The marked Spirits

The messiahs of Spiritism: Saint Joseph.

— Fénelon.

— Baluze.

— Lacordaire.

— The marked Spirits:

Anonymous. — Saint Louis.

— Lamennais.

— Future of Spiritism: Erasto. — Montaigne.

— The stars will fall from Heaven: Dupuch, bishop of Algiers.

— The dead will come forth from the tombs: John the Evangelist.

— The Last Judgment: Erasto. — Clélie Duplantier.

THE MARKED SPIRITS.

There are many superior Spirits who will powerfully contribute to the regenerating work, but not all are Messiahs. It is necessary to distinguish:

The superior Spirits, who act freely and by their own will;

The marked Spirits, that is, those designated for an important mission. They have the luminous radiation, which is the characteristic sign of their superiority. They are chosen from among the Spirits capable of fulfilling them; nevertheless, since they have free will, they may fail through lack of courage, of perseverance, or of faith, and they are not free from the accidents that may shorten their days. But since the designs of God are not at the mercy of one man, what one does not do, another is called to do. This is why there are many called and few chosen. Happy is he who realizes his mission according to the views of God and without faltering!

The Messiahs, superior beings, arrived at the highest degree of the celestial hierarchy, after having attained a perfection that renders them infallible from then on, and above human weaknesses, even in incarnation. Admitted into the councils of the Most High, they receive His word directly, which they are charged with transmitting and causing to be fulfilled. True representatives of the Divinity, whose thought they possess, it is from among them that God chooses His special envoys, or His Messiahs, for the great general missions, the details of whose execution are entrusted to other Spirits, incarnate or disincarnate, acting by their orders and under their inspiration. Spirits of these three categories must contribute to the great regenerating movement that is taking place.

Somnambulistic ecstasy — Paris,

I come, my friends, to confirm the hope of the high destinies that await Spiritism. That glorious future which we announce to you will be realized by the coming of a superior Spirit who will sum up, in the essence of his perfection, all the doctrines ancient and new, and who, by the authority of his word, will bind men to the new beliefs. Like the rising Sun, he will dissipate all the obscurities heaped upon the eternal truth by fanaticism and by the nonobservance of the precepts of Christ. Star of the new belief, the future Messiah grows in the shadow; but already his enemies tremble and the virtues of the heavens are shaken.

You ask whether this new Messiah is the very person of Jesus of Nazareth? What does it matter to you, if it is the same thought that animates them both? It is the imperfections that divide the Spirits; but when the perfections are equal, nothing distinguishes them; they form collective unities, without losing their individuality. The beginning of all things is obscure and lowly; what is small grows; our manifestations, at first received with disdain, with violence, or with the banal indifference of idle curiosity, will spread waves of light upon the blind and will regenerate them.

All great events have their prophets, now extolled, now despised. Just as Moses led the Hebrews, we will lead you toward the promised land of intelligence.

Striking similitude! the same phenomena are repeated, no longer in the material sense, destined to strike infantile men, but in their spiritual acceptation. The children have become adults; the goal growing, the examples no longer address themselves to the eyes; the rod of Aaron is broken, and the only transformation we work is that of your hearts, made attentive to the cry of love which, from Heaven, reverberates upon the Earth. Spiritists! understand the gravity of your mission; tremble with joy, because the hour is not far off when the divine envoy will gladden the world. Laborious Spiritists, be blessed in your efforts and pardoned in your errors. Ignorance and confusion still hide from you a part of the truth which only the celestial Messenger can reveal to you entirely. Saint Louis. n Paris,

The coming of Christ brought to your Earth sentiments that, for an instant, submitted it to the will of God; but men, blinded by their passions, could not keep in their hearts the love of their neighbor, the love of the Master of heaven. The envoy of the Almighty opened to Humanity the road that leads to the dwelling of the blessed; but Humanity drew back an immense step that Christ had made it take; it fell into the rut of egoism, and pride made it forget its Creator. God permits that once again His word be preached on Earth, and you will have to glorify Him because you were among the first whom He deigned to call to believe in what will later be taught. Rejoice, because near are the times in which that word will make itself heard. Better yourselves, profiting from the teachings He permits us to give you. May the tree of faith, which at this moment is sinking such vigorous roots, produce its fruits; may these fruits ripen, as will ripen the faith that today animates some among you.

Yes, my children, the people will press upon the steps of the new messenger announced by Christ himself, and all will come to listen to that divine word, because in it they will recognize the language of truth and the path of salvation. God, who permitted us to enlighten you, to sustain your march until today, will permit still that we give you the instructions that are necessary to you. But you also, the first favored by the belief, have your mission to fulfill; you will have to bring those of your circle who still doubt the manifestations that God permits; you will have to make shine before their eyes the benefits of that which has so consoled you; for in your days of sadness and dejection did not your belief sustain you? did it not give birth in your heart to that hope without which you would have remained in discouragement? This is what must be made to be shared by those who do not yet believe, not through an untimely precipitation, but with prudence and without clashing head-on with long-rooted prejudices. One does not pull up an old tree at a single stroke, as if it were a blade of grass, but little by little. Sow from now on what you will later wish to reap; sow the grain that will come to bear fruit in the ground you will have prepared and whose fruits you yourselves will harvest, because God will take into account for you what you will have done for your brothers.

Lamennais. n Havre,

[1]

[see Saint Louis.]

[2] [see Lamennais.]