GOD ANSWERS THE SOUL ANTICIPATED FOR HOLY COMMUNION
Man, I have heard your prayer: I will therefore do what is in my power; I will respond to your pain and act as your loving faith dictates.
May your soul be great, peaceful and joyful; all your desires will be fulfilled. In fact, I will be your nourishment and your guest, but you will give yourself to me fully.
My flesh has been well prepared for you on the cross; my life-giving and pure blood penetrates your body and soul. Let us go, let us feast together, let us eat and drink! But do you take care to remember my passion, my death, my eternal love, because it is in this occupation and in this exercise that you will be able to enjoy peace: in fact, my beloved, I have understood from your words that you are eager to receive the adorable sacrament.
Behold, the sacrifice of the Mass is consummated: if you are ready, receive the victim.
Come and feed on me, who am the bread of life!
Only God can do what your heart wants,
Hungry for happiness,
Satisfy hunger.
MAN SPEAKS TO GOD WONDERFULLY EXALTING EUCHARISTIC GRACE
Blessed be You, my Lord God, who grants my desire! I willingly receive the Most Holy Sacrament, which is a precious gift to me, because I find in it your sacred body, very sweet and healthy for me: it is heavenly manna, the privation of which causes death; it is also the food of the angels, which gives true wisdom to those who taste it. The world, however, cannot taste it, because it delights and grieves without measure, all the goods of the world, which distract it from God…
It has only been a moment, my Lord, since you deigned to promise me that we will eat together:
And I aspire without ceasing,
At this sacred banquet,
And my altered heart,
He finally wants to push himself into this happy intoxication
Where divine transports cause joy.
Yet I cannot consume you; the more I eat you, the more I hunger for you, and the more I die of desire; the more I drink you, the more I thirst for you, and there always remains in my cup more than all mortals could ever drink.
And you, my Lord, are a very generous guest, for you pay the bill for all that has been consumed.
How gladly, Lord, would I drink your life-giving blood, which flows from your sacred side and from your most noble and glorious body; for it is so sweet to my taste that I cannot hide that it has already almost made me drunk.
Truly, Lord, your blood is far more precious and excellent than all the wines distilled from Punic grapes; and therefore I will fill all my vessels, and I will be long-suffering and bold, although nothing external worries me.
My cup is overflowing, and I am still thirsty,
When, to quench the thirst that devours me,
The divine chalice
It's always so busy
Alas! I do not value much all that I possess,
I long for everything I don't have,
Which is hidden from the eyes of man on earth,
And that limits his steps.
But although desire haunts me relentlessly,
A finite being cannot, with its compass,
To reach, not even in your dreams,
He who is infinite.
Since one has form and manner, the other has none. They are two distinct things that can never be made one, but must always remain different and distinct, since one would not be able to replace the other.
But faith, order, good rules and holy institutions are justly and deservedly praised, Because the exercises and rules of the holy Church aim to order, regulate and sanctify everything, and nothing in heaven and on earth can live without order. And God himself regulates everything in order, manner, weight and measure.
We therefore follow the regulations and reasonable institutions, in order to obtain, above reason, the contemplative life.
WHY GOD CREATED ALL THINGS – OF THE EMPYREAN HEAVEN AND PRIME MOVEOR – VARIETY ON THE UNITY OF GOD AND THE TRINITY OF PERSONS
At the very beginning of the world, as the prophet Moses teaches us in the divine Scriptures, God made heaven and earth to serve us, so that we ourselves could serve him on earth through virtues, good deeds and honesty of external customs, and in heaven, through spiritual virtues, a holy life and union with God in love and enjoyment.
This is why everything was made: nature, examples, figures, holy letters and eternal truth – which is God himself – bear witness to this.
God, in fact, according to his image, made the supreme heaven of a simple and fiery light, by nature and essence, eternally peaceful and immobile, simple in its essence, perpetually transparent, lucid and clear, and placing it above all things in grandeur, sublimity, breadth, incorruptible and everlasting sphere that envelops all that God has created in matter. This supreme heaven is the empyrean, the dwelling of the divine majesty, the palace and throne on which God, with his family, lives and reigns.
This mysterious heaven is God himself, in the unity and Trinity of his nature; and thus he is found above all the heavens, all creatures and all his works; and we follow him above our created essence, with a perpetual charity, in the delight and in our superessential beatitude which is God himself.
And although God is above all the heavens and all his creatures, he is nevertheless in all the heavens, in all the universe, in all the creatures that he governs, moderated and ordered according to his will.
But, in a special way, it is above all, in the supreme heaven, which he created according to his example and in his likeness, that he adorned his creation with himself and his glory.
The simple essence of the supreme heaven is indeed immutable, inactive, quiet, tranquil, idle and immobile, above all that God has made from matter, in heaven and on earth.
But it is the first mover that moves everything that can be moved in material creatures; this is evident.
Now, the empyrean heaven shines with such a sensible and lucid clarity that it can only be seen by the glorified gaze of the blessed.
And it is the kingdom of heaven, in which God lives and reigns with his saints, because it presents a threefold similarity to God, namely in his essence, in the endless activity of his nature, and in these two aspects penetrated and irradiated by simple light.
Likewise, it must be considered and understood that the sublime essence of the adorable Trinity is perpetually idle and inactive, absolutely immutable.
However, the nature of people is fruitful and always active, according to the way of people, or rather according to the people themselves.
For the Father, by his nature, begets the Son, a second person and other than himself. The Son, inasmuch as he is the eternal wisdom of God, is begotten by the Father, distinct as a person, but one with the Father in substance and nature.
But from the Father and the Son emanates the Holy Spirit, united with them in nature.
There is here, unity of nature but diversity and distinction of persons. Because in the relationship between persons, between the Father and the Son, there is knowledge, inclination, expansion and mutual love, through the Holy Spirit, who is the charity of one and the other, of the Father and the Son.
But the unity in which people live and reign, accomplishes and operates everything in an active and fruitful manner in emanation, according to the freest science, wisdom, power and nobility of the people.
Now, in the reflux of persons, unity draws the persons themselves into itself for enjoyment, beyond all distinction, and holds them in the delight of the immense and infinite charity, which, by essence and nature, is God himself. In this way God lives and knows himself in himself, with himself, above every creature, possessing himself, loving himself, enjoying himself, at the height of happiness.
It is the supreme way of life that the human verb can express in describing God.
Thus God lives in the supreme heaven, in the fullness of light, close to the highest summit of our created essence.
He has called us and chosen us, and if we want to seek him, we will find him within us, above ourselves, where he rejoices in himself in glory, with his elect, in contemplation, knowledge, love and joy, pouring out through all things, in eternal bliss.
And we here on earth abandon this contemplative life, which is God himself and which He communicates and gives to those who, renouncing themselves, have followed his spirit, and in which he rejoices in himself with all his elect in eternal glory.
Certainly, if someone, in spirit, wishes to ascend from the earth to the supreme heaven, it is necessary that he launch himself above the elements and all the intermediate heavens; and thus, through his faith, he will find God in his Kingdom.
Likewise, whoever wishes to rise above faith, to the pinnacle of his created essence, that is to say, into the mysterious heaven, must be adorned externally with all good works, and internally with all virtues and holy exercises.
He will then rise above the senses, phantoms and imaginations, all images, both corporeal and spiritual, reasons, forms and considerations, and will thus be able to climb to the heights of vision freed from images, that is, of contemplation in the divine light; here, he will be able to contemplate the kingdom of God in himself, and God in his kingdom.
This is what we are going to examine in the following pages.
OF THE STARRY SKY, OF THE FIXED STARS AND OF THE COMETS, OF THEIR VIRTUES
Moses teaches us that God created the firmament, that is, the starry sky, which is certainly above the elements, because it is interposed between the nature of the elements and that of the heavens, dividing and separating them: in the same way the Lord created the lower waters below the sky, and those which are instead above, and which are called crystalline sky, by analogy with the waters hardened and frozen in ice. This sky is found midway between the empyrean sky and the firmament, and extends like an immense ocean of celestial clarity and subtlety: it is a firmament full of light in which the stars are fixed.
The Planets are not transparent, but shine and glow with the clarity of the sun and the heavens.
As for the stars which are fixed in the firmament, together with the firmament itself, they occupy the place and rank which God has given them by regulating their movement around, below and above.
The planets, however, occupy seven spheres of equal size, which are moved by the prime mover, not indeed in the same way as the firmament, but rather according to the order of divine Wisdom which perfectly disposes and moderates every creation according to our necessity and for our benefit.
This makes the Planets different and contrary to each other in nature, action, form and species; and it was necessary that it should be so, in order that the elements and nature of all the inferior creations should be regulated.
Although the Planets and Stars are neither cold nor hot, neither dry nor humid, they influence by their virtue and efficacy all inferior beings, and cause in them all that, according to the course of the sky and the properties of the inferior creatures themselves, is accomplished and happens down here.
According as men, by habit or natural temperament, are more or less inclined to good or evil, so the celestial nature works, in the superior regions, so that – according to the inclination of their natures – men do good or evil. But no celestial nature nor any creature or creation, except God Himself, can dominate our free will or our free will.
But God, in all his forms, always incites us and exhorts us to do good, and turns us away and preserves us from all evil if we decide to follow him, in the way that he himself teaches us through himself and his creatures.
THAT ALL CREATURES TEACH US HOW TO LIVE – OF THE SPIRITUAL AND INNER LIFE AND ALSO OF GOOD AND BAD WILL
Let everyone pay serious attention and understand what we are about to say.
All creatures instruct us, instruct us, lead us and teach us how we should live.
The very nature of the heavens and the order that has been divinely imposed on them are for us an example and a true image that shows us that we must live for God, above the elements, in the heavens; to live an interior, hidden, spiritual life, which no one knows and understands, except he who lives it, practices it and exercises it.
But this interior life begins like this: our heavenly Father creates in the most intimate part of ourselves the interior firmament, provided that we are willing to follow the natural propensity of our soul, that is, the synderesis inculcated and impressed in us by God, which, by its nature, is always desirous of good.
It is, in fact, the first element created by God in our souls, and, by its very nature, as we have said, it is always seeking the good. But it is often clouded and obscured by the darkness of vice. And, although the nature created by God is good, and although it pleases God, even in its nakedness it still needs the help of divine grace, if it wishes to rise above itself.
Indeed, when we cease and avoid serious and gross vices and weaknesses and seek and desire the grace of God, by nature we cannot do anything better and more excellent.
But the will is so evil and malevolent, so much so that man is opposed to God and all His gifts, that man can neither understand nor practice virtue, wisdom and truth in life: he is despised by God and has no share in all spiritual goods and all good works accomplished in heaven and on earth.
Ill will is the foundation and beginning of all evil: whoever perseveres and dies in it can find no place except in hell among the reprobate spirits.
On the contrary, the good will, in which God lives and reigns with all his gifts, can be compared quite appropriately to the celestial firmament; because it is unceasingly put into action by the Holy Spirit, who is the first cause or prime mover of all holiness.
Now, this firmament, both by the presence of God and by the Sun of Wisdom shining in it, is radiant, shining, luminous and lucid.
Furthermore, it is the spiritual medium that divides and divides the celestial and inferior waters, that is, the virtues and the acts of virtues, times and eternity, the external active life and the internal spiritual life, grace and nature, signs and truth, and finally the sensible works which, falling under the dominion of the senses, have an end, and the spiritual works which last eternally if performed in a state of grace.
DESCRIPTION OF THE TRIPLE HEAVEN AND THE STARS
The nature of the heavens is threefold: the first heaven is called firmament, the second heaven crystalline, the third empyrean: the three heavens are all transparent and luminous, and it is in the third heaven that God dwells and reigns with all his saints.
This heaven, which is the highest and most radiant, as the dwelling place of God, designates, as we have already said, the contemplative life.
The other two lower heavens instead designate the hidden, interior and spiritual life, in which we converse with God, and God with us through his grace and glory.
The first of these heavens, in which the stars are fixed, designates the power of our heavenly Father who draws us inwardly, draws us along and elevates us above sensible acts towards a certain spiritual test which influences the senses, and in which all the virtues are exercised and lived.
It is then that we become similar to the stars of the sky, which, in truth, up there, face to face with God, are immense, but which appear tiny here on earth, in the eyes of men who know only the signs and indications of the virtues that they see outwardly through good works.
But the stars are not transparent like the heavens: they are spherical figures and revolve with the firmament to which they are fixed each in its place, some higher, some lower, larger or smaller, dissimilar from each other in nature, kind, virtue, efficacy and brightness: there are those that shine lower and those that shine in the upper regions, according as they have been adorned, ordered and placed by God. They do not shine with their own light, but draw their brilliance from the sun, and they shine, illuminate and sparkle like golden vessels exposed to the sunlight; they illuminate the night and indicate the longed-for port to the sailor, but sometimes they give way to the splendor of the sun, and infuse their virtue into the elements and into everything that lives and grows on earth, in the waves and in the air.
Let us now see how the starry heavens teach us about the inner and celestial life.
HOW THE SKIES AND STARS TEACH US ABOUT THE INNER AND CELESTIAL LIFE
The heavens, in truth, with their clarity, are transparent; and our interior life, thanks to the light of grace and the presence of God within us – the God to whom we are all united – is also transparent.
Now the faculties of the soul do not have this clarity, because, like golden vessels or like mirrors, they rise up and gaze face to face with the sun of the eternal wisdom of God, and there they draw light and heat in different ways, according to their different dispositions and according to the excellence and dignity of the virtues which they offer to God. And, as the fixed stars revolve with the firmament to which they adhere, so the interior faculties of just souls eternally follow and conform themselves by virtues and good works to the power and wisdom of God, to which they adhere.
All the stars are spherical figures of which neither the beginning nor the end can be seen; so too are the faculties of the noble and beautiful soul, in its works, since it practices all the virtues with God and for God, and thus lives in God, who has neither beginning nor end.
But every interior life that is not spherical has, on the contrary, the points and angles of a false intention and of an adulterous love, and consequently is unjust and deceitful, and cannot please God.
Some stars are pale, some are bright, some are flame-colored.
When we recall, before the omnipotent justice of God, our vices, our errors and weaknesses, we have a contrite heart, we pale and tremble, wondering if we can bear the severe judgment of God, whether on the day of our death or on the day of the universal judgment. It is then that we resemble the pale stars.
But when we raise our intelligence, stripped of imagination, towards the eternal wisdom of God, the Truth, which is God, irradiates the face of our soul, and thus, between us and God, there occurs an emission and a reflection of splendor, as if the sun were sending its rays from a cone of crystal placed between two heaps of gold; in this way we become transparent, pure, clear and lucid like the stars of heaven.
When we raise our will or loving inclination, affectionately and eagerly, towards the goodness of God, our spirit is inflamed and projects sparks of impatient and burning love, which must always remain ardent, until the spirit itself is sparkling with love; in this way, loving spirits are assimilated to the stars of the inflamed and sparkling sky.
OF THE SEVEN PLANETS, AND FIRST OF ALL SATURN: ITS MYSTICAL MEANING
God also made, in the expanse of the firmament, the seven spheres or planetary circles, which adorn the sky and the earth, which support and fertilize the inferior beings, just as divine wisdom has established and ordered.
Among the stars, the one that occupies the highest point is Saturn, who in himself is cold and dry, pale in color, of a crafty, cruel, terrible and merciless disposition. He brings upon the lower creatures hail, snow, floods, storms and many calamities, miseries and defeats, for he reigns in the midst of winter under the constellations of Capricorn and Aquarius, in December and January.
To give these notions a spiritual meaning, one must know that nowadays, Saturn dominates the whole earth, in summer as well as in winter, because charity has cooled more than it should, which causes men to be evidently arid and dry, sterile in good works, pale, disorderly, deformed, not at all inclined to good morals, greedy, tenacious, full of hatred and envy, proud, cunning, malicious, skilled in imposing themselves on others and in deceiving one another.
Those who live a naturalistic and vicious life always have the Sun under the constellation of Capricorn. Since the goat or he-goat naturally exhales a bad odor, it is not absurd to compare them to the sinner, who is a horror to God and all the saints, and has neither virtue, nor power, nor beauty, and is only good for eternal flames. His works are those of the goat, and on the day of judgment they will be placed on the left, and cast into the eternal flames of hell.
The winter sun thus runs through the Aquarius, to which are comparable those men who obey and abandon themselves to the tendencies, desires, and pleasures following the inclination of their nature: These, in the service of God, are idle and slow, greedy, intemperate, immoderate in drinking and eating, inclined to bodily pleasures and to the satisfaction of all their desires.
Young and healthy men of body, who live carnally and luxuriously outside of grace, without remorse and the bonds of conscience, nor the fear of God, give themselves over to the desires, inclinations, affections of nature, and are like the aquarium, because their whole life is dissipated in vice, pleasure and the voluptuousness of their perverse and evil will, contrary to the will of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose name be blessed and praised for ever.
OF THE PLANET JUPITER: ITS MYSTIC MEANING – OF ANGELS AND MEN – OF THE FOUR KINDS OF EVIL MEN – OF THE SONS OF GOD AND OF NATURE.
The planet that was created next by God is Jupiter, who reigns in spring. It is clear and white like milk, warm and moist, fertilizes all creatures, is sweet and pleasant, useful to all and harmful to some.
It can be seen from this description how these two planets, Saturn and Jupiter, are the opposite of each other, in nature and effects; and yet, both are useful and necessary, each in its proper time.
All creatures, in fact, are perfect, they act and operate as God has ordered them.
For at the beginning of the created world, Almighty God created for His glory two natures, the first in heaven, the second on earth; and above all beings endowed with one or the other nature were noble, excellent, free and perfect according to that nature, beloved by God, conscious of good and evil. The faculty of free will had been given to them by God so that they could choose and set for themselves what they preferred.
But some of these became self-satisfied and loved themselves beyond measure, and showed themselves insubordinate before God, and having despised both His grace and His will, they refused to serve Him. For this reason they fell from heaven like lightning, and their sin became eternal, since it cannot be repaired by any penance, and they are consumed in the eternal flames of Tartarus.
But those who of their own free will loved, honored, and adored God, have shared in his grace and glory, and have been eternally confirmed in this condition; they stand forever in the presence of God, each according to his order, some more sublime than others according to the excellence of their nature, the dignity of their ministry and office, the beauty and greatness of their works.
Even the first man disobeyed God, despised His will and commands, and that is why he was expelled from paradise, but, nevertheless, his sin was not eternal, since he obtained grace and forgiveness, and all of us with him provided that, with good will and contrition of heart, we implore mercy for our sins.
But there are four kinds of sinners who today dominate everywhere in the world, and all who live and die in this sin are stung by eternal damnation.
Those of the first kind are the pagans, the Jews, the infidel Christians who differ in some article of faith from the Catholic religion.
Those of the second kind are those who, freely and knowingly, live in mortal sin, against the divine precepts and the wise institutions of the church.
Those of the third kind are the hypocrites, crafty and pretending men who, although internally devoid of virtue, manifest its appearance and character externally; and this not because of God, but for the love of perishable and ephemeral things.
Those of the fourth kind are those who truly serve God, not for love of Him, but for self-love and for the purpose of personal advantage: they are mercenaries. But whoever serves God for any cause other than God Himself, this one does not love God. He who always wants to gain and possess but never to give, is never good.
But for him who loves God, this is enough, and he desires nothing more. To serve God is to love Him. He who serves God for his own personal interest certainly does not love Him, because true charity seeks only what is its own, and he who loves himself or any other creature below God cannot love God.
To always seek oneself in all things, to have only oneself as one's sole focus, is the work of nature and is hidden pride, even if man is unaware of it. That which is born of the flesh is carnal, but flesh and blood cannot see God, encounter Him, and possess Him; instead, the spirit, which is born of God, transmits this onto the flesh, onto nature, and onto all things; it sees God and reveals the realm hidden in the depths of the self.
From this it is clearly seen that the children of nature or of the flesh are adversaries and enemies of the children born of God.
And indeed, nature without grace is infamous.
But the children born of God are the legitimate heirs of the Kingdom of God.
I will say in a few words how one must distinguish the children of nature from those of God. The former are those who submit to the elements and obey the movements of the sky and the planets.
As for the sons of God, they dominate the course of the sky and the planets, and everything obeys them.
THE NATURE OF MEN HAS FIVE DISTINCT COMPLEXIONS – OF THE SONS OF SATURN.
The nature of men has five distinct manners or complexions, which come to us from the influence of the planets, which we imitate according to birth and bodily complexion. The planets dominate and act, in fact, on the body, but have no right over the spirit which, above nature, is born of God through grace.
The sons of the supreme planet, Saturn, are similar in nature; in fact, they are cold as regards the feeling of love and its effects, dried up and sterile as regards the fruits of virtue, malevolent, fickle, harsh, cruel, hateful, envious, entirely devoted to their own will, gloomy, vehement, haughty and proud in spirit. And when they want to devote themselves to the spirit, they are anguished and anxious, tormented by the exaggerated fear of damnation, because they consider and love only themselves, following the inclination of their nature.
It happens that they are sometimes cold and dry, that is, without good will, without experience or spiritual affection; sometimes cold and damp, that is, without taste or divine consolation, as if they were restless and disturbed by nature, and always full of distrust and disordered fears.
For they come to light in winter, when Saturn rules, which at first is cold and dry, as under the sign of Capricorn, and at the end is cold and wet, when it evolves into the sign of Aquarius, which brings with it rain, snow, floods and all sorts of calamities.
This type of man must therefore detest and hate the nature and complexion that he has from birth, and renounce it of his own will; despise his own judgment and feeling, and, in the justified fear of divine justice, turn away his eyes from too long a reflection on the judgment of God, being careful not to distrust, despise, or despair of the grace and charity of the Holy Spirit; because this last is the most detestable infernal sin in the eyes of God.
They must increase their faith in the holy scriptures, which abound in heavenly consolations, because Christ died for all sinners, without exception.
They must also submit to righteous men, and trust in them more than in themselves; in this way their hearts and all their faculties will open and unfold, with the desire to receive divine grace.
OF THE PLANET JUPITER AND ITS CHILDREN
The next planet is Jupiter, which is contrary to Saturn, because it is hot and moist, clear and milky white, soft and sweet, and reigns in February.
The Sun passes through the sign of Pisces and rises into the upper regions, the days become warm, the waves rise, the fish that the harsh cold of winter had gathered together swim and plough through the waters with immense pleasure.
This planet is lovely, sweet and peaceful; it is favorable and prosperous for all creatures that live here. Those who are born under its influence resemble it by nature, that is, by the fervor of good intentions, the abundance of holy works, the beauty and pleasantness of their bodies, their grace, humility, gentleness, piety, liberality, benignity, gaiety: they are sociable, amiable, full of courtesy and distinction in language and customs; they easily charm others and allow themselves to be seduced.
This natural disposition, although excellent, noble and good, comes only from flesh and blood, and is not always wise and prudent. Because of it, one often neglects God, His kingdom and eternal goods, seeking and embracing instead the fragile and perishable things of this world, which one must quickly abandon, whether one wants to or not.
But those born under Jupiter who renounce themselves, die to the world and its vices, and pay little attention to the world; these are born in God, are full of grace, riches and happiness, and become, together with the angels and saints, co-heirs of eternal glory.
OF THE PLANET MARS AND OF THOSE BORN UNDER THIS SIGN.
The third planet, if one descends from the upper regions, is Mars, which is hot and dry, malicious, envious and barbarous, and has many relations with Saturn.
Men born under this planet are dry, ardent, vicious, envious, asocial, friends with no one, they are not generous or benefactors except to those who seem to be their friends and who do them good.
But by temperament and habit they are fiery and choleric, their souls are excited and moved by little, they are often agitated and disturbed, and if they receive some injury they retain the memory of it for a long time in the depths of their hearts; they do not forgive easily, they take revenge willingly, and are saddened by trivial reasons; shrewd and versatile, they always imagine that their thought is preferable to that of others, because a hidden pride is hidden within them.
These, when they decide to devote themselves to the spiritual life, take on an attitude of apparent sanctity for the sole purpose of entering into the good graces of men and of pleasing them; for example, they undertake works of penance unknown to other righteous people, such as prolonged silence, or they make sublime speeches. And if they are naturally fine and subtle, they rashly condemn other righteous people who do not exalt their way of being.
This is because they are proud and hypocritical, neither fit nor suitable to receive the grace of God.
But what is impossible for men is not impossible for Almighty God.
OF THE SUN AND OF THOSE BORN UNDER THIS STAR.
The fourth plant is the Sun, which occupies the center among the planets and flows into all of them. It is bright, luminous, golden in color, dry and hot, especially when it evolves around the sign of Leo, in the middle of summer. Unique, it shines by its own virtue and illuminates the three superior and three inferior planets, and also everything that is above and below it. It ripens the fruits, distributes life and fertility, and is the eye and the light of the world; it is like the living source of all light and all heat. Without it no fruit can grow, acquire a pleasant flavor and ripen. It makes the day and the night, the summer and the winter. It is said to be eight times larger than the earth, it illuminates all the stars which, sometimes, with its splendor, it makes invisible. It is hateful and unpleasant to sick eyes, lovable and sweet to lucid glances.
Those who are born under its influence have superb beauty, are candid and amiable, sober and well regulated in drinking and eating as in everything else; they are dry, and resist every desire and disordered pleasure. They have a lively blood, a noble and bold soul, like the Lion who is the king and prince of all that lives and grows in nature.
The children of the Sun are ready to give themselves to all who need them, especially to those whom they judge worthy. For they desire everything that is united with virtue and wants the good and the beautiful. By natural complexion they are sweet and amiable, they love the light of truth and virtue, and detest the darkness of vice and error; they have a joyful soul, a charitable heart, a sweet language, they are amiable and good, and so it often happens that they enjoy the favor of great princes, and are elevated to honors and dignities.
Finally, they have a long-suffering, docile and subtle spirit, they are wise and prudent in their knowledge of truth and virtue; by nature, they are suited to receive the grace of God.
OF VENUS AND THOSE BORN UNDER HER INFLUENCE.
The fifth planet, inferior to the Sun, is called Venus. It is bright and shiny, bright and clear in color, and by nature it is warm and moist.
He is also called Lucifer, when, preceding the Sun, he shows himself to the gaze of men who admire his brightness and splendor.
It is also called the Evening Star, when, late at night, it follows the sun.
Among the stars it is the brightest; as for its influence, it is good, benevolent and sweet, and tempers the malice of Mars. Venus dominates when the Sun passes through the constellations of Taurus and Libra, that is, in September.
When it reaches its peak, it calms hatred and envy, and revives and strengthens, by virtue of its nature, love and fidelity in all men.
Those who come to light under his influence, from this point of view, have many similarities with the children of Jupiter.
They are white-faced, beautiful, graceful, pleasant, sociable, of sweet habits, of noble and honest manners, of a warm and moist nature, or lustful, greedy, inclined to all voluptuousness, to all the disorderly and illicit pleasures that delight the body.
They flee hatred and envy, and, according to their abilities, bring about peace, friendship and harmony among mortals.
However, if they have a good, beautiful and generous nature, and, according to the habits and customs of the world, a distinction and manners pleasing to men, nevertheless they cannot please God without Divine grace.
Indeed, they are born at dawn and have received the spirit of Lucifer. Opening their bodily eyes, they are illuminated by the light of heaven and the sun, and they live according to the delights that the sun provides, because they have warm and generous blood; and because of this they allow themselves to be seduced by the love of everything that is of the world, which makes them blind in spirit, and causes their intellectual gaze to be unable to perceive divine grace.
Lucifer brings the light of the sun, that is, the morning of the world; his sons are those who, young in age, full of health and vigor, fight for the world and please it, without fear and without religion of conscience: they have a joyful heart, they devote themselves to all pleasures, they sing, they dance, and they do not care how they spend the day, until the evening.
The Evening Star follows the setting sun, and after it it also sets.
His children succumb to evil: they are those who die in mortal vice and are caught in the bonds of eternal damnation. From now on, no day of joy will shine for them anymore: their eternal portion is damnation.
Let each one examine and consider himself carefully, as far as he can: this is wisdom, because internal prudence and circumspection are useful for everything.
CONTINUATION OF THE SAME DISCOURSE ABOUT PLANETS
We are all by nature negotiators, all of us who are born under the astral influence; we buy and sell, we exchange less precious things for more excellent ones.
But Mercury, which occupies the sixth place among the planets, naturally rules over merchants, and so accords with all the planets: it is evil to the wicked, and salutary to the good.
It always advances with the sun and evolves with it, and because of the brightness of the sun and the proximity to the star, the planet is also bright and shining, but nevertheless it cannot be easily seen, since the solar splendor is interposed between the view.
Mercury always reigns from the month of May to the beginning of August, the most pleasant and fertile time of the year, when all things grow, to then ripen in autumn.
Mercury is, by nature, hot and humid; similarly his children, born under his empire, are of hot and humid temperament, that is to say sanguine and of good constitution, joyful and cheerful, similar to those who are born under the influence of the sun.
These two planets, in fact, are companions, and those who are generated under their influence have much resemblance to each other.
Those born under the empire of Mercury are wise and astute by nature, they know how to live and converse easily with the good and the bad, the rich and the poor, they know how to speak wisely and eloquently like rhetoricians, they restore peace where discord reigns, they are skilled in buying, selling, practicing usury, lying and deceiving, following their own interest or that of others.
In words, deeds, institutions, and rules of life, and in all that is the object of their attention, they are wise, skillful, prudent, industrious; and therefore they obtain the favor of princes, lords, and the powerful, fame, honors, dignities, riches, and all the other advantages of the world.
However, although they are endowed with all these advantages by nature, they cannot find, contemplate and possess the Kingdom of God without divine grace, since nature cannot surpass itself. Thus, it is said, each planet exercises its influence on those who are born under its empire, and distributes to them the gifts of nature that it has received from God. This is why men are different in nature and complexion, in customs and habits, and yet all have the same human nature. However, in bodily generation, each tends to imitate, following nature, the planet under whose influence he was born.
Everything under heaven was born from the seed of Adam, under the influence of the stars and planets, flesh and blood, sensitive and mortal by nature.
But in the planets there is neither will nor science, nor life nor any power that comes from themselves; nevertheless it is said that, by the divine virtue that they have in themselves, they pour out into all the sublunary creatures, even into the depths of the ocean, the life, the fecundity, the multiple varieties of nature and species with which, since the origin of the world, for his glory and our utility, God has adorned the creation; and this in the waves, on the earth, in the air. But our necessity is to know ourselves, to serve and love God.
We are all born of the flesh of mortal nature, and therefore we are children of the planets, which influence our mortal nature and in some way dominate it. But if we rise above nature, and are finally born in the spirit of God, we become children of divine grace, and God himself, with his spirit, dominates and reigns in our spirit and gives us seven gifts that regulate us, that moderate us, that direct us in all the virtues, so that we recognize clearly and luminously that love elevates us, and that we are united and joined to God himself for eternal life.
Among these lives of nature and grace, Almighty God created the rational soul, which in its lower part is sensitive, in its middle part is rational, in its upper part is spiritual; and these three parts, in man, are but one life according to nature.
But God has given the rational soul a balance, to enable it to weigh with its own hands, on the two scales, itself and all created things; and He demands of our reason and our will that we weigh everything with the same measure, as is proper, and that we choose what is best, that is, God himself.
Natural reason itself shows and attests to us that we must act justly in this way.
Because, by nature, as far as we know, we are always drawn toward the best.
THE TWELVE SENTENCES ON THE LOVE OF JESUS, OR DIALOGUE OF THE TWELVE WISE VIRGINS (7).
Twelve virgins were talking together one day,
Of the infinite graces of Jesus, their spouse,
Whose outstanding beauty makes the angels jealous.
And since the universe has nothing that resembles it,
They praised Love, sweet and gentle Love.
The first one said: my heart is all on fire,
For the beloved name of Jesus, my savior.
And since his virtue comforts my soul,
Never will human love conquer me!
Only Jesus is perfect! Only Jesus is lovable!
And his divinity makes him adorable to us!
The second one said: Oh! I would love her
If I could know where his love begins,
But I ignore it, alas! and my fatal indolence,
He deprives me of his gifts; because I confess to you,
who, too often guilty and always agitated,
From a thousand different cares, my soul is tormented.
The Third said: He always comes to me,
As a tender friend, and promises my faith,
Wonderful jewels, ineffable delights;
But I don't know how, and by what artifices,
He suddenly escapes, like an inconstant guest,
And I follow his bright tracks in vain,
To see him again and enjoy his graces…
Of course it is unwise, and it can be imprudent,
The singing of a beautiful day, before the stars,
do not shine in a sky that is all blue and without veils.
The fourth said: one's honor is at stake,
Not to demand for oneself, frivolous and idle,
the reward of pure love, if not after work,
it is finally finished…. To wear the halo, every winner must,
To the kiss of glory, he has prepared his heart…
But we see the mercenary worker too often,
Refusing work, complaining about wages.
The fifth said: the love of my Jesus,
It causes me so many alarms,
May my heart and my senses remain under arms.
And I don't know who to talk to about his abuses:
It's no use giving myself completely, he always demands it!
Busy day and night in deceiving my weakness,
He tends a thousand and one deceptions to my candor,
Without at least being able to elude his aims.
This unequal trade and the narrow breadth,
of my divine lover, explain my sadness.
The sixth said: Oh what a strange speech!
And the crazy request! So, every day,
Should our master Jesus be a generous guest?
It is best to put a dam on this love without barriers,
Women, you walk the path of error,
And your wicked tongue offends the Lord.
There is too much freedom, of meaning and of speech!
May true repentance inspire your role!
Because to speak of the love of Jesus, it is necessary
Be less devoid of fear and respect.
The seventh said: my soul is hungry,
Of the love that Jesus has for his beloved!
But even if I had all the divine treasure,
That he can pour in torrents into the loving soul,
It would seem vain to me,
And nothing outside of Himself,
To satisfy my hunger, it would be enough.
Death, slow in coming, seems necessary to me,
To the impulse of a love, which I want to satisfy.
The eighth said: Yes, the Lord Jesus,
It is the divine food that is enjoyed with joy.
Pure hearts are invited to his sacred banquet;
And since true love never goes astray,
His ardent zealots will not be disappointed.
He is mine, this Jesus, and I am all his!
Nothing can stop my soul from belonging,
To this God encountered by lucky chance.
As one cracks a nut, I cracked it without delay.
One must be very foolish to disdain the almond!
It is sweet and delicious, hidden from the profane eye:
It offers the elect endless delights;
And it is she who can satisfy their hunger.
Now, I want to reveal my soul to you without fail:
If I had all the strength that my flame carries,
Jesus alone would be my God and Lord;
It is so good to serve his love everywhere,
And drinking from his cup is the best dictate
The ninth said: alas! that the love of Jesus
He leaves me alone, and I need him every hour
Marching on roads that are unknown to me
Everything deceives and deludes me;
Of the sweetness of the past nothing remains to me.
It's like a bet!
Such a painful state is full of tedium for me:
Jesus took my heart and ran away!
The tenth said: That love is sweet
Of my Lord Jesus of whom I remain a slave!
He penetrates my soul and gives me something to taste.
His delicious wine… my cup is full!
Good God! may I without losing my breath,
Towards higher peaks strive and still climb,
When all enraptured in your serene face,
The soul drinks this royal drink in deep gulps
Are there other loves that can enchant her?
The eleventh said: What more could I desire?
I am not yet lost in the one I adore
And whose seduction is the only happiness for the elect?
I am not immersed in the unfathomable abyss at all,
Where one can enjoy the most intimate peace with God,
And from which the soul never returns?
The twelfth said: what can I do?
My will is moving: must I satisfy it?
Because love could not remain inactive…
The lover of virtue practices it without ceasing;
And far from passion, always contemplative,
He endlessly worships divine wisdom;
Then, his soul pushes itself into the essence of God;
And in this need to love that brings about intoxication,
He enjoys happiness, at all times and places,
In the state of quiet where the soul is satisfied,
He leads a happy, ineffable and perfect life.
And the virgins sang in the ecstasy of love:
When love presses us
We sing without ceasing
With sweet chords
His divine transports.
Let's sing the mystery
What a sail to our eyes
Love on Earth
And he shows it to the heavens!
Oh! how our heavenly Father loves us,
Who sends down his son from the highest heavens,
To heal men from the deadly plague;
And with the death of a God, reopen Paradise!
We live in our turn, as he himself lived,
That Divine Redeemer, from whom every gift comes.
He will place it on our foreheads,
The eternal diadem,
So that with tears,
Arrived in glory,
And healed from pain,
We sing victory,
Of the Lamb son of God.
Died to break our chains and kill death itself;
The sublime giant who kidnaps from here,
Towards the divine heights the seduced soul that loves him.