A Letter from Jesus?

So there is a supposed letter from Jesus (sometimes called "A True Letter of Jesus Christ") that one can find posted on some web pages which I stumbled upon. I am going to put its full text here for reference; I apologize for the considerable length, but as someone searching for information on it may search for specific text from it, it would be useful to include it in full for that reason.

If you want the quick version that doesn't require any scrolling: There is no evidence it is real, and its claim of being approved or blessed by Pope Leo XIII is false too, as he actually condemned it.

For those curious in the more in-depth explanation, let's begin. But first I want to post the full letter, because if the hope is that someone looking for information will stumble across this blog post, I'd better post the whole thing:

A True Letter of Our Savior Jesus Christ
Consecrating the Drops of Blood which Our Lord lost on His way to Calvary.

Copy of a letter of the Oration found in the Holy Sepulchre of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, preserved in a silver box by His Holiness and by the Emperors and Empresses of the Christian Faith.

St. Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary, with St. Matilda and St. Bridget, wishing to know something of the Passion of Jesus Christ, offered fervent and special prayers, upon which there appeared to them Our Lord Jesus Christ who spoke to them in the following manner:

I descended from Heaven to the Earth in order to convert you.

In olden times people were religious and their harvests were abundant; at present, on the contrary, they are scanty.

If you want to reap an abundant harvest you must not work on Sunday, for on Sunday you must go to Church and pray to God to forgive your sins. He gave you six days in which to work and one for rest and devotion and to tender your help to the poor and assist in the Church.

Those people, who brawl against my religion and cast slurs on this Sacred Letter, shall be forsaken by Me.

On the contrary, those people who shall carry a copy of this letter with them shall be free from death by drowning and sudden death. They shall be free from all contagious diseases and lightening; they shall not die without confession, and shall be free from their enemies and from the hand of wrongful authority, and from all their slanderers and false witnesses.

Women in peril at child-birth will, by keeping this Oration about them, immediately overcome the difficulty. In the houses where this Oration is kept, no evil thing will ever happen: and fourty days before the death of a person who has this Oration about him or her, the Blessed Virgin will appear to him or her. So said St. Gregorius.

To all those faithful who shall recite for 3 years, each day 2 Our Fathers, Hail Marys, and Glory Be’s, in honour of the drops of blood I lost, I will concede the following 5 graces:
1.The plenary indulgence and remittance of your sins.
2.You will be free from the pains of Purgatory.
3.If you should die before completing the said 3 years, for you it will be the same as if you had completed them.
4.It will be upon your death the same as if you had shed all your blood for the Holy Faith.
5.I will descend from Heaven to take your soul and that of your relatives, until the fourth generation.

Be it known that the number of armed soldiers were 150; those who trailed me while I was bound were 23. The executioners were 83; the blows received on my head were 150; those on my stomach, 108; kicks on my shoulders, 80. I was led, bound with cords by the hair, 24 times; spits in the face were 180; I was beaten on the body 6666 times; beaten on the head, 110 times. I was roughly pushed, and at 12 o’clock was lifted up by the hair; pricked with thorns and pulled by the beard 23 times; received 20 wounds on the head; thorns of marine junks, 72; pricks of thorns in the head, 110; mortal thorns in the forehead, 3. I was afterwards flogged and dressed as a mocked king; wounds in the body, 1000. The soldiers who led me to the Calvary were 608; those who watched me were 3, and those who mocked me were 1008; the drops of blood which I lost were 28,430.

Benedetta DA S.S., Pope Leo XIII, In Roma 5 Aprile 1890 

Frequently, this is where the account of the letter will end. If you are curious, the last sentence is in Italian which says that it was blessed by Pope Leo XIII in Rome on April 5, 1890. However, some postings will go on further, and add the following even more lengthy portion. Sometimes it will go directly to it but some add a caution of "The following list of miracles and promises or warnings attached are published here, but with the caution that we do not know if the approval of Pope Leo XIII was for this portion as well". In any event, here is the rest of it:

MIRACLES ACCOMPLISHED BY THE SACRED LETTER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

A second and similar copy of this Letter has been found in a place called "Pursit," three leagues from Marseilles, written in golden letters, and believed to be of supernatural origin. It was found by a boy 7 years old of the same town. With it is an appendix and declaration of the 2nd of January, 1750, which says: "All those who work on Sunday, will be cursed by me, for on the Sacred day you must rest, go to Church, attend all Divine Services, so that you and your generation will be blessed.

If on the contrary you do not believe this you will be chastised, and to your children I will send pest, famine, war, spasms and heartaches; to show you My anger, you will see signs in the sky, thunders and earthquakes.

Those who do not believe that this letter is written by Divine workmanship and dictated by the Sacred Mouth of Christ, and who will keep it hidden from other persons, will be cursed by God and condemned on the Day of Judgment. To those who will publish it, if they have many sins and are truly repentant for having offended Me, even though they have done some injury to their neighbors, when they ask pardon I will cancel their sins. Those who will copy this, or read it, or who will induce others to read it, will be free from all temptations."

A certain Spanish Captain traveling by land near Barcelona, saw a head severed from the body, which spoke to him as follows, "As you are bound for Barcelona, my good man, for God's sake send hither a Priest so that I may confess myself. It is already three days now that I have been attacked by robbers, and I cannot die without first confessing myself." The Captain brought the Confessor to the place; the living head confessed and then expired. On the body from which the head had been severed, the present Oration was found. On that occasion it was approved by several Tribunals of the Holy Inquisition and by the Queen of Spain. The said Paters, Glorias and Aves can be recited for the benefit of any soul.

At the time of the terrible earthquake in Northern Italy and in France, a girl from Nice named Nathaline was caught under a fallen house and remained 3 days buried alive. When unearthed, a copy of this Letter was found on her! She was illiterate and uneducated. When found she was sleeping, untouched by the devastation of the earthquake!

On March 12, 1821, many emigrants from S. Giovanni Incarico, in the Province of Caserta (Italy) sailed for America to look for work. During the trip they were caught in a most terrible storm, which threw their ship into collision with a warship. This caused it to sink. The event occurred on the 19th, St. Joseph's Day. Out of the 667 people on board, only 9 were saved. Everyone of them had a copy of this Letter of Christ in his possession. The survivors were found almost naked, wearing only their vests, in the pockets of which the Letters were found, dry and not even wrinkled!

Two of the survivors from the same town, named Luigi Ceccaccio and Francesco Nero, furnished ample and substantial proof of the miraculous event.

Another miracle of the Sacred Letter of Jesus Christ was revealed at the Island of Iri, also in Italy. A man was peacefully sleeping in his bed, when a mysterious hand shook him abruptly and a voice thundered: "Get up in haste, and save yourself, in a corner of the house!" Promptly complying with the divine warning, the man rose and reached, pale and trembling, a remote corner, just in time to see the floor whereon he had lain in bed, sink into a deep abyss. This Letter saved him.

Another miracle was accomplished by the "Mater Dolorosa" three miles from the town of Castelpetrosa, in the Province of Campobasso, Italy. A 13 year old shepherdess, named Maria Grazia Estassia Bibiana, was attending to her duties in the vicinity of an old Convent. Suddenly appeared to her, and to her astonished mother who was nearby, the Virgin Mater Dolorosa, who told them: "Come with me to this old Church, wherein My Son is vexed with the people of the world, as there are too many sins committed, vice is rampant everywhere; religion is neglected. Therefore destructive earthquakes, pestilence and famine are putting humanity to severe punishment. Go to Church and receive your Holy Communion at least once a year. Thus, He will pardon your sins." Then the Virgin disappeared.

Another miracle was reported recently. In the last days of June, 1889, there appeared at the railroad station of Ancona a woman in mourning. She said she was to go to Rome but lacked the money to pay for her ticket. The train left the station but after a while it stopped. Though 5 more engines were added, it would not budge. A gentleman on the train, named Chev Morelli, thought of the black dressed lady who could not board the train at the station for the lack of the money to pay her fare to Rome. He went immediately to find her, and he offered to pay for it. He paid, in fact, 47 lires for a first class ticket to Rome. This the lady accepted under the condition that she travel alone. No sooner had the lady boarded the train, than it started up speedily, to the astonishment of all.

Chev Morelli, upon reaching Rome, wished to pay his respects to the lady. He went to the car where she had been seated. However, no one was there, and on the seat he found 2,000 lire in money and a note in golden letters, which read, "I am the Mater Dolorosa Virgin; and I wish to tell the sinners of the world that they must redeem themselves, believe in God and serve Him. Otherwise, a great calamity will soon befall Christianity."

His Holiness the Pope received a letter October 2nd, 1889 wherein it was stated that if in the future the people would not renounce the devil and all his work, mortifying all evils and corrupt dealings, and make solemn vows of proceeding daily in all virtue and godliness of living, they would be overcome by disaster. This Letter was sent by the Saviour, Christ. It mentioned the appearance of the Mater Dolorosa at Ancona. It declared that on the last Good Friday no visitors were seen at the Holy Sepulchre. It sid that people should remember the Day of Judgment, when the faithful shall enjoy the Glory of the Heavens and the ungodly shall be overwhelmed in a storm of snares, fire, brimstones, and bolts.

On July 2nd, 1889, when a terrible flood caused ruin, misery and appalling loss of life, the few survivors found in the many districts stricken by the disaster were in many cases in possession of the Sacred Letter.

One Giovanni Santarello who happened to be in France at the time of the earthquake, which made thousands of victims in the Southern Departments, was found buried alive under the wreck of a house after remaining in a deep anxiety four days and four nights. A copy of this Sacred Letter was found on him.

In commemoration of the apparition of the Mater Dolorosa Virgin in Ancoma, the people of the Township of Castelpetrosa, in the Province of Campobasso were so deeply shaken by the divine event that a great revival of worship was proclaimed and a pilgrimage was organized. At a meeting of the leading citizens, the clergy and authorities, it was resolved to build a great temple in honor of the Holy Virgin. On the day set for the laying of the cornerstone, a great gathering of bishops, priests, high church dignitaries and the laity, assisted by several hundred workmen, were ready to start the ceremony. Suddenly all tools, picks and shovels disappeared. To the spectators' terrified eyes appeared the Mater Dolorosa Virgin, who said: "Why are you digging this ground? Yonder, amid those beautiful woods, you will find the Sanctuary for your worship."

Speechless and confused the people beheld, as she vanished, the Virgin ascending to the heavens. A few days afterwards, three miles from Castelpetrosa, in the vicinity of the old Convent, three magnificent fountains were found beside a shrine decked with flowers and golden stars, seemingly erected by a divine hand.

On the solemn occasion of the last Pope's Jubilee, the Saviour, Christ, made His sudden appearance to the Pope, who was then on his throne, surrounded by cardinals, bishops and high dignitaries of the Church. The Holy Spirit spoke thus: "People of the world, forsake your sins or else the end shall soon be forthcoming!" Our Lord then disappeared. All present threw themselves at the feet of the Pope, beseeching pardon and clemency!

Whatever form it takes, you can find this posted on several websites (sometimes with a few small differences), normally those of the traditional Catholic variety, though I did ironically see a Protestant site talk about it, saying it shows Catholicism is absurd if the pope would sign onto something said website thought was obviously false.

There are a number of issues one can see with it, especially the second portion. The most obvious is that Jesus Christ appearing in front of the pope as well as "cardinals, bishops, and high dignitaries of the Church" would have been one of the biggest news stories ever for Catholics, yet is apparently unknown outside of this account. That is a major red flag that this is not true. Even if we ignore the much more fantastical second portion and limit ourselves to the first portion of it, one has difficulty verifying any of this.

So where did this come from? Well, postings of the first portion seem to go back to is a prayer book called "The Pieta." The Pieta has a number of claims I must confess I find dubious that it doesn't seem to back up, but what matters is this particular one here. However, it does not give any source itself, Furthermore, it does not include the second portion of the quoted text, leaving me wonder where that came from. Most probably, there is an earlier English source that contains the "full text" and the Pieta chose to omit the second and more implausible portion. The sources that include the full text are based on that fuller version. Unfortunately, I do not know what that original text is.

This site seems to have a little about it, but unfortunately doesn't add too much information for our purposes. Though it is interesting to note that the English translation offered there differs from the version that is most frequently spread around and quoted.

Perhaps one of the reasons this gets posted is because of the claim that Pope Leo XIII approved it. But did he? Much like the rest of the claims, the source for this is the "letter" itself. As it turns out, Leo XIII never approved it. In fact, he condemned it. I must thank this page for providing me with some of the critical information (while I would not necessarily recommend that site in general, the linked page was so critical to my research I felt it would be improper to not credit it).

As noted there, we can find that this letter is in fact mentioned in an official Vatican document called the Acta Sanctae Sedis; specifically, the Acta Sanctae Sedis 31 (1898-99). The specific section in question can be found at this link, page 727. The above link provides the following Latin translation for it:

"Several leaflets [foliolá in Latin] have been passed on to this eminent Sacred Congregation of Indulgences and Holy Relics. These leaflets contain prayers with improper indulgences attributed to them and hence serious doubts have arisen regarding their authenticity. Thus, lest Christ's faithful be drawn into error for an extended time and in order that all pretext for the enemies of the Church for ridiculing the inestimable treasure of Indulgences be removed, especially in these times, the Sacred Congregation, which is run in a way that is pious, holy, and incorrupt, took it to be its duty to put these leaflets under examination, and, since it was found that there were false, improper, and apocryphal Indulgences promulgated in them, saw fit that the aforementioned leaflets be prohibited without delay, and the Indulgences claimed by them be declared apocryphal and false.

Whence the most eminent Fathers gathered together in a general meeting at the Vatican on May 5, 1898, having weighed everything well, have unanimously decided the following: the aforementioned leaflets brought before this Sacred Congregation are to be altogether prohibited, and the Indulgences attached to them are to be considered false and apocryphal.

Which things having been passed on to His Holiness our Lord Pope Leo XIII in the audience held with the aforementioned Cardinal Prefect on May 26, 1898, His Holiness approved and confirmed the sentence of the eminent Fathers, and commanded that a general Decree be sent out by which the aforementioned leaflets or those differing but little according to various editions, be prohibited and that the Indulgences claimed by them be altogether condemned as false and apocryphal."

Emphasis added. Fortunately for our purposes, for reference they went on to list the text of these leaflets, called "Foliolums," which were mostly in Italian. The applicable one is on page 740, though I will put it here for easy reference:

LETTERA DI GESÙ CRISTO.
DELLE GOCCIE DI SANGUE CHE SPARSE N. S. G. C MENTRE ANDAVA AL CALVARIO.

Copia di una lettera di Orazione ritrovata nel Santo Sepolcro di N. S. G. C. in Gerusalemme, conservata in una cassa d'argento da S. Santità, e dagli Imperatori ed Imperatrici cristiani. Desiderando S. Elisabetta Regina d' Ungheria, Santa Matilde e Santa Brigida sapere alcune cose della Passione di Gesù Cristo, facendo fervorose e particolari Orazioni, mercè le quali gli apparve

Gesù Cristo favellando con esse e cosi dicendo:

Sappiate che i soldati armati furono 150, quelli che mi condussero legato furono 23, gli esecutori di giustizia 83, i pugni che ricevei alla testa furono 150 e nel petto 108, i calci nelle spalle 80, e fui trascinato con corde e per i capelli 23 volte, natte e sputi nella faccia furono 180, battiture nel corpo 6666, battiture nel capo 110, mi diedero un urtone, notate nel cuore, fui alzato in aria per i capelli ad ore 21, ad un tempo mandai 120 sospiri, fui trascinato e tirato per la barba 23 volte, piaghe nella testa 20, spini di giunchi marini 72, punture di spine nella testa 100, spine mortali nella fronte 3, dopo flagellato e vestito da re di burla, piaghe nel corpo 1000. I soldati che mi condussero al Calvario furono 908, quelli che mi guardavano 3, goccie di sangue che sparsi furono 28430 e chi ogni giorno recita 7 Pater, Ave e Gloria per lo spazio di 15 anni per compiere il numero delle goccie di sangue che ho sparso, gli concedo 5 grazie :

I . L'indulgenza plenaria e remissione di tutti i peccati ;
2°. Sarà liberato dalle pene del purgatorio ;
3°. Se morrà prima di compire detti 15 anni, per esso sarà come li avesse compiti ;
4°. Sarà come fosse morto ed avesse sparso il sangue per la Santa Fede ;
5°. Scenderò io dal cielo a prendere l'anima sua e quella dei suoi parenti fino al quarto grado.

Quegli che porterà questa Orazione non morirà annegato, nè di mala morte, nè di morte improvvisa, sarà liberato dal contagio e dalla peste, dalle saette, e non morirà senza confessione, sarà liberato dai suoi nemici, e dal potere della Giustizia, e da tutti i suoi malevoli e da falsi testimoni.

Le donne che non possono partorire, tenendola addosso, partoriranno subito e usciranno di pericolo.

Nella casa ove sarà questa Orazione non vi saranno tradimenti nè di cose cattive, e 40 giorni prima della sua morte quello che l'avrà sopra di sè vedrà la Beata Vergine Maria, come dice S. Gregorio papa.

Un certo Capitano spagnolo viaggiando per terra vide vicino Barcellona una testa recisa dal busto che gli parlò cosi: Giacché vi portate a Barcellona, o passeggiero, conducetemi un confessore acciò possa confessarmi essendo già da tre giorni che sono stata recisa dai ladri, e non posso morire se non mi confesso. Condotto al luogo il Confessore dal Capitano suddetto, la testa vivente si confessò ed indi spirò, trovando addosso al busto da cui era stata recisa, la seguente orazione la quale in quella occasione fu appro- vata da vari Tribunali della S. Inquisizione di Spagna. I suddetti 7 Pater, Ave e Gloria si potranno recitare e applicare anche per qualsivoglia anima.

Altra simile copia della suddetta lettera è stata miracolosamente ritrovata nel luogo chiamato Porsit, tre leghe lontano da Marsiglia, scritta a lettere d'oro e per opera divina portata da un fanciullo di 7 anni del medesimo luogo di Porsit.

Con un' aggiunta e dichiarazione il 2 Gennaio 1750 che dice : Tutti coloro che trayaglieranno nei giorni di Domenica saranno maledetti da me, perchè nelle Domeniche dovete andare alla Chiesa pregando Iddio che vi perdoni i vostri peccati, e per questo vi ho dato sei giorni da travagliare ed il settimo per riposare, e far opere di divozione, e delle vostre sostanze fate bene ai poveri, e le vostre genti saranno ricolme di benedizioni e di grazie : per con- trario se non credete alla presente, verranno maggiori gastighi a voi ed ai vostri figli e vi manderò peste, fame, guerre, dolori e spasimi di cuore, per segno del mio sdegno vedrete segni nel Cielo, tuoni e terremoti.

Quelli che giudicheranno che questa lettera non sia scritta per opera divina e dettata dalla Sacratissima bocca di Dio, e queUi che la terranno maliziosamente nascosta senza pubblicarla ad altre persone, saranno maledetti da Dio e confusi nel giorno del Giudizio, e chi invece la pubblicherà, se avesse tanti peccati purché vera- mente pentito di avermi offeso, e ancora avendo fatto qualche ingiuria al suo prossimo, chiedendomi scusa, io gli cancellerò i suoi peccati, quelli che copieranno questa divozione e la leggeranno, oppure la faranno leggere, giammai periranno e saranno liberi da tutte le tentazioni.

Even if one speaks no Italian, this is immediately recognizable as being the letter in question; in fact, the English version is really just a translation of it (though some parts are reordered). Interestingly, this includes the beginning of the second section that gave the miracle accounts (e.g. the paragraph beginning with "Un certo Capitano spagnolo" corresponds to the paragraph beginning with "A certain Spanish captain") but does not go through all of it. There are several possibilities for why. Perhaps those sections were added later, or it was so long that the people who published the condemnation of it felt they could cut it off at that point and get the point across, or perhaps the specific edition they were using didn't go that far, but others did.

So contrary to the claim that it was blessed by Leo XIII, it was in fact condemned by him. The claim it was blessed appears to be made up and just added to it in order to convince people it had his approval. And it seems it worked. Based on nothing more than that, one can easily find people posting this account and saying that it was approved by Leo XIII even though the opposite is true.

Obviously, whether Leo XIII approved it or not would probably only really matter to a Catholic, as anyone else would simply dismiss the letter to begin with. Still, Catholics should know that Leo XIII condemned this.

This is just another sign of why you should be cautious whenever you find these sorts of claims on the Internet (or anywhere else, really). It's very easy for someone to claim that something was approved or verified by someone important, but it could be false. The above is just one example. When you see things like this in the future, you should want to see an official document in which it was approved.