October 28, 2022
“I rested and slept really well during that second to last day. I was content, although with a certain nervousness; but a flash of emotion presaged a special night. Little by little, shadows began to cover the distant valleys and circle the mountains with a mantle of grey, and one by one the stars begin to appear against the dark background.
After an hour, everything in that night was a wonder; it seemed like magic. With all of my heart, I asked the Holy Spirit for humility, concentration, and above all, the wisdom to let myself be loved, to let myself be loved insanely until the skeletons of my “ego” melted in the crucible of love.
I sat on that rock, I hunched over, took my head between my hands and remained immobile, paralyzed, empty of everything fora good while. Afterwards, calm and concentrated, I began to repeat that ineffable invocation: Abba! Beloved Dad! Over and over I repeated it, each time with greater concentration; and from the depths of eternity the Father slowly began to emerge with a loving look, enveloping me in a love without measure or restraint.
e say that bridges join distant points, but in this moment the distance had vanished, and I was living a total intimacy wherein I had been assumed into his bosom, as in an ocean. But I continued invoking him, with long pauses of silence: Beloved Dad!
Tenderness and confidence took flight, launching me into a maelstrom, into the deep womb of his loving presence. Oh, my beloved Father! I had the sensation that my whole body, better said, my arteries were transformed into great rivers of sweetness. Beloved Dad!
The shapes of the hills and even the stars disappeared. A flood tide of honey and tenderness rose and rose, and with its immense waves, began to cover everything: valleys, rocks, hills…everything was submerged until at last, only Love remained. Oh my beloved Dad, a thousand times blessed! And I was lost in that floodtide, I let myself be swept away by the waves and then knew nothing more…”
Extracted from the book “The Fire and the Rose” by Fr. Ignacio Larranaga, OFM
