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6/2 In 1997 Fr. Professor Antonio Resta, of the Pontifical Theological Institute, found nothing contrary to the Faith and Morals in his evaluation of Luisa Piccarreta’s writings

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Closing Homily – The Mother Church, Corato October 29, 2005

Mons. Giovan Battista Pichierri
Archbishop of Trani – Barletta – Bisceglie
Titular Bishop of Nazareth from 1999 to his death in 2017
Italy

 Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
Closing of Diocesan phase of the Cause of Beatification and Canonization
of the Servant of God
“LUISA PICCARRETA”

 Homily – The Mother Church, Corato
10/29/2005

Malachia “1,43-2.8-10;  Sl 130: Ts 2,7b-9.13; Mt 23,1-12”

 Introduction — Dear Bretheren, we thank and praise the Holy Trinity
for the gift of divine life that we have received from the Holy Father through
his only Son, the Word Made Flesh, in the grace of the Holy Spirit.

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit is with all of you“.

We give thanks that there are here today so many brothers and sisters from Churches in Italy and from churches abroad, all gathered together in this holy Mass to give thanks and praise to the Holy Trinity for the gift of our Servant of’ God “Luisa
Piccarreta”, daughter of this blessed land of Canto; and daughter of the Church
of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie, she who in the years of her terrestrial life
(23.04.1865 — 04.03.1947), radiated the light of the risen Christ in her
permanent state of suffering. As St. Paul said;” I have been crucified with
Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me and the life which I
now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave
Himself for me,” (Gal 2,20). We also pray to the Holy Trinity that her
glorification in the role as Servant of God as proclaimed by the supreme
authority of the Church, will make the idea of ”livin g in the will of God”
well known to everybody; like Jesus said; “Thy will be done, on earth, as it is
in heaven”. Praise be for the progress of a Christian life to the glory of God
and His Kingdom.

Announcement – God’s Word: in Malachi 1,4b-2, 2b.8-10 God reminded the leaders of their responsibility towards the people of God. The ministry of the Levites in the Old Testament and the priestly ministry in the New Testament is to serve the Kingdom of God and not to serve itself of the kingdom of God. We have heard:
“If you don’t listen to me and you won’t take into your hearts to give glory to
my name, says the Lord of the armies, I will send down on you a curse and your
blessing will become a curse” (v. 2-7). This Word of God, dear brother priests,
admonishes us in the exercise of our office. In the case of the beatification
of the Servant of God “Luisa Piccarreta” we have to ask ourselves if we ar e
all acting for the glory of God and the good of God’s people. Certainly our
cause is not served by divulging news in advance and especially not by the
propagation of the writings of the Servant of God, ignoring the order
guaranteed by the authority of the Church.

If today we affirm, based on the canonical process at the diocese level, that for us the fame of holiness of Luisa is based on authentic and believable testimony, we are not yet able to pronounce upon the reliability of the doctrine of the writings of Luisa because
we don’t have an accepted version including criticism. Prudence is demanded in
speaking of the thoughts of Luisa. Today we can allow Luisa to be known for her
virtues. but it is prudent and sensible not to give teachings based on her
writings. If we dedicate ourselves to studying them with care and in the grace
of the Holy Spirit, and if we await an accepted edition with criticism, with
results conforming to the doctrine of the Church, her writings can he
published, for which the assent of the Congregation of the Saints will also be
needed.

In Matthew’s Gospel, 23,1-12 Jesus Christ is announced as the only true Teacher: Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one master, the Messiah The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted “ (vv. 10-11).

In the experience of Luisa’s faith there are phenomena that are above human ability. There was her prolonged suffering (70 years bedridden), there was the writing of her internal sensations under ecclesiastical obedience when supervised by priests as
demanded by the Archbishops of that time, there were her elevated thoughts over
and above the normal abilities of all illiterate creature.  Luisa doesn’t believe herself to be any type of teacher.  She is a humble servant of God, in total submission to His will. She wants only to live in the will of God.

When the verdict of the Holy See came to her to return all of her writings, she made this act of submission: “If the Church considers that everything I have written is false, you all must consider it false” (Act of Submission written by Luisa Piccarreta in. date 19.10.1938 and sent to Rome through the Archbishop Giuseppe Maria Leo).

We must look beyond the mysticism expressed in her writings, though at a very high level and with some bold verses, they are still waiting to be studied more profoundly and compared with the doctrine of the Church. Now, we must look to the example her Christian life which shines out brightly for all.

As the apostle Paul said in Thessalonians 1; 2,7b-9.13 “For you remember, brethren, our labour and travail; working night and day, that we might not burden any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.”

In this way Luisa was able to introduce herself at our diocesan Church, as 1 had the opportunity of describing in my intervention on “The holiness of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta” in the discourse given at the 3rd International Conference.

I would like here to underline just one more aspect of the holiness of Luisa. Luisa lived the beatitude; “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God “(Mt 5,8). In the
indescribable joy of contemplation she already saw on earth “What eye has not
seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God
has prepared for those who love him,” (1 Cor 2,9). You shelter in the Lord and
the Lord the granted special gifts.

Conclusion— How can Luisa be an example for us? To trust completely in God, allowing us to take everything from Jesus in the grace of the Holy Spirit; and to show us the presence of God in the world, as Luisa did, above all in welcoming, in listening and encouraging all those people who were in need and in. pain. Luisa was, as was Saint Pio of Pictrelcina, that had so much respect and veneration for her, a living sign of
God’s love for her.

What characterizes the holiness of Luisa is “living in the will of God.”.
Luisa focuses her attention on the invocation: “your will be done, on
earth as in heaven “ (Mt 6, 10). Let’s ask ourselves: How is God’s will to be
done on earth as it is in heaven?  In perfect adherence and in harmony with the love of the Trinity. The Saints can be called “blessed zones”, they are uninhabited and possessed in a conscious way by God the Trinity.  How must we
carry out the will God on earth? Jesus Christ taught Luisa to live in the
divine will of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit All the powers of
intelligent and free creatures in the exercise of their free will are raised by
the Holy Spirit:

  • to understanding
  • to adherence
  • to welcoming God with love

because tile Holy Sprint manifests itself in the Incarnation of the Word, Jesus Christ Our Lord, in poverty, obedience, chastity and the gift of itself to everybody.

All creatures in full possession of their faculties of intelligence, of will, of memory and of love through Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist live according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh (Rom 8,4).

The experience of Luisa is of a mystic type. And today Christianity has to recover the mysticism. As a well known theologian has said, Christianity cannot be understood without the mystery; you cannot he a Christian ignoring the mysticism.

The holiness of’ Luisa in the light of the “Divine Will” can give to the Christians of our times such a driving power to their interior life that their external life, so engulfed by
materialism and secularism that the true joy of the life has been taken away.
The joy of life is the hope for eternal life, already alight in the soul that
is looking fur God as the deer yearns for the source of water (Sa142,2).

In the knowledge of the holiness of Luisa Piccarreta, let us raise up a prayer to the Holy Trinity, through her worthiness as a faithful hard-working servant.

***

Mons. Giovanni Battista Pichierri

ARCIVESCOVO

di TRANI – BARLETTA – BISCEGLIE

TITOLARE di NAZARETH

 

PRAYER TO THE MOST HOLY TRINITY

For the glorification of the Servant of God

LUISA PICCARRETA

 

Oh Most Holy Trinity
Father-Son-Holy Spirit
We praise and thank You
For the gift of holiness
You granted to Your faithful servant Luisa Piccarreta.

She lived, dear Father, in Your Divine Will
and became, under the influence of the Holy Spirit,
Similar to Your Son, who died on the cross
due to His obedience. She was a victim and a host
welcome to You, thus contributing
to the redemption of mankind.

Her virtues of obedience, humility,
Love to Christ and to the Church
Urge us to ask You for the gift
Of her glorification on earth, so that
Your glory may shine, and Your kingdom
Of truth, justice and Love may spread
All over the world in the particular charisma of
Fiat voluntas tua sicut in coelo et in terra.

We appeal to her merits to obtain
From You, Holy Trinity, the particular grace
For which we pray to You in Your Divine Will. Amen.

Trani, 29 October 2005

XGiovan Battista Pichierri
 Archbishop

Tre gloria (Glory be’s) …

Padre nostro (Our Father) …

Regina dei Santi, prega per noi. (Queen of Heaven, pray for us)

 ***

 The following is the transcribed Italian text for the Homily of October 29, 2005:

XXXI Domenica “A” –

s. Messa in chiusura processo diocesano “Luisa PICCARRETA”

Omelia – Chiesa Madre in Corato 29.10.2005

 Malachia “1,43-2.8-10;  Sl 130: Ts 2,7b-9.13; Mt 23,1-12”

 

Introduzione –  Carissimi, rendiamo grazie e lodiamo la SS.
Trinità per il dono della vita divina che abbiamo ricevuto dal Padre attraverso
il Figlio Unigenito, il Verbo Incarnato, nell’effusione dello Spirito Santo.

“La grazia del Signore nostro
Gesù Cristo, l’amore di Dio Padre, e la comunione dello Spirito Santo siano con
tutti voi”.

Questa santa Messa è caratterizzata
dal particolare rendimento di grazie e di lode che come Chiesa diocesana, uniti
a noi tanti fratelli e sorelle provenienti da Chiese sorelle d’Italia e
dell’Estero, vogliamo elevare alla SS. Trinità per il dono della Serva di Dio “Luisa Piccarreta”, figlia di questa
terra benedetta di Corato, e figlia della Chiesa diocesana di
Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie, la quale negli anni della sua vita terrena
(23.04.1865 – 04.03.1947) ha irradiato la luce di Cristo risorto nel suo stato
permanente di sofferenza che secondo l’espressione paolina così risuona: “Sono stata crocifissa con Cristo e non sono
più io che vivo, ma Cristo vive in me. Questa vita che vivo nella carne io la
vivo nella fede del F iglio di Dio, che mi ha amata e ha dato se stesso per me”
(Gal 2,20). E nello stesso tempo caratterizzata dalla supplica che eleviamo
alla SS. Trinità perché la glorificazione della sua Serva, proclamata
dall’autorità suprema della Chiesa, renda conoscibile e sicuro il particolare
carisma del “vivere nella volontà di Dio” secondo la preghiera di Gesù Maestro:
“Si compia la tua volontà come in cielo
così in terra”, per il progresso della vita cristiana a gloria di Dio e del
Suo regno.

Annuncio – La Parola di Dio: in Malachia 1,14b-2,2b.8-10 ha
richiamato la responsabilità delle guide nei confronti del popolo di Dio. Il
ministero dei Leviti nell’Antico Testamento e il ministero sacerdotale nel
Nuovo Testamento deve servire il regno di Dio e non servirsi del regno di Dio.
Abbiamo ascoltato: “Se non mi ascoltate e
non vi prenderete a cuore di dare gloria al mio nome, dice il Signore degli
eserciti, manderò su di voi la maledizione e cambierò in maledizione le vostre
benedizioni” (v. 2-7). Questa Parola di Dio, carissimi confratelli
sacerdoti, ci ammonisce circa l’esercizio del nostro ministero. Relativamente
al servizio della causa di beatificazione della Serva di Dio “Luisa Piccarreta”, dobbiamo chiederci se
stiamo tutti operando per la gloria di Dio e il bene del popolo di Dio.
Certamente non giovano alla causa di Luisa fughe in avanti ed in particolare la
propaganda degli scritti della Serva di Dio, uscendo fuori dall’ordine
garantito dall’autorità della Chiesa.

Se oggi affermiamo, in base al
processo canonico compiuto a livello diocesano, che a noi consta la fama di
santità di Luisa in base a testimonianze autentiche e credibili; non possiamo
ancora pronunciarci sull’attendibilità di dottrina sicura degli scritti di
Luisa in quanto non abbiamo ancora una edizione tipica e critica degli stessi
scritti. Per cui si esige prudenza nel parlare del pensiero di Luisa. Allo
stato attuale si può far conoscere Luisa nelle sue virtù, ma è quanto mai
prudente e opportuno non dare insegnamenti in base ai suoi scritti. Se ci
impegneremo a studiarli con accuratezza e sotto l’azione dello Spirito Santo,
una volta pubblicata l’edizione tipica e critica, se i risultati saranno
conformi alla dottrina della Chiesa, essi potranno essere pubblicati. In questo
occorre anche l’assen so della Congregazione dei Santi.

Nel Vangelo di Matteo 23,1-12 Gesù Cristo è annunciato
come unico Maestro: “Non fatevi chiamare
‘Maestri’, perché uno solo è il vostro Maestro, il Cristo. Il più grande tra
voi sia vostro servo; chi invece si innalzerà sarà abbassato e chi si abbasserà
sarà innalzato” (vv. 10-11).

Nell’esperienza  di fede di Luisa ci sono fenomeni che
superano le capacità umane: una sofferenza prolungata (circa 70 anni nel
letto), illustrazioni interiori espressi per iscritto sotto obbedienza
ecclesiastica e seguita da sacerdoti a ciò demandati dagli Arcivescovi del
tempo, un pensiero così elevato che supera le capacità normali di una creatura
illetterata. Luisa non si ritiene affatto maestra. Lei è una umile serva del
Signore, sottoposta pienamente alla Sua volontà. Vuol vivere soltanto nella
volontà di Dio.

Quando le giunse il verdetto
della Santa Sede di restituire tutti i suoi scritti, fece questo atto di
sottomissione: “Se la Chiesa considera
falso tutto quello che ho scritto, voi lo dovete considerare falso” (cfr
Atto di sottomissione scritto da Luisa Piccarreta in data 19.10.1938 e inviato
a Roma tramite l’Arcivescovo Giuseppe Maria Leo).

Al di là della mistica espressa
negli scritti, molto elevata e per certi versi ardita e bisognosa di essere
approfondita e confrontata con la dottrina della Chiesa, resta luminoso
l’esempio di vita cristiana della Serva di Dio.

Come ci ha detto l’apostolo Paolo
di sé in 1 Ts 2,7b-9.13: “Voi ricordate infatti, fratelli, la nostra
fatica e il nostro travaglio: lavorando notte e giorno per non essere di peso
ad alcuno vi abbiamo annunciato il Vangelo di Dio”(v.9-11), così anche Luisa ha potuto presentarsi alla nostra
Chiesa diocesana come ebbi modo di descrivere nel mio intervento su “La santità della Serva di Dio Luisa
Piccarreta” nella relazione tenuta al 3° Convegno internazionale il 27 u.s.
Vorrei, in questo contesto, sottolineare soltanto un altro profilo della
santità di Luisa alla luce delle Beatitudini. Luisa visse la beatitudine: “Beati
i puri di cuore perché vedranno Dio” (Mt 5,8).  Nella gioia ineffabile della contemplazione
ella già vide in terra “quelle cose che
occhio non vide, né orecchio udì, né mai entrarono in cuore d’uomo” (1 Cor
2,9). Si rifugiò nel Signore e il Signore le concesse doni speciali.

Conclusione – In che cosa Luisa può
essere a noi di esempio? Nel fidarci pienamente di Dio, lasciandoci prendere
per intero da Gesù sotto l’azione dello Spirito Santo; e nel renderci presenza
di Dio nel mondo, così come Luisa fece soprattutto nell’accogliere, ascoltare,
incoraggiare tutti coloro che erano nella necessità e nel dolore. Luisa fu,
come s. Pio da Pietrelcina, che di lei aveva tanta stima e venerazioni, un
segno vivo dell’amore misericordioso di Dio

Ciò che caratterizza la santità di Luisa è “vivere nella  volontà di Dio”. Luisa focalizza la sua attenzione sulla invocazione: “sia fatta la tua volontà come in cielo così in terra”
(Mt 6,10).

Chiediamoci: come è fatta la volontà di Dio in cielo? Nella perfetta adesione e
in sintonia dell’Amore Trinitario. I Santi vengono chiamati  “beati comprensori”, sono inabitati e posseduti in modo consapevole da Dio Trinità.

Come dobbiamo fare la volontà di Dio in terra? Gesù Cristo educa Luisa
a vivere nella divina volontà del Padre, del Figlio, dello Spirito Santo. Tutte
le sue potenze di creatura intelligente e libera nell’esercizio, vengono
elevate dallo Spirito Santo alla

  • comprensione
  • adesione
  • amorosa accoglienza del
    Dio Unitrino

che si manifesta nell’Incarnazione del Verbo, Gesù
Cristo Nostro Signore, nella povertà, ubbidienza, castità e dono di sé a tutti.

Ogni creatura in tutte le sue
potenze di intelligenza, di volontà, di memoria, di cuore mediante il
Battesimo, la Cresima, l’Eucaristia vive secondo lo Spirito e non secondo la
carne (cfr Rom 8,4).

L’esperienza di Luisa è di tipo
mistico. E oggi il cristianesimo deve recuperare la mistica. A tale riguardo mi piace citare due autori di mistica:

  • “Oggi, se non si è mistici, non si può essere nemmeno cristiani”
    (Karl Rahner).
  • “Non è la conoscenza che illumina il Mistero, è il Mistero che illumina
    la conoscenza    ” (p. Evdokimov).

La santità di Luisa alla luce del
“Divino Volere” può dare ai cristiani del nostro tempo una carica di vita
interiore tale da riformare uno stile di vita ingolfato nella materialità e nel
secolarismo sino a togliere la vera gioia della vita, che è la speranza della
vita eterna, già accesa nell’anima che cerca Dio come la cerva anela alle sorgenti
delle acque (cfr Sal 42,2).

Eleviamo alla SS. Trinità,
riconoscenti della santità di Luisa
Piccarreta, la supplica attraverso i suoi meriti di serva fedele e operosa.

Preghiera…

The following prayer can also be viewed at the website:  http://www.causaluisapiccarreta.it/pagine/testo.aspx?codpage=1

Mons. Giovan Battista Pichierri
ARCIVESCOVO di TRANI – BARLETTA – BISCEGLIE
TITOLARE di NAZARETH
Presentazione
O augusta e santissima Trinità
Padre-Figlio-Spirito Santo
noi Ti lodiamo e Ti ringraziamo
per il dono della santità
della tua serva fedele Luisa Piccarreta.Ella ha vissuto, o Padre, nella Tua divina volontà
rendendosi, sotto l’azione dello Spirito Santo,
conforme al Figlio tuo obbediente sino
alla morte di croce, vittima e ostia a Te gradita
cooperando all’opera della redenzione del genere umano.Le sue virtù di obbedienza, di umiltà,
di amore sommo a Cristo e alla Chiesa
ci spingono a chiederTi il dono della sua
glorificazione sulla terra, perchè risplenda
a tutti la Tua gloria e il Tuo regno
di verità, di giustizia, di amore si diffonda
sino ai confini della terra nel particolare carisma del
Fiat voluntas tua sicut in caelo et in terra.Ci appelliamo ai suoi meriti per ottenere
da Te, SS. Trinità, la grazia particolare che Ti chiediamo intendendo compiere la Tua divina volontà. Amen.
Trani,
29 ottobre 2005Tre gloria…
Padre nostro…
Regina dei Santi, prega per noi.
PIA ASS.NE “LUISA PICCARRETA P.F.D.V.” Corato (Ba) – Italia

***

And yet another English translation of the Closing Homily of October 29, 2005:

 

Mons. Giovanni Battista Pichierri

 ARCHDIOCESE of
TRANI – BARLETTA – BISCEGLIE

TITULATOR of NAZARETH

 Thirty-First Sunday “A” –

 Holy Mass in Closure
of the Diocesan Process “Luisa PICCARRETA”

 Homily – Mother
Church in Corato; October 29, 2005

 Malachi “l:43—2,8-20;
Psalm 130:1; Thessalonians 2:7b—9:13; Matthew 23:1—12”

 Introduction – Very dearest, let us render thanks and praise to the Most Holy Trinity for the gift of Divine Life that we have received from the Father through His only-begotten Son, the Word Incarnate, in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

“The grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.”

This Holy Mass is characterized by the particular rendering of thanksgiving and of praise that as Diocesan Church united to our brother and sister provincials from the sister Churches of Italy and of abroad, we want to lift up to the Most Holy Trinity
for the gift of the Servant of God “Luisa Piccarreta,” daughter of this
blessed land of Corato, and daughter of the Diocesan Church of
Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie, who in the years of her earthly life (April 23, 1865
– March 4, 1947) radiated the light of the risen Christ in her permanent state
of suffering that so resounds according to the expression of St. Paul in this
way:  “I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ is living in me.  This life that I live in the flesh I live it in the faith of the Son of God, who has loved me and has given Himself for me.”  (Galatians 2:20).  And at the same time it is characterized by the supplication that we raise to the Most Holy Trinity so that the
glorification of His Servant, proclaimed by the supreme authority of the
Church, would render knowable and sure the particular charisma of “to live in
the Will of God” according to the prayer of Jesus the Teacher:  “Your Will be fulfilled on earth as It is in Heaven,” for the development of the Christian life for the glory of God
and of His Kingdom.

Announcement – The Word of God:  In Malachi 1:14b—2:2b,8-10,
it recalled the responsibility of the leaders in the confrontations with the
people of God.  The ministry of the Levites in the Old Testament and the Priestly ministry in the New Testament must serve the Kingdom of God, and not use the Kingdom of God.  We have heard:  “If you do not listen to Me and do not
take to heart to give glory to My Name,” says the Lord of hosts, “I will send
curses over you and I will change your blessings into curses.”  (verses 2-7).
This Word of God, very dear brother Priests, admonishes us about the
exercise of our ministry.  As regards the service of the Cause of Beatification of the Servant of God “Luisa Piccarreta,” we must ask ourselves if we are all working for the glory of God and the good of the people of God.
Certainly leaks in advance, and in particular the propagation of the
writings of the Servant of God, going outside of the order called for by the
authority of the Church, are not good for the Cause of Luisa.

If today We declare, according to the canonical process completed at the Diocesan level, that the renown of the sanctity of Luisa is proven to us according to authentic and credible witnesses, we can not yet pronounce on the reliability of secure doctrine of
the writings of Luisa in as much as we do not yet have a typical and critical
edition of the same writings.  Therefore prudence is required in speaking about the thinking of Luisa.  At the present state, one can make Luisa known in her virtues, but it is however prudent and appropriate not to give teachings according to her writings.  If
we will dedicate ourselves to studying them with care and under the action of
the Holy Spirit, once the typical and critical edition is published, if the
results conform to the doctrine of the Church, they will be able to be
published.  The approval of the Congregation of the Saints is also necessary in this.

In the Gospel of Matthew 23:1-12, Jesus Christ is announced as the only Teacher:  “Do not let yourself be called ‘Teachers’, because only one is your Teacher, the Christ.
The greatest among you will be your servant; one who instead will exalt himself will be humbled, and one who will humble himself will be exalted.”  (verses 10-11).

In the experience of Luisa’s faith, there are phenomenons that surpass the human
capacities:   prolonged suffering (about 70 years in bed), interior illustrations expressed in writing under ecclesiastical obedience—and followed by priests to whom she was transferred by the Archbishops of the time—a thinking so elevated that it surpasses the normal capacities of an illiterate creature.  Luisa never considered herself a teacher at all.  She is a humble Servant of the Lord, completely submitted to His Will.  She wants to live only in the Will of God.

When the verdict from the Holy See reached her to return all her writings, she made
this act of submission:  “If the Church considers false everything that I have written, you must consider it false”  (refer to Act of submission written by Luisa Piccarreta on the date October 19, 1938 and sent to Rome by means of Archbishop Giuseppe Maria Leo).

Beyond the mystic expressed in the writings—very elevated and, for certain lines,
bold, and it needs to be examined and compared with the doctrine of the
Church—the example of Christian life of the Servant of God remains luminous.

As the Apostle Paul had said of himself in 1 Thessalonians 2:7b—9,13:  “Indeed remember, brothers, our toil and our labor:  working night and day in
order to not be a burden in any way, we announced to you the Gospel of God” (verses
9-11), so also Luisa can be presented to Our Diocesan Church, as I had an
opportunity of describing in my speech on “The Sanctity of the Servant of
God Luisa Piccarreta” in the report given at the 3rd International Convention the past 27th.  In this context I would like to emphasize just one more aspect of the sanctity of Luisa in the light of the Beatitudes.  Luisa lived the beatitude:  “Blessed are the pure of heart because they will see God”  (Matthew 5:8).  In the ineffable joy of
contemplation she already saw on earth “those things that the eye has not
seen, nor the ear heard, nor ever entered into the heart of man” (l
Corinthians 2:9).  She took refuge in the Lord, and the Lord granted her special gifts.

Conclusion – In what way can Luisa be an example for us?  In
entrusting ourselves completely to God, leaving ourselves to take completely
from Jesus under the action of the Holy Spirit, and in making ourselves
presence of God in the world, in the same way as Luisa did, above all in
welcoming, listening to, and encouraging all those who were in need and in
suffering.  Luisa was, like St. Pio of Pietrelcina—one who had so much esteem and veneration of her—a living sign of the merciful love of God.

What characterized the sanctity of Luisa is “living in the Will of God”.  Luisa focused her attention on the invocation:
“Your Will be done on earth as It is in Heaven”  (Matthew 6:10).

Let us ask ourselves:

How is the Will of God done in Heaven?  In perfect
adherence and in harmony with the Trinitarian Love.  The Saints can be called “Blessed Regions”; they are uninhabited, and possessed in a conscious way through God the Trinity.

How must we do the Will of God on earth?  Jesus Christ taught Luisa to live in the Divine Will of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  All her powers of
creature, intelligent and free in practice, became elevated by the Holy Spirit to the

  • understanding
  • adherence
  • loving welcome of the One God

who reveals Himself in the Incarnation of the Word, Jesus Christ Our Lord, in poverty, obedience, chastity, and gift of Himself to everyone.

Every creature in all her powers of intelligence, of will, of memory, of heart, by
means of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist, lives according to the Spirit
and not according to the flesh (refer to Romans 8:4).

The experience of Luisa is of the mystical type.  And today Christianity must get back the mystical.  In such regard it is my pleasure to cite two mystical authors:

  • “Today, if one is not mystical, one can not even
    be Christian”      (Karl Rahner).
  • “It is not knowledge that illuminates the Mystery,
    it is the Mystery that illuminates knowledge”      (P. Evdokimov).

The sanctity of Luisa in the light of the “Divine Volition” can give to Christians of our time
a deep interior life such as to re-form a style of life immersed in materialism
and in secularism, even to taking away the true joy of life, that is, the hope
of Eternal Life, already enflamed in the soul who seeks God as the doe longs
for the source of the waters (Psalm 42:2).

Let us rise up to the Most Holy Trinity, grateful for the sanctity of Luisa Piccarreta, supplication through her merits of faithful and industrious Servant.

Prayer…

 † Giovan  Battista Pichierri

Archbishop

Mons. Giovanni Battista Pichierri

 ARCHDIOCESE of
TRANI – BARLETTA – BISCEGLIE
TITULATOR of NAZARETH

PRAYER TO THE MOST HOLY TRINITY
For the glorification of the Servant of God
LUISA PICCARRETA

 

O August and Most Holy Trinity

Father-Son-Holy Spirit

we praise You and we thank You

for the gift of sanctity

of Your faithful servant Luisa Piccarreta.

 She lived, O Father, in Your Divine Will

making herself, under the action of the Holy Spirit,

similar to Your Son obedient even to death on the Cross,

victim and host pleasing to You,

cooperating with the work of the Redemption

of  mankind.

 Her virtues of obedience, of humility,

of highest love for Christ and for the Church

urge us to ask You for the gift

of her glorification on earth,

so that Your glory may shine for all,

and Your Kingdom of truth, of justice, and of love

may spread even to the ends of the earth

 in the particular charisma of the

Fiat voluntas tua sicut in coelo et in terra.
(Your Will be done on earth as It is in Heaven.)

 We appeal to her merits in order to obtain

from You, Most Holy Trinity,

the particular grace that we ask of You

intending to fulfill Your Divine Will.  Amen.

Trani, October 29, 2005

 

† Giovan Battista Pichierri

Archbishop

Three Glory be’s …

Our Father …

Our Lady, Queen of Saints, pray for us.

 

1/14 Biographical notes on Luisa Piccarreta

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 L_OS Orphanage

The Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta,
Little Daughter of the Divine Will

Biographical notes

The Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta was born in Corato in the Province of Bari,
on April 23,1865 and died there in the odor of sanctity on March 4, 1947.

Luisa had the good fortune to be born into one of those patriarchal families that still
survive in our realm of Puglia
and like to live deep in the country, peopling our farmhouses. Her parents,
Vito Nicola and Rosa Tarantino, had five children: Maria, Rachele, Filomena,
Luisa and Angela. Maria, Rachele and Filomena married. Angela, commonly called
Angelina, remained single and looked after her sister until she died.

Luisa was born on the Sunday after Easter and was baptized that same day. Her father
– a few hours after her birth – wrapped her in a blanket and carried her to the
parish church where holy Baptism was administered to her.

Nicola Piccarreta was a worker on a farm belonging to the Mastrorilli family, located
at the middle of Via delle Murge in a neighborhood called Torre Disperata, 27
kilometers from Corato. Those who know these places, set among the sunny, bare
and stony hills, can appreciate the solemnity of the silence that envelops
them. Luisa spent many years of her childhood and adolescence on this farm. In
front of the old house, the 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. It was in this lonely, sunny
spot place that Luisa’s divine adventure began which was to lead her down the
paths of suffering and holiness. Indeed, it was in this very place that she
came to suffer unspeakably from the attacks of the devil who at times even
tormented her physically. Luisa, to be rid of this suffering, turned
ceaselessly to prayer, addressing in particular the Virgin Most Holy, who
comforted her by her presence.

Divine Providence led the little girl down paths so mysterious that she knew no joys other than God and his grace. One day, in fact, the Lord said to her: “I have
gone round and round the world again and again, and I looked one by one at all
my creatures to find the smallest one of all. Among so many I found you. Your
littleness pleased me and I chose you; I entrusted you to my angels so that
they would care for you, not to make you great, but to preserve your
littleness, and now I want to begin the great work of fulfilling my will. Nor
will you feel any greater through this, indeed it is my will to make you even
smaller, and you will continue to be the little daughter of the Divine Will”
(cf. Volume XII, March 23, 1921).

When she was nine, Luisa received Jesus in the Eucharist for the first time and Holy
Confirmation, and from that moment learned to remain for hours praying before
the Blessed Sacrament. When she was eleven she wanted to enroll in the Association
of the Daughters of Mary – flourishing at the time – in the Church of San Giuseppe.
At the age of eighteen, Luisa became a Dominican Tertiary taking the name of
Sr. Maddalena. She was one of the first to enroll in the Third Order, which her
parish priest was promoting. Luisa’s devotion to the Mother of God was
to develop into a profound Marian spirituality, a prelude to what she would one
day write about Our Lady.

Jesus’ voice led Luisa 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. So
began those physical sufferings which, in addition to her spiritual and moral
sufferings, reached the point of heroism.

The family mistook these phenomena for sickness and sought medical help. But all
the doctors consulted were perplexed at such an unusual clinical case.
Luisa was subject to a state of corpse-like rigidity – although she
showed signs of life – and no treatment could relieve her of this unspeakable
torment. When all the resources of science had been exhausted, her family
turned to their last hope: priests. An Augustinian priest, Fr. Cosma Loiodice,
at home because of the Siccardian* laws, was summoned to her
bedside: to the wonder of all present, the sign of the Cross which this priest
made over the poor body, sufficed to restore her normal faculties instantly to
the sick girl. After Fr. Loiodice had left for his friary, certain secular
priests were called in who restored Luisa to normality with the sign of the
Cross. She was convinced that all priests were holy, but one day the Lord told
her: “Not because they are all holy – indeed, if they only were! – but
simply because they are the continuation of my priesthood in the world you must
always submit to their priestly authority; never oppose them, whether they are
good or bad” (cf. Volume I). Throughout her life, Luisa was to be
submissive to priestly authority. This was to be one of the greatest sources of
her suffering. Her daily need for the priestly authority in order to return to
her usual tasks was her deepest mortification. In the beginning, she suffered
the most humiliating misunderstandings on the part of the priests themselves
who considered her a lunatic filled with exalted ideas, who simply wanted
to attract attention. Once they left her in that state for more than twenty
days. Luisa, having accepted the role of victim, came to experience a most
peculiar condition: every morning she found herself rigid, immobile, huddled up
in bed, and no one was able to stretch her out, to raise her arms or move her
head or legs. As we know, it required the presence of a priest who, by blessing
her with the sign of the Cross, dispelled that corpse-like rigidity and enabled
her to return to her usual tasks (lace-making). She was a unique case in that
her confessors were never spiritual directors, a task that Our Lord wanted to
keep for himself. Jesus made her hear his voice directly, training her,
correcting her, reprimanding her if necessary and gradually leading her to the
loftiest peaks of perfection. Luisa was wisely instructed and prepared during
many years to receive the gift of the Divine Will.

The archbishop at that time, Giuseppe Bianchi Dottula (December 22, 1848-September
22,1892), came to know of what was happening in Corato; having
heard the opinion of several priests, he wished to exercise his authority and
assume responsibility for this case. After mature reflection he thought it
right to delegate to Luisa a special confessor, Fr. Michele De Benedictis, a
splendid figure of a priest, to whom she opened every nook and cranny of her
soul. Fr. Michele, a prudent priest with holy ways, imposed limits on her
suffering and instructed her to do nothing without his permission.
Indeed, it was Fr. Michele who ordered her to eat at least once a day, even if
she immediately threw up everything she had swallowed. Luisa was to live on the
Divine Will alone. It was under this priest that she received permission to
stay in bed all the time as a victim of expiation. This was in 1888. Luisa
remained nailed to her bed of pain, sitting there for another 59 years, until
her death. It should be noted that until that time, although she had accepted
her state as a victim, she had only occasionally stayed in bed, since obedience
had never permitted her to stay in bed all the time. However, from New Year
1889 she was to remain there permanently.

In 1898 the new prelate, Archbishop Tommaso de Stefano (March 24, 1898 – 13 May
1906) delegated as her new confessor Fr. Gennaro Di Gennaro, who carried out
this task for twenty-four years. The new confessor, glimpsing the marvels that
the Lord was working in this soul, categorically ordered Luisa to put down in
writing all that God’s grace was working within her. None of the excuses made
by the Servant of God to avoid obeying her confessor in this were to any avail.
Not even her scant literary education could excuse her from obedience to her
confessor. Fr. Gennaro Di Gennaro remained cold and implacable, although he
knew that the poor woman had only been to elementary school. Thus on
February 28, 1899, she began to write her diary, of which there are thirty-six
large volumes! The last chapter was written on December 28, 1939, the day on
which she was ordered to stop writing.

Her confessor, who died on September 10,1922, was succeeded by the canon, Fr.
Francesco De Benedictis, who only assisted her for four years, because he died
on January 30, 1926. Archbishop Giuseppe Leo (January 17, 1920-January 20,1939)
delegated a young priest, Fr. Benedetto Calvi, as her ordinary confessor. He
stayed with Luisa until she died, sharing all those sufferings and
misunderstandings that beset the Servant of God in the last years of her life.

At the beginning of the century, our people were lucky enough to have Blessed
Annibale Maria Di Francia present in Puglia.
He wanted to open in Trani male and female branches of his newly founded
congregation. When he heard about Luisa Piccarreta, he paid her a visit and
from that time these two souls were inseparably linked by their common aims.
Other famous priests also visited Luisa, such as, for example, Fr. Gennaro
Braccali, the Jesuit, Fr. Eustachio Montemurro, who died in the odor of
sanctity, and Fr. Ferdinando Cento, Apostolic Nuncio and Cardinal of Holy
Mother Church. Blessed Annibale became her extraordinary confessor and edited
her writings, which were little by little properly examined and approved by the
ecclesiastical authorities. In about 1926, Blessed Annibale ordered Luisa to
write a book of memoirs of her childhood and adolescence. He published various
writings of Luisa’s, including the book L’orologio della Passione, which
acquired widespread fame and was reprinted four times. On October 7,1928, when
the house of the sisters of the Congregation of Divine Zeal in Corato was
ready, Luisa was taken to the convent in accordance with the wishes of Blessed
Annibale. Blessed Annibale had already died in the odor of sanctity inMessina.

In 1938, a tremendous storm was unleashed upon Luisa Piccarreta: she was publicly
disowned by Rome
and her books were put on the Index. At the publication of the
condemnation by the Holy Office, she immediately submitted to the authority of
the Church.

A priest was sent from Rome by the ecclesiastical authorities, who asked her for all her manuscripts, which Luisa handed over promptly and without a fuss. Thus all her writings were hidden away in the secrecy of the Holy Office.

On October 7, 1938, because of orders from above, Luisa was obliged to leave the
convent and find a new place to live. She spent the last nine years of her life
in a house in Via Maddalena, a place which the elderly of Corato know well and
from where, on March 8, 1947, they saw her body carried out.

Luisa’s life was very modest; she possessed little or nothing. She lived in a rented
house, cared for lovingly by her sister Angela and a few devout women. The
little she had was not even enough to pay the rent. To support herself she
worked diligently at making lace, earning from this the pittance she needed to
keep her sister, since she herself needed neither clothes nor shoes. Her
sustenance consisted of a few grams of food, which were prepared for her by her
assistant, Rosaria Bucci. Luisa ordered nothing, desired nothing, and instantly
vomited the food she swallowed. She did not look like a person near death’s door,
but nor did she appear perfectly healthy. Yet she was never idle, she spent her
energy either in her daily suffering or her work, and her life, for those who
knew her well, was considered a continuous miracle.

Her detachment from any payments that did not come from her daily work was
marvelous! She firmly refused money and the various presents offered to her on
any pretext. She never accepted money for the publication of her books. Thus
one day she told Blessed Annibale that she wanted to give him the money from
her author’s royalties: “I have no right to it, because what is written
there is not mine” (cf. Preface of the L’orologio della Passione, Messina,
1926). She scornfully refused and returned the money that pious people
sometimes sent her.

Luisa’s house was like a monastery, not to be entered by any curious person. She was
always surrounded by a few women who lived according to her own spirituality,
and by several girls who came to her house to learn lace-making. Many religious
vocations emerged from this “upper room”. However, her work of
formation was not limited to girls alone, many young men were also sent by her
to various religious institutes and to the priesthood.

Her day began at about 5.00 a.m., when the priest came to the house to bless it and
to celebrate Holy Mass. Either her confessor officiated, or some delegate of
his: a privileged granted by Leo XIII and confirmed by St. Pius X in 1907.
After Holy Mass, Luisa would remain in prayer and thanksgiving for about two
hours. At about 8.00 a.m. she would begin her work which she continued until
midday; after her frugal lunch she would stay alone in her room in meditation.
In the afternoon – after several hours of work – she would recite the holy
Rosary. In the evening, towards 8.00 p.m., Luisa would begin to write her
diary; at about midnight she would fall asleep. In the morning she would be
found immobile, rigid, huddled up on her bed, her head turned to the right, and
the intervention of priestly authority would be necessary to recall her to her
daily tasks and allow her to sit up in bed.

Luisa died at the age of eighty-one years, ten months and nine days, on March 4,
1947, after a fortnight of illness, the only one diagnosed in her life, a bad
attack of pneumonia. She died at the end of the night, at the same hour when
every day the priest’s blessing had freed her from her state of rigidity.
Archbishop Francesco Petronelli (May 25, 1939-June 16, 1947) archbishop at the
time. Luisa remained sitting up in bed. It was impossible to lay her out and –
an extraordinary phenomenon – her body never suffered rigor mortis and
remained in the position in which it had always been.

Hardly had the news of Luisa’s death spread, like a river in full spate, all the
people streamed into her house and police intervention was necessary to control
the crowds that flocked there day and night to visit Luisa, a woman very dear
to them. A voice rang out: “Luisa the Saint has died“. To contain all the people who were going to see her, with the permission of the civil authorities and health officials, her body was exposed for four days with no sign of corruption. Luisa did not seem dead, she was sitting up in bed, dressed in white; it was as though she were asleep, because as has already been said, her body did not suffer rigor mortis. Indeed, without any
effort her head could be moved in all directions, her arms raised, her hands
and all her fingers bent. It was even possible to lift her eyelids and see her
shining eyes that had not grown dim. Everyone believed that she was still
alive, immersed in a deep sleep. A council of doctors, summoned for this
purpose, declared, after attentively examining the corpse, that Luisa was truly
dead and that her death should be accepted as real and not merely apparent, as
everyone had imagined.

Luisa had said that she was born “upside down”, and that therefore it was
right that her death should be “upside down” in comparison with that
of other creatures. She remained in a sitting position as she had always lived,
and had to be carried to the cemetery in this position, in a coffin specially
made for her with a glass front and sides, so that she could be seen by
everyone, like a queen upon her throne, dressed in white with the Fiat on
her breast. More than forty priests, the chapter and the local clergy took part
in the funeral procession; the sisters took turns to carry her on their
shoulders, and an immense crowd of citizens surrounded her: the streets were
incredibly full; even the balconies and rooftops of the houses were swarming
with people, so that the procession wound slowly onwards with great difficulty.
The funeral rite of the little daughter of the Divine Will was celebrated in
the main church by the entire chapter. All the people of Corato followed the
body to the cemetery. Everyone tried to take home a keepsake or a flower, after
having touched her body with it; a few years later, her remains were translated
to the parish of Santa Maria Greca.

On November 20, 1994, on the Feast of Christ the King, in the main church,
Archbishop Carmelo Cassati, in the presence of a large crowd including foreign
representatives, officially opened the Cause of Beatification of the Servant of
God, Luisa Piccarreta.

Important dates

1865
– Luisa Piccarreta was born on April 23, the Sunday after Easter, in Corato, Bari, to Nicola Vito and Rosa Tarantino, who had five daughters: Maria, Rachele, Filomena, Luisa and Angela.  A few hours after Luisa’s birth, her father wrapped her in a
blanket and took her to the main church for baptism. Her mother had not suffered
the pangs of labor: her birth was painless.

1872
– She received Jesus in the Eucharist on the Sunday after Easter, and the
sacrament of Confirmation was administered to her on that same day by
Archbishop Giuseppe Bianchi Dottula of Trani.

1883
– At the age of eighteen, from the balcony of her house, she saw Jesus, bent
beneath the weight of the Cross, who said to her: “O soul! Help me!“.
From that moment, solitary soul that she was, she lived in continuous union
with the ineffable sufferings of her Divine Bridegroom.

1888
– She became a Daughter of Mary and a Dominican Tertiary with the name of Sr.
Maddalena

1885-1947
– A chosen soul, a seraphic bride of Christ, humble and devout, whom God had
endowed with extraordinary gifts, an innocent victim, a lightening conductor of
Divine Justice, bedridden for sixty-two years without interruption, she was a
herald of the Kingdom of the Divine Will.

March 4, 1947
– Full of merits, in the eternal light of the Divine Will she ended her days
as she had lived them, to triumph with the angels and saints in the eternal
splendor of the Divine Will.

March 7, 1947
– For four days her mortal remains were exposed for the veneration of an
immense throng of the faithful who went to her house to have a last look at
Luisa the Saint, so dear to their hearts. The funeral was a realm triumph;
Luisa passed like a queen, borne aloft on shoulders among the lines of people.
All the clergy, secular and religious, accompanied Luisa’s body. The funeral
liturgy took place in the main church with the participation of the entire
chapter. In the afternoon, Luisa was buried in the family Chapel of the Calvi
family.

July 3,1963
– Her mortal remains were definitively laid to rest in the Church of Santa Maria Greca.

November 20, 1994 – Feast of Christ the King:
 – Archbishop Carmelo Cassati officially opened the  Beatification Cause of the Servant of GodLuisa Piccarreta in the principal church of Corato, in the presence of a hugecrowd of people, locals and foreigners.

2005
– Archbishop Giovanni Battista Picchierri,
current Archbishop of Trani. It is he who requested that the Cause of
Beatification of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta be continued.

 

ARCHDIOCESE

Trani – Barletta – Bisceglie –
Nazareth

70059 TRANI – VIA BELTRANI, 9 –
TEL.0883-583498

Trani, June 4, 2005

COMUNIQUE

The “Divine Will” has guided the Archdiocese, in this last decade, for the completion of the works regarding the process of the Cause of Beatification of the Servant of God LuisaPiccarreta.  The Diocesan Postulation announces having completed this journey.
It communicates that on the days of the 27th, 28th, and 29th of October 2005 it will celebrate the 2nd International Congress with the conclusion of the diocesan process.

The Pious Association Luisa Piccarreta Little Children of the Divine Will*, in Corato, has been charged with performing the job of Secretary for the celebration and welcome of guests.  Later the program of the celebration will be published in a definitive way.

May Jesus Christ present in the Eucharist guide us as He has guided His Servant Luisa.

The Vicar General

(His Grace Mons. Savino
Giannotti)

* Pious Association Luisa
Piccarreta Little Children of the Divine Will

Referent:  Sister Assunta Marigliano

70033 Corato (BA) – Via Nazario Sauro, 27 – Tel. +39.080.8982221

www.luisalasanta.com
– e-mail :  pia.ass.luisalasanta@libero.it

 

Come Holy Spirit, Come Supreme Will,
down to reign in Your Kingdom on earth
and in our hearts!

Come Holy Spirit, Come Supreme Will,
down to reign in Your Kingdom on earth
and in our hearts!

Come Holy Spirit, Come Supreme Will,
down to reign in Your Kingdom on earth
and in our hearts!

1/13 What distinguishes Luisa from all the others?

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…in a few words: What distinguishes the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta, from all the
others?

 From the Introduction to the book “Quando la Divina Volonta’
regna nell’anima” (“When the Divine Will reigns in the soul”), published by the
Pious Association “Luisa Piccarreta” with ecclesiastical  approval.

 Where is the uniqueness of Luisa, that which distinguishes her
from all the others? Let us say it soon and with simple words: she is the first
one to live in the Divine Will, in perfect imitation of the Humanity of Our
Lord: “My food is to do the Will of my Father”… and in perfect imitation of the
Most Holy Virgin: “Fiat Mihi…”

The Saints and the Church have known until now the conformity
to the Will of God, the full abandonment, and even the union to the Will of God.
We could take as examples of this, the concepts of St. Francis of Sales and of
St. Vincent de Paul, among many, in the following expression: “To empty oneself
of oneself and to unite one’s own will so completely to God that it becomes one
with His…”

We could say: this is the highest point. And so, what is the
difference between the teachings we are given through Luisa and this union of
wills? We will take the answer from the writings of Luisa. In Volume 14, on
October 6, 1922, being asked by Luisa how it could be possible that she was the
first one to live in the Divine Will after so many centuries and so many Saints
the Church has had, Our Lord says:

“…And then, it is so true that I have called you as the first,
since to no other soul, though dear to Me, did I manifest the way to live in my
Will, Its effects, and the wonders and the goods that the creature operating in
the Supreme Volition receives. Check as many lives of Saints as you want, or
books of doctrines: in none of them will you find the prodigies of my Volition
operating in the creature and of the creature operating in my Will. At the most,
you will find resignation, union of wills; but in not one of them will you find
the Divine Will operating in her, and she in It. This means that the time had
not come in which my Goodness was to call the creature to live in this sublime
state. Even the way I make you pray cannot be found in anyone else. Therefore,
be attentive. My Justice demands this, my Love is delirious; so my Wisdom
disposes everything in order to obtain the intent. It is the rights, the Glory
of Creation, that We want from you.”

 In other words, from the union of wills already known through
several Saints, Luisa moves on to the activity of the union – to the activity
and the life of the creature in the Divine Will.

This statement can be verified and confirmed by the reader, if he reads the Writings without prejudice and “with his mind opened to the light of the Truth”; otherwise, “he will understand nothing” (Volume 12, January 29, 1919).