Chapter 58

God, the blessed Trinity, which is everlasting Being, right as He is endless from without beginning, right so it was in His purpose endless, to make Mankind. Which fair Kind first was prepared¹ to His own Son, the Second Person. And when He would, by full accord of all the Trinity, He made us all at once; and in our making He knit us and oned us to Himself: by which oneing we are kept as clear and as noble as we were made. By the virtue of the same precious oneing, we love our Maker and seek Him, praise Him and thank Him, and endlessly enjoy Him. And this is the work which is wrought continually in every soul that shall be saved: which is the Godly Will aforesaid. And thus in our making, God, Almighty, is our Nature's Father; and God, All-Wisdom, is our Nature's Mother; with the Love and the Goodness of the Holy Ghost: which is all one God, one Lord. And in the knitting and the oneing He is our Very, True Spouse, and we His loved Wife, His Fair Maiden: with which Wife He is never displeased. For He saith: I love thee and thou lovest me, and our love shall never be disparted in two.

God, the blessed Trinity, is everlasting Being. Just as he has no beginning or end, so his purpose to make humankind has always existed. This beautiful human nature was first prepared¹ for his own Son, the Second Person. When God chose, with the full agreement of the whole Trinity, he made us all at once. In making us, he bound us and united us to himself. Through this union, we are kept as pure and noble as we were made. Through the power of this same precious union, we love our Maker and seek him. We praise him, thank him, and enjoy him endlessly. This work is done continually in every soul that will be saved. It is the divine will mentioned earlier. Thus, in our making, God Almighty is the Father of our nature, and God All-Wisdom is its Mother. The Holy Spirit is there with love and goodness. All are one God, one Lord. In binding and uniting us to himself, he is our true and faithful Spouse. We are his beloved Wife, his beautiful Maiden, with whom he is never displeased. For he says: I love you and you love me, and our love will never be divided.

I beheld the working of all the blessed Trinity: in which beholding I saw and understood these three properties: the property of the Fatherhood, the property of the Motherhood, and the property of the Lordhood, in one God. In our Father Almighty we have our keeping and our bliss as anent our natural Substance, which is to us by our making, without beginning. And in the Second Person in skill² and wisdom we have our keeping as anent our Sense-soul: our restoring and our saving; for He is our Mother, Brother, and Saviour. And in our good Lord, the Holy Ghost, we have our rewarding and our meed-giving for our living and our travail, and endless overpassing of all that we desire, in His marvellous courtesy, of His high plenteous grace.

I saw the work of the whole blessed Trinity. In this vision, I saw and understood three qualities in one God: Fatherhood, Motherhood, and Lordhood. In our almighty Father, we find protection and bliss for our natural substance, which is ours through our creation, without beginning. In the Second Person, in understanding² and wisdom, we find protection for our sense-soul, our restoration, and our salvation. For he is our Mother, Brother, and Saviour. In our good Lord, the Holy Ghost, we receive our reward for our lives and our labor. And, in his wonderful kindness and abundant grace, he endlessly gives us more than all we desire.

For all our life is in three: in the first we have our Being, in the second we have our Increasing, and in the third we have our Fulfilling: the first is Nature, the second is Mercy, and the third is Grace.

All our life is in three parts. In the first, we have our being. In the second, we grow. In the third, we are fulfilled. The first is Nature, the second is Mercy, and the third is Grace.

For the first, I understood that the high Might of the Trinity is our Father, and the deep Wisdom of the Trinity is our Mother, and the great Love of the Trinity is our Lord: and all this have we in Nature and in the making of our Substance.³

First, I understood that the Trinity’s supreme power is our Father, its deep wisdom is our Mother, and its great love is our Lord. We have all of this in our nature and in the making of our substance.³

And furthermore I saw that the Second Person, which is our Mother as anent the Substance, that same dearworthy Person is become our Mother as anent the Sense-soul. For we are double by God's making: that is to say, Substantial and Sensual. Our Substance is the higher part, which we have in our Father, God Almighty; and the Second Person of the Trinity is our Mother in Nature, in making of our Substance: in whom we are grounded and rooted. And He is our Mother in Mercy, in taking of our Sense-part. And thus our Mother is to us in diverse manners working: in whom our parts are kept undisparted. For in our Mother Christ we profit and increase, and in Mercy He reformeth us and restoreth, and, by the virtue of His Passion and His Death and Uprising, oneth us to our Substance. Thus worketh our Mother in Mercy to all His children which are to Him yielding⁴ and obedient.

Furthermore, I saw that the Second Person is our Mother in relation to our substance. That same beloved Person has also become our Mother in relation to our sensory soul. For God made us with two parts: the substantial and the sensory. Our substance is the higher part, which we have in our Father, God Almighty. The Second Person of the Trinity is our Mother in nature, through the making of our substance. We are grounded and rooted in him. He is also our Mother in mercy, because he took on our sensory part. So our Mother works for us in different ways, keeping our parts united. For in Christ our Mother, we grow and flourish. In mercy he reforms and restores us. Through the power of his Passion, his death, and his rising, he unites us with our substance. In this way our Mother works in mercy for all his children who yield⁴ to him and obey him.

And Grace worketh with Mercy, and specially in two properties, as it was shewed: which working belongeth to the Third Person, the Holy Ghost. He worketh rewarding and giving. Rewarding is a large giving-of-truth that the Lord doeth to him that hath travailed; and giving is a courteous working which He doeth freely of Grace, fulfilling and overpassing all that is deserved of creatures.

Grace works with Mercy, especially in two ways, as was shown. This work belongs to the Third Person, the Holy Ghost. He works by rewarding and giving. Rewarding is the Lord’s generous giving of truth to someone who has labored. Giving is a gracious act that he does freely out of Grace. It fulfills and exceeds all that creatures deserve.

Thus in our Father, God Almighty, we have our being; and in our Mother of Mercy we have our reforming and restoring: in whom our Parts are oned and all made perfect Man; and by [reward]-yielding and giving in Grace of the Holy Ghost, we are fulfilled.

Thus, in our Father, God Almighty, we have our being. In our Mother of Mercy, we are made new and restored. In her, our parts are united and all made into perfect Man. And through [reward]-giving and the grace of the Holy Ghost, we are made complete.

And our Substance is [in] our Father, God Almighty, and our Substance is [in]⁵ our Mother, God, All-wisdom; and our Substance is in our Lord the Holy Ghost, God All-goodness. For our Substance is whole in each Person of the Trinity, which is one God. And our Sense-soul is only in the Second Person Christ Jesus; in whom is the Father and the Holy Ghost: and in Him and by Him we are mightily taken out of Hell, and out of the wretchedness in Earth worshipfully brought up into Heaven and blissfully oned to our Substance: increased in riches and in nobleness by all the virtues of Christ, and by the grace and working of the Holy Ghost.

Our substance is in our Father, God Almighty. Our substance is in⁵ our Mother, God, All-wisdom. And our substance is in our Lord the Holy Ghost, God All-goodness. For our substance is whole in each Person of the Trinity, who is one God. And our sense-soul is only in the Second Person, Christ Jesus, in whom the Father and the Holy Ghost are present. In him and through him, we are powerfully rescued from Hell. We are brought with honor from the misery of Earth into Heaven and joyfully united with our substance. We are made richer and nobler by all the virtues of Christ and by the grace and work of the Holy Ghost.