The Book of Heaven
—Unofficial Version—

February 10, 1905

What the contentments of the soul are.

As I was in my usual state, I felt a discontentment about myself; but then, when blessed Jesus came, I felt myself entering into such contentment that I said:  ‘Ah, Lord, You alone are the true contentment!’  And He added:  “And I say to you that the first contentment of the soul is God alone.  The second contentment is when the soul, within herself and outside of herself, looks at nothing but God.  The third is when, as the soul finds herself in this divine sphere, no created object, nor creatures nor riches can break the Divine Image within her mind.  In fact, the mind nourishes itself with what it thinks, and by looking at God alone, of the things of down here, she looks only at those that God wants, not bothering about anything else, and so she remains always in God.  The fourth contentment is suffering for God, because in order for the soul and God now to maintain their conversation, now to be more intimately clasped together, now to prove their love to each other, God calls the soul and the souls answers, God draws near and the soul embraces Him, God gives her suffering and the soul gladly suffers – or rather, she desires to suffer more for love of Him so as to be able to say to Him:  ‘Do You see how I love You?’  And this is the greatest of all contentments.”