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"These are the holy and sweet works which I seek from
My servants; these are the proved intrinsic virtues
of the soul, as I have told you.
"They not only consist of those virtues which are
done by means of the body, that is, with an exterior
act, or with diverse and varied penances, which are
the instruments of virtue; works of penance performed
alone without the above-mentioned virtues would
please Me little; often, indeed, if the soul perform
not her penance with discretion, that is to say, if
her affection be placed principally in the penance
she has undertaken, her perfection will be impeded;
she should rather place reliance on the affection of
love, with a holy hatred of herself, accompanied by
true humility and perfect patience, together with the
other intrinsic virtues of the soul, with hunger and
desire for My honor and the salvation of souls.
"For these virtues demonstrate that the will is dead,
and continually slays its own sensuality through the
affection of love of virtue. With this discretion,
then, should the soul perform her penance, that is,
she should place her principal affection in virtue
rather than in penance.
" Penance should be but the means to increase virtue
according to the needs of the individual, and
according to what the soul sees she can do in the
measure of her own possibility. Otherwise, if the
soul place her foundation on penance she will
contaminate her own perfection, because her penance
will not be done in the light of knowledge of herself
and of My goodness, with discretion, and she will not
seize hold of My truth; neither loving that which I
love, nor hating that which I hate.
"This virtue of discretion is no other than a true
knowledge which the soul should have of herself and
of Me, and in this knowledge is virtue rooted.
Discretion is the only child of self-knowledge, and,
wedding with charity, has indeed many other
descendants, as a tree which has many branches; but
that which gives life to the tree, to its branches,
and its root, is the ground of humility, in which it
is planted, which humility is the foster-mother and
nurse of charity, by whose means this tree remains in
the perpetual calm of discretion. Because otherwise
the tree would not produce the virtue of discretion,
or any fruit of life, if it were not planted in the
virtue of humility, because humility proceeds from
self-knowledge.
"And I have already said to you, that the root of
discretion is a real knowledge of self and of My
goodness, by which the soul immediately, and
discreetly, renders to each one his due. Chiefly to
Me in rendering praise and glory to My Name, and in
referring to Me the graces and the gifts which she
sees and knows she has received from Me; and
rendering to herself that which she sees herself to
have merited, knowing that she does not even exist of
herself, and attributing to Me, and not to herself,
her being, which she knows she has received by grace
from Me, and every other grace which she has received
besides.
"And she seems to herself to be ungrateful for so
many benefits, and negligent, in that she has not
made the most of her time, and the graces she has
received, and so seems to herself worthy of
suffering; wherefore she becomes odious and
displeasing to herself through her guilt. And this
founds the virtue of discretion on knowledge of self,
that is, on true humility, for, were this humility
not in the soul, the soul would be indiscreet,
indiscretion being founded on pride, as discretion is
on humility.
"An indiscreet soul robs Me of the honor due to Me,
and attributes it to herself, through vainglory, and
that which is really her own she imputes to Me,
grieving and murmuring concerning My mysteries, with
which I work in her soul and in those of My other
creatures; wherefore everything in Me and in her
neighbor is cause of scandal to her. Contrariwise
those who possess the virtue of discretion.
"For, when they have rendered what is due to Me and
to themselves, they proceed to render to their
neighbor their principal debt of love, and of humble
and continuous prayer, which all should pay to each
other, and further, the debt of doctrine, and example
of a holy and honorable life, counseling and helping
others according to their needs for salvation, as I
said to you above. Whatever rank a man be in, whether
that of a noble, a prelate, or a servant, if he have
this virtue, everything that he does to his neighbor
is done discreetly and lovingly, because these
virtues are bound and mingled together, and both
planted in the ground of humility which proceeds from
self-knowledge."
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