St. Veronica Giuliani (1660-1727) stands among the greatest mystics in the history of the Catholic Church. A Capuchin Poor Clare nun, abbess, and stigmatic, she lived a hidden life within the walls of her monastery--yet her soul traversed the deepest mysteries of Christ's Passion.
A victim soul, she endured extraordinary mystical sufferings offered for the salvation of souls. Raptures, visions, locutions, diabolical trials, the transverberation of her heart, and finally the visible wounds of Christ marked her life. In 1697, she received the stigmata--the sacred wounds in her hands, feet, and side--confirming outwardly the union with Christ that had long burned within her.
For more than thirty years, Veronica carefully recorded her spiritual life in obedience to her confessor. By the time of her death, her Diary filled over 11,000 handwritten pages--one of the most extensive mystical testimonies in Christian history. Now, for the first time in English, this compendium offers readers access to the heart of her writings.
Within these pages, you will discover:
- The interior journey of a soul transformed by divine love
- Mystical participation in the Passion of Christ
- Spiritual counsel for growth in holiness
- The meaning of suffering offered in union with Jesus
- A life "set on fire" with love for God
At times, Veronica speaks as abbess and guide. At other moments, she records revelations and conversations with Christ. Always, her writing reveals a soul radically surrendered to God's will. But beyond the extraordinary phenomena, her central message is simple: "Love has been found."
This book is more than a spiritual diary. It is an invitation into the interior life -- into deep prayer, deep surrender, and deep union with Christ.
May the fire that consumed St. Veronica Giuliani ignite your own heart.
Statements made by Popes, Cardinals, and Theologians:
"St. Veronica Giuliani is not [just] a Saint, but a giant of Saintliness." (Bl. Pope Pius IX)
"She is such a great luminary of Saintliness that in and of herself, she would be enough to illustrate the Church, in contempt of the mockery and slander of the most superb and biting philosophy of the unbelievers." (Pope Pius VII)
"She was endowed with such extraordinary graces that only the Mother of God was more ornate." (Pope Leo XIII)
"What the virgin Veronica wrote, certainly with the help of God, will be of great profit to those who study to acquire Christian perfection." (St. Pope Pius X)
"St Veronica Giuliani invites us to develop, in our Christian life, our union with the Lord in living for others, abandoning ourselves to his will with complete and total trust, and the union with the Church, the Bride of Christ." (Pope Benedict XVI)
"The extraordinary favors granted by God to Veronica were explained by her with that clarity and exactness of expression which render the Diary 'one of the most classic treatises on sacred mysticism.'" (Card. Lucido M. Parocchi, Secretary of the Holy Office)
"The Diary is a catechesis, a doctorate, a permanent mission, which the Vatican II Church cannot and must not ignore, if it wants to unleash all its energies of renewal." (Card. Pietro Palazzini)
"She is the most sublime and necessary subject of study that has been produced after the Gospel." (M.F. Benjamin Dausse, Académie des Sciences, Paris)
