XVIII. On April 5, 1669, I again experienced the Marian spirit of life in Mary and through Mary in God, for God and through God, as I have previously written extensively to Your Reverence.
I partake in the loving Mother and am very nobly, purely, simply, spiritually, and distantly connected in spirit with her, united as if made one with the formless essence of God. For the soul, God, and Mary are but one here, for my soul is very intimately and simply absorbed in God and in Mary, and it seems that this spirit of the Marian life in Mary acts at times, especially during prayer, ecstasy, for here the soul experiences greater numbness, stillness of body, deprivation of the senses, cessation of faculties, etc. The soul seems to be outside the body, and I am in danger of becoming embarrassed, especially during the reception of the Holy Communion, for I am scarcely able to think of myself and barely have the strength or thought to open my mouth, although that does not usually last long.
It usually begins with a kind of excess and flames of love for God and our loving Mother, with inner joy and rejoicing of the heart; I am as if overwhelmed by a lovely, tender, yet simultaneously strong and fervent love, with which I am as if spiritually united or at least very uplifted in spirit, and at that time all mental faculties, both lower and higher, are in a very good disposition and spiritually nourished.
