Preparation for Holy Christmas during the Season of Advent
The Nine Excesses of Love in the Incarnation of the Word
Luisa Piccarreta, the Little Daughter of the Divine Will
Let us prepare ourselves for the Great Feast of Holy Christmas by meditating on the Mystery of the Incarnation of the Word, attentively and continuously, during the Season of Advent, with the Christmas Novena (the Nine Excesses of Love) which the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta the Little Daughter of the Divine Will did for the first time at the age of seventeen, and which she never abandoned during the course of her life.
Here below is a suggested schedule of meditation.
First, let us focus on each Excess of Love for one week, during nine consecutive weeks, by reading and meditating on them each day, ever more closely and deeply. This will help us to prepare ourselves for the final nine days before Christmas, in which we will repeat the Novena.
May God grant us abundant graces, light and consuming love, to be reborn with Him in the Life of the Divine Will. Amen.
Meditation Theme Week
I Excess of Love Trinitarian Love October 14 – 20
II Excess of Love Constrained Love October 21 – 27
III Excess of Love Devouring Love October 28 – Nov 3
IV Excess of Love Operative Love November 4 – 10
V Excess of Love Lonely Love November 11 – 17
VI Excess of Love Imprisoned Love November 18 – 24
VII Excess of Love Unrequited Love Nov 25 – Dec 1
VIII Excess of Love Supplicating Love December 2 – 8
IX Excess of Love Agonizing Love December 9 – 15
Meditation Theme Day
I Excess of Love Trinitarian Love December 16
II Excess of Love Constrained Love December 17
III Excess of Love Devouring Love December 18
IV Excess of Love Operative Love December 19
V Excess of Love Lonely Love December 20
VI Excess of Love Imprisoned Love December 21
VII Excess of Love Unrequited Love December 22
VIII Excess of Love Supplicating Love December 23
IX Excess of Love Agonizing Love December 24
Holy Christmas – The Birth of Jesus December 25
The Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem
The silver star in the Grotto of the Nativity marks the spot of Jesus’ Birth
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Book of Heaven
The Call of the Creature to the Order, the Place and the Purpose
for which He was Created by God
Volume 14 – October 14, 1900
The dangerous scourge of the middle-class. Only innocence snatches God’s mercy and mitigates His just indignation.
The Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta the Little Daughter of the Divine Will:
This morning I felt so dazed that I could not understand myself, nor was I able to go in search of my highest Good as I usually do. Every now and then He would move within my interior and would make Himself seen; and completely embracing me, and compassionating me, He would say to me: “Poor daughter, you are right that you cannot be without Me; how could you live without your beloved?”
And I, stirred by His words, said: “Ah, my beloved, what a hard martyrdom life is, because of the intervals in which I am forced to be without You. You Yourself are saying that I am right, but then You leave me!”
He hid furtively, as if He did not want me to hear what He was saying to me, and I was left in my dazedness again, unable to say anything else. When He saw me dazed again, He came out and said: ‘You (Luisa) are all My(Jesus) contentment, in your heart I find true rest, and resting in it I experience the dearest delights.”
And I, stirring myself again, said: “For me also, You are all my contentment, so much so that all other things are nothing but bitternesses for me…” And since He withdrew again, I remained half way through my words, more dazed than before; and this is how the morning went on – it seemed He felt like joking a little bit.
After this, I felt myself outside of myself, and I saw unknown persons approaching, dressed as middle-class folk. On seeing them, the people were all horrified and screamed with fright and distress – especially the children; and they said: “If these set upon us, it is over for us.” And they added: “Let the young girls hide! Poor youths, if they are caught in the hands of these!” So, turning to the Lord, I (Luisa) said: “Pity – mercy! Move this scourge away, so dangerous for miserable humanity! Let the tears of innocence move You to compassion!”
And He: “Ah, my daughter (Luisa)! Only because of innocence do I (Jesus) have regard for others; it alone snatches My mercy and mitigates My just indignation.”