that she would have died of shame, if, during the time that the Apostle was reproving her, she had not continually seen a Lamb, all radiant with a sweet mild light. This imperfection which God permitted, was also a means of rendering her more humble and more prudent in preserving the graces that she had received. I have cited these two facts before concluding this chapter, because I think they are very capable of teaching humility, both to the perfect and to the imperfect.
St. Dominic called me to enter his Order in a miraculous manner. I acknowledge that I was not worthy of It; but I should be an ungrateful son, did I pass in silence the glory of my blessed Father, and hence I intend relating the revelation that Catherine had concerning him. Friar Bartholomew, of whom I have just spoken, and who is at present with me, related it to me exactly as she had related it to me on that very day.
Catherine asserted that she saw the Eternal Father producing from his mouth, his co-eternal Son, such as he was, when he clothed himself with human nature; and while she was contemplating him, she saw the blessed Patriarch St. Dominic come forth from the breast of the Father, all glittering with brightness, and she heard a voice which said: " Beloved Daughter, I have begotten these two Sons: one by nature, the other by a sweet and tender adoption." As Catherine was amazed at a comparison so elevated, which rendered equal so to speak, a saint with Jesus Christ — he who uttered these surprising words, explained them himself: " My Son engendered by nature from all eternity, when he assumed human nature, obeyed me in all things perfectly, until his death. Dominic, my son by adoption, from his birth until the last moment of his life, followed my will in all things. He
