Flower of Devotion

The Blessed Virgin Mary said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“From the example of the apostles who forsook their Master and fled in the arrest of the Lord Jesus, men should know what is the great danger to the soul of a defective man. This happens when man, in spite of receiving even the greatest graces and benefits, has become accustomed to ingratitude, hardness and carelessness. It happened to the eleven apostles that they forsook their heavenly Master and fled from Him. This danger arises from the fact that men become superfluously attached to external things, to everything that is sensible and earthly. Further, because sin had corrupted their inclinations, and they had become accustomed to live and act more according to earthly, carnal and sensual goods, than according to their own spirit. The reason for this is that even the gifts and graces which the Lord bestows upon them, they receive and love in a sensual way. If, on the other hand, they do not get this kind of satisfaction, then they turn to other sense objects, allow themselves to be guided by them, and lose their love of the spiritual life. As a result of this earthly conduct and carelessness, these apostles fell, although they received great favor from My Most Holy Son and from Me. For the miracles, teachings, and examples which they looked upon, they understood with their senses. And though they were righteous and in a state of grace, yet they had worldly views and relied upon them, and therefore hesitated. When their faith in earthly principles forsook them, and when temptation came upon them, they fell. They did not penetrate enough into the mysteries and spirit of what they had heard and seen in their Master’s school.
From this example men should learn not to give themselves up to the love of earthly things, and not to become accustomed to considering only the things of the senses, even in the case of the special favors which God bestows upon them. Let them not be content with knowing things from the natural and external side, but let them raise their spirit to their spiritual meaning, which they cannot comprehend with their senses, but only with the interior light (1 Corinthians 2:14).