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"I have explained to you the figure of the three
steps, in general, as the three powers of the soul,
and no one who wishes to pass by the Bridge and
doctrine of My Truth can mount one without the other,
and the soul cannot persevere except by the union of
her three powers. Of which I told you above, when you
asked Me, how the voyagers could come out of the
river.
"There are two goals, and, for the attainment of
either, perseverance is needful -- they are vice and
virtue. If you desire to arrive at life, you must
persevere in virtue, and if you would have eternal
death, you must persevere in vice. Thus it is with
perseverance that they who want life arrive at Me who
am Life, and with perseverance that they who taste
the water of death arrive at the Devil."
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"You were all invited, generally and in particular,
by My Truth, when He cried in the Temple, saying:
'Whosoever thirsts, let him come to Me and drink, for
I am the Fountain of the Water of Life.' He did not
say 'Go to the Father and drink,' but He said 'Come
to Me.'
"He spoke thus, because in Me, the Father, there
can be no pain, but in My Son there can be pain. And
you, while you are pilgrims and wayfarers in this
mortal life, cannot be without pain, because the
earth, through sin, brought forth thorns. And why did
He say 'Let him come to Me and drink'?
"Because whoever follows His doctrine, whether in
the most perfect way or by dwelling in the life of
common charity, finds to drink, tasting the fruit of
the Blood, through the union of the Divine nature
with the human nature. And you, finding yourselves in
Him, find yourselves also in Me, who am the Sea
Pacific, because I am one thing with Him, and He with
Me. So that you are invited to the Fountain of Living
Water of Grace, and it is right for you, with
perseverance, to keep by Him who is made for you a
Bridge, not being turned back by any contrary wind
that may arise, either of prosperity or adversity,
and to persevere till you find Me, who am the Giver
of the Water of Life, by means of this sweet and
amorous Word, My only-begotten Son.
"And why did He say: 'I am the Fountain of Living
Water'? Because He was the Fountain which contained
Me, the Giver of the Living Water, by means of the
union of the Divine with the human nature.
"Why did He say 'Come to Me and drink'? Because
you cannot pass this mortal life without pain, and in
Me, the Father, there can be no pain, but in Him
there can be pain, and therefore of Him did I make
for you a Bridge. No one can come to Me except by
Him, as He told you in the words: 'No one can come to
the Father except by Me.'
"Now you have seen to what way you should keep,
and how, namely with perseverance, otherwise you
shall not drink, for perseverance receives the crown
of glory and victory in the life everlasting."
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