Opera nuper in lucem prodeuntia

Here begins the Prologue to the Book, which is called the Spiritual Grace of the Blessed Mechthild.

A woodcut depicts a saintly figure, Saint Mechthild, seated and writing with a quill upon a book, with foliage in the background.

The kindness and humanity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, which appeared so mercifully to the human race through His incarnation, is being demonstrated daily, shining forth more and more, and is generously deigning to show itself even to us, and in us, upon whom the ends of the age have come. Therefore, no human speech will be able to explain what great wonders God has worked in His elect, nor will any tongue be able to express what gifts He has poured into a soul that faithfully loves Him. Only the one who merits to experience how kindly and how mellifluously He shows Himself to her can know. Especially, however, we desire to narrate, with God's help, what great gifts He poured into the soul that loved Him with her whole heart, as far as our own insignificance allows. She saw countless mysteries of celestial secrets with the eyes of her soul, but because of the humility by which she considered herself so vile, she was unwilling to speak of them, unless she was compelled by those close to her. And even these things that she did speak, she subtracted a part; a part, however, she spoke for the praise of God, though barely compelled by obedience. Therefore, those things that we learned from her own narration, we shall write down according to our capacity in the name of the Lord Jesus for the glory of the highest and venerable...