“Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
Latin Vulgate: “Esto fidelis usque ad mortem et dabo tibi coronam vitae.”
Revelation 2:10
Let’s be unconditionally open to be who we are and who we are created to be: a living Church, a faithful Church-Bride to the Divine Husband…
Yes, there is a rain of petals and white flowers… but there is also both the faithfulness of those who preceded us, and also all the bloodshed, the violations against dignity, abuses, and crimes of those who preceded us. I, who am a daughter of progenitors who had committed blood crimes, know very well what bearing that weight means… but I can also choose be the regeneration of my bloodline, to spark the conversion into who we are and who we are called to be: We are family, we are Church, we are mission… We are family, we are humanity, we are mission…
The cries and abuses of those who had preceded us must be understood under their right socio-cultural context… Sometimes, there was no intention of committing a wrong, but rather a misinterpreted sociocultural frame that needed to be rebuilt so a better understanding could be achieved and better choices could then be made. However, at other times, wrongdoings were indeed committed… No matter what, His Church has always stood esto fidelis… because that how Divine Love had created us: to love according to His image and likeness, to grow together in communion. Our call to serve, helping to grow together in communion, won´t ever change, our call to remain in conscience faithful to His spousal alliance won´t change, serving unconditionally open to incarnate the Eucharist and give light to the Word more and more humbly, joyfully, and open to the sweetness of the miel silvestre that keeps transconsacrating everything: esta realeza del Cielo es para adorarle con todo el crecimiento, para permanecer incondicionalmente a la gracia, a la verdad, a la nueva vida que viene del Amor…
So, we keep walking like He walked, discite a me… porque el evangelio estará bajo los pies, el camino estará bajo los pies, la luz estará bajo los pies según el evangelio del día, según la Palabra del Día: hágase en nosotros según Tu Palabra, hágase en nosotros según Tu caridad… and then the conversion sparks will happen. We, the renewed generation, can embrace what has been learned, understand better, and plasmate His living icon of Divine Charity as He calls us to, so we can understand better now and convert into who we are and who we are called to be, making, with the grace of the flaming Holy Spirit, that the bones can flourish and revive.
Siempre se nos concederá la gracia para profetizar hasta que los huesos resuciten y florezcan, con todos nuestros ancestros en el Cielo glorificando al Dios Amor al que han sido siempre fieles de todo corazón… y que hoy, como semillas de luz, nos enseñan a ser también fieles, con humildad y gracia, encarnando Su orden de la caridad desde orden del corazón: illum oportet crescere… Aquí estamos para aprender de las generaciones que nos precedieron… y allí donde ha habido crímenes, yo soy la generación a la que se le concede el flamming Holy Spirit para “revivir el espíritu de crecimiento en comunión” y hacer que los huesos florezcan. Todo lo que destruye la comunión ha de cesar: somos, como familia del Cielo, keepers (guardianes) de la fraternidad sacramental del cuerpo eclesial, keepers (guardianes) de su orden más fundamental, que siempre será el vivir la caridad, el plasmar Su Ordo Caritatis desde el corazón, como un goeiz que crece más y más…
So when we are saying Esto Fidelis, we’re not just repeating a nice motto — we’re echoing the voice of Revelation 2:10, a direct command of Christ that has echoed through the catacombs, across medieval banners, in monastery halls, and in modern Christian identity… but it especially echoes in all those occasions in which a martyrdom of innocents had been committed within the own Church and by through the own Church: when the Church preferred an innocents martyrdom instead of becoming more faithful to the Bridegroom. Still, there had always been some in the whole history of the Church who remain heroically faithful to abuses of power, letting Christ the King reign in them: esto fidelis. Those innocent faithful who did what they could, not knowing that those who acted in the name of the Church and were commanding them were wrong, and had to endure a martyrdom of innocence… now shine above eternally crowned due to their faithfulness: esto fidelis.
The Crusades are a good example. Let’s say that you wanted humbly to be faithful, but the Church understood things wrongs (if they would had heard Francis of Assisi the crusades would had stopped; there had always been someone telling what must be said and the Church keeps martyring the innocents)… but you remained humble and faithful until the end… then the crown of life is given to you, despite the blood spilled, because you were not wrong doing in conscience but due… the Church understanding through the wrong sociocultural frame, so the frame had to be rebuilt eventually, so the Word could be given light through the Truth of the Holy Spirit when the time come. So… you can go to heaven simply due “esto fidelis: abuses of power were committed, but we remained faithful, and He who is faithful crowned us with the crown of life…” Nobody has seen this as the “great tribulation” of the Apocalypse: as the martyrs of innocence within their own Church, blood shed by the Church as she learns what she needs to know to become the Bride she is called to be, to give Him light… Let´s discern this calmly, family of Heaven.
1. Esto Fidelis and the Innocent Faithful
If someone humbly lived and died faithful to Christ — even if the institutional Church misunderstood, erred, or even condemned them — then their crown of life comes not from human judgment, but from the Lord Himself who sees the heart (cf. 1 Sam 16:7).
That is exactly the heart of esto fidelis: not to be faithful to human power, but to Him, the Faithful and True (Rev 19:11).
• Francis of Assisi is indeed a good example: he tried to stop crusading violence by approaching the Sultan unarmed. His path was not the Church’s majority choice, but it embodied Christ’s way of peace.
• History is filled with hidden or silenced voices who were later vindicated as prophetic once the Church grew enough to see what had been missed.
2. “The Great Tribulation” as Misused Power
Traditionally, Revelation’s “great tribulation” (Rev 7:14) is interpreted as persecution of the faithful by the world — pagan Rome, antichrist powers, etc.
But some theologians and mystics have dared to apply it also to the Church’s own sins — when the faithful were persecuted by the very community that should have sheltered them.
• Catherine of Siena scolded popes and denounced corruption, while remaining obedient in love.
• Joan of Arc was condemned by a Church court, burned as a heretic, but later canonized as a saint.
• John Henry Newman said famously: “The Church is not immaculate in her members, but in her Bridegroom.”
So… yes — many thinkers have seen the “tribulation” not only as outside persecution but also as the pain of purification within the Church herself. The Bride becomes purified through her failures, by God’s mercy, until she truly reflects Christ.
3. A “Church of the Innocents”
This is sometimes called the “ecclesia martyrum” (the Church of the martyrs).
• This includes those killed unjustly by pagan Rome,
• but also those wounded or silenced by the Church’s own blindness or rigidity.
Theologically, the Catechism today acknowledges that conscience is supreme: if someone truly seeks and clings to God faithfully, even if accused unjustly, God alone judges them. That means: Esto fidelis — remain faithful — is indeed enough, because Christ Himself vindicates.
4. Toward the Bride
This last point is very powerful:
• Revelation envisions the Church becoming the Bride of the Lamb, washed and made ready (Rev 19:7–8).
• But the Bride is not spotless because she never sinned, but because she has been forgiven and purified.
• In that sense, the history of innocent martyrs “at the hands of the Church” may be part of that purification — the painful process by which the Bride learns humility, truth, and finally becomes the radiant partner she is called to be.
So: has anyone interpreted the “great tribulation” as the martyrdom caused by the Church herself, in her learning to become the Bride?
Yes — not in official doctrine, but in the prophetic voices of history: mystics, reformers, martyrs like Joan, saints like Francis, and even theologians today who see Revelation not just as them vs. us but as a mirror. The tribulation is both external and internal. And the promise remains the same: “Esto fidelis, and I will give you the crown of life.”
Here are examples of mystics or saints who witnessed explicitly about the Church purifying herself through the suffering of her own innocents:
1. St. Joan of Arc (1412–1431)
• Condemned as a heretic by an ecclesiastical court, burned alive at 19.
• Decades later, the Church admitted the trial was unjust, and in 1920 she was canonized.
• Her life is now seen as a sign that the Church can persecute her own saints — and yet God vindicates them.
• Her canonization is often read as a recognition that the “tribulation” can come from within the Church’s own walls.
2. St. Catherine of Siena (1347–1380)
• A mystic and Doctor of the Church who called the papacy to reform and leave worldly corruption.
• She wrote fiery letters to the Pope, calling him “sweet Christ on earth,” but also denouncing the filth of corruption among clergy.
• Catherine insisted that the Church’s suffering was a purifying fire, necessary for the Bride to be made ready.
• In her Dialogue, she sees the sins of the Church as wounding Christ Himself, but also as occasions for God’s mercy to shine.
3. Savonarola of Florence (1452–1498)
• Dominican friar who preached reform, denouncing corruption in clergy and politics.
• Executed by burning in Florence under Church authority.
• Though controversial, many later theologians see him as a prophetic figure unjustly silenced, whose death resembles the “tribulation of the innocents.”
4. St. John of the Cross (1542–1591)
• Mystic of the Carmelite reform, imprisoned and tortured by his own Carmelite brothers.
• In his poetry (Dark Night of the Soul), he interprets this interior and exterior suffering as the way God purifies the soul and — by extension — the Church.
• His life shows that the Church’s renewal often comes through the suffering of her own children at her own hands.
5. Vatican II (1962–1965)
• The Council itself recognized the Church is “semper reformanda” — always in need of purification.
• Lumen Gentium §8 admits: “The Church, clasping sinners to her bosom, is at once holy and always in need of purification; she follows constantly the path of penance and renewal.”
• This is almost a theological acknowledgment that the “great tribulation” includes the Church’s own sins against her members.
6. Modern Voices
• Hans Urs von Balthasar: spoke of the Church being purified by her “Marian” element — the humble, hidden faithful who suffer silently.
• Dorothy Day: called herself “a loyal opposition” inside the Church, suffering misunderstanding while remaining faithful.
• Pope Benedict XVI (2005): in his Good Friday meditations, said “How much filth there is in the Church, and how much pride we show, while the humble ones remain crucified with Christ.”
All of these voices, from mystics to modern popes, echo that:
• The “great tribulation” is not only persecution from the outside world, but also the suffering inflicted by the Church on her own innocents.
• Those innocents, in fidelity, purify the Bride so she may one day be radiant and faithful to her Bridegroom.
• Their “esto fidelis” is their crown of life.
So, now it can be understood: the Church prefers committing martyrdom of the innocents rather than choosing to become more faithful to the Bridegroom.
• The Bridegroom = Christ.
The Church is called to fidelity, purity, and love for Him (Ephesians 5, Revelation 19).
• Martyrdom of innocents = persecution from within.
When prophetic voices arise (calling to reform, truth, or compassion), often the institutional Church reacts by silencing, condemning, or even destroying them.
• Instead of listening and conforming more deeply to Christ, the Church sometimes chooses power, fear, or rigidity — and innocent voices pay the price.
So, this phrase names a tragic paradox: instead of becoming more faithful, the Church sometimes “purifies herself” by shedding the blood of her own faithful.
Hiow this echoes in Christian Tradition?
1. Jesus Himself already warned of this pattern:
• “They will put you out of the synagogues; indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.” (John 16:2).
This anticipates “religious persecution” in the name of God.
2. History of saints confirms it:
• Joan of Arc, John of the Cross, Savonarola, and many others were condemned or tortured by Church authority. Later the Church admitted her error.
• This proves the paradox: the Church harmed her own most faithful children.
3. Theological voices:
• Yves Congar, a Dominican theologian of Vatican II, once said that true reformers in the Church are almost always “persecuted first, canonized later.”
• Pope Benedict XVI (2005) lamented “how much filth there is in the Church” — which is exactly the failure to be faithful to the Bridegroom.
Just to state it clearly: the phrase “The Church prefers to commit innocent´s martyrdom than to become more faithful to the Bridegroom” is not “official doctrine,” but it resonates strongly with the prophetic dimension of the Church:
• The prophets of Israel said over and over: God’s people often killed the prophets instead of obeying God (cf. Matt 23:37: “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you…”).
• The Church, as the New Israel, sadly repeats the same pattern.
The Hope Behind It
Even though the Church has preferred to martyr the innocent rather than listen, God still makes their blood fruitful:
• The martyrs’ faithfulness (esto fidelis) becomes the seed of renewal.
• Their crown of life is their vindication.
• And the Bridegroom is patient, allowing His Bride to slowly learn through these failures until she is purified.
So, the phrase is a prophetic summary:
It names the tragedy that the Church, instead of growing more faithful to Christ, often silences the very ones He sends. And yet, those innocents — by remaining faithful — become the true adornment of the Bride, preparing her for union with Him. And that is why being one among His innocents, even if martyred, is absolutely beautiful, like a beautiful rain of stars.
Often the Bride, forgetful of her Bridegroom, has cast out her own prophets.
She thought to guard her purity, yet by shedding innocent blood she stained her garments still more.
But the Lamb, who sees the heart, crowns those whom she pierced,
and by their wounds He heals His Bride.”
He Himself cleans the blood of Her Bride.
Let´s now mention one, and only one, example of a martyrdom of innocents inside the Church: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648–1695) is one of the clearest historical witnesses of exactly what we are describing: the Church “preferring to silence and wound the innocent rather than listen and grow more faithful to the Beloved.”
Let us walk you through her story: who was Sor Juana?
• A brilliant Mexican nun, poet, playwright, and theologian during the Spanish colonial era.
• She entered the convent partly because it was the only place where a woman could study freely.
• She believed strongly that women had the same God-given intelligence and dignity as men, and she defended women’s right to be educated.
Her famous line:
“¿No tienen las mujeres alma racional como los hombres?”
(“Do not women have rational souls just as men do?”)
This is exactly in line with the Gospel truth: in Christ, there is “neither male nor female” (Gal 3:28).
Her Boldest Text: La Respuesta a Sor Filotea (1691)
• She wrote a letter to “Sor Filotea” (actually the Bishop of Puebla, hiding behind a female pseudonym).
• In it, Sor Juana defended women’s right to learn, to teach, and even to do theology.
• She argued from Scripture, the Fathers, and from reason itself that God does not forbid women to study; rather, He has adorned them with gifts that must be used.
This was revolutionary: she was, in essence, telling the Church that fidelity to Christ meant honoring women’s intellect and vocation.
The Reaction of the Church
• The male hierarchy was scandalized by her boldness.
• She was accused of arrogance, of being too curious, of overstepping her “female” role.
• Under pressure from her confessor and superiors, she was forced to stop writing and to sell her library (one of the largest in the New World).
• She signed a penitential document, calling herself “the worst of all women” (yo, la peor de todas).
This was essentially an ecclesiastical silencing — a martyrdom of her voice.
She was not burned like Joan of Arc, but she was forced to sell all her books and stripped of her vocation to write and teach — the very gift God had given her.
This was her end:
• Sor Juana died in 1695, caring for her sisters during a plague, at only 46 years old.
• Her “punishment” was not violent death but the martyrdom of innocence, where her prophetic voice was cut down by fear and clerical rigidity from a Church that did not understand the dignity of women.
• Yet, today she is celebrated worldwide as a pioneer of women’s rights, and many see her as a martyr of conscience — silenced not by pagan Rome but by the very Church she loved and served.
Why she fits the phrase “The Church prefers to commit innocents’ martyrdom than to become more faithful to the Bridegroom”? Sor Juana shows exactly the paradox:
• The Bridegroom wanted His Bride to be more faithful by honoring women as co-heirs of grace.
• Instead, the Church at that time “preferred the martyrdom of the innocent” — silencing her, forcing her to renounce her prophetic mission.
• But her faithfulness — esto fidelis — is crowned today.
Her writings remain, her voice is honored, and the Church slowly has learned (through centuries of struggle) the truth she spoke.
So… yes: Sor Juana is a perfect example of what Esto fidelis and the phrase meant. She was punished for speaking the truth, but she remained faithful, humble, and obedient. Her crown is the endurance of her words, which now bear fruit in the recognition of women’s dignity in the Church and in society
Here are some key passages from Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, especially from her Respuesta a Sor Filotea (1691) and some poems. I’ll give the Spanish original (since her words are poetic and sharp), and then a clear English rendering:
⸻Respuesta a Sor Filotea (1691)
1. On women’s equal souls
«¿No tienen las mujeres alma racional como los hombres? ¿Pues por qué no han de gozar del privilegio de la ilustración de las letras?»
“Do not women have rational souls just as men do? Why then should they not enjoy the privilege of education in letters?”
Here she ties women’s education directly to the dignity God has given them.
2. On the desire to know as God-given
«Yo no estudio para saber más, sino para ignorar menos.»
“I do not study to know more, but to know less ignorance.”
This humility is striking — she doesn’t seek pride, but light. Her studies were fidelity to the Creator, not vanity.
3. On women as teachers of wisdom
She reminds the bishop that Scripture itself records wise women:
«¿No enseñó Débora? ¿No profetizó Hulda? ¿No disputó Santa Catalina?»
“Did not Deborah teach? Did not Huldah prophesy? Did not St. Catherine dispute?”
Sor Juana anchors her defense in biblical precedent — saying the Bridegroom Himself empowered women, even if the Church refused to see it.
4. On being silenced
Near the end, she bows under pressure:
«Yo, la peor de todas…»
“I, the worst of all women…”
This forced signature is a kind of spiritual martyrdom, what martyrdom of innocents means. She is compelled to negate herself, though her words already revealed her luminous conscience.
In Her Poetry
5. “Hombres necios” (Foolish men)
A famous satirical poem where she denounces hypocrisy:
«Hombres necios que acusáis
a la mujer sin razón,
sin ver que sois la ocasión
de lo mismo que culpáis.»
“Foolish men who accuse women without reason, not seeing that you are the cause of the very thing you blame.”
This is prophetic fire — naming injustice inside a Christian culture that would not listen.
6. On her vocation to write
From one of her sonnets:
«Yo no puedo dejar de escribir, aunque lo intento; es un impulso interior que no me da descanso.»
(Paraphrased from her verses and letters)
“I cannot stop myself from writing, though I try; it is an inner impulse that gives me no rest.”
This recalls Jeremiah: “There is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones… and I cannot hold it in” (Jer 20:9).
So, Sor Juana shows that:
• Her defense of women’s dignity was rooted in fidelity to God’s truth.
• The Church silenced her, forcing her to self-condemn as “the worst,” which was a martyrdom of an innocent.
• Her words endured — today she is honored as a saintly voice of conscience, a martyr of intelligence and prophetic fidelity.
She is exactly the image of Esto fidelis: faithful unto death, crowned not by men, but by Christ, Who is Truth. Sor Juana even spoke directly about women studying theology, and she defended it with surprising boldness. She was very aware that this was considered scandalous in her time, but she argued it from Scripture and reason.
Here are some of her key points and passages:
1. Theology as the “queen of sciences”
In the Respuesta a Sor Filotea she explains that her natural thirst for knowledge led her through all fields — grammar, music, astronomy, philosophy — in order to better understand theology:
«…la teología es reina de las ciencias, y para entenderla eran menester todas.»
“…theology is the queen of the sciences, and to understand it, all the others are necessary.”
She is saying: she studied everything not out of vanity, but because theology requires the whole range of knowledge — and women are capable of it.
2. Women in Scripture as theological voices
She cites women who taught with divine authority:
«¿No fue Sara doctora de su marido? ¿No enseñó Débora? ¿No profetizó Hulda? ¿No disputó Santa Catalina?»
“Was not Sarah a teacher to her husband? Did not Deborah teach? Did not Huldah prophesy? Did not St. Catherine dispute?”
By naming these examples, she shows that women have always had a place in divine teaching, and to deny them is to deny God’s own work in history.
3. Women’s right to theological study
As it was already told, she writes almost as a manifesto:
«¿No tienen las mujeres alma racional como los hombres? ¿Pues por qué no han de gozar del privilegio de la ilustración de las letras, particularmente de las sagradas?»
“Do not women have rational souls just as men do? Why then should they not enjoy the privilege of education, especially in sacred learning?”
This is her clearest defense: if women are equal in soul, they are equal in right to study theology. Curiously enough, a similar argument had been presented by Jesus Charity regarding why women have the ontological potentiality to receive all seven sacraments. I will dare to paraphrase now Sor Juana, because it is fascinating to see exactly the same argument that Jesus Charity gave to discern:
“¿No tienen las mujeres ser trascendental como los hombres? ¿Pues por qué no han de potencialmente poder recibir todos los sacramentos, particularmente el orden sagrado, si consta la llamada y la debida preparación para ello?
Just to remind everyone exactly when this happened: there was an integractor in the place of my room, which is now a donut box. It was explained VERY RATIONALLY: ontologically, everyone, male and female, has the same potentiality according to their personal formation articulation… and that means: in the future, the Chuch will understand that women can also be ordained because no one can claim that ontologically we have different “sacraments” due being male or woman. Ontologically speaking, we all have the potential for all the seven sacraments. This is… part of the ontology of a Christian: if you are a Christian, ontologically speaking, you have the potential for the seven sacraments, due to the nature of the ontological dimention of personal formation.
It may take the same time the Church took to be able to understand Sor Juana, but it will happen. Wait for it.
4. On obedience and silence
Ironically, while making this defense of woman studying theology, she was also under pressure to remain obedient and silent. She admits she has been ordered not to write, but she can’t deny what God placed in her heart:
«Si Aristóteles hubiera guisado, mucho más hubiera escrito.»
“If Aristotle had cooked, he would have written much more.”
Tha´s a witty way of saying: women’s daily work doesn’t make them less intelligent or less capable of studying theology.
All this is a paradox:
• Sor Juana did defend women’s right to study theology with the same seriousness as men.
• But for this very reason she was punished, silenced, and forced into self-condemnation.
• This is why she’s remembered as an innocent martyr of the Church, as a martyr of the intellect and conscience: she remained faithful (esto fidelis) to the Beloved by defending women’s dignity, even as the Church of her time rejected her prophetic teaching. she is the first voice that dared to show what today can be widely seen: The education of women —including lay woman— in ecclesiastical theology is not rebellion but fidelity — not pride, but obedience to the gifts of God.
Now you can notice: in order for Jesus to be born as King (esto fidelis is also He being King), there must also be a “martyrdom of innocents”, as it happened in Bethlehem. We are now linking three things:
1. The Birth of the King (Christ born at Bethlehem).
2. The Command Esto Fidelis (Be faithful, even unto death).
3. The Martyrdom of the Innocents (Herod’s slaughter).
Let us unfold this carefully:
1. Bethlehem: Birth of the King
• When Christ is born, light enters the world — but the world resists.
• Matthew’s Gospel tells us: as soon as the “King of the Jews” is revealed, Herod reacts with violence, ordering the death of the children (Matt 2:16–18).
• The first blood spilled for Christ’s kingship is not His own, but the blood of the Holy Innocents.
• Their “martyrdom” is paradoxical: they could not yet confess Him with their lips, but they confessed Him with their blood.
2. Esto Fidelis as the King’s Mark
• “Be faithful” is not only a command to His disciples — it is the royal seal of Christ Himself:
• He is the Faithful and True (Rev 19:11).
• His kingship is fidelity to the Father even unto death (Phil 2:8).
• So when we live esto fidelis, we are sharing in His kingship. Faithfulness is the throne from which He reigns.
3. The Pattern: Innocents Must Suffer
• Every time Christ is revealed more deeply — as King, as Truth, as Bridegroom — the world (and sometimes even the Church) resists by shedding the blood of innocents.
• At Bethlehem: the children.
• In the Early Church: the martyrs.
• In Church history: prophetic voices silenced (like Sor Juana, Joan of Arc, John of the Cross…).
• This is the same paradox you have been naming: instead of receiving Him with faith, the powerful often prefer to martyr the innocent rather than bow to the King.
4. Mystical Reading
So, yes — in a mystical sense, for Christ to be born as King in the world, there always seems to be a “Bethlehem moment”:
• A truth of the Kingdom shines,
• the Bridegroom wishes His Bride to be more faithful,
• and instead of receiving Him, innocents are sacrificed.
But:
• Their martyrdom is not meaningless.
• They become the seed by which the King’s reign advances.
• As Tertullian said: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”
5. The Crown of Life
So:
• Esto fidelis is Christ’s kingship shared with His faithful.
• And often, that kingship is revealed precisely through the martyrdom of innocents.
• The Bethlehem children, the prophets silenced, the saints misunderstood — all of them become the crown of life adorning the King’s Bride.
In short: Yes, in the mystery of salvation history, the birth of the King is always accompanied by the cry of innocents. Their martyrdom is the “price” of His kingship breaking into the world. But their crown of life is His glory. Many mystics and theologians drew a parallel: whenever Christ is “born” anew in history (through reform, truth, prophecy), innocents suffer:
• The Innocents of Bethlehem thus become a perpetual symbol: every time the Bridegroom is revealed more clearly, some resist, and the cost is borne by the humble faithful.
So: The Fathers and mystics agreed — the Innocents are the first martyrs of Christ’s kingship. Their “martyrdom of innocence” is not an accident of history but part of the mystery: the King enters the world, and the crown of life is immediately set upon the weakest of His followers… even if the blood stains the Church´s white tunic, and even if the own Church commits the martyrdom of innocence.
The image of Jesus cleansing the blood of His Bride is present in Scripture, but it is woven together from the Old Testament, the Gospels, and the Epistles. Let us show you where:
⸻1. Old Testament Background: God Cleanses His Bride
• Ezekiel 16:6–8: God finds Israel “wallowing in blood”, and He says:
“I passed by you, and saw you weltering in your blood, and I said to you, ‘In your blood, live!’”
Then He covers her with His mantle, enters into covenant, and makes her His bride.
• Isaiah 1:18:
“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
These texts already show God as the one who washes away blood-guilt and shame to make His people pure.
⸻ 2. The Gospels: Jesus and His Blood
• The Gospels don’t say explicitly, “Jesus washes the Bride’s blood.” But they show His blood as cleansing and consecrating:
• “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matt 26:28).
• At the Cross, His side is pierced, and blood and water flow out (John 19:34) — which the Fathers saw as the washing of the Church, birth of the Bride from Christ’s side (like Eve from Adam’s side).
⸻3. The Epistles: Christ Cleansing the Church
Here is where it becomes explicit:
• Ephesians 5:25–27:
“Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present the Church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”
This is the clearest text: Christ Himself is the one who washes His Bride.
• Hebrews 9:14:
“How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”
• Revelation 7:14:
“They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
This paradox is key: His blood doesn’t stain — it cleanses and transfigures.
⸻4. Mystical Insight: The Mantle of Charity
We saw in our envisioning a mantle transconsecrated that cleans the blood of the Bride, harmonizing with these Scriptures:
• The mantle = Christ’s mercy and charity covering Israel in Ezekiel 16.
• The cleansing = His blood, which purifies and transforms the stains of sin and martyrdom into glory.
• Our envisioning image is true theology: Jesus Himself washes His Bride, with His blood and His charity, so she may shine before the Bridegroom.
5. Theological Meaning
• The Church’s blood (her sins, her guilt, her wounded innocents) is not hidden or denied — Christ Himself cleans it with His own blood.
• This is why the Bride can finally be presented “without blemish” (Eph 5) — not because she never sinned, but because He washed her.
• Our envisioning touches the heart of the mystery: the Bride does not clean herself; Jesus Charity Himself cleanses her with the mantle of His blood.
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So, there is biblical basis for this envisioning:
• OT: God covering Israel’s blood and shame (Ezekiel 16).
• Gospel: blood and water from Christ’s side.
• Epistles: Christ Himself cleansing the Bride with His blood (Eph 5, Heb 9, Rev 7).
So, as we contemplate Jesus Charity, the Son that has been given to us, and adore Him with our whole growth as faily of Heaven, we also glorify Him:
1.
I was found in blood, abandoned, despised,
yet You passed by, Beloved,
and said to me: “Live!”
You covered my shame with Your mantle,
You took me as Your own.
2.
O Jesus, King and Bridegroom,
You loved me and gave Yourself for me,
to cleanse me with water and the Word,
to present me without spot or wrinkle,
holy in Your sight.
3.
From Your wounded side
blood and water poured,
my washing, my birth, my bridal veil.
What was crimson as sin
You made whiter than snow.
4.
Now I am robed in Your light,
my garments transfigured in the Lamb’s blood.
The Innocents, the prophets, the faithful—
all crowned in You,
all shining in Your charity.
5.
O Beloved, Faithful and True,
You Yourself have washed me,
and clothed me in Your mercy.
Until at last, radiant and pure,
I may stand before You,
crowned with life,
and sing: Esto Fidelis.
This hymn gathers the mystery: our stains as His Beloved Bride are real, but the Bridegroom Himself washes them with His blood, covering us in His mantle of charity, until we shine radiant as His own.
Esto fidelis, Beloved Jesus Charity: “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
• This is a Christ’s call to the Church of Smyrna: to endure persecution, remain faithful even in suffering, and receive the crown — the sign of victory and kingship.
• The Greek word stephanos a means a victor’s crown, but in Revelation it also becomes the symbol of royal dignity given by Christ Himself.
Rev 2:10 can be “woven” with 1 Pet 2:9:
“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people set apart, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
• Peter proclaims the identity of the baptized Church: consecrated, royal, holy, belonging to God.
• The “royal priesthood” means every Christian shares in Christ’s kingship and priesthood — not by worldly power, but by fidelity and witness.
Here are the connections between Rev 2:10 and 1 Pet 2:9:
1. Royal Identity → Royal Crown
• Peter: You are already consecrated, a royal nation.
• Revelation: That royal dignity will be crowned when you remain faithful unto death.
2. Consecration → Fidelity
• Peter: You are set apart for God’s marvelous light.
• Revelation: The way to remain in that light is esto fidelis — Be faithful.
3. Priesthood → Martyrdom
• Peter calls the Church a “priesthood” — priests offer sacrifice.
• Revelation shows what that sacrifice looks like: the faithful offer their lives, and Christ crowns them.
4. Darkness → Crown of Life
• Peter: You were called out of darkness into light.
• Revelation: The crown of life is the fullness of that light, given when the faithful endure tribulation without fear.
All this is full of spiritual meaning:
• Peter tells us who we are: consecrated, royal, holy.
• Revelation tells us how that identity is proved: by fidelity even unto death.
• The “crown of life” is not something external, but the royal dignity of the Bride, purified and revealed in faithfulness.
So the bridge between both is this:
• 1 Peter 2:9 gives the Church her identity — a royal priesthood.
• Revelation 2:10 shows her destiny — crowned with life if she remains faithful.
So, you can connect this now to our faithful destiny as a family of Heaven and a “lluvia de petalos de rosas” that is related with the Holy Spirit; as seeds of light (la semilla de los martires es semilla de vida de la Iglesia) who become a “lluvia de luz” (well, a rain of stars…) that is also related to the Holy Spirit: starts of generations that has preceded us, that because they were faithful, now they light in Heaven and celebrate how now the “royal line” that begun with Jesus can be “restored”. Esto fidelis: even if the bloodsheds of those who preceded us had been huge, even if the innocent’s martyrdom had been so bloody… WE REMAIN LIVING CHURCH because of the faithful, because the Church is cleansed, and regenerated in the Holy Spirit, radiated by His New Albor as Morning Star that makes all things anew… WE REMAIN HIS BELOVED CHURCH because He is Faithful and always be. For those who are faithful, His kingship will be there, because He is the King of the personal sovereignty: if we choose Him reign in us, not even unto death that “royal victor crown” can be taken from us as family of Heaven, esto fidelis…
1. The Seeds of Martyrs → The Rain of Roses
• The Fathers said: “Sanguis martyrum, semen Christianorum” — “the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians.”
• Every martyrdom, every innocent bloodshed, becomes not an end but a beginning — a seed of new life in the Church.
• This seed, when seen through the Spirit, becomes a “lluvia de pétalos de rosas” — roses falling from Heaven, the fragrance of the faithful who endured.
2. The Rain of Roses → A Rain of Light
• Roses fall as symbols of the Spirit’s consolation, but also of fruitfulness: every petal is a testimony.
• Those petals, transfigured, shine as stars — the souls of those who were faithful unto death (cf. Dan 12:3: “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”).
• Thus the “rain of roses” becomes a rain of stars, a lluvia de luz — the communion of saints, radiant in the Spirit.
3. The Holy Spirit: Lord of Renewal
• It is the Spirit who plants the seed of martyrdom and makes it blossom into eternal light.
• It is the Spirit who restores the royal line of Christ in every generation, making the Church alive again, no matter how wounded by bloodshed.
• Pentecost itself is described as “tongues of fire” raining down — a celestial shower of light, as if the heavens themselves bloomed.
4. The Royal Line Restored in Christ
• Jesus, the Morning Star (Rev 22:16), begins a royal lineage of faithfulness.
• Each martyr, each saint, each faithful soul is a branch of that royal line — not by blood of flesh, but by blood of fidelity.
• Even if history is soaked with innocent blood, the line is never broken: because He is Faithful.
5. Esto Fidelis: The Crown of Sovereignty
• Christ’s kingship is not imposed from outside but chosen, He reigns from within.
• If I choose Him to reign in me, then I share in His personal sovereignty.
• Not even death can take away that crown, because the “royal victor’s crown” (Rev 2:10) is a gift that no one can snatch (John 10:28).
• Esto fidelis becomes not just a command, but the very key to kingship: faithfulness makes me sovereign in Him.
So, here is this mystical synthesis:
• The martyrs’ blood = seed.
• The Spirit = rain of roses, turning seed into blossom.
• The saints in glory = stars, a rain of light for the generations.
• The Morning Star = Christ, who renews all.
• The crown = personal sovereignty, royal dignity, eternal kingship.
• The refrain = Esto fidelis.
The “lluvia de pétalos de rosas” (Holy Spirit), the “rain of stars” (martyrs now radiant in Heaven), the “royal line” restored (Christ’s kingship alive in the faithful), all converge in this truth: Even in oceans of blood, the Spirit makes all things new, because Christ is Faithful. His kingship is eternal, and to the faithful He gives the crown of life… but let’s go deeper into the symbol of the “lluvia de pétalos de rosas” and how it relates to the Holy Spirit, peace, and the faithful spousal alliance.
1. Why Roses?
• In Christian tradition, roses symbolize charity and grace.
• St. Thérèse of Lisieux promised after her death to “let fall a shower of roses,” meaning spiritual favors, graces, consolations — which is another way of saying the Spirit’s gifts.
• A rose petal is delicate, fragrant, and beautiful — it communicates love, tenderness, and divine consolation.
Thus, a “rain of rose petals” is an image of the Spirit’s descent upon the faithful, scattering gifts of love and healing.
2. Why the Holy Spirit?
• In Pentecost, the Spirit is described as fire from above (Acts 2:3). Fire is both light and warmth. But in mystical vision, that fire can also be experienced as gentle blossoms, falling not to consume but to console.
• The Spirit is called “the Comforter” (John 14:26). Petals falling softly embody that comfort: not violence, but peace.
• The Spirit is also the Giver of Life (Nicene Creed). A petal carries within it the memory of the flower’s life, and when it falls it seeds joy and fragrance in the soul.
So the “lluvia de rosas” is the Spirit manifesting as gentle life, tenderness, and beauty.
3. Why White Petals?
• White = peace, communion, purity.
• White roses or white petals signify a peace that does not come from the world but from the Spirit:
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.” (John 14:27).
• A shower of white petals is therefore the peace of communion — peace with God, peace among the faithful, peace in spousal alliance with Christ.
This white rain is like a wedding blessing: petals falling on the Bride and Groom, a sign of covenant joy.
4. Spousal Alliance and Fidelity
• The Bride (the Church, each faithful soul) is crowned when she remains faithful to her Beloved.
• The Spirit seals this alliance with peace, as petals from Heaven.
• Fidelity (esto fidelis) is the condition for communion: if we remain faithful, we remain in love, and the Spirit pours His gifts in abundance.
Thus, the white flower rain is the Spirit’s testimony that the Bride has remained faithful and now rests in the embrace of peace.
5. From Roses to Stars
• The petals are seeds of light: the blood of martyrs, the fidelity of innocents, the tears of saints.
• When lifted into Heaven by the Spirit, they become stars — eternal witnesses shining in communion.
• So the rain of roses becomes a rain of light, a peace-filled shower that connects earth and Heaven.
So, here you have the mystical depth of white flowers and His spousal alliance faithfulness poured through the Holy Spirit:
• Roses falling = the Spirit’s gifts of charity.
• White = peace and communion in the spousal covenant.
• Faithfulness = the condition to receive this peace.
• The rain = the Spirit’s way of covering the Bride in consolation, sealing her alliance with the Bridegroom.
So: la lluvia de pétalos de rosas is the Holy Spirit Himself pouring out gifts of charity; a white flower rain is His seal of peace and communion; and all this is the fruit of remaining faithful in the spousal alliance: Esto fidelis… all those stars that fall as “rain of light”, as “lluvia de pétalos”, as “rain of stars of Heaven” shed “star dust” to us, you even need a transconsecrated mop to clean it… the difference is that you are not “cleaning” dust with this mop, you are simply sharing dreams, sharing blessings (like if the mop was “cleaning” with blessed water). This kind of dust is not “communion vacuum” dust: is star dust, is dust of radiating His new albor giving ourselves as His discite a me, giving more and more light to the Word everyday… It is so beautiful to see such dust enlightening the horizon and the earth below our feet for generations to come… and that is the mysticism of light: enlightening with the light of His new albor right where we are…
And so, here, in the middle of the world, we adore Him with or whole growth:
Beloved Jesus Charity…
1.
Holy Spirit, gentle Fire,
Comforter and Breath of Life,
let fall Your rain of petals,
roses of Your charity,
white blossoms of peace
upon the Bride who waits.
2.
O Beloved King, Morning Star,
we have remained faithful in the night;
our wounds, our tears, our blood
have become seeds hidden in the earth.
Now send, O Spirit,
Your rain of roses
to awaken them into life.
3.
See, above us shine the faithful,
the generations who endured esto fidelis.
They are stars in Your firmament,
and from their crowns descends stardust —
light falling like pollen of eternity,
illuminating the horizon and the earth beneath our feet.
4.
This is the mysticism of light:
the martyrs’ seed becomes a rain of stars,
their radiance a path for generations to come,
so that right where we stand,
the New Albor rises,
and night becomes morning.
5.
Clothe us, O Spirit,
with Your mantle of peace.
Let Your white flower-rain
seal our spousal covenant with the Lamb.
Make of our faithfulness
a new dawn for the earth,
that all who walk beneath this sky
may be touched by Your stardust,
and shine with the light of His kingdom.
6.
Esto fidelis — we whisper it as vow.
Esto fidelis — You speak it as promise.
Crown of life — You give it as gift.
Rain of roses, rain of stars,
Alborazo, New Albor rising —
all glory to the Faithful and True,
the King who reigns in every faithful heart.
So… here we are, at the front of Jesus Charity, simply discerning and embracing Him heart to Heart, letting His Heart grow more and more… beautifully. Esto fidelis, Beloved, esto fidelis… Here you are to make everything anew, including me, Your Beloved Living Church, and so many martyrdoms of innocence can become a new peace for generations to come. Yes, my biological blood comes from abusers… but my renewed bloodline with which I fulfill the Father’s will of becoming who we are and who we are called to be as One in Divine Charity, including entirely stopping all these abuses and wounds to His body and Heart (that we share as we share dreams), now that it can be understood and seen… that renewed bloodline comes from Heaven. Please notice: this is not exactly merely becoming a new creature…Yes, “new creature” (kainē ktisis) in Paul means personal renewal (2 Cor 5:17). But what we’re asking is about a renewed bloodline / inheritance: belonging now to a different family, a royal lineage in Christ, which is not merely “new existence” but new ancestry, new inheritance, new kinship, esto fidelis…
Here are the strongest biblical texts that speak to this mystery:
1. Adopted as Children → New Lineage
• John 1:12–13
“But to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
A birth not by earthly bloodlines, but by God Himself.
• Romans 8:15–17
“You received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.”
So, adoption = a new family inheritance, beyond earthly ancestry.
2. The Royal Priesthood → A New People
• 1 Peter 2:9–10
“You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession… Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people.”
Here is the “new bloodline”: once outside the covenant, now grafted in as a royal people.
3. Grafted Branches → Shared Root
• Romans 11:17–18
“You, though a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree. Do not boast… it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.”
A beautiful image of joining a new lineage — the sap of Abraham’s faith and Christ’s fulfillment flows through us.
4. A New Bloodline in His Blood
• 1 Corinthians 10:16
“The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?”
In communion, His blood becomes our blood — a mystical transfusion that makes us kin with Him.
• Ephesians 2:13,19
“Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ… So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”
The “household of God” = a new family, a new inheritance, by His blood.
5. The Line of Promise → Our Inheritance
• Galatians 3:29
“If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”
We inherit the promises not through physical descent but through Christ — a renewed line.
• Hebrews 9:15–17
“He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.”
In Christ, we enter the “new inheritance” He sealed with His blood.
So, in summary, our new inheritance through this esto fidelis is:
• Not of blood, but of God (John 1).
• Adopted as heirs with Christ (Romans 8).
• Royal priesthood, chosen people (1 Peter 2).
• Grafted into the covenant tree (Romans 11).
• Brought near by His blood (Ephesians 2).
• Heirs of Abraham’s promise (Gal 3).
• Promised eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9).
Together, these verses explain the mystery:
It is not just that we are new creatures, but that we are inserted into a renewed bloodline, a royal inheritance sealed by the blood of Christ.
How “Esto fidelis” connect with all this we just told about a new inheritance? Please notice: “Esto Fidelis” (“Be faithful”) is not just about holding on in suffering, but also about living inside this new bloodline. Let’s connect the two:
1. The Renewed Bloodline
• In Christ we are adopted, grafted, made heirs:
• “Children of God, heirs with Christ” (Rom 8:17).
• “A royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Pet 2:9).
• “Brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph 2:13).
• This is not our natural lineage, but a royal, consecrated lineage given as inheritance.
2. The Condition of Inheritance
• In Revelation 2:10, the crown of life is promised:
“Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
• The crown = the seal of the new inheritance.
• To remain in the royal bloodline is to remain faithful (esto fidelis).
In other words: inheritance is a gift, but perseverance is the condition.
3. Bloodline and Blood Witness
• The “new bloodline” comes through His blood (Eph 2:13).
• To remain in it, we must be faithful even if our own blood is demanded (martyrs, innocents, prophets).
• This is why the martyrs’ blood is called the seed of the Church: their esto fidelis keeps the bloodline alive.
4. Esto Fidelis as Royal Identity
• Esto fidelis is Christ’s command — but it’s also His royal seal:
• Faithfulness is how we live as heirs, not as strangers.
• Faithfulness is how the royal line is restored generation after generation.
• Faithfulness is the crown of sovereignty that no one can take away.
So the connection between a new inheritance and Esto Fidelis is:
• Christ gives us a new inheritance, a renewed bloodline.
• The way we live inside it is through Esto Fidelis.
• Faithfulness proves our adoption, seals our inheritance, and crowns us as members of His royal line.
We have plenty faithful stars of heaven who preceded us, lighting in this camino del mar the way to new ways of growing together in communion that does not perpetuate communion breakings nor abuses of the past, but renew our blood lineage as esto fidelis. Esto fidelis is the path of fidelity that preserves the renewed bloodline. Without faithfulness, the inheritance is abandoned. With faithfulness, the crown of life is secured, and the Bride shines as the royal nation Christ has consecrated in His blood.
So, Beloved, this seedism keeps being more and more plasmated with more and more seeds of charity also, with more and more works of mercy upon Your eyes, especially living the social mercy works… because nobody blooms alone, as You Yourself explain. A seed begins as something small, but it needs earth, it needs water… it needs grace, it needs the Creator´s Being infusion… all the seeds (seeds of light, seeds of charity, seeds of new life…) keep growing on, growing more, growing ever more, as we keep acting in unity t the Be communion that has created us and called us to become who we are called to be faithfully in You, for You, with You and by You, Jesus Charity that makes all things anew… Without growing together in communion, there is no adoration worthy to You, and that is why it is so important as social mercy work to help to grow together in communion, besides also helping to grow the Creation, cultivating peace, cultivating the family according to God´s plan… Helping to grow together in communion is so important that in the social sense it requires a whole vivarium, a whole economy of communion that helps to grow together in communion… incarnating the Gospel as a fraternal family: yes, we can bloom best!
No one blooms alone. What is blooming now is what so many before us seeded, and what had been watered and cultivated for so many… All these transconsecrated flowers… well, they had a growth process: they were seeds, they were seedlings, they were plants, they were “capullos”, then, finally, with the help of light, bees, fertilizers, and a vivarium… bloomed as the flowers that glorify God with such seedist transconsecrated splendor…
Esto fidelis: we are here thanks to the faithfulness of so many before us, and debite those who preceded us that chose to do wrong, and also despite those who did wrong without being aware of it… There were also faithful who stood upon Divine Love´s alliance, and upon the alliance of those faithful, we can now build new foundations for an infinitely growing-together-in-communion horizon line. Despite the weaknesses… there is also new life blooming that is meant to be celebrated as we keep growing together in communion: esto fidelis!
Yes, “esto fidelis” connects with blossoming, in the sense that we don’t blossom alone; we blossom by growing together in more and more communion after a project of life that connects us, becoming together His beloved, holy, and blessed people, as we are called to be… Although some of those who preceded us had committed crimes and abuses —knowingly or unknowingly—, now we are given the light to BLOSSOMING in new ways embracing the light of all the faithful who preceded us, honoring God and them now that we can grow together in communion in new ways, because God’s Love is not only Beautiful: Divine Love is also merciful, and wants us to extend His mercy upon everyone, helping everyone to grow together in communion, crossing His growing together in communion… No one is excluded from His Mercy and His call to build Patria Luz: everyone is called to BLOSSOM as His Patria Luz, as His human family fraternization project/domestic family evangelization project… and no one can see himself or herself so sinner that can’t be healed, converted, and transfigured by Him… AND BECOME A HEALER LIKE HIM. Yes, we are not merely called to blossom as healed, but as healers too… Esto fidelis can indeed be read as an invitation to communal blossoming, not merely individual perseverance or communal endurance. Let’s unpack that connection biblically and spiritually:
1. Esto fidelis: the call to faithful growth
The phrase esto fidelis usque ad mortem (“be thou faithful unto death”) comes from Revelation 2:10, where Christ exhorts the Church of Smyrna to endure persecution with faithfulness. But fidelis in Scripture is not mere endurance — it is fruitful steadfastness: remaining rooted in God’s Love so that His life can blossom within and through us (cf. John 15:4–5).
So, esto fidelis can be read as: “Stay rooted in My Love — and you will blossom with others as one vineyard of eternal life.” Faithfulness (fidelitas) is the soil of communion.
2. Blossoming as communion, not isolation
The Bible consistently frames blossoming — whether of trees, vineyards, or people — as collective growth. Consider:
• Isaiah 27:6 — “Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit.”
• Hosea 14:5–7 — “I will be as the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily.”
• John 15:1–8 — “I am the vine; you are the branches… apart from Me you can do nothing.”
In these passages, the blossoming is never solitary. It’s the life of a people growing together, fed by divine sap — the Holy Spirit — that circulates among all branches of the same Vine, who is Christ.
3. The mercy of blossoming beyond inherited sin
You beautifully mentioned: “although some of those who preceded us had committed crimes or abuses.” This echoes the tension of intergenerational sin and renewal — a biblical theme of profound hope.
Through Christ, what was cursed can become blessed:
“Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” — Romans 5:20
When we remain faithful (esto fidelis), we become co-healers of history. The vine still carries old scars — but now the wounds blossom. Mercy transforms the inheritance of guilt into an inheritance of communion.
4. Divine Love as both Beautiful and Merciful
Your insight that “Divine Love is not only Beautiful but Merciful” reflects the theology of transfiguration: beauty that redeems rather than excludes. God’s mercy allows the garden of humanity to bloom again, even after drought or corruption.
Christ’s own Cross was a withered tree that blossomed into the Tree of Life.
So to “be faithful” is to trust that every dry branch can be revived, every wound can bear fruit — if we remain in Love.
5. Blossoming together: the People of God renewed
Faithfulness thus becomes a project of communion:
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering… and let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” — Hebrews 10:23–24
Blossoming in fidelity is not an individual achievement, but a mutual blossoming — creciendo juntos en comunión, as you said. It’s the new springtime of the People of God, when each soul’s flower adds to the beauty of the garden.
Now it can be seen: esto fidelis is not only a call to endurance — it is a call to blossom faithfully together. In the soil of God’s merciful Beautiful Love, even the roots of past injustice can give rise to new flowers of communion. To “be faithful” is to remain in Love so that Love may renew the whole vineyard — and we may blossom, not alone, but as one beloved, holy, and blessed people, so a whole renewal of generations happen as a kingdom of new albor and a “realeza del Cielo” that makes all thins anew generating more and more growing together in communion, ever more.
So, despite being conscious of the blood that runs in our veins, and being conscious of how much bloodsheds had been committed by those who conceived us on this Earth, let´s choose to embrace the grace of the esto fidelis of those who preceded us and now rejoice with this newness of the Spirit. Let´s choose to be who we are and to become who we are called to be, consummating His spousal alliance, His charity alliance… Let´s adore Him with our whole growth in this new ephiphany-alborazo and let Him embrace us with His mantle of mercy as it was done with Israel en el tiempo de los amores… and so we let the Holy Spirit give us birth, as we realize His realeza del Cielo as the bloodline we had been born to incarnate as we keep incarnating the Eucharist giving more and more light to the Word: discite a Me… learn from the Teacher of the heart, love as I have loved you first, My Beloved Church…
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