47. The fifth day of the novena, which the most blessed
Trinity celebrated in the temple of most holy Mary, in
order that the eternal Word might assume human shape
in Her, had arrived. Just as in the preceding days She
was elevated to an abstractive vision of the Divinity,
and, as the veil fell more and more from the secrets of
the infinite wisdom, She discovered new mysteries also
during this day. For the preparations and enlighten
ments emitted ever stronger rays of light and divine
graces, which flashed into her most holy soul and emptied
the treasures of infinity into her faculties, assimilating
and transforming the heavenly Lady more and more to
a likeness of her God in order to make Her worthy of
being his Mother.
48. In this vision, showing Himself to Her with in
effable signs of affection, the Most High spoke to the
heavenly Queen and manifested to Her additional secrets,
saying : "My Spouse and my Dove, in the secret of my
bosom thou hast perceived the immense bounty, to which
my love for the human race inclines Me, and the treas
ures, which are secretly prepared for their happiness : so
powerful is this love in Me, that I wish to give them
my Onlybegotten for their instruction and salvation.
Thou hast also seen something of the small returns, of
their most listless ingratitude and contempt, in which
men hold my clemency and love. Yet, although I have
shown thee part of their malice, I wish, my friend, that
thou shouldst once more know in Me, how small is the
number of those who are to know and love me as my
chosen ones; and how great and extended is the number
of the ungrateful and the reprobate. The innumerable
sins and abominations of these impure and defiled men,
whom I have foreseen in my infinite knowledge, retard
my bounteous mercy and have locked up the treasurehouse
of my Divinity, making the world entirely unworthy of
receiving my gifts/
49. The Princess Mary, through these words of the
Most High, was instructed in the great mysteries re
garding the number of the predestined and the reprobate ;
and also regarding the hindrances and impediments by
which sinful men delayed the coming of the eternal Word
as man into the world. Having present before Herself
the vision both of the infinite bounty and equity of the
Creator and of the measureless iniquity and malice of
men, the most prudent Mistress, inflamed by the fire of
divine love, spoke to his Majesty and said :
50. "My Lord and infinite God of wisdom and incom
prehensible sanctity, what mystery is this, which Thou
hast manifested to me? Without measure are the mis
deeds of men, so that only thy wisdom can comprehend
them. But can all these and many more, perhaps, extin
guish thy bounty and love, or vie with them? No, my
Lord and Master, it must not be so; the malice of men
must not detain thy mercy. I am the most useless of
all the human race; yet on its behalf I remind Thee of
thy fidelity. Infallibly true it is, that heaven and earth
will come to naught, before thy word can fail (Is. 51, 6),
and it is also true, that Thou hast many times given thy
word through the holy Prophets; and Thou hast prom
ised them by word of mouth, a Redeemer and our salva
tion. How then, my God, can these promises fail of ful
fillment without conflicting with thy infinite wisdom; or
how can man be deceived without conflicting with thy
goodness ? In order to induce Thee to fulfill thy promise
and to secure them eternal felicity through thy incarnate
Word, I have nothing to offer on the part of mortals nor
can any creature oblige Thee; and if this blessing could
be merited, then thy infinite and bounteous clemency
would not thereby be glorified. Only through thy own
Self can this obligation be imposed upon Thee, for only
in God can a sufficient reason be found for his becoming
man: in Thee alone was the reason and the motive for
our creation, and therefore in Thee alone also the reason
for our reparation after our fall. Do not seek, my God
and most high King, for merits, nor for a greater motive,
than thy own mercy and the exaltation of thy holy
name."
51. "It is true, my Spouse," answered the Most High,
"that on account of my goodness I bound Myself to the
promise of vesting Myself in human nature and of dwell
ing among them, and that no one could merit in my sight
such a promise; but the ungrateful behavior of men, so
abominable in my sight and in my justice, does not merit
the execution of this promise. For though I seek only
their eternal happiness as a return of my love, I perceive
and find only obduracy, by which they are certain to
waste and despise the treasures of my grace and blessing.
They will yield thorns instead of fruit, great insults for
benefits, and base ingratitude for my unbounded and gen
erous mercy; and the end of all these evils will be for
them the privation of my vision in eternal torments.
Take notice of these truths recorded in the secrets of my
wisdom, my Friend, and weigh these great sacraments;
for to thee my heart is laid open, so that thou canst see
the justice of my proceeding."
52. It is impossible to describe the hidden secrets,
which most holy Mary then saw in the Lord; for She
perceived in Him all the creatures of the past, present
and the future, and the position of each one in creation,
the good and bad actions and the final ending of each one.
If She had not been strengthened, She could not have
preserved her life under the effects and feelings caused
by the knowledge and insight into these hidden sacra
ments and mysteries. But as his Majesty, in these new
miracles and blessings had such high ends in view, He
was not sparing but most liberal with the beloved One,
whom He had chosen as his Mother. And as our Queen
derived this science from the bosom of God itself, She
participated also in the fire of his eternal Charity, which
inflamed Her with the love of God and the neighbor.
Therefore, continuing her intercession, She said :
53. "Lord and eternal God, invisible and immortal, I
confess thy justice, I magnify thy works, I adore thy
infinite Essence and hold in reverence thy judgments.
My heart melts within me with tenderest affection, when
I perceive thy unlimited bounty toward men and their
dark ingratitude and grossness toward Thee. For all of
them, O my God, Thou seekest eternal life; but there are
few who are thankful for this inestimable benefit, and
many who will perish by their malice. If on this ac
count, O my eternal Good, Thou relinquishest thy under
taking, we mortals are lost; but while Thou, in thy
divine fore-knowledge, perceivest the sins and the malice
of men who offend Thee so much, Thou also foreseest thy
Onlybegotten made man and his works of infinite price
and value in thy sight ; and these will counterbalance and
exceed the malice of sin beyond all comparison. Through
this Godman let thy equity be conquered and on his
account give us Him now ! and in order to urge my
petitions upon Thee once more in the name of the human
race, I unite myself with the spirit of this Word, already
made man in thy mind, and pray for his coming in fact
and for the eternal life of men through his hands."
54. At this prayer of most pure Mary, the eternal
Father (in our way of speaking) represented to Himself
his Onlybegotten as borne in the virginal womb of this
great Queen; and He was moved by her humble and
loving petitions. His apparent hesitation was merely a
device of his tender love in order to enjoy so much the
longer the voice of his Beloved, causing her sweet lips
to distil most sweet honey (Cant. 4, 11) and her
emissions to be like those of paradise (Cant. 4, 13).
And to draw out still more this loving contention, the
Lord answered Her: "My sweetest Spouse and chosen
Dove, great is that which thou askest of Me and little is
that which obliges Me on the part of men ; how then shall
such a singular blessing be conferred on those unworthy
ones? Leave Me, my friend, to treat them according to
their evil deserts." Our powerful and kind Advocate re
sponded : "No, my Master, I will not desist from my
importunity; if much I ask, I ask it of Thee, who are
rich in mercies, powerful in action, true in thy words.
My father David said of Thee and of the eternal Word :
"The Lord hath sworn, and He will not repent : Thou
art a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech&
quot; (Ps. 109, 4). Let then that Priest come, who is
at the same time to be the sacrifice for our rescue; let
Him come, since Thou canst not repent of thy promise ;
for Thou dost not promise in ignorance. Let me be
clothed, O my sweet love, with the strength of this Man
God, which will not allow me to put a stop to my impor
tunity, until Thou give me thy blessing as to my father
Jacob" (Gen. 32,26).
55. In this contest (just as it once happened to Jacob)
our Lady and Queen was asked, what was her name ;
and She said: "I am a daughter of Adam, formed by
thy hands from the insignificant dust." And the Most
High answered : "Henceforth Thou shalt be called :
Chosen for the Mother of the Onlybegotten." But the
latter part of this name was heard only by the courtiers
of heaven, while to Her it was as yet hidden until the
proper time. She therefore heard only the word
"Chosen." Having thus protracted this amorous con
tention according to the disposition of his divine wisdom
and as far as served to inflame the heart of this elected
One, the whole blessed Trinity gave to Mary, our most
pure Queen, the explicit promise, that They would now
send into the world the eternal Word made man. Filled
with incomparable joy and exultation by this fiat, She
asked and received the benediction of the Most High.
Thus this strong Woman issued forth from the contest
with God more victorious than Jacob ; for She came out
rich, strong and laden with spoils, and the One that was
wounded and weakened (to speak in our way) was God
himself; for He was drawn by the love of this Lady to
clothe Himself in that sacred bridal chamber of her
womb with the weakness of our passible nature. He
disguised and enveloped the strength of his Divinity, so
as to conquer in allowing Himself to be conquered, and
in order to give us life by his death. Let the mortals see
and acknowledge, how most holy Mary, next to her most
blessed Son, is the cause of their salvation.
56. During this vision were also revealed to this great
Queen the works of the fifth day of the creation in the
manner in which they happened; She saw how, by the
force of the divine command, were engendered and pro
duced in the waters beneath the firmament, the imperfect
reptiles, which creep upon the earth, the winged animals
that course through the air, and the finny tribes that glide
through the watery regions. Of all these creatures She
knew the beginnings, the substance, the form and figure
according to their kinds; She knew all the species of the
animals that inhabit the fields and woods, their condi
tions, peculiarities, their uses and connections ; She knew
the birds of heaven (for so we call the atmosphere),
with the varied forms of each kind, their ornaments,
feathers, their lightness; the innumerable fishes of the
seas and the rivers, the differences between the whales,
their forms, composition and qualities, their caverns and
the foods furnished them by the sea, the ends which they
serve, the use to which they can be put in the world.
And his Majesty especially commanded all these hosts of
creatures to recognize and obey most holy Mary, giving
Her the power to command all of them, as it happened
on many occasions to be mentioned later on (No. 185,
431, 636). Therewith She issued from the trance of
this day and She occupied Herself during the rest of it
in the exercises and petitions, which the Most High had
pointed out to Her.
INSTRUCTION WHICH THE HEAVENLY LADY GAVE ME.
57. My daughter, the more complete knowledge of the
wonderful operations of the arm of the Almighty in
raising me during the abstractive visions of the Divinity
to the dignity of Mother, is reserved for the predestined
when they shall come to know them in the heavenly
Jerusalem. There they shall understand and see them
in the Lord Himself and with that special delight and
astonishment, which the angels experienced, when the
Most High revealed these things to them for his exal
tation and praise. And since his Majesty has shown
Himself so lovingly generous toward thee, giving thee
in preference to all the generations of men, such great
knowledge and light concerning these so hidden sacra
ments, I desire, my friend, that thou signalize thyself
above all creatures in praising and magnifying his holy
name for the works of his powerful arm in my regard.
58. At the same time thou must strive, with all thy
power, to imitate me in the works, which I performed by
the aid of these great and wonderful blessings. Pray
and sigh for the eternal salvation of thy brethren, and
that the name of my Son may be extolled by all and
known to the whole world. Thou must establish the habit
of this kind of prayer, by a constant resolve, founded
upon firm faith and unshaken confidence, and by never
losing sight of thy misery in profound humility and selfabasement.
Thus prepared, thou must battle with
the divine love for the good of thy people, firmly con
vinced, that the most glorious triumphs of divine love
may especially be looked for in its dealings with the
humble, who love God in uprightness. Raise thyself
above thyself and give Him thanks for the special bless
ings conferred upon thee and for those conferred upon
the human race. Transformed by this divine love, thou
wilt merit other gifts, both for thyself and for thy
brethren ; and whenever thou findest thyself in his divine
presence, do thou ask for his benediction.
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