The Sacred Head of Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ

as The Seat of Divine Wisdom

is revealed in the 

Letters of Teresa Higginson to her Spiritual Director

As recorded in the book by Lady Kerr

Teresa Higginson, Servant of God 1927 

[Sadly today it is out of print]

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TERESA HELENA HIGGINSON was born in 1844, and was brought up with her seven brothers and sisters. in an ideal Catholic home at Gainsborough. A bright, precocious child, brimming with life and character, she appears to have attained the use of reason in a remarkable way as a very young age, she was suddenly overwhelmed by the sense of the majesty of God, she fell prostrate on the ground and vowed herself to Him forever. At ten years of age she was sent to the convent at Nottingham, but her school life was much interrupted by ill health, the result, in part, of the austerities she used even then to practice.

Her father having become bankrupt, she trained as a teacher, thus discovering her life's vocation - "to teach the poorest of God's children how to love Him."

She was first appointed to St. Mary's Wigan, and later to St. Alexander's Bootle. Her days were divided between school duties and visiting the sick, her nights spent in prayer. To share the Passion of our Lord, and thereby to atone for sinners, was the chief aim of her life. Her penances were incredible. She hardly slept, she seldom ate. Her food was the Blessed Sacrament. And our Lord repaid her love by admitting her to close share in His sufferings, even, it would seem, granting her the sublime gift of the sacred Stigmata. Blood was often noticed on her hands and head. Her friends bore witness to her frequent ecstasies, her miraculous communions, the violent assaults of the devil. Other secrets of her spiritual life she told to no one but her confessor, to whom she was under vow to reveal them. Despite her efforts to remain unnoticed, tongues could not be silenced and rumors spread. Some upheld her as a saint, many more denounced her as a liar and a hypocrite. Finally, the controversy waxed so fierce that she was dismissed, sick in body and in heart, from Bootle. These trials were the final purification for what her director believed to be the Mystical Marriage, the closest union with God possible to a soul on earth, in which it can say with St. Paul: "I live now, not I, but Christ liveth in me." The wonders ceased. Henceforth to human eyes her life became supremely commonplace and ordinary. She no longer prayed for the suffering: to do God's will most perfectly in all the tiny things of daily life, such seemed to her the height of sanctity.

Twelve years she spent in prayer and hidden service in St. Catherine's convent Edinburgh, and then, her health somewhat restored, she felt called upon to resume her work of teaching. She accepted a post in the little village of Chudleigh, where, after a long, lonely year, she had a severe stroke and, on February 15th, 1905, in her sixtieth year, she died.

From the worldly standpoint how drab and dreary was her life, and yet there is reason to believe that this humble little teacher in our English elementary schools, was favored with God's most sublime revelations. Canon Snow, her director, never wavered in his conviction that she would eventually be raised to the altars of the Church, and he carefully preserved her writings. Herein we read how our Lord again and again appeared to her, and impressed on her His urgent wish that special honor should be paid to His Sacred Head, as the seat of His divine Wisdom, in order to make atonement for the sins of pride and intellect, and disbelief, so prevalent in these modern days. In a vision, on the Epiphany, He once consoled her with these words: "Take courage, my loved one, for the seat of divine Wisdom will be known, praised, and adored. as I wish, and I will glorify My Name in thee."

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

The following are Canon Snow's instructions to his executers with regard to these papers: "To my Executors: The whole contents of this drawer are the letters and writings of the servant of God, Teresa Higginson, copies of them, and various writings concerning her and the devotion to the Sacred Head of Our Lord Jesus Christ. None of these papers must be destroyed but carefully preserved together, and God in His own time and His own way will bring them to light and cause them to be used to His own honor and the glory and the good of souls.

"It is right for me to leave it on record that I was her director from September 1883, till her death on 15th of February 1905. During that period she lived in various places, (eleven years at St. Catherine's Convent, Edingborough) and went to confession to the local priest, but she was in constant communication with me and always regarded me as her director to whom she was under her vow of obedience.

Since Benedict X1V in his essay on canonization says that great weight ought to be given to the opinion of the director of the servant of God, I feel I should do wrong if I died without leaving behind me a declaration, which I now make, that it is my strong conviction that Teresa Higginson was from her very early childhood called to a very high degree of sanctity, that she was led by extraordinary ways; that she went through, one after the other, the various degrees of prayer and union up to and including the Mystical Marriage (This last she beautifully described in a letter to Fr. Powell and in one to me). This conviction was formed by my intimate knowledge of her, her interior, her way of life, her heroic virtues, her suffering and trials, her writings, the analogy between her life and the lives of the saints, all combined with my knowledge of mystical theology of which I made constant and close study.

"I feel it right to say that I have the first conviction that Teresa was not only a saint but also one of the greatest saints Almighty God has ever raised up in His Church."

These striking words, written of Teresa Helena Higginson, express no mere passing opinion, but are the weighty judgment of the wise old priest, who for the last 22 years of her life, was the director of her soul.

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DEVOTION TO THE SACRED HEAD

It is during this stay at Neston that we first hear of a subject which was to be henceforth the all absorbing interest of Teresa's life -the Devotion to the Sacred Head of Our Lord as the Seat of Divine Wisdom. While awaiting the ruling of the Church on this important matter, we may venture to believe that the promotion of this devotion was the special mission for which Her Divine Spouse had designed her: that the singular graces and favors which He conferred upon her so freely were intended, not merely for her own sanctification, but with the further object of fitting her for this work. Our Lord Himself, she frequently assured her director, had taught her that this sublime devotion would sum up in itself all the worship due to His Sacred Humanity, and be the great antidote to the pride of intellect and disbelief which are the crying evils of these latter times.

When, in the cold hard days of the 17th century, Our Lord wished to prove to the world the burning love of His Sacred Heart, He chose for His messenger a simple nun, and now in our own age (1922), He has sought a still more lowly soul to send forth as the herald of His Wisdom. Surely it is a point of no small significance that the instrument He had selected for this great work should be no renowned world famed professor, but an unknown teacher of a poor school! "I confess to thee O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them to little ones. Yea Father, for so it hath seemed good in Thy sight". Where indeed, could He have found a littler one than this simple, humble teacher whose life was devoted to the very poorest of His children?

Teresa's first reference to this subject is on the feast of the Sacred Heart, 1879-about the very time Father Powell, inspired by the Holy Ghost, placed her under obedience to write out for him all the secrets of her soul. For the next few years she recurs to it again and again, showing how frequently Our Lord appeared to her, each time explaining more fully the hidden depths and beauty of the Devotion and impressing her with His ardent wish for its propagation. She burned with longing to carry out His Holy Will, though knowing her own helplessness, she constantly implored Him to commit the task to some more worthy soul, some wise and learned man whose words would carry weight. But God's ways are not mans ways and He made it clear to her that weak and powerless as she was, it was to her that the work had been confided. She labored incessantly for this end, and yet, in spite of all her prayers for light, He never showed her what it was exactly she had to do. Much as she loved to hide her self away, she would have gone forth gladly to summon the whole world to honor the Sacred Head, "the house which Wisdom hath built for Herself,"but this sacrifice was not required of her. She did what she could: she taught the Devotion to the children and spoke of it to all of her friends. Many to her joy, embraced it with enthusiasm. Among them were Father Wilberforce, the well known Dominican, Father Humphrey, S.J., and Mon. Weld, who all examined into it carefully and then adopted it. The matter was at length brought before Dr. O'Reilly, the Bishop of the diocese, and Teresa prayed much for some clear proof which might convince him and cause him, not merely to sanction the Devotion, but actively promote it. But no such proof was forthcoming and, he took no public action. Teresa herself never wavered in her faith and hope, looking always for some open manifestation of the Will of God, as did also her two confessors. Father Snow wrote: "Both Father Powell and I expected that important miracles would take place and that these would be of great help in furthering the devotion to the Sacred Head and at the same time be useful if hereafter if there was question of her canonization. But I never mentioned this subject to Teresa, nor did Father Powell to the best of my belief. On the 30th of May, 1884, which would be shortly before whit Sunday, of that year, she spoke to me of her intense desire to have the Sacred Head honored and the intense suffering it caused her. I told her to wait for Whit Sunday, when perhaps Our Lord would let her know what she could do. On June 6th, she told me that on Whit Sunday Our Lord had made known very clearly to her that it was not by wonders and miracles that He would make known the devotion to the Sacred Head. That it was the wisdom of the world to look for signs but not His way; that when He Himself promised the Blessed Sacrament He might have convinced by wonders those who refused to believe, but it was not according to the ways of His Wisdom."

And so Teresa longed and prayed and waited, until at last she seemed to understand the special part assigned to her, when she wrote: "If it pleases Him that I should not do anything but be consumed with this desire then His Holy Will be done".

The explanation of the devotion must be given in Teresa's own words as she understood it from Our Lord Himself. For the sake of clearness and the chief extracts from her letters dealing with the subject have been grouped together, though in point of fact they extend over several years. The first revelation seems to have been made to her in the little village school house at Neston, on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, 1879, shortly after her return from sabden. She described it to Father Powell, first explaining the way in which Our Lord prepared her for this great vision:

"During Holy Mass on Friday Our Blessed Lord brought before me all my nothingness and miserable sins and filled me with such great confusion that I felt that I should almost die. He has so often done the same of late and shown me at the same time His infinite Majesty that I have been almost annihilated. Ah my God who shall stand before thee? It seems to me that this feeling must be the same, or something the same, that the poor soul feels when she stands before God to be judged. This great humiliation was succeeded by a sweet calm and holy joy after I heard these words again: "Fear not, it is I" (and such a torrent of sweet tears streamed down that seemed to refresh the soul wonderfully.) Not that I really heard the words spoken by the ears but they seemed impressed on the soul in such a manner that there is no doubt of what I heard, and these words are works, for, as at the Creation God said; "Let there be light" and it was so, so I see in an instant verified the import of these words, for my poor soul that seemed so hard dry and cold, almost despairing enjoys at once that peace which the world cannot give.

"During the whole day I remained very recollected and although you told me to give myself entirely into the hands of God, I continually reminded our B. Lord that both you and Father Wells told me nothing was to be done in public, for our B. Lord made me feel that He wished to bestow some great favor upon me which covered me with such shame and confusion that I could hardly raise my head. For when I see our divine Lord giving His treasures to this vile traitor I beg of Him to consider what He is about, for I fear that others might undervalue His great gifts seeing them given to so vile and wicked a wretch.

"When I retired to my room in the evening a deep recollection came upon me. Oh my God give me light and help that I may be able to express clearly to my director this which is entirely Thy work. Pity my weaknesses and by Thy obedience unto death, oh my God and by this same Wisdom which Thou hast shown me, instruct me, or do Thou oh Lord what Thy unworthy servant is unable to do....

"I was considering the excessive love of the sacred Heart and offering to my divine Spouse this same love to make amends for our coldness, and His constancy and infinite riches to make up for our poverty and misery, when our divine Lord suddenly represented to me the Divinity as a very large bright crystal stone in which all things are reflected or are, past present and to come, in such a manner that all things are present in Him. This immense precious stone sent forth streams of richly colored lights brighter beyond comparison than ten thousand suns, which I understood represented the Infinite Attributes of God. This great jewel also seemed to be covered with innumerable eyes which I understood represented the Wisdom and Knowledge of God. . . . Our Blessed Lord showed me this Divine Wisdom as I was saying as the guilding power which regulated the motions and affections of the Sacred Heart, showing me that it had the same effect and power over its least action, and raising it, as the sun draws up vapor from the ocean. He gave me to understand that an especial devotion and veneration should be paid to the Sacred Head of our Lord as the seat of divine Wisdom and guilding power of the Sacred Heart, and so complete this heavenly devotion. . . . ."

This vision occurred at Neston, but most of the subsequent revelations took place at Bootle, in the Church of St. Alexander which she foresaw would become a great place of pilgrimage, as she told Father Powell:

"Our Lord has this morning shown me that your requests will be granted and that greater wonders than those of Knock. He will bring to pass in our very midst, that the eyes of all nations shall be turned towards us and pilgrims come from afar off."

The right-hand corner seat of the front bench on the Epistle side is still pointed out as the place where Teresa usually knelt, and where the heavens were so often opened to her and she saw and heard many things which it is not given to man to utter.

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In Easter Week, 1889, she wrote:

"When I went into the church a little after five on Easter Sunday morning I had hardly knelt to adore Him present in the most holy Sacrament of His Love, when He drew me so entirely into Himself that I know not what I saw or Heard for some time; but when the powers of the soul again began to act He represented Himself to me (I think) as we see Him in the pictures of the Sacred Heart and His Sacred Head radiant as a sea of light and a glorious sun shining to its very depths and acting on the affections, motives, and entire workings of the Sacred Heart and raising them even as the sun draws up the vapours from the ocean. In this light, I saw distinctly formed figure of a silvery dove which I understood was the Holy Ghost, and rolls of glory (I was going to say clouds but that is hardly correct) or pillars as a rainbow appeared above which I felt represented the Eternal Father. The whole formed an Eye which I knew to be the Eye of God in Unity. And from it I understood that our dear Blessed Lord wished His Sacred Head to be specially worshipped as the 'Seat of Divine Wisdom' and the powers of His Human Soul adored therein, as it is the seat of the intellectual powers of man

He has so many times as I have before told you revealed to me His intention of crowning the devotion of the Sacred Heart in this point and I think when He spoke of the wonders He would work in our midst that He referred to some manifestation to this end."

On April 27th, she wrote in a tone of triumph and in a trembling hand as though still rapt in ecstasy:

"Our Divine Lord says the time is at hand when the Wisdom of the Father shall be adored and the Love of God for man shall be revealed in the Light which shineth in darkness and enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world. It is the Will of our dear Blessed Lord that His Sacred Head be adored as the Seat of Divine Wisdom: not the Sacred Head alone, (I mean as we worship His Sacred Hands and Feet) no, but the Head as the shrine of the powers of the Soul and of the faculties of the Mind and in these the Wisdom which guided every affection of the Sacred Heart and motions of the whole Being of Jesus our Lord and our God. It is not His Divine Will that the attributes or abstracts of the soul or mind, or that Divine Wisdom which guided governed and directed all in Him, (the God Man) should have distinct worship, but that they should all be specially honoured and His Sacred Head adored as their Temple. And our dear Blessed Lord has shown me too how the head is also the centre of all senses of the body, and that this devotion is the completion, not only of the devotion of the Sacred Heart, but the crowning and perfection of all devotions; and He showed me how the adorable Trinity at His baptism revealed to the world this special devotion, for His Sacred Humanity is the tabernacle of the thrice holy Trinity; and that St. John had specially spoken of this devotion for the Most High revealed to him that he should be thus worshipped before the end of the world, and he spoke of it as a magnificent city, etc. seeing the multitudes of variety and beauty and splendour of this seat of Divine Wisdom. It is a world of infinite magnitude, a sea of fathomless depths, a never setting sun of light inaccessible and immeasurable heights of untold mysteries of perfection and beauty. Our dear Blessed Lord did not positively state the precise time that this should be made a public devotion but He gave me to understand that whoever should venerate His Sacred Head in this manner should draw down on themselves the choicest gifts of Heaven; and those who shall try by words or means to hinder or reject it shall be glass that is cast down, or as an egg that is thrown to the wall, that is that they shall be shattered and become as naught, and shall be dried up and wither as grass on the housetop.

"Our beloved Spouse also let me know that it was in this church that He would manifest to the world the manner etc, etc. that He wished to be honoured and the time, and all concerning this most wonderful devotion. And I think it is that soul that is drooping as the vine under the weight of heavenly gifts and saturated through and through with the Precious Blood, that is His Infinite Wisdom He has ordained to make known His holy Will to the world. For He continually shows me this precious soul so dear to Him, and frequently before He makes known to me anything concerning this heavenly devotion (to His Sacred Head) He comforts me also with it. For when I feel my poor heart breaking with sorrow at the coldness in which He is treated and the way He is betrayed even by His priests He shows me this soul as His consoler and refuge this lily in which He delights, and the will of this holy one blending so completely with His that they seem as one, this understanding in which the light of God shines as the midday sun in the clear waters of a spring, and that memory that is always recollected in God, that heart that pants languishes for Him and wastes itself away in longing desire to be dissolved and be one with Him for all eternity.

Oh my God how much You have taught me in this soul which You drew from the same abyss of nothingness as myself, and yet, through her ready compliance with Thy adorable Will in all things, Thou hast raised her to a pinnacle of perfection which but very few saints have ever reached. Oh my God how wonderful are Thy works and how incomprehensible Thy judgments and unsearchable Thy ways. For this jewel of Thy house is a wonder to the angels and Thou Thyself hast shown me that (she) this soul is one of the centre pieces of Thy Sacred Heart. I know not whether this soul is a priest , or even a male or female saint, but I know you will join with me in thanking God for all He has done for it, and allowing us, unworthy as we are, to live and worship before this same tabernacle where in His Love He deigns to listen to us as well as to this great servant of His Sacred Heart.

I think our dear Blessed Lord shows me this soul to humble me, for I always feel that I am sinking away in the abyss of my own nothingness whenever He allows me to see it, and yet my whole soul seems to overflow with gratitude to Him for raising this soul to such perfection, and love, and admiration at His work and delight beyond utterance at His reserving her (I mean the soul) to comfort and console to love and adore Him as she does. And this last week, after our Beloved Lord has shown me the greatness of His gifts to this saint, He has made me feel what black ingratitude it would be if she refused to fulfill His designs. I understand that of course it will be a great humiliation for her to undertake the great work which I think He intends, and I pray for and compassionate her exceedingly, yet I burn with desire to see His holy Will accomplished and say with her and for her "Thy holy will be done, for Thou art my light and strength Thou art my protector and Helper, what shall I fear."

Although I have no curiosity to know who this chosen one is, yet I feel an ardent desire to be near her and to render her some service, to go and meet her as St. Elizabeth went to meet our Blessed Lady our dear Mother Mary at the time of the Visitation."

The above is the first allusion in Teresa's letters to this wonderful soul, though she seems to have known about it as far back as at Wigan, for Miss Ryland recalls her asking quite simply one day: "Do you know that Father Wells directs a saint? I wonder who it is. If I knew I might do something for her, perhaps wash for her. Have you any idea who it is?"

After this she often writes of it to Father Powell, begging him to ask for prayers and longing to be allowed to do something for this chosen one.

"Oh my Father pray fervently for me and ask that soul so dear to His Sacred Heart to pray for me also. And is it too much of me to ask of you to let me render some service to this soul that so I may imitate Him a little Who has lavished on her such wonderful gifts. It seems so strange to me that you should never mention this holy one to me (not by name) but by telling me of her, that feeling the influence of her presence I might love Him and glorify His holy name more for all He has done for her. For surely she is a glory to His Name."

Again she says:

"Oh my Father may I do something for this one so dear to Him? I will not offend their humility in any way. I would not thus beg of you dear Father but I feel it would be a great service to my poor soul and I would not breathe one word of it - but just as you wish. I do not think I should be disheartened at seeing them doing so much for Him. I think I should feel I could get them to love Him for me and I would really try to learn the lessons Jesus would show me in them."

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Father Snow wrote later:

"Both Father Powell and myself were convinced that the soul was no other than her own but knowing that it was our Lord's own secret were silent when she spoke of it." And so it came about in the mysterious designs of Providence that Teresa learnt humility from the vision of her own sanctity, and that her mighty prayers, so pleasing in the sight of God, were offered, all unconsciously to herself, for the perfecting of her own soul.

Teresa had mentioned that St. John speaks of the Devotion to the Sacred Head as the Seat of Divine Wisdom, and Father Powell asked her for reference. She replied:

"In obedience to your wish I asked our dear Blessed Lord where St. John had said anything in reference to the Sacred Head as the 'Seat of Divine Wisdom,'and He gave me to understand that it was the chapter to which you referred without telling me which one it was in particular, and He said that as by the cunning and deceit of the devil man first fell from God in Paradise and incurred darkness of intellect and death - so in these later days of darkness, self indulgence intellectual pride and conceit, the brightness of eternal light into which no defiled thing cometh shall shine out more glorious and brilliant than ten thousand suns, and the image of God's goodness and majesty and power shall be seen in this unspotted mirror of truth, purity, knowledge and love.

"Oh my Father do we not see the depth of that divine Wisdom in the time that He has reserved for the manifestation of His adorable Will in this respect? He each time also shows me the great blessings and graces He has in store for all who shall further His divine Will to this end, and makes me tremble with terror at the dread punishments. He has in store for all who shall hinder, or try to hinder the furtherance of this heavenly devotion, for their jaws He says shall be locked as those of the lions in the den into which Daniel was cast, they shall be shattered and become as naught. And the twelve Fruits of the Holy Ghost that sparkle so beautifully in this divine Wisdom are, as it were the foundations to this city of the Lord which He has dug deep in humility. For He humbled Himself becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the Cross."

Again, a few days later she said:

"After holy Communion this morning I asked our B. Lord in what particular place St. John referred to His Sacred Head as the Seat of Divine Wisdom and He did not tell me what text or words. He gave me to understand that it was spoken of in the two last chapters of Revelations and with this mark were sealed the numbers of His elect."

On Ascension Day, our Lord once more appeared to her in glory and three times asked her: "What wilt thou?"

"Oh my Lord and my God what will I but Thy holy Will in all things? Lord what wilt Thou have me to do? Teach me to do Thy holy Will for Thou art my God! Oh my Father I know not how I live. Who would not be annihilated in the presence of such awful majesty, such overpowering and unspeakable glory and power as I beheld in Him Who is the Wisdom of the Father our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Who could tell the dread and fear that came upon me? For I cannot express what I felt, and if it were not by a miracle of His power I should die as I sink into the abyss of my own nothingness and misery.

"What I have mentioned above happened on Thursday morning early and all my bodily strength seemed to leave me and I have been very weak ever since. I was going to say I saw our dear Blessed Lord in His glorified humanity, but I suppose it is not right to say so, but I feel very certain of it which appeared in greater majesty and glory than I have ever before seen Him and He addressed me, saying "What wilt thou?" I was crushed and humbled as God only can humble and at first a great inexpressible fear came upon me, but our dear Lord seemed to behold me with such loving tenderness and compassion that by degrees the fear passed off and I felt amazed and astonished at the marvelous condescension of our dear Blessed Lord and lost in His mercy and Love. Oh with what confidence those words inspired me, though I feel that in them too He was asking me to do some great thing for Him of which at present I have not the remotest idea, but my misery is such that it gives me greater confidence that whatever He wishes to do in me or through me He will do Himself. I give myself and all that I have and am (which is nothing) into His Sacred Hands to do with me whatever He shall please, without thought of pain, humiliation or feelings . His holy Will is my only pleasure and if I can loose or suffer anything for Him He knows I shall consider it as a great gain. Oh my God with Thee I make an oblation of my whole being to Thy Eternal Father, my character, ect saying Lord I am Thine, my love is all for Thee, do with me what Thou wilt now and forever Amen. Holy Mary be a Mother to me. St. Joseph and all the angels and saints of God pray for me.

She again refers to this vision in a later letter where she says: "Oh my God how shall I find words to express the glory the majesty and beauty of that countenance before which the Seraphim and Cherubim fall in mute admiration and adoration and I like the apostles on Tabor cannot sustain this flush of glory, this stream of the Divinity, and in amazement I prostrate myself to the ground and with trembling reverence adore what mortal eyes are not able to behold or human tongue able to describe - O magic wand of obedience that changes all things into purest gold, oh Rod of Aaron which opens a passage into the depths and riches and knowledge of God: oh key which unlocks the secrets of the Divinity and the world to come; oh power which lays mountains low and overcomes every obstacle and makes every way easy and straight - oh flower which ever blooms in the Sacred Heart; in You I will write what I am able to say of those things which I have beheld.

It was very early on Ascension morning that I beheld our Blessed Lord in the way I have above described and I think He is represented in pictures of the Sacred Heart, only that around His Sacred Head shone a light of indescribable brilliancy and beauty: as it were a sun in which sparkled twelve magnificent crystal stones reflecting all the colors of the rainbow. And in the Head I saw as it were an ocean of fathomless depth, smooth and clear, and the brightness of the sun's rays penetrated to its very depths, and in it were reflected all the beauties of the sun and twelve stones like diamonds in which were reflected the green, yellowish green purple red ect and all the colors that sparkled in the sunny rainbow, and nearly in the centre of this was an eye as I have drawn on the other side. The awful majesty which overpowered me left me unable to move for hours and although it is now ten days since I have not regained my natural strength and it is with difficulty that I go about at all. The human mind is too weak and the intellect too dull to understand comprehend or describe the awful grandeur of the Divinity and I think it is a miracle we live after a glimpse of it. Oh how terrible will be the lot of the reprobate at the sight of this overwhelming majesty, this crushing power and here we see with what reason the devils trembled at the descent into Limbo -

But I am again wandering. Light streamed from every part of His Sacred Person and I saw flames of fire bursting from His Sacred Heart which was surrounded by thorns and surmounted by a cross,and I saw a silvery light in the form of a Dove hovering over it as I have shown and Our Lord addressed me in these words: "What Wilt Thou? as I have told you before.

On May 27th 1880 Our Lord again showed Himself to her in all His glory: "This morning at Holy Mass when the Sacred Host was raised at the elevation, I saw as it were the whole court of heaven in prostrate adoration; then all was lost in the excess of light which shone forth in effulgent splendor from the Sacred Person of Our Lord Jesus Christ Whom I beheld as I have before described, but with a sun of transcendent beauty and brilliancy shining around His Sacred Head and and lightening up the very depths of His Sacred Heart. And He made me see very clearly that the time is at hand when He will make known to the world the desire (which has been consuming Him as it were) which He has to have His Sacred Head adored and worshiped as the Seat of Divine Wisdom.

Later in the same day she wrote in further explanation of the words of St. John in the Apocalypse: While making a short visit to our dear Blessed Lord in the most Holy Sacrament of His Love, those things which I asked you to read for me this morning were represented in the soul and impressed very clearly in my mind, and I saw how admirably they corresponded and how beautifully the comparisons described the Sacred Head as the Seat of Divine Wisdom, for if you call to mind those things which I have written regarding what our dear blessed Lord has shown me and helped me to narrate respecting His Sacred Head, you will see how He Himself represented to me in the Sacred Head (as the mind) a transparent sea of light, in which were twelve beautiful precious stones in which sparkled and reflected all the splendor of that sun which overshadowed it and in which too were twelve other crystal stones all of unspeakable beauty and magnificence and in which gleamed all the colors of the rainbow. And I think I mentioned a resplendent light of greenish hue I see having the glory of God and the light thereof like unto a precious stone, as it were a jasper, as crystal.

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And He gave me to understand that this Wisdom and Light was the seal that marked the number of His elect and they shall see His Face and His Name shall be on their foreheads... And is not the seat of Divine Wisdom as it were, a new heaven and a new earth. The soul and intellectual faculties and the dwelling place of the Most High, and the earth or human Head the shrine and centre of the senses of the body by virtue of the hypostatic union a new earth - And in another place it says: And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty is the Temple thereof and the Lamb, showing distinctly the union of the two natures in the one person of Jesus Christ. And the glory of God enlightens it. He is the beginning and the end, and His knowledge and wisdom are infinite as they are eternal. And the great and high wall are things in God which are beyond our understanding, and the twelve foundations are the virtues which come from the Fruits of the Holy Ghost (and also maybe the Apostles as teachers of Divine Wisdom and Pillars of His Church. Solomons prayer for Wisdom was most pleasing to God, and He promises to give to Him that thirsteth of the fountains of the water of life gratis, and blessed are they that wash their robes in the Blood of the Lamb that they may have a right to the Tree of Life and may enter in by the gates into the city. And he that shall overcome shall possess these things and I will be His God and he shall possess these things and I will be His God and he shall be My Son.

Our Lord next signified to her the day on which He wished this feast to be celebrated.: June 2, 1880... As I told you our dear Blessed Lord expressly asked me to tell you from Him that He wished His most Sacred Head to be publicly worshiped and honored as the Seat of Divine Wisdom, and said too that the Friday, octave day of the feast of the Sacred Heart, should be dedicated as a festival day in its honor, and special reparation and atonement be then offered to Him. For He said: "See oh My beloved daughter I am clothed and mocked as a fool in the house of My friends; I am crowned in derision I who am the God of Wisdom and all Knowledge, I the King of Kings, the Almighty and All Powerful One am presented with sham sceptre, and if thou wouldst make some return thou canst not do better than tell my servant E. from Me that I now wish the Devotion made known which I have so often communicated to you, and I wish the first Friday after the Feast of my Sacred Heart to be set apart as a festive day in honor of My Sacred Head as the Seat of Divine Wisdom, and that public adoration be offered to Me for all the outrages and sins which are continually being committed against Me". He also said that you must not be disheartened at difficulties that may and will arise and crosses that will be numerous. He will be your support and your reward is great. And anyone who shall assist in furthering this Devotion shall be blessed a thousand fold, but woe to him that shall reject or go against My wish in this respect, for they shall be scattered in my wrath and shall know their place no more, but to them that honor Me I will give of My might and I will be their God and they shall be My children and I will place My sign upon their foreheads

Untold blessings are promised to those who shall try to further Our Lord's wishes in spreading the Devotion.

Our Blessed Lord said that all that He had promised to those who should worthily love and honor His Sacred Heart should be poured out upon those who honored it themselves or were the means of others doing so. Oh Sacred Head may Thy Wisdom ever guide us, and the sacred tongue ever bless us and plead for mercy and pardon, and may we never hear the curse pronounced against those shall hinder or despise this Devotion.

With each fresh revelation our Lord seems to have impressed upon her more and more His ardent longing to have His Sacred Head honored, and to have urged her to do all in her power to carry out His wish.

And again our dear Blessed Lord has made me feel that excessive desire that seems to consume Him to have His Sacred Head honored as the seat of Divine Wisdom, the governing power which rules the Sacred Heart, the Shrine of the powers of His Holy Soul and the centre of the senses of the human body. Oh my Lord and my God why dost Thou chose one so unable to do anything in furthering and accomplishing Thy Holy Will. My poor heart is breaking because I cannot and still Thou urgest me more and more and Thou burnest me too with this unceasing flame that at times I know not what to do, I feel myself almost dying of desire to see His Holy Will accomplished...

I was making my usual visit on Friday morning when with the eyes of the soul I saw Jesus consumed as it were with a burning fire, and the light of that sun which is ever shining seemed to penetrate the that which He wills must come to pass, is certain to be.

At times Our Lord would comfort her by allowing her to foresee the great glory He would gain from the practice of this Devotion, and the special rewards He held in store for those who furthered it.

15th June 1880

Our Dear Blessed Lord showed me the great glory that would be given to the adorable Trinity and to His Sacred Humanity through this Devotion. And He told me not to be downcast because others did not accept and pay adoration to Him in the manner He wished at once, for those who appeared the most against it now would make up by future fervor; that His will is omnipotent and that those things that man might and would use as stumbling blocks to this Devotion He would turn into the very means of advancing it

September 10, 1880

You know how anxious I am that the Will of Our dear Blessed Lord should be perfectly accomplished in respect to His Sacred Head being honored as the Seat of Divine Wisdom so I thought if our dear Mother Mary asked Him for some proof for us to show our beloved Bishop He would give it her as a birthday present, and so I petitioned Him and her also. When suddenly that dark thick cloud which had overshadowed me for so long a time, disappeared, and the Glory and Radiance of the Sun of Justice seemed to inundate my poor soul and so overpowered me that I was completely out of myself, and I beheld and felt the delight and glory that filled the Sacred Heart of Jesus at the little homage we had already payed Him in the prayers we were saying and had said in honor of His Sacred Head as the Seat of Divine Wisdom, the Shrine of the Powers of His Soul and Intellectual faculties, the centre of the Senses of His adorable Body and the completion of the Devotion to His Sacred Heart. And He gave me to understand that He would clothe with glory before angels and men in the courts of heaven those who clothed Him in glory on earth and would crown them in everlasting bliss. I saw the glory prepared for three or four concerned therein and I was amazed at the greatness of their reward for I felt that Our Blessed Lord and His Holy Mother considered this homage to wipe out the outrage offered to the most wise and Holy God when He was crowned and mocked in derision and scorn and clothed as a fool. It would seem that now those thorns would bloom I mean that He would wish now to be crowned and acknowledged as the Wisdom of the Father, the true King of Kings. And as the star of the old led the wise men to Jesus and Mary so in these latter days the Sun of Justice must lead us to the throne of God in unity and Trinity. Our Blessed Lord made me again understand that proof shall not be wanting, but I felt that it was not the one we looked for I mean that poor dear Maggie should be restored to sight. He did not and does not seem to wish to let us know what proof He intends, but I think it is to be something about that holy soul He has so often shown me as His delight and consolation. If you ask that one so dear to Him I have no doubt but what we shall obtain our request. I thank Him and love Him more for all He has done for this one and I thought He was pleased for the honor you had shown them.

Ever since Our Lord had first spoken to Teresa with regard to His Sacred Head as the Seat of Divine Wisdom, this devotion had been acting as a leaven on her whole spiritual life, until she came at last to view everything in its light... in November 1880, she wrote:

It has been the good pleasure of Our dear Blessed Lord to allow me to participate more fully in His dreadful bitter Passion during the past week and He has impressed on my soul more clearly than I ever before saw it the sixth Station where St Veronica presents the towel to wipe the Face of Our Lord. And He made me feel that He Himself commenced that devotion to the Seat of Divine Wisdom, by impressing the image of His Sacred Head and Face upon the towel she offered Him. It rewarded her piety and He comforted Himself in the glory and love and compassion which should be rendered to Him and the adorable Trinity in it. Oh Seat of Divine Wisdom and guiding power which regulates and governs all the motion and love of the Sacred Heart may all minds know Thee, and all hearts love, all tongues praise Thee now and forever . Thou art truly the Light that shinesth in darkness, the height and depth of knowledge for in Thee are all things present. Oh my Lord and My God I conjure Thee by this Seat of Divine Wisdom by the love of the Sacred Heart and by all the Precious Blood Thou didst shed and pain and anguish Thou didst take upon Thy Sacred Humanity, to imprint now Thy seal upon this Devotion and give proof positive to His Lordship of Thy Holy Will in this respect. Hasten oh Lord the day when all gazing into the depth of Thy Wisdom and untold love we may commence that immeasurable bliss here of gazing into that Face which is the joy of the saints and angels and which we too hope to enjoy for all eternity. Oh Light and Love come quickly and slake this raging fire which consumes my whole being, come and accomplish thy will and my only desire. Oh Lord make no long delay. Oh Thou Who in the beginning did say Let there be Light and it was so. Speak now oh Almighty God and will that this unfailing light shine forth and the resplendent rays of this sun brightens up our minds and hearts; prove oh Lord if such be Your Holy Will that thou art the living and the true God.

Oh Mary by all the love and homage thou hast bestowed on this Seat of Divine Wisdom before which the cherubim and seraphim prostrate lie in awe and trembling fear and love, but which thou hast so often pressed to thy Sacred Heart and pillowed on thy breast. Oh Mary and Joseph all ye choirs of angels and gleaming rows of saints, raise now your minds, hearts, hands to the adorable Trinity and beg of the Holy of holies to look on those warm red drops of priceless worth, the Precious Blood of Jesus which have obeyed the order of His Divine Wisdom, and by His obedience unto death and all the Wisdom and Love He has shown towards His creatures to arise and spread this light over the whole face of the earth. Where would we all be if it were not for His Infinite Wisdom and Love? In nothingness out of which He called all things.Then let all things acknowledge, praise bless and love this Wisdom and adore the Sacred head of Jesus as its seat. Not my will but Thine be done. I mean I am ready to wait Thy good pleasure, but oh Lord Thou knowest all things, my love and my desires are not hidden from Thee.

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She gained fresh light and saw more clearly into the meaning of the Devotion with each of the great feasts of the Church's year.

"The Annunciation, 1881"

"Almighty God has on several occasions instructed me regarding the great mystery of the Incarnation and I feel sure I have written on it before. I see more clearly now though why Our Dear Lord is called the Word, because He is produced by the Fathers thought or contemplation of Himself, for St John says: "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God and the Word was made flesh.' I think that in all it pleases the Almighty One to show me He wishes to instruct me more and more fully concerning His infinite Wisdom and love.

And although the Son and the Holy Ghost are equally powerful, yet the Almighty Power is attributed in a special manner to the Eternal Father and as the three Divine Persons have the same Wisdom and Goodness Yet the Wisdom is particularly attributed to the Son and the Goodness to the Holy Ghost, and we render a great homage to the ever Blessed Trinity by adoring our dear Blessed Lord's Sacred Head as the Seat of Divine Wisdom.

The Ascension 1881

"When I knelt to adore the thrice blessed Trinity for all the glory of the sacred Humanity, I was caught up as it were and dissolved in the excessive heat and glory of the Sun of Divine Justice, and I heard sounds of Praise and songs of joy in the heavens which echoed and re-echoed from the earth, and they were hymns of thanksgiving and admiration of the Seat of Divine Wisdom. Then I saw reflected in the large crystal the glory which the ever blessed Trinity would receive from the devotion to the Sacred Head and the numberless souls that would be guided by its light to the bosom of the true Church and eventually to the throne of God.

I understand too that this should be the one great means of the conversion of poor dear England, and that it was not far distant when she would bow her understanding to the obedience of faith and repair in some manner through this Devotion the great evil of her apostasy, and that Mary's name and Mary's Son should be more honored than ever they had been dishonored by our people.

Whitsuntide 1881,

I saw how the Sacred Head was in a special manner the dwelling place of the Holy Ghost, and as at the moment of Creation the Spirit of God moved upon the waters, so He is ever enshrined in the Sea of glass and His brightness is the light thereof, and His love the Sun that gives light and governs all things in this terrestrial and celestial Paradise as the sun rules the things of earth. I have understood from our dear Blessed Lord that He wished the great mystery of the Incarnation to be made very clear (or taught very carefully) to the children.

On Corpus Christi Our Lord again appeared to her:

June 19, 1881

Then He really came and gave me Holy Communion Himself and drew me entirely to Himself, even as a rain drop into the ocean, and there He represented to me the great desire He had to have the Seat of Divine Wisdom honored and He instructed me in this manner: that the uncreated Wisdom of God is God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and that God the Son, becoming man and being the Image of the uncreated Wisdom of God, built for Himself a house. And as Jesus has promised to remain with us forever, so He and the Spirit of Truth will guide and govern and enlighten His Church to the end of time. As I saw Him as a sun by the heat of this Sun of Divine Justice and guided by its light ascend to the great white throne to adore the ever blessed Trinity in persons and Unity in Essence.

Then when I went into church He urged me more and more to make known His desire, and there seemed to be a crown of fire which consumed His Sacred Head and ate into the very brain and He said: "Behold the burning desire I have to have My Sacred Head honoured as I have instructed you."

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July 16, 1881

Our Divine Lord has made me feel that it is with this special devotion as with the mustard seeds, that, although so little known and less practised it will be the great devotion of the Church in time to come, for in it the whole of the Sacred Humanity is honoured-the holy Soul and intellectual Faculties, which have not hitherto been specially venerated and which are nevertheless the noblest part of the human being, and the Sacred Head-Sacred Heart, in fact the whole of His Sacred Body. I mean that the members of His adorable Body and five senses were ruled and governed by the intellectual and spiritual powers, and we venerate each act they suggested and the Body performed; for if we move only our hands we must use the powers of the soul if it be only the will to do it or anything else; but in each action of the God Man we see an infinite degree of wisdom,power,knowledge and love, and in the motive of each act we see the perfect fulfillment of the Law, loving God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves. In other words the honor and glory of His Eternal Father and love and zeal for the salvation of man. And who can speak of that Love?

He urged me to pray for true light, faith and wisdom for all especially heretics and all poor sinners and made me feel that the people of our dear land should shine in the brightness of this true light and bring back more souls through this devotion than they had scattered through the darkness of their infidelity. And it seemed to me that Mary prayed with me and reminded Him her Divine Son that this England is called her Dower and He filled Her hands with graces and blessings for us and a new glory as it were shone around Her the reflection of the glory that surrounds the Seat of Divine Wisdom. And our Blessed Lord renewed all the promises He has made to bless, ect all who practice or further this devotion in any way."

On the Feast of the Epiphany, 1882, she was filled with consolation when our Lady came and placed the Divine Infant in her arms.

And as I beheld Him the eternal Son of God and Mary's Son, our dear little Infant Jesus, that instant I perceived these words infused into every centre of my soul: "Take courage my loved One for the Seat of Divine Wisdom will be known, praised and adored as I wish and I will glorify My Name in thee."

And again He showed her the great things that would come to pass in the church of St. Alexander which she loved so well:

He brought very clearly and distinctly before me how in this church He would be honored and how it would be filled with worshippers from far and near and loving hearts will gather together and praise and glorify and thank Him, making reparation to the Seat of Divine Wisdom, and holy souls will comfort and condole with Him honoring His Divine Soul and here souls would be drawn to His Soul and they would be instructed by Him in this Wisdom of His Sacred Head and burnt with the desire of His Loving Heart. Here in the sacrament of His Wisdom and Love they will see things as they really are, and He will bless them and all who truly adore Him and honor Him as He desires with an ever lasting benediction.

Ardently she longed to see that day and prayed incessantly that she might be allowed to know clearly what it was Our Lord was asking of her, but still she was content to await His good pleasure in disclosing it.

May, 1883

On Saturday I was so overpowered and annihilated, crushed almost out of existence, and when I got to my room and was about to prepare my meditation a deep recollection came upon me and our dear blessed Lord drew me entirely into Himself. The powers of the soul were not able to act. The eye of the soul was wide open in God drinking in knowledge and strength love and confidence, yet the faculties of the mind I think are overpowered with God's infinite beauty, power and awful purity; and the love God has for Himself and the work of His hand which is felt and understood very forcibly in the soul is too great for the human heart to bear, and this I think caused a kind of death to the body while the soul reposes in God; a sweet though agonizing death which gives a new life-I felt (though I did not see any form of a dove or any sensible representation) that the Holy Spirit of God hovered over me, or rather saturated me through and through and showed me that the gifts He had entrusted to me were for His glory and that of the Father and the Son. And He gave me a fortitude to act and instructed me that I had to do His work and that I must not shrink from the duties He would impose on me in reference to the Devotion to the Seat of Wisdom and His holy Soul, yet He did not tell me what that work was and I did not ask. I feel it is much more perfect to wait though it seems so long, yet I know what He says must be, and though He urges me earnestly yet I know all time is nothing in His sight and if it pleases Him that I should not do anything but be consumed with this desire then His Holy Will be done. I am all Thine do with me what Thou wilt! And when I find myself saying to Him: 'How long O Lord will Thou delay? I check myself and say: 'not my will but Thine be done.

During the month of June our Lord again impressed upon her the infinite love of His Sacred Heart and how He suffered from the neglect and cruel ingratitude of His children.

There is no pang like this loving in vain as it were which Jesus suffers so intensely. No spear can pierce so acutely as coldness from the the souls He has love unto death.He taught me a little of that by allowing me to enter as it were into that Divine and loving Heart and so participate in some way in this pang of His Sacred Heart.

He gave me Holy Communion twice on Friday once before you and once after, towards two or three o' clock in the afternoon. It seems as though a sword of fire and light pierced me through and through my soul and body saturating it in its flame. Then on Sunday He seemed to bathe me in His most Precious Blood and showed me how the devotion to His Holy Soul sorrowful unto death and to the Seat of Divine Wisdom was only another means which His love urged to draw us more closely to that Sacred Heart. It is not in any way intended to take the place of the devotion to His Sacred Heart, only to complete and further it.

And He again impressed upon me that all the promises that He made concerning the practice and devotions of love to His Sacred Heart should be bestowed a hundred fold upon those who practice devotion to the Seat of Divine Wisdom. And I understand that His time is at hand and we will not have to wait long as you have given me to understand.

Although to the end of her life Teresa recurred again and again to this all-absorbing subject, and though she never ceased to pray and do all she could for the spread of the devotion, the following letter dated just before Dr O'Reilly bade her cease writing, is the last in which she enters in any detail into its meaning. It gives a most striking diagnosis of the pride of the intellect and the rebellion against authority which are the crying evils of the day, and in it she again describes the favored soul which was once more shown to her, but now more beautiful than ever-so beautiful in fact that at first she mistook it for Our Lady. How far was she in her humility from thinking that this glorious soul could by any possibility be her own!

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June 1883

He showed me how man outrages the Divine Wisdom by the abuse of the three powers of his immortal soul and by his sins-stamps out as far as he can the image of the Triune God in himself and by mad folly tries also to rob nature of its God, tries to prove that matter is eternal and creative in itself and that there is no God or need for a God; that when nature decays in one form it only assumes another, that for instance that decayed bodies evaporate into gases of different kinds and are scattered in the air-that these atoms accumulate and adhere together forming different substances and reappear as a new creature, and that so matter and nature are creative of themselves and need no creative or providential power to call them into being or maintain then in existence.

That man in his pride of intellect and perverseness of will tries to drag down the great eternal Three in One, the Beginning and End of all things, from Heaven and blots Him out of earth; that infidelity is rife, and man denying God puts away from himself any law or restraint against his vile passions, for if there is no God there cannot be Divine Law commanding this and forbidding that.

Oh my God, my God, Look not upon our sins but upon the Face of Thy Christ-Listen to His dying prayer, Father forgive them for they know not what they do. Oh look on the gaping wounds and the warm flowing Blood and have pity on us for this same most Precious Blood.

Man too darkens his understanding by his infidelity. Take away the sun and we cannot have light or heat. Take away faith which is the light of the soul and all is decay and desolation, if we have not faith we cannot love or serve God. If we do not believe there is a God well may God in His wrath say that man is flesh that is quite corrupt. Now God must have some recompense for all these blasphemies against Himself as God.

It is worldly wisdom which is folly that is drawing down souls into an abyss of darkness which is Hell, and as of old when the heart of man set his affections against God, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, really human yet Divine because (united to the Person of God the Son) belonging to God the Son made Man, was the atoning object and Jesus revealed the burning love of His Sacred Heart and complained of man's coldness and demanded a reparation and condolence and souls were warmed in that furnace of Divine Love and souls burnt again with charity towards the God of Love.

Now too when infidelity and pride of intellect open rebellion against God and His revealed Law, self will and self conceit is filling the minds of men and drawing them away from the sweet yoke of Jesus and binding them with the cold heavy chains of self-seeking, private judgment, and abandoning all right to be governed and wishing to govern oneself, disobedience to God and His holy Church - that same Jesus the Incarnate Word, the Wisdom of the Father who became obedient even unto death of the Cross, again gives us an antidote, an object which can and does, and will in every way make up and repays a hundred fold the debt that is contracted to the infinite Justice of God.

Oh what atonement could be made for guiltiness like this? Or who such ransom could be paid To save from the abyss? See there a victim, nature scorns The Head of Jesus crowned with thorns.

Our dear Blessed Lord has again and again impressed upon me His great desire to have His Sacred Head honored as the Seat of Divine Wisdom and as it is the abuse of reasoning powers which is now working such devastation in souls, it is the faculties of the mind and the powers of the soul that are sinning against God, so He complains, ah so pitifully, that His Soul is sorrowful even unto death.

And He impresses upon me more and more that His Soul is not known, His Soul is not loved, and tells me not by actual words, but He infuses this complaint and saturates the soul with this feeling, which is as it were the overflowing of His holy and adorable Soul and makes known in an unmistakable manner that He wishes His holy Soul to be comforted, and shows and makes me feel that sorrow and anguish that so wrung from Him that complaint to His Eternal Father.

And as the angel of the old told Abraham that God would find a victim for the holocaust, and turning round he found a lamb, a male lamb of under one year old caught by its horns in the thorns of the hedge, so now God again provides a Victim , a peace offering, a sacrifice of propitiation the Seat of created and uncreated Wisdom crowned with thorns.

And our obedience and faith, like Abraham's must first be true and tried. We must bow our understanding to the obedience of faith and God will show us the Lamb caught in the thorns which He particularly and expressly wishes to be a sacrifice to His outraged Deity, to His Infinite and Eternal Wisdom. Ah, how beautifully God shows me the likeness to this Lamb which He distinctly says through the mouth of His inspired writers was provided by God. It was caught in the thorns, then it was sacrificed, its blood was shed, its heart was pierced and it was consumed by the fire of sacrifice. So the Sacred Head crowned with thorns and the dewdrops of Precious Blood are as damask roses telling of the Love that draws forth those streamlets of ruby red...

I think it is the same soul that our Divine Lord has before shown me and whom He has lavished His choicest gifts and graces upon, whose whole being seems to rest in Him, in whose soul is reflected very perfectly the Triune God, Whose Will is in all things, one with His, who is burning with and in flames that consume His Sacred Heart, whose soul gives Him great Adoration, who condoles with Him in His sorrows, who is as He gave me to understand an angel of consolation to Him.

And He showed me very clearly how perfectly this soul adored the Seat of Divine Wisdom and rendered comfort to His Holy Soul. I think He wishes to teach me by this holy soul what gifts and graces He bestows on those who give themselves up entirely to Him. And if it were only to reflect one single ray of glory such as shines in such profusion from this one, oh it would be worth trying for, for all eternity, she gives such glory to her Creator, her Redeemer, her Spouse.

Her love is all for Him and her zeal for souls and His glory is as the pillar of fire which went before the People of Israel. Our dear Blessed Lord seems to me to love this soul so tenderly and He gave me to understand that He will reveal the brightness of His shining in her, that multitudes may be drawn to love Him, to praise and thank Him for the gifts He has given her. She is truly a Child of Mary, and ornament of the Church. Oh how He humbled me in this soul, and gave me, poor worm of the earth, confidence and love for Him and His work, for I love this soul on account of the glory she gives to Our dear Divine Spouse, and I thought I would ask you to let me offer our undertakings to him through her to Mary.

And I begged of Him through the love He has for Himself to show His work in her and thus glorify His Name. I begged of Him through the Wisdom of His Sacred Head and for Mary's sake for I have heard Him by those words in the soul, show her to Mary and tell her that she is His Spouse, that she has risen early to meet Him and the dew drops are on her feet. The dew drops of His Precious Blood and roses encircle her brow. I think He has given to her the marks of His Precious Wounds and she is sealed with His Seal, and Wisdom is on her lips.

Oh how it makes me want to do something for Him, how puny we are and how little we see we have done when God shows us a generous soul like this. I have asked our dear Blessed Lord to show her to you and to others, for I know you will glorify God in His wonderful work in her soul. Is it presumption of me to wish to speak with this saint? To hear her say that sweet name of love, Jesus, for I feel that it would make me love Him even more. Blessed be God in His angels and His saints. Amen.

When I last saw this soul at first I thought it was our dear Blessed Lady, for it seemed to me that the angels of God gazed at her in wondering admiration and yet the glory which now ascends to the Blessed Trinity from this soul and the graces that God showers down upon the earth through her is wonderfully increased. Ah how wonderful is God' in Saints. Our dear Blessed Lord instructed me that the Devotion will be acknowledged and will rapidly spread and draw many souls to Him. I often find myself begging of Him to choose someone who is to reveal the longing wish of His Sacred Heart to have the Seat of Divine Wisdom honored. I feel that everyone must think that our dear Lord could not throw such pearls to such swine as I am but I check myself in obedience and say "Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven: I know I asked Him to let this favored soul be the messenger of His Love for she knows of and practices this Devotion. Will you ask our dear Lord to let this soul, if it be His Holy Will, be an instrument instead of your obedient child,

In the Sacred Head and loving Heart... Teresa Higginson...Enfant de Marie.

COMPLAINTS OF THE SOUL OF OUR BLESSED LORD

"My Soul is not known. My Soul is not loved. Night and day I see living lamps burning before My Altar. My Sacraments of Love finds worshippers and victims; but My Soul does not meet with sympathizing souls. Every day I give Myself to My creatures, and swallowed up in this union, they praise everything in Me but My Soul and My Sacred Head crowned with thorns, the Seat of Divine Wisdom. Few there are who compassionate the anguish of My Soul, sorrowful unto death. My Heart has found thousands of hearts, but My Soul remains solitary, and My Thorn-Crowned Brow unhonored. My Face besmeared, and My Eyes and Mouth filled with congealing Blood, and no one is there to wipe it away and refresh My parched Lips and swollen Tongue. My Soul is Sorrowful even unto death, and I have looked for some one to comfort Me and there is no one"

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FATHER WILBERFORCE'S MEMORANDUM

HOLY CROSS LEICESTER. Nov. 9 1882

Dear Father Powell

You asked me to express to you in writing my opinion regarding a volume of letters written by Miss T.H. containing among other matters an account of certain revelations which she considers to have been made to her by Our Blessed Lord Himself. Concerning devotion to the Sacred Head as the Seat of divine Wisdom. This would also include some opinion as to the spirit of the writer of these letters.

I must first express the diffidence with which I give any opinion about matters so exalted in their nature and so widely removed from the beaten track of the spiritual life, especially as I have not any knowledge of the soul in question.

1 As to the devotion itself.

The object of this which in a certain sense may be called a new devotion, is the Sacred Head of the Divine Word Incarnate; but not simply that Sacred Head itself considered as the chief organic part of the material Body of Jesus Christ, but that Sacred Head considered as the Shrine or Tabernacle of the created Soul of the God Man united as that soul is, in one Person, with the uncreated and eternal Wisdom of God the Son. Thus the Devotion bears a striking analogy to the devotion in honor of the Sacred Heart which beat in the breast of our Incarnate God, yet not simply as a material object of worship but as the Shrine and symbol of the Love of Jesus Christ, love residing in the Soul which was united in one Person with the Son of God.

There would appear to be no theological objection to a devotion in honor of the Sacred Head as the Shrine of the intellectual faculties and powers of the Soul of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the soul is the form of the whole body, and therefore of the head, the principle organ of the body; and as the Soul of Our Blessed Lord is united in one Person with the God Head, His Sacred Head is manifestly Divine and worthy of the highest Adoration or the worship of Latria.

St Thomas (Summa. pt 3.Qu.6.Art. 4) teaches that the son of God assumed a created Soul and a created Intellect, and the holy Doctor quotes the words of St Augustine who proves this truth from the teaching of Our Lord Himself, Animan quoque dicit S Augustinus Se harbere osentendit dicens Joan X 18. Ego pono Animam meam et iterum sum eam, Intellectum quoque animae ostendit se habere, dicens Matt. x 29. discite a Me, quia mitis sum and humilis cordis Et de ipso per prophetam Deus sicit, Isa Lii 13 Ecce intelliget Puer Meus St Thomas then proceeds to prove this Catholic doctrine by three reasons against the Apolinarians and Arians.

The same holy doctor (sum. Pt. Qu xxx Art 1) teaches that the Divinity of Christ and His Humanity are to be Adored with one and the same worship. He quotes Canon 9 of the council of Constantinople which refines the doctrine in these words: 'Si quis in duabus naturis adorari dicit Christum, ex quo duae adorationers introducuntur, sed non una adoratione Deum Verbum incarnatum cum propria ipsius carne adorat, sicut ab intitio Dei ecclesiae traditum est, talis anathema sit'. Then the Angelic doctor proceeds to show that ex parte Ejus qui adoratur there is only one and the same Adoration of the two natures, because the Person is One; but on the other hand Ex parte causae qua honoratur' we can admit that there is more than one Adoration; for Christ is honored by one Adoration on account of His Created Wisdom.

In the devotion now being considered when the Sacred Head is honored and as the Person is Divine, the honor due to the Sacred Head is Divine (vid. St. Thom. Sum. pt 3. Qu xxv Art 2) This being as above stated in strict analogy to the worship of the Sacred Heart, needs no further proof to show its perfect harmony with the teaching of the Catholic Church.

On the fitness of the devotion.

Having thus shown that the devotion to the Sacred Head is not opposed to the teaching of the Catholic faith, the next question that arises may thus be put: Is the Devotion a congruous one? Is there any special fitness in it? At this particular time?

If we consider that the Devotion in itself will be acknowledged that there is a certain special fitness in it as a Devotion to the Eternal Wisdom. In support of this view the teaching of St Thomas can again be adduced. The holy Doctor (Sum. pt 3. Qu 3 Art 8) maintains that it was more fitting that the Person of the Son of God should assume our nature than that either of the other Persons of the Adorable Trinity should become Incarnate. One reason advanced by St Thomas to prove this will throw considerable light on this devotion....St Thomas considers that it was more fitting that the Son of God should become Incarnate rather than the Father or the Holy Spirit because to the Eternal Son is attributed Wisdom (1 Cor.i.24) Christ the Wisdom of God. For as man sinned and perished by an inordinate desire of wisdom and knowledge, so it is especially fitting that he should be restored by him to whom Wisdom is especially attributed.

From this we may rightly proceed to conclude that a most fitting object of special devotion for man after being redeemed is that very Wisdom by Whom the redemption has been accomplished. Now the Shrine of that Wisdom, its earthly tabernacle, is the Sacred Head of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The Devotion therefore in itself is most congruous and fitting.

It will not be difficult in the second place to show that there is a peculiar fitness in this devotion to the age in which we live. In order to suit a particular time, a Devotion ought to meet the special dangers of the day of the day supplying an antidote to prevalent spiritual diseases. Now the spirit of this age is evidently one of spiritual rebellion. The human mind intoxicated by modern scientific discoveries is inclined to cast off all restraint and to refuse any longer to remain subject to the sweet yoke of faith. Rationalism, pure and simple, is the prevailing spirit of the day. This spirit is at once most injurious to God and especially to the Wisdom of God in high, the Fountain of Wisdom, because it causes man to love and value the foolishness of human wisdom, despising what they consider to be the folly, but which truly is the eternal Wisdom of God. Moreover this spirit is most destructible to souls who are induced by it to love the darkness rather than the light.

Against this pernicious spirit of evil and its consequences the Devotion to the Sacred Head is especially directed. For as it consists in the Adoration and praise of the Sacred Head as the Shrine of the Divine Wisdom, it is particular adapted to be used in reparation for all the insults offered to that Divine Wisdom by the sins of the infidelity and intellectual pride. Just as the Devotion to the Sacred Heart met the error of Jansenism so destructive of the spirit of Love, so the devotion to the Sacred Head will oppose the blightening errors of rationalism and infidelity, so insulting to the Infinite Wisdom of God Incarnate.

Moreover a fervent Devotion to the Divine Wisdom and its earthly shrine will bring down on the Faithful, we most confidently hope, a special grace to preserve their faith intact and to spread that precious gift among many still out of the fold.

We may then conclude that this Devotion is thoroughly theological, in strict harmony with the devotion already so solemnly and frequently approved, of the Sacred Heart, most congruous in itself, and lastly particularly suited to the special needs of the age in which we live.

PRAYER TO THE SACRED HEAD OF OUR BLESSED LORD JESUS AS THE SEAT OF DIVINE WISDOM.

Wisdom of the Sacred Head guide me in all my ways,

O Love of the Sacred heart, consume me with Thy fire.

Three glorias in honor of the Divine Will, Memory and understanding.

O Seat of Divine Wisdom and guiding power which governs all the motions of the Sacred Heart, may all minds know thee, all hearts love Thee and all tongues praise Thee, now and forever more.

LITANY TO THE SACRED HEAD OF JESUS

Lord have mercy on us, Christ have mercy on us Lord have mercy on us. Christ hear us, Christ Graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us
God the Son Redeemer of the World Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
Sacred Head of Jesus formed by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary
(after each invocation say GUIDE US IN ALL OUR WAYS)

Sacred Head of Jesus Substantially United to the Word of God.
Sacred Head of Jesus Temple of Divine Wisdom Sacred Head of Jesus, Centre of Eternal Light Sacred Head of Jesus Tabernacle of Divine Knowledge
Sacred Head of Jesus Safeguard against error Sacred Head of Jesus Sunshine of Heaven and Earth Sacred Head of Jesus Treasure of Science and Pledge of Faith
Sacred Head of Jesus Radiant with Beauty, and Justice and Love
Sacred Head of Jesus Full of Grace and Truth Sacred Head of Jesus Living Witness of Humility Sacred Head of Jesus Reflecting the Infinite Majesty of God,
Sacred Head of Jesus Centre of the Universe Sacred Head of Jesus Object of the Father's joyous Satisfaction
Sacred Head of Jesus upon which the Holy Spirit Rested
Sacred Head of Jesus Around which the Glory of Mount Tabor Shone
Sacred Head of Jesus Who had no place on earth on which to Rest.
Sacred Head of Jesus Whom the Fragrant Anointing of Magdalen Consoled
Sacred Head of Jesus Bathed with the Sweat of Blood in Gethsemani
Sacred Head of Jesus who Wept for our Sins Sacred Head of Jesus Crowned with Thorns
Sacred Head of Jesus Outraged by the Indignities of the Passion
Sacred Head of Jesus Consoled by the loving gesture of Veronica
Sacred Head of Jesus Bowed to the earth which was Redeemed at the moment of death on Calvary

Guide us in all our ways.

Sacred Head of Jesus Light of every being born on earth,
Sacred Head of Jesus Our Guide and our Hope Sacred Head of Jesus Who knows all our Needs Sacred Head of Jesus Who gives Us All Graces Sacred Head of Jesus that Governs all the motions of the Sacred Heart
Sacred Head of Jesus Whom we wish to adore and make known through the World
Sacred Head of Jesus Who knows all the secrets of our hearts
Sacred Head of Jesus Who enraptures and Angels and Saints,
Sacred Head of Jesus Who one day we hope to be unveiled forever,

Jesus we Adore Your Sacred Head; We surrender Utterly to All Degrees of Your Infinite Wisdom

This litany bears the imprimatur of Fredericus Gul, Liverpool England 1927

While the Devotion is approved...Teresa Higginson has been given the title of Servant of God. However the revelations to her from Our Lord, in authenticating have been put on hold awaiting the miracles associated with beatification