Paris, August 14th, 1863
“The struggle waits for you, my dear children. That is why I invite all of you to imitate the gladiator of previous times and get ready. The forthcoming years are full of promises but also of anxieties. I do not come to say: the day of the battle is tomorrow! No, because the time of the fight is not certain yet but I come to warn you so that you are ready for any eventuality. Up until now Spiritism only found an easy and almost flowery path whereas from now on the attacks in your direction will have a totally different character: time has come when God will appeal everyone, when he is going to judge his faithful servers and give each one the part that they have deserved.
You shall not be physically tortured as in the first days of the Church; there will not be killing flames like in the Middle Ages but they will torture you morally; there will be traps, armed by friendly hands; they will act in the shadows and you will receive the blows not knowing who sent them towards you and you will be hurt and your chest injured by the poisoned arrows of slander.
Your pain will lack nothing; there will be defections in your ranks and supposedly Spiritists lost in pride and vanity will allege independence, saying: We are the ones in the right path!
They will try to sow bad weeds onto the groups provoking the formation of dissident groups; they will entice your mediums taking them to a bad path, deviating them from the serious groups; intimidation will be used against some, fascination against others; all weaknesses will be exploited. Besides, don’t forget that some saw in Spiritism a role to play, an important role, and today they are deluded in their ambitions. These will be promised a new way, something that otherwise they cannot find. Then, with money, so powerful in the last century, won’t they find accomplices to represent undignified comedies to discredit and ridicule the doctrine?
These are the trials that wait for you, my dear, but from which you shall exit triumphant if you beg for the Almighty help from the bottom of your heart. That is why I repeat with my whole heart: My dear, embrace one another and be vigilant because it is your Golgotha that follows and if you are not crucified in flesh and blood you will in your interests and in your affections and in your honor! It is a serious and solemn time. You must then leave behind the petty discussions, all the puerile concerns, every idle question and any vain pretension of prominence and self-love.
Be concerned with the great interests that are in your hands and for which the Lord will make you accountable. Unite so that the enemy will find your ranks compact and unbreakable. You have an unequivocal password, touch stone with which you can recognize your true brothers, for that word means abnegation and devotion and summarizes all of the duties of a true Spiritist. Courage and perseverance, my children! Know that God oversees and judges you. Remember also that your spiritual guides will not abandon you down while you walk the right path.
As a matter of fact, all this war will only have a period and will turn against those who thought to create arms against the doctrine. Triumph, and no longer the bloody holocaust, will irradiate the Spiritist Golgotha.
So long my dear children. Greetings to all!”
Erastus, disciple of the apostle St. Paul
One of the maneuvers predicted above has just come true from what we heard. A letter tells us that a young lady had attended a meeting only once left her home and moved in to the house of a strange person from where she was taken to a home of the mentally ill, as if taken by the Spiritist madness; her relatives were only informed afterwards, when everthing had already happened. Twenty days later the family was granted authorization to see her when she was then criticized for having left them. She then confessed that she was promised money to pretend madness. Even at that time the attempts to convince her to leave and come home were useless.
If that is how Spiritist mad people are recruited the means is more dangerous to those that employ it than to Spiritism. When someone reaches out to such a gimmick to defend their own causes, it is the most positive proof that they are out of good arguments.
We then tell the Spiritists: When you see similar things rejoice instead of becoming sad for they are signs of a near triumph. In fact, there is something else that must encourage you: our ranks grow not only in number but also in moral strength and you have already seen more than one renowned person to come out and resolutely defend Spiritism and with grab the glove thrown by our adversaries with a strong hand.
Texts of irresistible logic daily show them that the Spiritists are not mad. Our readers know the excellent refutation to the sermons of Rev. Letiece by a Spiritist of Metz. Now we have the not less interesting one given by the Spiritists of Villenave de Rions (Gironde), about the sermons of Father Nicomède. The Verité of Lyon is known for its profound articles. The November 22ndnumber in particular deserves special attention. The Ruche de Bordeaux enlightens with new supporters as capable as dedicated. Finally, if there are many aggressors there aren’t fewer defenders. Hence, Spiritists, have courage, confidence and perseverance because it is alright and according to what had been predicted.
The communication below develops one of the phases of the serious issue that we have just discussed and cannot but forearm the Spiritists about the difficulties that will accumulate in this period.
