After this, I found myself outside of myself, inside a garden in which there were several rose bushes, some nicely bloomed, in the right proportion, almost half-closed, and others with petals falling off, to the point that a slight movement was enough to prune them, leaving just the stem of the rose, naked. A young man – I don’t know who he was – said to me: "The first roses are the interior souls, who operate in their interior. These souls are symbolized by the rose petals which are turned inwards, adding a distinction of beauty, of freshness and of solidity, with no fear that some petals may fall to the ground. The external petals symbolize the blooming that the interior soul does outwards; receiving life from within her, her works are fragrant with holy charity and, almost like lights, they strike the eyes of God and of her neighbor.
“The second rose bushes are the exterior souls; the little good that they do is all external and in the sight of everyone. Since there is no interior blooming, there cannot be the aim for God alone and His love alone; and because this is lacking, the petals – that is, the virtues - cannot be well attached. So, as the light breath of pride comes, it makes the petals fall off; as the breaths of complacency, of love of self, of esteem of others, of contradictions, of mortification come, they just barely touch the rose, and the petals fall down to the ground. So, poor rose, it remains always naked, without petals, with only thorns left, which prick its conscience." After this, I found myself inside myself.