September 6, 1995
Like a strayed sheep I had gone my way;
from arid ground I had tried to nourish my soul
and from the dry rock I had hoped to receive my drink.
Ah, my injuries from lacking were devouring me,
and my sins appeared to be incurable.
The mere sight of me was a scandal to Your angels,
an abomination to Your Eyes,
O Most Holy Trinity, most pure God.
Your angels and saints stood aghast and stupefied
at my total rebellion.
Day in, day out, I went about, lacking.
I trod in the shadows of the night, parched with thirst,
spent the night fatherless, huddling instead thistles and thorns.
Starved out of my flesh I could not comprehend
why had this misery befallen me?
Why had the light of my eyes left me?
O evil inclination,
did you expect sympathy?
My downfall was greeted with an immense applause
by a multitude of demons
for they had managed
to pluck me from my Shepherd’s Fold,
and rob me from my Sight, my Joy, my Love and my Life ….
and when life in me was just about to trickle away forever,
You, Father! You came with stupendous power and glory.
And with immense pity,
You, Father, tore the heavens to reach me,
from Your holy dwelling,
You descended dressed in fearful splendour.
There, You were standing majestically
in front of a bewildered Wretch.
He who pervades and permeates all things
was now in the company of wretchedness.
Reeling as though with wine, my soul staggered
in the Presence of this Pure Emanation Thrice Holy ….
I stuttered to pronounce, to utter something,
but no sound was ever heard. I lacked.
The Fingers then that formed me
suddenly reached out and were posed on my lips,
opening them for me to draw in the air of His Breath.
And as I inhaled a scent like choice myrrh,
a wail came out of me just as a new-born,
and I was instantly restored.
“From now on Your Creator will be Your Husband,
My Name: Yahweh Sabaoth,” 1 He said.
“I have taken pity on you ….
did you not know, My child, that I am rich in forgiving?
Depart not and do not fear.
Remain with Me and I will lift you
and bring you home to heal you entirely.
My great love challenged My Mercy
and My Heart was touched by your misery.
Come, and if you wish,
I will make you a witness of My great Love
I have for all of you.”
This is what Your Holy Lips uttered,
every one of Your Words
falling on my parched soul, like morning dew,
and while still talking,
my soul, struck with remorse,
found itself succumbing in its Father’s Arms,
in its Father’s Grace
I then turned to the Lord
and entreated Him to possess Him,
with all my heart I said:
“I want to possess You, my God and Creator,
as much as You possess me.”
Then You put around me bonds that linked me to You,
bonds that would remain forever.
and I said: I shall grant you the favour of My Heart and Soul for I am Divine and Thrice Holy; I am your Father and I own you; and you, My daughter, and you own Me; did you not know that I am Grace and Mercy?
come, do not ask: “why has all this happened to me?” your great misery pulled Me down from heaven; your disconsolate soul made My Heart cry out to My angels and saints: “how much longer should I see her go on like this?” and to you:
“Paraskevi, raise your eyes now and look at Me; I promise you that Hope will not be given to you alone, but to all, all those who are thirsty; has anyone heard anything like this? and as for you, Paraskevi, I will take you into My service and make out of you a Tree; your roots will be growing in My Garden so that your foliage remains green, so that your fruit has My Name inscribed on it; and I, Myself, will be your Keeper and water you from My Fountain of Living Water …. and, as Companion and Friend, I will give you Wisdom who will educate and raise you to transmit, later on, this Hope in perfection, to all mankind;
“you will be reared by me and formed in My Courts; this is why you will be contradicted in your journey; the world will spit on you, but not more than they spat on My Son; traitors will come your way, but none of them greater than Judas; denials and rejections, too, will follow, yet none of them more severe than the rejections and denials that My Son received; pitilessly you will be misunderstood by many, but rejoice! do not fall into distress, make no resistance and do not turn away either; allow yourself to be repressed as My Own Son, your Redeemer, was repressed, scandalising all His disciples;
“I command you to remain untouched by the insults of men and not to respond, as My Son did not respond but remained silent, and in these sufferings I will establish Peace; in your torments I will console the disconsolate; I will make your oppressors oppress you and while you will be lying down in torments, trampled underfoot by men, I will be setting light in the Church, giving birth to a renewal in My Spirit Thrice Holy, surrendering Her to become One;
“faint as your heart may be, feel, feel My Joy for this victory! Salvation is at your doors …. daughter, surrender into your Father’s Hands; delicate and tender child, lift the yoke of Unity on your shoulders and carry it; when you weary on your way I will be your sole Repose, your sole Companion; in the betrayals, your sole Friend; I will be your sole Source of Knowledge, instructing you the depths of Our mysteries, so that this generation and the next will not lack; I will continue to rain down on you My blessings and My Manna to feed you;
“come, do not stand in awe; come, your closeness to Me infatuates Me and renders your soul thirsty for Me; come, tabernacle of My Son, I love you; love Me and be eager to serve Me; come, dust and ashes, yet with a heart and soul, glorify Me; come Paraskevi, in contrast to your darkness I, who am the Imperishable Light of the Law, will be your sole pillar of Light in your journey, to guide you and others into My Law;”
and you,2 even if you are still struck with blindness, groping your way in this wilderness, lacking, starved and scorched dry, even if you feel conquered by bitter plague, return to Me as you are! for I have taken My stand against My Holy Wrath by reminding Myself that I, I had fathered you …. and I will stand by you always and everywhere you go; approach the Living One and I will demonstrate My sweetness towards you, teaching you that piety is stronger than all; piety will keep you away from sin;
come and strike your root in Me so that I turn you, too, into a Tree with branches that bear fruit, and My inscription will be carved on each one of your fruits so that those who eat will hunger for more; and from thereon you will tune your ear to the Truth thrice Holy, and by applying your heart to the Truth you shall live;
Is. 54:5
