Читать книгу Jeanne Guyon’s Apocalyptic Universe - Jeanne de la Mothe Guyon - Страница 9

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place; he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John. (Rev 1:1)

Jesus Christ expresses many hidden and profound mysteries in The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ reserves the right to show to his servants his mysteries. He gives his servants a gift to understand and a taste for this sweet and clear intelligence in Revelation. The book uses ordinary terms to write about things that are distant from ordinary reality However, Jesus Christ will make the message heard in the hearts of believers who read it.

John says that this book will describe what must soon take place. First, we understand that centuries for God are only moments. Also, this begins the revelation of what was to come from the birth of the church until the end of the world, but particularly what must happen at the end time. O strong and prodigious time that begins a new era which consummates all other times with mystery and rigor. God finds pleasure in revealing the mystery of all ages to the eyes of his servants and showing the effects of his power, so contrary to the thought and knowledge of human beings! O God eternal, Word of God, immolated Lamb, here is the day of your glory and triumph. Here is the time when the dragon will be chained for all time. Here also the time of the most horrible war and the strangest tempest of oppression on your servants. The dragon makes his last attacks, but you will defeat, O Lord Jesus, you defeat. Amen!

John says that these mysteries are made known by sending his angel. God uses two ways of revealing himself to his servants. First, God reveals himself in them and for them, so they reveal this to others. This profound revelation comes immediately and without mediation within the advanced soul. The soul discovers that she possesses a treasure, but she does not know how God communicated this to her.

The kiss of the mouth (Song of Solomon 1:1) reveals these secrets. John received the ineffable wedding kiss in the eternal generation of the Word from the bosom of the Father and his incarnation. Through the kiss of Jesus with his flock, the Word makes an indissoluble marriage with humanity. Jesus Christ paid for this painful kiss with his life, but it produced and gave birth and salvation to all Christians. John also revealed the eternal wedding of the Lamb in heaven with the ineffable and continual kiss of the Word to human beings. God revealed this kiss in heaven where the slain and immolated Lamb enjoys the glory of his immolation.

Secondly, through his angels God sends demonstrated knowledge regarding his kingdom and church in distinct and exterior actions for all of the centuries. This manifestation reveals exterior matters of the actions and reign of Jesus Christ and the destruction of the devil’s empire.

These two forms of revelation, God gives to souls of high degree, as he also gave to the patriarch Joseph in his dreams with power to interpret exterior events. Many people have mediated revelations, without having unmediated revelation. Unmediated revelation with the direct communication of God to the soul are much more perfect. Some have both types of revelation and this is the consummation of all revelations.

Who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. (Rev 1:2)

John speaks of himself in this scripture and gives testimony both to the Word and actions of Jesus Christ. We also must give testimony in believing, confessing, and obeying the Word as we imitate the actions of Jesus Christ.

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near. (Rev 1:3)

Those who read and hear these words of Jesus Christ are very blessed. They read in Jesus Christ his virtues. Having this benefit, they keep them his words in their heart and practice them in their actions. For the time for fulfillment of these words is very near, both in the church in general and in the very soul which has the happiness and blessing of this.

John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne. (Rev 1:4)

John sends these messages both to the churches and to all the faithful. He wishes us the grace, peace, and tranquility of Jesus Christ, the eternal Word, who was at the beginning and who is in the present. He is to come without end and without interruption in eternity.

The seven premier angels stand in the glorious presence of the Lord, ready to serve him with the grandeur and elevation of God. As soon as Jesus Christ reigns absolutely in the soul and establishes his throne there, the soul also has the blessing of seven spiritual gifts. The seven spiritual gifts include the Spirit of the Lord, wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:1–2).

You, Jesus Christ, are the first who found birth in the bosom of death and found immortality in the tomb. The sepulcher has become a cradle for eternal life. You communicate this new birth with life and immortality to all who are happy enough to follow you! You, the first of the predestined and first to rise from the dead, alone can justify. You are the King of kings, the Prince of the kings of the earth. All power is contained in you and only through you can we reign. You are the One who loves us, O Jesus, with an excessive love, and with this love you surrendered yourself to death in order to raise the dead and deliver us from a second death. As the spiritually dead were full of the filth and corruption of their sins, you have washed them with your blood. And not only to wash them, but to cleanse their sins but those of a thousand worlds.

And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Rev 1:5–6)

To all these infinite graces, you have added new ones: you have been made our King and we are part of your kingdom. You exercise on us your sweet kingdom and we are subject to it. You make us reign as kings ourselves and of all other creatures. It is in reigning, O Love, we are perfectly subject to you.

You made us priests and we sacrifice ourselves and all creatures to your supreme power. You have made us priests in the most transcendent way, giving us the power to sacrifice to you incessantly, and to benefit from your immolation. These priests are priests of God the Father, since they offer the same sacrifice of his Son, that his Son himself offered, who as the great Priest of the order of Melchizedek, has sanctified all sacrifices.

To him be glory and dominion in all things, because he is the author of all things, a sovereign kingdom over all people as well as other creatures! We voluntarily submit to your kingdom so that he reigns in us and over us, Amen!

Look! He is coming with the clouds;every eye will see him,even those who pierced him;and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.

So it is to be. Amen. (Rev 1:7)

O Love, you are always ready to come, and the scripture says well, Behold for his presence comes. He comes, O human, to knock on our heart but we do not receive him! But happy times, very fortunate century, century closer than one thinks, you come, and you will come, the Bridegroom of our souls comes. Yes, he comes, and nothing is more assured. And how do you come, O God? With clouds, in the sacred darkness of faith. Every eye, that is to say, all understanding will discover and see in the naked darkness which he chooses for his hiding place. The times are coming when all people will become interior and embrace the light of faith. All will convert and believe in him; all will adore in spirit and in truth. Those who pierced him are those sinners who have lost their baptismal grace and yet after the greatest crimes will convert. Every eye shall see. Yet Satan will stir up the Antichrist to destroy all living people on the earth, but the slain Lamb will be their defense. The time for vengeance on the demon will arrive and he will lose the power to harm people. Then all tribes of the earth, without any exception, shall shout from joy when the Lamb’s strength appears. He will be admired with joy and astonishment by all people who experience this happiness. There is nothing truer or more assured. O happy and blessed time, you are closer than we can imagine! But before this time, O God, be assured, that there will be persecutions and reversals. You know this, Lord Jesus. Amen!

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Rev 1:8)

The Word is the beginning and the end. When the people asked Jesus, Who are you? Jesus spoke of being there from the beginning (John 8:25). He is the principle of all things because all was made by him. When he is our interior principle, we will be moved, led, and animated by him.

Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life (John 14:6). He describes three historical eras in this scripture. In the first age of the church, Jesus Christ is the Way with believers following in his footsteps. This was the century of the martyrs, as Jesus said to Peter, the first apostle of the church, Follow me! (John 21:22). Peter died on the cross, like his good master. They followed Jesus Christ as the Way.

The second age of the church is the one with Jesus Christ as the Truth. This is the age of confessors when they supported the truth with all their might through their writing and publishing.

The third age will come and is coming soon with Jesus Christ as the Life. He comes to enliven and make people interior. This age must last until the end of the world, until the time of the Antichrist. Jesus Christ desires to be present and to be the beginning and end of all his creatures. The universe, the church, and the soul will be consummated in heaven in the bosom of Divinity. This is the Lord who is and who will be always, and who lives within us in a very special manner. He is the Almighty because all power is given to him on heaven and on earth. He will show his power and his conduct will be elevated beyond human comprehension.

I, John, your brother who share with you in Jesus the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. (Rev 1:9)

Writing this apocalypse to all the faithful and all the church, John is our brother, since he is the first to be entrusted by our shared Father with his ineffable secrets. In his profound interior John has more access than any other to Jesus. He experienced in his interior what is then manifested to others. He participated with pain in the afflictions of Jesus Christ by accompanying him with faith to Calvary and then participated in Jesus Christ’s reign. John also participated in his patience by suffering all the persecutions from sinners with love and kindness. This great apostle was full of charity, because he had drunk in deeply the heart of his Master. Charity opened John’s heart (and not the spear of human beings). O heart of Jesus Christ opened before the eyes of John, what fires and flames did you throw into the heart of this great saint! John was persecuted, according to his own testimony, because of the word of God and for have confessed Jesus. He was not surprised that the same thing happened to him, and, to the contrary, he held this as blessedness.

I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.” 12 Then I turned to see whose voice it was that spoke to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands. (Rev 1:10–12)

The Spirit transported John, so he could be attentive to the great things that it pleased God to show him for the usefulness of the church. John describes all the circumstances. It was, he said, on the Lord’s Day, a day destined for repose and tranquility, of calm and peace. I heard behind me a great voice like a trumpet, so strong and loud that I could not ignore it. This strong voice was the voice of the Son of God who would be heard to the ends of the earth.

John must write what he sees to tell future generations as an infallible sign what must happen in the coming centuries, and in all the ages of the church, and within the individual soul. Asia is one of the largest parts of the world, a place of conquest for Jesus Christ, where the book must be taken into the seven cities of this part of the world.

Then I turned to see whose voice spoke to me, which shows that this vision was representative and outside of him. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks. These seven golden candlesticks are the seven spirits of heaven and the seven gifts of the Spirit for the church.

And in the midst of the lampstands I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash across his chest. (Rev 1:13)

Jesus Christ is always in the midst of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, and where he lives, the seven gifts are found. The long robe represents his purity and innocence and the golden sash signifies his love.

His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire. (Rev 1:14 )

His head represents his superior part; therefore, the whiteness signifies his integrity. His hair was also very white, to signify his simplicity and purity of thought, as well as his antiquity. He is as eternal as God, although he came into time as a man incarnate by taking on a mortal body. His eyes were like a flame of fire because the Word is the knowledge of the Father. He is the eye and strong as the Word. But love made him change his figure and take a human soul and body with eyes and organs like ours, whose knowledge has rapport with ours, although it is under his hypostatic union. As his love made him take this form, his eyes appear like fire, for us to understand that he is light and heat. He does not only enlighten us but warms us with his love. His eyes also represent Divinity. The mutual and reciprocal gaze of the Father and the Son produces a love as great and infinite as this gaze. God gazes upon us with love.

His feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters. (Rev 1:15)

The Son of Man’s feet of polished bronze represent his humanity. When hit, the sound of bronze is the cry of all the sins of the world. On him fall the blows of our sins. The furnace of his Divinity composed of fire and flames made his feet of fire as he walks to us out of love to save us. His voice is like the sounds of many waters, strong and full, because by his Word strong and profound graces are given to us. He is like a river that sprinkles and floods the whole soul, making it fertile.

In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force. (Rev 1:16)

The seven stars are the gifts of the Holy Spirit that he distributes with grace to humans. He gives us knowledge about himself according to the different capacity of souls. In his hand he holds all the graces that save humanity. The sword of his Word has two sides to cut off sin and everything that is opposed to his work. The sword cuts away all that is in us of Adam that has insinuated itself into the soul. His face represents the glory of his beautiful soul in his hypostatic union.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last.” (Rev 1:17)

As soon as you appear to us, O my divine Savior, humans fall as though dead because all that is within us of Adam dies. We need to die so that we give place to the new Adam and let the new Adam do his work. But we are not to be afraid because he places his right hand on us and supports our soul. When it seems that all is going to die and end in disaster, we find a greater salvation, a stronger life, and more assured support. Do not be afraid, he says to the soul, because I am the first and the last. “It is I,” he says, “that you find when you enter into the Way. You also find in me the last consummation. I said that it was good that I go away, and that is the beginning (John 16:7). The soul must lose sight of my first coming and that she must lose the light and feeling of me for a long time. So this new revelation appears entirely extraordinary and frightens her all the more, because she has lost the sight of me for a long time and also because my second advent is very different from the first, because now she has rapport with me. I am therefore the beginning and the end of all things. Whoever is the first among the saints is also the last, because all their holiness is found contained in me. Everything is reunited.”

And the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades. (Rev 1:18)

O Word of God! You are the One who is. You are the Principle of all beings. There is no being who does not emanate from you. You have life in you, and nothing has life that does not participate in your life. However, even though you are the essential life who came into the world only to give life to humans, you had to suffer death. As you were immortal by nature, you wanted because of your generous love and charity to take a mortal body so that you could destroy death in us by submitting to death. Therefore, you were dead, O Essential Life, you submitted to a voluntary death to deliver all humanity from a necessary death. You have been among the dead, but you are now living to die no more, and you have entered into all your rights. You have destroyed death by your same death that appeared to leave you destroyed. Instead, you destroyed death and received essential life in your womb. You were given death and rested in full life. My Savior holds in his hands the keys of Death and Hades. O Love, if you close a door, who can open? If you open, who can close? Opening and closing are done according to your will. But I say that the soul trusts you has a singular advantage because no one is put into hell without you opening the door. You close this door for those who trust in their own merit and you open your breast to those who recognize themselves as unworthy.

Now write what you have seen, what is, and what is to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. (Rev 1:19–20)

Jesus Christ again called to John to write all that he has seen. Revelation shows what Jesus Christ has said and done since his resurrection. John is not only writing what is to take place but what Jesus Christ is speaking.

These words of Revelation are admirable. We see well the dignity of the pastors since Jesus Christ himself compares them to angels who are in his hand like stars to enlighten and guide people. What virtue and wisdom do we see in them? We have to watch them as brilliant stars, like distinguished lights in the sky of the church? If pastors are like stars, the faithful who compose the church, must be in a perfect union, as they are like a golden lampstand that it to say in love, burning like fire and illuminated with the same light.

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands: “I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance. I know that you cannot tolerate evildoers; you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not and have found them to be false. 3 I also know that you are enduring patiently and bearing up for the sake of my name, and that you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” (Rev 2:1–4)

Revelation tell of the faithfulness of God towards us and the faithfulness that he requires from us. We see the contrast between the purity of God and the impurity of the creature. The pastors can see the greatness of their obligations to their ministry. God will ask an accounting of their virtues, such as love toward their flock and their pastoral zeal. The faithfulness of God is admirable in how he gives his servants knowledge of the defects of souls and his exactitude in accounting all the good that they do. But also, what faithfulness does he require in the soul, what purity does he ask, since his divine light would find obscurity and impurity even in the Sun?

For finally, there is nothing, it seems, more virtuous than this pastor and church, according to the description that the Savior himself makes. However, he reproaches him that he has abandoned the love he had at first. O Love, it seems to me, there are no followers to whom you should not make this reproach! Where are those who have conserved their first ardor? Alas! Where do you find them? They are very rare! In the beginning, it is only service and love; after that, it is only money and misery. We need to have ardor at the beginning, so we can love and serve, yet frequently this is imperfect. We must never tire of doing the will of God or leave God’s way because of pains, dangers, fears, uncertainties, and persecutions.

Remember then from what you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this is to your credit: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. (Rev 2:5–6)

Remember the state from which you have fallen. Who of us has the pure faith of our early belief? We need to repent and gain the faith we have lost.

Jesus Christ loves those who do not do actions of heresy, yet do not hate the people involved. Indeed, the more we experience trouble because of their false faith and deregulated morals, and yet have love for their person, we have zeal to pull them out of their mistakes by gentleness more than disputes.

Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers, I will give permission to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God. (Rev 2:7)

O God, you are the victorious victor and only through you can we conquer. You are, O Jesus, the Lamb victorious over the demon and nature. No one can conquer except in you and through you. But whoever will be victorious through the loss of herself will eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God. But what is the fruit from the tree of life? O Jesus, you give yourself to eat in communion, and the annihilated soul eats in her interior. She receives you as life. To the measure that we are lost in you, you become our life, food, and support. You are the tree of life in the paradise of my God, because you have life within you and all the saints live only in your life. You make all the blessed alive in your life and they live only the life that you communicate as you live only the life that your Father communicates. But it is for those who have an ear to listen and to hear God.

“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of the first and the last, who was dead and came to life. 9 I know your affliction and your poverty, even though you are rich. I know the slander on the part of those who say that they are Jews and are not but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Beware, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison so that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have affliction. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Rev 2:8–10)

God says many times that he is the first and the last, so that we understand that he is our animating principle and end. The same faith which tells us that he created us tells us that we desire to return to him. We use our strength to return to him as our end and the consummation of all perfection through unity. However, in this century, all who place on God all their hopes and desires, are called heretics and fools. O God, your judgments are different than those of people, as your ways are different from ours!

Jesus Christ is the first and the last, God and man, who being the first in the bosom of the Father is the last for humanity, as it says in the prophets, But I am a worm, and not human; scorned by others, and despised by the people (Psalm 22:6). He was dead, but now he is alive. We who share in his death, have hope to share in his life. O humans, who are in desolation and in death, think that he died for you and you live in him.

Is there anything more comforting for a poor afflicted soul? I know, says God, your affliction. I know you. Isn’t this the greatest consolation for you? I know your poverty, even though you are rich. What does that mean? It means that the greatest of riches is found in the greatest of poverty. A human who is deprived of all good, desires nothing and finds in her deprivation contentment, even though abandoned from all help and support. She consecrates herself all the more to God even with the estrangement that she feels and because of this possesses a treasure and immense wealth. Because the rich can desire something, they are neither contented or satisfied. But the poor of this type are perfectly content and full and have no care about anything. Without cares, they are perfectly rich.

But these people so peaceful and happy are not known to others because God hides them in his sanctuary from the eyes of others. Their holiness will only be known in eternity. They are slandered and condemned by all the world. They pass for the most miserable in the earth. But who persecutes and slanders them? Those who say that they are Jews and are not, that is to say, those who pass for devoted but place all their devotion in certain exterior ceremonies and persecute the humble and spiritual. But, O dear abandoned ones, O interior souls, O children of Abraham and the faith, do not fear what you are about to suffer. It will be for you an advantage. You will be persecuted like saints, who rendered to God a great service by their suffering with faith the slander against them. They fear nothing because they know that Satan knows well that his empire is never more destroyed than when souls work to let God reign inside them and to assist others to do the same. Satan arouses the strangest persecutions against them and will throw some of the God’s dearest children and most faithful servants into prison. Satan blinds the judges and the ministers of justice. He has the guilty pass as the most innocent. He makes those most attached to the church appear as enemies of the church, but we must fear nothing, but all of this will only be a test.

For ten days you will have affliction. These ten days signify the years in which you endure persecution, which will be designed for different souls. O poor interior souls, what you will suffer! The time will come when it will be a shame and confusion to be with God. Your afflictions are extreme but have courage! Be faithful until death and support your faith unto death for the interests of God for you will suffer. Do not lose your faith and trust. Your death will give you the crown of life.

Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Whoever conquers will not be harmed by the second death. (Rev 2:11)

There are two deaths through which we pass, the mystical death and the natural death. The mystical death gives Jesus Christ a place to conquer in us and through us. Whoever is happy enough to conquer by the first death, will not know the sadness of being harmed by the second death. The second death for them is both a pleasure and refreshment. It does not say that those do not die but only that they will not be harmed by the second death because this death will be for them a passage from death to life. But it takes a particular intelligence to hear this.

“And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword: 13 I know where you are living, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you are holding fast to my name, and you did not deny your faith in me even in the days of Antipas my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan lives. 14 But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the people of Israel, so that they would eat food sacrificed to idols and practice fornication. 15 So you also have some who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. (Rev 2:12–15)

Jesus Christ offers his name according to the state of the people to whom he speaks. To those who are in affliction and in death, he shows them that he has died and he lives, so that they may hope that they will have a most blessed life after they suffer a cruel death. But to this who tolerate heresy, O, he speaks only of his sword because it is the sword of his Word that destroys heresy. I know, he tells us, that you have kept your faith, even in a state of apprehension because one of the faithful was killed among you. However, this cannot please me because you suffer that Satan shares the age of the church, tolerating a mixture that is offensive to me. O God, your rigor is extreme!

Repent then. If not, I will come to you soon and make war against them with the sword of my mouth. 17 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it. (Rev 2:16–17)

O God, you give some of the hidden manna. What is this hidden manna but you? Your holy communion on the altar is the hidden manna. This secret and intimate manna lives within us. This manna is hidden in the darkness of faith. O all mysterious but very real Word!

You give us a white stone, which is no other than divine immobility where you confirm the soul in a most exquisite grace with purity and an inconceivable candor. There the soul is given a new name which is engraved on the white stone which shows a new life in God. The stone signifies permanence and the whiteness purity. In the Old Testament, new names were given to Abraham, father of all believers and souls of faith, to Sarah, and to Israel. In the New Testament, Peter and Paul received new names. This name only God himself can give because no other can put a person in this state. O grand and wonderful state! Who will understand this unless you experience it?

“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze: I know your works—your love, faith, service, and patient endurance. I know that your last works are greater than the first.” (Rev 2:18–19)

O God, the admirable expressions in this book! The fire coming out of his eyes shows knowledge and love of God the Father. The feet of brass show his humanity united with divinity, making such great fires capable of engulfing a thousand worlds. However, where are those who let themselves be ignited with fire? Alas! We are all ice even with such a great conflagration.

Conformity with the qualities of which Jesus Christ speaks about is admirable. He speaks here with a pastor of high perfection and ardent love, encouraging him to persevere in the imitation of God’s extraordinary love. But for what does Jesus Christ praise this great pastor? For his faith, because the measure of his faith is the measure of all graces, and exterior and interior advancement. As you have believed, so let it be done for you, says Jesus Christ (Matthew 8:13). Next, he praises him for his love. Faith and love are companions. Where there is much faith, there is much love, and where there is a much love, there is a much faith. But also, where there is little faith, there is little love, and where there is little love, there is a little faith. We measure our love by faith.

But how do we know this faith? By a general, continual, and persevering abandonment in both the interior and the exterior, which even the most distressing states do not cause us to turn back. Confident faith and a full trust remain even in its apparent loss. We never change our way, even with the biggest disasters. It is then that we know the solidity of our faith and the truth of our love.

This angel praises his patience in suffering his injuries while in service and his faithfulness to serve as a true pastor. But mainly the angel praises that his last works are much greater than the first, and that his vigilance is much stronger at the end than at the beginning. O, where do we find such pastors? They are very rare!

“Yet I hold this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, who teaches and misleads my servants to play the harlot and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I have given her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her harlotry. 22 So I will cast her on a sickbed and plunge those who commit adultery with her into intense suffering unless they repent of her works. 23 I will also put her children to death. Thus, shall all the churches come to know that I am the searcher of hearts and mind and that I will give each of you what your works deserve.” (Rev 2:20–23)

But, O Pure Love, O Divine Exactor, from whom nothing may be hidden, what reproaches do you give to your pastor, to which you have given such great praises? O God, with your purity, all other purity is impure! O pastors, governors of the flock of Jesus Christ, your call is strong, and what an accounting you will have to render. It is not enough for you to be holy yourself, but for others to also be holy. And God is not content that you banish these types of sins from your heart, but that you banish them from your church and from the middle of your flock. Sins such as fornication and adultery rob God of the honor we give him.

We must give God honor because otherwise we have a fornication of the heart and an adultery of the spirit. This is a thousand times more dangerous and evil than that of the body because it removes our heart and spirit from God to whom they belong uniquely. Once removed, they prostitute themselves to idols or to infamous creatures.

This miserable Jezebel signifies the corrupt nature taking the spirit away from the attachment to God to engage in disorderly and brutal desires. God invites us to repentance. But in his desire to save humanity, and seeing that his invitation is nothing to them, what does he do? He stops them and puts them in a sickbed with infirmities and diseases. This is the ordinary way of God to bring people back through their mistakes, diseases, and afflictions. This brings the person back to his duties and obliges him to necessary repentance when he did not embrace God’s will voluntarily.

God assures us that he is the searcher of hearts and minds. O Lord, you are the judge of all! Ah, we are blind about ourselves! We hide our true heart under another heart. We cover ourselves with worldly excuses and hide our wrong intentions. We act out of self-love and yet persuade ourselves and others that we are working for God. However, God gives each of us what our works deserve. Those who have a great multitude of works and hope for a great reward will be astonished to see that God, who searches the hearts and minds, will find these works empty. Our works are not counted by their number but by their goodness. That is why they are weighed on the scale and not by numbers. O how the world will be surprised! Those who have a great number of works and have worked well will be found without works. Others that have seemed very useless will have a heavy weight of good works. O God, it is very good that you have a reason to reserve for yourself justice in all things!

“But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call ‘the deep things of Satan,’ to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden; 25 only hold fast to what you have until I come.” (Rev 2:24–25)

God is wonderful, for though he seems to reproach this good pastor for what is done in the church, God promises him that he will not carry the burden of the iniquities of others. Since God is exact and pure, he is full of goodness and compassion for the weakness of creatures.

He adds, Only hold fast to what you have, that is to say, hold on to my grace so that you persevere in faith, love, patience, and service to the flock. My God, you are admirable! You beautifully soften the wounds that you seem to make.

“To everyone who conquers and continues to do my works to the end, I will give authority over the nations; 27 to rule them with an iron rod, as when clay pots are shattered—28 even as I also received authority from my Father. To the one who conquers I will also give the morning star. 29 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” (Rev 2:26–29)

God reserves a wonderful advantage for those who conquer by the interior death, in which all is destroyed, because the believer does not rest in propriety. In this soul, Jesus reigns solely. The souls faithful to Jesus give him all the glory of the victory, without attributing anything to themselves. This is good justice, because he only has the victory in us. This shows that nothing in this world, either exterior or interior, has been able to prevent this victory in those emptied and annihilated souls. These people who do not oppose Jesus in anything are quite rare! I will give them authority over the nations.

They have authority over the nations in many ways. First, they have very great authority over both souls and bodies. Secondly, they have authority over themselves, because they no longer find resistance to Jesus within themselves. Thirdly, because they are annihilated, God frequently uses them for the governance of his church. God makes these people pastors, when the church seems at the height of destruction.

We must see all the circumstances. God wants souls to faithfully keep his will to the end, that is to say, they become united at their end and he gives them power among the nations. As he has said, To rule them with an iron rod, with authority so strong that nothing can resist it. Because these souls are annihilated, they have not a rigorous authority, but they have divine power. They dispose of things as it pleases them and reveal even things that are most interior and hidden. This makes it clear that divine power is communicated to them. As Jesus Christ says, I received authority from my Father. The same power is communicated is to them. The same power I have received from my Father works in them.

Jesus Christ adds, I will also give them the morning star. The star of the morning precedes the dawn. The morning light brings pink light and this rosy light falls almost as soon as it is lifted. These people have a right and advantage that God gives them, that is, when they instruct docile souls in the interior way, the true spirit of Jesus Christ. Like a beautiful dawn, Jesus Christ does not fail to shine in them the beautiful day of his grace. Like a beautiful rose, he sends at the same time into hearts a very abundant consolation and divine unction. It is the same star of the morning, which announces the day to the travelers who want to walk in the way of perfection.

“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your works; you have a name of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God.” (Rev 3:1–2)

How many of these pastors are dead but appear to be alive? They are dead lacking the vigor and life to keep their flocks. Also, they are not animated by the interior Spirit and pure love. Through their actions they seek the vain illusion of reputation.

Whoever has the Spirits of God, the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and the seven stars of divine lights, discovers what is most hidden. They find the One who reveals that you were dead, although you appear alive to all others. Wake up to get out of this death. Strengthen what remains and let those escape the debris that your lack of vigilance has caused. Strengthen them, so they do not perish like the others because they are on the point of dying through your fault. How many negligent pastors are there, from whose hands the wolf takes away the sheep? It is quite a horror to eat the butter and milk of the flock, and to be clothed with their wool, but not to keep, defend, and support the flock.

Remember then what you received and heard; obey it, and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. (Rev 3:3)

As the evil of this pastor is personal, he must repent. A true repentance is to do the contrary action changing what was done before. The pastor should now watch for the source of the evil and fill the fold with good dogs who take away the power of vice. God asks for specific remedies, but they cause pain while healing. This is what the repentance of God asks for with justice. O negligent pastors, who should be attending! The Master will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. But who do you think he will take away? It will not only be your flock exposed to danger for a lack of a vigilant pastor, but it will be yourself. He will ask you for your soul and the soul of your brother.

“Yet you have still a few persons in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes; they will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 If you conquer, you will be clothed like them in white robes, and I will not blot your name out of the book of life; I will confess your name before my Father and before his angels.” (Rev 3:4–5)

All towns have some holy people. Frequently the most corrupt places have the greatest saints. Have not soiled their clothes is to have not lost the grace of their baptism, which is a great advantage. Those who are walking with Jesus Christ in white clothes include those who have not been unfaithful since their conversion.

Those who conquer have been entirely destroyed, died, and annihilated, where the new Adam has conquered and destroyed the first Adam. They are restored to the first grace more perfect than the state of innocence. According to Paul, our redemption is abundant and superabundant, and restores human beings to its first state with all the advantages this has. Otherwise, redemption would not be equal to the grace of creation, so it would not be abundant. The soul in whom the grace of redemption has expanded receives the state of innocence more perfect than the first. Those who have conquered in him and through him participate in his happiness. This is why their robes are white because they are dressed in vestments of innocence, their name will never more be blotted out of the book of life and they will never have mortal faults anymore. Jesus Christ has confessed them, he has recognized them before God the Father as his own. He receives them as adoptive children, heirs of God, and coinheritors of Jesus Christ.

“Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” (Rev 3:6)

We need to have divine intelligence to understand these things and not be scandalized by them. O God! In this century the greatest truth passes for errors and blasphemies! Those who speak these truths are hated and contradicted by creatures. Instead, crimes, folly, and garbage pass for gallantries. And your servants, O Lord, become infamous! They are esteemed as rubbish of the world because they support your name (1 Cor 4:13). O, the derangement, perversity, and corruption of this century! We are ashamed to be with God. Those who in the past centuries were saints now pass for infamous. They are regarded with indignation. It seems, my God, that you are blind, or that you do not know all things. You see them and conceal them to test the patience of your servants.

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens: 8 I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but are lying—I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you.” (Rev 3:7–9)

This is the only pastor for whom he has no words of reproach. The pastor has but little power, but God has made the pastor strong. Because he has no strength in himself, he finds all his strength in God. What qualities does Jesus regard well? Holy and true qualities. Because the good pastor was perfectly annihilated, all his holiness was in God. Jesus is holy for him. He praises him primarily because of the two qualities for which Jesus has regard: holiness and truth. Jesus promises him souls, this being the highest reward that a pastor like this can claim in this life. Because he has no propriety, his only interest is God’s interests and only desires to win hearts for Jesus Christ’s kingdom. They will bow to your feet, says God, acknowledge their fault, and discover by experience that they will receive graces through you, and know how much I love you. The greatest sign of the love of God is to want to serve him to win hearts.

The holy and true God says to his servant that he has the key of David. This key is his incarnation, by which he is born of David according to the flesh to open to all the predestined. It is Jesus Christ who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens. What is this opening? Jesus Christ through his incarnation has the key of David and opens the heart of God the Father. If he does not open God’s heart, no one can ever enter there. But when he has once opened it, nothing in the world can close it. He opens the door to his servants, so they can enter and hide with him. So then the pastor without being pulled from his union with Jesus Christ acts entirely for his neighbor and make thousands of converts.

Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. (Rev 3:10)

Kept my word of patient endurance is to suffer because of the will of God. When we suffer like this, we still have a way to keep the word of patience. God talks to the soul, filling it with well-being. David says, Do not keep silence toward me (Psalm 28:1). For as God waited a long time for the soul, she waits for God. Persevering in her patience, she keeps the word, doing all God’s will. And God as the author rewards her faithfulness and keeps this soul himself at the time of trial. O, a soul kept in this way is well-guarded! When the whole world succumbs to the temptation, she is well-guarded.

In some centuries, men are so full of corruption that they try to corrupt the saints. The time of the martyrs was one type of temptation and strong persecution. The history of saints has many examples of trials of this sort. In our century a trial happens when the servants of God are persecuted and afflicted continually, despised of people. The world treats them as the manure of the ground. The martyrs were all the more esteemed because they resisted more strongly. Yet in our time, the closer they are to God, the more they are despised.

Some saints though resisted pain but could not resist the temptations of pleasure. God permits this to test us. In temptations of pleasure, physical nature and demons are joined together, which makes this more difficult to conquer. We recognize them as demonic.

But alas! Where do we find this who are faithful to bear this trial? Out of ambition, everyone wants to please others and gain credit. They work to establish himself on the ruins of his brother. We do not bother to please God or to be esteemed by him, as long as we please humans, and they return esteem. We want only the world’s values. We do not look at the virtues of Jesus Christ, because the world condemns him. However, the true servants of God suffer outrages without complaining and calumny without justifying themselves. These are those that God keeps with a particular protection in the hour of trial.

“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12 The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name.” (Rev 3:11–12)

My God, what a wonderful mystery! Jesus Christ assures the angel that he is coming soon. We must keep what we have for this time.

Jesus Christ also comes soon to souls of high degree by the mystical incarnation, when he wants them to bear his own state. In calling out to Jesus Christ, these souls are already consummated and removed from the world that is unworthy of these people. We can understand this in two ways. First, God raises us by his goodness into this state, so we do not fail by our own fault. The second sense is that the soul is being reduced by annihilation. The most harmful temptation is under the pretext of duty or perfection, we leave our state. Instead, we must rest in this state. Otherwise, the crown will be given to another. The crown of crowns is that which is reserved for the state of annihilation. The annihilation of Mary was so great that the Word became her very crown.

Whoever will be victorious will have the advantage of being a column in the church unshakeable by its firmness. These people are the support of the church, although they are not always known for such. O God, you will that one day your servant will be this strong. Make your servant a firm column that will resist the shaking of the building. My God, support your church. Make the Spirit strong. Support your church and revive it in all its members. Join and unite all the lackluster members and give us all vigor and life. Support us, Lord. The demon opposes your kingdom with all his might.

This scripture says again here that God places the soul in divine immobility in himself and confirms that she will never leave. O happy state for this soul that she will never lose her God anymore! The name of God will be written on her, on her heart and arm, as was given to the spouse in the Canticles, when the Lord says, Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal upon your arm (Song of Solomon 8:6). The name that is engraved on this person is an entire consecration both exterior and interior. There is only God both inside and outside of this person. Jesus Christ also writes on her the name of the city of my God. He does this in two ways. First, Jesus Christ associates her with the number of saints and gives her all the characteristics of holiness which writes the name of the holy city of God on her. Secondly, he places in this soul all the traits and characteristics of the purity of the church. This soul is a small church but a church so pure and completed that all interior and exterior traits of Jesus Christ are expressed in this person. Then every facility is rendered for these external practices. Also, at the end of their days, these people after having been annihilated, will be the lights of the church. Because of this favor, all the nations will come to know the Lord.

Jesus Christ adds that he will write the name of the New Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven. What is this New Jerusalem? It is the church already formed that the Holy Spirit comes to fill. This Spirit is going to be spread on the church soon, soon, as it is written, You will all be taught of the Lord (John 6:45). How can there be signs of the Lord if they do not listen to the Lord, and pay attention to his voice? But if they listen, as David says, Let me hear what the God the Lord will speak inside of me (Psalm 85:8). When they listen, they will not fail to be taught by him. Because of this, the demon fights with all his might against prayer and loving attention paid to God. The demon inspires even shameful crimes done by those who call themselves people of prayer (like the Jews who called themselves Jews and were not) to persecute the people of God and to make the innocents look guilty. But after this tempest comes the lull, after the combat comes the victory. The Holy Spirit comes from God to fill all the creatures. This accomplishes the Word of the prophet Joel who says, I will pour out my spirit on all flesh (Joel 2:28). In the early church, the Holy Spirit came on the apostles and the general assembly. This Spirit though was not spread on all flesh, although it was spread on every soul there. There will come a time when the prophecy is fully accomplished with the Spirit spread on all flesh.

In another place, Jesus Christ says that he will give the victorious a new name. And in this scripture, he says he will write on them his new name. These two scriptures reveal two different experiences. In the first, the new name is given only when the soul has lost her self–centeredness through annihilation and she has passed into God. But here Jesus gives his name again, which is the name of Christ and Savior to use this person to save many souls. His name brings pure suffering that crucifies her with him. And these graces are reserved for very few.

“Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” (Rev 3:13)

It takes a profound intelligence to understand this. If there was only a natural sense hidden under these words, it would not be so often repeated. Who has ears, hear. But this has a high and profound mystical sense. Do not be surprised that this is so frequently repeated. O profound words, who will understand you!

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin of God’s creation: 15 I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:14–16)

No matter how poor a pastor, he is the angel of his church and it his title. But sometimes instead of being a guardian angel, the pastor is a seductive angel who makes people fall into the abyss. Jesus Christ states here his character. “I am,” he says, “the Amen, the true being. There is nothing outside of me. It is I who am the essence. All other beings only subsist in me or by me. I am. And everything that is not me is nothing.” Why the Amen? He has nothing to add here because when Jesus Christ says, “I am the One who is,” this is all that may be said of him affirmatively.

Jesus Christ repeats that he is the faithful and true witness. He also testifies to reveal the bad. This is why, being as exact as God is, it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31). So that it is not terrible for us, we must put all our conduct into his hands and act only by his motions and follow his Spirit. Then all our works will be done in assurance. He will be the faithful and true witness and he will not reject any of our works that he has made. I say he will have made them, since, he adds, he is the Principle of God’s creatures. All creatures are created by the Word and all life emanates from God and so all works may be looked upon as God’s works. We see Jesus Christ as the agent in these works. We only operate by dependence on Jesus Christ’s Spirit. Jesus Christ only is the power.

The reproach that Jesus Christ makes through John to this pastor is appalling. These lukewarm people are opposed to receiving the true Spirit of God, the interior Spirit. Their nonchalance toward God is so strong that they have no heat left, yet it seems to them like a conflagration. They do not comprehend the magnitude of this situation. The love that they have for themselves makes them believe that they are good and they do not doubt this. Everything said to pull them out of this state offends them. They look with blindness at others. They do not want to know Jesus Christ or to confess him. It is an evil almost irremediable because it is nurtured and sustained by their self-love. They prefer themselves and look upon sinners with disdain and contempt. In order to raise themselves, they condemn other who are burning hot and cold. Certainly these people are more opposed to receiving the Spirit of God than the worst of sinners. Jesus Christ says concerning them, I wish that they were cold because they would be easier to convert and would receive with humility what he gives. Or if they were hot, they would do what he desires. But because You are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. Ah, these are the most frightening words in the world! If you are vomited out, there is no hope, because we never take back what we vomited. A thing thrown out can be taken back, but a thing vomited can never be restored. O this is terrible! These words should cause us to tremble and fear for those living in this nonchalance. Even good souls can at times feel this tepid, but God only allows this for their purification. This is only an outside feeling while the heart still burns inside. Yet these lukewarm people think they are filled with heat, but instead are tepid.

“For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.’ You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” (Rev 3:17)

This is very strange that tepid people believe that they are richer in graces than others and believe they have prospered spiritually. They do not seem to need anyone, and they believe that everyone needs them. They would even force everyone to take their advice. The other good pastor mentioned before this one was poor in appearance, but infinitely rich. Yet this latter pastor thought himself rich and yet was poor in God and his graces. He is wretched because he only loves himself and can never be truly happy. The most essential elements of pure love, which include abandon to God, perfect surrender, submission to the will of God, and possession by God are missing. He is miserable because although he appears happy in his exterior, he is under cruel tyranny in his interior by the love of glory and the desire to be esteemed by others, although he is nothing. This is true that when people such as this pastor are shown the slightest contempt or have the slightest affliction, they are absolutely overwhelmed. They are poor and naked, entirely corrupted because not being clothed by Jesus Christ or animated by his Spirit, they are very poor and naked. They are blind, because being in the most wretched state possible, they believe they are doing well.

“Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich; and white robes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen; and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.” (Rev 3:18)

O Love, only you can communicate perfect love, which is the gold refined by the fire. Only you can put into our soul the spirit of faith, which is a very pure gold. Only you can place in us God’s principle for his creatures, which produces perfect works of love, which no fire can damage. Therefore, it is to you that we go to buy this gold. But what do you want us to give you for the price, since we are as poor and naked as this pastor? Come, he says, to me with or without money and without any price (Isaiah 55:1). He only asks that we give ourselves to him, that we abandon to him without reserving anything, so that he makes works full of value. It is he who gives us white robes of innocence and simplicity. He reveals this to the souls of his servants when he leads them to adoption as children. This dress of innocence repairs us and covers the shameful nudity of human nature, stripped of the original justice. Before the fall reduced the human being to this shameful nudity, people were clothed in the habit of innocence. With the fall, they knew they were naked. Therefore, we must go to Jesus Christ to be healed, so that he clothes us with himself. Without doubt, he repairs our simplicity and innocence which gives us advantages over even the first state before the fall. The grace of redemption surpasses the grace of creation, and repaired innocence must be more abundant than original innocence. If it were not, the church would not sing, Felix Culpa O happy sin! More can be read about this in Romans 5.

Furthermore, Jesus Christ invites us to go to him, so to speak, under the signs of wine and milk, of love and innocence. For love, he communicates advantages to us that Adam never had. We have complete innocence having washed our robe in his blood. We have been given the first whiteness with a new luster, as in Isaiah he had promised, Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18). Love is now incomparably more abundant. According to the thinking of the church, the apostles in receiving the Holy Spirit were confirmed in grace. This is not the same as Adam’s innocent state since he was sinning. Jesus Christ invites everyone to love and innocence.

He adds that he will put a salve for our eyes so we see clearly. This salve is no other than the Spirit of faith, which will infallibly deliver us from the blindness of our own reasoning and self-concern. We know then that we are poor when we had thought we were rich. We know then that we are nude when we thought we were clothed.

“I reprove and discipline those whom I love. Be earnest, therefore, and repent. 20 Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.” (Rev 3:19–20)

The greatest sign of God’s love for us is that God warns us of our faults. God reproves and disciplines us. As for those whom God does not love, he keeps their punishment for the day of his wrath. But for those whom he loves, he notes their slightest mistakes and reproves them. This is the advantage of prayer. An interior person has within herself a director who relates incessantly, a Master who reproves and chastises continually. It seems that God has no other point in situations than to correct the soul. This is the greatest sign of his love. We must then be earnest toward ourselves, to let God punish us with his strength. We remain with him while he punishes us.

“Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.” (Rev 3:20)

So if we hear him approach the door of our heart, we open to him and give ourselves to him without reserve. We consecrate ourselves to him. Jesus Christ enters us. But what is the way to hear his voice if we do not listen to him? O Love, you speak to the heart and you hear us because you are attentive to the voice of your creatures. Yet creatures are not attentive to you and do not discern your voice. They do not listen to you. But if creatures energetically remain attentive and listen to your voice, they will hear infallibly. The creature will hear that you will come to her which will surprise her because she did not expect such a singular grace.

But what do you say? Jesus Christ is not satisfied with only this. He admits those who listen to his banquet. He shares his feast and his caresses with her. She will be nourished and taste a food forever delicious. O Christians, who are born for such a great good, it is up to you to have this. Will you not be rigorously punished with justice, if you deprive yourself of this by your fault? We falsely believe that this is a grace reserved for very few people and that is it almost impossible to obtain. Yet eternal truth assures us that nothing is easier. What could be easier than to open to a person who stands incessantly at your door and knocks continually? To hear and listen to the One who always speaks? There is nothing easier. He asks nothing of us except to open and listen to him, so that he come in us, to be forever present and admit us to his feast, to eat with us, that is to say, to share our sorrows. We also eat with him that is to say, he shares his divine will with us. O the blindness of creatures is immense, that we may have such a great good and yet we refuse and use as an excuse that this is difficult! O, all we must do is reach out our hand! The blindness is great today. What has been the joy, praise, and glory of past centuries and will be in the future, is the shame, confusion, and ignominy of this century.

“To the one who conquers I will give a place with me on my throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.” (Revelation 3:21–22)

The throne of Jesus Christ is the heart of his Father, who has already given him the Word and will give this to him throughout eternity. Through Jesus Christ’s death and victory over hell and nature, humanity has been given the privilege of his Divinity. Whoever conquers over nature and demons through Jesus Christ will be received into God and will share his throne. Whoever has ears, listen to these things, and understand the goodness and mercy of God for his poor creatures and yet the ingratitude of his creatures who do not want to participate in his goodness and take the trouble to do this.

After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” (Rev 4:1)

After Jesus showed us the door of our heart, he opened at the same time the door to heaven, to show that he will open heaven to those who open their heart. This will come at a time in the future, where the person’s heart will be opened and God’s voice will be heard. O God, as much as you are misunderstood in this century, so much will you be esteemed and followed in future centuries!

At once I was in the spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne! 3 And the one seated there looks like jasper and carnelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald. (Rev 4:2–3)

Jesus Christ shows John the throne of God and the light of God’s majesty so to show the glory he prepares for his elect and to give us a sense of God’s holy grandeur. God is seated on this throne because his repose is never interrupted. This is One, but we cannot say more but because God has no form or figure and looks like the color of jasper and carnelian, which shows his immobility and immutability, the firmness and duration of his glory. The rainbow that looks like emerald signifies peace and reconciliation only found in Jesus Christ, as the rainbow signifies. These saved will have the advantage of this reconciliation through hope in the Divine Savior. This rainbow surrounds God as the mark of the humanity of Jesus Christ which covers his Divinity.

Around the throne are twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads. 5 Coming from the throne are flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and in front of the throne burn seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God. (Rev 4:4–5)

The twenty-four elders are the holy patriarchs and prophets, the most faithful and cherished by God. From antiquity they are the foundation of the other saints. God showed them to John to let him know the magnificence and the glory that he reserves for those admitted to his feast. The prophet-king David knew something similar when in his transport he exclaimed, O how great is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord, which thou hast hidden for them that fear thee! (Psalm 30:20). On these magnificent thrones the Son of Man will seat those who have conquered in him and through him. These thrones are reserved for those who leave everything to follow him, as Jesus promised to his apostles when he said, Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt 19:28). These elders also dressed in white robes show that they had been preserved or restored in their innocence by the future grace of Jesus Christ, whose fullness and fulfillment that had not had until after the death of the same Jesus Christ. They had crowns of perfect love. O God, what is a human, that you honor him with so many graces and so much glory! Eternal and immortal glory! But, O foolish human, who loses the divine and eternal will for a moment of pleasure which does not even merit the name of pleasure! O ambitious ones who want to be kings in this world, why do you not want to be kings in heaven? O great saints, you are the closest to God, because you look like to no other but the Son of God. You have been the most annihilated. This is why you surround the throne of the one who was annihilated himself, taking the form of a servant and slave. The measure of annihilation is the measure of glory. O David, you occupy one of the highest thrones. We must not doubt it, since it is said of Jesus, that he will possess the throne of David his father (Luke 1:32). Jesus Christ did not possess your temporal throne, though he came from your lineage. As David had been on earth the faithful imitation of Jesus Christ, David also imitates him more in glory than any other. The reign Jesus Christ has in David and that David possesses in him will have no end. We cannot comprehend the high degree of glory to which David has been raised through his profound abasement to which he was reduced. Those who are happy enough to participate in the annihilation of these great saints will share in their glory.

There are heretics who recognize many saints in the old law but do not want to recognize them in the new. Yet some believe there were no great saints in the ancient law, because Jesus Christ had not died and resurrected yet. Yet there were saints equally in the ancient law and in the new, all sanctified by the sight of Jesus Christ and the blood that he spread. Others say that we are no longer in the time of the saints, as if the hand of God were shortened. They condemn in the current saints what they admire in those who preceded them under the pretext that we are not in the century of saints. This is a horrible abuse. Let them learn that, although in this century malice is at its height, yet it will be the century where there will be the greatest saints which will continue into future centuries. God takes pleasure in making a multitude of innumerable saints in all times and places of the world. If there were no more saints, the world would perish because God only suffers the unjust because of the righteous. They support God in his works, even when they seem close to ruin. We will see this in heaven.

There are seven angels, superior to all the others, who are all light and flames, and are incessantly before the throne of God as lamps always burning to give homage to the sovereign grandeur. These Spirits are the closest to God who has coming out of the throne voices, light, and thunders. This marks the supreme majesty of God, his grandeur and his magnificence. O God, as Moses said who had seen the majesty of God, you are admirable, terrible, merciful, and compassionate (Exodus 34:6).

And in front of the throne there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal. Around the throne, and on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with a face like a human face, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. (Rev 4:6–7)

This sea in front of the throne signifies the extreme purity needed to reach the throne and unite with the saints and the church. Just like a few drops of water composes part of the sea, all are mixed, joined, and united into one. We no longer distinguish them individually, unless we separate them out drop by drop. This shows the unity of souls who arrive in God. They are all consummated in their unity, although each has its only small droplet. It is necessary that the soul be annihilated in God to reach his throne. The crystal sea shows the unity and purity of their souls.

The four living creatures, full of eyes are not only the four Evangelists, who have been filled with the knowledge of Jesus Christ, what he has said and done, so that they can announce it to all. They also signify the four states of the church and of his saints. The first, the lion is the state of saints who defended the church and the reign of Jesus Christ with force and vigor and with an invincible courage. These had been elevated and nourished by the lion of the tribe of Judah, Jesus Christ, who gave them an invincible strength. It was the time of the martyrs. The second creature is like an ox. This is the Spirit of the time of the confessing saints who made their voices heard to defend the church. The third represented a man. This is the time when the saints were employed only to imitate the exterior of Jesus Christ. These were the lives of solitary and anchorite saints who worked in exterior exercises of piety. And the fourth is the one to come which is that of the eagle, that flies over all the others. This is those to whom the interior spirit of Jesus Christ, is communicated. Everything will become interior. It is not that the martyrs did not have the interior, and all the four advantages, noted here. The confessors, the anchorites, and the interiors also participate in the strength and virtues of the interior. But it is because, although these qualities are peculiar to all, they have each excelled in the quality which is particular to them. They are full of eyes because they are full of light and knowledge. They have surrounded the throne of God.

Each creature symbolizes one of these well-known living creatures. We give John the eagle because he is flying higher than anyone else (Ezekiel 17:3). The eagle was in the bosom of divinity and drew marrow from Jesus by discovering through Christ’s humanity the benefits of divinity. The eagle has the overview of everything and takes the highest branch to plant it in fertile ground with abundant waters. He searched for what was most profound in Jesus Christ, his eternal generation. It is certain that the time will come that the purest lights will be discovered in the church. The earthly and animal will be gone, and all will be spiritual and divine. People will need the sun, like the eagle, for the pure lights that will be given to them. All animals have eyes but eyes proportionate to what they are. But the eagle has eyes that see without the dazzling lights of the sun. It is here that the special qualities of man are changed into those of an eagle.

These creatures mark the different states through which souls pass before arriving at the throne. The first stage is all fire, vigor, and courage, like the lion. In Psalm 34:10, David seems to compare himself to a lion, The young lions suffer want and hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. The second animal of ox was like David, when he said, I am become as a beast before thee: and I am always with thee (Psalm 72:23). Following this, we lose this quality of beast, and we become, it seems, all human. We have nothing, neither courage nor stupidity, and we lose this animal life and become entirely human. This is more painful than the others because the human is subject to evil and misery. This is the time of the desolation of the cross. But following this, we become an eagle. As much as we had been attached to the earth, now we become just as detached from the earth. It was this light that made David say, Who satisfies you with good as long as you live so that your youth is renewed like the eagles (Psalm 103:5). He also says, O that I had wings like a dove! (Psalm 55:6). This state removes the soul from the other three states because the first three hold something from the previous state. But this last state of great purity is entirely different and will come soon.

And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and inside. Day and night without ceasing they sing, “Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come.” (Rev 4:8)

The six wings of these animals are the means by which they ascended and fled to God. Two wings are understanding and faith, two wings are memory and hope, and two wings are will and love. With these gifts of knowledge and faith, remembering and hope, will and love, we are brought before the throne of God. Faith changes into certain knowledge, hope changes into joyful sight, and the will changes into pure love. The eyes all around and inside mark their exterior and interior illumination. Discovered and penetrated entirely by light, they are at home. They sing day and night without ceasing, which means they sing equally in the day of pleasure and the night of affliction, both in the state of interior light and darkness. They sing, Holy, holy, holy because in all time God is equally holy. They surround the throne to give the glory due because of his holiness. It seems that they say: “You only are holy. We know no other holiness but yours. Nothing is holy except you. We only desire your holiness. Because God only is holy, everything else is impure.” But where does singing of this type come from? Only from God’s holiness, and the desire that everyone recognize him as such. Jesus Christ is a lion, Prince above all others, and the martyrs show his courage. The martyrs give all their glory to the holiness of God. Among the confessors, he is a famous ox whose voice roared above all the others. Jesus Christ is also a human being among the solitaries and anchorites, or those who have a rank in the world. Also, Jesus Christ is the first among the interiors who held the first rank of eagle that will surpass all others in the elevation of their flight.

These four animals cry incessantly God is holy and God is also the Almighty. Because he is only holy, he alone can make saints. God was and is and is to come. Nothing has been, is, and will be except by God. O God, who is infinite glory, what can we give you, you who are infinite? As creatures that you support, we give you all the glory.

And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall before the one who is seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing, 11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Rev 4:9–11)

These four creatures give glory and thanksgiving continually to the One who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and forever because the Word has always been and will always be. All the saints will always owe the One much glory and gratitude because to the One is due all the glory of their holiness and sanctification. The Word gave himself for them and sanctified them with his blood. They recognize fully his superabundant and generous mercy.

The twenty-four elders who represent the most annihilated saints closest to God fall before him. This abasement of the body shows their entire being is annihilated before God who is everything for them. They give knowledge of God to all future centuries and show that the way to honor God is through their annihilation. They want to do in heaven what they did in earth. They cast their crowns again before the throne at his feet, to show that he is their king who reigns in them and on them, to continually govern and lead them. They have given him all the rights that they had in themselves and he reigns perfectly in them. And as King, they live in his kingdom. In this way, they glorify God as he wants to be glorified through annihilation and by giving him all their rights that they had in themselves.

They say to God, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power. No one is worthy of you. You are infinitely glorified in yourself and you must be in all your creatures. We owe you honor and homage as our only Sovereign, with all the kingdom and power.” They recognize that you are the only power and that you can do everything in them, for them, and by them. All the rest is only weakness.

For you created all things. You have created them anew, giving them a new being and life. All of this is done by your will and not by any merit that is in them to attract such a great grace. Created by your power, you renew them in your will. Everything happens in the divine will. When a soul abandons her own will, whatever that may be, she begins to enter a new state and into a new creation.

Then I saw in the right hand of the one seated on the throne a scroll written on the inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. (Rev 5:1)

This scroll is no other than Jesus Christ, the man-God. He is written on the inside and outside with the truth of God, which he came to bring to the world. Without him this truth would not be known. On the inside, as Word, he is the truth of God. On the outside, he is the scroll that all humanity must read. The truth has always been hidden in God. O God, you are the only truth, and humanity is full of lies. God creates this truth by generating his Word, because the Word is the faithful expression of himself. Only the Son can represent the Father. The demon is jealous that this truth is communicated to human beings and slipped into the world at the beginning in the lie. Because God is all truth and God only can produce truth in human beings, the demon is all lies and can only produce in human beings lies and vanity, contrary to the truth. So all truth is of God, and all lies and deception are of the demon.

The scroll was in the right hand of God because the Word is also all the power of God. As Matthew 28:18 says, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to the Word. In heaven, he is given power to express all the truth of God. On earth, he is given power to manifest this truth to human beings. As John assures us in John 1:14, they saw the fullness of his grace and his truth. But as human beings had lost the truth and substituted lies for it, Jesus Christ came to report truth to the world like a scroll written on the inside with all the interior fullness of God and all the truth of God. Written on the outside, the character of divinity is to be imitated by human beings. Then the truth was reestablished in the world, and the lie was chased away. The oracles of the devil, the father of lies, no longer stopped the truth from being revealed. And as Jesus Christ did not remain forever on the earth, after ascending into heaven, he sent the Spirit of his truth in our hearts in order to banish the lie.

This truth has permanently remained since that time on the earth. And where does this remain? In the church. But even though the truth remains in the church, individual people have often diverted and separated from this truth. The truth holds its seat in the three powers of the soul: in the understanding, memory, and will. Very frequently, faith is the only place where the truth lies. But we also need love and hope where Jesus Christ communicates his truth. There are in us, spirit and heart: the spirit is for the common and general belief, while the heart is to receive the anointing and the Spirit of truth, which is the interior Spirit. This is why Paul says in his writing, “The Spirit of truth has been poured into our hearts.” This is the interior Spirit given and received because as Jesus Christ is a scroll written inside and outside in truth, the church is a scroll written inside and outside in truth, and we too must be the same. We are to embrace the exterior of the church with its practices, services, and commandments with our faith. We are to let ourselves be led, moved, and governed through divine motion by the truth of the interior. We must be written inside with the truth and dive motion of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. And outside we must be written with Jesus Christ’s life, his example, actions, and maxims of all that he practiced externally. By doing this, we will be put in truth.

The scroll is sealed with seven seals because before being in the perfection and fullness of truth, we must pass through seven degrees or states and be filled with seven gifts of the spirit. Also, the world will also pass through them before the consummation of truth in the world. It is an admirable thing that the human being is like a little world in which God delights in drawing in miniature what he has done in the vast expanse of the universe. As God composed his body of natural things and elements, he also created the world and composed it of his Spirit and his interior in a like way that all is in the world, be it political or moral and spiritual, also happens in him.

And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. (Rev 5:2)

O God, there is no person in heaven, not even an angel or the greatest saint, who can open the scroll, and was worthy to do this. To open the scroll is no other than to open your bosom. Who can do that, O God, in heaven, on earth, or under the earth? Who is worthy to look into you? For though you show your heart to your servants, no one is worthy to look into it, and they cannot do it by themselves. Who can consider and discover Jesus Christ and his truth? O God, you alone can do this because by looking at your Word, you produce it. But who can look at you? Who can open your bosom and discover your truth? Who can break your seals, without which you remain always hidden and sealed, and never be manifested to human beings?

We also have in us seven failings that prevent the truth from being manifested in us. No living man or creature may break the seal, as no creature, not even the most perfect angel, can open the bosom of God and manifest his truth.

And I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” (Rev 5:4–5)

O John, are you weeping? What caused your tears will be your greatest joy. The joy of a heart that loves comes from the knowledge that all power is in God. Your tears come from your ignorance for when the mystery is disclosed, you will be filled with joy. One of the elders consoled you, and said, Do not weep because the strong and invincible Lion of the tribe of Judah of the immortal Root of David has conquered. He conquered the lie by his death to open the scroll in favor for humanity and to manifest his truth. O God, it seems that in our time the truth is once again banished from the earth and returned to heaven, with so little truth in this world! But the time will come by your strength and power alone, O strong and bold Lion, you will break the seal and open the scroll, and open the new. In breaking the last seal, you show your truth to humanity in a new way. O human beings, who are presently in the lie, the time is coming when truth will have all your glory and your light of day. In his own time, Paul complained that creatures suppress the truth (Romans 1:18). Truth is also held captive in the present time. But you, Lord, will free the truth, soon, soon. Before this happens, truth will be tied down by iron. People will believe that they have destroyed truth but suddenly the chains will be broken, the door of the prison opened, and truth will show itself to the people with more brilliance and will fill them with joy and pleasure. The redemption of Jesus Christ will reach all over the earth.

Then I saw between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders a Lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. (Rev 5:6)

Between the throne and the four living creatures was a Lamb slaughtered for the sins of the world. This Lamb without stain has erased all of our iniquities. He let himself be immolated as an innocent victim to send the truth to human beings and let it be manifested to destroy error and lies. The immolated Lamb washed the robe of human beings in his blood, covered them with his wool, and nourished them with his flesh. This holy victim without stain still lives in his immolation between the creatures and the elders because it is he who makes the happiness of all the saints and the consummation of all the states. O Lamb who was immolated and died for love, how do all people not die of love for you!

The Lamb has seven eyes and seven horns: the seven eyes are the lights of his Spirit and his truth. The seven horns are the abundance of his graces that he distributes to human beings. So it is said, that he was full of grace and truth (John 1:14). The graces are the horns and the truth the eyes. These truths are spread by the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and these spirits and these graces are sent out into all the earth and one day will be received throughout the earth everywhere. There will be one flock, one shepherd, one spirit, as Paul says, there is only One Spirit through all and in all (Ephesians 4:4–6).

He went and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne. 8 When he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell before the Lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. (Rev 5:7–8)

O Lamb, you took the scroll from the right hand of the One who sits upon the throne since you receive the truth from him in his eternal generation. You receive this truth for yourself from the One who begets you. But here, after your temporal birth, and after having been immolated, you receive from your Father the power to communicate this truth to human beings.

The living creatures and the elders fell before the Lamb to show their respect, joy, and recognition that the Lamb will manifest his truth on the earth. The Lamb will remove the chains that holds humanity captive. The harps they hold show their praise and the agreement of their will with God’s will, to which they have not the least opposition, difference, or contrariety. The golden bowls are the prayers of the saints. This shows well how the saints intercede for our brothers and sisters and present their prayers to have God’s answer. These prayers are in bowls of gold to show that these prayers come from the purest love. These prayers are well described as a perfume because the true prayer is that of annihilation. Just as the perfume comes only out of the destruction of the gum sap, our prayers come out of the fire of annihilation which devours us.

They sing a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and people and nation.” (Rev 5:9)

The soul in her consummation is placed in a state to sing a new song known only to God of deliverance and joy, of happiness and contentment. The soul did not sing before its perfect renewal. She did not even know she was to sing a song that looks at God only as now all the interests of the creature are perfectly annihilated. We can say nothing about this song except it is inexplicable.

They rejoiced that Jesus Christ is worthy to take the scroll of truth and open its seals that had been hold captive and to manifest it to all the earth. They praise him that he ransomed them and all humanity by the price of his blood because he ransomed them for God, so that they belong to God, removing them from the captivity of the demon and putting them in freedom of the truth. You ransomed them, O Lord, to manifest your truth to them, to all tribes, that is to say, all Christians and all people and nations. There will be no exceptions to this, all religions and all people, including the Jewish and Islamic faiths, and even the most barbarous, will be associated with the sequel to the kingdom of Jesus Christ. They will all receive the Spirit of truth, which will be spread all over the earth. We will see in eternity the wonderful inventions of providence to save all people.

“You have made them to be a kingdom and priests serving our God, and they will reign on earth.” (Rev 5:10)

The annihilated souls are kings because they reign over all creatures. They are in perfect contentment without subjection. They are priests who sacrifice incessantly to God a host of praises. They reign not only in heaven but also on the earth. Their reign as king begins in this life. O that the ambitious should have this noble ambition to rule in this way! Their reign would be full of peace, exempt from all trouble, chagrin, and worry.

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels surrounding the throne and the living creatures and the elders; they numbered myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 singing with full voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Rev 5:11–12)

The angels surrounded the throne of God and the living creatures and the elders. This shows two things. First, there are saints in the rank of angels and even higher than the angels. Except for the seven spirits, which are the seven lamps that are always in front of the throne of God, there is no hierarchy where there are not saints. These blessed spirits have an inexhaustible love for human beings. These innumerable holy spirits continually praise God before the throne according to the magnificence of the majesty of God. O God, your goodness is infinite! You are happy throughout eternity. However, as if you had not been fully satisfied with enjoying yourself, you wanted to create creatures who could participate in this happiness. You caused an increase in accidental glory, but not an increase in essential glory. You wanted not only to love yourself but to make yourself loving. This is the design of creation, to make creatures capable of loving you and enjoying you, and that you love and enjoy yourself. You wanted to extend outside what you do inside of yourself. In contemplation, you engender your Word. In loving, you produce your Holy Spirit. You have made everyone capable of contemplating and loving which is the ability that both angels and saints in heaven and human beings on earth have. You create your own Word in them. You love them and produce your Holy Spirit in them. Therefore, the end of creation is to make human beings who love and contemplate. However, some humans believe that loving and contemplating is an impossible thing for humans and so they condemn this. Actually, human beings love and contemplate naturally.

They sang in a full voice to be heard in all the earth, that the Lamb without a stain, who was killed, who was immolated for love, was worthy to receive sovereign power, which was due to him through his eternal birth as God. He is also due sovereign power as conqueror and victor through his death. The wealth of Divinity, that is to say the glory of God, is on Jesus Christ because his humanity is united with the glory of God. He is due wisdom because he is wisdom incarnate and full power. He is due honor, glory, and blessing for all and in all things.

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, “To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” 14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the elders fell down and worshiped. (Rev 5:13–14)

This passage helps us see two things, the reunion and harmony of all creatures who will one day give God glory due to him with a common voice. It is said, every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea sings, that is to say, everybody without exception.

All creatures praise God in their own way. There is not one from whom God does not derive singular glory. All God’s creatures recognize that honor, glory, and power are in him. All their praises are made in common accord with the angels and saints, all animated and inanimate creatures, on the earth and under the earth where the souls in purgatory are. The children of the furnace, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego invite all creatures to praise God (Dan 3:52). In Psalm 148, David invites all creatures to praise God. They understand that all creatures can give God a glory and praise that only God knows.

Then I saw the Lamb open one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures call out, as with a voice of thunder, “Come!” 2 I looked, and there was a white horse! Its rider had a bow; a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering and to conquer. (Rev 6:1–2)