Luisa’s Dominican Tertiary Cross

Luisa wearing her Dominican Tertiary Cross

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“Being a lay Dominican seems to Luisa to be an adequate form of consecration that is recognized by the Church. Thus she became a Dominican tertiary with the name of Sister Magdalena and, up until her final days, she will recite the Divine every day. She is very devoted to St. Dominic and St. Catherine and  she prepares for their feasts with a novena in their honor “. (Maria Rosaria Del Genio, The Sun of My Will Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2014, p.48).

These words, contained in the biography of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta describe Luisa’s membership in the Dominican Third Order. From the testimonies and the documents that have been collected it appears that she was a part of it since her earliest youth, when the Third Order was restored in the city of Corato.

Also Mons. Luigi D’Oria was reporting it. In the biographical profile that he wrote in 1951 he said: “Luisa, as she herself repeatedly reminded her followers and as they attested, became a lay Dominican (…) in 1882, when she was 17 years old. (…)

Five years had passed since Jesus addressed her His heartfelt invitation: “Soul, help me!” Luisa felt the fire of the divine love that burned in her heart and she was all intent on finding “how better” to follow her heavenly Spouse, to imitate His examples, to suffer with Him and, thus, to cooperate with Him in the salvation of souls.

Luisa did not delay in understanding that the Third Dominican Order, like any other third order, bringing to life the religious spirit, led the souls of good will on the purely evangelical path and thus gave the opportunity to live with confidence following Jesus. (…) Moreover, our new daughter of St. Dominic kept faith in the promises and commitments she had made. Luisa, until her last days, recited daily the Office of the Dominican tertiaries , as the members of her family who lived with her until her death, confirmed “.

Luisa herself in her writings did not fail to refer to St. Dominic and St. Catherine from Siena. Witness the rich and profound references contained in the notebook “Aneliti di Santità”, in which some of Luisa’s disciples gathered her thoughts and prayers.

A link, therefore, with the Dominican spirituality, which is to be discovered and valued!

don Sergio Pellegrini