The Book of Heaven
—Unofficial Version—

July 1, 1908

The true spirit of charity in the rich and in priests.

Continuing in my usual state, full of bitternesses and of privations, after much hardship I seemed to see peoples in the act of rebelling and of intensifying the brawl against the rich. In the meantime, the lament of most sweet Jesus made itself heard in my ear, all embittered, saying: "I am the one who is giving freedom to the poor - I am tired of the rich. They have done enough - how much money wasted on balls, on theatricals, on useless trips, on vanities, and even on sins! And the poor? They could not have enough bread to satisfy their hunger; they were oppressed, weary, embittered. Had they given them only what they spent on unnecessary things, my poor would have been happy. But the rich have kept them like a family that did not belong to them; even more, they have despised them, keeping comforts and amusements for themselves as things befitting their condition, and leaving the poor in misery, as something befitting their condition."

And while saying this, He seemed to withdraw grace from the poor, and these would become enraged against the rich, in such a way that grave things would happen. On seeing this, I said: ‘My dear Life and my all Good, it is true that there are some bad rich people, but there are also some good ones, like the many devout ladies who give alms to the churches, and your priests who do so much good to all…’

"Ah! my daughter, keep quiet, and don’t touch this key, so very sorrowful for Me. I could say that I do not recognize these devout ladies. They give alms where they want, to obtain their intent, to hold people at their service; they spend even thousands of lire for those who sympathize with them, but then, where it is necessary, they do not deign to give a cent. Could I say that they do it for Me? Could I recognize these actions of theirs? You yourself can recognize whether they do it for Me from these signs – if they are ready for any bare necessity; if they do not differentiate by giving much where it is not so necessary, and refusing to give little where it is necessary. One can well say that there is no spirit of true charity or upright operating. So, my poor are put into oblivion also by these devout ladies. And the priests? Ah! my daughter – that is even worse. They do good to all?! You deceive yourself. They do good to the rich; they have time for the rich. By them also the poor are almost excluded; for the poor they have no time; for the poor they have not a word of comfort or help to tell them; they send them away, reaching the point of pretending they are ill. I could say that if the poor have moved away from the Sacraments, the priests have contributed to this, because they have always taken their time to confess them, and the poor grew tired and no longer came back. But then, if a rich person would show up, it is all the opposite: they would not hesitate one instant; time, words, comforts, help…, they would find anything for the rich. Could I say that the priests have a spirit of true charity, if they reach the point of picking the ones to whom they should listen? And what about the others? They either send them somewhere else, or oppress them so much, that if my grace did not help the poor in a special way, the poor would have been banished from my Church. True charity and upright spirit – only rarely do some priests have them, but as for the rest, I could say that these have departed from the earth."

I remained embittered more than ever, imploring mercy.