Chapter 63
THE FOURTEENTH SHOWING
caused to flow out of Himself to do His will shall be restored and brought into Him again by His salvation of man through the working of grace. For all the natures that He has set in different creatures in part, are all entirely in man in fulness and in virtue, in fairness and in goodness, in royalty and in nobility, and in all kind of solemnity, of preciousness and of glory.
Here we can see that we are entirely bound to God by nature, and we are entirely bound to God by grace. Here we can see that it is not necessary for us to seek far off in order to know different natures. We need only look to holy Church, into our Mother's breast — that is to say, into our own soul, where our Lord dwells. We shall find everything there — now in faith and in understanding, and afterward clearly, in reality, in Himself, in bliss.
But let no man or woman take this as applying to himself alone, for it is not this way. This is true in general, for it is our precious Mother, Christ, for whom this fair nature was prepared for the glory and nobility of man's creation and for the joy and bliss of man's salvation, just as He saw, realized and knew it from eternity.
Chapter 63 Sin is more painful than hell; it is vile and hurts nature; but grace saves nature and destroys sin; the children of Jesus are not all born yet; they do not pass from the status of childhood, but live in feebleness until they come to heaven, where joys are ever beginning anew, without end.
Here we can see that in truth we are enabled by nature to hate sin and that, in truth, we are enabled by grace to hate sin. For nature is entirely good and fair in itself, and grace was sent out to save nature and to preserve it, to destroy sin and again to bring fair nature back to the blessed point from which it came — that is, God with greater nobility and glory by virtue of the working of grace. It shall be seen before God
THE REVELATION OF DIVINE LOVE
by all His holy ones in endless joy, that nature has been tested in the fire of tribulation, and no lack or defect was found in it.
Thus are nature and grace in accord. For grace is God, as uncreated nature is God. He is Two in His manner of working but One in love, and neither of them works without the other, nor can anything separate them. When we, by the mercy of God and with His help, bring ourselves into agreement with nature and grace we Shall see in truth that sin is worse, viler and more painful than hell, without any comparison, because sin is contrary to our fair nature. For as truly as sin is unclean, so truly is it unnatural.
All this is a horrible thing to see for the loving soul who would be all fair and shining in the sight of God, as nature and grace teach. But we are not afraid of sin (except insofar as fear can assist us). Meekly we make our complaints to our most precious Mother, Christ, and He will sprinkle us entirely with His precious blood and make our soul most soft, and completely mild, and will heal us most beautifully by the process of time, doing just as shall be die greatest glory to him and joy for us without end.
And He shall never stop or reduce the working of this sweet fire until all His most precious children are borne and brought forth. That He showed where He gave the understanding of His spiritual thirst; that is, the love-longing that shall last until Judgment Day.
Thus our life is grounded in our true Mother, Jesus, in His own foreseeing wisdom from without beginning, with the noble might of the Father and the noble sovereign goodness of the Holy Spirit. In the taking on of our nature, He brought us to life, and in His blessed dying upon the cross He bore us into endless life. From that time, now and forever, as He shall do until Judgment Day, He feeds us and fosters us just as the noble sovereign nature of motherhood wills and as the natural need of childhood asks. Fair and sweet is our heavenly
Mother in the sight of our soul. Precious and lovely are the children of grace in the sight of our heavenly Mother, with mildness and meekness and all the fair virtues that belong to children by nature.