And Jesus: “Let Me hear your voice that cheers My hearing. Let us converse together a little; I have spoken to you many times about the Cross; today, let Me hear you speak of the Cross.”
I felt all confused; I did not know what to say. But as He sent me a ray of intellectual light, to make Him content I began to say: “My Beloved, who can say to You what the Cross is? Your mouth alone can speak worthily of the sublimeness of the Cross; but since You want me to speak, I will do it.
“The Cross, suffered by You, freed me from the slavery of the devil, and espoused me to the Divinity with an indissoluble bond. The Cross is fecund, and It gives birth to grace in me. The Cross is Light; It disillusions me of what is temporal, and reveals to me what is eternal. The Cross is fire, and It reduces to ashes all that is not of God, to the point of emptying my heart of the tiniest blade of grass that might be in it. The Cross is coin of inestimable value, and if I have, O Holy Spouse, the fortune of possessing It, I will be enriched with eternal coins, to the extent of becoming the richest in Paradise, because the currency that circulates in Heaven is the Cross suffered on earth. The Cross makes me know myself more; not only this, but It gives me the knowledge of God. The Cross grafts all virtues in me. The Cross is the noble pulpit of the uncreated Wisdom, that teaches me the highest, the finest and most sublime doctrines. So, only the Cross will reveal to me the most hidden mysteries, the most secret things, the most perfect perfection, hidden to the most erudite and learned of the world. The Cross is like beneficent water that purifies me; not only this, but It administers the nourishment to the virtues in me, It makes them grow for me, and only then does It leave me, when It brings me back to eternal life. The Cross is like celestial dew, which preserves and embellishes for me the beautiful lily of purity. The Cross is the nourishment of Hope. The Cross is the beacon of the operating Faith. The Cross is like solid wood that preserves the fire of Charity, and keeps it always ignited. The Cross is like dry wood that dispels and puts to flight all the fumes of pride and of vainglory, and produces in the soul the humble violet of humility. The Cross is the most powerful weapon that offends the demons, and defends me from all their claws. So, the soul who possesses the Cross is the envy and admiration of the very Angels and Saints, and the rage and indignation of the demons. The Cross is my Paradise on earth, in such a way that if the Paradise of the Blessed up there is of delights, the Paradise down here is of sufferings. The Cross is the chain of most pure gold that connects me with You, my Highest Good, and forms the most intimate union that can possibly be given, to the point of making my being disappear. And It transmutes me into You, my Beloved, to the point that I feel lost within You, and I live of your very Life.”
After I said this (I don’t know whether it is nonsense), my lovable Jesus was all delighted in listening to me, and taken by enthusiasm of love, He kissed me all over, and said to me: “Brava, brava, my beloved—you spoke well. …”