Wash Yourselves at the Fountain...

San Marco (Udine, Italy) February 11, 1995

Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

"Wash yourselves at the fountain. Wash yourselves at the fountain of living water, gushing from the Heart of Jesus, pierced by the lance of the Roman soldier. For this, with the hands of little Bernadette, I caused a fountain of purest water to gush forth from the rock. And so, I have asked you to go and wash yourselves at the fountain.

Wash yourselves at the fountain. Immerse yourselves in the fountain of Divine Mercy. This fountain, which has gushed from the pierced Heart of Jesus, is given to you through the sacrament of Reconciliation. Jesus has instituted it as a precious fruit of His redemption and in order to meet your extreme weakness. On the day of His resurrection, He said to the Apostles: 'Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven' [John, 20:22-23]. From that moment, there was given to you the possibility of washing yourselves, each and every time your souls become degraded by sin.
Wash yourselves at the fountain. During these years, the sacrament of Reconciliation has become more and more neglected; in fact, it is being attacked in a subtle and perverse way. Thus, there is spreading the wicked habit of committing sin with levity, of justifying it, of not regretting having committed it, and of no longer confessing it.
In many parts of the Church, sacramental confession has totally disappeared. Priests who are making themselves available for this indispensable sacrament are becoming more and more scarce. In this way, the Church is becoming utterly paralyzed in her apostolic action; she is wounded and covered with deep sores, like a leper.
Wash yourselves at the fountain. Today I am setting before you the ardent and impassioned request of your heavenly Mother that, in these last times of the great tribulation, the sacrament of Reconciliation be restored in all its splendor in my Church.
Because, it is only from this fountain that Divine Mercy can be poured out upon all humanity. It is in this sacrament that Jesus can form new hearts and a renewed life. It is only with this precious sacrament that the merciful love of Jesus can be communicated to the Church and to all humanity.
For this reason, I invite you today to let yourselves be immersed in the fountain of Divine Mercy and to look to me, your heavenly Mother, who has been conceived Immaculate for the very purpose of becoming for you Mother of Mercy." Interior locution to Fr. Stefano Gobbi, MMP [1973-97]; To The Priests-Our Lady's Beloved Sons, MMP [2009]. #538, pp.846-47