1. The soul was created with all those good conditions of which it was capable, in order to attain perfection: provided, however, that it lived as God had ordained for it, not contaminating itself with any stain of sin.
2. But having been contaminated by original sin, it loses its gifts and graces, and remains dead, nor can it be raised again except by God. And when it has been raised again through Baptism, the evil inclination remains in it, which inclines and leads it (if it does not resist) to actual sin, by which it dies again.
3. God then raises it again with another special grace; for it remains so befouled and turned toward itself that, to call it back to its first state, as God created it, it needs all the aforesaid divine operations, without which it could never return there.
4. And when the soul finds itself on the way back to that first state of its own, so great is the burning within it to be transformed into God that this is its Purgatory. Not that it can look upon Purgatory as Purgatory; but that instinct, kindled and impeded, is what makes its Purgatory.
5. This last act of love is what accomplishes this work without man; for there are found in the soul so many hidden imperfections that, if it saw them, it would live in despair; but this last state goes on consuming them all. And once they are consumed, God shows them to the soul, so that it may see the divine operation which causes in it the fire of love that consumes the imperfections that must be consumed.
About this translation
This English translation from the Italian was drafted with AI assistance using SWE-2 Max and prepared as a reading edition for this library. Review has included source provenance, section structure, and selected source comparisons and corrections. It has not included a complete independent, sentence-by-sentence translation audit.
Catherine’s teaching was transmitted by her disciples and first printed in 1551. This translation follows the supplied Italian transcription; the introductory note is editorial.
This is a reading copy, not a critical edition. No professional translation certification or ecclesiastical approval is claimed for this modern edition.
No general reuse licence is specified for this modern translation or its source transcription. The age of the original work does not by itself establish their reuse terms.
Remember Eternity · remembereternity.org. AI-assisted English translation drafted with SWE-2 Max from the Italian; selected source comparisons and corrections only. No complete independent translation audit or ecclesiastical approval is claimed. Catherine’s teaching was transmitted by her disciples and first printed in 1551. This translation follows the supplied Italian transcription; the introductory note is editorial. No general reuse licence is specified for this modern translation or its source transcription.