Visions of Sister Hadewijch

Page 19

Afterwards, on an Easter Sunday, I had gone to God. And he embraced me within the inner reaches of my senses and took possession of my soul and led me before the countenance of the Holy Spirit, who contains the Father and the Son within the one same essence original: "Wesen" — a philosophical and theological term referring to the fundamental nature or "being" of the Trinity..

From the one same essence of this countenance, I then received insight into all things and read therein everything that lay before me. And from the countenance there came a voice, quite terrible and exceedingly loud, which said to me:
“You, who have called and sought Me, look here and hear how and what kind of Love I am, from more than a thousand years before the birth of mankind. See and seize My Spirit, recognizing all that I am in Love. But if you, walking along the paths of rich love, press forward as a pure human being unto My very self, then you shall also experience through enjoyment The German "genießend erfahren" mirrors the medieval mystical concept of fruitio, a state of soul where one "tastes" or "enjoys" God's presence directly. what kind of Love I am. For a time you shall love the Love which I am, but then you shall yourself be Love, just as I am Love. You shall experience nothing less than that I am Love, until the day of your death, when you yourself become Life. In My oneness you receive Me, just as I receive you. Go and experience what I am, and come back and bring goodness and perfection with you, so that you may enjoy who I am.”

And then I returned to myself and understood everything I have just said, and remained staring, sunken into my dear, sweet Beloved original: "Lieb" — here used as a noun referring to the object of the narrator's affection, likely the personified Divine Love..