Chapter 7
THE FIRST SHOWING
Chapter 7 Of how our Lady, beholding the greatness of her Maker, thought herself least; of the great dropping of blood running from under the garland; of how the greatest joy for man is that God most high and mighty is holiest and most courteous.
And to teach us this, as I understand it, our Lord God showed me our Lady, Saint Mary, at that same time, that is to say, the lofty wisdom and strength she had when she beheld her Maker, so great, so noble, so mighty, so good. The greatness and nobility she saw in God filled her full of reverent awe, and with it she saw herself so little, so low, so simple, so poor in comparison to her Lord God that her reverent dread filled her full of meekness. And thus, on these grounds she was filled full of grace and of all manner of virtues, and passed beyond all other creatures.
And all the time He was showing me in spirit the things I have just said, I continued to see with my eyes the copious bleeding of the head. Great drops of blood poured down from under the garland like pellets, just as if they had come out of the veins. In coming out of the head, the drops were brownred, for the blood was very thick, but in spreading out, the blood was bright red. When the blood came to the brows, it vanished, but notwithstanding, the bleeding continued, until many things had been seen and understood; nevertheless, the fairness and lifelikeness [of the face] continued to have the same beauty and loveliness.
The fairness and lifelikeness is like nothing but itself. The plenteousness of the bleeding is like drops of water that fall from the caves of the house after a great rainstorm; they fall so thick no man can count them with his human powers. As they spread over the forehead, the drops of blood were like herring scales in their roundness.
These three images came to me at that time. The drops were round like pellets in coming out of the head, and like herring scales in spreading out on the forehead; in their unnumberable plenty, they were like raindrops falling from the eaves.
THE REVELATION OF DIVINE LOVE
This showing was vivid and lifelike, hideous and dreadful, sweet and lovely. And of all the visions that I saw, this one was the greatest comfort to me — that our God and Lord,
Who is so worthy of reverence and so awesome, is so unassuming, homely and courteous. This most completely filled me with delight and security of soul.
For the better understanding of this [truth], He gave this plain example. The greatest honor a solemn King or a great
Lord can do a poor servant is to be homely with him, friendly and unpretentious, and specifically, if he shows the servant this familiarity himself in all sincerity and with a glad expression both in private and in public. Then this poor creature thinks thus, "Ah, how could this noble lord give me more honor and joy than by showing me, who am so little and simple, this marvelous homeliness, unassuming friendliness?
Truly, it is a greater joy and delight to me than if he gave me great gifts and were himself distant in manner." This human example was shown so intensely in order that man's heart might be ravished and he might almost forget himself for joy at this great unassuming friendliness.
And thus it is between our Lord Jesus and us, for truly, it is the greatest joy possible, as I see it, that He Who is highest and mightiest, noblest and worthiest, becomes lowest and meekest, homeliest, friendliest and most courteous. Truly, and certainly this marvelous joy shall be shown us all when we see Him. And our Lord wills this [relationship with us] so that we may will it and trust it, rejoice in it and imitate it, comfort ourselves and solace ourselves in it — as we may do with His grace — until the time comes that we see it in truth. For the greatest fulfillment of joy we shall have, as I see it, is the marvelous courtesy and unassuming friendliness of our Father Who is our Maker, in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our brother and our Savior. But this marvelous familiarity no man may experience in this present life unless he does so through a special showing of our Lord, or through great fulness of grace given him inwardly by the Holy Spirit. But faith and belief, with charity, deserve their reward, and thus the
THE FIRST SHOWING
experience is attained by grace. For in faith, with hope and charity, our life is grounded.
The showing, made to whomever God wills, plainly teaches the same thing, open and declared, and shows many secret points belonging to our faith, which are good for us to know.
And when the showing, which is given at a single time, has passed away and is hidden, then the faith, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, preserves it to the end of our lives. Thus the showing is not other than the faith, neither less nor more, as can be seen in our Lord's teaching on the same matter, about when each shall come to its end.
Chapter 8 A recapitulation of what has been said, and how it was shown to her for all in general.
And as long as I saw this sight of the copious bleeding of the head, I couldn't stop saying, "Bless the Lord." In this showing I understood six things. The first is the tokens of the blessed passion and the abundant shedding of His precious blood; the second is the maiden who is His excellent mother; the third is the blissful Godhead that ever was, is, and shall be, Almighty, All-wisdom and All-love. The fourth is all things He has made. I know well that heaven and earth and all that is made is great, large, fair and good. The reason it looked so little to me was that I saw it in the presence of Him Who made it all. For to a soul that sees the maker of all things, everything created seems very small.
The fifth thing I understood from this showing is that He who made all things for love, keeps them in the same love and shall do so forever. The sixth is that God is everything that is good, as I see it, and the goodness anything has is He.
All these things our Lord showed me in the first vision, and gave me the time and space in which to behold them.
What I saw with my eyes came to an end, but the spiritual insight dwelled in my understanding. I waited at rest, with