The Book of Divine Consolation of the Blessed Angela of Foligno

[Stone]

Treatise III

First Vision and Consolation, Wherein She Beheld God Inasmuch as He Is All Goodness; Whence Cometh Hatred of This Life and the Desire to Enjoy God


Blessed God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, who comforteth us in all our tribulations, Thou hast verily deigned to console me, a sinner, in every tribulation. For during the time of my conversion, already related in the eighteenth step, and after the enlightenment miraculously granted unto me as I was repeating the *Paternoster*, I did feel great consolation and sweetness in this manner.

I was inspired and drawn unto the contemplation of the blessed union of the divinity and humanity of Christ, and in this contemplation did I feel an exceeding great delight, the which was greater than any I had ever felt heretofore. For this reason did I remain for a great part of that day standing in the cell where I was praying, astonished, locked in and alone. My heart was all wrapped up in that joy and I became as one dumb and did lose my speech. Wherefore did it happen that when my companion came she believed that I was about to die; but she did only weary me and was an hindrance unto me.

Once, before that I had finished giving all I possessed unto the poor (albeit but little then remained for me to give), when I was persevering in these matters, it chanced that one evening when I was at prayer methought I did feel nothing whatsoever of God. Wherefore I lamented and prayed unto God, saying:

"Lord, that which I do, I do only that I may find Thee; wherefore, having done it, do Thou grant me the grace that I may find Thee."

And many other similar things did I say in my prayer, and this answer was vouchsafed unto me, "What desirest thou?"

Then I said: "I desire neither gold nor silver; yea, if Thou wouldst give me the whole world I would not accept it, seeing that I desire Thee only."

Then did He say unto me, "Strive diligently and make thyself ready, for when thou hast accomplished that which thou art now doing, the whole Trinity will descend unto thee."

Many other things were also promised unto me, which did ease me of my tribulation and fill me with divine sweetness. And from that hour I did await that the thing which had been told me should be immediately fulfilled.

And I related this unto my companion with some doubtfulness, seeing that great things had been told and promised unto me; nevertheless they had left me with that divine sweetness and gentleness.

After this I went unto the church of Saint Francis, near unto Assisi, and the promise was fulfilled by the way as I went thither. Nevertheless, I had not yet finished giving all things unto the poor, but there was little yet remaining. This had happened because of the death of a noble and holy man, to whom this matter had been entrusted and who had not been able to accomplish it. He had been converted by God's grace through our admonitions, and was about to deprive himself of all he had and give his possessions unto the poor. But he died upon the way. Nevertheless, God did perform many miracles by means of him, and his tomb is held in reverence.

As I went unto Saint Francis, therefore, I prayed by the way. And amongst other prayers, I did ask the Blessed Francis that he would implore God for me, that I might serve well his Order, unto which I had but lately renewed my promises, and that he would obtain for me the grace that I might feel somewhat of Christ, but above all, that He would make me become poor and end my days in poverty. For this cause (namely, to have the liberty of poverty) had I journeyed unto Rome, to pray the Blessed Peter that he would obtain for me the grace of true poverty. And thus, through the merits of the Blessed Peter and the Blessed Francis the gift of true poverty was vouchsafed unto me by divine mercy, even as I was asking for them in prayer as I walked by the way.

Now when I was come to that place which lieth between Spello and the narrow road which leadeth upward unto Assisi, and is beyond Spello, it was said unto me:

"Thou hast prayed unto My servant Francis, and I have not willed to send thee another messenger. I am the Holy Spirit, who am come unto thee to bring thee such consolation as thou hast never before tasted. And I will go with thee even unto Saint Francis; I shall be within thee and but few of those who are with thee will perceive it. I will bear thee company and will speak with thee all the way; I will make no end to my speaking and thou wilt not be able to attend unto any save unto Me, for I have bound thee and will not depart from thee until thou comest for the second time unto Saint Francis. Then will I depart from thee in so far as this present consolation is concerned, but in no other manner will I ever leave thee, and thou shalt love Me."

Then began He to speak the following words unto me, which did persuade me to love after this manner:

"My daughter who art sweet unto Me, my daughter who art My temple; My beloved daughter, do thou love Me, for I do greatly love thee and much more than thou lovest Me." And very often did He say unto me: "Bride and daughter, sweet art thou unto Me, I love thee better than any other who is in the valley of Spoleto. Forasmuch as I have rested and reposed in thee, do thou also rest thyself and repose in Me. I have been with the apostles, who did behold Me with their bodily eyes, but they did not feel Me as thou feelest Me. When thou shalt be come unto thine house thou shalt feel another sweetness, such as thou hast never yet experienced. I shall not speak unto thee as I now speak, but thou wilt only feel Me. Thou hast prayed unto My servant Francis, hoping with him and through him to obtain the things thou desirest, seeing that as my servant Francis hath greatly loved Me, I have done many things for him. If there were to-day any person who loved Me more, much more would I do for him."

Then said He unto me that there are few good persons in these days and but little faith, for which cause He did lament, saying, "So great is the love of the soul who loveth Me without sin, that, if there were any one who loved Me perfectly, I would show him greater mercy than I have ever shown hitherto, and Thou knowest that many great things are recorded which I have done unto divers persons in times past."

None can excuse themselves for not having this love, because it is possible for all persons to love God, and He asketh nothing save that the soul shall love and seek Him. He is the love of the soul. But these are deep sayings.

That God is the love of the soul did He set forth unto me with lively proof, by His advent and His Cross borne for us, albeit He was so great and glorious. And He did expound unto me His Passion and the other things which He did for our sake; then He did add, "Behold now, if there be aught in Me save love." He did grieve for that in these times He could find no person upon whom He could pour out His grace, and He did repeat that He would show far greater mercy unto whosoever should love Him at this present time than He had shown unto the saints and the blessed ones hitherto.

Then did He begin again to say unto me, "My beloved daughter who is sweet unto Me, love thou Me, for I do love thee more than thou lovest Me. Love Me, My beloved, for boundless is the love which I bear unto the soul who loveth Me without any sin." Methought He did desire to be loved with that same love which He bore unto the soul, according unto the power and virtue of the soul, and that if only the soul itself would desire this, He would bring it to pass.

Again He said unto me, "My beloved and My bride, love thou Me! All thy life, thy eating and drinking and sleeping and all that thou dost is pleasing unto Me, if only thou lovest Me." And He said, "I will do great things through thee in the sight of all people; thou shalt be known and glorified, so that many shall praise My name in thee."

These and other similar things did He say unto me. Then, when I heard these words I did count over my sins and consider my faults, and how that I was not worthy of such great love. And I did begin to cast doubt upon these words, wherefore my soul said unto Him who had spoken unto it: "If Thou wert truly the Holy Spirit Thou wouldst not speak thus unto me, for it is neither right nor seemly, seeing how that I am weak and frail and might grow vainglorious thereat."

He answered me, "Reflect and see if thou couldst be vainglorious because of all these things for the which thou art now grown proud; and see if thou couldst not perceive the folly of thy words by thinking of other things."

So then did I endeavour to grow vainglorious, that I might prove if what He had said were true; and I began to gaze at the vineyards, that I might learn the folly of my words. And wheresoever I looked He said unto me, "Behold and see, this is My creation," and thereat did I feel the most ineffable sweetness.

In the meantime I had remembered all my sins, and on my side I beheld nothing save sins and wrong-doing, so that I did feel greater humility than I had ever felt before. Then did He tell me that I was beloved, that the Son of God and of the Virgin Mary had inclined Himself unto me and was come to speak with me. Wherefore Christ said unto me:—

"If all the world came now unto thee, thou couldst not speak with others; for when I come unto thee, there cometh more than all the world." But in order to calm my doubts He said: "I am He who was crucified for thee, and for thy sake did I endure hunger and thirst, and so greatly have I loved thee that I did shed My blood for thee," and He expounded unto me all His Passion and said: "Ask mercy for thyself and for thy companions and for all whom thou wilt, for I am much more ready to give than thou art to receive."

Then did my soul cry aloud, saying, "I will not ask, for I am not worthy and I remember all my sins!" And it said further, "If Thou who hast spoken with me from the beginning wert truly the Holy Spirit, Thou wouldst not have told me such great things; and if Thou wert verily within me, then my joy would be so great that I could not bear it and live."

Then did He make answer: "Nothing can exist, nothing can be done save according unto My will. At present I will only give thee joy in the measure in which thou hast it. Unto another have I given less joy than this, and he fell upon the ground, neither hearing nor seeing. Yet will I give thee this sign, that thou mayest know who I am: go now and endeavour to speak with thy companions and think of any thing that thou wilt, either good or evil, and thou wilt see that thou canst not think of aught else save of God. For I am He who alone can bind the thoughts. And all these things do I unto thee, not because of thy merits, but of My goodness."

Whilst He was speaking, all the evils I had committed returned into my memory more clearly than before, wherefore did I more than ever deem myself worthy of hell. Afterwards He said unto me that if I had come in the company of other persons, not such as those with whom I was come, the aforesaid things would not have been done or said unto me. These persons did perceive somewhat of my languor, for at each word did I receive great sweetness; I had no desire to reach the city or that the road should ever come to an end. I can never describe the joy and sweetness which I felt, especially when He said, "I am the Holy Spirit who am entering into thee;" but briefly, great was the sweetness which I received at each one of His sayings.

In this manner, therefore, I did arrive at Saint Francis', as He had foretold. And He departed not from me, but remained with me, even when I sat down to meat, until I went unto Saint Francis' for the second time.

When I did bend my knees upon entering in at the door of the church, I immediately beheld a picture of Saint Francis lying in Christ's bosom. Then said Christ unto me:—

"Thus closely will I hold thee, and so much closer that bodily eyes can neither perceive nor comprehend it. But now, My beloved daughter and temple of My delight, the hour is come when I must fill thee with My spirit and must leave thee. I have told thee that because of this consolation I must leave thee; nevertheless, if thou lovest Me, I will not leave thee."

Albeit the words were bitter, yet were they full of joy. Then looked I, that I might behold with the eyes of both body and mind. And I beheld; and if thou seekest to know what I beheld, truly I can only say that it was a thing full of great majesty; and more than this can I not say, save that it seemed unto me to be full of all goodness. Then He departed with great gentleness; not suddenly, but slowly and gradually. Of the words which He spake unto me, the greatest are these:—

"Oh my daughter, who art sweeter unto Me than I am unto thee, temple of My delight, thou dost possess the ring of My love and art promised unto Me, so that henceforth thou shalt never leave Me. The blessing of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be upon thee and thine understanding."

Then cried my soul, "If only Thou wilt not leave me, I will commit no mortal sin!"

And He answered me, "That say I not unto thee." Then as He was departing, I did ask a blessing for my companion, and He replied, "Unto her will I give another blessing," and so He departed. And at His departure He would not that I should prostrate myself before Him, but that I should stand upon my feet. But after that He was gone I fell down upon a seat and began to cry with a loud voice, clamouring and calling without any shame and uttering these words, "Oh Love, heretofore have I never known Thee, why leavest Thou me in this manner?" And more than this I could not say, for my voice was so suffocated with crying that scarce could I pronounce even this, wherefore was it not heard by the persons around me.

This clamouring and crying did come upon me as I entered into the door of the church of Saint Francis. Here was I overwhelmed again and began to make a noise and call aloud in the presence of all the people, that those who were come with me and did know me did stand afar off and were ashamed, believing that I did it for another reason. So was I left with the certainty that it was God who had spoken with me; and because of His sweetness and the grief of His departure did I cry aloud, desiring to die. And seeing that I did not die, the grief of being separated from Him was so great that all the joints of my limbs did fall asunder.

After these things I departed from Assisi, and with great comfort did I go upon my way, speaking of God. And with much difficulty did I hold my peace; nevertheless I strove to abstain from talking, because of the company.

Then said Christ unto me, "I will give thee a sign by the which thou mayest know that I am Christ who have talked with thee. This sign is the Cross and love of God which I do place within thee and which shall be with thee for ever." And immediately I felt the Cross and the love of God within my soul and spreading throughout my body, so that I did actually feel it corporally; and feeling it, my soul was dissolved in God's love.

When I was returned I stayed within the house, and I felt a sweetness so peaceful, quiet, and great that I know not how to describe it. Wherefore did I long for death, and because of the aforesaid peace and sweet joyfulness was life a greater grief unto me than I can say. I longed for death that I might attain unto that delight of the which I now felt something, and because of this did I wish to depart from this world. Life was a greater grief unto me than had been the deaths of my mother and my children, more heavy than any other grief of which I can bethink me.

Thus did I remain eight days within the house, all feeble. And I cried, "Lord, have mercy upon me and grant that I may remain no longer in this world." From this time forth I was often aware of indescribable odours; but these and other things can I not explain, so great was the sweetness and joy which I did feel in them. The voice spake unto me many other times, but never at any great length, nor with so much sweetness or deep meaning.

Being returned, therefore, from Assisi, as I have said, and lying in mine house, my companion (who was of marvellous simplicity, purity, and virginity) heard a voice saying, "The Holy Spirit is in the cell." Then she came unto me and began to seek round, asking of me, "Tell me what aileth thee, for three times have I been bidden to come unto thee." And I answered, "I am glad of that which hath been bidden thee." And from that time forth I related unto my companion many of these secret things.