Mater misericordie dicit, quod homo, qui habet contricionem et voluntatem se emendandi et tamen est frigidus in deuocione et amore Dei, debet a Deo impetrare scintillam ignis diuini per frequentem meditacionem passionis Christi, et ex hoc calefiet anima diuino calore et lactabitur vberibus virginis Marie, idest virtute timoris Dei et obediencie.
The Mother's Compassion for the Cold Heart
Mary describes her maternal longing to nourish the souls of the repentant who are hindered by spiritual coldness.
The Virgin Mary says: "I am like a mother with two sons who cannot reach her breasts because they are too cold and live in a cold house; yet the mother loves them so much that, if it were possible, she would gladly cut her own breasts for the benefit of her sons." I am truly the Mother of mercy, because I have mercy on all the wretched who ask for forgiveness. In a sense, I have two sons. The first is the contrition of those who sin against my Son; the second is the desire to amend what they have done wrong. But these two children are far too cold, because they lack the warmth of charity and any desire for divine love; the home of their soul is so chilled by the absence of the flame of divine consolation that they cannot receive my breasts. But because I am merciful, I went to my Son and said, 'My Son, praise and honor be to You for all the love You have shown me!' 'I have two sons; have mercy on them, because on account of their coldness they cannot take the breasts of their mother.' Then my Son answered me: 'Beloved Mother, for your sake I will send a spark into the house, from which a great fire can be kindled.' Let the spark be refreshed, therefore, and nourished, and let it warm your children so that they may be able to receive your milk!' Then the Mother spoke to the bride, saying: "That person you're praying for had a special devotion to me, and although he entangled himself in endless miseries, he still always trusted in my help and had a certain warmth toward me; but he had no love for my Son, nor any fear of God from Him." And so, if he had been called from the world at that time, he would have been tormented without end among his evil deeds. But because I am full of mercy, I haven't forgotten him; there is still some hope for good in him because of me, provided he is willing to help himself.
Kindling the Fire of the Passion
Mary prescribes meditation on the Passion of Christ as the divine spark necessary to warm the soul and prepare it for the virtues of fear and obedience.
He does have contrition now for his past sins and the will to amend, but he's far too cold in his love and devotion; therefore, so that he might be warmed and receive my breasts, a spark must be sent into the home of his soul—that is, the consideration of my Son's passion must be frequent in his thoughts. Let them consider how the Son of God and son of the Virgin—who is one God with the Father and the Holy Spirit—suffered, and how he was taken prisoner and struck in the face.✦1 Consider how he was spat upon and whipped so deeply that his flesh was torn away by the lashes; how he stood in agony on the cross with all his nerves stretched and pierced; and how, crying out on the cross, he gave up his spirit. If he frequently fans this spark, he'll be warmed, and I will then draw him to my breasts—that is, to the two virtues I possessed: the fear of God and obedience. For even though I never sinned, I still lived in constant fear of offending my God by any word or action. Through this fear, I will nourish my Son—that is, the contrition of that devout person of mine for whom you pray—so that he will not only be sorry for what he has done wrong, but will also fear the punishment. He will also fear offending my Son, Jesus Christ, from now on. I will also nourish their will at the breast of my obedience. For I am the one who was never disobedient to God. Therefore, I will place in anyone who has grown warm with the love of my Son an obedience by which they will obey everything commanded of them.
A Testimony of Conversion
The chapter concludes with the historical example of a worldly man who, through repentance and grace, found peace in the Lord.
He was a relative of Lady Birgitta and very worldly. He was struck by a divine warning and converted. He used to say, 'As long as I hated penance, I felt weighed down as if by the burden of chains.' Since I started going to confession, I feel so relieved and ready in my soul that I no longer care about honors or losing my possessions, and nothing is sweet to me except speaking and hearing about God. After receiving the Sacraments of God, he had these words on his lips: "Sweet Jesus, have mercy on me!" He fell asleep in the Lord. Revelation 66 of this book is about this same man.
Read the original Latin
Virgo Maria ait: "Ego sum quasi mater, que habet duos filios, sed hii non possunt tangere vbera matris, quia nimis frigidi sunt et in domo frigida commorantes; tamen ipsos mater in tantum diligit, quod, si possibile esset, libenter secaret vbera sua ad vtilitatem filiorum.
Ego vere sum mater misericordie, quia omnium miserorum veniam petencium misereor. Ego habeo quasi duos filios. Primus est contricio illorum, qui delinquunt contra filium meum, secundus est voluntas emendandi de commissis.
Sed isti duo filii sunt nimis frigidi, quia nullum habent calorem caritatis, nullum desiderium diuine dileccionis, et domus anime eorum sic frigida est a flamma diuine consolacionis, quod non possunt recipere vbera mea.
Ego autem, quia misericors sum, iui ad filium meum et dixi: 'Fili mi, laus tibi sit et honor pro omni dileccione, quam fecisti mecum! Ego habeo duos filios; miserere eis, quia propter frigiditatem non possunt capere vbera matris.'
Tunc respondit michi filius meus: 'Mater dilecta, propter te mittam scintillam in domum, vnde copiosus ignis accendi potest. Reficiatur ergo scintilla et nutriatur et calefac filios tuos, vt recipere valeant vbera tua!'"
Deinde mater loquebatur ad sponsam dicens: "Ille talis, pro quo tu oras, specialem deuocionem ad me habuit, et licet infinitis se immiscuit miseriis, tamen semper confidebat de auxilio meo et ad me quendam calorem habuit; sed ad filium meum nullam habuit caritatem nec ab eo timorem diuinum.
Et ideo iste, si tunc vocatus de mundo fuisset inter opera sua mala, sine fine cruciaretur. Sed quia misericordia ego plena sum, ideo non fui oblita eius, sed adhuc in eo propter me aliqua spes boni est, si ipse personaliter se iuuare voluerit.
Habet enim contricionem nunc de commissis et voluntatem emendandi, sed frigidus nimis est in caritate et deuocione et ideo, vt calefieri possit et recipere vbera mea, debet mitti scintilla in domum anime eius, idest consideracio passionis filii mei debet ei esse frequens in cogitacione.
Consideret enim, quomodo Dei filius et filius virginis, qui est vnus Deus cum Patre et Spiritu Sancto, passus est, quomodo captiuatus et colaphizatus,
quomodo consputus et flagellatus vsque ad interiora ita, vt caro extraheretur cum flagris, quomodo omnibus neruis distentis et perforatis stabat dolorosus in cruce, quomodo clamans in cruce tradidit spiritum.
Si hanc scintillam frequenter afflauerit, tunc ipse calefiet, et ego tunc applicabo eum ad vbera mea, idest ad duas virtutes, quas ego habui, que sunt timor Dei et obediencia.
Ego enim, quamuis numquam peccauerim, tamen timui omni hora, ne verbo vel incessu offenderem Deum meum.
Per hunc timorem lactabo filium meum, scilicet contricionem predicti deuoti mei, pro quo tu oras, vt non solum conteratur, quod male egit, ymmo eciam timebit supplicium. Timebit eciam offendere deinceps filium meum Ihesum Christum.
Lactabo eciam voluntatem eius ad mammam obediencie mee. Ego quippe sum illa, que numquam fui inobediens Deo.
Immittam ergo in eum, qui calidus fuerit caritate filii mei, obedienciam, qua obediet in omnibus, que sibi fuerint imperata."
Hic fuit cognatus domine Birgitte et multum mundanus. Ammonicione diuina compunctus et conuersus est. Qui solitus erat dicere: "Quamdiu", inquit, "abhorrui penitencias, sensi me grauatum quasi pondere cathenarum.
Postquam frequentare cepi confessiones, sencio me sic alleuiatum et paratum in animo, quod nec attendo ad honores nec ad dampna domus, et nichil est michi dulce nisi loqui et audire de Deo."
Hic susceptis sacramentis Dei et in ore habens: "Ihesu dulcis, miserere mei!" obdormiuit in Domino. De isto eodem homine est reuelacio LXVI huius libri.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Matt.26.67 — Then they spat in his face and struck him, and some slapped him,
Notes
- 1 ↩The term 'colaphizatus' refers to the specific act of striking with the fist or hand, often translated as 'buffeted' or 'struck in the face' in the context of the Passion.
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