reached in which they could see the Divine Essence and the mysteries of the Trinity and that, in this state, grace drowned all the faculties--that they were governed directly by the Holy Spirit in what they did or left undone--that in contemplation they dismissed all thought and concentrated themselves in the presence of God--that, in the state of Union with God, the will is subordinated--that in trances God is clearly seen in his glory--that mental prayer renders other works superfluous--that other duties, both religious and worldly, can be neglected to devote oneself wholly to this supreme devotion. Besides these, there was an enumeration of the errors commonly attributed to the Alumbrados with more or less justice--impeccability--the elevation of mental prayer to the dignity of a sacrament--communion with more than one wafer--promiscuous intercourse among the elect--indecent actions in the confessional regarded as meritorious--teaching wives to refuse cohabitation--forcing girls to take vows of chastity or to become nuns--requiring vows of absolute obedience to the spiritual director--breathing on the mouths of female penitents to communicate to them the love of God--violation of the seal of the confessional--that the perfected have power of absolution even in reserved cases--that those who follow this doctrine will escape purgatory and that many who refused to do so have returned to beg release, when they give them an _Evangelio_ and see them fly to heaven. One article would indicate that among the devotees, as was usually the case, there was at least one who boasted of bearing the stigmata, of conversing with God and of living solely upon the sacrament, while a clause requiring the surrender of all statutes and instructions for their congregations and assemblies shows that they were organized into more or less formal associations.[66]