Part 1, lesson 21. Of the mystery of the Crucifixion, and its grace

Q. I am satisfied with what you have said to me about the great and most holy mystery of the Incarnation, but what grace does the mystery of the cruci fixion of our Lord operate in us ?

A. It gives us grace and strength to crucify all our mem bers, by the virtue of the Spirit of God, who is like the sacrificer and the executioner of the sen tence pronounced against the flesh. The nails he uses are the virtues that fasten to the cross our-self love and impure desires.

This state qf^crucifixion supposes that the soul is still living to itself, that it still struggles, and that the divine Spirit uses violence upon the body to cru cify it. Mortify your members that are upon the earth, says St. Paul.* Thus this state sup poses resistance to the Spirit on the part of the flesh; and often, in this agony, we are tortured with excessive pains.

Q. What must we do, when we feel any desire rising in our hearts, and giving us pain ?

A. We must address oursel ves to the Holy Spirit^ begging, him to use his power against the

• Mortificate ergo membra vestra quae sunt super terrain. Col. iii, 5.

flesh and act in us as a master; protesting that, on our side, we renounce all our desires, and unite with him to act in his virtue against ourselves, anni hilating and confounding oursel ves, and crushing all the re volts of the flesh in us, as much as we can, like a victim that God takes pleasure in seeing us im molate to his justice.