 Book 1, Chapter 24, of the mystical city of God, Volume 3, by the venerable sister Mary of Jesus of Agreta. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Book 1, Chapter 24, Our Savior Jesus goes to the banks of the Jordan, where he is baptized by Saint John. Saint John himself then asked to be baptized by the Savior. Leaving his beloved mother in the poor dwelling at Nazareth, our Redeemer, without accompaniment of any human creature, but altogether taken up with the exercise of his most ardent charity, pursued his journey to the Jordan, where, in the neighborhood of a town called Bethany, otherwise called Bethareba, on the farther side of the bank, his precursor was preaching and baptizing. At the first steps from the house, our Redeemer, raising his eyes to the Eternal Father, offered up to him anew with an infinite love, whatever he was now about to begin for the salvation of mankind. His labors, sorrows, passion and death of the cross, assume for them in obedience to the Eternal Will, the natural grief at parting as a true and loving son from his mother and at leaving her sweet company, which for twenty-nine years he had now enjoyed. The Lord of all creation walked alone, without show and ostentation of human retinue, the supreme King of kings and Lord of lords. Apocalypse, Chapter 19, Verse 16. Was unknown and despised by his own vassals, vassals so much his own, that they owed their life and preservation entirely to him. His royal outfit was nothing but the utmost poverty and destitution. As the Evangelists have passed over in silence the doings of our Savior during his early years, and so many other circumstances of his life, which were most real and most worthy of our attention, and since our gross forgetfulness is so much accustomed to pass over unnoticed what has not been written, we therefore examine and consider so little the immensity of his blessings and of his measureless love, by which he has enriched us so much and has sought us to bind us to him with so many bonds of charity. Hosea, Chapter 11, Verse 4. O eternal love of the only begotten of the Father, O delight and life of my soul, how little known and much less acknowledged is thy most burning love. Why, O Lord, and sweet love of my soul, does thou exhibit so many artifices of love, so many watchings and sufferings for those whom thou needest not, and who will neither correspond nor attend to thy favors, not any more than if they had been offered but to seat in buffoonery? O hearts of men, more rude and fierce than that of wild beasts, what has hardened you so? What detains you? What oppresses you and makes you so sluggish that you will not follow thankfully in the ways of your benefactor? O lamentable illusion and aberration of the human understanding, what mortal lethargy has come over it? Who has blotted out from his memory such infallible truths and such memorable benefits and even thy own true happiness? Do we have flesh and have our senses? Who has made us more hard and insensible than are the rocks and stony mountain heights? Why do we not wake up and recover some of our sensibility at the side of the benefits of our redemption? At the words of a prophet the dead bones came to life and moved about. Ezekiel, Chapter 37, Verse 10. But we resist the words and exertions of him who gives life and being to all, so defective is our earthly love, so great our forgetfulness. Accept me then, O my Lord, and light of my soul, accept this vile warmlet of the earth which creeps along in order to meet thy beautiful footsteps, now begun in search of me. By them thou raises me to the certain hope of finding in thee, the truth, the way, and the delights of eternal life. I possess nothing wherewith to repay thee, my beloved, except thy own goodness and love, and the being which through them thou hast given me. Less than thy own self cannot be paid for the infinite bounty thou hast shown to me. Thirsting after thy love, I go to meet thee on the way. Do not, O my Lord and Master, take away and deprive her of the vision of thy clemency, whom in her poverty thou hast sought so diligently and lovingly. Life of my soul and soul of my life, as I have not been so fortunate as to merit to see thee bodily in this life and in that blessed age of thy earthly life. Let me at least be a daughter of thy holy church, let me be a part of this mystical body and the congregation of thy faithful. In this life so full of dangers, in this frail flesh, in these times of calamity and tribulations, do I live? But I cry out from its profound depths, I sigh from the bottom of my heart for thy infinite merits. That I shall share them, I have the assurance of faith, the spur of hope, and the claims of holy charity. Look down then upon thy humble slave, in order to make me thankful for such great blessings, meek of heart, constant in love, and entirely comfortable and pleasing to thy holy will. While proceeding on his way to the Jordan, our Savior dispensed his ancient mercies by relieving the necessities of body and soul in many of those whom he encountered at different places. Yet this was always done in secret, for before his baptism he gave no public token of his divine power and his exalted office. Before appearing at the Jordan, he filled the heart of St. John with new light and joy, which changed and elevated his soul. Perceiving these new workings of grace within himself, he reflected upon them full of wonder, saying, What mystery is this? What pre-sentiments of happiness? From the moment when I recognize the presence of my Lord in the womb of my mother, I have not felt such stirring of my soul as now. Is it possible that he is now happily come, or that the Savior of the world is now near me? Upon this enlightenment of the Baptist followed an intellectual vision wherein he perceived with greater clearness the mystery of the hypostatic union of the person of the Word with the humanity and other mysteries of the redemption. In the fullness of this intellectual light he gave the testimonies which are recorded by St. John in his Gospel and which occurred while the Lord was in the desert and afterwards when he returned to the banks of the Jordan. The evangelist mentions one of these public testimonies as happening at the interpolation of the Jews and the other when the precursor exclaimed, Behold the Lamb of God, as I shall narrate later on. John chapter 1 verse 36 Although the Baptist had been instructed in great mysteries, when he was commanded to go forth to preach and baptize, yet all of them were manifested to him anew and with greater clearness and abundance on this occasion, and he was then notified that the Savior of the world was coming to be baptized. The Lord then joined the multitude and asked baptism of St. John as one of the rest. The Baptist knew him and falling at his feet, hesitated, saying, I have need of being baptized and thou, Lord, askest baptism of me? As is recorded by St. Matthew, but the Savior answered, Suffer it to be so now, for so it becomeeth us to fulfill all justice. Matthew chapter 3 verse 14 By thus hesitating to baptize Christ his Lord and asking him for baptism instead, he gave evidence that he recognized him as the true redeemer and there is no contradiction between this and what St. John records of the Baptist as saying to the Jews, And I knew him not, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, He upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining, he it is that baptizeeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw him and I gave testimony that this is the Son of God. John chapter 1 verses 33 and 34 There is also no contradiction between these words of St. John and those of St. Matthew for the testimony of heaven and the voice of the eternal Father over Christ on the banks of the Jordan happened when the precursor had the vision mentioned in the preceding paragraph. Hence he had not seen Christ bodily until then and could therefore deny having known Christ, at least in the same way as he then knew him. For just because he knew Christ then, both by sight and by intellectual vision, he prostrated himself at the feet of the Savior. When St. John had finished baptizing our Lord, the heavens opened and the Holy Ghost descended visibly in the form of a dove upon his head and the voice of his Father was heard. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Matthew chapter 3 verse 17 Many of the bystanders heard this voice, namely those who were not unworthy of such a wonderful favor. They also saw the Holy Ghost descending upon the Savior. This was the most convincing proof which could ever be given of the divinity of the Savior, as well on the part of the Father who acknowledged him as his Son, as also in regard to the nature of the testimony given, for without any reserve was Christ manifested as the true God, equal to his eternal Father in substance and in perfection. The Father himself wished to be the first to testify to the divinity of Christ in order that by virtue of his testimony all the other witnesses might be ratified. There was also another mystery in this voice of the eternal Father. It was, as it were, a restoration of the honor of his Son before the world and a recompense for his having thus humiliated himself by receiving the baptism of the remission of sins, though he was entirely free from fault and never could have upon him the guilt of sin. Hebrews chapter 7 verse 26 This act of humiliation in receiving baptism in the company of those who were sinners, Christ our Redeemer offered up to the eternal Father as an act of acknowledgment of the inferiority of his human nature, which, in common with all the rest of the children of men, he had derived from Adam. By it he also instituted the sacrament of baptism which was to wash away the sins of the world through his merits. By thus humiliating himself in this baptism of sins, he sought and obtained from the eternal Father a general pardon for all those who were to receive it. He freed them from the power of the demon and of sin and regenerated them to a new existence, spiritual and supernatural as adopted sons of the Most High, brethren of their Redeemer and Lord. The past, present and future sins of men, always remaining in the sight of the eternal Father, had prevented the effects of this baptism. But Christ our Lord merited the application of this so easy and delightful remedy so that the eternal Father was obliged to accept it in justice as a complete satisfaction according to all the requirements of his equity. Christ was also not deterred from thus securing this remedy by his foreknowledge of the abuse of holy baptism by so many mortals in all ages and of its neglect by innumerable others. All these impediments and hindrances Christ our Lord removed by satisfying for their offenses, humiliating himself and assuming the form of a sinner in his baptism. Romans chapter 8 verse 3 This is the meaning of the words, suffer it to be so now for so it become with us to fulfill all justice. Then in order to honor the incarnate word and in recompense for his humiliation and in order to approve of baptism and establishes wonderful efficacy, the eternal Father gave forth his voice and the Holy Ghost descended. Thus was Christ proclaimed as the true Son of God and all three persons of the Holy Trinity ratified the sacramental right of baptism. The great Baptist was the one who reaped the greatest fruit from these wonders of holy baptism for he not only baptized his Redeemer and Master, saw the Holy Ghost and the celestial light descending upon the Lord together with innumerable angels, heard the voice of the Father and saw many other mysteries by divine revelation, but besides all this he himself was baptized by the Redeemer. The Gospel indeed says no more than that he asked for it, but at the same time it also does not say that it was denied him, for without a doubt Christ after his own baptism conferred it also on his precursor and Baptist. It was he that instituted this sacrament afterwards as he made it a general law and enjoying the public administration of it upon the Apostles after the resurrection. As I shall relate later on, it was also the Lord who baptized his most holy mother before its general promulgation and he on that occasion established the form in which baptism was to be administered. These facts were made known to me and also that Saint John was the first fruit of the baptism of Christ our Lord and of the Church which he founded in this sacrament. Through it the Baptist received the character of a Christian together with a great plentitude of grace since he had not upon him original sin, for he had been justified by the Redeemer before he was born, as was said in its place, by the answer of the Savior. Suffer it to be so now that all justice be fulfilled. He did not refuse it, but he deferred Saint John's baptism until he himself should have been baptized and have fulfilled the requirements of God's justice. Immediately after his own baptism, he baptized Saint John, gave him his blessing and betook himself to the desert. Let us return now to the main subject of this history, namely to the occupations of our great Queen and Lady. As soon as her most holy son was baptized, although she knew by the divine light of his movements, the holy angels who attended upon their Lord brought her intelligence of all that had happened at the Jordan. They were those that carried the ensigns and shields of the passion of the Savior as described in the first part. To celebrate all these mysteries of Christ's baptism and the public proclamation of his divinity, as Prudin mother composed new hymns and canticles of praise and of incomparable thanksgiving to the Most High and to the Incarnate Word, all his actions of humility and prayers she imitated, exerting herself by many acts of her own to accompany and follow him in all of them. With ardent charity she interceded for men that they might profit by the sacrament of baptism and that it might be administered all over the world. In addition to these prayers and hymns of thanksgiving, she asked the heavenly courtiers to help her in magnifying her most holy son for having thus humiliated himself in receiving baptism at the hands of one of his creatures. Instruction which the Queen of Heaven, Most Holy Mary gave me. My daughter, since in recounting to thee the works of my Most Holy Son, I so often remind thee how thankfully I appreciated them. Thou canst understand how pleasing to the Most High is the faithful correspondence on thy part and the great mysteries of his blessings connected with it. Thou art poor in the house of the Lord, a sinner, insignificant and useless as dust. Yet I ask thee to assume the duty of rendering ceaseless thanks for all the Incarnate Word has done for the sons of Adam and for establishing the holy and immaculate, the powerful and perfect law for their salvation. Especially shouldest thou be thankful for the institution of baptism by which he frees men from the tyranny of the devil, fills them with grace, clothes them with justice, and assists them to sin no more. This is indeed a duty incumbent upon all men in common, but since creatures neglected almost entirely, I enjoined thee to give thanks for all of them as if thou alone weren't responsible for them. Thou art bound to the Lord for other things, to special thankfulness, because he has shown himself so generous to none among other nations as he has with thee. In the foundation of his holy law and of his sacraments, thou werest present in his memory, he called and chose thee as a daughter of his church, proposing to nourish thee by his own blood with infinite love. And if the author of grace, my most holy son, as a prudent and wise artificer, in order to found his evangelical church and lay its first foundations in the sacrament of baptism, humiliated himself, prayed and fulfilled all justice, acknowledging the inferiority of his human nature, and if, though at the same time God and man, he hesitated not to lower himself to the nothingness of which his purest soul was created and his human being formed. How much must thou humiliate thyself, who has committed sins and art less than the dust and despicable ashes? Confess that injustice, thou meritous only punishment, the persecution and wrath of all the creatures, that none of the mortals who has offended his creator and redeemer, can say in truth that any injustice or offense is done to them if all the tribulations and afflictions of the world, from its beginning to its end, were to fall upon them, since all sinned in Adam. First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verse 22 How deeply should they humiliate themselves when the hand of the Lord visits them? Job, Chapter 19, Verse 21 If thou shouldest suffer all the afflictions of men with the utmost resignation, and at the same time would as fulfill all that I enjoin upon thee by my teachings and exhortations with the greatest fidelity, thou nevertheless must esteem thyself as a useless and unprofitable servant. Luke, Chapter 17, Verse 10 How much then must thou humiliate thyself when thou failest so much in thy duty and in the return due to all the blessings received from God? As I desire thee to make a proper return, both for thyself and for others, think well how much thou art obliged to annihilate thyself to the very dust, not offering any resistance, nor ever being satisfied, until the Most High received thee as his daughter, and accept thee as such in his own presence and in the celestial vision of the triumphant Jerusalem. End of Chapter 24 Book 1, Chapter 25, Of the Mystical City of God, Volume 3, By the Venerable Sister Mary of Jesus of a Greater This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Book 1, Chapter 25, Our Redeemer after his baptism walks to the desert, where by the practice of his heroic virtues he gains great victories over our vices. His Most Holy Mother knows all of his doings, and imitates him most perfectly. By the testimony which the eternal truth had vouchsafed to give of the divinity of Christ our Savior, his person and his teachings were so fully accredited before men that he could have immediately begun his public life and his divine activity and miracles, so that all should have recognized him as the natural Son of the Eternal Father, as the Messiahs of the Jews and the Savior of men. Nevertheless, the Divine Teacher of all Holiness did not wish to commence his preaching nor to be known as our Redeemer, without having first triumphed over our enemies, over the world, the demon and the flesh. In order that afterwards, he might so much the more easily overcome the hellish deceits continually spread about by Satan. By his heroic exercises of virtue, he wished to give us the first lesson of a Christian and spiritual life and to teach us by these triumphs of Christian perfection how we are to strengthen our weakness and discourage our common enemies by continued battle and victories, lest we be otherwise delivered over to them by the fluctuations of our own wills. Although the Lord as being God was infinitely above the demon and as man without deceit of sin, supremely holy and the master over all creation. First Letter of Peter, Chapter 2, Verse 22 He nevertheless wished to overcome his human nature by his personal justice and holiness, all the vices and their author, and therefore he offered his most holy humanity to the buffettings of temptation, concealing his superiority from his invisible enemies. By his retirement, Christ our Lord began to conquer and teach us to conquer the world, for it is an established fact that the world is accustomed to forsake those whom it does not need for his earthly purposes, that it does not seek those who themselves do not seek it. Therefore he who really despises the world must show his contempt by ceasing to have any connection with it in his affections and aspirations. The Lord vanquished also the flesh, teaching us to overcome it by imposing upon his most innocent body such a severe and prolonged fast, though his body showed no rebellion toward the good nor any inclinations to evil. The devil he vanquished by the preaching of the truth, as I shall explain more fully afterward, for all the temptations of the father of lies are want to come cloaked and veiled in deceitful snares. That the Lord should not enter upon his public teaching and make himself known to the world before he had gained his triumphs over the body is another warning and admonition against the weakness of our flesh. He wished to caution us against the honors of this world, even those that accrue to us from supernatural favors, as long as our passions are not conquered and as long as we have not vanquished our common enemies. For if the applause of men find us unmortified and still living under the influence of the enemies within our own selves, the favors and blessings of the Lord offer us little security and the wind of Vainglory may overcome even the towering mountains of virtues. It imports much to all men to remember that we carry the treasures of heaven in most fragile vases. 2nd Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 4, Verse 7 And that, if God wishes to glorify his name by our weakness, he will know by what means he shall draw his doings to light. Avoidance of the enemy alone is incumbent upon us and most suitable. Without delay Christ our Lord pursued his journey from the Jordan to the desert after his baptism. Only his holy angels attended and accompanied him, serving and worshiping him, singing the divine praises on account of what he was now about to undertake for the salvation of mankind. He came to the place chosen by him for his fast, a desert spot among bare and beatling rocks where there was also a cavern much concealed. Here he halted, choosing it for his habitation during the days of his fast. 3rd Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 4, Verse 1 In deepest humility he prostrated himself upon the ground which was always the prelude of his prayer and that of his most blessed mother. He praised the Eternal Father and gave him thanks for the works of his divine right hand and for having, according to his pleasure, afforded him this retirement. In a suitable manner he thanked even this desert for accepting his presence and keeping him hidden from the world during the time he was to spend there. He continued his prayers, prostrate in the form of a cross, and this was his most frequent occupation in the desert, for in this manner he often prayed to the Eternal Father for the salvation of men. During these prayers, for reasons which I shall explain, when I come to the prayer in the garden, he sometimes sweated blood. Many of the wild beasts of the desert came to the neighborhood now inhabited by their Creator, for he sometimes walked about in these regions. With an admirable instinct they recognized him and gave forth their voices, moving about as if in testimony of his divinity. But the birds of heaven of which great multitudes gathered around the Savior were especially eager in their demonstrations, manifesting their joy at the blessed presence of their Divine King and Lord by their sweet and loud singing and in divers other ways. After the Savior had begun his fast, he persevered therein without eating anything for forty days, offering up his fast to the Eternal Father as a satisfaction for the disorder and sins to which men are drawn by the so vile and debasing yet so common and even so much esteemed vice of gluttony. Just as our Lord overcame this vice, so he also vanquished all the rest, and he made recompense to the Eternal Judge and Supreme Legislator for the injuries perpetrated through these vices by men. According to the Enlightenment, vouchsafe to me, our Savior, in order to assume the office of preacher and teacher, and to become our Mediator and Redeemer before the Father, thus vanquished all the vices of mortals, and he satisfied the offenses committed through them by the exercises of the virtues contrary to them, just as he did in regard to gluttony. Although he continued this exercise during all his life with the most ardent charity, yet during his fast, he directed in a special manner all his efforts toward this purpose. A loving Father, whose sons have committed great crimes for which they are to endure the most horrible punishment, sacrifices all his possessions in order to ward off their impending fate, so our most loving Father and Brother, Jesus Christ, wish to pay our debts. In satisfaction for our pride, he offered his profound humility, for our avarice, his voluntary poverty, and total probation of all that was his, for our base and lustful inclinations, his penance and austerity, for our hastiness and vengeful anger, his meekness and charity toward his enemies, for our negligence and laziness, his ceaseless labors, for our deceitfulness and our envy, his candid and upright sincerity and truthfulness, and the sweetness of his loving intercourse. In this manner he continued to appease the just judge and solicited pardon for us, disobedient and bastard children, and he not only obtained this pardon for them, but he merited for them new graces and favors so that they might make themselves worthy of his company and of the vision of his Father and his inheritance for all eternity. Though he could have obtained all this for us by the most insignificant of his works, yet he acted not like we, he demonstrated his love so abundantly that our ingratitude and hardness of heart will have no excuse. In order to keep informed of the doings of our Saviour, the most blessed Mary needed no other assistance than her continual visions and revelations, but in addition to all these, she made use of the service of her holy angels whom she sent to her Divine Son. The Lord himself thus ordered it, in order that, by means of these faithful messengers, both he and she might rejoice in the sentiments and thoughts of their inmost hearts, faithfully rehearsed by these celestial messengers, and thus they each heard the very same words as uttered by each, although both son and mother already knew them in another way. As soon as the great lady understood that our Redeemer was on the way to the desert to fulfill his intention, she locked the doors of her dwelling, without letting anyone know of her presence, and her retirement during the time of our Lord's fast was so complete that her neighbors thought that she had left with her Divine Son. She entered into her oratory and remained there for forty days and nights, without ever leaving it, and without eating anything, just as she knew was done by her most holy Son. Both of them observed the same course of rigorous fasting. In all his prayers and exercises, his prostrations and genuflections, she followed our Savior, not omitting any of them. Moreover, she performed them just at the same time. For leaving aside all other occupations, she thus profited by the information obtained from the angels and by that other knowledge which I have already described. Whether he was present or not, she knew the interior operations of the soul of Christ. All his bodily movements, which she had been want to perceive with her own senses, she now knew by intellectual vision or through her holy angels. While the Savior was in the desert, he made every day three hundred genuflections, which was also done by our Queen Mary in her oratory. The other portions of her time she spent in composing hymns with the angels, as I have said in the last chapter. Thus imitating Christ the Lord, the Holy Queen cooperated with him in all his prayers and petitions, gaining the same victories over the vices and on her part, proportionately satisfying for them by her virtues and her exertions. Thus it happened that while Christ as our Redeemer gained for us so many blessings and abundantly paid all our debts, most Holy Mary as his helper and our mother lent us her merciful intercession and became our Mediatrix to the fullest extent possible to a mere creature. Instruction which the Queen and Lady gave me. My daughter, corporal penances are so appropriate and fitted to mortal creatures that the ignorance of this truth and the neglect and contempt of bodily mortification cause the loss of many souls and bring many more into the danger of eternal loss. The first reason why men should afflict their body and mortify their flesh is their having been conceived in sin. Psalm 50 verse 7 By this original sin human nature is depraved, filled with passions, rebellious to reason, inclined to evil and adverse to the spirit. Romans chapter 7 verse 23 If the soul allows itself to be carried away by them, it will be precipitated by the first vice into many others. But if this beastly flesh is curbed by mortification and penance, it loses its strength and acknowledges the authority of the spirit and the light of truth. The second reason is that none of the mortals have altogether avoided sinning against God, and the punishment and retribution must inevitably correspond to the guilt, either in this life or the next. Therefore, as the soul commits sin in union with the body, it follows that both of them must be punished. The interior sorrow is not sufficient for atonement, for the flesh seeks to evade the punishment corresponding to the guilt. Moreover, the debt is so great, and the satisfaction that can be given by the creature, so limited and scanty, that there remains continual uncertainty, whether the judge is satisfied, even after the exertions of a whole lifetime. Hence, the soul should find no rest to the end of the life. Even though divine clemency is so liberal with men, that if they try to satisfy for their sins by penance, as far as their limited capacity goes, God remits their offenses, and in addition thereto has promised the guilty ones new gifts and graces and eternal rewards. Yet his faithful and prudent servants, who really love their Lord, are constrained voluntarily to add other penances. For the debtor who merely wishes to do what he is obliged to do, and adds nothing of his own free will, certainly pays his debts, but will remain poor and destitute. If after payment of his debts, nothing remains. What then are those to expect, who neither pay nor make any efforts towards paying? The third reason for bodily mortification, and the most urgent one, is the duty of Christians to imitate their divine teacher and master. Moreover, my divine son and I, without being guilty of any faults or bad inclinations, devoted ourselves to labors, and made our lives a continual practice of penance and mortification of the flesh. It was thus that the Lord saw fit to attain the glory of his body and of his holy name, and he wished me to follow him in all things. If we then pursue such a course of life, because it was reasonable, what must be thought of mortals that seek not but sweetness and delight, and abhor all penances, affronts, ignominies, fasting, and mortification? Shall then only Christ our Lord and I suffer all these hardships, while the guilt-laden debtors and deservers of all these punishments throw themselves head over heels into the filth of their carnal inclinations? Shall they employ their faculties, given to them for the service of Christ my Lord, and for his following, merely in dancing attendance on their lusts and the devil, who has introduced evil into the world? This absurd position, maintained by the children of Adam, is the cause of great indignation in the just judge. It is true, my daughter, that by the bodily afflictions and mortifications of my most blessed son, the defects and deficiencies of human merits have been atoned for, and that he wished me as a mere creature and as one taking the place of other creatures to cooperate with him most perfectly and exactly in all his penances and exercises. But this was not in order to exempt men from the practice of penance, but in order to encourage them to it, for in order merely to save them, it was not necessary to suffer so much. Our blessed Savior, as a true Father and Brother, wished also to enhance the labors and penances of those who were to follow in his footsteps. For the efforts of creatures are of little value in the eyes of God, unless they are made precious by the merits of Christ. If this is true of works which are entirely virtuous and perfect, how much more is it true of those which are infected with so many faults and deficiencies, even in the greatest acts of virtue, as ordinarily performed by the children of Adam? For in the works of even the most spiritual and virtuous persons, many deficiencies occur. These deficiencies are made good by the merits of Christ our Lord, so that the works of men may become acceptable to the Eternal Father. But those who neglect good works and remain altogether idle can by no means expect to apply to themselves the good works of Christ, for they have in themselves nothing that can be perfected by the works of Christ, but only such things as deserve condemnation. I do not speak now, my daughter, of the damnable error of some of the faithful who have introduced into the works of penance the sensuality and vanity of the world, so that they merit greater punishment for their penance than for their sins, since they foster in their penances vain and imperfect purposes and forget the supernatural ends of penance, which alone give value to penance and life to the soul. On some other occasion, if necessary, I will speak of this error. Do thou now deplore this blindness and labor with great zeal, for if thy labors were even as great as that of the apostles, martyrs, confessors, they would be no greater than they should be. Chastise thy body with ever greater severity, and remember that thou art deficient in many things, while thou hast but a short life and art so weak and incapable of repaying thy debts. End of Chapter 25 Book 1, Chapter 26 Of the Mystical City of God, Volume 3 By the venerable sister Mary of Jesus of a Greta This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Book 1, Chapter 26 After his fast, the Lord allows himself to be tempted by Lucifer, Christ vanquishes him, and his most holy mother is kept informed of all that happens. In the twentieth chapter, I have related how Lucifer came forth from the infernal caverns in order to find and tempt the Divine Master. I mentioned also that the Lord had concealed himself in the desert, where after a fast of about forty days, he permitted the tempter to approach him, as told by the evangelists. Matthew, Chapter 4, Verse 2 Coming to the desert and finding the object of his search alone, Lucifer was highly rejoiced, for he found Jesus separated from his mother, whom he and his satellites esteemed their enemy on account of the defeats they had suffered at her hands. As he never had entered into any contest with the Lord, and as Mary was absent, the dragon in his pride accounted his victory secure. But when Lucifer and the other demons observed their opponent more closely, they began to feel great fear and discouragement. Not because they recognized his divinity, for of this they had no suspicions as long as they saw him so despised, nor because of any previous experience with him, for as yet they had measured their forces only with the heavenly Queen. But because they saw manifested in his exterior so much reserve and so much majesty, and because his actions were so perfect and heroic, that they inspired great fear and dread. His behavior and condition were totally different from those of other men, whom they had tempted and easily overcome. Lucifer conferred about these matters with his demons, saying, What manner of man is this, who is so adverse to the vices by which we assail other men, if he is so forgetful of the world, and has his flesh in such entire subjection and control? How shall we find any opening for our temptations? How shall we hope for victory, if he has deprived us of the weapons by which we make warfare among men? I have many misgivings about this contest. So great is the value and power of contempt of the world and subjection of the flesh that they fill with terror, the devil and all hell, and the demons would not rise up against us in such pride if they would not find men subject to these tyrants before he comes to tempt them. Christ the Savior permitted Lucifer to remain under the false impression that he was a mere human creature, though very holy and just. He wished to raise his courage and malice for the contest for such as the effects of any advantages espied by the devil in his attacks upon the victims of his temptations. Rousing his courage by his own arrogance, he began this battle in the wilderness with greater prowess and fierceness than the demons ever exhibited in their battles with men. Lucifer and his satellites strained all their power and malice, lashing themselves into fury against the superior strength which they soon found in Christ our Lord. Yet our Savior tempered all his actions with divine wisdom and goodness, and injustice and equity concealed the secret source of his infinite power, exhibiting just so much as would suffice to prove him to be a man so far advanced in holiness as to be able to gain these victories against the infernal foes. In order to begin the battle as man, he directed a prayer to the eternal Father, from his inmost soul, to which the intelligence of the demon could not penetrate, saying, My Father and eternal God, I now enter into battle with the enemy in order to crush his power and humble his pride and his malice against my beloved souls. For thy glory and for the benefit of souls I submit to the daring presumption of Lucifer. I wish thereby to crush his head in order that when mortals are attacked by his temptations without their fault they may find his arrogance already broken. I beseech thee, my Father, to remember my battle and victory in favor of mortals assailed by the common enemy, strengthen their weakness through my triumph, let them obtain victory, let them be encouraged by my example, and let them learn from me how to resist and overcome their enemies. During this battle, the holy angels that attended upon Christ were hidden from the sight of Lucifer in order that he might not begin to understand and suspect the divine power of our Savior. The holy spirits gave glory and praise to the Father and the Holy Ghost, who rejoiced in the works of the incarnate Word. The most blessed virgin, also from her oratory, witnessed the battle in the manner to be described below. The temptation of Christ began on the 35th day of his fast in the desert and lasted to the end of the fast as related by the evangelists. Lucifer assumed the shape of a man and presented himself before the Lord as a stranger who had never seen or heard him before. He cloaked himself in refulgent light, like that of an angel, and conjecturing that the Lord after his long fast must be suffering great hunger, he said to him. If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. By thus cunningly resting his advice on the supposition of his being the Son of God, the demon sought some information on what was giving him the greatest concern. But the Savior of the world answered only in these few words. Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceeded from the mouth of God. Christ took the words from the 8th chapter of Deuteronomy. But the devil did not penetrate into the meaning given to these words by Christ, for Lucifer understood him to mean that God could sustain the life of man without bread or any other nourishment. But though this was also the true signification of these words, yet our Divine Master included a much deeper meaning, desiring by these words to say to the devil. This man, with whom thou speakest, lives in the Word of God, which is the Divine Word, hypothetically united to his humanity. Though that was precisely what Lucifer desired so much to know, he did not deserve to understand the words of the God-man, because he did not wish to adore him as true God. Lucifer found himself repulsed by the force of this answer and by the hidden power which accompanied it, but he wished to show no weakness, nor desist from the contest. The Lord allowed the demon to continue in his temptation, and for this purpose, permitted himself to be carried off by the devil bodily to Jerusalem and to be placed on the pinnacle of the temple. Here the Lord could see multitudes of people, though he himself was not seen by anybody. Lucifer tried to arouse in the Lord the vain desire of casting himself down from this high place, so that the crowds of men, seeing him unhurt, might proclaim him as a great and wonderful man of God. Again using the words of the Holy Scriptures, he said to him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, for it is written. That he hath given his angels charge over thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest perhaps thou dash thy foot against his stone. Matthew chapter 4 verse 6 Deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 16 For this purpose, he took the Lord upon a high mount, from whence could be seen many lands, and said to him, All these will I give to thee, if falling down, thou wilt adore me. Matthew chapter 4 verse 9 The kingdoms, principalities, riches and treasures all belong to the Lord, and he alone can give or withhold them when it serves and pleases him. Never can Lucifer give anything, even not of the things of the earth, and therefore all his promises are false. The King and Lord answered with imperial majesty. Be gone, Satan, for it is written. The Lord thy God thou shalt adore, and him only shalt thou serve. By this command, be gone, Satan. Christ the Redeemer took away from Lucifer, permission further to tempt him, and hurled him and all his legions into the deepest abysses of hell. There they found themselves entirely crushed, and buried in its deepest caverns, unable to move for three days. When they were permitted again to rise, seeing themselves thus vanquished and annihilated, they began to doubt whether he, who had so overwhelmed them, might not be the incarnate son of God. In this doubt and uncertainty they remained. Without ever being able to come to certain conviction until the death of the Saviour, Lucifer was overcome by hellish wrath at his defeat and was almost consumed in his fury. Our Divine Conqueror, Christ, then sang hymns of praise and thanks to the Eternal Father for having given him this triumph over the common enemy of God and man. And amid the triumphal songs of a multitude of angels, he was born back to the desert. They carried him in their hands, although he had not need of their help since he could make use of his own divine power. But this service of the angels was due to him in recompense for enduring the audacity of Lucifer in carrying to the pinnacle of the temple and to the mountaintop the sacred humanity of Christ, in which dwelt substantially and truly the divinity itself. It would never have entered into the thoughts of man that the Lord should give such a permission to Satan if it had not been made known to us in the Gospels. But I do not know which deserves the greater astonishment that he should consent to be carried about from one place to another by Lucifer who did not know him, or that he should allow himself to be sold by Judas or to be received in the Holy Sacrament by this treacherous disciple and by so many sinful members of the church who know him to be their God and yet receive him unworthily. What we certainly must wonder at is that he permitted as well the one as the other and that he continues to permit it for our benefit and in order to draw as to him by his meekness and patient love. Oh, sweetest master of my soul, how sweet and kind and merciful art thou, not toward the souls. Joel chapter 2 verse 13 Out of thy purest love, thou disdescend from heaven to earth for them, thou dissuffer and give away thy life for their salvation. Mercifully thou waitest for them and bearest with them, thou callest and seekest after them. Thou receivest them and dost enter into their bosom, thou yieldest thyself entirely to them and anxiously desire them to be thine. What transfixes and bursts my heart is that, while thou seekest to draw us to thee out of pure love, we fly from thee and respond to all thy excesses of love only by ingratitude. O immense love of my God, so badly repaid and so little acknowledged, give me, O Lord, fountains of tears to weep over this wrong, which is so deeply to be deplored, and let all the just of the earth help me. When the Lord had been carried back to the desert, the angels, according to the gospel, ministered unto him. Matthew chapter 4 verse 11 For at the end of his temptation and fast they served him with celestial food, in order that his sacred body might again be invigorated. Not only were the angels present to rejoice at this divine banquet, but also the birds of the desert came in order to contribute to the recreation of their creator by their harmonious songs and graceful movements, and in their own way the wild animals of the desert joined them, throwing off their native wildness and producing their joyful antics and sounds in acknowledgement of the victory of their Lord. Let us return to Nazareth, where in her oratory the princess of the angels had witnessed the battles of her most holy son. She had seen them all by the divine light already described, and by the uninterrupted messages of her angels, who brought them back and forth between the Saviour and the Blessed Queen. She repeated the same prayers as the Lord, and at the same time she entered likewise into the conflict with the demon, although invisibly and spiritually, from her retreat she anathematized and crushed Lucifer and his followers, cooperating in all the doings of Christ in our favor. When she perceived that the demon carried the Lord from place to place, she wept bitterly, because the malice of sin reduced the king of kings to such misusage. In honor of all the victories which he gained over the devil, she composed hymns of praise to the divinity and the most holy humanity of Christ, while the angels set them to music and were sent with them to congratulate him for the blessings won for the human race. Christ on his part sent back the angels with words of sweet consolation and rejoicing on account of his triumphs over Lucifer. And since she had been his faithful companion and sharer in his labors and fasts of the desert, the Lord sent her some of the celestial food and commanded the angels to present and minister it to her. Wonderful to record, the great multitudes of the birds that had gathered around the Saviour flew after these angels with a heavier yet an exceedingly swift flight and entered the dwelling of the Queen of Heaven and Earth. And while the Blessed Lady partook of the food sent to her by her son, they sang and chirped before our Lady in the same way as they had done in the presence of the Saviour. The most holy virgin tasted the heavenly food, now even more precious to her since it came from and was blessed by the hands of her son, and by it she was again rejoiced and strengthened after her long and rigorous fast. She gave thanks to the Almighty and humiliated herself to the very Earth, and the acts of her virtue were so heroic and excellent that our words and conceptions are not able to encompass them. We shall see them in their true light, when we shall rejoice with the Lord, and we shall give thanks and praise for these ineffable blessings as is due Him from all the human race. Questions which I ask the Queen of Heaven, most holy Mary Queen of all the heavens and mistress of the universe, thy kind condescension emboldens me to ask thee, as my teacher and mother, for information concerning a certain doubt raised in my mind by the mention of the celestial food which the angels served to the Saviour in the desert. I understood it to be of the same quality as that served to thee and to the Lord on other occasions when the ordinary food was wanting. I have called it celestial food because I had no other name for it, yet I do not know if that name is appropriate, for I am uncertain once this food was procured and what was its nature. In heaven I understand there is no need of bodily food, for there the earthly mode of sustaining life is not continued. Although the blessed enjoy also sensible delight from created objects and also the taste must have its proper function in heaven just as the other senses, I suspect that its pleasures are not derived from the eating of food but from some overflow of the soul's glory into the body and its senses. Thus the grossness and imperfection of the senses in mortal life have no share in their heavenly activity and in its objects. Of all this, I, being so ignorant, desire to be informed by thy motherly kindness and condescension. Answer and instruction given me by the heavenly lady. My daughter, thou hast well doubted, for it is true that in heaven no material food or nourishment is used, as thou hast already understood and declared. The food which the angels brought to my holy Son and to me was truly a heavenly food and I myself have suggested this name to thee, because the strength of this food is heavenly and not earthly, where everything is gross, very material and limited. It will help thee to understand something of the quality of this food and the manner of its creation when I tell thee that the Lord, to supply our wants, made use of some created material, most ordinarily water, on account of its clearness and simple composition. For the Lord does not require complicated matter for his miracles. At other times it was bread or some kinds of fruit. These materials he furnished with such a power and such qualities of taste that they exceeded as heaven does the earth, all the delicacies here below. There is nothing in the world which can be compared to them, for all other food is insipid and strengthless in comparison to this celestial food. To understand this the better, consider the examples mentioned in Holy Scripture. For instance, the food given to Elias by the strength of which he walked for forty days and nights to Mount Horab, the manna which was called the bread of the angels because they prepared it by condensing the vapors of the earth. Exodus 16 verse 14 And thus condensed and shaped like wheat they showered it upon the earth. It possessed a great variety of taste, as Scripture tells us, and it was very nourishing to the body. Also the water converted into wine, by my most holy son, at the nuptials of Cana, was of such good taste and strength that it excited the admiration of the guests. John 2 verse 10 In the same way as the Lord gave a supernatural excellence to the water and turned it into a most sweet and delicate liquor, so he also gave a spiritual strength to the bread or the fruit. Such nourishment restored the waste of bodily strength and delighted the senses in an admirable manner, renewing their vigor and fitting them for labors and difficulties without causing the least loathing or inconvenience. This kind of food was ministered by the holy angels to my most holy son after his fast, and this I and my spouse Joseph received on different occasions. The Almighty showed the same favor also to some of his friends and servants, rejoicing them with heavenly food, although not so frequently and in so wonderful a manner as he did us. Thy doubt is then answered, but now listen to instruction pertaining to this chapter. In order to understand better what thou hast written, thou must keep in mind three motives of our Lord in entering upon this battle with Lucifer, and this understanding will finish thee great light and strength against Satan and his followers. His first motive was to destroy sin and the seeds of sin sown in the human nature by Satan in the first transgression of Adam. These seeds are the seven capital vices, pride, avarice, lust and the others being the seven heads of the dragon. Lucifer appointed an infernal chieftain over each one of these vices in the battle of hell against the human race, and the evil spirits were distributed into squadrons under these leaders in order to maintain the sort of orderly confusion which I have described in the first part of this heavenly history. Accordingly my divine son entered into conflict with each one of these princes of darkness, vanquishing them and destroying their power. In the Gospels only three temptations are mentioned, being those which are more manifest to the senses, but the conflict and the triumph was far more extensive for Christ our Lord overcame all these princes and their vices. Pride he overcame by his humility, anger by his meekness, avarice by his contempt for riches, and all the other vices by their corresponding virtues. The greatest defeat and consternation however overtook these enemies at the foot of the cross when they became certain that it was the incarnate word who had conquered and crushed them. Since that time they are timid in entering into conflict with those men who rely on the power and triumph of my son. The second motive for engaging in this conflict was obedience to the command of the Eternal Father who not only wished him to die for men and redeem them by his passion and death, but also to enter into battle with the demons and vanquish them by the force of his incomparable virtues. The third motive and the one that was consequent upon the second was to furnish mankind an example and a model for triumphing over their enemies and to take away from all men any cause of wonder or surprise at being tempted and persecuted by the devils. He wished that all should have this consolation in their temptations and conflicts that their redeemer and teacher first suffered them in his own person. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 15 4, though in some respects his temptations were different from ours yet in substance they were entirely the same only of greater satanic force and malice. My Lord permitted Lucifer to strain all his powers in his battle with him. In order that by his divine power he might crush and enfeeble hell in his battles against mankind making it more easy for us to overcome them if we wish to avail ourselves of the advantages gained by this very conflict with our redeemer. All mortals have need of this instruction if they are to vanquish the demon but thou my daughter, need is it more than many generations on account of the wrath of this dragon against thee and on account of thy natural weakness in battle when not assisted by my teaching and this example. Before all, see that thou keep in subjection thy flesh and the influences of the world. Mortifying thy flesh and flying the world by retiring from creatures to the interior of thy soul thus conquering both these enemies and preserving the blessed light of grace which thou there receivest and loving nothing except in as far as well ordered charity permits. For this purpose, renew in thyself the memory of the narrow path pointed out to thee for the Lord has given thee a natural faculty of ardent love and we wish that thou consecrate this faculty entirely to the love of God. Consent not to any movement of thy appetites no matter how small a matter and allow thy senses no liberty except for the exaltation of the most high or for suffering or doing something for the benefit and love of thy neighbor. If thou obey me in all things I will see that thou art protected and strengthened against this cruel dragon for the battles of the Lord. First Book of Kings, Chapter 25 verse 28 A thousand shields will surround thee both for defense and offense against the demon accustom thyself always to use against him the words of holy writ not dating to exchange many words with such an astute enemy weak creatures should not indulge in conferences or arguments with their mortal enemy and the master of lies since even my divine son who was all powerful and infinitely wise did not do so in this he gave the souls an example how circumspectly they are to act with the devil arm thyself with loving faith unwavering hope and love of humility for these are their virtues by which the dragon is crushed and vanquished and against which he dares not make a stand he flies from them because they are powerful weapons against his pride and arrogance Book 1, Chapter 27 of the mystical city of God Volume 3 by the venerable sister Mary of Jesus of a Greta this Librivox recording is in the public domain Book 1, Chapter 27 Christ our Redeemer leaves the desert and returns to the place where Saint John was baptizing his occupation until he calls the first disciples the blessed virgin knows of all his doings and imitates them Christ our Redeemer having triumphed over the devil and all his vices and having attained the high and mysterious ends of his retirement and fast in the desert now resolved to leave his solitude in order to pursue the further works enjoined upon him by the eternal father for the redemption of man in taking leave of the desert he prostrated himself upon the ground praising the eternal father and giving thanks to him for all that he had done through his sacred humanity for the glory of the divinity and for the benefit of the human race he added also a fervent prayer for all those who would in imitation of him retire either for their whole life or for some time into solitude and far from the world and its allurements follow him in contemplation and holy exercises for their spiritual advancement the father in heaven promised his favors and his words of eternal life as well as his special helps and his blessings of sweetness to all those who on their part disposed themselves properly to receive and correspond with them having said this prayer the savior as true man asked permission to leave the desert and attended by the holy angels he departed the master directed his most faithful steps toward the Jordan where his great precursor saint John was still preaching and baptizing by his presence and appearance there he wished to secure new testimony of his mission and divinity through saint John moreover he was drawn by his own love to see and speak with him for during his baptism the heart of the precursor had become inflamed and wounded by the divine love of the savior which so resistlessly attracted all creatures in the hearts which were well disposed as was that of saint John the fire of love burned with so much the greater ardor and violence when the baptist saw the savior coming to him the second time his first were those recorded by the evangelist behold the Lamb of God behold him who taketh away the sin of the world saint John gave this testimony while pointing out the Lord with his finger to those who were listening to his instructions and were receiving baptism at his hands he added this is he of whom I said after me there come with a man who is preferred before me because he was before me and I knew him not that he may be made manifest in Israel therefore I am come baptizing with water these words the baptist spoke because before Jesus had come to be baptized he had not seen him nor received any revelations concerning his coming as was the case on this occasion and as I have said in chapter the 24th he continued to speak of Christ telling the bystanders how he had seen the Holy Ghost descend upon the Lord in baptism and how he had given testimony of his being Christ the Son of God John chapter 1 verses 29 through 32 for while Jesus was in the desert the Jews had sent to him the embassy from Jerusalem which is spoken of in the first chapter of the Gospel of Saint John asking him who he was and the other questions they are recorded the baptists answered that he was baptizing in water but that in remits had been one whom they knew not for Christ had been among them at the Jordan this one Saint John said was to come later whose shoe latches he was not worthy to loosen hence when Saint John again saw the savior returning from the desert he called him the Lamb of God and referred to the testimony which shortly before he had given to the Pharisees at the same time adding that he had seen the Holy Ghost descending upon his head as had been promised him by revelation beforehand both Saint Matthew and Saint Luke also mentioned that the voice of the Father was heard at his baptism whereas Saint John the Apostle mentions only the appearance of the Holy Ghost in the form of a dove for he wished to record merely the words of Saint John to the Jews in regard to Christ the Queen of Heaven in her retirement knew of this faithful testimony of the precursor in denying that he himself was the Christ and in asserting the divinity of her son in return she begged the Lord to reward his faithful servant John the Almighty granted her prayer for the Holy Baptist was raised above all the women born in the esteem of the Most High because Saint John refused the honors offered to him the Lord conferred upon him the highest honor that is possible to give to a man next to the Redeemer when the Baptist saw the Savior the second time he was filled with new and vast graces of the Holy Ghost some of the bystanders when they heard him say behold the Lamb of God were strongly moved and asked him many questions but the Savior permitting him to inform his hearers of the truth as explained above turned away and left this place to go to Jerusalem Jesus was but a very short time near the precursor directly to the Holy City but for many days he tarried in smaller towns teaching the people and in a veiled manner telling them that the Messiah was already in the world he directed them on the way of salvation and induced many to seek the baptism of John in order to prepare themselves by penance for the coming redemption the Evangelist says nothing of the time and of the doings of Christ immediately after his fast but I have been informed he may be remained about ten months in Judea before he returned to Nazareth in order to see his blessed mother nor did he enter Galilee until he had again allowed himself to be seen by St. John who for the second time proclaimed him as the Lamb of God this time it was done in the hearing of Andrew and the first Apostles and immediately afterward he called Philip as related by John the Evangelist John chapter 1 verses 36 through 43 these ten months the Savior spent in enlightening the souls and preparing them by his helps his teaching and admirable blessings stirring them up from their stupor so that afterwards when he should begin to work miracles he might find them more ready to believe and follow him as their Redeemer many of those whom he had during this time catechized and instructed really became his followers they did not speak with the Pharisees and scribes during this time for they were not so well disposed to believe that the Messiahs had come they did not admit such belief even afterwards when this truth had been confirmed by his preaching and when his miracles and other testimonies has so clearly given witness to Christ our Lord Matthew chapter 11 verse 5 to the humble and the poor who on account of their station of life to be evangelized and instructed Luke chapter 4 verse 18 the Savior preached during these ten months in the kingdom of Judea to them he showed his merciful liberality not only by individual instruction but by his hidden favors and private miracles hence they received him as a great prophet and a holy man he stirred the hearts of innumerable persons to forsake sin and to seek the kingdom of God which was now approaching our blessed lady remained during all this time in Nazareth knowing of all the doings of her son she was kept informed of them not only by the divine light of which I have spoken but also by the messages brought to her by her thousand angels who during the absence of the redeemer always appeared to her in bodily forms in order to imitate him perfectly she left her solitude at the same time as the Savior though she could not grow in love yet after the overthrow of the demons through our Lord's fasting and other virtues she manifested it by greater fervor the heavenly mother having received new increase of grace ardently set about imitating all the works of her son for the benefit of the human race and acting as his messenger in the manifestation of his office as redeemer of mankind accompanied by her angels filled with the plentitude of wisdom and furnished with the power of mistress of the universe she went forth from her house in Nazareth to the neighboring places and performed great miracles though in a hidden manner just as the incarnate word was doing in Judea she spoke of the advent of the messiahs without revealing who he was she instructed many in the way of life drew them from their sins put to flight the demons enlightened the airing and the ignorant and prepared them for the redemption of them to believe in its author to these spiritual works of mercy she added many bodily blessings healing the sick consoling the afflicted visiting the poor though she labored mostly among the women yet she benefited also many of the men who if they were despised and poor were not deprived of her aid and of the happiness of being visited by the sovereign of the angels and of all the universe in imitation of all that the Lord was doing she also went about on foot spending nearly all this time on her excursions yet she returned a few times to her dwelling in Nazareth during these ten months she ate very little for as I have indicated in the preceding chapter she had been so satiated and strengthened by the celestial food sent to her by her son from the desert that she was enabled not only to travel a foot to many places and over great distances but also to abstain from other nourishment the blessed lady likewise knew of the doings of Saint John while preaching and baptizing on the banks of the Jordan several times she sent him a multitude of her angels in order to encourage him and thank him for the loyalty he had shown to her lord and son in the midst of all these occupations the loving mother suffered great agonies of desire to enjoy the sight and the presence of her most holy son while the heart of Jesus in return was wounded by the clamors of her chaste and heavenly love before returning to visit her and before beginning his public preaching and miracles happened what I shall relate in the following chapter instruction given to me by the queen of heaven most holy Mary I will give thee two important lessons deducted from this chapter first love solitude and seek it with particular affection in order that thou mayest partake of the blessings promised by my divine son for those who imitate him therein as far as possible when thou art not obliged to converse with thy neighbor in virtue of obedience always try to be alone and when thou art obliged to come out of thy retirement and solitude carry it with thee in the secret of thy heart in such a manner that thy senses and thy occupations shall not deprive thee of it attend to thy outward employments as if they were to be done passing and consider thy retirement as something which is to be permanent for this purpose thou must not allow the images of creatures to enter thy mind for very often they occupy the mind more completely than the objects themselves and they always embarrass the soul and take away from it the liberty of the heart it is unworthy of thee to let thy heart be interested in anything or be taken up by any creature my divine son wishes to be in it all alone and this is also what I desire my second lesson is that thou learn to set a proper value on thy soul in order to preserve it in its purity and innocence over and above this however although it is my will that thou labor for the justification of all men I wish that thou in imitation of my son and of me busy thyself especially with the poor and despised of this world these little ones often beg for the bread of counsel and instruction and they find none to give it to them as do the rich and powerful of the earth who have many to advise them of these poor and despised ones many come to thee admit them with true compassion console them kindly so that in their simplicity they may follow enlightened counsel for counsel is to be administered to the better instructed in a different way seek to gain those souls who of their temporal necessities are so much the more precious in the eyes of God I wish that thou labor incessantly that they and all others may not waste the fruit of redemption nor do thou ever rest from thy labor be ready even to die if necessary to advance this enterprise End of Chapter 27 Book 1 Chapter 28 of the mystical city of God Volume 3 of the venerable sister Mary of Jesus of a Greta This LibriVox recording is in the public domain Book 1 Chapter 28 Christ our Redeemer begins to call and select his disciples in the presence of the Baptist and commences to preach the most high commands his blessed mother to follow him Our Savior, having visited the villages in Judea for 10 months after his past, now resolved to manifest himself to the world not that he had spoken exclusively only in private of the truths of eternal life but he had not until then proclaimed himself publicly as the Messiah and the Master of Life whereas now the time for doing so according to the decrees of infinite wisdom had arrived Hence the Lord sought again the presence of his precursor John in order that through his testimony since such was his office in the world the light might be manifested in the darkness John chapter 1 verse 5 By divine revelation the Baptist knew of this visit of the Savior and of his intention to make himself known to the world as the Redeemer and the true Son of the Eternal Father When therefore St. John saw him coming he exclaimed in wonderful joy of his spirit to his disciples Eche Angus Dei Behold the Lamb of God This testimony referred not only to his previous identical words in regard to Christ but also presumed the more particular instructions which he had given to his close disciples It was as if he said to them Here now you see the Lamb of God of whom I have spoken to you who has come to redeem the world and open the way to heaven This is the last time that the Baptist saw the Savior in the natural way He appeared to him just before his death as I shall relate farther on The first two disciples of Christ who were with St. John at the time heard this testimony and moved by it and by the light and grace interiorly imparted to them they began to follow the Lord benignly turning to them the Lord asked them what they sought John chapter 1 verse 38 They answered that they wished to know where he lived and made them follow They were with him that day as St. John tells us One of them, he says, was St. Andrew the brother of St. Peter the other he does not mention But I was made to understand that it was St. John himself who in his great modesty did not wish to give his name These two then, St. John and St. Andrew were the first fruits of the Baptist Apostolate being the first of the disciples of the Baptist of his expressed testimony and without being outwardly called by the Lord St. Andrew immediately sought his brother Simon and took him along saying that he had found the Messiahs who called himself Christ Looking upon Peter he said Thou art Simon the son of Jonah Thou shalt be called Cephas which is interpreted Peter All this happened within the confines of Judea and on the next day the Lord entered Galilee St. Philip and called him to his following Philip immediately sought Nathaniel and brought him to Jesus telling him what had happened and that they had found the Messiahs in the person of Jesus of Nazareth Nathaniel, having spoken with the Lord as recorded in the first chapter of St. John's Gospel joined as the fifth of the disciples of Christ With these five disciples the five stones in the foundation of the new church Christ the Savior entered Galilee for the purpose of beginning his public preaching and baptizing In the disciples thus called he encandled from the moment of their joining the master a new light and fire of divine love and showered upon them the sweetness of his blessings Psalm 20 verse 4 It is not possible worthily to describe the labors undergone by the divine teacher in the vocation and education of these and of the other disciples in order to found upon them the church He sought them out with great diligence and solicitude He urged them on frequently by the powerful and efficacious help of his grace He enlightened their hearts and enriched them with incomparable gifts and blessings He received them with admirable kindness He nourished them with the sweetest milk of his doctrines He bore with them with invincible patience He caressed them as a most loving father caresses his tender and darling sons As our nature is based in uncouth material for the exalted and exquisite aspirations of the spirit and as they were to be not only perfect disciples but consummate masters of perfection in the world and in the church the work of transforming and raising them from their rough natural state into such a heavenly and divine position by his instructions and example necessarily was a vast enterprise In the performance of this work the Lord has left a most exalted example of patience, meekness and charity for all the prelates, princes and whoever is in charge with the guidance of subjects Not less significant for us sinners are the proofs of his fatherly kindness for he was not satisfied with simply bearing with their faults and defects, their natural inclinations and passions but he allowed his tender kindness to overflow thus wonderfully toward them In order that we might be cheered on to trust him and not permit ourselves to be dismayed, amidst the countless imperfections and weaknesses natural two-hour earthly existence By the means already mentioned the Queen of Heaven was informed of all the wonderful doings of our Saviour in the vocation of the Apostles and Disciples and in his public preaching She gave thanks to the Eternal Father for these the first Disciples acknowledging and admitting them in imitation of her son as her spiritual children and offering them to the Divine Majesty with new songs of praise and joy On this occasion of the choice of the first Disciples she was favored by a new revelation of the Most High in which she was informed again of his holy and eternal decree concerning the redemption of man and of the manner in which it was to be executed in the preaching of his Most Holy Son He said to her chosen out of thousands it is necessary that thou accompany and assist my only begotten and thine in the labors which he is about to undertake in the work of the redemption the time of his suffering is come and I am about to open up the stores of Wisdom and Goodness in order to enrich men by my treasures through their Redeemer and Teacher I wish to free them from the slavery of sin and of the Devil and to pour out the abundance of my grace upon the hearts of all the mortals who prepare themselves to know my Incarnate Son and to follow him as their head and guide upon the way of eternal salvation I wish to raise from the dust and enrich the poor, cast down the proud exalt the humble and enlighten the blind in the darkness of death Isaiah chapter 9 verse 2 I wish to set up my friends and chosen ones and make known the greatness of my name of this, my holy and eternal will, I wish that thou, my cherished and chosen one, cooperate with my Son, that thou accompany him, follow and imitate him, and I will be with thee in all that thou shall do. Supreme King of the Universe most Holy Mary answered from whom all creatures receive their being and preservation although I am but vile dust and ashes I will speak in thy presence according to thy condescension. Except, oh most High Lord and God, the heart of thy handmaid, which is prepared to sacrifice itself for the accomplishment of thy pleasure, receive the holocaust not only of my lips, but of my inmost soul in obedience to the orders of thy wisdom manifested unto thy slave, behold me prostrate before thy presence and majesty, fulfill in me entirely thy will and pleasure I desire, oh Almighty God, if it is possible to suffer and to die either with or instead of, thy and my Son. This would be the fulfillment of all my desires and the excess of my joy, that the sword of thy justice strike rather me, since I am closer to guilt. He is sinless as well by nature as also by the prerogatives of the divinity. The creatures are infinitely distant from his dignity, yet it is also true that any of the acts of thy only begotten is abundantly sufficient for the redemption and that he has done much for men. If on account of this it is possible for me to die in order to save his priceless life I am prepared to die, but if thy decree is unchangeable grant me, Highest God and Father, if possible, that I pour out my life with his, also, will I submit to thy will just as I am ready to obey thee in following him and in sharing his labors. Do thou assist me with the power of thy right hand in order that I may hasten to imitate him and fulfill thy pleasure and my own longings. I cannot further describe in words what I understood concerning the heroic and wonderful acts performed by our Queen and Lady on this occasion, how fervently she desired to die and suffer on receiving this command of the most high, either in order to exempt her most holy son from death or at least to share his death with him. Hence if the fervent acts of love even when they are directed toward things impossible, so highly oblige God that if they arise from a true and upright heart he accepts them as really effective and as worthy of full reward. What must have been the merits of the mother of grace and love as offering her life as a sacrifice of her love? Neither human nor angelic intellect shall ever reach this exalted sacrament of love. It would have been sweet to her to suffer and die. But it occasioned her much pain not to be permitted to die with her son or to be alive while she saw him suffer and die as I shall record later on. Hence one can form some estimate how closely allied in glory Mary must have been with Christ how similar her grace and sanctity was to that of her model Christ. For in all things she corresponded to his love and rose to the highest point imaginable in a mere creature. In these sentiments our queen issued forth from her vision and the most high again commanded her angels to assist and serve her in what she was to do. They as the most faithful ministers of the Lord obeyed, ordinarily accompanied her invisible forms and served her wherever she went. Instruction which our queen and lady gave me. My daughter all the doings of my most holy son prove his divine love toward men and how different this love is from that which they have among themselves. Mortals are ordinarily so small minded, niggerly aberritious and sluggish that they are usually not moved to love anyone unless they see some advantage in the objects of their love. Hence the love of creatures is founded upon the good thought to be in that which they love. But divine love, having its fountain within itself and being capable of effecting its own wishes does not seek the creature because it is worthy but it loves creatures in order to make them worthy of love. Therefore, no soul must despair of the divine goodness. Yet no one must on that account have a vain and presumptuous trust expecting divine love to work in its effects of grace of which he is altogether unworthy. For in these gifts of his love the most high follows a course of equity most mysterious to the creature. Although God loves them all and wishes all to be saved yet in the distribution of these gifts and effects of his love he undeniably applies a certain measure and weight of his sanctuary by which he dispenses them. Now as man cannot penetrate or comprehend this secret he must take care not to forfeit or lose the first grace and first vocation for he does not know whether he will not lose the second by his ingratitude and he can be certain of not losing the second only by making use of the first grace. The soul can know for certain only this that grace will not be denied if the soul does not make itself unworthy. These workings of divine love in the soul are accompanied by interior enlightenment so that in the presence of this light men are reproved for their sins and convinced of their evil state and of the danger of eternal death but human pride makes many of them so foolish and base of heart that they resist this light. Others are hard to move and never fail to have some vain excuse for their negligence. Once they counteract the first effects of the love of God and make themselves unfit for future graces. Now without the help of grace man cannot avoid evil or even know of it. Thus many cast themselves from abyss to abyss. For since they counteract and repel grace and thus are unworthy of further help they inevitably draw upon themselves ruined by falling from sin to sin. Be attentive, therefore, my dearest to the light which has excited thy heart to the love of the most high for by the enlightenment which thou hast received in the history of my life even if thou hast no other light thou art placed under such great obligations that if thou dost not correspond with them in the holiness of thy life thou shalt be more reprehensible in the eyes of God and in mine and in the presence of angels and men than all the other human born. Let also the conduct of the first disciples of my most holy son and the promptitude with which they followed him serve thee as an example. Although his forbearance and kind instruction were a special grace they faithfully corresponded to it and followed the teachings of their master. Their human nature was weak yet they did not make themselves incapable of receiving further blessings of God's right hand and they set their desires toward much higher aims than their weak strength would be able to attain. In order to bring this faithful love in thee to its greatest perfection I wish that thou imitate me in all the works which I have performed on this occasion to die for my divine son or with him if it had been permitted. Prepare thy heart for what I shall yet reveal to thee of the death of the Lord and of my own life in order that thou mayest in all things do what is perfect and holy. Consider my daughter that I have a complaint against the human race of which I have spoken to thee at other times and which applies to nearly all men that they neglect and forget to inform themselves of what I and my most holy son have done for them that they do not weigh gratefully the blessings of each hour nor seek to make a proper return see that thou do not thus offend me since I have made thee a sharer in these exalted secrets and sacraments wherein thou findest so much light and instruction and the practice of the highest and most excellent virtues. Raise thyself above thyself labor diligently in order that thou mayest receive more and more grace corresponding with it gather much merit and eternal rewards End of chapter 28 Book 1 chapter 29 of the mystical city of God volume 3 by the venerable sister Mary of Jesus of a Greta this LibriVox recording is in the public domain Book 1 chapter 29 Christ returns with the first five disciples to Nazareth he baptizes his most holy mother other incidents during this time the mystic edifice of the militant church which aspires to the most exalted mysteries of the divinity is founded entirely upon the holy catholic faith established by our redeemer and master his wise and prudent architect to ensure this firmness in the first foundation stones his disciples he began immediately to imbue them with the truths and mysteries relating to his divinity and humanity in order to make himself known as the messiahs and the redeemer of the world who had descended from the bosom of his eternal father to assume human flesh it was urgently necessary to explain to them the manner of his incarnation in the womb of his most blessed mother it behooved him therefore in order that they might know and venerate her as a true mother and virgin to speak to them of this heavenly mystery together with what relates to the ecstatic union and to the redemption with this heavenly doctrine then we're nourished the first born sons of the savior and before the apostles came into the presence of the great queen and lady they had already conceived most exalted ideas of her celestial excellences they had been informed that she was a virgin before during and after her partition and they had been inspired by Christ with the profoundest reverence and love and filled with the desire of immediately seeing and knowing such a heavenly creature Christ thus aimed not only to satisfy his own zeal in extending the honor of his most holy mother but also to excite in his apostles the highest veneration and reverence toward her although all of them were divinely enlightened yet Saint John began to distinguish himself in his love of Mary before all the rest from the very first words of the master concerning the dignity and excellence of his mother he grew in the loving esteem of her holiness for he was selected and prepared for greater privileges in the service of his queen as I shall relate and as is recorded in the gospels the five disciples of the Lord begged him to grant them the consolation of seeing and reverencing his mother in accordance with their petition he journeyed directly to Nazareth through Galilee continuing to preach and teach publicly on the way and proclaiming himself as the master of truth and eternal life many carried away by the force of his doctrines and by the light and grace overflowing into their hearts began to listen to him and to follow him though he did not for the present called any more to be his disciples it is worthy of notice that though the five disciples had conceived such an ardent devotion to the heavenly lady and though they saw with their own eyes how worthy she was of her eminent position among creatures yet they all maintained strict silence about their thoughts by the disposition of heaven they seemed as if mute and ignorant in all that concerned the publication of what they thought and felt in regard to her excellences for it was not befitting that these mysteries of our holy faith should be proclaimed to all men indiscriminately the son of justice was now donning upon souls Malachi chapter 4 verse 2 and it was necessary that its own splendor should shine forth to illumine all the nations and although its resplendent moon his mother was now in the fullness of her sanctity it behooved her to reserve her light for the night in which the church should deplore the absence of that son in the bosom of his eternal father and this office she fulfilled as I shall relate in the third part for then the splendor of the great lady broke forth while before that time her holiness and excellence were manifested only to the apostles in order that they might know and reverence her and that they might listen to her as the worthy mother of the redeemer of the world and as the teacher of all virtue and perfection the savior then pursued his way to Nazareth instructing his new children and disciples not only in the mysteries of faith but in all virtues by word and example as he continued to do during the whole period of his evangelical preaching with this in view he searched out the poor and afflicted consoled the sick and sorrowful visited the infirmities and prisons performing miracles of mercy as well for body as for soul yet he did not profess himself as the author of any miracles until he attended the marriage feast at Cana as I shall relate in the next chapter while the savior proceeded on his journey his most holy mother prepared to receive him and his disciples at Nazareth for she was aware of all that happened and therefore hospitably set her poor dwelling in order and solicitously procure the necessary vitals before hand for their entertainment when the savior of the world approached the house his blessed mother awaited him at the door and as he entered prostrated herself on the ground adoring him and kissing his hands and feet while she asked for his blessing then she sounded the praise of the most holy trinity in exalted and wonderful words and also of his humanity in the presence and hearing of the new disciples this she did not without mysterious purpose on her part for besides showing to her divine son the honor and adoration due to him as the true god man she wish also to make a return for the praise with which her son had exalted her in the eyes of his disciples thus just as the son had in her absence instilled into their minds the reverence for the dignity of his mother so the most prudent and faithful mother in the presence of her son wish to instruct them in regard to the worship due to their divine master as their god and redeemer the profound humility and worship with which the great lady received Christ the savior filled the disciples with new devotion and reverential fear for their divine master hence forth she served them as an example and model of true devotion entering at once into her office as instructress and spiritual mother of the disciples of Christ by showing them how to converse with their god and redeemer they were immediately drawn toward their queen and cast themselves on their knees before her asking to be received as her sons and servants the first to do this was st. John who from that time on distinguished himself in exalting and reverencing Mary before all the apostles while she on her part received him with an special love for besides excelling in virginal chastity he was of a meek and humble disposition the great lady received them all as her guests serving them their meals and combining the solicitude of a mother with the modesty and majesty of a queen so that she caused admiration even in the holy angels she served her divine son on her knees in deepest reverence at the same time she spoke of the majesty of their teacher and redeemer to the apostles instructing them in the great doctrines of the Christian faith during that night when the apostles had retired the savior betook himself to the oratory of his purest mother as he had been want to do and she the most humble among the humble placed herself at his feet as in the years gone by in regard to the practice of humility all that she too seemed little to the great queen and much less than she ought to in view of his infinite love and the immense gifts received at his hands she confessed herself as useless as the dust of the earth the lord lifted her from the ground and spoke to her words of life and eternal salvation yet quietly and serenely for at this period he began to treat her with greater reserve in order to afford her a chance of merit as I have mentioned when I spoke to this departure for the desert and for his baptism the most blessed lady also asked him for the sacrament of baptism which he had now instituted and which he had promised her before in order that this might be administered with the dignity becoming as well the son as the mother an innumerable host of angelic spirits descended from heaven invisible forms attended by them Christ himself baptized his purest mother immediately the voice of the eternal father was heard saying this is my beloved daughter in whom I take delight the incarnate word said this is my mother much beloved whom I have chosen and who will assist me in all my works and the holy ghost added this is my spouse chosen among thousands the purest lady felt and received such great and numerous effects of grace in her soul that no human words can describe them for she was exalted to new heights of grace and her holy soul was made resplendent with new and exquisite beauty of heaven she received the characteristic token impressed by this sacrament namely that of the children of Christ in his holy church in addition to the ordinary effects of the sacrament outside of the remission of sins of which she stood in no need she merited a special graces on account of the humility with which she accepted this sacrament of purification by it she accumulated blessings like to those of her divine son with only this difference that she received an increase of grace which was not possible in Christ there upon the humble mother broke out in a canticle of praise with the holy angels and prostrate before her divine son she thanked him for the most efficacious graces she had received in the sacrament instruction given to me by the queen of heaven my daughter I see the much moved to emulation and desire by the great happiness of the disciples of my most holy son and especially that of Saint John my favorite servant it is certain that I loved him in a special manner because he was most pure and candid as a dove and in the eyes of the Lord he was very pleasing both on account of his purity and on account of his love toward me his example should serve thee as a spur to do that which my son and I expect of thee thou art aware my dearest that I am the most pure mother and that I receive with maternal affection all those who fervently and devoutly desire to be my children and servants in the Lord by the love which he has given me I shall embrace them with open arms and shall be their intercessor and advocate thy poverty, uselessness weakness shall be for me only a more urgent motive for manifesting toward thee my most liberal kindness therefore I call upon thee to become my chosen and beloved daughter in the holy church I shall however make the fulfillment of my promise depend upon a service on thy part namely that thou have a true and holy emulation of the love with which I love Saint John and of all the blessings flowing from it and making him as perfectly as thy powers will allow hence thou must promise to fulfill all that I now command thee without failing in the least point I desire then that thou labour until all love of self die within thee that thou suppress all the effects of the first sin until all the earthly inclinations consequent upon it are totally extinguished that thou seek to restore within thee that dovelike sincerity destroys all malice and duplicity in all thy doings thou must be an angel since the condescension of the most high with thee was so great as to furnish thee with the light and intelligence more of an angel than that of a human creature I have procured for thee these great blessings and therefore it is but reasonable on my part to expect thee to correspond with them in thy works and in thy thoughts in regard to me there is just a continual affection and loving desire of pleasing and serving me being always attentive to my counsels and having thy eyes fixed upon me in order to know and execute what I command then shall thou be my true daughter and I shall be thy protectorous and loving mother End of Chapter 29 End of Book 1