I could not
reduce them sufficiently to order to define and render them
intelligible. Besides which my sufferings are very great, and when I
speak on the subject of my visions I behold them in my mind's eye
portrayed in such vivid colours, that the sight is almost sufficient to
cause a weak mortal like myself to expire.
I next saw innumerable bands of redeemed souls liberated from
Purgatory and from Limbo, who followed our Lord to a delightful spot
situated above the celestial Jerusalem, in which place I, a very short
time ago, saw the soul of a person who was very dear to me. The soul of
the good thief was likewise taken there, and the promise of our Lord,
'This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise,' was fulfilled.
It is not in my power to explain the exact time that each of these
events occurred, nor can I relate one-half of the things which I saw
and heard; for some were incomprehensible even to myself, and others
would be misunderstood if I attempted to relate them. I have seen our
Lord in many different places. Even in the sea he appeared to me to
sanctify and deliver everything in the creation. Evil spirits fled at
his approach, and cast themselves into the dark abyss. I likewise
beheld his soul in different parts of the earth, first inside the tomb
of Adam, under Golgotha; and when he was there the souls of Adam and
Eve came up to him, and he spoke to them for some time. He then visited
the tombs of the prophets, who were buried at an immense depth below
the surface; but he passed through the soil in the twinkling of an eye.
Their souls immediately re-entered their bodies, and he spoke to them,
and explained the most wonderful mysteries. Next I saw him, accompanied
by a chosen band of prophets, among whom I particularly remarked David,
visit those parts of the earth which had been sanctified by his
miracles and by his sufferings. He pointed out to them, with the
greatest love and goodness, the different symbols in the old law
expressive of the future; and he showed them how he himself had
fulfilled every prophecy. The sight of the soul of our Lord, surrounded
by these happy souls, and radiant with light, was inexpressibly grand
as he glided triumphantly through the air, sometimes passing, with the
velocity of lightning, over rivers, then penetrating though the hardest
rocks to the very centre of the earth, or moving noiselessly over its
surface.
I can remember nothing beyond the facts which I have just rel
|