The Dialogue

How the bodily sentiments are all deceived in the aforesaid Sacrament, but not those of the soul, therefore it is, with the latter, that one must see, taste, and touch It ; and of a beautiful vision this soul had upon this subject.

" OH, dearest daughter, open well the eye of thy intellect and gaze into the abyss of My love, for there is no rational' creature whose heart would not melt for love in contem plating and considering, among the other benefits she receives from Me, the special Gift that she receives in the Sacra ment.

"And with what eye, dearest daughter, shouldest thou and others look at this mystery, and how shouldest thou touch it ? Not only with the bodily sight and touch, be cause in this Sacrament all bodily perceptions fail.

" The eye can only see, and the hand can only touch, the white substance of the bread, and the taste can only taste the savour of the bread, so that the grosser bodily senti ments are deceived ; but the soul cannot be deceived in her sentiments unless she wish to be — that is, unless she let the light of the most holy faith be taken away from her by infidelity.

" How is this Sacrament to be truly tasted, seen, and touched ? With the sentiment of the soul. With what eye is It to be seen ? With the eye of the intellect if within it is the pupil of the most holy faith. This eye sees in that whiteness whole God and whole man, the Divine nature united with the human nature, the Body, the Soul, and the Blood of Christ, the Soul united to the Body, the Body and the Soul united with My Divine nature, not

238 THE DIALOGUE OF ST. CATHERINE

detached from Me, as I revealed to thee, if thou remember well, almost in the beginning of thy life ; and not so much .at first through the eye of thy intellect as through thy bodily eye, although the light being so great thy bodily eyes lost their vision, and only the sight of the eye of thy intellect remained. I showed it to thee for thine enlighten ment in the battle that the Devil had been waging against thee in this Sacrament ; and to make thee increase in love in the light of the most holy faith.

" Thou knowest that thou wentest one morning to church at sun-rise to hear Mass, having beforehand been tormented by the Devil, and thou placedst thyself upright at the Altar of the Crucifix, while the priest went to the Altar of Mary ; thou stoodst there to consider thy sin, fearing to have offended Me through the vexation which the Devil had been causing thee, and to consider My love, which had made thee worthy to hear Mass, seeing that thou didst deem thyself unworthy to enter into My holy temple. When the minister came to consecrate, thou raisedst thine eyes above his head while he was saying the words of consecra tion, and I manifested Myself to thee, and thou didst see issue from My breast a light, like a ray from the sun, which proceeds from the circle of the sun without being separated from it, out of the midst of which light came a dove and hovered over the host, in virtue of the words which the minister was saying. But sight remained alone in the eye of thy intellect, because thy bodily sight was not strong enough to stand the light, and in that place thou didst see and taste the Abyss of the Trinity, whole God and whole man concealed and veiled in that whiteness that thou sawedst in the bread ; and thou perceivedst that the seeing of the Light and the presence of the Word, which thou sawedst intellectually in the whiteness of the bread, did not prevent thee seeing at the same time the actual whiteness of the bread, the one vision did not prevent the other vision, that is to say, the sight of the God- Man revealed in the bread did not prevent the sight of the bread, for neither its white ness, nor its touch, nor its savour were taken away. This was shown thee by My goodness, as I have said to thee.

A TREATISE OF PRAYER 239

The eye of the intellect had the true vision, using the pupil of the holy faith, for this eye should be thy principal means of vision, inasmuch as it cannot be deceived ; where fore, with it thou shouldest look on this Sacrament. How dost thou touch It ? By the hand of love. With this hand alone canst thou touch that which the eye of the intellect has recognised in this Sacrament. The soul touches Me with the hand of love, as if to certify to herself that which she has seen and known through faith. How dost thou taste It ? With the palate of holy desire. The corporal palate tastes only the savour of the bread ; but the palate of the soul, which is holy desire, tastes God and Man. See, therefore, that the perceptions of the body are deluded, but not those of the soul, for she is illuminated and assured in her own perceptions, for she touches with the hand of love that which the eye of her intellect has seen with the pupil of holy faith ; and with her palate — that is, with fiery desire — she tastes My Burning Charity, My Ineffable Love, with Which I have made her worthy to receive the tremendous mystery of this Sacrament and the Grace which is contained therein. See, therefore, that thou shouldst receive and look on this Sacrament, not only with bodily perceptions, but rather with thy spiritual perceptions, disposing thy soul in the way that has been said, to receive, and taste, and see this Sacrament."