From the Revelations of Saint Birgitta of Sweden
This is Mary speaking...
Mary Identifies with Her Son's Pain at His Passion
"I was the person closest to him at his passion and was never separated from him. I was standing near his cross and, as that which is closest to the heart hurts the worst, so his pain was worse for me than for the others. As he gazed down at me from the cross and I gazed at him, my tears gushed from my eyes like blood from veins. When he saw me overwhelmed by pain, he grew so distressed over my pain that all the pain of his own wounds subsided when he saw the pain in me. I can therefore boldly say that his pain was my pain and his heart my heart. Just as Adam and Eve sold the world for a single apple, you might say that my Son and I bought the world back with a single heart. And so, my daughter, think of me as I was at the death of my Son, and it will not be hard for you to give up the world."
Jesus Speaking...
The Virgin Is Like the Staff, the Manna, and the Tablets of the Ark of the Old Law; Birgitta Is Given Advice on Disseminating Her Revelations
"Accordingly, no one will enter heaven, except for those who have been tried like gold in the fire of purgatory or who have proved themselves over time in good works on earth in such a way that there is no stain in them left to be purged away. If you do not know to whom my words ought to be sent, I will tell you. The one who wants to gain merit through good works in order to come to the kingdom of heaven or who already has merited it by good works in the past is worthy of receiving my words. My words are to be disclosed to such as these and to enter into them. Those who have a taste for my words and humbly await the inscription of their names in the book of life keep my words. Those who have no taste for them consider them first and then reject and vomit them out immediately."
Jesus speaking...
The Virgin Is Sweet; Christ's Passion Is Bitter, Especially for Those Who Follow Their Own Will
"I am most bitter for those who say my law and commandments are too difficult and that no one is able to carry them out, who say my passion is worthless for them, which is why they count it for nothing. Therefore, I swear on my life, as once I swore by the prophets, that I shall plead my case before the angels and all my saints. Those for whom I am bitter shall prove to themselves that I created all things rationally and well and for the usefulness and instruction of mankind, and that not the least little worm exists without a cause. Those who find me bitterer shall prove to themselves that I wisely gave the human person a free will with respect to the good. They will also discover that I am just, giving the eternal kingdom to good people but punishment to the wicked.
It would not be fitting for the devil, whom I created good but who fell through his own malice, to keep company with the good. The wicked will also find out that it is not my fault that they are wicked but their own. Indeed, if it were possible, I would gladly take on the same punishment for each and every person that once I accepted on the cross for all persons, so that they might return to their promised inheritance.
But humankind is forever opposing their will to mine. I gave them liberty in order to serve me, if they would, and so that they might gain an eternal reward. But if they did not want to, they were to share in the punishment of the devil due to whose malice and its consequences hell was justly created. Because I am full of charity, I did not want humanity to serve me out of fear or be compelled to do so like an irrational animal but out of love for God, because no one who serves me unwillingly or out of the fear of punishment can see my face.
Those for whom I am most bitter will realize in their consciences that my law was gentle and my yoke easy. They will be inconsolably sad that they spurned my law and instead loved the world, whose yoke is heavier and far more difficult than mine." Then his Mother answered: "Blessed are you, my Son, my God and my Lord! Since you were my sweet delight, I pray that others may be made partakers in its sweetness." The Son answered: "Blessed are you, my dearest Mother! Your words are sweet and full of love. Therefore, it will go well for anyone who receives your sweetness into his mouth and keeps it perfectly. But anyone who receives it and rejects it will be punished all the more bitterly." Then the Virgin responded: "Blessed be you, my Son, for all your love!"
