The Book of Heaven
—Unofficial Version—

August 8, 1904

The soul must look for Jesus within herself, not outside. Everything must be enclosed in one word: ‘Love’. One who loves Jesus is another Jesus.

While I continued struggling, my adorable Jesus came for just a little, but even though I felt Him near me, I would try to grab Him, and He would escape me, almost preventing me from going outside of myself to go in search of Him.  Then, after I struggled very much, He made Himself seen for just a little and told me:  “My daughter, do not look for Me outside of yourself, but within yourself, in the depth of your soul, because if you go outside and do not find Me, you will suffer very much and will not be able to endure.  If you can find Me more easily, why do you want to struggle more?”  And I:  ‘It is because I believe that not finding You immediately within myself, I can find You outside; it is love that pushes me to this.’  And He:  “Ah, it is love that pushes you to this?  Everything, everything should be enclosed in one single word:  ‘Love’.  If the soul does not enclose everything in this, it can be said that she does not know a thing about loving Me, and according to how much the soul loves Me, so do I expand the gift of suffering.”  And I, interrupting Him, all surprised and afflicted, said:  ‘My Life and my whole Good, so, since I suffer little or nothing, I love You little, or not at all.  What fright, the mere thought that I do not love You!  My soul feels a sharp disappointment, and I even almost feel offended by You.’  And He added:  “I do not intend to disappoint you; your disappointment would press on my Heart more than on your own.  And besides, you must not look at the mere corporal sufferings, but also at the spiritual, and at the true will you have to suffer; because if the soul truly wants to suffer, for Me it is as if the soul had suffered.  Therefore calm yourself and do not be troubled; and let Me continue speaking: 

Haven’t you ever seen two intimate friends?  Oh, how they try to imitate each other, and to reproduce the other within themselves.  They imitate the voice, the manners, the steps, the works, the clothes, in such a way that the friend can say:  ‘The one who loves me is another me, and since he is me I cannot help loving him.’  So I do with the soul who encloses all of Me within herself, as though within a small circle of love.  I feel as though reproduced within her, and finding Myself, I love her with all my Heart, and I cannot do without being with her, because if I leave her, I would leave Myself.”  While saying this, He disappeared.