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"Do you know how I manifest Myself to the soul who
loves Me in truth, and follows the doctrine of My
sweet and amorous Word?
"In many is My virtue manifested in the soul in
proportion to her desire, but I make three special
manifestations.
"The first manifestation of My virtue, that
is to say, of My love and charity in the soul, is
made through the Word of My Son, and shown in the
Blood, which He spilled with such fire of love. Now
this charity is manifested in two ways; first, in
general, to ordinary people, that is to those who
live in the ordinary grace of God. It is manifested
to them by the many and diverse benefits which they
receive from Me.
"The second mode of manifestation, which is
developed from the first, is peculiar to those who
have become My friends in the way mentioned above,
and is known through a sentiment of the soul, by
which they taste, know, prove, and feel it. This
second manifestation, however, is in men themselves;
they manifesting Me, through the affection of their
love. For though I am no Acceptor of creatures, I am
an Acceptor of holy desires, and Myself in the soul
in that precise degree of perfection which she seeks
in Me.
"Sometimes I manifest Myself (and this is also a
part of the second manifestation) by endowing men
with the spirit of prophecy, showing them the things
of the future. This I do in many and diverse ways,
according as I see need in the soul herself and in
other creatures.
At other times the third manifestation
takes place. "I then form in the mind the presence of
the Truth, My only-begotten Son, in many ways,
according to the will and the desire of the soul.
Sometimes she seeks Me in prayer, wishing to know My
power, and I satisfy her by causing her to taste and
see My virtue. Sometimes she seeks Me in the wisdom
of My Son, and I satisfy her by placing His wisdom
before the eye of her intellect, sometimes in the
clemency of the Holy Spirit and then My Goodness
causes her to taste the fire of Divine charity, and
to conceive the true and royal virtues, which are
founded on the pure love of her neighbor."
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"You see now how truly My Word spoke, when He said:
'He who loves Me shall be one thing with Me.'
Because, by following His doctrine with the affection
of love, you are united with Him, and, being united
with Him, you are united with Me, because We are one
thing together.
"And so it is that I manifest Myself to you,
because We are one and the same thing together.
Wherefore if My Truth said, 'I will manifest Myself
to you,' He said the truth, because, in manifesting
Himself, He manifested Me, and, in manifesting Me, He
manifested Himself.
"But why did He not say, 'I will manifest My
Father to you'?
"For three reasons in particular. First,
because He wished to show that He and I are not
separate from each other, on which account He also
made the following reply to S. Philip, when he said
to Him, 'Show us the Father, and it is enough for
us.' My Word said, 'Who sees Me sees the Father, and
who sees the Father sees Me.' This He said because He
was one thing with Me, and that which He had, He had
from Me, I having nothing from Him; wherefore, again,
He said to Judas, 'My doctrine is not Mine, but My
Father's who sent Me,' because My Son proceeds from
Me, not I from Him, though I with Him and He with Me
are but one thing. For this reason He did not say 'I
will manifest the Father,' but 'I will manifest
Myself,' being one thing with the Father.
"The second reason was because, in
manifesting Himself to you, He did not present to you
anything He had not received from Me, the Father.
These words, then, mean, the Father has manifested
Himself to Me, because I am one thing with Him, and I
will manifest to you, by means of Myself, Me and Him.
"The third reason was, because I, being
invisible, could not be seen by you, until you should
be separated from your bodies. Then, indeed, will you
see Me, your GOD, and My Son, the Word, face to face.
From now until after the general Resurrection, when
your humanity will be conformed with the humanity of
the Eternal Word, according to what I told you in the
treatise of the Resurrection, you can see Me, with
the eye of the intellect alone, for, as I am, you
cannot see Me now.
"Wherefore I veiled the Divine nature with your
humanity, so that you might see Me through that
medium. I, the Invisible, made Myself, as it were,
visible by sending you the Word, My Son, veiled in
the flesh of your humanity. He manifested Me to you.
Therefore it was that He did not say 'I will manifest
the Father to you,' but rather, 'I will manifest
Myself to you,' as if He should say, 'According as My
Father manifests himself to Me, will I manifest
myself to you, for in this manifestation of Himself,
He manifests Me.'
"Now therefore you understand why He did not say
'I will manifest the Father to you.' Both, because
such a vision is impossible for you, while yet in the
mortal body, and because He is one thing with Me." |
