Chapter 23

And in these three words: It is a joy, a bliss, an endless satisfying to me, were shewed three heavens, as thus: For the joy, I understood the pleasure of the Father; and for the bliss, the worship of the Son; and for the endless satisfying,¹ the Holy Ghost. The Father is pleased, the Son is worshipped, the Holy Ghost is satisfied.²

In these three words, It is a joy, a bliss, an endless satisfaction to me, three heavens were revealed. By joy, I understood the pleasure of the Father. By bliss, I understood the honor of the Son. By endless satisfaction,¹ I understood the Holy Ghost. The Father is pleased, the Son is honored, and the Holy Ghost is satisfied.²

And here saw I, for the Third Beholding in His blissful Passion: that is to say, the Joy and the Bliss that make Him to be well-satisfied in it. For our Courteous Lord shewed His Passion to me in five manners: of which the first is the bleeding of the head; the second is, discolouring of His face; the third is, the plenteous bleeding of the body, in seeming [as] from the scourging; the fourth is, the deep dying:—these four are aforetold for the pains of the Passion. And the fifth is [this] that was shewed for the joy and the bliss of the Passion.

And here I saw the Third Beholding of his blessed Passion: the joy and bliss that make him well satisfied with it. For our gracious Lord showed me his Passion in five ways. The first is the bleeding of his head. The second is the discoloring of his face. The third is the abundant bleeding of his body, seemingly from the scourging. The fourth is his profound dying. These four have already been described as the pains of the Passion. The fifth is what was shown to me of the joy and bliss of the Passion.

For it is God's will that we have true enjoying with Him in our salvation, and therein He willeth [that] we be mightily comforted and strengthened; and thus willeth He that merrily with His grace our soul be occupied. For we are His bliss: for in us He enjoyeth without end; and so shall we in Him, with His grace.

God wants us to share true joy with him in our salvation. He wants us to find great comfort and strength in it. And so he wants our souls to be joyfully occupied with his grace. For we are his joy: he delights in us without end, and through his grace, we will delight in him too.

And all that He hath done for us, and doeth, and ever shall, was never cost nor charge to Him, nor might be, but only that [which] He did in our manhood, beginning at the sweet Incarnation and lasting to the Blessed Uprise on Easter-morrow:³ so long dured the cost and the charge about our redemption in deed: of [the] which deed He enjoyeth endlessly, as it is aforesaid.

And all that he has done for us, does, and ever will do, has never cost him anything, nor could it. The only exception was what he did in our human nature, from the sweet Incarnation to the Blessed Resurrection on Easter morning.³ That was how long the cost and burden of our redemption lasted in deed. He takes endless joy in that deed, as has been said before.

Jesus willeth that we take heed to the bliss that is in the blessed Trinity [because] of our salvation and that we desire to have as much spiritual enjoying, with His grace, (as it is aforesaid): that is to say, that the enjoying of our salvation be [as] like to the joy that Christ hath of our salvation as it may be while we are here.

Jesus wants us to notice the joy within the blessed Trinity because of our salvation. He also wants us to desire as much spiritual joy as we can have through his grace (as mentioned above). That is, while we are here, our joy in our salvation should be as much like Christ's joy in our salvation as possible.

All the Trinity wrought in the Passion of Christ, ministering abundance of virtues and plenty of grace to us by Him: but only the Maiden's Son suffered: whereof all the blessed Trinity endlessly enjoyeth. All this was shewed in these words: Art thou well pleased?—and by that other word that Christ said: If thou art pleased, then am I pleased;—as if He said: It is joy and satisfying enough to me, and I ask nought else of thee for my travail but that I might well please thee.

The whole Trinity worked in the Passion of Christ, giving us abundant virtues and grace through him. But only the Virgin's Son suffered, and the whole blessed Trinity rejoices in this forever. All this was shown in these words: Are you well pleased? Christ also said: If you are pleased, then I am pleased. It was as if he said: It is enough joy and satisfaction for me. I ask nothing else of you for my suffering, only that I may please you well.

And in this He brought to mind the property of a glad giver. A glad giver taketh but little heed of the thing that he giveth, but all his desire and all his intent is to please him and solace him to whom he giveth it. And if the receiver take the gift highly and thankfully, then the courteous giver setteth at nought all his cost and all his travail, for joy and delight that he hath pleased and solaced him that he loveth. Plenteously and fully was this shewed.

And in this he brought to mind what a joyful giver is like. A joyful giver pays little attention to the gift itself. All his desire and all his purpose are to please and comfort the person receiving it. If the receiver values the gift highly and accepts it gratefully, the gracious giver thinks nothing of all his expense and effort. For he is filled with joy and delight at having pleased and comforted the person he loves. All this was shown abundantly and fully.

Think also wisely of the greatness of this word "ever." For in it was shewed an high knowing of love⁴ that He hath in our salvation, with manifold joys that follow of the Passion of Christ. One is that He rejoiceth that He hath done it in deed, and He shall no more suffer; another, that He bought us from endless pains of hell.

Think carefully, too, about the greatness of the word "ever." For it revealed a profound understanding of the love⁴ he has for our salvation. It also revealed the many joys that follow from the Passion of Christ. One is that he rejoices that he has accomplished it and will suffer no more. Another is that he has bought us freedom from the endless pains of hell.