Catholic during the Great Apostasy

…Christ came to earth, humbled Himself by taking on human flesh, and thus also all the misery of our nature, and people to whom He has never done anything wrong are preparing everything bad for Him. He came to seek the lost, but they make Him flee; He came to give life to the lost, but people want to put Him to death. From His cradle the world did not stop persecuting Him and did not rest until they had nailed Him to the cross.

Mary abandons everything so as not to lose Jesus; we abandon everything, Jesus even, so as not to lose the world! – Mary with Jesus flees from the world, and we with the world flee from Jesus!

And not only do we flee not from all that by which we might lose the peace of our soul, our conscience, the consecrating grace and our salvation, but we ourselves seek opportunities for it…

And that voice of the Angel to St. Joseph: “Rise and flee”, oh how many times has it spoken to us too! – oh how many times has conscience been that caring Angel for us! – Rise up from your sinful habits, flee where there is time, flee from that person who wants to snatch away your innocence, taking away your faith! Do not enter this house, on which the curse of Heaven is weighing down, lest this curse take hold of you too; abandon all plans, affairs, and interests, with which you can entangle your conscience by harming your brethren! Do not enter into those meetings where God is blasphemed and insulted. Refrain from everything that may be a cause of ruin and perdition for you!

Painful was this escape for Mary, painful perhaps it will be for you too. But Mary had Jesus with her; that consolation will be yours too. If you forsake sin and the world, Jesus will be your heart, Jesus will be with you. – Live in that state to which God has called you, fulfilling all his duties; love people as much as you can and as much as you can, do good to them, but love God above all things! God guards the guarded! In all your dangers, insistencies, sorrows, flee not from Jesus and Mary but from the world and to Jesus and Mary. Let Jesus, Mary and Joseph be the guides and companions of thy pilgrimage; join thyself, join thy whole family to this Holy Family, and under its protection thou shalt stand happily at the end of thy journey! The sorrows and pains of Mary’s pilgrimage, sweeten the sorrows and pains of thy pilgrimage.

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The May Devotion. From the manuscripts of Father Karol Antoniewicz S. J. Reprinted separately from the devotional book of the same author. Kraków. 1883.