JOURNEY INTO THE DIVINE WILL

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24)

February 13, 1900- Mortification Is Like Lime

This morning, after receiving Communion, I saw my adorable Jesus, but completely changed in His appearance. He looked serious, all distant, in act of reproaching me. What a tormenting change! Instead of being relieved, I felt my poor heart more oppressed, more pierced, before such an unusual presence of Jesus. Yet, I felt all the need of a relief from the pains of His privations suffered in the past days, which were such that I seemed to live, but agonizing and in a continuous state of violence. But blessed Jesus, wanting to reproach me because I was looking for relief in His presence, while I was to look for nothing other than suffering, told me: “Just as lime has the virtue of cooking the objects that are thrown into it, so does mortification have the virtue of cooking all the imperfections and defects that are present in the soul. And it reaches the point of spiritualizing also the body, surrounding it like a circle, and sealing all virtues within it. Until mortification has cooked you well – both the soul and the body, to the point of undoing it – I will not be able to seal in you, perfectly, the mark of my crucifixion.”