Saints in the Divine Will by Fr. Sergio Pellegrini

INDEX

PREFACE…………………………………………………………………………………………3
BIOGRAPHICAL HIGHLIGHTS…………………………………………………………………….……………….4
WRITINGS OF THE SERVANT OF GOD………………………………………………………..5
INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………….……5
ABBREVIATIONS…………………………………………………………………………….…..6
Part I THE SANCTITY OF LIVING IN THE DIVINE WILL………………………………….6
1. The Sanctity of Jesus’ Humanity………………………………………………………………………………………….6
2. The Sanctity of Mary……………………………………………………………………………………………….7
3. The Difference between the Sanctity of Living and Doing the Divine Will.
False Sanctity…………………………………………………………………………………….7
4. The Sanctity of Sanctities……………………………………………………………………………………….10
5. Luisa and her Mission………………………………………………………………………………………….11
6. The Life of the Divine Will is the Work of the Holy Spirit the Sanctifier……………………………………………………………………………………….12

Part II “YOUR KINGDOM COME”………..………………………………………………………………………………14
7. Man is created in Christ to possess the Kingdom……………………………………………………………………………………….14
8. The Divine Will is the End and the Sacraments are the Means…………………………………………………………………………………………16
9. Living in the Divine Will as One who Possesses It……………………………………………………………………………………………….16
10. How to Begin to Live in Divine Will……………………………………………………..17
11. The Stages of Living in the Will of God which Determine the Different Degrees of Sanctity………………………………………………………………………………………18
12. Knowledge of the Truth Written about the Divine Will…………………………………………………………………………………………..19

Part III “ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN”…………………………………………………………………………………..20
13. At Work in the Divine Will………………………………………………………………………………………….21
14. The Sanctification of Human Actions……………………………………………………………………………………..22
15. Every Act carried out in the Divine Will multiplies the Divine Act, its Life, its
Blessings for the Glory of God and for the Benefit of Humanity………………………………………………………………………………….23
16. The Rounds in the Divine Will………………………………………………………………………………………..23

CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………..25

FOOTNOTES…………………………………………………………………………… 25

BIOGRAPHICAL HIGHLIGHTS

Luisa Piccarreta is still a very well known name today in Corato, a little Puglian town situated in the hinterland north of Bari. On April 23, 1865, the fourth of five children, this child was born whom her fellow citizens, even during her own lifetime, called “Luisa the saint.” She was baptized the same day that she was born in the Mother Church of Corato. She participated in the life of her peasant family who divided their time between the town and hard work in the countryside.
Early on, it seemed strange that this little child spent so much of her time hiding away in long meditation and prayer. Her parents did not give it much thought until the young girl came down with a mysterious illness, which afflicted her more and more frequently, finally confining her to bed. Unable to make a clear diagnosis, the doctors had no choice but to suggest that a priest be called for a “visit.” It was a great surprise when, at the moment the priest made the Sign of the Cross, Luisa awakened from her “usual state,” as she calls it in her writings. This continued until her death and it was only in this way that she was able to come out of this “state” with the help of a priest. Her education ended after the first grade of elementary school. She recalled that as a young girl she saw Jesus bent under the cross as He called out to her: “Soul, help me!” And from that moment, as she responded with her “Fiat,” the periods of time that she spent in her bed became more and more frequent, until she became completely immobile – bedridden for 62 years.
The extraordinary condition of this soul convinced the Archbishop of Trani, His Excellency Bishop Domenico Maringelli, to entrust her permanently to the spiritual care of Fr. Michele De Benedittis, designating him her official confessor.
Luisa was received initially into the Pious Association called “Daughters of Mary” and then later into the Third Order of St. Dominic, taking the name Magdalene. What transpired in the soul of this young girl would remain hidden due to her extreme reserve. Nonetheless, she continued to have mystical experiences which soon, understandably, engendered doubts and suspicions.
Her second official confessor, Fr. Gennaro de Gennaro, made an essential contribution. On February 28, 1899, he gave her the “obedience” to write all that the Lord Jesus and the Virgin Mary communicated to her. Only then did Luisa overcome her reluctance to make public her interior experiences. Consequently, she wrote – with great effort and unwillingly for over forty years – 14,000 pages of diaries which were later gathered into 36 volumes, as well as hundreds of letters and other writings.
On September 14 of the same year (1899), Jesus united her to Himself in a definitive way, marrying her mystically on the cross and giving her the stigmata, which remained invisible in response to her insistent pleas to Jesus.
St. Annibale di Francia has left us some idea of how she was regarded by all who met her, some of whom came from far away. The Archbishop of Trani appointed St. Annibale official Censor of her writings in regard to their publication. In the Preface that he wrote for the Hours of the Passion, he described her in this way: “This bride of Jesus crucified passes the night in sorrowful ecstasy and in sufferings of every kind; and yet, seeing her in the daytime seated in the middle of her bed, working with needle and thread, nothing, nothing of this can be noticed – not the slightest hint of anything that she has suffered during the night – no hint of anything extraordinary or supernatural. Rather, you see her there with every appearance of a person who is healthy, happy, and cheerful. She speaks, she converses, and, when appropriate, she laughs. However, she welcomes only a few friends. Sometimes, a troubled soul will confide in her or ask for her prayers. She listens with kindness and comforts them, but never does she present herself as a prophetess and never does she say a word that hints at revelations. The great comfort that she offers is always one – always the same theme of the “Divine Will.”1
Indeed, her daily life can be summarized in a few words: Her small room was a chapel and an embroidery workshop. The Eucharist was her only food, the bed her Cross, the “Fiat” her motto, her speech brief and wise, her example luminous – all of these things made this seraphic bride of Christ, the Herald of the Kingdom of the Divine Will. It is precisely the “Divine Will” that forms the center of her mystical experiences and of every page of her writings. Her language is simple and rich with examples, stories and images, often using expressions of her dialect to attract and dispose the soul of one who draws near to plumb the depths of the “Our Father”: “Your Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
When Luisa departed this earth for the house of the Father on March 4, 1947, thousands of pilgrims invaded Corato for three days. Within less than a year Archbishop Reginaldo M. Addazi declared Luisa to be a “Servant of God.” Her remains were transferred to the Parish Sanctuary of Santa Maria Greca on July 3, 1963, thanks to her last official confessor, Fr. Benedetto Calvi. It was not until November 20, 1994, following the “non obstare” of the Holy See, that the Archdiocese of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie, under the guidance of His Excellency Bishop Carmelo Cassati and at the request of the Pious Association of “Luisa Piccarreta P.F.D.V.” in Corato, opened the Cause of Beatification and Canonization. On October 29, 2005, His Excellency Bishop Giovan Battista Pichierri brought to a close the diocesan inquiry into the saintly life of Luisa. Having gathered the appropriate testimonies and documents, the archbishop has now referred the definitive judgment on the holiness of the Servant of God to the Holy Father.
WRITINGS OF THE SERVANT OF GOD
v Diary: 36 volumes of manuscript. They were written from February 28, 1899, to December 1938. The first volume is a spiritual autobiography of the Servant of God. The other 35 volumes narrate her dialogues with the Lord or with the Virgin Mary, having as their theme the “Divine Will” and how it wants to reign among creatures. Jesus himself suggests the title: “Book of Heaven. The recall of the Creature to the Order, to the Place, and to the Purpose for which it was created by God” (Vol. 19 – August 27, 1926).
v The Hours of the Passion. The twenty-four hours of the Passion of Our Lord Christ.
v The Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will.
v Memories of My Childhood
v The Pilgrimage of the Soul in the Divine Will.
v Prayers: The Three Calls; Consecration to the Divine Will; The Seven Sorrows of Mary; The visits to Jesus in the Sacrament; Yearnings for holiness; To Jesus all love.
v Letters: 239 Letters to various recipients; 70 letters to St. Annibale Maria di Francia.

INTRODUCTION

Many of those who read the pages of the “Diary” of the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta, say that they have an inexplicable reaction. Incomprehension and even a sort of repulsion give way to an attraction that is almost enchanting. The soul that is disposed to receive Light is enraptured by the Mystery enclosed in the writings.
Revealing itself gradually, this Light actually gives the soul an interior sense that it has never known before. These writings “leave God within” those who approach them with docility and openness. They have one central point around which everything revolves: the “Divine Will,” or rather the very reality of God which is freely given to the creature as Love that Creates, Redeems, and Sanctifies.
These writings can often appear repetitious, if one isn’t familiar with Jesus’ long discourses in St. John’s Gospel, where repetition helps to convey a progressively deeper understanding. The Writings may seem too simplistic, but only if one forgets the pedagogy of the parables that fill the Gospels. The Writings may also be judged excessively mystical, but only if mysticism is deemed the prerogative of an elect few.
On the contrary, these pages appear so luminous that the reader feels as if he were stripped naked, unable to escape from the sight of an All-Loving God, who begs of us a whole-hearted and free response. God emerges as a Father who is “driven mad” on seeing His creatures still so far from fully exercising their rights as His children. In His turn, the Holy Spirit ardently desires to make Himself the Guide of our daily life, to render it absolutely “normal,” or, rather, “Divine.” To respond to this call – to let oneself be “possessed” by God in everything – is the “Sanctity of sanctities.”
Nevertheless, some passages in these writings could be difficult to understand because of Luisa’s language, which shows her fondness for images rather than theoretical speculations. In this regard we need to remember that a huge theological research project is under way, which will correlate these texts into an appropriate critical commentary. The fact remains that the uncertain or doubtful expressions should never be separated from the whole body of work (in large part still unedited), because there are other places where certain concepts receive a more complete explanation than they did in earlier passages, with the aid of images, comparisons and various shades of meaning. This collection of extracts does not assume this task as its primary objective, but rather aims to highlight Jesus’ own thoughts in regard to holiness as set forth in the Writings of Luisa.
We ought to begin by saying that the life of the Servant of God clearly reflects the Holiness of which she speaks in her Writings. In a certain sense – inasmuch as it is possible for a creature to live this Holiness – Luisa’s life exemplifies it completely. It could be said that Jesus not only wants to speak to us about Holiness, but offers us a concrete fulfillment of it in the life of this woman. Consequently, one can impose a unified interpretation of the life and Writings of Luisa. Indeed, it would not be sufficient to recount the extraordinary circumstances of her life (for example, the nearly 70 years confined to bed without any bedsores) so as to understand the essence of her Sanctity. Rather, this essence is expressed in her daily life by her constant faithfulness and by her complete adherence to the light that shines through her writings. It is in this fidelity that one can discover the root, the sense, and the secret of the heroism of her virtues.
ABBREVIATIONS
GS The pastoral Constitution of the Second Ecumenical Vatican Council on the Church in the modern world, Gaudium et spes.
LG The dogmatic Constitution of the Second Ecumenical Vatican Council on the Church, Lumen gentium.
DH Enchiridion symbolorum, definitiorum et declarationum de rebus fidei e Morum, H. Denzinger- P. Hunerman (edd.), Verlag Herder, Freiburg im B.; ed. Bilingue, A. Lanzoni-G. Zacchrini (edd. ), EDB,
Bologna 1995.

PART I
THE SANCTITY OF LIVING IN THE DIVINE WILL

How does Jesus define Sanctity in the Writings of the Servant of God? It consists quite simply of “living in the Divine Will” – a definition which at once recalls the Johannine “in” of the vine and the branches (Cf. John 15:1 17) and the Pauline “in” of Baptism “into” Christ (Cf. Rom 6:1-11; Col 2:12-13). Living in Christ means to let “Christ grow in us” to the extent that one performs every act, not only for Him and with Him, but in Him (see Ephesians 4: 11-32), or, as we often read in Luisa’s Writings, to “Act Divinely.”
1. The Sanctity of Jesus’ Humanity
Vol. XII – 27 November 1917
To obey I shall start writing again. It appears that my loving Jesus wants to talk about living in His Most Holy Will. When He is talking about His Most Holy Will, He seems to forget everything and makes the soul forget everything: The soul needs nothing but the blessing of living in His Will. That is why, after I had written about His Will on the 20th of November, my sweet Jesus was disappointed with me and told me:
“My daughter, you haven’t said everything. I don’t want anything to be left out of your writing when I speak to you about My Will, not even the smallest little thing – because everything will be needed for the Good of future generations. In all sanctities there have always been Saints who started each kind of sanctity. There was the Saint who started the sanctity of the penitents; another who started the sanctity of obedience; another of humility, and so on with all the other sanctities. Now, I want you to be the beginning of the Sanctity of Living in My Will. My daughter, all the other sanctities involve some self-interest or time-wasting. Take for example a soul who lives wholly bound to obedience: there is a lot of time-wasting: her continuous reciting and repeating distracts her from Me; she puts the virtue in place of Me; and, if she doesn’t have the opportunity to set orders for everything, she feels uneasy. Another one suffers from temptation: O how much time-wasting! She never tires of telling of all her tests and trials, and she puts the virtue of suffering in place of Me, and many times these sanctities go to ruin. But the Sanctity of Living in My Will is free from self-interest and time-wasting; there is no danger that souls will mistake the virtue for Me, because this Living in My Will is I Myself.2
“This was the Sanctity of My Humanity upon earth. That’s why I did everything I did, and for everyone, and without a shadow of self-interest. Self-interest removes the imprint of Divine Sanctity. That’s why one can never be a Sun; at the most, no matter how beautiful one is, one could only be a star. This is why I want the Sanctity of Living in My Will. In these times so sad, this generation needs these Suns to warm it, illuminate it and make it fruitful. The unselfishness of these terrestrial angels, living entirely for the Good of others, without a shadow of self-interest, will open the way in their hearts to receive My Grace.
2. The Sanctity of Mary
Vol. VIII – 5 April 1908
Continuing in my usual state, I found myself outside of my body, inside a garden, where I could see the Queen Mother sitting upon a very high Throne. I was burning with desire to go up and kiss Her hand, and while I was trying to decide whether to go She came to meet me and gave me a big kiss on my face. As I looked at Her, I saw that She had a globe of Light inside of Her, and that within that Light was the word “Fiat.” From this word many different unending seas flowed out: Seas of Virtue, Grace, Magnanimity, Glory, Joy, Beauty, and all that our Queen Mother contains. In this way, all of them were rooted in that “Fiat” and from that “Fiat” all Her blessings began. O “All-Powerful, Fruitful, and Holy Fiat,” who can understand You? I feel dumbstruck. It is so overwhelming that I don’t know what to say – and that is why I have to stop. Then I looked at Her in wonder, and she said to me:
“My daughter, all of My Sanctity flowed out from the word ‘Fiat.’ I didn’t move – not even to breathe, or to take a step, or to do a single action, nothing, nothing – if not from within the Will of God. The Will of God was My life, My food, My everything, and it produced in me such Sanctity, Riches, Glories, and Honors- and not human honors, but Divine Ones. The more the soul is united and unified with the Will of God, the more you can say she is holy and loved by God. And, the more she is loved, the more favored she is, because the life of this soul is nothing but the reproduction of the Will of God; and how can He not love her if she is the same thing as He? That is why you should not look at how much or how little you do, but rather at whether what you do is willed by God, because the Lord looks more at the little actions, if they are done according to His Will, than at the great ones if they are not.”3

3. The Difference between the Sanctity of Living and Doing the Divine Will. False Sanctity.

Vol. XII – 14 August 1917
Finding myself in my usual state, my sweet Jesus came quickly. And as soon as He arrived, He said to me:
“My daughter, I did nothing but give Myself up to the Power of the Will of the Father. So that if I thought, I thought within the mi»d of the Father; if I spoke, I spoke with the Mouth and with the Tongue of the Father; if I worked, I worked with the Hands of the Father. Even when I breathed, I breathed within Him, and everything that l did was done as He desired. That is why I could say that I lived My Life within the Father, and that I was the Agent of the Father, since I was completely enclosed in His Will and I did nothing by Myself. My main purpose was the Will of the Father; consequently, I didn’t care about Myself or about how much they insulted Me and I didn’t let them interrupt My progress. Instead, I flew more and more towards My center. And when I accomplished the Will of the Father in everything, then My natural life ended.
“The same shall be true for you, My daughter. If you put yourself at the Mercy of My Will, you will no longer worry about anything. Even when you feel My absence which so torments and consumes You, if you let this feeling flow in My Will, it will find support, it will find My hidden Kisses, it will find My Life in you, My Life clothed with your own self. In your own heartbeat you will feel Mine, painful and inflamed. And when you can’t see Me, you can feel Me. My Arms hold you tight. How often you have felt Me moving within you, have you felt My refreshing breath, which cools your fervor! You feel all this; and when you try to see Who hugged you, Who breathes on you, and you don’t see Me, I smile at you, I kiss you with the kisses of My Will, and I hide Myself even more deeply within you, to surprise you again, to give you a another push into My Will. So, don’t make Me sad by distressing yourself. Leave it to Me. If the flight of My Will should ever cease in you, you would block My Life within you. But when you are Living in My Will, I do not find any blockage, and l make My Life grow and develop as I wish.”
Now, out of obedience, I want to say a few words on the difference between living in submission to the Divine Will, and Living in the Divine Will.
First, in my poor opinion, living in submission means to submit to the Divine Will in everything, both when things go well and when they go badly. It means to see the Divine Will in everything, to see the Power of the Divine Order which the Divine Will imposes on all creatures, so that not even one hair of our head can fall if the Lord does not want it.
To me it seems to be like a good son who goes wherever his father wants, and suffers whatever his father wants. Rich or poor, it’s not important, he is happy just to be what his father wants him to be. If he receives or asks for an order to go somewhere to carry out some business, he only goes because his father wanted it. But as time goes on, he has to take some refreshment, stop to rest, eat some food, deal with people, so he has to make use of his own will. In spite of having gone because his father wanted it, on many occasions he finds the opportunity to decide for himself. For days or months he can be away from his father, without the will of his father being clearly shown in all things. So, for someone who lives in submission to the Divine Will, it’s almost impossible not to mix in his own will. He will be a good son, but he will not fully exemplify the thoughts, words and life of his father within himself in everything that he does. Since he has to come and go, attend to other people and deal with them, the flow of his love is broken – because only a continuous union makes love grow without interruption. When the current of the will of the father is not in continuous communication with the current of the will of the son, in the intervals the son can get used to doing his own will. Nevertheless, I believe that this is the first step toward Sanctity.
Second: Living in the Divine Will. I would like the hand of my loving Jesus to write this. Ah, He alone could speak about all the Beauty, Goodness and Sanctity of Living in the Divine Will. I am not capable. I have many ideas in my mind, but I lack the words. My Jesus, pour Yourself into my words, and I will say what I can.
Living in the Divine Will means being inseparable from It, doing nothing by oneself, because in the presence of the Divine Will the soul feels incapable of doing anything. She does not ask for orders, nor does she receive them, because she feels incapable of going on by herself. So she says: “If you want me to do this, let us do it together, and if you want me to go, let us go together.” In this way she does everything that her Father does. If the Father thinks, she makes the thoughts of the Father her own, and she does not add one thought to those of her Father. If the Father looks, if He speaks, if He works, if He walks, if He suffers, if He loves, she too looks at what the Father is looking at, she repeats the Words of the Father, she works with the Hands of the Father, she walks with the Feet of the Father, she suffers the same Pains as the Father and she loves with the Love of the Father. She doesn’t live outside of her Father, but inside of Him, so that she is the reflection and the perfect portrait of her Father – unlike those who live only in submission. It is impossible to find this daughter without her Father, nor the Father without her. Not only her exterior, but her whole interior seems to be interwoven with the Father’s Interior, transformed, and completely dissolved in God. O the rapid and sublime flights of this daughter in the Divine Will! This Divine Will is immense; in every instant It circulates within everyone, It gives life to everything, and orders all things. And the soul, soaring in this immensity, flies to everyone, helps everyone, and loves everyone. It is as if Jesus Himself helps and loves – something that cannot be done by a soul who lives in submission.
One who Lives in the Divine Will finds it impossible to do things by herself. Indeed, she feels nauseated by her human actions (even though they are holy) – because in the Divine Will even the smallest things take on a different aspect. They acquire Nobility, Splendor, Divine Holiness, Divine Power and Beauty; they multiply to infinity and in one instant the soul does everything. And after she has done everything, she says: “I have done nothing – Jesus has done it all. And my whole happiness lies in this – that, miserable as I am, Jesus gave me the honor of keeping me in the Divine Will, to let me do what He did.” That is why the enemy cannot bother this daughter, whether she has done well or badly, little or much, because Jesus did everything, and she did it with Jesus. This is the most peaceful soul. She is not subject to anxiety, she loves no one and loves everyone, but in a Divine Way. One can say that she is the repeater of the Life of Jesus, the instrument of His Voice, the beat of His Heart, the sea of His Graces.4
I believe that true Sanctity consists of this alone, and that all other things are mere shadows, larvae, and ghosts of Sanctity. In the Divine Will, Virtues take their place in the Divine Order; while, outside of it, in the human order, they are subject to self-esteem, pride, and strong emotions. O there are so many good works, so many Sacraments received that need to be healed, that they make you weep before God because, being empty of the Divine Will, they can bear no fruit! Would to Heaven that everyone might understand true Sanctity! O how quickly everything else would disappear!
In this way, many find themselves on the false path to Sanctity. Many suppose it to lie in pious practices, and woe to those who try to interfere with them! O how they deceive themselves! If their wills are not united with Jesus and transformed in Him – which is continuous prayer – even with all their pious practices their sanctity is false. And you can see how these souls pass very easily from pious practices to weaknesses, to pleasures, to the sowing of discord, and other things. O how shameful this kind of sanctity is! Others equate Sanctity with going to church and attending all the services, but their will is far from Jesus. And you can see how little concern these souls have for their own duties; and if something gets in their way, they get angry, and their sanctity evaporates. They complain and disobey and are the bane of their own families. O what a bogus sanctity! Others suppose it to lie in frequent confessions, in detailed spiritual direction, and in having scruples about everything. But these same souls have no scruples at all if their will does not flow with the Will of Jesus – and woe to those who contradict them! These souls are like inflated balloons; a little hole is enough to release the air, and their sanctity goes up in smoke and falls to the ground. These poor balloons always have something to say, and they are very inclined to melancholy. They constantly struggle with doubts, and for this reason they would like to have a director all to themselves, one who would advise them, soothe them, and console them in every little thing. But immediately after, they grow more agitated than before. Poor sanctity, how false it becomes! I would like to have the tears of my Jesus to weep together with Him over these false sanctities, and to show the whole world that true Sanctity is found in doing the Divine Will and in Living in the Divine Will.
This Sanctity sinks its roots so deep that there is no danger that it can waver, because it fills Heaven and earth, and takes hold everywhere. This soul stands firm, she is immune to inconstancy or voluntary weaknesses. She attends to her own duties; and she is the most self-sacrificing – detached from everyone and everything, even from spiritual direction. And, since her roots run deep, she shoots up so high that her flowers and fruits bloom in Heaven. She is so hidden within God that the earth sees little or nothing of this soul. The Divine Will keeps her absorbed within Itself. Jesus is the only craftsman, the Life and Form of the Sanctity of this enviable creature. She has nothing of her own, but holds everything in common with Jesus. The Divine Will is her passion; the Will of her Jesus is her distinctive feature, and “FIAT” is her constant motto.
On the other hand, the wretched, bogus sanctity of the “balloons” is subject to continuous inconstancy. And while the balloons of their sanctity swell up so much as to seem to fly high in the sky – to the admiration of many, including their spiritual directors – their admirers are soon disillusioned. One humiliation, one sign of favor by a director to someone else, is enough to deflate these balloons, because they see such things as crimes against themselves, since they consider themselves to be those most in need. And, so, having scruples over silly things, they soon become disobedient. Jealousy forms the woodworm of these balloons. It gnaws away at the good that they do, and keeps sucking the air out of them, so that the poor balloon deflates and falls to the ground, soiling itself with dirt. Then the so-called sanctity concealed in the balloons comes to light – and what do you find? Self-love, resentment and passions, disguised as goodness – to the point where one could say they have become playthings of the devil.
Indeed, all their sanctity is nothing but a mass of defects, disguised as virtues. And, then, what more can one say? Only Jesus knows the worst evils of this false sanctity, of this devout life without any foundation, because it depends on false piety. These false sanctities are spiritual lives without fruit. They are sterile, and cause my beloved Jesus to cry with untold heartbreak. They are disturbers of the community, the anguish of their own directors, and of their families. One can say that they carry about them a malevolent air which harms everyone.
O how very different is the Sanctity of the souls who Live in the Divine Will! They are the smile of Jesus. They live completely detached from everyone, even from their own directors. Jesus alone is everything for them; and that is why no-one worries about them. The benevolent air that surrounds them anoints everyone; and they spread order and harmony to everyone. In His jealous Love for these souls, Jesus becomes actor and Spectator of all that they do – ruling and ordering their every thought, breath, and heartbeat. Jesus keeps them so absorbed in the Divine Will that they can hardly remember that they live in exile.
4. The Sanctity of Sanctities
Vol. XI -15 March 1912
As I continued in my usual state, I felt a great desire to do the most Holy Will of Blessed Jesus, and He, on coming, said to me:
“My daughter, My Will is the Sanctity of sanctities so that the soul who does My Will, no matter how small, ignorant and unknown she may be, leaves all the other saints behind, in spite of their prodigies, their striking conversions and their miracles. Rather, in comparison, the souls who do My Will are queens and the others are at their service.5
“It seems as if these souls who live in My Will do nothing and do everything, because, being in My Will, these souls act Divinely, secretly and in surprising ways, so that they are the Light which illuminates, the wind which purifies, the fire which burns, and the miracles which work miracles. Those who do the miracles are channels; but the power to perform miracles resides in these souls. That is why they are the feet of the missionary, the tongue of the preacher, the strength of the weak, the patience of the sick, the rule of those who govern, the obedience of their subjects, the tolerance of the slandered, the firmness of those who brave dangers, the heroism of the heroes, the courage of the martyrs, the sanctity of the saints, and the same for all the rest. Being in My Will, they contribute to all the blessings that can exist in Heaven and earth.
“This is why I can really say that they are My true hosts, but living hosts, not dead ones, because the events that form the host are not full of life, nor do they influence My Life; but the soul is full of Life and, doing My Will, she influences and contributes to all that I Myself do. This is why these hosts consecrated by My Will are dearer to Me than the sacramental Hosts, and if I have a reason to exist in the sacramental Hosts, it is to form them from My Will.6
“My daughter, I take such delight in My Will that when I hear souls simply talk about it, I feel overjoyed, and I invite all of Heaven to celebrate. Imagine what happens to those souls who actually do My Will; in them I find all My fulfillment, and I give them all fulfillment. Their life is the life of the blessed. They desire and long for the only two things that are close to their hearts – My Will and My Love. They have little to do, yet they do everything. The same Virtues are absorbed in My Will and in My Love, so that they have nothing more to do with them, because My Will contains, possesses and absorbs all things – but in a Divine Way, immense and endless.
This is the Life of the blessed.”7

Vol. XIV – 6 November 1922
When I heard this, I said to him: “My Love and my Life, I’m still not able to convince myself. How is it possible that there has been no saint who always did Your Most Holy Will and who lived in your Will in the manner that You describe?”
And Jesus replied:
“Ah, My child, aren’t you convinced yet that you can only take as much light, grace, variety and virtue as you know about? Of course there have been saints who have always done My Will, but they have taken from My Will only as much as they knew about. They knew that doing My Will was the greatest deed, the one that honored Me the most and which won sanctification. They acted with this intention and this they took, because there is no sanctity without My Will and no goodness or sanctity, great or small, can exist without It.
“You must know that My Will – what was, is and will be – hasn’t changed at all, but, depending on how It shows Itself, It makes people aware of the variety of Its Colors, Effects and Virtues. Indeed, My Will not only shows Itself, but it gives to the soul the range of Its Colors, Virtues, and Effects; if this were not so, what good would it do to reveal them?
“My Will has acted like a prince who has put on show an enormous and sumptuous palace. To one group of people he has shown the way to get to his palace; to a second group he has pointed out the door; to the third he has shown the staircase; to the fourth the first rooms; and to the last group he has opened all the rooms, been a good host, and given them all the good things that the rooms contain. Now, the first group has taken all the good things along the road; the second has taken the good things at the palace entrance (better things than those which were in the road); the third has taken the things from the stairs; the fourth has taken more and better things from the first rooms; and the last group of people has taken the good things from the whole palace.
“This is what My Will has done. It had to show the way, the door, the stairs, the first rooms, to be able to reach the immensity of My Will. There it reveals to them the great Good Things that My Will contains and how the little creature, by working in these Good Things, acquires the variety of the Colors of My Will, Its Immensity, Sanctity and Power, and all My Works. As I unveil each Divine Quality, I give and imprint on the soul the Divine Quality I am revealing. If you only knew the tumultuous waves of Grace that wash over you as I introduce you to New Effects of My Will, you would be crushed under them. Like an expert painter, I paint the Effects and the different Virtues in your soul using the brightest Colors. But since I have compassion for your weakness, I sustain you, and as I sustain you, I imprint more in you than what I say, because if I speak, I act. Therefore, be faithful and attentive … !”

5. Luisa and her Mission
Vol. XXV – 22 March 1929
My poor mind was fixed on the Divine Will, and I was thinking to myself: “How can His Kingdom ever come on earth?” And, later, “How can it come if it is not known?” But while I was thinking this, my ever-loving Jesus, coming out of my interior, said to me:
“My child, in My Work, I make use of people. I do the first part: the foundations and all the body of the Work that I want to do, and then I work through creatures. This is what I did in the Redemption. I worked through the Apostles to reveal and proclaim it and to receive and give the Fruits of the Redemption. And if the Apostles hadn’t wanted to say anything about what I said and did on earth – if they had sealed their lips and refused to take one step, make one sacrifice, or lay down their lives to proclaim the Good News of My coming on earth – they would have made My Redemption die at Its very birth. Then future generations would have remained without the Gospel, without the Sacraments, and without all the Good that My Redemption has done and will do. This was My purpose in calling the Apostles in My last years on earth, to use them to broadcast what I said and did. O if the Apostles had kept silent, they would have been guilty of the loss of so many souls. If they hadn’t known the blessing of Redemption they would have been guilty of causing so much Good to be left undone. But because they did not remain silent and they laid down their lives, they can be called, after Me, the authors and the cause of so many souls being saved and of all the Good Works that have been done in My Church. And they became her first heralds and her unshakable pillars.
“It is Our Divine Way, first to do Our first Act in Our Works and to put in everything necessary and only then to put it in the hands of the people, giving them enough graces to be able to continue what We have done. In this way We reveal Our Works, according to the interest and the good will that people have. And it will be the same with the Kingdom of My Divine Will. I called you as a second mother to Me,8 and just as I did with My Mother in the Kingdom of Redemption, I revealed to you, intimately, the many Secrets of My Divine Fiat, Its great Goodness, and Its Desire to come to reign upon the earth. I can say that I have done everything, and if I called My minister so that you opened yourself to reveal it, My Purpose was so that he could be interested in revealing so great a Blessing. And if those who should take up the task of making this known showed no interest, they would put the Kingdom of My Will at risk of dying at Its birth – they would become guilty for the loss of all the benefits that so Holy a Kingdom can bring. Or they would deserve to be set aside so that I might call others to proclaim and propagate the Knowledge of My Divine Fiat. Until I find someone who is interested and who can bear the responsibility – which is more important than his own life – to reveal his knowledge, the Kingdom of My Divine Will cannot have Its beginning nor Its Life on earth.”
After this, as I continued my abandonment in the “Divine Fiat,” My sublime Jesus added:
“My child, in the Creation it was My “Divine Will” that had free reign and though Our Divinity was with it, because We are inseparable from It. The first Act, the action, all flowed from Our Will. It spoke, and It acted; It spoke, and It set things in order. We were Spectators of all that Our Supreme Will did, with so much Skill, Order and Harmony, so that We felt worthily Glorified and doubly Happy with Our Own Will. Since Creation is the Work of My Supreme Will all the forces of creation and all the Good with which it was enriched remain within It. It is the original Life of all things, and It dearly Loves the Creation – because Its own Life flows in all created things. Indeed, in creating man, My Supreme Will wanted to show off Its Power, Its Love and Its Mastery, and It wanted to enclose in him all the Artistry of the whole Creation. Not only this, but It wanted to surpass Creation, giving man such brushstrokes of Divine Art as to make him a little god; and to spread Itself inside and outside of him, to his right and to his left, over his head and under his feet. I carried him within My Divine Will, as the outpouring of Our Love, and as the triumphant admirer of Its insuperable Skill. That is why it was the Right of My “Divine Fiat” that man Live always and only by Divine Will. What hadn’t I done for him? I called him from nothing, I shaped him, I gave him being; and I gave him a double Life – the life of a man and the Life of My Divine Will – to carry him always clasped in Its Creative Arms, to keep him beautiful, fresh and happy as It had created him. But when man sinned, My “Fiat” felt the Life She carried being torn away from Her Bosom. How great was Her sorrow! She felt the emptiness that this child left in her – the child for whom She had made room in Her own life with so much Love to keep him safe and happy. And don’t you believe that in the Redemption My Divine Will was made flesh to seek out and find man who had become lost? It was really She – because “Verbum” means “Word” and Our Word is the “Fiat,” – and just as in Creation She spoke and created, so in Redemption She willed and incarnated Herself.
“It was Her empty Bosom that reclaimed this child who had broken away with so much cruelty. What more could My Will have done in Redemption? Ah, but She is not yet happy with what She did. She wants to fill the emptiness. She no longer wants to see man disfigured by sin, by his dissimilarity to Her, She wants to see him adorned with the insignia of Creation, adorned with Its Beauty and Sanctity, and She wants him to take his place once more at Her Divine Bosom. This is the meaning of “Fiat Voluntas Tua,” “Thy Will be done on earth as it is in heaven” – that man return into My Divine Will. Only then will She become calm – when She sees her child happy, Living in his own home, enjoying the fullness of his Blessings. And then She will be able to say: ‘My child has come back; he is clothed with his royal robes; he wears his kingly crown; and he Lives his Life with Me. I have given him back the rights that I gave him when I created him. And, so, the disorder in Creation has come to an end – because man has come back into My Divine Will.’”
6. The Life of the Divine Will is the Work of the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier
Vol. XVII – 17 May 1925
When the Confessor heard what I had written about fusing myself in the Divine Will on May 10th, he was not satisfied, and he ordered me to write more about my way of fusing myself in the holy Divine Will.9 So, out of obedience, and for fear that my Jesus might be even slightly disappointed, I shall start writing again.
Now, I will add that as that immense void shows itself to my mind, in fusing myself in the Supreme Will, the little girl starts her round again, and, rising up high, she wants to repay her God for all the Love that He has given to all His creatures in Creation. She wants to honor Him as the Creator of all things. So I travel amongst the stars, and in each spark of light I imprint my “I love you” and “Glory to my Creator.” In every atom of the sun’s light that comes down, I imprint my “I love you” and “glory.” And in all the vastness of the Heavens, in the distance from one step to another, I imprint my “I love You” and “Glory.” In the warbling of the bird and in the beating of its wings I imprint “love and glory to my Creator.” In the blade of grass that sprouts from the earth, in the flower that blossoms, in the fragrance it gives, I imprint “Love” and “Glory.” On the tops of the mountains and in the depths of the valleys, I imprint “Love” and “Glory.” I pass through the heart of every creature, as if I wanted to enclose myself within each one and to cry out within each heart, “I love You” and “Glory to my Creator.” I would like there to be one Will, one harmony among all things, and one cry of “Glory and Love to my Creator.” And then – as if I had joined every thing together so that all might make a response of love and glory for everything that God has done in Creation – I go to His Throne, and I say to Him:
“Supreme Majesty and Creator of all things, this little girl comes into Your Arms to tell You that, in the name of all creatures, all of Creation not only returns Your Love, but also gives You due Glory for the so many things that You create for Love of us. In Your Will, in this immense emptiness, I have travelled everywhere, so that all things can glorify You, love You and bless You. And now that I have linked the Love between Creator and creature, the Love which the human will had broken, and the Glory that all creatures owe You, let Your Will descend upon the earth, that It may bind and strengthen all the links between Creator and creature, and so that all things may return to the original order You established. Hurry, do not delay any longer. Can’t You see how the earth is teeming with evil?
Your Will alone can stop this current and save it – Your renowned and sovereign Will.”[10]
And after this, I feel that my mission is still incomplete. So I descend to the bottom of that void to repay my Jesus for the Work of Redemption. And, as though finding everything He did still in Act, I want to repay Him for all the acts as all creatures should have done while waiting for Him and receiving Him on earth. And, then, as if I wanted to transform myself completely into love for Jesus, I go back to my refrain, and I say: “I love You in Your Act of descending from Heaven, and I imprint my ‘I love You’ in Your conception; ‘I love You’ in the first drop of blood that was formed in Your Humanity; ‘I love You’ in the first beat of Your Heart, so as to imprint all Your Heartbeats with my ‘I love You.’ ‘I love You’ in Your first breath; ‘I love You’ in Your first pains; ‘I love You’ in the first tears You shed at Your Mother’s breast. I want to repay Your Prayers, Your Reparations, Your Offerings, with my ‘I love You.’ Every instant of Your Life I want to seal with my ‘I love You.’ ‘I love You’ at Your Birth. ‘I love You’ in the cold You suffered. ‘I love You’ in each drop of the milk you suckled from Your mother. I want to take the swaddling clothes Your Mother wrapped You in and fill them with my ‘I love You’; I spread my ‘I love You’ over that place where Your Mother laid You in the manger, and where Your most tender limbs felt the hardness of the hay – but, more than the hardness of the hay, the hardness of hearts. I seal my ‘I love You’ on each of Your infant Wails, in all the Tears and Sufferings of Your childhood. I let my ‘I love You’ flow in all the Touches, Contact and Love You had with Your Mother. ‘I love You’ in each Word that You said, in the food that You ate, in the steps that You took, and in the water that You drank. ‘I love You’ in the work that You did with Your hands. ‘I love You’ in all the acts that You did during Your hidden Life. I seal my ‘I love You’ in each one of Your interior acts and in the pains that You suffered. I spread my ‘I love You’ over the roads that You walked, into the air that You breathed, into all the sermons that You gave during Your public Life. My ‘I love You’ flows in the Power of the miracles that You worked, and in the Sacraments that You instituted. In everything, my Jesus, even in the most intimate Fibers of Your Heart, I imprint my ‘I love You’ – for me and for everyone. Your Will makes everything present to me, and I want nothing to be left without the imprint of my ‘I love You.’ As she does not know what else to do for You, Your little Daughter of Your Will feels obliged at least to give You a little ‘I love You’ for everything You have done for me and for everyone. And that is why my ‘I love You’ follows You in all the Pains of Your Passion, in all the spittle, scorn and insults that they gave You. My ‘I love You’ seals each drop of Blood that You shed, each blow that You received, each wound inflicted on Your Body, and each thorn that pierced Your Head. In the bitter pains of the Crucifixion, and in the words You pronounced on the Cross, even in Your last breath, I shall imprint my ‘I love You.” I want to enclose Your whole Life and all Your Acts in my ‘I love You.’ I want You to touch, see, and feel my continuous ‘I love You’ everywhere. My ‘I love You’ will never leave You because Your own Volition is the life of my ‘I love You.’
“But do You know what this little girl wants? She wants the Divine Will, that You loved and did so much during Your whole Life on earth, to make Itself known to all creatures so that all of them might Love and fulfill Your Will on earth as in Heaven. She wants to overwhelm You with love, so that You might give Your Will to all creatures. For pity’s sake, make this poor little one happy, who wants nothing but what You want: That Your Will be known and reign upon the earth.”
Now I believe that obedience will be satisfied to some degree. It is true that I have had to skip over some things – otherwise I would never finish. For me, fusing myself in the Supreme Will is like an inexhaustible fountain that rises up; and each little thing that I hear or see – or even an offense committed against my Jesus – is an occasion for new and different ways to fuse myself in His Most Holy Will. Now, I’ll go back to what my sweet Jesus told me:
“My daughter, it is necessary to add another chapter to what you have written about fusing one’s self in My Will, which is that of fusing one’s self in the order of Grace – in everything that the Sanctifier has done and will do for those being sanctified. This is the Holy Spirit. To be clearer:
“While We are always united in the Three Divine Persons in Our Works, if the Creation concerns the Father, and the Redemption concerns the Son, the “Fiat Voluntas Tua,” “Your Will be done,” shall concern the Holy Spirit. It is precisely in the “Fiat Voluntas Tua” that the Divine Spirit will display His Work. You do this when you come before the Supreme Majesty, and you say:
“I come to give Love in return for everything that the Sanctifier does for those who are to be sanctified. I come to enter into the order of Grace, to be able to give You the Glory and the return of Love, as if everyone had become Saints – and to make reparation for all the opposition and lack of correspondence to Grace.”
“And as much as you can, search in Our Will for the Grace-filled Acts of the Sanctifying Spirit, so as to make your own His Pain, His hidden Groans, His heartbreaking Sighs from the depths of hearts on seeing Himself so unwelcome. And since His First Act is to bring Our Will as the complete act of their Sanctification, on seeing Himself rejected, He groans indescribable Groans. And in your childlike simplicity, you say to Him: “Sanctifying Spirit, I beg and implore You to hurry. Let everyone know Your Will, so that, knowing It, they can Love It and receive Your First Act for their complete Sanctification, which is Your Holy Will.”
“My daughter, We, the Three Divine Persons, are inseparable and distinct, and this is how We want to show Our Works to the human generations: That while We are One among Ourselves, each of Us wants to demonstrate His Love and His Work for creatures in a distinctive way.”[11]

PART II
“YOUR KINGDOM COME”

When a soul Lives in the Divine Will, the Kingdom of God is established in her. This is her Sanctity. What this means and the steps and degrees by which it will be established in souls are explained in the following passage.

7. Man is created in Christ to possess the Kingdom
Vol. XIX – 20 June 1926
After this, I was doing my usual acts in the Supreme Will, and my sweet Jesus, coming out from within me, looked over everything that I was doing. And since He saw that all my acts were united with His and (in virtue of the Supreme Will) followed the same course as His, and repeated the same blessings and gave the same Glory to our Heavenly Father, He was overcome by an intense feeling of Love, and, hugging me close to His Heart, He said to me:
“My child, you Live in the Kingdom of My Will and even though you are little and newly born in My Will, your littleness is My Triumph; and, when I see you working in It, in the Kingdom of My Will I feel like a king who has waged a long war. And since his goal was victory, when he sees himself victorious, he is reassured that the bloody battle, the hardships suffered, and the wounds that he still bears in his body were worth it. His triumph comes from seeing himself surrounded by his conquests. He wants to feast his eyes on everything. He wants to delight in the Kingdom he has conquered; and he smiles and celebrates his triumph.
“I am such a King. In Creation, My Ideal was to form the Kingdom of My Will in My creature’s soul. My Primary Purpose was to make each man the Image of the Divine Trinity by Virtue of the fulfillment of My Will in him. But by man’s withdrawal from My Will, I lost My Kingdom in him, and for 6,000 long years I have had to battle. But no matter how long it has been, I have never given up My Ideal nor My Primary Purpose; nor will I ever give it up. And, when I came to earth in the Redemption, I came to realize My Ideal and My Primary Purpose, which is the Kingdom of My Will in souls. This is so true that, before coming, I formed the first Kingdom of My Will in the Heart of My Immaculate Mother. I would never have come upon the earth outside of My Kingdom. I suffered hardship and pain; I was wounded; and, in the end, I was put to death. But the Kingdom of My Will was not achieved. I laid down the foundations and I made the preparations for it, but the bloody battle between the human will and the Divine Will still continued.
“Now, My little daughter, when I see you at work in the Kingdom of My Will – and as you work the Kingdom establishes Itself more and more in you – I sense Victory in My long battle, and everything around Me takes on an air of Triumph and Delight. My Pains, My Hardships, My Wounds, they all smile at Me, and My own death gives Me back the Life of My Will in you. That is why I feel victorious in Creation and in Redemption. Indeed, they are necessary for the Newborn of My Will to form the lengthy rounds, the rapid flights, and constant walks in the Kingdom of My Will. That is why I delight in My Victory, and in seeing all the steps that My little daughter takes, and the acts that she performs.
“You see, everyone has a dream. And when that dream comes true, they are happy. Even a little baby has a dream – to latch himself on to his mother’s breast. And he cries and sobs until his mother gives him her breast and he stops crying. Then he smiles, quickly latches on and sucks victoriously. He sucks and sucks until he is satisfied; and while he sucks he falls asleep in triumph. I am like that little baby. After crying for a long time, when I see the bosom of a soul who opens her doors to Me to make room for the Kingdom of the Supreme Will, I stop My crying. I quickly latch on, and I nurse on her love and on the Fruits of the Kingdom of My Will. Then I take My sweet sleep; and rest in My Victory.
“Even the little bird has its dream – the seed. And when it sees the seed, it beats its wings hurriedly, it falls upon the seed and, victorious, it pecks it down and then flies off triumphant. I, too, am like that little bird. I fly and fly again, going around and around to form the Kingdom of My Will in the soul until she forms the Seed for Me to nourish Myself with – because I do not feed on any food other than that formed in My Kingdom, And when I see this Celestial Seed – which means so much more to Me than a seed to a bird -I fly to make it My food.
“What is important to everyone is to achieve their chosen ideal. This is why when I see you work in the Kingdom of My will, I see My Ideal realized and I feel repaid for the Work of Creation and Redemption; and I see the Triumph of My Will established in you. So be attentive and make sure that the Victory of your Jesus remains permanent in you.”
After this, my sweet Jesus stirred within me and said to me tenderly:
“My child, tell Me, what is your purpose – your ideal?”
I said: “My love, Jesus, my ideal is to fulfill Your Will, and my sole purpose is to reach the point where none of my thoughts, words, deeds, or heartbeats ever leaves the Kingdom of Your Supreme Will. Rather I want them to be conceived, nurtured and grown to live their life and, if necessary, even their death in Your Will – although I know that in Your Will no act dies but, once born, lives eternally. My only ideal, my first and last goal is that the Kingdom of Your Will breathe in my poor soul.
Jesus, all love and delight, replied:
“My daughter, since My Ideal and yours are totally one, so is our purpose. Good girl, well said, daughter of My Will! And since your ideal and Mine are wholly one, you also have endured a long battle over many years to conquer the Kingdom of My Will. You have had to suffer pains and privation; and you have been a prisoner in your little room, confined in your little bed, to conquer this Kingdom that you and I long for so very much. It has cost both of us so much, and now both of us are victors and conquerors. Indeed, you are also the little queen of the Kingdom of My Will. And even though you are little, you are still a queen, because you are always a daughter of the great King, Our Heavenly Father. Therefore, as conqueror of a great Kingdom, take possession of all Creation, of all Redemption and of all Heaven. All is yours, because wherever My complete and everlasting Will reigns, your rights of ownership extend there. Everyone waits for you – to give you the honors that your victory has duly earned for you.
“You are also the little baby, who has for so long cried and yearned for your Jesus. No sooner did you see Me than you stopped your crying; and, throwing yourself into My Arms, you clung to My Breast, and victoriously nursed on My Will and on My Love. Triumphant, you rested in My Arms. I rocked you in them so that you would sleep longer, and I could enjoy holding My little newborn in My Arms, and, then, in My own Triumph, I extended the Kingdom of My Will in you. You are also the little dove, that flew around and around Me, and as I talked to you about My Will and I explained It to you – Its Benefits and Its Wonders, and even Its Pain – You beat your wings; and you dived down to peck up the many Seeds that I spread before you. You fed on them triumphantly, and you resumed your flight around Me, waiting for Me to layout other Seeds of My Will. And, feeding on them, you nourished yourself, took flight again, and displayed the Kingdom of My Will. That is why My Prerogatives are yours; My Kingdom and yours are one alone. We have suffered together, and it is only just that we enjoy our conquests together.”[12]

8. The Divine Will is the End and the Sacraments are the Means
Vol. XVII-IO June 1924
……. After this, I was absorbed in the Supreme Will, and Jesus continued:
“My daughter, My Will is everything and contains everything. Indeed, It is the beginning, the means and the end of man. This is why, in creating him, I did not give him any law or institute Sacraments, but gave him only My Will, because it is more than enough for him, if he stays within its original precepts, to find all the means he needs to arrive at, not an inferior sanctity, but the very heights of Divine Sanctity and so reach the port of his destination. This shows that man had no need of anything but My Will alone. In My Will, in an easy, marvelous, and surprising way, he should easily have formed everything he needed to make himself happy and holy over time and in Eternity. And if I gave him a law, after centuries and centuries of Creation, it was because man had lost his beginning, and so he had lost the means and the end. Indeed, the law was not the beginning, but the way. But when I saw that man continued to walk toward perdition even with My Law, on coming to earth I instituted the Sacraments as a stronger and more powerful means to save him. But how many abuses, how many profanations they have occasioned! How many use the Law and the very Sacraments to sin more and to cast themselves into the pit of Hell!
“But with My Will alone – which is the origin, the means and the end – the soul places herself in safety, raises herself to Divine Sanctity, and fully achieves the Purpose for which she was created, without the slightest risk that she could offend Me. Thus the safest way is My Will alone, while the Sacraments themselves, if they are not received in agreement with My Will, can serve as a means of condemnation and ruin. This is why I instill My Will so much, because the soul rooted in her beginning will have the means most suitable to her goal and will receive the Fruits that they contain. On the other hand, without My Will the very Sacraments can become the poison that leads her to eternal death.”[13]

Vol. IV – 3 July 1902
While I was in my usual state, I found myself outside of my body, in a Church. Since I could not see my adorable Jesus, I went to knock at a tabernacle door so that He would open for me. When He did not open the door, I dared to open it myself and found my one and only Blessing. How can I describe my happiness? I was in ecstasy, looking at such indescribable beauty. And when Jesus saw me, He threw Himself into my arms and said to me:
“My daughter, each period of My Life receives from man distinct and special acts and degrees of imitation, love, reparation, and other things. But the period of My Eucharistic Life is a life of concealment, of transformation and of continuous consummation. This is so true that I can say that My Love reached culmination, and It wasn’t able to find within My infinite Wisdom any other external signs to demonstrate My Love for man. So in the same way that the Incarnation, the Life and the Passion of the Cross elicit Love, Praise, Thanksgiving, and Imitation, so in the Sacramental Life My Love elicits from man an ecstatic love, a love of losing himself in Me, a love of perfect consummation. And the soul, consuming herself in My own Sacramental Life, can say that she performs before the Divinity the same Offices that I continuously perform before God for the Love of men. And this consummation will transport the soul to Eternal Life.”

9. Living in the Divine Will as One who Possesses It
Vol. XVII -18 September 1924
I was pondering what I had written about living in the Divine Will, and I was praying to Jesus to give me more light to explain this better and to clarify this blessed Living in the Divine Will for those with whom I am obliged to share it. And my sweet Jesus said to me:
“My child, they don’t want to understand that to Live in My Will is to Reign while to do My Will is to submit to My Orders. The former is to possess, the latter is to receive My Orders and to follow them. To Live in My Will is to make It one’s own, to have My Will at one’s disposal. To do My Will is to esteem it as the Will of God, not as one’s own, nor to make use of It as one wishes. To Live in My Will is to Live with one single Will – which is God’s. And because there is but one Will – one that is all Holy, all Pure, and all Peaceful – and because there is but one Will that Reigns, there are no conflicts; everything is Peace. Human passions tremble before this Supreme Will and they would like to flee from It. But they do not dare to move or to oppose It – because they see that Heaven and earth tremble before this Holy Will. The first step to Living in the Divine Will, which lays out the Divine Order, lies in the depths of the soul, emptying it of what is human: habits, passions, inclinations and similar things. On the other hand, to do My Will is to Live with two wills so that when I give orders to follow Mine, the soul feels the weight of her own will which resists It. And even though she faithfully executes the orders of My Will, she feels the weight of her rebellious nature, her passions and her inclinations. And how many Saints, in spite of having reached the highest perfection, feel this will of theirs, that makes war against them, that keeps them oppressed, so that many are forced to cry out: “Who will free me from this body of death, from this will of mine, that wants to destroy the good that I want to do?”[14]
“To Live in My Will is to live as a son. To do My Will is to live as a servant. In the first case, what belongs to the Father belongs to the son, and many times servants make more sacrifices than sons do. It falls to them to take on the hardest and humblest tasks, in hot weather or cold, and to travel on foot, in fact, what haven’t My saints done to carry out the order of My Will? On the other hand, a son stays with his father, takes care of him, cheers him with his kisses and caresses, and gives orders to the servants as his father does; and when he goes out he doesn’t walk but travels in a coach. And while the son possesses all that belongs to his father, the servants are only paid for the work they have done. They remain free to serve their master or not, and if they do not serve, they forfeit their right to receive more pay. On the other hand, nobody can take away the rights which the son has to his father’s goods. No law in Heaven or on earth can annul these rights, just as it cannot cancel the bond between father and son.
“My daughter, Living in My Will is the Life that most closely resembles the Life of the blessed in Heaven. It is as far removed from the life of one who does My Will and who is faithful to My Commands, as Heaven is from earth, a son from a servant, or a king from a subject. Indeed, this is a Gift that I want to give in these times so sad: not only that they do My Will, but that they possess It. Am I not free perhaps to give what I want, when I want, and to whom I want? Isn’t a master free to say to his servant: “Live in my house, eat my food, take my goods, give orders as if you were me?” And so that no-one can keep the servant from taking ownership of the rich man’s goods, he can adopt this servant as his own son, and give him the right of possession. If a rich man can do this, how much more can I do!
“This Living in My Will is the greatest Gift that I want to give to creatures. My Goodness wants to pour itself out in Love more and more towards My creatures; and now that I have given them everything else – and having nothing more to give them so that I might be loved – I want to give them the Gift of My Will, so that possessing It, they shall Love the great Good that they possess.
“And don’t be surprised if you see that they do not understand. To understand, they would have to dispose themselves to make the greatest sacrifice of all – which is to not give life, even in holy things, to their own will. Then they would feel that they possess My Will, and they would really feel what it means to Live in My Will, and you must be attentive, and don’t trouble yourself about the problems that they cause. Little by little I will make headway – so that Living in My Will is understood.”[15]

10. How to Begin to Live in Divine Will
Vol. XXXVI – 6 May 1938
My poor mind is crowded with thoughts about the Divine Will. They seem to be like so many messengers, bringing news of this Most Holy Will. I was surprised at this, and when my sweet Jesus came back to see his little daughter, full of Goodness, He said to me:
“My good child, to enter in to My Will, the way is simple, because your Jesus never teaches difficult things. My Love allows Me to harmonize with human understanding so that creatures can easily do what I teach them and what I want from them. Now, you must know that to enter into My “Fiat,” the essential thing is to want to do so – to constantly yearn to Live in It. The second thing is to take the first step, and once the creature has taken it, My Divine Will surrounds her with Light and with such an allure that she loses the desire to do her own will. As soon as she has taken that first step, she feels in control, and the night of passion, weakness, and misery turns into a day of Divine Strength. Then she feels a great need to take her second step, which then leads to a third step, a fourth, a fifth, and so on.
“These steps are steps of Light, which makes them Beautiful, Happy, and Holy; Light which Illuminates the way and lets them share in the Creator’s Likeness, to the point where she not only feels a great need to Live in My Will, but she feels It as her own Life, which cannot be distinguished from Mine. So you can see how easy it is. But you must want it as much as My Fatherly Goodness wants it. I adorn this will with Grace, Love, and Goodness, and since I want it too, I give it My All and if necessary, I give My own Life to give to her all the means and all the help that she needs (including My Life as her Life), to allow her to Live in My Divine Will. When it is a matter of having a creature Live in My Will, I spare no effort.
“Now, My daughter, Our Love is so great that We establish different degrees and modes of Sanctity and different aspects of Holiness and Beauty to embellish the soul in Our Divine Will. We make each of them different from the others – different in Beauty, Holiness, and Love – all of them beautiful but distinct. Some of them will remain in the Sea of Light, and they will enjoy the Good Things that My Will possesses. Others will remain under the action of My activating Light and these will be the most beautiful ones. In these We will put all Our Creative Art, Our activating Power. We can do what We wish with the creatures who Live in Our Will. They are ready and able to receive Our Creative Power, and We take delight in creating New Beauty, Holiness never seen before, and a Love that We have never given to creatures because they lacked within them the Life, Light and Strength of Our Will to be able to receive that Love. In that soul We shall hear Our Echo and feel the Generative Force that always creates Love, Glory, and the Repetition of Our own Life and Acts. The Life of Our “Fiat” is to generate, and where It Reigns, it generates continuously, without ever stopping. It generates in Us and conserves the Life and the generative Power of the Hoy Trinity. It generates in the creatures where it Reigns and produces Our Likeness, Love, and Holiness. This is why We still have much to do in the work of Creation. We have to reproduce Our Acts, Our Works – which will serve as the most beautiful adornment of Our Heavenly Home.”
11. The Stages of Living in the Will of God which Determine the Different Degrees of Sanctity
Vol. XIX – 26 July 1926
I was in my usual state of abandonment in the Supreme Will, when my ever beloved Jesus came and said to me:
“My daughter, if not everyone enjoys the sun’s light to the same degree, this is not the sun’s fault – because all My Works do good universally, without any exceptions. The fault is on the part of creatures.
“Imagine a person in a room; he does not enjoy all the brightness of the sun; and if he enjoys some of its light, he doesn’t feel its heat. But someone else who is outdoors receives more light and feels the warmth of the sun. The sun’s heat purifies and disinfects the putrid air, and as he enjoys the purified air, he feels invigorated and healthier. So the second person profits more from the sun’s gifts to the earth. But let’s go on and imagine a third person who goes to a place where the sun’s rays beat down on the ground. The man feels the sun’s rays pouring over him and feels himself being burned by its heat. The light is so bright that it fills his eyes and he can hardly look at the ground. One could say that he sees himself transfused with light, and, although he has his feet on the ground, he is hardly aware of it or of himself – he lives only for the sun. Can you see how much these three persons differ from one another? But let us go one step further and imagine a fourth person who soars up into the sun’s rays, and flies into the centre of its sphere. The intensity of the heat at the sun’s core burns the man. The intensity of its light overwhelms him completely, so that he is dispersed and absorbed into the sun itself. This fourth person can no longer look at the earth or think of himself; and if he does look, he will see light, and he will feel fire. So, for him, everything is finished. Light and heat have replaced his life. What a great difference there is between the third man and the fourth! However, this difference does not depend on the sun, but on creatures, according to the degree to which they expose themselves to the light of the sun.
“Now, the sun represents My Will. And My Will surpasses the sun in pouring forth Its Rays to convert everyone who wants to Live in Its Kingdom, in Light and Love. The four persons symbolize the four stages of Living in My Will. We can say that the first one does not Live in Its Kingdom, but only in the Light of My Kingdom, which the Sun of My Will extends to everyone. One could say that he dwells beyond Its boundaries, and, if he enjoys limited light, it is because of the nature of light, which diffuses everywhere. His nature, his weaknesses and his emotions form a kind of house around him, infecting and putrefying the air. And by breathing that putrid air, he becomes sickly and lacks the energy to do good. But he is resigned to all this. He puts up with what life brings him as best he can, because, as little as it may be, the Light of My Will always brings Good.
“The second person symbolizes the soul who has taken his first steps over the boundary into the Kingdom of the Supreme Will. This person not only enjoys more Light; he also feels the heat of the sun so that the air that he breathes is pure; and when he breathes it, he feels his passions die away. He becomes constant in doing Good. He not only bears his crosses with patience, but with love. But, since he has only taken his first steps over the boundary, he looks down at the ground and feels the weight of his human nature. On the other hand, the third person symbolizes the soul who has reached the inner Regions of this Kingdom. There is so much Light that it makes him forget everything – he no longer feels anything of himself. For him, Goodness, the Virtues, and the Crosses all change in nature. The Light eclipses him, transforms him, and lets him only see from afar those things that no longer belong to him.
“The fourth person is the happiest of all, because he represents the soul who not only Lives in My Kingdom, but who has been possessed by It. He is totally, consumed by the Supreme Sun of My Will. And the intensity of the Light is so overwhelming, that he himself becomes Light and Heat, he can see nothing but Light and Fire – and, for him, everything becomes Light and Love. That is why there will be different stages in the Kingdom of My Will according to how many of Its blessings creatures want to receive. But those at the first stage will be pushed and inspired to reach the last stage. And you, then, who must make My Kingdom known, need to Live at the last stage.”

12. Knowledge of the Truth Written about the Divine Will
Vol. XXXV -7 November 1937
My poor mind was crowded with all the Truths that my sweet Jesus has made me write about the Divine Will and I thought to myself: “Who knows when these Truths written about the ‘Divine Fiat’ will come out into the light and what good they will do!” And my Beloved Jesus surprised me with a little visit, and, all Goodness and Tenderness, He said to me:
“My child, for Love for you, I too feel the need to let you know the effect that these Truths will have and the good that they will do. These Truths about My Divine Will shall form the day of My “Fiat” among creatures. According to what they know, so the day shall be formed. As they begin to know the first Truths that I have revealed to you – provided they have good will and are well disposed to making My Will their Life – it will then form a most splendid dawn. But not only this, these Truths will also have the virtue of preparing creatures and giving Light to those many blind creatures who neither know nor Love My Will. When this dawn comes, they will feel surrounded by a heavenly Peace and renewed in Goodness so that they themselves will yearn to understand other Truths which will form the early morning of the Day of My Divine Will. This early morning will increase Light and Love, all things will turn into Good for them, and passions will lose their power to lead them into sin. One could say that this is the first stage of the Divine Goodness that they will experience. This will facilitate all their actions, giving them the strength to allow them to do anything, because this is the Essential Power given to the soul – transforming nature into Goodness. And, having experienced the great blessing of the early morning of the Day of My Will, they will long for the Day to advance, and they will want to know other Truths that will form the late morning. In this late morning they will feel the Life of My Will alive in them. They will feel Its Joy and Happiness, Its Power and Creativity at work in them. They will feel as if they possessed My very Life because they are the bearers of My Divine Will. The late morning will instill in them a tremendous desire to know the other Truths which once understood will form the high noon of the day. At this time the creature will no longer feel lonely, for between her and My Will there will be no more separation. All that the Divine Will does, the soul will do. They will work together. Everything will belong to her by right – Heaven and the earth, and even God Himself. Now you can see the Noble, Divine, and precious Purpose that these Truths will serve – Truths about My Divine Will which I have asked You to write – to form its day. For whom will It form the dawn, the early morning, the late morning, and last but not least the high noon? To the degree that they are known, these Truths will form the various levels of the souls who Live in My Will. The more or less Knowledge they have, the more they will ascend or remain in their levels. Their Knowledge will be the helping hand that will let them advance to the highest levels which will have the same Life as the fullness of My Will in them.
“This is why I can say that I have formed the Day with these Truths for those who want to Live in My Divine Will. This is the Day of Heaven – greater than Creation itself – but not a day of sun and stars because every Truth has the Power of creating Our Life in the creature. O how it excels all creation! And that is why Our Love has transcended all by revealing so many Truths about My Divine Will. Our Glory in creatures will be complete – because they will have Our Life in their power to be able to Love Us and to Glorify Us. As regards making known these Truths, as I have shown Power and Love towards those who were to make them known, so I will instill Power and Love in them and transform them into these very same Truths. In this way, as they feel My Life within them, they will feel a great need to bring into the Light what they feel within themselves. So do not worry. For Me all things are possible – and I will do and take care of everything.”
After this I kept following the Acts of the Divine Will. In them, I found all the works, love, prayers, and sufferings, the pulsating life, the breaths, and all that the Queen of Heaven did on earth, as though She were actually doing these things. I embraced them, kissed them, adored them and offered them to the Father to obtain the Kingdom of the Divine Will on Earth. And my dear Jesus, resuming His talk, added:
“My blessed daughter, those who Live in My Will can enter everywhere and can give Me everything. They can give Me My Heavenly Mama, the Love that She had for Me, and all that She did, as if these things were theirs. They can succeed in duplicating My Life and then for Love of Me give It to Me as if It were theirs. Now you ought to know that just as I revealed to you so many Truths about My Divine Will to form Its Day for creatures, the Queen of Heaven in the same way – through Her love and Her suffering, and Her prayers and Her actions which (seeing as they were all done in My Divine Will) fill Heaven and earth – has formed a comfortable dowry for those who must Live in My Will. She waits with such impatience and desire to bestow It on her children! She is immersed in so much richness of Grace, Love and Sanctity, and yet She cannot find Her children to give it to them because they do not Live in that Will which She Lived in. See, My daughter, in all that She did and suffered it is written: “For My children.” This is why in Loving She calls Her children to receive the dowry of Her Love to let Us know them as Her children and Ours, and to let Us Love them as We Love Her. And in praying She wants to give them Her prayer as Her dowry. In short, She wants to endow them with Her sanctity, with Her sufferings, and with the very Life of Her Son.
“How moving it is to hear and to look at Her when in Her Motherly Heart She holds – as though within a shrine – all Her children. In all Her acts and breaths She calls Her children and says to Our Supreme Being; “All that I am and possess is all for My children. O listen to Me! I feel My heart bursting with Love! Have pity on a Mother who loves and wants to enrich Her children to make them Happy! My Happiness is not complete – I feel it is only half there – because I do not have My children with Me to enjoy it. So please, hurry, let the Divine Will be known, so that they may know the ardent desires of their Mother. O how much I want to enrich them, and make them Happy and Holy.
“Do you think We remain indifferent before this moving scene – before so much burning Love and tenderness from Our Mother who invokes her maternal rights to beseech Us? O no! Because of Her earnestness, many times I reveal other surprising Truths about My FIAT so as to give Her a way to give a larger dowry to Her children – because they will receive according to what they know. That is why you too shall enter into My Divine Will, and with this Heavenly Mother you shall pray and implore that Our Will be known and Reign in all creatures.”

PART III
“ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN”

This last section of Writings highlights what “Living in the Divine Will” does to change a creature’s behavior. We can ask ourselves: “What is the ‘asceticism’ associated with this ‘mysticism’?” Noteworthy in these Writings is that not only is asceticism presupposed by mysticism but it also becomes its natural consequence. This concept is well expressed by St. Paul in his letter to the Colossians: “If, then, you were raised with Christ, seek the things that are above…” (Col. 3:1).

13. At Work in the Divine Will
Vol. XXXI – 6 November 1932
My little mind was filled with my blessed Jesus’ sweet lessons, but it was also troubled. It wanted to stir up doubts and fears within me, although I knew that when Jesus wants to, He makes the soul go where and how He wishes. For Him there are no laws, and He does not allow anyone to dictate laws to Him. Indeed, He pays no heed to human opinions. Rather, He is always making new ones to confuse them. Nor does He let anyone weaken the Power of His Love. No matter how many doubts and difficulties some people create, He makes fun of their concerns, leaves them to their idle chatter, and does what He has to do with the souls He has chosen. Although I knew all this, my weakness brought to mind the painful events of my life, and, shaken, I said to myself: “Who knows what doubts people will have about these words of Jesus?” And I felt greatly troubled and oppressed. But Jesus, who watches over my poor soul, made another little visit; and, full of goodness, He said to me:
“Blessed daughter, don’t worry about a thing. My Will has the Power to make everything that doesn’t belong to It die, and to change the soul’s misery and weakness into a Life of Light. What I tell you It is not through the Power of the creature, but through the Virtue and Power of My Will, which can do all things. My Will is like the rising sun that chases away the darkness, making it disappear and die, giving its life-giving light to all things as it envelops the earth. My Will acts the same way. And when a creature allows herself to be enveloped by the Power of Its Light, the darkness leaves her, her evils die away and are changed into a Life of Light. She who doesn’t understand what this means is illiterate and thus understands neither what My Will is nor what It can do. Nor does she understand the heights one can reach when she Lives in My Will and is enveloped in Its Light. So let them talk. I shall do the Deeds – and they can remain with their words. Without having studied intensely, how can they understand? They may be knowledgeable of other things, but they will always be illiterates in My Will. So let’s leave them and think not about words but about Deeds.
“I want you to know that when the creature works in My Divine Will, her works, her acts, her worship and her love for God are done, formed and enclosed in Eternity, because My Divine Will is eternal, and all that is done in It never leaves Eternity. Everything is always in Act in It forever – in worship and in Divine and perpetual Love. They can be called human acts transfused in God – Deeds in which God Himself has acted. A human does not enter the Divine Will or Eternity, and if he does, he must lose his life to regain the Life and Works of God Himself. That is why We watch over the soul who Lives in Our Will, not in time, but in Eternity, and for Our Dignity and Honor her acts must be Our Acts, and her love must be Our Love. We feel that the creature enters Our Will to give us the possibility of acting and giving her Our Love to allow Us to be Loved with Our own Love. Everything must be Ours, and everything she does must be stamped with her Creator’s Image.
“It is different for the soul who works outside My Divine Will. She works in time; she loves and worships in time, and she is watched in time. But the works that are done in time are works without confirmation. They must wait for the Judgment either to be confirmed or condemned, or to be purified in the fires of Purgatory. One can see that these are the works of creatures – works which can lack the fullness of Sanctity and Love, and the fullness of Infinite Value. It is just the opposite for those who Live and Work in Our Will. Since their acts are Our Acts, they are the fullness of Sanctity, Love, Beauty, Grace, Light and Infinite Value. There is such a difference between one and the other that if everyone understood, O how careful they would be to Live in Our Will, to be emptied of the human act and be filled with the operating act of the Divine Will! So be careful and do nothing that hasn’t been drained and emptied of the human element by the Light of My Will. Then you give Me the great contentment of setting Myself to work and of acting like the God that I am. This is why I always wait for you in My Will – to take a step forward, to come and meet you, to offer you My Arm, to Work in you, to Speak to you and to have sweet conversation with you – and to reveal to you the intimate Secrets of My Supreme Fiat.”
Later, I was thinking about what I had written at the beginning of this charter – about how one who works in the Divine Will works in Eternity, while one who acts outside of the Divine Will works in time – and I thought to myself: “Why is there such a great difference between them?” And my Supreme Love Jesus said to me:
“My daughter, it is easy to understand. Suppose someone gave you a piece of gold from which – by working it – you could make many beautiful gold objects. If instead of gold you were given some copper or iron, you couldn’t change the copper or the iron into gold, so you would make objects of copper or iron. Now compare the iron objects with the gold ones: What is the difference in value? Even if you took the same time to make them and they are similar, the gold objects far surpass the iron ones in value, beauty and quality because of the metal they are made of.
“Now, when a creature acts, even doing something good, with her human will, since she follows her own way in time, one could say that all that she does are temporary acts, subject to a thousand problems. They will always be human works of little value, because they lack the golden thread of the Light of My Will. On the other hand, the soul who works in My Will has this golden thread in her power, and not only this but she also has her own Creator working in her acts. In this way, she will have Eternity in her power, not time. This is the unique difference between the Divine Will and the human will; it is not possible to compare them. This is what it means to Live in My Will. My Will has Its Prime and Operating Act in the soul. It acts like a teacher who wants one of his students to write an essay on a topic that he has assigned. He personally gives his pupil some paper and puts a pen in her hand. Then he puts his own hand on his pupil’s and writes the essay with her. In this way they write together, the teacher and the pupil, hand upon hand.
“Now, wouldn’t you agree that the teacher has worked to put both his knowledge and beautiful handwriting into this essay, so that no one can find any imperfections? But the pupil has not moved away, she has accepted her teacher’s actions. She has allowed her hand to be guided without any resistance. Indeed, she is happy to see her teacher’s beautiful ideas and precious thoughts which enrapture her. So wouldn’t you have to agree that this fortunate disciple possesses the value and merit of her teacher’s work? Indeed, the same is true for the soul who Lives in My Will: she must accept the Act that My Will wants to carry out. She must not set herself apart from It, and My Will must provide what is necessary for Its Divine Act; and Our Goodness is so great that We make her the owner of Our own Acts. Instead for the soul who does not Live in Our Will, it is like when a teacher gives his pupil an essay to write, and doesn’t help her. He leaves his pupil free to write and lets her make her own mistakes according to her own limited ability because she does not sense the skill and the active influence of her teacher above her and within her.
“The essay is simply Our Grace that never leaves the creature, not even in the little good deeds that she does. And Our Grace serves either as the active principle or as an assisting act, depending on the soul’s disposition, because the soul does not do a single good act in which Divine Grace does not help and sustain her.”[16]

14. The Sanctification of Human Actions
Vol. XI -14 August 1912
While I was in my usual state, my ever beloved Jesus told me:
“My daughter, to be able to forget herself, the soul should see that everything she does and all that is necessary for her, is done as if I wanted to do it in her. If she prays, she should say: “It is Jesus who wants to pray and I pray together with Him.” If she has to work: It is Jesus who wants to work, it is Jesus who wants to walk, it is Jesus who wants to eat, who wants to sleep, who wants to get up, who wants to enjoy Himself, and so with everything else in life. Only in this way can the soul forget herself, because not only will she do everything because I want it to be done, but because I Myself want to do it, she needs My Own Self.”
Now, one day I was working and I was thinking to myself: “How can it be that, while I am working, it is Jesus who works in me? Is it really He who wants to do this work?” And Jesus answered:
“It’s really Me. My Fingers are in yours and they are working. My daughter, when I was on earth, did My Hands not lower themselves to work the wood, to hammer the nails, and to help My foster father Joseph in his construction work? And while I was doing this, with these same Hands, with these Fingers, I created souls and called other souls to the next life; I was making all human actions Divine; I was sanctifying them, giving Divine Dignity to each one of them. In the movements of My Fingers I checked all the movements of your fingers and those of others; and if I saw that they were making these movements for Me, or because I wanted to make them within them, I continued My Nazareth-life in them. I felt reassured by them for the Sacrifices and Humiliations of My hidden Life, and I gave them the Merits of My own Life.
“Daughter, men do not appreciate the hidden life that I led in Nazareth, although I could not have done anything better for them than that, except for the Passion. When I lowered Myself to all those little and low acts, to those acts which men do daily, such as eating, sleeping, drinking, working, lighting the fire, sweeping, and so on – all acts that no one can do without – I placed in their hands a Divine Coin of incalculable value. So, if My Passion redeemed them, My hidden Life gave Divine Dignity and Infinite Value to each and every human action, even the most insignificant.
“Look: While you work, working because I want to work, My Fingers flow within yours and, while I work in you, in this very instant, how many souls am I bringing into this world with My Creative Hands? How many others am I calling? How many more am I sanctifying, correcting, chastising and so on? Now, you are with Me in creating, in calling, in correcting and all the rest, so, just as you are not alone, neither am I alone in My work. Could I give you a greater honor?”
But who could describe what I understood, the good that we can do for ourselves and for others by doing things because Jesus wants to do them in us? My mind is getting lost, so I shall stop.[17]

15. Every Act carried out in the Divine Will multiplies the Divine Act Its Life, Its Blessings for the Glory of God and for the Benefit of Humanity
Vol. XIV – 19 May 1922
Then, later on, I was outside of my body, very high up and I met my Celestial Mother, a deceased Archbishop of ours, my parents, and my sweet Jesus who was in the arms of the Bishop. As soon as he saw me, the bishop placed Him in my arms and said to me: “Take Him, my child, and love Him.” Jesus rejoiced in my arms, and said:
“Dearest daughter of My Will, I want to renew the bond of the great Gift of having you Live in My Will. For this I wanted present here, as witnesses, My dear Mother, the Bishop who took part in your instruction[18] when he was on earth, and your parents,[19] so that You can be confirmed in My Will even more, and receive the Blessings of My Will and all that It contains; and so that they can, be the first to receive the Glory of the Good Works of Living in My Will. You are nothing but an atom in My Will, but in this atom I put the full weight of My Will, so that, as you move, the Immense Sea of My Will receives Its motion, the waters become choppy, and, as the waves break, one can feel their freshness and their fragrance, as they overflow for the Good of Heaven and earth. An atom is small and weighs almost nothing, and it is not capable of rousing the whole Immense Sea of My Will, but with the whole weight of My Will in it, It shall be capable of everything, and it will leave Me free to bring forth more Divine Acts from Myself. You shall be like a little pebble cast into a pool which in falling makes the water splash and give off its freshness and fragrance. But the pebble does not contain the weight of My Will, and so it cannot make the pool overflow; but with the weight of My Will your atom can not only overwhelm My Sea, but engulf Heaven and earth.
“With one swallow you will drink down the whole of My Will with all the blessings It contains, and in one breath you will release It again. And in this way My Life and My Blessings will be multiplied every time you drink It down and release It again. The Blessed in Heaven enjoy all the bliss that My Will contains, and Live in It, with It as their center. But they do not multiply It because their virtues are fixed within them. You are more favored than they are; you can multiply My Life, My Will, and My blessings. In them My Will is gratifying; in you It is at work; and I ask for your actions so as to multiply Myself. When you are at work, I am eager to see if you work in My Will, to receive the gratification of seeing Myself multiplied in your action. You must be very careful to pay attention to every detail.”

16. The Rounds in the Divine Will
Vol. XXVIII – April 1930
My poor mind feels compelled to cross the Immense Sea of the Divine Fiat, and goes searching for Its Acts in that Sea to love them, adore them and keep them company. In this way my poor mind remains under the influence of an irresistible force – a force that keeps it continuously wandering, searching for the acts of the Supreme Will. But while I was doing this, I thought: “What good do I do going around and around in the Sea of the Divine Fiat?” And my sweet Jesus said to me:
“My child, each time you go around in the Sea of My Divine Will, you occupy another place in It; and you can form your droplets of light in Our Sea where they dissolve in the Divine Will and become inseparable from It. We feel your love for Us in these little drops which form one, single Life with Us, and We say: “‘The newborn of Our Will loves Us in Our Sea, not outside of it. It is only just that We grant her the right to come into Our Sea as often as she wishes, especially since she wants nothing but what We want. And this is the greatest joy that she can bring Us, as if she were carrying all of Our Divine Will in her little breast, which, flowing out everywhere, immerses her in Its Light.” We enjoy seeing your littleness enclosed in Our Light. And when you feel the irresistible urge to come and make your little rounds in the Sea of Our Fiat, the ruling force of Our Will greatly Loves to see your littleness form droplets of Light in Its Sea. This is what it means to enter into the First Act of Our Will: That the creature take her place and form her little drops in that Sea. So think of your continuous rounds in Our Fiat as a great blessing.”
Then I followed the Acts of the Divine Fiat in Creation, and it seemed to me that everything throbbed with the Creator’s Love for His creatures. The sky, the sun, and the stars; the air, the wind, and the sea; and all created things exist in perfect harmony. Indeed, even though they are distinct among themselves, they live as if fused together. This is so true that wherever the sun shines, the air, the wind, the sea, and the earth co-exist in the same space – but each one has its own distinct pulsation of Love for mankind. But while I was thinking this, my beloved Jesus squeezed me tightly in His Arms and said to me:
“My daughter, Our Love in the Creation was enthusiastic, but always for mankind. In everything We created, We put as many Acts of Love as the number of times creatures would need them. When we see that a creature is about to enjoy the sun-light, Our Divine Fiat – which is the perennial Life of all Creation and keeps it in equilibrium – sends out Our Love in the light the creature receives. If she drinks water, Our Love goes out to her while she drinks to say, ‘I love you;’ if she breathes the air, Our Love tells her again and again: ‘I love You;’ if she walks, the earth under her feet tells her, ‘I love you.’ In everything the soul takes, touches or sees, Our Love joyfully greets her by saying, ‘I love you,’ to give her Our Love.
“But do you know why Our Love is so insistent? It is so that We may receive a loving response from the creature in everything that she does. That is why infinite Love wanted to meet finite love to form but one love – to place the equilibrium of God’s Love in the creature. But the creature uses things without even suspecting that Our Love goes out to greet her – all so that we might hear Our refrain again and again, ‘I love you, I love you’ – instead she makes use of them without giving so much as a thought to the One who gives them to her. And that is why the soul’s love is unbalanced. When she does not experience Our Love, she becomes unstable and disordered in all her acts – having lost the Divine Equilibrium and Loving Strength of her Creator. So be careful when you return Our Love, to make amends to Me for so much coldness from creatures.”
And so I continued my rounds in the Acts of the Divine Will, and I thought to myself: “But what good does it do to make my rounds over and over again in the Supreme Fiat by following Its acts?” And my sweet Jesus added:
“My daughter, every form of life needs food. Without food a person cannot be formed, nor can he grow, and if food is lacking, his very life is endangered. Your following My Will, your uniting with Its Acts, your going round and round in It are necessary to form the Food that nourishes, forms, and grows Its Life in your soul. My Will does not know how to nourish Itself on acts other than those done in Its Will. It cannot form Itself, nor make Itself grow in the creature unless she enters into My Will, unites her acts with Its Acts and forms her part of the Light that It bears. In this way the Life of the Divine Will is formed in the creature. The more acts the creature does in the Divine Will, the more she unites herself with Its Acts and Lives in it, so much more Food will she form to nourish the Divine Will and make It grow quickly in her soul. It is Life which is formed by your rounds in the Divine Will; it is Food that is necessary for the development of the Life of My Divine Will in your soul. These acts are necessary to prepare the food to nourish My Will in others. So be attentive, and do not think of stopping your acts in My Will.”[20]
[21]The sanctity of “Living in” the Divine Will produces this typical way of praying, a way of uniting ourselves intentionally to God through prayer or – as Luisa calls it – of “fusing one’s self.” This is achieved by “making rounds” through the whole reality that God has fashioned: in Creation, Redemption and Sanctification (Cf. text n.6, page 28). Every reality, having come from God by the one unique Act of His Will, carries in itself the very same Love of the Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. The purpose of this “spiritual exercise” is to recognize Him and to respond to Him fittingly in praise, in thanksgiving, and in reparation for man’s ingratitude. The soul gives to God what comes from God, establishing in Him a reciprocity of love which benefits the creature who makes the rounds as well as all the creatures who are “visited” by her.

CONCLUSION

The Sanctity described in these pages helps one to understand the life of Luisa. If her life hints at something extraordinary it is because it reflects outwardly the vast riches of her interior life. And it is this interior wealth that Jesus promises to everyone who desires and conscientiously seeks, in the words of the Our Father, “Thy Will be done on earth as It is in Heaven.” By giving Luisa to us as an example, through the Divine Will, Jesus Himself has asked of each of us “a work in progress,” as He explains in the following passage:
“From a first act flows a series of other acts like the first one. Do you see how much power resides in a first act? My Queen Mama performed her first act in conceiving Me. To conceive Me, the Eternal Word, She enclosed within Herself all the acts of creatures to reciprocate with her Creator to be able to say to Him: “It is I that love You, adore You, and delight You on behalf of everyone.” Then, finding everyone within My Mother – although I was conceived only once – I could give Myself to everyone as the very life of each creature. It is the same for you, My child; in doing your first acts in My Will, other creatures receive the right to enter It and to repeat your acts to receive the same effects that you receive.
“How necessary it is that at least one creature perform the first act, because this serves to open the door and to prepare the raw materials to form the model, to give life to that act. And when the first act has been done, it is easier for others to follow. This happens even in this lowly world. Whoever creates an object for the first time must work harder and sacrifice more, he must prepare all the materials that are necessary and make many tests. And when the first model has been made, not only do others acquire the right to make it, but it is much easier for them to copy it. But all the glory redounds to the one who made the object first, because if it had not been made, similar works could never have existed. So be careful in forming your first acts in My Will, if you want the Kingdom of My Divine Fiat to come to reign on the earth” (Vol. 21, April 18, 1927).

FOOTNOTES

1 LUISA PICCARRETA, The Twenty-four Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, published by the Pious Association Luisa Pirccarreta P.F.D.V., Corato 1997, 12-13.
2 The sanctity described in these pages is the same as that of the most holy humanity of the unique Person of Jesus. In this regard, the Council of Chalcedon in the year 451 defines that: “The one and the same only begotten Son, Christ our Lord, being known in two natures, without confusion, immutable, undivided, inseparable, the difference of their natures not diminished by their union, but rather, the characteristics of each nature being preserved, and cooperating to form one single person and hypostasis; he is not divided or separated into two persons, but is one single and identical son, the only begotten, God, Word, and Lord Jesus Christ, as the prophets once taught and then Jesus Christ Himself, and finally as has been passed down to us by the symbol of the fathers.” (DH 302). The Lateran Council of 649 then adds: “and as of these (Christ Our Lord) we profess two natures united without confusion yet inseparable, so also we profess two wills according to two natures, the Divine and the human, and two natural activities, the Divine and the human, to confirm completely and without omitting the fact that the very same and only one is truly God, perfect in nature, except only for sin, willing and accomplishing together, Divinely and humanly, our salvation.” (DH 500). And it is precisely in the full unity between the two wills, human and Divine, that Jesus accomplishes our Redemption and Sanctification, or rather that we are made holy according to His Will (Cf. 1Thes. 4:3).
3 By announcing the Marian year of 1987 with the encyclical letter Mother of the Redeemer, John Paul II points to the Holiness of Mary as the sublime Gift of God to humanity. In describing the significance of the phrase “full of grace” that the Angel addressed to the Virgin at the Annunciation, he explains: “In the language of the Bible ‘Grace’ signifies a special gift, that according to the New Testament, has its source in the Trinitarian Life of God Himself, of God who is Love (1 John 4:8). The fruit of this Love is the election —– that which is spoke of in the Letter to the Ephesians. On the part of God, this election is the Eternal Will to save man by his participation in God’s very own Life (2 Peter 1:4) in Christ: it is salvation through participation in the Supernatural Life. The effect of this Eternal Gift, this Grace of the election of man on the part of God is like a Seed of Holiness, or like a spring that gushes up in the soul as the Gift of God himself, which by means of the Grace vivifies and sanctifies the elect. […] In the mystery of Christ She [Mary] is already present ‘before the creation of the world,’ as the one whom the Father ‘has chosen’ to be Mother of His Son in the Incarnation, and together with the Father the Son has chosen Her, entrusting Her eternally to the Spirit of Holiness” (n. 8). The Gift of Divine Grace deposited in Mary, therefore, besides forming Her Sanctity, is the source of Holiness for the ‘elect’ – for each one of us. Mary is truly the Mediatrix of Grace. She is the first in whom is realized that participation in the Divine Nature which the Holiness of Living in the Divine Will signifies. The Encyclical states further: “From the very first instant of Her Conception, that is, of Her existence, She [Mary] belongs to Christ; She participates in the salvific and sanctifying Grace and in that Love which has its beginning in the ‘Beloved,’ in the Son of the Eternal Father, and who through the Incarnation has become Her own Son. Therefore, by the Work of the Holy Spirit, in the order of Grace, that is, through participation in the Divine Nature, Mary receives the Life of Him to whom She Herself, in the order of earthly generations, gives Life as Mother.” (n. 10). The “Fiat” of Mary is therefore the first “yes” of a creature to live perpetually in the Divine Grace which fills Her. In this way the Heavenly Mother opens the “way” upon which Luisa sets out to walk.
4 The experience of intimate life with the Lord leads to a gradual assimilation into the Mystery of the Incarnate Word. St. Paul declares it openly when he states: “I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. This life in the flesh I now live by faith in the Son of God, who has loved me and has given Himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20). Also in the lives of the great saints like St. Francis, for example (called an alter Christus), or St. Pio of Pietrelcina, we find the same total adherence to the life of Christ, made visible in the signs of His Passion impressed upon their bodies. Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, a Carmelite (1880-1906) beatified by John Paul II on November 25, 1984, in a well-known prayer asks: “Consuming Fire, Spirit of Love, descend upon me, that You might make of my soul an incarnation of the Word, and that I might be for Him another humanity in which He renews His mystery.”
5 This text needs to be read in light of other passages in which the difference between “doing” and “living in” the Will of God is explained. By means of the image of the servant and the son, it is understood that the Will of God can be seen in different ways (Cf. Text n. 9, page 40). “Doing” the Will of God, is nevertheless a true experience of holiness, or rather, the “first step towards holiness” (Cf. Text n. 3, page 14). Immediately the question arises regarding the Saints: Did they “live in” or simply “do” the Will of God? Jesus declares unequivocally in these passages that he is accomplishing something new in Luisa, something that has never been before. A gift not ad personam but destined for all humanity. It is Jesus who declares it: “This is a gift that I want to make in these times that are so sad: that they not only do My Will but that they possess it” (Cf. Text n. 9, page 40). Already realized in the Person of the Incarnate Word, it seems gradually to reveal itself in the story of mankind. Therefore, all those who have already lived in Christ have already received it, but, in a declarative way, we can say that only today has been made manifest as a “charism.” I believe the passage take from Volume XIV on page 22 will help to clarify it.
6 This expression needs to be read in the context of the Writings and of the thought which emerges from it. The Eucharist is the gift that Jesus has left us to realize the fullness of Communion with Him and among ourselves. The effects which it produces, therefore, are no less Divine than the Eucharist Itself. Without Its Divine Effects in hearts, remaining only a Divine Gift in Itself, does not fulfill the purpose for which Jesus thought of It. It is understandable, then that “the living hosts” would be more “dear” to Him that the “consecrated Hosts.” In fact, the first are the fruit of the second. Also in this regard the passage from Volume IV – July 3, 1902 on page 39 – could be enlightening.
7 The centrality of love as the soul of the vocation to the holiness shows up also in this passage from St. Theresa of the Child Jesus: “Love gives me the key to my vocation. I understood that if the Church had a body, composed of various members, the most necessary, the most noble of all could not be lacking; I understood that the Church had a Heart, and this Heart was burning with love. I understood that only Love gave motion to the members of the Church: that if Love were to be extinguished, the Apostles would no longer proclaim the Gospel, the Martyrs would refuse to pour out their blood…I understood that Love contained in Itself all vocations, that Love was everything, that it embraced all times and all places!… In short, that It is eternal! (…) I had finally found my vocation! My vocation is Love!” (Manuscript B, verse 3).
8 This expression taken in the context of Luisa’s writings could be explained by the Gospel passage regarding the relatives of Jesus: “Here are My mother and My brothers! Whoever fulfils the Will of God, he is brother, sister, and mother to Me.” (Mark 3:34-35; Cf. Mt 12:46-50). The closeness of Luisa to the Virgin Mary is always expressed by virtue of the similarity of their missions and certainly not by way of identification. In fact, if the Mission of Luisa is placed on the level of diffusing the Knowledge of Life in the Divine Will, the Mission of Mary lies at the very origin of this life.
9 Luisa describes her typical way of praying which takes the name “rounds in the Divine Will.” It will be spoken of more extensively in reference to passage n. 15, page 67.
10 This text seems to re-echo the Canticle of the three young men (Dn 3:52-90) and also The Canticle of the Sun of St. Francis of Assisi.
11 One gathers from this text that the proper work of the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, is that of giving the Divine Will to the creature as a complete act. If holiness consists, in fact, in Living in the Divine Will, then the Holy Spirit is the Author of Sanctification. Although His Name is mentioned only a few times by Luisa in the Writings, in comparison to the Father and the Son, His activity is central. If Life in the Divine Will means to Live in the Spirit, because “it is the Spirit that gives Life” (John 6:63), then it is understood that these diaries are a long hymn to the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity.
12 The salvific project carried out by Christ does date back to the fall of Adam and Eve, nor does it end with the historical event of Jesus, but it embraces all of human history which begins with the creation of man and progresses towards the definitive establishment of the Kingdom with His second coming, “when He will come again to judge the living and the dead.” The Second Vatican Council reminds us of this reality in the following wonderful synthesis: “The Church, in helping the world, as it receives much from it, has only one end in view: that the Reign of God come and that the salvation of all humanity be realized. […] In fact, the Word of God, through whom everything was created, became flesh Himself, so that He, the perfect man, could accomplish the salvation of everyone and the universal recapitulation. The Lord is the goal of human history, ‘the focal point of the desires of history and civilization,’ the center of the human race, the joy of every heart, the fullness of their aspirations. He is the One whom the Father raised from the dead, exalted and placed at His right hand, establishing Him as Judge of the living and the dead. Brought to life and gathered in His Spirit, as pilgrims we press on towards the final perfection of human history which corresponds fully to the design of his love: ‘To recapitulate all things in Christ, those on earth and those in the heavens.’ (Eph. 1:10) The Lord Himself says: ‘See, I am coming soon, and I bring with Me the prize in order to repay each one according to his works. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.’ (Apocalypse 22:12-13).” (GS, 45). Man was created to possess the Kingdom; with the gift of the Divine Will he realizes in its fullness that image which God has imprinted upon him.
13 This text could appear to be a devaluation of the Sacraments, but in reality it guards against what is unfortunately an all too frequent trivialization of them. In regard to the Sacraments, the Second Vatican Council reminds us that “armed with salutary means of such abundance and of such greatness, all of the faithful of every state and condition are called by the Lord, each one in his own way, to a holiness, the perfection of which is that of the heavenly Father Himself” (LG, 11). In other words, the Sacraments do not coincide with sanctity. This last remains always the goal, the objective which each one must desire in order to attain. It is for such a noble purpose that the Lord gives us means that are equally noble. The subtle deception lies in maintaining that the Sacraments, their administration or reception, suffice in themselves, almost as a magical act, independently of our will to conform ourselves to the demands of the Kingdom, which the Sacraments initiate in us. The call of this passage, and of so many others like it, is therefore directed towards strengthening our fundamental decision to accomplish the Will of God, to welcome His Reign within us, or at least initially to desire It sincerely. Moreover, in this regard it is good to remember the admonition of St. Paul: “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the blood of the Lord. Each one, therefore, must examine himself and then eat of this bread and drink of this cup; because whoever eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord, eats and drinks to his own condemnation” (1 Cor. 11:27-29). On the other hand, whoever maintains that these means are not necessary in order to reach the goal puts himself above the “Divine pedagogy” which conceived of them for our sanctification. In the same way, one could not attribute to the Servant of God [Luisa] such a conviction. She demonstrates this by the constant way in which she daily drew near to the Eucharist with three hours of thanksgiving and with frequent confession. To what purpose would she have understood and written one thing and practiced another? In conclusion, even the sacraments are born, have life and operate according to the Will of God; and their value derives only from that salvific purpose which they serve and to which they contribute.
14 Cf. Romans 7: 14-25.
15 This passage opens the way to understand the specific message of the writings of Luisa. In fact, “doing the Will of God” is nothing new in the history of spirituality. That which is unheard-of is the invitation by God to “live in His Will,” in such a way that His Will is accomplished in us “as in heaven.” It has to do with the unveiling of that word “as” which is found in the Our Father. The heavenly reciprocity between the creature and the Creator is projected upon earth in the unity between the human will and the Divine Will: The Divine Will operates in the creature and the creature does everything in the Divine Will in a Divine Way. Not ceasing to be what it is, the creature perceives the Divine Will as his own being and acts with this single Will. This certainly is a Gift, rather the Gift of all gifts: not only to do what God commands, but to do it with His own Divine Will, acting “in a Divine Way.” One realizes by Grace, not by merit or by virtue, a continuous exchange in ourselves between our will and the Will of God, in such a way that the latter Reign., in us and fulfills the primordial design upon man – the “image and likeness” of God. The Second Vatican Council reminds us in fact that “the ultimate vocation of man is really only one – to become Divine” (GS, 22).
16 God created man with a free will, and He preserves us in freedom. However, even if it perceives the call to return to its original relationship with the Creator, our will, is not constrained to turn to Him. The Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes explains: “True freedom, instead, is in man as privileged sign of the Divine image. God wants, in fact, to leave man ‘in the hand of his counsel’ so that he seeks his Creator spontaneously and comes to Him freely so that by adhering to Him he may arrive at full and blessed perfection. Therefore, the dignity of man requires that he act according to conscious and free choices, moved and determined by personal convictions and not by a blind, instinctive impulse or by mere external coercion. Man arrives at such dignity when, freeing himself of all slavery to passion, he tends towards his goal by means of the free choice for good and procures from it the appropriate means with his diligent initiative. This ordering towards God, the freedom of man, truly wounded by sin, cannot be achieved effectively if not by means of Divine Grace.” (n. 17). How Divine Grace operates in us we can better understand from a text of the Council of Trent: “The same Jesus Christ, as the head with the members (Cf. Ephesians 4:15) and the vine with the branches (Cf. John 5:15), imparts continuously his virtue to those who are righteous, virtue which always precedes, accompanies and follows their good works, and without which they could never for any reason be pleasing to God nor be meritorious. For this reason, one must believe that nothing else could be lacking to these righteous ones, because it can be maintained that with the acts accomplished in God, these have fully satisfied the Divine law, inasmuch as it is possible in this life, truly worthy to obtain at its time eternal life (provided that they die in a state of grace Cf. Revelation 14:13). Our Lord Jesus Christ says, in fact: ‘Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him, will never thirst again; rather, the water that I shall give him shall spring up for him as a fountain welling up to eternal life’ (John 4:14). In this way, we cannot exalt our own righteousness as if it came from ourselves (2 Cor. 3:5), nor can we ignore or refute the justice of God (Romans 10:3). In fact, that righteousness which we call ours because it pertains to us and thus justifies us, belongs to God Himself, because it is infused into us by God through the merits of Christ” (DH 1546-1547). We cannot help but discover the same balanced and respectful inter-weavings of the human will and the Divine Will also in this passage from Luisa’s Writings.
17 Living in the Divine Will in a certain way “divinizes” man’s thought and action. The reason for this resides precisely in the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God. And again the Second Vatican Council serves to guide us: “Christ, who is the new Adam, revealing in Himself the mystery of the Father and His love, also reveals man fully to himself and shows him his highest vocation. […] He is ‘the image of the invisible God’ (Col. 1:15) and the perfect man who has restored to the children of Adam the likeness of God, deformed already early in the beginning because of sin. Since the human nature was assumed by Christ—without whose coming it would have been destroyed—by this very coming it has been lifted up to a sublime dignity. With the Incarnation, the Son of God is united in a certain way with every man. He worked with human hands, He thought with a man’s mind, He acted with a man’s will, and He loved with a man’s heart. Being born of the Virgin Mary, He became truly one of us, like us in all things but sin. The innocent Lamb, freely shedding His blood, has merited life for us; in Him God has reconciled us with Himself and among ourselves and has delivered us from the slavery of the devil and of sin; thus each one of us can with the Apostle: the Son of God ‘has loved me and sacrificed himself for me’ (Gal. 2:20)” (GS, 22). We should note that the assuming of our nature on the part of the Word has preserved the secular character of human life. In other words, the “divinization” does not relieve us of our temporal obligations, but rather exalts their importance, since they were lived by Jesus Christ. In this regard, one should not forget that the Servant of God always remained in the lay state, doing her daily work of embroidery, to the extent that her health permitted.
18 This could refer to His Excellency Mons. Domenico Maringelli, Archbishop of Trani from 1893 to 1898, who appointed Luisa’s first official confessor, Don Michele De Benedictis, in 1894. Or it could refer to His Excellency Mons. Tommaso De Stefano, Archbishop of Trani from 189 to 1906, who appointed Don Gennaro De Gennaro as official confessor to the Servant of God at the death of Don Michele 1898.
19 Vito Nicola Piccarreta and Rosa Tarantini both died in 1907.
20 The Council Fathers describe the Church-communion as a unity among the faithful pilgrims on earth and the faithful departed, either in Purgatory or in the beatific vision. Among all, however, a mysterious bond of love is established. “In fact, all of those who belong to Christ, having the Holy Spirit, form one single Church and are united among themselves in Him (Cf. Eph. 4:16). The union therefore of those who are still on the way with those who have departed in the peace of Christ is not broken in the least. Rather, according to the perennial faith of the Church, it is consolidated in the exchange of spiritual goods” (LG, 49). In the text of Luisa cited above we have a description of the benefits that the soul, immersed in the Divine Will on earth, brings to her brothers in Heaven, putting into circulation that Divine Grace which God pours into our hearts through Christ. It is therefore not only the intercession of the saints which hastens our journey to holiness, but also our own holy life in the Divine Will which increases their accidental glory in God.

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