☩ πππ ☩
@SecretFire79
In the 14th century, St. Bridget of Sweden was shown by the Lord the immense dignity, and the terrifying responsibility, of the Catholic priesthood...π»π¦
In one of her visions, our Lord Jesus Christ spoke to her: “When I was about to depart from this world, I entrusted the thing dearest to me, my own body, to priests whom I chose to be above all the angels and above all other men. I gave them these five good gifts:
- My faith
- The two keys to hell and heaven
- The ability to make an angel out of an enemy
- The ability to consecrate My Body— which none of the angels can do
- The gift of handling My most pure Body with their own hands.”
Yet the Lord revealed to her that priests treated Him as the Jews treated Him after the miracles, denying, mocking, and betraying. The Lord said:
1.) "They preach their own pleasure and think nothing of what I did for them…"
2.) "They have lost the key with which they were to open heaven for the wretched. They love, however, the key that opens hell…"
3.) "They make a wicked man out of a righteous one, a devil out of the simple-hearted… anyone who turns to them with three wounds receives a fourth from them."
The Lord then revealed to her that priests who are sinners will find themselves deeper in hell than all the other damned: "Their condemnation will be greater than that of others, because they go astray in their conduct and hurt others by their example.”
St. Bridget was told by the Lord that bad priests are not truly His priests, but true betrayer, worse than Judas in some ways, because they sell Christ after He has already redeemed the world. They handle the sacred Host while living in lust, greed, and double lives, then return to sin with firm intention.
In one of her visions, the Lord revealed to St. Bridget a priest who was deeply loved by his entire parish. Everyone considered him a saint. He celebrated Mass daily, heard confessions, and preached sound doctrine. Yet after his death, St. Bridget saw his soul burning in the depths of hell, eternally separated from God, because he had lived his sacred vocation superficially, without true zeal or interior holiness.
This is not hatred of priests. It is a divine warning born of love. The priesthood is the greatest dignity on earth, but also carries the strictest judgment (James 3:1).
Let us respond today with prayer and sacrifice. π