The Book of Heaven
—Unofficial Version—

October 8, 1906

The cross is to man as the rein to the horse.

As I was in my usual state, blessed Jesus came for just a little and told me: "My daughter, the cross is to the creature as the rein to the horse. What would happen to the horse if man did not use the rein? It would be untamed, unrestrained, and would but go from precipice to precipice, to the point of becoming fierce and noxious to man and to itself. On the other hand, with the rein it can be conducted, it becomes tame, walks straight, serves the needs of man as a faithful friend, and stays safe from any precipice, because man keeps it and protects it. Such is the cross to man. The cross tames him, restrains him, arrests the course of his hurling himself along the paths of passions which he feels within himself, and which devour him like fire. So, instead of raging against God and hurting himself, the cross dampens his passions, softens him, conducts him, and serves the glory of God and his own salvation. Oh, if it wasn’t for the cross which, by Its mercy, Divine Providence holds as a rein in order to restrain man – oh, amid how many more evils would one see poor humanity lie!"