SR
Chapter 47Revel.6.47

Mater Dei dicit, quod homo loquens verba Dei, si ex hoc improbatur et verecundatur cum paciencia, talis anima tunc pulchre coloratur. Qui autem fatigat corpus pro honore Dei, anima eius habebit diuinam dulcedinem et decorabitur, et qui detrahitur et non odit detrahentem, ornatur eius anima preciosis vestibus Deo gratis. Vexent se igitur amici Dei ad liberandum animas peccatorum, que sub monte peccatorum oppresse iacent in periculo.

The Beauty of Patient Suffering

The soul is spiritually adorned when it bears criticism and physical hardship for God's honor with patience and love.

The Mother says: "Don't be troubled if you are to speak the words of God to those who don't listen to them willingly." For whoever is flushed with shame because of criticism for speaking God's words, and bears it patiently, that very flush of shame colors the soul most beautifully. If, however, someone wears out their body for the honor of God, their soul will receive divine sweetness from this and will be adorned. When a soul hears someone speaking against it and yet wishes no harm to the one who spoke, it is adorned as if in the most beautiful garments, to such a degree that the Bridegroom—who is one God in three persons—longs for that soul in the eternal love of His divinity.

The Zeal for Saving Souls

Friends of God are called to labor tirelessly to rescue souls trapped by sin, mirroring the urgency of the early Church's mission.

Therefore, the friends of God should willingly exert themselves to convert those who love pride and greed more than God, because these people lie as if crushed under a mountain, and so we must work to rescue them while there is still life. Just as someone who sees his brothers trapped under a collapsed mountain might sometimes shake the mountain to dislodge the stones, sometimes break it apart gently so the person underneath isn't crushed further, and sometimes strike it harder to remove the mountain from the person more quickly—not caring about his own effort, as long as the life of the one in danger is saved—so too should the friends of God work to ensure that souls are saved. Just as there were few who held the true faith when my Son ascended into heaven, so there are few now who fulfill that commandment: 'You shall love the Lord your God above all things, and your neighbor as yourself.' So, just as the friends of God once went to the pagans, let them now go to the Christians; for just as it was impossible for those who heard the faith but didn't keep it to reach heaven, it's equally impossible for Christians who die without divine charity to reach it.

Read the original Latin

Mater loquitur: "Noli turbari, si dictura es verba Dei hiis, qui ea libenter non audiunt. Nam quicumque rubore perfunditur ex oblocucione propter verba Dei et pacienter tollerat, talis rubor colorat animam pulcherrime. Si vero quis fatigat corpus suum in honore Dei, ex hoc eius anima habebit dulcedinem et decorabitur.

Nam anima hominis, que audit detraccionem contra se factam nec tamen malum cupit detrahenti, ornatur quasi pulcherrimis vestibus in tantum, quod sponsus, qui est vnus Deus in tribus personis, concupiscit illam animam in deitatis sue eternam dileccionem.

Ideo amici Dei libenter vexent se ad conuertendum eos, qui superbiam et cupiditatem diligunt plus quam Deum, quia ipsi iacent quasi sub monte et ideo laborandum est, vt cum vita eripiantur.

Sicut enim ille, qui videt fratres suos sub casu montis iacere, quandoque concutit montem, vt eiciat lapides, quandoque frangit leuiter, ne subtus iacens deprimatur grauius, quandoque percutit forcius, vt eo cicius a subiacente mons remoueatur, nec attendit laborem suum, dum tamen vita iacentis in periculo liberetur, sic eciam amici Dei laborent, vt anime saluentur.

Itaque sicut pauci fuerunt, qui habuerunt fidem rectam, quando filius meus ascendit in celum, sic nunc pauci sunt, qui preceptum illud implent: 'Diliges Deum super omnia et proximum tuum sicut te ipsum.'

Ideo amici Dei, sicut prius ad paganos, sic nunc vadant ad christianos, quia sicut impossibile fuit illos optinere celum, qui fidem audierunt et non seruauerunt, sic impossibile est christianis optinere celum, qui sine diuina caritate moriuntur."

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