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Sean Spencer wrote: |
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Hi, guys —
I am uncertain of the veracity (authenticity) of a certain devotion I have come across called:
"A True Letter Of Our Savior Jesus Christ."
which at least claims to have been approved by:
His Holiness Pope Leo XIII [New Advent][Wikipedia].
If you have any answers or suggestions on whether this is worthy of belief, or not, I would appreciate it.
I will also add that it can be commonly found online either in one or two parts. The one part (or first half) claims to be approved by the Holy Father but the second half does not.
In fact, this second half makes some extremely suspect statements allegedly spoken by Our Lord. I am not a historian or theologian, but it made me think it was Gnostic. If you are able to, I think answering this question would be a great service to the Faithful.
P.S. Below is a link to a website containing both parts.
God bless,
Sean
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| { Do you know the veracity (validity) of the devotion: "A True Letter Of Our Savior Jesus Christ."? } |
Mike replied:
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Dear Sean,
Honestly, I'm not familiar with the devotion titled:
"A True Letter Of Our Savior Jesus Christ."
I thought we had addressed this in our database but I couldn't find any mention of it.
That said, I am a little suspicious about it seeing that the website you referenced (Website hidden.) contained content from Fr. Nicholas Gruner.
See this posting:
Personally, I wouldn't waste much time with this but rather focus on the meat and potatoes of Catholic devotions:
- The Rosary
- The Brown Scapular and other scapulars
- During Lent, as well as year round, The Stations of the Cross
(You can always do them personally in a parish as well as part of a Catholic Church service), and
- The Chaplet of Divine Mercy and
- The Novena of Divine Mercy which starts this Good Friday: April 15, 2022!
That's the best I can do.
My other colleagues may be familiar with the letter you are referring to and reply.
Mike
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Andrew replied:
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Hi, Sean!
This devotional text has been around for decades, at least. There are multiple versions in Italian on the net.
One Italian version, like the copy on the website you referenced, says that the message was received in an apparition of our Lord to St. Elizabeth (1207-1231), with St. Matilda (892-968) and St. Bridget (1303-1373).
Since they didn't live in the same centuries, it doesn't seem possible that they were ever in the same place at the same time.
Another version says that a girl named Brigida found it at the foot of a crucifix, where the girl had regained her speech after being mute for years.
Also, the copy on the website you referenced says that the message was found written down in the tomb of Christ.
- Well, which origin story do they want to present as true?
This is inconsistent.
If someone wants to claim that it's authentic or was approved by Pope Leo XIII, the burden of proof belongs to them to point to some kind of documentation to show that the Church has recognized it. Without that, the so-called letter is at best a pious legend, and it may even qualify as a bit of superstition.
All the best,
Andrew
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Sean replied:
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Hi, guys —
Thank you all for your help in researching this devotion.
May God bless your work and keep you.
Sean S.
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