THE LOVE OF

THE ETERNAL WISDOM

PRESENTATION

O Sanctifier manifested in Christ, Wisdom incarnate,

this is the book that contains spirituality as a whole
de Montfort: the Trinitarian vision of God Creator, Savior

crucified and glorified; true devotion to Mary; faith

lively and conveyed in solid practices of Christian renewal;
the baptismal commitments of fidelity to the love of God and
solidarity with the poor. It is the result of many years of study,
of prayer and spiritual experience.

The winter illness of 1694-95 gave Luis María an opportunity.

to meditate deeply on the works of authors that I was going to
collecting in her Notebook. Her first stay as a young person
priest in the hospital of Poitiers allowed him to live there the spirit-
the reality of the Cross, to expose it to those who would be the first Daughters
of Wisdom and make it sing for the poor.

For Montfort, "to possess and preserve Wisdom" is "to unite with
Jesus Christ to take up his cross after him. In the midst of circumstances
painful happens in Paris from September 1703 to April
since 1704 attending to the material and spiritual needs of its
sister Guyonne-Jeanne and serving the poor at the hospital
of La Salpêtrière. Shares its total detachment with the

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community of Calvary of MonteValeriano and spends its hours

most appreciated of prayer and detachment under the stairs of a
refuge on Pot-de-Fer street, near Saint Sulpice. There he meditates
intensely and writes letters that reflect her full experience
from the cross and prepares sermons and conferences. Nearby is
the library of the Jesuit Fathers where Luis María finds
the works of the authors who helped him the most in the writing of the
Love of Eternal Wisdom: Saint-Jure, F. Nepveu, Boudon,
Jacques Nouet and Bonnefons. Perhaps also the translation of the
Bible of Le Maistre de Sacy. Around the same time, his friend
Poullart des Places organized the seminar of the Holy Spirit
how much it interested Luis María. Invited to give lectures at
the seminarians spoke to them about detachment and total commitment to
the divine Wisdom. This is the essence of the Love of Wisdom
eternal. With the style of a spiritual speaker, he developed the subject
in scholastic form, without the division into chapters and topics being
very precise nor proportionate. One could think that the Love of
Eternal Wisdom is the result of the conferences to the
Holy Spirit seminarians in whom Montfort saw the
future collaborators of your missions and that's why I wanted to offer them
a solid and adapted training. Its most probable composition
It is situated, therefore, between 1703 and 1704.

OBJECTIVE OF THE WORK

Youth work, The Love of Eternal Wisdom Manifest

publish and proclaim what, for the young Grignion, is already
a sublime experience of union with Jesus, eternal Wisdom
and embodied. This exciting experience will lead the Lord
Leschassier, your director of conscience, to ask him "shortly before
or after his ordination," write about the topic of the
union with Jesus Christ. It is a life-giving experience that
it will continue to enrich itself without ceasing until the last sermon
teaching about the sweetness of Jesus after which Luis María will speak
before dying: 'I am between Jesus and Mary, thank God and
to María. I have finished my degree. Everything is done, no more
I will sin more.

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The book is about completely free Love that the

Eternal wisdom manifested through us before, in and dis-
after its Incarnation, and of the love that we must
to eternal and embodied Wisdom. To love it, one must
to know her. To possess her, one must desire her. "Few desire her.
find because few seek it as it deserves
(ASE 61).

Enriched with the gift and privilege of Wisdom, Luis

María feels the urgent duty to make her known in order to
make her desire and love. Expose what she is in herself.
Eternal wisdom, what it does constantly for
we, to express your love of embodied Wisdom
for every person and for all sinful humanity, and pro-
give a response from our side to the manifestations
loving of Wisdom.

Montfort knows by experience and proposes four means

to obtain and preserve divine Wisdom; he has lived them
before proposing them, as clearly evidenced by their
letters. First of all, eliminate false wisdoms. By the way
recognize that there is a natural human wisdom, to
then propose "the substantial and uncreated Wisdom - the Son
of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, is
to say Eternal Wisdom in eternity, or Jesus Christ in the
time" (ASE 13). This is the only Wisdom worthy of being
sought and loved. For this you must know her: "Help me
to get to know you well. That is how I will love you” (CT 141).

The four means to possess Wisdom are: desire

burning, continuous prayer, universal mortification and
tender and true devotion to the Most Holy Virgin, as the
the most wonderful secret to acquire it and keep it.

The first means: a burning desire: ASE 181-183.

As a young priest, he wrote to his sister Guyonne.
Jeanne, in 1702: "In the lovely cross is enclosed the
true Wisdom, which I seek day and night with more fervor
that never" (C 13). For a burning desire consumes him and

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constant. In 1703, he confides in María Luisa Trichet: "If with

all this I reached the divine Wisdom for which I sigh
day and night" (C 15). And in October of the same year: "Oh!
When will I achieve this kind and divine Wisdom?
When will He come to dwell in me?” (C 16). The same year
pleads with her sister Guyonne-Jeanne: "Ask and have others ask
the divine Wisdom for me that in Jesus and Mary I am your
brother (C 17).

In 1706 he addresses his friends from Montbernage: "I seek the

divineWisdom.Helpmefindit...Withoutdoubt,
Alone and miserable as I am, I will perish if the Most Holy Virgin
and the good souls –yours in particular– do not support me
and they reach from God the gift of speech or divine Wisdom
that remedies all my ills and is the powerful weapon against
my enemies" (CM 11).

At the end of the Saint-Pompain mission, in December of

1715, the White Penitents of the parish go in pilgrimage-
Procession to Our Lady of the Squirrels, in Saumur.
Montfort gives them a regulation in the form of a letter, in which
open your heart, and whose first point reflects the thought
and the ardent soul of the missionary: 'They will not have in this
pilgrimage another purpose than:
1st to reach God, through the intercession of the Holy Virgin, good
missionaries... 2nd the gift of Wisdom, in order to know, savor and
to practice virtue and make it savor and practice it for others
The same desire is expressed by CT 103, 124-126.

The second medium: Continuous prayer: ASE 184-193.

For Montfort, prayer is truly, from his youth,
the breathing of his soul. Watching over the dead, he spends four
hours in meditation, and on his pilgrimage to Chartres
dedicate eight hours to prayer in the chapel of the crypt.
This makes us understand that he/she knew and experienced the
nature and the efficacy of prayer. Pray and plead in order to
to obtain divine Wisdom. For the same intention, he asks them
to everyone pray and make others pray. In his Letter 16, for example, he
says to María Luisa Trichet: 'I experiment that you continue asking for'

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give the divine Wisdom to this miserable sinner through

of crosses, humiliations, and poverty... Don't let go, dear daughter
in Jesus Christ, to share my supplications directed to
satisfy these desires of mine. You can do it, according to
some friends... Now then; sigh, implore for me the
Divine Wisdom; you will obtain it all entirely for me. So be it.
I believe.

The third medium: Universal Mortification: ASE 194-202.

Without a doubt, the best comment from this medium is the letter to the
Friends of the Cross, in which Montfort opens his soul and reveals
your experience. The CT 19 about the triumph of the Crosses also
very eloquent.

The fourth middle: a true and tender devotion to the

Holy Virgin: ASE 203-227.
Since his youth, Luis María experienced this environment as 'the
most wonderful secret to acquire and maintain the divine
Wisdom. To share with others, he wrote "what
for so many years I have taught in my public missions
and privately with not insignificant fruit” (VD 110). This that
to teach, propose, and recommend in their Letters is the same
which expands in a particular way in SM and VD.

The concrete and effective way to live the last half is the
consecration of oneself to Jesus Christ, Wisdom Incarnate
nothing, by the hands of Mary," that is, the way to "achieve
the perfect renewal of the vows or promises of the saint
Baptism.
In the Love of Eternal Wisdom, Montfort communicates through the
testimony of his mystical life and for elevation and clarity
of his ideas, the history of his soul and the strength of his logic
apostolic. The book is the meeting of two loves, the embrace
of two lovers, the anticipated joy of bliss
celestial. In its infinite mercy, the eternal Wisdom and
the incarnate seeks the friendship of man, communicates with him
in numerous ways, from the fiery call to the sinner
until the ineffable fusion of the mystical marriage.

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Although Montfort is not a sacred writer, nor an exegete, nor

The Love of Eternal Wisdom is a
masterpiece that gives the most valid titles and reasons
to be a qualified witness of God's love, guide
experienced in spiritual life and doctor in the
knowledge and application of the Divine Wisdom made
truth, way and life for the perfection of man. Luis
Maria supports her claims on the wisdom texts and
in the interpretations of the Holy Fathers with which the
Spirit of God illuminates his apostolic path as that of
Pablo, the one from Juan and the great missionaries and witnesses
of Jesus Christ in the people of God.

One should not seek exegesis work in ASE nor a

systematic exposition of theology, but a testimony of
mystical union with Jesus Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom;
exhibition that, without despising or ignoring theological study
gico, emanates from an unalterable source, from an experience
deep faith, which confirms the theory, and of an experience
of wisdom that gives value and anticipation to the beatific vision.

Privileged by grace, Montfort knew how to respond.

lovingly and heroically to the familiarities of
the divine Wisdom. The sweetness and the fervor of her mother, the
the home environment leads him to God and the Virgin
and they help him become aware of the obligations of his
baptism. His studies in Rennes bring him into contact with
true saints who continue to shape their generous soul.
In San Sulpicio, he affirms his unconditional righteousness and prepares
his future apostolate. The cross shapes his character and the Virgin
María softens the edges of her temperament.

Wisdom invades him and makes him burst with happiness

communicating his joy and opening to his brothers the
riches of the treasure that dwells within. "Wisdom exists,
I found her. Love exists, I have savored it. Come.
everyone drink the sweets of Jesus. Jesus is my Love; Jesus
"it is my wealth" (ASE 94-97).

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Wisdom is Jesus, it is the eternal Word incarnate in the

Son of Mary and dead on the cross for our salvation.
This is already affirmed by Christian tradition. It bears witness to it.
the liturgy. In the same Scripture is the source of such
identification. That is why for the peoples of the Americas and
the Caribbean the spiritual and missionary experience of Montfort
find an open and fertile land of welcome to the
seeds of the Incarnate Word.

There is no doubt that Montfort is the author of ASE.

According to Juan Bautista Blain, Mr. Leschassier, director
spiritual of Luis María, "judged that without a doubt the Lord
Grignion had reached a sublime degree of union with
Jesus Christ, just before or after his ordination...
he asked him to write about it. Mr. Grignion,
how easily he spoke to me, he told me this confidentially-
lied to me and promised me the writing. Then, out of humility or
"Out of obedience, he never gave it to me." The book about the Union
With Jesus Christ, the Love of Eternal Wisdom could be.

As recipients, Montfort wants everyone who

they listen to the Wisdom he proclaims, be inflamed by
a new desire to love her and to possess her in time and in
eternity (ASE 2). Although it is proposed to proclaim to all
the greatness, the beauty, the sweetness, and the attractions of the
true Wisdom, without excluding anyone, not even the
greatest sinners, it explicitly addresses the 'great ones'
of the world" and to the "worldly wise". Because Luis María
he lived in Paris for eight years during the time of Louis XIV, the King
Sun, in the parish of San Sulpicio, in the sector where
the lords of the court and the nobles had their palaces
kingdom. Among them the ignorance of religion and the
the forgetfulness of Jesus Christ was widespread.

Montfort often encountered the great ones who...

they boasted of being the sages of the Age of Enlightenment. For
changing society proposes to change its mind. To
addressing sinners cannot exclude the category of

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the great ones. Their influence is predominant for good or

for evil. It is exceedingly useful to bring them to a
more moral behavior. Men of higher status
the humble will accept the lessons with greater willingness that
"We are able to make ourselves heard by the kings."

In summary, the Love of Eternal Wisdom and all the

the spirituality that Montfort lived and conveys in his work
With apostolic fervor, it is Christocentric. Christ is the one who gives to
to know in its fullness the mystery of God, which Montfort presents
in five aspects, in harmony with the biblical revelation:

1. Christ Wisdom incarnate as a person who 'unites in

yes the fullness of divinity and humanity...
compendium of the works of God and synthesis of his own
perfection and the perfection of all creatures. The
theme of 'infinite treasure for men' stimulates the
human behavior of searching, decision,
intimate friendship, marital oblation (ASE 30).
2. Christ as the revealing and transforming 'Word':
Divine Wisdom is a person in eternity and the
time; by His Word all has been made and restores-
"to do." He has come from heaven "to teach us the secrets
of God, that is why we need to believe and observe the
oracles of embodied Wisdom to be saved
(ASE 133-153).
3. Christ, similar in all things to men, except in the
sin, dependent even on a creature in its
breast, in Bethlehem and in Nazareth, in its dynamic of iron
a detachment from man due to humiliation, weakness,
poverty and suffering contrasts with the perspectives
human altars (VD 248; ASE 167).
4. Christ Wisdom is identified with the mystery of the Cross
what is the climax of his life: 'The Sabi-
it would... he got up in such a way and joined the cross,
what can be said with all truth: Wisdom is the
"the cross and the cross is Wisdom" (ASE 180).
5. Christ, the embodied Wisdom manifests his love to
the men to die in your place to save them

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and,iodrenotabandonhetm
ndi,sfaoesctr
to die and at the same time to continue living and
to remain with them until the end of times: it is the
loving institution of the Eucharist... Wisdom
hidden beneath the appearances of a piece of bread... for the purpose
that by being eaten by man, it may reach up to
the human heart and find there its delights, (see
ASE 71).

From the manifestation of Christ Wisdom Montfort passes to the

wisdom vision of Christian life that is search for
permanent union with the source of Love, the fullness of
all good and the infinite treasure: Christ-Wisdom. The first
human movement is thus the burning desire to encounter
Wisdom is for man, and man is for the
Wisdom (ASE 64).

The openness to Christ-Wisdom implies the break with the vain

O false wisdom of the world (ASE 73,199). 'When the
Divine wisdom enters a soul, bringing with it all kinds.
of goods and communicates countless riches
Thus, the Christian life is perfected in various dimensions:

In the cognitive aspect, Wisdom gives man the

maturity, the discernment of values and events
natural and supernatural events, and above all the
science of holiness (ASE 93).
It gives the communicative capacity to radiate wisdom
evangelical and announce the works of God with word
alive, effective, penetrating... by the power of the Spirit

3. It brings the joyful experience of communion with the

Absolute (ASE 98).
4. Transform through the inner dynamism of virtues
and gifts of the Holy Spirit (ASE 99).
5. Encourages apostolic activity by inspiring 'great
companies for the glory of God and the salvation of souls
(ASE 100).

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6. Purify in the tribulation with the strength and sweetness of

the cross (ASE 100, 103).

In the dynamic of the encounter with Wisdom, the means most

Perfect and effective is the devotion to Mary for her double function.
to purify the human heart to make it worthy of the
Wisdom and preserving man from returning to wisdom
mundane. Mary's mission is to form saints and friends
from God that they may receive friendship and divine gifts.
For this, God made Mary worthy of Himself and flooded her in His
kindness with all the gifts. She responds with loyalty to
leading to Wisdom as Mother, and provoking her encounter
I find humanity as a Mediator between Wisdom and
humanity and as the throne of Wisdom. Being Mary
the only creature capable of attracting Christ, only those who to her
By resembling her, one can possess Wisdom. Introduce
to Mary in her own house by the consecration without reservation, it is
to become worthy of Wisdom.

But it is not enough to find Christ; one must persevere in

communion with Him avoiding any return to the sin that leads
to the failure of spiritual life. Given the inconstancy and the
human fragility, evident in Solomon himself,
Montfort points out in the consecration to the Most Holy Virgin
an element of fidelity and perseverance: 'to be in
certainly wiser than Solomon, it is necessary to put
in the hands of Mary what we possess..., since Mary is the
Faithful Virgin to God and to men, who protects us from losing
the grace and the infinite treasure of Wisdom” (ASE 221-222).

The Love of Eternal Wisdom is fully relevant.

Our time, more than any other, is in need of
this Wisdom to humanize all the new discoveries
the milestones of humanity. The future destiny of the world
it is endangered if more educated men are not formed in
this Wisdom” (GS 15). This is what Montfort intends:
convince of the necessity of being wise to carry out the plan
divine of human happiness. Only Christ, Wisdom of
God and Savior, answer "the question that today absorbs

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all religious thought, all theological study and

that, even without noticing it, torments modern man
(Pope Paul VI). And as John Paul II recently said to the
Monfortian Family: "The teaching of its founder and
master... is pointing the way of the true
Wisdom, which is necessary to open up to so many young people that
they seek the meaning of their lives and the art of living.

To welcome Christ and in Him the fraternal coexistence of the Kingdom

from God, today's Christian cannot do without women
blessed who by faith became Mother and Seat of Wisdom.
Maria invites us to repeat in our time the adherence to the
Word of God to radiate Christ in the world and
to faithfully fulfill one's own earthly itinerary.

The work that compended the spiritual experience and mission-

the work of Luis María de Montfort is the result of his inspiration
charismatic, offered to the Church as an encouragement to
following Christ-Wisdom. Both the experience,
like the presentation, recognizing the merit of its quality
and clarity, can be deepened and perfected by
the assessment, for example, of the wisdom books that
they illuminate the Christological revelation.

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BOOK OUTLINE

Introductiono1-7 and Chap. I

First Part: Need to know

to the divine Wisdom:
A. Eternal Wisdom before the
Incarnation Chapter II-VIII
The eternal wisdom in creation
and the fall .............................................. Chapter II-IV
2. The eternal Wisdom among the fall
and the Incarnation Chapter V-VI
3. Consequences of Wisdom
eternal in those who possess it .............. Chap. VII-VIII
B. Eternal Wisdom in and after the
Incarnation............................................... Chap. IX-XIV
Incarnation and life of Wisdom. Chapter IX
2. Reasons to Love Wisdom ... Chapters X-XIII
The triumph of eternal Wisdom
in the Cross and by the Cross .................... Chapter XIV

Second Part: Means to achieve

the divine Wisdom:
Burning desire and continuous prayer ....... Chapter XV
2. Universal mortification. Chapter XVI
3. True Devotion to the Most Holy Virgin. Chapter XVII
Consecration of oneself to Jesus Christ,
Wisdom embodied through Mary.

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ETERNAL WISDOM
AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION

1 PRAYER TO ETERNAL WISDOM1

Oh eternal Wisdom,
Queen of heaven and earth!
Humbly prostrated in your presence,
I beg you to forgive my boldness.
when trying to talk about your greatness,
being as I am so ignorant and criminal.
Please don't look,
the darkness of my understanding
nor the impurities of my lips!
byeontliA
hetm
yotfunlkdati,
to destroy them with a glance from your eyes
and the breath of your mouth.
You possess so much beauty and sweetness,
You have preserved me from so many dangers
and filled with so many favors...

1 This sentence, with its title, is from SANLUISMARÍA, and serves as a dedication to the
work. The entire sentence seems inspired by Is 6:1-6 and Jr 1:6, and constitutes in
a certain way to include a sentence with the formula of consecration that appears
it is symptomatic that the book begins not
not only inviting to prayer, but with a prayer and with a culminating prayer.
Regarding Wisdom, prayer is the best environment, the natural climate of
dialogue... The biblical inspiration that prevails is felt immediately throughout
of the entire work. This is clearly emphasized throughout the introduction. It consists of three
parts: a) the sentence (1-2); b) the biblical text about the origin and nature of the
Wisdom and its warnings to the powerful (3-4); c) the reflection of the P. DE
MONTFORT and the presentation of the topic.

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Anhdo,we,ver
You are so unknown and despised!
How will I be able toSilent then?
Not only justice and gratitude,
unless it's in my own interest,
They force me to talk about you,
although babbling like a child.
But, stuttering and all,
I want to learn to speak correctly.
when I reach in you perfect maturity2.

2 It may seem that there is neither order nor harmony.

in what I write. I confess.
My desire to possess you is so great,
what –as Solomon says–
I search for you everywhere,
without finding the way (Wisdom 8:18)3.
I want to introduce you to everyone.
Because you yourself have promised to give eternal life
to how many they enlighten you
and make it known to others.
Accept, then, dear Sovereign,
my humble stammer
as if it were an eloquent speech.
Accept the movements of my pen
as if they were so many other steps
What I would give to be in search of you.

Pour down from your exalted throne

so many lights and blessings
about how much I want to say about you and do for you,
that how many hear it
they sit inflamed by a renewed longing
to love you and possess you
in time and eternity.

2 Until we all reach... adulthood, the...

"the roll that corresponds to the measure of Christ in his fullness."
3 In Montfort's work, there is no lack of order; see numbers 7 and 14, where the author
indicate the plan of the book, and verify through it the careful execution.

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2 NOTICES OF WISDOM TO THE PRINCES AND

POWERFUL ON EARTH (Wisdom 6)

3 Wisdom is better than strength.

The prudent is worth more than the brave.4

1. Listen, kings, and understand;

Learn it, rulers of the world to its farthest confines;
2. pay attention those who rule the towns
and they boast of a multitude of subjects:
3. the power comes from the Lord,
and the command, of the Most High;
He will investigate his works.
and will explore their intentions;
4. being ministers of his kingdom,
they did not rule justly
they did not keep the law,
they acted according to the will of God.
Sudden and shocking will the Lord come against you,
because the elevated are judged relentlessly.
6. The humblest are shown compassion and forgiven,
but the strong will suffer a severe penalty;
The Owner of everything does not withdraw,
neither imposes greatness on you;
He created the poor and the rich
and cares equally for everyone,
8. but the powerful are awaiting strict control.
9. I tell you, sovereigns,
let's see if they learn to be wise and do not sin;
10. those who holily observe their holy will
they will be declared saints;
Those who learn it will find someone to defend them.
11. Listen then, to my words;
They will be instructed, and receive instruction.

4 The author follows the text and numbering of the Vulgate. Here we follow the text and
the numbering corresponding to the original texts, as is customary
current editions of the Bible, and we put the verses in parentheses [( )]
What does the Vulgate add?

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4 12. Wisdom is radiant and unfading,

the ones who love her see her without difficulty,
and those who seek it find it;
She reveals herself to those who desire her.
He who rises early for her does not tire;
she finds her sitting at the door
15. Meditating on her is consummate prudence;
the one who watches over her,
soon you will be free of worries;
she moves from side to side
looking for those who deserve it;
she approaches them kindly along the roads
and they come across in every thought.
Its authentic beginning is a desire for instruction;
18. The eagerness for instruction is love;
love is the observance of the laws;
the guardianship of the laws
it is a guarantee of incorruptibility;
19. The incorruptibility brings us closer to God;
20. Therefore, the desire for wisdom leads to the kingdom.
21.So, if you like thrones and scepters,
Respect wisdom and you will reign forever.
Amen the light of wisdom
all those who govern the peoples).
22. I am going to explain to you what wisdom is.
and what is its origin,
without hiding any secrets from them;
I am going to go back to the beginning of creation,
making it clearly known,
without overlooking the truth.
I will not walk the path with rotten envy,
that it is not about wisdom.
A multitude of wise saves the world
And a prudent king brings well-being to the people.
25. Therefore, let yourselves be instructed by my speech,
and they will take advantage.

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3 AUTHOR'S REFLECTIONS

5 I have not wanted, dear reader, to mix my words.

insignificant with the authority of the Holy Spirit.
Allow me now the following reflections:
Wisdom is sweet, simple, alluring, and at the same time,
luminous, excellent and sublime. Calls humans to
teach them the means to be happy: he looks for them, smiles at them,
fills them with favors, meets them in a thousand ways,
until sitting at the door of their houses to wait for them and
give them evidence of your friendship. Is it possible to have a heart and
to deny it to this sweet conqueror?

6 What a misfortune for the rich and powerful, if they do not love
Wisdom! What terrifying words she addresses to them!
Impossible to translate them into our language! Sudden and
the Lord will come against you, because to the
the burdened are judged relentlessly... The strong will suffer
a strong sorrow... The powerful await a rigorous control
(Sirach 6:5-8)

Let's also add to these words those spoken by

Wisdom, or made to say by it, to the rich and powerful
After the incarnation: Woe to you, the rich!5More
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a
rich in the Kingdom of God (Mt 19:24).

These last words were repeated so many times by the

divine Wisdom during her earthly life, that three
the evangelists have referred to them without any distinction. What
should make the rich break into tears, lament and
moan: Let's now go with the rich; they cry out loud for misfortune
what is coming upon them (James 5:1).

But, alas! They have their comfort in this world; it enchants-

those who are driven by pleasures and riches do not give themselves
count of the dangers that hang over his head.

5 Luke 6:24. You can read the entire passage Luke 6:20-26.

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7 3rd. Solomon assures that he makes a faithful description and

exact of Wisdom: neither envy nor pride -opposites
to charity - they will prevent him from communicating the science that heaven
has given it. Therefore, he does not fear that others may arrive at
equal it or surpass it in that knowledge (Wis 6:24-26).
Following the example of this great man, I will try to explain it.
what is Wisdom before incarnation, during
incarnation and after it, and the means to achieve it
and preserve it.

But not having as much knowledge or light as he does,

I should not fear envy and pride so much as
my incapacity and ignorance. I beg you, then, to help me
supports and apologies with charity!

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CHAPTER ONE

FORAMARYTO SEEKWISDOM
It is necessary to know her.

NEED TO KNOW THE DIVINE

WISDOM

8 Is it possible, perhaps, to love what is not known? Is it possible

To love with passion what is known only imperfectly?6

Why is Eternal Wisdom so little loved and faced

nothing, the adorable Jesus? –Because little or nothing is known about him!
Only if there is someone studying properly - together
with the Apostle7the supreme science of Jesus Christ, the
the noblest, most useful, and necessary of all sciences and
knowledge of heaven and earth.

9 1oIt is, above all, the noblest science. Indeed, it has

for the most noble and sublime object, namely: Wisdom
increased and embodied, which contains within itself all the
fullness of divinity and humanity, all the great-
God who is in heaven and on earth, all creatures
visible and invisible, spiritual and corporeal.

Saint John Chrysostom says that Our Lord is a companion...

god of divine works, a synthesis of all perfections
actions of God and of the creatures.

6 In this chapter, especially in numbers 8-12, de Montfort summarizes

a SAin't-JURE, Of the knowledge and love of the Son of God, Our Lord
Jesus Christ, l 1 c 3 n 2.3. In a very pedagogical way, he insists on the notion
minimum that must be had of 'wisdom' in order to run in search of it.
The entire chapter, from biblical and philosophical foundations, discusses the good, useful and
it is necessary to know Jesus Christ, the eternal and incarnate Wisdom. A co-
always new knowledge -God does not repeat Himself- will provide us with the "ever-burning passion"
"renewed" of the new paths of the Gospel. St. Louis de Montfort guides us to
a clear clarification, definition and division of the topic to be addressed.
7 Ephesians 3:19: "They will be able to know... what surpasses all knowledge, the"
love of Christ, being filled with all the fullness that is God...

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Jesus Christ, Eternal Wisdom, is all that you can and must
to desire. He longs to possess it. He runs in search of it. He is, in
effect, the incomparable and precious pearl for which
acquisition you should not be afraid to sell all your assets8.

Let those who want to boast, boast in this: that they know and
Understand that I am the Lord (Jeremiah 9:23-24). Let not the one who boasts...
wise by his wisdom, nor the strong by his strength, nor the rich
for his riches. Let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me,

not in knowing other things.

102oSweet as the knowledge of Wisdom

divine. Blessed are those who listen to her! Even more blessed
who desire and seek her! But much happier those
who walk on their paths and savor in their hearts that
infinite sweetness that constitutes the joy and happiness of the Father
and the glory of the angels!9

If we knew the inner happiness that means knowing the

beauty of Wisdom, to feed on the breasts of the Father10,
we would exclaim with the wife of the Song of Songs:
Your loves are better than wine (Cant 1,1). The milk of your
breasts are sweeter than delicious wine and than all the
sweetness of created things, especially when it directs to
the souls that contemplate these words: Taste and see...

8 SANBERNARDO, Mystical Life or on the Passion of Dominic 22 n 75: PL 184,679.

9
Wisdom and happiness. Wisdom offers all gifts (Wis 8:1 ff). But among
the most notable is that of happiness. The biblical book of Wisdom,
model of dialogue between cultures, offers a list of the elements that lead to
cen to happiness in harmony with the demands of the Greek philosophers. Preci-
only one of the characteristics of the biblical wisdom vocabulary is the calli-
"blessed" (See Ps 1:1-6). A significant fact in the New Testa-
mentor is the one that Jesus introduces his message of 'life' proposing to his followers
praises the "Beatitudes" that always begin with the word "Blessed"
(Mt 5:3-12)
10 "Mamilla Patris"; the expression is found in CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA,
PaedagogusI c 6: PG 8,302. ElP.de Montfort will return to the topic more
the knowledge that Wisdom provides, nothing cold nor
sterile, but warm and fruitful. It is the very experience of God and His gifts.
It is the 'science of saints,' the experience of God.

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(Ps 34(33),9). Eat and drink and get drunk (Song 5,1) from
my sweethearts, for their treatment does not displease, their intimacy does not
it does not depress, but rather rejoices and brings joy (Wisdom 8:16).

113oThis knowledge is also the most useful and necessary.

because eternal life consists in knowing the Father and his
11
Son of Jesus Christ .

To know you–says the sacred author addressing the

Wisdom - is perfect justice and obeying your power is the root of
immortality (Wisdom 15:3).

Do you really want eternal life? -Get the

knowledge of eternal Wisdom.

Do you want to achieve perfect holiness in this world?

Know the Wisdom.

Do you want to plant the root of immortality in your heart?

Acquire the knowledge of Wisdom.

To know Jesus Christ, the incarnate Wisdom, is to know what

sufficient. To know everything, but not to know Him, is not to know
nothing12.

What is the use for the archer to know how to shoot arrows sideways?
Of the white if one does not know how to throw them to the center itself? What do we
all the other sciences necessary for salvation will serve if
we lack that of Jesus Christ, the only necessary, center and end
of all of them?

Although the Apostle of the nations knew many things and was
very versed in human letters, confessed that he only wanted
to know Jesus Christ crucified. With you, I decided to ignore everything,
except for Jesus Christ, and Him crucified (1 Cor 2:2).

11 Jn 17:3: "This is eternal life, to know you as the only God, and to your envoy...
to Jesus Christ...
12 Adaptation of a text by SAINT AUGUSTINE, Confessions, 5 c 4 n 7: PL 32,708-709.

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Let us then say with him: All that was gain for me, I...
I have lost everything compared to Christ; furthermore: anything
I have for loss next to the greatness of having known
personally to Christ Jesus, my Lord (Phil 3:7-8).

I see and experience now that this science is so excellent,

delicious, beneficial and admirable, which I no longer have in
count the others. Those that once had me
I liked them so much, now they seem so empty and ridiculous to me.
that entertaining myself with them would be a waste of time. I tell them
this is so that no one misleads them with deceptive speeches...
Beware of being led astray by those who want to deceive you with
false theories and arguments, for they are not based on Christ
I tell you that Jesus Christ is the abyss of all
the sciences, so that they are not seduced by the beautiful
you are and magnificent speeches of the speakers neither by the
so deceptive sophisms of philosophers. Grow in grace
and the knowledge of Our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).

Good!Sothatweallgrowingraceandknowledge-
LieofOurLordandSaviorJesusChrist,Wisdom
embodied, we will address it in the following chapters,
after distinguishing various kinds of wisdom.

2. DEFINITION AND DIVISION OF THE ARGUMENT

If we adhere to the meaning of the term, 'wisdom'

it means 'tasty science', that is, the taste of God and
your truth13.

13 The explanation wisdom = tasty science, which derives 'wisdom' from

"to know", is based on a dubious popular etymology; but very appropriate to the
purpose that the author seeks. The terms surrounding 'savor' appear mu-
sometimes in the P. de Montfort: when, towards the end of his life, he sends in
pilgrimage to the sanctuary of Saumur to thirty-three penitents, gives them a
very precise assignment: "They will not have in this pilgrimage any other purpose than: a)"

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There are several kinds of wisdom:

First of all, let us distinguish true wisdom from the

false. The truth is the taste of truth without lie or
disguise. The falsehood is the taste of the lie with the appearance of
truth.

False is human wisdom or prudence. To which the

Holy Spirit divides into earthly, carnal, and diabolical.14.

True wisdom is divided into natural and supernatural.

Natural knowledge is the understanding of natural things in their
last principles. The supernatural is the knowledge of
the supernatural and divine things in their own origin.

Supernatural wisdom is divided into substantial and uncreated.

and accidental and created. The accidental and created wisdom
it is the communication that makes humans to themselves
Uncreated wisdom; in other words: it is the gift of wisdom
The substantial and uncreated wisdom, in turn, is the Son
of God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, that is,
Eternal Wisdom in eternity and Jesus Christ in time.

We will speak properly of this Eternal Wisdom.

We will contemplate it, rising up to its origin in the

eternity, in the bosom of the Father, as the object of his pleasure
Licenses. We will see it shine over time, during creation.
of the universe. Then we will contemplate it in its incarnation

to reach God... good missionaries...; b) to attain the gift of wisdom in order to

to know, to savor and to practice virtue and to make it savor and practice by the
"others" (BAC, 618). That etymology is already found in SANISIDORO, Etym. 10:
PL 82,392-393; in S ANTOTOMAS, S. Th. I q.43 a.5 ad 2; in SANBERNARDO,
Sermon 85 on Cant. No. 8,9: PL 183,1191-1192.
14 James 3:15-17: "This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and devilish."
demonic... Instead, the wisdom that comes from heaven is above all pure-
she is peaceful, understanding, docile, full of piety and good results
two, without discrimination or pretense

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and mortal life, in the end, we will find it glorious and

triumphant in the sky. We will finish our study examining
providing the necessary means to acquire and maintain it.

I leave, then, to the philosophers the arguments of their science.

They are useless. And I leave the secrets of their alchemists to them.
worldly wisdom.

To those who have reached the maturity of faith, we propose a

wisdom: not the wisdom of this world... (1Cor 2:6).

I will speak, therefore, to the perfect and predestined souls of the

true wisdom, of eternal Wisdom, uncreated and
incarnate.

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CHAPTER TWO

ORIGINEXCELLENCE
FROM ETERNAL WISDOM

15Here it is necessary to exclaim with Saint Paul: What a pit!

of wealth, of wisdom, and of knowledge of God! (Rom
11.3315Who will tell about your generation?16Will there be an angel
so illuminated, a human being so bold, that attempts
To narrate how the origin of Wisdom is convenient?

Here it is necessary to close your eyes to avoid being dazzled.

before such bright and shining light.

Here it is necessary that all language falls silent so as not to stain

to look at such finished beauty when trying to make it known.

Here it is necessary for every spirit to humble itself and worship,

fearful of being oppressed by the immense weight of glory
from divine Wisdom when trying to probe it.

DIVINE WISDOM IN RELATIONSHIP

WITH THE FATHER

However, this is the idea that it offers us.

Holy Spirit - adapting to our weakness - in the book
from Wisdom written for us: eternal Wisdom is
effluvium of divine power, pure emanation of the Omnipotent.

15 The theme of the chapter: excellence of Wisdom viewed from its relationships with
God (16-19) and from the fruits it produces in souls (20-30).
16 53.8: that, based on the Greek and Latin text, not on the original Hebrew, applies-
Can the Church Fathers refer to the generation of the Word -in eternity- and to the
virgin conception of the Lord -at the moment of the incarnation-. It applies-
The expression aims to emphasize the admirable power of the Lord and its origin.
mysterious of Wisdom.

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Therefore, nothing unclean sticks to it. It is a reflection of the eternal light, a mirror.
clear from the activity of God and image of his goodness (Wisdom 7:25-
26).

It is the substantial and eternal idea of divine beauty.

manifested to San Juan Evangelista in the marvelous ecstasy
the rock of the island of Patmos when he exclaimed: In the beginning already
the Word existed - the Son of God or eternal Wisdom - the
The Word was with God, and the Word was God.17.

In various passages of the Salomonic books, it is mentioned

from her when it is read that Wisdom was created or, better,
conceived from the beginning, before all things and
all times.

She says of herself: From the beginning she has formed me,
from the beginning, before the earth. When the abyss did not exist...
I was already (Prov 8:23-24).

In this sovereign beauty, the Father found his pleasure.

licences in eternity and in time. Thus affirmed El
the same day of the baptism and the transfiguration of Christ:
This is my Son, whom I love, my chosen one (Mt 3:17).

She is that luminous and incomprehensible clarity, part

whose rays penetrated the apostles, transporting them
(She) is a reality
noble, sublime, immense, infinite and older than the
universe18.

If I cannot find words to express the infinite idea

that I have been shaped by this beauty and sovereign sweetness

17 Jn 1:1. elP.DEMONTFORT clearly perceived the sapiential flavor of the prologue of

John (1,1-18). The scholars of the Word tell us today that it is not possible
truly understand this prologue of the fourth gospel, without a continuous reference-
behold the "books of Wisdom" of the Old Testament.
18 Expression taken from the ancient office of the Transfiguration (hymn of the pri-
my eve, stanza 2).

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even if this idea is far below reality

Who will be able to have an accurate idea of it and explain it?
how does it suit? Only you, sovereign God! Because
19
Do you know what she is! And you can reveal her to whoever you want. .

2. ACTION OF WISDOM IN SOULS

Wisdom defines itself, above all by considering

random its effects and action on the souls20I will not mix my
mean words with theirs to not diminish their
splendor and sublimity.

Wisdom praises itself

He is glorified among His people;
2. open your mouth in the assembly of God
and glorifies itself before its powers.
(She will be exalted among her people,
and admired in the full congregation of the
chosen, and will receive praise from the crowd
of the chosen ones,
and she will be blessed among the blessed and will say:

213. I came out of the mouth of the Most High

and like fog, I covered the earth.
(Let the light indefatigable be born in the heavens and)
4. lived in the sky
with my throne on columns of clouds;
5. I alone surrounded the arch of the sky
and I walked through the depth of the abyss;
6. governs the waves of the sea and the continents
and all the towns and nations.

19 My Father has taught me everything; who the Son is knows.

only the Father; who the Father is only the Son knows and to whom the Son reveals it
wants to reveal.
20 Wisdom narrates its origin and history. The sacred author identifies Wisdom-
it would last with the law of Israel (v 23). The text was applied in the liturgy to the Most Holy
my Virgin (see VD 264).

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227.I searched for rest everywhere

and a heritage to dwell in.

238. Then, the Creator of the universe ordered me,

the Creator established my dwelling:
Dwell in Jacob, let Israel be your inheritance.

249. From the beginning, before the ages, he created me,

and I will never cease.
10. In the holy dwelling, in His presence I offered worship
and in Zion I established myself;
11. in the chosen city it made me rest,
In Jerusalem resides my power.
I took root among a glorious people,
in the portion of the Lord, in His inheritance.
I grew up like a cedar of Lebanon
and like the cypress of Mount Hermon;
I grew like a palm tree from Engadí and like
rose of Jericho
As an olive tree, I grew in the prairie.
and like a banana next to the water.
Perfumed like cinnamon and lavender
and of aroma like exquisite myrrh,
like incense, and amber, and balm,
like incense perfume in the sanctuary.
16. Like a terebinth, I extended my roots,
a beautiful and leafy foliage;
17. like a beautiful vine I have sprouted;
my fruits and flowers are beautiful and abundant.

I am the mother of beautiful love,

and of fear, and of knowledge,
and of the holy hope;
in me all grace and the way of truth;
in me, all hope of life and virtue.)

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Come to me, you who love me

and take yourselves away from my fruits;

my name is sweeter than honey,

and my inheritance, better than the hives.
I will be remembered throughout the series
from the centuries.

The one who eats me will be hungrier,

he who drinks from me will thirst more,
22. he who listens to me will not fail,
He who puts me into practice will not sin.
(Those who enlighten me will have eternal life.)
All of this is the book of life,
the alliance with the Most High God
and the knowledge of the truth (BenS 24,1-23)21.

All these trees and plants to which it is compared

Wisdom, which bears fruits and qualities that are so different
rents symbolize the great variety of states, functions
and virtues that it produces in souls.

These are acquaintances, due to the elevation of their hearts

towards the sky; like cypresses, through continuous meditation of
death; like palm trees, for the humility in enduring their
fatigues; from Comoros, due to martyrdom and the shedding of his blood;
like bananas on the edge of the waters; like ropes, that
they extend their branches far away, due to their expansion of their
charity towards one's neighbor; like fragrant plants
balsam, myrrh, etc.), for the secluded life and the desire to
to be more known by God than by humans22.

After having manifested herself as a mother and ma-

the wealth of all goods, Wisdom exhorts everyone
humans to leave everything to desire only her.

21 The passages in parentheses are from the long text adopted by the Vulgate and
led by elP.de Montfort.
22 See H. BONNET, The Traditional Symbols of Wisdom (the trees,
cc 8-12).

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23
- until
Well, it is not given – in the expression of Saint Augustine
who seeks it with the ardor that such a reality deserves
wonderful.

In verses 21 and 22, divine Wisdom indicates three

degrees of piety. The third of which constitutes the
perfection. They are:

1) listening to God with humble acceptance;

2) to act in it and for it with persevering fidelity;
3) acquire the light and anointing necessary to inflame
the others in the love of Wisdom and lead them to
eternal life.

23 SANAGUSTÍN, On the Customs of the Catholic Church I c.17 n.31: PL 32,1324.

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CHAPTER THREE

WONDERS OF THE POWER OF THE

DIVINE WISDOM IN CREATION
OF THE WORLD AND OF THE HUMAN BEING

IN THE CREATION OF THE WORLD

Eternal Wisdom began to shine outside of the womb

of God when - after all eternity - created the light,
the sky and the earth.

It says in John that everything was created by the Word.24, that is,
for eternal Wisdom. Solomon, in turn, defines it as
mother and artisan of all things (Wisdom 7:12-21). Note well
that she is not just the artifice of the universe, but a mother
of the same. Because the artisan does not love or take care of his work as
the mother does it with her child.

32 Once all things were created, Wisdom perma-

how to contain them (Wisdom 1:7), support them and
renovate them (Sab 7:27). This sovereignly straight beauty,
after creating the world, he established the wonderful order
that reigns in him. He chose, organized, weighed, added, and counted.
how much is in it.

He extended the skies, arranged the sun, the moon,

the stars and the planets, established the foundations of
the earth set limits and laws to the sea and to the abyss, shaped

24 Jn 1:3. In this chapter, Father De Montfort offers us in a striking antithesis:

first, the overflowing love of the creative Wisdom (the marvelous universe
and his masterpiece, the human being) and second, the no to love, which is sin and
its disastrous consequences for the human being itself. The human being
he turns away from God believing he can free himself from Him, but by acting this way, he becomes a slave to himself

same and of the creatures.

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the mountains: it weighed and balanced everything, even themselves

sources.

Finally –she says to herself– I was with God and

dictated laws with such perfect precision and with such variety
pleasant at the same time, that everything was like a game with which
I enjoyed and pleased my Father25.

33Indeed, this ineffable game of Wisdom of

God can be seen in the different creatures with which He populated
the universe.

Because, without talking about the different species of angels

–almost infinite in number–, nor of the different size of the
astros, nor of the inequality of human temperaments
we see such admirable changes in the seasons and
the times! What a variety of instincts in animals!
What a diversity of species in plants, of beauty.
in the flowers and of flavor in the fruits! The one who is wise understands it
will hit26To whom has Wisdom been revealed? Indeed,
only he will understand these mysteries of nature.

Wisdom has revealed these mysteries to the saints,

as we read in their biographies. Therefore, sometimes one is amazed-
they were so moved by contemplating the beauty, softness, and order that
divine Wisdom has placed in the smallest things,
such as bees, ants, the ear of wheat, a
flower, a little earthworm, that remained entranced and
ecstatic before them.

25 I was beside him like a master craftsman, and I was his daily delight,
he was always playing in his presence: he played with the ball of the earth, enjoyed
with human beings.” The text was interpreted in a Marian key. In its light
many images of the Virgin (e.g., the Virgin of Montserrat...) present to
Mary as the living throne of creative Wisdom, who "plays with the ball".
from the earth.
26 Proverbs 14:10; see Psalm 107:43: "The wise man who retains these facts and
meditate on the love of the Lord.

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2. IN THE CREATION OF THE HUMAN BEING

1oThe human being, a living portrait of divinity

35If the power and sweetness of eternal Wisdom have shone

both in the creation, beauty, and order of the universe, they have shone
I radiate much more in the creation of human beings. This, in
effect, constitutes his masterpiece, the living image of
her beauty and perfections, the marvelous vessel of her gra-
the admirable treasure of its riches and its only place
nothing about the earth: You who by your Wisdom formed being
human to dominate the creatures that came out of your hands27.

For the glory of this wonderful and powerful artist, it would be

I need to explain here the original beauty and excellence that
the human being received from her in his creation. But sin
infinite that he committed28whose darkness and stains
they also fell upon me, miserable son of Eve– ha
darkened in such a way my understanding, that only
I can talk about her with tremendous imperfection.

He made - so to speak - a copy or shining image.

aware of his intelligence, his memory and will to
to infuse it into the soul of the human being, so that he would be
a living portrait of divinity29He ignited in his heart
the bonfire of the pure love of God. He formed a body for him
totally luminous, and enclosed within it, as in a synthesis, the
multiple perfections of angels, of animals, and of
the other creatures.

Everything in the human being was luminous, without darkness;

beautiful, without ugliness; pure, without any stain; harmonious,

27 You formed humankind with wisdom to rule over all your

creatures. See also: Gen 1:28; Ps 8.
28 SANTOTOMAS, S. Th. I-II q.87 a.4.
29 For P.DEMONTFORT, sin is nothing but the denial of love, and
therefore from the project of Wisdom in favor of the human being. It can be seen in
the formula of consecration at the end of the book the same idea (ASE 223).

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without disorder or defect or imperfection. I had in the inteli-

agency the light of Wisdom as a heritage for knowledge
with perfection to its Creator and to the creatures. It had in the
soul, the grace of God to be innocent and to please the
Most High. He was endowed with immortality in the body.
Burning in his heart was the pure love of God – without fear of the
death - and loved God continuously and for himself,
without interruption or ulterior motives. Finally, it was
So divine, that he constantly lived outside of himself,
taken by God, without passions to overcome or enemies to
to fight.

Oh generosity of eternal Wisdom towards being

human! Oh happy state of being human in innocence!

2orSupreme misfortune of sin...

But oh supreme misfortune!... This vessel of God

shatter into a thousand pieces! The beautiful star falls to the ground!
The radiant sun is covered in mud! Human beings sin, and to
to sin loses its wisdom, innocence, beauty and
immortality! In one word: lose all the goods
received, while infinite evils seize you! (Eph 2:3).

His/her intelligence becomes dull and darkened: no longer

can see nothing; his heart turns to ice towards
God: He no longer loves her; his soul remains blackened by it.
sin: it resembles the demon. They arise disordered the
passions: he is no longer their owner; he has no other company left
that of the demon: it has become a dwelling and a slave
theirs. The creatures rebel and wage war against him.

At one moment, the human being has become a slave.

of the devil, object of divine wrath and victim of hell!
He finds himself so repugnant that -ashamed-
run to hide30He feels cursed and condemned to

30 The man and his wife hid among the trees of the garden, so that the
Lord, they were not seen by Him

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death. He is cast out of the earthly paradise and loses his

right to heaven. He is condemned to lead a life devoid
of hope and happiness and full of misfortunes in this land
cursed. He will have to die like a criminal. After
death will be condemned - like the devil - in body and
soul for eternity. And all this, for him and his descent-
dencia!31

This was the awful misfortune in which the being was plunged.
human when sinning and this, the just sentence that justice
divine pronouncement against him.

In such a state, Adam's situation seems desolate.

neither the angels nor the creatures can help you.
Nothing is capable of redeeming him, because he was too beautiful and
perfect in its creation, and as a consequence of sin
it looked too disgusting and repulsive. It seems thrown away
of paradise and the presence of God. He/she is aware of
that the justice of God will pursue him and all his descendants
Dencia. The sky closes on her and hell opens up.
without anyone being able to open the first one and close the second one.

31 The author abstracts the redemptive work here. We see the human being...
donated to himself.

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FOURTH CHAPTER

WONDERS OF GOODNESS
MERCY OF ETERNAL WISDOM
BEFORE THE INCARNATION

Eternal Wisdom is profoundly moved before the

the misfortune of poor Adam and all his descendants,
he contemplates with great sorrow his shattered cup of honor,
shattered his portrait, destroyed his masterpiece, knocked down
by land his deputy.

Tenderly lend your ear to their groans and cries.

Look compassionately at the sweat on his forehead, the tears
from his eyes, the fatigue of his arms, the pain of his soul and the
affliction of his heart.

THE DECREE OF THE INCARNATION

It seems to me to see -so to speak- this kind Sovereign

calling and gathering for the second time the Most Holy
Trinity to decide the restoration of human beings, like
I had done it when creation.32. And I imagine that in this
great advice triggers a kind of combat
between eternal Wisdom and God's justice33.

32 Gen 1:26: 'And God said: Let us make man in our image and likeness...'
The Church Fathers and ancient authors understood this text as if it
It would be about a dialogue between the people of the Holy Trinity. It would be the first-
my advice, to decree the creation of the human being. Since the dogma
Trinitarianism is a revelation of the New Testament, modern authors seek
other explanations for this biblical expression: plural of majesty, deliberates-
God's action with his heavenly court...? P.DEMONTFORT, according to his custom, has
following the opinion of the Fathers. Thus, two certain biblical data are joined: the
creative wisdom (Wis 9:1ss) and redemptive wisdom (Wis 9:18). And it continues
preparing a conclusion that the author will reach in number 64: 'Wisdom is'
for the human being and the human being for Wisdom.”} статусы, которые указывались, когда бинарная система делила себе явно на 0.

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I seem to hear Wisdom, which is in the cause of being.

human recognizes that this and his posterity
they deserve to be condemned eternally with the angels
rebels because of their sin. But it is necessary to have compassion.
to depart from him, because his sin is more a result of weakness and
ignorance rather than malice. Observe, on one hand, that it is
a great shame that such a well-crafted masterpiece
remain forever enslaved to the enemy and that
millions of human beings see themselves forever with
born from the sin of one alone. It shows, on the other hand,
the empty thrones of heaven due to the fall of the angels
apostates, and it would be good to fill again34. And indicates the
immense glory that God would receive in time and eternity
if the human being is saved.

I seem to hear justice answering that the sentence

of death and eternal condemnation is decreed against the being
human and its posterity, and it must be carried out without remission or
mercy, as was the one dictated against Lucifer and his
henchmen; that human beings are ungrateful after the
benefits that he had received; that, having followed the de-
monio in disobedience and pride, must also accommodate
to impose it in the punishment, because sin must be punished.

45Seeing the eternal Wisdom that no one in the universe

was capable of atoning for the sin of humanity, satisfying
justice and calm divine wrath, and wanting the same
time to save the unfortunate, whom he loved by nature-
Leza, find an admirable medium.

Astonishing proceeding! Incomprehensible love taken to

the extreme!35The kind and sovereign Princess offers herself.

33 The idea of such a battle between divine Justice and Mercy for
To decree the incarnation is common among authors prior to P.DEMONTFORT
Who specifically has been able to take it from P?I will hear.
34 VD 28: The mission of filling the empty thrones is entrusted by God to Mary.
35 Jn 13:1: "He had loved those who were in the world, and he loved them until the end."
extreme.

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same in holocaust to the Father to satisfy his justice,

appease your wrath, free us from the slavery of the devil
and from the flames of hell and earn ourselves an eternity
happy.

Your offer is accepted; the decision is made and decreed:

Eternal Wisdom, that is, the Son of God, will become man
at the right time and under the specified circumstances.
For approximately four thousand years that
it has been since the creation and the sin of Adam until
the incarnation of divine Wisdom36Adam and his
descendants died, according to the law dictated against
they for God. But, in anticipation of the incarnation of the Son
from God, they received grace to obey the commandments
cough and do worthy penance in case of transgression, and if
They died in grace and friendship with God, their souls
descended into limbo to wait for their Savior and
Liberator will open the doors of heaven.

2. DURING THE TIME PRIOR TO THE

INCARNATION

During the time that preceded the incarnation, the

Eternal wisdom testified to men in a thousand ways the
friendship he had for them and the longing to communicate to them his
benefits and talking with them: I enjoyed being with men
(Prov 8,31). She herself goes back and forth seeking those who
they deserve it (Wis 6:17), that is, to people worthy of their friendship
worthy of their treasures, worthy of their person. They have
spread by various nations among holy people to
turn them into friends of God and prophets. She alone
formed all the holy patriarchs, the friends of God, to

36 The sum of four thousand years was taken following the chronology provided by the
Bible, from biblical prehistory: Gen 1-11. Today we know that these dates,
just like the ages of the patriarchs, they simply seek to fill the space
between the creation and the beginning of the biblical history, in Abraham, father of the
believers (Gen 12).

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the prophets and saints of the Old and New Testament

(Sirach 7:27; cf. 7:14).

Eternal Wisdom inspired the men of God, spoke

through the mouths of the prophets, He led them in His ways, the
he illuminated their doubts, supported them in their weaknesses and
book of all evil.

The Holy Spirit refers to it with these words in the book

of Wisdom (10,1-21):

From Adam to Moses.

She was the one who protected the father of the world in his solitude,
to the first creature molded by God, that is, to Adam;
He lifted him from his fall and gave him the power to dominate all.
3. The angry criminal – Cain– separated from her.
and his fratricidal fury brought him ruin.
4. Because of him, the flood came to the earth,
and once again wisdom saved her
guiding the righteous –Noah– on a simple piece of wood.
5. When the clamor of the towns,
concords in wickedness,
she noticed the righteous one –Abraham-
and preserved it without blemish before God,
keeping it strong, without softening in front of his son.
6. When the annihilation of the wicked,
she saved the righteous –Lot–,
fugitive from the fire rained upon the Pentapolis;
7. testimony of his wickedness,
the smoking wasteland is still there,
the fruit trees of failed harvests
and the statue of salt that stands up,
monument to the incredulous soul.
8. Well, putting wisdom aside,
they mutilated themselves ignoring the good,
and they also entered into history
a memory of her folly,
so that his misstep would not remain hidden.

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Wisdom got her followers out of trouble.

10. To the just Jacob,
who was escaping from the wrath of his brother Esau,
he led him through flat paths;
he showed him the Kingdom of God
and made known the saints;
gave success to their tasks and made their works fruitful;
11. it protected him against the greed of the exploiters
and enriched it;
He defended him from his enemies.
and kept him safe from his schemes:
gave him victory in a tough battle
so that he knew that nothing is as strong as mercy.
13. He did not abandon the just sold -Joseph-
but rather freed him from falling into sin;
14. he went down with him to the dungeon and did not leave him in prison,
until handing over the royal scepter
and the power over their tyrants;
he demonstrated the falsehood of his accusers
and granted him eternal glory.

Exodus

15. To the holy people, to the irreproachable race, the Hebrews,

he freed it from the oppressive nation,
16. entered into the soul of the servant of God, Moses,
what he did before fearsome kings with his wonders and
signals.
God gave the saints the reward of their labor
and led them along a marvelous path;
it was a shadow for them during the day
and the brightness of stars at night.
18. He made them cross the Red Sea
and led them through rushing waters;
he submerged his enemies
and then he brought them up from the depths of the abyss.

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20. Therefore, the righteous stripped the wicked.

and they sang, Lord, a hymn to your holy name,
praising your victorious arm in chorus;
21. because wisdom opened the mouths of the mute
and loosened the tongues of the children.

50In the next chapter of the book of Wisdom (Wis

11), the Holy Spirit lists the evils from which he freed
Wisdom to Moses and the Israelites as they crossed
the desert. To this we can add all those who
they were saved from great dangers in the Ancient and the
New Testament; like Daniel, in the lion's den;
Susana, of the false accusation; the three young men, in the oven
from Babylon...; Saint Peter, from the prison; Saint John, from the jar
of boiling oil, and the multitude of martyrs and confessors
of the faith in the torments inflicted on their bodies, in the
slander that tarnished his reputation. Let us add,
I repeat, all those who were released and healed
thanks to Wisdom: Men learned what pleases you,
and wisdom saved them (Wisdom 9:18).

3. CONCLUSION

Let us exclaim, then: "Blessed a thousand times over is that

in whom divine Wisdom has been able to enter to dwell
in him! He will emerge victorious from all his battles, he will see himself free
of all the dangers that assault him, he will be revived and
comforted in all the sorrows that afflict him, and in any
humiliation in which he finds himself will be exalted and glorified
in time and in eternity!

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FIFTH CHAPTER

MARVELOUS EXCELLENCE
FROM ETERNAL WISDOM

The Holy Spirit has deemed it worthy to reveal to us the excellence

from Wisdom - in chapter 8 of the book of Wisdom -
in such sublime terms, that it will be enough to reproduce them and
accompany them with short reflections.

Wisdom reaches with vigor from one end to the other

and governs the universe wisely.

Nothing as sweet as Wisdom: sweet in itself, without

bitterness; sweet for those who love it, without leaving unease;
sweet in her way of acting, without violating anyone. Frequent-
it could be said that it is not present in accidents and
disorders that occur: so secret and gentle is the Wisdom-
River. But, being an invincible force, it guides everything,
insensible but vigorously, towards their goal through ways that the
unknown humans37.

It is necessary for the wise to be, as an example, gently strong.

and strongly soft.

I loved her and I courted her since I was a boy

and I intended her as a wife,
in love with her beauty.

Whoever wishes to acquire the great treasure of Wisdom

should, like Solomon, seek it:
1ofrom early on and, if possible, from childhood;
2o spiritually and chaste, like a chaste husband to his wife;
3owith perseverance, until the end, until achieving it.

37 See cc 10 and 11 in which P.DEMONTFORThabla talks about the sweetness of the Sabi-
flesh-colored.

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It is true that eternal Wisdom has so much love for the

souls, which go so far as to marry them and
to enter into a spiritual marriage with them, but
authentic 38that the world is unaware of, but of which the
History offers us numerous examples.

His intimacy with God enhances his nobility,

being the owner of everything who loves her.

Wisdom is God himself; this is the glory of its origin.

The Father finds in her all his pleasures, as
He asserts it himself. This is how he is loved!

564. He is a confidant of divine knowledge and selects his works.

Only Wisdom illuminates every man who comes

to the world (Jn 1:9). Indeed, only she comes from heaven
to reveal to us the secrets of God39And we don't have any more
true master who is embodied Wisdom that
calls Jesus Christ (Mt 23:8-10). Only she leads to
his goal all the works of God, especially to the
saints, informing them what they must do and bringing them
to savor and carry out what was made known to them.

575. If wealth is a desirable good in life,

Who is richer than wisdom, who accomplishes everything?

6. And if it is intelligence that carries it out,

Who is the creator of everything that exists besides her?

7. If someone loves righteousness,

the virtues are the fruit of their efforts;
she is a master of temperance and prudence,
of justice and strength;
38 Hosea 2:1ff: the marital history of Hosea, which becomes a symbol of the
alliance between the always faithful God and the repeatedly unfaithful people; see also
2 Corinthians 11:2 and ASE 98 and the Song 126 of the P.MONTFORT against SANTATERESA
Interior castle c 2 n 3.
39 Jn 1:18: "No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is God and is at the
side of the Father, who has explained it"; see also Mt 11:27; 1Cor 2:10.

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for men there is nothing in life

nothing more profitable than this.

Solomon shows that one should not love more than the
Wisdom, from it alone we must expect everything: goods of
fortune, knowledge of the secrets of nature,
goods of the soul, theological and cardinal virtues.

And if someone yearns for a rich experience,

she knows the past and guesses the future,
knows the witty sayings and the solutions to the riddles,
understand in advance the signs and wonders
and the outcome of each moment, of each era.

Whoever wishes to possess an uncommon science and that is not

arid and superficial40but extraordinary, holy, and profound,
from the realities of grace and of nature, must put
all your effort in acquiring Wisdom, without which being
human - although wise in front of others - is considered
do nothing in the eyes of God: No one pays attention to them
3.17)

599. That ’s why I decided to unite our lives,

sure that she would be my advisor in happiness,
my relief in the heaviness and sadness.

Who can be considered poor possessing Wisdom,

What is so rich and generous? Who could be sad?
having Wisdom, which is so sweet, beautiful, and tender?
Y
w
,ethoamonghoetsneskgiW
dsom
i-
speak sincerely with Solomon: That's why I decided? The majority
has not made this sincere resolution: it only has whims
or, at most, wavering or indifferent purposes. For this reason,
They will never find Wisdom!41

40 VD 64.
41 See No. 60.The author will return in more detail to the means of achieving
Wisdom in chapters 15 to 17.

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Thanks to her, the assembly will praise me.

And even though I am young, the elders will honor me;
11. my sharpness will shine in the processes
and I will be the admiration of monarchs;
12. if I stay silent, they will be on the lookout;
if I take the word, they will pay attention,
and if I go on talking,
They will take their hand to their mouth.
Thanks to her I will achieve immortality
and I will leave an everlasting memory to posterity.
I will govern peoples, I will subdue nations.

About these words, in which the wise man praises himself,

Saint Gregory makes the following reflection: 'Those who have been
chosen by God to write His sacred words,
being as they are filled with the Holy Spirit, they go out, in
in a certain way, of themselves to enter into that which them
they possess, and transformed thus into the language of God, consider
only to God in what they say and talk about themselves as if
they did it from a third party42.

Terrifying sovereigns will be scared to hear my name;

I will show myself good with the people,
and in war, brave.
16. When I return home, I will rest by their side,
well, his manner is not displeasing;
her intimacy does not depress, but rather rejoices and brings joy.
17. This is what I thought
and I pondered to myself:
immortality consists
in relating to wisdom;
18. their friendship is a noble delight;
the work of their hands, inexhaustible wealth;
his frequent dealings, prudence;
talk to her, celebrity;
so I started to wander around
trying to take her home.

42 SANGREGORIO MAGNO, Books of Morals: PL 75,518.

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The sacred author, after summarizing in a few words the

that just explained, draws this conclusion: I started to give
turns... To acquire Wisdom, one must seek it with
ardor, that is to say, it is necessary to be willing to leave everything behind, to
to endure everything and undertake everything to come to possess her.
Few find it, because few seek it like she does.
deserves.

The Holy Spirit speaks in chapter 7 of this book.

about the excellence of Wisdom in the following
terms:

22. It is an intelligent, holy, unique, multiple spirit.

sutil, móvil, penetrante, inmaculado,
lúcido, invulnerable, bondadoso, agudo,
23. incoercible, beneficial, friend of man,
firm, secure, serene, almighty, all-watching,
that penetrates all intelligent, pure spirits,
very subtle.
Wisdom is more mobile
that any movement;
and, by virtue of its purity,
It permeates and penetrates everything.
14. Finally, it is an inexhaustible treasure for men;
those who acquire it attract the friendship of God,
because the gift of their teaching recommends them43.

63 Such energetic and tender words of the Holy Spirit

to help us understand the beauty, value, and treasures of the
Wisdom, who would not love it and seek it with all their
forces? All the more since it is about an infinite treasure,
own to the human being, for which the being was created
human, and that Wisdom itself has infinite desires
to give to the human being!

43 Hebrews 7:22-24. This verse 14 serves Montfort to summarize the previous and to open
the reflection it presents on the same topic in the following chapter.

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CHAPTER SIX

PRESSING DESIRES OF THE DIVINE

WISDOM OF COMMUNICATING
TO HUMAN BEINGS

There is such a close bond of friendship between the

Eternal wisdom and the human being, which results incomprehensible.
possible: wisdom is for the human being, and the human being
for Wisdom. It is an inexhaustible treasure for beings
humans44, not for the angels nor for the other creatures.

This friendship of Wisdom with the human being comes from

that this was in the creation the compendium of the
wonders, the small and big world, the living image
and the lieutenant of Wisdom upon the earth. And since
that, in excessive love for him, became like the being
humanity incarnated and surrendered to death to save him,
he loves him like a brother, a friend, a disciple, a
student, the price of your blood and the co-heir of your kingdom.
So it is subjected to infinite violence by refusing it or
stealing the heart of a human being.

1. LETTER OF LOVE FROM ETERNAL WISDOM

This eternal and regal beauty has desire

so alive in the friendship of the human being, that in order to conquer
Tarlo has specifically written a book, expressing in it
your excellencies and the wishes you have for human beings.

44 Proverbs 7:14. Wisdom and the human being. The movement of love of Wisdom
towards the human continues: now it sends him a love letter, which can be
the same biblical book of Wisdom or perhaps also all of Scripture, as
epic of God's love for his beloved creature, and that is a testament of love
that he professes to her. Indeed: 'Wisdom is for the human being and the being
human for Wisdom" (ASE 64).

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Book that is like a letter from the lover to her beloved to

to win their affection. The desire to possess the heart of the being
the human manifestations in him are so pressing,
the request that reveals to win their friendship is so delicate,
her calls and yearnings are so loving that - upon hearing her
to speak - one might say that she is not the queen of heaven and earth and
that to be happy it needs human beings (See Prov
8,15-31).

In search of the human being, long roads are traveled or ascended.

to the top of the highest mountains, now it reaches the door
from the cities, now penetrates into the public squares or in
in the midst of the crowds, and shouts at the top of his lungs: To you,
men, I call (Prov 8:4). "Oh sons of men! The
I have been calling for so long! To you, I...
I call upon you and seek you! I sigh for your possession!
Listen to me! Come to me: I want to give you happiness!

And to attract them more effectively, add: 'For me and for

my favor reigns the kings and the princes dominate
potentates, and the monarchs carry the scepter and the crown (See
I inspire legislators with the science of
promulgate fair laws to govern the States. I give to
the magistrates value to exercise, equitably and without
fears, justice.

I love those who love me and those who rise early for me.
they find me (Prov 8:17), and upon finding me, they will discover the
abundance of all goods, because I bring wealth and
glory, honors, dignity, enduring delights and virtues
authentic (Wisdom 8:3) It is incomparably better for
the human being to possess me that to possess all the gold and silver
of the world, all the precious stones and goods of the
whole universe! I guide those who come to me along the paths
of justice and prudence and I enrich them with possession
belonging to the true children, until their longings are fulfilled!
Convince yourselves that my greatest happiness and my greatest ...
Delights are found in being able to converse and dwell with the children.
of men!” (See Prov 8:31).

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6832. Therefore, my children, listen to me:

blessed are those who follow my paths;
33. listen to my warnings, and you will be sensible;
do not reject them;
Blessed is the person who listens to me,
watching over my porch every day,
watching the jambs of my door.
Whoever reaches me, reaches life
and enjoys the favor of the Lord.
Whoever loses me ruins themselves;
Those who hate me love death (Prov 8:32-36).

69After such tender and appealing words from the

Wisdom to earn the love of human beings,
I fear that still –due to its wonderful splendor and
sovereign majesty – do not dare, out of respect, to come closer
to her. For this reason, she lets them know:

Wisdom is radiant and unfading,

Those who love her see her without difficulty,
and those who seek it find it;
She reveals herself to those who desire her.
He who rises early for her does not tire:
she finds her sitting at the door (Wisdom 6:12-14).

2. THE INCARNATION, DEATH AND

Eucharist

70 Finally to get closer to human beings and

to testify their love even more sensitively, Wisdom
eternal came to incarnate, to become a child and poor and to die
for them on the cross. How many times did he not exclaim when he was alive
on earth: 'Come to me, all of you! (Mt 11:28).'
It is I, do not be afraid! (Jn 6:20). Why fear? I am.
similar to you and I love you. Do you perhaps fear for being
fishers? - Exactly the ones I'm looking for! I love the
sinners! Do you fear having strayed culpably from the

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shepherd? - But, I am the good shepherd! (Jn 10:11, 14). Do you fear,
perhaps, for being laden with sins, covered with
stains and overwhelmed with sadness? –That’s precisely why
they must come to me, for I will free them from their burden, the
I will purify and alleviate.

71Wanting Wisdom, on one hand, to manifest its

love for human beings even unto dying in their place to
save them, and unable, on the other hand, to decide to abandon
Narlos, find an admirable secret to die for and to
the same time continuing to live and staying with them until
the end of times: it is the loving institution of the Eucharist
aunt. And to fully satisfy her love in this mystery.
river has no issue with changing and disturbing the laws
natural.

It is not hidden in the shine of a diamond or any other stone

precious, because she doesn't want to stay only externally with
humans. Wisdom is rather hidden beneath
the appearance of a piece of bread – food typical of
human being–, so that, when eaten by it, it can
to reach the human heart and find there its delights.
It is the invention of an intense love.45Oh Eternal Wisdom!
-says a saint46Oh God, truly prodigal of oneself
for the desire that he has for humanity!

3. INGRATITUDE OF THOSE WHO REJECT

TO WISDOM

72 What then will not be our insensitivity and

ingratitude, if the burning desires do not move us,
loving inventions and the tests of friendship of the kind
Wisdom?

45 SANJUANCRISOSTOMO, In John Homily 46c 6 n 3: PG 50,260.

46 O God... marvelous
On the pre-eminence of man!

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And yes, instead of listening to her, we close our ears; yes, instead of
to seek her, we flee from her; yes, instead of honoring her and
we despise and offend her, what will our be
cruelty and what punishment we will receive from this already
world? Setting aside Wisdom – says the Spirit
Saints, they mutilated themselves ignoring the good, and moreover they bequeathed to the
history a memory of its foolishness, so that its misstep does not
it will remain hidden (Wisdom 10:8).

Three misfortunes befall those who suffer during life.

do not worry about the acquisition of Wisdom, namely:
they fall

1oin ignorance and blindness;

2oin folly;
3oin scandal and sin.

But what a terrible misfortune it is for him when at the hour of

death, listen, despite yourselves, to Wisdom, that gives you
I called them, and they refused (Prov 1:24). I reached out to them.
arms all day, but you despised me; I waited for you
sitting at the door of her house, but no one came to me.
I will laugh at your misfortune, I will mock you when it reaches you.
terror (Prov 1:26). I will be deaf to their cries, blind to their...
tears, I will not have a heart to be moved by theirs
sobs nor a hand to lend them help!

And what will not be their misfortune in hell? Read what the
Holy Spirit has spoken about misfortunes, weeping,
remorse and despair of the condemned, which
in hell - already too late then - they will recognize
his madness and misfortune for having despised Wisdom
of God (Wisdom 5:1-14). They will begin to speak judiciously,
but it will be in hell!

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4. CONCLUSION

Let us desire and seek, then, only for the

Wisdom: It is more valuable than anything (Prov 3:15).
No jewel can compare to her (Prov 8:11).

Whatever the gifts of God and the heavenly treasures are

Whatever you may desire, if you do not desire Wisdom, you are desiring.
something inferior to her. Ah! If you knew the infinite treasure of
Wisdom made for human beings – I acknowledge that I do not
it's nothing I said–, you would sigh for her night and day,
you would fly hurriedly from one end of the world to the other and
you would joyfully pass through fire and over sharp edges, if it were
necessary, in order to deserve it! But it is necessary that you are
be cautious and do not make a mistake when choosing, as there are several options
classes of wisdom47.

47 The P.DEMONTFORTesta following, as in the Treatise of true devotion-

action..., its classical method of exposition. Thus in the Treaty...: a) importance and
the need for devotion to the Blessed Virgin (VD 1-59); b) foundations
theological aspects of this devotion (VD 60-89); c) choice of true devotion to
Mary (VD 90-119). This task of discernment is of capital importance.
choice of true Wisdom: however your wisdom will be your life and your
realization in life!

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SEVENTH CHAPTER

CHOOSING THE TRUE ONE

WISDOM

God has His Wisdom. And it is the only Wisdom.

true and worthy of our love and pursuit as
a great treasure. But the depraved world also has the
we must condemn and detest it like
evil and wicked. Philosophers also have their
wisdom. This deserves our contempt because it is useless
on48
ivdatenol,gsuetrof.

We have talked so far about the Wisdom of God to the

perfect souls –as the Apostle says– (1Cor 2:6). But,
in the face of the fear that they may be deceived by the glamour of the
worldly wisdom, let us show the imposture and malignity
of this last one.

WORLDLY WISDOM

Worldly wisdom is that which has been said:

I will annul the wisdom of the wise (1 Cor 1:19) according to the world. The
the wisdom of the flesh is the enemy of God (Rom 8:9). This
wisdom does not come down from above; it is earthly, sensual, and demonic
(Saint 3:15).

This worldly wisdom consists of a perfect harmony.

with the latest trends and fashions in the world; in a trend
continue to greatness and esteem; in the pursuit of...
sly and veiled by one's own whims and interests; but
not in a blatant and provocative way with some sin

48 The P.DEMONTFORT does not intend to deny the value of the study of philosophy and one hundred
natural sciences. Only that, in comparison with the science of Jesus Christ and that of the
charity (see 1Cor 12:2, 8; GS 15), is like trash (see Phil 3:8).

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scandalous, but in a skillful, cunning, and deceptive manner;

otherwise, it would no longer be wisdom even according to the
world, but libertinism.

76Wise according to the world is:

who knows how to manage their business and achieves
take advantage of everything without giving the impression of proposing
nurse it;
who dominates the art of pretending and cunningly deceiving,
without anyone noticing;
who knows perfectly the tastes and compliments of
world
who knows how to adapt to everyone to achieve their
purposes, without worrying at all, either a little or a lot, about the
honor and glory to God;
who secretly but fatally harmonizes the truth
with the lie, the Gospel with the world, virtue
with sin and Jesus Christ with Belial;
who wishes to appear honest, but not devoted;
who despises, interprets twistedly or condemns with
ease the pious practices that do not fit
theirs.
Finally, wise according to the world is one who, guided by
only by the light of the senses and human reason,
it is only about saving Cristiano's appearances
and a good person, without worrying in the slightest
to please God and atone, through penance, the
sins committed against the divine Majesty.

He has seven phones that he considers innocent and in the

which supports a peaceful life: honor and
fame, what people say, fashion, good food, interest
personal, the impact on manners, the fine joke.

He has particular virtues that are worthy of being canonized by

the mundane: courage, delicacy, diplomacy, the
sharpness, gallantry, courtesy, joviality. Look, in
change, like enormous sins the insensitivity, the
simplicity, poverty, rusticity, prudishness.

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78Follow the commandments with the utmost fidelity

dictated by the world:

Know the world well;

Live as an honorable person;
Conduct your business well;
Take good care of what you have;
Seek to come out of the dust;
Try to make friends;
He frequents high society;
Eat and drink well;
Do not be a source of melancholy;
Avoid singularity, rusticity, and hypocrisy.

The world has never been as corrupt as it is today.

because he had never been so shrewd, prudent, and cunning at his
way. He uses the truth so skillfully to inspire the
deception; virtue, to authorize sin; the maxims
of Jesus Christ, to justify theirs..., that even the most
Wise according to God are victims of their lies. The number
The number of fools is infinite! (Ecclesiastes 1:15). That is to say, the number of the
wise according to the world - which are foolish according to God -
It is infinite.

2. TRIPLE ASPECT OF WORLDLY WISDOM

The earthly wisdom that James speaks of is love.

to the goods of the earth. The wise of the world profess
secretly this wisdom when they attach the heart to
their possessions; when they direct everything towards getting rich;
when they promote useless lawsuits and litigations to acquire
or to preserve their wealth; when - most of the
time – they do not think, speak or act except with a view to
to obtain or conserve any temporary asset; while only
lightly, to get by, at intervals and to cover the
appearances, apply to seeking one's own salvation and to
to use the means to achieve it, such as confession,
the communion, the prayer, etcetera.

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81 The carnal wisdom is the love of pleasure. The wise of the

world they profess when they seek only the joy of the
senses; when they love good food; when they distance themselves
everything that can torment or discomfort the body, such as
fasts, austerities, etc.; when usually only think-
Without eating, drinking, playing, laughing, having fun and making the most of it
possible; when they seek the comfort in sleeping, the games
fun, pleasant feasts and joyous company.

Having enjoyed all these satisfactions without scruple

actions achieved without upsetting the world or harming the
health, they seek the least scrupulous confessor – that's how they call it
those relaxed confessors who do not fulfill their duty
to receive from him, at a low price, the peace of his soft life and
effeminate and the plenary indulgence of all his sins.
I said 'at a low price' because these wise ones according to the flesh
they are not desired, ordinarily, for penance but rather some
prayer or alms and they detest anything that can afflict the body.

The devilish wisdom is the love and esteem of the

honors. The wise according to the world profess it when
aspire - although secretly - to greatness, honors,
dignities and important positions; when they seek to make themselves
to notar, estimate, praise, and applaud by human beings;
when in their work, efforts, words and actions only
they aspire to the esteem and praise of beings
humans wanting to pass for good Christians, wise
eminent, illustrious military personnel, expert legal scholars,
infinitely deserving and exceptional people or of great
consideration; when they cannot stand to be humiliated or
reprimand; when they hide their own flaws and boast
of the good they possess.

With Jesus Christ Our Lord, the embodied Wisdom,

we must detest and condemn these three kinds of falsehoods
wisdom to acquire the true. This does not seek the
self-interest does not take root in the ground nor in the heart
of those who live comfortably, and abhors everything great
and spectacular to the eyes of human beings.

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3. NATURAL WISDOM

In addition to worldly wisdom – reprehensible and

pernicious, there is also a natural wisdom among the
philosophers.

The ancient Egyptians and Greeks sought it with great passion.

effort. The Greeks seek wisdom (1 Cor 1:22). Those who
those who attained this wisdom were called magi or
wise. It consists of an eminent knowledge of the
nature in its principles. It was communicated in fullness
to Adam in his state of innocence and granted with abundance
Hello to Solomon. Over time, some people...
these illustrious received part of it, as history relates.

85The philosophers ponder the principles of their philosophy

as a means to acquire such wisdom. The alchemists
they extol the secrets of their kabbalah as capable of discovering
the philosopher's stone, in which it is imagined that is enclosed
this wisdom49.

Indeed, the philosophy of the School, studied Christian-

mind, opens understanding and equips it for the sciences
superior50But it will never be able to communicate the intended
natural wisdom, so praised in antiquity.

Chemistry or alchemy - in other words - the science

to dissolve natural bodies and reduce them to their
principles, is even more vain and dangerous. This science,
although true in itself, it has deceived and misled
an infinity of people in relation to the end they set out to achieve. And
I have no doubt –I say this from personal experience–
that the devil uses her today to make him lose the

49 Alchemy, as a hidden science, flourished during the Middle Ages. It aimed to

to find the formula to turn all metals into gold and the universal remedy
of all physical diseases.
50 "Philosophy is the servant of theology," said the teachers of the universities.
catholic.

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money, time, grace, and even the soul as a pretext for

find the philosopher's stone. There is no science that promises the
greater realities with the most artificial means.

Promises the philosopher's stone or some powders they call 'of

projection", those, thrown onto any metal in
state of fusion, they transform it into gold or silver, they return
health or they heal diseases, and even prolong the
life and perform a multitude of wonders that the illiterate
they are considered divine and miraculous.

He legitimizes his claims:

1oWith the story of Solomon, who -they assure-

received the secret of the philosopher's stone, and to whom
they attribute a secret book, but false and harmful,
The Key of Solomon51.

2oWith the story of Ezra, whom God would have given

to drink a celestial elixir that would have communicated to him the
wisdom, as it is told in the seventh book of
Ezra52.

3oWith the story of Raimundo Lulio and other greats

philosophers, who -claim- found the aforementioned
philosopher's stone53.

4oLastly, to better cover up their deception under a veil

of pity, they say it is a gift from God, that it is not
grant it only to those who have been asking for a long time and
They deserve it with their efforts and prayers.

51 The Kabbalah wants to count Solomon among its wise. The Key of Solomon
my part of the Book of Creation (Sefer Yetzirah). This, along with the Book of
the light (Sépher Zorah), constitutes the manual of the Kabbalah.
52 Apocryphal book.
53 There were Christian thinkers, including RAIMUNDUS LULLUS (+ 1315), who (for the
The 15th-16th centuries were influenced by the Kabbalah.

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I have remembered the whims and illusions of this vain

science so you don't get fooled like so many others, because
I know some who, after useless and large expenses
wasting time in search of this secret under the
the most beautiful and pious pretexts in the world and in form
more devout, they have finally had to repent,
recognizing their deceptions and illusions.

Personally, I do not accept the possibility of the stone.

philosophical. The wise Del Río54defends and proves its possibility
truth. Others deny it. Whatever it may be, it is not advisable
nothing, but dangerous for a Christian, to dedicate oneself to
to seek her. It would be to slander Jesus Christ, the embodied Wisdom,
in whom all the secrets of knowledge and understanding are hidden
(Col 2,3) all the riches of nature, of grace and
of glory. It would be to disobey the Holy Spirit, who says:
Don't worry about what exceeds you (BenS 3,22).

4. CONCLUSION

Let us stay, then, with Jesus Christ, the eternal Wisdom

and embodied, outside of which everything is wandering, falsehood and
death: I am the way, the truth, and the life (Jn 14:6).
Let's see the effects of thisWisdom on the souls.

54 MARTINANTONIO DELRIO, S.J. (1551-1608), who in his bookDisquisitions

The six books of magic (1599) defend the efficacy of alchemy.

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EIGHTH CHAPTER

WONDERFUL EFFECTS PRODUCED

THE ETERNAL WISDOM IN THOSE
THEY POSSESS

9055by the nature of good56, and in particular

for the good of humanity, this supreme beauty that is
Wisdom finds its greatest satisfaction in communicating-
hearken to him. Therefore, the Holy Spirit says that Wisdom
seek, through the nations, worthy people of her and
that spreads and expands in holy souls (Wis 7:27).
Precisely this communication of eternal Wisdom has
formed the friends of God and the prophets57.

It entered in ancient times into the soul of the servant of God

Moses, communicating abundant light to see things
magnificent and a wonderful power to perform wonders
and reach victories: He entered the soul of the servant of God, who
he faced terrible kings with his wonders and signs
10,16).

When divine Wisdom enters a person, it brings them

all kinds of goods and communicates countless riches to it:
With her came all the goods together, in her hands there was
uncountable riches (Wisdom 7:11). It is the testimony that Solomon
surrender to the truth after having received Wisdom.

55 In few texts, like in this chapter, the personal experience of P.DE is discussed.
MONTFORT. Letters 15 and 16 written in 1703 to his privileged disciple María
Luisa de Jesús are witnesses of the longing of the P.OFMONTFORT for Wisdom.
56 (Wisdom) indeed is an intelligent, holy, unique spirit,
multiple, subtle, penetrating mobile, immaculate, lucid, invulnerable, kind
sharp, uncontainable...
57 Entering the good souls of each generation, it is making
friends of God and prophets.

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Among the countless operations carried out in the

soul for Wisdom –often in such a secret way
that one is not even aware of them58–, these are
the most frequent:

Discernment and penetration

Wisdom communicates its spirit to those who possess it.

Spirit who is totally luminous: That is why I pleaded, and it
he granted me prudence; I invoked and the spirit of came to me
wisdom (Wis 7:7). With this useful and penetrating spirit (See
As in the example of Solomon, the human being -
become a judge of all things, with great discernment
lie and penetration: In the processes, my sharpness will shine.
I will be the admiration of the monarchs (Wisdom 8:11) thanks to the
Wisdom that his spirit communicated to me.

93 Communicates to humans the sublime science of the saints

(Sab 8:11) and the other natural sciences - including the most
hidden - if they are to be beneficial: If someone aspires
a rich experience, she knows the past and guesses the future, she knows
the clever sayings and the solution of the riddles (Wis 8:8).

A Jacob revealed the saints (Wisdom 10:10).

He communicated to Solomon the true science of all the

nature: It granted me an infallible knowledge of beings (Sab
He revealed a multitude of secrets that no one had
discovered: Everything I know, hidden or manifested (Wisdom 7:21).

In this infinite source of light, the greatest ones drank.

Doctors of the Church – among others, Saint Thomas Aquinas,
as he himself states59those admirable knowledge

58 SeeASE 53; SM 55.

59 See, for example, GUILERMO DETOCCO, Life of SaintThomas c.32: "Effects ad-
miracles of your prayer.

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things that have made them worthy of praise. It is noteworthy

that the lights and knowledge communicated by Wisdom
they are not barren, sterile or lacking in devotion, but
luminous, full of anointing and pious, move and
60
they make the heart happy and enlighten the understanding .

2. Attractive and effective transmission of the Good News

Wisdom communicates to the human being not only the lights

to know the truth, but also the wonderful capability
the wisdom knows everything that
61
it is said and communicate the science of saying it right. Effective-
wisdom opened the mouths of the mute and loosed the tongues
of the children (Sabbath 10,21).

He loosened Moses's stuttering tongue. He communicated to the

prophets the word to uproot and raze, destroy and demolish,
to build and to plant (Jeremiah 1:10), despite recognizing that,
abandoned to themselves, they did not know how to speak better than a
child62.

Wisdom communicated to the apostles ease for

preach the Gospel everywhere and proclaim it
wonders of God (Acts 2:11), filling his mouth with words
appropriate63.

Since divine Wisdom is Word in eternity and

through time, has always spoken, and by his word was
64
created and restored everything He has spoken through the

60 SeeASE 58.
61 Acts 1:7. The liturgy of Pentecost applies this text to the gift of tongues. See Acts
1,2-4.11.
62 SeeASE 1-2.
63 Come, Creator Spirit.
64 Father DEMONTFORT laid down this gift, as attested by himself to his director, Father.
Leschassier (Card 11). It foresees that it will be granted to the apostles of the last
times (VD 57), to its missionaries (SA 22), to whom it prescribes to preach under
his influence (RM 61-65). See Sab 9:1.18; Jn 1:4.

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prophets and of the apostles, and will continue speaking, until the end
of the times, through the words of those to whom it is communicated
unique.

But the words that divine Wisdom communicates do not

they are ordinary, natural, and human words. They are words
divine: They did not receive the message of God as a word
human, but as it truly is, like the word of God
(1Thess 2:13). They are forceful, moving words,
penetrating: The word of God is alive and powerful, sharper
for the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb 4:12). They are words that divide.
from the heart of the one who speaks and penetrate to the depths of the
heart of the listener. Solomon had received this gift of
Wisdom when he writes that God had granted him
express clearly what my heart dictated to me: Me
God granted me the ability to express myself (Wisdom 7:15 - Vulgate).

97Y these are the promises of Our Lord to the

apostles: I will give you words so accurate that no
the adversary will be able to confront them... (Lc 21,15).

Oh! How few are the preachers today who possess

this ineffable gift of speech and they can say with Saint
Pablo: We expose divine knowledge, we teach Wisdom
of God (1Cor 2:7). Most speak guided by the
natural lights of their intelligence or according to what they have
learned in their readings, but not according to the gifts
received from above65that is, not according to divine Wisdom
66
they make them feel, nor according to the abundance of the heart , that is,
according to the abundance they receive from divine Wisdom.
That is why the conversions achieved with the preach are so rare.
song. If the preacher had received from Wisdom the
gift of the word effectively, the audience could not
to resist it, as it happened in another time: the listeners could not

65 See Sab 7:15. Prayer and preaching form a binomial that guides the life of the
missionary: the strength and the expansion of that transformative power of the Spirit...
66 Mt 12:34: It is possible that the preacher, if he lacks true Wisdom-
experience of God, resist the Word and start preaching to yourself...

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to resist the Wisdom and the Spirit that spoke through his mouth
A preacher filled with this Wisdom would speak
with such softness and authority –Jesus taught with
authority67–, that his word would not return empty without having
68
accomplished its mission .

Source of joy and comfort

98 Being eternal Wisdom the object of happiness and

the complacency of the Eternal Father and the joy of the angels,
constitutes, for the human who possesses it, the principle
of the softest pleasures and comforts. It shares the taste
for the things of God and makes him lose the one of creatures.
Lift your spirit with the glow of its lights. Shed
in their heart the most indescribable joy, sweetness, and peace,
as Saint Paul testifies by saying: I overflow with joy in the midst
of all my afflictions (2 Cor 7:4). And before him, Solomon:
When I return home, even if I'm alone, I will rest by their side, for
his manner does not disappoint, his intimacy does not depress, but rather delights
and it brings joy (Sirach 8:16). And not only at home, but everywhere,
because he walks in front of me. His friendship is a noble delight
(Sirach 8:18). Instead, the joys and pleasures that can
to be in the creatures is nothing more than an appearance of pleasure
and affliction of spirit (Wisdom 8:18).

4. Gifts and virtues of the Holy Spirit

When eternal Wisdom communicates to a person,

he infuses, to a high degree, all the gifts of the Spirit
Saint and all the great virtues, namely: the virtues
theological virtues: living faith, firm hope, and ardent charity; the
cardinal virtues: sober temperance, prudence

67 Matthew 7:29. The messenger of the Word must be so filled with Jesus that he is Jesus.
same who speaks in it.
68 ... my word ... will not return to me void, but will accomplish my will and
will fulfill my request.

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moderation, perfect justice, and invincible strength; the virtues

morality: perfect religion, deep humility, gentleness
very attractive, unconditional obedience, total detachment
continuous mortification, sublime prayer, etc. Virtues
admirable and heavenly gifts that the Holy Spirit
wonderfully enumerates in a few words by saying: Yes
someone loves righteousness, virtues are the result of their efforts; is
teacher of temperance and prudence, of justice and strength; for
Men, there is nothing more beneficial in life than this.
(Sab 8:7).

5. Inspires large companies... Gives heavy crosses

Finally, there is nothing more dynamic than the

Wisdom – wisdom is more mobile than any movement.
(Prov 7:24), does not allow those who are honored with his friendship
they fall asleep in warmth and negligence. It inflames them and
inspire large companies for the glory of God and the salvation
of souls. And, to test them and make them even more
more worthy of themselves, it provides them with great battles
and reserves contradictions and obstacles in almost everything
69
what they undertake .

Indeed, let the devil tempt them or the world

do not slander or despise, since your enemies surpass them
and they are overthrown, since their friends and relatives abandon them and
betray. Here let them be afflicted by the loss of their
goods, there to be tormented by illness; further on, a
injustice; and beyond that, sadness and discouragement. In a
the test of a thousand ways in the crucible of the
tribulation.

But the Holy Spirit says: They suffered small punishments,

they will receive great favors, because God tested them and the
hello worthy of itself; he tested them like gold in a furnace, he received them as

69 Letters 15 and 16

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holocaust sacrifice; at the time of the account they will shine

like sparks that ignite through a sugarcane field (Wisdom 3:4-7).

Wisdom gave success to the tasks of the righteous and made them fruitful.
jobs; it protected him from the greed of the exploiters and it
he enriched him; defended him from his enemies and kept him safe from his
chances; it gave him victory in the hard battle so that he would know
that Wisdom is stronger than everything (Wisdom 10:10-12).

It is read in the life of Blessed Henry Suso, religious

Dominican70that their desire to acquire eternal Wisdom
he was so alive that he himself offered several times to suffer
All kinds of torments in order to gain their favors.
Well, what! - he reflected -. Don't you know that the lovers
they endure thousands and thousands of sufferings for the purpose of their
love? They consider sleepless nights sweet, pleasant the
fatigue and work as a rest, when they have the
security that the loved one will feel obliged and
satisfied. If men do all this to please
a poor creature, are you not ashamed of your lack of
effort when it comes to acquiring Wisdom? Oh
Eternal wisdom! No, I will never back down in your love,
even if I have to walk through to get to your mansion
brambles and thorns that wrap around me up to my head! Although
I see myself exposed to a thousand cruelties in the body and in the soul,
I will prefer your friendship above all and I will make you reign as sovereign.
absolute over all my affections!

Some days later, while on the road, he fell into

hands of some thieves, who beat him and subdued him to
in such a lamentable state, that they themselves felt
moved by compassion. Enrique, upon finding himself in such a deplorable
situation and bereft of all help, fell into a deep
melancholy, forgetting its purpose of maintaining value
In the tests, she began to cry, wondering why

70 ENRIQUE DEBERG (1295-1366), German Dominican, mystic writer and preacher

influential in its time and in subsequent centuries.

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God grieved in that way. Thinking this, he fell asleep.

Clear the morning, he heard a voice reprimanding him, saying:
Look at our hero! The one who cleaves through the mountains, climbs
through the rocks, assaults cities, kills and dismembers everyone
the enemies when enjoying prosperity... But in the
adversity has neither courage, nor arms, nor legs!
time of consolation is a lion; in tribulation, a
cowardly deer! Wisdom does not offer its friendship to
cowards and indolent like this one!

In the face of such reprimand, Blessed Henry confessed the fault that
he had sinned by grieving excessively, and pleaded to
the Wisdom that would allow him to unburden his heart
crying bitterly. "No, no!" replied the voice. "No one
in the sky will not value you at all if - like a little one or
a little woman - you start to cry. Wipe your eyes and show
a serene face!

The cross is, therefore, the heritage and reward of

how many desire and possess eternal Wisdom. But this
Sovereign Kind –who did everything with number, weight and
measure - only send to your friends crosses provided to
his forces and pours such a gentle anointing over the sufferings,
that in them they find their delights71.

71 SeeVD 153-154: theVirgin Mary is the sweetness of the crosses.

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NINTH CHAPTER

INCARNATION AND LIFE ON EARTH

FROM ETERNAL WISDOM

INCARNATION OF ETERNAL WISDOM

The eternal Word, the eternal Wisdom, revealed to

Adam – as is believable – and promised the ancient patriarchs
-as the Holy Scripture attests- that it would be done
man to save humanity, according to the
decision made in the council of the Holy Trinity72.

Therefore - during the four millennia that followed the

creation73–, all the saints of the Old Testament asked
with insistent prayers for the arrival of the Messiah. They groaned,
they cried, they pleaded: Heavens, distill the dew; clouds, pour out
the victory; let the earth open and salvation spring forth74Oh Wisdom,
"O you who come from the mouth of the Most High, ... come to free us!" 75

But their screams, prayers, and sacrifices did not have the strength
sufficient to descend from the bosom of the Father to the
Eternal wisdom, the Son of God76. They raised their arms to the
sky, but these were not long enough to
to reach the throne of the Most High. They offered God continuous
sacrifices, even that of their hearts, but their price not
I was worthy of the grace of graces.77.

72 ASE 46. The entire Old Testament is a long Advent-preparation for this.
step of Wisdom that approaches the human being in the incarnation.
73 About this and other dates, e.g. ASE 110: incarnation and 116, death and resurrection.

74 Is 45:8: Summary of the Old Testament, as a cry and preparation for the coming
of Wisdom, which gives meaning to human life (see Books
"sapienciales" and John 1:1-18.
75 Vespers Antiphon [Gospel Canticle] corresponding to the 17th and 18th of the day-
cinder.
76 See SM 7.
77 VD 16.72.

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Finally, when the moment came to carry out the

redemption of men, the divine Wisdom was built
a house78a room worthy of herself. She created and
formed in the womb of Saint Anne the divine Mary, with greater
the complacency that I had experienced in the
creation of the universe. It is impossible to express the ineffable
communications of the Most Holy Trinity to such beauty
creature, just like the fidelity with which Mary
he responded to the thanks of his Creator79.

The impetuous torrent of God's goodness, is...

fell violently for human sins since the co-
In the middle of the world, it unfolds with all its strength and fullness.
in the heart of Mary. Eternal Wisdom communicates to her
all the thanks they would have received for your generosity
Adam and his descendants if they had preserved justice
. Finally - as a saint says80–, all the fullness
the divinity pours into Mary, as a pure one
the creature is capable of receiving it.

Oh Mary! Masterpiece of the Most High, miracle of the

Wisdom, the marvel of the Omnipotent, abyss of grace...
I confess, with all the saints, that only your Creator
can understand the height, width, and depth of the
81
thank you for letting me know .

107The divine María made such progress in fourteen years

you are in the grace and wisdom of God, his faithfulness to love
The Lord's was so perfect that it filled with admiration not only
to the angels, but also to God himself. His humility,

78 Proverbs 9:1: "Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn out its seven pillars."
The Church Fathers gladly apply the text to Mary, God's masterpiece.
(VD 5.50.115). For the topic of 'Mary, dwelling of divinity', see VD 262.
264.
79 Maria: her collaboration with grace and progress in virtue has been on the rise
I continue.
80 ABADGUERRICO, Sermon 3 for the Assumption of Mary n.4: PL 185,196; SAN
BERNARDO, Man 4 super Missus estn.3: PL 183,81.
81 VD 7: God has reserved for Himself the perfect knowledge of Mary.

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deep to the point of oblivion, captivated the Creator82;

his purity, entirely divine, captivated him; her living faith and her
continuous and loving prayers made her violence. The
Wisdom was lovingly found defeated by such a love.
!Oh! How great was the love of Mary
"What defeated the Omnipotent!" exclaims Saint Augustine.83.

Admirable thing! Wanting Wisdom to descend from the

breast of the Father to the breast of a virgin to rest among
the lilies of her purity; wanting to become man in Her and
to give oneself entirely to Her, He sent the archangel Gabriel to bring her
his greeting and to tell him that I had captured his heart
zone, for which he wished to become a man in her bosom, always
that she gave her consent.
The archangel fulfilled his mission. He assured Mary that he would keep
she varies her virginity despite being a mother, and obtained –not obs-
such is the resistance of his profound humility – that he consented
ineffable lie that the Holy Trinity, the angels, and everything
the universe had been awaited for so many centuries. Mary,
humbly before her Creator, she replied: Here is the servant
of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word (Luke 1:38).

108Observe how, at the moment when María granted her

consent of being the Mother of God, multiple actions were carried out.
prodigies. The Holy Spirit formed from the purest blood of
Mary arranged a little body perfectly. God created
the most perfect soul that has ever been created. The Wisdom
incarnate, the Son of God, truly united in person to
this body and this soul. And thus this great marvel was accomplished.
heaven and earth, this prodigious excess of the love of God:
The Word became flesh (Jn 1:14). The eternal Wisdom has
incarnate. God has made himself man without ceasing to be God.
This God-Man is called Jesus Christ, that is, Savior (Mt
1.21; Lk 1.31).

82 SeeVD 2ss.
83 There is no evidence that this is a text by SAN AGUSTIN. Perhaps it is from
RICARDO OFSANVICTOR (in his Commentary on the Song of Songs 26: PL
196,483).See JUANMORINAY, María and the weakness of God.

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Next, the compendium of his divine life in this

world.

2. LIFE OF EMBODIED WISDOM

Born of a virgin mother

The Son of God chose to be born of a married woman.

–although truly virgin– so that he could not reproach
to blame oneself for being born of an illegitimate union and for other reasons
very important reasons that explain to us the Saints
Parents. Their conception was announced to the Holy Virgin.
by the archangel Gabriel –as we have just seen–. Jesus Christ
he became a son of Adam, but without inheriting his sin.

Born in Bethlehem of Judea

The incarnation took place on a Friday, March 25.
Savior of the world was born on December 25 in the city
from Bethlehem, in a rickety stable, where he had his cradle
a manger. An angel announced to some shepherds that guard-
ban their flocks in the fields, the birth of the Savior,
recommending that they go to Bethlehem to worship him. In that
instantly they heard a choir of angels singing: Glory to
God in heaven, and peace on earth to men whom he wants.
so much (Lk 2:14).

3. He is submitted to circumcision - the magicians adore him

The eighth day of his birth, and to conform to

the law of Moses, although he was not subject to it, was
circumcised, and he was given the name Jesus, given by
beforehand through the sky. Three wise men from the East came to
to adore him, notified by an extraordinary star that the
led to Bethlehem. This celebration is called Epiphany, that is,
manifestation of God and is celebrated on January 6th.

4. He is presented in the temple and flees to Egypt

He wanted to be presented in the temple forty days.

after his birth and observing all the law of Moses

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for the rescue of the firstborns. Shortly after, an angel

he warned Joseph, husband of the Blessed Virgin, to take
to the Child and the Mother and fled to Egypt to avoid the fury
of Herod. Joseph obeyed.

Some authors opine that Our Lord remained in

Egypt two years. Others, three, and others – like Baronius –
that up to eight. His presence sanctified that entire country,
making it worthy of being seen later populated with saints
hermits. Eusebius says that when Jesus entered Egypt
the demons fled. And Saint Athanasius adds that the idols
they shattered.

5. He manifests as wise, is baptized

At the age of twelve, the Son of God discussed with a

group of doctors of the law, showing such wisdom that
He left his entire audience amazed. After this event,
testimony, the Gospel does not tell us anything about him until his
baptism, which he received when he was thirty years old84He/She withdrew.
immediately to the desert, where he fasted for forty days,
without eating or drinking; and, when tempted by the devil, triumphed.
about this.

6. Fulfill your mission: public life

He then began his preaching in Judea, calling

to his apostles, and performed all the adorable wonders that
they mention the sacred texts. It is enough to remember that the third
year of his public life – thirty-third of his age –
Jesus Christ raised Lazarus. He entered triumphantly into Jerusalem.
March 29. On the 2nd of the following month of April, 14 of Nisan,

84 The disciples' curiosity about the infancy was always great.

Jesus' childhood and youth more than what the gospels soberly state.
In ancient times, the so-called apocryphal Gospels did it. About them the
C
P
.M
.H
. EREDA
Iw
.js,eonrtiavcyearniolgtsujniralgM
e'emesoiorfa'
reporter of the time of Christ” (I-II-III) with its Appendix The Marian Legend.
Much more serious work and without the false trends of 'Trojan Horse'.

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He celebrated Easter with his disciples, washed the feet of the

apostles and instituted the most holy sacrament of the
Eucharist under the species of bread and wine.

7. It submits to passion and death

The afternoon of the same day, his enemies, led by

Judas, the traitor, was arrested. The next day - 3 of
April–, despite being a holiday, was sentenced to death
after having been flogged, crowned with thorns and
treated with extreme ignominy. That same day he was
led to Calvary and nailed to a cross between two
wrongdoers. Thus wanted the God of innocence to die, with
the most shameful death, and to endure the torment that
a thief named Barabbas, whom the Jews deserved
they postponed.

The Holy Fathers say that Jesus was nailed to the cross
with four nails and in the middle of it protruded a rough piece
wood in the form of a seat, on which one could lean.

8. He is buried, rises and ascends to heaven.

116After three hours of agony, the Savior of

mundo died at the age of thirty-three. Joseph of
Arimathea had the courage to ask Pilate for his body and it
placed in a new tomb hewn from the rock. He did not
can forget that nature expressed its pain before the
death of its own author through a series of wonders
who died at the moment of expiration.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ took place on April 5.

appeared several times to his most holy Mother and to the disciples
for forty days, until Thursday, May 14, when
He led the disciples to the Mount of Olives, where on
Your presence ascended to the heavens, by its own virtue, to the
right hand of the Father, leaving on the rock the traces of his
sacred feet.

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TENTH CHAPTER

Charming Beauty
THE INEFFABLE SWEETNESS OF WISDOM
ENCASED

Wisdom took flesh with the sole purpose of

to attract your love and imitate the human hearts. By
she has taken pleasure in adorning herself with all the kindness
most attractive and delicate human qualities and sweetness, without
no defect or ugliness85.

WISDOM IS SWEET IN ITS ORIGIN

118Considered in its origin, Wisdom is all

kindness and sweetness. It is the gift of the love of the Eternal Father and
fruit of the love of the Holy Spirit. Love gives it to us and the
For God so loved the world, that He gave His Son
unique (Jn 3:16). So that it is all love, or rather, love.
same as the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Born from the sweetest, tenderest, and most beautiful of all the
mothers, the divine Mary86Do you want to know the sweetness of
Jesus? Try to know the sweetness of Mary, his Mother, first.
who resembles in the sweetness of temperament. Jesus
he is the Son of Mary, and for this reason, there can be nothing in Him

85 The sweetness of Wisdom is one of Montfort's favorite themes; being

violent by temperament, as he himself confessed to his friends, he came to
be so kind that the most hardened sinners preferred to go to him to
to make the general confession of his life. His last sermon, a few days before
to die, it was on the same topic. Chapters 10 and 11 form a single unit
and the conclusion is: how can one not love a reality so full of sweetness as the
Wisdom?
86 The expression divine Mary may seem surprising. It aims to emphasize the cer-
shrine of the Mother of Wisdom to the divinity: it is the dwelling of God, temple of
God, city of God, paradise of God... (See VD 2ss; 264).

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arrogance, nor severity, nor ugliness. Infinitely less.

even though in His Mother, for she is the eternal Wisdom,
sweetness and beauty personified.

2. WISDOM IS SWEET ACCORDING TO THE PROPHETS

119The prophets, to whom it was revealed in advance the

Embodied wisdom, they call the sheep and gentle lamb (Jn
11,19). They predict that, thanks to its sweetness, the cascading cane will not
it will break it, the wavering wick will not extinguish it (Is 42:3); that is,
that their kindness will be such that, even when an unfortunate person
sinner being half destroyed, blinded and extra-
sentenced for her sins and already with one foot in hell, She
he will not bring about his ruin, unless he is compelled to do so.

Saint John the Baptist, who lived for about thirty years in the
desert to deserve knowledge with its austerities
and love for the embodied Wisdom, as soon as he saw her, exclaimed
–pointing with his finger to his disciples–: This is the lamb
of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). It does not say, in
effect, as it should have been: "This is the Most High, this is the
King of glory, this is the Omnipotent...
knowing her better than anyone has known or will know her
never, exclaims: "This is the Lamb of God. Here comes the
Eternal wisdom, that to conquer our hearts
and to erase our sins has encompassed all the
divine and human sweetnesses, celestial and earthly.

3. WISDOM IS SWEET IN ITS NAME

120Y what does the name of Jesus indicate - that it is the

proper name of embodied Wisdom – but a charity
burning, an infinite love and a charming sweetness?
Jesus, Savior, that is, the one who saves humanity, that one
whose characteristic is to love and save the human being!

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"Nothing is sung more softly,

nothing is heard with more joy,
nothing is thought sweeter
that Jesus, Son of God.87
Oh! How sweet it is to the ear and to the heart of the
predestined in the name of Jesus!
Sweet honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, joy in the
heart88.

4. WISDOM IS SWEET IN ITS APPEARANCE

121 'Jesus is sweet in appearance, sweet in words,

sweet in actions89.

The very kind Salvador had such a sweet face and

kind-hearted, who captivated the eyes and hearts of all who
they saw him. The shepherds who went to visit him in the manger
they were so enchanted by the sweetness and beauty of her
appearance, that they would have remained whole days
contemplating it, as if outside themselves. The kings - even
the most arrogant–, as soon as they saw the features
wonderful for such a beautiful Child, they laid down their pride
and they knelt without difficulty at the foot of his cradle. How many
they would say to each other: "Friends, how nice it is
to be here! There are no delights like these in our palaces
rims that are experienced in this stable when observing-
sing to the dear Child God!

When Jesus was very young, the afflicted people and the children
they were going to see him to cheer up with him, and they said to each other
one to another: "Let's go see the Baby Jesus, the wonderful Son

87 Nothing is sung more sweetly, / Nothing is heard more pleasantly, / Nothing is thought more sweetly, / Than
Jesus, Son of God", from the hymn "Sweet memory of Jesus", attributed, without reason, to SAN
BERNARDO (see PL 184,1307).
88 Honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, joy in the heart
Cantica: PL 183,847).
89 See SANAGUSTÍN, Enarratio in Ps. 44,3: "Jesus sweet in face, sweet in mouth,"
sweet in work.

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of Mary!” The beauty and majesty of her face - he said

Saint John Chrysostom90they were so sweet and imposing to the
time, that those who saw him could not help but love him.
Kings from very distant countries who wanted to possess
his effigy. They say that the Lord himself, by special favor, it
he sent to King Abogar. And some authors assure that
the Roman soldiers and the Jews covered Jesus' face
to slap him and mistreat him with greater freedom, because
her eyes and her face exuded such softness and charm
light, which disarmed even the cruelest.

5. WISDOM IS SWEET IN SUSPALABRAS

Jesus is sweet in words. While he lived in the

land, conquered the whole world with the sweetness of her
words. He was never heard to shout or argue heatedly.
Exactly as the prophets had announced: No
he will not shout, he will not cry out, he will not raise his voice in the streets (Isaiah 42:2). Those who

they listened to him dispassionately, they felt so penetrated

two for the words that came from his mouth, which exclaimed:
No one has ever spoken like that man! (John 7:46). And his
own enemies, surprised by his eloquence and
wisdom, they wondered: Where does this one get that knowledge?
(Mt 13:54). No one has ever spoken with such sweetness and
thank you. Where do you get so much wisdom in your words?

Humble people left thousands of their homes and

families to go listen to him even in the deserts and they passed by
days and days without eating or drinking, satisfying themselves only with
the sweetness of her words. Sweetness with which she attracted in
his follow-up to the apostles like with a magnet, healed
to the most incurable sick, comforted the afflicted. It was enough
what the troubled Magdalena would say with just one word:
Maria! So that she would be filled with happiness and
sweetness (Jn 20:16).

90 Homily 27 on Matthew No. 2: PG 57,346.

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ELEVENTH CHAPTER

SWEETNESS OF INCARNATE WISDOM

IN HIS/HER CONDUCT

6. WISDOM IS SWEET IN ALL ITS BEHAVIOR

Jesus is sweet in his actions and in all his conduct.

How well he did all things!91That is to say, everything he did
Jesus Christ accomplished it with such precision, wisdom, holiness and
sweetness, from which it is not possible to find any flaw
no deformity.

Let's now see what the sweetness of this kindWisdom was.

embodied in all her behavior.

The poor and the children followed him everywhere.

as if I were one of them. They found in the kind
Savior so much simplicity, kindness, condescension and
charity, who were rushing to get closer to him. One day,
while preaching on a street, the children, who are accustomed to
They wanted to push their way through and sit next to him.
The apostles, who were closest to Jesus, rejected him.
Jesus realized and rebuked the apostles, telling them:
Let the children come to me (Mk 10:14). And, when
they were close, embraced them and blessed them. Oh! What sweetness and
benignity!

The poor, seeing that he dressed poorly and acted without

neither haughtiness nor arrogance, they took pleasure in being with him and
they defended themselves against the rich and proud, who slandered them
and they were chasing. Jesus, for his part, would lavish them with a thousand

praise and blessings on every occasion (Mt 5:3ff).

91 Mark 7:37. The entire chapter is nothing more than a weave of texts from the New Testament.
moments in which we are shown the tenderness and love of Jesus Christ for us
in need of salvation.

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125Y who could explain the sweetness of Jesus towards

the poor sinners? How sweetly he treated them
Magdalene the sinner! (See Lk 7:36-50; 8:2). With what
kind condescension converted the Samaritan! (See Jn
4.4ss). How much mercy he showed in forgiving the woman
adulteress! (See John 8:2 and following). How much charity she was going to sit with
to the table of the tax collectors to convert them! (See Mt 9:10-
13). His enemies took advantage of this sweetness of his to
to pursue him, saying that with his condescension towards
to break the law of Moses (See John 5:1-18). To insult him,
they called him a friend of sinners and tax collectors (Mt 9:11).
With how much kindness and humility he tried to win over the
Judas's heart, who was trying to betray him! (Mt 26:50; Lc
22,48...). He washed his feet (Jn 13:2) and called him his friend!
(Mt 26:50). Finally, how lovingly he asked for forgiveness to
God, your Father, through his executioners, excusing them for not
to know what they were doing! (Luke 23:34).

126 Oh! How beautiful, sweet, and loving is Wisdom

incarnate, Jesus Christ! Beautiful in eternity, for being the
splendor of the Father, the unblemished mirror and the image of
her goodness (Wis 7:26; -see also no. 16), more radiant than
the sun is more radiant than the light itself! Beautiful in the
time, for having been formed pure, free from sin and
dazzling beauty by the Holy Spirit, for having
in love during his earthly pilgrimage, the sight and the
heart of men and be today the glory of the angels.
Tender and sweet with men, and especially with the
poor sinners, whom he came to seek visibly
about the earth and those whom he continues to seek every day
invisible way!

7. WISDOM IS SWEET IN GLORY

No one imagines that, by being now Jesus

triumphant and glorious, be less sweet and condescending.
On the contrary, his glory perfects, in a way, his
sweetness. Wishes to forgive more than to shine. Wishes more

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show the abundance of your mercy that you boast.

riches of his glory.

128If you pay attention to the testimony of the events, you will see
that, when the embodied and glorious Wisdom appeared
to his friends, he did not do it amidst thunder and lightning, but
benign and sweetly; did not assume the majesty of a
sovereign or the God of hosts, but the tenderness of
husband and the sweetness of a friend.

Sometimes it is shown in the Eucharist, but I don't remember.

having ever read that it was presented in a different form than the
of a sweet and funny boy.

Some time ago, an unfortunate soul became enraged by

having lost his entire fortune in the game. He unsheathed the
sword against the sky, blaming the Lord for the loss of
his goods. And strange thing! Instead of the rays and thunder
that should have fallen upon him, he saw descend from heaven
a little paper that, fluttering, came to fall near him.
Surprised, he picks it up, unfolds it, and reads: Mercy, God
mine (Ps 50(51),1). The sword fell from his hands, and,
moved deep in his heart, he knelt down in
land and asked for forgiveness.

130 Count Saint Dionysius the Areopagite that a bishop,

called Carpio, had converted an idolater at the cost of
great works. But, having learned that another pagan had
having made the decision to apostatize in an instant, he turned to God pleading
throughout an entire night with persistent prayers that
the guilty party for the injury inflicted on the divine will be punished
Your Majesty. And look, being in the most fervent part of your
prayer and out of his zeal, he saw the earth opening and that the
demons tried to throw the pagan into hell and the
apostate. When he raised his eyes, he saw that the heavens were opening and that
Jesus Christ was moving towards him surrounded by a multitude of
angels. The Lord says to him:

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– Carpio, are you asking me for revenge? You don't know me!
Do you know what you are asking for and how much it has cost me?
sinners? Why do you want me to condemn them? I love them.
so much that I would be willing, if necessary, to die
again for each one of them!
Y
apo,ranchgiC
hoehpsa,roiwhedbtearckasnd
added:
– Carpio, if you want revenge, take it on me, not on
the poor sinners!92

Considering all of this, how can one not love this

Eternal wisdom that has loved us and continues to love us
more than to their own life and whose beauty and sweetness exceed
to everything most beautiful and sweet that exists in heaven and on earth?

132 It refers to the life of Blessed Henry Suso that a

day the eternal Wisdom –so tenderly loved by him– is
it appeared to him in the following way: it had taken form
corporal, was surrounded by a clear and transparent cloud
and she was sitting on an ivory throne. Her eyes
they gave off a brightness similar to that of the midday sun. Their
corona was eternity; her dresses, happiness; her
word, the softness; from its embraces sprang the joy of
all the blessed.

Enrique looked at her in all this pomp. What struck him most
it was wonderful to see that so soon it seemed to be a
beautiful maiden, marvel of the beauty of the sky and of
the earth; as soon as a gallant young man who had exhausted
all the beauties created to beautify her face. Some
sometimes, I saw her raise her head above the skies and to
at the same time tread with their feet the abysses of the earth.
I could already see it close; now, far from itself. Sometimes majestic, other times
condescending, benign, sweet and full of tenderness for
how many were approaching her. She was contemplating it like this, when
–addressing him– she smiled kindly at him and said:

92 DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE, Letter 8, & 6: PG 3,1097-1103.

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My son, give me your heart! (Proverbs 23:26)

Immediately falling at his feet, Enrique handed him,
irrevocably, the heart.

Following the example of this holy man, let us also do

irrevocable surrender of our heart to eternal Wisdom
and incarnate. She desires nothing else from us!

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TWELFTH CHAPTER

MAIN ORACLES
FROM EMBODIED WISDOM
WHAT IS NECESSARY TO BELIEVE AND PRACTICE
TO SAVE US93

Whoever wants to come with me, let him deny himself,

let him take up his cross daily and follow me (Luke 9:23).

2. One who loves me will heed my message, my Father will

he will love, and the two of us will come with him and we will live with him
(Jn 14:23)

3. If, when you go to present your offering at the altar, you remember there
because your brother has something against you, leave your offering
there, before the altar, and go first to reconcile with your
brother (Mt 5:23-24).

If one wants to be one of mine and does not prefer me to their father
and his mother, his wife and his children, his brothers and
brothers, and even themselves, cannot be a disciple
mine (Lk 14:28).

5. Everyone who has left house, or brothers, or for my sake.

sisters, or father or mother, or children or land, will receive a hundred
times more and will inherit eternal life (Mt 19:29).

93 This chapter constitutes the culminating part of this Monfortian work. In the
voice of embodied Wisdom, Jesus Christ, we hear the basic directives resonating
What the disciple of Wisdom must put into practice who wants to walk in
following of the Lord. Wisdom speaks to us directly now... It invites the
banquet of the dialogue of friendship... Wisdom has come to us in its
movement of love... Through love, presence is made and it gifts us the gift of its
oracles, to guide our life and give it meaning... This is how the path is prepared
for the total consecration to Jesus through Mary.LP.DEMONTFORT is not a mirror-
cumulative. He is a missionary. Much happier are those who accept, believe, put in
They practice and teach others the message of Embodied Wisdom (See ASE
Let this be our motto: our life, the best commentary on the Pala-
branch of Wisdom.

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If you want to be perfect, go sell what you have and give it to the poor.
to the poor, for God will be your wealth (Mt 19:21).
1357. It is not enough to say to me: 'Lord, Lord!' to enter the
Kingdom of God; we must put into action the design of my
Father in heaven (Mt 7:21).
8. Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice
for he is like the wise man who built his house
about rock (Mt 7,24).

I assure you that if you do not change and become like these
children, will not enter the Kingdom of God (Mt 18:3).

10. Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble; you will find
rest (Mt 11:29).

When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who are

friends of praying standing in synagogues... to show off
before the people (Mt 6:5).

12. When you pray, do not use many words..., for the Father
He knows what they need before they ask for it (Mt 6:7-8).

13. When you stand praying, forgive whatever you have.

against others, so that the Father in heaven may also
forgive your debts (Mark 11:25).
14. Whatever you ask of God in your prayer, believe
that they have been granted, and they will receive it (Mark 11:24).

13715. When you fast, do not look somber like the ...
hypocrites, who make their faces ugly to show off in front of people
they fast. I assure you that they have already received their pay
(Mt 6:16)
In heaven, there is more joy over a sinner who repents
for there are ninety-nine just persons who do not need to repent
(Lk 15:7)
17. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
repent (Luke 5:32).

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Blessed are those who live persecuted for their faith,

for they have God as their King (Mt 5:10).

19. Blessed are you when men hate you and

expel... because of this Man. Rejoice..., that
God will grant them a great reward (Luke 6:22-23).

20. When the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.
I have been hated by him. If they belonged to the world, the world
I would love them as if they were mine, but... by choosing them myself...
the world hates them (Jn 15:18-19).

14021. Come to me all who are weary and

overburdened, and I will relieve you (Mt 11:28).

22. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread
this will live forever. But, in addition, the bread that I am going to
this is my flesh... (Jn 6:51).

23. My flesh is true food, and my blood true drink.

Drink. Who eats my flesh and drinks my blood, dwells
in me and I in him (Jn 6:55-56).
14124.Everyone will hate you because of me. But they will not lose anything.
a hair from the head (Lc 21:17-18).

No one can serve two masters, because

will despise one and love the other, or else will appreciate one
and will despise the other (Mt 6:24).

14326. Evil thoughts come from the heart... That is the

which stains a person; eating without washing their hands,
no (Mt 15:19-20).

27. The one who is good brings out good things from his store.
goodness; the one who is evil brings out bad things from his store
of evil (Mt 12:35).

The one who puts his hand to the plow and keeps looking back, does not
it is worthy of the Kingdom of God (Lk 9:62).

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29. Even the hairs on his head are all counted. No

be afraid; You are worth more than all the sparrows
together (Luke 12:7).

30. God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world,
but so that the world might be saved through him (John 3:17).
14531. Everyone who practices evil hates the light and does not come near it.
in the light so that their actions are not revealed (Jn 3:20).

32. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit
in spirit and truth (Jn 4:24).

33. Only the Spirit gives life; the flesh is of no value. The
the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life (John 6:63).

Whoever commits that sin is a slave, and the slave does not
remains forever in the house (John 8:34-35).
He who is faithful in little is also faithful in much.
important; whoever is not honest in little is not honest in much either
Honorable in the important (Luke 16:10).

It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one
tilde of the law (Lc 16:17).

37. Let your light also shine before men;

see the good they do and glorify the Father in heaven
(Mt 5:16).
14638. If your righteousness does not exceed that of the scribes and
Pharisees, they will not enter the Kingdom of God (Mt 5:20).

39. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away; for...
It is better for you to lose a limb than to be thrown in whole.
to the fire (Mt 5:29).

40. The Kingdom of God is taken by force, and only the

the forceful take it by force (Mt 11:12).

41. Do not accumulate treasures on earth, where moth and

woodworm spoil them, where the thieves break in

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holes and rob. Instead, accumulate wealth in the

heaven..., where thieves do not steal (Mt 6,19-20).

42. Do not judge, and you will not be judged; for they will judge you.
as you judge (Mt 7:1-2).

Beware of false prophets, those who approach you.

with sheep's skin, but inside they are ravenous wolves. For
you will know them by their fruits (Mt 7:15-16).

44. Be careful not to show disdain for one of those little ones,
because I tell you that their angels are always watching over
the sky the face of my Heavenly Father (Mt 18:10).

Be on alert, for you do not know the day or the hour (Mt 25:13).

14846. Do not fear those who kill the body and afterward cannot
do more... Fear the one who has the power to kill and
after throwing into the fire Lk 12:4-5).

47. Do not be overwhelmed by life, thinking about what you are going to
eat; neither for the body, thinking about what they will dress it with...
YourFatheralreadyknowsthatyouneedthesethings(Luke12:22,30).

Nothing is hidden that should not be revealed, nor is there anything secret.
that should not be known or made public (Lk 8:17).

Whoever wants to be great among you, let him be your servant.

server, and whoever wants to be first, let him be his
slave (Mt 20:26-27).

How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God!

(Mc,10,23)
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
it is easier for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God (Lk 18:25).

52. Well, I tell you: Love your enemies (do good to

those who hate them) and pray for those who persecute them (and
(Mt 5:44).

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53. Woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort!
(Lk 6:24).

Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate.

And broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many
they enter through them. How narrow is the door and how tight
the alley that leads to life! And few find them.
(Mt 7:13-14).

The last will be first, and the first last (Mt

20,16). For many are called, but few are chosen (Mt
22,14).
There is more happiness in giving than in receiving (Acts 20:35).

56. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
the other; to the one who wants to sue you to take away your tunic,
also give him the cloak (Mt 5:39-40).

57. We must always pray and not lose heart (Luke 18:1).
Stay awake and pray not to fall into temptation (Mt 25:41).

58. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

exalted (Luke 14:11).

Rather give the interior in charity, and thus they will have it.
everything is clean (Lk 11:41)

60. If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away.
Better to enter life as a cripple or limping than to be
cast into the eternal fire with two hands or two feet. And if
your eye is an occasion for you to fall, take it out and throw it away; it is better for you

to enter the world one-eyed than to be thrown in with both eyes

to the fire oven (Mt 18:8-9).

The Eight Beatitudes

1oBlessed are those who choose to be poor,
because they have God as King.
2oBlessed are those who suffer,
because those will receive comfort.

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3oBlessed are the non-violent,

for they will inherit the earth.
4oBlessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
5oBlessed are the merciful,
because they will be treated with mercy.
6 Blessed are the pure in heart,
o

for they will see God.

7oBlessed are the peacemakers,
because those will be called the children of God.
8o Blessed are those who live persecuted for their faith,
because they have God as King (Mt 5:3-10).

Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because, if

you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, you have revealed them to
you have revealed to the simple; yes, Father, blessed are you,
for it seemed good to you (Mt 11:25)94.

This is a summary of the great and important

truths that eternal Wisdom personally came to
teach us, after putting them into practice herself, to
to free us from the blindness and confusion in which we find ourselves
they had sunk our sins.

Blessed are those who understand these eternal truths!

Happier are those who accept them!

But much happier are those who believe in them, they put them
in practice and teach others! They will shine like¡
stars in the sky for all eternity!95

94 SeeASE 174.
95 See Daniel 12:3.

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THIRTEENTH CHAPTER

SUMMARY OF THE UNEXPLAINABLE

DOLORES THAT WISDOM
REINCARNATED QUISOPADECER
FOR OUR LOVE

THE MOST POWERFUL REASON TO LOVE

WISDOM

The most powerful reason that can drive us to

to love Jesus, the incarnate Wisdom, is, in my opinion, the conso
the suffering of the pains he wanted to endure to show us
his love. “There –says Saint Bernard– is a reason that the
surpasses everyone, who pricks me more sensitively and makes me
I urge you to love Jesus Christ: it is, oh Lord!, the chalice of
bitterness that you wanted to rush for us. Yes, the work of
Our redemption makes you kind to our hearts!
Because this supreme and incomparable benefit is a testimony
your love easily conquers ours. It attracts us more
gently, it forces us more justly, it binds us more
"intimately and affects us more powerfully!" And in few
words summarize the reasons: "Because this kind Savior
has worked and suffered a lot to achieve our salvation.
96
Oh! How many sorrows and bitter experiences she had to endure!

2. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF PASSION

FROM WISDOM

But where can we see love more clearly

infinite wisdom towards us is in the circums-
pains that accompany their ailments.

96 SAN BERNARD, Sermon 20 on the Song of Songs, n. 2: PL 183,867; and Sermon 11

in the Song of Songs 7: PL 183,827. It appears at least 26 times in this
chapter the root love.

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Excellence of his/her person

The first is the excellence of his person, which communicates

infinite value to how much he suffers in his passion. If God had
sent a seraph or an angel from the last choir to,
becoming man, would have died for us, would have been,
truly, something admirable and worthy of our eternal
gratitude. But may the same Creator of heaven and earth,
the only Son of God, eternal Wisdom, has become incarnate
and has given his life - alongside which the lives of all the
angels, of all human beings and of all creatures
together are infinitely less important than it would be
that of a mosquito compared to that of all the kings,
What excess of love does not shine in this mystery and which
It should not be our admiration and gratitude!

2. Suffering, even from your enemies

The second circumstance is the condition of the

people for whom they suffer. They are human beings, creatures
despicable, enemies of yours, of whom nothing could
fear of waiting. There have been cases of people who die.
for his friends. But will the case ever arise - except for the one of
Son of God – that someone dies for their enemies?
But Christ died for us when we were still sinners
--that is to say, your enemies--; this is how God demonstrates the love that
he loves us (Rom 5:8).

3. Enormity and duration of their multiple sufferings

The third circumstance is the multitude, enormity and

duration of their suffering. The torrent of their
sorrow, which was called the man of sorrows (Is 53:3), in whom
From the sole of the foot to the head, no part remains unscathed.
(Is 1:6).

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This great lover of our souls suffered in everything: pains

externals and internals, in the body and in the soul97.

He suffered in his belongings. Without remembering the poverty of his

birth, the flight to Egypt and his stay there, the
poverty all his life, let's think that in his passion he was
stripped of his garments by the soldiers, who
they raffled among themselves, and then nailed to the cross, without him
they left a poor rag to cover themselves.

159He suffered in his honor and reputation. He was saturated with

oprobrious, treated as blasphemous, seditious, drunkard, glutton
and possessed.

He was underestimated in his wisdom, being considered

as ignorant and impostor and treated as mad and foolish.

He was outraged in his power, being considered as a magician and

sorcerer, capable of performing false miracles in union with
Satan

He suffered because of his disciples: one sold him and betrayed him;
the first one denied it, and the others abandoned him.

160Suffered from all kinds of people: kings,

rulers, judges, courtiers, soldiers, pontiffs,
priests, ecclesiastics and laymen, Jews and gentiles, hom-
men and women; of all, without exception. Even, his most holy...
My mother greatly increased her sorrows.
when she saw him witnessing his death by the cross,
drowned in a sea of sadness.

Our most beloved Savior suffered in all the

members of his body: his head was crowned with thorns;
his hair and beard, mussed; his cheeks, slapped;
his face, covered in drool; his neck and his arms,
tortured with ropes; their backs, loaded and skinned

97 S. Th. III q.46 a.5-7.

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for the weight of the cross; his hands and feet, pierced by the
nails; its side and heart, pierced by the spear. In
one word: his whole body was torn apart mercilessly
for more than five thousand lashes, so that his
half-scarred bones.

All of his senses were immersed in this sea of

pain: his eyes, while contemplating the mockery and jests of his
enemies and the tears and desolation of their friends; their
ears, upon hearing the slanders, the false testimonies, the
slanders and horrendous blasphemies that those mouths
damned ones vomited against him; his sense of smell, upon perceiving the stench
of the saliva that was thrown at him; his taste, in suffering
that burning thirst that, mockingly, they pretended
mitigating by giving him to drink ice and vinegar; and his touch, to
to experience the excess pain caused by the whips,
the thorns and the nails.

The most holy soul of Jesus was cruelly tormented.

mentioned for the sins of all human beings - as
other insults inflicted on the Father, whom he loved
infinitely - and because of the perdition of so many souls
that, despite their passion and death, they would be condemned. He felt
compassion not only from everyone in general, but from each one
in particular, since I knew them all distinctly.
The duration of the increased his pain.
same. He suffered from the moment of his conception until
his death, since, thanks to the infinite light of his wisdom
I saw distinctly and always kept all of them in mind.
evils that I had to endure.

Let us add to these torments the cruelest and most terrifying of all.
all: the abandonment on the cross when he exclaimed: My God,
My God, why have you forsaken me? (Mt 27:46)

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3. SUPREME LOVE OF WISDOM

IN THEIR PAINS

163From the above, we must infer - with Saint Thomas and

the Holy Fathers – that good Jesus suffered more than all
the martyrs that have existed or will exist until the end of
world.

Yes, well, the least of the pains of the Son of God is more
valuable and must move us more than if all the angels
and men would have died and been annihilated by
we, what should not be our pain, gratitude
and love for Him, since He suffered for us how much is
possible and with such excesses of love, without being obliged to
Hello? For the joy that was set before him he endured the cross (Heb 12:2).
That is to say, that Jesus Christ, the eternal Wisdom, having
could have remained in the glory of heaven, infinitely
away from our indigence, he preferred, for our love,
to come down to earth, to embody and to be crucified - according to what they claim
the Holy Fathers-. Once made man, he could communicate-
to his body the joy, immortality, and happiness that
now enjoy. But he did not want to act like that in order to be able to suffer.

164 Ruperto adds that the Father offered His Son, in the
moment of the incarnation, the alternative to save the
world for pleasure or for pain, for honors or for
the contempt, for wealth or for poverty, for life
or by death. So that, if he had wanted, he would have
could have redeemed humans and brought them to paradise
through joys, delights, pleasures, honors, and riches,
glory and triumphs. But He chose the pains and the cross to
to give greater glory to the Father, and to human beings the
testimony of a bigger love.

Moreover, he loved us so much that, instead of abbreviating

his pains, he wished to prolong them and endure them a thousand times.
. Therefore, on the cross, filled with reproaches and
astonished by pains, as if those he suffered were not
quite a lot, he exclaimed: I am thirsty (John 19:28). But what for? "His

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said - Saint Lawrence Justinian - came from the fire of

his love, from the source and abundance of his charity. He had
It is about us, about giving oneself to us and suffering for
we98.

4. CONCLUSION

After considering all this, certainly

we find plenty of reasons to exclaim with San
Francisco de Paula: "Oh charity! Oh God of charity! Oh the
the charity that you showed by suffering, and enduring, and dying, is, in
truth, excessive!” Or with Saint Mary Magdalene of Pazzi,
hugging the crucifix: "Oh love! Love! How little
you are well known!” Or, finally, with Saint Francis of Assisi,
crawling through the mud of the streets: "Jesus, my love
crucified, is not known! Jesus, my love, is not loved!”
Yes, indeed, the holy Church has everyone repeat every day with
justified reason: The world did not know it99The world does not know
to Jesus Christ, the embodied Wisdom. And, speaking
reasonably, to know what Our Lord has suffered
for us and not to love it with passion - something that it does
the world – is something morally impossible.

98 Of the triumphant Christ.

99 Jn 1:10; before the liturgical reform introduced by the Second Vatican Council, to
at the end of the mass, Jn 1:1-14 was prayed, as a thanksgiving and invitation to
to enter into the current of love of Wisdom, which is shown to us as full of love
and loyalty, as the face and exegete of the Father.

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FOURTEENTH CHAPTER

THE TRIUMPH OF ETERNAL WISDOM

ON THE CROSS BY THE CROSS

This is, in my view, the greatest secret of the king100,

the most sublime mystery of eternal Wisdom: the cross.

WISDOM AND THE CROSS

Oh! How distant and different are the thoughts and

paths of the eternal wisdom of human beings,
even from the smartest!

God wants to rescue the world, to drive away and chain...

the demons, close hell to human beings and open
for them the sky and to give glory to the Eternal Father
infinite. Great project! Difficult work! Arduous endeavor!
What means will Wisdom employ, whose knowledge
spanning from one end to the other of the universe, arranging it
101
His arm is omnipotent.
everything with softness and strength?
it can easily destroy whatever opposes it and make
how much you want; can annihilate and create with a single word
from his mouth... What do I say? It is enough for him to want to do it
everything!

100 Tob 12:7. Even on a purely human level, nothing is achieved without effort.
The asceticism, the training, the renunciations, the organization of the person in the
Inner unity are needs experienced for success in life. How-
It is more so when it comes to Wisdom, the gift par excellence! (See BenS 51:33 and following).
deP
M
. dotenfsrw
otou.ahnm
otsed.tohsyeipro.ntupifotir
father of the mystery of the cross. It is not about seeking the cross as a cross, but the cross
as Wisdom; because Wisdom is the Cross and the Cross is Wisdom (ASE
The cross embraced in love is wisdom, it is to enter into the movement re-
dentor of Wisdom (see John 13:1).
101 He reaches with strength from end to end and governs the universe with
accuracy.

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But his love dictates laws to his omnipotence. He wanted

to incarnate in order to testify to humanity his friendship. He wanted
to personally descend to the earth to bring him up to the
sky. All right! But of course this Wisdom encar-
nothing will be presented glorious and triumphant, accompanied by
millions and millions of angels, or at least millions of
chosen human beings, and with these armies, splendor
Your majesty, far from poverty, the opprobriums, the humiliations
actions and weaknesses, will crush all its enemies and
will conquer the hearts of human beings with its
charms, delights, nobility, and treasures.

But no! Nothing like that! Amazing thing! See something that
for the Jews it is a source of scandal and horror, and for the
pagans, object of madness102a vile and infamous lumber, desti-
born to the confusion and suffering of the greatest criminals,
to what they call scaffold, gallows or cross. And on the cross it stops
his gaze. He delights in it, he prefers it to the most sublime.
and bright of the sky and of the earth, to make of it the weapon
of her conquests and the adornment of her majesty, the wealth and
complacency of his empire, the friend and wife of his
heart. What an abyss of wealth, wisdom, and knowledge
Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! (Rom 11:33). What a surprising choice! What

sublime and incomprehensible designs! What love for the

ineffable cross!

169 The embodied Wisdom loved the cross from its most
tender years: I loved her since I was a boy (Wisdom 8:2: see CT 126).
As soon as she entered the world, she was welcomed by the hands of the Father.
in the womb of Mary. He placed it in his heart, like above-
frog, saying: My God, I want it; I carry your law in my guts
(Psalm 40(39),9). Oh God and my Father, I chose the cross when
I was in your bosom! I choose her again now in mine.
Mother! I love her with all my strength and I place her in the middle.
from my heart so that she may be my wife and sovereign! (Wisdom 8:2).

102 1Cor 1:23: 'We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews'
scandal, madness for the pagans...

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He searched for her fervently throughout his whole life. If

I ran from village to village like a thirsty deer (Psalm 42:1-
if he walked with giant steps (Ps 19 (18),6) towards the
Calvary; if they talked so frequently about their futures
sufferings and of his death to the apostles and disciples
and even the prophets in their transfiguration103 if with so much
frequency exclaimed: How much I have desired! (Lk 22:15), all
its paths, all its efforts, all its inquiries, all
their longings were directed towards the cross, coming to consider
as the culmination of their glory and happiness, to die
in their arms.

He married her with ineffable love in the incarnation.

He searched for her and carried her with indescribable joy throughout his life,
104
What was continuous cross? and after having done so many
efforts to reach her and die in her on Calvary
What anguish I feel until it is accomplished! (Luke 12:50)
It said: 'And who is stopping me? What is holding me back? Why
Am I no longer embraced by you, beloved cross of Calvary?

171Wisdom finally achieved what it so longed for: it

veil covered in disgrace, sewn and strongly adhered to
the cross, and died joyfully in the arms of his idolized one
friend, as if it were a bed of honor and triumph.

172Let's not think that, after his death, the

Wisdom has detached from the cross or has rejected it.
prepared to succeed better. Quite the opposite! It has joined and
as incorporated into it, in such a way that neither angel, nor
man, nor any creature from heaven or earth can
separating her from the cross. Their bond is indissoluble, and eternal is her
alliance. Never the cross without Jesus nor Jesus without the cross!

103 On three occasions, Jesus announces his passion to the disciples (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33-
34 and parallels). The disciples react negatively. But the cross assumes-
for love entered into the Father's project of wisdom, to which it opposes
our proud wisdom. The triple presence of the announcement functions as a
superlative, that is to say there is no room for any doubt about the meaning of its words
Indeed, Jesus' mission had to go through the cross.
104 Imitation of Christ. 2 c.12 n.7.

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With her death, Wisdom made such glorious the

ignominies of the cross, so rich in its nakedness and its poverty,
how pleasant your pains are, how enticing your rigors...
until it becomes divine and makes it adorable to the angels and
to human beings. And has ordered that all his subjects
they adore it too. He doesn't want the honors of worship
–although relative– are taxed to the other creatures, for
sublime as they are, like their very Mother. Similar
distinction is reserved, and only tribute is paid to her beloved cross.
On the day of judgment, all relics will disappear.
of the saints, even those of the most eminent, but not the
from the cross. Wisdom will order the first seraphs
and cherubs who roam the world and collect the pieces
of the true cross, which, thanks to its loving omnipo-
they will also remain so wonderfully united that
they will form only the unique cross on which he died. He will do
may the angels carry her in triumph and sing in her honor
songs of joy. It will be preceded by this cross, that
he will rest on the brightest cloud, and with it and for
she will judge the world105What joy they will experience at
see the friends of the cross!106But what desperation the
of their enemies, who, unable to bear the sight of that
cross so bright and terrifying, they will shout to the mountains that
let them fall upon them, and to hell let it devour them!

2. THE CROSS IN RELATION TO US

173Waiting for the glorious day to dawn of his

triumph in the final judgment, eternal Wisdom wants that its
cross be the emblem, the badge, and weapon of all its
chosen.

Indeed, it does not recognize as a child anyone who does not possess this
insignia, not as a disciple but to whom it is worn on the forehead

105 See Roman Breviary, September 14, at None.

106 ELP.DEMONTFORT expands its doctrine on the cross in its Circular Letter to the
Friends of the Cross.

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without shame, in the heart without protesting and over the

shoulders without dragging it or rejecting it. And exclaims: The one who
he/she wants to come with me, let him/her renounce himself/herself, let him/her carry
take up his cross and follow me (Mt 16,24).

It accepts as a soldier only those who are willing to

arm oneself with her to defend, attack, overthrow, and crush
to all his enemies. And he says: Cheer up, for I have overcome the
world (Jn 16,33). 'Trust in me, my soldiers; it is I,
Your captain! By the cross I have triumphed over my enemies. With
this sign will defeat you too!107

174 has concentrated so many treasures in the cross, thank you,

life and joy, which is only revealed to its favorites.
Like the apostles108often reveals to his friends
all its secrets, but not those of the cross, unless it
they have deserved for their great loyalty and work. Oh! How
humble, small, mortified, inner and despised of the
the world must be to know the mystery of the cross, which
it still remains today - not only among Jews, pagans, Turks
and heretics, wise according to the world and bad Christians, but
also among those who consider themselves devout and very devout–
object of scandal, madness, contempt, and desertion; not in
theory - for never before today has so much been spoken and written
about the beauty and excellence of the cross–, but in the
practice, since so much is feared, lamented, excused, and fled from
when it comes to suffering something!

One day, contemplating the beauty of the cross, Wisdom

incarnate exclaimed in a transport of joy: Blessed are you,
Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because if you have hidden these things
to the wise and learned, you have revealed it to the simple people
(Luke 10:21)

107 Substantially from the standard of Constantine.

108 Jn 15:15: "I call you friends because I have communicated to you everything I have heard"
to my Father.

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175If the knowledge of the mystery of the Cross is a

grace so exceptional, what will their joy and possession not be
effective? They are a gift that eternal Wisdom gives
only to their best friends as a response to their
constant prayers, longings and supplications. As excellent as
may it be the gift of faith - with which we please God, we
we approach Him and overcome our enemies, and without the
which we would condemn ourselves, the cross is still a gift
mayor109 .

Saint Peter –says Saint John Chrysostom– is happier to see himself

imprisoned for Jesus Christ who in the glory of Tabor; he
feel more glorious for bearing the chains on my feet than
in the hands the keys to paradise110Saint Paul boasts
more of being bound by his Savior than of being
111
elevated to the third heaven God favored the apostles more.
and the martyrs making them participants in their cross in the
humiliations, poverty, and the cruelest torments that
granting them the gift of performing miracles and changing the world
whole. All those who have been informed of the
Eternal wisdom, they showed themselves eager for the cross, the
they searched for her, embraced her, and when they had the chance to suffer,
they exclaimed from the bottom of their hearts, like Saint Andrew:
Oh beloved cross, long desired!112

The cross is good and precious for countless reasons:

1owe resemble Jesus Christ;

2omakes us worthy children of God the Father, worthy
members of Jesus Christ and worthy temples of the
Holy Spirit. God the Father corrects those He adopts.
For children: The Lord educates those He loves and gives blows to those
children that he recognizes as his own (Heb 12:6). The Son receives

109 Compare with LG 16.

110 Homily 8 on the Epistle to the Ephesians 2: PG 62, 55-58.
111 Galatians 6:14: "As for me, God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ.
112 Acts and martyrdom of St. Andrew the Apostle, PG 2, 1235-1238; trueSANBERNARDO
Sermon on the Vigil of Saint Andrew, n3, PL 183.503.

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as theirs only to those who carry the cross. The

Holy Spirit carve and polish the living stones of the
Heavenly Jerusalem, that is to say, the predestined113;
3 it illuminates understanding and communicates a wisdom
o

I would say that they will not be able to give him all the books of the earth:
He who has not been tested knows very little (BenS 34:10);
4othe cross, carried with dignity, becomes a source,
food and testimony of love. It ignites in the hearts-
zones the fire of divine love, detaching them from
the creatures. It maintains and increases that love, and thus
as the firewood fuels the fire, the cross fuels the
love. Check in the clearest way that one loves.
to God. Because it is the same proof that God
It served to show us his love. And the one that God
asks us to show him ours;
5 it is an abundant source of all kinds of sweets and
o

consolations and engenders joy in the soul, the

peace and grace;
6ofinally, it produces in the one who carries it a wealth
incomparable glory for eternity (2Cor
4.17

If you knew the value of the cross, you would have it made.
novenas – an example of Saint Peter of Alcántara114for
to achieve that exquisite portion of paradise; you would say with Santa
Teresa: "Either suffer or die!"115with Saint Mary Magdalen
Lena de Pazzis: "Not to die, but to suffer!" Or you would ask,
Saint John of the Cross, only the grace of suffering for
Jesus Christ: "To suffer and be despised for you!"

Among all earthly things, the only one that is appreciated in the
heaven is the cross, this Saint would say, after his death, to
a servant of God.

113 Roman Breviary: dedication of a church, hymn of the II Vespers.

AC,28
114 Born in 1499, in Extremadura, Franciscan, he began the reform of his order in 1540.
Order.
115 VerVidac 40, n 20.

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Our Lord said to one of his servants, 'I have crosses

so precious, that is all my dearest Mother
–being as powerful as it is– it can reach me in
please of your faithful servants.

178 Oh wise ones of the world! Illustrious men of the earth!

You are incapable of understanding this language.
mysterious! They love pleasures too much, they worry
excessively of their comforts, they appreciate too much
the goods of this world fear the scorn too much
and the humiliations! In one word: they are too much
enemies of the cross of Jesus Christ!

Yes, they esteem and praise the cross, but in general, not specifically.
theirs, which they flee from as much as they can or carry it away
dragging reluctantly, amid murmurs, impatience-
hushes and laments. They remind me of those cows that moo-
and much to their dismay, they dragged the ark of the covenant,
that contained the most precious thing in the world: They walked
mooing (1 Sam 6:12).

The number of fools and unhappy people is infinite, says the

Wisdom (Ecclesiastes 1:15), for it is infinite among those who
They do not know the price of the cross and they carry it reluctantly.
But you, the true disciples of Wisdom
eternal, who have experienced so many temptations and
afflictions, who suffer persecutions for justice, that
are considered the trash of the world...,
Console yourselves, rejoice, leap for joy! For the cross
What they have is such a valuable gift, that the good envy it.
adventurous, without being able to participate in it anymore. About you
rest with how much honor, glory, and virtue there is in God, and even
the Holy Spirit rests upon you116, because their recom-
think big in the heavens, and even already on the earth, to
because of the spiritual graces that the cross obtains for them.

116 1Pe 4:14: "If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed; that indicates
that the Spirit of glory, which is of God, rests upon you.

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3. PRACTICAL CONCLUSION

180! Friends of Jesus Christ, drink, yes, drink from the chalice of
bitterness that He provides them, and they will become more and more each day
your friends! Suffer with Him, and with Him you will be glorified!
Suffer with patience and even with joy! Just a little more, and
They will be given a joyful eternity for a moment of pain!
No illusions! Since embodied Wisdom had
that to enter heaven through the cross, through it they will have
how many follow them!

Wherever you go - says the Imitation of Christ -

you will always find the cross117that of the predestined, if the
you accept as you should, that is, patiently and joyfully and for
love of God; or that of the reprobate, if you bear it with impatience
and in spite of you, like so many doubly miserable ones, who are
they will be forced to say for all eternity in the
hell: We worked and suffered so much on earth; and, in the end
We're doomed!118

Certainly, true Wisdom is not found on earth.

in the hearts of those who live freely. It resides in
the cross, in such a way that it is impossible to find it outside of it
in this world. It has been incorporated and joined to the cross of such
way, that we can say with all truth: Wisdom
it is the cross, and the cross is Wisdom!

117 L 2, c 12, n 4.
118 Sab 5:7; Letter to the Friends of the Cross 45.

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FIFTEENTH CHAPTER

MEANS TO ACHIEVE
THE DIVINE WISDOM

FIRST MEDIUM: BURNING DESIRE

It is necessary for you to desire wisdom

181 How long, O sons of men, will you have the

hardened heart and attached to the earth? How long?
Will they love vanity and seek deception? (Psalm 4:3). What
they wait to open their eyes and hearts to the divine
Wisdom, which is the most desirable of all realities,
that to win the hearts of human beings reveals
its own origin, manifests its beauty, boasts its treasures
and testifies in a thousand ways to their longing to be desired and
Are you looking for?

Listen to my words (Wisdom 6:11). She reveals herself.

to those who desire it (Wisdom 6:13). The desire for Wisdom leads
to the eternal kingdom (Wisdom 6:20-21).

2. HOW TO DESIRE WISDOM

Desiring Wisdom must be a great gift from God,

since it is the reward for the faithful observance of its
Commandments: If you desire Wisdom, fulfill the commandments.
thoughts, and the Lord will give it to you (BenS 1:26 (33). Reflect on
the fear of the Most High and meditate continually on His commandments; He will
it will give you intelligence and, according to your desires, it will make you wise (BenS 6:37).

Indeed, Wisdom does not enter a soul of ill will nor does it dwell in
body debtor of sin (Wisdom 1:4).

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It is advisable that the desire for Wisdom be holy and sincere.

and be accompanied by the faithful observance of the commandments
thoughts of God. Because there exists a multitude of fools
and lazy people who have thousands of wishes, or better, of
willingness for good, which does not drive them away from
it is a sin to commit violence and for that reason, they are ineffective
and deceitful, kill and lead to condemnation: The desires
give death to the slacker, because his hands refuse to work119.
The Holy Spirit, Master of science, shies away from stratagem.
it raises the field against senseless reasoning and surrenders
in the face of the assault of injustice (Wisdom 1:5).

3. CONVINCING EXAMPLES

183Salomon – model that the Holy Spirit offers us

in the business of acquiring Wisdom – she only received it
after having desired her, sought her, and asked for her during
long time: I begged, and I was granted prudence; I invoked,
And the spirit of wisdom came to me (Wisdom 7:7). I loved her and sought her.
since I was a boy and I intended her as a wife, in love with her
beauty (Wisdom 8:2). I started to wander around, trying to
take her home (Sab 8:18).

To obtain the great treasure of Wisdom, you must be a man.

of wishes, like Solomon and Daniel (See Wis 8:2; Dan 9:23).

119 Prov 21:25. Importance of 'drivers' in today's applied psychology: the

Repetition leads to perfection. The ejaculations, in the technique of the masters.
of spiritual life, help to stay united to God.

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SECOND YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL: CONTINUOUS SENTENCE

THE CONTINUOUS PRAYER IS NECESSARY FOR YOU

The greater the gift from God, the more difficult it is.
to reach it. How many prayers and efforts will it not involve,
then the gift of Wisdom, which is the greatest of all
the gifts of God?

Let us listen to what Wisdom itself says: Ask, and you will be given.
ask; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you (Mt 7:7; Lc
11.9). As if to say:
– Do you want to find me?
– Find me!
– Do you want to enter my palace?
– Knock on my door!
– Do you want to possess me?
– You have to find me! No one can find me if I don't...
seek. No one gets to possess me if they don't ask for me. Everything the
you will achieve with prayer.

Prayer is the channel through which God communicates ordinarily.

mind your thanks, and especially Wisdom. The
the world implored for millennia for Wisdom. Mary prepared herself
for fourteen years with the prayer to receive her in his
sine. Solomon only reached it after having asked for it.
for a long time with extraordinary passion: Upon realizing
that I would only win it if God granted it to me..., I headed to the
Lord, and I pleaded with you...(Wisdom 8:21). Give me the enthroned Wisdom.
together with you (Sab 9:4).

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God,

who gives without bargaining and without humiliating; He will give it to her (James 1:5).

He warns, by the way, that the Holy Spirit does not say: 'If anyone
it appears lacking in charity, humility, patience, etc.
what are certainly such excellent virtues, but: 'If someone-
it does not seem lacking in Wisdom." Because, when asking for Wisdom,
we ask for all the virtues that she encompasses.
To reach it, one must ask for it. But how?

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2. HOW TO ASK FOR WISDOM

1851oYou must ask for Wisdom with living and firm faith, without
You have to ask with faith, without hesitating the slightest bit.
(James 1:6), for anyone who has a wavering faith should not expect
reach it: Do not think that person is going to receive anything from the
Mr.120 .

1862oYou must ask for it with pure faith, without relying on the prayer.
in sensitive consolations, in visions or revelations
extraordinary.

Although this may be good and valid - as it was for

some saints–, it is still dangerous to rely on it.
Faith is less pure and meritorious the more it is founded on.
in these extraordinary and sensitive thanks.

Reason enough to encourage us to ask the Lord for it.

with all the possible faith and fervor, it constitutes everything we
the Holy Spirit reveals about greatness and beauty
of Wisdom, of the desires that God has to give it to us and
from the need we have to possess it.

Pure faith is the principle and the fruit of Wisdom in

the soul; greater faith corresponds to greater Wisdom, and to greater
Wisdom, greater faith.

The just - or the wise - lives only by faith121, without seeing, feeling,
to like or to hesitate. 'God has said or promised it'; this is the
the foundation of all their prayers and actions, although

120 Saint 1,5-7. In his letter 15 to MARÍALUISA DEJESÚS (May-April 1703: BAC
93), write theP.OFMONTFORT: "No, I will never cease to ask for this infinite
treasure. And I firmly believe that I will achieve it. Even though all the angels, the beings
humans and demons tell me otherwise. I think your prayers are the
sufficiently effective... Although divine Wisdom would be impossible to achieve
through the ordinary means of grace -which is not true- it would be possible to
achieve thanks to the strength with which we implore it” (see Letter 16, BAC, 93).
121 See Hab 2:4; Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11; Heb 10:38. On visions and graces ex-
extraordinary, see SM 68.

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naturally it seems to you that God has no eyes to see the

miseries, neither ears to hear the pleas, nor arms to
crush their enemies, nor hands to lend help, and
even if he is beset by distractions, doubts, and darkness
interiors, through illusions in the imagination, weariness and boredom
in the heart, sadness and agony in the soul.

The wise do not ask to see extraordinary things - as they were seen.
the saints–, nor experience sensitive sweetness in prayer
and practices of piety. Implore with faith the divine Wisdom,
sure that he will reach her (James 1:5-7); yes, much more
surely if an angel from heaven were to descend to reveal it to him,
for God has said: Everyone who asks receives (Luke 11:10). Everyone
he who properly asks God receives what he asks for: Yes
you, as bad as you are, know how to give good things to your children,
how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit – the Spirit
of Wisdom – to those who ask for it? (Lk 11:13).

You must ask for it with perseverance.

To achieve this precious pearl and infinite treasure you must

to use a holy importunity before God. Otherwise,
you will never reach it.

You shouldn't behave like many people do when they ask for
God, some grace. After asking for some time,
Perhaps for whole years, when they don't see the result, they get discouraged.
and they stop praying, thinking that God does not hear them. Thus
they lose the fruit of their prayers and insult the Lord, who
is pleased to give and always attends, in one way or another,
the well-made sentences.

Therefore, if you wish to attain Wisdom, you must seek it.

day and night, without getting tired or discouraged. A thousand and a thousand times

blessed if, after ten, twenty, or thirty years of

pleas, you manage to reach her, even if it were an hour earlier
to die! And if you only get it after having gone through
all my life searching for her, asking for her and deserving her with

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every kind of work and suffering, persuade yourself that

you have not been granted with a right of your own, like a
reward, but for mercy, like a charity.

189! No! The negligent and inconsistent in prayer and

the search for Wisdom will not be achieved! Only
they achieve it by imitating the friend who goes out at night to
knock on your friend's door to borrow three
loaves. It warns that Wisdom itself indicates to us in this
parable or story on how we should seek it to obtain it.
The friend calls and pounds on the door and begs four or
five times, each time with greater strength and insistence,
even if it is already close to midnight - an untimely hour for
the friend is already lying down - and even if he has received double
or triple rejection for impertinence and unwelcome. Until that
Finally, annoyed by so much insistence, the friend stands up,
open the door and give him what he asks for (Luke 11:5-8).

This is how you should ask for Wisdom, if you want to attain it. God
he wants to be disturbed; he will inevitably get up, late
O early; he will open the door of his mercy and give you
the three loaves of Wisdom: the bread of life, the bread of
understanding and the bread of the angels.

Inowpersenhstiparyce,ormposedbyhteS.tpir
Saint to implore Wisdom (Wisdom 9:1-6, 9-18):

4. SOLOMON'S PRAYER FOR OBTAINING

DIVINE WISDOM

1911. God of the fathers, Lord of mercy,

that with your word you made all things,
and in your wisdom you formed man
so that he could rule over your creatures,
3. and to rule the world with holiness and justice
and govern it with a right heart;
4. give me the wisdom assistant from your throne
and do not exclude me from the number of your servants,

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5. for I am your servant, the son of your maidservant,

weak man and of few years,
too small to understand judgment and laws.
6. Well, even if one is perfect,
among the sons of men,
without the wisdom that comes from you,
it will be estimated at nothing.

1929. With you is wisdom, knowing of your works;

who assisted you when you were making the world;
and knows what is pleasing to your eyes,
and what is right according to your precepts.
10. Send it down from your holy heavens
and from your throne of glory send it
to assist me in my work
and let me know what is pleasing to you.
11. She who knows and understands everything,
he will guide me wisely in my endeavors
and He will protect me with His prestige;
12. thus you will accept my works,
I will judge your people with justice
and I will be worthy of my father's throne.
For who knows the purpose of God?
Who understands what God wants?
14 The thoughts of mortals are petty
and our reasoning is fallible,
15. because the mortal body is a burden for the soul
and the earthly store overwhelms the thoughtful mind.
16. We only guess the earthly
and with work we find what is at hand;
Well, who will track the things in the sky?
17. Who will know your intention?
if you do not give her wisdom
sending your holy spirit from heaven?
Only then were the paths of the earthlings straight.
humans learned what you like
and wisdom saved them.

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193To the vocal prayer, the mental one must be added. This
illuminate understanding, inflame the will, and empower
the soul to hear the voice of Wisdom, to savor its sweetness
and to possess their treasures.

Personally, I find nothing as effective for attracting

our souls the Kingdom of God, the eternal Wisdom, like
the union of the vocal prayer with the mental one through recitation
of the Holy Rosary and the meditation on the fifteen mysteries
trapped in it122 .

122 In "The Admirable Secret of the Most Holy Rosary," Father de Montfort expands his
practical message about the Holy Rosary as an instrument for 'conversion and
to save oneself.

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SIXTEENTH CHAPTER

MEANS TO ACHIEVE
THE DIVINE WISDOM

THIRD YEAR: UNIVERSAL MORTIFICATION

MORTIFICATION IS NECESSARY FOR YOU

Wisdom – says the Holy Spirit – does not dwell in those who
they live comfortably (See Job 28:12-13 - Vulgate; Wis 1:4), it is
to say, in those who live at ease, granting to the
passions and senses how much they desire, for those who live
Those subject to the lower instincts are incapable of pleasing God (Rom
8.8) and the downward trend signifies rebellion against God (Rom
My breath will not last forever in man, since
it is of flesh (Gen 6:3).

Those who belong to Christ –the embodied Wisdom– have crucified

their lower instincts with their passions and desires (Gal 5:24), lead
now and always in your person the death of Jesus (2Cor
4,10), they commit violence continuously123they carry the cross
every day124they are finally dead and even advices-
thrown with Jesus Christ125These are expressions of the Spirit.
Saint, who shows with light more than meridian how to
to obtain the embodied Wisdom, Jesus Christ, it is necessary that
you torment yourself and renounce the world and yourself.

123 Mt 11:12: "From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of God suffers
violence, and violent people snatch it away.
124 Luke 9:23: "If anyone wants to come with me, he must deny himself and take up his cross
each day with his cross and follow me.
125 That immersion that linked us to his death buried us with
he, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the power of the Father,
we too would start a new life... For having died with Christ
we believe that we will also live with him, and we know that the risen Christ of the
death no longer dies...

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195Don't think that Wisdom - which is purer than the

rays of the sun - about to enter a stained soul and body
for the pleasures of the senses. Don't even imagine that I would grant
ineffable rest and peace to those who love company and
vanities of the world. To the one who overcomes, I will give the manna
hidden (Rev 2:17). Although this kind Sovereign - thanks
to its infinite light - knows and distinguishes in an instant all
things, seek, however, those who are worthy of it:
She herself goes back and forth looking for those who deserve her.
(Sab 6:16). Seek, because the number of these is so small,
that finds very few quite detached from the world
I do, sufficiently interior and mortified, therefore,
worthy of her: of her person, of her treasures and of her friendship.

2. HOW TO MORTIFY ONESELF

Wisdom demands a mortification to communicate.

universal and continuous, brave and discreet. It does not settle
with a half-hearted and short-lived mortification.

To achieve Wisdom, it is necessary for you:

1. To live in true inner and outer poverty

197Effectively renounce the goods of the world, such as

the apostles did it, the disciples, the first ones
Christians and the religious. It is the fastest, best way and
more effective, to attain Wisdom; or, at least,
disconnect the heart from those goods and possess them as if not
you will possess them, without striving to acquire them, without worrying
for keeping them, without becoming impatient or lamenting when
the losses. All of this is certainly very difficult to practice.

2. Breaking away from the mundane

Do not adopt the fashions of the worldly in clothing.

furniture, rooms, food, customs or activities
of life: Do not conform to the pattern of this world (Rom 12:2). It is practical
more necessary than believed.

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3. Break with the false maxims of the world

Do not believe or support the false maxims of the world.

These have a doctrine so contrary to Wisdom
incarnated as darkness to light, death to life.
Carefully examine your feelings and words. The
mundane people think and speak poorly of the most sublime
virtues. It is true that they do not lie openly, for
they review their lies with the appearance of truth. They think
they don’t lie, but in reality, they are lying. Because of this
generally, do not openly encourage sin, but it
considered as an act of virtue, honest, indifferent, or without
consequences.

In this subtlety, which the world has copied from the devil
to disguise the ugliness of sin and deceit,
that malice that Saint John speaks of: The world
the whole world is under the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19), today more than ever.

4. Living in contact with Wisdom

200Flee as much as you can from the company of the

men. Not just that of the worldly, so dangerous and
harmful, but also that of the people of compassion when
it is useless and a waste of time. If you wish to become a saint
and perfect, you must put these three words into practice
gold that eternal Wisdom said to Saint Arsenius: "Flee,"
hide, shut up!126

Avoid the company of men as much as possible, like

127
they have made the greatest saints His life is hidden with
Christ in God (Col 3:3). Finally, keep silence with the
men to converse with Wisdom: There are those who remain silent and
becomes wise (BenS 20:5).

126 From the Lives of the Fathers, III. Words of the Elders 190: PL 73,801.
127 Imitation of Christ, Chapter 20, No. 1; cf. GS 1.

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5. Put a careful asceticism into play

To attain Wisdom, it is necessary for you to mortify your

own body, not only suffering patiently the
bodily diseases, the inclemencies of the weather and the
disturbances of creatures during life, but also
imposing some penalties and mortifications on yourself, such as
fasts, vigils, and other austerities proper to the saints
penitents.

It takes courage for that, because meat - by nature -

she idolizes herself and the world considers and despises
for useless all bodily mortifications. How much
no dice and makes to keep us away from the austerities of the
saints! Of each of which it is said proportional-
the wise or the saint reduced his body to servitude
with vigils, fasts, disciplines, due to the cold, the nakedness and
all kinds of austerities. He had made a pact with himself
same as not resting in this world128 .

The Holy Spirit says that all the saints abhorred even
the clothes stained by its own body129 .

6. Combine internal and external mortification

It is absolutely necessary to unite the mortification

external and voluntary, for it to be good, to the judgment and to
the one of the will through holy obedience. Without which
Every mortification is stained by one's own will and
Often it is more pleasant to the devil than to God.

Therefore, you should not make any extraordinary mortification.

I, Wisdom, live with prudence.
He who trusts in himself is a fool.

128 See the Roman Breviary, on the feast of Saint Peter ofAlcántara.
129 Jude 23: "Save some by snatching them out of the fire; show mercy to others with fear...
passion, but with caution, abhorring even the robe contaminated by its con-
touch

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The wise acts with prudence (Prov 13:16). If you don't want to have
Instead of regretting what you do, you should act only
after having sought advice from a prudent man;
it is what the Holy Spirit advises you: Do nothing without
reflection; thus you will not regret what you do (BenS 32,24).
Seek advice from the wise (Tobit 4:18).

Through obedience, you eliminate self-love, which is everything.

you ruin it; you make the insignificant very worthy, you remain
a salvo from the illusions of the demon, you conquer everyone
enemies and you arrive with certainty –almost as if asleep– at
port of salvation130 .

What I just said can be summed up in this precious advice:

Leave everything, and upon finding Jesus Christ, the embodied Wisdom,
You will find it all!131

130 Obedience is a safe navigation, a pilgrimage that is carried out

sleeping" (SANJUANCLÍMACO, Scale of Paradise: PG 88,679.
131 See Imitation of Christ l 3 c 2 n1.

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SEVENTEENTH CHAPTER

MEANS TO ACHIEVE
THE DIVINE WISDOM

SENIOR YEAR: A TRULY TENDER ONE

DEVOTION TO THE MOST HOLY VIRGIN

Here you have, finally, the best means and the greatest secret.
wonderful for acquiring and preserving divine Wisdom:
a tender and true devotion to the Most Holy Virgin132.

A true devotion is necessary for you.

To María

No one, except for Mary, found grace before God to

herself and for all humanity; no one but She had the
power to embody and give birth to Eternal Wisdom; and no one,
outside of it, can, even today - so to speak - embody it
in the predestined thanks to the operation of the Spirit
Holy (See Lk 1:35).

The patriarchs, the prophets, and the saints of the Old Testament
they moaned, sighed, and implored the incarnation
from eternal Wisdom, but none could deserve it133 .
Only Mary, for the sublimity of her virtues, was encon-
worthy of ascending to the throne of divinity and deserving
that infinite good134She became Mother, Lady, and Throne of the
divine Wisdom.

132 Condense here SANLUISMARÍA the doctrine that will be most broadly exposed in
The Secret of Mary and in the Treatise on True Devotion...: devotion to
the Most Holy Virgin is the wonderful and most excellent means to reach the
union with Jesus Christ and grow more and more in Him.
133 SeeASE 104.
134 SANGREGORIOMAGNO, Commentary on the first book of Kings I c.1 n.5: PL 79,25;
SANBERNARDO, Sermon on the Aqueduct: PL 183,441.

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204 Mary is the most worthy Mother of Wisdom, because the

she embodied and gave birth as a result of her innards: And blessed is
the fruit of your womb, Jesus135.

Therefore, we can affirm with all truth that in everything

place where Jesus is –in heaven, on earth, in the
sacraries or in hearts - is the fruit and work of Mary and
that only Mary is the tree of life, and Jesus is its only fruit.
Therefore, whoever desires this wonderful fruit in the
heart, must possess the tree that produces it. If you wish
To have Jesus, you must have Mary!136

205Maria is Lady of Wisdom. Not because she is superior.

or equal to Wisdom, which is the true God. It would be blasphemous.
to think it or to say it. If not, because God the Son, Wisdom
Incarnate, has perfectly submitted to Mary, her
Mother; because He has granted him an incomprehensible power
maternal and natural about oneself, not only during
earthly life, but also in heaven, since glory does not
it does not destroy nature, but perfects it. Therefore
that Jesus is in heaven, more than ever, Son of Mary, and
Mary, Mother of Jesus137. And in that regard, María has authority-
dad about Him. And He, in a way, is subject to him, because
that's how he wants it. This means that María, through her prayer can-
rose and her divine motherhood, obtains from Jesus everything that
wants, communicates it to whom it wants and produces it every day
in whom she wants138 .

206 Oh! How blessed is he who has gained the benevolence of...
Mary's leniency! You can be sure to possess it very soon.
Wisdom. Because Mary, who loves those who love her (See
Proverbs 8:17, He shares His gifts abundantly,
mind the one that encloses all the others: Jesus, fruit of his
belly.

135 Lc 1,42; see VD 33.44.77.164.218.249.261.

136 If we want to be Christians, we must be Marian.
137 VD 27.39.164.165.
138 VD 17.27-28.

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207If we can say with all truth that, in a certain

In a sense, Mary is the Lady of Wisdom incarnate, what
we will speak of His power over the graces and gifts of God and of
the freedom to distribute them to whomever pleases?
The holy Fathers say that Mary is the vast ocean of
all the thanks of God, the magnificent storehouse of His gifts
data, the inexhaustible treasure of the Lord and the treasurer and distri-
builder of all her gifts139 .

Having given His own Son, the Father wants - to Him

time - that we receive everything from Her, and does not descend to the
earth give some celestial that does not go through their hands like
through a channel.

We have all received from his fullness. And if there is in us

some grace, some hope of salvation, is a gift of
God who comes to us through Mary. She is so master of the goods
from God, who gives to whom He wants, as much as He wants, when
he wants and how he wants all the thanks of God, all the
virtues of Jesus Christ and all the gifts of the Holy Spirit,
all the goods of nature, grace, and glory.
These are the thoughts and expressions of the Holy Fathers,
whose Latin texts I do not transcribe to shorten140 .

But whatever gifts our ...

Sovereign and kind Princess, She does not settle for less.
until giving us the embodied Wisdom, his Son Jesus, and lives
seeking persons worthy of Wisdom (Wisdom 6:16) to
to communicate it.

Mary is, moreover, the Royal Throne of Eternal Wisdom.

It is in her that Wisdom reveals its greatnesses,
he boasts his treasures and finds his delights. And there is no other
place in heaven and on earth where eternal Wisdom
waste so much magnificence and be so pleased as
in the incomparable María.

139 See SM 9-14;VD 23-26.

140 VD 26.

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Therefore, the Holy Fathers141they define it as a sanctuary of

the divinity, rest and pleasure of the Most Holy
Trinidad, throne of God, city of God, altar of God,
temple of God, world and paradise of God. Epithets and
praises that turn out to be true in relation to the multi-
wonders that the Most High has accomplished in Mary.

It is through Mary alone that you will obtain Wisdom.

But, if we ever receive a gift as sublime as that of
wisdom, where shall we place it? Which house, which place,
What throne shall we offer to a queen so pure and resplendent
client, before which the rays of the sun are nothing but mud and
darkness? Perhaps you will answer that Wisdom only seeks
our heart, and that we just need to offer it and place it in him.

You may not know that our heart is stained.

it is impure, it is carnal and is filled with multiple passions, and,
therefore, it is unworthy to host such a holy and noble one
guest?142And even if we had a hundred thousand hearts
like ours and we offered them to serve as
throne, with every right I could disdain our
offering, remaining deaf to our requests,
accuse us of recklessness and insolence for wanting to accommodate her
143
in such an infected and undignified place for his majesty .

What, then, should we do for our heart to be worthy?

of Wisdom?

Here is the great advice, the admirable secret: Introduce-

we brought –so to speak– Mary to our house (see Jn
19,27), dedicating ourselves to Her as servants and slaves
yours! Let us detach ourselves, in your hands and in your honor,
of everything we love the most, without holding anything back! And this

141 VD 262 and note.

142 SM 72-74; VD 79.81.213.245.
143 Remember what was said in John 15:5 and GS 13. The affirmation of P. Demontfort not
he wants to contradict in any way what we know about the dignity of the
human person (See DH 1).

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kind Lady, who never lets herself be defeated in generosity

dad, it will be given to us in an incomprehensible way, but
reality. Then, eternal Wisdom will come to dwell in Her,
as in his most glorious throne.

212 Maria is a sacred being who wherever she is attracts.

they are so strongly attached to eternal Wisdom, that it cannot
to resist. It is the magnet that attracted her to the earth for men,
and it continues to attract every single person every day
in which she dwells. If we manage to have Mary in us,
easily and in a short time, thanks to his intercession,
we will also attain divine Wisdom.

Among all the means that exist to possess Jesus Christ,

Mary is the safest, easiest, shortest, and holiest. Even if she did...
the most terrifying penances, we undertook the
most arduous journeys and the heaviest jobs; even when
we would spill our blood to acquire the divine
Wisdom, if our efforts are not accompanied by
the intercession of the Most Holy Virgin and of the devotion to
They will be little more than incapable and useless to achieve
But if María utters a word in our favor,
if your love dwells in us, if we find ourselves marked with
the seal of the faithful servants who observe their ways,
Soon and without fatigue we will obtain divine Wisdom.

Observe that Mary is not only the Mother of Jesus,

Head of the chosen ones, but also the Mother of all
its members; in fact, She engenders them, carries them in her
breast and makes them rise to glory through the grace of God
that she communicates to them.

This doctrine belongs to the Holy Fathers – among others, to

St. Augustine–, who says that the chosen dwell in the bosom
from Mary and that She gives birth to them when they enter the
glory144Furthermore, God has only told Mary that

144 SeeVD 30-33 and notes.

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I live in Jacob, I took Israel as an inheritance and I am rooted in

the chosen and predestined145 .

From these truths we must deduce that:

1 oin vain do we boast of being children of God and
disciples of Wisdom if we are not children of Mary;
2oto enter the number of the chosen ones it is necessary
that Mary may dwell and take root in us through
a tender and sincere devotion to Her;
3o Mary's duty is to conceive Jesus Christ in us,
and us in Him, up to total perfection and maturity
(See Eph 4:13), so that it can speak of itself,
with greater truth than St. Paul: My children, once again
I am in labor pains until Christ is formed in you.
. 146
you (plural)

What Does True Devotion Consist Of

To María

215 eager to make you devoted to the Blessed Virgin,

perhaps you may ask me what true devotion consists of
to her. I respond in two words: it consists of a great
appreciation of their greatness, in a sincere recognition of
its benefits, in immense zeal for its glory, in a
continuous invocation of your help, in total dependence
of his authority, in a firm and tender trust in his
motherly kindness147 .

Take great care with false devotions to the Most Holy One.
Virgin. The devil uses them to deceive and lead
to the condemnation of many souls. I do not stop to describe
birlas. I will be content to affirm that the true
devotion to the Holy Virgin is always internal, without

145 See SM 15;VD 29-36.

146 Galatians 4:19; see SM 16-17; VD 33.218.
147 SM 25; VD 115-118.

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hypocrisy or superstition; tender, without indifference or

scruples; constant, without alterations or unfaithfulness; holy,
without presumption or disorder.

217Be careful, then, with belonging:

– to the number of the hypocritical devotees, who consist of
his devotion is only in words and in the exterior;
– to the number of critical and scrupulous devotees that
They should honor the Most Holy Virgin too much and
to dishonor the Son by honoring the Mother;
– to the number of indifferent and interested devotees, that
they do not have tender and filial love for the Most Holy Virgin
trust in her and only turn to Mary to obtain
to preserve temporary assets;
– to the inconsistent and superficial devotees, who are
devotees of the Most Holy Virgin only to her whims and to
intervals and abandon their service when the
temptation
– no, finally, to the presumptuous devotees, who, under the
veil of some external devotions, hide a
corrupted heart by sin and create the illusion
that, thanks to these practices of devotion to the
Holy Virgin, they will not die without confession and they
they will be saved, no matter how many sins they commit.

Don't forget to enroll in the confraternities of the Most Holy

Virgin, especially of the Most Holy Rosary,
fulfilling the commitments that they entail, and which are very
effective for salvation.

But the most perfect and useful of all devotions to the

Most Holy Virgin is to fully consecrate yourself to Her - and
to Jesus Christ through Her – in the capacity of a servant,
making total and perpetual delivery of one's own body,
soul, inner and outer goods, satisfactions and merits
of good works, and the right to dispose of them,
In short, of all the goods received in the past, of the
what you possess in the present and will possess in the future.

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Given that there are many books that deal with this devotion,
I must state that I have never come across a practice
of devotion to the Most Holy Virgin more solid than this -
because it relies on the example of Jesus Christ, nor does it give more
glory to God, be healthier to the soul, more terrible to the
enemies of salvation, softer and easier.

This devotion, when properly practiced, not only attracts

the soul to Jesus Christ, the eternal Wisdom, but rather the
maintains and preserves it until death. Well, you
I ask, what will it help us to search for a thousand secrets and spend
a thousand efforts to reach the treasure of Wisdom if,
after receiving it, we have the misfortune of losing it due to
our infidelity, as it happened to Solomon? He was so
wise as perhaps we will never be.
It was, therefore, stronger and more enlightened. And, without embar-
he was deceived and defeated and fell into sin and madness,
leaving their successors doubly astonished: before their
lights and their darkness, before his wisdom and the foolishness of
his sins. If his example and his writings encouraged everyone
his descendants to desire and seek Wisdom, we can
to say that its fall, or the well-founded doubt that it has
but it has attracted a crowd of people to seek a
so beautiful a reality indeed, but so easy to lose.

To be, then –in a certain way– wiser than

Salomon, let us place in the hands of Mary all that we possess.
and the very treasure of treasures which is Jesus Christ, in order to
May she preserve it for us. We are too fragile vessels;
let us not place in them such a precious treasure nor this heavenly one
mana. Many enemies surround us and they are too
shrewd and experienced; let us not trust in our
caution is not in our strength. The painful experience
what we already have from our inconsistency and natural lightness
they force us to distrust our prudence and fervor.

222Maria is wise; let’s put everything in her hands. She

will know how to dispose of us and everything that belongs to us in order to
greater glory to God.

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Mary the charitable; loves us as her children and servants.

Let's offer him everything. We will lose nothing, since everything is
will result in our benefit.

Maria is generous; she returns more than what is entrusted to her.

Let us give as much as we have without reservation and we will receive
the one hundred percent: for a hundred eggs, one ox, according to what is stated
proverb.

Maria is formidable; no one can take away what has been given to her.
confident in deposit. Let us place ourselves in her hands, for she
He will defend us and make us triumph over our enemies.

Maria is faithful; she does not let what is entrusted to her be lost or misplaced.
She is the Virgin faithful par excellence to God and to men.
He preserved everything that God had entrusted to him, losing not a single one.
particle, and continues to preserve with particular care to
those who place themselves under his protection and care.

Let us entrust everything to His faithfulness. Let us hold on to Her.

like a column that no one can knock down, like a
anchor that no one can tear away or, better yet, like to the
mountain of Zion, which nobody can shake (See Ps
125(124),1; 46(45),6). For very blind, weak, and inconsistent
that we are by nature and very numerous
malicious ones who are our enemies, we will never be
deceived, we will neither stray nor have misfortune
of losing the grace of God and the infinite treasure of the
Eternal wisdom.

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CONSECRATION OF ONESELF
To JESUS CHRIST, THE INCARNATE WISDOM,
THROUGH MARY

223! Oh eternal and incarnate Wisdom,

very kind and adorable Jesus,
true God and true man,
Only son of the eternal Father,
and of Mary ever virgin!
I adore you deeply
in the bosom and splendors of the Father,
during eternity,
and in the virginal womb of Mary,
Your most deserving Mother,
in the time of the incarnation.
I thank you
for having overwhelmed you,
taking the form of a slave,
to free myself from the cruel slavery of the demon.
I praise and glorify you
for having freely and fully submitted to you
to Mary, your Most Holy Mother,
to make me your faithful slave for Her.

But, alas!, ungrateful and unfaithful as I am,

I have not fulfilled the vows and promises with you.
how solemnly I made you in baptism;
I have not fulfilled my obligations
I do not deserve to call myself your son or your slave.
And there being nothing in me
that does not deserve your anger and rejection,
I don't dare to approach by myself.
to your most holy and august Majesty.
Therefore, I turn to intercession and mercy.
of your most holy Mother.
You have given it to me as a Mediator before you.
Ihopeoterachyouht,orughhsimeodaint,

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the contrition and the forgiveness of my sins

and the acquisition and preservation of Wisdom.

224Greetings, then, oh Immaculate Mary!

living tabernacle of the divinity,
where eternal Wisdom, hidden,
wants to be adored by angels and men.
I greet you, oh Queen of heaven and earth!
Your empire is subjected
how much is beneath God.
I greet you, oh safe refuge of sinners!
Everyone experiences your great mercy.
Fulfill my desires to achieve
the divine Wisdom,
and receives for this the votes and offerings
that I come to present to you in my lowliness.

225Yo, N. N., unfaithful sinner,

I renew and reaffirm today in your hands
the vows of my baptism;
I renounce Satan forever,
to its pomp and to its works
and I completely dedicate myself to Jesus Christ,
the embodied Wisdom,
to carry my cross in his following
every day of my life
and in order to be more faithful to you

of what I have been so far.

choIeyosdua,yt
in the presence of all the heavenly court
for my Mother and Lady.
I give and consecrate to you,
as a slave,
my body and my soul,
my inner and outer belongings
and up to the value of my good deeds

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past, present, and future.

Make use of me and all that belongs to me,
without exception, according to your will,
for the greater glory of God
in time and eternity.

Receive, oh most gracious Virgin!

this humble offering of my slavery,
in honor and union of submission
that eternal Wisdom
has wanted to have for your motherhood;
in honor of the power that both of you have
about this little worm and miserable sinner
and in thanksgiving
for the privileges
with which the Holy Trinity
has wanted to favor you.
I declare that from today
going forward
I want, as your true slave,
to seek your glory and obey you in everything.
Oh admirable Mother!
introduce me to your beloved Son,
as an eternal slave,
in order that, having rescued me
through your mediation,
receive me now in your hand.

Oh Mother of mercy!
bring me the true Wisdom of God,
putting myself among those
those you love, teach, guide,
nourish and protect
like your true children and slaves.
Oh faithful Virgin!
make me be in everything

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so perfect disciple, imitator and slave

from the embodied Wisdom, Jesus Christ, your Son,
that I may reach, through your intercession
and for example, you,
to the fullness of his age on earth
and of his glory in heaven.

Amen.

Let the one who is able to understand this understand it (Mt 19:12).
Let the wise and prudent understand.
This message (Hos 14:10).

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