The Dialogue

How God is the Fulfiller of the holy desires of His servants ; and how they please Him much who ask and knock at the door of His Truth with perseverance.

" Now I have told thee, dearest daughter, and fully explained to thee, illuminating the eye of thy intellect, about the

228 THE DIALOGUE OF ST. CATHERINE

deceptions the Devil might practise upon thee, and I have satisfied thy desire in that which thou askest Me, because I do not despise the desire of My servants. Also I not only give to all who ask, but I invite you all to ask, and he dis pleases Me much, who does not knock, in truth, at the door of the wisdom of My only-begotten Son, following His doctrine, the following of which doctrine is a knocking, calling to Me, the eternal Father, with the voice of holy desire, with humble and continual prayers. And I am that Father Who gives you the bread of grace by means of this sweet door, My Truth ; and sometimes, to test your desires and your perseverance, I pretend not to understand you, but I really understood you well, and give you that state of mind that you need, because I give you that hunger and the voice with which you cry to Me, and I, seeing your con stancy, fulfil your desires when they are ordered and directed to Me. It was to such asking as this that My Truth invited you, when He said, ' Cry out and ye shall be answered, knock and it shall be opened to you, ask and it shall be given to you.1 And so I say to thee that I will that thou shouldest never relax the desire of asking for My help, neither lower thy voice from cry ing to Me that I may have mercy on the world ; nor cease from knocking at the door of My Truth, following in His Footsteps, and delight thyself in the Cross with Him, eating the food of souls to the glory and praise of My Name ; and lament, with anxiety of heart, over the death of the human generation, that thou seest led to misery so great, that thy tongue is not sufficient to relate it. On account of this lamenting and crying will I have mercy on the world, and it is this which I demand from My servants, and which will be a sign to Me, that they love Me in truth, and, as I told thee, I will not despise their desires."

A TREATISE OF PRAYER 229