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."
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."
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."
