In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A young man wanted to live with all kinds of pleasures.
Since he had no money, he made a pact with Satan and sold his soul to the devil in order
to have a lot of money and get all kinds of pleasures.
His mother, very concerned, asked him to accompany her to the sanctuary of Laus.
This man accepted and they went to Laus.
Venerable Benoite Rencurel realized his problems and spoke seriously until she convinced him
to make a confession and break his infernal pact.
Sometime later the Virgin Mary told Venerable Benoite to tell the young man's mother to
make him study, because her son should be a priest.
The man entered the seminary and after his studies, he was ordained as a priest and returned
to Laus to thank God and Our Lady the Virgin Mary for the gift of the priesthood.
Another man from Marseille had also made a diabolical pact.
His mother took him to Laus in the hope that the Virgin Mary would break his chains.
Venerable Benoite received him with great interest and told him about the confession.
After confessing, the man changed his life and returned to Marseille where he died in
a Christian manner shortly after, in 1705.
On August 15th, 1698 between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., Venerable Benoite was about to
pray the litanies of the Virgin Mary in her room when she saw four little angels; each
appeared to be a year old and they held the Virgin Mary in the air.
Two of those little angels approached her, and each holding her on one side, led her away.
They rose together in the air, following the Virgin Mary.
After an aerial tour, Venerable Benoite heard a large number of angels sing the mysteries
of the passion of Jesus.
Venerable Benoite was drenched with the wonderful smells of the Virgin Mary and the angels.
Venerable Benoite thought to herself: Where are you going?
If two little angels didn't have the strength to take you, where would you go?
The Virgin Mary knew her thoughts and explained: "Do not fear, you will not fall."
When Venerable Benoite arrived in paradise the four angels disappeared and left her with the Virgin Mary.
After they had walked together for a while, Venerable Benoite saw millions of blessed
people ready to sing songs of praise to God.
They all smiled and greeted the Virgin Mary and got up from their seats.
Venerable Benoite Rencurel tells us: They had blond hair.
They were very young and seemed to be all the same age.
Their splendor and clarity is impossible to describe.
Venerable Benoite also recognized some of the deceased who smiled at her as she passed.
Venerable Benoite saw her mother and two chaplains from Laus: Jean Peytieu and Barthélemy Hermitte.
Following the Virgin Mary in heaven, she observed a throne with precious stones above all other thrones.
It was dazzling.
The Virgin Mary bowed deeply.
Venerable Benoite did not know who was on the throne.
Then she saw a great tree, thick and tall, with its branches and leaves of gold, bearing
beautiful red apples.
The Virgin Mary clarified: "It is the tree of life."
Going a little further, she found herself in front of six doors.
Venerable Benoite expressed to the Virgin Mary her desire to stay in paradise.
But the Virgin Mary answered her: It is not yet the moment, and she indicated to her that
soon it was going to dawn in Laus and she should return.
Two angels took the Virgin Mary and two other angels took Venerable Benoite Rencurel and
descended to earth.
They left Venerable Benoite at the foot of the slope of Laus, near the sanctuary.
It was still night, but the light that came from the Virgin Mary gave light as in broad daylight.
And Venerable Benoite Rencurel's joy was so great that she didn't eat or drink anything
for 15 days.
The demons also took Venerable Benoite to hell.
According to Aubin, Venerable Benoite's hermit confidant, she saw many people she knew submerged
in flames up to their waists and she saw all sorts of monstrous beasts.
Two angels came to her aid and returned her to Laus.
Father Gaillard stated that in 1694 Venerable Benoite was taken to hell by one of the demons,
where she saw many known people, they were up to their stomachs and the rest of their
bodies in great flames.
She was only there a few moments, because two angels came and took her out of there,
taking her to her house.
The angels told Venerable Benoite Rencurel that God had allowed it so that she would
have compassion on sinners.
Her angel told her: "You have seen, my daughter, these flames and these fires.
Such a person, and the angel told her the name, is impatient and she will come here
if she does not correct herself,
tell her so she can take advantage of the warning.
And the angel added: No matter how tired you are, always pray five Our Fathers for sinners.
She had seen all kinds of beasts and countless damned in hell that made her tremble to the
point that she cried with many tears.
Let's think that our life is not an island isolated from the rest of earthly or heavenly humanity.
Also between heaven and earth there is no insurmountable barrier.
We live in the same material and spiritual universe.
Heaven and earth meet in God.
At each Mass, heaven is present on earth.
The Mass unites heaven and earth.
It encompasses and permeates all of creation.
The Eucharist is truly a glimpse of heaven that opens up on earth.
It is a ray of glory from the heavenly Jerusalem that penetrates the clouds of our history
and shines light on our path.
For this reason, we can say with Pope Benedict XVI in his book "At the service of the Gospel":
Every Mass is a cosmic Mass, because it makes us leave our small groups to embrace the great
community that encompasses heaven and earth.
It is beautiful to know and live the great mystery of the communion of saints.
Living heaven on earth to some extent, living in union and permanent communication with
the inhabitants of heaven, with all the angels and all the saints, especially with Jesus
and the Virgin Mary and our guardian angel, who by God's will must take care of us and
serve us throughout our lives until we get to heaven.
Jean Peytieu said: A bird white like a dove and the size of a sparrow perched on her head.
Venerable Benoite, very surprised, walked quickly towards the church and smelled the
wonderful perfume that that little bird left.
The bird hovered over her head and said with a man's voice, approaching her ear:
"There will come a time when you will be ill, you will have many trials and you must have a
lot of patience."
Because of those good smells, she knew very well that it was not the devil or her imagination.
On other occasions, she discovered a few inches above her head some birds that were singing
admirably and she was invaded by an overflowing joy.
Sometimes they sang the litanies of the passion of Christ.
These birds were generally the size of a sparrow.
Some were red, some were white, and some were different colors, and they always exuded a
very mild smell.
The hermit Aubin declared that he saw three times birds flitting over her head, forming
a crown and singing the litanies of Jesus, emanating strong and pleasant smells.
One day she asked her beautiful angel who those little birds were and her angel replied:
They are celestial spirits.
Again Venerable Benoite asked if they were angels of the Virgin Mary and her angel said yes.
Often when the demons assaulted her and made her suffer with God's permission, angels would
come after her to console her.
In February 1689, while she was in her room beginning to pray, she discovered a multitude
of birds of all colors flying around her.
The room was filled with their perfume.
They spent six hours singing the litanies of Jesus, responding to one another.
On April 11th, 1687, after spending the night in prayer, she decided to feed twelve poor
people in honor of the twelve apostles.
While Venerable Benoite was thinking about this idea, a bird, white as a dove and the
size of a sparrow, came to perch on her head and perfumed her with soft smells.
On April 14th, 1687, her angel appeared to Venerable Benoite as a little bird, when she,
after having spent the whole night in prayer, left her room to go to church.
The life of Venerable Benoite Rencurel is an encouragement for us, as well as an example
of how our life should be united to all the inhabitants of heaven.
Let's think that the entire universe is full of God and all the celestial inhabitants take
care of this universe that God has created for our good, and so that in it we can sanctify
ourselves to reach heaven and eternal happiness.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.