Jesus at the Wedding at Cana.
The evening of 16th January 1944.
I see a house. A typical middle east house: a long, low, white house, with few
windows and doors, with a terraced roof, surrounded by a little wall, about one
metre high, with a shady vine pergola, which reaches up to the sunny terrace and
stretches its branches over more than half of its surface. An outside staircase
climbs up along the front, reaching up to a door which is situated half way up the facade. At ground level there are a few low doors, not more than two on
each side of the house, and they open into low dark rooms. The house is built in
the middle of what looks like a kind of threshing-floor, but is actually more a
grassy open space than a threshing-floor, with a well in its centre. There are
some fig and apple-trees. The house faces the road, but-it is not set right on the
roadside. It is a little way off the road and a path along the grass links it to the
road, which looks like a main road.
It seems to be on the outskirts of Cana: a house owned by farmers who live in
the middle of their holding. The country stretches calm and green far beyond the
house. The sun is shining in a completely blue sky. At first I do not see anything
else. There is no one near the house.
Then I see two women, with long dresses and mantles that also cover their heads
like veils, walking along the road and then on the path. One is older than the
other: about fifty years old, with a dark dress, the grey-brown hue of raw wool.
The other woman is wearing lighter garments: a pale yellow dress and a blue
mantle. She looks about thirty-five years old. She is really beautiful, slender,
and Her carriage is most dignified, although She is most kind and humble. When
She is nearer, I notice Her pale face, Her blue eyes and Her blond hair visible on
Her forehead. I recognise Our Most Holy Lady. I do not know who the other
older woman is. They are speaking to each other and Our Lady smiles. When
they are near the house, someone, who is obviously watching the arrival of the
guests, informs the others in the house, and two men and two women, all in their
best clothes, go to meet them. They give the two women and particularly Our
Lady a most warm welcome.
It is early morning, I would say about nine o'clock, perhaps earlier, because the
country has the fresh look of the early morning hours, when the dew makes the
grass look greener and the air is still free from dust. It appears to be springtime
because the grass in the meadows is not parched by the summer sun and the corn
in the fields is still young and green and earless. The leaves of the figtree and
apple-tree are green and tender and those of the vines are the same. But I see no
flowers on the apple-tree and there is no fruit on the apple and fig-tree or on the
vines: which means that the apple-tree blossomed only recently and the little
fruits cannot be seen as yet.
Mary, Who is most warmly welcomed and is escorted by an elderly man who
appears to be the landlord, climbs up the outside staircase and enters a large hall
which seems to fill the whole of the house upstairs, or most of it.
If I am correct, the rooms on the ground floor are the ones where they actually
live, where they have their store-room, wine cellar, whereas the hall upstairs is
used on special occasions, such as feast days, or for tasks which require a lot of
space, such as drying and pressing foodstuffs. For special celebrations the hall is
cleared of every object and then decorated, as it is today, with green branches,
mats and tables prepared with rich dishes. In the centre there is a richly laid
table with amphorae and plates full of fruit. Along the right-hand side wall, in
respect to me, there is another table already prepared, but not so sumptuously.
On the left-hand side, there is a kind of long dresser with plates of cheese and
other foodstuffs, which look like cakes covered with honey and sweetmeats. On
the floor, near the same wall, there are more amphorae and six large vases,
shaped more or less like copper pitchers. I would call them jars.
Mary listens benignly to what they are telling Her, then She takes off Her mantle
and kindly helps to finish laying the tables. I see Her going to and fro sorting out
the bed-seats, straightening up the wreaths of flowers, improving the appearance
of the fruit dishes, making sure that the lamps are filled with oil. She smiles,
speaks very little and in a very low voice. Instead She listens a lot and with so
much patience.
A loud sound of musical instruments (not very harmonious) is heard coming
from the road. They all rush out, with the exception of Mary. I see the bride
come in, smartly dressed and happy, surrounded by relatives and friends. The
bridegroom, who was the first to rush out and meet her, is now beside her.
At this point there is a change in the vision. Instead of the house I see a village. I
do not know whether it is Cana or a nearby village. And I see Jesus with John
and another man, who I think is Judas Thaddeus, but I may be wrong. I am sure
about John. Jesus is wearing a white tunic and a dark blue mantle. When he
hears the sound of the instruments, Jesus' companion questions a man about
something and then tells Jesus. Then Jesus, smiling, says: « Let us go and make
My Mother happy.» And He starts walking across the fields towards the house,
with His two companions.
I forgot to mention that it is my impression that Mary is either a relation or a
close friend of the bridegroom's relatives, because She is on familiar terms with
them.
When Jesus arrives, the same watchman as before, informs the others. The
landlord, with his son, the bridegroom, and Mary goes down to meet Him, and
greets Him respectfully. He then greets the other two and so does the
bridegroom. But what I like is the loving and respectful way in which Jesus and
Mary exchange their greetings. There are no effusions, but the words « Peace be
with You» are pronounced with a look and a smile worth one hundred embraces
and one hundred kisses. A kiss trembles on Mary's lips, but it is not given. She
only lays Her little white hand on Jesus, shoulder and lightly touches a curl of
His long hair. The caress of a chaste lover.
Jesus climbs the staircase beside His Mother, followed by His disciples, the
landlord and the groom, and enters the banquet hall, where the women start
bustling about, adding seats and plates for the three guests, who, apparently,
were not expected. I would say that Jesus' coming was uncertain and the arrival
of His companions was completely unforeseen.
I can distinctly hear the Master's full, virile, most sweet voice say on entering
the hall: « May peace be in this house and the blessing of God on you all. » A
greeting of majesty addressed to all the people present. Jesus dominates
everybody with His bearing and His height. He is a guest, and a casual one, but
He seems to be the king of the banquet, more than the groom, more than the
landlord. No matter how humble and obliging, He is the one who dominates
influential friends. The two disciples are also invited to sit at the same table, out
of respect for Jesus.
Jesus' back is turned to the wall where the large jars and the dresser are. He
therefore cannot see them, neither can He see the steward bustling about the
dishes of roast meat, which are brought in through a little door near the dresser.
I notice one thing. With the exception of the mothers of the young couple and of
Mary, no woman is sitting at that table. All the women, who are making a din
worthy of one hundred people, are sitting at the other table near the wall, and are
served after the young couple and the guests of importance. Jesus is sitting near
the landlord, in front of Mary, Whose place is near the bride.
The banquet starts. And I can assure you that they lack neither appetite nor
thirst. The ones who eat and drink little are Jesus and His Mother, Who speaks
also very little. Jesus talks a little more. But although very moderate, He is
neither sullen nor disdainful in the little He says. He is kind, but not talkative.
He answers when He is questioned, when they speak to Him, He takes an
interest in the subject, he states His opinion, but then He concentrates on His
thoughts, like one accustomed to meditation. He smiles, He never laughs. If He
hears any inconsiderate joke, He pretends He has not heard. Mary is nourished
by the contemplation of Her Jesus, and so is John, who is at the end of the table
and hangs on His Master's lips.
Mary notices that the servants are talking in low voices to the steward, who
looks very embarrassed and She understands what the cause of the unpleasant
situation is. « Son », She whispers in a low voice, thus drawing Jesus' attention.
« Son, they have no more wine.»
« Woman, what is there still between Me and You?» Jesus, when saying these
words, smiles even more gently, and Mary smiles too, like two people aware of
some truth which is their joyful secret and is ignored by everyone else.
--------------
Jesus explains the meaning of the sentence to me.
« That “still”, which is omitted by many translators, is the keyword of the
sentence and explains its true meaning.
I was the Son, submissive to My Mother, up to the moment when the will of My
Father told Me that the hour had come when I was to be the Master. From the
moment My mission started, I was no longer the Son submissive to My Mother,
but I was the Servant of God. My moral ties with My Mother were broken. They
had turned into higher bonds, all of a spiritual nature. I always called Mary, My
Holy “Mother”. Our love suffered no interruptions, neither did it even cool
down, nay, it was never so perfect as when I was separated from Her as by a
second birth and She gave Me to the world and for the world, as the Messiah
and Evangeliser. Her third sublime mystical maternity took place when She bore
Me to the cross in the torture of Golgotha, and made Me the Redeemer of the
world.
“What is there still between Me and You?” Before I was Yours, only Yours.
You gave Me orders, and I obeyed You. I was subject to You. Now I belong to
My mission.
Did I not say: “He, who lays his hand on the plough and looks back to bid
farewell to those who are staying, is not fit for the Kingdom of God”? I had laid
My hand on the plough not to cut the ground with the ploughshare, but to open
52. Jesus at the Wedding at Cana. 165
the hearts of men and sow there the word of God. I was to take My hand away
from the plough only when they would tear it away to nail it to the Cross and to
open with My torturing nail My Father's heart, out of which forgiveness for
mankind was to flow.
That “still”, forgotten by most, meant this: “You were everything for Me,
Mother, as long as I was only Jesus of Mary of Nazareth, and You are
everything in My spirit; but since I became the expected Messiah, I belong to
My Father. Wait for a little while and once My mission is over, I will be, once
again, entirely Yours; You will hold Me once again in Your arms, as when I was
a little child, and no one will ever again contend with You for Your Son,
considered as the disgrace of mankind, who will throw His mortal remains at
You, to bring on You the shame of being the mother of a criminal. And
afterwards You will have Me once again, triumphant, and finally You will have
Me forever when You are triumphant in Heaven. But now I belong to all these
men. And I belong to the Father, Who sent Me to them.”
That is the sense of that short but so full of meaning “still”. »
------------------
Mary says to the servants: « Do what He will tell you.» In the smiling eyes of
Her Son, Mary has read His consent, veiled by the great teaching to all those
“who are called”.
And Jesus says to the servants: « Fill the jars with water. »
I see the servants filling the jars with water brought from the well (I hear the
pulley screeching as the dripping pail is pulled up and lowered down). I see the
steward pour out some of the liquid with astonished eyes, then taste it with
gestures of even greater astonishment, relish it and speak to the landlord and the
groom.
Mary looks at Her Son once again, and smiles; then having received a smile
from Him, She bows Her head, blushing slightly. She is happy.
A murmur spreads throughout the hall, they all turn their heads towards Jesus
and Mary, some stand up to get a better view, some go near the jars. Then a
moment's silence, which is immediately broken by an outburst of praises for
Jesus.
He stands up and simply says: « Thank Mary » and withdraws from the banquet.
His disciples follow Him. On the threshold He repeats: « May peace be in this
house and God's blessing on you » and He adds: « Goodbye, Mother.»
The vision ends.
-------------------
Jesus teaches me as follows:
« When I said to My disciples: “Let us go and make My Mother happy”, I had
given the sentence a deeper meaning than it seemed. I did not mean the
happiness of seeing Me, but the joy of being the initiatress of My miraculous
activity and the first benefactress of mankind.
Always remember that. My first miracle happened because of Mary. The very
first one. It is a symbol that Mary is the key to miracles. I never refuse My
Mother anything and because of Her prayer I bring forward also the time of
grace. I know My Mother, the second in goodness after God. I know that to
grant you a grace is to make Her happy, because She is All Love. That is why I
said, knowing Her: “Let us go and make Her happy.”
Besides I wanted to make Her power known to the world together with Mine.
Since She was destined to be joined to Me in the flesh, it was fair She should be
joined to Me in the power that is shown to the world. Because We were one
flesh: I in Her, She around Me, like the petals of a lily round its scented lively
pistil; and She was united to Me in sorrow: because we were both on the cross, I
with My body, She with Her soul, as a lily is scented because of its corolla and
because of the essence extracted from it.
I say to you what I said to the other guests: “Thank Mary. It is through Her that
you had with you the Master of the miracle and you have My graces,
particularly those of forgiveness.”
Rest in peace. We are with you.»