CHAPTER XXI. Conclusion of this First Purification.

HAVING made this resolution, wait attentively, and open the ears of
your heart, that you may in spirit hear the absolution which the Lord
of your soul, sitting on the throne of His Mercy, will speak in Heaven
before the Saints and Angels when His Priest absolves you here below in
His Name. Be sure that all that company of blessed ones rejoice in your
joy, and sing a song of untold gladness, embracing you and accepting
you as cleansed and sanctified. Of a truth, my daughter, this is a
marvellous deed, and a most blessed bargain for you, inasmuch as giving
yourself to His Divine Majesty, you gain Him, and save yourself for
eternal life. No more remains to do, save to take the pen and heartily
sign your protest, and then hasten to the Altar, where God on His side
will sign and seal your absolution, and His promise of Paradise, giving
Himself to you in His Sacrament, as a sacred seal placed upon your
renewed heart. And thus, dear child, your soul will be cleansed from
sin, and from all its affections. But forasmuch as these affections are
easily rekindled, thanks to our infirmity and concupiscence (which
maybe mortified, but which can never be altogether extinguished while
we live), I will give you certain counsels by the practice of which you
may henceforth avoid mortal sin, and the affections pertaining thereto.
And as these counsels will also help you to attain a yet more perfect
purification, before giving them, I would say somewhat concerning that
absolute perfection to which I seek to lead you.
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