Latest / Spiritual Dialogues of St. Catherine of Genoa / 026 - Part 2 Chapter 5

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026 - Part 2 Chapter 5 · Spiritual Dialogues of St. Catherine of Genoa

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  Speaker 1: Part two, Chapter five of Spiritual Dialog by Saint Catherine
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  Speaker 1: of Genoa. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: Recording by Anne Boulat Part two, Chapter five, soul, O Lord,
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  Speaker 1: what is that soul which thou holdest in such esteem,
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  Speaker 1: and which we value so little? I would that I
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  Speaker 1: knew the cause of thy great and pure love for
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  Speaker 1: the rational creature whom I behold so contrary in all
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  Speaker 1: things to thee. Our Lord listened favorably to her request,
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  Speaker 1: and thus replied, if you were to know how much
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  Speaker 1: I love the soul, you would never know aught further,
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  Speaker 1: for you would either die or continue to live by
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  Speaker 1: a miracle. And if you were able to compare your
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  Speaker 1: own misery with that great love and goodness which I
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  Speaker 1: never cease to exercise toward man, you would live in despair.
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  Speaker 1: So powerful is my love that the knowledge of it
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  Speaker 1: would annihilate not only the body but the soul of man,
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  Speaker 1: if that were possible. My love is infinite, and I
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  Speaker 1: cannot but love that which I have created. My love
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  Speaker 1: is pure, simple, and sincere, neither can I love except
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  Speaker 1: with such love to him who could in the least
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  Speaker 1: understand this. Every other love would seem what in truth
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  Speaker 1: it is an aberration. The cause of my love is
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  Speaker 1: only love itself. And because you cannot comprehend it it,
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  Speaker 1: be at peace, and seek not for what you cannot find.
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  Speaker 1: This my love is better comprehended by an interior sense
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  Speaker 1: than by any other way. And to acquire this the
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  Speaker 1: action of love must wholly detach man from himself, for
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  Speaker 1: he is his own worst impediment. This love destroys malice
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  Speaker 1: and fits man to understand the nature of love, Oh
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  Speaker 1: admirable work of love, which gives God to man, that
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  Speaker 1: he may do all that is needful to attain that
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  Speaker 1: perfection for which he is designed. God gives him too
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  Speaker 1: all needful light and grace, increasing them gradually in such
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  Speaker 1: a manner and to such a degree that they never
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  Speaker 1: fail and never exceed. For if they fell short, man
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  Speaker 1: might excuse himself from doing his part because grace was
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  Speaker 1: wanting to him. And if they exceeded, the work he
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  Speaker 1: might have done through their means but failed to do,
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  Speaker 1: would be his punishment. Grace increases in proportion as man
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  Speaker 1: makes use of it. Hence, it is evident that God
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  Speaker 1: gives man, from day to day all that he needs,
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  Speaker 1: no more and no less, and to each according to
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  Speaker 1: his condition and capacity. All this he does for the
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  Speaker 1: love and benefit of man. But because we are so
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  Speaker 1: cold and negligent in our endeavors, and because the end
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  Speaker 1: instinct of the spirit is to arrive quickly at perfection,
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  Speaker 1: it seems as if grace were insufficient. Yet it is
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  Speaker 1: not so, and the fault is holy ours in not
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  Speaker 1: cooperating with the grace already received, which therefore ceases to increase.
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  Speaker 1: Oh wretched man, how shall you be excused for failing
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  Speaker 1: to correspond with that great love and care which God
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  Speaker 1: has always bestowed and still bestows upon you. At the
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  Speaker 1: hour of death, you will behold and know all this,
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  Speaker 1: and you will then be speechless through astonishment. Then the
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  Speaker 1: truth will be made plain, and you will have no
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  Speaker 1: power to contradict it. Shame will overpower you for having
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  Speaker 1: failed to do your part in response to all this aid,
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  Speaker 1: this grace, this loving care of your Lord, who, in
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  Speaker 1: order to satisfy your other requests, speaks to you thus.
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  Speaker 1: End of Part two, Chapter five five