THE DIALOGUE OF
THE SERAPHIC VIRGIN
CATHERINE OF SIENA DICTATED BY HER, WHILE IN A STATE OF ECSTASY, TO
HER SECRETARIES, AND COMPLETED YEAR OF OUR LORD
IN
THE
1370
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL ITALIAN WITH AN INTRODUCTION ON THE STUDY OF MYSTICISM BY
ALGAR THOROLD
COIL
CHRIST! BIB,
HM.
TOKCWTOH
KEGAN
PAUL,
LONDON TRENCH, TRUBNER &
CO., LTD.
PATERNOSTER HOUSE, CHARING CROSS ROAD 1896 [All rights reserved]
26156
<
Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON At the Ballantyne Press
& Co
CONTENTS. PAGE
INTRODUCTION A TREATISE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE
I
19
28 28 31
34
36 71
72 75
76 78 79
80 81
83 84 86 87
89 89 93 95
98 100 103
vi
CONTENTS
A TREATISE OF DISC RATION -continued
CONTENTS A TREATISE OF PR AVER
continued
vn
INTRODUCTION. "
I
will
AM
persuaded,"
come, when
the
said
Claude Bernard,
man
"
that
the day
of science, the philosopher and
the poet will all understand each other." Whatever we think this of of we most us feel that the may prophecy, one-sided absolutism of the past, whether religious or
no longer possible. The inevitable vehemence of the reaction against bigotry and superstition has, in a measure, spent itself, and the best minds of the present,
scientific, is
influenced by the spirit of Socrates cautiously and tentatively
feeling
claim to wisdom, are way to a nicer
their
adjustment of the scales of thought. That these should ever be poised in perfect equilibrium is no doubt impossible in this world of clashing cate gories ; but the undoubted truths to be found in extremes are beginning to be recognised as partial and relative, as
only fragmentary elements in the ultimate synthesis. From the conviction that the whole truth is not to be found in any partial utterance of humanity, the passage is
easy to the opinion, that for a really philosophical appre ciation of our nature, an impartial examination of all the sides of the
man
artist,
is necessary. the saint must
The all
philosopher, the scientist,
contribute.
Contemporary
non-religious thought, like its predecessor of an earlier day, is becoming persuaded that some good thing may come even out of Nazareth. The thin, dry optimism of secta rian Christianity and of official materialism be not so much erroneous as unthinkable. "
We
see
now
to
have done, the proofs which proved,
may be hoped for ever, with and the explanations which explained
it
we
nothing."
THE DIALOGUE OF
2
ST.
CATHERINE
A
hundred years ago truth seemed a simpler matter to They stood on the threshold of the modern industrial world, to them a coming golden age tipped with Exact knowledge and the brightness of rising science. universal education were to make men happy and wise and Kings and priests were gone, or, at least, the back of .good. these incubi, the causes of all their despotism was broken his misery, removed, man, a well-meaning creature, and more than capable of taking care of himself, would begin at last to live, and, in the normal exercise of his natural func tions, hitherto artificially strapped down by theological and
our
fathers.
;
political tyrants,
would
find
true
satisfaction
and,
conse
But they happiness of his being. counted without machine-looms or the law of heredity, of which they derided the theological expression in the doctrine
quently,
the
of original
The
perfect
sin. lie in the sup wisdom, and even less in its we have with us to-day, but in the and faith which animated some of its
true value of the Revolution did not
posed sagacity of its social results, which indomitable hope .greatest
political
illustrations.
It
is
impossible to read the best
French moralists of the Revolutionary period say, Vauvewithout being struck by the deep nargues and Condorcet spiritual earnestness which underlay much in them that was flimsy as argument, mistaken as fact, frothy and unreal as sentiment.
The Revolution
stated the
human problem
in collective
terms, forgetting that the only authority which can address men collectively must transcend them individually, that is,
Mere multiplicity, as such, must represent the Divine. must return to unity under pain of disintegration. Now, the revealed symbols apart, the highest human manifesta tion is the individual raised to
sonality called
genius,
for
he,
the quintessence of per has, in a supreme
only,
degree, will and intellect ; and will and intellect move the The Phtlosophes, whether deists or atheists, by world.
hypothesis, ruled the conception of the Divine out of relation to man, and therefore had no message for him as an indi vidual.
He was
considered, primarily, as a social item, and
INTRODUCTION formed, in juxtaposition
to,
3
not in fusion with, other such
modern
items, the individual.
The
State-fetish, that grotesque parody of an result of all this is, to-day, evident enough.
Modern
society, the creation of the Revolution, is based on ignorance, or, at least, disregard of the distinction between
organic and mechanical unity. For a society, as for a work of
art,
there are two kinds
of unity. This quality may result from the careful observ ance of certain rules imposed from without on the subjectmatter, without any regard for the inner unity of thought, in which case it is purely mechanical. Of this, the dramatic
works of Boileau are a classical example. Organic unity, on the other hand, results from the harmonious expression of an idea, of a word made flesh, as, for instance, the Parsifal"
of
Wagner.
Mechanical unity, being expressive of no idea, may per fectly well result from anonymous collaboration, supposing the formula to be equally accessible to all the workers, but organic unity, like the idea which informs it, is necessarily the creation of an individual. For ideas are of the indi vidual.
The modern
state, resulting as
no idea
it
does from anonymous
unity is therefore only mechanical, arising from the juxtaposition, not the fusion, of its components ; for, herds of men can only be fused into the collaboration, expresses
;
its
organic unity of a nation by the philosopher s stone of politics, an Idea, a word becoming flesh in a nation, its Such were the great Assyrian necessary social expression.
and Egyptian dynasties, the Jewish Theocracy, and in its purer days, the French Monarchy, with its significant war"
cry,
Gesta Dei per
Francos."
by incarnation that an idea becomes an ideal, and without ideals neither nations nor men can live. In the It is
pages of
"
"
Compromise
Mr. John Morley
bitterly
laments
the lack of idealism in contemporary English politics, but, with the elaborate short-sightedness so characteristic of his greater master, Mill, he fails to see its antecedent. But it is not my intention to dwell on the political results of the Revolution, which have been abundantly and minutely
THE DIALOGUE OF
4
ST.
CATHERINE
by Taine. So much as has been said was, a however, necessary prelude to the estimate of its effects in the spiritual domain. Without such an estimate, it is wholly impossible to appreciate the mystical movement of to-day, or, in any degree, to determine what permanent value underlies its manifesta set
forth
tions, often
a better
France is grotesque, sometimes contemptible. for the consideration of such effects than
field
England, for France, besides being the original home of the Revolution, is a sort of moral forcing-house for ideas while Englishmen are still tinkering at a theory and endeavouring ;
to reduce
it
to
some impotent truism with which the
British
elector shall feel quite at home, Frenchmen have reached its final expression in their national life and literature.
The
best part of a nation s soul betrays itself in its art, an attempt to eternise the types held
for a national art is
worthy of admiration by the spiritual leaders of a people. The supreme art of Frenchmen is their prose. Should the Latin Decadence issue fatally, the French tongue will live for There has been ever as the third great classical language. a special reason for its development during this and the last
century
the appearance of a
new
literary type, the
man
of letters, whom, as Mr. Morley has pointed out, the future historian will find to have been the one original creation of
There were great brigands before Napoleon, the times. there were political condottieri before Boulanger, there were Tribunes of the People before Marx and Lasalle, there were no professional men of
letters
before the Fathers of the
and Voltaire, Diderot Originating Encyclopaedia. D Alembert, the type, checked in development by the out break of the Revolution which needed letters as little as with
chemistry,* and by the Philistine militarism of the First Consul, arrived at maturity in the person of Renan, who was also a complete embodiment of the effects of the Revo It is important that we should lution in spiritual matters. He raised opportunism to face the truth about this man. the dignity of an idea ; he was the Vautrin of the intellect ;
* Lavoisier was brutally told that the Republic did not need chemists.
INTRODUCTION
5
for forty years among the of honest introspection, accepts the majority which, incapable dicta of the superior person in the place of genuine
his influence reigned
supreme
For the modern man of letters reigns by his due to the skill with which he re-presents to his prestige readers their current ideas. A practical man of talent, he shows us that part of ourself, that we at once recognise, crowned with the flowers of his rhetoric, and, seduced by
experience.
the implied compliment, we acclaim him. Creative artist, the intuitive by love," "
The Genius,
the
shows us those
depths of ourself that seem strange and foreign to us, but
we dimly guess the existence, when passion or wears threadbare for a moment the smooth lustre insight of our daily habit ; of such moments we are ashamed, and,
of which
irritated at the vision of a genius,
The work
of
Renan was
proceed to decry him.
to turn religion into religiosity,
but he was, after It
was the task
all, but one, though the chief, of a group. of Zola to apply to the criticism of contem means of the experimental novel, the gospel
by by Renan
porary
life,
traced
metaphysique
est
physics were
to
in the
"
Avenir de
wort, was Zola s
la
Science."
text,
and
Lhomme
with
meta
be buried religion and mysticism of every The oSoc avw was to be turned into a blind alley kind. where rubbish might be shot. The experimental novel pro fessed to depict life as perceptible, in its more general aspects, to the senses, with a minimum of ideation. An admirer of
Zola recently pointed jubilantly to the
fact that the
number
of copies issued of the Rougon-Macquart series would, if piled one on the other, overtop the Eiffel Tower, and the school has, in fact, found its success rather in the quantity
than in the quality of
its
work.
This judgment
may seem
too sweeping, and several masterpieces produced by writers of the school will occur to the reader, but it will appear on closer examination that the works of the naturalist school
possessing supreme literary quality, have, in reality, what ever their label, been conceived outside the formula of natu ralism. dull
are at most the brilliant heresies of a very pedantic orthodoxy. They deal either with
They
and
types unreal in themselves, as the superb
"La
Faustin"
THE DIALOGUE OF
6
CATHERINE
ST.
of Edmond de Goncourt, or the thread of circumstances, through which the story progresses, is abnormal in a high Bete Humaine," in which coincidences degree, as in Zola s are forced to an extent rarely attempted by the most auda "
cious romanticist. Flaubert, the greatest of the so-called naturalist masters, could never destroy the romantic and mystical side of his nature to which he gave a free rein in "
Salammbo,"
and the
quite as romantic, that
"
Tentation de St.
is,
as unreal, in
The Emma Bovarys whom we know do
"
Antoine."
Madame
He
is
Bovary."
not commit suicide,
they are a plague to their husbands and every one con nected with them for a certain time, and in the end usually become devotes of a low order.
Perhaps the
finest
work produced
published in naturalist.
1879. In 1884,
Huysmans But Huysmans was
"
A
domain of pure
in the
naturalism has been Joris-Karl
Rebours"
"
Soeurs
Vatard,"
not to remain a
sounded the note, not
much La
so "
of reaction as of revolt, emphasised in 1893 by Bas." The first chapter of this powerful and lurid
book contains the
The evidence
judicial process of naturalism.
is
summed up and judgment pronounced
justly enough, though not without the touch of bitterness proverbially attributed to perverts with regard to the church of their baptism. Huysmans is not alone. Paul Verlaine
Crimen Amoris," and many other well known chef-d ceuvres, has given sublime In a few verses of expression to the Catholic Mythos. incomparable perfection, Stephane Mallarme sings a no less exalted mysticism. It is needless to enumerate a list of names doubtless well known to the reader, as space does in
"
"Sagesse,"
"
Impenitence
Finale,"
not permit detailed criticism of the work connected with them ; it may be enough to state here that, whether
decadent or symbolist, neo-catholic or neo-buddhist, con temporary schools of French literature unite in being
uncompromisingly anti-naturalist.*
The young Frenchmen
of to-day look for inspiration rather to the earlier * An must be made in favour of the exception
H. Rosny, who seems
work of
strong work of
to be the only serious writer of the generation professing adherence to the old methods. J.
new
INTRODUCTION
7
Victor Hugo, to Baudelaire, to Villiers-de-l Isle-Adam, and Barbey d Aurevilly, who said of his generation that, if he
to
were not already a Catholic by conviction, he would become one in order to have a place of vantage, cTou cracker sur ces gens-Id.
in
Naturalism, then, has only saved itself in the proportion that is, it it has been unfaithful to its formula
which
has
But note the far-reaching implications of
failed.
its
The experimental novel was not presented to us one among many possible literary modes (its rise and
failure.
as
decline
would then have possessed only a technical and
interest for the literary student), but as the interlinear artistic translation of the text of life as conceived historical
If the experimental novel This because have not succeeded. failed, they absurd in to the reduced fact, great literary experiment has,
by the
"
has
the
scientific organisers." is
it
pretensions on which
"
"
philosophic
it
was
fine naturalistic novel, in the strict sense of the
impossibility, because
human
A
based.
word,
natural science alone can
is
an
no more
than knowledge of the chemical organise" constituents of colours can make a man an art critic. "
The new
life
which breathes in so much of the best is so widely diffused that it does not work contemporary spirit
escape the dangers attaching to fashion. Many a contem tl and neo-buddhist neo-catholic," porary regards his "
"
soul as one
ment.
among
There
will
Francis as the
other picturesque poses for his tempera be moments when a Faun will replace
A
"
of his longings. specimen of this kind of thing is Mr. John Davidson s Ballad of a has shown Nun," the more regrettable that Mr. Davidson St.
"
symbol
"
himself capable of no ordinary work. Here the Faun is in clothed indeed the religious habit, but the garb is irk some, and the best part of the poem, the part in which we
enjoy thoroughly artistic expression, is when the robe of penance is hastily twitched up to the shaggy knee and the hoofed feet merrily twinkle in a dance Yes, symbolic ? and we know too well of what. For such mysticism as *
"
this a whole-souled person can feel nothing but sorrow. This may lead us to the consideration of another danger to
THE DIALOGUE OF
8
which the new movement
is
ST.
CATHERINE Any new form
exposed.
of
thought inevitably appears at first as the negation of the
immediately
preceding form.
It
is
only
when
the
first
with effervescence has passed away, when we come to see of the world unless we are that the face grief, philosophers
seems
changed by the soul-compelling beauty of our personal vision, that we realise the dependence of our ideas on their historical antecedents, and that we are, in fact, our father s sons. So we proceed to develop and assimilate at we had scornfully denied. The present where, first, little
movement
inevitably appears as a reaction against science. In reality, however, it is no reaction against science as such, a proceeding which would be as ridiculous as it would
be
futile,
of the
but only against that false estimate of the scope sciences, as the supreme and only means
natural
"
"
by which, in the words of Condorcet, right judgment was become an almost universal quality, so that the habitual
to
"
state of
men throughout
a nation should be to be led by
submit in conduct to the rules of morality, feeding on sweet and pure sentiments." And the good but mis This is the point to which the labours taken man added truth, to
"
:
of genius and the progress of light must infallibly conduct Such promises have duped us, and some of those us." realise how they have been beguiled are disposed to But we should execrate the very name of their deceiver. not forget, on the one hand, that these illusory assurances
who
were not contained
in the
simple solemn utterances of the
but rather in the glosses added by its overzealous ministers, and, on the other, that psychology need
oracle
itself,
not cease to be a science because physiological methods of investigation are insufficient for it.
For the sake of their own
stability
and permanence, the
leaders of the present movement cannot take refuge from materialism by running their heads into the sand of irre
sponsible fantasy, nor can the truth contained in, even
they
afford
to
lose hold of
if
inadequately expressed by, naturalism, which has inserted in our very marrow a passion The romantic elegy, with its humanity de for exactitude. dessus de pendule,
is
no longer possible
;
no system, philo-
INTRODUCTION
9
sophical or religious, that has not a real application to life, as it is in its humblest and most elementary details, has the
The problem of modern of success. remains it has what synalways been, namely, to thought thetise the here or real of antiquity with the hereafter or ideal of mediae valism," and both these elements must must not shrink in appear in any attempted solution. remotest chance
"
We
disgust from naturalism ; we must go through it to what lies beyond, to what people who dislike the word supernatural may perhaps be willing to call ultranatural. For the famous controversy which, to many, even to-day, is beginning to have but a historical interest, is, after all, only a matter of terms.
No
miracles serious theologian really holds all sent the caprices of the Eternal Mind. "
We
"
Newman, "
mumpsimus
His
ablution at Mass.
good as his corrector s
What
mysticism
is
to repre
remember
of the old priest who, in spite correction, persisted in saying, "Quod ore instead of sumpsimus," when taking the
the story, quoted by
of repeated
was.
"
is
vital
"
mumpsimus,"
he
"sumpsimus."
and essential
no sickly delusion of
to
insisted,
was
And no doubt recognise
this or that
is
as it
that
morbid indi
vidual, but as real a part of the experience of man as the nervous system. It may be defined as the reduction to the
emotional modality of the highest concept of the or, more briefly, the habit of the love of God.
So
far
from being a delusion
it
is
one
intellect,
of the
most
To
the unlearned musicsuggest a parallel lover rejoices in what is to his consciousness the plea sant sensation of his favourite art, he revels in simple,
exact sciences.
physical pleasure, and
at
most transfers
it
to the senti
mental nerve centres. "
For do but note a wild and wanton herd, of youthful and unhandled colts, Fetching mad bounds, bellowing, and neighing loud,
Or race
Which
is the hot condition of their blood they but hear perchance a trumpet sound, Or any air of music touch their ears, You shall perceive them make a mutual stand, Their savage eyes turned to a modest gaze, Merchant of Venice. By the sweet power of music."
If
;
THE DIALOGUE OF
io
Yet there
by such
is
no
rigid laws
ST.
CATHERINE
which the expression is governed an exact mathematical structure under
art of ;
the wailing so human, as we say, of the violins. Mystical science is the counterpoint of the soul s symphony Ascensiones in corde suo disposuit. Man s approach to
lies
:
God
regulated by the strictest laws, and follows a true This is equally true conversely of the
is
mathematical curve.
man who has
put these things behind him and deliberately life. Final impenitence not so easy, and by no means to be reached until the
drowns is
his spirit in his instinctive
necessarily
intervening
stages
have
been
and
painfully
laboriously passed through. He was an amateur theologian, if a great poet, who sang of the easy descent of Hell." "
The
The Prophet tells us that professional touch is surer. way of the transgressor is hard." The great mystics, then, are not maniacs revelling in individual fantasies ; they have but developed, to the full "
the
extent of their power, tendencies existing, in germ at least, in all normally developed men of all time. For the science
God is not the monopoly of any religion, though some may bring to it a more exact terminology, and may possess vaster resources with which to stimulate and direct its development than others. It is furthermore of union with
difficult
to
operation
trace, in
of the
the lives
of the great mystics, or environment
any
laws of heredity
that
usually govern human expression. They are philosophers, as Plotinus and St. Denys ; ignorant hermits, as Ruysbrock unlettered women, as St. Theresa or St. Catherine. They ;
modern Paris or mediaeval England, or the story
live in
their lives can be but
of
faintly discerned
through the rich web of Eastern tradition ; they are legends of the past, And they travel in our railway carriages with us to-day. yet, in spite of the dissimilarity of their origins, there is a I cannot do better wonderful unanimity in their teaching. than quote an instance of this given by Maeterlink, in his
L Ornement des Noces SpirituRuysbrock distinguishes three kinds of lives the
preface to Ruysbrock s "
elles
"
:
"
:
and the superessential. The Gnostics distinguish between the spirit, the soul, and the material
active, the internal,
n
INTRODUCTION life,
and divide men
spiritual
;
material.
into three classes
the pneumatic, or or and the hylic, or psychic, animiques ; Plotinus also distinguishes in the soul the intelli :
the
gence, the reasonable soul, and the animal nature.
Zohar distinguishes between
soul,
spirit,
and
The of the
life
senses ; and, in both systems, as in Ruysbrock, the relation of the three principles is explained by a procession compared to an irradiation followed by the theory of the Divine
meeting
:
God
entering us from within outwards,
we going
him from without inwards, The words of the No religion, as has been said mystics never grow old. above, has the monopoly of mysticism, for a system of life
to
&c."
A
only religious in so far as it is mystical. professed which should fall short of mysticism would be at best a system of high ethics of more or less psychological
is
religion
value,
which
according to the accuracy of the observations on When the religious evolution of might be based.
it
man was crowned by of the
the Incarnation of the Second Person
Trinity, mysticism received the countersign of The law of the human spirit s that tremendous Mystery.
Holy
Cleanness of heart was approach to God was not altered. no new condition for the Blessed Vision. The Christian Church has given us additional motives and sanctions, and, in the central doctrine of Christ s Mediation, a remedy, at once, for sinfulness and moral helplessness, while the sacra
mental system, culminating in the Mass, supplies a divinely but the soul s personal hygiene of the soul
efficacious
;
God can follow no other path than that traced for it by its own intimate constitution. It was the fashion in the last century among superficial critics of religion, and remains so among their descendants ascent to
to-day, to regard the magnificent debates which agitated the early Christian Church as so many examples of the
perverse and futile subtlety of the decadent Greek intel A naive appeal to common sense has always been lect. the
beloved
disguise
of a
certain
kind of obscurantist.
Yet the early heresies were by no means in the first place intellectual theories, they were primarily mystical their theories being formed to meet their emotional require;
THE DIALOGUE OF
12
merits,
being,
in
ST.
instances
inverse
this,
CATHERINE of the
law of
There development, Lex orandi, lex credendi. comparatively little difference, so far as theoretical
theological
was
statement went, between the religion of Bardesanes of Edessa and Catholicism yet who does not see that the motive-power of the schismatic Gnostic was pride resulting in a scornful isolation from the multitudes plunged in darkness, whereas Catholicism is nothing if not "hylic" The God-idea and not the religion of universal love ? the Self-idea being in the Christian scheme the centre of the soul s mystical periphery (from which it follows that ;
love, not
knowledge,
is
the primary condition of Christian
mysticism), heresy may be defined as a centrifugal tendency of the human spirit which in reaction tends to replace the The idea under true centre God by the false centre self.
which this tendency is disguised, varies indefinitely from Arius to Luther, but the tendency is always the same ; like the
evil
spirit
More than
this,
in
the Gospel
the particular
story its name is Legion. doctrine under which the
heretical tendency succeeds at one time in disguising itself, though false at the time in its strained relation to the whole body of truth, may, at a future date, when reduced to its proper relation, be assimilated by Catholic theology, and become a legitimate and guaranteed form of expression of
the
truth.
"Thus
Christianity
grew
gaining aliment and medicine from
all
in
that
its it
proportions,
came
near, yet preserving its original type, from its perception and its love of what had been revealed once for all, and was no private
imagination"
P- 359)-
(Newman,
"Development
of Christian
Doctrine,"
The
ception and
original basis of Christianity was then per love, aliment and medicine, in other words
and ever increasing clearness and statement came largely from its Not only the Hebrew contact with its environment. Scriptures, but the whole religious experience of man forms the subject-matter out of which the Church elaborates in the light of the Incarnation, according to the needs of the ages,
dogmatic expansion,
correctness of theoretic
her dogmatic system. To it Plato has contributed as well as Moses. The beloved disciple of Jesus wrote his Gospel in
INTRODUCTION
13
the language of a Platonician, and his Apocalypse in the symbolism of the Kabbala. Yet the eagle of mystical truth was not to be the Vicar of Christ. That high office was
reserved for the Apostle who in the moment of trial had These things are significant. denied his Lord with an oath. Our religion, regarded from the point of view of historical
development, is the fulfilment and completion of Judaism ; but from the point of view of mental development it The is seen to be the fulfilment of very much more. Areopagite did not cease to be a Platonist when he became a Christian ; the greater part of the Divine Names might It was partly the very have been written by Plotinus. the more immediate devotional and of aim, partly identity Church of the youthful needs requiring dogma for their the Alexandrian Neoplatonists aliens expression, that kept
from the Christian organisation. The sacred fire, relighted by Plotinus, Porphyry and Jamblichus, was to pass into the veins of the great rival of Neoplatonism, the inheritor, according to ancient promise, of the ends of the earth. Justin Martyr, the first of the philosophic Fathers, sees in Socrates a manifestation of the Logos, and expounds the doctrines
of the
regeneration
in
of man, freedom Platonist terms ; and fall
the will, and St. Clement of
of
Alexandria finally baptized the permanent truth contained in the Platonic traditions.
Apart from the interest of the subject for those who live the themselves would apart also from its histori cal value as a momentous chapter of the book of human life,"
experience, the study of mysticism is especially necessary for those who concern themselves with the analysis of human consciousness. The desire for ecstasy is at the very root and
This craving, when bound down by heart of our nature. the animal instincts, meets us on every side in those hateful contortions of the social organism called the dram-shop and the brothel.
It is
needless to point out
its
connection with
and even with the most abstract processes of philo Human life is informed at every stage by sophic thought. this desire of ecstasy, of self-escape into something higher. Mysticism alone affords to those favoured beings who are art,
;
THE DIALOGUE OF
14
competent
in
brain
and
will
ST. for
CATHERINE its
ardours a true and
Neither the sensual nor lasting realisation of this desire. the sentimental life can do so, for nature or society con stantly throws us by illnesses or laws on the hither or In the Divine Life farther side of its perfect realisation. alone, whether of the metaphysical intellect, or of the love There are no of God, are we sure of ultimate success.
The resistances in the world of the Eternal. famous words of St. Augustine do but express the ele mentary law of psychology: "Thou hast made us for Mysti Thyself, and our hearts faint until they find Thee." cism, then, places in the clear relief of logical and final And this is expression this important law of our nature. Our consciousness replies much. But it does more also. to the touch of a God, as it does to no other stimulus, At the Divine call the soul yields sentimental or passional. organic
up her dearest
secrets.
otherwise with the phenomena of sexual love, which seem to have been thought by the naturalists to contain the It is
And this for whole gamut of psychological possibility. two main reasons. Firstly, because the stimulus of desire, the transformation of which into unselfish love is never anything but the transient delusion of the imagination, leaves the depths of our nature unexplored, so that what looks like clarity is often nothing but shallowness ; and, secondly, on account of the attitude of ruse and sex-combat utterly confusing the real issues involved, which the in herited laws of our species impose on these phenomena as More can be learnt of the intricacies their vital condition.
our interior life, of the inter-connection and mutual dependence of psychic states," from St. Theresa or St. Catherine than from Zola or Wundt. It is as though our soul were a parchment which only reveals the tiniest wrinkles and scratches on its surface when stretched and of
"
strained to the uttermost
The Dialogue
by the Divine Hand.
of Saint Catherine of Siena, which
is
here
offered to the English reader for the first time in his own language, was dictated to her secretaries by the Saint in
INTRODUCTION
15
Apart from the extraordinary circumstances of its production, this work has a special interest. The composition of the Siennese dyer s daughter, whose will, purified and sublimated by prayer, imposed itself on Popes and Princes, is an almost unique specimen of what ecclesiastical A word of mysticism. may be called explanation will render clear the writer s meaning. Most of the great mystics, such as Tauler, Suso, St. John ecstasy.
"
"
of the Cross, consider the ecclesiastical dogmata as granted, and concern themselves but little with the loci theologici of
To their introverted vision the varied rays their doctrine. of theological expression are fused in the white heat of the Godhead directly contemplated. Not indeed that they are in any sense of the word un-Catholic, but that being occupied almost exclusively with the sublime as distinguished from the ordinary processes of the spiritual life, their
terminology is as special as the experiences they attempt to relate are abnormal. Catholic dogma, on the other hand, is the collective form of truth necessary for the salvation of all, and therefore stated in terms intelligible to all, developed in expression through the ages of the Church s existence, proposed on her
supreme and ever-present authority, and "
perpetual
assistance
"
ratified to us
by the
of the promised Paraclete.
The call
last verse of that magnificent hymn which we mis the Athanasian Creed contains the proposition (to be
received of course with the limitations necessarily belonging to such a composition) that without the Catholic Faith no man can be saved. But a man may very well be saved ^
without understanding a single word of St. John of the Cross.
The
special value of St. Catherine s fact that from first to last it is nothing
"
Dialogo,"
lies in
the
more than a mystical
exposition of the creeds taught to every child in the Catholic The saint s insight penetrates every turn of poor-schools. the well-worn path that we must all humbly tread until we reach the last point of solid earth whence we can take flight into the
Platonic JEther
one in the Ineffable Essence.
where subject and object are
And
wonderful that insight
THE DIALOGUE OF
16
ST.
CATHERINE
is how subtle the analysis of the state of the who loves God for his own pleasure or man worldly The special snares of the devout are cut through profit keen the logic of one who has experienced and triumphed by
sometimes
;
"
"
!
over them. the
Terrible, again, is the retribution prophesied to
unworthy ministers of the Blood." so every well-known form of Christian
"
And
or parasitic,
is
treated
of,
detailed,
life,
healthy
analysed incisively,
remorselessly, and then subsumed under the general concep tion of God s infinite loving-kindness and mercy.
The
great mystics having usually taken as their startingto most is the goal hardly to be reached, their treatment of the preliminary stages of spirituality is
point what
own
Compare, for instance, frequently conventional and jejune. the first book with the two succeeding ones, of Ruysbrock s "
Ornement des Noces
Spirituelles,"
Another
the Christian Platonician.
that unique breviary of result of their having
done so
is that, with certain noble exceptions, the literature of this subject has fallen into the hands of a class of writers, or rather purveyors, well intentioned, no doubt, but not endowed with the higher spiritual or mental faculties, whom it is
not unfair to describe as the feuilletonistes of piety. brightly bound, are appropriately exposed for
Such works, sale in the
Roman shop windows, among
the
gaudy
objets
de religion they so much resemble. To keep healthy and raise the tone of devotional literature is surely an eighth spiritual work of mercy. St. Philip Neri s advice in the matter was to prefer those writers In the title of Saint.
whose names were preceded by the
we have a great saint, one of the most extraordinary women who ever lived, treat ing, in a manner so simple and familiar, at times, as to become "
"
Dialogo
almost colloquial, of the elements of practical Christianity. Passages occur frequently of lofty eloquence and also of
such literary perfection that this book is held by critics to be one of the classics of the age and land which produced Boccaccio and Petrarch. To-day in the streets of Siena the same Tuscan idiom can be heard, hardly altered since the
days of
Of
St. Catherine.
the Saint s public
life
this is not the place to speak,
INTRODUCTION
17
interior life, in such of its stages as she was per mitted to reveal, is amply detailed in the following pages. will find the Readers who are interested in her "legend
and her
"
admirably treated in Augusta Theodosia Drane s History of St. Catherine of Siena," the only English life of the Saint written with any comprehension of the subject ; but historical knowledge of St. Catherine has little to do matter "
with the science to be learnt from her mystical experiences. One word as to the translation. I have almost always followed the text of Gigli, a learned Siennese ecclesiastic, who edited the complete works of St. Catherine in the last cen tury.
Once editor.
and
His
the latest edition printed of the Dialogo." or twice I have preferred the cinquecento Venetian "
is
My aim
has been to translate as
literally as possible,
same time
to preserve the characteristic rythm of the sentences so suggestive in its way of the sing-song at the
articulation of the Siennese of to-day.-
St.
Catherine has no
she introduces a metaphor and forgets it ; the sea, a vine, and a plough will often appear in the same sen In such cases I have tence, sometimes in the same phrase. style as such
;
occasionally taken the liberty of adhering to the first simile when the confusion of metaphor in the original involves
hopeless obscurity of expression. April 30, 1895. Feast of
St. Catherine of Siena.
THE
DIALOGUE OF ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA. CHAPTER
I.
A TREATISE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE
How
a
soul, elevated
by desire of the honour of God, and of the
salvation of her neighbours, exercising herself in humble prayer, after she had seen the union of the soul, through love, with God, asked of God four requests.
THE
who is lifted by a very great and yearning desire honour of God and the salvation of souls, begins
soul,
for the
a certain space of time, in the ordinary virtues, remaining in the cell of self-knowledge, in order to know better the goodness of God towards her. This she does because knowledge must precede love, and
by exercising
only
herself, for
when she has
attained love, can she strive to follow
to clothe herself with the truth.
But, in no way, does of receive such a taste the creature the truth, or so brilliant as means of humble and continuous a light therefrom, by
and
knowledge of herself and of God ; because prayer, exercising her in the above way, unites prayer,
with
founded
God
the
on
soul that follows the footprints
Crucified, and thus, by desire and
of Christ
and union of Christ would seem to To him who will love
affection,
makes her another Himself. have meant this, when He said Me and will observe My commandment, will I manifest My self; and he shall be one thing with Me and I with him. love,
:
In several places we find similar words, by which we can see that it is, indeed, through the effect of love, that the soul
becomes another Himself.
That
this
may
be seen more
THE DIALOGUE OF
20
mention what
clearly, I will
I
ST.
CATHERINE
remember having heard from
a handmaid of God, namely, that, when she was lifted up in prayer, with great elevation of mind, God was not
wont to He had
conceal, from the eye of her intellect, the love which for His servants, but rather to manifest it and, that among other things, He used to say : Open the eye ;
"
of thy intellect, and gaze into Me, and thou shalt see the beauty of My rational creature. And look at those creatures
who, among the beauties which I have given to the soul, creating her in My image and similitude, are clothed with the nuptial garment (that is the garment of love), adorned with many virtues, by which they are united with Me And yet I tell thee, if thou shouldest ask through love. who these are, I should reply" (said the sweet and Me, amorous Word of God) they are another Myself, inasmuch as they have lost and denied their own will, and are clothed with Mine, are united to Mine, are conformed to Mine." "
It is
therefore true, indeed, that the soul unites herself with the affection of love.
God by
So, that soul, wishing to manfully, and
lifting
know and
her desires
follow the truth
first for
herself
more
for
she
a soul could not be of use, whether in doctrine, example, or prayer, to her neighbour, if she did not first profit herself, that is, if she did not acquire virtue considered
in
herself
that
addressed four requests to the Supreme and The first was for herself ; the second for
Eternal Father.
Holy Church the third a general whole world, and in particular for the peace of Christians who rebel, with much lewdness and persecution^ against the Holy Church ; in the fourth and last, she be
the reformation of the
;
prayer for the
sought
the
general, and
Divine Providence to
for
things in
in particular, for a certain case with
which she
was concerned.
provide
A TREATISE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE
CHAPTER How
21
II
the desire of this soul grew when God showed her the neediness of the world.
THIS desire was great and continuous, but grew much more, when the First Truth showed her the neediness of the world, And and in what a tempest of offence against God it lay. she had understood this the better from a letter, which she had received from the spiritual Father of her soul, in which he explained to her the penalties and intolerable dolour caused by offences against God, and the loss of souls, and the persecutions of Holy Church. All this lighted the fire of her holy desire with grief for the offences, and with the joy of the lively hope, with which
God to provide against such great evils. the soul since seems, in such communion, sweetly to And, bind herself fast within herself and with God, and knows
she waited for
better
God
His
truth,
inasmuch as the soul
is
in the soul, as the fish is in the sea,
then in God, and and the sea in the
she desired the arrival of the morning (for the morrow feast of Mary) in order to hear Mass. And, when the morning came, and the hour of the Mass, she sought with anxious desire her accustomed place ; and, with a great
fish,
was a
herself, being ashamed of her own imperfection, to be the cause of all the evil that was herself to appearing
knowledge of
happening throughout the world, conceiving a hatred and displeasure against herself, and a feeling of holy justice, with which knowledge, hatred, and justice, she purified the stains which seemed to her to cover her guilty soul, she said
"
:
in order that
O
Eternal Father,
I
accuse myself before Thee,
Thou mayest punish me
for
my
sins in this
and, inasmuch as my sins are the cause of the which my neighbour must endure, I implore Thee, sufferings in Thy kindness, to punish them in my person."
finite life,
THE DIALOGUE OF
22
ST.
CHAPTER How
finite
works are not
CATHERINE
III.
sufficient for
punishment or recompense
without the perpetual affection of love.
THEN, the Eternal Truth, seized and drew more strongly to Himself her desire, doing as He did in the Old Testament, for when the sacrifice was offered to God, a fire descended and drew to Him the sacrifice that was acceptable to Him ; so did the sweet Truth to that soul, in sending down the fire
fice
of the clemency of the Holy Spirit, seizing the sacri of desire that she made of herself, saying Dost "
:
thou not know, dear daughter, that all the sufferings, which the soul endures, or can endure, in this life, are insufficient
punish one smallest fault, because the offence, being done Me, who am the Infinite Good, calls for an infinite satisfaction ? However, I wish that thou shouldest know, to
to
that not all the pains that are given to men in this life are given as punishments, but as corrections, in order to chastise a son when he offends ; though it is true that both the guilt
and the penalty can be expiated by the desire of the soul, that is, by true contrition, not through the finite pain endured, but through the infinite desire because God, Who is infinite, wishes for infinite love and infinite grief. Infinite grief I wish from My creature in two ways in one way, through her sorrow for her own sins, which she has committed against Me her Creator in the other way, through her sorrow for the sins which she sees her neighbours commit against Of such as these, inasmuch as they have infinite Me. desire, that is, are joined to me by an affection of love, and ;
:
;
therefore grieve their
wherever for a their
offend Me, or see Me offended, spiritual or corporeal, from come, receives infinite merit, and satisfies
when they
every pain, it
may
whether
which deserved an works are finite and done in guilt
infinite finite
penalty, although time ; but, inasmuch
as they possess the virtue of desire, and sustain their suffer
ing with desire, and contrition, and infinite displeasure Paul explained against their guilt, their pain is held worthy.
A TREATISE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE when he
23
If I had
the tongues of angels, and if I and of future gave my body to be burned, and have not love, it would be worth nothing to me. The thus shows that finite not are works glorious Apostle this
knew
said
:
the things
the
valid, either as punishment or recompense, without condiment of the affection of love."
CHAPTER
the
IV.
How
desire and contrition of heart satisfies, both for the guilt and the penalty in oneself and in others; and how sometimes it satisfies for the guilt only, and not the penalty.
"
I
HAVE shown
punished in this purely as such. the pain which
thee, dearest daughter, that the guilt is not
time by any pain which is sustained I say, that the guilt is punished by endured through the desire, love, and
finite
And is
contrition of the heart
;
not by virtue of the pain, but by soul ; inasmuch as desire and
virtue of the desire of the
is of value, and has life in itself, through Christ crucified, My only begotten Son, in so far as the soul has drawn her love from Him, and virtuously follows His virtues, that is His Footprints. In this way, and, in
every virtue
no other, are virtues of value, and in this way, pains satisfy for the fault, by the sweet and intimate love acquired in the knowledge of My goodness, and in the bitterness and contrition of heart acquired by knowledge of one s self and s own thoughts. And this knowledge generates a hatred and displeasure against sin, and against the soul s own sensuality, through which, she deems herself worthy of
one
pains and unworthy of reward." The sweet Truth continued :
"
See how, by contrition of
the heart, together with love, with true patience, and with true humility, deeming themselves worthy of pain and un worthy of reward, such souls endure the patient humility in
which consists
the
above-mentioned satisfaction.
askest me, then, for pains, so that
I
may
Thou
receive satisfaction
THE DIALOGUE OF
24
ST.
CATHERINE
for the offences, which are done against Me by My creatures, and thou further askest the will to know and love Me, Who am the Supreme Truth. Wherefore I reply that this is the way, if thou wilt arrive at a perfect knowledge and enjoy ment of Me, the Eternal Truth, that thou shouldest never
go outside the knowledge of
by humbling thy know Me and from which knowledge thou wilt draw all that is
self in the thyself,
valley
No
thyself, and,
of humility,
thou wilt
daughter, can have life in itself and except through charity humility, which is the fostermother and nurse of charity. In self-knowledge, then, thou wilt humble thyself, seeing that, in thyself, thou dost not even exist ; for thy very being, as thou wilt learn, is derived from Me, since I have loved both thee and others before you were in existence and that, through the ineffable love which I had for you, wishing to re-create you to Grace, I have washed you, and re-created you in the Blood of My This only Begotten Son, spilt with so great a fire of love. Blood teaches the truth to him, who, by self-knowledge, dissipates the cloud of self-love, and in no other way can he learn. Then the soul will inflame herself in this know of Me with an ineffable love, through which love she ledge continues in constant pain ; not, however, a pain which afflicts or dries up the soul, but one which rather fattens her for since she has known My truth, and her own faults, and the ingratitude of men, she endures intolerable suffering, necessary.
virtue,
my
;
;
grieving because she loves Me ; for, if she did not love Me, she would not be obliged to do so ; whence it follows immediately, that
who have
it is
right for thee, truth in this
and
my
other servants
even My way, unto death, many tribulations and injuries and insults in word and deed, for the glory and praise of My Name thus wilt thou endure and suffer pains. Do thou, there learnt
to sustain,
;
fore,
and
My
other servants, carry yourselves with true sins, and with love of virtue
patience, with grief for your
My Name.
for the glory and praise of I will satisfy for thy sins,
and
If thou actest thus,
for those
of
My
other
servants, inasmuch as the pains which thou wilt endure will be sufficient, through the virtue of love, for satisfaction
A TREATISE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE and reward, both
and
In thyself thou the stains of thy ignor shall not remember that thou ever
in thee
wilt receive the fruit of life,
ance are effaced, didst offend Me.
and
I
25
In others
in others.
when
I will
satisfy through the love
and affection which thou hast to Me, and I will give to them according to the disposition with which they will In particular, to those who dispose them receive My gifts. and with reverence, to receive the doctrine selves, humbly of My servants, will I remit both guilt and penalty, since they will thus come to true knowledge and contrition for their sins. So that, by means of prayer, and their desire of serving Me, they receive the fruit of grace, receiving it humbly in greater or less degree, according to the extent of their exercise of virtue and grace in general. I say then,
through thy desires, they will receive remission for their See, however, the condition, namely, that their should not be so great in their despair as to con obstinacy that,
sins.
demn them through contempt
of the Blood, Which, with
such sweetness, has restored them.
What
do they receive ? which I destine for them, constrained by the of prayers My servants, is that I give them light, and that I wake up in them the hound of conscience, and make them smell the odour of virtue, and take delight in the conversa "
"
The
tion of
fruit
fruit
My
servants.
show them what it is, so and various passions, they may know how little stability it has, and may come to lift their desire beyond it, and seek their native country, which is the Eternal Life. And so I draw them by these, and by many other ways, for the eye cannot see, nor the tongue relate, nor the heart think, how many are the roads and ways which I use, through love alone, to lead them back to grace, so that My truth may be fulfilled in them. I am con strained to do so by that inestimable love of Mine, by which I created them, and by the love, desire, and grief of My servants, since I am no despiser of their tears, and sweat, and humble prayers rather I accept them, inasmuch as I am He who give them this love for the good of souls and "
that,
Sometimes
I
allow the world to
feeling its diverse
;
THE DIALOGUE OF
26
ST.
CATHERINE
But I do not, in general, grant to these grief for their loss. for whom others, they pray, satisfaction for the penalty due to them, but, only for their guilt, since they are not dis love, posed, on their side, to receive, with perfect love,
My
and
My
They do not
receive their grief with bitterness, and perfect contrition for the sins they have committed, but with imperfect love and contrition, where that of
servants.
fore they have not, as others, remission of the penalty, but only of the guilt ; because such complete satisfaction requires
proper dispositions on both sides, both in him that gives
and him
that receives. Wherefore, since they are imperfect, receive they imperfectly the perfection of the desires of those who offer them to Me, for their sakes, with suffering ;
and, inasmuch as I told thee that they do receive remission, this is indeed the truth, that, by that way which I have told thee, that
is,
by the
satisfaction is
light of conscience,
made
and by other things,
for, beginning to learn, vomit forth the of their sins, and so receive they corruption
the gift of grace. These are they "
for their guilt
who
;
are in a state of ordinary charity,
wherefore, they have trouble, they receive it in the guise of correction, and do not resist over much the clemency of the Holy Spirit, but, coming out of their sin, they receive the life of grace. But if, like fools, they are ungrateful, and ignore Me and the labours of My servants done for them, that which was given them, through mercy, turns to their own ruin and judgment, not through defect of mercy, nor through defect of him who implored the mercy for the ingrate, but solely through the man s own wretchedness and hardness, with which, with the hands of his free will, he has if
covered his heart, as it were, with a diamond, which, if it be not broken by the Blood, can in no way be broken. And yet, I say to thee, that, in spite of his hardness of heart, he can use his free will while he has time, pray ing for the Blood of Son, and let him with his own
My
hand apply It to the and he will receive been paid for him. he has no remedy,
diamond over
his heart
and shiver
it,
the imprint of the Blood Which has But, if he delays until the time be past,
because he has not used the dowry
A TREATISE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE
27
gave him, giving him memory so as to remember benefits, intellect, so as to see and know the truth,
which
my
I
affection,
Whom
he
so that he should love Me, the Eternal Truth, would have known through the use of his
This is the dowry which I have given you all, intellect. and which ought to render fruit to Me, the Father but, if a man barters and sells it to the devil, the devil, if he choose, has a right to seize on everything that he has And, filling his memory with the acquired in this life. of and the recollection of shameful pride, with delights sin, ;
avarice, self-love, hatred, and unkindness to his neighbours (being also a persecutor of servants), with these miseries, Let he has obscured his intellect by his disordinate will.
My
such as these receive the eternal pains, with their horrible stench, inasmuch as they have not satisfied for their sins with contrition and displeasure of their guilt. Now, there for guilt thou how satisfies hast understood fore, suffering such and the not finite by perfect contrition, through pain ;
as have this contrition in perfection satisfy not only for the guilt, but also for the penalty which follows the guilt, as I
have already said when speaking
in general ; and if they that the guilt alone, is, if, having abandoned satisfy mortal sin, they receive grace, and have not sufficient con trition and love to satisfy for the penalty also, they go to
for
the pains of Purgatory, passing through last means of satisfaction.
So thou
the second and
made, through the the Infinite Good, in greater or less degree, according to the measure of love, obtained by the desire and prayer of the recipient. Where fore, with that very same measure with which a man measures to Me, does he receive in himself the measure of My good "
seest that satisfaction
desire of the soul united to
ness.
Me,
is
Who am
Labour, therefore, to increase the fire of thy desire, and let not a moment pass without crying to Me with humble voice, or without continual prayers before Me for I say this to thee and to the father of thy neighbours. Bear your thy soul, whom I have given thee on earth. selves with manful courage, and make yourselves dead to all
your own
sensuality."
THE DIALOGUE OF
28
CHAPTER How
very pleasing to
God
is
CATHERINE
ST.
V.
the willing desire to suffer for Him.
VERY pleasing to Me, dearest daughter, is the willing desire to bear every pain and fatigue, even unto death, for the salvation of souls, for the more the soul endures, the
4<
more she shows that she loves Me loving Me she comes know more of My truth, and the more she knows, the more pain and intolerable grief she feels at the offences committed against Me. Thou didst ask Me to sustain thee, and to punish the faults of others in thee, and thou didst not remark that thou wast really asking for love, light, and ;
to
knowledge of the truth, since I have already told thee that, by the increase of love, grows grief and pain, wherefore he that grows in love grows in grief. Therefore, I say to you all, that you should ask, and it will be given you, for I deny Consider that nothing to him who asks of Me in truth. the love of divine charity is so closely joined in the soul with perfect patience, that neither can leave the soul without
For this reason (if the soul elect to love Me) she should elect to endure pains for Me in whatever mode or circumstance I may send them to her. Patience cannot
the other.
be proved in any other way than by suffering, and patience is united with love as has been said. Therefore bear your selves with manly courage, for, unless you do so, you will not prove yourselves to be spouses of My Truth, and faith children, nor of the company of those who relish the
ful
taste of
My
honour, and the salvation of
CHAPTER How "
is
I
souls."
VI.
every virtue and every defect is obtained by means of our neighbour.
WISH also that thou shouldest know that every vfrtue obtained by means of thy neighbour, and likewise, every
A TREATISE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE
who
defect, he, therefore,
29
stands in hatred of Me, does an
injury to his neighbour, and to himself, who is his own chief neighbour, and this injury is both general and particular. It is general because you are obliged to love your neigh bour as yourself, and loving him, you ought to help him spiritually, with prayer, counselling him with words, and assisting him both spiritually and temporally, according to the need in which he may be, at least with your goodwill if you have nothing else. A man therefore, who does not love, does not help him, and thereby does himself an injury for he cuts off from himself grace, and injures his neigh bour, by depriving him of the benefit of the prayers and of the sweet desires that he is bound to offer for him to Me. Thus, every act of help that he performs should proceed And from the charity which he has through love of Me. if he means of his is done evil also, neighbour, for, by every ;,
do not love Me, he cannot be in charity with his neighbour ; and thus, all evils derive from the soul s deprivation of love of Me and her neighbour whence, inasmuch as such a man To whom does no good, it follows that he must do evil. First of all to himself, and then to hisdoes he evil ? neighbour, not against Me, for no evil can touch Me, except in so far as I count done to Me that which he does to To himself he does the injury of sin, which himself. him of grace, and worse than this he cannot do to deprives Him he injures in not paying him the debt r his neighbour. he owes which him, of love, with which he ought to help means of him by prayer and holy desire offered to Me for an assistance which is owed in general to This is him. ;
every rational creature but its usefulness is more particular when it is done to those who are close at hand, under your ;
you are all obliged to help one another by word and doctrine, and the example of good works, and in every other respect in which your neighbour may be seen to be in need counselling him exactly as youwould yourselves, without any passion of self-love ; and he (a man not loving God) does not do this, because he has no love towards his neighbour; and, by not doing it, he does And he does him evil,. him, as thou seest, a special injury.
eyes, as to
whom,
I
say,
;
THE DIALOGUE OF
30
ST.
CATHERINE
not only by not doing him the good that he might do him, but by doing him a positive injury and a constant evil. In this
way
sin causes a physical
and a mental
injury.
The
already done when the sinner has conceived pleasure in the idea of sin, and hatred of virtue, that is, pleasure from sensual self-love, which has deprived him of
mental injury
is
the affection of love which he ought to have towards Me, .and his neighbour, as has been said. And, after he has conceived, he brings forth one sin after another against his
neighbour, according to the diverse ways which may please his Sometimes it is seen that he brings perverse sensual will.
and that both
and in particular. see himself and other creatures His general cruelty in danger of death and damnation through privation of grace, and so cruel is he that he reminds neither himself nor others of the love of virtue and hatred of vice. Being thus cruel he may wish to extend his cruelty still further, that is, not content with not giving an example of virtue, the villain forth cruelty,
in general
is to
"
also usurps the office of the demons, tempting, according to power, his fellow-creatures to abandon virtue for vice ;
his
this is cruelty towards his neighbours, for he makes himself an instrument to destroy life and to give death. Cruelty towards the body has its origin in cupidity, which, not only prevents a man from helping his neighbour, but causes him
goods of others, robbing the poor creatures ; done by the arbitrary use of power, and at other times by cheating and fraud, his neighbour being forced to redeem, to his own loss, his own goods, and often
-to
seize the
sometimes
indeed his
this is
own
person.
which will deprive the mercy, unless he turn to kind ness and benevolence towards his neighbour "
Oh, miserable vice of
man who
practises
it
of
cruelty,
all
!
Sometimes the sinner brings forth insults on which sometimes also impurity against the often follows murder person of his neighbour, by which he becomes a brute beast full of stench, and in this case he does not poison one only, but whoever approaches him, with love or in conversation, is "
;
poisoned. "
Against
whom
does pride bring forth evils
?
Against
A TREATISE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE
31
the neighbour, through love of one s own reputation, whence comes hatred of the neighbour, reputing one s self to be greater than he ; and in this way is injury done to him.
And
if
a
injustice
man be and
in a position of authority, he produces also cruelty and becomes a retailer of the flesh of
Oh, dearest daughter, grieve for the offence against Me, and weep over these corpses, so that, by prayer, the bands of their death may be loosened See now, that, in all places and in all kinds of people, sin is always produced against the neighbour, and through in no other way could sin ever be committed his medium men.
!
"
;
either secret or open. your neighbour of that
open have
A
deprive
is
done through the medium of
neighbour."
CHAPTER How i(
when you
to give him ; an sin is where you perform positive acts of sin, as I It is, therefore, indeed the truth that related to thee.
every sin done against Me, the
secret sin is
which you ought
I
VII.
virtues are accomplished by means of our neighbour, and it is that virtues differ to such an extent in creatures.
HAVE
told thee
how
all
sins are accomplished
how
by means
of thy neighbour, through the principles which I exposed to thee, that is, because men are deprived of the affection of
In the same way which gives light to every virtue. and affection towards the self-love, which destroys charity neighbour, is the principle and foundation of every evil. All scandals, hatred, cruelty, and every sort of trouble proceed from this perverse root of self-love, which has poisoned the entire world, and weakened the mystical body of the Holy Church, and the universal body of the believers love,
in the Christian religion it
was
that
;
and, therefore,
in the neighbour, that is to
all
virtues
were founded
;
say
I
said to thee, that of him,
in the love
and, truly indeed did
I
to thee, that charity gives life to all the virtues, because
say
no
THE DIALOGUE OF
32
ST.
CATHERINE
virtue can be obtained without charity,
which
is
the pure
love of Me.
Wherefore, when the soul knows herself, as we have said above, she finds humility and hatred of her own sensual passion, for, she learns the perverse law, which is bound up in her members, and which ever fights against the spirit. "
And,
therefore, arising with hatred
of her
own
sensuality,,
under the heel of reason, with great earnestness, crushing she discovers in herself the bounty of My goodness, through the many benefits which she has received from Me, all of which she considers again in herself. She attributes to Me, through humility, the knowledge which she has obtained of herself, knowing that, by My grace, I have drawn her out of darkness and lifted her up into the light When she has recognised My good of true knowledge. loves it she without ness, any medium, and yet at the same time with a medium, that is to say, without the medium of herself or of any advantage accruing to herself, and with the medium of virtue, which she has conceived through love of Me, because she sees that, in no other way, can she become grateful and acceptable to Me, but by conceiving, hatred of sin and love of virtue ; and, when she has thus conceived by the affection of love, she immediately is delivered of fruit for her neighbour, because, in no other way, can she act out the truth she has conceived in herself, but, loving Me in truth, in the same truth she serves her it
neighbour. "
And
it
cannot be otherwise, because love of
Me
and of
her neighbour are one and the same thing, and, so far as the soul loves Me, she loves her neighbour, because love
This is the means which 1 towards him issues from Me. that have given you, you may exercise and prove your virtue therewith ; because, inasmuch as you can do Me noThis proves profit, you should do it to your neighbour.
you possess Me by grace in your soul, producing much fruit for your neighbour and making prayers to Me, seeking* with sweet and amorous desire My honour and the salvaThe soul, enamoured of My truth, never tion of souls. to serve the whole world in general, and more or ceases that
.
A TREATISE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE
33
less in a particular case according to the disposition of the
and the ardent desire of the donor, as I have I declared to thee that the endurance of
recipient
shown above, when
suffering alone, without desire,
a
was not
sufficient to
punish
fault.
When
she has discovered the advantage of this unitive by means of which, she truly loves herself, her desire for the salvation of the whole world, extending thus coming to the aid of its neediness, she strives, "
love in Me,
inasmuch as she has done good to herself by the conception of virtue, from which she has drawn the life of grace, to fix her eye on the needs of her neighbour in particular. Wherefore, when she has discovered, through the affection of love, the state of all rational creatures in general, she helps those who are at hand, according to the various graces
which
I have entrusted to her to administer ; one she helps with doctrine, that is, with words, giving sincere counsel without any respect of persons, another with the example of a good life, and this indeed all give to their neighbour,
the edification of a holy and honourable life. These are the virtues, and many others, too many to enumerate, which are brought forth in the love of the neighbour; but, although
have given them in such a
way, that is to say virtue, and to another, is that it it so another, impossible to have one, happens all the virtues are bound because without having them all, in Wherefore, learn, that, together. many cases I give one of the others, that is to virtue, to be as it were the chief say, to one I will give principally love, to another justice, to another humility, to one a lively faith, to another prudence or temperance, or patience, to another fortitude. These, and I
not
all
many
to one,
but
other virtues,
I
to
different
one, one
place, indifferently, in the souls of many
happens, therefore, that the particular one so placed in the soul becomes the principal object of its virtue; the soul disposing herself, for her chief conversation, to this creatures
;
it
rather than to other virtues, and, by the effect of this virtue, the soul draws to herself all the other virtues, which, as has
been said, are all bound together in the affection of love ; and so with many gifts and graces of virtue, and not only c
THE DIALOGUE OF
34
ST.
CATHERINE
I use in the case of spiritual things but also of temporal. to the the word temporal for the things necessary physical
of
life
man
;
all
these
have given indifferently, and I have one soul, in order that man should,
I
not placed them all in perforce, have material for love of his fellow.
I
could easily
have created men possessed of all that they should need both for body and soul, but I wish that one should have need of the other, and that they should be My ministers to administer the graces and the gifts that they have received from Me. Whether man will or no, he cannot help making
an
act of love.
It
is
true,
however, that that
act,
unless
made through grace
is
love of Me, profits him nothing so far as concerned. See then, that I have made men My
ministers, and placed them in diverse stations and various ranks, in order that they may make use of the virtue of love.
Wherefore, I show you that in My house are many mansions, and that I wish for no other thing than love, for "
Me is fulfilled and completed the love of the and the law observed. For he, only, can be of neighbour, use in his state of life, who is bound to Me with this love." in the love of
CHAPTER How
virtues are proved
and
VIII.
fortified
by
their contraries.
"Up to the present, I have taught thee how a man may serve his neighbour, and manifest, by that service, the love which he has towards Me. "
Now
I
wish
to tell thee further, that a
patience on his neighbour, him.
when he
man proves
his
receives injuries from
Similarly, he proves his humility on a proud man, his faith on an infidel, his true hope on one who despairs, "
justice on the unjust, his kindness on his gentleness and benignity on the irascible. produce and prove all their virtues on their
his
just as
perverse
men
all
the
cruel,
Good men neighbour, con-
their vices; thus, if thou
A TREATISE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE
35
The sider well, humility is proved on pride in this way. humble man extinguishes pride, because a proud man can do no harm to a humble one neither can the infidelity ;
who
of a wicked man,
when brought him any harm
neither loves Me, nor hopes in
Me,
forth against one who is faithful to Me, do his infidelity does not diminish the faith ;
or the hope of him who has conceived his faith and hope through love of Me, it rather fortifies it, and proves it in the love he feels for his neighbour. For, he sees that the infidel is unfaithful, because he is without hope in Me, and in
My
faith
servant, because he does not love Me, placing his in his own sensuality, which is all
and hope rather
that he loves.
My
servant does not leave him
faithful
because he does not faithfully love Me, or because he does not constantly seek, with hope in Me, for his salvation, inasmuch as he sees clearly the causes of his infidelity and
The virtue of faith is proved in these and lack of hope. other ways. Wherefore, to those, who need the proof of it, My servant proves his faith in himself and in his neighbour, and so, justice is not diminished by the wicked man s injustice,
but
is
rather
proved,
that
is
to
say,
the
justice of a just man.
benignity, and wrath by the
envy, vexation
Similarly, the virtues of patience, kindness manifest themselves in a time of
same sweet patience in My servants, and and hatred demonstrate their love, and
hunger and desire
for the salvation of souls.
to thee, that, not only
is
virtue proved in those
I
say, also,
who
render
times a good man gives back which coals of love, dispel the hatred and rancour fiery and so from hatred often comes of heart of the angry,
good
for evil, but, that
many
benevolence, and that this
by virtue of the love and which who sustains the anger of If thou wilt the wicked, bearing and supporting his defects. observe the virtues of fortitude and perseverance, these virtues are proved by the long endurance of the injuries and detractions of wicked men, who, whether by injuries or by flattery, constantly endeavour to turn a man aside from following the road and the doctrine of truth. Wherefore, perfect patience
in
all
is
is in him,
these things, the virtue of fortitude conceived within
THE DIALOGUE OF
36
ST.
CATHERINE
the soul, perseveres with strength, and, in addition proves itself externally upon the neighbour, as I have said to thee ; and,
if
fortitude
were not able
to
make
itself, being tested by many contrarieties, serious virtue founded in truth."
CHAPTER
good proof of would not be a
that it
IX.
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION How the
affection should not place reliance chiefly on penance, but rather on virtues and how discretion receives life from humility, and renders to each man his due. ;
"
THESE are the holy and sweet works which
My
soul, as I
I
seek from
these are the proved intrinsic virtues of the have told thee. They not only consist of those
servants
;
which are done by means of the body, that is, with an exterior act, or with diverse and varied penances, which are the instruments of virtue ; works of penance per formed alone without the above-mentioned virtues would
virtues
Me little often, indeed, if the soul perform not her penance with discretion, that is to say, if her affection be placed principally in the penance she has undertaken, her perfection will be impeded ; she should rather place reliance on the affection of love, with a holy hatred of herself, accompanied by true humility and perfect patience, together with the other intrinsic virtues of the soul, with hunger and desire for My honour and the salvation of souls. For these virtues demonstrate that the will is dead, and con
please
;
tinually slays its own sensuality through the affection of With this discretion, then, should the soul love of virtue.
perform her penance, that is, she should place her principal Penance should affection in virtue rather than in penance. be but the means to increase virtue according to the needs of the individual, and according to what the soul sees she can do in the measure of her own possibility. Otherwise, if
the soul place her foundation on penance she will con-
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION taminate her
own
perfection, because her
penance
37 will not
of knowledge of herself and of My goodness, with discretion, and she will not seize hold of My truth ; neither loving that which I love, nor hating that
be done in the
light
This virtue of discretion is no other than a true knowledge which the soul should have of herself and Discretion of Me, and in this knowledge is virtue rooted. is the only child of self-knowledge, and, wedding with charity, has indeed many other descendants, as a tree which has many branches ; but that which gives life to the tree, to its branches, and its root, is the ground of humility, in which it is planted, which humility is the foster-mother and nurse of charity, by whose means this tree remains in the perpetual Because otherwise the tree would not calm of discretion.
which
hate.
I
produce the virtue of discretion, or any fruit of life, if it were not planted in the virtue of humility, because humility And I have already said to proceeds from self-knowledge. thee, that the root of discretion is a real
and of
knowledge of
self
goodness, by which the soul immediately, and discreetly, renders to each one his due. Chiefly to Me in
My
rendering praise and glory to My Name, and in referring to Me the graces and the gifts which she sees and knows she has received from Me ; and rendering to herself that which
she sees herself to have merited, knowing that she does not even exist of herself, and attributing to Me, and not to herself,
her being, which she knows she has received by
grace from Me, and every other grace which she has received besides.
And
she seems to herself to be ungrateful for so many and negligent, in that she has not made the most of her time, and the graces she has received, and so seems to herself worthy of suffering wherefore she becomes odious and displeasing to herself through her guilt. And this founds the virtue of discretion on knowledge of self, that is on true humility, for, were this humility not in the soul, the soul would be indiscreet, indiscretion being founded on pride, as discretion is on humility. An indiscreet soul robs Me of the honour due to Me, and attributes it to herself, through vain glory, and that which is "
benefits,
;
"
38
THE DIALOGUE OF
really her
own she imputes
concerning in those of
My My
ST.
CATHERINE
to Me, grieving and murmuring mysteries, with which I work in her soul and other creatures ; wherefore everything in Me
and
Contrari in her neighbour is cause of scandal to her. wise those who possess the virtue of discretion. For, when they have rendered what is due to Me and to themselves, they proceed to render to their neighbour their principal debt of love, and of humble and continuous prayer, which all should pay to each other, and further, the debt of doctrine,
and example of a holy and honourable life, counselling and helping others according to their needs for salvation, as I said to thee above. Whatever rank a man be in, whether that he have this virtue, every is done discreetly and bound and mingled the ground of humility which
of a noble, a prelate, or a servant,
if
thing that he does to his neighbour lovingly, because these virtues are together, and both planted in
proceeds from
self-knowledge."
CHAPTER A
X.
parable showing how love, humility, and discretion are united and how the soul should conform herself to this parable.
;
DOST thou know how these three virtues stand together ? as if a circle were drawn on the surface of the earth, and a tree, with an off-shoot joined to its side, grew in the "
It is,
centre of the circle.
The
tree is nourished in the earth
circle, for if the tree were would die, and give no fruit. Now, consider, in the same way, that the soul is a tree existing by love, and that it can live by nothing else than love ;
contained in the diameter of the
out of the earth
it
and, that if this soul have not in very truth the divine love of perfect charity, she cannot produce fruit of life, but only It is necessary then, that the root of this tree, that is the affection of the soul, should grow in, and issue from the circle of true self-knowledge which is contained in
of death.
Me,
Who
have neither beginning nor end,
like the
circum-
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION ference of the circle,
for,
39
turn as thou wilt within a
circle,
inasmuch as the circumference has neither end nor begin ning, thou always remainest within it. This knowledge of thyself and of Me is found in the earth of true humility, which is as wide as the diameter of the circle, that is as the knowledge of self and of Me, (for, otherwise, the circle would not be without end and beginning, but would have its beginning in knowledge of self, and its end in confusion, if this knowledge were not contained in Then the tree of love feeds itself on humility, Me). bringing forth from its side the off-shoot of true discretion, in the way that I have already told thee, from the heart of the tree, that is the affection of love which is in the soul, and the patience, which proves that I am in the soul and the soul in Me. This tree then, so sweetly planted, pro duces fragrant blossoms of virtue, with many scents of great variety, inasmuch as the soul renders fruit of grace and of utility to her neighbour, according to the zeal of those who come to receive fruit from My servants and to Me she renders the sweet odour of glory and praise to My Name, and so fulfils the object of her creation. In this way, therefore, she reaches the term of her being, "
;
"
that is Myself, her
God,
Who am
Eternal Life.
And
these
cannot be taken from her without her will, inasmuch as they are all flavoured with discretion, because they are fruits
all
united, as has been said
above."
CHAPTER
XI.
How penance ments
and other corporal exercises are to be taken as instru and not as the principal affection of and of the light of discretion in various other modes
for arriving at virtue,
the soul
;
and operations. "
THESE are the
soul,
fruits
and the works which
I
seek from the
the proving, namely, of virtue in the time of need.
And
yet some time ago, if thou remember, when thou wert desirous of doing great penance for My sake, asking, What *
THE DIALOGUE OF
40
ST.
CATHERINE
can I do to endure suffering for Thee, oh Lord ? I replied to thee, speaking in thy mind, I take delight in few words and many works/ I wished to show thee that he who
merely Lord, for
I
My
Lord on me with the sound of words, saying would do something for Thee, and he, who desires sake to mortify his body with many penances, and t
calls
:
own will, did not give Me much pleasure ; but that desired the manifold works of manly endurance with
not his I
patience, together with the other virtues, which I have mentioned to thee above, intrinsic to the soul, all of which must be in activity in order to obtain fruits worthy of
grace.
than
All other works, founded on any other principle judge to be a mere calling with words, because
this, I
they are finite works, and I, Who am Infinite, seek infinite works, that is an infinite perfection of love. I wish therefore that the works of penance, and of other "
corporal exercises, should be observed merely as means, and not as the fundamental affection of the soul. For, if the affection of the soul were in placed penance, I principal
should receive a issued from the
finite
thing like a word, which, when it has is no more, unless it have issued
mouth,
with affection of the soul, which conceives and brings forth virtue in truth ; that is, unless the finite operation, which I
have called a word, should be joined with the affection or love, in which case it would be grateful and pleasant to Me. And this is because such a work would not be alone, but accompanied by true discretion, using corporal works as means, and not as the principal foundation ; for it would not be becoming that that principal foundation should be placed in penance only, or in any exterior corporal act, such works being finite, since they are done in finite time, and also because it is often profitable that the creature omit them, and even that she be made to do so.
Wherefore, when the soul omits them through necessity, being unable through various circumstances to complete an action which she has begun, or, as may frequently happen, through obedience at the order of her director, it is well ; since, if she continued then to do them, she not only would "
receive no merit, but
would offend
Me
;
thus thou seest
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
41
She ought, therefore, to adopt that they are merely finite. them as a means, and not as an end. For, if she takes them as an end she will be obliged, some time or other, to leave them, and will then remain empty. This, My trumpeter, the glorious Paul, taught you when he said in his epistle, that you should mortify the body and destroy self-will, knowing, that is to say, how to keep the rein on the body, macerating the flesh whenever it should wish to combat the spirit, but the will should be dead and annihilated in every thing, and subject to My will, and this slaying of the will is that due which, as I told thee, the virtue of discretion renders to the soul, that is to say, hatred and disgust of her own offences and sensuality, which are acquired by selfThis is the knife which slays and cuts off all knowledge. self-love founded in self-will. These then are they who give Me not only words but manifold works, and in these I take delight. And then I said that I desired few words, and many actions by the use of the word many I assign no ;
particular
number
founded in
love,
to thee, because the affection of the soul, life to all the virtues and good
which gives
works, should increase infinitely, and yet I do not, by this, exclude words, I merely said that I wished few of them, showing thee that every actual operation, as such, was finite,
and therefore
called them of little account but they they are performed as the instruments of virtue, and not as a principal end in themselves. However, no one should judge that he has greater perfec
please
I
;
Me when
"
tion,
because he performs great penances, and gives himself he who does less,
in excess to the slaying of his body, than
inasmuch as neither virtue nor merit consists therein for otherwise he would be in an evil case, who, from some Merit legitimate reason, was unable to do actual penance. ;
consists in the virtue of love alone, flavoured with the light of true discretion, without which the soul is worth nothing. And this love should be directed to Me endlessly, bound lessly, since I
am
the
Supreme and Eternal Truth.
The
soul can therefore place neither laws nor limits to her love for Me ; but her love for her neighbour, on the contrary, is
ordered
in
certain
conditions.
The
light
of
discretion
THE DIALOGUE OF
42
ST.
CATHERINE
(which proceeds from love, as I have told thee) gives to the neighbour a conditioned love, one that, being ordered aright, does not cause the injury of sin to self in order to be useful to others, for, if one single sin were committed to save the whole world from Hell, or to obtain one great
would not be a rightly ordered or dis rather indiscreet, for it is not lawful to perform even one act of great virtue and profit to others, by means of the guilt of sin. Holy discretion ordains that
virtue, the motive
creet
love, but
the soul should direct
all
her powers to
My
service with a
manly zeal, and, that she should love her neighbour with such devotion that she would lay down a thousand times, were
possible, the
life of her body for the salvation of and torments so that her neighbour souls, enduring pains have life of the may grace, and giving her temporal sub stance for the profit and relief of his body. This is the supreme office of discretion which proceeds from charity. So thou seest how discreetly every soul, who
if it
"
wishes for grace, should pay her debts, that is, should love Me with an infinite love and without measure, but her neighbour with measure, with a restricted love, as I have said,
not doing herself the injury of sin in order to be This is St. Paul s counsel to thee when
useful to others.
he says that charity ought to be concerned first with self, otherwise it will never be of perfect utility to others. Because, when perfection is not in the soul, everything which the soul does for itself and for others is imperfect. It would not, therefore, be just that creatures, who are finite and created by Me, should be saved through offence done to Me, Who am the Infinite Good. The more serious the fault is in such a case, the less fruit will the action produce ; there fore, in no way, shouldest thou ever incur the guilt of sin. "
And
this true love
knows
well,
because she carries with
herself the light of holy discretion, that light which dissipates all darkness, takes away ignorance, and is the condiment of
every instrument of virtue. Holy discretion is a prudence which cannot be cheated, a fortitude which cannot be beaten, a perseverance from end to end, stretching from Heaven to earth, that
is,
from knowledge of
Me
to
knowledge of
self,
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION and from love of
Me
to love of
others.
43
And
the soul
escapes dangers by her true humility, and, by her prudence, flies all the nets of the world and, its creatures, and, with
unarmed hands, that is through much endurance, discomfits the devil and the flesh with this sweet and glorious light ; knowing, by it, her due of hatred.
own
fragility,
she renders to her weakness
its
Wherefore she has trampled on the world, and placed it under the feet of her affection, despising it, and holding it And vile, and thus becoming lord of it, holding it as folly. the men of the world cannot take her virtues from such a soul, but all their persecutions increase her virtues and prove them, which virtues have been at first conceived by the virtue of love, as has been said, and then are proved on her neighbour, and bring forth their fruit on him. Thus have I shown thee, that, if virtue were not visible and did not shine in the time of trial, it would not have been truly conceived ; for, I have already told thee, that perfect virtue cannot exist and give fruit except by means of the neigh bour, even as a woman, who has conceived a child, if she "
do not bring it forth, so that it may appear before the eyes of men, deprives her husband of his fame of paternity. It is the same with Me, am the Spouse of the soul, if
Who
she do not produce the child of virtue, in the love of her neighbour, showing her child to him who is in need, both in general and in particular, as I have said to thee before, so I declare now that, in truth, she has not conceived virtue at all;
and
this is also true
committed by means of the
of the
CHAPTER A
vices, all
of which are
neighbour."
XII.
repetition of several things already said, and how God promises refreshments to His servants, and the reformation of the Holy
Church, together with the means of much endurance. "
Now
thee,
thou seest that I, the Truth, have spoken truth to and have given thee the doctrine by which thou mayest
THE DIALOGUE OF
44
ST.
CATHERINE
and preserve great perfection ; and I have also declared to thee, in what way satisfaction is made, both for the guilt and the penalty, in thyself and in thy neighbour,
attain
saying to thee that the sufferings sustained by the creature, while in the mortal body, are not, of themselves, a sufficient expiation for the fault and the pain due to it, unless they are combined with the affection of love, and true contrition and displeasure of sin ; for, when suffering is combined
with love
it
satisfies,
not by virtue of the actual suffering
endured, but by virtue of the love and the grief for sin committed, which love is obtained by the light of the
with a pure and generous heart gazing at Me, as Who am Love itself. All this I have shown thee because thou didst ask Me if thou couldest suffer for My
intellect,
its object,
glory.
And
and
other servants
My
I
have shown
may
this to thee, in order that thou know how you should sacrifice
In your sacrifice, I say, both act and yourselves to me. be united as a vessel which is presented to should ; thought the Lord, is united with the water it contains, for the water could not be presented without the vessel, and the vessel would not be pleasing to Him if it did not contain the water. ,
>
So
say to you, that you ought to offer to many fatiguing actions, in whatever way I
Me
the vessel of
send them to after own neither your fashion, you, choosing, place, nor be full, nor the vessel should actions. Therefore time, that is, you should endure all those fatigues, with affection of
and
I
defects of patience, supporting the If you hatred and with of sin. displeasure your neighbour, do so, these labours which I have given you become a grateful vessel, full of the water of My grace which gives
love
true
and then I receive this gift from My sweet from every soul who serves Me well. I receive her anxieties, her desires, her tears, her humble sighs, and her continual prayers ; all which things are a means, by which, through love, I appease My wrath against My enemies, the men of iniquity who so greatly offend Me. So, endure manfully, even unto death, and this will be a sign to Me that you love Me and you should not turn your faces away and look askance at the plough, through fear of any to the soul, spouses, that is life
;
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION creature or of
should you
any
tribulation, rather, in
The world
45
such tribulations
rejoices in doing
you many and you are saddened on account of the injuries done in the world, and the offences which you see done against yourselves, which offend both you and Me, because Thou seest truly, that I have become one thing with you. I, having originally given you My image and similitude, and rejoice.
injuries,
My grace through sin, in order to restore of grace, I united My nature to you, covering with the veil of your humanity, and thus, while you, by
you, having lost to it
you
that
life
creation, possessed
human
My
image,
I
took your image in taking
am
therefore one thing with you, if indeed the soul do not leave Me through the guilt of mortal
the
form.
I
sin ; but he, who loves Me, remains in Me, and I in him, and yet the world persecutes him, because the world has no conformity with Me, and, in the same way, persecuted My
only begotten Son, even to the shameful death of the Cross. It does the same to you, it persecutes, and will persecute you, even unto death, because it loves Me not, for if, the
world had loved Me, it would also have loved you ; but I also rejoice, because your joy will be great in Heaven. say to thee that, as the mystical body of the Church abounds now in tribulation, so shall it one day abound all the more in sweetness, and consolation, and this shall be its sweetness the reformation produced by holy and good pastors, who are flowers of glory ; for they render glory and praise to My Name, rendering to Me the sweet odours of virtues The reformation concerns those odori founded on truth. ferous flowers, My ministers and pastors, not the fruit of My spouse, which never needs to be reformed, because it neither diminishes nor is hurt by the defects of My ministers. So do thou rejoice, and the spiritual father of thy soul, and My other servants, in the bitterness of your sorrow, because, in My Eternal Truth, I have promised to give you refreshment, and after your sorrow I will give you most sustaining consolation, with much substance in the reforma "
tion of the
Holy
Church."
THE DIALOGUE OF
46
ST.
CHAPTER
CATHERINE
XIII.
How
this soul grew by means of the divine response, and how her sorrows grew less, and how she prayed to God for the Holy Church, and for her own people.
THEN
and burning with the very great had conceived on learning the ineffable love of God, shewn in His great goodness, and, seeing the breadth of His charity, that, with such sweetness, He had deigned to reply to her request and to satisfy it, giving hope to the sorrow which she had conceived, on account of offences against God, and the damage of the Holy church, and through His own mercy, which she saw through self-know ledge, diminished, and yet, at the same time, increased her "
that soul, thirsting
desire that she
sorrow. "
way
For, the Supreme and Eternal Father, in manifesting the of perfection, showed her anew her own guilt, and the
more fully above. Also because in the knowledge which the soul obtains of herself, she knows more of God, and knowing the goodness of God loss of souls, as has been said
in herself, the sweet mirror of God,
dignity and
Her
is
she knows her own that of her creation,
indignity. dignity seeing that she is the image of God, and this has been given her by grace, and not as her due. In that same mirror of the
goodness of God, the soul knows her own indignity, which the consequence of her own fault. Wherefore, as a man more readily sees spots on his face when he looks in a
is
mirror, so, the soul who, with true knowledge of self, rises with desire, and gazes with the eye of the intellect at herself in the sweet mirror of God, knows better the stains of her own face, by the purity which she sees in Him. "Wherefore,
because light and knowledge increased in that
soul in the aforesaid way, a sweet sorrow grew in her, and at the same time, her sorrow was diminished by the hope
which the Supreme Truth gave her, and, as fire grows when fed with wood, so grew the fire in that soul to such an extent that it was no longer possible for the body to endure it is
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
47
so that, had she not without the departure of the soul been surrounded by the strength of Him who is the Supreme Strength, it would not have been possible for her to have
it
;
lived any longer. This soul then, being purified by the fire of divine love, which she found in the knowledge of herself and of God, and her hunger for the salvation of the whole world, and for the reformation of the Holy Church, having grown with her hope of obtaining the same, rose with con
Supreme Father, showing Him the leprosy of the Holy Church, and the misery of the world, saying,^ as if with the words of Moses. My Lord, turn the eyes of Thy mercy upon Thy people, and upon the mystical fidence before the
"
body of the Holy Church, fied if
Thou pardonest
Thou wilt be the more glori many creatures, and givest to
for
so
knowledge, since all will render Thee praise see themselves escape through Thy infinite good ness from the clouds of mortal sin, and from eternal damna tion ; and then Thou wilt not only be praised by my
them the
light of
when they
wretched self, who have so much offended Thee, and who am the cause and the instrument of all this evil, for which reason I pray Thy divine and eternal love to take Thy revenge on me, and to do mercy to Thy people, and never will I depart from before Thy presence until I see that thou For what is it to me if I have life, grantest them mercy.
and Thy people death, and the clouds of darkness cover Thy spouse, when it is my own sins, and not those of Thy other I desire, creatures, that are the principal cause of this ? that Thou have of and mercy then, Thee, by Thy grace, beg
on Thy
people, and
I
adjure
Thee
that
Thou do
this
by Thy
uncreated love which moved Thee Thyself to create man in Thy image and similitude, saying, Let us make man in our
own image, and this Thou didst, oh eternal man might participate in everything belonging
Trinity, that to
Thee, the
most high and eternal Trinity." Wherefore Thou gavest him memory in order to re ceive Thy benefits, by which he participates in the power of and intellect that he might know, see the Eternal Father and so might participate in the wisdom of ing Thy goodness, Thine only-begotten Son and will, that he might love that "
;
;
/
THE DIALOGUE OF
48
ST.
CATHERINE
intellect has seen and known of Thy truth, thus What participating in the clemency of Thy Holy Spirit. reason hadst Thou for creating man in such dignity? The
which his
inestimable love with which
Thou sawest Thy
creature in
Thyself, and didst become enamoured of him, for Thou didst create him through love, and didst destine him to be
such that he might taste and enjoy Thy Eternal Good. I see therefore that through his sin he lost this dignity in
which Thou didst originally place him, and by against Thee,
fell
that is to say,
we
"Therefore,
into a state of
his rebellion
war with Thy kindness,
became Thy enemies. Thou, moved by that same fire of love with all
which Thou didst create him, didst willingly give man a
means of
reconciliation, so that after the great rebellion into
there should come a great peace and him the only-begotten Word, Thy Son to be the Mediator between us and Thee. He was our Justice, for He took on Himself all our offences and in justices, and performed Thy obedience, Eternal Father, which Thou didst impose on Him, when Thou didst clothe
which he had so
Thou
Him
fallen,
;
didst give
with our humanity, our
human
nature and likeness.
Oh, abyss of love ! What heart can help breaking when it sees such dignity as Thine descend to such lowliness as our
humanity ? We are Thy image, and Thou hast become ours, by this union which Thou hast accomplished with man, veiling the Eternal Deity with the cloud of woe, and the For what reason ? Love. corrupted clay of Adam. O hast become man, and man has God, Wherefore, Thou, become God. By this ineffable love of Thine, therefore, I constrain Thee, and implore Thee that Thou do mercy ta
Thy
creatures."
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
CHAPTER
49
XIV.
How God
grieves over the Christian people, and particularly over and touches on the subject of the Sacrament of ; Christ s Body, and the benefit of the Incarnation.
His ministers
THEN God,
the eye of His mercy towards her, allowing Himself to be constrained by her tears, and bound by the chain of her holy desire, replied with lamentation
turning
sweetest daughter, thy tears constrain Me, because they are joined with My love, and fall for love of Me, and thy painful desires force Me to answer thee ; but marvel, and "
My
and become leprous, on account of her filthiness and self-love, and swollen with the pride and avarice of those who feed on their see
how My spouse has
own
defiled her face,
sin.
say of the universal body and the mystical body of the Holy Church (that is to say the Christian religion) I also say of My ministers, who stand and feed at the "What I
Holy Church ; and, not only should they feed themselves, but it is also their duty to feed and hold to those breasts the universal body of Christian people, and
breasts of
any other people who should wish to leave the darkness of their infidelity, and bind themselves as members to My See then with what ignorance and darkness, and Church. ingratitude, are administered, and with what filthy hands also
are handled this glorious milk and blood of My spouse, and with what presumption and irreverence they are received.
Wherefore, that which really gives the defects of those
who
receive
life, it,
often gives, through that is to say, ;
death
My only-begotten Son, which destroyed death and darkness, and gave life and truth, and confounded For I give this Blood and use It for salvation falsehood. and perfection in the case of that man who disposes himself
the precious Blood of
properly to receive it, for It gives life and adorns the soul with every grace, in proportion to the disposition and affec tion of him who receives It ; similarly It gives death to him who receives It unworthily, living in iniquity and in the
D
THE DIALOGUE OF
50
ST.
CATHERINE
darkness of mortal sin ; to him, I say, It gives death and not not through defect of the Blood, nor through defect of ; the minister, though there might be great evil in him, because his evil would not spoil nor defile the Blood nor diminish Its grace and virtue, nor does an evil minister
life
do harm to
him
whom
he gives the Blood, but to of guilt, which will be followed by punishment, unless he correct himself with contrition and I say then that the Blood does harm to him repentance. to
himself he does the
harm
who
receives it unworthily, not through defect of the Blood, nor of the minister, but through his own evil disposition and defect inasmuch as he has befouled his mind and body with such impurity and misery, and has been so cruel to himself and his neighbour. He has used cruelty to himself,
depriving himself of grace, trampling affection the fruit of the Blood which
under the feet of his he had received in Holy Baptism, when the stain of original sin was taken from him by virtue of the Blood, which stain he drew from his origin, when he was generated by his father and mother.
Wherefore I gave My Word, My only-begotten Son, because the whole stuff of human generation was corrupted "
through the sin of the you, vessels
made
first
of this
man Adam. stuff,
Wherefore,
all
of
were corrupted and not
so I, with My disposed to the possession of eternal life to the baseness of dignity, joined Myself your human generation, in order to restore lost
by
sin
account of
;
for guilt,
But man was not
I
it
My
divine
which you had suffering, and yet, on
to grace
was incapable of justice
demanded
suffering.
even if he had satisfied to a certain extent, he could only have satisfied for himself, and not for other rational creatures, besides which, neither for himself, nor for others, could man satisfy, his sin having been committed against Me, who am the Infinite Good. Wishing, however, to restore man, who was en and could not satisfy for the above reason, I sent feebled, sufficient to satisfy
it,
for,
My Word, My own Son, clothed in your the corrupted clay of Adam, in order that suffering in that self-same nature in which
own very
He
nature,
might endure man had offended,
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION suffering in
51
His body even to the opprobrious death of the He satisfied My justice and My divine mercy.
Cross, and so
For and
My mercy willed to dispose
him
to
make
to that
satisfaction for the sin of
good
for
which
I
man
had created
This human nature, joined with the divine nature, whole human race, not only on account of the pain which it sustained in its finite him.
was
sufficient to satisfy for the
nature, that
is in
the flesh of
and
Adam, but by
virtue of the
nature joined to it. The two natures being thus joined together, I received and accepted the sacrifice of My only-begotten Son, kneaded into one dough with the divine nature, by the fire of divine love Eternal
Deity, the divine
which was the
fetter
infinite
which held him fastened and nailed
to
Thus human nature was sufficient the Cross in this way. to satisfy for guilt, but only by virtue of the divine nature. And in this way was destroyed the stain of Adam s sin, only the mark of
it remaining behind, that is an inclination and to every sort of corporeal defect, like the cicatrice In this which remains when a man is healed of a wound.
to sin,
the original fault of Adam was able still to cause a wherefore the coming of the great Physician, ; that is to say, of My only-begotten Son, cured this invalid,
way
fatal stain
He drinking this bitter medicine, which man could not drink on account of his great weakness, like a fostermother who takes medicine instead of her suckling, because she is grown up and strong, and the child is not fit to He was man s foster-mother, en endure its bitterness. the with greatness and strength of the Deity united during, with your nature, the bitter medicine of the painful death of the Cross, to give life to you little ones debilitated by I say therefore that the mark alone of original sin guilt.
remains, which sin you take from your father and your mother when you are generated by them. But this mark
removed from the soul, though not altogether, by Holy Baptism, which has the virtue of communicating the life of grace by means of that glorious and precious Blood. Where is
fore, at the
moment
that the soul receives
Holy Baptism,
original sin is taken away from her, and grace is infused into her, and that inclination to sin, which remains from
THE DIALOGUE OF
52
ST.
CATHERINE
the original corruption, as has been said, is indeed a source of weakness, but the soul can keep the bridle on it if she Then the vessel of the soul is disposed to receive choose. in herself grace, more or less, according as it her to pleases dispose herself willingly with affection, and desire of loving and serving Me ; and, in the same way, she can dispose herself to evil as to good, in spite of her having
and increase
Wherefore when the time received grace in Holy Baptism. of discretion is come, the soul can, by her free will, make choice either of good or evil, according as it pleases her and so great is this liberty that man has, and so strong has this liberty been made by virtue of this glorious Blood, that no demon or creature can constrain him to one smallest He has been redeemed from fault without his free consent. in free order that he might govern his and made slavery, will
;
own
sensuality,
and obtain the end
for
which he was created.
Oh, miserable man, who delights to remain in the mud like a brute, and does not learn this great benefit which he has received from
Me
wretched creature
full
!
A
benefit so great, that the poor
of such ignorance could receive no
greater."
CHAPTER XV. How
more gravely punished after the Passion of Christ than and how God promises to do mercy to the world, and to the Holy Church, by means of the prayers and sufferings of His sin is
before
;
servants.
AND I wish thee to know, My daughter, that, although I have re-created and restored to the life of grace, the human race, through the Blood of My only-begotten Son, as I have said, men are not grateful, but, going from bad to worse, and from guilt to guilt, even persecuting Me with many injuries, taking so little account of the graces which I have given them, and continue to give them, that, not only do they not attribute what they have received to grace, but seem to themselves on occasion to receive injuries from Me, "
as
if
I
desired anything else than their sanctification.
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
53
I say to thee that they will be more hard-hearted, and worthy of more punishment, and will, indeed, be punished more severely, now that they have received redemption in the Blood of My Son, than they would have been before "
that is, before the stain that redemption took place It is right that sin had been taken away.
of
Adam s
he who receives more should render more, and should be under greater obligations to Him from whom he receives
more.
Man, then, was closely bound to Me through his being which I had given him, creating him in My own image and similitude; for which reason, he was bound to render Me glory, but he deprived Me of it, and wished to give it to Thus he came to transgress My obedience im himself. And I, with My on him, and became My enemy. posed his pride, humiliating the divine na humility, destroyed and ture, taking your humanity, and, freeing you from the "
made you
And, not only did I give you liberty, but, you examine, you will see that man has become God, and God has become man, through the This is the union of the divine with the human nature. that is to say, the treasure debt which they have incurred of the Blood, by which they have been procreated to grace. See, therefore, how much more they owe after the redemp For they are now obliged to render Me tion than before. and glory praise by following in the steps of My Incarnate service of the devil,
I
free.
if
My only-begotten Son, for then they repay Me the debt of love both of Myself and of their neighbour, with true and genuine virtue, as I have said to thee above, and Word,
they do not do it, the greater their debt, the greater will be the offence they fall into, and therefore, by divine justice, if
the greater their suffering in eternal damnation. "A false Christian is punished more than a pagan, and the fire of divine justice consumes him more, that is, him more, and, in his affliction, he feels himself being consumed by the worm of conscience, though, in truth, he is not consumed, because the damned do not lose their being through any torment which they receive. Wherefore I say to thee, that they ask for death and cannot have it, for they
deathless
afflicts
THE DIALOGUE OF
54
ST.
CATHERINE
cannot lose their being ; the existence of grace they lose, through their fault, but not their natural existence. There fore guilt is more gravely punished after the Redemption ol the Blood than before, because man received more ; but sinners neither seem to perceive this, nor to pay any atten
own sins, and so become My enemies, though have reconciled them, by means of the Blood of My Son. But there is a remedy with which I appease My wrath tion to their I
that is to say, by means of servants, if they are jealous to constrain Me by their desire. Thou seest, therefore, that
My
thou hast bound Me with this bond which I have given thee, because I wished to do mercy to the world. "
Therefore
I
servants hunger and desire for My souls, so that, constrained by mitigate the fury of My divine justice.
give
My
honour, and the salvation of their tears,
I
may
Take, therefore, thy tears and thy sweat, drawn from the fountain of My divine love, and, with them, wash the face of
My
spouse.
means, her beauty will be restored to her, not by the knife nor by cruelty, but peace fully, by humble and continued prayer, by the sweat and the tears shed by the fiery desire of My servants, and thus will I fulfil thy desire if thou, on thy part, endure much, casting the light of thy patience into the darkness of per verse man, not fearing the world s persecutions, for I will protect thee, and My Providence shall never fail thee in the "
I
promise thee,
slightest
that,
by
this
need."
CHAPTER
XVI.
How this
soul, knowing the Divine Goodness, did not remain content to pray only for Christians, but prayed in general for the whole world.
THEN that soul (rising on the wings of greater knowledge, and standing before the Divine Majesty with very great joy and comfort, both through the hope which she had received of the Divine Mercy, and the ineffable love which she had
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
55
tasted, seeing that God, on account of His love and desire to do mercy to men, in spite of their being His enemies, had given the means and the way to His servants to con
strain
His own goodness, and appease His anger), rejoiced,
losing
all
fear of the persecutions of the world, seeing that side, and the fire of her holy desire grew
God was on her greatly,
so that she could
not remain content, but, with
holy confidence, begged mercy for the whole world. And in her second this, although prayer, she asked for the good and profit of Christians and of the faithful, that is to say for
of Holy Church, nevertheless, in her she her hunger, spread prayer over the whole world, as if the world itself caused her to pray, crying Oh, Eternal for the reformation
"
God that
Thy lambs, like the Good Shepherd not delay Thy mercy to the world, seems to be hardly able to exist any longer
Give mercy
!
Thou
because
it
to
Do
art.
but to be entirely deprived of the union of love Thee, the Eternal Truth, and men seem equally deprived of love towards each other, for they do not love without
it,
with
each other with a love founded in
CHAPTER
Thee."
XVII.
How God laments over
His rational creatures, principally on account of the self-love which reigns in them; strengthening the above mentioned soul for greater efforts of prayer and tears.
THEN God, means
all
to light
inflamed with love for our salvation, took up a greater love and a greater grief in that
showing, in the following way, with what love He had created man, of which something has been said above. And He said Dost thou not see how every man soul,
"
:
persecutes Me, and yet I have created him with such a fire of love, and given him grace and mercy, infinite gifts, See then, through My free grace and not of his own due.
with how many and diverse sins they persecute and Me, especially with their miserable self-love, from which
My daughter,
THE DIALOGUE OF
56
ST.
CATHERINE
proceeds every evil. With this self-love, they have poisoned the whole world, for, just as the love of Me contains in itself
every virtue brought forth upon their neighbour, as I have shown thee, so sensual self-love, since it proceeds from pride (and love of Me proceeds from charity), contains in itself every evil ; and these evils they perform by means of creatures, being separated and divided from love of their neighbour, since, not loving Me, they do not love him either;
two loves are joined together, and therefore I said all good and all evil was done by means I have therefore much to grieve over in man, who from Me has received nothing but good, and yet renders Me hatred, working every sort of iniquity. This I have said to thee, in order that, through the tears of My servants, I might mitigate My wrath. Therefore do for these
to thee above, that of the neighbour.
you,
My
servants, prepare yourselves before
Me
with
many
prayers and anxious desires, and with grief for the sin which is done against Me and for the damnation of souls.
And
so will you mitigate the wrath of Divine
CHAPTER How
Justice."
XVIII.
no man can escape from the hands of God, him either in Mercy or in Justice.
for
God
visits
AND know, My
dearest daughter, that no one can escape hands, for I Am, and you are not in in but so far as yourselves, only you act through Me,
from
Am Who
My
Who
am
the Creator of
except sin which
is
and, inasmuch as being loved. For
things which share the gift of being, nothing, and therefore not made by Me,
all
it
is
not found in Me,
it is
not worthy of
this reason the creature sins
and
offends,
because she loves that which she ought not to love, namely sin, and hates Me, whom she is obliged and bound to love, because I am the Supreme Good, and have given her being with such fire of love. Outside of Me souls cannot go, because
they are either in
Me
through justice for their
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION sins,
or
through
Open thou
mercy.
the
57
of thine
eye
hand, and thou wilt see that the
gaze into My have said to thee." Then she, lifting her eyes, in obedience to the Supreme Father, saw, clenched in the hollow of His hand, the whole
intellect to
truth is as
I
universe, and God said to her daughter, see and learn that no one can be taken from Me ; for all "
:
My
now who
are here, are here through justice, or through mercy, as I have said, for they are Mine, and created by Me, and I love
them ineffably and yet, in spite of their iniquity, I will do them mercy, by means of My servants, and will grant the petition which, with such grief and love, thou hast asked of ;
Me."
CHAPTER How this
soul,
XIX.
growing in amorous heat, yearned to sweat blood made a particular prayer for the spiritual ;
and, accusing herself, father of her soul.
THEN
that soul, as
increasing sorrowful.
fire
if
dumb and
beside herself through the
of her holy desire, remained both blessed and
She was blessed through
the union which she had with and God, tasting joy goodness, being wholly immersed in His mercy. And she was sorrowful, seeing such goodness offended and she rendered thanks to the Divine Majesty, that God had manifested to her the defects of His knowing in order that she should be constrained to exert creatures, herself with greater desire and anxiety for their salvation, and this feeling for souls was so renewed in her, and this holy and amorous fire grew to such a pitch, that she desired that the sweat of water, cast out of her, by the violence done to her body by her soul, should be a sweat of blood. She thus sweated, through the force and heat of love, because the union which her soul had with God was more but she perfect than the union of her soul with her body despised it through the great desire which she had to see a ;
;
THE DIALOGUE OF
58
ST.
CATHERINE
of blood issue from her body, saying to herself: Oh, my soul ! thou hast lost all the time of thy life, and yet so many evils and troubles have come upon the world,
sweat "
and the Holy Church, both in general and and I will, therefore, that thou bear remedy with a sweat of
in
particular ; to these evils
blood."
In truth this soul had well taken to heart the doctrine
which the Truth had taught her, namely, ever to know her self and the goodness of God in her, and the remedy with which she should try and heal the whole world, and appease the wrath of God and His divine justice, that is, humble, continuous and holy prayer. Then, this soul, cast prone by holy desire, arose, opening wider the eye of the intellect, gazing on herself in the divine love, when she saw and tasted how we~are bound far
by love
to seek the glory
and the praise of God
in
the
salvation of souls.
And
God to be called to this, and Truth particularly called and elected the This spiritual father she spiritual father of her soul. carried before the Divine Goodness, praying that It would shed on him a ray of grace, so that he might truly follow the Truth Itself. she saw the servants of
that the Eternal
CHAPTER XX. tribulations with patience, it is impossible to please God and how God comforts her and her spiritual father to endure with true patience.
How, without enduring ;
THEN God,
replying to her third petition (namely, the prayer of her hunger for the salvation of the spiritual father of her soul), said :
wish him to seek, namely, which he has for But this he could not have, neither he, nor thou, nor any one else, without "
Daughter,
this
is
what
I
to please Me, the Truth, in the hunger the salvation of souls with all solicitude.
many
troubles, as
I
said to thee above, according to the
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION measure
in
desire to see
which
I
59
Wherefore, if thou give them you. in the Holy Church, thou oughtest
My honour,
so to love as to wish to endure with true patience ; and, by other servants this, I shall see that he and thou and My
honour
My
seek
in
truth.
Then he
will
become
My
dearest son, and will repose himself and others upon the breast of My only-begotten Son, whom I have made the all arrive at your end, and your labours which you have Bear yourselves then man the love of Me.
Bridge by which you receive the
endured for
of
fruit
may
all
fully."
CHAPTER XXL How the road to Heaven being broken through Adam, God made
the disobedience ot
Son a Bridge by which man could
pass.
I have made a Bridge only-begotten Son, and this is the wish that you, My children, should know that
WHEREFORE My Word,
of
truth.
of his
I
I
have told thee that
of
My
was broken by the
sin and disobedience of Adam, way, that no one could arrive at Eternal Life. Wherefore men did not render Me glory in the way in which they ought to have, as they did not participate in that Good for which I had created them, and My truth was not This truth is that I have created man to My fulfilled. own image and similitude, in order that he might have Eternal Life, and might partake of Me, and taste My But, after supreme and eternal sweetness and goodness. sin had closed Heaven and bolted the doors of mercy, the soul of man produced thorns and prickly brambles, and My creature found in himself rebellion against himself.
the road
in such a
And
the flesh immediately began to war against the the state of innocency, became a foul animal, and all created things rebelled against man, whereas they would have been obedient to him, had he remained in "
Spirit, and, losing
the state in which therein,
I
transgressed
had placed him.
My
He, not remaining
obedience, and merited
eternal
THE DIALOGUE OF
6o
ST.
CATHERINE
death in soul and body. And, as soon as he had sinned, a flood which ever buffets him with its tempestuous arose, him weariness and trouble from himself, waves, bringing
Every one was drowned in the because no one, with his own justice alone, could arrive at Eternal Life. And so, wishing to remedy your I have great evils, given you the Bridge of My Son, in the devil, and the world.
flood,
order that, passing
across
drowned, which flood
the
flood,
be
you may not
the tempestuous sea of this dark life. See, therefore, under what obligations the creature is to Me, and how ignorant he is, not to take the remedy
which
I
have
is
offered, but to
be willing to
CHAPTER How God
drown."
XXII.
induces the soul to look at the greatness of this Bridge, it reaches from earth to Heaven.
inasmuch as
OPEN, my daughter, the eye of thy intellect, and thou wilt see the accepted and the ignorant, the imperfect, and also the perfect who follow Me in truth, so that thou mayest "
grieve over the damnation of the ignorant, and rejoice over the perfection of My beloved servants. "
Thou
walk
wilt see further
in the light,
how
those bear themselves
and those who walk
also wish thee to look
at
the Bridge of
who
the darkness.
in
My
Son, and see the greatness thereof, for
it
I
only begotten reaches from
Heaven
to earth, that is, that the earth of your ioined to the greatness of the Deity thereby.
humanity
is
say then that this Bridge reaches from Heaven to earth, and con stitutes the union which I have made with man.
This was necessary, in order to reform was broken, as I said to thee, in order
the that
I
road which
man
should
pass through the bitterness of the world, and arrive at life ; but the Bridge could not be made of earth sufficiently large to
span the flood and give you Eternal
earth of
human
Life,
because the
nature was not sufficient to satisfy for
guilt,
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
61
Adam s sin. Which stain corrupted race and gave out a stench, as I have It was, therefore, necessary to join said to thee above. human nature with the height of My nature, the Eternal to
remove the
stain of
human
the whole
might be
Deity, so that
it
human
so that
race,
sufficient to satisfy for the
human
nature should
whole
sustain
the
punishment, and that the Divine nature, united with the human, should make acceptable the sacrifice of My only Son, offered to Me to take death from you and to give you life. So the height of the Divinity, humbled to the earth, and joined with your humanity, made the Bridge and reformed the road. Why was this done ? In order that "
man might come And observe, that have
life,
that
My
unless you walk
to it is
his true happiness with the angels. not enough, in order that you should
Son should have made you
this Bridge,
thereon."
CHAPTER
XXIII.
How we
are all labourers of God in the vineyard of the Holy Church and how each man has his own vine and how we all must be united in the Son of God, the True Vine. ;
;
AT
Truth proceeded to show her that, us had created without ourselves, He would not though save us without ourselves. Wherefore He wishes us to use our free will by our own unfettered choice, passing our time in the exercise of true virtues, and so continuing from point The Eternal Truth added, "You must all walk to point. across this Bridge, seeking the glory and praise of My this point the Eternal
He
Name
in
the
suffering your
salvation
many
of
souls,
enduring with patient
fatigues, following the footsteps of this
Word for in no other way can you and Me, you are My labourers, set to work in the of the vineyard Holy Church. You labour in the universal of the Christian body religion, placed there by My Grace, received the light of Holy Baptism, which from Me having sweet and amorous arrive at
;
THE DIALOGUE OF
62
has
incorporated
you
the
into
Church, at the hands of to labour at your side.
ST.
My
CATHERINE
mystical
body of Holy
whom
I have placed are placed in the universal body of the Church, and they are placed in her mystical body to feed your souls, ministering to you the Blood in the Sacraments which you receive from the Church, their
ministers,
You
task being to extract the thorns of mortal sin, and to plant in you the seed of grace. They are my labourers in the
vine
of your
that is
soul,
upon the vine of the Holy
grafted
And
every rational creature has her own vine, the vine of her soul she labours this vine by means
Church.
;
of her will and free choice in time, that is to say, while she lives, but when the time is past she can do no more work, neither good nor evil, but only while she lives can she
the vine in which
till
have placed her. And she has received such strength for this labour of her soul that neither the devil nor any other creature can take for she was strengthened it from her without her consent in the reception of Holy Baptism, and there was given her I
"
;
then a pruning-knife with the blades of love of virtue and hatred of sin, through which very same love, and hatred of sin, My only-begotten Son died, giving you His Blood by So you have the which you have life in Holy Baptism. knife which you should use, by your own free choice, while you have the time, to cut out the thorns of mortal sins and plant the virtues, because in no other way could you receive the fruit of the Blood from the ministers labouring at My orders in the Holy Church, of whom I say that they remove mortal sin from the vine of the soul and give her grace, showing forth the Blood in the Sacraments which are
ordained in the Church.
is
It
necessary, therefore, that contrition of
you should first wash yourselves with true heart, and hatred of sin, and love of virtue ;
then, indeed,
will receive the fruit of the Blood, but in
no other way
you will for
you be able to receive it, unless you dispose yourselves your part, as good branches united to the vine of My
I am the true vine, and My only-begotten Son Who said Father is the husbandman, and you are the branches" And this, indeed, is the truth, that I am the Husbandman, for (
:
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
63
everything that has being has proceeded and proceeds from
Me. power is inestimable, for by it, I govern the whole universe, and nothing was ever made or governed without I am the Husbandman who planted the true Vine of Me.
My
My
only-begotten
Son
in the earth of
your humanity, so
that you, being branches joined to the Vine, may bring forth But he who does not bring forth the fruit of holy fruit.
actions will be cut off from the Vine, and will wither away. For, being separated from the Vine, he loses the life of grace
and
is
cast into eternal
fire,
even as the branch which
brings forth no fruit is cut off from the Vine and burnt, Such as these, who are cut being good for nothing else. off for their offences,
and die
in the guilt of mortal sin, the
Divine Justice casts into the eternal fire, since they are These have not laboured their own good for nothing else. vine, but, on the contrary, have destroyed it, and not only their own but that of their neighbour ; and yet it seems to
them
that they have planted a
good strong plant of virtue, has not sprung from the seed of grace, which they received with the light of Holy Baptism, sharing the Blood of My Son which was the wine produced by this true Vine. But they have taken that seed and have cast it as food to
but
it
and many sinners, and so they have own disordinate lust, and trampled have ruined themselves and their neighbours but My servants do not so, and you should imitate them, that is, you should remain calmly united to the true Vine, and then you beasts, that is to divers it
under the
feet of their
;
much
because you will participate in And, remaining thus in My Word, you will remain in Me, because He and I are together one thing.
will bring forth
fruit,
the sap thereof.
Remaining in Him, you will follow His teaching, and follow ing His teachihg, you will participate in the very substance of His Divine Word, that is, you will participate in My Eternal Deity, joined to your humanity, leading you on by a Divine love which intoxicates the soul, and therefore I
said that
you share the substance of the Vine.
THE DIALOGUE OF
64
ST.
CATHERINE
CHAPTER XXIV. How God farms
and prunes His vine
;
and how each man
s
vine
is
so closely united with his neighbour s, that he cannot either cultivate or ruin the one without the other. "
DOST thou know how
I
act in order that
My servants may
be united in following the doctrine of My sweet and amor I prune them in order that they ous Word ? may bring forth much fruit, and that their fruit may be fit for My table, In the same way a husbandman and may not remain wild.
prunes and sets in order a good branch of a vine so that it may make better and more wine; and the branch that brings forth no fruit, he cuts away and casts into the fire. So I, the true
Husbandman, prune
Me, with
many
My
who remain in may bring forth virtfce may be proved
servants
tribulations, so that they
more and better fruit, and that their and those that do not bring forth fruit are cut into the
fire.
These, then, are true labourers
;
off
who
and
cast
cultivate
well their soul, rooting out all self-love, and turning over the earth of their affection on Me. They nourish and increase the seed of grace which they received in Holy Baptism, arid labouring their own vine, labour their neighbour s, for they
Thou rememberest and all evil were good accomplished by means of the do Thus, then, neighbour. you become My husbandmen, from the Me, Superior and Eternal Husbandman proceeding Who have joined you together, grafting you on the true Vine by the union which I have made with you. Remember, then, that all rational creatures have their own vine indeed, cannot labour one without the other. that
but
all
it is
joined directly to their neighbour s vine, so closely
no one can do good or harm to his neighbour without doing it to himself, and all of you together make up the universal vine which is the whole congregation of Christians that
who
are united in the vine of the mystical body of
Holy
In which vine Church, from which you draw your life. Vine of is the yard planted My only-begotten Son, on Which you should be grafted ; for, if you are not
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
65
grafted on Him, you become rebels to the Holy Church, and, as limbs, cut from the body, which immediately corrupt. It is true that, while you have time, you can free your "
selves from the stench of sin
by true repentance, turning to the My ministers, husbandmen, who hold the key of the that of the Blood that issued from His Vine. Wine, is,
Which Blood
is
so perfectly
made
that,
through no defect of
the minister, can its effect be hindered. The branches are bound up with the bonds of love, and he who binds them must do so with true humility, acquired by a true knowledge of himself and Me. See, then, that I have placed you all as husbandmen, and now again, I invite you to your labour, because the world is reaching an evil pass and the thorns are so multiplied in the vineyard that they have crushed out ;
the seed, so that I
My vines will bring forth no fruit of grace. wish you, then, to be true husbandmen, and with great
zeal
to
cultivate
souls in the mystical body of the
Church, and this, I say, because world, for which thou prayest to
I
Holy
wish to do mercy to the
Me
so
ardently."
CHAPTER XXV. How
this soul prays
God
to
aforesaid Bridge,
THEN
this
soul
show her those who cross by the and those who do not.
exclaimed
with
ardent
"
love,
Oh,
Who
Charity, sweet above all sweetness would not be inflamed by such great love ? What heart can
inestimable
!
help breaking at such tenderness ? It seems, oh, Abyss of Charity, as if thou wert mad with love of Thy creature, as if
Thou couldest not live without him, and yet Thou art our God who hast no need of us, Thy greatness does not increase through our good, for Thou art unchangeable, and our evil causes Thee no harm, for Thou art the Supreme and Eternal Goodness. What moves Thee to do us such mercy through pure
Thou owedst
love,
us, or need
and on account of no debt that that
Thou
hadst
of us ? E
We
THE DIALOGUE OF
66
ST.
CATHERINE
am
Thy guilty and malignant debtors. Wherefore, understand aright, Oh, Supreme and Eternal Truth, I For I the thief and Thou hast been punished for me.
see
Thy Word, Thy
are rather if
I
of which thou hast
Son, fastened and nailed to the Cross, Bridge, as Thou hast shown
made me a
Thy miserable servant, for which reason, my heart is bursting, and yet cannot burst, through the hunger and the I remember, desire which it has conceived towards Thee. me,
my Lord, that Thou wast willing to show me who are those who go by the Bridge and those who do not should it please Thy goodness to manifest this to me, willingly would ;
I
see and hear
it."
CHAPTER XXVI. How this
Bridge has three steps, which signify the three states of the soul and how, being lifted on high, yet it is not separated from the earth and how these words are to be understood // ;
"
:
;
I
am
THEN still "
lifted
up from
the earth, I will
draw
all things
Me"
the Eternal God, to enamour and excite that soul for the salvation of souls, replied to her, and said
more
First, as
:
I
have shown thee that for which thou didst
wish, and ask Me, this Bridge.
I
I
will
now
have told thee,
reaches from Heaven to earth
which
unto
I
have made with man,
explain to thee the nature of My daughter, that the Bridge ;
this
whom
through the union formed of the clay of
is I
Now learn that this Bridge, My only-begotton has three steps, of which two were made with the Son, wood of the most Holy Cross, and the third still retains the
the earth.
He
tasted, when He was given gall and In these three steps you will recognise three states of the soul, which I will explain to thee below. The feet of the soul, signifying her affection, are the
great bitterness
vinegar to drink.
the feet carry the body as the affection carries Wherefore these pierced Feet are steps by which thou canst arrive at His Side, Which manifests to thee the secret of His Heart, because the soul, rising on the steps of
first step, for
the soul.
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION commences
67
His Heart, Son, with the eye of the I say intellect, and finds It consumed with ineffable love. consumed, because He does not love you for His own
her
affection,
to taste the love of
gazing into that open Heart of
My
because you can be of no profit to Him, He being Then the soul is filled one and the same thing with Me. with love, seeing herself so much loved. Having passed the second step, the soul reaches out to the third that is to the Mouth, where she finds peace from the terrible war On the first step, then, she has been waging with her sin. lifting her feet from the affections of the earth, the soul on the second she fills herself with strips herself of vice and on the third she tastes peace. love and virtue So the Bridge has three steps, in order that, climbing past the first and the second, you may reach the last, which is lifted on high, so that the water, running beneath, may not touch it This Bridge is for, in My Son, was no venom of sin. lifted on high, and yet, at the same time, joined to the earth. Dost thou know when it was lifted on high ? When My Son was lifted up on the wood of the most Holy Cross,
profit,
;
;
;
the Divine nature remaining joined to the lowliness of the earth of your humanity.
For
this reason I said to thee that, being lifted on high, not lifted out of the earth, for the Divine nature is united and kneaded into one thing with it. And there was no "
He was
one who could go on the Bridge high, wherefore
He
until It
had been
lifted
on
Si exaltatus fuero a terra omnia traham ad me ipsum? that is, If I am lifted on high I will draw all things to Me. My Goodness, seeing that in no other way could you be drawn to Me, I sent Him in order that He said,
l
1
lifted on high on the wood of the Cross, making of an anvil on which My Son, born of human generation, should be re-made, in order to free you from death, and to re store you to the life of grace wherefore He drew everything to Himself by this means, namely, by showing the ineffable love, with which I love you, the heart of man being always
should be it
;
attracted
you,
My
by
love.
than to lay
Son was
Greater
down My
treated
in
this
love, then, I life
for
could not
show
perforce,
then,
you;
way by
love,
in
order that
THE DIALOGUE OF
68
ignorant to
man
be
should
ST.
unable
being drawn
resist
to
Me. "In
high,
very truth, then,
He would draw
My
Son
drawn by the
together with Memory, the
being
said, that,
And
Him.
things to
all
understood in two ways. Firstly, is
CATHERINE
that,
affection of love, as
I
lifted
this is to
on be
when
the heart of man
have
said,
the powers of his soul, that Intellect, and the Will ; now,
all
it is is,
drawn
with the
when these
harmoniously joined together in My powers Name, all the other operations which the man performs, whether in deed or thought, are pleasing, and joined together by the effect of love, because love is lifted on high, follow so My Truth said Well, ing the Sorrowful Crucified One If I am lifted on high, etc., meaning, that if the heart and
three
are
;
the powers of the soul are
drawn
to
Him,
all
the actions
are also drawn to Him.
Secondly, everything has been created for the service of man, to serve the necessities of rational creatures, and the rational creature has not been made for them, but for Me, in order to serve Me with all his heart,
and with
all
his affection.
See, then, that
man
being drawn, everything else is drawn with him, because It was therefore everything else has been made for him.
necessary that the Bridge should be lifted on high, and have steps, in order that it might be climbed with greater facility."
CHAPTER How
XXVII.
this Bridge is built of stones which signify virtues and how on the Bridge is a hostelry where food is given to the travellers and how he who goes over the Bridge goes to life, while he who goes under It goes to perdition and death. ;
;
THIS Bridge is built of stones, so that, if the rain come, it may not impede the traveller. Dost thou know what these stones are ? They are the stones of true and sincere virtues. These stones were not built into the walls before the Passion of My Son, and therefore even those who attempted to walk
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
69
by the road of virtue were prevented from arriving at their journey s end, because Heaven was not yet unlocked with the key of the Blood, and the rain of Justice did not let them pass ; but, after the stones were made, and built up on the Body of My sweet Son, My Word, of Whom I have spoken to thee, He, Who was Himself the Bridge, moistened That is, His its building with His Blood. Blood was united with the mortar of divinity, and with the fortitude, and the fire of love ; and, by My power, these stones of the virtues were built into a wall, upon Him as the foundation, for there is no virtue which has not been proved in Him, and from Him all virtues have their life. the mortar for
Wherefore no one can have the virtue given by a life of grace, but from Him, that is, without following the footsteps of His doctrine. He has built a wall of the virtues, planting them as living stones, and cementing them with His Blood, so that every believer may walk speedily, and without any he
servile fear of the rain of Divine justice, for
is
sheltered
by the mercy which descended from Heaven in the Incar How was Heaven opened ? With nation of this My Son. so thou seest that the Bridge is the key of His Blood His also is the Hostelry walled and roofed with Mercy. in the Garden of the Holy Church, which keeps and ministers the Bread of Life, and gives to drink of the Blood, so that My creatures, journeying on their pilgrimage, may and for this not, through weariness, faint by the way reason My love has ordained that the Blood and the Body of My only begotten Son, wholly God and wholly man, ;
;
The pilgrim, having passed the be ministered to you. is part of the Bridge, at arrives at the door which Bridge, / am the Way, which all must enter, wherefore He says the Truth and the Life, he who follows Me does not walk in
may
,
darkness,
but in
says,
That no
indeed
it is.
light.
man
And
can come
Therefore
He
in to
another place
Me
says of
My
Truth
Him] and so Himself that He is the
if not by
and I have already shewn thee And He that He is a Road in the form of the Bridge. He is because that He He is and so the is, Truth, says united with Me Who am the Truth, and he who follows Road, and
this is the truth,
THE DIALOGUE OF
70
ST.
CATHERINE
Him, walks in the Truth, and in Life, because he who follows this Truth receives the life of grace, and cannot faint
from
food, nor
hunger, because the Truth in the darkness, because
has become your
He is light without He confounded and
fall
And, with that Truth, destroyed the lie that the Devil told to Eve, with which he broke up the road to Heaven, and the Truth brought the
any falsehood.
pieces together again, and cemented them with His Blood. Wherefore, those who follow this road are the sons of the Truth, because they follow the Truth, and pass through the door of Truth and find themselves united to Me,
Who
am
the
Door and the Road and
at the
same time
Infinite
Peace.
But
who walks
not on this road, goes under the where there are no stones, only water, and since there are no supports in the water, no one can travel that way without drowning thus have come Where to pass the sins, and the condition of the world. fore, if the affection is not placed on the stones, but is placed, with disordinate love, on creatures, loving them, and being kept by them far from Me, the soul drowns, for creatures are like water that continually runs past, and man also passes continually like the river, although it seems ta him that he stands still and the creatures that he loves pass by, and yet he is passing himself continually to the And he would fain retain end of his journey death himself, (that is his life, and the things that he loves,) but he does not succeed, either, through death, by which he has to leave them, or, through my disposition, by which these Bridge,
he,
in
the
river
;
!
created things are taken from the sight of My creatures. Such as these follow a lie, walking on the road of falsehood, and are sons of the Devil, who is the Father of Lies ; and,
because they pass by the door of falsehood, they receive So then thou seest, that I have shown
eternal damnation.
thee both Truth and Falsehood, that is, My road which is Truth, and the Devil s which is Falsehood."
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
CHAPTER How travelling is
River,
travelling "
THESE
Wonder,
71
XXVIII.
on both of these roads, that is the Bridge and the and of the delight which the soul feels in
fatiguing
;
by the Bridge.
are the two roads, and both are hard to travel. then, at the ignorance and blindness of man,
who, having a Road made for
who
him, which
causes
such
that every bitterness becomes burden every light, yet prefers to walk over the
delight to those
use
It,
sweet, and water. For those
who cross by the Bridge, being still in the darkness of the body, find light, and, being mortal, find immortal life, tasting, through love, the light of Eternal Truth Which promises refreshment to him who wearies him
Who am
grateful and just, and render to every he deserves. Wherefore every good deed is rewarded, and every fault is punished. The tongue would not be sufficient to relate the delight felt by him who goes on this road, for, even in this life, he tastes and participates in that good which has been prepared for him
self for
man
Me,
according as
life. He, therefore, is a fool indeed, who despises so great a good, and chooses rather to receive in this life, the earnest money of Hell, walking by the lower road with
in eternal
great
toil,
and without
Wherefore, through
Who am
the
any refreshment
Supreme and Eternal Good.
thou reason for
grief,
or
advantage. of Me,
their sins, they are deprived
and
I
will
that thou
Truly then hast and My other
servants remain in continual bitterness of soul at the offence
done to Me, and in compassion for the ignorant, and the loss of those who, in their ignorance, thus offend Me. thou hast seen and heard about this Bridge, how it is, and
Now
this I
have told thee
in order to explain
My words,
that
My
And thus, thou seest only-begotten Son was a Bridge. that He is the Truth, made in the way that I have shown thee, that is by the union of height and lowliness,"
THE DIALOGUE OF
72
ST.
CATHERINE
CHAPTER XXIX. How "
having reached to Heaven on the day of the Ascension, did not for that reason leave the earth.
this Bridge,
WHEN My
only-begotten Son returned to Me, forty days Bridge, namely Himself, arose
after the resurrection, this
from the earth, that is, from among the conversation of men, and ascended into Heaven by virtue of the Divine Nature and sat at the right hand of Me, the Eternal Father, as the angels said, on the day of the Ascension, to the disciples, standing like dead men, their hearts lifted on high, and ascended into Heaven with the wisdom of My Son
He is seated at the right When He, then, had thus ascended on high, and returned to Me the Father, I sent the Master, that is the Holy Spirit, Who came to you with My power f
Do
not stand here any longer, for
hand of
the
Father /
and the wisdom of My Son, and with His own clemency, He is one thing which is the essence of the Holy Spirit. And He built up with Me, the Father, and with My Son. the road of the doctrine which My Truth had left in world.
the
Son
Thus, though
the
presence
bodily
of
My
you, His doctrine remained, and the virtue of the stones founded upon this doctrine, which is the way made for you by this Bridge. For first, He practised this doctrine and made the road by His actions, giving you His doctrine by example rather than by words for He practised, first Himself, what He afterwards taught you, then the left
;
Holy Spirit made you certain of the doctrine, fortifying the minds of the disciples to confess the truth, and to announce this road, that is, the doctrine of
clemency
of
the
Christ crucified, reproving, by this means, the world of its injustice and false judgment, of which injustice and false
judgment,
I
will
in
time
discourse
to
you
at
greater
length.
This much I have said to thee in order that there might be no cloud of darkness in the mind of your hearers, that "
is,
that they
may know
that of this
Body of
Christ
I
made
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION a Bridge by the union of the divine with the
73
human
nature,
for this is the truth.
Bridge, taking its point of departure in you, rose and was the one road which was taught you What has now the example and life of the Truth.
"This
into Heaven,
by
remained of
all
this,
and where
is
the road to be found ?
who might I tell thee that this way on this point. of His doctrine, of which I have spoken to thee, confirmed by the Apostles, declared by the blood of the martyrs, illuminated by the light of doctors, confessed by the con fessors, narrated in all its love by the Evangelists, all of I
will tell thee, that is,
fall
I
will rather tell those
into ignorance
whom
stand as witnesses to confess the Truth, is found in These witnesses are the mystical body of the Holy Church. like the light placed on a candlestick, to show forth the way
of the Truth which leads to
life with a perfect light, as I as thee, and, they themselves say to thee, with have since they proved in their own cases, that every proof, if he will, be illuminated to know the Truth, person may,
have said to
unless he choose to deprive his reason of light by his It inordinate self-love. indeed, the truth that His is, has like a lifeboat to draw is and remained doctrine true, the soul out of the tempestuous sea and to conduct her to the port of salvation.
Wherefore, first I gave you the Bridge of My Son living and conversing in very deed amongst men, and when He, the living Bridge, left you, there remained the Bridge and the road of His doctrine, as has been said, His doctrine being joined with My power and with His wisdom, and "
with the clemency of the Holy Spirit.
This power of Mine
gives the virtue of fortitude to whoever follows this road, wisdom gives him light, so that, in this road, he may recognise
and the Holy Spirit gives him love, which consumes and takes away all sensitive love out of the soul, Thus, in both ways, leaving there only the love of virtue. both actually and through His doctrine, He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life that is, the Bridge which leads you to the height of Heaven. This is what He meant when He said, / came from the Father, and I return to the Father , the truth,
;
THE DIALOGUE OF
74
and
shall return to
Me
to you,
ST.
CATHERINE
you* that is to say, My Father sent and made Me your Bridge, so that you might be saved from the river and attain to life. Then He says, ;
1
/
will
return
send you to the
go
to
you,
I
will not leave
will
My
will
as
the Paraclete
if
Father and return
who
you orphans, but Truth should say, I
that
;
is,
that
when
the
Holy
the Paraclete, He will show more and will confirm you clearly, you in the way of truth, that I have given you. He said that He would return, and Spirit shall come,
is called
He did return, because the Holy Spirit came not alone, but with the power of the Father, and the wisdom of the Son, and the clemency of His own Essence. See then how He returns, not in actual flesh and blood, but, as I have said, building the road of His doctrine, "
with His power, which road cannot be destroyed or taken away from him who wishes to follow it, because it is firm and stable, and proceeds from Me, Who am immoveable. Manfully, then, should you follow this road, without any cloud of doubt, but with the light of faith which has been given you as a principle in Holy Baptism. Now I have fully shown to you the Bridge as it actually "
"
and the doctrine, which is one and the same thing with And I have shown it to the ignorant, in order that they may see where this road of Truth is, and where stand those who teach it and I have explained that they are the Martyrs, Confessors, Evangelists, and Apostles, Holy
is, it.
;
Doctors, placed like lanterns in the
Holy Church.
have shown how
My Son, returning to Me, none returned to in His bodily presence, but by not less, you, His power, when the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, "And
I
the as
I
have
his bodily presence He will not of Day Judgment, when He will come and Divine Power to judge the world, Majesty
said.
For
in
return until the last
again with
My
to the virtuous, and reward them for their in both labours, body and soul, and to dispense the evil of eternal death to those who have lived wickedly in the world. "And now I wish to tell thee that which I, the Truth,
to render
good
promised
thee,
that
is,
to
show thee the
perfect,
the
and the wicked, who, imperfect, and the supremely perfect their in drown the through river, attaining to iniquities, ;
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
75
punishment and torment; wherefore I say to you, My dearest sons, walk over the Bridge, and not underneath it, because underneath is not the way of truth, but the way of falsehood, by which walk the wicked, of whom I will presently speak to you.
These are those sinners
for
whom
beg you to pray to Me, and for whom I ask in addition your tears and sweat, in order that they may receive mercy from Me." I
CHAPTER XXX. How
this soul
wondering at the mercy of God, relates many and graces given to the human race.
gifts
THEN
this soul, as it were, like one intoxicated, could not contain herself, but, standing before the face of God, ex How great is the Eternal Mercy with which thou claimed, "
coverest the sins of
Thy
creatures
!
I
do not wonder that
sayest of those who abandon mortal sin and return to Thee, / do not remember that you have ever offended Me. Oh, ineffable Mercy I do not wonder that Thou sayest this
Thou
1
!
to those
who
are converted,
when Thou
sayest of those
who
wish you to pray for such, in order that persecute Thee, I may do them mercy. Oh, Mercy, who proceedest from Eternal the Father, Divinity Who governest with thy thy the whole world, by Thee were we created, in Thee power were we re-created in the Blood of Thy Son. Thy Mercy preserves us, Thy Mercy caused Thy Son to do battle for us, hanging by His arms on the wood of the Cross, life and death battling together ; then life confounded the death of our sin, and the death of our sin destroyed the bodily life of the Immaculate Lamb. Which was finally conquered ? what means Death ? By Mercy Thy Mercy gives light and life, by which Thy clemency is known in all Thy crea tures, both the just and the unjust. In the height of Heaven I
!
!
If I turn to the Mercy, shines that is, in Thy saints. it In abounds with Thy Mercy. the darkness of Hell earth, not receive the pains Thy Mercy shines, for the damned do they deserve ; with Thy Mercy Thou temperest Justice. By
Thy
THE DIALOGUE OF
76
Mercy Thou hast washed us
Thou wishest
in
to converse with
Madman Was !
it
ST.
the Blood, and by
Thy
not enough for
CATHERINE Mercy
creatures.
Oh, Loving Thee to become Incarnate,
Thou must also die ? Was not death enough, that Thou must also descend into Limbo, taking thence the holy fathers to fulfil Thy Mercy and Thy Truth in them ? Because Thy goodness promises a reward to them that serve Thee in truth, didst Thou descend to Limbo, to with draw from their pain Thy servants, and give them the fruit of their labours. Thy Mercy constrains Thee to give even that
more
to
that we,
man, namely, to leave Thyself to him in food, so weak ones, should have comfort, and the ignorant
commemorating Thee, should not lose the memory of Thy benefits. Wherefore every day Thou givest Thyself to man, representing Thyself in the Sacrament of the Altar, in the body of Thy Holy Church. What has done this ? Thy Mercy. Oh, Divine Mercy My heart suffocates in thinking of thee, for on every side to which I turn my thought, I find nothing but mercy. Oh, Eternal Father Forgive my igno !
!
presume thus to chatter to Thee, but the love of Thy Mercy will be my excuse before the Face of Thy
rance, that
I
loving-kindness."
CHAPTER XXXI. who
pass by the river under the Bridge underneath, is called by God the tree of death, whose roots are held in four vices.
Of the baseness and how the
AFTER
this
of those
;
soul, that passes
soul had refreshed
a
little
her heart in the
mercy of God, by these words, she humbly waited for the fulfilment of the promise made to her, and God continuing daughter, thou hast spoken I gave it thee to taste because My mercy, and to see in the word which I spoke to thee when I said these are those for whom I pray you to intercede with Me/ but know, that My mercy is without any comparison, far
His discourse said:
before
Me
"Dearest
of
:
more than thou canst
see,
because thy sight
is
imperfect,
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
77
and My mercy perfect and infinite, so that there can be no comparison between the two, except what may be between But I have wished that thou a finite and an infinite thing. shouldest taste this mercy, and also the dignity of man, which I have shown thee above, so that thou mightest know better the cruelty of those wicked men who travel below the Bridge. Open the eye of thy intellect, and wonder at those who voluntarily drown themselves, and at the baseness to which they are fallen by their fault, from
which cause, they have
first
when they conceived mortal then bring
it
become weak, and sin in their minds,
and lose the
forth,
life
this
was
for they
And, as a
of grace.
corpse which can have no feeling or movement of itself, but only when it is moved and lifted by others, so those, who
drowned in the stream of disordinate love of the world, Wherefore because they are dead their are dead to grace. memory takes no heed of My mercy. The eye of their
are
intellect
before
it
knows not
sees not and is
feeling
that
dead,
is,
their
My
Truth, because their has no object
intellect
but themselves, with the dead love of their
own
will because it sensuality, and so their will is dead to These three powers then loves nothing but dead things. being dead, all the soul s operations both in deed and
My
For the thought are dead as far as grace is concerned. soul cannot defend herself against her enemies, nor help herself through her own power, but only so far as she is helped by Me. corpse, in
whom
It is
true indeed, that every time that this
only free-will has remained,
(which remains
as long as the mortal body lives,) asks My help, he can have it, but never can he help himself; he has become in
supportable to himself, and, wishing to govern the world, is
which is not, that is by sin, for sin in governed by itself is nothing, and such men have become the servants I had made them trees of love with the and slaves of sin. life of grace which they received in Holy Baptism ; and they have become trees of death, because they are dead, as I have already said to thee. Dost thou know how this In the height of pride, which is tree finds such roots ? that
nourished by their
own
sensitive self-love.
Its
branch
is
[
THE DIALOGUE OF
78
ST.
CATHERINE
own impatience, and its off-shoot indiscretion these are the four principal vices which destroy the soul of him
their
who
:
is
grace.
a tree of death, because he has not drawn life from Inside the tree is nourished the worm of conscience,
which, while
man
and therefore
lives in mortal sin, is blinded
but
felt
little
;
by
self-love,
the fruits of this tree are
drawn their nourishment, which should have been humility, from the roots of pride, and the miser
mortal, for they have
able soul
is full
of ingratitude,
whence proceeds every
evil.
But if she were grateful for the benefits she has received, she would know Me, and knowing Me would know herself, and so would remain in My love but she, as if blind, goes groping down the river, and she does not see that the water does not support her." :
CHAPTER How
XXXII.
the fruits of this tree are as diverse as are the sins of the sin of sensuality.
"THE
fruits
of
sins are diverse.
of beasts
who
this death-giving tree,
See that some of these
;
and
are as diverse as fruits are the
using their body and their wallows in mud, for in the same
live impurely,
first,
food
mind
swine who way in the mire of sensuality. wallow Oh, ugly soul, they where hast thou left thy dignity ? Thou wast made sister To to the angels, and now thou art become a brute beast. such misery come sinners, notwithstanding that they are
like a
sustained by Me, who am Supreme Purity, notwithstanding that the very devils, whose friends and servants they have
become, cannot endure the sight of such filthy actions. Neither does any sin, abominable as it may be, take away the light of the intellect from man, so much as does this This the philosophers knew, not by the light of grace, one. because they had it not, but because nature gave them the light to know that this sin obscured the intellect, and for that reason
they preserved themselves in continence the
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
79
Thus also they flung away their riches in better to study. order that the thought of them should not occupy their Not so does the ignorant and false Christian, who heart. has
lost grace
by
sin."
CHAPTER How the
fruit of
others
is
XXXIII.
avarice
;
from
and of the
evils that
proceed
it.
A FRUIT of the earth belongs to some others, who are covetous misers, acting like the mole, who always feeds on earth till death, and when they arrive at death they find no Such as these, with their meanness, despise My remedy. "
generosity, selling time to their neighbour. cruel usurers, and robbers of their neighbour
memory they have
They ;
are
because in
remembrance of My if had it would not be cruel to for they they mercy, themselves or to their neighbour ; on the contrary, they would be compassionate and merciful to themselves, practising the virtues on their neighbour and succouring him charitably. Oh, how many are the evils that come of this cursed sin of avarice, how many homicides and thefts, and how much pillage with unlawful gain, and It kills the soul and makes cruelty of heart and injustice
their
not
the
!
her the slave of riches, so that she cares not to observe
commandments. A miser loves no one except for his own profit. Avarice proceeds from and feeds pride, the one follows from the other, because the miser always carries with him the thought of his own reputation, and thus avarice, which is immediately combined with pride, full of its own opinions, goes on from It is a fire which always germinates the bad to worse. of smoke vainglory and vanity of heart, and boasting in that does which not belong to it. It is a root which has many branches, and the principal one is that which makes a man care for his own reputation, from whence proceeds his desire
My
"
THE DIALOGUE OF
80
CATHERINE
ST.
to be greater than his neighbour.
It
also brings forth the
nor liberal, but is double, making a man show one thing with his tongue, while he has another in his heart, and making him conceal the truth and deceitful heart that is neither pure
own
his
tell lies for
And
profit.
it
produces envy, which
worm
that is always gnawing, and does not let the miser have any happiness out of his own or others good. is
a
How
will these
wicked ones in so wretched a state give of
their substance to the poor, when they rob others ? out of the mire, will they draw their foul soul
How when
Sometimes even do they they themselves put it there ? become so brutish, that they do not consider their children and relations, and cause them to fall with them into great misery. do not
And, nevertheless,
in
My
mercy
I
sustain them,
I
command
the earth to swallow them up, that they may repent of their sins. Would they then give their life for the salvation of souls, when they will not give their sub
Would
stance ?
gnawed with envy heaven of the
made
they give their affections when they are ? Oh, miserable vices that destroy the
Heaven
soul.
I call
her (the soul) because
by grace, and hiding and making of her a mansion through affection of love. Now she has separated herself from Me, like an adulteress, loving herself, and creatures more than Me, and has made a god of herself, persecuting Me with many and diverse sins. And this she does because she does not consider the benefit of the Blood that was shed so
I
her, living in
Myself within
her at
first
her,
with so great Fire of
Love."
CHAPTER XXXIV. How some "
THERE
others hold positions of authority, and bring forth fruits of injustice.
are others
who
position of authority, and
hold their heads high by their bear the banner of injustice
who
using injustice against Me, God, and against their neigh-
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
Si
to themselves by not pay hour, and against themselves ing the debt of virtue, and towards Me by not paying
the debt of honour in glorifying and praising My Name, But they, like debt they are bound to pay. thieves, steal what is Mine, and give it to the service of
which
own sensuality. So that they commit injustice towards and towards themselves, like blind and ignorant men who do not recognise Me in themselves on account of selflove, like the Jews and the ministers of the Law who, with envy and self-love, blinded themselves so that they did not recognise the Truth, My only-begotten Son, and rendered not His due to the Eternal Truth, who was amongst them, The Kingdom of God is among you? as said My Truth But they knew it not, because, in the aforesaid way, they had lost the light of reason, and so they did not pay their debt of honour and glory to Me, and to Him, who was one thing with Me, and like blind ones committed injustice, per secuting Him with much ignominy, even to the death of the their
Me
:
Cross. "Thus are such as these unjust to themselves, to Me, and to their neighbour, unjustly selling the flesh of their dependants, and of any person who falls into their hands."
CHAPTER XXXV. How
through these and through other defects, one falls into false judgment and of the indignity to which one comes. ;
"
BY
as
I
these and by other sins will explain to you below.
men fall into false judgment, They are continually being
scandalised by My works, which are all just, and all per With this false formed in truth through love and mercy. and pride, the works judgment, and with the poison of envy
of lies
My
Son were slandered and unjustly judged, and with
did
His
of Beelzebub.
enemies 1
say
:
This
man
works
Thus wicked men, standing
in
by virtue self-love,
impurity, pride, and avarice, and founded in envy, and in F
THE DIALOGUE OF
82
ST.
CATHERINE
perverse rashness with impatience, are for ever scandalised Me and at My servants, whom they judge to be feignedly
at
practising the virtues, because their heart
is
rotten, and,
having spoilt their taste, good things seem evil to them, and bad things, that is to say disorderly living, seem good to them. Oh, how blind is the human generation in that it considers not its own dignity From being great thou hast become small, from a ruler thou hast become a slave, and that in the vilest service that can be had, because 1
thou art the servant and slave of
sin,
and
art
become
like
unto that which thou dost serve. Sin is nothing. Thou, then, hast become nothing; it has This life and deprived thee of life, and given thee death. "
power were given you by the Word, My only-begotten Son, the glorious Bridge, He drawing you from out of your servitude when you were servants of the devil, Himself becoming as a servant to take you out of servitude, imposing on Himself obedience to do away the disobedience of Adam, and humbling Himself to the shameful death of the Cross to confound pride. By His death He destroyed every vice, so that no one could say that any vice remained that was not punished and beaten out with pains, as I said to thee above, when I said that of His Body He had made an anvil. All the remedies are ready to save men from eternal death, and they despise the Blood, and have trampled It under the feet of their disordinate affection
and
false
judgment
;
and
it is
for this injustice and will be
that the world is reproved,
reproved on the Last
Day
of Judgment.
was meant by My Truth when He said: / will send the Paraclete, who will reprove the world for injustice and And it was reproved when I sent the Holy false judgment^ 4
"This
Spirit
on the
Apostles."
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
83
CHAPTER XXXVI. Of the words
that Christ said
:
"/
will send the
Holy
reprove the world of injustice and of false judgment of these reproofs is continuous.
who will and how one
Spirit, "
;
One was given when the reproofs. came upon the disciples, who, as it is said, being fortified by My power, and illuminated by the wisdom "
THERE
Holy
of
My
Holy
are three
Spirit
beloved Son, received all in the plenitude of the Then the Holy Spirit, who is one thing
Spirit.
Me and with My Son, reproved the world by the mouth of the Apostles, with the doctrine of My Truth. They and all others, who are descended from them, following the truth with
which they understand through the same means, reprove the world. "
This
is
that continuous reproof that
I
make
to the
world
by means of the Holy Scriptures, and My servants, putting the Holy Spirit on their tongues to announce My truth, even as the Devil puts himself on the tongues of his is to say, of those who pass through the river This is that sweet reproof that I have fixed in iniquity. servants, that
for ever, in the aforesaid
way, out of
My most
great affection
And
they cannot say I had no one who reproved me, because the truth is revealed And I have made to them showing them vice and virtue. them see the fruit of virtue, and the hurtfulness of vice, to give them love and holy fear with hatred of vice and love of virtue, and this truth has not been shown them by an of love for the salvation of souls.
angel, so that they cannot say,
who cannot offend, and feels not as we do, neither the heaviness Incarnate
Word
of
My
the angel is a blessed spirit the vexations of the flesh
of our body, because the Truth has been given to them with
your mortal flesh. 11 Who were the others who followed
this
Word
?
Mortal
creatures, susceptible of pain like you, having the same opposition of the flesh to the Spirit, as had the glorious Paul, My standard bearer, and many other saints who, by
THE DIALOGUE OF
84
have
ST.
CATHERINE
been
Which
one thing
or
torments
permitted for the increase of grace and virtue in
I
another,
tormented.
Thus, they were born in sin like you, and nourished with a like food, and I am God now as then. My power is not weakened and cannot become weak. So that I can and will succour him who wishes to be succoured Man wants My succour when he comes out of the by Me. and walks by the Bridge, following the doctrine of river, Thus no one has any excuse, because both Truth. My
their souls.
reproof and truth are constantly given to them. Wherefore, if they do not amend while they have time, they will be condemned by the second condemnation which will take place at the extremity of death,
when
My
Justice will
cry
That is to Rise, ye dead and come to judgment reached the and hast dead to who art grace, Thou, say, moment of thy corporal death, arise and come before the Supreme Judge with thy injustice and false judgment, and with the extinguished light of faith which thou didst receive burning in Holy Baptism (and which thou hast blown out with the wind of pride), and with the vanity of thy heart, with which thou didst set thy sails to winds which were to them,
!
*
contrary to thy salvation, for with the wind of self-esteem, Thus didst thou hasten didst thou fill the sail of self-love.
down
the stream of the delights and dignities of the world at thy own will, following thy fragile flesh and the tempta tions of the devil, who, with the sail of thy own will set, has led thee along the underway which is a running stream,
and so has brought thee with himself
to eternal damnation."
CHAPTER XXXVII. Of the second reproof
of injustice,
and of false judgment,
in
general and in particular. 11
THIS second reproof, dearest daughter,
is indeed a con has at the arrived demnation, end, where there can be no remedy, for she is at the extremity of death,
for the soul
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION where
is
the
worm
blinded self-love.
85
of conscience, which I told thee was the time of death, since she cannot
Now at
My hands, she begins to see, and therefore is with remorse, seeing that her own sin has brought gnawed But if the soul have light to know her into so great evil. get out of
on account of the pain of Hell but on of pain at her offence account upon it, Who am and Eternal against Me, Supreme Good, still she can find mercy. But if she pass the Bridge of death
and grieve
for her fault, not
that follows
without light, and alone, with the worm of conscience, without the hope of the Blood, and bewailing herself more on account of her first condemnation than on account of
My
displeasure, she
arrives
at
eternal
damnation.
And
Justice of injustice and
reproved cruelly by My of false judgment, and not so much of general injustice and false judgment which she has practised generally in all her then she
is
works, but
much more on account of
the particular injustice
judgment which she practises at the end, in judging her misery greater than My mercy. This is that sin which is neither pardoned here nor there, because the soul would not be pardoned, depreciating My mercy. Therefore is this
and
false
last sin graver to
Me
than
all
the other sins that the soul
Wherefore the despair of Judas dis pleased Me more, and was more grave to My Son than was his betrayal of Him. So that they are reproved of this false judgment, which is to have held their sin to be greater than My mercy, and, on that account, are they punished with the devils, and eternally tortured with them. And they are reproved of injustice because they grieve more over their condemnation than over My displeasure, and do not render to Me that which is Mine, and to themselves that which is theirs. For to Me, they ought to render love and to themselves, bitterness, with contrition of heart, and offer it to Me, for the offence they have done Me. And they do the contrary because they give to themselves love, pitying themselves, and grieving on account of the pain they has
committed.
so thou seest that they are guilty of ; judgment, and are punished for the one and the other together. Wherefore, they, having depre-
expect for their sin injustice
and
false
THE DIALOGUE OF
86
My
ST.
CATHERINE
with justice send them, with their cruel servant, sensuality, and the cruel tyrant the Devil, whose servants they made themselves through their own sensuality, ciated
I
mercy,
so that, together, they are punished and tormented, as together they have offended Me. Tormented, I say, by My ministering devils whom My judgment torment those who have done evil."
CHAPTER
has appointed to
XXXVIII.
Of the all
four principal torments of the damned, from which follow the others ; and particularly of the foulness of the Devil.
MY daughter, the tongue is not sufficient to narrate the As there are three principal vices, pain of these poor souls. namely self-love, whence proceeds the second, that is "
:
whence proceeds the third, that is pride, with injustice and cruelty, and with other filthiness and love of reputation,
So I say to thee, iniquitous sins, that follow upon these. that in Hell, the souls have four principal torments, out of which proceed all the other torments. The first is, that they see themselves deprived of the vision of Me, which such pain to them, that, were it possible, they would rather choose the fire, and the tortures and torments,
is
and
Me, than to be without the torments and not Me. This first pain revives in them, then, the second, the worm of Conscience, which gnaws unceasingly, seeing that the soul is deprived of Me, and of the conversation of the to see
to see "
made worthy of the conversation which vision of the Devil is the third pain and redoubles to them their every toil. As the saints exult in the sight of Me, refreshing themselves with joyousness in the fruit of their toils borne for Me with such abundance of love, and displeasure of themselves, so does the sight of the Devil revive these wretched ones to tor ments, because in seeing him they know themselves more, angels, through her sin, and sight of the devils,
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
87
that is to say, they know that, by their own sin, they have made themselves worthy of him. And so the worm of Conscience gnaws more and more, and the fire of this
Conscience never ceases to burn. And the sight is more painful to them, because they see him in his own form,
man could not imagine thou remember well, thou knowest that I showed him to thee in his own form for a little space of time, hardly which
so horrible that the heart of
is
And
it.
if
a moment, and thou didst choose (after thou hadst returned to thyself) rather to walk on a road of fire, even until the of Judgment, than to see him again. With all this that thou hast seen, even thou dost not know well how horrible he is, because, by Divine justice, he appears more horrible
Day
Me, and more or less accord fourth torment that they have is the fire. This fire burns and does not consume, for the being of the soul cannot be consumed, because it is not a material thing that fire can consume. But I, by Divine justice, have permitted the fire to burn them with torments, so that it torments them, without consuming them, with the to the soul that is deprived of ing to the gravity of her sin.
The
greatest pains in diverse
ways according to the diversity of their sins, to some more, and to some less, according to the Out of these four torments issue all gravity of their fault.
others, such as cold and heat and gnashing of the teeth and many others. Now because they did not amend them
the first reproof that they had of injustice judgment, neither in the second, which was that, in death, they would not hope in Me, nor grieve for the offence done to Me, but only for their own pain, have they thus so miserably received Eternal Punishment." selves after
and
false
CHAPTER XXXIX. Of the "
Now
third reproof
it
remains
on the Last
Day
which to
is
tell
made on the Day
of Judgment.
of the third reproof which is Already I have told thee
of Judgment.
THE DIALOGUE OF
88
ST.
CATHERINE
of two, and now, so that thou mayest see how greatly man of the deceives himself, I will tell thee of the third
General Judgment, when the pain of the miserable soul is renewed and increased by the union that the soul will make with the body, with an intolerable reproof, which will Know that, in the generate in it confusion and shame. Last Day of Judgment, when will come the Word My Son, with My Divine Majesty to reprove the world with Divine Power, He will not come like a poor one, as when
He was born, coming in the womb of the Virgin, and being born in a stable amongst the animals, and then dying between two thieves. Then I concealed My power in Him, letting
Him
suffer pain
divine nature
but
I
was
and torment
man, not that
human
him suffer like man to satisfy for your come thus in that last moment, but He
let
will not
like
therefore separated from
My
nature,
guilt.
He
will
come, with power, to reprove in His Own Person, and will render to every one his due, and there will be no one in that Day
To the miserable ones who are tremble. His will cause such torment and terror that damned, aspect the tongue cannot describe it. To the just it will cause the fear of reverence with great joy not that His face changes, because He is unchangeable, being one thing with Me who
will not
;
according to the divine nature, and, according to the human nature, His face was unchangeable, after it took the glory of the Resurrection.
appear such, on
But, to the eye of the damned, it will of their terrible and darkened
account
vision, that, as the sun which is so bright, appears all darkness to the infirm eye, but to the healthy eye light, (and it is not the defect of the light that makes it appear other to the blind than to the illuminated one, but the defect of the eye which is infirm), so will the condemned ones see His countenance in darkness, in confusion and in hatred, not through defect of My Divine Majesty, with which He will come to judge the world, but through their
own
defect."
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
CHAPTER How
the
89
XL.
damned cannot
desire
any good.
"AND their hatred is so great that they cannot will or desire any good, but they continually blaspheme Me. And dost thou know why they cannot desire good ? Because
the life of man ended, free-will is bound. Wherefore they cannot merit, having lost, as they have, the time to do so. If they finish their life, dying in hatred with the guilt of
mortal sin, their souls, by divine justice, remain for ever bound with the bonds of hatred, and for ever obstinate in that evil, in which, therefore, being gnawed by themselves, their pains always increase, especially the pains of those who have been the cause of damnation to others, as that rich man, who was damned, demonstrated to you when he
begged the favour that Lazarus might go to his brothers, in the world, to tell them of his pains. This, certainly, he did not do out of love or compassion for his brothers, for he was deprived of love and could not desire good, either for My honour or their salvation, because, as I have already told thee, the damned souls cannot do any good to their neighbour, and they blaspheme Me, because their life ended in hatred of Me and of virtue. But why then did he do it ? He did it because he was the eldest, and had nourished them up in the same miseries in which he had lived, so that he was the cause of their damnation, and he saw pain increased to himself, on account of their damnation when they should arrive in torment
who were
together with him, to be
gnawed
in hatred they finished their
CHAPTER Of the "
by hatred, because
XLI.
glory of the Blessed.
SIMILARLY, the just soul, for
tion of charity
for ever
lives."
whom
life
finishes in the affec
and the bonds of love, cannot increase
in virtue,
THE DIALOGUE OF
go
ST.
CATHERINE
time having come to nought, but she can always love with which she comes to Me, and that measure
that affection with
She always desires Me, and loves and her desire in vain is not Me, being hungry, she is and she has satisfied, being satisfied, hunger, but the tediousness of satiety and the pain of hunger are far from that is measured to her.
her.
In love, the Blessed rejoice in
cipating
in
that
that
good
I
My eternal vision, parti
have
every one measure of measured to them.
in Myself,
according to his measure, that is that, with that
which they have come to Me, is it Because they have lived in love of Me and of the neighbour, united together with the general love, and the particular, And which, moreover both proceed from the same love. and in each other s with exult, participating they rejoice good love, with
the affection of love, besides the universal good that they And they rejoice and exult with the enjoy altogether.
angels with whom they are placed, according to their diverse and various virtues in the world, being all bound in the bonds of love. And they have a special participation
with those
whom
they closely loved with particular affection
which affection they grew in grace, and the one was the occasion to the other increasing virtue, of manifesting the glory and praise of My name, in them selves and in their neighbour ; and, in the life everlasting, they have not lost their love, but have it still, participating closely, with more abundance, the one with the other, their love being added to the universal good, and I would not that thou shouldest think that they have this particular good, of which I have told thee, for themselves alone, for it
in
the world, with
is
not so, but
beloved
it
arrives at eternal soul,
is
sons, and
the proved citizens, My the soul for, when angels
shared by all
the
all
participate in the good of that their good. Not that her vessel or
life, all
and the soul
in
theirs can increase, nor that there be
need to
fill it,
because
full, but they have an exultation, a mirth fulness, a jubilee, a joyousness in themselves, which is refreshed by it
is
the knowledge that they have found in that soul. They see that, by My mercy, she is raised from the earth with
the plenitude of grace, and therefore they exult in
Me
in
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
91
the good of that soul, which good she has received through
My "
goodness.
And
that soul rejoices in Me,
and
in the souls,
and
in
the blessed spirits, seeing and tasting in them the beauty And their desires for ever and the sweetness of My love.
And cry out to Me, for the salvation of the whole world. because their life ended in the love of the neighbour, they have not left it behind, but, with it, they will pass through
My
the Door,
relate to thee.
only-begotten Son in the way that I will So thou seest that in those bonds of love
their life, they go on and remain conformed so entirely to My will, that they cannot desire except what I desire, because their free-will is bound in the bond of love, in such a way that, time failing them, and, dying in a state of grace, they cannot
in
which they finished
any more.
sin
are
They
eternally.
And
their will is so united with Mine,
that
a father or a mother seeing their son, or a son seeing his father or his mother in Hell, do not trouble themselves, and even are contented to see them punished as My enemies.
nothing do they disagree with Me, and their satisfied. The desire of the blessed is to honour in you wayfarers, who are pilgrims, for ever
Wherefore
in
desires are
all
see
My
In their desire for running on towards the term of death. desire and honour, they your salvation, always pray to My Me for you, which desire is fulfilled by Me, when you ignorant ones do not resist My mercy. They have a desire the of their to but this desire does regain gifts too, body, not
afflict
rejoice in
them, as they do not actually feel it, but they tasting the desire, from the certainty they feel of
Their desire does not afflict them, because, though they have it not yet fulfilled, no bliss is Wherefore they feel not the pain thereby lacking to them. having
it
of desire.
fulfilled.
And
think not, that the bliss of the body after
the resurrection gives more bliss to the soul, for, if this were so, it would follow that, until they had the body, they
had imperfect
bliss,
lacking to them.
which cannot
So
be,
because no perfection
not the body that gives bliss to the soul, but the soul will give bliss to the body, because the soul will give of her abundance, and will re-clothe heris
it is
THE DIALOGUE OF
92
CATHERINE
ST.
on the Last Day of Judgment, in the garments of her flesh which she had quitted. For, as the soul is made in and stablished immortal, stayed Me, so the body in that union becomes immortal, and, having lost heaviness, is made fine and light. Wherefore, know that the glorified body can pass through a wall, and that neither water nor fire can injure it, not by virtue of itself, but by virtue of the soul, which virtue is of Me, given to her by grace, and by the ineffable love with which I created her in My image and likeness. self
own
The eye
of thy intellect
is
not sufficient to see, nor thy ear good of the Blessed.
to hear, nor thy tongue to tell of the
Oh, how much delight they have in seeing Me, Who am every good Oh, how much delight they will have in being with !
the glorified body, though, not having that delight from now to the general Judgment, they have not, on that account, pain, because no bliss is lacking to them, the soul
being satisfied in herself, and, as
I
have told
thee, the
body
will participate in this bliss. I told thee of the happiness which the glorified body would take in the glorified humanity of My only-begotten Son, which gives you assurance of your resurrection. There, they exult in His wounds, which have remained fresh, and the Scars in His Body are preserved, and continually cry for mercy for you, to Me, the Supreme and Eternal Father. And they are all conformed with Him, in joyousness and mirth, and you will all be conformed with Him, eye with eye, and hand with hand, and with the whole Body of the sweet "
Word My Son, and, dwelling in Me, you will dwell in Him, But their bodily eye, because He is one thing with Me. as
I
told thee, will delight itself in
of the
Word,
My
only-begotten
their life finished in the affection of will this delight
endure
for
them
the glorified humanity so ? Because
Son.
My
Why
and therefore Not that they
love,
eternally.
can work any good, but they rejoice and delight in that good which they have brought with them, that is, they cannot do any meritorious act, by which they could merit anything, because in this life alone can they merit and sin, according as they please, with free-will. "
These then do not
await, with fear, the Divine judgment,
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
93
but with joy, and the Face of My Son will not seem to them terrible, or full of hatred, because they finished their lives in love and affection for Me, and good-will
towards their neighbour. So thou seest then, that the transformation is not in His Face, when He comes to judge with
Divine Majesty, but in the vision of those who will be To the damned He will appear with hatred
My
judged by Him. and with justice.
And
to the saved with love
CHAPTER How,
after the
mercy."
XLII.
General Judgment, the pain of the
damned
HAVE
and
will increase.
told thee of the dignity of the
Righteous, so that thou mayest the better know the misery of the damned. For this is another of their pains, namely, the vision of the bliss of the righteous, which is to them an increase of pain, as, "
I
to the righteous, the
damnation of the damned
is
an
in
As light is seen goodness. better near darkness, and darkness near light, so the sight With pain they await of the Blessed increases their pain. the Last Day of Judgment, because they see, following it, an
crease of exultation
in
My
increase of pain to themselves. And so will it be, because when that terrible voice shall say to them, Arise, ye dead,
and come
to judgment/ the soul will return with the body, in the just to be glorified, and in the damned to be And the aspect of My Truth, and of tortured eternally. all the blessed ones will reproach them greatly, and make
them ashamed, and the worm of conscience will gnaw the pith of the tree, that is the soul, and also the bark out side, which is the body. They will be reproached by the Blood that was shed for them, and by the works of mercy, spiritual and temporal, which I did for them by means of My Son, and which they should have done for their neigh is contained in the Holy Gospel. They will be reproved for their cruelty towards their neighbour, for their
bour, as
pride and self-love, for their filthiness
and avarice
;
and
THE DIALOGUE OF
94
ST.
CATHERINE
when they
see the mercy that they have received from Me, their reproof will seem to be intensified in harshness.
At the time of death, the soul only is reproved, but, at the General Judgment, the soul is reproved together with the body, because the body has been the companion and to do good and evil according as instrument of the soul the free-will pleased. the body.
by means of
Every work, good or bad, is done And, therefore, justly, My daughter,
glory and infinite good are rendered to their glorified body, rewarding for Me, together with the soul.
My
elect
ones with
them
for the toils they bore And to the perverse ones
be rendered eternal pains by means of their bod}-, because their body was the instrument of evil. Wherefore,
will
being their body, increase
at
the
restored,
aspect
their
My
of
pains
Son,
will
their
revive
and
miserable
sensuality with its filthiness, in the vision of their nature, is, the humanity of Christ) united with the purity of My Deity, and of this mass of their Adam nature raised
(that
above
own see
who
all
fault,
the choirs of Angels, and themselves, by their sunk into the depths of Hell. And they will
generosity and mercy shining in the blessed ones, receive the fruit of the Blood of the Lamb, the pains that
they have borne remaining as ornaments on their bodies, like the dye upon the cloth, not by virtue of the body but only out of the fulness of the soul, representing in the body the fruit of its labour, because it was the companion
As in the mirror is of the soul in the working of virtue. represented the face of the man, so in the body is repre sented the fruit of bodily toils, in the way that I have told thee. "The pain and confusion of the darkened ones, on seeing so great a dignity (of which they are deprived), will increase, and in their bodies will appear the sign of the wickedness
they have committed, with pain and torture. Go cursed ones, hear that terrible speech, t
And when to
the
they Eternal
Fire] the soul and the body will go to be with the Devil each one being wrapped up without any remedy or hope in diverse filth of earth, according to his evil works. The miser with the filth of avarice, wrapping himself up with
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
95
the worldly substance which he loved disordinately, and burning in the fire ; the cruel one with cruelty ; the foul man with foulness and miserable concupiscence ; the un
and just with his injustice ; the envious with envy ; And inordinate the hater of his neighbour with hatred.
whence were born
self-love,
all
their
ills,
will
be
burnt
with intolerable pain, as the head and principle of every in company with pride. So that body and soul evil,
Thus miserably together will be punished in diverse ways. arrive do they at their end who go by the lower way, that turning back to see their sins and My they arrive at the Gate of the Lie, because they follow the doctrine of the Devil, who is the Father of Lies ; and this Devil is their Door, through which they go
by the
is,
to
My
river, not
And
Mercy.
Eternal Damnation, as has been said, as the elect and sons, keeping by the way above, that is by the Bridge,
follow the
Way of Truth, and My Truth, No
therefore said
by Me.
1
He
is
this Truth is the Door, and one can go to the Father but the Door and the Way through Which
It is the contrary they pass to enter the Sea Pacific. for those who have kept the Way of the Lie, which leads them to the water of death. And it is to this that the
Devil calls them, and they are as blind and mad, and do not perceive it, because they have lost the light of faith. The Devil says, as it were, to them Whosoever thirsts for :
the water of death,
let
him come and
CHAPTER Of
I
will give
it
to him.
"
XLIII.
the use of temptations, and how every soul in her extremity sees her final place either of pain or of glory, before she is sepa rated from the body.
THE
dearest daughter, is the instrument of My torment the souls who have miserably offended Me. And I have set him in this life to tempt and molest My creatures, not for My creatures to be conquered, but
"
Devil,
Justice to
THE DIALOGUE OF
g6
ST.
CATHERINE
may conquer, proving their virtue, and receive And no one should fear any the glory of victory. battle or temptation of the Devil that may come to him,
that they
from
Me
because I have made My creatures strong, and have given them strength of will, fortified in the Blood of my Son, which will, neither Devil nor creature can move, because it yours, given by Me. You therefore, with free arbitration, It is an it or leave it, according as you please. arm, which, if you place it in the hands of the Devil,
is
can hold
straightway becomes a knife, with which he strikes you and But if man do not give this knife of his will slays you. into the hands of the Devil, that is, if he do not consent to his temptations and molestations, he will never be in jured by the guilt of sin in any temptation, but will even be fortified by it, when the eye of his intellect is opened to
see
My
love which allowed him to be tempted, so as to arrive For one does not arrive at by being proved.
at virtue,
virtue except through knowledge of
Me, which
self,
and knowledge of
more
perfectly acquired in the time of temptation, because then man knows himself to be nothing,being unable to lift off himself the pains and vexations
knowledge
which he would
flee
;
is
and he knows
Me
in his will,
which
goodness, so that it does not yield to And he has seen that My love permits these thoughts. these temptations, for the devil is weak, and by himself And I let him tempt, can do nothing, unless I allow him. is fortified
by
My
through love, and not through hatred, that you may con quer, and not that you may be conquered, and that you
may come to a perfect knowledge of yourself, and of Me, and that virtue may be proved, for it is not proved except Thou seest, then, that he is My minister by its contrary. to torture the damned in Hell, and in this life, to exercise Not that it is the intention and prove virtue in the soul. of the Devil to prove virtue in you (for he has not love), but rather to deprive you of it, and this he cannot do, if
you do not wish foolishness of
it.
men
Now thou in
seest, then,
how great
making themselves
feeble,
is
the
when
I
have made them strong, and in putting themselves into the hands of the Devil. Wherefore, know, that at the moment
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
97
of death, they, having passed their life under the lordship of the Devil (not that they were forced to do so, for as I told you they cannot be forced, but they voluntarily put
themselves into his hands), and, arriving at the extremity of their death under this perverse lordship, they await no other
judgment than that of despairingly, come to
their
own
conscience, and desperately,
eternal damnation.
them
Wherefore
Hell,
the extremity of through up and before take hold of it, by death, they get there, they means of their lord the Devil. As the righteous, who have their hate, surges
lived
in
fectly in
to
in
charity and died in love, if they have lived per virtue, illuminated with the light of faith, with
hope in the Blood of the Lamb, when the extremity of death comes, see the good which I have prepared for them, and embrace it with the arms of love, holding fast with pressure of love to Me, the Supreme and Eternal Good.
perfect
And
so they taste eternal life before they have left the mortal body, that is, before the soul be separated from the
body.
Others
arrived
at
who have passed
and have an ordinary charity, (not in that great perfection), embrace My mercy with the same light of faith and hope that had those perfect ones, but, in them, it is imperfect, for, because they were imperfect, they constrained
greater than their sins. trary, for,
their
lives,
the last extremity of death with
My
mercy, counting My mercy sinners do the con
The wicked
seeing, with desperation, their destination,
they
embrace it with hatred, as I told thee. So that neither the one nor the other waits for judgment, but, in departing this life, they receive every one their place, as I have told thee, and they taste it and possess it before they depart from the the damned with hatred body, at the extremity of death and with despair, and the perfect ones with love and the light
of faith and with the hope of the Blood.
And
the
imperfect arrive at the place of Purgatory, with mercy and the same faith."
THE DIALOGUE OF
98
CHAPTER
ST.
CATHERINE
XLIV.
How
the Devil gets hold of souls, under pretence of some good and, those are deceived who keep by the river, and not by the aforesaid Bridge, for, wishing to fly pains, they fall into them and of the vision of a tree, that this soul once had. :
how
;
41
I
HAVE
told thee that the Devil invites
men
to the
water of
which he
has, and, blinding them with is, and of conditions the world, he catches them the pleasures of under hook the pretence of good, the with pleasure, could he no other catch in because them, for they would way to be if themselves allow not caught they saw that no good or to be obtained thereby. For the to themselves were pleasure to that
death, that
from her nature, always relishes good, though it is true that the soul, blinded by self-love, does not know and dis cern what is true good, and of profit to the soul and to the
soul,
body.
And,
therefore, the Devil, seeing
them blinded by
self-love, iniquitously places before them diverse and various delights, coloured so as to have the appearance of some bene
and he gives to every one according to his con and those dition principal vices to which he sees him to be one kind to the secular, of another to of most disposed others to prelates and noblemen, accord and the religious, I have told thee this, different to their conditions. ing to thee of I those now who drown themselves because speak care for and who in the river, nothing but themselves, to love themselves to My injury, and I will relate to thee their end. 41 Now I want to show thee how they deceive themselves, and how, wishing to flee troubles, they fall into them. For, because it seems to them that following Me, that is, walking fit
or good
;
by the way of the Bridge, the Word, My Son, is great toil, they draw back, fearing the thorn. This is because they are blinded and do not
know
or see the Truth, as, thou knowest,
thy life, when thou didst have mercy on the world, and draw it out of the darkness of mortal sin. Thou knowest that I then showed thee Myself under the figure of a Tree, of I
showed
pray
Me
thee in the beginning of
to
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
99
which thou sawest neither the beginning nor the end, so that thou didst not see that the roots were united with the
At the foot of the Tree, if thou earth of your humanity. rememberest well, there was a certain thorn, from which all
away,
and
didst
who
those
thorn
ran
to a
to
figure
love
own
the
delights
to be of corn
and was
thyself
That Lolla seemed
their
mountain of Lolla, all
sensuality in
which
of
kept thou
the world.
not, and, there souls thereon died of hunger, many and many, recognising the deceits of the world, returned to the Tree and passed the thorn, which is the deliberation of fore, as thou didst see,
Which
the will.
which appears the Truth.
to
And
deliberation, before it is made, is a thorn man to stand in the way of following
conscience always fights on one side, and but as soon as he, with hatred and
sensuality on the other
;
displeasure of himself, manfully makes up his mind, saying, 1 1 wish to follow Christ crucified, he breaks at once the thorn, then,
and finds inestimable sweetness, as I showed thee some finding more and some less, according to their
And thou knowest that then I said to am thee, your God, unmoving and unchangeable/ and I do not draw away from any creature who wants to come to Me. disposition and desire. I
have shown them the Truth, making Myself visible to them, and I have shown them what it is to love anything without Me. But they, as if blinded by the fog of disordinate love, know neither Me nor themselves. Thou seest I
how
deceived they are, choosing rather to die of hunger little thorn. And they cannot escape endur
than to pass a
ing pain, for no one can pass through this life without a Not cross, far less those who travel by the lower way. that ated.
My
servants pass without pain, but their pain is allevi because by sin, as I said to thee above the
And
world germinates thorns and tribulations, and because this river flows with tempestuous waters, I gave you the Bridge, so that you might not be drowned. 1 have shown thee how they are deceived by a dis"
Who
ordinate fear, and how I am your God, immovable, am not an Acceptor of persons but of holy desire. And this I
have shown thee under the figure of the Tree, as
I
told
thee."
THE DIALOGUE OF
ioo
ST.
CATHERINE
CHAPTER XLV. How, the world having germinated thorns, who those are whom although no one passes .this life without they do not harm ;
pain.
Now
to whom the thorns and tribula world germinated through sin, do harm, and to whom they do not. And as, so far, I have shown thee the damnation of sinners, together with My goodness, and have "
I
want to show thee
tions, that the
told thee
now
I
how
wish to
they are deceived by their own sensuality, thee how it is only they themselves who
tell
No one born passes this life are injured by the thorns. without pain, bodily or mental. Bodily pain My servants bear, but their
minds are
weariness of the pain
free, that is,
they do not
feel the
for their will is accorded with Mine, is the will that gives trouble to man. Pain of mind ;
and it and of body have those, of whom I have narrated to thee, who, in this life, taste the earnest money of hell, as My servants taste the earnest
thou what
money
of eternal
life.
Knowest
It special good of the blessed ones ? is having their desire filled with what they desire ; where fore desiring Me, they have Me, and taste Me without
any was
is
revolt, for
the
they have
left
the burden of the body, which
a law that opposed the spirit, and came between it and the perfect knowledge of the Truth, preventing it from seeing Me face to face. But after the soul has left the weight of
the body, her desire
desiring to see Me, she sees
is full, for,
and seeing she knows, and and loving she tastes Me, Supreme and Eternal Good, and, in tasting Me, she is satisfied, and her desire is fulfilled, that is, the desire she had to see and know Me; wherefore desiring she has, and having she And as I told thee pain is far from the desire, desires. and weariness from the satisfaction of it. So thou seest that My servants are blessed principally in seeing and in knowing Me, in which vision and knowledge their will is fulfilled, for they have that which they desired to have, and Me,
in
which vision
knowing she
loves,
is
her bliss
;
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
101
Wherefore I told thee that the so are they satisfied. tasting of eternal life consisted especially in having that will desires, and thus being satisfied ; but know that the will is satisfied in seeing and knowing Me, as I have
which the told thee.
of eternal
life then, they taste the earnest money tasting the above, with which I have told
In this life,
thee they will be satisfied. But how have they the earnest
money in this present reply to thee, they have it in seeing My goodness in themselves, and in the knowledge of My Truth, which knowledge, the intellect (which is the eye of the soul) illu "
life ?
I
This eye has the pupil of the minated in Me, possesses. most holy faith, which light of faith enables the soul to
know, and to follow the way and the doctrine of Truth the Word Incarnate ; and without this pupil of faith she would not see, except as a man who has the form
discern, to
My
of the eye, but who has covered the pupil (which causes the So the pupil of the intellect is eye to see) with a cloth.
and if the soul has covered it with the cloth of infi delity, drawn over it by self-love, she does not see, but only has the form of the eye without the light, because she has Thus thou seest, that in seeing they know, and hidden it. in knowing they love, and in loving they deny and lose Their own will lost, they clothe themselves their self-will. in Mine, and I will nothing but your sanctification. At once they set to, turning their back to the way below, and begin to ascend by the Bridge, and pass over the thorns, which do not hurt them, their feet being shod with the affection of My love. For I told thee that My seivants
faith,
suffered corporally but not mentally, because the sensitive
which gives pain and afflicts the mind of the creature, Wherefore, the will not being there, neither is there any pain. They bear everything with reverence, themselves favoured in having tribulation for My deeming and desire If I allow sake, they nothing but what I desire.
will, is
dead.
the Devil to trouble them, permitting temptations to prove them in virtue, as I told thee above, they resist with
Me, humiliating themselves, and deem themselves ing unworthy of peace and quiet of mind and
their will fortified in
THE DIALOGUE OF
102
ST.
CATHERINE
deserving of pain, and so they proceed with cheerfulness and And if tribula self-knowledge, without painful affliction.
on man s account, or infirmity, or poverty, or change of worldly condition, or loss of children, or of other much loved creatures (all of which are thorns that the earth pro tions
duced after sin) come upon them, they endure them all with the light of reason and holy faith, looking to Me, am cannot desire other than good, the Supreme Good, and
Who
Who
for
which
I
permit these tribulations through love, and not
Me recognise this, and, see their examining themselves, they sins, and understand of that must the be rewarded and evil faith, light good by through hatred.
And they
that love
And they see that every little sin merits infinite punished. because it is against Me, Who am Infinite Good, pain, wherefore they deem themselves favoured because I wish to punish them in this life, and in this finite time ; they drive
away
sin with contrition of heart,
do they
merit,
and
and with perfect patience rewarded with infinite
their labours are
Hereafter they know that all labour in this life is account of the shortness of time. Time is as the on small, more needle and no when of a time has passed and, point good.
;
labour small.
ended, therefore thou seest that the labour is They endure with patience, and the thorns they
is
pass through do not touch their heart, because their heart drawn out of them and united to Me by the affection of
is
a good truth then that these do taste eternal receiving the earnest money of it in this life, and that,
love. life,
It is
though they walk on thorns, they are not pricked, because as I told thee, they have known My Supreme Goodness, and sought for it where it was to be found, that is in the Word,
My
only begotten
Son."
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
CHAPTER Of the
evils
105
XLVI.
which proceed from the blindness of the intellect and not done in a state of grace are not profitable ;
how good works for eternal "
HAVE
I
how
life.
told thee this, so that thou shouldest
these, of
whose delusion
I
know
well
have been speaking to thee,
Hell. Now I will tell thee whence and how they receive that earnest They are deluded in that they have blinded the
taste the earnest
money of
proceeds their delusion,
money. eye of
their intellect with
infidelity, arising
from
self-love,
acquired by the light of Faith, so kind of lying deceit. I speak is every acquired by infidelity of the infidelity of those who have received holy baptism,
because, as every truth
is
through which the pupil of Faith was placed in the eye of their intellect, and as the result of which, on arriving at the age of discretion, if they have exercised themselves rightly in virtue, they
have preserved the
light of Faith.
Where
fore they give birth to living virtues, bringing forth fruit by means of their neighbour, like a woman, who, bringing forth alive, brings it living to her husband ; so should they am the Husband of their virtues living to Me, bring But these wretches do the contrary, for when the soul.
a child
Who
they have arrived at the age of discretion, at which time they should, by the exercise of the light of Faith, bring their virtues living to the birth of grace, they bring them forth still-born.
Their virtues are dead because all their works are dead, having been performed in mortal sin, and without the light of Faith. Such as these have indeed the form of holy baptism, but not the light thereof, of which they have deprived "
themselves, through the cloud of sins they have committed, through self-love which has covered the pupil of their eye.
To
is it said, Those who have faith without works Wherefore as the dead do not see, neither can
such as these
are dead.
man
see, because the pupil of his eye has been as I have told thee, nor does he know that he darkened, He does not remains in the sins which he has committed.
such a
THE DIALOGUE OF
104
ST.
CATHERINE
recognise in himself My goodness, whence he has received Where being and every other grace that he possesses. fore, not recognising Me in himself, he does not hate his
own
sensuality, but rather loves it, seeking to satisfy his and so brings forth the dead offspring of many
appetite,
mortal sins. He does not love Me, and not loving Me, does not love what I love, that is to say, his neighbour, and
does not delight in doing what pleases Me, wherein consists true and real virtue, which it pleases Me to see in him, not because such virtue profits me, for nothing can profit Me, I being He without whom nothing is done except sin
(which is nothing, inasmuch as it deprives the soul of It is rather on grace and of Me, Who am Every Good.) account of their own profit that the virtues of men please Me, for I have the wherewithal to reward them in ever life. Thou seest, then, that the faith of these wretches dead, because it is without works, those which they per form not meriting for them eternal life, because they are
lasting is
deprived of the life of grace. Nevertheless, a man should not leave off doing good, either with or without grace, for, just as every
punished, so is all good rewarded. done in a state of grace merits eternal life, and the good done out of grace is rewarded in various ways, as I told thee above for sometimes I lend them time sin is
The good which
is
;
My
for repentance, or put into the hearts of servants to continue intercessions for them, by means of which they
often escape from their sins and miseries. Sometimes, through the disposition of grace, they receive neither prayers nor time, but are rewarded with temporal things,
My
being treated like animals that are fatted for the slaughter. Therefore such as these, who, having always kicked against My goodness, nevertheless do some good, not in a state of grace, but in sin, and have not profited in their works either time, or by prayers, or any of the other ways in which have called them, being reproved by Me for their sins, (My goodness wishing nevertheless to reward their works, that is, that little service which they have done), they are rewarded by Me with temporal things on which
by I
they fatten, and, not correcting themselves, they arrive at
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
105
So thou seest they are deceived. Who has deceived them ? They themselves, because they have deprived themselves of the light of living Faith, and walk
eternal punishment.
blind
like
men
groping,
which they touch.
and
attach
themselves
But, because they do not
to
see,
that
except
with a blind eye, they place their affections on transitory things, therefore are they deceived and act like madmen, who look only at the glitter of the gold, and not at the
hidden poison. Wherefore know, that the things of the world and all its delights and pleasures they have seized and possessed, without Me, but with disordinate love of self, and these things are like the scorpion which I shewed thee in the beginning, after the figure of the tree, telling thee that it
and venom behind, and that the venom was not without the gold, nor the gold without the venom, but that the gold was seen first, and that no one preserved carries gold in front
himself from the venom, except those by the light of faith."
CHAPTER
who were
illuminated
XLVII.
How
the commandments cannot be observed by those who do not observe the counsels and how every state, which a man may choose, if he have a good and holy will, is pleasing to God. ;
"I
HAVE
told thee of those,
who, with the knife of two
blades (that is hatred of vice and love of virtue), for love of Me, cut out the venom of their own sensuality, and, with the light of reason, held
and possessed and acquired the gold
contained in those
mundane things
keep.
But, he
who
desires
to
that they desired to
practise great perfection,
These are despises them in deed as well as in thought. they, as I told thee, who observe the counsel actually, which
was given
to
them and
left
by
My
Truth.
And
those
who
retain possession of the things of the world, are those who observe the commandments in action, but the counsels in thought only, and not in deed. For, inasmuch as the
counsels are bound up in the commandments, no one can
THE DIALOGUE OF
106
ST.
CATHERINE
latter who does not observe the former, at least that is to say, that they possess the riches of the world humbly and without pride, as lent to them and
observe the
in thought,
own ; for they are only given to you for your use through My goodness, since you only possess what I give I you, and can only retain what I allow you to retain. not their
give you as salvation,
much
and
of them as
in this
I
see to be profitable for your them, for a man,
way should you use
so using them, observes the commandment, loving Me above everything, and his neighbour as himself ; for he lives with a pure divested heart, casting riches away from himself in
and
desire
with
My
love,
will.
and only possessing them in accordance Such a man therefore, though he possess
his riches in deed, observes the counsel in thought, having out of his heart the poison of disordinate love and
cut
affection.
who
Such as these are
in
common
charity.
But those
observe the commandments and counsels in deed as
well as in thought are in perfect charity. With true simplicity they observe the counsel which My Truth, the Word Incarnate, gave to that young man who "
saying
asked,
to
:
What must I
whom He
do, Master, to inherit Eternal Observe the commandments of
life
?
the
Law, and the young man answering,
replied
Jesus then said
:
said
:
I have observed
It is well ; now, ifthou wilt be perfect, And the sell all that thou hast and give to the poor.
them. go,
young man was much love.
:
sad, because
he
still
held his riches with
too
But these perfect ones observe that counsel, abandoning its pleasures, macerating the body with penance and with watching, with humility and continual The others, dwelling in common charity, who do prayers. not raise themselves above their worldly possessions in deed, do not on that account lose eternal life, inasmuch as they are not fettered by them. But, if they wish to possess the things of the world, they should do so in the way that I have told thee, and they do not offend in so possessing them, because everything is good and perfect, and created "
the world with
by Me, rational
Who am
the
creatures
;
Supreme Good, not
that
My
for the service of
rational
creatures
My may
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
107
become the slaves and servants of the delights of the world, but that, if it pleases them to hold worldly possessions (not desiring to go on to the great perfection), they may hold them not as their servants but as their lords.
And
they should
give their love and desire to Me, possessing every other thing, For not as their own, but as lent to them, as I told thee.
am no
Acceptor of creatures, or of conditions, but rather wherefore, in whatever condition a man may choose to be, he may have a good and holy will and be But who will possess in this way ? pleasing to Me. have Those who destroyed the venom, with hatred of their I
of holy desires
;
own sensuality and love of virtue. Having destroyed the venom of disordinate desire, and ruled it with love and fear of Me, a man can choose and hold the condition he prefers, and, in either, he will be capable of receiving eternal life, although the greater perfection and the more pleasing to Me, be to raise himself in deed as well as in thought from every
But he who does not wish to rise to this perfection, his fragility not allowing him to do so, can remain in the ordinary state, according to his vocation, and this My goodness has ordered so that no one may have And excuse for sinning, whatever his condition may be. truly they have no excuse, because I have condescended to their passions and weaknesses in such a way that they, wishing to remain in the world, can do so, possessing thing of the world.
riches,
retaining
their
dignities,
living
in
the
state
of
matrimony, bringing up their children, and striving for them, and remaining in whatever condition they may choose, provided that they truly cut out the venom of their
which gives eternal death. And rightly is sensuality called venom, because, as a sting gives pain to the body, and finally causes its death unless it is cast out, or some medicine taken, so does the scorpion of
own
their
sensuality,
own
worldly delight to the soul ; not that temporal things, in themselves, contain any venom, for they are good and made by Me, Who am Supreme Good, and therefore can be used
man pleases with holy fear and true love, but speaking of the sting of the perverse will of man.
as
then, that
it
envenoms the soul and gives
it
I I
am say,
death, unless
THE DIALOGUE OF
io8 it is
ST.
CATHERINE
drawn out of the heart and the
affection,
and vomited
a medicine which confession by holy confession, cures this sting, though it seems bitter to sensual self-love. Thou seest then how deluded are they who can possess and for
is
have Me, fleeing sadness and obtaining cheerfulness and consolation, and who, nevertheless, desire evil under colour of good, and give themselves up to the acquiring of gold with disordinate love. But, because they are blinded with much infidelity, feeling themselves envenomed, yet not per ceiving how they are stung, they take not the remedy, and bear the cross of the Devil, tasting the earnest money of Hell."
CHAPTER How
worldly
men cannot be
XLVIII.
satisfied
with their possessions them even in this
;
of the suffering their perverse will causes
and
life.
TOLD thee, above, that the will alone is the cause of man s and because My servants are deprived of their own will, and clothed with Mine, they do not feel afflicting pain, "
I
pain,
but are satisfied, feeling Me by grace in their souls, and if they possessed the whole world without Me they could not be satisfied, because the things created are less than man for they are
made
for
man, and not man
for
them
and
therefore can he not be satisfied by them, but by Me alone. Wherefore these miserable ones in great blindness are
always striving and are never satisfied, desiring that which they cannot have, because they do not ask of Me, Who alone can satisfy. Wilt thou that I tell thee what their pain is ? Thou knowest that love always gives pain, when that thing to which the soul has become conformed is lost. These have become conformed to the earth, through love, in diverse ways, wherefore earth they have become ; some are con formed to riches, some to worldly rank, some to their children, some lose Me by serving creatures, some make of their body a brute beast through their great filthiness, and so, in various ways, they desire and feed themselves on earth,
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
109
and they would that things were lasting, but they are not, but for either they fail them at the moment pass like the wind of death, or else they are deprived of what they love by My ;
And, being deprived, they suffer intolerable loss causes them as much grief as they had their and pain, dispensation.
disordinate love
when they possessed them.
Had
they held
them as things lent to them, and not as their own, they would leave them without pain. They have pain then, because they have not what they desire. Because, as I told thee, the world cannot satisfy them, and, being un
How great is the pain of the prick of they suffer. ! How conscience great is his pain who thirsts for revenge, which pain continually gnaws him and causes him to die, satisfied,
enemy with the knife of hatred miser How much pain the endures, who through avarice cuts How much torment the envious man down his needs before he has killed his
!
!
endures, for envy always gnaws his heart, and does not allow him to take delight in the well-being of his neighbour ! From everything, which a man loves sensually, he draws
pain with many disordinate fears. Wherefore, such as these have taken the cross of the Devil, tasting the earnest money of Hell, on which they live in this life, with many and diverse sicknesses, and if they do not correct themselves they will afterwards receive eternal death.
These are injured by the thorns of many tribulations, torturing themselves with their own disordinate will, who carry the cross in heart and in body, that is, with pain and "
torment, the soul and the body pass their time without any merit, because they bear not their labours with patience,
but rather with impatience. And, because they have possessed and acquired the gold of the delights of the world with disordinate love, being deprived of the life of grace, and of the affection of charity, they have become trees of death.
works are dead, and with pain they being drowned, and arrive at the water of death, passing with hatred through the gate of the Devil, and receive eternal damnation. Now thou hast seen how And, therefore, go through the
all
their
river,
they deceive themselves, and with how much pain they go to Hell, making themselves martyrs of the Devil. And thou
THE DIALOGUE OF
no
hast seen what
it
is
ST.
CATHERINE
that blinds them,
namely the cloud of
And thou self-love, hiding the pupil of the light of faith. hast seen how the tribulations of the world, from whatever side they come, injure My servants corporally, but not mentally, because they, being conformed to My will, are But the servants of the contented to suffer pain for Me.
world are hurt within and without, and particularly within, by fear, that is, fear of losing that which they possess, and by love, that is, the desire for that which they cannot have. All the other suffering which proceeds from these two principal causes, thy tongue is not sufficient to relate. "Thou seest, then, that, even in this life, the righteous have a better bargain than the sinners, and thou hast fully seen how they walk and what is their end."
CHAPTER XLIX. How
servile fear is not sufficient to give eternal life and how, by the exercise of this fear, one arrives at the love of virtue. ;
Now I say to thee that there are some few who, feeling themselves spurred by the tribulations of the world (which I give in order that the soul may know that her end is not "
in this
life,
and that things are imperfect and transitory, and
may desire Me Who am her End), begin to lift the cloud off themselves, on account of the suffering that sin causes them, and, which they see, must follow sin. With this servile fear they begin to come out of the river, vomit that she
ing the poison which was flung to them by the scorpion under the appearance of gold, and which they took without
moderation, receiving thereby poison, and, arising, take the direction of the bank to attach themselves to the Bridge. But it does not suffice to go with servile fear alone, for "
sweep out the house of mortal sin, without filling it with virtue, founded in love and not in fear, will not give eternal Man must put both feet on the first step of the life. Bridge, that is, affection and desire, which are the feet that to
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION carry the soul
into
love of
the
My
in
Truth, of
Whom
I
This servile fear is the first have made for you a Bridge. step, which I told thee would have to be ascended, when I told thee how He had made a staircase of His Body, and it is indeed true, that it is almost always the first step that the servants of the world take, arising, first, through the fear of The world begins to displease them, sometimes on pain. account of its tribulations, and sometimes because they
become tedious
If they exercise this fear they will pass on to the love of
to themselves.
with the light of
faith,
virtue. "But,
there are
some who proceed with such half-heartedness
that oftentimes they turn in again, because, having arrived at the bank, and, contrary winds arising, they are struck by
And the waves of the tempestuous sea of this dark life. if the wind of prosperity arrives, a man, not having, through negligence, mounted, with affection, and the love of virtue, the first step, great pleasures of the world wind of adversity blows, because he has not hated
turns
his
head
back
to
the
with disordinate delight. If the he turns back through impatience, his sin
on account of the injury
it
has done to Me, but on account of the fear of pain it causes to him, with which fear alone he had arisen from the vomit. All practice of virtue requires perseverance, and if a man does not persevere he will not attain his desire, which is
end for which he began. Wherefore to he needs perseverance. I have told thee that they turn back on account of the diverse contrary winds that arise against them, or the
to
arrive at the
fulfil
his desire
"
warring of their own sensuality against the Spirit, or because they turn to creatures, loving them with disordinate love apart from Me, or on account of impatience of injury, or the Devil makes them turn back through many and diverse battles, and sometimes through contempt, bringing
them
to confusion, saying
:
This good which thou hast begun to practise is not worth so much to thee as thy sins and faults, which he says to make them turn back and abandon the little "
practice of virtue
which they had begun.
And sometimes
THE DIALOGUE OF
ii2
ST.
CATHERINE
he makes them turn back through love of pleasure, telling them to hope in My Mercy, saying Why harass Enjoy this life, and, in the extremity of death, thyself? :
And so, recognising thy sins, thou shalt receive mercy. them to lose fear Devil causes the with in this way, the For these, and many other things, which they had begun. and are back not constant or persevering, and they turn befalls them because the roots of self-love are by all this in means no them, and they take hold of the ploughed up
My
Mercy, not as they ought, but with great I presumption, seizing that which they continually offend. have not given, and do not give, My mercy in order that men may offend in the hope of it, but in order that they may defend themselves, with it, from the malice of the Devil, But they who and from disordinate confusion of mind. offend with the arm of mercy do quite the contrary, and it is because they have not persevered in the first change they made, arising, through the fear of pain and the pricks of the thorns of many tribulations, from the misery of mortal
hope of
Wherefore, not having made the first change, they do and therefore do they not
sin.
not attain to the love of virtue, persevere. "The soul that does not
change her course does not she proceeds not, she turns back, so that proceed, and, I have been speaking to of whom as such these, thee, not with nor virtue, arising from the imperfections of proceeding if
fear
and attaining
to love,
must needs turn
CHAPTER How
this soul
was
of those
back."
L.
on account of the blindness are drowned below in the river.
in great bitterness,
who
THEN that soul, tormented by desire, considering her own imperfections and those of others, was saddened to hear of and to see the great blindness of creatures, notwithstanding the great goodness of GOD, in having placed nothing in this 11
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
113
no matter in what condition, that could be an impedi ment to the salvation of creatures, but rather arranged for the exercising and proving of virtue in them. And, not self-love and she saw all them, through this, withstanding river and arrive at under the disordinate affection, go by in river and who were the and eternal damnation, many had begun to come out, turn back again, scandalised at her, because they had heard of the sweet goodness of GOD, Who had deigned to manifest Himself to her. And, for this, she was in bitterness, and fixing the eye of her intellect on the
life,
Eternal Father, she said Oh, Inestimable Love, great is I would that, when it is the delusion of Thy creatures. "
:
explain to
Thy me the
Truth, and
who
to
pleasing
Goodness,
Thou wouldst more
clearly
three steps figured in the Body of Thy only Son, and what method should be used so as to come entirely out of the depths and to keep the way of Thy are those
who ascend
CHAPTER How the
the
staircase."
LI.
three steps figured in the Bridge, that is, in the Son of GOD, signify the three powers of the soul.
THEN
the Divine Goodness, regarding with the eye of His mercy, the hunger and desire of that soul, said Oh, most delightful daughter, I am not a Despiser, but the "
:
My
Fulfiller
of
holy desire, and therefore
I
show and Thou askest
will
declare to thee that which thou askest Me.
Me
to explain to thee the figure of the three steps, and to thee what method they, who want to come out of the river must use, to be able to ascend the Bridge. And, although tell
above,
in
relating to thee the
delusion and blindness of
tasting in this life the
men, earnest-money of Hell, and, as of the martyrs Devil, receiving damnation, I showed thee the methods they should use; nevertheless, now I will declare
it
to thee
more
knowest that every
evil
fully, satisfying is
founded in
thy desire. self-love,
H
Thou
and that
THE DIALOGUE OF
H4
self-love is a cloud
which reason holds
that takes
similitude,
light
The
the light of reason, of faith, and one is
soul
of love
that
remembrance
is,
created in
I
My
giving her memory, intellect, and the most noble part of the soul, and
The intellect is moved by the affection, and nourishes
will. is
CATHERINE
away
itself the
in
not lost without the other.
image and
ST.
the affection
fills
the
it,
and the hand
memory with
the
Me
and of the benefits received, which it does with care and gratitude, and so one power spurs on another, and the soul is nourished in the life of grace. "
The
of
soul cannot live without love, but always wants to
love something, because she is made of love, and, by love, I created her. And therefore I told thee that the affection
moved
the intellect, saying, as
food on which I feed itself awakened by the the
wilt love, I at once it soul,
it
/
were,
will love, because
Then
the intellect, feeling If thou affection, says, as it were, will give thee that which thou canst love. And arises, considering carefully the dignity of the is love
and the indignity into which she has
fallen
through
In the dignity of her being it tastes My inestimable goodness, and the increate charity with which I created sin.
her, and, in contemplating her misery,
it
discovers and tastes
mercy, and sees how, through mercy, I have lent her time and drawn her out of darkness. Then the affection
My
nourishes
with
itself in
which
it
love,
eats
opening the mouth of holy desire, and displeasure of its own
hatred
sensuality, united with true humility and perfect patience, which it drew from holy hatred. The virtues conceived,
they give birth to themselves perfectly and according as the soul exercises perfection in will tell thee below. So, on the contrary, if affection wants to love sensual things, the intellect
sets
before
itself
for
its
sole
imperfectly, herself, as I
the sensual
object
eye of the transitory
with self-love, displeasure of virtue, and love of vice, whence she draws pride and impatience, and the memory is filled with nothing but that which the affection things,
This love so dazzles the eye of the intellect presents to it. it can discern and see nothing but such glittering
that
objects.
It is
the very brightness of the things that causes
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
115
the intellect to perceive them and the affection to love them for had worldly things no such brightness there would be no sin, for man, by his nature, cannot desire anything but good, and vice, appearing to him thus, under colour of the soul s good, causes him to sin. But, because the eye, on account of its blindness, does not discern, and knows not the truth, it errs, seeking good and delights there where they are not. ;
I have already told thee that the delights of the world, without Me, are venomous thorns, and, that the vision of the intellect is deluded by them, and the affection of the will "
is
deluded into loving them, and the
remembrance of them. soul
memory into retaining unity of these powers of the cannot be offended by one without The
is so great that I the others offending Me at the same time, because the one presents to the other, as I told thee, good or evil,
all
the
according to will is
to the affection,
either with the light attached to Me when
is
love, cut
it
of
pleasure
the free will.
and
This
free
moves as it pleases, of reason or without it. Your reason
bound
off
from
Me
;
your
will
it
does not, by disordinate also in you the law of
you have
You perversity, that continually fights against the Spirit. and reason. have, then, two parts in you sensuality Sensuality is appointed to be the servant, so that, with the instrument of the body, you
may prove and
exercise the
The
soul is free, liberated from sin by the Blood of My Son, and she cannot be dominated unless she consent with her will, which is controlled by her free choice, and virtues.
when
this free choice agrees with the will, it becomes one with And I tell thee truly, that, when the soul it. thing undertakes to gather together, with the hand of free choice, her powers in My Name, then are assembled all the actions,
both spiritual and temporal, that the creature can do, and free choice gets rid of sensuality and binds itself with reason. I, then, by grace, rest in the midst of them ; and this is
He
said
what :
Truth, the Word Incarnate, meant, when there are two or three or more gathered name, there am I in the midst of them?
My
When
My
together in this is the truth.
And
I
have already
told thee that
no
THE DIALOGUE OF
Ii6
ST.
CATHERINE
Me except by Him, and therefore did I And those Bridge with three steps. three steps figure, as I will narrate to thee below, the
one could come
make
of
Him
to
a
three states of the
soul."
CHAPTER
LII.
How if
the three aforesaid powers are not united, there cannot be perseverance, without which no man arrives at his end.
"
I
HAVE explained
to thee the figure of the three steps, in
general, as the three powers of the soul, and no one who wishes to pass by the Bridge and doctrine of My Truth
can mount one without the other, and the soul cannot Of persevere except by the union of her three powers. I told thee above, when thou askedst Me, how which
There are two the voyagers could come out of the river. goals, and, for the attainment of either, perseverance is If thou desire to arrive needful they are vice and virtue. life, thou must persevere in virtue, and if thou would have eternal death, thou must persevere in vice. Thus it is with perseverance that they who want life arrive at Me Who am Life, and with perseverance that they who taste the water of death arrive at the Devil."
at
CHAPTER An
exposition on Christ s words
come "
You were
all invited,
when He
to
LIII. "
:
Me and
Whosoever
thirtieth, let
him
drink."
generally and in particular, by
My
Whosoever Temple, saying thirsteth, let him come to Me and drink, for I am the Foun He did not say Go to the tain of the Water of Life! Father and drink? but He said Come to Me. He spoke thus, because in Me, the Father, there can be no pain, but
Truth,
cried in the
:
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
117
And you, while you are pain. in mortal and this life, cannot be without wayfarers pilgrims because the earth, sin, brought forth thorns. pain, through And why did He say Let him come to Me and drink ? Because whoever follows His doctrine, whether in the most in
Son there can be
My
perfect way or by dwelling in the life of common charity, finds to drink, tasting the fruit of the Blood, through
the union of the Divine nature with
And
you,
also in Me,
finding
yourselves
Who am
the
Sea
in
the
Him,
Pacific,
human find
because
nature.
yourselves I
am one
So that you are invited thing with Him, and He with Me. to the Fountain of Living Water of Grace, and it is right for you, with perseverance, to keep by Him Who is made you a Bridge, not being turned back by any contrary wind that may arise, either of prosperity or adversity, and for
you find Me, who am the Giver of the by means of this sweet and amorous Word, My Only-Begotten Son. And why did He say: I am the Fountain of Living Water ? Because He was the Foun tain which contained Me, the Giver of the Living Water, by means of the union of the Divine with the human nature. Why did He say Come to Me and drink ? Because you cannot pass this mortal life without pain, and in Me, the Father, there can be no pain, but in Him there can be pain, and therefore of Him did I make for you a No one can come to Me except by Him, as He Bridge. told you in the words No one can come to the Father Me. except by Now thou hast seen to what way thou shouldest keep, and how, namely with perseverance, otherwise thou shalt not drink, for perseverance receives the crown of glory and to persevere
Water
till
of Life,
:
"
victory in the
life everlasting."
THE DIALOGUE OF
u8
ST.
CHAPTER
CATHERINE
LIV.
general method by which every rational creature can come out and go by the aforesaid holy Bridge.
The
of the sea of the world,
WILL now return
"I
to
the three steps, which you must
climb in order to issue from the river without drowning,
Water, to which you are invited, in For in this Presence the midst of you. My in which should I am in follow, you way, your midst, In order to have desire reposing, by grace, in your souls.
and and
to
attain to the Living
to desire
mount the
those
who
come
to
steps, you must have thirst, because thirst are invited : Whosoever thirsteth, let
Me and
drink.
1
He who
has no
thirst will
only
him not
persevere, for either fatigue causes him to stop, or pleasure, and he does not care to carry the vessel with which he get the water, and neither does he care for the company, and alone he cannot go, and he turns back at the smallest He is afraid prick of persecution, for he loves it not. because he is alone were he accompanied he would not fear, and had he ascended the three steps he would not have been alone, and would, therefore, have been secure. You must then have thirst and gather yourselves together,
may
;
as
1
it
is said,
Why
two or three or more. it said two or three or more
? Because two without three, nor three without two, The number one is neither three nor two without more. "
is
there are not
excluded, the midst
up
for, ;
unless a
this is
no
man
has a companion,
indifferent
trifle,
for
I
cannot be in
he who
is
wrapped
in self-love is solitary.
Why is
he solitary ? Because he is separated from My the love of his neighbour, and being, by sin, and grace of Me, he turns to that which is nought, because deprived I am He that is. So that he who is solitary, that is, who is alone in self-love, is not mentioned by My Truth and is not He says then If there be two or three acceptable to Me. or more gathered together in My name, I will be in the midst I said to thee that two were not without three, of them "
:
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION nor three without two, and so the
commandments of
two, and observed.
it
is.
119
Thou knowest
that
Law
are completely contained in these two are not observed the Law is not
if
the
are to love Me above which two are as and thyself, thy neighbour everything, These the beginning, the middle and the end of the Law. two cannot be gathered together in My Name, without
The two commandments
three, that is without the congregation of the powers of the soul, the memory, the intellect and the will ; the memory
to retain the
remembrance of
My
benefits
and
My goodness,
the intellect to gaze into the ineffable love, which I have I shown thee by means of My only- begotten Son, have placed as the object of the vision of your intellect, so
Whom
Him, you behold the
that, in
to
will
love and desire
virtues
these
My
together in and a man,
Me,
and
who
and the
fire of My charity, Who am your End.
When
are congregated powers them by grace, of I in the midst am Name, is
of the
full
of
My
soul
love and that of his neigh
bour, suddenly finds himself the companion of many and Then the appetite of the soul is disposed royal virtues. to
Thirst, I say, for virtue, and the honour of salvation of souls, and his every other thirst
thirst.
My Name and
spent and dead, and he then proceeds securely without any servile fear, having ascended the first step of the affection, for the affection, stripped of self-love, mounts
is
above
itself
and above transitory things,
or, if
hold them, he does so according to My will a holy and true fear, and love of virtue.
he will
that
He
that he has attained to the second step Christ which the of is, through intellect, light
that
mirrored in cordial love of Me, for through
shown the
My
love to man.
memory
is
filled
He
with
is,
still
with
then finds is,
to
the
crucified,
Him
have
I
finds peace and quiet, because Thou knowest that love.
My
an empty thing, when touched, resounds, but not so when
So memory, being filled with the light of the and the affection with love, on being moved by intellect, the tribulations or delights of the world, will not resound with disordinate merriment or with impatience, because
it
is
full.
they are
full
of Me,
Who am
every good.
THE DIALOGUE OF
120
ST.
CATHERINE
Having climbed the three steps, he finds that the three powers of the soul have been gathered together by his reason in My Name. And his soul, having gathered to gether the two commandments, that is love of Me and of the
neighbour, finds
am her I am in
herself accompanied
by Me,
Who
strength and security, and walks safely because the midst of her. Wherefore then he follows on
with anxious desire, thirsting after the way of Truth, in which way he finds the Fountain of the Water of Life,
through his thirst for My honour and his own salvation and that of his neighbour, without which thirst he would not be able to arrive at the Fountain. He walks on, carrying the vessel of the heart, emptied of every affection
and disordinate love of the world, but
filled immediately it emptied with other things, for nothing can remain empty, and, being without disordinate love for transitory things, it is filled with love of celestial things, and sweet Divine love, with which he arrives at the Fountain of the Water of Life,
is
and passes through tastes the
Water of
Door of Christ
the
Life,
crucified,
and
finding himself in Me, the Sea
Pacific.
CHAPTER A
brief repetition of
LV.
some things already
said.
HAVE now shown thee the general method that every rational creature should follow, in order to come out of the "
I
sea of the world, without being drowned, and escape eternal damnation. I have also shown thee the three general steps, that is the three powers of the soul, and how one cannot
ascend one without ascending them all. And I have spoken Where two or three to thee of those words of My Truth {
:
or more
are gathered together in
My
name!
telling thee that
this means the gathering together of the three steps, that is of the three powers of the soul, which three powers,
being united, have with them the two principal command ments of the Law, that is, love of Me and of the neighbour.
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
121
Then, the staircase being mounted, that is, gathered together in My Name, as I have said, man immediately thirsts for the Living Water, and sets off and passes over the Bridge, following the doctrine of
My
Truth,
Who
is
this
Bridge,
runs, in reply to His Voice, which called you, as I thee, above, in the Temple inviting you all, saying :
and told
him come to Me and drink, for I am I have explained to Water the Fountain of the of Life are to be under words these thee what He meant, and how see the abundance better the stood, in order that thou mayest of of My love, and the confusion those, who, deceived by the run what appears to be pleasure, way of the Devil, who invites them to the water of death. Now thou hast seen and heard what thou askedst of Me, and I have told thee what method should be held, so as not to drown in the river, namely to mount by the Bridge, carrying the heart and the affection like a vessel to Me, Who will give to drink to him who asks of Me, and to keep Whosoever
thirsteth, let
"
the
way
This
is
of Christ crucified, with perseverance, until death. that method which every man should follow, no
No man can draw back, have such and such a position, or children, or other worldly reasons, for which I draw back from following this way, for I have already told thee that every condition is pleasing and acceptable to Me, provided it be held with a holy and good will, for everything is good and perfect and made by Me, Who am Supreme Good, and I did not create nor give anything by which man could be brought matter what be his condition. saying
:
I
I to death, but everything was made to lead him to life. ask an easy thing of you, for nothing is so easy and de lightful as love, and what I require of you is none other This you can fulfil than love of Me and of the neighbour.
and in every place and in every condition, be held to the praise and glory of My Name. Thou knowest that I told thee, that it was through their delusion, and walking without the Light, being clothed in self-love, and possessing and loving things and creatures without Me, that some pass through this life in torture, in every time
provided
it
being insupportable to themselves,
and,
unless they rise
THE DIALOGUE OF
122
ST.
CATHERINE
above themselves, in the aforesaid way, they will arrive at eternal damnation. Now I have told thee what general method every man "
should hold to come out of the
river."
CHAPTER
LVI.
How GOD,
wishing to show to this devoted soul that the three steps of the holy Bridge, signify in particular the three states of the soul, tells her that she should rise above herself, to
consider this truth.
have told thee above, how they ought to walk, who common charity, that is, observing the command ments and counsels in thought, now I wish to tell thee of those who have begun to mount the staircase, and want to follow the perfect way, that is, to observe the commandments and counsels in act, in three states, which states I will show "
As
I
live in
There are three thee now, explaining them in particular. and states of the as there three steps, soul are degrees which steps fect,
I
explained to thee in general as the powers of
which one and the other most
the soul
of
state is perfect.
imperfect, one more per The first state is to Me
as that of a mercenary servant, the second as of a faithful servant, and the other as of a son who loves Me, without
any consideration. These are the three states of the soul, which can and do belong to many creatures, and sometimes all to one creature. They can and do belong to one creature with when, perfect solicitude, he runs by the aforesaid way, in such a way that, from the servile state he his time using arrives at the free state, and, from the free state, at the Arise above thyself and open the eye of thy intellect filial. and behold these travelling pilgrims as they pass, some im perfectly and others perfectly, on the way of the command ments, and some most perfectly keeping the way of the Thou wilt see, then, whence comes imperfection, counsels. and whence comes perfection, and how greatly the soul who
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION not rooted out of
has
deceived.
For
the
herself
in every state in
necessary to destroy this
123
roots of self-love, is
which man may
be,
it is
self-love."
CHAPTER
LVII.
How this devoted
soul looking in the Divine mirror creatures going in diverse ways.
saw the
THEN
that soul, tormented with intense desire, gazing into the sweet Divine mirror, saw creatures setting out to attain their
end
She saw
ways and with diverse
in diverse
that
many began
to
considerations.
mount, feeling themselves
pricked by servile fear, that is, fearing their own personal pain, and she saw others, practising this first state, arriving at the second state, but few she saw who arrived at the greatest perfection.
CHAPTER How
servile fear is not
give eternal united.
life
;
sufficient,
LVIII. without the love of virtue, to
and how the law of
fear
and that of love are
THEN
the goodness of God, wishing to satisfy the desire of that soul, said, Dost thou see those? They have arisen with servile fear from the vomit of mortal sin, but, if they do not arise with love of virtue, servile fear alone is not sufficient
But love with holy fear is founded in love and holy fear.
to give eternal
life.
because the law
is
sufficient,
The
old
law was the law of fear, that was given by Me to Moses, by which law they who committed sin suffered the penalty of it. The new law is the law of love, given by the Word of My only-begotten Son, and is founded in love alone. The new law does not break the old law, but rather fulfils said My Truth, come not to destroy the law, but it, as to fulfil it: And He united the law of fear with that of "/
THE DIALOGUE OF
124
CATHERINE
ST.
Through love was taken away the imperfection of the fear of the penalty, and the perfection of holy fear remained, that is, the fear of offending, not on account of am Supreme one s own damnation, but of offending Me, love.
Who
Good. So that the imperfect law was made perfect with the law of love. Wherefore, after the car of the fire of My Son came and brought the fire of My charity only-begotten into yx)ur humanity with abundance of mercy, the penalty of the sins committed by humanity was taken away, that is, he who offended was no longer punished suddenly, as was of old given and ordained in the law of Moses. "There is, therefore, no need for servile fear; and this does not is
mean
that sin is not punished, but that the punishment is to say, the person punish himself
reserved, unless, that
in this life with perfect contrition.
is
For, in the other
life,
the
separated from the body, wherefore while man lives his time for mercy, but when he is dead comes the time
soul
is
He
of justice.
arrive at love
remedy against
ought, then, to arise from servile fear, and fear of Me, otherwise there is no
and holy
his falling back again into the
river,
and
reaching the waters of tribulation, and seeking the thorns of consolation, for all consolations are thorns that pierce the soul
who
loves
them
disordinately."
CHAPTER
LIX.
exercising oneself in servile fear, which is the state of imperfection, by which is meant the first step of the holy Bridge, one arrives at the second step, which is the state of perfection.
How, by
"
I
TOLD thee that no one could
go
by the Bridge or
come out of is
the river without climbing the three steps, which There are some who climb imperfectly, and the truth.
some
The
perfectly,
first
and some climb with the greatest perfection. who are moved by servile fear, and have
are those
climbed so far being imperfectly gathered together ; that is to say, the soul, having seen the punishment which follows
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
125
her sin, climbs ; and gathers together her memory to recol lect her vice, her intellect to see the punishment which she expects to receive for her fault, and her will to move her to hate that
fault.
And
let
us consider this to be the
first
step
and the first gathering together of the powers of the soul, which should be exercised by the light of the intellect with the pupil of the eye of holy faith, which looks, not only at the punishment of sin, but at the fruit of virtue, and the love which I bear to the soul, so that she may climb with And doing love and affection, and stripped of servile fear. and not unfaithful faithful ser become will souls such so, and and not love Me if, through fear, vants, serving through with hatred of sin, they employ their minds to dig out the root of their self-love with prudence, constancy, and But there perseverance they will succeed in doing so. are
many who
begin their course climbing so slowly, and, Me by such small degrees, and with such
render their debt to
negligence and ignorance, that they suddenly faint, and every little breeze catches their sails, and turns their prow back
Wherefore, because they imperfectly climb to the
wards.
Step of the Bridge of Christ crucified, they do not arrive at the second step of His Heart." first
CHAPTER Of the imperfection
of those
profit, delight
SOME
there are
who
LX. love
GOD for their own
and consolation.
who have become
faithful servants, serving fear of punishment, but servile without fidelity This very love, however, if they serve rather with love. "
Me
with
Me
with a view to their
own profit, or the delight and Dost thou find in which Me, is imperfect. pleasure they know what proves the imperfection of this love ? The withdrawal of the consolations which they found in Me, and the insufficiency and short duration of their love for their neighbour, which grows weak by degrees, and ofttimes
THE DIALOGUE OF
126
Towards Me
ST.
CATHERINE
grows weak when, on and raise them above their imperfection, I withdraw from their minds My consolation and allow them to fall into battles and per This I do so that, coming to perfect selfplexities. disappears.
their love
occasion, in order to exercise
them
in virtue
knowledge, they may know that of themselves they are nothing and have no grace, and, accordingly in time of battle fly to Me, as their Benefactor, seeking Me alone, with true humility, for which purpose I treat them thus, with At drawing from them consolation indeed, but not grace. such a time these weak ones, of whom I speak, relax their
impatiently turning backwards, and sometimes abandon, under colour of virtue, many of their exercises, All saying to themselves, This labour does not profit me. this they do, because they feel themselves deprived of mental consolation. Such a soul acts imperfectly, for she
energy,
has not yet unwound the bandage of spiritual self-love, for, had she unwound it she would see that, in truth, everything proceeds from Me, that no leaf of a tree falls to the ground without My providence, and that what I give and promise to
My
creatures,
sanctification,
I
which
give and promise to them for their the good and the end for which I
is
created them. My creatures should see and know that I wish nothing but their good, through the Blood of My onlybegotten Son, in Which they are washed from their iniqui ties. By this Blood they are enabled to know My Truth, how, in order to give them eternal life, I created them in My image and likeness and re-created them to grace with the Blood of My Son, making them sons of adoption. But, since they are imperfect, they make use of Me only for their own profit, relaxing their love for their neighbour. Thus,
those in the
first
state
come
to
nought through the fear
of enduring pain, and those in the second, because they slacken their pace, ceasing to render service to their neigh bour, and withdrawing their charity if they see their own this happens profit or consolation withdrawn from them because their love was originally impure, for they gave to their neighbour the same imperfect love which they gave to Me, that is to say, a love based only on desire of their :
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION own
advantage.
this imperfection of theirs,
that they should
Eternal Life, a
through a desire for perfection, they
If,
do not recognise
127
not
pure love,
it
is
impossible
For those who desire prescinding from themselves, is
turn
back.
necessary, for it is not enough for eternal life to fly sin from fear of punishment, or to embrace virtue from the
motive of one s
own
advantage.
Sin should be abandoned
displeasing to Me, and virtue should be loved It is true that, generally speaking, every for sake. is called in this way, but this is because the first person soul herself is at first imperfect, from which imperfection
because
it
is
My
she must advance to perfection, either while she lives, by a generous love to Me with a pure and virtuous heart that takes no thought for herself, or, at least, in the moment of death, recognising her own imperfection, with the purpose,
had she but time, of serving Me, irrespectively of herself. It was with this imperfect love that S. Peter loved the sweet and good Jesus, My only- begotten Son, enjoying most pleasantly His sweet conversation, but, when the time of trouble came, he failed, and so disgraceful was his fall, that, not only could he not bear any pain himself, but his terror of the very approach of pain caused him to fall, and deny the Lord, with the words, I have never known
The soul who has climbed this step with servile and mercenary love alone, falls into many troubles. Such souls should arise and become sons, and serve Me,
Him. fear
Who
am the Rewarder of irrespective of themselves, for I, every labour, render to each man according to his state and his labour ; wherefore, if these souls do not abandon the exercise of holy prayer and their other good works, but
go
on, with perseverance, to increase their virtues, they will arrive at the state of filial love, because I respond to them
with the same love, with which they love Me, so that, if they love Me, as a servant does his master, I pay them their wages according to their deserts, but I do not reveal
Myself to them, because secrets are revealed to a friend, thing with his friend, and not to a servant. Yet it is true, that a servant may so advance by
who has become one the virtuous
love,
which he bears to his master, as to
THE DIALOGUE OF
128
become a very dear
ST.
CATHERINE
and so do some of these of whom
friend,
have
spoken, but while they remain in the mercenary love, I do not manifest Myself to them. I
through
state of If they,
and love of virtue, self-love, and mount
displeasure at their imperfection,
dig up, with hatred, the root of spiritual to the throne of conscience, reasoning with themselves, so as to quell the motions of servile fear in their heart, and to correct mercenary love by the light of the holy faith, they be so pleasing to Me, that they will attain to the love
will
And
of the friend.
will manifest
I
Truth said in these words
Me and I
thing with
with him,
him and we
and I 1
will dwell together. dear friends, for though they are to
myself to them, as
He who
:
loves
Me
will manifest
This
is
My
shall be one
Myself
the state of two
two in body, yet they are one in soul through the affection of love, because love trans forms the lover into the object loved, and where, two friends have one soul, there can be no secret between them, where / will come and we will dwell together, fore My Truth said and this is the truth." :
CHAPTER Of the way
in
GOD
which
manifests Himself to the soul loves Him.
who "
KNOWEST thou how
loves
Me
in truth,
Word
and amorous
I manifest Myself to the soul who and follows the doctrine of My sweet
In
?
the soul in special
proportion manifestations.
virtue, that is
LXI.
is
to
made through
Blood, which
He
is
My
virtue manifested in
her desire, but I make three The first manifestation of My
say of the
many
to
My
Word
spilled
love and charity in the soul, My Son, and shown in the
of
with such
fire
of love.
Now
manifested in two ways ; first, in general, this charity to ordinary people, that is to those who live in the ordinary is
It is manifested to them by the many and grace of God. diverse benefits which they receive from Me. The second
mode
of manifestation, which
is
developed from the
first, is
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
129
who have become My friends in the way mentioned above, and is known through a sentiment of the This soul, by which they taste, know, prove and feel it. second manifestation, however, is in men themselves ; they For manifesting Me, through the affection of their love. I I am an am of no creatures, Acceptor of though Acceptor peculiar to those
holy desires, and Myself in the soul in that precise degree Sometimes I mani of perfection which she seeks in Me.
Myself (and this is also a part of the second manifesta tion) by endowing men with the spirit of prophecy, showing them the things of the future. This I do in many and diverse ways, according as I see need in the soul herself and in other creatures. At other times the third manifesta tion takes place. I then form in the mind the presence of fest
the Truth, My only-begotten Son, in many ways, accord Sometimes ing to the will and the desire of the soul.
she seeks Me in prayer, wishing to know My power, and I satisfy her by causing her to taste and see My virtue. Sometimes she seeks Me in the wisdom of My Son, and I satisfy her by placing His wisdom before the eye of her intellect, sometimes in the clemency of the Holy Spirit and then My Goodness causes her to taste the fire of Divine charity, and to conceive the true and royal virtues, which are founded on the pure love of her neighbour."
CHAPTER Why
LXII.
Christ did not say / will manifest
My
Father, but I will
manifest Myself. 11
THOU
said
:
seest
now how
He who
Word spoke, when He truly shall be one thing with Me!
My
Me
loves
Because, by following His doctrine with the affection of love, you are united with Him, and, being united with
Him, you are united with Me, because together.
because
And
We
so
are
it
is
one
that
and
I
We
manifest
the
same
are one thing
Myself thing
to you,
together. i
THE DIALOGUE OF
130
Wherefore
if
My
Truth
said,
I
ST.
CATHERINE
will manifest
Myself to you,
manifesting Himself, He manifested Me, and, in manifesting Me, He manifested Him self. But why did He not say, / will manifest My Father For three reasons in particular. to you ? First, because
He
said the truth,
because, in
1
He wished to show that He and I are not separate from each other, on which account He also made the following reply to S. Philip, when he said to Him, Show us the Father, and
1
it
is
enough for
us.
My Word
said,
Who
sees
Me
1
This and who sees the Father sees Me. He said because He was one thing with Me, and that which He had, He had from Me, I having nothing from sees
the Father,
Him ; wherefore, again, He said to Judas, My doctrine is not Mine, but My Father s who sent Me, because My Son proceeds from Me, not I from Him, though I with Him and He with Me are but one thing. For this reason He did not
say
/
will manifest the Father, but
I will manifest Myself]
The second reason was being one thing with the Father. Himself to in manifesting because, you, He did not present to you anything He had not received from Me, the Father. These words, then, mean, the Father has manifested Him self to Me, because I am one thing with Him, and I will The manifest to you, by means of Myself, Me and Him. third reason was, because I, being invisible, could not be seen by you, until you should be separated from your bodies. Then, indeed, will you see Me, your GOD, and My Son, the Word, face to
face.
From now
until
after
the
general Resurrection, when your humanity will be conformed with the humanity of the Eternal Word, according to what I told thee in the treatise of the Resurrection, you can see Me, with the eye of the intellect alone, for, as I am, you Wherefore I veiled the Divine nature cannot see Me now.
with your humanity, so that you might see
Me
through
the Invisible, made Myself, as it were, visible by sending you the Word, My Son, veiled in the He manifested Me to you. There flesh of your humanity. that
medium.
I,
that He did not say / will manifest the Father but rather, I will manifest myself to you," as if He you! should say, According as My Father manifests Himself
fore to
it
was
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION to
will
Me,
I manifest Myself to yoit, for,
131
in this manifestation
Now therefore thou underof Himself^ He manifests Me. standest why He did not say / will manifest the Father to Both, because such a vision is impossible for you, while yet in the mortal body, and because He is one thing with Me."
you!
CHAPTER How
LXIII.
the soul, after having mounted the first step of the Bridge, should proceed to mount the second.
THOU hast now seen how who has attained to the love "
excellent
is
the state of
him
; climbing with the the secret of the Heart, foot of affection, he has reached which is the second of the three steps figured in the Body
of a friend
have told thee what was meant by the three powers of the soul, and now I will show thee how they signify the three states, through which the soul passes. Before treating of the third state, I wish to show thee how a man becomes a friend and how, from a friend, he grows into a son, attaining to filial love, and how a man may of
Son.
My
know
if
I
he has become a friend.
And
first
of
how
a
man
In the beginning, a man serves Me imperfectly through servile fear, but, by exercise and perseverance, he arrives at the love of delight, finding his arrives at being a friend.
own
delight and profit in
Me.
pass, who to the love that is of friend
by which he must
perfect,
because thereby, a
This
is
a necessary stage,
would attain I and son.
man
to perfect love, call
filial
love
receives his inheritance from
Me, the Eternal Father, and because a son s love includes friend, which is why I told thee that a friend What means does he take to arrive /grows into a son. I will tell thee. thereat ? Every perfection and every virtue proceeds from charity, and charity is nourished by humility, which results from the knowledge and holy hatred that of a
of
self,
that
is,
sensuality.
To
arrive thereat, a
man must
persevere, and remain in the cellar of self-knowledge in which
THE DIALOGUE OF
132
he will learn
CATHERINE
ST.
mercy, in the Blood of My only-bego tten Son, drawing to Himself, with this love, My divine charity, exercising himself in the extirpation of his perverse selfwill, both spiritual and temporal, hiding himself in his own
My
house, as did Peter,
who, after the sin of denying My Yet his lamentations were imperfect
Son, began to weep. and remained so, until after the forty days, that is until But when My Truth returned to Me, after the Ascension. in His humanity, Peter and the others concealed themselves
coming of the Holy Spirit, which Truth had them. My promised They remained barred in from fear, because the soul always fears until she arrives at But when they had persevered in fasting and in true love. humble and continual prayer, until they had received the abundance of the Holy Spirit, they lost their fear, and So also the soul, followed and preached Christ crucified. who wishes to arrive at this perfection, after she has risen from the guilt of mortal sin, recognising it for what it is, begins to weep from fear of the penalty, whence she rises to the consideration of My mercy, in which contemplation, This is an imperfect she finds her own pleasure and profit. in order to and state, I, develop perfection in the soul, after the forty days, that is after these two states, withdraw My Myself from time to time, not in grace but in feeling. Truth showed you this when He said to the disciples I will go and will return to you. Everything that He said, was said primarily, and in
in the house, awaiting the
f
"
particular, to the disciples, but referred in general to the whole present and future, to those, that is to say, who He said / will go and will return to should come after. 1
you; and so the disciples,
Holy
it
was,
He
for,
when
the
Holy
also returned, as
I
Spirit returned upon you above, for the
told
came with My power, one thing with Me, and proceeds from Me the
Spirit did not return alone, but
and the
wisdom
with His
own
of the Son,
Who
clemency,
which
Father, and from the Son.
is
Now, as
raise the soul from imperfection,
I
I
told thee, in order to
withdraw Myself from
When her sentiment, depriving her of former consolations. she was in the guilt of mortal sin, she had separated herself
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
133
from Me, and I deprived her of grace through her own guilt, because that guilt had barred the door of her desires. Wherefore the sun of grace did not shine, not through its own defect, but through the defect of the creature, who bars When she knows herself and her the door of desire. darkness, she opens the
window and vomits her
filth,
by
Then
I, having returned to the soul by from her by sentiment, which I do withdraw Myself grace, in order to humiliate her, and cause her to seek Me in truth,
holy confession.
prove her in the light of faith, so that she come to Then, if she love Me without thought of self, prudence. and with lively faith and with hatred of her own sensuality,
and
to
she rejoices in the time of trouble, deeming herself un Now comes the worthy of peace and quietness of mind.
second of the three things of which say
I
told thee, that is to
how
the soul arrives at perfection, and what she does This is what she does. she is perfect. Though she
:
when
perceives that I have withdrawn Myself, she does not, on that account, look back, but perseveres with humility in her exercises, remaining barred in the house of self-knowledge, and, continuing to dwell therein, awaits, with lively faith, am the the coming of the Holy Spirit, that is of Me,
Who
fire
of charity.
How does
she await
me ?
Not in idleness, and not only with
but in watching and continued prayer, physical, but also with intellectual watching, that
is,
with
the eye of her mind
alert, and, watching with the light of she faith, extirpates, with hatred, the wandering thoughts of her heart, looking for the affection of My charity, and I desire nothing but her sanctification, which her in the Blood of My Son. As long as her eye thus watches, illumined by the knowledge of Me and of herself, she continues to pray with the prayer of holy desire, which is a continued prayer, and also with actual prayer,
knowing
that
is certified to
at the appointed times, according to the orders of Holy Church. This is what the soul does in order to rise from imperfection and arrive at perfection, and
which she practises
this end, namely that she may arrive at perfection, withdraw from her, not by grace but by sentiment. Once more do I leave her, so that she may see and know
it
is to
that
I
i
THE DIALOGUE OF
34
ST.
CATHERINE
her defects, so that, feeling herself deprived of consolation and afflicted by pain, she may recognise her own weakness,
and learn how incapable she is of stability or perseverance, thus cutting down to the very root of spiritual self-love, for this should be the end and purpose of all her self-knowledge, to rise above herself, mounting the throne of conscience, and not permitting the sentiment of imperfect love to turn again in its death-struggle, but, with correction and reproof,
digging up the root of self-love, with the knife of self-hatred
and the love of
virtue."
CHAPTER How
LXIV.
an imperfect lover of GOD loves his neighbour also and of the signs of this imperfect love.
imperfectly,
AND I would have thee know that just as every imperfection and perfection is acquired from Me, so is it manifested by means of the neighbour. And simple souls, who often love "
creatures with spiritual love, know this well, for, if they have My love sincerely without any self-regarding
received
considerations, they satisfy the thirst of their love for their If a man carry away the neighbour equally sincerely. vessel which he has
filled
at
the fountain and then drink
if he keep his vessel it, the vessel becomes empty, but in the he while fountain, standing drinks, it always remains
of
So the
love of the neighbour, whether spiritual or should be drunk in Me, without any self-regarding temporal, I considerations. require that you should love Me with full.
same love with which
I love you. This indeed you loved you without being loved. All the love which you have for Me you owe to Me, so that it is not of grace that you love Me, but because you ought to do so. While I love you of grace, and not because I owe
the
cannot do, because
My
I
Therefore to Me, in person, you cannot repay I require of you, and I have placed you in the midst of your fellows, that you may do to them
you
love.
the love which
A TREATISE OF DISCRETION
135
which you cannot do to Me, that is to say, that you love may your neighbour of free grace, without expecting return from him, and what you do to him, I count as any done to Me, which Truth showed forth when He said to that
My
My
Paul, Me ?
His
Saul, Saul, why persecutes} thou said, judging that Paul persecuted Him in This love must be sincere, because it is with
persecutor,
This
faithful.
He
same love with which you love Me, that you must love Dost thou know how the imperfection of your neighbour. love for the creature is shown ? It is shown when spiritual the lover feels pain if it appear to him that the object of his the
love does not satisfy or return his love, or when he sees the beloved one s conversation turned aside from him, or himself deprived of consolation, or another loved more than he.
In these and in
many
other
ways can
it
be seen that
his neighbourly love is still imperfect, and that, though his love was originally drawn from Me, the Fountain of all love,
he took the vessel out of the water, in order to drink from It is because his love for Me is still imperfect, that his it. neighbourly love is so weak, and because the root of selflove has not been properly dug out. Wherefore I often such a love to so that the soul may in this permit exist, to the knowledge of her own imperfection, and same reason do I withdraw myself from the soul by
way come for the
sentiment, that she may be thus led to enclose herself in the house of self-knowledge, where is acquired every perfection. After which I return into her with more light and with
more knowledge of which she refers
in
My
Truth, in proportion to the degree power of slaying her own
to grace the
And she never ceases to cultivate the vine of her and to root out the thorns of evil thoughts, replacing them with the stones of virtues, cemented together in the Blood of Christ crucified, Which she has found on her journey across the Bridge of Christ, My only-begotten Son. For I told thee, if thou remember, that upon the Bridge, that is, upon the doctrine of My Truth, were built up the stones, based upon the virtue of His Blood, for it is in virtue of this Blood that the virtues give will.
soul,
life."
THE DIALOGUE OF
136
ST.
CATHERINE
CHAPTER LXV. A TREATISE OF PRAYER soul takes to arrive at pure and generous and here begins the Treatise of Prayer.
Of the means which the love 11
WHEN
crucified,
has
;
the soul has passed through the doctrine of Christ with true love of virtue and hatred of vice, and
arrived at the house
of self-knowledge and entered
therein, she remains, with her
door barred, in watching and
constant prayer, separated entirely from the consolations of does she thus shut herself in ? She does the world.
Why
knowing her own imperfections, and also from the desire, which she has, of arriving at pure and generous And because she sees and knows well that in no love.
so from
other
fear,
way can she
faith for
arrive thereat, she waits, with a increase of grace in her.
My arrival, through
a lively faith to be recognised ?
lively
How
perseverance in virtue, and by the fact that the soul never turns back for anything, whatever it be, nor rises from holy prayer, for any is
By
reason except (note well) for obedience or charity s sake. For no other reason ought she to leave off prayer, for,
during the time ordained for prayer, the Devil is wont to arrive in the soul, causing much more conflict and trouble This he than when the soul is not occupied in prayer. does in order that holy prayer may become tedious to the This prayer tempting her often with these words
soul,
:
avails thee nothing,
vocal prayers?
for thou needest attend to nothing
He
acts
thus
in
order
that,
except thy
becoming
wearied and confused in mind, she may abandon the exercise of prayer, which is a weapon with which the soul can defend herself from every adversary, if grasped with the love, by the arm of free choice in the light of the
hand of
Holy
Faith."
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
CHAPTER
137
LXVI.
Here, touching something concerning the Sacrament of the Body of Christ, the complete doctrine is given and how the soul proceeds from vocal to mental prayer, and a vision is related which this devout soul once received. ;
11
KNOW,
how, by humble, continual and with time and perseverance, Wherefore should she persevere and never
dearest daughter,
faithful prayer, the soul acquires,
every virtue.
abandon prayer, either through the her
own
illusion of the Devil or
fragility, that is to say, either
on account of any
thought or movement coming from her own body, or of The Devil often places himself the words of any creature. creatures, causing them to chatter with the nonsensically, purpose of preventing the prayer of All of this she should pass by, by means of the the soul.
upon the tongues of
virtue of perseverance. Oh, how sweet and pleasant to that soul and to Me is holy prayer, made in the house of know ledge of self and of Me, opening the eye of the intellect to
the light of faith, and the affections to the abundance of charity,
which was made
only-begotten Son,
Which Blood
My
through My visible to you with His Blood
visible to you,
who showed
it
!
and clothes her with the her the food of the Sacrament giving
inebriates the soul
of divine charity, [which is placed in the tavern of the mystical body of the Holy Church] that is to say, the food of the Body and Blood fire
Son, wholly God and wholly man, administered to you by the hand of My vicar, who holds the key of the This is that tavern, which I mentioned to thee, Blood.
of
My
standing on the Bridge, to provide food and comfort for the travellers and the pilgrims, who pass by the way of the doctrine of My Truth, lest they should faint through weak
This food strengthens little or much, according to ness. the desire of the recipient, whether he receives sacramentally or virtually. He receives sacramentally when he actually
communicates with the Blessed Sacrament. He receives virtually when he communicates, both by desire of com-
THE DIALOGUE OF
138
ST.
CATHERINE
munion, and by contemplation of the Blood of Christ cruci the fied, communicating, as it were, sacramentally, with affection of love, which is to be tasted in the Blood Which, as the soul sees, was shed through love. On seeing this the soul becomes inebriated, and blazes with holy desire and satisfies herself, becoming full of love for Me and for her
Where can this be acquired ? In the house neighbour. of self-knowledge with holy prayer, where imperfections are lost, even as Peter and the disciples, while they remained watching and prayer, lost their imperfection and acquired perfection. By what means is this acquired ? By perse verance seasoned with the most holy faith. But do not think that the soul receives such ardour and nourishment from prayer, if she pray only vocally, as do in
"
souls whose prayers are rather words than love. Such as these give heed to nothing except to completing
many
Psalms and saying many paternosters. And when they have once completed their appointed tale, they do not appear to think of anything further, but seem to place devout attention and love in merely vocal recitation, which the soul is not required to do, for, in doing only this, she But if bears but little fruit, which pleases Me but little. thou askest Me, whether the soul should abandon vocal prayer, since it does not seem to all that they are called to mental prayer, I should reply No. The soul should advance by degrees, and I know well that, just as the soul is at first imperfect and afterwards perfect, so also is it.
with her prayer. prayer, while she
She should nevertheless continue is
yet imperfect, so as not
to
in vocal fall
into
But she should not say her vocal prayers with out joining them to mental prayer, that is to say, that, while she is reciting, she should endeavour to elevate her mind in My love, with the consideration of her own defects and of the Blood of My only-begotten Son, wherein she finds the breadth of My charity and the remission of her sins. And this she should do, so that self-knowledge and idleness.
the consideration
of
her
own
defects
should make her
recognise My goodness in herself and continue her exer cises with true humility. I do not wish defects to be con-
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
139
sidered in particular, but in general, so that the mind may not be contaminated by the remembrance of particular and
But, as I said, I do not wish the soul to consider her sins, either in general or in particular, without also remembering the Blood and the broadness of My
hideous sins.
mercy, for fear that otherwise she should be brought to And together with confusion would come the
confusion.
who has caused
colour of contrition and it, under and so she would arrive at eternal sin, displeasure not on account of her confusion, but also damnation, only would come to her, because she the which through despair did not seize the arm of My mercy. This is one of the subtle devices with which the Devil deludes My servants, and, in order to escape from his deceit, and to be pleasing to Me, you must enlarge your hearts and affections in My boundless mercy, with true humility. Thou knowest that the pride of the Devil cannot resist the humble mind, nor can any confusion of spirit be greater than the broadness Devil,
of
My good mercy, if the soul will only truly hope therein. Wherefore it was, if thou remember rightly, that, once, when the Devil wished to overthrow thee, by confusion, wishing to prove to thee that thy life had been deluded, and that thou hadst not followed My will, thou didst that which was thy duty, which My goodness (which is never withheld from him who will receive it) gave thee strength of
to
do,
that
thou
is
didst rise,
humbly
trusting
in
My
/ confess to my Creator that my life mercy, and saying has indeed been passed in darkness but I will hide myself in :
,
the
Wounds of
Christ crucified,
Blood and so shall will
I
rejoice in
my
and
bathe myself in
His
my iniquities be consumed, and with desire Thou rememberest that then Creator!
the Devil fled, and, turning round to the opposite side, he endeavoured to inflate thee with pride, saying Thou art :
perfect
and pleasing
to
God, and there is no more need for lament thy sins. And once more
thee to afflict thyself or to
gave thee the light to see thy true path, namely, humi of thyself, and thou didst answer the Devil with * these words Wretch that I am, John the Baptist never sinned and was sanctified in his mother s womb. And I I
liation
:
THE DIALOGUE OF
140
ST.
CATHERINE
and have hardly begun to know contrition, seeing Who God is. Who is offended by me, and who I am, who offend Him. Then, the Devil, not being able to resist thy humble hope in My Cursed that thou art, for I can goodness, said to thee take no to thee. If I put thee down through confusion way find thou risest to Heaven on the wings of mercy, and if I raise thee on high, thou humblest thyself down to Hell, and when I go into Hell thou persecutes^ me, so that I will return to thee no have committed so
many
sins,
them with grief and true
:
,
The more, because thou strikest me with the stick of charity. should of season the herself with soul, therefore, knowledge the knowledge of My goodness, and then vocal prayer will be of use to the soul who makes it, and pleasing to Me, and she will arrive, from the vocal imperfect prayer, exer but if perfect mental prayer she simply aims at completing her tale, and, for vocal, abandons mental prayer, she will never arrive at it. Some times the soul will be so ignorant that, having resolved to cised with perseverance, at
;
say so many prayers vocally, and I, visiting her mind, sometimes in one way, and sometimes in another, in a flash of self-knowledge or of contrition for sin, sometimes in the broad ness of My charity, and sometimes by placing before her mind, in diverse ways, according to My pleasure and the desire of the soul, the presence of My Truth, she (the soul), in order to complete her tale, will abandon My visitation, that she feels, as it were, by conscience, rather than abandon that She should not do so, for, in so which she had begun. doing, she yields to a deception of the Devil.
The moment
her mind disposed by My visitation, in the many I have told thee, she should abandon vocal prayer ; ways visitation then, My past, if there be time, she can resume
she
feels
the vocal prayers which she had resolved to say, but if she has not time to complete them, she ought not on that account to be troubled or suffer annoyance and confusion of
mind of course provided that it were not the Divine office which clerics and religious are bound and obliged to say ;
under penalty of offending Me, for, they must, until death, But if they, at the hour appointed for say their office. feel their minds drawn and raised by should saying it, desire, they should so arrange as to
say
it
before or after
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
My
visitation, so that
not omitted.
But, in
i4p
the debt of rendering the office be any other case, vocal prayer should be
immediately abandoned for the said cause.
Vocal prayer, told will have enable the thee, way soul to arrive at perfection, and therefore she should not abandon it, but use it in the way that I have told thee.
made
in
And
that
the
so,
I
with exercise in perseverance, she will taste prayer
and the food of the Blood of My only-begotten and therefore I told thee that some communicated Son, with the Body and Blood of Christ, although not virtually sacramentally that is, they communicate in the affection of charity, which they taste by means of holy prayer, little or much, according to the affection with which they pray. They who proceed with little prudence and without method, taste little, and they who proceed with much, taste much. For the more the soul tries to loosen her affection from her self, and fasten it in Me with the light of the intellect, the more she knows and the more she knows, the more she Thou seest then, loves, and, loving much, she tastes much. in truth,
;
;
that perfect prayer is not attained to through many words, but through affection of desire, the soul raising herself to Me,
with knowledge of herself and of My mercy, seasoned the one with the other. Thus she will exercise together mental and vocal prayer, for, even as the active and contemplative life is one, so are they. Although vocal or mental prayer can be understood in many and diverse ways, for I have thee that a holy desire is a continual prayer, in thissense that a good and holy will disposes itself with desire to the occasion actually appointed for prayer in addition told
to
the
prayer of holy desire, wherefore vocal be made at the appointed time by the soul who
continual will
prayer remains firm in a habitual holy will, and will sometimes be continued beyond the appointed time, according as charity
commands
for the salvation of the neighbour, if the soul see be in need, and also her own necessities according to the state in which I have placed her. Each one, according
him
to
to his condition, ought to exert himself for the salvation of souls, for this exercise lies at the root of a holy will, and whatever he may contribute, by words or deeds, towards the
salvation of his neighbour,
is virtually
a prayer, although
it
THE DIALOGUE OF
M2
ST.
CATHERINE
does not replace a prayer which one should make oneself at the appointed season, as My glorious standard-bearer Paul said, in the words, He who ceases not to work ceases not
to
pray?
It
was
for this reason that I told
thee that
prayer was made in many ways, that is, that actual prayer may be united with mental prayer if made with the affection of charity, which charity is itself continual prayer. I have now told thee how mental prayer is reached by exercise and
perseverance, and by leaving vocal prayer for mental when I have also spoken to thee of common the soul.
I visit
prayer, that is, of vocal prayer in general, made outside of ordained times, and of the prayers of good-will, and how
every exercise, whether performed, in oneself or in one s The enclosed soul neighbour, with good- will, is prayer. should therefore spur herself on with prayer, and when she
has arrived at friendly and
filial
love she does so.
Unless
the soul keep to this path, she will always remain tepid and and her neighbour in pro imperfect, and will only love which she finds in service." portion to the pleasure
Me
My
CHAPTER
LXVII.
Of the mistake which worldly men make who desire for their own consolation and delight. "
I
WISH
to tell thee
to serve
somewhat of imperfect
love,
who
love
.conceal from thee one snare, which those
God
and not
Me
for
I would have their own consolation alone, may fall into. know that who loves Me thee My servant, imperfectly, seeks
rather the consolation, on account of which he loves Me, than Myself, and it is to be observed that, when he fails to obtain either spiritual or temporal consolation, he is troubled. This often shows itself in regard to temporal consolation in
men
as they live
who
practise every act of virtue as long But when tribulation comes prosperously.
of the world,
upon them, which I send them for their good, they are disturbed, and do no longer that little good which they and if one should ask them, once did Why are you have received tribulaBecause we disturbed ? they reply, "
;
"
"
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
143
good which we did seems to be almost we no longer do it with that heart and courage which we used to possess, on account of the tribulations which we have received, for it seems to us that we exerted ourselves more when our hearts were Such as these are deceived at rest than we do now." it for own is not true that tribulation their delight, by The works which causes them to love and work less. in the time of do tribulation are worth as much they tion,
and that
lost,
because
in
little
themselves as those which they did before in the time of they might indeed be worth more if the
consolation
;
But this comes to them because patience. in their own delighted prosperity, while they loved
murmurers had
Me they with but slight virtue, in order to pacify their conscience.
Being deprived of that on which they really rested, it seems them that the repose, in which they exerted themselves, is taken away from them, but it is not so, for it happens to them as to a man in a garden who, because he takes pleasure in the garden, finds peace of mind and repose in that is to say, that it seems to him that he working in it finds repose in his labours, but he is really all the time He reposing in the delight caused him by the garden. to
;
more delight in the garden than in his labours, because when the garden is taken away from him he feels himself deprived of the pleasure, for had his principal
takes
pleasure been placed in his labours he would not have lost For the exercise of it, but would have it still with him. well cannot be lost unless a man be willing to lose working
From such
as these the delight of prosperity, the as it were, in which they worked, has been taken garden, so that Therefore away, they have deceived themselves. it.
they deceive themselves in working for their
own
pleasure,
and acquire the habit of saying, I know that I did better and had more consolation before I was troubled than now, and I rejoiced in doing good, but now I take no delight therein." Their sight and their speech is false, because, if had had they delight in doing good for love of virtue, they would not have lost it, neither would it have failed, but rather increased. But it fails because their good works "
THE DIALOGUE OF
144
were founded upon love of
ST.
CATHERINE
own
their
In this
consolation.
are people in general deceived in all their good works, that is, through love of their own consolation and of the
way
which they
delight
find in
Me.
CHAPTER How
God
the servants of
LXVIII.
are deceived
who go on
loving
God
in the aforesaid way.
who are still in the imperfect love, seek because of the affection they have towards the consolation and delight they find in Me, and because I am the Rewarder of every good which is done, great or small,
"
BUT
My
servants,
Me
and love
according to the measure of the love of him who receives the For this reason I give mental consolation during reward. the time of prayer, sometimes in one way and sometimes in I do not this in order that the soul ignorantly
another.
receive the consolation, that is, that she regard more the consolation than Me give it, but in order that she may regard the affection of My charity with which I give with which she receives it, more it, and the unworthiness
Who
than the delight of her own consolation. But if, ignorantly, she takes hold of the delight alone, without regarding My affection,
she will receive damage from
snares of which
by her own
I
will tell thee
consolation,
;
it
one being
and that,
fall
into
deceived
she seeks this consolation and
and
moreover, having at some former time experienced the consolation of My visitation in one way or another, she will endeavour to go back by the way which she has come, in order again to experience therein
delights
herself,
But I do not grant the consolation one way alone, which would appear as if I had but one way in which to do so, but I grant it in diverse ways, according as pleases My goodness, and But according to the need and the necessity of the soul. the soul, in her ignorance, will, nevertheless, seek My con solations in that way alone which she has experienced, thereby, as it were, imposing laws on the Holy Spirit. the of
same
My
consolation.
visitations in
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
145
She should not do so, but should pass on manfully by the doctrine of Christ crucified, receiving what it pleases My Goodness to give her, and in the manner, time and place
And if, nevertheless, I give not, it is and not through hatred, and that she may love through seek and love Me in truth, and not for her own delight,
that
I
choose.
receiving
delighting
My in
If she still goes on charity with humility. her own way and not in mine, when the
upon which she has fixed the eye of her intellect which alone she delights is taken from her, she will experience pain and intolerable confusion. Such as these, of whom I have spoken, desire to choose their own consolations in their own way, and so to go through life, and their ignorance is at times so great that, having imagined a particular consolation, and I, visiting them in any way except that of their imagination, they will A soul who would act resist Me and will not receive Me. thus is deceived by her own pleasure and spiritual delight, for it would be impossible to remain always in one state. She must either go forward to the virtues or turn right And neither could the mind remain stationary backwards. in the enjoyment of one delight alone without My Goodness object and in
"
Many are the kinds of delights increasing that delight. that I give to the soul sometimes the delight of a mental joyousness, sometimes of contrition and displeasure of and, at times, I may be in the soul and she will not feel or
I
may form My
Will, that
is,
My
Incarnate
self,
Me
;
Word, before
the eye of the intellect, and it will not seem to her that she experiences that heat and delight in the sentiment of her
At other times she will feel without any These various methods mental vision the greatest delight. I use through love to preserve her and to increase, in her, humility and perseverance, and to show her that she need soul at such a vision.
place no rules for me, nor seek her end in consolation, but only in virtue founded in Me, and to teach her with
humility to receive what I choose to give her in My own time and manner, and to believe, with lively faith, that I give her what I give, either for her own salvation or to
bring her to great perfection.
THE DIALOGUE OF
146
ST.
CATHERINE
She should then remain humble, making her beginning and end to be in My charity, and taking delight in this "
will and not according to charity alone, according to The only way not to be deceived is to receive hers. everything through love of Me, being rooted and grounded in My sweet Will."
My
CHAPTER Of
LXIX.
those who, in order not to lose their own peace of mind and consolations, do not succour their neighbour in his necessities.
how
who desire to taste own way, and now I wish to tell thee of the second mistake they make, who have placed all their delight in the receiving of mental consolation. They "
HAVE
I
told thee
and receive
Me
they are deceived
mentally in their
will ofttimes see their
neighbour in necessity, spiritual or
temporal, and they will not succour him, under pretence of virtue, saying, If I do so I shall lose my peace and quiet of or I shall not be able to say my Hours at the right time mind, For they think that if they receive no consolation, I am
thereby offended, but they are deceived by their own mental spiritual delight, for they offend Me more by not relieving their neighbour s necessity, than if they had abandoned all
and
those things whereby they receive consolation for all vocal and mental exercise is ordained by Me to bring the soul to perfect love of Me, and of the neighbour, and to preserve ;
her in this love. bour, a
man
Therefore, in failing in love to his neigh offends Me more than if he had abandoned his
ordinary exercise and lost his peace of mind
he would truly
;
and, moreover,
Me
in exercising love towards his neigh in bour, whereas, seeking delight in his own consolation, he
is
find
deprived of Me, for by not succouring his
immediately, his love
for,
him diminishes, and
neighbour
his love for
his neighbour diminishing, affection towards him also So diminishes, and thus is his consolation diminished too.
My
he That
that, thinking to gain,
to lose,
he gains.
loses, is,
and where he would think
being willing to lose his
own
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
147
neighbour s salvation, he receives and neighbour too, succouring him and gains and tasting each time he does so, him charitably, serving the sweetness of My love. But, not doing so, he suffers that he will be obliged, either sometimes for it happens pain, consolation for his
Me, and
the
through love or force of circumstances, to help his neighbour some spiritual or corporal infirmity, and, doing it in this way, he does it with mental tedium, being pricked
either for
by conscience, and becomes insupportable to himself and to And should any one ask him others. Why dost thou He would / to have lost all seem this ? reply pain feel and that I used to do and mind, many quiet of things peace I have left off, and I think that thereby I have offended God. But he is mistaken. He has placed the vision of the eye of his intellect on his own delight alone, and therefore he dis cerns not, nor knows where his offence truly lies. Because, could he discern, he would see that his offence does not con :
:
not having his customary mental consolation, or in having abandoned the exercise of prayer in the time of his neighbour s need, but in having been found without true sist in
love for
his
neighbour,
through love of Me. So that thou seest "
of deceiving the
whom
how
he should love and serve
spiritual self-love alone is capable
soul."
CHAPTER LXX. Of the deception, which those
"
who have placed and mental visions.
all their
fall into,
affections in consolations
SOMETIMES, through such love as
this,
the soul receives even
more damage than if her affection is altogether placed in consolations and visions which I often give to My servants, for,
when she
feels herself
deprived of them, she
falls into
bitterness and tedium of mind, for it seems to her that she is deprived of grace, though I have only withdrawn Myself
from her mind by sentiment, and not by grace, as told thee that
I
I
have
often do, in order to bring the soul to per-
THE DIALOGUE OF
148
ST.
CATHERINE
So she falls into bitterness, and seems to herself to have entered into Hell, feeling no delight, but the molesta
fection.
She should not be so ignorant, tion of many temptations. nor allow herself to be so deceived by spiritual self-love ; but she does not know Me truly in herself, Who am her Supreme Good, preserving to her My goodwill in the time of battle, though she does not hasten to the warfare with She should rather humiliate herself, deeming her delight. self unworthy of peace and quiet of mind. For this purpose do I withdraw from her, so that she may humiliate herself and learn
My
charity in her, seeing the goodwill which I in the time of battle, and also that she may to her preserve
not only receive the milk of sweetness sprinkled by Me on the face of her soul, but that, clinging to the breast of My Truth, she may receive milk together with meat, that is, may draw to herself the milk of My charity, by means of the Flesh of Christ crucified; which is the Doctrine of which I have made for you a Bridge, by crossing which you arrive at
Me,
Who
have withdrawn Myself from you for this pur Wherefore, to souls who act with prudence, not
pose. ignorantly receiving the milk alone, I return with more delight and strength, with more light and ardour of charity. But if, on the other hand, they endure with tedium and sad -
ness and confusion of mind, the suffering caused them by the loss of mental sweetness, they gain but little, and remain in their
tepidity."
CHAPTER
LXXI.
How
it is possible for the aforesaid souls, who take delight in consolations and mental visions, to be deceived by the Devil in a form of light and how to know when a vision is from GOD, and ;
when from the "
Devil.
ANOTHER
souls
is,
delusion that the Devil often practises upon such that he transforms himself into a form of light.
For, seeing the soul to be disposed to desire and receive such a form, her mind being absorbed, and her desires placed
A TREATISE OF PRAYER in consolations
be
149
and mental visions alone, (which should not
so, for the soul
should place her desires in virtue alone,
deeming herself unworthy of consolation), he transforms him self into a form of light in diverse ways, sometimes as an angel, and sometimes as My Truth, or as one of My saints, doing so in order to catch that soul with the hook of her own spiritual delight, which consists in visions and mental And if this soul does not rise above herself with pleasure. true humility, despising every delight, she will remain, caught by the hook, in the hands of the Devil ; but if she, with humility, disdaining the bait of delight, will bind her affec am the Giver, and not to the gift, she tions fast to Me,
Who
be released, for the Devil, on account of his pride, cannot bear a humble mind.
will
"
If
thou askest
from
Me how it is to Me or from the
be known whether a
Devil, I reply to thee the sign. If it is the Devil who has come into thy mind in a form of light, as has been said, to visit it, thou wilt suddenly feel in his coming great joyousness, but visitation
that this
is
is
as he stays
mind
will
within.
be
But
thou wilt gradually lose joyousness, and thy left in tedium or excitement, darkening thee if
the soul
is in
truth visited
by Me, Eternal
Truth, she will, in the first sensation, experience holy fear, and with this fear joy and security, with a sweet prudence, that in doubting does not doubt, the soul, deeming herself
unworthy, saying,
/ am
not worthy to receive
Thy
visita
tion, and, not being worthy, how can such a thing be ? But she will then turn to the broadness of charity, knowing and seeing that it is possible for Me to give, and
My
do not regard her unworthiness, but rather My makes her worthy to receive Me, worthiness, which in sentiment and she will see that I do not through grace, her desire when she calls to Me, and she will despise receive Behold thine handmaid. humbly Me, saying, Thy will be done in Me. And she will arise from her prayer and My visitation with joyousness, and will humbly that
I
;
rejoice in mind,
deeming herself unworthy, but, recognising with love her joyousness as coming from Me. "
This, then, that
I
have told thee,
is
the sign by which
THE DIALOGUE OF
150
ST.
CATHERINE
her visitation is of Me or of be of Me, her first sensation will be one of holy fear, her second, joyousness, and at the end she And if it be of will feel joy and hunger for the virtues.
the soul
may know whether
the Devil.
If
it
the Devil, the first sensation is joyousness, but the mind left in confusion and darkness.
is
I have thus shown thee a means by which the soul, if she will go humbly and with prudence, cannot be deceived, which she will be if she tries to navigate herself by means of her own imperfect love of consolations, rather than by "
love of Me, as
I
have told
thee."
CHAPTER How
the soul
who all
"
I
truly knows herself, wisely guards against the aforesaid deceptions.
HAVE not wanted
common
LXXII.
to
conceal from thee the deception
receive through sensitive love, through the small good which they practise, that is to say, through that little virtue which they exercise in times of spiritual that
folk
consolation, or the spiritual self-love which
have
own
consolations, and selves with the self-love of delight, in their
know
My
servants
how
they deceive them which does not let them
My affection, nor discern their own and the deception which the Devil practises on them, through their own fault, if they keep not the way which I And all these things I have told thee, so have told thee. that thou and My servants may walk in virtue, through love of Me, and nothing else. But they who love Me with imperfect love, that is, who love Me for My gifts and not for Myself, Who am the Giver, fall into all these perils and But the soul who has in truth entered the deceptions. the truth of
guilt,
House
of Self-Knowledge, and, by the exercise of perfect has raised herself from the imperfect love of imperfect prayer, by the means of which I speak to thee in prayer,
this Treatise
on Prayer, receives Me, through
affection
of
A TREATISE OF PRAYER love, seeking to
draw
to herself the milk of
151
My
sweetness
And from the breast of the doctrine of Christ crucified. when these souls have attained to the third state, that is, to friendly and filial love, they have no longer any mercenary For, as the eye love, but they act as do very dear friends. of one, on being given a present by his friend, does not turn to the
gift
alone but also to the heart of the giver,
receiving and keeping the present for the sake of the affection which gave it, so the soul, who has attained to
the third state of perfect love, when she receives My gifts and graces, looks not only at the gifts, but, with the eye of her intellect, looks at the affection of charity of Me, the Giver. And, in order that she may have no excuse for
not doing so, in My Providence I have united the Gift with the Giver, that is, the Divine nature with the human nature,
Son,
by at
I gave you the Word of My only- begotten one thing with Me and I with Him. So that, union, you cannot look at the Gift without looking
when
Who
this
is
Thou seest then with how great affec thou shouldest love and desire both Gift and Giver.
Me, the Giver.
tion
Doing thus your love is
the love of those
will
be pure and not mercenary, as barred up in the House of
who remain
Self-Knowledge."
CHAPTER
LXXIII.
Of the method by which the soul separates herself from imperfect love, and attains to perfect love, friendly and filial.
have shown thee in many ways how the soul raises herself from imperfection and attains to perfection, which she does after she has attained to friendly and filial "
HITHERTO
I
thee that she arrives at perfect love by means of perseverance, barring herself into the House of Self-
love.
I
tell
Knowledge, which knowledge of self requires to be seasoned with knowledge of Me, lest it bring the soul to confusion, for it would cause the soul to hate her own sensitive But pleasure and the delight of her own consolations.
THE DIALOGUE OF
iS2
ST.
CATHERINE
from this hatred, founded in humility, she will draw patience, with which she will become strong against the attacks of the Devil, against the persecutions of man, and towards Me, when, for her good, I withdraw delight from her mind.
And
if her sensuality, through malevolence, should lift its head against reason, the judgment of conscience should rise
y
against it, and, with hatred of it, hold out reason against it, not allowing such evil emotions to get by it. Though sometimes the soul who lives in holy hatred corrects and
reproves herself, not only for those things that are against reason, but also for things that in reality come from Me, which is what My sweet servant S. Gregory meant, when
he said that a holy and pure conscience made sin where was no sin, that is, that through purity of conscience, it saw sin where there was no sin. "Now the soul who wishes to rise above imperfection should await My Providence in the House of Self-Know there
ledge, with
the
light
of
faith,
as did the disciples,
who
the house in perseverance and in watching, in humble and continual prayer, awaiting the coming
remained in
and
of the Holy Spirit. She should remain fasting and watch ing, the eye of her intellect fastened on the doctrine of
My
Truth, and she will become humble because she will
know true
herself in
humble and continual prayer and holy and
desire."
CHAPTER LXXIV. Of the
signs
by which the soul knows she has arrived at perfect love.
IT now remains to be told thee how it can be seen that souls have arrived at perfect love. This is seen by the same sign that was given to the holy disciples after they "
had received the Holy Spirit, when they came forth from the house, and fearlessly announced the doctrine of My Word,
My only-begotten Son, not fearing pain, but rather glory ing therein. They did not mind going before the tyrants of
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
153
the world, to announce to them the truth, for the glory and So the soul, who has awaited Me in praise of My Name.
self-knowledge as I have told thee, receives Me, on My return to her, with the fire of charity, in which charity, while still remaining in the house with perseverance, she conceives the virtues by affection of love, participating in My power ; with which power and virtues she overrules and
conquers her own sensitive passions, and through which charity she participates in the wisdom of My Son, in which she sees and knows, with the eye of her
intellect,
My Truth
and the deceptions of spiritual self-love, that is, the imperfect love of her own consolations, as has been said, and she
knows
and deceit of the devil, which he practises on those souls who are bound by that imperfect love. She therefore arises, with hatred of that imperfection and with love of perfection, and, through this charity, which is of the Holy Spirit, she participates in His will, fortifying also the malice
own to be willing to suffer pain, and, coming out of the house through My Name, she brings forth the virtues on her neighbour. Not that by coming out to bring forth the virtues, I mean that she issues out of the House of Selfher
Knowledge, but that, in^the time of the neighbour s necessity she loses that fear of being deprived of her own consolations, and so issues forth to give birth to those virtues which she has conceived through affection of love. The souls, who have thus come forth, have reached the fourth state, that is, from the third state, which is a perfect state, in which they
and give birth to it on their neighbours, they have arrived at the fourth state, which is one of perfect union with Me. The two last-mentioned states are united, that is to say, one cannot be without the other, for there cannot be love of Me, without love of the neighbour, nor love of the neighbour without love of Me." taste charity
THE DIALOGUE OF
154
ST.
CATHERINE
CHAPTER LXXV. How
they who are imperfect desire to follow the Father alone, but they who are perfect desire to follow the Son. And of a vision, which this holy soul had, concerning diverse baptisms, and of
many
As
other beautiful and useful things.
have
told thee, these latter have issued forth from which is a sign that they have arisen from imperfection and arrived at perfection. Open the eye of thy intellect and see them running by the Bridge of the doctrine of Christ crucified, which was their rule, way and doctrine. They place none other before the eye of their intellect than Christ crucified, not the Father, as they do who are in imperfect love and do not wish to suffer pain, But but only to have the delight which they find in Me. they, as if drunken with love and burning with it, have gathered together and ascended the three steps, which I figured to thee as the three powers of the soul, and also the "
I
the house,
three actual steps, figured to thee as in the Body of My only Son, Christ crucified, by which steps the soul, as I told thee, ascended, first climbing to the Feet, with the feet of
the soul s affection, from thence arriving at the Side, where she found the secret of the Heart and knew the baptism of water, which has virtue through the Blood, and where I dispose the soul to receive grace, uniting and kneading her Where did the soul know of this together in the Blood.
her dignity, in being kneaded and united with the Blood of the
Lamb, receiving the grace in Holy Baptism, in virtue of the Blood ? In the Side, where she knew the fire of divine
Charity, and so, if thou remember well, fested to thee, when thou askedst, saying
Truth mani Sweet and Thy side was
My
Immaculate Lamb, Thou opened. Why Thy heart divided ?
then didst
that
part
My
wen dead when Thou want to be struck and have
And He
replied to thee, telling thee for it ; but the principal He said Because thee.
was occasion enough of what He said I will tell there
desire towards the
:
human
:
generation was ended, and
I
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
155
had finished the actual work of bearing pain and torment, and yet I had not been able to show, by finite things, because My love was infinite, how much more love I had, I wished thee to see the secret of the Heart, showing it to thee open, so that thou mightest see how much more I loved than I could show thee by finite pain. I poured from it Blood and Water, to show thee the baptism of water, which is I also showed the baptism received in virtue of the Blood. of love in two ways, first in those who are baptised in their blood, shed for Me, which has virtue through My Blood, even if they have not been able to have Holy Baptism, and also in those who are baptised in fire, not being able to have Holy Baptism, but desiring it with the affec tion of love. There is no baptism of fire without the Blood, because the Blood is steeped in and kneaded with the
fire
of Divine charity, because, through love was It is yet another way by which the soul receives
There
shed.
the baptism of Blood, speaking, as it were, under a figure, this way the Divine charity provided, knowing the infirmity and fragility of man, through which he offends,
and
is obliged, through his fragility and infirmity, to sin unless he wish to do so ; but, falling, as he will,
not that he
commit
by which he loses the grace which he drew from Holy Baptism in virtue of the Blood, it was necessary to leave a continual baptism of Blood. This the Divine charity provided in the Sacrament of Holy
into the guilt of mortal sin,
Confession, the soul receiving the Baptism of Blood, with contrition of heart, confessing,
when
able, to
My
ministers,
who
hold the keys of the Blood, sprinkling It, in absolu tion, upon the face of the soul. But, if the soul be unable to confess, contrition of heart is sufficient for this baptism, the
hand
of
My
precious Blood. to
do
so,
and
if
deprived of the
clemency giving you the fruit of this But if you are able to confess, I wish you you are able to, and do not, you will be
fruit
of the Blood.
It
is
true that, in the
extremity, a man, desiring to confess and not being able to, will receive the fruit of this baptism, of which I last
have been speaking.
But
let
arrange his deeds, that, in the
no one be so mad as so to hope of receiving it, he puts
THE DIALOGUE OF
156
ST.
CATHERINE
off confessing until the last extremity of death,
when he may
not be able to do so.
In which case, it is not at all certain Thou that I shall not say to him, in My Divine Justice didst not remember Me in the time of thy life, when thou :
1
now will I not remember thee in thy death. Thou seest then that these Baptisms, which you should
couldest, "
all
receive until the last
moment, are
continual,
and though
works, that is the pains of the Cross were finite, the fruit of them which you receive in Baptism, through Me, are infinite. This is in virtue of the infinite Divine nature,
My
united with the finite
human
nature,
which human nature
endures pain in Me, the Word, clothed with your humanity. But because the one nature is steeped in and united with the other,
which
I
Eternal Deity drew to Himself the pain, much fire and love. And therefore
the
suffered with so
My
can this operation be called infinite, not that pain, neither the actuality of the body be infinite, nor the pain of the desire that I had to complete your redemption, because
was terminated and finished on the Cross, when the Soul was separated from the Body but the fruit, which came out it
;
of the pain and desire for your salvation, is infinite, and therefore you receive it infinitely. Had it not been infinite, to
human
generation could not have been restored neither the past, the present, nor the future. manifested in the opening of My Side, where is
the whole grace,
This I found the secret of the Heart, showing that I loved more I showed to thee that than I could show, with finite pain.
My
love
was
infinite.
united with the
fire
How*?
By
My
charity,
of
the Baptism of Blood, and by the general
baptism, given to Christians, and to whomsoever will receive it, and by the baptism of water, united with the Blood and the fire, wherein the soul is steeped. And, in
order to out of
show
My
to thee)
this,
Side.
it
was necessary for the Blood to come I have shown thee (said My Truth
Now
what thou askedst of
Me."
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
157
CHAPTER LXXVI. How the
having mounted the third step of the holy Bridge, having arrived at the Mouth, at once makes use of it and how the death of self-will is the true sign that the soul has that
soul,
is,
arrived there. "
Now
I
say to thee, that all this, which I have just narrated thou knowest, in the person of My Truth, was nar
to thee, as
rated to thee, so that thou mightest know the excellence of the state of that soul, who has ascended the second step, where
she learns and acquires so much fire of love, and from whence she immediately runs to the third, that is, to the Mouth, which proves her to have arrived at the perfect state. Through what did she pass ? Through the midst of the Heart, that is the Blood, wherein she was re-baptised, leaving
imperfect
drew from the
love,
through the knowledge that she and proving the
cordial love, seeing, tasting
My chanty. Such, then, have arrived at the Mouth, and they show by taking the office of the mouth. The mouth speaks by
fire
of
"
it
means of the tongue, which is in the mouth, and tastes by means of the palate, giving to the stomach what the mouth retains and which has been chewed by the teeth to make it fit
to be
swallowed.
The
soul does likewise.
First she
speaks to me, with the tongue, which is in the mouth of holy desire, that is to say, the tongue of holy and continual prayer.
This tongue speaks actually and mentally, mentally Me sweet and amorous desires for the salvation and actually announcing the doctrine of My Truth,
offering to
of souls,
admonishing, counselling, confessing without fear of any I say that she eats, pain which the world may cause her. of the food for souls, taking My honour, on the table of the Cross, and on no other table and in no other way She then chews with could she eat perfectly and in truth. the teeth of hatred and love
;
that
is,
hatred of vice and love
of virtue, which are the two rows of teeth in the mouth of holy desire, for otherwise she would not be able to swallow the food of souls.
THE DIALOGUE OF
158
She chews,
I
ST.
CATHERINE
say, for the sake of the salvation of souls,
villainies, reproofs and persecutions, enduring and cold and heat, painful desires and tears thirst, hunger and sweat, and she chews them all for My honour, bearing and supporting her neighbour. She then tastes the relish of the fruit of toil and the delight of the food of souls, in fire of My love and that of her neighbour. The food then reaches the stomach, that is, the stomach of the heart, which, by desire and the soul s hunger, is disposed to receive it, with cordial love and delight and affection for the neigh bour. Delighting in the food, the stomach of the heart it heaps up by the aforesaid process, and loses corporal
insults,
hunger, becoming able to take the food of the table of the of Christ crucified. The soul fattens on the
doctrine
royal and true virtues, and swells so greatly through the abundance of her food that her clothing of sensuality, that is to say her body, which covers the soul, bursts, and the body that bursts is dead; thus is the sensitive will of the soul dead, but the spiritual will is living, clothed in My eternal Will. Now this death of the sensitive will, after the soul had
eaten of the affection of it is
known,
My
charity, is the sign, by which has arrived at the third
in truth, that the soul
And in the Mouth she found Mouth. and nothing can disturb her peace and quiet, quiet, because her sensitive will is dead. They who have arrived step,
that
is
the
peace and
at this step, bring forth the virtues upon their neighbour without pain, not because pain is no longer painful to them, but because, their sensitive will being dead, they voluntarily
bear pain for My sake. They run without negligence, by doctrine of Christ the crucified, and slacken not their pace of the account on persecutions, injuries or pleasures of the world.
these things, with fortitude and the affection of affection, clothed in
They pass by
perseverance,
their
all
and eating the food of souls with true and perfect patience, which patience is a sign that the soul is in charity,
of self. perfect love, loving without any consideration for and her own her For did she love neighbour profit,
Me
she would, in impatience, slacken her steps, but, loving Me, Who am the Supreme Being and worthy to be loved, she
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
159
loves herself and her neighbour through Me alone, caring only for the glory and praise of My name, which causes
her to be patient and strong to suffer, and
CHAPTER Of the works
persevering."
LXXVII.
of the soul after she has ascended the
aforesaid holy step.
THE
three glorious virtues which crown
the soul who, has attained to the faith, summit of this charity, are Patience, Fortitude, and Perse verance, and, in the light of the most holy faith, she now runs the way of the truth without darkness, and is so raised on high by holy desire, that no one can offend her, neither the devil, with his temptations, because he fears the soul burning in the furnace of holy charity, nor men with their injuries and detractions, for, though the world may persecute her, it fears her, and such trials as the devil or the world "
with the light of the most holy
permit in My Goodness, and, because she makes herself small through humility, I fortify her and
may
cause her,
make her in I
I
great before the world.
My saints,
have made them
As
thou hast seen well
sake, made themselves small, and great in eternal life and in the mystic
who, for
My
My Holy Church, where mention is always made of them, because their names are written in the Book of Life, and the world holds them in reverence, because they Such as they hide not their virtue through despised it. body of
fear,
their
but through humility, and, if their neighbour needs not hide themselves for fear of service, they do
trouble or of losing their own consolation, but they serve him manfully not caring what they lose thereby themselves.
And
in whatever way they use their life and time in My honour, they rejoice, finding for themselves peace and quiet of mind. Why is it thus with them ? Because they do
not choose to serve
Me
in their
way, but
in
for that reason, times of consolation appear to
My
way, and,
them as heavy
THE DIALOGUE OF
i6o
ST.
CATHERINE
as times of tribulation, and the time of prosperity as that of The one seems to them the same as the other, adversity.
because in everything they see My will, and they think of nothing except of conforming themselves in every time and They have seen that nothing is made place to My will. without Me, and that all, except sin, is made with mystery
and Divine Providence, therefore, except sin which they Their will is hate, they hold everything in reverence. therefore firm and stable, and they go on by the way of truth, and do not slacken their pace, helping their neighbour, without regarding his ignorance and ingratitude, and caring not for the injuries and reproofs of the vicious, but rather crying before My Face in prayer for them, grieving more for the injury they do Me, and the damnation of their soul, than for their own annoyance. They say with glorious Paul, My standard bearer The world curses us and we bless, it persecutes us and we return thanks, we are swept away as the dirt and refuse of the world and we endure patiently? So, most delightful daughter, thou seest the sweet signs, and above all other signs, the virtue of patience, by which the soul shows herself in truth, to have arisen from imperfection and attained to perfect love, following the sweet and im maculate Lamb, My only-begotten Son, Who, being on the Cross, held by the nails of love, did not draw back on Descend from account of the taunts of the Jews who said the Cross and we will believe Thee} and neither did He draw back for your ingratitude, and not persevere in the obedience which I had imposed upon Him, but He endured with so much patience, that no cry of murmuring was heard from :
(
:
Him.
way do my most delightful sons, and faithful the doctrine and example of follow Truth, and servants, back from the turn not do following plough, because they the world would withdraw them by flattery or threats, but "
In a like
My
they fix their eyes on My Truth alone. Such as they would not want to leave the field of battle in order to don the garment of peace and remain at home, but would rather
want
to flee creatures
They
will stand
and pleasures than Me,
with delight in the
field
their Creator.
of battle, drunk
A TREATISE OF PRAYER and inebriated with the Blood of Christ placed
in
the tavern of the church of
161
crucified,
My
which
is
charity, to give
who would be
true knights, and fight against and own their sensuality fragile flesh, against the world and the devil, with the knife of hatred of vice and the knife of the love of virtue, which knife of love is a weapon that life to
those
parries all sin, and which the enemy cannot take from them, unless they voluntarily take off their armour, surrendering the knife of the said love into the enemy s hand. They who
are inebriated with the Blood would not do thus, but they would rather manfully persevere until death, when all their
enemies "
O
will
be discomfited.
glorious virtues
!
how
pleasing they are to Me, and eyes of the
how, in the world, they shine in the darkened ignorant, who cannot participate in the light of
My servants
!
who
persecute My servants, shines the clemency which the persecuted ones have for the salvation of their tormentors ; in their envy shines the
In the hatred of those
broadness of charity, and in their cruelty, pity for they are cruel to themselves ; in injury shines Queen Patience, who is supreme over all the virtues, because she is the mirror of charity.
She shows up
in
review the virtues of
shows whether they are founded by Me, in She conquers and is never conquered. She is accompanied by Perseverance and Fortitude, as I have told thee, and when she comes out of the battle-field and
the soul, and truth or not.
returns with victory to the house, to Me, Eternal Father, Rewarder of every toil, she receives the Crown of
the
Glory."
CHAPTER Of the
LXXVIII.
fourth state, which is, nevertheless, not separated from the and of the works of the soul who has arrived at this state,
third,
and how she
is
never
left
by
GOD, Who
remains with her in
continual sentiment.
Now I have told thee how it is to be seen that souls have arrived at the perfection of love, friendly and filial
41
THE DIALOGUE OF
162
Now
ST.
CATHERINE
do not want to conceal from thee how great is the which they taste Me, though they are still in This is because, having arrived at the the mortal body. I
delight with
third state, they acquire the fourth, which, however, is not separated from the third, but is united with it, and the one cannot be without the other, except in the same way as love
of
Me
can be without love of the neighbour.
A
fruit
that
arises from this third condition of the soul s perfect union
with Me, wherein she acquires fortitude, is that, not only does she bear with patience, but she anxiously desires to suffer Such as these pain for the glory and praise of My Name. glory in the shame of My standard-bearer:
shame of Christ forbid that
I
My
only-begotten Son, as said Paul,
I glory in and crucified
should glory save
/ bear
tribulations, and in in another place in Christ crucified
the
God and
My
body the stigmata of Christ crucified} Such as these, I say, as if enamoured of My honour, and famished for the food of souls, run to the table of the Most
again
Holy Cross, service
of
in
willing to suffer pain and endure much for the the neighbour, and desiring to preserve and
acquire the virtues, bearing in their body the stigmata of Christ crucified, causing the crucified love which is theirs
and delighted endurance of the shames and vexations on every side. To these, My most dear sons, trouble is a pleasure, and pleasure and every consolation that the world would offer them, are a toil, and not only the consolation that the ser
to shine, being visible through self-contempt
vants of the world, by My dispensation, are constrained to give them, in reverence and in compassion of their corporal necessities,
out
also
the mental
consolation which they
Even this they They do not despise through humility and self-hatred. despise consolation itself, which is my gift and grace, but receive
from
Me, the
Eternal
Father.
only the pleasure which the soul s appetite finds therein. And this they do through the virtue of true humility, obtained through holy self- hatred, which is the nurse and nourisher of love, and has been acquired through true knowledge of themselves and of Me. Wherefore, as thou seest, the virtues
and wounds of Christ
crucified
shine in
A TREATISE OF PRAYER their bodies
and souls.
163
Such as these do not
feel
any
separation from Me, as happens in the case of others, of whom I have told thee, namely, that I would leave them,
not by grace, but by feeling, afterwards returning to them I do not act thus to these most perfect ones who again. have arrived at the great perfection, and are entirely dead
own will, but I remain continually both by grace and feeling in their souls, so that at any time that they wish they can unite their minds to Me, through love. They can in no way be separated from My love, for, by love, they have arrived at so close a union. Every place is to them their conver an oratory, every moment a time for prayer sation has ascended from earth to heaven that is to say, they have cut off from themselves every form of earthly affection and sensual self-love, and have risen alone them to their
selves into the very height of heaven, having climbed the and mounted the three Steps which
staircase of the virtues
I figured to thee, in the Body of My Son. On the first step the feet of their affection are divested of the love of vice ; on the second they taste the secret love of the
Heart, where they can see desire of virtue; on the third, the step of purity and peace of mind, they find in them selves the virtues, and, rising above imperfect love, they
For they have found rest to Truth, having found both Table and Food and Server, which Food they taste, through the doctrine of Christ crucified, My only- begotten Son. I am their Bed and Board, and My sweet and amorous Word is their Food, for they eat the Bread of souls in the
attain the great perfection. their souls in the doctrine of
My
person of this glorious Word, for I give Him to you, that His Flesh and Blood, wholly GOD and wholly man, in
is
the Sacrament of the Altar, by My Goodness, while you are still pilgrims and wayfarers, so that you may not slacken
your pace through faintness, or lose the memory of the benefits of the Blood, shed for you with so much fire of love, and may always be able to comfort and delight your selves while on your journey. The Holy Spirit serves these souls, for ministers
to
He
is
the affection of
them both
gifts
My
and graces.
charity
which
This
sweet
THE DIALOGUE OF
164
Servant both fetches and
ST.
carries,
CATHERINE to
Me
their painful but
sweetly amorous desires, and to them the fruit of the Divine Love, and of their labours, so that they feed on the sweetness of My charity, so that, as thou seest, I am the
My Son is the Food, and the Holy Spirit pro ceeding from Me, the Father, and from Him, the Son, is the Table, and Server.
Thou
seest,
then,
that
they always
feel
Me
in
and the more they have despised trouble, taking pleasure in it and desiring it, the more completely have they passed beyond it and acquired delight, because their ardent souls are enflamed with My love, wherein their will is consumed. The devil fears the rod of their charity, and the world strikes the their minds,
by sentiment as well as by grace
;
outside of their bodies to hurt them, but to its own injury, because the arrow, which cannot find a place to enter, returns against him who sent it. For when the world hurls the darts of injuries, persecutions and murmurings against My most perfect servants, there is no joint in their harness for them to enter by, the garden of their soul being walled up, so that the dart returns against him who hurled it, poisoning his own sin. Thou seest, then, way be attacked through the body,
him with the venom of that the soul can in no
but remains both blessed and
sorrowful.
Sorrowful for
the sake of her neighbour s sin, and blessed through the Such union of love with Me which she enjoys in herself.
as these follow the Immaculate Lamb, My only-begotten Son, Who was both blessed and sorrowful on the Cross.
He was
sorrowful in that
He
bore the cross of the Body,
suffering pain and the cross of desire, in order to satisfy for the guilt of the human race, and He was blessed, be cause the Divine nature, though united with the human,
could suffer no pain, but always kept His Soul in a state of blessedness, being revealed without a veil to her, so that He was both blessed and sorrowful, for, while the
Deity nor the superior part above the intellect, could suffer.
flesh endured, neither the
the soul, which
is
of
these, My sons of delight, who have arrived at the and fourth states, are sorrowful, for they carry both a that is to say, they bear physical and a mental Cross "
So
third
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
165
pain in their bodies according to My permission, and in their mind, the cross of desire, for they are tortured by
sorrow
at the offence
done
to
Me, and the
loss
of their
Yet I say to thee that they are blessed, be neighbour. cause the delight of charity which makes them so, cannot be taken
away from them.
Their
grief, then,
cannot be called
sorrow, but rather fattening, for the soul is fattened by her love, and virtues are augmented and fortified by Their trouble fattens them and does not afflict trouble.
afflicting
them, because no trouble can draw them out of the fire of My love. These souls, thrown into the furnace of My
no part of their will remaining outside, but the whole of them being enflamed in Me, are like a brand, wholly consumed in the furnace, so that no one can take hold of it In the same to extinguish it, because it has become fire. no one can seize these souls or draw them outside of way, with Me because are made one Me, through they thing grace, and I never withdraw Myself from them by sentiment, as in the case of those who I am leading on to perfection. For, with souls who have arrived at perfection, I play no more the Game of Love, which consists in leaving and returning again to the soul, though thou must understand that it is not, properly speaking, I, the immoveable GOD, charity,
Who
thus illude them, but rather the sentiment that charity gives them of Me."
My
CHAPTER LXXIX. How GOD
does not withdraw Himself from the aforesaid perfect ones by sentiment or by grace, but how He withdraws the union of Himself from them.
I HAVE said, that, from these pertect ones, I never with draw by sentiment. But, in another way, I depart from them, for the soul, being bound in the body, is not sufficient continually to receive that union which I make with her. And because she is not sufficient, I withdraw Myself, not by sentiment or by grace, but by that union which I "
166
THE DIALOGUE OF
ST.
CATHERINE
make with
For souls, arising with anxious desire, her. with run, virtue, by the Bridge of the doctrine of Christ up their minds in and burning with the fire of love Me, the Eternal Deity, Who am to them a
crucified,
and arrive
Me, and
in the Blood,
at the gate, lifting
they taste in Sea Pacific, with
Whom the soul has made so great union, no movement except in Me. And, being yet mortal, they taste the good of the immortals, and having yet the weight of the body, they receive the joy of the Wherefore oftentimes, through the perfect union spirit. which the soul has made with Me, she is raised from the earth almost as if the heavy body became light. But this does not mean that the heaviness of the body is taken away, but that the union of the soul with Me is more perfect than the union of the body with the soul ; wherefore the strength of the spirit, united with Me, raises the weight of the body from the earth, leaving it as if immovable and all pulled to pieces in the affection of the soul. Thou rememberest to have heard it said of some creatures, that were it not for My Goodness, in seeking strength for them, they would not be able to live, and I would tellthee, that, in the fact that the souls of some do not that she has
leave their bodies, is to be seen a greater miracle, than in the fact that some have arisen from the dead, so great is the union which they have with Me.
I,
therefore,
sometimes
for a space, withdraw from the union, making the soul return to the vessel of her body, that is, to the sentiment of the
body, from which she was separated though the affection From the body she did not depart, because that of love.
cannot be, except
in death, the bodily powers alone departed, to Me, through affection of love. united The becoming but the is full of nothing Me, memory intellect, elevated,
gazes upon the object of My Truth ; the affection, which follows the intellect, loves and becomes united with that which the intellect sees. These powers, being united and gathered together and immersed and inflamed in Me, the body loses so that the seeing eye sees not, and the hearing
its feeling,
ear hears not, and the tongue does not speak, except as the abundance of the heart will sometimes permit it for the
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
167
the heart and the praise and glory of
alleviation of
My
Name. "The
the
hand does not touch and the feet walk not, because are bound with the sentiment of love, and as,
members
were, contrary to all their natural functions, cry to Me the Eternal Father for the separation of the soul from the body, as did My glorious Paul, saying, Oh wretched man that lam,
it
Me from this body ? for I feel within Me a law which wars against the Spirit. Paul was not perverse to the of senses the referring warring against Spirit, from which he knew he was secured by My words My grace is who
will separate
:
Why
sufficient for then, did he utter those words ? Because he found himself bound in the vessel of the body, thee.
which is to
for a space of time
impeded his vision of Me, that eyes were bound so as not
say, that, until death, his
to be able to see
Me, the Eternal Trinity,
Who am
in
who
render praise and he found himself in the
the sight of the Blessed Immortals,
Whereas glory to My name. midst of mortals who always offend
Me, deprived of the of that is of Me in Essence. Not that he Me, sight My and My other servants see Me not in the virtue of Charity in diverse
they see
ways, according as pleases My Goodness, but not in Essence. But every vision, which the
Me
soul, while it is in the mortal body, receives of Me is a darkness compared to that sight which the soul has who is separated from the body. So that it seemed to Paul that the bodily vision warred against the vision of the
and that the feeling of the grossness of the human body impeded the intellectual eye, not allowing him to see Me face to face, and it seemed to him that his will was so bound that he could not love as he wanted to love, for
Spirit,
every love in
this
life,
until
it
reaches
its
perfection,
is
Not that the love of Paul and of My other imperfect. servants was imperfect in grace and in charity, because it was perfect, but it was imperfect in that it had not satis faction, which gave him pain, for, had his desire been filled with that which he loved, he would have felt no pain. But the soul,
who
is
separated from the body, has her desire filled, She is satisfied, the tedium of pain.
and has therefore no
THE DIALOGUE OF
i68
ST.
CATHERINE
Her being far from her, and the pain of hunger. firm stable in the and filled, and she is Me, Truth, so that she can desire nothing which she has not. Desiring satiety,
vessel is
Me, she sees
Me
face to face, desiring to see the glory and saints, she sees them in the
praise of My Name in angelic as well as in the
My
human
nature."
CHAPTER LXXX. How
worldly people render glory and praise to they will or no.
GOD,
whether
AND so perfect is her vision that she sees the glory and Name, not so much in the angelic nature as praise of in the human, for, whether worldly people will or no, they "
My
render glory and praise to My Name, not that they do so in the way they should, loving Me above everything, but that My mercy shines in them, in that, in the abundance of My I give them time, and do not order the earth to I even open and swallow them up on account of their sins. wait for them, and command the earth to give them of her fruits, the sun to give them light and warmth, and the sky And in all things created and made to move above them. for them, I use My charity and mercy, withdrawing neither I even give on account of their sins. equally to the sinner and the righteous man, and often more to the sinner than
charity,
man, because the righteous man is able toendure privation, and I take from him the goods of the world that he may the more abundantly enjoy the goods of So that in worldly men My mercy and charity heaven. shine, and they render praise and glory to My Name, even to the righteous
when they
persecute My servants ; for they prove in them the virtues of patience and charity, causing them to suffer
humbly and offer to Me their persecutions and turning them into My praise and glory. "So
injuries,
thus
whether they will or no, worldly people render praise and glory, even when they intend to infamy and wrong." that,
to
My Name
do
Me
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
169
CHAPTER LXXXI. How
even the devils render glory and praise to
GOD.
SINNERS, such as those of whom I have just spoken, are placed in this life in order to augment virtues in My servants, as the devils are in Hell as My justitiars and augmentors "
of
My
Glory
that
;
is,
and the
the damned,
instruments of justice towards augmentors of My Glory in My
my
are wayfarers creatures, who to reach Me, their End. journey
and
on
pilgrims
They augment
their
in
them
ways, exercising them with many and vexations, causing them to injure one temptations and take one another s property, and not for the another them receive injury or be deprived of motive of making the virtues in diverse
But their property, but only to deprive them of charity. in thinking to deprive servants, they fortify them, prov ing in them the virtues of patience, fortitude, and perse
My
Thus they render
verance.
and
My
Truth
for the praise
is fulfilled in
praise and glory to Name, them, which Truth created them
My
and glory of Me, Eternal Father, and that they
might participate
in
My
in their pride, they fell
beauty.
and
But, rebelling against
lost their vision of
Me
Me, where
Me glory through the affection of Eternal Truth, have placed them as instruments to exercise My servants in virtue in this life and as justitiars fore they rendered not to
love,
and
to those
So thou
I,
who go, for their sins, to the pains of Purgatory. seest that Truth is fulfilled in them, that is, that
they render
My
Me
glory, not as citizens of they are deprived by their sins, but as festing justice
tory."
life eternal,
My
of which
justitiars,
upon the damned, and upon those
in
mani Purga
THE DIALOGUE OF
170
CHAPTER
ST.
CATHERINE
LXXXII.
How
the soul, after she has passed through this life, sees fully the praise and glory of My Name in everything, and, though, in her the pain of desire is ended, the desire is not.
41
THUS
in all things created, in all rational creatures,
the devils
can see
it
is
?
seen the glory and praise of
The
soul
who
is
My
and
Name.
in
Who
denuded of the body and
has reached Me, her End, sees
it clearly, and, in seeing, the Eternal Seeing Me, Father, she loves, and loving, she is satisfied. Satisfied, she knows the Truth,
knows the
truth.
will is stayed in My Will, bound and made stable, so that in nothing can it suffer pain, because it has that which it desired to have, before the soul saw Me, namely,
and her
the glory and praise of it
completely in
My
My
Name.
She now,
saints, in the blessed
in truth, sees
spirits,
and
in all
creatures and things, even in the devils, as I told thee. And although she also sees the injury done to Me, which before
caused her sorrow, it no longer now can give her pain, but only compassion, because she loves without pain, and prays to Me continually with affection of love, that I will have
mercy on the world.
Pain in her is ended, but not love, as the tortured desire, which My Word, the Son, had borne from the beginning when I sent Him into the world, termi nated on the Cross in His painful death, but His love
no.
For had the affection of My charity, which I shewed you by means of Him, been terminated and ended then, you would not be, because by love you are made, and had My love been drawn back, that is, had I not loved your being, you could not be, but My love created you, and My love possesses you, because I am one thing with My Truth, and Thou seest then, that He, the Word Incarnate with Me. the saints and every soul in Eternal Life have desire for the salvation of souls without pain, because pain ended in their death, but not so the affection of love. Thus, as if drunk with the Blood of the Immaculate "
Lamb, and clothed
in the love of the neighbour,
they pass
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
171
through the Narrow Gate, bathed in the Blood of Christ crucified, and they find themselves in Me, the Sea Pacific, raised from imperfection, far from satiety, and arrived at per fection, satisfied
by every
good."
CHAPTER
LXXXIII.
How
after Saint Paul was drawn to the glory of the blessed, he desired to be loosened from the body, as they do, who have reached the aforesaid third and fourth states.
"
PAUL, then, had seen and tasted
him up
this good,
when
I
drew
into the third heaven, that is into the height of the
where he tasted and knew My Truth, receiving fully Holy Spirit, and learning the doctrine of My Truth, the Word Incarnate. The soul of Paul was clothed, through feeling and union, in Me, Eternal Father, like the blessed ones in Eternal Life, except that his soul was not separated from his body, except through this feeling and union. But it being pleasing to My Goodness to make of him a vessel of Trinity,
the
election in the abyss of Me, Eternal Trinity,
I
dispossessed
him of Myself, because on Me can no pain fall, and I wished him to suffer for My name therefore I placed before him, ;
as an object for the eyes of his intellect, Christ crucified, clothing him with the garment of His doctrine, binding and fettering him with the clemency of the Holy Spirit and
He became a the fire of charity. and reformed vessel, disposed by My Goodness, and, on made no resistance, but said My Lord, what being struck, dost Thou wish me to do ? Show me that which it is thy Which I answered pleasure for me to do, and I will do it} when I placed before him Christ crucified, clothing him with the doctrine of My chanty. I illuminated him perfectly with the light of true contrition, by which he extirpated his defects, and founded him in My charity." enflaming him with
:
THE DIALOGUE OF
172
ST.
CATHERINE
CHAPTER LXXXIV. How
the
who
soul
herself in the unitive state desires barren earthly state and unite herself to
finds
infinitely to leave the
GOD. "AND
when
I
depart from the soul in the aforesaid
way
body may return a little to its corporal sentiment, the soul, on account of the union which she had made with
that the
Me, is impatient in her life, being deprived of union with Me, and the conversation of the Immortals, who render glory to Me, and finding herself, amid the conversation of This mortals, and seeing them so miserably offending Me. vision of My offence is the torture which such souls always have, and which, with the desire to see Me, renders to them. Nevertheless, as their own, but becomes one with Mine, they cannot desire other than what I desire, and though they desire to come and be with Me, they are contented to
their
life
insupportable
will is not their
remain,
if I
desire
them
to remain, with their pain, for the
greater praise and glory of souls.
Will in
;
My Name
So
and the salvation of
My
that in nothing are they in discord with but they run their course with ecstatic desire, clothed
Christ
crucified,
and
keeping by the Bridge of His
Inasmuch doctrine, glorying in His shame and pains. as they appear to be suffering they are rejoicing, because the enduring of many tribulations is to them a relief in the desire which they have for death, for oftentimes the desire and the will to suffer pain mitigates the pain caused them by their desire to quit the body. These not only endure I told thee they did, who are in the third but they glory, through My Name, in bearing much In bearing tribulation they find pleasure, and tribulation.
with patience, as state,
not having it they suffer pain, fearing that I reward not their well-doing or that the sacrifice of their desires is not pleasing to Me ; but when I permit to them many tribula tions they rejoice, seeing themselves clothed with the suffer
ing and
shame of Christ
crucified.
Wherefore were
it
A TREATISE OF PRAYER possible for
not want
them
to
have virtue without
173 toil
they would
They would
it.
Christ, acquiring
Eternal
Life.
steeped
in
it
rather delight in the Cross, with with pain, than in any other way obtain
Why ?
Because
they
are
the Blood, where they find the
which
is
a
inflamed blaze of
from
fire
and
My Me,
charity proceeding ravishing their heart and mind and making their sacrifices Wherefore, the eye of the intellect is lifted up acceptable. charity,
and gazes into
My
Deity,
when
behind the This is a sight
the affection
nourished and united with Me.
intellect is
which
I grant to the soul, infused with grace, who, in truth, loves and serves Me."
CHAPTER LXXXV. How
they, who are arrived at the aforesaid unitive state, have the eye of their intellect illuminated by supernatural light infused by grace. And how it is better to go for counsel for the salvation of the soul, to a humble and holy conscience than to a proud lettered
"
WITH
man.
this light
that is given to the eye of the intellect,
Thomas Aquinas saw Me, wherefore he acquired the light also Augustine, Jerome, and the doctors, of much science and my saints. They were illuminated by My Truth to know and understand My Truth in darkness. By My Truth I mean the Holy Scripture, which seemed dark ;
because
it
was not understood
the Scriptures, but of them
;
not through any defect of them, and did not
who heard
understand them. Wherefore I sent this light to illuminate the blind and coarse understanding, uplifting the eye of the intellect to know the Truth. And I, Fire, Acceptor of ravishing away from them their darkness, give not a natural light, but a supernatural, so that, ; in Wherefore though darkness, they know the Truth.
sacrifices,
the light
which at first appeared to be dark, now appears with the most perfect light, to the gross or subtle mind ; and every one receives according as he is capable or disposed
that,
THE DIALOGUE OF
174
ST.
CATHERINE
So thou do not despise dispositions. received seest that the eye of the intellect has supernatural light, infused by grace, by which the doctors and saints knew light in darkness, and of darkness made light. The intellect was, before the Scriptures were formed, wherefore, from the intellect came science, because in seeing they dis It was thus that the holy prophets and fathers cerned. understood, who prophesied of the coming and death of My Son, and the Apostles, after the coming of the Holy Spirit, The evangelists, which gave them that supernatural light. and all likewise were martyrs doctors, confessors, virgins And every one illuminated by the aforesaid perfect light. has had the illumination of this light according as he needed it for his salvation or that of others, or for the to
know Me,
for
I
The doctors of the holy exposition of the Scriptures. doctrine of My Truth, the had science it, expounding the of the preaching Apostles, and the Gospels of The martyrs had
it, declaring in their fruit and the treasure of the Holy Faith, had it in the affec The of Lamb. the the Blood virgins
the
Evangelists. blood the Most
tion
To
and purity.
of charity
the obedient
the obedience of the
declared, by it, the perfection of
Who
obedience, which
ones
is
Word, showing them shines
in
My
Truth,
imposed upon Him, ran to This light is to be Cross. of the death the opprobrious in the Old, by it, New Testament and seen in the Old ; the of the were seen by intellect, and known the eye In the New Testament prophecies of the holy prophets. for the obedience that
of the evangelical
By
faithful ?
this
life,
how
same
I
the Gospel declared to the And because the New light. is
Testament proceeded from the same light, the new law did not break the old law ; rather are the two laws bound together, the imperfection of the old law, founded in fear alone, being taken from it, by the coming of the Word of
My
only-begotten Son, with the law of Love, completing the old law by giving it love, and replacing the fear of penalty And, therefore, said My Truth to the by holy fear. disciples, *
/ came
to
not
to
show
that
He was
dissolve the law, but
not a breaker of laws to fulfil it?
It is
:
almost
A TREATISE OF PRAYER as
My
if
Truth would say
imperfect, but with
My
to
Blood
I
them will
175,
The Law is now make it perfect, and
it up with what it lacks, taking away the fear of How was and founding it in love and holy fear. this declared to be the Truth ? By this same supernatural light, which was and is given by grace to all, who will receive it ? Every light that comes from Holy Scripture comes and came from this supernatural light. Ignorant and proud men of science were blind notwithstanding this light, because their pride and the cloud of self-love had Wherefore they under covered up and put out the light. stood the Holy Scripture rather literally than with under standing, and taste only the letter of it, still desiring many other books and they get not to the marrow of it, because they have deprived themselves of the light, with which is and they are annoyed found and expounded the Scripture and murmur, because they find much in it that appears to them gross and idiotic. And, nevertheless, they appear to be much illuminated in their knowledge of Scripture, as if they had studied it for long; and this is not remark able, because they have of course the natural light from whence proceeds science. But because they have lost the supernatural light, infused by grace, they neither see nor
I will
fill
penalty,
;
;
Goodness, nor the grace of My servants. Where say to thee, that it is much better to go for counsel for the salvation of the soul, to a holy and upright con science, than to a proud lettered man, learned in much
know
My
fore, I
science, because such a one can only offer what he has himself, and, because of his darkness, it may appear to thee,
from what he says, the Scriptures offer darkness. The contrary wilt thou find with My servants, because they offer the light that is in them, with hunger and desire for the soul s salvation. This I have told thee, my sweetest that,
daughter, that thou mightest know the perfection of this unitive state, when the eye of the intellect is ravished by
the
fire
of
My
charity, in which charity it receives the With this light the souls in the unitive
supernatural state love Me, because love follows the intellect, and the more it knows the more can it love. Thus the one feeds light.
THE DIALOGUE OF
i;6
ST.
CATHERINE
the other, and, with this light, they both arrive at the Eternal Vision of Me, where they see and taste Me, in Truth, the soul being separated from the body, as I told
when
spoke to thee of the blissfulness that the This state is most excellent, when the soul, being yet in the mortal body, tastes bliss with the immortals, and ofttimes she arrives at so great a union that she scarcely knows whether she be in the body or out
thee
I
soul received in Me.
of it ; and tastes the earnest-money of Eternal Life, both because she is united with Me, and because her will is dead in Christ, by which death her union was made with Me, and
no other way could she perfectly have done so. There do they taste life eternal, deprived of the hell of their own will, which gives to man the earnest-money of damna tion, if he yield to in
fore
it."
CHAPTER LXXXVI. A
useful repetition of many things already said and how this devout soul to pray to Him for every creature,
GOD leads and
for the
Holy Church. "Now thou hast seen, with the eye of thy intellect, and heard, with the ear of thy feeling, from Me, Eternal Truth, what method thou must hold to make use of this doctrine for thy and to know My Truth. As I told self, and thy neighbour, thee in the beginning, a knowledge of Truth is arrived at
Not a pure knowledge of through a knowledge of self. but a knowledge of self seasoned and united with a knowledge of Me. Wherefore thou foundest humility and hatred and displeasure of thyself and the fire of My charity, through the knowledge that thou foundest of thyself from whence thou earnest to love and take delight in thy neighbour, bringing him to a holy and honest life, by means of the doctrine. I have also shown thee the Bridge, self,
and the three general steps, placed there for the three powers of the soul, and I have told thee how no one can attain to the life of grace unless he has mounted all three
A TREATISE OF PRAYER steps, that soul in
My
is,
177
all the three powers of the have also made known to thee, in
gathered together
Name.
I
particular, the three states of the soul, figured in the Body I told thee, that He of only-begotten Son, of
My
Whom
had made of His Body a staircase, showing it to thee in His nailed Feet, and in the opening of His Side, and in His Mouth, where the soul attains to peace and quiet, in the way that I told thee. And I have shown thee the imper fection of servile fear, and the imperfection of the love, that is only for the sweetness found in Me, and I have shown thee, the perfection of the third state, namely of those who have arrived at the peace of the Mouth, having run, with
anxious desire, by the Bridge of Christ crucified, ascending the three general steps, that is, gathering together in My Name the three powers of the soul and all their functions,
as
I
explained to thee more clearly above, and thus have is, passed from the
ascended the three principal steps, that
And so hast thou seen them and taste with satisfaction the perfection of the soul, with the odour of the virtues. Thou hast also seen the deceptions into which theyfall before they arrive at perfection, if they do not exercise themselves in the knowledge of Me I have also declared to thee the misery and of themselves. of those who are drowned in the river, because they keep not by the Bridge of the doctrine of Christ crucified, the which I placed there that they might not be drowned. But they, in the if were would and drown filth of as mad, they misery the world. All these things have I declared to thee to increase in thee the fire of holy desire, and compassion and sorrow for the damnation of souls, and that thy sorrow and love might constrain thee to urge Me, with tears and sweat and humble and continual prayer, offered to Me with the fire of most And that not ardent desire, to have mercy on the world. and servants only thou, but many others of my creatures imperfect state to the perfect.
run
in truth,
who may
hear these things, might be constrained to urge have Me mercy on the world and particularly on the mystic body of the Holy Church. I have already told thee, if thou remember well, that I would fulfil all thy desires, giving thee refreshment in thy toil, and satisfying the pain to
M
THE DIALOGUE OF
178
ST.
CATHERINE
of thy desires, reforming the Church with holy and good Not reforming her by war, or the knife or cruelty, pastors. quiet and by the tears and have My servants, placed as labourers for souls in the mystic body of the Church, labouring for them in virtue, in example and in doctrine, offering to Me, for the Church and every creature, continual prayer, bringing forth the virtues on their neighbour in the way I have told thee, because every virtue and every fault is increased by Wherefore I wish you all to its relation to the neighbour. be of service to your neighbour, and thus to bear fruit. Cease
as
I
told thee, but
sweat of
by peace and
whom
I
not to cast up before Me the incense of fragrant prayers for the salvation of souls, because with those prayers, tears and sweatings will I wash the face of My Spouse,
Holy Church. I have already shown her to thee under the form of a damsel, her face all befouled, as if And this is on account of the sins of with leprosy. ministers and of the whole Christian people who feed My at the breast of this My Spouse, and of whose sins I will
the
speak to thee in another
place."
CHAPTER LXXXVII. How
this
devout soul seeks knowledge from state
and
God concerning
the
fruit of tears.
THEN
this soul, yearning with very great desire, and rising as one intoxicated both by the union which she had had with God, and by what she had heard and tasted of the Supreme
and Sweet Truth, yearned with
grief over the ignorance
of creatures, in that they did not know their Benefactor, or the affection of the love of God. And nevertheless she
had joy from the hope of the promise that the Truth of God had made to her, teaching her the way she was to direct her will (and the other servants of God as well as herself) order that He should do mercy to the world. And,
in
lifting
up the eye of her
intellect
upon the sweet Truth, to
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
Whom
she remained united, wishing to states of the soul of which aforesaid the
179
know somewhat God had spoken
of to
and seeing that the soul passes through these states with tears, she wished to learn from the Truth concerning the different kinds of tears, and how they came to be, and whence they proceeded, and the fruit that resulted from Wishing then to know this from the Sweet, weeping. and First Truth, as to the manner of being and Supreme the aforesaid tears, and inasmuch as the truth of reason be learnt from any other than from the Truth Him cannot and self, nothing can be learnt in the Truth but what is her,
seen by the eye of the intellect, she made her request of For it is necessary for him who is lifted with the Truth. the Truth with the light of faith. to learn desire
Wherefore, knowing that she had not forgotten the teach ing which the Truth, that is, God, had given her, that in no other way could she learn about the different states and she rose out of herself, exceeding every limit of her nature with the greatness of her desire. And, with a she the of her intellect the light of eye opened lively faith, fruits of tears,
upon the Eternal Truth,
in
Whom
she saw and knew the God Himself mani
Truth, in the matter of her request, for fested
it
to her,
burning desire,
and condescending fulfilled
CHAPTER
His
benignity^ to her
LXXXVIII.
How there are five THEN
in
her petition.
kinds of tears.
said the Supreme and Sweet Truth of God, Oh, be loved and dearest daughter, thou beggest knowledge of the reasons and fruits of tears, and I have not despised thy desire. Open well the eye of thy intellect and I will show thee, among the aforesaid states of the soul, of which I "
have told thee, concerning the imperfect tears caused by but first rather of the tears of wicked men of the fear These are the tears of damnation. The former world. ;
THE DIALOGUE OF
i8o
ST.
CATHERINE
are those of fear, and belong to men who abandon sin from The third are the fear of punishment, and weep for fear. tears of those
serve
and
who, having abandoned sin, are beginning to Me, and weep for very sweetness ; but
taste
since their love is imperfect, so also is their weeping, as I The fourth are the tears of those who have told thee. have arrived at the perfect love of their neighbour, loving Me without any regard whatsoever for themselves. These weep and their weeping is perfect. The fifth are joined to the fourth and are tears of sweetness let fall with great I will tell thee also of the peace, as I will explain to thee. tears of fire, without bodily tears of the eyes, which satisfy And I those who often would desire to weep and cannot.
wish thee to know that all these various graces may exist in one soul, who, rising from fear and imperfect love, reaches perfect love in the unitive state. thee of these tears in the following
Now
I will
begin to
tell
way."
CHAPTER LXXXIX. Of the
"
I
difference of these tears, arising from the explanation of the aforesaid states of the soul.
WISH thee
to
heart, for there is
the heart so
much
eye manifests
it.
know
that every tear proceeds from the
no member of the body that
will
satisfy
as the eye. If the heart is in pain the And if the pain be sensual the eye drops
which
engender death, because proceeding they are caused by a disordinate love distinct from the love of Me ; for such love, being disordi nate and an offence to Me, receives the meed of mortal pain hearty
from
tears
the
heart,
It is true that their guilt and grief are more or and tears. less heavy, according to the measure of their disordinate And these form that first class, who have the tears love.
of death, of
whom
I
have spoken to thee, and
will
speak
Now, begin to consider the tears which give the again. commencement of life, the tears, that is, of those who,
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
181
their guilt, set to weeping for fear of the penalty have incurred. they "These are both hearty and sensual tears, because the soul, not having yet arrived at perfect hatred of its guilt on account of the offence thereby done to Me, abandons it with a hearty grief for the penalty which follows the sin
knowing
committed, while the eye weeps in order to satisfy the grief of the heart. "But the soul, exercising herself in virtue, begins to lose her fear, knowing that fear alone is not sufficient to give her eternal life, as I have already told thee when speaking
And so she proceeds, with know herself and My goodness in her, and begins to
of the second stage of the soul. love, to
take
hope
Sorrow
in
My
in
mercy
which her heart
feels
joy.
mingled with the joy of her hope in causes her My mercy, eye to weep, which tears issue from the very fountain of her heart. for her grief,
"But,
inasmuch as
she has not yet arrived
at
great
perfection, she often drops sensual tears, and if thou askest Me why, I reply Because the root of self-love is not sensual love, for that has already been removed, as has :
a spiritual love with which the soul desires spiritual consolations or loves some creature spirit ually. (I have spoken to thee at length regarding the imper
been
said, but
it
is
fections of such souls.)
Wherefore, when such a soul
is
deprived of the thing she loves, that is, internal or external consolation, the internal being the consolation received from
Me, the external being that which she had from the creature, and when temptations and the persecutions of men come on her, her heart is full of grief. And, as soon as the eye feels the grief and suffering of the heart, she begins to weep with a tender and compassionate sorrow, pitying herself with the spiritual compassion of self-love for her self-will is not yet crushed and destroyed in everything, and in this way she lets fall sensual tears tears, that is, of spiritual ;
But, growing, and exercising herself in the light of self-knowledge, she conceives displeasure at herself and
passion.
perfect knowledge of
finally
self-hatred.
My
From
goodness with a
this fire
draws true of love, and she she
f
THE DIALOGUE OF
182
ST.
CATHERINE
begins to unite herself to Me, and to conform her will to Mine to feel joy and compassion. Joy in herself through the affection of love, and compassion for her neighbour, as I told thee in speaking of the third stage. Immediately
and so
her eye, wishing to satisfy the heart, cries with hearty love for Me and for her neighbour, grieving solely for My offence and her neighbour s loss, and not for any penalty or loss due to herself; for she does not think of herself, but
only of rendering glory and praise to My Name, and, in an ecstasy of desire, she joyfully takes the food prepared for her on the table of the Holy Cross, thus conforming herself
humble, patient, and immaculate Lamb, My onlybegotten Son, of whom I made a Bridge, as I have said. Having thus sweetly travelled by that Bridge, following the
to the
sweet Truth, enduring with true and sweet patience every pain and trouble which I have permitted to be inflicted upon her for her salvation, having manfully received them all, not choosing them according to her own doctrine of
My
but accepting them according to Mine, and not only, said, enduring them with patience, but sustaining them
tastes,
as
I
with joy, she counts
it
glory to be persecuted for
My Name s
may have to suffer. Then the soul such delight and tranquillity of mind that no
sake in whatever she arrives
at
tongue can Eternal
tell it.
Word,
that
Having crossed the river by means of the is, by the doctrine of My only-begotten
Son, and, having fixed the eye of her intellect on Me, the Sweet Supreme Truth, having seen the Truth, knows it ; and knowing it, loves it. Drawing her affection after her Eternal Deity, and she sees the Divine nature united to your humanity.
intellect,
"
is
she tastes
My
Then she reposes
united to
Me
in
Me, the Sea
in love, as
fourth and unitive state.
I
told thee
When
Pacific,
knows and
and her heart
when speaking of
she thus
feels
the
Me, the
Eternal Deity, her eyes let fall tears of sweetness, tears indeed of milk, nourishing the soul in true patience ; an odoriferous ointment are these tears, shedding odours of great sweetness.
Oh, best beloved daughter, how glorious is that soul who has indeed been able to pass from the stormy ocean to Me, "
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
183
in that Sea, Which is Myself, the Deity, to fill the pitcher of her heart. And her eye, the conduit of her heart, endeavours to satisfy her heart-pangs, and so sheds tears. This is the last stage
Sea Pacific, and Supreme and Eternal
the
in
which the soul "
Blessed she
is
is
blessed and sorrowful.
through the union which she
feels herself
have with Me, tasting the divine love ; sorrowful through the offences which she sees done to My goodness and great ness, for she has seen and tasted the bitterness of this in her self-knowledge, by which self-knowledge, together with her knowledge of Me, she arrived at the final stage. Yet this sorrow is no impediment to the unitive state, which produces tears of great sweetness through self-knowledge, gained in love of the neighbour, in which exercise the soul discovers the plaint of My divine mercy, and grief at the offences caused to her neighbour, weeping with those who that is, who weep, and rejoicing with those who rejoice to
My love. Over these the soul rejoices, seeing glory and praise rendered Me by My servants, so that the third
live in
kind of grief does not prevent the fourth, that
is,
the final
grief belonging to the unitive state; they rather give savour to each other, for, had not this last grief (in which the soul finds such union with Me), developed from the grief be
longing to the third state of neighbourly love, it would not be perfect. Therefore it is necessary that the one should flavour the other, else the soul would come to a state of
presumption, induced by the subtle breeze of love of her reputation, and would fall at once, vomited from
own
to the depths. Therefore it is necessary to bear with others and practise continually love to one s neighbour, together with true knowledge of oneself.
the heights
"In
this
way
will
she
Me
that
is,
by knowing
is
My
love in herself, developed out of love of
feel the fire of
because love of her neighbour
out of that learning which the soul obtained and My goodness in her. When, there
herself
she sees herself to be ineffably loved by Me, she loves every rational creature with the self-same love with which she sees herself to be loved. And, for this reason, the soul fore,
that
knows Me immediately expands
to the
love of her
THE DIALOGUE OF
184
ST.
CATHERINE
neighbour, because she sees that I love that neighbour ineffably, and so, herself, loves the object which she sees Me
She further knows that she can have loved still more. be of no use to Me and can in no way repay Me that pure love with which she feels herself to be loved by Me, and therefore endeavours to repay it through the medium which I have given her, namely, her neighbour, who is the medium through which you can all serve Me. For, as 1 have said to thee, you can perform all virtues by means of to
your neighbour, I having given you all creatures, in general and in particular, according to the diverse graces each has received from Me, to be ministered unto by you ; you should therefore love them with the same pure love with which That pure love cannot be returned have loved you. I I have loved you without because directly to Me, being and without any consideration of Myself Myself loved, loved you without being loved by you before you existed ; it was, indeed, love that moved Me to create you to My own image and similitude. This love you
whatsoever, for
I
cannot repay to Me, but you can pay it to My rational creature, loving your neighbour without being loved by him and without consideration of your own advantage,
whether spiritual or temporal, but loving him solely for the praise and glory of My Name, because he has been loved by Me. will
"Thus
to love
Me
you
the
fulfil
commandment
of the law,
above everything, and your neighbour as your
selves.
height cannot be reached with out passing through the second stage, namely the second stage of union which becomes the third (and final) stage. "True
indeed
is it that this
be preserved when it has been reached if the soul abandon the affection from which it has been developed, It the affection to which the second class of tears belongs.
Nor can
is
it
therefore impossible to
fulfil
the law given by Me, the
Eternal God, without fulfilling that of your neighbour, for these two laws are the feet of your affection by which the precepts and counsels are observed, which were given you, These as I have told thee, by Truth, Christ crucified.
My
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
185
two
states united nourish your soul in virtue, making her grow in the perfection of virtue and in the unitive state. Not that the other state is changed because this further
to
state has been reached, for this further state does but increase the riches of grace in new and various gifts and admirable elevations of the mind, in the knowledge of the truth, as I
said to thee, which, though it is mortal, appears immortal because the soul s perception of her own sensuality is mortified and her will is dead through the union which she
has attained with Me. "
Oh, how sweet
tasting
it,
she sees
is
the taste of this union to the soul, for, in Wherefore she often receives
My secrets
!
the spirit of prophecy, knowing the things of the future. This is the effect of My Goodness, but the humble soul should
despise such things, not indeed in so far as they are given her by My love, but in so far as she desires them by reason of
her appetite for consolation, considering herself unworthy of peace and quiet of mind, in order to nourish virtue within her soul. In such a case let her not remain in the second I give stage, but return to the valley of self-knowledge. her this
grow life
light,
My
grace permitting, so that she may ever is never so perfect in this
For the soul
in virtue.
that she cannot attain to a higher perfection of love.
Son, your Captain, was the only One Who could increase in no perfection, because He was one thing with Me, and I with Him, wherefore His soul was blessed
My only-begotten
But do ye, His through union with the Divine nature. be ever to in pilgrim-members, ready grow greater perfection, not indeed to another stage, for as I have said, ye have now reached the last, but to that further grade of perfection in the last Grace."
stage,
which may please you by means of
My
THE DIALOGUE OF
i86
ST.
CHAPTER A repetition
CATHERINE
XC.
of the preceding chapter : and how the Devil flees those arrived at the fifth kind of tears, and how the assaults
who have
of the Devil are the true "THOU
hast
now
means
of reaching this stage.
seen the various states of tears and the
difference between them, according as it has pleased Truth to satisfy thy desire. With regard to the first tears
My
of those who are in the state of death, in the guilt, namely, of mortal sin, thou hast seen that their sorrow, proceeding in general from their heart, on account of the conception of the principle of the affection which causes tears, is corrupt and miserable sorrow, and indeed their every work is The second stage is that of those who are begin corrupt.
ning to learn their own evil through the penalty which This is a general beginning, generously follows their guilt. given by Me to the fragile, who ignorantly drown in the river, loathing the doctrine of
My
But there are
Truth.
many who know
their evil without servile fear (fear, that is, of the penalty due to their guilt), who abandon sin with a
great self-hatred, which makes them deem themselves worthy of punishment, and who, in their simple goodness, devote
themselves to serving Me, their Creator, grieving over the It is true that he who offence which they have done Me.
abandons sin with very great self-hatred
is
more apt
for
perfection than the others (those actuated by servile fear), yet both classes may arrive thereat by exercise, though
the former will arrive "
One
first.
of the latter class should take care not to remain in
servile fear,
and one of the former should beware of
that he does not
tepidity,
cold within, through not exercising This is a common vocation.
grow
his simple goodness. "The third and fourth stages are of those who, having arisen out of fear, have arrived at love and hope, tasting
Divine mercy, receiving many gifts and consolations from Me, on account of which the eye weeps in order toBut because this sorrow is. satisfy the feeling of the heart.
My
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
187
imperfect and mingled with the sorrow of spiritual self-love, as I have said, the soul must, by exercise in virtue, reach the fourth stage, where, having grown by her desires, she unites
and conforms herself to My will to such a point, that she can neither wish nor desire other than what I wish, in the matter of love to her neighbour, from which she extracts the grief of love in herself for the offences and losses This stage is united with the inflicted on her neighbour. fifth and ultimate perfection in which the soul unites herself to the Truth, and the fire of holy desire is increased, from which desire the Devil flees, for he can persecute the soul no more, neither by injuring her, for she has grown patient in the love of her neighbour,
nor by spiritual or temporal
consolation, because through self-hatred and true humility she despises both. True indeed it is that the Devil, for his
never sleeps, thus reading a lesson to you negligent But all his ones, who sleep through the time of merit. he cannot because watching cannot hurt such as these, part,
endure the heat of their love, nor the odour of the union which they have made with Me, the Sea Pacific ; while a So he avoids soul thus united to Me cannot be deceived. such a soul, as a fly the boiling kettle, from fear of the fire. The following however happens to the soul before she has reached perfection. The Devil, seeing that she seems tepid, enters into her with many and diverse temptations. But, the soul, being in the Sea of Knowledge, heat, and hatred of guilt, resists, binding the will, for fear it should consent, with Let every the bands of hatred of sin and love of virtue. soul that experiences many temptations rejoice, for through lies the road to this glorious and sweet state. For I have
them
already told thee, that by knowledge and hatred of yourselves At no and knowledge of Me, ye could arrive at perfection.
time does the soul
know
so well whether
Thou askest, she know well, seeing
as in the time of battle.
am
I
in
in her or no,
what way
?
I
herself in battle, that she cannot liberate herself, or resist the perverse will, for she has nothing of her own with which to do so. (She will tell thee.
If
can indeed resist the perverse consenting to
it,
will,
in
the sense of not
but in no other sense.)
And
then she
THE DIALOGUE OF
188
ST.
CATHERINE
is nothing, for were she anything in could cause this battle, which is against to cease. Thus she humbles herself with true
learns that she herself
her
own power, she
her
will,
self-knowledge, and, with the light of the most Holy Faith, runs to Me, the Eternal God, through Whose Goodness she is able to preserve a good and holy will that does not consent in the time of battle, or yield to the miseries with
which
is assailed.
it
yourselves with
the
You are then quite right to comfort doctrine of the sweet and amorous
Word, My only-begotten Son, in the time of your troubles and adversities and temptations from men or devils, for these increase your virtue and cause you to arrive at great perfection."
CHAPTER How those who
XCI.
and cannot have them, and why God withdraws from them physical
desire the tears of the eyes
have tears of
fire
;
tears.
HAVE spoken to thee of perfect and imperfect tears, and all of them issue from the heart. From this vessel comes every kind of tear, whatever be the cause of it, they "
I
how
may
therefore
all
be called hearty
tears.
The
sole differ
between ordinate and disordinate love, between and imperfect love, as I have said to thee above. perfect I have yet to tell thee, in order to satisfy the request thou
ence
lies
to Me, of those who long for the perfection of but Have they any tears, apparently cannot have it. other way of weeping besides the tears of the eyes ? Yes, they have the weeping of fire, namely, of true and holy
didst
make
desire, by which they are consumed through the affection of love and long to melt their life away in weeping, out of self-hatred, and for the salvation of souls, and yet it seems that they cannot. These, I say, have the tears of fire,
in
which the Holy Spirit weeps before Me for them Thus, I say, does My Divine love
and
their neighbour.
light
up with
its
flame the soul
who
offers
anxious desires
A TREATISE OF PRAYER before Me, without tears of
and
fire,
bodily tears.
in this
way does
These, the
189 I
Holy
say, are
the
Spirit lament.
Not being able to do so with tears, He offers the will and If thou openest the weeping for love of Me. eye of thy intellect, thou wilt see that the Holy Spirit laments by means of every servant of Mine who sheds holy desires and humble, continual prayers before Me. This, it would seem, is what the glorious Apostle Paul meant when desires of
he said that the Holy Spirit grieved before Me, the Father, with unutterable groanings for you. Wherefore see that the tears of fire have no less fruit than those of water, often indeed more, according to the measure of the love from which they proceed. A soul, then, who desires tears and cannot have them, should not be put to confusion of mind, or think that she is deprived She should desire tears with a will of anything by Me. "
humbled, attuned to Mine, desiring them or not, according Sometimes I do not pleases My Divine Goodness. in order that she tears to shed the soul physically, permit in continual Me humbled before remain prayer, inas may much as to grant her request would not be of the use to For she would remain content with her that she thinks. had asked for, and so her affec she what received having tion would grow weak, together with the desire with which she had been accustomed to ask for it. So, for the sake of the growth, and not the turning back of souls, do I as
reserve the right of not granting actual tears, but I some times grant them mentally and of the heart only, full of the In every state, therefore, and in fire of My Divine Love.
every time will My servants be pleasing to Me, if they never let the eye of their intellect lose sight of the object of My Eternal Truth in the light of faith, with the effect I am the Physician and you the patients, and I each of you what is necessary for his salvation, and give This is the for the growth of perfection in his soul.
of love.
truth and the explanation of the states of tears, which I, most sweet the Eternal Truth, have given thee,
My
daughter.
Drown
crucified, the
thyself
then
in
the
Blood of Christ
humble and immaculate Lamb, marked with
THE DIALOGUE OF
190
the cross,
ST.
growing continually
in
CATHERINE virtue,
mayest be nourished internally with the
so
that
of
My
fire
thou Divine
Love."
CHAPTER How
XCII.
the four stages of the soul, to which belong the five aforesaid
states of tears, produce tears of infinite value and how God wishes to be served as the Infinite, and not as anything finite. :
"
THESE
are
to
infinite.
become
are like five
with abundant
tears
principal canals of infinite value,
which
of they are disciplined in virtue, as I have thee. Thou askest how their value can be I do not say that in this life your tears can
which give said
states
five
filled
life
all
if
infinite,
but
I call
them
infinite,
on account of the
of your soul from which they proceed. I have already told thee how tears come from the heart, and how the heart distributes them to the eye, having gathered infinite desire
them in its own fiery desire. As, when green wood is on the fire, the moisture it contains groans on account of the heat, because the wood is green, so does the heart, made green again by the renovation of grace drawn into which dries up the soul, so that fiery and tears are united. And inasmuch as desire is never ended, it is never satisfied in this life, but the more the soul loves the less she seems to herself to love. Thus is holy desire, which is founded in love, exercised, and with this desire the eye weeps. But when the soul is separated from the body and has reached Me, her End, she does not on that account abandon desire, so as to no longer yearn for Me or love her neighbour, for love has itself among its self-love
desire
entered into her like a other virtues. as
I
have
possesses that
said
Me
is
bearing the fruits of
all
very truth, without any fear of ever losing has so long desired ; but, in this way, kept up, because those who are hungry are in
which she
hunger
woman
true that suffering is over and ended, to thee, for the soul that desires Me
It is
A TREATISE OF PRAYER satisfied,
in
this
and as soon as they are
way
their
satiety
is
satisfied
without
191
hunger, again
disgust,
;
and their
hunger without suffering, for, in Me, no perfection is wanting. Thus is your desire infinite, otherwise it would be worth nothing, nor would any virtue of yours have any life For I, Who am if you served Me with anything finite. the Infinite God, wish to be served by you with infinite the only infinite thing you possess is the service, and In this sense I said affection and desire of your souls. that there were tears of infinite value, and this is true as regards their mode, of which I have spoken, namely, of When the infinite desire which is united to the tears. the soul leaves the body the tears remain behind, but the affection of love has drawn to itself the fruit of the tears, and consumed it, as happens in the case of the water The water has not really been taken in your furnace. out of the furnace, but the heat of the fire has consumed it and drawn it into itself. Thus the soul, having arrived at tasting the fire of My divine charity, and having passed from this life in a state of love towards Me and her "
neighbour, having further possessed that unitive love which caused her tears to fall, does not cease to offer Me
her blessed desires, tearful indeed, though without pain or physical weeping, for physical tears have evaporated in the furnace, becoming tears of fire of the Holy Spirit. Thou seest then how tears are infinite, how, as regards the tears shed in this life only, no tongue can tell what I have now told thee different sorrows may cause them. between four of these states of tears." the difference
CHAPTER Of the 4
IT remains for
Me
fruit of
XCIII.
worldly
men
s tears.
to tell thee of the fruit produced
by
tears shed with desire, and received into the soul. But ;first will I speak to thee of that first class of men whom I
THE DIALOGUE OF
192
ST.
CATHERINE
mentioned at the beginning of this My discourse those, that is, who live miserably in the world, making a god of created things and of their own sensuality, from which comes damage to their body and soul. I said to thee that tear from this is the truth, the and every proceeded heart, ;
for the heart grieves in proportion to the love it feels. So men when their heart when feels that worldly weep is, pain,
they are deprived of something which they loved.
many and diverse are know how many ? There different loves. And inasmuch "But
thou
their complainings.
are as
many
Dost
as there exist
as the root of self-love is
corrupt, everything that grows from it is corrupt also. Self-love is a tree on which grow nothing but fruits of
death, putrid flowers, stained leaves, branches bowed down, and struck by various winds. This is the tree of the soul.
For ye are all trees of love, and without love ye cannot The soul ye have been made by Me for love.
for
live,
who
lives virtuously, places the root of her tree in the valley of true humility ; but those who live thus miserably are
planted on the mountain of pride, whence it follows that since the root of the tree is badly planted, the tree can bear
no
Their fruits are their only of death. are all which poisoned by many and diverse kinds actions, of sin, and if they should produce some good fruit among their actions, even it will be spoilt by the foulness of its root, for no good actions done by a soul in mortal sin are Let of value for eternal life, for they are not done in grace. such a soul abandon on this account its however, not, good works, for every good deed is rewarded, and every evilA good action performed out of a state of deed punished. not sufficient to merit eternal life, as has been is grace but Justice, My My Divine Goodness, grants an in said, reward, imperfect as the action which obtains it. complete Often such a man is rewarded in temporal matters some times I give him more time in which to repent, as I have This also will I already said to thee in another place. sometimes do, I grant him the life of grace by means of My servants who are pleasing and acceptable to Me. I acted in this way with My glorious apostle Paul, whofruits of life but
;
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
193
abandoned his infidelity, and the persecutions he directed See against the Christians, at the prayer of St. Stephen. truly, therefore, that, in whatever state a man may be, he should never stop doing good. "
said to thee that the flowers of this tree
I
and so
were putrid,
flowers are the stinking thoughts of the heart, displeasing to Me, and full of hatred truth they are.
in
Its
and unkindness towards their neighbour. a thief, he robs Me of honour, and takes
So it
if
a
man be
himself.
flower stinks less than that of false judgment, which two kinds. The first with regard to Me, by which
judge
My
This is
of
men My mys
secret judgments, gauging falsely all is, judging that which I did in love, to in hatred ; that which I did in truth to
have been done have been done in falsehood ; that which I give them for life, to have been given them for death. They condemn and judge for they have everything according to their weak intellect blinded the eye of their intellect with sensual self-love, and hidden the pupil of the most holy Faith, which they will not allow to see or know the Truth. The second kind of false judgment is directed against a man s neighbour, from which often come many evils, because the wretched man wishes to set himself up as the judge of the affections and heart of other rational creatures, when he does not yet know himself. And, for an action which he may see, or for a word he may hear, he will judge the affection of the teries,
that
;
My servants always judge well, because they are founded on Me, the Supreme Good but such as these for are founded on evil. Such always judge badly, they critics as these cause hatreds, murders, unhappinesses of all heart.
;
kinds to their neighbours, and remove themselves far My servants virtue.
away
from the love of
Truly these fruits follow the leaves, which are the words which issue from their mouth in insult to Me and the Blood of My only-begotten Son, and in hatred to their "
neighbours.
And
and condemning
they think of nothing else but cursing My works, and blaspheming and saying
evil of
may
every rational creature, according as their judgment The unfortunate creatures do not suggest to them.
N
-f*
THE DIALOGUE OF
194
ST.
CATHERINE
that the tongue is made only to give honour to Me, and to confess sins, and to be used in love of virtue, and for the salvation of the neighbour. These are the stained leaves of that most miserable fault, because the heart from which they proceeded was not clean, but all How much danger, spotted with duplicity and misery. apart from the spiritual privation of grace to the soul, of For ye have all heard and temporal loss may not occur seen how, through words alone, have come revolutions of states, and destructions of cities, and many homicides and
remember
!
other evils, a word having entered the heart of the listener, and having passed through a space not large enough for a knife.
say that this tree has seven branches drooping to the on which grow the flowers and leaves in the way I These branches are the seven mortal sins have told you. which are full of many and diverse wickednesses, contained in the roots and trunk of self-love and of pride, which first made both branches and flowers of many thoughts, the leaves of words, and the fruits of wicked deeds. They stand "
I
earth,
drooping to the earth because the branches of mortal can turn no other way than to the earth, the fragile Do not marvel, they ordinate substance of the world. turn no way but that in which they can be fed by ^arth
;
for their
to satisfy them.
sin dis-
can the
and the earth is unable They are insatiable and unbearable to
hunger
is insatiable,
themselves, and it is conformable to their state that they should always be unquiet, longing and desiring that thing which they have to satiety. This is the reason why such satiety cannot content them, because they (who are infinite in their being) are always desiring something finite ; because their being will never end, though their life to grace ends
when they commit mortal
Man
sin.
placed above
all creatures, and not beneath them, and he cannot be satisfied or content except in some Greater than himself there is thing greater than himself. "
is
Therefore I alone nothing but Myself, the Eternal God. can satisfy him, and, because he is deprived of this satisfac tion by his guilt, he remains in continual torment and pain.
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
195
follows pain, and when he begins to strikes the tree of self-love, which he has
Weeping wind
principle of
all
his
being."
CHAPTER How the
"THE
weep the made the
XCIV.
aforesaid worldly weepers are struck different winds.
tree is struck either
by four
by the wind of prosperity, or of
adversity, or of fear, or of conscience ; for these are the The wind of prosperity matures pride and four winds. If this and reviling of the neighbour. self-confidence great
wind be master, a man walks in great injustice and vanity of heart, in impurity of body and mind, and self-esteem, and many other things that proceed from these, which thy tongue Is this wind of prosperity corrupt in itself? could not tell. it is the chief root nor any other wind this neither No, of the tree which is corrupt, and whence everything in the tree is corrupted. I, Who send every gift, and give every am the Supreme Good, and this wind of its being, thing I send, is also good. which prosperity, ;
The man weeps because his heart is not satisfied, because he desires that which he cannot have, and, being unable to have it, grieves, and grieving weeps, for the eye satisfies the "
heart. "
After this comes a wind of servile fear, in which he
is
afraid of his very shadow, fearing to lose either his own life, or his children s, or other creatures ; or again, he fears
that he, or others, will lose their positions, honour, or This riches (fearing for these others through self-love). servile fear does not allow
him
to possess the object of his
love in peace, because he does
and
in obedience to
My
Will, for
not possess
it
which reason,
ordinately servile fear
He has become the miserable slave of pursues him. and may esteem himself as that for which he serves. "
sin,
Meanwhile the wind of Fear has done striking him, and
THE DIALOGUE OF
196
the wind of tribulation
and
CATHERINE
ST.
adversity, of which he
was
afraid, reaches him, and deprives him of something either in general or in particular. In general, when the man is
by the power of death, and so deprived of In everything. particular, when the wind takes away now one thing, now another either health, or children, or riches,
deprived of
life
or position, or honour according as I, the gentle Physician, see to be necessary for your salvation. But, because your
wholly corrupt without knowledge or
fragility is
much
taste,
and
of patience, impatience, scandals, murmuring, and hatred, displeasure towards Me and My creatures grow less, fruit
up in you. And that which I gave you for life ye have received unto death with the same measure of grief that I in giving it. Wherefore the man is led on to the hurtful sorrow of impatience, which dries up the soul and kills her, depriving her of the life of grace, and also
had of love
up and consumes the body, and blinds the man spiritually and corporally, and deprives him of all pleasure and hope, so that he is deprived of the thing which he loved, in which he had placed his affection, his hope, and faith. Wherefore he weeps. Tears alone do not bring such but the disordinate love and grief of the heart troubles, whence the tear proceeds, for physical tears do not them selves give death and sorrow, but the root, from which they dries
If proceed, namely, the disordinate self-love of the heart. the heart were ordinate and had the life of grace, the tears would also be ordinate, and would constrain Me, the Eternal
God, to do mercy to
the
For
soul.
the
herald of the state of the heart, whether death. "
is
said that there
I
the doing of
My
it
tear
came one wind of conscience
divine goodness,
when
is
be in
;
life
the
or
and this
souls have been
by prosperity, to bring them through love, and by fear, so that, by My very importunity, their hearts might be
tried
directed to love
them
Me
with virtue proved in tribulation, given
that they might
the world.
To
know
whom
the fragility and weakness of this does not help, I give the
others, prick of conscience, so ineffably do
they
may
arise, and,
opening
their
love them, in order that mouths, vomit forth the
I
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
197
of their sins by holy confession. But these, like obstinate fools justly reprobated by Me on account of their iniquity, refuse to receive My grace in any way, fly the
filth
conscience, and continue to pass their time in miserable pleasures, incurring My wrath and that of their All this happens because the root is corrupt neighbour.
prick of
together with the whole tree, every part of it is in a state of death, and full of continual sufferings, weepings, and bitterness, as has been said. And, if they do not reform
while they have time and power to use their free-will, they pass from this finite sorrow, which is theirs in finite time, to infinite sorrow ; thus finite sorrow leads to infinite, for the tears were shed with infinite hatred of virtue, namely, It is with the desire of the soul founded in infinite hate. true that, had they wished, they might have abandoned it In spite through My grace in time, while they were free. of My having called hatred infinite it is only so as regards
the affection and
being of the soul in which it inheres, neither the hatred nor the love existing in the soul are, in themselves, infinite ; for, while you are in life, you can hate
But if life ends or love only according to your pleasure. in a state of love of virtue, the soul receives an infinite hatred, the soul remains in infinite hatred, re eternal ceiving damnation, as I have told thee when I related to thee how some drowned themselves in the river. They
good
;
if in
therefore can no longer desire good, deprived of My mercy, and your brotherly love, which the saints taste together, that is, the love of you pilgrims travelling through this life, placed here by Me, in order to reach your End which is Myself, Eternal Life. Neither prayers nor alms nor any good work help the damned. They are members cut off from the body of My divine love, for, while they lived, they would
not be joined to the obedience of My holy commandments, body of the holy Church, and in her sweet whence obedience, you draw the Blood of the immaculate
in the mystical
Lamb My fruit
teeth.
spoke
of
only-begotten Son; for this do they receive the
eternal damnation, with sorrow and gnashing of These are those martyrs of the Devil of whom I
to thee.
The
Devil gives them the fruit which he
THE DIALOGUE OF
ig8
ST.
CATHERINE
See therefore that this kind of sorrow gives the fruit of suffering in this finite time, and ultimately gives, for infinite eternity, the companionship of the Devil." has himself.
CHAPTER XCV. Of the "
IT
now
fruit of
falls to
Me
the second and third kinds of tears. to
speak of the
fruit,
received by those,
who
are beginning to rise from guilt, through fear of punish Some there are who abandon ment, and to acquire grace.
This the death of mortal sin through fear of the penalty. is a very general vocation, as has been said. What fruit This fruit, that he begins to does such a one receive ? his soul of house of the impurity, cleansing his free empty When he has purified his will with fear of punishment. soul of her guilt, he receives peace of conscience, and begins to dispose the affection of his soul, and to open the eye of his intellect, to examine his house, in which formerly, before
was empty, he could see and discern nothing but the He begins to receive consolation, stench of various sins. for the worm of conscience remains in peace, waiting, as it it
were, to feast on the food of virtue. cured his stomach, and purged it of
man who has
As
a
its
humours, directs
his appetite to food, so he waits until the hand of free-will prepares the table for him, with love of the food of virtue,
which preparation he expects to eat. And thus in in his soul the first and fear, truth, by exercising emptying his affection of all sins, he receives the second fruit, that is, the second state of tears, in which the soul, endued by the affection of love, begins to furnish the house of virtue, and after
the soul, although still imperfect, (we will suppose she has just risen from fear), receives consolation and delight, because
her love has received pleasure from My Truth. And, through the delight and consolation which he finds in Me, he begins to love Me very sweetly, feeling the sweetness of My con solation,
and that of creatures through Me.
Thus, exercising
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
199
who
has entered into him in the house of his soul, as soon as fear has purified it, he begins to receive the fruits of My Divine Goodness. Wherefore, after love has entered the house of his soul to
love,
"
possess it, he begins to taste many, various and divers fruits of consolation. And, persevering, he at last receives the fruit of laying the table, when his soul has passed from fear to the love of virtue, having arrived at the third kind of
So he
lays the table of the holy Cross in his heart and in his soul ; this is the table that he lays, because tears.
thereon he finds the fruit of the sweet and amorous
Word
declaring the honour of Me, His Father and your salvation, for which was opened My only-begotten Son s Body, giving Himself to you in food then he begins to eat in honour of Me, and for the salvation of souls, with hatred and dis What fruit does the soul receive from this pleasure of sin. :
third state of tears ?
I tell
thee.
She
receives a certain
strength founded on a holy hatred of her own sensuality, with a pleasant fruit of true humility and patience, which bears every scandal, and saves the soul from all suffering, cutting out self-will, from which arises all suffering, with is scan the knife of hate. (It is only the sensual will that dalised at persecutions, or at the loss of spiritual or temporal consolations, as I have before told thee, and thus comes to
The will being dead, the soul begins to taste, impatience.) with tearful and sweet desire, the fruit of the tears of sweet patience. "
Oh, him who taste "
My
fruit
of great sweetness,
tastes thee in bitterness,
sweetness
how sweet art thou to though he please Me and
!
In time of injury thou receivest peace,
for, if
thou art on
the stormy sea, and perilous winds buffet, with great waves, the bark of the soul, thou remainest peaceful and tranquil, evil, covering the boat with the sweet eternal God, whence thou hast received thy robe of true This and burning charity, into which water cannot enter. Patience is indeed, My dearest daughter, a very queen She conquers, and is standing on the rock of fortitude. never conquered ; she does not stand alone, but is accom-
without any
will of
THE DIALOGUE OF
200
ST.
CATHERINE
She is the marrow of Charity, panied by Perseverance. she it is who shews whether the garment of Charity be the nuptial garment or not ; for if it be torn by imperfection, at once the contrary effect of impatience is proved. All virtues can at one time or other hide, appearing "
when they are imperfect, but to thee, oh Patience, they cannot be hid. For, if this sweet Patience, the marrow of Charity, be in the soul, she proves that all the virtues are living and perfect, and, if she be not there, she shows that all the virtues are imperfect and have not
to be perfect
yet attained to the table of the holy Cross, where Patience is conceived in self-knowledge and in knowledge of My goodness to the soul, and brought forth by means of holy
hatred and anointed with true humility. To this Patience not denied the food of My honour, and the salvation of
is
indeed, she eats of it continually, and this is the truth. Gaze, dearest daughter, on the sweet and glorious
souls,
martyrs who, by their endurance, ate the food of souls. Their death gave life, they raised the dead, and dissipated the darkness of mortal sin. The world, with all its grandeurs, and kings, with all their power, could not defend themselves as they did by virtue of the queen, sweet Patience. This virtue stands like a lantern on a pole. This is the glorious fruit given by tears, when a man has arrived at love of his neighbour, eating the slain and immaculate Lamb, My only-begotten Son, with painful and anxious desire, and with intolerable pain at the offence done to Me, his Creator, not an afflictive pain, because love slays with true patience all fear and self-love which can give pain, but a consolatory suffering, for My offence alone, and the loss of the neighbour, founded in charity, which sorrow fattens the soul, rejoicing in herself, for she has in her sorrow a demonstrative proof that I am present in her by grace."
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
CHAPTER Of the 11
1
HAVE spoken
tears
;
now
fruit of
201
XCVI.
the fourth and unitive tears.
to thee of the fruit of the third
follows the fourth and last state of
kind
of
unitive
tears, which is not separated from the third but united to it, as has been said, in the same way as love for Me is united with love of the neighbour ; the one love flavours the other.
So
greatly has the soul developed in reaching the fourth she not only bears with patience, but even desires,
state, that
with joy, to suffer to such an extent that she despises every recreation from whatever quarter it come, in order that she may be conformed to My Truth, Christ crucified. She receives the fruit of quietness of mind, a union with My sweet Divine Nature, where she tastes the milk, as "
when
the child,
mother, draws mother so the
who
sleeps
at
to itself milk
peace on the breast of
by means of the
its
flesh of its
at this last state, reposes on Divine My Charity, keeping in the mouth of desire the flesh of Christ holy crucified, that is, by follow ;
soul, arrived
the breast of
ing His Footsteps and doctrine ; for the soul learnt well, when she was in the third state, that it was not right for
her to come directly to Me, the Father, because no penalty could be borne by Me, the Eternal Father but it is other wise with My beloved Son, the sweet and amorous Word, and therefore it is that you cannot walk without pain, and, ;
with
much endurance,
will
you
attain to proved virtue.
So
Who
the soul reposes at the breast of Christ crucified, is the Truth, and thus draws to herself the milk of virtue, in
which she finds the life of grace, tasting in herself My Divine Nature, which gives sweetness to virtue, for truly the virtues are not in themselves sweet unless they are performed in and united to Me the Divine Love, so that the soul may have no regard to her own profit, but only act for My honour and the salvation of souls. Now look, sweet daughter, how sweet and glorious is this state, in which the soul has made so close a union with "
THE DIALOGUE OF
202
ST.
CATHERINE
the breast of Charity, that the mouth is not found without the breast, neither the breast without the milk. And so soul does not find herself without Christ crucified or
this
without Me,
the Eternal
Supreme and Eternal
the
powers of that soul are
The memory is
Father, Deity.
filled
Whom she finds, tasting Oh, who can see how the
!
with continual remembrance of Me, which remembrance she draws to herself through love of "
My
filled
benefits, as the affection
them
to
her.
And
of charity with which I gave the benefit of creation,
particularly
seeing herself created in My image and similitude, through benefit, spoken of in the first state, she feels suffering
which
Wherefore for the ingratitude with which she received it. she has arisen from her misery through the benefit of the Blood of Christ, with which
I
re-created her to grace,
wash
ing the face of your souls from the leprosy of sin. In the second state the soul found sweetness, tasting the "
sweetness of love, and the displeasure caused her by guilt, as regards which, she sees that so displeasing to Me was her guilt, that I punished it in the person of My onlybegotten Son. Later she discovers the advent of the Holy Spirit,
Who
When
does
"
convinced, and still convinces, the soul of truth. When she has the soul receive this light ? benefits in
She then
her,
in
both the
first
known
and the second
My
states.
knowing the truth of Me, by love have I created her,
receives a perfect light,
the Eternal Father, that is, that in order to give her eternal life.
For this indeed is the truth, and I have shewn it forth When the soul in the Blood of Christ crucified. has known this love, she loves it, and loving it she proves her love, sincerely loving what I love, and hating what I Thus she finds herself in the third state of love to hate. her neighbour. "
to
you
At this breast of love the memory fills itself, forsaking all imperfections, for it recalls, and keeps in itself, My benefits. The intellect has received light, and, looking into the memory, "
recognises the truth, and, having lost the blindness of selflove, remains in its true object the Sun of Christ crucified
A TREATISE OF PRAYER where
it
learns to
know God and man.
Besides this
203
know
ledge of union, there rises on the soul a light not acquired by nature, nor obtained through her own virtue, but given her, as a grace, by My sweet Truth, who does not despise the anxious desires and fatigue that she has offered before Then the affection, following the intellect, unites itself Me.
And if any one most perfect and ardent love. She is this soul is ? I would reply, union of so the love. What become another Myself, by this of last unitive tell the excellence state, and tongue can that are received from fruits the divine and varied it, the This filled! is that sweet three powers of the soul being gather ing together which I mentioned to thee, in three general steps, in a previous discourse on the words of My Truth. with
Me
in a
should ask
Me who
The tongue is not sufficient to relate^it, but well did the holy doctors, illuminated with this glorious light, prove its nature, for with it they explained the mysteries of holy Hence that saying of the glorious Thomas of Scripture. "
Aquin, that his learning had come to him rather by means of prayer, elevation of mind, and a Divine Light infused He was a light into his intellect, than by human study.
whom
placed in the mystic body of the Holy Church shadows of error. Turn to the glorious John the Evangelist what light did he not acquire on the And with this light precious Breast of Christ, My Truth I
to disperse the
!
And all the he preached My Gospel for so long a time. saints have manifested it, some in one way and some in but the intrinsic feeling, the ineffable sweetness another of this perfect union cannot be told by thy tongue which is It would seem that Paul meant this but a finite thing. when he said Eye hath not seen what He hath laid up for them that love Him. Oh, how sweet above all sweetness is that dwelling which the soul has made by perfect union with Me She sheds odours over the whole world, the fruits of continual and humble prayers, the odour of her desire cries out for the salvation of souls, with no human These are the fruits of voice, before My Divine Majesty. ;
:
1
!
union, eaten
acquired
by the soul in this life in the last by many fatigues, tears, and sweatings.
state,
And
THE DIALOGUE OF
204
ST.
CATHERINE
thus the soul passes, by true perseverance, from the life of grace and from this union, which, though perfect as far as I grace goes, is yet imperfect, to a durable eternal union. this union imperfect, because, while the soul is bound
call
the body in this life, she cannot satiate herself with what she desires, and also because she is bound by the law of sin, of her passions, though these have been put to But the passions are not dead, for sleep by her virtue. will wake if the instrument of virtue, which makes they up them sleep, be removed for this reason the union is said to be imperfect, but it leads on the soul to receive durable perfection, which can never for any reason be taken away from the soul, because it consists, as I have told thee (in in
;
speaking of the Blessed), in tasting
Me
in very truth, the
Supreme and Eternal Good, Who never These have received eternal life, in con tradistinction to those others who have received the fruit of their sorrow, eternal death. They have come from Eternal Life, the come to an end.
grief to joy,
receiving eternal
life
with the
fruit
of their
tears, shouting with burning love, and offering tears of
fire
Me
for you. And now I of the different states of tears,
have completed the relation and of the perfection and fruit which the soul receives from them, and how the perfect receive, on account of them, eternal life, and the before
wicked, eternal
damnation."
CHAPTER
XCVII.
Y How
this devout soul, thanking God for His explanation of the above-mentioned states of tears, makes three petitions.
THEN
soul, eager with
the greatness of her desire, through the sweetness of the explanation and satisfaction which she had received from the Truth, concerning the state of tears, said as one enamoured Thanks, thanks this
"
be to Thee, Supreme and Eternal Father, Satisfier of holy desires, and Lover of our salvation, Who, through Thy
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
205
Love, didst give us Love Himself, in the time of our warfare with Thee, in the person of Th} only-begotten Son. By this abyss of Thy fiery Love, I beg of Thee grace and mercy that I may come to Thee truly in the light, and not flee far in darkness away from Thy
which Thou hast clearly demonstrated
doctrine, of
to
me
the truth, so that, by the light thereof, I perceive two other p6ints, concerning which I fear that they are, or may
become, stumbling-blocks to me.
I beg, Eternal Father, leave the subject of these states of tears, wouldst explain these points also to me. The first
that, before
I
Thou is when
a person desirous of serving Thee, comes to me, or to some other servant of Thine to ask for counsel, how
should that
Who
teach him ?
I
Thou
I
know, Sweet and
takes delight in few words and
theless, if
Eternal God,
didst reply above to this question
it
please
Thy Goodness
c
many
deeds.
to grant
me
I
am He Never
a few more
words on the subject, it will cause me the greatest pleasure. also, if on some occasion, when I am praying for Thy creatures, and in particular for Thy servants, and I seem to see the subjects of my prayer, in one I find (in
And
the course of
my
prayer) a well-disposed
rejoicing in Thee ; and in another, as to me, a mind full of darkness ; have
it
I
mind, a soul
might the
seem
right,
O
Eternal Father, to judge the one soul to be in light, and the other in darkness ? Or, supposing I should see that the
one lives in great penance, and the other does not, should I be right to judge that he who does the greater penance has the higher perfection ? I pray Thee, so that I may not be deceived through my limited vision, that Thou wouldst declare
to
me
in
detail,
what Thou
hast
already said
in general on this matter. The second request I have to make is, that Thou wilt explain further to me about the sign which Thou didst say the soul received on being
by Thee the sign which revealed Thy Presence. remember well, oh, Eternal Truth, Thou didst say that the soul remained in joy and courageous virtue. I would fain
visited If I
know whether the passion
this joy can consist with the delusion of of spiritual self-love ; for if it were so, I
THE DIALOGUE OF
206
ST.
CATHERINE
These would humbly confine myself to the sign of virtue. are the things which I beg Thee to tell me, so that I may serve Thee and my neighbour in truth, and not fall into For false judgment concerning thy creatures and servants. it seems to me that the habit of judging keeps the soul from Thee, so I do not wish to fall into this snare."
CHAPTER How
far
XCVIII.
the light of reason is necessary to every soul that wishes to God in truth and first of the light of reason in general.
serve
;
THEN
the Eternal God, delighting in the thirst and hunger of that soul, and in the purity of her heart, and the desire with which she longed to serve Him, turned the eye of His "Oh, best-beloved, benignity and mercy upon her, saying rise out of dearest and sweetest daughter, my spouse thyself, and open the eye of thy intellect to see Me, the !
Infinite Goodness, and the ineffable love which I have And open the ear of towards thee and My other servants. the desire which thou feelest towards Me, and remember, that if thou dost not see, thou canst not hear, that is to say, that the soul that does not see into My Truth with the eye of her intellect, cannot hear or know My Truth, where fore in order that thou mayest the better know it, rise above
the feelings of thy senses. "And I, take delight in thy request, will satisfy thy Not that thou canst increase My delight, for I am demand.
Who
the cause of thee and of thy increase not those of Mine. Yet the very pleasure that I take in the work of My own hands causes Me delight." Then that soul obeyed and rose out of herself, in order ;
to learn the true solution of her difficulty. And the Eternal In order that thou mayest the better God said to her, "
understand what
I shall say to thee, I shall revert to the beginning of thy request concerning the three lights which issue from Me, the True Light. The first is a general
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
207
light dwelling in those who live in ordinary charity. (I shall repeat to thee here many things concerning these
which having done
I
have
so,
in
lights,
may The
already told thee, in spite of My order that thy creeping intelligence
better understand that which
thou wishest to know.)
other two lights dwell in those who, having abandoned Besides this I will explain to the world, desire perfection. thee thy request, telling thee in great detail that which I have already pointed out to thee in general. Thou knowest, as I have told thee, that, without the light, no one can walk in the truth, that
is,
without the light of reason, which light
of reason you draw from Me the True Light, by means of the eye of thy intellect and the light of faith which I have given
may have lost it by your and own through the mediation of the Blood of My only-begotten Son, you have received the form of faith ; which faith you exercise in virtue by the light of reason, which gives you life and causes you to walk
you
in
holy baptism, though you
defects.
For, in baptism,
the path of truth, and,
in
the
True Light,
for,
by
without
means, to arrive at Me, it, you would plunge into
its
darkness.
necessary for you to have two lights derived from this primary light, and to these two I will also add a third. "
It is
first lightens you all to know the transitory nature of the things of the world, all of which pass like the wind. But this you cannot know thoroughly, unless you first
The
recognise your own fragility, how strong is your inclination, through the law of perversity with which your members are
bound, to rebel against Me, your Creator (not that by this law any man can be constrained to commit any, even the smallest sin, against his will, but that this law of perversity I did not impose this law fights lustily against the Spirit). rational creature should be upon you, in order that
My
but in order that he should prove and increase the virtue of his soul, because virtue cannot be
conquered by
it,
proved, except by its contrary. Sensuality is contrary to the spirit, and yet, by means of sensuality, the soul is able to prove the love which she has for Me, her Creator. How
does she prove
it
?
When, with anger and
displeasure, she
THE DIALOGUE OF
208
rises against herself. order to preserve the
thou seest
that,
while
I
ST.
CATHERINE
This law has also been imposed
in
soul in true humility. Wherefore created the soul to Mine own image
and
such dignity and beauty, I by the vilest of all things, imposing on her the law of perversity, imprisoning her in a body, formed of the vilest substance of the earth, so that, seeing in what her true beauty consisted, she should not similitude, placing her in caused her to be accompanied
head in pride against Me. Wherefore, to one who possesses this light, the fragility of his body is a cause of humiliation to the soul, and is in no way matter for pride,
raise her
So that this but rather for true and perfect humility. does not constrain you to any sin by its strivings, supplies a reason to make you know yourselves and This should be seen by the instability of the world.
law but the
eye of the intellect, with light of the holy faith, of which I said to thee that it was the pupil of the eye. This is that light which is necessary in general to every rational creature, whatever may be his condition, who wishes to participate in the life of grace, in the fruit of the Blood of the immacu This is the ordinary light, that is, the light late Lamb. which all persons must possess, as has been said, for, without it, the soul would be in a state of damnation. And, for this reason, because the soul, being without the light, is not in a state of grace, inasmuch as, not having the light, she does not know the evil of her sin or its cause, and therefore cannot avoid or hate it. "
And
similarly if the soul know not good, and the reason is to say virtue, she cannot love or desire either
of good, that
Me, Who am the Essential Good, or virtue, which I have given you as an instrument and means for you to receive My See then how necessary grace, and Myself the True Good. your sins consist in nothing else than in I hate, and in hating that which I love. he who loves vice and hates I love virtue and hate vice virtue offends Me, and is deprived of My grace. Such a one walks as if blind, for he knows not the cause of vice, that is, his sensual self-love, nor does he hate himself on account of it ; he is ignorant of vice and of the evil which is this light, for
loving that which
;
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
209
follows it he is ignorant of virtue and of Me, Who am the cause of his obtaining life-giving virtue; he is ignorant of his own dignity, which he should maintain by advancing to :
grace,
by means of
the cause of
is
light, as
all
has been
virtue.
his evil,
See, therefore,
how
his ignorance
and how thou also needest this
said."
CHAPTER
XCIX.
Of those who have placed their desire rather in the mortification of the body than in the destruction of their own will and of the second light, more perfect than the former general one. ;
"
WHEN
the
soul has arrived
at
the attainment of
the
general light, of which I have spoken, she should not remain contented, because, as long as you are pilgrims in this life, you are capable of growth, and he who does not go forward, that very fact, is turning back. She should either grow the general light, which she has acquired through My Grace, or anxiously strive to attain to the second and
by in
perfect light, leaving the imperfect and reaching the perfect. For, if the soul truly have light, she will wish to arrive at
In this second perfect light are to be found two kinds of perfection for they may be called perfect who have abandoned the general way of living of the world.
perfection.
;
One perfection is that of those who give themselves up wholly to the castigation of the body, doing great and severe penance. These, in order that their sensuality may not
rebel against their reason, rather in the mortification of the
have placed their desire
body than
in the destruc
tion of their self-will, as I have explained to thee in another These feed their souls at the table of penance, and place.
are good and perfect,
if their penance be illuminated by and founded on Me, if, that is to say, they act knowledge of themselves and of Me, with great humility, and wholly conformed to the judgment of My Will, and not to that of the will of man. But, if they were not thus clothed with My Will, in true humility, they would
discretion, with true
THE DIALOGUE OF
210
ST.
CATHERINE
often offend against their own perfection, esteeming them selves the judges of those who do not walk in the same
Knowest thou why this would happen to them ? Because they have placed all their labour and desire in the mortification of the body, rather than in the destruction of their own will. Such as these wish always to choose their own times, and places, and consolations, after their own fashion, and also the persecutions of the world and of the Devil, as I have narrated to thee in speaking of the second path.
state of perfection. "
own will,
They say,
cheating themselves with the delusion of their
self-will, which I have already called their spiritual selfI wish to have that consolation, and not these
battles, or these temptations of the Devil, not, indeed, for
my
own
pleasure, but in order to please God the more, and in order to retain Him the more in my soul through grace ;
because is
the
seems
it
and serve
Him
way
to
me
that
better in that
the soul often
should possess way than in this.
I
falls
into trouble,
Him more, And this
and becomes
tedious and insupportable to herself; thus injuring her own perfection ; yet she does not perceive it, nor that, within her, lurks the stench of pride, and there she lies. Now, if the soul were not in this condition, but were truly humble and not presumptuous, she would be illuminated to see that I,
the Primary and Sweet Truth, grant condition, and time, and place, and consolations, and tribulations as they may be
needed for your salvation, and which I have elected the soul.
to complete the perfection to And she would see that I
give everything through love, and that therefore, with love and reverence, should she receive everything, which is what
the souls in the second state do, and, by doing so, arrive at the third state. Of whom I will now speak to thee, explaining to thee the nature of these two states which stand in the most perfect light."
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
CHAPTER
211
C.
Of the
third and most perfect state, and of reason, and of the works done by the soul who has arrived at this light. And of a beautiful vision which this devout soul once received, in which the method of arriving at perfect purity is fully treated, and the
means "
to avoid judging our neighbour
THOSE who belong
to the third
is
spoken
state,
of.
which immediately
follows the last, having arrived at this glorious light, are perfect in every condition in which they may be, and receive
every event which I permit to happen to them with due reverence, as I have mentioned to thee when speaking of the third and unitive state of the soul. These deem them selves worthy of the troubles and stumbling-blocks caused them by the world, and of the privation of their own con
and indeed of whatever circumstance happens to as they deem themselves worthy of trouble, so also do they deem themselves unworthy of the fruit which they receive after their trouble. They have known and tasted in the light My Eternal Will, which wishes naught else but your good, and gives and permits these troubles in order that you should be sanctified in Me. Wherefore the soul having known My Will, clothes herself with it, and fixes her attention on nothing else except seeing in what way she can preserve and increase her per fection to the glory and praise of My Name, opening the eye of her intellect and fixing it in the light of faith upon Christ crucified, My only-begotten Son, loving and follow ing His doctrine, which is the rule of the road for perfect and imperfect alike. And see, how My Truth, the Lamb, Who became enamoured of her when He saw her, gives the soul the doctrine of perfection. She knows what this perfection is, having seen it practised by the sweet and amorous Word, My only-begotten Son, Who was fed at the solation,
them.
And inasmuch
honour of Me, the Eternal And, inflamed with this desire,
table of holy desire, seeking the
Father, and your salvation.
He
ran, with great eagerness, to the shameful death of the
THE DIALOGUE OF
212
ST.
CATHERINE
Cross, and accomplished the obedience which was imposed Him by Me, His Father, not shunning labours or insults
on
or withdrawing on account of your ingratitude or ignor ance of so great a benefit, or because of the persecutions of the Jews, or on account of the insults, derision, grum But all this He passed bling, and shouting of the people. like the true and through Knight that He was, Captain
Whom
I had placed on the battle-field to deliver you from the hands of the Devil, so that you might be free, and drawn out of the most terrible slavery in which you could
ever be, and also to teach you His road, His doctrine, and His rule, so that you might open the Door of Me, Eternal
with the key of His precious Blood, shed with such of love, with such hatred of your sins. It was as if the sweet and amorous Word, My Son, should have said to Life,
fire
Behold, I have made the road, and opened thd Do not you then be negligent to door with My Blood.
you:
laying yourselves down to rest in self-love and ignorance of the road, presuming to choose to serve Me in follow,
your own way, instead of in the way which I have made straight for you by means of My Truth, the Incarnate Word, and built up with His Blood. Rise up then, promptly, and follow Him, for no one can reach Me, the Father, if not by Him He is the Way and the Door by which you must enter into Me, the Sea Pacific. When therefore the soul has arrived at seeing, knowing, and tasting, in its full sweetness, this light, she runs, as one enamoured and inflamed with love, to the table of holy ;
"
desire
;
she does not see herself in herself, seeking her
consolation either spiritual or temporal, but, like one
own who
has placed his all in this light and knowledge, and has destroyed his own will, she shuns no labour from whatever source it comes, but rather enduring the troubles, the insults, the temptations of the Devil, and the murmurings of men, eats at the table of the most holy Cross, the food of the honour of Me, the Eternal God, and of the salvation of souls ; seeking no reward, either from Me or from creatures, because she is stripped of mercenary love, that is of love for Me based on interested motives, and is clothed
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
213
Me
in perfect purity, with no other in perfect light, loving and the for than Name, serving glory of praise regard
My
Me
own
her neighbour for her own profit, but purely through love alone. Such as these have lost themselves, and have stripped themselves of the neither
Old Man,
for her
delight, nor
that is of their
own
sensuality, and, having clothed
New Man,
the sweet Christ Jesus, My These are they who sit at Truth, follow Him manfully. the table of holy desire, having been more anxious to slay
themselves with the
own will than to slay and mortify their own body. indeed mortified their body, though not as an have They end in itself, but as a means which helps them to stay their their
own
will,
as
I
said to thee
when
explaining that sentence
wished few words and many deeds, and so ought Their principal desire should be to slay their to do. you own will, so that it may not seek or wish anything else than to follow My sweet Truth, Christ crucified, seeking the honour and glory of My Name and the salvation of souls. Those who are in this sweet light know it, and remain constantly in peace and quiet, and no one scandalises them, for they have cut away that thing by which stumblingthat
I
And all the blocks are caused, namely their own will. can attack Devil and the which the world with persecutions, them, slide under their feet, standing, as they do, in the waters of many tribulations and temptations, and do not hurt them, for they remain attached to Me by the umbilical Such a man rejoices in everything, cord of fiery desire. nor does he make himself judge of My servants, or of any rational creature,
but rejoices in every condition and in
Thanks sees, saying be to Thee, Eternal Father, Who hast in Thy House many And he rejoices more in the different ways of mansions. holiness which he sees, than if he were to see all travelling by one road, because, in this way, he perceives the greatness
every manner of holiness which he
:
My Goodness become more manifest, and thus, rejoicing draws from all the fragrance of the rose. And not only in the case of good, but even when he sees something
of
into judgment, but rather holy compassion, interceding with Me for
evidently sinful, he does not into
true
and
fall
THE DIALOGUE OF
214
ST.
CATHERINE
sinners and saying, with perfect humility To-day it is thy turn, and to-morrow it will be mine unless the Divine :
Grace preserve me. dearest daughter, of this sweet and excellent state, and gaze at those who run in this glorious light and holiness, for they have holy minds, and eat at "
Enamour
thyself,
the table of holy desire, and, with the light, have arrived at feeding on the food of souls, that is, the honour of Me, the Eternal Father, being clothed with burning love in the
My Lamb, My only-begotten Son, namely These do not lose their time in passing false judgments, either on My servants or the servants of the world, and they are never scandalised by any murmurings That of men, either for their own sake or that of others. is to say, in their own case they are content to endure any thing for My Name s sake and when an injury is done to some one else, they endure it with compassion of this injured neighbour, and without murmuring against him who caused the injury, or him who received it, because their love is not disordinate, but has been ordered in Me, the Eternal God. sweet garment of
His
doctrine.
;
And, since their love is so ordered, these souls, my dearest daughter, never take offence from those they love, nor from any rational creature, their will being dead and not alive,, "
wherefore they never assume the right to judge the will of These observe the men, but only the will of My Clemency. doctrine which, as thou knowest, was given thee by My
Truth at the beginning of thy life, when thou wast thinking in what way thou couldst arrive at perfect purity, and wast
Thou praying to Me with a great desire of doing so. knowest what was replied to thee, while thou wast asleep,, concerning this holy desire, and that the words resounded So much so, not only in thy mind, but also in thine ear. rememberest truly, thou didst return to thy waking body, when My Truth said, Wilt thou arrive at that, if thou
i
perfect purity, and be freed from stumbling-blocks, so that
thy mind
may
not be scandalised by anything ?
Unite
thyself always to Me by the affection of love, for I am the Supreme and Eternal Purity. I am that Fire Which purifies the soul, and the closer the soul is to Me, the purer she
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
215
from Me, the more does her why men of the world fall into such iniquities, for they are separated from Me, while the soul, who, without any medium, unites herself Another thing directly to Me, participates in My Purity. is necessary for thee to arrive at this union and purity, namely, that thou shouldest never judge the will of man in anything that thou mayest see done or said by any creature becomes, and the- further she
purity leave her; which
is
is
the reason
whatsoever, either to thyself or to others. My will alone shouldst thou consider, both in them and in thyself.
And,
if
thou shouldest see evident sins or defects, draw out
of those thorns the rose, that is to say, offer them to Me, with In the case of injuries done to thyself, holy compassion.
judge that My thyself, and in
will
My
permits this in order to prove virtue in other servants, esteeming that he who
acts thus does so as the instrument of
My
will ; perceiving, that such sinners moreover, apparent may frequently have a for no one can the secrets of the heart good intention, judge
of man.
judge
That which thou dost not see thou shouldst not
in thy
mind, even though
mortal
in
it may externally be open others but My will, not in
sin, seeing nothing order to judge, but, as has been said, with holy compassion. In this way thou wilt arrive at perfect purity, because
acting thus, thy mind will not be scandalised, either in Me or in thy neighbour. Otherwise thou fallest into contempt of thy neighbour, if thou judgest his evil will towards thee,
My will acting in him. Such contempt and scandal separates the soul from Me, and prevents perfection, and, in some cases, deprives a man of grace, more or less according to the gravity of his contempt, and the hatred instead of
which his judgment has conceived against his neighbour. A different reward is received by the soul who perceives only My will, which, as has been said, wishes nothing else but your good so that everything which I give or permit to happen to you, I give so that you may arrive at the end for which I created you. And because the soul remains in the love of her always neighbour, she remains always in and thus remains united to Me. Mine, Wherefore, in order to arrive at purity, thou must entreat Me to do three things ; "
;
THE DIALOGUE OF
216
ST.
CATHERINE
to grant thee to be united to me by the affection of love, retaining in thy memory the benefits thou hast received
from
Me
and with the eye of thy intellect to see the My love, with which I love you inestimably the will of others to discern My will only, and not ;
affection of
and
in
;
their evil will, for this,
I
am
thou wilt arrive at
their Judge, not thou, and, in
doing
all
perfection. the doctrine given to thee
This was by My Truth, if thou rememberest well. Now I tell thee, dearest daughter, that such as these, who have learnt this doctrine taste the earnest, "
of eternal
life
in this life
thou wilt not
;
and,
thou hast well retained
if
into the snares of the Devil, because thou wilt recognise them in the case about which
this doctrine,
fall
thou hast asked Me. "
more and shew thee how men should never
But, nevertheless, in order to satisfy thy desire
clearly, I will tell thee
disce r n
by judgment, but with holy
CHAPTER
compassion."
CI.
way they, who stand in the above-mentioned third most perfect light, receive the earnest of eternal life in this life.
In what
WHY
say to thee that they received the earnest of I say that they receive the earnest-money, but not the full payment, because they wait to receive it in Me, the Eternal Life, where they have life without death, "
eternal
did
I
life ?
and satiety without disgust, and hunger without pain, for from that divine hunger pain is far away, and though they have what they desire, disgust is far from satiety, for I am It is true that, in this life, they the flawless Food of Life. receive the earnest, and taste it in this way, namely that the soul begins to hunger for the honour of the Eternal God, and for the food of the salvation of other souls, and being hungry, she eats, that is to say, nourishes herself with love of her neighbour, which causes her hunger and desire, for the love of the neighbour is a food which never
A TREATISE OF PRAYER satiates
him who feeds on
it,
217
the eater being insatiable and
So this earnest-money is a hungry. a commencement of guarantee which is given to man, in virtue of which he expects one day to receive his payment, not through the perfection of the earnest-money in itself, always
remains
but through faith, through the certitude which he has of reaching the completion of his being and receiving his Wherefore this enamoured soul, clothed in My payment.
Truth, having already received in this life the earnest of My love, and of her neighbour s, is not yet perfect, but I say that this earnest expects perfection in immortal life. not perfect, because the soul who tastes it has not, as yet, the perfection which would prevent her feeling pain in
is
In herself, through the offence done herself, or in others. to Me by the law of perversity which is bound in her
members and
struggles against the spirit, and in others by the offence of her neighbour. She has indeed, in a sense, a perfect grace, but not that perfection of My saints, who
have arrived their
desires
at
Me, Eternal
are without
These servants of Mine, as place,
who
Life,
I
as has been and yours are
for,
suffering,
have said
said,
not.
to thee in another
nourish themselves at this table of holy desire, full of grief, even as My only-begotten
are blessed and
Son was, on the wood of the holy Cross, because, while His flesh was in grief and torment, His soul was blessed In like manner through its union with the divine nature. these are blessed by the union of their holy desire towards Me, clothed, as has been said, in My sweet Will, and they are full of grief through compassion for their neighbour,
and because they afflict their own sensual delights and consolations."
self-love, depriving
it
of
THE DIALOGUE OF
218
ST.
CHAPTER How
CATHERINE
CII.
one should reprove one s neighbour, without false judgment.
falling into
Now listen, dearest daughter. In order that thou mightest understand better that which thou desiredst to know, I have spoken to thee of the general light, which you all must have, in whatever state you be, speaking of those who "
live in
ordinary charity.
And
I
have also spoken of those
who
are in the perfect light, which light I distinguished in two instances, first, that of those who, having left the
world, applied themselves to the mortification of the body, and of those who, in all things, destroyed their own will ; these latter were the perfect souls who nourish themselves I will now speak particularly speaking to thee, and in satisfying thy I wish that thou shall also speak to others.
at
the table of holy desire.
to
thee,
desire,
I
and
in
shouldest do three things in particular, so that ignorance may not prevent the perfection to which I call thee. And I will tell thee the first thing I wish thee to do, in order that the Devil, hidden in the cloak of love of the neighbour, may not nourish within thy soul the root of presumption,
for, by this means, thou wouldest fall into false judgments, which I have forbidden thee, ordering thee to judge aright, whereas thou wouldest judge wrongly, returning to thy human point of view, for the Devil would often cause thee to see what was true, in order to lead thee into falsehood. This he would do in order to make thee judge the minds and intentions of My rational creatures, which fall, as I have told thee, under My judgment alone. This, then, is the first of the three things which I wish thee to do and
observe, namely, that thou shouldest never deliver a judg ment, except under a certain condition, but under that condition I wish thee to do it. The condition is this, I have expressly manifested to thee in thy mind, not once, nor twice, but several times thy neighbour s fault, thou shouldst say nothing in particular to him who
unless
A TREATISE OF PRAYER seems
to thee to fall into
it,
but rather in general correct
who come
to visit thee, and plant the but with a certain and with benignity, lovingly
of those
vices
the
219
virtues
sternness in thy benignity, according as thou shalt see need. appear to thee that I have shown to thee
And if it should many times the was an express
defects of others, unless thou seest that it revelation from Me, as has been said, thou
shouldest say nothing in particular, but devote thyself to the surer way, so as to dispel the delusion and malice of the Devil
;
for,
with the blade of this desire to judge, he
might wound bour "
thee, causing thee often to judge thy neigh falsely, and, thus, often to scandalise him. Wherefore let silence dwell in thy mouth, or holy con
versation about virtue, and the contemptibleness of sin, and attribute that vice, which thou seemest to recognise in another, to thyself, at the same time as to him, and if, in
person should have fallen into that vice, he will himself better, seeing himself so sweetly treated, will be obliged, by thy pleasant warnings, to correct
truth, this
correct
and
himself, and will himself tell thee that very thing which and thus thou thou wast on the point of saying to him wilt remain in safety, and wilt have cut away the road under the Devil s feet, who will not be able to delude thee, ;
I will too that thou or prevent the perfection of thy soul. shouldst know that thou shouldst not trust all thou seest,
but rather cast
it
behind thee and refuse to look at
ing only at thyself and recognising in thyself
My
Thus do
goodness.
state, of
which
I
they,
spoke to thee
who have ;
My
it,
look
bounty and
arrived at the last
they constantly turn to the
do not, on that account, valley And this is diminish the height of their union with Me. the first of the three things which, as I told thee, I wish of
self-knowledge, and
thee to do, in order to serve
Me
in
truth."
THE DIALOGUE OF
220
ST.
CHAPTER
CATHERINE
CIII.
How, if God should manifest mind of that other full of
to a person, praying for another, the darkness, he should not be judged on that account to be in a state of sin.
IF at any time it should happen to thee, as in the case of which thou askest Me the explanation, that thou shouldst be praying in particular for one of My creatures, and that "
during thy prayer, thou shouldest see in him, for whom thou prayest, a ray of grace, and in another, none at all, both persons being servants of Mine, thou shouldest not judge
him who appears
to thee to
have a confused and darkened
mind, to be in a state of grave sin, because often thy judg ment would be false ; and I wish thee to know that often,
when praying for one and the same person, thou wilt some times see him full of light, and of a holy desire before Me; (in so good a state will he appear to thee, that thy soul will grow fat therewith, which is the effect of love, by which you all participate in each other s good) ; and sometimes
thou wilt see the same person, far away in mind from Me, and filled with darkness and temptations, so that it will seem to thee a weariness to pray for him to hold him This happens sometimes through the defect of before Me. thou hast prayed, but more often, not through for whom him his defect, but because I, the Eternal God, have withdrawn
Myself from that soul, as
often do, to bring that soul to according to what I told thee when I
greater perfection, speaking of the states of the soul.
I may have withdrawn, but the of not My grace, feeling it, its sweetness and con solation, deprived of which the mind remains barren, dry,
and
in
grief,
which grief
I
manifest to the soul
who
is
praying, on account of the grace and love which I have to the soul who receives the fruit of the prayer, so that he
who
praying may help him to disperse the clouds which are in his mind. is
See then, sweetest and dearest daughter, how ignorant and worthy of reprehension would be the judgment which "
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
221
thou or another might make at the sight alone of this soul thou wouldst judge that vice was there because I showed her to thee full of darkness, whereas thou seest that such a soul is not deprived of grace, but only of the feeling of ;
My sweetness which I have given her. I wish, therefore, thou and My other servants should also wish, that you should give yourselves up to perfect self-knowledge, so that you may this
My
perfectly recognise
and every other judgment
goodness in you, and leave Me, for judgment is Mine
to
and not yours. Abandon judgment, which is Mine, and take up rather compassion, with hunger for My honour and salvation of Preach virtue with yearning desire, and reprove souls. In vice in thyself and in others, as I have shown thee. this way wilt thou come to Me, in truth, and wilt show that thou hast kept in mind, and observed the doctrine, which was given thee by My Truth namely, to make My will the subject of thy judgments, and not that of man. "This must thou do if thou wilt possess virtue in all its purity, and wilt stand in the last and most perfect light, "
eating at the table of holy desire of the food of souls, to the glory and praise of My Name."
CHAPTER
CIV.
How
penance should not be taken for the foundation or principal end in itself but rather the affection and love of virtue. :
I HAVE spoken to thee, dearest daughter, of two lights, and I will now speak to thee of the third, to which I would have thee pay great attention, reproving thyself, if, at any time, the devil, or thy own low point of view, should have tempted thee to wish to send all My servants along the same road as thyself, for this would be contrary to the "
My
doctrine given thee
by
that a person, seeing
many
Truth.
travelling
penance, would wish to send
all
by
It may often happen by the road of severe
that road, and, seeing
THE DIALOGUE OF
222
CATHERINE
ST.
they do not all choose it, he is angered, and takes scandal, thinking that such are acting wrongly. Now, see how such a one deceives himself, for it will often happen
that
who is thought evil of because he does less penance, do better and be more virtuous than he who, doing more
that he will
penance, murmurs at
it.
thee above, that those who feed at the table of penance, unless they do so with true humility, their penance, not being to them an end in itself, but merely "
Wherefore
I said to
an instrument of
virtue, will often,
ing, offend against their
own
by
perfection.
murmur They should there
this vice of
fore not remain in ignorance, but should see that perfection does not consist only in the maceration or slaying of the It body, but in the destruction of their own perverse will. by this road of the extinguishing and submission of the
is
human all
My
will to
to walk.
This
sweet is
the
will,
that
I
wish thee
to desire
doctrine of that glorious light, as one enamoured, clothed with
which the soul runs I do not on that account despise penance, for Truth. to macerate the body when it strives to fight it is good against the Spirit, but I do not wish, dearest daughter, that in
My
thou shouldst impose penance as a rule to any one, because all
bodies are not equal, or of the same strong complexion man may have a stronger nature than another,
;
because one
and also because penance, when on account of
it
often happens, as I have told thee, that has been begun, has to be relinquished,
it
many
accidents which
may
occur.
And,
if
the foundation of thy soul was laid in penance, or thou hadst caused others so to lay it, thou wouldest then faint
and become imperfect, lacking consolation, for thou wouldst be deprived of the thing which thou didst love, and which had become thy principal object, and so thou wouldst seem to thyself to be deprived of Me, and of My goodness, and wouldst thus fall into weariness, bitterness and con In this way, thou wouldst lose the benefit of fusion. the spiritual exercise and the fervent prayer which thou wast wont to make when performing thy penance. Thus, having relinquished thy penance on account of some accident
or other, thou wouldst no longer find that savour
in
prayer
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
223
This would happen because thy which thou hadst before. foundation would be laid rather in penance than in yearning desire, that
desire
thy
is,
for true
and
real virtues.
how much harm would follow from placing end solely in penance, how thou wouldst become
"See,
then,
ignorant, and fall into murmuring judgments against servants, as has been said, and into weariness and great
My
endeavouring to serve, with finite works only, Me, Good, and therefore demand on your part desire you should therefore place your foundation
bitterness,
Who am infinite
Infinite ;
in the destruction
and extinction of your own
will,
and, by
thus submitting your will to Mine, you will send up before Me a sweet, hungry and infinite desire, seeking My honour And thus will you eat at the and the salvation of souls. table of holy desire, which desire is never scandalised either in itself or in its neighbour, but rejoices in every
and draws fruit from all the divers and varied cir The poor wretches cumstances in which I place the soul. who do not follow this sweet doctrine and smooth road, given them by My Truth, do not so. They do, indeed, the thing,
contrary, judging according to their blindness and infirm
Wherefore they become raving lunatics, and deprive themselves both of the advantages of the world and of heaven. And, in this life, as I have said to thee in another vision.
place, they taste the earnest of
Hell."
CHAPTER A
brief repetition of the
CV.
above-mentioned things with an addition concerning the reprehension of the neighbour. ;
I HAVE now told thee, dearest daughter, and explained to thee, in satisfaction of thy desire, that which thou didst "
ask
Me
what way, namely, thou shouldst judge thy to be deluded by the Devil, or neighbour, own low of view and I have told thee that by thy point thou shouldst reprove in general, and not in particular, unless thou shouldst have had an express revelation from in
so as not
;
THE DIALOGUE OF
224
ST.
CATHERINE
Me ; and that, in that case, thou shouldest, with humility I have blame thyself and thy neighbour at the same time. also told thee, and I repeat it, that, in no case whatever, is it lawful for thee to judge any creature, either in general, or in the particular case of one of My servants, as to whether
And I have given the canst not thou why judge, and why, if thou didst do so, thou wouldst be deceived in thy judgment. I have also told thee, that you should all have compassion
he be well or badly disposed. reason
on each other and leave judgment to Me; and I have given thee the doctrine, and the principal foundation for thee to give to those who should come to thee for counsel, and who should wish to come out of the darkness of mortal sin,
and follow the path of virtue, and knowledge of them My Goodness to them, and the destruction
selves and of
and extinction of in nothing against
their
Me.
own will, so that it may rebel And I have told thee to give them
penance as a means and not as an end, and not to each one equally, but according to their capacity and con dition ; to one less, to another more, shalt thou give these external means. But, because I said to thee that it was not lawful for thee to reprove another, except in general (which is the truth), I do not wish thee to think that, when thou actually seest an open sin, thou canst not privately correct the sinner ; this thou canst do, and if he is so obstinate that he will not correct himself, thou canst manifest his sin to
two or three others
mayest manifest Church.
What
it
I
;
to
and the
if this
does not succeed, thou
mystical
have said to thee
is
body
of
the
holy
that thou canst not
make to thyself any judgment in thy mind, what ever thou mayest appear to see with thine eyes, nor change thy opinions quickly, for, unless thou seest the truth of the lawfully
matter by My express revelation, thou shouldest not make use of the truth, except in the way I have shown thee. is the surer way of preventing the Devil deluding thee under the cloak of neighbourly love. I have now, dearest daughter, completed My explanations on this matter, which thou must preserve, and so increase the perfection
This
of thy
soul."
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
CHAPTER Of the means
of
225
CVI.
knowing when visitations and mental come from God or the Devil.
visions
WILL now speak to thee of that which thou didst ask Me, concerning the sign which I give the soul, that she may know whether the visitations which she receives, either by visions or other consolations, are from Me or not. The sign, I told thee, was the joy which remained in the soul after the visitation, and the hunger for virtue, and specially the anointing of true humility, and the enflaming But since thou askedst of the soul with divine charity.
"
I
me, whether this joy may in any way deceive thee, in order that thou mayest attain to the surer proof, the sign, namely, of virtue which cannot be deceived, I will tell thee a delusion which may occur, by knowing which, thou canst Delusion may determine if the joy is in My Truth or not. occur in this way. Thou must know that, when a rational creature possesses the object which she loves, and has longed to have, the more she loves the object, the less she sees it, and the less she endeavours to prudently examine it, so absorbed is she in the delight and consola tion she
has received from
it.
So do those who take
great
delight in mental consolations, and seek for visions, placing their end rather in the delight of these consolations than in Me, like those of whom I spoke to thee who were still imperfect.
Such as these may be deluded in their joy, ways of delusion of which I spoke to thee
besides other distinctly in will tell thee.
How are they deluded ? I another place. Having conceived a great love of consolation,
when they receive it either by vision or in some other way, they feel joy, for they see that they possess that which they loved and desired. Often, however, their consolation might come from the Devil, and they would feel that joy of which I spoke to thee, saying that when this visitation of the mind came from the Devil, the mind was at first joyful, but after wards remained in grief and an uneasy conscience, and
p
THE DIALOGUE OF
226
ST.
CATHERINE
I now say to thee that have that joy, and on account of it If this joy exist without a burning abandon prayer. desire for virtue, and be not anointed with humility, and on fire with My Divine Love, that visitation, or vision, or consolation, which that soul may have received, comes from the Devil, and not from Me, in spite of the sign of joy. But, inasmuch as the joy is not united with the desire for virtue, thou canst clearly see that it is drawn from the love which that soul had for her own mental consola tion, wherefore she rejoices, seeing that she possesses that which she desired, it being the nature of love of every kind
empty of a the soul
desire for virtue.
may
often
to feel joy in the possession of the beloved object. So that thou canst not trust in joy alone, even if the joy last all the time during which thou hast the consolation, and the more so, that love, ignorant and walking imprudently through its very joy, cannot discern the wile of the Devil but, if the soul walk prudently, she will examine whether or no In this way will she her joy be united to love of virtue. know whether the visitation, which she has received, comes This is that sign of which I spoke from Me or the Devil. to thee, with which I showed thee how thou couldst recognise if thy joy was a sign that thou hadst been visited by Me, namely, if it were united with virtue, as I have truly told ;
thee, for this sign proves to thee what is delusion, and what is not ; that is to say, it distinguishes between the joy which
thou receivest from Me in truth, and the joy which comes from thy spiritual self-love, from love that is, of thy own consolation. The consolation which comes from Me comes with joy and the love of virtue, and that which comes from the Devil brings joy only, and when thou examinest thy soul thou art in the same condition of virtue as thou wert before, for this joy proceeds from love of one s own consola tion, as has been said. But know that not every one is deluded by this joy, but only those imperfect ones who seek for delight and consola tion, and look rather to the gift than to Me, the Giver. Those, on the other hand, who in purity, and with regard for them "
selves, enflamed with love for
Me
alone,
Who
gives,
and not
A TREATISE OF PRAYER for the gift,
own
which they love
for
My
consolation, cannot be deluded
227
sake, and not for their by this joy. They at
once know by this sign when the Devil has wanted, through his deceitfulness, to transform himself into an angel of light and manifest himself to their mind, namely that he arrives suddenly with great joy, but the joy soon passes away, and they find themselves
left in
darkness.
They thus thoroughly
recognise his deceitfulness by their prudence, because they are not passionately in love with (or desirous of) mental con
Then they humiliate themselves with true self-know all consolation, and embracing and holding despising ledge, Then the Devil, confused, fast the doctrine of My Truth. solation.
wheels about, and never comes back again to them in that But those who are lovers of their own consolation, form. Devil, but they will find out the told way you, that is, in the feeling of the joy without the virtue, in that they will not find them will ofttimes receive the
deception in the
I
selves issuing from the experience with humility, true charity, for My honour, am eternal God.
Who
and hunger
My goodness manifested in that I have pro vided against the deception of the perfect ones, and the imperfect ones, in whatever condition they be, because none "And
thus
is
of you can be deceived
if
you
will preserve the light of the
have given you with the pupil of the most not let it be overshadowed by the Devil, and and holy faith, because if you do not take it away veiled with self-love, from yourself, no one else will take it from you."
intellect that
I
"
CHAPTER How God
is
how they
CVII.
the Fulfiller of the holy desires of His servants ; and please Him much who ask and knock at the door of
His Truth with perseverance. "
Now
I
have told thee, dearest daughter, and
to thee, illuminating the eye of thy
fully explained
intellect,
about the
THE DIALOGUE OF
228
ST.
CATHERINE
deceptions the Devil might practise upon thee, and I have satisfied thy desire in that which thou askest Me, because I
Also I not only and he dis you at the door not in Me who does truth, knock, much, pleases of the wisdom of My only-begotten Son, following His doctrine, the following of which doctrine is a knocking,
do not despise the desire of
My
servants.
give to all
who
calling to
Me, the eternal Father, with the voice of holy humble and continual prayers. And I am that
ask, but
I
invite
all to
ask,
desire, with
Father this
Who
gives
sweet door,
you the bread of grace by means of
My
Truth
and sometimes, to
;
desires and your perseverance,
I
test
your
pretend not to understand
you, but I really understood you well, and give you that state of mind that you need, because I give you that hunger and the voice with which you cry to Me, and I, seeing your con stancy, to
Me.
fulfil
It
when He
your desires when they are ordered and directed to such asking as this that My Truth invited you,
was
said,
Cry out and ye shall be answered, knock and
it
shall be opened to you, ask and it shall be given to you. And so I say to thee that I will that thou shouldest never relax the 1
desire of asking for My help, neither lower thy voice from cry ing to Me that I may have mercy on the world ; nor cease
from knocking at the door of Footsteps, and delight thyself
My
Truth, following in His Cross with Him, eating
in the
the food of souls to the glory and praise of My Name ; and lament, with anxiety of heart, over the death of the human generation, that thou seest led to misery so great, that thy On account of this tongue is not sufficient to relate it.
lamenting and crying will I have mercy on the world, and it which I demand from My servants, and which will
is this
be a sign to Me, that they love thee,
I
will not despise their
Me
in truth, and, as
desires."
I
told
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
CHAPTER
229
CVIII.
How this
soul, rendering thanks to God, humiliates herself; then she prays for the whole world and particularly for the mystical body of the holy Church, and for her spiritual children, and for the two fathers of her soul and, after these things, she asks to hear something about the defects of the ministers of the holy Church. ;
THEN
seemed beside body were alienated through the union of love which she had made with her Creator, and as if, in elevation of mind, she had gazed into the eternal that soul, as
in
if,
truth, inebriated,
herself, as if the feelings of the
truth with the eye of her intellect, and, having recognised the
had become enamoured of it, and said, "Oh Supreme and Eternal Goodness of God, who am I, miserable one, that Thou, Supreme and Eternal Father, hast manifested to me Thy truth, and the hidden deceits of the Devil, and the deceitfulness of personal feeling, so that I, and others in this !
truth,
of pilgrimage, may know how to avoid being deceived by What moved thee to do it ? Love, the Devil or ourselves because thou lovedst me, without my having loved Thee. Oh, life
!
Fire of I
Love
Thanks, thanks be
!
am imperfect and
Light, hast way of the
shown
doctrine of
Thy
dead, and Thou hast brought
Thou
to Thee, Eternal Father!
of darkness, and Thou, Perfection and to me perfection, and the resplendent
full
only-begotten Son.
me
to
life.
I
was
I
sick
was and
me
medicine, and not only the medicine of the Blood which Thou gavest for the diseased human race in
hast given
the person of
Thy
infirmity that
I
Son, but also a medicine against a secret not of, in this precept that, in no way,
knew
any rational creature, and particularly Thy servants, upon whom ofttimes I, as one blind and sick with this infirmity, passed judgment under the pretext of Thy honour and the salvation of souls. Wherefore, I thank in the manifesting and Eternal that, Thee, Supreme Good, of Thy truth and the deceitfulness of the Devil, and our
can
own
I
judge
passions,
Wherefore
I
Thou
hast
made me know my
infirmity.
beseech Thee, through grace and mercy, that,
THE DIALOGUE OF
23<>
Thy
doctrine,
CATHERINE
may never again wander from given by Thy goodness to me and
from to-day henceforward, the path of
ST.
I
because without Thee is To Thee then, Eternal Father, do I have nothing done. recourse and flee, and I do not beseech Thee for myself alone, Father, but for the whole world, and particularly for to
whoever wishes
to
follow
it,
the mystical body of the holy Church, that this truth given to me, miserable one, by Thee, Eternal Truth, may shine and also I beseech Thee especially in Thy ministers ;
for
those
all
Thou love
made one
hast
with
a
given me, and whom with me, and whom I thing because love, they will be my
whom Thou particular
hast
refreshment to the glory and praise of Thy Name, when I see them running on this sweet and straight road, pure, and dead to their own will and opinion, and without
any passing judgment on their neighbour, or causing him any scandal or murmuring. And I pray Thee, Sweetest Love, that not one of them may be taken from me by the hand of the infernal Devil, so that at last they may arrive Thee, their End, Eternal Father. "Also I make another petition to Thee for my two fathers, the supports whom Thou hast placed on the earth to guard at
and of
instruct me, miserable infirm one, from the beginning conversion until now, that Thou unite them, and of
my
two bodies make one
soul, and that they attend to nothing else than to complete in themselves, and in the mysteries that Thou hast placed in their hands, the glory and praise of Thy Name, and the salvation of souls, and that I,
an unworthy and miserable slave, and no daughter, may behave to them with due reverence and holy fear, for love of Thee, in a way that will be to Thine honour, and their I peace and quiet, and to the edification of the neighbour.
now know
for certain, Eternal Truth, that
despise the desire of the petitions that
Thou
wilt not
have made to Thee, has pleased Thee to I
know, from seeing what it and still more from proof, that Thou art the manifest, of I, Thy unworthy servant, will Acceptor, holy desires. because
I
strive, according as Thou wilt give me grace, to observe Thy commandments and Thy doctrine. Now, O Eternal Father,
A TREATISE OF PRAYER I
remember a word which thou
didst say to
231
me
in speaking
of the ministers of the holy Church, to the effect that Thou wouldst speak to me more distinctly, in some other place, of the sins which they commit to-day ; wherefore if it
should please Thy goodness to tell me aught of this matter, I will gladly hear it, so as to have material for increasing
my grief, for
I
compassion, and anxious desire for their salvation ; that Thou didst say, that, on account of the
remember
endurance and tears, the grief, and sweat and prayers of servants, Thou wouldst reform the holy Church, and comfort her with good and holy pastors. I ask Thee this
Thy
in order that these sentiments
CHAPTER How God THEN
increase in
may
me."
CIX.
renders this soul attentive to prayer, replying to one of the above mentioned petitions.
the Eternal God, turning the eye of His mercy upon
this soul, not despising her desire, but granting her requests, proceeded to satisfy the last petition, which she had made
concerning His promise, saying,
"
Oh
!
best
beloved and
dearest daughter, I will fulfil thy desire in this request, in order that, on thy side, thou mayest not sin through ignorance or negligence ; for a fault of thine would be more serious
and worthy of graver reproof now than before, because thou hast learnt more of My truth wherefore apply thyself ;
attentively to pray for all rational creatures, for the mystical body of the holy Church, and for those friends whom I
have given thee, whom thou lovestwith particular love, and be careful not to be negligent in giving them the benefit of thy prayers, and the example of thy life, and the teaching of thy words, reproving vice and encouraging virtue accord ing to thy power. Concerning the supports which I have given thee, of whom thou didst speak to Me, know that thou art, in truth, a means by which they may each receive, according to their "
THE DIALOGUE OF
232
needs and
And
ST.
CATHERINE
thy Creator, grant thee the thou canst do nothing, I will opportunity, for without thou but do not fulfil thy desires, fail, or they either, in in Me. Providence will never fail you, and My your hope if shall he be receive that which he is fit humble, every man, fitness.
as
I,
Me
and every minister that which I have given him to administer, each in his own way, according to what he has received and will receive from My goodness." to receive
;
CHAPTER Of the
Now
CX.
dignity of the priest ; and of the Sacrament of the Body of Christ ; and of worthy and unworthy communicants.
will reply to that which thou didst ask Me con the ministers of the holy Church, and, in order that cerning thou mayest the better understand the truth, open the eye of "
thy
I
and look at their excellence and the dignity in have placed them. And, since one thing is better
intellect,
which
I
known by means
of contrast with
thee the dignity of those
have placed
in their
its
contrary,
I
will
show
who
hands
;
use virtuously the treasure I and, in this way, thou wilt the
better see the misery of those who to-day are suckled at Then this soul obediently con the breast of Spouse."
My
templated the truth, in which she saw virtue resplendent in Then said the Eternal God those who truly taste it. I "
:
will first, dearest daughter,
speak to thee of the dignity of
priests, having placed them where they are through My Goodness, over and above the general love which I have had to My creatures, creating you in My image and similitude and re-creating you all to the life of grace in the Blood of My only-begotten Son, whence you have arrived at such excellence, through the union which I
so that of My Deity with human nature and excellence than the have you greater dignity for I took your human nature and not that of the Wherefore, as I have said to you, I, God, have
made
;
in
this
angels,
angels.
become
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
233
man, and man has become God by the union of My Divine This greatness is given Nature with your human nature. in
general to
rational
all
creatures,
but,
among
these
I
have especially chosen My ministers for the sake of your salvation, so that, through them, the Blood of the humble and immaculate Lamb, My only-begotten Son, may be To them have I given the Sun to administered to you. them the light of science and the heat administer, giving of Divine Love, united together in the colour of the
Body
and Blood of My Son, whose Body is a Sun, because He is one thing with Me, the True Sun, in such a way that He cannot be separated or divided from Me, as in the case of the natural sun, in which heat and light cannot be separated, so perfect is their union; for, the sun, never leaving its orbit, lights the whole world and warms whoever wishes to be
warmed by
which
it
shines,
it,
and
for
not defiled by any impurity on light and heat and colour are
is
its
united.
So this Word, My Son, with His most sweet Blood, one Sun, all God and all man, because He is one thing with Me and I with Him. My power is not separated from His wisdom, nor the fiery heat of the Holy Spirit from Me, the Father, or from Him, the Son for He is one thing with us, the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son, and We together forming one and the same "
is
;
Sun; that is to say, I, the Eternal God, am that Sun whence have proceeded the Son and the Holy Spirit. To the Holy Spirit is attributed fire and to the Son wisdom, by which wisdom My ministers receive the light of grace, so
that
they
may
administer this
light to
gratitude for the benefits received from Me, Father, following the doctrine of the Eternal
others,
the
with
Eternal
Wisdom,
My
only-begotten Son. This is that Light, which has the colour of your humanity, colour and light being closely united.
Thus was
the light of
My
Divinity united to the colour of
your humanity, which colour shone brightly when it became perfect through its union with the Divine nature, and, by this means of the Incarnate Word mixed with the Light of My Divine nature and the fiery heat of the Holy Spirit,
THE DIALOGUE OF
234
Whom
have ye received the Light. its
CATHERINE
ST.
have
I
entrusted with
administration ? "
My
ministers in the mystical body of the holy Church, you may have life, receiving His Body in food and
so that
His Blood
in drink.
I
have said
to thee that this
Body
is,
were, a Sun. Wherefore, you cannot receive the Body without the Blood, or the Blood or the Body without the as
it
Word nor the Soul, nor the Body, without the Divinity of Me, the Eternal God, because none of these can be separated from each other, as I said to thee in another place that the Divine nature never left the soul of the Incarnate
human So
that
;
nature, either by death or from any other cause. you receive the whole Divine Essence in that most
Sweet Sacrament concealed under the whiteness of the bread ; sun cannot be divided into light, heat, and colour, the whole of God and the whole of man cannot be separated for even if the host under the white mantle of the host should be divided into a million particles (if it were possible) in each particle should I be present, whole God and whole Man. When you break a mirror the reflection to be seen for as the
;
it is not broken similarly, when the host is divided God and man are not divided, but remain in each particle. Nor is the Sacrament diminished in itself, except as far as may be in the following example.
in
;
"
If
thou hast a
light,
and the whole world should come
to
the light itself does not thee in order to take light from it diminish and yet each person has it all. It is true that
every one participates more or less in this light, according to the substance into which each one receives the fire. I will develop this metaphor further that thou mayest the better understand Me. Suppose that there are many who bring
one weighing an ounce, others two or six or a ounces, pound, or even more, and light them in the each in candle, whether large or small, is the whole flame, their candles,
light,
that
is
to
say, the heat,
the colour, and the flame
;
nevertheless thou wouldst judge that he whose candle weighs an ounce has less of the light than he whose candle weighs
a pound.
Now
the
same thing happens Each one carries
receive this Sacrament.
to
his
those
own
who
candle,
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
235.
is the holy desire, with which he receives this Sacra ment, which of itself is without light, and lights it by receiving I say without light, because of yourselves this Sacrament. you can do nothing, though I have given you the material,,
that
with which you can receive this light and feed material love
is love, for
through love
I
The
it.
created you, and without
you cannot live. Your being, given
to you through love, has received the in right disposition holy baptism, which you receive in virtue of the Blood of the Word, for, in no other way, could you participate in this light ; you would be like a "
candle with no wick inside light, if
it,
you have not received
which cannot burn or receive in your souls the wick which
catches this Divine Flame, that
is
to say, the
Holy
Faith,
baptism, united with the disposition of your soul created by Me, so fitted for love, that, without love, which is her very food, she cannot live.
which you
Where
receive,
by grace,
in
does the soul united in this
way
obtain light ?
At
Divine love, loving and fearing Me, and It is true that the following the Doctrine of My Truth. soul becomes more or less lighted according to the material the
fire
of
My
which it brings to the fire for although you all have one and the same material, in that you are all created to My image and similitude, and, being Christians, possess the light of holy baptism, each of you may grow in love and virtue Not that you by the help of My grace, as may please you. that you I but the of have form what given you, change increase your strength in love, and your free-will, by using it while you have time, for when time is past you can no So that you can increase in love, as has been longer do so. love to receive this Sweet and Glorious with said, coming I Which have Light, given you as Food for your service, through My ministers, and you receive this Light according to the love and fiery desire with which you approach It. The Light Itself you receive entire, as I have said (in the example of those, who in spite of the difference in weight of their candles, all receive the entire light), and not divided, because It cannot be divided, as has been said, either on ;
4<
account of any imperfection of yours
who
receive, or of the
THE DIALOGUE OF
236
minister
;
ST.
CATHERINE
but you personally participate in this light, that
grace which you receive in this Sacrament, according to the holy desire with which you dispose your selves to receive It. He who should go to this sweet
is
in
the
Sacrament in the guilt of mortal sin, will receive no grace therefrom, though he actually receive the whole of God and the whole of Man. Dost thou know the condition of
who
She is like a candle on which can do nothing but crackle when brought near the flame, for no sooner has the fire touched it, than it is extinguished, and nothing remains but
the soul
receives unworthily ?
which water has
fallen,
smoke so this soul has cast the water of mind upon the candle which she received ;
guilt within
her
in holy baptism,
which has drenched the wick of the grace of baptism, and, it at the fire of true contrition and con
not having heated
fession, goes to the table of the altar to receive this Light with her body, and not with her mind, wherefore the Light, since the soul is not disposed as she should be for so great
a mystery, does not remain by grace in that soul, but leaves her, and, in the soul, remains only greater confusion, for her light is extinguished
and her sin increased by her darkness.
Of
the Sacrament she feels nothing but the crackling of a remorseful conscience, not through the defect of the Light Itself, for that can receive no hurt, but on account of the water that was in the soul, which impeded her proper disposition so that she could not receive the Light. See, therefore, that in no way can this Light, united with its heat and its colour, be divided, either by the scanty desire of the soul when she receives the Sacrament, or by any
defect which
who
may be
administers
it,
as
in the soul, or I
defect of him sun which is not so the sweet Light of
by any
told thee of the
by shining on anything foul, Sacrament cannot be defiled, divided, or diminished in any way, nor can it be detached from its orbit. all the world should receive in communion the Light and Heat of this Sun, the Word, My only-begotten Son, would not be separated from Me the True Sun, His Eternal Father because in His mystical body, the holy Church, He is administered to whoever will receive Him. defiled
this
"If
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
He
237
remains wholly with Me, and yet you have Him, whole
God and whole man, would have
it
as
entire,
metaphor of the from it, each would remain whole."
told thee, in the
I
the world
light, that, if all
came
and yet
it
to take light
CHAPTER CXI How
the bodily sentiments are all deceived in the aforesaid Sacrament, but not those of the soul, therefore it is, with the and of a beautiful latter, that one must see, taste, and touch It ;
vision this soul
had upon
this subject.
OH, dearest daughter, open well the eye of thy intellect and gaze into the abyss of My love, for there is no rational creature whose heart would not melt for love in contem plating and considering, among the other benefits she receives from Me, the special Gift that she receives in the Sacra "
ment. "And
with what eye, dearest
daughter, shouldest thou
and others look at this mystery, and how shouldest thou Not only with the bodily sight and touch, be touch it ? cause in this Sacrament all bodily perceptions fail. The eye can only see, and the hand can only touch, the white substance of the bread, and the taste can only taste "
the savour of the bread, so that the grosser bodily senti ments are deceived ; but the soul cannot be deceived in that is, unless she her sentiments unless she wish to be the light of the most holy faith be taken away from her
let
by
infidelity. "
How
touched
eye
is
within
is this
With
? It it
to is
Sacrament
to
be truly tasted, seen, and
the sentiment of the soul.
be seen
?
With
the eye
the pupil of the most
holy
With what
of the intellect faith.
if
This eye
God and whole man, the Divine human nature, the Body, the Soul,
sees in that whiteness whole
nature united with the
and the Blood of Christ, the Soul united to the Body, the Body and the Soul united with My Divine nature, not
THE DIALOGUE OF
238
ST.
CATHERINE
detached from Me, as I revealed to thee, if thou remember well, almost in the beginning of thy life ; and not so much intellect as through thy .at first through the eye of thy bodily eye, although the light being so great thy bodily eyes lost their vision, and only the sight of the eye of thy I showed it to thee for thine enlighten intellect remained.
ment
in the battle that the Devil
thee in this Sacrament
;
and
to
had been waging against
make thee
increase in love
of the most holy faith. Thou knowest that thou wentest one morning to church at sun-rise to hear Mass, having beforehand been tormented by the Devil, and thou placedst thyself upright at the Altar in the light "
of the Crucifix, while the priest went to the Altar of Mary ; thou stoodst there to consider thy sin, fearing to have
offended
Me
through the vexation which the Devil had been
causing thee, and to consider My love, which had made thee worthy to hear Mass, seeing that thou didst deem
When thyself unworthy to enter into My holy temple. the minister came to consecrate, thou raisedst thine eyes above his head while he was saying the words of consecra tion, and I manifested Myself to thee, and thou didst see issue from My breast a light, like a ray from the sun, which proceeds from the circle of the sun without being separated from it, out of the midst of which light came a dove and hovered over the host, in virtue of the words which But sight remained alone in the the minister was saying. because of thy intellect, thy bodily sight was not strong eye stand the and to in that place thou didst see light, enough
whole God and whole
and
taste the
man
concealed and veiled in that whiteness that thou sawedst
Abyss
of the Trinity,
and thou perceivedst that the seeing of the the and presence of the Word, which thou sawedst Light
in the bread
;
intellectually in the whiteness of the bread, did not prevent thee seeing at the same time the actual whiteness of the
bread, the one vision did not prevent the other vision, that is to say, the sight of the God- Man revealed in the bread
did not prevent the sight of the bread, for neither its white This ness, nor its touch, nor its savour were taken away.
was shown thee by
My
goodness, as
I
have said to thee.
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
The eye
239
of the intellect had the true vision, using the pupil
holy faith, for this eye should be thy principal means of vision, inasmuch as it cannot be deceived ; where How fore, with it thou shouldest look on this Sacrament.
of the
hand of love. With this hand alone canst thou touch that which the eye of the dost thou touch
It ?
By
the
has recognised in this Sacrament. The soul touches with the hand of love, as if to certify to herself that How which she has seen and known through faith.
intellect
Me
With the palate of holy desire. The dost thou taste It ? corporal palate tastes only the savour of the bread ; but the palate of the soul, which is holy desire, tastes God and Man. See, therefore, that the perceptions of the body are deluded, but not those of the soul, for she is illuminated and assured in her own perceptions, for she touches with the hand of love that which the eye of her intellect has seen with the pupil of holy faith ; and with her palate
she tastes is, with fiery desire Ineffable Love, with Which I have receive the tremendous mystery of this that
My
My
Burning Charity,
made her worthy
to
Sacrament and the Grace which is contained therein. See, therefore, that thou shouldst receive and look on this Sacrament, not only with bodily perceptions, but rather with thy spiritual perceptions, disposing thy soul in the way that has been said, to receive,
and
taste,
and see
this Sacrament."
CHAPTER Of the
excellent state of the soul
CXII. who
receives the sacrament
in grace. 4t
SEE, dearest daughter, in what an excellent state is the soul who receives, as she should, this Bread of Life, this Food of the Angels. By receiving this Sacrament she dwells in
Me fish
and
I
in her, as the fish in the sea,
thus do
I
and the sea in the
dwell in the soul, and the soul in
Me
the
THE DIALOGUE OF
240
ST.
CATHERINE
Sea
In that soul grace dwells, for, since she has Pacific. received this Bread of Life in a state of grace, My grace
remains in her, after the accidents of bread have been consumed. I leave you the imprint of grace, as does a seal, which, when lifted from the hot wax upon which it has been impressed, leaves behind its imprint, so the virtue of this
Sacrament remains
in
the soul, that
to say, the heat of
is
Divine charity, and the clemency of the Holy Spirit. There also remains to you the wisdom of My only-be gotten Son, by which the eye of your intellect has been
My
illuminated to see and to
know
the doctrine of
My
Truth,
and, together with this wisdom, you participate in My strength and power, which strengthen the soul against her sensual Thou self-love, against the Devil, and against the world. seest then that the imprint remains, when the seal has been taken away, that is, when the material accidents of the bread,
having been consumed, this True Sun has returned to Its Centre, not that it was ever really separated from It, but The Abyss of My loving desire constantly united to Me. for your salvation has given you, through my dispensation
and Divine Providence, coming to the help of your needs, the sweet Truth as Food in this life, where you are pilgrims and travellers, so that you may have refreshment, and not See then how straitly you forget the benefit of the Blood. are constrained and obliged to render Me love, because I love you so much, and, being the Supreme and Eternal Goodness, deserve youi
love."
CHAPTER
CXIII.
How
the things which have been said about the excellence of thisSacrament, have been said that we might know better the dignity of priests and how God demands in them greater purity than ;
in other creatures. "
I
HAVE
told thee
all
this,
dearest
daughter,
mayest the better recognise the dignity to
that
which
I
thou
have
A TREATISE OF PRAYER called
My
241
ministers, so that thy grief at their miseries If they themselves considered their
be more intense.
may own
dignity they would not be in the darkness of mortal sin, or the face of their soul. They would not only see
defile
their offences against Me, but also, that, if they gave their bodies to be burned, they would not repay the tremendous
grace and favour which they have received, inasmuch as no They are My anointed greater dignity exists in this life. ones, and I call them My Christs, because I have given them the office of administering Me to you, and have placed them like fragrant flowers in the mystical body of the holy
The
Church. given
and
angel himself has no such dignity, for
to those
it
whom
men whom
I
have chosen for
My
I
have
ministers,
have appointed as earthly angels in this life. In all souls I demand purity and charity, that they should love Me and their neighbour, helping him by the ministra tion of prayer, as I said to thee in another place. But far more do I demand purity in My ministers, and love towards Me, and towards their fellow-creatures, administering to them the Body and Blood of My only-begotten Son, with the fire of charity, and a hunger for the salvation of souls, for the glory and honour of My Name. Even as these I
cleanness in the chalice in which this made, even so do I require the purity and cleanness of their heart and soul and mind. And I wish their body to be preserved, as the instrument of the soul in perfect charity ; and I do not wish them to feed upon and wallow in the mire of filth, or to be inflated by pride, seeking great prelacies, or to be cruel to themselves or to their fellow creatures, because they cannot use cruelty to themselves without being cruel to their fellow creatures ; ministers require
Sacrifice
is
by sin they are cruel to themselves, they are cruel to the souls of their neighbours, in that they do not give them an example of life, nor care to draw them out of the hands for, if
of the Devil, nor to administer to them the Body and Blood of My only-begotten Son, and Me the True Light, as I told thee,
and the other Sacraments of the holy Church.
that, in
being cruel to themselves, they are cruel to
So
others."
THE DIALOGUE OF
242
CHAPTER How the
ST.
CATHERINE
CXIV.
Sacraments should not be sold or bought, and how they should succour the ministers in temporal things,
who receive them
which the ministers should dispense "
I
WISH
through
in three divisions.
ministers to be liberal and not miserly, or, cupidity and avarice, to sell the grace of the
My
I do not desire this, and Holy Spirit. they ought not to do it; for even as they, by gift and out of the broadness
love have received of
My goodness, so ought they, of in and broadness heart, through affection of love by gift for My honour and the salvation of souls, to give charitably to every rational creature who humbly asks for it and as its because take should have not nothing price, they they received it from but have Me to administer freely bought it, to you. But they can and should take alms, and you, who receive the Sacraments, ought on your side, when you can, to give alms for the ministers should be supported by you in temporal things, and succoured by you in their necessity, and you should be supported and fed by them in that is, in the holy Sacraments grace and spiritual gifts that I have placed in the holy Church for them to ad of
My
;
;
minister to you for your salvation.
And
I
make known
to
you that, without any comparison, they give more to you than you to them, because comparison cannot be made between the transitory and finite things with which you help them, and Me God, Who am Infinite, and through My Divine providence and Divine charity they have
Whom
And not only is it so in the right of administering to you. this mystery, but also in any other spiritual graces which are administered to you by any creature, whether through prayer or through some other means. All your temporal sub stance would never equal,by anycomparison,what you receive
Now
spiritually.
I
tell
you
that the substance
which they
you they are bound to distribute in three ways one for their living, to make of it three parts
receive from that
is,
the other for the poor, and the other should be spent on
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
243
the objects which are necessary for the services of the Church, and in no other way. Doing otherwise they offend Me."
CHAPTER CXV. dignity of priests ; and how the virtue of the Sacraments is not diminished by the faults either of the minister or of the recipient; And how God does not wish seculars to occupy themselves in correcting the clergy.
Of the
THUS did the sweet and glorious ministers of whom I spoke to thee, when I wished thee to see their excellence, over and above the dignity which I had given them in making them My Christs, and who, exercising this dignity in virtue, are clothed in the Light of the Sweet and Glorious Sun, Whom I gave into their hands to administer. "Look at sweet Gregory and Sylvester, and others, their predecessors or successors who have followed the footsteps of My Chief Pontiff, Peter, to whom I gave the keys of the
"
heavenly kingdom of
My
Truth, saying
:
Peter,
I give
thee
of Kingdom of Heaven, and what thou loosest on earth shall be loosed in Heaven, and what thou bindest Now that I have on earth shall be bound in Heaven?
the keys
shown
the
thee, dearest daughter, the excellence of their virtue,
more fully prove to thee the dignity to which I have elected My ministers. They have the key of the Blood of My only-begotten Son, Which unlocks the door of eternal life, which for a long time has remained locked I
will
through the sin of Adam. For that reason I gave you "
My
Truth
;
that is to say,
My Word
My only-begotten Son, Who, enduring His and passion death, by His death destroyed yours, making a bath His Blood and Death, in virtue of His Blood. you of the union between the Divine and human natures, un locked the door of eternal the keys of this Blood ?
life.
To
To whom
did
He
leave
the glorious Apostle Peter,
THE DIALOGUE OF
244
and
to all his successors
who
ST.
CATHERINE
are or shall be
till
the
Day
of
of them having the same authority which Judgment, Peter had, which is not diminished by any defect of their own, nor is any defect caused thereby to the Blood or to all
any
of this
the
Sacraments,
as
for,
Sun does not become
I
have
already
told
defiled
by any impurity and does not lose Its light amid the darkness of mortal sin, whether it be in the minister or in the recipient, such sin merely diminishing grace and increasing sin in the unworthy minister or recipient. Thus the Christ on earth holds the keys of the Blood, as,
thee,
on which
It
shines,
thou remember,
I manifested to thee in this parable, what seculars thee reverence showing ought to have for be whether or ministers, good evil, and how much they My
if
irreverence towards them displeases Me. Thou rememberest that I represented the mystical body of the holy Church to thee under the form of a cellar, in which cellar was the Blood
My only-begotten Son, Which gives efficacy to all the Sacra At the door of the cellar was the Christ on earth, ments.
of
who was
charged with the administration of the Blood, and with the choice of co-administrators who should help him
whole body of Christian accepted and anointed by him, people. From became the minister of the Blood, and no others. him issues the whole order of clerks, each of whom is placed in his particular office to administer the glorious Blood and, as the Christ on earth has chosen them for his helpers, the right of correcting their defects belong to him alone, For I have withdrawn them from and so I wish it to be. service and subjection to temporal masters, on account of the excellence and authority which I have given them. Civil law has got nothing to do with their punishment; that right is placed in him whose office it is to govern under the Divine law, for these are My anointed ones, and inasmuch Do not touch My Christsj as I have said in the Scripture no greater ruin can come upon man than to constitute him to administer It throughout the
He who was
;
:
self their
punisher."
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
CHAPTER
245
CXVI.
How God
considers persecutions directed against the holy Church or her ministers as directed against Himself ; and how this sin is graver than any other.
"
IF thou shouldst ask
tion
of the
why
it
is
Me how
holy Church
is
it
is
that the sin of persecu
graver than any other, and should not diminish the
that the sins of clerks
I should reply, Because all reverence them is not paid to them, but to Me, in virtue of the Blood Which I have given them to administer. For if it were not so, you would owe them no more reverence than to other men of the world but, on account of their ministry, you are obliged to do them reverence, and come to them, not for their own sakes, but on account of the power which I have given them, if you wish to receive the Sacraments of the holy Church for, should you neglect receiving them when you could you would die in a state ot So the reverence paid to them is paid to Me damnation. to and the glorious Blood, It being one thing with Me, by the union of the Divine nature with the human. And, as the reverence so is the irreverence, as to which I have said to thee that reverence should not be paid to them for their own sakes, but on account of the authority which I have wherefore, no man should offend them, because given them in offending them he offends Me and not them, for I have forbidden it, and have said that I do not wish My Christs to be touched by their hands. And on this account no one I do not rebel against the can excuse himself, saying
reverence paid to them,
which
is
paid to
;
;
;
:
holy Church, but only against the sins of evil pastors. Such a man, lifting his mind against his leader and blinded
by
self-love,
does not see the truth, though indeed he really
well enough, but pretends not to, in order to deaden the sting of conscience. For he sees that, in truth, he is
sees
it
The insult is persecuting the Blood, and not Its servants. to Me, just as the reverence was My due. Wherefore
done
every damage,
insult,
rudeness, contempt, and blame done
THE DIALOGUE OF
246 to
them
is
ST.
Me
directed against
;
CATHERINE that
is
to
say,
that
I
Me
whatever is done to them, for I have said and repeat that I do not wish My Christs to be touched by them, it being My business to punish them, and not theirs. Such wicked men only prove their irreverence towards the Blood, and that they do not hold dear the Treasure Which I have given them for the salvation and life of their souls. More I could not give them than the whole of God and the whole of Man for their Food, as I have said. But, inasmuch as they did not reverence Me and My servants, they have diminished their dignity, and persecuted them, seeing in them many sins and defects, as in another consider as done to
place
Me
I
will narrate to thee.
If
they had, in truth, reverenced
would not have risen against them for any personal defect, for no such defect can diminish the virtue of this Sacrament. Wherefore they should not diminish their reverence, and doing so they offend Me. This sin is graver than all others for many reasons, of which I will tell thee the three principal ones. One is that what they do to My servants they do to Me another is because in this way they disobey My Commandment, since I have forbidden in them, they
;
My
servants to be touched, so they despise the virtue of Which they received in holy baptism, disobediently
the Blood
doing that which
I
have forbidden them, and become rebels It, and
against the Blood, having lost their reverence for rising against
putrid
It
members
with terrible persecutions. They are like cut off from the mystical body of the holy
Church wherefore, if they remain obstinate in this rebellion and irreverence, dying in the same, they receive eternal ;
is true that, when they are at their last they humble themselves and recognise their and wish to reconcile themselves to their leader, even
damnation. extremity, fault,
It
if
they cannot actually do so, they receive mercy. They should not, however, put off the time of conversion, because they are not sure of having it. The third reason why their if
sin is graver than
all
others
is
because
deliberate malice, and because they
it
is
know
committed with
that they cannot act in such a way with a good conscience, and must offend Me if they do so. Wherefore, their offence is a perverse
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
247
pride without any corporal pleasure, though, on account of The soul is consumed. it, the body as well as the soul is
consumed by the privation of grace, and gnawed by the the temporal substance is consumed of conscience in the service of the Devil, and their bodies die like those So that this sin is committed directly of the animals.
worm
;
against Me, without any colour of their profit, but solely through malice and the
own
pleasure or
smoke of
pride,
which pride is born of sensual self-love and of that perverse fear which Pilate had, when, for fear of losing his post, he These men do the slew Christ, My only-begotten Son. All other sins are committed through simplicity, or same. ignorance, or malice,
that
in
the
knows
sinner
the
evil
which he does, but on account of the disordinate delight, or some pleasure or profit which he finds in the sin, commits and his it, and, committing it, offends his own soul, and Me, not Me he offends, because he does pay glory neighbour. and praise to My Name his neighbour, because he does not but he does not personally give him the light of love attack Me, but offends himself, which offence displeases Me, But this sin is on account of the loss which he incurs. Other sins aimed directly at Me without any medium. are committed with some sort of colour or excuse, and by means of some one else for, as I have told thee, both sins and virtues are exercised by means of the neighbour and, since sin deprives the sinner of Me, and of his neighbour ;
;
;
;
for his neighbour is offended by the lack of love involved in the sin But, they offend Me by these indirect means.
in this case, they rational creatures
offend
Me
for
directly,
among
all
My
have chosen these My ministers, who are My anointed ones, as I have said to thee, ministers of the Body and Blood of My only-begotten Son, who, standing I
My
at the altar in the person of Christ, Divine nature. your human flesh with
Son, consecrate
My
"
Their offence
Him
is
therefore done to the
He and
Word, and being
are one and the poor wretches persecute the Blood and This is why grave sin is deprive themselves of Its fruit. committed against Me, and not against My ministers, for I
done
same.
to
is
These
done
to
Me,
for
I
THE DIALOGUE OF
248
CATHERINE
ST.
do not attribute to them either the honour or the persecu tion which they receive for My sake, for they are both directed to Me, that
Who
is to
say, to the glorious Blood of
My
one and the same with Me.
Wherefore I say to thee, that, if all the other sins of these men were in one scale of the balance, and this one sin in the other, the scale containing their irreverence would outweigh the other, in the manner that has been said. I have manifested this to thee, so that thou mightest have greater matter of grief at the offence done to Me and the damnation of these poor wretches, so that, through your grief and sorrow, and that of My other servants, the darkness that has come on these Son,
is
putrid members, cut off from the mystical body of the holy But I find Church, should be dissolved by My goodness.
hardly any
who
this glorious
shoot at
grieve over the persecution directed against
and precious Blood
;
I
though
find
many who
Me
continually with the arrows of disordinate love and servile fear, and, blinded by their self-esteem, consider that to be an
honour which
disgrace which
is
humble themselves
in to
truth,
is
a disgrace
an honour
their leader.
;
On
;
and
that
to say, to
account of these
sins they have risen against the Blood to persecute
CHAPTER
be a
that to is
It."
CXVII.
Here God speaks against those, who persecute the holy Church and His ministers, in various ways. I HAVE said that they persecute Me, and it is true that they do so, as far as they can, in intention. But I, person ally, can receive no hurt or be in any way injured by them, "
for I
am
like a stone which, if
it
be thrown, does not
itself
receive the blow, but returns against him who threw it. In this way the blows of their offences, which exhale a
stench towards Me, cannot really injure Me, but their arrow returns to them poisoned with their guilt, which deprives them, in this life, of grace, and loses for them the fruit of the Blood.
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
249
And
at last, if they have not corrected themselves with holy confession and contrition 01 heart, they arrive at eternal damnation, being cut off from Me and being bound to the
For, as Devil, with whom they have leagued together. soon as the soul is deprived of grace, she is bound to sin, with a bond of hatred against virtue and love of vice ; with this bond they have placed themselves by their free will in
the hands of the Devil, and are bound to him, for in no With the same bond are other way could they be bound. the persecutors of the Blood bound one to another, and bound to the Devil as his members, having taken on them selves the function of devils.
My
creatures and
The
devils strive to pervert grace, and lead them
draw them from
into the guilt of mortal sin, in order to infect
My
creatures
Such with the same evil which they have in themselves. men as these do the same, neither more nor less ; for, like members of the Devil, they go about subverting the sons of the spouse of Christ, My only-begotten Son, and loosening them from the bond of charity, binding them, when deprived of the fruit of the Blood, with the miserable bond with This bond is fastened which they themselves are bound. with the knot of pride, and self-esteem, and servile fear; for
it is
through fear of losing their temporal possessions
that they lose their grace, and fall into the greatest confu sion into which they can come, being deprived of the
This bond is sealed with the seal of do not know into what miseries they Where have fallen themselves, and make others to fall. correct in do not their fore, themselves, but, ignorance, they
dignity of the Blood.
darkness
;
for they
men, take glory in the destruction of their soul and body. Let it grieve thee inestimably, dearest daughter, to see such blindness and misery in those who have been washed in the Blood like thee, and nourished and brought up on the same Blood, at the breast of the holy Church, and, having become rebels through fear, and, under colour of correcting the defects of My ministers, whom I have forbidden them to touch, have left their mother s breast. Thou and My other servants should be in terror when you No tongue can tell hear this miserable bond spoken of.
like blind
THE DIALOGUE OF
250
ST.
CATHERINE
how abominable
it is to Me, and it is the worse, because they wish to cloak and hide their own defects with the mantle of the defects of My ministers, and they do not consider that no such mantle can repair their sins to My
They might, indeed, well eyes, which see everything. enough hide them from the eyes of My creatures, but not for I loved from Me, from Whom nothing can be hidden you and knew you before you were in existence. And this is one of the reasons why the wretched men of the world do not correct themselves, because they do not really ;
believe, with the light
of a lively
faith,
that
I
see them.
they really believed that I saw their sins, and that every sin would be punished, as every virtue rewarded, as I said to thee in another place, they would not do so much
For
evil,
if
but would correct themselves of that which they have
humbly implore My mercy, and I would But they are give it them through the Blood of My Son. obstinate and reprobated by My goodness for their sins, done, and would
and fallen into the final ruin of privation of light, and have become blind persecutors of the Blood, which persecution can find no excuse in any sin which may appear in the ministers of the
Blood."
CHAPTER A brief repetition
CXVIII.
of the above things, concerning the holy ministers.
Church and her
I HAVE told thee something, dearest daughter, of the reverence which should be paid to My anointed ones, in spite of their defects ; such reverence being paid to them, not on their own account, but because of the authority
"
I have given them. And, inasmuch as the mystery of the Sacrament cannot be diminished or divided by their
which
sins, the reverence due to the Treasure of the Blood, and not to them personally, should not be diminished thereby. As for those who do the contrary, I have shown thee, "
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
251
to a small extent, how grave and displeasing to Me is their irreverence and persecution of the Blood, and I have shown thee the league which they have made against Me, bound to the service of the Devil, in order that thy grief might
This sin of which
increase. is
that of
persecution
of
I
the
have spoken to thee in detail holy Church, and of the
Christian religion in general, by sinners who despise the This Blood, depriving themselves of the light of grace.
and displeases Me, as
sin is serious, in
I
have narrated to thee
detail."
CHAPTER Of the
CXIX.
excellence, virtues, and holy works of virtuous ministers and how such are like the sun.
and holy
;
"
I
WILL
ment
now
speak to thee, in order to give a
to thy soul,
and
to mitigate
thy
little
grief at the
refresh
darkness
of these miserable subjects, of the holy life of some of My ministers, of whom I have spoken to thee, who are like the
sun, for the odour of their virtues mitigates the stench of the vices of the others, and the light thereof shines in
And, by means of this light, wilt thou the be able to understand the darkness and sins of My better their darkness.
unworthy ministers. Open then the eye of thy intellect and gaze at the Sun of Justice, and thou wilt see those glorious ministers, who, through ministering the Sun, have become like to It, as I told thee of Peter, the prince of the Apostles, who received the keys of the kingdom of Heaven. I say the same of these others, who have administered, in the garden of the holy Church, the Light, that is to say, the the Blood of My only-begotten Son, is Himself the undivided Sun, as has been said, and all the
Body and
Who
Sacraments of the holy Church, which all give life in virtue of the Blood. Each one, placed in a different rank, has administered, according to his state, the grace of the Holy With what have they administered it ? With the Spirit.
THE DIALOGUE OF
252
ST.
CATHERINE
which they have drawn from
light of grace,
With
light alone ?
must none
at
No
this
True Light.
because the light cannot be separated from the warmth and colour of grace, wherefore a man either
have the
all.
;
light,
warmth, and colour of grace, or
A man
in mortal sin is deprived of the life of is in grace has illuminated the eye of
grace, and he who his intellect to know
Me, Who gave him both grace and the which preserves it, and, in that light, he knows the misery and the reason of sin, that is to say, his own selflove, on which account he hates it, and thereby receives the warmth of Divine love into his affection, which follows his intellect, and he receives the colour of this glorious Light, following the doctrine of My sweet Truth, by which his virtue
memory
is filled
Thou
with the benefit of the Blood.
seest,
no one can receive the light without receiving the warmth and the colour, for they are united together and are one thing wherefore he cannot, as I have said to thee, have one power of his soul so ordered as to receive Me, the True Sun, unless all three powers of his soul are brought together and ordered in My Name. For, as soon as the eye of the intellect lifts itself with the pupil of faith above therefore, that
;
sensual vision in the contemplation of Me, affection follows intellect sees and knows, and the it, loving that which the memory is filled with that which the affection loves ; and, as
soon as these powers are thus disposed, the soul participates in Me, the Sun Who illuminates her with My power, and with the wisdom of My only-begotten Son, and the fiery See, then, that these have clemency of the Holy Spirit. taken on them the condition of the Sun, for, having clothed themselves, and filled the power of their soul with Me, the true Sun, they become like Me. The Sun illuminates them
and causes the earth of their souls to germinate with Its heat. Thus do My sweet ministers, elected and anointed and placed in the mystical body of the holy Church, in order to administer Me, the Sun, that
and Blood of
My
other Sacraments, which draw their this
is
only-begotten Son, life
to say, the
Body
together with the
from
this
Blood
;
they do in two ways, actually, in administering the
Sacraments,
and
spiritually,
by shedding
forth
in
the
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
253
mystical body of the holy Church, the light of supernatural science, together with the colour of an honourable and
holy life, following the doctrine of My Truth, which they administer in the ardent love with which they cause barren fruit, illuminating them with the light of their and driving away the darkness of their mortal sin and infidelity, by the example of their holy and regular life, and reforming the lives of those who live in disorder and darkness of sin, and in coldness, through the privation of
souls to bear
science,
So thou seest that they are the Sun, because they charity. have taken the condition of the Sun from Me, the True Sun, because, through affection of love, they are one thing with Me, and I with them, as I narrated to thee in another place, and each one has given light in the holy Church, according to the position to which I have elected him Peter with preaching and doctrine, and in the end with blood Gregory with science, and holy scripture, and with :
;
life ; Sylvester, against the infidels, and with disputation and proving of the most holy faith, which he made in word and in deed, receiving virtue from Me. If thou turnest to Augustine, and to the glorious Thomas
the mirror of his
and Jerome, and the others, thou wilt see how much light they have thrown over this spouse, extirpating error, like lamps placed upon the candelabra, with true and perfect And, as if famished for such food, they feed upon My honour, and the salvation of souls, upon the table of The martyrs, indeed, with blood, the most holy Cross. which blood cast up sweet perfume before My countenance ; and, with the perfume of blood, and of the virtues, and with
humility.
the light of science, they brought forth fruit in this spouse and extended the faith, and, by their means, the light of the
most
holy
faith
was rekindled
in
the
darkened.
And
prelates, placed in the position of the prelacy of Christ
earth, offered
on
Me
the sacrifice of justice with holy and The pearl of justice, with true humility, and
upright lives. most ardent love, shone in them, and in their subjects, with the light of discretion. In them, principally because they justly paid
Name,
Me My
due, in rendering glory and praise to My own sensuality, hatred and displeasure,
and, to their
THE DIALOGUE OF
254
ST.
CATHERINE Me
and of
With humility they trampled on
pride,
despising vice and embracing virtue, with love of their neighbour.
and, with purity of heart and of body, came, like angels, to the table of the altar, and, with sincerity of mind, celebrated,
And, because they first had they therefore did justice to
burning in the furnace of love.
done
justice to
themselves,
those under them, wishing to see them live virtuously, and correcting them without any servile fear, because they were
not thinking of themselves, but solely of My honour and the salvation of souls, like good shepherds, followers of the
Good Shepherd,
My
Whom
Truth,
I
gave you to lead your
sheep, having willed that He should give His life for you. These have followed His footsteps, and therefore did they correct them, and did not let their members become putrid for want of correcting, but they charitably corrected them with the unction of benignity, and with the sharpness of fire, cauterising the wound of sin with reproof and penance,
or much, according to the graveness of the fault. And, order to correct it and to speak the truth, they did not even fear death. They were true gardeners who, with care little
in
and holy
tears,
took away the thorns of mortal sins, and Wherefore, those under
planted plants odoriferous of virtue.
them
lived
in
holy, true
fear,
and
grew up
like
sweet
smelling flowers in the mystic body of the holy Church, (because they were not deprived of correction, and so were
not guilty of
any
sin), for
My
gardeners corrected them without from it, and without any sin,
servile fear, being free
they balanced exactly the scales of holy justice, And this reproving humbly and without human respect. is that pearl which shines in them, and which and was justice for
gave peace and light in the minds of the people and caused And I holy fear to be with them, and unity of hearts. would that thou know that, more darkness and division have come into the world amongst seculars and religious and the clergy and pastors of the holy Church, through the lack of the light of justice, and the advent of the darkness of than from any other causes. civil law, nor the divine law, can be kept in any degree without holy justice, because he who is not injustice, "
Neither the
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
255
and does not correct others, becomes like a limb putrifies, and corrupts the whole body, because the bad physician, when it had already begun to corrupt, placed
corrected,
which
ointment immediately upon
it,
without having
first
burnt the
wound. So, were the prelate, or any other lord having sub jects, on seeing one putrifying from the corruption of mortal sin, to apply to him the ointment of soft words of en couragement alone, without reproof, he would never cure him, but the putrefaction would rather spread to the other members, who, with him, form one body under the same But if he were a physician, good and true to those pastor. as were those glorious pastors of old, he would not souls, give salving ointment without the fire of reproof. And, were the member still to remain obstinate in his evil doing, he would cut him off from the congregation in order that
he corrupt not the other members with the putrefaction of mortal sin. But they act not so to-day, but, in cases of evil doing, they even pretend not to see. And knowest thou wherefore ? The root of self-love is alive in them, wherefore they bear perverted and servile fear. Because they fear to lose their position or their temporal goods, or their prelacy, they do not correct, but act like blind ones, in
way by which their position is to be kept. If would they only see that it is by holy justice they would be able to maintain it ; but they do not, because they are deprived of light. But, thinking to pre serve their position with injustice, they do not reprove the faults of those under them and they are deluded by their that they see not the real
;
own
sensitive self-love, or by their desire for lordship and prelacy, and they correct not the faults they should correct
same or greater ones are their own. themselves comprehended in the guilt, and they therefore lose all ardour and security, and, fettered by servile
in others, because the
They
feel
fear,
they
make
believe not to see.
do see they do not
And, moreover,
if
they
bound words and with many presents, and
correct, but allow themselves to be
over with flattering they themselves find the excuse for the guilty ones not to be punished. In such as these are fulfilled the words spoken
by
My
Truth, saying
:
These are blind
and
leaders
of the
THE DIALOGUE OF
256
and
blind,
ST.
CATHERINE
if the blind lead the blind, they both fall into the
My sweet ministers, of whom I spoke to thee, who have the properties and condition of the sun, did not, And they and do not (if there be any now) act so. are truly suns, as I have told thee, because in them is no darkness of sin, or of ignorance, because they follow the 1
ditch.
doctrine of
burn
My
Truth.
They
the furnace of
in
My
are not tepid, because they and because they are
love,
despisers of the grandeurs, positions, and delights of the world. They fear not to correct, for he who does not it, and will and he whose conscience does not reprove manfully, reprove him of guilt, does not fear.
desire lordship or prelacy will not fear to lose
"And
therefore this pearl of justice
was not dimmed
in
My
anointed ones, My Christs (of whom I have narrated to thee), but was resplendent in them, wherefore they embraced
voluntary poverty, and sought out vileness with profound humility, and cared not for scorn or villainies, or the detractions of men,
or insult, or opprobrium, or pain,
or
torment. "They
were cursed, and they blessed, and, with
true
patience, they bore themselves like terrestrial angels, not by nature, but by their ministry, and the supernatural grace
given to them, of administering the Body and Blood of My And they are truly angels. Because, only-begotten Son. as the angel, which I give thee to be thy guardian, ministers
and good inspirations, so were these ministers and were given by My goodness to be guardians, angels, and therefore had they their eye continually over those under them, like real guardian angels, inspiring in their hearts holy and good thoughts, and offering up for them before Me, sweet and amorous desires with continual prayer, and the doctrine of words, and with example of life. So to thee holy
thou seest that they are angels, placed by like lanterns in the mystic
tions,
said.
burning love, to be have guides to
ye blind ones may way of truth, giving you good inspira you with prayers and example of life, and doctrine as I With how much humility did they govern those
your guardians, so direct
My
body of the holy Church,
into the
that
A TREATISE OF PRAYER under them, and converse with them hope and lively faith, and therefore with !
257
With how much
liberality, did they of the distribute to the poor the substance holy church, not fearing, or caring if for them and their subjects temporal
substance diminished.
And
they scarcely observed that
really bound to do, that is, to distribute the temporal substance to their own necessity being the poor in the church. They saved nothing, and after their death
which they were
there remained no
money
at
all,
and there were some even
who, for the sake of the poor, left the church in debt. This was because through the largeness of their charity, and of the hope that they had placed in My Providence, they were without servile fear that aught should diminish to
is
them, either spiritual or temporal. "The sign that a creature hopes in Me and not in himself, that he does not fear with a servile fear. They who
themselves are the ones who fear, and are afraid of own shadow, and doubt lest the sky and earth fade away before them. With such fears as these, and a perverted hope in their own small knowledge, they spend so much miserable solicitude in acquiring and preserving
hope
in
their
temporal things, that they turn their back on the spiritual,
But they, miserable, faithless, proud caring not for them. ones consider not that I alone am He who provides all things necessary for the soul and the body, and that with the same measure that My creatures hope in Me, will My
The miserable presump providence be measured to them. tuous ones do not regard the fact that I am He who is, and
who are not, and that they have received and every other additional grace, from My being, And therefore his labour may be reputed to Goodness. be in vain, who watches the city if it be not guarded by Me. All his labour will be vain, if he thinks by his
they are they their
labour or solicitude to keep is
true that
I
graces which
I
because
alone keep it. It and exercise the you your being, have bestowed upon you, in virtue using the
desire
it,
I
to use
which
I have given you, with the light of reason, because though I created you without your help I will not I loved you before you were, and save you without it.
free-will
R
THE DIALOGUE OF
258
those
beloved ones saw and
My
they loved greatly in
ST.
Me ineffably, Me that they
CATHERINE
knew
and through
this,
and therefore
their love
hoped so
feared nothing. Sylvester feared he stood before the Emperor Constantine disputing
not when with those twelve Jews before the whole crowd, but with lively faith he believed that I being for him, no one could be against him and in the same way the others all lost their every fear, because they were not alone but were ;
accompanied, because being in the enjoyment of love, they were in Me, and from Me they acquired the light of the wisdom of My only-begotten Son, and from Me they received the faculty to be strong and powerful against the princes and tyrants of the world, and from Me they had the fire of the Holy Spirit, sharing the clemency and burning love of that Spirit. "
it,
This love was and
with the light of
the companion of whosoever desires faith, with hope, with fortitude, true is
So thou patience and long perseverance even until death. seest that because they were not alone but were accompanied
He only who feels himself to be nothing. in and alone, himself, deprived of the affection of love, hopes afraid of and is fears, every little thing, because he alone is without Me Who give supreme security to the soul who And of this possesses Me through the affection of love. did those glorious ones, My beloved, have full experience, for nothing could injure their souls; but they on the contrary could injure men and the devils, who ofttimes remained bound by the virtue and power that I had given My This was because I responded to the servants over them. and faith love, hope they had placed in Me. Thy tongue would not be sufficient to relate their virtues, neither the eye of thy intellect to see the fruit which they receive in everlasting life, and that all will receive who follow in their They are like precious stones, and as such do footsteps. in stand My presence, because I have received their they labour and poverty and the light which they shed with the odour of virtues in the mystic body of the holy church. And in the life eternal I have placed them in the greatest dignity, and they receive blessing and glory in My sight, they feared
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
259
because they gave the example of an honourable and holy life, and with light administered the Light of the Body and Blood of My only-begotten Son, and all the Sacraments.
And
My
these
anointed ones and ministers are peculiarly
beloved by Me, on account of the dignity which I placed in them, and because this Treasure which I placed in their hands they did not hide through negligence and ignorance,
but rather recognised it to be from Me, and exercised it with care and profound humility with true and real virtues ; and because I, for the salvation of souls, having placed them in so much excellency they never rested like good shepherds from putting the sheep into the fold of the holy church, and even out of love and hunger for souls they gave themselves to die, to get them out of the hands of the devil. They made themselves infirm with those who were so that they might not be overcome with despair, infirm,
and
them more courage in exposing their infirmity, would ofttimes lend countenance to their infirmity and they I am infirm with thee. too, say, They wept with those who wept, and rejoiced with those who rejoiced and thus sweetly they knew to give every one his nourishment, preserving the good and rejoicing in their virtues, not being to give
;
gnawed by envy, but expanded with the broadness of love for their neighbours, and those under them. They drew the imperfect ones out of imperfection, themselves becoming imperfect and infirm with them, as I told thee, with true
and holy compassion, and correcting them and giving them penance for the sins they committed they through love endured their penance together with them. For through who more the bore love, they pain than they gave penance, who received it and there were even those who actually performed the penance, and especially when they had seen that it had appeared particularly difficult to the penitent. Wherefore by that act the difficulty became changed into ;
sweetness.
beloved ones, they made themselves subjects, being prelates, they made themselves servants, being lords, they made themselves infirm, being whole, and without "Oh
!
infirmity
My
and the leprosy of mortal
sin,
being strong they
THE DIALOGUE OF
26o
ST.
CATHERINE
made themselves weak, with
the foolish and simple they and with the small insignificant. simple, And so with love they knew how to be all things to all men, and to give to each one his nourishment. What caused them to do thus ? The hunger and desire for My honour and the salvation of souls which they had conceived in Me. They ran to feed on it at the table of the holy Cross, not fleeing from or refusing any labour, but with zeal for souls and for the good of the holy church and the spread of the
showed themselves
faith,
they put themselves in the midst of the thorns of and exposed themselves to every peril with true
tribulation,
patience, offering incense odoriferous with
and humble and continual prayers.
With
anxious desires, tears and sweat
they anointed the wounds of their neighbour, that is the of the guilt of mortal sin, which latter were perfectly
wounds
cured, the ointment so made, being received in
humility."
CHAPTER CXX. A
brief repetition of the preceding chapter ; and of the reverence which should be paid to priests, whether they are good or bad.
I HAVE shown thee, dearest daughter, a sample of the excellence of good priests (for what I have shown thee is only a sample of what that excellence really is), and I have "
which
have placed them, on account of which My ministers, not I do wish and them to be punished authority dignity of seculars on account of the hand by any personal defect, for those who punish them offend Me miserably. But I wish seculars to hold them in due reverence, not for their own sakes, as I have said, but for Mine, by reason of the Wherefore this authority which I have given them. told thee
of the dignity in
having elected
them
I
for
reverence should never diminish in the
case
of priests
grows weak, any more than in the case of those virtuous ones of whose goodness I have spoken to
whose thee
;
virtue
for all alike
have been appointed ministers of the
A TREATISE OF PRAYER Sun
that is of the
Body and Blood of
My
261
Son, and of the
other Sacraments. dignity belongs to good and bad alike
"This
all
have
Sun
to administer, as has been said, and perfect priests are themselves in a condition of light, that is to say, they illuminate and warm their neighbours through their love.
the
And
with this heat they cause virtues to spring up and I have appointed bear fruit in the souls of their subjects. them to be in very truth your guardian angels to protect you ; to inspire your hearts with good thoughts by their doctrine reflected in the holy prayers, and to teach you and to serve life, you by administering to the thus serving you, watching over you holy Sacraments,
My
mirror of their
you, and inspiring you with good and holy does an angel.
thoughts as
See then, that besides the dignity to which I have appointed them, how worthy they are of being loved, when they also possess the adornment of virtue, as did those of whom I spoke to thee, which all are bound and obliged to possess, and in what great reverence you should hold them, for they are My beloved children and shine each as a sun in the mystical body of the holy Church by their virtues, for every virtuous man is worthy of love, and these all the more by reason of the ministry which I have placed in their "
lands.
You should
love
them therefore by reason of the
virtue and dignity of the Sacrament, and by reason of that very virtue and dignity you should hate the defects of those
who live miserably in sin, but not on that account appoint yourselves their judges, which I forbid, because they are My Christs, and you ought to love and reverence the You know well that authority which I have given them. a filthy and badly dressed person brought you a great treasure from which you obtained life, you would not hate
if
the bearer, however ragged and filthy he might be, through love of the treasure and of the lord who sent it to you.
His
would indeed displease you, and you would be through love of his master that he should be cleansed from his foulness and properly clothed. This, state
anxious
then, is your duty according to the
demands of
charity,
and
THE DIALOGUE OF
262
ST.
CATHERINE
wish you to act with regard to such badly ordered who, themselves filthy and clothed in garments, ragged with vice through their separation from My love, that is to say, the Sacraments bring you great Treasures from Which you obtain the life of of the holy church
thus
I
priests,
Them worthily (in spite of the great defects may be in them) through love of Me, the Eternal God, who send them to you, and through love of that life
grace, receiving
there
of grace which you receive from the great treasure, by which they administer to you the whole of God and the whole of Man, that is to say, the Body and Blood of My
Son united
to
My
Divine nature.
Their sins indeed should
displease you, and you should hate them, and strive with love and holy prayer to re-clothe them, washing away their foulness with your tears that is to say, that you should offer
them before them in
re-clothe
Me
with tears and great desire, that I may the garment of charity.
My goodness, with
Know well that I wish to do them grace, if only they will dispose themselves to receive it, and you to pray for it ; for it is not according to My will that they should administer you the Sun being themselves in darkness, nor that they should be stripped of the garment of virtue, foully living in dishonour ; on the contrary I have given them to you, and appointed them to be earthly angels and suns, as I have to
said.
It
not being
My
will that they should
be in this
ye should pray for them, and not judge them, leaving And I, moved by your prayers, wilf their judgment to Me. do them mercy if they will only receive it, but if they do* state,
not correct their ruin. I,
the
For
if
life,
their dignity will be the cause of their
they do not accept the breadth of
Supreme Judge,
last extremity,
shall terribly
and they
My
condemn them
will be sent to the eternal
mercy,
at their fire."
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
CHAPTER Of the "
Now
sins
and
evil life of
listen, dearest
263
CXXI.
wicked priests and ministers.
daughter, so that thou and
My
other
servants may have more reason for offering to Me your I will show thee humble and continual prayers for them. thou mayest direction in whatever for life their iniquitous and and prelates, look among secular religious priests, clerics, thou of and and kind, every small and old, ;
great, young wilt see nothing but offences against
mortal hurts
sin,
me
which they
not at
all,
all
Me
and the stench of which stench, indeed, exhale;
but themselves grievously.
Up
to the
My present I thou that and refresh to thy soul, good ministers in order these wretches, and mightest the better know the misery of intolerable the how and see how grave is the reproof, as My beloved even are of which worthy, have told thee of the excellence and virtue of
they punishment and chosen priests, on account of having virtuously used the Treasure given to them, are worthy of a greater reward than other men, and of being placed as pearls in My sight.
So contrariwise these wretches, who
shall receive a terrible
punishment. "Dost thou perceive, dearest daughter, with grief and have bitterness of heart, in what they placed their principle and foundation ? has They have placed it in their own self-love, whence "
and the offshoot of indiscretion ; for indiscreetly do they seize honour and glory for them and delicate selves, seeking great prelacies and ornaments, abuse and render To Me they treatment for their bodies.
grown the
tree of pride
which is not their attributing to themselves that For to Me should that which is not Mine. and to
offence,
own
Me
the praise, and to them glory be given, and to My Name selves should they render hatred of their own sensuality
with true self-knowledge, deeming themselves unworthy of But so great a mystery as they have received from Me. cannot these do the contrary, for, inflated with pride, they
THE DIALOGUE OF
264
satiate themselves
CATHERINE
ST.
with gnawing the earth of riches and
worldly delights, becoming mean, greedy, and avaricious towards the poor, from which miserable pride and avarice,
born of their
own
they have abandoned the care apply themselves to take care of
self-love,
of souls.
They only temporal things and abandon My lambs, whom I have placed in their hands, like sheep without a shepherd, and do not feed
them temporally or
spiritually. Spiritually, indeed, they administer the
Sacraments of the Sacraments cannot be which taken away, or holy Church, but they do not feed their virtue lost through their defect you with hearty prayers, with hunger and desire for your Nor salvation, together with a holy and honourable life. do they feed their subjects with temporal things, that is to say, the poor with the substance of the Church, of which I one for the said to thee that three parts should be made for the and the third for another poor, priests necessities, These do the contrary, for not the uses of the Church. only do they not give to the poor the substance which they are obliged to give them, but they even rob their neighbour with simony and lust money, selling the grace of the Holy for often are to be found some of them so wicked Spirit as to refuse to give to him who is in need thereof the Mystery Which I have given them freely, and will only dispense It to those who fill their hands and persuade them with many gifts. They love their subjects for what they Their share of can get out of them, and nothing more. the Church they spend entirely on their own garments, loving to go delicately apparelled, not as clerks and religious, but as lords and courtiers. They take pains to have fine and vessels of many gold and silver for the adorn horses, ment of their dwellings, possessing that which cannot be and with ultimately retained, with much vanity of heart this disordinate vanity their heart swells, and they place "
;
:
;
;
making of their belly their god, without and restraint, so that they promptly eating drinking fall into an impure and lascivious life. For they waste Woe woe to their wretched life with harlots that which My only-begotten Son, the sweet all
their desire in food,
"
!
!
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
265
Word, acquired with such pain on the wood Cross
;
of the holy
they are devourers of souls bought with the Blood
of Christ, devouring them in their great misery in many and diverse ways, and with the substance of the poor do Oh temples of the Devil, I have they feed their children. !
life ; and you appointed you These are devils, for you have taken the work of devils. devils give in return darkness, for what they have received
to be earthly angels in this
and administering to them cruel torments, away from grace, with persecutions and drag to reduce them to the guilt of mortal in order temptations, to do what sin, striving they can to this end although no sin can occur unless the tempted soul herself wish it, yet So these wretches are not worthy they do what they can. from their
flocks,
their
souls
;
of being called
My
ministers
;
they are incarnate devils, for
have they conformed themselves to the will of by the Devil, and do his work, at the same time administering Me, the True Sun, in the darkness of mortal sin, casting the darkness of their disordinate and criminal life over their They cause con subjects and all other rational creatures. fusion and pain in the minds of creatures, who see them living in disorder ; they are also the cause of confusion of conscience to those whom they often drag from the state of grace and the way of truth, and leading them to sin Not that he who cause them to go by the way of lies. thus follows them is on that account excused for his sin, for no one can be obliged to the guilt of mortal sin, either by invisible devils or by these visible ones ; wherefore, no their sin
one should look at their life or imitate what they do, but as My Truth admonished you in the holy Gospel you should rather do what they say that is, you should follow the doctrine which is given you in the mystical body of the holy Church, by means of the preachers who go about as town-criers, proclaiming My Word in the Holy Scripture. And as for the woes which these wretches deserve, and their evil
life,
do not imitate the
latter or
seek to
inflict
the
former, for in doing so you will offend Me ; but leave them their evil life, and take doctrine, leaving their punish
My
ment
to
Me,
for I
am
the sweet Eternal
God
Who
reward
THE DIALOGUE OF
266
every virtue and punish every
ST.
CATHERINE
sin.
They
will
not evade
punishment through the dignity of being My ministers, but on the contrary if they do not amend they will be their
more severely punished than received more than others.
others, because they have Their sin being so terrible
all
See therefore that
they deserve the greater punishment.
they are in truth devils in the same way as My elect are earthly angels, inasmuch as they do angels work."
CHAPTER
CXXII.
How
injustice reigns in the above-mentioned wicked ministers ; that particularly in that they do not correct their subjects.
"
I
HAVE
told thee
pearl of justice.
how
Now
in I
My beloved will tell thee
and
ones there shone the how these miserable
wretches wear injustice on their breast as a buckle, which injustice both proceeds from, and is clasped with their own self-love, through which they commit injustice against their own souls and against Me, in the darkness of their in discretion.
Me they deprive of glory, and themselves of honour and a holy life, having neither desire for the salvation of souls nor hunger for virtue. For this reason they act unjustly towards their subjects and their neighbour, and do not "
rather they are blind and do not know ; and allow their them, subjects to sleep and lie quiet in their from their disordinate fear of offending creatures. infirmities, But they do not observe that in thus wishing to please creatures, they in reality displease them, and Me, your Sometimes indeed they do correct their Creator, as well. correct their vices
order to cloak themselves in some rag of But they do not go to a great man who is living justice. in great and open sin, for they are afraid if they do that he will interfere with their own state and life, but they turn on some insignificant person, for they see that he can do them no harm. Thus is injustice committed through neighbour, in
A TREATISE OF PRA
267
miserable self-love, which has poisoned the whole world , and the mystical body of the holy Church, and through which the garden of My Spouse has run to seed and given birth to putrid flowers, which garden was properly cultivated at the time when the true labourers were there, that is to say, My holy ministers, and was adorned with many fragrant flowers, for the subjects led virtuous, honourable and holy
through the examples of their good pastors.
lives,
To-day
not so, but rather the contrary, for through wicked pastors the subjects have also become wicked. My Spouse is
it
is full
of the various thorns of
many
sins, not that
she can
herself be infected through the stench of sin, for the virtue of the Sacraments can receive no harm, but those
in
who
feed at the breast of this
Spouse are infected by the
stench in their souls, losing the dignity in which I have placed them, though that dignity is not diminished in itself, but only with regard to them. "
Wherefore through
their sins the Blood is held of
no
the due reverence which they for the Blood s sake not that they
for seculars lose
account,
ought to pay to them ought to do so, and their fault, even if I forgive them, is none the less on account of the sins of their pastors, who are wretched mirrors of sin, in that office in which I have placed them in order to be mirrors of virtue." ;
CHAPTER Of many other
WHENCE comes their own
From
;
in particular of
harlotry.
the stench that so infects sensuality,
love have they enthroned
who
and and gambling and
defects of the said ministers
their frequenting taverns "
CXXIII.
as
their souls ?
which sensuality and
self-
the mistress of their soul,
has become sensuality s handmaid, whereas I had I speak of the free with the Blood of My Son.
made her general
manumission when the whole human race was and lordship of the Devil. Every
freed from the servitude
THE DIALOGUE OF
268
ST.
CATHERINE
and above it, from the servitude of the
rational creature received this grace but, over I
set
anointed ones
My
free
world, and appointed them to serve Me, the eternal God, alone, and to administer the Sacraments of the holy Church, and so free have I made them, that I do not wish any
temporal lord to be their judge. daughter,
how
they repay
Me
Dost thou know, dearest for
so
great
a
benefit ?
way by continually persecuting Me with such diverse and terrible sins that thy tongue could not narrate, and thou wouldest faint at hearing them. Certain things, however, I will tell thee of them besides that which I have already said, in order to give thee matter for weeping and compassion. They ought to remain at the table of the Cross with holy desire, feeding on the food They repay
Me
of souls for
My honour,
in this
and although every rational creature
so, much more ought they whom I have chosen order to administer to you the Body and Blood of Christ
should do in
crucified,
My
only- begotten
their labours, of a
Son, and to
you the life, and to Truth with
give
good and holy
example by feed on the food of your souls, following My But they have chosen for their great and holy desire. table the public tavern, and there, openly cursing and per juring themselves, full of many miserable sins, like men blinded and without the light of reason, have become animals through their sins, and live lasciviously in word
and deed. They do not know if there be any Divine office, and if sometimes they say it, they do so with their tongue only, their heart being far from Me. They are also rogues and cheats, and having played for their soul, and lost it to the Devil, they stake the goods of the Church, and the temporal substance which they receive by virtue of the Wherefore the blood, cheating and gambling it away. poor do not receive their due, and the Church remains unfurnished and deprived of the necessary ornaments ; for these men, having become temples of the Devil, take no But those ornaments further care of My Temple. which they ought to place in the church out of reverence of the Blood, they place in their own houses and what is worse, they do this as bridegrooms adorning their spouses, ;
A TREATISE OF PRAYER for these incarnate
their she-devils, with
269,
demons adorn with church property
whom
they live shamelessly
in iniquity
and impurity, sending them about or keeping them with so much so that these them, at their own pleasure wretched demons, even when they are celebrating at the altar, are not the least disturbed if their wretched she-devil ;
should come up with the rest
of the
make her
people to
Oh demons, by the hand. and more than demons if only your iniquities were more concealed from the eyes of your subjects, doing them in secret, you would indeed offend Me and hurt yourselves, but at least you would not do the harm you now do to your neighbour, laying bare your criminal life before his eyes, sa that your example gives him no reason to leave his own. sins, but rather causes him to fall into similar and greater offering, leading their children
!
!
ones than you I require from
fall
into yourselves.
My
minister,
Is this the purity that to celebrate at
when he comes
What purity is this that he brings, who rises morning with his mind defiled, and his body corrupted with impure mortal sin, and proceeds to celebrate ? Oh t tabernacle of the Devil, where are thy matins sung devoutly in solemn choir ? Where is thy continual and holy prayer ? Where are thy night watches, during which thou disposest thyself for the holy ministry which thou hast to perform in the morning, meditating on thy self-knowledge, and deeming thyself unworthy of so great a mystery, and on thy knowledge of Me, who have made thee worthy, not through thy own merits, but have chosen thee to be My minister,,
My
altar ?
in the
My goodness, so that thou other creatures ?
through
My
to
Me
mayest administer
"
CHAPTER CXXIV. How among the
said ministers reigns unnatural sin ; and of a which this soul had on the subject.
beautiful vision "
I
this
WISH thee to know, dearest daughter, that I require in Sacrament from you and from them as great purity as
THE DIALOGUE OF
270
ST.
CATHERINE
man to have in this life. On your side endeavour to acquire it continually. You should you ought think that were it possible that the angelic nature should be purified, such purification would be necessary with regard to this mystery, but this is not possible, for angels need no I purification, since the poison of sin cannot infect them. it
possible for
is
to
say this to thee in order that thou mayest see how great a purity I require from you and from them in this Sacrament, and particularly from them. But they act in a contrary way, for they come full of impurity to this mystery, and not only of that impurity to which, through the fragility of
your weak nature, you are
when
reason nature),
fragility,
free-will
naturally inclined (although permits, can quiet the rebellion of all
but these wretches not only do not bridle this but do worse, committing that accursed sin against
nature, and as blind and fools with the light of their intellect darkened, they do not know the stench and misery in which It is not only that this sin stinks before Me, they are.
Who am
the
Supreme and Eternal Truth,
Me
so
it does indeed such abomination displease that for it alone I buried five cities by a Divine judgment, My Divine justice being no longer able to endure it. This sin not only displeases Me as I have said, but also the
whom
much and
I
hold
it
in
made their masters. Not them because displeases they like anything their because nature but was good, originally angelic, and their angelic nature causes them to loathe the sight of the actual commission of this enormous sin. They truly enough hurl the arrow poisoned with the venom of concupiscence, devils that
the
these wretches have
evil
when their victim proceeds to the actual commission of the sin, they depart for the reason and in the manner that Thou rememberest that I manifested to thee I have said. but
before the plague how displeasing this sin was to Me, and how deeply the world was corrupted by it ; so I lifted thee
with holy desire and elevation of mind above thyself, and showed thee the whole world and, as it were, the nations thereof, and thou sawest this terrible sin and the devils
have told thee, and thou rememberest that so
fleeing as
I
great was
the pain that thou didst receive, and the stench
A TREATISE OF PRAYER of this
on
sin, that
271
thou didst seem to thyself to see no refuge which thou and My other servants
this side of death, in
could hide so as not to be attacked by this leprosy. Thou didst see that thou couldest not remain among men, for neither small nor great, nor old nor young, nor clerics nor religious,
nor prelates, nor lords, nor subjects, were un-
contaminated in body or mind by this curse. 11 1 showed thee this in general but not of individuals.
If
may My servants preserved among the wicked from its infection on account of their virtue, I retain be any of
indeed there
My just wrath and do not command the rocks to roll down on them, nor the earth to swallow them up, nor the animals to devour them, nor the devils to carry them off body and soul on the contrary, I seek for ways and methods for doing them mercy, in order that they may correct their Wherefore I place in their midst My servants who life. are healthy and not leprous, so that they may pray to Me for them. Sometimes I show them these miserable sins so that they may be more careful in seeking for the salvation of sinners, offering them to Me with greater com passion and sorrow for their defects and the offence done ;
to Me, interceding with
Me
for them, as
the
way which thou knowest
well
when
I
caused thee to
and
;
feel
if
I
did to thee in
thou rememberest
a whiff of this stench, thou
Oh! Eternal faint, and didst say to Me, Father have mercy on me, and on Thy creatures either separate my soul from my body (for it does not seem to me that I can survive) or refresh me by showing me where I and Thy other servants can repose, so that this leprosy almost
didst
!
;
not destroy
may
or injure
the
purity of our souls and
bodies. "
My
I
replied to thee, turning towards thee with the eye of
kindness,
and
I
repeat
now
Let your repose,
My
daughter, be to render glory and praise to My Name, and to offer before Me the incense of continual prayer for these
poor wretches who are in so miserable a state, having become worthy of the Divine vengeance for their sins. Let your place of refuge be Christ crucified, My only-begotten Son ; dwell and hide yourselves in the cavern of His Side,
THE DIALOGUE OF
272
where you
CATHERINE
ST.
taste through love for his humanity My In that open Heart you will find love for
will
Divine nature.
Me
and for your neighbour, for it was for the honour of Me, the Eternal Father, and to fulfil the obedience which I have laid on you for your salvation, that He ran to the shameful death of the Holy Cross. Seeing and tasting this love you will follow His doctrine, feeding at the table of that is, enduring through love and true the Holy Cross patience your neighbour, and all labours, torments and pains from whatever quarter they come, and in this way you will flee and escape the leprosy. This was the method which I gave thee and others, but in spite of all this the feeling of the stench did not leave thy soul, nor the dark But My Providence provided ness the eye of thy intellect.
moment when thou didst receive in Body and Blood of My Son, wholly God
for this, for at the
communion
the
and wholly man, the stench
left
thee on account of the
fragrance, and the darkness left thee on account of the light which thou didst receive in this Sacrament, and by an ad
My goodness the odour and taste of the Blood remained for several days in thy mouth and palate, as thou knowest. 11 See, therefore, dearest daughter, how abominable this
mirable effect of
Me
in every creature. Think, then, how much among those whom I have drawn out of the world and who live in a state of continence, among whom some have left the world to enter religion, and others are
sin is to
more so
it is
planted
like
flowers
whom
Church among
in
the mystical body of the holy My ministers. Thou couldest
are
this sin displeases Me in of the world and private persons prac For tising continence, of whom I have spoken to you. these as lights placed on the candlestick are the admini
how much more
never understand
them than
in
men
Me, the True Sun in the light of virtue and of and honourable life, and yet they minister in darkness and are so darkened that they do not understand My Holy Scripture, which itself is illuminated because strators of their holy
written by My True Light, as
with the supernatural help of Me, the I say explained to thee in another place.
elect I
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
273
that on account of their inflated pride and lasciviousness they see and understand nothing but the shell of the letter, and that they receive without any profit, because the taste of their soul is not rightly ordered, but to thee
rather corrupted with self-love and pride, and their reins full of impurity; for they desire to fulfil their disordinate
are
delights, committing their sins publicly and without shame ; and in addition to all this, so full are they of greed and
avarice that they also commit usury which I have forbidden. Miserable indeed will those be who commit it."
CHAPTER CXXV. How, through correction evils not
"
How
;
the above-mentioned defects, subjects do not receive and of the defects of religious and how, from these ;
being corrected,
can these
or
the
men
many
full
others follow.
of such terrible sins do justice
to,
of
their subjects ? reprove They cannot, because their sins take from them the ardent zeal of holy And if on some occasion they should do so, their justice.
subjects,
who
sician, first
sins
are their companions in sin, can reply,
heal thyself, and then heal me, then
I
Phy
will take
This man is in a and he blames me. He does am, yet badly who reproves only with words and not with a good and well-ordered life. Not that he should not, whether he be good or evil in himself, reprove what is wrong in his subject, but he does wrong in not also correcting him with And much worse does he a holy and honourable example. who does not receive the reproof humbly, however it be given him, whether by a good or an evil pastor he injures himself and no one else, for he alone will be punished for the medicine which
worse
state than
thou givest me.
I
;
own
All these evils, dearest daughter, arrive pastors do not correct their flocks with a good and holy example. Because they are do they not ? blinded by self-love, in which are founded all their iniquities,
his
because
sins.
my
Why
THE DIALOGUE OF
274
and subjects, pastors, nothing
else,
than
clerics
how
ST.
CATHERINE
and religious
they
alike,
may accomplish
ordinate delights and pleasures. where is the obedience of religious
think of
their
dis-
sweet daughter, who have been placed in holy religion like angels, and are become worse than devils ? I have placed them there to announce My word in doctrine and in truth, and they cry out with the sound of words alone, and so produce no fruit in the hearts of their hearers. Their preaching
is
made
Alas
!
rather for the pleasure of men,
their ears, than to honour. Wherefore, they do not make it their study to preach goodness of life, but rather to discourse with polished wit. Such as these
and
My
to tickle
do not truly sow My seed, because they take no pains to For not having uprooted root out vices and plant virtues. the thorns out of their own garden, they take no pains to All their delight is in do so out of their neighbour s. adorning their bodies and their cells, and in hurrying to and And the same thing happens to them fro about the city. as to a fish which dies when taken out of water. So die these religious who leave their cell of which they should make a heaven, and wander with their useless and dis honourable life through the wards of the city, seeking out the houses of their relations, and of other seculars, according to the pleasure of their wretched subjects and wicked And since superiors who hold them in so loose a leash. these miserable pastors do not mind seeing their religious subject in the hands of she-devils, they often themselves And sometimes when they know give him up to them. that they are incarnate devils they will send them to the monasteries to those who are incarnate she-devils, and thus one ruins the other with many subtle devices and frauds. And the principle of their life the Devil conceals under the cover of devotion, but the fruits of their devotions appear very soon. First are seen stinking flowers of dishonourable thoughts, and the leaves of corrupt words, and then they fulfil their miserable desires, and thou knowest well what
And often they carry it so one and the other, leave their religion, and become public rogues and harlots. fruits follow,
far that both
namely, children.
A TREATISE OF PRAYER "
All these and
many who have not
275
other evils are caused by worthless
kept their eye on their subjects, them go loose, and themselves pushed them into sin, and have made as if they did not see their miseries, or that their subject was wearied with his cell and so through their double fault the subject dies. Thy tongue could not narrate with what terrible sins and in what miserable ways they offend Me. They have become the arms of the Devil, and with their stench they poison everything within, that is, in their monastery, and without superiors,
but have rather
let
;
among
seculars.
They
are deprived of fraternal charity, Each one desires
and each one wishes to be the greater. to possess
something, acting contrary to obedience and the
vow which
they have taken. They have promised to observe the rule of their order, and they break it, and not only do they not observe the rule themselves but they fall
hungry wolves upon the lambs, who wish to observe it, mocking them and jeering at them. These wretches think to cover their own sins with the persecutions, mockery and insult that they deal out to good religious who observe the like
doing so they expose themselves much more. a state have come the gardens of holy religious for orders holy they are in themselves, having been founded the by Holy Spirit, and indeed the order in itself cannot be rule, but in "
To such ;
spoilt or corrupted
through the sins of subject or superior. Wherefore he who wishes to enter a religious order should not be astonished at its evil members, but should continue
on
his way reposing in the arms of the order, which is not, and cannot become weak in itself, observing his rule to the I have said to thee that the gardens of day of his death. the holy religious orders have come to such a state, through evil directors and wicked subjects, that they do not keep or
observe their rule in purity but break it, neither observing their customs or their ceremonies, which they rather ordain
and observe for the pleasure of seculars wishing to please them in order to cloak their own sins. "See therefore that they do not fulfil their first vow of obedience to observe their rule, of which obedience I will speak
to thee in another place.
They
also take the
vow
of
276
THE DIALOGUE OF
ST.
CATHERINE
voluntary poverty and of continence. How do they observe these ? Marvel at the private possessions and sums of which each one keeps in private, far from the money universal love with which he should share his temporal and spiritual substance with his brethren, according to the
commands these
of charity, and of the rule of his order.
men wish
only to
fatten themselves
and their
But cattle
(one beast feeding the other) while their poor brother dies of cold and hunger, so that their garments may be comfort
Do not think to ably lined, and they may have good food. such a one at the poor table of the refectory ; his delight is to be where he can fill himself with meat, and
find
satisfy his greediness.
observe the third
He
of course finds
it
impossible to
vow
of continence, for a full belly makes being heated and disordered he becomes
an unchaste mind Much harm and so goes from bad to worse. also comes from the evil of their possessions, for if they had nothing to spend, they could not live in such disorder, and would not have these dangerous friendships, for not having the wherewithal to make presents, they would not retain these friendships, which are based on the love of gifts or some delight or pleasure which the one person receives from the other, and not on perfect Oh wretched ones, who have come, to such charity. misery through their sins, having been placed by Me in such high dignity, they flee from the choir as if it were poison, and if they are there sing with their voice alone, their heart being far from Me. As to the table of the altar, they have made it their habit to approach it without any proper dispositions, as if it were a table for corporal food. All these evils and many others of which I will not speak further to thee, so that thy ears may not itch, follow from the sinfulness of wicked pastors who do not correct or punish the sins of their subjects, and are not careful or zealous that the rule of their order should be observed, because they themselves do not observe it. They will even those wish who to observe for their stone, great obedience, the rule, punishing them for the faults which they have ;
lascivious,
!
not committed.
And
all this
they do, because the pearl of
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
277
justice does not shine in them, but rather injustice. Where fore they unjustly give to him who deserves grace and
kindness,
penance
members
of
the
and Devil
hatred, like
and
to
themselves
those
who
they give
are love,
pleasure, and position, placing in their hands the dignities Like blind men they live, and like blind men of the order.
And if they distribute dignities, and govern their subjects. they do not correct themselves of this blindness, they eventually arrive at the darkness of eternal damnation, and have to give account to Me, the supreme Judge of the souls A bad account is all that they can of their subjects. render, and therefore they receive justly from Me that which they have deserved."
CHAPTER CXXVI. How among these "
I
life
HAVE given of those
wicked ministers reigns the
sin of lustfulness.
thee, dearest
who
live in
daughter, a slight idea of the holy religion, I have shown thee
how
miserably they live in their order, clothed like sheep, I now return to but being in reality rapacious wolves.
the clerics and ministers of the
holy Church, to lament with thee over their sins, over and above what I have narrated to thee, founded on three columns of vice, Impurity, Pride, and Cupidity, through which cupidity they As I have already told the grace of the Holy Spirit. thee, concerning these three vices, one depends on the other, inflated sell
As and the foundation of these three columns is self-love. long as these three columns stand erect and do not fall to the earth, by force of the love of virtue they are sufficient to keep the mind firm and obstinate in every other vice, for as I
have told thee, all the vices grow out of self-love, because from self-love is born the principal vice of pride, and a proud man is deprived of charity. And from pride he goes on to impurity and avarice, and so enchains himself with the Devil s fetters. Now observe, dearest daughter, with what pride and filthiness they defile their minds and bodies of
THE DIALOGUE OF
278
ST.
CATHERINE
which
I have But there is already told thee somewhat. another thing that I would tell thee, in order that thou mayest know better the fountain of My mercy, and have
greater compassion on these wretches when thou meetest them. Some of them are such devils that they not only do not reverence the sacrament, or hold dear the excellent
which I have placed them by My goodness, but as out of their minds with guilty love for some creature, being unable to obtain what they desire, will use devilish state in
if
incantations, and will make enchantments with the very sacrament that is given you for the food of life, in order to fulfil their wretched and dishonourable thoughts, and make their will take effect.
And
those lambs whose souls and
bodies they should feed so carefully they torment in such ways as these and many others, which I will pass over in
order not to give thee more pain ; for as thou knowest they cause them to lose their senses, their will being forced to do that which they do not wish, through the spell which this incarnate devil
bodies
has cast over them
they make many other miserable I
;
sometimes also their
very gravely through the resistance which to themselves. What is the cause of this, and
suffer
need not
tell
evils,
of which as they knowest them
thee ? Their dishonourable and
wretched
the flesh, dearest daughter, that flesh which is exalted above all the choirs of the angels in My divine Nature united to your humanity, which these men give up
life.
to
It
is
such misery.
Oh, abominable and wretched men, no
man, but a brute beast, that thou givest thy flesh, anointed and consecrated to Me, to harlots and worse. From thy whole human race was taken which Adam wound had made by his sin, on the away \vood of the most holy Cross, by the wounded body of My only begotten Son Oh, wretched man, He has done
flesh
as from that of the
the
!
thee honour, and thou puttest Him to shame. He has healed thy wounds with His blood, and has further made thee His minister, and thou persecutest Him with lascivious and dishonourable sins. The Good Shepherd has washed
His lambs in His blood, and thou defilest those who are pure, and doest all thou canst to cast them on to the dung-
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
279
It is thy duty to be a mirror of honour, and thou art a mirror of shame. Thou hast directed all the members of
hill.
thy body to work wickedness, and doest the contrary of that which My truth did for thee. I endured that His eyes should be veiled, for thy better illumination, and with thy lascivious eyes thou aimest poisoned arrows at thy own soul, and the heart of those on whom thou gazest with such
miserable passion. "I
endured that
My Son
should drink gall and vinegar, and
thou, like a disordered animal, delightest thyself in delicate
making of thy belly thy god the foolish language of dishonour dwells on thy tongue, with which thou art bound to counsel thy neighbour, to announce My word, and heartily
viands,
;
recite the divine office. Yet I perceive nothing but the stench of thy profanity, of thy constant blasphemy, for thou swearest and perjurest thyself like an auctioneer. I endured
My Son s hands should be bound, in order to set thee and the whole race of man free from the bonds of sin, and thy hands which have been anointed and consecrated, and administer the most holy sacrament, are hideously occupied that
in
loathsome touches. thy actions, of which thy hands are a true type, are Oh, wretched man, have placed thee in such dignity to serve Me only and
"All
directed to the service of the Devil.
and
I
I was willing that My Son s feet, every rational creature should be fastened to the cross, so as to make for thee a staircase of His body, and that His side should be opened that thou mightest see the secret of His heart, which I gave !
you as a hostelry always open that you might see and taste the ineffable love which I had for you, finding My divine nature there united to your humanity. See then that the blood of which thou art the minister has become a bath to cleanse your iniquities, and thou of thy heart hast made a devils temple, and thy love, signified by thy feet, offers to Me nothing but the stench of thy wickedness and thy insults, for the feet of thy affection conduct thy soul nowhere but into devils houses. Thus with the whole of thy body thou persecutest the body of My Son, doing the contrary of did, and of what thou and all My creatures are
what He
THE DIALOGUE OF
2 8o
bound false
CATHERINE
The instruments
to do.
harmony,
name
ST.
for the three
of thy body give out a powers of thy soul are assembled
it is thy duty to assemble name. Thy memory, which should be full of My the benefits which thou hast received from Me, is filled with The eye of thy intellect, dishonour and many other evils. which thou shouldest fix with the light of faith on the object
in the
them
of the Devil, while
in
of Christ crucified, My only begotten Son, whose minister thou the vain and miserable delights, art, is rather fixed on
and riches of the world.
affection, which thou hast medium, any of in the love of and creatures, miserably placed thy own more cattle lovest than Me. and thou even body, thy very What proves this to Me ? Thy impatience towards Me, when I take from thee something thou lovest much, and thy displeasure toward thy neighbour, for when thou thinkest to have received some temporal loss from him, hating him and cursing him, thou leavest My love and his. Oh,
dignities,
should
love
unhappy man of
fire
My
delights,
Me
alone
that thou art
divine
and the
love,
Thy
without
!
and
trifling loss
Thou
art the minister of the
for the sake of thy disordinate
which may be caused thee by is one
This, dearest daughter, thy neighbour, thou losest it. of those three miserable columns of which I spoke to
thee."
CHAPTER CXXVII. How
among the said ministers, who not only lend usury, but also sell and buy benefices and prelacies ;
avarice reigns
money with
and of the evils which have been brought about by this cupidity.
in
Holy Church
speak to thee of the second column, that is through which what My Son gave, with such boundless generosity, is kept in narrow limits through For thou seest His body all open on the wood of greed. the Cross, pouring forth blood from every part, and that "Now I
will
Avarice,
He
has not redeemed you with gold or
silver, but
with His
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
281
Not a part only Blood, through the greatness of His love. of the world, but the whole human race, past, present, and to come, was contained in the satisfaction of that sacrifice.
And
to none of you would the Blood be administered, or the of divine love given, had He not first administered and Which He did by virtue of My divine Nature given them. to your humanity, and of this Blood so united perfectly fire
Me by the greatness of My love, I have made And so great are thy oh wretched thee, man, a minister. avarice and cupidity that that which My Son acquired on the Cross, namely, the souls redeemed with such love, and that which My Son has given thee, in making thee a minister of the Blood, thou, wretched man that thou art, hast confined in such narrow limits, that in thy avarice thou puttest up the grace of the Holy Spirit to be sold, obliging thy subjects, when they beg it of thee, to buy from thee what thou hast united to
received as a free
Thou
hast not directed thy appetite but to devour money, and so My honour, hast thou fastened that which thou hast received closely up with such generosity that neither I nor thy neighbour receive gift.
to eat souls for
The temporal anything from thee by free grace or love. substance which thou receivest for the sake of this Blood, thou acceptest with great generosity, but, wretched miser that thou art, thou art kind only to thyself, and like a thief and a robber worthy of eternal death, thou dost embezzle the property of the poor, and of holy Church, and dost spend it in luxurious delights with shameless men and
women, and on thy
and the education of thy where are your real children, the wretches, Where sweet and royal virtues which you ought to have ? Where is the fiery charity with which ycu should minister ? is the yearning desire for My honour, and the salvation of souls ? Where is the heart-breaking sorrow with which should see the infernal wolf carrying off your lambs ? you You have none of these things, for in your narrow hearts there is no love for Me, or for them. You only love your selves with sensual self-love, with which you poison You yourselves are the devils from yourselves and others. children.
hell,
Oh
relations
!
who swallow up
souls with disordinate love
;
nothing
THE DIALOGUE OF
282
ST.
CATHERINE
else gives zest to your appetites. Wherefore it is no cause of trouble to you, that the invisible devil should carry them
you yourselves being visible devils, and the means by which they are sent to hell. You clothe and fatten your and the other devils with selves, you, with the property of the church, and also your fine horses which you keep for your disordinate delight, and not for any real necessity, for which indeed you might justly keep them. These are the off,
proper delights of
men
of the world, but your joys should
and sick, helping them in their and needs for this and nothing else have spiritual temporal I made you My ministers and placed you in such dignity. But having become brute beasts yourselves, you place your If you could but see the tor delight in other animals. ments which are prepared for you, if you do not amend, you would not do so you would rather repent of what you have done in the past, and would reform your present See then, dearest daughter, what right I have to conduct. lament over these wretches, and how generously I have behaved to them, and how meanly they treat Me. Is there are 1 more have said to there ? Yes As thee, anything consist in visiting the poor
;
;
!
some who lend money with usury not that they put out an awning like public usurers, but in many subtle ways ;
time to their neighbour in their cupidity, which no thing way lawful. If he should receive some small in present payment over and above the value of the service which he has rendered, in lending money to his neighbour will
they
sell
is in
(it
being received as part of the value), this also
is
usury,
and so would be everything else that he should receive in payment for waiting, as has been said. And I have ap pointed this wretched man to forbid seculars to do so, but he himself does the same and more also. How then should any one go to him for counsel on this matter ? when he is himself in like fault, and has lost the light of reason, on which account the counsel which he gives is darkened by the passion dwelling in his soul. These and many other sins are born in his narrow greedy heart and the words said by My truth when he entered the temple may be re peated here. He found men selling and buying, and, driving ;
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
283
them out with a lash of cords, said Of my Fathers House, is a House of Prayer, ye have made a den of thieves. :
which
Thou
seest well, sweetest daughter, that they
who
act thus
do indeed turn My church, which is a place of prayer, into a den of robbers. They buy and sell and make merchandise of the grace of the Holy Spirit. For thou seest that those who desire prelacies and benefices in the holy Church, buy them with many presents, offering whatever commodities or moneys they happen to possess. And the wretched sellers do not consider whether the buyer is good or evil, but, out of complaisance and love of the gift which they have received, strive to place this putrid plant in the garden of the holy Church ; and to this end these wretches will give a good
account of him to the Christ on earth, so that both of them use falseness and cheating towards the Christ on earth on a point on which they should approach him with the whole But if the vicar of My Son should perceive simple truth.
ought to punish them, and from the one take he do not amend his evil life ; and as for away the other who buys, it would be well that he should be sent to prison, as his part of the bargain, so that he may be corrected for his sin, and that others may take warning and be afraid, so that no one else may imitate him. If the Christ on earth do this, he does his duty, and if he does not, his sin will not be unpunished when he has to give an their sins, he
his dignity if
account before
Me
of his flock.
Believe Me, My daughter, and it is on this account that My into such sins and abominations. They
to-day this is not done,
Church has do not seek life
fallen to
know, or try to investigate, the good or evil whom they give prelacies, and if they do
of those to
seek at
all
to find out, they ask questions of those
as bad as themselves,
who
are
who
give nothing but good testimony, because they themselves have similar defects, and think of nothing else except dignity of position, and gentility and riches and polished conversation. Worse than all, it will
sometimes be alleged as a motive to the Consistory that the What devilish doings person in question is beautiful. should seek and the ornament They beauty of virtue, and rather look at the of the beauty body. they They should !
THE DIALOGUE OF
284
ST.
CATHERINE
seek poor and humble persons who avoid prelacies in their humility, and they choose those who seek them in vanity
and
They admire knowledge. Knowledge and good perfect when a learned person is also But if knowledge humble in life. and good, honourable, be joined with a proud, dishonourable, and wicked life it is a poison, and the Holy Scripture does not mean otherwise in its spiritual sense. To one in darkness it seems to me so, because he has lost the light of reason and has obscured the eye of his intellect, with which supernatural light the Holy Scripture was originally written, and should be understood, as I said to thee, more See then that science, good in clearly in another place. is in him not who does not use it aright it rather so itself, for him a if he will not amend his life. fire lights penal should rather seek out men of good and therefore They life than learned men who live evilly, but they do the holy Those besides who, contrary. being good and virtuous, are in as fools, and the poor they learning, they despise great because have avoid, nothing wherewith to pay them. they in that See, therefore, My house, which ought to be a house of prayer, and where the pearl of justice ought to shine, together with the light of learning, honour, and holiness, and the odour of truth, lies abound. These men should practise voluntary poverty, and watch over souls with true solicitude, snatching them from but they, on the contrary, seek for the hands of devils riches and take such care of temporal things that they have altogether abandoned spiritual things, and pay no attention to anything but gambling and laughter and the increase The wretched fools do not of their temporal substance. is the to lose it, whereas if they that this way perceive abounded in virtue, and applied themselves to the care of spiritual matters as they ought to do, they would abound And My spouse has had many rebellions in temporalities. to suffer on account of temporalities, which she ought not to have had. My servants should leave the dead to bury the dead, and follow the doctrine of My Truth, and carry inflated
pride.
in itself is
;
"
;
out in themselves
My
will
;
that is to
say,
they should
A TREATISE OF PRAYER perform the duty
I
285
have given them, whereas these men do
the contrary, for they bury these dead and transitory things with disordinate affection and solicitude, taking from men of
This is displeasing to the world their proper occupation. Me and hurtful to holy Church ; to worldly men, therefore, they should leave these things, and let one corpse bury the other
that is to say,
let
those whose duty
it
is
take
charge of temporal things. "Why
did
I
let
say,
way, when he
dead? The two ways in one
the dead bury the
word dead should here be understood
in
:
who
administers temporal things does so in the guilt of mortal sin, by the disordinate affection and care which he has for them. The administration of temporal affairs
may
also be called dead, because
body, which in so far as latter is
is it
it belongs to the a dead thing, having no life in itself except participates in the life of the soul while the
with the body, and no more.
therefore,
who ought
My
anointed ones,
to live like angels, should leave these
dead things to the dead, and should themselves govern souls who are living, and never die as regards their essence, administering to them the sacraments and gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, and feeding them with the spiritual food of a good and holy example. In this way My house would be indeed a house of prayer, abounding in their But since they do not act thus, but graces and virtues. the contrary, I can truly say that My house has become a den of thieves, for they have become merchants with their and My church has also become a avaricious bargaining cattle shed, for they live in their dishonour like brute beasts. They have made My church into a stable, and lie ;
there in the
filth
of their impurity, for they keep their she-
own much more
devils in the church as a bridegroom his spouse in his
house.
See, then,
how much
evil
(and there
is
beyond comparison with what I have told thee) grows from these two foetid and stinking columns impurity and cupidity."
THE DIALOGUE OF
286
CHAPTER
ST.
CATHERINE
CXXVIII.
How
pride reigns among these ministers, by which they lose their knowledge and how, having lost their knowledge, they fall into the sin of seeming to consecrate, while they do not really do so. ;
WILL now speak to thee of the third column which I have placed last, for it is both pride "
I
for all
first,
virtues
all
the vices are
receive
life
flavoured
from charity.
that of last
and
with pride, as the Pride is born and
nourished from sensual self-love, of which I said to thee, that it was the foundation of these three columns, and of all the evils which are committed by creatures, for he who loves himself with disordinate love, is deprived of My love. and not loving Me he offends Me, because he does not
commandment
observe the
above everything, and one is
the
reason
why
of the law, which is to love Me This neighbour as one s self.
s
those
who
love
themselves with a
sensual love neither serve nor love Me, but the world ; for neither sensual love nor the world have conformity with There being no conformity between Me and the Me.
and serves the it must needs be that he who loves world with sensual love, should hate Me while he who For this reason My Truth loves Me truly hates the world. world,
;
said
:
he will
No
one can serve two masters, for if he serve the one, See then how self-love content the other
not
deprives the soul of My love, and clothes it with the vice of pride, whence through the principle of self-love is borne I grieve over this in all My rational every kind of sin. creatures, but particularly in My anointed ones, who ought to be humble, not only because every one should possess
the virtue
of humility, which nourishes
charity,
but also
because they have become the ministers of the humble and Are they not immaculate Lamb, My only-begotten Son. ashamed, and for that matter should not the whole human race be ashamed, when they see Me, God, humbled to man, They giving you the Word, My Son, in your own flesh ?
see
My Word
eagerly humbling Himself to the shameful
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
287
His death of the cross, in obedience to My commands. is bent to salute you, His crown is for your adorn ment, His arms are open to embrace you, His feet are nailed, so that He may never leave you, and thou, oh
head
!
wretched man,
who
art the minister of this
generosity and
humility, shouldest embrace the cross ; but thou fliest it, Thou shouldest and embracest instead impure women.
stand firm and stable, following the doctrine of My Word, nailing thy heart and mind to Him, and thou swayest about
wind ; if the wind be thou movest with disordinate joy, and if it be prosperous adverse thou movest with impatience, thus drawing forth for every cause like a leaf before the
marrow of pride, which is impatience, for whereas the marrow of charity is patience, the marrow of pride is im the
patience, wherefore
proud and angry people are disturbed
Pride is so displeasing to when an angel became proud from Heaven Me, that not in but fell to the depths of Hell, did rise Heaven, pride he Truth said that who should exalt himself wherefore My (that is, by pride) should be humbled, and that he who In all people pride is humbled himself should be exalted. to more so in Me, but My ministers, as I have displeasing
and scandalised at everything. it
fell
;
have placed them in a humble position while they do just the administer the humble lamb How is such a wretched priest not ashamed to contrary. said to thee, for
to
I
;
be proud, when he sees Me humble to you, giving you My Word, My only begotten Son, to be humbled, through obedience to Me, to the shameful death of the Cross, of which Word He has been made the minister. My Son bows His head, and this wretch lifts his head against Me
and his neighbour, and from the humble lamb that he should be, he has become a ram with the horns of pride, Oh unhappy man, butting against every one he meets. Is this, thou dost not reflect, thou canst not escape Me. then, the duty that I have laid upon thee, to butt against Me with the horn of thy pride, injuring Me and thy neigh Is this bour, turning against him with ignorant injuries ? the mildness with which thou shouldest celebrate the body and blood of Christ, My Son ? Thou hast become as it !
THE DIALOGUE OF
288
ST.
CATHERINE
were a wild animal without fear of Me. Thou devourest in and livest and hast become an thy neighbour quarrels of thee those who serve and are creatures, accepting acceptor useful to thee, or others who please thee, because their life the same as thine, whom on the contrary thou shouldest correct, despising their sins, but thou rather givest them is
the example of doing what they do and worse also. If thou wert good, thou wouldest correct them, but inasmuch as thou art evil, thy neighbour s defects do not displease it is the humble and virtuous thee, and thou lettest him be ;
whom
Thou fleest them and reason thou despisest. poor indeed thou shouldest not do so thou avoidest ably, though them because the stench of thy vice cannot endure the ;
odour of their virtue My poor ones
seest
;
at
thou deemest thyself insulted if thou thou eludest their need thy door ;
of thy visitation, seeing them die of hunger rather than And all this is caused by the horns of pride help them. which will not bend themselves to a little humility. Wlvy
Because thou hast in no way cast will they not bend ? from thyself self-love which nourishes pride, and therefore wilt not condescend to administer to the poor either thy temporal or spiritual substance without receiving something Oh cursed pride, based on self-love, how hast
in return.
!
thou blinded the eye of their intellect, that while they seem to love themselves and be tender to themselves, they are in
seem to gain, they are losing, to enjoy delights and riches and great dignities, they are really in the greatest poverty and misery, for they are deprived of the riches of virtue and have fallen truth cruel, that while they
and while they seem
from the heights of grace into the depths of mortal
They seem
to see, but are
themselves nor Me.
They
sin.
blind, for they know neither do not know their own condi
which I have placed them, nor the if they did they would not make the for of world, fragility What has deprived them of know of themselves. gods have thus become devils, having ? Pride and ledge they tion nor the dignity in
And been chosen by Me to be earthly angels in this life. of heaven fall from the into the of dark depths they height ness, and their darkness and iniquity are multiplied to such
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
289
an extent that they sometimes fall into a sin of which I Some of them are such incarnate devils will speak to thee. that they often appear to consecrate, when they do not in reality, through fear of My judgment, and to free themselves Such a man rises in the from any bridle and fear of sin. morning from impurity, having passed the preceding evening in disordinate banqueting, he is obliged to satisfy the people, and considering his own iniquities, sees that he cannot cele brate with a good conscience ; wherefore he fears My judg ment, not through hatred of vice, but through self-love. See, dearest daughter, how blind he is ; he does not have recourse to contrition, with hatred of sin and a firm purpose of amendment ; he takes the alternative remedy of not con
And the blind man does not see that his error secrating. and sin is greater than before, for he makes the congrega tion commit idolatry, causing them to adore an unconsecrated it were the body and blood of Christ, My onlyNo ; the Host begotten Son, wholly God and wholly man. is indeed this when it is consecrated, but otherwise it is
host, as if
only bread. See, now, how great the patience with which "
is this
abomination, and
But
how great
they do not correct themselves, every grace of their state will turn to their perdition. What should the congregation do in order not to
fall
I
endure
into such a snare ?
it.
if
They should pray under
has said that which he ought to say, I truly believe that Thou art Christ the Son of the living God, given to me as food by the fire of Thine inestimable charity ; and in memory of Thy most sweet condition in this wise
:
If this minister
passion, and the great benefit of the blood which Thou didst shed with such fire of love to wash away our iniquities.
means the blindness of the priest will not bring into darkness, causing them to adore one thing for another, the guilt will attach to the miserable minister alone,
By
this
them
the congregation will only commit a material mistake. Oh sweetest daughter, what prevents the earth from swallowing
!
them up ? What prevents My power from turning them into immovable statues before all the people for their greater confusion ? My mercy. And I restrain Myself that is T
THE DIALOGUE OF
290
ST.
CATHERINE
conquer and restrain My divine justice by the force My mercy. But these obstinate devils neither know nor see My mercy, but being blinded by pride think that their
to say,
I
of
office is
have
it
given them of their due, whereas in reality they only by My free grace."
CHAPTER CXXIX Of many other
sins
which are committed through pride and self-love.
"
I
HAVE
told thee all this in order to give the
more matter
for bitter grief and weeping over their blindness in that they remain in a state of damnation, and that thou mayest
the better
know My mercy
to place
by
faith
the greatest
it, offering them, that is, the ministers of the and all the world, before Me, praying to Me Church Holy And the more thou offerest to to have mercy upon them.
security in
Me for them, sorrowful and amorous desires, the more wilt Because that thou show the love which thou hast for Me. service which neither thou nor My other servants can fulfil Me you must
do and show by means of them, and then Myself be constrained by the desire, prayers, and and I will have mercy on My spouse, tears of My servants her with The good good and holy pastors. reforming reform force will those under her, correcting by pastors all the evils which are because done nearly them, by the subjects are the fault of bad pastors, because had they corrected, and had the pearl of justice shone in them with an honourable and holy life, those evils would not have And dost thou know what results come from these been. It is because the one followed in the perverse methods ? to
will I let
;
footsteps of the other that the subjects are not obedient, because when the prelate was subject he was not obedient to his prelate wherefore, he receives from his subject that which he rendered, and because he was a bad subject he is a bad pastor. ;
A TREATISE OF PRAYER "
Pride founded in self-love
is
291
the cause of this and of
every other sin. Ignorant and proud as he was when he was a subject, he And his ignorance is that he is a prelate. so great that, as if he were blind, he will give the office of "
is
more so now
priest to a
not
know
man
so unlearned that he can scarcely read and does and ofttimes, through his ignorance, not ;
his office
knowing well the sacramental words, he will not consecrate, in this way he commits the same sin of not consecrating
and
those committed who, through malice, pretended to
that
They ought to choose men in founded and virtue, who know and under experienced but they do quite the contrary, and stand what they say do not seek them for their knowledge and experience, but for the affection they bear them, and it appears that they And they do not aim select children and not mature men. at having men of honourable and holy life who recognise the dignity to which they are called and the great mystery that they have to celebrate, but they aim solely at multiply consecrate without doing so.
;
ing persons, but without regard to virtue. They are blind and gatherers together of the blind, and they see not that I shall require from them an account "
and for the other things in the last extremity of and death, they will see that after they have thus made the priests dark, and given to them the care of souls that they for this,
how to take care For how could such as
knew "
own
not
of themselves.
these
who do
not recognise their They could not
sin, correct and recognise And the sheep who and would not act against themselves. have not a shepherd who cares for them easily stray and And are ofttimes torn in pieces and devoured by wolves. care to because the shepherd is a bad one he takes no keep a dog who barks when he sees the wolf coming, but he And so these ministers keeps such a one as he is himself. and pastors having no solicitude, and not holding in their hand the stick of justice wherewith to correct the dog of conscience, he does not bark, and so they do not with care reprove themselves, and do not endeavour to bring back to the way of Truth and Justice those sheep who have strayed it
in others ?
THE DIALOGUE OF
292
ST.
CATHERINE
it in not observing My commandments, and so prevent them from being devoured by the infernal wolf. Did this dog bark, and were their sins laid upon them with the rod of holy justice, their sheep would be delivered and would But because he is a shepherd without return to the fold. a rod, and without the dog of conscience, the sheep perish, and he does not trouble himself, because the dog of his conscience is enfeebled, and therefore does not bark, because he has not been given any food.
from
The food that should be given to this dog is the food of the Lamb, My Son, because in so far as the memory, as the vessel of the soul, is full of the Blood, so does the con "
science feed on
it,
that is to say, that through the
of the Blood the soul
memory
enflamed with hatred of vice and the love of virtue, the which hatred and love purify the soul from the stain of mortal sin, and give so much vigour to
is
the conscience that
it
watches over the soul so that
if
that is to say sin should wish to enter, not only the affection but even the mind, like a watch-dog, warns with its prick at the dictation of reason, and on this
any enemy
account
the
man
does not commit the
sin,
for
he
who
But such wicked possesses conscience, possesses justice. men as these, not worthy to be called My ministers or even having become animals through their without a watch-dog through their weakness, and are also without the rod of holy justice, having been made so timid by their sins that a mere shadow frightens them, rational
creatures,
sins, are
not with holy but with servile fear. They ought to be ready to die in order to snatch souls from the hand of the Devil, but on the contrary they place them there themselves,
depriving them of the doctrine of a good and holy life, and being unable to endure an unkind word for their salvation.
Often the soul of a subject will be entangled in very grave sins, and he will have to make satisfaction to his neighbour,
and
in order not to deprive his family through the disordinate love which he bears to them, he will not pay his debt ; his life will be known to a great number of people
and
also to his wretched priest,
ticularly informed,
so
that,
like
who
will
have been par which he
the physician
A TREATISE OF PRAYER should be, he
may
heal that soul.
293
The wretched
minister
will go to do his duty, and for one rough word said to him, or for one evil glance directed at him, he will be afraid to
have anything more to do with the
made
affair.
And sometimes
between the bribe and his servile fear he will leave that soul in the hands of the devils, and will give him the Sacrament of the Body of Christ, My only-begotten Son, while he knows all the time that the communicant is involved in the darkness of mortal sin. Nevertheless, to please worldly men, and through his disordinate fear and the gift which he has received from them, he has a present will be
to him, so that
administered the Sacraments and buried a
man
with great
honour in the Church, when he should have cast him forth as an animal and a corrupt member cut off from the body. Self-love and the horns "What is the reason of this? of pride. For if he had really loved Me above everything and that poor wretch s soul, he would have been humble and without fear would have sought his salvation. See, then, what evil follows these three vices which I have presented to thee under the form of three columns, from which proceed all other sins pride, avarice and im Thy ears would not be strong purity of mind and body. enough to hear how great are the evils which issue from And through their these columns like wings of the Devil. pride, dishonour, and greed it sometimes happens (and thou hast seen such cases) that they will make simple women of "
good
faith like to themselves, for the
poor creatures, fearing
minds on account of their defects that they are possessed by the Devil, come to the wretched priest believing that he can liberate them, but in reality they are merely
in
their
And he in his applying to one devil to drive out another. greed receives their offering, and like a dishonourable, las civious brute will say to these poor souls The defect which and thus you have can only be removed in one way he cause them miserably to sin with him. Oh demon, and more than a demon For in everything hast thou become worse than a devil. For there are many devils who hold this sin in horror, wherefore thou hast become worse than them, for thou rollest thyself therein with will
!
!
THE DIALOGUE OF
294
ST.
CATHERINE
delight like the pig in his stye. Oh foul animal, is this what I require of thee by virtue of the blood of which I have made !
thee My minister? That instead of driving the Devil out of souls, thou should put him within them ? Dost thou not see that the axe of Divine justice is "
already laid to the root of thy tree ? And I say to thee that thy iniquities shall be punished in due season with usury, if
thou do not punish them with penance and contrition of
heart.
No
respect will be paid thee, because thou art a priest, wilt rather be miserably punished and suffer, not only for thyself but for them also, for thou wilt be more <(
and thou
and perhaps thou
cruelly punished than others,
remember how thou wast wont the demon of concupiscence.
And
wilt
then
to drive out the Devil
with
be with that other wretch, who goes to sin, and binds her instead with another and greater sin, sinning himself afresh with If thou remember, thou hast seen with thine own her. such a case, on whom an evil man laid hands. eyes Truly is such a man without the dog of conscience, indeed, he stifles others consciences as well as his own. I have appointed them to chant and sing psalms during the night, reciting the divine office, and they occupy them selves in making charms and invoking the demon of mid "
so will
it
absolve a fellow-creature in mortal
"
whom
night in order to cause those
come seem
they sinfully love to
them through their devilish incantations. It will to them that they come, but they do not really do so. I have appointed to thee to Wretched man pass the vigils of the night in prayer and watching, so that on the morrow thou mayest go rightly disposed to the altar, and give forth the odour of virtue to the people and not the to
"
!
stench of vice.
Thou
hast been placed in an angelic state to
converse by holy meditation with the angels in this life, and at last with them to enjoy Me but thou delightest in being one of the devils and in conversing with them even before ;
The horns of thy pride have pierced the pupil of holy faith in the eye of thy intellect. Thou hast lost the light, and therefore seest not in what misery thou art ; and thy death.
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
295
thou believest not truly that every sin is punished and every virtue rewarded, for if thou didst truly believe it thou wouldest not act so ; thou wouldest not seek or desire such conversation as the devil s ; rather wouldest thou flee in terror at the mention of his name but because thou obeyest his will and takest delight in his actions thou seekest him, one ;
blind
man
seeking another.
would have thee ask the Devil what reward he can give thee for the service thou payest him. He would reply that he will give thee the reward that he himself has obtained, "
I
for he can give thee nothing else than the cruel torments of the fire in which he continually burns since he fell from the height of heaven in his pride.
And
thou, an earthly angel, fallest by thy pride from the of the height dignity of the priesthood and from the treasure of virtue, into the poverty of thy many miseries ; and if "
thou do not correct thyself thou wilt fall further into the depths of hell. Thou hast made the world and thyself thy god and thy Tell the world to answer for thee before Me, the lord. supreme Judge, with all its delights which thou hast enjoyed in this life, and tell thy own sensuality to answer for thee for it is thy sensuality which has caused thee to enjoy the when I had placed you in the state of things of the world the priesthood in order to despise both thyself and the world. They will reply that they cannot help thee ; they will make "
thee, saying that success is thy own affair, and thou wilt remain confounded and guilty before Me and the
mock of world.
All this loss of thine thou seest not actually, because, as have said, the horns of thy pride have blinded thee ; but thou wilt see it at the extremity of death, when thou canst seek no remedy in any virtue of thine own, except only in "
I
My mercy if thou hopest in that sweet Blood of which thou wast made the minister. This hope, indeed, will never be taken from thee, or from any one, as long as you are still and in My mercy, although no nor thou so blind, as to go on moment without conversion.
willing to hope in the Blood
one should be such a
up
till
the last
fool,
THE DIALOGUE OF
296 "
Remember
ST.
CATHERINE
that at that last extremity the
man who has
lived wickedly is accused by the Devil and the world his own fragility, and they do not deceive him or show
and him
pleasure where is bitterness, or perfection where is imper fection, or light for darkness, as they used to do during his The life ; they show him things as they are in truth.
watch-dog of conscience, so enfeebled, begins now to bark so loudly that he leads the soul, as it were, to despair but all should lay hold with hope on the Blood, in spite of the sins which they have committed, because My mercy which ye receive in the Blood is without any comparison greater than all the sins that are committed in the world. But let no one put off his repentance, for it is a terrible thing for a man to find himself disarmed on the field of ;
"
battle in the presence of
many
enemies."
CHAPTER CXXX. Of many other
sins
which the said wretched ministers commit.
THESE wretches, oh! dearest daughter, of whom I have spoken to thee, take no thought for themselves, for if they did they would not come to such a pass, neither they nor "
others.
But they would be like those who live in virtue, and who would prefer to die rather than sin and defile the face of their soul, and diminish the dignity in which I have placed them ; they rather increase the dignity and beauty of their "
souls, not
that the
priestly dignity in
itself
can increase
through virtue, or diminish through sin, as I have said, but virtue is an ornament and a dignity with which such men adorn their souls over and above its natural beauty which it
had from the beginning when I created it to My image and likeness such as these would know the truth of My good ness and their own beauty and dignity, because pride and self-love would not have darkened them or deprived them of the light of reason, and they would love Me, and the ;
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
297
But these poor wretches, being entirely of the light, and heedlessly going from vice to vice, deprived so that at last they fall into the ditch, have made of the
salvation of souls.
temple of their soul and of the holy church which should be a stable full of animals. a garden How abominable it is to Me, oh ! dearest daughter, that "
which ought to be the homes of My servants, and of the poor, and where they should keep the breviary for their spouse, and the books of Holy Scripture for their children, and should take delight in teaching their neighbour and in living a holy life, should have become the homes of Their spouse is no breviary impurity and wicked persons. as an treat the adulteress) but a miser breviary (they able she-devil who lives with them in impurity. Their holy scriptures are a regiment of children, and with these children whom they have obtained in such foul misery they The festivals and solemnities shamelessly take pleasure. on which they should render praise and glory to My name, with divine office, offering Me the incense of devout and humble prayers, they pass at play, and in taking solace with their she-devils, and they go off with companies of seculars, hunting beasts and birds as if themselves were Oh wretched man to seculars and fine court gentlemen. what hast thou come ? Thou shouldst hunt and snare souls to the glory and praise of My name in the garden of the holy church, instead of wandering round the woods ; but because thou hast become an animal, thy soul being their houses,
!
many mortal sins, hast thou made and a snarer of animals ; because the a hunter thyself of soul has grown wild and full of thorns, thou thy garden filled
with the animals of
takest delight in wandering through desert places hunting wild beasts. Look on thy sins and be ashamed, oh man, !
for thou hast matter for
shame on every
side, but thou art
without shame, having lost My true and holy fear. Shame less as a harlot, thou art proud of keeping great station in the world, and having a fine household, and a regiment of many children, and if thou hast none thou seekest to have
them, so that they may inherit thy property ; but thou art a robber and a thief, because thou knowest well that thou
THE DIALOGUE OF
298
CATHERINE
ST.
hast nothing to leave them, for thine heirs are the poor of the holy church. "
Oh
!
incarnate devil, deprived of light, thou seekest that
which thou oughtest not to seek, thou praisest and vauntest thyself of that which should cause thee the greatest confusion and shame before Me who see the interior of thy heart, and But the horns of thy pride do not let before creatures. I have placed him, dearest daughter, thee see thy shame. on the bridge of My doctrine and My truth to administer
you pilgrims the sacraments of the holy Church, and he remains in the river of misery under the Bridge, and to
sacraments standing in the river of the delights and miseries of the world, and he does not see that the tide of death is gaining on him, and that he travels in
administers
My
whom he has served journey through the river without any restraint. And if he do not correct himself he will reach eternal damnation, and such punishment and reproba company with and allowed
his masters the devils
to direct his
would not be able to narrate it, and For the same fault is more severely punished in him than in a secular, and with graver reprobation do his enemies rise up before him on the
tion that thy tongue
indeed far more than a secular.
bridge of death to accuse him, as
said to
I
thee."
CHAPTER CXXXI. Of the
4t
difference between the death of a just man and that of a sinner, and first of the death of the just man.
HAVING
told thee
how
the world and the devils accuse
these wretches, which is indeed the truth, I wish to speak to thee in more detail on this point (so that thou mayest
have greater compassion on these poor wretches), thee
man
how
telling
of the soul of a just how different are their
different are the struggles
to those
of
a
sinner,
deaths, and how the peace
and
of the just
man s death
is
A TREATISE OF PRAYER greater or less according to the For I wish thee to know that
299
perfection of his the sufferings
all
soul.
which
endure depend on their will, because if with mine they would endure no suffering, not that they would have no labours on that account, but because labours cause no suffering to a will which gladly endures them, seeing that they are ordained rational creatures
their will
by
My
were
will.
in accordance
Such men
as
these
wage war with the
world, the Devil, and their own sensuality through holy hatred of themselves. Wherefore when they come to the point of death, they die peacefully, because they have The world vanquished their enemies during their life. cannot accuse such a man, because he saw through its deceptions and therefore renounced it with all its delights. His sensual fragility and his body do not accuse him, because he bound sensuality like a slave with the rein of reason, macerating his flesh with penance, with watchings, and humble and continual prayer. The will of his senses he slew with hatred and dislike of vice, and with love of He has entirely lost all tenderness for his body, virtue. which tenderness and love between the soul and the body makes death seem difficult, and on account of it man but since the virtue of a just and naturally fears death ;
perfect man transcends nature, extinguishing his fear and overcoming it with holy hatred of
natural
himself
and
desire of arriving at his last end, his natural tender ness cannot make war on him, and his conscience remains
his life his conscience kept a good him when enemies were coming to attack guard, warning the city of his soul, like a watch-dog which stands at the door, and when it sees enemies warns the guards by its barking, for in this way the dog of conscience warns the sentry of reason, and the reason together with the free-will know by the light of the intellect whether the stranger be friend or enemy. To a friend, that is to say, to virtue and holy he thoughts, gave his delighted love, receiving and using
in peace
;
for during
these with great solicitude ; to an enemy, that is to say, to vice and wicked thoughts, he gave hatred and displeasure. And with the knife of hatred of self, and love of Me, and
THE DIALOGUE OF
300
ST.
CATHERINE
with the light of reason, and the hand of free-will he struck his enemies ; so that at the point of death his conscience, having been a faithful guardian, does not
gnaw
but remains in peace. It is true that a just soul, through humility, and because at the moment of death she realizes better the value of "
time and of the jewels of virtue, reproves herself, seeming have used her time but little ; but this is not
to herself to
an
afflictive pain,
lected
in
herself,
but rather profitable, for the soul recol is caused by it to throw herself before
the Blood of the humble and immaculate
The
Lamb My
Son.
man
does not turn his head to admire his past virtues, because he neither can nor will hope in his own virtues, but only in the Blood in which he has found mercy ; just
and as he lived in the memory of that Blood, so in death he inebriated and drowned in the same. How is it that the devils cannot reprove him of sin ? Because during his life he conquered their malice with wisdom, yet they come round him to see if they can acquire anything, and appear in horrible shapes in order to frighten him with hideous aspect, and many diverse phantasms, but the poison of sin not being in his soul, their aspect causes him no terror or fear, as it would do to another who had lived wickedly in the world. Wherefore the devils, seeing that the soul has entered into the Blood with ardent love, cannot endure the But their sight, but stand afar off shooting their arrows. war and their shouts cannot hurt that soul, who already is is
beginning to taste eternal
as
life,
place, for with the eye of the
I
said to thee in another
intellect
illuminated
by the
pupil of the holy faith, she sees Me, the Infinite and Eternal Good, whom she hopes to obtain by grace, not as her due, but by virtue of Jesus Christ Son.
My
Wherefore opening the arms of hope and seizing Him with the hands of love, she seems to enter into His posses sion before she actually does so, in the way which I have "
narrated
to
thee
in
another
place.
Passing suddenly,
the Blood, by the narrow door of the Word she reaches Me, the Sea Pacific. For sea and door are
drowned
in
united together.
I
and the Truth,
My
only-begotten Son
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
301
What joy such a soul being one and the same thing. who sees herself so sweetly arrived at this pass, for in Truth she tastes the happiness of the angelic nature This joy is received by all those who pass in this sweet receives
!
manner, but to a far greater extent by My ministers, of I spoke to thee, who have lived like angels, for in this life have they lived with greater knowledge, and with I do not speak greater hunger for the salvation of souls. all can have in general, virtue which of of the light only but of the supernatural light which these men possessed
whom
over and above the light of virtuous living, the light, that of My is, of holy science, by which science they knew more Truth, and he who knows more loves Me more, and he Your reward is loves Me more receives more. measured according to the measure of your love, and if thou shouldest ask Me, whether one who has no science
who
can attain to this love, I should reply, yes it is possible that he may attain to it, but an individual case does not make a general law and I always discourse to thee in general. "
They
also receive greater dignity
on account of
their
priesthood, because they have personally received the office For just as every one has of eating souls in My honour. the office of remaining in charity with his neighbour, to
them
is
given the
governing "
office of
administering the Blood, and of
souls.
Wherefore
if
they do this solicitously and with love of
virtue they receive, as has been said, more than others. Oh ! how happy are their souls when they come to the For they have been the defenders extremity of death !
and preachers of the faith to their neighbour. This faith they have incarnated in their very marrow, and with it they see their place of repose in Me. The hope with which they have lived, confiding in My providence and losing all trust in themselves, in that they did not hope in their own ledge, and having lost hope in themselves, placed
ordinate
thing
with
;
love
in
any
having lived great
delight
fellow-creature
or in
any
know no
in
created
voluntary poverty, causes them now to lift their confidence towards Me.
in
THE DIALOGUE OF
302
ST.
CATHERINE
Their heart, which was a vessel of love, inscribed by their ardent charity with My name, they showed forth with the example of their good and holy life and by the doctrine of This heart then arises and their words to their neighbour. seizes Me,
Me
Who am
its
End, with ineffable
the pearl of justice which
love, restoring to
always carried before it, doing justice to all and discreetly rendering to each his Wherefore this man renders to Me justice with true due. humility, and renders glory and praise to My Name, because he refers to Me the grace of having been able to run his course with a pure and holy conscience, and with himself he is indignant, deeming himself unworthy of re ceiving such grace. His conscience gives good testimony of him to Me, and I justly give him the crown of justice, adorned with the that is, of the fruit which love has pearls of the virtues it
"
drawn from the
virtues. Oh, earthly angel happy thou thou hast not been ungrateful for the benefits received from Me, and hast not been negligent or ignorant, !
art in that
but hast solicitously opened thine eye by the true light, and kept it on thy subjects, and hast faithfully and manfully followed the doctrine of the Good Shepherd, sweet Christ
My only begotten Son, wherefore thou art really now passing through Him, the Door, bathed and drowned in His blood, with thy troop of lambs of whom thou hast brought
Jesus,
many by thy holy doctrine and example left many behind thee in a state of
to eternal life,
and
hast
grace. to such as these the vision of "Oh, dearest daughter! the devils can do no harm, because of the vision which they
have of Me, which they see by faith and hold by love ; the darkness and the terrible aspect of the demons do not give them trouble or any fear, because in them is not the poison There is no servile fear in them, but holy fear. of sin. Wherefore they do not fear the demon s deception, because with supernatural light and with the light of Holy Scripture they know them, so that they do not cause them darkness or disquietude. So thus they gloriously pass, bathed in the blood, with hunger for the salvation of souls, all on fire with love for the neighbour, having passed through the door of
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
303
into Me ; and by My goodness each arranged in his place, and to each one is measured of the affection of love according as he has measured to Me.
the
word and entered
one
is
1
CHAPTER CXXXII. Of the death "
NOT
of sinners,
and of their pains
in the
hour of death.
so excellent, dearest daughter, is the end of these who are in great misery as I have
other poor wretches
to thee. How terrible and dark is their death Because in the moment of death, as I told thee, the Devil accuses them with great terror and darkness, showing his face, which thou knowest is so horrible that the creature would rather choose any pain that can be suffered in this world than see it and so greatly does he freshen the sting The disordinate of conscience that it gnaws him horribly. delights and sensuality of which he made lords over his reason, accuse him miserably, because then he knows the truth of that which at first he knew not, and his error
related
!
;
brings him to great confusion. In his life he lived unfaithfully to "
veiled
the
of
pupil
Me
the most holy faith
self-love
having wherefore the
Devil torments him with infidelity in order to bring him to
Oh ! how hard for them is this battle, because it despair. finds them disarmed, without the armour of affection and because, as members of the Devil, they have been Wherefore they have not the super deprived of it all. natural light, neither the light of science, because they did charity
;
not understand
it,
the horns of their pride not letting them
understand the sweetness of in the great battle
its
they know
marrow.
Wherefore now
not what to do.
They
are
not nourished in hope, because they have not hoped in Me, neither in the Blood of which I made them ministers, but in themselves alone,
the all
world.
And
was counted
to
and
the
in the dignities and delights of incarnate wretch did not see that
him with
interest,
and that as a debtor
THE DIALOGUE OF
304
ST.
he would have to render an account
CATHERINE to
Me
;
now he
finds
himself denuded and without any virtue, and on whichever side he turns he hears nothing but reproaches with great
His
confusion.
injustice
which he practised
in
his
life
accuses him to his conscience, wherefore he dares not ask other than justice. "
And
I
tell
thee that so great
sion that unless in their
life
My
is,
hoping in
mercy, that
is
that
shame and confu
they have taken the habit of have taken the milk of mercy
(although on account of their sins this is great presumption, for you cannot truly say that he who strikes Me with the arm of My mercy has a hope in mercy, but rather has pre sumption), there is not one who would not despair, and with despair they would arrive with the Devil in eternal
damnation.
But arriving at the extremity of death, and recognising his sin, his conscience unloaded by holy confession, and presumption taken away, so that he offends no more, there "
remains mercy, and
with
this
mercy he can,
if
he
will,
This is the effect of My mercy to take hold on hope. cause them to hope therein during their life, although 1 do not grant them this, so that they should offend Me by means of My mercy, but rather that they should dilate themselves in charity, and in the consideration of My
But they act in a contrary way, because they hope which they have in My mercy. And nevertheless, I keep them in this hope so that at the last moment they may have something which they may lay hold of, and by so doing not faint away with the condemnation which they receive, and thus arrive at despair for this final sin of despair is much more displeasing to Me and injures them much more than all the other sins which they And this is the reason why this sin is have committed. more dangerous to them and displeasing to Me, because they commit other sins through some delight of their own sensuality, and they sometimes grieve for them, and if they grieve in the right way their grief will procure them mercy. But it is no fragility of your nature which moves you to despair, for there is no pleasure and nothing but intolerable goodness. offend
Me
in the
;
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
30$
One who despairs despises suffering in it. mercy, his sin to be greater than making mercy and goodness, Wherefore, if a man fall into this sin, he does not repent,
My
My
and does not truly grieve for his offence against me as he should, grieving indeed for his own loss, but not for the offence done to Me, and therefore he receives eternal See, therefore, that this sin alone leads him to where he is punished for this and all the other sins which he has committed ; whereas had he grieved and repented for the offence done to Me, and hoped in My mercy he would have found mercy, for, as I have said to thee,
damnation. hell,
My sins
mercy is greater without any comparison than all the which any creature can commit wherefore it greatly ;
displeases
Me
that they should consider their sins
to
be
greater. is that sin which is pardoned neither here nor and it is because despair displeases Me so much hereafter, that I wish them to hope in My mercy at the point of death, even if their life have been disordered and wicked. This is why during their life I use this sweet trick with them, making them hope greatly in My mercy, for when, "
Despair
having fed themselves with this hope, they arrive at death, they are not so inclined to abandon it, on account of the severe condemnation they receive, as if they had not so nourished themselves. "All
this is given
them by the
fire
and abyss of
My
love, but because they have used it in the darkness of self-love, from which has proceeded their every sin, they have not known it in truth, but in so far as they have turned their affections towards the sweetness of My
inestimable
mercy they have thought of
And
this is
it with great presumption. another cause of reproof which their conscience
gives them in the likeness of the Devil, reproving them in that they should have used the time and the breadth of
My
mercy in which they hoped, in charity and love of virtue, and that the time which I gave them through love should have been spent in holiness, whereas with all their time and great hope of My mercy they did nothing but offend
Me
miserably.
Oh
!
blinder than the blind
!
Thou u
hast
THE DIALOGUE OF
306
ST.
CATHERINE
hidden thy pearl and thy talent which I placed in thy hands in order that thou mightest gain more with it, but thou in thy presumption wouldst not do My will, rather thou didst hide it under the ground of disordinate self-love, which now renders thee the
fruit
of death.
Thy miseries are not hid from thee now, for the worm of conscience sleeps no longer, but is gnawing thee, the "
devils shout and render to thee the reward which they are accustomed to give their servants, that is to say, confusion
and condemnation
they wish to bring thee to despair, so of death thou mayest not escape from their hands, and therefore they try to confuse thee, so that afterwards when thou art with them they may render to that at the
;
moment
thee of the part which
is theirs. Oh, wretch the dignity which I placed thee, thou now seest shining as it really is, and thou knowest to thy shame that thou hast held and used in such guilty darkness the substance of the holy Church, that thou seest thyself to be a thief, a debtor, who ought to pay his debt to the poor and the holy Church. Then thy conscience represents to thee that thou hast spent the money on public harlots, and hast brought up thy children and enriched thy relations, and hast thrown it away on gluttony and on many silver vessels and other adornments for thy house. Whereas thou shouldst have !
in
lived in voluntary poverty. "Thy
conscience represents to thee the divine office neglect, by which thou didst fall into the
which thou didst
guilt of mortal sin,
and how even when thou didst
recite
it
with thy mouth thy heart was far from Me. Conscience also shows thee thy subjects, that is to say, the love and
hunger which thou shouldest have felt towards nourishing them in virtue, giving them the example of thy life and striking them with the hand of mercy and the rod of justice, and because thou didst the contrary thy conscience and the horrible likeness of the Devil reproves thee. "And if as a prelate thou hast given prelacies or
any
charge of souls unjustly to one of thy subjects, that is, that thou hast not considered to whom and how thou wert giving the Devil puts this also before thy conscience, because it,
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
307
thou oughtest to have given it, not on account of pleasant words, nor in order to please creatures, nor for the sake of gifts, but solely with regard to virtue, My honour and the And since thou hast not done so thou salvation of souls.
and confusion thou the and hast before thy conscience light of thine intellect hast done and that which thou ought not to have done, and that which thou oughtest to have done and hast not done. I wish thee to know, dearest daughter, that whiteness is better seen when placed on a black ground, and blackness art reproved,
and
for thy greater pain
"
on a white, than when they are separated.
So
it
happens
to these wretches, to these in particular and to all others in general, for at death when the soul begins to see its woes,
and the
just
man
his beatitude, his evil life is represented to is no reason that any one should
a wicked man, and there
remind him of the sins that he has committed, for his con
them before him, together with the virtues which he ought to have practised. Why the virtues ? For his greater shame. For vice being placed on a ground of virtue is known better on account of the virtue, and the better he knows his sin, the greater his shame, and by com parison with his sin he knows better the perfection of virtue, wherefore he grieves the more, for he sees that his own life was devoid of any and I wish thee to know that in this knowledge which dying sinners have of virtue and vice they see only too clearly the good which follows the virtue of a just man, and the pain that comes on him who has lain in the darkness of mortal sin. I do not give him this knowledge so that he may despair, but so that he may come to a per fect self-knowledge and shame for his sins, with hope, so that with that pain and knowledge he may pay for his sins, and appease My anger, humbly begging My mercy. The virtuous man increases thereby in joy and in knowledge of My love, for he attributes the grace of having followed virtue in the doctrine of My truth to Me and not to himself, wherefore he exalts in Me, with this truly illuminated know ledge, and tastes and receives the sweet end of his being in the way which I have related to thee in another place. So science places
;
that the one, that is to say, the just
man, who has lived
in
THE DIALOGUE OF
308
ardent
charity,
exalts in joy,
darkened and confounded
ST.
CATHERINE
while
the
wicked
man
is
in sorrow.
To the just man the appearance and vision of the Devil causes no harm or fear, for fear and harm can only be caused to him by sin ; but those who have passed their lives lasciviously and in many sins, receive both harm and "
fear from the appearance of the devils, not indeed the
they do not wish
harm
but the suffering of con demnation, of the refreshing of the worm of conscience, and of fear and terror at their horrible aspect. See now, dearest
of despair
if
it,
daughter, how different are the sufferings and the battle of death to a just man and to a sinner, and how different is their end. "
I
have shown to the eye of thy
intellect
a very small
part of what happens, and so small is what I have shown thee with regard to what it really is, to the suffering, that and the happiness of the other, that it is but a is, of the one, trifle.
See how great
is
the blindness of man, and in particular
of these ministers, for the more they have received of Me, and the more they are enlightened by the Holy Scripture, the greater are their obligations and more intolerable con fusion do they receive for not fulfilling them ; the more they knew of Holy Scripture during their life, the better do they know at their death the great sins they have committed, and their torments are greater than those of others, just as good men are placed in a higher degree of excellence. Theirs is
the fate of the false Christian, who is placed in Hell in greater torment than a pagan, because he had the light of faith and renounced it, while the pagan never had it. "
So these wretches
will
be punished more than other
Christians for the same sin, on account of the ministry which I entrusted to them, appointing them to administer the sun
of the holy Sacrament, and because they had the light of science, in order to discern the truth both for themselves and others had they wished to ; wherefore they justly receive
But the wretches do not know the greater pains. did they consider their state at all, they would not
this, for
come
to
such misery, but would be that which they ought to be and For the whole world has thus become corrupt, are not.
A TREATISE OF PRAYER much more
they being
guilty than seculars,
with their stench they
their state
;
their soul,
and corrupt
for
309
their subjects,
from
defile
according to the face of
and suck the blood
My spouse, that is, these sins they make her
the holy Church, wherefore through
grow pale, because they divert to themselves the love and charity which they should have to this divine spouse, and think of nothing but stripping her
own advantage, when they ought
seizing prelacies, and great pro
for their
Wherefore become irreverent and dis obedient to the holy Church, not that they ought on that account to do so, or that their sins are excused through the
perties,
through their
sins of
My
to
be seeking souls.
evil life, seculars
ministers."
CHAPTER A
brief repetition of many things said above, and gether forbids that priests should be touched
seculars
:
wretched "
CXXXIII.
THERE
thee, but
and how He
GOD
alto
by the hand of soul to weep over these
priests.
are I
invites this
how
many
other sins of which
do not wish
to
make
I
might speak to
thine ears itch any longer.
have told thee so much in order to satisfy thy desire, and so that thou mayest be more solicitous to offer before Me I
And I have told thy sweet, amorous, and bitter longings. thee that the excellence to which I have appointed them, and of the treasure which is administered to you by their hands, that is, of the holy Sacrament, wholly God and wholly man, illustrating this truth to thee by the figure of the sun in order that thou mightest see that the virtue of the Sacrament therefore
it
is
is
My
not diminished by their sins, and that will that your reverence towards them
should not diminish on that account. And I have shown thee the excellence of My virtuous ministers in whom shines the pearl of holy justice and the other virtues. I have also
shown
thee
how
displeasing to
Me
is
the offence committed
THE DIALOGUE OF
310
ST.
CATHERINE
by persecutors of the holy Church, and also the irreverence which they hold the Blood. For the persecutions directed
in
My
against
ministers
consider as directed against the
I
Blood and not against them, for I have forbidden My Christs I have also related to thee somewhat of the to be touched. shameful life of My ministers, how wretchedly they live, and what pain and confusion they receive at their death, and how much more cruelly than others they are punished after I have now fulfilled My promise to thee, which was death. to
tell
fulfil "
life and, having consented to promise, have satisfied thy demand. now repeat to thee what I said at first, that however
thee something of their
My I
great their sins might be, even if they were greater than I have mentioned, I do not wish any secular to occupy him self in punishing them ; and if they do so their sin will not
remain unpunished unless they punish it themselves, amend For both secular ing their lives with contrition of heart. and priest are incarnate devils, and through the divine justice one devil punishes another, and both sin, so that the secular is not excused through the sin of the prelate, nor the prelate through the sin of the secular. I now invite thee, dearest daughter, and
all
My
other
servants, to weep over these corpses, and to remain like lambs in the garden of the holy Church, feeding there with
holy desire and continued prayers, offering them before Me for their sakes, for I wish to do mercy to the world ; and do not leave this food of yours either, through injuries or
through prosperity, for
I
do not wish
My
servants to
lift
their heads with impatience or disordinate joy, but humbly honour and the salvation of to devote yourselves to
My
And souls, and to the reformation of the holy Church. this will be a proof to Me that thou and other servants in truth. Thou knowest well that I showed thee love
My
Me
how
I
wished thee and
My
other servants to be lambs ever
feeding in the garden of the holy Church, enduring with fatigue up to the last moment of their lives, and if in truth
thou doest so
I
will fulfil
thy
desires."
A TREATISE OF PRAYER
3"
CHAPTER CXXXIV. How THEN
this
this
devout soul, praising and thanking prayer for the Holy Church.
soul, as
if
inebriated,
GOD, made
tormented,
a
and on
fire
turned with love, her heart wounded with great bitterness, Eternal Goodness, saying: and the to herself Supreme Eternal God! oh! Light above every other light, "Oh!
Oh Fire above every fire, from whom issues all light without the art Thou because only Fire who burnest all sin and self-love found in consumest and consuming, !
!
the
not afflicting her, but fattening her with insa and though the soul is filled she is not love, desires Thee, and the more of Thee she ever but
soul,
tiable
sated,
more she seeks and the more she desires, the more she finds and tastes of Thee Supreme and Eternal Oh Supreme and Eternal Good, Fire, Abyss of Charity. Infinite God, to illuminate me, Thy who has moved Thee, of the with finite creature Thy Truth ? Thou, the same light it is always love which because the Fire of Love art cause, create us in Thine to Thee constrains constrained and us do to and mercy, giving immea image and similitude, Oh creatures. rational to surable and infinite graces Thy is who He art alone Thou Goodness above all goodness the Word, Thou nevertheless and gavest Supremely Good, has, the
!
!
!
us filthy ones and only-begotten Son, to converse with Love. of this ? cause the was What filled with darkness. Good! Oh! were. we before us Because Thou lovedst
Thy
oh!
Eternal Greatness!
Thou madest Thyself low and
On which ever side I turn I And fire of Thy charity. and find nothing but the abyss the and the Thee to graces can a wretch like me pay back so with showest and shown hast burning charity that Thou common me to beyond much burning love in particular showest to all Thy charity, and the love that Thou amorous creatures ? No, but Thou alone, most sweet and and thankful grateful for me, Father, art He who will be
small to
make man
great.
THE DIALOGUE OF
312
that
is,
that the affection of
Thee thanks, because
I
am
ST.
CATHERINE
Thy charity itself will render who is not, and if I spoke
she
as being anything of myself, I should be lying by my head, and should be a lying daughter of the Devil, who
own is
the father of
And my
lies,
because
Thou
He who
alone art
being and every further grace that
bestowed upon me, I have from Thee, through love, and not as my due.
who
Thou
givest
is.
hast
them
to
me
"
Oh
!
sweetest Father,
when
the
human
race lay sick
through the sin of Adam, Thou didst send it a Physician, the sweet and amorous Word Thy Son ; and now, when I was lying infirm with the sickness of negligence and much ignorance, Thou, most soothing and sweet Physician, Eternal God, hast given a soothing, sweet, and bitter medicine, that I may be cured and rise from my infirmity. Thou hast soothed me because with Thy love and gentle ness Thou hast manifested Thyself to me, Sweet above all sweetness, and hast illuminated the eye of my intellect with the light of most holy faith, with which light, according as it has pleased Thee to manifest it to me, I have known the excellence of grace which Thou hast given to the human
God-Man in the mystic And I have known the dignity of Thy ministers whom Thou hast appointed to administer Thee to us. I desired that Thou wouldest fulfil the promise that Thou madest to me, and Thou gavest much more, more even than I knew how to ask for. Wherefore I know in truth that the heart of man knows not how to ask or desire as much as thou canst give, and thus I see that Thou art He Who is the Supreme and Eternal Good, and that we And because Thou art infinite, and are they who are not. we are finite, Thou givest that which Thy rational creature race, administering to
it
the entire
body of the holy Church.
for she cannot desire it in itself, cannot desire enough nor in the way in which Thou canst and wilt satisfy the ;
filling her with things for which she does not ask Thee. Moreover, I have received light from Thy Great ness and Charity, through the love which Thou hast for the
soul,
whole human
who ought
race, and in particular for Thy anointed ones, to be earthly angels in this life. Thou hast
A TREATISE OF PRAYER shown me
the virtue and beatitude of these
313
Thy
anointed
who have
ones
lived like burning lamps, shining with the Pearl of Justice in the holy Church. And by comparison with these I have better understood the sins of those who live
Wherefore I have conceived a very great and the harm done to the whole
wretchedly.
sorrow
Thy
at
offence
harm to the world, being mirrors of sin when they ought to be mirrors of virtue. And because Thou hast manifested and grieved over their iniquities to me a wretch who am the cause and instrument of many world, for they do
sins
am
plunged in intolerable grief. oh inestimable love, hast manifested this to me, Thou, me a sweet and bitter medicine that I might wholly giving arise out of the infirmity of my ignorance and negligence, and have recourse to Thee with anxious and solicitous desire, knowing myself and Thy goodness and the offences which are committed against Thee by all sorts of people, so that I might shed a river of tears, drawn from the know ledge of Thy infinite goodness, over my wretched self and over those who are dead in that they live miserably. Wherefore I do not wish, oh eternal Father, ineffable Fire I
"
!
!
of Love, that fail
my
heart should ever
through tears, in desiring
Thy
grow weary, or my eyes honour and the salvation
of souls, but I beg of Thee, by Thy grace, that they may be as two streams of water issuing from Thee, the Sea
Thanks, thanks to Thee, oh Father, for having that which I asked Thee and that which I
Pacific.
!
me
granted
knew nor Thou hast
neither
asked, for by
grief
invited
me
Thus giving me matter for offer before Thee sweet,
to
and yearning desires, with humble and continual Now I beg of Thee that Thou wilt do mercy to prayer. the world and to the holy Church. I pray Thee to fulfil that which Thou didst cause me to ask Thee. Alas what a wretched and sorrowful soul is mine, the cause of all these
loving,
!
Do
evils.
not put off any longer
towards the world, but descend and
Thy fulfil
merciful designs the desire of Thy
servants. "
Ah me
voices
!
!
Thou
Thy
causest them to cry in order to hear their
truth told us to cry out,
and we should be
THE DIALOGUE OF
314
ST.
CATHERINE
answered to knock, and it would be opened to us to beg, and it would be given to us. Oh eternal Father, Thy servants do cry out to Thy mercy do Thou then reply. I know well that mercy is Thine own attribute, where fore Thou canst not destroy it or refuse it to him who asks for it. Thy servants knock at the door of Thy truth, ;
;
!
;
"
because
in the truth of
Thy
only-begotten Son they know hast for man, wherefore the
Thou
the ineffable love which
of Thy love ought not and cannot refrain from opening him who knocks with perseverance. Wherefore open, unlock, and break the hardened hearts of Thy creatures, not for their sakes who do not knock, but on account of Thy infinite goodness, and through love of Thy servants who knock at Thee for their sakes. Grant the prayer of those,
fire
to
Thou
Eternal Father, who, as
Thy
truth
and pray.
seest, stand
at the
the Blood of this door
Thy
truth
door of
For with hast Thou washed
For what do they pray
our iniquities and destroyed the stain of The Blood is ours, for Thou hast made
?
Adam s it
sin.
our bath,
canst not deny it to any one who truly Give, then, the fruit of Thy Blood to Thy Place in the balance the price of the blood of creatures. Thy Son, so that the infernal devils may not carry off Thy
wherefore asks for
lambs.
Thou
it.
Thou
art the
Good Shepherd who,
obedience, laid down His us a bath of His Blood.
life
for
Thy
to
lambs, and
Thy
fulfil
made
for
is what Thy hungry servants beg of Thee begging Thee through it to do mercy to the world, and to cause Thy holy Church to bloom with the fragrant flowers of good and holy pastors, who by their sweet odour shall extinguish the stench of the putrid flowers "That
Blood
at this door,
of
sin.
Thou
hast said, eternal Father, that through the love
which Thou hast for Thy rational creatures, and the prayers and the many virtues and labours of Thy servants, Thou wouldest do mercy to the world, and reform the Church, and thus give us refreshment wherefore do not delay, but turn the eye of Thy mercy towards us, for Thou must first ;
reply to us
mercy.
before
Open
we
can cry out with the voice of
the door of
Thy
inestimable love which
Thy
Thou
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
31$
hast given us through the door of Thy Word. I know indeed that Thou openest before even we can knock, for it is with the affection of love which Thou hast given to Thy servants, that they knock honour and the salvation
bread of
life,
and cry
Thee, seeking Thy Give them then the of the Blood of Thy
to
of souls.
that is to say, the fruit
only begotten Son, which they ask of Thee for the praise For and glory of My name and the salvation of souls.
more glory and praise
will be Thine in saving so many than in creatures, leaving them obstinate in their hardness of heart. To Thee, Eternal Father, everything is possible,
and even though Thou hast created us without our own I beg of Thee tohelp, Thou wilt not save us without it. force their wills, and dispose them to wish for that for which they do not wish and this I ask Thee through Thy infinite mercy. Thou hast created us from nothing, now, that are in existence, do mercy to us, and we therefore, remake the vessels which Thou hast created to Thy image and likeness. Re-create them to Grace in Thy mercy and the Blood of Thy Son sweet Christ Jesus." ;
CHAPTER CXXXV. A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE Here begins the
treatise of obedience, and first of where obedience found, and what it is that destroys it, and what is the sign of a man s possessing it, and what accompanies and nourishes obedience.
may be
THE Supreme and
Eternal Father, kindly turning the eye of
His mercy and clemency towards her, replied Thy holy desire and righteous request, oh dearest daughter, have a right to be heard, and inasmuch as I am the Supreme Truth, I will keep My word, fulfilling the promise which I made to And if thou ask Me where thee, and satisfying thy desire. obedience is to be found, and what is the cause of its loss, and the sign of its possession, I reply that thou wilt find it "
:
!
3i6
THE DIALOGUE OF
in its completeness in
ST.
CATHERINE
the sweet and amorous
Word,
My
So prompt in Him was this virtue, only-begotten Son. that, in order to fulfil it, He hastened to the shameful death of the Cross. What destroys obedience ? Look at the first man and thou wilt see the cause which destroyed the obedience imposed on him by Me, the eternal Father. It
was
pride,
which was produced by
self-love,
and desire to
This was the cause that deprived please his companion. him of the perfection of obedience, giving him instead dis obedience, depriving him of the life of grace, and slaying he fell into impurity and great misery, and not only he, but the whole human race, as I said to thee. The sign that thou hast this virtue is patience, his innocence, wherefore
and impatience the sign that you have it not, and thou wilt find that this is indeed so, when I speak to thee further con cerning this virtue. But observe that obedience may be kept in two ways, of which one is more perfect than the other, not that they are on that account separated, but united as I The one explained to thee of the precepts and counsels. way is the most perfect, the other is also good and perfect for no one at all can reach eternal life if he be not obedient, for the door was unlocked by the key of obedience, which had been fastened by the disobedience of Adam. I, then, ;
being constrained by My infinite goodness, since I saw that man whom I so much loved, did not return to Me, his End, took the keys of obedience and placed them in the hands of My sweet and amorous Word the Truth and He
becoming the porter of that door, opened it, and no one can enter except by means of that door and that Porter. Wherefore He said in the Holy Gospel that no one could When He returned come to Me, the Father, if not by Htm. to Me, rising to Heaven from the conversation of men at the Ascension, He left you this sweet key of obedience ; for as thou knowest He left His vicar, the Christ on earth, whom you are all obliged to obey until death, and whoever outside his obedience is in a state of damnation, as I have already told thee in another place. Now I wish thee to see and know this most excellent virtue in that humble and immaculate Lamb, and the source whence it proceeds. is
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
What
caused the great obedience of the
which
He had
for
My
proceeded this love
?
honour and your salvation.
?
From
The love Whence
the clear vision with which
the divine essence and
His soul saw
Word
317
the
eternal Trinity,
thus always looking on Me, the eternal God. His fidelity ob tained this vision most perfectly for Him, which vision you imperfectly enjoy by the light of holy faith. He was faithful to Me, His eternal Father, and therefore hastened as one
enamoured along the road of obedience, lit up with the light And inasmuch as love cannot be alone, but is of glory. accompanied by all the true and royal virtues, because all He possessed them the virtues draw their life from love. in which you do. from that but in a different way all, is the marrow which Among the others he possessed patience, whether a soul be of obedience, and a demonstrative sign, love or not. Wherefore in a state of grace and truly charity, the mother of patience, has given her as a sister to obedience, and so closely united them together that one cannot be lost without the other. Either thou hast them both or thou hast neither.
This virtue has a nurse therefore a soul
who
feeds her, that
is,
obedient in proportion to her humility, and humble in proportion to her obedience. This humility is the foster-mother and nurse of charity,
true humility
;
is
and with the same milk she feeds the virtue of obedience. Her raiment given her by this nurse is self-contempt, and insult, desire to displease herself, and to please Me. Where In sweet Christ Jesus, My onlydoes she find this ? begotten Son. For who abased himself more than He did He was sated with insults, jibes, and mockings. He caused pain to Himself in His bodily life, in order to please Me. And who was more patient than He ? for His cry was never heard in murmuring, but He patiently embraced His injuries like one enamoured, fulfilling the obedience imposed on Him by Me, His Eternal Father. Wherefore in Him thou wilt !
He left you this which gives you life, for it is the He is straight way, having first observed them Himself. He was the Way, the Truth, the way, wherefore He said, For he who travels by that way, travels in and the Life.
find
obedience perfectly accomplished.
rule
and
this doctrine,
1
THE DIALOGUE OF
3i8
the
CATHERINE
ST.
and being enlightened
cannot stumble, or be without perceiving it. For He has cast from Himself the darkness of self-love, by which he fell into dis light,
caused to
fall,
obedience ; for as I spoke to thee of a companion virtue proceeding from obedience and humility, so I tell you that disobedience comes from pride, which issues from self-love
The sister given by selfdepriving the soul of humility. love to disobedience is impatience, and pride, her fostermother, feeds her with the darkness of infidelity, so she hastens along the way of darkness, which leads her to eternal death.
All this
where you
book,
find
you should read described
in
that glorious
and every other
this
virtue."
CHAPTER CXXXVI. How obedience is the
key with which Heaven
is
opened, and
soul should fasten it by means of a cord to her girdle, excellences of obedience. "
Now
that
found, and
the
I have shown thee where obedience is to be whence she comes, and who is her companion,
and who her foster-mother, the
how
and of the
obedient
and
of
the
obedience in general, which
I
will
continue to speak of together, and of
disobedient is
the obedience of the pre
and in particular, which is that of the counsels. cepts The whole of your faith is founded upon obedience, for by it you prove your fidelity. You are all in general by My truth to obey the commandments of the law, the chief of which is to love Me above everything, and your neighbour as yourself, and the commandments are so bound up together, that you cannot observe or transgress one without ;
observing or principal
transgressing
all.
commandment observes
Me
He who all
observes
this
he is he loves Me and
the
others
;
and his neighbour, for is therefore obedient, becoming subject to and My the commandments of the law, and to creatures for My faithful
to
creature,
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
319
sake, and with humble patience he endures every labour, and even his neighbour s detraction of him. This obedi
of such excellence that ye all derive grace from it, Wherefore just as from disobedience you all derive death. it is not enough that it should be only in word, and not
ence
is
I have already told you that this word practised by you. is the key which opens heaven, which key My Son placed This vicar placed it in the in the hands of His vicar.
hands of every one who receives holy baptism, promising therein to renounce the world and all its pomps and So that each man has in his own delights, and to obey. person that very same key which the Word had, and if a man does not unlock in the light of faith, and with the hand of love the gate of heaven by means of this key, he never will enter there, in spite of
its having been opened you without yourselves, I will not save you without yourselves. Wherefore you must take the key in your hand and walk by the doctrine of My Word, and not remain seated that is to say, placing your love in finite things, as do foolish men who follow the first man, their first father, following his example, and casting the
by the Word
;
for
though
key of obedience into the
I
created
mud
of impurity, breaking
it with with self-love. It would have been entirely destroyed had not My only begotten Son, the Word, come and taken this key of obedience in His
the
hammer
of pride, rusting
it
hands and purified it in the fire of divine love, having drawn it out of the mud, and cleansed it with His blood, and straightened it with the knife of justice, and hammered your
So
iniquities into
perfectly did
shape on the anvil of His own body. repair it that no matter how much a
He
man may have
spoilt his key by his free-will, by the self same free-will, assisted by My grace, he can repair it with the same instruments that were used by My Word. Oh !
blinder than the blind, for, having spoilt the key of obedi Dost thou think ence, thou dost not think of mending it !
forsooth that the disobedience which
Heaven
closed the door of
the pride which fell can rise ? Dost thou think to be admitted to the marriage feast in
foul
will
open
it
? that
and disordered garments?
Dost
thou
think
that
THE DIALOGUE OF
3 20
ST.
CATHERINE
down and binding thyself with the chain of mortal thou canst walk ? or that without a key thou canst sin, the Do not imagine that thou canst, for it is door ? open
sitting
a fantastical delusion
thou must be firm, thou must leave
;
mortal sin by a holy confession, contrition of heart, satis Then thou wilt throw faction, and purpose of amendment.
hideous and defiled garment and, clothed in the shining nuptial robe, wilt hasten, the key of obedience in But bind this key with the thy hand, to open the door. cord of self-contempt, and hatred of thyself and of the off that
world, and fasten it to the love of pleasing Me, Thy creator, of which thou shouldest make a girdle to thyself to bind thy loins with it, for fear thou lose it. Know, My
daughter, there are many who take up this key of obedi ence, having seen by the light of faith that in no other way can they escape eternal damnation ; but they hold it in their hand without wearing this girdle, or fastening the it with the cord of self-contempt, that is to say that, not perfectly clothed with My pleasure, but still are they seek to please themselves ; they do not wear the cord of
key
to
self-contempt, for they do not desire to be despised, but Such as these rather take delight in the praise of men. are apt to lose their key ; for if they suffer a little extra
mental or corporal tribulation, and if, as often hand of holy desire loosens its grasp, they will the happens, lose it. They can indeed find it again if they wish to fatigue, or
while they find it
?
it,
but
live,
and what
they do not wish they will never prove to them, that they have lost
if
will
Impatience, for patience
was united
to obedience,
and
their impatience proves that obedience does not dwell in Oh how sweet and glorious is this virtue, their soul. !
which contains all the rest, for she is conceived and born of charity, on her is founded the rock of the holy faith. She is a queen whose consort will feel no trouble, but only peace and quiet the waves of the stormy sea cannot hurt ;
nor can any tempest reach the interior of the soul in whom she dwells. Such a one feels no hatred when injured, because he wishes to obey the precept of forgive her,
ness, he suffers not
when
his appetites are
not satisfied,
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
32 c
because obedience has ordered him to desire Me alone, who can and will satisfy all his desires, if he strip himself
And so in of worldly riches. he who has too long to relate,
things which would be chosen as spouse Queen Obedience, the appointed key of heaven, finds peace and Oh blessed obedience thou voyagest without quiet. fatigue, and reachest without danger the port of salvation, all
!
!
thou art conformed to
My
only begotten Son,
the
Word,
thou boardest the ship of the holy cross, forcing thyself to endure, so as not to transgress the obedience of the Word, nor abandon His doctrine, of which thou makest a table
when thou
eatest the food of souls, dwelling in the love of thy neighbour, being anointed with true humility, which saves thee from coveting, contrary to will, his posses
My
sions, thou walkest erect, without bending, for thy heart is
sincere and not false, loving generously and truly creatures, thou art a sunrise drawing after thee the light of divine grace, thou art a sun which makes the earth, that is to say, the organs of the soul, to germinate with the
My
heat of charity, all of which as well as those of the body produce life-giving fruit for thyself and thy neighbour. Thou art even cheerful, for thy face is never wrinkled with impatience, but smooth and pleasant with the happiness of patience, and even in its fortitude thou art great by thy long endurance, so long that it reaches from earth to Thou art a hidden heaven and unlocks the celestial door. pearl,
to
all
trampled by the world, abasing thyself, submitting Yet thy kingdom is so great that no one
creatures.
can rule thee, for thou hast come out of the mortal servi tude of thy own sensuality, which destroyed thy dignity,
and having
own
slain this
enemy with hatred and
pleasure hast re-obtained thy
liberty."
dislike of thy
THE DIALOGUE OF
322
ST.
CATHERINE
CHAPTER CXXXVII. Here both the misery of the disobedient and the excellence of the obedient are spoken this,
of.
dearest daughter, has been done by
My good have told thee, for by My provi repaired the key of obedience, but worldly
ness and providence as
I
dence the Word men devoid of every virtue do the contrary, they, like unbridled horses, without the bit of obedience, go from bad to worse, from sin to sin, from misery to misery, from darkness to darkness, from death to death, until they finally reach the
edge of the ditch of death, gnawed by the of their conscience, and though it is true that they can obey the precepts of the law if they will, and have the
worm
time repenting of their disobedience, it is very hard for them to do so, on account of their long habit of sin. Therefore let no man trust to this, putting off his finding of the key of obedience to the
moment
of his death, for although every one may and should hope as long as he has life, he should not put such trust in this hope as to delay
What is the reason of all this, and of such repentance. blindness that prevents them recognising this treasure. The
cloud of self-love and wretched pride, through which they abandoned obedience, and fell into disobedience. Being disobedient they are impatient, as has been said, and
impatience endure intolerable pain, for it has seduced them from the way of Truth, leading them along a way of lies, making them slaves and friends of the devils with whom, unless indeed they amend themselves with
in their
patience, they will go to the eternal torments.
Contrari
beloved sons, obedient and observers of the law and exult in My eternal vision with the Immaculate rejoice humble and Lamb, the Maker, Fulfiller, and Giver of this wise,
My
law of obedience.
Observing
this
law
in
this
life
they
peace without any disturbance, they receive and clothe themselves in the most perfect peace, for there they possess every good without any evil, safety without any
taste
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE fear, riches
323
without any poverty, satiety without disgust,
hunger without pain, light without darkness, one supreme infinite good, shared by all those who taste it truly.
What
has placed them in so blessed a state
?
The blood
which the key of obedience has Lamb, by lost its rust, so that, by the virtue of the blood, it has been Oh fools and madmen, delay able to unlock the door. no longer to come out of the mud of impurity, for you seem like pigs to wallow in the mire of your own lust. virtue of
of the
!
Abandon
the injustice, murders, hatreds, rancours, detrac
murmurings, false judgments, and cruelty, with which use your neighbours, your thefts and treacheries, and you the disordinate pleasures and delights of the world ; tions,
cut off the horns
of pride, by which amputation
you
will
extinguish the hatred which is in your heart against your neighbours. Compare the injuries which you do to Me
and will
your neighbour with those done to you, and you see that those done to you are but trifles. You will to
see that remaining in hatred you injure Me by transgress ing My precept, and you also injure the object of your hate for you deprive him of your love, whereas you have been to love Me above everything, and your neigh bour as yourself. No gloss has been put upon these words as if it should have been said, if your neighbour injures you do not love him but they are to be taken naturally and simply, as they were said to you by My Truth, who Himself literally observed this rule. Literally also should you observe it, and if you do not you will injure your own
commanded
;
soul, depriving it of the life of grace. Take, oh ! take then, the key of obedience with the light of faith, walk no longer in such darkness or cold, but observe obedience in
the
fire
of love, so that ye
may
with the other observers of the
taste eternal life together law."
THE DIALOGUE OF
324
ST.
CATHERINE
CHAPTER CXXXVIII. Of those who have such
love for obedience that they do not remain content with the general obedience of precepts, but take on themselves a particular obedience.
THERE are some, sweet and amorous "
My fire
dearest daughter, in whom the of love towards obedience burns
so high (which fire of love cannot exist without hatred of self-love, so that when the fire increases so does this selfhatred), that they are not content to observe the precepts of the Law with a general obedience as you are all obliged to
do
have
and
not
death, but take upon particular obedience, following the greatest so that they become observers of the counsels perfection, Such as these wish to bind both in deed and in thought. if
you
will
life
themselves a
themselves more tightly through self-hatred, and in order to in everything their own will. They either place themselves under the yoke of obedience in holy religion, or, without entering religion, they bind themselves to some
restrain
creature,
submitting their will to his, so as more expedoor of Heaven. These are they,
ditiously to unlock the
have told thee, who have chosen the most perfect I have already spoken to thee of obedience in as I know it to be thy will that I should and general, to thee of this particular and most perfect obedience, speak I will now relate to thee somewhat of this second kind, which is not divided from the first, but is more perfect, for, as I have already told thee, these two kinds of obedience are so closely united together that they cannot be separ I have told thee where general obedience is to be ated. found and whence it proceeds, and the cause of its loss. as
I
obedience.
*Now
speak to thee of this particular obedience, not altering, however, the fundamental principle of the virtue." I
will
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
325
CHAPTER CXXXIX.
41
How
a soul advances from general to particular obedience of the excellence of the religous orders.
THE
soul
who
;
and
with love has submitted to the yoke of
Commandments, following the doctrine of truth virtuously exercising herself, as has been said,
obedience, to the
My
in this general kind of
obedience will advance to the second
kind by means of the same light which brought her to the first, for by the light of the most holy faith she would
humble Lamb, My truth have for her, and her own fragility, which cannot respond to Me with due perfection. So she wanders, seeking by that light in what place and in what way she can pay her debt, trampling on her own fragility, and restraining her own will. Enlightened in her have
learnt, in the blood of the
the ineffable love which
I
search by faith, she finds the place namely, holy religion which has been founded by the Holy Spirit, appointed as the ship to receive souls who wish to hasten to perfection, The Captain and to bring them to the port of salvation. of this ship is the Holy Spirit, who never fails in Himself through the defects of any of His religious subjects who
may
transgress
the rule
of
the
order.
The
ship
itself
cannot be damaged, but only the offender. It is true that the mistake of the steersman may send her down into the billows, and these are wicked pastors and prelates ap The ship herself is so pointed by the Master of the ship. I say, then, delightful that thy tongue could not narrate it. that the soul, on fire with desire and a holy self-hatred,
having found her place by the light of faith, enters there as one dead, if she is truly obedient ; that is to say, if she And even if have perfectly observed general obedience. she should be imperfect when she enters, it does not follow
On the contrary, she herself in the virtue of obedience ; by exercising most of those There are who are enter indeed, imperfect. some who enter already in perfection, others in the child-
that she
attains
it
cannot attain perfection.
THE DIALOGUE OF
326
hood of
virtue, others
through
ST.
fear,
CATHERINE others through penance,
others through allurements, everything depends on whether after they have entered they exercise themselves in virtue,
and persevere till death, for no true judgment can be made on a person s entrance into religion, but only on their perseverance, for many have appeared to be perfect who have afterwards turned back, or remained in the order with much imperfection, so that, as I have said, the act of entrance into this ship ordained by Me, who call ways, does not supply material for
different
men a
in
real
judgment, but only the love of those who persevere therein with true obedience. This ship is rich, so that there is no need for the subject to think about his necessities either temporal or spiritual, for if he is truly obedient, and observes his order, he will be provided for by his Master, who is the Holy Spirit, as I told thee when I spoke to
My providence, saying that though thy servants No more are might be poor, they were never beggars. these, for they find everything they need, and those who observe this order find this to be indeed true. Wherefore,
thee of
see that in the days when the religious orders lived virtu ously, blossoming with true poverty and fraternal charity, their temporal substance never failed them, but they had their needs demanded. But because the stench
more than of
self-love has entered
and
caused
each
to
keep his
possessions and to fail in obedience, their tem poral substance has failed, and the more they possess to the greater destitution do they come. It is just that even private
in the smallest matters they should experience the fruit of
disobedience, for had they been obedient and observed the vow of poverty, each would not have taken his own, and
See the riches of these holy rules, so privately. thoughtfully and luminously appointed by those who were See with what judgment temples of the Holy Spirit. Benedict ordered his ship see with what perfection and
lived
;
order of poverty Francis ordered his ship, decked with the pearls of virtue, steering it in the way of lofty perfection ,
to give his order for spouse, true and holy poverty, whom he had chosen for himself, embracing self-
being the
first
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
327
and self-hatred, not desiring to please any creature but only thy will ; desiring rather to be thought vile by the world, macerating his body and slaying his will,
contempt
clothing himself in insults, sufferings, and jibes, for love of he was fastened and nailed the humble Lamb, with
Whom
by love, so that by a singular grace there in his body the very wounds of thy Truth, show appeared of his body that which was in the love of in the vessel ing to the
cross
his soul, so he prepared the way. But thou wilt say, Are not "
all
the other religious
orders equally founded on this point ? Yes, but though are all founded on in no other is this the principal it, they as with the virtues, though all the virtues draw from charity, nevertheless, as I explained tothee in another place, one virtue belongs especially to one man, and another to another, and yet they all remain in charity, so with the principal foundation of the religious orders.
foundation their
;
life
Poverty belonged especially to My poor man Francis, who placed the principal foundation of his order in love for this poverty, and made it very strict for those who were perfect, I say few for the few and the good, not for the majority.
because they are not many who choose this perfection, though now through their sins they are multiplied in numbers and deficient in virtue, not through defect of the ship, but
Now look through disobedient subjects and wicked rulers. at the ship of thy father Dominic, My beloved son he it sons most that his should ordered perfectly, wishing apply themselves only to My honour and the salvation of souls, with the light of science, which light he laid as his :
principal foundation, not, however, on that account, being deprived of true and voluntary poverty, but having it also. And as a sign that he had it truly, and that the contrary
displeased him, he
left
as an heirloom to his sons his curse
and Mine,
if they should hold any possessions, either privately or in community, as a sign that he had chosen for his spouse Queen Poverty. But for his more immediate and personal object he took the light of science in order to
extirpate the
errors which
taking on him
the
office
had arisen of
My
in
his
only-begotten
time, thus
Son,
the
328
THE DIALOGUE OF
ST.
CATHERINE
Word. Rightly he appeared as an apostle in the world, and sowed the seed of My Word with much truth and He was a light, dissipating darkness and giving light. light which I gave the world by means of Mary, placed in the mystical body of the Holy Church as an extirpator of heresies. Why do I say by means of Mary ? Because Mary gave him his habit this office was committed to her At what table does he feed his sons by My goodness. At the table of the cross, which with the light of science ? is
the table of holy desire, when souls are eaten for My Dominic does not wish his sons to apply them
honour.
selves to anything, but remaining at this table, there to seek with the light of science, the glory and praise of name alone, and the salvation of souls. And in order that
My
they might do nothing else, he chose poverty for them, so It that they might not have the care of temporal things. true that some failed in faith, fearing that they would not be provided for, but he never. Being clothed in faith, and hoping with firm confidence in My providence. He
is
wishes his sons to observe obedience and do their duty, and since impure living obscures the eye of the intellect, and not only the eye of the intellect, but also of the body,
he does not wish them to obscure their physical light with which they may more perfectly obtain the light of science wherefore he imposed on them the third vow of continence, and wishes that all should observe it, with true and perfect
;
obedience,
although to-day
it
is
badly observed.
They
also prevent the light of science with the darkness of pride, not that this light can be darkened in itself, but only in their souls, for there, where pride is, can be no obedience.
have already told thee that a man s humility is in propor and his obedience to his humility, and similarly, when he transgresses the vow of obedience, it rarely happens that he does not also transgress the vow of continence, either in thought or deed so that he has rigged his ship with the three ropes of obedience, continence, and true poverty he made it a royal ship, not obliging his subjects under pain of mortal sin, and illuminated by Me the true light, he provided for those who should be less I
tion to his obedience,
;
;
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
329
though all who observe the order are perfect in one kind, yet possesses a higher degree of perfection than
perfect, for
another, yet all perfect or imperfect live well in this ship. He allied himself with My truth, showing that he did not
of a sinner, but rather that he should be con Wherefore his religion is a delightful verted and broad joyous and fragrant, but the wretches garden, the order, but transgress its vows, have not observe do who and defiled it with their scanty virtue a desert into it turned
desire the death
and
live.
and light of science, though they are nourished at its breast. I do not say that the order itself is in this condition, for it still possesses every delight, but in the beginning its sub and jects were not as they are now, but blooming flowers, to be another seemed Each men of great perfection. St. Paul, their
eyes so illuminated that the darkness of error
was dissipated by their glance. Look at My glorious Thomas, who gazed with the gentle eye of his intellect at Truth, whereby he acquired supernatural light and science infused by grace, for he obtained it rather by means
My
He was a brilliant light, of prayer than by human study. illuminating his order and the mystical body of the Holy Look at My Church, dissipating the clouds of heresy. Peter, virgin and martyr, who by his blood gave light among the darkness of many heresies, and the heretics hated him
so that at last they took his life yet while he lived he applied himself to nothing but prayer, preaching, and disput ation with heretics, hearing confessions, announcing the ;
without any fear, to such an extent that he not only confessed it in his life but even at the moment of his death, for when he was at the last ex
truth,
and spreading the
faith
tremity, having neither voice nor ink left, having received his death-blow, he dipped his finger in his blood, and this glorious martyr, having not paper on which to write, leaned
over, confessing the faith, and wrote the Credo on the ground. His heart burnt in the furnace of charity, so that he
My
never slackened his pace nor turned his head back, though he knew that he was to die, for I had revealed to him his death, but like a true knight he fearlessly came forth on to the battle-field
;
and
I
could
tell
thee the
same of many
THE DIALOGUE OF
330
ST.
CATHERINE
who though they did not actually experience martyr dom, were martyrs in will like Dominic great labourerswere these sent by My Father to labour in His vineyard
others,
;
to extirpate the thorns of vice, planting the virtues in their stead. Of a truth Dominic and Francis were two columns
of the holy Church. Francis with the poverty which was own, as has been said, and Dominic with his
specially his learning."
CHAPTER CXL. Of the
excellence of the obedient, and of the misery of the members of the religious orders.
disobedient
Now
that places suitable for obedience have been found r namely, these ships commanded by the Holy Spirit through the medium of their superiors, for, as I told thee, the Holy "
Spirit is the true
Master of these ships, which are
built in
the light of the most holy faith by those who have the light to know that My clemency, the Holy Spirit, will steer
them, and having thus its
I
will
shown thee
the place of obedience and obedience and of the
to thee of the
perfection, speak disobedience of those who travel in such a ship, speaking of all together and not of one ship that is, one order in particular,
showing thee the
sin of the disobedient
and the
virtue of the obedient, so that a man may better know the one by contrast with the other, and how he should walk if
he would enter the ship of a religious order. How should he walk who wishes to enter this state of perfect and par ticular obedience ? With the light of holy faith, by which he will know that he must slay his self-will with the knife of hatred of every sensual passion, taking the spouse which
The spouse is charity gives him, together with her sister. true and prompt obedience, and the sister, patience ; and he must also take the nurse of humility, for without this nurse obedience would perish of hunger, for obedience soon dies in a soul deprived of this little virtue of humility.
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
331
Humility is not alone but has the handmaid of con tempt of self and of the world, which causes the soul to hold herself vile, and not to desire honour but shame. Thus dead to himself, should he who is old enough enter "
the ship of a religious order, but however he may enter it (for I have told thee that I call souls in diverse ways), he
should acquire and preserve this affection, hurrying gene rously to seize the key of the obedience of his order, which
door which is in the panel of the door Such as these have undertaken to open the little door, doing without the great key of general obedience, which opens the door of Heaven, as I have said to thee. They have taken a little key, passing through a low and narrow opening in the great door. This small door is part will
open the
little
of Heaven.
of the great door, as thou mayest see in any real door. They should keep this key when they have got it, and not throw it away. And because the truly obedient have seen
with the light of faith that they will never be able to pass through this little door with the load of their riches and the
own
will without great fatigue and without that they cannot walk with head erect and life, without breaking their neck, whether they wish to or not, they cast from them the load of their riches, and of their
weight of their losing their
own
will
observing the
vow
of voluntary poverty, refusing by the light of faith to
to possess anything, for they see
what ruin they would come if they transgressed obedience, and the vow of poverty which they promised to keep. The disobedient walk in pride, holding their heads erect, and if sometimes it suits their convenience to obey they do not incline their heads with humility, but proudly do so, because they must, which force breaks the neck of their will,
for
they
fulfil
their obedience with hatred
of
their
and of their superior. Little by little they are ruined on another point, for they transgress the vow of continence, for he who does not constrain his appetite or order
strip himself of temporal substance
makes many
relations
and finds plenty of friends who love him for their own From these relations they go on to close intimacies, profit. their body they tend luxuriously, for being without either
THE DIALOGUE OF
332
CATHERINE
ST.
the nurse of humility or her sister, self-contempt, they live in their own pleasure richly and delicately, not like religious
but
like
nobles,
without
watching or prayer.
This and
many other things happen to them because they have money to spend, for if they had it not they could not spend it. They fall into mental and physical impurity, for if sometimes
from
shame or through
lack
of
means they
abstain physically, they indulge themselves mentally, for it is impossible for a man with many worldly relations, of delicate habits and disordinate greediness, who watches not nor prays, to preserve his mind pure. Wherefore the per fectly obedient man sees from afar with the light of holy faith the evil and the loss which would come to him from temporal possessions and from walking weighed down by his own will he also sees that he is obliged to pass by this narrow door, and that in such a state he would die ;
he would be able to pass
having no key of said to thee, he is Wherefore it is that whether obliged to pass through it. he will or no he should not leave the the ship of the order, but should walk the narrow path of obedience to his before
obedience wherewith to open
it,
it,
for as
I
superior. "
Wherefore the perfectly obedient man rises above and his own sensuality, and rising above his
himself
own
feelings with living faith, places self-hatred as servant house of his soul to drive out the enemy of self-love,
in the
for he does not wish that his spouse, Obedience, given him with the light of faith by her mother, Chanty, should be offended so he drives out the enemy and puts in his place the nurse and companions of his spouse. ;
The love of obedience places in the house of his soul the lovers of his spouse, Obedience, who are the true and royal virtues, the customs and observances of his order, so "
sweet spouse enters his soul with and her nurse, Humility, together contempt and Self-hatred, and when she has possesses peace and quiet, for her enemies that
this
Patience,
She dwells
her with
sister,
Self-
entered she
have
been
garden of true continence, with the sun of intellectual light shining in, the eye of holy faith
exiled.
in the
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE fixed on the object of and the fire of love with
My
truth, for
her object
333 is
My
truth,
which she observes the rules of* the order, warms all her servants and companions. Who are her enemies who have been expelled? The "
producing pride, the enemy of humility
chief is self-love,
and
Impatience
charity.
disobedience
of
is
the
enemy
of
patience,
obedience, infidelity of faith, pre sumption and self-confidence do not accord with the true hope which the soul should have in Me ; injustice cannot true
be conformed to
justice, nor imprudence to prudence, nor intemperance to temperance, nor the transgression of the commandments of the order to perfect observance of them nor the wicked conversation of those who live in sin to the r
good conversation of enemies, causing him tions of his order.
My
He
These are a man s good customs and tradi
servants.
to leave the
has also those other cruel enemies,
anger, which wars against his benevolence
kindness
his
;
cruelty, against
wrath, against his benignity ; hatred of against the love of virtue ; impurity, against
virtue,
chastity
;
;
negligence, against solicitude
;
ignorance, against
knowledge, and sloth against watchfulness and continued prayer.
And
knew by the light of faith that all these enemies who would defile his spouse, holy obedience, he appointed hatred to drive them out, and love to replace them with her friends. Wherefore with the knife of hatred he slew his perverse self-will, who, nourished by self-love, gave life to all these enemies of "
were
since he
his
true obedience, and having cut off the source by which all others are preserved in life, he remains free and in
the
peace without any war, for there is no one to make war on him, for the soul has cut of from herself that which kept her in bitterness and in sadness. What makes war on obedience ?
Injuries ?
No,
for
the
obedient
man
is
The weight patient, patience being the sister of obedience. of the observances of the order ? for obedience No, causes him to
fulfil them. Does the weight of obedience him ? for he has trampled on his own will, give pain No, and does not care to examine or judge the will of his
334
THE DIALOGUE OF
ST.
CATHERINE
superior, for with the light of faith he sees
My
will in
him,
believing truly that My clemency causes him to command Is he according to the needs of his subject s salvation. disgusted and angry at having to perform the humble duties
of the order or to endure the mockeries, reproofs, jibes, and insults which are often cast at him, or to be held at little
worth ? No, for he has conceived love for self-contempt Wherefore he rejoices with patience, and self-hatred. exulting with delight and joy in the company of his spouse true obedience, for the only thing which saddens him is to His conversation is with see Me, his Creator, offended. those who truly fear Me, and if he should converse with those who are separated from My Will, it is not in order to conform himself to their sins, but to draw them out of their misery, for through the brotherly love which he has in his heart towards them he would like to give them the good which he possesses, seeing that more glory and praise would be given to My name by many observing aright Wherefore he their order than by him doing so alone. endeavours to convert religious and seculars by his words and by prayer, and by every means by which he can draw them out of the darkness of mortal sin. Thus the conversations of a truly obedient man are good and perfect, whether they be with just men or with sinners, through his Of rightly ordered love and the breadth of his charity. his cell he makes a heaven, delighting there to converse with Me, his supreme and eternal Father, with the affection of love, flying idleness with humble and continual prayer, and when, through the illusion of the Devil, thoughts come crowding into his cell, he does not sit down on the bed of negligence embracing idleness, nor care to examine by reason the thoughts or opinions of his heart, but he flies sloth, rising above himself and his senses with hatred and true humility, patiently enduring the weariness which he feels in his mind, and resisting by watching and humble prayer, fixing the eye of his intellect on Me, and seeing with the light of faith that I am his helper, and both can and will help him, and open to him the eyes of My kind ness, and that it is I who permit this suffering in order
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
335
eager to fly himself and come to Me. seem to him that on account of his great And if it should of his mind, mental prayer is darkness the weariness and
that he
may be more
impossible, he recites vocal prayers, or busies himself with some corporal exercises, so that by these means he may
looks at Me with the light which I give which draws forth true humility, for he him through love, of the peace and quiet of mind of deems himself unworthy but rather worthy of pain, for he My other servants, mind with hatred and selfdespises himself in his own reproach, thinking that he can never endure enough pain,
avoid idleness.
He
hope nor My providence fail him, but with and the key of obedience he passes over this stormy sea in the ship of his order, dwelling thus in his cell as has been said, and avoiding idleness. The obedient man wishes to be the first to enter choir and the last to leave it, and when he sees a brother more obedient than himself he regards him in his eagerness with a holy envy, stealing from him the virtue in which he excels, not wishing, however, that his brother should have less thereof, for if he wished this he would be separated The obedient man does not leave the from brotherly love. refectory, but visits it continually and delights at being at And as a sign that he delights table with the poor. therein, and so as to have no reason to remain without, he has abandoned his temporal substance, observing so per fectly the vow of poverty that he blames himself for His cell is considering even the necessities of his body. full of the odour of poverty, and not of clothes he has no for neither his faith
"
;
fear
that
moths
thieves will
to rob
him, or that rust or
garments and if anything is given he does not think of laying it by for his own use,
will corrupt his
to him,
come
;
but freely shares it with his brethren, not thinking of the morrow, but rather depriving himself to-day of what he needs, thinking only of the kingdom of heaven and how he
may
best observe true obedience.
"And
in order that
he may better keep to the path of
humility, he submits to small and great, to poor and rich, and becomes the servant of all, never refusing labour, but
THE DIALOGUE OF
336
serving
ST.
CATHERINE
The obedient man does not wish with charity. his obedience in his own way, or to choose his
all
to fulfil
time or place, but prefers the superior.
All this the truly
of his order and of his and perfectly obedient man
way
He passes with does without pain and weariness of mind. this key in his hand through the narrow door of the order, easily and without violence, because he observes the vows of poverty, true obedience, and continence, having abandoned the heights of pride, and bowed his head to obedience
He
through humility.
does not break his neck through
impatience, but is patient with fortitude and enduring perse Thus he passes by the verance, the friends of obedience. assaults of the devils, mortifying
and macerating
his
flesh,
stripping it bare of all pleasures and delights and clothing it with the labours of the order in a faith which despises nothing, for as a child who does not remember the blows
and
on him by his father, so this child of remember the injuries, pains, or blows
injuries inflicted
the spirit does not
on him by his superior in the order, but calling him humbly, turns to him without without anger, hatred, or rancour, but with meekness and benevolence. These are those little ones of whom My Truth spoke to the disciples, who were contending among themselves which of them should be the greater, for calling a child, He Allow the little ones to come to Me, for of such is the said inflicted
"
:
whoever will not humble himself like keep this childlike condition), For he who humbles shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.
kingdom of heaven this child (that
is,
to be ;
who
will not
himself, dearest daughter, will be exalted, and he who exalts himself will be humbled, which also was said to you by
My Truth. Justly, therefore, are these humble little ones, humiliated and subjected through love, with true and holy obedience, who do not kick against the pricks of their order or superior, exalted by Me, the supreme and eternal Father, with the true citizens of the blessed
rewarded
for all their labours,
taste eternal
life."
and
life,
when they
in this life
are
also do they
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
CHAPTER How
337
CXLI.
the truly obedient receive a hundredfold for one, and also
eternal
life
;
and what
is
meant by
this one,
and
this
hundred
fold.
"
IN them
Word,
the saying of the sweet and amorous only-begotten Son, in the gospel when He
is fulfilled
My
Master, we have left everything replied to Peter s demand, and love s have sake, followed Thee, what wilt Thou for thy truth replied, / will give you a hundred shall possess eternal life? As if
give us ?
My
fold for one,
and you
My
Truth had wished to say, Thou hast done in no other way couldest thou follow Me. "
life,
will give thee a hundredfold
for
one.
well, Peter, for
And I, in this And what is
hundredfold, beloved daughter, besides which the To what did My Truth apostle obtained eternal life ?
this
refer?
To
temporal substance?
Do I not, however often cause Properly speaking, no. In one who gives alms to multiply in temporal goods ? In return for the gift of his return for what do I this ? own will. This is the one for which I repay him a "
What is the meaning of the number a hundred ? A hundred is a perfect number, and cannot be So added to except by recommencing from the first. the most is of all the so virtues, perfect charity perfect that no higher virtue can be attained, except by re commencing at the beginning of self-knowledge, and thus hundredfold.
increasing
many hundredfold
necessarily arrive at the
in
merit
;
but
number one hundred.
you always This
is
that
given given Me in both will, general obedience, and in the particular obedience of the religious life. And in
hundredfold which the unit of their
to those
is
own
addition to this hundred charity
alone
who have
enters
you
into
also possess eternal
eternal
bringing with her the fruit of
life,
like
a
life,
for
mistress
the other virtues, while remain their outside, bringing fruit, I say, into Me, the they eternal life, in whom the obedient taste eternal life. It is all
338
THE DIALOGUE OF
ST.
CATHERINE
not by faith that they taste eternal life, for they experience in its essence that which they have believed through faith ;
nor by hope, for they possess that for which they had hoped, and so with all the other virtues, Queen Charity alone enters and possesses Me, her possessor. See, there fore, that these little ones receive a hundredfold for one, and also eternal life, for here they receive the fire of divine charity figured by the number a hundred (as has been And because they have received this hundredfold said). from Me, they possess a wonderful and hearty joy, for there is no sadness in charity, but the joy of it makes the heart large and generous, not narrow or double. A soul wounded by this sweet arrow does not appear one thing in face and tongue while her heart is different. She does not act towards or her with serve, neighbour dissembling and because is an book to be read by ambition, charity open Wherefore the soul who possesses charity never all. falls into trouble, or the affliction of sadness, or jars with obedience, but remains obedient until death."
CHAPTER
CXLII.
Of the perversities, miseries, and labours of the disobedient man and of the miserable fruits which proceed from disobedience.
;
CONTRARIWISE, a wicked disobedient man dwells in the ship of a religious order with so much pain to himself and others, that in this life he tastes the earnest of hell, he remains always in sadness and confusion of mind, tormented by the sting of conscience, with hatred of his order and superior, insupportable to himself. What a terrible thing it is, My daughter, to see one who has once taken the key of obedience of a religious order, living in disobedience, to which he has made himself a slave, for of disobedience he has made his mistress with her companion impatience, nourished by pride, and his own pleasure, which pride (as has been said) issues from self-love. For "
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
339
him everything is the contrary to what it would be for For how can this wretch be in any other the obedient man. than suffering, for he
state
deprived of charity, he
is
force to incline the neck of his
obliged by
own
will,
is
and
pride keeps it erect, all his desires are in discord with the The order commands obedience, and he will of the order. loves disobedience
and he
avoids
it,
commands
order
lewdness.
commands voluntary poverty, possessing and acquiring riches ; the continence and purity, and he desires ;
the order
By transgressing
these three vows, My daughter, falls into so many miseries,
a religious comes to ruin, and
that his aspect is no longer that of a religious but of an incarnate devil, as in another place I related to thee at
greater length.
I will,
however,
tell
thee something
now
their delusion, and of the fruit which they obtained disobedience to the commendation and exhortation
This wretched
obedience.
man
because the eye of his intellect
is
is
of
by of
deluded by his self-love, fixed, with a dead faith,
his self-will, and on things of the world. He left the world in body, but remained there in his affections,
on pleasing
and because obedience seems wearisome
to
him he wishes
to disobey in order to avoid weariness ; whereby he arrives at the greatest weariness of all, for he is obliged to obey
by force or by love, and it would have been better wearisome to have obeyed by love than without it. how deluded he is, and no one else deceives him but
either
and
Oh
less !
Wishing to please himself he only gives himself displeasure, for the actions which he will have to do, through the obedience imposed on him, do not please him.
himself.
He wishes to enjoy delights and make this life his eternity, but the order wishes him to be a pilgrim, and continually it to him ; for when he is in a nice pleasant resting where he would like to remain for the pleasures and delights he finds there, he is transferred elsewhere, and the change gives him pain, for his will was active against his obedience, and yet he is obliged to endure the discipline and labours of the order, and thus remains in continual
proves place,
torment.
wishing to
See, therefore, fly pain,
how he
deludes
he on the contrary
himself
falls into
it,
;
for,
for his
THE DIALOGUE OF
340
ST.
CATHERINE
let him know the road of true obedience, a road of truth founded by the obedient Lamb, only -begotten Son, who removed pain from it, so that
blindness does not
which
My
is
he walks by the road of
lies, believing that he will find delight there, but finding on the contrary pain and bitter is his guide ? ness. Self-love, that is his own
Who
passion for disobedience.
Such
a
man
thinks like a fool
to navigate this tempestuous sea, with the strength of his own arms, trusting in his own miserable knowledge, and it in the arms of his order, and of his Such a one is indeed in the ship of the order in body, and not in mind ; he has quitted it in desire, not
will not navigate
superior.
observing the regulations or customs of the order, nor the three vows which he promised to observe at the time of his profession
;
he swims
in the
tempestuous
sea, tossed to
and
by contrary winds, fastened only to the ship by his clothes, wearing the religious habit on his body but not on his heart. Such a one is no friar, but a masquerader, His life is lower than an a man only in appearance. animal s, and he does not see that he labours more swim fro
his arms, than the good religious in the ship, or that he is in danger of eternal death ; for if his clothes should be suddenly torn from the ship, which will happen
ming with
at the
moment
does not
No, he he has darkened his light with the cloud whence has come his disobedience, which of death, he will have no remedy.
see, for
of self-love,
prevents him seeing his misery, wherefore he miserably deceives himself. What fruit is produced by this wretched
tree? "The
fruit
of death, because the root of his affection is
which he has drawn from self-love. Wherefore everything that issues from this root flowers, is corrupt, and the three boughs of this leaves, and fruit tree, which are obedience, poverty, and continence, which planted
in
pride,
spring from the foot of the tree ; that is, his affections are The leaves produced by this tree, which are
corrupted.
his words, are so corrupt that they would be out of place mouth of a ribald secular ; and if he have to preach
in the
My
doctrine, he does so in polished terms, not simply, as
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
341
one who should feed souls with the seed of
My Word,
Look at the stinking flowers but with eloquent language. of this tree, which are his diverse and various thoughts, which he voluntarily welcomes with delight and pleasure, not flying the occasions of them, but rather seeking them in order to be able to accomplish a sinful act, the which is the fruit which kills him, depriving him of the light of And what stench grace, and giving him eternal death. comes from this fruit, sprung from the flowers of the tree ?
The stench
of disobedience, for, in the secret of his heart,
he wishes to examine and judge unfaithfully his superior s will a stench of impurity, for he takes delight in many ;
wretchedly tempting his penitents. that thou art, dost thou not see that under the
foul conversations, "
Wretch
colour of devotion thou concealest a troop of children ? This comes from thy disobedience. Thou hast not chosen the virtues for thy children as does the truly obedient religious ; thou strivest to deceive thy superior when thou seest that he denies thee something which thy perverse
using the leaves of smooth or rough words, Thou canst not speaking irreverently and reproving him. endure thy brother, nor even the smallest word and reproof will desires,
which he may make to
thee, but
in
such a case thou im
mediately bringest forth the poisoned fruit of anger and hatred against him, judging that to be done to thy hurt
which was done for thy good, and thus taking scandal, thy soul and body living in pain. Why has thy brother Because thou livest for thy own sensual displeased thee ? pleasure, thou fliest thy cell as
if it
were a prison,
for
thou
of self-knowledge, and thus fallen into disobedience, wherefore thou canst not remain in thy material cell. Thou wilt not appear in the refectory against hast abandoned the
cell
thy will whilst thou hast anything to spend hast nothing left necessity takes thee there. "
;
when thou
Therefore the obedient have done well, who have chosen vow of poverty, so that they have nothing
to observe their
to spend, and therefore are not led away from the sweet table of the refectory, where obedience nourishes both body
and soul
in peace
and
quiet.
The
obedient religious does
THE DIALOGUE OF
342
ST.
CATHERINE
not think of laying a table, or of providing food for himself like this wretched man, to whose taste it is painful to eat in the refectory, wherefore he avoids it ; he is always the last to enter the choir, and the first to leave it ; with his lips he approaches Me, with his heart he is far from Me.
He
gladly escapes from through fear of penance.
he he
is
the
chapter-house when he can he is obliged to be there,
When
covered with shame and confusion for the faults which
What is the cause of this ? does not watch in prayer, and not only does he omit mental prayer, but even the Divine office to He has no fraternal charity, because which he is obliged. no shame
felt it
Disobedience.
to commit.
He
he loves no one but himself, and that not with a reasonable but with a bestial love. So great are the evils which fall on the disobedient ; so many are the fruits of sorrow which he produces, that thy tongue could not relate them. Oh ! the soul of which the of obedi disobedience, deprives light Disobedience ence, destroying peace, and giving war and life the destroys gives death, drawing religious out of the ship of the observance of his order, to drown him in the sea, making him swim in the strength of his own arms, and not repose on those of the order. Disobedience clothes !
him with every misery, causes him to die of hunger, taking away from him the food of the merit of obedience, it gives him continual bitterness, depriving him of every sweetness and good, causing him to dwell with every evil. In this life it gives him the earnest of cruel torments to endure, and if he do not amend before his clothes are loosened from the ship at death, disobedience will lead the soul to eternal damnation, together with the devils who fell from heaven,
because they rebelled against Me. In the same way hast oh disobedient rebelled thou, man, having against obedi ence and cast from thee the key which would have opened the door of heaven, opened instead the door of hell with the !
key of
disobedience."
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
CHAPTER
343
CXLIII.
of those who live tepidly in religion, because they guard against mortal sin only and of the remedy by which they can be cured of their tepidity.
Of the imperfection
;
"
How many
are
these,
dearest
who
live
thus
few of the opposite
sort,
daughter,
to-day in this ship ? "
Many,
for
there
are
but
who are truly obedient. There are, however, between those who are perfect and these wretches, a goodly number of those who live in an ordinary way in that is to say,
order, neither perfectly as they ought, nor wickedly ; preserving, that is to say, their conscience in that they do not sin mortally, but living in tepidity and coldness of heart. their
Wherefore, if these do not exercise themselves a little in the observance of the order, they are in great danger, and stand in need of much watchfulness, and of being roused from their tepidity, for if they remain as they are they are very apt to fall, and even if they do not fall, they live according to their own choice and human pleasure, under colour of a religious life, studying rather to observe the ceremonies of the order, than the order itself so that often through their scanty light they will be disposed to judge those who observe the order more perfectly than they do, though fulfilling the ceremonies to which they are so devoted with less perfection. Wherefore, in every way it is dangerous for them to remain in this commonplace obedience for they coldly fulfil their obediences with much ;
labour and pain, because to a cold heart
it is wearisome to endure anything, and however much they may endure, they have but little fruit of it. They offend against their own perfection on which they have entered, and which they are bound to observe, and although they do less evil than those others of whom I have spoken to thee, they yet do evil. For they did not leave the world to content themselves with the key of obedience in general, but in order to unlock the door of Heaven with the special key of the obedience of
THE DIALOGUE OF
344
ST.
CATHERINE
their order, which should be fastened with the cord of selfcontempt to the girdle of humility, as has been said, and
Thou must know,
held tightly in the hand of burning love. dearest daughter, that these are indeed
to reach great perfection if they choose, because they are nearer to it than those other wretches, but in another sense it is harder to fit
their imperfections, than the wicked man Dost thou know why ? Because the sinner he does evil, and his conscience shows knows clearly that it him, and self-love which has weakened him is the reason why he does not struggle to abandon the sin which he sees Wherefore if you ask to be evil, with a natural light. a one Dost it such thou not know to be evil to do this ?
raise
them from
from his
He
sin.
will reply
Yes, but so great
not seem able to escape from with My help he can escape
it.
is
my
It is
fragility that I
do
not indeed true, for
he wish nevertheless, he knows that he is doing wrong, which knowledge renders it easy for him to abandon his sin, if he really wills to do so. But these tepid ones who neither do much harm nor much good do not recognise their state of obedience, nor how uncertain is their position not knowing it they take no pains to rise from it nor do they care to have it pointed out to them, and indeed, even when it is shown them, they remain bound by the chain of habit and custom through the if
;
;
coldness of their heart.
from
their condition ?
How shall they be made to rise Let them take self-knowledge and
own
pleasure and reputation and place them of My divine charity, betrothing them selves afresh, as they did when they entered the order, to the spouse of true obedience with the ring of holy faith,
hatred of their
as fuel on the
fire
and let them no longer sleep in that state which is very Rightly can displeasing to Me and dangerous to them. the word be said to them, Be accursed, ye who are luke
warm
;
if only ye were altogether cold ; if ye do not amend, I mouth. And how will this happen ? you out of
My
will vomit
In the
way which
they are apt to
I
fall,
have told thee, for if they do not rise and if they fall they will be reprobated
would prefer that they should be as ice, that is to say, that they should have remained in the world under
by Me.
I
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
345
general obedience, which is, as it were, a block of ice, Wherefore compared with the fire of the truly obedient. I have explained the words I said, If only you were cold. to thee in order that thou mightest not fall into the error of
thinking that
I
would rather
a
that
man
should be in the
ice of mortal sin, than in the tepidity of imperfection. No, it is not possible for Me to wish any man to be in sin, for
the poison of sin has no place in Me ; on the contrary, sin displeased Me so much in man, that I did not let it pass
without punishment, and since man was not sufficient to I rent the Word endure the pain due to his sin My only and He obediently worked out this pain in begotten Son, Let them arise therefore and exercise His own body. themselves in watching and humble and continual prayer let them look at their order, and on their founders who were men as they are, fed by the same food, bound in the same My Power way, and having the same God then as now. has not grown weak My will desires your salvation no less than theirs My wisdom has not grown dim, but still illuminates you, so that you may know My truth. There ;
;
fore they can rise if they will if, that is to say they will the their state before of their intellect, piercing eye place
the cloud of
self-love,
and running
in the light with those
who
are perfectly obedient. In this way they will join them, but in no other so this is their remedy."
CHAPTER
CXLIV.
Of the excellence of obedience, and brings to him who truly 4
i
THIS
is
of the advantages lays hold of it.
which
it
the true remedy, possessed by the really obedient the virtue of it every day, increasing
man, who renews
obedience with the light of faith, longing for insults and mockery, that heavy labours should be imposed on him by his superior for the virtue of obedience, and of her sister patience not to
grow
rusty.
So
that
when
the time comes
THE DIALOGUE OF
346
ST.
CATHERINE
that they are needed, they never fail or become difficult to exercise, wherefore the obedient man is continually sounding
the instrument of his desire, and lets no opportunity pass, so great is his appetite for obedience. Obedience is an
eager
spouse
who does
not wish
to
remain
idle.
Oh
!
Oh ! pleasant Oh ! sweet ! Oh t delightful obedience ! illuminative For thou hast scattered the darkness of !
!
Thou, oh
self-love.
grace to the soul, his own Thou art
!
vivifying obedience, givest the
who has chosen
life
of
thee for spouse, slaying and death to the soul.
will, which brings war so generous that thou subjectest thyself to every
Thou art benignant and kind, and the greatest weights, for thou art accom panied by fortitude and true patience. Thou art crowned with true perseverance, thou dost not fail through the importunity rational
creature.
meekly bearest
of thy superior on account of the heavy loads which he indis creetly may impose upon thee, but with the light of faith
endurest everything. Thou art so closely bound to humility that no creature can snatch thee from the hand of the soul holy desire) who possesses thee. more can we say, dearest and beloved daughter, of this most excellent virtue ? will say that it is a good
(which
is
"What
We
without any admixture of evil that it remains hidden in the ship so that no contrary wind may hurt it, that it causes the soul to advance leaning on the arms of the order
and of her superior, and not on her own, because the truly obedient man has not to give an account of himself to Me his superior has that responsibility. "
Become enamoured, oh beloved daughter, of this Dost thou wish to show gratitude for the
virtue.
glorious benefits
which thou hast received from Me, thy Eternal Father? Be obedient, for obedience proceeding from charity shows It will prove to thee thy own gratitude, if thou gratitude. art not ignorant, because it proceeds from knowledge of It is a good which can be seen in the example of truth.
My
who as your model taught you the way of obedience, being obedient Himself unto the shameful death of the Cross, with which obedience He unlocked the Gate the word,
of Heaven, and established both general obedience and the
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
347
particular obedience of religion, as I related to thee at the This obedience beginning of this treatise of obedience.
gives
a light in the soul, which shows whether she is Me and her order and superior, in which light of
faithful to
holy faith she forgets herself; for, by the obedience which she has acquired through the light of faith, she shows that
her will
is
dead to
its
own
feeling,
and seeks the advantage
Just as the disobedient man who examines the will of his superior, and judges it accord ing to his own low opinion and darkened knowledge instead of judging his own perverse will, which gives him death, of others and not her own.
the truly obedient man, illuminated by faith, judges the will of his superior to be good, and therefore does not examine head and nourishes his soul with the it, but inclines his
odour of true and holy obedience.
And
this virtue increases
in the soul in proportion to the shining of the light of faith,
with which the soul knows herself, and Me, whom she loves, and humbles herself ; and the more she loves Me and
humbles
herself, the more obedient she becomes, for obedience and her sister patience prove whether the soul is in truth clothed with the nuptial garment of charity, which
In this way their necessary to enter into eternal life. obedience opens the door of Heaven, while Charity, who
is
gave this key to the soul, enters with the fruit of obedience. I have told thee that Charity alone enters, while every other virtue remains without. But obedience is rightly the key which opens the door, because the disobedience of the first man closed it, and it was the obedience of the humble, that faithful, immaculate Lamb, My only-begotten Son, opened the door of eternal life, which had so long remained closed.
THE DIALOGUE OF
348
ST.
CATHERINE
CHAPTER CXLV. A
distinction religious,
between two kinds of obedience the one that of and the other that paid to any secular person. ;
I have said to thee, He left this sweet obedience as His rule and doctrine, giving it to you as the key to open He left it by the door by which you reach your end. command in the case of general obedience, and by counsel for those of you who should wish to advance to great per fection and pass through the narrow door of religious life. And there are also those who belong to no religious order, and yet are in the ship of perfection. Such as these observe
"As
the perfection of the counsels, outside religion, having re nounced the riches and pomps of the world, both in fact and in thought, and observing continence, some in the virginal state
and some without
virginity.
They observe
obedience, submitting, as I told thee in another place, to some creature whom they strive to obey perfectly until
And if who dwell
death.
thou shouldest ask
Me
whether these or
they religious order have greater merit, I should reply that the merit of obedience is not measured according to the act or place, as being greater when per in a
formed by a good man than by a bad man, or by a secular than by a religious, but according to the measure of love of him who obeys for to a truly obedient man the imperfec tion of a wicked superior does no harm ; rather it sometimes profits him, because through the persecutions and unwiselygiven weight of a too heavy obedience he may acquire both the virtue of obedience and her sister patience. Nor does ;
the imperfection of the place hurt him.
I
"
say
imperfec
more perfect, firm, and stable than any other condition of life. Wherefore the place of those who
tion,"
for religion is
hold the
little
key of obedience, observing the counsels out
side a religious order, I indeed call imperfect, but not so their obedience, which is of no less merit ; because all obedi
ence, as has been said, and every other virtue, is measured by the degree of love. It is indeed true that in many other
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
349
ways, both by the vow which is made to the superior, and also because a religious has more to endure, obedience is better proved in religion than in the world, because in religion every action of the body is bound to this yoke, from which a man cannot free himself when he wishes without mortal sin, because of his vow and the sanction of the holy But these others are not in the same condition. Church.
They
bound voluntarily by the love which they have solemn vow. Wherefore they
are
for obedience, but not with a
can leave the obedience of any mortal creature without mortal sin, if they have legitimate reasons, though their own for if they leave their obedience defects are not such their own defects, they would not do so without a through not incur mortal sin in the would grave fault, though they ;
Dost thou know the difference sense of the word. between these two ? This man is like one who should take back what he has
strict
"
given his neighbour through love without any intention of asking for it again, but without having made an agreement while the religious gives himself and draws ; the agreement of his profession, abandoning himself to up the hands of his superior and promising to observe obedi
to that effect
ence, continence, and voluntary poverty, and the superior on his side promises him eternal life if he observe his vow until
his is
religion
death.
more
observance, place, and manner, perfect, and obedience in the world less In
perfect. In the former a man is safer, and if he fall is more likely to rise, because he has more help ; and the latter is
more doubtful and
less secure,
and a man
is
more
likely if
turn his face backwards, because he does not feel himself bound by a vow, like a religious before he is pro fessed ; for until profession he can leave the order, though
he
fall to
afterwards he cannot. thee, is
given
But merit, as
to the truly
obedient
I
said and repeat to according to the
man
measure of his love and he may obtain perfect merit in One man I call any state, for it is founded on love alone. to one state, and another to another, according to the fitness ;
of each;
but
measure
so that
;
all
filled with love according to their a particular secular loves more than a
are if
THE DIALOGUE OF
350
ST.
CATHERINE
a par particular religious he receives more, and the same he love more than a particular secular
ticular religious if
and
this is true for all other
men."
CHAPTER CLXVI. How God
does not reward merit according to the labour of the obe
dient, nor according to the length of time which it takes, but according to the love and promptitude of the truly obedient ; and of the miracles which God has performed by means of this vir
tue ; and of discretion in obedience, and of the works and reward of the truly obedient man. I HAVE appointed you all to labour in the vineyard of obedience in different ways, and every man will receive a "
price, according to the measure of his love, and not accord ing to the work he does, or the length of time for which he
works, that is to say, that he who comes early will not have more than he who comes late, as My Truth told you in the holy gospel by the example of those who were standing idle and were sent by the lord of the vineyard to labour ; for he gave as much to those who went at dawn, ,as to those who went at prime or at tierce, and those who went at sext, at none, and even at vespers, received as much as the first. My Truth showing you in this way that you .are rewarded not according to time or work, but according to the measure of your love. Many are placed in their childhood to
and others
work
in old
in the vineyard
age
;
;
some enter
sometimes these
latter
later in life,
labour with
of love, seeing the shortness of the time, that they who entered in their childhood, because they those rejoin have advanced but slowly. By love of obedience then,
such
fire
does the soul receive her merit,
filling
the vessel of her
There are many whose obe heart in Me, the Sea Pacific. dience is so prompt, and has become, as it were, so incarnate in them, that not only do they wish to see reason in what is
ordered them by their superior, but they hardly wait until word is out of his mouth, for with the light of faith
;the
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
351
Wherefore the truly obe they understand his intention. dient man obeys rather the intention than the word, judging that the will of his superior is fixed in My will, and that therefore his command comes from My dispensation, and from My will, wherefore I say to thee that he rather obeys
He also obeys the word, obeyed in affection his superior s will, seeing and judging it by the light of faith to be Mine. This is well shown in the lives of the fathers, where you read of a religious, who at once obej ed in his affection the
the intention than the word.
having
first
command
spiritually
of his superior, commencing to write the letter
o,
though he had not space to finish it wherefore to show how pleasing his prompt obedience was to Me, My clemency gave him a proof by writing the other half of the letter in gold. This glorious virtue is so pleasing to Me, that to no other have I given so many miraculous signs and testimonies, for it proceeds from the height of faith. ;
"
In order to
show how pleasing
it
is to
Me, the earth
water grows solid animals obey it And as for the the obedient man.
virtue, the
obeys this under the
feet
of
obedience of the earth, thou rememberest having read of that disciple who, being given a dry stick by his abbot, and being ordered by obedience to plant it in the earth and water it every day, did not proceed to ask how could it
possibly do
possibilities,
he
any good, fulfilled his
but,
without
inquiring
about
obedience in such virtue of faith
that the dry wood brought forth leaves and fruits, as a sign that that soul had risen from the dryness of disobedience, and, covered by the green leaves of virtue, had brought forth the fruit of obedience, wherefore the fruit of this tree
was
called
Thou for
by the
wilt also
holy fathers the fruit of obedience. animals obey the obedient man ;
find that
commanded by obedience, through and virtue caught a dragon and brought it to his
a certain disciple,
his purity
abbot, but the abbot, like a true physician of the soul, in order that he might not be tossed about by the wind of vain-glory, and to prove his patience, sent him away with Beast that thou art, thou hast harsh words, saying another with thyself. And as to fire, beast brought along :
THE DIALOGUE OF
352
ST.
CATHERINE
thou hast read in the holy scripture that many were placed in the fire, rather than transgress My obedience, and, at My command were not hurt by it. This was the case of the three children, who remained happily in the furnace
and of many others of whom I could tell thee. The water bore up Maurus who had been sent by obedience to save he did not think of himself, but a drowning disciple ;
thought only with the light of faith of how to fulfil the command of his superior, and so walked upon the water as In if he had been on dry land, and so saved the disciple. everything, wilt find
if
thou openest the eye of the
shown
intellect,
forth the excellence of this virtue.
thou
Every
thing else should be abandoned for the sake of obedience. If thou wert lifted up in such contemplation and union of mind with Me, that thy body was raised from the earth, and an obedience were imposed on thee (speaking generally, and not in a particular case, which cannot give a law), thou
oughtest,
if
possible, to force thyself to arise, to
fulfil
the
obedience imposed on thee, though thou shouldest never I leave prayer, except for necessity, charity, or obedience.
say this in order that thou mayest see how prompt I wish My servants to be, and how pleasing it is
the obedience of
Everything that the obedient man does is a source If he eats, obedience is his food, if he sleeps, his dreams are obedience if he walks, if he remains if he watches everything that he does is still, if he fasts, obedience if he serve his neighbour, it is obedience that he How is he guided in the choir, in the refectory, serves.
to
Me.
of merit to him.
;
;
By obedience, with the light of the most holy with which light he has slain and cast from him his humbled self-will, and abandoned himself with self-hatred
or his cell ? faith,
arms of his order and superior. Reposing with obedience in the ship, allowing himself to be guided by his superior, he has navigated the tempestuous sea of this life, with calm and serene mind and tranquillity of heart, because obedience and faith have taken all darkness from to the
he remains strong and firm, having lost all weakness having destroyed his own will, from which comes And what is the food feebleness and disordinate fear.
him and all
;
fear,
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
353
She eats knowledge of self, and of this spouse obedience ? of Me, knowing her own non-existence and sinfulness, and
My The
am He who
thus eating and knowing What does she drink ? truth in the Incarnate Word.
knowing
that
I
Blood, in which the
and the
ineffable
is,
Word
love which
has shown her, My Truth, have for her, and the
I
obedience imposed on Him by Me, His Eternal Father, so she becomes inebriated with the love and obedience of the Word, losing herself and her own opinions and knowledge,
and possessing
Me by
grace, tasting
Me by
holy obedience. obedient man speaks words of peace
love, with the
light of faith in "The
his death receives that
all
his
which was promised him
life,
and
at
at his death
his superior, that is to say eternal life, the vision of peace, and of supreme and eternal tranquillity and rest, the inestimable good which no one can value or understand,
by
for, being the infinite good, it cannot be understood by anything smaller than itself, like a vessel, which, dipped into the sea, does not comprehend the whole sea, but only that
quantity which it contains. So I, the Sea Pacific, am
The
sea alone contains
itself.
He who
alone can comprehend in My own estimate and
and value Myself truly. And comprehension of Myself I rejoice, and this joy, the good which I have in Myself, I share with you, and with all, I do not leave according to the measure of each. you empty, but
fill
you, giving you perfect beatitude ; each man My goodness in the measure in
comprehends and knows which it is given to him.
Thus, then, the obedient man, with the light of faith in the truth burning in the furnace of charity, anointed with humility, inebriated with the Blood, in
his sister patience, and with selfand enduring perseverance, and all the
company with
contempt, fortitude, other virtues (that is, with the fruit of the virtues), receives his end from Me, his
Creator."
THE DIALOGUE OF
354
CHAPTER This "
is
CATHERINE
ST.
CXLVII.
a brief repetition of the entire book.
HAVE now, oh dearest and best beloved daughter,
I
satis
from the beginning to the end thy desire concerning
fied
obedience.
thou rememberest well, thou didst make four petitions with anxious desire, or rather I caused thee to make them in order to increase the fire of My love in thy soul one for thyself, which I have satisfied, illuminating thee "
of
If
Me
:
with
My
and showing thee how thou mayest know which thou didst desire to know explaining to
truth,
this truth
;
how thou
mightest come to the knowledge of it the knowledge of thyself and Me, through the light through The second request thou didst make of Me was of faith. thee
that
I
should do mercy to the world.
In the third thou
body of the holy Church, that
didst pray for the mystical
would remove darkness and persecutions from its iniquities at
own
desire in thy person.
it,
As
I
punishing to
this
I
explained that no penalty inflicted in finite time can satisfy for a sin committed against Me, the Infinite Good, unless it is
united with the desire of the soul and contrition of the
heart. I
How
have also
this is to
be done
told thee that
I
wish
I
have explained to thee. do mercy to the world,
to
proving to thee that mercy is My special attribute, for through the mercy and the inestimable love which I had for man, I sent to the earth the Word, My only-begotten Son, whom, that thou mightest understand things quite clearly, I
represented to thee under the figure of a Bridge, reaching to heaven, through the union of My divinity with
from earth
your human nature. "
I
also
showed
how
thee, to give thee further light
concerning
on three steps that is, These soul. three steps I also three of the the on powers under thou to as knowest, thee, figures of thy represented the mouth the and the feet, side, by which I also body
My
truth,
this
Bridge
figured three states of soul
is built
;
the imperfect state, the perfect
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
355
which the soul arrives have shown thee clearly in each state the means of cutting away imperfection and reaching perfection, and how the soul may know by which road she is walking and of the hidden delusions of the devil and of spiritual self-love. Speaking of these three states I have also spoken of the three judgments which My clemency one in this life, the second at death on those who delivers
and the most perfect
state,
state, in
at the excellence of unitive love.
I
die in mortal sin without hope, of whom I told thee that they went under the Bridge by the Devil s road, when I
spoke to thee of their wretchedness. last and universal judgment.
of the
somewhat of the the blessed,
And the third is And I who told
that
thee
suffering of the damned and the glory of all shall have reassumed their bodies
when
given by Me, also promised thee, and now again I repeat my promise, that through the long endurance of My servants I
will reform
Wherefore
My spouse.
I
invite thee to endure,
Myself lamenting with thee over her iniquities. have shown thee the excellence of the ministers
And I
I
have
given her, and the reverence in which I wish seculars to hold them, showing thee the reason why their reverence towards My ministers should not diminish on account of the sins of the latter, and how displeasing to me is such diminution of reverence I
ject,
And
and of the virtue of those who
while speaking to thee on this sub also touched on the excellence of the sacraments.
further wishing thee to
told thee that all
and pointed out
know
of the states of tears and
thee on the subject and spoke tears issue from the fountain of the heart,
whence they proceed,
11
;
And
live like angels.
I
to
their causes to thee in order.
told thee not only of the four states of tears, but also I have also answered of the fifth, which germinates death. 1
thy fourth request, that I would provide for the particular case of an individual; I have provided as thou knowest. Further than this, I have explained My providence to thee, in general
and
made by
in particular,
showing thee how everything
divine providence, from the first beginning of the world until the end, giving you and permitting every thing to happen to you, both tribulations and consolations is
THE DIALOGUE OF
356
ST.
CATHERINE
temporal and spiritual, and every circumstance of your life your good, in order that you may be sanctified in Me, and My truth be fulfilled in you, which truth is that I for
created this "
in order to possess eternal
you
have also
I
in
life,
and manifested
only-begotten Son, the Word.
My My last words
with the blood of
fulfilled
thy desire and My and the im
promise to speak of the perfection of obedience
and how obedience can be I have shown it to thee as a destroyed. universal key, and so it is. I have also spoken to thee of particular obedience, and of the perfect and imperfect, and of those in religion, and of those in the world, explaining the condition of each distinctly to thee, and of the peace given by obedience, and the war of disobedience, and how disobedience
of
perfection
obtained and
man
deceived, showing thee how death by the disobedience of Adam, and how the Eternal Father, supreme and eternal Truth, give thee
the disobedient
came I,
;
how
is
into the world
whole matter, that in the obedience of Word, My Son, you have life, and as from
this conclusion of the
the only begotten that first old
man you
contracted the infection of death, so
of you who will take the key of obedience have contracted the infection of the life of the new Man, sweet Jesus, of
all
whom
I
And now
made I
a Bridge, the road to Heaven being broken. urge thee and My other servants to grief, for by
your grief and humble and continual prayer I will do mercy to the world. Die to the world and hasten along this way of truth, so as not to be taken prisoner if thou goest slowly. I demand this of thee now more than at first, for now I
have manifested to thee
My truth.
Beware
that thou never
leave the cell of self-knowledge, but in this cell preserve and spend the treasure which I have given thee, which is a doctrine of truth founded upon the living stone, sweet Christ Jesus, clothed in light which scatters darkness, with which doctrine
clothe
daughter, in the
thyself, truth."
My
best
beloved
and
sweetest
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
CHAPTER How
357
CXLVIII.
most devout soul, thanking and praising God, makes prayer whole world and for the Holy Church, and commending the virtue of faith brings this work to an end. this
for the
THEN
that soul, having seen with the eye of the intellect,
and having known by the
light of
holy faith the truth and
excellence of obedience, hearing and tasting it with love and ecstatic desire, gazed upon the divine majesty and gave thanks to him saying, Thanks, thanks to Thee, oh eternal Father, "
for Thou hast not despised me, turned Thy face from me, nor
work of Thy hands, nor
the
despised my desires, Thou, the Light, hast not regarded my darkness ; Thou, true Life, hast not regarded my living death ; Thou, the Physician, hast not been repelled by my grave infirmities ; Thou, the eternal Purity, hast not considered the many miseries of
which that
I
folly
;
I am full Thou, who art the Infinite, hast overlooked am finite Thou, who art Wisdom, hast overlooked my Thy wisdom, Thy goodness, Thy clemency, Thy in ;
;
good, have overlooked these infinite evils and sins, and the many others which are in me. Having known the truth through Thy clemency, I have found Thy charity, and the
finite
What has constrained me ? Not neighbour. my virtues, but only Thy charity. May that same charity constrain Thee to illuminate the eye of my intellect with the love of
my
light of faith,
so that
I
may know and understand
which Thou hast manifested
may burn
me
be capable of retaining in the fire of
to
Thy
benefits, that
charity, and body to blood,
Thy
Grant that
me.
may
the truth
my memory my will may
that fire so
work
in
and that by that blood give my given for love of the Blood, together with the key of obe I ask this of dience, I may unlock the door of Heaven. that
I
Thee with
all my heart, for every rational creature, both general and in particular, in the mystical body of the I confess and do not deny that Thou didst holy church.
in
love
me
before
ineffable, as if
I
existed,
and that
Thou wast mad with
Thy
love
love for
Thy
for
me
is
creature.
THE DIALOGUE OF
358
ST.
CATHERINE
Oh, eternal Trinity ! oh Godhead ! Which Godhead gave value to the Blood of Thy Son, Thou, oh eternal Trinity, art a deep Sea, into which the deeper I enter the more I find, and the more I find the more I seek the soul cannot be ;
for she
satiated in
Thy abyss, continually hungers after Thee, the eternal Trinity, desiring to see Thee with light in
Thy
As
light.
desires the spring of living
the hart
soul desires to leave the prison of this dark and see Thee in truth. long, oh ! Eternal
my
water, so
How
body
and abyss of
will thy face be hidden Melt at once the cloud of my body. The knowledge which Thou hast given me of Thyself in Thy truth, constrains me to long to abandon the heaviness of
Trinity, fire
from
my
eyes
love,
?
body, and to give
my
Thy Name,
for I
my life for the glory and praise of have tasted and seen with the light of
Thy light, the abyss of Thee the eternal and the beauty of Thy creature, for, looking at myself in Thee, I saw myself to be Thy image, my life being given me by Thy power, oh eternal Father, and Thy wisdom, which belongs to Thy only-begotten Son, shining in my intellect and my will, being one with Thy Holy Spirit, who proceeds from Thee and Thy Son, by the intellect in
trinity,
!
whom I am my creator,
able to love Thee.
and
I
am
the
Thou, Eternal Trinity,
work of Thy hands, and
I
art
know
through the new creation which Thou hast given me in the blood of Thy Son, that Thou art enamoured of the beauty of Thy workmanship. Oh Abyss, oh Eternal Godhead, oh Sea Profound what more couldst Thou give me than Thyself, Thou art the fire which ever burns without being consumed ; Thou consumest in Thy heat all the soul s selflove Thou art the fire which takes away all cold ; with !
!
!
!
;
Thy Thy
light
truth
Thou dost illuminate me so that I may know all Thou art that light above all light, which ;
illuminates supernaturally the eye of my intellect, clarifying the light of faith so abundantly and so perfectly, that I see that
my
soul
is alive,
and
in
this light receives
Thee
the
true light. By the Light of faith I have acquired wisdom in the wisdom of the Word Thy only-begotten Son. In the light of faith I am strong, constant, and persevering.
A TREATISE OF OBEDIENCE
359
In the light of faith I hope, suffer me not to faint by the way. light, without which I should still walk in darkness,
This
teaches
me
Father, that
holy
faith.
the road, and for this hast illuminated
Thou Of a
truth
I
said,
me
Oh
a sea, for
this light is
!
Eternal
with the light of the soul
Sea Pacific. The water of the sea is not turbid, and causes no fear to the soul, for it is a deep which manifests sweet she knows the truth the light of Thy faith abounds, the that where so secrets, This water is a soul is certain of what she believes. which Eternal into the mirror Thou, Trinity, biddest magic me gaze, holding it with the hand of love, that I may see revels in Thee, Eternal Trinity, the
;
who am Thy creature, there represented in Thee, in me through the union which Thou didst make of Thy godhead with our humanity. For this light I know to represent to myself Thee the Supreme and Infinite Good, Good Blessed and Incomprehensible, Good Inestimable. Beauty above all beauty Wisdom above all wisdom for Thou art wisdom itself. Thou, the food of the angels, hast given Thyself in a fire of love to men
myself,
and Thyself
;
;
Thou, the garment which covers all our nakedness, feedest Oh Sweet, without any the hungry with Thy sweetness. I have oh Eternal known in Thy light, Trinity, bitter, which Thou hast given me with the light of holy faith, the many and wonderful things thou hast declared to me, !
!
explaining to
me
the path of supreme perfection, so that I in darkness, but with light, and
may no longer serve thee
be the mirror of a good and holy life, and arise miserable my sins, for through them I have hitherto I have not known Thy truth served Thee in darkness. that
I
may
from
and have not loved it. Why did I not know Thee ? Because I did not see Thee with the glorious light of the because the cloud of self-love darkened the holy faith of my intellect, and Thou, the Eternal Trinity, hast eye ;
Thy light. Who can attain and Thy Greatness, give Thee thanks for such im measurable gifts and benefits as Thou hast given me in this doctrine of truth, which has been a special grace over and above the ordinary graces which Thou givest also to dissipated the darkness with to
THE DIALOGUE OF
360
ST.
CATHERINE
Thou hast been willing to con descend to my need and to that of Thy creatures the need of introspection. Having first given the grace to ask the question, Thou repliest to it, and satisfiest Thy servant, penetrating me with a ray of grace, so that in that
Thy
other creatures ?
light
I
give Thee thanks. Eternal Truth, that
may
Thee, oh
!
I
Clothe me, clothe me with mortal course
may run my
with true obedience and the light of holy faith, with which light I feel that my soul is about to become inebriated afresh."
Printed by BALLANTYNE,
HANSON
London and Edinburgh
Co.
p
*^
T
