Chapter V
Of Catharine's Wonderful Ecstasies And Of The Great Revelations Which She Received From God.
Our Lord, who had bestowed on his Spouse a corporal life so extraordinary, also treated her soul in a marvelous manner, and favored it with ineffable consolations; her physical strength was supernatural and had its source in the abundance of grace, that she received; hence having spoken of the prodigy of her material existence, it is suitable also to speak of the miracles by which her soul was enriched. From the moment in which this holy virgin allayed her thirst at the wounded side of our Lord, grace was so abundant and supreme in her soul, that she was, we may say, in a continual ecstasy. Her mind was so constantly and intimately united to her Creator, that the inferior part of her being ordinarily ceased its functions. A thousand times we have been witnesses of it: we saw and touched her arms and hands, so strongly contracted that they could have been more easily broken than their position changed. Her eyes were entirely closed, her ears heard no noise, however great it might be, and all her corporal senses became powerless. And all this will not surprise, if attention be given to what follows. God began from that time to manifest himself to his Spouse, not only when she was alone, as formerly, but in public, when she walked, or when she was remaining tranquil; and the fire of love that inflamed her heart was so great, that she told her Confessor that it was impossible to find expressions to depict what she experienced.
