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Then that soul, as if, in truth, inebriated, seemed
beside herself, as if the feelings of the body were
alienated through the union of love which she had
made with her Creator, and as if, in elevation of
mind, she had gazed into the eternal truth with the
eye of her intellect, and, having recognized the
truth, had become enamored of it, and said, "Oh!
Supreme and Eternal Goodness of God, who am I,
miserable one, that You, Supreme and Eternal Father,
have manifested to me Your Truth, and the hidden
deceits of the Devil, and the deceitfulness of
personal feeling, so that I, and others in this life
of pilgrimage, may know how to avoid being deceived
by the Devil or ourselves!
"What moved you to do it? Love, because You loved
me, without my having loved You. Oh, Fire of Love!
Thanks, thanks be to You, Eternal Father! I am
imperfect and full of darkness, and You, Perfection
and Light, have shown to me perfection, and the
resplendent way of the doctrine of Your only-begotten
Son. I was dead, and You have brought me to life. I
was sick, and You have given me medicine, and not
only the medicine of the Blood which You gave for the
diseased human race in the person of Your Son, but
also a medicine against a secret infirmity that I
knew not of, in this precept that, in no way, can I
judge any rational creature, and particularly Your
servants, upon whom oftentimes I, as one blind and
sick with this infirmity, passed judgment under the
pretext of Your honor and the salvation of souls.
"Wherefore, I thank You, Supreme and Eternal Good,
that, in the manifesting of Your truth and the
deceitfulness of the Devil, and our own passions, You
have made me know my infirmity. Wherefore I beseech
You, through grace and mercy, that, from today
henceforward, I may never again wander from the path
of Your doctrine, given by Your goodness to me and to
whoever wishes to follow it, because without You is
nothing done.
"To You, then, Eternal Father, do I have recourse
and flee, and I do not beseech You for myself alone,
Father, but for the whole world, and particularly for
the mystical body of the holy Church, that this truth
given to me, miserable one, by You, Eternal Truth,
may shine in Your ministers; and also I beseech You
especially for all those whom You have given me, and
whom You have made one thing with me, and whom I love
with a particular love, because they will be my
refreshment to the glory and praise of Your Name,
when I see them running on this sweet and straight
road, pure, and dead to their own will and opinion,
and without any passing judgment on their neighbor,
or causing him any scandal or murmuring. And I pray
You, Sweetest Love, that not one of them may be taken
from me by the hand of the infernal Devil, so that at
last they may arrive at You, their End, Eternal
Father.
"Also I make another petition to You for my two
fathers, the supports whom You have placed on the
earth to guard and instruct me, miserable infirm one,
from the beginning of my conversion until now, that
You unite them, and of two bodies make one soul, and
that they attend to nothing else than to complete in
themselves, and in the mysteries that You have placed
in their hands, the glory and praise of Your Name,
and the salvation of souls, and that I, an unworthy
and miserable slave, and no daughter, may behave to
them with due reverence and holy fear, for love of
You, in a way that will be to Your honor, and their
peace and quiet, and to the edification of the
neighbor.
"I now know for certain, Eternal Truth, that You
will not despise the desire of the petitions that I
have made to You, because I know, from seeing what it
has pleased You to manifest, and still more from
proof, that You are the Acceptor of holy desires. I,
Your unworthy servant, will strive, according as You
will give me grace, to observe Your commandments and
Your doctrine.
"Now, O Eternal Father, I remember a word which
you said to me in speaking of the ministers of the
holy Church, to the effect that You would speak to me
more distinctly, in some other place, of the sins
which they commit today; wherefore if it should
please Your goodness to tell me anything of this
matter, I will gladly hear it, so as to have material
for increasing my grief, compassion, and anxious
desire for their salvation; for I remember that You
said, that, on account of the endurance and tears,
the grief, and sweat and prayers of Your servants,
You would reform the holy Church, and comfort her
with good and holy pastors. I ask You this in order
that these sentiments may increase in me."
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