The Life and Revelations of Saint Gertrude The Great. BOOK 2.

Book 2
The Revelations of Saint Gertrude.
Written by the Saint Herself.

Index
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Book 3

Chapter 1

Let the Abyss of Uncreated Wisdom invoke the Abyss of Omnipotent Power to praise and extol the amazing charity which, by an an excess of Thine infinite mercy, O most sweet God of my life and only Love of my soul, hast led Thee through a desert, pathless, and dry land - that is, through the many obstacles I have placed to Thy mercy - to descend into the valley of my miseries.

I was in the twenty - sixth year of my age when, on the Monday before the Feast of the Purification of Thy most chaste Mother, in a happy hour, after Compline, at the close of day, Thou the true Light, Who art clearer than any light, and yet deeper than any recess, having resolved to dissipate the obscurity of my darkness, didst sweetly and gently commence my conversion by appeasing the trouble which Thou hadst excited my soul for more than a month, which Thou didst deign to use, as I believe, to destroy the fortress of vainglory and curiosity which my pride had raised up within me, although I bore the name and habit of a religious to no purpose. But Thou didst will to use this means, that Thou mightest thereby show me Thy salvation.

Being, then, in the middle of our dormitory at the hour I have named, and having inclined to an ancient religious according to our rule, on raising my head I beheld Thee, my most loving Love and my Redeemer, surpassing in beauty the children of men, under the form of a youth of sixteen years, beautiful and amiable, and attracting my heart and my eyes by the infinite light of Thy glory, which Thou hast the goodness to proportion to the weakest of my nature; and standing before me, Thou didst utter these words, full of tenderness and sweetness: Thy salvation is at hand; why art thou so changed by sadness? When Thou hadst spoken thus, although I knew that I stood corporally in the place I have mentioned, it seemed to me, nevertheless, that I was in our choir, in the corner where I had been accustomed to offer up my tepid prayers, and that there I heard these words: I will save thee, I will deliver thee; fear not; and after I had heard them, I saw Thee place Thy right hand in mine, as if to ratify Thy promise.

Then I heard Thee speak thus: You have licked the dust with My enemies, and you have sucked honey amidst thorns; but return now to Me - I will receive you,, and inebriate you with the torrent of My celestial delights. When Thou hadst said these words, my soul melted within me, and as I desired to approach Thee, I beheld between Thee and me (I mean, from Thy right hand to my left hand) a hedge of such prodigious length that I could see no end to it either before or behind, and the top of it appeared so set with thorns that I could find no way to return to Thee, Thou only consolation of my soul. Then I paused to weep over my faults and crimes, which were doubtless figured by this hedge which divided us. In the ardor of the desires with which I desired Thee, and in my weakness, O charitable Father of the poor, "whose mercies are over all Thy works", Thou didst take me by the hand, and placed me near Thee instantly without difficulty, so that casting my eyes upon the precious Hand which Thou hadst extended to me as a pledge of Thy promises, I recognized, O sweet Jesus, Thy radiant wounds, which have made of no effect the handwriting that was against us.

By these and other illuminations Thou didst enlighten and soften my mind, detaching me powerfully, by an interior unction, from an inordinate love of literature and from all my vanities, so that I only despised those things which had formerly pleased me; and all that was not Thee, O God of my heart, appeared vile to me, and Thou alone wert pleasing to my soul. And I praise, bless, adore and thank from my inmost, as far as I am able, but not as far as I ought, Thy wise mercy and Thy merciful wisdom, that Thou, my Creator and Redeemer, didst endeavor in so loving a manner to submit my unconquerable self - opinionatedness to the sweetness of Thy yoke, composing a beverage suitable to my temperament, which has infused new light into my soul, so that I began to run after the odor of Thy ointments, and Thy yoke became sweet and Thy burden light, though a little while before they had appeared hard and almost unbearable.

Chapter 2

Hail, Salvation and Light of my soul! May all that is in Heaven, in earth, and in the abyss return thanks to Thee for the extraordinary grace which has led my soul to know and consider what passes within my heart, of which I had no more care formerly than (if I may speak) of what passes within my hands or feet. But after the infusion of Thy most sweet light, I saw many things in my heart which offended Thy purity, and I even perceived that all within me was in such disorder and confusion that Thou couldst not abide therein.
Nevertheless, my most loving Jesus, neither all these defects, nor all my unworthiness, prevented Thee from honoring me with Thy visible presence nearly every day that I receive the life giving nourishment of Thy Body and Thy Blood, although I only beheld Thee indistinctly, as one who sees at dawn: Thou didst endeavor by this sweet compliance to attract my soul, so that it might be entirely united to Thee, and that I might know Thee better and enjoy Thee more fully. And as I disposed myself to labor for the obtaining of these favors on the Feast of the Annunciation of Thy Mother, when Thou didst ally Thyself with our nature in her virginal womb - Thou who saidest: Here I am before I called Thee Thou didst anticipate this day by pouring forth on me , unworthy though I am, on the Vigil of the Feast, the sweetness of Thy benediction, at Chapter, which was held after Matins, on account of the Sunday following.

But since it is not possible for me to describe in what manner thou didst visit me, O Orient from on high, in the bowels of Thy mercy and sweetness, permit me, O Giver of gifts, to immolate a sacrifice of Thanksgiving to Thee on the altar of my heart, in order to obtain for myself and for all Thine elect the blessedness of experiencing frequently this union of sweetness and this sweetness of union, which before this time was utterly unknown to me. For when I reflect on the kind of life which I led formerly, and which I have led since, I protest in truth that it is pure of Thy grace, which Thou hast given me without any merit of mine.

Thou didst give me from henceforward a more clear knowledge of Thyself which was such that the sweetness of Thy love led me to correct my faults far more than the fear of the punishments with which Thy just anger threatened me. But I do not remember ever to have enjoyed so great happiness at any other time as during these days I speak, in which Thou didst invite me to the delights of Thy royal table; and I know not for certain whether it is Thy wise Providence which has deprived me of them, or whether it is my negligence which has drawn on me this chastisement.

Chapter 3

Whilst Thou didst act so lovingly towards me and didst not cease to draw my soul from vanity and to Thyself, it happened on a certain day, between the Festival of the Resurrection and Ascension, that I went into the court before Prime and seated myself near the fountain; and I began to consider the beauty of the place, which charmed me on account of the clear and flowing stream, the vendure of the trees which surrounded it, and the flight of the birds, and particularly of the doves - above all, the sweet calm - apart from all, and considering within myself what would make this place most useful to me, I thought that it would be the friendship of a wise and intimate companion, who would sweeten my solitude or render it useful to others: When Thou, my Lord and my God, who art a torrent of inestimable pleasure, after having inspired me with the first impulse of this desire, Thou didst will to be also the end of it, inspiring me with the thought that if by continual gratitude I return Thy graces to Thee as a stream returns to its source; if, increasing in the love of virtue, I put forth, like the trees, the flowers of good works; further more, if despising the things of the earth, I fly upward, freely, like the birds, and thus free my senses from the distraction of exterior things, my soul would then be empty and my heart would be an agreeable abode for Thee.

As I was occupied with the recollection of these things, during the same day, having knelt after Vespers for my evening prayer before retiring to rest, this passage of the Gospel came suddenly to my mind: If any man love Me, he will keep My word and We will come to him and will make Our abode with him. (John 14:23). At these words my worthless heart perceived Thee, O my sweet God and my delight, present therein. Oh, that all the waters of the sea were changed into blood, that I might pass them over my head, and thus wash away my exceeding vileness, which Thou hast chosen for Thine abode! Or that my heart might be torn this moment from my body and cast into a furnace, that it might be purified from its dross, and made at least less unworthy of Thy presence! For Thou my God, since that hour, hast treated me sometimes with sweetness and sometimes with severity, as I have amended or been negligent; although, to speak the truth, when the most perfect amendment which I could attain, even for a moment, should have lasted my whole life, it could not merit to obtain for me the most trifling or the least condescending of the graces which I have ever received from Thee, so great are my crimes and sins. The excess of Thy goodness obliges me to believe that the sight of my faults rather moves Thee to fear Thou wilt see me perish than to excite Thine anger, making me know that Thy patience in supporting my defects until now, with so much goodness, is greater than the sweetness with Thou didst bear with the perfidious Judas during Thy mortal life; and although my mind takes pleasure in wandering after and in distracting itself with perishable things, yet, after some hours, after some days, and, alas, I must add, after whole weeks, when I return into my heart, I find Thee there, so that I cannot complain that Thou hast left me even for a moment, from that time until this year, which is the ninth since I received this grace, except once, when I perceived that Thou didst leave me for the space of eleven days, before the Feast of St. John Baptist - and it appeared to me that this happened on account of a worldly conversation the Thursday preceding, and Thy absence lasted until the Vigil of St. John, when the Mass Ne timeas, Zacharia, is then said. Then Thy sweetest humanity and Thy stupendous charity moved Thee to seek me, when I had reached such a pitch of madness, that I thought no more of the greatness of the treasure I had lost, and for the loss of which I do not remember to have felt any grief at that time, nor even to have had the desire of recovering it.

I cannot now be sufficiently amazed at the mania which possessed my soul, unless, indeed, it was that Thou didst desire me to know by my own experience what St. Bernard said: "When we fly from Thee, Thou pursuest us; when we turn our backs, Thou dost present Thyself before us; when we despise Thee, Thou dost entreat us; and there is neither insult nor contempt which hinders Thee from laboring unweariedly to bring us to the attainment of that which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, and which the heart of man cannot comprehend."

As Thou didst bestow on me Thy first graces without any merit on my part, so now that I have had a second relapse, which is worse than the first, and renders me yet more unworthy to receive Thee, Thou hast deigned to give me the joy of Thy presence without interruption, until this very hour: for which be praise and thanksgiving to Thee as the Source of all good; and that it may please Thee as the Source of all good, and that it may please Thou to preserve this precious grace in me, I offer Thee that excellent prayer which Thou didst utter with such amazing fervor when sweating blood in agony, and which the burning love of Thy Divinity and Thy pure devotion rendered so efficacious, beseeching Thou, by virtue if this most perfect prayer, to draw and unite me entirely to Thyself, that I may remain inseparably attached to Thee, even when I am obliged to attend to exterior duties for the good of my neighbor, and that afterwards I may return again to seek Thee within me, when I have accomplished them for Thy glory in the most perfect manner possible, even as the wind, when agitated by a tempest, return again to their former calm when it has ceased; that Thou mayest find me as zealous in laboring for Thee as Thou hast been assiduous in helping me: and that, by this means, Thou mayest elevate me to the highest degree of perfection to which Thy justice can permit Thy mercy to raise so carnal and rebellious a creature, so that Thou mayest receive my soul into Thy hands when I breathe my last sigh, and conduct it with a kiss of peace where Thou dwellest, who reignest indivisibly and eternally with the Father and the Holy Spirit for endless ages Amen.

Chapter 4

I believe it was during the winter of the first or second year, when I began to receive these favors, that I met the following prayer in a book of devotions: "O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, grant that I may aspire towards Thee with my whole heart, with full desire and with thirsty soul, seeking only Thy sweetness and Thy delights, so that my whole mind and all that is within me may most ardently sigh to Thee, who art our true Beatitude. O most merciful Lord, engrave Thy Wounds upon my heart with Thy Most Precious Blood, that I may read in them both Thy grief and Thy love; and that the memory of Thy Wounds may ever remain in my inmost heart, to excite my compassion for Thy sufferings and to increase in me Thy love. Grant me also to despise all creatures, and that my heart may delight in Thee alone, Amen.

Having learned this prayer with great satisfaction, I repeated it frequently, and Thou, Who despisest not the prayer of the humble, heard my petitions; for soon after, during the same winter, being in the refectory after Vespers, for collation, I was seated near a person to whom I had made known my secret. I relate this things for the benefit of those who may read what I write, because I have often perceived that the fervor of my devotion is increased by this kind of communication; but I know not for certain, O Lord my God, whether it was Thy Spirit , or perhaps human affection , made me act thus, although I have heard from those experienced in such matters that it is always better to reveal these secrets - not indifferently to all, but chiefly to those who are not only our friends, but to who we are bound to reverence; yet, as I am doubtful, as I have said, I commit all Thy faithful Providence, whose spirit is sweeter than honey. If this fervor arose from any human affection, I am even more bound to have a profound gratitude for it, since Thou hast deigned to unite the mire of my vileness to the precious gold of Thy charity, so that they precious stones of Thy grace might be encased in me.

Being seated in the refectory, as I said before, I thought attentively on these things, when I perceived that the grace which I had so long asked by the aforesaid prayer was granted to me, unworthy though I am; for I perceived in spirit that Thou hadst imprinted in the depth of my heart the adorable marks of Thy sacred Wounds, even as they are on the Body, that Thou hadst cured my soul, in imprinting these Wounds on it, and that to satisfy its thirst, Thou hadst given it the precious beverage of Thy love.

But my unworthiness had not yet exhausted the abyss of Thy mercy, for I received from Thine overflowing liberality this remarkable gift - that each time during the day in which I endeavored to apply myself in spirit to those adorable wounds saying five verses of the Psalm Benedic, anima mea, Domino (Ps. 102), I never failed to receive some new favor. At the first verse, "Bless the Lord O my soul," I deposited all the rust of my sins and my voluptuousness at the Wounds of Thy blessed Feet; at the second verst, "Bless the Lord, and never forget all He hath done for thee". I washed away all the stains of carnal and perishable pleasures in the sweet bath of Blood and Water which Thou didst pour forth for me; at the third verse, "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities," I reposed my spirit in the Wound of Thy Left Hand, even as the dove makes its nest in the crevice of the rock; at the fourth verse, "Who redeemeth thy life from destruction," I approached Thy Right Hand, and took from thence all that I needed for my perfection in virtue; and being thus magnificently adorned, I passed to the fifth verse, "Who satisfieth thy desire with good things", that I might be purified from all the defilement of sin, and have the indogence of my wants supplied, so that I might become worthy of Thy presence - though of myself I am utterly unworthy - and might merit the joy of Thy chaste embraces.

I declare also that Thou hast freely granted my other petition - namely, that I might read Thy grief and Thy love together. But, alas, this did not continue long, although, I cannot accuse Thee of having withdrawn it from me, but I complain of having lost it myself by my own negligence. This Thine excessive goodness and infinite mercy has hidden from itself, and has procured to me, without any merit on my part, the greatest of Thy gifts - the impression of Thy Wounds - for which be praise and honor, glory, dominion and thanksgiving to Thee for endless ages!

Chapter 5

Seven years after, a little before Advent, by Thine ordinance, Who art the Source of all good, I engaged a certain person to say this prayer every day for me before a crucifix, "O most Loving Lord, by Thy pierced Heart, pierce her heart with an arrow of Thy love, so that nothing earthly may remain therein, and that it may be entirely filled with the strength of Thy Divinity". Being moved, as I believe, by these prayers, on the Sunday when they sang the Mass Gaudete in Domino, Thy infinite liberality having permitted me, by an excess of mercy, to approach the Communion of Thy adorable Body and Blood, Thou didst infuse a desire in me when I approached It, which broke forth in these words: "Lord, I am not worthy to receive the least of Thy gifts: but I beseech Thee, by the merits and prayers of all here present, to pierce my heart with the arrow of Thy love." I soon perceived that my words had reached Thy Divine Heart, both by an interior effusion of grace, and by a remarkable prodigy which Thou didst show me in the image of Thy crucifixion.

After I had received the Sacrament of life, and had retired to the place where I pray, it seemed to me that I saw a ray of light like an arrow coming forth from the Wound of the right side of the crucifix, which was in an elevated place, and it continued, as it were, to advance and retire for some time, sweetly attracting my cold affections. But my desire was not entirely satisfied with these things until the following Wednesday, when after the Mass, the faithful meditated on Thy adorable Incarnation and Annunciation, in which I joined, however imperfectly. And, behold, Thou camest suddenly before me, and didst imprint a wound in my heart, saying these words: May the full tide of your affections flow hither, so that all your pleasure, your hope, your joy, your grief, your fear, and every other feeling may be sustained by My love! And I immediately remembered that I had heard a wound should be bathed, anointed and bandaged. But Thou didst not teach me then in what manner I should perform these things, for Thou didst defer it to discover it to me more clearly in the end by means of another person, who had accustomed the ears of her soul to discern far more exactly and delicately than I do the sweet mummers of Thy love.

She advised me to reflect devoutly upon the love of Thy Heart when hanging on the Cross, and to draw from this fountain the waters of true devotion, to wash away all my offenses; to take from the unction of mercy the oil of gratitude, which the sweetness of this inestimable love has produced as a remedy for all adversities, and to use this efficacious charity and the strength of this consummate love as a ligament of justification to unite all my thoughts, words and works, indissolubly and powerfully to Thee. May all the deprivation of those things which my malice and wickedness has caused be supplied through that love whose plenitude abides in Him Who being seated on Thy right hand, has become "bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh!" As it is by Him, through the operation of the Holy Spirit, that Thou hast placed in me this noble virtue of compassion, humility and reverence, to enable me to speak to Thee, it is also by Him that I present to Thee my complaint of the miseries I endure, which are so great in number, and which have caused me to offend Thy Divine goodness in so many ways by my thoughts, words and actions, but principally by the bad use which I have made of the aforesaid graces, by my unfaithfulness, my negligence and my irreverence. For if Thou hast given to one so unworthy even a thread of flax as a remembrance of Thee, I should have been bound to respect it more than I have done all these favors.

Thou knowest, O my God, from Whom nothing is hidden, that the reason why I have written these things, so much against my inclination, is that I have profited so little by Thy liberality, that I cannot believe they were made known to me for myself alone, since Thine eternal wisdom cannot be deceived. Grant, then, O Giver of gifts, Who hast so freely and unreservedly bestowed them on me, that whoever reads these things may be touched with tenderness and compassion for Thee: and knowing that the zeal which Thou hast for the salvation of souls has induced Thee to leave such royal gems so long in my defiled heart, they may praise, adore and extol Thy "Praise and honor, glory and benediction be to Thee, O God the Father from whom all things proceed," thus to supply for my deficiencies.

Chapter 6

O unattainable height of surpassing excellence! O profound abyss of inscrutable wisdom! O immense extent of most desirable charity! How powerfully and exuberantly are the most delicious torrents of Thy most sweet Divinity pouring themselves forth on me, vile worm that I am, crawling in my negligences and sins, since it is permitted to me, even while wandering in exile, to speak, according to my poor capacity, of the ravishing sweetness and inconceivable delights by means of which those who unite themselves to God become one spirit with Him; which blessedness is poured forth on me with such abundance, who am but a little dust. Since after having permitted me to drink of this precious beverage. I am still privileged with the remembrance of it, I will use such words as I can to describe it.

It was on that most sacred night in which the sweet dew of Divine grace fell on all the world, and the heavens dropped sweetness, that my soul, exposed like a mystic fleece in the court of the monastery, having received in meditation this celestial rain, was prepared to assist at this Divine Birth, in which a Virgin brought forth a Son, true God and Man, even as a star produces its ray. In this night, I say, my soul beheld before it suddenly a delicate Child, but just born, in whom were concealed the greatest gifts of perfection. I imagined that I received this precious deposit in my bosom with the tenderest affection. As I possessed it within me, it seemed to me that all at once I was changed into the color of this Divine Infant, if we may be permitted to call "color" that which cannot be compared to anything visible.

Then I understood the meaning contained in those sweet and ineffable words: "God will (erit) be all in all" (1Cor. 15:28); and my soul, which was enriched by the presence of my Beloved, soon knew, by its transports of joy, that it possessed the presence of its Spouse. Then it received these words with exceeding avidity, which were presented as a delicious beverage to satisfy the ardor of its thirst: As I am the figure of the substance of God, My Father, in His Divinity, so also you shall be the figure of My substance in My Humanity, receiving into your defiled soul the infusions of My Divinity, as the air receives the brightness of the solar rays, that these rays may penetrate you so intimately as to prepare you for the closest union with Me.

O most noble balsam of the Divinity, pouring Thyself out like an ocean of charity, shooting forth and budding eternally, diffusing Thyself until the end of time! O invincible strength of the Hand of the most High, which causes so frail a vessel, and one which should be cast away in contempt, to receive within it so precious a liquor! O evident testimony of the exuberance of Divine goodness, not to withdraw from me when I wandered in the devious ways of sin, but rather to unite me to itself as far as my misery would permit!

Chapter 7

The day of the most holy Purification, as I was confined to bed after a severe illness, and as I was troubled in my mind about day break, fearing that my corporal infirmity would deprive me of the Divine visit with which I had been so often consoled, on the same day the august mediatrix, the Mother of God, the true Mediator, consoled me by these words: As you never remember to have endured more severe corporal sufferings than those caused by your illness, know also that you have never received from my Son more noble gifts than those which will now be given to you, and for which your sufferings have prepared you.

This consoled me exceedingly; and having received the Food which gives life, immediately after the Procession, I thought only of God and myself; and I beheld my soul, under the similitude of wax softened by the fire, impressed like a seal upon the bosom of the Lord; and immediately I beheld it surrounding and partly drawn into this treasure house, where the ever peaceful Trinity abides corporally in the plenitude of the Divinity, and resplendent with its glorious impression.

O ardent fire of my God, which contains, produces and imprints those living ardors which attract the humid waters of my soul and dry up the torrents of earthly delights, and afterwards soften my hard self- opinionatedness which time has hardened so exceedingly! O consuming fire, which even amid ardent flames imparts sweetness and peace to the soul! In Thee, and in none other, do we receive this grace of being reformed to the image and likeness in which we were created. O burning furnace, in which we enjoy the true vision of peace, which tries and purifies the gold of the elect, and leads the soul to seek eagerly for its highest good, even Thyself, in Thy eternal truth.

Chapter 8

On the following Sunday, at the Mass Esto mihi, Thou didst enkindle my spirit, and increase my desires to receive yet more noble gifts which Thou wert about to bestow on me; especially by these two of the first response: "Benedicens benedicam tibi" - With blessings I will bless thee, and the versicle of the ninth response: "Tibi enim et semini tuo dabo universas regiones has" - To thee and to thy seed I will give all these countries (Gen 26:3). For then Thou did show me what were these countries which Thy boundless liberality had promised, O blessed country, where blessings flow upon blessings! O field of delights, whose least grain is capable of satisfying the hunger which any of the elect may have for those things which the human heart considers desirable, delightful, amiable, sweet and joyful. While I attended to these things as well as I could, though not as well as I ought, the sweetness and charity of my Savior and my God was made known to me, not as an act of justice, for I was far from meriting such favors, but as an act of His ineffable mercy, fortifying me by an adoptive charity, and rendering my extreme vileness - all unworthy, miserable and detestable as it is - capable of receiving a more super celestial and super inestimable union with Him. But, my God, how have I merited this inestimable gift from Thy justice? Surely it proceeds from this love, which observes no rule - this ardent love, which is not limited by reason, and which has inebriated Thee, my sweetest Lord, if I may dare say so - causing Thee, as if devoid of wisdom, to unite what is so dissimilar; or, to speak more correctly, the tenderness of Thine essential goodness, and Thy nature, being inwardly moved by Thy sweetest charity (which causes Thee not only to love, but to be all love, and the torrent of which Thou hast turned toward the salvation of the human race), having inclined Thee to draw from the depths of misery the least of Thy creatures, deficient in all good, contemptible on account of her life and conduct, to elevate her to a share in Thy kingdom, or rather in Thy Divine Majesty, in order by this to confirm the confidence of all who are in the Church - so that I have hope for all Christians, and can believe that there will not be even one who will abuse the gifts of God as I have done, or give such scandal to their neighbor.

But since we may understand the invisible things of God, in some measure, by those which are visible - as I have before remarked - I saw (to express as far as I can that which is inexpressible) that the part of His blessed Heart where the Lord received my soul on the Feast of the Purification, under the form of wax softened by the fire, was, as it were, dropping a sweat, which came forth with violence, even as if the substance of the wax was melted by the excessive heat hidden in the depth of this Heart. This sacred reservoir attracted these drops to itself with surprising force, powerfully and inexpressibly, and even so inconceivable, that one saw evidently that love, which could not be hindered from communicating itself, had an absolute power in this place, where it discovered secrets which were so great, so hidden and so impenetrable.

O eternal solstice! Secure mansions, containing all that is desirable! Paradise of unchanging delights, continual fountain of inestimable pleasures, wherein there is eternal spring-time, soothing by its sweet song, or rather by its delicious and intellectual melodies, rejoicing by the odor of its vivifying perfumes, inebriating by the soothing sweetness of its mystic liquors, and transforming by its sweet caresses!,

O thrice blessed, thrice happy, and, if I may so speak a hundred times holy, is he who allows himself to be guided by this grace, and who, having clean hands, and a pure heart, and spotless lips, merits to be thus united to and incorporated with his God! What does he not see and hear and feel and taste? How can my stammering tongue speak of it?

For although the Divine Mercy has made me experience this by a particular favor, nevertheless the obstinacy of my sins, and the thick covering of negligence with which I am encompassed, hinders me from fully understanding it. For if all the science of men and Angels were united together, it would not be capable of making us understand, even in the least degree, the sublime majesty of so high a subject.

Chapter 9

Soon after, during the fast when I was confined to bed for the second time by a severe sickness, and the other sisters were occupied elsewhere, so that I was left alone one morning, the Lord, who never abandons those who are deprived of human consolation, came to verify these words of the prophets: "I am with him in tribulation." (Ps. 90:15). He turned His right Side towards me, and there came forth from His blessed and inmost Heart a pure and solid stream, like crystal, and on His Breast there was a precious ornament, like a necklace, which seemed to alternate between gold and rose color. Then Our Lord said to me: This sickness which you suffer will sanctify your soul, so that each time you go forth from Me, like the stream which I have shown you, for the good of your neighbor, either in thought, word, or act, even then, as the purity of the crystal renders the color of the gold and the rose more brilliant, so the cooperation of the precious gold of My Divinity, and the rose of the perfect patience of My Humanity, will render your works always agreeable to me by the purity of your intention.

O greatness of this little bit of dust, which this celestial Lover has taken from the mire to encase His jewels! O excellence of this little flower, which the ray of the true Sun Himself has drawn from the marsh, to make it beautiful as Himself! O happiness of this blessed and favored soul, which the Lord of glory has esteemed so highly, that though He can create whatever He pleases, He attracts it so sweetly and beautifies it by uniting it to Himself! This soul, I say, though it is adorned with His image and likeness, is, nevertheless, as far from Him as the creature from the Creator. Therefore is he blessed a thousand times who has received the grace to persevere in this state, to which, alas, I fear I shall never attain, even for a single moment.

O gift surpassing all gifts, to be satisfied with the sweetness of the Divinity, and to be superabundantly inebriated with Divine charity in the cellar where it is reserved, so that our feet are no longer free to roam to any place where its Divine fragrance is not perceived: unless, indeed, they are led forth by charity, when they pour out on others the wealth of the Divine faithfulness, and enable them to partake if their surpassing sweetness.

I hope, my Lord and my God, that Thou, in Thy most benign love, wilt grant me this grace, which by Thine almighty power Thou canst impart to all Thine elect. It is true Thine inscrutable wisdom alone knows how Thou canst do this, notwithstanding my unworthiness. But I honor and I glorify Thy wise and merciful almightiness; I glorify and magnify Thy almighty and all - merciful wisdom; I praise and adore Thy wise and omnipotent mercy; I bless and thank Thy omnipotent and wise kindness, O my God, because Thou hast bestowed on me graces so far beyond my deserts, notwithstanding all the obstacles I opposed to Thy bounty.

Chapter 10

I considered it so unsuitable for me to publish these writings, that my conscience would not consent to do so; therefore I deferred doing it until the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. On that day, having determined before Mass to apply myself to other occupations, the Lord conquered the repugnance of my reason by these words: Be assured that you will not be released from the prison of the flesh until you have paid this debt which still binds you. And as I reflected that I had already employed the gifts of God for the advancement of my neighbor - if not by my writing, at least by my words - He brought forward these words which I had heard used at the preceding Matins: If the Lord had willed to teach His doctrine only to those who were present, He would have taught by word only, not by writing. But now they are written for the salvation of many. He added further: I desire your writings to be an indisputable evidence of My Divine goodness in these latter times, in which I purpose to do good to many.

These words having depressed me, I began to consider within myself how difficult and even impossible it would be to find thoughts and words capable of explaining these things to the human intellect without scandal. But the Lord delivered me from this pusillanimity by pouring out on my soul an abundant rain, the impetuous fall of which weighed me down like a young and tender plant - vile creature that I am! - instead of watering me gently, so as to make me increase in perfection; and I could find no profit from it, except from some weighty words, the sense of which I was unable perfectly to penetrate. Therefore, finding myself still more depressed, I inquired what would be the advantage of these writings, and Thy goodness, my God, solaced my trouble with Thy usual sweetness, refreshing my soul by this reply: Since this deluge appears useless to you, behold, I will now approach you to My Divine Heart, that your words may be gentle and sweet, according to the capabilities of your mind. Which promise, my Lord and my God, Thou didst most faithfully fulfill. And for four days, at a convenient hour each morning, Thou didst suggest with so much clearness and sweetness what I composed, that I have been able to write it without difficulty and without reflection, even as if I had learned it by heart long before - with this limitation, that when I had written a sufficient quantity each day, it has not been possible for me, although I applied my whole mind to it, to find a single word to express the things which on the following day I could write freely: thus instructing and refraining my impetuosity as the Scripture teaches: "Let none so apply himself to action as to omit contemplation." Thus art Thou jealous for my welfare, and whilst Thou givest me leisure to enjoy the embraces of Rachel, Thou dost not permit me to be deprived of the glorious fruitfulness of Lia. May Thy wise love deign to accomplish in me these two things!

Chapter 11

Since, Lord, Thou hast so often diversified the salutary taste of Thy presence, and that Thou hast prevented my baseness so assiduously with the sweetness of Thy benedictions, especially when I was admitted to the participation of Thy adorable Body and Blood - since I can make no return to Thee for this, even by a single thanksgiving for a thousand favors - I remit the thanksgivings which I owe to that eternal, infinite and incommunicable gratitude by which, O ever - peaceful and resplendent Trinity, Thou dost fully satisfy all our debts of Thyself, by Thyself and in Thyself. And I, who am but dust, offer my thanksgivings to Thee, through Him who stands by Thee, clothed with my substance, through the operation of the Holy Spirit, for all the benefits which I have received from Thee, principally for having instructed my ignorance by so evident a sign, that Thou hast shown me clearly how I corrupt the purity of Thy gifts.

On one occasion, when I assisted at a Mass at which I was to communicate, I perceived that Thou wert present, by an admirable condescension, and that Thou didst use this similitude to instruct me, by appearing as if parched with thirst, and desiring that I should give Thee to drink; and while I was troubled thereat, and could not even force a tear from my eyes, I beheld Thee presenting me with a golden cup with Thine own Hand. When I took it, my heart immediately melted into a torrent of fervent tears. Then I saw a certain despicable creature at my right hand, who was secretly putting something bitter and venomous into it, and inciting me to put it in this cup. But as this was followed by an instant motion of vainglory, I easily understood that it was a stratagem of that ancient enemy, who turns against us all his rage when he sees us enriched with Thy gifts.

But thanks be to Thy faithfulness, my God, thanks to Thy protection, Who art one and true God, Trinity in Unity, Unity in Trinity, Who permittest not that we should be tempted beyond our strength, although Thou sometimes permittest us to be tempted for our advancement in virtue; and, when Thou seest that we confide in Thee, Thou undertakest our cause, and, with boundless generosity, dost win the victory for us, and then allow us the merit of it, if only we will to do right - and Thou dost procure us this advantage to increase our merit, that, as Thou dost not permit our enemy to interfere with our free will so neither dost Thou interfere with it Thyself in any way.

Thou didst teach me also, on another occasion, that to yield easily to the enemy makes him insolent in attacking us again on the same subject; therefore, Thy justice requires that Thou shouldst sometimes conceal the greatness of Thy mercy in pardoning our negligence, because we resist evil more certainly, more usefully, more efficaciously, and more happily, when we resist it with all our might.

Chapter 12

I render Thee thanks also for another revelation, which was no less advantageous and acceptable to me, by which I was shown with what benign patience Thou dost bear our defects, that, by correcting us thus, Thou mightest insure our happiness. For one evening, having allowed myself to give way to anger, and on the following morning, before break of day, finding myself disposed to pray, Thou didst present Thyself to me under so strange a form, that it seemed to me on beholding Thee that Thou wert not only deprived of all kind of good, but even of strength. Then, my conscience being touched for my past fault, I began to reflect with grief how improper a thing it had been for me to trouble the Supreme Author of peace and purity by my ill- regulated passion. I thought it would have been better that Thou shouldst have been absent from me when I failed to repel Thine enemy, while he solicited me to do that which was so contrary to Thy Will.

Thou didst apply this to me: Even as a poor invalid who has been brought out to enjoy the sunshine by the assistance of others, with much difficulty, when he sees a storm coming on has no other consolation than the hope of soon seeing fine weather again - thus, under the influence of your love, I prefer dwelling with you in all the temptests of vice, hoping to behold the calm if your amendment, and to see you enter the port of humility.

Since my tongue is too feeble to explain the abundance of the graces which thou didst pour forth on me during the three entire days in which this apparition lasted, permit me, O my God, that my heart may supply for its weakness, and teach me how to render a thanksgiving of gratitude for the depths of the humility to which Thy love then abased itself for this charity, so amazing and so tender, which Thou hast for us.

Chapter 13

I confess also before Thy goodness, God of mercy, that Thou didst use another means to animate my languor; and though at first Thou didst commence Thy work by the intervention of a third person, Thou didst will nevertheless to consummate it Thyself with mercy and condescension. This person proposed to my consideration the Gospel which relates that after Thy Birth Thou wert found b shepherds; she added that Thou hadst made known to her that if I would truly find Thee, I must watch over my senses, as the shepherds over their flocks. I had some difficulty in believing this, and there seemed to me but little reason in it, knowing that Thou hadst given other capabilities to my soul than those serving Thee as a hired shepherd would his master; so that from morning until evening, I was full of discouragement. After Compline, as I was in the place where I pray, Thou didst solace my grief by this comparison: If a bride prepare food sometimes for her bridegroom's falcons, she will not on this account be deprived of his caresses, so if I occupied myself for love of Thee in watching over my affections and senses, I should not on this account be deprived of the sweetness of Thy graces.

Thou didst give me for this purpose the spirit of fear, under the figure of a green rod, in order that, remaining always with Thee, and never leaving the shelter of Thine embraces even for a single moment, I might without danger extend my care to all the windings and ladyrinths in which human affection so often loses itself. Thou didst add that when anything presented itself to my mind which sought to turn my thoughts to the right, as to joy or hope; to the left, as to fear, grief, or anger - that I should threaten them with the rod of fear, and that afterwards, by the restraining of my senses, I should immolate this affection like a newborn lamb, by the fire of my heart, and offer it to Thee as a feast.

But, alas, how many times when the opportunity has come have I not snatched, as if from Thy very lips, by a malicious lightness, or by a passionate word or action, that which I had given Thee, and presented it to Thine enemy! And even then Thou hast looked on me with tenderness and sweetness, as if Thou hadst not perceived my infidelity, and thereby Thou hast often excited transports of sweetness in my soul, which have served to make me correct and watch over myself far more than the threats and fear of Thine anger.

Chapter 14

The Sunday before Lent, while they chanted the Esto mihi, Thou didst make me understand by the words of this Introit, O only Object of my love, that, being wearied by the persecutions and outrages which so many persons inflict on Thee, Thou didst ask for my heart, that Thou mightest repose therein. Therefore each time that I entered during these three days, Thou didst appear to me as if lying down there like a person exhausted by extreme languor, and I could find no greater solace of Thy woe during this period than to pray, keep silence, and perform other exercises of mortification in Thine honor for the conversion of worldly persons.

Thy grace makes me know further, by frequent revelations, that the soul, dwelling in the body of frail humanity, is darkened in the same manner as a person who stands in a narrow space, and is surrounded on all sides by a vapor exhaling from a cooking vessel. And when the body is afflicted by any evil, the part which suffers is to the soul as a beam from the sun which enlightens the air, and from which it receives marvelous clearness; therefore, the heavier one's sufferings are, the purer is the light the soul receives. But afflictions and trials of the heart in humility, patience and other virtues impart the greatest luster to the soul, as they touch it more keenly, efficaciously and intimately; works of charity, above all, give it an admirable serenity and brightness.

Thanks be to Thee, O Lover of men, that Thou hast sometimes led me by this means to patience! But alas! - and a thousand times, alas! - how seldom have I listened to Thy counsels, or rather, how seldom have I done what I ought to have done! O Lord, Thou knowest the grief, the shame and the dejection of my soul for this; Thou knowest the desire of my heart to apply to Thee for my deficiencies.

On another occasion, when I was about to communicate at Mass, being filled abundantly with Thy Spirit, and seeking within myself what I could do in return for so great a favor, Thou didst propose to me, as a Master full of wisdom, these words of the Apostle: "For I wished myself to be an anathema from Christ, for my brethren...." (Rom, 9:3). And although Thou hadst taught me before that the soul had its abode in the heart, Thou didst make me know also that it resided in the brain; and this truth, of which I had been ignorant until then, was confirmed to me afterwards by a testimony of Scripture. Thou didst teach me also, that the great perfection of a soul consists in relinquishing the pleasure which it finds in the affections, in order to occupy itself, for the love of Thee, in watching over its exterior senses, and in laboring in works of charity for the salvation of its neighbor.

Chapter 15

The day of Thine adorable Nativity, I took Thee from the crib, wrapped in swathing clothes, like a little infant newly born and placed Thee in my heart, that I might make a bouquet of myrrh of all Thy infant sufferings and incommodities, to place it in my breast, that I might drink therefrom a libation of Divine sweetness. but as I considered this the greatest favor Thou couldst bestow on me, Thou, Who when we least expect it, accompaniest Thy first graces by others yet more precious, didst will to diversity the abundance of Thy graces in this manner.

For on the same day, the following year, as the Mass Dominus dixit was said, I received Thee, coming forth from the virginal womb of Thy Mother as a feeble and delicate Infant, and carried Thee for some time in my arms. It seemed to me that the compassion which I had shown before the Feast, by some special prayers for a person in affliction, had obtained this favor for me; but, alas, after having obtained it, I did not receive it with the devotion I ought! I know not if it were an act of Thy justice, or a chastisement of my negligence; I hope, never the less that Thy justice, by the intermission of Thy mercy has so ordered it, to make me known more clearly the greatness of my unworthiness, and to make me less negligent in putting away idle thoughts. But it is for Thee, O Lord, to say to which of these causes I ought to refer this effect.

Nevertheless, as I gathered up all my strength to make a last effort to gain Thee by my loving caresses, I perceived that all this was of no avail, until I commenced praying for sinners, for the souls in Purgatory, or for those who were in any affliction, when I knew that I was heard; but still more one evening, when I formed the resolution of commencing the prayers which I say for the deceased offering them for those most beloved by Thee, with the Collect, Omnipotens, sempiterne Deus, cui nunquam sine spe, instead of commencing, as I had been accustomed to do, by praying for those related to me, with the Collect, Deus, qui nos patrem et matrem, and it seemed to me that this change was very pleasing to Thee.

I believed also that it pleased Thee much, when I chanted as loud as I could, and at each note fixed my intention on Thee, as one fixes his eye on his book, who has not yet learned the chant perfectly. Still I know that I have been negligent in this and in other things which concerns Thy glory; and I confess it to Thee, the Father of mercy, asking pardon through the bitter Passion of Thy blameless Son Jesus Christ, in whom Thou didst declare Thyself well pleased, saying: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matt. 17:5); through Him I ask the grace of amendment and atonement for my negligences.

Chapter 16

On the Feast of the Purification, at the Procession, when Thou, our Salvation and Redemption, wert borne as an offering to the Temple, at the Antiphon, Cum inducerent, Thy Virgin Mother told me to give her, her Child, the blessed Fruit of her womb; and she demanded Thee again from me with a severe countenance, as if she was not pleased with my care of Thee, Who art the honor and joy of her spotless virginity.

Then, remembering the grace which she had received from Thee of being the hope of the despairing and the reconciler of sinners, I exclaimed: "O Mother of mercy, was not the Fount of forgiveness given to thee as thy Son, that thou mightest obtain all grace for us from Him, and that the multitude of our sins and our deficiencies might be covered by thy abundant charity?" The She looked on me more with a serene and loving countenance so that I might know that if my fault obliged her to appear severe to me, she was, nevertheless, full of the most consummate tenderness, and penetrated to her inmost heart with the most sweet and Divine charity. I soon beheld the tokens of it, since a few words removed her anger, and her sweetness shone forth resplendently. May this abundant tenderness of Thy Mother intercede with Thee, and obtain pardon for my faults!

And I know, by a testimony clearer than light itself, that no obstacle could have arrested the torrent of Thy sweetness, when, on the Feast of Thy Nativity, the preceding year. Thou didst grant me a yet greater favor, though in a similar manner, s if I had merited it by the fervor of my zeal the year before, when, far from meriting a new grace, I was justly worthy of chastisment for having lost the first.

For when these words of the Gospel were read, "Peperit filium suum primogenitum, Thy spotless Mother presented Thee to me with her pure hands. And Thou, O amiable Infant, didst endeavor to embrace me with all Thy might; I, though utterly unworthy, received Thee, and Thou didst put Thy little arms around my neck, exhaling on me from Thy mouth a breath so full of sweetness, that I was nourished and abundantly satisfied therewith. For this, O Lord my God, may my soul and all that is within me adore and bless Thy Holy Name! And when Thy Blessed Mother sought to wrap Thee in Thy swathing clothes, I desired to be wrapped up in them also, for fear of losing the company of One whose smiles and favors exceed the sweetness of honey and the honeycomb. Thou wert then clothed in the fairest robe of innocence, and cinctured with the golden cincture of love; and I felt that if I wished to be so clothed and so cintured, I should seek to have more purity of heart, and to abound more in love.

Chapter 17

I give Thee thanks my Creator of the firmament, Fashioner of its celestial lights and of the flowers of spring, because, although Thou needest now my goods, Thou, for my instruction, didst order me to clothe Thee with the garments of an infant on the day of Thy Purification, before Thou wert carried into the Temple. And this is the manner in which Thou dost desire me to draw from the hidden treasures of Thy love - namely to extol with all my powers the innocence of Thy Holy Humanity, but with such faithfulness and devotion, that if I could receive in my own person all the glory due to Thy blessed innocence, I would nevertheless, freely renounce it, inorder to enhance thereby the praise of Thy innocence. It seemed to me that this pure intention clothed Thee with a white robe, such as infants wear; Thou whose omnipotence "calleth those things that are not as those that are". (Rom. 4:17).

So, also, when I endeavored to penetrate devoutly into the abyss of Thy humility, I saw thee clothed in a green tunic, as a sign that Thy grace is ever flourishing, and that it never withers in the valley of humility. Then contemplating the fire of love, which has made Thee produce all which Thou hast produced, I beheld Thee clothed in purple, to indicate that charity is truly a royal mantle, without which none can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.

As I admire the same virtues in Thy glorious Mother, she appeared to me clothed in the same manner, and as this Blessed Virgin flourishes like a rose without thorns, and a lily without spot, being adorned with the flowers of all virtues, I besought this most benign Mother to intercede continually with Thee for our necessities.

Chapter 18

One day, after I had washed my hands, and was standing round the table with the community, perplexed in mind, considering the brightness of the sun, which was in full strength, I said within myself: "If the Lord, Who has created the sun, and Whose beauty is said to be the admiration of the sun and moon - if He, who is a consuming fire, is as truly in me as He shows Himself frequently before me, how is it possible that my heart continues like ice, and that I lead so evil a life?"

Then Thou, whose words, though always sweet, were now much sweeter, and therefore the more necessary for my heart in its state of agitation - Thou, I say, didst reply thus to me: In what should My omnipotence be extolled, if I could not contain Myself within Myself whatever I am, so that I am only felt or seen as is most suitable for the time, place and persons? For since the creation of Heaven and earth I have worked for the redemption of all, more by the wisdom of My benignity than by the power of My Majesty. And this benignity of wisdom shines most in My tolerance towards the imperfect, leading them, even by their own free will, into the way of perfection. Seeing also, on a certain feast day, that many who had recommended themselves to my prayers were going to Communion, and that I was deprived of It by sickness - or rather, prevented on account of my unworthiness - and reflecting in my mind on the numerous benefits I had received from God, I began to fear the wind of vainglory, which might dry up the waters of Divine grace; and I desired to have some reflection in my mind that might prevent its recurrence. Then Thy paternal goodness instructed me thus; that I should consider Thy affection toward me under the similitude of a father of a family, who being delighted at seeing so many beautiful children receiving admiration from his neighbors and servants, had, amongst others, a little one who was not so beautiful as his companions, whom he, nevertheless, often took in his bosom, moved by paternal tenderness, and consoled him by gentle words and kind gifts; and Thou didst add, that if I had this humble esteem of myself, so as to believe myself the most imperfect of all, the torrents of Thy celestial sweetness would never cease to flow in my soul.

I give thanks to Thee, most loving God, Lover of men by the merit of the reciprocal gratitude of the adorable Trinity, for this and for many other salutary instructions by which Thou hast instructed my ignorance so many times as the best of masters - I offer my sighs to Thee through the bitter Passion of Jesus Christ Thy Son; I offer to Thee His pains and tears and dolors, in expiation of all the negligences by which I have so often stifled the Spirit of God in my heart. I beseech Thee, in union with the efficacious prayer of this Thy beloved Son, and by the grace of the Holy Ghost, to amend my life, and to supply for my deficiencies. This I beseech Thee to grant by that love which arrested Thine anger when Thy only Son, the object of Thy complacence, was reputed a criminal.

Chapter 19

I give thanks to Thy loving mercy and to Thy merciful love, most loving Lord, for the revelations by which Thy goodness satisfied my weak and wavering soul when I so ardently desired to be released from the chains of the flesh: not that I might suffer less, but that I might release Thy goodness from the debt which Thy exceeding love has undertaken for my salvation, although Thy Divine omnipotence and eternal wisdom were not obliged to grant me this favor - but Thou didst bestow it on my unworthiness and ingratitude of Thy superabounding liberality.

When, therefore, I desired to be dissolved, Thou, my God, Who art the honor and glory of Heaven, didst appear to me, descending from the royal throne of Thy majesty, and approaching to sinners by a most obliging and favorable condescension; and then certain streams of precious liquor seemed to flow through Heaven, before which all Saints prostrated themselves in thanksgiving; and having satisfied their thirst with joy in this torrent of delights, broke forth in canticles of praise for all Thy mercy towards sinners. Whilst these things happened I heard these words: Consider how agreeable this concert of praise is, not only to My ears, but even to My most loving Heart; and beware for the future how you desire so importunately to be separated from the body, merely for the sake of being delivered from the flesh, in which I pour so forth so freely the gifts of My grace; for the more unworthy they are to whom I condescend, the more I merit to be glorified for it by all creatures.

As thou didst give this consolation at the moment when I approached Thy life giving Sacrament, as soon as I had recollected myself and formed my intention, as I was bound to do, Thou didst make known to me further in what manner, and with what intention, each one should approach to unite themselves to Thy sacred Body and Blood; so that, even if this Sacrament served for our condemnation, were it possible, the love and of Thy glory would cause us to think nothing of this, provided that thereby Thy mercy shone forth still more in not refusing to give Thyself to those who are so utterly unworthy. Then I inquired concerning those who, from a consciousness of their unworthiness, abstain from Communion, fearing to profane by a presumptuous irreverence the sanctity of this Sacrament; and I received this blessed answer from Thee: He who communicates from a pure desire of My glory, as I have said, can never communicate with irreverence. For which may eternal praise and glory be given to Thee for endless ages!

Chapter 20

May my heart and my soul, with all the substance of my flesh, all my senses, and all the powers of my body and my mind, with all creatures, praise Thee and give Thee thanks, O sweetest Lord, faithful Lover of mankind, for Thy signal mercy, which has not only dissimulated the utterly unworthy preparation with which I have not feared to approached the super celestial banquet of Thy most sacred Body and Blood, but has added this gift to me, the most utterly vile and perfectly useless of Thy creatures. First, of having been assured by Thy grace that all who desire to approach this Sacrament, and who are restrained by fear from a timid conscience, who come to me, who am the least of Thy servants, led by humility, to receive this Sacrament with fruit to eternal life. Thou hast also added that Thou wilt not permit anyone whom Thy justice deems unworthy to abase themselves to ask counsel of me, O Supreme Ruler, Who, through Thou dwellest on high, regardest the humble. (CF. Ps. 112:5).

What prompted Thy mercy, when Thou sawest me approach so often unworthily, to suspend Thy judgment, and not to inflict on me the punishment I deserve? Thou willest to make others worthy by the virtue of humility; and though Thou couldst do so more effectually without my assistance, Thy love, looking upon my misery, made Thee effect this through me, so that thus I may be a sharer in the merits of those who, through my admonitions, enjoy the fruit of salvation.

But, alas this is not the only remedy which my misery requires; nor will one remedy satisfy Thy mercy, O most kind Lord! For (secondly) Thou didst assure my unworthiness that Thou wouldst consider whoever should expose their defects to me, with a contrite and humble heart, guilty or innocent, as I had declared them more or less guilty, and from henceforward Thy grace would so sustain them that They should never again be in such danger from their faults as they had been previously. And thus Thou hast relieved my indigence, which is so great that I have never even for a single day corrected myself as I ought, and yet Thou dost permit me to participate in the victories of others, when Thou, my good God, dost condescend, to give the grace of victory to Thine other more deserving friends through my words.

Thirdly. The abundant liberality of Thy grace has enriched my poverty of merit by this assurance - that whenever I promise a favor to anyone, or the pardon of any fault, through confidence in Thy mercy, Thy benign love will ratify my words and execute my promise as faithfully as if it has been confirmed by an oath of the Eternal Truth. Thou didst add further, that if anyone found that the salutary effects of my promises were deferred, they should continually remind Thee that I had promised this grace from Thee. Thus dost Thou provide for my salvation according to the words of the Gospel: "With what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again" (Matt. 7:2). And as, I alas, continually fall into the greatest faults, Thou desirest by this means to remit the punishment I deserve.

Fourthly. To solace my miseries, Thou hast assured me, amongst other things, that whoever recommend themselves humbly and devoutly to my prayers will certainly obtain all the fruits which they hoped to obtain by the intercession of any other person: in which Thou hast provided for my negligence, which prevents me from satisfying, not only for the prayers which are made gratuitously for the Church, but also for those of obligation; and Thou hast found the means of applying the fruit of them to me, according to the words of David "My prayers shall be turned into my bosom" (Ps 34: 13); making me participate in the merits of Thine elect, who shall ask these graces of Thee through my intermission, although I am utterly unworthy of it, and granting me a share in them to supply for my indigence.

Fifthly. Thou hast further promised my salvation by conferring these special favors on me, that whom ever with a good will, a right intention and a humble confidence, shall come to speak to me upon their spiritual advancement, should never leave me without being edified or receiving spiritual consolation. In this also Thou hast most suitably supplied for my indigence: for alas, I have wasted the talent Thou didst so liberally bestow on me by my useless words, but now I may gain some merit by what I confide to others!

Sixthly. Thy liberality, O Lord, has bestowed on me thus gift, more necessary than all - certify to me that whoever, in their charity, will either pray for me - the vilest of God's creatures - or perform any good works, either for the amendment of my life, or the forgiveness of the sins of my youth, or the correction of my iniquity and malice, shall receive this reward from Thy abundant liberality - namely, that they shall nit die until, by Thy grace, their lives have been pleasing to Thee; and that Thou wilt dwell in their souls by a special friendship and intimacy.

And this Thou hast granted of Thy paternal tenderness, to assist my extreme indigence, as Thou knowest how many great corrections are needed for my innumerable sins and negligences. Thus, as Thy loving mercy will not permit me to perish, and, on the contrary by reason of justice, will not permit me to be saved with all my imperfections, Thou hast provided for me by means of the gains and merits of others.

Thou hast added to all these favors, my kind God, by an abundant liberality - that if anyone, after my death, considering with how much familiarity Thou didst communicate with my unworthiness while in this life, should recommend themselves humbly to my prayers, Thou wouldst hear them as willingly as if they invoked the intercession of any other person, provided that they had the intention of repairing their faults and negligences, and that they humbly and devoutly thanked Thee for five special benefits which Thou didst grant me.

First. For the love by which Thou didst freely choose me from all eternity, and which I declare to be the greatest of all the benefits which Thou hast bestowed on me: for as Thou wert not ignorant of, or rather didst foresee, the corrupt life which I should lead, the excess of my ingratitude, and how I should abuse Thy gifts, so that I deserve to have been born a pagan, and not an enlightened human being - Thy mercy, which infinitely exceeds our crimes, has chosen me, in preference to many other Christians, to bear the holy character of a religious.

Secondly. Because Thou hast drawn me blessedly to Thee; and I acknowledged it to be an effect of the clemency and charity which is natural to Thee, Who hast won, by the attractions of Thy caresses, this rebellious and stubborn heart, which deserves to be loaded with fetters and chains; and it has seemed as if Thou hadst found in me the faithful companion of Thy love, and that Thy greatest pleasure was to be united to me.

Thirdly. Because Thou hast united me so intimately to Thee; and I declare, as I am bound, that I am indebted for this only to Thy signal liberality, as if the number of the just was not great enough to receive the immense abundance of Thy mercies, not that I had better dispositions than others, but, on the contrary, that Thy charity might be the more signalized in me thereby.

Fourthly. That Thou hast taken pleasure and delight in dwelling in my soul; and this, if I may so speak, proceeds from the ardor of Thy love, which has deigned to testify, even by words, that it is the joy of Thy all - powerful wisdom to stop to one so dissimilar to Thee, and so utterly ungrateful.

Fifthly. That it has pleased Thee to accomplish Thy work happily in me; and, it is a favor which I have hoped with humble confidence from the tenderness of Thy most benign charity, and for which I adore Thee with gratitude, declaring, O sovereign, true, and only treasure of my soul, that I have in no way contributed to it by my merits, but that it is a true gift of Thy liberality.

All these benefits coming from Thine immense charity, and being so far above my nothingness, I am unable to give thanks for them worthily; but Thou has further assisted my misery, in exciting others, by the most condescending promises, to render thanksgivings to Thee, the merit of which may supply my deficiencies. For which may all creatures in Heaven, on earth and under the earth, glorify Thee and thank Thee continually!

Chapter 21

Among other things, it has pleased Thee, my Lord in the abundance of Thine inestimable charity, to ratify and confirm these favors. On a certain day, as I meditated on and compared Thy mercy and my malice, I was filled with extreme joy, even to such presumption as to complain that Thou hadst not assured me of these favors by solemn contrast, when Thy sweet and affable charity agreed to satisfy my objections saying to me Do not complain of this; approach and receive the confirmation of My promises. And immediately Thou didst open to me, with both hands, the ark of Thy Divine love and infallible truth, namely, Thy Defied Heart; and Thou didst command me to extend my hand - I, perverse creature as I am, seeking like a Jew for a sign; and then, drawing back Thy Sacred Heart, with my hand enclosed therein, Thou saidst: Behold, I promise to preserve inviolate the gifts which I have bestowed on thee; however, if I suspend their effects for a time, by way of dispensation, I oblige Myself, by the omnipotence, wisdom and love of the Trinity, in which I live and reign true God through all ages, to recompense thee afterwards threefold.

After these most sweet words, as I withdrew my hand, I perceived thereon seven golden circlets in the form of rings, one on each finger; which indicated that the seven privileges were confirmed to me, as I had asked. Then Thy loving mercy added these words: Each time that you acknowledge your unworthiness of My gifts, and confide fully in my mercy, each time you acquit yourself of the debts you owe Me for these benefits.

O, how ingenious is Thy Paternity in providing for Thy children, notwithstanding their vile degeneracy, and the manner in which they have squandered Thy substance, falling from innocence, and depriving Thee of Thy rightful worship! Yet hast Thou deigned to accept as an offering the reflection I make on my miseries. Do Thou, the Giver of gifts, the Source of all good, without whom nothing is good and nothing is holy - do Thou, for Thy glory and the salvation of my soul, grant me grace to know my unworthiness of all Thy gifts, whether great or little, whether exterior of interior, and in all things to have the most perfect confidence in Thy mercy.

Chapter 22

I should be unjust in recalling the gratuitous gifts which I have received from Thy charitable clemency, if I ungratefully passed over what was granted to my unworthiness, by Thy most loving clemency, during a certain Lent. For on the second Sunday, as they sang at Mass before the procession, the response which commences Vidi Dominum facie ad faciem, a marvelous and inestimable coruscation illuminated my soul with the light of Divine revelation, and it appeared to me that my face was pressed to another face, as St. Bernard says "Not a form, but forming; not attracting the bodily eye, but rejoicing the heart; giving freely gifts of love, not merely in appearance but in reality."

In this most enchanting vision, Thine eyes, bright as the solar rays, appeared opposite to mine, and Thou alone knowest how Thou, my dearest Lord, affected not only my soul, but even my body and all my strength. Grant, therefore that as long as I live I may prove myself Thy humble and devoted servant.

But even as the rose is more beautiful and gives forth a sweeter fragrance in the spring, when it flourishes, than in the winter, when it is dried up, and, like the remembrance of a joy that is past, rekindles in us some pleasure to think of it, so I desire, by some comparison, to declare what I felt in this most joyful vision, to extol Thy love, so that if those in this most joyful vision, to extol Thy love, so that if those who read this receive similar or even greater favors, they maybe thereby excited to acts of thanksgiving; and I myself, by recalling them frequently will inflame the negligence of my gratitude beneath the rays of this burning glass. When Thou didst display Thy most adorable Face - the source of all blessedness, as I have said, embracing me, unworthy - a light of inestimable sweetness passed through Thy Defiled eyes into mine, passing through my inmost being, operating in all my members with admirable power and sweetness: first it appeared as if the marrow were taken from my bones; then, my flesh and bones appeared annihilated, so much so, that it seemed as if my substance no longer had any consciousness save that Divine Splendor, which shone in so inexplicable and delightful a manner that it was the source of the most inestimable pleasure and joy to my soul.

Oh, what shall I say further of this most sweet vision, if I may so term it? For all the eloquence in the world, if employed daily to persuade me, could never convince me that I should behold Thee more clearly even in glory, O my God, the only salvation of my soul, if Thou hadst not taught me by experience. I will dare say that if anything human or Divine, can exceed the blessedness of Thy embrace in this vision, as I consider, I may truly say that, unless Thy Divine virtue possessed that person, the soul would never remain in the body after a momentary taste of this blessedness.

I render thanks to Thee through the union of mutual love which reigns in the adorable Trinity, for what I have so often experienced, and that Thou hast deigned to favor me with Thy caresses; so that while I sat meditating, or reading the Canonical Hours, or saying the Office of the Dead, Thou hast often, during a single Psalm, embraced my soul many times with a kiss, which far surpasses the most fragrant perfume or the sweetest honey; and I have often observed Thou didst look on me favorably in the condescending caresses Thou didst give to my soul. But though all these things were filled with an extreme sweetness, I declare, nevertheless, that nothing touched me so much as this majestic look of which I have spoken. For this, and for all other favors, whose value Thou alone knowest, mayest Thou rejoice forever in that ineffable sweetness surpassing all comprehension, which the Divine Persons communicate mutually to each other in the bosom of the Divinity!

May a like thanksgiving - or, if possible, one even greater - be rendered to Thee, for an extraordinary favor Thou hast granted me, of which Thou alone knowest, and which is so great, that I can neither fully express it by my feeble words, nor altogether pass it over in silence; and lest I should lose the remembrance of it through my frailty, I write this to recall it to my memory and to excite my gratitude. But, my God, do not allow the meanest of Thy servants to be guiltily of such an excess of madness as voluntarily to forget, even for a single instant, the gratitude which she is bound to have for the visits with which Thou hast honored her of Thy pure and gratuitous liberality, and which she has received for so many years without meriting them. For, although I am the most unworthy of all creatures, I declare, nevertheless, that these visits with which Thou hast favored me far surpasses anything that could be merited during this life. I, therefore, implore Thy sweetest mercy to preserve this gift to me for Thy glory, with the same goodness with which Thou hast so liberally bestowed it, without any merit on my part, so that all creatures may glorify Thee eternally for it, since the more my unworthiness is made known, the more resplendently Thy mercy will shine forth.

Chapter 23

May my soul bless Thee O Lord God, my Creator, from the inmost depths of my heart; and let it declare the mercies with which Thy charity has abounded and encompassed me, O my sweetest Love! I give thanks, as far as I am able, to Thine immense mercy; I praise and glorify the longanimity of Thy patience, which has borne with me, while I passed the years of my infancy, childhood, and youth, even until my twenty- fifth year, in such blindness and folly, that if Thou hadst not preserved me, either by the natural dread which Thou didst give me for evil, and an inclination for good, or by the reproofs of others, and by so many aids, and if Thou hast not saved me by Thy pure mercy, it appears to me that I would have sinned at every opportunity, either by my thoughts, my words or my actions, even as if I had been an infidel in the midst of infidels, and as if I had not know my God, that Thou wert the rewarder of good and the avenger of evil, although Thou didst choose me even from my infancy - that it - from the age of five years - to live in the bosom of holy religion, among Thy most faithful friends.

Although, Thy felicity, O Lord, can neither increase nor diminish, and Thou needest not our goods, nevertheless, neither my negligences nor my faults have diminished Thy praises, if I may so speak - I who am so justly bound to glorify Thee continually, with all creatures, and with all the powers of my soul. Thou alone knowest what I feel concerning this matter, and how profoundly my soul is touched by Thy condescension toward it.

Therefore, O loving Father, I offer Thee, for the remission of my sins, all the sufferings which Thy beloved Son endured, from the hour when He wept on straw in a manger - all the sufferings of His infancy, the privations of His childhood, the griefs of His youth, and the bitter sufferings of His Manhood, until the hour when He bowed His Head upon the Cross, and gave up the ghost with a loud cry. Further more, in satisfaction for all my negligences, I offer to Thee, O loving Father, the life of Thy Divine Son, which was so perfect in every thought, word and action, from the time when He came down from Thy celestial throne to the Virgin's womb, and thence came forth into this world, until the hour when He presented Thy Fatherly regard His victorious and glorified Body.

And because it is just that the heart which loves Thee should compassionate all Thy afflictions, I beseech Thee, for the love of Thy only Son, and by the virtue of the Holy Spirit, that whoever, by my request, or from any other motive, shall desire to supply for my deficiencies, either during my life or after my death, for Thy glory, even by a sigh or by a good work, that Thou wilt receive for them also, and for the remission of their sins and negligences, sufferings of Thy Divine Son; and that I may effectually obtain my request, I conjure thee to perpetuate my desire to all eternity, and even when I shall reign, by Thy grace, with Thee in Heaven.

I adore and bless with thanksgiving, and with all humility, Thy ineffable charity, O Father of mercies, by which, notwithstanding the disorders of my life, Thou hast had thoughts of peace towards me, and not of severity, overwhelming me with the greatness and multitude of Thy benefits, even as if I had led the life of an angel among men. Thou didst commence this work in me during Advent, before I had attained my twenty- fifth year, and consummated it on the Epiphany by a certain fear, by which I was so agitated that I began to have distaste for all the pleasures of youth, so that thus my heart became in some sort prepared to receive Thee.

Having entered on my twenty- sixth year, the second feria before the Feast of the Purification, at the close of day, after Compline, Thou Lord, Who art the true Light shining in darkness - Thou didst put an end to my spiritual obscurity and darkness, and to my youthful vanities. For at this time Thou didst give me evident tokens of Thine amazing charity and of Thine amiable presence; and Thou didst teach me, by a loving reconciliation, to know Thee and to love Thee; and having made me enter into my interior, which was until then unknown to me, Thou didst act toward me in marvelous and hidden ways, so that thou didst seem to take the same delight in dwelling in my soul as a friend in living with his friend or a bridegroom with his bride.

Thou didst visit me, then, at different times, and in different ways, to preserve this commerce of charity; but especially on the Vigil of the Annunciation, and before the Ascension, commencing Thy work on that day in the morning, and completing it after Compline, by granting me that favor which ought to be a subject of admiration and reverence to all creatures - namely, that from that hour until now I never found Thee absent from my heart for a single instant when I entered therein, except once, when Thou wert absent for eleven days.

As I cannot express by my words either the number or the value of gifts Thou hast bestowed on me, permit me, O Giver of gifts, to offer Thee in thanksgiving a sacrifice of joy in a spirit if humility, especially for having prepared a dwelling place in my heart, according to Thy desire and mine; so that I have neither heard nor read anything of the Temple of Solomon or the palace of Assuerus which seemed to me to be preferable to the delights which, thanks to Thy grace, have been placed in me, and which Thou hast permitted my unworthiness to share with Thee, as a queen with the king. But there are two favors which I especially esteem. The first is that Thou hast imprinted on my heart the glorious marks of thy saving Wounds, and that Thou hast truly and deeply pierced this same heart with the wound of Thy love; so that, even if Thou hadst Thou never granted me a greater consolation, either exteriorly or interiorly, Thou hast conferred such happiness on me by these two alone, that even if I lived for a thousand years, I should find each hour more consolation, thanksgiving and instruction than I could possibly contain.

Besides these things, Thou hast also granted me Thy secret friendship, by opening the sacred ark of Thy Divinity - I mean Thy Deified Heart - to me in so many manners, as to be the source of all my happiness, some times imparting it freely, sometimes as a special mark of our mutual friendship, exchanging it for mine. Thou hast also revealed to me hidden mysteries concerning Thy judgments and Thy beatitudes; and Thou hast so often melted my soul by Thy loving caresses, that if I did not know the abyss of Thy overflowing condescension, I should be amazed were I told that even Thy Blessed Mother, who reigns with Thee in Heaven, had been chosen to receive such extraordinary marks of tenderness and affection.

By all these marks of Thy gentle love Thou hast led me to a salutary knowledge of my faults, and at the same time spared my shame with so much charity, that - pardon me for saying it - it would seem as if the loss of half Thy kingdom were less to Thee than to cause me a momentary confusion for my imperfections. Therefore, in order to make them known to me, Thou didst use this wise expedient - discovering to me the defects which displeased Thee in others, and of which, when I entered into myself, I found I was more guilty than they were, although Thou didst not give me the least sign of having perceived them in me.

Further, Thou hast won my soul by Thy faithful promises of benefits at my death and after it; and if I had only obtained this favor from Thee, it would be sufficient to fill my heart with the most lively hope and desire. But the ocean of Thy infinite mercy was not yet exhausted, for Thou hast heard the frequent prayers which I addressed to Thee for sinners for their souls, or for other considerations; and so great have been these favors, that I have not yet found one to whom I could discover them, as I know them myself, on account of the pusillanimity of the human heart, which is slow of belief. To crown all these benefits, Thou hast given me Thy sweetest Mother, the Blessed Virgin, for my advocate, and Thou hast lovingly recommended me to her many times with the same ardor as a faithful bridegroom would recommend his beloved bride to his own mother. Thou hast also often sent me the princes of Thy court to minister to me, not only from the choirs of Angels and Archangels, but even those of higher rank, as Thy kindness, my God, judged it expedient for my advancement in spiritual excerises. But when, for my soul's good, Thou hast deprived me for a time of some of Thy delights, I have yielded to a weak and shameful ingratitude, and have forgotten Thy gifts, as if they had been of no benefit to me; and if by Thy grace I discovered what I had lost, and asked Thee to restore it, or grant me some other favor, Thou didst immediately give me all, as if it had been a deposit which I had entrusted to Thy keeping.

Besides these favors, Thou didst grant me others of the utmost value, especially on the day of Thy Nativity, the Sunday Esto mihi; and also another Sunday after Pentecost Thou didst elevate me, or rather Thou didst ravish me, to so close a union with Thyself, that I marvel more than at a miracle how I lived since then as a creature among creatures, and am even more amazed and even horrified, that I have not amended my faults as I was bound to do. Nevertheless, the fountain of Thy mercy has not dried up for me, O Jesus, of all lovers the most loving - or rather, the only One who loves the ungrateful truly and disinterested. For after a time, having forgotten my vileness, unworthy that I am, and having begun to disrelish those things which are the joy and praise of Heaven and earth - if it were only because an infinite God had abased Himself unreservedly toward a vile and abject worm - Thou, the Giver, Renovator and Preserver of every good - Thou didst arouse me from my torpor and excite me to gratitude by revealing to a certain person, who was very devout to Thee and familiar with Thee, some particulars of the gifts which Thou hast bestowed on me, which they could not have known by human means, since I had not revealed them to any human being, so that I heard from their lips what was only known to my secret heart.

As I recall these words and others, the glory of which is due to Thee alone, I will sing a canticle on a harmonious instrument, which is none other than Thy Divine Heart, by the virtue of the Spirit of consolation. Eternal Father, may all that is in Heaven, on earth or in the deep - may all things which have been, which are, or which will be - render Thee thanks and praise! Even as gold shines most clearly when surrounded by various colors - even as black appears darker by contrast with them - so is the blackness of my ungrateful life, when compared with the splendor of the Divine benefits so abundantly bestowed on me. For Thou couldst not grant any favors that were not commensurate with Thy royal liberality, I have only received them in my boorish ignorance, and as an unfortunate abuser of Thy graces. This Thou didst, as it were, dissimulate by an effect of Thy natural clemency, so that it appeared as if Thou never didst more for me than when I did least for Thee. And when Thou didst seek hospitality in my poor dwelling - Thou, Who reposest in the loving bosom of Thy celestial Father - I have been so negligent and so careless in entertaining Thee, that I should even from natural humanity, have been bound to tend a leper with more care who had asked a shelter under my roof after overwhelming me with outrages and injuries. Far, O Lord, Who adorned the stars with beauty - far from recognizing the graces Thou didst bestow on me - whether by filling me with interior consolation, or by imprinting on me Thy sacred Wounds, or by revealing to me Thy secrets, and even those of Thy friends, or by giving me marks of Thy friendship and tenderness greater than could have been found had the earth been traversed from east to west - I have been so ungrateful as to outrage Thee by despising these things, by seeking strange pleasures, and by preferring the bitterness of exterior things to the sweetness of Thy celestial manna. I have distrusted Thy promises, O God of truth, as if Thou wert a man who could lie, or fail in Thy fidelity!

Alas! I have also offended the goodness with which Thou hast heard my unworthy prayers so favorably by hardening my heart against Thy Will, and as I ought to declare with tears in my eyes, sometimes pretending not to understand Thy Will, lest the reproaches of my conscience should oblige me to obey it.

I have also despised the aid of Thy most glorious Mother, and that of the blessed spirits whom Thou hast sent to me; and I have been so unhappy as to prove an obstacle even to my earthly friends, on whom I have leaned, instead of relying on Thee alone; and far from increasing my gratitude and my vigilance over my faults, on seeing that Thy charity continued Thy favors, notwithstanding my negligence, I, on the contrary, returned Thee evil for good, like a tyrant, or rather like a demon, and had the hardihood to live even more carelessly,

But my greatest fault is, that after the incredible union which I have had with Thee, and which is known to Thee alone, I have not feared to sully my soul again with the same defects, which Thou hast permitted to continue in me in order that I might conquer them, and thus obtain greater glory with Thee in Heaven. I have sinned also, in that when Thou didst discover to my friends Thy hidden favors, to excite my gratitude, I failed in accomplishing Thy designs therein, by rejoicing in a human manner, and neglecting to correspond with Thy designs by the duty of gratitude.

And now, O adorable Creator of my soul, permit the groans of my heart to rise even to Heaven in expiation of all these faults, and of others which Thou mayest yet bring to my recollection. Accept my grief for the immense number of offenses which I have committed against the nobleness of Thy Divine goodness. I offer it to Thee, with all the gratitude and all the reverence which Thou hast enabled me, for all in Heaven, on earth and in the deep, through the merit of Thy beloved Son, and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Since, then, I am altogether incapable of producing worthy fruits of penance I implore Thy mercy, O my sweetest Love, to inspire those hearts which have sufficient fidelity and zeal to appease Thee by a sacrifice of propitiation, to repair for my defects by their signs, their prayers, and other good works, and to pay the debt of praise which I owe to Thee alone. O Lord my God, because, as Thou seest the bottom of my heart, Thou knowest that I have only written these things from a pure love of Thy glory, in order that many who shall read them after my death may be touched by Thy sweetness and clemency, considering the greatness of Thy love, which has abased itself so low for the salvation of mankind as to permit such numerous and precious gifts to be abused, as I, alas, have abused them!

But I give thanks with all my might, O Lord, my Creator and re- Creator, to Thine infinite mercy, that from the abyss of Thy overflowing goodness, Thou hast made known to me that whosoever shall remember me as I have said above, for Thy glory, either by praying for sinners, or by giving thanks for the elect, or by any other good works, shall not leave this world until Thou has granted him the grace to become pleasing to Thee, and so order his heart that Thou mayest find joy and pleasure therein. For which may eternal praise be given to Thee which shall return without ceasing to the increased Love whence it proceeded.

Chapter 24
Conclusion of the Book.

Behold O loving Lord, I offer Thee the talent of Thy condescending intimacy, which Thou hast confided to me, vile creature that I am. I have traded with it for love of Thy love in that which I have written, or which I may yet write. And I can boldly declare, by Thy grace, that I have had no other motive in saying or writing these things, except that of obeying Thy Will, of promoting Thy glory and of zeal for the salvation of souls. I desire, therefore, that all should praise Thee and give Thee thanks, that my unworthiness has not caused Thee to withdraw Thy mercy from me. I desire also that Thou shouldst be praised for those who, reading these things, are charmed with the sweetness of Thy charity, and inwardly drawn to desire the same; and also for those who, studying them as students, commence with the alphabet, and attain to philosophy - thus being led by the perusal of these things, as by pictures and images, to search for the hidden manna, which increases the hunger of those who partake of it, and which is not found in corporal substances.

Therefore, since Thou, the Almighty Dispenser of all good things, dost vouchsafe to pasture us during our exile until "beholding the glory of the Lord with open face are transformed into the same image from the glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord". (2Cor, 3:18); meanwhile according to Thy faithful promises and the humble desire of my heart, grant, I beseech Thee, to all who read these writings with humility, the peace of Thy love, compassion for my miseries, and a salutary compunction for their furtherance in perfection, so that, elevating their hearts toward Thee with burning love, they may be like so many golden censers whose sweet odors shall abundantly supply all my negligence and ingratitude. Amen.

End Book 2

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