Mater dei narrat quomodo ipsa est vas repletum et replens gracia et reprehendit quendam ingratum regem Swecie, qui nolens in guerra sua obedire consiliis dei et spiritualium virorum contra dei voluntatem retrocessit de guerra infidelium consilio mundanorum hominum cum confusione sua et regni dispendio.
The Vessel of Grace
The Mother of God describes her soul as a vessel eternally filled by the Holy Spirit and reflects on the significance of her Son's passion.
The Queen of Heaven appeared to the bride and said to her, "Listen, you who see spiritual things, and come with me into the conversation of the Holy Spirit." I am a vessel filled and filling. Just as a vessel standing beneath a rushing stream is filled with water, and even though the water flows out, the vessel remains constantly full from the stream's flow, so it was with my soul: when it was created and joined to the body, it was filled by the flow of that stream—the Holy Spirit—and it has never been emptied of it since. Therefore, anyone who comes to me with humility and a pure heart will receive help from the Holy Spirit. And so, I can rightly be called a vessel filled to the brim. For when I was in the world, caught in the flow of its current, the Son of God came into my body, and having taken flesh and blood from me, he remained within me until he was born of me in that birth by which it was fitting for the Son of God to be born. Because he was born and came into my hands, the angels rejoiced and announced peace on earth. After this, however, my Son fell heavily into the agony of death, when his skin was torn by scourges, his bones were stretched by nails, and when his heart broke as all his limbs died. This death was so significant that, because of it, the devil's power was diminished and the gates of heaven were opened. Therefore, I compare my Son's passion to thunder, whose approach is heard first, and the sound arrives long after. In this way, the passion of my Son was announced for a long time through the mouths of the prophets before it actually came to pass. But after my Son had died, a great crash and sound went forth, which continued to be heard and preached long after his passion, and for its sake, many gladly gave up their lives. But now my Son is so forgotten and neglected that some count his death as nothing, others say they don't know whether it even happened or not, and others know but don't care; yet there are few who remember his death with love. And so, to bring the passion of my Son back to mind, the words of God given to you from heaven have been sent into the world.
The King's Disobedience
The Queen of Heaven recounts the King of Sweden's calling, his susceptibility to the devil's influence, and the necessity of following godly counsel.
That is why you were sent to this King of Sweden, who was caught in many traps of sin; after he was separated from the devil, I took him as my own son, longing to make him an outstanding fighter for the honor of God. Seeing this, the devil grew envious of him, just as he once was of Moses when he was cast into the water, whose basket God guided to land. Even though his tongue was later burned, he still spoke what God wanted, and after fleeing Egypt out of fear, he returned to Pharaoh by divine providence. The devil did the same thing to the king. He stirred up a kind of storm in his heart, so that by gathering a multitude of men, he might retreat from the war due to poverty and hunger. And for that reason, a fixed number of people was set for him. Then, at the devil's suggestion, the king thought to himself, "God's friends don't know how to fight." So, I'll look for men who are experts in warfare. Later, the devil sent many of his own people to him so he would be guided by their advice. For this reason, it had been shown to the king whose advice he ought to follow. The king was also advised to be accompanied by clergy and religious men of proven character. This was done by the providence of the Holy Spirit to counter the devil's cunning. He knows well that it won't be long before God reveals how His battle is to be fought. The devil also knows that there are many among the pagans who consider themselves great in their own sect, and he is not unaware that there are many who desire to know the holy Catholic faith. That’s why the devil wants those who are ignorant and greedy to be sent to the pagans when the time of grace arrives. Therefore, friends of God—clergy and religious alike—must be prepared to respond with spiritual wisdom to pagans who come with their own sect. Many other things have also been told to you that won't be fulfilled immediately. But these words must be kept until the appointed time. For God showed Moses many things that were not completed in a single hour. In the same way, David was revealed as king a long time before he actually came into his power. So, friends of God should wait patiently and not grow weary in their work. We also said that the brothers of the Dominican, Franciscan, and Bernardine orders should go out with the king to the pagans, because those three orders are the first who should be called to the pagans, since monasteries ought to be started by those who truly despise the world and have no other desire than to honor God and find his friendship. But some of the brothers mentioned earlier think this way: 'Where,' they ask, 'are the people we are supposed to preach to?' Where are the places to be built? In the same way, Israel asked Moses, "Where is the promised land?" It would have been better to sit in Egypt by the pots of meat than to risk starving and suffering in the desert. Yet Israel did arrive at the promised land at the appointed time, even though some grumbled. Therefore, a king should always keep devout clergy by his side—men who follow him willingly out of divine love—and he should be careful to avoid clergy who are greedy, like birds of prey.
A Mother's Rebuke and Call to Return
The Mother of Mercy critiques the king's failure to heed divine wisdom while offering him a final opportunity for repentance and restoration.
But listen now to what I, the Mother of mercy, have to say. That king, whom I once called my son, has now become a son of disobedience. Yet when he was still a boy, two kingdoms were kept safe for him. When he reached the age of discretion, he ruled unjustly and did everything without discernment. Yet God, always acting patiently with him, still worked spiritual good in him whenever he turned the love of his heart toward God. Furthermore, I'm bringing three things to his mind that God has done for him. It often happens that an infant in its mother's womb is so tightly bound to her that it cannot separate itself from her in any way. A wise midwife, seeing this, thinks to herself and says: If an infant stays in the mother's womb too long, both of them die. But if they are separated from each other, the infant can live, even if the mother dies. And so, a prudent midwife proceeds to separate the infant from the mother. In the same way, this king was bound to his mother—that is, to the world—and if he had stayed in it any longer, he certainly would have died and faced the punishment of hell. But I, the Queen of Heaven, went to the king to separate him from the love of the world. By the 'step' I took toward the king, I mean the Holy Spirit entering his heart. Wherever the Spirit of God enters, the Father enters with the Holy Spirit, the Son enters with the Father and the Spirit, and the Mother enters with the Son; because anyone who has God in their heart has me as well.✦ Just as it's impossible for the three persons of the Trinity to be separated, it's impossible—while the current law stands—for me, the Mother of God, to be separated from God. I truly held the Son of God within me, in both his divinity and his humanity; therefore, God the Father holds me within his own divinity, and the Holy Spirit—who is in the Father and the Son—is the bond of our love, and he is in me, and we can never be separated. In this way, then, when I went to the king, God gave his heart compunction and his eyes spiritual tears, which no one can obtain except through His divine grace. Second, I'm bringing to the king's memory what kind of grace has been worked in his kingdom. For my Son, who sits on the high throne of exalted majesty, speaks to you often—you who were born of his kingdom—and I have earned this grace for the king, so that he might give honor to God and produce fruit for his own soul. Through you, I also showed him how to rule his kingdom wisely, love the people of his realm with charity, and govern his own life—both physically and spiritually—for the honor of God. Third, I'm bringing to his mind how he was chosen to carry the holy Catholic faith to the pagans, if he were willing. But listen to what this king did. For I, the Mother of mercy, called this king my new son—and I call him new because he had only recently come to holy obedience. Through you, I promised him that I would be the lady and defender of his army and his kingdom, and that I would stand before him in the land of his enemies. And so it was done. For there was peace in his land by divine providence because of my prayers, and I was before him in the land of his enemies when I gathered his greatest enemies into one place in the land, those whom I was about to deliver into his hands. A short time later, instruments of the devil, full of evil hearts and a wicked spirit, approached that king. They trusted more in human hands than in the Creator's help, and their greed for earthly possessions was greater than their desire to help souls. He stirred up their tongues to speak, just as he once moved the tongue of Judas to sell his own Creator. Their teeth were lifted by the devil’s fingers; their cold lips were smeared with the devil’s poison. Because of this, divine charity held no sweetness for them; instead, they spat out the words of truth and kept only falsehood on their lips. Following their wicked advice, the king rushed forward and snatched from my hands the enemies I had gathered, who were resisting the holy faith. And then I was left with empty arms, all alone. The king himself also let the wolves run loose, handing the lambs over to the serpents—who are ready to tear the sheep apart and are now filled with an even greater poison of malice. Such things came from the devil's deceitful suggestions, because the king ignored the advice of God's friends and instead obeyed the advice of worldly men; he didn't consider God's strength or think about my counsel, so he returned without any fruit, burdened his community and the people of his kingdom, and became disobedient to God and men, a violator of his own promise of malice. But just as a mother is easily appeased when her son asks for mercy, so I say to him now: Son, turn back to me, and I will turn back to you. Rise from your fall, following the advice of God's friends. This, then, is the last letter I'll send him.
Read the original Latin
Regina celi apparuit sponse dicens ei: Audi tu, que spiritualia vides, et veni mecum in spiritus sancti collocucionem. Ego sum vas repletum et repletiuum.
Sicut enim vas stans subtus torrentem repletur aqua et sicut aqua effluit, tamen vas semper est repletum de torrentis decursu, sic anima mea, quando creata fuit et coniuncta corpori, replebatur ex decursu torrentis, scilicet spiritus sancti, quo numquam postea euacuata est
Propterea quicumque venerit ad me cum humilitate et mundo corde, habebit auxilium de spiritu sancto. Itaque bene possum vocari vas repletum.
Quia cum essem in mundo in decursu torrentis eius, filius dei venit in corpus meum et sumpta de me carne et sanguine moratus est in me, donec natus est de me ea natiuitate, qua nasci decuit filium dei.
Natus ergo et veniens in manus meas angeli gauisi sunt et nunciauerunt pacem in terris. Post hec autem filius meus cecidit grauiter in penam mortis, quando cutis eius rumpebatur a flagellis, ossa constringebantur a clauis et quando cor crepuit mortuis omnibus membris.
Itaque iste casus mortis tam magnus fuit, quod ex eo minuebatur potestas dyaboli et porte celi aperiebantur. Ergo passionem filii mei comparo tonitruo, cuius aduentus prius auditur et longe postquam sonus venit.
Sic passio filii mei diu ante nunciabatur per ora prophetarum, antequam venit. Postquam vero filius meus mortuus est, tunc maximus fragor et sonus factus est, qui diu post passionem eius audiebatur et predicabatur, et pro ea multi gaudenter dederunt vitam suam.
Nunc autem filius meus sic oblitus et neglectus est, quod quidam ducunt mortem eius pro nichilo, alii dicunt se nescire, vtrum fuerit vel non, alii sciunt sed non curant; pauci vero sunt, qui mortem eius recordantur cum caritate.
Itaque, vt passio filii mei reduceretur ad memoriam, ideo verba dei tibi diuinitus data venerunt in mundum.
Propterea et tu missa es ad regem istum Swecie, qui irretitus multis peccatorum laqueis, postquam separatus fuit a dyabolo, suscepi eum michi in filium, desiderans eum facere pugnatorem egregium ad honorem dei.
Quod videns dyabolus inuidit ei sicut quondam moisi proiecto in aquam, cuius ficellam deus direxit ad terram.
Qui postea licet adustus fuerit in lingua, tamen loquebatur que voluit deus, et fugiens ex timore de egipto rediit ex diuina prouidencia ad pharaonem. Simili modo fecit regi dyabolus.
Iactauit enim in cor eius procellam quandam, vt congregata multitudine hominum a guerra retrocederet pre paupertate et fame. Et ideo constituebatur ei certus numerus personarum.
Item rex suggerente dyabolo cogitauit sic: Amici, inquit, dei non habent scienciam pugnandi. Ideo inquiram homines doctos ad pugnandum. Cui postea dyabolus misit multos de suis, quorum consilio regeretur. Propterea ostensum erat regi, quorum consiliis obediret.
Consultum eciam fuit regi, quod clerici et religiosi viri approbate vite sequerentur eum. Et hoc factum fuit ex prouidencia spiritus sancti contra astuciam dyaboli.
Ipse quippe bene scit, quod non est longum tempus, quo deus ostendere velit, quomodo sua pugna aggredienda est. Scit eciam dyabolus multos in paganismo esse, qui se magnos in sua secta reputant, nec ignorat, quod multi sunt, qui desiderant scire fidem sanctam catholicam.
Propterea desiderat dyabolus, vt tempore gracie adueniente illi mitterentur ad paganos, qui essent ydeote et pleni auaricia. Ergo amici dei, clerici et religiosi parati esse debent cum spirituali sapiencia paganis venientibus cum sua secta respondere.
Multa eciam alia dicta sunt tibi, que non statim perficientur. Sed verba custodiri debent ad tempus prefinitum. Nam plurima ostendit deus moysi, que non completa sunt vna hora.
Sic et dauid longo tempore ostensus fuit rex, antequam peruenit ad potestatem. Et ideo amici dei expectent pacienter et non attedientur in operando.
Diximus eciam, quod fratres ordinis dominici et francisci et bernardite exirent cum rege ad paganos, quia illi tres ordines ad paganismum primo sunt vocandi, quia monasteria per illos inchoari debent, qui veraciter contemnunt mundum et qui non habent aliam voluntatem nisi honorare deum et eius amiciciam inuenire.
Verum quidam de dictis fratribus cogitant sic: Vbi, inquiunt, est populus, cui predicandum est? Vbi loca sunt edificanda?
Similiter dixit israhel moysi: Vbi, inquit, est terra promissa? Melius enim fuisset sedisse in egypto super ollas carnium quam in deserto periclitari fame et tribulacione.
Attamen peruenit israhel tempore placito in terram promissam, licet aliqui murmurabant. Ergo rex habeat secum semper clericos deuotos et tales, qui sequantur eum voluntarie ex diuina caritate, et caueat habere clericos cupidos sicut aues rapaces.
Sed audi iam, quid ego mater misericordie dictura sum. Ille rex, quem ego prius vocaui filium meum, nunc iam factus est filius inobediencie. Cui existenti puero custodiebantur duo regna.
Qui cum ad annos discrecionis venisset, regebat iniuste et omnia agebat sine discrecione. Attamen deus pacienter semper agens cum eo eciam spiritualia bona fecit cum eo, quando caritatem cordis sui vertit ad deum.
Insuper tria reduco ei ad memoriam, que deus fecit ei. Sepe enim contingit, quod infans in vtero matris ita fortiter cum matre ligatus est, quod nullo modo separare se potest ab eo. Quod obstetrix prudens perpendens cogitat secum dicens:
Si infans vlterius morabitur in vtero matris, moriuntur ambo. Si vero separabuntur ab inuicem mortua quidem matre viuere potest infans. Et sic obstetrix procedens separat infantem a matre.
Simili modo rex iste alligatus erat matri sue, scilicet mundo, qui si diucius in eo stetisset, vtique mortuus fuisset ad penam inferni. Ego vero regina celi iui ad regem separans eum ab amore mundi.
Per gressum autem, quo iui ad regem, intelligo introitum spiritus sancti in cor eius.
Quia vbicumque ingreditur spiritus dei, ibi intrat pater cum spiritu sancto et filius cum patre et spiritu et mater cum filio, quia omnis homo, qui habet deum in corde suo, habet et me.
Nam sicut impossibile est, quod tres persone in trinitate separari possint, sic impossibile est stante lege currente, quod ego, que sum mater dei, separari possim a deo.
Ego quippe habui filium dei in me cum deitate et humanitate, ideo deus pater habet me in deitate sua et est vinculum dileccionis nostre spiritus sanctus ille, qui est in patre et filio, et ipse est in me et numquam possumus separari.
Isto ergo modo quando ego iui ad regem, deus dedit cordi eius contricionem et oculis eius lacrimas spirituales, que nullus obtinere potest nisi ex diuina gracia eius.
Secundo reduco regi ad memoriam, qualis gracia facta est in regno eius. Nam filius meus, qui sedet in summo throno maiestatis excelse, loquitur frequenter tibi, que es nata de regno eius, et hanc graciam ego promerui regi, vt faceret honorem deo et fructum anime sue.
Cui eciam per te ostendi, quomodo regnum suum regeret sapienter et populum sui regni caritatiue diligeret et qualiter vitam suam gubernaret corporaliter et spiritualiter ad honorem dei.
Tercio reduco ei ad memoriam, quomodo electus est, vt fidem sanctam catholicam deferret, si vellet, ad paganismum. Sed audi nunc, quid fecit iste rex.
Ego enim mater misericordie vocaui istum regem filium meum nouum et ideo nouum, quia nouiter venerat ad obedienciam sanctam.
Cui promisi per te, quod vellem esse domina et defensatrix exercitus sui et regni sui et quod starem ante eum in terra inimicorum eius. Et ita factum est.
Nam pax erat in terra sua ex diuina prouidencia propter preces meas, et ante ipsum fui in terra inimicorum eius, quando maiores inimicos eius congregaui in vnum locum terre, quos ei traditura eram.
Paruo igitur tempore elapso accesserunt ad regem istum instrumenta dyaboli plena corde malo et maligno spiritu.
Qui confidebant in manibus hominum plus quam in auxilio creatoris, quorum cupiditas maior fuit ad possessiones terrenas quam ad adiuuandum animas.
Quorum linguas ille excitauit ad loquendum, qui mouit linguam iude ad vendendum creatorem suum. Quorum dentes eleuabantur digitis dyaboli; quorum frigida labia perlinita fuerunt veneno dyaboli.
Propterea diuina caritas non sapuit eis, sed expuentes verba veritatis falsitatem in ore habuerunt.
Quorum malignis consiliis obediens rex cucurrit et distraxit de manibus meis congregatos inimicos meos resistentes fidei sancte. Et tunc ego vacuo synu remansi sola.
Ipse quoque rex fecit discurrere lupos, assignans agnos in manu serpentum, qui parati sunt diripere oues et maiori nunc veneno malicie sunt impleti.
Talia enim processerunt de dolosis suggestionibus dyaboli, quia contemptis consiliis amicorum dei rex obediuit consiliis carnalium hominum, et non attendens fortitudinem dei nec cogitans consilium meum rediit sine aliquo fructu et grauauit communitatem et populum regni sui, factus inobediens deo et hominibus et violator promissionis malicie sue.
Sed sicut mater faciliter placari solet filio petenti misericordiam, sic ego dico nunc ei: Fili, conuertere ad me, et ego reuertar ad te. Surge de casu tuo secundum consilia amicorum dei. Hec igitur est vltima littera, quam ego mittam ei.
Scripture echoes
- ↩John.14.23 — Jesus answered him, 'If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.'
Revelationes (Heavenly Revelations) companion
Keep going — one revelation a day
The full 496-chapter Revelationes lives in the Chosen Portion app, served as free daily portions.
Birgitta's revelations arrived over three decades of daily attentiveness, and the Chosen Portion app lets readers receive them the same way — one portion per day.
- Finish the guided path in 8 weeks at roughly 15 minutes a day
- All 8 books, 496 chapters, in modern English — the complete transmitted text
- Daily delivery so a 30-year masterwork becomes a sustainable habit