CHAPTER 64

On the spiritual participation of merits.

AS THE Saint prayed for another person who had been devoutly recommended to her prayers, she commenced by asking God to allow her to participate in all the good which she might effect, however unworthy, by her vigils, her fasts, her prayers and other good works. Our Lord replied: “I will communicate to her all the favors which the gratuitous goodness of My Divinity has operated or will operate in you even to the end.” The Saint then asked: “Since Thy holy and universal Church participates in all the good which Thou dost operate in me, by me, and by all Thine elect, what particular advantage will this person receive from Thy bounty, in consequence of my ardent desire that she should share in all the graces which Thou conferrest on me?” Our Lord answered by this comparison: “Even as a lady of rank, who understands the art of skillfully arranging pearls and precious stones to adorn herself and her sister does honor to her house and her parents, and though she who is thus skilled obtains the greatest applause, still those whom she adorns are more admired than those who are altogether deprived of such jewels; so also the Church shares in what is granted to each individual; but they who have received them, and those whom they desire to participate in them, receive the greatest profit from them.”

Then the Saint told Our Lord that a person who had attended Dame Mechtilde in her illness complained that she had not attended her as she wished; above all, she grieved that she had not spoken to her about her soul as she had desired, fearing, if she did so, that she might incommode her. Our Lord replied: “She serves Me daily at My table, as a prince would his emperor, by the goodwill with which she so often served My spouse with such alacrity and liberality; for I take pleasure in all the services which she has rendered to her, whether by serving her with food and drink, or by soothing her sufferings by her words or actions. And as for the complaint which she makes of not having spoken to her often enough of spiritual things, I will supply for this Myself, as a charitable bridegroom, who, seeing that his bride from respect refrains from asking him for something that she ardently desires, grants double to her modesty. Furthermore, on account of the joy which she feels for all the favors which I have granted to My spouse, her soul will receive in Heaven an inestimable delight for all the graces which have been poured forth on her from the incomprehensible source of light. For as the rays of the sun, when they fall on the surface of the water, reflect themselves again on some other surface, so the brightness of My grace, which shines into the souls of those whom I have presented on earth with the sweetness of My benediction, will cast their light through eternity upon the souls of those who have rejoiced in their happiness, and form an image brighter than that of the most highly-polished mirror.”