St. Catherine Dialogues

7/30/2019 St. Catherine Dialogues

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A TREATISE OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE

Christ's FaithfulPeople

How a soul, elevated by desire of the honor of God, and ofthe salvation of her neighbors, exercising herself in humbleprayer, after she had seen the union of the soul, throughlove, with God, asked of God four requests.

The soul, who is lifted by a very great and yearning desire forthe honor of God and the salvation of souls, begins byexercising herself, for a certain space of time, in the ordinaryvirtues, remaining in the cell of self-knowledge, in order toknow better the goodness of God towards her. This shedoes because knowledge must precede love, and only when

she has attained love, can she strive to follow and to clot heherself with the truth. But, in no way, does the creaturereceive such a taste of the truth, or so brilliant a lighttherefrom, as by means of humble and continuous prayer,founded on knowledge of herself and of God; becauseprayer, exercising her in the above way, unites with God thesoul that follows the footprints of Christ Crucif ied, and thus,by desire and affection, and union of love, makes her anotherHimself . Christ would seem to have meant this, when He said:To him who will love Me and will observe My commandment,will I manifest Myself ; and he shall be one thing with Me and Iwith him. In several places we find similar words, by which we
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can see that it is, indeed, through the effect of love, that thesoul becomes another Himself. That this may be seen moreclearly, I will mention what I remember having heard f rom ahandmaid of God, namely, that, when she was lift ed up inprayer, with great elevation of mind, God was not wont toconceal, from the eye of her intellect, the love which He hadfor His servants, but rather to manifest it ; and, that amongot her things, He used to say: "Open the eye of your intellect,

and gaze into Me, and you shall see the beauty of My rationalcreature. And look at t hose creatures who, among thebeauties which I have given to the soul, creating her in Myimage and similitude, are clothed with the nuptial garment(that is, the garment of love), adorned with many virtues, bywhich they are united with Me through love. And yet I tell you,if you should ask Me, who these are, I should reply" (said thesweet and amorous Word of God) "they are another Myself,inasmuch as they have lost and denied their own will, and areclot hed with Mine, are united to Mine, are conformed toMine." It is therefore t rue, indeed, that the soul unites herselfwith God by the aff ection of love.

So, that soul, wishing to know and fo llow the truth moremanfully, and lif t ing her desires first for herself -- for sheconsidered that a soul could not be of use, whether indoctrine, example, or prayer, to her neighbor, if she did notf irst prof it herself , that is, if she did not acquire virtue inherself -- addressed four requests to t he Supreme andEternal Father. The f irst was for herself; the second for thereformation of the Holy Church; the third a general prayer fo rthe whole world, and in particular for the peace of Christianswho rebel, with much lewdness and persecution, against the

Holy Church; in the fourth and last, she besought the DivineProvidence to provide for things in general, and in part icular,for a certain case with which she was concerned.

How the desire of this soul grew when God showed her theneediness 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 in what a t empest o f of fense against God it lay. And shehad understood this the better from a letter, which she had

received from the spiritual Father of her soul, in which heexplained to her the penalties and intolerable dolor caused byof fenses against God, and the loss of souls, and thepersecutions of Holy Church. All this lighted the f ire of herholy desire with grief for the of fenses, and with the joy of thelively hope, with which she waited for God to provide againstsuch great evils. And, since the soul seems, in suchcommunion, sweetly to bind herself f ast within herself andwith God, and knows bet ter His truth, inasmuch as the soul isthen in God, and God in the soul, as the f ish is in the sea, andthe sea in the f ish, she desired the arrival of the morning (for


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the morrow was a feast o f Mary) in order to hear Mass. And,when the morning came, and the hour of the Mass, shesought with anxious desire her accustomed place; and, with agreat knowledge of herself, being ashamed of her ownimperfect ion, appearing to herself to be the cause of all theevil that was happening throughout the world, conceiving ahatred and displeasure against herself, and a feeling of holyjustice, with which knowledge, hatred, and justice, she purif ied

the stains which seemed to her to cover her guilty soul, shesaid: "O Eternal Father, I accuse myself before You, in orderthat You may punish me for my sins in this finite life, and,inasmuch as my sins are the cause of the sufferings which myneighbor must endure, I implore You, in Your kindness, topunish them in my person."

How f inite works are not suff icient for punishment orrecompense without the perpetual affection of love.

Then, the Eternal Truth seized and drew more strongly toHimself her desire, doing as He did in the Old Testament, for

when the sacrif ice was of fered to God, a fire descended anddrew to Him the sacrifice that was acceptable to Him; so didthe sweet Truth to t hat soul, in sending down the f ire of theclemency of the Holy Spirit, seizing the sacrif ice of desire thatshe made of herself, saying: "Do you not know, deardaughter, that all the suff erings, which the soul endures, orcan endure, in this life, are insufficient to punish one smallestfault , because the offense, being done to Me, who am theInfinite Good, calls for an infinite satisfaction? However, Iwish that you should know, that not all the pains that aregiven to men in this life are given as punishments, but as

corrections, in order to chast ise a son when he of fends;though it is true that both the guilt and the penalty can beexpiated by the desire of the soul, that is, by true contrit ion,not through the f inite pain endured, but through the inf initedesire; because God, who is infinite, wishes for infinite loveand infinite grief. Infinite grief I wish from My creature in twoways: in one way, through her sorrow for her own sins, whichshe has committed against Me her Creator; in the other way,through her sorrow for t he sins which she sees her neighborscommit against Me. Of such as these, inasmuch as they haveinfinite desire, that is, are joined to Me by an affection of love,

and therefore grieve when they of fend Me, or see Meof fended, their every pain, whether spiritual or corporeal, fromwherever it may come, receives infinite merit, and satisfies fora guilt which deserved an infinite penalty, although theirworks are finite and done in finite t ime; but, inasmuch as theypossess the virtue of desire, and sustain their suffering withdesire, and contrition, and infinite displeasure against theirguilt , their pain is held wort hy. Paul explained this when hesaid: If I had the tongues of angels, and if I knew the things ofthe future and gave my body to be burned, and have notlove, it would be worth nothing to me. The glorious Apostle


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thus shows that f inite works are not valid, either aspunishment or recompense, without the condiment of theaff ection of love."

How desire and contrit ion of heart satisfies, bot h fo r the guiltand the penalty in oneself and in ot hers; and how sometimesit sat isf ies for the guilt only, and not the penalty.

"I have shown you, dearest daughter, that the guilt is notpunished in this finite t ime by any pain which is sustainedpurely as such. And I say, that the guilt is punished by the painwhich is endured through the desire, love, and cont rit ion ofthe heart; not by virtue of the pain, but by virtue of the desireof the soul; inasmuch as desire and every virtue is of value,and has life in itself, through Christ crucified, My onlybegot ten Son, in so far as the soul has drawn her love fromHim, and virtuously follows His virtues, that is, His Footprints.In this way, and in no other, are virtues of value, and in thisway, pains satisfy for the fault , by the sweet and intimatelove acquired in the knowledge of My goodness, and in the

bitterness and contrit ion of heart acquired by knowledge ofone's self and one's own thoughts. And this knowledgegenerates a hatred and displeasure against sin, and againstthe soul's own sensuality, through which, she deems herselfworthy of pains and unworthy of reward."

The sweet T ruth cont inued: "See how, by cont rit ion of theheart, together with love, with t rue patience, and with truehumility, deeming themselves worthy of pain and unworthy ofreward, such souls endure the patient humility in whichconsists the above-mentioned satisfaction. You ask me,

then, for pains, so that I may receive satisfaction fo r theoffenses, which are done against Me by My Creatures, andyou further ask the will to know and love Me, who am theSupreme Truth. Wherefore I reply that this is the way, if youwill arrive at a perfect knowledge and enjoyment of Me, theEternal Truth, that you should never go outside theknowledge of yourself, and, by humbling yourself in the valleyof humility, you will know Me and yourself , from whichknowledge you will draw all that is necessary. No virtue, mydaughter, can have life in itself except through charity, andhumility, which is the foster-mother and nurse of charity. In

self-knowledge, then, you will humble yourself, seeing that, inyourself , you do not even exist; for your very being, as youwill learn, is derived from Me, since I have loved both you andot hers before you were in existence; and that , through theineffable love which I had for you, wishing to re-create you toGrace, I have washed you, and re-created you in the Blood ofMy only-begot ten Son, spilt with so great a f ire of love. ThisBlood teaches the truth to him, who, by self-knowledge,dissipates the cloud of self-love, and in no other way can helearn. Then the soul will inflame herself in this knowledge ofMe with an ineffable love, through which love she cont inues


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in constant pain; not, however, a pain which aff licts or driesup the soul, but one which rather fattens her; for since shehas known My truth, and her own faults, and the ingrat itudeof men, she endures intolerable suff ering, grieving becauseshe loves Me; for, if she did not love Me, she would not beobliged to do so; whence it follows immediately, that it is rightfor you, and My ot her servants who have learnt My truth inthis way, to sustain, even unto death, many tribulations and

injuries and insults in word and deed, for the glory and praiseof My Name; thus will you endure and suffer pains. Do you,therefore, and My other servants, carry yourselves with t ruepatience, with grief for your sins, and with love of virtue fo rthe glory and praise of My Name. If you act thus, I will satisfyfor your sins, and for those of My ot her servants, inasmuchas the pains which you will endure will be sufficient, throughthe virtue of love, fo r sat isfaction and reward, both in youand in others. In yourself you will receive the f ruit of life, whenthe stains of your ignorance are effaced, and I shall notremember that you ever offended Me. In others I will satisfythrough the love and affection which you have to Me, and Iwill give to t hem according to t he disposition with which theywill receive My gifts. In particular, to those who disposethemselves, humbly and with reverence, to receive thedoct rine of My servants, will I remit both guilt and penalty,since they will thus come to t rue knowledge and cont rit ion fortheir sins. So that, by means of prayer, and their desire ofserving Me, they receive the fruit of grace, receiving it humblyin greater or less degree, according to the extent of theirexercise of virtue and grace in general. I say then, that,through your desires, they will receive remission for their sins.See, however, the condit ion, namely, that their obst inacyshould not be so great in their despair as to condemn themthrough contempt of the Blood, which, with such sweetness,has resto red them.

"What f ruit do they receive?

"The fruit which I destine for them, constrained by the prayersof My servants, is that I give them light, and that I wake up inthem the hound of conscience, and make them smell theodor of virtue, and take delight in the conversation of Myservants. "Sometimes I allow the world to show t hem what it

is, so that, feeling its diverse and various passions, they mayknow how litt le stability it has, and may come to lift theirdesire beyond it, and seek their native country, which is theEternal Life. And so I draw them by these, and by many otherways, for the eye cannot see, nor the tongue relate, nor theheart think, how many are the roads and ways which I use,through love alone, to lead them back to grace, so that Mytruth may be fulfilled in them. I am constrained to do so bythat inestimable love of Mine, by which I created them, and bythe love, desire, and grief o f My servants, since I am nodespiser of their tears, and sweat, and humble prayers; rather


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I accept them, inasmuch as I am He who give them this lovefor the good of souls and grief for their loss. But I do not, ingeneral, grant to these ot hers, for whom they pray,satisfaction for the penalty due to t hem, but, only for theirguilt, since they are not disposed, on t heir side, to receive,with perfect love, My love, and that of My servants. They donot receive their grief with bitt erness, and perfect cont rit ionfor the sins they have committ ed, but with imperfect love and

cont rit ion, wherefore they have not , as ot hers, remission ofthe penalty, but only of the guilt; because such completesatisfaction requires proper dispositions on bot h sides, bothin him that gives and him that receives. Wherefo re, since theyare imperfect , they receive imperfectly the perfection of thedesires of those who of fer them to Me, for their sakes, withsuff ering; and, inasmuch as I told you t hat they do receiveremission, this is indeed the t ruth, that, by that way which Ihave told you, that is, by the light of conscience, and by ot herthings, satisfaction is made for their guilt; for, beginning tolearn, they vomit f orth the corruption of their sins, and soreceive the gif t of grace. "These are they who are in a stateof ordinary charity, wherefore, if they have trouble, theyreceive it in the guise of correction, and do not resist overmuch the clemency of the Holy Spirit, but, coming out of theirsin, they receive the life of grace. But if, like foo ls, they areungrateful, and ignore Me and the labors of My servants donefor them, that which was given them, through mercy, turns totheir own ruin and judgment, not through defect of mercy, northrough defect of him who implored the mercy for the ingrate,but solely through the man's own wretchedness andhardness, with which, with the hands of his free will, he hascovered his heart, as it were, with a diamond, which, if it benot broken by the Blood, can in no way be broken. And yet, Isay to you, that, in spite of his hardness of heart, he can usehis free will while he has t ime, praying for t he Blood of MySon, and let him with his own hand apply It to the diamondover his heart and shiver it, and he will receive the imprint ofthe Blood which has been paid for him. But, if he delays unt ilthe t ime be past, he has no remedy, because he has not usedthe dowry which I gave him, giving him memory so as toremember My benefits, intellect, so as to see and know thetruth, affection, so that he should love Me, the Eternal Truth,whom he would have known through the use of his intellect.This is the dowry which I have given you all, and which oughtto render fruit to Me, the Father; but, if a man barters andsells it to the devil, the devil, if he choose, has a right to seizeon everything that he has acquired in this life. And, f illing hismemory with the delights of sin, and with the recollection ofshameful pride, avarice, self-love, hatred, and unkindness tohis neighbors (being also a persecutor of My servants), withthese miseries, he has obscured his intellect by his disordinatewill. Let such as these receive the eternal pains, with theirhorrible stench, inasmuch as they have not satisfied for theirsins with cont rit ion and displeasure of their guilt. Now,


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therefore, you have understood how suffering sat isf ies forguilt by perfect contrition, not through the f inite pain; andsuch as have this contrit ion in perfection satisfy not only forthe guilt, but also f or the penalty which follows the guilt, as Ihave already said when speaking in general; and if theysatisfy for the guilt alone, that is, if , having abandoned mortalsin, they receive grace, and have not suff icient cont rit ion andlove to sat isfy for the penalty also, they go to t he pains of

Purgatory, passing through the second and last means ofsatisfaction.

"So you see that satisfaction is made, through the desire ofthe soul united to Me, who am the Infinite Good, in greater orless degree, according to the measure of love, obtained bythe desire and prayer of the recipient. Wherefore, with t hatvery same measure with which a man measures to Me, do hereceive in himself the measure of My goodness. Labor,therefore, to increase the fire of your desire, and let not amoment pass without crying to Me with humble voice, orwithout cont inual prayers before Me for your neighbors. I saythis to you and to the father of your soul, whom I have givenyou on earth. Bear yourselves with manful courage, and makeyourselves dead to all your own sensuality."

How very pleasing to God is the willing desire to suf fer fo rHim.

"Very pleasing to Me, dearest daughter, is the willing desire tobear every pain and fat igue, even unto death, for thesalvation of souls, for the more the soul endures, the moreshe shows that she loves Me; loving Me she comes to know

more of My truth, and the more she knows, the more painand intolerable grief she feels at the of fenses committedagainst Me. You asked Me to sustain you, and to punish thefaults of ot hers in you, and you did not remark that you werereally asking for love, light, and knowledge of the truth, since Ihave already told you that, by the increase of love, growsgrief and pain, wherefore he that grows in love grows in grief.Therefore, I say to you all, that you should ask, and it will begiven you, for I deny nothing to him who asks of Me in truth.Consider that the love of divine charity is so closely joined inthe soul with perfect patience, that neither can leave the soul

without the other. For this reason (if the soul elect to loveMe) she should elect to endure pains for Me in whatevermode or circumstance I may send them to her. Patiencecannot be proved in any other way than by suffering, andpatience is united with love as has been said. Therefore bearyourselves with manly courage, for, unless you do so, you willnot prove yourselves to be spouses of My Truth, and faithfulchildren, nor of the company of those who relish the taste ofMy honor, and the salvation of souls."

How every virtue and every defect is obtained by means of


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our neighbor.

"I wish also t hat you should know that every virtue is obtainedby means of your neighbor, and likewise, every defect; he,therefore, who stands in hatred of Me, does an injury to hisneighbor, and to himself, who is his own chief neighbor, andthis injury is both general and part icular. It is general becauseyou are obliged to love your neighbor as yourself, and lovinghim, you ought to help him spiritually, with prayer, counselinghim with words, and assist ing him both spiritually andtemporally, according to the need in which he may be, at leastwith your goodwill if you have nothing else. A man therefore,who does not love, does not help him, and thereby doeshimself an injury; for he cuts off f rom himself grace, andinjures his neighbor, by depriving him of the benefit of theprayers and of the sweet desires that he is bound to offer forhim to Me. Thus, every act o f help that he performs shouldproceed from the charity which he has through love of Me.And every evil also, is done by means of his neighbor, for, ifhe do not love Me, he cannot be in charity with his neighbor;and thus, all evils derive f rom the soul's deprivation of love ofMe and her neighbor; whence, inasmuch as such a man doesno good, it follows that he must do evil. To whom does heevil? First of all to himself , and then to his neighbor, notagainst Me, for no evil can touch Me, except in so far as Icount done to Me that which he does to himself. To himselfhe does t he injury of sin, which deprives him of grace, andworse than this he cannot do to his neighbor. Him he injuresin not paying him the debt, which he owes him, of love, withwhich he ought to help him by means of prayer and holydesire offered to Me for him. This is an assistance which is

owed in general to every rational creature; but its usefulnessis more particular when it is done to those who are close athand, under your eyes, as to whom, I say, you are all obligedto help one another by word and doctrine, and the exampleof good works, and in every other respect in which yourneighbor may be seen to be in need; counseling him exact lyas you would yourselves, without any passion of self-love;and he (a man not loving God) does not do t his, because hehas no love towards his neighbor; and, by not doing it, hedoes him, as you see, a special injury. And he does him evil,not only by not doing him the good that he might do him, but

by doing him a posit ive injury and a constant evil. In this waysin causes a physical and a mental injury. The mental injury isalready done when the sinner has conceived pleasure in theidea of sin, and hatred of virtue, that is, pleasure from sensualself-love, which has deprived him of the affection of lovewhich he ought to have towards Me, and his neighbor, as hasbeen said. And, after he has conceived, he brings forth onesin after anot her against his neighbor, according to thediverse ways which may please his perverse sensual will.Sometimes it is seen that he brings forth cruelty, and thatboth in general and in particular.


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"His general cruelty is to see himself and other creatures indanger of death and damnation through privat ion of grace,and so cruel is he that he reminds neither himself nor othersof the love of virtue and hatred of vice. Being thus cruel hemay wish to extend his cruelty still further, that is, not contentwith not giving an example of virtue, the villain also usurps theof fice of the demons, tempting, according to his power, hisfellow-creatures to abandon virtue for vice; this is cruelty

towards his neighbors, for he makes himself an instrument todestroy life and to give death. Cruelty towards the body hasits origin in cupidity, which not only prevents a man fromhelping his neighbor, but causes him to seize the goods ofot hers, robbing the poor creatures; sometimes this is done bythe arbitrary use of power, and at o ther t imes by cheatingand fraud, his neighbor being forced to redeem, to his ownloss, his own goods, and of ten indeed his own person. "Oh,miserable vice of cruelty, which will deprive the man whopractices it of all mercy, unless he turn to kindness andbenevolence towards his neighbor!

"Sometimes the sinner brings forth insults on which of tenfollows murder; sometimes also impurity against the personof his neighbor, by which he becomes a brute beast full ofstench, and in this case he does not poison one only, butwhoever approaches him, with love or in conversation, ispoisoned.

"Against whom does pride bring forth evils? Against theneighbor, through love of one's own reputat ion, whencecomes hatred of the neighbor, reputing one's self to be

greater than he; and in this way is injury done to him. And if aman be in a posit ion of authority, he produces also injusticeand cruelty and becomes a retailer of the f lesh of men. Oh,dearest daughter, grieve for the of fense against Me, andweep over these corpses, so that, by prayer, the bands oftheir death may be loosened! "See now, that, in all places andin all kinds of people, sin is always produced against theneighbor, and through his medium; in no other way could sinever be committ ed either secret or open. A secret sin is whenyou deprive your neighbor of that which you ought t o givehim; an open sin is where you perform positive acts of sin, as I

have related to you. It is, therefore, indeed the truth thatevery sin done against Me, is done through the medium ofthe neighbor."

How virtues are accomplished by means of our neighbor, andhow it is that virtues dif fer to such an extent in creatures.

"I have told you how all sins are accomplished by means ofyour neighbor, through the principles which I exposed to you,that is, because men are deprived of the affection of love,which gives light to every virtue. In the same way self-love,which destro s charit and aff ection towards the nei hbor, is


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the principle and foundation of every evil. All scandals, hatred,cruelty, and every sort of t rouble proceed from this perverseroot of self-love, which has poisoned the ent ire world, andweakened the mystical body of the Holy Church, and theuniversal body of the believers in the Christian religion; and,therefore, I said to you, that it was in the neighbor, that is tosay in the love of him, that all virtues were founded; and, trulyindeed did I say to you, that charity gives life t o all the virtues,

because no virtue can be obtained without charity, which isthe pure love of Me.

"Wherefore, when the soul knows herself , as we have saidabove, she finds humility and hat red of her own sensualpassion, for she learns the perverse law, which is bound up inher members, and which ever f ights against the spirit. And,therefore, arising with hatred of her own sensuality, crushingit under the heel of reason, with great earnestness, shediscovers in herself the bounty of My goodness, through themany benefits which she has received from Me, all of whichshe considers again in herself. She attributes to Me, throughhumility, the knowledge which she has obtained of herself,knowing that, by My grace, I have drawn her out of darknessand lift ed her up into t he light of true knowledge. When shehas recognized My goodness, she loves it without anymedium, and yet at the same t ime with a medium, that is tosay, without t he medium of herself or of any advantageaccruing to herself, and with the medium of virtue, which shehas conceived through love of Me, because she sees that , inno other way, can she become grateful and acceptable toMe, but by conceiving, hatred of sin and love of virtue; and,when she has thus conceived by the aff ection of love, she

immediately is delivered of fruit f or her neighbor, because, inno other way, can she act out the truth she has conceived inherself, but, loving Me in truth, in the same t ruth she servesher neighbor.

"And it cannot be otherwise, because love of Me and of herneighbor are one and the same thing, and, so far as the soulloves Me, she loves her neighbor, because love towards himissues from Me. This is the means which I have given you,that you may exercise and prove your virtue t herewith;because, inasmuch as you can do Me no prof it, you should

do it to your neighbor. This proves that you possess Me bygrace in your soul, producing much fruit for your neighbor andmaking prayers to Me, seeking with sweet and amorousdesire My honor and the salvation of souls. The soul,enamored of My truth, never ceases to serve the whole worldin general, and more or less in a part icular case according tothe disposit ion of the recipient and the ardent desire of thedonor, as I have shown above, when I declared to you thatthe endurance of suff ering alone, without desire, was notsuff icient to punish a fault .


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"When she has discovered the advantage of this unitive lovein Me, by means of which, she truly loves herself, extendingher desire for the salvation of the whole world, thus comingto the aid of its neediness, she strives, inasmuch as she hasdone good t o herself by the conception of virtue, from whichshe has drawn the life of grace, to f ix her eye on the needs ofher neighbor in particular. Wherefore, when she hasdiscovered, through the affection of love, the state of all

rational creatures in general, she helps those who are athand, according to the various graces which I have entrustedto her to administer; one she helps with doctrine, that is, withwords, giving sincere counsel without any respect of persons,another with the example of a good life, and this indeed allgive to t heir neighbor, the edification of a holy and honorablelife. These are the virtues, and many others, too many toenumerate, which are brought forth in the love of theneighbor; but, although I have given them in such a differentway, that is to say not all to one, but to one, one virtue, andto another, another, it so happens that it is impossible tohave one, without having them all, because all the virtues arebound together. Wherefore, learn, that, in many cases I giveone virtue, to be as it were the chief of the others, that is tosay, to one I will give principally love, to another justice, toanother humility, to one a lively faith, to another prudence ortemperance, or patience, to another fortitude. These, andmany other virtues, I place, indif ferently, in the souls of manycreatures; it happens, therefo re, that the part icular one soplaced in the soul becomes the principal object of its virtue;the soul disposing herself, for her chief conversation, to thisrather than to other virtues, and, by the effect of this virtue,the soul draws to herself all the other virtues, which, as hasbeen said, are all bound together in the affection of love; andso with many gif ts and graces of virtue, and not only in thecase of spiritual things but also of temporal. I use the wordtemporal for the things necessary to the physical life of man;all these I have given indif ferently, and I have not placed themall in one soul, in order that man should, perforce, havematerial for love of his fellow. I could easily have created menpossessed of all that they should need both for body andsoul, but I wish that one should have need of the other, andthat they should be My ministers to administer the graces andthe gif ts that they have received from Me. Whether man willor no, he cannot help making an act o f love. It is true,however, that t hat act , unless made through love of Me,prof its him nothing so far as grace is concerned. See then,that I have made men My ministers, and placed them indiverse stations and various ranks, in order that they maymake 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 in the love ofMe is fulfilled and completed the love of the neighbor, and thelaw observed. For he, only, can be of use in his state of life,


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who is bound to Me with this love."

How virtues are proved and fortified by their contraries.

"Up to the present, I have taught you how a man may servehis neighbor, and manifest, by that service, the love which hehas towards Me.

"Now I wish to tell you further, that a man proves his patience

on his neighbor, when he receives injuries from him. "Similarly,he proves his humility on a proud man, his faith on an inf idel,his true hope on one who despairs, his just ice on the unjust,his kindness on the cruel, his gent leness and benignity on theirascible. Good men produce and prove all their virtues ontheir neighbor, just as perverse men all their vices; thus, if youconsider well, humility is proved on pride in this way. Thehumble man ext inguishes pride, because a proud man can dono harm to a humble one; neither can the inf idelity of awicked man, who neither loves Me, nor hopes in Me, whenbrought forth against one who is faithful to Me, do him any

harm; his infidelity does not diminish the faith or the hope ofhim who has conceived his faith and hope t hrough love ofMe, it rather fortif ies it, and proves it in the love he feels forhis neighbor. For, he sees that the infidel is unfaithful,because he is without hope in Me, and in My servant, becausehe does not love Me, placing his faith and hope rather in hisown sensuality, which is all that he loves. My faithful servantdoes not leave him because he does not faithfully love Me, orbecause he does not constantly seek, with hope in Me, forhis salvation, inasmuch as he sees clearly the causes of hisinfidelity and lack of hope. The virtue of faith is proved in

these and other ways. Wherefore, to those, who need theproof of it, My servant proves his faith in himself and in hisneighbor, and so, justice is not diminished by the wickedman's injust ice, but is rather proved, that is to say, the just iceof a just man. Similarly, the virtues of pat ience, benignity, andkindness manifest themselves in a t ime of wrath by the samesweet patience in My servants, and envy, vexation, andhatred demonstrate t heir love, and hunger and desire for t hesalvation of souls. I say, also, to you, that , not only is virtueproved in those who render good for evil, but, that manytimes a good man gives back fiery coals of love, which dispel

the hatred and rancor of heart o f the angry, and so fromhatred of ten comes benevolence, and that this is by virtue ofthe love and perfect patience which is in him, who sustainsthe anger of the wicked, bearing and supporting his defects. Ifyou will observe the virtues of fort itude and perseverance,these virtues are proved by the long endurance of the injuriesand detractions of wicked men, who, whether by injuries or byf lattery, constant ly endeavor to turn a man aside f romfollowing the road and the doct rine of truth. Wherefore, in allthese things, the virtue of fortitude conceived within the soul,perseveres with strength, and, in addition proves itself


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externally upon t he neighbor, as I have said to you; and, iffortitude were not able to make that good proof of itself ,being tested by many contrarieties, it would not be a seriousvirtue founded in truth."

St. Catherine Dialogues

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