and except in the fiercest moments of spiritual conflict, with interior
consolations of ravishing sweetness. The wounds pierce deep down into
the flesh, running even through the hands and the feet.

The state of _ecstasy_ is another of the most wonderful of the elements
of the miraculous life of the Saints. Under the Divine influence the
physical frame undergoes a change in many respects similar to that which
is supposed (whether truly or falsely) to result from the operation of
magnetism or somnambulism. Many features, at the same time, distinguish
the Christian ecstatic condition from that which is produced by purely
physical or (it may be) diabolical causes, on which we cannot at present
enter in detail. It is sufficient to say, that the results of the true
ecstasy are in the strictest conformity with the doctrines of the
Christian revelation, and in perfect harmony with the perfections and
rules of the _moral_ world.

The soul in this state becomes, as it were, independent of the power of
the body, or she uses her physical senses in an absolute subordination
to her own illumined will. Visions, such as are recorded in the Old
Testament in the case of the prophets, are presented to her faculties.
She is introduced into the courts of heaven, and beholds and converses
with Saints in glory, with the Mother of God, with Jesus Christ
Himself. Or the whole mystery of the Passion is re-enacted before her
spiritualised sight, the evangelical history being filled up with all
those actual but minuter details which are omitted in the written
records of the Gospels. In certain cases, the body itself is lifted up
from the ground, and so remains for a while in the presence of a crowd
of bystanders. In others, the soul, while in ecstasy, is the medium of
communication between Almighty God and other persons then present, and
the Saint's voice repeats the revelations to those for whom they are