: Jesus.”
Varazze 3-3-1968
Jesus: “I am speaking of my Living Tabernacle: I am Jesus in the Eucharist! All the Words that
I have dictated are my ‘seeds’, but the soils capable of receiving them do not have sufficient grace. I
ask for offerings, victim souls, so that my Grace may descend abundantly in the ‘ones who are called’.
Whoever accepts the Words of my Message and sacrifices themselves in Me, for my Cause, is invested
with my Grace, and these in turn pray that all priestly souls may receive and adhere to my Work of Love.
I address the Salesian priests, those in authority, for they must receive Me in humility, in gratitude, in
praise of God the Father through Me: Jesus. I will pour forth the Light of the Holy Spirit from the
Tabernacles so that your minds may see. My furrows are and will remain the same, for such is the Will
of my Father. God the Father has looked through me at Turin, Florence, Sampierdarena, Rome. Other
paths, other ways must open from these places; but whoever is called must not resist my Grace. I, Jesus,
will write to you, I will reassure you, and when I come to knock on your heart, do not reject Mine: it
is the Heart of your Jesus! Pray, pray instead, that I may reveal Myself more and more to you, that you
may know all My desires of salvation for all humankind. I, Jesus, the Eternal Pontiff, to you my beloved
Priests: on this Easter of Passion, Death and Resurrection, I will renew my holocaust for you to the
Father, and I will accept, and unite in Me the victim souls in Me, those that my Mother offers me. This
is Easter, the Sacrifice, the immolation of Priests for Priests. Soon I will come to you, I will come and I
will be the suffering Jesus, Jesus crowned with thorns, covered with spit, with scourges, Jesus with the
Cross, Jesus on the Cross, Jesus expiring, Jesus dying, Jesus with His opened side… for you, beloved
Priests. I want your love, I want to be in you, I want you to carry me, to give me, for I have made you
My other ‘selves’, that I may reach all my souls. Read, meditate on all My Words and see Me, see Jesus
in His divine and human completeness. Carry Me, give Me, make room for Me in your heart, let Me
act in your Priesthood. I long to make a permanent dwelling in you, so that My Purifying Fire may
always warm you, that Eternal Priest and Priest may be one Being, one heart, one Priest. Pray, my souls
who wait for me, that my Priests may see the Abyss of Love of their Divine Master, their Bridegroom,
their Eucharistic Jesus whom they offer, consecrate, immolate. This poor creature will disappear. But
my words, God’s words, will not pass into eternity like my Love for you. Suffering Jesus!”
Varazze 4-3-1968

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Jesus: “You have looked at the night. It has descended upon human beings. You have looked at the
sky: it is night, it is dark, but the stars are shining like flames of love. The stars, the sky, the night are
Order: they are Me. My Living Tabernacles are stars on earth, they are Order: they are Me. They will
go into the ‘night’ as flames of love, for they will bring those who are Love and the night of the spirit
will pass in the Light that I give you. You are in the night, in the starry night. You abide in Me, abandon
yourselves to Me, and give Me trust, ever-increasing, blind trust, because this is what you place in your
Jesus, Jesus in the Eucharist. Why, then, have I desired to come to you? Why have I desired to make
you, my blessed souls, ‘my Tabernacles’? So that you, the first to begin the ‘Gift of Jesus’ Love’ in
these times, may receive my light, my comfort, my warmth that purifies you, inflames you with Me.
I have come to you without preparation, for I will prepare you. I will be your Master, your Friend,
your Father and day by day I will make you understand what I desire of you, what I accept of you,
and what I reject of you. I will make you sensitive to my desires, to my calls, for I desire to form my
Temple in you. Other souls, later on, will receive a special preparation, but for the first ‘Bearers’ of
Jesus, I am offering and giving everything, for I wish to do everything with my Grace. For now, this is
how it begins. My Work will have its victims in Me. I repeat the invitation made at the beginning of
the ‘dictations’: I desire little souls, victims, and many of them. Seek them, ask them of my Mother,
Mary Help of Christians. Do not fear human derision, for I permit it and it serves my Glory. Give me
everything: I, your Jesus, will comfort you. Others like you will suffer the same pain, but it is then that
I will triumph. I repeat: not a year, two years, three years will pass before my Work sees the light. Yes,
you are in the night, My Living Tabernacles, but it is a night with stars, for you have Me as your Gift
of Love. No, I will not leave your bosom, for my Divine Presence wishes to pour my Grace into your
soul, each day and each hour; for I wish to transform your hearts and to bestow the wound of my Love
upon them. Go, go and give my Words. I, Jesus in the Eucharist, promise you Me and the power of
the Holy Spirit. All your poor sufferings are pleasing and dear to Me: they are already in Me, in my
Sacrifice, in my Blood, and I purify them and offer them to my Father in Me. They are little flowers
that are fragrant with Me. My Father pleases them, and unites you with the Priests for whom you offer
them in Me. I and the Father will come in the Holy Spirit to ask you for more flowers so that the little
victim may be immolated in the Immaculate Lamb. You are a bride of blood and do not know it! Jesus
the Eternal Priest blesses you. Jesus asks, Jesus gives, Jesus loves you too much!”
Varazze 7-3-1968 Jesus:
I want him (the Provincial) not to look at the creature but to ‘see’ only my Mercy. The creature
is weak, she is defective, but I am communicating my Thought, my Word to her; I am revealing and
will continue to reveal my Love for you, for all souls to her. The human creature is expressing my
Eucharistic Love as well as she can. I am pouring it out with fullness in her so that she may reveal it to
you, my Priests. I, Jesus, have given the poor creature no ability: she is always poor. I, Jesus, bend down
to her, and, to her, as a breath of life, comes the grace of my Word. She suffers when she writes because
my Thought is God, and she does not know how to translate it… Yes, it is I, I am Jesus in the Eucharist,
who work in you, in the contrast between the Divine and the Human, between the Perfect and the
imperfect. I, Jesus, harmonise everything, unify everything by virtue of my Love. She has written out
of obedience to Me in the Priest. I will make, I will draw reasons for mercy for other souls from her
miseries, her inabilities. Vera will be trust, My Trust, for other poor souls. I, Jesus, Eternal Priest, desire
that you, Salesian Priests, meditate on this creature’s words and read the Abyss of my Love in them and
recognise, through the human, the way that I, the Eucharist, have opened and given you. My beloved
Priests, put into practice my Message of Love for souls.”
I am Jesus in the Eucharist speaking from the Tabernacles: “I want to go out of the churches,
I want to go into the streets, into your families, to approach, to seek out those souls who do not seek
Me, who do not come to Me, who do not come to My House. I want to reach these souls through
my priests, through consecrated souls. Take me with you, take me out: let my Eucharistic Presence
pour out Faith, Love, Peace to humanity. You in Me will be strong, you with Me will love more, you
will love better, you will be holy Temples for Me. Only My Grace will reveal to you the depth of My

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Eucharistic Love. Always seek Me in the poor, the wretched, because I give all of Me to the poor, to
the wretched. I, Jesus, have given you the example. Jesus in the Eucharist.”
Varazze 8-3-1968
Jesus: “Write, do not fear, do my will. Let me speak in you. Let me repeat my Love for you, for
souls a thousand thousand times. Come into the ‘night’. It is almost night, but the stars are shining.
My light remains in the night: the Light is above you. The night is necessary so that the light of dawn
may come to others. Lean on Me, and abide in My Love. I will confirm your obedience through Father
Gabriel and in obedience you will be united with Me forever, for eternity. Jesus wants the proof of your
love in obedience from you now. Be serene, be humble, be always ready for Me. I have given you and
will give you My consolations because I come to you and your soul sees Me. Is this not enough for you?
Now rest in Me and love My Word made easy for you; love My thoughts of Love repeated for you, for
all souls; love Jesus who does not tire of seeking, of calling through you, His souls. My Mother will
help you: I have given her to you. My Mother smiles on you: go to Her! I, Jesus, bless you. I give you
my Peace: the Peace of my Eucharistic Heart. Your love for Me is the ‘Gift’ that I make and increase in
you. Jesus loved by you.”
Varazze 12-3-1968
“Jesus and His Holy Will. I want another manuscript, a unique one, to be sent to Father Gabriel.
It will be the last one handwritten by you.”
Varazze 13-3-1968
Jesus in silence. “Write, Begin. I will help you to overcome human barriers. My Grace breathes
in the stormy sea. I come from the sea to you who are shipwrecked in the storm of the soul. Now I
descend into your soul with Grace, and I infuse you with Light and Warmth. In the journey of the
night I will lead you to the Love of the Father. Immolation, purification, redemption in the Living
Tabernacles to host Me. Now My Word for souls goes in the language of Love, and breathes like a
breath of wind where it rests… I am Jesus hidden in the Beloved Heart, and in you I seek rest. Jesus
does not speak to your afflicted hearts, but He remains in you: flame that burns, illuminates, blazes. It
is Jesus who builds the Temple! Jesus to the Living Tabernacles in the silence of the ’night’. Look at
Mary!”
Varazze 14-3-1968
Jesus: “Write, my child, I am here. Be silent and listen to me. I am giving you my heart: my Heart,
my life. You must write what you feel. You partake of Me. I will guide you. Courage, trust… it is Jesus!
The Holy Spirit is here in the Light and in Love. You must write, you must… I am pouring My Grace
into you, I am nourishing and feeding your soul with Me, and I am drawing it to Me. I am drawing
you to me, I am taking you to Me. I am detaching your soul from the flesh and it will bleed. I want
you to be here, in Me, in My Flesh and in My Blood: one Soul. Poor little victim immolated in Me:
victim for you, for my souls! Surrender yourself to Me, to your Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes to you,
He descends from Heaven and My Father gives Him to you. You no longer think of the world, of the
life of the world, but of the life of Heaven. Live for my Love and for my Kingdom until I have said
everything. I am here with you, and the soul ‘sees’. I have come to you from the sea. I remain with
you now: Light of Love, Message of my Father to you, to you, to souls. I abide in you in the Light of
the Holy Spirit. Now you will burn. Everything will be changed. Now everything will change. I abide
in you, and you will be taken to Me. There is no farewell, for I will not leave you, I will not depart
from you. I in you, and you in Me: the Wine and the Water. Jesus and the soul. One offering, one
Immolation, one sacrifice.”
Varazze 15-3-1968

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Jesus: “I want you to write, to obey Me, to suffer the Love of your Jesus in Me. I am Fire, fire of
love. I want My Temple to burn, to burn with My own Love. I want to take you from the world, from
worries, from thoughts, for I want you for Me: in the world but not of the world! I come to you as
Light, as Strength, as Fire that burns: Love that consumes. Yes, I enrapture you that your soul may
come to Me. I, Jesus, have immersed your soul in my Side…. and I will soon introduce you into the
wound of my Heart. I will sustain you in the Love of My Mother. Soon I will come to you: wait for
Me. Jesus on fire for you.”
Varazze 20-3-1968
Jesus: “My child, write my Name: Jesus. Seek rest and peace in my Name, seek my Grace, seek
abandonment. Now is the time for you to suffer this, and love me, serve me and glorify me in
abandonment. I will come to you from time to time: it is proof for you, proof for priestly souls. Yes,
I want you to read my Messages, meditate on them, for they will produce ‘graces’. Return to read, to
meditate… until I, Jesus, return to you. Love must be desired to be received. The Love that descends
on you is waiting for Me, for My Word. The Love that I seek in you is continuity of thoughts, works,
sacrifices, joys given by Me to you, and through you to souls. Write to My priests that Jesus in the
Eucharist puts His souls to a test of love which they will pass through: a test of Faith. You will not
be excluded either, but Faith and Love with my Grace will be light in the darkness, a safe harbour
where you must already take refuge as paternal arms outstretched to you, to souls in trial, which will
welcome you in the difficult hours. I am going now. It is a time of Passion, of Penance. But with
Me, behind Me come you, my souls, so that you may be partakers of Me in my Eucharistic Love, be
partakers of my Passion. I have not told you that I will not return, but it is good that you, that my
priests, should recognise Me in the travails, struggles, obstacles and pains that you encounter, receive
and experience because, as I told you before, my Word for you, for souls is pain and love. Now live what
I have announced to you so that you may recognise Me. You, my daughter, will yearn for my Word,
and it will return to you after the trial, like water upon the scorched earth, like a long-desired tear.
Now is the time for silence, for recollection, prayer. When you yearn for my Word, remember that I
have given you many: many for you, for everyone. When I return to you, beloved Priests, I will lavishly
pour out My Spirit so that you ‘see’ Me. Pray, pray that I, Jesus, may reveal Myself to you. Pray for the
‘poor girl’ who is writing so that My mercy and My love may not fail; pray for all humanity, for peace,
for the weak, for the good and for the ‘sad’; pray for yourselves that you may love, understand and
forgive one another. We shall remain alive in the Immolation, Victim and Priest and Soul: union of
Love, of Sacrifice. Union of Souls, union and fusion of Father with his children through his only Son.
Heaven and earth in the arms of my Father: moments of Love in which God is in souls, and souls in
God for Me. This is the outpouring of my Heart that Jesus, the Eternal Priest, leaves to you, to ‘Living
Tabernacle’ Priests and to Eucharistic Jesus-bearing souls. I am going now, and I am leaving Vera a
Message of Love. Take yourself to my Heart with humility, and wait at the door until the Bridegroom
opens. I, Jesus, will rejoice if you know how to await the arrival of the Beloved with trust. I said to
you this morning at the foot of the Cross: ‘Where is your faith?’ You must base everything on faith.
Courage, courage! I am waiting for you, each day, in My Offering; I receive you, I unite you to Me
through My Priest. Courage! I am with you, upon you. Tell me, my child, when has Jesus ever left
you alone? Never! Now evening has fallen. Now it is night: night for you, for the Living Tabernacles.
Always be lighted lamps before Me. Lamps of Love. Jesus in the Eucharist.”
Varazze 25-3-1968
Jesus: “I have announced sorrow to you and not joy. Here is the sign of My Love for you, little
soul; here is the wound in your heart: wound of Love, Eucharistic wound. You will see Me in this
wound, and I will take this to My Heart, for I want to draw you to Me in the pain that purifies, that
inflames… You, Living Tabernacles, are the ‘victims’ of the triumph of Me: of the triumph of Me! I,
Jesus, reveal My ardent desire: I want to ‘be carried’ by priestly and consecrated souls. I, Jesus, want
to go through the streets of the world. I, Jesus, want souls to give everything for Me, that I may live
in them, and through them seek, love other souls. Jesus in you and upon you! I will reveal Myself

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again. My Message is on earth and I want it to be accepted so that new light may radiate from it for
humanity.”
Speak about the Blessed Virgin: “I am Mary, the Mother of Jesus; I am the Blessed Virgin:
the Immaculate Conception. Go to confession and be confirmed in obedience to the Voice and
inspirations of the Holy Spirit. Put yourself in authorised obedience, without which my Son’s
thoughts and desires of love and salvation for you will not be revealed. Jesus in the Eucharistic Species
will return to you…, and the Church will turn to Jesus made human in the soul: in the soul transformed
into my Jesus. Tabernacles will multiply for the salvation of souls; Tabernacles will be sacred temples
through which my Jesus will visit other souls. Tabernacles will not live for themselves, but to carry and
give Jesus to souls; and therefore they will no longer belong to themselves but to the Father, to God,
through my Jesus. I, Mary, the Immaculate Conception, have given you a gift as a ‘sign’ of my Love
and my predilection for you who have borne my Jesus under the Eucharistic Species. An Angel from
Heaven has descended upon you, and now your soul is gladdened by the pure presence of two Angels:
the Guardian Angel and the Angel of Eucharistic Love. This, for all the Living Tabernacles. Today I,
Mary most holy, your Mother, have given you a comfort, a guide, a sign of my motherly love. Remain
in my sacred Temple. Rest assured, my child, I am Mary: the Mother of Jesus. I am the Immaculate
Conception. I bless you, I bless you all. Trust, my daughter, I am your Mother: the Mother of your
soul. You will find strength and trust in me, and I will call you to correspond to God’s Thought. Before
Easter Sunday go and present yourself in confession because obedience has value when bound by the
Priest. I will open the way for you. I am Mary, the Mother of Jesus. The Immaculate Conception, for
the glory of God and the Redemption of souls.”
[Vera ] Writing to Fr Gabriel
29-3-1968 “Perhaps it would be good to say the Blessed Virgin’s Magnificat and unite ourselves
with Her in praise and thanksgiving because She is always with us in this charity. Perhaps when we say
it, let us say to Her that we wish to unite ourselves with the souls who have borne Her Eucharistic Jesus
so that all souls may be, in Her Hands, a single Soul that praises, thanks and magnifies the Lord with
Her, with Mary, because these souls have already seen the ‘new Light’ for the humanity of today, of
tomorrow. If you, as a priest, would like to communicate this to the Living Tabernacles in Carmagnola,
so that they are always one soul with the Blessed Virgin before God through her Son Jesus. I will begin
this evening. We must remain united through the Blessed Virgin and completely offered to Jesus in the
Eucharist, through the Hands of the Immaculate, so that Jesus’ Work (the Living Tabernacles) may
see the light soon. Yes, Father Gabriel, the Magnificat, for this is the song that must be raised from
our hearts to God! Inform Carmagnola and Father Borra. Yes, him too: he will be delighted. I will tell
Father Bocchi. And when you are sad, when you suffer the most, when you retire alone and watch…
in the night with the stars, sing with the Blessed Virgin: ‘My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit
rejoices in God, my Saviour…’ Jesus will be with you more, much more. Jesus loves you very much
and this love comforts him because Jesus is in you, always in you. You must offer Jesus in the Holy
Mass, through Mary Most Holy, all the Living Tabernacles, ‘victims’ in the one and holy Victim, as
you offer Me because we are the ‘League of Souls’ and that is one soul. Get consent in writing from
these souls and then do it. In the meantime we will pray. We are not ten or eleven souls but one in
Jesus in the Eucharist and sacrificed in Him. Jesus is love that gives, that asks; Jesus is love that draws
to the Fire. Let us go to this Fire, together, Father Gabriel, it is Heaven, it is Paradise, it is pain, it is
exile, it is Jesus. Jesus helps us. He will help us because He knows that we are small, little ones and
He does not want us to trust ourselves but only Him and His Mother. His Mother is beautiful, she
is so beautiful: she has the beauty of God! The Blessed Virgin is God’s Love. It is she who helps us,
she who intercedes: we will recognise the Blessed Virgin in events. For now let us unite through the
priests! Praise, honour and glory to God through the holy Immaculate Conception! God, I humbly
praise and thank you with all creation and the saints and angels because you are good.”
Varazze 18 April 1968

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“Follow me! Write, do not fear. I am here, I am Jesus with you. I made you suffer for My glory, for
My triumph. My Cross is heavy, but it is a Cross of Love: I want to give it to you, who are nothing
without Me because I rejoice in filling the poor with goods, with riches. You are now a partaker of
Me. Receive all suffering from Me out of Love. I have continued and will continue to build My
Temple in you because I desire to return to you. All of you, wait for Me… in acceptance of suffering,
of renunciation. Wait for Me in trusting prayer, wait for Me in the offering of you to Me. My Work
will have its victims, little victims in Me. I welcome you in my Immolation to the Father for His Glory,
that from Heaven my Blessing may descend abundantly for the Living Tabernacles. This outpouring
of Love from my Father to souls through me must travel the earth, the seas, the skies… It must reach
my souls wherever they are. My invitation goes out to the Pope, to the Holy Father Paul VI to whom
Jesus communicates His grace, His favours, His desires. The Pope is prepared to receive my Message.
Pray! I repeat: pray! Yes, this evening I will reveal other desires to you; desires that you do not know.”
Preparation of the Soul aspiring to become a “Living Tabernacle”.
“The Soul consecrated2 to Me will receive a particular Love, an attraction to Me which is all of
my own. Alive and Present in the Altar. The Priest who follows up this soul will detect a sign of
a calling and will therefore bring it by degrees to knowledge of the ‘Gift’. He will begin the soul’s
preparation with detachment from the things of the world and creatures. He must attend to a work
of purification that will lead the soul to Me, prepare it for Me, for My sensitive dwelling in it. The
period of preparation varies according to the soul and love. At first the soul will carry Me for a few
hours, then the length of time will vary. The soul that by My Grace has become a Living Tabernacle
will carry Me for many, many hours of the day and sometimes, as the case may be, of the night. Th
soul will place me in the Tabernacle in the Church at other times of the day. But I wish to share every
work, every occupation with the soul, that I may be the guide of the soul that gives itself wholly to Me.
The agony of the Tabernacle, the agony of solitude in which I am abandoned by so many souls, must
be shared by the soul that loves Me and desires to become My comforting, consoling angel. ‘Bearers
of Jesus in the Eucharist’ are Angels who never abandon Me; and I will not abandon them. Later, in
secret and with special approval, when consecrated souls increase they will become my Temples, they will
place me in their dwelling with incense and prayer.3 No, my Gift has no limit in time: I desire it to be
forever. When I descend from Heaven with all my Glory, with my Heart wounded with Love for all
humankind I will seek my Living Tabernacles through whom I, Jesus in the Eucharist, will have given
myself to many, many other souls. They, the Living Tabernacles, will be those Chalices in which I will
offer Myself for the salvation of souls, of humanity, until the end. Have you now understood Me,
Vera? Do you understand my Message of Love, of salvation for souls? No, my Message is not projected
in time: I speak of the present hour. You who work for Me, unite, I want you united: one soul in Me.
Pray, offer, suffer for the sake of my Kingdom, that my Mercy may triumph. I want you to wait for
Me with trust, humility, abandonment. I will come to you because my Father sends Me into your soul
in the Love of the Holy Spirit. Obey the call as I, Jesus, always obey my Father. Yes, I have taken your
poor hands in Mine. I took them from you, from Father Gabriel. I still desire other hands, consecrated
hands to unite them with Mine, to place My Gifts in them. What you have suffered in the recent past
has been permitted by My Father. Yes, you did My Will even though you did not ‘see’ Me. Everything
now is as I have desired for you, for your serenity. I want you to follow Me to the end. Now, I in you,
you live by Me. Jesus through Vera for all my little, little souls, to whom I give more because they have
nothing: give everything. I open my arms to these souls if they run to Me like a little child who doubts
himself and seeks his Father, his Strength, his Love, and abandons himself to his heart, certain that
he knows and can give him everything. Little souls, as small as you are, come to Me: My arms are
2 “The consecrated soul…” Reference to the soul of the priest aspiring to be a Living Tabernacle, so there is an alternation
of masculine and feminine terms in the message [more noticeable in Italian than in English] depending on whether Jesus
is referring to the soul or the priest. Furthermore, ‘consecrated soul’ is also to be understood in a general sense as referring
to all consecrated men and women.
3 In secret and with special approval…”: the work must be brought about through ecclesiastical approval.

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extended to you to welcome you. Come, little soul, come: feed on Me, and I will live eternally in you.
Jesus who loves, loves ‘his little ones’ without end.”
Varazze 19-4-1968
Jesus: “I give you my Enlightenment for you to write. The two loaves are symbolic of the two
confessions. The grey one, similar to ashes, refers to the first confession and now no longer exists. The
bread that I mould is the symbol of the second confession. The latter lives in My Heart, and I have
united you to Me in the obedience of My Word. Now you are bound to Me in the Sacrament, and I
will still use you to ‘speak’ through you to the priests, to ‘my’ souls. Always welcome Me with humility.
You must communicate My favours to people of good will, and you will live only for this. There are
many Priests chosen by Me and the happy announcement will come to them. Carry me in sorrow and
joy within you, carry me in everyday life, take me to other souls. Take me to the Priests in My Messages
that they may wait for Me. I triumph where I am defeated, I go where they do not seek me and do
not wait for me. Where there is unbelief, I will give the Faith that I AM. I will guide your soul that it
may go by the paths traced out by Me, and follow Me over cliffs and along level paths. I will give My
Strength to your soul. Come, My child, follow Me, for the journey has begun and we are already going
together. I lead… you follow me! Jesus.”
Varazze 22-4-1968
Jesus: “Easter, Resurrection! Now you rise with Me to the new life of Grace, suffering and love.
My daughter, My Love is blind: it does not see the creature’s faults and miseries. It is My Love that
overflows, and wants to give…to give. I give you my Love, my wounded Heart, my Hands…; give me
yours so that I may join them with mine. I, Jesus Crucified and Risen, will sanctify your poor hands;
I will bind them with Love and Gift to the Church, to Me. You will write for the Church, for Me,
for souls. Yes, this is the Voice of Jesus in the Holy Spirit. I give you these enlightenments. I draw the
soul to Me so that you may hear Me. There will still come days of sadness, of sorrow for you, so that
your soul may be purified in this washing. Gather yourself in My Heart as a nest of love, comfort and
solace. While you wait, write for your Jesus. I wish to speak to my Salesian priests because I desire the
dawning and flourishing of my Work of Love from them. I desire that they come to know my Messages
of Love, for I, Jesus, will bestow spiritual graces on those who meditate on my Words. Therefore, let
them pray for the Holy Father to bind you to my Work of Love. I want my outpouring of Love to
pass from the Priests to souls; I want the Salesians to give me to youth, I want to dwell in them too,
even if it is brief; for whoever will have taken me with a spirit of Love, of reparation, of self-giving to
their brothers and sisters by my Means, will receive the wound of my Love. When the ‘manuscript’ is
be known by My Priests, I will communicate Myself to whomsoever I wish by means of you, of My
hands in you. Then you will disappear, my daughter, so that my Word lives on. Now offer yourself to
Me in My Immolation. I receive you.”
Varazze 26-4-1968
Jesus: “You must not do anything without Me. I will warn you when I want to speak to you and
to souls. Now you have My permission, My consent to write. No one will come to you and ask for
My word except someone who is inspired by Me. The Holy Spirit guides you and my souls. You must
turn to Me in your afflictions. I see, I know… Trust in Me! All around you must be silence. Not light,
not comfort, not anything but Me. It is Jesus who isolates you from everyone so that you seek My
comfort, My help, My forgiveness, My love. I want you to seek Me! You are not alone; I have not left
you alone. (After a pause). Write, write my child. Do not look around at those who listen to or believe
in Me. I want your faith, your trust. Enter into Me, into My thoughts of Love. You need not grieve
if My Words do not flow like river water. Have you ever seen the earth rise up and go up? The world
reaching upwards, and the seas, and nature? Have you seen the sky bend down to stand on the earth?
And the stars and planets and the sun? If this happened the harmony of creation would be broken.
But that does not happen because everything follows an order: God’s order. Everything obeys a voice:

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God’s Voice. Everything obeys God. In you the harmony of the soul is confused: you do not know
how to obey the voice of the Church, and therefore Me. You must accustom yourself to trials, for
through these you will see Me. You must fight against yourself, your doubts, your temptations so that
you may run to Me. Yes, emptiness is around you. No, nothing is finished because I am beginning
to build…in you, outside of you. I want to form a Temple in your poor heart where you feel that you
always welcome Me. When it is empty: seek me, pray for me to come and occupy it. When I am in you,
take care to seek the company of Angels so that they may make up for the adoration that you do not
know how to do. When the Beloved speaks to the little beloved, listen with humility and gratitude,
and do not let the world penetrate and disturb our conversation. If you receive me in this way I can
manifest my Love because I want only soul alone in my Heart, without disturbance, without fear.
Then it will be the true encounter: the soul and I and the soul receives my Light from Me. Propose
this programme for yourself each day: I must live for Jesus. Therefore seek, procure the circumstances
that can leave you free and dedicated to Me alone. Ask Me for time so that you may give it all to Me:
for My Glory. Ask, insist until I grant it to you. Offer me your intentions, so that they may become
immolation to the Divine Will with Me. Now wait for Me, work in your heart to prepare a place for
Me made of so much love. I will return.”
Varazze 3 May 1968
Jesus: “You must write out of love for me. You must speak to people with my Words. I am the
messenger of Peace within you and beyond you. I desire you to take up this cross that I offer you
with my Wounds, so that you may be regenerated to new life by them. Only through my Wounds will
you reach my Heart wounded with love for you and for all souls. Lay your faults your vices and your
miseries in each Wound. I will take everything in your effort. I must work hard in your soul so that you
see the Light. You are still in the darkness that is prolonged for you because of the purification that
your soul needs. You must trust only in Me and in My Mother, for Good, Strength, Love and Light
will come to you from Me, from My Mother. Do not stop along the way and do not get lost because of
obstacles; they are permitted by Me, and you must struggle to overcome them with My Grace. I want
you good, humble, patient. Be silent with people and speak with Me. I want confidence, confidence
from you. You must tell me everything: be assured that I will always listen to you. I recommend
meeting with my Mother. Deal with my Mother in every creature, speak as if you were speaking to
my Mother, give as if you were giving to my Mother. It will be difficult to begin with but She will
tenderly come to your aid. Anchor yourself in this way: the way of Mary, the Mother of God. Begin
at once, and She will help you to fulfil those tasks that Heaven has established for you. I will come to
you through Her so that you may trust and believe that Jesus loves you, inspires you, speaks to you.
I would not leave you in error after so many trials; I would not allow your ruin: I who love you to
an impossible degree, humanly speaking. If you are writing today it is because I want it, I desire it,
I allow it. Come, my soul, come to your Jesus: the Eucharistic Bridegroom promised to you, to my
Tabernacles. You will be the Chalices that I will come to fill; you the Members of my own Body. I
am Jesus, and in my holy Name receive my Gift: receive Me. Pray, even without fervour, without light,
without relief. I always listen to you. Be still, for I give you My Peace. It will come through consolations,
but these are fleeting, and you must pass through other trials. Then, you and I will speak, and I will
have no more secrets from you. Now go to Mary, go to my Mother and begin her Way where you will
always meet with her. My gift to you is my Mary, the Way of Mary. I promise you my Grace. Walk with
Her: think, believe, have faith in meeting Her, but deal with Her in every person until the day comes
when you will live for my Mother, with my Mother. Jesus, Love of the Holy Spirit, has spoken to you
and now accept these Words of mine in the Name of my Mother, the Mother of God. The Immaculate
Conception is close to you and it is She who has dispelled your fears. One day you will see her because
she is your Mother. I, Jesus, want your love, so much love. I want everything from you. I am waiting
for so much love. Your Jesus.”

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BOOKLET 5
8 May 1968
I humbly offer it to the Blessed Virgin Mary:
Please enjoy it and take this booklet into your Mother’s Hands.
O Mary, my mother, help me out of love for Jesus!

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8-5-1968
Jesus: “I want you to tell Fr Gabriel the following: do not be carried away by facile enthusiasms,
but pursue the goal with loving effort and patience. The trials are not over, but beyond these the light
will arise. He must not desist, but persevere. I must urge him to be even more cautious, because for
now it is My Will that the eyes of many are closed. He must focus on Me, he must be certain that I
have willed the trials, the uncertainties, so that your faith may triumph. Vera too, you have suffered the
same shock, but if you trust in Me, you will triumph with Me. I will come to you with My Word, and
you will write, for this is My Will. For both of you there will be no comfort, for you are the victims of
My Work. Vera will write because I will dictate, and Gabriel, be reassured: my Word will come to you
so that you may keep it. Act this way for now. Finally I will open my Ways and you will be happy with
My triumph, happy to have served me in trials. Gabriel, be reassured: Jesus has spoken to you. I bless
you and await your love, your faith in Me. Vera will write, she will write to you because I want her to,
for my Glory. Jesus the Priest to you, Gabriel.”
8 May 1968
Jesus: “For you, my daughter! Yes, I am a Father and I take pity on you who are my creature. I
want to make you happy, so happy in My Kingdom. It is good for now that you suffer the agonies of
My Heart, that you share with Me the pain caused by sin. Now you must suffer for yourself, for the
purification of your soul. Tomorrow you will suffer the same agonies for other souls, but then you
will be stronger and you will know how to see My face, even amid crosses and barrenness. Indulge in
Grace for I am FATHER for you, first and foremost. Why am I speaking to you, yet not speaking to
other souls, though they are beautiful and pure? I have come for the poor, for the sick, for sinners. Is
there any point which you feel excluded from? You are poor, you are sick, you are a sinner. My Love
is so immense that it has sought out those most in need of my care in this wounded world. I am the
Physician of your soul: I want to cure it! I am rich, and I want to make you partaker of my Riches, of
my Gifts, for you have nothing. I am the Holy Victim who can erase your sins with my own Blood.
Now you know why I have sought you without any merit on your part, and everything has been given
to you and is given to you as a free gift. I entrust you to my Mother. I will bring you ever closer to
Her, and you, Vera, you, my daughter, love Me and trust in Me: learn to trust Me. I will not deceive
you because these words flow from the river of my Grace. My Work will arise: I promise you. It will
arrive in every part of the world because it is part of my Redemption, because it is my Will. Rest, my
poor little soul. While you are at rest I will guard your soul as a father guards his creature. Now Jesus
is with you: rest my soul, poor little one! I am with you: I will not leave you during this month for I
always obey my Mother. I am sending you to Her, and She will give you Me. Love her, love her much,
honour her, make her known and loved: she will love you more. I bless you from the Cross, from the
Holy Tabernacle, from the hand of the Priest, so that you may come to Me.”
9 May 1968
Jesus: “And I promised ‘I will not leave you’! Now, even amidst the pain and suffering you are
more serene, you are less weak, you feel that I am watching over you. I will guide you, you be docile
to my calls. Let your Angel also guide you and I will pour so much love into your soul for the Angels.
They will infuse you with strength in trials, they will defend you in dangers. The Angel who is near
you speaks to you in My Name and reveals to you what I want you to do for Me: obey with love. You
will come to Turin: I will wait for you with my Mother where we will meet through her maternal
mediation. I will be there and you will recognise Me… Trust, faith, love in Me! Now rest: I have
accepted your obedience to my inspiration. You will write much and complete your task: the time for
you is not long and you still have much to do. Trust in Me and in Her: my Mother! Now rest: I will
remain with you! Jesus, Life for you! And Life I give you: my Life! Give me yours: I desire it. Give it to
me: day by day, hour by hour… Learn to give your life to Me in this way and I will pour My Life into
you. Life for you is Jesus: Gift.”

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14 May 1968
Jesus: “The Living Tabernacles multiply in my Thought. They are before you in my Vision and
await my word. I will await you in Turin, in the blessed land, and there you will draw strength and faith
among my Martyrs.1 Go to them so that each of them may give you faith, courage, holiness. They are
rich in Me! Then take my words to my Priests, take the announcement of my Gift so that it may not be
delayed. The Living Tabernacle, soon, must be Jesus among people, Jesus in your daily life, so that you
do not forget Me but communicate Me to other people. I in you, in your soul; I on you, in constant
communion with your soul! When there are many of you I will send you far away so that my Gift may
reach all people. Make a careful selection of my Dictations and send them to the Holy Father. I will
be with you with my Grace.”
To Pope Paul VI, my beloved pastor.2 “Paul, my beloved son, chosen by the Blessed Trinity, As
the helmsman of my barque amidst the storms of battered humanity, I place in your hands my message
of love and salvation for all souls. My Work of Love directed by Me, Jesus, must be spread soon and
from you must spring those enlightenments whose light must embrace humanity. I give Myself to
the souls consecrated to Me, and I will be for them. I will go through the ways of the world. I have
chosen new temples: living temples. I cherish the little soul that it may console Me and love Me and
give Me. I yearn for the strong soul that it may die in Me and be Me alone. I form new Temples, new
Churches that live, that leave, that work together with Me: for I am always the Master, the Guide,
the Redeemer. I am Saviour and I want to save all souls. Every soul who will carry Me will have ‘My
way’ open to holiness. I, Jesus, have given you a vocation: fishers of souls. You do not fish far-off souls
without Me. I, Jesus, will come with you, on you, in you! Jesus, One and Three in one, spreads out in
the immensity of His Love. I go under the Eucharistic Species to seek what is about to be lost; I go to
seek the sheep that do not want to seek my fold; I go to call those who no longer listen to me. May ‘my
Temples’ soon be formed, that I may take up residence in them. You, my first Living Tabernacle,
establish my League of Souls, that with you it may be the strength and the army that fights for my
Glory and the salvation of humanity. Behold, I return among you as the beginning of the hour that
will precede my coming to earth. Confirm my divine Will: give it to consecrated souls, give it to the
world, and entrust everything to her whom you love so much with me. Jesus, Eternal Priest, to the
First Priest of his Church: Pope Paul VI. In the Father, in the Son, in the Holy Spirit, may my
Will also be done on Earth.
Angels who offer Chalices to God3 so that Jesus dwells in you, offer them with Him to God the
Father before His most high Throne that I, Jesus, may never be separated from My creature: human
creature and divine creature. Let love be founded, let grace be spread, let the earth be covered with
Mercy, for I, the Immaculate Lamb, have covered humanity with Temples, with Me. And I, I will lift
up my hands to Heaven in the small Hosts to once again cry out, from my Living Tabernacles: ‘Father,
forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ And the Father, through you, will see Me in each of
you: his Son; he will see Me, so many Jesuses, so many children; he will see a spotless Lamb in everyone:
his Victim, Me! I love my Living Tabernacles; I love them now; I have loved them from the moment
I gave myself to you as food for the soul. I have seen you, I see you, I look for you. Welcome me: I am
1 “I will wait for you in Turin, among my Martyrs…”: reference to Valdocco in Turin (valley of the slain) and the Martyrs
Adventor, Octavius and Solutor who suffered martyrdom in Valdocco, Turin. They were part of the Theban legion and
were martyred in the 3rd century. It was here that the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians and the Salesian Work arose. On
a night in 1845 Don Bosco dreamt of the Virgin Mary who told him: “I want God to be honoured in a very special way in
this place where the glorious Martyrs of Turin, Adventor and Octavius, suffered their martyrdom, on these grounds that
were bathed and sanctified by their blood.” (Biographical Memoirs) After that She took a step forward and with her foot
she indicated to Don Bosco the exact spot where the martyrdom took place. It is interesting to note the link between Jesus’
invitation to Vera to go to Valdocco, to the land of the Martyrs, and the message of 7.6.1968 in which Jesus also indicates,
among the aims of the Work, the aim to “create new Martyrs of the Faith who know how to prepare and await my descent
from Heaven”. Message 7.6.1968.
2 “To Pope Paul VI, my beloved pastor…”: this is the first of the four Dictations addressed specifically to Paul VI.
3 The Living Tabernacles.

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Jesus in the Eucharist, I am the Love that gives and gives. I am Jesus, and I look at my flock through
my Pastor Paul VI.
Jesus, High Priest, to you who read Me and know Me and wait for Me and you know… Look at
Me: I am Jesus in LOVE, in MERCY, in GRACE, in FORGIVENESS. Look at me: you are wounded
by Me; and in you I am to give Myself; look at me: I am Jesus and to you I ask your ‘Yes, Lord!’ For
the Glory of the Father, of the Son, of the Holy Spirit who are all a Work of Love. Mother! invoke
her: Mother! Mother! Her open arms are extended to you: call upon her! I give you my Mother, for
this Work of Love I give you My Mother, Mother of lost children as She has ever been for humanity,
and who were found, saved, redeemed through Her. Jesus to you, my beloved Tabernacles, through
my Mother to you, through your beloved Pope, for he will bind on earth what in Heaven is the will,
love, forgiveness of God, Creator and Father for all His creatures. Amen.”
14 May 1968
“Jesus smiles at you, looks at you, loves you…; He draws you to Himself. He wants you to meet
His eyes, His gaze. He extends His hand to you: take it and let Him guide you. He craves only this…
He met you in the Valley of Love where you were wounded and humiliated. Now He has taken you
with Himself, now He wants you in His breath, in the beating of His heart, in the day, in the night,
in time, for eternity. Now you have ‘seen’ each other, you have recognised your Jesus: He whom your
soul ‘sees’. Now you see him, now you know that it was Jesus. Do not doubt. (Here, the writer notes in
brackets: ‘I asked who was dictating’). I am Jesus in the voice of the Angel who is near you: He reports
to you for Me. Trust, you will come to Turin: I am waiting for you there. I want you there because
you must get used to knowing Me, to recognising Me. I defend you from dangers. Trust! Yes, you will
come to Turin: I promise you! You will come for Me, and at the foot of My Mother’s Altar you will
meet Me! In My Gift is your strength, your life; in My Gift is the wound of love that I will bestow upon
you. Yearn for my Gift, empty yourself in my wounds. I bring you my Cross, this new and holy Cross
for you: the book of dictation, of copying; the book of my Love for souls. In this book I will place my
Name, Jesus, if you have written it with love and patience. Many flowers will be gathered from this
book: meadow flowers for little souls; garden flowers for souls cultivated in my service. You must still
receive much Light, much intelligence. The Holy Spirit will shower you with good things because of
my Work. Now you are where my Saints, with my Mother, have seen you, and you are also in their
thoughts, for I am Thought in them. Live with my Saints, with my Martyrs and from them receive
strength and courage. Learn to love them more so that their Martyrdom may be the wealth they offer
you. Where they are, there you remain: I want your soul to be a martyr of My Love. Remain in them
to come to Me. Come to the Blessed Land: the Blessed Virgin awaits you!4 Ask this unique favour for
yourself in my name from the Blessed Virgin, the Holy Martyrs, St Tarcisius. Wait for me. I will not
leave you any longer… So great is my Love that I will not leave you any longer in darkness. I will give
you other Saints as you see, other help, other intercessors in Heaven for you. Love Jesus, you have met
Him as He promised you. Still we shall meet in different forms, until you do not take your gaze from
Me, for Mine will always be upon You. The Father looks at the little one and holds him up that he may
fall no more. Now He embraces him because he was discouraged, perhaps he had considered himself
an orphan, without the love torn from his breast. Now I will give you two more gifts so that they may
be wings to prepare you for the flights that precede the return of the Eucharistic ‘Gift’.5 Hold Me close
to your heart. I am in you! Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!”
Turin 17 May 1968 (In the Sanctuary of Mary Help of Christians). (Before the painting of the Sacred
Heart). Jesus. “Do not be afraid: I am with you.”
Turin 18 May 1968 (In the Chapel of Relics: at the foot of the painting of the Apparition).
4 New invitation to go to Valdocco, Turin, to the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians.
5 Eucharistic Gift. Vera would have Jesus in the Eucharist with her in the last months of her earthly life during her hospitalisation
at Santa Corona, where she would die.

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“Tell the crowds of people that times are grave. They will be saved only through my intercession. I
have come to propagate and spread devotion to my Motherly Heart and love for my Son in the Most
Holy Eucharist. My Son Jesus gives Himself to souls so that they may live of Jesus. Tabernacles will
see the light in my Motherly Heart. Open yourselves to Love, to Grace, to the Gift of God to become
Temples of my Jesus. The way to the Living Tabernacles is me: the Help of Christians. May the Work
arise from Turin, in the Work of St John Bosco! From the Pope, light and approval. Let prayers and
vows be made that I may soon come upon you for ever. Mary Help of Christians to Vera through the
intercession of St John Bosco, in this Chapel of the Apparition.”
18 May 1968 Close to the Crucified Jesus and his holy martyrs. Chapel of the Relics.
Jesus: “And here is the cradle of my Message, of my triumph, because the Salesian Work will bring
my light to the world. The first Living Tabernacles will start from here with ecclesiastical approval:
martyrs of the Faith and of Me! I, Jesus, have said it all. Write, write before you leave, for the Holy
Father: ‘May Rome be given and offered to Me, in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, and from you, Pontiff
Maximus, may the flames of my Love, my Bread of Life, alive and present in every corner of the earth,
depart and multiply in the streets of the world. Let Turin send its Missionaries, its young people, there
where I suffer, where I groan under injustice. Prepare my Temples so that I, Jesus, may go to visit, to
console, to suffer with you in love. Jesus in the Soul, with His Grace, Jesus upon you that you may
offer your body to Me: union of human and divine creature to Jesus Master, to Jesus in the Eucharist.
May every Living Tabernacle say at the end of its earthly exile: “it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ
who lives and works in my soul, who moves my heart to the consummation of charity; it is Christ whom I
bring to others, whom I give to my brothers and sisters, whom I communicate. I have given Him my heart
and soul, I have lent Him my poor body as a temple which He has erected from eternity for His dwelling
among humankind.” It is a little Church that goes, but the whole church for I, Christ, am your Head
and each soul is part of my Body. My Martyrs…
To you, Vera. When the notebook is completed, it will be delivered and placed in the hands of a
Superior for the ‘choice’ of the most Eucharistic means to take to the Pope. I will reveal myself in my
Will, because every priest who will know my Work will love me with ardent love. I, in the grace of the
Word, of intimate communion with the soul.”
(12:30 pm, I have to leave because the Chapel of the Relics is closing)
(Before the painting of the Sacred Heart, before leaving the Basilica): “You are here by my will and
desire. Tomorrow the fruits of grace will arise for my Glory. Jesus blesses you and follows you...”
21 May 1968
Jesus: “Come to Me because I draw you to Love, to Grace. You are in Me. Trust in your Jesus!
My soul beloved by My Blood, we will soon have the same wound of Love. Look at it: it will be yours
with the Cross that I offer you. Will you take it with Me? We will carry it together, for we will do
everything together: you, me and souls. Tell Me that you love Me, that you wait always and only for
Me. Obedience saves you from fears, from scruples. It will be a powerful weapon of defence. I have
given it to you because I am obedient. Be serene, be content. Jesus is with you, he dwells in you through
his Mother. I will help you to copy: do not fear, you will never be alone. Jesus, your life, promises you
this. Tomorrow, and soon, the light will come, the dawn of ‘our day’ will come. Recollect yourself,
pray, wait: Jesus will come to visit you. Wait for Love in the humility of the Mother of Heaven. Stay
close to Her and She will guard you for Me, for you. Jesus who loves what was lost!”
Varazze 23-5-1968
Jesus: “My son, [Fr Gabriel] I have listened to you. What you tell me in the heart of ‘little’ Vera
is kindness, humility, patience. If I make use of her, make use of the same poor instrument. I, Jesus,
place this instrument in the Heart of my Mother; you, through her, in my Sacrifice, that in me it may

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be offered and consumed for my Glory in the triumph of my Work of Love. Now to you, Gabriel, my
son, loved by the Father, by the Son, by the Holy Spirit in great, great measure. After the Novena to
the Holy Spirit, dedicated to the following end, you will make a choice with Vera from the ‘dictations’
she will have collected in the notebook. You will be guided by a wise Teacher: Mary Help of Christians!
Do nothing without Her, but attend to my Work with Her. Be patient and act with Me. Turn to your
Confreres with love, with my love, and give it to them. Offer it in the meekness of My Heart and wait
with Me, in prayer, that they may ‘see’. I will send you to your other Confreres with a humble heart,
and filled with love, for the great, powerful weapon that conquers is Love. Even wrong ways have been
permitted by Me for My purposes, and your other Confreres have been different but useful means
for My Work. May the Love for which I have called you to work in My furrows always save you, that
you may follow Me along the paths I have prepared for you. I promise you the Message for the Pope,
I promise you my help. It is I, Jesus, who desire the Living Tabernacles, I am in Heaven, in my Glory
with my Saints and my Angels; I am always with my Mother. I am with you, on earth, I am in your
souls, I am in the Tabernacles in the Churches. My new dwelling place will be you, souls who await
your salvation and that of your Brothers and Sisters in my Father’s Love. I desire to dwell on you also,
and for two reasons; first, for yourselves, that I may be Guide, the most intimate Master of your souls,
the educator of your hearts, that I may inspire you and instil in you that confidence in Me which I
desire from every creature of mine. Second, that I may go out to the world, to other souls in you and
upon you. O Gabriel, how I long for this union with the soul, how I long to reveal to my souls this
ardent desire of mine! To how many souls will I say, from my Living Tabernacles: ‘Take me with you!’
To how many will I say, after Holy Communion: ‘Make a place for me in you, that I may dwell in your
soul, that I may make of you a small and great Church that goes and walks through the ways of the
world, that I may be taken into your dwelling and be made to be involved in your day, wherever you go
and whoever you meet.’ ‘Take me with you’: this is what I have been asking Vera since last September.
And through her I will ask this of my souls. Take me with you Gabriel! Do not be discouraged by the
struggle and do not allow your soul to be troubled. This is my Message of Love. Take me with you:
you, the chalice where I desire to be, you the ‘host’ given to Me in the Host that is all and only Me.
You see, My Love is so immense that it wants to keep nothing for itself but wants to give everything.
The little Host in the great Host: little Victim in the great and only Victim. Its soul, in my Soul, its
heart, in my Heart. How then not to dwell in it? Why not draw this little soul, who desire to be all
Mine, with the divine power of my Permanence also upon it? Why not help it in the harshness of the
day, why not infuse it with trust and love with the reality of my divine Presence! Oh, yes I dwell in her
soul, but how often she forgets my Presence! I, with my sensitive Dwelling, defend you, infuse you
with strength, draw you and transform you into Me. Yes, Gabriel, you know and acknowledge My
Love: and so fight, fight for Me, for My Triumph. I am, I will always be with you. When you renew
my Sacrifice on the altar of the Cross, place my Work in the Heart of Mary Help of Christians, and
all the little victims. It is not important for you to know who they are: I know them. You, with Vera,
in one offering: life, suffering, pain, work. Give me all this with love. Give me your hearts that they
may live only of my Love, that they may live of my heart. I want to give you the wound of my Heart:
it is a gift, it is Myself in your heart, and you in Mine. The offering to My Father in Me is renewed:
Heaven is open to welcome you, the Holy Spirit to give you His gifts, My Father to love you in His
Fatherliness. I have already spoken to Gabriel for now. To you, my daughter, a reminder from Heaven
through the Basilica of Turin: this Church welcomes you with its arms, my Saints, it takes you to its
heart and introduces you into the Heart of God, Jesus. You will always be in this Church, and in every
Sacrifice there will be an Angel who will say to Me: ‘Take Vera with you so that You may give her to
others. Take Vera with you so that You, Jesus, may say again to many, many souls what You said to her:
take me with you.’ Come in spirit there where my Mother will receive the Offering so that the Angels,
the Martyrs may repeat for you in the Offering: ‘O Father, I give myself wholly to you, in your Jesus,
so that Jesus may be of souls, and make them also hear and welcome the Voice of Jesus: take me with
you.’”
Savona 25-5-1968

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Jesus: “You will have all my help, my support. Jesus will dictate the words for the Holy Father.
In the name of holy obedience bound in Heaven as on earth by my Priest, you will write the message
that I, Jesus, will address to the Holy Father. I give you my Peace, the serenity that comes from my
Love: I give you Myself. You are protected by my Angels, succoured by my Saints, you are loved by
my Mother. Now my Cross comes to you: take it! I raise it upon the Altar of my Sacrifice, and I invite
you, my daughter, come to Me: you need not fear, you cannot fear for I am and will be with you. Yes,
I will bless you with the arm of my Mercy. Write, write that I love you, and in you, like you I love all
my creatures, all souls. I want them to know how much I know how to love. Will you give me your
life, Vera? Give it to me hour by hour, give it all to me: for Me, for My glory, for My triumph, for My
Work of Love. When you go to the Holy Father, you will sing the Miserere, and gathered and united
in Me you will await ‘my hour’. Trust in my Love, My daughter: I will save you! Jesus, Jesus from the
Tabernacles who desires to go out, who seeks other Tabernacles, who seeks you, who seeks poor souls
desirous of Me. Jesus will speak to you again because He wants you alone and forever with Himself.
Love me, Vera, love me to the point of heroism, love me in the Shroud of the Cross where you will
find all the Blood that I have given to your soul. Now rest and know that in Turin you received grace,
great grace. In Heaven you will see. I have finished for now. Jesus with the Cross, with Love, to his
poor Bride.”
Varazze 29-5-1968
Jesus: “Come, come to my Love… I surround you with care, I bend over you. Write, my daughter,
dear to my Heart, write, and in obedience I will be more with you: in you. My Work of Love will flow
from My Heart and all My desires will be fulfilled. I have called you to Me on this path and you must
follow it readily, generously. You will see others ‘called’ to Me, and I will now begin to reveal Myself
through My promises. Give Me your work, your labours, your troubles, your burdens; give Me your
little crosses, give Me those little things that cost you and I will receive everything like the little flowers
that now stand before the holy Tabernacle. You see, I have accepted them. Your love is made of little
things, but with Me it becomes a great, great love.
Yes, now I want to speak of my Work. Those who have already been Living Tabernacles must
gather and pray ‘together’ for the accomplishment of my Work. They must raise fervent prayers to
God the Father, through Me, with triduums of adoration to Me in the Eucharist. I await the offerings
of the little victims who give themselves to Me, so that my Message and my Work may reach the Holy
Father. Let those ‘called’ prepare themselves to receive my Message that I give to the world as the last
salvation offered to it and bestowed by my Mercy. The called are many and few. The army of Faith led
by Me must prepare itself soon. You are already a ‘League of Souls’ that is all Mine, but I want only
one soul in My Love. Yes, I will return to knock at the heart of My Heart: My Priest! I will go to him, I
will visit him. Pray for him to recognise me. Today I have called another Priest to my Work. My Spirit
of Love has visited his soul. Wait trustingly. Trials and sufferings will come for you so that those called
may hear, distinguish my Voice, but this time you will be less weak than before. Father Gabriel will
also be visited by sorrow, and together you will offer everything to Me. Everything, all in the Hands
of Mary Help of Christians, your powerful intercessor St John Bosco; your recourse: the Good Pope;
your purity and humility: the Immaculate Conception; your comfort in sorrow: my Mother in her
unique Sorrow. And you, Living Tabernacles, prepare the Temple, the Church for your Jesus! I will
return, I promise you. Jesus will speak to you and explain. Live with my Mother, I desire it. Jesus to
you, and through the poor means that is you, to all those called.”
Varazze 7-6-1968
Jesus: “I am speaking to you: Jesus! I am so very, very saddened! Alive and present in you, I seek
souls who will pray and unite themselves to Me. I want to prepare you to receive Me through other
graces. You know little, but I will make you a partaker of My divine plans, that they may be revealed to
many. You must pray, and in Me pour yourself out in the love I bestow upon you. Nothing is for you
alone, but for all souls. I have seen them and I see them through you. Yes, my daughter, I cannot repeat

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your nothingness enough. And you see it, you feel it and it weighs on you in difficulties. O Vera, only
your Jesus in you knows how to smooth every path. Come to Me, and I will open My Fatherly arms to
you. I have come to you for all souls; I have come for Father Gabriel: he waits for Me, he waits for Me! I
will go to him, I will succour him, and my Love, which is the Holy Spirit, will guide my thoughts until
I reach him, to enfold him in my Love. Here he will draw faith, confidence, strength, and I will renew
in him my mission as the Apostle of souls. You must be humble and know how to wait for me. I must
enlighten you on my mission so that your little soul may be enlightened by my Divine Spirit. I must
prepare you to accomplish the last mission for Me, and in this month you will have a Gift of love that
comes from My Heart as Priest for My beloved, beloved Priests. I will never cease to love them, to melt
into them if they are generous, patient, humble. I love you, I love you my beloved souls; I consume my
holocaust in your priestly hands and I am all yours. Will you all be for Me, as I am for you? Vera will
speak to you in My name, and you will receive Me in My Messages, in the words that will come to you.
Do not forget that I seek you by many ‘ways’, I call you through many ‘voices’, I pour out my graces
on you in unthinkable, unbelievable but true forms, because they start from Me who am the Truth;
they give you life for a new apostolate that is Life, a growing life of Grace; they show you a new ‘way’,
even if it is still My Way. We must reach out to all humankind so that not a part of the earth, the seas,
the heavens remains without Me. I, Jesus, want to cover the earth with Me, and for this mission I have
called you to a generous renewal of apostolate among the peoples of every country.
My goal is to create new Martyrs of the Faith who know how to prepare and await my descent
from Heaven.
My goal is to sanctify the soul that ‘bears me’ so that I may renew the holocaust with it to my
Father.
My goal is for the soul that bears Me: it will constantly draw strength, courage, an everlasting
motive of love from Me. It will draw everything from Me, it will receive everything so that the mystical
union may be a ‘prelude to the life of My Heaven’ for that soul.
My goal is the love I wish to spread through the ‘bearers of Me’. I repeat that I, with my divine
Presence, will sanctify the dwellings in which I shall be received. I shall draw the souls I shall meet and
with whom I shall be to My Love through my Bearers: I shall pour out Peace by degrees, I shall appease
distraught souls, I shall radiate the light of Grace upon those whom I shall see through you. ‘Take me
with you, and for you, and for other souls.’
Other goals? There are many. But not all will be revealed for now. I will give more to you. Be
tranquil, be serene. I live with you! Do you not know it yet?! Long have I remained in you, and you,
therefore, are in Me. I am not deceiving you for I am Jesus whom you love, seek, see with your soul,
because from time to time I love to appear to it, so that, besides the Divine that eludes you, you may
glimpse my humanity: Jesus, Master, Priest, Brother; Jesus Love, Love of God, Love that saves, that
forgives, Love that gives. We will tell Jesus to lead us into his blessed Kingdom through his Eucharistic
Love. We will say it together every moment; and when you forget this, I promise to do the invocation
for you. It is the voice of God, it is the voice of the Holy Spirit: do not fear. Jesus is near you. Jesus makes
himself your companion to help you, to do what you do not do, what you forget, what you neglect…
It is Jesus, it is always Jesus, Jesus alone and all Jesus. We will speak, I will speak, I will prepare you for
my coming, where the Spirit of the Lord will lead you, and souls, to salvation. I will come. I will lead
you with my Word to the Pope. I will prepare you. I want you in my Mother, in her Heart I desire to
see you, to meet you here because I will speak to the Pope from Her wounded heart. Jesus, in the Love
of the Holy Spirit, to you, to all souls. Jesus, to Father Gabriel, to my beloved Priest for my Work. Tell
him that I love him, I love the one that trusts in Me! I am with him. I want to return to him. Open
your heart to me, that I may come to you for ever Gabriel, Jesus has spoken to you.”
11 June 1968

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Jesus addresses himself to our Supreme Pontiff Paul VI. “I am Jesus who comes to you in his
great Eucharistic Love to offer you the Mercy of my Father’s Heart, my Heart as Priest, Friend, Brother.
It is for humanity, for the salvation of the peoples, the nations. It springs from a source of living water
from my wounded Heart. It comes down from Heaven as a new and final light to shed light on the
darkened ways of the world. It bathes the arid earth, renew souls in the service of the apostolate, gathers
those called to Me in the army of salvation. I am this Light, this Water: Jesus! I come to bring a new
‘way’ of Love on earth for people who await me and love me. A Way based on Truth that is my divine
and human reality in the Eucharistic Presence; a way that will lead to the life of Grace and to so many
souls who are far from Me. My Way lies in Truth and gives My Life. This Way is Me: I am Jesus in the
Eucharist. Yes, I am Jesus among people in the Sacred Species, but only for those who seek me, who
love me. I ardently desire to be present in my Divine and Human Reality, in all the places of the earth;
I desire to travel the ways of the world, to ply the skies and the seas and to go out to meet people: go to
those who do not seek me, do not love me, do not know me. The Church keeps my Eucharistic Species
in the holy Tabernacle. I dwell in it, I dwell in the soul with my Grace. I pour out my Spirit of Love
from the Tabernacles. Now I have chosen new Churches, new Tabernacles that will watch over Me;
Living Tabernacles to take Me through the ways of the world, to lead Me among these people who do
not think of Me, who do not seek Me, who do not love Me. I, in the soul called by Me, given to Me; I
will reach other souls with it, in it, on it, I will live close to them, I will share the labours of their life; I
will reach them through My Living Tabernacles. From these I will pour out My Light day by day, hour
by hour, that they may learn to recognise God. I will pour out my Grace in great measure that sinners
may become sensitive to my calls. I will walk, as I once did in the land of Palestine, I will reach the ends
of the earth and I will visit everyone. I will extend my Grace to everyone, I will offer Salvation to
everyone. Purpose: to reach out to all souls, be close to them, touch them in the intimacy of their heart
with my Fatherly love. Goal: to prepare, down below, infinite and holy Living Tabernacles to cover the
earth. They will be the ‘Chalices’ offered to God the Father for the salvation of humanity. I, Father,
I in the Love of the Son, I in the Fire of the Holy Spirit, will be in those Chalices raised to Heaven,
the cry of Love for my Brothers and Sisters, the everlasting Holocaust pleasing to God the Father. I,
consumed in my souls, I, carried and enclosed in the Living Tabernacle… When I descend from the
Heavens in my Glory my Father will see my Tabernacles, and the souls drawn, saved by my divine
Presence through my new Tabernacles. Oh, cover the earth with Living Tabernacles: cover yourselves
with Me! Programme: I want those who must become Living Tabernacles to be consecrated souls.
Priests of fervent love, great charity, pure love. Let it be among the Salesian Fathers that my Work of
love is born. May it develop and spread, since my Mother Mary Help of Christians will be guide and
teacher for every soul, for every Living Tabernacle. She will teach inwardly how to love, adore, carry
and give Jesus. May she be proclaimed Mother of the Work, mother of every soul, Mother of Victory
so that with her every soul may fight and overcome; may every Living Tabernacle triumph over itself,
over the snares of the enemy; may she be proclaimed Mother of Victory that precedes my return, my
Triumph, my coming among you. May the Living Tabernacles be prepared with extreme humility for
the call, through self-denial, that I may live and act in them. May their goal be to disappear in order
to make room for Me who wants to be at work in their souls and in other souls through them. Let
Living Tabernacles be chosen also among the young, among lay people so that I can go into schools,
families, and share the life of humanity. Those called to my Work will receive a special fervour for my
Eucharistic Love, which will characterise them as the beloved ones of my Love. The furrows through
which I desire to go must be opened: Turin, Rome, Florence, Genoa, Savona.
From here other paths, other destinations, countries, villages; other nations, other continents…
will receive the increasing gift of My Love with Me, the Living Tabernacle, and for many, the wounding
of My Heart. The one who shares the Divine Bread will find all comfort in the struggle, all detachment
from the world, all completeness in Me. I will open the way to holiness to the Living Tabernacle, and,
in the ascent, he will be more than ever with Me. The Living Tabernacle will never work without
Me, but will seek help, enlightenment, counsel from Me, for I shall be in him and upon him to work
together, to act together; we shall go, we shall speak, we shall deal with one another. I in him for the
sanctification of his soul, I on him, for other souls. Let souls thus arise to form a League: a ‘League of

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Souls’ where each in Me gives what he knows how to give with poverty of spirit and deepest humility.
I will unify everything, I will fuse it all in My burning Heart. I, Jesus, will come to console those
who suffer, I will visit the sick in their hearts… I will say, even in silent language, that God is Love,
He is forgiveness, He is goodness to all. Out of my wounded Heart springs my Work of Love for
sinners, for those who do not see Me, do not want Me, do not wait for Me. To them I, Jesus, will
go through my souls, priestly souls, consecrated souls. The Work, therefore, must develop among the
young, in parishes, in institutes, but it must assume all respectful silence, the reserve that is the badge
that characterises the Bearer of Me. The Work must involve Salesian life and activity, because from
the Work of St John Bosco my Work of Love must blossom as a ‘continuation’ of the former. Let
the Priests strive with fervent love to prepare those called to my League. May my Priests give me the
consolation of reviving me in them. In every Living Tabernacle I, Jesus, will place my ‘stone’, and this
will be my new Church that goes, that will go everywhere, for I will go, I will be everywhere. And
you, Paul VI, you who represent me in the Church, receive my Words with a deep spirit of faith as
my Vicar. I, Jesus, Master of souls, have given my Thought to the poor person who has nothing of
himself but only of Me. I have revealed my Message of Love, my last Message to humankind, through
a creature who is poverty, frailty, nothingness, who is…poor, desolate, afflicted humanity. She will be
trust for small and generous souls, an example of trust, confidence, abandonment in Me. She will say
in her poverty, in her misery that I seek little souls, little souls who are victims in Me, in whom I pour
out My heartbeats of love. Union and immolation in Me, so that Eternal Priest and little soul may be
one as Wine, I, and Water, the soul, offered to the Father in one holocaust. All that you have bound on
earth, shall be bound in Heaven. You, My Vicar in the Church, bind My Work of Love in the authority
of the Church; spread it, let it emanate throughout the world. You, my first Living Tabernacle, who
go with Me to visit the farthest parts of the Earth to give Me, make the bearers of Me increase, grow,
who, like you, following your secret example, reach the earth, the seas and even the heavens. O My
beloved Son, hear My Message of Love! To you, who suffer the pain of humankind with Me, I place
the last throb of love for all human beings in your hands as Pontiff. There is all my holy Grace in my
Words: there is Me, there is the purifying fire of the Holy Spirit. To you my Voice, through an image
of that poor humanity that always awaits Me; to you my Voice made poor so that it may come to
you from the poor who hope and believe in Me, to you my Word made human in little souls. Receive
everything in Me, Jesus, and enclose My Voice in your heart as the first Shepherd. Let it reach my
sheep, my lambs, for they will know how to recognise my Voice. They will follow it if you make the
voice of their divine Shepherd reach them. O my soul who carry me with humility and love, you know
me, your hear my Father’s accents, you see how much I am Saviour and Redeemer in my message. You
see me. You know that it is I, Jesus! Gather those who are called in your right hand that blesses, trace
out the established furrows, confirm my souls in the order established by God through you, pour out
the grace that through you, I, Jesus, will bestow upon all souls. Seek Me in my Messages of Love; seek
the Way, the Truth, the Life in those outpourings of Love that the Holy Spirit has bestowed on the
poor for all the poor.
Seek me in the Messages that come to you, that you, as my Vicar, may give me to humanity: to
the poor, the rich, the strong, the weak. Night has fallen, but I watch with you and over you. O Peter,
helmsman of my barque, lead my souls to Me, form my Army that fights with you and triumphs in
Me. My hour is not far off in time: I desire to be with you, I do not want to leave you, I will be with
you to the last. ‘Take me with you,’ is My Voice of Love. ‘I want to stay with you,’ is my Heart asking
you. I in you and upon you, so that you may always bear great fruit in Me. I for you, my Vicar, to all
the Priests, to the Salesians, to my souls, to small, little and humble souls. I for you, to all humanity.
Bless and authorise my Work of Love, and gather ‘My souls’ at your feet, before my Father, so that
through you they may be offered up in Me to my Father in the Love of the Holy Spirit. Ask, ask, and
I, Jesus, will give you those signs of grace that will bear witness to my Word. It is Truth, it is Mine.
May the Spirit of Love descend in its fullness in my Message, that in Me you may receive, bless all that
comes from Me. I am Jesus, Truth, Life, to you, My Vicar on Earth. To you, consumed in my love as
an everlasting holocaust before my Father; to you, to whom the Heavens and the Earth turn so that
you may say to them: Yes, Father! Yes, my children, I give you Jesus as he ardently desires to come to

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you for your sanctification and the salvation of other souls. And I, Jesus, will be able to ask of many,
many other souls as I have asked of one: ‘Take me, take me with you’. Jesus in you, with you, on you,
blesses you, and in the wound of Love that makes our hearts one Heart, He pours out His Love and
His Sorrow. Jesus, High and Eternal Priest, to Pope Paul VI for His Glory and the coming of His
Kingdom of Love in souls.”

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BOOKLET 6
O Mother mine in Heaven, I humbly offer you
this “booklet” and the obedience received
as the “will of God” and promised to you.
Give me the holy Grace to obey Jesus
with every more profound humility,
and do his will to the utmost.
Give me the “gift” to love, love, love Jesus
purely and everyone, everyone in Jesus.
Thank you.
Your servant Vera.

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Varazze 15-6-1968 Jesus: “And write, write in my holy Name: Jesus! I want to console you because
I live in you and you take me into your soul, into your heart. I live in the Light and Love of the Holy
Spirit, and I nourish your soul with my Grace. I speak to you, I offer you my Love, I guide you, I
call you, I suggest things to you. I am the Shepherd, you my little sheep whom I often pick up from
the ground and carry in my arms. While you think you hold me close to your heart, I am the one
who embraces you, I hold you close to my Heart with Fatherly tenderness. But you do not resist this
spiritual joy, this outpouring. When the forces of your spirit prevail over those of your nature, you feel
that you are lacking in something and I veil my outpouring. No, I do not turn you away from Me. I
have desired and do desire to make My abode in you. Tomorrow this immense goodness of Mine will
save, will gladden many more souls. Fear not if you do not comprehend all of My Work. For now I
want it this way. My Work goes ahead by degrees, and only over the space of three years will it be fully
manifested to people. For now I wish it to begin, and that those who are called prepare themselves not
only to receive me as food for their souls but also to carry me, to give me. The Living Tabernacle must
learn to give me, for I will be in that person for other souls. The mission of the Tabernacle is apostolate,
it is an intimate and constant work of spiritualisation, it is complete self-giving to others through me.
Look at my Cross, I want it to inspire you with so much love, all the love that led me to embrace it.
By this holy and beloved Cross I give myself always to you, I renew my Sacrifice, I offer myself to the
Father for souls. By this holy Cross I am with you and will come upon you. Whoever bears Me will
bear My own Cross. Now I want the soul called by Me to be conscious of my holocaust in it and to
adhere to it with love. I desire that, receiving Me, she lovingly embrace the New Cross that I give her.
We will then unite the heartbeats of love and offer them to the Father for the hearts that do not yet
love. Yes, I renew My Passion and Death in the Holy Sacrifice, and give Myself to you as at the Last
Supper to My Apostles. I remain among you in the Eucharist and come to you. For the souls called to
my Work to be established in the goal that is willed by Me, they must ‘bring Me’. Every soul receiving
Me in the sacred Species should give Me to other souls, but human beings are poor, human beings
forget, human beings are weak and, even if they know my new commandment – love of neighbour –
they allow themselves to be diverted by their thoughts and anxieties. I will have this Voice in and on
the soul: give me to others, take me to others, let me act in you so that others may be partakers, albeit
to a lesser degree, of those spiritual fruits that derive from the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass, for which
the symbol, the Host that you carry, is now all and only Me because it is consecrated. Voice of Love,
voice of God humanised for my little souls, voice that gives trust, confidence, hope for itself of holiness,
redemption and salvation for all souls. Now go, your Jesus has spoken to you and blesses you. I remain
in you to help you come to Me. I am thinking of Father Gabriel: do not fear his silence. Trust, trust,
trust. I will triumph! Never doubt Me, My Fatherly graces. I see, I receive your sorrows, your offerings,
your company. I live in you, and this is a Gift that I have given you in advance because without Me
you would not have written. Yes, you are in the Chalice that the Priest offers, you are with Me, in the
water and wine, you are in My Cross, you are in My Love. Give Me your hand, Vera, that You may
be carried by Mine. Come, follow Me, walk with Me to the goal. I will never abandon you! Believe
and increase your faith in Me: in your Jesus, in Him who wants to make you a bride, a bride of Blood.
Jesus in you.” Varazze 23-6-1968 Jesus: “Your soul is visited by holy Grace, by my Light. I see the ‘little
ones’ in you, my little ones and I take them to my Heart. You are among them. I direct my tenderness
to them because they are little, that is, in need of care. I want to hold them in My arms to defend them
so that they may remain in Me. Now you see why I have shown you such love, so much gentleness. I
go in search of little souls, and I call them through you. Therefore, My Words must be known, they
must run through the ways of the world. I have given you Myself, now give Me all of yourself without
reserve. We must ‘all’ work ‘together’: you and I, Jesus and the little soul; God the Father and Creator
and his poor creature. In My Father’s bosom there is Love for all, and all exist in Him. He redeems souls
in Me, He draws you to Himself through Me, He looks upon you with Me, because together we are a
Unity: Christ Jesus in humanity. Now I will initiate you into greater understanding. Look with Me: a
poor man is seated in a boat, the winds drag his ship adrift. He groans, he considers himself alone… If
he sinks it is because he has not believed in My Almightiness, has not hoped in My goodness, has not
sought Me, has not invoked Me. Yes, he is a Christian, he is baptised but he does not believe in Me. Do
you see now where my Work of Love wants to go? To this poor man, to all the poor. The means, the

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branches united to the vine, to Me, will be you: the Living Tabernacles. I, Jesus, promise the following
in the Glory of My Father, in the outpouring of Love of the Holy Spirit: A) I will shed the holy Grace
of my divine Presence upon those who happen to be near Me through you. M) The dwellings that
will be visited frequently by Me, will receive the divine Guest in their hosts. O) The essential graces
that I will bestow on the souls who host me under the same roof will be: increase of faith, conversion
of sinners, serenity and peace. R) None of them shall die without Me, for I shall be with them at the
hour of their final call. E) I will draw their human hearts to my divine Love. Before they receive Me as
their divine Guest, I want this family to be consecrated in its members to the Immaculate Heart of my
Mother so that I, Jesus, may always find and meet my holy Mother. She will purify your souls, make
up for your miseries and lead you to Me. When you go with Me along already established ways be very
humble, be very humble because great, immense is the honour you poor people receive. You who were
once dead to Me have now been saved by Me. This is My forgiveness: to make you now partakers of
Me, to ‘give and take’ Me to other poor people. I in you, upon you, will always be the Good Shepherd
in search of the sheep who want to be outside my fold. I will seek them out, I will go towards them
so that they too may hear my Voice and follow me. ‘Take me with you’: this Voice that is mine, Jesus’
Voice for my priestly souls, for my little ones, for my little victims, this Voice will echo in many souls.
Now you ask me: ‘Jesus, take me with you.’ You would not have asked this if I had not given you this
desire of mine. While you, in your misery, can carry Me by My grace and My will, think about the fact
that it will never be you who will carry Me, but I, Jesus, who will carry you. So I want the humble soul
sensitive to my calls and preferences; I want it to surrender itself trustingly to Me, and above all to my
divine Heart of a Father. Yes, ask, ask me from now on: Jesus take me with You! And I will answer: give
me yourself that you may walk and tread the paths of Heaven with Me already from this life. Give me
your will, give me your heart, give me all the faculties of your soul, give me your hands that they may
be bound to Me. Give me the days, the hours, the minutes, the moments, all the time that I leave you,
that I still grant you. Give Me the suffering, give Me the pain, give Me your life, so that in the end it
may be, for Me, a gift of Love to My Father. I, Jesus, promise that I will give the joy of suffering to you,
my Living Tabernacles, as I gave it to my Apostle Paul. Tomorrow, afterwards I will come to you. Be
strong in Me. Jesus in His Holy Grace.” Savona 30 June 1968 “I am the Way, the Truth, the Life. I am
he who gives and receives souls in his everlasting Immolation. I am Jesus who redeems! I want my souls
to come to the holy Altar to offer me their gifts: the life of the soul, their soul, their life, their heart,
their will, their thoughts and afflictions, their groans and their consolations. Many, many souls in this
union of love, work, prayers, offerings. I await you, I stretch out my hands to give and to receive, so
that the union with Me, the only Victim, may be perfect and irreplaceable in Me; may it be Grace that
saves, Grace that pours out upon others; may it be Glory that rises from Earth to Heaven. Let me list
those ‘called’ to carry Me through the ways of the world, and I am still calling them with more Voice,
with more Grace. They are Religious, Priests, Sisters dedicated to works of charity in the midst of the
world; souls consecrated to Me; pure and prepared youth; ‘poor sinners‘ reborn in Me. Let a small
tabernacle made of wood, the symbol of My holy death on the Cross, be prepared for consecrated lay
people, where they may keep Me in their dwellings for appropriate needs. I, Jesus, will spend longer
in the Living Tabernacle, and just a few hours in the wooden one. Two candles will be lit there to call
some of the family to adoration. My holy Angels will crown me and make up for any loneliness. Every
evening the Living Tabernacle will have to say with Me to My Father: ‘I wish to be consumed in Your
beloved Son Jesus, as an eternally lit candle before the Blessed Sacrament of Love, in thanksgiving for
such an inexpressible Gift.’ This offering, this immolation of Love in Me to My Father, must draw the
goodness of God upon suffering humanity so that from you, with Me and in Me, flames of charity will
travel the streets, the paths. The heartbeats of my Love as a Father, Brother and Friend shall be brought
and given to everyone You will love with Me, for you will learn what love is from Me, charity for your
brothers and sisters. You must resemble Me, Jesus, and disappear in Me… I will give you another face,
Mine; other hands, Mine; I will give you another heart, Mine. I will give you Myself: Jesus! I will be for
you first of all: a Friend, Brother, Spouse, most tender Father… Give Me your heart and your will. Do
not fear those who make you suffer because of me, but give glory to God, who in the new Pentecost has
called you to a new and holy martyrdom: the Martyrdom of Eucharistic Love. Do not fear, and guard
me jealously on yourselves so that my holy Presence may be the ultimate testimony of Love for you, for

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humanity, that I come to give to my children all through you. Bear witness to me before my Father and
humankind. Thus will I send my souls through the streets of the world, thus will I scatter my graces;
thus will I, Jesus, go, thus will I, Jesus, go with the soul that is dear to me, with the heart that loves.
Thus ‘we will go’: Jesus and the soul. I, God in the Three Persons of the Most Holy Trinity, Creator
and creature in search of ‘my creatures’: all of them! I do not want My Work to serve only Priests, but
many souls chosen by Me. I do not want words but deeds permeated with love. Go, go to the Holy
Father. I, Jesus, am preparing his holy soul for the Light that I am about to bring into the world. I,
Jesus, am preparing my Vicar for the encounter with my Work of Love. I am with you I am already
acting with you. The Holy Spirit has spoken to you, He will still scatter His Word in the furrows so
that, like seeds of wheat, they may sink into the earth, take root and bear abundant fruit. The Holy
Spirit in Love with the Father and the Son, Christ Jesus, gives His graces to the poor, the little ones and,
for them, manifests Himself to the Great to affirm that God is Love, is Forgiveness, is Peace. The Holy
Spirit gathers up the children who were lost, purifies them, saves them and makes them little victims
of Eucharistic Love. When the Holy Father has approved my ardent desire and I will be and go in ‘my’
soul and on ‘it’, I will spread my Spirit and (interruption…).” Savona 1 July 1968 Jesus: “You must
be more cautious, and utter my holy Name Jesus several times a day so that my name, Jesus, may be a
reminder to you of the task I have entrusted to you. My Spirit of Love must cover all souls, and I want
you to spread it and make it known. This is the Will of God, and you must bend to His divine Will.
Therefore you must shun distractions. These are vain and lead you away from interior recollection,
that is, from Me. Fear not, I, Jesus, will make up for your miseries! I only want to find you ready for
Me. I want you to read my Passion and meditate on it… for you will meet Me on the Via dolorosa (Way
of the Cross). You must draw near to Me, to My sorrow, because with this weapon of love I will purify
your soul, other souls and, in particular, the souls of those I have called. We will read together. You
must write to Father Gabriel in my name Jesus, so that your letters may be ‘mine’. You must always
be a docile medium in my holy Hands, serving the glory of God and his divine plans. Have nothing
of yourself, but everything of Me. We shall write other letters and, so as not to disturb the priestly
soul, I, Jesus, will veil Myself in your name. Therefore, every letter of yours will immediately bear this
inscription: ‘Jesus comes to you’. You must live for Me, you must serve Me in others, you must seek
Me, My Mercy lavished on you and on souls. Deal with Me, receive Me, serve Me in others, so that
the union may be constant, so that I may live in you with My Grace and My Love. Only thus will
we arrive together, on high, everywhere. May my Word henceforth comfort you and may my Light
penetrate you. Ask my Mother for spiritual help, for temporal help, so that you are not afflicted by
unnecessary burdens which should not be there. These waste the time that I have appointed to pour
out my Grace and my Words upon you and all souls. My daughter, obey Me and I will reward your
obedience with much Love. Now reread and meditate. Jesus is guiding you, instructing you; Jesus is
teaching you how you give yourself to Him in others day by day and hour by hour. I bless you in my
Holy Mother, I help and protect you. Jesus, servant of souls. Why ‘Servant’? Am I not ready to serve
my souls in their needs? Do I not come to you in your struggles, in your travails, in the harshness of
your resistance to my Grace? If I, Jesus, Master, did not serve my souls, how would you ever be able to
serve Me for your eternal salvation, for my Work of Love? I serve you so that you may serve My Father
with Me; bear witness to Him with your faith, your charity, that you may be instruments of salvation
in Me. If I, Jesus, your Father and Master, still make myself your Servant through my holy Humanity,
all the more may you be the servants of God, and for him of all souls. May this divine service teach
you true humility: I, Jesus, in you through an act of Love of my Father; you in Me and for Me to my
Father through an act of Love of Mine. You are for Me. Outside of Me you are nothing. Let nothing
disturb you, for he who lives by Me is in the Light, is in the Life, is in the Truth. Let me lead you to
My Pastures. Listen to My Voice and follow Me. I am Jesus. I reveal Myself to you, and through you
to all souls. Send My Messages far away. Spread my Word, my Love before humankind is tested yet
again by hunger and chastisement. Hurry, time is short for you. I remain in you. We shall meet in the
holy Tabernacle, in the holy Mass. Come, bring me your offerings and I, Jesus, will accept everything,
I will purify and sanctify and unite it all to Me, and make it all Mine. My Blood redeems you, and I
prepare my Brides with my Blood. You, in my innocent Blood, will be my first Bride gathered from
among the poor. Live of Me, Vera; live for Me, my daughter; live in Me, in my eternal Sacrifice. Jesus

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to you, to all the souls who are, who will be in time and whom I see and love and wait for. Jesus to
Father Gabriel and all his Priests; Jesus to his Called ones; Jesus for all so that all may be in Me, in the
Love of the Holy Spirit one soul glorifying My Father. The Holy Trinity lives, forgives and redeems in
the souls saved by my Blood, in humility and charity. I am Jesus, the hope of the good, the confidence
of those who love. I am Jesus and I live in Vera’s soul for her and for other souls. Jesus, most loving
Spouse of souls.” Savona 5 July 1968 Jesus: “You must tell Father Gabriel that My Work of Love must
be carried out by him. Let no one else be a promoter for Me. For now I want it to be so. He must
entrust My Work to Me because My Ways must flow from Me. Go with sure steps to the Diocese, to
the Bishop, to the Superiors, until you meet Me in the Holy Father: Paul VI. I will be waiting for him
there and he will see Me, for I, Jesus, will reveal Myself to him in the fullness of My Grace and Love.
I have so far dictated the first part of my Work, and I desire that it be known, studied, received with
immense gratitude. I will guide my souls, and when they are ‘Living Tabernacles’ for Me I will instruct
you further. Then I will begin the second part of My Work that will reveal more of My desires to you.
In the practice of daily life the Living Tabernacle will receive new guides and special, almost individual
programmes: case by case (I was interrupted…).” Savona 8 July 1968 Jesus: “You are not alone when
you write and therefore you need not be afraid. Think of me, as I told you before, as a good Father,
so that as your God I will not make you afraid. Now, my child, you must write my thoughts of Love.
I want the Bearers of Jesus in the Eucharist to receive Jesus after a Holy Mass in which they will have
given themselves totally to Me. The Sacred Eucharistic Species that they will carry must be consecrated
in the same Sacrifice. The ciborium must be filled with hosts to be consecrated, and those consecrated
hosts that remain will be little souls and big souls that I will call to bear Me. May the Holy Sacrifice be
repeated every month to renew the sacred Offering and the mystical Union of Me, True Life, with Me,
with My Soul, in the Priest who celebrates. Prepare my ways now. Work with trust because I, Jesus,
am and will always be with you and in you for other souls. Little, little bride of my Eucharistic Love
and of my Eucharistic Martyrdom, you will follow the way that I, Infinite Goodness, have established
for you. You will come to Me, I promise you, by this way, and not even your miseries will be able to
divert you from Me. Now you are in Me and I am in you. Now give Me, My Heart, My Voice to souls;
now give what I have given you to all souls. I am here and you already bear Me. I love your humble
labours. I will love them more if you veil them with silence. I love your prayers because you seek Me
in them. I take pity on your impatience that reminds you of your nothingness. To Rosa, to the child,
you must say that I love them, and very much, and that the three of you are together in My wounded
Heart of Love. Yes, I will save him: I will save Silvio so that no one in your family will perish.1 Your
mother will come to Me. Your mothers will help you in Heaven. Fr Gabriel is blessed, and I send him
to you in My Name, Jesus, and listen to him from Me. Yes, My embrace as Father and Bridegroom.
Now copy so that you may see in My Words that I am in you to dig and prepare My Temple of Love.
Jesus in your soul. I am Jesus, I am Love. I am Jesus in Word and Grace. I am Jesus the Way, the Truth
the Life. I am Peace, I am Forgiveness.” Savona 15-7-1968 Jesus: “I am the Source of living water. In
Me you will draw holy Grace. Behold, I pour into your soul this Water that it may quench your thirst,
purify you. Bathed in my divine Blood is the Bride whom I lead to my Altar, and there we are united,
we are [but] one Soul and one Heart. This is my Gift for you, for my ‘little victims’. Thus we prepare
ourselves for the great Offering, for the final immolation. I, Jesus, in you! No, I will not leave you;
you will always be mine. Father Gabriel is my faithful servant. I, Jesus, find my pleasure in him and I
work in the Mystery of my Love in him. Now he goes with the new Cross that I have given him. I am
there in this Cross of salvation. Carry it, Vera, with him, with love and gratitude. It is yours, it is Mine.
Carrying this cross, you will carry Me, and I will be with you in this union, in this slow Calvary. And
you in Me, to the end! I give everything to you. I give everything so that you may serve my Work. Ask,
ask for suffering and love, love and suffering, so that these privileges of my Heart, lover of souls, may be
identified. Carry me with love. Keep me in the depths of your being. I am in you! You are carrying Me,
consecrated hosts in Me. You, my Tabernacles, are my new Temple. You have Me. My Spirit of Love
descends upon you to give you Fortitude. Receive My gifts in humility. Now give Me, give My Words
of Love and Peace. Give My Proclamation of further Love to the peoples, to the nations. I want my
Army to be prepared and soon: with it I, Jesus, will triumph. My little blessed soul, My Father draws
you to Himself in My Name. He blesses you, He blesses you. Give the obedience to the Priest that I

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will demand of you. To Me, to My Priests, you will be My poor and little Bride of Blood: I have united
you in Me. (After an interruption by the writer, the ‘dictation’ resumes as follows): Always Jesus with
you. You must deepen my Message of Love in order to realise it. You must carry Me and give Me with
humility and simplicity. Fear nothing: I, Jesus, will protect you. I am a Father and I know how many
graces you need to do My Will. Follow Me, seek Me, and when you have met Me…embrace Me in the
Likeness in which I reveal Myself to you. Receive Me as My Mother did at the foot of the Cross. Learn
from her, receive her Spirit of Love and Immolation from her for your own and for all souls. Let us go
together now. Father Gabriel will go for my Work of Love, and you in spirit, you in Me and with Me
will go with the Priest; for we will go together. Let him offer all of you, and place the total donation
of yourself upon the Altar in each of my Holy Sacrifices renewed by him so that I may make use of
your offering. I want you to be consumed by my Fire of Love so that other souls may be kindled by
the same purifying desire. Love Me in silence. Receive Me from everyone and in every way. Yes, in the
Holy Mass there is the divine encounter, Union. I draw you to Me, I immerse you in My holy Sacrifice
and you finally cease to live for yourself, but you live, more alive than ever for Me. Ah! Vera, I want to
lead you to this Union because no bride belongs to the Bridegroom unless she does so. A continuous
Holy Mass that has no end in time and which began with my Incarnation. I will lead my ‘called ones’,
my Living Tabernacles to the Holy Father Paul VI so that He, in my Holy Name, Jesus, in the glorious
name of the Most Holy Trinity, may bless my souls, and make of them a crown of glory to offer to my
Father. Then He will entrust them to Me, to Jesus the Divine Master, to the Holy Spirit the Consoler,
that I may guide my souls, instruct them hour by hour, govern them one by one, and that I may give
Myself to other souls through each soul. You Living Tabernacles shall go; and the whole earth shall be
inhabited by Me. Vera, give me your poor heart; I want it only for Me. Jesus is asking, asking the poor
that He may give them His riches. Now He goes and brings them My Peace, My Forgiveness. Behold, I
offer them My wounded Heart. Let them receive Me. I, Jesus, Guide of my souls; I, Fire of Love that is
never extinguished. Now go. I am and will be with you; now go in my holy Name, Jesus, and tell them
that I will be lavish with graces because I, Jesus, will save you. Jesus blesses you. Jesus for you, Jesus for
Father Gabriel, Jesus for all souls. Go! I will return to speak to you. I, Jesus, will dictate to you so that
my Word may be the new Light with which I want to enlighten the world. Jesus in your soul!” Savona
20 July 1968 Jesus: “Tell my consecrated souls that I, Jesus, desire a Holy Mass celebrated for my Work
of Love. Let the souls who are close to Father Gabriel adhere in a spirit of love and offer themselves to
Me in the celebrating priest for the same end. I want to make a Crown of consecrated souls to offer to
My Father in My Sacrifice when the Priest arrives at the feet of the Holy Father. This crown of holy
souls in Me will be formed by those who were My first Living Tabernacles, for My Father already sees
Me, His Divine Son, in you. Let Father Gabriel obey Me and I, Jesus, will comfort him. I assure him
that he is guided and supported by my Spirit of Love in all the work he does for Me. He must not
fail to keep my Eucharistic Love within himself which I have given him as a reward and consolation,
as the consummation of himself in Me to my Father. I will come to speak to souls to draw them to
Me, so do not be surprised if others hear My Voice of Love. You must write for Me, for My Work of
Love as long as I leave you alive. You must tell Rosa that I, Jesus, have accepted her prayers. I want her
to learn to know Me, to love Me. I want her not to forget Me, but seek Me always and everywhere.
I will also lay my holy Hand on her head, but then she must accept my Will with immense love so
that she may live in Me. I wish to come into her soul to seek my Eucharistic abode in it. Now Rosa
will be consoled because she knows that her Jesus loves her very, very much. Write with humility. Do
not be afraid, do not fear my Gifts: I will give you the strength to receive and guard them. This year
will bring the signs of my Grace in my Eucharistic Love. The year will end with the beginning of my
Work of Love by which you will be empowered to carry Me. With this grace of Love the first part will
be finished. The second part will begin in the manner and the way that I, Jesus, Master of souls, will
indicate to you. I will then trace the Way for each soul, for I want to lead you through the ways of
the world to Me. You will write, I promise you, to the last, to the end… Be strong! Jesus to his souls,
to his poor soul, Vera. Jesus in you, in His holy Grace.” Savona 23-7-1968 11:05 pm Jesus: “I come
to you in the light of holy grace, and I call you to your task. Write! Small souls must suffer small but
profound sorrows. You are in these sorrows. I, Jesus, will deliver you from this anguish when you have
learned to give Me all of you, moment by moment. Now you have other trials; now you must serve

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Me more zealously and generously for you know that despite your miseries I will not leave you. Trust
in Me. Trust in Jesus! Come, My poor bride, and with Me embrace the cross that I give. Jesus who
suffers in your soul to you! Tomorrow pick up on the opportunities for small trials that I will present
you with: these are the gifts that I offer to you for now. I will assist you with My Grace. Now recollect
yourself in Me, and I will give you strength and patience. Love Me and seek Me, seek Me, call on Me,
repeat My holy name, Jesus, many times, and I will be in you more and more. Fear not, my daughter,
if you do not hear me: I am living with you and in your soul. Jesus remains with you! Yes, I bless you
from my Cross. Jesus to the poor!” Savona 24-7-1968 Jesus: “Repeat with me: ‘O God, our Father,
Creator of the universe, of all your creatures, we beseech you! Send your Spirit of Love, of universal
brotherhood upon humankind. Unite your creatures in your Fatherly Love, and give us your Jesus
in our hearts today and always, today more than ever. Let Him be the Guest of Love to whom every
brother and sister aspires… Let Him be among us as the rays of the sun warm the earth and shed light
on our days; as the rays penetrate our dwellings to give us life and warmth, let Jesus be the Life and
Light that gives life to our hearts, light to our minds, sun that envelops our afflicted souls in its light. Let
Him come into our souls, come into our homes; come with us to share joys and sorrows, labours and
hopes. Grant, loving and forgiving Father, that in every building, old or modern, the Light may shine,
that Light which you have given us in the Church from heaven: Jesus, Eucharistic Love! Make Him
come among us, in us as Father, Friend, Brother. Grant that we poor souls may know by His merits
how to love Him, console Him, honour Him. Let us know how to offer Him everything. Grant that
every day, every hour, every minute, every moment, we may know how to offer You, our most clement
Father, our will, our heart, our life in Jesus Your Divine Son. Thus, when you call us, we shall know
how, through Your Mercy, to give You the last beatings of our heart in the beatings of Love of Your
Divine Son, our life in the Life of Your Jesus, our Fiat in Jesus. Good Father, look upon us, help us! In
Jesus we lift up our poor hands, and You unite them in those of Jesus that they may work for You, for
Your glory, for the Love of Jesus. Father in heaven, forgive the world that knows not, that understands
not. Forgive the rich and the poor, forgive your creatures in Jesus, our Brother. Hear us, we pray. We:
Jesus and his poor souls whom he has united to Himself, out of his great Love, in his immolation of
Blood. Jesus and the souls the wine and the water; Union, Offering and Consummation in Jesus: for
the reparation of all of groaning humanity, of the poor who watch and await Your Forgiveness from
you Father, now and for ever. Jesus seeks little souls, He seeks His little victims to offer in Him to the
Father. Those who love me follow me. I await you in my Immolation. Vera, do you love me? Follow
me! I, Jesus, Life, Truth, Way, await the poorest: you!” Savona 26-7-1968 Jesus. “Write to my faithful
servant.2 Gabriel, my son, I am speaking to you from this poor Tabernacle. My hour has come. You
must climb a slow and tiring Calvary with Me. Share your cross with Me. I will go with you, I will
accompany you and Vera and the little souls will all be with us. My Mother gives them to Me, and in
Me and for Me, you will be, and already are, partakers of holocausts in Me: sole Victim of Love! Direct
yourself confidently to the Superiors in Turin, for St John will open My Ways to you. May my holy
Mother cover you with her Mantle of Love, and offer all things, consecrate all things to her. Take your
steps with her, speak with her, confide in her. Make yourself her faithful slave. I desire that Mother and
son be one Heart, one Soul, one Love to work together. Heaven and Earth are united only through
Her. Thus my Work of Love will have the way open and traced only through Her. Thus will Heaven
bow down to Earth for Her. I, Jesus, in you and with you; my Mother, Mary Help of Christians, with
you to guide you, enlighten you, comfort you. For you an Angel to support you. For you a consoling
Angel. Time is short: short for you. For Me it is the present. Go, espouse My Cause of Love, espouse
My Work of Love. Behold, I, Jesus the Eternal Priest, place it in your hands as a Priest: it is My Cause,
My Gift of Love. It is Me!” [At this point Vera notes]: “interrupted, I leave the task to obey Jesus in
my mother.” [She then takes it up again] “Jesus, again for Fr Gabriel: my coming among you, my souls
will begin on the day that bears my holy Name: Jesus. This foretaste of my Grace is a Gift I make to
you, Gabriel, so that you may be sustained by this faith, in my own holy Name, Jesus. Go now in my
Name. May my Name be imprinted on your heart, on your soul as a Priest: Jesus. Now go, now let
us go together, for I am with you! Yes, you shall go by the paths marked out by Me. And remember
that on every path you must go and invoke my sweet Mother: yes, the Help of Christians for you, for
all the souls of those called. On each pathway it will be sweet and consoling for me to meet Her with

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you. Each way will be my way, and all of them will lead you to the last meeting of my Work of Love;
from my Vicar, Pope Paul VI. Do not forget the Crown of My Souls: these must go with you, and you
with Me, with My Mother. Entrust this Crown of Souls to My Mother so that She may present it with
Her pure love to My Father in My Love and in My Name. Prepare it, and offer it to Me in the Holy
Sacrifice, unite it to Me, and I, in the Love of the Holy Spirit, will bathe it with my precious Blood.
I have spoken to you, Gabriel, and my Heart, lover of souls, has sought and will always seek yours as
a Priest. Give it to me more and more, I want to live again in you. Jesus the Priest, to the heart of his
Priest”. Savona 28-7-1968 Jesus: “You will find peace and security only in my Name, Jesus. I have given
you my holy Name, Jesus, that it might be for you the strength of spirit that you lack. If recollection
is becoming more and more difficult for you, I want you to accept this suffering with patience, with
humility, and then offer it to Me: place it in the chalice that the Priest offers, place it in Me, so that I
may take it to My afflicted Heart, and raise it up with Me to My Father. Do not be afraid if you cannot
write, I have let this be the case so that you might burn with desire for My Word. I told you once and
so it will be: my Word is life for you, without my Word you will feel exhausted. My Word is Me, it is
Jesus, it is love, it is pain, and you cannot do without Me: Me in you. Be patient and humble, I will
help you, I will come to you, to your poor soul, with more light; I will pour out a river of Words: grace
for you, grace for my souls. Seek Me in every way but our meeting, our union begins, continues, and
is without end in My Sacrifice. When you participate and unite with Me through my Priest, then ‘our
Mass’ has no beginning and has no end: continuous union with Me, with souls, with Heaven, with
Earth. I embrace you and contain you in Unity. Now you are in Me, and I in you with Holy Grace, and
through Me you are in the Father and the Holy Spirit. You, in Me, are with all the souls of the living,
those in Purgatory. You are in Heaven, you are on earth, you are everywhere, for I am everywhere.
(Interrupted). I am in you to bless you and give you strength and perseverance. Offer me this suffering
(interruption) so that I may make you a soul full of fervour. Do not fear and let Me guide you. Return
to the Holy Mass, to my Sacrifice: there you will draw my Grace, there it will grow, there I draw you
and immerse you in my Love, in my Blood. You and Rosa wait for Me and while waiting seek my Love.
Follow Me. Your Jesus will tell you many things when the trials are over. Ask for My Grace and My
Strength so that your soul may shine tomorrow with My Light. I receive you in my Heart of a Father,
my daughter, I embrace you, I forgive you, I comfort you. Hope in your Jesus always, always. I will
not leave you, I will ‘test’ you. Jesus who loves, Jesus who is compassionate.

13 Pages 121-130

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13.1 Page 121

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BOOKLET 7

13.2 Page 122

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BOOKLET 8

13.3 Page 123

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BOOKLET 9

13.4 Page 124

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BOOKLET 10

13.5 Page 125

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BOOKLET 11

13.6 Page 126

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BOOKLET 12

13.7 Page 127

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BOOKLET 13