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"From that furnace of divine love I see rays of fire dart like
burning lamps towards the soul; and so violent and powerful are
they that both soul and body would be utterly destroyed, if that
were possible. These rays perform a double office; they purify and
they annihilate.
"Consider gold: the oftener it is melted, the more pure does it
become; continue to melt it and every imperfection is destroyed.
This is the effect of fire on all materials. The soul, however,
cannot be annihilated in God, but in herself she can, and the
longer her purification lasts, the more perfectly does she die to
herself, until at length she remains purified in God.
"When gold has been completely freed from dross, no fire, however
great, has any further action on it, for nothing but its
imperfections can be consumed. So it is with the divine fire in
the soul. God retains her in these flames until every stain is
burned away, and she is brought to the highest perfection of which
she is capable, each soul in her own degree. And when this is
accomplished, she rests wholly in God. Nothing of herself remains,
and God is her entire being. When he has thus led her to himself
and purified her, she is no longer passable, for nothing remains
to be consumed. If when thus refined she should again approach the
fire she would feel no pain, for to her it has become the fire of
divine love, which is life eternal and which nothing mars.
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