CHAPTER 1
THIS is a Revelation of Love that Jesus Christ, our endless happiness, made in sixteen particular revelations.
The First concerns the precious crowning of our Lord with thorns, which contains and reveals both the Trinity and the incarnation, and unity between God and the human soul, with many fair showings of endless wisdom and teachings of love; and in which all the showings that follow are grounded and oned.
The Second is the changing colour of his fair face in token of his precious passion.
The Third is that just as our Lord God, all wisdom and love, has truly made everything that is, so also does and works all things that are done.
The Fourth is the scourging of his tender body, with plentiful shedding of his blood.
The Fifth is that the fiend is overcome by the precious passion of Christ.
The Sixth is the honourable thankfulness of our Lord God in which he rewards his blessed servants in heaven.
The Seventh is our recurring good and bad feelings. We feel well when touched by that which is gracious and uplifting, bringing true assurance of endless joy; and we feel woe when tempted by the weight and irksome nature of our fleshly living; but always spiritually aware that in both good and bad, we are kept securely in love by the goodness of God.
The Eighth is of the last pains of Christ and his cruel dying.
The Ninth concerns the blissful Trinity’s acceptance of the harsh passion of Christ and his painful dying. In this joy and acceptance he wills that we shall be comforted and made glad with him, until we come into the fullness in heaven.
The Tenth is our Lord Jesus lovingly showing us his blissful heart; broken in two, yet he rejoicing.
The Eleventh is a high and spiritual showing of his most dear mother.
The Twelfth reveals that our Lord is the most worthy Being.
The Thirteenth is that our Lord God wills us pay attention to all the his deeds in the most noble creation of all things; in the excellent making of humankind to be pre-eminent above all he has made and the precious amends he has made for our sin, turning all our blame into endless glory. In this showing our Lord also says: ‘Look and see! For by the same might, wisdom and goodness that I have done all this, I shall also make well all that is not well; and you will see it.’ And he wills that we keep ourselves in this faith and truth of holy Church, not clamouring to see into his secret ways now, except those that belong to us in this life.
The Fourteenth is that our Lord is the ground of our prayer. Here I saw two properties: the one is rightful prayer and the other, steadfast trust. God wills that both should be equally large. In this way our prayer pleases him and from his goodness, he fulfils it.
The Fifteenth reveals that by his goodness, we shall suddenly be taken from all our pain and from all our woe, and shall emerge above, where we will receive our Lord Jesus as reward and be filled with joy and deep happiness in heaven.
The Sixteenth is that the blissful Trinity, our maker in Christ Jesus our Saviour, endlessly dwells in our soul, gloriously ruling and protecting all things, and saving and keeping us mightily and wisely in his love; so we shall not be overcome by our enemy.
CHAPTER 2
These revelations were shown to a simple creature unskilled in letters, the year of our Lord 1373 on the eighth day of May. This creature had previously desired three gifts of God. The first was an understanding of his passion; the second was bodily sickness in my youth, at thirty years of age; the third was to have a gift from God of three wounds.
As to the first, I thought I had some feeling for the passion of Christ, yet I desired more by the grace of God. I imagined myself at that time to be as Mary Magdalene and others that were Christ’s lovers. I therefore desired a bodily sight through which I could gain more knowledge of the bodily pains of our Saviour and of the compassion of our Lady and of all his true lovers who witnessed his pains at that time; for I wished to be like them and suffer with him. I desired no other sight or showing of God, till my soul was separated from my body. The reason for this petition was that after the showing I would have a truer understanding of Christ’s suffering.
The second request came to my mind with contrition. I freely desired that my sickness should be so harsh as to be fatal, and that in that sickness I might receive all my rites from holy Church, believing that I would die. All creatures who saw me would suppose the same, for I would have no manner of comfort in this earthly life. In this sickness I desired to have all the bodily and spiritual pains that I would have if I were to die, with all the fears and turbulence of the fiends, except for the actual passing over of the soul. And I planned this so that by the mercy of God I would be purged and afterwards live more wholly for the honour of God because of that sickness; and also that my death might be speeded up; for I desired to be with my God soon.
I placed a condition on my wish for these two desires for the passion and for sickness, saying this: ‘Lord, you know what I long for, and if it be your will, may I have it. And if it is not your will, good Lord, do not be displeased; for I want nothing except what you want.’
For the third request, by the grace of God and teaching of holy Church, I conceived a strong desire to receive three wounds in my life: that is to say, the wound of true contrition, the wound of natural compassion and the wound of steadfast longing for God. And I made this last request without any conditions.
The two desires previously mentioned passed from my mind, but the third dwelled with me continually.
CHAPTER 3
When I was thirty and a half years old, God sent me a bodily sickness, in which I lay for three days and three nights; and on the fourth night I received the rites of holy Church, and did not believe I would survive the day. And after this I languished for two days and two nights, and on the third night I frequently thought I was about to die, as did those who were with me.
And being still young, I thought it a great sorrow to die, but not for anything on earth that I might like to live for, nor for any fear of pain; for I trusted in God’s mercy. But it was to have lived more lovingly towards God, and for a longer time, that I might have more knowing and love of God in the bliss of heaven. For I thought constantly about how I had lived here so inadequately and for so short a time compared to that endless bliss, that my life was as nothing. And so I thought: ‘Good Lord, perhaps my living is no longer to your worship?’ And I understood both by reason and by the feel of my pains that I should die; and I assented fully with all the will of my heart to be at one with God’s will.
Thus I endured until morning, and by then I felt my body was dead from the middle downwards. Then I wished to be sat upright, with my back supported, to have more freedom of heart to be at God’s will and to think on God while my life lasted.
My curate was sent for to be at my ending, and by the time he arrived I had set my eyes and could not speak. He put the cross before my face and said: ‘I have brought you the image of your Master and Saviour: look upon it and be comforted.’
I thought I was well as I was, for my eyes were set upwards toward heaven, where I trusted the mercy of God would come from. Nevertheless I agreed to set my eyes on the face of the crucifix, if I could; and this is what I did. For I thought I could endure longer by looking straight forward rather than right up.
After this my sight began to fail, and it was dark in the room, as if it were night, save for the image of the cross in which I found a common light and I did not know how. All that was around the cross filled me with horror, as if it had been taken over by the fiends.
After this the upper part of my body began to die, and to such a degree that I scarcely had any feeling and was short of breath. And then I truly thought I would die. And in this moment, suddenly all my pain was taken from me, and I was as whole, especially in the upper part of my body, as I ever was before.
I marvelled at this sudden change, for I thought it was a secret working of God, rather than from natural causes. And yet despite this feeling of ease, I did not believe I was more likely to live; nor was the feeling of this ease in any sense complete, for I still preferred to be delivered from this world.
Then it came suddenly into my mind that I should seek the second wound of our Lord’s gracious gift: that my body might be filled with understanding of, and feeling for, his blessed passion. For I wished that his pains were my pains; that we shared the suffering and then a longing for God. In all this I never desired a bodily sight or showing of God; but rather, the same compassion as any sympathetic soul might have for our Lord Jesus, who for love became a mortal man. And so it was I desired to suffer with him.