(CHAPTER X CONTINUED) 

Visions of the Night Friday

Sometimes I slept at the home of Luisa, in the big bed between Aunt Rosaria and Angelina and I noticed that Aunt Rosaria at one point got up and went into the room of Luisa. I pretended to sleep.  Looking with one eye, I noticed that when Aunt Rosaria was entering, a strange light came out of the room. It was blinding and of a color that cannot be described.

I tried to get up but I could not.  At some point Aunt Rosaria returned and lay down as if nothing had happened.  In the meantime Luisa’s sister, Angelina, was fast asleep and did not notice anything. When Aunt Rosaria came out of Luisa’s room, she looked younger, her face was beautiful and fresh, even her hair seemed beautiful to me, brushed.

Once my aunt ran out of the room, opened the dresser, took the towel and ran into the room of Luisa, but left soon after and went to bed.

The next morning I asked what had happened, but my Aunt was silent; only later I learned that Luisa often, especially on the Fridays of Lent, suffered the pains of the Passion of Christ and bled.

Illness and subsequent death of Luisa

I followed all phases of Luisa’s illness, and at home spoke about the concerns of Dr. Felix Avella who could not speak clearly about Luisa’s illness. For him it was not yet clear if it was another mystical phenomenon or a very serious illness. Finally he pronounced “an acute bronchitis” diagnosis that did not convince anyone because it was not yet decided to issue the death certificate. Every day, morning and evening, he visited the remains of Luisa, and only after a medical consultation was it declared that Luisa was really dead, and not apparently, as people thought.  So we thought seriously about the burial.

Luisa’s body was exposed to the veneration of the public four days, night and day, without interruption. The lines were very long, and the army was called to maintain public order.

When Luisa died, it created in all a silence mixed with wonder and amazement. All had the impression that a great Saint had left this world. No one dared to touch her; Luisa remained in her usual position.

Not even her confessor ventured to touch her, he only made a sign of the cross as if to wake her, but Luisa was serene as if asleep.

The doctor, Don Felicetti Avella, was the first to touch her.  He took her pulse, auscultated her heart, and finding that everything was motionless, assured everyone that Luisa was clinically dead and he said “Stretch out the corpse before it becomes stiff.”

It was only then that Aunt Rosaria and Angelina burst into tears and were accompanied to the next room. I was the first to touch Luisa, and I tried to straighten her, but I could not.  The other women made the same attempt, but failed. At one point she opened her mouth as if to say: “Leave me alone!” Some of the women were afraid, saying they heard a voice that said, “Leave me alone.” No one knew what to do. So I took the initiative, calling her by name, as was customary when dressing the dead, and I said, “Aunt Luisa, let me remove your shirt full of sweat and put the clean one on you.”

So I dressed her with clean clothes, and the body of Luisa moved easily, without her legs rising. After putting the shirt on her, I put on clean socks, then picked her up and laid her on the bier that had been prepared in the other room for the viewing.  It was then that I had the impression that Luisa did not weigh anything.

 

The Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta pictured on her deathbed

The superior of the Dominican Third Order put a bib on her chest that said FIAT (this is also verified from photographs taken immediately after). Everything was done quickly because a large crowd was already pushing at the door to see their Saint.

After arranging the body of Luisa and placing the pillows behind her back as if she were in bed, I went to pick up the clothes that Luisa had worn, but I saw with amazement that they were all gone; there was only the shirt. I asked who had taken the clothes of Luisa, but nobody knew anything; they had stolen everything as a relic.

So I took her shirt, folded it, and took it to Aunt Rosaria and I explained that everything else was gone. Aunt Rosaria said, “Take it home before even this disappears.” I put it in an bag and took it home. My mother received the shirt with great reverence and kept it among her most precious things.

I was very tired, and only at home had a fit of crying.  However, comforted and urged by mama, I went to rest. I watched over Luisa on her deathbed for four days, and was careful that no stealing occurred.  The army was called in to control the flood of people. I remember the episode of a soldier about twenty years old, American perhaps, whom I saw very tired and pale.  I prepared sandwiches and other items to refresh him.

 

The Funeral

A discussion arose about how to do the funeral, if the coffin of Luisa should to be carried on the shoulders and by whom, or whether to use the customary hearse. It was decided to carry her on the shoulders. The grandnephews and relatives of Luisa claimed carrying her on their shoulders, considering it their privilege.  On the other hand, there were the Sisters of Divine Zeal who strongly claimed this right. The one who could resolve and settle the issue was Luisa’s sister Angelina, but she gave inconclusive answers. To the grandnephews she said: “You were never seen before, now you are all around.” And to the Sisters of Divine Zeal: “You expelled her from your convent, and now you pretend to carry her on your shoulders?”

Angelina’s replies did not solve anything. Everyone resorted to Aunt Rosaria (especially the Sisters of Divine Zeal), because after Angelina she had authority in this regard.

After talking to Angelina, Aunt Rosaria went to Luisa’s confessor, Father Benedetto Calvi, whose home was about 15 meters from that of Luisa’s. Here’s the solution: Aunt Rosaria, per his decision, arrived with a note in her hand and she said: “The grandnephews will carry the coffin down the stairs of the house and carry it on their shoulders on Via Maddalena.  Afterwards, the coffin will be given to the Nuns of the various Orders that are present in Corato, and they will take turns carrying it. The Third Order Dominicans, with their insignia, will surround the coffin during the procession, accompanied by the girls and young girls dressed in white. “

This solution was accepted by all, even by Angelina. All these details have never been written anywhere; I can confirm all this because the events are confirmed by looking at the photos of the funeral.

Father Benedetto Calvi acted behind the scenes, so as not to override the authority of the Archpriest Father Clement Ferrara, who had his own ideas about this and had suggested covering her coffin with a white cloth, “in order” he said, “to save Luisa from the curious eyes of the people.”

 

Departing coffin carried by the grandnephews of Luisa
from her home on Via Maddalena

Luisa’s coffin carried by the Nuns of various Religious Congregations
present in Corato

 

Corato stopped to honor Luisa the Saint

The funeral was a triumph, all Corato participated and stopped to honor Luisa the Saint, even the Headmaster Lagrasta gathered the high school students to pay homage to Luisa, and I remember the words he spoke into the microphone: “Let us kneel before Luisa Piccarreta, creature all of God, who has edified the people with her virtues, a magnificent example of a truly Christian life. Hail, creature more of Heaven than of earth, a privileged creature who has radiated Corato and the world with the light of Faith. Hail, Saint Luisa, you are not dead because you will remain alive in our memory, and one day the world will speak of you.”

The speech was much longer and more detailed. I remember these words that Headmaster Lagrasta spoke at the passage of the casket. All the students blessed themselves with the sign of the Cross, and many knelt.

Miracles and graces occurred at the passage of the funeral procession. Many sick people were put on the doorstep of the houses where the procession passed. Everyone was crying and praying. I accompanied the coffin to the cemetery, and with gentle force Aunt Rosaria was made to return home, because she wanted to keep vigil over the body through the night.  The intervention of Father Benedetto Calvi was necessary.

The next morning, March 8th, we went to the cemetery. The coffin was opened and everyone wanted to touch her. Many had scissors to snip her clothing. I warned Father Benedetto Calvi who objected; he had only given permission to touch the corpse with the Rosary.

After Holy Mass, Luisa was buried in the Calvi chapel on the left side of the altar, the second row (as you look at it).  The tomb was closed, not with marble but with a large picture of Luisa.

With the death of Luisa, many things changed in my life. I continued to visit Angelina, but it was not the same as before. Aunt Rosaria tried to keep the school of embroidery alive for some time, but even that ended.

With the death of mother, on January 21, 1951, I went to Trieste in 1954 (via Dandolo 5) where I married Petruzzi Pasquale.  I walked away from all those events that had characterized my youth, but Luisa has always been in my life as a shining beacon.

I had two children, happily married, and now I am happy to see my grandchildren. About 15 years ago I had a serious heart attack, I was in danger of death but through my trust in Luisa, the crisis was overcome to amazement of the doctors and my children. I have reached the age of 81 years without problems. I have always talked to my family and friends about Luisa. I distributed, in addition to the writings of my brother about Luisa, holy cards as well as the work published by Andrea Magnifico. If Trieste knows Luisa, it is partly due to me, to my Aunt Concettina and to my pastor at the church of San Giacomo.

A sea of people gives a final farewell to Luisa Piccarreta 

 

Aunt Concettina

A few words about Aunt Concettina (sister of my mother Serafina) telling everyone that she had been healed by Luisa the Saint.

Critically ill with kidney disease, in 1920 Aunt Concettina was operated on at home and one of her kidneys was removed. Her mama had resorted to the prayer of Luisa the Saint. The operation was only an attempt by the doctor, who had told her to prepare her burial clothes.

Things turned out differently, and the faith of Mary Marzocca, their (Concettina and Serafina’s) mother, was rewarded: “I’m sure that Luisa will do the grace.”

Aunt Concettina said that during the operation she saw Luisa sitting next to her stroking her forehead and hair, holding her hand. At one point, Luisa disappeared and at the same moment Our Lady of Sorrows was presented to her vision, as She is represented in the mysteries of the Good Friday procession.

After a few years Aunt Concettina married a young man whom she moved to Trieste with.

Aunt Concettina lived to be 94 years old.

During her last years she was admitted to the diocesan institute for the elderly, and to everyone there she spoke about Luisa and read the books published by my brother. She could read very well, having graduated, and she had seven children, all boys.

I close these, my memories, even though so many things are left to be told.  But I think this is sufficient. I have told everything I know that seemed to me useful to know, even to framing the person of Luisa in her environment of Corato.

Dear Peppino I wrote all I remember, I think you will be pleased.

A big hug, your sister Lisetta.

Luisa Bucci Petruzzi

Trieste April 22, 2006

 

CHAPTER XI

 

MARIA BUCCI AND LUISA PICCARRETA

Maria Bucci, born on May 22,1929, Aunt Rosaria was her Confirmation sponsor, residing at Arzola dell’Emilia (BO) – via Pedrazzi 4.  She did not visit Luisa like her other sisters. She was a very quiet, good-looking girl, and she complained that when she went to Luisa, sometimes she reproved her because she did not go to Mass on Sundays.

When she participated in the meditations that Luisa made for the girls, she was always distracted and did not like Luisa’s ways. Despite everything, she always had a great veneration for the Servant of God, and I saw her cry when Luisa died. Wherever she was, she always spoke with great admiration of the Servant of God.  She married Dominic Ventura, who was also a great admirer of Luisa the Saint, whom he had heard spoken about with great veneration by his mother, Theresa Ventura, who had attended Luisa’s school of embroidery. This woman describes an unknown side of Luisa: she related that indeed Luisa was not only the Saint who inspired respect and distance, but she often joked with her girls and readily smiled at jokes that they told.

Dominic Ventura once said that his mother gave Luisa a chicken that she brought to her in a basket. Going into Luisa’s room, the hen jumped out and began to run around. Everyone tried to catch it but failed until the hen, with an unexpected jump, slipped under the sheets of Luisa, who smiled and said, “Let this poor beast live.” The hen was returned to her roost.

Another incident described by Ventura is that of the goldfinch that almost every day in the summer, when the balcony was opened, entered the room of Luisa, rested on the table where the Child Jesus was, and sang. Luisa suspended her work of the tombolo and peacefully listened to it, until she told it “enough”, because she must work, and the goldfinch flew away.

Aunt Rosaria never spoke about these incidents, and I do not know what to believe about it.

I spoke once about Luisa with Mrs. Theresa Ventura who told me that the Servant of God was a woman who lived in the clouds of holiness, but she was human.  In their company, Luisa often joked and laughed, even though her nature was that of praying a great deal. Mrs. Ventura remembered her meditations on the Divine Will that she preserved very well in her memory.

Mrs. Teresa Ventura moved with all her family to Turin, where she died at a very old age.

 

CHAPTER XII

 

AUGUSTINE BUCCI

Bucci Augustine, born in 1931, currently lives in Switzerland where he emigrated in his youth. He also visited Luisa and many times he helped Angelina in the domestic commissions. Luisa often asked him to collect pins from the floor. He was very close to Piccarreta, and he always had a medal of the Servant of God on his chest.

He is very active in spreading devotion of the Servant of God in Switzerland.  He has spread my works and little pictures of Luisa, especially among the immigrant Italians and Spaniards. When his lungs were operated on, he took with him the relic of Luisa’s hair and said to me: “Go celebrate a Mass for Luisa in the hospital’s chapel during my surgery.” This went well, and since then he has further intensified his publicity for the Servant of God among the Arab world, especially in Tunisia, where he owns a villa.

 

 

CHAPTER XIII

NUNZIA GAROFALO

I cannot not mention another person who had a deep reverence for the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta: Aunt Nunzia, born in 1896, elder sister of my mother.

She lived on Via Panseri in Corato and was a person deeply integrated in her neighborhood. She was an exceptional woman, a perfectly common person, known to all.  She was the “mama” of the neighborhood, that is to say the midwife, and this is why all the kids called her “cummà” (co-mama) because she had seen them born and followed them in their development. Every Sunday she came to my house for lunch and was very expert in the kitchen, and she helped all she could. She had a deep reverence for Luisa and I believe that she had intuited the height of Luisa’s holiness. This I gathered from her actions and her words about Luisa.  In fact, in pronouncing Luisa’s name she removed the bandanna that covered her head and crossed herself with the sign of the cross, and I often heard her say these words:  “Luisa is an angel sent by God to earth; she is not of earth but of Heaven.”  Words akin to blasphemy.  In fact many reproached her, and my parish priest, Father Cataldo Tota said, “They are diabolical words,” and Aunt Rosaria viewed them as such and acted accordingly. In fact, whenever they met at home, Aunt Rosaria showed signs of impatience.

Let us ask why Aunt Nunzia had formed such an extraordinary opinion of Piccarreta. I think it was because of an incident that marked and changed her life.

Aunt Nunzia was married to a handsome young man, a distributor of salt. The couple was gladdened by two children and was a happy and envied family.  But soon a terrible misfortune fell upon her, for reasons not explained.  In a short period of time her husband and two children died. The immediate relatives of the deceased, as was customary, wanted back all the patrimony of her husband, there being more heirs, and Aunt Nunzia fell into extreme poverty. In order to not ask for help from her family, she sold the furniture.  But over time the money received ended, and one day, starving, locked in her house she laid her head on the table and wept inconsolably. Then she appealed to Luisa and said: “Luisa help me, and if you can not help me, let me die.  I can not bear the shame of going begging.”

 

A mysterious vision

While in this state of despair, she heard a knock at the door.  She got up and went to open it. She saw before her a very beautiful youth with a large basket in her hand that she held out to her. My Aunt was stunned and instinctively took the basket to place it on the table.  But when she turned to thank her, the youth had disappeared. Surprised, my Aunt went out the door and saw no one.  She asked the neighbors if they saw a youth, but they said no. Lifting the cloth that covered the basket, my Aunt found a great gift from God:  enough food for a month.

My Aunt realized that Luisa had heard her prayer, and she had the impression that the youth and Luisa were the same because she said that she was very similar. Hence my Aunt’s belief that Luisa was not a creature of the earth but of Heaven. She wanted to go to visit Luisa, but was not received. The excuse was that the Sisters did not allow visits. Luisa did not do things halfway.

My mother was placed as a teacher at Rotondella, in Lucania, and it was a great difficulty for her because she had six children to look after. She was planning to entrust them to her mother, but before leaving she went to Luisa and expressed her difficulties. Luisa said, “Do not leave the children with anyone because they need their mother. Why not take with you your sister Nunzia?” She had not thought of this possibility and immediately went to propose it to Aunt Nunzia. Aunt Nunzia immediately accepted this. From that moment the hardships of Aunt Nunzia’s life ended. Because of this she became even more attached to the Servant of God. She carried Luisa’s picture close to her heart, especially when she learned that Luisa was the one who had proposed this solution.

Aunt Nunzia followed my mother in her travels, and when Mom was transferred to teach in Corato in the ‘40s, a widower asked my Aunt to marry him; she accepted, and she peacefully lived the last years of her life.

 

 

CHAPTER XIV

 

SISTER GIOVANNINA AND THE FERRARA BROTHERS

Encouraged by Piccarreta, many girls and boys entered the congregations of Father Annibale and Father Montemurro.  I personally can remember Sister Giovannina, who died in Milan, at very a old age, in 2000.  When this Sister came to Bari, she constantly visited the tomb and the house of Luisa.

She once told me that she was in Messina when Luisa died, and Luisa appeared to her to announce her (Luisa’s) death. Sister Giovannina went to her Superior and announced the death of Luisa in tears, but her Superior remained skeptical about the news and sent her back to her work. Not long after, her Superior came to her and said that a telegram had arrived announcing the death of the Servant of God

Sister Giovannina told me that she had attended Masses that Father Gennaro Bracale celebrated in the home of Luisa and how Father Bracale would rise from the ground during the Sacred Rite.

At the same time she saw Luisa as in ecstasy, and in all those present there was amazement accompanied by feelings of reverence.

Sister often spoke to me about Aunt Rosaria, who she said was “very blessed” because she was in constant contact with Luisa.

In the Saint Anthony Institute in Corato is Sister Vincenza Caputo, a very old nun from Corato, who confirmed Sister Giovannina’s story to me.

I cannot forget the Ferrara brothers, Giuseppe and Francesco, who were the founders of “Oasis of Nazareth” in Corato. These brothers were very devoted to Piccarreta; they encouraged me on to write the first biography and they financed the printing of it. They urged me to never tire in writing and talking about Luisa. In truth, the Ferrara brothers spread devotion to Luisa in Italy and the world through my little biography that reached all the families who received the magazine for the orphans, called “Our Lady of Grace”, published by Ferrara. One day Don Peppino said to me, “We have created interest in information about Luisa the Saint.”

When Aunt Rosaria died, Don Francesco Ferrara asked me if he could help pay for her funeral, “Because,” he said, “Rosaria is very dear to me and Don Peppino.”  My family very politely refused the offer.

 

CONCLUSION

I end coverage of these new details, since much has already been published in “A collection of memories on the Servant of God”, hoping to have made a great contribution to the knowledge about the character of Luisa Piccarreta in her mystical and human aspect.

I could have talked much more about the Sisters of Divine Zeal and the Rogationists, but for this it is better that the archival sources, which are rich in this regard, speak about the two congregations founded by St. Annibale.

I hope that the Rogationist Fathers can do detailed studies of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta from an historical and mystical perspective. They are the only ones competent for work of this kind that would bring great luster to their congregation as well.

It is not possible to speak about Luisa without mentioning her holy confessor St. Annibale di Francia, who was appointed by the bishops of the time to be the reviewer of her writings.

The bishops trusted Fr. Di Francia completely, as he was known for his holiness and the works that he had accomplished. The first nineteen volumes of the work of Piccarreta had the imprimatur of St. Annibale, as delegate of the bishop of Trani. Not by chance, of the mystical work of Piccarreta (thirty-six volumes) the only ones to be published were the nineteen volumes approved by Saint Annibale.

The Fathers Rogationists could not only make a real contribution to the true spread of devotion to the Servant of God, but they would also be able to put her writings in the light of the Magisterium of the Church, in imitation of their holy founder.

Another element would be to spread the spirituality of St. Annibale, which does not differ from that of Piccarreta. It would be hoped that these two great souls might walk together for the good of Holy Mother Church. It is no coincidence that Providence made them known to each other, and has brought them together in holiness.

The Rogationist Fathers must have continuous vigilance to ensure that the writings of Piccarreta are not misrepresented and interpreted outside of the infallible Magisterium of the Church and of Sacred Scripture.

Father Bernardino Giuseppe Bucci, Cappuccino

 

 

Part four

“Selections from the diaries of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta”

“Conferences on the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta”

(given in the United States)

The reflections of some excerpts from the diaries of Piccarreta, from the book titled “The Divine Will,” published by me, are continued in this third part of the book.

In the above-mentioned book there are many notes that I believe should be added.

As already mentioned, this second part does not give any judgment, and explanatory notes are very rare for two simple reasons:

1. Because for her future beatification the writings of the Servant of God are being analyzed by the Congregation of the Saints in Rome;
2. Because it does not intend to preclude in any way the judgments of Holy Mother Church, who is the only competent authority on the situation, and to which Luisa was totally submissive.

In fact, the writings of Luisa are not read or understood outside of the infallible Magisterium of the Church.

It is repeated that the reading of these passages simply and solely requires human faith, because the writings of Piccarreta are part of the patrimony of private revelations, which are not binding on the faithful.

 

 

Selections from the diaries of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta

Reflections on the Mass. (Volume 1)

The Mass reminds us of our redemption; It speaks to us, step by step, about the pains that Jesus suffered for us; It also manifests to us His immense love, for He was not content with dying on the Cross, but He wanted to continue His state of victim in the Most Holy Eucharist. The Mass also tells us that our bodies, decayed, reduced to ashes by death, will rise again on the day of the judgment, together with Christ, to immortal and glorious life. Jesus made me comprehend that the most consoling thing for a Christian, and the highest and most sublime mysteries of our holy religion are: Jesus in the Sacrament and the resurrection of our bodies to glory. These are profound mysteries, which we will comprehend only beyond the stars; but Jesus in the Sacrament makes us almost touch them with our own hands, in different ways. First, His Resurrection; second, His state of annihilation under those species, though it is certain that Jesus is there present, alive and real. Then, once those species are consumed, His real presence no longer exists. And as the species are consecrated again, He comes again to assume His sacramental state. So, Jesus in the Sacrament reminds us of the resurrection of our bodies to glory: just as Jesus, when His sacramental state ceases resides in the Womb of God, His Father, the same for us – when our lives cease, our souls go and make their dwelling in Heaven, in the Womb of God, while are bodies are consumed. So, one can say that they will no longer exist; but then, with a prodigy of the Omnipotence of God, our bodies will acquire New Life, and uniting with the soul, will go together to enjoy the Eternal Beatitude.

 

November 1, 1899 – Volume 3
The victim souls are the support of the Church
Prophecy of the attack on the Holy Father

As I was in my usual state, I found myself outside of myself, inside a church, in which there was a priest celebrating the Divine Sacrifice, and while doing this, he was crying bitterly and said:  “The pillar of My Church has no place to lean!”

In the act in which He was saying this, I saw a pillar; its top touched the heavens, and at the bottom of this pillar there were priests, bishops, cardinals and all other dignities, sustaining this pillar.  But to my surprise, I went about looking and I saw that of these people, some were very weak, some half rotten, some infirm, some full of mud.  So very scarce was the number of those who were in a condition to sustain it.  So, this poor pillar kept swaying, unable to remain still, so many were the quakes it received from the bottom.  At the top of this pillar there was the Holy Father who, with gold chains and with rays emanating from his whole person, did as much as he could to sustain it, and to chain and illuminate the people who dwelled at the bottom, although some of them would flee so as to be more comfortable in becoming rotten and covered with mud; and not only this, but he did as much as he could to bind and to illuminate the whole world.

After this, I saw the bloody slaughter that was made of the people who were at the bottom of the pillar.  What a horrible catastrophe!  So very scarce was the number of those who would not be victims; they reached such daringness as to try to kill the Holy Father.  But then, it seemed to me that that blood which was shed and those bloody tormented victims were the means to render those who remained strong, so as to sustain the pillar without letting it sway any more.

Luisa closes the story of the vision by writing:

After this, days of triumphs and of peace would arise; the face of the earth seemed to be renewed, and the pillar would acquire its original prestige and splendor.  Oh, happy days! – I hail you from afar, days which will give great glory to my Church, and great honor to the God who is Her Head!

 

February 23, 1903 – Volume 4
As I was in my usual state, I found myself near a garden which seemed to be the Church. Near it there seemed to be people plotting an attack against the Church and the Pope, and in their midst there was Our Lord, crucified, but without a head. . . . I comprehended how men do not want Jesus Christ as their Head, and since the Church represents Him on this earth, they try to destroy what stands in His place.

 

21 to 28 March – 12 May 1922 – Volume 14
The whole creation is enclosed in the love of God

March 21, 1922 – Volume 14
My Will hovers over all Creation – there is nothing in which My Volition does not have Its seal. . . .

Now, this Will of Mine wants all things to be enclosed within Itself in order to receive the return for Its own noble and Divine Acts. It wants to see the air, the wind, the fragrance, the Light of Its Volition hover over all human acts, in such a way that, as Its Acts hover together with those of the creatures, they may fuse together and form one single thing. This alone was the purpose of Creation – that the emanations of the wills be continuous. . . .

March 28, 1922 – Volume 14
If you could see how beautiful it is to see My Glory, My Love, My profound Adoration united to yours, in every flickering of stars, in every drop of light of the Sun! Oh, how it runs – flies upon the wings of the wind, filling the whole atmosphere! It crosses the waters of the sea, it places itself in each plant, in each flower; it multiplies at each motion! It is a voice that echoes over everything, and says: ‘Love, glory, adoration to my Creator!’ Therefore, one who Lives in My Will is the echo of My Voice, the repeater of My Life, the perfect glory of My Creation. How could I not Love her? How could I not give to her all that I should give to all the other creatures together, giving her primacy over all? Ah, My Love would feel constrained if I did not do so!”

 

May 12, 1922 – Volume 14
In all created things I visit man, I touch him and I give him life. I Am hidden in the fire, and I visit him with its heat; if I were not there, the fire would have no heat – it would be a painted fire and without life. But while I visit man in the fire, he does not recognize Me, nor does he send Me one greeting. I Am in the water, and I visit him by quenching his thirst; if I were not there, the water would quench no one’s thirst – it would be dead water. But while I visit him, he passes before Me without bowing once to Me. I Am hidden in the food, and I visit man by giving him substance, strength and taste; if I were not there, in taking food man would remain on an empty stomach. Yet, ungrateful, while he lives on Me, he turns his back to Me. I Am hidden in the Sun, and I visit him with My Light almost every instant; yet, ungrateful, he repays Me with continuous offenses. I visit him in all things: in the air that he breathes, in the flower that gives off its fragrance, in the refreshing breeze, in the striking thunder – in everything. My visits are innumerable. Do you see how much I Love him?

 

***

 

June 1, 1922 – Volume 14
Christ is Truth
‘I am the Truth; everything is Truth in Me. Truth is My patience in the midst of so many insults; Truth is My sweet gaze among so many derisions, slanders, contempts. Truths are My gentle and attractive manners in the midst of so many enemies, who hate Me while I love them, and who want to give Me death, while I want to embrace them and give them Life. Truths are My Words, full of dignity and of Celestial Wisdom – everything is Truth in Me. The Truth is more than majestic Sun which, no matter how much they try to trample on it, rises more beautiful and bright, to the point of shaming its very enemies, and of knocking them down at its feet.

 

June 9, 1922 – Volume 14
Jesus is Mercy
“I feel sad when they think that I am severe, and that I make more use of Justice than of Mercy. They are with Me as if I were to strike them in each thing. Oh, how dishonored I feel by these ones! In fact, this leads them to remain at due distance from Me, and one who is distant cannot receive all the fusion of My Love. And while they are the ones who do not love Me, they think that I am severe and almost a Being that strikes fear; while by just taking a look at My Life they can only notice that I did only one act of Justice – when, in order to defend the house of My Father, I took the ropes and snapped them to the right and to the left, to drive out the profanators. All the rest was only Mercy: Mercy My Conception, My Birth, My Words, My Works, my steps, the Blood I shed, my pains – everything in Me was Merciful Love. Yet, they fear Me, while they should fear themselves more than Me.”

 

July 16, 1922 – Volume 14
The last stroke of the Hand of God
The sanctity of other virtues is enough known in the whole Church, and whoever wants it, can copy it; this is why I was not concerned with multiplying that same knowledge. But the Sanctity of Living in My Will, the effects and the value It contains, the finishing touch which My creative Hand will give to the creature in order to make her similar to Me, is not yet known.

 

April 17, 1922 – November 8, 1922
Without God there is no peace among the peoples

April 17, 1922 – Volume 14
Then He made me notice a point of the world from which black smoke was coming out. And He: “See, there are statesmen who want to decide the lots of the kingdoms; but they do it without Me, and where I am not present, there cannot be Light. They have nothing but the smoke of their passions which blinds them more. Therefore, they will come up with nothing good. It will only serve them to embitter one another and cause graver consequences. Poor peoples, led by blind and interested men! These men will be pointed to as the laughingstock of history, good only at bringing ruin and confusion. But, let us withdraw, let us leave them at the mercy of themselves, that they may know what it means to do things without Me.”

 

November 8, 1922 – Volume 14
“My daughter, the pains, the offenses that creatures give Me are so many that I cannot take any more; the nations are banding together to enter the field with new wars. Did I not tell you that the wars have not ended, and that the peace was a false and apparent peace, because peace without God is impossible? It was a peace which did not come from justice, therefore it could not last. Ah, the leaders of these times are true incarnate devils, who are banding together to do evil and cast confusion, slaughters and wars among the peoples?”

 

September 4, 1927 – Volume 14
All Creation is invested by the acts done in the Divine Will.
. . . “My daughter, listen together with Me to all the harmonies of Creation.  Listen:  the sea murmurs, but in that murmuring a more beautiful note can be heard—the ‘I love You,’ the ‘I adore You,’ the ‘I bless You,’ the glory that the little daughter of My Will murmurs together with the sea; and making the whole sea murmur, she makes the waters speak her loving refrains to her Creator.  Oh! how the sea acquires new notes of harmony, of beauty, new sounds more beautiful, because My little daughter emits her voice in My Divine Will, and renders the sea speaking, and gives the glory of the sea to her Creator.

“Listen:  the sun too, in its light that rains down from the heavens and invests the whole earth, pours your loving notes together with it, your welcome refrains—‘I love You, I glorify You, I bless You, I adore You.’  In fact, since the Divine Will that reigns in you is one with what reigns in the sun, oh! how eloquently does the light speak, how the love of her Creator flows in the heat; how many new harmonies and notes, that are not its own, it acquires, because there is the little daughter of the Supreme Will who emits her acts in It, and making her will one with that of all Creation, she administers her voice and her acts to all created things.

“Listen:  the nature of the sea, of the sun, do not have the virtue of speaking, and to find one who Lives in My Will and communicates her voice, her acts to them, is the most amazing thing, it is the greatest glory that you can give to your Creator.  So, there is not one created thing that is not invested by your acts, and I delight in listening to your notes and to your repeated refrains in the heavens, in the air, in the wind, in the water that rains down, in the little bird that sings—in everything; and I want that you too, together with Me, hear your own harmonies that you form in the whole Creation.

“My daughter, the littlest motion, even the littlest breath done in the Divine Will, is all of God; and because it is His own, He finds in it everything that is His.  In the act done in My Divine Fiat He finds Divine Sanctity, He finds His Light, He finds His Goodness, His Love, His Power; that act lacks nothing of what belongs to God.  Therefore, they can be called Divine Acts, that are the most beautiful, the holiest and the most welcome; and before these Acts, all other acts, as good as they may be, lose their value, their taste, and can never please Me. . . .

 

15 to 18 October 1929.
The Divine Will in Creation

 

October 15, 1929 – Volume 27
“My daughter, you must know that everything that My Divine Will has done both in Creation and in Redemption, It has done for love of creatures, and so that creatures, by knowing It, would ascend into Its act in order to look at It, love It and unite their act to Its own, so as to keep It company, and place even just one comma, one point, one gaze, one ‘I love You’, on the so many Works and Divine prodigies that, in the ardor of Its Love, My Fiat has done for all.  Now, when you follow It in Its Acts, It feels your company, It will not feel alone; It feels your little act, your thought that follows Its Act, therefore It feels requited.

“But if you did not follow It, It would feel the void of you and of your acts in the immensity of My Divine Volition, and with sorrow would cry out:  ‘Where is the little daughter of My Will?  I do not feel her in My Acts, I do not enjoy her gazes that admire what I do, to say to Me a “thank You.” I do not hear her voice that says to me:  “I love You.”  Oh! how loneliness weighs upon Me.’  And It would make you hear Its moans in the depth of your heart, saying to you:  ‘Follow Me in My Works—do not leave Me alone.’  So, the evil you would do would be to form the void of your acts in My Divine Will; while, if you do It, you would do the good of keeping It company; and if you knew how pleasing is company in operating, you would be more attentive.  And just as My Divine Fiat would feel the void of your acts if you did not follow It, so would you feel the void of Its Wcts in your will, and you would feel alone, without the company of My Divine Will that Loves to occupy you so much, as to make you feel no longer that your will lives in you.”

 

October 18, 1929 – Volume 27
“My daughter, for one who lives in Our Will, everything is her own; since her will is one with Ours, what is Ours is hers.  Therefore, in all truth you can say to Us:  ‘I give You my Heaven, my sun and everything.’  The love of the creature rises into Our Love and places itself at Our level.  In Our Divine Fiat the creature duplicates Our Love, Our Light, Our Power, Happiness and Beauty, and We feel loved not only with Our own doubled Love, but with powerful Love, with Love that enraptures Us, with Love that makes Us happy.  And seeing Ourselves being loved with doubled love on the part of the creature who Lives in Our Will, for Love of her We feel drawn to love all creatures with doubled Love.

“In fact, with the creature in Our Fiat, her act loses life and she acquires Our Act as her own; and Our Act possesses the Fount of Light, of Power, of Love, the Fount of Happiness and Beauty, and the soul can double, triple—multiply Our Founts as much as she wants.  And since she is in Our Will, We let her do it. We give her all the freedom, because what she does remains all in Our House—nothing goes out of Our Divine and endless Boundaries, therefore there is no danger that the Fount of Our Goods might receive the slightest harm.  So, if you remain always in Our Divine Will, what is Ours is yours, and you can give Us whatever you want as your own.”

***

 

June 16, 1934 – Volume 33
The human will was Created queen in the midst of Creation.
“Blessed daughter, you must know that the most beautiful thing Created by Us was the human will.  Among all created things it is the most beautiful, that which resembles Us more, therefore it can be called the queen among everything, as indeed it is.  All things are beautiful.  Beautiful is the sun that with its vivifying light gladdens, smiles, on everything; with its light it makes itself eye, hand, and step of everyone.  Beautiful is the sky that covers everything with its starry mantle.  But for however beautiful all created things are, not one can boast of having made Us the littlest act of really loving Us.  There is not one outpouring of exchange; everything is mute silence.  And everything that We do, We do it alone.  No one echoes Us to respond to the so many Seas of Love that there are in all created things.  Not even the littlest outpouring is given to Us, because the outpouring is formed between two wills that have reason and know if they do good or evil.

“Therefore the human will was Created queen in the midst of Creation; queen of itself, Outpouring of Love with its Creator, queen of all created things.  Freely it can do a world of good, prodigies of valor, heroism of sacrifices, if it sets itself on the side of Good.  But if it sets itself on the side of evil, as queen it can do a world of ruin and can fall from the highest place even to the bottom of the greatest miseries.  This is why among all things We Love the human will, because We made it queen.  It can tell Us that it loves Us, it can nourish Our Outpouring of Love, it can place itself in a contest with Us:  We to Love it, and it to love Us.  Therefore We have gifted it with such prerogatives, even to giving it Our Likeness; it is nothing other than a simple act, and yet it is the hand, the foot the voice of her human being.

“If the creature were to have no will, she would be similar to the beasts, slave of everyone, without the imprint of the Divine Nobility, Our Divinity.  Most Pure Spirit, there is no shadow of the material in Us, and yet We invest everything and everyone, and We are the Life, the motion, the foot, the hand, the eye, of everyone.  The human life flows in the midst of Our Fingers as actor and spectator, breath and heartbeat of every heart.  And what We do for everyone and everything, the human will is for itself; one can say that for the prerogatives that it possesses, it can mirror itself in Us, and We find Our little Mirror in it.  Our Power, Wisdom, Goodness, Love, can form Their Reflections in the simple act of the human will.  O! human will, how beautiful you have been Created by your Creator.  Beautiful is the sky, the sun, but you surpass it, and even if you had no other beauty, just because you can tell Us that you love Us, you possess the greatest glory, the enchantment that you can enrapture your Creator.”

 

FIAT!

 

Edited by Father Bernardino Giuseppe Bucci
Notes from the conferences held in the United States
by Father Bernardino Bucci 

Second Conference

1.  Reflections on the Virgin Mary

Luisa had a great devotion to Mary, the Blessed Virgin. In fact, as soon as the Association of the Daughters of Mary was organized in Corato she immediately became a member. This is still during the period of Luisa’s childhood.  The director of the association was Fr. Cataldo de Benedictis.

Her devotion to the Blessed Virgin did not end with this emotional yearning towards Mary, but became a dominant theme of her spiritual reflections.  Luisa will write stupendous pages about the Blessed Virgin and Her role in the Reign of the Divine Will.  The Servant of God breaks new ground in the study of Mary, and deepens in a unique way her reflections about the Virgin.  In fact, Marion experts always spoke about the Virgin by considering her life according to human terms. Luisa inverts this concept and states that: “The Virgin, from the moment of Her conception, had the faculty of reason.”  For this reason, She was able to have from God the accurate perception of the sin perpetrated by the human free will which spoiled the treasures of grace that God wanted to give mankind.

The Virgin, in seeing all the evil that human will perpetrated, bound Her will at the feet of the Blessed Trinity, so that in Her, might always reign the Divine Will.  The Virgin never gave room to Her human will and became the Queen of the Divine Will, for which God filled Her with many, and such bountiful gifts, as to form in Her His reign, His glory, His power and prepare a worthy residence for the Eternal Word that would become flesh.  In fact, Mary was the first heiress of the Kingdom of the Divine Will that one day would be given to all humanity.  Mary is, therefore, the Queen of Heaven and earth; it is She who would become The Mother of God.

Luisa asserts that the Church has barely begun to understand the merit of the Blessed Virgin:  “Mary is all to be rediscovered.”  There is no greater creature that could be compared to Her splendor; Mary is Creation’s masterpiece.  Mary is the Queen of martyrs, not because she shed Her blood for Her faith, not because of the pain caused Her by the crucifixion of Her Beloved Son, but because She never gave room to Her own will; everything She accomplished was done in the sole and single Will of God.

The love that the children of God should have towards Mary must be expressed in Faith, because She is the Mother of God.  Faith, according to the definition of Piccarreta: “is God, and God is Faith.”  Mary, the first true believer, lived the Faith that is God, (according to Piccarreta).

Mary will be the one who will contribute to the realization of God’s plan.  The heavenly Heiress of the Divine Will has transmitted this gift to all creatures that freely accept Her.  Mary is the Mother of God and at the same time Mother of all.  She does not resign herself to seeing her children deprived of the divine graces of which She herself is so richly endowed.  Therefore, She continuously prays and exhorts humans to not sin and to accept the Will of God which alone can lead humanity to peace.

Mary puts at the disposition of all, Her merits as Mother of God and Bride of the Holy Spirit, so that the Reign of the Divine Will might have dominion among men.  Here is what the Blessed Virgin said to Luisa at the dawn of the last century: “I will search among all nations, in every Diocese, among all religious orders, even door to door if necessary, until such time as all have returned to God”.

From the moment of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin, began the movement of the grace of God to all of humanity.  This Child of God, having inherited the  Divine Will, offered to God each moment, every heartbeat, every thought, every breath in order to satisfy the creative Power of God, so much so that God was able to form in Her the greatest wonder of His Holiness, of  His Beauty and of His Grace.

In Mary, the kindness of God towards mankind, are realized; Mary became a Creature that belonged entirely to God, She Who would become the privileged Instrument of God Who would choose Her as the residence of His Son, the Word incarnate.  Mary, for Her part, binds to herself the entire human family, like members of Her Body.

The wonders of God fulfilled in this Creature are unheard of and not comprehensible to the human mind.

 

Mary, Mother of Mankind

Mary, being the Mother of God, is endowed by God with all treasures possible for a created being; for this reason, Mary, is the only Creature that being the Mother of God, is honored on earth and in heaven.

She is the pride of humanity and of Heaven.

This Creature more celestial than human, clothes humanity with the mantle of Her Divine Heart.

In this Celestial Creature one celebrates the Divine Will which for the first time and in a unique way is operative in a human creature.

Mary therefore becomes Queen and Lady for everyone: in Her breathing in Her movement one can contemplate all the actions of creation that like stars flood around Her, surround Her, adorn Her to such a degree as to make of Her the enchantment of the heavens.

One can say that Mary has the virtue that can transform human wretchedness into seas of Love, of beauty, of power and of infinite wisdom and we can say that there is no corner of creation that is not touched by the love of this Creature.

Mary renders to Her Creator all the homage of human generations and creation becomes disposed to receive the Divine Life that She possesses.

This Mother is a continuous wonder, Her glory is unsurpassable because She possesses the Divine Will; Her Heart Loves us with the same Love of God and projects in the heavens the love of creatures purified by Her Love.

Through the Divine Love that resides in Her, God cannot but Love this Creature and through Her, all humanity is loved.

 

This beautiful Woman is so great that She continuously attracts the Heart of Her Creator; even of the Angels, Prophets and Saints become mute before such a wonder and greatness that even the heavens cannot contain it.

 

Mary, Bride of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is the Sea of Eternal Love, in which the Blessed Virgin was conceived and is destined in time to become His Bride: The Elect among the chosen, Mother of God.

The Holy Spirit, surrounded this Creature with the immense Sea of the Love of God, not only to defend her from every evil but in order to enrich Her continuously in virtue of the Incarnation of the Word of God, enrich Her continuously with beauty with grace, with power and with wisdom, in order to render Her worthy to Conceive the Son of God, who was conceived in the Center of the Eternal Love of the Father.

In fact, it would not have been dignified for the Son of God to be conceived in the womb of a creature who was merely an immaculate virgin; a gift that God can bestow to all, but for the Conception of His Son He had to create in Her all His Glory and all His Splendor.

Mary, for Her part, having been so richly endowed by all the Divine Attributes, without fear flung herself towards God bringing Him the thanksgiving and the praise of all humanity.

Creation rejoiced because a Creature was giving back to God all the honor and the glory that sin had taken away; the powers of hell cried because this Creature was out of their power.

Mary, in placing at the Feet of God, His Divine Will, achieved the most beautiful and heroic act that a Creature could achieve, and God elected Her Queen of Heaven and earth.

It must be made clear at this juncture that the first King of suffering and of anguish was Our Lord Jesus Christ, because of the sins of mankind which continuously offend Him; and being Man and God, He could enclose within Himself all possible pain mankind could inflict and thus have primacy over all things.

Thus all that happens in Mary, Her suffering, Her tears, Her prayers, Her adoration are non other than the reflections of all that Christ fulfilled by raising to the Father all the praise and the glory owed Him and which sin had taken away.

Being also Son of Mary, He called Her to participate in all His human and Divine actions, which together were lifted up to the Eternal Father.

Thusly, Mary was uplifted by the merits of the Son, not only to honor Her, but also by the right due Her for being His Mother; the Heart of Mary participated in all the acts of Her Son which are sealed with a FIAT of resplendent Light.

Mary became Queen of Heaven and earth, because Her actions were constantly intertwined with the Supreme Fiat of God, working through His Son, and She was filled with such Glory — as much as a human Creature could contain.  Mary reconnected with Christ the human will with the Divine Will.

The Lord will say to Luisa: “Dearest daughter, many times doing good, suffering without having My Will in your heart, these can be a pitiful bondage that degenerate into passions;  while only My Will gives true Dominion, true Virtue, true Glory, such as to transform the human into the Divine.”

The Stylus of God

According to Piccarreta, When God reveals to man great things He usually concentrates in a single creature all the Graces that His Work possesses, so that all, as though from a spring, can help themselves to these gifts in the measure to which they are capable and according to their disposition.  Piccarreta adds that God gives limited Graces when fulfilling individual projects.  By contrast, when the Works of God have to serve the general good, His Graces are without limit.  Such was the case with regards to Redemption: to be able to elevate a creature to become the Mother of God, He had to lift Her up so high as to implant in Her the same offspring as the Father’s Fecundity.  In fact, like God, eternally generating the Son in His Breast, so too, this same offspring as the Father’s fecundity flooded the Virgin of Nazareth, until the supporting framework of the Incarnation was laid down.  It is clear that the Blessed Virgin accepted freely this plan of God, and Living in the Divine Will, without man’s intervention She conceived in her Virgin Womb the Son of God.

Thus it happened that the Father loved Her like a daughter, the Word loved Her as Mother and the Holy Spirit as Bride.  The Lord said to Luisa: “The Most Blessed Trinity had to give of Itself to this Divine Virgin, to be able to conceive Me, Son of God. My Holy Mother, could have never conceived Me without having in Her some offspring being of the human race, the Offspring of Eternal Fecundity gave the grace to Conceive me man; and given that the Offspring was Divine, at the same time I was conceived God.” (14 April 1923).  One can say that at the moment of Conception, the Holy Spirit and all that happened from eternity to the Most Holy Trinity are repeated once again in the Womb of the Heavenly Mother.

As one can see, the Work is very great and incalculable, incomprehensible to the created mind, and since the Work of Redemption had to be so great as to call forth all generations and for many centuries God wanted the prayers the sighs, the tears, the penance of all the patriarchs and the prophets and of all the peoples of the Old Testament in order to dispose them to receiving such a love that their minds could not comprehend in its entirety, God centered in the Virgin all those Graces that were to be placed at the disposition of everyone.  And when everything was ready in the fullness of time, the Son of God came to live among men.

 

The Role of the Blessed Virgin
and of the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta
in God’s Plan

 

Living in the Will of God is the Holiest of Holiness is not an equal grace to the other graces that God gave across the centuries to all the Saints and Martyrs.

This is a New Era of Grace that must serve everyone and it is necessary that all be centered in one creature like God did with His Blessed Mother.  To welcome redemption and predispose souls to this event, the promise of a Messiah was made.  Mankind while hoping in Him, would find its salvation and would return to its first origins as when created by God.  To the Church, Christ, the Word of God, taught the Our Father so that His voice might resound from one end of the earth to the other: “Our Father who art in Heaven.”  Jesus did not say My Father, but called him Father of mankind, so that His Will would be done on earth as it is in Heaven, this being the goal of Creation.

The Father could not but heed the prayer of the Son.  And as the people of antiquity found Salvation in the hope for a future Redeemer, likewise we, a new people could be worthy to be loved by the Father as children, if we accept to Live in God’s Will and bring about on earth the advent of His Reign.  The entire Church, all the Saints and Martyrs pray and implore that God’s Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven, because of this they become predisposed the advent of the Divine Will.
All the Saints and Martyrs of the Church, the Bride of Christ, have prayed that as with His Holy Mother, all the gifts and graces the Reign of God’s Will promises, be poured in another creature so that all might attain the Holy Will and enter into this most holy Reign.

 

Priestly Authority is Necessary

to Bring about the Reign of the Divine Will

The Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta, asks the Lord the grace to be exempted from priestly authority in order to return to her daily activities like all other creatures.

Her concern was rooted in the principle of love as she did not want to bother her ministers, who daily needed to come free her from the rigid state.

The Lord tutors her on this point and has her understand that the service they do for her is unique and particular, that it is a grandiose work, not comprehensible to the human mind, becoming for this reason, necessary that the chosen individual be cared for by the priestly authorities.

The Work of Redemption, which is God’s greatest Work, to accomplish it He chose a creature endowing her with all possible gifts, so that she might serve as the Mother of God.

To care for these great treasures of God, this creature, when conceived, became adorned by the resplendent Light of the Holy Trinity.

And the Most Holy Trinity took upon itself the charge of guiding her in all things.

When the Word of God was conceived in her Virgin Womb, being Christ, the True, the Only, the Head, the First of all priests, He Himself took on the charge of caring for her and direct her in all things.  Upon His death, He placed her in the care of another priest, his favorite apostle, John.  Because Mary was so privileged, possessing all possible graces, unique in the mind of God, unique in history, the Lord wanted to never to leave Her without the assistance of priestly authority until her dying breath.  This had never been provided to any other creature because none had ever had such fullness of grace therefore such custody had not been necessary.

Only one other creature has been chosen in our time, Luisa Piccarreta.

These are the words the Lord said to her: “You too are unique in My Mind, you will also be unique in history, there will be no other like you, before or after you, to whom I will be compelled out of necessity, to give the assistance of My ministers.  Having chosen to deposit in you holiness, the effects, the attitude of My Supreme Will, it was fitting, just, proper, for the very sanctity intrinsic in My Will, that one of My ministers should assist you and be the first trustee of the gifts that My Will holds, in order to let it flow from your bosom to the entire body of the Church”. (These pieces are always read in the light of the Magisterium and of Sacred Scripture, and are always non-binding for the faith of the believer, because they are part of a private revelation.)

It is clear that the priestly authority must have dominion over the life of Piccarreta, since it needs not carry out none other than this.

Luisa in receiving the Gift of the Divine Will, must communicate to the ministers  all her treasures  and these in turn must be used until such time as the Reign of the Divine Will.  “May your will be done” is done in Heaven and on earth.

The Lord adds and says that he wanted to enrich her with as many gifts to make her capable of receiving the Gift of the Divine Will, and says to have taken from her the seeds of corruption.  He has as purified her soul, has purified her human nature so that she no longer feels the things of this earth, she belongs entirely to God.

In another passage the Lord says: “You must know that the execution of My Will is a work so great that it enters into God’s Plan and I want that it be known by everyone for what it holds so that all will value it and desire it”

The Most Blessed Trinity thrice has decided to act “ad extra”.

The first was in Creation, when there was no need of created beings to bring it about.

The second was in Redemption, and the Lord chose the collaboration of a woman, the most holy, the most beautiful woman who became the Mother of God, channel and instrument of God until such time as the Work of Redemption should come to pass.

The third is the fulfillment of God’s Will; that His Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.  This is the seal of the Work of Creation and of Redemption, these are Divine Decrees that must come to full completion, and God makes use of another woman to put these things in order.

Thus says the Lord to Luisa: “I have made of you the same as I made of My Mother putting you in the care of the priestly authority of My Church, so that the “Fiat Voluntas Tua” would come to be.  I have put you in the care of one of My ministers, until such time as you  will bear witness to him all that which I manifest to you about My Divine Will, all the gifts that mankind can have and how the  Paternal Goodness of God wants to open another Era of Grace.”

As the Lord did unto His Blessed Mother in whom He placed as in a sanctuary all the laws, all the precepts, all the doctrines that Holy Mother Church was meant to possess.

The Lord said these words: “My Mother, faithful as she was, jealous even of one of My Words, poured forth and bore witness to everything for My favorite disciple John, who transmitted it to the entire Church, and My Mother had primacy over the entire Church.”

You, Luisa, be faithful in imitation of My Great Mother, until such time as this New and great event is realized in the Church.

 

The Blessed Virgin and Luisa Piccarreta

It is clear to those who read the Writings of Piccarreta, with regard to the roles that the two Virgins have in God’s plan, that one cannot draw comparisons. Nor can they be placed at the same plane.

Mary Blessed Virgin Mother of God enters fully into the public revelation of God as is evident from the Gospels.

Mary is the Mother of God; the “THEOTOKOS” that enters into the greatest mystery of God, the Incarnation, and is for this reason an object of Faith, in fact, no one can deny her Divine Motherhood which is an article of Faith.

In fact if someone should dare to deny Her Divine Motherhood he would automatically place himself outside the fold of the Church.

Mary remains always the Bride of the Holy Spirit, the Mother of Christ True God and True Man, and Mother of the Church.

As for Luisa Piccarreta, even if the plan of God being realized is grandiose, this is only the object of private revelations.  Every believer is free to believe or not to believe.  And while the Church does give a certain degree of credit to private revelations, the believer can choose to accept them or not.

Luisa was conscious of her non binding role, so much so that she insists upon the free acceptance of her role.  In fact Luisa said the following:  “If the Church says that all that I have written is false, you must regard it as false and burn everything; if she says that my life and my person are a fraud, you must consider it as such, and do that which the Church orders you to do.  The Church is our Mother, a benevolent and merciful Mother who even if She seems to punish us, She always expresses Her great love towards everyone and you must always love Her, because She is the great sign of God, and the world cannot save itself without Her. (from the notes of Rosaria Bucci ).  Everything is officially confirmed by her submission to the decree of the Holy See of July 13, 1938.

Luisa is therefore a Catholic woman, most devoted daughter of the Church, and it is impossible to think of her outside the realm of priestly Authority.

 

FIAT

 

2. The Most Holy Trinity

 

Luisa Piccarreta speaks of the Trinity with impressive clarity as though she had completed lengthy studies on this the greatest mystery of Christianity.

What follows is an excerpt Piccarreta wrote May 14, 1924:  “My daughter (Jesus is speaking) the first act of the Three Divine Persons is the perfect accord of Our Will, and Our Will is so unified that one cannot discern which is the Will of the One or the Other; so much so that even if Our Three Persons are distinct, because we are Three, the Will is one and this produces a continual act of perfect adoration among the Divine Persons; One adores the Other.  This accord of Will produces equality of Sanctity, of Light, of Goodness, of Beauty, of Lower, of Love and establishes in Us the true Reign of Order and of Peace which in turn gives Us immense joy and happiness and infinite beatification.”

 

3.  The Divine Will 

The doctrine on the Divine Will is a patrimony of the Church.

From its origins the Church has always accepted this doctrine, which is fully treated in Sacred Scripture.

I believe that we are all fully aware of this; everything depends on the Holy Will of God that is one in the Three Persons of the Most Blessed Trinity; even if the Three Persons are Three and distinct, the Will is one that flows from the single Divine Font.

The question that we ask ourselves is this: what difference is there between the doctrine of the Church on the Divine Will and that which the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta, proposes to us?

In my opinion there is no substantial difference.  In Piccarreta we find a deepening of that which we find in Sacred Scripture, an original deepening that at times can leave us perplexed.

The spirituality of Luisa Piccarreta always dwells on one sentence in Sacred Scripture, specifically on the prayer, the “Our Father”, concerting her attention on: “may Your Will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Piccarreta surpasses the simple concept of fulfilling the Will of God, which is surely the desire of everyone and most especially of the saints, but says that the Will of God is fulfilled completely when a soul is called to Live His Will.

This means that one renounces ones own will, which is offered to God, and Lives only in His Will which becomes the Life of the soul; here are the words of Piccarreta: “God no longer entrusts His Treasures to human will, because it spoils them; but He wants that man willingly cedes his will to God, in order to Live the Will of God, so that God might make of man His masterpiece.”

These principles, if they are not always read and lived under the guidance of priestly authority and of the infallible Magisterium of the Church, can result in erroneous interpretations, such as to be damaging to souls and to the institutions of Holy Mother Church.

They can also give rise to a pseudo-religious pantheism, which is a philosophical system condemned by the Church; but we must not dwell on this, because in the writings of Piccarreta some concepts are very clear:

1. human liberty;
2. the concept of creation;
3. the concept of a created being;

These are very distinct one from the other without any confusion whatsoever.

The spirituality on the Divine Will that Piccarreta proposes for us has a very high educational value if correctly lived and understood.

Piccarreta sheds new light, in the perfection of souls, because everything is seen, perfected, rendered precious by the Divine Will.

These souls, which have the Gift of the Divine Will, become very precious to God, Who delights in contemplating them and in loving them.

The Divine Will is the Gift of gifts, which God can bestow on souls and surpasses all other forms of sanctifications which have preceded us in the history of the New Testament.

This Gift of God was actualized fully only in the Blessed Virgin who is called by the Servant of God:  the Elect among the elect, Celestial Inheritor.

 

The Eucharist in the Divine Will

The Eucharist is the heart of the Church. In the Holy Eucharist, the holy people of God gather, fortify themselves and set forth on the journey.

If a soul Lives the Will of God, the Holy Eucharist produces perennial fruit.  By contrast, for those who do not Live the Will of God their fruit is short lived, even only for a few minutes.

In the souls that Live the Divine Will is actualized a communion of grace with God.

The Church teaches that the Eucharist is the center of a Christian soul from which flows every perfection.  This truth has always been taught by the Church.

One question comes to mind: who instituted the Eucharist? Who allowed the humanity of Christ to be enclosed in a Host?

It was the Divine Will that has Primacy over all things since all things flow from It.

If the Eucharist were a center unto itself, unhinged from the Divine Will, all those who receive It would have to be perfected and saintly.

Instead it is not like that because souls who do not Live the Will of God, even if they are Eucharistic and feed themselves daily with the Body and Blood of Christ, often live in misery.  With rare exceptions, they are always at the same place: vain, angry, punctilious, gossips, slanderers, and at the moment of trial they are even capable of doing evil; the Most Holy Eucharist, Divine nourishment, bread of Angels, mystery unfathomable to the human, mind is dishonored.

On the other hand, a mother, a dad, any common woman, any young man or young woman (Luisa Piccarreta), who tries hard to live in the Divine Will, even if they do not receive the Eucharist daily, whenever they disseminate their virtues, they become authentic Eucharistic souls.

In the souls that Live the Divine Will, all the Sacraments produce their full fruit; if the human will does not meld with the Divine Will, even if one nourishes himself with the Holy Eucharist, he will remain hungry, if he confesses his faults he will remain culpable, and so forth, risking to profane all the Sacraments, especially the Sacrament of Matrimony from which must arise and be nurtured other souls, otherwise it becomes desecrated, (the parents of Luisa, called angels of sanctity).

Only he who Lives the Will of God, gives Life to all the sacraments and to all the graces that come from them; those who do not live the Will of God will remain children in their Faith.

In the Will of God, the souls are filled with the Wisdom of God and everything in them will be strength and resolve. God will renew in them a consecration, like that found in the Consecrated Host, making them a living host.

In the Holy Eucharist in the Tabernacles, all can be dead, mute, without there being a palpitation and a loving yearning that responds to the Eternal Love of Christ; if Christ had not the patience to await the hearts of men in order to give Himself to them, He would be unhappy and would be defrauded, and His Sacramental Life would be meaningless.

In the Most Holy Eucharist, enclosed in the Ciboriums and in the Tabernacles, all may be dead silent, without there being a heartbeat and a surge of love that is able to answer the Eternal Love of Christ.  If Christ did not have the patience to wait for hearts in order to give Himself to them, He would be unhappy and would remain defrauded, and His Sacramental Life would be without purpose.

For 2000 years Jesus tolerates this constant dying in the tabernacles because His immense Love allows Him to remain among His people even if He does not receive all the honor and love due him.

The souls that Live the Will of God are resplendent because they are Eucharistic.  They love the Eucharist as the source of their holiness and they will have their mind, their eyes, and their ears, always turned towards the Eucharist in order to hear the voice of Christ and to be able to unite themselves to his works and help Christ in the sanctification of souls, like the Most Blessed Virgin.

It is in these living hosts that Jesus finds the relief found in Tabernacles.

A soul cannot enclose itself into a consecrated host, only Christ can do it, but it can very well enclose itself in the Divine Will thus forming a host consecrated to the Eternal Love of God.

Every act that a soul does in the Divine Will forms a host that God will make his food just like a soul nourishes itself on the Eucharist.

The Eucharist forms the Life of Christ in the Church.

In the Eucharist we find the Supreme Act of Christ’s Love for His creatures, enfolding them all in His Life.

A soul that Lives the Divine Will becomes a host of the Love of God that binds Itself to the Most Holy Eucharist, renewing, like Christ, all the soul’s actions of love towards God and towards humanity.

Some reflections on the Divine Will

To speak of the Divine Will, as Piccarreta intends it, is not easy considering the quantity of writings that the Servant of God has left us.

I will treat only a few of the concepts that to me seem most significant.

For February 12^th, 1906, we find these words written in her diary: “the soul that Lives the Will of God is clothed with a Light similar to that of God.

The soul that wants to Live the Will of God, opening itself to it will feel changed, it will feel lifted by a Divine Air, it will feel almost Divine; in fact from impatient it will become patient, from haughty it will become humble, docile, charitable, obedient; from poor it will become rich in virtue.”

The 3^rd of July, 1906, we find: “the Will of God is the repose of the soul and the repose of God in the soul.

The Will of God is the paradise of the soul on earth.”

The 28^th of November 1906, we find: “he who Lives the Will of God is similar to Jesus and embraces all creature and their actions.”

The 12^th of December of the same year: “he who Lives the Will of God, leaves his/her own which is his/her torment and finds a richness that is not human but Divine and sees that all things of this world are nothing before the Majesty and the Wisdom of God.”

On the 20^th of January, 1907: “the soul that Lives the Divine Will finds true Love.”

The 23^rd of June, 1907: “the soul that Lives the Will of God gives to God all that which God can ask from one of His creatures.”

The 4^th of July, 1907: “he who Lives the Will of God is like a fertile ground in which the Lord sows truths constantly even when He appears not to speak, in reality continues to sow in the soul, in the mind and in the heart His highest Truths.”

The 9^th of July, 1907: “in God’s Will neither drought nor sins can enter, in fact God’s Will is Light and contains only His Grace.”

April 8^th, 1907: “he who Lives the Will of God is in constant communion with God every moment of the day and is in continuous Union with God.”

The 3^rd of May: “in the souls who Live the Will of God, the only happiness is God, this is the greatest fruit that the Will of God produces in the souls.”

 

The 1^st of November, 1910: “the soul who Lives the Will of God, achieves such a level of perfection that not even the greatest punishments frighten them because all happens in God’s Will; only evil is completely foreign to It.

The soul that is completely consumed in the Divine Will disarms the Justice of God, since the souls that Live the Divine Will become lightening rods of Divine Justice.

He who Lives the Will of God expresses the most perfect Union with God, that Union that a creature can possibly attain.”

The 15^th of March, 1912: “the Will of God is the Sanctity of sanctities.  A soul, be it very small and ignorant, but that Lives the Will of God as the Our Father instructs, [on earth as it is in Heaven], becomes queen and surpasses the very saints who have worked powerful miracles and healings.

the soul that Lives the Divine Will appears to be doing nothing, because it works and acts in obscurity.

The Works of God are not clamorous.

The souls that Live the Will of God are lights that illuminate, winds that refresh and purify, that burn the impurities; they are miracles that allow miracles to take place, they are the feet of the missionaries, the tongue of the preachers, the strength of the week, the patience of the sick, the rule of the superiors, the docile obedience of the oppressed, the tolerance of those slandered, the firmness in danger, they possess the heroism of heroes, the courage of the martyrs, the sanctity of saints.”

The 20^th of April, 1912: “the only goal of the souls who Live the Will of God is to give of themselves completely to Jesus without reservation, Jesus who alone is Redemption.

The Lord Jesus leads these souls dear to Him, on the path of perfection, becoming the master and guide.”

From the 17^th of March, 1914: “in Living the Divine Will, a soul cannot hold the Eternity of God within itself and therefore showers upon all humanity, those Graces from God that are overabundant in her.”

“The souls that pray in the Divine Will extend their prayer to all of humanity which is received by other souls according to their disposition. These prayers are joined with those of Jesus, Redeemer and Word of the Father.”

“The Will of God is the highest point possible that can exist on earth and in Heaven and if a soul succeeds in attaining it, it can say that it no longer is in need of anything because it possesses everything.”

These assertions can become dangerous and produce an improper glorification if they are not interpreted correctly. The desire to reach perfection can lead one to believe that one no longer needs the mediation of the Church, that one no longer needs the Holy Eucharist, that there is no longer any need for priestly authority.

These conclusions are diabolical; they express an infernal force.

The Christian can never do without the Church, nor can he do without the structures through which the Church transmits the message of Christ.

Creation or its creatures will understand the Will of God in the measure to which they can understand it; in fact those who Live the Will of God acquires that Light or that Grace that a created being can hold and understand.

“The Will of God is the Wonder of wonders, is the secret to finding the Light, Sanctity and the Riches that a soul needs. These are not visible gifts, for this reason they are not loved by those who live distractedly the Christian life.”

“The Divine Will contains creative virtue, contains the ability to multiply all human acts undertaken in His Will.

The kiss that this soul gives to God represents the kiss of all mankind.

A creature has nothing that can match the Eternal Love of God and therefore everything that it possesses comes from God, in this way it appropriates the Love of God, and can say to God:  I Love You with an Eternal Love, immense and infinite that I lift up to You.”

Even these words must be read and meditated under the guidance of priestly authority, so as to always be mindful of being sinful creatures always and in every instant needful of Divine Grace.

This was the attitude of the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta, who always said:  “I am not able to perform miracles, they are performed only by God; I am a sinner and an invalid who needs everything and everyone.”

“Souls need to pray as Jesus prayed who poured all in the Divine Will, and only in the Divine Will do all creatures come together, in fact Jesus every day placed at the Feet of the Divine Majesty all the acts of the creatures purified by His Divine Sanctity.”

“The souls who Live the Divine Will can unite all the acts lived by humanity to Jesus in His reparatory prayer presented to the Father and as Eternal Word, He can obtain all.

The souls who Live the Divine Will are trees planted in the garden of God, Who is not content that they produce only flowers, but He lets fruit grow so that His nectar will be tasted by the souls who, losing the taste for human things, think only of God.  These souls will produce the fruit of courage, the fruit of tolerance and of tranquility.  They will produce heroic fruits that always attract the Heart of God.  This represents the state of Grace in a soul.”

“God is not interested in big cities, in grandiose monuments, in the grandiose and artistic churches since everything can be destroyed and rebuilt.

God is interested only in the salvation of souls for this reason He sent His only Son on earth so that man might be released from sin.

He who Lives the Divine Will is no longer himself who Lives but Christ who Lives in him.”

“He Who constitutes the Sacrifice of the Mass in Its sacrificial and convivial aspect is uniquely and only Christ; the souls that Live the Divine Will become involved in the Sacrifice of Christ.

He who Lives the Divine Will, Lives in His Grace, the Mystery of Christ penetrates through him and he embraces Its immensity; he lays down human ways and acts and acquires the ways of God.

Certainly, the Work of God is realized in souls in a gradual journey.

The Divine Will gradually takes over, manifesting now one, then another truth, so that their minds can fully become opened to the Divine Will.

Christ, in the Eternal Will, contemplated all the acts of Creatures, even wrong acts, remaking them all in order to offer them in dignity to the Father as praise and thanksgiving.

In these times God is creating a ring that will reunite his creatures to Himself; these creatures are they who accept, open themselves to and Live His Will.

All of this was manifested first to the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta.”

 

Conclusions

 

Of course we find ourselves before the marvelous pedagogy of God which manifests His Truths to His creatures, gradually.

Otherwise, (as Piccarreta says), souls would not be capable of comprehending and Living the Divine Will.

To the ingratitude of souls, Christ brought reparation with His Incarnation, death and Resurrection; this immense and Divine Patrimony became food for all of humanity so that in Living the Divine Will it could come to know and love the Creator.

The Lord loves to be loved by those He has Loved so much.

God has contemplated this splendid and free creature molded and shaped by Him, has found it so beautiful as to fall in Love with it: “Everything I have created for you, sweet creature, I give you dominion over creation, everything will always be yours and you will always be Mine.”

The air purified by these souls who live the Divine Will, will penetrate all the corners of the earth and God will breathe in this purified air.

In the Divine Will  the soul is fully free;  God leaves it free in order that it love Him as it wishes.

The Grace of God will illuminate it always and that which is impossible for man will always be possible for God.

 The Lord launches another event of Grace in the world called the “Third Era” which completes the Work of God: Creation, Redemption, Sanctification (Reign of the Divine Will); as  bearer of this event God calls a humble girl from Corato, Luisa Piccarreta, called by everyone with a prophetic voice: “Luisa the Saint”.

She was the first called by God to Live the Divine Will and from her the call goes out to all humanity.

In the Divine Will God shows us His Creative Power and says to the souls that they can accomplish immense good everywhere.

“I Love you, says the Lord, I have not made you a slave, but I have made you to Live in liberty.  Man, therefore, do not abuse the power I have given you but have the courage to open yourself to Me and to savor My Love and do not change all of the good of My Creation into ruin and offense; accept to Live freely My Divine Will in order to understand all that I have done for you.”

***

Collaboration in the writing of the book:

Mr. Joseph Lacerenza

 

PRAYER TO THE MOST HOLY WILL OF GOD

by Luisa Piccarreta

 

O Eternal and inaccessible Supreme Will of my Eternal Love, prostrate before You I get lost in You. Your Immensity envelopes me, overwhelms me, annihilates me.  But at the same time it lifts me up to Your Throne and restores my life, New Life, unchanging and holy—the Life of the Will of my Jesus in whose center I find, as in one point, past, present and future. O, yes, I find the Supreme Will creating, that in all the things that It creates, It sends me Love.  But It awaits the exchange from every creature.  And I, on behalf of the entire human family, from the first to the last creature, I take from this unfathomable Will the love of each of them and I enter into every creating act, into every twinkle of the stars, into every ray of sunlight, into every breath of wind, into every drop of water, into every plant and animal.  And then I enter into every heartbeat of every heart, into every word, step, work, thought, glance.  And filling all with love, I go before the Supreme Majesty, to give Them the exchange of love of all created things.

O, sweet and most powerful Will, immense Will from which everything comes forth and nothing escapes, I come to place at Your Most Holy feet the love of all.  I come to harmonize together with created love. Ah yes, I exchange You in love for all, my voice harmonizing over all and in all.  And making this voice eternal, so that it multiplies to infinity in every moment, I will always say to You:  “I love You, I love You, I love You”.  I will seal all with the created love, so there will be nothing said or done that is not sealed with my love.

Jesus, according to Your Eternal Will, I enter into the first instant of Your Conception, into Your every heartbeat, thought and breath, into Your every movement, prayer and pain that You suffered in the Maternal Womb, into Your every moan, tear and difficulty of your childhood, into every step, work and word of Your mortal life.  I enter into Your Most Holy Will, into the immense Sea of Your Passion, into every drop of Your Blood, into every wound, into every insult and contempt, into every thorn, slap and sputum.  I unite myself in the pains that You suffered on the Cross, in the burning thirst, in the bitterness of gall, and in Your reparations and satisfactions, up to Your last breath.  And together with all generations and in the name of all, I enter into Your unending Will in which all are contained.  And so in a Divine way I come to give You the exchange of love, to give You reparation for repairing.  And I sink into the abyss of Your Will and I adore every drop of Your Blood, I kiss every wound, I bless, praise and thank You for Your every Act.  In Your Will You have given me everything, and in Your Will I exchange You for everyone and everything.

My Love, let us join together the Creating FIAT, the Redeeming FIAT and my FIAT in Your Will.  Let us make of them one alone—the one disappearing in the other—so that You may have complete love, everlasting glory, Divine adoration, blessings and eternal praises, from creation and from Your FIAT VOLUNTAS TUA (Your Will be done) on earth as It is in Heaven.

Heavenly Queen, Divine Mama, You who had Primacy over the Divine Will, spread Your blue mantle, and in the immensity of the Eternal Will envelope all creatures, sealing their foreheads with the Seal of the Divine Will, so that all may Live the Life of the Divine Will on earth, in order to pass into Your Maternal Womb to Live of the Divine Will in Heaven. Amen.

 

PRAYERS to implore the Beatification

of the Servant of God LUISA PICCARRETA

 

I

 

O Most Sacred Heart of my Jesus, Who chose your humble servant Luisa as Herald of the Kingdom of Your Divine Will, and as angel of reparation for the innumerable sins which sadden Your Divine Heart, I humbly pray You to grant me the grace which I beseech from Your Mercy through her intercession, so that she may be glorified on earth as You have already rewarded her in Heaven. Amen.

Pater, Ave, Gloria.

 

II

 

O Divine Heart of my Jesus, Who gave to Your humble servant Luisa, victim of Your Love, the strength to suffer the spasms of Your sorrowful Passion for all her long life, let the halo of the Blessed shine soon upon her head for Your greater glory. And through her intercession, grant me the grace which I humbly ask You…

Pater, Ave, Gloria.

 

III

O Merciful Heart of my Jesus, Who graciously preserved upon earth for many years Your humble servant Luisa, Your Little Daughter of the Divine Will, for the salvation and the sanctification of many souls, answer my prayer – that she may be soon glorified by Your Holy Church. And through her intercession, grant me the grace which I humbly ask You…

Pater, Ave, Gloria.

 

Nulla osta for the printing:
Trani, 27 November 1948
+ARCHBISHOP REGINALDO ADDAZI, O.P.

 

 

Publications of the author

 

– Luisa Piccarreta
The Little Daughter of the Divine Will …………………………………..(1980)

– Luisa Piccarreta
Brief Biography of the Servant of God ………………..(Third edition in 2000)

– Luisa Piccarreta
Collection of Memories on the Servant of God ………………………..(2000)

– The Divine Will
Reflections on the Diaries
of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta …………………………………(2005)

– Daily thoughts on the “Divine Will”
From the writings of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta ……………(2005)

– Luisa Piccarreta
Collection of Memories on the Servant of God – Vol. 2 ………………(2007)