Despite his advancing years and medical problems, I found Fr. Gobbi to be “back to his old self.” With much enthusiasm, he delivered four very inspiring talks. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer them to you at this time since they have not yet been transcribed and translated.

Towards the end of the week, Fr. Gobbi gave a talk during which he became especially animated, so much so that it was nearly impossible to hear our translator’s radio transmission above his own voice. With the little knowledge I have of Italian, I was able to grasp the following very important points:

1- The spirit of the Antichrist is already at our doorstep.
2- We can see from the events – what is going on in the Church and in the world – that the times have arrived!
3- And the following he delivered with particular fervency: “The time for projects is over…now is the time for prayer! Pray, pray, pray!!!

Fr. Gobbi again reiterated his plea for the spread of the cenacles, “MULTIPLY YOUR CENACLES!” Unfortunately, because of his advancing age and fatigue, he is no longer able to travel to the United States to conduct cenacles. He wants all of you, however, to continue persevering in your cenacles. Encourage as many as possible to join you, and branch out to form new ones. Our prayer in the cenacle is so very important.

Other speakers during the retreat were Cardinal Dias, Cardinal Daoud, Fr. Michael Gaughran, S.S.C., National Director for Great Britain; and Fr. Francis Geremia, interim director for English-speaking Canada.

Cardinal Dias holds the Marian Movement of Priests in high regard. As Cardinal Archbishop of Bombay, he was an ardent promoter of the MMP and the cenacles. After he consecrated his Archdiocese to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, many other bishops from India, encouraged by his leadership, did likewise for their respective dioceses. Our Blessed Mother is making great advances throughout the world.

I am making available one of Fr. Michael’s conferences, “A Mother’s Gift: Look, Son, at Your Heavenly Mother.”

I also share the following highlights of the retreat prepared by Fr. Michael Maher, S.M., the National Director of the Marian Movement of Priests in Ireland, based upon the notes that he took during the week.

POPE BENEDICT XVI

I have been made aware that some fringe groups are attacking the Holy Father by means of their writings, tapes, DVD’s, etc. Please, do not let yourselves be deceived by their diatribes. They want people to believe that he is a false pope; he is not! He was duly elected by the College of Cardinals, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit. Our second commitment as members of the MMP is to love, pray for and defend him. Following the retreat, the American and Canadian delegations spent a few days in Rome. After having attended two of his general audiences and listening to his reflections during the Sunday Angelus, I truly believe that Pope Benedict XVI is another great gift to the Church.

During the retreat, Fr. Gobbi also reaffirmed his confidence in having Benedict XVI as our Pope to guide us through these difficult times for the Church and the entire world. Please continue to support him with your prayers and sacrifices.

The Cenacles – Our Protection and Means of Preparation

Please do not abandon your cenacles. Believe Fr. Gobbi when he says that they are needed NOW more than ever. Our Pope and all bishops and priests desperately need our loving and spiritual support which we render them by means of our prayers. One need only listen to the news to realize how necessary these cenacles are for the welfare and protection of the Church and its people. They are the lightning rod that will protect us from the attacks of the Evil One and his minions. It is also there, in these cenacles, that our own spiritual transformation is taking place. You will soon understand that, by means of them, Our Lady is preparing us to receive Jesus when He returns in glory. He will come again to transform all of creation into new heavens and a renewed earth where there will be no more sin, no more suffering, and where God’s love and justice will reign fully. It will be another paradise on earth, only more beautiful than the first. Jesus will submit all creation to Himself and present it to the Father as his gift of love for Him. Prepare yourselves, because the victory is close at hand.


“…Indeed, through my Marian Movement of Priests, I am calling all my children to consecrate themselves to my Heart, and to spread everywhere cenacles of prayer: among priests, the faithful, children, youth, and in families.

In this way I am able to obtain a great force of intercession and reparation, and I am able to intervene in order to change the hearts of my poor sinful children; in this way I am bringing about each day the triumph of my Immaculate Heart.

The more this motherly triumph of mine comes about in the hearts and souls of my children in ever increasing numbers, the more the chastisement is put off by you, and the more Jesus can pour out upon the world the torrents of his divine mercy.” (473i-k, May 13, 1992)

The Rosary – Your Weapon!

The rosary which we pray in the cenacles is truly a powerful weapon…say it as often as possible and know that it will be the chain that will bind Satan and cast him into the abyss. Keep one with you at all times – in your pocket, your purse, your car, your workplace, etc. Clasp it in the evening before going to sleep, and commence praying upon waking in the morning. It is also a powerful means to keep your thoughts pure. St. Padre Pio is quoted as saying:

“The rosary is my weapon." "Our Lady has never refused me a grace through the recitation of the rosary."
"Love the Blessed Mother and make her loved. Always recite the rosary."
St. (Padre) Pio of Pietrelcina

Keep Your Cenacles Pure in Spirit

From time to time, I get reports that some cenacle facilitators are not remaining faithful to the cenacle format. These cenacles belong to Our Lady and we must adhere to her wishes that the cenacles remain simple and unencumbered.

- NO other messages are to be discussed.
- Preserve the integrity of the rosary by not interrupting it with any discussion between the decades.
- If you decide to discuss Our Lady’s message, it must be done only after the rosary is concluded.
- Any discussion must focus on the message itself. NEVER engage in idle chatter, especially not negative talk about the comportment of your priests. Jesus asks that we not judge or condemn anyone.
- Keep your cenacle simple without adding any private devotions. These have their proper place, but not in the cenacle.
- Finally, the cenacle is not for our personal intentions. It is for Our Lady’s intentions.

I beg you, therefore, to observe the format as requested by Our Lady. The cenacle must remain simple so that, in the respectful silence of our prayers, the Blessed Mother can work to transform us into images of her Son Jesus. If you have any questions concerning your cenacle, you may call our Headquarters or send us an email. We will be glad to oblige.

A special note about children’s cenacles…
Do not make your children’s cenacles last too long; otherwise, the young people will get bored and tired and will no longer want to attend. Especially, do not discuss messages or topics that are above their ability to comprehend…keep everything at their level. Finally, remember that children’s cenacles must be held separately from adult cenacles.

“LOVE ONE ANOTHER…”

During our annual gatherings with Fr. Gobbi, it is wonderful for all of us national and regional directors from around the world to be able to share our love for the Blessed Mother. Each year, I am joined by several priests from the United States and Canada. In her messages, she asked specifically that we all get to “know each other…love one another…”

“…It is necessary today that my priests know each other, that they help each other, that they truly love one another, that they be as brothers brought together by their Mother.

There is today too much loneliness, too much abandonment for my priests!…

I do not want them to be alone: they must help each other, love each other, they must all feel as — and really be — brothers.” (34m-o, Jan. 17, 1974)

In Message #259 (“Love One Another”), given on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, February 11, 1983, the Blessed Mother stresses this fraternal unity that all must share in our journey towards her Son Jesus:

a “ ‘Come in procession!’ — I told the simple child Bernadette, when I appeared to her in the humble grotto at Massabielle.
b Why did I make this request?
c Because I want all my children to walk together, united in prayer and in love.
d Today my Adversary is trying in every way to divide you, to isolate you, to set you against one another. He, who from the beginning was the father of lies and the sower of hatred, seeks more and more to break up your fraternal unity.
e Thus it is that often — even under the specious appearance of good — one rises against another, this group struggles with that group in an endless quest for self assertion that leaves so many good efforts fruitless.
f I want you to walk together toward me, because I am the Mother of all and because I want to form all of you together in prayer, in penance, and in your reciprocal love.
g In these times it is more than ever necessary to live the new commandment given you by Jesus on Holy Thursday evening during the Last Supper: ‘Love one another, as I have loved you.’ (Jn 15:12) I want to form you in a mutual and reciprocal love. It is necessary to give this testimony of ecclesial charity, that unites you all in the perfection of love, in order to combat the tactics of division and isolation used by my Adversary.
h Come to me, all of you, making your way along the difficult paths of your times, praying together, giving praise together, and loving one another.
i Come to me, therefore, not in isolation or in division, but in procession, strengthening those who are weak, leading on those who have come to a standstill.
j Come to me, because I wish to lead all of you in unity to my Son, present in the Eucharist.”
(…)

SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER

During this annual retreat with our brother priests, we also learn that each of us is carrying a heavy cross as we march forward in this labor of love, bringing Our Lady’s messages to her children who are hungering and thirsting for comfort and solace in an oftentimes cold and lonely world. Our Mother covers all of her little ones with her mantle and gives them what they need to continue on…sometimes it is only a simple word or phrase from her messages that constitutes that one single drop of nourishment which they need to be rejuvenated. Let us, therefore, never take her precious words for granted, and let us make it our goal to share them with others who are so desperately in need of this heavenly support. As Apostles of these Last Times, we must never shirk the responsibility she has given us of making these messages known to all.

And when we feel that the cross is too heavy to bear, let us get into the habit of gazing upon a crucifix for a few minutes…we will immediately feel our own crosses quite miniscule by comparison. And let us offer these sufferings to our Lady who will immediately transform them into joy – that “joy of the cross”. Meditate upon Jesus’ agony and crucifixion, knowing that he died for us and realizing that, by carrying our crosses valiantly, we are assisting him in his work of redemption. What an awesome thought…that we are co-redeemers with Christ! His Mother tells us,


d “Indeed, you will know joy even in sorrow; moreover, you will offer for my joy each of your sufferings, even the smallest. And I will accept it as a gift which the little child makes to its Mother, and I will change it immediately into joy for you.
e However, the joy that I give you is deep; it is not superficial; it is peaceful; it never brings agitation. It is for you, my son, the joy of the cross: the joy of remaining always in my sorrowful Heart to experience all its indescribable motherly sadness.
f I want to bring all the priests of my Movement to this joy. They must know how I completely change and transform their existence, taking literally the gift which they made to me by their consecration.
g I will lead them, these little children of mine, very far in love, in suffering, in the joy of the cross!” (42d-g, March 23, 1974)


Each day, we hear from so many of you who are bearing the weight of such heavy crosses. We need to pray for and encourage one another. Please take the time to listen to others, to help shoulder the tremendous burden of their sufferings. So many out there are lonely and abandoned, with no one to whom to turn in their distress. Our Lady repeatedly urges us to “be an expression of her love and motherly concern” in ministering to them:



g “There awaits you the task of causing the sweet balm of my motherly tenderness to come down upon so many open and bleeding wounds. See how numerous are the poor, those far away, the sinners, the unhappy, the stricken, the downtrodden, the discouraged, the abandoned, the lonely, the desperate. You must be an expression of my love and my motherly concern. Love all with the strength of your priestly heart and with the light which is given you by your heavenly Mother.