This post is the third part of my series of images of Giuseppe Maria Abbate (1886-1963), the Italian-American Celestial Messenger. They are part of my collection of documents related to Abbate and his Church. See part one and part two.
The focus of the New Jerusalem Church doctrine was Abbate’s claims of divine status and his role in salvation history. By the late 1910s, Abbate called himself Giuseppe Maria di Carmelo Abbate. When the Church was founded, he was referred to as Celestial Messenger (Messaggiero Celeste).
Later, his title became Padre Celeste. Still, he also referred to himself as the Universal Protector, St. Michael the Archangel, the Prince of Peace, God’s Vicar on Earth, and the Celestial King. Thus, Abbate claimed to be something of a combination of a pope, an archangel, a prophet, a king, and God incarnate.
In his interpretation, each first letter in his full name, Giuseppe Maria Abbate di Carmelo, Padre Celeste, had a symbolic meaning in Italian, summarizing his mission on earth. In English translation, it was: Jesus, Incarnate, Made Human, Most Holy Immanuel, Eternal Prince of Peace, sent to be reincarnated in Abbate to Bless Everybody Eternally. Divinity Incarnate. Celestial Angel, King, Immanuel, the Messiah Arrived, the Ordained Angel. The Door to God. Elected Religious. Christ, Immanuel, Eternal Light, the Sound of the Seventh Trumpet.
At formal occasions, Abbate wore very elaborate vestments, some emphasising his status as an angelical messenger, others his royal or episcopal status.
Magnus Lundberg 
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