(from the teachings of St. Mary Magdalene de'Pazzi)
Once more the saint paused and began to pray: “Oh, Eternal Word, please tell me, what are the obstacles that prevent the Holy Spirit, who inspires and fertilizes, from accomplishing in the soul all His work? After all, He is so sweet and so bitter! Oh, why do so few people recognize His lovely call? Oh, Word, now that it is the time of generosity, Your grace and love, tell me, if it is Your will.”
The answer of the Word: “There are various obstacles, my dear bride, because there are different states of creatures and their existences.”
One such obstacle that distances me is malice, which fills the hearts of those who are far from me, to such an extent that my Spirit cannot settle in them. Others encounter the obstacle of their own will. Others not only have the obstacle of their will but also of their own vision and understanding, so they wish to serve me in their own way. They desire my Spirit, but on their own terms; and thus they become incapable of receiving it.
Others again, who are quite close to me, encounter another obstacle, which is equally displeasing to me. It is the accursed lukewarmness, in which they think they are serving me, and do not realize that in fact they are serving themselves. And when they believe they have begun to serve me, then they are in the most dangerous state, because they serve me with self-recognition and think they are serving me as I deserve to be served. But that is not the case, for I want to be served without self-love, with a pure intention and humility. And this humility must be such that it sinks the soul down to the center of the earth, for my Spirit is like a lightning bolt that descends from heaven and does not stop until it reaches the center of the earth. Thus the Holy Spirit will not rest until it finds a soul in the center of its nothingness. It does not stop at the high or the middle, but passes beyond. Again she asked: “But, oh, Word, I would like to know what to do against these obstacles, for what good would it do me to know them, if I do not also know the remedy against them?”
The answer: “My dearest bride! Against the first obstacle, that is, against malice, it is necessary to simply establish a good intention; since you cannot instill this good intention into wicked hearts, keep it entirely within yourself and you will no longer feel the unbearable agony. It will be only a refining pain for you, not a crushing one, because it will be a pain without passion; if it were with passion, it would torment you. And when you then offer me this pain and unite it with my sufferings, it will turn into a breeze that scatters the clouds. Through this effort and pains you will overcome malice in the hearts of my creatures.
Against your own will, take a “dead” will, wishing neither for me nor for anything else except as it is my will. And offer this dead will in union with my submission, which I expressed in prayer to the Father in the Olive Garden. In this submission, the growing pride in the hearts of creatures planted in the garden of the holy church will wither away.
Against your own understanding, which is the ruin of virtues, and against the effort to serve me in your own way, take: nothing wanting, nothing understanding, and nothing knowing according to your own method. And offer it to me in union with the desire that I burned with so that the Father might be glorified, and you will see that in this, the hearts of my creatures will soften, and being thus softened and moved, they will be capable of receiving my Spirit.
Against lukewarmness, which with such poor judgment gives the soul to see that it serves me while it serves only itself, I tell you, my dear daughter, that at the very moment the soul falls into the self-delusion of thinking that it serves me, it ceases to serve me. Therefore, oppose the accursed lukewarmness with the fire of love and offer it in union with the same love that I myself have given. And this love once again offered will be a fire that descends into their hearts and consumes this lukewarmness.”
Taken from the review for spiritual life Na hlubinu, year 1929, pp. 317-319.
