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Then this soul, eager with the greatness of her
desire, through the sweetness of the explanation and
satisfaction which she had received from the Truth,
concerning the state of tears, said as one enamored
-- "Thanks, thanks be to You, Supreme and Eternal
Father, Satisfier of holy desires, and Lover of our
Salvation, who, through Your Love, gave us Love
Himself, in the time of our warfare with You, in the
person of Your only-begotten Son.
"By this abyss of Your fiery Love, I beg of You
grace and mercy that I may come to You truly in the
light, and not flee far in darkness away from Your
doctrine, of which You have clearly demonstrated to
me the truth, so that, by the light thereof, I
perceive two other points, concerning which I fear
that they are, or may become, stumbling-blocks to me.
I beg, Eternal Father, that, before I leave the
subject of these states of tears, You would explain
these points also to me.
"The first is -- when a person desirous of serving
You, comes to me, or to some other servant of Yours
to ask for counsel, how should I teach him? I know,
Sweet and Eternal God, that You replied above to this
question -- 'I am He who takes delight in few words
and many deeds.' Nevertheless, if it please Your
Goodness to grant me a few more words on the subject,
it will cause me the greatest pleasure.
"And also, if on some occasion, when I am praying
for Your creatures, and in particular for Your
servants, and I seem to see the subjects of my
prayer, in one I find (in the course of my prayer) a
well-disposed mind, a soul rejoicing in You; and in
another, as it might seem to me, a mind full of
darkness; have I the right, O Eternal Father, to
judge the one soul to be in light, and the other in
darkness? Or, supposing I should see that the one
lives in great penance, and the other does not,
should I be right to judge that he who does the
greater penance has the higher perfection? I pray
You, so that I may not be deceived through my limited
vision, that You would declare to me in detail, what
You have already said in general on this matter.
"The second request I have to make is, that You
will explain further to me about the sign which You
said the soul received on being visited by You -- the
sign which revealed Your Presence. If I remember
well, oh, Eternal Truth, You said that the soul
remained in joy and courageous virtue. I would gladly
know whether this joy can consist with the delusion
of the passion of spiritual self-love; for if it were
so, I would humbly confine myself to the sign of
virtue.
"These are the things which I beg You to tell me,
so that I may serve You and my neighbor in truth, and
not fall into false judgment concerning Your
creatures and servants. For it seems to me that the
habit of judging keeps the soul far from You, so I do
not wish to fall into this snare."
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