Category Archives: Archives (past posts by Month)

A list of all past posts by Month

1/5 The Tree of Life, rooted in the Heart of Jesus.

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Book of Heaven
11/5/02 – Vol. 4

Mulberry Tree at  Torre Disperata
Luisa used to hide in its trunk when she was little in order to pray, unnoticed

      Nicola Piccarreta, Luisa’s father, was a worker on a farm that belonged to the Mastrorilli family. Luisa spent many years of her childhood and adolescence on that farm located at the middle of Via delle Murge in a neighborhood called Torre Disperata, 27 kilometers from Corato.
     In front of the old house on that farm, this impressive, centuries-old mulberry tree still stands, with the great hollow in its trunk where Luisa used to hide when she was little in order to pray, far from prying eyes.   

Book of Heaven
11/5/02 – Vol. 4

This morning my adorable Jesus made Himself seen in my interior, and He seemed to have a tree planted in His Heart, and so rooted into It, that its roots arose from the center of His Heart. In sum, it seemed to be born together with It, with the same nature. I was amazed at seeing its beauty, strikingness and height, which seemed to touch the heavens; and its branches extended out to the farthest ends of the world. Now, on seeing me so amazed, blessed Jesus told me: “My daughter, this Tree was conceived together with Me, in the center of my Heart, and from that moment I felt in my inmost Heart all the good and the evil that man would do with this Tree of Redemption, called ‘Tree of Life’. In fact, all those souls who remain united to this Tree will receive the life of grace in time, and when the Tree has raised them well, It will administer to them the life of glory in eternity. Yet, what is not my sorrow? Even though they cannot root out the Tree, nor can they touch the trunk, many try to cut some branches so that souls may not receive life, and to take away from Me all the glory and the pleasure that this Tree of Life would have produced for Me.” While saying this, He disappeared.

Luisa with the Tree of Life

11/10 Effects of meditating continuously on the Passion.

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Book of Heaven
11/9/06 – Vol. 7

Finding myself in my usual state, I was thinking about the Passion of Our Lord; and while I was doing this, He came and told me: “My daughter, one who meditates continuously on my Passion and feels sorrow for it and compassion for Me, pleases Me so much that I feel as though comforted for all that I suffered in the course of my Passion; and by always meditating on it, the soul arrives at preparing a continuous food. In this food there are many different spices and flavors, which form different effects. So, if in the course of my Passion they gave Me ropes and chains to tie Me, the soul releases Me and gives Me freedom. They despised Me, spat on Me, and dishonored Me; she appreciates Me, cleans Me of that spittle, and honors Me. They stripped Me and scourged Me; she heals Me and clothes Me. They crowned Me with thorns, mocking Me as king, embittered my mouth with bile, and crucified Me; while the soul, meditating on all my pains, crowns Me with glory and honors Me as her king, fills my mouth with sweetness, giving Me the most delicious food, which is the memory of my own works; and unnailing Me from the Cross, she makes Me rise again in her heart. And every time she does so, I give her a new life of grace as recompense. She is my food, and I become her continuous food. So, the thing that pleases Me the most is meditating continuously on my Passion.”

11/7 How all the Truths written about the Divine Will will form the Day for those who will Live in It.

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Book of Heaven
11/7/37 – Vol. 35

I felt my poor mind as though crowded by so many Truths that Jesus made me write about the Divine Will; and I was thinking to myself:  “Who knows when these Truths on the Divine Fiat will come to Light, and what Good they will produce?” 

My sweet Jesus, surprising me with His little visit, all Goodness and Tenderness told me:  “My daughter, I too feel the Love-need of making you see the Order that these Truths will have and the Good they will produce.

“These Truths on My Divine Will will form the Day of My Fiat in the midst of the creatures.  According to their knowledge, this day will be rising.  So, as they begin to know the first Truths that I have Manifested to you, a Most Splendid Dawn will arise—provided that they will have good will and the disposition to make their own life of these Truths.  However, these Truths will also have the virtue of disposing the creatures, and of giving the Light to many blind who don’t know My Will or love It.

“Then, once the Dawn is risen, they will feel invested by a Celestial Peace, and more strengthened in the Good.  They, themselves, will yearn to know more Truths, which will form the beginning of the Day of My Divine Will.  This beginning of the Day will increase the Light and the Love; all things will turn into Good for the creatures; passions will lose the power to make them fall into sin.  One can say that they will feel the first Order of the Divine Good, which will facilitate their actions for them.  They will feel a Strength with which they can do everything, since its Primary Virtue is exactly this:  to inject in the soul a Transformation of her nature in Good.  So, feeling the Great Good of the beginning of the Day, they will long for the Day to advance.  They will then know more Truths that will form the Full Day.

“In this Full Day they will vividly feel the Life of My Will within themselves—Its Joy and Happiness, Its Operative and Creative Virtue within them.  They will feel the possession of My very Life, becoming the bearers of My Divine Will.  The Full Day will provoke in them so much yearning to know more Truths that, once known, they will form the Full Afternoon.  In this, the creature will no longer feel alone:  between her and My Will there will be no more separation.  What My Will will do, she will do as well—Operating together.  All will be her own by right—Heaven, earth, and God Himself.

“Do you see then, how noble, Divine and precious will be the scope of these Truths that I made you write on My Divine Will in order to form the Day of the creature?  For some they will form the Dawn; for some the beginning of the Day; for some others the Full Day and, lastly, the Full Afternoon.  These Truths will form, according to their knowledge, the different categories of the souls who will Live in My Will.  One Knowledge more, or one less, will make them rise or stay in the different categories. Knowledge will be the hand to boost them up to the higher categories—it will be the very Life of the Fullness of My Will within them.  Therefore, I can say that with these Truths I formed the Day for whoever wants to Live in My Divine Will—a Day of Heaven, greater than Creation itself; not of sun or stars, because each Truth has the Virtue of Creating Our Life in the creature.  O, how this surpasses the whole of Creation!  Our Love surpassed everything in Manifesting so many Truths on My Divine Will.  Our Glory, on the part of the creatures, will be Full, because they will possess Our Life to Glorify Us and to Love Us.

“As far as the emerging of these Truths goes, just as I had the Power and the Love to assist the one to whom I had to Manifest Them, in the same way I will have Power and Love to Invest the creatures, and Transform them into these very Truths.  And feeling Their Life, they will also feel a great need to give to the Light what They feel within Themselves.  Therefore, don’t get worried.  I, who can do all, will do all and take care of all.” . . .

11/6 The good that the Hours of the Passion produce for Jesus and for the soul who does them.

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Jesus’ voice led the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta to detachment from herself and from everyone. At about eighteen, from the balcony of her house in Via Nazario Sauro, she had a vision of Jesus suffering under the weight of the Cross, who raised his eyes to her saying: “O soul, help Me!“ From that moment an insatiable longing to suffer for Jesus and for the salvation of souls was enkindled in Luisa.  

 Balcony of Luisa’s home at Via Nazario Sauro
now named Via Luisa Piccarreta
The Pious Association Luisa Piccarreta
is now located in Luisa’s former home on Via Luisa Piccarreta

***

Book of Heaven
11/6/14 – Vol. 11

The good that the Hours of the Passion produce for Jesus and for the soul who does them.

As I continued the usual Hours of the Passion, my adorable Jesus told me: “My daughter, the world is in continuous act of renewing my Passion; and since my Immensity envelopes everything, inside and outside the creatures, I am forced to receive from their contact nails, thorns, scourges, scorns, spits and all the rest which I suffered in the Passion – and still more. Now, at the contact with souls who do these Hours of my Passion I feel the nails being removed, the thorns shattered, the wounds soothed, the spits taken away. I feel compensated by good for the evil that others do to Me. Feeling that their contact does not do harm to Me, but good, I lean more and more on them.”

Furthermore, returning to speak about these Hours of the Passion, blessed Jesus said: “My daughter, know that by doing these Hours the soul takes my thoughts and makes them her own; she takes my reparations, my prayers, desires, affections, and even my most intimate fibers and makes them her own. So, rising up between Heaven and earth, she does my same office, and as co-redemptrix, she says to Me: ‘Ecce ego, mitte me [Here I am, send me]. I want to repair for all, answer to You for all, and plead good for all.’”

11/2 All Souls Day – the Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed

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Passages from
The Twenty-four Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Our Lord Jesus Christ
To the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta the Little Daughter of the Divine Will:

Third Hour – Reflections and Practices

The first word which loving Jesus pronounced on the Cross was a word of forgiveness, to justify all souls before the Father, and turn justice into mercy.  So we will give Him our acts to excuse the sinner, so that, moved by our apologies, He may not allow any soul to go to hell.  We will unite with Him as sentries of the hearts of creatures, so that nobody may offend Him.  We will let Him pour out His love, willingly accepting all that He may dispose for us – coldness, hardness, darkness, oppressions, temptations, distractions, slanders, illnesses and other things, so as to relieve Him from all that He receives from creatures.  It is not by love alone that Jesus pours Himself out to souls.  Many times, when He feels the coldness of other creatures, He goes to the soul and makes her feel His cold, to release Himself through her.  And if the soul accepts it, He will feel relieved from all the coldness of creatures, and this cold will be the sentry to someone else’s heart, to make loving Jesus loved.

Other times, Jesus feels the hardness of hearts in His own, and unable to contain it, He wants to pour Himself out, and comes to us.  He touches our hearts with His Heart, making us share in His pain.  Making His pain our own, we will place it around the heart of the sinner in order to melt his hardness, and take him back to Him.

My beloved Good, (Jesus), You suffer greatly because of the loss of souls; and out of compassion I place my being at your disposal.  I will take your pains and the pains of the sinners upon myself, leaving You relieved, and the sinner clinging to You.

O my Jesus, please, let my whole being be melted in love, so that I may be of continuous relief, to soothe all Your bitternesses.

Seventh Hour

And now, O Mama, let us take this Blood (Jesus has shed in the Garden of Gethsemani) and let us give It to all:  to the afflicted, that they may receive comfort; to the poor, that they may suffer resigned to their poverty; to those who are tempted, that they may obtain victory; to the disbelieving, that the virtue of Faith may triumph in them; to the blasphemers, that they may turn the blasphemies into benedictions; to the priests, that they may understand their mission and be worthy ministers of Jesus.  With this Blood, touch their lips, that they may say no words which are not of glory to God; touch their feet, that they may let them fly to go in search for souls to lead to Jesus.

Let us give this Blood to the leaders of the peoples, that they may be united among them, and feel meekness and love for their subjects.

Let us fly now into Purgatory, and let us give It (the Blood of Jesus) also to the purging souls, because they so much cry for and claim this Blood for their liberation.  Don’t You hear, O Mama, their moans, the fidgets of love, the tortures, and how they feel continuously drawn to the Highest Good?  See how Jesus Himself wants to purge them more quickly in order to have them with Himself.  He attracts them with His love, and they requite Him with continuous surges toward Him.  But as they find themselves in His presence, unable to yet sustain the purity of His Divine gaze, they are forced to draw back and to plunge again into the flames!

My Mama, let us descend into this profound prison, and pouring this Blood over them, let us bring them light; let us calm their fidgets of love; let us dampen the fire that burns them; let us purify their stains; and so, free of every pain, they will fly into the arms of the Highest Good.  Let us give this Blood to the most abandoned souls, that they may find in It all the suffrages that creatures deny to them.  To all (the purging souls), O Mama (Blessed Mother), let us give this Blood; let us not deprive any of them, so that, by virtue of It, all may find relief and liberation.  Be Queen in these regions of crying and of lamentations; extend Your maternal hands and, one by one, take them out of these ardent flames, and allow them all to take flight toward Heaven. 

7/30 The Portiuncula Indulgence (that we can gain every year from vespers ( noon) of the first of August until midnight on the second of August, the Feast of Our Lady of the Angels. )

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THE PORTIUNCULA INDULGENCE

(THE PARDON PRAYER OF SAINT FRANCIS)

FROM VESPERS (NOON) OF AUGUST 1st
UNTIL MIDNIGHT OF AUGUST 2nd,
THE FEAST OF OUR LADY OF THE ANGELS 

In the words of Saint Francis:

“O my brothers and sisters, I want you all to go to Heaven!”

 

The Portiuncula Indulgence is a grace not to be missed – not only for yourself but for the many suffering souls in Purgatory.

The conditions to obtain the Plenary Indulgence of the Forgiveness of Assisi (for oneself or for a departed soul) is as follows:

  1. Sacramental Confession: to be in God’s Grace (the Sacramental Confession can be done during the eight days before or after).
  2. Participation in the Holy Mass and Eucharist.
  3. Recitation of the Apostles Creed, Our Father and also a prayer for the Pope’s Intention (such as an Our Father, Hail Mary, etc.).

Mark your calendar for the Feast of Our Lady of the Angels beginning at Vespers (Noon) on the First of August to August 2nd at Midnight.

Tell everyone of the magnitude of this gift. Once again, we see the unfathomable Divine Mercy of God.

DISTINGUISHING THIS INDULGENCE FROM OTHERS:

*On the day (August 2nd) on which it is granted, it can be gained not only once, but oftener. You can gain other indulgences only once on the same day, but the Portiuncula
Indulgence you can gain on the first Sunday of August, and that, too, as often
as on that day you visit a church of the Franciscans, or the parish church,
(you may go out of the church and re-enter as many times as you wish) and there
pray according to the intention of the Holy Father. The Congregation of the
Council has twice confirmed the Indulgence on July 17, 1700 and again on
December 4, 1723.

Again, the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences on February 22, 1847 reaffirmed the Indulgence and noted that Communion did not have to be received only in a Franciscan Church. Pope Pius IX confirmed these decisions by a decree dated July 12, 1849. It is indeed true that on one day we can gain a plenary indulgence for ourselves only once,
but this does not interfere with the doctrine that the Portiuncula Indulgence
can be gained more than once on the same day, for we may apply it to the souls
in purgatory, if we gain in the second and the third time, etc. A question
arose if a visit was made on the second Sunday if the indulgence still applies,
and the visit repeated the answer by the Congregation of Indulgences on Feb.
22, 1847 was in the affirmative.

*(excerpted from: http://friarsminor.org/sermons/portiuncula.html)

NOTE: A review of the meaning of the above with a retired provincial of the Holy Name Province, of the Franciscan Order, and in consultation with the Franciscan Ordo, states that this indulgence may only be transferred to Sunday as a special concession to
remote areas of the world where Mission Chapels are not usually open during the
week. Otherwise, the normal rules for August 2nd apply.

 

As we honor Our Lady of the Angels, may we find inspiration for our own growth and development  in the Gospel way of life that Saint Francis embraced and lived so completely.

 

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI AND THE PORTIUNCULA INDULGENCE

(THE GREAT PARDON)

by Susan Tassone

 

The Portiuncula (small portion) refers to the land in Assisi, Italy, that belonged to the
Benedictines. On this land was an old church dedicated to the Virgin Mother of
God but abandoned.

The great St. Francis had great devotion to the Queen of the world and when he saw that the church was deserted, he began to live there constantly and repair it. He heard that the angels often visited it, so that it was called St. Mary of the Angels.

The Benedictines wanted to give Francis the church but in order to remain faithful to lady Poverty, Francis rented it from them with the annual compensation of a basket of fish from the Tescio River. Here is where Francis began his service to Christ and
His Church.

Here Francis founded his Order, received Clare as his spiritual daughter, and where he died commending this spot above all others to the friars.

St. Francis had great love and compassion for everyone.

On a night in July, 1216, Francis was praying in the little church of the Portiuncula devoured by love for God and a thirst to save souls. He prayed for the forgiveness of sins of mankind.

Suddenly a brilliant light shone all around. In great splendor Jesus and Mary appeared in the midst of a dazzling cloud surrounded by a multitude of radiant angels.

Out of fear and reverence, St. Francis adored Our Lord prostrate upon the ground.

Then Jesus said to him: Francis you are very zealous for the good of souls. Ask me what you want for their salvation. St. Francis was rapt in ecstasy before Jesus.

When he regained his courage he said: “Lord, I a miserable sinner beg You to concede an indulgence to all those who enter this church, who are truly contrite and have confessed their sins. And I beg Blessed Mary, Your Mother, intercessor of man, that She intercede on behalf of this grace.”

Our Lady at once began to beseech Her Son on behalf of Francis. Jesus answered: “It is a very great thing that which you ask Me, but you are worthy of even greater things, Friar Francis, and greater things you will have. So I accept your request, but I want you to go to My Vicar, to whom I have given the power to bind and loose in Heaven and on earth, to ask him on My behalf for this indulgence.” (ed. Note: Matthew 16:19).

With one of his companions, Francis hastened to Pope Honorius III and prostrate implored him to proclaim that every one visiting the church and confessing their sins with a contrite heart would be as pure from all sin and punishments as he was immediately after baptism. The Pope granted this petition. This indulgence has been extended to all parish churches throughout the world.

The date was set from vespers (noon) of the first of August until midnight on the second of August, the Feast of Our Lady of the Angels. It is said that St. Francis was given this day by Our Lord because the Feast of the Chains of St. Peter celebrated on August first is the day Peter was released from prison and his chains removed.

This is an extraordinary demonstration of God’s Mercy in removing the chains of sin from those whodevoutly and faithfully seek to gain the indulgence by completing its requirements.

 

10/11 Feast of the Divine Maternity of Our Lady

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For a reflection on the Feast of the Divine Maternity of Our Lady
visit Feast of the Divine Maternity of Mary:

 

Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The celebration on  this day throughout the Western church of a feast in honour of the Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, was enjoined by Pope Pius XI in the  encyclical “Lux veritatis“, published on December 25, 1931, in view of  the fifteenth centenary of the Council of Ephesus.

 

In the third lesson of the second nocturn of the office of the new feast mention is made of the arch in the basilica of St. Mary Major,  which Pope St. Sixtus III (432-440) decorated with mosaics shortly after the  council, and which has been restored in modern times by the care of Pius XI himself. This, we are taught, remains as a stricking monument of the  proclamation of our Lady’s incomparable honour as Mother of God. But in the  institution of the present festival, the pope, as his encyclical explains, had also other objects in view.

 

“One thing in particular”, he says, “and that indeed one of great importance, we specially desire that all should pray for, under the  auspices of our heavenly Queen. That is, that she, who is loved and venerated  with such ardent piety by the separated Christians of the East, would not suffer them to wander and be unhappily led further away from the unity of the Church,  and therefore from her Son, whose vicar on earth We are. May they return to the  common Father, whose judgement all the fathers of the synod of Ephesus most  dutifully received, and whom they all saluted with concordant acclamations as  the guardian of the faith; may they all return to Us, who have indeed a fatherly affection for them all, and who gladly make our own those most loving words  which Cyril used, when he earnestly exhorted Nestorius that ‘the peace of the  churches may be preserved, and that the bond of love and of concord among the  priests of God may remain indissoluble’.”

 

Encyclical, Lux veritatis, in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis,
vol. xxiii (1931)

 

The Divine Maternity of Our Lady (Trad)
(Click here for more information)

The Divine Maternity of Our Lady (Trad) was instituted in 1931 by Pope Pius XI in view of the fifteenth centenary of the Council of Ephesus. At the same time the Pope ordered at his own cost the restoration of the Marian mosaics in Saint Mary Major, much decayed through age. He issued an encyclical letter, “Lux Veritatis.” In this, among the objects of the new festival, is named one Truth that was particularly close to the heart of Pius XI, “…that Mary, Who is loved and revered so warmly by the separated Christians of the East, would not Suffer them to wander and be unhappily led further away from the unity of the Church, and therefore from her Son, Whose vicar on earth we are.”

 

From the book The Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will
Our Lady to the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta the Little Daughter of the Divine Will:

Lesson of the Queen of Heaven

Day Five
Daughter (Luisa) most dear to Me, oh! how I yearn to confide My secrets to My daughter; secrets which will give Me much Glory, and that will Glorify that Divine Fiat which was the primary cause of My Immaculate Conception, of My Sanctity, Sovereignty and Maternity.  I owe everything to the Fiat—I know nothing else.  All of My sublime prerogatives for which the Holy Church so much honors Me, are nothing other than the effects of that Divine Will which dominated Me, reigned and lived in Me.
This is why I yearn so much that that which produced in Me so many privileges and admirable effects as to astonish Heaven and earth, be known.

Day Twenty
My dear daughter (Luisa), today I await you more than ever. My maternal Heart is swollen; I feel the need to pour out My ardent love with My daughter: I want to say to you that I am the Mother of Jesus. My joys are infinite; seas of happiness inundate Me. I can say: I am the Mother of Jesus; His creature, His handmaid, is Mother of Jesus—and I owe this only to the Fiat. It rendered Me full of grace, It prepared the worthy dwelling for My Creator. Therefore, always glory, honor and thanksgiving be to the Supreme Fiat.

Now listen to Me, daughter of My Heart (Luisa): as soon as the little Humanity of Jesus was formed in My womb by the power of the Divine Fiat, the Sun of the Eternal Word incarnated Himself in It. I had My Heaven, formed by the Fiat, all studded with most refulgent stars which glittered with joys, beatitudes, harmonies of Divine beauty; and the Sun of the Eternal Word, blazing with inaccessible light, came to take His place within this Heaven, hidden in His little Humanity. And since His little Humanity could not contain Him, the center of this Sun remained in It, but Its light overflowed outside, and investing Heaven and earth, It reached every heart. And with Its pounding of light, It knocked at each creature, and with voices of penetrating light, It said to them:
“My children, open to Me (Jesus); give Me a place in your heart. I have descended from Heaven to earth in order to form My Life in each one of you. My Mother is the center in which I reside, and all My children will be the circumference, in which I want to form so many of My Lives for as many as are My children.” And the light knocked and knocked again, without ever ceasing; and the little Humanity of Jesus moaned, cried, agonized, and within that light which reached into the hearts, He made flow His tears, His moans and His pangs of love and of sorrow.

Now, you must know that a new life began for your Mama. I was aware of everything that My Son was doing. I saw Him devoured by seas of flames of love; each one of His heartbeats, breaths and pains, were seas of love that He unleashed, enveloping all creatures to make them His own by force of love and of sorrow. In fact, you must know that as His little Humanity was conceived, He conceived all the pains He was to suffer, up to the last day of His life.  He enclosed all souls within Himself, because, as God, no one could escape Him.  His immensity enclosed all creatures, His all-seeingness made them all present to Him.  Therefore, My Jesus, My Son, felt the weight and the burden of all the sins of each creature.  And I, your Mama, followed Him in everything,
and felt within My maternal Heart the new generation of the pains of My Jesus, and the new generation of all the souls whom, as Mother, together with Jesus I was to generate to grace, to light, to the new life which My dear Son came to bring upon earth.

My daughter, you must know that from the moment I was conceived, I loved you as Mother, I felt you in My Heart, I burned with love for you, but I did not understand why. The Divine Fiat made Me do facts, but kept the secret hidden from Me. But as He incarnated Himself, He revealed the secret to Me, and I comprehended the fecundity of My Maternity—that I was to be not only Mother of Jesus, but Mother of all; and this Maternity was to be formed on the stake of sorrow and of love. My daughter, how much I have loved you, and I love you.

Now listen to Me, dear daughter—what extent one can reach when the Divine Will takes operating life in the creature, and the human will lets It work without impeding Its step. This Fiat, which by nature possesses the generative virtue, generates all goods in the creature; It renders her fecund, giving her maternity over all, over all goods, and over He who created her. Maternity says and means true love, heroic love, love that is content with dying to give life to the one it has generated. If this is not there, the word maternity is sterile, is empty, and is reduced to words, but does not exist with facts. Therefore, if you (Luisa), My daughter, want the generation of all goods, let the Fiat take operating life in you, which will give you the maternity, and you will love everyone with love of mother. And I, your Mama, will teach you how to fecundate in you this maternity, all Holy and Divine.