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"When My only-begotten Son returned to Me, forty days
after the resurrection, this Bridge, namely Himself,
arose from the earth, that is, from among the
conversation of men, and ascended into Heaven by
virtue of the Divine Nature and sat at the right hand
of Me, the Eternal Father, as the angels said, on the
day of the Ascension, to the disciples, standing like
dead men, their hearts lifted on high, and ascended
into Heaven with the wisdom of My Son -- 'Do not
stand here any longer, for He is seated at the right
hand of the Father!'
"When He, then, had thus ascended on high, and
returned to Me the Father, I sent the Master, that is
the Holy Spirit, who came to you with My power and
the wisdom of My Son, and with His own clemency,
which is the essence of the Holy Spirit. He is one
thing with Me, the Father, and with My Son. And He
built up the road of the doctrine which My Truth had
left in the world.
"Thus, though the bodily presence of My Son left you,
His doctrine remained, and the virtue of the stones
founded upon this doctrine, which is the way made for
you by this Bridge. For first, He practiced this
doctrine and made the road by His actions, giving you
His doctrine by example rather than by words; for He
practiced, first Himself, what He afterwards taught
you, then the clemency of the Holy Spirit made you
certain of the doctrine, fortifying the minds of the
disciples to confess the truth, and to announce this
road, that is, the doctrine of Christ crucified,
reproving, by this means, the world of its injustice
and false judgment, of which injustice and false
judgment, I will in time discourse to you at greater
length.
"This much I have said to you in order that there
might be no cloud of darkness in the mind of your
hearers, that is, that they may know that of this
Body of Christ I made a Bridge by the union of the
divine with the human nature, for this is the truth.
"This Bridge, taking its point of departure in you,
rose into Heaven, and was the one road which was
taught you by the example and life of the Truth. What
has now remained of all this, and where is the road
to be found?
"I will tell you, that is, I will rather tell those
who might fall into ignorance on this point. I tell
you that this way of His doctrine, of which I have
spoken to you, confirmed by the Apostles, declared by
the blood of the martyrs, illuminated by the light of
doctors, confessed by the confessors, narrated in all
its love by the Evangelists, all of whom stand as
witnesses to confess the Truth, is found in the
mystical body of the Holy Church.
"These witnesses are like the light placed on a
candlestick, to show forth the way of the Truth which
leads to life with a perfect light, as I have said to
you, and, as they themselves say to you, with proof,
since they have proved in their own cases, that every
person may, if he will, be illuminated to know the
Truth, unless he choose to deprive his reason of
light by his inordinate self-love. It is, indeed, the
truth that His doctrine is true, and has remained
like a lifeboat to draw the soul out of the
tempestuous sea and to conduct her to the port of
salvation.
"Wherefore, first I gave you the Bridge of My Son
living and conversing in very deed amongst men, and
when He, the living Bridge, left you, there remained
the Bridge and the road of His doctrine, as has been
said, His doctrine being joined with My power and
with His wisdom, and with the clemency of the Holy
Spirit. This power of Mine gives the virtue of
fortitude to whoever follows this road, wisdom gives
him light, so that, in this road, he may recognize
the truth, and the Holy Spirit gives him love, which
consumes and takes away all sensitive love out of the
soul, leaving there only the love of virtue.
"Thus, in both ways, both actually and through His
doctrine, He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life;
that is, the Bridge which leads you to the height of
Heaven. This is what He meant when He said, 'I came
from the Father, and I return to the Father, and
shall return to you'; that is to say, 'My Father sent
Me to you, and made Me your Bridge, so that you might
be saved from the river and attain to life.' Then He
says, 'I will return to you, I will not leave you
orphans, but will send you the Paraclete' -- as if My
Truth should say, 'I will go to the Father and
return; that is, that when the Holy Spirit shall
come, who is called the Paraclete, He will show you
more clearly, and will confirm you in the way of
truth, that I have given you.' He said that He would
return, and He did return, because the Holy Spirit
came not alone, but with the power of the Father, and
the wisdom of the Son, and the clemency of His own
Essence.
"See then how He returns, not in actual flesh and
blood, but, as I have said, building the road of His
doctrine, with His power, which road cannot be
destroyed or taken away from him who wishes to follow
it, because it is firm and stable, and proceeds from
Me, who am immovable.
"Manfully, then, should you follow this road, without
any cloud of doubt, but with the light of faith which
has been given you as a principle in Holy Baptism.
"Now I have fully shown to you the Bridge as it
actually is, and the doctrine, which is one and the
same thing with it. And I have shown it to the
ignorant, in order that they may see where this road
of Truth is, and where stand those who teach it; and
I have explained that they are the Apostles, Martyrs,
Confessors, Evangelists, and Holy Doctors, placed
like lanterns in the Holy Church.
"And I have shown how My Son, returning to Me, none
the less, returned to you, not in His bodily
presence, but by His power, when the Holy Spirit came
upon the disciples, as I have said. For in His bodily
presence He will not return until the last Day of
Judgment, when He will come again with My Majesty and
Divine Power to judge the world, to render good to
the virtuous, and reward them for their labors, both
in body and soul, and to dispense the evil of eternal
death to those who have lived wickedly in the world.
"And now I wish to tell you that which I, the Truth,
promised you, that is, to show you the perfect, the
imperfect, and the supremely perfect; and the wicked,
who, through their iniquities, drown in the river,
attaining to punishment and torment; wherefore I say
to you, My dearest sons, walk over the Bridge, and
not underneath it, because underneath is not the way
of truth, but the way of falsehood, by which walk the
wicked, of whom I will presently speak to you.
"These are those sinners for whom I beg you to pray
to Me, and for whom I ask in addition your tears and
sweat, in order that they may receive mercy from Me."
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