The Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta
Volume 2; September 9, 1899
Now, while sitting in the shade of this tree, Jesus looked at me with tenderness, all paternal, and taken by a surge of love, such that it seemed He could not contain it within Himself, He embraced me tightly and began to say: “How beautiful you are! You are My simple dove, My beloved dwelling, My living temple, in which I AM pleased to delight united with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Your continuous languishing for Me relieves Me and refreshes Me from the continuous offenses that creatures give Me. Know that the Love I have for you is so Great that I AM forced to hide it in part, so that you may not become insane, but may live. In fact, if I showed it to you, you would not only become insane, but would not be able to continue to live; your weak nature would be consumed by the Flames of My Love.” While He was saying this, I felt all confused and annihilated, and I felt myself sinking into the abyss of my nothingness, because I saw myself all imperfect; especially, I noted my ingratitude and coldness at the so many graces that the Lord gives me. But I hope that everything will be for His Glory and Honor, hoping, with firm confidence, that in an effort of His Love He may want to conquer my hardness.
Volume 4; November 22, 1901
After going through most bitter days of tears, of privation and of silence, my poor heart can bear no more. The torment of being outside of my center, God, is so great, that I am continuously battered amid dense waves of a fierce storm in a state of strong violence, such that I suffer death at each moment, and, what’s more, I cannot die.
As I was in this position, He made Himself seen for a little while and told me: “My daughter, when a soul does the will of someone else in everything, it is said that she has trust in that person, therefore she lives from someone else’s volition, and not from her own. In the same way, when the soul does My Will in everything, I say that she has Faith. So, Divine Will and Faith are branches produced by the same trunk; and since Faith is simple, Faith and Divine Will produce a third branch, that of simplicity. And here is how the soul comes to reacquire the characteristics of a dove in everything. Don’t you want, then, to be My dove?”
Volume 12; May 23, 1918
This morning my sweet Jesus did not come, and I spent it amid sighs, anxieties and bitternesses, but all immersed in His Will. As the night came, I could not take any more, and I kept calling Him over and over again. My eyes could not close, I felt restless – I wanted Jesus at any cost. At that point He came, and said to me: “My dove, who can say to you the flights that you take in My Will, the space that you cover, the air that you swallow? No one, no one – not even you would be able to say it. I alone – I alone can say it; I, who measure the fibers; I, who number the flights of your thoughts, of your heartbeats; and as you fly, I see the hearts that you touch. But, do not stop – fly to more hearts, and knock, again and again; and fly over again, and on your wings bring My ‘I Love you’ to more hearts, to make Me Loved; and then, in one single flight, come to My Heart to take refreshment, to then start again more rapid flights. I amuse Myself with My dove, and I call the Angels and My little Mama to amuse themselves with Me. But, you know? I AM not telling you everything; the rest I will tell you in Heaven. O! how many surprising things I will tell you.”
Then He placed His Hand on my forehead and added: “I leave you the shadow of My Will, the Breath of My Volition. Sleep.” And I fell asleep.
Volume 16; October 30, 1923
Then, in the meantime, I felt I was losing consciousness, and I saw a dove, all afire, that was agonizing, and Someone near it Who, with His Burning Breath, was feeding the dove with His Flames in order to nourish it, preventing it from taking any other food, holding it tightly and so close to His Mouth, that it could do nothing other than breathe and swallow the Flames which came from Him. And the poor dove agonized and turned into those Flames with which it was Nourished. I was surprised in seeing this, and my sweet Jesus, moving in my interior, told me: “My daughter, why do you fear that I might leave you? In order to leave you, I should leave Myself, which I cannot do. As much Power as I have, I do not have the Power to detach from Myself. The same for the one who does My Will: since he becomes inseparable from Me, I lack the Power to detach from him; not only this, but I keep nourishing him with My own Flames. Have you not seen that dove, all afire? It was the image of your soul, and the One who was feeding it with His Burning Breath was I, who Delight so much in Nourishing the one who Lives in My Will with only the Flames unleashed by My Heart, through My Breath.
“Don’t you know that the one who Lives in My Will must be filtered through Its Most Pure Light? And to be filtered is more than to be put under a press, because even though the press smashes everything to pieces, it lets everything out – skin and seeds, which settle down at the bottom and leave always something cloudy. On the other hand, when something is filtered, especially then, if it is filtered through the thick Light of My Will, there is no danger that it might deposit something cloudy; rather, everything is Clear, similar to the Clearness of the Light through which it has been filtered. And this is a Great Honor for the soul who Lives in My Will – that whether she thinks, speaks, loves, etc., My Will takes on the commitment to filter whatever she does through Its Most Pure Light. And this is necessary, so that in everything she does, there may be no distinction from what We do, but all things may hold hands and share their Likeness.”
Now, as He was saying this, I found myself outside of myself, inside a Garden, and, tired, I sat down under a tree to rest. But the rays of the Sun darted through me in such a way that I felt I was burning. I wanted to go under some other tree, a thicker one, that would produce more shade, so as not to be hurt by the Sun; but a Voice (it seems to me that it was my beloved Jesus) prevented me from doing so, saying: “The one who Lives in My Will must be exposed to the Rays of the Burning and Eternal Sun, in order to Live of Light, see nothing but Light, and touch nothing but Light. This leads to the Deification of the soul. Only when the soul is all Deified in God – then can it be said that she Lives in My Will. Rather, come out from under this tree and stroll in this Celestial Eden of My Will, so that, scanning you thoroughly, the Sun may convert you into Light, and may give you the final brush stroke of the Deification in God.” I began to stroll, but as I was doing this, obedience called me back into myself.
Volume 19; June 20, 1926
Then after this, my sweet Jesus moved in my interior, and, all tenderness, told me: “My daughter, tell Me, what about your ideal, your purpose – what is it?” And I: “My Love, Jesus, my ideal is to fulfill Your Will, and all my purpose is to reach the point at which no thought, word, heartbeat and work of mine may ever go out of the Kingdom of Your Supreme Will; even more, in It may they be Conceived, Nourished, Raised and Form their Life, and if needed, also their Death, though I know that in Your Will no act dies, but once it is Born it Lives Eternally. So, it is the Kingdom of your Will in my poor soul that I long for, and this is all my ideal and my primary and ultimate purpose.” And Jesus, all Love and making Feast, added: “My daughter, so, My Ideal and yours are one, and therefore one is our Purpose. Brava, brava, the little daughter of My Will! And since your ideal and Mine are one, you too have sustained the battle of long years to conquer the Kingdom of My Will. You had to endure pains, privations, and have been even a prisoner in your little room, bound to your little bed, to Conquer that Kingdom so much Wanted and Longed For by Me and by you. It cost much to both of us, and now we are both Triumphant and Conquerors. So, you too are the little queen in the Kingdom of My Will, and even though little, you are always queen because you are the daughter of the Great King – of Our Celestial Father. Therefore, as Conqueror of a Kingdom so Great, take Possession of all Creation, of all Redemption and of all Heaven – everything is yours, because your Rights of Possession extend wherever My Will Reigns as Whole and Permanent. All are waiting for you to give you the Honors that befit your Victory.
“You too are the little baby who has so much cried and longed for her Jesus. But as soon as you have seen Me your tears have stopped, and flinging yourself onto My Lap, you have attached yourself to My Breast and, victorious, you have suckled My Will and My Love. As though in Triumph, you have taken rest in My very Arms, and I rocked you so that your sleep might be longer, and I might enjoy My newborn in My own Arms; and, Triumphant, I extended the Kingdom of My Will in you. Also, you are the tiny little dove that has made its Round and made its Round around Me, and while I spoke to you about My Will, Manifesting to you the Knowledges about It, Its Goods, Its Prodigies and even Its Sorrow, you beat your wings, and hurling yourself over the many Seeds I placed before you, you grabbed them with your beak and, Triumphant, you continued your flight around Me, waiting for more Seeds of My Will that I would place before you. And, again, grabbing them with your beak, you nourished yourself and, Victorious, continued your flight, Manifesting the Kingdom of My Will. So, My Prerogatives are yours, My Kingdom and yours are one; we have Suffered together – it is right that together we enjoy our Conquests.”