Chapter IV
Of Her Manner Of Living And Of The Reproaches Which Were Made Her Concerning Her Complete Abstinence.
The incomparable Spouse of souls had tried his beloved daughter in the furnace of great tribulations: he taught her to overcome the enemy of souls in every variety of combat, it only remained for him to crown her in a manner worthy of his own divine munificence; but, the souls that she was destined to succor in their pilgrimage, had not yet profited by her virtues as much as the Saviour desired and had promised, and it was requisite that Catherine should remain in the world, receiving in it the pledges of her eternal reward. Our Lord made known by revelation, to his faithful servant the celestial life that she was to lead in this valley of tears.
One day while she was praying in her little chamber, he appeared to her, and announced to her the kind of new miracle that he was going to operate in her: " Learn my sweetest daughter, that henceforth thy life will be filled with prodigies so amazing that ignorant and sensual men will refuse to believe them. Many even of those persons who are attached to thee, will doubt them and fear an illusion caused by excess of love to me. I will diffuse in thy soul such an abundance of grace, that thy body itself will experience its effects and will live no longer except in an extraordinary manner; thy heart shall become so ardent for the salvation of the neighbor, that thou shalt forget thy sex and its reserve: thou shalt
