Translated by Algar Thorold

Man is placed above all creatures, and not beneath them, and he cannot be
satisfied or content except in something greater than himself. Greater than
himself there is nothing but Myself, the Eternal God. Therefore I alone can
satisfy him, and, because he is deprived of this satisfaction by his guilt,
he remains in continual torment and pain. Weeping follows pain, and when he
begins to weep, the wind strikes the tree of self-love, which he has made
the principle of all his being. (Page 203). This work was dictated by Saint
Catherine of Siena during a state of ecstasy while in dialogue with God the
Father. Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) was declared a Doctor of the
Church on October 4, 1970.
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THE DIALOGUE OF THE SERAPHIC VIRGIN CATHERINE OF SIENA

DICTATED BY HER, WHILE IN A STATE OF ECSTASY,

TO HER SECRETARIES, AND COMPLETED

IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1370

TOGETHER WITH

AN ACCOUNT OF HER DEATH BY AN EYE-WITNESS

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL ITALIAN, AND PRECEDED BY AN INTRODUCTION
ON THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE SAINT, BY

ALGAR THOROLD

A NEW AND ABRIDGED EDITION

Originally published in 1907 by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd.,
London.

This etext is in the public domain.
_________________________________________________________________

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

A TREATISE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE

A TREATISE OF DISCRETION

A TREATISE OF PRAYER

A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
_________________________________________________________________

THE DIALOGUE OF ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA
_________________________________________________________________

INTRODUCTION

It would be hard to say whether the Age of the Saints, le moyen°ge Žnorme
et dŽlicat, has suffered more at the hands of friends or foes. It is at
least certain that the medieval period affects those who approach it in the
manner of a powerful personality who may awaken love or hatred, but cannot
be passed over with indifference. When the contempt of the eighteenth
century for the subject, the result of that century™s lack of historic
imagination, was thawed by the somewhat rhetorical enthusiasm of
Chateaubriand and of the Romanticists beyond the Rhine, hostility gave place
to an undiscriminating admiration. The shadows fell out of the picture; the
medieval time became a golden age when heaven and earth visibly mingled,
when Christian society reached the zenith of perfection which constituted it
a model for all succeeding ages. Then came the German professors with all
the paraphernalia of scientific history, and, looking through their
instruments, we, who are not Germans, have come to take a more critical and,
perhaps, a juster view of the matter. The Germans, too, have had disciples
of other nations, and though conclusions on special points may differ, in
every country now at a certain level of education, the same views prevail as
to the principles on which historical investigation should be conducted. And
yet, while no one with a reputation to lose would venture on any personal
heresy as to the standards of legitimate evidence, the same facts still seem
to lead different minds to differing appreciations. For history, written
solely ad narrandum, is not history; the historian™s task is not over when
he has disinterred facts and established dates: it is then that the most
delicate part of his work begins. History, to be worthy of the name, must
produce the illusion of living men and women, and, in order to do this
successfully, must be based, not only upon insight into human nature in
general, but also upon personal appreciation of the particular men and women
engaged in the episodes with which it deals. With facts as such, there can
indeed be no tampering; but for the determination of their significance, of
their value, as illustrative of a course of policy or of the character of
those who were responsible for their occurrence, we have to depend in great
measure on the personality of the historian. It is evident that a man who
lacks the sympathetic power to enter into the character that he attempts to
delineate, will hardly be able to make that character live for us. For in
Art as well as Life, sympathy is power.

Now, while this is true of all history whatever, it is perhaps truer of the
history of the middle ages than of that of any more recent period, nor is
the reason of this far to seek. The middle ages were a period fruitful in
great individuals who molded society, to an extent that perhaps no
succeeding period has been. In modern times the formula, an abstraction such
asCapital or theRights of Man has largely taken the place of the
individual as a plastic force. The one great Tyrant of the nineteenth
century found his opportunity in the anarchy which followed the French
Revolution. The spoil was then necessarily to the strong. But even Napoleon
was conquered at last rather by a conspiracy of the slowly developing
anonymous forces of his time than by the superior skill or strength of an
individual rival. The lion could hardly have been caught in such meshes in
the trecento. Then, the fate of populations was bound up with the
animosities of princes, and, in order to understand the state of Europe at
any particular moment of that period, it is necessary to understand the
state of soul of the individuals who happened, at the time, to be the
political stakeholders.

It must not be thought, however, that the personality of the prince was the
only power in the medieval state, for the prince himself was held to be
ultimately amenable to an idea, which so infinitely transcended earthly
distinctions as to level them all in relation to itself. Religion was in
those days a mental and social force which we, in spite of the petulant
acerbity of modern theological controversies, have difficulty in realizing.
Prince and serf would one day appear as suppliants before the Judgment-seat
of Christ, and the theory of medieval Christianity was considerably in favor
of the serf. The Father of Christendom, at once Priest and King, anointed
and consecrated as the social exponent of the Divine Justice, could not, in
his own person, escape its rigors, but must, one day, render an account of
his stewardship. Nor did the medieval mind, distinguishing between the
office and the individual, by any means shrink from contemplating the fate
of the faithless steward. In aLast Judgment by Angelico at Florence, the
ministers of justice seem to have a special joy in hurrying off to the pit
popes and cardinals and other ecclesiastics.

For it is an insufficient criticism that has led some to suppose that the
medieval Church weighed on the conscience of Christendom solely, or even
primarily, as an arbitrary fact: that the priesthood, aided by the ignorance
of the people, succeeded in establishing a monstrous claim to control the
destinies of the soul by quasi-magical agencies and the powers of
excommunication. Nothing can be further from the truth. Probably at no
period has the Christian conscience realized more profoundly that the whole
external fabric of Catholicism, its sacraments, its priesthood, its
discipline, was but the phenomenal expression, necessary and sacred in its
place, of the Idea of Christianity, that the vitality of that Idea was the
life by which the Church lived, and that by that Idea all Christians,
priests as well as laymen, rulers as well as subjects, would at the last be
judged. When Savonarola replied to the Papal Legate, who, in his confusion,
committed the blunder of adding to the formula of excommunication from the
Church Militant, a sentence of exclusion from the Church Triumphant,You
cannot do it, he was in the tradition of medieval orthodoxy. Moreover, even
though the strict logic of her theory might have required it, the
hierarchical Church was not considered as the sole manifestation of the
Divine Will to Christendom. The unanimity with which the Christian idea was
accepted in those times made the saint a well-known type of human character
just as nowadays we have the millionaire or the philanthropist. Now the
saint, although under the same ecclesiastical dispensation as other
Christians, was conceived to have his own special relations with God, which
amounted almost to a personal revelation. In particular he was held to be
exempt from many of the limitations of fallen humanity. His prayers were of
certain efficacy; the customary uniformities of experience were thought to
be constantly transcended by the power that dwelt within him; he was often
accepted by the people as the bearer to Christendom of a Divine message over
and above the revelation of which the hierarchy was the legitimate guardian.
Not infrequently indeed that message was one of warning or correction to the
hierarchy. Sabatier points out truly that the medieval saints occupied much
the same relation to the ecclesiastical system as the Prophets of Israel had
done, under the older dispensation, to the Jewish Priesthood. They came out
of their hermitages or cloisters, and with lips touched by coal from the
altar denounced iniquity wherever they found it, even in the highest places.
It is needless to say that they were not revolutionaries”had they been so
indeed the state of Europe might have been very different today; for them,
as for other Christians, the organization of the Church was Divine; it was
by the sacred responsibilities of his office that they judged the unworthy
pastor.

An apt illustration of this attitude occurs in the life of the Blessed
Colomba of Rieti. Colomba, who was a simple peasant, was called to the
unusual vocation of preaching. The local representatives of the Holy Office,
alarmed at the novelty, imprisoned her and took the opportunity of a visit
of Alexander VI. to the neighboring town of Perugia to bring her before his
Holiness for examination. When the saint was brought into the Pope™s
presence, she reverently kissed the hem of his garment, and, being overcome
with devotion at the sight of the Vicar of Christ, fell into an ecstasy,
during which she invoked the Divine judgment on the sins of Rodrigo Borgia.
It was useless to attempt to stop her; she was beyond the control of
inquisitor or guards; the Pope had to hear her out. He did so; proclaimed
her complete orthodoxy, and set her free with every mark of reverence. In
this highly characteristic episode scholastic logic appears, for once, to
have been justified, at perilous odds, of her children. . . .

* * *

Midway between sky and earth hangs a City Beautiful: Siena, Vetus Civitas
Virginis. The town seems to have descended as a bride from airy regions, and
lightly settled on the summits of three hills which it crowns with domes and
clustering towers. As seen from the vineyards which clothe the slopes of the
hills or with its crenellated wall and slender-necked Campanile silhouetted
against the evening sky from the neighboring heights of Belcaro, the city is
familiar to students of the early Italian painters. It forms the fantastic
and solemn background of many a masterpiece of the trecentisti, and seems
the only possible home, if home they can have on earth, of the glorified
persons who occupy the foreground. It would create no surprise to come,
while walking round the ancient walls, suddenly, at a turn in the road, on
one of the sacred groups so familiarly recurrent to the memory in such an
environment: often indeed one experiences a curious illusion when a passing
friar happens for a moment tocompose with cypress and crumbling archway.

Siena, once the successful rival of Florence in commerce, war, and politics,
has, fortunately for the more vital interests which it represents, long
desisted from such minor matters. Its worldly ruin has been complete for
more than five hundred years; in truth the town has never recovered from the
plague which, in the far-off days of 1348, carried off 80,000 of its
population. Grassy mounds within the city walls mark the shrinking of the
town since the date of their erection, and Mr. Murray gives its present
population at less than 23,000. The free Ghibelline Republic which, on that
memorable 4th of September 1260, defeated, with the help of Pisa, at Monte
Aperto, the combined forces of the Guelf party in Tuscany, has now, after
centuries of servitude to Spaniard and Austrian, to be content with the
somewhat pinchbeck dignity of an Italian Prefettura. At least the
architectural degradation which has overtaken Florence at the hands of her
modern rulers has been as yet, in great measure, spared to Siena. Even the
railway has had the grace to conceal its presence in the folds of olive
which enwrap the base of the hill on which the city is set.

Once inside the rose-colored walls, as we pass up the narrow, roughly paved
streets between lines of palaces, some grim and massive like Casa Tolomei,
built in 1205, others delicate specimens of Italian Gothic like the Palazzo
Saracini, others again illustrating the combination of grace and strength
which marked the domestic architecture of the Renaissance at its prime, like
the Palazzo Piccolomini, we find ourselves in a world very remote indeed
from anything with which the experience of our own utilitarian century makes
us familiar. And yet, as we rub our eyes, unmistakably a world of facts,
though of facts, as it were, visibly interpreted by the deeper truth of an
art whose insistent presence is on all sides of us. Here is Casa Tolomei, a
huge cube of rough-hewn stone stained to the color of tarnished silver with
age, once the home of that Madonna Pia whose story lives forever in the
verse of Dante. Who shall distinguish between her actual tale of days and
the immortal life given her by the poet? In her moment of suffering at least
she has been made eternal. And not far from that ancient fortress-home, in a
winding alley that can hardly be called a street, is another house of
medieval Siena”no palace this time, but a small tradesman™s dwelling. In the
fourteenth century it belonged to Set Giacomo Benincasa, a dyer. Part of it
has now been converted into a chapel, over the door of which are inscribed
the words: Sponsae Xti Katerinae Domus. Here, on March 5, 1347, being Palm
Sunday, was born Giacomo™s daughter Caterina, who still lives one of the
purest glories of the Christian Church under the name of St. Catherine of
Siena. More than 500 years have passed since the daughter of the Siennese
dyer entered into the rest of that sublime and touching symbolism under
which the Church half veils and half reveals her teaching as to the destiny
of man. Another case, but how profoundly more significant than that of poor
Madonna Pia, of the intertwining of the world of fact with the deeper truth
of art.

St. Catherine was born at the same time as a twin-sister, who did not
survive. Her parents, Giacomo and Lapa Benincasa, were simple townspeople,
prosperous, and apparently deserving their reputation for piety. Lapa, the
daughter of one Mucio Piagenti, a now wholly forgotten poet, bore
twenty-five children to her husband, of whom thirteen only appear to have
grown up. This large family lived together in the manner still obtaining in
Italy, in the little house, till the death of Giacomo in 1368.

There are stirring pages enough in Christian hagiology. Who can read unmoved
of the struggles towards his ideal of an Augustine or a Loyola, or of the
heroic courage of a Theresa, affirming against all human odds the divinity
of her mission, and justifying, after years of labor, her incredible
assertions by the steadfastness of her will? There are other pages in the
lives of the saints, less dramatic, it may be, but breathing, nevertheless,
a na¢ve grace and poetry all their own: the childhood of those servants of
Christ who have borne His yoke from the dawn of their days forms their
charming theme. Here the blasting illuminations of the Revelation are toned
down to a soft and tender glow, in which the curves and lines of natural
humanity do but seem more pathetically human. The hymn at Lauds for the
Feast of the Holy Innocents represents those unconscious martyrs as playing
with their palms and crowns under the very altar of Heaven:”


Vos prima Christi victima

Grex immolatorum tener

Aram sub ipsam simplices

Palma et coronis luditis!

And so these other saintly babies play at hermits or monasteries instead of
the soldiers and housekeeping beloved of more secular-minded infants. Heaven
condescends to their pious revels: we are told of the Blessed Hermann
Joseph, the Premonstratensian, that his infantile sports were joyously
shared by the Divine Child Himself. He would be a morose pedant indeed who
should wish to rationalize this white mythology. The tiny Catherine was no
exception to the rest of her canonized brothers and sisters. At the age of
five it was her custom on the staircase to kneel and repeat aHail Mary at
each step, a devotion so pleasing to the angels, that they would frequently
carry her up or down without letting her feet touch the ground, much to the
alarm of her mother, who confided to Father Raymond of Capua, the Dominican
confessor of the family, her fears of an accident. Nor were these phenomena
the only reward of her infant piety. From the day that she could walk she
became very popular among her numerous relatives and her parents™ friends,
who gave her the pet name of Euphrosyne, to signify the grief-dispelling
effect of her conversation, and who were constantly inviting her to their
houses on some pretext or other. Sent one morning on an errand to the house
of her married sister Bonaventura, she was favored with a beautiful vision
which, as it has an important symbolical bearing on the great task of her
after-life, I will relate in Father Raymond™s words, slightly abridging
their prolixity.

So it happened that Catherine, being arrived at the age of six, went one
day with her brother Stephen, who was a little older than herself, to the
house of their sister Bonaventura, who was married to one Niccol˜, as has
been mentioned above, in order to carry something or give some message from
their mother Lapa. Their mother™s errand accomplished, while they were on
the way back from their sister™s house to their own and were passing along a
certain valley, called by the people Valle Piatta, the holy child, lifting
her eyes, saw on the opposite side above the Church of the Preaching Friars
a most beautiful room, adorned with regal magnificence, in which was seated,
on an imperial throne, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, clothed in
pontifical vestments, and wearing on His head a papal tiara; with Him were
the princes of the Apostles, Peter and Paul, and the holy evangelist John.
Astounded at such a sight, Catherine stood still, and with fixed and
immovable look, gazed, full of love, on her Savior, who, appearing in so
marvelous a manner, in order sweetly to gain her love to Himself, fixed on
her the eyes of His Majesty, and, with a tender smile, lifted over her His
right hand, and, making the sign of the Holy Cross in the manner of a
bishop, left with her the gift of His eternal benediction. The grace of this
gift was so efficacious, that Catherine, beside herself, and transformed
into Him upon whom she gazed with such love, forgetting not only the road
she was on, but also herself, although naturally a timid child, stood still
for a space with lifted and immovable eyes in the public road, where men and
beasts were continually passing, and would certainly have continued to stand
there as long as the vision lasted, had she not been violently diverted by
others. But while the Lord was working these marvels, the child Stephen,
leaving her standing still, continued his way down hill, thinking that she
was following, but, seeing her immovable in the distance and paying no heed
to his calls, he returned and pulled her with his hands, saying:˜What are
you doing here? why do you not come?™ Then Catherine, as if waking from a
heavy sleep, lowered her eyes and said:˜Oh, if you had seen what I see, you
would not distract me from so sweet a vision!™ and lifted her eyes again on
high; but the vision had entirely disappeared, according to the will of Him
who had granted it, and she, not being able to endure this without pain,
began with tears to reproach herself for having turned her eyes to earth.
Such was thecall of St. Catherine of Siena, and, to a mind intent on
mystical significance, the appearance of Christ, in the semblance of His
Vicar, may fitly appear to symbolize the great mission of her after-life to
the Holy See.

* * *

Much might be said of the action of Catherine on her generation. Few
individuals perhaps have ever led so active a life or have succeeded in
leaving so remarkable an imprint of their personality on the events of their
time. Catherine the Peacemaker reconciles warring factions of her native
city and heals an international feud between Florence and the Holy See.
Catherine the Consoler pours the balm of her gentle spirit into the
lacerated souls of the suffering wherever she finds them, in the condemned
cell or in the hospital ward. She is one of the most voluminous of
letter-writers, keeping up a constant correspondence with a band of
disciples, male and female, all over Italy, and last, but not least, with
the distant Pope at Avignon.

Her lot was cast on evil days for the Church and the Peninsula. The
trecento, the apogee of the middle ages was over. Francis and Dominic had
come and gone, and though Franciscans and Dominicans remained and numbered
saints among their ranks, still the first fervor of the original inspiration
was a brightness that had fled. The moral state of the secular clergy was,
according to Catherine herself, too often one of the deepest degradation,
while, in the absence of the Pontiff, the States of the Church were governed
by papal legates, mostly men of blood and lust, who ground the starving
people under their heel. Assuredly it was not from Christian bishops who
would have disgraced Islam that their subjects could learn the path of
peace. The Pope™s residence at Avignon, the Babylonish Captivity, as it was
called, may have seemed, at the time when his departure from Rome was
resolved upon, a wise measure of temporary retreat before the anarchy which
was raging round the city of St. Peter. But not many years passed before it
became evident that Philip the Fair, the astute adviser to whose counsel”and
possibly more than counsel”Clement had submitted in leaving Rome, was the
only one who profited by the exile of the Pope. Whatever the truth may be
about the details of Clement™s election, so far as his subservience to the
French king went, he might have remained Archbishop of Bordeaux to the end
of his days. He accepted for his relations costly presents from Philip; he
placed the papal authority at his service in the gravely suspicious matter
of the suppression of the Templars. Gradually the Holy See in exile lost its
ecumenical character and became more and more the vassal of the French
crown. Such a decline in its position could not fail to affect even its
doctrinal prestige. It was well enough in theory to apply to the situation
such maxims as Ubi Petrus ibi Ecclesia, or, as the Avignonese doctors
paraphrased it, Ubi Papa ibi Roma; but, in practice, Christendom grew shy of
a French Pope, living under the eye and power of the French king. The
Romans, who had always treated the Pope badly, were furious when at last
they had driven him away, and gratified their spite by insulting their
exiled rulers. Nothing could exceed their contempt for the Popes of Avignon,
who, as a matter of fact, though weak and compliant, were in their personal
characters worthy ecclesiastics. They gave no credit to John XXII. for his
genuine zeal in the cause of learning, or the energy with which he restored
ecclesiastical studies in the Western Schools. For Benedict XII., a retiring
and abstemious student, they invented the phrase: bibere papaliter”to drink
like the Pope. Clement VI. they called poco religioso, forgetting his noble
charity at the time of the plague, and also the fact that Rome herself had
produced not a few popes whose lives furnished a singular commentary on the
ethics of the Gospel.

The real danger ahead to Christendom was the possibility of an Italian
anti-Pope who should fortify his position by recourse to the heretical
elements scattered through the peninsula. Those elements were grave and
numerous. The Fraticelli or Spiritual Franciscans, although crushed for the
time by the iron hand of Pope Boniface, rather flourished than otherwise
under persecution. These dangerous heretics had inherited a garbled version
of the mysticism of Joachim of Flora, which constituted a doctrine perhaps
more radically revolutionary than that of any heretics before or since. It
amounted to belief in a new revelation of the Spirit, which was to supersede
the dispensation of the Son as that had taken the place of the dispensation
of the Father. According to the Eternal Gospel of Gerard of San Domino, who
had derived it, not without much adroit manipulation, from the writings of
Abbot Joachim, the Roman Church was on the eve of destruction, and it was
the duty of the Spirituali, the saints who had received the new
dispensation, to fly from the contamination of her communion. An anti-Pope
who should have rallied to his allegiance these elements of schism would
have been a dangerous rival to a French Pope residing in distant Avignon,
however legitimate his title. Nor was there wanting outside Italy matter for
grave anxiety. Germs of heresy were fermenting north of the Alps; the
preaching of Wycliffe, the semi-Islamism of the Hungarian Beghards, the
Theism of the Patarini of Dalmatia, the erotic mysticism of the Adamites of
Paris, indicated a widespread anarchy in the minds of Christians. Moreover,
the spiritual difficulties of the Pope were complicated by his temporal
preoccupations. For good or ill, it had come to be essential to the action
of the Holy See that the successor of the penniless fisherman should have
his place among the princes of the earth.

The papal monarchy had come about, as most things come about in this world,
by what seems to have been the inevitable force of circumstances. The decay
of the Imperial power in Italy due to the practical abandonment of the
Western Empire”for the ruler of Constantinople lived at too great a distance
to be an effective Emperor of the West”had resulted in a natural increase of
secular importance to the See of Rome. To the genius of Pope Gregory I., one
of the few men whom their fellows have named both Saint and Great, was due
the development of the political situation thus created in Italy.

Chief and greatest of bishops in his day was St. Gregory the Great. Seldom,
if ever, has the papal dignity been sustained with such lofty enthusiasm,
such sagacious political insight. Himself a Roman of Rome, Romano di Roma,
as those who possess that privilege still call themselves today, the
instinct of government was his by hereditary right. He had the defects as
well as the qualities of the statesman. His theological writings, which are
voluminous and verbose, are marked rather by a sort of canonized common
sense than by exalted flights of spirituality. His missionary enterprise was
characterized by a shrewd and gracious condescension to the limitations of
human nature. Thus he counsels St. Augustine, who had consulted him as to
the best means of extirpating the pagan customs of our English forefathers,
to deal gently with these ancient survivals. He ruled that the celebration
of the Festivals of the Sabots should if possible be held at the times and
places at which the people had been in the habit of meeting together to
worship the gods. They would thus come to associate the new religion with
their traditional merry-makings, and their conversion would be gradually,
and as it were unconsciously, effected. It was a kindly and statesmanlike
thought. In this way Gregory may truly be looked upon as the founder of
popular Catholicism, thatpensive use and wont religion, not assuredly in
the entirety of its details Christian, but at least profoundly Catholic, as
weaving together in the web of its own secular experience of man so large a
proportion of the many-colored threads that have at any time attached his
hopes and fears to the mysterious unknown which surrounds him. No miracle is
needed to explain the political ascendancy which such a man inevitably came
to acquire in an Italy deserted by the Empire, and, but for him and the
organization which depended on him, at the mercy of the invading Lombard.
More and more, people came to look on the Pope as their temporal ruler no
less than as their spiritual father. In many cases, indeed, his was the only
government they knew. Kings and nobles had conferred much property on the
Roman Church. By the end of the sixth century the Bishop of Rome held, by
the right of such donations to his See, large tracts of country, not only in
Italy, but also in Sicily, Corsica, Gaul, and even Asia and Africa. Gregory
successfully defended his Italian property against the invaders, and came to
the relief of the starving population with corn from Sicily and Africa, thus
laying deep in the hearts of the people the foundations of the secular power
of the Papacy.

It would be an unnecessary digression from our subject to work out in detail
the stages by which the Pope came to take his place first as the Italian
vicar of a distant emperor, and at length, as the result of astute
statecraft and the necessities of the case, among the princes of Europe, as
their chief and arbiter. So much as has been said was, however, necessary
for the comprehension of the task with which Catherine measured, for the
time, successfully her strength. It was given to the Popolana of Siena, by
the effect of her eloquence in persuading the wavering will of the Pope to
return to his See, to bring about what was, for the moment, the only
possible solution of that Roman question, which, hanging perpetually round
the skirts of the Bride of Christ, seems at every step to impede her
victorious advance.

* * *

Nevertheless, it is neither the intrinsic importance nor the social
consequences of her actions that constitute the true greatness of St.
Catherine. Great ends may be pursued by essentially small means, in an
aridity and narrowness of temper that goes far to discount their actual
achievement. History, and in particular the history of the Church, is not
wanting in such instances. Savonarola set great ends before himself”the
freedom of his country and the regeneration of the state; but the spirit in
which he pursued them excludes him from that Pantheon of gracious souls in
which humanity enshrines its true benefactors.Soul, as a quality of style,
is a fact, and the soul of St. Catherine™s gesta expressed itself in a
style so winning, so sweetly reasonable, as to make her the dearest of
friends to all who had the privilege of intimate association with her, and a
permanent source of refreshment to the human spirit. She intuitively
perceived life under the highest possible forms, the forms of Beauty and
Love. Truth and Goodness were, she thought, means for the achievement of
those two supreme ends. The sheer beauty of the soulin a state of Grace
is a point on which she constantly dwells, hanging it as a bait before those
whom she would induce to turn from evil. Similarly the ugliness of sin, as
much as its wickedness, should warn us of its true nature. Love, that love
of man for man which, in deepest truth, is, in the words of the writer of
the First Epistle of St. John, God Himself, is, at once, the highest
achievement of man and his supreme and satisfying beatitude. The Symbols of
Catholic theology were to her the necessary and fitting means of transit, so
to speak. See, in the following pages, the fine allegory of the Bridge of
the Sacred Humanity, of the soul in vi° on its dusty pilgrimage towards
those gleaming heights of vision.Truth was to her the handmaid of the
spiritualized imagination, not, as too often in these days of the twilight
of the soul, its tyrant and its gaoler. Many of those who pass lives of
unremitting preoccupation with the problems of truth and goodness are
wearied and cumbered with much serving. We honor them, and rightly; but if
they have nothing but this to offer us, our hearts do not run to meet them,
as they fly to the embrace of those rare souls who inhabit a serener, more
pellucid atmosphere. Among these spirits of the air, St. Catherine has taken
a permanent and foremost place. She is among the few guides of humanity who
have the perfect manner, the irresistible attractiveness, of that positive
purity of heart, which not only sees God, but diffuses Him, as by some
natural law of refraction, over the hearts of men. The Divine nuptials,
about which the mystics tell us so much, have been accomplished in her,
Nature and Grace have lain down together, and the mysteries of her religion
seem but the natural expression of a perfectly balanced character, an
unquenchable love and a deathless will.

* * *

The Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena was dictated to her secretaries by
the Saint in ecstasy. Apart from the extraordinary circumstances of its
production, this work has a special interest.

The composition of the Siennese dyer™s daughter, whose will, purified and
sublimated by prayer, imposed itself on popes and princes, is an almost
unique specimen of what may be calledecclesiastical mysticism; for its
special value lies in the fact that from first to last it is nothing more
than a mystical exposition of the creeds taught to every child in the
Catholic poor-schools. Her insight is sometimes very wonderful. How subtle,
for instance, is the analysis of the state of theworldly man who loves
God for his own pleasure or profit! The special snares of the devout are cut
through by the keen logic of one who has experienced and triumphed over
them. Terrible, again, is the retribution prophesied to theunworthy
ministers of the Blood.

And so every well-known form of Christian life, healthy or parasitic, is
treated of, detailed, analyzed incisively, remorselessly, and then subsumed
under the general conception of God™s infinite loving-kindness and mercy.

The great mystics have usually taken as their starting-point what, to most,
is the goal hardly to be reached; their own treatment of the preliminary
stages of spirituality is frequently conventional and jejune. Compare, for
instance, the first book with the two succeeding ones, of Ruysbrock™s
Ornement des Noces spirituelles, that unique breviary of the Christian
Platonician. Another result of their having done so is that, with certain
noble exceptions, the literature of this subject has fallen into the hands
of a class of writers, or rather purveyors, well-intentioned no doubt, but
not endowed with the higher spiritual and mental faculties, whom it is not
unfair to describe as the feuilletonistes of piety. Such works, brightly
bound, are appropriately exposed for sale in the Roman shop-windows, among
the gaudy objets de religion they so much resemble. To keep healthy and
raise the tone of devotional literature is surely an eighth spiritual work
of mercy. St. Philip Neri™s advice in the matter was to prefer those writers
whose names were preceded by the title of Saint. In the Dialogo we have a
great saint, one of the most extraordinary women who ever lived, treating,
in a manner so simple and familiar as at times to become almost colloquial,
of the elements of practical Christianity. Passages occur frequently of
lofty eloquence, and also of such literary perfection that this book is held
by critics to be one of the classics of the age and land which produced
Boccaccio and Petrarch. To-day, in the streets of Siena, the same Tuscan
idiom can be heard, hardly altered since the days of St. Catherine.

One word as to the translation. I have almost always followed the text of
Gigli, a learned Siennese ecclesiastic, who edited the complete works of St.
Catherine in the last century. His is the latest edition printed of the
Dialogo. Once or twice I have preferred the cinquecento Venetian editor. My
aim has been to translate as literally as possible, and at the same time to
preserve the characteristic rhythm of the sentences, so suggestive in its
way of the sing-song articulation of the Siennese of today. St. Catherine
has no style as such; she introduces a metaphor and forgets it; the sea, a
vine, and a plough will often appear in the same sentence, sometimes in the
same phrase. In such cases I have occasionally taken the liberty of adhering
to the first simile when the confusion of metaphor in the original involves
hopeless obscurity of expression.

Viareggio, September 1906.
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A TREATISE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE
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How a soul, elevated by desire of the honor of God, and of the salvation
of her neighbors, exercising herself in humble prayer, after she had seen
the union of the soul, through love, with God, asked of God four
requests.

The soul, who is lifted by a very great and yearning desire for the honor of
God and the salvation of souls, begins by exercising herself, for a certain
space of time, in the ordinary virtues, remaining in the cell of
self-knowledge, in order to know better the goodness of God towards her.
This she does because knowledge must precede love, and only when she has
attained love, can she strive to follow and to clothe herself with the
truth. But, in no way, does the creature receive such a taste of the truth,
or so brilliant a light therefrom, as by means of humble and continuous
prayer, founded on knowledge of herself and of God; because prayer,
exercising her in the above way, unites with God the soul that follows the
footprints of Christ Crucified, and thus, by desire and affection, and union
of love, makes her another Himself. Christ would seem to have meant this,
when He said: To him who will love Me and will observe My commandment, will
I manifest Myself; and he shall be one thing with Me and I with him. In
several places we find similar words, by which we can see that it is,
indeed, through the effect of love, that the soul becomes another Himself.
That this may be seen more clearly, I will mention what I remember having
heard from a handmaid of God, namely, that, when she was lifted up in
prayer, with great elevation of mind, God was not wont to conceal, from the
eye of her intellect, the love which He had for His servants, but rather to
manifest it; and, that among other things, He used to say:Open the eye of
your intellect, and gaze into Me, and you shall see the beauty of My
rational creature. And look at those creatures who, among the beauties which
I have given to the soul, creating her in My image and similitude, are
clothed with the nuptial garment (that is, the garment of love), adorned
with many virtues, by which they are united with Me through love. And yet I
tell you, if you should ask Me, who these are, I should reply (said the
sweet and amorous Word of God)they are another Myself, inasmuch as they
have lost and denied their own will, and are clothed with Mine, are united
to Mine, are conformed to Mine. It is therefore true, indeed, that the soul
unites herself with God by the affection of love.

So, that soul, wishing to know and follow the truth more manfully, and
lifting her desires first for herself”for she considered that a soul could
not be of use, whether in doctrine, example, or prayer, to her neighbor, if
she did not first profit herself, that is, if she did not acquire virtue in
herself”addressed four requests to the Supreme and Eternal Father. The first
was for herself; the second for the reformation of the Holy Church; the
third a general prayer for the whole world, and in particular for the peace
of Christians who rebel, with much lewdness and persecution, against the
Holy Church; in the fourth and last, she besought the Divine Providence to
provide for things in general, and in particular, for a certain case with
which she was concerned.
_________________________________________________________________

How the desire of this soul grew when God showed her the neediness of the
world.

This desire was great and continuous, but grew much more, when the First
Truth showed her the neediness of the world, and in what a tempest of
offense against God it lay. And she had understood this the better from a
letter, which she had received from the spiritual Father of her soul, in
which he explained to her the penalties and intolerable dolor caused by
offenses against God, and the loss of souls, and the persecutions of Holy
Church.

All this lighted the fire of her holy desire with grief for the offenses,
and with the joy of the lively hope, with which she waited for God to
provide against such great evils. And, since the soul seems, in such
communion, sweetly to bind herself fast within herself and with God, and
knows better His truth, inasmuch as the soul is then in God, and God in the
soul, as the fish is in the sea, and the sea in the fish, she desired the
arrival of the morning (for the morrow was a feast of Mary) in order to hear
Mass. And, when the morning came, and the hour of the Mass, she sought with
anxious desire her accustomed place; and, with a great knowledge of herself,
being ashamed of her own imperfection, appearing to herself to be the cause
of all the evil that was happening throughout the world, conceiving a hatred
and displeasure against herself, and a feeling of holy justice, with which
knowledge, hatred, and justice, she purified the stains which seemed to her
to cover her guilty soul, she said:O Eternal Father, I accuse myself
before You, in order that You may punish me for my sins in this finite life,
and, inasmuch as my sins are the cause of the sufferings which my neighbor
must endure, I implore You, in Your kindness, to punish them in my
person.
_________________________________________________________________

How finite works are not sufficient for punishment or recompense without
the perpetual affection of love.

Then, the Eternal Truth seized and drew more strongly to Himself her desire,
doing as He did in the Old Testament, for when the sacrifice was offered to
God, a fire descended and drew to Him the sacrifice that was acceptable to
Him; so did the sweet Truth to that soul, in sending down the fire of the
clemency of the Holy Spirit, seizing the sacrifice of desire that she made
of herself, saying:Do you not know, dear daughter, that all the
sufferings, which the soul endures, or can endure, in this life, are
insufficient to punish one smallest fault, because the offense, being done
to Me, who am the Infinite Good, calls for an infinite satisfaction?
However, I wish that you should know, that not all the pains that are given
to men in this life are given as punishments, but as corrections, in order
to chastise a son when he offends; though it is true that both the guilt and
the penalty can be expiated by the desire of the soul, that is, by true
contrition, not through the finite pain endured, but through the infinite
desire; because God, who is infinite, wishes for infinite love and infinite
grief. Infinite grief I wish from My creature in two ways: in one way,
through her sorrow for her own sins, which she has committed against Me her
Creator; in the other way, through her sorrow for the sins which she sees
her neighbors commit against Me. Of such as these, inasmuch as they have
infinite desire, that is, are joined to Me by an affection of love, and
therefore grieve when they offend Me, or see Me offended, their every pain,
whether spiritual or corporeal, from wherever it may come, receives infinite
merit, and satisfies for a guilt which deserved an infinite penalty,
although their works are finite and done in finite time; but, inasmuch as
they possess the virtue of desire, and sustain their suffering with desire,
and contrition, and infinite displeasure against their guilt, their pain is
held worthy. Paul explained this when he said: If I had the tongues of
angels, and if I knew the things of the future and gave my body to be
burned, and have not love, it would be worth nothing to me. The glorious
Apostle thus shows that finite works are not valid, either as punishment or
recompense, without the condiment of the affection of love.
_________________________________________________________________

How desire and contrition of heart satisfies, both for the guilt and the
penalty in oneself and in others; and how sometimes it satisfies for the
guilt only, and not the penalty.

I have shown you, dearest daughter, that the guilt is not punished in this
finite time by any pain which is sustained purely as such. And I say, that
the guilt is punished by the pain which is endured through the desire, love,
and contrition of the heart; not by virtue of the pain, but by virtue of the
desire of the soul; inasmuch as desire and every virtue is of value, and has
life in itself, through Christ crucified, My only begotten Son, in so far as
the soul has drawn her love from Him, and virtuously follows His virtues,
that is, His Footprints. In this way, and in no other, are virtues of value,
and in this way, pains satisfy for the fault, by the sweet and intimate love
acquired in the knowledge of My goodness, and in the bitterness and
contrition of heart acquired by knowledge of one™s self and one™s own
thoughts. And this knowledge generates a hatred and displeasure against sin,
and against the soul™s own sensuality, through which, she deems herself
worthy of pains and unworthy of reward.

The sweet Truth continued:See how, by contrition of the heart, together
with love, with true patience, and with true humility, deeming themselves
worthy of pain and unworthy of reward, such souls endure the patient
humility in which consists the above-mentioned satisfaction. You ask me,
then, for pains, so that I may receive satisfaction for the offenses, which
are done against Me by My Creatures, and you further ask the will to know
and love Me, who am the Supreme Truth. Wherefore I reply that this is the
way, if you will arrive at a perfect knowledge and enjoyment of Me, the
Eternal Truth, that you should never go outside the knowledge of yourself,
and, by humbling yourself in the valley of humility, you will know Me and
yourself, from which knowledge you will draw all that is necessary. No
virtue, my daughter, can have life in itself except through charity, and
humility, which is the foster-mother and nurse of charity. In
self-knowledge, then, you will humble yourself, seeing that, in yourself,
you do not even exist; for your very being, as you will learn, is derived
from Me, since I have loved both you and others before you were in
existence; and that, through the ineffable love which I had for you, wishing
to re-create you to Grace, I have washed you, and re-created you in the
Blood of My only-begotten Son, spilt with so great a fire of love. This
Blood teaches the truth to him, who, by self-knowledge, dissipates the cloud
of self-love, and in no other way can he learn. Then the soul will inflame
herself in this knowledge of Me with an ineffable love, through which love
she continues in constant pain; not, however, a pain which afflicts or dries
up the soul, but one which rather fattens her; for since she has known My
truth, and her own faults, and the ingratitude of men, she endures
intolerable suffering, grieving because she loves Me; for, if she did not
love Me, she would not be obliged to do so; whence it follows immediately,
that it is right for you, and My other servants who have learnt My truth in
this way, to sustain, even unto death, many tribulations and injuries and
insults in word and deed, for the glory and praise of My Name; thus will you
endure and suffer pains. Do you, therefore, and My other servants, carry
yourselves with true patience, with grief for your sins, and with love of
virtue for the glory and praise of My Name. If you act thus, I will satisfy
for your sins, and for those of My other servants, inasmuch as the pains
which you will endure will be sufficient, through the virtue of love, for
satisfaction and reward, both in you and in others. In yourself you will
receive the fruit of life, when the stains of your ignorance are effaced,
and I shall not remember that you ever offended Me. In others I will satisfy
through the love and affection which you have to Me, and I will give to them
according to the disposition with which they will receive My gifts. In
particular, to those who dispose themselves, humbly and with reverence, to
receive the doctrine of My servants, will I remit both guilt and penalty,
since they will thus come to true knowledge and contrition for their sins.
So that, by means of prayer, and their desire of serving Me, they receive
the fruit of grace, receiving it humbly in greater or less degree, according
to the extent of their exercise of virtue and grace in general. I say then,
that, through your desires, they will receive remission for their sins. See,
however, the condition, namely, that their obstinacy should not be so great
in their despair as to condemn them through contempt of the Blood, which,
with such sweetness, has restored them.

What fruit do they receive?

The fruit which I destine for them, constrained by the prayers of My
servants, is that I give them light, and that I wake up in them the hound of
conscience, and make them smell the odor of virtue, and take delight in the
conversation of My servants.

Sometimes I allow the world to show them what it is, so that, feeling its
diverse and various passions, they may know how little stability it has, and
may come to lift their desire beyond it, and seek their native country,
which is the Eternal Life. And so I draw them by these, and by many other
ways, for the eye cannot see, nor the tongue relate, nor the heart think,
how many are the roads and ways which I use, through love alone, to lead
them back to grace, so that My truth may be fulfilled in them. I am
constrained to do so by that inestimable love of Mine, by which I created
them, and by the love, desire, and grief of My servants, since I am no
despiser of their tears, and sweat, and humble prayers; rather I accept
them, inasmuch as I am He who give them this love for the good of souls and
grief for their loss. But I do not, in general, grant to these others, for
whom they pray, satisfaction for the penalty due to them, but, only for
their guilt, since they are not disposed, on their side, to receive, with
perfect love, My love, and that of My servants. They do not receive their
grief with bitterness, and perfect contrition for the sins they have
committed, but with imperfect love and contrition, wherefore they have not,
as others, remission of the penalty, but only of the guilt; because such
complete satisfaction requires proper dispositions on both sides, both in
him that gives and him that receives. Wherefore, since they are imperfect,
they receive imperfectly the perfection of the desires of those who offer
them to Me, for their sakes, with suffering; and, inasmuch as I told you
that they do receive remission, this is indeed the truth, that, by that way
which I have told you, that is, by the light of conscience, and by other
things, satisfaction is made for their guilt; for, beginning to learn, they
vomit forth the corruption of their sins, and so receive the gift of grace.

These are they who are in a state of ordinary charity, wherefore, if they
have trouble, they receive it in the guise of correction, and do not resist
over much the clemency of the Holy Spirit, but, coming out of their sin,
they receive the life of grace. But if, like fools, they are ungrateful, and
ignore Me and the labors of My servants done for them, that which was given
them, through mercy, turns to their own ruin and judgment, not through
defect of mercy, nor through defect of him who implored the mercy for the
ingrate, but solely through the man™s own wretchedness and hardness, with
which, with the hands of his free will, he has covered his heart, as it
were, with a diamond, which, if it be not broken by the Blood, can in no way
be broken. And yet, I say to you, that, in spite of his hardness of heart,
he can use his free will while he has time, praying for the Blood of My Son,
and let him with his own hand apply It to the diamond over his heart and
shiver it, and he will receive the imprint of the Blood which has been paid
for him. But, if he delays until the time be past, he has no remedy, because
he has not used the dowry which I gave him, giving him memory so as to
remember My benefits, intellect, so as to see and know the truth, affection,
so that he should love Me, the Eternal Truth, whom he would have known
through the use of his intellect. This is the dowry which I have given you
all, and which ought to render fruit to Me, the Father; but, if a man
barters and sells it to the devil, the devil, if he choose, has a right to
seize on everything that he has acquired in this life. And, filling his
memory with the delights of sin, and with the recollection of shameful
pride, avarice, self-love, hatred, and unkindness to his neighbors (being
also a persecutor of My servants), with these miseries, he has obscured his
intellect by his disordinate will. Let such as these receive the eternal
pains, with their horrible stench, inasmuch as they have not satisfied for
their sins with contrition and displeasure of their guilt. Now, therefore,
you have understood how suffering satisfies for guilt by perfect contrition,
not through the finite pain; and such as have this contrition in perfection
satisfy not only for the guilt, but also for the penalty which follows the
guilt, as I have already said when speaking in general; and if they satisfy
for the guilt alone, that is, if, having abandoned mortal sin, they receive
grace, and have not sufficient contrition and love to satisfy for the
penalty also, they go to the pains of Purgatory, passing through the second
and last means of satisfaction.

So you see that satisfaction is made, through the desire of the soul united
to Me, who am the Infinite Good, in greater or less degree, according to the
measure of love, obtained by the desire and prayer of the recipient.
Wherefore, with that very same measure with which a man measures to Me, do
he receive in himself the measure of My goodness. Labor, therefore, to
increase the fire of your desire, and let not a moment pass without crying
to Me with humble voice, or without continual prayers before Me for your
neighbors. I say this to you and to the father of your soul, whom I have
given you on earth. Bear yourselves with manful courage, and make yourselves
dead to all your own sensuality.
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How very pleasing to God is the willing desire to suffer for Him.

Very pleasing to Me, dearest daughter, is the willing desire to bear every
pain and fatigue, even unto death, for the salvation of souls, for the more
the soul endures, the more she shows that she loves Me; loving Me she comes
to know more of My truth, and the more she knows, the more pain and
intolerable grief she feels at the offenses committed against Me. You asked
Me to sustain you, and to punish the faults of others in you, and you did
not remark that you were really asking for love, light, and knowledge of the
truth, since I have already told you that, by the increase of love, grows
grief and pain, wherefore he that grows in love grows in grief. Therefore, I
say to you all, that you should ask, and it will be given you, for I deny
nothing to him who asks of Me in truth. Consider that the love of divine
charity is so closely joined in the soul with perfect patience, that neither
can leave the soul without the other. For this reason (if the soul elect to
love Me) she should elect to endure pains for Me in whatever mode or
circumstance I may send them to her. Patience cannot be proved in any other
way than by suffering, and patience is united with love as has been said.
Therefore bear yourselves with manly courage, for, unless you do so, you
will not prove yourselves to be spouses of My Truth, and faithful children,
nor of the company of those who relish the taste of My honor, and the
salvation of souls.
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How every virtue and every defect is obtained by means of our neighbor.

I wish also that you should know that every virtue is obtained by means of
your neighbor, and likewise, every defect; he, therefore, who stands in
hatred of Me, does an injury to his neighbor, and to himself, who is his own
chief neighbor, and this injury is both general and particular. It is
general because you are obliged to love your neighbor as yourself, and
loving him, you ought to help him spiritually, with prayer, counseling him
with words, and assisting him both spiritually and temporally, according to
the need in which he may be, at least with your goodwill if you have nothing
else. A man therefore, who does not love, does not help him, and thereby
does himself an injury; for he cuts off from himself grace, and injures his
neighbor, by depriving him of the benefit of the prayers and of the sweet
desires that he is bound to offer for him to Me. Thus, every act of help
that he performs should proceed from the charity which he has through love
of Me. And every evil also, is done by means of his neighbor, for, if he do
not love Me, he cannot be in charity with his neighbor; and thus, all evils
derive from the soul™s deprivation of love of Me and her neighbor; whence,
inasmuch as such a man does no good, it follows that he must do evil. To
whom does he evil? First of all to himself, and then to his neighbor, not
against Me, for no evil can touch Me, except in so far as I count done to Me
that which he does to himself. To himself he does the injury of sin, which
deprives him of grace, and worse than this he cannot do to his neighbor. Him
he injures in not paying him the debt, which he owes him, of love, with
which he ought to help him by means of prayer and holy desire offered to Me
for him. This is an assistance which is owed in general to every rational
creature; but its usefulness is more particular when it is done to those who
are close at hand, under your eyes, as to whom, I say, you are all obliged
to help one another by word and doctrine, and the example of good works, and
in every other respect in which your neighbor may be seen to be in need;
counseling him exactly as you would yourselves, without any passion of
self-love; and he (a man not loving God) does not do this, because he has no
love towards his neighbor; and, by not doing it, he does him, as you see, a
special injury. And he does him evil, not only by not doing him the good
that he might do him, but by doing him a positive injury and a constant
evil. In this way sin causes a physical and a mental injury. The mental
injury is already done when the sinner has conceived pleasure in the idea of
sin, and hatred of virtue, that is, pleasure from sensual self-love, which
has deprived him of the affection of love which he ought to have towards Me,
and his neighbor, as has been said. And, after he has conceived, he brings
forth one sin after another against his neighbor, according to the diverse
ways which may please his perverse sensual will. Sometimes it is seen that
he brings forth cruelty, and that both in general and in particular.

His general cruelty is to see himself and other creatures in danger of
death and damnation through privation of grace, and so cruel is he that he
reminds neither himself nor others of the love of virtue and hatred of vice.
Being thus cruel he may wish to extend his cruelty still further, that is,
not content with not giving an example of virtue, the villain also usurps
the office of the demons, tempting, according to his power, his
fellow-creatures to abandon virtue for vice; this is cruelty towards his
neighbors, for he makes himself an instrument to destroy life and to give
death. Cruelty towards the body has its origin in cupidity, which not only
prevents a man from helping his neighbor, but causes him to seize the goods
of others, robbing the poor creatures; sometimes this is done by the
arbitrary use of power, and at other times by cheating and fraud, his
neighbor being forced to redeem, to his own loss, his own goods, and often
indeed his own person.

Oh, miserable vice of cruelty, which will deprive the man who practices it
of all mercy, unless he turn to kindness and benevolence towards his
neighbor!

Sometimes the sinner brings forth insults on which often follows murder;
sometimes also impurity against the person of his neighbor, by which he
becomes a brute beast full of stench, and in this case he does not poison
one only, but whoever approaches him, with love or in conversation, is
poisoned.

Against whom does pride bring forth evils? Against the neighbor, through
love of one™s own reputation, whence comes hatred of the neighbor, reputing
one™s self to be greater than he; and in this way is injury done to him. And
if a man be in a position of authority, he produces also injustice and
cruelty and becomes a retailer of the flesh of men. Oh, dearest daughter,
grieve for the offense against Me, and weep over these corpses, so that, by
prayer, the bands of their death may be loosened!

See now, that, in all places and in all kinds of people, sin is always
produced against the neighbor, and through his medium; in no other way could
sin ever be committed either secret or open. A secret sin is when you
deprive your neighbor of that which you ought to give him; an open sin is
where you perform positive acts of sin, as I have related to you. It is,
therefore, indeed the truth that every sin done against Me, is done through
the medium of the neighbor.
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How virtues are accomplished by means of our neighbor, and how it is that
virtues differ to such an extent in creatures.

I have told you how all sins are accomplished by means of your neighbor,
through the principles which I exposed to you, that is, because men are
deprived of the affection of love, which gives light to every virtue. In the
same way self-love, which destroys charity and affection towards the
neighbor, is the principle and foundation of every evil. All scandals,
hatred, cruelty, and every sort of trouble proceed from this perverse root
of self-love, which has poisoned the entire world, and weakened the mystical
body of the Holy Church, and the universal body of the believers in the
Christian religion; and, therefore, I said to you, that it was in the
neighbor, that is to say in the love of him, that all virtues were founded;
and, truly indeed did I say to you, that charity gives life to all the
virtues, because no virtue can be obtained without charity, which is the
pure love of Me.

Wherefore, when the soul knows herself, as we have said above, she finds
humility and hatred of her own sensual passion, for she learns the perverse
law, which is bound up in her members, and which ever fights against the
spirit. And, therefore, arising with hatred of her own sensuality, crushing
it under the heel of reason, with great earnestness, she discovers in
herself the bounty of My goodness, through the many benefits which she has
received from Me, all of which she considers again in herself. She
attributes to Me, through humility, the knowledge which she has obtained of
herself, knowing that, by My grace, I have drawn her out of darkness and
lifted her up into the light of true knowledge. When she has recognized My
goodness, she loves it without any medium, and yet at the same time with a
medium, that is to say, without the medium of herself or of any advantage
accruing to herself, and with the medium of virtue, which she has conceived
through love of Me, because she sees that, in no other way, can she become
grateful and acceptable to Me, but by conceiving, hatred of sin and love of
virtue; and, when she has thus conceived by the affection of love, she
immediately is delivered of fruit for her neighbor, because, in no other
way, can she act out the truth she has conceived in herself, but, loving Me
in truth, in the same truth she serves her neighbor.

And it cannot be otherwise, because love of Me and of her neighbor are one
and the same thing, and, so far as the soul loves Me, she loves her
neighbor, because love towards him issues from Me. This is the means which I
have given you, that you may exercise and prove your virtue therewith;
because, inasmuch as you can do Me no profit, you should do it to your
neighbor. This proves that you possess Me by grace in your soul, producing
much fruit for your neighbor and making prayers to Me, seeking with sweet
and amorous desire My honor and the salvation of souls. The soul, enamored
of My truth, never ceases to serve the whole world in general, and more or
less in a particular case according to the disposition of the recipient and
the ardent desire of the donor, as I have shown above, when I declared to
you that the endurance of suffering alone, without desire, was not
sufficient to punish a fault.

When she has discovered the advantage of this unitive love in Me, by means
of which, she truly loves herself, extending her desire for the salvation of
the whole world, thus coming to the aid of its neediness, she strives,
inasmuch as she has done good to herself by the conception of virtue, from
which she has drawn the life of grace, to fix her eye on the needs of her
neighbor in particular. Wherefore, when she has discovered, through the
affection of love, the state of all rational creatures in general, she helps
those who are at hand, according to the various graces which I have
entrusted to her to administer; one she helps with doctrine, that is, with
words, giving sincere counsel without any respect of persons, another with
the example of a good life, and this indeed all give to their neighbor, the
edification of a holy and honorable life. These are the virtues, and many
others, too many to enumerate, which are brought forth in the love of the
neighbor; but, although I have given them in such a different way, that is
to say not all to one, but to one, one virtue, and to another, another, it
so happens that it is impossible to have one, without having them all,
because all the virtues are bound together. Wherefore, learn, that, in many
cases I give one virtue, to be as it were the chief of the others, that is
to say, to one I will give principally love, to another justice, to another
humility, to one a lively faith, to another prudence or temperance, or
patience, to another fortitude. These, and many other virtues, I place,
indifferently, in the souls of many creatures; it happens, therefore, that
the particular one so placed in the soul becomes the principal object of its
virtue; the soul disposing herself, for her chief conversation, to this
rather than to other virtues, and, by the effect of this virtue, the soul
draws to herself all the other virtues, which, as has been said, are all
bound together in the affection of love; and so with many gifts and graces
of virtue, and not only in the case of spiritual things but also of
temporal. I use the word temporal for the things necessary to the physical
life of man; all these I have given indifferently, and I have not placed
them all in one soul, in order that man should, perforce, have material for
love of his fellow. I could easily have created men possessed of all that
they should need both for body and soul, but I wish that one should have
need of the other, and that they should be My ministers to administer the
graces and the gifts that they have received from Me. Whether man will or
no, he cannot help making an act of love. It is true, however, that that
act, unless made through love of Me, profits him nothing so far as grace is
concerned. See then, that I have made men My ministers, and placed them in
diverse stations and various ranks, in order that they may make use of the
virtue of love.

Wherefore, I show you that in My house are many mansions, and that I wish
for no other thing than love, for in the love of Me is fulfilled and
completed the love of the neighbor, and the law observed. For he, only, can
be of use in his state of life, who is bound to Me with this love.
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How virtues are proved and fortified by their contraries.

Up to the present, I have taught you how a man may serve his neighbor, and
manifest, by that service, the love which he has towards Me.

Now I wish to tell you further, that a man proves his patience on his
neighbor, when he receives injuries from him.

Similarly, he proves his humility on a proud man, his faith on an infidel,
his true hope on one who despairs, his justice on the unjust, his kindness
on the cruel, his gentleness and benignity on the irascible. Good men
produce and prove all their virtues on their neighbor, just as perverse men
all their vices; thus, if you consider well, humility is proved on pride in
this way. The humble man extinguishes pride, because a proud man can do no
harm to a humble one; neither can the infidelity of a wicked man, who
neither loves Me, nor hopes in Me, when brought forth against one who is
faithful to Me, do him any harm; his infidelity does not diminish the faith
or the hope of him who has conceived his faith and hope through love of Me,
it rather fortifies it, and proves it in the love he feels for his neighbor.
For, he sees that the infidel is unfaithful, because he is without hope in
Me, and in My servant, because he does not love Me, placing his faith and
hope rather in his own sensuality, which is all that he loves. My faithful
servant does not leave him because he does not faithfully love Me, or
because he does not constantly seek, with hope in Me, for his salvation,
inasmuch as he sees clearly the causes of his infidelity and lack of hope.
The virtue of faith is proved in these and other ways. Wherefore, to those,
who need the proof of it, My servant proves his faith in himself and in his
neighbor, and so, justice is not diminished by the wicked man™s injustice,
but is rather proved, that is to say, the justice of a just man. Similarly,
the virtues of patience, benignity, and kindness manifest themselves in a
time of wrath by the same sweet patience in My servants, and envy, vexation,
and hatred demonstrate their love, and hunger and desire for the salvation
of souls. I say, also, to you, that, not only is virtue proved in those who
render good for evil, but, that many times a good man gives back fiery coals
of love, which dispel the hatred and rancor of heart of the angry, and so
from hatred often comes benevolence, and that this is by virtue of the love
and perfect patience which is in him, who sustains the anger of the wicked,
bearing and supporting his defects. If you will observe the virtues of
fortitude and perseverance, these virtues are proved by the long endurance
of the injuries and detractions of wicked men, who, whether by injuries or
by flattery, constantly endeavor to turn a man aside from following the road
and the doctrine of truth. Wherefore, in all these things, the virtue of
fortitude conceived within the soul, perseveres with strength, and, in
addition proves itself externally upon the neighbor, as I have said to you;
and, if fortitude were not able to make that good proof of itself, being
tested by many contrarieties, it would not be a serious virtue founded in
truth.
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A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
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How the affection should not place reliance chiefly on penance, but
rather on virtues; and how discretion receives life from humility, and
renders to each man his due.

These are the holy and sweet works which I seek from My servants; these are
the proved intrinsic virtues of the soul, as I have told you. They not only
consist of those virtues which are done by means of the body, that is, with
an exterior act, or with diverse and varied penances, which are the
instruments of virtue; works of penance performed alone without the
above-mentioned virtues would please Me little; often, indeed, if the soul
perform not her penance with discretion, that is to say, if her affection be
placed principally in the penance she has undertaken, her perfection will be
impeded; she should rather place reliance on the affection of love, with a
holy hatred of herself, accompanied by true humility and perfect patience,
together with the other intrinsic virtues of the soul, with hunger and
desire for My honor and the salvation of souls. For these virtues
demonstrate that the will is dead, and continually slays its own sensuality
through the affection of love of virtue. With this discretion, then, should
the soul perform her penance, that is, she should place her principal
affection in virtue rather than in penance. Penance should be but the means
to increase virtue according to the needs of the individual, and according
to what the soul sees she can do in the measure of her own possibility.
Otherwise, if the soul place her foundation on penance she will contaminate
her own perfection, because her penance will not be done in the light of
knowledge of herself and of My goodness, with discretion, and she will not
seize hold of My truth; neither loving that which I love, nor hating that
which I hate. This virtue of discretion is no other than a true knowledge
which the soul should have of herself and of Me, and in this knowledge is
virtue rooted. Discretion is the only child of self-knowledge, and, wedding
with charity, has indeed many other descendants, as a tree which has many
branches; but that which gives life to the tree, to its branches, and its
root, is the ground of humility, in which it is planted, which humility is
the foster-mother and nurse of charity, by whose means this tree remains in
the perpetual calm of discretion. Because otherwise the tree would not
produce the virtue of discretion, or any fruit of life, if it were not
planted in the virtue of humility, because humility proceeds from
self-knowledge. And I have already said to you, that the root of discretion
is a real knowledge of self and of My goodness, by which the soul
immediately, and discreetly, renders to each one his due. Chiefly to Me in
rendering praise and glory to My Name, and in referring to Me the graces and
the gifts which she sees and knows she has received from Me; and rendering
to herself that which she sees herself to have merited, knowing that she
does not even exist of herself, and attributing to Me, and not to herself,
her being, which she knows she has received by grace from Me, and every
other grace which she has received besides.

And she seems to herself to be ungrateful for so many benefits, and
negligent, in that she has not made the most of her time, and the graces she
has received, and so seems to herself worthy of suffering; wherefore she
becomes odious and displeasing to herself through her guilt. And this founds
the virtue of discretion on knowledge of self, that is, on true humility,
for, were this humility not in the soul, the soul would be indiscreet,
indiscretion being founded on pride, as discretion is on humility.

An indiscreet soul robs Me of the honor due to Me, and attributes it to
herself, through vainglory, and that which is really her own she imputes to
Me, grieving and murmuring concerning My mysteries, with which I work in her
soul and in those of My other creatures; wherefore everything in Me and in
her neighbor is cause of scandal to her. Contrariwise those who possess the
virtue of discretion. For, when they have rendered what is due to Me and to
themselves, they proceed to render to their neighbor their principal debt of
love, and of humble and continuous prayer, which all should pay to each
other, and further, the debt of doctrine, and example of a holy and
honorable life, counseling and helping others according to their needs for
salvation, as I said to you above. Whatever rank a man be in, whether that
of a noble, a prelate, or a servant, if he have this virtue, everything that
he does to his neighbor is done discreetly and lovingly, because these
virtues are bound and mingled together, and both planted in the ground of
humility which proceeds from self-knowledge.
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A parable showing how love, humility, and discretion are united; and how
the soul should conform herself to this parable.

Do you know how these three virtues stand together? It is, as if a circle
were drawn on the surface of the earth, and a tree, with an off-shoot joined
to its side, grew in the center of the circle. The tree is nourished in the
earth contained in the diameter of the circle, for if the tree were out of
the earth it would die, and give no fruit. Now, consider, in the same way,
that the soul is a tree existing by love, and that it can live by nothing
else than love; and, that if this soul have not in very truth the divine
love of perfect charity, she cannot produce fruit of life, but only of
death. It is necessary then, that the root of this tree, that is the
affection of the soul, should grow in, and issue from the circle of true
self-knowledge which is contained in Me, who have neither beginning nor end,
like the circumference of the circle, for, turn as you will within a circle,
inasmuch as the circumference has neither end nor beginning, you always
remain within it.

This knowledge of yourself and of Me is found in the earth of true
humility, which is as wide as the diameter of the circle, that is as the
knowledge of self and of Me (for, otherwise, the circle would not be without
end and beginning, but would have its beginning in knowledge of self, and
its end in confusion, if this knowledge were not contained in Me). Then the
tree of love feeds itself on humility, bringing forth from its side the
off-shoot of true discretion, in the way that I have already told you, from
the heart of the tree, that is the affection of love which is in the soul,
and the patience, which proves that I am in the soul and the soul in Me.
This tree then, so sweetly planted, produces fragrant blossoms of virtue,
with many scents of great variety, inasmuch as the soul renders fruit of
grace and of utility to her neighbor, according to the zeal of those who
come to receive fruit from My servants; and to Me she renders the sweet odor
of glory and praise to My Name, and so fulfills the object of her creation.

In this way, therefore, she reaches the term of her being, that is Myself,
her God, who am Eternal Life. And these fruits cannot be taken from her
without her will, inasmuch as they are all flavored with discretion, because
they are all united, as has been said above.
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How penance and other corporal exercises are to be taken as instruments
for arriving at virtue, and not as the principal affection of the soul;
and of the light of discretion in various other modes and operations.

These are the fruits and the works which I seek from the soul, the proving,
namely, of virtue in the time of need. And yet some time ago, if you
remember, when you were desirous of doing great penance for My sake, asking,
˜What can I do to endure suffering for You, oh Lord?™ I replied to you,
speaking in your mind,˜I take delight in few words and many works.™ I
wished to show you that he who merely calls on me with the sound of words,
saying:˜Lord, Lord, I would do something for You,™ and he, who desires for
My sake to mortify his body with many penances, and not his own will, did
not give Me much pleasure; but that I desired the manifold works of manly
endurance with patience, together with the other virtues, which I have
mentioned to you above, intrinsic to the soul, all of which must be in
activity in order to obtain fruits worthy of grace. All other works, founded
on any other principle than this, I judge to be a mere calling with words,
because they are finite works, and I, who am Infinite, seek infinite works,
that is an infinite perfection of love.

I wish therefore that the works of penance, and of other corporal
exercises, should be observed merely as means, and not as the fundamental
affection of the soul. For, if the principal affection of the soul were
placed in penance, I should receive a finite thing like a word, which, when
it has issued from the mouth, is no more, unless it have issued with
affection of the soul, which conceives and brings forth virtue in truth;
that is, unless the finite operation, which I have called a word, should be
joined with the affection or love, in which case it would be grateful and
pleasant to Me. And this is because such a work would not be alone, but
accompanied by true discretion, using corporal works as means, and not as
the principal foundation; for it would not be becoming that that principal
foundation should be placed in penance only, or in any exterior corporal
act, such works being finite, since they are done in finite time, and also
because it is often profitable that the creature omit them, and even that
she be made to do so.

Wherefore, when the soul omits them through necessity, being unable through
various circumstances to complete an action which she has begun, or, as may
frequently happen, through obedience at the order of her director, it is
well; since, if she continued then to do them, she not only would receive no
merit, but would offend Me; thus you see that they are merely finite. She
ought, therefore, to adopt them as a means, and not as an end. For, if she
takes them as an end she will be obliged, some time or other, to leave them,
and will then remain empty. This, My trumpeter, the glorious Paul, taught
you when he said in his epistle, that you should mortify the body and
destroy self-will, knowing, that is to say, how to keep the rein on the
body, macerating the flesh whenever it should wish to combat the spirit, but
the will should be dead and annihilated in everything, and subject to My
will, and this slaying of the will is that due which, as I told you, the
virtue of discretion renders to the soul, that is to say, hatred and disgust
of her own offenses and sensuality, which are acquired by self-knowledge.
This is the knife which slays and cuts off all self-love founded in
self-will. These then are they who give Me not only words but manifold
works, and in these I take delight. And then I said that I desired few
words, and many actions; by the use of the word˜many™ I assign no
particular number to you, because the affection of the soul, founded in
love, which gives life to all the virtues and good works, should increase
infinitely, and yet I do not, by this, exclude words, I merely said that I
wished few of them, showing you that every actual operation, as such, was
finite, and therefore I called them of little account; but they please Me
when they are performed as the instruments of virtue, and not as a principal
end in themselves.

However, no one should judge that he has greater perfection, because he
performs great penances, and gives himself in excess to the slaying of his
body, than he who does less, inasmuch as neither virtue nor merit consists
therein; for otherwise he would be in an evil case, who, from some
legitimate reason, was unable to do actual penance. Merit consists in the
virtue of love alone, flavored with the light of true discretion, without
which the soul is worth nothing. And this love should be directed to Me
endlessly, boundlessly, since I am the Supreme and Eternal Truth. The soul
can therefore place neither laws nor limits to her love for Me; but her love
for her neighbor, on the contrary, is ordered in certain conditions. The
light of discretion (which proceeds from love, as I have told you) gives to
the neighbor a conditioned love, one that, being ordered aright, does not
cause the injury of sin to self in order to be useful to others, for, if one
single sin were committed to save the whole world from Hell, or to obtain
one great virtue, the motive would not be a rightly ordered or discreet
love, but rather indiscreet, for it is not lawful to perform even one act of
great virtue and profit to others, by means of the guilt of sin. Holy
discretion ordains that the soul should direct all her powers to My service
with a manly zeal, and, that she should love her neighbor with such devotion
that she would lay down a thousand times, if it were possible, the life of
her body for the salvation of souls, enduring pains and torments so that her
neighbor may have the life of grace, and giving her temporal substance for
the profit and relief of his body.

This is the supreme office of discretion which proceeds from charity. So
you see how discreetly every soul, who wishes for grace, should pay her
debts, that is, should love Me with an infinite love and without measure,
but her neighbor with measure, with a restricted love, as I have said, not
doing herself the injury of sin in order to be useful to others. This is St.
Paul™s counsel to you when he says that charity ought to be concerned first
with self, otherwise it will never be of perfect utility to others. Because,
when perfection is not in the soul, everything which the soul does for
itself and for others is imperfect. It would not, therefore, be just that
creatures, who are finite and created by Me, should be saved through offense
done to Me, who am the Infinite Good. The more serious the fault is in such
a case, the less fruit will the action produce; therefore, in no way should
you ever incur the guilt of sin.

And this true love knows well, because she carries with herself the light
of holy discretion, that light which dissipates all darkness, takes away
ignorance, and is the condiment of every instrument of virtue. Holy
discretion is a prudence which cannot be cheated, a fortitude which cannot
be beaten, a perseverance from end to end, stretching from Heaven to earth,
that is, from knowledge of Me to knowledge of self, and from love of Me to
love of others. And the soul escapes dangers by her true humility, and, by
her prudence, flies all the nets of the world and its creatures, and, with
unarmed hands, that is through much endurance, discomfits the devil and the
flesh with this sweet and glorious light; knowing, by it, her own fragility,
she renders to her weakness its due of hatred.

Wherefore she has trampled on the world, and placed it under the feet of
her affection, despising it, and holding it vile, and thus becoming lord of
it, holding it as folly. And the men of the world cannot take her virtues
from such a soul, but all their persecutions increase her virtues and prove
them, which virtues have been at first conceived by the virtue of love, as
has been said, and then are proved on her neighbor, and bring forth their
fruit on him. Thus have I shown you, that, if virtue were not visible and
did not shine in the time of trial, it would not have been truly conceived;
for, I have already told you, that perfect virtue cannot exist and give
fruit except by means of the neighbor, even as a woman, who has conceived a
child, if she do not bring it forth, so that it may appear before the eyes
of men, deprives her husband of his fame of paternity. It is the same with
Me, who am the Spouse of the soul, if she do not produce the child of
virtue, in the love of her neighbor, showing her child to him who is in
need, both in general and in particular, as I have said to you before, so I
declare now that, in truth, she has not conceived virtue at all; and this is
also true of the vices, all of which are committed by means of the
neighbor.
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How this soul grew by means of the divine response, and how her sorrows
grew less, and how she prayed to God for the Holy Church, and for her own
people.

Then that soul, thirsting and burning with the very great desire that she
had conceived on learning the ineffable love of God, shown in His great
goodness, and, seeing the breadth of His charity, that, with such sweetness,
He had deigned to reply to her request and to satisfy it, giving hope to the
sorrow which she had conceived, on account of offenses against God, and the
damage of the Holy Church, and through His own mercy, which she saw through
self-knowledge, diminished, and yet, at the same time, increased her sorrow.

For, the Supreme and Eternal Father, in manifesting the way of perfection,
showed her anew her own guilt, and the loss of souls, as has been said more
fully above. Also because in the knowledge which the soul obtains of
herself, she knows more of God, and knowing the goodness of God in herself,
the sweet mirror of God, she knows her own dignity and indignity. Her
dignity is that of her creation, seeing that she is the image of God, and
this has been given her by grace, and not as her due. In that same mirror of
the goodness of God, the soul knows her own indignity, which is the
consequence of her own fault. Wherefore, as a man more readily sees spots on
his face when he looks in a mirror, so, the soul who, with true knowledge of
self, rises with desire, and gazes with the eye of the intellect at herself
in the sweet mirror of God, knows better the stains of her own face, by the
purity which she sees in Him.

Wherefore, because light and knowledge increased in that soul in the
aforesaid way, a sweet sorrow grew in her, and at the same time, her sorrow
was diminished by the hope which the Supreme Truth gave her, and, as fire
grows when it is fed with wood, so grew the fire in that soul to such an
extent that it was no longer possible for the body to endure it without the
departure of the soul; so that, had she not been surrounded by the strength
of Him who is the Supreme Strength, it would not have been possible for her
to have lived any longer. This soul then, being purified by the fire of
divine love, which she found in the knowledge of herself and of God, and her
hunger for the salvation of the whole world, and for the reformation of the
Holy Church, having grown with her hope of obtaining the same, rose with
confidence before the Supreme Father, showing Him the leprosy of the Holy
Church, and the misery of the world, saying, as if with the words of Moses,
˜My Lord, turn the eyes of Your mercy upon Your people, and upon the
mystical body of the Holy Church, for You will be the more glorified if You
pardon so many creatures, and give to them the light of knowledge, since all
will render You praise when they see themselves escape through Your infinite
goodness from the clouds of mortal sin, and from eternal damnation; and then
You will not only be praised by my wretched self, who have so much offended
You, and who am the cause and the instrument of all this evil, for which
reason I pray Your divine and eternal love to take Your revenge on me, and
to do mercy to Your people, and never will I depart from before Your
presence until I see that you grant them mercy. For what is it to me if I
have life, and Your people death, and the clouds of darkness cover Your
spouse, when it is my own sins, and not those of Your other creatures, that
are the principal cause of this? I desire, then, and beg of You, by Your
grace, that You have mercy on Your people, and I adjure You that You do this
by Your uncreated love which moved You Yourself to create man in Your image
and similitude, saying,Let us make man in our own image, and this You
did, oh eternal Trinity, that man might participate in everything belonging
to You, the most high and eternal Trinity.™

Wherefore You gave him memory in order to receive Your benefits, by which
he participates in the power of the Eternal Father; and intellect that he
might know, seeing Your goodness, and so might participate in the wisdom of
Your only-begotten Son; and will, that he might love that which his
intellect has seen and known of Your truth, thus participating in the
clemency of Your Holy Spirit. What reason had You for creating man in such
dignity? The inestimable love with which You saw Your creature in Yourself,
and became enamored of him, for You created him through love, and destined
him to be such that he might taste and enjoy Your Eternal Good. I see
therefore that through his sin he lost this dignity in which You originally
placed him, and by his rebellion against You, fell into a state of war with
Your kindness, that is to say, we all became Your enemies.

Therefore, You, moved by that same fire of love with which You created him,
willingly gave man a means of reconciliation, so that after the great
rebellion into which he had fallen, there should come a great peace; and so
You gave him the only-begotten Word, Your Son, to be the Mediator between us
and You. He was our Justice, for He took on Himself all our offenses and
injustices, and performed Your obedience, Eternal Father, which You imposed
on Him, when You clothed Him with our humanity, our human nature and
likeness. Oh, abyss of love! What heart can help breaking when it sees such
dignity as Yours descend to such lowliness as our humanity? We are Your
image, and You have become ours, by this union which You have accomplished
with man, veiling the Eternal Deity with the cloud of woe, and the corrupted
clay of Adam. For what reason?”Love. Wherefore, You, O God, have become man,
and man has become God. By this ineffable love of Yours, therefore, I
constrain You, and implore You that You do mercy to Your creatures.
_________________________________________________________________

How God grieves over the Christian people, and particularly over His
ministers; and touches on the subject of the Sacrament of Christ™s Body,
and the benefit of the Incarnation.

Then God, turning the eye of His mercy towards her, allowing Himself to be
constrained by her tears, and bound by the chain of her holy desire, replied
with lamentation”My sweetest daughter, your tears constrain Me, because
they are joined with My love, and fall for love of Me, and your painful
desires force Me to answer you; but marvel, and see how My spouse has
defiled her face, and become leprous, on account of her filthiness and
self-love, and swollen with the pride and avarice of those who feed on their
own sin.

What I say of the universal body and the mystical body of the Holy Church
(that is to say the Christian religion) I also say of My ministers, who
stand and feed at the breasts of Holy Church; and, not only should they feed
themselves, but it is also their duty to feed and hold to those breasts the
universal body of Christian people, and also any other people who should
wish to leave the darkness of their infidelity, and bind themselves as
members to My Church. See then with what ignorance and darkness, and
ingratitude, are administered, and with what filthy hands are handled this
glorious milk and blood of My spouse, and with what presumption and
irreverence they are received. Wherefore, that which really gives life,
often gives, through the defects of those who receive it, death; that is to
say, the precious Blood of My only-begotten Son, which destroyed death and
darkness, and gave life and truth, and confounded falsehood. For I give this
Blood and use It for salvation and perfection in the case of that man who
disposes himself properly to receive it, for It gives life and adorns the
soul with every grace, in proportion to the disposition and affection of him
who receives It; similarly It gives death to him who receives It unworthily,
living in iniquity and in the darkness of mortal sin; to him, I say, It
gives death and not life; not through defect of the Blood, nor through
defect of the minister, though there might be great evil in him, because his
evil would not spoil nor defile the Blood nor diminish Its grace and virtue,
nor does an evil minister do harm to him to whom he gives the Blood, but to
himself he does the harm of guilt, which will be followed by punishment,
unless he correct himself with contrition and repentance. I say then that
the Blood does harm to him who receives it unworthily, not through defect of
the Blood, nor of the minister, but through his own evil disposition and
defect inasmuch as he has befouled his mind and body with such impurity and
misery, and has been so cruel to himself and his neighbor. He has used
cruelty to himself, depriving himself of grace, trampling under the feet of
his affection the fruit of the Blood which he had received in Holy Baptism,
when the stain of original sin was taken from him by virtue of the Blood,
which stain he drew from his origin, when he was generated by his father and
mother.

Wherefore I gave My Word, My only-begotten Son, because the whole stuff of
human generation was corrupted through the sin of the first man Adam.
Wherefore, all of you, vessels made of this stuff, were corrupted and not
disposed to the possession of eternal life”so I, with My dignity, joined
Myself to the baseness of your human generation, in order to restore it to
grace which you had lost by sin; for I was incapable of suffering, and yet,
on account of guilt, My divine justice demanded suffering. But man was not
sufficient to satisfy it, for, even if he had satisfied to a certain extent,
he could only have satisfied for himself, and not for other rational
creatures, besides which, neither for himself, nor for others, could man
satisfy, his sin having been committed against Me, who am the Infinite Good.
Wishing, however, to restore man, who was enfeebled, and could not satisfy
for the above reason, I sent My Word, My own Son, clothed in your own very
nature, the corrupted clay of Adam, in order that He might endure suffering
in that self-same nature in which man had offended, suffering in His body
even to the opprobrious death of the Cross, and so He satisfied My justice
and My divine mercy. For My mercy willed to make satisfaction for the sin of
man and to dispose him to that good for which I had created him. This human
nature, joined with the divine nature, was sufficient to satisfy for the
whole human race, not only on account of the pain which it sustained in its
finite nature, that is in the flesh of Adam, but by virtue of the Eternal
Deity, the divine and infinite nature joined to it. The two natures being
thus joined together, I received and accepted the sacrifice of My
only-begotten Son, kneaded into one dough with the divine nature, by the
fire of divine love which was the fetter which held him fastened and nailed
to the Cross in this way. Thus human nature was sufficient to satisfy for
guilt, but only by virtue of the divine nature. And in this way was
destroyed the stain of Adam™s sin, only the mark of it remaining behind,
that is an inclination to sin, and to every sort of corporeal defect, like
the cicatrice which remains when a man is healed of a wound. In this way the
original fault of Adam was able still to cause a fatal stain; wherefore the
coming of the great Physician, that is to say, of My only-begotten Son,
cured this invalid, He drinking this bitter medicine, which man could not
drink on account of his great weakness, like a foster-mother who takes
medicine instead of her suckling, because she is grown up and strong, and
the child is not fit to endure its bitterness. He was man™s foster-mother,
enduring, with the greatness and strength of the Deity united with your
nature, the bitter medicine of the painful death of the Cross, to give life
to you little ones debilitated by guilt. I say therefore that the mark alone
of original sin remains, which sin you take from your father and your mother
when you were generated by them. But this mark is removed from the soul,
though not altogether, by Holy Baptism, which has the virtue of
communicating the life of grace by means of that glorious and precious
Blood. Wherefore, at the moment that the soul receives Holy Baptism,
original sin is taken away from her, and grace is infused into her, and that
inclination to sin, which remains from the original corruption, as has been
said, is indeed a source of weakness, but the soul can keep the bridle on it
if she choose. Then the vessel of the soul is disposed to receive and
increase in herself grace, more or less, according as it pleases her to
dispose herself willingly with affection, and desire of loving and serving
Me; and, in the same way, she can dispose herself to evil as to good, in
spite of her having received grace in Holy Baptism. Wherefore when the time
of discretion is come, the soul can, by her free will, make choice either of
good or evil, according as it pleases her will; and so great is this liberty
that man has, and so strong has this liberty been made by virtue of this
glorious Blood, that no demon or creature can constrain him to one smallest
fault without his free consent. He has been redeemed from slavery, and made
free in order that he might govern his own sensuality, and obtain the end
for which he was created. Oh, miserable man, who delights to remain in the
mud like a brute, and does not learn this great benefit which he has
received from Me! A benefit so great, that the poor wretched creature full
of such ignorance could receive no greater.
_________________________________________________________________

How sin is more gravely punished after the Passion of Christ than before;
and how God promises to do mercy to the world, and to the Holy Church, by
means of the prayers and sufferings of His servants.

And I wish you to know, My daughter, that, although I have re-created and
restored to the life of grace, the human race, through the Blood of My
only-begotten Son, as I have said, men are not grateful, but, going from bad
to worse, and from guilt to guilt, even persecuting Me with many injuries,
taking so little account of the graces which I have given them, and continue
to give them, that, not only do they not attribute what they have received
to grace, but seem to themselves on occasion to receive injuries from Me, as
if I desired anything else than their sanctification.

I say to you that they will be more hard-hearted, and worthy of more
punishment, and will, indeed, be punished more severely, now that they have
received redemption in the Blood of My Son, than they would have been before
that redemption took place”that is, before the stain of Adam™s sin had been
taken away. It is right that he who receives more should render more, and
should be under great obligations to Him from whom he receives more.

Man, then, was closely bound to Me through his being which I have given
him, creating him in My own image and similitude; for which reason, he was
bound to render Me glory, but he deprived Me of it, and wished to give it to
himself. Thus he came to transgress My obedience imposed on him, and became
My enemy. And I, with My humility, destroyed his pride, humiliating the
divine nature, and taking your humanity, and, freeing you from the service
of the devil, I made you free. And, not only did I give you liberty, but, if
you examine, you will see that man has become God, and God has become man,
through the union of the divine with the human nature. This is the debt
which they have incurred”that is to say, the treasure of the Blood, by which
they have been procreated to grace. See, therefore, how much more they owe
after the redemption than before. For they are now obliged to render Me
glory and praise by following in the steps of My Incarnate Word, My
only-begotten Son, for then they repay Me the debt of love both of Myself
and of their neighbor, with true and genuine virtue, as I have said to you
above, and if they do not do it, the greater their debt, the greater will be
the offense they fall into, and therefore, by divine justice, the greater
their suffering in eternal damnation.

A false Christian is punished more than a pagan, and the deathless fire of
divine justice consumes him more, that is, afflicts him more, and, in his
affliction, he feels himself being consumed by the worm of conscience,
though, in truth, he is not consumed, because the damned do not lose their
being through any torment which they receive. Wherefore I say to you, that
they ask for death and cannot have it, for they cannot lose their being; the
existence of grace they lose, through their fault, but not their natural
existence. Therefore guilt is more gravely punished after the Redemption of
the Blood than before, because man received more; but sinners neither seem
to perceive this, nor to pay any attention to their own sins, and so become
My enemies, though I have reconciled them, by means of the Blood of My Son.
But there is a remedy with which I appease My wrath”that is to say, by means
of My servants, if they are jealous to constrain Me by their desire. You
see, therefore, that you have bound Me with this bond which I have given
you, because I wished to do mercy to the world.

Therefore I give My servants hunger and desire for My honor, and the
salvation of souls, so that, constrained by their tears, I may mitigate the
fury of My divine justice. Take, therefore, your tears and your sweat, drawn
from the fountain of My divine love, and, with them, wash the face of My
spouse.

I promise you, that, by this means, her beauty will be restored to her, not
by the knife nor by cruelty, but peacefully, by humble and continued prayer,
by the sweat and the tears shed by the fiery desire of My servants, and thus
will I fulfill your desire if you, on your part, endure much, casting the
light of your patience into the darkness of perverse man, not fearing the
world™s persecutions, for I will protect you, and My Providence shall never
fail you in the slightest need.
_________________________________________________________________

How the road to Heaven being broken through the disobedience of Adam, God
made of His Son a Bridge by which man could pass.

Wherefore I have told you that I have made a Bridge of My Word, of My
only-begotten Son, and this is the truth. I wish that you, My children,
should know that the road was broken by the sin and disobedience of Adam, in
such a way, that no one could arrive at Eternal Life. Wherefore men did not
render Me glory in the way in which they ought to have, as they did not
participate in that Good for which I had created them, and My truth was not
fulfilled. This truth is that I have created man to My own image and
similitude, in order that he might have Eternal Life, and might partake of
Me, and taste My supreme and eternal sweetness and goodness. But, after sin
had closed Heaven and bolted the doors of mercy, the soul of man produced
thorns and prickly brambles, and My creature found in himself rebellion
against himself.

And the flesh immediately began to war against the Spirit, and, losing the
state of innocence, became a foul animal, and all created things rebelled
against man, whereas they would have been obedient to him, had he remained
in the state in which I had placed him. He, not remaining therein,
transgressed My obedience, and merited eternal death in soul and body. And,
as soon as he had sinned, a tempestuous flood arose, which ever buffets him
with its waves, bringing him weariness and trouble from himself, the devil,
and the world. Every one was drowned in the flood, because no one, with his
own justice alone, could arrive at Eternal Life. And so, wishing to remedy
your great evils, I have given you the Bridge of My Son, in order that,
passing across the flood, you may not be drowned, which flood is the
tempestuous sea of this dark life. See, therefore, under what obligations
the creature is to Me, and how ignorant he is, not to take the remedy which
I have offered, but to be willing to drown.
_________________________________________________________________

How God induces the soul to look at the greatness of this Bridge,
inasmuch as it reaches from earth to Heaven.

Open, my daughter, the eye of your intellect, and you will see the accepted
and the ignorant, the imperfect, and also the perfect who follow Me in
truth, so that you may grieve over the damnation of the ignorant, and
rejoice over the perfection of My beloved servants.

You will see further how those bear themselves who walk in the light, and
those who walk in the darkness. I also wish you to look at the Bridge of My
only-begotten Son, and see the greatness thereof, for it reaches from Heaven
to earth, that is, that the earth of your humanity is joined to the
greatness of the Deity thereby. I say then that this Bridge reaches from
Heaven to earth, and constitutes the union which I have made with man.

This was necessary, in order to reform the road which was broken, as I said
to you, in order that man should pass through the bitterness of the world,
and arrive at life; but the Bridge could not be made of earth sufficiently
large to span the flood and give you Eternal Life, because the earth of
human nature was not sufficient to satisfy for guilt, to remove the stain of
Adam™s sin. Which stain corrupted the whole human race and gave out a
stench, as I have said to you above. It was, therefore, necessary to join
human nature with the height of My nature, the Eternal Deity, so that it
might be sufficient to satisfy for the whole human race, so that human
nature should sustain the punishment, and that the Divine nature, united
with the human, should make acceptable the sacrifice of My only Son, offered
to Me to take death from you and to give you life.

So the height of the Divinity, humbled to the earth, and joined with your
humanity, made the Bridge and reformed the road. Why was this done? In order
that man might come to his true happiness with the angels. And observe, that
it is not enough, in order that you should have life, that My Son should
have made you this Bridge, unless you walk thereon.
_________________________________________________________________

How this soul prays God to show her those who cross by the aforesaid
Bridge, and those who do not.

Then this soul exclaimed with ardent love,”Oh, inestimable Charity, sweet
above all sweetness! Who would not be inflamed by such great love? What
heart can help breaking at such tenderness? It seems, oh, Abyss of Charity,
as if you were mad with love of Your creature, as if You could not live
without him, and yet You are our God who have no heed of us, Your greatness
does not increase through our good, for You are unchangeable, and our evil
causes You no harm, for You are the Supreme and Eternal Goodness. What moves
You to do us such mercy through pure love, and on account of no debt that
You owed us, or need that You had of us? We are rather Your guilty and
malignant debtors. Wherefore, if I understand aright, Oh, Supreme and
Eternal Truth, I am the thief and You have been punished for me. For I see
Your Word, Your Son, fastened and nailed to the Cross, of which You have
made me a Bridge, as You have shown me, Your miserable servant, for which
reason, my heart is bursting, and yet cannot burst, through the hunger and
the desire which it has conceived towards You. I remember, my Lord, that You
were willing to show me who are those who go by the Bridge and those who do
not; should it please Your goodness to manifest this to me, willingly would
I see and hear it.
_________________________________________________________________

How this Bridge has three steps, which signify the three states of the
soul; and how, being lifted on high, yet it is not separated from the
earth; and how these words are to be understood:If I am lifted up from
the earth, I will draw all things unto Me.

Then the Eternal God, to enamor and excite that soul still more for the
salvation of souls, replied to her, and said:First, as I have shown you
that for which you wished, and ask Me, I will now explain to you the nature
of this Bridge. I have told you, My daughter, that the Bridge reaches from
Heaven to earth; this is through the union which I have made with man, whom
I formed of the clay of the earth. Now learn that this Bridge, My
only-begotten Son, has three steps, of which two were made with the wood of
the most Holy Cross, and the third still retains the great bitterness He
tasted, when He was given gall and vinegar to drink. In these three steps
you will recognize three states of the soul, which I will explain to you
below. The feet of the soul, signifying her affection, are the first step,
for the feet carry the body as the affection carries the soul. Wherefore
these pierced Feet are steps by which you can arrive at His Side, Which
manifests to you the secret of His Heart, because the soul, rising on the
steps of her affection, commences to taste the love of His Heart, gazing
into that open Heart of My Son, with the eye of the intellect, and finds It
consumed with ineffable love. I say consumed, because He does not love you
for His own profit, because you can be of no profit to Him, He being one and
the same thing with Me. Then the soul is filled with love, seeing herself so
much loved. Having passed the second step, the soul reaches out to the
third”that is”to the Mouth, where she finds peace from the terrible war she
has been waging with her sin. On the first step, then, lifting her feet from
the affections of the earth, the soul strips herself of vice; on the second
she fills herself with love and virtue; and on the third she tastes peace.
So the Bridge has three steps, in order that, climbing past the first and
the second, you may reach the last, which is lifted on high, so that the
water, running beneath, may not touch it; for, in My Son, was no venom of
sin. This Bridge is lifted on high, and yet, at the same time, joined to the
earth. Do you know when it was lifted on high? When My Son was lifted up on
the wood of the most Holy Cross, the Divine nature remaining joined to the
lowliness of the earth of your humanity.

For this reason I said to you that, being lifted on high, He was not lifted
out of the earth, for the Divine nature is united and kneaded into one thing
with it. And there was no one who could go on the Bridge until It had been
lifted on high, wherefore He said,”™Si exaltatus fuero a terra omnia traham
ad me ipsum,™ that is,™If I am lifted on high I will draw all things to
Me.™ My Goodness, seeing that in no other way could you be drawn to Me, I
sent Him in order that He should be lifted on high on the wood of the Cross,
making of it an anvil on which My Son, born of human generation, should be
re-made, in order to free you from death, and to restore you to the life of
grace; wherefore He drew everything to Himself by this means, namely, by
showing the ineffable love, with which I love you, the heart of man being
always attracted by love. Greater love, then, I could not show you, than to
lay down My life for you; perforce, then, My Son was treated in this way by
love, in order that ignorant man should be unable to resist being drawn to
Me.

In very truth, then, My Son said, that, being lifted on high, He would draw
all things to Him. And this is to be understood in two ways. Firstly, that,
when the heart of man is drawn by the affection of love, as I have said, it
is drawn together with all the powers of his soul, that is, with the Memory,
the Intellect, and the Will; now, when these three powers are harmoniously
joined together in My Name, all the other operations which the man performs,
whether in deed or thought, are pleasing, and joined together by the effect
of love, because love is lifted on high, following the Sorrowful Crucified
One; so My Truth said well,™If I am lifted on high,™ &c., meaning, that if
the heart and the powers of the soul are drawn to Him, all the actions are
also drawn to Him. Secondly, everything has been created for the service of
man, to serve the necessities of rational creatures, and the rational
creature has not been made for them, but for Me, in order to serve Me with
all his heart, and with all his affection. See, then, that man being drawn,
everything else is drawn with him, because everything else has been made for
him. It was therefore necessary that the Bridge should be lifted on high,
and have steps, in order that it might be climbed with greater facility.
_________________________________________________________________

How this Bridge is built of stones which signify virtues; and how on the
Bridge is a hostelry where food is given to the travelers; and how he who
goes over the Bridge goes to life, while he who goes under It goes to
perdition and death.

This Bridge is built of stones, so that, if the rain come, it may not
impede the traveler. Do you know what these stones are? They are the stones
of true and sincere virtues. These stones were not built into the walls
before the Passion of My Son, and therefore even those who attempted to walk
by the road of virtue were prevented from arriving at their journey™s end,
because Heaven was not yet unlocked with the key of the Blood, and the rain
of Justice did not let them pass; but, after the stones were made, and built
up on the Body of My sweet Son, My Word, of whom I have spoken to you, He,
who was Himself the Bridge, moistened the mortar for its building with His
Blood. That is, His Blood was united with the mortar of divinity, and with
the fortitude, and the fire of love; and, by My power, these stones of the
virtues were built into a wall, upon Him as the foundation, for there is no
virtue which has not been proved in Him, and from Him all virtues have their
life. Wherefore no one can have the virtue given by a life of grace, but
from Him, that is, without following the footsteps of His doctrine. He has
built a wall of the virtues, planting them as living stones, and cementing
them with His Blood, so that every believer may walk speedily, and without
any servile fear of the rain of Divine justice, for he is sheltered by the
mercy which descended from Heaven in the Incarnation of this My Son. How was
Heaven opened? With the key of His Blood; so you see that the Bridge is
walled and roofed with Mercy. His also is the Hostelry in the Garden of the
Holy Church, which keeps and ministers the Bread of Life, and gives to drink
of the Blood, so that My creatures, journeying on their pilgrimage, may not,
through weariness, faint by the way; and for this reason My love has
ordained that the Blood and the Body of My only-begotten Son, wholly God and
wholly man, may be ministered to you. The pilgrim, having passed the Bridge,
arrives at the door which is part of the Bridge, at which all must enter,
wherefore He says:™I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, he who follows Me
does not walk in darkness, but in light.™ And in another place My Truth
says,™That no man can come to Me if not by Him,™ and so indeed it is.
Therefore He says of Himself that He is the Road, and this is the truth, and
I have already shown you that He is a Road in the form of the Bridge. And He
says that He is the Truth, and so He is, because He is united with Me who am
the Truth, and he who follows Him, walks in the Truth, and in Life, because
he who follows this Truth receives the life of grace, and cannot faint from
hunger, because the Truth has become your food, nor fall in the darkness,
because He is light without any falsehood. And, with that Truth, He
confounded and destroyed the lie that the Devil told to Eve, with which he
broke up the road to Heaven, and the Truth brought the pieces together
again, and cemented them with His Blood. Wherefore, those who follow this
road are the sons of the Truth, because they follow the Truth, and pass
through the door of Truth and find themselves united to Me, who am the Door
and the Road and at the same time Infinite Peace.

But he, who walks not on this road, goes under the Bridge, in the river
where there are no stones, only water, and since there are no supports in
the water, no one can travel that way without drowning; thus have come to
pass the sins, and the condition of the world. Wherefore, if the affection
is not placed on the stones, but is placed, with disordinate love, on
creatures, loving them, and being kept by them far from Me, the soul drowns,
for creatures are like water that continually runs past, and man also passes
continually like the river, although it seems to him that he stands still
and the creatures that he loves pass by, and yet he is passing himself
continually to the end of his journey”death! And he would gladly retain
himself (that is his life, and the things that he loves), but he does not
succeed, either, through death, by which he has to leave them, or through my
disposition, by which these created things are taken from the sight of My
creatures. Such as these follow a lie, walking on the road of falsehood, and
are sons of the Devil, who is the Father of Lies; and, because they pass by
the door of falsehood, they receive eternal damnation. So then you see, that
I have shown you both Truth and Falsehood, that is, My road which is Truth,
and the Devil™s which is Falsehood.
_________________________________________________________________

How traveling on both of these roads, that is the Bridge and the River,
is fatiguing; and of the delight which the soul feels in traveling by the
Bridge.

These are the two roads, and both are hard to travel. Wonder, then, at the
ignorance and blindness of man, who, having a Road made for him, which
causes such delight to those who use It, that every bitterness becomes
sweet, and every burden light, yet prefers to walk over the water. For those
who cross by the Bridge, being still in the darkness of the body, find
light, and, being mortal, find immortal life, tasting, through love, the
light of Eternal Truth which promises refreshment to him who wearies himself
for Me, who am grateful and just, and render to every man according as he
deserves. Wherefore every good deed is rewarded, and every fault is
punished. The tongue would not be sufficient to relate the delight felt by
him who goes on this road, for, even in this life, he tastes and
participates in that good which has been prepared for him in eternal life.
He, therefore, is a fool indeed, who despises so great a good, and chooses
rather to receive in this life, the earnest money of Hell, walking by the
lower road with great toil, and without any refreshment or advantage.
Wherefore, through their sins, they are deprived of Me, who am the Supreme
and Eternal Good. Truly then have you reason for grief, and I will that you
and My other servants remain in continual bitterness of soul at the offense
done to Me, and in compassion for the ignorant, and the loss of those who,
in their ignorance, thus offend Me. Now you have seen and heard about this
Bridge, how it is, and this I have told you in order to explain My words,
that My only-begotten Son was a Bridge. And thus, you see that He is the
Truth, made in the way that I have shown you, that is”by the union of height
and lowliness.
_________________________________________________________________

How this Bridge, having reached to Heaven on the day of the Ascension,
did not for that reason have the earth.

When My only-begotten Son returned to Me, forty days after the
resurrection, this Bridge, namely Himself, arose from the earth, that is,
from among the conversation of men, and ascended into Heaven by virtue of
the Divine Nature and sat at the right hand of Me, the Eternal Father, as
the angels said, on the day of the Ascension, to the disciples, standing
like dead men, their hearts lifted on high, and ascended into Heaven with
the wisdom of My Son”™Do not stand here any longer, for He is seated at the
right hand of the Father!™ When He, then, had thus ascended on high, and
returned to Me the Father, I sent the Master, that is the Holy Spirit, who
came to you with My power and the wisdom of My Son, and with His own
clemency, which is the essence of the Holy Spirit. He is one thing with Me,
the Father, and with My Son. And He built up the road of the doctrine which
My Truth had left in the world. Thus, though the bodily presence of My Son
left you, His doctrine remained, and the virtue of the stones founded upon
this doctrine, which is the way made for you by this Bridge. For first, He
practiced this doctrine and made the road by His actions, giving you His
doctrine by example rather than by words; for He practiced, first Himself,
what He afterwards taught you, then the clemency of the Holy Spirit made you
certain of the doctrine, fortifying the minds of the disciples to confess
the truth, and to announce this road, that is, the doctrine of Christ
crucified, reproving, by this means, the world of its injustice and false
judgment, of which injustice and false judgment, I will in time discourse to
you at greater length.

This much I have said to you in order that there might be no cloud of
darkness in the mind of your hearers, that is, that they may know that of
this Body of Christ I made a Bridge by the union of the divine with the
human nature, for this is the truth.

This Bridge, taking its point of departure in you, rose into Heaven, and
was the one road which was taught you by the example and life of the Truth.
What has now remained of all this, and where is the road to be found? I will
tell you, that is, I will rather tell those who might fall into ignorance on
this point. I tell you that this way of His doctrine, of which I have spoken
to you, confirmed by the Apostles, declared by the blood of the martyrs,
illuminated by the light of doctors, confessed by the confessors, narrated
in all its love by the Evangelists, all of whom stand as witnesses to
confess the Truth, is found in the mystical body of the Holy Church. These
witnesses are like the light placed on a candlestick, to show forth the way
of the Truth which leads to life with a perfect light, as I have said to
you, and, as they themselves say to you, with proof, since they have proved
in their own cases, that every person may, if he will, be illuminated to
know the Truth, unless he choose to deprive his reason of light by his
inordinate self-love. It is, indeed, the truth that His doctrine is true,
and has remained like a lifeboat to draw the soul out of the tempestuous sea
and to conduct her to the port of salvation.

Wherefore, first I gave you the Bridge of My Son living and conversing in
very deed amongst men, and when He, the living Bridge, left you, there
remained the Bridge and the road of His doctrine, as has been said, His
doctrine being joined with My power and with His wisdom, and with the
clemency of the Holy Spirit. This power of Mine gives the virtue of
fortitude to whoever follows this road, wisdom gives him light, so that, in
this road, he may recognize the truth, and the Holy Spirit gives him love,
which consumes and takes away all sensitive love out of the soul, leaving
there only the love of virtue. Thus, in both ways, both actually and through
His doctrine, He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; that is, the Bridge
which leads you to the height of Heaven. This is what He meant when He said,
™I came from the Father, and I return to the Father, and shall return to
you™; that is to say,˜My Father sent Me to you, and made Me your Bridge, so
that you might be saved from the river and attain to life.™ Then He says,
™I will return to you, I will not leave you orphans, but will send you the
Paraclete™”as if My Truth should say,˜I will go to the Father and return;
that is, that when the Holy Spirit shall come, who is called the Paraclete,
He will show you more clearly, and will confirm you in the way of truth,
that I have given you.™ He said that He would return, and He did return,
because the Holy Spirit came not alone, but with the power of the Father,
and the wisdom of the Son, and the clemency of His own Essence.

See then how He returns, not in actual flesh and blood, but, as I have
said, building the road of His doctrine, with His power, which road cannot
be destroyed or taken away from him who wishes to follow it, because it is
firm and stable, and proceeds from Me, who am immovable.

Manfully, then, should you follow this road, without any cloud of doubt,
but with the light of faith which has been given you as a principle in Holy
Baptism.

Now I have fully shown to you the Bridge as it actually is, and the
doctrine, which is one and the same thing with it. And I have shown it to
the ignorant, in order that they may see where this road of Truth is, and
where stand those who teach it; and I have explained that they are the
Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, Evangelists, and Holy Doctors, placed like
lanterns in the Holy Church.

And I have shown how My Son, returning to Me, none the less, returned to
you, not in His bodily presence, but by His power, when the Holy Spirit came
upon the disciples, as I have said. For in His bodily presence He will not
return until the last Day of Judgment, when He will come again with My
Majesty and Divine Power to judge the world, to render good to the virtuous,
and reward them for their labors, both in body and soul, and to dispense the
evil of eternal death to those who have lived wickedly in the world.

And now I wish to tell you that which I, the Truth, promised you, that is,
to show you the perfect, the imperfect, and the supremely perfect; and the
wicked, who, through their iniquities, drown in the river, attaining to
punishment and torment; wherefore I say to you, My dearest sons, walk over
the Bridge, and not underneath it, because underneath is not the way of
truth, but the way of falsehood, by which walk the wicked, of whom I will
presently speak to you. These are those sinners for whom I beg you to pray
to Me, and for whom I ask in addition your tears and sweat, in order that
they may receive mercy from Me.
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How this soul wondering at the mercy of God, relates many gifts and
graces given to the human race.

Then this soul, as it were, like one intoxicated, could not contain herself,
but standing before the face of God, exclaimed,How great is the Eternal
Mercy with which You cover the sins of Your creatures! I do not wonder that
You say of those who abandon mortal sin and return to You,™I do not
remember that you have ever offended Me.™ Oh, ineffable Mercy! I do not
wonder that You say this to those who are converted, when You say of those
who persecute You,˜I wish you to pray for such, in order that I may do them
mercy.™ Oh, Mercy, who proceeds from Your Eternal Father, the Divinity who
governs with Your power the whole world, by You were we created, in You were
we re-created in the Blood of Your Son. Your Mercy preserves us, Your Mercy
caused Your Son to do battle for us, hanging by His arms on the wood of the
Cross, life and death battling together; then life confounded the death of
our sin, and the death of our sin destroyed the bodily life of the
Immaculate Lamb. Which was finally conquered? Death! By what means? Mercy!
Your Mercy gives light and life, by which Your clemency is known in all Your
creatures, both the just and the unjust. In the height of Heaven Your Mercy
shines, that is, in Your saints. If I turn to the earth, it abounds with
Your Mercy. In the darkness of Hell Your Mercy shines, for the damned do not
receive the pains they deserve; with Your Mercy You temper Justice. By Mercy
You have washed us in the Blood, and by Mercy You wish to converse with Your
creatures. Oh, Loving Madman! was it not enough for You to become Incarnate,
that You must also die? Was not death enough, that You must also descend
into Limbo, taking thence the holy fathers to fulfill Your Mercy and Your
Truth in them? Because Your goodness promises a reward to them that serve
You in truth, You descended to Limbo, to withdraw from their pain Your
servants, and give them the fruit of their labors. Your Mercy constrains You
to give even more to man, namely, to leave Yourself to him in food, so that
we, weak ones, should have comfort, and the ignorant commemorating You,
should not lose the memory of Your benefits. Wherefore every day You give
Yourself to man, representing Yourself in the Sacrament of the Altar, in the
body of Your Holy Church. What has done this? Your Mercy. Oh, Divine Mercy!
My heart suffocates in thinking of you, for on every side to which I turn my
thought, I find nothing but mercy. Oh, Eternal Father! Forgive my ignorance,
that I presume thus to chatter to You, but the love of Your Mercy will be my
excuse before the Face of Your loving-kindness.
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Of the baseness of those who pass by the river under the Bridge; and how
the soul, that passes underneath, is called by God the tree of death,
whose roots are held in four vices.

After this soul had refreshed a little her heart in the mercy of God, by
these words, she humbly waited for the fulfillment of the promise made to
her, and God continuing His discourse said:Dearest daughter, you have
spoken before Me of My mercy, because I gave it you to taste and to see in
the word which I spoke to you when I said:˜these are those for whom I pray
you to intercede with Me,™ but know, that My mercy is without any
comparison, far more than you can see, because your sight is imperfect, and
My mercy perfect and infinite, so that there can be no comparison between
the two, except what may be between a finite and an infinite thing. But I
have wished that you should taste this mercy, and also the dignity of man,
which I have shown you above, so that you might know better the cruelty of
those wicked men who travel below the Bridge. Open the eye of your
intellect, and wonder at those who voluntarily drown themselves, and at the
baseness to which they are fallen by their fault, from which cause, they
have first become weak, and this was when they conceived mortal sin in their
minds, for they then bring it forth, and lose the life of grace. And, as a
corpse which can have no feeling or movement of itself, but only when it is
moved and lifted by others, so those, who are drowned in the stream of
disordinate love of the world, are dead to grace. Wherefore because they are
dead their memory takes no heed of My mercy. The eye of their intellect sees
not and knows not My Truth, because their feeling is dead, that is, their
intellect has no object before it but themselves, with the dead love of
their own sensuality, and so their will is dead to My will because it loves
nothing but dead things. These three powers then being dead, all the soul™s
operations both in deed and thought are dead as far as grace is concerned.
For the soul cannot defend herself against her enemies, nor help herself
through her own power, but only so far as she is helped by Me. It is true
indeed, that every time that this corpse, in whom only free-will has
remained (which remains as long as the mortal body lives), asks My help, he
can have it, but never can he help himself; he has become insupportable to
himself, and, wishing to govern the world, is governed by that which is not,
that is by sin, for sin in itself is nothing, and such men have become the
servants and slaves of sin. I have made them trees of love with the life of
grace which they received in Holy Baptism; and they have become trees of
death, because they are dead, as I have already said to you. Do you know how
this tree finds such roots? In the height of pride, which is nourished by
their own sensitive self-love. Its branch is their own impatience, and its
offshoot indiscretion: these are the four principal vices which destroy the
soul of him who is a tree of death, because he has not drawn life from
grace. Inside the tree is nourished the worm of conscience, which, while man
lives in mortal sin, is blinded by self-love, and therefore felt but little;
the fruits of this tree are mortal, for they have drawn their nourishment,
which should have been humility, from the roots of pride, and the miserable
soul is full of ingratitude, whence proceeds every evil. But if she were
grateful for the benefits she has received, she would know Me, and knowing
Me would know herself, and so would remain in My love: but she, as if blind,
goes groping down the river, and she does not see that the water does not
support her.
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How the fruits of this tree are as diverse as are the sins; and first, of
the sin of sensuality.

The fruits of this death-giving tree, are as diverse as sins are diverse.
See that some of these fruits are the food of beasts who live impurely,
using their body and their mind like a swine who wallows in mud, for in the
same way they wallow in the mire of sensuality. Oh, ugly soul, where have
you left your dignity? You were made sister to the angels, and now you are
become a brute beast. To such misery come sinners, notwithstanding that they
are sustained by Me, who am Supreme Purity, notwithstanding that the very
devils, whose friends and servants they have become, cannot endure the sight
of such filthy actions. Neither does any sin, abominable as it may be, take
away the light of the intellect from man, so much as does this one. This the
philosophers knew, not by the light of grace, because they had it not, but
because nature gave them the light to know that this sin obscured the
intellect, and for that reason they preserved themselves in continence the
better to study. Thus also they flung away their riches in order that the
thought of them should not occupy their heart. Not so does the ignorant and
false Christian, who has lost grace by sin.
_________________________________________________________________

How the fruit of others is avarice; and of the evils that proceed from
it.

A fruit of the earth belongs to some others, who are covetous misers,
acting like the mole, who always feeds on earth till death, and when they
arrive at death they find no remedy. Such as these, with their meanness,
despise My generosity, selling time to their neighbor. They are cruel
usurers, and robbers of their neighbor; because in their memory they have
not the remembrance of My mercy, for if they had it they would not be cruel
to themselves or to their neighbor; on the contrary, they would be
compassionate and merciful to themselves, practicing the virtues on their
neighbor and succoring him charitably. Oh, how many are the evils that come
of this cursed sin of avarice, how many homicides and thefts, and how much
pillage with unlawful gain, and cruelty of heart and injustice! It kills the
soul and makes her the slave of riches, so that she cares not to observe My
commandments.

A miser loves no one except for his own profit. Avarice proceeds from and
feeds pride, the one follows from the other, because the miser always
carries with him the thought of his own reputation, and thus avarice, which
is immediately combined with pride, full of its own opinions, goes on from
bad to worse. It is a fire which always germinates the smoke of vainglory
and vanity of heart, and boasting in that which does not belong to it. It is
a root which has many branches, and the principal one is that which makes a
man care for his own reputation, from whence proceeds his desire to be
greater than his neighbor. It also brings forth the deceitful heart that is
neither pure nor liberal, but is double, making a man show one thing with
his tongue, while he has another in his heart, and making him conceal the
truth and tell lies for his own profit. And it produces envy, which is a
worm that is always gnawing, and does not let the miser have any happiness
out of his own or others™ good. How will these wicked ones in so wretched a
state give of their substance to the poor, when they rob others? How will
they draw their foul soul out of the mire, when they themselves put it
there? Sometimes even do they become so brutish, that they do not consider
their children and relations, and cause them to fall with them into great
misery. And, nevertheless, in My mercy I sustain them, I do not command the
earth to swallow them up, that they may repent of their sins. Would they
then give their life for the salvation of souls, when they will not give
their substance? Would they give their affections when they are gnawed with
envy? Oh, miserable vices that destroy the heaven of the soul. Heaven I call
her (the soul) because so I made her, living in her at first by grace, and
hiding Myself within her, and making of her a mansion through affection of
love. Now she has separated herself from Me, like an adulteress, loving
herself, and creatures more than Me, and has made a god of herself,
persecuting Me with many and diverse sins. And this she does because she
does not consider the benefit of the Blood that was shed with so great Fire
of Love.
_________________________________________________________________

How some others hold positions of authority, and bring forth fruits of
injustice.

There are others who hold their heads high by their position of authority,
and who bear the banner of injustice”using injustice against Me, God, and
against their neighbor, and against themselves”to themselves by not paying
the debt of virtue, and towards Me by not paying the debt of honor in
glorifying and praising My Name, which debt they are bound to pay. But they,
like thieves, steal what is Mine, and give it to the service of their own
sensuality. So that they commit injustice towards Me and towards themselves,
like blind and ignorant men who do not recognize Me in themselves on account
of self-love, like the Jews and the ministers of the Law who, with envy and
self-love, blinded themselves so that they did not recognize the Truth, My
only-begotten Son, and rendered not His due to the Eternal Truth, who was
amongst them, as said My Truth:™The Kingdom of God is among you.™ But they
knew it not, because, in the aforesaid way, they had lost the light of
reason, and so they did not pay their debt of honor and glory to Me, and to
Him, who was one thing with Me, and like blind ones committed injustice,
persecuting Him with much ignominy, even to the death of the Cross.

Thus are such as these unjust to themselves, to Me, and to their neighbor,
unjustly selling the flesh of their dependents, and of any person who falls
into their hands.
_________________________________________________________________

How through these and through other defects, one falls into false
judgment; and of the indignity to which one comes.

By these and by other sins men fall into false judgment, as I will explain
to you below. They are continually being scandalized by My works, which are
all just, and all performed in truth through love and mercy. With this false
judgment, and with the poison of envy and pride, the works of My Son were
slandered and unjustly judged, and with lies did His enemies say:™This man
works by virtue of Beelzebub.™ Thus wicked men, standing in self-love,
impurity, pride, and avarice, and founded in envy, and in perverse rashness
with impatience, are forever scandalized at Me and at My servants, whom they
judge to be feignedly practicing the virtues, because their heart is rotten,
and, having spoiled their taste, good things seem evil to them, and bad
things, that is to say disorderly living, seem good to them. Oh, how blind
is the human generation in that it considers not its own dignity! From being
great you have become small, from a ruler you have become a slave, and that
in the vilest service that can be had, because you are the servant and slave
of sin, and are become like unto that which you do serve.

Sin is nothing. You, then, have become nothing; it has deprived you of
life, and given you death. This life and power were given you by the Word,
My only-begotten Son, the glorious Bridge, He drawing you from out of your
servitude when you were servants of the devil, Himself becoming as a servant
to take you out of servitude, imposing on Himself obedience to do away the
disobedience of Adam, and humbling Himself to the shameful death of the
Cross to confound pride. By His death He destroyed every vice, so that no
one could say that any vice remained that was not punished and beaten out
with pains, as I said to you above, when I said that of His Body He had made
an anvil. All the remedies are ready to save men from eternal death, and
they despise the Blood, and have trampled It under the feet of their
disordinate affection; and it is for this injustice and false judgment that
the world is reproved, and will be reproved on the Last Day of Judgment.

This was meant by My Truth when He said:™I will send the Paraclete, who
will reprove the world of injustice and false judgment.™ And it was reproved
when I sent the Holy Spirit on the Apostles.
_________________________________________________________________

Of the words that Christ said:I will send the Holy Spirit, who will
reprove the world of injustice and of false judgment; and how one of
these reproofs is continuous.

There are three reproofs. One was given when the Holy Spirit came upon the
disciples, who, as it is said, being fortified by My power, and illuminated
by the wisdom of My beloved Son, received all in the plenitude of the Holy
Spirit. Then the Holy Spirit, who is one thing with Me and with My Son,
reproved the world by the mouth of the Apostles, with the doctrine of My
Truth. They and all others, who are descended from them, following the truth
which they understand through the same means, reprove the world.

This is that continuous reproof that I make to the world by means of the
Holy Scriptures, and My servants, putting the Holy Spirit on their tongues
to announce My truth, even as the Devil puts himself on the tongues of his
servants, that is to say, of those who pass through the river in iniquity.
This is that sweet reproof that I have fixed forever, in the aforesaid way,
out of My most great affection of love for the salvation of souls. And they
cannot say˜I had no one who reproved me,™ because the truth is revealed to
them showing them vice and virtue. And I have made them see the fruit of
virtue, and the hurtfulness of vice, to give them love and holy fear with
hatred of vice and love of virtue, and this truth has not been shown them by
an angel, so that they cannot say,˜the angel is a blessed spirit who cannot
offend, and feels not the vexations of the flesh as we do, neither the
heaviness of our body,™ because the Incarnate Word of My Truth has been
given to them with your mortal flesh.

Who were the others who followed this Word? Mortal creatures, susceptible
of pain like you, having the same opposition of the flesh to the Spirit, as
had the glorious Paul, My standard-bearer, and many other saints who, by one
thing or another, have been tormented. Which torments I permitted for the
increase of grace and virtue in their souls. Thus, they were born in sin
like you, and nourished with a like food, and I am God now as then. My power
is not weakened, and cannot become weak. So that I can and will succor him
who wishes to be succored by Me. Man wants My succor when he comes out of
the river, and walks by the Bridge, following the doctrine of My Truth. Thus
no one has any excuse, because both reproof and truth are constantly given
to them. Wherefore, if they do not amend while they have time, they will be
condemned by the second condemnation which will take place at the extremity
of death, when My Justice will cry to them,˜Rise, you dead, and come to
judgment!™ That is to say,˜You, who are dead to grace, and have reached the
moment of your corporal death, arise and come before the Supreme Judge with
your injustice and false judgment, and with the extinguished light of faith
which you received burning in Holy Baptism (and which you have blown out
with the wind of pride), and with the vanity of your heart, with which you
set your sails to winds which were contrary to your salvation, for with the
wind of self-esteem, you filled the sail of self-love.™ Thus you hastened
down the stream of the delights and dignities of the world at your own will,
following your fragile flesh and the temptations of the devil, who, with the
sail of your own will set, has led you along the underway which is a running
stream, and so has brought you with himself to eternal damnation.
_________________________________________________________________

Of the second reproof of injustice, and of false judgment, in general and
in particular.

This second reproof, dearest daughter, is indeed a condemnation, for the
soul has arrived at the end, where there can be no remedy, for she is at the
extremity of death, where is the worm of conscience, which I told you was
blinded self-love. Now at the time of death, since she cannot get out of My
hands, she begins to see, and therefore is gnawed with remorse, seeing that
her own sin has brought her into so great evil. But if the soul have light
to know and grieve for her fault, not on account of the pain of Hell that
follows upon it, but on account of pain at her offense against Me, who am
Supreme and Eternal Good, still she can find mercy. But if she pass the
Bridge of death without light, and alone, with the worm of conscience,
without the hope of the Blood, and bewailing herself more on account of her
first condemnation than on account of My displeasure, she arrives at eternal
damnation. And then she is reproved cruelly by My Justice of injustice and
of false judgment, and not so much of general injustice and false judgment
which she has practiced generally in all her works, but much more on account
of the particular injustice and false judgment which she practices at the
end, in judging her misery greater than My mercy. This is that sin which is
neither pardoned here nor there, because the soul would not be pardoned,
depreciating My mercy. Therefore is this last sin graver to Me than all the
other sins that the soul has committed. Wherefore the despair of Judas
displeased Me more, and was more grave to My Son than was his betrayal of
Him. So that they are reproved of this false judgment, which is to have held
their sin to be greater than My mercy, and, on that account, are they
punished with the devils, and eternally tortured with them. And they are
reproved of injustice because they grieve more over their condemnation than
over My displeasure, and do not render to Me that which is Mine, and to
themselves that which is theirs. For to Me, they ought to render love, and
to themselves bitterness, with contrition of heart, and offer it to Me, for
the offense they have done Me. And they do the contrary because they give to
themselves love, pitying themselves, and grieving on account of the pain
they expect for their sin; so you see that they are guilty of injustice and
false judgment, and are punished for the one and the other together.
Wherefore, they, having depreciated My mercy, I with justice send them, with
their cruel servant, sensuality, and the cruel tyrant the Devil, whose
servants they made themselves through their own sensuality, so that,
together, they are punished and tormented, as together they have offended
Me. Tormented, I say, by My ministering devils whom My judgment has
appointed to torment those who have done evil.
_________________________________________________________________

Of the four principal torments of the damned, from which follow all the
others; and particularly of the foulness of the Devil.

My daughter, the tongue is not sufficient to narrate the pain of these poor
souls. As there are three principal vices, namely: self-love, whence
proceeds the second, that is love of reputation, whence proceeds the third,
that is pride, with injustice and cruelty, and with other filthiness and
iniquitous sins, that follow upon these. So I say to you, that in Hell, the
souls have four principal torments, out of which proceed all the other
torments. The first is, that they see themselves deprived of the vision of
Me, which is such pain to them, that, were it possible, they would rather
choose the fire, and the tortures and torments, and to see Me, than to be
without the torments and not to see Me.

This first pain revives in them, then, the second, the worm of Conscience,
which gnaws unceasingly, seeing that the soul is deprived of Me, and of the
conversation of the angels, through her sin, made worthy of the conversation
and sight of the devils, which vision of the Devil is the third pain and
redoubles to them their every toil. As the saints exult in the sight of Me,
refreshing themselves with joyousness in the fruit of their toils borne for
Me with such abundance of love, and displeasure of themselves, so does the
sight of the Devil revive these wretched ones to torments, because in seeing
him they know themselves more, that is to say, they know that, by their own
sin, they have made themselves worthy of him. And so the worm of Conscience
gnaws more and more, and the fire of this Conscience never ceases to burn.
And the sight is more painful to them, because they see him in his own form,
which is so horrible that the heart of man could not imagine it. And if you
remember well, you know that I showed him to you in his own form for a
little space of time, hardly a moment, and you chose (after you had returned
to yourself) rather to walk on a road of fire, even until the Day of
Judgment, than to see him again. With all this that you have seen, even you
do not know well how horrible he is, because, by Divine justice, he appears
more horrible to the soul that is deprived of Me, and more or less according
to the gravity of her sin. The fourth torment that they have is the fire.
This fire burns and does not consume, for the being of the soul cannot be
consumed, because it is not a material thing that fire can consume. But I,
by Divine justice, have permitted the fire to burn them with torments, so
that it torments them, without consuming them, with the greatest pains in
diverse ways according to the diversity of their sins, to some more, and to
some less, according to the gravity of their fault. Out of these four
torments issue all others, such as cold and heat and gnashing of the teeth
and many others. Now because they did not amend themselves after the first
reproof that they had of injustice and false judgment, neither in the
second, which was that, in death, they would not hope in Me, nor grieve for
the offense done to Me, but only for their own pain, have they thus so
miserably received Eternal Punishment.
_________________________________________________________________

Of the third reproof which is made on the Day of Judgment.

Now it remains to tell of the third reproof which is on the Last Day of
Judgment. Already I have told you of two, and now, so that you may see how
greatly man deceives himself, I will tell you of the third”of the General
Judgment, when the pain of the miserable soul is renewed and increased by
the union that the soul will make with the body, with an intolerable
reproof, which will generate in it confusion and shame. Know that, in the
Last Day of Judgment, when will come the Word”My Son, with My Divine Majesty
to reprove the world with Divine Power, He will not come like a poor one, as
when He was born, coming in the womb of the Virgin, and being born in a
stable amongst the animals, and then dying between two thieves. Then I
concealed My power in Him, letting Him suffer pain and torment like man, not
that My divine nature was therefore separated from human nature, but I let
Him suffer like man to satisfy for your guilt. He will not come thus in that
last moment, but He will come, with power, to reprove in His Own Person, and
will render to everyone his due, and there will be no one in that Day who
will not tremble. To the miserable ones who are damned, His aspect will
cause such torment and terror that the tongue cannot describe it. To the
just it will cause the fear of reverence with great joy; not that His face
changes, because He is unchangeable, being one thing with Me according to
the divine nature, and, according to the human nature, His face was
unchangeable, after it took the glory of the Resurrection. But, to the eye
of the damned, it will appear such, on account of their terrible and
darkened vision, that, as the sun which is so bright, appears all darkness
to the infirm eye, but to the healthy eye light (and it is not the defect of
the light that makes it appear other to the blind than to the illuminated
one, but the defect of the eye which is infirm), so will the condemned ones
see His countenance in darkness, in confusion, and in hatred, not through
defect of My Divine Majesty, with which He will come to judge the world, but
through their own defect.
_________________________________________________________________

How the damned cannot desire any good.

And their hatred is so great that they cannot will or desire any good, but
they continually blaspheme Me. And do you know why they cannot desire good?
Because the life of man ended, free-will is bound. Wherefore they cannot
merit, having lost, as they have, the time to do so. If they finish their
life, dying in hatred with the guilt of mortal sin, their souls, by divine
justice, remain forever bound with the bonds of hatred, and forever
obstinate in that evil, in which, therefore, being gnawed by themselves,
their pains always increase, especially the pains of those who have been the
cause of damnation to others, as that rich man, who was damned, demonstrated
to you when he begged the favor that Lazarus might go to his brothers, who
were in the world, to tell them of his pains. This, certainly, he did not do
out of love or compassion for his brothers, for he was deprived of love and
could not desire good, either for My honor or their salvation, because, as I
have already told you, the damned souls cannot do any good to their
neighbor, and they blaspheme Me, because their life ended in hatred of Me
and of virtue. But why then did he do it? He did it because he was the
eldest, and had nourished them up in the same miseries in which he had
lived, so that he was the cause of their damnation, and he saw pain
increased to himself, on account of their damnation when they should arrive
in torment together with him, to be gnawed forever by hatred, because in
hatred they finished their lives.
_________________________________________________________________

Of the glory of the Blessed.

Similarly, the just soul, for whom life finishes in the affection of
charity and the bonds of love, cannot increase in virtue, time having come
to naught, but she can always love with that affection with which she comes
to Me, and that measure that is measured to her. She always desires Me, and
loves Me, and her desire is not in vain”being hungry, she is satisfied, and
being satisfied, she has hunger, but the tediousness of satiety and the pain
of hunger are far from her. In love, the Blessed rejoice in My eternal
vision, participating in that good that I have in Myself, everyone according
to his measure, that is that, with that measure of love, with which they
have come to Me, is it measured to them. Because they have lived in love of
Me and of the neighbor, united together with the general love, and the
particular, which, moreover, both proceed from the same love. And they
rejoice and exult, participating in each other™s good with the affection of
love, besides the universal good that they enjoy altogether. And they
rejoice and exult with the angels with whom they are placed, according to
their diverse and various virtues in the world, being all bound in the bonds
of love. And they have a special participation with those whom they closely
loved with particular affection in the world, with which affection they grew
in grace, increasing virtue, and the one was the occasion to the other of
manifesting the glory and praise of My name, in themselves and in their
neighbor; and, in the life everlasting, they have not lost their love, but
have it still, participating closely, with more abundance, the one with the
other, their love being added to the universal good, and I would not that
you should think that they have this particular good, of which I have told
you, for themselves alone, for it is not so, but it is shared by all the
proved citizens, My beloved sons, and all the angels”for, when the soul
arrives at eternal life, all participate in the good of that soul, and the
soul in their good. Not that her vessel or theirs can increase, nor that
there be need to fill it, because it is full, but they have an exultation, a
mirthfulness, a jubilee, a joyousness in themselves, which is refreshed by
the knowledge that they have found in that soul. They see that, by My mercy,
she is raised from the earth with the plenitude of grace, and therefore they
exult in Me in the good of that soul, which good she has received through My
goodness.

And that soul rejoices in Me, and in the souls, and in the blessed spirits,
seeing and tasting in them the beauty and the sweetness of My love. And
their desires forever cry out to Me, for the salvation of the whole world.
And because their life ended in the love of the neighbor, they have not left
it behind, but, with it, they will pass through the Door, My only-begotten
Son in the way that I will relate to you. So you see that in those bonds of
love in which they finished their life, they go on and remain eternally.
They are conformed so entirely to My will, that they cannot desire except
what I desire, because their free-will is bound in the bond of love, in such
a way that, time failing them, and, dying in a state of grace, they cannot
sin any more. And their will is so united with Mine, that a father or a
mother seeing their son, or a son seeing his father or his mother in Hell,
do not trouble themselves, and even are contented to see them punished as My
enemies. Wherefore in nothing do they disagree with Me, and their desires
are all satisfied. The desire of the blessed is to see My honor in you
wayfarers, who are pilgrims, forever running on towards the term of death.
In their desire for My honor, they desire your salvation, and always pray to
Me for you, which desire is fulfilled by Me, when you ignorant ones do not
resist My mercy. They have a desire too, to regain the gifts of their body,
but this desire does not afflict them, as they do not actually feel it, but
they rejoice in tasting the desire, from the certainty they feel of having
it fulfilled. Their desire does not afflict them, because, though they have
it not yet fulfilled, no bliss is thereby lacking to them. Wherefore they
feel not the pain of desire. And think not, that the bliss of the body after
the resurrection gives more bliss to the soul, for, if this were so, it
would follow that, until they had the body, they had imperfect bliss, which
cannot be, because no perfection is lacking to them. So it is not the body
that gives bliss to the soul, but the soul will give bliss to the body,
because the soul will give of her abundance, and will re-clothe herself on
the Last Day of Judgment, in the garments of her own flesh which she had
quitted. For, as the soul is made immortal, stayed and established in Me, so
the body in that union becomes immortal, and, having lost heaviness, is made
fine and light. Wherefore, know that the glorified body can pass through a
wall, and that neither water nor fire can injure it, not by virtue of
itself, but by virtue of the soul, which virtue is of Me, given to her by
grace, and by the ineffable love with which I created her in My image and
likeness. The eye of your intellect is not sufficient to see, nor your ear
to hear, nor your tongue to tell of the good of the Blessed. Oh, how much
delight they have in seeing Me, who am every good! Oh, how much delight they
will have in being with the glorified body, though, not having that delight
from now to the general Judgment, they have not, on that account, pain,
because no bliss is lacking to them, the soul being satisfied in herself,
and, as I have told you, the body will participate in this bliss.

I told you of the happiness which the glorified body would take in the
glorified humanity of My only-begotten Son, which gives you assurance of
your resurrection. There, they exult in His wounds, which have remained
fresh, and the Scars in His Body are preserved, and continually cry for
mercy for you, to Me, the Supreme and Eternal Father. And they are all
conformed with Him, in joyousness and mirth, and you will all be conformed
with Him, eye with eye, and hand with hand, and with the whole Body of the
sweet Word My Son, and, dwelling in Me, you will dwell in Him, because He is
one thing with Me. But their bodily eye, as I told you, will delight itself
in the glorified humanity of the Word, My only-begotten Son. Why so? Because
their life finished in the affection of My love, and therefore will this
delight endure for them eternally. Not that they can work any good, but they
rejoice and delight in that good which they have brought with them, that is,
they cannot do any meritorious act, by which they could merit anything,
because in this life alone can they merit and sin, according as they please,
with free-will.

These then do not await, with fear, the Divine judgment, but with joy, and
the Face of My Son will not seem to them terrible, or full of hatred,
because they finished their lives in love and affection for Me, and
good-will towards their neighbor. So you see then, that the transformation
is not in His Face, when He comes to judge with My Divine Majesty, but in
the vision of those who will be judged by Him. To the damned He will appear
with hatred and with justice. And to the saved with love and mercy.
_________________________________________________________________

How, after the General Judgment, the pain of the damned will increase.

I have told you of the dignity of the Righteous, so that you may the better
know the misery of the damned. For this is another of their pains, namely,
the vision of the bliss of the righteous, which is to them an increase of
pain, as, to the righteous, the damnation of the damned is an increase of
exultation in My goodness. As light is seen better near darkness, and
darkness near light, so the sight of the Blessed increases their pain. With
pain they await the Last Day of Judgment, because they see, following it, an
increase of pain to themselves. And so will it be, because when that
terrible voice shall say to them,˜Arise, you dead, and come to judgment,™
the soul will return with the body, in the just to be glorified, and in the
damned to be tortured eternally. And the aspect of My Truth, and of all the
blessed ones will reproach them greatly, and make them ashamed, and the worm
of conscience will gnaw the pith of the tree, that is the soul, and also the
bark outside, which is the body. They will be reproached by the Blood that
was shed for them, and by the works of mercy, spiritual and temporal, which
I did for them by means of My Son, and which they should have done for their
neighbor, as is contained in the Holy Gospel. They will be reproved for
their cruelty towards their neighbor, for their pride and self-love, for
their filthiness and avarice; and when they see the mercy that they have
received from Me, their reproof will seem to be intensified in harshness. At
the time of death, the soul only is reproved, but, at the General Judgment,
the soul is reproved together with the body, because the body has been the
companion and instrument of the soul”to do good and evil according as the
free-will pleased. Every work, good or bad, is done by means of the body.
And, therefore, justly, My daughter, glory and infinite good are rendered to
My elect ones with their glorified body, rewarding them for the toils they
bore for Me, together with the soul. And to the perverse ones will be
rendered eternal pains by means of their body, because their body was the
instrument of evil. Wherefore, being their body, restored, their pains will
revive and increase at the aspect of My Son, their miserable sensuality with
its filthiness, in the vision of their nature (that is, the humanity of
Christ), united with the purity of My Deity, and of this mass of their Adam
nature raised above all the choirs of Angels, and themselves, by their own
fault, sunk into the depths of Hell. And they will see generosity and mercy
shining in the blessed ones, who receive the fruit of the Blood of the Lamb,
the pains that they have borne remaining as ornaments on their bodies, like
the dye upon the cloth, not by virtue of the body but only out of the
fullness of the soul, representing in the body the fruit of its labor,
because it was the companion of the soul in the working of virtue. As in the
mirror is represented the face of the man, so in the body is represented the
fruit of bodily toils, in the way that I have told you.

The pain and confusion of the darkened ones, on seeing so great a dignity
(of which they are deprived), will increase, and their bodies will appear
the sign of the wickedness they have committed, with pain and torture. And
when they hear that terrible speech,™Go, cursed ones, to the Eternal
Fire,™ the soul and the body will go to be with the Devil without any remedy
or hope”each one being wrapped up in diverse filth of earth, according to
his evil works. The miser with the filth of avarice, wrapping himself up
with the worldly substance which he loved disordinately, and the burning in
the fire; the cruel one with cruelty; the foul man with foulness and
miserable concupiscence; the unjust with his injustice; the envious with
envy; and the hater of his neighbor with hatred. And inordinate self-love,
whence were born all their ills, will be burnt with intolerable pain, as the
head and principle of every evil, in company with pride. So that body and
soul together will be punished in diverse ways. Thus miserably do they
arrive at their end who go by the lower way, that is, by the river, not
turning back to see their sins and My Mercy. And they arrive at the Gate of
the Lie, because they follow the doctrine of the Devil, who is the Father of
Lies; and this Devil is their Door, through which they go to Eternal
Damnation, as has been said, as the elect and My sons, keeping by the way
above, that is by the Bridge, follow the Way of Truth, and this Truth is the
Door, and therefore said My Truth,™No one can go to the Father but by
Me.™ He is the Door and the Way through which they pass to enter the Sea
Pacific. It is the contrary for those who have kept the Way of the Lie,
which leads them to the water of death. And it is to this that the Devil
calls them, and they are as blind and mad, and do not perceive it, because
they have lost the light of faith. The Devil says, as it were, to them:
˜Whosoever thirsts for the water of death, let him come and I will give it
to him.™
_________________________________________________________________

Of the use of temptations, and how every soul in her extremity sees her
final place either of pain or of glory, before she is separated from the
body.

The Devil, dearest daughter, is the instrument of My Justice to torment the
souls who have miserably offended Me. And I have set him in this life to
tempt and molest My creatures, not for My creatures to be conquered, but
that they may conquer, proving their virtue, and receive from Me the glory
of victory. And no one should fear any battle or temptation of the Devil
that may come to him, because I have made My creatures strong, and have
given them strength of will, fortified in the Blood of my Son, which will,
neither Devil nor creature can move, because it is yours, given by Me. You
therefore, with free arbitration, can hold it or leave it, according as you
please. It is an arm, which, if you place it in the hands of the Devil,
straightway becomes a knife, with which he strikes you and slays you. But if
man do not give this knife of his will into the hands of the Devil, that is,
if he do not consent to his temptations and molestations, he will never be
injured by the guilt of sin in any temptation, but will even be fortified by
it, when the eye of his intellect is opened to see My love which allowed him
to be tempted, so as to arrive at virtue, by being proved. For one does not
arrive at virtue except through knowledge of self, and knowledge of Me,
which knowledge is more perfectly acquired in the time of temptation,
because then man knows himself to be nothing, being unable to lift off
himself the pains and vexations which he would flee; and he knows Me in his
will, which is fortified by My goodness, so that it does not yield to these
thoughts. And he has seen that My love permits these temptations, for the
devil is weak, and by himself can do nothing, unless I allow him. And I let
him tempt, through love, and not through hatred, that you may conquer, and
not that you may be conquered, and that you may come to a perfect knowledge
of yourself, and of Me, and that virtue may be proved, for it is not proved
except by its contrary. You see, then, that he is my Minister to torture the
damned in Hell, and in this life, to exercise and prove virtue in the soul.
Not that it is the intention of the Devil to prove virtue in you (for he has
not love), but rather to deprive you of it, and this he cannot do, if you do
not wish it. Now you see, then, how great is the foolishness of men in
making themselves feeble, when I have made them strong, and in putting
themselves into the hands of the Devil. Wherefore, know, that at the moment
of death, they, having passed their life under the lordship of the Devil
(not that they were forced to do so, for as I told you they cannot be
forced, but they voluntarily put themselves into his hands), and, arriving
at the extremity of their death under this perverse lordship, they await no
other judgment than that of their own conscience, and desperately,
despairingly, come to eternal damnation. Wherefore Hell, through their hate,
surges up to them in the extremity of death, and before they get there, they
take hold of it, by means of their lord the Devil. As the righteous, who
have lived in charity and died in love, if they have lived perfectly in
virtue, illuminated with the light of faith, with perfect hope in the Blood
of the Lamb, when the extremity of death comes, see the good which I have
prepared for them, and embrace it with the arms of love, holding fast with
pressure of love to Me, the Supreme and Eternal Good. And so they taste
eternal life before they have left the mortal body, that is, before the soul
be separated from the body. Others who have passed their lives, and have
arrived at the last extremity of death with an ordinary charity (not in that
great perfection), embrace My mercy with the same light of faith and hope
that had those perfect ones, but, in them, it is imperfect, for, because
they were imperfect, they constrained My mercy, counting My mercy greater
than their sins. The wicked sinners do the contrary, for, seeing, with
desperation, their destination, they embrace it with hatred, as I told you.
So that neither the one nor the other waits for judgment, but, in departing
this life, they receive every one their place, as I have told you, and they
taste it and possess it before they depart from the body, at the extremity
of death”the damned with hatred and with despair, and the perfect ones with
love and the light of faith and with the hope of the Blood. And the
imperfect arrive at the place of Purgatory, with mercy and the same
faith.
_________________________________________________________________

How the Devil gets hold of souls, under pretense of some good: and, how
those are deceived who keep by the river, and not by the aforesaid
Bridge, for, wishing to fly pains, they fall into them; and of the vision
of a tree, that this soul once had.

I have told you that the Devil invites men to the water of death, that is,
to that which he has, and, blinding them with the pleasures and conditions
of the world, he catches them with the hook of pleasure, under the pretense
of good, because in no other way could he catch them, for they would not
allow themselves to be caught if they saw that no good or pleasure to
themselves were to be obtained thereby. For the soul, from her nature,
always relishes good, though it is true that the soul, blinded by self-love,
does not know and discern what is true good, and of profit to the soul and
to the body. And, therefore, the Devil, seeing them blinded by self-love,
iniquitously places before them diverse and various delights, colored so as
to have the appearance of some benefit or good; and he gives to everyone
according to his condition and those principal vices to which he sees him to
be most disposed”of one kind to the secular, of another to the religious,
and others to prelates and noblemen, according to their different
conditions. I have told you this, because I now speak to you of those who
drown themselves in the river, and who care for nothing but themselves, to
love themselves to My injury, and I will relate to you their end.

Now I want to show you how they deceive themselves, and how, wishing to
flee troubles, they fall into them. For, because it seems to them that
following Me, that is, walking by the way of the Bridge, the Word, My Son,
is great toil, they draw back, fearing the thorn. This is because they are
blinded and do not know or see the Truth, as, you know, I showed you in the
beginning of your life, when you prayed Me to have mercy on the world, and
draw it out of the darkness of mortal sin. You know that I then showed you
Myself under the figure of a Tree, of which you saw neither the beginning
nor the end, so that you did not see that the roots were united with the
earth of your humanity. At the foot of the Tree, if you remember well, there
was a certain thorn, from which thorn all those who love their own
sensuality kept away, and ran to a mountain of Lolla, in which you figured
to yourself all the delights of the world. That Lolla seemed to be of corn
and was not, and, therefore, as you saw, many souls thereon died of hunger,
and many, recognizing the deceits of the world, returned to the Tree and
passed the thorn, which is the deliberation of the will. Which deliberation,
before it is made, is a thorn which appears to man to stand in the way of
following the Truth. And conscience always fights on one side, and
sensuality on the other; but as soon as he, with hatred and displeasure of
himself, manfully makes up his mind, saying,˜I wish to follow Christ
crucified,™ he breaks at once the thorn, and finds inestimable sweetness, as
I showed you then, some finding more and some less, according to their
disposition and desire. And you know that then I said to you,˜I am your
God, unmoving and unchangeable,™ and I do not draw away from any creature
who wants to come to Me. I have shown them the Truth, making Myself visible
to them, and I have shown them what it is to love anything without Me. But
they, as if blinded by the fog of disordinate love, know neither Me nor
themselves. You see how deceived they are, choosing rather to die of hunger
than to pass a little thorn. And they cannot escape enduring pain, for no
one can pass through this life without a cross, far less those who travel by
the lower way. Not that My servants pass without pain, but their pain is
alleviated. And because”by sin, as I said to you above”the world germinates
thorns and tribulations, and because this river flows with tempestuous
waters, I gave you the Bridge, so that you might not be drowned.

I have shown you how they are deceived by a disordinate fear, and how I am
your God, immovable, who am not an Acceptor of persons but of holy desire.
And this I have shown you under the figure of the Tree, as I told you.
_________________________________________________________________

How, the world having germinated thorns, who those are whom they do not
harm; although no one passes this life without pain.

Now I want to show you to whom the thorns and tribulations, that the world
germinated through sin, do harm, and to whom they do not. And as, so far, I
have shown you the damnation of sinners, together with My goodness, and have
told you how they are deceived by their own sensuality, now I wish to tell
you how it is only they themselves who are injured by the thorns. No one
born passes this life without pain, bodily or mental. Bodily pain My
servants bear, but their minds are free, that is, they do not feel the
weariness of the pain; for their will is accorded with Mine, and it is the
will that gives trouble to man. Pain of mind and of body have those, of whom
I have narrated to you, who, in this life, taste the earnest money of hell,
as My servants taste the earnest money of eternal life. Do you know what is
the special good of the blessed ones? It is having their desire filled with
what they desire; wherefore desiring Me, they have Me, and taste Me without
any revolt, for they have left the burden of the body, which was a law that
opposed the spirit, and came between it and the perfect knowledge of the
Truth, preventing it from seeing Me face to face. But after the soul has
left the weight of the body, her desire is full, for, desiring to see Me,
she sees Me, in which vision is her bliss; and seeing she knows, and knowing
she loves, and loving she tastes Me, Supreme and Eternal Good, and, in
tasting Me, she is satisfied, and her desire is fulfilled, that is, the
desire she had to see and know Me; wherefore desiring she has, and having
she desires. And as I told you pain is far from the desire, and weariness
from the satisfaction of it. So you see that My servants are blessed
principally in seeing and in knowing Me, in which vision and knowledge their
will is fulfilled, for they have that which they desired to have, and so are
they satisfied. Wherefore I told you that the tasting of eternal life
consisted especially in having that which the will desires, and thus being
satisfied; but know that the will is satisfied in seeing and knowing Me, as
I have told you. In this life then, they taste the earnest money of eternal
life, tasting the above, with which I have told you they will be satisfied.

But how have they the earnest money in this present life? I reply to you,
they have it in seeing My goodness in themselves, and in the knowledge of My
Truth, which knowledge, the intellect (which is the eye of the soul)
illuminated in Me, possesses. This eye has the pupil of the most holy faith,
which light of faith enables the soul to discern, to know, and to follow the
way and the doctrine of My Truth”the Word Incarnate; and without this pupil
of faith she would not see, except as a man who has the form of the eye, but
who has covered the pupil (which causes the eye to see) with a cloth. So the
pupil of the intellect is faith, and if the soul has covered it with the
cloth of infidelity, drawn over it by self-love, she does not see, but only
has the form of the eye without the light, because she has hidden it. Thus
you see, that in seeing they know, and in knowing they love, and in loving
they deny and lose their self-will. Their own will lost, they clothe
themselves in Mine, and I will nothing but your sanctification. At once they
set to, turning their back to the way below, and begin to ascend by the
Bridge, and pass over the thorns, which do not hurt them, their feet being
shod with the affection of My love. For I told you that My servants suffered
corporally but not mentally, because the sensitive will, which gives pain
and afflicts the mind of the creature, is dead. Wherefore, the will not
being there, neither is there any pain. They bear everything with reverence,
deeming themselves favored in having tribulation for My sake, and they
desire nothing but what I desire. If I allow the Devil to trouble them,
permitting temptations to prove them in virtue, as I told you above, they
resist with their will fortified in Me, humiliating themselves, and deeming
themselves unworthy of peace and quiet of mind and deserving of pain, and so
they proceed with cheerfulness and self-knowledge, without painful
affliction. And if tribulations on man™s account, or infirmity, or poverty,
or change of worldly condition, or loss of children, or of other much loved
creatures (all of which are thorns that the earth produced after sin) come
upon them, they endure them all with the light of reason and holy faith,
looking to Me, who am the Supreme Good, and who cannot desire other than
good, for which I permit these tribulations through love, and not through
hatred. And they that love Me recognize this, and, examining themselves,
they see their sins, and understand by the light of faith, that good must be
rewarded and evil punished. And they see that every little sin merits
infinite pain, because it is against Me, who am Infinite Good, wherefore
they deem themselves favored because I wish to punish them in this life, and
in this finite time; they drive away sin with contrition of heart, and with
perfect patience do they merit, and their labors are rewarded with infinite
good. Hereafter they know that all labor in this life is small, on account
of the shortness of time. Time is as the point of a needle and no more; and,
when time has passed labor is ended, therefore you see that the labor is
small. They endure with patience, and the thorns they pass through do not
touch their heart, because their heart is drawn out of them and united to Me
by the affection of love. It is a good truth then that these do taste
eternal life, receiving the earnest money of it in this life, and that,
though they walk on thorns, they are not pricked, because as I told you,
they have known My Supreme Goodness, and sought for it where it was to be
found, that is in the Word, My only-begotten son.
_________________________________________________________________

How this soul was in great bitterness, on account of the blindness of
those who are drowned below in the river.

Then that soul, tormented by desire, considering her own imperfections and
those of others, was saddened to hear of and to see the great blindness of
creatures, notwithstanding the great goodness of God, in having placed
nothing in this life, no matter in what condition, that could be an
impediment to the salvation of creatures, but rather arranged for the
exercising and proving of virtue in them. And, notwithstanding all this, she
saw them, through self-love and disordinate affection, go under by the river
and arrive at eternal damnation, and many who were in the river and had
begun to come out, turn back again, scandalized at her, because they had
heard of the sweet goodness of GOD, who had deigned to manifest Himself to
her. And, for this, she was in bitterness, and fixing the eye of her
intellect on the Eternal Father, she said:Oh, Inestimable Love, great is
the delusion of Your creatures. I would that, when it is pleasing to Your
Goodness, You would more clearly explain to me the three steps figured in
the Body of Your only Son, and what method should be used so as to come
entirely out of the depths and to keep the way of Your Truth, and who are
those who ascend the staircase.
_________________________________________________________________

How the three steps figured in the Bridge, that is, in the Son of GOD,
signify the three powers of the soul.

Then the Divine Goodness, regarding with the eye of His mercy, the hunger
and desire of that soul, said:Oh, My most delightful daughter, I am not a
Despiser, but the Fulfiller of holy desire, and therefore I will show and
declare to you that which you ask Me. You ask Me to explain to you the
figure of three steps, and to tell you what method they who want to come out
of the river must use, to be able to ascend the Bridge. And, although above,
in relating to you the delusion and blindness of men, tasting in this life
the earnest-money of Hell, and, as martyrs of the Devil, receiving
damnation, I showed you the methods they should use; nevertheless, now I
will declare it to you more fully, satisfying your desire. You know that
every evil is founded in self-love, and that self-love is a cloud that takes
away the light of reason, which reason holds in itself the light of faith,
and one is not lost without the other. The soul I created in My image and
similitude, giving her memory, intellect, and will. The intellect is the
most noble part of the soul, and is moved by the affection, and nourishes
it, and the hand of love”that is, the affection”fills the memory with the
remembrance of Me and of the benefits received, which it does with care and
gratitude, and so one power spurs on another, and the soul is nourished in
the life of grace.

The soul cannot live without love, but always wants to love something,
because she is made of love, and, by love, I created her. And therefore I
told you that the affection moved the intellect, saying, as it were,™I will
love, because the food on which I feed is love.™ Then the intellect, feeling
itself awakened by the affection, says, as it were,˜If you will love, I
will give you that which you can love.™ And at once it arises, considering
carefully the dignity of the soul, and the indignity into which she has
fallen through sin. In the dignity of her being it tastes My inestimable
goodness, and the increate charity with which I created her, and, in
contemplating her misery, it discovers and tastes My mercy, and sees how,
through mercy, I have lent her time and drawn her out of darkness. Then the
affection nourishes itself in love, opening the mouth of holy desire, with
which it eats hatred and displeasure of its own sensuality, united with true
humility and perfect patience, which it drew from holy hatred. The virtues
conceived, they give birth to themselves perfectly and imperfectly,
according as the soul exercises perfection in herself, as I will tell you
below. So, on the contrary, if the sensual affection wants to love sensual
things, the eye of the intellect set before itself for its sole object
transitory things, with self-love, displeasure of virtue, and love of vice,
whence she draws pride and impatience, and the memory is filled with nothing
but that which the affection presents to it. This love so dazzles the eye of
the intellect that it can discern and see nothing but such glittering
objects. It is the very brightness of the things that causes the intellect
to perceive them and the affection to love them; for had worldly things no
such brightness there would be no sin, for man, by his nature, cannot desire
anything but good, and vice, appearing to him thus, under color of the
soul™s good, causes him to sin. But, because the eye, on account of its
blindness, does not discern, and knows not the truth, it errs, seeking good
and delights there where they are not.

I have already told you that the delights of the world, without Me, are
venomous thorns, and, that the vision of the intellect is deluded by them,
and the affection of the will is deluded into loving them, and the memory
into retaining remembrance of them. The unity of these powers of the soul is
so great that I cannot be offended by one without all the others offending
Me at the same time, because the one presents to the other, as I told you,
good or evil, according to the pleasure of the free will. This free will is
bound to the affection, and it moves as it pleases, either with the light of
reason or without it. Your reason is attached to Me when your will does not,
by disordinate love, cut it off from Me; you have also in you the law of
perversity, that continually fights against the Spirit. You have, then, two
parts in you”sensuality and reason. Sensuality is appointed to be the
servant, so that, with the instrument of the body, you may prove and
exercise the virtues. The soul is free, liberated from sin by the Blood of
My Son, and she cannot be dominated unless she consent with her will, which
is controlled by her free choice, and when this free choice agrees with the
will, it becomes one thing with it. And I tell you truly, that, when the
soul undertakes to gather together, with the hand of free choice, her powers
in My Name, then are assembled all the actions, both spiritual and temporal,
that the creature can do, and free choice gets rid of sensuality and binds
itself with reason. I, then, by grace, rest in the midst of them; and this
is what My truth, the Word Incarnate, meant, when He said:™When there are
two or three or more gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst
of them.™ And this is the truth. I have already told you that no one could
come to Me except by Him, and therefore I made of Him a Bridge with three
steps. And those three steps figure, as I will narrate to you below, the
three states of the soul.
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How if the three aforesaid powers are not united, there cannot be
perseverance, without which no man arrives at his end.

I have explained to you the figure of the three steps, in general, as the
three powers of the soul, and no one who wishes to pass by the Bridge and
doctrine of My Truth can mount one without the other, and the soul cannot
persevere except by the union of her three powers. Of which I told you
above, when you asked Me, how the voyagers could come out of the river.
There are two goals, and, for the attainment of either, perseverance is
needful”they are vice and virtue. If you desire to arrive at life, you must
persevere in virtue, and if you would have eternal death, you must persevere
in vice. Thus it is with perseverance that they who want life arrive at Me
who am Life, and with perseverance that they who taste the water of death
arrive at the Devil.
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An exposition on Christ™s words:Whosoever thirsts, let him come to Me
and drink.

You were all invited, generally and in particular, by My Truth, when He
cried in the Temple, saying:™Whosoever thirsts, let him come to Me and
drink, for I am the Fountain of the Water of Life.™ He did not say™Go to
the Father and drink,™ but He said™Come to Me.™ He spoke thus, because in
Me, the Father, there can be no pain, but in My Son there can be pain. And
you, while you are pilgrims and wayfarers in this mortal life, cannot be
without pain, because the earth, through sin, brought forth thorns. And why
did He say™Let him come to Me and drink™? Because whoever follows His
doctrine, whether in the most perfect way or by dwelling in the life of
common charity, finds to drink, tasting the fruit of the Blood, through the
union of the Divine nature with the human nature. And you, finding
yourselves in Him, find yourselves also in Me, who am the Sea Pacific,
because I am one thing with Him, and He with Me. So that you are invited to
the Fountain of Living Water of Grace, and it is right for you, with
perseverance, to keep by Him who is made for you a Bridge, not being turned
back by any contrary wind that may arise, either of prosperity or adversity,
and to persevere till you find Me, who am the Giver of the Water of Life, by
means of this sweet and amorous Word, My only-begotten Son. And why did He
say:™I am the Fountain of Living Water™? Because He was the Fountain which
contained Me, the Giver of the Living Water, by means of the union of the
Divine with the human nature. Why did He say™Come to Me and drink™? Because
you cannot pass this mortal life without pain, and in Me, the Father, there
can be no pain, but in Him there can be pain, and therefore of Him did I
make for you a Bridge. No one can come to Me except by Him, as He told you
in the words:™No one can come to the Father except by Me.™

Now you have seen to what way you should keep, and how, namely with
perseverance, otherwise you shall not drink, for perseverance receives the
crown of glory and victory in the life everlasting.
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The general method by which every rational creature can come out of the
sea of the world, and go by the aforesaid holy Bridge.

I will now return to the three steps, which you must climb in order to
issue from the river without drowning, and attain to the Living Water, to
which you are invited, and to desire My Presence in the midst of you. For in
this way, in which you should follow, I am in your midst, reposing, by
grace, in your souls. In order to have desire to mount the steps, you must
have thirst, because only those who thirst are invited:™Whosoever thirsts,
let him come to Me and drink.™ He who has no thirst will not persevere, for
either fatigue causes him to stop, or pleasure, and he does not care to
carry the vessel with which he may get the water, and neither does he care
for the company, and alone he cannot go, and he turns back at the smallest
prick of persecution, for he loves it not. He is afraid because he is alone;
were he accompanied he would not fear, and had he ascended the three steps
he would not have been alone, and would, therefore, have been secure. You
must then have thirst and gather yourselves together, as it is said,™two or
three or more.™

Why is it said™two or three or more™? Because there are not two without
three, nor three without two, neither three nor two without more. The number
one is excluded, for, unless a man has a companion, I cannot be in the
midst; this is no indifferent trifle, for he who is wrapped up in self-love
is solitary.

Why is he solitary? Because he is separated from My grace and the love of
his neighbor, and being, by sin, deprived of Me, he turns to that which is
naught, because I am He that is. So that he who is solitary, that is, who is
alone in self-love, is not mentioned by My Truth and is not acceptable to
Me. He says then:™If there be two or three or more gathered together in My
name, I will be in the midst of them.™ I said to you that two were not
without three, nor three without two, and so it is. You know that the
commandments of the Law are completely contained in two, and if these two
are not observed the Law is not observed. The two commandments are to love
Me above everything, and your neighbor as yourself, which two are the
beginning, the middle and the end of the Law. These two cannot be gathered
together in My Name, without three, that is without the congregation of the
powers of the soul, the memory, the intellect, and the will; the memory to
retain the remembrance of My benefits and My goodness, the intellect to gaze
into the ineffable love, which I have shown you by means of My only-begotten
Son, whom I have placed as the object of the vision of your intellect, so
that, in Him, you behold the fire of My charity, and the will to love and
desire Me, who am your End. When these virtues and powers of the soul are
congregated together in My Name, I am in the midst of them by grace, and a
man, who is full of My love and that of his neighbor, suddenly finds himself
the companion of many and royal virtues. Then the appetite of the soul is
disposed to thirst. Thirst, I say, for virtue, and the honor of My Name and
salvation of souls, and his every other thirst is spent and dead, and he
then proceeds securely without any servile fear, having ascended the first
step of the affection, for the affection, stripped of self-love, mounts
above itself and above transitory things, or, if he will still hold them, he
does so according to My will”that is, with a holy and true fear, and love of
virtue. He then finds that he has attained to the second step”that is, to
the light of the intellect, which is, through Christ crucified, mirrored in
cordial love of Me, for through Him have I shown My love to man. He finds
peace and quiet, because the memory is filled with My love. You know that an
empty thing, when touched, resounds, but not so when it is full. So memory,
being filled with the light of the intellect, and the affection with love,
on being moved by the tribulations or delights of the world, will not
resound with disordinate merriment or with impatience, because they are full
of Me, who am every good.

Having climbed the three steps, he finds that the three powers of the soul
have been gathered together by his reason in My Name. And his soul, having
gathered together the two commandments, that is love of Me and of the
neighbor, finds herself accompanied by Me, who am her strength and security,
and walks safely because I am in the midst of her. Wherefore then he follows
on with anxious desire, thirsting after the way of Truth, in which way he
finds the Fountain of the Water of Life, through his thirst for My honor and
his own salvation and that of his neighbor, without which thirst he would
not be able to arrive at the Fountain. He walks on, carrying the vessel of
the heart, emptied of every affection and disordinate love of the world, but
filled immediately it is emptied with other things, for nothing can remain
empty, and, being without disordinate love for transitory things, it is
filled with love of celestial things, and sweet Divine love, with which he
arrives at the Fountain of the Water of Life, and passes through the Door of
Christ crucified, and tastes the Water of Life, finding himself in Me, the
Sea Pacific.
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How this devoted soul looking in the Divine mirror saw the creatures
going in diverse ways.

Then that soul, tormented with intense desire, gazing into the sweet Divine
mirror, saw creatures setting out to attain their end in diverse ways and
with diverse considerations. She saw that many began to mount, feeling
themselves pricked by servile fear, that is, fearing their own personal
pain, and she saw others, practicing this first state, arriving at the
second state, but few she saw who arrived at the greatest perfection.
_________________________________________________________________

How servile fear is not sufficient, without the love of virtue, to give
eternal life; and how the law of fear and that of love are united.

Then the goodness of God, wishing to satisfy the desire of that soul, said,
Do you see those? They have arisen with servile fear from the vomit of
mortal sin, but, if they do not arise with love of virtue, servile fear
alone is not sufficient to give eternal life. But love with holy fear is
sufficient, because the law is founded in love and holy fear. The old law
was the law of fear, that was given by Me to Moses, by which law they who
committed sin suffered the penalty of it. The new law is the law of love,
given by the Word of My only-begotten Son, and is founded in love alone. The
new law does not break the old law, but rather fulfills it, as said My
Truth,™I come not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it.™ And He united the
law of fear with that of love. Through love was taken away the imperfection
of the fear of the penalty, and the perfection of holy fear remained, that
is, the fear of offending, not on account of one™s own damnation, but of
offending Me, who am Supreme Good. So that the imperfect law was made
perfect with the law of love. Wherefore, after the car of the fire of My
only-begotten Son came and brought the fire of My charity into your humanity
with abundance of mercy, the penalty of the sins committed by humanity was
taken away, that is, he who offended was no longer punished suddenly, as was
of old given and ordained in the law of Moses.

There is, therefore, no need for servile fear; and this does not mean that
sin is not punished, but that the punishment is reserved, unless, that is to
say, the person punish himself in this life with perfect contrition. For, in
the other life, the soul is separated from the body, wherefore while man
lives is his time for mercy, but when he is dead comes the time of justice.
He ought, then, to arise from servile fear, and arrive at love and holy fear
of Me, otherwise there is no remedy against his falling back again into the
river, and reaching the waters of tribulation, and seeking the thorns of
consolation, for all consolations are thorns that pierce the soul who loves
them disordinately.
_________________________________________________________________

How, by exercising oneself in servile fear, which is the state of
imperfection, by which is meant the first step of the holy Bridge, one
arrives at the second step, which is the state of perfection.

I told you that no one could go by the Bridge or come out of the river
without climbing the three steps, which is the truth. There are some who
climb imperfectly, and some perfectly, and some climb with the greatest
perfection. The first are those who are moved by servile fear, and have
climbed so far being imperfectly gathered together; that is to say, the
soul, having seen the punishment which follows her sin, climbs; and gathers
together her memory to recollect her vice, her intellect to see the
punishment which she expects to receive for her fault, and her will to move
her to hate that fault. And let us consider this to be the first step and
the first gathering together of the powers of the soul, which should be
exercised by the light of the intellect with the pupil of the eye of holy
faith, which looks, not only at the punishment of sin, but at the fruit of
virtue, and the love which I bear to the soul, so that she may climb with
love and affection, and stripped of servile fear. And doing so, such souls
will become faithful and not unfaithful servants, serving Me through love
and not through fear, and if, with hatred of sin, they employ their minds to
dig out the root of their self-love with prudence, constancy, and
perseverance they will succeed in doing so. But there are many who begin
their course climbing so slowly, and render their debt to Me by such small
degrees, and with such negligence and ignorance, that they suddenly faint,
and every little breeze catches their sails, and turns their prow backwards.
Wherefore, because they imperfectly climb to the first Step of the Bridge of
Christ crucified, they do not arrive at the second step of His Heart.
_________________________________________________________________

Of the imperfection of those who love GOD for their own profit, delight,
and consolation.

Some there are who have become faithful servants, serving Me with fidelity
without servile fear of punishment, but rather with love. This very love,
however, if they serve Me with a view to their own profit, or the delight
and pleasure which they find in Me, is imperfect. Do you know what proves
the imperfection of this love? The withdrawal of the consolations which they
found in Me, and the insufficiency and short duration of their love for
their neighbor, which grows weak by degrees, and oftentimes disappears.
Towards Me their love grows weak when, on occasion, in order to exercise
them in virtue and raise them above their imperfection, I withdraw from
their minds My consolation and allow them to fall into battles and
perplexities. This I do so that, coming to perfect self-knowledge, they may
know that of themselves they are nothing and have no grace, and accordingly
in time of battle fly to Me, as their Benefactor, seeking Me alone, with
true humility, for which purpose I treat them thus, without drawing from
them consolation indeed, but not grace. At such a time these weak ones, of
whom I speak, relax their energy, impatiently turning backwards, and
sometimes abandon, under color of virtue, many of their exercises, saying to
themselves, This labor does not profit me. All this they do, because they
feel themselves deprived of mental consolation. Such a soul acts
imperfectly, for she has not yet unwound the bandage of spiritual self-love,
for, had she unwound it she would see that, in truth, everything proceeds
from Me, that no leaf of a tree falls to the ground without My providence,
and that what I give and promise to My creatures, I give and promise to them
for their sanctification, which is the good and the end for which I created
them. My creatures should see and know that I wish nothing but their good,
through the Blood of My only-begotten Son, in which they are washed from
their iniquities. By this Blood they are enabled to know My Truth, how, in
order to give them eternal life, I created them in My image and likeness and
re-created them to grace with the Blood of My Son, making them sons of
adoption. But, since they are imperfect, they make use of Me only for their
own profit, relaxing their love for their neighbor. Thus, those in the first
state come to naught through the fear of enduring pain, and those in the
second, because they slacken their pace, ceasing to render service to their
neighbor, and withdrawing their charity if they see their own profit or
consolation withdrawn from them: this happens because their love was
originally impure, for they gave to their neighbor the same imperfect love
which they gave to Me, that is to say, a love based only on desire of their
own advantage. If, through a desire for perfection, they do not recognize
this imperfection of theirs, it is impossible that they should not turn
back. For those who desire Eternal Life, a pure love, prescinding from
themselves, is necessary, for it is not enough for eternal life to fly sin
from fear of punishment, or to embrace virtue from the motive of one™s own
advantage. Sin should be abandoned because it is displeasing to Me, and
virtue should be loved for My sake. It is true that, generally speaking,
every person is first called in this way, but this is because the soul
herself is at first imperfect, from which imperfection she must advance to
perfection, either while she lives, by a generous love to Me with a pure and
virtuous heart that takes no thought for herself, or, at least, in the
moment of death, recognizing her own imperfection, with the purpose, had she
but time, of serving Me, irrespectively of herself. It was with this
imperfect love that S. Peter loved the sweet and good Jesus, My
only-begotten Son, enjoying most pleasantly His sweet conversation, but,
when the time of trouble came, he failed, and so disgraceful was his fall,
that, not only could he not bear any pain himself, but his terror of the
very approach of pain caused him to fall, and deny the Lord, with the words,
™I have never known Him.™ The soul who has climbed this step with servile
fear and mercenary love alone, falls into many troubles. Such souls should
arise and become sons, and serve Me, irrespective of themselves, for I, who
am the Rewarder of every labor, render to each man according to his state
and his labor; wherefore, if these souls do not abandon the exercise of holy
prayer and their other good works, but go on, with perseverance, to increase
their virtues, they will arrive at the state of filial love, because I
respond to them with the same love, with which they love Me, so that, if
they love Me, as a servant does his master, I pay them their wages according
to their deserts, but I do not reveal Myself to them, because secrets are
revealed to a friend, who has become one thing with his friend, and not to a
servant. Yet it is true, that a servant may so advance by the virtuous love,
which he bears to his master, as to become a very dear friend, and so do
some of these of whom I have spoken, but while they remain in the state of
mercenary love, I do not manifest Myself to them. If they, through
displeasure at their imperfection, and love of virtue, dig up, with hatred,
the root of spiritual self-love, and mount to the throne of conscience,
reasoning with themselves, so as to quell the motions of servile fear in
their heart, and to correct mercenary love by the light of the holy faith,
they will be so pleasing to Me, that they will attain to the love of the
friend. And I will manifest Myself to them, as My Truth said in these words:
™He who loves Me shall be one thing with Me and I with him, and I will
manifest Myself to him and we will dwell together.™ This is the state of two
dear friends, for though they are two in body, yet they are one in soul
through the affection of love, because love transforms the lover into the
object loved, and where two friends have one soul, there can be no secret
between them, wherefore My Truth said:™I will come and we will dwell
together,™ and this is the truth.
_________________________________________________________________

Of the way in which GOD manifests Himself to the soul who loves Him.

Do you know how I manifest Myself to the soul who loves Me in truth, and
follows the doctrine of My sweet and amorous Word? In many is My virtue
manifested in the soul in proportion to her desire, but I make three special
manifestations. The first manifestation of My virtue, that is to say, of My
love and charity in the soul, is made through the Word of My Son, and shown
in the Blood, which He spilled with such fire of love. Now this charity is
manifested in two ways; first, in general, to ordinary people, that is to
those who live in the ordinary grace of God. It is manifested to them by the
many and diverse benefits which they receive from Me. The second mode of
manifestation, which is developed from the first, is peculiar to those who
have become My friends in the way mentioned above, and is known through a
sentiment of the soul, by which they taste, know, prove, and feel it. This
second manifestation, however, is in men themselves; they manifesting Me,
through the affection of their love. For though I am no Acceptor of
creatures, I am an Acceptor of holy desires, and Myself in the soul in that
precise degree of perfection which she seeks in Me. Sometimes I manifest
Myself (and this is also a part of the second manifestation) by endowing men
with the spirit of prophecy, showing them the things of the future. This I
do in many and diverse ways, according as I see need in the soul herself and
in other creatures. At other times the third manifestation takes place. I
then form in the mind the presence of the Truth, My only-begotten Son, in
many ways, according to the will and the desire of the soul. Sometimes she
seeks Me in prayer, wishing to know My power, and I satisfy her by causing
her to taste and see My virtue. Sometimes she seeks Me in the wisdom of My
Son, and I satisfy her by placing His wisdom before the eye of her
intellect, sometimes in the clemency of the Holy Spirit and then My Goodness
causes her to taste the fire of Divine charity, and to conceive the true and
royal virtues, which are founded on the pure love of her neighbor.
_________________________________________________________________

Why Christ did not sayI will manifest My Father, butI will manifest
myself.

You see now how truly My Word spoke, when He said:™He who loves Me shall
be one thing with Me.™ Because, by following His doctrine with the affection
of love, you are united with Him, and, being united with Him, you are united
with Me, because We are one thing together. And so it is that I manifest
Myself to you, because We are one and the same thing together. Wherefore if
My Truth said,™I will manifest Myself to you,™ He said the truth, because,
in manifesting Himself, He manifested Me, and, in manifesting Me, He
manifested Himself. But why did He not say,™I will manifest My Father to
you™? For three reasons in particular. First, because He wished to show that
He and I are not separate from each other, on which account He also made the
following reply to S. Philip, when he said to Him,™Show us the Father, and
it is enough for us.™ My Word said,™Who sees Me sees the Father, and who
sees the Father sees Me.™ This He said because He was one thing with Me, and
that which He had, He had from Me, I having nothing from Him; wherefore,
again, He said to Judas,™My doctrine is not Mine, but My Father™s who sent
Me,™ because My Son proceeds from Me, not I from Him, though I with Him and
He with Me are but one thing. For this reason He did not say˜I will
manifest the Father,™ but˜I will manifest Myself,™ being one thing with the
Father. The second reason was because, in manifesting Himself to you, He did
not present to you anything He had not received from Me, the Father. These
words, then, mean, the Father has manifested Himself to Me, because I am one
thing with Him, and I will manifest to you, by means of Myself, Me and Him.
The third reason was, because I, being invisible, could not be seen by you,
until you should be separated from your bodies. Then, indeed, will you see
Me, your GOD, and My Son, the Word, face to face. From now until after the
general Resurrection, when your humanity will be conformed with the humanity
of the Eternal Word, according to what I told you in the treatise of the
Resurrection, you can see Me, with the eye of the intellect alone, for, as I
am, you cannot see Me now. Wherefore I veiled the Divine nature with your
humanity, so that you might see Me through that medium. I, the Invisible,
made Myself, as it were, visible by sending you the Word, My Son, veiled in
the flesh of your humanity. He manifested Me to you. Therefore it was that
He did not say™I will manifest the Father to you,™ but rather,™I will
manifest Myself to you,™ as if He should say,™According as My Father
manifests himself to Me, will I manifest myself to you, for in this
manifestation of Himself, He manifests Me.™ Now therefore you understand why
He did not say™I will manifest the Father to you.™ Both, because such a
vision is impossible for you, while yet in the mortal body, and because He
is one thing with Me.
_________________________________________________________________

How the soul, after having mounted the first step of the Bridge, should
proceed to mount the second.

You have now seen how excellent is the state of him who has attained to the
love of a friend; climbing with the foot of affection, he has reached the
secret of the Heart, which is the second of the three steps figured in the
Body of My Son. I have told you what was meant by the three powers of the
soul, and now I will show you how they signify the three states, through
which the soul passes. Before treating of the third state, I wish to show
you how a man becomes a friend and how, from a friend, he grows into a son,
attaining to filial love, and how a man may know if he has become a friend.
And first of how a man arrives at being a friend. In the beginning, a man
serves Me imperfectly through servile fear, but, by exercise and
perseverance, he arrives at the love of delight, finding his own delight and
profit in Me. This is a necessary stage, by which he must pass, who would
attain to perfect love, to the love that is of friend and son. I call filial
love perfect, because thereby, a man receives his inheritance from Me, the
Eternal Father, and because a son™s love includes that of a friend, which is
why I told you that a friend grows into a son. What means does he take to
arrive thereat? I will tell you. Every perfection and every virtue proceeds
from charity, and charity is nourished by humility, which results from the
knowledge and holy hatred of self, that is, sensuality. To arrive thereat, a
man must persevere, and remain in the cellar of self-knowledge in which he
will learn My mercy, in the Blood of My only-begotten Son, drawing to
Himself, with this love, My divine charity, exercising himself in the
extirpation of his perverse self-will, both spiritual and temporal, hiding
himself in his own house, as did Peter, who, after the sin of denying My
Son, began to weep. Yet his lamentations were imperfect and remained so,
until after the forty days, that is until after the Ascension. But when My
Truth returned to Me, in His humanity, Peter and the others concealed
themselves in the house, awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit, which My
Truth had promised them. They remained barred in from fear, because the soul
always fears until she arrives at true love. But when they had persevered in
fasting and in humble and continual prayer, until they had received the
abundance of the Holy Spirit, they lost their fear, and followed and
preached Christ crucified. So also the soul, who wishes to arrive at this
perfection, after she has risen from the guilt of mortal sin, recognizing it
for what it is, begins to weep from fear of the penalty, whence she rises to
the consideration of My mercy, in which contemplation, she finds her own
pleasure and profit. This is an imperfect state, and I, in order to develop
perfection in the soul, after the forty days, that is after these two
states, withdraw Myself from time to time, not in grace but in feeling. My
Truth showed you this when He said to the disciples™I will go and will
return to you.™

Everything that He said was said primarily, and in particular, to the
disciples, but referred in general to the whole present and future, to
those, that is to say, who should come after. He said™I will go and will
return to you;™ and so it was, for, when the Holy Spirit returned upon the
disciples, He also returned, as I told you above, for the Holy Spirit did
not return alone, but came with My power, and the wisdom of the Son, who is
one thing with Me, and with His own clemency, which proceeds from Me the
Father, and from the Son. Now, as I told you, in order to raise the soul
from imperfection, I withdraw Myself from her sentiment, depriving her of
former consolations. When she was in the guilt of mortal sin, she had
separated herself from Me, and I deprived her of grace through her own
guilt, because that guilt had barred the door of her desires. Wherefore the
sun of grace did not shine, not through its own defect, but through the
defect of the creature, who bars the door of desire. When she knows herself
and her darkness, she opens the window and vomits her filth, by holy
confession. Then I, having returned to the soul by grace, withdraw Myself
from her by sentiment, which I do in order to humiliate her, and cause her
to seek Me in truth, and to prove her in the light of faith, so that she
come to prudence. Then, if she love Me without thought of self, and with
lively faith and with hatred of her own sensuality, she rejoices in the time
of trouble, deeming herself unworthy of peace and quietness of mind. Now
comes the second of the three things of which I told you, that is to say:
how the soul arrives at perfection, and what she does when she is perfect.
This is what she does. Though she perceives that I have withdrawn Myself,
she does not, on that account, look back, but perseveres with humility in
her exercises, remaining barred in the house of self-knowledge, and,
continuing to dwell therein, awaits, with lively faith, the coming of the
Holy Spirit, that is of Me, who am the fire of charity. How does she await
me? Not in idleness, but in watching and continued prayer, and not only with
physical, but also with intellectual watching, that is, with the eye of her
mind alert, and, watching with the light of faith, she extirpates, with
hatred, the wandering thoughts of her heart, looking for the affection of My
charity, and knowing that I desire nothing but her sanctification, which is
certified to her in the Blood of My Son. As long as her eye thus watches,
illumined by the knowledge of Me and of herself, she continues to pray with
the prayer of holy desire, which is a continued prayer, and also with actual
prayer, which she practices at the appointed times, according to the orders
of Holy Church. This is what the soul does in order to rise from
imperfection and arrive at perfection, and it is to this end, namely that
she may arrive at perfection, that I withdraw from her, not by grace but by
sentiment. Once more do I leave her, so that she may see and know her
defects, so that, feeling herself deprived of consolation and afflicted by
pain, she may recognize her own weakness, and learn how incapable she is of
stability or perseverance, thus cutting down to the very root of spiritual
self-love, for this should be the end and purpose of all her self-knowledge,
to rise above herself, mounting the throne of conscience, and not permitting
the sentiment of imperfect love to turn again in its death-struggle, but,
with correction and reproof, digging up the root of self-love, with the
knife of self-hatred and the love of virtue.
_________________________________________________________________

How an imperfect lover of GOD loves his neighbor also imperfectly, and of
the signs of this imperfect love.

And I would have you know that just as every imperfection and perfection is
acquired from Me, so is it manifested by means of the neighbor. And simple
souls, who often love creatures with spiritual love, know this well, for, if
they have received My love sincerely without any self-regarding
considerations, they satisfy the thirst of their love for their neighbor
equally sincerely. If a man carry away the vessel which he has filled at the
fountain and then drink of it, the vessel becomes empty, but if he keep his
vessel standing in the fountain, while he drinks, it always remains full. So
the love of the neighbor, whether spiritual or temporal, should be drunk in
Me, without any self-regarding considerations. I require that you should
love Me with the same love with which I love you. This indeed you cannot do,
because I loved you without being loved. All the love which you have for Me
you owe to Me, so that it is not of grace that you love Me, but because you
ought to do so. While I love you of grace, and not because I owe you My
love. Therefore to Me, in person, you cannot repay the love which I require
of you, and I have placed you in the midst of your fellows, that you may do
to them that which you cannot do to Me, that is to say, that you may love
your neighbor of free grace, without expecting any return from him, and what
you do to him, I count as done to Me, which My Truth showed forth when He
said to Paul, My persecutor”™Saul, Saul, why persecute you Me?™ This He
said, judging that Paul persecuted Him in His faithful. This love must be
sincere, because it is with the same love with which you love Me, that you
must love your neighbor. Do you know how the imperfection of spiritual love
for the creature is shown? It is shown when the lover feels pain if it
appear to him that the object of his love does not satisfy or return his
love, or when he sees the beloved one™s conversation turned aside from him,
or himself deprived of consolation, or another loved more than he. In these
and in many other ways can it be seen that his neighborly love is still
imperfect, and that, though his love was originally drawn from Me, the
Fountain of all love, he took the vessel out of the water, in order to drink
from it. It is because his love for Me is still imperfect, that his
neighborly love is so weak, and because the root of self-love has not been
properly dug out. Wherefore I often permit such a love to exist, so that the
soul may in this way come to the knowledge of her own imperfection, and for
the same reason do I withdraw myself from the soul by sentiment, that she
may be thus led to enclose herself in the house of self-knowledge, where is
acquired every perfection. After which I return into her with more light and
with more knowledge of My Truth, in proportion to the degree in which she
refers to grace the power of slaying her own will. And she never ceases to
cultivate the vine of her soul, and to root out the thorns of evil thoughts,
replacing them with the stones of virtues, cemented together in the Blood of
Christ crucified, which she has found on her journey across the Bridge of
Christ, My only-begotten Son. For I told you, if you remember, that upon the
Bridge, that is, upon the doctrine of My Truth, were built up the stones,
based upon the virtue of His Blood, for it is in virtue of this Blood that
the virtues give life.
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A TREATISE OF PRAYER
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Of the means which the soul takes to arrive at pure and generous love;
and here begins the Treatise of Prayer.

When the soul has passed through the doctrine of Christ crucified, with
true love of virtue and hatred of vice, and has arrived at the house of
self-knowledge and entered therein, she remains, with her door barred, in
watching and constant prayer, separated entirely from the consolations of
the world. Why does she thus shut herself in? She does so from fear, knowing
her own imperfections, and also from the desire, which she has, of arriving
at pure and generous love. And because she sees and knows well that in no
other way can she arrive thereat, she waits, with a lively faith for My
arrival, through increase of grace in her. How is a lively faith to be
recognized? By perseverance in virtue, and by the fact that the soul never
turns back for anything, whatever it be, nor rises from holy prayer, for any
reason except (note well) for obedience or charity™s sake. For no other
reason ought she to leave off prayer, for, during the time ordained for
prayer, the Devil is wont to arrive in the soul, causing much more conflict
and trouble than when the soul is not occupied in prayer. This he does in
order that holy prayer may become tedious to the soul, tempting her often
with these words:™This prayer avails you nothing, for you need attend to
nothing except your vocal prayers.™ He acts thus in order that, becoming
wearied and confused in mind, she may abandon the exercise of prayer, which
is a weapon with which the soul can defend herself from every adversary, if
grasped with the hand of love, by the arm of free choice in the light of the
Holy Faith.
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Here, touching something concerning the Sacrament of the Body of Christ,
the complete doctrine is given; and how the soul proceeds from vocal to
mental prayer, and a vision is related which this devout soul once
received.

Know, dearest daughter, how, by humble, continual, and faithful prayer, the
soul acquires, with time and perseverance, every virtue. Wherefore should
she persevere and never abandon prayer, either through the illusion of the
Devil or her own fragility, that is to say, either on account of any thought
or movement coming from her own body, or of the words of any creature. The
Devil often places himself upon the tongues of creatures, causing them to
chatter nonsensically, with the purpose of preventing the prayer of the
soul. All of this she should pass by, by means of the virtue of
perseverance. Oh, how sweet and pleasant to that soul and to Me is holy
prayer, made in the house of knowledge of self and of Me, opening the eye of
the intellect to the light of faith, and the affections to the abundance of
My charity, which was made visible to you, through My visible only-begotten
Son, who showed it to you with His blood! Which Blood inebriates the soul
and clothes her with the fire of divine charity, giving her the food of the
Sacrament [which is placed in the tavern of the mystical body of the Holy
Church] that is to say, the food of the Body and Blood of My Son, wholly God
and wholly man, administered to you by the hand of My vicar, who holds the
key of the Blood. This is that tavern, which I mentioned to you, standing on
the Bridge, to provide food and comfort for the travelers and the pilgrims,
who pass by the way of the doctrine of My Truth, lest they should faint
through weakness. This food strengthens little or much, according to the
desire of the recipient, whether he receives sacramentally or virtually. He
receives sacramentally when he actually communicates with the Blessed
Sacrament. He receives virtually when he communicates, both by desire of
communion, and by contemplation of the Blood of Christ crucified,
communicating, as it were, sacramentally, with the affection of love, which
is to be tasted in the Blood which, as the soul sees, was shed through love.
On seeing this the soul becomes inebriated, and blazes with holy desire and
satisfies herself, becoming full of love for Me and for her neighbor. Where
can this be acquired? In the house of self-knowledge with holy prayer, where
imperfections are lost, even as Peter and the disciples, while they remained
in watching and prayer, lost their imperfection and acquired perfection. By
what means is this acquired? By perseverance seasoned with the most holy
faith.

But do not think that the soul receives such ardor and nourishment from
prayer, if she pray only vocally, as do many souls whose prayers are rather
words than love. Such as these give heed to nothing except to completing
Psalms and saying many paternosters. And when they have once completed their
appointed tale, they do not appear to think of anything further, but seem to
place devout attention and love in merely vocal recitation, which the soul
is not required to do, for, in doing only this, she bears but little fruit,
which pleases Me but little. But if you ask Me, whether the soul should
abandon vocal prayer, since it does not seem to all that they are called to
mental prayer, I should reply™No.™ The soul should advance by degrees, and
I know well that, just as the soul is at first imperfect and afterwards
perfect, so also is it with her prayer. She should nevertheless continue in
vocal prayer, while she is yet imperfect, so as not to fall into idleness.
But she should not say her vocal prayers without joining them to mental
prayer, that is to say, that while she is reciting, she should endeavor to
elevate her mind in My love, with the consideration of her own defects and
of the Blood of My only-begotten Son, wherein she finds the breadth of My
charity and the remission of her sins. And this she should do, so that
self-knowledge and the consideration of her own defects should make her
recognize My goodness in herself and continue her exercises with true
humility. I do not wish defects to be considered in particular, but in
general, so that the mind may not be contaminated by the remembrance of
particular and hideous sins. But, as I said, I do not wish the soul to
consider her sins, either in general or in particular, without also
remembering the Blood and the broadness of My mercy, for fear that otherwise
she should be brought to confusion. And together with confusion would come
the Devil, who has caused it, under color of contrition and displeasure of
sin, and so she would arrive at eternal damnation, not only on account of
her confusion, but also through the despair which would come to her, because
she did not seize the arm of My mercy. This is one of the subtle devices
with which the Devil deludes My servants, and, in order to escape from his
deceit, and to be pleasing to Me, you must enlarge your hearts and
affections in My boundless mercy, with true humility. You know that the
pride of the Devil cannot resist the humble mind, nor can any confusion of
spirit be greater than the broadness of My good mercy, if the soul will only
truly hope therein. Wherefore it was, if you remember rightly, that, once,
when the Devil wished to overthrow you, by confusion, wishing to prove to
you that your life had been deluded, and that you had not followed My will,
you did that which was your duty, which My goodness (which is never withheld
from him who will receive it) gave you strength to do, that is you rose,
humbly trusting in My mercy, and saying:™I confess to my Creator that my
life has indeed been passed in darkness, but I will hide myself in the
wounds of Christ crucified, and bathe myself in His Blood and so shall my
iniquities be consumed, and with desire will I rejoice in my Creator.™ You
remember that then the Devil fled, and, turning round to the opposite side,
he endeavored to inflate you with pride, saying:™You are perfect and
pleasing to God, and there is no more need for you to afflict yourself or to
lament your sins.™ And once more I gave you the light to see your true path,
namely, humiliation of yourself, and you answered the Devil with these
words:™Wretch that I am, John the Baptist never sinned and was sanctified
in his mother™s womb. And I have committed so many sins, and have hardly
begun to know them with grief and true contrition, seeing who God is, who is
offended by me, and who I am, who offend Him.™ Then the Devil, not being
able to resist your humble hope in My goodness, said to you:™Cursed that
you are, for I can find no way to take you. If I put you down through
confusion, you rise to Heaven on the wings of mercy, and if I raise you on
high, you humble yourself down to Hell, and when I go into Hell you
persecute me, so that I will return to you no more, because you strike me
with the stick of charity.™ The soul, therefore, should season the knowledge
of herself with the knowledge of My goodness, and then vocal prayer will be
of use to the soul who makes it, and pleasing to Me, and she will arrive,
from the vocal imperfect prayer, exercised with perseverance, at perfect
mental prayer; but if she simply aims at completing her tale, and, for vocal
abandons mental prayer, she will never arrive at it. Sometimes the soul will
be so ignorant that, having resolved to say so many prayers vocally, and I,
visiting her mind sometimes in one way, and sometimes in another, in a flash
of self-knowledge or of contrition for sin, sometimes in the broadness of My
charity, and sometimes by placing before her mind, in diverse ways,
according to My pleasure and the desire of the soul, the presence of My
Truth, she (the soul), in order to complete her tale, will abandon My
visitation, that she feels, as it were, by conscience, rather than abandon
that which she had begun. She should not do so, for, in so doing, she yields
to a deception of the Devil. The moment she feels her mind disposed by My
visitation, in the many ways I have told you, she should abandon vocal
prayer; then, My visitation past, if there be time, she can resume the vocal
prayers which she had resolved to say, but if she has not time to complete
them, she ought not on that account to be troubled or suffer annoyance and
confusion of mind; of course provided that it were not the Divine office
which clerics and religious are bound and obliged to say under penalty of
offending Me, for, they must, until death, say their office. But if they, at
the hour appointed for saying it, should feel their minds drawn and raised
by desire, they should so arrange as to say it before or after My
visitation, so that the debt of rendering the office be not omitted. But, in
any other case, vocal prayer should be immediately abandoned for the said
cause. Vocal prayer, made in the way that I have told you, will enable the
soul to arrive at perfection, and therefore she should not abandon it, but
use it in the way that I have told you.

And so, with exercise in perseverance, she will taste prayer in truth, and
the food of the Blood of My only-begotten Son, and therefore I told you that
some communicated virtually with the Body and Blood of Christ, although not
sacramentally; that is, they communicate in the affection of charity, which
they taste by means of holy prayer, little or much, according to the
affection with which they pray. They who proceed with little prudence and
without method, taste little, and they who proceed with much, taste much.
For the more the soul tries to loosen her affection from herself, and fasten
it in Me with the light of the intellect, the more she knows; and the more
she knows, the more she loves, and, loving much, she tastes much. You see
then, that perfect prayer is not attained to through many words, but through
affection of desire, the soul raising herself to Me, with knowledge of
herself and of My mercy, seasoned the one with the other. Thus she will
exercise together mental and vocal prayer, for, even as the active and
contemplative life is one, so are they. Although vocal or mental prayer can
be understood in many and diverse ways, for I have told you that a holy
desire is a continual prayer, in this sense that a good and holy will
disposes itself with desire to the occasion actually appointed for prayer in
addition to the continual prayer of holy desire, wherefore vocal prayer will
be made at the appointed time by the soul who remains firm in a habitual
holy will, and will sometimes be continued beyond the appointed time,
according as charity commands for the salvation of the neighbor, if the soul
see him to be in need, and also her own necessities according to the state
in which I have placed her. Each one, according to his condition, ought to
exert himself for the salvation of souls, for this exercise lies at the root
of a holy will, and whatever he may contribute, by words or deeds, towards
the salvation of his neighbor, is virtually a prayer, although it does not
replace a prayer which one should make oneself at the appointed season, as
My glorious standard-bearer Paul said, in the words,™He who ceases not to
work ceases not to pray.™ It was for this reason that I told you that prayer
was made in many ways, that is, that actual prayer may be united with mental
prayer if made with the affection of charity, which charity is itself
continual prayer. I have now told you how mental prayer is reached by
exercise and perseverance, and by leaving vocal prayer for mental when I
visit the soul. I have also spoken to you of common prayer, that is, of
vocal prayer in general, made outside of ordained times, and of the prayers
of good-will, and how every exercise, whether performed in oneself or in
one™s neighbor, with good-will, is prayer. The enclosed soul should
therefore spur herself on with prayer, and when she has arrived at friendly
and filial love she does so. Unless the soul keep to this path, she will
always remain tepid and imperfect, and will only love Me and her neighbor in
proportion to the pleasure which she finds in My service.
_________________________________________________________________

Of the method by which the soul separates herself from imperfect love,
and attains to perfect love, friendly and filial.

Hitherto I have shown you in many ways how the soul raises herself from
imperfection and attains to perfection, which she does after she has
attained to friendly and filial love. I tell you that she arrives at perfect
love by means of perseverance, barring herself into the House of
Self-Knowledge, which knowledge of self requires to be seasoned with
knowledge of Me, lest it bring the soul to confusion, for it would cause the
soul to hate her own sensitive pleasure and the delight of her own
consolations. But from this hatred, founded in humility, she will draw
patience, with which she will become strong against the attacks of the
Devil, against the persecutions of man, and towards Me, when, for her good,
I withdraw delight from her mind. And if her sensuality, through
malevolence, should lift its head against reason, the judgment of conscience
should rise against it, and, with hatred of it, hold out reason against it,
not allowing such evil emotions to get by it. Though sometimes the soul who
lives in holy hatred corrects and reproves herself, not only for those
things that are against reason, but also for things that in reality come
from Me, which is what My sweet servant S. Gregory meant, when he said that
a holy and pure conscience made sin where there was no sin, that is, that
through purity of conscience, it saw sin where there was no sin.

Now the soul who wishes to rise above imperfection should await My
Providence in the House of Self-Knowledge, with the light of faith, as did
the disciples, who remained in the house in perseverance and in watching,
and in humble and continual prayer, awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit.
She should remain fasting and watching, the eye of her intellect fastened on
the doctrine of My Truth, and she will become humble because she will know
herself in humble and continual prayer and holy and true desire.
_________________________________________________________________

Of the signs by which the soul knows she has arrived at perfect love.

It now remains to be told you how it can be seen that souls have arrived at
perfect love. This is seen by the same sign that was given to the holy
disciples after they had received the Holy Spirit, when they came forth from
the house, and fearlessly announced the doctrine of My Word, My
only-begotten Son, not fearing pain, but rather glorying therein. They did
not mind going before the tyrants of the world, to announce to them the
truth, for the glory and praise of My Name. So the soul, who has awaited Me
in self-knowledge as I have told you, receives Me, on My return to her, with
the fire of charity, in which charity, while still remaining in the house
with perseverance, she conceives the virtues by affection of love,
participating in My power; with which power and virtues she overrules and
conquers her own sensitive passions, and through which charity she
participates in the wisdom of My Son, in which she sees and knows, with the
eye of her intellect, My Truth and the deceptions of spiritual self-love,
that is, the imperfect love of her own consolations, as has been said, and
she knows also the malice and deceit of the devil, which he practices on
those souls who are bound by that imperfect love. She therefore arises, with
hatred of that imperfection and with love of perfection, and, through this
charity, which is of the Holy Spirit, she participates in His will,
fortifying her own to be willing to suffer pain, and, coming out of the
house through My Name, she brings forth the virtues on her neighbor. Not
that by coming out to bring forth the virtues, I mean that she issues out of
the House of Self-Knowledge, but that, in the time of the neighbor™s
necessity she loses that fear of being deprived of her own consolations, and
so issues forth to give birth to those virtues which she has conceived
through affection of love. The souls, who have thus come forth, have reached
the fourth state, that is, from the third state, which is a perfect state,
in which they taste charity and give birth to it on their neighbors, they
have arrived at the fourth state, which is one of perfect union with Me. The
two last-mentioned states are united, that is to say, one cannot be without
the other, for there cannot be love of Me, without love of the neighbor, nor
love of the neighbor without love of Me.
_________________________________________________________________

How they who are imperfect desire to follow the Father alone, but they
who are perfect desire to follow the Son. And of a vision, which this
holy soul had, concerning diverse baptisms, and of many other beautiful
and useful things.

As I have told you, these latter have issued forth from the house, which is
a sign that they have arisen from imperfection and arrived at perfection.
Open the eye of your intellect and see them running by the Bridge of the
doctrine of Christ crucified, which was their rule, way, and doctrine. They
place none other before the eye of their intellect than Christ crucified,
not the Father, as they do who are in imperfect love and do not wish to
suffer pain, but only to have the delight which they find in Me. But they,
as if drunken with love and burning with it, have gathered together and
ascended the three steps, which I figured to you as the three powers of the
soul, and also the three actual steps, figured to you as in the Body of My
only Son, Christ crucified, by which steps the soul, as I told you,
ascended, first climbing to the Feet, with the feet of the soul™s affection,
from thence arriving at the Side, where she found the secret of the Heart
and knew the baptism of water, which has virtue through the Blood, and where
I dispose the soul to receive grace, uniting and kneading her together in
the Blood. Where did the soul know of this her dignity, in being kneaded and
united with the Blood of the Lamb, receiving the grace in Holy Baptism, in
virtue of the Blood? In the Side, where she knew the fire of divine Charity,
and so, if you remember well, My Truth manifested to you, when you asked,
saying:™Sweet and Immaculate Lamb, You were dead when Your side was opened.
Why then did You want to be struck and have Your heart divided?™ And He
replied to you, telling you that there was occasion enough for it; but the
principal part of what He said I will tell you. He said: Because My desire
towards the human generation was ended, and I had finished the actual work
of bearing pain and torment, and yet I had not been able to show, by finite
things, because My love was infinite, how much more love I had, I wished you
to see the secret of the Heart, showing it to you open, so that you might
see how much more I loved than I could show you by finite pain. I poured
from it Blood and Water, to show you the baptism of water, which is received
in virtue of the Blood. I also showed the baptism of love in two ways, first
in those who are baptized in their blood, shed for Me, which has virtue
through My Blood, even if they have not been able to have Holy Baptism, and
also in those who are baptized in fire, not being able to have Holy Baptism,
but desiring it with the affection of love. There is no baptism of fire
without the Blood, because the Blood is steeped in and kneaded with the fire
of Divine charity, because, through love was It shed. There is yet another
way by which the soul receives the baptism of Blood, speaking, as it were,
under a figure, and this way the Divine charity provided, knowing the
infirmity and fragility of man, through which he offends, not that he is
obliged, through his fragility and infirmity, to commit sin unless he wish
to do so; but, falling, as he will, into the guilt of mortal sin, by which
he loses the grace which he drew from Holy Baptism in virtue of the Blood,
it was necessary to leave a continual baptism of Blood. This the Divine
charity provided in the Sacrament of Holy Confession, the soul receiving the
Baptism of Blood, with contrition of heart, confessing, when able, to My
ministers, who hold the keys of the Blood, sprinkling It, in absolution,
upon the face of the soul. But, if the soul be unable to confess, contrition
of heart is sufficient for this baptism, the hand of My clemency giving you
the fruit of this precious Blood. But if you are able to confess, I wish you
to do so, and if you are able to, and do not, you will be deprived of the
fruit of the Blood. It is true that, in the last extremity, a man, desiring
to confess and not being able to, will receive the fruit of this baptism, of
which I have been speaking. But let no one be so mad as so to arrange his
deeds, that, in the hope of receiving it, he puts off confessing until the
last extremity of death, when he may not be able to do so. In which case, it
is not at all certain that I shall not say to him, in My Divine Justice:
™You did not remember Me in the time of your life, when you could, now will
I not remember you in your death.™

You see then that these Baptisms, which you should all receive until the
last moment, are continual, and though My works, that is the pains of the
Cross were finite, the fruit of them which you receive in Baptism, through
Me, are infinite. This is in virtue of the infinite Divine nature, united
with the finite human nature, which human nature endures pain in Me, the
Word, clothed with your humanity. But because the one nature is steeped in
and united with the other, the Eternal Deity drew to Himself the pain, which
I suffered with so much fire and love. And therefore can this operation be
called infinite, not that My pain, neither the actuality of the body be
infinite, nor the pain of the desire that I had to complete your redemption,
because it was terminated and finished on the Cross, when the Soul was
separated from the Body; but the fruit, which came out of the pain and
desire for your salvation, is infinite, and therefore you receive it
infinitely. Had it not been infinite, the whole human generation could not
have been restored to grace, neither the past, the present, nor the future.
This I manifested in the opening of My Side, where is found the secret of
the Heart, showing that I loved more than I could show, with finite pain. I
showed to you that My love was infinite. How? By the Baptism of Blood,
united with the fire of My charity, and by the general baptism, given to
Christians, and to whomsoever will receive it, and by the baptism of water,
united with the Blood and the fire, wherein the soul is steeped. And, in
order to show this, it was necessary for the Blood to come out of My Side.
Now I have shown you (said My Truth to you) what you asked of Me.
_________________________________________________________________

How worldly people render glory and praise to GOD, whether they will or
no.

And so perfect is her vision that she sees the glory and praise of My Name,
not so much in the angelic nature as in the human, for, whether worldly
people will or no, they render glory and praise to My Name, not that they do
so in the way they should, loving Me above everything, but that My mercy
shines in them, in that, in the abundance of My charity, I give them time,
and do not order the earth to open and swallow them up on account of their
sins. I even wait for them, and command the earth to give them of her
fruits, the sun to give them light and warmth, and the sky to move above
them. And in all things created and made for them, I use My charity and
mercy, withdrawing neither on account of their sins. I even give equally to
the sinner and the righteous man, and often more to the sinner than to the
righteous man, because the righteous man is able to endure privation, and I
take from him the goods of the world that he may the more abundantly enjoy
the goods of heaven. So that in worldly men My mercy and charity shine, and
they render praise and glory to My Name, even when they persecute My
servants; for they prove in them the virtues of patience and charity,
causing them to suffer humbly and offer to Me their persecutions and
injuries, thus turning them into My praise and glory.

So that, whether they will or no, worldly people render to My Name praise
and glory, even when they intend to do Me infamy and wrong.
_________________________________________________________________

How even the devils render glory and praise to GOD.

Sinners, such as those of whom I have just spoken, are placed in this life
in order to augment virtues in My servants, as the devils are in Hell as My
justiciars and augmenters of My Glory; that is, My instruments of justice
towards the damned, and the augmenters of My Glory in My creatures, who are
wayfarers and pilgrims on their journey to reach Me, their End. They augment
in them the virtues in diverse ways, exercising them with many temptations
and vexations, causing them to injure one another and take one another™s
property, and not for the motive of making them receive injury or be
deprived of their property, but only to deprive them of charity. But in
thinking to deprive My servants, they fortify them, proving in them the
virtues of patience, fortitude, and perseverance. Thus they render praise
and glory to My Name, and My Truth is fulfilled in them, which Truth created
them for the praise and glory of Me, Eternal Father, and that they might
participate in My beauty. But, rebelling against Me in their pride, they
fell and lost their vision of Me, wherefore they rendered not to Me glory
through the affection of love, and I, Eternal Truth, have placed them as
instruments to exercise My servants in virtue in this life and as justiciars
to those who go, for their sins, to the pains of Purgatory. So you see that
My Truth is fulfilled in them, that is, that they render Me glory, not as
citizens of life eternal, of which they are deprived by their sins, but as
My justiciars, manifesting justice upon the damned, and upon those in
Purgatory.
_________________________________________________________________

How the soul, after she has passed through this life, sees fully the
praise and glory of My Name in everything, and, though, in her the pain
of desire is ended, the desire is not.

Thus in all things created, in all rational creatures, and in the devils is
seen the glory and praise of My Name. Who can see it? The soul who is
denuded of the body and has reached Me, her End, sees it clearly, and, in
seeing, knows the truth. Seeing Me, the Eternal Father, she loves, and
loving, she is satisfied. Satisfied, she knows the Truth, and her will is
stayed in My Will, bound and made stable, so that in nothing can it suffer
pain, because it has that which it desired to have, before the soul saw Me,
namely, the glory and praise of My Name. She now, in truth, sees it
completely in My saints, in the blessed spirits, and in all creatures and
things, even in the devils, as I told you. And although she also sees the
injury done to Me, which before caused her sorrow, it no longer now can give
her pain, but only compassion, because she loves without pain, and prays to
Me continually with affection of love, that I will have mercy on the world.
Pain in her is ended, but not love, as the tortured desire, which My Word,
the Son, had borne from the beginning when I sent Him into the world,
terminated on the Cross in His painful death, but His love”no. For had the
affection of My charity, which I showed you by means of Him, been terminated
and ended then, you would not be, because by love you are made, and had My
love been drawn back, that is, had I not loved your being, you could not be,
but My love created you, and My love possesses you, because I am one thing
with My Truth, and He, the Word Incarnate with Me. You see then, that the
saints and every soul in Eternal Life have desire for the salvation of souls
without pain, because pain ended in their death, but not so the affection of
love.

Thus, as if drunk with the Blood of the Immaculate Lamb, and clothed in the
love of the neighbor, they pass through the Narrow Gate, bathed in the Blood
of Christ crucified, and they find themselves in Me, the Sea Pacific, raised
from imperfection, far from satiety, and arrived at perfection, satisfied by
every good.
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How after Saint Paul was drawn to the glory of the blessed, he desired to
be loosened from the body, as they do, who have reached the aforesaid
third and fourth states.

Paul, then, had seen and tasted this good, when I drew him up into the
third heaven, that is into the height of the Trinity, where he tasted and
knew My Truth, receiving fully the Holy Spirit, and learning the doctrine of
My Truth, the Word Incarnate. The soul of Paul was clothed, through feeling
and union, in Me, Eternal Father, like the blessed ones in Eternal Life,
except that his soul was not separated from his body, except through this
feeling and union. But it being pleasing to My Goodness to make of him a
vessel of election in the abyss of Me, Eternal Trinity, I dispossessed him
of Myself, because on Me can no pain fall, and I wished him to suffer for My
name; therefore I placed before him, as an object for the eyes of his
intellect, Christ crucified, clothing him with the garment of His doctrine,
binding and fettering him with the clemency of the Holy Spirit and inflaming
him with the fire of charity. He became a vessel, disposed and reformed by
My Goodness, and, on being struck, made no resistance, but said:™My Lord,
what do You wish me to do? Show me that which it is Your pleasure for me to
do, and I will do it.™ Which I answered when I placed before him Christ
crucified, clothing him with the doctrine of My charity. I illuminated him
perfectly with the light of true contrition, by which he extirpated his
defects, and founded him in My charity.
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How the soul who finds herself in the unitive state desires infinitely to
have the barren earthly state and unite herself to GOD.

And when I depart from the soul in the aforesaid way that the body may
return a little to its corporal sentiment, the soul, on account of the union
which she had made with Me, is impatient in her life, being deprived of
union with Me, and the conversation of the Immortals, who render glory to
Me, and finding herself, amid the conversation of mortals, and seeing them
so miserably offending Me. This vision of My offense is the torture which
such souls always have, and which, with the desire to see Me, renders their
life insupportable to them. Nevertheless, as their will is not their own,
but becomes one with Mine, they cannot desire other than what I desire, and
though they desire to come and be with Me, they are contented to remain, if
I desire them to remain, with their pain, for the greater praise and glory
of My Name and the salvation of souls. So that in nothing are they in
discord with My Will; but they run their course with ecstatic desire,
clothed in Christ crucified, and keeping by the Bridge of His doctrine,
glorying in His shame and pains. Inasmuch as they appear to be suffering
they are rejoicing, because the enduring of many tribulations is to them a
relief in the desire which they have for death, for oftentimes the desire
and the will to suffer pain mitigates the pain caused them by their desire
to quit the body. These not only endure with patience, as I told you they
did, who are in the third state, but they glory, through My Name, in bearing
much tribulation. In bearing tribulation they find pleasure, and not having
it they suffer pain, fearing that I reward not their well-doing or that the
sacrifice of their desires is not pleasing to Me; but when I permit to them
many tribulations they rejoice, seeing themselves clothed with the suffering
and shame of Christ crucified. Wherefore were it possible for them to have
virtue without toil they would not want it. They would rather delight in the
Cross, with Christ, acquiring it with pain, than in any other way obtain
Eternal Life. Why? Because they are inflamed and steeped in the Blood, where
they find the blaze of My charity, which charity is a fire proceeding from
Me, ravishing their heart and mind and making their sacrifices acceptable.
Wherefore, the eye of the intellect is lifted up and gazes into My Deity,
when the affection behind the intellect is nourished and united with Me.
This is a sight which I grant to the soul, infused with grace, who, in
truth, loves and serves Me.
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How they, who are arrived at the aforesaid unitive state, have the eye of
their intellect illuminated by supernatural light infused by grace. And
how it is better to go for counsel for the salvation of the soul, to a
humble and holy conscience than to a proud lettered man.

With this light that is given to the eye of the intellect, Thomas Aquinas
saw Me, wherefore he acquired the light of much science; also Augustine,
Jerome, and the doctors, and my saints. They were illuminated by My Truth to
know and understand My Truth in darkness. By My Truth I mean the Holy
Scripture, which seemed dark because it was not understood; not through any
defect of the Scriptures, but of them who heard them, and did not understand
them. Wherefore I sent this light to illuminate the blind and coarse
understanding, uplifting the eye of the intellect to know the Truth. And I,
Fire, Acceptor of sacrifices, ravishing away from them their darkness, give
the light; not a natural light, but a supernatural, so that, though in
darkness, they know the Truth. Wherefore that, which at first appeared to be
dark, now appears with the most perfect light, to the gross or subtle mind;
and everyone receives according as he is capable or disposed to know Me, for
I do not despise dispositions. So you see that the eye of the intellect has
received supernatural light, infused by grace, by which the doctors and
saints knew light in darkness, and of darkness made light. The intellect
was, before the Scriptures were formed, wherefore, from the intellect came
science, because in seeing they discerned. It was thus that the holy
prophets and fathers understood, who prophesied of the coming and death of
My Son, and the Apostles, after the coming of the Holy Spirit, which gave
them that supernatural light. The evangelists, doctors, professors, virgins,
and martyrs were all likewise illuminated by the aforesaid perfect light.
And everyone has had the illumination of this light according as he needed
it for his salvation or that of others, or for the exposition of the
Scriptures. The doctors of the holy science had it, expounding the doctrine
of My Truth, the preaching of the Apostles, and the Gospels of the
Evangelists. The martyrs had it, declaring in their blood the Most Holy
Faith, the fruit and the treasure of the Blood of the Lamb. The virgins had
it in the affection of charity and purity. To the obedient ones is declared,
by it, the obedience of the Word, showing them the perfection of obedience,
which shines in my Truth, who for the obedience that I imposed upon Him, ran
to the opprobrious death of the Cross. This light is to be seen in the Old
and New Testament; in the Old, by it, were seen by the eye of the intellect,
and known the prophecies of the holy prophets. In the New Testament of the
evangelical life, how is the Gospel declared to the faithful? By this same
light. And because the New Testament proceeded from the same light, the new
law did not break the old law; rather are the two laws bound together, the
imperfection of the old law, founded in fear alone, being taken from it, by
the coming of the Word of My only-begotten Son, with the law of Love,
completing the old law by giving it love, and replacing the fear of penalty
by holy fear. And, therefore, said My Truth to the disciples, to show that
He was not a breaker of laws:™I came not to dissolve the law, but to
fulfill it.™ It is almost as if My Truth would say to them”The Law is now
imperfect, but with My Blood I will make it perfect, and I will fill it up
with what it lacks, taking away the fear of penalty, and founding it in love
and holy fear. How was this declared to be the Truth? By this same
supernatural light, which was and is given by grace to all, who will receive
it? Every light that comes from Holy Scripture comes and came from this
supernatural light. Ignorant and proud men of science were blind
notwithstanding this light, because their pride and the cloud of self-love
had covered up and put out the light. Wherefore they understood the Holy
Scripture rather literally than with understanding, and taste only the
letter of it, still desiring many other books; and they get not to the
marrow of it, because they have deprived themselves of the light, with which
is found and expounded the Scripture; and they are annoyed and murmur,
because they find much in it that appears to them gross and idiotic. And,
nevertheless, they appear to be much illuminated in their knowledge of
Scripture, as if they had studied it for long; and this is not remarkable,
because they have of course the natural light from whence proceeds science.
But because they have lost the supernatural light, infused by grace, they
neither see nor know My Goodness, nor the grace of My servants. Wherefore, I
say to you, that it is much better to go for counsel for the salvation of
the soul, to a holy and upright conscience, than to a proud lettered man,
learned in much science, because such a one can only offer what he has
himself, and, because of his darkness, it may appear to you, that, from what
he says, the Scriptures offer darkness. The contrary will you find with My
servants, because they offer the light that is in them, with hunger and
desire for the soul™s salvation. This I have told you, my sweetest daughter,
that you might know the perfection of this unitive state, when the eye of
the intellect is ravished by the fire of My charity, in which charity it
receives the supernatural light. With this light the souls in the unitive
state love Me, because love follows the intellect, and the more it knows the
more can it love. Thus the one feeds the other, and, with this light, they
both arrive at the Eternal Vision of Me, where they see and taste Me, in
Truth, the soul being separated from the body, as I told you when I spoke to
you of the blissfulness that the soul received in Me. This state is most
excellent, when the soul, being yet in the mortal body, tastes bliss with
the immortals, and oftentimes she arrives at so great a union that she
scarcely knows whether she be in the body or out of it; and tastes the
earnest-money of Eternal Life, both because she is united with Me, and
because her will is dead in Christ, by which death her union was made with
Me, and in no other way could she perfectly have done so. Therefore do they
taste life eternal, deprived of the hell of their own will, which gives to
man the earnest-money of damnation, if he yield to it.
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How this devout soul seeks knowledge from God concerning the state and
fruit of tears.

Then this soul, yearning with very great desire, and rising as one
intoxicated both by the union which she had had with God, and by what she
had heard and tasted of the Supreme and Sweet Truth, yearned with grief over
the ignorance of creatures, in that they did not know their Benefactor, or
the affection of the love of God. And nevertheless she had joy from the hope
of the promise that the Truth of God had made to her, teaching her the way
she was to direct her will (and the other servants of God as well as
herself) in order that He should do mercy to the world. And, lifting up the
eye of her intellect upon the sweet Truth, to whom she remained united,
wishing to know somewhat of the aforesaid states of the soul of which God
had spoken to her, and seeing that the soul passes through these states with
tears, she wished to learn from the Truth concerning the different kinds of
tears, and how they came to be, and whence they proceeded, and the fruit
that resulted from weeping. Wishing then to know this from the Sweet,
Supreme and First Truth, as to the manner of being and reason of the
aforesaid tears, and inasmuch as the truth cannot be learnt from any other
than from the Truth Himself, and nothing can be learnt in the Truth but what
is seen by the eye of the intellect, she made her request of the Truth. For
it is necessary for him who is lifted with desire to learn the Truth with
the light of faith.

Wherefore, knowing that she had not forgotten the teaching which the Truth,
that is, God, had given her, that in no other way could she learn about the
different states and fruits of tears, she rose out of herself, exceeding
every limit of her nature with the greatness of her desire. And, with the
light of a lively faith, she opened the eye of her intellect upon the
Eternal Truth, in whom she saw and knew the Truth, in the matter of her
request, for God Himself manifested it to her, and condescending in His
benignity to her burning desire, fulfilled her petition.
_________________________________________________________________

How there are five kinds of tears.

Then said the Supreme and Sweet Truth of God,Oh, beloved and dearest
daughter, you beg knowledge of the reasons and fruits of tears, and I have
not despised your desire; open well the eye of your intellect and I will
show you, among the aforesaid states of the soul, of which I have told you,
concerning the imperfect tears caused by fear; but first rather of the tears
of wicked men of the world. These are the tears of damnation. The former are
those of fear, and belong to men who abandon sin from fear of punishment,
and weep for fear. The third are the tears of those who, having abandoned
sin, are beginning to serve and taste Me, and weep for very sweetness; but
since their love is imperfect, so also is their weeping, as I have told you.
The fourth are the tears of those who have arrived at the perfect love of
their neighbor, loving Me without any regard whatsoever for themselves.
These weep and their weeping is perfect. The fifth are joined to the fourth
and are tears of sweetness let fall with great peace, as I will explain to
you. I will tell you also of the tears of fire, without bodily tears of the
eyes, which satisfy those who often would desire to weep and cannot. And I
wish you to know that all these various graces may exist in one soul, who,
rising from fear and imperfect love, reaches perfect love in the unitive
state. Now I will begin to tell you of these tears in the following way.
_________________________________________________________________

Of the difference of these tears, arising from the explanation of the
aforesaid state of the soul.

I wish you to know that every tear proceeds from the heart, for there is no
member of the body that will satisfy the heart so much as the eye. If the
heart is in pain the eye manifests it. And if the pain be sensual the eye
drops hearty tears which engender death, because proceeding from the heart,
they are caused by a disordinate love distinct from the love of Me; for such
love, being disordinate and an offense to Me, receives the meed of mortal
pain and tears. It is true that their guilt and grief are more or less
heavy, according to the measure of their disordinate love. And these form
that first class, who have the tears of death, of whom I have spoken to you,
and will speak again. Now, begin to consider the tears which give the
commencement of life, the tears, that is, of those who, knowing their guilt,
set to weeping for fear of the penalty they have incurred.

These are both hearty and sensual tears, because the soul, not having yet
arrived at perfect hatred of its guilt on account of the offense thereby
done to Me, abandons it with a hearty grief for the penalty which follows
the sin committed, while the eye weeps in order to satisfy the grief of the
heart.

But the soul, exercising herself in virtue, begins to lose her fear,
knowing that fear alone is not sufficient to give her eternal life, as I
have already told you when speaking of the second stage of the soul. And so
she proceeds, with love, to know herself and My goodness in her, and begins
to take hope in My mercy in which her heart feels joy. Sorrow for her grief,
mingled with the joy of her hope in My mercy, causes her eye to weep, which
tears issue from the very fountain of her heart.

But, inasmuch as she has not yet arrived at great perfection, she often
drops sensual tears, and if you ask Me why, I reply: Because the root of
self-love is not sensual love, for that has already been removed, as has
been said, but it is a spiritual love with which the soul desires spiritual
consolations or loves some creature spiritually. (I have spoken to you at
length regarding the imperfections of such souls.) Wherefore, when such a
soul is deprived of the thing she loves, that is, internal or external
consolation, the internal being the consolation received from Me, the
external being that which she had from the creature, and when temptations
and the persecutions of men come on her, her heart is full of grief. And, as
soon as the eye feels the grief and suffering of the heart, she begins to
weep with a tender and compassionate sorrow, pitying herself with the
spiritual compassion of self-love; for her self-will is not yet crushed and
destroyed in everything, and in this way she lets fall sensual tears”tears,
that is, of spiritual passion. But, growing, and exercising herself in the
light of self-knowledge, she conceives displeasure at herself and finally
perfect self-hatred. From this she draws true knowledge of My goodness with
a fire of love, and she begins to unite herself to Me, and to conform her
will to Mine and so to feel joy and compassion. Joy in herself through the
affection of love, and compassion for her neighbor, as I told you in
speaking of the third stage. Immediately her eye, wishing to satisfy the
heart, cries with hearty love for Me and for her neighbor, grieving solely
for My offense and her neighbor™s loss, and not for any penalty or loss due
to herself; for she does not think of herself, but only of rendering glory
and praise to My Name, and, in an ecstasy of desire, she joyfully takes the
food prepared for her on the table of the Holy Cross, thus conforming
herself to the humble, patient, and immaculate Lamb, My only-begotten Son,
of whom I made a Bridge, as I have said. Having thus sweetly traveled by
that Bridge, following the doctrine of My sweet Truth, enduring with true
and sweet patience every pain and trouble which I have permitted to be
inflicted upon her for her salvation, having manfully received them all, not
choosing them according to her own tastes, but accepting them according to
Mine, and not only, as I said, enduring them with patience, but sustaining
them with joy, she counts it glory to be persecuted for My Name™s sake in
whatever she may have to suffer. Then the soul arrives at such delight and
tranquillity of mind that no tongue can tell it. Having crossed the river by
means of the Eternal Word, that is, by the doctrine of My only-begotten Son,
and, having fixed the eye of her intellect on Me, the Sweet Supreme Truth,
having seen the Truth, knows it; and knowing it, loves it. Drawing her
affection after her intellect, she tastes My Eternal Deity, and she knows
and sees the Divine nature united to your humanity.

Then she reposes in Me, the Sea Pacific, and her heart is united to Me in
love, as I told you when speaking of the fourth and unitive state. When she
thus feels Me, the Eternal Deity, her eyes let fall tears of sweetness,
tears indeed of milk, nourishing the soul in true patience; an odoriferous
ointment are these tears, shedding odors of great sweetness.

Oh, best beloved daughter, how glorious is that soul who has indeed been
able to pass from the stormy ocean to Me, the Sea Pacific, and in that Sea,
which is Myself, the Supreme and Eternal Deity, to fill the pitcher of her
heart. And her eye, the conduit of her heart, endeavors to satisfy her
heart-pangs, and so sheds tears. This is the last stage in which the soul is
blessed and sorrowful.

Blessed she is through the union which she feels herself to have with Me,
tasting the divine love; sorrowful through the offenses which she sees done
to My goodness and greatness, for she has seen and tasted the bitterness of
this in her self-knowledge, by which self-knowledge, together with her
knowledge of Me, she arrived at the final stage. Yet this sorrow is no
impediment to the unitive state, which produces tears of great sweetness
through self-knowledge, gained in love of the neighbor, in which exercise
the soul discovers the plaint of My divine mercy, and grief at the offenses
caused to her neighbor, weeping with those who weep, and rejoicing with
those who rejoice”that is, who live in My love. Over these the soul
rejoices, seeing glory and praise rendered Me by My servants, so that the
third kind of grief does not prevent the fourth, that is, the final grief
belonging to the unitive state; they rather give savor to each other, for,
had not this last grief (in which the soul finds such union with Me),
developed from the grief belonging to the third state of neighborly love, it
would not be perfect. Therefore it is necessary that the one should flavor
the other, else the soul would come to a state of presumption, induced by
the subtle breeze of love of her own reputation, and would fall at once,
vomited from the heights to the depths. Therefore it is necessary to bear
with others and practice continually love to one™s neighbor, together with
true knowledge of oneself.

In this way will she feel the fire of My love in herself, because love of
her neighbor is developed out of love of Me”that is, out of that learning
which the soul obtained by knowing herself and My goodness in her. When,
therefore, she sees herself to be ineffably loved by Me, she loves every
rational creature with the self-same love with which she sees herself to be
loved. And, for this reason, the soul that knows Me immediately expands to
the love of her neighbor, because she sees that I love that neighbor
ineffably, and so, herself, loves the object which she sees Me to have loved
still more. She further knows that she can be of no use to Me and can in no
way repay Me that pure love with which she feels herself to be loved by Me,
and therefore endeavors to repay it through the medium which I have given
her, namely, her neighbor, who is the medium through which you can all serve
Me. For, as I have said to you, you can perform all virtues by means of your
neighbor, I having given you all creatures, in general and in particular,
according to the diverse graces each has received from Me, to be ministered
unto by you; you should therefore love them with the same pure love with
which I have loved you. That pure love cannot be returned directly to Me,
because I have loved you without being Myself loved, and without any
consideration of Myself whatsoever, for I loved you without being loved by
you”before you existed; it was, indeed, love that moved Me to create you to
My own image and similitude. This love you cannot repay to Me, but you can
pay it to My rational creature, loving your neighbor without being loved by
him and without consideration of your own advantage, whether spiritual or
temporal, but loving him solely for the praise and glory of My Name, because
he has been loved by Me.

Thus will you fulfill the commandment of the law, to love Me above
everything, and your neighbor as yourselves.

True indeed is it that this height cannot be reached without passing
through the second stage, namely the second stage of union which becomes the
third (and final) stage. Nor can it be preserved when it has been reached if
the soul abandon the affection from which it has been developed, the
affection to which the second class of tears belongs. It is therefore
impossible to fulfill the law given by Me, the Eternal God, without
fulfilling that of your neighbor, for these two laws are the feet of your
affection by which the precepts and counsels are observed, which were given
you, as I have told you, by My Truth, Christ crucified. These two states
united nourish your soul in virtue, making her to grow in the perfection of
virtue and in the unitive state. Not that the other state is changed because
this further state has been reached, for this further state does but
increase the riches of grace in new and various gifts and admirable
elevations of the mind, in the knowledge of the truth, as I said to you,
which, though it is mortal, appears immortal because the soul™s perception
of her own sensuality is mortified and her will is dead through the union
which she has attained with Me.

Oh, how sweet is the taste of this union to the soul, for, in tasting it,
she sees My secrets! Wherefore she often receives the spirit of prophecy,
knowing the things of the future. This is the effect of My Goodness, but the
humble soul should despise such things, not indeed in so far as they are
given her by My love, but in so far as she desires them by reason of her
appetite for consolation, considering herself unworthy of peace and quiet of
mind, in order to nourish virtue within her soul. In such a case let her not
remain in the second stage, but return to the valley of self-knowledge. I
give her this light, My grace permitting, so that she may ever grow in
virtue. For the soul is never so perfect in this life that she cannot attain
to a higher perfection of love. My only-begotten Son, your Captain, was the
only One who could increase in no perfection, because He was one thing with
Me, and I with Him, wherefore His soul was blessed through union with the
Divine nature. But do you, His pilgrim-members, be ever ready to grow in
greater perfection, not indeed to another stage, for as I have said, you
have now reached the last, but to that further grade of perfection in the
last stage, which may please you by means of My Grace.
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How the four stages of the soul, to which belong the five aforesaid
states of tears, produce tears of infinite value: and how God wishes to
be served as the Infinite, and not as anything finite.

These five states are like five principal canals which are filled with
abundant tears of infinite value, all of which give life if they are
disciplined in virtue, as I have said to you. You ask how their value can be
infinite. I do not say that in this life your tears can become infinite, but
I call them infinite, on account of the infinite desire of your soul from
which they proceed. I have already told you how tears come from the heart,
and how the heart distributes them to the eye, having gathered them in its
own fiery desire. As, when green wood is on the fire, the moisture it
contains groans on account of the heat, because the wood is green, so does
the heart, made green again by the renovation of grace drawn into itself
among its self-love which dries up the soul, so that fiery desire and tears
are united. And inasmuch as desire is never ended, it is never satisfied in
this life, but the more the soul loves the less she seems to herself to
love. Thus is holy desire, which is founded in love, exercised, and with
this desire the eye weeps. But when the soul is separated from the body and
has reached Me, her End, she does not on that account abandon desire, so as
to no longer yearn for Me or love her neighbor, for love has entered into
her like a woman bearing the fruits of all other virtues. It is true that
suffering is over and ended, as I have said to you, for the soul that
desires Me possesses Me in very truth, without any fear of ever losing that
which she has so long desired; but, in this way, hunger is kept up, because
those who are hungry are satisfied, and as soon as they are satisfied hunger
again; in this way their satiety is without disgust, and their hunger
without suffering, for, in Me, no perfection is wanting.

Thus is your desire infinite, otherwise it would be worth nothing, nor
would any virtue of yours have any life if you served Me with anything
finite. For I, who am the Infinite God, wish to be served by you with
infinite service, and the only infinite thing you possess is the affection
and desire of your souls. In this sense I said that there were tears of
infinite value, and this is true as regards their mode, of which I have
spoken, namely, of the infinite desire which is united to the tears. When
the soul leaves the body the tears remain behind, but the affection of love
has drawn to itself the fruit of the tears, and consumed it, as happens in
the case of the water in your furnace. The water has not really been taken
out of the furnace, but the heat of the fire has consumed it and drawn it
into itself. Thus the soul, having arrived at tasting the fire of My divine
charity, and having passed from this life in a state of love towards Me and
her neighbor, having further possessed that unitive love which caused her
tears to fall, does not cease to offer Me her blessed desires, tearful
indeed, though without pain or physical weeping, for physical tears have
evaporated in the furnace, becoming tears of fire of the Holy Spirit. You
see then how tears are infinite, how, as regards the tears shed in this life
only, no tongue can tell what different sorrows may cause them. I have now
told you the difference between four of these states of tears.
_________________________________________________________________

Of the fruit of worldly men™s tears.

It remains for Me to tell you of the fruit produced by tears shed with
desire, and received into the soul. But first will I speak to you of that
first class of men whom I mentioned at the beginning of this My discourse;
those, that is, who live miserably in the world, making a god of created
things and of their own sensuality, from which comes damage to their body
and soul. I said to you that every tear proceeded from the heart, and this
is the truth, for the heart grieves in proportion to the love it feels. So
worldly men weep when their heart feels pain, that is, when they are
deprived of something which they loved.

But many and diverse are their complainings. Do you know how many? There
are as many as there exist different loves. And inasmuch as the root of
self-love is corrupt, everything that grows from it is corrupt also.
Self-love is a tree on which grow nothing but fruits of death, putrid
flowers, stained leaves, branches bowed down, and struck by various winds.
This is the tree of the soul. For you are all trees of love, and without
love you cannot live, for you have been made by Me for love. The soul who
lives virtuously, places the root of her tree in the valley of true
humility; but those who live thus miserably are planted on the mountain of
pride, whence it follows that since the root of the tree is badly planted,
the tree can bear no fruits of life but only of death. Their fruits are
their actions, which are all poisoned by many and diverse kinds of sin, and
if they should produce some good fruit among their actions, even it will be
spoiled by the foulness of its root, for no good actions done by a soul in
mortal sin are of value for eternal life, for they are not done in grace.
Let not, however, such a soul abandon on this account its good works,
forevery good deed is rewarded, and every evil deed punished. A good action
performed out of a state of grace is not sufficient to merit eternal life,
as has been said, but My Justice, My Divine Goodness, grants an incomplete
reward, imperfect as the action which obtains it. Often such a man is
rewarded in temporal matters; sometimes I give him more time in which to
repent, as I have already said to you in another place. This also will I
sometimes do, I grant him the life of grace by means of My servants who are
pleasing and acceptable to Me. I acted in this way with My glorious apostle
Paul, who abandoned his infidelity, and the persecutions he directed against
the Christians, at the prayer of St. Stephen. See truly, therefore, that, in
whatever state a man may be, he should never stop doing good.

I said to you that the flowers of this tree were putrid, and so in truth
they are. Its flowers are the stinking thoughts of the heart, displeasing to
Me, and full of hatred and unkindness towards their neighbor. So if a man be
a thief, he robs Me of honor, and takes it himself. This flower stinks less
than that of false judgment, which is of two kinds. The first with regard to
Me, by which men judge My secret judgments, gauging falsely all My
mysteries, that is, judging that which I did in love, to have been done in
hatred; that which I did in truth to have been done in falsehood; that which
I give them for life, to have been given them for death. They condemn and
judge everything according to their weak intellect; for they have blinded
the eye of their intellect with sensual self-love, and hidden the pupil of
the most holy Faith, which they will not allow to see or know the Truth. The
second kind of false judgment is directed against a man™s neighbor, from
which often come many evils, because the wretched man wishes to set himself
up as the judge of the affections and heart of other rational creatures,
when he does not yet know himself. And, for an action which he may see, or
for a word he may hear, he will judge the affection of the heart. My
servants always judge well, because they are founded on Me, the Supreme
Good; but such as these always judge badly, for they are founded on evil.
Such critics as these cause hatreds, murders, unhappinesses of all kinds to
their neighbors, and remove themselves far away from the love of My
servants™ virtue.

Truly these fruits follow the leaves, which are the words which issue from
their mouth in insult to Me and the Blood of My only-begotten Son, and in
hatred to their neighbors. And they think of nothing else but cursing and
condemning My works, and blaspheming and saying evil of every rational
creature, according as their judgment may suggest to them. The unfortunate
creatures do not remember that the tongue is made only to give honor to Me,
and to confess sins, and to be used in love of virtue, and for the salvation
of the neighbor. These are the stained leaves of that most miserable fault,
because the heart from which they proceeded was not clean, but all spotted
with duplicity and misery. How much danger, apart from the spiritual
privation of grace to the soul, of temporal loss may not occur! For you have
all heard and seen how, through words alone, have come revolutions of
states, and destructions of cities, and many homicides and other evils, a
word having entered the heart of the listener, and having passed through a
space not large enough for a knife.

I say that this tree has seven branches drooping to the earth, on which
grow the flowers and leaves in the way I have told you. These branches are
the seven mortal sins which are full of many and diverse wickednesses,
contained in the roots and trunk of self-love and of pride, which first made
both branches and flowers of many thoughts, the leaves of words, and the
fruits of wicked deeds. They stand drooping to the earth because the
branches of mortal sin can turn no other way than to the earth, the fragile
disordinate substance of the world. Do not marvel, they can turn no way but
that in which they can be fed by the earth; for their hunger is insatiable,
and the earth is unable to satisfy them. They are insatiable and unbearable
to themselves, and it is conformable to their state that they should always
be unquiet, longing and desiring that thing which they have to satiety. This
is the reason why such satiety cannot content them, because they (who are
infinite in their being) are always desiring something finite; because their
being will never end, though their life to grace ends when they commit
mortal sin.

Man is placed above all creatures, and not beneath them, and he cannot be
satisfied or content except in something greater than himself. Greater than
himself there is nothing but Myself, the Eternal God. Therefore I alone can
satisfy him, and, because he is deprived of this satisfaction by his guilt,
he remains in continual torment and pain. Weeping follows pain, and when he
begins to weep the wind strikes the tree of self-love, which he has made the
principle of all his being.
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How this devout soul, thanking God for His explanation of the
above-mentioned states of tears, makes three petitions.

Then this soul, eager with the greatness of her desire, through the
sweetness of the explanation and satisfaction which she had received from
the Truth, concerning the state of tears, said as one enamored”Thanks,
thanks be to You, Supreme and Eternal Father, Satisfier of holy desires, and
Lover of our Salvation, who, through Your Love, gave us Love Himself, in the
time of our warfare with You, in the person of Your only-begotten Son. By
this abyss of Your fiery Love, I beg of You grace and mercy that I may come
to You truly in the light, and not flee far in darkness away from Your
doctrine, of which You have clearly demonstrated to me the truth, so that,
by the light thereof, I perceive two other points, concerning which I fear
that they are, or may become, stumbling-blocks to me. I beg, Eternal Father,
that, before I leave the subject of these states of tears, You would explain
these points also to me. The first is”when a person desirous of serving You,
comes to me, or to some other servant of Yours to ask for counsel, how
should I teach him? I know, Sweet and Eternal God, that You replied above to
this question”˜I am He who takes delight in few words and many deeds.™
Nevertheless, if it please Your Goodness to grant me a few more words on the
subject, it will cause me the greatest pleasure. And also, if on some
occasion, when I am praying for Your creatures, and in particular for Your
servants, and I seem to see the subjects of my prayer, in one I find (in the
course of my prayer) a well-disposed mind, a soul rejoicing in You; and in
another, as it might seem to me, a mind full of darkness; have I the right,
O Eternal Father, to judge the one soul to be in light, and the other in
darkness? Or, supposing I should see that the one lives in great penance,
and the other does not, should I be right to judge that he who does the
greater penance has the higher perfection? I pray You, so that I may not be
deceived through my limited vision, that You would declare to me in detail,
what You have already said in general on this matter. The second request I
have to make is, that You will explain further to me about the sign which
You said the soul received on being visited by You”the sign which revealed
Your Presence. If I remember well, oh, Eternal Truth, You said that the soul
remained in joy and courageous virtue. I would gladly know whether this joy
can consist with the delusion of the passion of spiritual self-love; for if
it were so, I would humbly confine myself to the sign of virtue. These are
the things which I beg You to tell me, so that I may serve You and my
neighbor in truth, and not fall into false judgment concerning Your
creatures and servants. For it seems to me that the habit of judging keeps
the soul far from You, so I do not wish to fall into this snare.
_________________________________________________________________

How the light of reason is necessary to every soul that wishes to serve
God in truth; and first of the light of reason in general.

Then the Eternal God, delighting in the thirst and hunger of that soul, and
in the purity of her heart, and the desire with which she longed to serve
Him, turned the eye of His benignity and mercy upon her, saying”Oh,
best-beloved, dearest and sweetest daughter, my spouse! rise out of
yourself, and open the eye of your intellect to see Me, the Infinite
Goodness, and the ineffable love which I have towards you and My other
servants. And open the ear of the desire which you feel towards Me, and
remember, that if you do not see, you can not hear, that is to say, that the
soul that does not see into My Truth with the eye of her intellect, cannot
hear or know My Truth, wherefore in order that you may the better know it,
rise above the feelings of your senses.

And I, who take delight in your request, will satisfy your demand. Not that
you can increase My delight, for I am the cause of you and of your increase;
not those of Mine. Yet the very pleasure that I take in the work of My own
hands causes Me delight.

Then that soul obeyed and rose out of herself, in order to learn the true
solution of her difficulty. And the Eternal God said to her,In order that
you may the better understand what I shall say to you, I shall revert to the
beginning of your request concerning the three lights which issue from Me,
the True Light. The first is a general light dwelling in those who live in
ordinary charity. (I shall repeat to you here many things concerning these
lights, which I have already told you, in spite of My having done so, in
order that your creeping intelligence may better understand that which you
wish to know.) The other two lights dwell in those who, having abandoned the
world, desire perfection. Besides this I will explain to you your request,
telling you in great detail that which I have already pointed out to you in
general. You know, as I have told you, that, without the light, no one can
walk in the truth, that is, without the light of reason, which light of
reason you draw from Me the True Light, by means of the eye of your
intellect and the light of faith which I have given you in holy baptism,
though you may have lost it by your own defects. For, in baptism, and
through the mediation of the Blood of My only-begotten Son, you have
received the form of faith; which faith you exercise in virtue by the light
of reason, which gives you life and causes you to walk in the path of truth,
and, by its means, to arrive at Me, the True Light, for, without it, you
would plunge into darkness.

It is necessary for you to have two lights derived from this primary light,
and to these two I will also add a third. The first lightens you all to know
the transitory nature of the things of the world, all of which pass like the
wind. But this you cannot know thoroughly, unless you first recognize your
own fragility, how strong is your inclination, through the law of perversity
with which your members are bound, to rebel against Me, your Creator (not
that by this law any man can be constrained to commit any, even the smallest
sin, against his will, but that this law of perversity fights lustily
against the spirit). I did not impose this law upon you, in order that My
rational creature should be conquered by it, but in order that he should
prove and increase the virtue of his soul, because virtue cannot be proved,
except by its contrary. Sensuality is contrary to the spirit, and yet, by
means of sensuality, the soul is able to prove the love which she has for
Me, her Creator. How does she prove it? When, with anger and displeasure,
she rises against herself. This law has also been imposed in order to
preserve the soul in true humility. Wherefore you see that, while I created
the soul to Mine own image and similitude, placing her in such dignity and
beauty, I caused her to be accompanied by the vilest of all things, imposing
on her the law of perversity, imprisoning her in a body, formed of the
vilest substance of the earth, so that, seeing in what her true beauty
consisted, she should not raise her head in pride against Me. Wherefore, to
one who possesses this light, the fragility of his body is a cause of
humiliation to the soul, and is in no way matter for pride, but rather for
true and perfect humility. So that this law does not constrain you to any
sin by its strivings, but supplies a reason to make you know yourselves and
the instability of the world. This should be seen by the eye of the
intellect, with light of the holy faith, of which I said to you that it was
the pupil of the eye. This is that light which is necessary in general to
every rational creature, whatever may be his condition, who wishes to
participate in the life of grace, in the fruit of the Blood of the
immaculate Lamb. This is the ordinary light, that is, the light which all
persons must possess, as has been said, for, without it, the soul would be
in a state of damnation. And, for this reason, because the soul, being
without the light, is not in a state of grace, inasmuch as, not having the
light, she does not know the evil of her sin or its cause, and therefore
cannot avoid or hate it.

And similarly if the soul know not good, and the reason of good, that is to
say virtue, she cannot love or desire either Me, who am the Essential Good,
or virtue, which I have given you as an instrument and means for you to
receive My grace, and Myself the True Good. See then how necessary is this
light, for your sins consist in nothing else than in loving that which I
hate, and in hating that which I love. I love virtue and hate vice; he who
loves vice and hates virtue offends Me, and is deprived of My grace. Such a
one walks as if blind, for he knows not the cause of vice, that is, his
sensual self-love, nor does he hate himself on account of it; he is ignorant
of vice and of the evil which follows it: he is ignorant of virtue and of
Me, who am the cause of his obtaining life-giving virtue; he is ignorant of
his own dignity, which he should maintain by advancing to grace, by means of
virtue. See, therefore, how his ignorance is the cause of all his evil, and
how you also need this light, as has been said.
_________________________________________________________________

Of those who have placed their desire rather in the mortification of the
body than in the destruction of their own will; and of the second light,
more perfect than the former general one.

When the soul has arrived at the attainment of the general light, of which
I have spoken, she should not remain contented, because, as long as you are
pilgrims in this life, you are capable of growth, and he who does not go
forward, by that very fact, is turning back. She should either grow in the
general light, which she has acquired through My Grace, or anxiously strive
to attain to the second and perfect light, leaving the imperfect and
reaching the perfect. For, if the soul truly have light, she will wish to
arrive at perfection. In this second perfect light are to be found two kinds
of perfection; for they may be called perfect who have abandoned the general
way of living of the world. One perfection is that of those who give
themselves up wholly to the castigation of the body, doing great and severe
penance. These, in order that their sensuality may not rebel against their
reason, have placed their desire rather in the mortification of the body
than in the destruction of their self-will, as I have explained to you in
another place. These feed their souls at the table of penance, and are good
and perfect, if their penance be illuminated by discretion, and founded on
Me, if, that is to say, they act with true knowledge of themselves and of
Me, with great humility, and wholly conformed to the judgment of My Will,
and not to that of the will of man. But, if they were not thus clothed with
My Will, in true humility, they would often offend against their own
perfection, esteeming themselves the judges of those who do not walk in the
same path. Do you know why this would happen to them? Because they have
placed all their labor and desire in the mortification of the body, rather
than in the destruction of their own will. Such as these wish always to
choose their own times, and places, and consolations, after their own
fashion, and also the persecutions of the world and of the Devil, as I have
narrated to you in speaking of the second state of perfection.

They say, cheating themselves with the delusion of their own self-will,
which I have already called their spiritual self-will,˜I wish to have that
consolation, and not these battles, or these temptations of the Devil, not,
indeed, for my own pleasure, but in order to please God the more, and in
order to retain Him the more in my soul through grace; because it seems to
me that I should possess Him more, and serve Him better in that way than in
this.™ And this is the way the soul often fails into trouble, and becomes
tedious and insupportable to herself; thus injuring her own perfection; yet
she does not perceive it, nor that, within her, lurks the stench of pride,
and there she lies. Now, if the soul were not in this condition, but were
truly humble and not presumptuous, she would be illuminated to see that I,
the Primary and Sweet Truth, grant condition, and time, and place, and
consolations, and tribulations as they may be needed for your salvation, and
to complete the perfection to which I have elected the soul. And she would
see that I give everything through love, and that therefore, with love and
reverence, should she receive everything, which is what the souls in the
second state do, and, by doing so, arrive at the third state. Of whom I will
now speak to you, explaining to you the nature of these two states which
stand in the most perfect light.
_________________________________________________________________

Of the third and most perfect state, and of reason, and of the works done
by the soul who has arrived at this light. And of a beautiful vision
which this devout soul once received, in which the method of arriving at
perfect purity is fully treated, and the means to avoid judging our
neighbor is spoken of.

Those who belong to the third state, which immediately follows the last,
having arrived at this glorious light, are perfect in every condition in
which they may be, and receive every event which I permit to happen to them
with due reverence, as I have mentioned to you when speaking of the third
and unitive state of the soul. These deem themselves worthy of the troubles
and stumbling-blocks caused them by the world, and of the privation of their
own consolation, and indeed of whatever circumstance happens to them. And
inasmuch as they deem themselves worthy of trouble, so also do they deem
themselves unworthy of the fruit which they receive after their trouble.
They have known and tasted in the light My Eternal Will, which wishes naught
else but your good, and gives and permits these troubles in order that you
should be sanctified in Me. Wherefore the soul having known My Will, clothes
herself with it, and fixes her attention on nothing else except seeing in
what way she can preserve and increase her perfection to the glory and
praise of My Name, opening the eye of her intellect and fixing it in the
light of faith upon Christ crucified, My only-begotten Son, loving and
following His doctrine, which is the rule of the road for perfect and
imperfect alike. And see, how My Truth, the Lamb, who became enamored of her
when He saw her, gives the soul the doctrine of perfection. She knows what
this perfection is, having seen it practiced by the sweet and amorous Word,
My only-begotten Son, who was fed at the table of holy desire, seeking the
honor of Me, the Eternal Father, and your salvation. And, inflamed with this
desire, He ran, with great eagerness, to the shameful death of the Cross,
and accomplished the obedience which was imposed on Him by Me, His Father,
not shunning labors or insults or withdrawing on account of your ingratitude
or ignorance of so great a benefit, or because of the persecutions of the
Jews, or on account of the insults, derision, grumbling, and shouting of the
people. But all this He passed through like the true Captain and Knight that
He was, whom I had placed on the battle-field to deliver you from the hands
of the Devil, so that you might be free, and drawn out of the most terrible
slavery in which you could ever be, and also to teach you His road, His
doctrine, and His rule, so that you might open the Door of Me, Eternal Life,
with the key of His precious Blood, shed with such fire of love, with such
hatred of your sins. It was as if the sweet and amorous Word, My Son, should
have said to you:˜Behold, I have made the road, and opened the door with My
Blood.™ Do not you then be negligent to follow, laying yourselves down to
rest in self-love and ignorance of the road, presuming to choose to serve Me
in your own way, instead of in the way which I have made straight for you by
means of My Truth, the Incarnate Word, and built up with His Blood. Rise up
then, promptly, and follow Him, for no one can reach Me, the Father, if not
by Him; He is the Way and the Door by which you must enter into Me, the Sea
Pacific.

When therefore the soul has arrived at seeing, knowing, and tasting, in its
full sweetness, this light, she runs, as one enamored and inflamed with
love, to the table of holy desire; she does not see herself in herself,
seeking her own consolation either spiritual or temporal, but, like one who
has placed his all in this light and knowledge, and has destroyed his own
will, she shuns no labor from whatever source it comes, but rather enduring
the troubles, the insults, the temptations of the Devil, and the murmurings
of men, eats at the table of the most holy Cross, the food of the honor of
Me, the Eternal God, and of the salvation of souls; seeking no reward,
either from Me or from creatures, because she is stripped of mercenary love,
that is of love for Me based on interested motives, and is clothed in
perfect light, loving Me in perfect purity, with no other regard than for
the praise and glory of My Name, serving neither Me for her own delight, nor
her neighbor for her own profit, but purely through love alone. Such as
these have lost themselves, and have stripped themselves of the Old Man,
that is of their own sensuality, and, having clothed themselves with the New
Man, the sweet Christ Jesus, My Truth, follow Him manfully. These are they
who sit at the table of holy desire, having been more anxious to slay their
own will than to slay and mortify their own body. They have indeed mortified
their body, though not as an end in itself, but as a means which helps them
to stay their own will, as I said to you when explaining that sentence that
I wished few words and many deeds, and so ought you to do. Their principal
desire should be to slay their own will, so that it may not seek or wish
anything else than to follow My sweet Truth, Christ crucified, seeking the
honor and glory of My Name and the salvation of souls. Those who are in this
sweet light know it, and remain constantly in peace and quiet, and no one
scandalizes them, for they have cut away that thing by which
stumbling-blocks are caused, namely their own will. And all the
persecutions, with which the world and the Devil can attack them, slide
under their feet, standing, as they do, in the waters of many tribulations
and temptations, and do not hurt them, for they remain attached to Me by the
umbilical cord of fiery desire. Such a man rejoices in everything, nor does
he make himself judge of My servants, or of any rational creature, but
rejoices in every condition and in every manner of holiness which he sees,
saying:˜Thanks be to You, Eternal Father, who have in Your House many
mansions.™ And he rejoices more in the different ways of holiness which he
sees, than if he were to see all traveling by one road, because, in this
way, he perceives the greatness of My Goodness become more manifest, and
thus, rejoicing, draws from all the fragrance of the rose. And not only in
the case of good, but even when he sees something evidently sinful, he does
not fall into judgment, but rather into true and holy compassion,
interceding with Me for sinners and saying, with perfect humility:˜To-day
it is your turn, and tomorrow it will be mine unless the Divine Grace
preserve me.™

Enamor yourself, dearest daughter, of this sweet and excellent state, and
gaze at those who run in this glorious light and holiness, for they have
holy minds, and eat at the table of holy desire, and, with the light, have
arrived at feeding on the food of souls, that is, the honor of Me, the
Eternal Father, being clothed with burning love in the sweet garment of My
Lamb, My only-begotten Son, namely His doctrine. These do not lose their
time in passing false judgments, either on My servants or the servants of
the world, and they are never scandalized by any murmurings of men, either
for their own sake or that of others. That is to say, in their own case they
are content to endure anything for My Name™s sake; and when an injury is
done to some one else, they endure it with compassion of this injured
neighbor, and without murmuring against him who caused the injury, or him
who received it, because their love is not disordinate, but has been ordered
in Me, the Eternal God.

And, since their love is so ordered, these souls, my dearest daughter,
never take offense from those they love, nor from any rational creature,
their will being dead and not alive, wherefore they never assume the right
to judge the will of men, but only the will of My Clemency. These observe
the doctrine which, as you know, was given you by My Truth at the beginning
of your life, when you were thinking in what way you could arrive at perfect
purity, and were praying to Me with a great desire of doing so. You know
what was replied to you, while you were asleep, concerning this holy desire,
and that the words resounded not only in your mind, but also in your ear. So
much so, that, if you remember truly, you returned to your waking body, when
My Truth said,˜Will you arrive at perfect purity, and be freed from
stumbling-blocks, so that your mind may not be scandalized by anything?™
Unite yourself always to Me by the affection of love, for I am the Supreme
and Eternal Purity. I am that Fire which purifies the soul, and the closer
the soul is to Me, the purer she becomes, and the further she is from Me,
the more does her purity leave her; which is the reason why men of the world
fall into such iniquities, for they are separated from Me, while the soul,
who, without any medium, unites herself directly to Me, participates in My
Purity. Another thing is necessary for you to arrive at this union and
purity, namely, that you should never judge the will of man in anything that
you may see done or said by any creature whatsoever, either to yourself or
to others. My will alone should you consider, both in them and in yourself.
And, if you should see evident sins or defects, draw out of those thorns the
rose, that is to say, offer them to Me, with holy compassion. In the case of
injuries done to yourself, judge that My will permits this in order to prove
virtue in yourself, and in My other servants, esteeming that he who acts
thus does so as the instrument of My will; perceiving, moreover, that such
apparent sinners may frequently have a good intention, for no one can judge
the secrets of the heart of man. That which you do not see you should not
judge in your mind, even though it may externally be open mortal sin, seeing
nothing in others, but My will, not in order to judge, but, as has been
said, with holy compassion. In this way you will arrive at perfect purity,
because acting thus, your mind will not be scandalized, either in Me or in
your neighbor. Otherwise you fall into contempt of your neighbor, if you
judge his evil will towards you, instead of My will acting in him. Such
contempt and scandal separates the soul from Me, and prevents perfection,
and, in some cases, deprives a man of grace, more or less according to the
gravity of his contempt, and the hatred which his judgment has conceived
against his neighbor.

A different reward is received by the soul who perceives only My will,
which, as has been said, wishes nothing else but your good; so that
everything which I give or permit to happen to you, I give so that you may
arrive at the end for which I created you. And because the soul remains
always in the love of her neighbor, she remains always in Mine, and thus
remains united to Me. Wherefore, in order to arrive at purity, you must
entreat Me to do three things: to grant you to be united to Me by the
affection of love, retaining in your memory the benefits you have received
from Me; and with the eye of your intellect to see the affection of My love,
with which I love you inestimably; and in the will of others to discern My
will only, and not their evil will, for I am their Judge, not you, and, in
doing this, you will arrive at all perfection.

This was the doctrine given to you by My Truth, if you remember well. Now I
tell you, dearest daughter, that such as these, who have learnt this
doctrine, taste the earnest of eternal life in this life; and, if you have
well retained this doctrine, you will not fall into the snares of the Devil,
because you will recognize them in the case about which you have asked Me.

But, nevertheless, in order to satisfy your desire more clearly, I will
tell you and show you how men should never discern by judgment, but with
holy compassion.
_________________________________________________________________

In what way they, who stand in the above-mentioned third most perfect
light, receive the earnest of eternal lift in this life.

Why did I say to you that they received the earnest of eternal life? I say
that they receive the earnest-money, but not the full payment, because they
wait to receive it in Me, the Eternal Life, where they have life without
death, and satiety without disgust, and hunger without pain, for from that
divine hunger pain is far away, and though they have what they desire,
disgust is far from satiety, for I am the flawless Food of Life. It is true
that, in this life, they receive the earnest, and taste it in this way,
namely that the soul begins to hunger for the honor of the Eternal God, and
for the food of the salvation of other souls, and being hungry, she eats,
that is to say, nourishes herself with love of her neighbor, which causes
her hunger and desire, for the love of the neighbor is a food which never
satiates him who feeds on it, the eater being insatiable and always remains
hungry. So this earnest-money is a commencement of a guarantee which is
given to man, in virtue of which he expects one day to receive his payment,
not through the perfection of the earnest-money in itself, but through
faith, through the certitude which he has of reaching the completion of his
being and receiving his payment. Wherefore this enamored soul, clothed in My
Truth, having already received in this life the earnest of My love, and of
her neighbor™s, is not yet perfect, but expects perfection in immortal life.
I say that this earnest is not perfect, because the soul who tastes it has
not, as yet, the perfection which would prevent her feeling pain in herself,
or in others. In herself, through the offense done to Me by the law of
perversity which is bound in her members and struggles against the spirit,
and in others by the offense of her neighbor. She has indeed, in a sense, a
perfect grace, but not that perfection of My saints, who have arrived at Me,
Eternal Life, for, as has been said, their desires are without suffering,
and yours are not. These servants of Mine, as I have said to you in another
place, who nourish themselves at this table of holy desire, are blessed and
full of grief, even as My only-begotten Son was, on the wood of the holy
Cross, because, while His flesh was in grief and torment, His soul was
blessed through its union with the divine nature. In like manner these are
blessed by the union of their holy desire towards Me, clothed, as has been
said, in My sweet Will, and they are full of grief through compassion for
their neighbor, and because they afflict their own self-love, depriving it
of sensual delights and consolations.
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How this soul, rendering thanks to God, humiliates herself; then she
prays for the whole world and particularly for the mystical body of the
holy Church, and for her spiritual children, and for the two fathers of
her soul; and, after these things, she asks to hear something about the
defects of the ministers of the holy Church.

Then that soul, as if, in truth, inebriated, seemed beside herself, as if
the feelings of the body were alienated through the union of love which she
had made with her Creator, and as if, in elevation of mind, she had gazed
into the eternal truth with the eye of her intellect, and, having recognized
the truth, had become enamored of it, and said,Oh! Supreme and Eternal
Goodness of God, who am I, miserable one, that You, Supreme and Eternal
Father, have manifested to me Your Truth, and the hidden deceits of the
Devil, and the deceitfulness of personal feeling, so that I, and others in
this life of pilgrimage, may know how to avoid being deceived by the Devil
or ourselves! What moved you to do it? Love, because You loved me, without
my having loved You. Oh, Fire of Love! Thanks, thanks be to You, Eternal
Father! I am imperfect and full of darkness, and You, Perfection and Light,
have shown to me perfection, and the resplendent way of the doctrine of Your
only-begotten Son. I was dead, and You have brought me to life. I was sick,
and You have given me medicine, and not only the medicine of the Blood which
You gave for the diseased human race in the person of Your Son, but also a
medicine against a secret infirmity that I knew not of, in this precept
that, in no way, can I judge any rational creature, and particularly Your
servants, upon whom oftentimes I, as one blind and sick with this infirmity,
passed judgment under the pretext of Your honor and the salvation of souls.
Wherefore, I thank You, Supreme and Eternal Good, that, in the manifesting
of Your truth and the deceitfulness of the Devil, and our own passions, You
have made me know my infirmity. Wherefore I beseech You, through grace and
mercy, that, from today henceforward, I may never again wander from the path
of Your doctrine, given by Your goodness to me and to whoever wishes to
follow it, because without You is nothing done. To You, then, Eternal
Father, do I have recourse and flee, and I do not beseech You for myself
alone, Father, but for the whole world, and particularly for the mystical
body of the holy Church, that this truth given to me, miserable one, by You,
Eternal Truth, may shine in Your ministers; and also I beseech You
especially for all those whom You have given me, and whom You have made one
thing with me, and whom I love with a particular love, because they will be
my refreshment to the glory and praise of Your Name, when I see them running
on this sweet and straight road, pure, and dead to their own will and
opinion, and without any passing judgment on their neighbor, or causing him
any scandal or murmuring. And I pray You, Sweetest Love, that not one of
them may be taken from me by the hand of the infernal Devil, so that at last
they may arrive at You, their End, Eternal Father.

Also I make another petition to You for my two fathers, the supports whom
You have placed on the earth to guard and instruct me, miserable infirm one,
from the beginning of my conversion until now, that You unite them, and of
two bodies make one soul, and that they attend to nothing else than to
complete in themselves, and in the mysteries that You have placed in their
hands, the glory and praise of Your Name, and the salvation of souls, and
that I, an unworthy and miserable slave, and no daughter, may behave to them
with due reverence and holy fear, for love of You, in a way that will be to
Your honor, and their peace and quiet, and to the edification of the
neighbor. I now know for certain, Eternal Truth, that You will not despise
the desire of the petitions that I have made to You, because I know, from
seeing what it has pleased You to manifest, and still more from proof, that
You are the Acceptor of holy desires. I, Your unworthy servant, will strive,
according as You will give me grace, to observe Your commandments and Your
doctrine. Now, O Eternal Father, I remember a word which you said to me in
speaking of the ministers of the holy Church, to the effect that You would
speak to me more distinctly, in some other place, of the sins which they
commit today; wherefore if it should please Your goodness to tell me
anything of this matter, I will gladly hear it, so as to have material for
increasing my grief, compassion, and anxious desire for their salvation; for
I remember that You said, that, on account of the endurance and tears, the
grief, and sweat and prayers of Your servants, You would reform the holy
Church, and comfort her with good and holy pastors. I ask You this in order
that these sentiments may increase in me.
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How God renders this soul attentive to prayer, replying to one of the
above-mentioned petitions.

Then the Eternal God, turning the eye of His mercy upon this soul, not
despising her desire, but granting her requests, proceeded to satisfy the
last petition, which she had made concerning His promise, saying,Oh! best
beloved and dearest daughter, I will fulfill your desire in this request, in
order that, on your side, you may not sin through ignorance or negligence;
for a fault of yours would be more serious and worthy of graver reproof now
than before, because you have learnt more of My truth; wherefore apply
yourself attentively to pray for all rational creatures, for the mystical
body of the holy Church, and for those friends whom I have given you, whom
you love with particular love, and be careful not to be negligent in giving
them the benefit of your prayers, and the example of your life, and the
teaching of your words, reproving vice and encouraging virtue according to
your power.

Concerning the supports which I have given you, of whom you spoke to Me,
know that you are, in truth, a means by which they may each receive,
according to their needs and fitness. And as I, your Creator, grant you the
opportunity, for without Me you can do nothing, I will fulfill your desires,
but do not you fail, or they either, in your hope in Me. My Providence will
never fail you, and every man, if he be humble, shall receive that which he
is fit to receive; and every minister, that which I have given him to
administer, each in his own way, according to what he has received and will
receive from My goodness.
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Of the dignity of the priest; and of the Sacrament of the Body of Christ;
and of worthy and unworthy communicants.

Now I will reply to that which you asked Me concerning the ministers of the
holy Church, and, in order that you may the better understand the truth,
open the eye of your intellect, and look at their excellence and the dignity
in which I have placed them. And, since one thing is better known by means
of contrast with its contrary, I will show you the dignity of those who use
virtuously the treasure I have placed in their hands; and, in this way, you
will the better see the misery of those who today are suckled at the breast
of My Spouse. Then this soul obediently contemplated the truth, in which
she saw virtue resplendent in those who truly taste it. Then said the
Eternal God:I will first, dearest daughter, speak to you of the dignity of
priests, having placed them where they are through My Goodness, over and
above the general love which I have had to My creatures, creating you in My
image and similitude and re-creating you all to the life of grace in the
Blood of My only-begotten Son, whence you have arrived at such excellence,
through the union which I made of My Deity with human nature; so that in
this you have greater dignity and excellence than the angels, for I took
your human nature and not that of the angels. Wherefore, as I have said to
you, I, God, have become man, and man has become God by the union of My
Divine Nature with your human nature. This greatness is given in general to
all rational creatures, but, among these I have especially chosen My
ministers for the sake of your salvation, so that, through them, the Blood
of the humble and immaculate Lamb, My only-begotten Son, may be administered
to you. To them have I given the Sun to administer, giving them the light of
science and the heat of Divine Love, united together in the color of the
Body and Blood of My Son, whose Body is a Sun, because He is one thing with
Me, the True Sun, in such a way that He cannot be separated or divided from
Me, as in the case of the natural sun, in which heat and light cannot be
separated, so perfect is their union; for, the sun, never leaving its orbit,
lights the whole world and warms whoever wishes to be warmed by it, and is
not defiled by any impurity on which it shines, for its light and heat and
color are united.

So this Word, My Son, with His most sweet Blood, is one Sun, all God and
all man, because He is one thing with Me and I with Him. My power is not
separated from His wisdom, nor the fiery heat of the Holy Spirit from Me,
the Father, or from Him, the Son; for He is one thing with us, the Holy
Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son, and We together forming one
and the same Sun; that is to say, I, the Eternal God, am that Sun whence
have proceeded the Son and the Holy Spirit. To the Holy Spirit is attributed
fire and to the Son wisdom, by which wisdom My ministers receive the light
of grace, so that they may administer this light to others, with gratitude
for the benefits received from Me, the Eternal Father, following the
doctrine of the Eternal Wisdom, My only-begotten Son. This is that Light,
which has the color of your humanity, color and light being closely united.
Thus was the light of My Divinity united to the color of your humanity,
which color shone brightly when it became perfect through its union with the
Divine nature, and, by this means of the Incarnate Word mixed with the Light
of My Divine nature and the fiery heat of the Holy Spirit, have you received
the Light. Whom have I entrusted with its administration?

My ministers in the mystical body of the holy Church, so that you may have
life, receiving His Body in food and His Blood in drink. I have said to you
that this Body is, as it were, a Sun. Wherefore, you cannot receive the Body
without the Blood, or the Blood or the Body without the Soul of the
Incarnate Word; nor the Soul, nor the Body, without the Divinity of Me, the
Eternal God, because none of these can be separated from each other, as I
said to you in another place that the Divine nature never left the human
nature, either by death or from any other cause. So that you receive the
whole Divine Essence in that most Sweet Sacrament concealed under the
whiteness of the bread; for as the sun cannot be divided into light, heat,
and color, the whole of God and the whole of man cannot be separated under
the white mantle of the host; for even if the host should be divided into a
million particles (if it were possible) in each particle should I be
present, whole God and whole Man. When you break a mirror the reflection to
be seen in it is not broken; similarly, when the host is divided God and man
are not divided, but remain in each particle. Nor is the Sacrament
diminished in itself, except as far as may be in the following example.

If you have a light, and the whole world should come to you in order to
take light from it”the light itself does not diminish”and yet each person
has it all. It is true that everyone participates more or less in this
light, according to the substance into which each one receives the fire. I
will develop this metaphor further that you may the better understand Me.
Suppose that there are many who bring their candles, one weighing an ounce,
others two or six ounces, or a pound, or even more, and light them in the
flame, in each candle, whether large or small, is the whole light, that is
to say, the heat, the color, and the flame; nevertheless you would judge
that he whose candle weighs an ounce has less of the light than he whose
candle weighs a pound. Now the same thing happens to those who receive this
Sacrament. Each one carries his own candle, that is the holy desire, with
which he receives this Sacrament, which of itself is without light, and
lights it by receiving this Sacrament. I say without light, because of
yourselves you can do nothing, though I have given you the material, with
which you can receive this light and feed it. The material is love, for
through love I created you, and without love you cannot live.

Your being, given to you through love, has received the right disposition
in holy baptism, which you receive in virtue of the Blood of the Word, for,
in no other way, could you participate in this light; you would be like a
candle with no wick inside it, which cannot burn or receive light, if you
have not received in your souls the wick which catches this Divine Flame,
that is to say, the Holy Faith, which you receive, by grace, in baptism,
united with the disposition of your soul created by Me, so fitted for love,
that, without love, which is her very food, she cannot live. Where does the
soul united in this way obtain light? At the fire of My Divine love, loving
and fearing Me, and following the Doctrine of My Truth. It is true that the
soul becomes more or less lighted according to the material which it brings
to the fire; for although you all have one and the same material, in that
you are all created to My image and similitude, and, being Christians,
possess the light of holy baptism, each of you may grow in love and virtue
by the help of My grace, as may please you. Not that you change the form of
what I have given you, but that you increase your strength in love, and your
free-will, by using it while you have time, for when time is past you can no
longer do so. So that you can increase in love, as has been said, coming
with love to receive this Sweet and Glorious Light, which I have given you
as Food for your service, through My ministers, and you receive this Light
according to the love and fiery desire with which you approach It.

The Light Itself you receive entire, as I have said (in the example of
those, who in spite of the difference in weight of their candles, all
receive the entire light), and not divided, because It cannot be divided, as
has been said, either on account of any imperfection of yours who receive,
or of the minister; but you personally participate in this light, that is in
the grace which you receive in this Sacrament, according to the holy desire
with which you dispose yourselves to receive it. He who should go to this
sweet Sacrament in the guilt of mortal sin, will receive no grace therefrom,
though he actually receive the whole of God and the whole of Man. Do you
know the condition of the soul who receives unworthily? She is like a candle
on which water has fallen, which can do nothing but crackle when brought
near the flame, for no sooner has the fire touched it, than it is
extinguished, and nothing remains but smoke; so this soul has cast the water
of guilt within her mind upon the candle which she received in holy baptism,
which has drenched the wick of the grace of baptism, and, not having heated
it at the fire of true contrition and confession, goes to the table of the
altar to receive this Light with her body, and not with her mind, wherefore
the Light, since the soul is not disposed as she should be for so great a
mystery, does not remain by grace in that soul, but leaves her, and, in the
soul, remains only greater confusion, for her light is extinguished and her
sin increased by her darkness. Of the Sacrament she feels nothing but the
crackling of a remorseful conscience, not through the defect of the Light
Itself, for that can receive no hurt, but on account of the water that was
in the soul, which impeded her proper disposition so that she could not
receive the Light. See, therefore, that in no way can this Light, united
with its heat and its color, be divided, either by the scanty desire of the
soul when she receives the Sacrament, or by any defect which may be in the
soul, or by any defect of him who administers it, as I told you of the sun
which is not defiled by shining on anything foul, so the sweet Light of this
Sacrament cannot be defiled, divided, or diminished in any way, nor can it
be detached from its orbit.

If all the world should receive in communion the Light and Heat of this
Sun, the Word, My only-begotten Son, would not be separated from Me”the True
Sun, His Eternal Father”because in His mystical Body, the holy Church, He is
administered to whoever will receive Him. He remains wholly with Me, and yet
you have Him, whole God and whole man, as I told you, in the metaphor of the
light, that, if all the world came to take light from it, each would have it
entire, and yet it would remain whole.
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How the bodily sentiments are all deceived in the aforesaid Sacrament,
but not those of the soul; therefore it is, with the latter, that one
must see, taste, and touch It; and of a beautiful vision this soul had
upon this subject.

Oh, dearest daughter, open well the eye of your intellect and gaze into the
abyss of My love, for there is no rational creature whose heart would not
melt for love in contemplating and considering, among the other benefits she
receives from Me, the special Gift that she receives in the Sacrament.

And with what eye, dearest daughter, should you and others look at this
mystery, and how should you touch it? Not only with the bodily sight and
touch, because in this Sacrament all bodily perceptions fail.

The eye can only see, and the hand can only touch, the white substance of
the bread, and the taste can only taste the savor of the bread, so that the
grosser bodily sentiments are deceived; but the soul cannot be deceived in
her sentiments unless she wish to be”that is, unless she let the light of
the most holy faith be taken away from her by infidelity.

How is this Sacrament to be truly tasted, seen, and touched? With the
sentiment of the soul. With what eye is It to be seen? With the eye of the
intellect if within it is the pupil of the most holy faith. This eye sees in
that whiteness whole God and whole man, the Divine nature united with the
human nature, the Body, the Soul, and the Blood of Christ, the Soul united
to the Body, the Body and the Soul united with My Divine nature, not
detached from Me, as I revealed to you, if you remember well, almost in the
beginning of your life; and not so much at first through the eye of your
intellect as through your bodily eye, although the light being so great your
bodily eyes lost their vision, and only the sight of the eye of your
intellect remained. I showed it to you for your enlightenment in the battle
that the Devil had been waging against you in this Sacrament; and to make
you increase in love in the light of the most holy faith.

You know that you went one morning to church at sunrise to hear Mass,
having beforehand been tormented by the Devil, and you placed yourself
upright at the Altar of the Crucifix, while the priest went to the Altar of
Mary; you stood there to consider your sin, fearing to have offended Me
through the vexation which the Devil had been causing you, and to consider
My love, which had made you worthy to hear Mass, seeing that you deemed
yourself unworthy to enter into My holy temple. When the minister came to
consecrate, you raised your eyes above his head while he was saying the
words of consecration, and I manifested Myself to you, and you saw issue
from My breast a light, like a ray from the sun, which proceeds from the
circle of the sun without being separated from it, out of the midst of which
light came a dove and hovered over the host, in virtue of the words which
the minister was saying. But sight remained alone in the eye of your
intellect, because your bodily sight was not strong enough to stand the
light, and in that place you saw and tasted the Abyss of the Trinity, whole
God and whole man concealed and veiled in that whiteness that you saw in the
bread; and you perceived that the seeing of the Light and the presence of
the Word, which you saw intellectually in the whiteness of the bread, did
not prevent you seeing at the same time the actual whiteness of the bread,
the one vision did not prevent the other vision, that is to say, the sight
of the God-Man revealed in the bread did not prevent the sight of the bread,
for neither its whiteness, nor its touch, nor its savor were taken away.
This was shown you by My goodness, as I have said to you. The eye of the
intellect had the true vision, using the pupil of the holy faith, for this
eye should be your principal means of vision, inasmuch as it cannot be
deceived; wherefore, with it you should look on this Sacrament. How do you
touch It? By the hand of love. With this hand alone can you touch that which
the eye of the intellect has recognized in this Sacrament. The soul touches
Me with the hand of love, as if to certify to herself that which she has
seen and known through faith. How do you taste It? With the palate of holy
desire. The corporal palate tastes only the savor of the bread; but the
palate of the soul, which is holy desire, tastes God and Man. See,
therefore, that the perceptions of the body are deluded, but not those of
the soul, for she is illuminated and assured in her own perceptions, for she
touches with the hand of love that which the eye of her intellect has seen
with the pupil of holy faith; and with her palate”that is, with fiery
desire”she tastes My Burning Charity, My Ineffable Love, with which I have
made her worthy to receive the tremendous mystery of this Sacrament and the
Grace which is contained therein. See, therefore, that you should receive
and look on this Sacrament, not only with bodily perceptions, but rather
with your spiritual perceptions, disposing your soul in the way that has
been said, to receive, and taste, and see this Sacrament.
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Of the excellent state of the soul who receives the sacrament in grace.

See, dearest daughter, in what an excellent state is the soul who receives,
as she should, this Bread of Life, this Food of the Angels. By receiving
this Sacrament she dwells in Me and I in her, as the fish in the sea, and
the sea in the fish”thus do I dwell in the soul, and the soul in Me”the Sea
Pacific. In that soul grace dwells, for, since she has received this Bread
of Life in a state of grace, My grace remains in her, after the accidents of
bread have been consumed. I leave you the imprint of grace, as does a seal,
which, when lifted from the hot wax upon which it has been impressed, leaves
behind its imprint, so the virtue of this Sacrament remains in the soul,
that is to say, the heat of My Divine charity, and the clemency of the Holy
Spirit. There also remains to you the wisdom of My only-begotten Son, by
which the eye of your intellect has been illuminated to see and to know the
doctrine of My Truth, and, together with this wisdom, you participate in My
strength and power, which strengthen the soul against her sensual self-love,
against the Devil, and against the world. You see then that the imprint
remains, when the seal has been taken away, that is, when the material
accidents of the bread, having been consumed, this True Sun has returned to
Its Center, not that it was ever really separated from It, but constantly
united to Me. The Abyss of My loving desire for your salvation has given
you, through My dispensation and Divine Providence, coming to the help of
your needs, the sweet Truth as Food in this life, where you are pilgrims and
travelers, so that you may have refreshment, and not forget the benefit of
the Blood. See then how straitly you are constrained and obliged to render
Me love, because I love you so much, and, being the Supreme and Eternal
Goodness, deserve your love.
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How the things which have been said about the excellence of this
Sacrament, have been said that we might know better the dignity of
priests; and how God demands in them greater purity than in other
creatures.

I have told you all this, dearest daughter, that you may the better
recognize the dignity to which I have called My ministers, so that your
grief at their miseries may be more intense. If they themselves considered
their own dignity they would not be in the darkness of mortal sin, or defile
the face of their soul. They would not only see their offenses against Me,
but also, that, if they gave their bodies to be burned, they would not repay
the tremendous grace and favor which they have received, inasmuch as no
greater dignity exists in this life. They are My anointed ones, and I call
them My Christs, because I have given them the office of administering Me to
you, and have placed them like fragrant flowers in the mystical body of the
holy Church. The angel himself has no such dignity, for I have given it to
those men whom I have chosen for My ministers, and whom I have appointed as
earthly angels in this life. In all souls I demand purity and charity, that
they should love Me and their neighbor, helping him by the ministration of
prayer, as I said to you in another place. But far more do I demand purity
in My ministers, and love towards Me, and towards their fellow-creatures,
administering to them the Body and Blood of My only-begotten Son, with the
fire of charity, and a hunger for the salvation of souls, for the glory and
honor of My Name. Even as these ministers require cleanness in the chalice
in which this Sacrifice is made, even so do I require the purity and
cleanness of their heart and soul and mind. And I wish their body to be
preserved, as the instrument of the soul in perfect charity; and I do not
wish them to feed upon and wallow in the mire of filth, or to be inflated by
pride, seeking great prelacies, or to be cruel to themselves or to their
fellow-creatures, because they cannot use cruelty to themselves without
being cruel to their fellow-creatures; for, if by sin they are cruel to
themselves, they are cruel to the souls of their neighbors, in that they do
not give them an example of life, nor care to draw them out of the hands of
the Devil, nor to administer to them the Body and Blood of My only-begotten
Son, and Me the True Light, as I told you, and the other Sacraments of the
holy Church. So that, in being cruel to themselves, they are cruel to
others.
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Of the excellence, virtues, and holy works of virtuous and holy
ministers; and how such are like the sun.

I will now speak to you, in order to give a little refreshment to your
soul, and to mitigate your grief at the darkness of these miserable
subjects, of the holy life of some of My ministers, of whom I have spoken to
you, who are like the sun, for the odor of their virtues mitigates the
stench of the vices of the others, and the light thereof shines in their
darkness. And, by means of this light, will you the better be able to
understand the darkness and sins of My unworthy ministers. Open then the eye
of your intellect and gaze at the Sun of Justice, and you will see those
glorious ministers, who, through ministering the Sun, have become like to
It, as I told you of Peter, the prince of the Apostles, who received the
keys of the kingdom of Heaven. I say the same of these others, who have
administered, in the garden of the holy Church, the Light, that is to say,
the Body and the Blood of My only-begotten Son, who is Himself the undivided
Sun, as has been said, and all the Sacraments of the holy Church, which all
give life in virtue of the Blood. Each one, placed in a different rank, has
administered, according to his state, the grace of the Holy Spirit. With
what have they administered it? With the light of grace, which they have
drawn from this True Light. With light alone? No; because the light cannot
be separated from the warmth and color of grace, wherefore a man must either
have the light, warmth, and color of grace, or none at all. A man in mortal
sin is deprived of the life of grace, and he who is in grace has illuminated
the eye of his intellect to know Me, who gave him both grace and the virtue
which preserves it, and, in that light, he knows the misery and the reason
of sin, that is to say, his own self-love, on which account he hates it, and
thereby receives the warmth of Divine love into his affection, which follows
his intellect, and he receives the color of this glorious Light, following
the doctrine of My sweet Truth, by which his memory is filled with the
benefit of the Blood. You see, therefore, that no one can receive the light
without receiving the warmth and the color, for they are united together and
are one thing; wherefore he cannot, as I have said to you, have one power of
his soul so ordered as to receive Me, the True Sun, unless all three powers
of his soul are brought together and ordered in My Name. For, as soon as the
eye of the intellect lifts itself with the pupil of faith above sensual
vision in the contemplation of Me, affection follows it, loving that which
the intellect sees and knows, and the memory is filled with that which the
affection loves; and, as soon as these powers are thus disposed, the soul
participates in Me, the Sun who illuminates her with My power, and with the
wisdom of My only-begotten Son, and the fiery clemency of the Holy Spirit.
See, then, that these have taken on them the condition of the Sun, for,
having clothed themselves, and filled the power of their soul with Me, the
true Sun, they become like Me. The Sun illuminates them and causes the earth
of their souls to germinate with Its heat. Thus do My sweet ministers,
elected and anointed and placed in the mystical body of the holy Church, in
order to administer Me, the Sun, that is to say, the Body and Blood of My
only-begotten Son, together with the other Sacraments, which draw their life
from this Blood; this they do in two ways, actually, in administering the
Sacraments, and spiritually, by shedding forth in the mystical body of the
holy Church, the light of supernatural science, together with the color of
an honorable and holy life, following the doctrine of My Truth, which they
administer in the ardent love with which they cause barren souls to bear
fruit, illuminating them with the light of their science, and driving away
the darkness of their mortal sin and infidelity, by the example of their
holy and regular life, and reforming the lives of those who live in disorder
and darkness of sin, and in coldness, through the privation of charity. So
you see that they are the Sun, because they have taken the condition of the
Sun from Me, the True Sun, because, through affection of love, they are one
thing with Me, and I with them, as I narrated to you in another place, and
each one has given light in the holy Church, according to the position to
which I have elected him: Peter with preaching and doctrine, and in the end
with blood; Gregory with science, and holy scripture, and with the mirror of
his life; Sylvester, against the infidels, and with disputation and proving
of the most holy faith, which he made in word and in deed, receiving virtue
from Me. If you turn to Augustine, and to the glorious Thomas and Jerome,
and the others, you will see how much light they have thrown over this
spouse, extirpating error, like lamps placed upon the candelabra, with true
and perfect humility. And, as if famished for such food, they feed upon My
honor, and the salvation of souls, upon the table of the most holy Cross.
The martyrs, indeed, with blood, which blood cast up sweet perfume before My
countenance; and, with the perfume of blood, and of the virtues, and with
the light of science, they brought forth fruit in this spouse and extended
the faith, and, by their means, the light of the most holy faith was
rekindled in the darkened. And prelates, placed in the position of the
prelacy of Christ on earth, offered Me the sacrifice of justice with holy
and upright lives. The pearl of justice, with true humility, and most ardent
love, shone in them, and in their subjects, with the light of discretion. In
them, principally because they justly paid Me My due, in rendering glory and
praise to My Name, and, to their own sensuality, hatred and displeasure,
despising vice and embracing virtue, with love of Me and of their neighbor.
With humility they trampled on pride, and, with purity of heart and of body,
came, like angels, to the table of the altar, and, with sincerity of mind,
celebrated, burning in the furnace of love. And, because they first had done
justice to themselves, they therefore did justice to those under them,
wishing to see them live virtuously, and correcting them without any servile
fear, because they were not thinking of themselves, but solely of My honor
and the salvation of souls, like good shepherds, followers of the Good
Shepherd, My Truth, whom I gave you to lead your sheep, having willed that
He should give His life for you. These have followed His footsteps, and
therefore did they correct them, and did not let their members become putrid
for want of correcting, but they charitably corrected them with the unction
of benignity, and with the sharpness of fire, cauterizing the wound of sin
with reproof and penance, little or much, according to the graveness of the
fault. And, in order to correct it and to speak the truth, they did not even
fear death. They were true gardeners who, with care and holy tears, took
away the thorns of mortal sins, and planted plants odoriferous of virtue.
Wherefore, those under them lived in holy, true fear, and grew up like sweet
smelling flowers in the mystic body of the holy Church (because they were
not deprived of correction, and so were not guilty of sin), for My gardeners
corrected them without any servile fear, being free from it, and without any
sin, for they balanced exactly the scales of holy justice, reproving humbly
and without human respect. And this justice was and is that pearl which
shines in them, and which gave peace and light in the minds of the people
and caused holy fear to be with them, and unity of hearts. And I would that
you know that, more darkness and division have come into the world amongst
seculars and religious and the clergy and pastors of the holy Church,
through the lack of the light of justice, and the advent of the darkness of
injustice, than from any other causes.

Neither the civil law, nor the divine law, can be kept in any degree
without holy justice, because he who is not corrected, and does not correct
others, becomes like a limb which putrefies, and corrupts the whole body,
because the bad physician, when it had already begun to corrupt, placed
ointment immediately upon it, without having first burnt the wound. So, were
the prelate, or any other lord having subjects, on seeing one putrefying
from the corruption of mortal sin, to apply to him the ointment of soft
words of encouragement alone, without reproof, he would never cure him, but
the putrefaction would rather spread to the other members, who, with him,
form one body under the same pastor. But if he were a physician, good and
true to those souls, as were those glorious pastors of old, he would not
give salving ointment without the fire of reproof. And, were the member
still to remain obstinate in his evil doing, he would cut him off from the
congregation in order that he corrupt not the other members with the
putrefaction of mortal sin. But they act not so today, but, in cases of evil
doing, they even pretend not to see. And do you know why? The root of
self-love is alive in them, wherefore they bear perverted and servile fear.
Because they fear to lose their position or their temporal goods, or their
prelacy, they do not correct, but act like blind ones, in that they see not
the real way by which their position is to be kept. If they would only see
that it is by holy justice they would be able to maintain it; but they do
not, because they are deprived of light. But, thinking to preserve their
position with injustice, they do not reprove the faults of those under them;
and they are deluded by their own sensitive self-love, or by their desire
for lordship and prelacy, and they correct not the faults they should
correct in others, because the same or greater ones are their own. They feel
themselves comprehended in the guilt, and they therefore lose all ardor and
security, and, fettered by servile fear, they make believe not to see. And,
moreover, if they do see they do not correct, but allow themselves to be
bound over with flattering words and with many presents, and they themselves
find the excuse for the guilty ones not to be punished. In such as these are
fulfilled the words spoken by My Truth, saying:™These are blind and leaders
of the blind, and if the blind lead the blind, they both fall into the
ditch.™ My sweet ministers, of whom I spoke to you, who have the properties
and condition of the sun, did not, and do not (if there be any now) act so.
And they are truly suns, as I have told you, because in them is no darkness
of sin, or of ignorance, because they follow the doctrine of My Truth. They
are not tepid, because they burn in the furnace of My love, and because they
are despisers of the grandeurs, positions, and delights of the world. They
fear not to correct, for he who does not desire lordship or prelacy will not
fear to lose it, and will reprove manfully, and he whose conscience does not
reprove him of guilt, does not fear.

And therefore this pearl of justice was not dimmed in My anointed ones, My
Christs (of whom I have narrated to you), but was resplendent in them,
wherefore they embraced voluntary poverty, and sought out vileness with
profound humility, and cared not for scorn or villainies, or the detractions
of men, or insult, or opprobrium, or pain, or torment.

They were cursed, and they blessed, and, with true patience, they bore
themselves like terrestrial angels, not by nature, but by their ministry,
and the supernatural grace given to them, of administering the Body and
Blood of My only-begotten Son. And they are truly angels. Because, as the
angel, which I give you to be your guardian, ministers to you holy and good
inspirations, so were these ministers angels, and were given by My goodness
to be guardians, and therefore had they their eye continually over those
under them, like real guardian angels, inspiring in their hearts holy and
good thoughts, and offering up for them before Me, sweet and amorous desires
with continual prayer, and the doctrine of words, and with example of life.
So you see that they are angels, placed by My burning love, like lanterns in
the mystic body of the holy Church, to be your guardians, so that you blind
ones may have guides to direct you into the way of truth, giving you good
inspirations, with prayers and example of life, and doctrine as I said. With
how much humility did they govern those under them, and converse with them!
With how much hope and lively faith, and therefore with liberality, did they
distribute to the poor the substance of the holy Church, not fearing, or
caring if for them and their subjects temporal substance diminished. And
they scarcely observed that which they were really bound to do, that is, to
distribute the temporal substance to their own necessity being the poor in
the Church. They saved nothing, and after their death there remained no
money at all, and there were some even who, for the sake of the poor, left
the Church in debt. This was because through the largeness of their charity,
and of the hope that they had placed in My Providence, they were without
servile fear that anything should diminish to them, either spiritual or
temporal.

The sign that a creature hopes in Me and not in himself, is that he does
not fear with a servile fear. They who hope in themselves are the ones who
fear, and are afraid of their own shadow, and doubt lest the sky and earth
fade away before them. With such fears as these, and a perverted hope in
their own small knowledge, they spend so much miserable solicitude in
acquiring and preserving temporal things, that they turn their back on the
spiritual, caring not for them. But they, miserable, faithless, proud ones
consider not that I alone am He who provides all things necessary for the
soul and the body, and that with the same measure that My creatures hope in
Me, will My providence be measured to them. The miserable presumptuous ones
do not regard the fact that I am He who is, and they are they who are not,
and that they have received their being, and every other additional grace,
from My Goodness. And therefore his labor may be reputed to be in vain, who
watches the city if it be not guarded by Me. All his labor will be vain, if
he thinks by his labor or solicitude to keep it, because I alone keep it. It
is true that I desire you to use your being, and exercise the graces which I
have bestowed upon you, in virtue using the free-will which I have given
you, with the light of reason, because though I created you without your
help I will not save you without it. I loved you before you were, and those
My beloved ones saw and knew this, and therefore they loved Me ineffably,
and through their love hoped so greatly in Me that they feared nothing.
Sylvester feared not when he stood before the Emperor Constantine disputing
with those twelve Jews before the whole crowd, but with lively faith he
believed that I being for him, no one could be against him; and in the same
way the others all lost their every fear, because they were not alone but
were accompanied, because being in the enjoyment of love, they were in Me,
and from Me they acquired the light of the wisdom of My only-begotten Son,
and from Me they received the faculty to be strong and powerful against the
princes and tyrants of the world, and from Me they had the fire of the Holy
Spirit, sharing the clemency and burning love of that Spirit.

This love was and is the companion of whosoever desires it, with the light
of faith, with hope, with fortitude, true patience and long perseverance
even until death. So you see that because they were not alone but were
accompanied they feared nothing. He only who feels himself to be alone, and
hopes in himself, deprived of the affection of love, fears, and is afraid of
every little thing, because he alone is without Me who give supreme security
to the soul who possesses Me through the affection of love. And of this did
those glorious ones, My beloved, have full experience, for nothing could
injure their souls; but they on the contrary could injure men and the
devils, who oftentimes remained bound by the virtue and power that I had
given My servants over them. This was because I responded to the love,
faith, and hope they had placed in Me. Your tongue would not be sufficient
to relate their virtues, neither the eye of your intellect to see the fruit
which they receive in everlasting life, and that all will receive who follow
in their footsteps. They are like precious stones, and as such do they stand
in My presence, because I have received their labor and poverty and the
light which they shed with the odor of virtues in the mystic body of the
holy Church. And in the life eternal I have placed them in the greatest
dignity, and they receive blessing and glory in My sight, because they gave
the example of an honorable and holy life, and with light administered the
Light of the Body and Blood of My only-begotten Son, and all the Sacraments.
And these My anointed ones and ministers are peculiarly beloved by Me, on
account of the dignity which I placed in them, and because this Treasure
which I placed in their hands they did not hide through negligence and
ignorance, but rather recognized it to be from Me, and exercised it with
care and profound humility with true and real virtues; and because I, for
the salvation of souls, having placed them in so much excellency they never
rested like good shepherds from putting the sheep into the fold of the holy
Church, and even out of love and hunger for souls they gave themselves to
die, to get them out of the hands of the devil. They made themselves infirm
with those who were infirm, so that they might not be overcome with despair,
and to give them more courage in exposing their infirmity, they would
oftentimes lend countenance to their infirmity and say,˜I, too, am infirm
with you.™ They wept with those who wept, and rejoiced with those who
rejoiced; and thus sweetly they knew to give everyone his nourishment,
preserving the good and rejoicing in their virtues, not being gnawed by
envy, but expanded with the broadness of love for their neighbors, and those
under them. They drew the imperfect ones out of imperfection, themselves
becoming imperfect and infirm with them, as I told you, with true and holy
compassion, and correcting them and giving them penance for the sins they
committed”they through love endured their penance”together with them. For
through love, they who gave the penance, bore more pain than they who
received it; and there were even those who actually performed the penance,
and especially when they had seen that it had appeared particularly
difficult to the penitent. Wherefore by that act the difficulty became
changed into sweetness.

Oh! My beloved ones, they made themselves subjects, being prelates, they
made themselves servants, being lords, they made themselves infirm, being
whole, and without infirmity and the leprosy of mortal sin, being strong
they made themselves weak, with the foolish and simple they showed
themselves simple, and with the small insignificant. And so with love they
knew how to be all things to all men, and to give to each one his
nourishment. What caused them to do thus? The hunger and desire for My honor
and the salvation of souls which they had conceived in Me. They ran to feed
on it at the table of the holy Cross, not fleeing from or refusing any
labor, but with zeal for souls and for the good of the holy Church and the
spread of the faith, they put themselves in the midst of the thorns of
tribulation, and exposed themselves to every peril with true patience,
offering incense odoriferous with anxious desires, and humble and continual
prayers. With tears and sweat they anointed the wounds of their neighbor,
that is the wounds of the guilt of mortal sin, which latter were perfectly
cured, the ointment so made, being received in humility.
_________________________________________________________________

A brief repetition of the preceding chapter; and of the reverence which
should be paid to priests, whether they are good or bad.

I have shown you, dearest daughter, a sample of the excellence of good
priests (for what I have shown you is only a sample of what that excellence
really is), and I have told you of the dignity in which I have placed them,
having elected them for My ministers, on account of which dignity and
authority I do not wish them to be punished by the hand of seculars on
account of any personal defect, for those who punish them offend Me
miserably. But I wish seculars to hold them in due reverence, not for their
own sakes, as I have said, but for Mine, by reason of the authority which I
have given them. Wherefore this reverence should never diminish in the case
of priests whose virtue grows weak, any more than in the case of those
virtuous ones of whose goodness I have spoken to you; for all alike have
been appointed ministers of the Sun”that is of the Body and Blood of My Son,
and of the other Sacraments.

This dignity belongs to good and bad alike”all have the Sun to administer,
as has been said, and perfect priests are themselves in a condition of
light, that is to say, they illuminate and warm their neighbors through
their love. And with this heat they cause virtues to spring up and bear
fruit in the souls of their subjects. I have appointed them to be in very
truth your guardian angels to protect you; to inspire your hearts with good
thoughts by their holy prayers, and to teach you My doctrine reflected in
the mirror of their life, and to serve you by administering to you the holy
Sacraments, thus serving you, watching over you, and inspiring you with good
and holy thoughts as does an angel.

See, then, that besides the dignity to which I have appointed them, how
worthy they are of being loved; when they also possess the adornment of
virtue, as did those of whom I spoke to you, which are all bound and obliged
to possess, and in what great reverence you should hold them, for they are
My beloved children and shine each as a sun in the mystical body of the holy
Church by their virtues, forevery virtuous man is worthy of love, and these
all the more by reason of the ministry which I have placed in their hands.
You should love them therefore by reason of the virtue and dignity of the
Sacrament, and by reason of that very virtue and dignity you should hate the
defects of those who live miserably in sin, but not on that account appoint
yourselves their judges, which I forbid, because they are My Christs, and
you ought to love and reverence the authority which I have given them. You
know well that if a filthy and badly dressed person brought you a great
treasure from which you obtained life, you would not hate the bearer,
however ragged and filthy he might be, through love of the treasure and of
the lord who sent it to you. His state would indeed displease you, and you
would be anxious through love of his master that he should be cleansed from
his foulness and properly clothed. This, then, is your duty according to the
demands of charity, and thus I wish you to act with regard to such badly
ordered priests, who themselves filthy and clothed in garments ragged with
vice through their separation from My love, bring you great Treasures”that
is to say, the Sacraments of the holy Church”from which you obtain the life
of grace, receiving Them worthily (in spite of the great defects there may
be in them) through love of Me, the Eternal God, who send them to you, and
through love of that life of grace which you receive from the great
treasure, by which they administer to you the whole of God and the whole of
Man, that is to say, the Body and Blood of My Son united to My Divine
nature. Their sins indeed should displease you, and you should hate them,
and strive with love and holy prayer to re-clothe them, washing away their
foulness with your tears”that is to say, that you should offer them before
Me with tears and great desire, that I may re-clothe them in My goodness,
with the garment of charity. Know well that I wish to do them grace, if only
they will dispose themselves to receive it, and you to pray for it; for it
is not according to My will that they should administer to you the Sun being
themselves in darkness, not that they should be stripped of the garment of
virtue, foully living in dishonor; on the contrary I have given them to you,
and appointed them to be earthly angels and suns, as I have said. It not
being My will that they should be in this state, you should pray for them,
and not judge them, leaving their judgment to Me. And I, moved by your
prayers, will do them mercy if they will only receive it, but if they do not
correct their life, their dignity will be the cause of their ruin. For if
they do not accept the breadth of My mercy, I, the Supreme Judge, shall
terribly condemn them at their last extremity, and they will be sent to the
eternal fire.
_________________________________________________________________

Of the difference between the death of a just man and that of a sinner,
and first of the death of the just man.

Having told you how the world and the devils accuse these wretches, which
is indeed the truth, I wish to speak to you in more detail on this point (so
that you may have greater compassion on these poor wretches), telling you
how different are the struggles of the soul of a just man to those of a
sinner, and how different are their deaths, and how the peace of the just
man™s death is greater or less according to the perfection of his soul. For
I wish you to know that all the sufferings which rational creatures endure
depend on their will, because if their will were in accordance with mine
they would endure no suffering, not that they would have no labors on that
account, but because labors cause no suffering to a will which gladly
endures them, seeing that they are ordained by My will. Such men as these
wage war with the world, the Devil, and their own sensuality through holy
hatred of themselves. Wherefore when they come to the point of death, they
die peacefully, because they have vanquished their enemies during their
life. The world cannot accuse such a man, because he saw through its
deceptions and therefore renounced it with all its delights. His sensual
fragility and his body do not accuse him, because he bound sensuality like a
slave with the rein of reason, macerating his flesh with penance, with
watchings, and humble and continual prayer. The will of his senses he slew
with hatred and dislike of vice, and with love of virtue. He has entirely
lost all tenderness for his body, which tenderness and love between the soul
and the body makes death seem difficult, and on account of it man naturally
fears death; but since the virtue of a just and perfect man transcends
nature, extinguishing his natural fear and overcoming it with holy hatred of
himself and desire of arriving at his last end, his natural tenderness
cannot make war on him, and his conscience remains in peace; for during his
life his conscience kept a good guard, warning him when enemies were coming
to attack the city of his soul, like a watch-dog which stands at the door,
and when it sees enemies warns the guards by its barking, for in this way
the dog of conscience warns the sentry of reason, and the reason together
with the free-will know by the light of the intellect whether the stranger
be friend or enemy. To a friend, that is to say, to virtue and holy
thoughts, he gave his delighted love, receiving and using these with great
solicitude; to an enemy, that is to say, to vice and wicked thoughts, he
gave hatred and displeasure. And with the knife of hatred of self, and love
of Me, and with the light of reason, and the hand of free-will he struck his
enemies; so that at the point of death his conscience, having been a
faithful guardian, does not gnaw but remains in peace.

It is true that a just soul, through humility, and because at the moment of
death she realizes better the value of time and of the jewels of virtue,
reproves herself, seeming to herself to have used her time but little; but
this is not an afflictive pain, but rather profitable, for the soul
recollected in herself, is caused by it to throw herself before the Blood of
the humble and immaculate Lamb My Son. The just man does not turn his head
to admire his past virtues, because he neither can nor will hope in his own
virtues, but only in the Blood in which he has found mercy; and as he lived
in the memory of that Blood, so in death he is inebriated and drowned in the
same. How is it that the devils cannot reprove him of sin? Because during
his life he conquered their malice with wisdom, yet they come round him to
see if they can acquire anything, and appear in horrible shapes in order to
frighten him with hideous aspect, and many diverse phantasms, but the poison
of sin not being in his soul, their aspect causes him no terror or fear, as
it would do to another who had lived wickedly in the world. Wherefore the
devils, seeing that the soul has entered into the Blood with ardent love,
cannot endure the sight, but stand afar off shooting their arrows. But their
war and their shouts cannot hurt that soul, who already is beginning to
taste eternal life, as I said to you in another place, for with the eye of
the intellect illuminated by the pupil of the holy faith, she sees Me, the
Infinite and Eternal Good, whom she hopes to obtain by grace, not as her
due, but by virtue of Jesus Christ My Son.

Wherefore opening the arms of hope and seizing Him with the hands of love,
she seems to enter into His possession before she actually does so, in the
way which I have narrated to you in another place. Passing suddenly, drowned
in the Blood, by the narrow door of the Word she reaches Me, the Sea
Pacific. For sea and door are united together. I and the Truth, My
only-begotten Son being one and the same thing. What joy such a soul
receives who sees herself so sweetly arrived at this pass, for in Truth she
tastes the happiness of the angelic nature! This joy is received by all
those who pass in this sweet manner, but to a far greater extent by My
ministers, of whom I spoke to you, who have lived like angels, for in this
life have they lived with greater knowledge, and with greater hunger for the
salvation of souls. I do not speak only of the light of virtue which all can
have in general, but of the supernatural light which these men possessed
over and above the light of virtuous living, the light, that is, of holy
science, by which science they knew more of My Truth, and he who knows more
loves Me more, and he who loves Me more receives more. Your reward is
measured according to the measure of your love, and if you should ask Me,
whether one who has no science can attain to this love, I should reply, yes
it is possible that he may attain to it, but an individual case does not
make a general law and I always discourse to you in general.

They also receive greater dignity on account of their priesthood, because
they have personally received the office of eating souls in My honor. For
just as everyone has the office of remaining in charity with his neighbor,
to them is given the office of administering the Blood, and of governing
souls.

Wherefore if they do this solicitously and with love of virtue they
receive, as has been said, more than others. Oh! how happy are their souls
when they come to the extremity of death! For they have been the defenders
and preachers of the faith to their neighbor. This faith they have
incarnated in their very marrow, and with it they see their place of repose
in Me. The hope with which they have lived, confiding in My providence and
losing all trust in themselves, in that they did not hope in their own
knowledge, and having lost hope in themselves, placed no inordinate love in
any fellow-creature or in any created thing; having lived in voluntary
poverty, causes them now with great delight to lift their confidence towards
Me. Their heart, which was a vessel of love, inscribed by their ardent
charity with My name, they showed forth with the example of their good and
holy life and by the doctrine of their words to their neighbor. This heart
then arises and seizes Me, who am its End, with ineffable love, restoring to
Me the pearl of justice which it always carried before it, doing justice to
all, and discreetly rendering to each his due. Wherefore this man renders to
Me justice with true humility, and renders glory and praise to My Name,
because he refers to Me the grace of having been able to run his course with
a pure and holy conscience, and with himself he is indignant, deeming
himself unworthy of receiving such grace.

His conscience gives good testimony of him to Me, and I justly give him the
crown of justice, adorned with the pearls of the virtues”that is, of the
fruit which love has drawn from the virtues. Oh, earthly angel! happy you
are in that you have not been ungrateful for the benefits received from Me,
and have not been negligent or ignorant, but have solicitously opened your
eye by the true light, and kept it on your subjects, and have faithfully and
manfully followed the doctrine of the Good Shepherd, sweet Christ Jesus, My
only-begotten Son, wherefore you are really now passing through Him, the
Door, bathed and drowned in His blood, with your troop of lambs of whom you
have brought many by your holy doctrine and example to eternal life, and
have left many behind you in a state of grace.

Oh, dearest daughter! to such as these the vision of the devils can do no
harm, because of the vision which they have of Me, which they see by faith
and hold by love; the darkness and the terrible aspect of the demons do not
give them trouble or any fear, because in them is not the poison of sin.
There is no servile fear in them, but holy fear. Wherefore they do not fear
the demon™s deception, because with supernatural light and with the light of
Holy Scripture they know them, so that they do not cause them darkness or
disquietude. So thus they gloriously pass, bathed in the blood, with hunger
for the salvation of souls, all on fire with love for the neighbor, having
passed through the door of the word and entered into Me; and by My goodness
each one is arranged in his place, and to each one is measured of the
affection of love according as he has measured to Me.
_________________________________________________________________

Of the death of sinners, and of their pains in the hour of death.

Not so excellent, dearest daughter, is the end of these other poor wretches
who are in great misery as I have related to you. How terrible and dark is
their death! Because in the moment of death, as I told you, the Devil
accuses them with great terror and darkness, showing his face, which you
know is so horrible that the creature would rather choose any pain that can
be suffered in this world than see it; and so greatly does he freshen the
sting of conscience that it gnaws him horribly. The disordinate delights and
sensuality of which he made lords over his reason, accuse him miserably,
because then he knows the truth of that which at first he knew not, and his
error brings him to great confusion.

In his life he lived unfaithfully to Me”self-love having veiled the pupil
of the most holy faith”wherefore the Devil torments him with infidelity in
order to bring him to despair. Oh! how hard for them is this battle, because
it finds them disarmed, without the armor of affection and charity; because,
as members of the Devil, they have been deprived of it all. Wherefore they
have not the supernatural light, neither the light of science, because they
did not understand it, the horns of their pride not letting them understand
the sweetness of its marrow. Wherefore now in the great battle they know not
what to do. They are not nourished in hope, because they have not hoped in
Me, neither in the Blood of which I made them ministers, but in themselves
alone, and in the dignities and delights of the world. And the incarnate
wretch did not see that all was counted to him with interest, and that as a
debtor he would have to render an account to Me; now he finds himself
denuded and without any virtue, and on whichever side he turns he hears
nothing but reproaches with great confusion. His injustice which he
practiced in his life accuses him to his conscience, wherefore he dares not
ask other than justice.

And I tell you that so great is that shame and confusion that unless in
their life they have taken the habit of hoping in My mercy, that is, have
taken the milk of mercy (although on account of their sins this is great
presumption, for you cannot truly say that he who strikes Me with the arm of
My mercy has a hope in mercy, but rather has presumption), there is not one
who would not despair, and with despair they would arrive with the Devil in
eternal damnation.

But arriving at the extremity of death, and recognizing his sin, his
conscience unloaded by holy confession, and presumption taken away, so that
he offends no more, there remains mercy, and with this mercy he can, if he
will, take hold on hope. This is the effect of Mercy, to cause them to hope
therein during their life, although I do not grant them this, so that they
should offend Me by means of My mercy, but rather that they should dilate
themselves in charity, and in the consideration of My goodness. But they act
in a contrary way, because they offend Me in the hope which they have in My
mercy. And nevertheless, I keep them in this hope so that at the last moment
they may have something which they may lay hold of, and by so doing not
faint away with the condemnation which they receive, and thus arrive at
despair; for this final sin of despair is much more displeasing to Me and
injures them much more than all the other sins which they have committed.
And this is the reason why this sin is more dangerous to them and
displeasing to Me, because they commit other sins through some delight of
their own sensuality, and they sometimes grieve for them, and if they grieve
in the right way their grief will procure them mercy. But it is no fragility
of your nature which moves you to despair, for there is no pleasure and
nothing but intolerable suffering in it. One who despairs despises My mercy,
making his sin to be greater than mercy and goodness. Wherefore, if a man
fall into this sin, he does not repent, and does not truly grieve for his
offense against Me as he should, grieving indeed for his own loss, but not
for the offense done to Me, and therefore he receives eternal damnation.
See, therefore, that this sin alone leads him to hell, where he is punished
for this and all the other sins which he has committed; whereas had he
grieved and repented for the offense done to Me, and hoped in My mercy, he
would have found mercy, for, as I have said to you, My mercy is greater
without any comparison than all the sins which any creature can commit;
wherefore it greatly displeases Me that they should consider their sins to
be greater.

Despair is that sin which is pardoned neither here nor hereafter, and it is
because despair displeases Me so much that I wish them to hope in My mercy
at the point of death, even if their life have been disordered and wicked.
This is why during their life I use this sweet trick with them, making them
hope greatly in My mercy, for when, having fed themselves with this hope,
they arrive at death, they are not so inclined to abandon it, on account of
the severe condemnation they receive, as if they had not so nourished
themselves.

All this is given them by the fire and abyss of My inestimable love, but
because they have used it in the darkness of self-love, from which has
proceeded their every sin, they have not known it in truth, but in so far as
they have turned their affections towards the sweetness of My mercy they
have thought of it with great presumption. And this is another cause of
reproof which their conscience gives them in the likeness of the Devil,
reproving them in that they should have used the time and the breadth of My
mercy in which they hoped, in charity and love of virtue, and that time
which I gave them through love should have been spent in holiness, whereas
with all their time and great hope of My mercy they did nothing but offend
Me miserably. Oh! blinder than the blind! You have hidden your pearl and
your talent which I placed in your hands in order that you might gain more
with it, but you in your presumption would not do My will, rather you hid it
under the ground of disordinate self-love, which now renders you the fruit
of death.

Your miseries are not hid from you now, for the worm of conscience sleeps
no longer, but is gnawing you, the devils shout and render to you the reward
which they are accustomed to give their servants, that is to say, confusion
and condemnation; they wish to bring you to despair, so that at the moment
of death you may not escape from their hands, and therefore they try to
confuse you, so that afterwards when you are with them they may render to
you of the part which is theirs. Oh, wretch! the dignity in which I placed
you, you now see shining as it really is, and you know to your shame that
you have held and used in such guilty darkness the substance of the holy
Church, that you see yourself to be a thief, a debtor, who ought to pay his
debt to the poor and the holy Church. Then your conscience represents to you
that you have spent the money on public harlots, and have brought up your
children and enriched your relations, and have thrown it away on gluttony
and on many silver vessels and other adornments for your house. Whereas you
should have lived in voluntary poverty.

Your conscience represents to you the divine office which you neglected, by
which you fell into the guilt of mortal sin, and how even when you recited
it with your mouth your heart was far from Me. Conscience also shows you
your subjects, that is to say, the love and hunger which you should have
felt towards nourishing them in virtue, giving them the example of your life
and striking them with the hand of mercy and the rod of justice, and because
you did the contrary your conscience and the horrible likeness of the Devil
reproves you.

And if as a prelate you have given prelacies or any charge of souls
unjustly to one of your subjects, that is, that you have not considered to
whom and how you were giving it, the Devil puts this also before your
conscience, because you ought to have given it, not on account of pleasant
words, nor in order to please creatures, nor for the sake of gifts, but
solely with regard to virtue, My honor and the salvation of souls. And since
you have not done so you are reproved, and for your greater pain and
confusion you have before your conscience and the light of your intellect
that which you have done and ought not to have done, and that which you
ought to have done and have not done.

I wish you to know, dearest daughter, that whiteness is better seen when
placed on a black ground, and blackness on a white, than when they are
separated. So it happens to these wretches, to these in particular and to
all others in general, for at death when the soul begins to see its woes,
and the just man his beatitude, his evil life is represented to a wicked
man, and there is no reason that any one should remind him of the sins that
he has committed, for his conscience places them before him, together with
the virtues which he ought to have practiced. Why the virtues? For his
greater shame. For vice being placed on a ground of virtue is known better
on account of the virtue, and the better he knows his sin, the greater his
shame, and by comparison with his sin he knows better the perfection of
virtue, wherefore he grieves the more, for he sees that his own life was
devoid of any; and I wish you to know that in this knowledge which dying
sinners have of virtue and vice they see only too clearly the good which
follows the virtue of a just man, and the pain that comes on him who has
lain in the darkness of mortal sin. I do not give him this knowledge so that
he may despair, but so that he may come to a perfect self-knowledge and
shame for his sins, with hope, so that with that pain and knowledge he may
pay for his sins, and appease My anger, humbly begging My mercy. The
virtuous woman increases thereby in joy and in knowledge of My love, for he
attributes the grace of having followed virtue in the doctrine of My truth
to Me and not to himself, wherefore he exalts in Me, with this truly
illuminated knowledge, and tastes and receives the sweet end of his being in
the way which I have related to you in another place. So that the one, that
is to say, the just man, who has lived in ardent charity, exults in joy,
while the wicked man is darkened and confounded in sorrow.

To the just man the appearance and vision of the Devil causes no harm or
fear, for fear and harm can only be caused to him by sin; but those who have
passed their lives lasciviously and in many sins, receive both harm and fear
from the appearance of the devils, not indeed the harm of despair if they do
not wish it, but the suffering of condemnation, of the refreshing of the
worm of conscience, and of fear and terror at their horrible aspect. See
now, dearest daughter, how different are the sufferings and the battle of
death to a just man and to a sinner, and how different is their end.

I have shown to the eye of your intellect a very small part of what
happens, and so small is what I have shown you with regard to what it really
is, to the suffering, that is, of the one, and the happiness of the other,
that it is but a trifle. See how great is the blindness of man, and in
particular of these ministers, for the more they have received of Me, and
the more they are enlightened by the Holy Scripture, the greater are their
obligations and more intolerable confusion do they receive for not
fulfilling them; the more they knew of Holy Scripture during their life, the
better do they know at their death the great sins they have committed, and
their torments are greater than those of others, just as good men are placed
in a higher degree of excellence. Theirs is the fate of the false Christian,
who is placed in Hell in greater torment than a pagan, because he had the
light of faith and renounced it, while the pagan never had it.

So these wretches will be punished more than other Christians for the same
sin, on account of the ministry which I entrusted to them, appointing them
to administer the sun of the holy Sacrament, and because they had the light
of science, in order to discern the truth both for themselves and others had
they wished to; wherefore they justly receive the greater pains. But the
wretches do not know this, for did they consider their state at all, they
would not come to such misery, but would be that which they ought to be and
are not. For the whole world has thus become corrupt, they being much more
guilty than seculars, according to their state; for with their stench they
defile the face of their soul, and corrupt their subjects, and suck the
blood from My spouse, that is, the holy Church, wherefore through these sins
they make her grow pale, because they divert to themselves the love and
charity which they should have to this divine spouse, and think of nothing
but stripping her for their own advantage, seizing prelacies, and great
properties, when they ought to be seeking souls. Wherefore through their
evil life, seculars become irreverent and disobedient to the holy Church,
not that they ought on that account to do so, or that their sins are excused
through the sins of My ministers.
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How this devout soul, praising and thanking GOD, made a prayer for the
Holy Church.

Then this soul, as if inebriated, tormented, and on fire with love, her
heart wounded with great bitterness, turned herself to the Supreme and
Eternal Goodness, saying:Oh! Eternal God! oh! Light above every other
light, from whom issues all light! Oh! Fire above every fire, because You
are the only Fire who burn without consuming, and consume all sin and
self-love found in the soul, not afflicting her, but fattening her with
insatiable love, and though the soul is filled she is not sated, but ever
desires You, and the more of You she has, the more she seeks”and the more
she desires, the more she finds and tastes of You”Supreme and Eternal Fire,
Abyss of Charity. Oh! Supreme and Eternal Good, who has moved You, Infinite
God, to illuminate me, Your finite creature, with the light of Your Truth?
You, the same Fire of Love are the cause, because it is always love which
constrained and constrains You to create us in Your image and similitude,
and to do us mercy, giving immeasurable and infinite graces to Your rational
creatures. Oh! Goodness above all goodness! You alone are He who is
Supremely Good, and nevertheless You gave the Word, Your only-begotten Son,
to converse with us filthy ones and filled with darkness. What was the cause
of this? Love. Because You loved us before we were. Oh! Good! oh! Eternal
Greatness! You made Yourself low and small to make man great. On whichever
side I turn I find nothing but the abyss and fire of Your charity. And can a
wretch like me pay back to You the graces and the burning charity that You
have shown and show with so much burning love in particular to me beyond
common charity, and the love that You show to all Your creatures? No, but
You alone, most sweet and amorous Father, are He who will be thankful and
grateful for me, that is, that the affection of Your charity itself will
render You thanks, because I am she who is not, and if I spoke as being
anything of myself, I should be lying by my own head, and should be a lying
daughter of the Devil, who is the father of lies, because You alone are He
who is. And my being and every further grace that You have bestowed upon me,
I have from You, who give them to me through love, and not as my due.

Oh! sweetest Father, when the human race lay sick through the sin of Adam,
You sent it a Physician, the sweet and amorous Word”Your Son; and now, when
I was lying infirm with the sickness of negligence and much ignorance, You,
most soothing and sweet Physician, Eternal God, have given a soothing,
sweet, and bitter medicine, that I may be cured and rise from my infirmity.
You have soothed me because with Your love and gentleness You have
manifested Yourself to me, Sweet above all sweetness, and have illuminated
the eye of my intellect with the light of most holy faith, with which light,
according as it has pleased You to manifest it to me, I have known the
excellence of grace which You have given to the human race, administering to
it the entire God-Man in the mystic body of the holy Church. And I have
known the dignity of Your ministers whom You have appointed to administer
You to us. I desired that You would fulfill the promise that You made to me,
and You gave much more, more even than I knew how to ask for. Wherefore I
know in truth that the heart of man knows not how to ask or desire as much
as You can give, and thus I see that You are He who is the Supreme and
Eternal Good, and that we are they who are not. And because You are
infinite, and we are finite, You give that which Your rational creature
cannot desire enough; for she cannot desire it in itself, nor in the way in
which You can and will satisfy the soul, filling her with things for which
she does not ask You. Moreover, I have received light from Your Greatness
and Charity, through the love which You have for the whole human race, and
in particular for Your anointed ones, who ought to be earthly angels in this
life. You have shown me the virtue and beatitude of these Your anointed ones
who have lived like burning lamps, shining with the Pearl of Justice in the
holy Church. And by comparison with these I have better understood the sins
of those who live wretchedly. Wherefore I have conceived a very great sorrow
at Your offense and the harm done to the whole world, for they do harm to
the world, being mirrors of sin when they ought to be mirrors of virtue. And
because You have manifested and grieved over their iniquities to me”a wretch
who am the cause and instrument of many sins”I am plunged in intolerable
grief.

You, oh! inestimable love, have manifested this to me, giving me a sweet
and bitter medicine that I might wholly arise out of the infirmity of my
ignorance and negligence, and have recourse to You with anxious and
solicitous desire, knowing myself and Your goodness and the offenses which
are committed against You by all sorts of people, so that I might shed a
river of tears, drawn from the knowledge of Your infinite goodness, over my
wretched self and over those who are dead in that they live miserably.
Wherefore I do not wish, oh! Eternal Father, ineffable Fire of Love, that my
heart should ever grow weary, or my eyes fail through tears, in desiring
Your honor and the salvation of souls, but I beg of You, by Your grace, that
they may be as two streams of water issuing from You, the Sea Pacific.
Thanks, thanks to You, oh! Father, for having granted me that which I asked
You and that which I neither knew nor asked, for by thus giving me matter
for grief You have invited me to offer before You sweet, loving, and
yearning desires, with humble and continual prayer. Now I beg of You that
You will do mercy to the world and to the holy Church. I pray You to fulfill
that which You caused me to ask You. Alas! what a wretched and sorrowful
soul is mine, the cause of all these evils. Do not put off any longer Your
merciful designs towards the world, but descend and fulfill the desire of
Your servants.

Ah me! You cause them to cry in order to hear their voices! Your truth told
us to cry out, and we should be answered; to knock, and it would be opened
to us; to beg, and it would be given to us. Oh! Eternal Father, Your
servants do cry out to Your mercy; do You then reply.

I know well that mercy is Your own attribute, wherefore You can not destroy
it or refuse it to him who asks for it. Your servants knock at the door of
Your truth, because in the truth of Your only-begotten Son they know the
ineffable love which You have for man, wherefore the fire of Your love ought
not and cannot refrain from opening to him who knocks with perseverance.
Wherefore open, unlock, and break the hardened hearts of Your creatures, not
for their sakes who do not knock, but on account of Your infinite goodness,
and through love of Your servants who knock at You for their sakes. Grant
the prayer of those, Eternal Father who, as You see, stand at the door of
Your truth and pray. For what do they pray? For with the Blood of this
door”Your truth”have You washed our iniquities and destroyed the stain of
Adam™s sin. The Blood is ours, for You have made it our bath, wherefore You
can not deny it to any one who truly asks for it. Give, then, the fruit of
Your Blood to Your creatures. Place in the balance the price of the blood of
Your Son, so that the infernal devils may not carry off Your lambs. You are
the Good Shepherd who, to fulfill Your obedience, laid down His life for
Your lambs, and made for us a bath of His Blood.

That Blood is what Your hungry servants beg of You at this door, begging
You through it to do mercy to the world, and to cause Your holy Church to
bloom with the fragrant flowers of good and holy pastors, who by their sweet
odor shall extinguish the stench of the putrid flowers of sin. You have
said, Eternal Father, that through the love which You have for Your rational
creatures, and the prayers and the many virtues and labors of Your servants,
You would do mercy to the world, and reform the Church, and thus give us
refreshment; wherefore do not delay, but turn the eye of Your mercy towards
us, for You must first reply to us before we can cry out with the voice of
Your mercy. Open the door of Your inestimable love which You have given us
through the door of Your Word. I know indeed that You open before even we
can knock, for it is with the affection of love which You have given to Your
servants, that they knock and cry to You, seeking Your honor and the
salvation of souls. Give them then the bread of life, that is to say, the
fruit of the Blood of Your only-begotten Son, which they ask of You for the
praise and glory of My name and the salvation of souls. For more glory and
praise will be Yours in saving so many creatures, than in leaving them
obstinate in their hardness of heart. To You, Eternal Father, everything is
possible, and even though You have created us without our own help, You will
not save us without it. I beg of You to force their wills, and dispose them
to wish for that for which they do not wish; and this I ask You through Your
infinite mercy. You have created us from nothing; now, therefore, that we
are in existence, do mercy to us, and remake the vessels which You have
created to Your image and likeness. Re-create them to Grace in Your mercy
and the Blood of Your Son sweet Christ Jesus.
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A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
_________________________________________________________________

Here begins the treatise of obedience, and first of where obedience may
be found, and what it is that destroys it, and what is the sign of a
man™s possessing it, and what accompanies and nourishes obedience.

The Supreme and Eternal Father, kindly turning the eye of His mercy and
clemency towards her, replied:Your holy desire and righteous request, oh!
dearest daughter, have a right to be heard, and inasmuch as I am the Supreme
Truth, I will keep My word, fulfilling the promise which I made to you, and
satisfying your desire. And if you ask Me where obedience is to be found,
and what is the cause of its loss, and the sign of its possession, I reply
that you will find it in its completeness in the sweet and amorous Word, My
only-begotten Son. So prompt in Him was this virtue, that, in order to
fulfill it, He hastened to the shameful death of the Cross. What destroys
obedience? Look at the first man and you will see the cause which destroyed
the obedience imposed on him by Me, the Eternal Father. It was pride, which
was produced by self-love, and desire to please his companion. This was the
cause that deprived him of the perfection of obedience, giving him instead
disobedience, depriving him of the life of grace, and slaying his innocence,
wherefore he fell into impurity and great misery, and not only he, but the
whole human race, as I said to you. The sign that you have this virtue is
patience, and impatience the sign that you have it not, and you will find
that this is indeed so, when I speak to you further concerning this virtue.
But observe that obedience may be kept in two ways, of which one is more
perfect than the other, not that they are on that account separated, but
united as I explained to you of the precepts and counsels. The one way is
the most perfect, the other is also good and perfect; for no one at all can
reach eternal life if he be not obedient, for the door was unlocked by the
key of obedience, which had been fastened by the disobedience of Adam. I,
then, being constrained by My infinite goodness, since I saw that man whom I
so much loved, did not return to Me, his End, took the keys of obedience and
placed them in the hands of My sweet and amorous Word”the Truth”and He
becoming the porter of that door, opened it, and no one can enter except by
means of that door and that Porter. Wherefore He said in the Holy Gospel
that™no one could come to Me, the Father, if not by Him.™ When He returned
to Me, rising to Heaven from the conversation of men at the Ascension, He
left you this sweet key of obedience; for as you know He left His vicar, the
Christ, on earth, whom you are all obliged to obey until death, and whoever
is outside His obedience is in a state of damnation, as I have already told
you in another place. Now I wish you to see and know this most excellent
virtue in that humble and immaculate Lamb, and the source whence it
proceeds. What caused the great obedience of the Word? The love which He had
for My honor and your salvation. Whence proceeded this love? From the clear
vision with which His soul saw the divine essence and the eternal Trinity,
thus always looking on Me, the eternal God. His fidelity obtained this
vision most perfectly for Him, which vision you imperfectly enjoy by the
light of holy faith. He was faithful to Me, His eternal Father, and
therefore hastened as one enamored along the road of obedience, lit up with
the light of glory. And inasmuch as love cannot be alone, but is accompanied
by all the true and royal virtues, because all the virtues draw their life
from love, He possessed them all, but in a different way from that in which
you do. Among the others he possessed patience, which is the marrow of
obedience, and a demonstrative sign, whether a soul be in a state of grace
and truly love or not. Wherefore charity, the mother of patience, has given
her as a sister to obedience, and so closely united them together that one
cannot be lost without the other. Either you have them both or you have
neither. This virtue has a nurse who feeds her, that is, true humility;
therefore a soul is obedient in proportion to her humility, and humble in
proportion to her obedience. This humility is the foster-mother and nurse of
charity, and with the same milk she feeds the virtue of obedience. Her
raiment given her by this nurse is self-contempt, and insult, desire to
displease herself, and to please Me. Where does she find this? In sweet
Christ Jesus, My only-begotten Son. For who abased Himself more than He did!
He was sated with insults, jibes, and mockings. He caused pain to Himself in
His bodily life, in order to please Me. And who was more patient than He?
for His cry was never heard in murmuring, but He patiently embraced His
injuries like one enamored, fulfilling the obedience imposed on Him by Me,
His Eternal Father. Wherefore in Him you will find obedience perfectly
accomplished. He left you this rule and this doctrine, which gives you life,
for it is the straight way, having first observed them Himself. He is the
way, wherefore He said,™He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life.™ For he
who travels by that way, travels in the light, and being enlightened cannot
stumble, or be caused to fall, without perceiving it. For He has cast from
Himself the darkness of self-love, by which he fell into disobedience; for
as I spoke to you of a companion virtue proceeding from obedience and
humility, so I tell you that disobedience comes from pride, which issues
from self-love depriving the soul of humility. The sister given by self-love
to disobedience is impatience, and pride, her foster-mother, feeds her with
the darkness of infidelity, so she hastens along the way of darkness, which
leads her to eternal death. All this you should read in that glorious book,
where you find described this and every other virtue.
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How obedience is the key with which Heaven is opened, and how the soul
should fasten it by means of a cord to her girdle, and of the excellences
of obedience.

Now that I have shown you where obedience is to be found, and whence she
comes, and who is her companion, and who her foster-mother, I will continue
to speak of the obedient and of the disobedient together, and of obedience
in general, which is the obedience of the precepts; and in particular, which
is that of the counsels. The whole of your faith is founded upon obedience,
for by it you prove your fidelity. You are all in general by My truth to
obey the commandments of the law, the chief of which is to love Me above
everything, and your neighbor as yourself, and the commandments are so bound
up together, that you cannot observe or transgress one without observing or
transgressing all. He who observes this principal commandment observes all
the others; he is faithful to Me and his neighbor, for he loves Me and My
creature, and is therefore obedient, becoming subject to the commandments of
the law, and to creatures for My sake, and with humble patience he endures
every labor, and even his neighbor™s detraction of him. This obedience is of
such excellence that you all derive grace from it, just as from disobedience
you all derive death. Wherefore it is not enough that it should be only in
word, and not practiced by you. I have already told you that this word is
the key which opens heaven, which key My Son placed in the hands of His
vicar. This vicar placed it in the hands of everyone who receives holy
baptism, promising therein to renounce the world and all its pomps and
delights, and to obey. So that each man has in his own person that very same
key which the Word had, and if a man does not unlock in the light of faith,
and with the hand of love the gate of heaven by means of this key, he never
will enter there, in spite of its having been opened by the Word; for though
I created you without yourselves, I will not save you without yourselves.
Wherefore you must take the key in your hand and walk by the doctrine of My
Word, and not remain seated, that is to say, placing your love in finite
things, as do foolish men who follow the first man, their first father,
following his example, and casting the key of obedience into the mud of
impurity, breaking it with the hammer of pride, rusting it with self-love.
It would have been entirely destroyed had not My only-begotten Son, the
Word, come and taken this key of obedience in His hands and purified it in
the fire of divine love, having drawn it out of the mud, and cleansed it
with His blood, and straightened it with the knife of justice, and hammered
your iniquities into shape on the anvil of His own body. So perfectly did He
repair it that no matter how much a man may have spoiled his key by his
free-will, by the self-same free-will, assisted by My grace, he can repair
it with the same instruments that were used by My Word. Oh! blinder than the
blind, for, having spoiled the key of obedience, you do not think of mending
it! Do you think, forsooth, that the disobedience which closed the door of
Heaven will open it? that the pride which fell can rise? Do you think to be
admitted to the marriage feast in foul and disordered garments? Do you think
that sitting down and binding yourself with the chain of mortal sin, you can
walk? or that without a key you can open the door? Do not imagine that you
can, for it is a fantastical delusion; you must be firm, you must leave
mortal sin by a holy confession, contrition of heart, satisfaction, and
purpose of amendment. Then you will throw off that hideous and defiled
garment and, clothed in the shining nuptial robe, will hasten, the key of
obedience in your hand, to open the door. But bind this key with the cord of
self-contempt, and hatred of yourself and of the world, and fasten it to the
love of pleasing Me, Your creator, of which you should make a girdle to
yourself to bind your loins with it, for fear you lose it. Know, My
daughter, there are many who take up this key of obedience, having seen by
the light of faith that in no other way can they escape eternal damnation;
but they hold it in their hand without wearing this girdle, or fastening the
key to it with the cord of self-contempt, that is to say that they are not
perfectly clothed with My pleasure, but still seek to please themselves;
they do not wear the cord of self-contempt, for they do not desire to be
despised, but rather take delight in the praise of men. Such as these are
apt to lose their key; for if they suffer a little extra fatigue, or mental
or corporal tribulation, and if, as often happens, the hand of holy desire
loosens its grasp, they will lose it. They can indeed find it again if they
wish to while they live, but if they do not wish they will never find it,
and what will prove to them, that they have lost it? Impatience, for
patience was united to obedience, and their impatience proves that obedience
does not dwell in their soul. Oh! how sweet and glorious is this virtue,
which contains all the rest, for she is conceived and born of charity, on
her is founded the rock of the holy faith. She is a queen whose consort will
feel no trouble, but only peace and quiet; the waves of the stormy sea
cannot hurt her, nor can any tempest reach the interior of the soul in whom
she dwells. Such a one feels no hatred when injured, because he wishes to
obey the precept of forgiveness, he suffers not when his appetites are not
satisfied, because obedience has ordered him to desire Me alone, who can and
will satisfy all his desires, if he strip himself of worldly riches. And so
in all things which would be too long to relate, he who has chosen as spouse
Queen Obedience, the appointed key of heaven, finds peace and quiet. Oh!
blessed obedience! you voyage without fatigue, and reach without danger the
port of salvation, you are conformed to My only-begotten Son, the Word, you
board the ship of the holy cross, forcing yourself to endure, so as not to
transgress the obedience of the Word, nor abandon His doctrine, of which you
make a table when you eat the food of souls, dwelling in the love of your
neighbor, being anointed with true humility, which saves you from coveting,
contrary to My will, his possessions, you walk erect, without bending, for
your heart is sincere and not false, loving generously and truly My
creatures, you are a sunrise drawing after you the light of divine grace,
you are a sun which makes the earth, that is to say, the organs of the soul,
to germinate with the heat of charity, all of which as well as those of the
body produce life-giving fruit for yourself and your neighbor. You are even
cheerful, for your face is never wrinkled with impatience, but smooth and
pleasant with the happiness of patience, and even in its fortitude you are
great by your long endurance, so long that it reaches from earth to heaven
and unlocks the celestial door. You are a hidden pearl, trampled by the
world, abasing yourself, submitting to all creatures. Yet your kingdom is so
great that no one can rule you, for you have come out of the mortal
servitude of your own sensuality, which destroyed your dignity, and having
slain this enemy with hatred and dislike of your own pleasure have
re-obtained your liberty.
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Here both the misery of the disobedient and the excellence of the
obedient are spoken of.

All this, dearest daughter, has been done by My goodness and providence as
I have told you, for by My providence the Word repaired the key of
obedience, but worldly men devoid of every virtue do the contrary; they,
like unbridled horses, without the bit of obedience, go from bad to worse,
from sin to sin, from misery to misery, from darkness to darkness, from
death to death, until they finally reach the edge of the ditch of death,
gnawed by the worm of their conscience, and though it is true that they can
obey the precepts of the law if they will, and have the time repenting of
their disobedience, it is very hard for them to do so, on account of their
long habit of sin. Therefore let no man trust to this, putting off his
finding of the key of obedience to the moment of his death, for although
everyone may and should hope as long as he has life, he should not put such
trust in this hope as to delay repentance. What is the reason of all this,
and of such blindness that prevents them recognizing this treasure? The
cloud of self-love and wretched pride, through which they abandoned
obedience, and fell into disobedience. Being disobedient they are impatient,
as has been said, and in their impatience endure intolerable pain, for it
has seduced them from the way of Truth, leading them along a way of lies,
making them slaves and friends of the devils with whom, unless indeed they
amend themselves with patience, they will go to the eternal torments.
Contrariwise, My beloved sons, obedient and observers of the law, rejoice
and exult in My eternal vision with the Immaculate and humble Lamb, the
Maker, Fulfiller, and Giver of this law of obedience. Observing this law in
this life they taste peace without any disturbance, they receive and clothe
themselves in the most perfect peace, for there they possess every good
without any evil, safety without any fear, riches without any poverty,
satiety without disgust, hunger without pain, light without darkness, one
supreme infinite good, shared by all those who taste it truly. What has
placed them in so blessed a state? The blood of the Lamb, by virtue of which
the key of obedience has lost its rust, so that, by the virtue of the blood,
it has been able to unlock the door. Oh! fools and madmen, delay no longer
to come out of the mud of impurity, for you seem like pigs to wallow in the
mire of your own lust. Abandon the injustice, murders, hatreds, rancors,
detractions, murmurings, false judgments, and cruelty, with which you use
your neighbors, your thefts and treacheries, and the disordinate pleasures
and delights of the world; cut off the horns of pride, by which amputation
you will extinguish the hatred which is in your heart against your
neighbors. Compare the injuries which you do to Me and to your neighbor with
those done to you, and you will see that those done to you are but trifles.
You will see that remaining in hatred you injure Me by transgressing My
precept, and you also injure the object of your hate, for you deprive him of
your love, whereas you have been commanded to love Me above everything, and
your neighbor as yourself. No gloss has been put upon these words as if it
should have been said, if your neighbor injures you do not love him; but
they are to be taken naturally and simply, as they were said to you by My
Truth, who Himself literally observed this rule. Literally also should you
observe it, and if you do not you will injure your own soul, depriving it of
the life of grace. Take, oh! take, then, the key of obedience with the light
of faith, walk no longer in such darkness or cold, but observe obedience in
the fire of love, so that you may taste eternal life together with the other
observers of the law.
_________________________________________________________________

Of those who have such love for obedience that they do not remain content
with the general obedience of precepts, but take on themselves a
particular obedience.

There are some, My dearest daughter, in whom the sweet and amorous fire of
love towards obedience burns so high (which fire of love cannot exist
without hatred of self-love, so that when the fire increases so does this
self-hatred), that they are not content to observe the precepts of the Law
with a general obedience as you are all obliged to do if you will have life
and not death, but take upon themselves a particular obedience, following
the greatest perfection, so that they become observers of the counsels both
in deed and in thought. Such as these wish to bind themselves more tightly
through self-hatred, and in order to restrain in everything their own will.
They either place themselves under the yoke of obedience in holy religion,
or, without entering religion, they bind themselves to some creature,
submitting their will to his, so as more expeditiously to unlock the door of
Heaven. These are they, as I have told you, who have chosen the most perfect
obedience. I have already spoken to you of obedience in general, and as I
know it to be your will that I should speak to you of this particular and
most perfect obedience, I will now relate to you somewhat of this second
kind, which is not divided from the first, but is more perfect, for, as I
have already told you, these two kinds of obedience are so closely united
together that they cannot be separated. I have told you where general
obedience is to be found and whence it proceeds, and the cause of its loss.
Now I will speak to you of this particular obedience, not altering, however,
the fundamental principle of the virtue.
_________________________________________________________________

How a soul advances from general to particular obedience; and of the
excellence of the religious orders.

The soul who with love has submitted to the yoke of obedience, to the
Commandments, following the doctrine of My truth virtuously exercising
herself, as has been said, in this general kind of obedience will advance to
the second kind by means of the same light which brought her to the first,
for by the light of the most holy faith she would have learnt, in the blood
of the humble Lamb, My truth”the ineffable love which I have for her, and
her own fragility, which cannot respond to Me with due perfection. So she
wanders, seeking by that light in what place and in what way she can pay her
debt, trampling on her own fragility, and restraining her own will.
Enlightened in her search by faith, she finds the place”namely, holy
religion”which has been founded by the Holy Spirit, appointed as the ship to
receive souls who wish to hasten to perfection, and to bring them to the
port of salvation. The Captain of this ship is the Holy Spirit, who never
fails in Himself through the defects of any of His religious subjects who
may transgress the rule of the order. The ship itself cannot be damaged, but
only the offender. It is true that the mistake of the steersman may send her
down into the billows, and these are wicked pastors and prelates appointed
by the Master of the ship. The ship herself is so delightful that your
tongue could not narrate it. I say, then, that the soul, on fire with desire
and a holy self-hatred, having found her place by the light of faith, enters
there as one dead, if she is truly obedient; that is to say, if she have
perfectly observed general obedience. And even if she should be imperfect
when she enters, it does not follow that she cannot attain perfection. On
the contrary, she attains it by exercising herself in the virtue of
obedience; indeed, most of those who enter are imperfect. There are some who
enter already in perfection, others in the childhood of virtue, others
through fear, others through penance, others through allurements, everything
depends on whether after they have entered they exercise themselves in
virtue, and persevere till death, for no true judgment can be made on a
person™s entrance into religion, but only on their perseverance, for many
have appeared to be perfect who have afterwards turned back, or remained in
the order with much imperfection, so that, as I have said, the act of
entrance into this ship ordained by Me, who call men in different ways, does
not supply material for a real judgment, but only the love of those who
persevere therein with true obedience. This ship is rich, so that there is
no need for the subject to think about his necessities either temporal or
spiritual, for if he is truly obedient, and observes his order, he will be
provided for by his Master, who is the Holy Spirit, as I told you when I
spoke to you of My providence, saying that though your servants might be
poor, they were never beggars. No more are these, for they find everything
they need, and those who observe this order find this to be indeed true.
Wherefore, see that in the days when the religious orders lived virtuously,
blossoming with true poverty and fraternal charity, their temporal substance
never failed them, but they had more than their needs demanded. But because
the stench of self-love has entered and caused each to keep his private
possessions and to fail in obedience, their temporal substance has failed,
and the more they possess to the greater destitution do they come. It is
just that even in the smallest matters they should experience the fruit of
disobedience, for had they been obedient and observed the vow of poverty,
each would not have taken his own, and lived privately. See the riches of
these holy rules, so thoughtfully and luminously appointed by those who were
temples of the Holy Spirit. See with what judgment Benedict ordered his
ship; see with what perfection and order of poverty Francis ordered his
ship, decked with the pearls of virtue, steering it in the way of lofty
perfection, being the first to give his order for spouse, true and holy
poverty, whom he had chosen for himself, embracing self-contempt and
self-hatred, not desiring to please any creature but only your will;
desiring rather to be thought vile by the world, macerating his body and
slaying his will, clothing himself in insults, sufferings, and jibes, for
love of the humble Lamb, with whom he was fastened and nailed to the cross
by love, so that by a singular grace there appeared in his body the very
wounds of your Truth, showing in the vessel of his body that which was in
the love of his soul, so he prepared the way.

But you will say,˜Are not all the other religious orders equally founded
on this point?™ Yes, but though they are all founded on it, in no other is
this the principal foundation; as with the virtues, though all the virtues
draw their life from charily, nevertheless, as I explained to you in another
place, one virtue belongs especially to one man, and another to another, and
yet they all remain in charity, so with the principal foundation of the
religious orders. Poverty belonged especially to My poor man Francis, who
placed the principal foundation of his order in love for this poverty, and
made it very strict for those who were perfect, for the few and the good,
not for the majority. I say few because they are not many who choose this
perfection, though now through their sins they are multiplied in numbers and
deficient in virtue, not through defect of the ship, but through disobedient
subjects and wicked rulers. Now look at the ship of your father Dominic, My
beloved son: he ordered it most perfectly, wishing that his sons should
apply themselves only to My honor and the salvation of souls, with the light
of science, which light he laid as his principal foundation, not, however,
on that account, being deprived of true and voluntary poverty, but having it
also. And as a sign that he had it truly, and that the contrary displeased
him, he left as an heirloom to his sons his curse and Mine, if they should
hold any possessions, either privately or in community, as a sign that he
had chosen for his spouse Queen Poverty. But for his more immediate and
personal object he took the light of science in order to extirpate the
errors which had arisen in his time, thus taking on him the office of My
only-begotten Son, the Word. Rightly he appeared as an apostle in the world,
and sowed the seed of My Word with much truth and light, dissipating
darkness and giving light. He was a light which I gave the world by means of
Mary, placed in the mystical body of the Holy Church as an extirpator of
heresies. Why do I say by means of Mary? Because Mary gave him his
habit”this office was committed to her by My goodness. At what table does he
feed his sons with the light of science? At the table of the cross, which is
the table of holy desire, when souls are eaten for My honor. Dominic does
not wish his sons to apply themselves to anything, but remaining at this
table, there to seek with the light of science, the glory and praise of My
name alone, and the salvation of souls. And in order that they might do
nothing else, he chose poverty for them, so that they might not have the
care of temporal things. It is true that some failed in faith, fearing that
they would not be provided for, but he never. Being clothed in faith, and
hoping with firm confidence in My providence, He wishes his sons to observe
obedience and do their duty, and since impure living obscures the eye of the
intellect, and not only the eye of the intellect, but also of the body, he
does not wish them to obscure their physical light with which they may more
perfectly obtain the light of science; wherefore he imposed on them the
third vow of continence, and wishes that all should observe it, with true
and perfect obedience, although today it is badly observed. They also
prevent the light of science with the darkness of pride, not that this light
can be darkened in itself, but only in their souls, for there, where pride
is, can be no obedience. I have already told you that a man™s humility is in
proportion to his obedience, and his obedience to his humility, and
similarly, when he transgresses the vow of obedience, it rarely happens that
he does not also transgress the vow of continence, either in thought or
deed; so that he has rigged his ship with the three ropes of obedience,
continence, and true poverty; he made it a royal ship, not obliging his
subjects under pain of mortal sin, and illuminated by Me the true light, he
provided for those who should be less perfect, for though all who observe
the order are perfect in kind, yet one possesses a higher degree of
perfection than another, yet all perfect or imperfect live well in this
ship. He allied himself with My truth, showing that he did not desire the
death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live.
Wherefore his religion is a delightful garden, broad and joyous and
flagrant, but the wretches who do not observe the order, but transgress its
vows, have turned it into a desert and defiled it with their scanty virtue
and light of science, though they are nourished at its breast. I do not say
that the order itself is in this condition, for it still possesses every
delight, but in the beginning its subjects were not as they are now, but
blooming flowers, and men of great perfection. Each scented to be another
St. Paul, their eyes so illuminated that the darkness of error was
dissipated by their glance. Look at My glorious Thomas, who gazed with the
gentle eye of his intellect at My Truth, whereby he acquired supernatural
light and science infused by grace, for he obtained it rather by means of
prayer than by human study. He was a brilliant light, illuminating his order
and the mystical body of the Holy Church, dissipating the clouds of heresy.
Look at My Peter, virgin and martyr, who by his blood gave light among the
darkness of many heresies, and the heretics hated him so that at last they
took his life; yet while he lived he applied himself to nothing but prayer,
preaching, and disputation with heretics, hearing confessions, announcing
the truth, and spreading the faith without any fear, to such an extent that
he not only confessed it in his life but even at the moment of his death,
for when he was at the last extremity, having neither voice nor ink left,
having received his death-blow, he dipped his finger in his blood, and this
glorious martyr, having not paper on which to write, leaned over, confessing
the faith, and wrote the Credo on the ground. His heart burnt in the furnace
of My charity, so that he never slackened his pace nor turned his head back,
though he knew that he was to die, for I had revealed to him his death, but
like a true knight he fearlessly came forth on to the battlefield; and I
could tell you the same of many others, who though they did not actually
experience martyrdom, were martyrs in will like Dominic; great laborers were
these sent by My Father to labor in His vineyard to extirpate the thorns of
vice, planting the virtues in their stead. Of a truth Dominic and Francis
were two columns of the holy Church. Francis with the poverty which was
specially his own, as has been said, and Dominic with his learning.
_________________________________________________________________

Of the excellence of the obedient, and of the misery of the disobedient
members of the religious orders.

Now that places suitable for obedience have been found, namely, these ships
commanded by the Holy Spirit through the medium of their superiors, for, as
I told you, the Holy Spirit is the true Master of these ships, which are
built in the light of the most holy faith by those who have the light to
know that My clemency, the Holy Spirit, will steer them, and having thus
shown you the place of obedience and its perfection, I will speak to you of
the obedience and of the disobedience of those who travel in such a ship,
speaking of all together and not of one ship”that is, one order”in
particular, showing you the sin of the disobedient and the virtue of the
obedient, so that a man may better know the one by contrast with the other,
and how he should walk if he would enter the ship of a religious order. How
should he walk who wishes to enter this state of perfect and particular
obedience? With the light of holy faith, by which he will know that he must
slay his self-will with the knife of hatred of every sensual passion, taking
the spouse which charity gives him, together with her sister. The spouse is
true and prompt obedience, and the sister, patience; and he must also take
the nurse of humility, for without this nurse obedience would perish of
hunger, for obedience soon dies in a soul deprived of this little virtue of
humility.

Humility is not alone but has the handmaid of contempt of self and of the
world, which causes the soul to hold herself vile, and not to desire honor
but shame. Thus dead to himself, should he who is old enough enter the ship
of a religious order, but however he may enter it (for I have told you that
I call souls in diverse ways), he should acquire and preserve this
affection, hurrying generously to seize the key of the obedience of his
order, which will open the little door which is in the panel of the door of
Heaven. Such as these have undertaken to open the little door, doing without
the great key of general obedience, which opens the door of Heaven, as I
have said to you. They have taken a little key, passing through a low and
narrow opening in the great door. This small door is part of the great door,
as you may see in any real door. They should keep this key when they have
got it, and not throw it away. And because the truly obedient have seen with
the light of faith that they will never be able to pass through this little
door with the load of their riches and the weight of their own will without
great fatigue and without losing their life, and that they cannot walk with
head erect without breaking their neck; whether they wish to or not, they
cast from them the load of their riches, and of their own will observing the
vow of voluntary poverty, refusing to possess anything, for they see by the
light of faith to what ruin they would come if they transgressed obedience,
and the and of poverty which they promised to keep. The disobedient walk in
pride, holding their heads erect, and if sometimes it suits their
convenience to obey they do not incline their heads with humility, but
proudly do so, because they must, which force breaks the neck of their will,
for they fulfill their obedience with hatred of their order and of their
superior. Little by little they are ruined on another point, for they
transgress the vow of continence, for he who does not constrain his appetite
or strip himself of temporal substance makes many relations and finds plenty
of friends who love him for their own profit. From these relations they go
on to close intimacies, their body they tend luxuriously, for being without
either the nurse of humility or her sister, self-contempt, they live in
their own pleasure richly and delicately, not like religious but like
nobles, without watching or prayer. This and many other things happen to
them because they have money to spend, for if they had it not they could not
spend it. They fall into mental and physical impurity, for if sometimes from
shame or through lack of means they abstain physically, they indulge
themselves mentally, for it is impossible for a man with many worldly
relations, of delicate habits and disordinate greediness, who watches not
nor prays, to preserve his mind pure. Wherefore the perfectly obedient man
sees from afar with the light of holy faith the evil and the loss which
would come to him from temporal possessions and from walking weighed down by
his own will; he also sees that he is obliged to pass by this narrow door,
and that in such a state he would die before he would be able to pass it,
having no key of obedience wherewith to open it, for as I said to you, he is
obliged to pass through it. Wherefore it is that whether he will or no he
should not leave the ship of the order, but should walk the narrow path of
obedience to his superior.

Wherefore the perfectly obedient man rises above himself and his own
sensuality, and rising above his own feelings with living faith, places
self-hatred as servant in the house of his soul to drive out the enemy of
self-love, for he does not wish that his spouse, Obedience, given him with
the light of faith by her mother, Charity, should be offended; so he drives
out the enemy and puts in his place the nurse and companions of his spouse.

The love of obedience places in the house of his soul the lovers of his
spouse, Obedience, who are the true and royal virtues, the customs and
observances of his order, so that this sweet spouse enters his soul with her
sister, Patience, and her nurse, Humility, together with Self-contempt and
Self-hatred, and when she has entered she possesses peace and quiet, for her
enemies have been exiled. She dwells in the garden of true continence, with
the sun of intellectual light shining in, the eye of holy faith fixed on the
object of My Truth, for her object is My Truth, and the fire of love with
which she observes the rules of the order, warms all her servants and
companions.

Who are her enemies who have been expelled? The chief is self-love,
producing pride, the enemy of humility and charity. Impatience is the enemy
of patience, disobedience of true obedience, infidelity of faith,
presumption and self-confidence do not accord with the true hope which the
soul should have in Me; injustice cannot be conformed to justice, nor
imprudence to prudence, nor intemperance to temperance, nor the
transgression of the commandments of the order to perfect observance of
them, nor the wicked conversation of those who live in sin to the good
conversation of My servants. These are a man™s enemies, causing him to leave
the good customs and traditions of his order. He has also those other cruel
enemies, anger, which wars against his benevolence; cruelty, against his
kindness; wrath, against his benignity; hatred of virtue, against the love
of virtue; impurity, against chastity; negligence, against solicitude;
ignorance, against knowledge; and sloth against watchfulness and continued
prayer.

And since he knew by the light of faith that all these were his enemies who
would defile his spouse, holy obedience, he appointed hatred to drive them
out, and love to replace them with her friends. Wherefore with the knife of
hatred he slew his perverse self-will, who, nourished by self-love, gave
life to all these enemies of true obedience, and having cut off the source
by which all the others are preserved in life, he remains free and in peace
without any war, for there is no one to make war on him, for the soul has
cut off from herself that which kept her in bitterness and in sadness. What
makes war on obedience? Injuries? No, for the obedient man is patient,
patience being the sister of obedience. The weight of the observances of the
order? No, for obedience causes him to fulfill them. Does the weight of
obedience give him pain? No, for he has trampled on his own will, and does
not care to examine or judge the will of his superior, for with the light of
faith he sees My will in him, believing truly that My clemency causes him to
command according to the needs of his subject™s salvation. Is he disgusted
and angry at having to perform the humble duties of the order or to endure
the mockeries, reproofs, jibes, and insults which are often cast at him, or
to be held at little worth? No, for he has conceived love for self-contempt
and self-hatred. Wherefore he rejoices with patience, exulting with delight
and joy in the company of his spouse, true obedience, for the only thing
which saddens him is to see Me, his Creator, offended. His conversation is
with those who truly fear Me, and if he should converse with those who are
separated from My Will, it is not in order to conform himself to their sins,
but to draw them out of their misery, for through the brotherly love which
he has in his heart towards them he would like to give them the good which
he possesses, seeing that more glory and praise would be given to My name by
many observing aright their order than by him doing so alone. Wherefore he
endeavors to convert religious and seculars by his words and by prayer, and
by every means by which he can draw them out of the darkness of mortal sin.
Thus the conversations of a truly obedient man are good and perfect, whether
they be with just men or with sinners, through his rightly ordered love and
the breadth of his charity. Of his cell he makes a heaven, delighting there
to converse with Me, his supreme and eternal Father, with the affection of
love, flying idleness with humble and continual prayer, and when, through
the illusion of the Devil, thoughts come crowding into his cell, he does not
sit down on the bed of negligence embracing idleness, nor care to examine by
reason the thoughts or opinions of his heart, but he flies sloth, rising
above himself and his senses with hatred and true humility, patiently
enduring the weariness which he feels in his mind, and resisting by watching
and humble prayer, fixing the eye of his intellect on Me, and seeing with
the light of faith that I am his helper, and both can and will help him, and
open to him the eyes of My kindness, and that it is I who permit this
suffering in order that he may be more eager to fly himself and come to Me.
And if it should seem to him that on account of his great weariness and the
darkness of his mind, mental prayer is impossible, he recites vocal prayers,
or busies himself with some corporal exercises, so that by these means he
may avoid idleness. He looks at Me with the light which I give him through
love, which draws forth true humility, for he deems himself unworthy of the
peace and quiet of mind of My other servants, but rather worthy of pain, for
he despises himself in his own mind with hatred and self-reproach, thinking
that he can never endure enough pain, for neither his hope nor My providence
fail him, but with faith and the key of obedience he passes over this stormy
sea in the ship of his order, dwelling thus in his cell as has been said,
and avoiding idleness.

The obedient man wishes to be the first to enter choir and the last to
leave it, and when he sees a brother more obedient than himself he regards
him in his eagerness with a holy envy, stealing from him the virtue in which
he excels, not wishing, however, that his brother should have less thereof,
for if he wished this he would be