Flower of Devotion

Teachings, advices, meditations revealed by the Lord Jesus and the Blessed Mother to St. Gertrude, St. Mechtilde, St. Bridget, Blessed Mary of Agreda; collected by the friar Father Martin of Cochem

To the person who had been engaged in collecting and writing down the apparitions of St. Gertrude, when she had finished her work, the Lord Jesus said, pointing to the book of revelation containing:
“Whoever reads this book with humility and devotion, to the glory of My goodness, will derive great benefit from it for the salvation of his soul.”
Then the Savior added, “All that is written in this book I have sanctified with My blessing, that it may serve for the salvation of the souls of those who read it humbly and reverently.”

The Lord Jesus went on to say:
“The work of those who have composed this book is of great pleasure to me, and there is no water so fragrant that it gives off such a beautiful fragrance as every word and even every sound of this book gives off to me.”
“Out of great love, I want the reading of this book to be accompanied by graces, and that My example and My life be its setting, as it were. I want My five wounds to be, as it were, its precious ornaments, and the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit its seals, so that no one may deny Me what is Mine.”

In order that no one of the faithful might be left in any doubt as to the credibility of these promises and promises, the Saviour solemnly approved them with the following words addressed to St. Gertrude:

Just as I swore to Noah that I would not destroy the earth with a flood again, so I swear to you by My divinity that those who humbly obey these teachings (in your revelations) and live according to them will never perish, but will surely and infallibly come to Me, for I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And this oath I confirm with the seal of My Most Holy Humanity.”

How much such teachings are needed is evident from the words of the Mother of God, who, after inviting the venerable Mary of Jesus to write the “Mystical City of God” of her blessed life, said to her:
“My daughter, the world has great need of these teachings, for it does not know nor has the respect due to the almighty Lord. Out of this ignorance comes the presumption by which mortals cause the justice of God to punish and humiliate them. This lack of care has so overwhelmed them, and the darkness has so plunged them, that they do not even know how to seek a remedy, or to use the light given to them. Their misfortune is that they have neither the fear nor the respect they ought to have.”

A few words about mystics
Undoubtedly, all four women whose apparitions were selected and given by the Capuchin Father Martin of Cochem in the booklet “The Flower of Devotion” were mystics who were in close contact with God. It is no coincidence that Fr. Martin combined their visions in one work. Their outstanding spirituality left a deep mark on the spirituality of the medieval Church of Christ, and on those who lived and later read their apparitions, which enjoyed great approval and appreciation.

Saint Gertrude, also known as Gertrude of Helfta, or Gertrude the Great, was born on January 6, 1256, in what is now Germany near Eisleben (Thuringia). At the age of five, she was given to be raised by the Benedictine nuns in Helfta, where she later felt a vocation and took her religious vows. She was very carefully educated for her time, she was well versed in the Scriptures, and she wrote and expounded them in Latin. A very austere and pious life resulted in the great graces she received. For many years she experienced mystical visions and revelations, which God commanded her to write down. Even during her lifetime, she enjoyed a reputation for holiness, and her life was full of numerous miracles. She died on November 17, 1302. Canonized by Pope Clement XII in 1732.

Saint Mechtilde of Hackerborn was born near Helfta in Saxony, Germany, around 1242 into a noble family. She was very weak at birth and it was thought that she would die, but the priest who baptized her spoke prophetic words that she would become a saint. At the age of seven, little Mechtilde was sent to study in a convent in Rodersdorf, where she decided to remain as a Benedictine sister. She progressed rapidly in learning and holiness, and in time ran a convent school and led the monastery choir. She experienced numerous mystical visions and apparitions. She died on 19 November 1299 in the convent of Helfta in the reputation of sanctity. In some studies, she is erroneously given as the sister of Saint Gertrude the Great. In fact, she had a sister, also named Gertrude, who was also a nun, but she was the abbess of the convent in Helfta.

Saint Bridget (Brigitta Birgersdotter), born in 1302 in Finstad, near Upsala, Sweden. She came from a family of judges, related to the Swedish royal family. She experienced her first mystical visions as a seven-year-old child, then she regularly received apparitions. She led a very ascetic lifestyle. After a happy marriage with Ulf Gudmarsson, they had eight children and later decided to live a monastic life. Soon after, Ulf died, and Bridget became the founder of new religious congregations. At the end of her life, she moved to Rome, where she led a penitential, pilgrim and apostolic life. She died in Rome on July 23, 1373. Canonized on October 7, 1373, she is the patron saint of Sweden and Europe.
Venerable Mary of Jesus of Agreda (Maria Fernandez Coronel y Arana), born on April 2, 1602 in Agreda, Spain. She came from a very religious family, and in 1619 she joined the Franciscan Conceptionist Order, together with her sister and mother. For many years she experienced extraordinary mystical visions, especially concerning the life of the Mother of God, and she had the gift of bilocation. She was the superior of her order for many years. She died in the opinion of sanctity on 24 May 1665, and in 1667 her beatification process began.
Reading “The Flower of Devotion“, we can get the impression that the words of the apparitions are spoken as if to one and not to four different people, although Blessed Mary of Agreda lived at the greatest chronological distance from the other three holy women.
This is a proof of the immutability and continuity of the truths given to us by Heaven regarding the principles of the spiritual life and the ways of approaching God. Despite the passage of time, these holy women are a solid and sure model of Christian life and the struggle for virtue for people living today.

He has redesigned

Fr. Benedict Calcar, Capuchin

The Lord Jesus said to St. Bridget:

“I am one God with the Father and with the Holy Spirit. I am one with the Father and with the Holy Spirit, not as gods of stone or gold, as was said in the past, nor in more of them, as was then believed. There is only one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, threefold in persons, one in essence, who creates all things but was not created by anyone, immovable and omnipotent, without beginning and without end.

On another occasion the Lord Jesus said to the saint:

“I am one with the Father and with the Holy Spirit, the true God.” Although God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, there are not three gods, only three Persons and one God. You may ask: If there are three Persons, why are there not three gods? I will answer you, For there is no other God but power, wisdom, goodness itself, from whom proceeds all power under and above heaven, as well as all wisdom and godliness that can be imagined. Therefore God is threefold and one; threefold in Persons, one in Essence. For power and wisdom are the Father, from whom all things come, and who is before all things, and is mighty only of Himself, and from eternity. Wisdom and power are also the Son, who is equal to the Father, but is not mighty of Himself, but of the Father he became mighty, and of Him he is ineffably born, the beginning in the beginning and never separated from the Father. Power and wisdom are also the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, abides eternally with the Father and the Son, and is equal to them in majesty and might.
Therefore there is one God and there are three Persons, because they have one Being, one power, one will, one glory and one power. They are one in Essence, and differ only by the qualities of the Persons. For the whole Father is in the Son and in the Holy Spirit, and the Son in the Father and in the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Ghost in both, in the one Essence of the Godhead, not before or since, but in an ineffable way. There is nothing before and nothing after, nothing is greater or less than another, but everything is an ineffable whole and equality. That is why it is rightly written that God is wonderful and that He should be glorified.

On one occasion St. Mechtilde said to the Lord Jesus:
“O sweetest and most beloved! What should I train in, what do you like best?” The Lord answered, “In giving Me glory. The saint said, “Ah, teach me to praise You worthily.” Then he answered her: “First of all, you must praise the omnipotence of God the Father, that omnipotence by which he works according to his will in the Son and in the Holy Spirit, the immensity of which no creature in heaven or on earth comprehends. Then praise the inscrutable wisdom of the Son, which He possesses in the fullest communion with the Father and with the Holy Spirit, according to His will, without hindrance—wisdom which no creature can fathom. Then praise the goodness of the Holy Ghost and the love He has in infinite fullness with the Father and the Son according to all His will. A love that cannot be wholly revealed to any creature.”
To this glory the saint said:
“To you be adornment and dominion, honor and power, glory and glory for all eternity, O beloved, Triune God! You are rightly praised, you are worshipped, you are adored by all your creatures, O Most Holy Trinity. Praise, honor and thanksgiving be to you!”

On one occasion the Lord Jesus said to St. Mechtilde:

“My Father has been working until now, and I am working” (John 5:17). My Father works in you by His power and helps you in a work for which your strength would not suffice. I work with My Divine wisdom and assist you in the work that surpasses your senses. The Holy Spirit, by His exceeding goodness, completes in you a work that you cannot yet feel.”

St. Mechtilde once said to the Lord Jesus in a grave illness:
“Oh, how poor I am in spirit now, when I can neither praise You nor pray to You.” The Lord graciously answered her: “Praise Me with these words: Glory be to Thee, O sweetest, noblest, brightest, ever-peaceful, and ineffable Trinity! And then I will unite the word sweetest with My divine sweetness, the word noblest with My sublime nobility, the word brightest with My inaccessible light, the word peace full with My serenity, and the word ineffable I will add to My immeasurable goodness. Thus will I offer to the worship of the most worthy Trinity, through Myself, the most pleasing praise in sacrifice.”

Words of St. Gertrude:

Praise be to you, O almighty, most illustrious, most glorious, most sublime, sweetest, immeasurable and incomprehensible Trinity, who is one and the same God, who was before all eternity, you are now and will be the same for ever. Amen.

The words of St. Mechtilde:

“I praise you continually, God the Father, for your noble goodness that you have chosen me for your sacred service. Sanctify my spirit, that I may receive all Your gifts with holy gratitude and persevere with You with joy. Amen.
I give thanks to you, King of heaven, Son of God, I thank you forever for calling me to your service. Your holy suffering, which You endured for me, is mine. All that I suffer, I wish to offer You for it, and though my suffering is so little equal to Yours, yet deign to accept it from me. Keep me forever in Your holy grace, that I may praise You always. Jesus, my beloved, free me from the bonds of worldly things and grant that I may always be close to you.
Thank You, O Holy Spirit! I firmly believe that you are one of the Persons of the Most Holy Trinity. The stream of Your sweet fountain of love destroys all my heartaches as it flows so gently upon me from the Most Holy Trinity. I ask You, O Holy Spirit, to protect me by Your Divine love from all the wiles of evil spirits, so that they do not find what they seek in me. Amen.

In the apparitions of the Venerable Mary of Jesus we read:

“I have seen with my mind the Most High, which is in Himself, and I have received a clear knowledge and a true conviction that there is one God, infinite in His Essence and in His attributes, eternal, supreme triunity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Father is not made, nor created, nor begotten. The Son is born of the fruitfulness of the Father’s reason. The Holy Spirit comes from the Father and the Son out of love. In this indivisible Trinity there is nothing earlier or later, nothing greater or less. All three Persons are equally eternally and eternally equal to each other. There is a unity of Essence with a trinity of Persons: One God in the indivisible Trinity and three Persons in the unity of Being.
I have been made to know that this Godhead understands Himself, and this by seeing each other alone, without succession or difference of knowledge: the Father knows what the Son knows, and the Son and the Holy Spirit know what the Father knows. I saw that they loved each other with one and the same immense and eternal love. It is the complete unity of knowing, loving, and acting, equally indivisible. It is the one, incorporeal and indivible nature, the essence of the true God, in whom all perfections are united together in the highest and infinite degree.

St. Bridget heard the Lord say:

“I, God, am the Spirit.” I speak and it becomes; I command, and all things obey Me. Verily, I am the One who has given existence and life to all. Before I made Heaven, I made mountains and earth. I am in Myself, who am above and beyond all, as I am in all, as all is in Me, and without Me there is nothing. And since My Spirit dwells everywhere where He wills, and can do all things if He wills; And he knows everything, and he is faster and more agile than all the other spirits. For He possesses all power, and foresees all things present, past, and future; therefore it is My Spirit, i.e., My Divinity, which is rightly incomprehensible, but which Itself comprehends all things.

Venerable Mary of Jesus writes in her apparitions:

“I have also come to know the properties of this perfection of God. God is beautiful without blemish, eternal without measure of time, strong without weakness, alive without mortality, true without error, present in every place He fills without being limited by it. He is in all things, but without extension. There is no contradiction in His goodness, there is no infirmity in His wisdom. He is incomprehensible in wisdom, terrible in judgments, just in judgments, inscrutable in thought, true in words, holy in works, rich in treasures. No space is too far away from Him, no space too tight. He knows no change of will, sorrow does not grieve Him, the past is not past to Him, and the future is not far from Him. No origin has given Him a beginning, nor will it mark the time of the end for Him. O eternal immensity! What limitless spaces I have seen in you! What infinity I recognize in Your unlimited Being! There is no limit or an end to the gaze directed at this unlimited subject.

St. Bridget heard the Lord say:

“My splendor is ineffable and cannot be compared with anything in its charm and goodness. If my splendor were to be seen, the sight of it would make man’s body fail, just as the senses of those who saw my splendor on Mount Tabor would be weakened (cf. Mt 17). The sight of My splendor would fill the soul with such joy that it would stop working and would not have the strength to exercise the body. Since, therefore, without the work of love, there is no entrance to Heaven, and in order that faith may receive its reward, and the body may be fit for work, My splendor may be hidden for a time, so that man, through desire and faith, may see it all the more happily and abundantly in Heaven.

God is unchanging and true.
The Lord Jesus said to St. Bridget:

“Why did you become alarmed that this man (probably someone close to or close to the saint) said that My words to you were false? Will I be worse because of this man’s rebuke, or better if he praises me? For I am unchangeable, and can neither be diminished nor increased, nor do I need praise. And the man who praises Me does not benefit Me, but himself. I am the Truth, and therefore no untruth has ever come out of My mouth, nor can it ever come out of My mouth. For whatever I have spoken in a spiritual or carnal way through the prophets and other friends of Mine will come to pass, as if it were My intention at that time.
For just as in My Divinity I assumed My Humanity in one Person, so I have often spoken from the side of My Humanity, insofar as it was subject to My Divinity. On another occasion, I have spoken from the side of My Deity, insofar as it was the creator of My Humanity, as is evident from My Gospel. Though the two of these ways of speaking My speak are regarded by the slanderers and the ignorant as different, yet these words were true according to the Truth. Nor was it without purpose that I should present many things mysteriously, for justice demanded it, that My divine sentence should sometimes be kept secret from the wicked, and that every one of the pious should eagerly await My grace and receive a reward for his waiting, and that when My sentence was pronounced for a certain time, all would not cease to expect and love it for the length of time.
And I have promised many things that have now been taken away from men by their ingratitude. If they had given up their malice, I would, of course, have given them what I had promised. Therefore, let not anyone be troubled if anyone calls My words false. For what seems impossible to men is possible with Me.
My friends also wonder why My words are not immediately followed by deeds. That’s for good reason too. Was not Moses sent to Pharaoh, and yet did he not immediately show his signs? Why? For if these deeds and signs had taken place at once, neither the hardness of Pharaoh nor the power of God would have been revealed, nor would the subsequent miracles have been manifested.
And so it is now. Therefore, be of good courage! For the plough, though it is pulled by oxen, is driven by the will of Him who directs it. In the same way, My words, although you hear and know them, will not be done according to your will, but according to My will. Therefore you should submit all your will to My will and say, ‘Thy will be done, O God!’

On one occasion the Lord said to St. Bridget:

“I am the true King, and no one but Me is worthy to be called a King, for from Me all receive glory and power.” I Am, who judged the first angel when he fell through pride, lust and jealousy. I Am who judged Adam and Cain and the whole world, bringing a flood because of the sins of men. I Am, who allowed the people of Israel to be taken captive, and to be brought out of it again in a miraculous manner and with miraculous signs. In Me is and has been all righteousness.
It is without beginning and without end, and never diminishes with Me, but remains always true and unchangeable, and since at the present time My justice seems to be a little milder, and God seems to be more patient in His government, this is not a change in My righteousness, which is never subject to change, but a greater manifestation of My love. For I judge the world now with the same righteousness and with the same truth of judgment with which I once permitted My people to be in captivity in Egypt, and by virtue of which I sent them afflictions in the wilderness. But before My incarnation, there was the Love I had in righteousness, as if it were covered by light, or as if veiled by clouds. After I had assumed humanity, the law was changed, but justice did not, indeed, Love through the Son of God appeared more clearly and in a more abundant light, and in a threefold way.
First, by the relaxation of the law, which, because of the disobedient and obstinate, was hard and hard to keep the proud in check. Second, because the Son of God suffered and died. Thirdly, because the judgment of mercy seems to have been postponed longer than before, and more lenient towards sinners. For very severe and severe was the justice of our first parents, in the waters of the deluge, in the death of those who were slain in the wilderness. The same righteousness is with Me as it has always been. Only now I show a little more mercy and love, which formerly because of wisdom and mercy were hidden in justice, although they were hidden secretly, for I have never administered justice without mercy, nor mercy without justice.
I have loved man from the beginning, but no one heeds or cares for My love. And because I am just and merciful, I exhort those who have turned away from Me to seek My mercy, lest My righteousness, which is strong as a mountain, burning as fire, terrible as thunder, and swift as an arrow from a taut bow, may not overtake them.

On one occasion the Lord said to St. Bridget:

“I complain of those who have pledged themselves to be mine and have turned their backs on me. For I am their Creator, their Redeemer, and their Helper. I created their body and their members. Everything in the world, I have arranged for their benefit. I redeemed them with My Blood. Through My Passion I have acquired for them an eternal inheritance. By defending them in all dangers, I give them power to occupy and to work. And they have turned their backs on Me. My Passions are of no avail. They neglect My Words, through which My soul rejoices and rejoices. They despise Me and resolve in their hearts and in all their desires to give up their bodies and tear them apart for the praise of men, to shed their blood for the fulfillment of their passions, and to die willingly for
worldly and vain things and for the words of Satan.
Yet, even though they have turned their backs on Me, My mercy and My justice are still upon them. For by My mercy I protect them from falling into the possession of Satan, and by My justice I bear them patiently.
And if they still want to repent, I will receive them with joy, and I will go out to meet them with joy.

Once the Lord said to St. Bridget:

“I am your God!” My Spirit has guided you to hear, see, and feel. You hear My words, see the similarities, and feel My Spirit with joy and devotion in your soul. In Me is all mercy with justice, and in justice is mercy. I am like one who sees his friends fall on the road where there is a terrible chaos from which it is impossible for them to rise. To these friends I speak through those who have knowledge of the Scriptures, I speak through plagues, and I warn them of the danger that threatens them. But they go astray and do not care about My Words.
My words are actually just one word, namely, “Sinner, turn to Me! Thou hast walked in a perilous way, for there is a snare hidden in it, and because of the obscuration of thy mind thou canst not know it.” This word of Mine is despised. No one cares about My mercy.
Though I am so merciful as to warn them when they sin, yet I am also so just that even though all the angels wish to protect them, they will not incite them to retreat unless they themselves willingly turn to good. If, on the other hand, they direct their will to the good, and if they agree to accept all that comes from Me with joy, then all the devils will not stop them from pursuing Me.

The Lord once said to St. Bridget:

“I am like a mother who goes out to meet her lost son and gives him a light along the way so that he may see the path. Out of love, he goes to meet him, shortens his way, and when he comes to him, he embraces him with his arms and congratulates him on his happiness. In this way, to all those who return to Me and to My friends, I will meet them with love and enlighten their hearts and souls to Divine wisdom. I will embrace them in all their splendor with the choir of heaven, where there is no heaven above, and earth underneath, only the Face of God, where you have neither food nor drink, only joy.
The way to hell will be opened to the wicked. Those who walk in it will never go up, for they will have no glory or joy, and will be filled with misery and eternal shame.
That is why I speak these words and show My love, so that those who have turned to Me will return and know in Me their Creator, whom they have forgotten.

To the angel who prayed for the bride of his Lord, the Lord said:

“You are like a fighter of the Lord, who never takes off the helmet of suffering, and who never turns his eyes away from the battle because of the fear of the Lord. You are strong as a mountain, burning as a flame. You are so clean that there is no stain on you. Do you desire mercy for My bride? Although you know and see everything in Me, yet tell me, so that the bride may hear what mercy you ask for her? For mercy is threefold.
One thing is that by virtue of which the body is punished and the soul is spared. This was the case with My friend Job, whose body was subject to all kinds of sufferings, while his soul was free from them.
The second kind of mercy is that when the soul and body are free from suffering, as we see in the case of that king, who gave himself up to all pleasures, and as long as he lived in the world suffered no pain either in soul or body.
The third kind of mercy is when the soul and body are punished, so that a person has sorrow in the body and suffering in the heart, as was the case with Peter and Paul and the other saints.
There are also three kinds of people in the world. The first is those who fall into sin and rise again—these I sometimes allow to feel sorrow in the flesh in order to save them.
The second kind is made up of those who would rather live forever so that they can sin forever, who have turned all their will into the world, and if they sometimes do something for Me, it is in order to take away the temporal benefit and benefit of it—such do not suffer either corporal punishment or great sorrow of heart in life on earth. only they are left to their own strength and their own will. This is because for all the good they have done for Me, they are rewarded here on earth, so that they can suffer forever afterwards; for because their wills were continually turned to sin, their punishment will also be continual.
The third type includes those who are far more afraid of sinning against Me and violating My will than of any punishment. They would rather suffer unbearably for eternity than deliberately provoke Me to anger – to these I send sorrow of body and soul, as I did to Peter and Paul and the other saints, so that what they have sinned in this world they may also correct in this world, or they may be purified for a time for My greater glory and for the example of others.

Once the Lord said to St. Bridget:

“I am the Creator of heaven and earth. You wondered, My bride, why I am so patient with sinners. It is because I am merciful. My justice abolishes them in three ways.
Firstly, so that their time may be fulfilled. For as a just king who has several criminals in prison, when someone asks him why he does not have them executed, he answers, “Since the day has not yet come when they are to be interrogated for the greater warning of those present, so I also endure the wicked, until their time comes that others may know their malice.” Did I not foretell long in advance that I would reject Saul before the people knew of him? That is why I have endured this for so long, that others may know of his malice. Secondly, because the wicked often do good deeds for which they will receive a reward for even the smallest moment of their lives. They must receive the reward, so that they will not do the slightest good thing for me, so that they will not be rewarded for it, and that they will not receive my reward here on earth. Thirdly, that the reverence and patience of God may be manifested. That’s why I put up with Pilate, Herod, and Judas.
For three reasons, too, My mercy spares evil people. First, for My love is too great, for the eternal punishment is long. That is why I suffer them for My very great love, until the last moment, so that by the long delay of the time I leave them, their torments may later begin. Secondly, that their nature should be consumed by sin, for sin consumes nature, so that it may not feel the death of the flesh more bitterly, as it would have if their nature had been fresher.
For fresh nature suffers a longer and more bitter death. Thirdly, that the good may progress in virtue, and that some of the wicked may be converted. For when good and righteous men are grieved by the wicked, they benefit either by abstaining from sin or by increasing their merit. Bad people live in a similar way, sometimes for the benefit of other bad people. For when the wicked look upon the fall and wickedness of other wicked men, they begin to reflect upon themselves and ask themselves, “What good is it for us to imitate them? Because the Lord is so patient, it will be better that we improve.” And so, sometimes those who have turned away from Me come back to Me because they abhor doing what the wicked do, and their conscience advises them to repent.

The Lord once said to St. Gertrude:

“The excess of my love, by which I seek the salvation of men, often compels me to believe that my elect, in all the good things they wish, desire me alone, because I am the source in which all goods are
contained and from which all things flow. When, for instance, a man wishes for health, peace, comfort, wisdom, or other such things, My goodness often looks upon it as if he wished for Me alone in all these things, that I might thereby increase the value of his reward. If, for this purpose, he does not consciously arouse these wishes in order to distance himself from Me, if, for example, he does not wish for wisdom in order to satisfy his presumptuousness and pride, or for health in order to be able to do evil. Wherefore I visit My dearest friends often with bodily sicknesses, inward restlessness and confusion of spirit, and similar afflictions, so that the ardent love which I carry in My heart for their good may impart to them the more abundant efficacy of My generosity, when they demand goods which are contrary to these burdens.

To this be added another explanation, quite similar to the above, by which St. Gertrude knew that the Lord, whose delight it is to dwell among the children of men” (Prov. 8), sends bodily and spiritual sicknesses in those in whom he finds nothing worthy of his presence, in his goodness and love, in order that he may have a reason to dwell with them. according to the words of Scripture: “The Lord is near to those who are afflicted in heart” (Ps 33:19), and in another place: “I am with him in his sorrow.”
May the sincere appreciation of human misery in contemplating this excessive goodness manifested in one circumstance or another lead us to cry out from the depths of our souls: “O the depth of the riches, wisdom and knowledge of God, as are his judgments and his ways unfathomable.” (Romans 11:33), i.e., the ways of goodness and love that God chooses to save people.

On one occasion the Lord said to St. Bridget:

“I want to be loved fervently, for I am the fire of God’s love. There are three miraculous phenomena in My fire. First, that it burns, but never needs to be lit. Secondly, that it never goes out. Thirdly, that it burns all the time, but it is not digested.
Such was My love for man from the beginning in My Divinity, which, when I assumed humanity, burned more fiercely and burns so much that it never goes out, but makes the soul burn; Nor does it digest it, but constantly strengthens it.

On one occasion Saint Mechtilde saw the Lord seated on a throne, around whom walked Love in the form of a beautiful virgin and sang: “I have walked around the circle of heaven by myself” (Sir 24:8). From these words St. Mechtilde understood that Love itself had conquered the omnipotence of the Divine Majesty, had poured out His sweetest goodness completely, had completely conquered the severity of Divine Justice, and had turned it into gentleness, and bent the Lord of Majesty to the misery of our exile. (That is, it caused the Son of God to come into the world for our redemption.)

On one occasion the Love of God appeared to St. Mechtilde in the form of a lovely virgin and said to her:
“Adam’s sin could not be forgiven without Humanity and without the Blood of Christ. That very hour, when Adam sinned, I decided to mediate and took all the blame upon myself. By constantly moving the Heart of God, I induced Him to be kind and did not leave Him alone, until the moment when I took the Son of God from the Heart of the Father and placed Him in the womb of the Virgin and Mother. As Mary walked through the mountains to greet St. Elizabeth, St. John, in the womb of his Mother, was filled with such great joy by the presence of Christ that from then on he did not like any earthly joys. Then I wrapped the Son of God in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger, and I took Him to Egypt, and I stirred Him up to all that He had done and suffered for men; until I nailed Him to the Cross and thus appeased the wrath of the Father and united man with the God of the inseparable propitiation of love.”

Once, when St. Mechtilde, in thanksgiving, was contemplating the power of God’s love, which brought the Lord Jesus from the bosom of the Father to Love’s womb, the Lord Jesus said to her:
“Behold, I give myself into the power of your soul, that I may be your prisoner, and that you may command me as you please. And I will be like a prisoner, who can do nothing but what his Lord commands him, completely subject to your will.”

On the day of the Solemnity of Pentecost, when the Mass of the “Spiritus Domini” (Spirit of the Lord) began, St. Mechtilde heard a voice saying to her:
“Hear, O my soul, and rejoice! If the Holy Spirit fills the whole world in this way, you will not be excluded either.” The saint thought to herself: “Perhaps these are not the words of God, but only the words of my soul, which consoles itself?” But the Lord said to her, “These are my words, for your soul is mine, and my soul is yours, just as we read in the case of Jonathan and David, that their souls were merged together. Your soul is even more firmly bound to Mine by the bond of love, as I will show you today.”
With these words she received two wings and with their help she flew upward, and when she came to an unbelievably great luminous light, she rested there.
And an angel came to her with great reverence, and greeted her, and said, “Noble virgin! Prepare yourselves, for soon your Bridegroom will come.” To this the saint replied: “I do not know how to prepare myself properly, but if I am to be worthily prepared, the Beloved of my soul must prepare me Himself!” And at that moment the King of glory stood before her in the form and adornment of the Bridegroom, and clothed her in a white garment, and said, “Accept the robe of My innocence, which I give thee as eternal recompense.” Then he adorned her with a robe of pink color, saying, “I have prepared this garment for you out of My Passion and out of your sufferings.” Love also stood before the Lord in the form of an extraordinarily beautiful virgin. The Lord looked at her kindly and said, “You are what I am!” But because the saint thought that she was not wearing a cloak, she spread out her cloak and covered the Lord and St. Mechtilde with it, so that the saint appeared clothed in Love. And the cloak of love was covered with different colors, and so large that it was enough to cover a multitude of people. And Love said, “As many threads are in my cloak, so many consolations I give to those who come to me!”
The saint was so dissolved in her Beloved that it seemed to her as if she had the same heart with Him. Then the Lord said to her, “Now command what you will.” The saint answered: “The word ‘command❞ does not befit me, for if I had maternal power, I would call upon all creatures to praise you with all their might, with all their charm and with all the art they possess!”

On one occasion, when St. Mechtilde pressed the Child Jesus to her heart in rapture, she felt his heart beat. Three strong blows followed, followed by one weaker one. Because St. Mechtilde was astonished at this, the Child said to her:
“The beats of My heart were not like those of other men, but I have always had such beats from My childhood until My death, and that is why I died so early on the cross. The first blow comes from almighty love My heart, which was so powerful in Me that I overcame all the adversities of the world and all the cruelties of the Jews with a gentle and patient heart. The second blow comes from the wise love with which I have governed myself and all things so gracefully, and in which I have ordered as wisely as possible all things that are in heaven and on earth. The third stroke comes from sweet love, which has penetrated Me so strongly that it has sweetened all the bitterness of this world, and has even made Me so bitter a death for the salvation of men pleasing and very sweet. The fourth weak blow signifies the gentleness and goodness of My Humanity, by which I have been so unspeakably kind and kind to men.”

One Sunday, when the “Mane prima sabbati” was sung (on the morning of the first day of the week), during the stanza, “As the source of supreme goodness,” St. Mechtilde reflected on what and which goods flow from the source of all good without end. Then the Lord said to her:
“Go and see the least inhabitant of Heaven, and then you will know the source of goodness.”
St. Mechtilde began to ponder where she would find the little one, and how she would know him. Suddenly, a man dressed in a green robe, with curly golden hair, of medium height, kind in face, and very well dressed, came out to meet her. The saint said to him, “Who are you?” When asked, he replied, “I have been a robber and a thief on earth, and I have never done a good deed.” The saint went on to ask, “How did you come to these joys?”
He answered: “I did my wrongdoings not out of malice, but out of habit, because I did not know a good example, for that was how my parents brought me up. At the end of my life, I merited God’s mercy through penance.” For ten years I was in purgatory and suffered many torments, and it was only by the unmerited goodness of God that I was brought into this peace.” Then he showed St. Mechtilde all the good that God had done for him in His love, which gave her great joy. This is how she came to know the Source of goodness in the least. For if God does this to one who has done nothing good in his life, what will He do in His full of virtues and merits saints!

The words of the Most Holy Virgin Love taken from the apparitions of Venerable Mary of Jesus:
O my sweet love, O life of my soul, who are you, God the Most High, and who am I? What wilt thou make of me, that in Thy immeasurable greatness Thou hast stooped and shown me, the dust of the earth, so much mercy? What shall Thy slave girl do for Thy love, and how shall I give Thee the thanks due to Thee? How can I repay you for all the benefits you have done me? My being, my life, my strength, my senses, my wishes and sighs are all yours. Comfort Your handmaid who, because of her inability to serve You as she ardently desires, is grieving and grieving. Oh, how limited are man’s faculties! How weak is his ability, how mediocre are his feelings, that he cannot reciprocate your love as he desires! You will always be a victor before Your creatures through Your generosity and mercy. You will always celebrate the triumphs of love! We, on the other hand, must submit ourselves with gratitude and humility to You and confess that we are defeated by Your might. We will humble ourselves to dust, and Your greatness will be praised and glorified forever. Amen.

To St. Bridget the Lord said:
“A just man ought daily to devote himself daily to a twofold meditation, namely, meditation on the benefits of God and on the knowledge of himself. For when he meditates on the benefits of God and His mercy, he should know his own worthlessness and his ingratitude to the benefits of God. And when the soul feels that it deserves to be judged, it should console itself with faith and hope in the goodness of God, so that it does not perish when it contemplates God’s mercy, and does not fall into despair when it meditates on God’s judgment. Man should remember God’s mercy and judgment, so that he may constantly hope in mercy and fear judgment wisely. He should also rejoice in God’s mercy, and as a result of the contemplation of His justice, he should increase in virtue. He who daily meditates on the mercy and justice of God in hope and fear need not fear the wisdom of the world or the danger of temporal happiness. The wisdom of the world is like the sight of a basilisk, for it trusts in what it sees—the wisdom of God puts its hope in what it does not see, it does not consider the happiness of the world, it loves humility and patience, and it seeks no other reward than everlasting.”

The words of Venerable Mary of Jesus:
O eternal, incomprehensible goodness! I am astonished and amazed when I consider the immensity of Your immutable Being, and in comparison with Him the lowliness of men, and when I consider what between these two infinitely distant final points Your love has formed a mediation, a love for a creature that is not only small and weak, but at the same time ungrateful. How low and lowly is the subject to which, O Lord, Thou hast turned Thy eye, and how exalted is that to which man, in the contemplation of so great a mystery, can and ought to turn his eye and inclinations! In admiration of my spirit, and with sorrow of heart, I lament the miserable condition of mortals, their ignorance and blindness, that they refuse to acknowledge how early Your Majesty began to look upon them and to prepare for them true happiness, and with such care and love, as if in their happiness rested Your happiness!
For all the love and kindness You show us, most gracious God, be honor and glory to You for all time! Amen.

The Lord said to St. Bridget:
“I am without beginning and without end, and all things have been created by my power and ordered by my wisdom. I govern everything, including My judgment, nothing is impossible for Me, and indeed, all works are ordered with love.
I am the Creator of all spirits, good and bad. And I am the King and guide of all spirits, as well as of all living beings and things that are and have life, as well as those that are and have no life, I am the Creator. Everything that is in Heaven and on earth – I have made, by My power and strength. And all that is, that was, and all that will be, I foresaw all these things, for not the smallest worm and the smallest grain were made without me, nor can they exist without me, nor is there anything so small that can be hidden from my eyes and from my providence, for everything is of me, and I know and remember everything.”

The Lord said to St. Bridget:

“I am the King whom men should fear and worship.”
I am a great and mighty King.
A king has four things: first, he must be rich, second, gentle, third, wise, and fourth, loving. I am truly the King of angels and of all men. I also have the four qualities that I mentioned. In the first place, I am very rich, for I give to all what they need, and after giving it I have nothing less. Secondly, I am very gentle, for I am ready to give to all who ask Me. Thirdly, I am extremely wise, for I know what is necessary and useful to everyone. Fourthly, I am full of love, for I am more ready to give than anyone can ask for benefits from me.

On one occasion St. Mechtilde wished with heartfelt desire to merit this grace in order to hear the tone or sound of the voice of the Son of God, with which he was accustomed to proclaim the glory of God the Father. The Lord Jesus answered her: “My voice is nothing but ‘Let it be done!‘ – this is the omnipotence of My Divine will. For the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, were created by these words alone, as the Scriptures testify when they say, “Let there be light, let there be the establishment of heaven, etc.” For all that is in Heaven and on earth is governed by My will of God alone, and all the glory, all the joys and happiness of the saints depend only on My beck and call.”

The Lord Jesus said to St. Bridget:

“I am with the Father and with the Holy Spirit one God.
In the providence of My divinity, everything has been foreseen and ordained from the beginning and before all time. All bodily and spiritual things are regulated and ordered, and everything stands or moves according to what I foresaw and decreed. All the elements, too, are in their order and in their movements, as foreseen centuries ago, and move according to the will of the Creator. Therefore, every intelligent creature should be ready to move according to the Creator’s purpose. If, on the other hand, he does the opposite, it is clear that he is abusing his free will, and while unreasonable creatures do not exceed their limits, a man endowed with reason, by committing excesses, brings upon himself a heavy judgment, because he abuses his reason.

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to the venerable Mary of Jesus, “
High and lofty are the thoughts and intentions of the Lord. His Providence over souls is strong, merciful, and wonderful, in guiding all, namely, His friends and the elect. If men understood with what full love and solicitude this Father of mercies guides and directs them in sorrows and consolations, they would not be so anxious about themselves. They would not indulge in such burdensome, unnecessary, and even dangerous cares as they burden themselves with and cling to other creatures because of them. They would give themselves quietly to the infinite wisdom and goodness of God, who with fatherly gentleness and goodness would take care of all their thoughts, words and deeds, and all that is for their salvation. For from all eternity the Lord has had in His Divine Spirit all His elect, who are to live in the various times and ages of the world, and by the invincible power of His infinite wisdom and love He has prepared and ordered for them all the good things that serve them for salvation, so that they may finally reach the end to which He has predestined them.

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“It is of the utmost importance to rational creatures that they allow themselves to be guided by the Lord’s hand and to surrender themselves completely to the divine decrees. For mortal men know neither the ways nor the goal to which they lead.
In their ignorance they are incapable of making their own choice without falling into audacity or without exposing themselves to the great danger of eternal damnation. If, on the other hand, they give themselves wholeheartedly to Divine Providence, and recognize God as their Father, and themselves as His children and creatures, then God becomes their Protector, Helper, and Guide. And with such love that He wants to show Heaven and earth that it is His will and His job to lead His own and to direct all who trust in Him and give themselves to Him. If God were capable of giving Himself over to feelings of pain or jealousy, as men do, He would suffer and envy as many times as souls would seek what they need elsewhere and not from Him, who takes care of everything. And men should know this truth if they thought of what the Father does among them for His children, the Bridegroom for His bride, the Friend for His friend, the Prince for His beloved servants, whom He loves and desires to honor. All this is nothing compared to the Love with which God loves His people and what He wants to do for them and can do for them. God Himself says that not a hair of His elect can perish, for He has counted them all. God leads their steps to life and leads them away from death. He watches out for their deeds, graciously corrects their mistakes, anticipates their wishes, thinks ahead of their cares, defends them in dangers, cheers them up in rest, strengthens them in battle, helps them in their sorrows, spares them disappointments. God sanctifies them with His goodness, strengthens them with His power. God wants to give himself wholly to the righteous who possesses his grace and has placed his trust in him. Who, then, can comprehend how many good things and how great gifts God will pour into a heart that is thus prepared to receive them?

“If, my daughter, you wish to attain that great happiness of which I have spoken, then try, as far as you can, to attain a complete surrender in all things to Divine Providence. If she sends you sorrows, sufferings and toils, accept them with a joyful heart, in peace of mind, in patience, with living faith and with trust in the goodness of God. For His Providence will always give you only that which is best for you and most suitable for salvation. Count always on this heavenly Father and Bridegroom who surrounds you with His protection in eternal love.”

The Most Holy Virgin said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“If a man can help himself by human means, he should not expect miracles and avoid work in the hope that God will miraculously help him. The Divine Majesty helps by ordinary and suitable means. And manual labor is the proper means for the body, soul, so far as it is able, to serve the Lord, to offer sacrifices and to gain merit. A creature endowed with reason can also praise and worship God in spirit and in truth while working.

Venerable Mary of Jesus describes in her apparitions how the creation of Heaven and the angels took place:

“The cause of all causes was God, the Creator of all that has existence. God wanted to begin the miraculous works of His omnipotence at that time and in the way that pleased His free will. The origin and course of creation is narrated by Moses (the writing of the Book of Genesis (Genesis, Bereshit) is attributed by Christian and Jewish traditions to Moses. Editor’s note.) in the first chapter of Genesis, and since the Lord has given me His explanation on this
subject as well, I will here say what is necessary for the knowledge of the works and mysteries of the incarnation of the Word and of salvation from the very beginning.
On the first day, or as Moses says, “in the beginning,” God created heaven and earth: heaven for angels and men, and earth as a place of experience for men.
Then God created angels in heaven, and that in a state of grace, that by means of grace they might merit glory as a reward, for although they were in the place of glory, yet they had not yet seen the divinity face to face, until those who were obedient to the will of God had merited this happiness by grace.
Thus both the holy angels and the unfaithful angels were only a short time in the first condition of experience. The creation, experience, and determination of the angels took place in three short intervals of time. In the first moment they were all created and endowed with the grace and gifts of the Holy Spirit, so that they were very beautiful and perfect. This was followed by a small space of time in which the will of their Creator was made known and made known to all of them. They received the commandment and the rule of conduct by which they were to acknowledge their Creator as their Lord and thus to fulfill the purpose for which God had created them.

Venerable Mary of Jesus describes in her apparitions how the fall of the evil angels occurs:

“In the beginning the angels received a clear knowledge of the essence of God, that He is one in His essence and threefold in Persons. At the same time, they were commanded to render divine homage and praise to God as their Creator and supreme Lord, who is infinite in His Essence and in His perfections. All obeyed this command, but not all equally. The good angels obeyed out of love and justice, submitting their wills to their own, accepting with faith that which was beyond their powers of discernment, and joyfully obeying the commands given to them. Lucifer, on the other hand, surrendered because it seemed impossible to him to do the opposite. His submission was not out of perfect love, for he was dividing his will among himself and the sure truth of God. This was because he found the commandment heavy and uncomfortable, and that he was not doing it out of full love and justice, and that he had put himself in a position that led him to disobedience.
In the second place, God revealed to the angels that He wished to create human nature, i.e., a creature endowed with inferior reason, so that they too might love and worship God as their Creator and as their eternal Good, and that they might fear Him. He also declared that he would mark this human nature with great graces, that the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity would assume the same nature and unite it personally with the Divinity. Further, that the angels will have to recognize this Person, that is, this God-Man, not only in so far as He is God, but also in so far as He is a man, as their Head, and to render Him humble worship and divine homage; and that they would be inferior to him in dignity and grace and would be his servants. Then they received the command to recognize this God-Man as their Head.
All the holy and obedient angels obeyed this command, and manifested with all the strength of their wills and in humility the most complete obedience of their loving hearts. Lucifer, on the other hand, out of pride and jealousy, resisted and called upon the angels who followed him to do likewise. And so they did, united themselves with him, and refused to obey God’s command. For this the prince of darkness promised them that he should be their head, and that he would hold a separate dominion, independent of Christ.
Thus jealousy, pride, and lust caused the angel’s soul to become so blinded that it became the cause of the infection of innumerable angels with the plague of sin.

In the apparitions of the Venerable Mary of Jesus we read of the casting down of the evil angels from Heaven as follows:
Now there arose that great battle in Heaven which St. John describes in his revelation. For the holy and obedient angels were inflamed with zeal to defend the splendor of the Most High and the honor of the incarnate Word, which they had seen in revelation, and they asked permission from the Lord to go against the dragon and to fight against it. They also received permission from the Most High, and immediately they took up the fight against Lucifer and the other fallen angels, and fought against them with the weapons of reason, reason and truth. Uttering that irresistible word: “Who is like God?”, Saint Michael threw Lucifer, transformed into a dragon, and his followers out of Heaven.
These ungrateful angels were made unworthy by their sins to see God and his companionship eternally. Their memory was blotted out of his spirit, in which it was written by virtue of the gifts of grace bestowed upon them. They had lost the right to the places that had been reserved for them in case they would obey, and that right passed to the people, to whom the places of the fallen angels had now been given, and all trace was obliterated, and there was nothing left of them in Heaven.
The good angels, on the other hand, were rewarded for their faithfulness with the addition of seeing God, and entered triumphantly into eternal glory.

The Lord’s Invitation

On Sunday, “Esto michi” (Shrove Sunday), St. Mechtilde heard the Beloved of her soul say to her in the sweet voice of love: “Do you want to dwell with me on the mountain these forty days and nights?” The saint answered: “Oh, how willingly, my Lord, this is what I want and desire!” Then the Lord showed her a high mountain of marvellous size, which from sunrise to sunset had seven steps, by which one enters seven springs.

Entrance to the mountain

And the Lord took her and led her to the first step, which is called the step of “humility.” On it was a spring of water, which cleansed her soul from all the faults it had made with pride. Then they went to the second step, which is called the degree of gentleness,” and the spring called “patience” washed away the sins of the sins which it had brought upon itself by wrath. Thus they entered the third degree, called the stage of “love.” The fountain was here called “love,” and in it the soul was washed clean of all the sins it had committed through jealousy. On this step God stood with his soul a little longer, and the soul fell at the feet of the Lord Jesus. At that same hour there was the sound of the sweet and honeyed voice of Christ, who said: “Arise, my friend, show me your face!” (PnP 2). All the multitudes of saints and angels who were at the height of the mountain sang the sweet song of love with God and in God, as if there were only one glorious voice, so that human language is not enough to tell it.
Then they ascended to the fourth degree, called the degree of “obedience.” Here was the fountain of “holiness” that cleansed the soul of all disobedience. Then they came to the fifth degree, called the degree of “temperance.” This fountain was called “generosity,” and it cleansed the soul of all that it had done with covetousness, when it had never used created things for its salvation and for the glory of God, as it ought to have done. At that same hour they ascended to the sixth degree, called the degree of “innocence.” Here was the fountain of divine “purity,” which cleanses the soul of all carnal passions, should it sin by them. Here we see the Lord and others dressed like Him in a garment that shines brightly. And they came to the seventh degree, called the stage of “spiritual joys,” and the fountain of heavenly “joy” washed the soul from the sins of sloth. After all, this spring did not flow as fast as the others, but fell in drops quietly and slowly. For no one, as long as he lives on earth, can fully enjoy the joys of heaven, but uses them only as if it were a drop, and this happiness is nothing in comparison with all reality.
Eventually, the Friend of the Soul ascended with her to the top of the mountain. Here was a multitude of angels like birds. They had golden bells and made sweet sounds.

Throne of the Most Holy Trinity

At the top there were two thrones glittering in a marvellous ornament. The first of these was the seat of the supreme and indivisible Trinity. Four streams of living water came out of this capital. The first stream, as Saint Mechtilde understood, signified the wisdom of God, in which the Most High governs the saints so that they always recognize His will and joyfully carry it out. The second stream represented Divine Providence, in which the Most High presides over His saints in all that is good, and over-satisfies them by imparting to them an interiorgraces and freedoms. The third stream represented God’s super-riches, with which he fills his saints with the fullness of all good, so that they never desire so great things that he would not give them still more abundant goods. In the fourth stream is shown the delight of God, in which the saints live so inexpressibly joyfully in God, filled with the fullness of happiness,
overflowing in an excess of joy that has no end, for God wipes away every tear from their eyes, and there is no more death for them. 7. 17).
This throne had a golden roof over it, which in its size filled the whole circle of the earth. It represented the Deity Himself. It was adorned with precious stones and the purest gold, and it shone wonderfully, like the edifice of the King of Heaven. And this throne included a multitude of the dwellings of the saints: patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, confessors, and other elect of the Lord.

Throne of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The second throne was the seat of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who, as befits the Queen, sat beside her King. And this throne had many dwellings for the holy Virgins, who worthily imitated the Blessed Virgin Mother in their earthly lives.

Heavenly Feast

Soul of the saint, seeing Jesus, the King of glory, on the throne of His Majesty and His Mother at the right hand, fell with admiration for that Holy Face into which the angels desire to look, and fell before the throne to which all who had received the Body of the Lord in this life had gone. The Son of the Blessed Virgin served here His most glorious Body as the most precious food, and gave to everyone the Living and Whole Bread. They
were also served a cup of the Sweetest Wine. It was the Blood of the Lamb without blemish, in which hearts were washed from all sins. Thus they all experienced an over-refreshment, an unspeakable joy, and a happy union with God. Then the Lord said to the soul, “Now I give myself to you with all the good that I am and that I can give. You are in Me and I am in you, and you will never be separated from Me.”

Glorification of the Son of God in Heaven

St. Mechtilde now asked the Blessed Virgin to worship her Son with her. At that very hour the Blessed Virgin descended from her throne and, together with a choir of virgins, proclaimed the glory of her Son in ineffable adoration. And the patriarchs and prophets praised the Lord and said, “Praise and glory to the Trinity, one and threefold God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!” (Responsory for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity). And the venerable choir of the apostles sang devoutly: “To the Lord, of whom are all things, and through whom are all things, praise be for ever!” For it was the holy apostles who knew Him on earth: from whom all good flowed, through whom all things were made in heaven and on earth, and in whom all good things are preserved. Then the victorious crowd of martyrs sang, saying, “Praise be to you!” Then the devotees sang, “Blessing and brightness to you!”
When St. Mechtilde began to wonder that the angels did not sing, the Lord said, “You will sing with the angels.” At that same hour the angels sang with St. Mechtilde: “Thee, the holy Lord in the highest, the angels praise and say, ‘To thee is due honor and glory, O Lord.’”

The heavenly mountain described in the previous chapter was shown by God to St. Mechtilde once more on another day, and the saint ascended it alone. When she came to the third degree, the stage of “love,” she was washed of all her sins in the fountain. And when she came to the sixth degree, she was clothed in a white robe. When she finally climbed the last step, she saw the Lord standing on the top of the mountain. The Lord gave her his hand, lifted it up, and said, “Come, let us take a walk here!” And Sam went with her, and the saint saw nothing but Jesus. And so they came to a little house, built of transparent silver. The saint saw cheerful children, dressed in white dresses, jumping around the house and praising the Lord. She understood then that these were children who had died before the age of five and were enjoying weddings here endlessly. Then she came to another house, which was carved out of purple stone, and in it sang a multitude of souls in purple robes. The saint recognized that they were widows and married people, that they were the people of the ordinary blessed. Then they came upon a house made of shining ruby, and with which there were also an innumerable multitude of holy souls. They were those who had fought for Christ in mortality, overcame Satan, and now rejoice endlessly with God.
Then they came to a house built of the purest gold. The Lord showed it to the saint and said, “This is the house of which it is written, ‘I will bring you into my mother’s house and into my mother’s chamber’ (Song 3:4). From these words, the saint understood in God that the Virgin Mary conceived the Son of God out of the love of the Holy Spirit. Thus Christ was born of love, and His mother is Love.
When they entered the house, the saint fell at Jesus’ feet. The Lord eagerly lifted her up and held her to Himself. And all those who commended themselves to her prayer were at the door, and a rope came out of the Heart of God, by which all grasped it, which was a sign that all those for whom St. Mechtilde prayed had received grace. And when she had received the Body of Christ, the saints around the house sang: “The bread of the angels has been eaten by man, Hallelujah!” And the angels sang, “He has given them the Bread of Heaven!”
St. Mechtilde was so joyful and united in the Lord and with the Lord, in whom are all perfections and there is fullness of all good and abundance of eternal bliss.

After the death of a saintly nun, St. Gertrude saw how her soul was greeted by the Lord Jesus, as if it were His most beloved bride, amid the most tender manifestations of love, and how He had miraculously crowned her for all the victories she had won over the world in the battle of this life. And she heard the angels sing in triumph: “Who is she that comes out of the wilderness, flowing with pleasures, and leaning on her beloved? (Song 8:5).”
And when she came before the gate of the splendor of the Lord, the Lord Jesus, the most chaste Bridegroom of the Virgins, stopped her for a while, and, turning to her graciously, said, “You are my glory.” Then He placed the royal crown on her head and commanded her to ascend to the throne of His magnificence.
On the morrow, when the nun died, she was to be buried, and St. Gertrude was still praying for her, she saw the holy soul of the deceased surrounded by so much joy and glory that all human reason is too weak to comprehend it. Then she asked the deceased with what graces the Lord had rewarded her for the virtues in which she had been specially trained on earth. To which she replied when asked. “Oh, what shall I tell you of my immeasurable reward! The heavenly treasury, in which the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily (Col 2:9), is open to me. This means that I myself draw in the Heart of my most beloved Jesus Christ from the reserves of His right Side, which I was not worthy of during my life. For these provisions are only for those who love God so fervently that they rejoice when God’s discernment is given to them and can be proclaimed to all the world. Far from being so far from this degree of love, however, I took pleasure in concealing from the whole world the gifts I had received from my Divine Bridegroom, and spoke of them to no one but myself. Hence it came about that I did not have the pleasure of enjoying those goods which are only for those who have so much love.” “What shall I say,” said St. Gertrude, “when your friends and mine ask you the greatness of the reward which God has given you for your merits?” To this the soul answered: “When you breathe in the fragrance of innumerable flowers, what will you do to make known your opinion of this fragrance? No doubt you will be content to say in general that the delightful fragrance of all these flowers seemed to you to be very pleasant. In the same way, I, having tasted in my spirit in an extraordinary way the great happiness with which God has rewarded me, what else can I say about it than that the ineffable mercy of the Bridegroom of God has showered upon me a glory infinitely higher than the merits of all my thoughts, words, and deeds.”

The Lord once said to St. Gertrude:
“It is one of the qualities which the happiness of Heaven exalts above all the false goods of the earth, that the human spirit, no matter how hard it tries to represent to itself the joys promised to My elect, will never be able to conceive of the fullness which I will excessively bestow upon them.”

On one occasion St. Mechtilde saw in an apparition of Heaven a golden staircase with nine steps, surrounded everywhere by a multitude of angels. On the first step stood the Guardian Angels, on the second the archangels, and on each step was one of the choirs of angels. By divine inspiration she knew that these stairs signify the steps of heavenly happiness which the blessed enjoy according to their life on earth and the merits they have acquired. Everyone in the Church who serves God faithfully, humbly and devoutly, and who lovingly helps the sick, the poor, pilgrims and all others in need, has a place for himself on the first step and enjoys the same glory as the Guardian Angels. And those who pray more devoutly and love God more, and give instruction, advice and help to their neighbors, will be given a place on the second step in the company of the archangels. Those who exercise themselves in patience, in obedience, in voluntary poverty and in humility, and who exercise all the virtues courageously, are raised to the third degree, where the “Powers” are. Those who resist vices and lusts and Satan and all the things he submits are victorious and will receive the victory of glory in the fourth degree, where the “Powers” are. Those who are superiors of others in the Church, and who faithfully exercise the office entrusted to them, watching day and night to win souls to God, thus multiplying the talents entrusted to them according to their strength, will receive for their work their heavenly happiness in the fifth degree together with the “Princes.” Those who surrender themselves to the Divine Majesty with complete submission, who worship all men in love for the sake of God, and love themselves only because they are created in the image of God, who strive to be like God as far as they can, who subject their bodies to the dominion of the soul, who, having dominion over their spirit, they turn entirely to heavenly things, and they will rejoice in the sixth degree with the “States.” Those who are continually engaged in considerations and thoughts, who in purity of heart and peace of mind show themselves to be the chosen dwellings of God, so that they may truly be called the paradise of God, according to the statement, “My love be with the sons of men” (Proverbs 8:32), or, “And I will dwell and walk in them” (2 Corinthians 6:16), these will be assigned to the seventh degree of the choir of angels. who bear the name “Thrones“. Those who excel others in the knowledge of God and in the doctrine of God; those who, in a special blessing, behold God as face to face with a spirit separately enlightened; and all things which thus draw from the fountain of all wisdom and pour it out into the souls of others by teaching and enlightening them, these will ascend to the eighth degree of the “Cherubim.”
Finally, those who love God with all their heart and with all their soul, and who immerse themselves completely in the eternal fire of that love which is God, so that they become completely like Him; who love God, not with self-love, but with the love that God has poured into them, such as God Himself loves them; so that they love all things through God and for God; who look upon their enemies as their friends; whom nothing can dissuade from loving God, and nothing can hinder them from loving God; who also inflame others to such love, so that all men may be perfect in the love of God; those who mourn for the transgressions and sins of others, Ithat they may be their own, because they seek in all things the honor and glory of God, and not their own; they go straight to God, to the ninth degree to the “Seraphim,” and there are no other spirits between them and God.

On one occasion the Lord said to St. Mechtilde:
“Whoever wants to be My servant on earth, namely, by turning his eyes away from all obscene things and from unprofitable looking, I will open his eyes in heavenly glory to see the brightness of My Face, and I will show Myself to him in such joy that all the armies of heaven will be amazed with joy. And whoever keeps his ears
away from unprofitable and harmful hearing, to him will I sing with the sound of My voice a sweet song, for a separate praise forever. Whoever guards his mouth against superfluous and harmful words, his mouth I will open so brilliantly to proclaim My glory that he will praise Me with a special privilege before others. Whoever guards his heart against vain and evil thoughts and undesirable passions, to him I will grant him so much freedom that he will be able to rule over Me and all that he wants, and his heart will rejoice eternally with a special freedom and joy in My heart. Whoever binds own hands so that he does not commit sinful deeds, him will I generously release from all labor and grant him the grace of eternal peace. Moreover, I will exalt his deeds joined to Mine to such great dignity that the whole court of heaven will be happy with new joy.”

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“It is very regrettable that people too often indulge in when they say: ‘Let us only see to it that we secure our salvation, and whether we are glorified more or less, we do not care much for that. We’ll all meet up there!” It is a blindness by which man does not secure the salvation of his soul, but runs the risk of losing it. Such an understanding is due on the one hand to great unreasonableness, and on the other hand to a slight love for God. Whoever wishes to deal with the Divine Majesty in this way offends God. God leaves such a man in danger of losing everything. The weakness of man is already less accomplished in good works than man’s desire desires. If, therefore, this desire is small in itself, then a man runs the risk of losing everything.
He who is content with the middle or even the lowest degree of virtue leaves for his will and inclinations a vacant place in which he desires to cultivate earthly inclinations and to cultivate a love of transitory things. And yet it is not possible to keep a love for earthly things in one’s heart without it immediately beginning a struggle with the love of God. Therefore it cannot be otherwise that when one of them dwells in the heart, there is no room for the other. When a man decides to love God with all his heart and with all his strength, as the Most High requires, God already considers the debt is paid as it were, even if the soul and the rest of the soul have not reached the highest degree of reward through individual defects. Despising or disregarding this reward is not a sign of childish or friendly love, but of the love of a slave who is content to live and exist.
If the saints were permitted to return to earth in order to merit even one more degree of the higher glory of heaven, and if they were to endure all the sufferings of the world even to the last day, they would submit to it without the slightest hesitation. For they have a true and full consciousness of the value of eternal bliss, and they love God with a perfect love. Therefore the most blameworthy unreasonableness of those who, in order not to suffer and not to bear the Cross of Christ, wish to attain a lower degree of heavenly happiness. Such a wish is wholly contrary to the wish of the infinite goodness of God, who desires that all souls should accumulate so much merit that they may receive an excessively generous reward in heavenly happiness.

Venerable Mary of Jesus writes about angels in her apparitions:
“Angels are invisible rays of the divinity. They are agile in their movements and in their actions, very powerful in strength, very perfect and infallible in knowledge, unchangeable in their character and will. Once they see it, they never forget it and never lose sight of it. They are filled with grace and glory without the danger of losing these gifts.
When God wishes to give men the grace of seeing an angel, such a heavenly spirit, because it is without a body and therefore invisible, assumes upon itself an apparent body, made of air, which our senses can perceive, and which corresponds to the purpose for which the angel is to appear. Angels are more exalted and more closely related to Deity by virtue of their purely spiritual essence than are the visible creatures. In terms of their order, they are divided into three hierarchies and nine choirs³.
(Author’s Note: The individual choirs of angels, their names, and the degrees they occupy, were previously given in the chapter entitled “The Different Degrees of Heavenly Bliss.”)

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to the Venerable Mary of Jesus:

“The benefit which God does to man by giving him angels, who accompany him, teach him, and guide him through the sorrows and hardships of life, is usually forgotten by men, and thus guilty of black ingratitude. They do not heed the mercy and benefit of God that He has commanded these holy princes of heaven to protect the earthly creation, full of misery and sin. While the angels themselves possess a much nobler and more spiritual nature, and are full of magnificence, dignity and beauty. Such people, by their ingratitude and forgetfulness, deprive themselves of many graces from the angels and provoke God to anger.

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:
“My daughter, wonderful is the love, faithfulness and solicitude with which the angels help people in their need. On the other hand, the recklessness and severe ingratitude with which people repay these benefits is highly reprehensible. The heavenly spirits behold with happiness the Face of the heavenly Father with full clarity, and thus they see His infinite and fatherly love for us.
There they appreciate rightly the blood of the Lamb, which redeemed men and brought them salvation. There they see the value of souls who have been redeemed at the price of the Deity. And from this appreciation flows the solicitude and zeal with which these holy angels guard these souls and do good to those souls whom the Most High has entrusted to their care because the Lord holds them in such high esteem. Know thou that mortals would receive abundant light and incomparably great graces through this supreme service of angels, if they did not themselves shut up these fountains of inexhaustible grace by the contempt with which they repay these great benefits. Since they obstruct the way by which God in His loving providence has willed to lead them to eternal salvation, most of them perish in vain, who, through the protection of angels, might have been saved if they had not despised this grace and this means of salvation.
O my dearest daughter, because so many people are too lazy and lethargic to contemplate the paternal works of my Most Holy Son, I demand special gratitude from you in this regard. After all, he has given you a generous hand, appointing angels to be your guardians. Beware of their presence, listen to their admonitions reverently, follow their light, esteem them highly as messengers of the Most High, and ask their help, that, cleansed from sin and freed from imperfection, inflamed by the love of God, you may be raised to a full spiritual condition, and thus become able to associate with them, to be in their presence, and to receive heavenly enlightenments from them. God will not deny you this, if you prepare for it according to my instructions.”

On another occasion the Most Holy Virgin Love said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:
“Surround the angels with the same love and reverence that you would show them if you saw them with the eyes of the flesh. Be careful, therefore, and prudent in your conduct, for these princes of heaven are present with you. Do not dare to do anything in their presence that you would not wish to do publicly. Do not neglect in God’s service to do what the angels do and require of you. Remember that the angels, as blessed, are constantly looking into the face of God (cf. Mt 18:10), and therefore it would not be right for them to see something wrong while looking at you. Thank them for guarding you, defending you, and encouraging you to virtue.
Beware of their inspirations and warnings, with which they enlighten you and encourage you to turn your heart and mind to God and to exercise yourself in all the virtues. Consider that you call them often, and they answer you that you seek and find them! How many times have they exhorted you to love God, how many times have they rebuked you lovingly because of
your negligence and mistakes. If, in your temptations, in your weakness, you lost the path of God’s light, the angels waited patiently for you and opened your eyes to lead you back into the true way of God’s will. Oh, do not forget, soul, that for so many benefits received from the angels, you owe gratitude to God. Seek to show it through love for God and his holy angels!”

The Most Holy Virgin said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:
“You must have tender love for the holy angels, both for their great dignity, holiness, beauty, and high offices, as well as for the great graces and benefits which you receive through the mediation of these heavenly spirits. Strive to become like them by purity of heart and soul, by the loftiness of holy thoughts, by the fire of love, and by living as if you had neither an earthly body nor any passions. These heavenly spirits should be your friends and companions on your earthly pilgrimage, so that they may be your friends and companions in the Heavenly Homeland. Stop and commune with them now, and they will lead you in the sure paths of God’s righteousness and defend you from Satan and his temptations and deceptions. Listen to their promptings and act on them!”

From the apparitions of Venerable Mary of Jesus:
The Most High is worthy of praise, reverence and adoration, God is worthy that all creatures should love and respect and obey Him. He is powerful to do and accomplish all that His will desires, and He can desire nothing that is not just. He, who is uncreated and independent of any being, has given us by grace what we have, having created and formed us out of nothing. He can also create creatures other in time and in a way that pleases Him. It is fitting, therefore, that we should prostrate ourselves humbly before Him and pay homage to His Majesty and His Royal Highness.
Come, therefore, you angels, come with me. Let us worship Him and glorify His wonderful, mysterious judgments, His most perfect, most holy works! He is God, higher and mightier than all creatures; and He would not be so if we were able to comprehend and comprehend His masterpieces. He is infinite in wisdom and goodness, rich in His treasures and gifts. As the Lord of all things, who has no need of anyone, He can give His treasures to whomever He wills, and He cannot err in His will. He can love, and He can give Himself according to His highest pleasure. He can love whomever he wants; He can create, exalt, and enrich anyone who pleases Him, and He will always be wise, holy, and mighty.
Let us pay him homage and thanksgiving for the marvelous work he has done, for his incarnation, for the decoration of his people and for raising them up when they fell. To this Person in the two natures, divine and human, let us pay homage to God, and recognize Him as our Head. Let us confess that she is worthy of all praise, honor and adoration!

Venerable Mary of Jesus recounts in her apparitions the prayer which the Most Holy Virgin said during her life on earth before she became the Mother of the Son of God: “
Exalted princes, trusted friends of the supreme king and my guardians, by the happiness you eternally enjoy, looking unceasingly into the Face of God, I beg you to intercede for me before His Divine Throne, that He may graciously forgive me in response to your requests, if I have offended Him. Remind Him, my friends, that I am dust, though made by His hand, and that I bear His image upon me; so let him not forget me completely, poor me, who humbly praise and adore him. Ask Him to calm my fears and give me life, for I cannot live without Him. Tell me, too, how I can please Him and earn the graciousness of His Face.

Once upon a time an angel of the Lord said to St. Bridget:

“Satan is ugly in shape, coal-colored, and more hideous than all creatures. First before all, so he had to become uglier than all, because he rebelled against his Creator. Just as the Angel of God shines with the light of God and burns unceasingly in his love, so malice always fills Satan with inner fire and fear. As his malice is insatiable, so is the goodness of the Spirit of God and the grace of God ineffable. No one is so devoted to Satan that his heart is not occasionally visited and moved by the good Spirit; In the same way, no one is so good that Satan would not be willing to tempt him to evil.

St. Bridget was once in awe of witnessing the following conversation between God and Satan:
“The Lord God said to Satan: “You are created by me, and you have seen in me all righteousness. Tell Me in such a way that this (that is, St. Bridget) will hear: What kind of justice was it that you fell so much? Or what was your thought at the moment of this fall?”
Satan answered: “I have seen three things in you. First, I have seen Your magnificence, Your honor above all else, and I have thought of my own magnificence. As a result, I became proud, and I resolved not only to become Your equal, but even to surpass You. Secondly, I saw that You were mightier than all things, and therefore I wished to be mightier than You. Thirdly, I saw what was to come in the future, and since Thy splendor and Thy glory are without beginning and without end, I envied Thee, and I thought to myself how gladly I would have endured torments greater than all sufferings, if only Thee had died, and in such thoughts I fell. And that’s why all hell happened.
The Lord went on to ask, “Now, Satan, your heart has been opened. Tell her to hear, ‘What love do I have for you?’”
Satan answered, “If it were possible, you would very willingly suffer on each of your members once more the torment that you once suffered on the cross upon all the members, before you would consent to lose me.”
And the Lord said, “If, therefore, I am so merciful that I refuse forgiveness to no one who asks me, then you also humbly ask me for mercy, and I will grant it to you.”
Satan replied: “I will never do that! For when I fell, a penalty was prescribed for every sin, whether for a useless thought or for an unprofitable word, and every one of the spirits that fell will receive their punishment. Before I bent my knee to You, I would rather swallow all punishments more willingly, as long as it is possible to open and close my mouth as a punishment, so that I would constantly renew myself to bear the punishment.”
Then the Lord said to his bride, “Behold, how hardened is the prince of the world, and how mighty he is against me because of my secret righteousness. For I could destroy him in the twinkling of an eye by the power of My might, but I do not do less justice to him than I do to a good angel in Heaven. But when his time comes, which is already near, I will judge him with all those who belong to him. Therefore, my bride, always do good works, love Me with all your heart, and fear nothing, for I am Lord over Satan and over all that exists.”

St. Bridget writes in his apparitions that Satan, called by the Lord Jesus, said of himself:
“I was a seer when you created me in the greatest beauty; but because I have carelessly immersed myself in Thy radiance, I have been blinded by Thy radiance like a basilisk. I saw you when I wanted to see your beauty. I saw You in my conscience and I recognized You when You cast me down. I also knew You in the flesh You took upon Yourself, and I did what You permitted me to do. I came to know You when, by Your resurrection, You took away my prisoners from me. I acknowledge Thy power every day, by the power of which Thou hast reproached and harmed me.”

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to St. Bridget:
“There is a little animal which they call a fox; It is tireless and cunning in its needs. Sometimes it pretends to be asleep and as if it were dead so that it can catch and devour birds when they sit on it. The easier it is, the careless they approach it. The fox also watches out for the flight of birds, and those that fall to the ground under a tree out of fatigue are seized and devoured; On the other hand, those who fly farther on both wings put him to shame and frustrate his efforts.
Such a fox is Satan, who is continually pursuing God’s friends, especially those who do not yet possess the gall of his malice and the poison of his wickedness. He often pretends to be asleep, i.e., he leaves the man alone, and does not tempt him, lest if he neglects a little caution, he may the more easily deceive and ensnare him. Sometimes he presents vice as a virtue and, on the contrary, virtue as vice, so that a bewildered man may live a vain life. And if modest wisdom does not help him, he will perish. You will see it with an example. For mercy is often a vice, namely, if a man does it for the sake of pleasing men. The strict exercise of justice is an injustice if it is the result of greed or impatience. But humility is pride if it proceeds from boastfulness and appears for the purpose of being seen and admired by men. The virtue of patience may present itself in the guise of a real virtue, though it is not really so, if a man, if he could, would avenge himself for an injury he has suffered, but he does not do so merely because he has no occasion to do so.
And sometimes Satan sends sorrow and care, so that man may fall under the excess of sorrow; sometimes it fills into a man’s heart fear and anxiety, so that man may become indifferent and lazy in the service of God, or that man, if he commits the slightest carelessness, may fall into greater transgressions.
Therefore happy are the cautious souls, the birds of the Lord, who do not rest under the trees of worldly pleasures and desires, but on the trees of heaven. If they are seized by the temptation of the fox, this unjust Satan, and if they quickly depart from him on both wings, humility and confession, they will obtain heavenly help in hope.

On one occasion the Lord said to St. Bridget:
“Satan is jealous, but without God’s permission he can do no more than the straw under your feet. I have also told you that he is the father and inventor of lies, and that he never fails to add some truth to all his lies. That is why I say that Satan does not sleep, but walks around to find an opportunity and ambush you. Wherefore you ought to be on your guard lest Satan, who by virtue of the delicacy of his knowledge and by your outward movements knows thy inwardness, deceives thee. For sometimes He will send something cheerful into your heart, that you may give yourself up to vain joy, sometimes something sad, so that in the midst of your lamentations you may neglect to do many good things that you would have done otherwise. Sometimes he sends into the heart of the deceived one, who wants to please the world, a multitude of hypocritical things, by which, as by false prophets, he deceives many people. This is most often the case with people who love everything else more than they love God. Thus we know that among the many false words that Satan will speak,
there will be some that are true, otherwise he would not be able to deceive man if he did not use the truth for his lies.”

The Lord Jesus said to St. Bridget:
“Whoever proclaims the glory of God only to please men can be deceived by Satan, for these words, although they are divine, do not come from the mouth of God’s love, and consolation will be taken away from such a man. But whoever desires nothing but God, and to whom all worldly things are burdensome, whose flesh desires nothing else, neither to see nor to hear but what is God’s, and whose soul rejoices in the promptings of the Holy Ghost, cannot be deceived, for the evil spirit flees from the good spirit and does not dare to approach him.

The Most Holy Virgin said to St. Bridget:

The prayers of the devout go to the Heart of God and unite the soul with God in one bond of love. In every way, Satan often hinders the hearts of men from praying for that which would serve them salvation or which would be contrary to the pleasures of the flesh.
It may disturb them to such an extent that when they pray for other sinners, they are not heard.
The same is true of regret and repentance. With them, Satan gives man evil inspirations, which awaken in the heart of those who desire to devote themselves to sincere repentance: “Ah, you tender heart, how difficult it is to undertake extraordinary deeds! Can everyone be perfect? It is enough for you when you are one of many; Why go any further? Why do you do what others don’t? After all, you won’t be able to do it permanently anyway. Everyone will mock you as you humiliate and humiliate yourself.”
Such satanic inspirations deceive the soul, which thinks, “It is difficult to give up the things to which I am accustomed. That is why I will confess what has passed; for it is enough for me to follow the way that the greater part of men walk. I can’t be perfect. After all, God is merciful, and He did not redeem us so that we should go to perdition.”
With such thoughts, Satan dissuades the soul from listening to God’s voice. Not as if God did not know all that is going on in the soul of man, but because God, when He sees such thoughts, is angry that man is more willing to follow Satan’s temptations than to follow His voice and the voice of his own reason.
Though Satan is so cunning, yet God is wiser and more powerful than he is, and he breaks his snares, that man’s prayers may come to his throne of God. These snares are broken when God inspires man to remember what is good and to make his heart desire to have the will to flee from evil, to seek and do what pleases God.
Satan’s efforts lose their strength even when the soul humbly repents and is willing never to repeat what it has confessed. It is important to know that Satan lays his snares, not only for God’s enemies, but also for his friends. When God visits a man with his perfect inspirations, Satan stirs him up either to be suddenly carried away by pride, or to fall down in excessive fear, or to suffer and endure the sins of others through improper indulgence, or to perish ultimately through over-rejoicing or over-sorrow.”

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“It is certain that evil spirits have no power over souls unless the souls themselves submit to them and allow them to enter into themselves through venial or mortal sin. For mortal sin grants to evil spirits the express permission and authority to tempt man to further sins. Venial sin, on the other hand, weakens the strength of the soul, and gives the enemy greater power
to tempt. Finally, petty negligence hinders merit and progress in virtue and perfection, and thus also gives courage to the evil spirit. And when the evil spirit perceives that the soul is indifferent, or that it is recklessly exposing itself to dangers and neglecting the loss of merit, then Satan lies in wait for it and pursues it in order to wound it with his arrow and kill it with his deadly poison. Like an imprudent bird, the evil spirit drives the soul, which does not even suspect it until it finally falls into one of the many snares it has set for it.
Mourn, My daughter, for the fall of so many souls, who are mired in this dangerous slumber. They live from day to day, blinded by their passions and corrupt inclinations, unconcerned about the danger that threatens them, indifferent to their own harm. They do not take into account the opportunities for sin that lie in wait for them; And even instead of fearing and avoiding them, they seek them in their blind ignorance. They listen to their perverse tendencies to evil and follow them with mad haste, without fettering their passions and wishes. And they don’t even care where they’re going. Thus they throw themselves into every danger, into every abyss.
And the number of their enemies is exceedingly great; their cunning is satanic and insatiable; Their constant vigilance, their malice that knows no bounds. What wonder, then, that the carelessness and indifference of man, on the one hand, and the unspeakable cunning of Satan on the other, should do so great a harm to the soul, these two great opposites! Is it any wonder that, like the number of these foolish men, the number of the rejected is infinite, and that Satan boasts of so many triumphs which mortals are preparing for him for their own terrible downfall? Weep and grieve for this misfortune of your brethren, and beg continually for help, if it is possible.

The words of St. Mechtilde:

“Lord Jesus Christ, I, poor man, beg your help, for my enemies are pursuing me. Lord, I complain to You because they want to distance me and separate me from You. Lord, Almighty Son of God, separate them from me, do not give me over to their power, and keep me pure in You, for You have redeemed me by Your Passion. Be a help and a comfort to me, O Lord, and do not suffer me to perish, for Thou wilt have died for me.
Lord Jesus Christ, I seek Your help, awaken my soul from the sleep of laziness and enlighten my senses in darkness. Give me Your help, so that I may walk without sin on the path that leads to You, as far as it is possible for man, for you know my shortcomings. Amen.

On one occasion St. Mechtilde saw an open hell beneath her, and in it unspeakable misery and gloom, and as it were, cruel serpents, toads, wolves, and dogs, in general the forms of wild beasts terribly tearing and tearing each other apart. The saint said to the Lord, “O Lord, who are these poor people?” The Lord said to her, “These are the ones who have never thought of me with sweetness for an hour.”

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to St. Bridget:
“And God reigns in hell by His ordered justice, by inflicting a suitable punishment, by restraining the malice of the devils, by giving to each according to the merits of equity and justice. For as of those who go to condemnation, some sin more, others less, so also are punishments ordained, and the proper degrees of justice are corresponding. For although all the damned are locked up in darkness, yet this does not happen to all in the same way. Darkness is different from darkness, terror from terror, fever from fever. Everywhere the Lord God orders with justice and mercy, even in hell, so that those who have habitually and reliously sinned receive a different punishment, those who have erred out of weakness receive a different punishment, and those who only bear the guilt of original sin are punished differently. Although the torment of the latter also consists in losing the vision of God and the light of the elect, yet they approach mercy and joy by not reaching the horror of punishment because they have not done evil deeds. If God had not prescribed the number and measure of suffering, Satan would never have kept the measure in punishing.”

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:
“In this life men have a great fear and dread of all punishment and of every sorrow, because they have these before their eyes and can grasp them with their hands; Sin, on the other hand, does not frighten them or frighten them. For those who are wholly occupied with visible things do not look at that which necessarily follows sin, that is, eternal punishment in hell. And although this punishment is already included in sin itself, and is most closely connected with it, yet the human heart is so heavy and lazy that it is intoxicated with sin and does not heed the punishment, because it does not understand hell with its senses.
True, a man could see hell by faith and “lay hold of it with his hands”; But he does not use the faith as if his faith were dead, and as if he had no faith at all.
Ah, the miserable blindness of men! Oh, the terrible laziness and carelessness which you have brought to the ruin of so many souls, endowed with reason and capable of obtaining eternal happiness! There are no words to adequately express the terrible and frightful danger that befalls those who do not remember hell in life!”

Venerable Mary of Jesus describes the creation of humans in her apparitions:
On the sixth day of creation, God formed and created Adam as a male at the age of 33; it was the human age in which Jesus Christ was to die. Adam was created in such a likeness to the Most Holy Humanity of Christ that in his body he was scarcely different from Him, and in soul he was very much like Christ.
Out of Adam God created Eve, and this in such a likeness to the Most Holy Virgin Love that she looked the same as she in all her features and in her whole figure.
With the greatest delight and kindness God looked upon these two images of the prototypes which He had at one time resolved to create, and for their sake He granted them many graces, because He desired to rejoice in them and in their descendants.

Venerable Mary of Jesus describes in her and in her apparitions the commission of original sin as follows:

The state of happiness in which God created the first parents of the human race lasted only a short time, for the jealousy of the serpent of hell was awakened against them, and he awaited their creation with intense curiosity.
Lucifer saw miraculous and all other creatures surpassing the creation of human nature, as well as the beauty of Adam and Eve in soul and body. When he saw with what fatherly goodness the Lord looked upon them, and how he had exalted them to be lords and rulers of all creation, and that he had promised them eternal life, he was inflamed with a fierce wrath such as he had never burned before. No tongue could describe the anger with which the dragon arose; his jealousy moved him to kill them, and he would have done so as a ravenous lion, had not the power of God hindered him. He pondered and pondered the means by which he could deprive them of the grace of the Most High and incite them against God.
In a short time, he learned about God’s commandments to his first parents; he could hear Adam and Eve talking. Now he began to eavesdrop on their conversations, to spy on their faculties, to circle them like a hungry lion,
and to enter their souls through the tendencies he had discovered in each of them.
Now accosting them with the commandments that Adam and Eve had received, Lucifer began to tempt them. In doing so, he used the well-known alluring lie as a weapon and began to resist and act against God’s will with all his might. But he did not turn first to the man, but to the woman, for he saw that her nature was more delicate and weaker. So he took upon himself the form of a serpent, and in that form he spoke to Eve. Eve also allowed him to speak with her. She should not have done this, for from listening to his words and giving him answers, she had come to believe him. She transgressed the commandment herself, and finally persuaded her husband to do the same to own misfortune and to the misfortune of all men, so that our first parents lost for themselves and for us the happy state in which they were when the Most High created them.

In the apparitions of the venerable Mary of Jesus we read:

“When Lucifer saw that both his first parents had fallen, and that the inward beauty of original grace and justice had been changed into the ugliness of sin, he began to rejoice and triumph indescribably before the rest of the evil spirits. Soon his joy was gone, for he saw how the most gracious God, in His love, was merciful to both guilty (quite contrary to what he, i.e., Lucifer himself wished). He saw how God had given them time to repent, and how he had given them the hope of being forgiven and regaining God’s favor, and that Adam and Eve by their sorrow and sincere sorrow might have earned it. He saw that God had again given them the beauty of His grace and bestowed upon them His friendship. All this plunged the whole hell into the greatest terror, for it knew what perfect contrition could do.
Lucifer’s terror was heightened when he heard God’s sentence of the guilty, which he expected to be quite different. What tormented him the most was the threat that the Most High uttered against him, which was: “A woman will bruise your head.”

The Lord once said to St. Mechtilde:
“The body of man is nothing but a simple sack in which crystal glass and a precious liquid are kept. Such a bag should be handled with care so as not to abandon it here and there, which could break the crystal glass contained in it and the liquid could spill out. In the same way, a man should take care of his body because of his soul, which contains the liquid of God’s grace and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. He should watch his senses so that he does not see, hear, or say something, whereby he may pour out the spiritual anointing of My grace from his soul, or expel My grace that reigns in it.”

The Lord once said to St. Bridget:

“I am the creator of all things, and I have foreseen all things, and I know and see all that has happened and will happen. However, although I know and know everything, I do not act against the natural state of body or soul. For every man exists according to the natural arrangement of his body, which I have foreseen from eternity. If, on the other hand, one man has a shorter life, and another a longer one, it is the consequence of a greater strength or weakness of nature, and a peculiar state of the body. And if one is blind, the other lame, or afflicted with some other error, it is not the result of My foresight; for I foresee all things in such a way that no one may be made worse by them, or that My foresight should harm anyone.
This does not happen by the course or stagnation of the forces of nature, but by hidden justice, by disorder, or for the maintenance of nature. For sin and the disorder of nature cause many disabilities to the members. So this is not the result of My will, but because I allow it for the sake of My righteousness. For though I can do whatever I want, I never resist justice.

The Lord once said to St. Mechtilda:

“The greatest and most useful good that man can do with his mouth is the glory of God and the continual conversation with God in prayer. The most glorious thing anyone can do with his eyes to God is to cry love and read the Scriptures. The best work of the ears is to hear the word of God willingly and to be ready to obey. The greatest work of the hands is to lift them up in pure prayer and to write spiritual and holy things. The sublime work of the heart is to love God constantly with all our heart and to remember Him in frequent meditation. The most useful exercises of the whole body are kneeling, desiring graces, and works of charity.

A nuptial garment woven from pure hearts

On one occasion St. Mechtilde asked the Lord Jesus:
“Love of my soul! What kind of garment is this, without which no one can enter into Thy wedding?” That hour the Lord showed her a robe wonderfully woven in purple, and worked with white and gold, and said, “Here is the nuptial garment! It is made of white, that is, of pure hearts, of the violet of humility and of the gold of God’s love. Anyone who wants to have such a garment must be pure in heart. No evil thought should voluntarily reside in his heart, and all that he sees and hears should serve him not for evil, but for good. He should also humbly submit to his superiors for the love of God; he should love God with all his heart, and esteem all created things little in comparison with God. In the end, he should not love anything that distances him from God, but push him away from himself and run away from it.”

On one occasion the Lord Jesus said to St. Mechtilda:

“Nothing gives Me such joy as the heart of the man whom I gain for My service. I am very rich in all good things, except for the hearts of men, which I so often lose.

St. Mechtilde writes in her apparitions:

“I know of no one who, even if he is the best, should not constantly examine and know his own heart. He should look at what dwells in him, and often rebuke his faulty actions; which should be done with humble words. The voice of God taught me that.

After receiving Holy Communion, St. Mechtilde saw before her a wardrobe wonderfully adorned with gold and jewels, bright white inside, and having three compartments.
In the highest compartment were the golden vessels; in the middle expensive robes, in the lowest a very tasty dish.
This wardrobe signified the heart of man adorned with the love of virtue and good deeds. The golden vessels in the highest compartment signified the hearts of the saints who were ready to receive the grace of the Holy Spirit. We must always imitate these hearts by making our hearts capable of receiving the graces of the Holy Spirit.
The brilliant white color of the interior signified that the soul, desirous of pleasing God, should have a pure heart and be free from all earthly things, and should not judge the works of others. The garments in the second compartment signified the works of Christ’s Humanity. They were of four colors: the first were purple decorated with golden clover leaves; the other was green, with golden roses set in them; the third were of the color blue, and after them were golden stars; the fourth were red as a ruby, adorned with golden lilies.
When the saint wondered what these garments would mean, she received the answer: “As you want me in your heart, you will clothe me with such a garment. If you praise My childhood, which contains the Majesty of the entire Trinity, you will clothe Me with a purple robe, adorned with golden clover leaves. If, on the other hand, you contemplate My youth, you clothe Me in a green robe adorned with golden roses, which signifies the delight of My divinity, which I have come into the world to impart to men, according to the words: “And my love be with the sons of men” (Proverbs 8.32).
The saint said, “What, O Lord, do garments as red as a ruby mean?” The Lord answered, “My life is soaked with blood; and My most innocent Death is marked by golden lilies, when you meditate on My Passion and Death, you clothe Me with this garment.” The saint said, “What is meant by the food in the lowest range?” The Lord answered: “The exquisite taste and splendor of grace which the soul receives in this life in the Sacrament of the Altar, which contains in itself all grace and sweetness. Everyone who partakes of this sacrament is nourished by me, and I feast on it!”

On one occasion the Lord said to St. Mechtilde:
“Look, wherever you are, you draw Me to you by your sighs. Just as the human heart cannot live without air, so the soul cannot be considered alive without My Spirit, for without Him it is dead. As the heart of the body has three acts, one by which it breathes air, another by which it nourishes itself with food and drink, and a third by which it nourishes the other members, so the heart of the soul has a threefold activity. Through the first, he draws My Divine Spirit into himself so that he may live in grace. On the other, he eats the Word of God, sermons, the scriptures, as if he were expensive food. By the third, it nourishes the limbs in the performance of works of love.

The Lord Jesus said to St. Bridget:

“Pure intentions of the will strengthen man. While man wills nothing but the Divine, and works only for the honor of God, he longs with all desire to part with the world and be united to God; it is such a
will that strengthens man in good and increases his love for God. It makes the world contemptible to him, strengthens his patience and his hope of heavenly happiness. Then everything that happens to him, he accepts with joy.
Secondly, man’s good will draws out all rottenness. What is the pernicious rottenness of the soul but pride, lust and delight of the flesh? But if the rottenness of pride or other vice enters the heart, it will come out of it, if
a man thinks thus: “Pride is vanity, because a man who receives graces should not glorify himself, but the Giver of these graces; Concupiscence is vain, because all that is earthly must be forsaken; the delight of the flesh is but a foul odour, and therefore I do not want it, but rather follow the will of my God, whose reward will never end, whose goods will never grow old.” Then all the temptations of pride and lust are gone, and good will is strengthened.

On one occasion, when St. Gertrude, following the example of the holy sisters Mary and Martha of Bethany, wished to receive her Lord Jesus into her heart and to welcome Him with various pious exercises, the Lord Jesus fulfilled her wish and said to her lovingly:
“Here I am, what will you give me now?” To this the saint answered: “O my only and true happiness and good, I have nothing that is suitable for Your Divine Majesty, and that I can offer to You; but I offer Thee all that I am, all that I have, and all that I desire, and I beseech Thee, deign to arrange all things in me as Thou wilt best.” To this the Lord Jesus answered, “If you want me to receive all these things according to my good pleasure, then give me the key so that I can take and arrange for myself whatever I want according to my need and to my good pleasure. “And what is the key?” St. Gertrude asked. And the Lord answered, “That is thy own will?”
From this conversation St. Gertrude learned that whoever sincerely desires to have the honour of receiving and welcoming the Lord Jesus should give Him his free will (cf. “Diary – Divine Mercy in My Soul by St. M.F. Kowalska, p. 1264. Giving one’s free will to God was the beginning of the path to holiness for many blesseds and saints. Editor’s note.) that is, he should give himself completely to Him and trust in His goodness, and henceforth he will be happy in all matters pertaining to the salvation of his soul.
Only now did the Lord Jesus enter the holy heart and use the joys that He sought in her, that He found in her, and which He loved so much.

On one occasion, when St. Gertrude accused herself before the Lord of having encouraged others to do a good deed and had made up her mind to do it herself, but while she was instructing others, she herself had failed to carry out her purpose, the Lord Jesus said to her:
“I am satisfied with your good will, because it is the natural consequence of my goodness. If a man has a perfect good will to do something good, I accept that will as if it were a done deed, and I reward it in the same way, if only human weakness or impossibility prevented the accomplishment of the intention made.

On one occasion the Lord Jesus said to St. Gertrude:
“Strive always to have good will, for in this way you will acquire the most beautiful and illustrious virtues, for by perfect good will there is more to be gained than by the most beautiful good works, in which good will was partly lacking. Someone who always has a perfect good will to praise Me, if he could praise Me more than all the creatures of the world, or the same will to love Me, or to thank Me, or to suffer for Me, or to exercise all kinds of virtue in the most perfect way, will undoubtedly receive a greater reward from My generosity and goodness than all others who have done various other good works.”

The Lord Jesus said to St. Bridget:
“Two spirits produce thoughts and inspirations in the heart of man, namely, the evil spirit and the good spirit. A good spirit advises a man to think of heavenly things to come, and not to love temporal things. The evil one advises us to love what we see and makes sin easy; He refers to human weaknesses and brings examples of weak people. Among other things, the good spirit speaks to man in this way: “Wealth is a burden, the honors of the world are like air, and the pleasures of the flesh are like a dream. Joys are fleeting, and all worldly things are vanity. The future judgment is inevitable and the Judge is severe. That is why it seems to me a hard thing and a spiritual shame to give an account of the rapidly evaporating wealth, to suffer for a long time, and to render an account for momentary pleasures to Him who knows everything before anything has happened. Therefore it is more certain to renounce many worldly things and keep one account of the things of a few, than to become entangled in many sins and be obliged to make a long and heavy account.” On the contrary, the evil spirit responds to these inspirations in the heart: “Do not give yourself up to such thoughts. Possess goods and possessions boldly, and give abundantly out of what you possess. For this you were born, that you might be praised and honored, and that you might give to those who ask you. If you were to dispose of your possessions, you would have to serve those who now serve you, your glory would be diminished, and you might even fall into contempt. For a poor person walks sadly. You would also be sorry to get used to a new way of life, to mortify your body with new habits, and to live without service. Therefore, remain in the honors you have received. Keep your high position, run your house as hitherto. If you were to renounce what you have and what you have received, you would be accused of inconstancy; on the contrary, persevere in what he has begun, and you will find glory with God and with men.”

Then the good spirit in the heart speaks again and says:

“I know that two things are eternal: Heaven and hell. None of those who love God above all things will go to hell; and whoever does not love God will not receive Heaven. The road to Heaven was walked by God Himself and He confirmed it with His miracles and His Death. How glorious is Heaven, how bitter is Satan’s malice, and how vain are earthly things! God Himself was imitated by His Blessed Mother and by all His saints; they suffered all kinds of sufferings, and preferred to lose everything, and even to despise themselves, in order not to lose Heaven and God. Therefore it is best to renounce honor and wealth in advance than to keep them for the rest of one’s life, so that when suffering begins to multiply, the memory of sins may not be weakened at last. Whatever I have gathered, I will be taken by those who will not inquire about the happiness of my soul.

Satan’s evil inspiration gives this answer:
Stop thinking about it, we are weak people. The Lord Jesus, on the other hand, is God and Man; we cannot measure our works by the works of the saints, who possessed greater grace and lived in friendship with God. It should be enough for us to hope to receive Heaven, and to live according to our weaknesses, and to ransom our sins in alms; for it would be childish and foolish to set out on uncommon things and fail to carry them out.

To these thoughts the good spirit replies:

“I am unworthy to compare myself with the saints. It is certain that one can slowly strive for perfection. What hinders the undertaking of extraordinary things when God has the power to come to the rescue? After all, it often happens that a poor man sets out on a journey by a powerful and rich lord before him. And though such a gentleman will come to the inn sooner, eat the more delicious dishes, and rest on a more comfortable bed, yet the poor traveller will also come to the same inn, though perhaps a little later, and taste the dishes which the gentleman has eaten. But if he had not followed the same path as the gentleman, he would not have reached the inn, and would have had no share in the gentleman’s comforts at all. Therefore I say that although I am not worthy to compare myself with the saints, yet I can follow the way they walked, that I may at least share in their merits.

The evil inspirations and promptings of Satan answer:

“The search for God is a sign of inconstancy of mind, but mercy is more pleasing to God than any other sacrifice.”

The good spirit responds by inspiration:

“I have heard of a certain prisoner in the tower who now rejoiced more in his captivity and in the darkness that surrounded him than he did in his possessions and in the joys of this world. For he said to himself, “If it pleases God to visit me with sorrows, they will bring me greater merits; for the Lord God is full of love and comforts us and is ready to help quickly.

Satan’s evil inspirations and promptings answer:
“What if you are unworthy of God’s comfort and help, and cannot endure humility and poverty? Then you will regret that you have given yourself over to an austere life.

The Good Spirit says:
I have heard that St. Elizabeth, the daughter of the Hungarian king, though delicately brought up and in a noble marriage, lived in great poverty and humiliation. In her poverty she received great consolation from God, and gained a higher crown of heavenly happiness than if she had lived in all the honors of the world and enjoyed its joys.

Evil inspirations answer:

“What will you do when God gives you into human hands, or if your health is weak? Will you then be able to live without shame? Will you not complain about your stubbornness, and will your family not be offended by you and feel sorry for you? Then impatience will surely arise in you, and fear and ingratitude will arise in your heart against God. Then you will wish that the days of your life were over. And when all men speak of you, will you dare to show yourself to anyone else?

To this she replied a good thought:
St. Lucy, when she was taken to the house of fornication, resolute in her faith and trusting in the goodness of God, said, “Let my body be profaned, but nevertheless I will remain a virgin, and my crown shall be doubled.” When God came to know her faith, He made it untouched. That is why I say: The Lord God, who never permits a man to be tempted by his strength, will save my mind, my faith, and my will. I have given myself entirely to Him, so it will be done to me according to His holy will!

The Most Holy Virgin Love once said to St. Bridget:
“Everything that is in heaven and on earth was created by the Lord God. Among all earthly objects, the soul of man is the most worthy and beautiful creature, which in its action of thought is like a good will. For as out of one tree comes a multitude of branches, so out of the spiritual discipline and out of the activity of the soul all the perfection of man.”

The Most Holy Virgin Love once said to St. Bridget:
“A coin minted by God is different from that minted by Satan. The Divine Coin is gold, that is, shiny, soft and costly. It is the same for every soul that bears the image of God: shining in God’s love, soft as gold, still precious from good works. A good soul is melted by the power of God and fortitude by many trials, and by love and patience it becomes all the more precious to God the more humble, the more patient and the more attentive it is to itself. But Satan’s coin is of copper or lead; copper because it is only similar to gold. It also has hardness and extensibility, but not as much as gold. The soul of an unjust man is the same, because he thinks of himself as just, judges his fellowmen, and exalts his own interests above the interests of others. He is inflexible to be humble, soft in his actions, difficult to acknowledge his shortcomings and wrong ideas, he is wonderful before the world but contemptible with God. Satan’s coin is also made of lead; Its shape is ugly, it is soft, supple and heavy. Just as the soul of the unrighteous is ugly in evil inclinations, heavy in the lusts of the world. Like a reed flexible to all that Satan puts at heart, and often more inclined to sin than Satan is to tempt.

The Lord once said to St. Mechtilde:
“The face of your soul is the image of the Most Holy Trinity. Let the soul continually look at this image in my face, as in a mirror, lest there be a spot in it worthy of reproach.”
From these words she knew that when a man burdens his memory with earthly and useless thoughts, he stains this image in himself. Also, when he turns his reason or reason to earthly wisdom or curiosity, he soils the face of his soul. If, on the other hand, he departs from the will of God, and if he loves anything but God, and rejoices in things that are transitory, he disfigures the image of God in himself. The soul, as long as it is in the body, often brings upon itself the stains of sin through earthly things, and therefore it should often look at its face with caution as if in a mirror, that is, in the Face of God. Then he sees his undisfigured image most clearly; namely, she should do so when she wishes to receive the Sacrament of the Lord’s Body. The soul should endeavour to wash itself frequently through confession, and to adorn its countenance with colour by frequent meditation on the Lord’s Passion.

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

People are obliged to remember the value they should see in their souls, for which I have done so much and continue to do so every day, since my Most Holy Son redeemed it with His Passion and Death. Indifference to the salvation of the soul in men deserves the highest blame and the most terrible punishment. What reason can a person with faith have for seeking the transient pleasures of the senses, which sometimes last only a few moments, or at any rate no longer than life on earth? For his soul, which will live forever, he feels no more respect and does no more for it, as if he were to put an end to visible things?
Nor do they remember that when all that is insignificant has passed, the soul will either suffer or enjoy happiness, which will last forever and never end. In view of this perversity of men, do not wonder that the dragon of hell still possesses such power over the world to this day. In a constant struggle, the victor is always stronger to the extent that the vanquished loses strength. This is especially true in the fierce and constant battle that Christians wage against evil spirits. For if souls defeat Satan, they draw new strength from this victory over him, and Satan loses its power. This is what happened when My Son fought him, and I crushed his head as a result. And when this serpent feels himself victorious over the soul, he raises his head proudly, draws from the weakness of his adversaries all the advantages he can get, acquires new courage, and has all the greater power over souls. So it is with Lucifer in the world today, and it is
for this one reason that vanity lovers have voluntarily submitted to him and follow his banner for the deceptive promises he gives them. The more souls Satan devours, the more insatiable is his hunger and the more violent is his desire to plunge the entire human race into the abyss of hell.

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:
“My soul, in order that your heart may be kindled with an even more ardent desire for God’s grace and His friendship, I wish you to know the sublime dignity and great happiness of the soul which has received the beauty of grace. And this beauty is so wonderful and of such high value that even if I were to reveal it to you, you would not be able to comprehend it, much less describe it in your own words. Look to the Lord and look at Him in His divine light as you receive from Him; in this light you will know that to God the justification of one soul is a work far more glorious than that He created all the expanses of Heaven and earth, with all their splendor and perfection, and all that is in them. If, therefore, creatures, by the miracles which they perceive with their bodily senses, know in a great part the greatness and power of God, what would they say if they saw with the eyes of the spirit how precious and valuable is the beauty of grace, and that in as many creatures as are capable of receiving it? There are no words that can adequately express the essence of grace as a participation in the nature and perfections of God, since this is included in sanctifying grace. It is still too little to say: it is purer and whiter than snow, brighter than the sun, more precious than gold and precious stones, more lovely, more pleasant and sweeter than all pleasures and amusements, more beautiful than anything that the heart of creatures can desire.
Consider, too, the abomination of sin, that by resisting it you may know grace better; Neither darkness, nor decay, nor the most horrible, the most horrible, and the ugliest thing can be compared with sin and its unpleasant stench. The martyrs and saints have recognized this well. They, in order to retain the beauty of grace and to avoid falling into the miserable state of sin, feared nothing: neither fire, nor wild beasts, nor the knife, nor torture, nor prisons, nor shame, nor torment and pain, nor even death itself, nor long unceasing suffering. However, people know nothing about all this; They value only the ephemeral and sensual beauty of creatures, and they desire it. Anything that bothers this beauty, they consider marginal and contemptible.
From this you know how much a man ought to do, and even to suffer, in order to keep this happiness for himself, and not to lose this ornament of the soul, nor to defile it with even the slightest sin.

Venerable Mary of Jesus writes in her apparitions:
“So great is the power and efficacy of God’s grace that it is able to obliterate in the soul the image of sin, the image of earthly man, and to create in him a new being, the heavenly image” (1 Corinthians 15:47), whose life is in heaven. As a result, man thinks, loves, and acts no longer as an earthly creature, but as a supernatural, heavenly being. For the power of love turns the soul away from the place where it lives and dwells, and transports it and transforms it into what it loves.

Of this action of God’s graces in the soul of man, the Most Holy Virgin Love said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“The graces of God fill the soul of man with light, truth, and sound doctrine, and stimulate it to greater perfection, and give it strength and strengthen the will to multiply in it. Such are the signs of graces that come down from the Father of light: they give peace to the soul and humiliate it. They humiliate her, but they don’t take away her courage. They give the soul confidence combined with zeal and vigilance. They add zeal combined with serenity, so that all these qualities of the soul do not hinder the accomplishment of God’s will in the soul.

St. Agnes once said to St. Bridget:

“When God sees that a man’s heart, out of the infirmity of the flesh or through the temptations of Satan, contrary to the spirit, rises up against God, He destroys his sinful thoughts immediately by means of the inspiration of sorrow and repentance, and causes man to return to Him. If, however, the poison of the lusts of the flesh or of riches enters the heart, then God pierces the heart with His love, so that man will not be separated from Him by continuing in sin. If, on the other hand, something unclean out of pride or the mire of fornication defiles the soul, then God, by constancy in faith and hope, casts out impurity from the soul, lest the spirit become hardened in transgression, or that the soul united to God may not suffer permanent injury.

St. Mechtilde once said to the Lord:
“Oh, if I could at any time change my heart for a vineyard chosen for You, according to Your Heart!” The Lord said to her, “All that you desire, I will do.” At that hour she saw the feast of the Lord walking in her heart, as in a beautiful vineyard, which was covered with a multitude of angels around like a wall. In the part towards the east grew a very pure and sweet wine, signifying the fruit of the works which man does before God in his childhood. In the north, on the other hand, strong and red wine grew, signifying the work that a man as a youth underwent in the struggle against temptations and vices, against all the power of the enemy. To the south was ripened a fiery and almost good wine, signifying the virtuous deeds that man performs for the love of God in his mature years. To the west was the noblest and most delicious wine, signifying the various desires by which man goes with all his might to God and to heavenly things, and the sufferings and sorrows which sometimes afflict man in old age.
By divine inspiration the saint understood that the righteous man is such a vine garden, and that God rejoices in it through him, because the righteous man from his childhood to death lives for the glory of God all his life.
In the middle of the garden there was a spring by which the Lord sat on a chair, and from His Heart flowed a stream to the spring, from which the Lord sprinkled all who desired spiritual rebirth. Around the fountain were seven wonderful shields, and they signified the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, which were therefore in the shape of shields, because no one can use the gifts of the Holy Ghost without fighting.

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“The Most High takes great delight in the works of the chosen souls. A father rejoices in his only son, handsome, very kind, and often looks at him in the midst of caresses; the artist rejoices in the masterwork of his hands; A king from a rich city which he conquered, a friend from his beloved friend. Yet incomparably more than all of them God rejoices and rejoices in the souls whom He has chosen for His delight; and in so far as these souls are able to receive His graces, and progress in perfection.
If the faithful had rightly understood this truth, they would not only have avoided sin, but would have done great things, and would have been willing to die, in order to show obedience and love to Him who is so generous in rewarding and so disposed to give and to help.

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:
“Among the dangers that threaten human infirmity, there is one that comes from the concupiscence of the flesh. Precisely because man is crippled and the flesh is an enemy that never sleeps (,,.. the body is the enemy that never sleeps” not in the sense of the body or anatomical sleep, but in the sense of the body as temporality, concupiscence and the action of the evil spirit on it – the enemy of the soul. Editor’s note.,) and at the same time he dwells in the interior, hence by this enemy a great many human souls perish for the grace of God. The simplest and surest means of gaining victory over it is to lead a life of bitterness and suffering, to give the senses neither peace nor pleasure, and to watch over them lest they desire or demand anything more that is necessary and not contrary to reason. The second means is to try to please God more and more and to reach the goal that man should achieve.

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:
“From Adam’s sin the sensual, earthly life reigns over the souls of those who give themselves to him; The bonds of the lusts of the flesh are strong, and the struggle and passions are continual. Pleasure pleases the senses and blinds them easily; Virtue, on the other hand, is more concealed, and therefore it is more difficult for man to know it. All this together makes the pilgrimage of this life fraught with dangers and difficulties, and its end uncertain.

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“Men indulge in delusion and do great harm to their souls every day by allowing their will to be guided by the impressions of the various material objects they encounter, and then immediately neglecting good works without further thought. Things which inflame the senses immediately stir the passions and inclinations of the lower part of the human soul. Hence it follows that the actions of such men do not proceed from the sound judgment of reason, but from the powerful influence which the senses and passions and desires produce over man. And so many a person who has suffered some kind of injury immediately decides to take revenge, taking into account only the suffering left by the resentment. Another is ready to commit injustice at once, because he follows the desire to appropriate to himself the property of others whom he has seen. This is the way of many unhappy people who succumb to the lusts of the eyes, the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life; the threefold lure with which the world and Satan lay for them, and with which neither can give them anything else. As a result of this lack of thought and blindness, they regard darkness as light, bitterness as sweetness, deadly poison as the remedy of their passions, and blind ignorance as wisdom, for their wisdom is earthly and satanic (John 3:15).
Man ought to be very careful of this injurious delusion, and not to act in any thing according to what is subject to the senses and pleasures, but rather to consider always what he is to do, first of all with regard to the will of God, which alone should be the guide of all his thoughts and actions.

Earthly goods lead the soul of man away from heavenly goods

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to Mary of Jesus:

“The mysteries of God, however well presented, make little impression on a man unless he consciously turns his mind to them, for he is accustomed of himself to deal with visible things. Man by nature is sluggish and little able to lift his soul to the highest, heavenly things. If, with this limited capacity for virtue, he directs all his energies and abilities to the acquisition of the illusory goods of the world, there can be no other result than that he is getting farther and farther away from the truth, that he is becoming accustomed to the darkness, and in the course of time he will come so far that he cannot endure the light. 2:14.) This is the reason why men who are imbued with an earthly spirit and bestial pay so little attention to the works and benefits of the Most High, and those which I have done for them and continue to do for them, and that they esteem them so little. Such people trample the pearls with their feet and do not distinguish between the bread that belongs to the children of God and the food of irrational animals. The heavenly and divine things seem to them to be distasteful and contrary to their tastes, who are utterly corrupted by sensual pleasures, and thus become incapable of understanding supersensible things, and of tasting the knowledge of life and the bread of discernment which is in them.

The Blessed Virgin Mary said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“From the example of the apostles who forsook their Master and fled in the arrest of the Lord Jesus, men should know what is the great danger to the soul of a defective man. This happens when man, in spite of receiving even the greatest graces and benefits, has become accustomed to ingratitude, hardness and carelessness. It happened to the eleven apostles that they forsook their heavenly Master and fled from Him. This danger arises from the fact that men become superfluously attached to external things, to everything that is sensible and earthly. Further, because sin had corrupted their inclinations, and they had become accustomed to live and act more according to earthly, carnal and sensual goods, than according to their own spirit. The reason for this is that even the gifts and graces which the Lord bestows upon them, they receive and love in a sensual way. If, on the other hand, they do not get this kind of satisfaction, then they turn to other sense objects, allow themselves to be guided by them, and lose their love of the spiritual life. As a result of this earthly conduct and carelessness, these apostles fell, although they received great favor from My Most Holy Son and from Me. For the miracles, teachings, and examples which they looked upon, they understood with their senses. And though they were righteous and in a state of grace, yet they had worldly views and relied upon them, and therefore hesitated. When their faith in earthly principles forsook them, and when temptation came upon them, they fell. They did not penetrate enough into the mysteries and spirit of what they had heard and seen in their Master’s school.
From this example men should learn not to give themselves up to the love of earthly things, and not to become accustomed to considering only the things of the senses, even in the case of the special favors which God bestows upon them. Let them not be content with knowing things from the natural and external side, but let them raise their spirit to their spiritual meaning, which they cannot comprehend with their senses, but only with the interior light (1 Corinthians 2:14).

The Blessed Virgin Mary said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“A just soul ought to put away as much as possible the flattery of creatures, whatever their kind. She should hate them, as well as conversations in which she could hear such praise. For these delusions obscure the intellect and lead to perverse thoughts, if a man is not on his guard. And God is so jealous of the souls whom He loves tenderly, that He immediately turns away from them when they accept the praises of men and take delight in their praises. By such recklessness they make themselves unworthy of His grace. It is also impossible that the flatteries of the world and the consolations of God can be united in one and the same soul; the last are true, holy, pure, constant; They make the heart humble and pure, they give it light and peace. The praises of men are vain, unstable, deceitful, impure, and deceitful; because they come from a mouth that the Scriptures say are deceitful (Psalm 115:11). And what is a lie is also the work of the evil one

How Satan he hates the soul of man
The Blessed Virgin Mary said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“In this life, it is impossible to comprehend precisely the hatred with which Satan and his companions burn against man. It is impossible to describe his anger and the cunning with which he tries to lead the soul to sin and thus to eternal damnation. He endeavours to hinder all the good works which man can do, and if he nevertheless does them, he endeavours to cast them in a bad light by slander, or to destroy them altogether. On the other hand, there is no evil deed to which Satan does not try to induce the soul.
On the other hand, God grants to those who cooperate faithfully with His grace protection, protection and help against this satanic malice. Hence St. Paul’s admonition that in the midst of these snares and wiles of Satan we should walk cautiously, not as madmen, but as wise men, and that we should try to make use of the time, for the days of mortality are evil and full of danger. Elsewhere he writes: “Be steadfast and imperturbable, abounding in the work of the Lord always, knowing that your work is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58). The enemy of the soul knows this truth and fears it. That is why, with the greatest intensity of malice, he strikes souls when they have committed sin, in order to deprive them of courage, to fall into doubt and to cease to do good works. In this way, he deprives them of the weapons that their holy angels guard and with which they fight against evil spirits. The habit of doing good works often results in God’s mercy in giving the sinner efficacious graces to perform works with greater zeal, or in combination with repentance and true love, whereby the sinner is justified.
Like Satan, he tries to bring down mainly the souls of the righteous.
To the venerable Mary of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary said: “
Satan also exerts all his strength to bring about the downfall of good and righteous men, because he feels uncontrollable jealousy and rage because these souls do not serve him. Hence he is burning with the desire to deprive God of that honor which he has in his saints, and which he himself cannot obtain. For this reason, he undertakes every effort to bring under his feet every soul who stands on the height of holiness, even those who
were formerly servants of the Most High. To this end he uses all his cunning, foresight, and vigilance. The tricks, snares, and cunning tricks which the serpent of hell uses to seduce the souls of the righteous are so numerous that souls would not be able to know them without God’s special help, much less fall. Therefore, in order to secure this help from God, the soul, on its part, must be on its guard, never trust itself completely, and implore and desire God’s help. It is certain that she can do no good of herself, and if she only trusted in her own strength, she would soon have to fall. In particular, they provide the soul with God’s benevolent help: continual humility and persevering obedience. These virtues impart to the soul the strength and constancy to resist the importunity of the evil one.

How Satan Works With
All His Might to Seduce the Soul

The Blessed Virgin Mary said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“Man must not forget that Satan watches over souls with the greatest zeal and vigilance. He is constantly circling around them, setting snares for them, and trying to take advantage of their every omission. He will miss no opportunity not to approach them in the most insidious way with temptation. If he sees that they are careless, he will awaken in them tendencies and passions before they realize that they have made a mistake. If, afterwards, they feel this error painfully, and try to correct it and to arise from it, it makes it still more difficult for them to carry out this purpose. To rise from the fall requires more abundant graces than to resist sin. Sin weakens the powers of the soul, gives greater power over it to the enemy, gives free rein to the passions, and thus hinders the control of them. That is why so many fall into sin and so few rise from it.
In order to escape the danger of falling, the soul must be on constant alert and always be careful; she should constantly strive to be worthy of God’s grace. It should constantly maintain the striving for perfection; She should never waste her time in vain, lest the enemy should ever find her idle, i.e., uncared for, and not exercising her virtues. When the soul observes all this, it will get rid of the heaviness of its nature in part, and its passions and evil tendencies will be weakened. Its enemy will be frightened, and the spirit of man will rise up and gain strength against the body, as well as an advantage over the lower and sensual part of the soul, so that it will submit itself entirely to the will of God.

Sin is the poison of the soul
Once the Lord said to St. Bridget:

“I am without beginning and without end, and all things were created by My power and arranged by My wisdom. And I govern all things by My judgments, and nothing is impossible to Me, and verily, I have ordered all My works with love.
That is why the heart is hard, and it does not love me or fear me, even though I am the breadwinner of men and their judge.
But people do the will of Satan, who is My executioner and their traitor. To this end, Satan has presented to the world a poison so injurious that the soul which has tasted it with pleasure cannot live; but the dead falls into hell to be there in misery for ever. That poison is sin; It tastes sweet to many, but in the end it becomes terribly bitter.
Indeed, this poison from the hand of Satan is drunk by people with continual relish. Has anyone ever heard anything similar, or perhaps stranger than this? For I give life to men, and they choose and accept death voluntarily.

St. Mechtilde writes in her apparitions:
“Oh, woe to you, sinner, how miserable you are! You are a suicidal destroyer and the destroyer of all good and true utility. A good man benefits greatly from evil things, for when he sees another sin and fall, he is careful not to enter into the same misfortune. And a good man will be improved by bad things, so that out of them good arises. A bad man, on the other hand, becomes an even worse one; If he sees good works and examples, he despises them and those who do them, and he delights above all in his own perversity and wisdom.

On one occasion the Lord said to St. Bridget:

“I have shown you the conscience of a man whose sin, because I have exposed it, I have shown by manifest signs. And why did I do this? Couldn’t I have killed him personally?
Or couldn’t I knock him over the abyss in the twinkling of an eye if I wanted to? Without a doubt, I could. But to others to learn, and to prove the truth of my words, and to show how just and patient I am, and how miserable is he who is dominion by Satan; That is why I endure it patiently until then. For by the will which he has to persevere in sin, and by the pleasure with which he delights in it, the influence of Satan upon him has multiplied, to such an extent that neither gentle words, nor harsh threats, nor fear of hell will be able to convert him. And this will happen to him in perfect justice, for since he has always had the will to sin, even if he does not commit an act, he will rightly be eternally given over to Satan. For the slightest sin, when one falls in love with him, is enough to destroy a man’s soul.

Venerable Mary of Jesus writes in her apparitions:

“With all the apparitions I have had, God has never shown me the terrible end of a soul that has gone to damnation. This is the providence of God, for it corresponds to justice; Nor can the condemnation of the soul ever be revealed without good reasons, and if I were to receive such a revelation, I should have to die of terror. With all certainty, such a knowledge would have to result in death, for the knowledge that this or that soul has been separated forever from God is a source of sorrow in the highest degree. That is why I asked God never to reveal to me which person had been condemned. If I could free anyone from the state of sin at the cost of my life, I would gladly make such a sacrifice; I would also be ready to see the state of his soul; However, I would never want to see one for whom there is no salvation.

The Blessed Virgin Mary said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“Righteous and holy men become instruments in the hands of God, who directs them and does not allow anyone to influence them, because they have given themselves completely to his divine will. On the contrary, there are many sinners who, having forgotten their Creator and Savior, have given themselves into the hands of Satan through repeated sins. He stirs them up to vices of various kinds, and uses them for whatever his perverse malice desires; as we see in Judas and the Pharisees, the murderers of their Redeemer.
The serpent of hell acquires a great influence on a person when he gives himself to him and does not see the danger that threatens him and does not try to use protective measures. When the soul gives itself over to sin, there is no created power to keep it from falling from the abyss into the abyss.
By reason of original sin, human nature, by its passions and concupiscences, is inclined to evil, just as a stone gravitates to the middle point of the earth. Bad tendencies are strengthened by bad habits. Added to this is Satan’s dominion over the sinner, which he performs in a tyrannical manner.
Who among men would like to be so great an enemy of his own that he should not fear this danger? Only the Almighty can keep it from it!
Nevertheless, people live in their misfortune, which is for them the state of their souls in mortal sin, so calmly and without care, as if by their own power they could free themselves from this satanic violence and correct all the evil done. True, there are many who see and recognize that they cannot rise from this fall without God’s help; However, this awareness does not bring them the desired fruits. For instead of begging God to give them His mighty hand, they insult Him and provoke Him more and more, and even persuade themselves that God will wait for them with grace until they are troubled to sin, or until the time comes when they will no longer be able to do their malice and to continue to show their insane ingratitude.
So, My daughter, fear this terrible danger and beware of the first sin. If you commit the first sin, you will resist the second sin less, and the enemy of your soul will be stronger and stronger against you. Remember that your treasure is great, and your vessel is fragile (2 Corinthians 4:7), and that by one mistake you can lose everything.

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“Men take care of goods according to the value they attach to them, and they ascribe value to them because they consider them goods. After all, there is only one true Good, and that is God; all others are an illusion. That is why man should also know and highly value this one Good, the highest Good. And he can properly love and appreciate Him only when he has tasted Him, when He has come to know Him sufficiently, and when He has placed Him above all creatures. Appropriate to the degree of this appreciation and this love is also the sorrow for the loss of this good.
How great, then, should be the sorrow of a soul that has lost God through sin! Though carnal people do not comprehend the magnitude of this loss; yes, in their foolish blindness, they value earthly goods, illusory and illusory, and are content to possess them; They are also sad only when they are saddened and inconsolable if they lose it. But they do not esteem and pay no heed to the true and supreme Good, because they have never known or tasted Him.
It is true that My Most Holy Son prevented this terrible ignorance which comes from original sin. He merited people’s faith and love, so that they might know and enjoy this Good, which they had never seen with the eyes of the flesh. Unfortunately, people don’t do anything out of love and seek the first entertainment they get; But faith remains idle and dead in men, and consequently useless. And so people live in darkness, as if they had received only fictitious and doubtful news about eternity.
Fear, My daughter, this danger, which can never be sufficiently contemplated. Be constantly on guard against the enemies of your soul who never sleep. Meditate day and night on what you ought to do, so that you do not lose the supreme Good which you love. Surrounded by invisible enemies, you should not sleep or rest. And if your Bridegroom can hide himself from you, wait for him patiently, seek him with untiring solicitude, for you do not know his secret judgments. And in the time of his absence and trial, always have the oil of love and pure intention in readiness, so that you may not lack it, and that you may not be rejected with the foolish virgins.

The words of St. Mechtilde:

“Ah, beloved God, grant me and help me to seek Thee without ceasing with all my senses, openly and courageously in all things, for I have chosen Thee before all lords and princes to be the Bridegroom of my soul. Grant me also that I may find You with all my lust. I also ask You to allow me to enjoy You in the love that comes from all Your gifts. Grant me, O Lord, the fullness of Your love, so that even shame, suffering, and bitterness may be sweet to me. May Your grace grant me this, O gracious God! Help me also to remain in Thy grace by renouncing my own will according to Thy requirement, and then the flame of my love shall not be extinguished forever. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“The Creator created man not to be His slave, but to be the Lord and King of all things, and to use them as their ruler. At the same time, man should consider himself a creature and the image and likeness of his Creator, and consequently he should be more subject to his Creator and pay more attention to His will than the rest of creatures do to him; This is required by the order of reason.
And in order that man may not lack light to know his Creator and to choose the means suitable for knowing His will and for doing it, the Lord God has given him, in addition to the natural light, that is, reason, another light, a greater light, which he can acquire more quickly, more easily, and with less toil; and which is at the same time more certain and accessible to all men, namely, the light of divine faith, by virtue of which man may know the essence of God and His attributes, and at the same time the works of God. By this power of discernment, and by the above-mentioned dominion over all created things, man has been most ordered, honored, and enriched, so that there is no acquittal unless he submits himself entirely to the will of God.
The unreasonableness of men overturns this whole order and destroys this divine harmony; He who was created to be the Lord and King of creatures makes Himself their low slave and submits to their yoke. In this way he also insults his dignity and uses visible things, not as a wise lord, but as a dignified subject; And he does not acknowledge himself as Lord, for he humbles himself profoundly as the lowest of creatures.
All this perversity arises from the fact that man does not relate visible things to the Creator as he ought to do, with the help of faith, and does not use them in His name, but that he uses everything evilly, only for the purpose of gratifying his passions and his senses by the pleasures which creatures give him; That is why man is so disgusted with everything that does not give pleasure.
You, My daughter, look upon your Creator with the eye of faith and strive to engrave in your soul the image of His divine perfections; Maintain dominion over your creatures so that none of them dominate your freedom. Yes, I want you to triumph over all, and that nothing stands in the way between God and your soul. You should not give in to the allurements of creatures, for that would cloud your reason and weaken your will. On the other hand, you should lovingly submit to everything that involves troubles and ailments, and you should bear it joyfully and willingly. For I did the same to imitate My Most Holy Son, although it was in My power to choose peace and I did not need to repent of any sin.

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“When men have ever finished their short course of life and are at the end of that time which God has allotted to them to merit eternal life, then all their illusions will also come to an end. At that time they will know by experience the eternity into which they will have to enter; in it to endlessly either enjoy happiness or suffer suffering. Then the righteous will know what their happiness consisted in, and what their means of salvation consisted in; On the other hand, the rejected will see their miserable and eternal perdition
Oh, how happy is the man who, during the short duration of his life, is already trying to assimilate the recognition of those truths which he will soon learn from his own experience. This is true wisdom, that man should know his end at the beginning of his life, and not only at the end, so that he may not run in uncertainty, but that he should strive with certainty to attain the goal of his life. Just think of what he would do if, standing at the beginning of a race-place, he saw at the end of it a prize of high value, which he could win by running fast. Surely he would have begun to run with all his might, and would not have ceased to run; He wouldn’t slow down anywhere, and he wouldn’t let any obstacle stop him in his haste. If, on the other hand, he did not run, and paid no heed to the prize or the end of the journey, he would be considered mad, or it would be said that he did not know what he had lost. (1 Corinthians 9:24).
Such a racing place is the mortal life of man. The space to be traversed is short, and at its end stands eternal happiness as reward and eternal suffering as punishment. With these two extremes, the race of life ends. Its beginning is the time of birth, and all men are born in order that, when they come to the use of reason and freedom of will, they will traverse this space. This is a truth from which no one can acquit himself, least of all the faithful of the Catholic Church.
Where, for do all those who have the Catholic faith and do not live according to the above-mentioned truths have reason? Why do they allow themselves to be ensnared by vanity? Why, and for what purpose, do they allow their souls to become entangled in love with apparent and deceitful things? Why are they so blind and unaware of the end they are about to reach? Why don’t they want to acknowledge what awaits them at the end of it? Or do they not know that they are born to die, that their life is only a blink of an eye? Do they not know that death is infallible, that reward or punishment is inevitable and eternal? What will the lovers of the world say, those who devote their short lives exclusively to the accumulation of wealth and to the pursuit of honors; those who expend their strength and faculties in the enjoyment of petty and abominable bodily pleasures?
Ah, my friend! See how false and deceptive is the world you live in and look at! So abhor it with all your heart and forget it altogether. Never turn your eyes away from the end to which you are hastily approaching, and to the goal for which the Creator created you out of nothing. Let your desire always turn to this end, and let its attainment be the object of all your efforts and breaths. Do not look at that which is transient, vain, and deceptive. Let the love of God itself dwell in you, and consume all yourFor love is not true if it permits us to love anything other than God, and if it does not subject all other things but God to its dominion, if it does not mortify them and alienate them from itself. Let love be as strong in you as death is to live according to My wishes.

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“Life is followed by death, and the rule that as life was, so is death, is almost always true. The surest guarantee of a good death, therefore, is a good life, i.e., a life in which a man tries to detach his heart completely from all that is earthly and temporal. Attachment to temporal and earthly things weighs heavily on the soul at the hour of death; He keeps her in heavy chains to such an extent that she does not have full freedom and is unable to rise above the things she has loved in this life.
How differently they think of this mortal truth, and how much their lives are opposed to it! The Lord God gives them life, so that in his midst they may be freed from the effects of original sin, so that at the hour of death they may not groan under their burden; while Adam’s ignorant and unhappy children use their whole lives to burden themselves with new bonds, to die in them as subjects of their passions and slaves of their tyrannical enemy.

The Lord once said to St. Bridget:

“The separation of the soul from the body is, among the righteous, seems only a dream, for through it they awaken from this life to eternal life. On the other hand, it is to be called death, when the soul separated from the body lives in eternal death. Many, who are not concerned about the future, wish to die a Christian death.
But what is Christian death if not to die as I died: innocently, willingly, and patiently? Or am I contemptible because My death was shameful and severe? Or are My chosen ones mad perhaps because they were despised, or is it a happy accident or the course of the stars? Not at all! That is why we have suffered, I and My chosen ones, very hard, in order to show by word and example that the road to Heaven is a hard one, and that man should always remember what purity evil people need, if the chosen and the innocent have to suffer so hard.
Know, therefore, how ignominiously and badly he dies who lives in licentiousness and dies with the will to continue sinning. Whoever experiences the glory of the world and wishes to live longer does not think of thanking God. But if anyone loves God with all his heart and innocently, he will suffer sorrow through an ignominious death; or he is afflicted with a long illness, he lives and dies happily. For a grievous death diminishes both the sin itself and the penalty of sin, and increases the glory of heaven.
Therefore the friends of God should not grieve if they are scourged in mortality or die a bitter death. For it is the greatest happiness when a man mourns for an hour and suffers affliction in the world, lest afterwards he should go to a heavier purgatory, where there is no escape, no means of relief and help.

The Blessed Virgin Mary said to the Venerable Mary of Jesus:

“At the hour of death, souls are exposed to incomprehensible afflictions and dangers, partly by the evil spirits that torment them, partly by their own nature, and partly by the things of the world. Death is the moment when the records of life are closed and a sentence is passed whether the fate of man will be eternal life or eternal death. Is it eternal unceasing happiness, or eternal incessant torment and torment?
As soon as Lucifer and the rest of the spirits of darkness, from man’s state of health and other natural causes, know that man is in a life-threatening disease, they immediately arm themselves with all their malice and cunning to torment the poor sick man, and, if possible, to bring him down with various temptations. And since the time in which they can still tempt such a soul is passing more and more hastily for evil spirits, they endeavour to strengthen the time that remains to them by malice and rage.
To this end, as if the wolves were hungry, they gather to examine once more the condition of the sick person, his natural talents and acquired knowledge. They study his tendencies, habits, and customs. They endeavour, for the sake of his passions, to know his weaknesses, and then to direct their most violent attacks in that direction. To those who are bound to the world by an improper love, Satan tries to persuade them that they are not in great danger, and he tries to prevent other people from telling them the truth. He strengthens those who in their lives have been sluggish and careless in receiving the holy sacraments, and places the greatest difficulties and obstacles in order for them to either die without the holy sacraments or to receive them in such a way that they do not bear salutary fruits. In others, it creates false shame so that they do not reveal their conscience and conceal their sins. Others are hindered from revealing and fulfilling their duties and responsibilities, so that they may not be able to set their consciences in order. Others, who love vanity, are encouraged to use even the last hour of their lives to complete the various useless and vain ordinances respecting the things to be made after their death. He tries to stimulate those who have loved avarice or sensuality to become more attached to the object of their blind love.
Thus does this cruel enemy exploit all evil habits and tendencies in order to occupy the mind of the dying person with earthly things, and thus to hinder or even prevent him from using the means of salvation. All the sinful acts which the dying man has performed in his life, and by which he has fallen into evil habits, serve the enemy of the soul as a weapon with which he attacks man in that terrible hour and tries to conquer him. Through man’s evil tendencies, he has paved the way for Satan and opened the way for him to enter the fortress, i.e., his soul. And here, in the depths of his soul, he then breathes venomously and conjures up an impenetrable darkness, and this is what he wants to achieve – that the dying do not heed the inspirations of God, that they do not sincerely repent of their sins and do penance for their evil life.
Generally speaking, evil spirits cause the greatest number of souls to fall at the hour of death by comforting the sick with the false hope that they will live even longer and that later they will be able to better comply with the inspirations that God now sends them through the angels. This hope disappoints the sick and leads them to their downfall. Great is the danger at this hour for all those who have neglected the Blessed Sacrament as a means of salvation. Such contempt, which offends God as well as his angels, usually punishes divine justice by leaving souls to themselves. For since they did not use this remedy at the proper time, but on the contrary despised it, they deserve to be despised by the justice of God, even in the last hour, to which in their foolish insolence they have laid off all the care for the salvation of their souls.
Very small is the number of the righteous who, in this hour of great need, are not exposed to the incomprehensible fury of the old serpent of hell. If, in that hour, Satan seeks to bring about the downfall of even the great saints, what is to be expected of the wicked, the indifferent, and those who have spent their whole lives in the practice of sins and in the obstinate rejection of the grace and help of God? What are those who have no good deeds to oppose their greatest enemy to expect?

On one occasion, when St. Gertrude asked the Lord Jesus whether the love shown by a certain person in the last moments of his life had covered all the omissions he had committed during his life, according to what the Scriptures teach, that a man is judged according to the state of his soul in which he was at the moment of death, the Saviour replied to her:
“Since man, having left him, is approaching death, He can no longer carry out his good resolutions, for he no longer has the strength to do so, and he no longer has the courage and will to do good deeds. Therefore, it is indeed of great benefit to man if, at this moment, in My unmerited goodness, I give man good will and pour holy desires into his heart. However, this grace is not always sufficient to wipe out all the stains of the negligence committed; and this could undoubtedly be done if man, as long as he is full of health and strength, were willing to improve his life with full will.”

The Blessed Virgin Mary said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“Great is the danger that death brings to the souls of men, and great is the number of souls who perish in this terrible hour. After all, it is a general rule that a good life is followed by a good death. Exceptions are questionable, rare, and accidental.
After all, the surest remedy is to prepare early for a good death. That is why I admonish you, My daughter, to remind yourself every morning that this day, newly begun, may be your last. Then act as if it were really so, for you do not know whether it will not be your last. Prepare your soul in such a way that you will be able to accept death, if it really comes, with a joyful heart. Do not postpone your repentance and your resolutions, if any, to confess and correct even the slightest imperfection. Do not leave in your conscience even the slightest mistake that could be accused of you, for which you have not yet repented. Wash yourself in the Blood of My Most Holy Son, Jesus Christ, and prepare yourself so that you can stand every moment before a just Judge who will examine you and judge you by the smallest thoughts, by the smallest strength of your soul and by all the words and deeds you have done in your life.

In the apparitions of St. Mechtilde we read:
“When the soul of a righteous man departs from this world and is free from all sin, so that it is worthy to ascend immediately to Heaven, God penetrates it with His divine power when it comes out of this world and fulfills it. And He takes possession of all its feelings and senses, so that He becomes, as it were, the eye of that soul, and the light through which it looks. And at the same time the beauty which the soul sees, so that in a most wonderful and joyful way God sees Himself in the soul and with the soul, and beholds this soul with all the saints. God also becomes the ear of such a soul, through which it hears His words of honey, with which the Lord caresses the soul more than any mother’s love caresses her child. God is also the breath of such a soul, by means of which it draws into itself the blue life-giving air, that is, God Himself, who surpasses the beauty of all fragrances, and who alone sustains the soul for ever by life. God is also the taste of the soul, through which He reveals to it the sweetness of Himself. God is the voice and language of the soul, for in it and through it He glorifies Himself in the most perfect and sublime way. God is also the heart of the soul, for He rejoices and fills it with joy, and henceforth in and with it He enjoys the sweetest joy. Henceforth, God becomes the true life of the soul, so that whatever the soul does, God completes in it, and God is for it “all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:28).
And to those souls who are not yet completely purified, the angels give them the light of discernment, and give them help and consolation in purgatory.
On the other hand, the soul of the damned is filled with dark terror, bitterness, unspeakable sorrow, despair and boundless poverty at their departure from this world. They are so troubled in themselves, and utterly desolate from all that is good, that even if they did not go to hell and into the power of Satan, they would suffer great torments because of the unspeakable misery which fills them within.

In the apparitions of St. Mechtilde there is a beautiful account of the death of a nun, which we give below:
A certain nun, who had served God devoutly and zealously all her life, began to fall ill; and when St. Mechtilde was once praying fervently for her, she saw the soul of the sick woman kneeling before the Lord, who showed her His rosy wounds. The soul greeted Him with a prayer that the saint had never heard before:
“O salvation bringing, the wounds of my beloved Bridegroom Jesus Christ, hail! Hail ye in the omnipotence of the Father, who has permitted you to be inflicted upon the Most Holy Body of His Son, in the wisdom of the Son who suffered you, in the goodness of the Holy Spirit, who through you has accomplished the work of our redemption.”
When the sick woman was about to receive the Sacrament of Extreme Unction with holy oil and the religious congregation gathered in the chamber where the sick woman was lying, St. Mechtilde saw two angels carrying a pelvis. The water in the basin signified mercy and truth, in which the soul of the
sick was to be washed of all spots, according to the words: “Mercy and truth shall precede Thy face” (Psalm 88/15). Then she saw four angels spreading a red canopy over the sick woman’s bedside, signifying the merits and dignity that the dying woman was to receive after this life. For as long as the soul is in the body, it cannot know the glory with which God wills to crown it in heaven.
Now St. Mechtilde began to grieve that the Lord was not with the soul of her beloved; for the presence of angels could not comfort her. And as she sought with the eye of her heart Him whom she loved, looking from one angel to another, she found the Lord according to the desire of her heart, standing in the middle of the chamber in a shining robe, on which glittered golden shields. This radiance signified the purity of the sick woman; and the constancy of her patience, in which, for the love of the Lord, she patiently endured a multitude of sufferings and sicknesses. Therefore the Lord adorned Himself with these garments in honor of His bride.
And the Lord sat down with the sick woman in the place of the priest, and the Blessed Virgin Mary sat at the end of the bed, where the sick woman had her head. As the priests read the litany, the Lord crossed the dying woman three times with the sign of the Cross, saying: “I bless you for the health of your soul and for the sanctification of your body!” And when the Name of the Virgin Mary was pronounced in the litany, the Blessed Virgin lifted up the sick woman and said: “Behold, my Son, I give you this bride as an eternal possession!” All the saints, too, at the invocation of them in the litany, prayed to the Lord, kneeling, for the soul of the sick woman, and passed by her bed in procession; among them were the holy virgins who walked closest to the Saviour. When the anointing with holy oils was thus performed, the Lord said to His Blessed Mother: “Behold, I commend this soul to Thee, that Thou mayest offer it unblemished to My Face.”
As the hour of her blessed death drew near, and the sick woman lay in her last breaths, Saint Mechtilde, moved by compassion, prayed to the Lord even more fervently. And it seemed to her that an innumerable army of saints was coming. The martyrs lined up in their heads; They were dressed in red robes and had golden shields on them. And they said to each other, “Let us move our shields!” And when they moved them, they made such a sweet sound that the sick woman’s sufferings were changed into joy and gladness. And the most faithful Spouse of the soul, the Lord Jesus, stood before the sick woman’s bedside, and His Blessed Mother stood beside Him. Then blessed is the soul of the dying, having freed herself from the bonds of the flesh, she flew joyfully into the hands of the Blessed Virgin, so that, freed from all suffering, she might be crowned for ever. After all, Mary gave it to her Son. He took her into His hands with wonderful tenderness and held her to His breasts to rest there until Mass was celebrated for her and the Easter Lamb was offered.
The Lord instructed the person who had seen all this to make an effort to celebrate Mass for the deceased earlier. And so it happened and the Holy Mass was celebrated before matins. The Lord put on Himself, in honor of His new bride, a white robe with eagles on it. The white color signified the purity and innocence of the sick woman; and her heart is inclined to meditate on eagles. When the Mass began, the Supreme Pontiff and True Bishop himself celebrated the Mass for the deceased. On the altar was placed a precious treasure, namely, all the good that the Son of God had done on earth for the salvation of men; the Lord offered this treasure to His heavenly Father for this soul, to complete its merits.
Then the Blessed Virgin Mary brought the soul to the altar and gave it a golden cupboard in which was also deposited the treasure of all the virtues and good works which the Blessed Virgin had done on earth, as well as the departed nun’s own good works, in which she had rejoiced during her life, so that she might offer all this to God for all her negligence. At the Gospel the Lord took her by the hands and said: “I promise you, my beloved, that your body, which has been completely consumed in my service, will come out of the tomb gloriously on the day of the future resurrection.”
And the soul, adorned as beautifully as a bride, had in her hand a ring, the stone of which represented a human face, while her soul shone like a transparent mirror. And when the Lamb of God was sacrificed for her, the light came forth from the Divine Heart with such brightness that it enveloped the whole soul, so that it could not be seen. Thus radiant with the splendor of the Divinity, filled with the wondrous sweetness of the Holy Spirit, and adorned with all the heavenly gifts, she became, as it were, one soul with God through the bond of inseparable union.
As the body was being carried to the tomb, St. Mechtilde heard the sweet song of the saints in honor of the funeral of the bride of the immortal King. They sang: “You are blessed, and you will be well, glorious bride of Christ; for thou shalt rejoice with the saints, and thou shalt rejoice with the angels forever.” A multitude of candles, which emitted strong flames, preceded the body; they signified the good works which the nun had done with the help of God during her life, and which now preceded her soul in order to prepare for her eternal reward.
Then the King of kings and Lord of lords received His bride and embraced her in His arms. Thus the Lord ushered His beloved into His heavenly kingdom with unspeakable joy, followed by the whole glorious army of saints.
And St. Mechtilde saw this happy soul shining in an ineffable ornament in the presence of the Most Holy Trinity. For the Lord bowed down to her and said, “Arise and throw yourself as a daughter into your Father’s arms,” and the soul embraced the Lord with joy in her hands. And the Lord said, “This embrace signifies the union by which this soul is united to Me in an eternal bond of indissoluble love.”

Venerable Mary of Jesus writes in her apparitions that the Most Holy Virgin Love, while living on earth, because of the death of her mother, St. Anne, prayed the following prayer:

“Invisible, eternal God, King of the times of the world, immortal, almighty Lord, Creator of the universe!
Though I am dust and ashes (Gen. 18:27), and I confess that I have not merited the pleasing of Thy Majesty, yet I desire to speak with my Lord and to open my heart to Him (Psalm 61:9) in confidence, O God, that thou wilt not despise her who has confessed Thy Name for all time. Grant, O my God, that Thy handmaid die in peace, who with unshakable faith and full hope desired to do Thy holy will. Victorious over her enemies, let her come to the sure harbor of Thy chosen saints! May your mighty hand strengthen it. At the end of her mortal pilgrimage, may she be aided by the same right hand that made her paths perfect! She has always sincerely sought Your favor and friendship; so let him, O my Father, rest forever in Thy grace and in Thy friendship!

St. Bridget describes in his revelations the following judgment of God:

“It seemed to me that a certain soul was brought by a knight and a negro before the Judge. I was also told, “What do you see now, everything happened to the soul at that time when it was separated from the body.
When this soul was presented to the Judge, it was alone, and not in the hand of any of those who presented it; She stood naked and wailing, for she did not know where she would be condemned. Then it seemed to me as if every word in the book was of itself in answer to everything the soul said.
In the presence of the Judge and all his armies and hosts, the knight-at-arms first said, “It is unjust that this soul should be shown the sins which it has amassed by its confession.”
In spite of this, I knew (…) then very well and completely that the knight who spoke knew everything in God, but he spoke for me in such a way that I would understand it all.
Then came the answer from the book of justice: “When this soul did penance, there was no contrition for such sins; Nor was the atonement sincere. That is why she must now suffer for what she did not remedy when she could have done so.
At these words the soul began to weep violently, but only tears were seen, but no voice was heard.
Now the King spoke to his soul and said, “Let your conscience now present those sins for which there has not been a worthy satisfaction.” At these words the soul lifted up its voice so strongly; that almost all the world could hear her, and cried out, “Woe is me, that I have not done according to the commandments of God, which I have heard and known!” and, blaming herself, she added, “I did not fear the judgment of God!”
From the book she was told, “Therefore you must fear the devil!” And the soul answered at once, trembling with fear, “I had no love for God, therefore I did so little.” Immediately she was answered from the book: “Therefore it is only right that you should draw closer to Satan than to God, because Satan has attracted and drawn you to himself by his temptations.” The soul replied, “I recognize that everything I have done has been done by the promptings of Satan.” The answer came from the book: “Justice
declares that Satan has the right to repay you with punishment and sorrow according to what you have done.” The soul said, “From my skull to my feet, there was nothing in me that I did not take pride in; for I myself have personally invented some new vain and delicious garments, others I have worn according to the custom of my country; I also washed my feet and hands, not only to keep them clean, but to make them praise as beautiful people. The book replied: “Justice says: Satan has the right to punish you as you deserve, because you have dressed yourself according to his inspirations and regulations.” The soul continued: “My mouth was often opened to reckless words, and I tried to please others, and my heart desired everything that did not deserve disgrace and ridicule in the eyes of the world.” The answer from the book was: “Therefore thy tongue shall be stretched out and torn in all directions, thy teeth shall be twisted, and all that is most abominable to thee shall be set before thee, and all that pleases thee shall be taken away. The soul said, “I rejoiced greatly that many followed my example and that many imitated my customs. The book answered: “Therefore It is just that whoever is caught in such a sin, for which you will be punished, should receive the same punishment and be brought to you, and as a result of the coming of everyone who has imitated your inventions, your sufferings will be increased.”
With these words it seemed to me as if the soul’s head had been tied with something in the shape of a hoop, and it had been pressed so tightly that the back of the head was pressed against the forehead. As a result, the eyes fell out of their cavities and hung at their roots on their cheeks. His hair had withered as if he had been burned by fire. The brain tore through and ran down the nose and ears; The tongue came out of the mouth and the teeth twisted. The bones in his hands broke and tangled between them like ropes. His hands were stripped of his skin and tied around his neck. The breasts and abdomen were pressed so tightly against the back that the ribs cracked and the heart and viscera came to the surface and tore apart. There were shins hanging on either side, and the broken bones were tied together as if they were tied into a single withers.
While I was still looking at it, the negro said, “Judge! The sins of this soul were punished according to justice. Bring us both together now, me and this soul, so that we can never be parted again.” But the armed knight said, “Listen, O Judge, who knows everything, and allow Yourself to remember the last thoughts and last inclinations which this soul had in the last hour of its life. At the last moment, she thought, “Oh, if God would prolong my life, I would gladly repent of my sins and serve Him for the rest of my life, and I would never offend Him again.” Thus, O Judge, this soul thought and desired. Remember, too, O Lord, that this soul has not lived long enough to acquire a full discernment of conscience. Therefore, O Lord, remember her youth and show her mercy!
Now came the answer from the book of justice: “Such thoughts at the end of life do not deserve the punishment of hell!” And the Judge went on to say: “Heaven will be opened to this soul for My Passion, since it has previously been cleansed from its sins as it deserves to suffer; unless by the good deeds of the living he is helped!”

St. Bridget once saw God as full of anger and heard Him say:

“I am without beginning and without end.” With Me there is neither a change of year nor a change of day, but all the time of this world is before Me, as if it were one hour, as if it were the twinkling of an eye. Everyone who sees Me sees everything that is in Me as if at one point and understands it all.
Since you, My bride, are made up of flesh, you cannot comprehend this, nor can you know how the spirit is capable of this; Therefore, for your sake, I will declare what has happened.
I sat as it were in the court, for all judgment is given to Me, and a man stood before the tribunal to receive his sentence. The Father’s voice spoke to him, saying, “Woe to you that you were ever born!” Not as if God was sorry for having created him, but as one grieves for one for whom he feels pity. Then the voice of the Son said, “I have shed My Blood for you, and I have received the most severe punishment for you; She is completely lost to you, and has nothing to do with you!” The voice of the Holy Spirit said: “I have searched the recesses of his heart to see if I may not find in him one tender feeling of love; but it is as cold as the most terrible frost, as hard as the hardest stone, and I have nothing to do with it!” These three voices were not heard as if there were three Gods, but they were spoken in this way for your sake, My bride, for otherwise you could not have understood this mystery. And then the three voices of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost soon became one, which sounded like this, and said, “The kingdom of heaven does not belong to thee!”
The Mother of Mercy was silent and did not open her mercy, for the one who was judged was not worthy of it; and all the saints cried out with one accord and said, “Justice demands that he be expelled forever from Thy kingdom and from Thy eternal joys.”
Then all those who were in purgatory cried out: “You do not have a torment so bitter that it is sufficient to punish your sins! You deserve greater torments, therefore you will be separated from us!”
Then the one who was being judged spoke with a terrible voice, and cried out, “Woe, woe to the seed from which I was formed in my mother’s womb! Cursed is the hour when my soul is united to my body, and cursed is he who gave me body and soul! Cursed is the hour in which I was born alive!”
Then came three terrible voices from hell against him, crying, “Come to us, you accursed soul! You are like a sunken stone in a river, condemned to eternal death and never-ending life!” A second time the damned cried out: “Come, you damned, vain soul, to our malice; for there will be no one among us who will not persecute you with his anger and his torments.” A third time they cried out: “Come, cursed soul! It is as heavy as a stone that sinks and sinks over and over again, but never has a foothold to rest on. So you too will sink deeper and deeper, more and more from us, so that you will not stop until you come to the deepest abyss!”
Then the Lord added: “I am like the man who has several friends; when he sees that one of them is betraying him, he turns away from him to the others who are faithful to him and rejoices with them.
Therefore, My bride, when you know what has happened to this man and see his misery, serve me all the more zealously the greater the specimenI have mercy on you. Flee from the world and its lusts. Or did I take such a bitter torment upon Myself for the pleasures of the world, or was it because I could not have done it more quickly and easily? I could have done it, of course, but justice demanded it, that as man sinned in all the members, so also in all the members there should be satisfaction. Therefore the Deity had compassion on men and was inflamed with such great love for the Most Pure Virgin that it assumed humanity from Her.
In humanity, God bore all the punishment that man deserved. If, therefore, I have accepted this punishment out of love, then remain as My servants do, continually humble, so that you may be ashamed of nothing and fear nothing but Me. Guard your mouth, so that if it were not My will, you would never want to speak. Do not grieve over earthly things, for they are transitory, and I can make rich and poor whomever I will. Therefore, My bride, put all your hopes entirely in Me.”

The Blessed Virgin Mary said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“As the Holy Gospel tells us (John 5:27), the eternal Father has given to His and My Only Begotten the power to judge and condemn the rejected on the day of judgment. And it was quite right, not only that on that day all those who were judged and guilty might see that the Supreme Judge had condemned them according to the will and justice of God, but also that at that moment they might also see and know His Most Holy Humanity, by which they had been redeemed, and thus see in Him all the offenses and sufferings. which the Lord Jesus bore to save them from hell. For all these things will be revealed to them by the Lord Jesus Himself, the Judge who will judge them. And since they will be unable to say anything in their acquittal and defence, this shame will be the beginning of their eternal torment, which they have deserved by their obstinate ingratitude. Thus, at the Last Judgment, the most benevolent mercy by which they were redeemed, in all its greatness, will be revealed, but also the reasons why, according to the justice of God, they went to damnation.

And the slightest stains of sin hinder the soul from enjoying the delight of seeing God
. When St. Gertrude once prayed for a dead nun, she saw her dressed in various ornaments and as if completely bathed in light, standing beside the throne of the Lord Jesus. But this soul presented itself as an ashamed bride, not daring to look at the majesty of her Divine Bridegroom. Seeing this, St. Gertrude felt pity and said to the Lord Jesus: “Oh, why, my most loving and sweet Saviour, do You allow Your daughter to stand at such a distance from You, as if she were a stranger or a stranger, and You not show her proofs of Your tender love for her?”
The Lord Jesus, inclined to the petition contained in these words, deigned with marvelous gentleness to stretch out His hand to that soul, to draw it to Himself. But this soul tried, as if through some fear of love for the Saviour, to withdraw from the manifestations of these tenderness of its Divine Bridegroom.
St. Gertrude, greatly astonished at this sight, said to her soul: “Why do you flee from the caresses of such a lovable Bridegroom?”
To this the soul answered, “I do this because I am still defiled with a few spots, and therefore I cannot receive specimens of this kindness. And even if Divine justice did not hinder me from attaining the highest happiness, I would deprive myself of it; for I recognize how unworthy I am of such a Bridegroom full of height and majesty!”
To this St. Gertrude answered, “How can it be, since you present yourself to me as a glorious soul, enjoying the bliss of being in the presence of the Lord?”
The soul answered: “Although there is no creature that escapes the eye of God, yet know that we can approach His Majesty in a special way when our love for Him is increased. For no one is worthy of that supreme bliss which is the sight and presence of the whole Godhead, as the perfect reward for the labors of this life; unless he is completely cleansed from his sins, and attains to the highest degree of purity, by which he deserves to enter into the joys of heaven.”

Once, when St. Bridget had a vision of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory, an angel said to her:
“This furnace means hell, which is so hot inside that if the world with all that is in it were to burn, the fire that arises from it would not even resemble the great fever in that furnace. In this furnace there are various voices, all of which speak against God, and begin and end their cries with the words, “Woe!” Souls present themselves as persons whose limbs are terribly torn apart and never at peace. Know, too, that the fire that has appeared to you in the furnace burns in eternal darkness, but the souls burning in it do not suffer the same suffering. The darkness that appears around the furnace is called the abyss, and comes from the darkness in the furnace; Both, however, are one place and one hell. Everyone who comes here will never again dwell with God.
Above this darkness is the greatest torment of purgatory that souls can endure. On the other side of this place, however, there is another space, where the sufferings are smaller, consisting only in the lack of strength for masculinity, beauty, and other similar deficiencies. It is as if a man were sick, and when his sufferings and sickness had ceased, he had no strength until he slowly gained it again. The third place is at the top, and there is no other suffering than the desire to be united with God. To give you an example, let me give you an example: it is as if the ore were mixed and lit in the hottest fire, and cleaned for so long that the ore would be completely consumed by fire, and all that was left was pure gold. The stronger and harder the gold, the greater would be the need for fire to ignite the gold and become flowing as water. Then the master transfers the gold to another place, where it takes its best shape, so that it may be looked upon with pleasure and taken in the hand; Then he puts it in the third place, where he keeps it until it is returned to its owner.
The same thing happens to the souls in purgatory. In the first place, above the darkness, is the greatest torment of purgatory; here the souls are touched by Satans; It’s hot and cold here; Here is the darkness and confusion that comes from the torment of hell. Here some souls suffer less, others more, according to how they have made atonement for their sins while still living on earth in the flesh.
Then he transfers the master, that is, the justice of God, the gold, i.e., the souls, to the second place, where there are no punishments of others, only lack of strength. Here they remained until they were relieved, either by their special friends or by the continual good works of holy Church. For the more help a soul receives from its friends, the sooner it recovers and leaves the place.
Then the soul is taken to the third place, where there is no other suffering than the desire to receive God’s presence and to see His Face.
Know also that many in the world die so justly and innocently that they immediately get into the sight of God without repentance. And some have made satisfaction for their sins by good works, so that their souls do not suffer any torment. But there are comparatively few who do not come to the place where there is a desire to be united with God. Therefore all the souls residing in these three places share in the prayers of the holy Church and in the good works which the faithful living on earth perform; withIn particular, they make use of those good deeds which they themselves have done during their life in the world, and which after their death are performed by their friends for their intentions.
Know also that as sins are diverse, so are sufferings. And as a hungry man rejoices in the food he takes, thirsty for drink, sad for joy, naked for clothing, sick when he is put to bed, so these souls rejoice and share in the good which the people of the world do for them.
Then the angel added, “
Blessed be he who helps souls in the world by prayer, good works, and the work of his body.” For the justice of God cannot lie, which says that souls after death are more quickly set free, either by the punishment of purgatory or by the good works of their friends on earth.
Then she heard various feasts, voices crying out from purgatory:
“O Lord Jesus Christ, righteous Judge, send Your love to those who have power in the world in a spiritual sense, and then we shall have more part than now in their reading, in their singing, and in their sacrifice!”
Above the space from which these voices came, a building appeared, from which voices could be heard, crying: “May God reward those who help us for our mistakes!” Other voices pleaded: “O Lord God, grant out of Thy incomprehensible power a reward to every one of those in the world who, by their good works, bring us into the light of Thy Divinity and into the beholding of Thy Face!”

St. Mechtilde writes in her apparitions:

“Hell has a head above, it is enormous, and it has many terrible eyes, from which flames burst forth and embrace those poor souls who dwell in the abyss from which the Lord brought Adam and our other fathers; and which is now the place of the most grievous sufferings in purgatory to which a sinner can come.
There I saw high dignitaries, clergy and laity, in dire need and with innumerable wounds on their bodies. All those who have been there so far have been saved by God from hell, for I have not found anyone there who was to confess with the mouth of the flesh at the end of his life. Since, according to the nature of death, the external senses had already been taken away from them, their bodies lay quietly, and their will no longer lived either in their body or in their souls. They have already lost the darkness of the earth, and God has given them true recognition. Oh, how narrow is the road to Heaven! Then body and soul, not yet separated, said together, “True God, pardon me! I repent sincerely for my sins!” These are short hours, but in them God found in a hidden way many souls who seemed to be lost in public. I have never seen this happen to a man other than one who has done anything good with good will.

On one occasion the Lord took St. Mechtilde with Himself and showed her purgatory:
In him she saw the saint suffering all sorts of things. Some souls she saw coming out of the water, damp and wet; others were as if they had been burned in a fire, they had hideous shapes. St. Mechtilde prayed for them. At that hour the souls took the shape they had on earth, and, relieved from their sufferings, they joyfully left Purgatory.
On another occasion the Lord showed the saint purgatory. And she saw that there were as many kinds of sufferings in it as souls had indulged in transgressions during their life on earth. Those who loved pride on earth fell in purgatory as if from one puddle to another. Those who did not obey the obligatory obedience walked dejected and stooping, as if they were carrying a millstone on them. Those who sinned by gluttony and drunkenness lay stretched out on their backs, as if fainting and exhausted by hunger and thirst. Others, who indulged in sensuality, melted in the fire. And so souls repaid every unrepented sin by incurring punishments appropriate to the sins they had committed in mortality. When St. Mechtilde prayed for them, the Lord set them free.

Example.
An angel of God once said to St. Bridget:
“This soul whom you have seen is in the greatest torment of purgatory, for it does not know whether it will come to eternal rest or go to damnation after its penance, and this is the justice of God. For this man had a delicate conscience and a great gift of discernment, but he used it in a carnal way out of attachment to the world, and not in a spiritual way for the benefit of his soul. He also forgot God a great deal and often neglected Him during his life. That is why his soul now suffers the fever of fire and trembles with cold. She is blind by darkness and fearful by the sight of evil spirits; deaf because of Satan’s cries, hungry and thirsty on the inside, and disgraced on the outside.
However, after his death, the Lord God granted this man the grace of not allowing Satan to touch him, for the reason that it was only for the love of God that He forgave His enemies, forgave their grievous offenses, and made friends with His greatest enemy.
Know also that only the good things which he has made, and what he has spoken, and the alms which he has given out of the goods justly acquired, and the prayers of his friends, lessen and alleviate his sufferings, as the Lord God has ordained in his righteousness. And other goods, which he has acquired less justly, and which he has distributed, are of spiritual and bodily benefit to those who have righteously possessed them, if they were worthy according to the judgments of God.”

On one occasion the soul of a dead religious appeared to St. Gertrude, sad and in such a state that the saint knew that she had not yet made full satisfaction for her sins and was not yet worthy of partaking of the sweetness which the loving presence of God bestows on souls. The saint asked her: “Which mistake makes you sigh the most?” The soul answered, “This is the mistake that I have always wanted to do according to my will. If I did a good deed, I was not happy to conform to the opinion of others, but I always acted only according to my own opinion. All the spiritual sufferings that men have ever experienced, taken together, do not even come close to the inner pain and unspeakable sorrow they experience as a result of this error.”
St. Gertrude said, “By what means can you be relieved?” The soul answered, “By offering to God the very opposite course, and by avoiding falling into the same error.”
St. Gertrude went on to ask, “Meanwhile, from what will you draw consolation?” The soul said, “The faithfulness I have always maintained to those on earth whom I have loved sweetens my punishment as I am now suffering. Hence, the prayers which my friends say for me, through the mercy of the Saviour, have the power to alleviate my torments, just as in times of need it is a joy to receive good news. The singing of the Holy Masses, and all the different tones repeated in the public prayers that are said for me, also make me a kind of costly garment. Ultimately, by the special operation of the Saviour’s goodness, all that my friends do for the glory of God diminishes my sufferings; for instance, when they work, and even when they sleep and eat, it brings me nearer and nearer to the goal of my happiness, and this is because of my will to do them good, which I have always observed zealously throughout my life.”
St. Gertrude said, “What help does our request to offer you all the merits of the good works which the Saviour has done in us by His grace give you?” The soul answered, “These merits serve me very well, for I have nothing by which to please God, to make me acceptable in the sight of God.”
St. Gertrude said, “Would you suffer more if a sick person postponed the prayers for you until he was well and would have wished you to have said them sooner?” The soul answered, “Delays caused by wise motives are not disagreeable; as long as they are not caused by negligence and laziness.”
St. Gertrude said: “And our conduct and spiritual disposition for your sake during your illness has not been an obstacle to your happiness, and have we not done you a bad service by it? For our wishes and prayers were rather intended to beg God to deign to restore you to health and keep you alive, than to give you the grace to prepare well for death.” The soul answered, “You have done me no harm by this, but, on the contrary, you have contributed to my happiness, for the infinitely benevolent God, whose mercy surpasses all other works, has been all the more gracious and generous to me when He saw that your love moved you to share in my earthly benefit, even though it was done in a way that betrayed a very human weakness.”
St. Gertrude went on to ask: “Is Does it hurt you, or does it delay your happiness, if the tenderness of a human person makes you cry?” The soul answered: “These tears have the same effect on me as the kindness of their friends has on those who are saddened, and who wish to show their sympathy that they share in their grief. If, for on the other hand, I shall one day become happy by enjoying the splendor of heaven, then these proofs of your love will also make me glad and glad. And they will be
as pleasing to me as they are to a young man to wish happiness and to acknowledge those he loves. And I deserved this consolation, because my faithfulness, which won your hearts to me, was sincere and pure, and was based on the love of God.”
When St. Gertrude, praying for this soul, pronounced the words in the “Our Father”: “Forgive us our trespasses; as we forgive those who trespass against us,” she saw that the soul was showing pain, which greatly astonished her. When she was asked the reason for her grief, she replied: “When I was on earth, I offended God not a little by finding it difficult to forgive those who offended me. When I met with them after a long time, I showed them coldness and conceit, which they were displeased. To make up for these mistakes, it came to pass that at the very moment when you uttered these words, my spirit was troubled with an unbearable embarrassment.”
St. Gertrude said, “And how long will you bear this penalty?” The soul answered, “Until I have made full satisfaction for my sins. Meanwhile, your love, with which you so devoutly prayed this prayer for me, has obtained for me from the mercy of God the grace that every time you say these words in the future, I will be relieved. Thus I shall be all the more able to thank God for the gracious forgiveness of my errors, which grace I did not deserve.”
When the Holy Mass was celebrated for the intention of the deceased and the priest offered the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus, his soul appeared, surrounded by heavenly light and as if delighted with joy. Then St. Gertrude turned to the Lord Jesus and said: “Has this soul already received glory and been completely freed from the sufferings it has suffered?” To this the Lord answered, “She has been relieved from great misery, and no man can imagine what she has already gained. However, it is not yet so pure as to be worthy of enjoying My presence. But with the prayers which are said for her, and which compel Me to give her consolation and relief, the moment of her complete purification is drawing nearer and nearer.” And the Lord added: “Your Lordships cannot obtain her release as quickly as they could, if this soul were not so guilty of My justice, as a result of that error often committed, that she showed herself obstinate and unobedient to the will of those who wished to induce her to do something contrary to her inclinations.”

St. Mechtilde writes in her apparitions as follows:

“On All Saints’ Day, when I was praying with the whole Church for the souls who had repented of their sins in purgatory, I saw a great furnace, black on the outside and filled with fiery fire inside. When I looked into the fire, I saw how the souls were standing in flames and burning like straw. Then Someone stood beside me, like a great angel, and I asked, “Why do these souls come out of the furnace so much when the prayers of pious people come to them? Some crowded, but others didn’t.” The one I asked replied: “When these souls were still on earth, they did not want to help those who were in need and asked them for help.”
Moved by pity, I cried out to Heaven: “Oh, God, if I could come down to them and suffer with them, that they would come to You all the sooner!” It turned out that the One who was standing next to me was the Lord Jesus; For he said to me lovingly, “If you want to go in there, I will go with you.” Then He took me and led me to Purgatory, and because I was with the Lord, I did not suffer. I also asked the Lord: “How many souls are there here?” And the Lord said, “You cannot count them, and these are the souls for whom you prayed while they were still alive on earth.”
Now I knew among the souls the one for whom I had prayed thirty years ago and longed to set him free. But in my misery I did not dare to ask the Lord for so great a grace; Yet I said, “Dear Lord and God, would you not be willing to set them free?” And at that moment all souls rose up with great power and in unspeakable bliss, whiter than snow, and soared to Heaven in sweet pure joy, and rested there after their sufferings.
When they rose from Purgatory, they sang the psalm, “Praise, O little children!” and then, “We praise You, O Lord, for Your great goodness, for Your gracious gift, and for your faithful help!”
Yet the Lord stood near the fire and held me; Then I said, “Ah, Lord, You know well what I want!” I wanted to fall at His feet to thank Him. Then the Lord sat down and I thanked Him for the grace to be able to look at the great glory that God had bestowed upon these poor souls. On the Lord’s feet I found the rosy wounds of our redemption and prayed, “Lord, give me Your blessing!”
The Lord answered, “I bless you with My wounds.”

In the apparitions of St. Mechtilde we read:

“When the young man Count B. died, St. Mechtilde saw his soul, immersed in prayer, lying before the Lord and weeping bitterly. For this soul, at the end of its life on earth, was more afraid of the punishment of hell than out of love for God. Never in her mortal life did she shed a tear for God’s love. At the sight of the poverty of this soul, St. Mechtilde felt pity and asked the Lord Jesus to give to this soul all His loves, full and innocent tears, which He had once shed on earth, for the forgiveness of its sins and for their reparation. When the gracious Lord did this, the soul experienced great joy and consolation.
When, on the thirtieth day after the death of this young man, Mass was celebrated for his soul in the chapel where he was buried, and the offertory was sung, St. Mechtilde saw his soul pass by the altar and sing: “I know, O Lord, that when you gave me to death, you did it for my salvation and for the consolation of my soul!”
And St. Mechtilde asked the young man, “Who taught you to sing like this?” The young man answered, “All things are for the glory of my Creator, and I now know which of them I ought to praise Him and I can praise Him.”
The saint went on to ask, “Do you suffer in any way?” The young man answered: “I have no other suffering than that I have not yet seen my most beloved God! A God whom I desire to see with so much desire that all the desires with which anyone on earth has desired God, if they were all to be poured out into the soul of one man, would be nothing compared to my desire.”
St. Mechtilde said, “How can this be true when so many saints have longed for God with such unspeakable desire?” The young man answered: “As long as the soul is burdened with the weight of the body, it often suffers bodily obstacles, such as eating, sleeping, working, and intercourse with men. It cannot burn with such a burning desire for God as the soul, freed from the body and from all obstacles, constantly longs for God, its Creator.”
In the third month after the death of this young man, his soul appeared again to St. Mechtilde. Two radiant young men led him away dressed in a gray robe. St. Mechtilde said to him, “Does it bother you that your parents and your servants mourn you so painfully?” The young man replied: “It does not bother me; but I very much wish that they would recognize it as a good thing that the Lord God has done for my soul by taking me out of the world.”
The saint said, “Why are you dressed in this robe?” The young man said, “For at the very end of my life, after receiving the Blessed Sacrament, I determined to remain a knight of Jesus Christ, if I lived.”
St. Mechtilde asked, “What has benefited you most?” The soul answered, “The sacrifice of the Mass, almsgiving, and pure prayer.”
The saint asked, “What is pure prayer?” The soul answered, “Pure prayer is that which comes from a pure heart and when the one praying is free from sin. If he carries in his heart the consciousness of the evil deed he has committed and decides to confess it, or confesses it to God in prayer, then the prayer which he then offers flows to the divine heart as pure water and becomes highly efficacious. But the sinner’s prayer rises like muddy water.”
St. Mechtilde asked, “Who taught you these things?” The soul said, “All the things we want to know, God teaches us.”
The saint said, “Who are these young men who are with you?” The soul answered, “One of them is my Guardian Angel, to whom God on earth has commended me; the other belongs to the choir of heaven, into which I will now be introduced!”

In the apparitions of St. Gertrude we read the following:
When the saint once heard of the death of a monk whom she knew, she began to pray for him, and immersed in prayer, she saw in rapture the soul of the deceased quite black and hideous. And it seemed to her as if she were suffering great remorse and unspeakable sorrow. Touched by her misery and moved by the greatest pity, she began to recite the five “Our Fathers” in honour of the five wounds of the Lord Jesus, in order to obtain relief for this soul. During this sacred exercise, she greeted each wound of respect with full kisses. When, at the fifth Our Father, she showed this sign of love to the wound of the Side of the Lord Jesus, it seemed to her that she saw the Blood and Water flowing from it, joined and as if emitting a certain fragrance. From this the saint knew that the soul of the one for whom she had prayed had been greatly relieved by the intake of this salutary and refreshing fragrance.

On one occasion the Lord said to St. Gertrude:

“Just as the body is made up of its various members united to itself, so it were, its earthly life is made up of different feelings, which are fear, sorrow, joy, love, hope, jealousy, hatred, shame. In proportion as man exercises himself in these natural inclinations for My glory, the more he will find in Me that incomprehensible and ineffable joy and quiet delight which I have prepared for the enjoyment of eternal bliss.
And when this mortal body in the future resurrection is clothed in an incorruptible state, then all its members will receive a special reward for all their labors and deeds which they have done in My name and out of love for Me. That is to say, the soul will receive incomparably greater dignity and excellence for all the holy acts which it has performed for My glory, for true contrition for its sins, and even for the loving cultivation of its body for My service.

When, one day, during the Holy Mass, St. Mechtilde heard the words in the Gospel: “And on the third day she will rise again”, she fell to the ground, thanking God for raising man from the dead and for the future transfiguration of man. And behold, in the chapel where she was praying, she saw the three holy bodies of the dead, which were buried under the altar, rising from their graves, and with outstretched arms, as if flying to Heaven and giving thanks to God. Their hearts were adorned with precious jewels, and they moved joyfully, as if they were rejoicing in the good deeds they had done in life.
Then the saint said to the Lord, “Ah, my Lord, how will these bodies receive their souls again? Or what will be their brightness when the soul is reunited with them?” And the Lord answered, “In the future resurrection the body will be seven times brighter than the sun, and the soul seven times brighter than the body, and it will shine through all the members of the body and like the sun. When the soul has again put on its body as a garment, I will illuminate its whole interior with an ineffable light, and so will the resurrected in the heavenly dwelling shine forth, body and soul without end.”

God’s mercy on the human race fallen by original sin
On one occasion St. Bridget of the Lord said:

“Just as I created angels for my glory and for my splendor, so I created man for my glory. I gave him a body as a spiritual temple, in which I placed his soul like a beautiful angel, for the soul of man has, as it were, an angelic virtue and strength. In this temple was I, his God and Creator, in whom man found joy and delight.
Then I made him a second temple, out of his own rib and like him, a woman, and I decreed that their children should be as perfect as Adam was at once.
This honor to which I called man was despised by the first men, and they gave themselves over to Satan, and coveted honors higher than that which I had given them. And when they had disobeyed, My angel came upon them, and they were ashamed of their nakedness, and immediately felt the lust of the flesh, and suffered hunger and thirst. Now they have run out of Me; as long as they had Me, they felt no hunger, no lust of the flesh, no shame, but I Myself was good to them all, all sweetness and perfect joy.
And when Satan rejoiced in their fall and destruction, moved by pity, I did not forsake them, but showed them mercy. I clothed them because they were naked, and I gave them bread from the ground. For the evil lust which Satan, when disobedience increased, stirred up in them; I have given to their seed the soul of My divinity, and what Satan has whispered to them for evil, I have exchanged for good.
I, their Creator, promised them that I would be born of their descendants.
But when the anger of men increased, I still showed My justice to sinners, and My mercy to My chosen ones, because I was gracious to them.
I saved them from destruction and exalted them because they kept My commandments and believed in My promises. And when the time of mercy drew near, I showed My miracles through Moses.
For I have saved My people according to My promises. I fed them with the Bread of Heaven, I walked before them in a pillar of fire and a cloud, I gave them My law, and I showed them My mysteries and the future through My prophets.
Then I chose for myself the One who created all things, the Virgin who was born of a father and a mother. From her I took human flesh, conferring on this Virgin the privilege of allowing her to be born without sin, just as the first children in Paradise, by the mystery of divine love and by the common inclination and love of their parents, were to be born without shameful lust. In this way, My divinity assumed humanity from a virgin without violating her virginity.
And then, when I came as the true God and Man in the flesh, I fulfilled the law and all the scriptures that had previously spoken of Me, and began a new law, because the old law was too severe and hard to bear, and was only a picture of what was to come to pass.

On one occasion the Lord Jesus said to St. Bridget:

“The Godhead, having created man, gave him at the same time two goods, namely, the freedom to do good and to protect himself from evil. For since there were no more angels to be created, it was fitting that man should take away his liberty if he was to rise to the dignity of angels. And to the soul of man the Lord God has given two goods, namely, reason, that it may discern one opposite from another, and that it may choose the best from the best, and secondly, that He has given it the strength to persevere in the good.
When Satan saw God’s love for man, he thought to himself, in his jealousy: “God has created something new that can get into the place we occupy, and can gain by fighting what we have recklessly lost. If we could crush it and conquer it, it would have to stop fighting, and then it would not reach its greatness.” Then Satan devised a deceitful temptation and deceived man by his malice, where, with the permission of My justice, he was victorious.
How and when was man defeated? Now, when he has lost his virtue and done a forbidden thing; when he was more pleased with Satan’s promise than with obedience to Me.
For this disobedience, man did not deserve to be in Heaven because he despised God. But he did not yet deserve hell either, because his soul, with the help of reason, pondered carefully what it had done and repented of the sin it had committed. Therefore the mighty God acknowledged the misery of man, and appointed him a guard and a place of imprisonment, so that man might know his weakness and atone for his disobedience. That he may once again be able to rise to the dignity he has lost.
And this Satan pondered again, and desired to kill the soul of man by the vice of ingratitude. He put his feces into the soul of man and darkened his understanding to such an extent that man knew nothing of the love of God and did not feel the fear of God. He also completely forgot God’s justice and despised God’s judgment. That is why God was not feared and his goodness and benefits were forgotten. The people of that time did not understand love, and they were paupers with a darkened conscience and had fallen very low.
However, God did not skimp on man’s help, but showed him His mercy and His justice.
Mercy, when He showed men, namely, Adam and other good men, how they would be helped at His appointed time. In this way, people’s love for God was awakened. And God showed His righteousness, namely, in the days of Noah, by a flood which filled the hearts of men with fear and fear of God.
But even then Satan did not cease to trouble man in other ways, but accosted him with two other malices. First he deprived him of his faith, then he subjected him to despair. He deprived him of his faith, so that people did not believe the word of God, and attributed his miracles to fate; and despair, lest they should expect either salvation or restoration of their lost glory. Against these two scraps the Lord Almighty did not fail to give two means; against despair he gave hope when he promised Abraham that from his seed he would raise up Him who would restore to him and to all his living descendants in faith the honor that had been lost. In addition to this, He called prophets to whom He showed the way of redemption and the places and times of His suffering. Against the second evil, i.e., unbelief, God spoke with Moses and revealed His law and His will to him, and He also made known to him His words by signs and wonders.
While this was happening, Satan’s anger had not yet ceased, but Satan stirred man up to more and more malice, and put two other things into man’s heart. First, the thought that God’s law is too intolerable; secondly, he gave him the thought, how almost impossible it seemed to believe, that God should die of love and be willing to suffer persecution. Again, God gave two means against these two things: first, in order that man might not lose patience with the firmness of the law, He sowed His Son into the womb of the Virgin, who, after taking upon Himself Humanity, fulfilled what the law required, and then He softened the law Himself. Against the second thing God showed the greatest strength, for the Creator died for the creature, the Righteous for the wicked; The innocent suffered persecution until the last moment, as the prophets had foretold.

Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she would become the Mother of the Son of God
Venerable Mary of Jesus describes in her apparitions the incarnation of the Son of God in the virginal womb of Mary as follows:

“At last the happy day has come, and the full hour of grace in which the Son of God, according to the eternal decree of the Most Holy Trinity, was to descend from the bosom of the heavenly Father into the womb of the Blessed Virgin, in order to assume our human nature and begin the work of salvation in mortal flesh. The Most High revealed to all His angels that now the fullness of time had come, and that He would now hasten down into the world for the salvation of men, to become man in the womb of Mary, His chosen Mother. Then the Most High spoke to the holy Archangel Gabriel and gave him the message to take to the Blessed Virgin.
The Archangel Gabriel listened with indescribable joy to God’s command and made preparations for his descent from Heaven accompanied by many thousands of angels. This great prince and envoy had the form of a young man of wondrous beauty; His countenance shone brightly, and his expression was grave and majestic. His attitude full of dignity, his words full of importance and power. His whole person, full of solemnity and goodness at the same time, represented the Deity in a more perfect manner than any other angel whom the Queen of Heaven had ever seen in a similar form. He wore a diadem of extraordinary brilliance, and his splendid garments glittered in all sorts of colors, which shone with great brilliance. On his chest he had a wonderfully beautiful, gold-framed Cross, marking the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God, for which purpose he had come to fulfill his message.
The whole host of heaven, with its leader and prince, St. Gabriel, went to Nazareth, a city in the land of Galilee, to the dwelling place of the Blessed Virgin Mary. That dwelling was a poor house, and her room was a little room without any of the ornaments which the world needs to cover its lowliness and its poverty in respect to higher goods.
The Blessed Virgin was now fourteen years, six months, and seventeen days old. As the messengers from Heaven approached her, Mary was immersed in meditating on the mysteries that the Lord had recently completed in her. And since the Lord had assured her that His only begotten would soon come down to take upon Himself a human form, the great Queen was filled with zeal and joy, believing in this promise, and in earnest and humble words she implored their fulfilment.
The Blessed Virgin Mary was busy with such prayers and acts when the Archangel Gabriel entered her. She was very pure in soul, very perfect in body, very noble in thought, very sublime in holiness, full of grace, and in every way so similar to God and so pleasing to God, that she could be His worthy Mother and an efficacious instrument to bring Him from the bosom of the Father to her virginal womb. Mary was a powerful means of our salvation. With the greatest modesty the Most Pure Virgin looked at the archangel, and only as much as was sufficient to recognize in him the angel of the Lord. When she knew him, she wanted to bow down before him in her usual humility, but the holy prince of heaven would not allow it.
Indeed, he himself worshipped her profoundly as his Queen and Lady, in whom he worshipped the divine mysteries of his Creator.
Then the archangel greeted our and his Queen, and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you; BlessThou art among women.” On hearing this angelic greeting, the humblest of creatures was frightened. This fear had a twofold cause; the first was the deepest humility, in which Mary considered herself the least of all men; Meanwhile, when she thought of herself with such humiliation, she heard in her greeting that she was blessed among women. The second reason was that at the very moment when she heard the angel’s greeting, the Lord revealed to her that He had chosen her as His Mother. And this was what she was so afraid of, because of the little opinion she had of herself. That is why the angel, explaining God’s will, continued: “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus; He will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High.”
Our wisest and most humble Queen was the only one of all creatures capable of recognizing and appreciating this wondrous mystery with dignity, and as she knew its greatness, she was greatly astonished, and said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know my husband?” The heavenly envoy answered her: “Queen! It is easy for God’s omnipotence to make it possible for you to become a mother and remain a virgin. The Holy Ghost will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will protect you, so that the Holy of the Holy of Saints, who will be called the Son of God, may be born of you.
And behold, thy kinswoman Elizabeth also conceived in her old age, and this is the sixth month from her conception. To the son whom thou shalt bear God will give the throne of his Father David, and to his kingdom there will be no end.”
With these words the heavenly messenger instructed the Blessed Virgin, so that by recalling her the promises of the Lord, and by believing in the infinite omnipotence of the Most High, she might remove all fear. The Blessed Virgin withheld her answer for a while longer, for she considered that the fulfilment of God’s promises and prophecies, the opening of the gates of heaven, the restoration and victories over hell, the salvation of the human race, the satisfaction and reparation of God’s justice, the founding of a new law of grace, the happiness of men, the joy of the angels, depended on her. In a word, everything that is enclosed in this great mystery that the only-begotten of the Father was to become man and take the form of a servant in her virginal womb.
Mary contemplated and came to know the immeasurable greatness of the dignity of the Mother of God, which she was to acquire by pronouncing the words: “So be it!” So she gained superhuman strength; and having contemplated the greatness of this sublime divine mystery, and having just received the message from the angel, she gave herself up in spirit to admiration, praise, and the highest and fiery love of God. By the power of these acts and movements of the soul, the purest Heart of Mary was embraced, as if by a natural effect, so strongly compressed that three drops of the purest blood flowed from it. From these three drops of blood was formed in the most pure womb of Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the Body of Our Lord Jesus Christ. At the same time, Mary bowed her head with indescribable humility, folded her hands, and pronounced those words which were the beginning of our salvation: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let me sow according to your word.” Thus the incarnation of the Son of God was completed.
It happened on Friday, March 25, at dawn in the morning, the same hour at which our first father Adam was created in the year 5199 A.D.the Church of Rome counts it in the martyrdom.

During the Gospel “Missus est” (He was sent – Luke 1:26) (Gospel read for the feast of the Annunciation) Saint Mechtilde saw the Archangel Gabriel walking towards Nazareth. He carried a royal banner inscribed in golden letters, and was followed by an innumerable multitude of angels, who all arranged themselves in front of the house where the Blessed Virgin lived, and formed a kind of wall extending from earth to heaven, so that the angels were followed by the archangels, and after them came the choir of power, and the rest of the hosts were arranged in such a way that each choir surrounded the house. as if it were a wall.
Then the Lord, as the Bridegroom, came out of His chamber, beautiful before the sons of men, with the fiery choir of the Seraphim, who are nearest to God. And they surrounded the Lord and the Blessed Virgin from earth to heaven, as if with a wall and a kind of roof. And the Lord stood by the banner of the archangel, equal to the blossoming Bridegroom and the glorious youth, and waited for the Angel Gabriel to respectfully greet such a holy Virgin.
And when the Blessed Virgin Mary bowed down in love and humility and said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word,” the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove with the wings of His divine sweetness spread to the soul of the Virgin. Thus the Virgin became the Mother of the God-Man through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Blessed Virgin Mary said to St. Bridget:

“I am she who has been in the love of God from eternity, and the Holy Spirit has been completely with me since my childhood. Understand this in the case of a nut which, as it grows, by the expansion of the shell on the outside, expands itself, and the nucleus also grows on the inside, so that the nut is always filled, and there is no void in it to receive anything external.
In the same way, I have been filled with the Holy Spirit since my childhood, and as my body has grown and multiplied in years, I have been filled with His fullness by the Holy Spirit. So that there was no empty place in Me that could facilitate sin’s entry into My heart.
That is why I am the one who has never committed sin, either venial or mortal. For I was so full of God’s love that I liked nothing but to do God’s will. After all, the fire of God’s love burned in My Heart.
In the same way, God, blessed above all things, who created me by his power and filled me with the power of the Holy Spirit, loved me with a fiery love. And out of this ardent love, He sent His messenger to Me, and made known to Me His will, that I should become the Mother of God. When I knew that this was the will of God, there immediately came forth, by the fire of love that I had in my heart for God, a word of true obedience came out of my mouth, by means of which I said to the messenger, “Let it be done to me according to your word.” And at that moment the Word became flesh in me, and the Son of God became my Son, and so we both had one Son, who is both God and man, just as I am a virgin and a mother.”

Venerable Mary of Jesus describes the birth of the Lord Jesus in her apparitions as follows:
“By God’s unchangeable will, it was ordained that the Only Begotten of the Father should come into the world in the city of Bethlehem. To fulfill this sentence, you used an order issued by Emperor Augustus in the Roman state. According to which, as St. Luke describes, all the inhabitants of the whole world were to be recorded and numbered. This census consisted in the fact that all had to declare that they were subjects of the emperor and that they had to pay a tax to him as their secular lord. In order to register the population, everyone had to go to their hometown to register in the public books.
This command also came to Nazareth. Joseph learned of him when he went out into the city; sad and perplexed, he returned home and told the news to his Bride. The wisest virgin answered, “Do not let this command of the earthly emperor frighten you, my spouse and lord; yet here too the Lord and King of Heaven and earth disposes of all that befalls us. His Providence will be our help and guide in every situation. Let us give ourselves to it with full confidence and we will not be disappointed.”
When the day was set for the journey, St. Joseph was still trying to find a donkey to carry the Lady of the world on the journey. It was not easy to find such an animal, for many people had to go to all sorts of cities to carry out the emperor’s orders. Although, after a long and arduous search, St. Joseph at last found a donkey, not very splendid, whom we can truly call happy, for not only did he carry the Queen of the world, and with her the King of kings and Lord of lords, but he was also present at the birth of the Divine Child, and paid Him homage which men did not want to pay Him. Mary and Joseph prepared everything needed for the journey, which lasted five days. The food supply of these holy travellers consisted of bread, fruit, and some fish, which was their usual food.
Thus they journeyed from Nazareth to Bethlehem, where they arrived on Saturday evening at four o’clock, at which time the sun sets and night begins. They entered the city to look for an inn. They walked several streets and sought shelter not only in inn houses, but also in the homes of their acquaintances and nearest relatives; They didn’t want to take them anywhere. As they walked through the city, they came to a house where the people were recorded in the public book. In order not to return in vain, they ordered them to write off, paid their tax, and thus fulfilled their duty. Then they continued their efforts to obtain a place to live, visiting more than fifty houses, but were everywhere distant.
About nine o’clock in the evening, St. Joseph, seeing that they would not find an inn, resolved to go to a cave outside the city, which he knew to serve as a shelter for the shepherds and their flocks. The Blessed Virgin agreed to this, and they both went to this secluded asylum. When they arrived, they found the cave unoccupied, for which they praised God as a blessing bestowed upon them.
The place was so miserable that even though the city of Bethlehem was full of strangers and inns were not enough for them, no one wanted to dare to live there.
Mary and Joseph entered the cave. In the brightness of the angels who accompanied them, they could easily see for their advicethat she was poor and forlorn, as they humbly wished. The sight brought them to tears of joy. The Great Queen and Monarch of Heaven, who had already been informed of the secret that was to come, soon set about cleaning with her own hands this cave, which was soon to become the throne of the Kings and the place of grace. In order not to deny herself a single exercise in humility, and to show to her newborn Son an act of reverence and homage, which in these circumstances she was able to render by beautifying his temple. She was assisted in this work by St. Joseph. Then, in an inexpressible joy of heart, they ate some of the meager provisions they had with them.
When the Blessed Virgin knew that the hour of the graces of the full birth had arrived, she asked her bridegroom to leave her alone and to retire, for it was already late at night. When this was done, the Blessed Virgin fell into rapture, in which she remained for more than an hour immediately before the birth of the Son of God, in clear vision of the Deity. When she returned to the use of her senses, she knew that the moment of birth had come. It produced in Mary’s body and soul such sublime divine effects that they surpass all created reason. Mary was so spiritual, so beautiful, so radiant in her body, that she was unlike any human creature. From her countenance came rays of light, so that she resembled the sun shining in the most beautiful red. Her face was very serious, full of marvellous majesty. Her heart was all aflame with the fire of love. She knelt before the manger with her eyes raised to Heaven, her arms folded on her breast. Her spirit was enraptured in the Divinity, her whole being immersed in God. In such a state did this most noble Lady, at the end of the rapture above described, bring into the world the Only Begotten Father, her own Only Begotten, our Saviour
JESUS, who is true God and true man; at midnight, on Sunday (…).
Thus was born the Son of God and the Son of Mary, Jesus Christ, the sun of justice from the ever-virginal Mother completely immaculate, beautiful, radiant and pure, and it came to pass that the Son of God strengthened and sanctified His Mother in her virginal purity and immaculateness. For he came forth from it as the rays of the sun from a crystal, which by these rays is neither broken nor damaged, but even appears to be more beautiful and radiant.

When the Mass (the first on the Solemnity of Christmas) sang “Dominus dixit” (“The Lord said” Psalm 2:7) in remembrance and in honor of the mysteries of the full and ineffable birth of Christ the Lord from His heavenly Father, St. Mechtilde saw God the Father as a very powerful king in a very wonderful tent, seated on a throne of ivory. And God said to her, “Come and take this co-eternal and firstborn Son of My Heart and grant it to all who worship in devout gratitude His supreme and eternal birth from Me.” And she saw a holy splendor coming from the Heart of God, which clung to her soul in the form of a transparent Child. She greeted the child with these words:
“Hail, you reflection of the glory of the father!” Then she carried the Child around to all present and gave Him to every nun, and yet she carried Him alone in her heart. And the child on her breast bowed down to each of them, and kissed their hearts three times.
With the first kiss it sucked all their longing out of Him; the second, their good will; on the third, all their labors in singing, in prostration, in vigils, and in other spiritual exercises.
By this she came to know that it is very pleasing to God when men, though not reasonably comprehended the divine and ineffable birth of the Son of God, nevertheless rejoice and worship it together in devout faith, giving him glory according to their ability.
In the Gospel “Exiit Edictum” (Luke 2) read at the first Mass of Christmas, it seemed to St. Mechtilde that God the Father was saying to her: “Go to the Virgin Mother of my Son and ask her to give you her Son with all the joys she had in him when she gave birth to him and with all the good with which I gave him to her and to the whole world for salvation.” When she came, she found the Child lying in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes.
The child said to her, “When I was born into the world, from that hour I was bound in handkerchiefs, so that I could not move in them. It was a sign that I had given myself whole, with all the good things I had brought with me from Heaven, into the power of man for his benefit. For he who is bound has no power and cannot defend himself, and all that he has can be taken away from him. Similarly, when I came down from the world, I was so attached to the Cross that I could not move at all; as a sign that all the good I have done for humanity I have left to men. And in the end, I have given all my life and all my goods, divine and human, and my sufferings entirely to man, so that he can take with confidence what is mine. It is also My desire that he should use My goods profitably.”
It also seemed to the saint that she saw Love in the form of a virgin sitting with the Blessed Virgin, and she said to her: “Ah, you sweet Love! Teach me to render a convenient service to this noblest child.” To this Love answered: “I have given Him with my virginal hands the first services, I have wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, I have nursed Him with my virginal breasts beside His Mother, I have kept Him in my bosom, and I have shown Him all kindness with His Mother, and I serve Him continually. Therefore, whoever wants to serve Him worthily, let him take me as a companion, that is, let him do all things in union with Love, in which God took upon Himself human nature; then all that he does will be most pleasing to God.”

On the feast of Christmas, it seemed to St. Mechtilde that she saw the Blessed Virgin sitting on a mountain with a wonderfully beautiful Child in her bosom. And the saint said to her, “My Lady, where are we at this moment?” The Blessed Virgin answered: “On the mountain of Bethlehem. Indeed, the city stood on a mountain; although the cave in which I gave birth to the Son of God lay above the city near the gate, therefore it is said that Christ was born in Bethlehem.”
St. Mechtilde asked, “How could the shepherds come to the Child at night?” The Blessed Virgin replied: “The profound calm that reigned that hour gave them this certainty. At the same time, the gates of the city were left open to a great influx of people.” St. Mechtilde said, “Oh, Lady, why did you not have a bed or any other comfort?” The Blessed Virgin answered: “It was not necessary, especially since I gave birth to My Child without pain.”
St. Mechtilde continued: “When your relatives and friends visited you, what could you give them? Thou, poor woman, and yet Queen of Heaven?” The Blessed Virgin answered, “I had no need for me to have anything, for they had brought everything with them.”
St. Mechtilde said, “What food did you give your Son when you weaned him?” Mary answered, “I have prepared for Him a dish of white bread and wine.”
Later, when St. Mechtilde reflected on this and asked herself whether the Lord Jesus, after His return from Egypt to Nazareth, had also had relations with His relatives, the Child Himself answered her: “How do you think why it stands in the Gospel that they sought Him among relatives and acquaintances,” if not because I have sometimes stayed with them? How, further, do you think why John the Evangelist, whom I called from the wedding feast, followed me so willingly, if not because he was so pleased with my intercourse and my customs, which he had often learned from my experience, that they easily moved him to imitate me?”

In the apparitions of St. Bridget we read that the heavenly hosts of angels appeared before the Lord and said: Glory be to Thee,
Lord God, and honor to Thee, who art and have been without end. We are Thy servants, and we praise and honor Thee for three reasons: First, because Thou hast created us to rejoice with Thee, and hast given us an ineffable light, that we may rejoice eternally. Secondly, because by Thy goodness and constancy all things were created, and all things exist and depend on Thy will, and abide by Thy word. Thirdly, because You created man, for whom You took upon Yourself humanity, whence the greatest joy arose for us; and you were born of your most pure Mother, who was worthy to bear you, whom the heavens can neither comprehend nor comprehend.
Therefore, may Your splendor and Your blessing be above all for that angelic dignity which You have raised to such an exaltation. Let your everlasting eternity and constancy be over all that is and can be. Let your love be upon the man you created. You are to be feared, O Lord, for Your great power. You Yourself are worthy of desire for Your great love, You Yourself are worthy of love for Your great goodness, therefore may you be glorified without end and without ceasing, forever and ever! Amen.

On one occasion the Lord Jesus said to St. Gertrude:

“Whenever anyone at these words will devoutly bow to thank Me for having become man for the sake of men, I will be moved by My goodness to bow down to him. From the depths of My heart, I offer to My heavenly Father all the fruits and merits of My most holy Humanity, in order to double the eternal happiness of all those who worship Me in this way.

Venerable Mary of Jesus writes in her apparitions about the circumcision of the Lord Jesus as follows:

“Since the Mother of wisdom knew that her Divine Child wished to submit to the command of circumcision in free love, she made the necessary preparations for this holy act. She also instructed St. Joseph to ask the priest to come to the cave and, as the most worthy servant, to complete the great mystery of circumcision.
When the appointed day came, the priest came to consummate this sacred rite. With great emotion he carried out his task, while the most tender Mother held the Child in her hands.
For the Child, true God and true Man, offered to the eternal Father three sacrifices, all of them so costly that each of them alone would suffice for the salvation of thousands of worlds. The first was that the Child Jesus, although innocent and the Son of God, took upon Himself the form of a sinner and submitted to circumcision, a rite intended to cleanse from original sin. The second sacrifice was the pain that Jesus felt as a true and perfect man. The third sacrifice was the fervent love with which He first shed His blood for the redemption of mankind. Jesus also gave thanks to the heavenly Father for giving Him a human body so that He could suffer for the increase of His glory.
The heavenly Father was pleased to accept the prayer and sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and, as we understand it to our human understanding, saw in it the beginning of the atonement for the sins of the human race.
Meanwhile, the priest asked what name the parents wanted to give to the Child, and Mary and St. Joseph said at the same time: “Jesus is His name!” To this the priest answered, “The parents are in perfect accord with each other, and great is the name which they give to the child. Then he wrote them down in the general book, and he felt a great inner emotion, so much so that he shed abundant tears. Astonished at his own feelings, which he could not explain, he said: “I think it certain that this child will be a great Prophet of the Lord; Educate them carefully and tell me how I can prevent your misery. The Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph humbly thanked him and bade him farewell, giving him a few items.

When, during the Mass, the epistle was read, “He has given him the Name that is above all names,” St. Mechtilde said to the Lord: “My Lord, what is the honor of the most worthy Name that the Father has given you?”
The Lord answered, “That name is the Savior, for I am the Redeemer and Savior of all that is and will be. I am the Savior of those who were before I became a man. I am the Savior of those who were there at the time when I walked among men as a man. And I am the Saviour of all those who have followed My teaching, and of all who will yet follow in My footsteps to the end of the world. And this is the most venerable Name, which alone the Father has destined for Me from the beginning, the Name that is above all names.

Venerable Mary of Jesus describes in her apparitions the adoration of the Magi in the following words:

“Among those who had the good fortune to be able to pay divine homage to the newborn Son of God in Bethlehem were the holy three Kings. On the night of the graces of the full Nativity they were instructed in this mystery by the light of heaven, and resolved to go at once to Judea to worship their Saviour and Redeemer. They also followed this wonderful light and came first to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem; to the cave where the Nativity of the Lord was fulfilled. A star stood over the cave, lowered, and, decreasing continually, slipped into the cave and hung over the head of the Child Jesus, bathing Him with its light. Then she disappeared. The Lord had already informed the Blessed Virgin of the arrival of the Kings; so when she heard that they were approaching the cave, she told St. Joseph not to depart from her side.
Holding the Divine Child in her arms, Mary awaited the pious Kings. The modesty and charm of the Mother of God cannot be described; with all her humility and with all her poverty, her superhuman majesty was visible, and her face shone with a heavenly splendour. In a much higher degree the same thing could be seen in the Divine Child: from Him came such a luminous splendor that the whole cave was transformed into Heaven.
When the Three Kings ascended, they were for some time greatly awe-gazed by the sight of the Child and the Mother. They fell to the ground and paid Divine homage to the Child. At the same time, they recognized Him as true God and true Man, and as the Redeemer of the human race. Through the sight and presence of the sweetest Child, Jesus and His divine power were once again enlightened. And they saw a multitude of heavenly spirits, who, trembling with reverence, were like servants of the great King of kings and Lord of lords. Then they stood up and congratulated their Queen and our Queen on having become the Mother of the Son of the eternal Father. They also worshipped her by falling on their knees before her.
The three Kings spent the night in the city of Bethlehem itself. Early the next morning they returned to the cave of the nativity to offer to the King of Heaven the sacrifices they had brought with them. Falling to the ground, they paid divine homage to the Son of God in the deepest humility, opened what the Gospel tells us, opened their treasures and offered him gold, frankincense and myrrh.
The Blessed Mother accepted the offerings of the Kings and gave them on their behalf to the Child Jesus. The Divine Child showed by the kindness of His countenance that He accepted these gifts. And He gave His blessing to the Kings in such a way that they could know that His blessing would be their hundredth reward for the gifts offered to Him.
As a farewell, the Kings prayed to the Blessed Virgin very fervently that she would never forget them. They also asked St. Joseph for the same. After receiving the blessing of Jesus, Mary, and St. Joseph, they bade farewell so tenderly that it seemed as if they had left their hearts turned into tears and sighs in that place.
In order not to return to Herod in Jerusalem, they took a different path, following the warning they had received from the angel in a dream. And so they were immediately led out of Bethlehem on another road, and again by a star that appeared to them for that purpose and led them to the place where they had met. From there each of them returned to his own land.

In the apparitions of St. Gertrude we read:

On the feast of the Holy Magi, St. Gertrude, according to the example of the three Magi, offered to God the Body of Jesus Christ with all the merits of His Passion and Death, for the forgiveness of all sins of the whole human race – as myrrh. Further, the most pious Soul of Jesus Christ, with all that was holy in it, as incense to make up for all the sluggishness of the whole world. Finally, His supreme Divinity with all His perfections and joys as gold to atone for all the faults and transgressions of all creatures.
And the Lord revealed himself and let her know that he had presented this sacrifice as a very precious New Year’s gift to the Most Holy Trinity. And when He passed by with this gift, the whole court of heaven made a deep obeisance to this sacrifice before Him, just as it is customary to fall on one’s knees before the Blessed Sacrament when a priest passes with Him.

In the apparitions of St. Gertrude we read:

On the Solemnity of the Purification of the Most Holy Virgin Love, St. Gertrude went with the Lord to the Mount of Calvary. Here, when her soul felt great joy in the remembrance of the Passion of Jesus, it seemed to her as if she had entered through the gate at sunrise and entered a magnificent temple. In it, she saw St. Simeon on the steps of the altar, pronouncing these words in prayer: “When will he come? When will I finally see Him? Will I ever see him come? Will he find me still alive?”
These and other similar sighs were repeated over and over again by the holy old man, and then, delighted in God, he suddenly turned and saw before him the Blessed Virgin carrying in her arms the little Jesus, the most beautiful of human children.
As soon as Simeon turned his eyes to the Child, he was enlightened by the Holy Spirit and knew at once that he was the Saviour of the world. He took Him in his arms, sang the great hymn, “Now, Lord, let Thy servant go in peace, and in the midst of the words, ‘For my eyes have seen,’ he kissed the Child tenderly, and at the words, ‘Whom thou hast prepared,’ he lifted Him up above the Ark of the Covenant and offered Him to God the Father, as the future salvation and life of all nations.
At that moment, the Ark of the Covenant shone forth with the most beautiful light, and there appeared an incomparably beautiful image of the Child Jesus, surrounded by the splendor of the rays, as a sign that Jesus is the fulfilment and complement of all the sacrifices of the old and new Law. And the saintly old man, when he saw this light, cried out in his fervent love, “Light to enlighten the Gentiles!” Then he gave the baby Jesus to his Blessed Mother and said to her, “And your soul will be pierced by a sword.”
Now the Blessed Virgin has offered for the Divine Child two perfectly white doves, as a sign of the innocent life of the faithful, who, in simplicity and serious meditation, turn away from all evil and incline to good, and thus follow in the footsteps and example of the saints. And all those who live in this way seem, so to speak, to ransom the little Jesus with their gifts. Especially when they reward and perfect all that our Lord has expressly commanded His faithful to complete.

Venerable Mary of Jesus, in her apparitions, describes the baptism of the Lord Jesus as follows:

“Our Saviour went to the Jordan, where His predecessor John taught and baptized. It was near Bethany, which lay on the other side of the river, and was also called Bethhabara. Taking His first steps outside the home, the Saviour lifted up His divine eyes to the eternal Father, and offered Him with ardent love all that He intends to do and suffer for mankind. And so His hardships, His sorrows, His Passion, His Death on the Cross, which He wanted to suffer for them in obedience to the eternal Father. He also offered the sorrow which he had caused him, as a real and obedient Son, to be parted from his Mother and to renounce her sweet companionship, which he had enjoyed for more than twenty-nine years.
When the Son of God came to the Jordan, He asked St. John to baptize Him.
The Baptist, enlightened by a supernatural light, recognized the Lord, fell at His feet, held Him back, and said, as St. Matthew writes: “I am to be baptized of you, and you are going to me?” The Divine Savior answered, “Cease now, for it is fitting for us to do all righteousness.”
Obedient to the Lord’s command, St. John was baptized, and when this was done, Heaven was opened, the Holy Spirit descended upon the Head of Jesus in the visible form of a dove, and the voice of the Father was heard, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”
Many present heard this voice from Heaven and saw the Holy Spirit in the form in which it descended upon our Lord.
This act of humility, which the Saviour completed by taking the form of a sinner, and being baptized with such as were really sinners, was offered by the Divine Saviour to the eternal Father together with His obedience. By this submission he wished to recognize that in respect to his human nature, which was proper to him with the other children of Adam, he was inferior to the Father. At the same time, he also wanted to institute the Sacrament of Baptism, which, by virtue of his merits, was to forgive and wash away the sins of the world.

In the apparitions of St. Mechtilde we read the following:
When the holy night of the Epiphany was sung: “In columbae specie” (“In the shape of a dove”) St. Mechtilde saw the Lord Jesus in a snow-white robe. She understood that when St. John baptized the Lord Jesus and heard the voice of the Father and saw the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove, he saw the Son of God in the form and form that the three disciples on Mount Tabor had seen in the Transfiguration. And since she was thinking about it and wanted to know if St. John the Baptist had been baptized by the Lord Jesus, for he had said, “I am to be baptized by you,” the Lord said to her, “When St. John touched me and immersed me in water, I baptized him because he desired to be baptized of me and thought that he needed my baptism. That is why I baptized him as Christians with My innocence. And to all those after him who are baptized in My Name, I impart My innocence, whereby they become children of the heavenly Father.
That is why the Father says of every baptized person: “This is my beloved son!” And He is well pleased with Him, as He is with His only begotten Son. And when a man loses this innocence through sin, let him acquire it again through true repentance.
And when they sang, “Listen to Him!” St. Mechtilde said, “My Lord, in what shall we obey Your Son?” The Lord answered, “Listen to him, when he says to you, ‘Come to me, all you who are afflicted.’” Listen to Him
as He teaches you, “Blessed are the pure in heart!” Listen to Him as He speaks to you: “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life!” And “He who follows me does not walk in darkness.” Listen to Him when He commands you, “This is my commandment, that you love one another.” Listen to Him when He threatens: “By which judgment ye judge, so ye shall be judged!” And again: “Whoever does not bear his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. But woe to the world for scandal!

St. Bridget describes in her apparitions that she heard St. John the Baptist in Heaven proclaim the following prayer of praise:

“Blessed be you, God, who art before all things, beside whom there has never been another God, and besides whom there is no other, and there will be no other. For You are, and have been, and will be eternally the only God! You are the truth that the Prophets foretold, You are our joy and our splendor, You are our joy and our contentment. For to look at you fills us with an ineffable charm that no one will know but he who tastes it. You Yourself are our love too. Do not be surprised that we love you, because you are love itself, you love those who love you. And because You are the Creator of all things, You show love even to those who despise knowing You. And since, my Lord, we are rich through Thee and in Thee, we beseech Thee to grant out of this our spiritual riches to those who have no riches, that we may rejoice in our merits in Thee, and others may share in our good things, as we do in Thee. Amen.

Venerable Mary of Jesus writes in her apparitions as follows:

“The Lord Jesus, having bade farewell to John, immediately went into the wilderness and came to the place which He had chosen by His most holy will. Now the Son of God began his fast, which he observed for forty days, taking no food.
After fasting, the Savior permitted the tempter to come unto Himself. At the same time, he left Lucifer in the misconception that he was only a man, but a very just and holy one. Wherefore Lucifer and his accomplices exerted all their might and malice against the overwhelming power which they saw in Jesus Christ.
Lucifer, in order to accomplish his purpose, appeared in human form, clothed with the splendor of an angel of light.
He thought that the Lord Jesus was hungry after a long fast, and so He said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell them to turn these stones into bread.” He asked this question in order to know whether the Savior of God was the Son of God. But the Savior of the world answered. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
The mysterious force of this answer had won the victory over Lucifer, but he was not yet willing to show defeat or give up the fight. The Lord Jesus also allowed Him to continue to tempt Him, and He allowed Him to be carried to Jerusalem on the roof of the temple. From there a great multitude of people could be seen, but no one could see the Lord Jesus. Satan now represented to the Savior that when the people saw that they had thrown themselves down from such a height and suffered no injury to their bodies, they would regard Him as a great miracle worker and a saint. The evil spirit again used the words of Scripture and said, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written that the angels shall carry you in their arms, as God has commanded them, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” But Jesus, the source of all wisdom, answered: “It is also written, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’” The Savior of the world spoke this answer with unparalleled gentleness and humility. He showed himself in his majesty and serenity so superior that Lucifer, seeing such dignity and undisturbed peace, felt the humiliation of his unbridled pride again, and felt that he had suffered a new defeat.
Now the tempter decided to use a new remedy. He wanted to awaken the Savior’s pride by promising Him a portion of his dominion. To this end he carried the Saviour to a high mountain, from which a multitude of countries could be seen, and said to Him, lying presumptuously and deceitfully, “All these things that thou seest I will give unto thee, and thou shalt lie down before me, and thou shalt worship me.”
What immense audacity, even greater than foolish falsehood and deceit! Satan promises to give what he does not have and cannot give! Our Lord and King answered these lies with a commanding voice: “Go away, Satan, for it is strained, to God Himself you shall bow down and serve Him.”
With these words, “Go away, Satan!” the Lord Jesus took away from the enemy permission to tempt Him any further, and cast him and all His companions into the deepest abyss of hell.

On the first Sunday of Lent, in which the Church reads the Gospel of the temptation of the Lord Jesus, the Lord Jesus presented to St. Gertrude the three victories mentioned in the Gospel. He pointed out how they should be used as perfect remedies against the three vices to which men are most susceptible, namely, the love of amusements, the consent to sin, and the lust.
First, He showed her the glorious victory he had won over Satan when Satan told Him to turn a stone into bread. The Lord Jesus wisely replied that man does not live by bread alone. Explaining this victory to her, he told her to take from it the means of making amends for all the mistakes she had made in her desire to enjoy amusements, and to draw strength to overcome all temptations with which she might be tempted in this direction. For it must be remembered that the more a man ignores the temptations which lead him to amusements, the less able he is to resist them.
Every man, therefore, can offer to God the Father this victory of his divine Son, in satisfaction of his justice, for all the sins which he has committed through the good pleasure he has had in any creature. Also to the humble supplication of the Lord for strength to resist the temptations that would lead him to such sins.
Then the Lord told St. Gertrude that from His second victory she should obtain an indulgence and forgiveness of all her sins which she had committed by permission, and that she should draw from it the strength to resist all future temptations of this kind.
Every man can offer to God the Father this victory of his Son in order to obtain the same grace from God, namely, the forgiveness of all sins committed by permission in thoughts, words and deeds which burden his conscience. He can call for the help he needs so that he does not commit these sins again.
Finally, the Lord told St. Gertrude that from his third victory she should gain for herself a remedy against all that she desired through concupiscence. And he can gain the strength to resist that concupiscence henceforth. Every human being can also ask God for the same.

The Most Holy Virgin said to St. Bridget:

“You cannot see my Son as he is in heaven, but what he was like in the flesh you will know.” His face was so beautiful that everyone who looked into His Face was comforted with joy, even though his heart was sorrowful. At the same time, the righteous received spiritual consolation. Even the wicked during the time they looked at Him forgot the sorrows of the world, and consequently they were afflicted with sorrow and used to say, “Let us go and look at the Son of Love, that we may be comforted, at least for the time being!”
In the twentieth year of his age he had developed and educated himself in flesh and stature, in manly greatness and strength. Among people of average size and today he would be tall. He didn’t have much flesh on him, but he was muscular and had strong bones.
His hair, His eyebrows, and His beard were somewhat brown; The length of the beard was the width of an arm. His forehead was neither convex nor concave, but rose in a perpendicular direction. His nose was shapely, neither small nor too big. His eyes were so pure that they even brought joy to His enemies when they looked into them. His lips were not thick and had a bright red, and his beard did not protrude forward, nor was it too long, but shapely and of beautiful size. His cheeks showed a mediocre fullness of flesh and were of a bright white color, in which a fresh blush showed through. His posture was straight, and there was not a spot all over His body, as attested by those who saw Him naked, tied to a pole while He was being scourged.

Venerable Mary of Jesus describes the institution of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar in her apparitions in the following words:

 Throughout His life, the Divine Saviour revealed His unlimited love for mankind. All His actions were proof of this love. But in the last hours of His life, the Lord Jesus wanted to show the tenderness of His love in an even stronger way.
When the Divine Savior arrived at the house of the Last Supper, where everything had already been prepared, He had with His disciples the prescribed supper by the law of the law. In His unspeakable humility He washed the feet of His apostles and even of His betrayer Judas. After the Savior had washed His feet, He and the twelve apostles sat down again at table and demanded bread and wine. He put the bread on his plate, and poured some of the wine into a cup that was at the ready. Then he spoke very lovingly to the apostles, and his words, which always penetrated the hearts of his hearers, were this time like fiery arrows of love, kindling the charming fire of love also in the hearts of the apostles.
Then He took the bread that lay on the plate into His most worthy hands of reverence, prayed in spirit to the heavenly Father, lifted up His eyes to Heaven, and pronounced these words of consecration or transfiguration over the bread, thereby transforming it into His true Body. He also pronounced the words of consecration of the wine over the chalice, thereby transforming the wine into His true Blood.
Then Our High Priest, Jesus Christ, lifted up His transfigured Body and His transfigured Blood so that all who were present at that first Mass would pay homage to the Blessed Sacrament.
When all had done so, the Saviour divided the Blessed Sacrament with His fingers, and first received Holy Communion Himself, as the first and supreme High Priest. Then he took another piece of transfigured bread and gave it to St. Archangel Gabriel to take it and give it to the Blessed Virgin Mary. He then gave the rest of the transfigured bread to the apostles and instructed them to share and eat it, which they did.
By this command the Lord Jesus conferred on the apostles the dignity of the priesthood, which they soon began to exercise, by the fact that each of them communicated himself, and this with a feeling of the deepest reverence, with abundant tears and manifestations of the highest respect due to the Body and Blood of the Saviour.

Once upon a time the Lord Jesus said to St. Bridget:

“When I wanted to leave the earth and ascend to Heaven, from which, moreover, I was never separated in My Divinity, I left the world a precious memorial, namely, My Most Holy Body. Just as the old law boasted of the ark, the manna, the tablets of the law, and various mysterious rites; Thus can the new man rejoice in the new law. Not as before, from the shadows, but from the truth, namely, from my crucified body, which in the old law was represented by a figure.
And in order that My Body may remain in splendor and reverence, I have erected the edifice of the holy Church, that it may be preserved and adored in it.
I have also appointed priests and special guardians of the Blessed Sacrament, who in a certain sense are above the angels by their office; for they touch with their fingers and lips Him whom even the angels, out of fear of reverence, dare not touch.

According to the revelations of the Venerable Mary of Jesus:
Jesus on the Mount of Olives 

By the miraculous mysteries performed in the hall of the Last Supper, our Savior Jesus Christ founded and ordered the kingdom which the eternal Father gave to Him according to His unchangeable judgment. And now, on the night after the Last Supper, he decided to take up the hard struggle of life and death by which the work of redemption was to be accomplished.
So He left the upper room and went with His disciples to the Mount of Olives. At the same time Judas ran to the chief priests and told them that now was the best opportunity
to arrest Jesus. The chief priests rejoiced greatly at this news; so they gathered together a multitude of armed multitudes to arrest this most innocent Lamb at once.
The Savior crossed the Kidron River, approached the Mount of Olives, and entered the Garden of Gethsemane. Here he said to all the apostles, “Sit down here and wait, and I will go a little further away and pray; pray also with me that you do not fall into temptation.” Then the Lord Jesus left the eight apostles and went with St. Peter, James, and John to another place where the rest of the apostles could neither see nor hear Him.
Here he commended himself again to the heavenly Father as a atoning sacrifice, to obtain redemption from his justice for the whole human race. To this end, He permitted the torments of His Passion and Death to touch that part of His Most Holy Humanity which could be subject to suffering. Henceforth He renounced all the consolations and refreshments that might still come to His Humanity, so that His sufferings and afflictions might reach the highest degree.
Now a whole sea of suffering poured into the most holy soul of Jesus. In great fear and sorrow he said to the three apostles, “My soul is sorrowful even unto death.” Then, moving a little away from them, He fell with His most holy face to the ground and prayed to His Eternal Father: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup depart from Me; but not My will, but Yours be done.”
This prayer was said three times by our Savior, intermittently. He prayed, as St. Luke describes, for a long time and amid mortal fears that were so painful that the Divine Saviour sweated Blood and His Most Holy Blood fell to the ground.
In this greatest sorrow, the most loving Jesus received consolation and consolation from St. Michael the Archangel.
According to the account of the Evangelists, the Lord Jesus went in the pauses which He made in His prayer to the Apostles; He found them asleep every time. For grief and grief so weakened them that they fell into a state of indifference and mental anesthesia, in which state they were easily put to sleep. Before the Savior awoke them and spoke to them, He looked at them and wept over them, seeing them given over with such indifference and drowsiness; while Lucifer was constantly watching to bring them down. Then the LORD said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you watch with me for an hour?” Then he turned to all of them and said: “Watch and pray, lest you fall into temptation; for our enemies and yours do not sleep, even as you do.”
When the Lord Jesus returned to his disciples for the third time and found them asleep again, He said to them, “Sleep and rest now, for the hour has come when the Son of man will be delivered into the hands of sinners. Stand uplet us go and go, for he who betrays me is near.” Then the disciples arose, and the Lord Jesus went with them to the place where He had left the rest of the apostles. He found them also asleep, for they were asleep because of great sorrow. Then the Lord Jesus gave all the apostles a common admonition, to prepare them for the events to come.
The noise and shriek of the soldiers and servants of the high priests approaching the arrest of the Lord Jesus was now heard. The Savior stepped forward a little, and at that moment Judas drew near to Him to give the appointed sign to his companions. For he told them that the one whom he would greet and kiss was his Master. They are to seize him at once, so that they do not catch someone else by mistake. So the traitor approached the Lord Jesus, kissed Him on the face, and said, “Hail, Master!”
The most loving Savior answered him, full of love and gentleness, “Friend, why did he come here? With a kiss you betray the Son of Man!” At the same time, the Savior gave His traitor the grace of a clear and accurate knowledge of the crime, that he might repent. But the ungodly disciple resisted this last grace also, and his downfall was finally decided.
Then the Lord Jesus spoke to the soldiers with great force and solemnity: “Whom are you seeking?” And they answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus answered, “I am He.”
To this infinitely dear and happy to the human race, Jesus called Himself our Savior and Redeemer. Thus he has given us a sure assurance of our redemption and an infallible hope of eternal happiness. For it depended only on the Saviour’s giving Himself and redeeming us through His Passion and Death.
At these words of the Saviour, the whole company of the wicked fell to the ground. After some time, when the Lord Jesus allowed them to get up, He said to them a second time, “Whom are you seeking?” And they answered again, “Jesus of Nazareth.” The Savior replied with the utmost gentleness: “I have told you that I am He. So if you are looking for Me, let go of those who are with Me!”
With these words, the Lord Jesus gave permission to the soldiers to seize Himself and, unbeknownst to them, to execute His sentence, by which He chose to take all our sufferings and afflictions upon His Divine Person.
Now they rushed upon Jesus like vicious tigers, seized the most meek Lamb, bound him with ropes and chains, and brought Him to the high priest.

According to the apparitions of the Venerable Mary of Jesus:
Having cruelly bound the Divine Saviour on the Mount of Olives, they went out amid a great shout, leading the Lord in the midst and deliberately tying Him with ropes.
As a result, they often knocked him to the ground. And because His hands were bound, He fell to the ground on His Divine Face, so that He wounded Himself and was covered with all kinds of dust. When He fell, they fell on Him, beat Him with their fists and kicked Him, trampled on His Divine Person, even on His face, on His Head. All these taunts and abuses they performed with shouts of joy, derisive laughter; and as a result they fed the Lord with that abomination which Jeremiah the prophet had already wept to foretell.

Thus the ruffians came with the desecrated Savior to the house of the high priest Annas, where they presented Him as a criminal deserving of death. The high priest questioned the Divine Savior with a commanding air about His disciples and His teachings. He asked these questions, wanting to twist the answer, if only he could catch Him at least one word. But the Lord Jesus offered to the heavenly Father these humiliations also, that as a culprit He was brought before the High Priest and questioned by him about a false doctrine. With a humble expression on his face, he answered: “I have openly told the world, I have always taught in the synagogue, in the synagogue, where all the Jews gather. I didn’t say anything in secret. What do you ask Me? Ask those who have listened to what I have said, behold, they know what I have spoken.” Though the Saviour’s answer was full of wisdom, nevertheless one of the high priest’s servants approached with terrible insolence, raised his hand, and slapped the Saviour’s holy Divine Face. At the same time, he admonished him, saying: “Is it fitting to answer the high priest in this way?” The Lord accepted this offense without limits, praying to the Heavenly Father for the offending one, and was ready, if necessary, to slap the other cheek to accomplish what He had taught. And in order that the blind and remembered servant might not be without humiliation and shame, the Lord answered him gently: “If I have spoken wrong, bear witness to it, and if it is good, why do you beat me?” O games worthy of admiration for the spirits of heaven! The Son of God, out of love for mankind, allows an impious servant to slap him in the face of His Most Holy Face.
Immediately afterwards the Divine Saviour, bound in force, was led to Caiaphas, Annas’ son-in-law. The high priest Caiaphas, surrounded by the Pharisees, sat in the high priest’s chair, waiting for the Savior. When they saw Him bound before them like a gentle lamb, they all burst into loud, derisive laughter, for they now had Him in their power. Now they were looking with the high priest for false testimony against Jesus, that they might deliver Him up to death. However, the testimonies of the false witnesses did not agree with each other. Then two more false witnesses came forward, saying that they had heard from his own lips that he would be able to destroy the temple built by human hands, and build another in three days. To all these slanders the Savior did not utter a word.
Caiaphas, seeing him so patiently silent, rose up and said, “Why do you not answer so many testimonies that speak against you?” But the Lord made no answer to this question, for Caiaphas and the others not only refused to believe Him, but had a cunning intention of enslaving the Savior with an answer which they might twist according to their own thoughts, in order to justify their dealings with Jesus before the people.
And now Caiaphas shouted at the Lord with great ferocity, and said, “I swear by the living God that you will tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” The Savior answered, “Thou hast said, I am! But I say unto you, henceforth ye shall see the Son of man in no other way than seated at the right hand of the power of God, and coming in the clouds of heaven.”
Then the high priest tore his garments full of anger and said: “He has blasphemed against God! Do we still need witnesses? What do you think?” And they cried out, “He is guilty of death!” At the same time, those who shouted, tempted by Satan, fell upon the mildest Lamb and poured out their fierceness of the devil upon Him. Some slapped Him, others kicked Him, others pulled His hair, or spat on Him in His venerable Face; still others struck him on the neck with their fists. Never had such extreme pain been inflicted on man as was inflicted on the Savior at that time.

According to the apparitions of the venerable Mary of Jesus:
From the courtroom of Caiaphas the Divine Saviour was escorted to the underground prison, where he suffered all night the most cruel annoyances and insults. Only on the day of the Last Judgment will they be revealed to all men¹º ( To some extent, through seers and mystics, we already know some of the sufferings that the Saviour had to endure for us in the so-called dark room, that is, in the underground dungeon of torture. These sufferings were seen in a supernatural way by: Blessed Anna Catherine Emmerich, St. Faustina Kowalska, Sr. B. s. Leonia Nastał, Blessed Mary Magdalene Martinengo, Zofia Nosko, and others. See: “Devotion to the Hidden Torments of the Lord Jesus” ed. Maria Vincit, Wrocław 2020. Editor’s note.). In the first hour of Friday morning, the Divine Saviour was again brought before the chief priests and scribes. Because he insisted that he was God, the Jews, full of rage and malice, decided to hand him over to governor Pilate to pronounce on him the death sentence. When they had brought the bound Savior to Pilate’s house, Pilate, seeing that they hesitated to come to judgment, ran out to them and asked them about their complaint against Jesus. The Jews answered, “If he had not been a thief, we would not have brought him here bound.” Pilate answered, “But what crime has he committed?” The Jews answered: “They accuse him of disturbing the land, of wanting to make himself our king, of forbidding Caesar to pay taxes, and of claiming to be the Son of God. That he preaches the new doctrine first in Galilee, and then throughout Judea as far as Jerusalem.” Pilate said, “Take Him away and judge Him according to your laws, for I find no reason to judge Him.” To this the Jews replied, “We must not judge anyone to death!”
Upon hearing the mention of Galilee, Pilate inquired whether Jesus was from Galilee. And when the Jews had testified to this, Pilate, not wishing to pronounce judgment, sent the Savior to Herod, who was in Jerusalem at the same time.

According to the apparitions of Venerable Mary of Jesus:
This was the same Herod who had St. John the Baptist beheaded. And so the Creator of life came into the presence of the murderer, for the blood of John cried out to the Lord more strongly than the blood of righteous Abel. The unfortunate adulterer, blinded by the terrible judgment of the Supreme Court, received the Savior with reproach, considering Him a sorcerer. Bewildered by such a heinous error, he began to question Him and to ask Him all sorts of questions, imagining that by them he would be able to induce the Lord to perform a miracle at his request. The chief priests and scribes were present here, continually accusing our Saviour, not sparing the same reproaches and calumnies which they hurled against Him before Pilate.
But the Savior answered not a word of Herod, nor a single word to the slander of the Jews, and the Lord opened not His mouth to this man. He did not respond to questions or refute the allegations. As a result, Herod became violently angry. But he did not want his shame to be known; so he made fun of the most innocent Master. And having mocked Him and all his entourage, he had Him clothed in a garment that would arouse ridicule, and brought him back to Pilate.

According to the apparitions of Venerable Mary of Jesus:
So the Savior came a second time to the house of Pilate. The Jews promptly demanded that the Lord be judged again. Pilate, however, knowing well the innocence of Christ and the bitter hatred of the Jews, was not very pleased that Herod had again forced upon him this disagreeable affair, from which he preferred to absolve. However, being obliged as a judge to deal with it, he was looking for a new way, as if to send the Jews away with nothing. So he said to them, “You have brought this man to me with a complaint that he teaches the things of faith and stirs up the people; but when I have interrogated Him in your presence, I have found that He is not guilty of what you accuse Him of. In the same way, Herod, to whom I sent him, did not condemn him to death, although you complained against him before him. So I will content myself with scourging Him, so that He may improve for the future. And since I must release one of the thieves for the feast of the Passover, I will let Christ go, if you will give him freedom, and I will punish Barabbas.” When the Jews saw that Pilate insisted on letting Christ go free, they cried out together: “Away with him! Down with Christ! Release Barabbas!”
Preparations were soon made for the scourging, which were entrusted to six thugs of the fiercest disposition. They brought the Lord out into a spacious chamber and forcibly tore off his garments from his body; except the loincloth the Savior had around His loins, which they could not take off. Then
they tied Him to a pole and scourged Him two by one. They did this with such unheard-of cruelty that no human being would have been able to do so had not Lucifer chosen to dwell in the hearts of his ungodly servants. The first two beat the Lord with whips of knotted and thick cords, and in this sacrilegious conduct they exerted all the fierceness of their fierceness and the strength of their souls. With these first blows they covered the glorified Body of our Saviour with great welts, so that it was all covered with blood, swollen and unrecognizable, and from all sides flowed the Most Holy Blood from the Wounds.
When the first robbers grew tired, two others took their place. With unspeakable cruelty, they scourged the Saviour with leather whips after the first wounds inflicted by the previous scourgers. The scars and tumors previously inflicted reopened, and the Divine Blood flowing not only watered the whole Holy Body of our Savior Jesus, but also poured out on the garments of the wicked executioners, and even flowed to the earth.
Now a third pair of thugs joined. They used new instruments of torment, that is, whips made of goiter veins, hard and dried up like rods of willow. They scourged even more cruelly than their predecessors, because they no longer beat the body of the innocent Jesus so much as they did the wounds already inflicted by the previous flagellants.
Since the most holy body of the Saviour, as a result of the blows already received, represented as one great wound, the last pair of robbers no longer found a place on it to inflict new wounds. By inflicting inhuman floggings, they caused the Most Holy Body to crumble beneath them, many of which fell to the ground. On some parts of the back there were bones so exposed that they could be seen wider than the area of an adult’s hand. In addition to this, the thugs also struck the Face of the Lord Jesus and His hands and feet, so that there was no place that did not always reach them.and which would remain healthy and intact. The Most Holy Blood flowed in streams to the earth and collected in some places in great quantities. The most venerable Face of Jesus was completely swollen and covered with wounds. Due to tumors and clotted blood on it, it could not be recognized. With all the plagues the Lord Jesus received five thousand one hundred and fifteen ( Other mystics give an approximate number of
wounds, always close to 5,000. Mystical souls give this amount depending on whether they saw in the visions the scourging itself or a longer period of the Saviour’s Passion. Editor’s note.)
Thus the great Lord and Creator of the whole world, unable to suffer because of the divine nature, became to us in the form of our mortal flesh a “man of sorrows,” as the prophet Isaiah foretold. And the Saviour knew our weaknesses from His own experience, and this to the highest degree; and besides, he was considered the least among all men, as an outcast from among all.

According to the apparitions of the Venerable Mary of Jesus:
The hatred of the Jews had not yet been satiated after the cruel scourging. In their fury, they wanted to torment the merciful Saviour by exposing Him to public ridicule. To this end, the executioners took Him to the forum and exposed Him here again in a cruel way. They clothed Him in a scarlet robe, torn and dirty; displaying Him disguised as a king in the theater, as an object of ridicule to all present. On His Most Holy Head they pressed a braid of thorns, which was supposed to represent the royal crown. This braid consisted of thorns with very sharp and strong thorns, and it was forced into His Head so strongly that, piercing the skull, it reached the shell of the brain, some thorns to the eyes, others to the ears. This affliction, which the Son of God suffered as a result of the crown of thorns, was one of the greatest. Instead of the king’s scepter, a reed was given in His hand. Such was the abominable manner in which the disfaithful Jews dealt with Him who, by His nature and for so many just reasons, was the true King of kings and Lord of lords.
Then all the soldiers gathered together, and in the sight of the chief priests and Pharisees, they took Jesus into the midst and showered Him with immense mockery, mockery, and slanderous words. Some bowed the knee before Him and shouted derisively: “Hail, King of the Jews!” Others slapped Him; others again beat Him on His Divine Head with a reed that He held in His hand. Others, finally, contaminated Him with their abominable spit. In a word, they all insulted and mocked Him together with the various insults which the devil subjected to them in his satanic hatred.

According to the apparitions of the Venerable Mary of Jesus:
It seemed to Pilate that such a horrible sight as Jesus represented would stir and touch the hearts of the ungrateful Jewish people. Therefore he caused the Saviour to be led to a window, where all the people could see Him standing beaten with scourges, profaned, crowned with thorns, and clothed in mocking royal robes. At the same time, Pilate turned to the people and cried out: “Behold, here is a man! You see the man you regard as your enemy, now you need not fear him!”
But the hatred of the Jews could only be satisfied by the death of the Lord Jesus, and so they began to cry out, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”
Pilate once more tried to resist the Jews, but they threatened him with losing Caesar’s favor, exclaiming: “If you let him who claims to be king of the Jews go, you will be Caesar’s enemy!” Pilate was frightened by this threat. He sat in a tribunal called gabatha, and as a judge, the unjust, pronounced the sentence of death on the Lord Jesus.

According to the apparitions of Mary of Jesus:
When Pilate’s sentence was read in a loud voice before all the people, they placed on the executioners a heavy cross, on which the Lord was to be crucified on His wounded shoulders. In order that Jesus might hold him for himself, they untied his hands; but they did not completely remove from Him the cords with which the Most Holy Body was girded, in order to lead the Saviour upon them. The cross was 15 feet long, rough-hewn and of very heavy wood. The one who pronounced judgment before the people began the procession, followed by the shouting mob, with the servants of the court and the soldiers, to march from Pilate’s palace through the streets of Jerusalem to Mount Calvary.
The servants of the judges led Jesus, our Savior, with unspeakable cruelty and boundless insolence. Some drew Him forward on ropes to quicken His steps, others pulled Him backwards to restrain Him and torment Him longer. Through these atrocities and the heavy weight of the Cross, they enslaved Him and pushed Him to stumble and often fall to the ground. But because he struck against the stones, new wounds were formed. Especially on both knees, these wounds were renewed as often as the Savior fell. And on his back, he made the weight of the Cross a new wound. And because He stumbled to one side and then to the other, He struck His Holy Head with the Cross and then with His Head against the Cross, so that the thorns of the crown pierced His body deeper and deeper.
To these pains were added the servants of anger by numerous insults by words, curses, foul spitting, and street mud. They threw it in such quantities upon His Holy Face that His eyes were covered with it, with which He looked upon them mercifully. Thirsting to see Him die, they forced the Master of gentleness to hurry and gave Him no time to relieve Himself. Thus this most innocent Humanity, showered in a few hours with such a torrent of torments, became utterly weak and desecrated, and whoever looked upon Him must have seen these pains and tribulations.

According to the apparitions of the Venerable Mary of Jesus:
Finally, the Divine Saviour arrived, covered with wounds and deathly tired, on Mount Calvary.
Here the executioners stripped His most holy garment from His most holy body. But they did not succeed in removing the loincloth which He had around His loins, because at the request of the Blessed Mother the power of the Most High did not allow it. Then they had the Savior stretch out on the Cross to mark the place for the holes of the nails. The Lord obeyed without refusal, but the wicked marked the openings, not according to the size of the holy body, but much farther away, in order to cause the Lord a new unspeakable affliction. When holes had been drilled in the Cross, they commanded Our Lord to lie down on the Cross a second time to nail Him to Him. The Savior obeyed, lay down on the Cross, and stretched out His hands on that happy tree, just as His executioners had demanded.
Then one of the executioners seized Jesus’ hand and pressed it against the hole drilled in the Cross, while another fastened it, driving a thick prismatic nail through the Lord’s hand with hammer blows. That nail tore the veins, the nerves and broke the bones of that most holy hand that created Heaven and all that is. But the other hand did not reach the hole for the nail, because the nerves had contracted, and the incisors, as mentioned earlier, had drilled the hole at the wrong distance. And so, in order to settle the matter, they took a chain, and fastened it at one end, where there was a kind of hand-fetter, over the shoulder of the Lord. Then they pulled with unheard-of cruelty at the other end until they placed their hand straight over the opening, and then nailed it with a second nail, which was even larger than the first. They also nailed both of Jesus’ feet to the Cross at the same time.

Thus the Incarnate Word, the Divinity united to the Body, was nailed to the Holy Cross. And this masterpiece of deified and Holy Ghost-created members was so tattered and torn apart that the bones could be counted; for they all departed from their natural position and diverged. The bones of the breast, arms, and shoulder blades were protruding and violently pulled out of their proper places. Then they took the Cross with the Saviour crucified to the pit in which it was to be placed. Some used their hands, others javelins and spears, lifting the Savior into the air. Then they lowered the lower end of the Cross into a pit which they had previously dug for this purpose.

According to the apparitions of the Venerable Mary of Jesus:
Thus our true Salvation and Life hung on the holy wood of the Cross in the air, and in the presence of countless people from all nations. From the wounds inflicted by the nails the Blood flowed abundantly from the Holy Body to the earth. As a result of its own weight and shock at the setting of the Cross in the ground, the body fell into such a trembling that the wounds were still more torn and the springs opened still more, from which, according to the words of Isaiah, “We are to draw water with joy, quench our thirst, and blot out the punishments of our sins.” And no one is acquitted if he does not hasten to drink it, for this water is not sold for gold and silver, but is given free of charge; You just have to ask for it earnestly.
Then the two thieves were also crucified and their crosses were placed: one on the right and the other on the left of the Saviour. The Lord Jesus was given a place in the middle, to show that they considered Him to be the chief evildoer. The chief priests and Pharisees paid no attention to these two thieves, for they directed all their fury against Him who, by His nature, was inaccessible to any sin, and who was the most holy. Amid ridicule and taunts, they shook their heads, threw stones and sand at the Cross of the Lord and His Most Holy Body, and cried out to Him: “Hey, you who are destroying the Church of God, and in three days you are rebuilding it, save yourself. He has preserved others, but He cannot preserve Himself.” Others said, “If you are the Son of God, come down from the Cross and we will believe you!” And the two thieves at first mocked the Savior and said, “If you are the Son of God, help yourself and us!” These blasphemies of the two thieves were all the more grievous to the Lord, because they were already near death, and had not yet profited by the mortal torments by which they could, at least in part, atone for their crimes, for which they had suffered a just punishment. One of them did so soon after, and seized the opportunity of the moment for his salvation.
Since the holy wood of the Cross was the throne of Christ’s royal majesty and the pulpit from which He wished to teach the doctrine of life, in order to confirm His teachings by example, the loving Saviour spoke from the Cross those words in which the sublime concept of love is contained: “Father! Forgive them, for they know not what they do.” This principle of love is so strictly observed by the Savior that He called it “His own.” And in order to confirm the truth which he taught us, he applied it on the cross, showing kindness and forgiveness to his enemies, and at the same time acquitting their ignorance.
One of these scoundrels, named Dyzma, knew something of the mystery of the Saviour’s prayer. And when he was overwhelmed with deep sorrow and sorrow for his sins, he turned to his companion in his affliction, and said to him, “Neither do you fear God, although you suffer the same punishment. We suffer what we deserve, but He has done no wrong.” Then He spoke to the Savior and said, “Lord, remember me when you come into Your kingdom!” And the Savior most lovingly answered him, “Verily I say unto thee, this day thou shalt be with me in Paradise.”
Since the thief had been justified, the Lord Jesus turned His merciful Face to His sorrowful Mother, who stood with St. John at the foot of the Cross. Speaking to them both, He first said to His Mother, “Woman, behold Thy son.” Then to the apostle: “Behold your mother!” From At that hour, St. John regarded Love as his mother, just as Mary had accepted him as her son.
The ninth hour of the day had arrived. Then our Saviour spoke the fourth word from the Cross, crying out in a strong and loud voice: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” By these words our Lord expressed our utter lack of consolation in his sufferings. The thought of those who will not use His sufferings for their salvation is also an unspeakable sorrow for Him.
Not long after, he uttered the fifth word, “I thirst.” By this the dying Savior marked, not His own carnal desire, but a secret spiritual desire. That is to say, He wished that all men, through His bitter sufferings and His death, should obtain for themselves the heavenly happiness, that happiness which He had bequeathed to them, if they would accept it and deserve it. Such was the desire of the Saviour, but the Jews, not understanding the meaning of the word, gave the gracious Lord a sponge soaked with gall and vinegar.
Then the Savior spoke the sixth and mysterious word: “It is fulfilled!” The meaning of this was that “the work for which I came down from Heaven was accomplished. The redemption of man has been fulfilled and obedience to My eternal Father, who sent Me to suffer and die for the redemption and salvation of men, has been fulfilled. The scriptures and prophecies were fulfilled, as well as the types of the old Law; and the course of mortal life, willing to suffer, which I took upon Myself in the virginal womb of Love, was accomplished!”
When the work of redemption had thus received its completion and its supreme perfection, our Savior Jesus Christ uttered the last words, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit!” These words were spoken by the Lord with a strong and loud voice, so that all present could hear them; and when he had begun to pronounce them, turning to the Heavenly Father, he lifted up his eyes to heaven. But as he finished saying this, He bowed His Most Holy Head again and died.

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to St. Bridget:

“Consider, My daughter, the following: First, that all the limbs of my Son in death became stiff and cold, and that the Blood that flowed during His Passion dried up on all His members. Further, that His Heart was pierced so mercilessly that the piercing did not cease until the spear had reached the rib and both parts of the Heart were on the spear. Finally, consider how My Most Holy Son was taken down from the Cross. The two men who were taking Him down from the Cross placed three ladders. One of them reached the legs, the second the armpits and arms, the third half the body. When the first climbed the ladder, the second, standing on the second ladder, held him; And the other one knocked out the nail of one hand first. Then he moved the ladder and knocked out the nail of his other hand. For the nails protruded far beyond the wood of the Cross.
While the one who held the weight of the Body slowly descended as much as he could; The other climbed the ladder up to the feet and knocked the nails out of them. As the body approached the earth, one of them held the head, the other the legs, and I, who was his mother, held him by the waist. And so the three of us carried this Most Holy Body on a large stone, covered with linen. For I knew for sure that it would not rot in the grave. Then Mary Magdalene came, and other pious women approached. Also present were many angels, floating in the air like sundust to serve their Lord.
What sorrow filled Me with that hour, no one can express. I was like a woman who, after the dissolution, trembles on all her limbs. And who, in spite of her pain, can scarcely breathe, yet feels inner joy; for he knows that a newborn son will never return to the misery from which he has just emerged. Though I felt an incomparable sorrow at the bitter death of my Son, yet I had the consolation that my Son could never die again, but would live forever. And so to my sorrow was added a little joy. I can say that after the burial of my Son, there were, as it were, two hearts in one grave. For it is not written, “Where is thy treasure, there is thy heart?” Such were My thoughts and My heart, constantly at the tomb of My Son.

The words of St. Bridget:

Glorified be you, my God, my Creator and Redeemer! You are the ransom by which we have been freed from bondage, who leads us to all happiness and unites us to the Oneness and the Trisubstantiality. Therefore, although I am ashamed of my sinful ugliness, I am glad that You, who once died for our salvation, will never die again. For verily you are the One who was also before the world existed. You alone are the good and the just, you yourself are the almighty and the terrible. Therefore, be glorified forever!
And what shall I say of you, Blessed Mary? You, all the salvation of the world! Thou art like one who suddenly showed to a friend who was grieved by the loss of a precious thing what had been lost to him; whereby he eased his grief
, and increased his joy, so that his heart was rekindled with joy. In the same way, O sweetest Mother, you have shown the world its God, whom men have lost. And in the course of time you gave birth to Him who was conceived before the existence of time, and whose birth all that was in heaven and on earth rejoiced. Therefore, Sweetest Mother, I beg you to help me so that my enemy does not mock me and does not overwhelm me with his tricks. Amen.

St. Mechtilde once said to the Lord Jesus on Good Friday:

“O my most beloved God! How can a man repay you for wanting to be arrested and bound on that day for his salvation? The Lord answered, “In such a way that he voluntarily and willingly allows himself to be bound by the bonds of true obedience to me.”
The saint went on to say: “What merciful thing should a man do to you for having been polluted by the unclean spitting of the Jews, and beaten by their merciless blows?” The Lord answered, “Verily I say unto thee, that all who despise their superiors spit upon My Face. So whoever wants to repay me this mockery, let him honor his superiors!”
Then said the saint, “What thanksgiving will you receive, O most gracious one, for the blows you have received?” The Lord answered, “That man may strictly observe the rules and regulations laid down for him.”
The saint asked: “What glory is to be given to You, O Most Faithful, for the pain You suffered when a crown of thorns was pressed on Your Divine Head in such a way that Your lovely Face, at which the angels desire to look, was covered with all Your Most Precious Blood, pink?” The Lord answered, “This glory, that a man, if he is tormented by temptation, will resist it courageously with all his might, and as many temptations as he conquers in My name, so many precious jewels he will add to My crown.”
The saint went on to ask: “What is your recompense, my wisest Master, for being mocked as a madman in a white robe?” The Lord answered, “That a man should seek neither adornment nor valuables in his clothing, but only that which is most necessary.”
The saint went on to ask: “And what thanksgiving is to be given to you, O one of my Hearts, for having been scourged so inhumanly?” The Lord answered, “That by perfect faithfulness and patience the soul may endure with me continually in joyful things, but also in adversity.”
The saint said: “What, O dearest beloved, wilt thou accept for the fact that Thy feet have been nailed to the Cross?” The Lord answered, “That man may pour out all his desires in Me, and if he cannot long for Me, that he may at least have the will to possess that lust, for I accept the will for the deed.”
Then she asked the saint: “And what shall we do you for the fact that you have been nailed to the Cross with your hands?” The Lord answered, “Train yourselves in all good works, and protect yourselves from all evil deeds for Me.”
The saint asked: “O one sweetness, what shall we give thanks to You for the wounds of love which You received on the Cross for men, when Your invincible attachment pierced Your honey-flowing Heart with an arrow of love, and Blood and water flowed from Him for remedy; when, thus conquered by the greatness of love for Thy Bride, Holy Church, thou hast died the death of love?” The Lord answered, “I require this thanksgiving, that man may make his whole will equal to my will, and that my will may always be acceptable to him above all things.”
Then the Lord said to St. Mechtilde: “Truly I say to you, if anyone sheds tears out of devotion to My Passion, I will accept it as if he had suffered for Me.” The saint said, “Ah, my Lord! By what devotion can I come to these tears?” The Lord answered, “I will teach you this:
First, consider with what kindness and love I have gone to meet My enemies when they seekarmed with swords and clubs to seize Me and lead Me to death as a thief and a villain. For I drew near to them as a mother to my child, to save them from the jaws of the wolf.
Secondly, when they beat Me, with each blow I gave a sweet kiss to those souls who would be saved by My Passion on the day of judgment.
Thirdly, when they scourged Me violently, I prayed so fervently to the heavenly Father for them that many of them were converted.
Fourthly, when they pressed My crown of thorns on their heads, as many jewels as they put on My head, I placed on their crown.
Fifthly, when they nailed Me to the Cross and stretched out all My limbs, so that My bones and entrails could be numbered, I drew to Myself with all the strength of My divine power the souls of all who had been chosen for eternal life, as I foretold: “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to Myself” (John 12:32).
Sixthly, when they had publicly opened My side with a spear, I gave to those who had drunk the drink of death through Adam the drink of life from My Heart, that they might all become children of eternal life.”

When St. Gertrude, contemplating the Passion of Jesus, felt a strong emotion of pity because it was said to the Saviour, “You have Satan!”, by which they wanted to say that he was possessed, and she could not bear the fact that he was treated so unworthily, she began to pray in the following words:
“I salute you, O living pearl of divine excellence! Hail, O most worthy Jesus, of love! Thou unfading flower of human nature! You are my highest and only happiness!”
The Lord Jesus showed the saint in the most tender way how infinitely pleasing this prayer was to Him, and said: “Whosoever salutes, like you, for the insults and insults which I have suffered on earth, to him by My infinite grace on the day of judgment, when he dies, and when he is burdened with the accusations of Satan, I will show you the same kindness that I show you today, and comfort him with the same words, with which I have comforted you. And if the saints, as you have seen, were so astonished at the words I spoke to you; how much the enemies of man and his soul will be astonished, and how they will tremble when they have to see how wonderfully My goodness will comfort them.”

On one occasion the Lord Jesus appeared to St. Gertrude in the form in which He was scourged. Namely, He was tied to a pole between two executioner’s servants, one of whom wounded His Body with thorn thorns and the other with ropes tied together. Both of them struck the Lord on the face, which was so defiled that the saint, moved with pity and compassion, could not refrain from tears all that day when the Face of the Saviour appeared to her in spirit. For it seemed to her that there was no face in all the world that was more defiled than the Lord’s face, and that it should be in a more wretched condition. For the part of the Face of the Lord Jesus, wounded by thorns, was torn to such an extent that the eyes were wounded, and all the tender parts of them were swollen and the Blood oozed from them.
The Lord Jesus seemed to turn His face away, but when He turned it away from one of the executioner’s servants, the other struck it even more mercilessly.
Then the Lord Jesus turned to St. Gertrude and said, “Have you not read what is written about me, ‘We saw him as a leper’” (Isaiah 53). To which the saint replied: “Ah, Lord, what remedy can be found to alleviate the stinging sufferings of Your Divine Face?” And the Lord Jesus answered: “The sweetest and most appropriate means of this is to meditate fully on my sufferings and to pray devoutly for the salvation of all sinners. These two executioner servants represent laymen who publicly insult God and wound Him with insults; and also some religious who beat Him with ropes, and like these two servants smite Him in the face, by insulting and offending the supreme Lord of Heaven.”
Thus St. Gertrude knew that this is why the Holy Church gives the Passion of Jesus in the Gospel, so that the special friends of God may meditate on it with devotion, both for the honor of God and for the satisfaction of all the members of His holy Church. She also learned that by meditating on the Lord’s Passion we should train ourselves in the love of God and neighbor, and that we should suffer with God all the offenses inflicted on the Lord Jesus. We should pity the terrible misery of our neighbor to which such insults lead him and arouse the wrath of the terrible Judge. Finally, St. Gertrude learned that the Lord Jesus enjoins us to meditate on His Passion especially in order to satisfy Divine Justice for all human transgressions, and to thank the Lord Jesus for the sufferings He endured, and to ask His goodness to have mercy on all sinners.

On one occasion, St. Gertrude prayed the following prayer 5,466 times in honour of all the wounds of the Lord Jesus:
“Honour and praise for ever for the rosy wounds of my beloved Saviour, O Most Holy Trinity, so lovable by Your goodness and magnificence, so glorious by Your majesty and omnipotence, and so peaceful by Your unchanging bliss!
At that very hour the Lord Jesus appeared to St. Gertrude, incomparably more beautiful than all the angels, with golden flowers on each of His wounds. He greeted her with a courteous countenance, and said to her, “Behold in what glorious splendor I appear to you! And in the same way I will appear to you at your death, and I will cover all the stains of your sins. I will do the same to all those who, like you, will reverently greet My wounds.”

The words of the Mosr Holy Virgin Love. From the apparitions of Mary of Jesus:
O love and good of my soul, my Lord and God! You are worthy that all creatures should worship, adore and glorify You; that they all owe you. For you are the likeness of the eternal Father, the reflection of His Being, infinite in Your being and in Your perfections, the beginning and ultimate goal of all holiness. If, on the other hand, creatures ought to serve Thee by submission to Thy will, why, O Lord and eternal Good, do they despise Thee, rebuke Thee, insult Thee, and torment Thee, to whom the highest homage is due? Whence comes it that man’s anger has risen so greatly? Why has the pride of men been puffed up to such an extent that it even rises up with blasphemies against You? Why has jealousy become so powerful? You are the only and brightly shining sun of righteousness that gives light and dispels the darkness of sin (John 1:29). You are the source of grace, open to all who seek it. You are the One who, out of bountiful love, bestows upon all those who have such a being and movement in their lives (Acts 17:28). You are the One who sustains all creatures. Everything depends on you and needs you. You, on the other hand, don’t need anyone or anything.
What, then, has been seen in Your works, and what has been found in Your Person, that You are subjected to such abuses and insults? O cursed wickedness of sin, which hast succeeded in so much disfiguring this heavenly beauty and obscuring the shining sun of His worship of the most worthy Face! O bloodthirsty wild beasts, who treat Him so unworthily with Him who has saved you from the greatest misfortune!
But I know, O my Lord, that You are the Creator of true love and the source of human salvation, the Master and Lord of virtue! (Psalm 23:10). And that Thou dost practise Thy doctrine in deeds in Thyself, thus teaching the humble disciples of Thy school. By your example you humiliate pride, shame presumption and exemplify all men in their pursuit of eternal salvation. And if You require everyone to imitate Your ineffable love and patience, then it is the Body that I am most obliged to imitate, who gave You a Body in which You now bear so many Wounds, so many insults and torments. Oh, if I could bear all these sufferings myself, and You, my most innocent Son, that You could be released from them! But since
this is impossible, I desire at least to suffer with you until death.
And you, spirits of heaven, who admire the patience of My Beloved, who acknowledge His immutable Divinity, and the innocence, the dignity of His true Humanity, oh, make reparation to the insults and blasphemies inflicted upon Him by men! Render unto Him the glory, the glory, the wisdom, the honor, the power, and the strength (Revelation 5:12). Call upon Heaven, the planets, the stars, and the elements, that they may all acknowledge Him and confess Him, and see if there is another sorrow that is equal to My sorrow.

During the Holy Mass celebrated in honor of the Holy Cross, St. Mechtilde saw in the middle of the church a beautiful tree, which in its height and width covered the whole earth. It grew out of those branches which, having risen above the ground, bent and bent again to the ground. Under one of these branches were irrational beasts, which ate the fruit that fell from the tree. They signified sinners and those people who live like animals. As irrational animals, they partake of God’s goodness without feeling grateful, and will never look with gratitude to Him from whom all good things come.
Under the second branch the people ate of the fruit of the tree, and they signified the good and righteous of the Church. And the souls who were to be purified in purgatory came in headless forms and refreshed themselves with the fragrance of the tree.
Black birds also flew around the tree, but the thick smoke that came out of it, drove them away. These birds, as the saint understood, by emphasizing the sharpness of the smoke, represented Satans and all sensual temptations, which man cannot overcome in any other way than by meditating on the Passion of Christ.
And the priest who was celebrating the Holy Mass was covered and surrounded by the leaves of this tree, and all around hung branches full of fruit. This meant that everyone who loved the Passion of Jesus perfectly would be ennobled in his virtues, and that everything good he did would be added to his merits. All the hearts of the faithful, too, hung in the branches of the tree, represented by burning lamps; And the oil that burned in the lamps poured into them from the tree. This meant that no one could love the Passion of Jesus of his own accord unless this love was poured into him by the grace of God. And in this way, if the lamps were burned, it was understood that everyone who wished to love God should keep the Passion of the Lord constantly in mind. He should often meditate on it and worship it. For it is by this that he will find sufficient material for the love of God. For there is nothing that inflames the mind so much as the contemplation of the Passion of Jesus Christ our Lord.

On one occasion, St. Gertrude received the following teaching in a revelation:
“If anyone turns devoutly to the Cross on which the Saviour is nailed, he can be convinced that our Lord Jesus Christ, from the depths of His Heart, says to him with pity: “See how for love of you I am nailed to the Cross, stripped naked, mocked. He is covered with My wounds all over his body, and all his limbs are torn out; and yet My Heart is still burning with such tender love for you that if it were necessary for your salvation, and if there were no other means to save you, I would bear again for you all that I once bore for the redemption of the whole world.”
Therefore a man ought to stir up his heart to gratitude by addressing the Cross in this devotion. For a man will never look at the Cross with the Saviour without having to have in his soul the saving efficacy of God’s grace.
Every Christian, therefore, errs if, out of a kind of ingratitude or indifference, he neglects to attend to this honorable object of his salvation. For whenever we look devoutly at a crucifix, we are greatly benefited by it.

On one occasion, when St. Mechtilde was about to kiss the Cross (after the ceremony of paying homage to the Cross on Good Friday), she said to the Lord by divine inspiration, as if lying at His feet:
“Behold, all my desires, O Lord, I immerse in Thee, and give them to Thy desire, so that, purified and perfectly sanctified, I may henceforth never fall into the snare of earthly things.”
The Lord answered this at the wound of his right hand, “Here hide all your spiritual exercises; and whatever you have neglected in them will be perfectly completed to you by My exercises.”
At the wound on his left hand, the Lord said: “Here lay down all your sufferings and adversities, so that, in connection with my life, they may become sweeter and savory before God. Just as a robe sprinkled with fragrant oil retains its fragrance, and like a piece of bread dipped in honey, it takes over its sweetness.”
At the wound of the Heart, the Lord said: “Into this wound of love, which is so great that it embraces Heaven and earth and all things, put all your love into My love, so that it may become perfect, and like an iron kindled with fire, it may also be united to My love.”

According to the apparitions of the Venerable Mary of Jesus:
When the most holy soul of the Lord Jesus was separated from the Body, it descended, accompanied by innumerable angels, into the abyss where the righteous of the Old Law had long awaited their deliverance. Through the appearance of the most holy soul of the Lord Jesus, this dark prison was transformed into Heaven, everything was filled with a miraculous splendor. The souls of all the righteous present there were blessed and received the clear vision of Deity. Thus in an instant they passed from a state of long longing to a perpetual possession of glory, from darkness to a light which had hitherto been inaccessible to them.
Then the Lord commanded the angels to bring all the souls who were suffering in purgatory. And in an instant they were all standing before Him. As if in honour of the Solemnity of the Redemption, the Saviour relieved these souls from the sufferings which were yet to be punished, and as the righteous He granted them the happiness of seeing the Godhead. Thus, on that day, the presence of the Most High King emptied these two prisons, the abyss and purgatory, and brought the souls in them into a state of bliss. The Most Holy Soul of Jesus remained in the abyss until Sunday at three o’clock in the morning. At that hour the Savior returned to the tomb again, and as a victorious prince. In the company of the angels whom He led with Him, and of the saints whom He released from those subterranean prisons as His conquering prey and as the banners of His glorious triumph.
By the tomb stood a multitude of other angels, who guarded it and worshipped the saint, united to the Divinity Body. Some of the angels collected the relics of the Most Holy Blood poured out on the earth, and the pieces of the Body of Jesus torn from the wounds, the hair torn from His Divine Face and His Most Holy Head, and all that belonged to the Body of the Son of God. Then they gave all these most holy relics collected to the Most Holy Body of Jesus, so that it had thus regained its natural wholeness and accuracy.
At the same moment the soul of the Lord Jesus was reunited with the Body, and thus gave it immortal life and glory at the same time. The Most Holy Body has acquired four gifts of glory, namely: brightness, imperviousness to suffering, agility and gentleness. These gifts were passed from the soul of our most gracious Saviour to His Body united to the Divinity, so that it acquired such beauty that, even if the beauty of all creatures were united in one creature, it would appear ugly to be compared with the beauty of the Body of Christ.
In short, there is not a single likeness in all creation that can illustrate the grandeur of the risen Savior.
In all this beauty and magnificence, Jesus Christ rose from the tomb. At the same time, in the presence of the saints and patriarchs, He promised the whole race a general resurrection as a consequence of His resurrection. And this in such a way that every man will be resurrected in the same body that belonged to him, and that the righteous in their bodies will be glorified.

The Most Holy Virgin Love said to the venerable Mary of Jesus, “
My daughter! The gifts of the soul, of heavenly bliss, consist, as you know, in the sight and possession of God; and to enjoy Him, the supreme Good.
But the gifts of the transfigured body will be: clarity, imperviousness to suffering, gentleness and agility. You ought also to know that every good deed which a man performs in the state of sanctifying grace increases in a corresponding way in Heaven each of these gifts, even though this act be nothing else than the lifting of a straw or the giving of a glass of water for the love of God. By each of these actions, which are insignificant in themselves, a man gains when he enters into heavenly bliss, such a brightness that it surpasses that of many suns. As for the imperviousness to suffering, the transformed body will never be rotten or decayed. By means of delicacy a man will come to be superior to all things, whatever obstruction may be placed in his feelings, and to obtain the power to penetrate all that he wills. By virtue of the gift of agility, he will possess the ability to move lighter and faster than birds, wind, and all living creatures.
From the merits which can be merited in respect to the gifts of the body, you can understand what merits await a just man with regard to the gifts of the soul, since the gifts of the body correspond to and result from the gifts of the soul. For in the contemplation of the Godhead man will receive for every merit a greater clarity and a better understanding of the divine attributes and perfections than all the scholars and sages of the Church have ever possessed in their life on earth.
In the same way, the gift of having God will be multiplied. For as a result of this possession, and the power with which it will embrace this supreme and infinite Good, the righteous will acquire a new assurance and peace. This assurance and peace will be stronger than the possession of all that creatures can give in terms of valuables, possessions, pleasures, and joys, even though man may possess them without fear of losing them. By means of the gift of sharing (the Divine Being), which is the third gift bestowed upon the soul, the righteous in Heaven will receive recompense for every good deed, even the smallest one, done out of love for God. The merit of this sharing love will be so sublime that the greatest inclination of heart which men show in life to the things seen can never be compared with this merit. In the same way, the pleasure that flows from it cannot be compared with anything that exists in this life.

According to the apparitions of the Venerable Mary of Jesus:
During the forty days after His Resurrection, the Divine Saviour was always with His Blessed Mother in the dining-room, except on the occasion when, according to the account of the Holy Evangelists, He appeared to the Apostles and the holy women.
When the day came when the most gracious Savior wanted to ascend to heaven to sit at the right hand of the heavenly Father for all eternity, the apostles gathered in the dining hall. Here the Lord Jesus appeared to them and commanded them to preach the Gospel to the whole world. Later, when more believers were gathered, one hundred and twenty in all, the Savior wished to bid them all farewell, and to this end He spoke to them with great love.
This talk was deeply moved by all present. They wept with grief that henceforth they would be deprived of the sight of their most gracious Father. The Savior also told them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to remain in prayer until He would send them the promised comforter, the Holy Ghost.
Then the Lord Jesus and His little company left the dining room. They walked through the streets of Jerusalem, and the Lord Jesus closed the procession. Next to him walked the Most HolyVirgin Love. They went in the direction of Bethany. A host of angels and saints who had come from the abyss and from purgatory followed them, singing new songs of praise; but these blessed ones were not visible to anyone, but the Most Holy Mother of the Saviour saw them.
This was the progress of the procession further and further to the summit of the Mount of Olives. When they all arrived at the place which Providence had chosen, they divided themselves into three choirs: one of them was made up of angels, another of the saints, and the third of the apostles with the faithful, who again formed two rows. Jesus Christ took the leading place.
Then the Blessed Mother fell at the feet of her Son, paid him divine homage full of admirable reverence, reverence and humility as the true God and Redeemer of the world, and implored His blessing. All the faithful present followed the example of their great Queen and did the same.
The most gracious Saviour, full of graciousness, gave them a blessing, then folded His hands, and began to rise above the earth with His own strength, leaving the footprints of His most holy ones upon it. In inexpressibly charming movements, the Lord Jesus hovered with choirs of angels and the righteous of the Old Law in the air higher and higher, while the faithful present lifted up their eyes and hearts to Him.

On the feast of the Ascension of the Lord, when the antiphon “With uplifted hands” was sung, St. Gertrude saw how the Lord Jesus was lifted into the air by His own strength. Accompanied by a multitude of angels who served him with the highest reverence, he blessed the people, saying: “My peace I give to you! I leave you My peace!”
Thus she knew that the Lord Jesus had indeed poured out His peace through this blessing into the hearts of those who had celebrated the feast with special devotion. And that this peace will always remain in them, even if they should be afflicted with sorrows and afflictions.

From the apparitions of St. Bridget:

Blessed be Your Name, My Son, without end; together with Your Divinity, which is beginningless and without end! There are three qualities in Your Deity: might, wisdom, and strength. Your power is like a brightly burning fire, before which everything, however strong and enduring it may be, seems like dry straw. Your wisdom is like the sea, which cannot be exhausted for its greatness, and which, when it rises and overflows, covers valleys and mountains. Neither can Thy wisdom be conceived or examined. How wisely Thou hast created Man and placed him above all Thy creatures! How wisely thou hast divided the fowls in the air, the four-footed beasts in the earth, the fish in the water; and you have given each one your time and your order! How wonderfully you give and take away the lives of all! How wisely do you give wisdom to the little ones and take it away from the proud! Your power is like the light of the sun that shines through Heaven and fills the earth with its light. Thus it saturates and fills Your power at the top as well as at the bottom of all things. Therefore, be blessed, My Son, who are My God and My Lord!

On one occasion St. Mechtilde saw the Lord Jesus opening the Wound of His Sacred Heart and saying to her:

“Behold the greatness of My gentleness. If you want to know it, you will not find it anywhere so clearly as in the words of the Scriptures, for never have you heard the words of a more thankful and sweeter voice than these, “As the Father has loved me, I love you” (John 15:9), and other such words that I have spoken to my disciples as well as to my Father, when I have done much good to them.”

On one occasion, when St. Mechtilde, kissing the wounds of the Lord Jesus, approached the wound of His Sacred Heart, she saw it open and smoking like a burning torch. Then the Lord said to her, “Come in and walk the length and breadth of My Divine Heart. The length, i.e., the eternity of My goodness, the breadth, i.e., the love and desire that I have had from the eternity of Thy salvation. Go through this length and breadth, i.e., claim My Heart as your own, for yours is all the good that you find in it.”
And the Lord breathed upon her and said, “Receive the Holy Ghost.” And the saint’s heart was united to the Divine Heart, and she saw how the two merged together and formed as it were one lump of gold. And she heard the Lord say, “Thus shall your heart be forever mine, with all its desires and joys.”

The Most Holy Virgin Love once said to St. Bridget:

“My Son’s heart is as beautiful as honey and very pure, like the purest spring. For from Him, as from a fountain, all that is virtuous and good proceeds. It is also the sweetest; for what is sweeter to the man of understanding than to contemplate his love in creation and redemption, in his works, in his teachings, in his kindness and patience? The love of His Heart is not as flowing as water, but is expanded and enduring, for it remains with man until his last moment. If the sinner were to stand at the gate of his doom, and if he had cried out to the Heart of Jesus for salvation with the determination to amend, he would have found salvation from perdition in Him.
There are two ways to the Divine Heart. The first is the humility of true contrition, which brings man into the Heart of God and into spiritual communion with God. The second way is meditation on the Passion of my Son, a devotion which banishes the hardness of the human heart and stimulates it, so that it has recourse to the Heart of God.
On one occasion St. Mechtilde saw the Most Holy Virgin Love urging some people to the Divine Heart of her Son and saying: “In this fountain sweeten all your bitterness and overcome all your temptations!”

On the Wednesday after Easter, when the Mass “Venite benedictia” (Come, ye blessed of my Father, take the kingdom, Alleluia!) was read, St. Mechtilde was filled with ineffable and extraordinary joy. And she said to the Lord, “Oh, if I were one of those blessed ones who will one day hear this sweet voice of Yours.” To this the Lord replied, “You may expect this, and I give you My Heart as a bet that you should always have with you. And on the day that I comply with your request, you will give me a certificate of it. I also give you My Heart as a house of refuge, so that at the hour of your death you will not take any other road; only to My Heart, to rest in it.”

On one occasion the Lord said to St. Mechtilde:
“In order that you may make up for what you have neglected, greet My Heart in His divine goodness. For it is the source and beginning of all good, from which all good things proceed. Secondly, greet My Heart through the excess of grace that has flowed from it, is flowing and will continue to flow into the hearts of all the saints and into all souls who will be saved. Thirdly, greet the veins of My Divine Heart, which have so often become springs, refreshing and filling your soul with the water of My Divine Wedding.”

On one occasion St. Gertrude heard two sweet and wonderful movements of the Sweetest Heart of the Saviour, which the Lord Jesus explained to her in the following way: “Each of these movements mediates the salvation of men in a threefold way. The first movement mediates the salvation of sinners, the second the salvation of the righteous. Through the first, I speak unceasingly to My Father, appease His wrath against sinners, and incite Him to have mercy on them. Moreover, I turn to all the saints, I acquit sinners before them with the zeal and love of a brother, and I encourage them to intercede for them before God. Finally, I speak to the sinner himself, I call him to repentance full of mercy, and I await his conversion with unspeakable desire.
By the second movement of My Heart, I first beseech My Father to rejoice with Me that I have not shed My Blood for the righteous, in whose heart I now experience so many delights. Secondly, I stir up all the hosts of heavenly to give glory to Providence which watches over the just, and to give thanks to Me for all the benefits which I have done and will continue to do to the righteous. Finally, I speak directly to the righteous themselves, give them proofs of my love, and exhort them to persevere day by day, hour by hour, in doing good.
And just as the movements of the human heart, either by the acts of sight or hearing, or by any manual work, are subject to any interruption, but are constantly untiringly repeated, so My solicitude, with which I govern Heaven and the earth, and the whole world, is never able to diminish these two movements of My Divine Heart, nor to restrain them for a moment.”

On one occasion, on the feast of the Annunciation to the Most HolyVirgin Love, when the antiphon “This is the day” was sung and the words “Today God became man” were pronounced, the entire congregation of the monastery fell to the ground to pay homage to the most worthy Incarnation of the Son of God. Saint Gertrude saw how the Lord Jesus, mindful of the love that made Him man, rise from His royal throne and say, standing before His heavenly Father with the reverence that belongs: “O heavenly Father, my brethren have come to me!”

On one occasion St. Mechtilde said to the Lord Jesus:

“Ah, most beloved Lord and Brother! Pray the heavenly Father for me!” Then the Lord Jesus lifted up His hands and prayed, and said, “Thy wrath hath been transferred upon me, and Thy fears have troubled me.” (Psalm 87:17). St. Mechtilde, hearing this, feared that it might be a satanic delusion. Then the Lord said to her, “I am the one who appeases the wrath of the Father, and who has reconciled man to God through my blood. But His wrath was passed upon Me, for He did not spare Me, His only begotten, but delivered Me into the hands of the wicked. And I have satisfied His wrath so greatly, that if a man wills, the wrath of God will never be aggravated against him.”
On one occasion, when a procession was being made to ask God for good weather, St. Gertrude heard the Son of God from the Cross, who was being carried before the procession, say to His Father: “I come with the whole host of My army to ask You, O heavenly Father, in the same form in which I have reconciled the whole human race to You.” And St. Gertrude saw that these words appeased and pleased the heavenly Father as if he had received a satisfaction a hundredfold greater than the sins of all men.

On one occasion the Lord Jesus said to St. Gertrude:

“It is of great benefit to men to contemplate that I, the son of a virgin, stand before God my Father for the salvation of men. That I, too, if men make a mistake in their hearts out of natural weakness, I offer My incorruptible Heart to the heavenly Father in order to make reparation for them. And if they sin in deed, then I offer My pierced hands for them, and I do the same for all their other mistakes they make. In this way, My innocence softens My heavenly Father and makes Him willing to forgive at any time if they regret having offended Him. That is why I wish My worshippers to thank Me whenever they receive the remission of their sins, for which they have supplicated, for it is only through Me that they obtain it so easily.”

On one occasion the Lord Jesus said to St. Gertrude:
“If you believe that I would not need to offer myself to God My Father, on the Cross, if I did not want to do so; then you must believe that I still desire to offer myself as lovingly to the same God, my Father, for every sinner, as I did for the salvation of the whole human race. Hence, everyone, even if he is burdened with as many sins as possible, can hope to be forgiven if he offers My Passion and My Death to My heavenly Father for this purpose. As long as he believes that this sacrifice can really obtain for him the gift and fruits of grace, and as long as he has the conviction that the remembrance of My Passion, combined with a living faith and true contrition, is the most efficacious remedy against sins.”

On one occasion the Lord appeared to St. Mechtilde in a robe sprinkled with Blood and said to her:
“As My Humanity, all drenched in Blood in ineffable love, offered Itself as a sacrifice on the altar of the Cross to God the Father, in the same tender love I stand constantly before the heavenly Father and offer for sinners all kinds of My sufferings, and this is My greatest desire. that the sinner, through true repentance, may repent and live.”

On one occasion the Lord Jesus said to St. Mechtilde:
“Behold, I am the spokesman, intercessor and mediator of men with my Father. A zealous spokesman carefully collects his master’s rent, and when he perceives that some of it is lacking, he adds to it from his estate. And so do I. Every good that man does, I offer a hundredfold to My Father, and what is lacking, I make up from Mine, so that I may present the soul of man, endowed with innumerable riches, to My heavenly Father in the presence of all the saints.”

On the eve of the Solemnity of All Saints, while St. Mechtilde was busy with the work which had been given her for obedience, she was late for the service. She came to Mass only at the time of the Elevation, and with a sorrowful heart she offered this delay to God, and the Lord said to her: “Do I not seem to you to be a high price to pay that I can blot out all your sins?” And the saint answered, “Yes, Lord, I firmly believe that you can do this.” The Lord said, “I am a rewarding price so excessively that it is easy for Me to fulfill and pay all your omissions.” The saint said, “Lord, I know that nothing is impossible for You.” And the Lord said, “I will answer all things for you before the Father. However, also ask multitudes of saints to offer their merits for you. Let the patriarchs and prophets offer their desire for My incarnation for you. Let the Apostles offer them their faithfulness, in which they have remained with Me in all their sorrows, and offer them their patience, with which they shed their blood for Me. The followers were overwhelmed by their holiness, with which they showed others the way of holy life by their words and examples. Let the virgins offer you the merit of their chastity and immaculateness, by which they have become worthy to be nearest to me.”

One Saturday, when the “Salve sancta parens” (Hail, Holy Mother) was sung, St. Mechtilde greeted the Blessed Virgin and asked her to obtain for her true holiness. The most glorious Virgin said to her:
“If you desire true holiness, hold fast to my Son, who is holiness and makes all things holy.” And when the saint was considering how she should do this, the most gracious Virgin said to her:
“Hold fast first to His most holy Childhood with this desire, that all the evil deeds and negligence of your childhood may be rewarded by His innocent Childhood.
Hold on to His most zealous youth, in which He blossomed in ardent love, so that all the laziness and indifference of your youth may be compensated by His zeal.
Hold fast to His divine virtue, so that in His virtue your virtue may be ennobled.
Continue to hold on to My Son and place all your thoughts, words and deeds in Him, so that all their imperfections will be washed away by Him, who never sinned through them.
Continue to hold on to Him, as a bride clings to her bridegroom when she dresses and feeds herself out of His goods, and who, out of love for her Bridegroom, loves and honors His friends and relatives. In the same way, your soul should be nourished by the Word of God as a precious food, and feast on its riches. That is to say, the soul, by the example of His virtues, which it is bound to imitate, should adorn itself as with ornamental garments. And hold fast to His servants, that is, His saints, because you ought to love them and praise God for them. Send them to your Beloved to praise Him with you, and then you will truly be holy, as it is written, “With the saints you will be holy.” (Psalm 17:26). Just as a queen becomes a queen by her union with a king.”

One Sunday, when they sang, “Asperges me, Domine,” St. Mechtilde said to the Lord, “My Lord, with what wilt thou wash and cleanse my heart?” At that very hour the Lord bowed down to her with ineffable love, and drew near to her as a mother approaches her child, embraced her, and said, “I will wash you with the love of My Heart.” And He opened the door of His honey-flowing Heart and Divine treasure, where She walked as in a vineyard. And she saw a fountain of living water from east to west. And around the fountain are twelve trees, that is, the twelve virtues which St. Paul enumerates in his epistle, namely, charity, gladness, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, meekness, faith, modesty, temperance, and chastity. (Gal. 5:22.) This water was called the “fountain of love“. The saint ascended and was washed of all stains. There were also plenty of fish in the water; they had golden scales, and signified loving souls who, separated from all earthly joys, had immersed themselves entirely “in the fountain of all good in Jesus.”

On one occasion, when St. Gertrude was listening to Mass with great devotion, it seemed to her that the Guardian Angel destined for her by God had taken her in his arms as a little girl and presented her to God the Father to bless her. And he said, “Bless this little girl of yours, O Lord, God the Father!” God was silent for a moment, as if He thought it was not worth the trouble to bless such a child. Therefore she looked into herself, and began to contemplate with great shame her own wickedness and unworthiness. But now the Son of God arose and allowed her to share in all the merits of His most holy life in satisfaction for her infirmities. Then it seemed to the saint that she was dressed in very beautiful and costly garments, and that she was grown to the measure of the full stature of Jesus Christ.
And now God the Father, propitiated and full of goodness, bowed down to her and gave her a threefold blessing, for the threefold forgiveness of all her sins which she had wronged in thought, word and deed against his justice. To this end, she also offered to God the Father the whole most holy life of his only-begotten Son. Then it seemed to her that the jewels with which her garments were adorned began to move among themselves, and to make sweet and joyful music to the eternal glory of God the Father. By this God the Father made her know how pleasing it is to Him when anyone offers Him the most perfect life of His Son. Then the Guardian Angel also offered her to God the Son, saying: “Bless your sister, O Son of the eternal King.” Finally, he offered it to the Holy Spirit, saying: “Bless this beloved of men, this beloved of yours!” She also received from Him a threefold blessing for the forgiveness of all the sins she had committed against the love of God.
Whoever wishes can ask for the grace of this ninefold blessing in the Mass of the Kyrie eleison.

On one occasion, when St. Gertrude felt a great nuisance while working on a certain thing, she said to the heavenly Father: “Lord, I offer you this work through the intercession of your only-begotten Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit for your eternal glory!” Then she recognized that this intention had given the work an extraordinary value, and thus elevated it above ordinary human activity.
She also came to know that whatever man offers to God the Father through the Son of God is pleasing to Him. And just as all objects appear green or red to the one who looks at them through green or red glass; so also to the heavenly Father all that is offered to Him through the mediation of His Son is more precious and acceptable than all other sacrifices offered without this mediation.

The Lord Jesus revealed to St. Gertrude how every time a man does a good deed for the love of God, even if it is the smallest one, even if it is the recitation of only one “Our Father” or “Hail Love” or some other short similar prayer; immediately the Son of God accepts this pious act as the fruit of His most holy Humanity. He offers it to His heavenly Father, blesses the work, and then gives it back again to the one who has done it; that the fruit obtained from this may be used for the benefit of the Church and for the eternal salvation of the faithful who belong to the Holy Church.
Anyone can perform these sacred exercises, that is, recite the five “Our Fathers” in honour of the wounds of the Lord Jesus, kiss these Most Holy Wounds, and implore the Saviour for sinners in the bosom of the Catholic Church, in order to obtain for them forgiveness for their indifference and negligence. But at the same time, he should have a strong hope that he will obtain this fruit from God’s mercy and goodness.

One Friday, when St. Gertrude looked at the image of the Crucified One, she said to God, overwhelmed with grief: “O most beloved Saviour, what sufferings You have endured this day for my sake, and how wicked I am that I have forgotten this among other occupations. Instead of continually pondering what You suffered for me every moment, You, O source of my eternal salvation, wanted to die from the excess of Your love for me.” To this the Lord answered, “I have made amends for your negligence; for every moment I gather in My Heart what you were meant to store up in your heart. It is the abundance of My love, so full that I await with the greatest longing the hour when you were to return this prayer of yours to Me. That I, in union with her, may offer to My Divine Father all that I have done for you in the course of this day, and without which all this would not have been so useful for your salvation.”
From this we can know the most faithful love of the Saviour for men, because by a single movement of sorrow which He aroused in the heart of the saint because of her neglect, He satisfies the heavenly Father. And he makes up for inaccuracies in such a sublime and illustrious way that he deserves to be praised by every man for it.

On Easter Monday, when the Gospel was read:
“Abide with us, Lord, for the evening is coming” (Luke 24:29), Saint Mechtilde said to the Lord: “O one of sweetness! I beg you to stay with me, for the day of my life has come to a head.” And the Lord said to her, “I will remain with you, first as a father with a son, and I will share with you the inheritance of heaven, which I have purchased for you by My precious blood, together with all the good things that I have obtained for you on earth for thirty-three years. I’ll give it all to you. Secondly, I will remain with you as a friend with a friend. Like a man who has a faithful friend, he has recourse to him in all his necessities, and is always attached to him; so you have with Me, who is your most faithful friend before all men, always a sure refuge. For I will always serve you faithfully to help you. Thirdly, I will be with you as a bridegroom with his bride. There is no separation between them, unless they are separated by illness. But if you get sick, I will be your physician and I will cure you of any disease. There will be no separation between us, but eternal marriage and inseparable union. Fourth, I will remain with you as comrade to comrade. If one carries a heavy burden, the other takes it upon himself and carries it with him. So I will faithfully bear all your burdens with you, and I will sustain you so that all things may be light for you.”
Then it seemed to the saint that the Lord had further said to her: “Behold, I give you My soul as your companion and guide, and to her commend all your affairs. When you are sad, she will comfort you and help you faithfully in all things.”
And the saint said to the Lord, “Ah, my Lord, the life of my soul! Forgive, Thou most gracious guide, that I have unfortunately invited such a companion as Thy Soul so little into my affairs and have not sought her help in all my needs.” The Lord answered, “I forgive you, My soul will remain with you to the end of your life, and then it will receive you in the union in which I gave My spirit, dying on the cross, into the hands of My Father, and will give you to My heavenly Father.”

The words of St. Bridget.
Hail, my Creator and Redeemer. Do not be angry when I speak to you as a wound to a physician, as a sorrowful to a comforter, as a poor man to one who is rich and has everything in abundance in an excessive way. For the wounded one says, O Physician, do not abhor me who am wounded, because you are my brother. Afflicted with sorrow, he says, “O most gracious Comforter, do not despise me, for I live in fear, but give peace to my heart and comfort to my feelings.” And the poor man says, O thou rich man who has everything in abundance, look upon me, for I am threatened by famine; Look at me, for I am naked, and give me garments to warm me! Thus do I, O almighty and gracious Lord, speak! I ponder the wounds of my sins, which I have received from my youth, and I sigh that my time has passed in vain. Strength is not sufficient for work, for it has been exhausted in vanity. Because you are the source of all goodness and all mercy, I beg you to have mercy on me! Touch my heart with the hand of Your love, for You are the best Physician. Comfort my soul, for you are the best comforter. Amen.

Concerning her Immaculate Conception, the Blessed Virgin Love said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:
“All the graces which God has bestowed upon me find their right in the fact that the Most High has permitted my Immaculate Conception. That God should make me worthy of His glory at a time when I could not deserve it was surely a greater thing than that He should reveal it to Me when I deserved it, and I made no obstacle to its acceptance.
Celebrate the Solemnity of My Immaculate Conception with special devotion, for in My conception the power of God bestowed upon Me an extraordinary generosity of graces, and this blessing has always given Me great joy. And even today I take a special delight in it, when people praise and praise the Most High for this great miracle.

According to the apparitions of Venerable Mary of Jesus, the Most Holy Trinity issued a separate sentence concerning the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Love.

The three Divine Persons said to Themselves, “Now is the time for us to begin the work of Our love and to create that pure being, that soul which is to find favor before Our eyes before all others.” Let us endow it with rich gifts, and let us place in it in a unique way the greatest treasures of Our grace. All other beings to whom We have given existence have shown Us to be ungrateful and have rebelled against Our Will. Through their own fault, they have lost the original righteousness that We gave to Our first parents, and thus they have frustrated Our plan of love. But it is not fitting that Our will should change in all things. Therefore we will create this being in perfect holiness and perfection, so that the disorder of the first sin will have no part in it. We will create the soul as We please, the fruit of Our perfections, the marvelous work of Our omnipotence. And this in such a way that it will not be touched or defiled by the guilt of Adam’s sin.
We will create a work which will be a miracle of Our omnipotence and an image of those perfections which We have prepared for Our children. It will be the ultimate goal of Our intentions that We had at the time of creation. And while in the free will of the first man all sinned, in this being of one man we shall repair all that they lost by transgressing Our will.
She will be in the only way the image and likeness of Our Divinity and will stand before Our Face for eternity. It will be the perfect fulfillment of Our Will and Our good pleasure. In it We will deposit all the graces and privileges which We have willed to angels and men in our first and conditional will, in case they remain in their first-born state.
But since they have recklessly deprived themselves of these gifts, we will renew them in this being, and add many other gifts. We will take her out of the general law to which all men are subject at their creation, so that the seed of the serpent will have no part in it. I Myself will descend from Heaven into her womb, and there I will take upon Myself her own substance and human nature.
By virtue of this decree of the Most Holy Trinity, the purest, holiest, most perfect, and in the sight of God the most beautiful of all beings was called to earthly life. A being that God has never created, and will never create another like this until the end of the world, or even for all eternity. For by the power of this word of God, and by the power of that love in which it proceeded from the lips of the Most High, the blessed soul of the Blessed Virgin Love was created and poured into her body. At the same moment the Lord filled her with graces and gifts more precious than those possessed by the Seraphim, so that there was no time when she was deprived of the light, friendship and love of her Creator.
The Most High did not put up any barrier to His infinite love, when He poured into the most holy soul of Love all graces and gifts to such a high degree that no saint, or even all the saints together, could attain such a degree. And there is no human language that can express it.
The guilt of original sin could never touch her, but she always possessed justice in the highest and most perfect degree; much more than Adam and Eve had at their creation.

Venerable Love of Jesus describes the birth of the Blessed Virgin Love as follows:

“The day came full of grace and joy for the world, in which the light of this world was to be seen by that child who had been sanctified, predestined and prepared to be the Mother of God.
This birth took place on the eighth day of the month of September. The holy mother, Anne, was prepared by an inner enlightenment in which the Lord let her know that the moment of her dissolution was approaching. Full of the joy of the Holy Spirit, she listened to this voice of God, and then she fell on her face to pray to the Lord. She asked Him for grace and protection so that this moment would pass happily.
At that moment, the power of God and Providence brought about Anne’s great delight, greater than that of a happy child. Deprived of all sensual activity in this rapture, she gave birth to Love.
At her birth, Love was pure, spotless, beautiful and full of grace, and thus revealed that she came into the world free from the law of sin and free from the guilt of sin. Her birth was essentially no different from that of the other children of Adam; but by the special grace of God it was accompanied by circumstances which may be called a miracle, which amazed the whole creation and contributed to the Creator’s eternal adoration.
It was twelve o’clock in the night when the morning star rose, and the night and darkness of the old law began to separate from the first dawn of the coming day of grace. The sweetest baby was wrapped in swaddling clothes and was cared for in the same way as other babies. Saint Mother Anne did not want to allow foreign hands to take care of this child saint; So she wrapped her in swaddling clothes with her own hands. And the happy mother took her child in her arms, the child who was her daughter, and at the same time the greatest treasure of Heaven and earth, if such a creature can be; for the child was inferior only to God Himself, but higher than all creation. And with fervent devotion she offered them to the Majesty of God.

When the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Love arrived, Saint Mechtilde asked the Queen of Heaven what she wanted to be said on that day in honour of this graceful solemnity. At the same hour the gracious Virgin appeared to her, and said:

“Say as many Hail Loves as I have been in my mother’s womb, namely, two hundred and seventy-seven.” And remind Me of the joy I now enjoy when I see the joy of the Most Holy Trinity and know the joy that the Most Holy Trinity has had because of the predilection with which it has given Me precedence over other creatures from eternity.
But the Most Holy Trinity rejoiced especially at my birth, so that heaven and earth and all creatures rejoiced together because of the richness of this joy; although they did not know the joy of this reason. For like a master who is about to create a marvelous work, he looks at it intently in his spirit, and sees it with joy first in his heart; the Most Holy Trinity in Me was equally rejoicing, and rejoiced that He would make of Me such a work that in it all the artistry of Her power, wisdom and goodness would be most magnificently revealed; and at the same time she knew that her work in Me would never be corrupted.
And she has bestowed so graciously and with so much delight on my birth and my childhood that she considers all the works of my childhood as a joyful plaything, according to the statement of the Holy Scriptures: “Playing before him at all times” (Proverbs 8:31).
Further, remind me of the joy that I had in the fact that God loved Me so much before all His creatures that He often spared the world for this love for Me even before I was born. Out of His abundant love for Me, He hastened My coming into the world, and came to meet Me with His grace while I was still in my mother’s womb.
Then remind me of the joy I had in this, that the Lord God honored Me more worthily than all the angels and all the creatures. From the hour when my soul was poured into my body, he filled me with the Holy Spirit. He has completely freed Me from original sin, and by a peculiar sanctification He has consecrated Me to a dwelling place sacred to Him, so that I have come into the world as a rose without thorns and like the dawn of the morning.

On one occasion, on the feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Love, the Gospel sang the words “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord!” in the church, St. Gertrude greeted the Mother of God with a devout and sincere intention, at the same time presenting to her the ineffable joy which she felt when, full of trust, she gave herself over to the will of God to dispose of her as He pleased.
The Blessed Virgin, with the most cheerful and benevolent countenance, answered: “Whoever will piously present to Me this ineffable joy of Mine, I will show him that I am truly his mother, as they ask Me to do in the hymns which Holy Church sings. Indeed, I will show myself to him as the glorious Mother of the King, and as the Mother of those who recite their prayers devoutly and humbly. I will use his omnipotence to refresh them, and to help them in their prayers and to give them a salutary superabundance of grace and mercy.

When St. Gertrude wished to know what prayer was most pleasing to the Mother of God on this solemn day, the Blessed Virgin Love told her that all those who, throughout the whole octave of the feast of her Annunciation, in remembrance of those days in which the Lord Jesus developed and grew in her blessed life, would devoutly recite forty-five Hail Love every day, would do her the same service. as if they were present with her from the moment of her conception of the Son of God until his birth, and rendered her the most important services. And just as she would not have refused them any request, neither could she have left their requests unanswered in this case.

The Blessed Virgin Love revealed to the Venerable Mary of Jesus the following:
Contemplating the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God, in which the Divinity was so deeply humbled that in the womb of such a poor virgin as I was, He was united with human nature; think carefully about how God has humbled Himself, not only for Me alone, but for you as well as for Me.
After all, the Lord’s mercy is infinite, and His love knows no bounds. Every soul that receives Him, guards and defends Him in this way, and rejoices in it as if He had created it alone, and as if He had become man for it alone. Therefore, you should consider yourself as if you were alone in the world, so that you can thank Him with all your heart for His coming into this world. And then give thanks to Him also for coming at the same time for all other people. When you know and understand by living faith that the same God, who is infinite in His perfections and eternal in His Majesty, who came down to earth to take upon Himself a human body in My womb, that the same God seeks you, calls you, cares for you, loves you, and gives Himself entirely for you, as if you were His only creation; Then consider and realize what this wonderful humiliation obliges you to do. And from this admiration, move on to a living act of faith and love. For you owe everything to such a King and Lord, who deigned to come to you, although you could neither seek Him nor come to Him.
All that the Lord can give you will seem great when you look at it with the light of reason and with human feelings, even if you do not reach higher with your thoughts. And indeed, every gift from the hand of so great and exalted a King deserves a high appreciation. If, however, you consider God Himself, know Him with the light of God, and think that He has made you capable of partaking of His divinity, then you will recognize that if God did not communicate Himself to you, and if He did not come to you, all creation would be worthless to you, and would even be nothing. And you will find peace and contentment only in knowing that you have such a great, loving, loving, powerful, gentle, and rich God. That you have a God who, though infinitely great, has nevertheless deigned to descend into your lowliness to raise you from the dust, to enrich your poverty and to show himself before you as Shepherd, Father, Bridegroom and most faithful Friend.
So, My daughter, ponder in your soul the efficacy of this truth. Remember the tender love that this great King shows you through His constant solicitude, through His gifts and graces that you receive from Him. By the works to which He has called you; by the light which His divine wisdom has kindled in your soul. That you may know thoroughly how infinitely great His Essence is, how wonderful His works are, how deep His mysteries are, how He is true in all things, and how created things are nothing. This recognition is necessary so that you may know with what reverence and appreciation you should receive these graces and benefits from the hand of Him who is your true God, your treasure, your light, and your guide. Consider Him as your infinite, loving, and terrible God. Listen to these words of Mine and to My teachings: they will give peace to your heart and light to your eyes.

On the most holy night of the sweet Nativity of Jesus, it seemed to St. Mechtilde that she was on a stony mountain on which the Virgin Mary sat before the imminent birth of the Son of God. And when the time came, the Blessed Virgin was filled with unspeakable delight, joy, and happiness. The light of God shone on her so that she arose frightened, fell down in deep humility and bowed down to the ground in thanksgiving. She was so frightened that she did not know what had become of her until she saw the Child in her bosom, “the fairest of the sons of men.” Then, filled with unspeakable joy and ardent love, she took the Child, kissed Him sweetly three times, and was thus united to the Most Holy Trinity as only man can unite himself to God without personal union. Through the stony mountain there is an image of the spiritual life which seems to the world to be sharp and hard, that life which Christ first showed with his Mother and in which he gave men an example of true spirituality.
St. Mechtilde was watching and was sitting next to the Blessed Virgin, and she was very anxious to kiss the lovely Child. When the virginal Mother embraced her Son and spoke to him, she gave him to the saint to embrace. She received the Child with inexpressible joy, pronouncing the following words: “Hail, you love of the Father’s Heart, dearest fullness and happy refreshment of my weak soul! I offer You the love of my heart and my soul for eternal glory and eternal praise!”
At that moment, four rays shone from the face of the Child, which filled the four corners of the world. They signified the holy life of Christ and His teaching, by which He enlightened the whole world.

The Blessed Virgin Mary said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:
“My daughter, if mortals had a heart detached from earthly things and a sound judgment for the worthy recognition of this great mystery of mercy which God has wrought for them, the thought of it would set them on the path of life and inflame them with love for their Creator and Saviour. After all, humans are endowed with reason. If they only wanted to use it, as they are obligated to do, then who could remain so hard and unfeeling that they would not be moved at the sight of their incarnate God? A God who so humbled Himself that He wanted to be born poor, despised, unknown among the irrational like animals, and condemned only to the protection of His Mother, who was herself poor, was rejected from the foolish and proud world. Who, in the face of so sublime wisdom and so great a mystery, would still dare to love vanity and presumption, which the Creator of heaven and earth so hates and condemns by His example? And who else could despise the humility, the poverty, and the contentment with little, which the Lord has chosen for himself, and which he points out to all of us as the true means to eternal life? There are few who take the time to seriously consider this truth and this example; As a result of this shameful ingratitude, few have the fruits of these great mysteries.

On the eve of the Feast of the Purification of Love, St. Mechtilde saw the Blessed Virgin and Mother carrying the royal Child Jesus in her arms, dressed in a blue robe full of golden flowers. On his chest, around his neck and hands, was written the Name “Jesus.”
St. Mechtilde said to the Blessed Virgin, “O you, most beloved Virgin, did you adorn your Son in such a way when you were to offer him in the temple?” The Blessed Virgin answered, “Not so, but I have prepared Him in a charming way. From the day of the birth of my Son, I have awaited with a joy that even man cannot imagine, the day on which I was permitted to offer my Son of God to the heavenly Father as a sweet sacrifice. By which sacrifice and for which God accepted all the sacrifices offered to Him from the beginning of the world. And I offered Him with such devotion and gratitude that if the holiness of all the saints were poured into one man, it could not go in comparison with My devotion. But all My joy was turned into sorrow by Simeon’s words: “A sword of sorrow shall pierce your soul.” Very often afterwards, when I kept My Son in my bosom in excess of sweetness and devotion, I bent My head to His Head. I shed so many tears that I sprinkled them on His Head and Face. I have often pronounced these words: “For the salvation and joy of my soul!”

While St. Mechtilde was looking with tender desire at the lovely Child, the royal Mother placed the Child in her bosom according to her wishes. The saint felt an unspeakable joy as a result. But when she wanted to embrace the Child, she embraced herself, for she no longer had the Child.

Later, when the antiphon was sung, “Haec est, quae nescivit forum” (She who did not know the guilt of the stained intercourse), the holy choirs of angels heard the above words singing in sweet tones. Also the entire Psalm 84, “Thou hast blessed the Lord,” was sung by the holy choirs of angels in the air. And the antiphons were preached alternately, first by the angels, then by the archangels, the principalities, the principalities, the powers, the dominions, and the thrones. And since these angels were joined by the Cherubim and Seraphim, the singing of these united choirs of angels sounded so sweet that it could not be compared with any earthly singing even remotely.
The Blessed Virgin stood in the middle of these choirs, holding the Child Jesus in her arms. Now there appeared a splendour that hovered three cubits above the earth, and in its brightness surpassed thousands of suns. On this splendour the virginal Mother laid her sweetest Son. This effulgence signified Deity, for God was His own bearer on earth, and Deity rules over Humanity. The Blessed Virgin wore on her head a royal diadem, which was raised by two angels over her forehead, and on it were written as if in gold and precious stones the names of all those saints who had served her in this life with pious hearts. Drops from this diadem also fell, signifying the graces that God pours into the hearts of all those who devoutly serve His Blessed Mother.
The Archangel Gabriel walked in front of the Blessed Virgin and carried in his hand a scepter on which was written in golden letters: “Hail Mary, gratia plena” (Hail Mary, full of grace). From this St. Mechtilde knew that Gabriel was distinguished in Heaven with a special dignity because he had the grace to be able to greet the Mother of God so miraculously before the other angels.
The Blessed Virgin stood on the right side of her Most Holy Son and held a golden capsule in her right hand. And when St. Mechtilde asked what was in it, she answered: “From the sweetness of the Divine Heart, which I wish to offer to My Son, together with all the work that is done in His service and in Mine.”
On the Lord’s left stood the prophetess Anna; St. Mechtilde asked the Blessed Virgin how long this holy old woman had lived on earth. Our Lady answered, “Until the return of my Son from Egypt.”
She also saw St. Mechtilde Simeon standing at the altar. From his heart came a threefold ray, in the shape of a rainbow, which made her understand that this saint had a humble, strong, and ardent desire for God. St. Mechtilde said to him, “Obtain for me the true desire for death, that I may be with Christ.” Simeon answered, “It is better and more perfect if you give your will to God and desire only what God wills.” Now she asked the Blessed Virgin to pray to her Son for her and for the convent congregation, which the Blessed Virgin did that hour.
When the primaries were over, and St. Mechtilde, together with the other singers, was about to sing the Benedicamus, she asked the Blessed Virgin once more to praise her Son for the convent assembly. Then the sonorous voice of the Blessed Virgin resounded, pronouncing in sweet tones: “Jesus, crown of virgins, love, sweetness and kiss!” And all the angels and saints who were in the air sang, “We praise you in eternity, whom love has made the son of the Virgin!” Then there was a glow that filled the whole choir. The saint understood its significance because the Blessed Virgin praised her Son for her with Him and in Him.
Then all the hosts of angels and saints followed their Lord joyfully to the heavens, singing and saying, “Sing to him, you above, and you below with an equal voice.” (from the hymn “Jesu corona Virginum”)

According to the apparitions of St. Bridget:
My dearest Mother! Your works are sweet to Me,
because they come from Your soul. You are like a bright dawn rising
. Thou hast shone above all the heavens! Your
light and your brightness surpass all the angels!
By Your brightness You have drawn to Yourself the true Sun, i.e., My Divinity. And so strongly that the sun of My divinity
entered you and you were warmed by His warmth by My love. By His splendour you have been more enlightened by My wisdom than
others. The darkness of the earth has been driven out by you
, and all the heavens have been enlightened. By virtue
of My truthfulness, I assure you that Your purity, which pleased Me
more than the purity of the angels, drew
My divinity to You, so that You were inflamed with the ardor of
the spirit. By Thy purity the true
God and the true man were enclosed in Thy life, whereby man was enlightened and the whole world rejoiced. Therefore, through your blessed Son, be
you blessed!
Therefore, there will not be Your request to Me that is not to be answered. And through you, grace will be given to all those who, in their desire to improve, will ask for mercy. For as warmth comes forth from the sun, so will all mercy be bestowed through you. You are like an abundant spring from which mercy flows to the poor!”

Love’s sorrows began with the birth of her Most Holy Son,

and the Blessed Virgin Love once said to St. Bridget:

“From the birth of my Son until his death, I was full of sorrow. I carried the heaviest burden on my heart, for I was constantly engaged in working for God, and I bore with patience all that happened to me. I carried a heavy burden in My arms, for I bore sorrow and heartache more than any other creature. My eyes filled with tears as I considered the places on My Son’s limbs, where the nails were supposed to be pierced in His future Passion; and when I saw all things fulfilled in Him, what I heard the prophets foretold of Him.

Now I turn My eyes upon all who are in the world, whether there are any who feel pity for Me and remember My sorrows. But I find very few who feel with Me and dwell on My sufferings. Therefore, My daughter, do not forget Me, for so many forget and neglect Me. Behold My sorrow and imitate Me in it, as much as you can. Meditate on My sufferings and My tears, and lament that there are so few friends of God.”

On one occasion Our Lady said to St. Bridget:

“Meditate, daughter, on the sufferings of my Son, whose members were almost my members and as it were my heart.
For just as other children were accustomed to dwell under the heart of their mothers, so also my Son was under my heart. And He was conceived of the fire of God’s love, and the other children are of the lusts of the flesh. That is why my relative, the Apostle John, says, quite rightly, “The Word became flesh.” For it was through love that My Most Holy Son came to Me and was in Me. And they formed Him in me: word and love. He was like my heart. So when He was born of Me, I felt as if I had been born, and as if half of My heart had left Me.
And when He suffered, I felt My heart suffer. For, as in the case of a thing that is half external and half internal, when a man the outer part, he also suffers pain and the inner part at the same time; so it was My heart scourged and pierced. For I was completely close to Him in His life, and I did not allow myself to be separated from Him.
I stood quite close to His Cross, and as it stings more strongly that which is nearer to the heart, so His suffering was more painful to me than to others. And when he saw me broken by pain, My sorrow caused him such a bitter feeling that all the sufferings that wounds inflicted on him fell asleep, as it were, in the pain in which he saw me.
That is why I boldly say that His pain was My pain, for His heart was My heart. For just as Adam and Eve sold the world for one apple, so My Son and I have redeemed the world, as it were, with one heart. Therefore, My daughter, consider what I was like when My Son died, and it will not be difficult for you to leave the world.

The Blessed Virgin Love once said to St. Bridget:
People should contemplate My sorrow and have pity on Me, for I have been alienated from all the joys of the world, and they should likewise distance themselves from the world for Me.
At the death of my Son, I was like a woman whose heart was pierced by five spears.
The first stroke of the spear was shameless and shameful nakedness, for I saw My Son, very dear and powerful to Me, standing naked by a pillar and wearing no garment. The second stroke of the spear was an accusation against Him. He was accused and said to be a traitor, a liar, and even a secret spy. While I knew of Him that He was just and true, and that He had offended no one, and He did not want to offend anyone. The third stroke of the spear for Me was His crown of thorns, which pricked His Most Holy Head so badly that the Blood flowed into His mouth, on His chin and into His ears. The fourth stroke of the spear for Me was His sorrowful voice from the Cross when He cried out to the Father and said, “Father, why have you forsaken Me?” As if to say, “Father, there is no one who has mercy on me but you!” The fifth stroke of the spear that pierced My heart was His very bitter death. As many as His precious Blood flowed from it, so many wounds pierced My heart. And the veins of His hands and feet were pierced, and the pain of the torn nerves was transmitted without the slightest softening to His Heart, and from His Heart again to the nerves. And because His Heart was inviolate and good, because it was formed in the best way, death and life wrestled with Him, and His life in the midst of sorrows was all the more prolonged.
But as death drew near, and His Heart was broken by unbearable pains, all His limbs trembled at the same time, and His Head, which was bent backwards, rose up a little. Half-closed, the eyes were only half open. In a similar way, the
mouth was opened and a bloody tongue appeared. His fingers and hands, which were clenched tightly, stretched out. And when He had given up His Spirit, He bowed His Head to His breast. His arms were a little sagging where there were nail wounds, and her legs were carrying even more weight.
Then My hands became numb, My eyes were darkened, My face grew pale like that of a dead man, My ears heard nothing, My lips could not speak, My feet staggered, and My body sank to the ground. When I rose again and saw that My Son was despised more than the leper, I turned all my will to Him. For I knew that everything had been done according to His will, and could not have been done if He had willingly permitted it. I thanked him sincerely for all this. My sorrow was accompanied by a certain joy, for I knew that My Son, who had never sinned, was willing to suffer so much for sinners only out of great love.
Whoever, therefore, is in the world should consider the condition I was in at the death of my Son, and should always keep this before his eyes.

St. Bridget once heard the Lord Jesus speak to His Blessed Mother in rapture:

“There is an old proverb that whoever learns something in his youth will not forget it in his old age. In the same way, My Mother, you learned in your youth to do My will and to renounce your own will for Me. That is why you rightly said, “Thy will be done.” You are like a piece of precious gold that has been pulled out and beaten on a hard anvil. For you were slaughtered by all sorts of sorrows, and in My Passion you suffered more than others. For when, as a result of the violence of the suffering on the Cross, My heart was broken, Your Heart was wounded as if by a very sharp iron. If it were My will, You would gladly allow Your Heart to be cut in half. And if you could prevent My sufferings and save My life, you would only wish to do so, if it were My will. That is why you have rightly said, “Thy will be done!”

The Blessed Virgin Love once said to St. Bridget:

“From the very beginning of my life, when I heard and understood that there is a God, I feared and cared constantly for my salvation and salvation. Later, when I heard more clearly how God is the Creator and Judge of all My deeds, then I loved Him.
I have always been afraid and thought not to offend Him in thought, word, or deed. And when I went on to learn how God had given His people His law and commandments, and had performed so many miracles for them, I resolved firmly in my heart to love nothing but Him; and all worldly things made me bitter. When I went on to learn that the same God would redeem the world and be born of a Virgin, I was filled with such love for Him that I thought of nothing but God, and I wanted nothing but Him. I avoided as much as I could the presence of my parents and friends and conversations with them. And everything I could have, I gave to those in need. I kept nothing for myself except a modest meal and one dress.
I didn’t like anything but God. I always wished in my heart that I could live until He was born, and that I could earn the right to be His Mother’s handmaid. I also made a vow in My heart that if it were pleasing to Him, I would keep My virginity and possess nothing in the world. But if God wills otherwise, let His will be done, not Mine. For I believed that He could do all things, and that He wanted nothing but what was useful to Me. That’s why I gave all my will to Him.
And when the time drew near when, according to the law of Moses, virgins were to be represented in the temple of the Lord, I joined them also in obedience to My parents. At the same time, I thought that nothing is impossible with God, and that it is known to Him that I want nothing, and I want nothing but Him. And so, if it pleases Him so, He will be able to keep Me in virginity; and if not, then His will be done.
When I returned home from the temple, I became inflamed with a more ardent love for God than before, and every day I burned with new flames and lusts of love. Wherefore I drew farther away from all earthly things than I had done before: I was alone day and night, and I was very much afraid that My lips might speak, or My ears might hear something against God, or My eyes might see something that incited to sin. In My silence I was also timid and fearful, lest I should be silent about what I should have said.
When, therefore, I grieved and troubled in My heart, alone, and placed all My trust in God, the thought immediately occurred to me of the great power of God, that the angels and all creatures serve Him, and how His splendor is ineffable and immeasurable. And while I was admiring all this, I saw three wonderful things. I saw a star, but not the kind that usually shines in the sky. I saw the light further, but not as it shines in the world. I smelled a fragrance, not that of herbs and other plants, but a very lovely, ineffable fragrance that permeated me completely, so that I rejoiced greatly. Then I heard a voice, but not from a man’s mouth. When I heard it, I was alarmed, for I thought it might be an illusion.
And immediatelyAn angel of God appeared to me as a very beautiful man, but not covered with flesh, and said to me, “Hail, full of grace…” When I heard this, I wondered what it could mean and why he greets Me in this way. For I knew and believed that I was worthy of this or anything else good. But I also believed that God could do anything He wanted. Then the angel continued, “The Holy One that is born of you will be called the Son of God, and as it pleases him, so all things will be.”
Still, I did not consider myself worthy of it, but I asked how it could be that I should be unworthy of being the Mother of God when I did not know my husband. And the angel said to me, “With God nothing is impossible, but whatever He wills, He will do.” When I heard these words of the angel, I felt the most ardent desire to become the Mother of God, and my soul said full of love: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word!”
After uttering these words of Mine, I immediately conceived My Son in the flesh amid the unspeakable joy of My soul and of all My members. And having Him under my heart, I carried Him without pain, without burden, and without affliction of the flesh. I humbled myself in everything because I knew that the One I was wearing was the Almighty. When I gave birth to Him, I did not suffer any pains, but as at the conception of Him, I felt an inexpressible joy of soul and body, so that for the delight of My feet did not feel the ground on which they stood.
When I saw My Son’s beauty and contemplated it, I often thought that I was not worthy of such a Son. But when I saw the places of nails on his hands and feet, where I knew from the books of the Prophets that he was to be nailed to the Cross, My eyes filled with tears and My Heart was torn by sorrow. When My Son saw these tears in My eyes, He felt a violent sadness. But as soon as I had conceived the power of His divinity, consolation was expressed in My Heart, for I knew that He willed it so, and that it was so good, and I surrendered all my will entirely to His will.
But in this way my joys have always been seasoned with sorrow and suffering. When the time of my Son’s Passion came, His enemies attacked Him in a robber manner, struck Him on the cheeks and on the neck, spat on Him and mocked Him. Then they led him to the pillar. My Son Himself took off His garments. And He Himself put His hands to the pillar, to which His enemies had tied them without mercy. After He was bound, He was stripped naked as He came into the world, and He bore the shame of His nakedness. And His enemies stood together against Him, and were always with Him, and scourged His Body, which was pure without guilt or sin.
At the first blow I fell, standing close to Him, as if dead. And I saw, when I came to consciousness again, His body was torn to the bone by the blows and scourges of scourging, so that the ribs came out of Him. And the greatest bitterness was the sight when, behind the lashing of the whips, pieces of the Body were torn out with them.
As My Son stood there, covered in blood and torn in his body, one of the scourgers moved in spirit and said, “Do you want to kill him like this without trial?” And he cut His bonds.
Then My Son put on His garments again. And I saw the places where My Son stood, filled with all the Blood, and from these footprints I knew where My Son stood. For wherever he came, the earth was covered with blood. However, his enemies did not allow him to clothe himself completely, but urged Him and drew Him to quicken His steps. While He was being led like a robber, My Son was wiping His own eyes from His blood.
And when He was condemned to death, a Cross was laid upon Him to carry it. When he was carrying him some way, one of the people came to him and helped him to carry him. As My Son walked to the place of His Passion, some struck Him in the breast, others struck Him in the face. He was beaten so hard that although I did not see the beaters, I could hear the sound of the beatings.
And when I came with Him to the place of His Passion, I saw there all the instruments prepared to put Him to death. When My Son arrived there, He took off His garments. And the servants said among themselves, “These garments were ours, and he will not get them again, for he is condemned to death.” Then the cruel executioners took Him and dragged Him out on the Cross.
First, they fastened their right hand to the tree, where a hole had been drilled for the nail. They pierced the hand itself where the bone was strongest. Then they stretched out their other hand with a rope and fastened
it like the first. Then they nailed the right foot to the Cross, and then the left leg with two nails, so that they severed all the nerves and veins. Then they put a crown of thorns on His Head, which pricked it so badly that the Blood dripping from it reddened His entire beard.
As he hung there, bloodied and wounded, he pitied Me for the pain I suffered as I stood at the foot of His Cross and sighed. With bloodshot eyes he looked at John, the son of my sister, and commended me to him. At that time I heard some say that My Son was a robber, others that He was a liar, others that no one was more worthy of death than this Son of Mine. Listening to these discourses renewed My sorrows.
When, as I have already said, My Son was nailed with the first nail, I fell as if I were dead at the first blow. My eyes darkened, my hands trembled, my legs trembled beneath me; and, full of bitter sorrow, I did not look until He was completely crucified. When I arose again, I saw My Son hanging miserably, and I, His Mother, filled with the heaviest sorrow, could scarcely stand with grief.
When My Son saw Me and His friends weeping bitterly, He cried out to His Father in a voice full of complaint: “My Father, why have You forsaken Me?” As if to say, “There is no one who has pity on Me but You, My Father.” Now his eyes seemed to be half dead, his cheeks were concave, his face was covered with sorrow; His mouth opened, his tongue bled. His life was bent to his back, and when all the moisture in him was dry, he looked as if he had no entrails at all. His whole body turned pale and weakened by the loss of blood. His hands and feet were cruelly torn and took on the posture of the cross to which they were nailed. His hair and beard were sprinkled with blood.
When My Son hung there so wounded and torn, His heart was still healthy and fresh, for it was built by birth strong and well. From my body My Son received body very pure and exquisitely built. His skin was delicate and thin to such an extent that at the slightest blow blood immediately oozed from it. He also had blood so fresh that it could be seen through His clean skin. And because He possessed a most excellent nature, death and life fought in His wounded body. Sometimes pain rose from the limbs and from the torn nerves of the body to His Heart, which was still healthy and fresh; and tormented Him with an inexpressible ailment. Again the sorrow passed from the Heart downwards into the limbs, and thus prolonged death.
My Son, plunged in such sorrow, looked upon His weeping friends, who, with His help, would rather suffer these torments themselves and burn forever in hell than see Him crucified in this way. At that time, His suffering, which He endured as a result of the sorrows of His friends, was far greater than all the bitterness and deep sorrow He bore in His body and in His Heart; for he loved them tenderly. Now He cried out to His Father, because of too much sorrow for His Humanity, “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit!”
When, in My deep sorrow, I heard this cry, all the limbs in Me trembled in the bitter sorrow of My heart. And whenever this cry came to my mind, each time it sounded in my ears as if it were a new voice, but always present in my soul. Then, when death drew near and the Son’s heart broke with excess of pain, all His members trembled. His head rose a little, and then drooped on his breast. His mouth opened, His tongue was covered with blood, and His hands drew back a little from the places where they had been nailed. And all the weight of his body was now on his legs. His fingers and hands stretched out, as it were, and his back pressed even more against the tree.
Then some said to me, “Mary, your Son is dead.” Others said, “He died, but he will rise again.” While everyone was saying this, one of the executioners ran up and thrust his spear into my Son’s side so violently that it almost came out the opposite side. And when he drew his spear, its blade was bloody. At that time, I thought that My own Heart had been pierced as I watched the Heart of My most beloved Son being pierced.
Then He was taken down from the Cross and I received Him, all pale, into My bosom. His eyes froze and were filled with Blood, His lips were as cold as snow, His face grew thin and tight. His hands were so stiff that they could not be bent lower than the waist. As He hung on the Cross, I held Him on my lap like a man broken in all his limbs. Then they laid Him on a clean cloth, and I wiped His wounds and limbs with My cloth handkerchief. Then I
closed my eyes and mouth to Him, which opened after His death. Then he was laid in the grave.
Oh, how gladly, if it were the will of my Son, I would have been buried alive with Him! When this was done, the good Apostle John came to me and took me home.
This, My daughter, is that My Son suffered all for you!

St. Bridget heard in awe how the Lord Jesus spoke to His Blessed Mother:

Blessed be you, My dearest Mother! The angel Gabriel said to you, “Blessed are you, Mary, among women.” And I bear witness to you that you are a blessed saint above all choirs of angels! You are like a flower in a garden, which, although there are various fragrant flowers standing beside it, is superior to all in fragrance, beauty, and excellence. All these flowers are chosen from Adam until the end of the world; Planted in the garden of the world, they had various noble qualities and flourished in it. But among all that have existed and will continue to exist, you were the most excellent in perfume as well as in the charm of the fullest virginity and in the virtue of temperance. I give you testimony that in My Passion you were more than a martyr, and in continence more than a confessor, in mercy and good will more than an angel.

According to the apparitions of the Venerable Love of Jesus:
The day of God’s decree was drawing faster and nearer, when the true and living ark of the covenant, Love, was to be transferred to the temple of the heavenly Jerusalem. And with greater magnificence and glory than the type which Solomon had once introduced into the temple of Jerusalem. Three days before the happy death of this great Monarch, the Apostles gathered in the Upper Room. By divine decree they decided, both by interior inspiration and by angels, to go to Jerusalem, that they might be present at the death of their Queen. Some of them came from far away.
The Blessed Mother, bidding farewell to all those present, spoke to each of the Apostles individually, then to some of the disciples, and finally to all the faithful present together. When she stopped speaking, her words pierced like arrows kindled by the fire of God through the hearts of the Apostles and all present and crushed them. At the same time they all began to weep bitterly; Disconsolate in their grief, they fell to the ground, as if trying to soften it with sighs and sobs. They all wept, and with them the sweetest Mother Love; for she could not resist the bitter and justly grief of her children. After some time, she spoke again to those present and asked them to pray in silence for her and with her. Everyone did so.
While silence now reigned, the Incarnate Word descended from Heaven on a throne of ineffable glory.
With Him came all the blessed who were already in Heaven and an innumerable number of angels. The whole upper room shone with indescribable magnificence. Love fell down before the Lord and kissed his feet. And so, lying at the feet of her Son, she raised up the last and deepest act of humiliation of her entire life. More than ever before, a man who, after committing a sin, has humbled himself, or will in the future humble himself, Love, the purest of all creatures, the Queen of Heaven, has humbled and humiliated herself.
The Most Holy Son gave her his blessing and said to her in the presence of the blessed of Heaven:

>>My dearest Mother, whom I have chosen to dwell! Now the hour has come when you are to leave mortal life and this earthly world to enter into the splendor of Me and My Father. There is a throne prepared for you at My right hand, where you will enjoy happiness for all time. And since I have ordained that, as My Mother, You have come into the world without any fault or blemish, it follows that at the present time, in which You intend to leave the earthly world, death has no right to touch You. If you do not want to pass through the gate of death, then come with Me to possess My glory, which you have merited! The Blessed Mother fell on her knees before her Son and answered with a face radiant with joy:
“My Son and Lord, I earnestly beseech you that your Mother and handmaid may be permitted through the common gate of bodily death
to enter eternal life, as all the other children of Adam. You, My Son, who are My true God, suffered death, although You did not stand under the law of death. Wherefore it is only right that I should strive to imitate Thee in all things, as
I have all my life, and be like Thee at the hour of death.”
Our Saviour Jesus Christ consented to this sacrifice and to this provision of His Blessed Mother, and He replied that it would be done according to Her will.
Now the choirs of heaven sang in sonorous celestial harmonies a few stanzas from the Song of Solomon and a few other new songs which many of those present had heard. But that the Saviour Himself was present was seen only by a few of the apostles. Between them and St. John, by virtue of a separate enlightenment. The rest of them felt a particularly strong action of grace in their hearts. The music of the angels, on the other hand, was clearly heard by the external sense, not only by the apostles and disciples, but also by all the other faithful present. A heavenly fragrance also spread.
While the angels were playing their music, Love lay down on her bed, folded her hands, and, fixing her gaze constantly fixed on her most holy Son, began to burn with the fire of his divine love. And when the angels came to the second stanza of the Song of Solomon, “Arise, make haste, my friend, my dove, my beauty, and come, for the winter is past,” Love spoke the same words that her Son had spoken on the Cross: “Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit!”
Then she closed her virginal eyes and died.
The sickness that caused her death was love, not any suffering of the flesh. Love’s death was accomplished in such a way that God’s omnipotence miraculously ceased to sustain Love’s bodily powers; which, without this miraculous help, would have long ago been consumed by the unspeakable fever with which Love loved God. When, therefore, this miraculous sustenance ceased, this love prevailed over Love’s bodily strengths and consumed her vital juices; thus the existence of Love’s bodily life ceased.
This glorious death of the great Queen of the world took place on Friday afternoon at 3 o’clock. That is, at the same time as her Most Holy Son. It was August 13, and the Blessed Virgin was 70 years old minus 26 days.

On the evening before the glorious Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Mechtilde was immersed in prayer, it seemed to her as if she were in a little house where the Blessed Virgin lay on a bed covered with a white sheet. And she said to her, “O virgin Mother! From what could sickness have come upon you, when, as we believe, you were free from all the sufferings of death?”
The Blessed Virgin answered: “While in prayer and in meditation on the benefits of God bestowed upon me, I was inflamed with an ineffable desire to give glory and thanksgiving to God; I felt a new fire of God’s love, which gave me an ineffable desire to see Him and to be in His presence. And when this seraphic fire of love grew in Me so mightily that I no longer had sufficient bodily strength to bear it, I lay myself down on My bed, and all the choirs of angels began to serve Me. And the Seraphim helped My love and kindled in Me this flame of God more and more. The cherubim served me with the light of discernment, so that I foresaw in my mind all the great things that My Lord, My God and My Bridegroom wanted to do in Me. So I said praying, “Let not the spirit of darkness meet me, so that by his presence this heavenly light may not be darkened for a moment.” The thrones have preserved for me that undisturbed peace which I have enjoyed in God. The states stood by my side, serving me with reverence. All the Princes have paid homage to Me as their Queen and the Mother of their King. The principalities prevented by their presence that none of those who came to Me could do anything to Me that could disturb the peace of My soul. The powers that be have been holding back multitudes of evil spirits so that they cannot come near Me. The powers stood around Me to the fullness of My glory, clothed and adorned with the power of My virtues. The angels and archangels caused all present to serve Me with the greatest reverence and devotion.”
And she saw the feasts in the spirit of the Lord Jesus among the angels hovering in and around the Blessed Virgin, and the seraphic spirits dwelling near her.

According to the apparitions of the Venerable Love of Jesus:
Immediately after Love‘s death, her purest soul was transferred to Heaven on the right side of Jesus Christ. Love, alone of all mortals, did not undergo a particular judgment. For, being the Queen of all creation and the Mother of the Creator, she had to be exempt from the laws that apply to the rest of Adam’s children. The soul of the Blessed Virgin is seated on the royal throne of the Most Holy Trinity, in which place no man, angel, or seraphim has yet ascended, nor will anyone ascend for all eternity. The highest and most sublime honour of our Queen and Lady is that she sits on the throne of the three Divine Persons, and that as Monarch, while all the other inhabitants of Heaven occupy only the place of the servants of the Most High King.
On the third day from the moment when the soul of the Blessed Virgin ascended into heavenly glory, the Lord revealed to His saints His divine will that Love‘s soul should return to earth. That she will awaken her body to life and be reunited with it, so that Love may once again, body and soul, without waiting for the general resurrection of the body, be raised to the throne at the right hand of her most holy Son. Then our Saviour, Jesus Christ, descended, leading the soul of His Blessed Mother at His right hand with a multitude of legions of saints, angels and patriarchs from Heaven.
When they arrived at the tomb in the valley of Jehoshaphat, they all lined up around the temple where the virgin body of the Queen of Heaven rested. Then, at the command of the Lord, the most holy soul of Love entered into the purest body, revived it and awakened it to a new, immortal and glorious life.
Now a solemn procession was formed, which rose from the tomb to Heaven amid the music of heaven through the spheres of the air. This happened at the same hour that Jesus Christ was also resurrected, that is, on Sunday, just after midnight. The saints and angels, in the same order in which they ascended into the air, also ascended to Heaven. At the very end of the procession was the Divine Saviour, and at His right hand the Queen of Heaven. She was, as King David says, in a golden garment of color, so beautiful that all the inhabitants of Heaven were filled with unspeakable admiration.
Amid great praises, Love ascended to the throne of the Most Holy Trinity. The three Divine Persons received her with an embrace that would last forever. The Eternal Father said to her: “Be exalted above all creatures, you, my chosen one, my daughter!”
The Incarnate Word said: “My Mother, I have received my human nature from you; from You I have received thanks for all My works. For you have become like Me. Accept from My hand, then, the reward you deserve!”
The Holy Spirit said, “My most loving Bride! Enter into the eternal joys that belong to your most faithful love. Now love and rejoice without care, for the time of afflictions is past; now you possess forever proofs of Our love.”
Now came the most intimate union of Love with the three Divine Persons, by the Queen of Heaven plunging into the immeasurable sea of the Divinity as into an infinite abyss.

On the night of the Assumption of the Mother of God, when St. Mechtilde was in the choir, it seemed to her that she was again next to the Blessed Virgin Mary resting on her bed. And behold, as it was revealed to her, the height of the immense
Divine Majesty sank down into the holy abyss, that is, into the most humble Heart of the Blessed Virgin. And she filled them with the stream of her divine delight so excessively that her most holy soul was completely immersed and poured out in God. And so Mary’s most holy soul went out in inexpressible joy from her body, untouched by any pain, and flew very joyfully into the arms of her divine Son. She bowed lovingly to His Heart and was led to the throne of the Most Holy Trinity amid the solemn singing of all the saints.
But how God the Father, in all the tenderness of His fatherly love, received her soul into His Father’s Heart, no creature can express. Like the inscrutable Wisdom of God, God the Son perfectly honored His Mother as the Son; and how he has seated her to the throne at his right hand before all, is beyond all comprehension. And the Holy Spirit filled Mary with an abundance of love, goodness, sweetness, and all graces; so that all in Heaven were refreshed by the fullness of her riches. That is to say, the seraphic spirits, who from the beginning of their creation were filled with love, were multiplied in this love by the love of the Blessed Virgin. And the Cherubim, full of the wisdom of God, were enlightened as it were with a new light. All the hosts of angels and saints have gained more brightness, new joy, and an increase in their merits through the glorification of this great Queen. Moreover, the Most Holy Trinity permeated Her with the fullness of His whole Divinity, so that She was all filled with God. Whatever she seemed to do, God completed in her and through her. So that with her eyes he saw, with her ears he heard, and with her lips he proclaimed to himself the glorious and perfect glory, and all joy and delight in the Heart of the Blessed Virgin was the same and in His Heart.
The Queen of glory stood at the right hand of her Son, clothed in marvellous mirrors in which the merits of all the saints were wonderfully reflected. And when the saints had joyfully come before the throne, and each of them had seen his merits, they hastened to praise God with new praises and joyful songs. For when the patriarchs and prophets looked at their longing, and the apostles looked at their virtues and the intimacy in which they dwelt near the Saviour on earth, they nevertheless knew that the Blessed Virgin was superior to them in all these things. For she was more constant in virtue than they were, more zealous in the service of God, a greater friend of God than all of them. Thus was astonished every host of saints who came and saw their own merits in the Virgin Mary. And he rejoiced that Mary was so far superior to them. For among the apostles she was distinguished as the one who was most faithfully attached to Christ and most carefully preserved his words. Among the martyrs she was the most patient and the most constant. Among the followers the most enlightened, and even enlightening themselves by word and example. Among virgins, she was not only the purest and most holy, but also the most far-reaching in the observance of virginal life and consecrated to God. She was distinguished among the good as the best, among the merciful as the most merciful, among the humble as the humblest, among the perfect as the most perfect. And therefore, as it was due, it surpassed thein the privileges of all the saints.
And Mary, the Blessed Virgin, said: “Whoever wishes to be exalted in the highest honor above all must humble himself before all. And whoever wishes to be richer than all others should deprive himself entirely of his own will, and he who desires dignity and supreme adornment should diligently exercise his virtues.”

Once the Blessed Virgin Love said to St. Bridget:

“I am the Queen of Heaven. You are anxious and concerned about how to praise Me; be convinced, therefore, that every praise of My Son is also My praise. Whoever insults Him insults Me also, because I loved Him so dearly, and He loved Me that we were both one heart, as it were. And My Son honored Me, who was a vessel of the earth, so much so that He exalted Me above the angels. Praise me, therefore, thus:
Praised be God, Creator of all things, who did not shrink from descending into the life of the Virgin Love. Praise be God, who wished to be with the Virgin Love without any nuisance and considered her worthy to take from her your immaculate body without sin. Praise be to you, God, who came to the Virgin, and to the joy of her soul and of all her members, you came out of her without sin. Praise be to you, O God, who after Thy Ascension into Heaven gladdened Thy Blessed Virgin with pure consolations, and consoling her by Thyself, Thou didst visit her. Praise be to you, O God, that you took into heaven the body and soul of the Virgin Love, your Mother, and above all the angels you seated her in the fullness of glory beside your divinity. Have mercy on Me for Her requests! Amen.

On one occasion St. Bridget heard the Lord Jesus speak to His Blessed Mother in rapture:

“Five qualities raise you, My Mother, above all the choirs of angels. The first of these is Your dignity, so high that My angels, who also have a high dignity in My eyes, when they consider Your dignity, see that Yours is incomparably superior to their dignity and holiness. The second is Your mercy, which was so great that when You saw the misery of all human souls, You felt pity for them and endured that great martyrdom at My Death. The angels are also full of mercy, but they never suffer; And you, most merciful Mother, had mercy on the poor when you felt all the sufferings of My Death, and out of mercy you preferred to suffer rather than be relieved of them. That is why you have surpassed all the angels in mercy. The third is your gentleness. It is true that the angels are gentle and wish everyone well, but you, my dearest Mother, had only one will in your body and soul before your death, like an angel, and you did good to all. And even now Thou dost not withhold from anyone who reasonably desires from Thee what is necessary to him, and therefore Thy gentleness is more excellent than that of the angels. The fourth quality is your beauty. It is true that the angels see one another’s beauty and admire the beauty of all souls and all bodies; but they also know that the beauty of Thy soul surpasses all that has been created, and that the nobility of Thy body is distinguished by all created men. And so Your beauty has surpassed all the angels and all that is created. The fifth quality is Your Divine love; for nothing rejoices thee but God; as well as angels, nothing rejoices but God. And each of them felt and feels this joy in himself. But when they saw your joy of God in you, it seemed to them in their conscience that their joy was like a candle burning in God’s love. And your joy appeared to them like a pyre burning with a flame bursting so high that it approaches My Divinity. That is why, My most sweet Mother, Your Divine Love burned above the love of all the choirs of angels.

On one occasion the Lord said to St. Bridget:

“My Blessed Mother surpasses all the saints in her virtues. For although the angels are very pure, yet My Mother is even more pure, and although the prophets were filled with the Holy Spirit, and although the martyrs suffered much, yet the Holy Spirit in My Mother was fiery and fuller, and She was more than a martyr. Although the followers abstained from everything, My Mother had a more perfect abstinence than they did, for in Her was My Divinity and Humanity.

How St. John the Baptist Explained to St. Bridget the Meaning of Our Lady’s Crown and the rest of Her Ornaments
On one occasion St. Bridget saw the Mother of God wearing a precious priceless crown on her head, and her hair flowing in wondrous beauty over her shoulders. The Mother of God was dressed in a golden robe, shining in an ineffable splendor. Over it she wore a blue cloak, the color of a clear sky. When St. Bridget was astonished at this vision, and was overwhelmed with admiration, St. John the Baptist appeared to her and said to her, “Listen carefully to what this means!”
This crown signifies that Mary is Queen and Ruler, that she is the Mother of the King of Angels. And her hair falling down means that she is the most pure and immaculate Virgin. A blue cloak that all this world was as if dead to Her. The golden robe signifies that Mary burned and burned inside and out in the love of God.
In the crown of this Mother of God, Her Most Holy Son placed seven lilies, and between these lilies seven precious stones. The first lily is Mary’s humility, the second is her fear of God, the third is her obedience, the fourth is her patience, the fifth is her constancy, the sixth is her gentleness, the seventh is her mercy. Between these seven lilies, her Most Holy Son placed seven precious stones. The first stone of Mary is excellent virtue, for there is no virtue in any spirit or body that Mary does not possess in the most perfect degree. The second stone is her most perfect purity, for this Queen of Heaven was so pure that from her first birth into the world until her last day of death not a single stain of sin was found in her. Not even all the devils have been able to find enough impurity in her to rest a pinpoint on her. Mary was all truly pure. For the King of splendor could only rest in a chosen vessel quite clean and neat, and before all angels and men.
The third stone was her beauty, for for for the beauty of this Mother of God all the saints together adore the Lord God and all the angels, and all the holy souls
are filled with inexpressible joy. The fourth stone is the wisdom of the Virgin Mother of God, for although she was already adorned with other adornments, yet it was still filled with all the wisdom of God, and through Mary all wisdom will be fulfilled most perfectly.
Her fifth stone is power, for Mary is so strong with God that she could crush everything that is created and made. The sixth stone is her brightness, which is so radiant that the angels, whose eyes shine more brightly than the light, receive enlightenment from Mary, and the devils cannot look upon her brightness. The seventh stone is her fullness of all joys and spiritual sweetness, which is so perfect in Mary that there is no joy that cannot be increased by Mary, nor a joy that cannot benefit from fullness and perfection through her and through her beatific sight, for Mary is full of grace and superior to all the saints.
Mary is the vessel of purity in which the Bread of the Angels rested, and in which all sweetness and beauty are found. These seven stones were placed by the Son of God among the seven lilies in Mary’s crown.
Therefore, worship her, O bride of her Son, and praise her with all your heart, for she is truly worthy of all honor and glory!

On one occasion the Blessed Mother said to St. Bridget:

“I had three qualities by which I pleased my Son: humility in the sense that no creature, angel or man, was more humble than I. Obedience by which I tried to be obedient to My Son in all things. And the love is quite excellent.
That is why the Son honoured Me in three ways.
In the first place, I have received a higher veneration than angels and men, in such a way that there is no virtue before God that does not shine in Me. Although the Lord God is the source and Creator of all things, and I am only His creation, to whom He has given His grace before others.
Secondly, I have received so much power for my obedience that every sinner, no matter how great and unclean, if he comes to me with a determination to reform and with a contrite heart, is forgiven.
Thirdly, God has come so close to Me that whoever sees God sees Me. And whoever sees Me can see the Divinity and Humanity in Me as in a mirror. For whoever sees God sees in Him three Persons; and whoever sees Me also sees, as it were, these three Persons. For the Divinity has enclosed Me body and soul in Himself and filled me with all virtue. So that there is no virtue in God that does not shine in Me, although the Lord God Himself is the Father and giver of all virtues.
For just as two bodies are closely joined together, what one of them feels is also communicated to the other, so also does the Lord God work in me. For there is no sweetness that is not in Me. My body and My soul are brighter than the sun and purer than the mirror. It would be as if, therefore, the Three Persons were visible in a mirror, if they were standing before Him; this is how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are manifested in My purity. I once carried the Son of God with His Divinity under My Heart; now it is possible to see Him in Me with His Divinity and Humanity, as in a mirror; because I am glorified with glory. Therefore, O spouse of my Son, seek to imitate Me in humility and love nothing but My Son!

When, in the Mass “Salve sancta parens” (Hail or Holy Mother), St. Mechtilde greeted the Blessed Virgin and asked her to obtain forgiveness of her sins from the Lord, she thought she saw Mary standing before God. Then she fell at her feet, touched the hem of her garments, which fell to the ground, and pressed him to her face. When she got up again, she saw a multitude of virgins standing around her, and when she wanted to know who they were, the Blessed Virgin said to her, “All these virgins have served me on earth.”
The first is holiness, which served Me already in the womb of My Mother by filling Me with the Holy Spirit. The second is foresight; it served Me in my childhood that I never committed anything childish that could go against the will of God. The third is purity, which served Me at the angel’s greeting. Overwhelmed by my love for her, I gave this answer to the angel. The fourth is humility, which has made me the Mother of God, whose handmaid I have acknowledged to be. The fifth is love; it brought the Son of God from the womb of His Father into My womb, and as the hearts of mothers are usually weakened by hardship and suffering, so My Heart was weakened by the immensity of love. As a deer thirsts for springs of water, so I longed for the Son I carried. The sixth is foresight; it served Me in all My works that were necessary for My Son, who was to be born, so that in all things I fulfilled the Father’s will in Him. The seventh is patience; it served Me from the first hour of My Son’s birth until the day of His Passion and Death. Eighth, the holy fear of God has been My nurse and has never allowed Me to stumble on the path of My life.
When St. Mechtilde said, “O Lady, obtain for me these virtues!” Our Lady answered, “Go to my Son and ask them of Him!” The Lord sat on a golden chair resting on two pillars of sapphire and gold. The saint fell at the Lord’s feet, asking Him for these virtues for herself and for all those who are troubled by temptations. Then the Lord nodded in agreement, as if he were handing over the virgins to her. When the saint turned to them and looked at them,
she saw that each of them had a small sharp dagger in her hand. The sharpness of this dagger signified the constancy with which a man should resist vice. Around these daggers were golden cymbals, which made a sweet sound with every movement; denoting the thoughts by which a man is victorious when he overcomes temptations; and which before God produce wonderfully beautiful tones. And then she saw a multitude of saints and angels standing around her, and the Lord said, “All those who stand in the thousands of thousands will be the defenders of those who will fight for me against every temptation of the enemy.”

St. Agnes once said to St. Bridget:
“Mary, by her humility, pleased the angel, because by answering him that she was a handmaid, she was chosen to be Lady. Through humility she conceived the Son of God, for she did not want to please the proud. By means of humility she ascended to the throne, for she loved nothing but God.”

On one occasion the Blessed Mother said to St. Bridget:

“My humility presents itself to lovers of the world as contemptible, and they think it superstitious to imitate it. For what is more contemptuous to a man if he is called a fool, and he does not even show anger or deny it? What is more disagreeable than to leave all earthly goods and to endure poverty and want? What is more painful for the people of the world than to hide from the public the injustice done to them, and to consider themselves less worthy and inferior to others, and to appear as such before others? Such was My humility, My daughter! All of My joy and all of My will was to think of nothing but that by which I could please My Creator and My Son.
And this humility has a threefold benefit to all who imitate it. First, it helps against human shame and contempt. For the shame of men depresses a man who is impatient and unaware of the future, and deprives his heart of love. Whoever observes humility diligently, let him remember what I, the ruler of all things, have endured in this respect, and let him seek My glory and not your own. Let him consider that words are nothing but air, and he will soon find refreshment. For why are the people of the world so impatient with abusive words and speeches, if not because they seek their own glory rather than the glory of God? And there is no humility in them at all, for their eyes are filled with sins. Wherefore, although justice says that slanderous speeches are not to be heard or endured without cause, yet it is a virtue and merit that a man patiently accepts and bears them for the love of God.
Secondly, My humility protects against friendship for carnal reasons. For there is friendship by which man enjoys love for the things of the moment. Thus do those who say, “Honor me as I honor thee,
for I care little what honor befalls me in the future.” It is a friendship that is cold, without the warmth of God, hard as snow, frozen in love and pity for one’s neighbor, fruitless in its reward. For after the company has dispersed, and the feast is over, all the use of such friendship ceases. Whoever imitates My humility does good to all for the love of God, both to enemies and friends. To their friends, because they are constantly seeking the glory of God, and to their enemies, because they are also God’s creatures, and perhaps because they are future godly men.

Thirdly My humility guards against the lusts of the flesh. The body has three specific things: hearing, sight, and feeling. By sight it desires everything it sees. But what is this desire, if not a feeling which induces him to accumulate, a feeling which fills him with care, distracts him by greedy thoughts, and grieves him with the loss of the goods which he already possesses? And because the body has hearing, man readily accepts the praises spoken to him, and all that the friendship of the world speaks to him. Man listens to everything that is pleasing to the body and harmful to the soul. What is all this but snow, which thaws early but cools the soul for God and hardens the soul against the conflagration? And because the body has feelings, man feels desire and comfort. But what is this, but concupiscence, which renders the soul barren in spiritual things, strong for worldly things, and soft for the pleasures of the flesh? Whoever wishes to guard against these weaknesses should have recourse to My humility and imitate it. By it he will guard against the lust of the eyes, so that he will not desire anything illicit. He will keep the pleasure of hearing, so that he will hear nothing contrary to the truth. He will guard against the lust of the flesh, so that he will not fall into forbidden customs.
Truly I say to you, the contemplation of My humility is like a good cloak that warms the one who wears it. That is, the one who not only ponders My humility, but also observes it in deeds. For even the bodily cloak warms when it is worn. In the same way, My humility is of no benefit to those who only think of it and do not try to imitate it to the best of their ability.
In the same way, My daughter, you will not benefit from My humility unless you first despise the love of the world; if you do not continually meditate on God’s mercy toward you and your ingratitude toward Him; if you do not remember what you have done and what you will do and what you deserve at the judgment of my Son.
For why did I humble myself so much, or by what did I deserve such a favor, if not by thinking and knowing that I was nothing of myself and that I possessed nothing? That is why I have never sought My glory, but only the glory of the Giver and Creator. Therefore, My daughter, take refuge under the mantle of My humility and believe that you are a greater sinner than all other people. Because even though you see some people who are bad, you don’t know what will happen to them tomorrow. Henceforth, do not exalt yourself above any of them, nor judge anyone in your heart.

When St. Mechtilde once reproached herself before the Lord for never loving His Mother as she ought to have loved her, nor for giving her the honour she deserved, and for not serving her sufficiently, the Lord said to her:
“For this carelessness of yours, praise My Mother for her faithfulness, with which she has been faithful to Me in all things all her life, and has always put My will above Her will. Secondly, praise her faithfulness for persevering with me in all her afflictions, so that all the sufferings I have suffered in the flesh she has endured also in spirit. Thirdly, honour her faithfulness, for even in Heaven she is most faithful to me, and obtains from me the conversion of sinners. Through her reason and intercession, countless sinners were converted. And many souls, whom My justice could have condemned to eternal torment, saved Her mercy and freed them from purgatory.”

The Blessed Virgin Mary once said to St. Bridget:

“No one is so great a sinner that I should not be ready to come to him at once, as a mother comes to her son, embraces him, and says, “What do you want, my son?” But he must say in his heart that My Son, the Creator and Redeemer of all, is his dearest and most affectionate. Though such a sinner deserve the greatest punishment of hell, but if he has the will not to care for the honors of the world, nor for the lusts and lusts of the flesh, which are detestable to My Son, and if he desires only his own salvation, then I will soon reconcile him to Us.

I am the Queen and Mother of Mercy. My Son, the Creator of all things, is so sweet for Me that He has given Me an understanding of all that has been created. That is why I am like a flower from which the bee primarily sucks its sweetness. And although it sucks a lot out of it, it still has a lot of sweetness in it. In the same way, I can bestow graces on all people, and yet I keep them to Myself in abundance.
And My worshippers are like bees if they worship Me with all devotion. They have two legs like bees, namely, a constant desire to spread My honour, and secondly, they work diligently to spread it, doing as much as they can. They also have two wings, because they consider themselves unworthy to praise Me and are obedient in all that pertains to My honor. They also have a sting and die when they lose it. In the same way, the friends of God bear the sorrows of the world, which God does not take away from them before the end of their lives, in order to preserve them in virtue; I, who have an abundance of consolation, will comfort them.

The Blessed Mother said to St. Bridget:

“I am the virgin into whose life it pleased the Son of God to descend with His divinity and the Holy Spirit, to the exclusion of all impious carnal lust.” And this Son of God was born from My closed womb with the Divinity and with Humanity and the Holy Spirit, to My greatest joy, without any pain for Me. I also stood next to His Cross when, with true patience, He conquered hell victoriously and opened Heaven with the Blood of His Heart. I was also on the mountain when this Son of God, who is also My Son, ascended into Heaven. I also came to know most intimately the whole Catholic faith, which my Son preached and taught to all who desire to come to Heaven.
Now I stand above the world unceasingly in prayer to my precious Son, like a rainbow above the clouds of Heaven, which seems to bend down to the earth and touch it with its ends. Underneath this rainbow I understand myself. For I bend down to the inhabitants of the earth and touch them all by my unceasing prayer, which I offer for both good and bad people. I ask the good to persevere in what the Holy Church commands them; On the other hand, I pray for the wicked that they may not increase in their malice and become worse.

St. Bridget heard in rapture the Lord Jesus praising His Blessed Mother in these words:
“O sweet Mary, three things are given chiefly by Your beauty.” First, it sharpens the memory, so that God’s words enter it with delight; Secondly, it makes us rejoice in what we have heard, and thirdly, that what we have heard is zealously sought to spread among our fellow-men. Your beauty imparts three things to the heart: first, it relieves the burden of sorrow of one who contemplates Your love and humility; secondly, it brings tears to the eyes of those who dwell on your poverty and your patience; thirdly, it imparts inner sweetness to the heart to one who sincerely reminds himself of the full goodness of your love.
Verily, O Lady, Thou art the most precious beauty, the most desirable beauty. For you have been given to the weak to help, to the sorrowful to comfort, and to all to mediate. Therefore all who have learned that you are to be born, and those who know that you have already been born, can cry out: “Come, thou brightly shining beauty, enlighten our darkness; come, Thou most precious beauty, and take away our shame from us; come, dearest beauty, and soothe our bitterness; come, most powerful beauty, and free us from prison; come, thou worshipest the most worthy beauty, and destroy our ugliness. Blessed and worthy of worship be Thy great beauty, which all the patriarchs have longed to see, of which all the prophets have sung, and which all the elect rejoice in!”

On one occasion St. Bridget witnessed the following conversation between the Lord Jesus and His Blessed Mother:
Mary said: “My Son! Since I have received mercy from You, I ask You for mercy and help for the destitute. There are four places. The first is Heaven, in which the angels and the souls of the saints have no need of anything but You, whom they possess, for in You they have
all good. The second place is hell, and its inhabitants are full of malice and excluded from all mercy. Therefore, nothing good can pass to them anymore. The third place is purgatory, and those who are in it need of a threefold mercy, because they suffer a threefold suffering. They experience sadness by hearing, because they hear only painful screams, cries, and misery. They suffer through sight, because they see nothing but their misery. They are tormented by feeling, for they are scorched in the midst of unbearable fire and heavy punishment.
Grant them, my Lord and my Son, your mercy for my requests.”
The Son of God answered: “I will gladly grant them a threefold mercy for you. First, their hearing will be relieved, and their sight will be softened. Their punishment will become easier to bear and weaker, and besides, those who are in the highest fiery torment in the present hour will pass into the middle, and those who are in the average will go to the lightest, and those who are in the lightest will go to eternal rest.”
The Blessed Mother said, “Honor and glory be to You, My Lord! The fourth place is the world; Its inhabitants need three things: first, repentance for their sins, second, reparation, and third, help to do good works.” The Son of God answered: “To everyone who calls on your name and puts his hopes in you, and at the same time has a determination to make amends for his errors, these three things will be given; and the
Kingdom of Heaven. For the sweetness of Your words is so great to Me that I cannot refuse what You ask of Me. All the more so because you want nothing but what I want. You are like a shining burning flame with the help of which extinguished lights are lit and those that have not wanted to be lit for a long time are burning. In the same way, through Your love, which entered My Heart and drew Me to You, those who have died in sin will be made alive again; and the indifferent, who are black as smoke, will be strengthened in My love.”

On one occasion Our Lady said to St. Bridget:

“I am the Mother of God, because it pleased Him so; I am also the Mother of all who dwell in Heaven. Though children receive what they need at will, yet their joy is increased when they see the kindly face of their mother. It is so pleasing to God to fill all in Heaven with joy and gaiety through the purity of My virginity and through the beauty of My virtues, although by the power of God they possess all good things in an incomprehensible way.
I am also the Mother of all who are in Purgatory, for all the punishments that are destined for those who are to be cleansed for their sins are remitted every hour by My prayer. It is so pleasing to God that some of the punishments which God’s justice deserved are diminished.
I am the Mother of all justice in the world. This justice was loved by my Son with the most perfect love. And the maternal hand of every age is ready to avert all dangers, in defense of the son of her dear heart. If anyone should attempt to hurt him, I am always ready to defend the righteous in the world and to shield them from every spiritual danger that threatens them.
I am also, in a certain sense, the Mother of all sinners who want to improve and have the will to sin against God no more. I am also ready to defend even a sinner, as that mother full of love when she sees her enemies attacking her son with sharp swords. Would not such a mother then bravely throw herself against these dangers, to snatch her son from the hands of his enemies, and to gladly keep him in her bosom? This is what I do, and I will do so to all sinners who ask for mercy from My Son with true sorrow and with the love of God.

On one occasion the Lord said to St. Mechtilda:

“Go first to the most pure Heart of My Virgin Mother and seek to wash in it, namely, by giving thanks to Her for her noblest fidelity, by which she has remained united to Me above all her works in all her works.” Do the same in every heart of all the other saints, by adoring their virtues and humbly imitating them as much as possible. Thus you will come to associate with them in eternal bliss.

On a certain Saturday, when the responsory was sung in the choir: “Hail, O incomparable Virgin!” it seemed to St. Mechtilde that the Blessed Virgin was standing before the altar, and the Archangel Gabriel was standing in front of her. Then she fell at the feet of the Most Pure Virgin and begged her to deign to obtain for her forgiveness a certain sin which she had committed, not out of malice, but in order to calm the mind of a certain person. The Blessed Virgin took her by the hand and said, “Promise my Son that you will never do this again!” The saint answered: “Obtain this for me, O most gentle Mother, with your Son!”
When the poem “Thou shalt be covered with gold within” was sung, the Heart of the Blessed Virgin was opened and two rays came out of it, filling both choirs. And St. Mechtilde received the instruction to greet the Heart of the Blessed Virgin in these seven things.
The saint also greeted the Heart of the Mother of God, first of all, in the most longing desire with which the Blessed Virgin, before all the patriarchs and prophets, desired the birth of the Lord Jesus. Secondly, in that most ardent and humble love by which she became the Mother of God. Thirdly, in the tenderest solicitude with which she so lovingly nourished the Child Jesus. Fourthly, in this contemplative preservation of the words of the Lord Jesus. Fifthly, in imitating the virtues of His Most Holy Son during His Passion and Death. Sixthly, in fervent prayer for the Holy Church. Seventhly, in that which he daily obtains from God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in heaven by sustaining our prayers.
When they sang: “Hail, most noble Queen”, the Blessed Virgin appeared to her again with a very delicate Child in her arms, who, wrapped in swaddling clothes, rested on her virginal breast. The Blessed Virgin stood before her as she sang, “He who nourishes all things.” And when the next responsory was sung, “Know to whom you give your arms”, the Blessed Virgin stretched out her hands and raised the Child above her head, as if to indicate that she wished to show this God-Man to everyone.

During the Holy Mass “Salve sancta parens” (Hail, Holy Mother) St. Mechtilde saw the Blessed Virgin with a crown on her head, whose garment of flowers was falling to the ground. Her red mantle was covered with gold and crowns, all of which bowed to the ground, and on each crown was written her name.
The crown of the Blessed Virgin on her head signified the closest union with God that she enjoys before all other creatures. The crown resting on her shoulders bore the inscription: “Mother of God and man.” The third crown covered her chest and was called “The Crown of Angels. The fourth crown bore the name: “The Joy of All Saints. The fifth was called, “The Consolation of All the Wretched.” Sixth: “The Refuge of All Sinners.” The bending of the crowns to the ground meant that, with all His gifts and graces that God bestows upon her, she was leans towards men.
Then Saint asked in detail for certain people who had been recommended to her. The Blessed Virgin answered: “If one who is intoxicated with earthly wine is more generous than a sober one, how much more generous am I, who constantly drink from the highest sweetness of the Divine Heart, gushing with the sweetest and purest wine of the most sublime Divinity!”

You are more pleasing to Me than all creation, O My Mother! You are like a chosen myrrh, whose fragrance rises to the Deity, and which this Deity has brought into your life. The same fragrance also drew your body and your soul into the Divinity, where you are now with soul and body. Blessed be you, for in your beauty the angels rejoice. By Your power will be saved all who call upon You with a sincere heart. All the devils tremble in Your light, and they do not dare to stand in Your light, for they always want to be in darkness.

The Blessed Virgin once said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“Among all the benefits which the Lord Jesus has bestowed upon His beloved Church, and which He still bestows upon her, it is certainly not the least that after His miraculous Ascension He left Me on earth to strengthen and govern her affairs by My presence. From that hour to all time, I consider the Holy Church to be My property. For the Most High has given him to me, and at the same time he has commanded me to take care of him as his Mother and Lady.

The Blessed Mother said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“My daughter, I will reveal to you the privilege which My Most Holy Son has bestowed upon Me at the hour of my glorious death. As I have already revealed to you, My Lord has left it to Me to choose whether I want to accept death or whether I want to pass without dying to the eternal vision of the Deity. So if I wanted to avoid death, the Most High would agree to it. For just as sin had no access to Me, neither could death, which is the penalty of sin, touch My body. [I chose death though] (Parenthesis in the editor’s note, for the sake of the meaning of the sentence.) for far more important reasons, such as would have been the case with My Son, if He had willingly suffered His Passion and Death to redeem people. And so I too freely chose death in order to imitate the example of my Son and to become like Him as I was like Him by taking part in His bitter Passion.
For this reason this free choice of Mine was so much pleasing to the Most High, that, as a reward for it, and for the benefit of the children of the Church, He immediately granted me an extraordinary privilege, which was perfectly in line with My wishes. It consists in the fact that all My devotees, who at the hour of death invoke My mediation and ask God that, for the sake of My blessed death and for My love, with which, according to the example of the Saviour, I have chosen death voluntarily, all those who die in this way stand under My special protection. I will defend them from the enemies of their souls, I will help and encourage them, and finally I will bring them before the throne of God’s mercy, and there I will sustain them with My powerful cause.

On one occasion Our Lady said to St. Bridget:
I am the Queen of Heaven! Love My Son, for He is most lovable, and when you have Him, you will have all honesty. He is also supremely desirable; and when you have Him, you will have all that is desirable. Love Him also because He is the most virtuous, and when you have Him, you will have all the virtues. I will also tell you how sweetly My most holy Son loved My body, how sweetly He loved My soul, and how much He honoured My Name. My Son loved Me sooner than I loved Him, because He is My Creator.
When My body was formed, the Lord God sent to it the soul He had created, and soon both My soul and My body were sanctified. Angels watched over them day and night. And when My soul was sanctified and assigned to My body, My parents felt such joy that it is impossible to express it. Then, when the course of my life ended, My most holy Son first exalted my soul, precisely because it was the mistress of my body, and magnificently to the divinity before the others. As a result, My body is as close to God as any other body of any creature.
See how much My Most Holy Son loved My soul and My body. There are those who, through the evil spirit, deny that I was taken up body and soul into Heaven; Some, however, do so because they do not know it well. It is the surest truth that I was assumed into the Deity with body and soul.
Now listen to how much My Son has honoured My Most Holy Name.
My name is Mary, as we read in the Gospel. When the angels hear this name, they rejoice in the depths of their souls. They also give thanks to God, who through Me and in Me has completed such graces that they themselves see the Humanity of My Son glorified in the Divinity. Those who are in purgatory rejoice exceedingly when they hear My name. Just as a sick man rejoices in bed when he hears a word of consolation from someone, which is pleasing to his heart, and he utters a cry of gladness. And the good angels, when they hear my name, immediately draw nearer to the righteous, to whom they are added as guardians, and from whose multiplication in good they find great comfort to themselves.
For good angels are given to all men as guardians, and evil angels come to men to test them. The guardian angels do not dwell with men as if they were separated from God, but rather they serve the soul in such a way that they do not abandon God, but are constantly present in His Presence, and at the same time encourage and stimulate the soul to do good.
All Satans, on the other hand, fear and shun My name. When they hear this name Mary, they immediately release the soul from their clutches in which they have held it. For, like a bird that has a beak and talons to seize its prey, when it hears a sound, it releases its prey, but seeing no dangerous consequences in its effects, it immediately returns to it; thus the devils leave My name, as if they were frightened of the soul, but they return like a swift arrow and pounce upon it, if there is no sincere improvement in it.
But no one, unless he is condemned, is so cold in the love of God that Satan should not immediately depart from him, and never return to him again when he calls upon that name for the purpose of repentance from his sinful way of life. Unless, of course, a man were to renew in his heart the will to commit mortal sin.

O sweet Mary! Blessed be an eternal blessing, for you are a virgin before the birth of your Divine Son, a virgin after his birth, a virgin with the Bridegroom, and even an undoubted Virgin when the Bridegroom ascended. Therefore you are blessed because you are the Mother and the Virgin, because you yourself are the most precious to God, because you are the purest before all the angels, because you are the strongest with the apostles in faith, because you yourself have suffered the hardest trials in the sufferings of your heart, because you shine brightest before your confessors in self-mortification, because you are the most wonderful before all virgins in modesty and purity. Therefore, may all that is on earth and in heaven bless you, for God, the Creator, became man through you. Through you righteous finds grace, the sinner forgiveness, the dead finds life, the exiler finds returning to his homeland.

From the apparitions of St. Bridget:
O Mary, Mother and Virgin of all virgins, you rightly bear the name of the Dawn that illuminated Christ, the true Sun. But do I call you the Dawn of the morning because of your royal origin, or because of your wealth and your glory? Not at all! But they rightly call you the Dawn of the Morning because of your humility, for the enlightenment of your faith, for your special vow of chastity. For you are the one who announced and brought forth the true sun, you are the joy of the righteous, the conqueror of Satan, the consolation of sinners. That is why I beg you to make me persevere in the love of your Son. Amen.

From the apparitions of St. Bridget:
O Mary, Queen of Heaven, whom God Himself has chosen for the union of humanity with the Divinity; You are that special Virgin and in a singular way the most worthy Mother. You are the most powerful from whom all power has come. Hear me, who beseech Thee, for I know that Thee is the most kind: in Thee I place all my trust!

St. Bridget once heard the Lord Jesus praise His Blessed Mother in rapture: 

Blessed are you, My Mother, for you are a Virgin and a Mother! You are the ark that contained three things: the rod of Moses, the manna, and the tablets of commandments. Three things happened to the staff: first, it was transformed into a serpent that was not venomous; secondly, through it the sea was parted; Thirdly, she brought the water out of the rock.
I am the rod that lay in Your life and took humanity from You.
I am first, like the serpent of Moses, terrible to My enemies. For they flee from Me as if at the sight of a serpent. They fear Me and hate Me like a serpent, even though I have no poison or anger in Me, and I am full of gentleness and mercy. I also allow myself to be grasped by them, if only they would like to draw near to Me. I want to return to them if they seek Me. I run after them, as a mother runs after her lost and re-found son when they cry out to Me. This I do for them, and yet they abhor Me like a serpent.
Secondly, the sea was divided by the rod of Moses. When, through My Blood and through My suffering, the way to Heaven, which was closed by sins, was opened again, then the sea was indeed parted. The wilderness became the way when the sorrow of all My members rose to the Heart, and the Heart was broken by violent suffering. When the people of Israel were led through the Red Sea, Moses did not immediately lead them into the Promised Land, but into the wilderness to be tried and instructed. In the same way, I do not immediately lead the people who have received My faith and My commandments into Heaven, for it is necessary that in the wilderness, that is, in the world, they should be tested to see how they love God.
Through the rod of Moses the rock also brought forth water. Such a rock is the hard heart of man. For when fear of Me and love for Me strike them, tears of sorrow and repentance immediately flow. No one is so unworthy or so wicked that, if he came to Me, if he contemplated My Passion, if he realized My power or My goodness, he should not be moved to such an extent that his face would not be flooded with tears, and his limbs would not feel the invitation to devotion.
Manna was also lying in the ark. Thus lay in you, my virgin Mother, the Bread of the Angels and the Bread of pious and holy souls on earth. They like nothing but My sweetness, to them the whole world is dead, and they would gladly, if it were My will, do without the food of the flesh.
There were also tablets of commandments in the ark. Thus dwelt in you, O my Mother, the Lord of all laws! Therefore, be blessed above all that is created in Heaven and on earth!

St. Bridget was once in awe of witnessing the following mutual adoration of Jesus and Mary:
Mary said: Hail, my Son! For you are holy, as the song goes, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Sabaoth!” Hail, for you are sweet, you are sweeter, and you are the sweetest! You were a saint before your incarnation, a saint in your mother’s womb, and a saint after you were born! And before the creation of the world, you were sweet, you were sweeter to the angels, but you were sweetest to Me at your incarnation! Blessed be you, My Son! My god! My Lord! I beseech Thee, because Thou hast been the sweetest to me, that others may also partake of My sweetness!
The Lord Jesus said: Hail, dearest Mother! Your words are sweet and full of love, and therefore they will help everyone who takes Your sweetness into his mouth and keeps it perfectly in them. And whoever accepts it, but throws it away again, will suffer a fuller punishment for bitterness!
The Blessed Virgin said: “Blessed be you, My Son, for all your love!”

It is composed of the words with which the Lord Jesus asked His Blessed Mother to forgive St. Gertrude for all the omissions she had committed in her service:
I offer you, O Blessed Mother, the Heart of your most beloved Son, filled with all happiness; may this sweetest Heart remind you of the love with which this Son of God freely and extraordinarily chose you centuries ago; may it remind you that He created you, sanctified you, and made you worthy of becoming His Mother.
Remember all the tender caresses He showed You when, in His first Childhood, You warmed Him in Your hands and nourished Him with Your breasts.
Remember the strict obedience which, out of love for You, He observed in His life to Heaven and earth. Remember how, at the hour of His Death, as if insensible to His own sufferings, He remembered only to console You and to give You another Son in His place. Finally, remember that on the day of Your glorious Assumption, Your Most Beloved Son raised You above the choirs of the angel and the saints and made You Queen of Heaven and Earth.
I offer you all these proofs of his love, as if he had shown them to you anew, in the intention of my request to spur you, Mother of mercy, to forgive me all the omissions I have committed towards you in your service. And I beg you to come to my aid at the hour of my death, and to accept my soul with maternal love into your most holy hands. Amen.

According to the apparitions of Venerable Mary of Jesus
In the company of the great Heaven Queen, the apostles were with the rest of the disciples and faithful, in a cheerful disposition, in the dining hall. They were waiting for the fulfillment of the Savior’s promise to send them the Holy Spirit, the comforter, who would teach them all things and remind them of all that they had heard in His teachings. They were all of the same mind, and so agreeable by love, that not even one of them had a single thought, not a single feeling, not a single act of the will to oppose the other. They were all in their thinking and in their deeds as if they were of one heart and one soul.
In the fullness of her wisdom and graces, Mary, Queen of Angels, first knew the time and hour which God’s will had appointed for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. When Pentecost was over, that is, fifty days after the Resurrection of our Saviour, the Blessed Virgin exhorted the apostles, disciples, and holy women, of whom there were 120 in all, early in the morning of the feast day, to pray and trust with all the greater fervour, because the Spirit of God would soon visit them.
While they were all thus united with the Queen of Heaven in common prayer, about three o’clock there was heard in the air a violent sound, like a terrible thunder, and a strong wind combined with great brightness.
Soon the light filled the dining room, and the fire of God spread over the entire congregation. A tongue of fire appeared over the head of each of the one hundred and twenty present, and at the same moment the Holy Ghost descended upon them. He filled each and every one of them with supernatural gifts, and at the same time produced very different effects in the dining-room and in Jerusalem as a whole, according to the different dispositions of the persons who took part in this mystery.

In the Blessed Virgin these consequences were of the divine kind, and were so high in the admiration of the angels and of the court of heaven that we mortals can neither comprehend nor express them. She received for herself more from the gifts and efficacy of the Holy Ghost than all the other saints combined, and her glory at that time surpassed the glory of both the angels and the blessed.
The Apostles were also filled with the Holy Spirit, for they had acquired a high degree of justifying grace. By virtue of the privilege which had come to them alone, they were at the same time so firmly established in grace that they could never lose it again. At the same time, each of them received in a corresponding degree the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, namely, wisdom, understanding, knowledge, godliness, counsel, power, and fear of God. By this great and wonderful benefit the apostles were so exalted and restored that they were now useful servants of the New Law, equipped to establish the Gospel Church throughout the world.
And in the other disciples and faithful who received the Holy Spirit in the dining hall, the Lord made comparatively the same gifts, only they were not as established in grace as the apostles. For they have received graces and gifts in greater and lesser measure, according to the preparation which each one has brought with him and the office which has fallen to him in the holy Church.
The signs that accompanied the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles shook all Jerusalem. All the inhabitants were astonished at this extraordinary event. And as the news of the phenomena which had taken place in the dining-room spread like wildfire, a great multitude of people rushed thither to inquire what had happened. The Jews were celebrating one of their important feasts on this day, and for this reason, and still more because of God’s special arrangement, Jerusalem was filled with strangers from all the nations of the world. For to all these God wished to reveal His miracles, and to show that the kingdom of the new law and the new grace had begun.
When the holy apostles, inflamed with love, saw that so many people were gathered before the door of the dining-room, they came out of the upper room and began to preach before the whole crowd the secrets of the holy faith and eternal life. Whereas they had been fearful before the descent of the Holy Spirit, they were now empowered by supernatural strength and courageous. The words went out of their mouths like rays of light and fire, so that they astonished their hearers. And since they also spoke foreign languages and were understood by all, even people of foreign nations, the admiration of the crowds was all the greater. Many of them, deeply moved by the words of the Apostles, asked St. Peter and the other Apostles what they must do in order to be saved. St. Peter answered, “Do penance, and let every one of you be baptized, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins; so you will receive the gifts of the Holy Ghost.”
As a result of that talk, about three thousand people accepted the faith of Jesus Christ that day.

The Blessed Virgin Mary said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:

“My daughter, the children of the Church have little understanding and little gratitude for the benefits which the Most High has bestowed upon them by sending them the Holy Spirit, having previously sent them His Son as Teacher and Redeemer. The love with which He loved them, and by which He wished to draw them to Himself, was so great that, in order to impart to them of His perfections, He first sent them a Son, who is wisdom; and then the Holy Spirit, who is His love. That according to the degree of their sensitivity, they may be enriched by these two perfections.
Although the Holy Spirit was sent on the first occasion only upon the apostles and upon the rest of the people who were gathered with them; but in this descent he has already given the assurance and guarantee that the same benefit will be granted to all the other children of the Church, as children of the Light and of the Gospel. And that all will receive the same grace if they prepare themselves sufficiently for it. To authenticate this truth, the Holy Ghost Himself descended upon many of the faithful in visible form, or in effects not perceptible to the senses. Because they were faithful servants, humble, honest and pure in heart, and thus they were sufficiently prepared to receive Him.

And now he ascends to many righteous souls, though not with such visible signs as then. For it is no longer necessary or appropriate. As for His actions and gifts, they are the same today as they were then. And each one will receive them according to his sensitivity and according to his perfection.
Happy is that soul that desires and sighs to receive this blessing and to partake of that divine fire which kindles and enlightens; and all earthly and carnal things he destroys and purifies the soul. It raises it to a new dignity by uniting it to God Himself and making it capable of sharing in His perfections.

On the evening before the Solemnity of Pentecost, when Saint Mechtilde humbly wished to prepare herself to receive the Holy Spirit, the Lord said to her: “The Holy Spirit accomplished three things in the apostles: first, by his coming, he inflamed them with the love of God and transformed them completely. So that they were once timid, weak, and self-loving, but now they became courageous and steady. They were not even afraid to die, but they considered it a joy and honor to be able to endure hardships for God’s sake.
Secondly, just as fire cleanses iron and makes it like Himself, so the Holy Spirit cleansed the apostles from all indolence of heart and sanctified them completely in Himself. Thirdly, just as the sun, melted in fire and poured into a mould, takes on the form of a sun, so the Holy Spirit immersed the apostles in his fire, immersed them in God, and established them according to the divine image. So that it seemed as if the words of the Psalm had been fulfilled in them: “I have said, You are gods. (18:6)” If, therefore, anyone desires the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, he should ask Him for these three things. That is, that the Holy Spirit, by His love, may strengthen him against evil and inflame him to good; that he may take away from him all fear of men, so that for the love of God he may joyfully and patiently endure every burden; and he should continue to ask that all his sins be forgiven by the Holy Spirit, and that through the fire of God’s love he may immerse himself wholly in God and merit to be happily united to Him.
And the Holy Spirit gave to the apostles a threefold drink, with which He filled them so excessively that the people, when they heard them speak, did not wrongly suspect them of being drunk.
First, he filled them abundantly with the wine of love, so that, like drunken men, they forgot themselves and no longer desired for themselves either honor or the comforts of the flesh, but sought only the glory of God.
Secondly, he filled them so excessively with the wine of divine consolation and divine sweetness that from that time on they enjoyed no earthly joy, or any other consolation at all.
Thirdly, because of their love of heavenly things, as if by a sweet drink, they lost their senses and became inflamed with an ineffable desire for God. And if anyone demanded it of them, they would be ready to run to Him through thousands of deaths.
In this way, the soul of man should desire to be filled with the wine of love by the Holy Spirit, to help it to forget itself, and to desire neither honor nor earthly advantages, but only the honor of God. She should also ask to be filled with such an inner sweetness of the Holy Spirit that she will never again be pleased with earthly joys or pleasures. She should also ask that her love for heavenly and spiritual things may be kindled by it, so that by striving with all her heart for the Lord, she may not even consider all suffering and death to herself.”

While singing the hymn “Come, Holy Spirit!” St. Mechtilde saw the Holy Spirit in the form of an eagle flying through the choir. And from His Sacred Heart came as many rays as there were people present, and each ray was served by a thousand angels. While the Congregation was approaching the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, the white dove also touched the heart of each of those present with its beak and kindled the flames of love in him. In some hearts, however, the flame was soon extinguished, while in others it grew louder and larger.
On another occasion the Lord Jesus appeared to her, and dressed in gold, that is, in love itself. Thus He kindly approached every one in the choir, and breathed the Holy Spirit from His sweet Heart into every one of them, like a gentle and pleasant breeze.

St. Bridget once heard the Holy Spirit say:

Like a mother, when she hears her son’s voice, she joyfully runs to meet him, and like a father, when she sees her son working, she goes to meet him halfway and relieves him of his burden; so I run to meet My friends, I make all their burdens light and make them carry them joyfully. And just as he who sees something pleasant does not rejoice if he cannot approach it, so I draw near only to those who desire Me.

The Lord Jesus once said to St. Bridget:

“The Holy Spirit kindles the one in whom he dwells with the love of God; it opens up to him a sense of understanding, destroys pride and intemperance in his heart, and moves his heart to worship God and despise the world.

Once upon a time the Lord Jesus said to St. Bridget, “
How can one know my spirit, when there are two spirits, one good and the other evil?” I will tell you: My spirit is warm and full of twofold goodness. First, it makes man desire nothing but God, and then it gives man the greatest humility and contempt of the world.
But the evil spirit is cold and hot. He is cold, for he makes all that is divine bitter. It is fervent because it subjects man to the lust tendencies of the flesh and the pride of the world, and it awakens in man the desire for his own glory. He comes gently, like a friend, but is a real biting dog. He also comes as a sweet comforter, but he is the worst traitor.
When he comes to you, tell him, “I don’t want you, because whoever unites with you will have a bad end.” And when a good spirit comes to you, say to him, “Come, O Lord, as fire and set my heart on fire; for though I am unworthy to have Thee, yet I need Thee to make me better through Thee, for without Thee I am nothing.”

Venerable Mary of Jesus writes in her apparitions about the gifts of the Holy Ghost as follows:

“The seven gifts of the Holy Ghost have this property, that they are, as it were, additions to the virtues to which they refer, and are therefore distinct from them. It is true that every benefit of God, even natural ones, can be called a gift of his hand. However, we are not speaking of gifts in this general sense, even if they are infused gifts and virtues. For not everyone who possesses one or more virtues receives the grace of the gifts in the same virtues. Not everyone attains to that degree of virtue in which they deserve to be called perfect gifts, as the holy teachers explain in the exposition of the words of the Prophet Isaiah.
For this prophet says that the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Christ our Redeemer, and enumerates seven graces, which we usually call the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. These are: “the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and godliness, and the spirit of the fear of God (Isa. 11.2.3).” These gifts were the influence of the Divine Being, personally united to the Divinity in the most holy Soul of Christ. Like the water in the spring from which it flows to be used by all. We all draw water from the Savior’s fountains (Isaiah 12:3), grace of graces, (John 1:16) gifts of gifts; in Him are hidden all the treasures of God’s wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3).
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are appropriate to the virtues to which they refer. Their purpose is to impart to the powers of the spirit a peculiar perfection, so that man may be able to perform the most perfect and heroic deeds and deeds in the field of the respective virtues. Hence they are called special gifts, and are more perfect and illustrious than the other gifts, by means of which man exercises himself in virtue in the ordinary way.
This perfection of the gifts must consist in a special and strong influence and movement by the Holy Spirit. These manifestations more effectually overcome obstacles, move the free will, and give it greater power, so that man exercises himself with greater perfection and greater power of action in the virtue to which the gift refers. Man’s free will is incapable of all this by itself, unless it is enlightened and strengthened by the special and powerful action of the Holy Spirit. And gently and sweetly pushed to follow that enlightenment. And that she should voluntarily perform that act which appears to be as if it had been accomplished in the will of man by the power of the Spirit of God (as the holy Apostle says in his Epistle to the Romans).
Hence this movement is called the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, because the will of man, though free and acting without compulsion, is nevertheless like an instrument of free will. For in such situations it is not governed by the rules of common reason (as the virtues do), although recognition and liberty are not impaired.
I’ll try to make it a little clearer by way of example. Two things act upon the powers of the mind to move the will to the performance of a virtuous act. The first of these is the force that resides in the will itself, or the inclination which carries it (the will) and moves it, like the heaviness of a stone or the lightness of fire. It causes both of these objects to move towards their midpoint. The faculties proper to the virtues . . . intensify this inclination dwelling in the will more or less (which they do in their own way, also vices). For by acting on love, they strengthen the will. Love, after all, is the force which freely directs the will.
The second thing which acts to stimulate the will is that of reason, namely, that it is the enlightenment of the virtues which it stimulates and directs the will of man. This enlightenment stands in relation to the faculty proper to the virtues and to the manifestations of the will. For ordinary activities, ordinary reason and reflection are sufficient. For the manifestations of the higher wills, it is useful, and even necessary, to have the higher enlightenment and prompting of the Holy Spirit. And this is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. And since love and grace are supernatural faculties and skill, and depend on the will of God, like a ray that proceeds from the sun; Therefore God also exercises a special influence on love. By this means they will stimulate it, and this will stimulate the other virtues proper to the dexterity of the will, and to a higher degree, if man acts in communion with the gifts of the Holy Ghost.
Thus under the gifts of the Holy Ghost are to be understood, for the sake of man, a special enlightenment in which he behaves quite passively, and the will receives a motive. And her skill in the performance of the virtues reaches a certain degree of perfection which, beyond ordinary force, excites the virtues to extraordinary and heroic acts. If we add momentum to the stone to its natural heaviness, it moves with greater ease. And so it is with man: if the perfection or impulse of the gifts of the Holy Ghost is added, the acts of virtue become more excellent and perfect.
The gift of wisdom imparts to the soul a certain flavor by which it distinguishes, without mistake, the things of God from those of men, and shows their corresponding value. As opposed to taste, which is the consequence of human ignorance and stupidity. This gift belongs to the virtue of charity.
The gift of reason gives light to the study and understanding of the things of God, in spite of the heaviness and laziness of our reason.
The gift of knowledge penetrates into the most secret things and makes men perfect masters; This gift is opposed to human incompetence and inadequacy. The last two gifts belong to the virtue of faith.
The gift of counsel leads the way to the true way and restrains man’s excessive impatience; This gift is contrary to unreason, and belongs to the virtue of the same name.
The gift of fortitude (power) relieves disordered fear and strengthens weakness. It belongs to the same virtue.
The gift of piety makes the heart gentle and meek, takes away its hardness and guards it from insensitivity. It belongs to the virtue of worship of God.
The gift of the fear of God humbles the soul in a charming way, as opposed to pride; It refers to the virtue of humility.

The Blessed Virgin Mary said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:
The most noble and illustrious gifts of the Holy Ghost are the stream through which the Divinity communicates and flows into the holy souls. They are not limited in themselves, they are only limited by the person who receives them. If only men would free their hearts from earthly inclinations and tastes, they would partake, though their hearts are small without measure, in the stream of infinite Divinity by means of these gifts of the Holy Spirit.
By exercising the virtues, the soul gradually restores the harmonious order of its powers, which was destroyed first by original sin, and then by man’s own sins of deed. The virtues give the soul beauty, strength, joy, and ease in doing good.
The gifts of the Holy Ghost, on the other hand, raise the virtues themselves to a high perfection, adornment, and beauty; by which they prepare, adorn, and beautify the soul. He becomes worthy to enter the chamber of the Bridegroom, where, by a bond of eternal peace, he is miraculously united with the Deity into the essence of one spirit.
From this very happy state the soul then proceeds faithfully and confidently to the exercise of heroic virtues; and with these she returns again to the One from whom she came, to God. Under his shadow (Song 2:3) she rests in peace without any disturbance, for she cannot be disturbed by the raging winds of passion and improper inclinations. But this happiness is attained by few, and it is only by experience that he who possesses it becomes acquainted with it.
Consider, then, my daughter, as diligently as possible, how you can attain the excellent fruits of these gifts.

Our Lady went on to say to Venerable Mary of Jesus:

Remember that there are only two ways to eternity. One leads to eternal death through contempt of virtue and ignorance of God. The second leads to eternal life through a fruitful knowledge of God. For this is eternal life, that we may know God, His only begotten, whom he sent into the world (John 17:3).
The way of death is walked by innumerable fools who, in their frightful unreasonableness, know nothing of their ignorance, of their self-esteem, and of their pride. And to those whom God in His mercy has called into His light (1 Pet. 2:9.) and regenerated as children of light, and gave regeneration a new life through faith, hope and love; whereby they became His children and heirs of the kingdom of God.
When they had thus become his children, the Lord gave them the virtues which he infused into their souls at their first justification (by Baptism), so that, as children of light, they might also do the works of light in a suitable way (Eph. 5:8.) And in addition to the virtues, He also provided for them the gifts of the Holy Ghost. And just as the sun does not withhold its warmth and light from anyone, so long as man is able and sensitive enough to receive the power of its rays, so the wisdom of God is still less hidden from anyone with His graces. Yes, he cries out in the highest, on public roads, and on the most hidden paths; at the gates and in the squares of the cities, He invites all to Himself (Proverbs 8:1–3). But foolishness makes men deaf, wicked malice makes them mockers, and the perversity of unbelief separates them from God, whose wisdom does not dwell in a wicked heart, nor in the flesh that serves sin (Wisdom 1:4).
Therefore, My daughter, do not go to death in the frenzy of life and do not bring destruction upon yourself by the works of your hands (Wisdom 1:11 and 12). This is done by the children of darkness, as you can see in the light of heaven. Fear Almighty God and the righteous Lord; with a holy, humble and orderly fear, and walk in all your deeds according to the example of this Master. Let your heart be soft, obedient, and teachable to do works of morality and godliness. Judge well what is virtue and what is vice.
Arm yourself with invincible power (fortitude) so that you may accomplish the most difficult and sublime things and endure the heaviest and most painful sufferings.
Behold the power of God’s light. With his help you will rise above all the senses, you will rise to the highest recognition of the mysteries of God’s wisdom, and you will learn to distinguish the new (righteous) man from the old (sinner). You will also be able to receive wisdom when you are once brought into the vineyard of your Bridegroom (Song 2:4) and become intoxicated with his love, and when his eternal love is put in order.

The Blessed Virgin Mary gave the following teaching to the Venerable Mary of Jesus about the Church of the Lord Jesus on earth:
In order to be the Head of the Holy Church on earth, and the Head of the elect for all eternity, My Most Holy Son, the Lord Jesus, descended from the womb of His Eternal Father and became My man in the womb. To find the children lost by Adam’s first sin, he clothed himself with mortal and bodily suffering. In order to leave an example of His innocent life to the people, and to impart to them His true, eternal salvation of His teaching, He lived and labored among them for thirty-three years. In order to redeem and obtain for them in an efficacious way infinite goods of grace and glory, which the faithful could never merit, He took upon Himself the bitter Passion, shed His Blood, and suffered a very painful and ignominious death on the Cross. In order that the Holy Church might finally rise from his dead body in a mysterious way, allowing it to be pierced with a spear.
And since the life, passion, and death of His Son were so pleasing to the Eternal Father, He instituted in His Church the Sacrifice of His Body and Blood, so that by it the memorial of His sacrifice on the cross might be renewed, and the faithful might have the means to mitigate the justice of God and to propitiate it. In addition, the Lord Jesus wanted to remain in the Church always in the Blessed Sacrament as food for His faithful; He also wanted them to always have a source of grace close by. Ultimately, the Lord Jesus wanted to be for them the last meal on the way to eternity and a guarantee of eternal life.
Further, the Lord Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to His Church to fill her with His graces and His wisdom. He also promised his Church that the Holy Ghost would rule and govern her at all times, in such a way that the holy Church could neither err nor doubt, nor ever fall into danger of any error.
The Lord Jesus enriched the Holy Church with all the merits of His life, His Passion and Death. These merits are distributed by the Saviour through the holy sacraments, of which He instituted as many as the faithful need them from their birth to death, in all the stages of their lives. To cleanse oneself from sins, to ensure constancy and perseverance in His grace, to defend oneself against evil enemies, to overcome the enemies of holy Church by defending them, and, finally, to overcome one’s own natural passions.
To administer all these Sacraments the Lord Jesus ordained and left to the Church separate servants.
Further, the Lord Jesus chooses for Himself in the Church militant at all times the holy souls to be His special trusted friends. He gives them His secret and hidden graces, and works through them, if necessary for His praise, signs and wonders. By their works the Lord God inclines in gentleness and hears their petitions for themselves and for others, so that the communion of saints may be maintained in the Church of Jesus.
Further, the Lord Jesus gave to His Church a source of light and truth, namely, the Holy Gospels and, in general, the entire Sacred Scripture written by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. In addition to this, the resolutions of the holy councils and the full certainty of the old tradition, that is, of Tradition.
In due time, the Lord Jesus raises up in His Church of the saints, filled with wisdom teachers; and he calls scholars to train other fit men, preachers and priests in excessive numbers. The Lord Jesus also enlightened the holy Church by means of miraculous saints, adorning her with various religious orders, in which the perfect apostolic life is preserved and exercised.
The Lord Jesus governs the Church through numerous ecclesiastical leaders and dignitaries. And in order that order and order might reign in all things, he instituted in the Church a visible head, who is the Roman Pontiff, the Pope. He is the vicar of Christ, and as the Head of the wonderful spiritual body of the Church, he has supreme teaching and executive power.
Ultimately, the Lord Jesus defends His Church and shields it from the powers of the world and hell until the end of the world.
My daughter, hold this Holy Church in high respect and esteem and love it with all your heart; rejoice in its treasures and enjoy the heavenly riches which the Church possesses with their Giver. Strive to keep this Church connected to you and you to it. For in him you will find refuge and consolation and remedies in sorrows and hardships, hope in your exile, light and truth for a safe pilgrimage in the darkness of the world.

St. John the Evangelist once said to St. Bridget:

“The Scripture which you call “holy” says that there is no work without recompense. It is a scripture which is also called the Bible in your country. With us, on the other hand, it shines like a shining sun, incomparably like gold, fertile like a seed that bears fruit a hundredfold. For as gold surpasses all other metals, so it surpasses the writing which you call sacred, all writings. For it teaches of the true God and proclaims his worship. It tells of the works of the patriarchs and explains the inspirations of the prophets.

The Blessed Mother gave the following teaching to the Venerable Mary of Jesus:

“My daughter, a true teacher of virtue must teach what he does and at the same time do what he teaches. Teaching and doing works are the two principal duties of the magisterium. Words should enliven, example should stimulate and validate the credibility of science, so that man may accept it and live according to it.
All this was observed by my Son, and according to His example, I am observing it as well. But since neither My Son nor I wished to remain forever in the world, the Lord Jesus decided to leave behind Him the holy Gospels, so that the children of light, by faith in the teachings of these Gospels and by observing them, might arrange their lives according to the life of their Divine Master. Hence the value of the sacred Gospels, and how they should be highly esteemed and venerated by men.
I declare to you that it gives My Divine Son and Me great glory and joy when His Divine words and the examples of His life find in men the respect and reverence due to them. On the other hand, the Lord Jesus considers it an offense if the children of the Holy Church forget His Gospel and His teaching. And yet there are so many children of the Church who neither understand nor heed this benefit, nor show gratitude, nor even think of it. As if they were pagans and did not possess the light of the Christian faith.

The Blessed Mother said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:
“The faithful should respect the councils of the holy Church and the ecclesiastical assemblies in general, with all their resolutions and ordinances. For the Holy Ghost is present in the councils of the church, and in the meetings and assemblies held in the name of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Himself participates, according to the promise. Therefore, every Catholic must obey their resolutions and resolutions. And although it is not possible to know so much from the visible signs of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Councils, yet He does not cease to direct them invisibly. Signs and wonders are no longer so much needed today as they were in the early days of the Church; and as long as they are necessary, the Lord God does not neglect to do them even today.

The Blessed Mother said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:
My daughter! The Holy Spirit, whose wisdom and foresight govern the holy Church, has ordained that the holy Church should celebrate so many different solemn days. And this is not only to renew the memorial of the mysteries of God and the works of redemption, and of the mysteries of my most holy life, as well as the lives of other saints; but also in order that men may be grateful to their Creator and Redeemer, and that they may not forget all those benefits for which they are never sufficiently able to give thanks.
Further, the feasts were instituted for the purpose that the people might devote themselves to pious exercises on these days, and that by outward recollection they might free their spirits from the distractions caused by worldly cares on other days. Further, that by exercising the virtues and receiving the holy sacraments, they may make up for the damage they have suffered to their souls through this distraction; to imitate the virtues and lives of the saints; that they may implore Me for a cause, and obtain for themselves, not only the forgiveness of sins, but in general all the graces and benefits which the mercy of God is ready to bestow upon them by these means.
This is the spirit of the holy Church, with which she, as a loving mother, desires to guide and nourish her children. And I, being the Mother of all, have tried to propitiate all these children of the holy Church and draw them to Myself, so that on this path they may arrive infallibly at eternal salvation. However, the evil one has always tried and continues to thwart My intentions and those of My Most Holy Son. And although it cannot nullify the ordinances of the holy Church, it does at least make the greater part of the faithful unprofitable, and even bring condemnation to many of them. Satan himself will one day stand before the Throne of Justice against them, because they not only do not celebrate these especially holy and solemn days in the spirit of the holy Church, and do not devote themselves to worship and good works in them, but they even commit grievous sins in them, as is usually the case with men who worship carnal and worldly passions. If the faithful of the holy Church in general forget and despise this truth, and insult the holy days and the service of God; if in them they are habitually indulgent in licentious amusements and debauchery, gluttony and drunkenness; if, at the very time when they should be striving to appease the wrath of the Most High, they challenge His justice more, and instead of conquering their unsuspecting enemies, they allow themselves to be conquered, thereby facilitating the triumphs of their malice; Such a course is undeniably very reprehensible by its worthiness of forgetfulness and wicked indifference.

Blessed Mother once said to St. Bridget:

“Baptism brings a man into the presence of God, and its spiritual efficacy is manifested in four ways. First, the baptized are freed from evil spirits, commit themselves to keep God’s commandments, and to serve God. Secondly, they are cleansed from original sin; third, they become children of God; and fourthly, Heaven opens to them.
But there are many who, when they come to the age of reason, put obstacles in the way of the efficacy of baptism and lead it astray. The way of baptism is then true, and a person observes it properly when he receives instruction and moral education before coming to reason; and when a man, having come to the years of discernment, earnestly meditates on what he promised at baptism; and when he preserves impeccably the faith and love of God.
The efficacy of baptism leads man away from the true way when he places the world and his body before God.
The efficacy of baptism has its principal source in the efficacy of the bitter passion and death of the Lord Jesus, by which baptism acquired its strength. For what is water but an element? But when the Blood of God was shed, the Word of God and the power of the Divine Blood were united to this element. And so the water of baptism through the word of God became the reconciliation of God with man, the gate of mercy, the expulsion of evil spirits, the way to Heaven, the forgiveness of sins. Therefore, whoever would boast of the power of baptism should first dwell on the bitterness of the institution of baptismal efficacy. When a man’s heart is filled with pride against God, he should remember how bitterly he has been redeemed, and how often he has transgressed his baptismal vows, and what he has deserved for his frequent failures. But in order that a man may be made worthy to take part in the efficacy of baptism, he must devote himself in prayer to a twofold meditation.

First, he should pray like this:

Prayer

O Lord, Almighty God! Be blessed, for Thou hast created me and redeemed me, and while I was worthy of condemnation, Thou hast suffered me in my sins and led me to repentance. I acknowledge, O Lord, before Your Majesty, that I have squandered all the good things which You have given me for salvation in a useless and condemnable. That is to say, I have spent the time of my penance in the indulgence of vanity, my body in the enjoyment of luxuries, and the grace of Baptism in the indulgence of pride. And I have loved all things more than Thee, my Creator, my Redeemer, my provider, and the one who sustains me. And therefore I ask you for your mercy, for I am wretched before myself, because I have not known justice to myself. I did not fear Your terrible justice. I did not care how I should repay you for your innumerable benefits, but I provoked you day by day by my malice to anger. That is why I have only one word left for me: O God, have mercy on me, according to Your great mercy!

In addition, he should pray as follows:

Prayer

O God, Almighty God, I know that I have everything from You, that I have nothing of myself, that I can do nothing but what I have done after my sin. Therefore I humbly beseech Your love to deign to deal with me, not according to my sins, but according to Your great mercy. Send me also Your Holy Spirit to enlighten my heart and strengthen me in the way of Your commandments, so that I may be able to persevere in what I have recognized by Your inspiration, and that no temptation may separate me from You. Amen.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit which a person receives in Baptism are as follows: Baptism, whether performed by a good or a bad servant, forgives original sin, increases grace, and cleanses from all other sins. Through Holy Baptism man receives: the Holy Spirit as a pledge, the Angels as guardians, and Heaven as an inheritance.

CHAPTER VI
How Man Should Prepare to Receive the Holy Ghost

St. Gertrude learned from revelation that whoever wants to receive the Holy Spirit must recognize how much God loves us, that from eternity He has predestined us to be His children and servants; and that every day, in spite of our ingratitude, he bestows innumerable blessings upon us. In the same way, he should consider all that the Lord Jesus did for our salvation during His thirty-three years on earth. And the fire of His love should be kindled by the fire of that love which the Lord Jesus had when He said to the Apostles, “As the Father has sent me, I also send you to do the will of God in all things.” She also knew that whoever did so would undoubtedly receive the Holy Spirit just as the disciples of the Lord Jesus received Him through His breath.

Two symptoms of the approach of the Holy Spirit

On one occasion the Blessed Mother said to St. Bridget:
“Just as the approach of the sun is accompanied by two things, namely, light and heat, both of which do not take place in a dark shadow, so in like manner with the coming of the Holy Ghost two graces enter the heart of man: the fire of God’s love and full enlightenment in the things of the Catholic faith.

The work of God’s spirit as opposed to the work of the evil spirit

On one occasion the Blessed Mother said to St. Bridget:

“The Spirit of God presents the world to man as a lesser thing, whose charms have no meaning for the heart. Secondly, it makes the God of the soul pleasing and cools all the joys of the body. Third, it gives us patience and makes us boast that we have God. Fourthly, it moves the heart to love one’s neighbour and even to mercy towards one’s enemies. Fifthly, it inflames the heart to purity in all things, even in those permitted. Sixth, it produces trust in God in all sorrows and the strength to rejoice in them. Seventh, it grants the desire for death in order to be united to Christ rather than to enjoy happiness in the world and to have the stain of sin upon it.

The evil spirit, on the other hand, produces seven other things, namely, first, that it presents the world in a charming light, and that it abhors heavenly things. Secondly, it makes man thirst for glory and forget his destiny. Third, it evokes hatred and impatience in the heart. Fourth, it makes man bold before God and recalcitrant in his resolutions. Fifthly, it presents sins as light things and acquits them. Sixthly, it gives man recklessness of spirit and all impurity of the body. Seventhly, it inspires the hope of a long life and an aversion to confession.

The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit

The Blessed Mother gave the Venerable Mary of Jesus the following teaching concerning the gifts of the Holy Spirit:

“The first gift of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, imparts understanding and taste for the things of God, awakens in us a heartfelt love for them. It makes us seek and desire in everything that is the best, the most perfect and the most pleasing to God. With this gift man should cooperate in such a way as to give himself unreservedly to the Divine Pleasure and to despise everything that interferes with it, however attractive and desirable it may be to him.
The second gift, reason, helps to this cooperation; which gives a special light to the penetration of matters subject to reason. With this gift man should cooperate by detaching himself and keeping away his attention and thoughts from all useless and harmful ideas. Satan suggests it to him, either by himself or by means of other creatures; to the distraction of his reason, and to the refraining from dealing with the truths of divine things and from studying them. Such vain ideas are a great obstacle, and the two ways of dealing with them are incompatible. Besides, man’s power of comprehension is limited, and when it is divided into and occupied with many objects; Hence he understands each of them less precisely than when he devotes himself to a single object. In this respect, the statement of the Scriptures that no one can serve two masters is true.
When the soul has turned to the recognition of the good and entered into it, then it needs power, which is the third gift. It helps to carry out with firm determination all that reason has recognized as holy, perfect, and pleasing to God. The gift of power overcomes the obstacles which hinder this accomplishment, in such a way that the soul undertakes all the forces of intensity and the heaviest hardships, rather than allow itself to be deprived of the true and supreme Good which it has come to know and love.
But since it often happens that man, through his natural ignorance, through his doubts and temptations, does not accept the conclusions which he ought to draw from the divine truths which he has recognized; consequently he cannot make a firm determination to carry out the good he recognizes, or to use the means necessary for it. That’s when the fourth gift comes to his aid: skill. This gift gives man the light he needs to distinguish one good from another; It also teaches us to peel what is better and more reliable.
With this gift comes piety. This gift moves the soul with gentle power to incline to all that pertains to the service of God and to pleasing God. It urges spiritual effort for the good of one’s fellowmen, and this in such a way that man does it not merely because of some natural inclination to do so, but because of a holy, perfect, and virtuous desire.
And in order that the soul may act and behave wisely in all things, it receives the sixth gift, that of counsel. He stimulates the intellect in such a way that, for his own sake and for the sake of others, he reflects on everything and receives the appropriate means for the attainment of good and holy ends.
The last gift is the fear of God, which preserves and strengthens all these gifts. This gift causes the heart to flee from everything and to put away from itself everything that is imperfect, presumptuous, and incompatible with virtue. Hence this gift of the soul serves as a a kind of defensive fortress. But it is necessary to understand well the object and measure of this holy fear, so as not to go too far in it, and not to fear where there is no need to fear anything. It sometimes happens that Satan tries to create in the soul an improper fear in place of holy fear, even of the gifts received from God.
It is true that the wisdom of the fear of God is the fruit of the special action of the gifts of God and of the soul of man, but God gives it to the soul in connection with sweetness and peace, and this is precisely for the purpose of recognizing and appreciating these His gifts. For everything that proceeds from the hands of the Most High is great and precious. True and holy fear does not hinder the soul from knowing and recognizing the gifts and benefits obtained from God; on the contrary, it impels the soul to give thanks for these gifts with all its might, and to humble itself as much as possible. The childlike fear of God is man’s guiding star, guiding him safely and securely on his pilgrimage through the earthly valley of tears.

Prayer to the Holy Spirit with thanksgiving for the graces received from Him

The words of St. Gertrude

Holy Spirit, Divine Paraclete, I give thanks to you through the merits of Him who through you became man in the womb of the Virgin. Namely, because You have bestowed upon me, unworthy, all Your sweet and undeserved blessings. And I am convinced that you have done me so much good for no other reason than the ineffable love in which they reside, from which they come, and from which all kinds of benefits come to us. Amen.

See PART III, CHAPTER X, The Institution of the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.

Once the Lord Jesus said to St. Bridget:

“I am the sacramental bread. In this Bread we can see three things: shape, taste and roundness. And I have like that Bread: taste, shape and roundness. Taste, for just as without bread every dish is less palatable, so it is without me; Everything that exists is unpalatable, powerless, and vain. It is also in the shape of Bread, for I am of the earth. For I am of a virgin Mother, and My Mother is of Adam, and Adam was of the earth. I also have a roundness in which neither beginning nor end can be found; for I am without beginning and without end. No one can see or examine the end or the beginning in My wisdom, power, and love. For these three things, namely, in taste, shape and roundness, I am the Bread which on the altar presents Itself and tastes as bread, but has been transformed into My Body which has been crucified. For like a dry object it is easily caught on fire when it is brought near to the fire, and is quickly burned, and of the shape of the tree nothing remains, but everything is fire; in the same way, when the words “This is My Body” are pronounced, whatever was previously bread immediately becomes My Body. But it is not consumed by fire, like a tree, but by My divinity.

On one occasion the Lord Jesus said to St. Bridget:
Just as three good things were revealed to me by the presumptuousness of Judas, so through the offering of the Blessed Sacrament (even through the hands of an unworthy priest) three graces enter into the souls of men.
First, I am commended for my patience that, although I knew Judas was a traitor, I did not push him away from Me. Secondly, when the traitor stood with his henchmen, they all fell to the ground at My word, and My power was revealed. Thirdly, I exchanged all the malice of Judas and Satan for the salvation of souls, whereby the wisdom and love of God were revealed. In the same way, the priestly sacrifice implies a threefold good. First, the whole heavenly army praises My patience, that I am always the same in the hand of a priest, good or bad. For I have no respect for persons, nor is it human merits that complete this sacrament, but My words. Secondly, because this offering benefits all, even though it is performed by any priest. Thirdly, that it also benefits the givers themselves, even if they are wholly evil. For as after one word that I have spoken, namely, >>I am!” My enemies have fallen to the ground in the flesh; and in this way, after pronouncing My word, “This is My Body,” the evil spirits flee, and cease to tempt the souls of the sacrificers. Nor would they dare to return to them so boldly afterwards, if there had not been a renewed desire to sin in their souls.

When, one day, after receiving Holy Communion, St. Gertrude was engaged in pious meditation, the Lord appeared to her in the form of a pelican, as it is usually depicted in paintings, that is, piercing its heart with its beak. As a result, she asked Him, surprised,
“What wilt thou know, O Lord, by this?” To this the Lord answered,
“That you may reflect on how violent love moves Me to give away this sublime gift. For I would cry out, if I could say so, rather die than deny this gift to souls who love Me.
In addition to this, you should also consider how well your soul is reborn to eternal life by accepting this gift; like a young pelican it feeds and lives on the blood of its father’s heart.”

On one occasion, St. Gertrude, after listening to a long sermon on the justice of God, noticed that she was afraid to approach the Lord’s Table. Then she was encouraged by God’s justice in these words:
“If you neglect your inner eyes, turn your inner eyes to my goodness, which I show you in so many ways; then at least look at Me with the eyes of your body. And look at the little vessel in which I am coming to meet you. And know that such severity of My justice is entirely surrounded by the gentleness of My mercy, which I deign to show to the human race in the administration of this Sacrament.”
In like manner, God’s goodness moved her the next day at the same hour to taste the sweetness of His love with these words:
“Look at the little form of bread in which I give you My whole divinity and humanity. Compare this greatness to the size of a man’s body, and judge what your appreciation of My goodness should be. Just as the human body is far more than My Body, i.e., it surpasses the greatness of this form of bread, so in this Sacrament My love and My mercy compels Me to allow the loving soul to overcome and surpass Me as it were, just as the human body far surpasses My body in greatness.”

When the monastic congregation was receiving Holy Communion on the feast of Corpus Christi, Saint Mechtilde saw the Lord standing as a King full of majesty, in the place of the priest. Each of the nuns walked before Him and held a burning lamp before Him, which illuminated her face with its light. She then understood through the Holy Spirit that these lamps mean the hearts of those who receive Holy Communion, and the oil in the lamps is the goodness of the Heart of God that flows into the hearts of those who receive this Angelic Bread. The flame means the fire of love. For the Most Holy Sacrament gives all those who receive Him worthily the strength to do all good things and ignites them in God’s love.

On one occasion the Lord said to St. Bridget:

“Believe me, my daughter, that I, Christ, am the One who restores life, and not a traitor; I am the real and the truth itself, not a liar; I am the eternal power, without which nothing has been and nothing will be. For if you believe that I am in the hands of the priest in the transfigured Host, then I am in it, even if the priest doubts. For the faith of the faithful and present, and for the sake of the word which I Myself have personally instituted and spoken, I am truly in His hand.
And everyone who accepts Me accepts My Divinity and My Humanity and the form of bread. For what is God but life and sweetness enlightening light, cheerful goodness, judging justice, and saving mercy? What else is My Humanity if not the union between God and man, the Head of all Christians? In this way, anyone who believes in God and accepts My Body accepts My Divinity, for he takes life; it also assumes Humanity, by means of which God is united to man; He also takes the form of bread, because he takes the form of Him who is hidden under this form for the increase of faith.
In the same way, the wicked man receives the same Deity, but not a gentle one, but a punishing one. He also accepts Humanity, but it is less kind to Him. He also takes the form of bread, for under the visible form he assumes the hidden Majesty; However, he does not feel the sweetness of this sweetness. For when he approaches me with his mouth and teeth, after the sacrament has been consummated, I depart with the Divinity and Humanity, and only the form of bread remains. Not as if I were not to be truly present there with the wicked, as with the good, because of the institution of the sacrament, but because the good and the bad have different efficacies.
Ultimately, man in the sacrament accepts life, namely, God himself. And life comes into it. but it does not remain with the wicked, because they do not forsake evil, and therefore only the form of bread remains to their senses.

The Lord Jesus instructed St. Mechtilde that if the person for whom the saint was praying wished to make sufficient reparation for all his past imperfect or neglected deeds, he should receive Holy Communion frequently. For the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar encloses all goods and is the content of all graces.

The Lord God revealed to St. Gertrude the following:
“All good things, whatever are in man, the Sacrament which unites with God elevates and ennobles. At the hour of death, after receiving the same Living Bread, all deeds which were done with a pure intention, such as patiently enduring sufferings, eating, drinking, etc., give occasion for greater merits, inasmuch as they are united to the Body of Jesus Christ, as it were, infinitely multiply.”

On one occasion the Lord said to St. Gertrude:
“Those who worthily receive Holy Communion will be adorned with great glory, and the reward for this is varied. There is one reward for those who approach My Table with love and zeal; another for those who come to Me with reverence and trembling; and yet another awaits those who prepare for Holy Communion with a few holy exercises. And those who circumvent this terrible mystery only out of custom will have no part in My bounty.”

On one occasion the Lord said to St. Gertrude:
“Your Catholic faith teaches you that I give Myself, together with all the enclosed riches in the treasury of My Divinity and Humanity, for salvation, for the redemption of him who receives Holy Communion worthily. And the more often a man receives Holy Communion, the greater and more perfect will be the fullness of his happiness.”

On one occasion the Lord Jesus made this promise to St. Gertrude:
“By receiving the Blessed Sacrament I will draw you to Me in such a way that You will draw all after You, to whom will come the fragrance of your desire, which is truly inestimable within you.”
When, by virtue of this promise, after receiving the Blessed Sacrament, she demanded of the Lord that He should give her as many souls from Purgatory as the parts of the Most Holy Host had been divided into after its consumption, the Lord said:
“That you may know that My mercy is above all My works, then behold: I am here, that you may obtain much more through the value of this life-giving Sacrament. than what she asked for.”

The Lord Jesus revealed to St. Gertrude that whenever anyone listens to Mass devoutly, he will turn his attention entirely to God, who offers Himself in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar for the salvation of the world; God the Father looks upon him with the same delight with which he looks upon the Holy Sacrifice itself.
Then St. Gertrude asked: “O Lord, will anyone lose this happiness who falls into grave sin, just as he who returns from the sunlight and loses the lovely splendor of that light?” And the Lord said, “No. For although the sinner himself in a way obscures the light of My divine reconciliation, yet My goodness always keeps alive in him the sign and trace of this happiness unto eternal life. He is multiplied so often as he tries to listen to Mass devoutly and to receive the Holy Sacraments in the same way.”

Once upon a time the Lord Jesus said to St. Mechtilde:
Whoever listens to Holy Mass devoutly and attentively can be sure that in his last hour I will send him as many of My saints as he has heard Holy Masses on earth to console and defend him, so that his soul may be brought to Me with reverence.

Once upon a time the Lord Jesus said to St. Mechtilde:
Now they are singing “Agnus Dei” (Lamb of God) three times. At the first, I offer myself for you to God the Father with all my humility and patience. On the other, I offer myself with all the bitterness of my Passion for complete reconciliation. On the third, I offer myself with all the love of my Divine Heart, to complete all that man lacks.

Once upon a time the Lord Jesus said to St. Mechtilde:
It is good for a person to be present at Mass in the church. If, for example, he cannot do this because of a great crowd, let him at least come so close that he can hear the words spoken by the priest at Mass. For St. Paul says, “The Word of God is alive, efficacious, and penetrating.”
The Word of God enlivens the soul and instills spiritual joys into it, as we see in all those who, although they do not always understand what the priest is reading in the Mass, nevertheless experience joy in spirit and an invitation to repentance. The Word of God also strengthens the soul to virtue and to all good things, and it penetrates and enlightens the interior.
If a man has an obstacle, whether through sickness or obedience or any other just cause, and cannot be present and hear the Word of God in the church, then wherever he is, I am present with him and I am with him.

Once, during Mass, St. Mechtilde saw Jesus, the King of Splendor, sitting on a throne. This throne was transparent, clear as crystal. On its front side there were two streams, clear and delightful. In them she came to know the holy image of the grace of the forgiveness of sins and the grace of spiritual consolation. It is easy for everyone to receive them at Mass, through the presence of God in it.
During the offering of the Blessed Host, the Lord Jesus rose from his chair and the saint saw how with His own hands He lifted His Sacred Heart in the form of a transparent lamp, full to the point of overflowing. The lamp tilted in all directions so suddenly that great drops fell from it, and yet its fullness did not diminish. By this she knew that although from the fullness of the Heart of Jesus all receive a sufficient multitude of graces, as much as each one can receive, yet the Lord Jesus always remains completely rich in all happiness, and never suffers any loss. She also saw the hearts of all those present, also in the form of lamps, as if with strings attached to the Heart of God. Between them stood some straight, full of oil, and burning, while others hung downwards, as if detached and overturned. The saint recognized that these burning and upright lamps signified the hearts of those who had listened to the Mass with devotion and zeal, and the overturned lamps signified the hearts of those who had neglected to be raised by devotion.

On one occasion St. Mechtilde saw a golden ladder after the Gospel during Mass. Its top touched Heaven, and the Queen of glory descended upon it, carrying in her arms the lovely Child whom she seated on the altar. Her robe was of the brightest silver, and adorned with golden roses wonderfully woven in it. The child wore a green dress, with red showing through. And when the priest lifted up the Host, the Child also rose in his hand. And through Them all the things that were to happen through the Host happened at Mass.

The words of St. Mechtilde:
Blessed be you, beloved Lord Jesus Christ, God, Son of the eternal God. I believe and confess that you are indeed present here in the Blessed Sacrament as true God and Man. With this conviction I pay homage to you as my God and Lord, as my Creator and Redeemer, and above all as the Beloved and the Most Worthy of all worship. Now and forever and ever. Amen.

The Lord Jesus once said to St. Bridget:
I am the Creator of all things. It is as if I had two cards in front of me. On one is written mercy, on the other justice. Whoever is moved to repentance by his sins, and who resolves not to commit them again, mercy speaks to him, and through it the Holy Spirit speaks to him to do good works. Whoever would gladly turn away from the vanity of the world will be made even more zealous by the Holy Spirit. Whoever is willing to die for me, even if he is ready to die for me, his Spirit will burn so strongly that he will be completely in me, and I in him.
On the second card is written righteousness, which says: “Whoever does not correct himself while he has time, and willfully turns away from God, will not be defended by the Father, will not be gracious to him, neither will the Holy Ghost inflame him.”
So, as long as time is on your side, consider the card of justice diligently. For everyone who is saved must be cleansed either by water or by fire; that is, either by slight penitential nuisances to man in this life, or by fire in the life to come; until it is completely cleansed.

The Lord Jesus revealed to St. Gertrude what a great sweetness his Divine Heart possesses when a man full of sorrow contemplates how often and in many numbers he has distanced himself from God; and when afterwards he makes a firm resolution to reform, he will not fall into sin again. At the same time, the saint knew that those who made this firm determination would infallibly become a tabernacle and a temple of God.

St. Mechtilde describes in her apparitions the following:

“The tears of true contrition are so holy that even a great sinner, if he sheds even a few of them only for his sins, and then remains in constant correction, will never come to hell. If, on the other hand, a good man has only small venial sins, which he has not gotten rid of all his life; And if he dies in such a state without confession or penance, even if he be a saint, he must go to purgatory. For although God is very merciful, yet He is also very just, and hates sin.

On one occasion the Lord Jesus revealed to St. Gertrude that he who, through a quick repentance for all his sins committed by deed or omission of good, with a sincere heart returns to obedience to the commandments of God, is truly sanctified, and feels as quickly healed as the leper to whom the Lord Jesus said, “I want you to be cleansed.” 8, 3)!”

On one occasion, when St. Gertrude felt a great deal of regret that she had become impatient the day before, owing to the slight tardiness of her servant; The Lord Jesus made her know that all the thoughts with which a man in sorrow and repentance dwell on his faults make him more capable and worthy to receive the grace of God. But before that, he should do true repentance, as the Scriptures say in God’s words: “That hour the sinner of sorrow shall turn to me, I will remember his sins no more.”

St. Gertrude once said to the Lord,
“Teach me, most loving of all teachers, how I can cleanse myself from the stains of sins I have committed.” And the Lord said to her, “Do not let them sprout in your soul for long, but say, as soon as you see them, from the depths of your heart, ‘My God, have mercy on me’ (Psalm 50).” Or: “Lord Jesus, my only hope, grant me the grace to blot out all my sins through the merits of your saving death!”

On one occasion, when St. Gertrude accused herself before the Lord of the variety and the great number of her sins, and as if in a kind of despair she said: “Look upon me, O merciful Lord, and put an end to my wickedness, which I do without measure,” the Lord said to her: “Why do you speak of your sins so desperately, when, as the Scriptures say, “love covers the multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8)?”

Once upon a time the Lord Jesus said to St. Bridget:
Confession is of great benefit to man, whose soul was created by My Divinity and lives forever. Through sincere confession the soul draws nearer and nearer to God. The more often and with care a man confesses his greatest and most minor sins, the more his soul is pleasing to God; so much so that, in the end, confession brings it into the Heart of God. Confession is also useful to the soul of man because of good works which have died because of sins. For good works, deprived of life by mortal sin, are dead in the sight of God. God cannot be pleased with anything that a sinful man does; if he has not previously corrected the error, either by a perfect will or by a penitential act. If, however, a man has deprived his good works by committing a mortal sin, but then makes a good confession, in which he confesses what he has done, and at the same time has the will to correct himself and to avoid sin; It’s soon through confession. and through the virtue of humility these good works will revive in him and help him to salvation. If a man dies in mortal sin without going to confession, his good works, which do not die with him or cannot be destroyed with him, cannot merit his salvation, but they help him to the extent that he will be punished more leniently. And at the same time, they will help others to salvation if they are done with good intentions and to the glory of God. If, on the other hand, a man has done them for the honour of the world and for his own benefit, such works will be of no use to him after death, because he has already received the reward for them during his life from the world for which he performed them.

The Lord Jesus gave St. Bridget the following teaching on confession:

“Confession should be pure, that is, the sinner should diligently examine his conscience in terms of how, how many times, where and for what reason he has sinned. Nor should he be ashamed of anything, nor should he hide anything, nor should he say anything in confession except as he has sinned. Confession should be accompanied by the will not to sin and the will to correct the wrong that man has committed.
An effective remedy for confession is contrition. Whereas man formerly delighted in sin, he now feels sorrow and groans because he has provoked God’s wrath by his sins. Repentance should be accompanied by the contemplation of God’s mercy, which is so unlimited that there is no sinner so great that he should not be forgiven if he asks for it with the determination to amend.
Therefore, the sinner should remember in confession that God is merciful above all things. But trusting that he will be forgiven of his sins and cleansed from them, he should be careful lest he fall into the mercy of God through an audacious hope. Hence it is the duty of the sinner to arouse the fear of God by fearing that God might take away his grace from him and send his wrath upon him for his presumption.
But in order that he may not go too far in this fear, let him at the same time consider that, although I am so just that I will not pass anything without punishment and without judgment, yet I am so merciful and gracious that I demand nothing more than nature (man) can bear well; and for the sake of his good will I forgive him the heaviest punishment, and for a slight penance a great sin.

On one occasion St. Mechtilde saw the Lord Jesus seated at the right hand of the Divine Majesty and purifying sinners. Since the nuns, with a broken heart and a repentant spirit, went to confession, the Lord Jesus embraced each one of them with His right hand. He took away all her sins within himself, and as perfectly as if they had never been committed; and thus purified he presented them to his heavenly Father, who looked upon them with grace and said to each one of them, “The right hand of my righteous man has seized upon thee, that thou mayest be fully reconciled.”

In the apparitions of St. Mechtilde we read:

“If anyone who willingly goes to confession is afraid that he has not confessed well, and yet finds nothing in his conscience that he has not confessed, let him make a confession of glory to God out of fear of his Lord God. And if he finds that he has neglected anything, let him confess it before God. Thus he will glorify the Godhead, while he will find himself guilty: for not showing the Lord the honor he deserves; that he has defiled the image of God in his own person by burdening his memory with useless earthly things; that his intellect was inclined by curiosity to earthly wisdom; and that he sought amusement in things that were transient and worthless.
And while praising the eyes of God’s brightness, let him accuse himself of directing the doctrine of God and the discernment of his senses to earthliness. In the same way, when he praises the ears of his mercy, let him confess his fault that he has never given his attention to the Word of God as he ought to have. That he did not incline his ear to the petitions of his neighbor. And with his mouth he often sinned by complaining, by vain and useless conversation. And by shutting his mouth when he was about to speak words and teachings to the glory of God; when he was about to pray or sing devoutly.
Let him also consider that he often threw off the yoke which he took upon himself at Baptism out of impatience when he did not want to endure it, or that he was reluctant to endure the adversities that befell him. And when he considers how inhumanly Jesus was scourged, let him acknowledge his fault in it, for he did not discipline his body, but often consented to its laziness, and fed it abundantly. He was also guilty of his heart, for he did not love God with all his soul, and he did not occupy himself with the contemplation of God’s law, but with useless worldly thoughts. He also sinned with his hands, by committing evil deeds and neglecting good works, namely, ordinary works of mercy and charity. Also his spiritual feet, that is, the movement of his heart and his will, he led to evil, because he turned them away from God, and did not yearn with all his heart for Him and for heavenly things.

On one occasion, during the ceremony of blessing water on the Saturday of the feast day (I.e., Holy Saturday. Editor’s note.) St. Mechtilde saw the Lord Jesus walking in all his splendor to the spring of baptismal water, as if in procession. On his right hand walked John the Evangelist, on his left St. Bartholomew, a veneration which both of these saints had earned by the special purity of heart and body which they had displayed while living on earth. And St. Peter and St. James the younger preceded the Lord Jesus to the source for their separate episcopal dignity (St. Peter was Bishop of Rome, St. James the Younger of Jerusalem), which they had before the other Apostles. She also saw the Blessed Virgin Mary on the right side of her Son in a golden robe. From the Heart of God she saw a spring of the purest water gushing forth.
The saint went to the Mother of God and asked Her to obtain the grace to cleanse herself from all her sins in this source. Then the Blessed Virgin graciously took her in her hands and bent her towards the Divine Heart, so that St. Mechtilde could kiss her five times.
At the first kiss, she received the grace to cleanse herself of all stains. In the second she was given true peace, and in the third she received a special sweetness as her dearest friend. In the fourth, she was raptured in the Heart of God, she saw and knew all the elect and all creatures.
Then the Lord said to her, “What else do you want and what can you still desire? Behold, all the good things that Heaven rejoices to possess and the heavens of heaven rejoice in are yours. Now distribute this good to all the saints according to your good pleasure.” – The saint immediately embraced the Lord in inexpressible joy, and then shared it first with the Blessed Virgin and then with all the saints.
In the fifth kiss it seemed to her that she was sitting with the Lord at a richly set table and taking part in the heavenly banquet with Him.
The Lord said to the saint: “In this fivefold way you should kiss My Heart every day – as you can see in a mother who has a daughter whom she loves very much. First, he looks at her face, and when he finds a stain on it, he immediately washes it. Secondly, he adorns his daughter’s head with a crown. Third, out of great love, he kisses her. Fourth, he leads her into the chamber and shows her all the riches. Fifthly, he treats her to the best dish she can muster.
I deal in the same way with the soul that comes to Me. Through repentance I accept it into My grace and cleanse it from all impurity. Then I place crowns on it and adorn it with various virtues. And since I find in her My delight and sweetness in unlimited love, I kiss her kindly. Then I open it to her and show her in a blessed foretaste of the riches of my happiness, and I treat her to the best food: the sacrament of my body and my blood.”

St. Agnes once said to St. Bridget:

“There are sinners who say to themselves: It is difficult to walk the narrow path and to renounce one’s own will and honors. Therefore they indulge in false and dangerous hope. Our journey, they say, is long, God’s love is great, this world is full of consolations and made for joy; Therefore, there is nothing to prevent us from using the world according to our will for a time. At the end of our lives, we will be obedient to God. For there is a side path beside the way of this world, and that is repentance and confession; If we follow this path, we will save ourselves.
Such a thought, expressing the desire to sin for the rest of one’s life and then to do penance, gives people only a very weak certainty. For they never know when they can die. Sometimes, too, they will suffer so much in the last hour, and the end will come so suddenly, that they will no longer be able to make effective contrition. And rightly so, for they did not want to foresee the future danger, although they should have reckoned with it; but they sought to draw the mercy of God into the sphere of their will, and to set limits to it. Nor did they resolve to cease to sin until sin could no longer give them pleasure.

The Blessed Mother gave the Venerable Mary of Jesus the following teaching:

“Carnal works of penance are necessary and indispensable to mortal man. And this to such an extent that multitudes of souls have gone to eternal perdition for the sole reason that they did not know this truth and this duty, and forgot the duty of putting the cross upon themselves, or despised it. And many souls are in danger of meeting the same fate.
The first reason why men should crucify and mortify their bodies is because they were conceived in sin. By sin the whole of human nature has been corrupted, for the passions rebel against reason and incline to evil; At the same time, they are fighting against the spirit. If a man gives free rein to them, they take the soul with them and plunge it from one vice to another. If, on the other hand, man dominates this wild beast, that is, his body, by mortifying and subduing it, then it loses its power, and reason and the light of truth prevail over it.
The second reason is that no man is free from the sins with which he has offended the eternal God. After all, sin must be followed inexorably by a corresponding punishment, either in this life or in the next. And since the body has sinned with the soul, it follows that according to justice both the body and the soul must be punished. Inner suffering alone is not sufficient if the body, in order not to need to suffer, tries to escape the punishment it deserves. Added to this is the fact that the guilt of sin is very great, while the satisfaction on the part of the guilty party is very limited and small. And since a sinner, even if he has repented all his life, never knows for sure whether he has satisfied the Judge, he should not stop repenting for the rest of his life.
It is true that God is kind to men and so gracious that if by a small penance which they are able to perform and try to pay for their sins, He not only forgives the offenses they have suffered, but also grants new graces and eternal reward to men for their penance. But faithful and wise servants, who truly love their Lord, do not hesitate to add works that are freely done. For a debtor who thinks only of paying the debt, but does not seek anything more than that, though he will pay it, will nevertheless remain poor and without means if he has not saved more of his provisions. What, then, should they think and expect, who neither pay their debts nor do voluntary penitential works?
The third reason which most should encourage men is that they are bound to follow their Divine Master and Lord. My most holy Son and I, had neither sins nor improper passions, and yet we offered ourselves to suffering. Our whole life has been an uninterrupted mortification and scourging of the flesh. And it was fitting that the Lord should walk in this way to the glory of His Body and His Name, and that I should follow Him in the same way. If, then, We have done this because it was the right to do so, what right have men to seek another way, to devote themselves to a life that is pleasant, soft, cheerful, and pleasure-seeking? And to despise everything that hurts, as well as to feel disgust at misfortunes,
humiliations, fasts and mortifications? Could these sufferings have been meant only for Me?Son, the Lord Jesus, and for me? While guilty sinners who deserve to be punished are to indulge in the hideous desires of the flesh? And the powers of soul which my Son had given them to serve and imitate him, were they to use to worship the joys of the world and to serve Satan who arranges them? This impropriety, which is a general practice of Adam’s children today, provokes the wrath of the very righteous Judge.
It is true that the Passion and Death of My Most Holy Son made up for and made reparation for what men lacked in merit. The Saviour also ordained that I, although I am only a creature, taking the place of all other men, should work with Him and imitate Him most perfectly in His sufferings and penitential works. But this was not done to exempt people from the obligation to do penance, but rather to encourage them to repent all the more. For if there were nothing more than to make reparation for men, then there would be no need for so many and so heavy sufferings on the part of My Son and on My part.
It was also the intention of my Son, as the true Father and Brother of man, to give value to all the works and penitential exercises of all His disciples. For all the works of creatures would be of less value in the eyes of God if they did not derive value from the works of my Most Holy Son. If, on the other hand, works, virtuous and perfect in every respect, have so little value in themselves; What can be said of works whose object is good, but which are themselves full of infirmities and errors, as is almost always the case with Adam’s children?
For the deeds of those who have made much progress in the spiritual life and are righteous still need to be completed and improved. All these deficiencies were filled by My Lord Jesus Christ with His works, so that the Heavenly Father would take pleasure in accepting the works of men in conjunction with the works of Christ. For if a man does not think of doing his own works, but with folded hands gives himself over to idleness in this matter, then he cannot use the works of his Savior to his advantage. There is nothing in such a man that can be supplemented and perfected; But there is much that deserves to be condemned.
Even more blameworthy are those of the faithful who introduce even the sensuality and vanity of the world into their works of penance. Such deserve a greater punishment for their penance than for the rest of their sins, because they associate vain, imperfect intentions with works of penance, and are by no means concerned with supernatural ends, which alone confer penance on values and grace on the soul.

The words of St. Gertrude:
O my God, I, an unworthy sinner, confess with heartfelt sorrow that, unfortunately, because of human frailty, I have often offended Your justice in me, and out of ignorance and malice I have often sinned against Your wisdom and goodness. O Father of Mercy, have mercy on me and grant me in Your power to find the strength to resist everything that displeases You. By Thy incomprehensible goodness, give me a means in my hand, that I may prevent all things with care, whatever might offend Thy pure eyes. And grant that Your immeasurable goodness may grant me that grace by which I may remain so strongly and constantly united to You, that I may never, even in the smallest thing, go against Your will. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

On one occasion the Lord Jesus said to St. Bridget:

“I have appointed priests and guardians of the Blessed Sacrament, who are in a sense above the angels by their office, for I allow them to touch Him with their fingers and lips, whom even the angels in reverence do not dare to touch. I also honoured the priests with a sevenfold veneration, as it were gradually increasing.
First, they are to be My standard-bearers and special friends through purity of soul and body. For purity is the first step to approaching God; Which nothing touches, to which nothing has access, which is unclean.
In the second degree I ordaind priests to become angelic men through humility; for humility of spirit and body pervades Heaven and conquers the proud Satan.
On the third stage I placed the priests, so that they might become disciples of God through the continual reading of the Scriptures. As soldiers they are given the sword, the bishops give them the books (knowledge) so that they may know what to do, and that they may endeavor by meditation and prayer to appease the wrath of God against the people.
On the fourth stage I have placed priests as guardians of the temple and shepherds of souls, to whom the bishops therefore give to be concerned for the salvation of the brethren; that they may teach them by word and example, and that they may inspire the weak to greater perfection.
On the fifth step I placed them as stewards, ministers of the altar, and as men who despise worldly things. So that, while they serve the altar, they live from the altar and by no means occupy themselves with earthly things, except when their vocation requires it.
On the sixth step I placed them, that they might be apostolic men by preaching the truth of the Gospel, and that they themselves might live as they teach.
I have placed them on the seventh step so that they may be mediators between God and man through the offering of My Body and Blood. On this step the priests stand in their dignity, as it were, above the angels.

The Lord Jesus once said to Saint Bridget:
Listen to what authority I have given to priests before angels and men.
First, the power to loose and bind on earth and in Heaven.
Secondly, I gave them the power to turn My greatest enemy into a friend, to turn Satan into an angel (This is about the sacrament of penance. – Publisher’s note)
Thirdly, I have given them authority to declare My words.
Fourthly, I gave them the power to bless and sanctify My Body, which no one among the angels can do.
Fifthly, I gave them the power to touch My Body with their fingers, which no other creature is allowed to do.

Our Lady said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:
The Most High honors priests so highly that when He finds the right disposition in them, He exalts them more and more and gives them His Spirit, so that the world also honors them as His chosen and anointed ones. Moreover, there are in them the miracles of the Lord which are less exposed to danger, although they appear so greatly in their greatness. If the priests were able to fully respond to their dignity, their works would have to be equal to those of the Seraphim, and their entire appearance would have to shine out from among all other people, as if they were angels. Their face would shine like Moses’ when he returned from his conversation with God.
That is why God is angry with those people who act arrogantly and arrogantly towards “the Lord’s anointed”. For although many priests are imperfect and their lives may not be praiseworthy; however, they must be honored and respected, because they replace the Lord Jesus, My Most Holy Son.

Our Lady once said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:
I complain that the children of the Church treat the priests of the Most High without the respect they deserve and without the submission they deserve. This is a reprehensible recklessness that is spreading more and more among the faithful with each passing day. Tell Me, My daughter, can it be considered right that priests, the Lord’s anointed ones, who have been chosen and consecrated to sanctify the world, to represent Jesus Christ and transform His Most Holy Body and Blood – that these priests are often servants of ordinary people who live by earthly thinking? Who could think it possible that a priest sometimes stands with his head uncovered to show his respect to a proud man, just because that man is rich and he, the priest, is poor? I ask whether a poor priest has less dignity than a rich man? Or do riches give greater or at least the same dignity, power and distinction as that which my Most Holy Son gives to His priests and servants?
The angels are far from honoring the rich for their wealth, but they honor the priests for their ineffable dignity. Such unnatural dealings with the Lord’s anointed terrify the saints in Heaven. In My eyes it deserves the greatest rebuke, for I have always had great respect for every priest. My dignity as the Mother of the living God was great, and yet I fell at the priests’ feet and often kissed the places on the ground where their feet trod, and I considered it a great happiness that I was allowed to do this.
Therefore, My daughter, try to make up for these offenses of the children of the Church as much as you have strength. I hereby declare that I Myself, for this purpose, even from the throne of splendor where I reign in Heaven, look with reverence and respect at the priests living on earth.

Our Lady once said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:
You should listen with respect to the teachings of God’s servants, that is, priests and preachers. Their voice is an echo of God’s voice and a channel through which the sound teaching of life from the source of God’s wisdom reaches people. Through them God speaks, through them He proclaims His divine law. So listen to them with as much respect as if you had never found fault with them or judged them. You should consider all of them wise and eloquent, and in each of them you should hear Christ, My Son and Lord.
In this way you will avoid the stupid arrogance of men of the world who, in their vanity and arrogance, so hateful to God, despise the priests of the Lord because they do not speak according to their corrupt taste. Such people do not listen to priests to hear God’s truth, but to pass judgment on their words and the style in which they speak; as if the word of God were not pure and effective, and without refined words that suit the morbid taste of the hearers.

My daughter, in the example of My life, which I led in the married state assigned to Me by God, you will find proof of how perverse is the self-acquittal with which people living in the world try to beautify their imperfections¹(Our Lady is probably referring to people who, for their lack of personal holiness, they blame the marital status they live in. Publisher’s note.). Nothing is dissimilar with God, but so is it with those who trust in God in living faith and submit to His divine decrees in all things. I lived as holy a life in My bridegroom’s house as I did in the temple. Because with My condition, I have not changed My disposition, My desires, or My concern with which I have always wanted to love God and serve Him. Yes, I tried all the more to fulfill all the duties that rested on Me as the Bride. Hence, God’s grace supported Me even more, His mighty hand arranged everything according to My desire.
God would do the same with all other people, if they, on their part, behaved accordingly. People blame their condition and deceive themselves. For the reason that they are not perfect and holy does not lie in their condition, but comes from the vain and useless cares and troubles to which they devote themselves. Because they forget about God’s pleasure and seek their own pleasure and put it above God’s pleasure.

One day the Lord Jesus said to Saint Bridget:
Virginity is good and is the highest thing, because it makes man like an angel if he observes it sensibly and seriously. However, if there is one thing without the other, i.e. virginity of the body without virginity of the heart, then such virginity is dwarfed. For a humble, pious and married woman is more pleasing to Me than a conceited and shameless virgin. A married woman who is modest and lives according to her own rules in the fear of God may also have the same merits as a chaste and humble virgin.
There were three women: Susanna, Judith and Thecla. The first was a wife, the second a widow, and the third a spinster. The lives of these three women were not equal and their intentions were not the same, and yet they earned equal merit.
When Susanna was falsely accused, she was more ready to die for the love of God than to allow herself to be stained against her duty. But because she feared Me as the Omnipresent, she deserved to be released and glorified in her release.
When Judith saw the contempt and misfortune of her people, she was so sad that for the love of God she not only exposed herself to shame and harm, but was even ready to suffer for My sake.
Thecla, however, who was a maiden, preferred to endure severe suffering rather than utter a single word against Me.
These three women, although they did not live equally, achieved equal merits. Virgin, widow or married woman; all of them will please Me equally, as long as all their desire is directed towards My glory and they live accordingly.

Our Lady once said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:
My daughter, it is a duty of justice towards the eternal God that when a creature comes to the use of reason, it immediately turns its earliest thoughts towards God. That they would recognize, honor, love and worship Him as their Creator and the only true Lord. Parents, on the other hand, have a natural duty to lead their children to know God from their earliest youth and to teach them carefully to seek their ultimate goal from the very beginning and to unite in Him with their first acts of reason and will.
Parents should take care to keep their children away from childish mischief and reckless play, which corrupt nature, if not disciplined by the educator, itself encourages them to do. If father and mother tried to prevent these mistakes and shortcomings in their children, they would teach them from their earliest youth to quickly know God and the Creator. Then it would be easier for their children to acknowledge God in everything and pay Him homage.
My holy Mother, who did not yet know My wisdom and My condition, fulfilled this duty so thoroughly and so early that, while still carrying Me under Her heart, she paid Divine homage to My Creator in My Creator’s name. And she gave Him respectful thanks for creating Me. At the same time, she asked Him to protect me, surround me with His care and happily release me from my then condition.
All parents should beg God so earnestly that God, by His Providence, would deign to ensure that these little creatures happily receive Holy Baptism and be free from the slavery of original sin.
However, if a rational creature were to neglect knowing God and worshiping Him immediately after coming to reason, it is obliged to repay it at the moment when, by virtue of faith, it gains knowledge of the one and only highest Good. And once the soul has gained this knowledge, it should strive never to lose sight of God, but to always fear Him, always honor and love Him.

The Lord Jesus once appeared to St. Mechtilda as a twelve-year-old boy, wearing a green and white dress.
The saint said to the Lord: “Why did you want to appear for the first time and sit in the temple among the teachers, listening to them and questioning them, when you were twelve years old, when before, I believe, you often came to the temple?”
The Lord replied: “I began to be trained in human works according to human time, as I increased in wisdom from day to day, although I was equal to the Father in eternal wisdom. And you, when they are 12 years old, should encourage your children to do good and punish them for evil. Then many of them would not suffer damage to their souls and would not be stunted in spiritual science.”
Saint Mechtilde continued, “What does your two-toned dress mean?”
The Lord replied: “This white color signifies the virginal purity of My most holy Body, and the green color represents My eternal flowering.”

The Lord Jesus, in His special kindness, made known to Saint Gertrude that the liquid with which the eyes, ears, hands and feet of the sick person (holy oil) is anointed and which cleanses the dying person from the remnants of his sins, has its source in His Most Sacred Heart. He also revealed to her that this precious liquid had the power to beautify all parts of her body and to give them, as it were, the merit of all the deeds for which the sacred members of the Savior’s Divine Humanity served as instruments. And the Lord Jesus said again: “My daughter, entrust to Me all your decorations, so that, like a caring mother, I will keep them and give them back to you when you can no longer pollute them with any dirt.”
The Lord Jesus continued to say to the saint: “When you reach the goal that My Providence has assigned to you, i.e. when you lose so much strength that you are close to death, then in the sacrament of extreme unction I will give you, as it were, a kiss of peace and the last assurance of union with you, which I will soon complete.
Last unction with Saint’s oil it will be like a kiss of peace, because it is a sign of My love and a guarantee of the gifts I want to give you. This oil will have the power to cleanse your soul of even the smallest stains of your negligence to such an extent that then nothing will be able to turn My eyes away from you. The sooner you receive extreme unction with holy oil, the more your happiness will increase.”

The Lord Jesus added the following words to the teachings quoted above:
If anyone wishes to obtain these graces in the last moments of his life, let him try every day to imitate the holy works that I performed on earth. Let him rise above his body, let him keep it in check and let him rule over it. Let him lead only a spiritual life, let him completely entrust Me with the guidance of his heart. Let him certainly expect from My mercy that I will constantly give him proofs of My fatherly care with which I will watch over him and enrich him with all kinds of goods. Ultimately, let him offer Me all his sorrows and adversities, and he will see that they will serve to increase his reward and the glory of the heavenly crown.
And if it should happen that, due to human weakness, he would follow his own will in some matter, which he completely submitted to My will, let him immediately repent and let Me once again be the master and guide of all his deeds. Then I will take him back under My protection, guide him kindly and bring him finally to the infinite glory of the heavenly Kingdom.

Words of Saint Mechtilde:

Lord God, thank you for all the graces you have given us, which you still give us and will give us forever.
I am asking You, Heavenly Father, in the Name of Jesus Christ, deign to cleanse me by Your grace from all my sins and strengthen me against them and sanctify me with all the virtues to eternal life. I am begging You, Lord Jesus Christ, by Your holy death and the terrible pain that Your Holy Body endured on the Cross, by the power of Your divine mercy and Your human faithfulness and the grace of the Holy Spirit, look with kindness on my tribulation and on my approaching hour of death. And grant me, when it approaches, Your Most Holy Body, so that I may accept You with true faith, with heartfelt love, and that Your Most Holy Body may be and remain the last meal of my body and the eternal sustenance of my poor soul.
I also ask You, Lord, to comfort this soul of mine with Yourself and free it from all enemies. And finally, He took her into Your fatherly hands and carried her, to my greatest joy, from this earthly misery to Your full of happiness homeland. So that, O Lord, with all the blessed and saints who are there or who will come there, I may praise and glorify You forever and ever. Amen.

Words of Saint Mechtilde:

I am asking You, Lord God, for Your honor, grant us the faithful of Your Holy Church, so that the Apostolic See in Rome may always be ruled by a Vicar adorned with all Christian virtues, so that Your Holy Church may grow in love, be free from all sin and sanctified by all virtues. So that You may finally, by Your almighty hand, free Your Jerusalem and all those cities and countries that groan under unjust oppression.
With all the saints, I am asking You, Most Holy Lord Jesus Christ, for Christian peace and for the necessary supply of fruit both for this country and for all Christian countries. I pray You, O Lord, keep Your friends in Your service, and convert Your enemies and punish their malice.
I am asking You, King of glory and crown of all princes, O Lord Jesus Christ, for the princes of this country and of all Christendom. Kindly unite them through Your Holy Spirit, so that they may never engage in sinful war against Your will and to the detriment of their salvation.
I am asking You, Most Beloved Lord, for all Your faithful who are suffering today at sea, in sickness, in prison, in distress or in need. Comfort them with Your gentle goodness, so that they may never lose Your consolation or Your blessing of full kindness.
I am asking You, Most Holy Heavenly Father, for all Christian souls who are parting with their bodies today, that You, O merciful God, would deign to save them and judge them graciously. O my Lord and God, have mercy on the souls of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, my relatives, friends and acquaintances, and on all the souls suffering in purgatory. Set them free through Your goodness and mercy! May they rest in peace! Amen.
O Lord, accept this prayer of mine, deign to hear it and keep me in Your grace! Amen.

When Saint Mechtilde once wanted to praise God, who honors His loved ones with such reverence, God gave her the following teaching in this respect:

Glorify My goodness in the saints, to whom I have given such great happiness that not only are they rich in all good things in themselves, but the joy of each of them is increased by the joy of the other. So that each one rejoices more in the joy of the other than any mother in the exaltation of her only child, or any father in the triumph and honors of his son. Thus each one possesses the merits of all the saints as his own in joyful love.
Then the Lord said further:
On the feast of each saint, you should praise Me for having chosen and called saints from eternity. And I have strengthened them in such a way that even though those whom I have chosen for eternal happiness should be in great sins, I still perceive the glory they achieve as if they had never sinned.
Secondly: praise Me for the kind invitation by which I called them to the kingdom of glory. For who could expect to have access to My Divine Majesty if I did not demand it or draw them to Me?
Third: praise Me for faithfully sharing My kingdom with the saints. For I made them all kings with Me and gave them a happy and splendid kingdom, of which they did not take away half, but received the whole.
And first remind the saints of the joy they enjoy. Because now they know perfectly well and see in the fullest joy how I have loved them for centuries; and I have chosen them undeservingly for such happiness. No one can see through his friend’s heart as it is intended for him, as My chosen ones can; who see the inside of My Heart and feel with inexpressible joy My faithfulness and love for them.
Second: remind them of the sweetest taste they feel. Because when they praise and bless Me and see My love for them, it gives them the greatest joy.
Third: remind the saints how they enjoy complete freedom of will in all things they choose.
Remind the saints: first of all, this is the highest and most wonderful reward that God has prepared for them for centuries. Because they are where God is, they are co-heirs of His Only Begotten. And that they were granted residence in Himself, inside His Fatherly Heart. Secondly: remind the saints of this gentle communication when God pours himself into them with all His Divinity, and they flow back to Him with the greatest gratitude and happy acceptance. Third, remind them of the dignity and honor that God showed them when He made them fellow guests at His table. Feeding and saturating them constantly with the light of Your Face, filling them with streams of Your Divine joy and filling their desires with all goodness. Fourth: remind them of that most faithful reward; for nothing was so small that they did, forsook or suffered for My love that God would forget it. God remembered all this and rewarded them with the most worthy honor, surpassing all merit. Finally, remind the saints of eternal happiness; for they have this certainty that their honor and their happiness will never diminish, but indeed that the excess of their merits and joys is constantly increasing and will increase.

Once Saint Mechtilde saw the Lord sitting on a throne, around whom Love was walking in the form of a beautiful virgin and singing: “I hear Him around the throne.” Through these words it was revealed to the saint how the saints, full of happiness, praise everything that God has done great for them. Namely, how He chose them in incomprehensible wisdom, justified them without their merits, and made them worthy of His grace. How through their powerful and strong love he freed them from all misery and turned not only all their good deeds, but even their bad ones, to good and to their salvation. How graciously the Lord God accepts their praise, as if all goodness did not come from Him, but as if they had it from themselves; and yet they worshiped Him alone for it.

Once the Mother of God said to Saint Bridget:
Bride of My Son! Love My Son because He loves you. Honor His saints who stand before Him! They are like countless stars whose splendor and light cannot be compared with any earthly light. For as the light of the world differs from the darkness, so the light of the saints differs much more from the light of this world. I tell you the truth, if the saints appeared to people with the brightness they possess, no human eye could bear this brightness and would lose its natural vision.

Once, when the psalm “Laudate Dominum” (Praise the Lord, Ps. 148) was sung, with the words: “And let the waters that are in heaven praise the name of the Lord,” said St. Mechtilde to the Lord: “O Lord, what are these waters of which they sing? I know that You, in Yourself, experience glory in a special way through every drop of water. The Lord replied: “These are the tears of all the saints, which they shed at one time out of love, devotion, compassion and repentance.”
And in that hour the saint saw pure water, signifying the tears of the saints. The bottom of its spring was of purest gold, and instead of sand there were pearls and precious stones, to mark the various virtues in which the saints practiced on earth. That is: in prayer, in night vigil, in fasting and in various other similar works of God’s service.
There were also many fish playing and swimming in the water. They represented the desires that draw the soul to God, as well as the sighs of longing with which the soul brings God to itself. For the saints in Heaven see their virtues and all their good works united in God to increase the joy of their hearts, although each of them is adorned with his own virtues.

One day, when Saint Mechtilde was about to receive Holy Communion, her soul was filled with such great joy that she could not help but wonder, then the Lord said to her:

“Go and give your joy to all the saints.” So the Saint first went to the Blessed Virgin, shared her joy with Her and said: “O Virgin full of grace! To multiply all Your glory, I share with You this excessively great joy of my heart.” The Blessed Virgin replied: “And I give you all My joy that I have ever enjoyed before all creatures on earth and in Heaven.” Then she gave the feast of her joy to the apostles. They said to her: “And we give all the joy that we ever had in our most sweet Lord and Master, namely, when he brought us through death into eternal life.” Then she shared with the martyrs, who said: “We give you all the joy we had in fire and iron and in thousands of deaths through love.”
And when she came to the followers, they said to her, “And we share with you all the joy we have ever had through the work and austerity of our order for the love of the Lord Jesus.”
And when she shared her joy with the virgins, they said: “We share with you and give you all the joy that we have the incomparable privilege of having in God our Spouse.” And it was revealed to her that the holy virgins, before all the saints, rejoice in ineffable delight in God, who communicates Himself to them through a special sweetness. And she understood how true were the words she read: “Rejoice, you heavenly bread of virgins, you new and royal heavenly bread, which no man tastes, but only the palates of virgins!”

When Saint Mechtilde learned from the revelation God’s most kind and most merciful favor towards the holy virgins, and with great thanksgiving she marveled at this great divine humility, and the Lord said to her:
“I honored virgins in three things before all the saints. First, in that I love them before all creatures. When Mary, the first of the virgins, made a vow of chastity to Me, I bowed towards Her with such great goodness that I no longer delayed the fulfillment of the eternal decree of salvation of the world, but descended from Heaven and poured myself entirely into Her.
Secondly, I made the virgins rich above all the saints, because I gave them all My goods and everything that I suffered as their special possession.
Thirdly, I have given them glory above all the blessed. For when they come to Me, I lift myself up and lean towards them, I speak to them in a unique and mysterious way, and I accept them before others into the grace of the most intimate union.”
Then said Saint Mechtilde: “Ah, most gracious God! What must be the virgins you have chosen for such high privileges?” The Lord replied, “Noble, rich and beautiful. For the true virgin whom I have chosen as my Bride must be noble in humility. She should regard herself as nothing and wish to be considered contemptible and insignificant among all creatures. The more humble she is, the more noble she will be in heavenly glory. I will add my humility to hers, so that from it she will be able to obtain the highest nobility.
She should also be beautiful, that is, patient. For the more patient she is, the more beautiful her sufferings will be. Moreover, I will add to it the brightness that I had from the Father before the foundation of the world, for perfect adornment. After all, a virgin should be rich in virtue. She should accumulate for herself the treasures of all virtues, to which I will then add the incomparable riches of My virtues, so that she will overflow and be inexpressibly rich in eternal happiness.”

Once, on the feast of Saint Mark, the Litany to All Saints was sung during a procession, the Lord Jesus appeared to Saint Gertrude, full of Majesty, sitting on a throne decorated with expensive and brightly shining jewels. They represented as many shining mirrors as there are saints in Heaven. Whenever the name of a saint was mentioned in the litany, he immediately stood up full of joy, fell on his knees before the Lord and offered Him the prayers of those who called on him. At the same time, the written names of those faithful who submitted requests to him appeared in his hand. However, the names of those who invoked the saints zealously and with pure intention were written in golden letters. Those who did the same, but only out of habit and without piety, had their names written in black letters. Finally, those who invoked the saints reluctantly and absent-mindedly had their names so faint that they were barely recognizable.
Hence, Saint Gertrude learned that when the saints whom we invoke pray for us, their prayer appears before God as a monument of the mercy obtained for us, and thus God seems to be compelled to have mercy on us. And if we call on the saints with pure and ardent devotion, they receive within themselves the splendor of those precious jewels placed in the robe of the Lord Jesus, along with the names of their worshipers who call upon them for help. So that they feel the joy of obtaining happiness in temporal and eternal life.

Saint Gertrude learned from a revelation that when a person recommends his last hour to one of the saints, the prayers he performs for this purpose will be brought before the tribunal of the Supreme Judge. The Lord God makes this saint the intercessor of anyone who goes to him for a reason.

Saint Gertrude learned from revelation that those who thank God for the graces granted to any saint share in his merits.

According to the revelations of the Venerable Mary of Jesus:

Saint Joseph was born in Nazareth and lived in that holy city, descended from the royal house of David. When, by God’s decree, he was to be married to the Blessed Virgin Mary, he was thirty-three years old. He had a beautiful figure, a gentle face and incomparable modesty and morality. Namely, he was characterized by perfect purity in deeds and thoughts, as well as holiness of inclinations. At the age of twelve he made a vow of chastity. He was related
with the Blessed Virgin in the third degree and led a very pure and blameless life before God and people. Due to some fortunate events, the Lord God decreed that St. Joseph left Nazareth and came to Jerusalem for a long time. Here he was to have the great happiness of being chosen as the Spouse of the One whom God Himself had designated to be His mother.
After the wedding, Saint Joseph and the Blessed Virgin returned to Nazareth, where Mary had her parents’ house and here they both lived in uninterrupted peace. In his youth, Saint Joseph learned carpentry, and by performing this craft he earned a living for himself and his bride.
Thanks to God’s enlightenment, Saint came to Joseph was able to recognize in a short time the qualities of his Bride, her wonderful wisdom, humility, purity and all the virtues that were far beyond his understanding. This awareness filled him with admiration and Saint In the greatest joy of his heart, Joseph did not fail to praise God and thank Him with the most ardent acts for having given him, above all his merits, such a companion and bride.
In the very first days of their life together, the Blessed Virgin announced to her most chaste husband that in her early years she had made a vow to the Lord to serve Him in constant virginity. Saint Joseph was greatly pleased by these words and declared that he, too, already in the 12th year of his life, had promised the Lord to maintain virginal purity. From this they both felt indescribable pleasure and wonderful comfort. Saint Joseph was also given the grace of perfect reign by the Most High
over his nature, so that in miraculous purity he was able to serve his Spouse, Mary, and thus fulfill God’s will.
When this holy man later came to know the dignity of his most holy bride and, as a result of the divine revelation he received, learned about the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God, he had such a sublime and dignified opinion of Mary that, one could say, he was transformed into a completely different man; although he was always very holy and perfect. He therefore decided to behave towards the Queen of Heaven differently from then on, namely with the greatest possible reverence. From then on, whenever he spoke to Her alone or passed by Her, he knelt before Her. He also did not want to allow her to serve him or to do worse work, such as washing the house, cleaning kitchen utensils, etc. The happy bridegroom wanted to do all these activities himself, so as not to offend the dignity of the Queen of Heaven.
When the Son of God was born in a stable in Bethlehem, and St. Joseph saw the Child of God in the arms of His virgin Mother, clinging to Her face and breast, he paid Him divine homage with tears, and in the deepest humility he kissed His feet with such great joy and admiration that he would have died from the excess of this feeling if God’s omnipotence had touched him. didn’t keep him alive. Mary carried her delicate, beloved Child almost constantly in her arms. Sometimes she gave it to Saint Joseph to make him happy with this most precious treasure. Hesitating between the desire to receive the Child of God in his hands and the reverence that kept him from doing so, the holy bridegroom aroused in himself heroic acts of faith, love, humility and deep reverence. Trembling with holy emotion and respect, he knelt down and received the Child from the hands of His Most Holy Mother, shedding the sweetest tears of joy so great as the happiness he experienced.

The Holy Family suffered great hardships in their flight to Egypt. To know the pain of these hardships, we must first of all remember that it was the will of the Most High that His Only-Begotten Son, together with Mary and Joseph, felt the pain and suffering of this exile. Although the Lady of Heaven bore them calmly, Her sadness was great, and the same can be said about Saint. Joseph. They were both personally exposed to a multitude of ailments; but greater were the sufferings that Mary suffered in her heart as a result of the sufferings of her Child and Saint Joseph. Saint Joseph, however, was very sad and worried because of the sufferings of Jesus and Mary and because, despite his sincere desire, he could not help them in anything. Despite this, they both never thought about the past or feared the future, but in everything they maintained incomparable peace and constant contentment, always devoting themselves to the Divine justice in the greatest misery and poverty. Saint The family stayed in Egypt for seven years, and then, after the death of King Herod, they returned to the land of the Jews and settled there in Nazareth, in his former poor house. Note Saint Joseph soon made arrangements with everything that belonged to him. First of all, he immediately started working to earn money to support the Divine Child and His Most Holy Mother. How great was the joy now of this holy patriarch! For the rest of Adam’s children it was a punishment and a burden, that they were condemned to labor by the sweat of their faces for the maintenance of their lives. Saint Joseph considered it a blessing, a blessing and the highest joy that he was called to feed the Mother of God and God himself with the work of his hands – the God whose property is Heaven and earth and everything in Heaven and on earth.

Saint Joseph experienced severe suffering when the Lord Jesus, as a twelve-year-old boy, went to Jerusalem for the Easter holiday with his parents and, without their knowledge, remained in the temple for three days. Saint Joseph suffered a lot in those days. His pain was inexpressibly great. He ran from one place to another, sometimes with his Bride, sometimes without Her, and always in great sadness. His life would even be in danger if the Lord did not support him. The Most Holy Queen comforted him and reminded him not to deny himself food and rest; for because of his true and tender love with which he loved Jesus, he sought Him so earnestly that he thought neither of eating nor of resting.
Saint Joseph was not yet very old, but his body’s strength weakened early. The cares, travels and constant work he devoted himself to in order to earn a living for his Bride and the Lord of the world weakened him more than his age. At the same time, the Most High also wanted to give Him the opportunity to practice patience and other virtues. That’s why he caused him illnesses and suffering that often prevented him from working. Over time, he also stopped manual work, which he earned to support his family, and devoted himself completely to contemplating the secrets entrusted to him and practicing virtues.
Because he had the great happiness of having before his eyes the incarnate Wisdom of God and Mary, the Mother of Wisdom, and of being able to commune with them, this man of God acquired such a high degree of interior holiness that in this respect, next to his heavenly Spouse, he surpassed all (…). And since the Queen of Heaven herself, together with Her Divine Son, so carefully nursed, comforted and encouraged this happiest of people when he was sick, it is impossible to describe what humility and love these benefits stimulated the innocent and grateful heart of this servant of God.
Saint Joseph’s illness and suffering lasted eight years. His noble soul became more and more pure day by day in the fiery furnace of God’s patience and love; and his body grew weaker with increasing age and its attendant infirmities. He was also losing more and more strength, and the inevitable goal of life was approaching, at which all Adam’s children must pay the tribute of death.
During the nine days immediately preceding Saint Joseph’s death, Jesus and Mary were at his side day and night, so that he was never alone; Jesus was always with him, or there was Mary. On the day before his death, Saint Joseph, who was filled with God’s love because of all the graces he had received, was very delighted. It lasted twenty-four hours, during which time the Lord Jesus miraculously sustained his strength and his life.
When he awoke from his ecstasy, his face shone with beauty and wonderful radiance; and his soul was transformed entirely into God by this vision of the Divine Being. Then he asked his Most Holy Spouse for a blessing; she asked Her Divine Son to bless him, which Jesus did. Now this great Queen and Mistress of Peace knelt down and asked Joseph to bless her too, as her husband. The Man of God, moved by God’s grace, gave his bride a blessing and said to her: “Blessed are you among all women, chosen from among all creatures! Let angels and men praise You! Let all generations know Your dignity and praise You! Through You, let the people of all future ages know, glorify and adore the Name of the Most High! May God be praised forever for creating you so beautiful in His eyes and so beautiful in the eyes of all blessed spirits!
Then the man of God turned to the Lord Jesus. He would gladly have knelt on the ground to speak in the highest reverence to his God at this hour; but the most kind Jesus drew near to him and took him into His arms. Saint Joseph therefore, leaning his head on Jesus’ hand, said: “My Lord, the most high God, Son of the eternal Father, Creator and Redeemer of the world, bless Your slave, this work of Your hands! I confess and praise You and give thanks
I thank You with all my heart for having chosen me, out of all people, as Your Mother’s beloved, in Your infinite goodness. May Your own Majesty and Your greatness will be my thanks for all eternity!
The Savior of the world gave him His blessing and said: “My Father, rest in peace, in the grace of My heavenly Father and in My grace! Tell My prophets and saints who are waiting for you in the abyss the good news that their deliverance is at hand!” Among these words of the Lord Jesus, Saint Joseph gave his soul to God in the arms of his Savior. The Son of God closed his eyes.
The entire life of Saint Joseph, the happiest of all men, was just over 60 years. He married Mary at the age of 33, and lived in her company for a little more than 27 years. The Blessed Virgin was 41 years and a few months old when Saint Joseph died.

Venerable Mary of Jesus writes in her revelations:
All the fullness of virtues and graces that God gave to His servant Joseph was given to him so that he would be a worthy spouse and guardian of the One whom the Lord Himself chose to be His Mother. This destiny of Saint Joseph, as well as the love and reverence that the Lord had for His Most Holy Mother, is the standard by which Saint Joseph’s holiness should be measured. According to what has been revealed to me in this respect, I must declare that if there had been another, more perfect and suitable man in the world, the Lord would have given him to His Mother as a bridegroom. The more holy and angel-like he was, the more suitable he was to be the bridegroom of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the confidant of the treasure and secrets of Heaven. So he had to be a complete miracle of holiness, and he was so in reality.
Also revealed to me were some of the privileges and graces which God bestowed on Saint Joseph for his holiness, for the benefit of those who duly ask him for a favor. They are as follows:

Through the intercession of Saint Joseph, one can obtain the virtue of purity and victory in the dangers of temptations of sensuality.
Through him, one can obtain powerful help of grace to leave the state of sin and be reconciled with God.
Through his cause one can obtain Mary’s grace and true devotion to Her.
Through him we can obtain the grace of a happy death and protection against Satan at the hour of death.
Evil spirits tremble when they hear the name of Joseph.
Through it you can get body health and help in various needs.
Its cause brings the blessing of offspring in families.
God gives these and other graces to those who ask Him for them in a proper and appropriate way, through the mediation of
Saint Joseph, Guardian of the Child Jesus and Spouse of the Queen of Heaven.

Words of the venerable Mary of Jesus.
What a blessing and what happiness have you received, Saint Joseph, man of God, that only you, and no other child of Adam, can be said to say: God himself was entirely yours, and to such an extent that he was considered your only son before everyone! The eternal Father gave you His Daughter, the Son gave you His Mother, and the Holy Spirit entrusted you with His Bride and made you His deputy. The entire Holy Trinity entrusted you with Its “One”, Its “Chosen One” and called Her your Bride.
O great saint, do you understand your dignity? Do you recognize your exaltation? Do you know that your Bride is the Queen and Monarch of Heaven and Earth, and you were the guardian of the ineffable treasures of God? O Holy Man, reflect on your office and recognize that the angels and seraphim are filled, although not with envy, but with admiration, and are amazed at your happiest fate and at the dignity that has befallen you through your most worthy marriage.
Accept the congratulations of such good fortune on behalf of the entire human race. You are the treasury that stores the union of all God’s mercy; you were the lord and bridegroom of Her, whom God alone surpasses in greatness! You are the richest and happiest of men, and even richer and happier than all angels.
Remember our poverty and misery, as well as me, the smallest worm of the earth; for I desire to be your most faithful servant and to receive the benefits of your graces and your mighty cause. Amen.

According to the revelations of the venerable Mary of Jesus.
The predecessor of the Divine Savior, Saint John the Baptist, went into the desert after the death of his mother, where he stayed until the time previously determined by God’s wisdom. In the desert Saint John lived a life more angelic than human; he lived more like a seraphim than an earthly pilgrim. He also communed only with God and His angels. This was his main occupation; Besides, he never indulged in idleness. He constantly exercised himself in love and in those heroic virtues which had been instilled in his soul already in his mother’s womb. Divine grace was never idle in him, but was constantly active, and his works never lacked the highest perfection that he could give them with all his strength. His senses were never an obstacle to perfection, although they are usually the windows in men, through which death, clothed in the deceptive beauty of creatures, it enters their souls (Jer. 9. 21). The senses of Saint John the Baptist were turned away from earthly things. And since this great saint had the good fortune of seeing the Light of God before the light of the natural sun, he consigned to oblivion everything that the natural sun presented to his senses, by the grace of God, so that his spiritual eyes remained fixed and constantly focused on the most noble object, that can exist, that is, to the Essence of God and His infinite perfections. The extraordinary graces that he received from God while staying in the desert are beyond all human understanding; only when we come to see the Deity will we recognize his holiness and his great merits from the reward he received from the saints.
When the time came for the world to hear the voice of “one crying in the desert” according to God’s decree, Saint John left the desert as a preacher. He was dressed in a robe of camel hair and tied with a leather belt. He walked barefoot. His face was thin; her expression was serious and wonderful, full of incomparable decency and deep humility. He had invincibly great courage; his heart burned with love for God and his neighbors. His words were full of power, life, seriousness and fire, like a spark of lightning thrown by the hand of God. Saint John was gentle to the gentle, full of love to the humble, terrible to the proud and hardened sinners, a wonderful phenomenon to angels and men, terrifying to devils. He was an instrument of the incarnate Word and a preacher needed by the harsh, ungrateful and stubborn Jewish people of that time. This nation that had a pagan government and had stingy and arrogant priests; this nation without light, without prophets, without piety, which, despite the numerous punishments it had incurred because of its sins, lived without the fear of God.
Saint John was to open the eyes and hearts of this people, in such a deplorable living condition, to know and accept their Redeemer and Master in Jesus Christ, who would soon appear publicly.

Our Lady said to the venerable Mary of Jesus:
All the faithful should know that the Lord God could convert Saint Paul and justify him without performing such great miracles as His omnipotence performed in this admirable work. However, God performed these miracles so that people could see how willingly He is ready to forgive them and give them His grace and friendship. But also to show them how a person, according to the example of this great saint, should follow God’s voice and work with His grace.
The Lord God stimulates and calls many souls with the power of His inspirations and graces. Many of them follow God’s voice, these souls are justified and receive the sacraments of the Church. However, not all of them persevere in this justification, and even fewer of such souls reach perfection. The greatest number of them begin to live according to the spirit, but return to the life of the flesh and end there. What is the reason that not all the faithful persevere in grace, but quickly return to sin? Well, during their conversion they do not speak like Saint Paul: “Lord, what do you want me to do?” And although they may say so, they only say it with their mouths, but not with all their hearts. For they always retain a remnant of attachment to themselves, to money, to worldly goods, to their own will, to entertainment, or perhaps even to opportunities for sin, and as a result they easily fall.
Saint Paul is a living and true example of those who are converted to the light of grace. Not only because he was miraculously raised from the state of the deepest misery of sin to a state of grace and God showed him great kindness; but also for the way in which he freely worked with the grace of his vocation: he abandoned his dangerous condition, renounced his will completely and surrendered himself completely to the will and decrees of God. For this self-denial and this abandonment to God’s good pleasure are contained in these words: “Lord, what do you want me to do?”
His entire salvation, as far as it depended on himself, was also expressed in these words. Because he said these words with a heart full of repentance and humiliation, he completely renounced his own will and surrendered himself to the will of God. He also renounced forever the use of his faculties and senses that could lead him back to the sinful life he had previously committed himself to.
However, he committed himself to fulfill God’s will immediately and without resistance, regardless of how he came to know it. And immediately afterward he went into the city at the command of the Lord, and did there all the commandments of Ananias, the disciple of Jesus. So when the Most High, who penetrates and examines the secrets of human hearts, saw the sincerity with which Saint Paul followed His voice and his complete submission to God’s will and divine pleasure, not only that He accepted him lovingly into His service, but also showered him with the highest and most wonderful graces and benefits. Saint Paul could not have earned them on his own, but he certainly would not have received them if he had not completely surrendered himself to God’s will. And this total surrender to God enabled him to receive graces and gifts.

Saint Paul said to Saint Bridget:
You, my daughter, compared me in prayer to a lion raised among wolves, which was miraculously snatched from the wolves. Truly, daughter, I was a ravenous wolf, but the Lord God made me a lamb from the wolf, and this for two reasons: first, because of His great love, which makes His vessels out of the unworthy, and His friends out of sinners; secondly: as a result of the prayer of St. the martyr Stephen.
I will show you what state of mind I was in when Saint was being stoned. Stephen and why I deserved his prayer. In fact, I felt neither joy nor pleasure in the martyrdom of Saint. Stephen, nor did I envy him his fame. Although I wanted him to die, because in my opinion he had no true faith. So when I noticed that he bore his suffering with great devotion and patience, I felt sorry that he was an infidel; while in fact he was extremely faithful. I, on the other hand, was completely blind and unfaithful, but I had compassion on him and begged God, praying with all my heart that his bitter suffering would help him to achieve splendor and a crown in Heaven. For this reason his prayer was of great benefit to me, for through it I got rid of the company of many wolves and became a gentle lamb.
Therefore it is good to pray for everyone; for the prayer of the righteous benefits those who stand closer to God and are more capable of receiving grace.

On one occasion St. Gertrude rejoiced in the charming and frequent praise which St. John the Evangelist received because of his perfect virginity. And she asked him to obtain from God the grace of his cause, so that we might be able to preserve our purity to such an extent that one day (…) we would be able to share in his eternal happiness in his merits. Then the saint said to her: “Whoever desires to have an equal crown with me in heaven must also fight and work as I do in this life. As for me, I have always had before my eyes the happiness of the sweet familiarity with which the Lord Jesus worshipped me and rewarded my chastity. Throughout my life I have endeavored to watch my words and deeds as earnestly as possible, lest I should be the cause of the slightest offense to myself or to others, to that Divine Master of mine who is so pleasing to purity. And although all the apostles were wary of the company of suspicious persons, they were nevertheless willing to associate with persons whose virtues could not be doubted (as it is stated in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles that they were with holy women and with Mary, the mother of Jesus); As for me, when I was with them, I always behaved very modestly and cautiously. Though I have never shunned women in my spiritual and bodily ministry, yet I have always been as careful as possible for myself, and on every occasion when I was bound by love to render them a service, I have always implored God’s help. That is why Holy Church sings on my Solemnity: “You called on me in tribulation, and I saved you” (Psalm 80:8). For God has never permitted my friendship to be injurious to anyone, or to offend anyone’s innocence.
Wherefore my Master Jesus Christ has given me this reward, that my purity is more glorified than that of the other saints. As a token of this privilege, I have received an excellent place in Heaven, where, by a special manifestation of God’s graciousness, I receive in eternal splendor the rays of that love which is a mirror without blemish and a reflection of eternal light (Wise 7). For whenever my chastity is mentioned in the Church, my most gracious Saviour greets me very kindly and graciously, and fills the interior of my soul with such perfect joy that, like a precious drink, it pervades all its affections and strength.

St. Mechtilde saw St. John the Evangelist resting on the breast of Jesus Christ in rapture, and a host of saints surrounded the Lord and praised Him and St. John. Then the saint asked the Lord to teach her how to praise Him for such a disciple. And the Lord answered,
“You shall praise me first for his noble family, for St. John is born of illustrious parents, and no other under heaven was nobler than this birth. Secondly, that I had called him from his wedding feast to my apostolate. Thirdly, that he deserved to see My Face on Mount Tabor before others. Fourthly, that he was worthy to rest on my breasts at the last supper. Fifthly, that he had a depth of discernment before others, for which he deserved to describe the prayer I said on the Mount of Olives to the people (in his Gospel). Sixthly, that out of a special love I commanded him from the Cross to take care of My Mother. Seventhly, because after My resurrection I enlightened him with an extraordinary recognition that he alone had come to know Me before the others, and while the other disciples came to know Me with great difficulty, he immediately said, “This is the Lord!” Eighthly, that, by a separate proof of My kindness, I revealed My mysteries to him when I was writing the book of secret revelation. By divine inspiration, he was worthy to say: “In the beginning was the Word, that mystery which neither any prophet nor anyone else knew before him. Ninth, that he drank poison for My Name’s sake. Tenth, that in My name He performed many signs and raised the dead. Eleventhly, that I have so sweetly visited him, and to My delight have invited him and his brethren. Twelfthly, that I have led him with splendor from this earthly misery into eternal joys, free from the pains of the flesh.”

On one occasion the Lord said to St. Gertrude: “
If anyone recites one Our Father every day in honour of St. John the Evangelist and reminds him of the zeal and fidelity with which he heard this prayer when I taught it to all the Apostles, this saint will not fail to obtain from Me the grace of faithful perseverance in good until the end of his life.

According to the apparitions of the Venerable Mary of Jesus

Not only was St. Stephen full of grace and power, and performed many miracles in Jerusalem, but he was also, after the Apostles Peter and Paul, the first disciple to engage in oral disputes with the Jews and defeat them. Hence, the Jews set false witnesses against him, who accused him of blaspheming God and the law. As a result of this accusation, he was captured and brought before the High Council. Here, full of holy inspiration, he gave a discourse in which he proved by statements from the Scriptures that Jesus was the true Messiah. At the same time, he shone with supernatural beauty, so that all who were in the High Council saw his face as if it were the face of an angel.
At the end of his discourse, Heaven opened, and Jesus Christ appeared to St. Stephen, standing at the right hand of the Power of the Most High, to show that He was on the side of the saint, to help him in his hard struggle. Stephen, raising his eyes to Heaven, cried out with a loud voice: “Behold, I see Heaven opened, and the Son of Man at the right hand of God!” But the Jews, in their obstinacy, counted these words blasphemy, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear them. And since blasphemy was punishable by stoning according to the law, an order was given that the punishment should be carried out on Stephen.
They immediately rushed upon him like beasts of prey, and with a tremendous cry led him out of the city.
When St. Stephen felt the first blow of the stones and saw himself close to death, he cried out, “Lord, do not count this to them as a sin!”
Thus St. Stephen died under a hail of stones which the Jews threw at him. He was martyred nine months after the death of the Lord Jesus, on December 26. On that day my husband turned 34 years old; also 34 years and 1 day had elapsed since the birth of the Lord Jesus, so that the 35th year began. For St. Stephen was born on the day after the birth of the Lord Jesus, and thus he was nine months older than the Lord Jesus, which elapsed between the death of the Saviour and his stoning.
Venerable Mary of Jesus gives the following detail: “
Saul also took part in the stoning of St. Stephen, who, through the prayer of this holy martyr and through the intercession of the Mother of God, was later converted, took the name Paul, and became a very zealous and great apostle.
(See the section entitled “By What St. Paul Obtained the Grace of Repentance.”) – Editor’s Note.

On the feast of St. Mary Magdalene, St. Mechtilde saw the Lord walking through the choir with Mary Magdalene, whom he lovingly embraced with his hand. At this sight the saint began to be astonished, for it is written: “Incorruptibility makes one close to God” (Wisdom 6:20). And the Lord said to her:

“According to the greatness of the love she had for Me on earth, she is now pleasing to Me in the kingdom of heaven.” Saint Mechtilde said, “Ah, sweetest God, teach me how to praise You in this faithful one of Yours!” The Lord answered: “In the five wounds that love inflicted on her during my Passion. For when I hung on the Cross close to death, when she saw that My eyes, which so often looked upon her with mercy, were closing her heart, as if by an arrow.
Even when she saw that death had closed My ears, which I had so often bent down to her requests, and when she saw and knew the abandonment of My Mother, whom she loved so much for Me, her heart was wounded by an excess of sympathy. Thirdly, when she saw my mouth closed through death, from which she heard many sweet, consoling, and instructive words, and especially when I said, “Thy faith has saved thee, go in peace” (Luke 7:50), and when she saw that my face was covered with a deathly paleness, and she knew that I could speak to her no more, she was wounded again as by a sword. Fourthly, when she saw My Heart pierced by a spear, from which she received the sweet desire for love, so that whenever she looked at Me, her heart was touched by love, she again inflicted a deep wound on her heart by love. Fifthly, when she saw Me, her life, her joy, and all her good, without which she thought she could not live, she saw the dead and how I was laid in the tomb, her soul became weak and froze, as it were, from the excess of love, and this pain wounded her more than it could be expressed.

On one occasion, when St. Gertrude wished to know something of the merits of St. Agnes, that gracious virgin whom she had loved so tenderly from her youth, the Lord granted her wish. He lifted up His hand and showed her the saint in a very charming form, resting, as a sign of His extraordinary innocence, on the Heart of God. In this way he made known to her, i.e., to St. Gertrude, the efficacy of the words of the Magi: “Chastity brings us nearer to God” (Wise 6), for
St. Agnes rested so close to the Divine Heart that it seemed as if no one in Heaven could equal her in innocence and happiness.

On the feast of St. Catherine, this holy virgin appeared to St. Mechtilde in a robe entirely covered with gold writing, with golden hooks at the top that fasten the garment, and representing the most happy and inseparable union of God and soul. St. Mechtilde solemnly greeted St. Catherine by reciting the antiphon “Ave virgo speciosa” (Hail, O virgin greatly honored”
from the hymn of the Church for the Solemnity of St. Catherine) and then said to her:

“I beseech thee, tell me what we express by the words we sing: To thee, whose face and adornment the Lord himself desired? (Words taken from the same hymn in honor of St. Catherine.) What is this face that the Lord
desired in you?” Saint Catherine answered: “My face is the image of the Most Holy Trinity, which the Lord desired in me because I have never disfigured it with grave sin. And my adornment is that ineffable garment with which Christ so mysteriously adorns His faithful with the color of His precious Blood. You should also know this: Whenever a man receives the Holy Sacraments, he renews and multiplies this garment in his soul. And if any one were to receive Holy Communion only once, he would redouble this garment in his soul; And he who communicates a hundred or a thousand times increases this garment in his soul just as often.”
And when St. Mechtilde asked for one of the nuns of the convent, St. Catherine answered: “Tell her, let her recite the psalm, ‘Praise the Lord, all nations’” (Psalm 116). and the antiphon, “Come, my Bride, go into the chamber of your Bridegroom,” to remind me of the joy I had when Christ, my King and Bridegroom, invited me with these words. (…) When this voice reached me, my heart was inflamed with so much love, and I was filled with such unspeakable joy, that all the horrors of martyrdom came to nothing.”