Paragraph 772 – III. The Mystery of the Church

Paul calls the nuptial union of Christ and the Church “a great mystery.” Because
she is united to Christ as to her bridegroom, she becomes a …CCC

Paragraph 1612 – I. Marriage in God’s Plan
1612 The nuptial covenant between God and his people Israel had prepared
the way for the new and everlasting covenant in which the Son of God …CCC

 Matthew 22:9 – Go ye therefore into the highways; and as many as you shall find, call to the marriage.

Apocolypse (Revelation) – 19.7: Let us be glad and rejoice, and give glory to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath prepared herself.

Apocolypse (Revelation) – 19.9: And he said to me: Write: Blessed are they that are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith to me: These words of God are true.

FROM THE BOOK OF HEAVEN

V30 – 6.17.32 – “Blessed daughter, My Acts and those of My Queen Mama, Our Love, Our Sanctity, are in Act of continuous waiting, to enclose your acts in-between Our Own, so as to give them the shape of Our Acts and place the Seal of Our Own upon your acts. In fact, you must know that the Acts of the Sovereign of Heaven are braided with My Acts, therefore they are inseparable, and one who Lives in Our Divine Volition comes to Operate in the middle of Our Braiding, and her acts remain enclosed in-between Our Acts, which keep them in custody as Triumph and Works of the Holy Fiat.

“Nothing enters into Our Acts if it is not a Birth from It. See, then, where the Sanctity of one who Lives in Our Will is formed—in the middle of Our Sanctity; she loves in the center of Our Love, and operates in the midst of Our Works. So, one who operates in Our Volition will feel, as though in her nature, the inseparability—she from Our Acts, and We form her own, just as the light is inseparable from the heat, and the heat from the light. And therefore they are Our continuous Triumph, Our Glory, Our Victory over the human will; they are Our Divine Properties, that We form in her, and she forms in Us. The human volition and the Divine Volition kiss each other continuously, they fuse together; and God carries out His Life in the creature, and she carries out her life in God.

“Furthermore, for the creature who Lives in My Will, there is nothing that belongs to My Fiat over which she does not acquire her Rights: Right over Our Divine Being, Right over her Celestial Mama, over the Angels, over the Saints; Right over the Heaven, over the sun, over the whole Creation. And God, the Virgin, and everyone, acquire the Right over her.

“It happens as when two young spouses unite themselves together with an indissoluble bond, such that, on both sides, they acquire the right over their very persons, and over everything that belongs to both—a right that no one can take away from them. The same for one who Lives in Our Volition: she forms the New, True, Real Marriage with the Supreme Being, and, with it, a nuptial is formed with everything that belongs to Him. O! how beautiful it is to see this creature espoused to all—the dear, the favorite, the beloved of all. And, with right, everyone wants her, they yearn to enjoy her and to keep her together with them; and she Loves all, gives to all the right over her, and gives herself to all—it is the New and Extensive Family of her Creator that she has acquired.

“O! if it could be seen from the earth, they would see that God carries her in His arms, the Sovereign Queen Nourishes her with the choice food of the Divine Volition, the Angels and Saints form the Cortege around her, the Heaven extends over her to cover her and protect her—and woe to those who touch her. The sun fixes on her with its light and kisses her with its heat, the wind caresses her; there is not one thing Created by Us which does not offer itself to perform its Office around her. My Will moves everything around her, so that everyone and everything may serve her and love her. Therefore, one who Lives in It gives everyone something to do, and all feel the Happiness of being able to extend their field of action inside and outside the fortunate creature. O! if all creatures would comprehend what it means to Live in My Divine Will—O! how all would aspire and compete, to make in It their Celestial Dwelling.”

FROM THE BOOK OF HEAVEN

V20 – 10.22.26 – “My daughter, what do you think a greater miracle was when I came upon earth: My Word, the Gospel I announced, or the fact that I gave life to the dead, sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, etc.? Ah! My daughter, My Word, My Gospel, was a greater miracle; more so, since the very miracles came out of My Word. The foundation, the substance of all miracles came out of My creative Word. The Sacraments, Creation itself, a permanent miracle, had life from My Word; and My very Church has My Word, My Gospel, as regime and foundation.

“So, My Word, My Gospel, was a miracle greater than the miracles themselves, that, if they had life, it was because of My miraculous Word. Therefore, be sure that the Word of your Jesus is the greatest miracle. My Word is like mighty wind that runs, pounds on the hearing, enters into the hearts, warms, purifies, illuminates, goes round and round from nation to nation; it covers the whole world, it wanders throughout all centuries. Who could ever give death and bury one Word of Mine? No one. And if sometimes it seems that My Word is silent and is as though hidden, it never loses its life. When least expected, it comes out and goes around everywhere. Centuries will pass in which everything—men and things—will be overwhelmed and disappear, but My Word will never pass away, because it contains life—the miraculous power of He who issued it.

“Therefore, I confirm that each word and manifestation I make to you about My Eternal Fiat is the greatest miracle, that will serve the Kingdom of My Will. And this is why I push you so much, and I care so much that not a Word of Mine be not manifested and written by you—because I see a miracle of Mine coming back to Me, that will bring so much good to the children of the Kingdom of the Supreme Fiat.”

http://bookofheaven.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Traditional-Consecration-Prayer-to-St.-Michael-the-Archangel.pdf

Paragraph 1804 – I. The Human Virtues 1804 Human virtues are firm attitudes, stable dispositions, habitual perfectionsof intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions, and … CCC

Paragraph 1834 – III. The Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit
1834 The human virtues are stable dispositions of the intellect and the will
that govern our acts, order our passions, and guide our conduct in ..CCC

.Paragraph 1704 – ARTICLE 1 MAN: THE IMAGE OF GOD
1704 The human person participates in the light and power of the divine Spirit. …
By free will, he is capable of directing himself toward his true good. … CCC

FROM THE BOOK OF HEAVEN

V33 – 3.19.35 – “My blessed daughter, tell Me, what do you want? Do you want that My Will Reigns and Lives in you as Life? If you truly want it, everything is done, because so much is Our Love and ardent Desire that the creature possess Our Will as Life in order to let her Live of It, that as her human will truly wants it, so Ours fills the human volition with Our Supreme Volition in order to form Its Life there, and Live in her as in Its own Center. You must know that the Divine Will and the human are two spiritual powers. The Divine, Immense with an Unreachable Power. The human, little power, but for however little, it has its power. And both being spiritual, the one can pour itself into the other and form one single Life. All the power is in the volition, and being spiritual power, it has the space of being able to place inside of its will the good that she wants, and also the evil. In fact, what the will wants, that is what one finds inside of herself: If she wants self-esteem, glory, love of pleasures, of riches, she will find inside of her volition the life of self-esteem, of glory, the life of pleasures, of riches, and, if she wants, sin—even sin will form its life.

            “Even more, if she wants the Life of Our Will in hers, wanted, commanded by Us with so many sighs, if she truly wants It, she will have the Great Good of possessing Our Will as Life. And if this could not be, the Sanctity of Living in My Volition would be a difficult and almost impossible sanctity, and I do not know how to neither teach difficult things, nor do I want impossible things. Rather it is My usual Way to make easy, for as much as it is possible for the creature, the most arduous things and hardest sacrifice. And if necessary I place there of Mine in order to have that the little power of her will becomes sustained, aided, animated, by the Invincible Power of Mine, and so render easy the Good, or the Life of My Volition, that the creature wants to possess. And so much is My Love, that in order to make it all the more easy, I whisper to the ear of the heart: ‘If you truly want to do this good, I will do it together with you, I will not leave you alone, I will place My Grace, My Strength, My Light, My Sanctity at your disposition; we will both do the good that you want to possess.’

            “Therefore, not too much is needed to Live of My Will; the too much is in the volition—if this decides and strongly and perseveringly wants it, already she has conquered Mine and has made It hers. O! how many things the human volition can enclose being a spiritual power that gathers much and loses nothing, it resembles the light of the sun. How many things does the sun not enclose, while one sees nothing other than light and heat? And yet the goods that it encloses are almost innumerable, and one sees that as it touches the earth, so it communicates its admirable goods; and yet one sees nothing other than light. Such is the human will, how many goods does it not contain? If she wants, it can contain Love, Sanctity, Light, reparation, patience, all the virtues, and even her Creator Himself. Being a spiritual power, it has the virtue and capacity of containing everything that she wants. And not only does it have the power of containing the Good that she wants, but of Transmuting herself into the Good that it contains. In fact, the human will changes into the nature of the Good that she wants, and although she does not do many things that she truly wants, in the will they remain as done. And one sees that on the occasion of doing that good that she wants, possessing the life of it, with promptness, with all love, without any hesitation, she does that good that she wanted to do for so long. Symbol of this is the sun, that finding neither the seed, nor the flower, can give neither the good of maturing the seed, nor the good of the color to the flowers—but as soon as it is given it to touch them with its light, possessing the life of it, immediately it gives the maturation to the seed, the color to the flowers.

            “With indelible characters the human will possesses everything that it does and that it wants to do. And if the memory forgets, yet the will loses nothing, it contains the deposit of all of her acts without that it could lose anything. Therefore one can say: ‘All of man is in the will.’ If this is holy, even the most indifferent things are holy for him. If then it is bad, perhaps even the good changes for him into perverse act. So if you truly want My Divine Will as Life, not too much is needed, even more, because united to yours there is Mine that wants it, there is a Power that can do everything, and as for you, one will see with deeds if in all things you will behave as possessor of a Divine Will. Therefore be attentive, My daughter, and let your flight always be continuous in the Supreme Fiat.”

Paragraph 2737 – III. Filial Trust … says, ‘He yearns Jealously over the spirit which he has made to dwell in us?’”
28 That our God is “Jealous” for us is the sign of how True His Love is. … CCC

Exodus 34:14 – Adore not any strange god. The Lord his name is Jealous, he is a jealous God.

FROM THE BOOK OF HEAVEN

V12 – 6.20.18 – “In the one who does my Will and lives in It, my Love does not find obstruction. I love her and have so much predilection for her that I Myself take care of all that is needed for her: both help and direction, both unforeseen aids and unexpected graces. Even more, I am jealous that others may do something – I Myself want to do everything for her. I reach so much jealousy of love that, if I give to Priests the authority to consecrate Me in the Sacramental Hosts so that I may be given to souls, I reserve to Myself the privilege to consecrate these souls, as they keep repeating their acts in my Will, as they resign themselves, and as they make the human will go out, in order to let the Divine Will enter. What the Priest does over the Host, I do with them – and not only once: every time she repeats her acts in my Will, she calls Me as a powerful magnet, and I consecrate her like a privileged Host, repeating over her the words of the Consecration.

V33 – 11.19.33 – Daughter, so great is the act of disposing oneself to doing My Will, that My Life itself, My Merits, form the paper, the characters, and your Jesus makes the signature in order to make it known and to give her free entrance. One can say that the whole of Heaven runs to the help of one who wants to do My Will. And I feel so much Love, that I take a place in the fortunate creature and I feel Loved by her with My own Will.

“Now, seeing Myself Loved by her with My own Will, My Love becomes jealous and does not want to lose even one breath, one heartbeat, of the Love of this creature. Imagine yourself My Solicitudes, the defenses that I take, the helps that I give, the Loving stratagems that I use. In a word, I want to Re-Make Myself in her, and in order to Re-Make Myself I venture Myself in order to form another Jesus in the creature. Therefore I place all My Divine Art in order to obtain this intent. I do not spare anything—I do everything, I give everything. Where My Will Reigns, I cannot deny anything, because I would deny it to Myself.

V33 – 2.24.35 – “O! if everyone knew the Rights of My Will, Its ardent and constant Love that is so much that while It gives her Life, It puts her forth to the light of day. More than mother, so much is Its Jealousy of Love, that It does not leave her for one instant; It invests her inside and outside, from above and from below, to the right and to the left. And although the creature might not know It, nor love It, with Divine Heroism It continues to Love her and to make Itself Life and Bearer of the acts of the creature. O! My Will, You alone know how to Love with Heroic, Strong, Incredible, and Infinite Love, her whom You Created and who does not even recognize You. Human ingratitude, how great you are.”

V33 – 3.10.35 – “What is done in My Volition belongs to Heaven; the earth is not Worthy of possessing it. And O! the Security, the Happiness, that the creature acquires, thinking that her acts are in the Power of the Divine Fiat, and they find themselves in Heaven as her property, not human but Divine, that await her because they want to court her and form her throne of Glory. So much is Its Love, Its Jealousy, the Identification that It feels with these acts done in Its Volition, that It does not even leave them in the creature, but It holds them with Itself as Births of Its Life, and births of the creature, in order to be able to enjoy them and to feel the pleasure of being Loved, and as an advance that It must give her of Glory in the Celestial Fatherland.

PEACE

“My Jesus, help me; do not abandon me. O please! give me peace, that peace that You so much wanted me to possess.” – V29 – 2.15.31

FROM THE BOOK OF HEAVEN

V10 – 1.8.10 – “…Give yourself to my work, use the courage I have given you only for Me, and I will be all for you, and will repay you by giving you peace and grace.

V10 – 2.10.12 – “…when the soul leaves everything, and operates and loves everything divinely, she enjoys my peace, and instead of having the sentinels and the eyes of the prickings, she has the sentinel of peace, which moves anything that can disturb her peace away from her; and the eyes of love, which put to flight and burn those who want to disturb her. Therefore they remain at peace with regard to that soul; they give her peace, and they place themselves at her disposal. It seems that the soul can say: ‘Nobody touch me, because I am divine, and I am fully of my sweet love, Jesus. Nobody dare to disturb my sweet rest with my Highest Good; and if you dare to, with the power of Jesus which is mine, I will put you to flight’.”

V27 – 10.18.29 – “My daughter, courage, I do not want you to afflict yourself. I want to see in your soul the peace and the joy of the Celestial Fatherland; I want your very nature to give of the fragrance of Divine Will, that is all peace and happiness. It would feel uncomfortable in you, and as though jeopardized in Its light and happiness, if perennial peace and happiness is not in you. And then, don’t you know that one who lives in My Divine Fiat forms two arms for herself? One is immutability, the other arm is firmness in operating continuously. With these two arms she keeps God clasped, in such a way that He cannot free Himself from the creature; not only this, but He enjoys her keeping Him clasped to herself. Therefore, you have no reason to afflict yourself, whatever the circumstances might be, when you have a God who is all your own. So, let your thought be to live in that Fiat that gave you life to form life in you, and I will take care of the rest.”

V27 – 11.20.29 – “My daughter, courage, do not lose peace; peace is My fragrance, My air, it is the effect that My breath produces. So, in the soul in whom there is no peace I do not feel I am in My Royal Palace—I feel uncomfortable. My very Divine Will, that is peace by nature, finds Itself like the sun when clouds advance against the light and prevent the sun from shining in its fullness over the earth. It can be said that when the soul is not all peace, whatever the circumstances might be, it is like a rainy day for her, and the Sun of My Will feels as though hindered from communicating to her Its life, Its heat, Its light. Therefore, calm yourself, and don’t form for Me clouds in your soul—they hurt Me, and I cannot say: ‘I am in this creature with perennial peace, with My joys, and with My light of My Celestial Fatherland.’

V29 – 5.10.31 – “Now, My daughter, to give and to receive are first and indispensable acts that, in clear notes, indicate that We love the creature and that she loves Us. But this is not enough—one must know how to receive by converting the good received into one’s nature, by eating it and masticating it thoroughly, in such a way as to convert the gift into the soul’s blood. This is Our purpose in giving Our Gifts—wanting to see the gift We gave converted into her nature, because then are Our Gifts not in danger, and We dispose Ourselves to give greater gifts; and the creature, having converted it into her nature, places Our Gift in safety, becomes the possessor of it, and will feel within herself the good, the fount, and the good received converted into her nature. And since Our Gifts are bearers of peace, of happiness, of invincible strength, of celestial air, she will feel within herself the nature of peace, of happiness, of Divine Strength, that will form in her the air of Heaven. This is the reason why, when I give you the great gift of My Word, then I remain silent; it is because I am waiting for you to nourish yourself and masticate My Word well, in such a way as to see in you, changed into your nature, what I have told you.”

V29 – 7.13.31 – “My daughter, one who lives in My Will becomes the peacemaker between God and the creatures. All of her acts, words, steps, her prayers, her little sacrifices, are like many bonds of peace between Heaven and earth; they are like peacemaking weapons, as she fights her Creator with weapons of peace and of love in order to disarm Him and render Him favorable, and change the scourges into mercy. And just as the human will formed the war, to wage war against He who had created it—not only this, but it broke the accord, the order and the peace—so My Will, with the strength of Its Omnipotence, reigning in the creature, converts what the creature does into bonds of accord, of order, of peace and of love. So, from her comes out as though a little white cloud that, surging, spreads and rises up to the Divine Throne; and bursting into as many voices for as many acts as she has done, it says: ‘Great God, peace I bring to You from the earth; and You—give me Your Peace, to bring it as bond of peace between You and the human generation.’ This little cloud ascends and descends, descends and ascends, and does the office of peacemaker between Heaven and earth.”

V29 – 11.4.31 – “…What I want is perennial peace in you, so that I may carry out what I want. If you are not at peace, I feel molested in My Work, and with difficulty, not with ease, I go along carrying out My Designs.”

Paragraph 2305 – III. Safeguarding Peace – 2305 Earthly peace is the image and fruit of the peace of Christ, the messianic
“Prince of Peace.” 100 By the blood of his Cross, “in his own person … CCC

John 14:27 – Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, do I give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. – Douay- Rheims Bible

THE BREAD OF KNOWLEDGE

Paragraph 50 – CHAPTER TWO GOD COMES TO MEET MAN – But there is another order of knowledge, which man cannot possibly arrive at by his own powers: the order of Divine Revelation. … CCC

Romans 11:33 – O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and how unsearchable his ways! – Douay-Rheims Bible

FROM THE BOOK OF HEAVEN

V21 – 2.23.27 – “Now, My little daughter, while you were calling Me in the sea with all its voices, I listened to you and I said: ‘Let her go around through all created things, that she may gather them all together for Me; and then I will let Myself be found. In this way, I will be able to receive the visit of all My works, that are like as many children of Mine; and so, they will make Me happy, and I will make them happy.’ Therefore, the living in My Will contains indescribable surprises. I can say that wherever It reigns, the soul becomes My Happiness, My Joy, My Glory; and I prepare for her the banquet of Its knowledges, so that, making each other happy, we extend the Kingdom of the Supreme Fiat, that It may be known, loved and glorified. Therefore, I expect often these surprises of My little daughter, who brings Me the visit of the whole family that belongs to Me.

V24 – 4.6.28 – “My daughter, by her nature the creature cannot receive a great good, a light that has no boundaries, all together, but she must take it sip by sip, waiting to swallow the first sip to then have another one. And if she wanted to take everything together—poor one, she would be drowned and would be forced to put out what she cannot contain, waiting to first digest the little she has taken, for it to flow like blood in her veins, and for that vital humor to spread within her whole person, to then dispose herself to have another sip.

“Has this not been the order I have had with you, manifesting to you what regarded My Eternal Fiat little by little, starting from the first lessons, then the second, the third, and so on? And when you were chewing the first and you swallowed it, and it flowed like blood in your soul, I prepared for you the second lesson, and My Will formed the first acts of life in you. And I celebrated Its glory and fulfilled the purpose of Creation, anxiously waiting to be able to give you more sublime lessons, to fill you so much that you yourself would not know where to take from in order to repeat them.

“So I will do to form the Kingdom of My Divine Will. I will start from the first lessons that I have given you, and this is why I want that they begin to be known, that they may make their way, preparing and disposing souls, so that, little by little, they may yearn to listen to more lessons, in view of the great good they have received from the first ones. This is why I have prepared lessons so long about My Will—because It encloses the primary purpose for which man was created, as well as all things and the very life that man must carry out in It. So, without My Will, it is as if man did not have true life, but a life almost foreign to him and therefore full of dangers, of unhappiness and of miseries.

“Poor man, without the life of My Will—it would have been better for him if he had never been born. But, to his great misfortune, he does not even know his true life, because until now there has been no one who has broken the true bread of Its Knowledges, so as to form pure blood and allow Its true life to grow in the creature. They have broken for him a stale, medicated Bread that, if it has not made him die, has not let him grow healthy, vigorous and strong of a Divine Strength, as the Bread of My Will makes one grow.

“My Will is life and has the virtue of giving Its life; It is light and dispels darkness; It is immense and takes man from all sides to give him strength, happiness, sanctity, in such a way that everything is safe around him. Ah! you do not know what treasures of grace these knowledges conceal—what good they will bring to creatures; and this is why you do not have interest that they begin to make their way to give start to forming the Kingdom of My Will.”

V25 – 4.4.29 – “My daughter, the first who will do My Divine Will and will live in It, will be like the Yeast of Its Kingdom. The many Knowledges that I have manifested to you about My Divine Fiat will be like the flour for the bread, that, in finding the yeast, becomes fermented—as much flour as one puts in. But the flour is not enough—it takes the yeast and the water in order to form the true bread, to nourish the human generations.

“In the same way, the yeast of the few who live in My Divine Volition is necessary to Me, as well as the multiplicity of the knowledges about It, that will serve as the mass of light that will give all the goods that are needed in order to nourish and make happy all those who want to live in the Kingdom of My Divine Will. Therefore, do not worry if you are alone and few are those who know, in part, what regards My Divine Will; as long as the little portion of the yeast is formed, united to Its knowledges, the rest will come by itself.”

Paragraph 1991 – I. Justification… With justification, faith, hope, and charity are poured into our hearts,
and obedience to the Divine Will is granted us. ( 1812 )- CCC

FROM THE BOOK OF HEAVEN

V2 – 9.19.99 – He (Jesus) showed me His Heart, which contained three distinct globes of light, which then formed a single one. And Jesus, resuming His speech, told me: “The globes of light which you see in my Heart are the Faith, the Hope and the Charity which I brought upon earth to make suffering man happy by offering them to him as gift. Now, to you also I want to give a more special gift.” And while He was saying this, many threads of light came out of those globes of light, which inundated my soul like a sort of net, and I remained inside of it. And Jesus: “Here is how I want you to occupy your soul. First, fly upon the wings of Faith, and in that light, by plunging yourself into it, you will know and acquire ever more news about Me, your God; but by knowing Me more, your nothingness will feel almost dissolved, and you will have no place to lean on. You, however, rise more, and dive into the immense sea of Hope, which is made of all my merits that I acquired in the course of my mortal life, and of all the pains of my Passion, which I also gave to man as gift. Only through these can you hope for the immense goods of Faith, because there is no other way to obtain them. So, as you avail yourself of these merits of mine as if they were your own, your ‘nothing’ will no longer feel dissolved and sinking into the abyss of nothingness, but acquiring new life, it will be embellished and enriched, in such a way as to draw the very divine gazes upon itself. Then the soul will no longer be timid, but Hope will administer to her courage and strength, in such a way as to render her stable like a pillar exposed to all the intemperances of the air, which are the various tribulations of life, and which do not move her a tiny bit. And Hope will cause the soul not only to immerse herself without fear into the immense riches of Faith, but to make herself the owner of them; and through Hope she will reach such a point as to make God Himself her own. Ah, yes! Hope makes the soul reach wherever she wants; Hope is the door of Heaven – only by means of It can it be opened, because one who hopes for everything, obtains everything. Then, after the soul has reached the point of making God Himself her own, immediately, without any obstacle, she will find herself in the immense ocean of Charity, and carrying Faith and Hope with her, she will immerse herself in it and will form one single thing with Me, her God.”

Most loving Jesus continued: “If Faith is the king, Charity is queen, and Hope is like the peacemaking mother who pacifies everything. In fact, with Faith and Charity there may be disturbance, but Hope, being bond of peace, converts everything into peace. Hope is support, Hope is refreshment; and when the soul, rising by means of Faith, sees the beauty, the sanctity and the love with which she is loved by God, and feels drawn to love Him, but in seeing her insufficiency, how little she does for God, and how she should love Him but does not, she feels discomforted, disturbed and almost does not dare to draw near God – immediately this peacemaking mother comes out, and placing herself between Faith and Charity, she begins to perform her office of peacemaker. She makes the soul peaceful again, she pushes her, raises her, gives her new strengths; and carrying her before king Faith and queen Charity, she excuses the soul, she places a new effusion of her merits before the soul, and she prays them to receive her. And Faith and Charity, with their gazes fixed only on this peacemaking mother, so tender and compassionate, receive the soul, and God forms the delight of the soul, and the soul the delight of God.”

Oh, holy Hope, how admirable you are! I imagine seeing the soul who is possessed by this beautiful Hope, like a noble wayfarer, who walks in order to go and take possession of a land that will make his whole fortune. But since he is unknown and he journeys through lands which are not his, some deride him, some insult him, some strip him of his clothes, and some reach the point of beating him and even of threatening to kill him. And the noble wayfarer – what does he do in all these trials? Will he be disturbed? Ah, no – never! On the contrary, he will deride those who do all this to him, and knowing with certainty that the more he suffers, the more he will be honored and glorified when he comes to take possession of his land, he himself teases the people into tormenting him more. But he is always tranquil, he enjoys the most perfect peace; and what is more, while in the midst of these insults, he remains so calm, that while the others are all alert around him, he keeps sleeping in the bosom of his longed-for God. Who administers so much peace and so much firmness to this wayfarer in continuing the journey he has undertaken? Certainly Hope in the eternal goods that will be his; and since they are his, he will surpass everything in order to take possession of them. Now, by thinking that they are his own, he comes to love them – and here is how Hope gives rise to Charity.

Who can say, then, what the light of blessed Jesus makes me see? I would rather have let it pass in silence, but I see that lady obedience, laying down her friendly guises of friendship, assumes the aspect of a warrior and is arming his weapons to wage war against me and to wound me. O please! Do not arm yourself so quickly – lay down your claws, be quiet, for I will do as you say, as much as I can, and so we will always remain friends.

Now, when the soul carries herself into the most extensive sea of Charity, she experiences ineffable delights, and enjoys joys which are unspeakable to mortal soul. Everything is love; her sighs, her heartbeats, her thoughts, are as many sonorous voices that she makes resound around her most loving God. These voices are all of love, calling Him to themselves, in such a way that blessed God, drawn and wounded by these loving voices, requites them, and it happens that His sighs, His heartbeats, and all of the Divine Being continuously call the soul to God.

Who can say, then, how wounded the soul is by these voices; how she begins to rave as though taken by a most ardent fever; how she runs, almost made insane, and goes to plunge herself into the loving Heart of her Beloved to find refreshment, and how she suckles, in torrents, the divine delights? She becomes inebriated with love, and in her inebriation, she makes canticles, all of love, for her most sweet Spouse. But who can say everything that passes between the soul and God? Who can speak about this Charity, which is God Himself?

At this moment, I see an immense light, and my mind remains stupefied; it applies itself now at one point, now at another, and I try to write it on paper, but I feel I stammer in expressing it. So, not knowing what to do, for now I keep silent, and I believe that lady obedience will forgive me this time, because if she wants to get huffy with me, this time she is not so right. The wrong is all hers, for not giving me a more fluent tongue to be able to express it. Have you understood, most reverend obedience? We remain at peace, don’t we?

DOUAY-RHEIMS BIBLE

1 Corinthians 13:13 – And now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity.

1 Thessalonions1:3 – Being mindful of the work of your faith, and labour, and charity, and of the enduring of the hope of our Lord Jesus Christ before God and our Father:

1 Thessalonions 5:8 – But let us, who are of the day, be sober, having on the breastplate of faith and charity, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.