The Revue Spirite of 1862

Part 8

We continue in  this issue the study of the Revue Spirite corresponding to the year of 1862. The condensed text of the mentioned volume will hereby be presented in sixteen parts, based on the translation of Julio Abreu Filho and published by EDICEL.

Issues for discussion

A. What did Voltaire reveal in the Spiritist Society of Paris?

B. Does wisdom have anything to do with love and charity?

C. Besides having seen the Spirit of Truth, what else did Sanson tell in his third communication?

Text for reading

80. In Bordeaux, a priest wrote a letter to a very old and sick lady, mentioning her belief in Spiritism. The daughter, Emilie Collignon, replied to the vicar, saying that she had found much strength and consolation in Spiritism and the evident certainty that our dear dead are always close to us. The Revuecopied them. (Page 146)

81. The suicide of a poor widow, a mother of three children, who was reported for having stolen a loaf of bread from a baker who refused to give it, is reported by the Revue,followed by the suicide and Lamennais reports that the unfortunate woman is one of the victims of our world, our laws and our society. (Pages 149 to 151)

82. St. Augustine spontaneously dedicated a message to several distinguished Russians, who, after attending the meetings of the Spiritist Society of Paris during the winter, returned to Russia. Among some advice, Augustine told them: I - Know that charity is not only done with alms, but also with the heart. II - Go and preach the Gospel. God has placed you high, so that all may see you and your words are well understood. III - God rewards those who work in his field and gives the harvest to all who contribute to the great service. IV - Show everyone that the Spiritist does not stand in the middle of the road to indicate the direction, but he takes the ax and the cleaver and goes into the darkest forests to open the path and remove the thorns from the footsteps of those who follow him. (Pages 151 and 152)

83. Desire Leglise, who died in 1851, says that passions and living affections are possible only between creatures of the same nature, between worldly and worldly, between Spirits and Spirits. With death, affection does not go away, but it takes on another feature, says the Algerian poet. (Pages 153 and 154)

84. In Lyon, and in a poetical manner, Caritas highlights the value of the tear in human redemption.(Pages 155 and 156)

85. Voltaire communicates in the Spiritist Society of Paris and says that his neglect disappeared before the revelation of the great things that only became known beyond the grave. Stating that he is now more Christian, he says: "I suffer, but it is due to the resistance I opposed to God. I had the mission to instruct and clarify. At first I did it, but my torch was extinguished in my hands at the appointed time for the light!” (Pages 156 to 158)

86. Following Voltaire's communication, St. Augustine asserts that there is no wisdom without Love and Charity. Love and Charity, he says, are the two supreme virtues, which unite the creature to the Creator. (Page 158)

87. In a speech made at the opening of the social year at the Spiritist Society of Paris in April 1862, Kardec recalls the difficulties he faced years before by the Society and confesses to having seriously considered retiring one day. Four years later, after its foundation, the Entity had 87 active members, not counting honorary and correspondent members, and the principles adopted by it served then the vast majority of Spiritists. (Pages 159 to 161)

88. In the speech, Kardec applauds the blissful idea of ​​several members of organizing private meetings in their homes, which have the advantage of establishing more intimate relationships and are also centers for a number of people who cannot go to the Society. In conclusion, the Encoder talks about the institution's new headquarters and its costs. (Pages 165 to 168)

89. The Revue publishes Mr. Sanson’s second communication, in which he talks about the sensations experienced at the moment of his death, and says that upon recovering his faculties he found himself surrounded by numerous and faithful friends. Stating that happiness, as we understand it, is a fiction, Sanson advises: "Live wisely, holy, in the Spirit of Charity and Love, and be prepared for the impressions which your greatest poets could not describe". (Pages 168 to 170)

90. A week later, Sanson communicated for the third time, stating that: I - Spirits present a human shape in the other world, but there is a big difference between the carnal body and the wonderful fluidity of the spiritual body. II - In this life, there is no ugliness, because the traces have lost the hardness of expression, the language has intonations untranslatable for us and the gaze has the depth of the stars. III - The spiritual body is endowed with head, trunk, arms and legs. IV - The Spirits' sight has no relation to the human vision. In addition, the Spirit can guess our thoughts. V - Spirits do not reproduce because they do not have sex. VI - In the room where the session took place, he saw St. Louis (spiritual president of the Society), the Spirit of Truth, St. Augustine, Lamennais, Sonnet, St. Paul and others. (Pages 171 to 173)(Continues on next issue).

Answers to the proposed issues

A. What did Voltaire reveal in the Spiritist Society of Paris?

He said that his neglect had vanished in the face of the revelation of the great things that he only got to know beyond the grave. "I suffer, but it is due to the resistance that I opposed God", Voltaire said. "I had the mission to instruct and clarify. At first I did it, but my torch was extinguished in my hands at the time appointed for the light!" (Revue Spirite, 1862, Pages 156 to 158).

B. Does wisdom have anything to do with love and charity?

It has all to do with this. According to St. Augustine, there is no wisdom without Love or Charity. Love and Charity, he says, are the two supreme virtues, which unite the creature to the Creator. (Ibid, Page 158).

C. Besides having seen the Spirit of Truth, what else did Sanson tell in his third communication?

Sanson said that Spirits present themselves in the spiritual world in a human body, but there is a great difference between the carnal body and the spiritual body, which is equally endowed with head, trunk, arms and legs. Sanson also stated that Spirits do not reproduce because they do not have sex. (Ibid, Pages 171 to 173).

Translation:

Eleni Frangatos - eleni.moreira@uol.com.br