Book Two

BOOK TWO

1. Love Brings Elevation to the Soul, Not Inhuman Toil;

That Comes from Self-Will

The elevation of the soul comes about in love, and the glory of the body comes about in holy Christian baptism. There is no elevation beyond that of love, and outside Christianity there is no glory. For this reason they make great fools of themselves who imagine that they are scaling the heights with loathsome, inhuman toils, even though their hearts are full of rancor. They are entirely lacking in holy, humble virtues that beckon the soul to God. False righteouness likes to hide where self-will holds sway in a heart.

2. Two Songs of Love of Him Who Was Seen in Love

I would willingly die of love

If it could happen to me.

Him whom I love I have seen

With my beaming eyes

Present in my soul.

Any bride who has offered a dwelling place

To her love has no need to go far.

Love cannot easily disappear

Where the maiden oft pursues the young man.

His noble nature is quite ready to receive

Her eagerly and place her close to his heart.

This is easily missed by foolish people

Who are not willing to seek out the lover.

O noble Eagle,

O sweet Lamb,

O flaming Glow,

set me on fire!

How long must I be so dry?

An hour is much too hard for me,

A day is like a thousand years

When you are of a mind

To be far away from me.

If it were to last eight days,

I would rather go down to hell-

I'm there already—

Rather than that God be away from the loving soul.

That is anguish beyond human dying

And beyond the torments of hell.

Believe me!

The nightingale must ever sing,

For by nature it voices only melodies of love.

If that were taken from her, she would be dead.

Alas, great Lord, be mindful of my anguish!

The Holy Spirit said to the soul: "Ah, noble maiden, make ready; your Lover is about to come." This startled her, and she was inwardly glad and said: "Oh, dear messenger, if it would only happen! I am so worthless and so utterly faithless that I can never find rest apart from my Lover. Whenever I find that my love for him is growing cold I am utterly in torment, but resolve to follow him in sorrow."

The messenger said: "You must tidy up and wash. Prepare the bed and scatter flowers."

The lonely soul said: "When I tidy up, I must be ashamed.

When I wash, I must weep.

When I prepare the bed, I must hope.

When I break off flowers, I must love.

When my Lord comes, I take leave of myself;

For he brings me so many sweet strains with his strings

That it stops all impulses of my flesh.

And his strings are so full of all sweetness

That with his airs he relieves me of all interior suffering."

3. The Tongue of the Godhead, the Light of Truth, the Four Raysof God Shining into the Nine Choirs, the Trinity, and St. Mary

The great tongue of the Godhead has spoken many a mighty word to me. I took them in with the feeble ears of my lowliness; and the brightest of lights opened up to the eyes of my soul. In it I saw the indescribable order and recognized the inexpressible glory, the incomprehensible marvel, the special intimacy with separation, complete fulfillment, the greatest concentration in knowledge, bliss with interruption in proportion to the capacities of the faculties, unadulterated joy in the common union, and the ever vibrant life in eternity as it is now and ever shall be.
There also four beams were visible that shot forth continuously from the crossbow of the Holy Trinity from the divine throne through the nine choirs. There is no one, however rich or poor, whom the beam does not strike lovingly. The beam of the Godhead shoots incomprehensible light through them. Loving humanity greets them in fraternal company. The Holy Spirit touches them with the flood of the marvelous abundance of eternal bliss. Undivided God feeds them with the shimmer of his glorious countenance and fills them with the joyful breath of his flowing mouth. They glide effortlessly, as birds in the air do when not moving their wings, and they fly wherever they want, body and soul, and yet they remain separate in their own order.

The Godhead rings,Humanity sings,

The Holy Spirit plucks the harp of the heavens

So that all strings resound
That are strung in love.

Also visible was that same glorious vessel in which Christ dwelt in body and soul for nine months, as she shall always remain, but as yet without the great adornment that the heavenly Father shall give to the bodies of the blessed on the last day. Our Lady will be without it as long as the earth floats on the sea. One saw how beautifully our Lady stood at the throne to the left hand of the heavenly Father, revealed in all her maidenly being; and how her human body is bathed and formed in the noble light of the soul of our Lady; and how her lovely uncovered breasts are so full of sweet milk that drops flow forth in honor of the heavenly Father and as a favor to humankind, so that man might be perfect above all creatures. The noble princes, the archangels, are so utterly amazed that other princes, who are human, have ascended above them, that it is praiseworthy that evidence of our perfection is there.

On the right hand of our Lord stands Jesus, our Redeemer, with his open wounds bloody and unbandaged, ready to prevail over the Father's justice that severely threatens many a sinner. As long as sinning continues on earth, Christ's wounds shall be open: bloody, but not painful. But after judgment Christ shall put on such a garment as has never been seen, unless God revealed it, but this did not happen. Then the sweet wounds shall heal, as though a rose petal had been placed on the spot of the wound. One will then see the scars turned bright red—love's color; and they will never fade. Then the uncreated God shall make new all his creatures, so new that they can never grow old.

Now my German fails me; I do not know Latin. If there is something of merit here, it is not my doing; for there never was a dog so nasty that it would not come if its master coaxed it with a white breakfast roll.

4. The Poor Girl, the Mass of John the Baptist, theTransformation of the Host into the Lamb, the Beauty of theAngels, Four Kinds of Sanctified People, and the Golden Penny

How useful it is for a person to have good will, even though she cannot perform good works. This was revealed by our Lord to a poor girl when she could not go to mass because unfortunately she was not well enough for his service. Thus did she speak to God: "Alas, my dear Lord, am I going to be without mass today?"

While she was in this state of longing, God took away all her earthly senses and brought her miraculously into a beautiful church. She found no one inside. She thought to herself: Oh, you poor lazy thing, you've come too late. That you got up just now isn't going to do you any good here. Then she saw a young man come in carrying a bunch of white flowers. He spread them beneath the tower and went away. Then another youth came carrying a bunch of violets, which he spread in the middle of the church. Then a third youth came carrying a bunch of roses, which he spread decorously before the altar of our Lady. Then a fourth came carrying a bunch of white lilies and spread them inthe choir. When they had done this, they bowed reverently and went away. These youths were so noble and so beautiful to behold that, if a person could really see them, human bodily suffering could never be so great that all the suffering would not disappear. Then two school boys in white garments entered carrying two lights. They placed them on the altar. Then they withdrew properly and remained in the choir.

Then a fairly tall man came in, quite gaunt but not old. His clothes were so tattered that arms and legs showed through. He carried a white lamb on his breast and two cruets in his grasp. He went to the altar, placed the lamb on it, and bowed lovingly toward it. This was John the Baptist, who was going to sing the mass. Then a young man entered, quite delicate in his bearing, carrying an eagle on his breast. That was John the Evangelist. Then a simple man, St. Peter, entered. Then a strapping young man entered carrying a bunch of vestments, which the three men put on. Then a great throng came in. It was the mighty court of heaven that filled the church so full that the poor girl could not find a place where she might remain.

So she went back and stood beneath the tower, where she found a group of people dressed in white who did not have any hair. Instead, they wore simple crowns on their heads. These were those people who had not lived according to the law. They lack the ornament of hair, which is good works. How, then, did they get into heaven? By sorrow and good will at the hour of death. Farther away she saw people more beautiful, clothed in violet-colored garments. They were adorned with the lovely hair of virtue and crowned with God's law. She found people more beautiful still who were clothed in rose-colored garments. They wore the beautiful symbol of widows and the crown of freely chosen chastity.

The poor girl was wretchedly clothed and was physically ill. She was not able to remain in any of the three groups. So she went and stood in front of the choir and looked in to where our dear Lady was standing on the highest level. St. Catherine, Cecilia, bishops, martyrs, angels, and a large number of virgins were there. The poor thing looked at this imposing throng and then
looked at herself. Did she dare stay there in her wretched condition ? Suddenly she was wearing a deep red mantle woven out of love in proportion to the ardor of her faculties for God and all good things. The mantle was decorated with gold and also with a song that went: "I would willingly die of love." She saw that she was like a noble maiden and wore on her head a garland of splendid gold.

On it was inscribed another song that went:
His eyes into my eyes,

His heart into my heart,

His soul into my soul

Untiringly enclosed.

And her countenance resembled that of the angels. "Alas, foul puddle that I am, what is happening to me? Unfortunately I am not nearly as blessed as I saw myself there."

All who were in the choir looked at her with a friendly smile. Our Lady motioned to her that she should stand above Catherine. She went and stood next to our dear Lady, for it could indeed rarely happen that she might address and behold God's mother: "Oh, dear and noble Lady!" She considered it a great favor that the lowly crow might stand next to the turtledove. All who were in the choir were clothed in radiant gold and enveloped in soaring bliss, brighter than the sun.

Then the mass began thus: Let us all rejoice in the Lord. As often as our Lady was mentioned, she genuflected, while the others just bowed, because God had given her the greatest honor. Then the wretched girl who had come to mass said: "Oh, Lady, may I receive the body of God since there are no dangers here?" The mother of God said: "Certainly, dear child, make your confession." Then the queen of heaven signaled to John the Evangelist. He went out and heard the confession of the sinful girl. She asked him to tell her how long she would live. John said: "I am not permitted to tell you. God does not want me to. For if it were to be a long time, you might in your great sadness fall into deep depression. But if the time were to be short, you might in the sadness of your heart fall into a desire to live a long time."

Then John went to read the gospel, the Liber generationis. The poor girl said to our Lady: "Should I make an offering?" Our Lady said: "Yes, if you do not intend to take it back from him again." The poor girl said: "Dear Lady, you must give me this favor from God." Our Lady said: "Then take this golden penny—your self-will—and offer it to my glorious Son in all things." With good manners and in holy fear the little maid took the large penny. She examined what image had been struck on the penny. On it was Christ being taken down from the cross. On the back was the whole court of heaven with the nine choirs and God's throne above. Then the voice of God spoke to her: "If you are offering me this penny with the intention of never taking it back again, then I will take you down from the cross and take you to me into my kingdom."

After that, the same priest, who had been ordained by the Holy Spirit in his mother's womb, celebrated a low mass. When he took the white host in his hands, the lamb, which was standing on the altar, got up and, at the words under the signs of his hand, joined itself to the host and the host to the lamb in such a way that I no longer saw the host, but only a bleeding lamb hanging from a red cross. It looked at us with such sweet eyes that I shall never, ever forget it.

Then the poor girl begged our Lady thus: "Dear Mother, ask your glorious Son that he deign to give himself to me, wretched though I be." And she saw that a radiant beam shined forth from the mouth of our Lady onto the altar and touched the lamb with her prayer, so that God himself spoke out of the lamb: "Mother, I shall willingly put myself in the place you desire." The poor girl approached the altar with great love and an open soul. St. John took the white lamb with its red wounds and placed it between her teeth in her mouth. Then the pure lamb lay down onto its own image in her stable and began to suckle from her heart with its sweet mouth. The more it suckled, the more she gave it.

Now the person to whom this happened is dead and gone beyond.

May God help us that we might behold her in the company of the angels.

5. A Song of the Soul About Five Things, and

How God Is a Garment of the Soul and the Soul of God

You shine into my soul

Like the sun against gold.

When I may rest in you, Lord,

My joy is rich.

You clothe yourself with my soul

And you are her most intimate garment.

That there must be a parting between them—Never have I experienced greater heartache!

If you were to love me more intensely,I would certainly pass away

To where I could love you as I wish unceasingly.

Now I have sung to youAnd yet to no avail.

Were you to sing to me,I would have to succeed.

6. God's Singing Response in the Soul in Five Things

God: When I shine, you shall glow.

When I flow, you shall become wet.

When you sigh, you draw my divine heart into you.

When you weep in longing for me, I take you in my arms.

But when you love, we two become one being.

And when we two are one being,

Then we can never be parted.

Rather, a blissful abiding

Prevails between us.

Soul: Lord, then I shall persevere in hunger and thirst

In pursuing and in pleasure

Till that delightfilled hour

When from your divine mouth

The chosen words shall flow

That are heard by no one

But the soul alone

That has stripped itself of the earth

And puts her ear next to your mouth.

She, indeed, grasps the treasure of love!

7. In Suffering Praise God; Then He Will Appear to You.

The Two Golden Chalices of Suffering and Consolation I, sinful, lazy creature, was supposed to pray once; and God acted as though he did not want to give me any kind of favor. I wanted to give myself over to deep sadness because of the weakness of my flesh, which seemed to me to be an obstacle to spiritual pleasure. "No!" said my soul. "Keep in mind all his faithfulness and praise your Lord thus: 'Gloria in excelsis deo."

As I thus praised, a great light appeared to my soul, and in this light God revealed himself in great majesty and indescribable brightness. Our Lord held two golden chalices in his hands that were both full of living wine. In his left hand was the red wine of suffering, and in his right hand the white wine of sublime consolation. Then our Lord spoke: "Blessed are those who drink this red wine. Although I give both out of divine love, the white wine is nobler in itself; but noblest of all are those who drink both the white and the red."

8. Of Purgatory; a Person Released Hundreds of Hundreds of Souls from It with the Tears of Love

A person should pray very simply and with great intensity to God in heaven for the poor souls. Once God showed her the horrible purifying fire and the kinds of torment in it as varied as the sins punished there. This person's spirit was so fiercely moved that she embraced the whole of purgatory in her arms. She carried on caringly and pleaded lovingly. Then God spoke from heaven: "Stop that now! Don't inflict pain on yourself! You are making it too hard for yourself." The spirit lamented: "Alas, dear Lord, then free some of them!" Our Lord said: "How many of them do you want?" The spirit said: "Lord, as many as I am able to make reparation for in your goodness." Our Lord said: "Then take a thousand and lead them wherever you wish." Then, black, fiery, slimy, burning, bloody, stinking they rose out of the suffering. Again the person's spirit spoke: "Alas, my dear Lord, what is going to happen to these poor ones now? With such disfigurement they can never enter your kingdom." Then God inclined himself exceedingly low beneath his nobility and said something that serves to give much comfort to us sinners: "You should bathe them in the tears of love that now flow from the eyes of your body." Then there appeared a large round lake. They arose in unison and bathed in love, bright as the sun. The person's spirit felt indescribable joy and said: "Praised be you, dear Lord, by all creatures forever. Now they are suited for you in your kingdom." Then our Lord bowed to them from on high and placed the crown of love on them, which had freed them from thence, and he said: "You shall wear this crown forever so that all those in my kingdom might know that you were redeemed by tears of love nine years before your allotted time."

9. God Praises His Bride in Five Things

You are a light of the world.

You are a crown of virgins.

You are a salve of the wounded.

You are a pledge among the false.

You are a bride of the Holy Trinity.

10. The Bride Praises God in Return in Five Things

You are a light in all lights.

You are a flower above all crowns.

You are a salve on all wounds.

You are an unwavering pledge free of falsity.

You are an innkeeper in all hostelries.

11. Seven Kinds of Love for God

True love of God has seven approaches.

Cheerful love leads the way.

Fearing love takes on the task.

Strong love can accomplish much.

Loving love receives no honor.

Wise love has knowledge.
Free love lives without heartache.

Powerful love is forever happy.

12. Seven Kinds of Perfection

Willingly without honor,

Willingly unfeared,

Willingly alone,

Willingly quiet,

Willingly below,

Willingly high,

Willingly common to all.

13. Between God and the Soul There Should Be Love

Between God and you there should always be love.

Between earthly things and you there should be dread and fear.

Between sin and you there should be enmity and strife.

Between the kingdom of heaven and you there should be constanthope.

14. Where Bitterness, Low Spirits, Sickness, Terror, Sensitivity,

Distress, Forsakenness, and Inconsolability Come From

Bitterness of heart comes from humanity.

Low spirits of the body come from the flesh alone.

Agility of spirit comes from the nobility of the soul.

Terror in the face of punishment comes from guilt.

Sickness of the body comes from nature.

Distress of loneliness comes from fickleness.

Infrequent consolation comes from restlessness.

15. How One Wounded by Love Is Restored to Health

Whoever at some point

Is seriously wounded by true love

Will never become healthy again
Unless he kisses that same mouth

By which his soul was wounded.

16. The Seven Gifts of a Brother

The soul is boundless in her longing,

On fire in her loving,

Amiable in her bearing,

A mirror of the world,

Small in her greatness,

Reliable in helping,

Recollected in God.

17. How God Woos the Soul and Makes Her Wise in His Love

Thus does God woo the guileless soul and make her wise in his love:

"Ah, precious dove, your feet are red,

Your feathers are smooth,

Your mouth is well-formed,Your eyes are beautiful,

Your head is refined,

Your bearing is attractive,

Your flight is bold,

And you sink ever all too swiftly back to earth."

18. How the Soul Interprets God's Wooing in Eight Things

"Lord, my feet are stained with the blood of your true redemptive act.

My feathers have been smoothed in your noble choosing.

My mouth has been formed by the Holy Spirit.

My eyes are brightened in your fiery light.

My head is ennobled by your constant protection.

My bearing is attractive because of your generous gift.

My flight is made bold by your restless exhilaration.

My sinking back to earth comes from your being united with mybody.

The greater the freedom you give me, the longer shall I soar in you."

19. How Knowledge and the Soul Converse and How the Latter

Says That She Is Threefold.

Of the Three Heavens Knowledge speaks first:

"O loving Soul, I have beheld you.

You are quite wondrously lovely.

A light was given me that I might look upon you.

Otherwise, it never would have been my fortune.

There is a threeness about you.

You can indeed be God's image:

You are a virile vassal in battle.

You are a finely attired maiden in your Lord's presence in the palace.

You are an eager bride in your bed of love with God.

Loving Soul, in your battle you are armed with immense might

And with such great concentration of your faculties

That neither all the forces of the world

Nor all the aid of your fleshNor all the troops of the devil

Nor all the power of hell

Can bring you down from God's favor.

No one can boast of that any more.

You constantly defend yourself with flowers.

Your sword is the noble rose, Jesus Christ.

That is how you defend yourself.

Your shield is the white lily, Mary.

It does not do them a bit of good

That they attack you.

Rather, they thereby enhance your beauty

And increase immeasurably in you God's honor.

All who are pure and fight to the end

Shall receive ample recompense from the Emperor.

O overwhelmed Soul, what is your honor like

In the palace of the Holy Trinity, when you stand

Before your Lord so attractively adorned?"

"Lady Knowledge, you are wiser than I am.

Why are you asking me this?"
"Lady Soul, God has chosen you before all things.

You are my mistress and my queen."
"Lady Knowledge, I was born noble and free.

I cannot be dishonored

Because of whom alone I love.

And so I shall bring it about

That the Holy Trinity loves, cherishes, and honors me,

And everything in heaven and on earth

Shall forever be subject to me.

If I let love have power over me,

Giving it room,

So that it can bind me to holy patience

And so that my guilt may not increase,

Then it will lead me to noble meekness,

That I may be ready for all good things;

And it will yoke me to strict obedience,

That I shall become lovingly subject

To God and all creatures."

"Mistress Bride, would you say a word to me

About the ineffable intimacy that exists between God and you?"

"Lady Knowledge, that I shall not do.

Brides may not tell everything they experience.

Holy contemplation and precious enjoyment

You shall learn about from me.

My privileged experience of God must always be hidden

From you and from all creatures except for myself."

"Lady Soul, your marvelous visions and lofty words

That you have seen and heard in God—

If you move me to divulge just a little,

Then I shall cast the light of the Emperor

Into a dark and dank stable.

Cattle eat their straw contentedly.

But there are some who seem to be God's children

And yet thrust about like unfettered cattle

In the dark stable and say:

'What is the point of such swindle?

It was thought up by self-will

And carried out in fake holiness."

"Lady Knowledge, one finds it written

That St. Paul was taken up into the third heaven.

This never would have happened to him

If he had remained Saul.

If he had found the truth

In the first and second heaven,

He would never have climbed to the third."

"Lady Soul, there is a heaven

Which the devil made with his alluring false cunning.

There thoughts wander about with sad feelings,

And the soul remains completely unmoved

Because she does not find love corresponding to her nature.

The soul remains unconsoled there

And the simple faculties are deceived.

In this heaven the devil reveals himselfAs a radiant angel,

Even like God himself as to his five wounds.

Simple Soul, watch out!

The second heaven was created

By the longing of the senses

And by the first stage of love.

In this heaven there is no light;

The soul does not see God there.

Rather, she tastes an indescribable sweetness

That permeates all her members.

She hears as well a voice speaking of certain things

That she really wants,

For she is still joined to her earthly senses.

If she at this stage has not attained profound humility,

The devil brings his light there.

What then happens is not from God.

But if she has perfect humility,

The soul shall travel on to the third heaven

Where the true light is given to her."

Then the senses say: "Our lady, the soul, has slept since childhood.

Now she has awakened in the light of open love."

In this light she looks around herself to discover

Who that is who reveals himself to her,
And what that is that one is saying to her.

Thus does she see truly and understand

How God is all things in all things.

Soul: "Now I shall put aside all my cares

And go with St. Paul into the third heaven

If God in his love will beat down my sinful body."

This third heaven is vaulted, ordered, and illumined brightly with the Three Persons.

20. How Sister Hildegund Is Adorned in Heaven with ThreeMantles, with Seven Crowns, and How the Nine Choirs Praise Her On the feast of the holy virgin St. Barbara, Sister Hildegund received her glory. God revealed this to a lame dog who is as yet licking its wounds in wretchedness.

It happened thus while I was at prayer. I do not know whether heaven descended to me or I was drawn into the blissful house of God. There stood Hildegund before the throne of the heavenly Father, adorned as a new bride that the king had brought home. She had three mantles draped over her and wore on her head seven crowns, and the nine choirs offered her special praise. When I looked at her, I recognized her in all the gifts that she had received from God.

I was eager to speak with her and, in order to remain longer with her in this blissful state, I asked her: "Tell me, where did you get that rose-colored mantle?"

Hildcgund said: "I was a martyr in fiery love, so much so that often my heart's blood poured forth over my head."

Then I asked her further: "Where did you get this golden mantle that shines so splendidly?"

She said: "From the example of good works."

I said: "Where did you get this flowering white mantle?"

She replied: "From the overwhelming love, which I kept secretly in my soul and in my senses."
These were the seven crowns: the crown of constancy, the crown of holy faith, the crown of fidelity, the crown of generous mercy, the crown of holy understanding, the crown of love, and the crown of virginity.

Then I asked further: "Dear Sister, where is your crown of humility that is so becoming to religious persons?"

She answered: "I do not have it especially, nor did I ever attain it—just enough that God took away pride with it."

These seven crowns are all specially adorned with a garland of the dignity of pure noble chastity.

The nine choirs praise her for nine virtues thus: "We praise you for your sorrow,For your good will,For your truth,For your wisdom,For your sweet grieving,For your voluntary poverty,For your strength,For your justice."

The Seraphim praise her thus, for they are her equals: "We praise youfor your love, God's Queen."

The Thrones praise her thus: "We praise the bridegroom because ofthe beauty of the bride."
I asked her about many things which I shall now pass over in silence.Though the kingdom of heaven is colored by love,The kingdom of earth is, alas, quite changeable

For me and for many a person

Who never was taken up to heaven

Where one shall behold the truth.

21. If You Would Behold the Mountain, You Should

Have Seven Things

I saw a mountain—That took place very quickly,

For the body cannot endure

The soul's being there for an hour.

At its base the mountain was white, like clouds,

And high up at the summit, fiery bright as the sun.
Its end and its beginning

I could not find at all.

Inside, it playfully sparkled

And flowed golden in boundless love.

I spoke: "Lord, blessed are the eyesThat shall forever gaze upon this surging of loveAnd grasp this wonder.I can never describe it."

The mountain spoke: "The eyes that are to see me thus

Must be graced by seven things; otherwise,

They can never experience it.

These are: Slow to borrow, quick to pay back,

To hold back nothing for yourself,

To be kind in the face of hatred,

To be loving in the face of cruelty,

To be pure as to guilt

And ready for all one might receive."

22. How Contemplation Asks the Loving Soul About the

Seraphim and the Least of Men

"Lady Soul, would you rather be an angel of the order of Seraphim or a human being with body and soul in the lowest choir of angels?"

The Soul to Contemplation: "Lady Contemplation, you have certainly noticed that the Seraphim angels are exalted princes and that they are one love and one fire and one breath and one light with God."

Contemplation to the Soul: "Lady Soul, you have certainly noticed that the angels are simple persons and that they do not praise God nor love him nor know him beyond the limits of their nature. The least of human beings can catch up with them by Christian belief, sorrow, longing, and good will. It's just that the human soul cannot burn as intensely in the Godhead."

The Soul to Contemplation: "Lady Contemplation, you have certainly noticed that the Seraphim angels are God's children and yet his servants as well. The least soul is a daughter of the Father and a sister of the Son and a friend of the Holy Spirit and, indeed, a bride of the Holy Trinity. When the game is over, then let one see how the scales tip—the noblest angel, Jesus Christ, who soars above the Seraphim, who is undivided with his Father. Him shall I, the least of souls, take in my arms, eat him and drink him, and have my way with him. This can never happen to the angels. No matter how high he dwells above me, his Godhead shall never be so distant that I cannot constantly entwine my limbs with him; and so I shall never cool off. What, then, do I care what the angels experience?"

23. How Love Questions and Instructs Dull Souls and Would

Like to Bring Them to Their Lover and Begins to Speak; and

How the Dull Soul Responds

"Alas, foolish Soul, where are you, or what is your dwelling like, and what are you living for? Where can you find rest since you do not love your vibrant God more than your own will or beyond all your might?"

"Let me sleep. I don't know what you are talking about."

"One certainly has to wake the queen when the king intends to come."

"I am a member of a religious order. I fast, keep vigils, am free of serious sin; I am bound enough."

"What good does it do to bind an empty vessel if the wine still runs out? One has to fill it with the stones of external hardship and the ashes of transitoriness."

"I dwell in the comfort of my relatives and my dear religious friends. Besides, how can I enjoy loving someone I don't know?"

"What? You don't know how to recognize the Lord who has been spoken of so lovingly to you so often? You are more concerned about that mongrel body of yours than about Jesus, your sweet Lord; and so you are never going to win honor in his eyes."

"I live by my own will. That is what I like to do."

"If you want to render God genuine loyalty, for his love you should follow his spirit."

"I rest in the vigor of my body."

"You should be ashamed of yourself today in God's sight, that you call yourself a religious and yet busy yourself the whole time with your body."

"How am I supposed to stay well if I take on the burdens you involve?"

"Oh, traitor! He who made the soul so noble that she feasts on nothing but God—he will not let your body perish."

"You are rebuking me severely. If I knew where he was, I could yet change my ways."

"If you wish to dwell with him in noble freedom, you first have to clear bad habits out of this dwelling."

"If I knew what was best, I would choose the best."

"Alas! That many a man who is wise in learning and by natural good sense does not risk putting himself completely in the power of naked love! Rather, it is the simple and pure who seek God alone in all their actions to whom God, given his nature, must favorably incline."

"I imagined that, having entered religious life, I had climbed high enough."

"What good does it do to put fine clothes on a sleeping man and set gourmet food before him? As long as he is asleep, he can't eat anyway. Ah, my love, let me awaken you."

"Well then, tell me where his dwelling is."

"There is no other Lord that dwells in all his castles at the same time but him alone. He lives in the peace of holy affection and whispers to his beloved in the narrow confines of the soul. He also embraces her in the noble comfort of his love. He greets her with his loving eyes when they earnestly gaze at one another with love. He kisses her passionately with his divine mouth. You are happy, more than happy in this most glorious hour. He caresses her, as well he can, on the bed of love. Then she rises to the heights of bliss and to the most exquisite pain when she
becomes truly intimate with him. Ah, dear Soul, let yourself be loved and don't fiercely fend it off."

"Who are those who defend themselves fiercely?"

"Those who pester others and themselves with their own spitefulness. Now I shall tell you who he is. He is the loftiest of all pinnacles, and this same loftiest of all pinnacles bent down into the deepest of all valleys, and this deepest of all valleys ascended onto the highest of all pinnacles.

O dull Soul, look all around you and open your blind eyes."

"If he has climbed down from the highest pinnacle for love of me and given himself along with all creatures to me totally, and if he does not now intend to withdraw his goodness from me, then I might well be ever ashamed in his sight that I was never quite willing to give up my worthless copper in return for his precious gold. Alas, where have I been, poor blind me, that I have lived so long without strong love? With it I can indeed conquer all my troubles in spite of all my enemies. Poor wretch, although I have missed much that is good, I shall nevertheless still go out from all things and into God. O Love, will you still receive me?"

"Yes, I shall God has never denied himself to anyone. This is an equal balance: If you want to have love, you must leave love."

24. How the Loving Soul Joins the Company of God and His

Chosen Dear Ones and Shall Be Equal to All the Saints.

How theDevil and the Soul Talk to Each Other

Oh, Lord Jesus Christ, that you suffered despite your guiltlessness gives me consolation, for in all that I suffer I am guilty; and your salvific death keeps my memory of you alive, and your immaculate blood has coursed through my soul.

Mary, dear Mother, I stand next to you under the cross with all my Christian faith, and the sword of holy sorrow cuts through my soul because so many of those who have the appearance of religious persons are so unreliable.

John the Baptist, I was taken prisoner with you because the
treacherous slut of deceitfulness killed the word of God in my mouth.

John the Evangelist, I fell asleep with you in tender love on the breast of Jesus Christ, and then I saw and heard there such glorious marvels that my body often took leave of itself.

Peter, I have been crucified with you because things never go right for me as a human being, and spiritually I am often in pain for the praise of Jesus Christ.

Paul, I was miraculously caught up with you and saw such a house that nothing has ever surprised me as much as the fact that I have been able since then to remain a living person. When I recall that the heavenly Father is the blessed chalice-bearer there and Jesus the chalice, the Holy Spirit the unadulterated wine, and how the whole Trinity is the full chalice and love the mistress in charge of the wine cellar, then, God knows, I would be happy indeed if love would invite me into the house. But for now I am happy to drink gall here. Ah, dear Jesus, reward all those lovingly who have here poured out bitterness for me to drink, for they have made me rich in divine favors. I received a chalice filled with gall that was so powerful that it utterly permeated my body and soul. And so I offered special prayers to God for the pourer, that he would pour out for him celestial wine.

And indeed, he did so, saying: "Noble Maiden, be of good cheer. The magnitude of my wonder shall come over you. Lions shall fear you. Bears shall accept your dominion over them. Wolves shall flee you. The lamb shall be your companion." I am certain of this and, up until now it has turned out that I have had to drain many a chalice of gall because, alas, the devil still has many a one among religious people willing to pour it out. They are so full of poison that they cannot drink it all up by themselves, but must pour it out maliciously for God's children.

Stephen, I kneel next to you in front of Jewish hearts under the sharp stones, for they fall upon me large and small. Those who appear to be good people stone me from the back and run away and do not want me to know anything about its having befallen me because of them: but God saw it.

Lawrence, I was bound next to you for more than twenty years on a horrible gridiron, but God preserved me unburned and freed me more than seven years ago.

Martin, I live with you in obscurity and God's true love martyred me beyond all adversity.

Dominic, my dear Father, I have something in common with you because I have desired many a day that the sinful blood of my heart might flow beneath the feet of disbelieving heretics.

Catherine, I go with you into battle because the lords of hell want to bring me down. One of them came to me splendorous as the radiance of the sun so that I might know that he was an angel.

He was carrying a shining book and said:
"Go ahead and take this kiss of peace, when you cannot make it to mass."

The soul spoke with deliberate prudence: "He who has no peace himself, cannot bestow peace on me."

He went away and transformed himself and returned looking like a very wretched, sickly man whose guts were falling out and said: "Oh, you are so holy. Heal me."

The soul spoke again: "He who is himself sick cannot heal anyone."

"It is written: Who can do it better should help the other."

"It is also written: One should not help anyone against God."

"What one does for good is not against God."

"If there is nothing good about something, no one can achieve something good in its regard. You have an everlasting sickness. If you want to recover, go and show yourself to a priest or a bishop or an archbishop or the pope. I have no power except that of being able to sin." The he replied in rage: "That I will never do!"

Then he became like black smoke and comported himself indecently and disappeared. But I am not afraid of him.

Mary Magdalene, I live with you in the desert wilderness, because all things are foreign to me except God alone.

Lord heavenly Father, between you and me there goes unceasingly an imperceptible breath in which I come to know and see many marvels and inexpressible things. Unfortunately, they do me little good because I am such a worthless vessel that cannot endure your slightest spark. Unbound love dwells in the senses because it is still mixed in such a way with earthly things that a person can cry out: "Love is in grace, distant in the senses and has, alas, not yet climbed atop the soul." Many people have fallen because their soul remained unwounded.

Solomon and David received the Holy Spirit in their human senses, but when the senses changed, they fell into false love. God knows, their soul had not sunk into the lowest depths beneath all creatures nor was it wounded by the powerful part of love, for he who never tasted the best wine often whoops it up the most. Bound love dwells in the soul and transcends human senses and concedes the body nothing it wants. It is restrained and very calm. It lowers its wings and listens for the inexpressible voice and gazes into the incomprehensible light and works with great desire to achieve the will of its Lord. If the body can still flap its wings, the soul can never reach the heights that are attainable for human beings. In this bound love the wounded soul becomes rich and her external senses very poor because the more riches God finds in her, the deeper she humbly lowers herself because of the true nobility of her love. I cannot imagine a person bound by the deepest stirrings of powerful love falling into serious sin; for the soul is bound, she has to love. May God thus bind us all!

25. The Lament of the Loving Soul; How God Protects Her and

Withdraws His Gift from Her.

Concerning Wisdom,

How theSoul Asks God How She Is

and Where He Is.

Concerning theOrchard,

Flowers,

and the Song of the Virgins

"Oh, you treasure beyond reckoning in your abundance!

Oh, you incomprehensible marvel in your variety!

Oh, you infinite glory in the power of your nobility!

How painfully I long for you

When you want to spare me;

This all creatures would not be able to express to you fully

If they were to lament on my behalf;

For I suffer inhuman anguish.

Human death I would find more pleasant.

I seek you with my thoughts

As a maiden secretly does her lover.

I shall fall terribly sick from this,

For I am bound to you.

The bond is stronger than I am,

Thus I cannot become free of love.

I cry out to you in great longing,

A lonely voice;

I hope for your coming with heavy heart,

I cannot rest,

I am on fire,

Unquenchable in your burning love.

I pursue you with all my might.

If I had the strength of a giant

And if I got onto your trail,

Still I would quickly lose your tracks.

Please, my Love, run not so far ahead of me

And tarry a while in love,

So that I can catch you.

Please, Lord, just as you have taken from me all things that I have

from you,

Leave me, at least, through grace that same gift

That you have given to dogs through their nature-

That I might be loyal to you in my misery,

Free of all discontent.

This I do indeed desire

More than I yearn for heaven."

"My dear Dove, now listen to me!

My divine wisdom is so utterly upon you

That I direct all my gifts to you,

As much as your frail body can bear.

Your secret sighs shall reach me.

Your heart's anguish can compel me.

Your sweet pursuit shall so exhaust me

That I shall yearn to cool myself

In your limpid soul,

To which I have been bound.

The sighs and tremors of your wounded heart

Have driven out my justice from you.

That suits you quite well, as it does me:
I cannot be without you.

No matter how far we are apart,

We can still never be really separated.

No matter how softly I caress you,

I inflict immense pain on your poor body.

If I were to surrender myself to you continuously,

as you desire,

I would lose my delightful dwelling place on earth within you,

For a thousand bodies cannot fully satisfy the longings of a soul in

love.

And so, the higher the love, the holier the martyr."

"O Lord, you pamper to excess my dank prison,

In which I drink the water of the world and eat in great misery

The ash cake of my frailty,

And am wounded to the death

By the beam of your fiery love.

Now you leave me, Lord, lying in my misery,

My wounds untended, in great torment."
"Queen dear to my heart,Must you always be so impatient?

When I wound you most deeply,

I immediately apply salve most tenderly.

The abundance of my riches is yours alone,

And even over me shall you hold sway.

You are very dear to my heart.

If you have the scales, I have the gold.

All that you have done for my sake, renounced, or suffered,

I shall balance off completely and shall give myself to you forever

Expecting nothing in return, just as you will."

"Lord, two things I ask you;

In your kindness instruct me:

When my eyes weep in loneliness,

And my mouth remains mute in its simplicity,

And my tongue is constricted in affliction,

And my senses ask me again and again

What is wrong with me,

Then, Lord, everything in me is directed toward you.

When my flesh wastes away,

My blood dries up, my bones torture me,
My veins contract,And my heart melts out of love for you,

And my soul roars

With the bellowings of a hungry lion,

Tell me, dearest One,

What will it be like for me then,

And where will you be?"

"You are like a new bride

Whose one and only lover has slipped away as she slept.

She had entrusted him with all her love

And simply cannot endure his parting from her for one hour.

When she then awakens, she can only have as much of him

As she can carry in her thoughts.

That is the source of all her lament.

As long as his bride has not been delivered to his house,

She must often be apart from her young man.

I come to you at my pleasure, when I will.

If you are patient and calm,

And hide your cares where you can,

Then the power of love shall grow in you.

Now let me tell you where I shall then be:

I am in myself in all places and in all things,

As I always have been eternally,

And I shall be waiting for you in the orchard of love

And shall pluck for you the flowers of sweet union

And shall make a bed for you out of the soft grass of holy knowledge,

And the bright sun of my eternal Godhead

Shall make you radiant with the secret wonder of my attractiveness—

A bit of which you have intimately revealed—

And I shall bend down for you the towering tree of my Holy Trinity.

Then you shall pick the green, white, and red apples of my succulent

humanity,

And the shadow of my Holy Spirit shall protect you

From all earthly sadness.

Then you will have no thought of your heartache.

When you embrace the tree,

I shall teach you the song of the virgins—

The melody, the words, the dulcet sounds,

Which those cannot understand in the least
Who have led unchaste lives.

Still they shall receive sweet compensation.

Beloved, begin the song and let me hear how well you sing."

"Alas, my dear Lover, I am hoarse in the throat of my chastity,

But the sugar of your sweet kindness

Has let my voice resound, so that I can now sing thus:

Lord, your blood and mine are one, untainted.

Your love and mine are one, inseparable.

Your garment and mine are one, immaculate.

Your mouth and mine are one, unkissed.

Your breast and mine are one, not caressed

By any man but you alone."

These are the words of the song.

The voice of love and the melody of the heart must be left unrendered,

For they can be captured by no merely human hand!

26. About This Book and the Writers of This Book

I was warned against writing this book.

People said:If one did not watch out,

It could be burned.

So I did as I used to do as a child.

When I was sad, I always had to pray.

I bowed to my Lover and said: "Alas, Lord,

Now I am saddened all because of your honor.

If I am going to receive no comfort from you now,

Then you led me astray,

Because you are the one who told me to write it."

At once God revealed himself to my joyless soul, held this book in his right hand, and said:
"My dear One, do not be overly troubled.

No one can burn the truth.

For someone to take this book out of my hand,

He must be mightier than I.

The book is threefold
And portrays me alone.

The parchment that encloses it indicates my pure, white, just humanity

That for your sake suffered death.

The words symbolize my marvelous Godhead.

It flows continuously

Into your soul from my divine mouth.

The sound of the words is a sign of my living spirit

And through it achieves genuine truth.

Now, examine all these words—

How admirably do they proclaim my personal secrets!

So have no doubts about yourself!"

"Ah, Lord, if I were a learned religious man,

And if you had performed this unique great miracle using him,

You would receive everlasting honor for it.

But how is one supposed to believe

That you have built a golden house on filthy sludge

And really live in it with your mother, with all creatures, and with your

heavenly court?

Lord, earthly wisdom will not be able to find you there."

"Daughter, many a wise man, because of negligence

On a big highway, has lost his precious gold

With which he was hoping to go to a famous school.

Someone is going to find it.

By nature I have acted accordingly many a day.

Wherever I bestowed special favors,

I always sought out the lowest, most insignificant, and most unknownplace for them.

The highest mountains on earth cannot receive the revelations of my

favors

Because the course of my Holy Spirit flows by nature downhill.

One finds many a professor learned in scripture who actually is a fool

in my eyes.

And I'll tell you something else:

It is a great honor for me with regard to them, and it very much

strengthens Holy Christianity

That the unlearned mouth, aided by my Holy Spirit, teaches thelearned tongue."

"Alas, Lord, I sigh, desire,

And beg on behalf of your writers

Who write this book after me,

That you see fit to give them, too, as a reward

A favor that has never been bestowed on human beings.

Lord, your gifts are a thousand times more numerous

Than your creatures who might receive them."

Our Lord said:"They have written it in gold letters.

All these words shall appear written on their outermost garments,

forever visible in my kingdom

In heavenly shining gold above all their adornment,

Because to love freely must always be the highest value for people."

As our Lord was speaking these words to me, I saw glorious truth in its eternal excellence.

O Lord, I beg that you preserve

This book from the eyes of evil cunning,

For this has come among us from hell.

It was never taken from heaven;

It was begotten in Lucifer's heart

And was born of spiritual pride

And was arrogant with hate

And has grown so large in powerful rage

That it imagines that no virtue is its equal.

So must God's children perish

And allow themselves to be oppressed in degradation

If they want to receive the highest honors with Jesus.

A holy watchfulness we must keep about ourselves at all times

To preserve ourselves from shortcomings.

A loving watchfulness we should have toward our fellow Christians

When they blunder, that we say to them only

That which bespeaks our good intentions toward them.

This can keep us from much wasted speech. Amen.