Upon a certain occasion when I was in the church of the Blessed Francis, and it was nigh unto the time of the elevation of the Body of our Lord, whilst the organ was playing the angelic hymn, "Holy, holy, holy," my soul was caught up in that Light uncreate, and therein was it so rapt and absorbed in a manner wholly indescribable. 

After this (I being still in the first rapture and attraction) there appeared unto me the figure of the Blessed Christ Crucified, as though He had been only just then taken down from the Cross; His blood was as fresh and red and flowed from His wounds as easily as though it had only that instant been shed. Moreover, there appeared such a dissolution of all the members of that blessed body that the sinews and joints of the bones seemed unto me as though loosened from their due harmony--that is to say, from their proper position in the body; and this was caused by hard and cruel stretching and the horrible ill-treatment of those virgin limbs at the hands of wicked men upon the torturing Cross; nevertheless, the skin was nowhere broken. 

At this sight my bowels were so pierced with compassion that verily I seemed all transformed in the pain of the Crucified, both bodily and mentally. And with a sharper knife still was I pierced at the sight of the cruel and violent dissolution of all His limbs, where methought His sinews were loosened and undone and His bones displaced; and so likewise at the sight of the open wounds, for in these did I behold a great secret of the Passion and of the hardness and cruelty of the tortures He had borne. 

The sight of the crucified body of the good and beloved Jesus did awaken such great compassion that in all my inward parts and my bones and joints did I feel new pain, and I lamented afresh with terrible anguish. 

As I stood thus absorbed in suffering and as though transformed in the pains of the Crucified, I heard Him speak again concerning the devout persons and the followers of His passion, and those who had taken compassion upon Him. I heard Him give thanks unto them and say: 

"Blessed are all ye of my Father, who, having had compassion upon Me and passed through tribulation with Me and followed after My life, have merited to wash your robes in the most precious blood of the Lamb. Blessed are ye who suffer with Me, who am crucified and afflicted with boundless suffering in order that I may offer satisfaction for you and redeem you from immense, bitter, and endless torments, and who have rendered yourselves worthy of it by thus bearing with Me poverty, suffering, and contempt. Blessed are ye who shall remember and be pitiful of My Passion, which is the Miracle of all ages, the salvation and life of the lost and the sole refuge of sinners--for thereby shall ye share in the kingdom, the glory and the resurrection which I have purchased by that same Passion, and ye shall verily be co-heirs with Me for ever and ever. Blessed are ye of My Father and of the Holy Spirit, yea, verily blessed, and ye shall therefore have the blessing which I shall give at the last judgment, inasmuch as ye did not repulse Me when I came unto Mine own place, as did My persecutors, but of your compassion did receive Me into the lodging of your hearts as a desolate pilgrim; when I hanged naked upon the Cross, hungry, thirsty, and sick, and pierced by nails, ye did suffer with Me in My death and desired to be in all things My companions. Herein have ye verily accomplished the works of mercy, wherefore in the last dread hour ye shall hear it said, 'Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.' Upon the Cross I did hunger, and at least through your compassion did ye give Me to eat," and then He added most marvellously the remainder of His saying, and I cannot possibly describe the burning love which shone upon these blessed ones from the eyes of that blessed Face of God made Man, Jesus Christ. 

After this He spake again, saying, "Oh verily and in all ways blessed are ye; for if upon the Cross I did pray unto My Father with tears and cries for those who crucified and tormented Me, excusing them and saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,' what shall I say for you, who have had compassion upon Me and have been My faithful companions, when I shall be no longer upon the Cross, but judging the world in glory and happiness?" 

Thus did I remain unspeakably consoled, and mine affection for the Passion of the Son of God was greater than I can express. And many other words spake He, more than I can know or declare, all of which did kindle my love and inflame it unto the utmost.