![[Saint Bridget holy card]](stb07007.jpg "12kb jpg detail from an antique holy card of Saint Bridget of Sweden, artist unknown; please do not write to ask about the image")
Amazement and wonders have been heard of in our land. When Moses, the zealot of the law, heard the law of fire given unto the chastisement of sinners from the midst of the fire of the zeal of God, it was amazing indeed. It is more wonderful that in our day the humble and meek in spirit should hear the voice of Jesus Christ, God and man, even as Elijah once heard it in the sound of a gentle breeze. 2 God, who had earlier made a stiff-necked, rude and ignorant people zealous for the justice of his law by means of fear, has now in his gentle mercy used love to bring to submission a people instructed in both the old and new covenants. First came the fear of God like that great wind rending the mountains and crushing the rocks of hardened hearts. It was followed by an upheaval of penance that threw human hearts into a turmoil for the sake of their salvation. Then came the fire of divine charity, shining in the gospel of Christ and giving clear evidence both of his great love for his own, for he delivered himself to death for them lest they suffer eternal death, and of their love for him, for they deliver themselves up, one might say, for his glory.
3 God appeared in this fire not according to the greatness of his divinity but according to the humble condition of our slavery in which he has redeemed the world. Now follows the sound of God's gentle mercy summoning all people out of the feverish heat of sin into the peaceful breeze of his mercy through the prayers and merits of the Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy. In this breeze, the Lord, whose nature it is to be merciful, manifests his omnipotent divinity through his great and exalted compassion so that all those who have despised his mercy, so gently and so sweetly displayed, will be left without excuse when God's judgment is made known. 4 Is not that person inexcusable and worthy of being punished by divine justice who has scorned and disdained the mercy held out to him with such sweet words and deeds as contained in this collection of revelations? 5 For that reason, let all people prepare their souls and enlarge their wills so as to receive a good measure of mercy, pressed down, shaken together, running over beyond merit or hope, beyond wish or thought, to be poured out through the mediatrix of God and humanity by her Son, the fount of all piety.
6 May those who read these revelations harbor no suspicions about a false inspiration. It is not to be believed that the evil spirit can deceive those who are truly just or convert sinners to the good or that he is able to infuse into cold hearts the love that he himself lacks or that he advances in any way the glory of God whom he envies. 7 Just as it is impossible for the spirit of truth[ 1 ] to utter a lie or turn anyone away from justice or inspire pride or envy in hearts that are subject to him, or induce anyone to the contempt of God almighty, so too, due to innate malice and wickedness, the spirit of falsehood is altogether incapable of producing the opposites of these evils. 8 If anyone should protest that the evil spirit is capable of doing these good things or any one of them, then it follows that he concedes that the spirit of kindness and holiness is capable of their opposites. The inevitable error then results that evil is attributed to God and good to the devil, that the devil is held to be the prince and guide of the just and that God is blasphemed as protecting and encouraging the impious.
9 If you want to recognize the truly righteous person so as not to be deceived by seeming justice, know that the following things are rejected by someone who is truly righteous. First, all things that are truly evil insofar as they bring about eternal death, such as lust, greed, and pride. Then, too, false goods, such as the habit of vainglory in self-ostentation, or cowardice in defending justice, or being eager to judge others with a bitter zeal. Accordingly, the truly righteous person is humble by reason of virtue, firm by reason of humility, calm by reason of firmness of soul. 10 Hence someone who is truly righteous does not seek his own glory, and so the devil cannot use it to trick him. He does not shrink from the defense of justice out of cowardice and so, as a result, is not overcome by the ill will of other people. He does not allow his soul to succumb to any kind of distress and lose its proper seating in reason through impatient fervor. 11 Anybody who suffers mental distress is not for that reason devoid of justice, provided such distress does not unsettle him in the practice of patience and the other virtues.
Even when Jesus Christ said to the Father in the midst of the sadness and distress of his mental agony: "Let this cup pass from me!" he showed that his distress had not unsettled his soul from its foundation in virtue by adding: "Not as I will but as you will."[ 2 ] 12 You will also be able to observe this no less than what was said above in the allegory mentioned earlier. The great wind is vainglory that rends every outstanding virtue, as represented by the mountains, along with all constancy, as represented by the firmness of the rocks. The dread of threats and persecutors leaves the heart so shaken that it yields to human ruthlessness. 13 The righteous burn with the fire of zeal against sinners, but not yet with the patience and mildness of perfection. This is obvious in the case of the Pharisee who boasted of his own righteousness and burned with fiery indignation against the publican[ 3 ] just as Simon did, too, regarding Mary Magdalene.[ 4 ] However, the Lord is not to be found in this kind of fervor, and it gives the devil a chance to tempt and deceive.
14 Such things must not be thought of this bride of Christ whom he chose for himself to be a minister of this kind of grace. While still living in matrimony, she got her husband to practice perfect continence so that they lived together for many years without either demanding or receiving the dues of marriage. While she was still married, she preferred a widow's sobriety in her clothing and food. Her interior devotion and constancy in prayer gave early indications in her of a great perfection of piety and grace in the future. 15 When she was released from the law binding her to a husband,[ 5 ] she distributed her property among her heirs and among the poor, and then extricated herself from her ties to the world. A poor woman following a poor man, Christ, she kept nothing for herself but mean clothing and simple food.
This is why, having rejected all worldly consolation, she was visited by Christ with wonderful consolations and graces. 16 In none of this did she seek her own glory but only that of God. She would have preferred to remain hidden out of humility, had she not been commanded to reveal herself to certain people out of obedience to the Spirit, or, rather, to Christ, who appeared to her in spirit. By enduring insults and abuse, she wished to add to the glory of Christ. By her truthfulness, meekness, and justice she gave expression to Christ's way of life in her own life, allowing herself to be hurt by low and despicable persons who did so gratuitously and with impunity. 17 Who could imagine that such a life could be exposed to the mockery of demons? Who would dare to accuse Jesus Christ of being so heartless as not to protect someone who had placed her hope in him and glorified not herself but him out of her great love for him? Would a good husband expose his chaste and faithful wife to the seductions of an adulterer?[ 6 ] 18 Away with the rashness of ignorant opinion!
Make room for God's grace and glory! His grace and glory are known to be so much the greater the more incredible they appear to our ignorance and to our mediocre faith. Indeed, unless guided by the grace of the same Spirit, who could believe that Christ, who resides in heaven, would speak to a woman still living in this mortal condition? 19 However, just as - we have it from the very words of Christ himself - when you look at mountains and forests, the sky seems close to their tops, although it is not, so too Christ, who reigns in heaven, may seem to the mind's eye to be close by, however remote he may be as to his bodily presence. Physical distance cannot disqualify a vision of this kind.
O most admirable and wonderful grace and apparition, worthy of being revealed to every nation under heaven! Through it Jesus Christ, whom Christians have scourged and wounded so sorely that the seeds of righteousness are scarcely to be found remaining in them, displays mercy to the ungrateful and gently leads the accused to implore his forgiveness. 21 This apparition is even more amazing than the one by which he showed himself in the flesh. His body presented itself outwardly to bodily eyes, but in this apparition the God and man are presented to spiritual eyes. 22 In that apparition, a man who was about to die spoke to mortal men. In this he who lives forever speaks to those who are about to die in order to make them immortal. Through that apparition, while living on earth, he revealed the divine in the human. Through this one, while reigning in heaven, he reconciles human things to divine.
23 In that apparition, by dying for us, he repaid the debt of justice. In this, he promises to bestow the gift of mercy on us sinners, although there is no longer any debt to pay. 24 So amazing, I say, is this wonderful apparition that the small capacity of the human heart can scarcely believe it or comprehend the force of so great a miracle. Although reason itself finds a powerful truth in the very deeds and words heard in this apparition and known by experience, still the weakness of our understanding does not grasp what the reason of those who have heard the words and experienced the favors tells it to grasp. 25 Even I myself, who have written this, can scarcely grasp it, although the words and the deeds convince me entirely of the truth of this inspiration, and I judge it to be most worthy of being fully accepted. By no means do I expect everyone who hears about it to believe it, if they have not heard the words themselves or known the deeds. 26 Just as the resurrection of Christ is also said to have been made known gradually by means of many proofs, since fragile mortal minds could not grasp the news of the miracle all at once, I believe that Jesus Christ will work in the same way in this miracle as well:
In the course of long periods of time he will make the greatness of it known by means of many proofs of miraculous powers, a greatness that the eyes of sinful minds, accustomed to darkness, cannot recognize without preparation. 27 Still, it should make it easier for everyone to accept its truth to know that no other faith than that which Christ preached is preached in these words and wonders. They do not give us a new Christ but the same one who suffered for us. 28 They neither subtract from nor add anything to the knowledge of the truth that is in Christ, but to (the knowledge of) his mercy. His mercy becomes so much the better known, being on greater display in these events, inasmuch as the misery of sinners exceeds what it was before. 29 Let us give thanks to the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation,[ 7 ] who in the many miseries of this ageing world proceeds with so much mercy to help the miserable, lest they fall into the pit of despair.
30 For he who attends seriously and faithfully to the words of the present book which are few in comparison to the many others, will not be able to doubt that the words - not of her who is empty of power but of him who is full of the power of truth - could not have been uttered but by the spirit of truth. 31 Anyone who also desires to examine his miraculous deeds will find trustworthy witnesses by which he can confirm their truth, if he so desires. 32 The beginning of this revelation that was made to this lady was transmitted to me who have added this prologue so that I might make it known to others. It was received from Christ as follows: 33 "The devil sinned in three ways: by pride in my having created him well; by greed, which made him seek not only to be my equal but even my superior; and by lust, which made him so delight in my divine glory that he would gladly have killed me, had he been able, so as to rule in my stead. This was why he fell from heaven and filled the world with these three sins and violated the human race through them.
34 For this reason I assumed a human nature and came into the world so that I might annihilate his pride by my humility and destroy his greed by my poverty. I submitted to the heavy punishment of the cross both in order that I might exterminate his abominable lust through the blood of my heart and through my death and, because the sins of the devil had closed it, in order to open heaven to mankind, provided that everyone is willing to struggle for it according to his or her ability. 35 But the people in the kingdom of Sweden are sinning now, just as the devil sinned before them, especially that class of men known as noblemen or knights. They are proud of the beautiful bodies I have given them. They strive for wealth, which I have not given them. They go so far astray in their abominable concupiscence that, if it were possible for them, they would rather kill me than go without their pleasures, or would put up with my terrible sentence that hangs over them for their sins.
36 Therefore, those bodies of which they are so proud will be struck down by the sword, lance, and hatchet. Beasts and birds will tear to pieces those lovely limbs in which they glory. Others will carry away the riches they gather against my will, and they themselves will be in want. 37 Due to their abominable lusts, they displease my Father to such an extent that he will not deign to admit them to the vision of his face. And since they would gladly kill me if they could, they shall be delivered to hell by the hands of the devil, and he will kill them in an everlasting death. 38 I would long ago have brought this judgment upon the kingdom of Sweden, had not the prayers of those friends of mine among them held me back and inclined me to mercy. The time will come when I shall gather those same friends to myself lest they behold the evils I will bring upon the kingdom. But some of my friends will still be alive then and will watch from the peak of their merits.
39 Since the kings and princes and prelates do not wish to recognize me for the benefits I confer, nor to come to me, I will now gather together the poor, the weak, the infants, and the wretched, and with them I will fill their places so that there will be no shortage of people in the host of the Lord due to their absence."
40 When the person to whom this revelation was made sighed and bewailed so harsh a sentence, the Lord added: "As long as a person lives, access to the kingdom of heaven is available. If people know how to change their lives, I know how to mitigate my sentence." 41 As for the facts corroborating the truth of the present case, they are as follows: First, it was an unlearned woman who set this forth. Being of a noble and honest character, a humble widow, she would not have been able to make it up even had she wanted to, since she was a simple and gentle soul. 42 Second, the man who wrote down these revelations[ 8 ] was a pious and simple monk, and he in no way wanted to put them in writing himself, since he considered himself unworthy and ignorant for such a task. However, Christ compelled him to do so through the fear of death, and he was on the point of death before he consented. Once he gave his consent, he was immediately cured all at once. 43 Third, a man in Östergötland, suffering from diabolic possession, was made clean in the presence of two trustworthy witnesses[ 9 ] at the words of the aforementioned monk. This monk communicated the form of the words this woman had heard from Christ and did so on the command of Christ. 44 Fourth, another man in Sweden possessed by a devil was made clean in the same way through the same monk in the presence of trustworthy witnesses. 45 Fifth, a public prostitute was converted through the intervention of the Blessed Virgin who appeared along with Christ to the same lady. 46 Sixth, a number of leading men in the realm were converted, who, at a suitable time and place, will unanimously avow-for otherwise they would be ungrateful to Christ-that they experienced a conversion in their hearts at her words as sent from him.
The Son of God spoke: "Listen, all my enemies in the world, for I am not addressing my friends! Listen, all you clerics, archbishops, and bishops and all of lower rank in the Church! Listen, all you religious, of whatever order you are! Listen, you kings and princes of the earth and all you who serve! Listen, you women, princesses, queens, and all ladies and maidservants! All you inhabitants of the world, of whatever condition or rank you are, whether great or small, listen to these words that I myself, who created you, now speak to you! I complain, because you have withdrawn from me and given the devil your will, and you obey his suggestions. Truly, I have redeemed you with my blood, and I ask for nothing but your souls. Therefore, return to me with humility, and I will receive you as my children."
Our Lord Jesus Christ's words to his chosen and dearly beloved bride declaring his most excellent incarnation, condemning the profane violation and breach of our faith and baptism, and inviting his beloved bride to love him.
I am the Creator of heaven and earth, one in divinity with the Father and the Holy Spirit. I am he who spoke to the prophets and the patriarchs, the one whom they awaited. For the sake of their longing and in accordance with my promise, I took flesh without sin, without concupiscence, entering the body of the Virgin like the sun shining through the clearest crystal. The sun does not damage the glass by entering it, nor was the Virgin's virginity lost when I took my human nature. 2 I took flesh but without surrendering my divinity. I was no less God, ruling and filling all things with the Father and the Holy Spirit, although I, with my human nature, was in the womb of the Virgin. Brightness is never separated from fire, nor was my divinity ever separated from my humanity, not even in death. 3 Next I willed for my pure and sinless body to be wounded from the sole of my foot to the crown of my head[ 1 ] for the sins of all men, and to be hung on the cross. It is now offered each day on the altar in order that people might love me more and call to mind my favors more frequently.
4 Now, however, I am totally forgotten, neglected and scorned, like a king cast out of his own kingdom in whose place a wicked thief has been elected and honored. 5 I wanted my kingdom to be within the human person, and by right I should be king and lord over him, since I made him and redeemed him. Now, however, he has broken and profaned the faith he promised me at baptism. He has violated and rejected the laws I set up for him. He loves his self-will and scornfully refuses to listen to me. Besides, he exalts that most wicked thief, the devil, above me and pledges him his faith. 6 The devil really is a thief, since, by evil temptations and false promises, he steals for himself the human soul that I redeemed with my own blood. It is not because he is more powerful, as it were, than I am that he is able to steal it, since I am so powerful that I can do all things by a single word, and I am so just that I would not commit the least injustice, not even if all the saints asked me to. However, since man, who has been given free will, voluntarily scorns my commandments and consents to the devil, then it is only just that he should also experience the devil's tyranny. 7 The devil was created good by me but fell through his own wicked will and has, as it were, become my servant for inflicting retribution on the wicked.[ 2 ] Although I am now so despised, nevertheless I am still so merciful that I will forgive the sins of any who ask for my mercy and who humble themselves, and I shall free them from the evil thief. 8 But I shall visit my justice upon those who persist in holding me in contempt, and hearing it they will tremble and those who experience it will say: 'Alas, that we were ever born or conceived, alas, that we ever provoked the Lord of majesty to wrath!'
9 But you, my daughter, whom I have chosen for myself and with whom I speak in spirit, love me with all your heart, not as you love your son or daughter or relatives but more than anything in the world! I created you and spared none of my limbs in suffering for you. And yet I love your soul so dearly that, if it were possible, I would let myself be nailed to the cross again rather than lose you. 10 Imitate my humility: I, who am the king of glory and of angels, was clothed in lowly rags and stood naked at the pillar while my ears heard all kinds of insults and derision. 11 Prefer my will to yours, because my Mother, your Lady, from beginning to end, never wanted anything but what I wanted. If you do this, then your heart will be with my heart, and it will be set aflame with my love in the same way as any dry thing is easily set aflame by fire. Your soul will be filled with me and I will be in you, and all temporal things will become bitter to you and all carnal desire like poison. 12 You will rest in my divine arms, where there is no carnal desire, only joy and spiritual delight. There the soul, both inwardly and outwardly delighted, is full of joy, thinking of nothing and desiring nothing but the joy that it possesses. 13 So love me alone, and you will have all the things you wish, and you will have them in abundance. Is it not written that the widow's oil did not fail until the day that the Lord sent rain upon the earth according to the words of the prophet? I am the true prophet. If you believe my words and fulfill them, oil and joy and exultation will never fail you for all eternity.
Our Lord Jesus Christ's words to the daughter he had taken as his bride concerning the articles of the true faith, and about what adornments and tokens and intentions the bride should have with respect to the bridegroom.
I am the Creator of the heavens, the earth, and the sea and of all that is in them. I am one with the Father and the Holy Spirit, not like gods of stone or gold, as people once said, and not several gods, as people used to think then, but one God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons but one in substance, the Creator of all but created by none, remaining unchangeable and almighty, with out beginning or end. 2 I am he who was born of the Virgin, without losing my divinity but joining it to my humanity, so that in one person I might be the true Son of God and the Son of the Virgin. I am he who hung on the cross, died and was buried; yet my divinity remained intact. Although I died through the human nature and body that I, the only Son, had taken, yet I lived on in the divine nature in which I was one God together with the Father and the Holy Spirit. 3 I am the same man who rose from the dead and ascended into heaven and who now speaks with you through my spirit. I have chosen you and taken you as my bride in order to show you my secrets, because it pleases me to do so. 4 I also have a certain rightful claim on you, since you surrendered your will to me when your husband died. After his death, you thought and prayed about how you might become poor for my sake, and you wanted to give up everything[ 1 ] for my sake. So I have a rightful claim on you. In return for this great love of yours, it is only fitting that I should provide for you. Therefore I take you as my bride for my own pleasure, the kind that is appropriate for God to have with a chaste soul.
5 It is the duty of the bride to be ready when the bridegroom decides to have the wedding, so she can be properly dressed up and clean. You will be clean if your thoughts are always on your sins, on how in baptism I cleansed you from the sin of Adam and how often I have supported and sustained you when you have fallen into sin. 6 The bride should also wear the bridegroom's tokens on her breast, I mean, you should bear in mind the favors and benefits I have done for you, such as how nobly I created you by giving you a body and soul, how nobly I enriched you by giving you health and temporal goods, how kindly I rescued you when I died for you and restored your inheritance[ 2 ] to you, if you want to have it. 7 The bride should also do the will of her bridegroom. What is my will but that you should want to love me above all things and want nothing but me?
I created all things for the sake of humankind and placed all things under them. And yet they love everything but me and hate nothing but me. I bought back their inheritance for them, which they had lost, but they have grown so estranged and turned so far from reason that, instead of eternal glory in which there is everlasting good, they would rather have passing glory that is as the ocean spray that rises up one moment like a mountain and then quickly sinks down into nothing. 8 My bride, if you desire nothing but me, if you hold all things in contempt for my sake-both children and relatives as well as wealth and honors- I will give you a most precious and delightful reward. I will give you neither gold nor silver as your wages but myself to be your bridegroom, I, who am the king of glory. 9 If you are ashamed of being poor and despised, consider how your God has gone before you, once his servants and friends had abandoned him on earth, because I was not looking for friends on earth but friends in heaven. If you are worrying and afraid about being burdened by work and sickness, then consider how severe a thing it is to burn in the fire! 10 What would you have deserved if you had offended same earthly master as you have me? For, although I love you with all my heart, still I do not act against justice, not even in a single detail. Just as you have sinned in all your limbs, you must also make satisfaction in every limb. 11 However, because of your good will and your resolution to improve, I commute your sentence to one of mercy and remit the heavier punishment in return for a small amount of reparation. 12 For this reason, embrace your small hardships cheerfully so that you can be cleansed and reach your great reward all the sooner! It is good for the bride to grow tired toiling alongside the bridegroom so that she can all the more confidently take her rest with him.
Our Lord Jesus Christ's words to his bride about her formation in love and honor toward him, the bridegroom, and about the hatred of the wicked for God, and about the love of the world.
I am your God and Lord, the one you worship. It is I who uphold heaven and earth by my power. They are upheld by nothing else nor do they have any other supports. It is I who am offered up each day on the altar, true God and true man, under the appearance of bread. I am the very one who has chosen you. 2 Honor my Father! Love me! Obey my Spirit! Defer to my Mother as to your Lady! Honor all my saints! Keep the true faith taught to you by one who experienced in himself the conflict between the two spirits,[ 1 ] the spirit of falsehood and the spirit of truth, and with my help conquered. 3 Preserve true humility! What is true humility if not to render praise[ 2 ] to God for the good things he has given us? 4 Nowadays, however, there are many people who hate me and who regard my deeds and my words as painful and empty. They welcome that adulterer, the devil, with wide arms, and they love him. Whatever they do for me, they do it with grumbling and resentment. They would not even confess my name, if they were not afraid of the opinion of others. 5 They have such a sincere love of the world that they never tire working for it night and day and are always fervent in their love for it. Their service is about as pleasing to me as if someone were to give his enemy money to kill his son. 6 This is what they do. They give me some alms and honor me with their lips[ 3 ] in order to gain worldly success and to remain in their privileges and in their sin. The good spirit is thus impeded in them from making any progress in virtue.
7 If you want to love me with your whole heart and to desire nothing but me, I will draw you to me through charity, just like a magnet or lodestone draws iron to itself. I will lay you on my arm, which is so strong that no one can stretch it out and so rigid that no one can bend it back once outstretched. It is so sweet that it surpasses every fragrance and cannot be compared with the delights of this world.
EXPLANATION
8 This was a holy man, a teacher of theology, who was called Master Mathias of Sweden, a canon of Linköping. He wrote an excellent commentary covering the whole Bible. He suffered very subtle temptations from the devil involving a number of heresies against the Catholic faith, all of which he overcame with the aid of Christ, and he could not be overcome by the devil. This is plainly set forth in the biography of Lady Birgitta. 9 It was this Master Mathias who composed the Prologue to these books that begins Stupor et mirabilia, etc. He was a holy man and spiritually powerful in word and deed. 10 When he died in Sweden, the bride of Christ, then living in Rome, heard in her prayer a voice saying to her in spirit: "Happy are you, Master Mathias, for the crown that has been made for you in heaven. Come now to the wisdom that will never end!"[ 4 ] 11 One can also read about him in Book I chapter 52 B; Book V, in the response to question 3 D in the last interrogation; and Book VI chapters 75 A and 89.
Our Lord Jesus Christ's words to his bride about how she should not worry or think that the things revealed to her come from an evil spirit, and about how to recognize a good or an evil spirit.
I am your Creator and Redeemer. Why were you afraid of my words? Why were you wondering whether they came from a good or an evil spirit? Tell me, did you find anything in my words that your conscience did not dictate to you to do? Or did I command you anything against reason?" 2 To this the bride answered: "No, on the contrary, they are all true and I was badly mistaken." The spirit, or the bridegroom, answered: "I commanded you three things. From them you could recognize the good spirit. I commanded you to honor your God, who made you and has given you all the things you have. Your reason also tells you to honor him above all things. 3 I commanded you to keep the true faith, that is, to believe that nothing has been made without God and that nothing can be made without God. 4 I also commanded you to aspire to reasonable temperance in all things, since the world was made for human use so that people might use it for their needs. In the same way, you can also recognize the unclean spirit from three things, the opposites of these. 5 He tempts you to seek your own praise and to be proud of the things given you. He tempts you to betray your faith. He also tempts you to impurity in your whole body and in everything, and makes your heart burn for it.
6 Sometimes he also deceives people under the guise of good.[ 1 ] This is why I commanded you always to examine your conscience and disclose it to prudent spiritual advisors. 7 Therefore, do not doubt that God's good spirit is with you, seeing that you desire nothing other than God and are completely on fire with his love. I am the only one who can do that. It is impossible for the devil to draw near to you. Nor is it possible for him to draw near to bad people at all unless I allow it, either because of their sins or because of same secret decision known to me, for he is my creature, just like all others, and was created good by me, although he became evil through his own malice. I am Lord over him. 8 For this reason, they accuse me falsely who say that the people who serve me with great devotion are insane and have a devil. They make me out to be like a man who exposes his chaste and trusting wife to an adulterer. That is what I would be if I let someone who was righteous and full of love for me be handed over to a demon. 9 But because I am faithful, no demon will ever gain control of the soul of any of my devoted servants. Although my friends sometimes seem to be almost out of their minds, it is not because they suffer from the devil or because they serve me with fervent devotion. It is rather due to some defect of the brain or some other hidden cause, which serves to humble them. 10 Sometimes it can also happen that the devil either receives power from me over the bodies of good people for their own greater reward or that he darkens their consciences. However, he can never gain control over the souls of those who have faith in me and take their delight in me.
Christ's most loving words to his bride containing the wonderful image of a noble castle, which stands for the church militant, and about how the church of God will now be rebuilt through the prayers of the glorious Virgin and of the saints.
I am the Creator of all things. I am the King of glory and the Lord of angels. I built for myself a noble castle and placed my chosen ones in it. 2 My enemies undermined its foundations and overpowered my friends so much so that the very marrow goes out of my friends' feet as they sit fastened to the wood of the stocks.[ 1 ] 3 Their mouth is bruised by stones, and they are tortured by hunger and thirst. Moreover, enemies are persecuting their Lord. My friends are now begging and groaning for help; justice is clamoring for vengeance, but mercy says to forgive. 4 Then God said to the heavenly host that was standing by: "What do you think regarding these people who have seized my castle?" 5 They all answered with one voice: "Lord, all justice is in you and in you we see all things. All judgment is given to you,[ 2 ] the Son of God, who exist without beginning or end, you are their judge." 6 And he said: "Although you know and see all things in me, yet for my bride's sake here, tell me what the just sentence is." They said: "This is justice: that those who undermined the wall should be punished like thieves, that those who persist in evil should be punished like usurpers, and that the captives should be set free and the hungry be filled."
7 Then Mary spoke, the Mother of God, who had been silent in the first exchange, and she said: "My Lord and most dear Son, you were in my womb as true God and man. You condescended to sanctify me who was an earthen vessel. I beg you: have mercy on them once more!" 8 The Lord answered his Mother: "Blessed be the word of your mouth! Like a sweet odor it ascends to God. You are the glory and the Queen of angels and all saints, because God was consoled by you and all the saints made joyful. And because your will has been as my own from the beginning of your youth, I will once more do as you wish." 9 Then he said to the heavenly host: "Because you have fought bravely, for the sake of your love I will let myself be appeased for now. Behold, I will rebuild my wall on account of your prayers.
10 I will save and heal those who were oppressed by force and will honor them a hundredfold for the abuse they have suffered. If the doers of violence ask for mercy, peace and mercy will be theirs. Those who scorn it will experience my justice." 11 Then he said to his bride: "My bride, I have chosen you and clothed you in my spirit. You hear my words and those of my saints who, although they see all things in me, yet have spoken for your sake, so that you might understand. After all, you, who are still in the body, cannot see in me in the same way as they who are spirits. 12 I will now show you what these things mean. The castle I spoke about is the Holy Church, which I built with my own blood and that of the saints. I cemented it with my charity and then placed my chosen ones and friends in it. 13 Its foundation is faith, I mean, the belief that I am a just and merciful judge. The foundation has now been undermined because everybody believes and preaches that I am merciful but almost nobody believes me to be a just judge. 14 They think of me as a wicked judge. A judge would indeed be wicked if, out of mercy, he let the wicked go unpunished so that they could further oppress the righteous. I, however, am a just and merciful judge and will not let even the least sin go unpunished nor the least good go unrewarded. 15 By the undermining of this wall, there entered into the Holy Church people who sin with out fear, who deny that I am just and who torment my friends as much as if they had clapped them in stocks. No joy or consolation is given to these friends of mine. Instead they are punished and reviled as much as if they were diabolically possessed. 16 When they tell the truth about me, they are silenced and get accused of lying. They thirst with a passion to hear or speak the truth, but there is no one who listens to them or speaks the truth to them.
17 Moreover, I, God the Creator, am being blasphemed. For people say: 'We do not know if God exists. And if he exists, we do not care.' They throw my banner to the ground and trample on it, saying: 'Why did he suffer? What good is it to us? If he would grant our wish, we will be satisfied - let him keep his kingdom and his heaven!' I want to go into them, but they say: 'We would die before giving up our own will!' 18 My bride, see what kind of people they are! I made them and can destroy them with a word. How insolent they are toward me! Thanks to the prayers of my Mother and of all the saints, I remain merciful and patient enough that I am now willing to send them the words of my mouth and to offer them my mercy. 19 If they want to accept it, I will be appeased. Otherwise they will know my justice and, like thieves, they will be publicly put to shame before angels and men and condemned by every one of them. Like criminals hung on a fork-shaped gallows and devoured by crows, they will be devoured by demons but not consumed. 20 Just like the people sentenced to the stocks have no rest, they will find pain and bitterness on all sides. A scalding river will flow into their mouths but their bellies will not be filled, and they will be renewed for their punishment each day. 21 But my friends will be safe, and they will be consoled by the words that come from my mouth. They will see my justice along with my mercy. I will clothe them in the weapons of my love and will make them so strong that the adversaries of the faith will slide back like mud. When they see my justice, they will stand in perpetual shame for having abused my patience."
Christ's words to his bride about how his spirit cannot dwell in the wicked, and about the separation of the wicked from the good and the sending of good people armed with spiritual weapons to war against the world.
My enemies are like the wildest of beasts who can never get their fill or remain at rest. Their heart is so empty of my love that the thought of my passion never enters it. Not once from their heart of hearts has a word like this escaped: "Lord, you have redeemed us, may you be praised for your bitter passion!" How can my Spirit dwell in people who have no divine love for me, people who are willing to betray others for the sake of getting their will? 2 Their heart is full of vile worms, I mean, full of worldly passions. The devil has left his dung in their mouths; that is why they have no liking for my words. And so with my saw I will sever them from my friends. There is no worse way to die than to die under the saw. Likewise, there is no punishment in which they will not share: they will be sawn in two by the devil and separated from me. I find them so odious that all their adherents will also be severed from me.
3 For this reason I am sending forth my friends in order that they might separate the devils from my members,[ 1 ] since the devils are my true enemies. I send them forth like soldier knights to war. Anyone who mortifies his flesh and abstains from illicit things is my true soldier. 4 For their lance they will have the words of my mouth and in their hands the sword of faith; on their breasts will be the breastplate of love so that no matter what happens they will love me no less. They must have the shield of patience at their side so as to bear all things with patience. I have encased them like gold in a case: they should now go forth and walk in my ways.[ 2 ] 5 According to the designs of justice, I could not enter into the glory of my majesty without enduring tribulation in my human nature. So how will they enter into it? If their Lord suffered, it is not surprising that they should suffer as well. If their Lord put up with the whip, it is no great thing for them to put up with words. They need not fear because I will never abandon them. Just as it is impossible for the devil to get at the heart of God and divide it, so it is impossible for the devil to separate them from me. 6 And since, in my sight, they are like the purest gold, though they be tested with a little fire, I shall not abandon them: it is for their greater reward.[ 3 ]
The glorious Virgin's words to her daughter about the way to dress and the sort of clothes and ornaments with which the daughter should be adorned and clothed.
I am Mary who gave birth to the Son of God, true God and true man. I am the Queen of angels. My Son loves you with his whole heart. So love him! You ought to be adorned with the fairest of clothes and I will show you how and what kind of clothes they should be.[ 1 ] 2 Just as before you had an underbodice, then a bodice, shoes, a cloak, and a brooch upon your breast, so now you should have spiritual clothes. The underbodice is contrition. Just as the underbodice is worn closest to the body, so contrition and confession are the first way of conversion to God. Through it the mind, which once found joy in sin, is purified and the unchaste flesh kept under control. 3 The two shoes are two dispositions, namely the intention of rectifying past transgressions and the intention of doing good and keeping away from evil. Your bodice is hope in God. Just as a bodice has two sleeves, may there be both justice and mercy in your hope. In this way you will hope for the mercy of God because you do not neglect his justice.
Think on his justice and judgment in such away that you do not forget his mercy, for he does not work justice without mercy or mercy without justice. 4 The cloak is faith. Just as the cloak covers everything and everything is enclosed in it, human nature can likewise comprehend and attain everything through faith. This cloak should be decorated with the tokens of your bridegroom's love, namely, the way he created you, the way he redeemed you, the way he nourished you and brought you into his spirit and opened your spiritual eyes. 5 The brooch is the consideration of his passion. Fix firmly in your breast the thought of how he was scoffed at and scourged, how he stood alive on the cross, bloody and pierced in all his sinews, how at his death his whole body convulsed from the acute pain of the passion, how he commended his spirit into the hands of his Father. May this brooch be ever on your breast! 6 On your head let there be set a crown, I mean, chastity in your affections, making you rather endure lashing than be further stained. May you be modest and worthy! Think about nothing, desire nothing but your God and Creator. When you have him, you have everything. Adorned in this way, you shall await your bridegroom.
The Queen of Heaven's words to her beloved daughter teaching her how she ought to love and praise her Son together with his Mother.
I am the Queen of Heaven. You were concerned about how you should give me praise. Know for certain that all praise of my Son is praise of me. And those who dishonor him, dishonor me, since my love for him and his for me was so ardent that the two of us were like one heart. So highly did he honor me, who was an earthen vessel, that he raised me up above all the angels. 2 Therefore, you should praise me like this: "Blessed are you, God, Creator of all things, who deigned to descend into the womb of the Virgin Mary. Blessed are you, God, who willed to be in the Virgin Mary without being a burden to her[ 1 ] and deigned to receive immaculate flesh from her without sin. Blessed are you, God, who came to the Virgin, giving joy to her soul and to her whole body, and who went out of her to the sinless joy of her whole body. 3 Blessed are you, God, who after your ascension gladdened the Virgin Mary your Mother with frequent consolations and visited her with your consolation. Blessed are you, God, who assumed the body and soul of the Virgin Mary, your Mother, into heaven and honored her by placing her next to your divinity above all the angels. Have mercy on me because of her prayers!
The words of the Queen of Heaven to her beloved daughter concerning the beautiful love the Son had for his Virgin Mother, and about how the Mother of Christ was conceived in a chaste marriage and sanctified in the womb, and about how she was assumed body and soul into heaven, and about the power of her name, and about the angels assigned to men for good or bad.
I am the Queen of Heaven. Love my Son, because he is most worthy; when you have him, you have everything that is of worth. And he is most desirable; when you have him, you have all that is desirable. Love him, too, because he is most virtuous; when you have him, you have all the virtues. 2 Let me tell you how beautiful his love for my body and soul was and how much honor he gave to my name. He, my own Son, loved me before I loved him, since he is my Creator. He joined my father and mother in so chaste a marriage that there was no more chaste couple then to be found. They never desired to come together except in accordance with the Law, solely for the sake of procreation. 3 When an angel announced to them that they would give birth to the Virgin from whom the salvation of the world would come, they would rather have died than come together in carnal love; lust had died in them. But, I assure you, out of divine charity and on account of the angel's message they did come together in the flesh, not out of concupiscence but against their will and out of love for God. In this way my flesh was put together from their seed through divine love. 4 When my body had been formed, God sent the created soul into it from his divinity; the soul was immediately sanctified along with the body, and the angels watched over and ministered to it day and night. It is impossible to tell you what a great joy came over my mother when my soul had been sanctified and joined to its body. Afterward, when the course of my life was done, he first raised up my soul, as being mistress of the body, to a place more eminent than others next to the glory of his divinity, and then my body, so that no other creature's body is so close to God as my own.
5 See how much my Son loved my soul and body! There are same people, however, who wickedly deny that I was assumed body and soul, and there are others who simply do not know better. But the truth of it is certain: I was taken up to God's glory in body and soul. 6 Hear how much my Son has honored my name! My name is Mary, as the Gospel says. When the angels hear this name, they rejoice in their understanding and give thanks to God because he worked so great a grace through me and with me and because they see the humanity of my Son glorified in his divinity. 7 The souls in purgatory rejoice beyond measure, just like a sick man does as he lies in bed and hears a word of comfort from others and it pleases his heart and makes him suddenly glad. 8 At the sound of my name, the good angels immediately draw closer to the just souls to whom they have been given as guardians and rejoice over their progress. Good angels have been given to everyone as a protection and bad angels as a test. It is not that angels are ever separated from God, but, rather, that they assist the soul without leaving God and remain steadily in his presence while still inflaming and inciting the soul to do good. 9 The demons all dread and fear this name. At the sound of the name of Mary, they immediately let the soul go out of their clutches. Like a bird with its claws and beak on its prey leaves it as soon as it hears a sound, but comes right back when it sees nothing happening afterward, so too the demons let go of a soul, frightened at the sound of my name, but fly back and return to it again as swift as an arrow, unless they see some improvement afterward. 10 No one is so cold in the love of God - unless he be one of the damned - that the devil does not immediately draw away from him if he invokes my name with the intention of never returning to his bad habits, and the devil keeps away from him unless he resumes his intention of sinning mortally. However, sometimes the devil is allowed to trouble him for the sake of his greater reward, but never to gain possession of him.
The Virgin Mary's words to her daughter, offering a useful teaching about how she should live, and describing many marvelous details about the passion of Christ.
I am the Queen of heaven, the Mother of God. I told you that you should wear a brooch upon your breast. I will now show you more fully how, from the beginning, when I first learned and came to an understanding of the existence of God, I was always concerned about my salvation and religious observance. When I learned more completely that God himself was my Creator and the judge of all my actions, I came to love him deeply, and I was constantly alert and watchful so as not to offend him in word or deed. 2 When I learned that he had given his law and commandments to his people and worked so many miracles through them, I made a firm resolution in my soul to love nothing but him, and the things of the world became altogether repugnant to me. Then, having learned that God himself would redeem the world and be born of a Virgin,[ 1 ] I was so smitten with love for him that I thought of nothing but God and wanted nothing but him. 3 As far as I was able, I withdrew from the conversation and the presence of parents and friends and gave away to the needy everything I had come to own. I kept for myself nothing but meager food and clothing.
Nothing but God was pleasing to me. I always hoped in my heart to live until the time of his birth and perhaps merit becoming the unworthy handmaid of the Mother of God. I also made a vow in my heart to preserve my virginity, if that was acceptable to him, and to possess nothing whatsoever in the world. 4 But if God willed otherwise, my wish was that his will, not mine, be done, for I believed he was able to do all things and wanted nothing but the best for me. And so I entrusted all my will to him. 5 When the prescribed time arrived for the presentation of virgins in the temple of the Lord, I was also present with them thanks to the religious compliance of my parents. I thought to myself that nothing was impossible for God, and that, since he knew I desired nothing and wanted nothing but him, he would be able to preserve my virginity, if it so pleased him: otherwise, let his will be done!
6 Having listened to all the commandments in the temple, I returned home, burning more with the love of God than ever before, being inflamed with new fires and desires of love each day. For that reason I withdrew by myself even more from everything else and was alone night and day, fearing greatly lest my mouth say anything or my ears hear anything against God or lest my eyes look on anything delectable. I felt the same fear in my silence and was very anxious not to be silent upon those subjects about which I ought rather to have spoken. 7 While I was thus agitated in my heart and alone with myself, entrusting all my hope to God, at that very moment it came into my head to consider God's great power, how the angels and all creatures serve him, and what his indescribable and unending glory was like. 8 As I was wondering at all this, I saw three wonderful sights. I saw a star, but not the kind that shines from the sky. I saw a light, but not the kind that glows in the world. I sensed a smell, not of herbs or anything like that, but indescribably sweet, which quite filled me up so that I felt like jumping for joy. Right then I heard a voice, but not from a human mouth. I was quite afraid when I heard it and wondered whether it was an illusion. 9 An angel of God then appeared before me in the fairest human shape, although not in the flesh, and he said to me: 'Hail, full of grace!'[ 2 ]
On hearing it, I wondered what this could mean or why he gave me such a greeting, since I knew and believed that I was unworthy of any such thing, or of any good thing, but also that it was possible for God to do anything he wanted. 10 The angel said next: 'The offspring to be born in you is holy and will be called the Son of God.[ 3 ] It will be done as it pleases God.' I neither thought myself worthy nor did I ask the angel 'Why?' or 'When will it be done?' but I asked: 'How is it to be that I, who do not even know a man,[ 4 ] am to become the unworthy Mother of God?' The angel answered me, as I said, that nothing is impossible for God, but 'Whatever he wants to do will be done.' 11 When I heard the words of the angel, I felt the most fervent desire to become the Mother of God, and my soul spoke out of love: 'Here I am, may your will be done in me!'[ 5 ] At that word, right then and there, my Son was conceived in my womb to the indescribable thrill of my soul and all my limbs. 12 When I had him in the womb, I bore him without any pain, without any heaviness or weariness in my body. I humbled myself in every way, knowing that the one I bore was the Almighty. When I gave birth to him, I did so without any pain or sin, just as I had conceived him, with such a thrill of soul and body that I felt like I was walking on air out of the thrill of it all.
Just as he entered my limbs to the joy of all my soul, so to the joy of all my limbs he left me, with my soul rejoicing and my virginity unscathed. 13 When I looked upon him and contemplated his beauty, knowing myself to be unworthy of such a son, joy seeped through my soul like drops of dew. When I contemplated the places where, as I had learned through the prophets,[ 6 ] his hands and feet would be nailed at the crucifixion, my eyes filled with tears and my heart was torn by sadness. My Son looked at my crying eyes then and became deathly saddened. 14 When I contemplated his divine power, I was consoled again, realizing that this was the way he wanted it and so it was the right way, and I conformed all my will to his. So my joy was always mixed with sorrow.
15 When the time of my Son's passion arrived, his enemies seized him. They struck him on his cheek and neck and spat at him as they made sport of him. When he was led to the pillar, he took off his clothes himself and placed his own hands on the pillar, and his enemies then mercilessly bound them. 16 Bound to the pillar, without any kind of covering, just as he had been born, he stood there and suffered the embarrassment of being naked. His friends had fled, but his enemies were ready for action. They stood there on all sides and scourged his body that was clean from every stain and sin. 17 I was standing nearby and, at the first lash, I fell down as if I were dead. When I revived, I could see his body whipped and scourged to the ribs. What was even more horrible was that when they pulled the whips back, the weighted thongs tore his flesh.[ 7 ] 18 As my Son was standing there all bloody and covered with wounds, so that no sound spot[ 8 ] was left on him that could be whipped, then someone, aroused in spirit, asked: 'Are you going to kill him thus unsentenced?' And straightaway he cut his bonds. 19 Then my Son himself put his clothes back on. I saw that the place where my Son had been standing was covered with blood, and by his footprints I could tell which way he walked, for the ground seemed to be soaked with blood wherever he went. 20 They had no patience with him to let him get dressed, but pushed and dragged him to hurry him on. As my Son was being led off like a thief, he dried the blood from his eyes. Once he was sentenced, they placed the cross on him to carry. He did carry it for a while, but then someone[ 9 ] came along and undertook to carry it for him. 21 As my Son was going to the place of his passion, same people struck him on the neck, while others hit him in the face. He was hit so hard and with so much force that, although I did not see who hit him, I heard the sound of the blow clearly. When I reached the place of the passion with him, I saw all the instruments of his death ready. When my Son got there, he took off his clothes himself, while the servants said to each other:
'These are our clothes[ 10 ] and he will not get them back since he is condemned to death.' 22 My Son was standing there, naked as he had been born, when someone came running up and offered him a veil with which he joyfully covered his shame. Then his cruel executioners seized him and stretched him out on the cross, nailing first his right hand to the crossbeam that had a hole in it for the nail. They pierced his hand at the point where the bone was more solid. With a rope they pulled his other hand and attached it to the crossbeam in similar fashion. 23 Then they crucified his right foot with the left on top of it using two nails[ 11 ] so that all his sinews and veins became overstrained and burst. After that they put the crown of thorns on his head and it cut so deeply into my Son's venerable head that the blood filled his eyes as it flowed, blocked up his ears and stained his beard as it ran down. As he stood on the cross wounded and bloody, he felt compassion for me who was standing by in tears and, looking with his bloodied eyes in the direction of John, my nephew, he commended me to him.[ 12 ]
24 At the time I could hear some people saying that my Son was a thief, others that he was a liar, still others that no one was more deserving of death than my Son. My sorrow was renewed from hearing all this. But, as I said before, when the first nail was driven into him, that first blow shook me so much that I fell down as if dead, my eyes covered in darkness, my hands trembling, my feet unsteady. In the bitterness of my grief I was not able to watch until he had been fastened entirely to the cross. 25 When I got up, I saw my Son hanging there in misery and, in my thorough dismay, I his most unhappy Mother, could hardly stand on my feet due to grief. Seeing me and his friends weeping inconsolably, my Son cried out in a loud and doleful voice to his Father, saying, 'Father, why have you abandoned me?'[ 13 ] It was as if to say: 'There is no one who takes pity on me but you, Father.' 26 At that stage his eyes looked half-dead, his cheeks were sunken, his face mournful, his mouth open and his tongue bloody. His stomach was sucked in toward his back, all the liquid having been consumed, as if he had no vital organs. All his body was pale and languid due to the loss of blood. His hands and feet were rigidly extended, being pulled toward the cross and shaped like the shape of the cross. His beard and hair were completely covered with blood.
27 There he stood, bruised and livid, and only his heart was still fresh, since it was of the best and strongest constitution. From my flesh he had received a most pure and well-wrought body. 28 His skin was so thin and tender that if it was even slightly scourged the blood would flow out immediately. His blood was so fresh that it could be seen in his pure skin. Precisely because he had the very best constitution, life contended with death in his wounded body. 29 At certain moments the pain in the limbs and sinews of his wounded body rose up to his still vigorous and unbroken heart and inflicted incredible pain and suffering on him. At other moments the pain went down from his heart into his wounded limbs and, in so doing, bitterly prolonged his death.
30 Surrounded by these sorrows, my Son looked at his friends who were weeping and who would rather have borne his pain themselves through his help or have burned in hell forever than to see him tortured so. His sorrow at his friends' sorrow exceeded all the bitterness and tribulations that he had endured in body and heart, due to the tender love he had for them. Then, out of the exceeding bodily anguish of his human nature, he cried out to the Father: 'Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.'[ 14 ] 31 When I his most sorrowful Mother, heard those words, my whole body shook with the bitter pain of my heart. As often as I have thought on that cry since then, it has still remained present and fresh in my ears. As his death drew near and his heart burst from the violence of the pain, his whole body convulsed and his head raised itself a little and then drooped back down again, his mouth fell open and his tongue could be seen to be all bloody. 32 His hands pulled back a little from the place of perforation and his feet had to bear more of the weight of his body. His fingers and arms stretched themselves out somewhat and his back stiffened tightly against the cross.
33 Then some people said to me: 'Mary, your Son is dead.' Others said: 'He has died but he will rise again.' As everyone was going away, a man came and drove a lance into his side[ 15 ] with such force that it almost went out the other side. When the spear was withdrawn, its point appeared red with blood. And it seemed to me as if my own heart had been pierced when I saw my beloved Son's heart pierced.[ 16 ] 34 Then he was taken down from the cross. I took his body on my lap; it was like a leper's, all livid. His eyes were lifeless and full of blood, his mouth as cold as ice, his beard like twine, his face grown stiff. His hands had become so rigid that they could not be bent farther down than to about his naval. I had him on my knee just as he had been on the cross, like a man stiff in all his limbs. 35 After that they laid him in a clean linen and with my linen cloth I dried his wounds and his limbs and then closed his eyes and mouth, which had been opened when he died. 36 Then they placed him in the sepulcher. How I would rather have been placed in there alive with my Son, if it had been his will! 37 These things done, dear John[ 17 ] came and brought me to his house. See, then, my daughter, what my Son has endured for you![ 18 ]
Christ's words to his bride about how he delivered himself up, of his own free will, to be crucified by his enemies, and about how to control the body from illicit movements through the consideration of his sweet passion.
The Son of God spoke to his bride, saying: "I am the Creator of heaven and earth, and it is my true body that is consecrated on the altar. Love me with all your heart, because I have loved you and delivered myself up to my enemies of my own free will, while my friends and my Mother were left in bitter grief and mourning. 2 When I saw the lance, the nails, the whips, and the other instruments of suffering ready, I still went on to suffer with joy. When my head was bleeding on all sides from the crown of thorns, and blood was flowing on all sides, then, even if my enemies had got hold of my heart as well, I would rather have let it be sundered and wounded than lose you. 3 So you are extremely ungrateful, if, in return for such great charity, you do not love me. If my head was pierced and inclined on the cross for you, your head should be inclined toward humility. Since my eyes were bloody and full of tears, your eyes should keep away from pleasurable sights. Since my ears were filled with blood and heard mocking words against me, your ears should turn aside from frivolous and unfitting talk. 4 Since my mouth was given a bitter drink to drink but was denied a sweet one, keep your own mouth from evil and let it be open for good. Since my hands were stretched out by nails, let your works, which the hands symbolize, be stretched out to the poor and to my commandments. 5 Let your feet, that is, your affections, with which you should walk toward me, be crucified as to lusts,[ 1 ] so that, just as I suffered in all my limbs, so may all your limbs be ready to obey me. I demand more service of you than of others, because I have given you a greater grace."
A good angel, the guardian of the bride, appeared praying to Christ for her. The Lord answered him and said: "A person who wants to pray for another should pray for the other's salvation. You are like a fire that is never extinguished, ceaselessly burning with my love. You see and know all things when you see me. You want nothing but what I want. So tell me, what is good for this new bride of mine?" 2 He answered: "Lord, you know all things." The Lord said to him: "All things, whatsoever has been made or will be, exist eternally in me. I understand and know all things in heaven and on earth and there is no change in me. But, in order that the bride may recognize my will tell me what is good for her, now while she is listening." 3 And the angel said: "She has a big and conceited heart. Therefore she needs the rod in order to be tamed." Then the Lord said: "What is your request for her, my friend?" The angel said: "Lord, I ask you to grant her mercy along with the rod." And the Lord said: "For your sake, I will do so, since I never perform justice without mercy. This is why the bride should love me with all her heart."
About how an enemy of God had three demons within him and about the sentence passed on him by Christ.
My enemy has three demons within him. The first resides in his genitals, the second in his heart, the third in his mouth. The first is like a seaman, who lets water in through the keel, and the water, by increasing gradually, fills up the ship. There is a flood of water then, and the ship sinks. 2 This ship stands for his body that is assailed by the temptations of demons and by his own lusts as though by storms. Lust entered first through the keel, that is, through the delight he took in bad thoughts. Since he did not resist through penance or fill the holes with the nails of abstinence, the water of lust grew day by day through his consenting. The ship being then replete or filled with the concupiscence of the belly, the water flooded and engulfed the ship in lust so that he was unable to reach the port of salvation. 3 The second demon, residing in his heart, is like a worm lying in an apple that first eats the apple's core, and then, after leaving its excrements there, roams around inside the apple until the whole apple is ruined. This is what the devil does. First he spoils a person's will and good desires, which are like the core where all the mind's strength and goodness are found, and, once the heart has been emptied of these goods, then he puts in their place in the heart the worldly thoughts and affections that the person had loved more. 4 He then impels the body itself toward his pleasure and, for this reason, the man's courage and understanding diminish and his life becomes tedious. He is indeed an apple without a core, that is, a man without a heart, since he enters my church without a heart, because he has no charity.
5 The third demon is like an archer who, looking around through the windows, shoots the unwary. How can the devil not be in a man who is always including him in his conversation? That which is loved more is more frequently mentioned. The harsh words by which he wounds others are like arrows shot through as many windows as the number of times he mentions the devil or as many times as his words wound innocent people and scandalize simple folk. 6 I who am the truth[ 1 ] swear by my truth that I shall condemn him like a whore to fire and brimstone, like an insidious traitor to the mutilation of his limbs, like a scoffer of the Lord to perpetual shame. However, as long as his soul and body are still united, my mercy is open to him. 7 What I require of him is to attend the divine services more frequently, not to be afraid of any reproach or desire any honor and never to have that sinister name on his lips again.
EXPLANATION
8 This man, an abbot of the Cistercian order, had buried someone who had been excommunicated. When he was saying the commendatory prayer over him, Lady Birgitta, rapt in spirit, heard this: "He did what lay in his power and buried him. 9 You can be sure that the first burial after this one will be his own. For he sinned against the Father, who has told us not to show partiality and not to honor the rich unjustly.[ 2 ] For the sake of a small perishable gain, this man gave honor to an unworthy person and placed him among the worthy, which he should not have done. 10 He also sinned against my Spirit, who is the communion and community of the just, by burying an unjust man next to the just. He sinned against me, too, the Son, because I have said: "He who rejects me[ 3 ] shall be rejected." This man honored and exalted someone whom my church and my vicar had rejected." The abbot repented when he heard these words and died on the fourth day.
Christ's words to his bride about the manner and the reverence she should maintain in prayer, and about the three kinds of people who serve God in this world.
I am your God who was crucified on the cross, true God and true man in one person, and who am present in the hands of the priest everyday. Whenever you offer any prayer to me, always end it with the desire that my will and not yours be done always. I do not hear your prayers on behalf of those already condemned. 2 Sometimes, too, you wish something to be done that goes against your salvation, which is why it is necessary for you to entrust your will to me, for I know all things and do not provide you with anything but what is beneficial. There are many who do not pray with the right intention, which is why they do not deserve to be heard. 3 There are three kinds of people who serve me in this world. The first are the ones who believe me to be God and the giver of all things who has power over everything. They serve me with the intention of obtaining temporal goods and honor, but the things of heaven are as nothing to them, and they would just as soon lose them so that they can obtain present goods. Worldly success in everything falls to their share, according to their wishes. Since they have lost the eternal goods, I recompense them with temporal comforts for whatever good service they do for me, right down to the last farthing[ 1 ] and their very last moment. 4 The second are the ones who believe me to be God almighty and a strict judge, but who serve me out of fear of punishment and not out of love of heavenly glory. If they did not fear me, they would not serve me. 5 The third are the ones who believe me to be the Creator of all things and true God and who believe me to be just and merciful. They do not serve me out of any fear of punishment but out of divine love and charity.[ 2 ] They would prefer any punishment, if they could bear it, rather than once provoke me to anger. They truly deserve to be heard when they pray, since their will accords with my will. 6 The first kind of servant will never depart from punishment or get to see my face. The second will not be punished as much but will still not get to see my face, unless he corrects his fear through penitence.
Christ's words to his bride describing himself as a great king, and about two treasuries symbolizing the love of God and the love of the world, and a lesson about how to make improvement in this life.
I am like a great and powerful king. Four things pertain to a king. First he has to be rich, second generous, third wise, and fourth, charitable. I am truly the king of angels and of all mankind. I have those four qualities that I mentioned. 2 In the first place, I am the richest of all, since I supply the needs of everyone and still possess as much after having given. Second, I am the most generous of all, since I am prepared to give to anyone who asks. Third, I am the wisest of all, since I know what is each person's due and what is best for him or her. Fourth, I am charitable, since I am more prepared to give than anyone is to ask. 3 I have, you might say, two treasuries. Weighty materials, heavy as lead, are stored in the first treasury, and sharp-pointed spikes line the compartment where they are kept. But these heavy things come to seem as light as feathers to a person who starts by turning them over and rolling them, and then learns how to carry them. The things that before seemed so heavy become light. and the things that before were thought to be so sharp be come soft. 4 In the second treasury there seems to be glittering gold and precious gems and delicious drinks. But the gold is really mud and the drinks are poison. 5 There are two paths into these treasuries, although there used to be only one. At the crossroads, I mean, at the entrance to the two paths, there stood a man who cried out to three men who were taking the second path, and he said: 'Listen, listen to what I have to say! But if you do not want to listen, then at least use your eyes to see that what I say is true. If you do not want to use either your ears or your eyes, then at least use your hands to touch and prove to yourselves that I do not speak falsely.'
6 Then the first of them said: 'Let us listen and see if he is telling the truth.' The second man said: 'Whatever he says is false.' The third said: 'I know he is telling the truth, but I do not care.' 7 What are these two treasuries if not love of me and love of the world? There are two paths into these two treasuries: self-abasement and complete self-denial lead to my love, while carnal desire leads to the love of the world. 8 To some people the burden they bear in my love seems to be made of lead, since when they should be fasting or keeping vigil or practicing self-restraint, they think they are carrying a load of lead. If they have to hear gibes and insults because they spend time in prayer and in the practice of religion, it is as if they were sitting on spikes; it is always a torture to them. 9 The person who wishes to stay in my love should first turn the load over, that is, make an effort to do the good by willing it with a constant desire. Then he should lift it a little, slowly, that is, he should do what he can, thinking: I can do this well if God will help me.' 10 Then, persevering in the task he has undertaken, he will begin to carry the things that earlier seemed heavy to him with such a cheerful readiness that all the hardships of fasts and vigils or any hardship whatsoever is as light as a feather to him. My friends take their rest in a place, which, to the idle and wicked, seems to be lined by spikes and thorns but which offers my friends the best repose, soft as roses.
11 The direct path into this treasury is to scorn your own will, which happens when a man, thinking on my passion and death, does not care about his own will but resists it and constantly strives to be better. 12 Although this path is somewhat difficult in the beginning, there is still a lot of pleasure in the process, so much so that the things that first seemed to be impossible to carry later become very light, so he can rightfully say to himself: 'God's yoke is easy.'[ 1 ] 13 The second treasury is the world. In it there are gold, precious gems, and drinks that look delicious but are bitter as poison once tasted. What happens to everyone carrying the gold is that, when his body weakens and his limbs fail, when his marrow is wasted and his body falls to the earth through death, then he lets go of the gold and the gems, and they are worth no more to him than mud. 14 The drinks of the world, I mean, its delights, look delicious, but, once in the stomach, they make the head grow weak and the heart heavy, they ruin the body and a person then withers away like grass.[ 2 ] As the pain of death approaches, all these delicious things become as bitter as poison. 15Self-will leads to this treasury, whenever a person does not care about resisting the lower appetites and does not meditate on what I have commanded and on what I have done, but immediately does whatever comes to mind, whether licit or not. 16 Three men are walking on this path. By them I mean all the reprobate, all those who love the world and their self-will. I cried out to them as I stood at the crossroads at the entrance to the two ways, since, through my coming in human flesh, I showed mankind two paths, as it were, the one to follow and the one to avoid, the path leading to life and the one leading to death. Before my coming in the flesh, there used to be just one path. On it all people, good and bad, went to hell. 17 I am the one who cried out, and my cry was this:
'People, listen to my words that lead to the path of life, use your senses to understand that what I say is true. If you do not listen to them or cannot listen to them, then at least look - that is, use faith and reason - and see that my words are true. In the same way as a visible thing can be discerned by the eyes of the body, so too can invisible things be discerned and believed by the eyes of faith. 18 There are many simple souls in the church who do few works but are saved by means of their faith. Through it they believe me to be the Creator and redeemer of the universe. There is no one who cannot understand and come to the belief that I am God, if only he considers how the earth bears fruit and how the heavens give rain, how the trees grow green, how the animals subsist each in its own species, how the stars are of service to mankind, how things opposed to the will of man occur.
19 From all this, a person can see that he is mortal and that it is God who arranges all these things. If God did not exist, everything would be in disorder. Accordingly, everything has been arranged by God, everything rationally arranged for the sake of man's instruction. Not the least little thing exists or subsists in the world without reason. Accordingly, if a person cannot understand or comprehend my powers due to his weakness, he can by means of faith see and believe. 20 But, people, if you do not want to use your intellect to consider my power, you can still use your hands to touch the deeds that I and my saints have done. They are so patent that no one can doubt them to be the works of God. 21 Who raised the dead and gave light to the blind if not God? Who cast out demons if not God? What have I taught if not things useful for the salvation of soul and body and easy to bear? However, the first man says or, rather, some people say: 'Let us listen and test whether it be true!' These people remain for a time in my service, not out of love but as an experiment and in imitation of others, without giving up their own will but carrying out their own will along with mine. 22 They are in a dangerous position, since they want to serve two masters,[ 3 ] although they can serve neither one well. When they are called, they will be rewarded by the master they have loved the most.
23 The second man says or, rather, some people say: 'Whatever he says is false and Scripture is false.' I am God, the Creator of all things, without me nothing has been made. I established the new and the old covenants, they came out of my mouth, and there is no falsehood in them because I am the truth. Accordingly, those who say that I am false and that Sacred Scripture is false will never see my face, since their conscience tells them that I am God, inasmuch as all things occur according to my will and disposition. 24 The sky gives them light, nor can they give any light to themselves; the earth bears fruit, the air makes the earth fruitful, all the animals are determined in a certain way, the demons confess me, the righteous suffer incredible things for the sake of my love. They see all these things, yet they do not see me. 25 They could also see me in my justice, if they considered how the earth swallows up the impious,[ 4 ] how fire consumes the wicked. Likewise they could also see me in my mercy, as when water flowed for the righteous out of the rock[ 5 ] or the waters parted for them,[ 6 ] as when the fire did not harm them[ 7 ] or the skies gave them food[ 8 ] like the earth. Because they see these things and still say I am a liar, they shall never see my face. 26 The third man says, or, rather, some people say: 'We know very well that he is the true God, but we do not care.' These people will be forever tormented, because they despise me, their Lord and God. Is not it great scorn on their part to use my gifts but to refuse to serve me? If they had acquired these things by their own industry and not entirely from me, their scorn would not seem so great. 27 But I will give my grace to those who begin to turn over my burden voluntarily and strive with a fervent desire to do what they can. I will work together with those who carry my load, that is, those who progress day by day out of love for me, and I will be their strength and will set them so on fire that they will want to do more. 28 The people who remain in the place that seems to prick them - but really is peaceful - are those who toil patiently night and day with out wearying but growing ever more ardent, thinking that what they do is little. These are my dearest friends, and they are very few, since others find the drinks in the second treasury more pleasing.
On how the bride saw a saint speaking to God about a woman who was being terribly afflicted by the devil and who was later delivered through the prayers of the glorious Virgin.
The bride saw one of the saints speaking to God[ 1 ] and saying: "Why is the devil afflicting the soul of this woman whom you redeemed by your blood?" The devil answered immediately and said: "Because she is mine by right." And the Lord said: "By what right is she yours?" The devil answered him: "There are," he said, "two paths. One leads to heaven, the other to hell. 2 When she beheld these two paths, her conscience and her reason told that she should choose my path. And because she had a free will for selecting the path of her choice, she thought it would be advantageous to turn her will toward committing sin, and she began to walk along my path. Later I deceived her through three vices: gluttony, greed for money, and sensuality. 3 Now I dwell in her belly and in her nature.[ 2 ] I hold on to her by five hands. With one hand I hold her eyes, so she will not see spiritual things. With the second one I hold her hands, so she will not perform any good deeds. With the third one I hold her feet, so she will not stray over to goodness. With the fourth one I hold her intellect, so she will not be ashamed to sin. And with the fifth one I hold her heart, so she will not return through contrition."
4 The Blessed Virgin Mary then said to her Son: "My Son, make him tell the truth about what I want to ask him." The Son said: "You are my Mother, you are the Queen of Heaven, you are the Mother of mercy, you are the consolation of the souls in purgatory, you are the joy of those making their way in the world. You are the angels' sovereign Mistress, the most excellent creature before God. You are also Mistress over the devil. Command this demon yourself, Mother, and he will tell you whatever you want." 5 The Blessed Virgin then asked the devil: "Tell me, devil, what intention did this woman have before entering the church?" The devil answered her: "She had resolved to keep from sin." And the Virgin Mary said to him: "Inasmuch as her previous intention led her to hell, tell me, in what direction does her present intention of keeping from sin tend?" The devil answered her reluctantly: "The intention of keeping from sin leads her toward heaven." The Virgin Mary said: "Because you accepted that it was your just right to lead her away from the path of the Holy Church due to her previous intention, then it is now a matter of justice that she be led back to the church on account of her present intention. 6 Now, devil, I will put another question to you: Tell me, what intention does she have in her present state of conscience?"
The devil answered: "In her mind she is terribly contrite and sorry about the things she has done, and she resolves never to commit such sins anymore but wants to improve as far as she is able." 7 The Virgin then asked the devil: "Would you tell me if the three sins of sensuality, gluttony, and greed can exist in a heart at the same time as the three good dispositions of contrition, sorrow, and the purpose of amendment?" The devil answered: "No." 8 And the Blessed Virgin said: "Would you tell me, then, which of these should shrink away and vanish from her heart, the three virtues or the three vices that you say cannot occupy the same place at the same time?" 9 The devil replied: "I say, the sins." And the Virgin answered: "The path to hell, then, is closed to her and the path to heaven lies open to her." Again the Blessed Virgin asked the devil: "Tell me, if a robber lay in wait outside the doors of the bride and wanted to rape her, what would the bridegroom do?" 10 The devil answered: "If the bridegroom is good and noble, he should defend her and risk his life for her sake." Then the Virgin said: "You are the wicked robber. This soul is the bride of the bridegroom, my Son, who redeemed her with his own blood. You corrupted and seized her by force. Therefore, since my Son is the bridegroom of her soul and Lord over you, then it is your role to flee before him."
EXPLANATION
11 This woman was a prostitute[ 3 ] who wanted to return to the world because the devil was molesting her day and night, so much so that he visibly pressed her eyes into her head[ 4 ] and, while many were watching, dragged her out of bed. Then, in the presence of many reliable witnesses, the holy lady Birgitta said openly: 12 "Get you gone, devil, you have vexed this creature of God enough." After she had said this, the woman lay pressed with her eyes on the ground for half an hour and then got up and said: "Truly, I saw the devil in the vilest of shapes going out through the window and I heard a voice saying to me: 'Woman, you have truly been set free.'" 13 From that hour on this woman was freed from all impatience and no longer suffered from filthy thoughts, and she came to her rest through a good death.
Christ's words to his bride comparing a sinner to three things: an eagle, a fowler, and a fighter.
I am Jesus Christ who am speaking with you. I am he who was in the womb of the Virgin, true God and true man. Although I was in the Virgin, I still ruled over all things together with the Father. That man, who is such a wicked enemy of mine, is like three things. First, he is like an eagle that flies in the air while other birds fly beneath it; second, like a fowler[ 1 ] playing on a pipe smeared with sticky pitch, whose tune delights the birds so that they fly to the pipe and get stuck in the pitch; third, he is like a fighter who is first in every match. 2 He is like an eagle, because in his pride he cannot possibly tolerate anyone being above him, and he injures everyone he can get at with the talons of his malice. I will cut off the wings of his power and pride and remove his malice from the earth. I will give him over to the unquenchable oil[ 2 ] 2 where he will be tormented without end, if he does not mend his ways. 3 He is also like a fowler in that he attracts everyone to himself by the sweetness of his words and promises, but anyone who comes to him gets caught in perdition and can never escape from it. For that reason the birds of hell will peck his eyes out[ 3 ] so that he will never see my glory but only the everlasting darkness of hell. 4 They will cut off his ears so that he will not hear the words of my mouth. In return for his sweet words, they will cause him bitterness from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head,[ 4 ] and he will endure as many punishments as the number of men he led to perdition. 5 He is also like a fighter who takes first place in wickedness, unwilling to yield to anybody and determined to beat everyone down. Like a fighter, then, he will have first place in every punishment; his punishment will be constantly renewed and never end. Yet, so long as his soul is with his body, my mercy stands ready for him.
EXPLANATION
6 This was a very powerful knight who hated the clergy a lot and used to hurl insults at them. The preceding revelation is about him as well as the following one: 7 The Son of God says: "O worldly knight, question the wise about what happened to proud Haman[ 5 ] who had scorned my people! Was not his an ignominious death and a great degradation? This man derides me and my friends in the same way. 8 For this reason, just as Israel did not mourn the death of Haman, my friends will not mourn the death of this man. He will die a most bitter death, if he does not mend his ways." And that is what happened.
Christ's words to his bride about how there ought to be humility in the house of God, and about how such a house denotes the religious life, and about how buildings and alms and so forth ought to be donated from goods properly acquired, and about how to make restitution.
In my house there should be all that humility which now only gets contempt. There should be a sturdy wall between the men and women, because although I am capable of defending everyone and supporting them all without any need of a wall, nevertheless, for the sake of caution and because of the devil's cunning, I want a wall separating the two residences. It should be a sturdy wall, moderately but not too high. 2 The windows should be simple and transparent, the roof moderately high, so nothing can be seen there that does not suggest humility, The men who build houses for me nowadays are like master builders who take the lord of the house by the hair as he enters and trample him underfoot. They raise mud up high and put gold underfoot. That is what they do to me, 3 They build mud, I mean, they pile up temporal and perishable goods to the sky, so to speak, while not caring at all about souls, which are more precious than gold. When I want to go to them through my preachers or through good thoughts, they grab me by the hair and trample me underfoot, I mean, they attack me with blasphemy and consider my works and words to be as despicable as mud. They think themselves much wiser.
If they wanted to build things for me and for my glory, they would first build up their own souls. 4 Let whoever builds my house take the utmost care not to let a single penny that has not been rightly and justly acquired go to the building.[ 1 ] There are plenty of people who know they possess ill-gotten goods and yet are not at all sorry for it nor have the intention of making restitution and satisfaction for their cheating and stealing, although they could make restitution and satisfaction if they were willing. However, since they realize they cannot keep these things forever, they give a part of their ill-gotten goods to the churches, as if to placate me by their donation. They reserve their other legitimate possessions for their descendants. This does not please me at all. 5 A person who wants to please me by his donations should first of all have the desire to mend his ways and should then do those good works he is capable of doing. He should lament and bewail the evil he has done and make restitution, if he can. If he cannot, he should have the intention of making restitution for his fraudulently acquired goods. 6 Then he should take care never to commit such sins again. If the person to whom he ought to restore his ill-gotten goods is no longer alive, then he can make a donation to me, who am able to pay back everyone. If he is unable to restore them, provided he humbles himself before me with a purpose of amendment and a contrite heart, I have the means to make restitution and, either now or in the future, restore their property to all those who have been cheated.
7 Let me explain to you the meaning of the house that I want built. The house is the religious life. I myself, the Creator of all things, through whom all things were made and exist, am its foundation. There are four walls in this house. 8 The first is the justice by which I will judge those who are hostile to this house. The second wall is the wisdom by which I will enlighten the inhabitants with my knowledge and understanding. The third is the power by which I will strengthen them against the machinations of the devil. The fourth wall is my mercy, which welcomes everyone who asks for it. 9 In this wall is the door of grace through which all seekers are welcomed. The roof of the house is the charity by which I cover the sins of those who love me so that they will not be sentenced for their sins. The window of the roof through which the sun enters is the consideration of my grace. Through it the warmth of my divinity is let in to the inhabitants. 10 That the wall should be big and strong means that no one can weaken my words or destroy them. That it should be moderately high means that my wisdom can be understood and comprehended in part but never fully. 11 The simple and transparent windows mean that my words are simple, yet through them the light of divine knowledge enters into the world. 12 The moderately high roof means that my words will be manifested not in an incomprehensible way but in a comprehensible and intelligible way.
The Creator's words to the bride about the splendor of his power, wisdom, and virtue, and about how those who are now said to be wise sin the most against him.
I am the Creator of heaven and earth. I have three qualities. I am most powerful, most wise, and most virtuous. I am so powerful that the angels honor me in heaven, and the demons in hell dare not look upon me. All the elements are at my beck and call. 2 I am so wise that nobody can succeed in tracking my wisdom. My knowledge is such that I know all that has been and all that will be. I am so rational that not the least little thing, whether a worm or some other animal, no matter how ugly, has been made without a reason. 3 I am also so virtuous that every good flows from me as though from a good spring and all sweetness comes from me as though from a good vine. Without me, nobody can be powerful, nobody wise, nobody virtuous. For this reason, the powerful men of the world sin against me exceedingly. I have given them strength and power so they might honor me, but they attribute the honor to themselves, as if they got it from themselves. 4 The wretches do not consider their own feebleness. If I were to send them the least little infirmity, they would immediately break down and everything would lose its value for them. How then will they be able to withstand my might and the punishments of eternity? 5 But those who are now said to be wise sin even more against me. For I gave them sense, understanding, and wisdom in order for them to love me, but the only thing they understand is their own temporal advantage. They have eyes in their head but look only to their own pleasures. They are blind as to giving thanks to me, who gave them everything, since nobody, whether good or wicked, can perceive or understand anything without me, even if I allow the wicked to incline their will to whatever they like. 6 Moreover, nobody can be virtuous without me. I could now use that commonly cited proverb: 'Everyone despises the patient man.' Because of my patience everyone thinks I am terribly foolish and that is why everyone looks down on me. 7 But woe to them when, after so much patience, I make my sentence known to them! Before me they will be like mud that drops down to the depths and does not stop until it come s to the lowest part of hell.
A pleasant dialogue of the Virgin Mother and the Son with each other and of the Virgin Mother and the Son with the bride, and about how the bride should get ready for the wedding.
The Mother appeared saying to the Son: "You are the King of glory, my Son, you are Lord over all lords, you created heaven and earth and everything in them. May your every desire be done, may your every will be done!" 2 The Son answered: "It is an ancient proverb that says 'what a youth learns in his youth. he retains in his old age.' Mother, from your youth you learned to follow my will and to surrender all your will to me. You rightly said: 'May your will be done!' 3 You are like precious gold that is laid out and hammered on a hard anvil, because you were hammered by all manner of tribulation and you suffered in my passion beyond all others. When my heart burst[ 1 ] from the vehemence of my pain on the cross, it wounded your heart like sharp steel. You would willingly have let it be cut in two, had that been my will. 4 Even if you had been able to oppose my passion and demanded that I be allowed to live, still you did not will to have it any other way than according to my will. For that reason you did well to say: 'Your will be done!'"
5 Then Mary said to the bride: "My Son's bride, love my Son, because he loves you. Honor his saints, who are in his presence. They are like countless stars whose light and splendor cannot be compared to any temporal light. As the light of the world differs from darkness, so - but much more - does the light of the saints differ from the light of this world. 6 I tell you truly that if the saints were seen clearly, as they really are, no human eye could bear it without being deprived of its bodily sight." 7 Then the Virgin's Son spoke to his bride, saying: "My bride, you should have four qualities. First, you should be ready for the wedding of my divinity wherein there is no carnal desire but only the most sweet spiritual pleasure, the kind that is appropriate for God to have with a chaste soul. In this way, neither the love for your children nor for temporal goods nor for your relatives should drag you away from my love. Do not let happen to you what happened to those foolish virgins[ 2 ] who were not ready when the Lord wished to call them to the wedding and were therefore left behind. 8 Second, you should have faith in my words.
For I am the truth, and nothing but the truth comes from my lips, and nobody can find anything but truth in my words. At times I mean what I say in a spiritual sense, and at other times according to the letter of the word, in which case my words should be understood according to their naked sense. Thus, nobody can accuse me of lying. 9 In the third place, you should be obedient in order for there to be not a single limb in your body through which you do wrong and which you do not submit to the proper penance and reparation. Although I am merciful, I do not relinquish justice. Therefore, obey humbly and cheerfully those whom you are bound to obey, so that you do not do even that which seems useful and reasonable to you if it goes against obedience. It is better to give up your own will out of obedience, even if its object is good, and to follow the will of your director,[ 3 ] provided it does not go against the salvation of your soul or is otherwise irrational. 10 In the fourth place, you should be humble, because you are united in a spiritual matrimony.
You should therefore be humble and modest on the arrival of your bridegroom. Let your handmaid be sober and restrained, I mean, let your body practice abstinence and be well disciplined, because you will bear the fruit of spiritual offspring[ 4 ] for the good of many. In the same way as when a shoot is grafted onto a dry stem and the stem begins to blossom, you must bear fruit and blossom through my grace. And my grace will intoxicate you, and the whole heavenly host will rejoice on account of the sweet wine I will give you. 11 Do not lose trust in my goodness. I as sure you that just as Zechariah and Elizabeth rejoiced in their hearts with an indescribable joy over the promise of a future child, you, too, will rejoice over the grace I want to give you, and, besides, others will rejoice through you. 12 It was an angel[ 5 ] who spoke to those two, Zechariah and Elizabeth, but it is I, the God and Creator of the angels and of you, who speak to you. For my sake, those two gave birth to my most dear friend John.[ 6 ] Through you I want many children to be born to me, not of the flesh but of the spirit. 13 Truly, I tell you, John was like a reed full of sweetness and honey, for nothing unclean ever entered his mouth nor did he ever go beyond the limits of necessity in getting what he needed to live on. Semen never left his body, which is why he can well be called an angel and a virgin."[ 7 ]
The bridegroom's words to his bride making admirable use of a fine allegory about a sorcerer in order to illustrate and explain the devil.
The bridegroom, Jesus, spoke to his bride in allegories, using the example of a frog. He said: "A certain sorcerer had fine glittering gold. A simple and mild-mannered man came to him and wanted to buy the gold. The sorcerer told him: 'You will not get this gold, unless you give me better gold and in greater quantity.' 2 He answered him: 'I desire your gold so much that I will give you what you want rather than do without it.' After having given the sorcerer better gold in greater quantity, he took the glittering gold from him and put it in a case, planning to make himself a ring from it for his finger. 3 When a short time had passed, the sorcerer went to that simple man and told him: 'The gold you bought and put in your case is not gold, as you think, but an ugly frog, which was bred in my breast and fed on my food. And in order to test the truth of the matter, open the case and you will see how the frog will leap to my breast where it was bred.' 4 When the man tried to open it and find out, a frog could be seen in the case, the cover of which was suspended on four hinges that were about to fall off. When the lid of the case was opened and the frog saw the sorcerer, he leaped to his breast. The servants and friends of the simple man saw this and said to him: 'Master, his fine gold is inside the frog and, if you like, you can easily get the gold.' 5 'How?' he asked. 'How can I?' They said: 'If someone were to take a very sharp and heated lancet and thrust it into the frog's back, he would soon get the gold out of that part of the back where there is a hollow. If he cannot find a hollow in it, then he should with every effort thrust his lancet firmly into it, and in that way you will get back what you bought.'
6 Who is this sorcerer if not the devil, enticing people to empty pleasures and glory? He promises that what is false is true and makes what is true seem to be false. He has possession of that precious gold, I mean, of the soul, which, through my divine power, I made more precious than all the stars and planets. I made it immortal and stable and more delightful to me than the rest of creation. I prepared for it an eternal resting place and dwelling with me. 7 I bought it from the power of the devil with better and more expensive gold by giving for it my own flesh, immune from every sin, and enduring so bitter a passion that not one of my limbs remained uninjured. I put the redeemed soul in a body as in a case, until the time when I would give it a place in the court of my divine presence. 8 Now, however, the redeemed human soul has become like a foul and ugly frog, leaping in his pride and living in slime through his sensuality. The gold, I mean, my rightful possession has been taken away from me. That is why the devil can indeed say to me: 'The gold you bought is not gold but a frog, bred in the breast of my delight. Separate the body from the soul and you will see that it will fly straight to the breast of my delight where it was bred.' 9 My answer to him is this: 'Since the frog is horrid to look at, horrible to hear and poisonous to touch, and is no good to me and gives me no delight but does so for you, in whose breast it was bred, then you can have it, since you have a right to it. And so when the lid is opened, that is, when the soul is separated from the body, it will fly straight to you, to remain with you forever.'
10 Such is the soul of the person I am describing to you. It is like an evil frog, full of filthiness and lust, fed at the breast of the devil. I am coming now to the case, I mean, to the soul's body, through its coming death. The case is suspended from four hinges that are about to fall off in the sense that his body is supported by four things, namely strength, beauty, wisdom, and sight, all of which are now beginning to fail him. 11 When the soul is separated from the body, it will fly straight to the devil on whose milk it was fed, since it has forgotten my love in taking up on myself for its sake the punishment it deserved. It does not requite my love with love, but, instead, takes my rightful possession away from me. It owes greater service to me who redeemed it than to any other, but it finds greater pleasure in the devil. 12 The sound of his prayer seems like the sound of a frog to me, his looks are abominable to me. His ears will never hear my joy;[ 1 ] his poisoned sense of touch will never feel my divinity. However, because I am merciful, if anyone were to touch his soul now, although it is unclean, and to examine it to see if there be any contrition in it or any goodness in his will, if anyone were to thrust into his mind a sharp and heated lancet, I mean, the fear of my strict judgment, he could still obtain my grace, if only he would consent to it. 13 If there is no contrition or charity in him, still there might be some hope, provided someone could pierce him with a sharp correction and rebuke him strongly, because so long as the soul lives in the body, my mercy lies open to everyone. See how I died for love, yet nobody repays me with love, but they take from me what is justly mine. It would be just if people improved their lives in proportion to the efforts it cost to redeem them. 14 Now, however, people want to live all the worse in proportion to the pain I suffered in redeeming them. The more I show them how abominable their sin is, the more boldly they want to sin. Look, therefore, and consider how it is not without cause that I am angry: They manage to change for themselves my good will into anger. I redeemed them from sin, and they get themselves increasingly entangled in sin. 15So, my bride, give me what you are obliged to give me, I mean, keep your soul clean for me, because I died for it in order that you might keep it clean for me."
The Mother's gentle question to the bride, and the bride's humble answer to the Mother, and the Mother's useful reply to the bride, and about the progress of good people among the wicked.
The Mother spoke to the Son's bride, saying: "You are my Son's bride. Tell me what is on your mind and what you would like!" The bride answered her: "My Lady, you know it, because you know everything." The Blessed Virgin said: "Although I know everything, I would like you to tell me while the persons here present are listening." 2 The bride said: "My lady, I am afraid of two things. First," she said, "I am afraid that I do not weep for my sins or make amends for them as much as I should like. Second, I am sad because your Son has many enemies."
The Virgin Mary answered: "I give you three cures for your first worry. First of all, think about how all things that have spirit, such as frogs or other animals, have troubles from time to time, even though their spirits do not live forever but die with their bodies. However, your spirit, and every human soul, does live forever. 3 Second, think about the mercy of God, because there are none who are such sinners that their sin is not forgiven them, if only they pray with a resolution to improve and with contrition. Third, think about how much glory the soul gains when she lives with God and in God forever.
4 I give you three cures as well for your second worry about the enemies of God being many. First, consider that your God and your Creator and theirs is also their judge, and that they will never again sentence him, even though he patiently puts up with their wickedness for a time. Second. remember that they are the children of damnation and how hard and unbearable it will be for them to burn for all eternity. 5 They are most wicked servants who will get no inheritance, while the children will receive the inheritance. But perhaps you will say: 'Then should not one preach to them?' Of course! Remember that good people are frequently found among the evil. And adopted children sometimes turn away from what is good, like the prodigal son[ 1 ] who went to a far off land and lived an evil life. 6 But sometimes preaching pricks their conscience and they return to the Father, as welcome then as they had been sinful before. So one should preach especially to them, because, though a preacher may only see wicked people in front of him, he should think to himself: 'Perhaps there are some among them who will become children of my Lord. I will therefore preach to them.' Such a preacher will get a very great reward. 7 In the third place, consider that the wicked are permitted to continue living as a trial for the good, so that they, exasperated by the habits of the wicked, might gain their reward as a fruit of patience. You can understand this better by means of an example. A rose smells sweet, is beautiful to the sight, gentle to the touch, but it only grows among thorns that are sharp to the touch, ugly to look at, and do not give off a pleasant scent.
8 Similarly, good and righteous people, although they may be gentle through patience, beautiful in their character, and sweet in their good example, still cannot make progress or be put to the test except among the wicked. The thorn is sometimes for the rose's protection, so that it will not be picked before it is in full bloom. Similarly, the wicked offer an occasion to good people not to follow them in sin, when, because of the wickedness of others, the good are held back from coming to ruin through immoderate merriment or some other sin. 9 Wine does not keep its quality well except in dregs, and neither can good and righteous people remain upright and advance in the virtues without being put to the test through tribulation and by being persecuted by the unrighteous. So put up gladly with the enemies of my Son. Remember that he is their judge and, if justice demanded that he destroy them all, he could wipe them out in a moment. Tolerate them, then, so long as he tolerates them!"
Christ's words to his bride describing an insincere man, who is called an enemy of God, and especially about his hypocrisy and all about his characteristics.
People think he is a well-dressed, strong, and dignified man, active in the battle of the Lord. However, when his helmet is removed, he is disgusting to look at and unfit for any work. His naked brain can be seen, his ears are on his forehead, his eyes at the back of his head. His nose is cut off. His cheeks are all sunken like those of a dead man. On the right side, his cheekbone and half of his lips have all fallen off, so nothing remains on the right except his uncovered throat. 2 His chest is full of swarming worms;[ 1 ] his arms are like a pair of snakes. An evil scorpion[ 2 ] sits in his heart; his back looks like burned coal. His intestines are stinking and rotten like pus-filled flesh, his feet are dead and useless for walking. I will tell you now what all this means. 3 On the outside he is the kind of man who seems to be decked out in good habits and wisdom and active in my service, but he is not like that at all. For if the helmet is removed from his head, I mean, if he were shown to people as he is, he would be the ugliest man of all. His brain is naked, inasmuch as the foolishness and frivolity of his ways are evident enough signs to good men that he is unworthy of so much honor.
If he tasted my wisdom, he would realize that the more he is raised in honor above others, so much more than others should he clothe himself in austere conduct. 4 His ears are on his forehead because, instead of the humility he should have in his high rank, and which he should let shine for others, he only wants to hear his own praises and glory. Instead, he puts on pride and that is why he wants everyone to call him great and good. 5 He has eyes at the back of his head, because all his thought is for the present and not for eternity. He thinks about how to be pleasing to men and about what is required for the needs of the body, but not about how he might please me or about what is good for souls. 6 His nose is cut off, inasmuch as he has lost the discretion by which he might distinguish between sin and virtue, between temporal and eternal glory, between worldly and eternal riches, between those brief pleasures and eternal ones. 7 His cheeks are sunken, that is, all his feeling of shame in my presence along with the beauty of the virtues by which he might please me are altogether dead as far as I am concerned. He is ashamed to sin for fear of human embarrassment but not at all out of fear of me. 8 Part of his cheekbone and lips has fallen off with nothing remaining except his throat, because the imitation of my works and the preaching of my words along with heartfelt prayer have already fallen off from him so that nothing remains in him but his gluttonous throat. But he finds the imitation of depravity and involvement in worldly affairs altogether wholesome and appealing.
9 His chest is full of worms, because in his chest, where there should be remembrance of my passion and the memory of my deeds and commandments, there is only a concern for temporal affairs and a worldly desire. These worm their way through his conscience so that he does not think of spiritual things. 10 In his heart, where I should like to dwell and where my love should reside, there resides an evil scorpion with a stinging tail and an ingratiating face. This is because ingratiat