In his book The Incarnation, Birth and Infancy of Jesus Christ, St. Alphonsus Liguori relates that there was once a devout lady who greatly desired to know what souls were dearest to Jesus. One day, while she was at Mass, she looked toward the altar at the elevation of the Sacred Host. To her delight, she saw the Infant Jesus on the altar, and with Him three young virgins.

Jesus took the first, and caressed her very much. He then went to the second, took the veil off her face, and struck her very hard on the cheek. Then He turned His back to her; but soon after, seeing how sad the virgin looked, He comforted her with all sorts of kindness.

At last He approached the third maiden. He seized her by the arm as if He were angry. Then He struck her, and drove her away from Him. But the more she was roughly treated and driven off, the more the little virgin humbled herself and followed Him. And thus the vision ended.

After Mass was over, the devout woman remained in the church; she very much wanted to know the meaning of the strange vision. So Jesus appeared to her again, and told her that on the earth there are three sorts of souls that love Him.

Some love Jesus; but their love is so weak that if they are not being given spiritual pleasures, they become uneasy, and are in danger of turning their backs upon Him. The first virgin represented these weak, and often selfish, souls.

The second one represented those souls who love Jesus with a stronger love, but who still need to be comforted from time to time.

The third virgin represented the more courageous souls. Although they suffer trials, temptations and spiritual dryness almost constantly - they never give up in doing all they can to please God and make Him happy. Jesus told the devout woman that these last souls caused Him the greatest delight.