38. Still the favors and most exalted mysteries of the
Most High toward our Queen and Lady in preparing Her
for approaching dignity of Motherhood continued. The
fourth day of this preparation had arrived and at the
same hour She was again raised to the abstractive vision
of the Divinity. But this vision was accompanied by
new effects of exalted enlightenments in this most pure
Soul. The divine power and wisdom has no bounds or
limits; to his operations only our will, or the limitation
of our created nature, offers resistance. But in the will
of most holy Mary the divine power found no hindrance,
for all her works were executed with plenitude of holi
ness and entirely according to the pleasure of the Lord,
drawing Him on, as He himself said, and wounding his
heart with love (Cant. 4, 9). Only in so far as most
holy Mary was a mere creature was the power of the
divine arm limited; but within these limits it could act
without bound or restriction, and without measure, offer
ing Her the waters of wisdom from the purest and most
crystalline founts of the Divinity.
39. The Most High manifested to Her in this vision,
by most special enlightenments, the new Law of grace
which the Redeemer of the world was to establish, the
Sacraments contained in it, the end for which He would
leave them in his new Church of the Gospel, the gifts
and blessings prepared for men, and his desire, that all
should be saved and that all should reap the fruit of the
Redemption. And so great was the wisdom, which the
most holy Mary drew from these visions, wherein She
was taught by the highest Teacher and the Corrector of
the wise (Wis. 7, 15), that, if by any means man or angel
could describe it, more books would have to be written
of this science of our Lady than all those which have
been composed in this world concerning all the arts and
sciences, and all the inventions of men. And no wonder
her science was greater than that of all other men : for
into the heart and mind of our Princess was emptied and
exhausted the ocean of the Divinity, which the sins and
the evil disposition of the creatures had confined, repressed
and circumscribed. It was concealed within its own
source until the proper time, which was no other than
the hour in which She was chosen as Mother of the
Onlybegotten of the Father.
40. Joined with the sweetness of this divine science,
our Queen felt a loving, yet piercing sorrow, which this
very science continued to renew. She perceived in the
Most High the ineffable treasures of grace and blessings,
which He had prepared for mortals and She saw the
weight of the Divinity as it were inclined toward the
desire of seeing all men enjoy them eternally. At the
same time She saw and considered the wicked disposition
of the world, and how blindly mortals impeded the flow
of these treasures and deprived themselves of participa
tion of the Divinity. From this resulted a new kind of
martyrdom full of grief for the perdition of men and of
the desire of remedying such lamentable loss. This
caused Her to offer up the most exalted prayers, peti
tions, sacrifices, humiliations and heroic acts of love of
God and of men, in order that no one, if possible, should
henceforth damn himself, and that all should recognize
their Creator, and Redeemer, confess Him, adore and
love Him. All this took place in this very vision; but
as these petitions were of the same kind as those already
described, I do not expatiate on them here.
41. In conjunction therewith the Lord showed Her
also the works of creation performed on the fourth day
(Gen. 1, 14-17). The heavenly Princess Mary learned
how and when the luminaries of heaven were formed in
the firmament for dividing day and night and for indi
cating the seasons, the days and the years; how for this
purpose was created the great light of heaven, the sun,
presiding as the lord of the day, and joined with it, the
moon, the lesser light, which reigns over the darkness
of the night. In like manner were formed the stars of
the eighth heaven, in order that they might gladden the
night with their brilliance and preside with their various
influences over both the day and the night. She under
stood what was the material substance of these luminous
orbs, their form, their size, their properties, their various
movements and the uniformity as well as the inequality
of the planets. She knew the number of the stars, and
all their influences exerted upon the earth, both in regard
to the living and the lifeless creatures; the effects and
changes, which they cause in them by these influences.
42. This is not in conflict with what the Prophet says,
(Psalm 146, 4), that God knows the number of the stars
and has called them by their names; for David does not
thereby deny to his Majesty the liberty of conceding to
a creature that as a privilege which He possesses by
nature. It is plain, that since this knowledge is com
municable and since it would contribute to Mary s excel
lence, it should not be denied to Her. Has He not con
ferred upon Her greater favors, and has He not made
Her the Queen of the stars and of all other creatures?
And this knowledge was as it were only a sequel of her
dominion and sovereignty over the powers, influences
and movements of all the celestial orbs, since they were
commanded to obey Her as their Queen and Lady.
43. In consequence of this command, which the Lord
gave to the celestial orbs and in accordance with the
dominion which most holy Mary obtained over them, She
possessed such power, that if She commanded the stars
to leave their positions in heaven, they would obey Her
instantly and would hasten to the regions which She
chose to designate. The same is true of the sun and
the planets : all would pause in their course and suspend
their operations to execute the command of Mary. I
have already said above (No. 21) that sometimes her
Highness made use of this sovereignty; for, as we shall
see farther on, it happened a few times in Egypt, where
the rays of the sun are exceedingly strong, that She com
manded the sun to moderate its heat and not to molest
or fatigue the infant God, its Master. And the sun
obeyed Her therein, causing inconvenience and suffering
to Her, because She wished it, and yet respecting the
tender years of the Sun of justice, whom She held in her
arms. The same happened also with other stars, and on
a few occasions She detained the sun in its course, as I
will mention later.
44. Many other hidden sacraments the Most High mani
fested to our great Queen in this vision, and what I have
said and will say of all these mysteries, leaves me dissat
isfied and with a heart as it were torn asunder : for I see,
that I can say little of that which I understand and, in
proportion, I understand still less of what really did
happen to the heavenly Lady. Many of the mysteries
concerning Her are reserved for the last day, when her
most holy Son shall proclaim them, since now we are not
capable of receiving their revelation. The most holy
Mary issued from this vision still more inflamed and
filled with the Divinity, entirely transformed by the
knowledge of God s attributes and perfections; and her
advance in virtues kept pace with her progress in divine
favors. She multiplied her requests, her fervent sighs,
and her meritorious works, in order to hasten the Incar
nation of the Word and our salvation.
INSTRUCTION WHICH THE HEAVENLY QUEEN GAVE ME.
45. My dearest daughter, I wish that thou busy thyself
much in meditating and pondering upon that which thou
hast understood of my doings and sufferings at the time,
when the Most High gave me such a deep insight into
his goodness, which drew Him as with an infinite force
to enrich men, and when He showed me the want of cor
respondence and the dark ingratitude of the mortals.
When I turned from the consideration of this most
liberal condescension of the Most High, to the perception
and understanding of the foolish hard-heartedness of the
sinners, my soul was pierced with an arrow of mortal
anguish, which remained for life. And I wish to tell
thee of another mystery: many times the Most High in
order to heal the affliction and consternation of my heart
in this sorrow, sought to console me by saying : "Accept
Thou, my Spouse, the gifts, which the blind and ignorant
world in its unworthiness despises and is incapable of
receiving and understanding." With these words the
Most High was accustomed to set free the currents of
his divine bounty, which rejoiced my soul more than
human powers can comprehend, or tongue explain.
46. I desire, therefore, that thou, my friend, be now
my companion in the sorrow which I suffered and which
is so little noticed by the living. In order to imitate me
therein and in the effects of this most just grief, thou
must deny thyself, forget thyself entirely, and crown
thy heart with the thorns of sorrow at the behavior of
mortals. Weep thou in seeing them laugh at their
eternal damnation, for such weeping is the most legiti
mate occupation of the true spouses of my most holy Son.
Let them seek their delight only in the tears, which they
pour out on account of their sins and those of the igno
rant world. Thus prepare thy heart in order that the
Lord may make thee a participant of his treasures; not
in order to become rich, but in order that his Majesty
may fulfill his most generous love toward thee and in
order that souls may find justification. Imitate me in all
that I teach thee, since thou knowest that this is my
desire in favoring thee.
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