Testimony of Michael Lonsdale
Honorary President of the Diakonia of Beauty
July 26, 2020
A text often joins my prayer: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. I am the vine, you are the branches (. . . ) If you abide in Me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. By this, my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:1-8).
He who abides in Me, he who is confined in Me, in my love, will bear fruit. The egoistic world is nothing but an empty shell, a soap bubble. Life in Jesus is the only fruitful life, the only rich and profound life.
In my life as a film star, I found myself confronted with appearance, the appearance — varnish without profundity. Each one loves himself excessively because he does not abide in Christ, he does not allow himself to be loved by Him; he does not allow himself to be led by the Virgin Mary. It is in fact the tragedy of our time: superficiality.
This Gospel leads us to the true reality, that of Life, which is but a brief passage on earth but which is prolonged eternally in a light that is never extinguished,
He who abides in Me, as the vine’s branches, is like a small child; he marvels at the grace of living in Christ’s intimacy, the intimacy that He shares in the depth of our heart.
Art can turn us away from God because it can flatter our ego and make us believe that we are gods. The film milieu, which I know well, allows itself to be trapped by this form of idolatry, which puts stars on pedestals. If we often know the interior misery of these stars that console themselves by expedients: alcohol, drugs, etc. . . . It’s not a moral judgment that I bear but a look of compassion because I love them. These persons, which ephemeral glory has seized, have forgotten the essential; they have forgotten that “he who abides in Me” has happiness that is greater than money and celebrity.
On this day of Saint Anne’s feast, I pray for our Movement of the Diakonia of Beauty so that we are always more at the service of the Word of God and of our brothers by the way of beauty: beauty of body, beauty of soul, beauty of spirit, which leads us to the Beauty of Eternal Love.
Let us pray for all the stars that we meet so that in the image of Saint Mary Magdalene, they return to Him who can reconcile all: “Mary” “Rabboni,” so that they turn to Her who can soothe their anguish and heal their wounds, Virgin all pure, Queen of Heaven.
Today, after having received Holy Communion, which comes from the Miraculous Medal, it’s a joy to have received at the house a Relic of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and of her parents, Louis and Zelie Martin. We had a beautiful moment of prayer.
I also love the bird above my bed with beautiful feathers symbolizing the Holy Spirit and the great picture of the Divine Mercy — small signs that help me pray!
Saint Anne, come to the aid of stars who do not know you and who today, in this time of health and economic crisis, see their future as uncertain.
Give them the ability to find in Christ a veritable inspiration, may He be their assurance and their joy.
Saint Anne, Mother of the Virgin Mary, give us the strength to surmount the trials we are going through.
Saint Anne, give us the grace to reconcile the world with God’s Beauty so that each moment of the day is praise and an act of love.
