Latest / Spiritual Dialogues of St. Catherine of Genoa / 032 - Part 2 Chapter 11

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032 - Part 2 Chapter 11 · Spiritual Dialogues of St. Catherine of Genoa

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  Speaker 1: Part two, chapter eleven 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 Boulay, Part two, chapter eleven. Towards the
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  Speaker 1: close of this process, God came to her aid in
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  Speaker 1: a different manner. He sometimes revealed to her a ray
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  Speaker 1: of that glory towards which she approached. As the affections
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  Speaker 1: of the soul and the bodily sensations became weaker. This
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  Speaker 1: revived her so much, both interiorly and exteriorly, that it
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  Speaker 1: supported her for many days. For although she beheld it
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  Speaker 1: but a moment, the impression, without any renewal, remained within.
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  Speaker 1: And she saw that God held her spirit so fixed
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  Speaker 1: upon himself that he did not allow it to waver
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  Speaker 1: for an instant. The longer this continued, the more difficult
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  Speaker 1: it was to withdraw from it, the difficulty being too
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  Speaker 1: great for words to express. And this was by reason
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  Speaker 1: of that hidden spirit, which found itself drawn into greater depths,
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  Speaker 1: the higher it ascended towards God, and continually losing its
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  Speaker 1: own strength as it became more and more absorbed in God,
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  Speaker 1: who thus spake to the soul, the Lord henceforth, I
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  Speaker 1: will not have you interfere with my designs, for you
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  Speaker 1: would always rob me by appropriating to yourself what is
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  Speaker 1: not yours. I will finish the work, and you shall
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  Speaker 1: be unconscious of it. I will separate you from your spirit,
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  Speaker 1: and he shall be lost in my abyss. Humanity, on
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  Speaker 1: hearing this, was filled with consternation, and said, I am
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  Speaker 1: in misery. I do not live, and yet I cannot die,
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  Speaker 1: but find myself every day more and more oppressed. And
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  Speaker 1: as it were consuming away, when I beheld what it
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  Speaker 1: was to be centered entirely in God without a single
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  Speaker 1: moment's respite, and that I was myl the miserable creature
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  Speaker 1: who was to support this siege, And how very terrible
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  Speaker 1: it was my flesh was in torment. To remain thus
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  Speaker 1: steadily occupied in God without a moment's wavering is a
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  Speaker 1: thing for the blessed in Heaven, who lost to themselves
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  Speaker 1: live only in Him. Then I should live in this
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  Speaker 1: way upon earth, while my spirit is in Heaven. Is
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  Speaker 1: a work surpassing all that I have known, and is
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  Speaker 1: the most terrible suffering that can be endured in this world.
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  Speaker 1: It was shown to humanity that whoever would enter the
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  Speaker 1: life eternal without passing through purgatory, must die to this
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  Speaker 1: world while yet in it. That is, that all the
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  Speaker 1: imperfections of the soul must be so consumed that she
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  Speaker 1: may remain absorbed in God. But hearing thee weep o humanity,
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  Speaker 1: it is plain that thou art not yet dead, and
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  Speaker 1: thou must still live until thou findest life without impediment.
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  Speaker 1: When thy vivacity is all passed away and thy sensibility
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  Speaker 1: is weakened, thou wilt have less to endure. Thou wilt
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  Speaker 1: not anticipate thy sufferings afar off, as now thou dost
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  Speaker 1: with agitation, but wilt abandon thyself to God, not through
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  Speaker 1: the powers of the soul, nor through any instinct of nature,
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  Speaker 1: but purely because God has taken upon himself all these
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  Speaker 1: things and works so secretly and subtly, that he in
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  Speaker 1: whom the work is wrought is not himself aware of it.
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  Speaker 1: This God does that man may be sensible of the
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  Speaker 1: suffering inflicted on him, for otherwise he would feel it less.
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  Speaker 1: And if he comprehended what was going on, he would
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  Speaker 1: always be guilty of robbery, even if he were not
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  Speaker 1: led to it by his evil instincts, united to the
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  Speaker 1: bad habits hidden in the depths of his soul. But God,
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  Speaker 1: knowing that man could not live in so great an
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  Speaker 1: extremity if he did not provide for him, does so
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  Speaker 1: secretly end in various modes and times, according to his necessity.
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  Speaker 1: At first, the assistance is very evident, that he may
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  Speaker 1: with love persevere and form the habit of doing spiritual works.
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  Speaker 1: Then by degrees, God withdraws these supports whenever he finds
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  Speaker 1: the man strong enough to endure the battle, the greater
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  Speaker 1: strength he has at the beginning, the greater suffering he
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  Speaker 1: may look for towards the end. Although God always assists
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  Speaker 1: him according to his necessities, yet he does this far
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  Speaker 1: more secretly than openly, and never ceases but at death.
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  Speaker 1: End of Part two, Chapter eleven. End of Part two