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."
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."
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."
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."
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."
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."
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."
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."
