The Book of Heaven
—Unofficial Version—

April 1, 1909

Jesus bejewels the soul with the gems that come from suffering.

Since I was feeling very much in suffering, to the point of being unable to move, I was offering my little sufferings together with those of Jesus, and with that intensity of love with which He intended to glorify the Father, to repair for our sins, and to obtain all those goods which He impetrated with His sufferings. And I said to myself: ‘I will take it as if these sufferings were a martyrdom of mine, as if the pains were the executioners, as if the bed were the cross, and my immobility the ropes that keep me bound, so as to render myself more dear and loving to my highest good. But the executioners… I don’t see them. So, who is my executioner that lacerates me and tears me to shreds, not only on the exterior of my body, but also in the most intimate parts, deep in my soul – to the point that I feel the circle of my life crack? Ah! my executioner is blessed Jesus Himself!’

At that moment, almost in a flash, He told me: "My daughter, too great for you is the honor of having me as your executioner. I act just like a groom who, having to espouse his bride and send her out in public, in order to make her have a beautiful appearance and to make her worthy of himself, trusts no one, not even his spouse herself, but he himself wants to wash her, comb her, clothe her, adorn her with gems, with diamonds. This is a great honor for a bride; more so, since she will have no such concern: ‘Will I be pleasing to my spouse or not? Will he like the way I adorned myself, or will he reproach me as a foolish one, for not having been able to guess the way to please him the best?’

So I do with my beloved spouses. The love I have for them is so great that I trust no one; I am even forced to act as their executioner – but a loving executioner. And so now I give her a wash, now a comb; now I clothe her a little more beautifully, now I bejewel her – but not with the gems that come from the earth, which are things all superficial; rather, with the gems that I make come out from the depth of her soul, from the most intimate parts, and which are formed at the touch of my fingers that creates suffering; and from suffering come the gems. It converts the will into gold, and this will converted into gold by my own hands, will send out all kinds of things: the most beautiful crowns, the most magnificent garments, the most fragrant flowers, the most pleasant melodies. And with my own hands, as I have them produced, I keep arranging them to adorn her more and more. All this happens with suffering souls; so, am I not right in telling you: ‘Too great for you the honor’?"