The Letters of Antonietta Meo (Translated by Austin Schulz)

Letter 128

January 31, 1937

Dear Eucharist Jesus,

I love You so... so much, dear Jesus! I know that You suffered very much when you were little, and I want to go every Sunday to Mass where the sacrifice of the Cross is renewed, and where You make an even greater [sacrifice] by enclosing Yourself in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

Dear Jesus, although I will come to receive You every Sunday, I would like to receive you every day, but Mom does not bring me.

Dear Jesus, tell God the Father that I love Him so... so much!

Dear Jesus, free so many souls from purgatory so they would come into Paradise to glorify the Holy Trinity.

Dear Jesus! I want to tell You again that I love You so... so much, and I want to be very good.

Dear Jesus, truly, today I wasn't very good, but tomorrow I promise You that I will be so good.

Dear Jesus, tell God the Father that I thank Him that He made Mom heal for me; I also thank You and the Holy Spirit, too.

Dear Jesus, I want to save so many sinners, and I especially entrust to You that sinner whom You know that is very old; and dear Jesus, I also [entrust to You] that one in the hospital of St. John.

Dear Jesus, make it so the Russians can know You soon, and make yourself known by all the other bad nations.

I greet You; I adore You, o Jesus! And I want to be on Calvary always, beneath the Cross.

ANTONIETTA AND JESUS.

* "all the other bad nations" = It may seem ironic of Antonietta to refer to the U.S.S.R. as a "bad" nation since she lived in Italy (a country run by the Fascist dictator Mussolini), but keep in mind that this is a six-year-old we're talking about. This is all mostly speculation on my part, but I think she's also speaking based on what she heard from the Church, but had a limited vocabulary to convey it. Therefore, "cattive" in "tutte le altre nazioni cattive" probably doesn't imply that the Russian people are inherently "bad," even if Mussolini said so at one point. If Antonietta bought every narrative spread by the Italian dictator, she wouldn't have wished all the "blacks" (Africans) well in one of her previous letters. Perhaps she is referring to the acts of the Russian government. Joseph Stalin was very open about killing 20+ million of his own citizens, and declared the U.S.S.R a godless state. The Catholic Church had been officially at odds with communism since the encyclical, "Rerum Novarum" came out in 1891. Around the time this letter was written, Pope Pius XI (1922-1939) openly criticized the Soviets for their "harsh persecution short of total annihilation of the clergy, monks, and nuns and other people associated with the Church." Antonietta was probably somewhat aware of this fact.

______________________________________

31 gennaio 1937

Caro Gesù Eucarestia

Ti voglio tanto... tanto bene caro Gesù!... io so che Tu hai sofferto molto quando eri piccino, e io voglio andare tutte le domeniche a Messa dove si rinnova il sacrificio della croce e dove Tu fai un sacrificio ancora più grande di rinchiuderti nel SS. Sacramento dell'Altare.

Caro Gesù io verrò a riceverti tutte le domeniche, ma io vorrei riceverti tutti i giorni, ma mamma non mi ci porta.

Caro Gesù dì a Dio Padre che le voglio tanto tanto bene!...

Caro Gesù, libera tante anime dal purgatorio perché vadino in paradiso a glorificare la SS Trinità.

Caro Gesù!... Te lo voglio ridire che Ti voglio tanto tanto bene e voglio essere tanto buona.

Caro Gesù, oggi veramente non sono stata tanto buona, ma domani Ti prometto che sarò tanto buona.

Caro Gesù dì a Dio Padre che lo ringrazio che mi ha fatto guarire mamma, e Ti ringrazio anche Te e anche lo Spirito Santo.

Caro Gesù, io voglio salvare tanti peccatori e Ti raccomando specialmente quel peccatore che Tu sai, e che è tanto vecchio e caro Gesù anche quello dell'ospedale di S. Giovanni.

Caro Gesù fa che presto possa conoscerti i russi e fatti conoscere da tutte le altre Nazioni cattive

Ti saluto, Ti adoro o Gesù!... e voglio stare sempre sul calvario sotto la Croce.

ANTONIETTA E GESÙ