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"With this light that is given to the eye of the
intellect, Thomas Aquinas saw Me, wherefore he
acquired the light of much science; also Augustine,
Jerome, and the doctors, and my saints. They were
illuminated by My Truth to know and understand My
Truth in darkness.
"By My Truth I mean the Holy
Scripture, which seemed dark because it was not
understood; not through any defect of the Scriptures,
but of them who heard them, and did not understand
them. Wherefore I sent this light to illuminate the
blind and coarse understanding, uplifting the eye of
the intellect to know the Truth. And I, Fire,
Acceptor of sacrifices, ravishing away from them
their darkness, give the light; not a natural light,
but a supernatural, so that, though in darkness, they
know the Truth. Wherefore that, which at first
appeared to be dark, now appears with the most
perfect light, to the gross or subtle mind; and
everyone receives according as he is capable or
disposed to know Me, for I do not despise
dispositions.
"So you see that the eye of the
intellect has received supernatural light, infused by
grace, by which the doctors and saints knew light in
darkness, and of darkness made light. The intellect
was, before the Scriptures were formed, wherefore,
from the intellect came science, because in seeing
they discerned. It was thus that the holy prophets
and fathers understood, who prophesied of the coming
and death of My Son, and the Apostles, after the
coming of the Holy Spirit, which gave them that
supernatural light.
"The evangelists, doctors,
professors, virgins, and martyrs were all likewise
illuminated by the aforesaid perfect light. And
everyone has had the illumination of this light
according as he needed it for his salvation or that
of others, or for the exposition of the Scriptures.
The doctors of the holy science had it, expounding
the doctrine of My Truth, the preaching of the
Apostles, and the Gospels of the Evangelists. The
martyrs had it, declaring in their blood the Most
Holy Faith, the fruit and the treasure of the Blood
of the Lamb. The virgins had it in the affection of
charity and purity. To the obedient ones is declared,
by it, the obedience of the Word, showing them the
perfection of obedience, which shines in my Truth,
who for the obedience that I imposed upon Him, ran to
the opprobrious death of the Cross.
"This light is to
be seen in the Old and New Testament; in the Old, by
it, were seen by the eye of the intellect, and known
the prophecies of the holy prophets. In the New
Testament of the evangelical life, how is the Gospel
declared to the faithful? By this same light. And
because the New Testament proceeded from the same
light, the new law did not break the old law; rather
are the two laws bound together, the imperfection of
the old law, founded in fear alone, being taken from
it, by the coming of the Word of My only-begotten
Son, with the law of Love, completing the old law by
giving it love, and replacing the fear of penalty by
holy fear.
"And, therefore, said My Truth to the
disciples, to show that He was not a breaker of laws:
'I came not to dissolve the law, but to fulfill it.'
It is almost as if My Truth would say to them -- The
Law is now imperfect, but with My Blood I will make
it perfect, and I will fill it up with what it lacks,
taking away the fear of penalty, and founding it in
love and holy fear. How was this declared to be the
Truth? By this same supernatural light, which was and
is given by grace to all, who will receive it?
"Every light that comes from Holy Scripture comes
and came from this supernatural light. Ignorant and
proud men of science were blind notwithstanding this
light, because their pride and the cloud of self-love
had covered up and put out the light. Wherefore they
understood the Holy Scripture rather literally than
with understanding, and taste only the letter of it,
still desiring many other books; and they get not to
the marrow of it, because they have deprived
themselves of the light, with which is found and
expounded the Scripture; and they are annoyed and
murmur, because they find much in it that appears to
them gross and idiotic.
"And, nevertheless, they appear to be much
illuminated in their knowledge of Scripture, as if
they had studied it for long; and this is not
remarkable, because they have of course the natural
light from whence proceeds science. But because they
have lost the supernatural light, infused by grace,
they neither see nor know My Goodness, nor the grace
of My servants.
"Wherefore, I say to you, that it is much better
to go for counsel for the salvation of the soul, to a
holy and upright conscience, than to a proud lettered
man, learned in much science, because such a one can
only offer what he has himself, and, because of his
darkness, it may appear to you, that, from what he
says, the Scriptures offer darkness.
"The contrary will you find with My servants,
because they offer the light that is in them, with
hunger and desire for the soul's salvation. This I
have told you, my sweetest daughter, that you might
know the perfection of this unitive state, when the
eye of the intellect is ravished by the fire of My
charity, in which charity it receives the
supernatural light. With this light the souls in the
unitive state love Me, because love follows the
intellect, and the more it knows the more can it
love. Thus the one feeds the other, and, with this
light, they both arrive at the Eternal Vision of Me,
where they see and taste Me, in Truth, the soul being
separated from the body, as I told you when I spoke
to you of the blissfulness that the soul received in
Me.
"This state is most excellent, when the soul,
being yet in the mortal body, tastes bliss with the
immortals, and oftentimes she arrives at so great a
union that she scarcely knows whether she be in the
body or out of it; and tastes the earnest-money of
Eternal Life, both because she is united with Me, and
because her will is dead in Christ, by which death
her union was made with Me, and in no other way could
she perfectly have done so.
"Therefore do they taste life eternal, deprived of
the hell of their own will, which gives to man the
earnest-money of damnation, if he yield to it."
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