Sister Josefa Menendez, apostle of divine mercy

Although she is still little known, Josefa Menendez (1890 - 1923) is undoubtedly one of the great spiritual figures of our time. Of Spanish origin, she entered the convent of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Poitiers, France, at the age of 30. It was there that Jesus appeared to her regularly and spoke to her from 5 February 1920 until her death on 29 December 1923. He wanted her to be "an apostle of his goodness and mercy", and asked her to pass on his messages to the whole world: "The world does not know my mercy and I want to use you to make it known". During the last months of Sister Josefa's life, Jesus dictated to her The Way of Divine Love:"I want the whole world to know that I am a God of love, forgiveness and mercy."

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Reasons to believe:

Sister Josefa was a humble nun of the Sacred Heart with no theological background and worked as a humble seamstress in her convent. She therefore could not have invented Jesus' messages.

The words of Jesus to Sister Josefa, during his regular apparitions, were Christological and ecclesial, perfectly in line with the Gospel and the doctrine of the Church, without adding anything essential to Revelation, as the Congregation of Rites noted in 1928.

Josefa's brief life - and religious life - was a model of humility, of trust in God, of obedience to his word, noticeable by the love with which she performed the little things of ordinary life, and for the self-offering of her life. From an early age she offered herself to Jesus, who in return accompanied and guided her along the path of holiness.

Sister Josefa belongs to a chain of many humble "souls chosen" by Christ, to be co-redemptors with him: He reveals his Divine Heart to them and asks them to respond to love with love. Jesus' message of mercy to Sister Josefa was the precursor and herald of the message of divine mercy to Saint Faustina (1905 - 1938), which soon followed.

Jesus' messages to Sister Josefa are also very consistent with those received by Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647 - 1690). Jesus told Margaret Mary that the devotion to the Sacred Heart give souls "the desire to return love for love to the redemptive love scorned and despised (especially in the Eucharist) by those who should love it more (i.e consecrated persons)". He said to Sister Josefa: "I want the desire and the need to make reparation to be awaken and grow among faithful and chosen souls, because the world has sinned."
After verifying the sudden and lasting cure of a missionary nun following a novena to Sister Josefa, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII, approved the messages and authorised the publication of the book The Way of Divine Love, sending these words in a handwritten letter to Mother Vicente, Superior General of the Society of the Sacred Heart: "My Reverend Mother, I have no doubt that the Sacred Heart of Jesus is pleased with the publication of these pages, full of the great love inspired by his grace in his most humble servant Maria Josefa Menendez. May these pages contribute effectively to developing in many souls an ever fuller and more loving trust in the infinite mercy of this Divine Heart towards the poor sinners that we all are. This is my wish as I bless you and the whole Society of the Sacred Heart." ( March 1938).

In January 1944, Mgr Saliege, Archbishop of Toulouse, gave the nihil obstat and imprimatur to a more complete edition in which Mother Marie-Thérèse de Lescure, who had been Sister Josefa's superior in Poitiers, had compiled her memories and notes. It was published in several languages, including Chinese.

In 1947, two hundred bishops asked the Holy See to open a beatification process, which was granted.

The nuns of the Sacred Heart carefully kept the front band of Sister Josefa's veil, on the outside of which were printed drops of blood that appeared where the Blessed Virgin, during an apparition, placed the cross of Sister Josefa's rosary on the band.

Summary:

Born into a Christian family in Madrid, Spain, on 4 February 1890, Josefa Menendez was educated by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart. At the age of eleven, when she made her First Communion, she desired "to give herself to Jesus"and wrote her consecration to him. When her father died, she worked as a seamstress to provide an income for her family. She tried several times to enter a convent, but her mother held her back. She eventually learned that the Society of the Sacred Heart was looking for vocations for the novitiate at the convent in Poitiers, where she entered on 4 February 1920. Jesus appeared to her for nearly four years and dictated his messages, which she recorded in the book The Way of Divine Love.

Jesus "moulds like soft wax". He taught her humility, obedience and love in the small tasks of her daily life. "Love doesn't just consist in saying: "I love you, O my God!"; no, it acts because it loves, it does everything by loving. I want you to love in this way, in work as well as in rest, in prayer and consolation as well as in sorrow and humiliation, proving this love to me unceasingly by your works, for this is love."

Jesus made Sister Josefa enter his mystical Heart; he literally made her immerse herself in his burning Heart, and she offered her life to him to console his wounded Heart and save souls. Jesus said to her: "See how my Heart is consumed with love for souls! You too must burn with the desire for their salvation. I want you to go deep into that Heart today and make reparation in union with it. Yes, we must repair!"

After educating his little handmaid in humility and obedience to his will, after showing her his love and allowing her to plunge into his merciful Heart, Jesus commented on his Passion to Sister Josefa, explaining to her how he felt and what he continues to experience at every Eucharist. He asked her to help him carry his cross in order to make reparation for the ingratitude of souls. "Yes, Josefa, all I want is the love of souls, but they respond to me with ingratitude. I want to fill them with my graces, but they pierce my Heart. I call them, but they flee from me."

Sister Josefa agreed to unite her suffering with that of Christ: she offered him the torments inflicted by the devil, who regularly abused her to discourage her, make her doubt and prevent her from following God's plan. She also offered all the little actions of her monotonous life, done out of love, in intimate and constant union with the Heart of Christ. Jesus asked her to surrender herself completely to his will, out of love: "I have no need of your strength, but of your abandonment".

Jesus evoked France in particular: "I want to spread my peace to the ends of the earth, but in a special way, to this blessed land, the cradle of devotion to my Heart [...]. Yes, the world and the nations are arousing divine anger at the moment. But God, who wants to reign through love, is speaking to his chosen souls and especially to those of this nation. He asks them to make reparation, first of all to obtain forgiveness, but above all to attract new graces to this country which was the first, I repeat, to know my Heart and to spread this devotion."

Jesus is mercy, and he so desires to forgive. He is a God of love, and he waits impatiently for souls to return to him: "I will make known that the measure of my love and mercy towards fallen souls knows no bounds. I desire to forgive [...]. I am always there, waiting with love for souls to come to me. Let them not be discouraged! Let them come! Let them throw themselves into my arms! Let them have no fear, I am their Father."

Jesus, the living host, awaits us in the tabernacle: "I love souls so much that I gave my life for them. For their sake, I wanted to remain imprisoned in the tabernacle [...]. Poor sinners, do not turn away from me! Night and day I wait for you in the tabernacle. I will not reproach you for your crimes, nor cast them in your faces, but I will wash them in the blood of my wounds. Do not be afraid, come to me. If you only knew how much I love you!"

Jesus asked Sister Josefa to publish his Way of Divine Loveso that souls would have confidence in him, console his Heart and help him to make reparation for the ingratitude and offence done to him in the world: "I will speak first of all for my chosen souls and for all those who are consecrated to me. They must know me, so that I can teach those whom I entrust to them the goodness and tenderness of my Heart, and tell them all that, even though I am an infinitely just God, I am also a Father full of mercy."

Christ's last message to Sister Josefa was for his consecrated souls: "Let them all study my Heart and meditate on my feelings. Let them strive to live united to me, to speak to me, to console me. Let them clothe their actions with my merits and cover them with my blood. Let them dedicate their lives to the salvation of souls and to the increase of my glory [...]. Let them not fear, let them hope in me, let them trust in me [...]. May they tell the whole world of my goodness, my love and my mercy [...] I ask three things of my consecrated souls: reparation, love and trust."

Sister Josefa joined her divine spouse on 29 December 1923.

Jean-Pierre and Carole de Gasté

Going further:

The Way Of Divine Love: Or the Message of the Sacred Heart to the World, and a Short Biography of His Messenger by Sister Josefa Menendez, Must Have Books (May 12, 2023)