She replied:
Then they took the soul between them and with light hearts led her forth. Then the soul first gazed upon the land of the angels where she is known and meets with no ill will, and heaven opened up before her.
She stood there, her heart melting, looked upon her Lover and said: "0 Lord, when I look upon you, I have to praise you for your astonishing wisdom. Where have I come to? Am I now lost in you? I cannot even remember earth or any of my interior sufferings. On earth, when I caught sight of you, I used to wish to complain to you about many things. Now, Lord, the sight of you has struck me down. You have elevated me utterly beyond my worth."
Then she knelt down and thanked him for his favors and, taking her crown from her head, put it on the rose-colored scars on his feet and begged that she might come closer to him. He took her in his divine arms and laid his fatherly hand on her breast and looked her in the face. Well, was she kissed at all?4 In the kiss she was drawn up to the most sublime heights above all the angel choirs. The least truth that I saw and heard and understood there was incomparably more than the loftiest wisdom ever uttered here on earth. I saw there things never heard before, my confessors tell me, for I am ignorant of reading or writing. And now I fear God if I keep silent, but I fear uncomprehending people if I write. Dear people, what can I do about it that this happens to me and that it has often happened? In humble simplicity, in lonely poverty, and in demeaning shame did God show me his wonders.
There I saw the creation and order of God's house, which he himself built with his mouth.' In it he put what was most dear that he had made with his hands. The creation of the house is called heaven; the choirs in it are called kingdom. Hence one says kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven has a boundary as to where it is placed, but as to its being a boundary will never be found. Heaven goes around the choirs, and between heaven and the lovely choirs the worldly sinners are placed, always equal in height to the choirs, that they better themselves and convert. The choirs are so delicate, holy, and marvelous that no one can enter without chastity, love, and renunciation of all things. For they were all holy who fell from there, and accordingly they must also be holy who enter. All newly baptized and children up to six years fill the breach not higher than to the sixth choir. Then up to the Seraphim those virgins shall fill the breach who defiled themselves by their childish disposition, but never did so in deed, and who cleansed themselves afterward in confession. Still, they cannot recover from it completely since they have lost their purity. Those who are pure spiritual virgins shall after the last judgment fill the breach above the Seraphim, from where Lucifer and those closest to him were cast out. Lucifer committed at one and the same time three mortal sins: hatred, pride, and greed. These caused the choir to tumble into the eternal abyss as fast as one can say "alleluia. Then the whole kingdom was struck with terror and all the pillars of the kingdom of heaven shook. Then some of the others fell as well.'
The desolation' is as yet empty and bare. No one is there, and it is utterly pure in itself and sparkles with delight to God's honor. Above the desolation is God's throne vaulted with God's strength in blossoming, shining, fiery brightness, and it descends to the heaven opposite the Cherubim, so that God's throne and heaven are one glorious house; and the desolation and the nine choirs are enclosed within it. Above God's throne there is nothing but God, God, God. God infinitely great. Above on the throne one sees the mirror of the Godhead, the likeness of Humanity, the light of the Holy Spirit, and one understands how these three are one God and how they fit together into one. I am able to say no more about this.
John the Baptist will fill Lucifer's breach and will possess his honor in the sweet desolation above the Seraphim, and all pure spiritual virgins together with him. They are all destined for this desolation.
On the throne is our Lady, St. Mary, who shall not fill a breach; for with her Child she has healed the wounds of all men who accepted grace and could and willed to preserve it. Her Son is God and she a goddess. No one can be compared to her. The apostles dwell closest of all to God on the throne and have the empty places among the Seraphim as their reward according to how pure they are. John the Baptist is also a prince at the throne. Angels dwell no higher than the Seraphim. Those above will all be human beings. The holy martyrs and God's preachers and spiritual lovers enter into the choirs even though they are not virgins. Indeed, they enter gloriously into the Cherubim!
There without asking I saw the reward of preachers as it shall come about. Their chairs are wondrous, their reward is special. The front legs of the chairs are two burning lights. They signify true love, holy example, and faithful intent. The backs of the chairs are so pleasantly free and sweet in delightful repose-more than one can express-in contrast to the strict obedience to which they were subjected here. Their feet are adorned with various kinds of precious stones, so beautiful that I would truly be filled with joy to receive such magnificence as a crown. This they have because of the exertion required of their feet on earth. 0 ye preachers, how unwillingly now do you move your tongues and so grudgingly incline your ears to the mouth of the sinner! I saw in God's presence that in the kingdom of heaven it shall happen that breath shall shine forth from your mouths which will ascend from the choirs to the throne and will praise the heavenly Father for the wisdom that he placed on your tongues; and it will greet the Son for his glorious company, for he was a preacher himself; and it will thank the Holy Spirit for his grace, for he is Master of all gifts.
Then God's preachers, the holy martyrs, and the loving virgins shall stand up, for the highest honor is given them in the form of special garments, delightful song, and marvelous garlands, which they wear to God's honor. The virgins' garments are white as lilies. The preachers' garments are fiery, bright as the sun. The martyrs' garments are glowing rose-colored because they suffered with Jesus a bloody death. The virgins' garland is many colored; the crown of the martyrs is large, catching the eye. The preachers' garland is made entirely of flowers. These are the words of God through which they have come into great honor here. Thus does this throng of three blessed bands go merrily forth into the presence of the Trinity, dancing finely in a circle. Then toward them a threefold stream flows out playfully from God, filling their minds and hearts so that they sing the truth effortlessly with joy, as God had entrusted it to them.
The preachers sing thus: "0 chosen Lord, we have followed your generous kindness in voluntary poverty and have gathered together your straying sheep whom your hired shepherds let go off the right path."
The martyrs sing thus: "Lord, your innocent blood has made our death full, so that we are sharers in your suffering."9
The blessed, who now live so blissfully in heaven hovering weightlessly, are all suffused with light and are permeated with love flowing through them and are united in one will, and yet they do not have the dignity that attaches to their glorious chairs." They rest in God's strength and flow in bliss, keeping themselves in God's breath, as does the air in the sun. But after the last day, when God shall hold his festive dinner, one shall seat the brides opposite their Bridegroom and thus shall love come to love, body to soul, and they shall possess full power in eternal glory.
O you charming Lamb and delightful Youth, Jesus, Child of the heavenly Father, when you then rise and pass through all the choirs waving lovingly to the virgins, they shall follow you filled with praise to that most overwhelming place of which I can say no more to anyone. How they shall then entertain themselves with you and devour your love's desire-that is such intimate sweetness and intense oneness-that I know nothing equal to it.
The widows shall follow as well in heartfelt yearning and will be utterly fulfilled in sweet contemplation when they shall see how the Lamb joins the virgins. Married people, too, shall look on lovingly in the measure possible to them according to their nobility, for the more one satisfies oneself with earthly things here, the less heavenly bliss shall be left over for us there.
The choirs each have a special light i
lluminating them and heaven has its own as well. The light is so extraordinarily glorious that I cannot and may not describe it. Many a dignity has been bestowed by God on the choirs and on heaven, and I can say a word or two about each-about as much as the honey a bee might carry off on its feet from a full hive.
The most exalted thing on the throne is mighty honor and strong dominion. Towering above everything that was ever in heaven is a sense of wonder. The most sublime thing is that they may behold that which is now happening and shall happen forever. Ah, the grand expanse and sweet eternity and the keen power to see into all things and the special intimacy that unceasingly exists between God and each individual soul is of such overwhelming tenderness that even if I had the wisdom of all mankind and the voices of all the angels, I would be incapable of describing it.
Unbaptized children less than five years old dwell in their own special honor, which God from his kingdom has provided for them. They do not have the qualities of someone thirty years old because they were not Christians with Christ." They do not have a crown; God cannot reward them for anything. And yet he has granted them in his goodness that they live in great comfort. The highest thing they possess is an abundance of favors. They sing thus:
Now some people might be surprised how I, a sinful person, can undertake to write such a description. I tell you in utter truth: If seven years ago, God had not offered support to my heart with special favor, I would still be silent and would never have written this. Now, because of God's goodness, no harm has come to me from it. This is because of the obvious lowliness I reflect-which is so clearly manifest to my soul-and the nobility of favors that are contained in God's true gift. Indeed, the higher the soul has climbed, the less praise one should give to the body in word and deed. One should also not complain about the troubles one sees, for he14 is by nature a coward. Rather, one should treat him like an old pensioner who can no longer serve at court, and so one gives him alms purely for the love of God. This is truly of practical value. The nobler the dog, the tighter the collar!"
Well, dear Lord, I commend this description to your generous goodness and ask, my dear One, with sighing heart, with weeping eyes, and with desolate soul that no Pharisee may ever read it. And I ask, in addition, dear Lord, that your children find that meaning in the text which you, Lord, in authentic truth have given it."
2. How the Soul Praises God and God the Soul for Seven Things. Of Balsam and Waiting
"0 sweet Jesus, most handsome Image, unconcealed to my exiled soul in distress and in love! In love I praise you through yourself in distress and in love in union with all creatures; I yearn to do this above all things.
Then God praised the loving soul in fine words. He took great delight in doing so:
"0 One dear to my heart, where shall you find the balm?"
"0 Lord, I was going to tear the heart of my soul in two and intended to put you in it."
"You could never give me a more soothing balsam than to let me unceasingly lie weightlessly in your soul."
"Lord, if you were to take me home with you, I would be your physician forever."
3. A Lament That the Soul Is a Maidservant for the Love of God
"0 Lord, what a poor and forsaken soul it is that here on earth is a maidservant for love of you. Oh, who shall help me lament what pain she suffers? For she herself has no idea what it is that she is renouncing!"
"Mistress Bride," in the Book of Love you say to your Lover that he should flee from you.18 Tell me urgently, Lady, what caused you to do this? For I would rather die, if I might do so in pure love, than in darkened wisdom bid God depart from me. If I may play intimately with my Lover, there is no need for wisdom to teach me about separation. But when I busy myself with other things with my five senses, then I willingly accept its bringing me holy moderation."19
[The bride speaks:] "Listen to me, dear Playmate! I was pleasantly half drunk with love; this is why I speak tenderly from the senses. But whenever I become utterly inebriated, I cannot even think of my body; for love commands me. What she wants has to be. And what God hopes for I boldly undertake. If he takes my life, my soul belongs to him. If you wish to go with me into the wine cellar, it is going to cost you. If you have a thousand marks, you will use it up in an hour. If you drink the wine undiluted, you spend more than you have, and the innkeeper cannot fill your glass to the brim. Then you shall become poor and naked and despised by all those who prefer to enjoy the ooze rather than squander their hoard in the lofty wine cellar. You must also endure the envy of those who go with you into the wine cellar. Oh, how much will they often despise you because they will not risk the great expense! They want to mix water with their wine."
"Dear Mistress Bride, I shall willingly consume everything I have in the tavern. Let me be pulled through the coals of love and be struck with the firebrands of humiliation, so that I might very often enter the blessed wine cellar. This I gladly choose because regarding love I cannot lose. And so he who tortures and despises me actually pours out for me the innkeeper's wine that he himself drank. From that wine I shall become so drunk that I shall truly become so subordinate to all creatures that it seems to me, given my human lowliness and the baseness I have taken on, that no one has ever so wronged me as to have committed some sin against me, wretch that I am. Therefore, I cannot take revenge on my enemies for my sufferings, even though I well know that they may not break God's commandment in their treatment of me."
"Dear Playmate, if it happens that they close the wine cellar, then you will have to go out onto the road hungry, poor, naked, and so despised that you have no Christian sustenance left except faith. If you can then still love, you shall never go to ruin."
"Mistress Bride, I have such a hunger for the heavenly Father that I forget all cares. And I so thirst for his Son that it removes from me all earthly desires. And I have such a need for the Spirit of them both that it goes beyond the wisdom of the Father, which I cannot grasp; and beyond the Son's suffering, which I cannot bear; and beyond the consolation of the Holy Spirit, which I cannot receive."
Whoever becomes entangled in longing such as this must forever hang blessedly fettered in God.
4. How Our Lady St. Mary Can Sin and How Not, the Holy Spirit Teaches This
O Mary, glorious Empress, God's Mother and my Lady! I was asked concerning you whether you were able to sin like other humans when you were on this sinful earth. Now the Holy Spirit, who knows fully all your secrets, has instructed me, Lady, that you were able to sin; for you had been created a full human being in your complete feminine nature and in full virginity. There was no deficiency in your nature, and that makes your lifelong chastity noble and precious in God's eyes.
But, Lady, noble Goddess above all pure humans, you were also able not to sin. This you had not from yourself, for the heavenly Father watched over your childhood with the foresight of his having chosen you long before, and the Holy Spirit bound your youth with the fullness of his fresh love, and Jesus so passed through your body as the dew through a flower that your chastity was never touched. And the power of the Holy Trinity had so pervaded your nature that it did not dare, nor could it, experience all-too-human stirrings. And the eternal wisdom of the almighty Godhead gave you, Lady, a shadow in which you kept your human life so that you could suffer pain, despite not sinning, and so that your thriving humanity would not perish under the sun of the powerful Godhead. In this shadow you carried Jesus in human fashion and, as his mother, raised him. However, Lady, in the message from the Father,20 in the conception from the Holy Spirit, and in the birth of the Son, Lady, the fire of the Godhead and the light of the Holy Spirit and the wisdom of the Son were so great in you that you could hardly notice the shadow. God knows, Lady, later you would turn wretchedly cold in poverty, in trials, and in heartache. In spite of this, in your heart you continued to burn brightly in good works from that fire which burns in itself unaided without a beginning. This, Lady, pierced your walls with light and drove all darkness from your house.
> 5. How the Soul Complains That She Hears No Mass Nor Hours21 and How God Praises Her in Ten Things
Thus did a forsaken soul complain when God excluded her from his ecstatic love and loved her by means of great suffering: "Alas, how sulkingly does a rich man bear it when after glorious wealth he is led into great poverty!"
And she says: "Oh, Lord, now I am extremely destitute in my sickly body and am so miserable in my soul which is so lacking in spiritual order that no one recites the hours of the office in my presence and no one celebrates holy mass for me!"
The loving Mouth spoke, the Mouth that wounded my soul so terribly with his sublime words that I never received worthily:
"Ah, dear One, how intimately you speak to me. And yet I never dare think upon these words in joy. For I constantly notice with anguish the stench of that dead mongrel, my body; and others of my enemies are always assailing me; and I, Lord, when I consider the matter, have no idea how things shall turn out for me in the end. What is more, just beholding you I lose all awareness of suffering. Thus, Lord, have you taken me from myself and have stealthily entered into me. What you then promised me, may it happen and may it result in your praise."
Our Lord answers thus:
"Again I must teach you: Noble maidens pay a high price for their good breeding. They must maintain restraint in all their suffering and must often tremble before their governess. So it is with my brides on earth as to their bodies. On earth I was oppressively enclosed for love of you, and my raging enemies bore my death in their hands before my very eyes, and in shame I suffered dire poverty. In all this I trusted my Father's infinite goodness. Direct your spirit accordingly."
The Flowing Light of the Godhead Page 10