Chapter 75
THE SIXTEENTH SHOWING
This, then, is the remedy: to know them all and to reject the wrong. For the natural profit that we have from dread in this life, by the gracious working of the Holy Spirit, shall be gentle, sweet and most delectable in heaven before God. Thus, in love we shall be friendly and near to God, and in dread we shall be gentle and courteous to God, and both will be exactly alike.
Then we should desire of our Lord God to dread Him reverently, to love Him meekly, and to trust in Him strongly, for when we dread Him reverently and love Him meekly, trust is never in vain. The more we trust and the more strongly we trust, the more we please and honor our Lord, in Whom we trust. If we fail in this reverent dread and meek love (as, God forbid, we should do), our trust will soon be badly governed for that time. And therefore we greatly need to pray to our
Lord that, by His grace we may have this reverent dread, and by His gift we may have this meek love in our hearts and in our work — for without this no man can please God.
Chapter 75 Love-longing and pity are necessary for us; of three kinds of longing in God that are in us; how on the Day of Judgment the joy of the blessed shall be increased as they see in truth the cause of all things that God has done; trembling with dread and thanking God for joy, they marvel at the greatness of God and the littleness of all that is made.
I saw that God can supply all that is necessary for us, particularly these three things I shall speak of. We need: love, longing and pity. Pity, in love, preserves us in our time of need. Longing, in the same love, draws us into heaven, for the thirst of God is to have man in general within Him. In this thirst, He has drawn His holy souls who are now in bliss.
Getting His living members in the same way, He continually draws and drinks — and still He thirsts and longs.
I saw three kinds of longing in God, all directed to one end.
We have the same three in us, from the same virtue and for
THE REVELATION OF DIVINE LOVE
the same end. The first is that He longs to teach us to know Him and to love Him ever more and more, as is suitable and profitable for us. The second is that He longs to have us up in bliss, as souls are when they are taken out of pain into heaven.
The third is that He longs to fill us full of bliss, and that will be accomplished on the last day, to last forever.
For I saw, as is recognized in our faith, that pain and sorrow shall be ended for all who shall be saved, and not only shall we receive the same bliss that the souls before us have had in heaven, but we shall also receive a new bliss, which shall flow abundantly out of God into us and fill us full.
These are the good things He has ordained to give us from without beginning. These goods are treasured and hidden within Himself, for until that time [the last day] no creature is strong enough or worthy enough to receive them. In this we Shall see in truth the cause of everything God has done, and evermore we shall see the cause of everything He has suffered. The bliss and the fulfillment shall be so deep and so high that, for wonder and astonishment at it, all creatures will have for God so great a reverent dread — surpassing anything that has ever been seen or felt before that the pillars of heaven shall tremble and quake.
But this kind of trembling and dread shall have with it no kind of pain. It belongs to the worthy might and majesty of God to be looked at by His creatures this way — full of dread, trembling and quaking for the greatness of joy, marveling at the greatness of God the Maker and at the littleness of all that is made. For the contemplation of this [reality] makes the creature marvelously meek and mild. Therefore God wills
(and also, it is proper to us both in nature and grace), that we realize and know this truth, desiring this sight and this working, for it commands us in the right way, keeps us in true life and makes us one with God.
As good as God is, so great is He, and as much as it is proper to His goodness to be loved, so much is it proper to His greatness to be dreaded. For this reverent dread is the fair courtesy that is in heaven before the face of God. And as greatly as the way He shall be known and loved then
THE SIXTEENTH SHOWING
Surpasses the way He is known and loved now, so greatly shall the way He shall be dreaded then surpass the way He is dreaded now. Therefore, it must and ought to be that all heaven in truth shall tremble and quake when the pillars shall tremble and quake.
Chapter 76 A loving soul hates sin for its vileness more than for all the pain of hell; how the contemplation of other men's sins (unless it is done with compassion) hinders the contemplation of God; the devil, by reminding us of our wretchedness, would hinder us from the contemplation of God; and of our sloth.
I speak very little about this reverent dread, because I hope it can be seen in the matter I have previously discussed. But I know well that our Lord showed me no souls but those that had dread for Him.
I realized well that the soul that truly accepts the teaching of the Holy Spirit hates sin more, because of its vileness and its horribleness, than it hates all the pains that are in hell. For the soul that sees the kindness of our Lord Jesus hates no hell but sin, as I see it. Therefore it is God's will that we recognize sin, pray diligently, deliberately do bitter labor, and humbly seek teaching, that we may not fall blindly into it, and if we fall, that we may rise readily, for it is the greatest pain the soul can have to turn from God by sin any time.
When other men's sins come to mind the soul that would remain at rest should flee from the thought as from the pain of hell, seeking a remedy for, and help against it [the sins], from God. For the contemplation of other men's sins creates, as it were, a thick mist before the eyes of the soul, and we cannot, during that time, see the fairness of God. This is true unless we contemplate them [the sins] with contrition with the sinner, with compassion on Him, and with holy desire for God on His behalf. Without these, such contemplation annoys, troubles, tempts and hinders the soul that engages in it.