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"I told you that no one could go by the Bridge or
come out of the river without climbing the three
steps, which is the truth.
"There are some who climb imperfectly, and some
perfectly, and some climb with the greatest
perfection. The first are those who are moved by
servile fear, and have climbed so far being
imperfectly gathered together; that is to say, the
soul, having seen the punishment which follows her
sin, climbs; and gathers together her memory to
recollect her vice, her intellect to see the
punishment which she expects to receive for her
fault, and her will to move her to hate that fault.
"And let us consider this to be the first step and
the first gathering together of the powers of the
soul, which should be exercised by the light of the
intellect with the pupil of the eye of holy faith,
which looks, not only at the punishment of sin, but
at the fruit of virtue, and the love which I bear to
the soul, so that she may climb with love and
affection, and stripped of servile fear. And doing
so, such souls will become faithful and not
unfaithful servants, serving Me through love and not
through fear, and if, with hatred of sin, they employ
their minds to dig out the root of their self-love
with prudence, constancy, and perseverance they will
succeed in doing so.
"But there are many who begin their course
climbing so slowly, and render their debt to Me by
such small degrees, and with such negligence and
ignorance, that they suddenly faint, and every little
breeze catches their sails, and turns their prow
backwards. Wherefore, because they imperfectly climb
to the first Step of the Bridge of Christ crucified,
they do not arrive at the second step of His Heart."
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"Some there are who have become faithful servants,
serving Me with fidelity without servile fear of
punishment, but rather with love. This very love,
however, if they serve Me with a view to their own
profit, or the delight and pleasure which they find
in Me, is imperfect.
"Do you know what proves the imperfection of this
love? The withdrawal of the consolations which they
found in Me, and the insufficiency and short duration
of their love for their neighbor, which grows weak by
degrees, and oftentimes disappears.
"Towards Me their love grows weak when, on
occasion, in order to exercise them in virtue and
raise them above their imperfection, I withdraw from
their minds My consolation and allow them to fall
into battles and perplexities. This I do so that,
coming to perfect self-knowledge, they may know that
of themselves they are nothing and have no grace, and
accordingly in time of battle fly to Me, as their
Benefactor, seeking Me alone, with true humility, for
which purpose I treat them thus, without drawing from
them consolation indeed, but not grace.
"At such a time these weak ones, of whom I speak,
relax their energy, impatiently turning backwards,
and sometimes abandon, under color of virtue, many of
their exercises, saying to themselves, This labor
does not profit me. All this they do, because they
feel themselves deprived of mental consolation.
"Such a soul acts imperfectly, for she has not yet
unwound the bandage of spiritual self-love, for, had
she unwound it she would see that, in truth,
everything proceeds from Me, that no leaf of a tree
falls to the ground without My providence, and that
what I give and promise to My creatures, I give and
promise to them for their sanctification, which is
the good and the end for which I created them.
"My creatures should see and know that I wish
nothing but their good, through the Blood of My
only-begotten Son, in which they are washed from
their iniquities. By this Blood they are enabled to
know My Truth, how, in order to give them eternal
life, I created them in My image and likeness and
re-created them to grace with the Blood of My Son,
making them sons of adoption. But, since they are
imperfect, they make use of Me only for their own
profit, relaxing their love for their neighbor.
"Thus, those in the first state come to naught
through the fear of enduring pain, and those in the
second, because they slacken their pace, ceasing to
render service to their neighbor, and withdrawing
their charity if they see their own profit or
consolation withdrawn from them: this happens because
their love was originally impure, for they gave to
their neighbor the same imperfect love which they
gave to Me, that is to say, a love based only on
desire of their own advantage.
"If, through a desire for perfection, they do not
recognize this imperfection of theirs, it is
impossible that they should not turn back. For those
who desire Eternal Life, a pure love, prescinding
from themselves, is necessary, for it is not enough
for eternal life to fly sin from fear of punishment,
or to embrace virtue from the motive of one's own
advantage.
"Sin should be abandoned because it is displeasing
to Me, and virtue should be loved for My sake.
"It is true that, generally speaking, every person
is first called in this way, but this is because the
soul herself is at first imperfect, from which
imperfection she must advance to perfection, either
while she lives, by a generous love to Me with a pure
and virtuous heart that takes no thought for herself,
or, at least, in the moment of death, recognizing her
own imperfection, with the purpose, had she but time,
of serving Me, irrespectively of herself.
"It was with this imperfect love that S. Peter
loved the sweet and good Jesus, My only-begotten Son,
enjoying most pleasantly His sweet conversation, but,
when the time of trouble came, he failed, and so
disgraceful was his fall, that, not only could he not
bear any pain himself, but his terror of the very
approach of pain caused him to fall, and deny the
Lord, with the words, 'I have never known Him.'
"The soul who has climbed this step with servile
fear and mercenary love alone, falls into many
troubles. Such souls should arise and become sons,
and serve Me, irrespective of themselves, for I, who
am the Rewarder of every labor, render to each man
according to his state and his labor; wherefore, if
these souls do not abandon the exercise of holy
prayer and their other good works, but go on, with
perseverance, to increase their virtues, they will
arrive at the state of filial love, because I respond
to them with the same love, with which they love Me,
so that, if they love Me, as a servant does his
master, I pay them their wages according to their
deserts, but I do not reveal Myself to them, because
secrets are revealed to a friend, who has become one
thing with his friend, and not to a servant.
"Yet it is true, that a servant may so advance by
the virtuous love, which he bears to his master, as
to become a very dear friend, and so do some of these
of whom I have spoken, but while they remain in the
state of mercenary love, I do not manifest Myself to
them.
"If they, through displeasure at their
imperfection, and love of virtue, dig up, with
hatred, the root of spiritual self-love, and mount to
the throne of conscience, reasoning with themselves,
so as to quell the motions of servile fear in their
heart, and to correct mercenary love by the light of
the holy faith, they will be so pleasing to Me, that
they will attain to the love of the friend. And I
will manifest Myself to them, as My Truth said in
these words: 'He who loves Me shall be one thing with
Me and I with him, and I will manifest Myself to him
and we will dwell together.'
"This is the state of two dear friends, for though
they are two in body, yet they are one in soul
through the affection of love, because love
transforms the lover into the object loved, and where
two friends have one soul, there can be no secret
between them, wherefore My Truth said: 'I will come
and we will dwell together,' and this is the truth." |