de hoyos 3

For this heavenly betrothal [verloving]... 

Jesus the Lord was preparing Bernardo, His beloved servant for the mystical union. 

Jesus gave him particular gifts. The first wedding favor was speaking luxuriously to Bernardo in the interior of his spirit, and like this, asking his very soul for consent to be married. 

The Lord said to him in the divine language and love: 

'Handpicked soul of mine, I want you for My Spouse. I am the Son of the Eternal Father, equal and the same as Him, and from whom I come by generative creation. 

I am the second face of the Blessed Trinity, having the same essence as the Father and the Holy Spirit. Equal is my power, my grandeur, my immensity, my kindness, my distinctions and my perfections with the Father and the Divine Spirit. Really consider, whether you want to have Me for your Husband, because I want you as Mine. I am God and Man, thus blessed as a Man in all the dowries [bruidschatten] corresponding to My Heavenly Dignity. 

I am the most beautiful of Men. The scriptures are full of My grandeurs. Authority over all of creation has been handed to Me, being King of all that is. This beautiful Machine of the Universe, with all its perfections, has grabbed hold of me like the Maker, as God and as the heir to the reign of Judah. The supreme Angels kneel before me and they adore me, knowing the dignity that I have, and the infinite distance that there is between them and Myself.

Consider, beloved soul, if it would suit you to take me as your Husband, because I — Who only have Love for you — want to marry myself with you. 

Consider it well, and desire it with the desires owed. Because much time is still to pass. Meanwhile, I will go on preparing you, and giving you lavish [overvloedige] gifts, that will be a certain pledge [belofte]. 

These are my favors. And the first is this vision, which I have made to burn in your heart,' 

said Jesus to his beloved, Bernardo.

And Bernardo answered his Beloved, 

'The words were clear as day and deep inside me, and my soul was listening to these sweet nothings [lieve woordjes] with sweet fright [schrik]. 

Oh, who has the tongue of angels, to say some pretty little thing about how much happened in my soul in this moment! Now see for yourself how pleasant and full of Love these recited words are. 

But such was the Love with which He told this to me that, if His Majesty does not treasure and keep my life, it would be impossible to live.'

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The Lord was waiting for the answer. 

But Bernardo’s confused soul, submerged in the abyss of its miseries and its own nothingness, did not know what to do, seeing with a clear light what had been communicated to him, and how unworthy he was of this sovereign favor. 

He seemed undone and annihilated. Stunned and surprised by excessive admiration, Bernardo could not speak, as if embraced in living flames of love. 

And babbling, without forming a word, he was speaking in riddles and could only say: 'Ecce Ancilla Domini, fiat mihi secundum Verbum Tuum - Here is the Servant of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your Word.'

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It is not easy to explain other such virtuous acts, to explain how, with this singular fondness [unieke genegenheid], Bernardo only loved, admired, praised, magnified, thanked, adored, venerated and exalted the grandeurs of his Beloved. 

He was confused, annihilated and looked unworthy of such great favor. 'The effects of this proposal have been divine,' Bernardo said. 'And now I had better be silent, since I am pining from love and I cannot go on.'

Biography written by Padre Juan de Loyola S.J., 

Bernardo’s spiritual director

Book 1, Chapter 10 

[bron]