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"Hitherto I have shown you in many ways how the soul
raises herself from imperfection and attains to
perfection, which she does after she has attained to
friendly and filial love.
"I tell you that she arrives at perfect love by
means of perseverance, barring herself into the House
of Self-Knowledge, which knowledge of self requires
to be seasoned with knowledge of Me, lest it bring
the soul to confusion, for it would cause the soul to
hate her own sensitive pleasure and the delight of
her own consolations.
"But from this hatred, founded in humility, she
will draw patience, with which she will become strong
against the attacks of the Devil, against the
persecutions of man, and towards Me, when, for her
good, I withdraw delight from her mind. And if her
sensuality, through malevolence, should lift its head
against reason, the judgment of conscience should
rise against it, and, with hatred of it, hold out
reason against it, not allowing such evil emotions to
get by it.
"Though sometimes the soul who lives in holy
hatred corrects and reproves herself, not only for
those things that are against reason, but also for
things that in reality come from Me, which is what My
sweet servant S. Gregory meant, when he said that a
holy and pure conscience made sin where there was no
sin, that is, that through purity of conscience, it
saw sin where there was no sin.
"Now the soul who wishes to rise above
imperfection should await My Providence in the House
of Self-Knowledge, with the light of faith, as did
the disciples, who remained in the house in
perseverance and in watching, and in humble and
continual prayer, awaiting the coming of the Holy
Spirit. She should remain fasting and watching, the
eye of her intellect fastened on the doctrine of My
Truth, and she will become humble because she will
know herself in humble and continual prayer and holy
and true desire."
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