The Dialogue

How pride reigns among these ministers, by which they lose their knowledge ; and how, having lost their knowledge, they fall into the sin of seeming to consecrate, while they do not really do so.

" I WILL now speak to thee of the third column — that of pride — which I have placed last, for it is both last and first, for all the vices are flavoured with pride, as the virtues all receive life from charity. Pride is born and nourished from sensual self-love, of which I said to thee, that it was the foundation of these three columns, and of all the evils which are committed by creatures, for he who loves himself with disordinate love, is deprived of My love. and not loving Me he offends Me, because he does not observe the commandment of the law, which is to love Me above everything, and one's neighbour as one's self. This is the reason why those who love themselves with a sensual love neither serve nor love Me, but the world ; for neither sensual love nor the world have conformity with Me. There being no conformity between Me and the world, it must needs be that he who loves and serves the world with sensual love, should hate Me ; while he who loves Me truly hates the world. For this reason My Truth said : ' No one can serve two masters, for if he serve the one, he will not content the other' See then how self-love deprives the soul of My love, and clothes it with the vice of pride, whence through the principle of self-love is borne every kind of sin. I grieve over this in all My rational creatures, but particularly in My anointed ones, who ought to be humble, not only because every one should possess the virtue of humility, which nourishes charity, but also because they have become the ministers of the humble and immaculate Lamb, My only-begotten Son. Are they not ashamed, and for that matter should not the whole human race be ashamed, when they see Me, God, humbled to man, giving you the Word, My Son, in your own flesh ? They see My Word eagerly humbling Himself to the shameful

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death of the cross, in obedience to My commands. His head is bent to salute you, His crown is for your adorn ment, His arms are open to embrace you, His feet are nailed, so that He may never leave you, and thou, oh ! wretched man, who art the minister of this generosity and humility, shouldest embrace the cross ; but thou fliest it, and embracest instead impure women. Thou shouldest stand firm and stable, following the doctrine of My Word, nailing thy heart and mind to Him, and thou swayest about for every cause like a leaf before the wind ; if the wind be prosperous thou movest with disordinate joy, and if it be adverse thou movest with impatience, thus drawing forth the marrow of pride, which is impatience, for whereas the marrow of charity is patience, the marrow of pride is im patience, wherefore proud and angry people are disturbed and scandalised at everything. Pride is so displeasing to Me, that it fell from Heaven when an angel became proud ; pride did not rise in Heaven, but fell to the depths of Hell, wherefore My Truth said ' that he who should exalt himself (that is, by pride) should be humbled, and that he who humbled himself should be exalted.' In all people pride is displeasing to Me, but more so in My ministers, as I have said to thee, for I have placed them in a humble position to administer the humble lamb ; while they do just the contrary. How is such a wretched priest not ashamed to be proud, when he sees Me humble to you, giving you My Word, My only begotten Son, to be humbled, through obedience to Me, to the shameful death of the Cross, of which Word He has been made the minister. My Son bows His head, and this wretch lifts his head against Me and his neighbour, and from the humble lamb that he should be, he has become a ram with the horns of pride, butting against every one he meets. Oh ! unhappy man, thou dost not reflect, thou canst not escape Me. Is this, then, the duty that I have laid upon thee, to butt against Me with the horn of thy pride, injuring Me and thy neigh bour, turning against him with ignorant injuries ? Is this the mildness with which thou shouldest celebrate the body and blood of Christ, My Son ? Thou hast become as it

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were a wild animal without fear of Me. Thou devourest thy neighbour and livest in quarrels and hast become an acceptor of creatures, accepting those who serve thee and are useful to thee, or others who please thee, because their life is the same as thine, whom on the contrary thou shouldest correct, despising their sins, but thou rather givest them the example of doing what they do and worse also. If thou wert good, thou wouldest correct them, but inasmuch as thou art evil, thy neighbour's defects do not displease thee, and thou lettest him be ; it is the humble and virtuous poor whom thou despisest. Thou fleest them and reason ably, though indeed thou shouldest not do so ; thou avoidest them because the stench of thy vice cannot endure the odour of their virtue ; thou deemest thyself insulted if thou seest My poor ones at thy door ; thou eludest their need of thy visitation, seeing them die of hunger rather than help them. And all this is caused by the horns of pride which will not bend themselves to a little humility. Wlvy will they not bend ? Because thou hast in no way cast from thyself self-love which nourishes pride, and therefore wilt not condescend to administer to the poor either thy temporal or spiritual substance without receiving something in return. Oh ! cursed pride, based on self-love, how hast thou blinded the eye of their intellect, that while they seem to love themselves and be tender to themselves, they are in truth cruel, that while they seem to gain, they are losing, and while they seem to enjoy delights and riches and great dignities, they are really in the greatest poverty and misery, for they are deprived of the riches of virtue and have fallen from the heights of grace into the depths of mortal sin. They seem to see, but are blind, for they know neither themselves nor Me. They do not know their own condi tion nor the dignity in which I have placed them, nor the fragility of the world, for if they did they would not make gods of themselves. What has deprived them of know ledge ? Pride — and they have thus become devils, having been chosen by Me to be earthly angels in this life. And they fall from the height of heaven into the depths of dark ness, and their darkness and iniquity are multiplied to such

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an extent that they sometimes fall into a sin of which I will speak to thee. Some of them are such incarnate devils that they often appear to consecrate, when they do not in reality, through fear of My judgment, and to free themselves from any bridle and fear of sin. Such a man rises in the morning from impurity, having passed the preceding evening in disordinate banqueting, he is obliged to satisfy the people, and considering his own iniquities, sees that he cannot cele brate with a good conscience ; wherefore he fears My judg ment, not through hatred of vice, but through self-love. See, dearest daughter, how blind he is ; he does not have recourse to contrition, with hatred of sin and a firm purpose of amendment ; he takes the alternative remedy of not con secrating. And the blind man does not see that his error and sin is greater than before, for he makes the congrega tion commit idolatry, causing them to adore an unconsecrated host, as if it were the body and blood of Christ, My onlybegotten Son, wholly God and wholly man. No ; the Host is indeed this when it is consecrated, but otherwise it is only bread.

" See, now, how great is this abomination, and how great the patience with which I endure it. But if they do not correct themselves, every grace of their state will turn to their perdition. What should the congregation do in order not to fall into such a snare ? They should pray under condition in this wise : ' If this minister has said that which he ought to say, I truly believe that Thou art Christ the Son of the living God, given to me as food by the fire of Thine inestimable charity ; and in memory of Thy most sweet passion, and the great benefit of the blood which Thou didst shed with such fire of love to wash away our iniquities.' By this means the blindness of the priest will not bring them into darkness, causing them to adore one thing for another, the guilt will attach to the miserable minister alone, the congregation will only commit a material mistake. Oh ! sweetest daughter, what prevents the earth from swallowing them up ? What prevents My power from turning them into immovable statues before all the people for their greater confusion ? My mercy. And I restrain Myself — that is

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to say, I conquer and restrain My divine justice by the force of My mercy. But these obstinate devils neither know nor see My mercy, but being blinded by pride think that their office is given them of their due, whereas in reality they have it only by My free grace."