The Son speaks: "You are like a wheel that follows after that which goes before it. You should thus follow after my will. I told you earlier about a certain person whose soul was possessed by the devil. Now I will tell you in what part of the body he is trapped. I am like a man who says to his guard: 'There are three places of custody in your house. In the first are those who deserve to be deprived of life. In the second are those who are to lose one of their limbs. In the third are those who are to be whipped and to lose their skin.' The guard says to him: 'Lord, if some are to lose their life, others to be mutilated and others to be whipped, why put off their judgment? If they are sentenced quickly, they will forget their pain.'
The Lord answered: 'I do not what I do without a cause. Those who are to be deprived of life must wait for a time in order that good people might see their misery and become better, and bad people might feel fear and become more careful in the future. It is necessary that those who are to be mutilated should first experience anxiety so as to retract in their hearts the evils they have done and feel sorrow for the crimes they have committed. Those who are to be whipped should also be tested by sorrow so that those who had forgotten themselves in their delight may get to know themselves in their sorrow and become that much more careful not to commit such crimes the more difficult it is for them to gain their liberty.'
I am the Lord who has the devil as a guard, as it were, in order to punish the wicked according to their individual deserts. Power has been given to him over this soul, but I will now explain to you in what part of the body. For just as the body is arranged in its outer limbs, so too the body ought to be arranged spiritually. As the body has marrow, bones, and flesh, and blood in the flesh and flesh in the blood, so too the soul ought to have the three faculties of memory, conscience, and intellect. There are some people who understand lofty scriptural matters but have no reason. They are lacking a limb. There are others who have a rational awareness but no intelligence. Still others have intellect but no memory. These are gravely sick. Those who are healthy in their souls have healthy reason, memory, and intellect.
The body has three repositories. The first is the heart. A slender membrane covers the heart as a protection against anything impure touching it. Even if only very small stains should touch the heart, a person would die right away. The second repository is the stomach. The third is the bowels by means of which harmful substances are purged away. The soul should also have three repositories in a spiritual sense. The first is a godly desire. This is like the heart. It means that the soul desires nothing more fervently than me, her God. Otherwise, if any base affection, however small, should enter there, then the soul gets stained right away. The second repository is the stomach, that is, the wise disposition of time and work. As all food is dissolved and digested in the stomach, so all time and every thought and deed should be disposed according to God's plan in an orderly, useful, and prudent way. The third repository is the bowels, that is, godly contrition, by means of which impure things are purged and the food of divine wisdom tastes better.
The body has three limbs with which it advances: the head, the hands, and the feet. The head denotes divine love. As all five senses are in the head, so in divine love there is a sweet taste for the soul of whatever is said or heard or seen of God, and whatever is commanded is carried out with constancy. Just as a man without a head is dead, so too, without love, the soul, whose life is God, is dead to God. The hands symbolize faith. As there are several fingers on a hand, so there are many articles of faith, though there is only one faith. Through faith every divine intention is fulfilled, and faith should be operative in every good action. As outward work is done with the hands, so too the Holy Spirit operates inwardly through faith. Faith upholds all the virtues, for where there is no faith, love and good works are abolished.
Hope is the soul's feet. Through hope the soul comes to God. Just as the body advances on its feet, so too the soul draws close to God on the footsteps of divine desire and hope. The skin that covers the whole body symbolizes divine consolation that comforts the sensitive soul. Although the devil is sometimes allowed to disturb the memory, and sometimes the hands and feet, still God always defends the soul like a fighter and comforts her like a kind father and heals her like a doctor so she does not die.
The soul of this man of whom I spoke to you was caught when she deserved to lose her hands due to her wavering faith, inasmuch as she did not have the right faith. However, it is now time to show mercy for a twofold reason: first, because of my charity; second, because of the prayers of my chosen ones. Hence, let my friend read the above-mentioned words about him. He should do three things. First, he should restore ill-gotten goods; second, he should procure absolution from the Roman Curia for his disobedience; third, he should not receive my body in the sacrament of communion before receiving absolution."
Revelations and Prophecies Imparted to St. Bridget
