On this day in 1898 Pope Leo XIII granted that the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass could be Offered in Luisa’s room.  Information is from the Book The Sun of My Will – Luisa Piccarreta – by Maria Rosaria Del Genio.  That book was Published by the Vatican Library after Luisa’s death.  Luisa became the first person who was not yet declared either a Saint or Blessed to have a Book concerning her life published by the Vatican Library.

1947 – Funeral Liturgy and Burial of Luisa Piccarreta
Biography by Padre Bucci, OFM

     “More than forty priests, the Capitolo [the Ecclesiastical authorities] and the local Clergy, were present; the sisters, who brought her on their shoulders in turns, and an immense crowd of citizens. The streets along which the procession was to pass, were packed – incredibly; even the balconies and the roofs of the houses were crammed with people, and the procession proceeded with great difficulty. The funeral was celebrated in the Matrice Church by the entire Capitolo. All the people of Corato followed the body of Luisa to the cemetery, and everyone tried to bring home a souvneir of the flowers which had accompanied and touched the body. A few years later, the body of Luisa was transferred to her Parish Church of Santa Maria Greca, where she is humbly waiting for her glorification.”

 St. Mary Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament
was born the following year on August 25, 1905

+St. Faustina died in the odor of Sanctity the evening of October 5, 1938

Poland, the birthplace of the Divine Mercy message, and also of Saint John Paul II (Mary’s “Masterpiece” in a message of the Blessed Mother’s to Fr. Gobbie), points to a more positive sign of the times—the gradual reconciliation of the Eastern and Western Churches. The period between Luisa’s death and the opening of her cause for beatification coincided with a grace-filled movement toward reconciliation between the Church of Rome and the ancient Churches of the East, especially the Orthodox Church. Luisa’s Cause was opened during the Pontificate and approval of Saint John Paul II.

As a meeting place for the Latin Rite Catholics of the West, and the Orthodox and Byzantine Catholics of the East, Poland gave to the world the devotion to the Divine Mercy that combined the Trisagion prayer of the Byzantine liturgy “Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, Have mercy on us and on the whole world” (Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostrom), with the use of the Rosary. Luisa is also connected to this same prayer, which the Priest would say while at the same time making the sign of the Cross on her hand to command her soul to return to her body. This connection between Luisa and Poland, the home of Saint John Paul II, is made even more clear by the date of Luisa’s death on March 4, 1947—the Feast Day of St. Casimir of Poland.

St. Casimir of Poland—Feast Day March 4th. He was third of the 13 children of King Casimir IV of Poland and Elizabeth of Austria, daughter of Emperor II of Germany. He was born at the royal palace in Cracow on October 3rd. Many miracles were reported at his tomb, and he was canonized by Pope Adrian VI in 1522. He is the Patron of Poland and Lithuania.

As Cardinal Archbishop of Cracow, Wojtyla ordered a theological review of St. Faustina’s diaries, which had been condemned by the Holy See. As a result of the inquiry, the prohibition against the spread of her writings was removed. Six months later, Wojtyla was elected to the Chair of Peter. As Saint John Paul II, he published one of his first encyclicals on the Mercy of God, and acknowledged the importance of Blessed Faustina and her writings by beatifying her on the Feast of Divine Mercy. The beatification of Saint Faustina attracted new interest in the prophetic content of her diaries, which predicted the Second Coming of Jesus.

Little Daughter of the Divine Will, Luisa Piccarreta

Volume 6; April 16, 1904
Jesus and God the Father speak about Mercy.

     Continuing in my usual state, I (Luisa) found myself outside of myself, and I saw a multitude of people, and in their midst one could hear noises of bombs and gun shots.  People were dropping dead or wounded, and those who were left would flee up to a building nearby; but the enemies would go up there and kill them, more surely than those who remained outside.  So I said to myself:  “How I wish I could see whether the Lord is there in the midst of these people, so as to say to Him:  ‘Have Mercy – Pity on these poor people!’”  So I made my Round and made my Round and I saw Him as a little Child; but little by little He kept growing, until He reached the perfect age.  I drew near Him and I said:  “Amiable Lord, don’t You see the tragedy that is happening?  You don’t want to make use of Mercy any more?  Do You perhaps want to keep this attribute as useless, that has always Glorified Your Incarnate Divinity with So Much Honor, forming a Special Crown on Your august Head, and Bejeweling You with a second crown, so Wanted and Loved by You – which are the souls?”
Now, while I was saying this, He (Jesus) told me:  “Enough, enough, do not go any further; you want to speak of Mercy, and what about Justice – what are we going to do with It?  I have told you and I repeat to you:  ‘It is necessary that Justice follow Its course’.”  So I replied:  “There is no remedy – why then leave me on this earth when I can no longer placate You and suffer in the place of my neighbor?  Since it is so, it is better if You let me die.”  At that moment I saw another Person behind the shoulders of Blessed Jesus, and He told me, almost making a sign with His Eyes:  “Present yourself to My Father and see what He tells you.”  I presented myself, all trembling, and as soon as He saw me, He (God the Father) told me:  “Why have you come to Me?”  And I:  “Adorable Goodness, Infinite Mercy, knowing that You are Mercy Itself, I have come to ask for Your Mercy – Mercy on Your very images, Mercy on the works Created by You; Mercy upon no other but Your creatures themselves.”…  

Book of Heaven
3/25/08 – Vol. 8

Continuing in my usual state, blessed Jesus came for just a little and told me: “Daughter, temptations can be conquered easily, because the devil is the most cowardly creature that can exist, and a contrary act, a contempt, a prayer, are enough to make him flee. In fact, these acts render him even more cowardly than he is, and in order not to bear that confusion, as soon as he sees the soul resolute in not wanting to pay attention to his cowardice, he flees terrified.

Now, if the soul cannot easily free herself, it means that it is not only a temptation, but a passion rooted within the soul, which tyrannizes her together with the temptation. Therefore, she is unable to free herself; and where there is passion, the devil has more strength to make fun of the soul.”

THE LAST WORDS OF LUISA PICCARRETA, HER SPIRITUAL TESTIMONY
March 4, 1947

“Now I die with greater contentment, because the Divine Will has Consoled me more than usual with Its Presence in these last few moments of my life. Now I see a Long, Beautiful and Spacious Road, all Illuminated by an Infinite number of Resplendent Suns – Oh, yes, I recognize them! They are all my Acts done in the Divine Will! This is the Road that I Must Now take; it is the Road that the Divine Will has Prepared for me. It’s the Road of my Victory: it’s the Way of my Glory, which will Unite me with the Immense Happiness of the Divine Will. It’s my Road; it’s the Road that I have Prepared for you. It’s the Road that I will keep Reserved for all the souls who will ever want to Live in the Divine Will.”

Little Daughter of the Divine Will, Luisa Piccarreta 

Book of Heaven; Luisa’s Prayer at the beginning of Volume 11;“Good Morning to Jesus”
Jesus, Jesus, may our will be one; one our love, one our contentment.  Never leave me alone, for I am a nothing, and the nothing cannot be without the All.  Do You promise me, O Jesus?  It seems that You say Yes.  And now Bless me – Bless all; and in the company of the Angels, of the Saints, of the sweet Mama and of all creatures, I say to You:  ‘Good morning, O Jesus, Good morning….’

The final words of the Decree issued in 1966 by Major Archbishop Cardinal Joseph of the Ukrainian Catholic Bishops on the occasion of the relaxation of all fasts in the whole Catholic Church that came about after the Second Vatican Council:

… “Let all faithful Christians remember that the Christian spirit scarcely dwells, if at all, in the family where prayer has become silent, the practice of fasting has disappeared, and even the memory of it is forgotten.  Therefore, let the relaxed fast increase our zeal in prayer, meditation, and participation in divine services, almsgiving, labor, frequent Confessions and Holy Communions.”  (Blahovisnyk, Year II, Bk. 2-4)

From the Nine Excesses of Love in Volume One:

EIGHTH EXCESS OF LOVE
Supplicating Love

“My daughter (Luisa), do not leave Me (Jesus) alone; place your head upon the womb of my dear Mama, for even from the outside you will hear my moans, my supplications.  In seeing that neither my moans nor my supplications move the creature to compassion for my love, I assume the attitude of the poorest of beggars; and stretching out my tiny little hand, I ask – for pity’s sake, at least as alms – for their souls, their affections and their hearts.  My love wanted to win the heart of man at any cost; and in seeing that after seven excesses of my love, he was reluctant, he played deaf, he did not care about Me, nor did he want to give himself to Me, my love wanted to push itself further.  It should have stopped; but – no, it wanted to overflow even more from within its boundaries, and even from the womb of my Mama it made my voice reach every heart – and with the most insinuating manners, with the most fervent pleas, with the most penetrating words.  And do you know what I said to him?  ‘My child, give Me (Jesus) your heart; I will give you everything you want, provided that you give Me your heart in exchange.  I have descended from Heaven to make a prey of it.  O please! do not deny it to Me!  Do not delude my hopes!’  And in seeing him reluctant – even more, many turned their backs to Me – I passed on to moans; I joined my tiny little hands and, crying, with voice suffocated by sobs, I added:  ‘Ahh! Ahh! I (Jesus) am the little beggar; not even as alms do you want to give Me your heart?  Is this not a greater excess of my love – that the Creator, in order to approach the creature, takes the form of a little baby so as not to strike fear in him, and that He asks for the heart of the creature, at least as alms, and in seeing that he does not want to give it, He supplicates, moans and cries?”

Then I heard Him say to me:  “And you, don’t you want to give Me (Jesus) your heart?  Perhaps you too want Me to moan, beg and cry for you to give Me your heart?  Do you want to deny Me (Jesus) the alms that I ask of you?”  And as He was saying this I heard Him as though sobbing, and I:  ‘My Jesus, do not cry, I give You my heart and all of myself.’  Then, the interior voice continued:  “Move further, and pass on to the ninth excess of my love.”