TOTUS TUUS, MARIA !

By order of the Mistress of all souls I testify, as an introductory note to this extraordinary writing, that the present manifesto, as well as the later texts constituting the menu item God and the animals, are the ultimate fruits of a great number of visions and private revelations, through which Mary began to prepare me even years prior to the birth of The Brooklets of Salvation, as well as of a remarkable number of unusual experiences with animals in my private life. One day the Queen of Heaven stated that She Herself was at the basis of the said experiences, because She wanted to give evidence, in my own life, of the extraordinary yet greatly underestimated role played by the animals as channels of God’s Love and as tools serving the shaping of spiritual life of human souls. The Mother of God uses this testimony as a first incentive towards reflection for souls who might fall prey to the temptation of believing that spiritual manifestoes concerning the tremendous part played by animals and the ways humans should treat animals, should, or can, respectively, not be taken too seriously. This is why She keeps pointing out how important a proper way of treating the animals is if the Divine Law of true Love is to be fulfilled and all darkness, misery and sorrow, all of which are so rampant in this world, are to be defeated onceand for all. This is why I stake my entire life on the authenticity and celestial origin of all of these inspirations. Myriam, at the service of Mary, the Mistress of all souls.

THE BROOKLETS OF SALVATION

Manifesto inspired by the Most Holy Virgin Mary

about the value of the animals and their part within
God’s Plan of Salvation
as a mystical foundation for a loving approach to the animals

♥

Content

Introduction

1. The system of creation

2. Why did God create the animals?
    2.1. Reasons for the creation of the animals
    2.2. About the multiple consequences of the creation of the animals

3. The deeper nature of the animal. The specific elements of its nature

4. Man’s responsibility towards the animals
    4.1. The human soul as the custodian of creation
    4.2. The relationships within creation
    4.3. The rediscovery of Love
    4.4. The relationship between man and the animal

5. Spiritual evaluation of the suffering inflicted on animals
    5.1. The comprehensive consciousness of God and the Mother of God
    5.2. Evil inspired approaches to animals
    5.3. Categories of evil inspired approaches to animals
    5.3.1. Maltreatment in the true sense of the word
    5.3.2. Neglect
    5.3.3. Considering and approaching animals as merchandise
    5.3.4. Killing animals for consumption or for ritual purposes
    5.3.5. Hunting
    5.3.6. Threatening animals in their natural habitat
    5.4. The spiritual background of unwholesome dealing with animals
    5.5. The spiritual fight against unwholesome dealing with animals

6. Dealing with 'repulsive' or 'annoying' animals
    6.1. Dealing with 'repulsive' or 'terrifying' animals
    6.2. Dealing with 'annoying' animals

7. Spiritual frame of an animal’s death
    7.1. Foundation of the commandment "thou shall not kill"
    7.2. What happens when an animal dies?

8. Opening up the brooklets of Salvation
    8.1. The brooklets – essential considerations
    8.2. Heavenly recommendations for a fundamental transformation of
man’s attitude towards the animals

Final consideration

Introduction

Dear souls in Jesus and Mary,

The present writing is a declaration of Love. It was written in reply to a major grace bestowed upon Myriam through the intermediary of the Queen of Heaven after several years of prayer. Because of an innate Love towards the animals I had been praying for years to be given an occasion to bring reparation for the deplorable lack of Love in the way many human souls treat animals. These prayers have now been heard, in the shape of an extraordinary inspiration from the Mistress of all souls to compose this writing, in which in a unique manner She provides elements of understanding and knowledge pertaining to the effects of God’s Plan of Salvation to be made public, elements which for the greater part have so far never been disclosed.

The present writing was intended to be a declaration of Love to God, the Creator of all things alive and Source of all Love, as well as to all animals as Works of God and little hidden auxiliaries to our spiritual development. In this writing the animals are presented to the souls as brooklets of Salvation. God’s Plan of Salvation for the human souls is based entirely on the stream of His Love, which is the Essence of Divine Life. The Most Holy Virgin demonstrates the fact that also the animals play a tremendously underestimated, even greatly unknown part as small junctions in the cycle of Love flowing through creation. She also points out that the way the human souls approach the animals constitutes a considerable part in the extent to which God’s Works within creation are accomplished, as in this field the flow of Love is very often blocked. Many souls thereby cut themselves loose from the fullness of Salvation, decreasing the state of grace of mankind as a whole in the process, and contributing to an increase of the imbalance creation has been suffering from on account of the burden of sins which mankind has been accumulating throughout the ages and of which a most considerable part was neither ever expiated nor repaired.

I offer this writing to the Mistress of all souls with the intention that Her intermediary in and through human souls may enable all animals in this world to receive the Love they deserve in their capacity as Works of God’s Love.

Because of the fact Mary here reveals to the human souls the animals as brooklets through which considerable amounts of Salvation can inconspicuously flow to the human souls, and Salvation exclusively develops and has its effects only on the basis of true Love, this writing also presents itself as an in-depth exploration of true Love. This is what turns this new fruit of the Science of Divine Life into a very significant gift of God’s Love, Mercy and grace for the souls.

Just like all other parts of Mary’s Science of Divine Life the present writing is a product of mystical revelation. Therefore it is a bearer of elements of knowledge which, as is the case with all mystical writings, in part constitute a complement to the knowledge of this compartment of God’s Plan of Salvation as it has so far been generally accepted. In spite of the fact all of these elements of new insight provided by the Queen of Heaven spring from a celestial source and are therefore entirely based on Truth, they are bound to give rise to misunderstandings with some souls, all the more so as the acknowledgment of the truth in these elements of new insight makes it necessary for these souls to fundamentally change some or even all components of their behaviour and of their vision of life. Nevertheless, in this revelation, as always, I have not allowed myself to be guided by any human considerations whatsoever, but exclusively by the Love and obedience towards Her to whom I have made vows: The Mistress of all souls reveals not one single word which would not originate in the Fountain of Divine Truth. Her Myriam has made a vow to bring these revelations to the souls unconditionally.

This is why I am herewith allowed to reveal the animals as brooklets through which God lets a considerable stream of His Love flow, and as little channels helping the souls drink from the Springs of Salvation. On Mary’s behalf I invite the souls that may have a hard time digesting some elements of the present writing to neither make the Mistress of all souls nor Her Myriam responsible for this inner struggle, but on the contrary, through Divine grace, to become a link in Mary’s Chain of Light praying for fundamental changes in our society as well as in human thinking, which throughout the centuries have been drifting increasingly further away from God’s views and from His Law, and which are therefore the only factors responsible for the fact that exactly that which was entrusted to the souls straight from God’s Heart, often becomes the major source of inner struggle. This struggle can and should for the entire human society become the very incitation to return to the Source: God’s Heart. This already was the very essence of the thesis Jesus came into the world to reveal and for which He accepted the Death on the Cross.

Every one of us, as we were after all intended by God to be the crown on His Work of Creation, is under the holy obligation to contribute to the restoration of harmony within creation, through leading a holy life and thinking and feeling in holy ways. To this end the best place to begin are the contacts with all our fellow creatures Divine Providence allows on the path of our life: fellow people and animals alike. As far as the contacts with the animals are concerned the Mother of God, through the present writing, wants to open up a door to a perfectly new way of experiencing and applying true Love.

Lovingly, and at the service of Mary, the Mistress of all souls,

Your Myriam – September 2011 (date when the original writing in Dutch language was finished)

Chapter 1

The system of creation

God is the Creator of all animate beings and inanimate objects. Many of the inanimate things surrounding us are made by human hands. Nevertheless man is never the creator but rather a mere modeller of things. The essence of all inanimate objects is composed of minerals and raw materials, which are exclusively supplied by God. The animate beings also consist of minerals and raw materials, but are furthermore equipped with a unique, non material factor: animation, that which gives life. The essence of all animate beings thereby becomes a deep mystery.

The first living creatures God created were the angels. They do not have material, perceptible components, they fully consist of non perceptible spirit. Man was the first being that was essentially spirit, but was clothed in a physical body through which he would be able to move about on earth. On earth, the human soul was to lead a life which would also have a material level.

In His Plan of Creation God had foreseen animals and plants as well, which would also be bearers of this non material factor called 'Life'. In man, God would – in a manner of speaking – finish off the miracle of Creation by adding an extra dimension to life: the soul in all its complexity, which was to surpass the complexity of life in all animals and plants. As to its complexity, the nature of life is highly diversified from one species to another. Already less complex than the nature of man is the nature of the animal, and even between the many different animal species this complexity varies in many gradations from higher to lower. In the world of vegetation the complexity of life lies even lower, and once again there exist gradations between the species.

The thing making man unique within Creation is the fact he is the only living being to possess a soul in the strict sense of the word. Animals and plants do not in the true sense of the word possess a soul, but a 'vital principle', which in the animals, especially in the higher animal species as, e.g., the domestic animals we are familiar with, is more complex than in plants. The main difference between the human soul and the vital principle of animals lies in the fact the human soul is the bearer of guidelines and provisions with respect to the active following of God’s Law, as well as the bearer of the germ of sanctity. For clarity’s sake: God’s Law is the whole of Divine decrees and decisions ruling all of Creation and aiming at leading God’s Plans and Works to their accomplishment.

The Mistress of all souls defines the germ of sanctity as:

• the blueprint of Divine Life within the soul: the programme for the potential experience and development of Divine Life within the soul;

• the fruit bud of that which bears the soul’s potential to grow after God’s image;

• the seed of God Himself, which the Creator has left behind in every soul.

These definitions should not be considered separately, quite on the contrary: they complement each other, because they describe exactly the same thing, only viewed from different angles.

The unique feature of the human soul therefore consists in her being equipped with the capacity to be sanctified. Sanctification is the process of development through which the soul, on account of her inner constitution, attitudes and frame of mind, and on account of everything emanating from her, is increasingly able to contribute in a direct way to the promotion of God’s Works and to the accomplishment of His Plans. In other words: Sanctification is the process through which man, in his inner perception, his ways of feeling and thinking, is brought into line with God’s expectations and with the heart of God’s Being. Here, once again, the same thing is expressed twice, yet considered from a different angle.

The animals and plants can not be sanctified. They have not been given the privilege to grow after God’s image and are therefore not able to help promote God’s Works and Plans in a direct way. However, they, and the animals in the first place, most certainly do so in an indirect way, through the human soul. This constitutes the very core, the very essence of the present writing, as will become apparent.

A component of the human soul which is equally unique, is called conscience. The Mistress of all souls defines conscience as the system which enables man to experience regret, remorse, contrition about his offences against God’s Law, to crave for reparation of these offences (repentance), and henceforth to avoid these offences. Man’s conscience is the steering mechanism for his entire behaviour and all of his inner frames of thinking and ways of feeling. It is the alarm system offered to man by God, through which the soul can be informed any time as to the state she is in, viewed from God’s perspective, as well as about the extent to which this state corresponds to God’s expectations.

Animals and plants are not equipped with this steering mechanism. The higher animal species do indeed possess the faculty of learning from their behaviour and their experiences, but this faculty is not linked up with a faculty of being sanctified, nor with any awareness of sin. In other words: Animals do not, as do human souls, possess the faculty of sensing whether their behaviour is in line with God’s Laws of sanctification. All this also means that animals and plants can not sin. Sinning is reserved to the human soul alone, because she is the bearer of God’s Law and is expected to apply this Law in all aspects of life. Sinning is violating God’s Law, and presupposes a faculty of knowing whether something is wrong or not in God’s eyes.

To put it very clearly: An animal is not sinning, for instance, if it kills another animal or a human being. Man, on the contrary, is definitely sinning if he kills or harms a fellow creature. We can also look at it this way: God only expects the human soul to lead a life in perfect harmony with His Law, because only the human soul is endowed with the faculty of knowing His Law, as well as the difference between good (all that promotes the accomplishment of God’s Works) and evil (all that counteracts the accomplishment of God’s Works). I will get back to this later.

God had intended His Creation to be a system within which the various species of living beings were to live together in perfect harmony. Together these many billions of living creatures on earth constitute a vast network, in which each living being constitutes a junction, and all junctions are interconnected. Through this network God lets uninterrupted streams of Love flow. Divine Love is the essence, the very heart and the fuel of all Life. Between the numerous species of life there are nearly endless differences as to the ability to incorporate Divine Love into one’s being, to let it mature within oneself, and to let it flow on into one’s surroundings. This ability is developed best in the human soul. This is why God sends the stream of His Love first and foremost through the human souls. They have received the mission of being the 'bearers' of the network of creation. However, the human souls are under the obligation:

• to incorporate this stream of Love into themselves uninhibitedly;

• to bring this stream of Love to fruition within themselves, i.e.: to process it inside in such a way that it may lift the soul up to ever higher levels of sanctity, or in other words: that the soul may nourish herself from Divine Love to such an extent as to be able to complete her life’s works, which consist in making continuous efforts to get closer and closer to the very nature of God and to His Divine Life;

• to let this stream of Love flow on towards other living beings she encounters in whatever way on her path through life.

The fact God lets His Love flow first and foremost towards the human souls, does not mean he 'loves the human souls more' than He loves the animals or plants: God’s gift of Love is always and under all and any circumstances perfect, He does not ever hold anything back nor reduces its flow. The Mistress of all souls phrases it as follows: Divine Love is indivisible. It is always given in its fullness. However, the ability to take it in, may vary a great deal from one being to another. Therefore the extent to which God offers His Love can not be 'measured' as 'greater' or 'smaller'. The fact God lets His Love flow first and foremost towards the human souls means the direct part He had intended to be played by His creatures within His Plan of Salvation was greater for the human souls than that intended to be played directly by any other creature. Having regard to the fact that, on earth, only the human souls possess the faculty of sanctification and that furthermore they are the only creatures that are able to sin, they are the only direct participants in God’s Plan of Salvation.

Let us refresh our memories: The Plan of Salvation is God’s Plan which consists herein, that all souls are offered the opportunity to sanctify themselves and therefore, despite the original sin, to acquire eternal bliss and to make individual contributions to the elevation of mankind as a whole towards increasingly higher levels of Salvation. The ultimate goal of God’s Plan of Salvation is the foundation of God’s Kingdom on earth. The development of the Plan of Salvation is carried entirely by the behaviour of all human souls of all times. The other living beings play but mere indirect parts in the development of God’s Plan of Salvation. In the present teaching the Mistress of all souls wants to make clear how great exactly this indirect part is. As only the human souls are the actors that are directly involved in the way this major Divine Plan is accomplished, the flow of God’s Love is sent first and foremost to the souls, and the latter are under the obligation and responsibility to help enable creation to ingest this essence of Divine Life to the highest possible degree.

God lets His Love flow directly to the animals and plants as well, to be sure. If He did not, no life were possible within these creatures at all. However, a major part of His Love is sent to the animals and plants through the human souls. Therefore it can be said that the animals and plants obtain God’s Love both from God directly, and indirectly (through the human souls). This is the meaning of the words spoken by the Mistress where She says the human soul is to help make God’s Presence felt by all of creation, and that therefore the soul is under the obligation to take care that she is able to do so, on the basis of the greatest possible purity. The value of each human life for God’s Works and Plans is therefore measured by God, on the occasion of the judgment He passes on the life of each individual soul after her death, among others by the extent to which the soul under judgment has passed His Love on to the rest of creation, particularly to her fellow man as well as to the animals. It will become clear further down this writing that this thesis brought forward by the Queen of Heaven is vital.

God wishes every contact between living beings to be characterized by a perfect, unconditional Love. After all, true Love is the bearer of all Life, and without Divine Life God’s Kingdom can never be established on earth. This means that the living beings must let the Divine Love they receive from God as fuel and 'building material' alike, flow in an uncontaminated form. It is important to point out already at this stage that the flow of Divine Love can only be contaminated by the human soul, because the animals and plants do not possess the faculty of being sanctified, do not possess a conscience, and therefore can not commit sins. This also means that the human soul is the only creature responsible for an uninterrupted flowing of true Love through creation.

The flow of Divine Love through the network of creation is directed by Divine Intelligence.

True Love thus flows from God’s Heart first and foremost to the human souls, and the latter are responsible for integrating it into their acts, words, thoughts, feelings and wishes. The only thing determining the extent to which the souls integrate this Love into themselves is the way each soul uses her free will. The right use of the free will, i.e. using it for the benefit of God’s Works and with a view to accomplishing God’s Will, has been impaired in the human soul as of the moment when the original sin was committed.

The fact that in an ever increasing number of human souls the incorporation of Divine Love is affected, has got serious consequences: Because of it, the flow of Divine Love through creation is getting weaker and weaker, so much so that the signs of God’s Presence in creation are getting weaker as well. This is the direct cause of all misery, all suffering, even of natural catastrophes in this world. The whole of creation (human souls, animals, plants and natural elements) suffers in the process, because the weakening of the flow of God’s Love and the countless interruptions of this flow in innumerable junctions within the network of creation gives rise to severe disruptions in the balance within the entire system of creation. The countless souls that fail to incorporate within themselves God’s Love, or do not incorporate it to an adequate extent, actually fail to accomplish the process of sanctification within themselves. Their acts, thoughts, feelings and wishes become increasingly less fruitful for God’s Works and Plans, and they are ever less capable of making their free will serve the Will of God. The latter, however, is the motor of all life within creation.

Creation can only be restored, and all misery be removed from the face of the earth only in proportion as larger numbers of souls bring true Love to an increasing number of fellow creatures (humans and animals, even the world of vegetation). The operation and development of the system of creation in perfect accordance with Divine Law is based entirely on the mutual exchange of Love, care and assistance. With the human soul resides the main responsibility for the maintenance of vital strength in all fellow creatures crossing her path. If and when the human soul spreads Love in all the different forms in which it can be expressed, she reinforces within her fellow creatures all contact with God Himself. In so doing, the soul, in a manner of speaking, represents God towards her fellow creatures. Every act, word, thought or feeling of sincere Love to a fellow creature – man or animal – reinforces the flow of God’s Love through creation and weakens darkness.

For a correct understanding of the present writing it is of the utmost importance to constantly keep this whole system in mind.

Chapter 2

Why did God create the animals?

2.1. Reasons for the creation of the animals

God does not do anything for no reason. Everything is meaningful, and the meaning of things is often very much deeper than human comprehension is able to grasp. When we see how many animal species there are (globally about two million different animal species are known today, and a few thousand new – i.e. so far unknown – species are registered for the first time each year, so that it is assumed the actual number of different animal species must be several millions), we can only go on the assumption that God must have pursued specific intentions when creating the animals and each individual species of them. The question why God created the animals is answered by the Mistress of all souls as follows. God created the animals:

        1. because it pleased Him to create a wide diversity of living beings. Man may regard himself as the centre of creation, but the fact is, he is but one species among a great many different species of creatures. From the beginning God foresaw the existence of the most varied species of animals, and God’s Law determined that these species were not to live independently from each other, but that together they would constitute a complex system, of which the countless components (billions of people and even a lot more animals) would together maintain a network of Love. This network is composed of innumerable little channels, through which Divine Love was to flow through creation. The entire network with all of its mutual connections would ultimately serve God’s Plans. As long as the system is in a state of equilibrium, it promotes the accomplishment of God’s great Plan of Salvation for the benefit of all creation. This results in happiness for the human souls, expressing itself in a true inner peace and consequently in a smaller burden of sin. Indeed, the Mistress of all souls emphatically points out that sin increases in proportion as more souls experience an increasing inner strife, and decreases in proportion as more souls experience an increasing inner peace.

In this vast network of Divine Love every living being acts as a junction, through which Love should flow in various directions. Thus creation as a whole is a system which is built entirely on the foundation of Divine Love. Not only every human soul, but every animal as well is such a junction. How big a junction is, is determined mainly by the spiritual development of the living being concerned, as well as by the latter’s vocation or the part it is called upon by God to play, or expressed even differently: by the mission this creature has been entrusted with to fulfil during its earthly lifetime. Thus a member of a so-called higher animal species (dog, cat, horse...) will be a bigger junction than a member of a lower animal species (insects etc.).

        2. because He wanted to give the human soul the opportunity to encounter beings of an entirely different nature. In this intention God’s Love of man lies hidden. Love is a Divine phenomenon, and just like everything which is Divine, it can reveal itself in an infinite number of different forms. The Mistress of all souls once expressed it as follows: Everything that is Divine, is constantly multiplying, just like a rose of which the petals seem to unfold endlessly, layer after layer. The infinite variety of ways in which Love can manifest itself is the major source of eternal bliss in Heaven. In other words: For the soul the state of bliss essentially consists herein, that she goes through endless experiences from an infinite variety of sources of delight. Well now, God intended even the soul’s earthly life to be an experience in a state of delight (the Garden of Eden). The experience of the encounter with a great many different species of life was to contribute to the state of delight for the human soul.

Each living being is equipped with various faculties of incorporating Love and passing it on. God’s omnipotence and magnificence are demonstrated also by the fact there exist several millions of different animal species, that every one of these species appears to possess many properties, characteristics and patterns of behaviour inherent to the species, and that even between the individuals within every single animal species yet many other additional differences can be observed (just like this is the case between all people in this world). This vast variety results in the innumerable billions of animals in this world constituting, within the network of Love, junctions which are of an entirely different nature and through which God’s Love can flow in a tremendous variety of forms.

Why this vast variety? This mystery lies hidden in God’s Heart, but against the background of the fact the entire creation was ultimately intended in the first place as a support for the human soul on her way to sanctification, to spiritual perfection, God must have intended the diversity of creation as a many-sided challenge for the human soul, in order to enable the latter to learn how to deal with flows of Love of the most various nature.

God had created the animals as gifts of Love to the human souls. Each animal is a being that is able to experience Love – this ability is more or less marked according to the animal species – and to pass God’s Love on. The human soul was created with a heart (the level of being on which the soul’s feelings are experienced and processed) that is able to react with a great variety of emotions to perceptions (e.g. perceptions of the infinite diversity of animals and the countless wonderful features and specific treats of the various animal species) and to all that emanates from all fellow creatures yet can not be perceived by the senses.

In proportion as a human soul is geared more purely to God’s Presence these perceptions can be more intense and more acute. Each one of these countless features, which vary from species to species, from creature to creature, has got a specific meaning within God’s Plan of Salvation. Every animal species has got innumerable specific features, and within every animal species every individual in its turn boosts a lot of individual traits. In point of fact every single animal is like a world in its own, which, however, is connected with those countless 'other' worlds. This entire system is governed and watched over by Divine Intelligence, Wisdom and Providence.

        3. because He has foreseen for each individual creature, whether animal or human, to play a very specific part. The sanctification of the human soul is a very complex process consisting of a large number of steps. The soul is like a piece of Divine construction composed of a great many small rooms, in which many abilities and virtues are processed and go through their in-depth development. She can therefore be purified through a great variety of channels, i.e.: be cleaned to grow towards a greater resemblance to God’s image. Therefore the soul can be moved by an endless diversity of influences, both in the positive and in the negative sense. According to the developments a soul goes through, and the experiences she has been making and integrating into herself for all her life, she can be best moved within the very heart of her being either by influence A, or rather by influence B, C, D etcetera. Thus every animal is able to touch a human soul in an entirely different way. According to an animal’s specific individual character it may be able to touch exactly those spots in a soul that are sick. God has foreseen all of this. This is one of the reasons why His creation is characterized by such wide diversity.

Just because no human soul is able to know the part every single animal plays, to understand this part and to bring it in connection with the part of any other creature, it is not the human soul’s place to decide on the life or death of any specific animal. This Heavenly thesis is very important for a correct evaluation of a human being’s behaviour towards animals. God has provided each animal species – and within each species, each individual animal – with very specific features, properties, tendencies and patterns of behaviour, exactly because this whole diversity also makes it necessary for any creature, for instance man, to approach each animal in a different way.

Every creature has got its own specific traits because it needs these to fulfil its specific part within creation. For certain animals this part lies greatly in specific tasks to be performed in nature (consider, for example, soil animals, which often play an important part in maintaining and enhancing the fertility of the soil), for other animals this part lies in their share in relationships with human souls (this category consisting of the domestic animals, which have been prepared by Divine Intelligence for a cohabitation with human souls, making them able to help shape these souls’ character and inner states).

        4. because He wanted to assign to the human souls helpers for their life on earth. The Creator first created the animals, yet crowned His Work of Creation by designing the human soul, of whom He so ardently desired she would lead a life after His image and represent Him towards all creation, in other words: act so as to make His Presence and the sanctity of His Being felt by the rest of creation. In a certain sense God intended the animals to be helpers for man. They would be able to serve the human soul through certain properties they were endowed with, e.g. through their physical strength. Man has indeed made use of this on a large scale, especially by using certain animals as riding animals or as auxiliaries in the context of agriculture.

This fourth reason was not God’s principal intention. It should be pointed out that God has not entrusted the animals to man as 'helping hands' unconditionally. The prevailing proviso was that man should neither exploit the animal nor treat it in any way whatsoever which is not in line with God’s Law of Love, but that he was allowed to enter into a 'working relationship' with the animals, within the framework of which the soul is to undertake a commitment to make use of the animal in a gentle, loving, caring and considerate way. This use should then not be made at any cost, but only in a context of healthy collaboration with due consideration for the animal’s needs and well-being.

Let us not forget that God entrusted the animals to the human soul before the first souls committed the original sin. Since the original sin the human soul is no longer 'automatically and spontaneously' in a state of true Love. Therefore, in this world animals are but rarely made parties to a 'working relationship' with man in accordance with the conditions proposed by God in this respect.

God also provided for animals to be able to help boost man’s physical well-being on account of certain characteristics and properties. Certain animal species can become suppliers of substances with healing properties. One example is the oil from the liver of sharks or certain species of fish. Another example is the poison of certain species of snakes and spiders which, according to the homeopathic principles, is diluted and potentiated in such a way that inside the human body this poison no longer acts like poison but as a very mild stimulus, on a level of life that greatly exceeds the material level, so that specific mechanisms of healing inside the human organism itself are thereby triggered.

In this respect the same condition prevails: Man is allowed to avail himself of such substances from the animal’s body, under the strictest proviso that the animal is not killed nor maltreated nor harmed in any way (neither physically nor mentally) in the process, and that the 'intervention' is performed strictly in accordance with a procedure that is in no way whatsoever in violation of God’s Law of Love. If even the smallest of these conditions is not met, the use of the animal for the advancement of human well-being is downright rejected by God. I will get back to this later.

God also intended the animals as auxiliaries for the human souls in the sense of bridges towards mental and spiritual healing. I will get back to that later as well.

2.2. About the multiple consequences of the creation of the animals

The fact God created the animals has got consequences for man. These consequences are far more significant than the souls usually presume. Fairly inconspicuously the animals play important indirect parts in God’s Plan of Salvation. Let us consider a few theses brought forward by the Mistress of all souls to explain this:

        1. It is part of the major missions in a human soul’s life to learn to recognize God’s Love and to contribute to the flowing thereof. Within creation, in many respects the animals represent simplicity. In proportion as human society developed through history, increasing numbers of human souls fell prey to the deception science and technology would be able to replace God, and human intelligence would be able to rule the world. This view has seriously damaged the system of creation, and in the present era this damage is spreading even more rapidly than ever before. Man has been making for himself idols in science and technology as well as in many philosophical systems, eliminating the only true God in the process. Countless human souls have thus lost the most precious of treasures: the experience of God’s Presence, of His Love, and of the effects of His Works.

However, through the animals God wants to teach the souls the big lesson that they will never be able to connect with God, His Mysteries, true Love and true happiness through the acquisitions of modern science and technology, nor through the many philosophical systems, but exclusively through their own heart: In the creatures not endowed with human intelligence (the whole world of animals and vegetation) God has hidden many treasures of His Love, which are treated with contempt or are at least not appreciated by many souls. In many human souls Love is so weakened they measure the value of anything surrounding them solely by the standard of the material gain (money, property) they can derive from it in this life. All this is then not considered from the flow of Love within the heart, but merely from a calculating mind. Therefore the animals are despised on a large scale, or often at least looked upon with an attitude of indifference and characterized by the absence of Love.

The Mistress of all souls calls upon the human souls to profoundly revalue nature, especially the animals they encounter of the path of their life, for all animals constitute to the most varying degrees and in all kinds of forms treasuries of God’s Love. We only need to observe an animal attentively and right away we will find out with what Intelligence and Love it was made: Every animal has got its specific physical constitution, its very own features, beauties, patterns of behaviour... a collection of countless elements showing that this animal was made with the kind of care which is so perfect only God can ever spend it. Later I will discuss the animal species man usually considers or perceives in a negative way.

Each human soul is able to learn how to discover God’s Presence in nature. If you are strolling through a quiet piece of nature, on a hiking trail or in the woods, and you notice this steadily increasing sensation of quiet inside of you, this effect has not merely got a biological (fresh air) or psychological cause (less stress): In the first place this effect indicates the fact your soul is opening up, because this casual, relaxed natural life around you has made your soul sense God’s touch. In a soul that has opened up widely enough to the things transcending the level of earthly existence this effect will be able to penetrate all the more deeply as the surroundings are more natural, meaning: in proportion as they are more devoid of human influences and factors. By 'human influences and factors' we are to understand buildings, traffic and human activities, all of which are pervaded with the turmoil and agitation of all worldly things.

Spontaneous natural life is the whole of the state of being, the growth and the bloom, the development and the actions or processes of animals and plants to the extent to which they are devoid of human intervention and therefore solely display the effects of God’s Plan and Intelligence operating within them. This Plan and this Intelligence are fully pervaded with Divine Life. It is exactly Divine Life which, while strolling through nature, makes you feel quiet, brings you to the experience of inner peace, to a revitalisation in body and soul. In point of fact revitalisation in body and soul is nothing else but a return to the actual, true Source: God and Divine Love.

        2. The animals play a large and many-sided part in the spiritual development of the human soul. Redemption and sin apply their effects only in the human soul, but each animal plays its part in the indirect effects of the Mystery of Redemption. The spiritual development of each human soul is even in part determined by the animals this soul encounters on the path of her life, not only during repeated contacts over a longer period of time (for instance domestic animals), but also during brief encounters with animals which cross the soul’s path of life rather 'by coincidence'. A small example: a human soul may be touched very suddenly by seeing a dead animal along the wayside, or by briefly watching a scene in which an animal displays an unmistakable behaviour of Love towards another animal or a human being. I will get back to this in a further part of the text.

The way the human soul deals with all animals that cross the path of her life contributes to the state of sanctity and grace, and to the merits this soul acquires towards God or the debt she burdens herself with. God has entrusted the animals to the human souls for the latter to take custody over them, 'in representation of God', so to speak. We could look at it this way, that to God the whole of creation is like His personal estate, a vast park He has entrusted to the human soul’s care.

Therefore God judges the human soul according to the way she deals with her fellow man, but also with the animals. The animals were entrusted to man for the latter to treat them in exactly the same way as God Himself would treat them. This is exactly why God tries to teach the human soul infinitely varied lessons through a great number of different contacts with animals, during which the human soul sees herself confronted with beings of a completely different nature at each and every encounter. Every human who has had a number of different cats or dogs as domestic animals, knows perfectly well how different they can be as to behaviour, character and constitution. Divine Providence brings them onto the soul’s path of life for the latter to be guaranteed a wide variety of exercise in all virtues.

The human soul, in a manner of speaking, represents God Himself towards the animals and towards the whole of creation. When God said man was to govern the animals, He did not mean anything less than this: that the human soul was to exercise custody over the animals and to pass God’s Love and Light on to the animals. Like there is no darkness in God Himself, the human soul is to take care so as to be so true a mirror of God’s Heart as to prevent any darkness from flowing from her towards the animals. The human soul is under the holy obligation to represent God towards the whole of creation. This means that man is expected to pass on to the animals all that characterizes God Himself: Love, care, tenderness, feelings of security, patience, empathy as to the specific traits and characteristics of the individual animal, etc., in other words: the greatest possible purity on every level of his being. Purity automatically means that the soul does not allow darkness to bloom within herself, nor spreads darkness around.

Therefore I should point out already that every act committed by a human soul towards an animal by which the latter is degraded, is put down to the soul’s account as a sin, because every such act is in violation of God’s Law of Love. Each lack of Love on a soul’s part is therefore not only a sin if displayed to the detriment of a fellow person, but also if committed to the detriment of an animal.

I quote the Mistress of all souls in a revelation of June 11, 2007:
"I emphasize the importance of the way the human soul deals with the animals entrusted to her care. God entrusts animals to human souls in order to help them in their growth towards sanctification. The way the human soul deals with this, is very important to God. Through this complex channel an animal belonging to one of the higher species [going by the images shown to me internally it appears that Mary is referring first and foremost, though not exclusively, to dogs and cats, and for instance horses as well] can in an indirect way play a significant part in God’s great Plan of Salvation, which ultimately only pertains to the human soul".

        3. Divine Providence brings humans and animals together. The human soul is usually not aware of this, but contacts between a soul and an animal are not seldom 'planned' by Divine Providence, exactly because God wants to teach a soul something and to enable her to experience something specific through every such contact. Thus a domestic animal is entrusted to a specific human soul by Divine Providence because a longer contact between this specific animal and this specific human soul has got the potential to help shape the latter, to promote her development, and is thus likely to be significant within the specific Plan God has provided for the soul’s path of life because the latter needs very specific experiences, which may well be provided by a specific animal.

Therefore a domestic animal may be very close to a human soul, provided the latter allows it to get closer to her. Human souls and domestic animals are, one might say, chosen for each other by Divine Wisdom, because both parties can benefit from the situation that has thus arisen. We must never forget that, eventually, everything which happens in this world has but one single deep sense: it is to accomplish God’s Works and to further the accomplishment of His great Plan of Salvation for creation as a whole. If the soul fills in the relationship she has been offered with the specific animal in the right way, she may learn a great deal by it and may be able to learn how to feel the purity of God’s Love.

Not one single contact between a human soul and an animal takes place purely by coincidence. Usually the soul does not know the true meaning, nor will she be able to completely fathom the background of it or God’s intentions with it, but she should be aware that Divine Providence is constantly preparing situations she needs for her spiritual growth and bloom. A horse does not just coincidentally step towards the wire surrounding a meadow to greet a human soul; the reason for this movement made by the horse is way beyond 'begging for food', as man usually believes. A hiker does not purely by coincidence see a little bird hopping about on the branch of a tree. A few examples from my own life (the list is far from exhaustive):

• A few years ago, on the eve of Holy Thursday of all days, a spotlessly white lamb came hopping over to me on a lawn on which there are never any animals. It allowed me to caress it, licked my hand, and touched my heart very deeply. This animal spread around a Love which moved me to tears. That very same evening the Mistress of all souls said to me: "Tonight the Easter Lamb Christ welcomed you". As She explained, through this unique way She had intended to immerse me in the last stage of the atmosphere of the Passion.

• Also a few years ago, all winter long while feeding the birds in the garden I was greeted by one and the same robin every single morning. This little animal came unusually close to me and displayed a behaviour I had never seen in a bird before in my life. Every time I was near this little animal the Mistress of all souls granted me exceptional mystical experiences, and some day She explained to me these daily encounters had been set up by Her because in those days they were beneficial within the framework of my daily 'education' at Her service.

• Quite a lot of domestic animals crossed my path in unusual ways, through exceptional encounters in natural surroundings. In those cases also, Mary confirmed the origin of those encounters as being interventions of Divine Providence, because these animals 'had to share the paths of their lives with mine from the respective moments onward'.

Ever since the day my vocation began, Mary has been repeatedly confirming that specific domestic animals are allotted to specific human souls by Divine Providence, because these souls can learn very specific lessons through the relationship with those specific animals, or perfect themselves in very specific ways in the application of certain virtues. Therefore Mary refers to the relationship between a human soul and a domestic animal as a 'bond', an unwritten contract by virtue of which the soul undertakes towards God to take care of this animal within the framework of a relationship based on pure Love. The soul that does not observe this rule, does not treat her domestic animal in accordance with the Law of Love, or even forsakes the animal promiscuously (we need only think of the many domestic animals that are abandoned by their owner so as to enable the latter to go on a holiday without any cares) is in God’s opinion guilty of 'breach of contract' (the bond of caring as entered into with the animal is broken).

        4. Every being, not just a fellow person but an animal as well, can bring a soul closer to her final destination (complete sanctification). God wants to constantly remind the human soul of this, so that she may be aware of the fact that every contact on the path of her life – also with an animal – is an event taking place within the network of Love of all creation. Each animal can be used by God to confirm His Truth through signs towards the human soul and to show the latter time and time again how unique God’s Wisdom and Intelligence are, which makes it possible for an animal to display very specific patterns of behaviour that are often even more intelligent and also often more loving than those of human souls. The animal is often the purest messenger of signs, for it does not think about its behaviour, so that the things the animal often does out of natural instinct, are not influenced by the darkness of thinking.

Souls often carelessly disregard some odd behaviour displayed by their domestic animal, in other words: they soon forget about it and do not pay attention to it. However, Divine Providence not seldom gives signs through animals. Man very easily regards animals quite unjustly as 'simple' and unknowing objects. In so doing, they actually often overlook channels of which God avails Himself to help guide the development of souls. The souls should learn that animals are little Works of God, which can be used by their Creator at any time to give rise, within human souls, to certain behaviour, certain findings or feelings, and teach them certain lessons.

Once during the last days of the life of a domestic animal I was privileged to witness a highly remarkable behaviour, with regard to which Mary explained it was intended to be the bearer of signs through which God wanted to demonstrate to what high extent a dying animal lives in a state of abandon to God’s Plan. This series of signs was crowned, in a manner of speaking, by this animal’s hour of death: it died exactly at midnight after father’s day – a day which may basically be regarded as the feast of the Eternal Father – as if God wanted to show how the animal had been in His service until its dying breath.

        5. Through the way a soul treats animals she can greatly contribute to the advancement of her own happiness in this world. The Mistress of all souls once said that if the souls should show a much greater respect and a much deeper Love towards the animals, even this alone would make the mountain of misery in this world considerably smaller. We are to understand it this way: The way animals are treated is characterized by such a lack of Love that the flow of Love through creation as a whole has thereby been considerably slowed down or come to a standstill at many junctions. Every day billions of contacts between human souls and animals take place in the world. A majority of these contacts is to some degree characterized by a lack of Love. A lack of Love expresses itself through all kinds of signs of antagonism, maltreatment and exploitation against animals, as well as in indifference to animals.

This means that Divine Life is oozing out of the network of creation at innumerable junctions. Consequently the overall vital strength within creation as a whole is decreasing considerably, resulting in a decrease in the effects of grace and in the signs of God’s Presence getting ever less clear. Creation is drifting off further and further from the equilibrium created by God, which is based entirely on the flow of Love. We notice the following developments:

• all human souls and animals react to this by strongly varying degrees of inner strife, which may express itself in aggression, depression, lack of lust for living, fears and many other signs of loss of true Life and increasing dominance by darkness;

• nature reacts to this by unusual phenomena including regular natural catastrophes which can nor must by no means be explained solely by meteorological and geological laws;

• the world of vegetation reacts to this through deviations as to growth and bloom. Well-known are the many mutations, in which species of plants (this phenomenon keeps occurring in animals as well) gradually display different characteristics. The Mother of God points out that this phenomenon has not only got biological but also spiritual causes, which are ultimately due to effects brought about by the burden of sins accumulated by the human souls. That which is time and again referred to by science as 'natural evolution', is in reality very often an expression of deviations from God’s Laws of growth. Through these deviations evolution starts to lead a life of its own, so to speak. Such 'derailments' manifest themselves on account of sin, because sin is a violation of the Law of Love, and Divine Love is the essence and the indispensable nourishment of all Life.

All this brings chaos and misery in the most varied forms. In anticipation of the arguments to set out in this text I might already refer to the thesis brought forward by the Queen of Heaven, saying that the human souls will never find true happiness on earth as long as they fail to regard the animals and nature in the light of the part God assigned to them as worthy ambassadors of God’s Love – i.e. as long as they fail to regard them in accordance with God’s Law of Love.

        6. On account of their being bearers of Love, animals are able to help human souls heal. Animals are often considered to be inferior. Nevertheless they possess a marked ability to let Love flow. This is especially the case with the more highly developed animal species, among which we can count the usual domestic animals, but also, for instance, dolphins. These animals are able to inject a sincere Love and a great peace into the human soul, thereby helping to heal the soul of all kinds of traumas and blockades in the flowing of Love. On account of their presence and their behaviour these animals often manage to do what no fellow person appears able to: to open up a human soul that is barely or not at all accessible to Love, and that has either retreated into herself or has fallen prey to depressive moods, or that has on the contrary turned aggressive because she no longer believes in Love.

Many animals have got an aura of spontaneity, informality, innocence, sincerity, unreservedness, unconditional affection, and are therefore indeed able to set a blocked flow of Love flowing again, washing away the burden of many oppressing emotions in the process. The animal does not speak, but a human heart that is sufficiently sensitive to the atmosphere of sincere Love can by certain elements of behaviour displayed by animals feel 'understood' again and suddenly feel integrated into the flow of Divine Love.

Have you ever noticed how certain animals watch a human being when the latter is crying, or praying? I was also told wonderful things about the behaviour of my domestic animals in my proximity during deep ecstatic experiences I was granted by the Most Holy Virgin Mary. It appears from this behaviour that these animals must possess a remarkable sensitivity for special spiritual states experienced by a human soul in their proximity. I even noticed behaviour in my domestic animals which unambiguously pointed towards an extraordinary sensitivity for the supernatural while the Holy Virgin’s Presence in the room could be perceived very distinctly. Without any doubt God gives signs through animals.

The observation that animals are able to help human souls open up to Love and Light, and can therefore contribute to the latter’s healing, is vital as a support for the thesis advanced by the Mistress of all souls that animals are able to play an important indirect part within God’s Plan of Salvation. If a soul closes her heart to the flow of Love, she is no longer able to duly play the part God had intended for her to play. Thus she will jam both her own spiritual development and her contribution to the accomplishment of God’s Plan of Salvation. The soul then no longer accomplishes the mission for which she came into the world. The fact that animals are able to help remove this barrier emphasizes the fact God has also assigned them the part of assisting the human soul on her way to sanctification. In this context, let us also keep in mind that true healing in body, mind and emotions can only be lasting to the extent to which the soul is really healthy. Well then, animals can create regular bridges towards a soul’s in-depth healing. If an animal truly touches a human soul this always takes place on the higher levels of spiritual life, on the level on which the soul is able to perceive God’s Presence.

An animal can thus be a particularly valuable bridge for God’s Works for the benefit of the human soul. It is therefore a very insensible view, even an insult to God, to speak of an animal as 'only a stupid animal'. God expects every soul to respect His instruments, no matter in what form He wants to make use of them. Indeed, God also deploys the animals as instruments.

The human soul is to deal with every fellow creature in an attitude of spotless respect, being aware of the fact that every creature (man and animal) is a bearer of God’s signature, and that therefore any expression of lack of Love towards a fellow creature is ultimately tantamount to aggression towards God Himself.

Also in this respect the human soul has got a special responsibility. The animal’s ability to let Love flow and thereby help souls open up to Love and help them heal deeply, is to a great extent influenced by the kind of experiences the animal has gone through or is still going through. In an animal which is constantly traumatised – e.g. through human intervention – the flow of Love may be constantly hampered. The animal may become fearful, mistrustful, withdrawn or aggressive, and is thereby eliminated as an active junction in the network of Divine Love. I could express it in the words of the Mistress of all souls, spoken in one of Her Revelations in 2007:
"The animal’s love can, somewhat comparable with a human soul’s Love, to a certain extent be contaminated by the impact of experiences in life". Once again it becomes clear how big a responsibility a human soul assumes when committing, for instance, acts of maltreatment to the detriment of an animal.

In confirmation of the fact animals are most definitely deployed as instruments of Divine Providence for the implementation of God’s Works I gladly quote the following words spoken by the Mistress of all souls in Her Revelation of September 11, 2007:

"As all constitutions of all creatures are known to Me, I am in a position to assess what creatures have got to offer each other, all this with a view to the accomplishment of God’s Plan of Salvation for the souls".

Against the background of these words it can be easily understood that animals and human souls are brought into contact with each other because God expects something from such contacts, in the first place with regard to the soul’s bloom and her ability to make positive contributions to the accomplishment of His Works.

Chapter 3

The deeper nature of the animal. The specific elements of its nature

In the true sense of the word, the animals have not got a soul, they are bearers of that which the Mistress of all souls refers to as a 'vital principle', a germ bearing life for the entire being, including the body, in which the animal moves about on earth. Mary compares this germ with a flower whose petals are arranged in a number of subsequent circles. In proportion as the animal belongs to a more highly developed species this so-called 'soul flower' is composed of a larger number of circles and the flower is, in a manner of speaking, more complex. This flower is nothing less than an ingenious Work of God’s Love, and basically consists of nothing but Love, for it is Love which constitutes the essence of all vital force in all creatures. Thus it was explained by the Mistress of all souls in June 2007.

As I pointed out earlier, animals can not sin. If a relationship between a human soul and an animal is not organised according to God’s Law, viz. if this relationship is not characterized by sincere Love on the soul’s part, not the animal will be made accountable for this by God, but the human soul. If the souls should be more readily aware of the scope of all their actions and even their thoughts and feelings within God’s Plan of Salvation and for their own Eternal Bliss, and if moreover a greater awareness of sin were to prevail among the souls, a great many things that now happen within the framework of man’s thoughtless dealing with animals, would not happen at all. Exactly this thoughtlessness, this lack of consideration and this indifference constitute a rich breeding ground for sin. Every day all over this world human souls commit towards animals innumerable acts that are not recognized as sins but are nevertheless sins in God’s eyes. The fact an animal does not in the actual sense of the word possess a soul, does by no means mean it would be immaterial to God in what way a human soul behaves towards animals. I will discuss this more extensively later.

In a Revelation of June 11, 2007, the Mistress of all souls pointed out that an animal’s love often maintains purer points of contact with Divine Love than a human soul’s Love, in that the animal, when spreading its love, is not hampered by the influences of rational thinking, like it is the case in human souls. Indeed the animal is characterized by its living from the heart rather than from the spirit. Originally this was the case for the human soul as well, but this ability has been repressed to a great extent in very many souls as of the moment when the original sin was committed.

Let us consider the high extent to which human society is 'rationalized': Science, technology and many philosophical systems have elevated human intelligence to the status of a god that is able to rule everything and that makes the only true God superfluous. The overwhelming effects in science and technology, as well as various political philosophies, have tempted the human soul into believing that feelings are unworthy of a human being, that they weaken the latter, and that they counteract 'progress' in the world.

Animal intelligence, as opposed to ours, is not equipped to analyse and to reason. For the major part the animal lives from the heart, as well as on the basis of intuitive reactions to perceptions flowing into its mind through the senses. Especially the higher animal species thereby possess a greater sensitivity and a heart which is very open and which is therefore able to perceive both positive and negative impressions very intensely. Now if an animal is treated with lots of sincere Love, it will be so open in its behaviour that the human soul that is sensitive to it, may be touched deeply by this behaviour and by the atmosphere surrounding the animal. Let it be understood this does not mean that an animal which hardly receives any Love at all, would not be able to help open up a human soul. It only means an animal which is lovingly cared for will perceptibly carry this Love all around, because its vital principle is blooming because of this Love.

One of the reasons why God created animals able to lead their lives as domestic animals with man, lies in the fact these animals are able to develop a healing influence upon a human heart that has been hurt. A human soul that has a hard time finding Divine Love may be opened up to this experience by letting herself be touched by the openness of a domestic animal’s love. If the path of a specific animal’s life crosses that of a specific human soul, we must go on the assumption that Divine Providence is pursuing a goal with this encounter. This even applies to rather brief encounters. Also brief encounters can sometimes quite unconsciously influence a human soul for a long time. If an animal crosses the path of a human soul’s life for a longer time, thereby making it possible for this animal and this soul to share more experiences, the soul may safely be convinced that God pursues a very specific plan with this encounter.

If a human soul makes a certain animal part of her life, in reality she is entering into a bond with this animal, and some day she will have to account to God for the way she has filled this bond in: towards each animal the human soul integrates into her life on a long-term basis she takes on the obligation to care for it and to give it sincere Love, protection, help and assistance. The human soul basically makes a vow to God regarding each animal which crosses the path of her life, a vow saying she is going to behave towards this animal the way God Himself would.

When a human soul and an animal have found each other and enter into a more intense relationship, in so doing they indeed conclude some kind of bond. Concretely this means the human soul undertakes towards God to become for this animal a channel of security, care and Love, meaning she is also assuming the responsibility going with this relationship, as well as the obligations which are able to help advance the accomplishment of God’s Plans. The soul that enters into a relationship with a fellow creature assumes the obligation to make God’s Presence felt by the latter. In the first place this means that Love as well as any elements inspiring feelings of trust and security must flow towards the other creature, in order that all creatures that have any part in this relationship should be able to accomplish their tasks within God’s Plan.

This is exactly the deep meaning of every relationship between a human soul and an animal, no matter if it is a long-term or a short-term relationship: the participants in the relationship are given to each other by God for the purpose of supporting each other mutually in the accomplishment of their respective mission in life. Even in an encounter lasting but a few seconds man is under the obligation towards God to treat the animal lovingly. For years the Holy Virgin has been inspiring me to silently (in the depth of my heart) say to any animal I encounter, no matter if it is a tomtit on a branch in a tree, or a mouse underneath a shrub, or a stray cat etc.: "I love you!". She assured me that this animal will get the signal and incorporate it into itself as a little beam of new vital strength, and that this little hidden present of Love sends a beam of Light through creation.

The animal can be a pure channel of Divine Providence because of the fact it is not hampered by any obstacles the human soul so often has to overcome within herself if she is to perceive God’s Presence:

• thinking and reasoning

• holding on to details from the past

• concern with other people’s perception of things

• lack of faith in the Divine Mysteries and in God’s Works in all details of life

• the chase after material gain and property.

The domestic animal experiences these obstacles to a very much lesser extent. Some of them are even perfectly strange to the animals. On this account the domestic animal is in many respects closer to God than the human soul with her many-sided influences and the reactions of her rational thinking to these influences. Through some personal experiences the Heavenly Queen showed me how even a strange animal is able to feel sincere Love from a certain distance, and is able to react to it. In one of these cases a somewhat shy cat, which was straying on a narrow path at a distance of approximately twenty metres, very suddenly came up to me after I had intensely but silently (in the depth of my heart, hence inaudibly) said "I love you!", and it nestled up to me. There appeared to be full confidence from scratch.

After this remarkable event Mary explained:

"In an attitude of sincere Love an animal immediately recognizes the natural state of heart the way God had foreseen it to be when He made creation", and a bit later: "Animals of a more highly developed species are very sensitive as to the essence of Life and God’s Presence – Love – and possess the ability to have it flow uninhibitedly as soon as they feel that the being they are encountering is a bearer of this force".

Animals are very sensitive to feelings, mood swings, Love, as well as to negative attitudes, states of mind or intentions emanating from a human soul. I have experienced cats and dogs showing the tendency to cuddle up to a crying person or to keep watching the latter for a long time without making even the slightest movement. I have also quite frequently seen domestic animals react very playfully when seeing a human soul radiant with joy.

The fact an animal is unable to speak does not automatically make it unfit for the exchange of emotions: Exactly because an animal does not speak, its feelings, which just like man’s feelings spring from the heart, can not be stained by words. True, unpolluted Love always directly flows between hearts, and very easily deviates from its course as soon as the mouth is inserted into the process. Often the human soul is prevented from innerly connecting with God’s Presence exactly by the fact she talks too much, thus preventing her own heart from finding God. Speaking often interrupts inner life to make room for sensory impressions, which in most cases lead the soul away from God. In the animal this mechanism is missing, and this is one of the reasons why the animal perceives true Love or lack of it even more acutely than many human souls are able to.

Quite often animals are best able to open up closed, traumatised hearts: They do not think, but live on an emotional basis. That is why animals often succeed best in spreading sincere Love around and bringing up feelings of true Love in human souls. A heart which is (again) enabled to perceive Love, opens up and can again be integrated into the flow of God’s Love and Divine Life.

As I pointed out earlier in this book, the kind of experiences an animal goes through helps determine how efficiently the animal will be able to play its part as a junction in the network of Love. Also the higher animal species possess a system of emotions which can function as a door to the deeper core of their being: impressions that are experienced as positive, open this door; impressions that are experienced as negative, close it. If a creature is repeatedly exposed to negative impressions this door may very well be bolted permanently. In the latter case there is the risk this being, out of fear for traumas, withdraws ever more deeply into itself, even begins to shut itself off from true Love, and thereby lets true Life ooze out. It is then no longer able to do the things God has destined it for. That is exactly the tragedy lying in any lack of true Love in any creature’s life. This rule applies to human souls and animals alike.

On account of the fact an animal mainly lives on an emotional basis instead of living on a basis of rational thinking, it will succeed much better in fathoming the human heart than the average human soul will ever be able to fathom the animal’s heart. Prior to the original sin the human soul was automatically able to communicate the way the angels do: from heart to heart. This means man 'was able to read his fellow creatures’ hearts'. Because of the fall of man this ability was hidden, i.e. the soul has got to learn again how to bring it into blossom. In our days it is therefore regarded as a mystical talent if a soul is able to exactly relate to that which goes on in a fellow creature (man or animal).

The fall of man constituted a breach in showing true Love to God. The soul was seriously damaged by this breach. We can regard it as a 'natural fruit' of the original sin that man’s heart would henceforth be polluted as a channel of God’s Love. A polluted channel is no longer able to make pure perceptions as to true Love in a fellow creature. The animals, however, are not able to sin. Their innate ability to live straight from the heart has therefore remained intact.

The animal possesses this ability to live on an emotional basis because of its openness to God’s Works. An animal is often more receptive to God’s Works than the human soul is. Therefore an animal belonging to a more highly developed species, e.g. a domestic animal, will be very sensitive to sincere Love, Light, feelings of security, joyfulness, gentleness, inner Peace, patience, understanding and care, and whenever it perceives these attributes and states of heart in a human being, it will be prone to give sincere Love in return, for in this soul it will discern a mirror of God’s Presence, which the animal intuitively experiences as the Source of its life.

The animal goes through this experience perfectly thoughtlessly and thus perfectly unawarely. Indeed, it does not wonder nor ask any questions, as opposed to the human soul, and is therefore not so easily tempted into delusion and darkness inside as the human soul is. Let us constantly bear in mind that the animals are creatures of God, which most of the time are even more sensitive than the human soul as to the things which are, or are not, compatible with God’s Law.

Unconsciously the animal thus lives in a more perfect state of surrender to Divine Law than the average human soul. The Mistress of all souls once said to me the suffering animal bears its sufferings quite differently from most suffering humans. Man easily lets himself be led by rational thinking to such an extent as to allow his own state of mind to become his own worst enemy: his sufferings become many times worse by the fact he broods about them or starts to analyse them and to imagine all kinds of things about his future. The animal, on the contrary, lets itself be connected to God’s Heart, just like that. It suffers indeed, but it deals with this in a completely different way, so that the sufferings actually get an entirely new meaning.

In a way it could be said the animal unawarely and unknowingly consecrates its sufferings to God wholeheartedly, simply through its entire inner constitution. I have pointed out earlier that Mary assured me during an illness sustained by one of my domestic animals that an animal knows no resistance against its sufferings: it bears them, because this is the natural state of the vital principle. This is how it should be in the human soul as well. However, man very often resists his sufferings and trials because the reasoning mind fails to accept them and the soul is constantly stirred up by dark inspirations against any cross, just because accepted and consecrated sufferings possess a redeeming value. The animal’s suffering does not possess this redeeming element, but also in this field God teaches the human souls through the animals in their surroundings.

Chapter 4

Man’s responsibility towards the animals

4.1. The human soul as the custodian of creation

God foresaw the human soul to be the crown upon His creation. This brings responsibilities. Towards God man was to be the administrator of it all. For the human soul this brings with it the compulsory task of dealing with animals and plants in a respectful way, for they are God’s property: He created them with Love, constantly nourishes them with His Love, and hid treasures of Life and healing for the souls in them. The human soul may well be called the 'owner' of a domestic animal, the farmer the 'owner' of cattle, pigs, sheep etc., in reality, however, this holds true only within the context of worldly life. Each animal actually is and remains God’s property, whereas man on earth is never really anything more than the custodian, the tenant, the administrator of whatever he 'owns'. Towards the animals the human soul is the one who, before God, enters into a holy bond of care and Love.

The Mistress of all souls points out that in the hour in which the human soul’s life is being judged by God she is also judged as to her behaviour towards the animals and nature. A good administrator treats with impeccable care that which is entrusted to him by the owner. Consequently man owes this care in the first place to every fellow person who, and to every animal which, is entrusted to him by Divine Providence. Indeed, on earth man owns nothing, he is merely the custodian or, if one prefers to call it that way, the tenant. Every soul, every animal and every plant exclusively remains God’s property.

Since our domestic animals belong to God alone, and we are merely their custodians, the care we bestow upon them is in reality a service to God.

As each creature is God’s property, treating an animal with respect and Love constitutes a great homage to God.

Very often animals are treated very indifferently: the soul acting like this does not recognize the special nature of each living being. Recognizing the value and dignity of an animal, means recognizing the fact this animal is a Work of God, not an object without emotions and without a regular life, which would just have been made for the mere purpose of satisfying our needs in any way whatsoever. Let us never forget that defending the dignity of any fellow creature – including that of any animal – basically means defending God’s Love against any lack of respect. True Love is the essence from God’s Heart, and should be regarded as holy. Indeed it constitutes the very essence, the building material and the force of all Life, and therefore of the greatest Mystery representing the Existence and Works of God Himself.

4.2. The relationships within creation

As I pointed out before, among all creatures only man is able to commit sins. When the first human souls committed the original sin the relationship between man and God was seriously damaged: The original sin was a violation against the bond by virtue of which the human soul undertook towards God to live in obedience, docility and service to Him. Man’s service to God is first and foremost a matter of being prepared to apply himself to the accomplishment of God’s great Plan of Salvation. As the human soul had been made administrator and custodian of creation in its entirety, all of creation suffered from the effects of the original sin, for through this sin the administrator had lost her sanctity and was no longer able to spontaneously represent God.

The Mistress of all souls pointed out earlier that on account of the original sin the balance within the network of creation has been seriously disrupted. This can be understood more easily if we keep in mind that this network consists of a vast system of channels through which God’s Love flows between all creatures, and that every sin constitutes a violation of Love. Since the original sin was the first of all sins, the actual breach of the bond of sanctity, it was bound to bring about an interruption in the flow of Love: God lets the main stream of His Love flow to the human souls, and further streamlets to the other creatures. The human souls have to divide this main stream up into many branches flowing towards all creatures they encounter.

Ever since the original sin was committed, no pure Love has been flowing through a great many of these innumerable branches. This disruption has brought about great numbers of heavily unbalanced relationships between creatures. Sin is indeed the counterpart of Love, and Love is the fuel of all life. We could look at it this way: With each single sin committed by a human soul the network of creation springs a new leak. Having regard to the fact billions of sins are committed on the face of this earth every single day, a certain quantity of Divine Love oozes away in billions of places within the network: this Love remaining unused is consequently lost for constructing, repairing and healing creation.

This tremendous loss of Love, which has been going on for centuries on end, is responsible for the fact the mutual relationships among the species have been thoroughly disrupted. This is the very origin of the well-known situations going on between wild animals, between the species, and the fear of animals towards man, the rapacity in nature, the aggression between living beings etc. God has therefore not created these situations – the sinfulness of human souls has.

The human soul deals with many living creatures the way she does because she is unable to understand and to fathom the Plan God pursues with His creation. The treatment of animals is part of a vast field of ignorance through which the human soul has had a hard time gaining ground ever since the fall of man. This is why, in many respects, this dealing with animals is characterized by darkness to so great an extent that it has contributed a great deal more to the misery in this world than most souls would ever believe.

As the many disruptions within the relationships between all creatures are ultimately due to the original sin and to subsequent unbridled sinning by mankind, it is the human souls’ responsibility to help restore these relationships. To that end every soul should in the very first place become and remain aware of the Divine origin of all Life, and treat every creature – both animals and fellow persons – as God’s Work and His property. Every human soul should, for instance, keep the following in mind:

In defending a creature’s dignity one glorifies the Creator, from whom the creature got its individual characteristics, its specific traits and properties. From the outset the darkness set for itself the objective to undermine God’s Works and to immerse the creatures in the most varied forms of misery. To this end Satan deployed all of his tricks with the intention to weaken and, if possible, to kill, the Love in the human souls, because he knew this was going to disrupt the entire creation and the human souls were therefore going to be flooded by yet another shock wave of darkness, which was going to finish the souls off altogether. Every lack of Love in a human soul’s inner state of heart and attitude functions like a boomerang of darkness: through her sinful and vicious attitudes, states of heart and patterns of behaviour the soul, in a manner of speaking, flings darkness around, and through the disrupted creation the latter falls back upon the soul, making her a double victim:

• through the increasing lack of peace in her own conscience;

• in that she reaps the harvest of her own sowing.

The consequences are plain to see: The human souls are responsible for each unbalance in creation, which is expressed in nature, in weather conditions, in aggressive as well as in shy behaviour of animals, and in countless other signs of derailment and of lack of accordance with God’s Laws.

Satan has tempted the human soul into rejecting Love, which has got serious and lasting consequences that continue to grow like a snowball. Each lack of Love breeds darkness and hence misery for the entire creation. Where Love is lacking, God’s actions are paralyzed, so to speak, because He will never force His preferences on anybody: If the soul opts for the darkness, she is going to reap darkness, in spite of all the Light God would like so much to give to her. However, the human soul in all her blindness does not regard her own lack of Love as the sources of all misery in the world, keeps digging deeper and deeper into the things of the world in her quest for 'solutions' for the problems of the world, and thus evidently only finds 'solutions' that do not contain any Light and are therefore not able to breed anything but children of darkness.

As the world with all its temptations and false promises knows perfectly well how to keep the souls under its spell, God, the great counterpart of all worldly things and the major stumbling block on the way towards an unhampered satisfaction of all worldly pseudo needs, is pointed to as the culprit for all and any misery. The soul allows herself to be misled into believing that God has completely forsaken His creation, as well as into the logical next step of getting convinced there can not even be a God. Thus we witness the birth and the rapid bloom of atheism.

There is a way back: As soon as the human souls, on a large scale, treat all their fellow creatures – both fellow persons and animals – with respect and sincere Love, and no longer debase any of them, the intentions cherished by darkness to completely undermine God’s Works and to immerse the latter in all kinds of misery, will be broken altogether. It is as simple as that, because this is God’s fundamental Law: Love breeds Light and Peace, lack of Love breeds darkness and dissatisfaction in all of its forms.

Understanding and defending the dignity of a fellow creature means: act in such a way that it is plain for all creatures and for God Himself to see one considers this fellow creature to be something of value, and that one appreciates this fellow creature being present on the path of one’s own life (no matter if it is for a very short while or for a longer period of time, as Divine Providence may choose it to be). The only natural attitude befitting a human soul – for the latter, and no other creature, has received this attitude as a gift infused by God – is the one through which she recognizes each fellow creature, including each animal, as a gift from God and allows herself to be touched by the fellow creature’s existence and presence. Let us never forget that also each animal on the path of our life constitutes a junction in this vast network of creation, through which God sends His Love and therefore true Life.

The golden rule for any relationship a human soul enters into with a fellow creature – both man and animal – and for every contact a human soul makes with a fellow creature, reads as follows: God expects the soul to approach the fellow creature from a heart which in no way whatsoever aspires for any personal benefits, but merely wants to mean something positive to her fellow creature. The soul is to treat every fellow creature in such a way as to be able to say in all honesty that she has made some positive difference for this fellow creature’s life. In other words: The balance of every relationship with a fellow creature should be positive. This automatically entails that anything negative a soul ever does to a fellow creature, says to the latter, or thinks or feels relating to it, must be made up for. If it appears impossible to make amends, for instance because the fellow creature is no longer alive or all further contact has become impossible for whatever reason, compensation should be offered in a sincere way straight from the heart, through prayer, consecration to the Most Blessed Virgin, and if possible through compensatory sacrifices that are made especially as acts of Love.

4.3. The rediscovery of Love

Logically resulting from the above presentation is the observation the human soul has got to learn how to discover God’s Love all over again. After all, this Love makes itself noticed in so many things on the path of her life, even in the smallest flower, in a stray dog, in a domestic cat, in a dancing butterfly, in a birdie on a branch, etcetera.

A soul that nourishes itself abundantly of God’s Love, will increasingly regard creation the way God Himself regards it. She will obtain an ever deeper understanding of the true essence of each fellow being, whether man, animal, plant or flower, and will see in all this what God sees: Works of His Love. Consequently this soul feels an ever increasing Love to each fellow creature. Satan knows all this, and has therefore let no stone unturned to close up as many human hearts as possible. To the extent man lives from the rational mind, he will measure the value of every element in his surroundings only by the extent to which it is able to satisfy his material needs. In such a rational frame of mind there is no longer room for Love, because Love does not yield any money nor any property, and as soon as also living beings are associated with money and property, Love is sentenced to death regarding these creatures as well. This is why, for instance, a true Love to the animals is not readily compatible with breeding them for the purpose of slaughtering or selling them, or destining them for a life as competitors in races or any kind of sports.

In Her revelation of June 11, 2007, the Mistress of all souls pointed out how tremendously important a spotless harmony between human souls and animals is, as well as the flow of Love between them, and in this respect She observed that the world is populated with billions of animals and that the paths of many millions of human souls are crossed by domestic animals. Between human souls and domestic animals alone, many billions of contacts take place daily in this world. It makes a considerable difference for the state of grace of mankind as a whole how much Love flows, or does not flow, during these countless encounters. On August 13, 2007, the Queen of Heaven spoke words which were so noteworthy I just ought to repeat them literally:

"Tell the souls that each act and each word of sincere Love towards an animal contributes to the restoration of creation which is so severely disrupted, and that also Love towards the animals brings the establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth forward, because in it God finds back the original harmony He once provided creation with and that was lost when the original sin was committed".

It is indeed remarkable that mankind, which in the course of the most recent centuries expanded its knowledge of science and technology to such a great extent, has in spite of – or rather because of – this increasing knowledge, gained so little heartfelt understanding of the very essence and the immense importance and immeasurable value of Love.

It is therefore no coincidence that the Queen of Heaven should teach the Science of Divine Life in this age of all ages. The Science of Divine Life basically teaches the souls how to deal with Divine Love and to make it perfectly fruitful for their own Salvation and for the accomplishment of Divine Works.

The soul that closes her heart to her fellow creatures (fellow persons and animals), soon forgets that these fellow creatures, just like her, possess certain forms of sensation as well as a need for Love. If the soul treats her fellow creatures without Love or without any respect, she is in serious violation of God’s Basic Law, which provides for every living being to need Love as nourishment to be able to play its part within God’s Plan of Salvation, and therefore for each soul to be under the obligation to take up the flow of Love received from God, to process it within herself and to have it flow unhampered towards all her fellow creatures.

Love has got many faces. To phrase it otherwise: Love expresses itself through numerous different channels. So far the Mistress of all souls has repeatedly compared the whole of all virtues with a tree, of which Love is the trunk and all other virtues the branches. This image concretely means that all virtues are nourished from Love, that they are all connected with Love and even spring from it. If we then consider the Heavenly recommendation saying the human soul is to treat the animals on her path on a basis of true Love, this means the human soul can and should exercise all virtues when dealing with any animal. Thus the way God wishes man to treat the animals implies exercising virtues like helpfulness, care, gentleness, patience, tolerance, respect, etc.

Each animal has got its own mission to accomplish within God’s Great Plan. If a human soul cares for an animal, wraps it in Love, offers it food and shelter, she contributes to a new equilibrium within creation which has been so seriously disrupted, because this way of dealing with one’s fellow creatures enables the soul to allow true Love to flow smoothly. Mary emphatically points out that every human soul is under the obligation to represent God’s Love, not only towards her fellow person but towards the animals as well.

It is part of the main tasks of each soul to help her fellow creature (man and animal alike) satisfy its needs. In God’s eyes it is a great thing if a soul helps her fellow person, even in the small things. Just as great, if not even greater, it is to Him if a human soul practises self denial in order that an animal may be better off. The reason for this not only lies in the fact this animal is thereby enabled to fulfil its mission in life, but also in the fact a human soul caring for an animal testifies to a Love which bears even more self denial that caring for a fellow person:

• Towards a fellow person there may also exist a concern about other people’s perception of one’s behaviour (one does something specific, or refrains from doing it, in order to avoid certain reactions, comments or negative thoughts in one’s fellow person), or one may do one’s fellow person a good turn out of selfish motives, hoping the latter might perhaps do something in return, etcetera.

• Towards an animal, however, there can be no fear for negative comments, loss of face, or the expectation to get something substantial back. So if one does something good to an animal, the odds are that one does it out of unselfish Love.

The human soul should be interested in every fellow creature’s needs. If she observes her fellow creature – man or animal – in a 'sound' way (i.e. without any sickly curiosity as to worldly things) she may learn to see how the latter’s behaviour points towards certain needs, which the soul can then try to meet. Being interested in a fellow creature’s needs, means for instance: bearing in mind that in Winter animals outdoors need additional food, that animals in any kind of weather need fresh water, but also that animals do not live by food and water alone, but that they also need Love at all times. So very often people believe their domestic animal wants for nothing if its feeding dish is full, while the animal does, however, want for the most important thing: Love, attention, and the feeling its presence is being appreciated and that it can fully partake in the life of the soul to whom it has been entrusted.

The soul that makes the satisfaction of her own needs the main objective of her life and actions, is easily inclined to regard her fellow creatures as competitors or as objects which only serve the purpose of enriching the soul materially or satisfying her needs. This soul turns insensible or loveless. Alas all over the world this attitude towards animals is very common practice. This becomes apparent, among others, in the global blossom of industries in which animals are treated as commodities for the food chain, the clothing industry, in the field of sports and for many other purposes. In this world animals are, on a large scale, merely regarded as sources of food and income.

4.4. The relationship between man and the animal

God intended His Creation to be an integrated system, i.e.: an organized whole, within which all elements are interconnected, and within which the collaboration among all parts determines how efficient the whole is functioning. 'How efficient the whole is functioning', is understood to mean 'to what extent the whole will be able to actually accomplish the ultimate purpose for which it was created'. In the animal and vegetable world everything by nature follows the directives given to it by Divine Intelligence, which is integrated in each living being. This means that, as such, animals and plants by nature automatically live according to God’s Plan. Countless deviations as to growth, patterns of behaviour etc., are ultimately attributable to human intervention:

• either direct intervention: Let us consider – to list but some of the main factors – deforestation, environmental pollution with all its consequences, genetic manipulation, random hunting and fishing, animal breeding for commercial purposes, extinction of entire animal species, large-scale urbanization and industrialization, etc.;

• or indirect intervention: It is not a very well-known fact, or it is at the very least seldom taken into account, that all deviations as to growth, bloom, development, alterations of species etc., which become apparent in the vegetable and animal world, do indeed follow certain patterns and take place in a number of stages that can be recognized from biological and physical perspectives, but that their very first roots, their root causes, are of a spiritual nature. So far the Queen of Heaven had me demonstrate this in several writings, and she emphasizes it once again on this occasion.

In all these causes God’s Intelligence is side-tracked through human intervention. Ever since the original sin was committed God’s laws have hardly been given the opportunity to actually take effect in nature in an immaculate way. As long as the human soul accepts the fullness of God’s Love, the soul herself will function as a spotless mirror of this Love towards all of creation. This Divine Love, and therefore Divine Life, will then flow through creation uninhibitedly, and all creatures are nourished with the strength of true Love. As long as this strength remains the steering force within each creature and between all creatures in all directions, each and every organism strictly lives in accordance with Divine Intelligence and Wisdom, and all contacts and relationships between creatures are brought about strictly in accordance with this Intelligence and Wisdom. Because of the original sin, however, the human soul lost its faculty of spontaneously maintaining the flow of true Love. The processes of growth, blossoming and development in and between all living beings have sustained damage on this account, as the living beings have no longer been able to assimilate the fullness of Divine Life. This is why deviations in all and any processes of life got the opportunity to develop. The most various deviations as well as diseases were thereby brought into being. That which the theory of evolution in biology is trying to have us consider to be a 'natural development' is in reality the effect of sin. If the living beings had got the opportunity to keep living strictly according to God’s Intelligence, nature would not have witnessed any 'evolution', for God’s Intelligence is perfect and not time-bound. Therefore God had not planned for any changes within any process within and between living beings. The human soul’s free will, more specifically the latter being used in wrong ways in that the soul opts in favour of sin and to the detriment of God’s Love, has brought these changes to life. In the meantime we know that God will and does not violate the human soul’s free will.

Animals and plants do not of their own accord violate God’s Law, only man is responsible for these violations. These violations against God’s Law are nothing but sins. Let me quote the Queen of Heaven as to the definition of 'sin' She once gave me:

"A sin is every act, every word, every thought, every wish or every omission through which a soul counteracts God’s Plan with creation, upsets the balance and interferes with the proper functions within creation. God organized His creation endowing it with a very specific harmony, which is ruled by the Divine Law of Love. Every deviation from the Law of Love is called sin, for every sin is a specific form of violation against Love".

This definition shows unambiguously that it is a fallacy to believe that a soul can only commit sins within the framework of her behaviour towards her fellow man. Every act upsetting things and harmony within God’s creation and counteracting God’s Plan with creation is a sin, for such an act is a violation of Love. This means concretely that a soul that fails to treat an animal or even nature according to God’s intentions and to the Law of His Love, is living in a state of sin. The Mistress of all souls has this thesis advanced very emphatically, because it very much broadens the perspective on the phenomenon of sin when compared to the perspective applied by most souls.

God intended creation to be an integrated system. I have had to demonstrate that the human soul is fully responsible for every unbalance within this system. The souls have upset the balance within this system in countless ways. The principal paths along which these causes of unbalance have had their effects, are:

• the original sin: this unique violation through which the first human souls broke God’s Law of Love and the covenant of their obedience towards His Plans and Works. Ever since, the human soul has no longer been able to 'automatically' represent creation towards God, i.e. to be a mirror of His Love and to let His Love flow to her fellow creatures unimpededly;

• the 'venial sins': In earlier writings I have had to point out repeatedly to what great extent the sins of mankind influence nature’s 'behaviour'. This is owing to the fact that through each sin a small channel within the flow of Love, which flows through creation, is cut off or temporarily rendered ineffective.

• indirect interference of man with the 'natural course of things' in nature. I repeat my list – which is, of course, inexhaustive: deforestation, environmental pollution with all its consequences, genetic manipulation, random hunting and fishing, animal breeding for commercial purposes, extinction of entire animal species, large-scale urbanization and industrialization, etc.

I have had to point out repeatedly that also animals’ behaviour among each other (aggression, rapacity, etc...) is not what God has provided for them as a natural pattern of behaviour, but that also these patterns of behaviour and reaction are due to the countless cases in which human souls have been violating God’s Law and keep doing so every day. Only the human souls – so not God, and not the animals – are responsible for every deviation from the Law of Love that can be observed in nature, including all aggression and rapacity in the animal world.

With the human soul resides the obligation to restore the harmony within creation. This will only be possible to the extent to which a larger number of souls is making efforts to lead increasingly holy lives. I remind you of the fact 'sanctity' essentially means: 'the soul’s living in a state enabling her to bring Salvation upon creation through her entire behaviour, all of her words, thoughts, feelings, wishes and aspirations'. The importance of loving relationships between every human soul and all animals could never be overemphasized.

God decided there would be animal species that would be very well suited to share their lives with human souls. These animal species were provided with patterns of behaviour through which they were enabled to contribute to the development of virtues within the human souls with whom they would come into contact or with whom they were going to share their little lives.

God has created innumerable animal species. Even today man does not know every single one of these species yet. A couple of millions of species have been officially registered so far. However, a couple of thousands of 'new' animal species are being discovered each year. Let us then keep in mind that everything God has created, has got a well-defined role to play within the whole. That is why the human soul, who – we should never forget this – was intended by God to be His 'representative' towards creation, should be geared to two basic rules when dealing with animals:

        1. Every single human soul is considered to be a representative of God towards the animals. This means that, in dealing with every animal, the human soul is to actually make all-out efforts to try and live God’s properties: unconditional Love, indulgence, tolerance, patience, gentleness, caring, understanding, and essentially all virtues. In so doing, it is important to point out that every lack of understanding as to an animal’s specific and individual nature blocks the flow of Love between creatures, or at least impedes it to some extent. The soul that is able to empathize with a fellow person or with an animal, learns to observe this fellow creature’s environment through the latter’s eyes, so to speak, thus understanding much better why this creature behaves the way it does. It is important man should constantly bear in mind this animal is behaving the way it does for two reasons, which constitute the most important factors influencing each other in both ways:

• because God Himself has provided it with its specific pattern of behaviour: He has endowed every single animal species with its own pattern of behaviour, and even foresaw endless strict individual variations within each single species;

• because these patterns provided for by nature have been influenced by the most various factors of direct and indirect human intervention (see earlier in this point).

        2. God remains Master of His creation. The human soul is merely a custodian. I remind you of the image I have already availed myself of, depicting creation as a park or a wildlife preserve, in which God is the Owner, and the human soul the ranger, who is to see to it that all is kept in perfect order, and that the maintenance of the park is secured under the best possible circumstances (in this context this would mean: perfectly in harmony with God’s Laws). In principle the human soul does not own the animals, she is merely allowed to make use of them, strictly the way God wants her to, meaning: with a view to accomplishing His Plan of Salvation. In concrete terms this means the human soul is not allowed to dispose of the life of any living being, and is not allowed either to inflict suffering or damage in any form whatsoever upon this creature, but that quite on the contrary every living being within creation should under any circumstances and at all times be able to feel God’s Presence. This is only possible in an atmosphere of sincere Love. With the human soul resides the obligation to create such an atmosphere through a heart which beats in perfect accordance with the rhythm of God’s Heart.

In every case in which a human soul kills an animal, God is the only Judge of the frame of mind from which this act is committed. In every case in which a human soul inflicts suffering upon an animal, the soul is also judged by God, who measures each soul’s contribution to the accomplishment of His Works according to the extent of the Love this soul has felt or displayed, or not felt or displayed, or even denied, with every act, every word, every feeling and every thought. There are circumstances under which God is not going to sentence a human soul very severely because of the killing of an animal. The Mother of God gave me the following example:

If a human soul is crossing the savanna or the rain forest and is threatened by a snake, and there is no way out, God is not going to judge it as being a sin if the soul kills this animal. Important is the state of mind: If the snake is killed merely in self-defence, this will be readily forgiven. If the snake is killed by the soul harbouring the attitude of the 'wild animal hunter', the act will be soiled through impurity of the heart (which is a vice). I could explain the situation as follows: As long as the snake’s behaviour does not justify the assumption that it is planning an attack on the human, the latter – if he or she really wants to be clean before God – should not kill it just for the sake of killing it, nor should he or she defy the animal in such a way the latter may eventually attack anyway. In every one of these cases God is going to judge the human soul according to the state her heart is in during the encounter. Mary also points out that the fact a soul is attacked by an animal, does not in itself constitute a decisive reason for killing the animal. In order for killing to be condoned at all, there must be a state of emergency, and the animal involved must be dangerous and/or its behaviour unpredictable.

Let us bear in mind with all this, that the human soul was endowed with the knowledge of the Divine Law of Love. In order to maintain this knowledge in an 'accessible' or 'active' state, it is necessary the soul should preserve her purity. Purity means: to act, think, speak, feel and wish the way God expects from every soul, and therefore to avoid everything that defiles the soul and keeps her from sanctifying herself. All this means that every soul is faced with the challenge of the necessity to aspire for the greatest possible purity in order to be able at all times to distinguish between that which pleases God and that which does not, and that she should keep longing to spread nothing but Love around. Only in this state of heart will the human soul really represent God in all contact and every encounter with her fellow creatures.

The human soul should, as regards the animals, constantly aspire for the accomplishment of the ideal situation in which she is a mirror of God’s Presence, so much so that the animals, when in the human’s vicinity, actually feel as if God Himself were present. Concretely one should imagine there being a behaviour and an attitude strongly characterized by the following elements:

The components constituting the mirror of God’s Presence: unconditional Love caring – taking an interest in one’s fellow creature’s actual needs, combined with solicitude gentleness, tenderness patience tolerance warmth – providing feelings of secureness Light – enveloping the fellow creature in an all-embracing positive atmosphere of life willingness to help sensitivity and tact taking away any anxiety, fear and restlessness furthering the fellow creature’s zest for life providing encouragement, hope and comfort being a healing balm for the heart understanding and respect for the fellow creature and its individual characteristics protecting the fellow creature’s dignity

These components are also the components of true Love, for God = true Love. I will elaborate on this outline a bit further down this text.

Man and animal unconsciously perceive the presence of God’s Love very distinctly if a soul is dealing with them or encounters them, in whom the aforementioned components are fully active.

God created the animals out of Love for the human soul, so that man might rejoice in the animals and so that the animals as creatures of a different nature might be sources of teaching in all virtues to man. Through his dealing with animals the soul may bring the aforementioned components to very high degrees of perfection within themselves. The Holy Virgin says so quite unequivocally. This also means that any soul treating animals in an unloving way will have to account for this behaviour in the Face of the Divine Judge, as God had intended her to be a custodian of creation, including the animals. Let us understand this very clearly: Animals are brought onto our path because Divine Providence wants to guide us through a process of sanctification, thereby availing Itself of the animals as well. In that the human soul often has to cross much more difficult barriers before she is able to fully devote herself to the needs of animals than before she is able to devote herself to her fellow person, a soul’s behaviour towards animals is, to God, often the best means of measuring the extent to which the soul’s faculty to love is developed.

The human soul’s responsibility for all that is going wrong in creation, including the animal world, extends very far. Let us merely consider the following things, bearing in mind the fact this list is far from exhaustive:

• on account of human sin many animals are aggressive. This is both due to the impact of sins from all mankind of all times on the behaviour of many wild animals, and to the impact of the unloving attitude of many individual souls towards their domestic animals. Every lack of Love awakens the darkness. A living being that is treated in an unloving way is thereby gradually – sometimes even quite suddenly – rendered ineffective as to the accomplishment of the goal in life God has given it;

• on account of human sin the phenomenon of rapacity has come about among animals in nature. Science regards this as 'instinct'. This, however, only explains a small part of it: The Queen of Heaven points out that an unsuspected part of the behaviour of animals has been changing throughout the centuries because of the devastating impact of the original sin and the terrible burden of sins accumulated by all mankind;

• on account of human sin the relationship between man and the animals has been so greatly upset that many animals have no longer got confidence in man, that they take to flight as soon as a human being approaches, etc. If we think for one minute of the fact the human soul was intended to be the custodian of God’s creation, the representative of His Presence and His Works in favour of all creatures, establishing this fact is a disgrace to mankind: No single living being has been programmed by God so as to take to flight in the presence of True Love;

• on account of human sin many animal species only or mainly eat meat. Originally the consumption of meat was not foreseen as a feature characterizing any creature. God has provided every creature with a body as a vehicle by means of which the vital principle – for man this is the soul in the narrow sense of the word – was to be enabled to move about through creation. He never intended any creature’s body to be eaten by any other creature. In this respect I refer to the letter of reply nr. 435, in which the spiritual motivations speaking against the consumption of meat were expounded.

It should be getting clear from the explanation presented so far that the relationship between man and the animals is extremely important for Heaven, and that the relationships between man and the animals is much more important for the development of God’s Plan of Salvation than most people are inclined to believe. The prophet Isaiah already wrote about the messianic era, in which the perfect harmony within the whole of creation will be restored. This harmony existed until the original sin was committed. There is only one way back to a perfect harmony between all creatures: the way towards a perfect bloom of true Love in every human soul. Basically this blossoming is exactly what is at stake in the struggle between Light and darkness. The force behind the original sin as well as behind all sins committed further down the line is Satan. It is he who, through all his works, endeavours to undermine Love. This is why the struggle against the darkness is essentially a struggle for the perfection of Love in as many souls as possible.

Mary calls mankind to a perfectly new, unconditional and very loving behaviour towards the animals, and She keeps emphasizing how thoroughly the atmosphere of living on earth would change for the better if the human souls were indeed to represent God towards the animals the way He actually is. No human soul is able to be a spotless mirror of God while living on earth, but nevertheless every soul is given the opportunity to accomplish a high degree of bloom in True Love. Exactly for us to be able to achieve this, the Secrets of total consecration to Mary, Mistress of all souls are entrusted to us. It is therefore of paramount importance that the souls should become channels of pure Love.

It is really high time for mankind to spend some serious consideration as to the question what damage it is causing to the effects of Divine Love by treating the animals the way it is currently doing (in the commercial field, but also very often in the field of private life). Love is the fuel of True Life. The soul that holds this fuel in contempt or denies it in its own behaviour, will never be able to justify this attitude before God. Everything that is created by God is a bearer of elements of His Love. In many creatures these elements are paralyzed, rendered ineffective, crushed in the most various ways, or plainly killed. Woe betide the soul that tries to maim Works of God. So it says in God’s Law.

Chapter 5

Spiritual evaluation of the suffering inflicted on animals

5.1. The comprehensive consciousness of God and the Mother of God

Let us now look from an angle that should enable us to better understand God’s point of view regarding the treatment of animals: God expects and wants every human soul, whenever the latter approaches animals, to represent His Love, His Presence and His Works. This means the human soul is to treat an animal in such a way the latter, when in the vicinity of the soul, gets the feeling as if God Himself were present. God wishes every human soul to regard the animals as bearers of feelings, as property of God, and as full-fledged channels through which God continues His Works modelling the soul. This is why in God’s eyes it is a sin, in certain cases even a big sin, if a human soul fails to treat an animal the way He Himself would, if she deprives an animal of its dignity, fails to treat it with unconditional Love, and does not honour it for what it actually is: a gift from God and a tool operated by Him.

It is very important for us to constantly bear in mind that every animal has got a specific role to play within creation, that therefore every animal is important to God, and that every lack of Love on the part of a human soul towards an animal alters in some specific spot within the network of creation the flow of Love, and therefore also the flow of Divine Life through creation. If we consider all this we may begin to realize how it is that Jesus and Mary are able to perceive unrestrictedly all Love, but also all suffering going on within creation as a whole. All suffering that human souls cause both each other and the animals indeed constitutes the suffering Jesus and Mary will be bearing until the end of times.

Jesus and Mary constantly bear within Themselves the entirety of emotional and physical feelings and sensations of every single creature. Let us look at the main reasons why this is the case:

        1. If this were not the case, God would not be able to establish at any given point of time the exact state of grace every single soul is in. Indeed, to make an assessment as to the exact state of grace an individual soul is in, it is important for God to be able:

• to feel even the slightest detail of that which a human being is undergoing physically, mentally, emotionally and morally: if not, it would be impossible to determine the redeeming value of every man’s sufferings and trials, and the soul would be able to deceive God by feigning suffering. In such a case God would even allow the development of His Plan of Salvation to depend on any hypocrisy on the part of human souls;

• to perceive every single detail of everything done unto a fellow man or an animal.

This phenomenon can be referred to as the comprehensive consciousness of God.

        2. Jesus and Mary are going to remain fully integrated into the 'cycle' of Redemption until the end of times. They could never be part of this system if They were not fully able to partake unrestrainedly in the effects of mutual relationships between all creatures, or if They were not able to feel these effects in such a way as if they originated within Themselves.

This is what makes it possible to understand the true, deep meaning of the words saying that Jesus will keep carrying His Cross until the end of time, and that Mary will continue weeping over mankind until the end of time.

To express it even more accurately: Jesus and Mary can feel every pain, every heartache, every physical and mental fatigue, every illness, the effects of all and any trials on any human body, any human heart, any human mind and any human soul, because with a view to the final accomplishment of Redemption They are totally and perfectly linked with every living being.

Through a Divine Mystery Jesus and Mary are able to feel within Themselves every physical, mental, emotional and spiritual sensation of each and every living being simultaneously. This also means that They do not only feel everything that is going on in all human beings, but also everything that is going on in all animals. This confirms the perfect nature of the Divine faculty of judging every human soul in an infallible way. Indeed, the whole of the merits, the sanctity, the mistakes and the imperfections of every single soul is also determined by the way in which this soul deals with the animals she encounters on the path of her life. Most souls do not know, or do not take into account, how important their dealings with the animals on their path are to God.

I already pointed out that every living being – man and animal – bears God’s signature within itself. Everything comes from God. Every creature is a marvel of His Love. Therefore every failure to recognize the dignity of a fellow creature – man or animal – is tantamount to a lack of respect and regard for the Source of Love and Himself. The soul that inflicts suffering upon a fellow person or an animal, inflicts suffering upon God. Beating a fellow man, means beating God. This holds true just as much if the victim is an animal as it does if the victim is a human being.

Whoever treats his fellow creature – human being or animal, it does not matter – with softness and tenderness, clothes this creature in wool, so to speak. Whoever treats his fellow creature in an insensitive and rude way, drives a nail into this creature’s heart, another nail into God’s Heart, and a third nail into his own heart, for that which one does unto one’s fellow creature (no matter whether it is something good or bad), one is doing unto God as well, and (because the Creator and all creatures are interconnected) ultimately unto oneself. It is impossible to overemphasize it: Man never performs any act just for himself alone, he never speaks any word just for himself, he does not harbour any thoughts nor any feelings just for himself. Everything has got repercussions on creation as a whole, on the development of God’s Plan of Salvation, and on the state of grace of mankind as a whole, and brings about a boomerang effect: it returns to its source. The soul that sows Love, will reap Love. The soul that sows darkness and suffering will reap darkness and suffering, all of this in some cases while still living on earth, without fail however after this life, when being judged by God.

5.2. Evil inspired approaches to animals

I have already quite extensively referred to the main motives God had for creating the animals, as well as to the spiritual significance of the animals’ presence within creation. So God’s Law is not the only thing telling a soul to treat animals in a loving way: moreover a loving approach to the animals is imprinted upon every soul by nature. Nevertheless many animals suffer through the hands of man. To God this is a regular abomination: Animals as gifts of His Love, are being despised. The Mistress of all souls points out very emphatically that, on God, any unloving way of treating animals has got the effect as though a gift of His Love were contemptuously thrown back into His Face. The human souls usually do not realize that every instance of treating an animal badly is, in effect, actually tantamount to treating God Himself badly, in that in a badly treated animal a Work of God is being abused, and on account of His comprehensive consciousness (see point 5.1) God is able to feel positively anything felt and suffered by every single creature.

The way a soul treats animals shows God to what extent the faculty of loving is developed within this soul. We must always keep sight of the fact that, after this earthly life, the human soul is judged on the basis of the true LOVE she has spread! This not only applies to the Love towards God and towards one’s fellow man, but also to the Love towards the animals.

In many earlier writings I have had to point to the fact Satan has set his sights on mutilating God’s Works and rendering them ineffective. As the entire system of creation is based on the flow of Love, he executes his works of destruction preferably by inspiring the souls to deviating from Love in the most various ways. That is why every sin is a deviation from Love: no matter what virtue is offended against, eventually each violation is tantamount to a violation of Love, for all virtues are branches on the trunk of the tree called 'Love'. Thus Satan inspires mankind to millions of loveless acts towards animals every day. Concretely this would mean that the burden of sins weighing upon all of mankind is growing considerably from day to day even if we only focus on the violations committed against Love towards the animals.

The inspiring force behind any unloving treatment of animals is therefore, just like with any vice and any sin, Satan. One might ask oneself, what the devil has got to win by making animals suffer through the hand of man, if we keep in mind that he is not interested in the animals as such? After all he is only interested in human souls. Against the background of everything explained so far in this book, it may not be very hard to guess the answer: Through his behaviour towards the animals man can very often sin without being aware of the fact he is actually sinning, going on the assumption he is 'only dealing with an animal'. Let us also never forget that, within the network of creation, every animal constitutes a junction through which the stream of God’s Love must continue flowing.

Any loveless element in a human being’s behaviour towards an animal disrupts a small junction within this network of Love. What are the consequences of such an act?

• it promotes the plans and works of the darkness

• it blocks the Works of the Light at a multitude of junctions simultaneously

• it brings about large-scale disruptions in the relationships between God’s creatures.

Every disruption in the flow of God’s Love between the creatures brings Satan closer to the accomplishment of his ultimate goal (devastating the foundations of God’s Kingdom on earth and bringing about the fall of human souls) and postpones the accomplishment of God’s ultimate goal (the establishment of His Kingdom of Peace on earth). Every unloving act performed by a human soul towards an animal calls down new misery upon the world.

What is the value of animal suffering? As such animal suffering has not got any redeeming value, because as such, the animals are not at stake in the accomplishment of God’s Plan of Salvation, but... the animals are brought upon man’s path in life in order that, during her dealings with them, the human soul may learn all kinds of things that are intended to help her to reach perfection, to fully develop as a soul. I remind you of the components constituting the mirror of God’s Presence listed in point 4.4. As God has given every human soul the mission to become a mirror of His Presence towards all of creation, every soul should try, also when dealing with animals, to bring every one of the components of this mirror to full development within herself. The suffering of animals is, as such, totally useless, as long as it is not consecrated by human souls. The Queen of Heaven emphatically requests that all animal suffering be consecrated to Her by as many human souls as possible. If this is not done, this suffering only brings darkness upon the world. If it is consecrated (brought before and offered to the Holy Virgin) this darkness is to some degree compensated for, and graces can be released, which may bring conversion to souls that are guilty of causing suffering to animals.

5.3. Categories of evil inspired approaches to animals

The human soul can approach an animal in many different ways. Many of these are bearers of imperfections, many of which can at least be classed as vices, others as sins. For the sake of completeness I remind you of the definition the Mistress of all souls once gave with respect to vice and sin:

Vice = every attitude or act decreasing the soul’s fruitfulness within the framework of God’s Works and His Plan of Salvation.

Sin = every act, every word, every thought, every wish or every omission by or through which the soul counteracts God’s Plan with creation and distorts the harmony and obstructs smooth functioning within creation. God has organized His creation on the basis of a specific harmony, which is controlled by the Divine Law of Love. Every violation against the Law of Love is referred to as a sin. A soul commits a sin whenever she gives in to any dark inspiration by which she is incited to violate God’s Law.

In the first two of the following categories we are dealing with actual sins committed directly to the detriment of specific animals:

        5.3.1. Maltreatment in the true sense of the word

Maltreatment, or abuse, is known under various forms: Aggression, torture, physical and mental cruelty, etc. It is not my intention to list concrete examples in this book, as the Mistress of all souls once brought forward the thesis that detailed enumerations of works of darkness can be tantamount to a glorification of such works.

The Mistress of all souls defines maltreatment as "any behaviour or any effect brought forth by such behaviour on the part of a human soul regarding a fellow creature, which is in violation of the Law of Love and to which one or several of the following elements apply: the fellow creature’s being is used for a purpose God has not intended it for; the fellow creature’s being is treated in a way meant to cause suffering, or of which the human soul should know it is likely to provoke suffering; physical, mental, emotional or spiritual harm is caused to the fellow creature, or the behaviour can cause such harm; the fellow creature is affected in its dignity as a creature of God; the fellow creature is prevented from fulfilling the part God has foreseen for it within the framework of the great Plan governing His Creation".

Satan inspires human souls to abuse animals as well as fellow people with the purpose of:

• violating the Law of Love, in order that God’s Works be undermined and the establishment of His Kingdom on earth be postponed;

• having the guilty soul cause damage to her own state of grace;

• shocking the abused creature as to its faith in true Love;

• preventing that the abused creature would be able to continue fulfilling the task for which it is in the world, in an unhampered way and/or in a pure state of mind.

Let us analyze the definition of maltreatment, so as to be able to find out how deeply this phenomenon affects the creature:

• Behaviour or effect brought forth by such behaviour: 'Effect brought forth by such behaviour' refers to those cases in which the sinful behaviour can also provoke its effects without the human soul being physically present with the fellow creature. A little example: Devices exist, through which an animal, for example a dog, is forced to remain physically nearly motionless, in that the animal is subjected to a small electric shock with any movement it attempts to make. Another example is poaching, where cruel suffering is caused to animals through the use of devices in which these animals are caught without there being any necessity for a human soul to be present at the moment when it happens.

• Behaviour in violation of God’s Law of Love: We can regard God’s Law of Love as being embodied by the whole of the elements constituting the mirror of God’s Presence, as they are listed in paragraph 4.4. In abuse none of these elements can be found, because in abuse Satan fully unfolds his works of darkness. I will be dealing with this more at length a bit further.

• A purpose God has not intended the fellow creature for: We can think first and foremost of situations in which animals are being driven to exhaustion to satisfy some human needs. Animals may be deployed, to be sure, in ways allowed by God as auxiliaries in the accomplishment of certain chores, albeit on the strict proviso that they are treated by humans in such a way that the so-called elements constituting the mirror of God’s Presence are observed, and by no means according to a regime driving them to physical exhaustion.

• Treatment in such a way that suffering is intentionally provoked: Here we are entering the field of pure sadism, with torture, physical and/or mental cruelty. In so doing the human soul subjects the fellow creature to acts inspired by evil, so that they are in full violation of any concept of Love, and are geared to undermining and even destroying the victim’s body, mind or soul, or disrupting its emotional balance. Effects are intended, which are bearers of any of the following components: suffering, pain, fear, a complete annihilation of the creature’s specific personality, an extinction of the Light in said creature and the destruction of its faith in Love from God or from its fellow creatures, as well as in God’s existence, His Presence or His Actions. Here Satan inspires acts exploiting the knowledge about any weaknesses of the living being in the physical and/or mental field, with a view to undermining its very nature, separating it from God and destroying it. In certain cases the human soul has not even got clear-cut purposes, and merely acts going on some urge she is unable to control and which drives her towards venting herself on a fellow creature. Often there is an unconscious tendency to compensate this feeling of dissatisfaction:

  • by the opportunity to see a fellow creature being deprived of all happiness and inner peace. One might phrase it this way, that the abusing soul starts from the thesis: 'if things are not good for me, I will see to it they are even worse for you'. Thus the abusing soul seems to be wanting to (wittingly or unwittingly) elevate herself under all and any circumstances above her victim, as though she wanted to turn into some kind of almighty God, yet applying herself to make use of all means of evil in the process and letting herself be inspired by evil alone;

  • by enjoying the feeling this fellow creature can be manipulated unrestrainedly.

The Mistress of all souls points out that, either permanently or during the phase of temptation inducing her behaviour, the abusing soul feels so completely separated from God that she herself assumes the part of the punishing God towards her victim. In reality, during the abuse she acts like a perfect tool of Satan, accomplishing nothing but his plan aiming at destroying Love and putting God to shame. It is as though the abusing soul were building a world of her own, after her own 'justice', in which she herself is the almighty God. She behaves this way in an attempt to freely compensate her frustrations, her dissatisfaction and her disappointments as to the way her life has been developing, and to do so through the sight of a living being she is able to control and that falls under her 'justice', and in which she not seldom wants to strike God Himself. After all, in her opinion God is the One who 'has been doing her such a great deal of injustice'.

• Act of which the human soul should know it is likely to provoke suffering in the fellow creature: Even if the fellow creature should not experience any actual suffering during the act it is being subjected to, the abusing soul is nevertheless regarded by God as a soul having caused suffering, because the intention to provoke suffering was present. The Mistress of all souls pointed out earlier that God focuses on the soul’s state of heart and on her intentions, whether good or evil.

• Physical, mental, emotional or spiritual harm is caused to the fellow creature, or the behaviour can cause such harm: Abuse is characterized by the fact the act provokes harm or damage to parts of the body, impairs or destroys physical functions, causes a mental or emotional imbalance in the fellow creature, and often undermines the latter in the very core of its being (in the soul if the victim is a human, in the vital principle if it is an animal). There is abuse as soon as the intention is there to harm the fellow creature in its being, beit in the physical or the non physical part of it.

• The fellow creature is affected in its dignity as a creature of God: Abuse humiliates the fellow creature, and in certain cases humiliation is even consciously aimed at. I remind you of the fact that humiliation has always been one of the top motives in Satan’s strategy. From the outset he had the intention of exterminating God’s signature in all creatures and making it impossible to recognize the latter in their capacity as Works of God’s Love. This is exactly why he keeps tempting human souls into sinning – because sin distorts the soul – and why he keeps trying to tempt human souls into abusing animals, in order that the souls should thereby commit sins, animals should suffer, and the flow of Love should be interrupted. How could Satan do any better job of undermining God’s Works than by poisoning creatures against each other, so that they deprive one another of all Love and all zest for life? This diabolical plan of destruction is but rarely recognized by mankind.

• the fellow creature is prevented from fulfilling the part God has foreseen for it within the framework of the great Plan directing His Creation: Abuse can thoroughly change a creature’s life. Not only the creature’s body is often used in a way the creature is unable to cope with and the latter is often mentally distorted and morally discouraged, so that its entire personality can be changed, usually abuse also leaves behind traces affecting the creature in the very core of its being: very often the creature experiences a steadily decreasing ability to love, to assimilate Love, to accept Love, and to believe in true sincere Love. In a manner of speaking the creature is gradually extinguished – in some cases this even happens very suddenly – as a point of Light and a junction in the flow of God’s Love.
  

  Every abuse of a creature by a human soul results in the flow of Love sent by God through creation being blocked at some point. The abusing soul herself is, either briefly and temporarily or for a longer period of time, trapped in darkness, and extinguishes through her actions the Light and fire in the abused creature, so much so that a track of darkness is born where God had meant for a track of Light to be maintained. In that the fellow creature usually reacts to this situation by feelings covered in darkness, and is in its turn ever less able to spread Light and Love around, in many cases the flow of Love will soon be blocked in a multitude of respects. This is how Satan constructs his chain of darkness.

We can ask ourselves the question: What brings a human being to abusing (maltreating) a fellow creature? As I mentioned earlier: Generally speaking, the cause of such behaviour is dissatisfaction, feelings of inferiority, hatred, and a general impurity of heart. A soul that truly loves and truly believes in God and in the reality of His accomplishing His Works of Salvation through the trials of life, will not tend to resort to any abuse. A soul that is firmly rooted in worldly thinking, will sooner or later get disappointed in the things of the world, and may react by displaying certain forms of aggression, sadistic tendencies, a certain destructiveness. A soul that firmly believes in God and in whom Love is truly accepted and 'processed', does not take her negative feelings out on her fellow creatures, and is driven by the will to spread Love: She is then, so to speak, living by the very heartbeat of God Himself, who does not destroy and does not torment, but loves and cares.

The abusing soul appears to have lost all awareness as to the fact her fellow creatures are living beings that, just like herself, are to accomplish their mission in life through the trials of everyday life, or – which is even worse, and points to the abusing soul being even more blind – this is completely immaterial to her. The latter situation indicates the soul’s being spiritually dead or seriously ill. Indeed, in so doing she deals with her fellow creature as though the latter were a mere object devoid of any feelings.

In order to better grasp the nature of the sin being committed in every act of abuse, and to better recognize Satan’s signature in it, I must take you back to the components constituting the mirror of God’s Presence, which can also be referred to as components of true Love, and this time make a comparison between them and their counterparts:

components constituting the mirror of God’s Presence	components of Satan’s presence
unconditional Love everything the soul does and aims at, has as its sole purpose the advancement of God’s Works and the well-being of her fellow creatures	lack of Love everything the soul does and aims at, has as its sole purpose the undermining of God’s Works, taking all happiness away from the fellow creature and cutting the latter loose from its faith in God’s Love
care – interest in the fellow creature’s real needs, in combination with solicitude the soul is interested in her fellow creature for the sole purpose of learning how to serve the latter best. She wants to find out how the fellow creature 'ticks' and what its weaknesses are, with the purpose of lifting it up and helping it blossom.	abusing the fellow creature’s needs as weaknesses making the creature vulnerable the soul tends to look for the fellow creature’s weaknesses with the purpose of being able to hurt it as deeply as possible, to render it fully ineffective or to break it on every level. This is, among other things, what the whole concept of torture and the treatment of prisoners in totalitarian regimes is based on, with a view to making the regime untouchable to its opponents and at the same time using it as a way to compensate for latent frustrations living among its followers, through the regime’s own system of 'justice'.
gentleness – tenderness the soul spontaneously deals with the fellow creature as with a fragile being she would at any price want to preserve, because she regards it as God’s Work and property.	rough ways of dealing with one’s fellow creatures the soul deals with her fellow creature in a rough way, as if the latter were a dead object, ruthlessly and without any empathy for her fellow creature’s emotions.
patience the soul leaves her fellow creature the time to adapt itself to her, and together with the fellow creature she will look for ways of socializing that are most likely to make both parties feel well and through which they are able to react to each other perfectly spontaneously. The soul does not command, she invites.	impatience the soul subjects the fellow creature to certain rules, which suit her alone, and she does not tolerate these rules not being observed immediately and in strict accordance with her expectations. On account of her being so tense she suffocates her fellow creature in the very heart of its being.
tolerance the soul has not got a problem with her fellow creature not reacting in all circumstances the way she would react herself, and she lovingly looks for the best basis for living together, because she respects the fellow creature the way it is.	intolerance any difference established between the soul and the fellow creature arouses an opposition, a resistance within the soul, so that an invisible wall is erected between them. The other one’s individuality is blamed for each and any obstacle in the relationship, and is identified as the source of all 'misery' between both parties.
warmth – emotional security every presence of the soul seems to wrap her fellow creatures in a warm coat, so that the latter feel really good, secure and relaxed in the soul’s presence.	spreading cold, uneasy feelings every presence of the soul fulfils the fellow creature with feelings of uneasiness, making it feel not really secure and bringing every spontaneous flow of Love to a standstill. The fellow creature feels blocked when near the soul.
Light – wrapping the fellow creature in an overall positive atmosphere of life the soul seems to beam Light all around, so that the fellow creature feels totally relaxed with her, because an atmosphere of perfect openness rules the relationship: Apparently there is no reason whatsoever for the fellow creature to feel uneasy or fearful.	darkness – giving the fellow creature the feeling of being wrapped up in a dark cloud which oppresses it the soul’s presence makes the fellow creature feel unwell, uneasy or tense, both spiritually and physically; on the fellow creature the soul has got the effect as through she were separating it from God and taking all joy and hope away from it.
willingness to help the soul considers it to be a duty of Love to apply herself completely for the benefit of her fellow creature, to assist it in all and any circumstances, in order for it to be able to fulfil its own mission in life as perfectly as possible.	selfishness and indifference the soul is by no means interested in the fellow creature’s needs. The latter must fend for itself, and can not count on any sympathy on the soul’s part.
sensitivity and tact the soul constantly takes her fellow creature’s feelings into account, and treats it with tender care, so that it may familiarize itself with the soul in its own good time. For example: The soul very slowly extends her hand towards an animal, so that the latter may get the feeling that an extended hand can only means something good.	insensitivity, lack of tact the soul does not take the fellow creature’s feelings into account, so that the latter is very easily hurt and barely gets to really trust the soul. The soul does not experience any inhibitions in her actions, so much so that she even does not recognize abuse as such.
taking away all fear and anxiety it is important to the soul that her fellow creature should feel at ease when she is around. For example, she will speak very quietly to every animal she encounters, in an attempt to maintain the flow of Love and to see to it that the animal dares spontaneously be its own self and is able to regard the soul as a friend.	arousing fear and anxiety the soul – often conscientiously – behaves in a frightening way, often expressing an urge to assert herself, so that the fellow creature prefers to avoid the soul’s presence. The soul does not care if the fellow creature is unable to regard her as a friend.
promoting the zest for life the soul’s presence promotes within her fellow creature the zest for life and gives it new strength. In so doing, the soul succeeds in enabling her fellow creature to continue its path through life in the best possible way, in spite of any trials. Thus the flow of Love within the fellow creature is boosted.	taking away all zest for life the soul’s behaviour, in some cases even her mere presence, paralyzes the fellow creature, as if within the latter all life had come to a standstill. The fellow creature thereby faces problems accomplishing its mission in life, for soon it is as though it is no longer really living but is being dragged mechanically through time.
giving courage, hope and consolation the soul takes pains to encourage her fellow creature under all circumstances, and to help it in any situation to find the Light.	taking away all courage and all hope for happiness in all her actions and words the soul is geared to arousing negative feelings within her fellow creature, and to convincing it of the fact a gloomy darkness rules everything.
being a healing balm for the heart the soul’s behaviour enables the fellow creature to overcome any injuries, traumata, grief and heartache much more rapidly, in that she opens her fellow creature all up to Love and immerses it completely in Love, so much so that the latter feels appreciated.	causing grief, pain and heartache the soul arouses heartache or pain within her fellow creatures. This can be done through a great variety of elements of behaviour, words, lack of tact or intentional insults.
understanding and respect for the fellow creature and its individual character the soul treats her fellow creature as a being that comes out of God’s hand and needs Love, no matter what the creature looks like or what features it is characterized by, so that this creature does not feel looked upon or judged according to the species to which it belongs.	debasing and discouraging the fellow creature the soul does not make any efforts to hide towards from her fellow creature the fact she despises it, scorns it or harbours any other negative feelings towards it on account of the fact it is characterized by certain features, e.g. the overt negative feelings towards a fellow person or a fellow creature belonging to a different race or to certain animal species (pig, dog that looks 'unusual', etc.).

How can a human soul represent God or, on the contrary, the evil one, towards ANIMALS? Let us now fill out the above table with a few concrete examples, for the sake of making a few things a bit clearer (one could easily find any number of examples):

components constituting the mirror of God’s Presence	components of Satan’s presence
unconditional Love Example: every behaviour or every act arising from the frame of mind in which man sooner forgets himself completely than to allow that an animal should want for anything.	lack of Love Example: every behaviour in which an animal is treated in a way displaying indifference and lack of understanding of the fact an animal is no inanimate object devoid of any feelings.
care – interest in the fellow creature’s real needs, in combination with solicitude Example: providing birds or stray animals with food in the winter cold. These animals largely depend on people who are prepared to share with them what they have got, or to spend some of their financial means on food for them. Another example: the willingness to nurse a wounded animal, even if one encounters it in the street or anywhere outdoors, and therefore has not got anything to gain personally by caring for this animal. Another example: true interest in the typical behaviour of every individual animal one encounters rather frequently, so that one is able to react to it in a proper and efficient way. E.g.: There are animals (dogs, cats etc.) which, when they need food, keep staring at a human being... Only if one knows and recognizes such typical behaviour, one will be able to serve such animals.	abusing the fellow creature’s needs as weaknesses making the creature vulnerable Example: every behaviour that is tantamount to conscious and intentional torturing of an animal. Another example: trying to force an animal into docility by making it dependent, e.g. by withdrawing from it things it needs (food, water, etc.). Another example: using food as bait with a view to luring an animal into a trap (as it is commonly practised in poaching, for instance); the Mother of God points out that setting up traps which kill or wound, for instance most kinds of mouse traps, is a practice which is very much loathed in the eyes of God.
gentleness – tenderness Example: caressing an animal tenderly; when walking an animal on a leash, doing this in such a way as not to give the animal the feeling the person walking it would be hostile towards it.	rough ways of dealing with one’s fellow creatures Example: beating or kicking an animal, shouting at it, handling the leash rather roughly, etc. The Holy Virgin points out that kicking a fellow creature (person or animal), is regarded by God as a major humiliation of this creature, by which the culprit also commits an act of pride and of utter contempt towards a Work of God.
patience Example: speaking to an animal quietly and  in an understanding tone of voice, or treating it gently, even after it has failed to react the way one has been wanting it to.	impatience Example: shouting at an animal or hurting it if it has failed to behave the way one has wanted it to behave.
tolerance Example: tolerating an animal’s acting upon its innate instinct, even if this is not easy under certain circumstances, e.g. if a dog keeps barking.	intolerance Example: acting unlovingly towards an animal after it has soiled or damaged something; speaking to a dog in a loud voice because it has been barking; being grumpy if one has been woken up by birds singing in the morning; shooting at birds because they have been landing in one’s garden...
warmth – emotional security Example: caring for an animal with sincere Love, even taking it gently in one’s arms every now and then, so that the animal is able to distinctly feel Love and warmth flowing. If an animal feels secure with a human being, it will also seek the latter’s presence when in danger or when feeling uneasy, because this human then incorporates protection and shelter.	spreading cold, uneasy feelings Example: every behaviour, every tone of voice, every facial expression through which feelings of being threatened or feelings of hostility can be aroused in an animal; standing in front of an animal with feelings of aversion or any other negative feelings, or speaking to it or looking at it with such feelings.
Light – wrapping the fellow creature in an overall positive atmosphere of life Example: approaching animals from a state of heart that automatically makes them feel secure, at ease and loved whenever one comes up to them.	darkness – giving the fellow creature the feeling of being wrapped up in a dark cloud which oppresses it Example: every frame of mind breeding the aforementioned atmosphere as a fixed pattern of behaviour or a fixed way of approaching animals, so that the latter automatically experience the soul’s presence as threatening and hostile.
willingness to help Example: lending an animal a helping hand if one notices it is in trouble, e.g. putting food or water near a weakened animal; helping to set an animal free if it has got caught, like in a wire...	selfishness and indifference Example: leaving one’s own domestic animal lying outside in extreme weather conditions while thinking only of one’s own needs; forgetting to provide one’s domestic animal with sufficient quantities of food and fresh drinking water.
sensitivity and tact Example: offering an animal the opportunity to get used to one very carefully, by approaching it really quietly and extending one’s hand towards it very carefully, by enabling it to sniff very calmly (many animals store information about their fellow creatures through scents, so that they recognize the latter more quickly afterwards), by only touching it very carefully and tenderly, and by not speaking loudly.	insensitivity, lack of tact Example: approaching an animal in such a way that the latter automatically feels threatened, for instance through boisterous behaviour, speaking loudly, making a lot of noise, sudden movements; putting something in front of an animal for the latter to eat, which is not recognized by the animal as food or which is not usually eaten by this animal species, or which can make the animal sick.
taking away all fear and anxiety Example: making an animal feel at ease by speaking gently to it or caressing it if it is feeling threatened or fearful because of fireworks, electric storms, etcetera.	arousing fear and anxiety Example: annoying an animal which is in a cage, a kennel etc., and which is therefore unable to defend itself against the human annoying it, intimidating or frightening it by making noises or through unusual behaviour, throwing things at the animal’s dwelling etc. Another example: when near an animal, making movements it does not expect, or shouting loudly, having explosives go off (including explosives which are used 'for fun'), lighting fireworks... Another example: abusing a dog’s innate tendency to hunt for animals, by stirring the dog up against another animal (against game during a hunt, against mice etc.).
promoting the zest for life Example: simply and gently playing a bit with a domestic animal, so that it feels totally accepted and meaningful in the human soul’s eye.	taking away all zest for life Example: torturing or hurting an animal so intensely and/or for such a long time that it loses all confidence in humans and gradually withers away: The animal may lose its appetite, become apathetic, disinterested, torpid, as if withdrawn in a world of its own.
giving courage, hope and consolation Example: letting the animal feel, also in sickness or when it is wounded, that it does not leave one indifferent, without imposing oneself, however (the animal should always keep the feeling of a certain freedom and breathing space).	taking away all courage and all hope for happiness Example: locking up an animal over a longer period of time or treating it in such a way it is not, or no longer, able to find in a human a source of Love, security and Light; excluding an animal so thoroughly from one’s life that it never really becomes part of it (domestic animals may suffer by this emotionally).
being a healing balm for the heart Example: approaching an animal that, on account of a prolonged loveless treatment, has become depressed or apathetic, with such tender, gentle and sincere Love by word and deed, that in this animal all confidence in Love and in the human being in general can gradually be restored.	causing grief, pain and heartache Example: eating in front of a hungry animal, and not paying any attention to the signs of the latter’s need for food. This may give the animal a feeling of being actually torn away from the heart of the human being acting this way.
understanding and respect for the fellow creature and its individual character Example: behaving towards an animal in such a way as to make it feel accepted just the way it is (the animal then feels in the human being a total openness, and will be more likely to show confidence).	debasing and discouraging the fellow creature Example: pulling an animal’s tail or legs, etcetera; making fun of an animal on account of its appearance (many animals are sensitive to overt mockery!)

Basically the golden rule simply reads as follows: The human soul should behave towards every animal in such a way, and approach it in such a state of heart, that the animal is able to regard and perceive the soul unconditionally as a friend.

It is of paramount importance to point to the fact that in the eyes of God maltreatment of an animal makes the abusing soul not only guilty towards the abused animal itself, but that this soul is also guilty towards God’s Plan of Salvation as a whole. Maltreatment can make an animal apathetic, fearful, aggressive, depressed, insecure, unsettled, neurotic or weary of life, subject it to chronic physical suffering, etcetera. It thereby looses its strength as a junction of Light in the network of creation, through which God’s Love flows. Consequently the animal’s mental or emotional condition will in its turn begin to affect all contacts it has and will yet have with other animals and humans. An abused animal may lose confidence in all human souls. Due to the fact this junction of Light is extinguished or is getting gradually weaker through a human soul’s fault, this junction may in hundreds, even thousands of contacts and encounters be prevented from letting Love flow through.

If we consider this event on a global level it becomes clear what it means for creation if, every single day, millions of animals are systematically not treated quite according to the Law of Divine Love. Therefore maltreatment does not only entail an individual guilt, but always a collective guilt as well: in an indirect way creation as a whole suffers by it.

The human soul should never make the mistake of forgetting that especially the members of the higher animal species are usually very sensitive to everything that goes on in a human being, to his 'vibes', to his physiognomy, to the movements of his heart, to the degree of Light or darkness characterizing his feelings and thoughts, to the sincerity or insincerity of his behaviour, etcetera.

How to counter and how to prevent maltreatment? Essentially maltreatment can only be really eliminated to the extent to which an increasing number of human souls are liberated from their tendency towards inner dissatisfaction and frustration, and to which the number of souls ruled by a true, sincere, unselfish Love increases. A human soul can also be cured from the propensity to abuse a fellow creature, if she manages:

• to imagine she were the one who is about to be maltreated, and then to clearly feel what is breaking inside her heart due to the experience of lack of Love on the part of a fellow creature;

• to realize that maltreatment has got the effect of a cry saying: "I do not want you, to me you are not worth anything". In maltreatment, in reality it is the Divine germ within the fellow creature which is being abused, and a message is sent to God saying His Love is not wanted and not appreciated, for every creature was intended by God to be a gift of Love to the other creatures;

• to realize that maltreatment has got the effect of making a fellow creature very lonely. The abused fellow creature feels completely torn away from Love, as if a wall were erected between the creature and God, and the creature were being left in a state of helplessness beyond all hope. The abusing soul must come to understand that all creatures in this world have got weaknesses and that they all need each other if they are going to find true happiness, and that she, too, may at some point be in need of help and of a feeling of security on the part of a fellow creature. By abusing a fellow creature the soul cuts herself loose from a hold, a crutch given to her by God out of Love;

• to think about how she would herself like to be treated by her fellow man, and why;

• to reflect on how much she herself longs for Love, security and understanding in the presence of her fellow man;

• to realize that her abusing her fellow creature turns her into a source of misery in the eyes of God and of her fellow creature;

• to realize that this world has been transformed into a valley of tears exactly by the human souls’ following the voice of darkness inside their hearts, and that she is about to contribute to this;

• to realize that she is acting from a deep-seated dissatisfaction, and that she can only be set free from this constitution if she contributes actively to a creation filled with Love by spreading nothing but Love herself;

• to realize that, by giving in to this temptation, she allows herself to be humiliated by the evil one, as giving in to this temptation turns her into his slave. Maltreatment is a sin, and every sin deprives the soul of her inner freedom. Many abusing souls would alter their behaviour right away if they should realize to what extent they are being manipulated by the evil one, because this awareness would show them that maltreating a fellow creature is indicative of the fact they are not powerful, but quite on the contrary that they are being fully manipulated;

• to realize that a man kills his own happiness through each and every conduct by which he disrupts, hampers or kills the experience of Love in a fellow creature, which is exactly what happens by practising maltreatment.

Maltreating a fellow creature, whether a fellow person or an animal, ranks among the most serious insults towards God, because in this behaviour a many-sided gift from God is being damaged or destroyed, the soul very overtly chooses in favour of doing service to Satan’s great plan (undermining, counteracting or destroying God’s Plans and Works), and she affects the happiness and the inner peace of one or more fellow creatures. Happiness and inner peace are frames of mind a creature often acquires only through great efforts, or which it can maintain only through great pains, because these frames of mind are very easily affected by any number of factors related to life in this world. Happiness and inner peace are basically the most obvious signs of God being at work in a creature. To destroy or to damage these in one’s fellow creature actually means one is trying to chase God Himself out of this creature. This thesis is consistent with the thesis brought forward earlier in this point, saying that the abusing soul elevates herself to being a god towards her victim, and that she subjects the latter to a law and a 'justice' of her own.

        5.3.2. Neglect

The Mistress of all souls defines neglect as every omission on the part of a soul to whose custody a fellow creature is entrusted, as regards the satisfaction of a need, or of several needs of this fellow creature, as a consequence of which this fellow creature may suffer physically, emotionally, mentally or morally. In a certain sense neglect could be regarded as passive maltreatment.

A frequently occurring example of neglect consists in leaving animals one has in one’s care, standing or lying outside in an intense cold or in other bad weather conditions, or in an intense heat, without sufficient food, fresh water or shelter from the effects of said weather conditions.

The most striking component of neglect is actually indifference as to the fellow creature’s fate. The soul excludes the fellow creature entrusted to her care from her own life to such an extent as to no longer pay attention to the latter’s needs. It is provided with some elementary food at the most, yet often in inadequate quantities not meeting the real needs. Love begins where 'basic obligation' ends, and that is exactly where the essence of neglect lies: the line delimiting the sense of obligation is not crossed, so that the soul does not get to practise true Love. The tragedy in it is this, that many souls go on the assumption that, as soon as they have fulfilled their 'basic duty', they have fulfilled their share of the bond. The truth is, however, that fulfilling the 'basic duty' does not yield any merits (as Jesus used to say: "do not even pagans do that?"). In God’s opinion, doing one’s 'basic duty' is actually mere calculation.

In the previous categories – maltreatment and neglect – we dealt with behaviour directly and intentionally harming the animal. There are also ways of dealing with animals, which are also inspired by Satan, and through which the animals are also harmed and do not get the opportunity to lead the lives God created them for, but in which the treatment is often somewhat 'less personally' aimed against a specific animal. In these cases also, man is influencing God’s Plan, but he then does so chiefly with the intention of gaining some personal benefit, which in both previous categories is often not or hardly the case. In certain cases, however, both components are present: hunting for some personal gain, as well as the 'personal' abuse. The Queen of Heaven and earth inspires us the following categories: Considering and approaching animals as merchandise, killing animals for consumption or for ritual purposes, hunting, and threatening animals in their natural habitat.

        5.3.3. Considering and approaching animals as merchandise

When God created man, He said man was to rule the animals. In chapter 2 I already pointed out God did not mean by this man would have the right to treat animals as he pleases – to 'use' them in a way violating God’s intentions, especially the Law of Love. Through the Mistress of all souls and Her Science of Divine Life God keeps expressing His wish the human soul should aspire for ever higher degrees of spiritualization. He has never approved of commercial excesses, for as soon as any forms of commercial thinking and acting are given priority to, the soul sooner or later finds herself serving Satan with all of her behaviour and all her aspirations. The Mistress of all souls pointed out quite extensively already to what great extent the commercialization of society is responsible for the decline of all sanctity within the souls, as well as for the fact the world has increasingly come under Satan’s rule.

The human soul is expected to be a mirror of God’s Presence, His Works and His Love towards the animals. The soul will never be able to live up to this expectation if she debases fellow creatures to mere merchandise and exploits them shamelessly. It is tantamount to a mockery of Love if a human soul, predestined to be the crown upon creation and a mirror of God, 'uses' animals to satisfy her own needs, and quite abundantly so, and kills and maltreats or breeds animals without any emotions just for the sake of making profits, and prevents tremendous quantities of animals from accomplishing their own role in God’s creation according to Divine Intelligence, which is constantly trying to work in and through these animals. In the eyes of God the following is a regular abomination:

→ man, the creature predestined by God to represent Him,

→ lets himself be guided completely by the wish to satisfy his own needs,
and to even enrich himself far beyond the limits of these needs,

→ by using the body of his fellow creatures, in this case of the animals,

→ in the most various ways in violation of God’s Law of perfect Love and of
perfect Wisdom,

→ thereby sacrificing the dignity of these fellow creatures as Works of God’s
Love completely to his own selfishness.

Works of God (the animals) are globally, day by day, and on countless occasions maimed and/or killed on a large scale to serve works of Satan (materialism, selfishness, lack of Love). Love, the essence of all Life, is killed in fellow creatures on a large scale. Mankind gives in to the fever of longing for wealth or pleasure in an ephemeral life, thereby opening up two giant sources of darkness for the world, for every individual soul that practises this behaviour and cherishes this attitude:

• highly diminishes her chances of eternal bliss, and

• contributes to inhibiting the flow of Love, so that, to an ever increasing extent, creation falls prey to the most various sources of misery.

The weight of the burden this sin has laid upon all of mankind could by no means ever be overestimated.

Wherever the human soul regards and treats the animal as merchandise, as a commodity, exploitation is bound to loom very soon: The animal’s physical body, specific features and any innate tendencies characterizing the animal are being put fully at the service of man, of his needs and of his possibilities to gain material profits and well-being and/or satisfy a certain hedonism. The Law of Love, all respect towards the animal and any considerations regarding the animal’s true role within creation are being rendered ineffective in the process.

The definition makes it clear right away that there are cases in which services rendered by animals are being made use of, without there being talk of exploitation. It all depends on the way the animal is treated and on the purpose of the treatment. If the animal is deployed with Love, due care, in due consideration of its innate characteristics, and not exclusively for material purposes, there is not necessarily talk of exploitation. Under favourable conditions this may, for instance, be the case in the context of agriculture. In certain cases the relationship between a farmer and an animal in the field is characterized by Love, caring and consideration. In such a case we are dealing with a bond of collaboration between the human being and the animal, not with exploitation.

An area in which animals are exploited on a large scale for the satisfaction of man’s material needs, is that of many competitive sports which revolve entirely around animals, for example horse races, dog races, also cockfights and the like. These sports have in common that specific properties and partly innate instincts of certain animal species are exploited to stir these animals up against each other, among other things. They are often prepared for these races or fights in a totally heartless way, and they are deprived of their dignity in that the only thing they are still living for, is to enrich their owners materially and to boost the latter’s image in the eyes of their fellow people. In this case the human soul involved usually does not take a healthy interest in the animals’ physical well-being.

A healthy interest in the animal’s well-being is understood to mean the situation in which the animal’s health truly means something to the soul for reasons that are rooted in a perfectly unselfish Love, not for reasons originating with the fear of a possible commercial loss.

An unhealthy interest in the animal’s well-being would be the situation in which the human soul is interested in the animal’s health because of the concern that any decline as to this health may result in a decline as to the profits the animal would normally yield. If the animal is less healthy or its performances in the field of sports or in the field of agricultural activities are regarded as inadequate, in certain cases the human soul is not hesitant to administer substances which can not be regarded as medicines in the strict sense of the word, but chiefly or even solely as substances used in an attempt to boost performance. Such substances are known by the name of 'doping'. In the long run such substances initiate the depletion of physical forces in the animal’s organism by enabling the latter to step up its performance at the expense of its general health. In similar contexts animals are often killed as soon as they fail to yield any profits or return of whatever nature: their lives are not regarded as gifts from God but as the availability of a working tool that is disposed of quite callously as soon as no profits are gained.

Not one single animal was created by God for such a goal in life.

I repeat most emphatically: Every animal’s sole purpose for living lies in the role it has to fulfil within God’s Plan of Salvation as an auxiliary to the human souls’ development in Love and in many other virtues. In competitive sports with animals the direction of this purpose in life is altered by humans to such a great extent that the animal is no longer an auxiliary to the soul’s process of sanctification, but is debased to exactly the opposite: to a means for some souls to accomplish a profitable materialism. The animal no longer gets the opportunity to accomplish its mission in life according to Divine Intelligence, but is deprived of its freedom for a life in bondage. The animal, which by nature is guided by Divine Providence, is forced by the human soul, who is expected to be a mirror of God, to lead a life as a piece of merchandise and a bridge towards the satisfaction of worldly goals, i.e. a life as an aid on pathways leading away from the Light. This is an insult at God’s door, to His Intelligence, Wisdom and Providence, to the animals themselves in their capacity as Works of God’s Love, and to God’s Presence within the soul that forces the animals to go on such pathways. I should point out that making use of animals in the context of circus performances falls under the same spiritual perspective as the one outlined with respect to competitive sports.

The Queen of Heaven points out that much darkness is shed onto the world by industries in which animals are used for commercial purposes like, for instance, battery farms for chickens and fattening farms for geese. In the latter of both maltreatment in the true sense of the word is practiced.

Secondary industries like, among others, tanneries, the manufacture of fur coats etcetera, are not necessarily related to maltreatment of animals, but do nevertheless promote animal abuse in various ways.

Also laboratories or organisations in which experiments with animals are carried out for the preparation of, among other things, cosmetics, fall under the same rule spiritually, as they involve animals in the commercial circuit and do not approach the animals as junctions in the network of Divine Love but as merchandise exploited for the satisfaction of human material needs, and not seldom abuse these animals in the process. The sin increases to the extent to which Love as the principle ruling the encounter is suspended and the animal’s capacity as a creature of God is disregarded. Furthermore let us keep in mind that God feels everything going on with and within every creature. A human soul is also able to share an animal’s feelings and perceptions, along two different paths:

• there exists a form of mystical gift which enables the endowed soul to actually feel what an animal feels, either physically or emotionally, or both;
• also outside the field of mystics God has equipped every human soul with the faculty of empathizing. What is the foundation underlying this faculty?

  • a vivid understanding of the fellow creature’s capacity as a being endowed with feelings and with a physical body which, under circumstances, is a bearer of burdens and sufferings;

  • the awareness of the fact that within creation, all creatures are interconnected in all directions (the network of God’s Love);

  • a vivid understanding of the fact that all creatures are connected to their Creator;

  • the faculty of empathizing only remains in effect to the extent to which the soul remains able to disregard itself completely and to fully empathize with the fellow creature. The faculty of empathizing will blossom to the extent to which self-denial blossoms.

The spiritual rules brought forward in the previous sentences are equally applicable to the execution of scientific and medical experiments on animals.

Animals are on a large scale debased by abuse, as well as by the most various kinds of actions inspired, among others, by motives of an economic nature. In this respect we need only think of the massive hunting for rhinoceros and elephants on account of their tusks and horns, for which huge prices are paid. The crown on God’s creation does not think about what it means in God’s eyes if animals are killed and even entire animal species are exterminated, and what consequences this entails for the overall quality of life on this planet. Let us never forget that the quality of life has not got anything to do with material richness, but with an unrestrained flow of Divine Love through every little canal and junction in the network of Love. God has created every single animal species for a specific purpose which greatly surpasses all scientific knowledge and all human understanding. The extermination of an animal species is tantamount to gradually damaging and eventually destroying a canal within this network. God’s gifts are, in a manner of speaking, thrown back in His Face in the rudest possible way.

to be continued – the English translation is not yet complete