{"id":483,"date":"2011-07-30T00:36:57","date_gmt":"2011-07-30T05:36:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/?page_id=483"},"modified":"2016-04-28T17:45:07","modified_gmt":"2016-04-28T22:45:07","slug":"a-collection-of-memories-of-the-servant-of-god-luisa-piccarreta-by-fr-bucci","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/?page_id=483","title":{"rendered":"A Collection of Memories of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta by Fr. Bucci"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Father Bernardino Giuseppe Bucci<\/strong><\/p>\n

Parish Priest Cappuccino<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please refer to the Certificate <\/a>written at Trani, Italy on July 30, 2003 by Msgr. Savino Giannotti, the Vicar General, concerning Fr. Bernardino Giuseppe Bucci<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

LUISA PICCARRETA<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Collection of Memories<\/strong>
\n of the<\/strong>
\n Servant of God<\/strong><\/p>\n

To Aunt Rosaria,
\nfaithful custodian of the life of the Servant
\nof God Luisa Piccarreta<\/p>\n

BERNARDINO GIUSEPPE BUCCI, O.F.M.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Property of the author<\/p>\n

On the cover:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Portrait of Luisa Piccarreta by Angela Ciccone<\/p>\n

2. Corato, Largo Plebiscito, 1938 (Private collection, Prof. Giuseppe Gallo)
\nThe photographs reproduced in this book are from the “Luisa Piccarreta” Archives of\u00a0 Fr. Bernardino Bucci<\/p>\n

Printed by Tipolitografia Miulli
\nVia Roma 52, San Ferdinando
\ndi Puglia – Tel. 0883 622036<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2000 Property of the author
\n71049 Trinitapoli, Foggia
\nParrocchia Immacolata dei Frati Minori Cappuccini<\/p>\n

Nihil obstat
\nimprimatur.
\nTrani, 4 ottobre 2000
\nIl Vicario Generale
\nMons. Savino Giannotti\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

NON-COMMERCIAL EDITION<\/p>\n

CONTENTS<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

INTRODUCTION<\/strong><\/p>\n

PREFACE<\/strong><\/p>\n

CHAPTER ONE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Biographical notes
\nImportant dates
\nConfessors and spiritual advisers
\nBishops
\nList of Luisa Piccarreta\u2019s diaries<\/em><\/p>\n

CHAPTER TWO<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Kingdom of the Divine Will
\nSome unpublished prayers <\/em><\/p>\n

CHAPTER THREE<\/strong><\/p>\n

The healing of the epileptic
\nThe bell of discord
\nA perfect lace-maker
\nThe mysterious sores
\nBlessed Padre Pio, Luisa Piccarreta and Rosaria Bucci
\nAunt Rosaria\u2019s secret <\/em><\/p>\n

CHAPTER FOUR<\/strong><\/p>\n

Annibale Maria di Francia and Luisa Piccarreta
\nRosaria Bucci\u2019s memories
\nBlessed Annibale and the Capuchin
\nFriars of the Monastic Province of Puglia
\nLuisa\u2019s special love for the Capuchins
\nFr. Salvatore from Corato and Luisa Piccarreta<\/em><\/p>\n

CHAPTER FIVE<\/strong><\/p>\n

A strange lunch
\nThe broken promise of mortification
\nA prophecy
\nA rough sea<\/em><\/p>\n

CHAPTER SIX<\/strong><\/p>\n

Promotion to the cardinalate foretold
\nThe bishop healed<\/em><\/p>\n

CHAPTER SEVEN<\/strong><\/p>\n

Luisa and the children of Corato
\nThe soldier who never was
\nThe baby brought back to life
\nIsa Bucci and Luisa Piccarreta
\nGemma Bucci and Luisa Piccarreta<\/em><\/p>\n

CHAPTER EIGHT<\/strong><\/p>\n

A healing
\nThe horses\u2019 whim
\nThe “upper room” of Via Panseri
\nThe horse cured
\nThe soldier who became engaged<\/em><\/p>\n

CHAPTER NINE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Luisa, the terror of demonic forces
\nThe holy death of Luisa Piccarreta
\nThe young man killed and restored to life<\/em><\/p>\n

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR<\/strong><\/p>\n

INTRODUCTION<\/strong><\/p>\n

His loving care to keep alive the memory of the people of our
\nland who with their humble daily work and acceptance of life\u2019s sufferings were
\ndistinguished for their love of God and neighbor, was what prompted Fr.
\nBernardino Bucci, our Capuchin Friar, to write these “family memoirs” of Luisa
\nPiccarreta, nicknamed “Luisa the Saint<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

The interest in Luisa is worth mentioning, both because of the
\nattention devoted today to acquiring a deeper knowledge of this mystic (and
\nLuisa is such since with her contemplation and acceptance of physical and
\nspiritual sufferings she attained a remarkable intimacy with Jesus) and because
\nLuisa was known and visited by several of our friars (Fr. Fedele from
\nMontescaglioso, Fr. Guglielmo from Barletta, Fr. Salvatore from Corato, Fr.
\nTerenzio from Campi Salentina, Fr. Daniele from Triggiano, Fr. Antonio from
\nStigliano, Fr. Giuseppe from Francavilla Fontana, to mention but a few), who
\nwere able to communicate to her essential elements of Franciscan spirituality,
\nwhile from her they assimilated love for Christ and commitment in doing God\u2019s
\nwill.<\/p>\n

May this book which involved Fr. Bernardino with such love and
\nenthusiasm give enjoyment to all who read it, so that they feel impelled to
\nlearn more of Luisa\u2019s spirituality and to further her beatification.<\/p>\n

Fr. Mariano Bubbico<\/p>\n

Provincial Minister of the Friars
\nMinor Capuchin of Puglia<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Luisa, contemplating the SUPREME FIAT<\/em><\/p>\n

PREFACE<\/strong><\/p>\n

The warm insistence of Archbishop Carata of Trani \u2013 now
\nemeritus \u2013 impelled me to put down in writing the testimonies about Luisa
\nPiccarreta. They were told to me by friends and others who knew the Servant of
\nGod personally. In some episodes I was directly involved.<\/p>\n

During my childhood I had continuous and direct contact with
\nthe Servant of God, made easier by my aunt, Rosaria Bucci, who assisted the her
\nday and night for about forty years. The two of them worked together at
\nlace-making and embroidery by which they earned a living. My relatives were
\nconnected to the Piccarreta family by many family ties. My sisters, Isa, Maria
\nand Gemma, were frequent visitors to Luisa\u2019s house, where they learned how to
\nmake lace. Gemma, the little one, was the favorite of Luisa who, when she was
\nborn, suggested she be given that name. Luisa\u2019s sister, Angelina, was godmother
\nat the baptism and sponsor at my sisters\u2019 confirmations. We were therefore so
\nintimate with her that everyone in the family called her “Aunt Angelina”.<\/p>\n

We spoke to Luisa with great familiarity. I remember that my
\nmother used to go regularly to Luisa\u2019s house and have long conversations with
\nher. Nothing is known of what they said. I think Luisa foretold her premature
\ndeath. I presume this from the fact that my mother would often speak of her own
\ndeath and stressed to us that she had not long to live. She died at the age of
\nfifty-one, three years after Luisa, wearing one of the Servant of God\u2019s
\nnightdresses.<\/p>\n

I myself was given holy pictures and images by the Servant of
\nGod. Despite our familiarity, I was tongue-tied in Luisa\u2019s presence, spell-bound
\nby her fascination.<\/p>\n

I have collected and sorted a wealth of material, but I am
\nunable to organize it all for printing; this would require a lot of work and
\ntime which is denied me. I have had to choose and publish what I considered most
\ninteresting. By this I do not mean that other episodes recorded do not deserve
\nto be known. I am absolutely convinced that any episode concerning Luisa
\nPiccarreta serves to set her in the context of her time.<\/p>\n

I have promised myself to continue the task of organizing and
\nresearching the memoirs and to give the printer a more exhaustive biography of
\nthe Servant of God, a work I began some time ago, and which I hope I shall
\ncomplete as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

Father Bernadino Giuseppe Bucci<\/p>\n

CHAPTER ONE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Biographical notes<\/em><\/p>\n

The Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta was born in Corato in
\nthe Province of Bari, on April 23,1865 and died there in the odor of sanctity on
\nMarch 4, 1947.<\/p>\n

Luisa had the good fortune to be born into one of those
\npatriarchal families that still survive in our realm of Puglia and like to live
\ndeep in the country, peopling our farmhouses. Her parents, Vito Nicola and Rosa
\nTarantino, had five children: Maria, Rachele, Filomena, Luisa and Angela. Maria,
\nRachele and Filomena married. Angela, commonly called Angelina, remained single
\nand looked after her sister until she died.<\/p>\n

Luisa was born on the Sunday after Easter and was baptized that
\nsame day. Her father \u2013 a few hours after her birth \u2013 wrapped her in a blanket
\nand carried her to the parish church where holy Baptism was administered to
\nher.<\/p>\n

Nicola Piccarreta was a worker on a farm belonging to the
\nMastrorilli family, located at the middle of Via delle Murge in a neighborhood
\ncalled Torre Disperata, <\/em>27 kilometers from Corato. Those who know these
\nplaces, set among the sunny, bare and stony hills, can appreciate the solemnity
\nof the silence that envelops them. Luisa spent many years of her childhood and
\nadolescence on this farm. In front of the old house, the impressive,
\ncenturies-old mulberry tree still stands, with the great hollow in its trunk
\nwhere Luisa used to hide when she was little in order to pray, far from prying
\neyes. It was in this lonely, sunny spot place that Luisa\u2019s divine adventure
\nbegan which was to lead her down the paths of suffering and holiness. Indeed, it
\nwas in this very place that she came to suffer unspeakably from the attacks of
\nthe devil who at times even tormented her physically. Luisa, to be rid of this
\nsuffering, turned ceaselessly to prayer, addressing in particular the Virgin
\nMost Holy, who comforted her by her presence.<\/p>\n

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

When she was nine, Luisa received Jesus in the Eucharist for
\nthe first time and Holy Confirmation, and from that moment learned to remain for
\nhours praying before the Blessed Sacrament. When she was eleven she wanted to
\nenroll in the Association of the Daughters of Mary \u2013 flourishing at the time \u2013
\nin the Church of San Giuseppe. At the age of eighteen, Luisa became a Dominican
\nTertiary taking the name of Sr. Maddalena. She was one of the first to enroll in
\nthe Third Order, which her parish priest was promoting. Luisa\u2019s devotion to
\n<\/strong>the Mother of God was to develop into a profound Marian spirituality, a
\nprelude to what she would one day write about Our Lady.<\/p>\n

Jesus\u2019 voice led Luisa to detachment from herself and from
\neveryone. At about eighteen, from the balcony of her house in Via Nazario Sauro,
\nshe had a vision of Jesus suffering under the weight of the Cross, who raised
\nhis eyes to her saying: “O soul, help me!<\/em>“. From that moment an
\ninsatiable longing to suffer for Jesus and for the salvation of souls was
\nenkindled in Luisa. So began those physical sufferings which, in addition to her
\nspiritual and moral sufferings, reached the point of heroism.<\/p>\n

The family mistook these phenomena for sickness and sought
\nmedical help. But all the doctors consulted were perplexed at such an
\nunusual clinical case. Luisa was subject to a state of corpse-like
\nrigidity \u2013 although she showed signs of life \u2013 and no treatment could relieve
\nher of this unspeakable torment. When all the resources of science had been
\nexhausted, her family turned to their last hope: priests. An Augustinian priest,
\nFr. Cosma Loiodice, at home because of the Siccardian*<\/sup> laws, was
\nsummoned to her bedside: to the wonder of all present, the sign of the Cross
\nwhich this priest made over the poor body, sufficed to restore her normal
\nfaculties instantly to the sick girl. After Fr. Loiodice had left for his
\nfriary, certain secular priests were called in who restored Luisa to normality
\nwith the sign of the Cross. She was convinced that all priests were holy, but
\none day the Lord told her: “Not because they are all holy \u2013 indeed, if they
\nonly were! \u2013 but simply because they are the continuation of my priesthood in
\nthe world you must always submit to their priestly authority; never oppose them,
\nwhether they are good or bad<\/em>” (cf. Volume I). Throughout her life, Luisa was
\nto be submissive to priestly authority. This was to be one of the greatest
\nsources of her suffering. Her daily need for the priestly authority in order to
\nreturn to her usual tasks was her deepest mortification. In the beginning, she
\nsuffered the most humiliating misunderstandings on the part of the priests
\nthemselves who considered her a lunatic filled with exalted ideas, who simply
\n<\/strong>wanted to attract attention. Once they left her in that state for more than
\ntwenty days. Luisa, having accepted the role of victim, came to experience a
\nmost peculiar condition: every morning she found herself rigid, immobile,
\nhuddled up in bed, and no one was able to stretch her out, to raise her arms or
\nmove her head or legs. As we know, it required the presence of a priest who, by
\nblessing her with the sign of the Cross, dispelled that corpse-like rigidity and
\nenabled her to return to her usual tasks (lace-making). She was a unique case in
\nthat her confessors were never spiritual directors, a task that Our Lord wanted
\nto keep for himself. Jesus made her hear his voice directly, training
\nher,<\/strong> correcting her, reprimanding her if necessary and gradually leading
\nher to the loftiest peaks of perfection. Luisa was wisely instructed and
\nprepared during many years to receive the gift of the Divine Will.<\/p>\n

The archbishop at that time, Giuseppe Bianchi Dottula (December
\n22, 1848-September 22,1892),<\/strong> came to know of what was happening in
\nCorato; <\/strong>having heard the opinion of several priests, he wished to
\nexercise his authority and assume responsibility for this case. After mature
\nreflection he thought it right to delegate to Luisa a special confessor, Fr.
\nMichele De Benedictis, a splendid figure of a priest, to whom she opened every
\nnook and cranny of her soul. Fr. Michele, a prudent priest with holy ways,
\nimposed limits on her suffering and instructed her to do nothing without
\nhis permission. Indeed, it was Fr. Michele who ordered her to eat at least once
\na day, even if she immediately threw up everything she had swallowed. Luisa was
\nto live on the Divine Will alone. It was under this priest that she received
\npermission to stay in bed all the time as a victim of expiation. This was in
\n1888. Luisa remained nailed to her bed of pain, sitting there for another 59
\nyears, until her death. It should be noted that until that time, although she
\nhad accepted her state as a victim, she had only occasionally stayed in bed,
\nsince obedience had never permitted her to stay in bed all the time. However,
\nfrom New Year 1889 she was to remain there permanently.<\/p>\n

In 1898 the new prelate, Archbishop Tommaso de Stefano (March
\n24, 1898 – 13 May 1906) delegated as her new confessor Fr. Gennaro Di Gennaro,
\nwho carried out this task for twenty-four years. The new confessor, glimpsing
\nthe marvels that the Lord was working in this soul, categorically ordered Luisa
\nto put down in writing all that God\u2019s grace was working within her. None of the
\nexcuses made by the Servant of God to avoid obeying her confessor in this were
\nto any avail. Not even her scant literary education could excuse her from
\nobedience to her confessor. Fr. Gennaro Di Gennaro remained cold and implacable,
\nalthough he knew that the poor woman had only been to elementary school.
\nThus on February 28, 1899, she began to write her diary, of which there are
\nthirty-six large volumes! The last chapter was written on December 28, 1939, the
\nday on which she was ordered to stop writing.<\/p>\n

Her confessor, who died on September 10,1922, was succeeded by
\nthe canon, Fr. Francesco De Benedictis, who only assisted her for four years,
\nbecause he died on January 30, 1926. Archbishop Giuseppe Leo (January 17,
\n1920-January 20,1939) delegated a young priest, Fr. Benedetto Calvi, as her
\nordinary confessor. He stayed with Luisa until she died, sharing all those
\nsufferings and misunderstandings that beset the Servant of God in the last years
\nof her life.<\/p>\n

At the beginning of the century, our people were lucky enough
\nto have Blessed Annibale Maria Di Francia present in Puglia. He wanted to open
\nin Trani male and female branches of his newly founded congregation. When he
\nheard about Luisa Piccarreta, he paid her a visit and from that time these two
\nsouls were inseparably linked by their common aims. Other famous priests also
\nvisited Luisa, such as, for example, Fr. Gennaro Braccali, the Jesuit, Fr.
\nEustachio Montemurro, who died in the odor of sanctity, and Fr. Ferdinando
\nCento, Apostolic Nuncio and Cardinal of Holy Mother Church. Blessed Annibale
\nbecame her extraordinary confessor and edited her writings, which were little by
\nlittle properly examined and approved by the ecclesiastical authorities. In
\nabout 1926, Blessed Annibale ordered Luisa to write a book of memoirs of her
\nchildhood and adolescence. He published various writings of Luisa\u2019s, including
\nthe book L\u2019orologio della Passione, <\/em>which acquired widespread fame and
\nwas reprinted four times. On October 7,1928, when the house of the sisters of
\nthe Congregation of Divine Zeal in Corato was ready, Luisa was taken to the
\nconvent in accordance with the wishes of Blessed Annibale. Blessed Annibale had
\nalready died in the odor of sanctity in Messina.<\/p>\n

In 1938, a tremendous storm was unleashed upon Luisa
\nPiccarreta: she was publicly disowned by Rome and her books were put on the
\nIndex.<\/strong> At the publication of the condemnation by the Holy Office, she
\nimmediately submitted to the authority of the Church.<\/p>\n

A priest was sent from Rome by the ecclesiastical
\nauthorities, who asked her for all her manuscripts, which Luisa handed over
\npromptly and without a fuss. Thus all her writings were hidden away in the
\nsecrecy of the Holy Office.<\/p>\n

On October 7, 1938, because of orders from above, Luisa was
\nobliged to leave the convent and find a new place to live. She spent the last
\nnine years of her life in a house in Via Maddalena, a place which the elderly of
\nCorato know well and from where, on March 8, 1947,<\/strong> they saw her body
\ncarried out.<\/p>\n

Luisa\u2019s life was very modest; she possessed little or nothing.
\nShe lived in a rented house, cared for lovingly by her sister Angela and a few
\ndevout women. The little she had was not even enough to pay the rent. To support
\nherself she worked diligently at making lace, earning from this the pittance she
\nneeded to keep her sister, since she herself needed neither clothes nor shoes.
\nHer sustenance consisted of a few grams of food, which were prepared for her by
\nher assistant, Rosaria Bucci. Luisa ordered nothing, desired nothing, and
\ninstantly vomited the food she swallowed. She did not look like a person near
\ndeath\u2019s door, but nor did she appear perfectly healthy. Yet she was never idle,
\nshe spent her energy either in her daily suffering or her work, and her life,
\nfor those who knew her well, was considered a continuous miracle.<\/p>\n

Her detachment from any payments that did not come from her
\ndaily work was marvelous! She firmly refused money and the various presents<\/p>\n

offered to her on any pretext. She never accepted money for the publication of
\nher books. Thus one day she told Blessed Annibale that she wanted to give him
\nthe money from her author\u2019s royalties: “I have no right to it, because what
\nis written there is not mine<\/em>” (cf. Preface of the L\u2019orologio della
\nPassione, <\/em>Messina, 1926). She scornfully refused and returned the money that
\npious people sometimes sent her.<\/p>\n

Luisa\u2019s house was like a monastery, not to be entered by any
\ncurious person. She was always surrounded by a few women who lived according to
\nher own spirituality, and by several girls who came to her house to learn
\nlace-making. Many religious vocations emerged from this “upper room”. However,
\nher work of formation was not limited to girls alone, many young men were also
\nsent by her to various religious institutes and to the priesthood.<\/p>\n

Her day began at about 5.00 a.m., when the priest came to the
\nhouse to bless it and to celebrate Holy Mass. Either her confessor officiated,
\nor some delegate of his: a privileged granted by Leo XIII and confirmed by St.
\nPius X in 1907. After Holy Mass, Luisa would remain in prayer and thanksgiving
\nfor about two hours. At about 8.00 a.m. she would begin her work which she
\ncontinued until midday; after her frugal lunch she would stay alone in her room
\nin meditation. In the afternoon \u2013 after several hours of work \u2013 she would recite
\nthe holy Rosary. In the evening, towards 8.00 p.m., Luisa would begin to write
\nher diary; at about midnight she would fall asleep. In the morning she would be
\nfound immobile, rigid, huddled up on her bed, her head turned to the right, and
\nthe intervention of priestly authority would be necessary to recall her to her
\ndaily tasks and allow her to sit up in bed.<\/p>\n

Luisa died at the age of eighty-one years, ten months and nine
\ndays, on March 4, 1947, after a fortnight of illness, the only one diagnosed in
\nher life, a bad attack of pneumonia. She died at the end of the night, at the
\nsame hour when every day the priest\u2019s blessing had freed her from her state of
\nrigidity. Archbishop Francesco Petronelli (May 25, 1939-June 16, 1947)
\narchbishop at the time. Luisa remained sitting up in bed. It was impossible to
\nlay her out and \u2013 an extraordinary phenomenon \u2013 her body never suffered rigor
\nmortis<\/em> and remained in the position in which it had always been.<\/p>\n

Hardly had the news of Luisa\u2019s death spread, like a river in
\nfull spate, all the people streamed into her house and police intervention was
\nnecessary to control the crowds that flocked there day and night to visit Luisa,
\na woman very dear to them. A voice rang out: “Luisa the Saint has died<\/em>“.
\nTo contain all the people who were going to see her, with the permission of the
\ncivil authorities and health officials, her body was exposed for four days with
\nno sign of corruption.<\/strong> Luisa did not seem dead, she was sitting up in
\nbed, dressed in white; it was as though she were asleep, because as has already
\nbeen said, her body did not suffer rigor mortis.<\/em> Indeed, without any
\neffort her head could be moved in all directions, her arms raised, her hands and
\nall her fingers bent. It was even possible to lift her eyelids and see her
\nshining eyes that had not grown dim. Everyone believed that she was still alive,
\nimmersed in a deep sleep. A council of doctors, summoned for this purpose,
\ndeclared, after attentively examining the corpse, that Luisa was truly dead and
\nthat her death should be accepted as real and not merely apparent, as everyone
\nhad imagined.<\/p>\n

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

In 1994, on the day of the Feast of Christ the King, in the main church,
\nArchbishop Carmelo Cassati, in the presence of a large crowd including foreign
\nrepresentatives, officially opened the beatification cause of the Servant of God
\nLuisa Piccarreta.<\/p>\n

Important dates<\/em><\/p>\n

1865 – Luisa Piccarreta was born on April 23, the Sunday after
\nEaster, in Corato, Bari, to Nicola Vito and Rosa Tarantino, who had five
\ndaughters: Maria, Rachele, Filomena, Luisa and Angela.\u00a0 A few hours after
\nLuisa\u2019s birth, her father wrapped her in a blanket and took her to the main
\nchurch for baptism. Her mother had not suffered the pangs of labor: her birth
\nwas painless.<\/p>\n

1872 – She received Jesus in the Eucharist on the Sunday after
\nEaster, and the sacrament of Confirmation was administered to her on that same
\nday by Archbishop Giuseppe Bianchi Dottula of Trani.<\/p>\n

1883 – At the age of eighteen, from the balcony of her house,
\nshe saw Jesus, bent beneath the weight of the Cross, who said to her: “O
\nsoul! Help me!<\/em>“. From that moment, solitary soul that she was, she lived in
\ncontinuous union with the ineffable sufferings of her Divine Bridegroom.<\/p>\n

1888 – She became a Daughter of Mary and a Dominican Tertiary
\nwith the name of Sr. Maddalena<\/p>\n

1885-1947 – A chosen soul, a seraphic bride of Christ, humble
\nand devout, whom God had endowed with extraordinary gifts, an innocent victim, a
\nlightening conductor of Divine Justice, bedridden for sixty-two years without
\ninterruption, she was a herald of the Kingdom of the Divine Will.<\/p>\n

March 4 – Full of merits, in the eternal light of the Divine
\nWill she ended her days as she had lived them, to triumph with the angels and
\nsaints in the eternal splendor of the Divine Will.<\/p>\n

March 7 – For four days her mortal remains were exposed for the
\nveneration of an immense throng of the faithful who went to her house to have a
\nlast look at Luisa the Saint, so dear to their hearts. The funeral was a realm
\ntriumph; Luisa passed like a queen, borne aloft on shoulders among the lines of
\npeople. All the clergy, secular and religious, accompanied Luisa\u2019s body. The
\nfuneral liturgy took place in the main church with the participation of the
\nentire chapter. In the afternoon, Luisa was buried in the family Chapel of the
\nCalvi family.<\/p>\n

Jul 3,1963 – Her mortal remains were definitively laid to rest
\nin Santa Maria Greca.<\/p>\n

Nov 20, – Feast of Christ the King: Archbishop Cassati
\nofficially opened the<\/p>\n

1994 beatification cause of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta
\nin the principal church of Corato, in the presence of a huge crowd of people,
\nlocals and foreigners.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The first holy picture with an image of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 printed in 1948 with the imprimatur<\/em> of Archbishop Reginaldo Addazi, O.P.<\/p>\n

Confessors and spiritual advisers<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
1. Fr. Cosma Loiodice<\/td>\nfriar and first confessor<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2. Fr. Michele De Benedictis<\/td>\nLuisa\u2019s confessor in childhood, appointed in 1884 as her
\nofficial confessor by order of Bishop Giuseppe B. Dottula<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3. Fr. Gennaro di Gennaro<\/td>\nparish priest of San Giuseppe, her confessor from 1898 to 1922;
\nhe ordered the Servant of God to keep a record of what the Lord revealed to her
\nday by day.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4. Fr. Annibale Maria di Francia<\/td>\nfrom 1919 to 1927, at the bishop\u2019s orders, he was her
\nextraordinary confessor, the ecclesiastical editor of the Servant of God\u2019s
\nwritings; he published some of her works, including L\u2019orologio della
\nPassione<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5. Mgr. Ferdinando Cento<\/td>\nApostolic Nuncio and Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6. Fr. Francesco De Benedictis<\/td>\nconfessor from 1922 to 1926, successor to Fr. Gennaro di
\nGennaro<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7. Fr. Felice Torelli<\/td>\nparish priest of Santa Maria Greca<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8. Fr. Ciccio Bevilacqua<\/td>\ncoadjutor of the principal church, occasional
\nconfessor<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9. Fr. Luca Mazzilli<\/td>\ncoadjutor, occasional confessor<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10. Fr. Benedetto Calvi<\/td>\nregular confessor, from 1926 to 1947, appointed by Archbishop
\nGiuseppe Leo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Fr. Peppino Ferrara, occasional celebrant.
\nFr. Vitantonio
\nPatruno, occasional celebrant.
\nFr. Clemente Ferrara, archpriest and
\noccasional celebrant.
\nFr. Cataldo Tota, rector of the Seminary of Bisceglie
\nand parish priest of the Church of San Francesco.
\nMgr. Michele Samarelli,
\nVicar General of Bari.
\nMgr. Ernesto Balducci, Vicar General of
\nSalerno.
\nMgr. Luigi D\u2019Oria, Spiritual Director of the regional Seminary of
\nMolfetta and Vicar General of Trani.
\nMany other religious and secular
\npriests, who are not listed here, also regularly visited the house of the
\nServant of God for various reasons.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Fr. Benedetto Calvi, Luisa Piccarreta\u2019s last confessor.<\/p>\n

Bishops<\/em><\/p>\n

1. Archbishop Giuseppe Bianchi Dottula, 1848-1892
\n2.\u00a0 Archbishop Domenico Marinangeli, 1893-1898
\n3. Archbishop Tommaso de Stefano, 1898-1906 [Luisa begins to write her diaries]
\n4. Archbishop Giulio Vaccaro,1906, administrator
\n5. Archbishop Francesco P. Carraro, 1906-1915
\n6. Archbishop Govanni Regime, 1915-1918
\n7. Archbishop Eugenio Tosi, 1918-1920, administrator
\n8. Archbishop Giuseppe M. Leo, 1920-1939
\n9. Archbishop Francesco Petronelli, 1939-1947. He died on June 16, 1947, three\u00a0months after the pious death of Luisa Piccarreta.
\n10. Archbishop Reginaldo G.M. Addazzi, 1947-1971. He gave Luisa the title of Servant of God and authorized the issue of the figurine with the prayer.
\n11. Archbishop Giuseppe Carata, from 1971, emeritus. He began the Association of the Divine Will with canonical approval in 1986 after procedures which had lasted for ten years. At the same time, he gave orders, at the request of Cardinal Palazzini, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints, for testimonies to be collected regarding the Servant of God.
\n12. Archbishop emeritus Carmelo Cassati. He opened Luisa Piccarreta\u2019s cause of beatification on the day of the Feast of Christ the King in 1994.
\n13. Archbishop Giovanni Battista Picchierri, current Archbishop of Trani. It is he who requested that the cause of beatification of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta be continued.<\/p>\n

List of Luisa Piccarreta\u2019s diaries<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Dates of the diaries written by Luisa Piccarreta out of
\nobedience to her confessors.
\nEven in her personal writings, Luisa depended
\nsolely on the authority of the Church.
\nIndeed, it was with extreme reluctance
\nand out of obedience that she began to write on February 28, 1899.<\/p>\n

Volumes Dates<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Volumes I and II from February 28, to October 30,1899
\nVolume II from November 1, 1899 to September 4, 1900
\nVolume IV from September 5, 1900 to March 18, 1903
\nVolume V from March 19, 1903 to October 30,1903
\nVolume VI from November 1,1903 to January 16, 1906
\nVolume VII from January 30, 1906 to May 30, 1907
\nVolume VIII from June 23, 1907 to January 30, 1909
\nVolume IX from March 10, 1909 to November 3, 1910
\nVolume X from November 9, 1910 to February 10, 1912
\nVolume XI from February 14, 1912 to February 24, 1917
\nVolume XII from March 16, 1917 to April 26, 1921
\nVolume XIII from May 1, 1921 to February 4, 1922
\nVolume XIV from February 4, 1922 to November 24, 1922
\nVolume XV from November 28, 1922 to July 14, 1923
\nVolume VI from July 23, 1923 to June 6, 1924
\nVolume XVII from June 10, 1924 to August 4, 1925
\nVolume XVIII from August 9, 1925 to February 21, 1926
\nVolume XIX from February 23, 1926 to September 15, 1926
\nVolume XX from September 17, 1926 to February 21, 1927
\nVolume XXI from February 23 to May 26, 1927
\nVolume XXII from June 1 to September 14, 1927
\nVolume XXIII from September 17, 1927 to March 11, 1928
\nVolume XXIV from March 19 to October 3, 1928
\nVolume XXV from October 7, 1928 to April 4, 1929
\nVolume XXVI from April 7 to September 20, 1929
\nVolume XXVII from September 23, 1929 to February 17, 1930
\nVolume XXVIII from February 22, 1930 to February 8, 1931
\nVolume XXIX from February 13 to October 26, 1931
\nVolume XXX from November 4, 1931 to July 14, 1932
\nVolume XXXI from July 24, 1932 to March 5, 1933
\nVolume XXXII from March 12 to November 10, 1933
\nVolume XXXIII from November 19, 1933 to November 24, 1935
\nVolume XXXIV from December 2, 1935 to August 2, 1937
\nVolume XXXV from August 9, 1937 to April 10,1938
\nVolume XXXVI from April 12 to December 28,1938.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Servant of God writes her diary gazing at the crucifix<\/p>\n

CHAPTER TWO<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Kingdom of the Divine Will<\/em><\/p>\n

“And now a word to all of you who read these writings… I beg
\nyou, I implore you to receive with love what Jesus wants to gives us, that is,
\nHis Will.<\/p>\n

But to give you His Will, He wants yours, otherwise His own
\ncannot reign. If you only knew… With this love my Jesus wants to give you the
\ngreatest gift that exists in both heaven and earth: His Will!<\/p>\n

Oh, what bitter tears He sheds, for He sees that in following
\nyour own will you wander all over the wretched earth! You are no good at keeping
\na good resolution, and do you know why? Because His Will does not reign in
\nyou.<\/p>\n

Oh, how Jesus weeps and sighs over your destiny! And sobbing,
\nHe begs you to make His will reign in you. He wants to make you change your lot:
\nfrom sick to healthy, from poor to rich, from weak to strong, from hesitant to
\nsteadfast, from slaves to kings. He wants no great penances, no lengthy prayers
\nnor anything else; except that His Will reign in you and that yours live no
\nmore.<\/p>\n

Ah, listen to Him, and I am ready to give my life for each one
\nof you, to suffer any hardship so that you open the doors of your soul and the
\nWill of my Jesus can reign and triumph over the human generations!<\/p>\n

Now will you all deign to accept my invitation? Come with me to
\nEden, the place of your origins where the Supreme One created man, made him king
\nand gave him a kingdom to rule over; this kingdom was the whole universe; but
\nhis scepter, his crown and his orders came from the depths of his soul in which
\nthe divine Fiat <\/em>dwells as a ruling King and constitutes man\u2019s true
\nkingship. His robes were royal, brighter than the sun, his acts noble, his
\nbeauty entrancing. God so loved him, entertained himself with him, called him my
\nlittle king and son. All was happiness, order and harmony<\/p>\n

This man, our first father, betrayed himself, betrayed his
\nkingdom and in doing his own will, saddened his Creator who had so exalted and
\nloved him; and he lost his kingdom, the Kingdom of the Divine Will, in which all
\nthings had been given to him. The gates of the kingdom were closed to him and
\nGod reclaimed the kingdom he had given man. Meanwhile, listen to my secret.<\/p>\n

In reclaiming the Kingdom of the Divine Will, God did not say
\nHe would never return it to man, but kept it in reserve, awaiting future
\ngenerations to assail them with amazing graces, with blinding light, thus
\neclipsing the human will that had caused man to lose such a holy kingdom; and
\nthrough the appeal of miraculous and prodigious knowledge of the Divine Will, to
\nmake them feel the need, the desire to ban our own will which makes us unhappy,
\nand to embrace the Divine Will. Therefore the kingdom is ours; so, courage!<\/p>\n

The Supreme Fiat<\/em> awaits us, calls us, urges us to take
\npossession. Will anyone have the heart to refuse, be so devious as to not hear
\nthe call and not to accept such happiness?<\/p>\n

Let us leave the miserable rags and tatters of our own will,
\nthe mourning clothes in which our slavery has decked us, let us dress ourselves
\nin royal robes and adorn ourselves with divine ornaments!<\/p>\n

I therefore appeal to everyone: listen to me! May you know that
\nI am a Piccina <\/em>(Little One), the smallest of all creatures.\u2026 I will
\nbilocate to be in the Divine Will together with Jesus, I will come like a tiny
\nchild to your womb, and with groans and cries I will knock at the doors of your
\nhearts, to ask you, like a little beggar girl, for your donations, your rags and
\ntatters, your mourning clothes, your unhappy will, to give it to Jesus; so that
\nHe will burn it all and in restoring His Will to you, will give you His kingdom,
\nHis happiness, the brightness of His royal robes. If you but knew what God\u2019s
\nWill means! It contains Heaven and earth; if we are with it, everything is ours
\nand everything derives from us; if we are not with it, everything is against us;
\nand if we have anything at all, we are true thieves of our Creator and live by
\nfraud and stealing.<\/p>\n

Therefore if you would like to become acquainted with it, read
\nthese pages: you will find in them the balm for the cruelty inflicted upon us by
\nthe human will, together with new, entirely divine air, a new, entirely heavenly
\nlife; you will feel Heaven within your soul, you will see new horizons, new suns
\nand will often find Jesus, His face bathed in tears, who is longing to give you
\nHis Will. He weeps because He wants to see you happy, and seeing you unhappy He
\nsobs, sighs and prays for His children\u2019s happiness; and, in asking you for your
\nwill, to tear you away from your misery, He offers you His own Will, as He
\nconfirms with the gift of His Kingdom.<\/p>\n

I therefore appeal to everyone. And I am making this appeal
\nwith Jesus, with His own tears, His ardent sighs, His burning Heart which longs
\nto give His Fiat. <\/em>From within the Fiat <\/em>we emerged, we had life; it
\nis right, it is our duty to return to it, our dear and never-ending
\nheritage.<\/p>\n

First of all I appeal to the Supreme Pontiff, to His Holiness,
\nthe Representative of Holy Church and consequently the Representative of the
\nKingdom of the Divine Will. At his holy feet this tiny Piccina<\/em> places
\nthis kingdom, so that he will make it known; and so that with his authoritative
\nfatherly voice he may summon his children to dwell in this most holy Kingdom.
\nMay the Supreme Fiat <\/em>invest him and form the first Sun of the Divine Will
\nin His Representative on earth; and, in forming His primary life in him who is
\nthe Head of the whole Church, may He spread His never ending rays throughout the
\nworld; and eclipsing everyone with His light, may He form one fold and one
\nShepherd!<\/p>\n

I make my second appeal to all Priests. Prostrate at the feet
\nof each one, I pray, I implore them to be concerned with knowing the Divine
\nWill. And I say to them: let it inspire your first movement, your first act,
\nindeed, enclose yourselves in the Fiat,<\/em> and you will feel how sweet and
\ndear your life is; you will draw from it all your activity; you will feel a
\ndivine power within you, a voice that speaks continuously that will tell you
\nwonderful things that have never been heard, you will feel a light that will
\neclipse all evils, and in stirring peoples, will give you dominion over
\nthem.<\/p>\n

How many fruitless efforts, because the life of the Divine Will
\nis lacking! You have broken bread for the people which did not contain the
\nleaven of the Fiat<\/em>, so that in eating it they found it hard, almost
\nindigestible; and feeling no life within them, they were not receptive to your
\nteachings. May you therefore partake of this bread of the Divine Fiat,<\/em>
\nthus you will form them with its full life and one will.<\/p>\n

I make the third appeal to the whole world, to all my brothers
\nand sisters and children. Do you know why I am calling you all? Because I want
\nto give the life of the Divine Will to you all! It is more than air that we can
\nall breathe; it is like a sun, from which we can all receive the good of light;
\nit is like the beating of a heart that wants to beat in everyone; and like a
\nlittle child, I would like, I long for everyone to draw life from the Fiat!
\n<\/em>Oh, if you but knew the good you would receive, you would give your life to
\nmake it reign within all of you!<\/p>\n

This little Piccina<\/em> wants to tell you another secret
\nwhich Jesus has entrusted to her; and I am telling it to you so that you give me
\nyour will and in exchange receive God\u2019s, which will make you happy in body and
\nsoul.<\/p>\n

Do you want to know why the earth is unproductive? Why it is
\nthat at various points in the world there are earthquakes and the earth\u2019s crust
\noften gapes open and buries cities and people in its depths? Why the wind and
\nthe waters whip up storms that destroy everything? Why there are so many evils,
\nas you all know?<\/p>\n

Because created things possess a Divine Will which dominates
\nthem, and therefore they are powerful and imperious; they are nobler than us
\nbecause we are dominated by a human will and so we are degraded, weak and
\nhelpless. If, through our good fortune, we ban our human will and take the life
\nof the Divine Will, we too will be strong and imperious; we will be brothers and
\nsisters of all created things, which will not only trouble us no longer, but
\nwill give us dominion over them and we will be happy for ever and ever!<\/p>\n

Are you glad? So make haste: listen to this poor Piccina<\/em>
\nwho loves you so. Then how happy I will be when I can say that all my brothers
\nand sisters are Kings and Queens because they all posses the life of the Divine
\nWill.<\/p>\n

So courage, respond to my appeal!<\/p>\n

Yes, I hope that you will all respond to me unanimously, and
\nfar more, for it is not only I who am calling you, imploring you. With me, my
\nsweet Jesus calls you in a tender, touching voice, telling us over and over
\nagain, even in tears: “take my Will for your life; and come into its
\nKingdom<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Know that Our Lord was the first to pray to the heavenly Father
\nthat His Kingdom might come and His Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven,
\nwhen He said the Pater Noster,<\/em> and passing His prayer on to us, He
\nappealed to us, begging us all to ask: “Fiat Voluntas Tua sicut in coelo et
\nin terra<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Therefore, every time you recite the Pater <\/em>Jesus is
\novercome by such a longing to give you His Kingdom, His Fiat, <\/em>that He
\nhastens to say, with us, “My Father, it is I who ask this for my children, do
\nit quickly<\/em>“. Thus the first to pray is Jesus himself, and then you too ask
\nthis in the Pater. <\/em>So don\u2019t you want all this goodness?<\/p>\n

One last word.<\/p>\n

Know that in seeing the longings, raptures and tears of Jesus,
\nwho yearns to give you his Kingdom, his Fiat, <\/em>this little Child so longs,
\nsighs and yearns to see you all in the Kingdom of the Divine Will, all happy at
\nmaking Jesus smile, that if she does not succeed with prayers and tears, she
\nwill try making scenes to succeed, both with Jesus and with you.<\/p>\n

So listen to this little Piccina,<\/em> cause her no further
\nsighs, tell her, through grace: “so be it, so be it… we all want the
\nKingdom of the Divine Will. Fiat<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Luisa Contemplating the Triumph of the Fiat.<\/p>\n

Some unpublished prayers<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I enclose myself in your Will<\/p>\n

My Jesus, I enclose myself in your Will so that I may breathe
\nwith your breath to breathe with the breath of all and turn them into so many
\naffectionate kisses.<\/p>\n

I make my heartbeat beat in your Will, to tell you in its every
\npulsation, “I love you, I love you”, and moving within your Will, I offer to you
\neveryone\u2019s embrace, so that in clasping you, embraced by your arms, no one will
\never offend you again and everyone will love you, adore you, bless you and do
\nyour holy Will.<\/p>\n

Be my guide<\/p>\n

My sweet Jesus, immure me in your Will so that I see nothing,
\nfeel nothing, touch nothing but your holy Will, and with your power, make me
\nholy, Jesus, in my acts to fill Heaven and earth with the Divine life.<\/p>\n

O Queen, my Mother, be my teacher and my guide, and do not let
\nme draw a single breath without the Divine Will.<\/p>\n

Take my will<\/p>\n

My Jesus, give me your Will and take my own, so that I may be
\nsanctified with your holiness, love with your love, beat with your heart, walk
\nwith your footsteps, repair with your reparation, and form a Jesus with my words
\nin the hearts of all who hear me.<\/p>\n

Queen, my Mother, hide me beneath your mantle, to keep me safe
\nfrom all things and all people.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One of the many prayers which the Servant of God loved to spread with holy cards; the prayer in her handwriting is written on the back<\/em> of the holy image.<\/p>\n

CHAPTER THREE<\/strong><\/p>\n

The healing of the epileptic<\/em><\/p>\n

Aunt Rosaria, the last of numerous offspring, was born on
\nApril 4, 1898. My grandmother claimed that she was the only “unlucky”
\nmember of the family in that she was subject to epileptic attacks. In addition,
\nof the middle, fourth and little fingers of her right hand had been amputated at
\nthe joints because of a minor accident.<\/p>\n

My grandmother, in the hope of a cure, took her to Luisa; a
\ngroup of girls to whom she taught lace-making were on their way to her house.
\nShe asked Luisa to let her join them, so that she could learn this craft. Aunt
\nRosaria was barely nine years old at the time, although she looked older. It was
\na cold, rainy day in January 1907. Luisa was already famous throughout Corato
\nand everyone called her Luisa the Saint. She was not only a woman who lived a
\nholy life, respected by all, but was also a social worker. Indeed, at home she
\nhad set up a lace-making school which in those times was a significant social
\nadvancement for many girls, who left their homes and the farming
\nenvironment.1<\/sup><\/p>\n

This is how the meeting occurred\u2026.<\/p>\n

It was about 10.00 in the morning when my grandmother went with
\nmy aunt to Luisa\u2019s house in Via Nazario Sauro, known as Via dell\u2019Ospedale.
\nLuisa\u2019s mother, <\/strong>an elderly woman, came to open the door and stayed
\nchatting to my grandmother, asking her for news of some relatives.2<\/sup><\/p>\n

At the end of the discussion, Luisa\u2019s mother took them both
\ninto her daughter\u2019s room where Luisa was giving the girls embroidery lessons
\nfrom her bed.<\/p>\n

Angelina, Luisa\u2019s sister, had the girls who were making lace
\nleave the room and brought in a chair for my grandmother. My grandmother sat
\ndown and the two began to talk.<\/p>\n

This is my aunt\u2019s testimony: “They both talked about
\ndifferent matters that I don\u2019t remember clearly, like two old friends who had
\nnot seen one another for some time. Finally, my mother kissed Luisa and left. I
\nhad the impression that they had also been talking about me and that Luisa had
\nconsented to my mother\u2019s request. When I was left alone with Luisa, she looked
\nat me with a profoundly benevolent expression, as though she wished to encourage
\nme. I had no suspicion of what was to happen to me later, that I would remain
\nbeside her without interruption for forty years<\/em>“.<\/em><\/p>\n

Several days later, my aunt was stricken with a sudden
\nepileptic fit, just as she was being taught the basic elements of lace-making.
\nMy aunt never related this episode, because she was rather shy and reserved
\nabout all that concerned Luisa and rarely mentioned her at home. My mother told
\nme of the event; she had heard it from a friend of hers who was present when it
\nhappened.<\/p>\n

As soon as my aunt fell to the ground in a fit, foaming at the
\nmouth and with her tongue protruding, the girls in the room were
\nfrightened and fled, while my aunt was helped by Angelina, Luisa\u2019s sister. In
\nthe meantime, Luisa was not in the least upset, but continued her work as
\nif she had not the slightest interest in the event. One girl, who had stayed
\nwhere she was despite the shock, attests: “Luisa, seeing Rosaria on the
\nground,<\/em> raised her eyes to heaven and spoke these words: \u2018Lord, if you
\nhave put her beside me, I want her healthy<\/em>\u2019. And she continued her
\nwork<\/em>“. <\/em>Because of the great commotion, no one attached any importance
\nto Luisa\u2019s prayer.<\/p>\n

Whether or not this prayer is true, from that moment Aunt
\nRosaria suffered no more epileptic fits. She lived to the age of eighty, and
\ndied from a diabetic crisis (this is what it was diagnosed as) Her illness
\nlasted a day and a half.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Luisa Piccarreta reading<\/p>\n

The bell of discord<\/em><\/p>\n

Aunt Rosaria, the co-owner of family property, had
\nrenounced in our favor practically half her income, which at that time
\ncould be considered a substantial sum, because we were a large family, six
\nchildren, all at school. She would come for a meal at home almost every day and
\nfelt in command of the situation. The work my aunt did at home was invaluable,
\nespecially as regards domestic chores: she assisted with the cooking, set the
\ntable and helped to clear before she left.<\/p>\n

Her contribution was much appreciated, for my mother was a
\nteacher and we were all at school and found it difficult to attend to the
\nhousework. The few times that Aunt Rosaria did not come, there was pandemonium
\nand everything was rushed. I remember that when we got back from school we would
\nalways find Aunt Rosaria ready to encourage us to wash our hands and make the
\nsign of the cross before we started eating.<\/p>\n

Sometimes however, she gave signs of a strangeness that
\nprompted us, especially my mother, to protest. Her behavior seemed to us
\ninsolent, challenging, as though she wanted to assert that it was she who was
\nmistress of the house.<\/p>\n

This also depended on her strong and independent character,
\nwhich made her reluctant to confide in others.<\/p>\n

Her presence threw everyone into a certain confusion, no one
\ndaring to say a word out of place, and she seldom complied with any of our
\nwishes: she never gave us little gifts or pocket-money. She was only available
\nwhen we showed a desire to go to confession or to church, especially vespers,
\nwhich she never missed. She regularly attended the parish of Santa Maria Greca
\nand she was to be found in the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament kneeling in her
\nusual place. When we looked for her for some family matter, if she was not at
\nLuisa\u2019s house we would find in the church her kneeling in her customary place.
\nOne day I said to her: “Don\u2019t your knees hurt?” She smiled at me and, not
\nanswering the question, added: “This is the place where Luisa knelt when she
\ncould come to church. And this is where Luisa spoke to Jesus<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Her strange conduct was annoying, and as a result some rather
\nharsh remarks were made in our household. The causes of the family
\nquarrels, especially between my aunt and my mother, were the following.<\/p>\n

Very often, while we were eating, our aunt would leave the
\ntable in a hurry, put on her overcoat and go.<\/p>\n

On other occasions, when important family affairs were being
\ndiscussed, she would cut the conversation and disappear. This behavior of hers
\nleft everyone speechless, because it had no logical explanation. Aunt Rosaria
\nwas therefore considered a false and hypocritical woman and my mother attributed
\nthis attitude to her pride. Only my father, who was very fond of his sister,
\nkept the balance and always made excuses for her, provoking the anger of my
\nmother who felt offended by the lack of consideration he showed for her
\nobservations on our aunt.<\/p>\n

As children, we sided with our mother, considering Aunt Rosaria
\nthe black sheep of the family and the object of our sarcasm. Our mother\u2019s
\nintervention was required to moderate our indiscreet insistence. In spite of all
\nthis, my mother held Aunt Rosaria in high esteem and warned us: “Remember,
\nshe is nonetheless a consecrated soul!<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Perhaps what most upset us was that the following day Aunt
\nRosaria would present herself at home as though nothing had happened, and never
\nresponded to my mother\u2019s requests for an explanation of her attitude.<\/p>\n

As a priest, when my aunt was already very old and the object
\nof the family\u2019s veneration, I asked her the reason for her behavior. She said to
\nme: “Do you really want to know? Are you so very interested?<\/em>“. “Yes”, I
\nanswered.<\/p>\n

So she began to speak: “I suffered deeply from
\nmisunderstandings, but those were the tremendous tests to which the Lord
\nsubjected me, to make me a worthy custodian of Luisa. She used to spend many
\nhours of the day in prayer. I guessed when she wanted to be left alone, without
\nher saying anything to me. I would get up from my work, take her lace-making
\npillow from her, put it on the table and make everyone leave the room. I would
\ndraw the curtains round the bed, and close her door, and work would continue in
\nsilence in the next room. Many hours would pass and when I heard the bell, I
\nwould enter Luisa\u2019s room alone; I would draw back the curtains round the bed and
\nI would put the lace cushion in her hands, so that everyone, returning to her
\nroom would find her as they had left her, intent on her work. In the morning,
\ntoo, while I was still in bed, I was the only one who heard her bell, sometimes
\nat about three or four o\u2019clock. Her sister, Angelina, grumbled because she was
\nwoken by hearing me getting up. I would go to Luisa\u2019s room and find her as
\nthough dead, showing no signs of life, motionless. I would arrange her hair and
\nput the pillows, which I often found on the floor, behind her back. It should be
\nnoted that pillows (three) were placed behind Luisa, but she never leaned back
\non them, they only served to fill the space between her body and the bed-head.
\nHaving tidied Luisa, I would prepare the altar for Holy Mass. When the priest
\narrived for the celebration, I would let him in to the room alone. He would make
\nthe sign of the cross over her body and call her back to life. Once Luisa had
\nreturned to normality, all the others would enter to take part in Holy Mass,
\nincluding the ever present altar-boy. Luisa participated in Holy Mass as though
\nshe were in ecstasy, with very great devotion and responding in perfect Latin.
\nAfter communion, everyone left, while Luisa immersed herself in a lengthy and
\ndeep thanksgiving which lasted several hours. Towards nine o\u2019clock in the
\nmorning she would ring her bell, at which we would enter her room and
\nbegin the lace-making. I worked beside Luisa and we used the same bobbins, the
\nsame thread and the same pins, and I would correct Luisa\u2019s work because her
\nstitches were somewhat loose since she had not the strength to pull the threads
\ntight, because of the pain in her hands due to the stigmata she had
\nreceived<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

At this point I interrupted her and said: “But I never saw
\nthe stigmata on her hands!”.<\/p>\n

She answered me: “Of course not, because they were internal
\nand only I and a few other people saw them. Among these were her confessors and
\nthe Cimadomo sisters, and I think her niece, Giuseppina, too. In fact, if one
\ntook Luisa\u2019s hand and held it up to the light, the internal hole was visible.
\nWhen I entered her room during the night, I would frequently find her covered in
\nblood: so much blood was seeping from her feet, her hands and her side, that her
\nnightdress and the bed were soaked in it. Sometimes, the blood was even dripping
\nonto the floor. Not only her body, but her head and face were also covered in
\nblood: she seemed crucified. The first time I was deeply shocked, believing her
\nto be dead through loss of blood, and I ran to fetch cloths to clean her, but
\nwhen I returned I found her absolutely clean, except for the sheet. It had all
\ndisappeared. This phenomenon would occur two or three times a year<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

“But you”, I said to her, “you never told anyone about this
\nphenomenon?”.<\/p>\n

“No<\/em>“, she replied, “only Fr. Benedetto Calvi knew of
\nit. He absolutely forbade me to speak of it, and said that he would deny me
\nabsolution if I were ever foolish enough to tell anyone about it. You are the
\nonly one to know, and I hope that Luisa will not take it badly<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

After a pause she continued. “I beg you not to tell of this
\nphenomenon<\/em>“.<\/em><\/p>\n

She gave me the impression that she regretted having told
\nme of it. Indeed, it was the first time that she had ever mentioned it.<\/p>\n

This is one of the many phenomena concerning Luisa\u2019s
\nlife which had continued to be unknown.<\/p>\n

My aunt, after a long pause, went on: “Luisa usually worked
\nonly for churches, she would make pieces of lace for altar cloths, vestments and
\ncassocks for priests. Sometimes, when they pestered her, she would make lace
\nbedspreads for young couples. Luisa had a special soft spot for the
\nsanctification of families, and many young husbands and wives would go to her
\nfor advice. How much good she did, and how many families did she save from ruin!
\nI would leave the house when Luisa withdrew into prayer and when I returned,
\nshortly afterwards, she would ring her bell, so I was not at all worried.
\nWhenever I had to go away for a few days, her niece, Giuseppina, replaced me.
\nBut sometimes when I was somewhere else, at home, in church or at some friend\u2019s
\nhouse, I would hear her bell; I would interrupt anything, even lunch, and hurry
\nto Luisa\u2019s house. Because of my way of doing things I was considered odd, not
\nonly by the family but also by strangers. I could give no explanations because I
\nalone could hear the sound of her bell and if I had told others, they would have
\ntaken me for a mental case and a visionary, so I was silent and when pressed to
\ngive a reason for this attitude, I always tried to change the subject,
\npretending not to hear. All this caused me immense suffering. Often after a
\ngreat rush to get to her, I would find Luisa still praying<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

I asked her: “And who was ringing the bell?”.<\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t know<\/em>“, she replied.<\/p>\n

“And what did Luisa say?”.<\/p>\n

“Nothing<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

“And what did you do?”.<\/p>\n

“I knelt down beside her bed and prayed<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

“But didn\u2019t you notice anything while Luisa was praying? Is
\nwhat has been said of Luisa true, that she was often suspended in the air?”.<\/p>\n

“I cannot speak of these things, Luisa always forbade me to
\nspeak of them. Her confessor was the only one to know everything, and he was the
\nrepository of her extraordinary phenomena. Luisa, for her part, always pretended
\nthat nothing had happened, nor did she allow a single word to be said of it. It
\nall had to be submitted to the authority of the priest and he alone could decide
\nwhether the phenomena were to be divulged. Luisa did nothing and wrote nothing
\nwithout the authorization of her confessor, she was so submissive
\nto the Church\u2019s authority that nothing was to be known or written and divulged
\nwithout his permission. It is on these lines that it will be possible to know
\nall about Luisa; it is all recorded in her writings<\/em>“<\/p>\n

I added: “But her writings can\u2019t reveal everything about
\nLuisa\u2019s life, because it was far more complex”.<\/p>\n

“That\u2019s true<\/em>” she answered. “I could tell of many
\nthings that no one knows<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

“So why do you insistently refuse to speak?” “If Luisa had
\nwished them to be known she would have written them down, or the Church would
\nhave ordered her to write them; it is clear that certain phenomena which
\noccurred, which I and others witnessed,<\/strong> do not serve for the
\nsanctification of souls. The Lord permitted to be known all that is of use to
\nthe Church and to souls, the rest serves no purpose. In speaking of these things
\nI feel as if I were profaning the intimacy that was built up between God and
\nLuisa, human beings would not understand. The message bequeathed by Luisa
\nexceeds her very person. Luisa wanted the Lord alone to have all the honor and
\nglory, and she was to disappear into nothingness; this is why she loved solitude
\nand silence, and showed great distress when she noticed that she was the object
\nof people\u2019 veneration, for she considered herself only a poor sick person, in
\nneed of everything. I and others knew very well that Luisa had no need of
\nanything, and that we had to be the custodians of her mystery.<\/strong> How often
\nin the morning did I find Luisa all tidy and the altar already prepared for Holy
\nMass with the candles lit<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

“And how did this happen, if Luisa never set foot out of bed
\nfor about sixty years? Are you sure of what you say?”.<\/p>\n

“Absolutely certain! Because I was the only one who entered
\nher room<\/em>“<\/p>\n

“Did you never wonder what the explanation was?”.<\/p>\n

“I thought that Angels served her, especially her guardian
\nAngel, to whom she was deeply devoted. Her room was often found full of
\nfragrance<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

“And did others smell this fragrance?”.<\/p>\n

“Yes, those who took part in Holy Mass. I remember that once
\nFr. Cataldo De Benedictis, who had come to celebrate Holy Mass in the absence of
\nher confessor, said to me: \u2018Don\u2019t scent the room, or I will come out with a
\nheadache\u2019. I assured him that no one had put scent in the room, but he did not
\nbelieve me<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

“Is it true that Luisa vomited everything she ate?”.<\/p>\n

“Yes. However, this phenomenon was common knowledge, because
\nLuisa was to live on God\u2019s Will alone. But many did not believe it, and thought
\nthat she must be eating something<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

“I saw this too, several times, when I came to visit you in
\nLuisa\u2019s house”.<\/p>\n

“So then what else do you want to know? A lot of food was
\nwasted, and at the time, as you know, poverty was widespread. I also pointed
\nthis out to Luisa, even if her food was so scant that it would have hardly
\nsufficed to keep a new born baby alive. Her answer was: <\/em>\u2018Let us
\nobey<\/em>\u2019. In fact her confessors were adamant, harsh and inflexible about
\nthis phenomenon. It seems to me that there was a precise order from the Bishop.
\nOnce the confessor told me very firmly : she must eat every day and every one
\nmust know that she eats, or they will set the police at her door as they did
\nwith Teresa Newmah, with all the publicity of the newspapers<\/em>“.<\/em><\/p>\n

“But did she drink water or other liquids?”.<\/p>\n

“I never gave her water to drink; she drank nothing but the
\njuice of bitter almonds which the Cimadomo sisters would bring her. Sometimes
\nyour sister Isa also prepared this juice, which she extracted from Aunt Nunzia\u2019s
\nalmonds<\/em>“.3<\/sup><\/p>\n

“But don\u2019t bitter almonds contain a poisonous substance? And in
\nthe long term don\u2019t they harm the organism?”.<\/p>\n

“That I can\u2019t say, but I can assert with a clear conscience
\nthat it was the only liquid she drank without vomiting<\/em>“.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Was it at least sweetened?”.<\/p>\n

“No<\/em>“, she replied, “now that\u2019s enough, I have said
\nalmost all that I could say, which moreover, was common knowledge<\/em>“.<\/em><\/p>\n

“But I would like to know more!”.<\/p>\n

“No! That is merely curiosity; if Luisa so wishes, I will be
\nable to tell you a great many other things, and then it will be I who call
\nyou<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

So ended my conversation with Aunt Rosaria.4<\/sup> It was
\nOctober 15, 1970.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Rosaria Bucci, who lived with Luisa Piccarreta for forty years.<\/p>\n

A perfect lace-maker<\/em><\/p>\n

Despite the mutilation of her fingers on one hand, Aunt
\nRosaria became a perfect lace-maker, to the wonder of all. She perfected Luisa\u2019s
\nwork and taught all the girls who took the lace-making and embroidery course. In
\naddition, she made herself indispensable and in fact, after the death of Luisa\u2019s
\nparents, became her housekeeper. It was she who received the commissions and
\nfinalized the work contracts. However, she told no one which pieces of lace had
\nbeen made by Luisa, because the Servant of God did not want her own work to be
\nthe object of special attention or admiration. After Luisa\u2019s death, the
\nembroidery work did not cease, for Aunt Rosaria kept alive the tradition of
\nlace-making and embroidery which Luisa had caused to flourish. That Aunt Rosaria
\nwas a perfect lace-maker was considered by all as a never-ending miracle, since
\nher physical handicap was such as to prevent from her doing this kind of
\n<\/strong>delicate craft. For work that could have earned millions \u2013 since it required
\nyears to complete \u2013 extremely modest sums were requested. This is why we nephews
\nand nieces complained to our aunt, <\/strong>at which she used to reply:
\n“Money does not matter much. What is important is to be able to live<\/em>“.
\nAunt Rosaria told us that Luisa had categorically forbidden her to accept money
\nfor any reason, especially donations. If, by chance, sums of money arrived in
\nletters, these letters were immediately returned to the sender. Luisa would say
\nthat what she possessed was too much for her and that she had no need
\n<\/strong>of anything. The small sums which they earned from their work were
\nsufficient to support Aunt Rosaria and Luisa’s sister, Angelina. The way the
\nServant of God answered Blessed Annibale when he tried to give her the royalties
\nfor the works she had published is typical: “I have no right<\/em>“, she said,
\nrefusing the money the blessed had offered her, “because what was written is
\nnot mine<\/em>“.<\/em><\/p>\n

The mysterious sores<\/em><\/p>\n

In about 1940, my Aunt Rosaria, a robust woman shining with
\nhealth, developed sores which in time grew bigger and more purulent,
\nalthough she felt no pain<\/em><\/strong>. Two big sores in particular, like two
\nlarge swollen boils, were visible under her chin. These boils secreted pus
\nalmost all the time, and a few drops even fell into her plate while we were
\nhaving lunch. I felt a sense of disgust during these unpleasant situations and
\ntried to keep away from the table, but my mother, in order not to aggravate the
\nembarrassment this caused us, would restrain me with her hand and, from time to
\ntime, pinch me. Aunt Rosaria, as a co-owner of the family possessions, often
\ncame home for meals. Her sores, which spread all over her body, especially on
\nher breast and shoulders, were lovingly disinfected by my mother, who urged her
\nto go to Bari to see a specialist. But one day my aunt sat down to eat
\ncompletely cured. In fact, there were small scars where the sores had been. No
\none made any comment; only when my aunt was leaving did my father retort,
\nremembering previous and new episodes: “Ched femn c fatt\u2019 vdai caus nov<\/em>”
\n(that woman has always made us see new things), referring to Luisa. My father
\nalso had a great devotion for Luisa the Saint and on his deathbed he wanted to
\nclasp her nightdress to his breast. My mother was wearing this same nightdress
\nat the time of her own departure for heaven.<\/p>\n

But what had happened to my aunt?<\/p>\n

This is her account of what occurred, given during one of the
\nvisits I regularly paid her when I was curate at the Friary of Barletta.<\/p>\n

My aunt, urged by my mother, consulted a dermatologist in Bari.
\nThe diagnosis was terrible: “Dear lady<\/em>“, the doctor said to her.
\n“these are cancerous sores which will spread increasingly over your whole
\nbody. You have a form of leprosy, a very rare disease<\/em>“. Just imagine my
\naunt\u2019s state of mind on hearing these words. After wandering about in Bari for
\nseveral hours, in the evening she returned to Luisa\u2019s house. Aunt Rosaria gave
\nvent to her feelings with the Servant of God and said to her with irritation:
\n“I\u2019m with you all the time, and yet do you allow certain things? I have no
\nchildren to take care of me.<\/em>“. Luisa let her speak and then said to her,
\n“Rosaria, Rosaria… you have gone round all these doctors and you have
\nneglected the one true doctor<\/em>“. On hearing these words, my aunt immediately
\ntook all the medicines, gauze and cotton wool, and flung them away, from the
\nbalcony (this happened in the house in the Via Maddalena, where they then
\nlived). Then she said: “I now entrust myself to Our Lord and to your
\nprayers<\/em>“. Before she went to bed, Luisa called her, made her kneel beside
\nher bed and together they spent a long time praying. My aunt then went to bed.
\nShe slept in a double bed beside Angelina. That night, Aunt Rosaria felt her
\nbody flooded with a sense of well-being. When she rose the next morning she
\nfound that all her sores had dried up; they were covered only by thin scabs
\nwhich came off during the day: she was perfectly cured. Rumors of the miracle
\nspread, but no one dared to speak of it openly although everyone knew that Luisa
\nhad had a hand in it. The reason for this was that Luisa did not want these
\nphenomena to be attributed to her. “I cannot work miracles, it is Our Lord
\nwho does them<\/em>“, she asserted. This is why no extraordinary episode that
\noccurred through her intervention was made public; all the same, news of such
\nmatters spread in silence.<\/p>\n

Blessed Padre Pio, Luisa Piccarreta and Rosaria Bucci<\/em><\/p>\n

Luisa Piccarreta and Blessed Padre Pio of Pietrelcina knew
\none another for some time without ever having met, for Luisa was always confined
\nto the bed where she sat, while Padre Pio was enclosed in the friary of the
\nCapuchin Fathers of San Giovanni Rotondo.5<\/sup><\/p>\n

One question naturally arises, how did they come to know one
\nanother?<\/p>\n

This is difficult to discover, yet one thing is certain,
\nthat the two did know and esteem one another.<\/p>\n

My aunt recounts how Luisa would speak with respect and
\nveneration of the blessed father, describing him as a “true man of God<\/em>“,
\nwho still had great suffering to face for the good of souls.<\/p>\n

In about 1930, a well-known figure arrived at Luisa\u2019s house,
\nsent personally by Padre Pio. He was Federico Abresch, a convert of Padre Pio.
\nFederico spoke at length with Luisa. What they said we are not given to know;
\nbut one thing is certain. Federico Abresch became an apostle of the Divine Will
\nand regularly visited Luisa, with whom he always had long conversations.<\/p>\n

When his little son received his first communion from Padre
\nPio\u2019s hands, he was also immediately taken to see Luisa who, according to the
\nstory, foretold that he would become a priest.<\/p>\n

The small boy of that time is now a priest and works at the
\nCongregation for Bishops in Rome;<\/strong> he is known by the name of Mgr. Pio
\nAbresch.<\/p>\n

When Luisa was condemned by the Holy Office and her works put
\non the Index, Padre Pio sent her this message though Federico Abresch: “Dear
\nLuisa, saints serve for the good of souls, but their suffering knows no
\nbounds<\/em>“. At that time Padre Pio was also in very great difficulties.<\/p>\n

Blessed Padre Pio sent many people to Luisa Piccarreta and
\nwould say to the people of Corato who went to San Giovanni Rotondo: “What
\nhave you come here for? You have Luisa, go to her<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Padre Pio recommended to certain of his faithful (including
\nFederico Abresch) that they open a spirituality center at San Giovanni Rotondo,
\ninspired by the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta.<\/p>\n

Miss Adriana Pallotti (a spiritual daughter of Padre Pio) is
\ncurrently an heir to Padre Pio\u2019s wishes. She has opened a House of the Divine
\nWill at San Giovanni Rotondo,<\/strong> keeping alive the torch lit by Padre Pio
\nwith Federico Abresch. Miss Adriana Pallotti says that it was Blessed Padre Pio
\nwho encouraged her to spread Luisa Piccarreta\u2019s spirituality in San Giovanni
\nRotondo and to help disseminate the Divine Will throughout the world, as Padre
\nPio desired.<\/p>\n

Aunt Rosaria went regularly to San Giovanni Rotondo, especially
\nafter Luisa\u2019s death. Padre Pio knew her very well, and when Luisa was still
\nalive he would ask Aunt Rosaria when he saw her: “Rosa\u2019, how is
\nLuisa?<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Aunt Rosaria would answer him: “She is well!<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

After Luisa\u2019s death, Aunt Rosaria increased her visits to San
\nGiovanni Rotondo, in order to receive enlightenment and advice from Padre
\nPio.<\/p>\n

Aunt Rosaria was the one lamp that stayed alight to resolve
\nLuisa Piccarreta\u2019s case regarding the sentence of the Holy Office, visiting
\nvarious ecclesiastical figures and,<\/strong> in addition, confronting the
\nCongregation of the Holy Office. Once she managed \u2013 it is not known how \u2013 to
\nenter the office of the Cardinal Prefect, Ottaviani, who heard her kindly and
\npromised to take up the case.<\/p>\n

Indeed, a few days later, Aunt Rosaria was summoned by
\nArchbishop Addazi of Trani, who said to her: “Miss Rosaria, I do not know
\nwhether to reprimand you or to admire you for your courage. You have faced the
\nguard dog of the Church, the great defender of the faith, without being
\nbitten<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

The conclusion was that permission was obtained to move Luisa\u2019s
\nbody from the cemetery to the Church of Santa Maria Greca.<\/p>\n

Luisa said to my aunt: “You will be my witness<\/em>” and one
\nday Padre Pio told her point-blank in his Benevento dialect: “Rosa\u2019, va nanz,
\nva nanz ca Luisa i\u00e8 gran e u munn sar\u00e0 chin di Luisa<\/em>” (Rosaria, go ahead, go
\nahead for Luisa is great and the world will be full of Luisa). My aunt often
\nrecounted this episode, but things were not going well: everything indicated
\nthat Luisa would soon be forgotten.<\/p>\n

After the venerated Padre Pio\u2019s death, my aunt said one day:
\n“Padre Pio prophesied that Luisa would be known throughout the world<\/em>“.
\nAnd she repeated the phrase Padre Pio had said in his dialect.<\/p>\n

I answered that there would be no easy solution to the case of
\nLuisa Piccarreta Indeed nothing further was said of it in Corato either, and
\nPadre Pio\u2019s words could have been considered merely a comforting
\nremark. But Aunt Rosaria retorted: “No! During my confession Padre Pio told
\nme that Luisa is not a human factor, she is a work of God and he himself will
\nmake her emerge. The world will be astounded at her greatness; not many years
\nwill pass before this happens. The new millennium will see Luisa\u2019s
\nlight<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

I was silent at this assertion and my aunt asked me: “But do
\nyou believe in Luisa?<\/em>“.<\/em><\/p>\n

I answered her that I did.<\/p>\n

Then she said to me: “Come to my house in a few days\u2019 time,
\nbecause I have something very important to tell you<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

It was during the 70s and Padre Pio had been dead for a several
\nyears.<\/p>\n

Aunt Rosaria\u2019s secret<\/em><\/p>\n

In 1975, on 2 February to be exact \u2013 I remember it was a
\nvery chilly day \u2013 my aunt summoned me to her house. She was very old and was
\nbeginning to have problems with her sight, due to diabetes. My nephew and niece,
\nVincenzo and Sara,<\/strong> went to her house to keep her company.<\/p>\n

That day, I found her sitting at the window as she recited the
\nRosary.<\/p>\n

I sat down next to her, and having greeted her, asked her what
\nit was she wanted to tell me that was so important.<\/p>\n

She looked at me and said: “What I am going to tell you now
\nis of the utmost importance. Try to use it well and I urge you to meditate on
\nthe miracles of the Lord who gave us Luisa, a precious creature in God\u2019s eyes
\nand an instrument of his mercy. You would find it hard to discover such a
\nprecious, great soul. Luisa goes beyond herself, and you can only contemplate
\nher fully in God\u2019s mystery. Mary was the One who brought redemption into the
\nworld with her <\/em>Fiat, which is why the Lord enriched her in such a
\nwonderful way that she became a creature who was raised to the dignity of Mother
\nof God.<\/strong> Mary is the Mother of God, and no other creature will ever equal
\nher in greatness and power; after God it is she alone who expresses the Lord\u2019s
\nmarvels to the world. After Our Lady comes Luisa, who brings the world the third
\n<\/em>Fiat, the <\/em>Fiat of Sanctification<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

She said this quietly, marking her words well, convinced of
\nwhat she was asserting. I was overwhelmed by these assertions.<\/p>\n

“That is why Luisa was always nailed to her bed and every
\nday offered to the Divine Majesty as a victim of expiation to God\u2019s Most Holy
\nWill<\/em>“, she continued. “God was pleased with this creature and so
\njealously guarded her that he removed her from human beings, entrusting her only
\nto his Church, so that she could preserve her and humanly forge her with
\ninfinite penances and misunderstandings. My Luisa knew no human consolations but
\nonly divine ones; her body was continually suspended between heaven and earth,
\nand her earthly life was a continuous contradiction in comparison with normal
\nhuman lives. Even in her body, she had to belong entirely to God<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

She then confided to me: “One day the Lord said to Luisa:
\n\u2018all those who have seen and known you will be saved<\/em>\u2019”.6<\/sup><\/p>\n

“Dear Peppino, this is an extraordinary gift of God and it
\nhas remained shrouded in silence because Luisa did not want knowledge of it
\nbroadcast, or she would have become the object of curiosity or veneration which,
\nshe said, she did not deserve. Except that one day her confessor told me that I
\ncould speak of it and spread it with discretion.<\/strong> Now I have told you, in
\nthe hope that you may be able to make good use of it<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

That day I was left enchanted by the language used by Aunt
\nRosaria, who expressed theological concepts perfectly, and even in a poetic
\nvein.<\/p>\n

By accident, the notes I had made were lost and I have limited
\nmyself to writing what I remember.<\/p>\n

Her death, almost unexpected, gave me no time to ask her
\nfurther questions, which would have provided a clear explanation of what she had
\ntold me.<\/p>\n

Aunt Rosaria died in 1978.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The bleeding hand of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina was raised
\nthousands of times to bless the faithful at the end of Holy Mass<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Corato, Via Maddalena: the house where the Servant of God\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Luisa Piccarreta lived in the last years of her life<\/p>\n

CHAPTER FOUR<\/strong><\/p>\n

Annibale Maria di Francia and Luisa Piccarreta<\/em><\/p>\n

Aunt Rosaria would often and willingly speak of Blessed
\nAnnibale Maria di Francia, founder of the Rogationist Fathers and the Sisters of
\nDivine Zeal.<\/p>\n

She spoke of the blessed as though he were intimately familiar
\nto her, using the name “Fr. Francia”. I personally took great interest in this
\nfigure and often asked the Rogationist Fathers if by chance there might be
\nanything in their archives about the relations between Luisa and Blessed
\nAnnibale. I even went to the Sant\u2019Antonio Institute in Corato, a house which the
\nblessed had wanted personally, in order to move Luisa there to be with the
\nsisters.<\/p>\n

My aunt told me that Fr. Annibale had conceived of the project
\nof taking Luisa to the Institute of sisters opened in Trani, but that Luisa had
\nmade him see that the Lord wanted her to stay in Corato. Fr. Annibale\u2019s project
\nwas implemented in 1928, after his holy death.<\/p>\n

Annibale di Francia was the extraordinary confessor of the
\nServant of God Luisa Piccarreta, and it was he who published her works. Blessed
\nAnnibale belonged to that array of priests who built up the Church of God with
\ntheir holiness and their institutions for orphans and abandoned children. The
\nwork of these men was of great benefit to Italy and the Church, in a period when
\nanti-clericalism was triumphant.<\/p>\n

According to Aunt Rosaria, the blessed enjoyed the great esteem
\nof St. .Pius X who willingly granted him private audiences. It seems that St.
\nPius X paid great attention to Luisa Piccarreta: our blessed submitted her
\nwritings to him before having them printed.<\/p>\n

Aunt Rosaria affirmed that after reading some of Luisa\u2019s
\nwritings, especially her famous work on the Passion of Our Lord, published under
\nthe title L\u2019orologio della Passione, <\/em>St. Pius X said to him: “Dear
\nfather, you must read these writings on your knees, because it is Our Lord Jesus
\nChrist who is speaking in them”. And it was the holy Pontiff who urged Fr.
\nAnnibale to publish them.1<\/sup><\/p>\n

Annibale called on Luisa regularly, at her house in Via Nazario
\nSauro, staying with her for several hours, conversing with her on spiritual
\nmatters.<\/p>\n

He often took some Italian or foreign bishop to visit Luisa,
\nand my aunt remembers the visit of a prelate from Hungary. To dispel certain
\ndoubts, the blessed father took several theologians to Luisa; having spoken to
\nthe Servant of God at length, they would gather in another room for long
\ndiscussions of what they had heard.<\/p>\n

My aunt recalls that one Hungarian bishop, after talking to
\nLuisa, emerged from her room in deep distress and said the following words in
\nhis imperfect Italian: “Pray for my people<\/em>“, for Luisa had informed him
\nof the far from rosy future that awaited his homeland. Aunt Rosaria could not
\ntell me precisely who the bishop was, nor exactly where he came from, she only
\ntold me: “a Magyar bishop<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

I realized that he must have been a Hungarian bishop.<\/p>\n

Fr. Annibale did not only visit Luisa to talk to her; he gave
\nlectures to all those who frequented Luisa\u2019s house, especially the young people.
\nThese lectures bore abundant fruits. Indeed, many of the girls became sisters,
\nmany of the young men were initiated to the priesthood and quite a few were
\nadmitted to his new congregation.<\/p>\n

Many people went to Luisa\u2019s house to confess to Fr. Annibale.
\nThis was confirmed to me by Canon Andrea Bevilacqua who, as a young seminarian,
\nwould also go to Luisa\u2019s house to confess to Fr. Annibale, who was also the
\nextraordinary and deeply loved confessor of Archbishop Leo of Trani.<\/p>\n

In my earlier publication I did not mention Blessed Annibale di
\nFrancia, because I was advised to say nothing, to avoid creating obstacles to
\nhis cause of beatification under way.<\/p>\n

It would be most interesting to consult the archives of the
\nRogationists and of the Sisters of Divine Zeal, where there must certainly be
\ntraces of the long correspondence between the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta
\nand Blessed Fr. Annibale. My aunt told me that Luisa\u2019s spirituality was
\nimpressed upon the institute\u2019s Rule. It would be most interesting to read the
\ninstitute\u2019s old Rule and Constitutions. I hope, now that Fr. Annibale has been
\nbeatified by the Church, that the Rogationists and the Sisters of Divine Zeal
\nwill be able to re-evaluate the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta who contributed
\nso much to their development with her prayers, her advice and her writings.<\/p>\n

Much still remains to be said about the relations between
\nBlessed Annibale, the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta and St. Pius X, for
\n<\/strong>whom Luisa had great veneration. At that time she already revered him as a
\nsaint, and on various occasions said these words: “The Lord has given the
\nChurch two great Pontiffs in these times; the first, a beloved son of Our
\nLady<\/em>“, with reference to Pius IX, “the second, a great defender of the
\nfaith and of the Eucharist<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Blessed Annibale di Francia had to overcome enormous obstacles
\nin order to put into practice his plan to have Luisa taken to one of the
\nhouses of his congregation to be with the sisters. He often used to say these
\nwords: “The acceptance of Luisa in a house of my Institute will be a blessing
\nof God for the whole Congregation<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Indeed, although there were already two houses of the
\nCongregation of Divine Zeal in Trani, with holy persistence he opened a female
\nhouse in Corato, close to Luisa\u2019s birthplace. His project was not easy to
\nimplement: the holy founder died before the house had been completed.<\/p>\n

Two years after his death, Luisa entered the house of the
\nSisters of Divine Zeal in Via delle Murge.<\/p>\n

Rosaria Bucci\u2019s memories<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Blessed Annibale Maria di Francia paid frequent visits to the
\nServant of God, with whom he had long conversations, staying for hours in
\nLuisa\u2019s little room, where he also often celebrated Holy Mass.<\/p>\n

This is what I remember of what Aunt Rosaria told me.<\/p>\n

In 1910, a priest arrived at Luisa\u2019s house and asked to speak
\nto her. This was the first of the many encounters between the two “saints”. That
\nday, it was Aunt Rosaria who opened the door to him, then a young girl who had
\nbecome familiar with Luisa\u2019s milieu, who had been visiting her for four years
\nand so collaborated with Angelina in the household affairs. Moreover, since Aunt
\nRosaria had mastered lace-making, she was acting as teacher for the other girls,
\nwho were apprentices; she was also called by Luisa to set right her own work
\nthat was often defective, for the Servant of God was unable to pull the knots
\ntight enough because of the stigmata, hidden beneath her skin and a source of
\npain.2<\/sup><\/p>\n

Aunt Rosaria, on many occasions, prepared a little bed in a
\nroom in Luisa\u2019s house on which Blessed Annibale would sometimes rest, especially
\nwhen he was a guest of the Piccarreta family for more than a day.<\/p>\n

The blessed\u2019s stays in Luisa\u2019s house were dictated by the fact
\nthat before giving her writings to Annibale, she had to read through them all
\nand provide explanations on doubtful or incomprehensible points.<\/p>\n

It was my aunt herself who gave Blessed Annibale the manuscript
\nof the famous book on meditation of the Passion. Blessed Annibale had it printed
\nwith the name L\u2019orologio dell Passione,<\/em> a title about which Luisa was not
\nat first enthusiastic. The publication, with a long preface by the Blessed, went
\ninto several editions, four to be precise.<\/p>\n

Aunt Rosaria remembered that Blessed Annibale once urged all
\nthe girls and Luisa\u2019s regular visitors to read and meditate upon the work. In
\ngiving it to them, the blessed said: “Before having the manuscript printed, I
\nwas received in audience by His Holiness Pius X, to whom I gave a copy. Several
\ndays later, having returned to see the Holy Father for matters concerning my new
\nCongregation, he said these words: \u2018Have Luisa Piccarreta\u2019<\/em>s L\u2019orologio della
\nPassione printed immediately. Read it on your knees, because it is Our Lord
\nwho is speaking in it<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Since we have no other documents available, we cannot but trust
\nthe testimony of Rosaria Bucci.<\/p>\n

Blessed Annibale and the Capuchin Friars of the Monastic
\nProvince of Puglia<\/p>\n

It seems that the Franciscan fathers,<\/strong> and particularly
\nthe Capuchins, suggested to Blessed Annibale that he place his works under the
\nprotection of St. Anthony of Padua. It is certain that there was a deep
\nreciprocal esteem between Blessed Annibale and the Capuchins.<\/p>\n

I personally heard a lot about Blessed Annibale Maria di
\nFrancia from our older fathers.<\/p>\n

Fr. Annibale published Luisa\u2019s writings, many of which were
\ngiven to our friars, whom he warmly commended not to disclose the author\u2019s name
\nto anyone since the devout writer wished to remain anonymous.<\/p>\n

The Capuchin friar who had the most to say about this was Fr.
\nIsaia from Triggiano, who was simple and humble, the figure of an authentic
\npriest. This father had a deep veneration for Luisa Piccarreta and jealously
\npreserved her writings and a few objects that had belonged to the Servant of
\nGod. Among these was a holy card with a picture on which a prayer had been
\nwritten by Luisa in her own hand.<\/p>\n

Fr. Isaia often used to say: “Luisa is a great saint and Fr.
\nAnnibale another great saint, because he enabled us to know her. Saints
\nunderstand one another. It is God who brings them together<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

In far off 1917, Fr. Isaia from Triggiano was a Capuchin
\nstudent at our friary in Francavilla Fontana, where on several occasions the
\nfriars gave hospitality to Fr. Annibale Maria di Francia, who was establishing
\none of his works in nearby Oria.<\/p>\n

These are Fr. Isaia\u2019s impressions of Fr. Annibale: “He was a
\npriest who truly belonged to God, and at the sight of him, we students would
\ngather round him with great sympathy. We all went to him for confession.
\nHe<\/strong> had an unusual appearance, as well as an unusual manner of speech and
\ngestures, always moderate and with a reserve that did not command fear but
\nfilial trust. He constantly spoke to us of God\u2019s Will and exhorted us to bear
\nwith hardships and contradictions. He told us that a soul who was consecrated
\nentirely to God was suffering and praying for us all<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

“This soul<\/em>“, Blessed Annibale said to Fr. Isaia, “is
\na daughter of your region, and this is a sign that the Lord is blessing the
\npeople of Bari”<\/em>. To comfort him in his doubts and sufferings, he gave him
\nL\u2019orologio della Passione, <\/em>which he himself had had printed. Fra Isaia, a
\nCapuchin student at the time, asked him where this holy soul lived and who she
\nwas, but Fr. Annibale answered: “just think about preparing yourself properly
\nfor the priesthood and always doing God\u2019s Will, and in due course you will
\ndiscover who this soul is<\/em>“.<\/em><\/p>\n

Fr. Isaia, become a priest, went to see Luisa Piccarreta,
\nfrom whom he sought advice and \u2013 not infrequently \u2013 comfort in his apostolate,
\nthreatened by malicious gossip.<\/p>\n

At that time the Monastic Province of Puglia was passing
\nthrough a difficult period because of various disagreements between the two
\nProvinces of Bari and Lecce, united in a single Monastic Province. Certain
\nfathers headed a reform that was blocked by St. Pius X.<\/p>\n

The majority submitted, but others resisted and ended by
\nbeing expelled from the Order and excommunicated. One of these was Fr. Gerardo,
\nsuperior and director of the studentate of Francavilla.<\/p>\n

This father had extraordinary ideas about running the
\nstudents\u2019 community with a draconian discipline; he frequently left the students
\nfasting, because they had to mortify themselves and resemble the crucified
\nChrist. The worst thing was that he did not even allow them to study.
\nTheir studying was to consist of the crucifix and penance; he consequently
\nplaced in the students\u2019 rooms a large crucifix and a scourge. It is easy to
\ngrasp the state of mind of all the students, many of whom fell ill. Fr. Annibale
\ndi Francia, on one of his visits, called Fr. Gerardo and made him understand
\nthat young men who were still growing could not be treated with such a regime.
\nAnd he himself set the example, by taking a great many provisions to the friary
\nand begging them to eat their fill, at least sometimes. Fr. Annibale was very
\nsensitive to the young students\u2019 health, and would often say to them: “This
\nis not God\u2019s Will<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

It seems that Fr. Gerardo was not totally unmoved by the
\nexhortations of Fr. Annibale, who could speak with such conviction and love that
\nhe had an impact on even the hardest of hearts. In fact, the results were
\nimmediately noticed: books were bought for the priestly formation of the young
\nmen, and slightly larger portions of bread and soup began to appear.<\/p>\n

Shortly afterwards Fr. Gerardo left the Order and was
\nexcommunicated for his bizarre ideas and his rebellion against the Church. The
\nVenerable Annibale\u2019s words came true. Indeed, when the despairing students knelt
\nat his feet for confession, he would often say: “Continue to live God\u2019s Will
\nintensely, because in a little while everything will change. Courage!<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Many fathers were in contact with Fr. Annibale and through him
\nbecame acquainted with Luisa. How is it possible to forget Fr. Daniel from
\nTriggiano, a splendid figure of a Capuchin, a man who was a true little flower
\nof St. Francis. Still today, his simplicity, his words and his acts live on
\nthroughout our Monastic Province.<\/p>\n

Fr. Daniele spoke of Luisa Piccarreta as though she were a
\nheavenly creature and when, as a young seminarian, I went to his room for
\nconfession, he always said this to me:<\/p>\n

“Are you Bucci from Corato? Did you know Luisa? You should
\nknow that she is a great saint and you should never stop praying to her if you
\nwant to be a priest<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Fr. Daniele was the historian of Triggiano and also published
\nseveral devotional manuals, drawing heavily from Luisa Piccarreta\u2019s books. The
\nway he spoke of Luisa suggests that he was in direct contact with the Servant of
\nGod and with Venerable Annibale.<\/p>\n

I also heard the following fathers talk a lot about the Servant
\nof God Luisa Piccarreta. Fr. Giovanni De Bellis, who was frequently invited to
\nCorato to preach, went to Luisa\u2019s house on these occasions. Fr. Giovanni, my
\nconfrere in the community of the Friary of Trinitapoli when I was superior and
\nparish priest, often spoke to me of Luisa Piccarreta and Blessed Annibale Maria
\ndi Francia, whom he had known personally. I had the good fortune to be present
\nat Fr. Giovanni\u2019s last moments. This father died while he was completely
\nimmersed in prayer, \u2018his hands joined, the beads of the rosary between them. His
\nlast words were: “May God\u2019s Will be done<\/em>“. It was 1982.<\/p>\n

Fr. Terenzio from Campi Salentina also deeply venerated the
\nServant of God Luisa Piccarreta and would talk of her every time he met me. It
\nwas he who told me that the beatification cause of Fr. Annibale, Luisa\u2019s
\nconfessor, had been initiated. When I was a young novice at the Friary of
\nAlessandro, Fr. Terenzio was superior. One day he offered me this testimony:
\n“There was a period when I was going through a crisis in my faith, and one
\nday I went to Luisa, who listened to me kindly. She clarified all my doubts, and
\ngave me such clear and profound theological explanations that they were a
\nrevelation to me. All the doubts that my theological studies had not clarified
\nwere dispelled by Luisa. There is no doubt that Luisa had the gift of infused
\nknowledge<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Fr. Guglielmo from Barletta, one of the most distinguished
\npriests of the Province who had several times been Minster Provincial and was
\nrector of our theology center for students, spoke one day, during a lesson on
\nascetics, of Venerable Fr. Annibale and his works. He spoke at length of
\nL\u2019orologio della Passione<\/em> and of the book Maria nel Regno della Divina
\nVolunt\u00e0. <\/em>Referring to Luisa Piccarreta, he said: “She is a great and
\nmarvelous soul. We are not even worthy to be her finger-nail<\/em>“. Fr.
\nGiuglielmo did not tell me whether he had known Luisa personally.<\/p>\n

Almost all our older fathers had direct or indirect contact
\nwith the Venerable Annibale and Luisa Piccarreta. Among them those to be
\nremembered are: Fr. Zaccaria from Triggiano, several times Provincial; Fr.
\nFedele from Montescaglioso; Fr. Giuseppe from Francavilla Fontana; Fr. Tobia
\nfrom Trigiano; Fr. Antonio from Stigliano, who left some writings on the Servant
\nof God;<\/strong> Fr. Dionisio from Barletta; Fr. Arcangelo from Barletta, also
\nProvincial; Fr. Pio from Triggiano, Provincial; Fr. Gabriele from Corato; Fr.
\nTimoteo from Aquarica, a great friend of Luisa\u2019s last confessor, Fr. Benedetto
\nCalvi, in whose parish he often preached (he also assisted at the translation of
\nLuisa\u2019s body from the cemetery to the church, and concelebrated at the Mass in
\nthe main church for the opening of the beatification cause of the Servant of God
\nLuisa Piccarreta); Fr. Salvatore from Corato, of whom I shall speak in a
\nseparate chapter. Many lay brothers who went to Corato to beg for alms never
\nfailed to visit Luisa<\/strong>: Fra Ignazio, Fra Abele, Fra Rosario, Fra Vito and
\nFra Crispino, who often spoke to me enthusiastically of Luisa, whom they greatly
\nrevered.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Fr. Terenzio from Campi Salentina, a great enthusiast of Luisa Piccarreta<\/p>\n

Luisa\u2019s special love for the Capuchins.<\/em><\/p>\n

Fr. Salvatore from Corato and Luisa Piccarreta<\/em><\/p>\n

Fr. Salvatore from Corato was a Capuchin totally focused on
\nLuisa the Saint. I knew him when I was a student at the seminary of Giovinazzo
\n(the 4th and 5th years of secondary school). Fr. Salvatore came to spend his
\nholidays with us. During our walks down the alleys in the friary garden, he
\nalways spoke about Luisa to me and about how his Capuchin vocation
\ndeveloped.<\/p>\n

Fr. Salvatore was a splendid figure of a Capuchin. He came from
\na well-to-do family, he had very gentle manners and showed a delicacy of mind
\nthat I have rarely encountered in other friars. His Capuchin and priestly
\nvocation caused him great suffering and gave rise to much opposition. As an
\norphan, he had been brought up by an aunt who often took him to visit Luisa the
\nSaint, who regarded him with great kindness and gladly engaged in conversation
\nwith the young lad.<\/p>\n

One day she said to him: “The Lord wants you to be a
\npriest<\/em>“, but the boy did not attach much importance to her words. Having
\nbecome a good-looking young man, rich and sought after by all the girls, he
\nembarked upon a career in the navy and made many voyages. During the long ocean
\ncrossings, which sometimes lasted for months on end, the brilliant sailor would
\nstay on the bridge of the ship to contemplate the infinite sea and the stars. He
\noften remembered Luisa\u2019s words: “The Lord wants you to be a priest<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

Finding himself in danger of death, all that was left to him
\nwas to call upon Luisa: “Luisa, if you want me to be a priest, save me!<\/em>“.
\nChance had it that many of his companions died, whereas he was saved by a
\nstrange miracle. Shortly afterwards he abandoned his career, returned to Corato
\nand went to see Luisa. After a long conversation, Luisa advised him to enter the
\nCapuchins, telling him that he would encounter enormous difficulties. The Lord
\nwould be putting his vocation to the test.<\/p>\n

Indeed, he had difficulty in being accepted by the Order,
\nmeeting with opposition from those in charge of the students\u2019 formation. They
\ncited his age, for he was already older than the normal students, his life as a
\nsailor, certainly ridden with vice, and it was also said that coming from a
\nwell-off family, he would find it very difficult to embrace a Rule so strict in
\nitself. The letters of introduction from the archpriest, Fr. Clemente Ferrara,
\nand from Fr. Andrea Bevilacqua, who personally accompanied him to the novitiate
\nin Montescaglioso, were to no avail.<\/p>\n

The novice master and superior did not accept him nor did they
\nallow him even to enter the friary. Thus the poor young man had to stay outside
\nthe friary for three days, awaiting an answer from the Father Provincial, to
\nwhom the superior and novice master had perhaps turned.<\/p>\n

Luisa\u2019s words came true.<\/p>\n

Fr. Salvatore, received into the Capuchin Order, generously
\nrelinquished all his family possessions and embarked upon studies for the
\npriesthood. Ordained a priest, he wanted to go to Luisa\u2019s house to celebrate a
\nthanksgiving Mass. He would end his stories with this words “Luisa is in my
\nheart and in my life, I feel her very close, as though she still wanted to speak
\nto me<\/em>“. And he added: “I am sure that I will not have a long life,
\nbecause Luisa is in a hurry to bring me to heaven<\/em>“, and he would say this
\nwith a smile so heavenly that it is impossible to describe.<\/p>\n

Fr. Salvatore was used by his superiors as teacher and director
\nof our boys in the minor seminaries, and was highly appreciated and loved by
\nall. His spiritual and human gifts enriched the exercise of his priestly
\nministry. His health, which had been shaky since his entry into the Order, was a
\nsign of God\u2019s Will which matured him for his Kingdom through suffering.<\/p>\n

When I asked him if I could read Luisa\u2019s writings which had
\nbeen condemned by the Holy Office, he answered no, saying: “Luisa belongs
\nentirely to the Church and in the Church, which often tells us to renounce even
\nbeautiful things. Remember that all the Church does is God\u2019s Will, which has its
\nown times. Perhaps the world is not yet ready to receive and understand this
\ngreat saint.<\/strong> I believe that in a little while the Lord himself will put
\nher on the lamp stand<\/em>“. <\/em>Fr. Salvatore died on 3 September 1956, at
\nthe age of forty.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Fr. Salvatore da Corato<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Most of the Capuchin friars pictured in the group had direct
\ncontact with Luisa Piccarreta and Blessed Annibale<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Blessed Annibale, extraordinary confessor\u00a0and ecclesiastical reviser of Luisa Piccarreta\u2019s writings<\/p>\n

CHAPTER FIVE<\/strong><\/p>\n

A strange lunch<\/em><\/p>\n

I began to visit Luisa Piccarreta\u2019s house when I was five
\nyears old, taken there by Aunt Rosaria.<\/p>\n

When I became a little older, I would often take Luisa baskets
\nof fresh fruit which my father picked on our land.<\/p>\n

On various occasions my aunt made me stay to lunch at the
\nPiccarreta house. Luisa did not eat with us, because she was in bed in her room
\nand it was there that she ate the few grams of food that she took every day.<\/p>\n

One day, curious, I watched the menu that was being prepared
\nfor Luisa: her whole meal was on the same plate. It was a Sunday, the day our
\nfamily ate orecchiette <\/em>(ear-shaped pasta shells) with meat sauce.
\nNo more than five or six orecchiette<\/em> had been put on a plate with three
\nor four grapes. My aunt, seeing my surprise, looked at me compassionately and
\nsmiled. At a certain point she said: “Take this plate in to Luisa”. More
\nsurprised than ever, I took the plate and carried it to the room of Luisa who
\nwas in bed. She had just put down her lace-making work; a stool had been set
\nbefore her on which a cloth was spread, where I put the plate. She gave me a
\ndeep look with her large eyes without saying a word, took a grape and popped it
\ninto my mouth. I left the room while Luisa was beginning to eat her strange
\nlunch. I had hardly sat down at table when we heard a bell ring. My aunt got up
\nquickly,<\/strong> took a tray and went to Luisa\u2019s room. I followed her
\ninstinctively and unwittingly saw something that left me perplexed. Luisa
\nvomited all the food that she had eaten, unspoiled and whole. The most
\nextraordinary thing is that she felt none of the discomfort or unpleasantness
\nthat usually accompanies vomiting. My aunt removed the stool from her knees, put
\nit aside, drew the curtains round her bed, closed the shutters and said to me:
\n“Let\u2019s go now because Luisa has to pray”. When I got home, I told my mother all
\nabout it. She was not in the least surprised, since she had known of this
\nphenomenon for some time. Luisa actually never ate nor drank; she lived on the
\nDivine Will alone. This phenomenon lasted for almost seventy years, through
\nthick and thin. Out of obedience to her confessors, she was obliged to eat at
\nleast once a day, even if she vomited everything immediately afterwards.<\/p>\n

The broken promise of mortification<\/em><\/p>\n

One day, it was a Sunday, I was at Luisa\u2019s house, when she
\ncalled me and said: “Today is Sunday, at home you will be eating meat, leave a
\nlittle for Baby Jesus”. I assured her I would do so. However, having left
\nLuisa\u2019s house, I forgot everything, including the promise to leave some meat for
\nBaby Jesus.<\/p>\n

It should be emphasized that in those days meat was a luxury
\nfood, only eaten on feast days and in small quantities.<\/p>\n

I enjoyed eating my meat, having forgotten the morning\u2019s
\npromise. Luisa, on the contrary, had not forgotten at all and as soon as I
\narrived at her house in the afternoon, the first thing she said to me was: “You
\nforgot the promise you made to Baby Jesus”. I was dumbfounded and did not know
\nwhat excuse to make. Aunt Rosaria alleviated my embarrassment by saying: “He\u2019s
\nonly a little boy, what can he understand!” But I realized that her unsolicited
\nanswer did not satisfy Luisa.<\/p>\n

A prophecy<\/em><\/p>\n

My family, deeply religious, wanted one of us boys to be a
\npriest, given that my father\u2019s branch of the family had been richly endowed with
\npriests and a cousin of my mother\u2019s was then Vicar General of the Diocese of
\nSalerno, at the time of the famous Bishop Balducci Monterisi. My mother had kept
\nup a correspondence with this cousin, with whom we were not personally
\nacquainted. I only remember that she spoke enthusiastically of him.<\/p>\n

The eyes of the family were focused on my brother Agostino, a
\ntidy, well-educated, hard-working and reserved boy: in brief, a suitable type
\nfor an ecclesiastical career. Aunt Rosaria was very pleased when my brother
\nexpressed the wish to enter a seminary; the opinion of our parish priest, Fr.
\nCataldo Tota, of venerable and holy memory, was very flattering.<\/p>\n

His clothes were prepared. My aunt prepared a cassock with lace
\nborders. Everything was ready for my brother Agostino to enter the Seminary of
\nBisceglie. However, an unexpected event then occurred which upset everything, so
\nthat my brother never did enter the seminary. The cause of it all was Fr. Andrea
\nBevilacqua, who recommended that Agostino, his pupil in middle school, not be
\nsent to the seminary, but wait until he had completed at least the fifth year of
\nsecondary school; he would then enter Molfetta Seminary directly without having
\nbeen to the minor seminary, which Fr. Andrea did not think could guarantee an
\nadequate formation. Aunt Rosaria was very upset at this event and one day
\ncomplained to Luisa: “After having spent so much, Agostino will not even be
\nentering the seminary”.<\/p>\n

It should be said that Luisa had already previously proved
\nsilent and indifferent to this plan. Although Agostino diligently visited her
\nhouse and although she knew of his intentions, Luisa never gave him a word of
\nencouragement as she had to other boys who had expressed the same wish. Luisa
\nresponded to my aunt\u2019s complaints in my presence, by saying: “Rosaria,
\nRosaria…. You are trying to substitute God\u2019s Will with your own! The Lord does
\nnot want him”, and turning her eyes to me, she said to her: “Look after this
\none! Because the Lord wants this one and not that one”. Aunt Rosaria was amazed
\nto hear the words of Luisa who said: “Yes, this very one who is the rebel of the
\nfamily!”.<\/p>\n

In fact, I loved street life. I was very lively and surrounded
\nmyself with poor children. My companions systematically played truant from
\nschool, they went about barefoot, smelling of the hens, sheep and rabbits that
\nwere raised in their homes. Therefore I did not work very hard at school either,
\nand was the despair of my middle-class family (my mother was a teacher and my
\nfather, a municipal employee).<\/p>\n

I did not attach much importance to Luisa\u2019s words; I was only
\nin the fourth year of elementary school; there were big social problems; the
\ncollapse of Fascism, the German occupation; schools were closed and food was
\nscarce. I completely forgot Luisa\u2019s words. After Luisa\u2019s death, on 4 March 1947,
\nmy Aunt Rosaria often thought of what Luisa had said and began to look at me
\ninquiringly, as though she wanted to detect any signs of my inclination. Later,
\nto the great wonder of all, Peppino, the rowdiest boy in the district of Via
\nAndria, entered the seminary, not the diocesan seminary but the Seraphic
\nSeminary of the Friars Minor Capuchin of Barletta. It was 1948. A year had
\npassed since Luisa Piccarreta\u2019s death. Many bet, given my character, that my
\nstay in the seminary would not last long, and that I would be a nuisance there
\ntoo. Many even criticized my mother for rashly having allowed me to enter
\nit.<\/p>\n

Time proved these inauspicious predictions wrong and the
\ntownspeople began to give credit to the words of my Aunt Rosaria, who proudly
\ntold everyone how Luisa had prophesied that I would be a priest. Aunt Rosaria
\nwould say with determination: “Peppino will succeed in becoming a priest. It is
\nGod\u2019s Will, expressed by Luisa”.<\/p>\n

A rough sea<\/em><\/p>\n

Several years passed. My mother and father had died
\nprematurely; our large family was dispersed. Three of us were married, one
\nsister in Trieste, another in Bologna, my brother in Switzerland: the house,
\nemptied of us, was lived in with our consent by Aunt Rosaria.<\/p>\n

By then I was a theology student at the studentate in Santa
\nFara; I had already received the minor orders and the diaconate.<\/p>\n

During the summer, all the students moved to the Friary of
\nGiovinazzo. The building, virtually overlooking the sea, was an ideal place to
\nspend a holiday and the major seminary was also based there. One day in August
\nwe went to the beach. The sea was very rough; a rash student flung himself into
\nthe water and was instantly submerged by the breakers. I and another two
\ncompanions, expert swimmers, dived in after our confrere, but because of the
\nturbulent water we were swept away by the waves, flung against the rocks and
\nsucked back repeatedly.<\/p>\n

In these circumstances, half dazed I meditated on my death and
\nsaid to myself: “I will not be a priest after all!”. Then I called upon Luisa
\nand said: “Luisa the Saint, help me!<\/em>” and abandoned myself without
\nreacting. At a certain point I felt my body grasped by the hands of other
\nconfreres, who dragged me to safety before the waves sucked me back again once
\nand for all.<\/p>\n

I emerged from the water, bleeding and with cuts all over me,
\nbut alive. Luisa had saved me, together with the other three students, my
\ncompanions in misfortune.<\/p>\n

The following night I dreamed of Luisa who looked at me with
\nthose great eyes of hers that were imprinted upon my mind, but she said nothing.<\/p>\n

Was it a premonitory dream or delirium? It is true that during
\nthe next days I had a very high temperature, but I then recovered from the
\nillness.<\/p>\n

The following year I became a priest. I was ordained by the
\nArchbishop of Bari,<\/strong> at that time Archbishop Enrico Cicodemo,<\/strong> in
\nthe Capuchins\u2019 church at Triggiano on March 14, 1964.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Fra Bernardino Giuseppe Bucci, a Capuchin student (standing, second from the
\nleft beside the director), with the other students in a souvenir photograph<\/p>\n

CHAPTER SIX<\/strong><\/p>\n

Promotion to the cardinalate foretold<\/em><\/p>\n

Another person who was very close to Luisa Piccarreta was the
\nvenerable Cardinal Cento of holy memory.<\/p>\n

From the early days of his priesthood, Cardinal Cento had been
\na regular visitor to Luisa\u2019s house. Aunt Rosaria often spoke to me of Cardinal
\nCento and although he had attained the high rank of cardinal, she always
\nreferred to him simply as Father or Fr. Cento.<\/p>\n

At first I did not realize that she meant Cardinal Cento. Once,
\nwhen I was at home, the postman handed me a letter covered in Vatican stamps,
\nand bearing a cardinal\u2019s coat of arms; only then did I understand who Fr. Cento
\nwas, whom I had heard my aunt mention so often. I asked her to explain why she
\ncalled a cardinal by that name, but she answered: “I was very close to Fr.
\nCento, I treated him as if he were my brother. Every time he came to Corato, to
\nLuisa\u2019s house, it was I who accompanied him to various places, to see the
\narchpriest or the Bishop in Trani, and I showed him the sights of Corato many
\ntimes. He was a cheerful, jocular person, and when he celebrated Holy Mass he
\nseemed an angel. I knew Fr. Cento from the days of my youth and on various
\noccasions we had a meal together at Luisa\u2019s house with Angelina. Cardinal Cento
\nwould spend a long time talking to Luisa, and he once said to me \u2018Luisa always
\ntells me that they will <\/em>\u2018dye me red<\/em>\u2019 (make me a Cardinal),
\nbut<\/em>“, and he said this jokingly, “\u2018I shall try not to have myself rigged
\nout in fancy dress!\u2019<\/em>. One day I saw Fr. Cento with a dark look on his
\nface, and it was the only time that he did not joke and had very little to say.
\nIt was when Luisa was condemned. Despite the censure of the Holy Office, Fr.
\nCento did not interrupt his visits to Luisa and he answered my question as to
\nwhat had led to this disaster with these dry words: \u2018Rosaria, please don\u2019t talk
\nabout all this, because it is we who are the most hurt by it\u2019. And after a long
\nsilence, he added: “These are tremendous trials that the Lord is sending
\nus<\/em>\u2019”.<\/em><\/p>\n

As is common knowledge, Fr. Cento was an outstanding figure
\nin the Roman Curia.<\/p>\n

Aunt Rosaria kept in touch with Cardinal Cento by letter, and
\nit seems that he used all his influence when it was a question of translating
\nLuisa\u2019s body from the cemetery to the Church of Santa Maria Greca.<\/p>\n

At this point I must confess that I am seriously remiss: I was
\nunable to save the letters that Cardinal Cento sent to my aunt.<\/strong> Indeed,
\nat the pious death of Aunt Rosaria, my nephew and niece, in emptying the house,
\nthrew away all the material which, in their eyes had no importance, including
\nCardinal Cento\u2019s letters.<\/p>\n

This was a great loss. Such a source would have given great
\nvalue to what I have explained above, and in addition, we would have known what
\nCardinal Cento thought of Luisa Piccarreta. The cardinal\u2019s family archives
\nshould be researched, in order to recover this valuable material.<\/p>\n

The bishop healed<\/em><\/p>\n

It was during the year 1917. The new Archbishop of Trani,
\nArchbishop Regime, perhaps influenced by that part of the clergy, who not only
\nattached no importance to all that was happening to Luisa Piccarreta but openly
\nmanifested their hostility to the Servant of God, had established a very severe
\ndecree with regard to Luisa: priests were prohibited from entering her house and
\nfrom celebrating Holy Mass there, a privilege which had been granted to Luisa by
\nPope Leo XIII and confirmed by Pope Pius X i<\/strong>n 1907.<\/p>\n

This measure was to be read out in all the churches of the
\ndiocese.<\/p>\n

This is what happened.<\/p>\n

While he was signing his “famous decree”, he was suddenly
\nafflicted by partial paralysis. When the priests present at that moment came to
\nhis help, he made them understand that he wanted to be taken to Luisa\u2019s
\nhouse.<\/p>\n

Aunt Rosaria described this unusual episode in this way:
\n<\/em>“It was about eleven o\u2019clock when we heard the sound of a carriage that
\nstopped right outside the porch of Luisa\u2019s house. I looked out from the balcony
\nto see who it was and saw three priests, one of them, as it were, supported by
\nthe other two. Luisa said to me: \u2018Open the door, the bishop is coming\u2019<\/em>.
\nIn fact, Archbishop Regime was at the door, supported by two other
\npriests<\/em>“, probably the vicar and chancellor of the Curia of Trani,
\n“the bishop was uttering incomprehensible words. He was immediately ushered
\ninto Luisa\u2019s room. It was his first visit to the home of the Servant of God,
\nwho, as soon as she saw him, said: “Bless me, Your Excellency<\/em>“. The
\nbishop raised his hand as though nothing had happened and blessed her. He was
\ncompletely cured!<\/em><\/p>\n

Archbishop Regime remained in Luisa\u2019s room in a secret
\nconversation for about two hours, and to the wonder of all, especially the
\npriests, he emerged from her room smiling. He blessed those present and
\nleft”.<\/p>\n

An effort was made to keep the case secret, and so it remained
\nto the wider public. As long as he was in Trani, Archbishop Regime regularly
\nvisited Luisa Piccarreta, with whom he would have spiritual conversations. This
\nepisode inspired a sacred fear in the clergy and Luisa\u2019s holy confessor, Gennaro
\ndi Gennaro, was able to continue his ministry more peacefully. After this event,
\nAnnibale Maria di Francia also visited the Servant of God more often.<\/p>\n

CHAPTER SEVEN<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Luisa and the children of Corato<\/em><\/p>\n

In Corato it was said among the elderly women, also during
\nmy childhood, that whenever Luisa went out, at night and in a closed carriage so
\nas not to be seen, the children of Corato, would scamper in front of her
\ncarriage shouting: “Here comes Luisa the Saint!”<\/em>. Luisa only went out
\nwhen it was dark as the ecclesiastical authority had prescribed, to avoid crowds
\ngathering and scenes of fanaticism. At least once a year \u2013 usually in the summer
\n\u2013 Luisa was taken to another house, so that the spring-cleaning could be done:
\nthe rooms whitewashed, and the straw or wool in the mattresses changed, washed
\nand softened.<\/p>\n

Many well-off families of Corato vied with one another to offer
\nLuisa hospitality on these occasions. These included the Capano, Cimadomo,
\nPadroni Griffi, Azzariti families and others who would send their own carriage
\nto fetch Luisa. During this secret transportation, it would happen that the
\nchildren of Corato, as though suddenly inspired, would gather together and shout
\nout along the way the news that Luisa was passing, saying: “Come out
\neveryone, Luisa the Saint is passing!<\/em>“, and everyone would come to the doors
\nof their houses with lighted lamps.<\/p>\n

One day I discovered that my father had frequently taken part
\nin these nocturnal gatherings with the other village children when Luisa was
\npassing. As an adult and a Capuchin student, I asked my father: “Did anyone
\nwarn you she would be passing?<\/em>“. He answered me: “No, we sensed
\nsomething and understood that the carriage with Luisa in it would be passing
\nby<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

The soldier who never was<\/em><\/p>\n

Due to a variety of events in the past and financial
\ncalamities, our family, from being well to do, had been reduced almost to
\ndire poverty. Because of the various misfortunes which befell the family (the
\ndeath of my aunt\u2019s two sisters, the partial paralysis of her father, the
\nemigration of her elder brother who had gone to Argentina to seek his fortune)
\nthe whole property was sold or mortgaged.<\/p>\n

The very young brother, Francesco, was the only one left to
\nadminister the patrimony which consisted of a wood-burning baker\u2019s oven,
\nsufficient to relieve the family\u2019s plight.<\/p>\n

In the meantime the First World War had broken out and
\nFrancesco was called up.<\/p>\n

My aunt\u2019s mother begged her daughter to speak to Luisa, because
\nonly she could find a remedy for their situation. But Aunt Rosaria turned a deaf
\near to her until one day her mother, using strong words, said to her: “If you
\ndon\u2019t speak to Luisa, as from tomorrow I won\u2019t visit her any more and you will
\nhave to stay at home to do the housework<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

As soon as Aunt Rosaria, a scowl on her face, arrived at
\nLuisa\u2019s, Luisa called her and said: “\u2018Why don\u2019t you tell me
\nanything?<\/em>\u2019. I have known it all for ages. Tell your mother that Francesco
\nwill not leave<\/em>“. And so it came to pass….<\/p>\n

The day on which my father had to present himself for
\nrecruitment, without causing any pain his neck swelled up enormously, so that he
\nwas considered unfit for service. On the journey home, the swelling disappeared.
\nThis same phenomenon happened for three consecutive years until he was
\nrejected.<\/p>\n

This was confirmed to me by my father, who said in the Corato
\ndialect: “Ched femn ma fatt vdai aus nov<\/em>” (that woman has made me see new
\nthings), and with words and gestures, he explained to me what had happened.<\/p>\n

Indeed, by running the bakery, my father managed to repair at
\nleast part of the damage to the family\u2019s financial situation.<\/p>\n

The baby boy brought back to life<\/em><\/p>\n

I was told of this incredible event by Miss Benedetta Mangione,
\na very old lady, the same age as Aunt Rosaria, who was also part of the group of
\ngirls who went to Luisa to learn to make lace.<\/p>\n

This is her tale. “One morning in about 1920-21, while I was
\nat Luisa\u2019s house, after taking part in Holy Mass celebrated by her confessor,
\nGennaro di Gennaro, a deeply distressed young woman burst into the room of the
\nServant of God with cries of despair, and placed her dead baby on Luisa\u2019s lap,
\nwhilst she knelt at her bedside, weeping desperate tears. Everyone was amazed
\nand Rosaria tried to get the woman to her feet. From her way of speaking, I
\nrealized that she was one of her relatives. Luisa was not upset by the scene and
\nbegan to caress the child that lay on her knees; she said to the mother:
\n<\/em>\u2018What are you thinking of, Serafina? Take Luigi and give him some milk,
\nhe is hungry<\/em>\u2019 , and thereupon she put him in her arms<\/em>“.<\/em><\/p>\n

Aunt Rosaria then asked her to leave the room and go home. The
\nyoung woman wasted no time in obeying.<\/p>\n

Miss Mangione, like all those in the room, had the feeling that
\nthe infant had been resuscitated. However, knowing that Luisa did not want
\ncertain things to be broadcast, they said nothing to anyone about what had
\nhappened.<\/p>\n

Rosaria closed the curtains round Luisa\u2019s bed and showed
\neveryone out of the room, telling them that Luisa had to give thanks for the
\ncommunion she had just received.<\/p>\n

Nor did her confessor say a word, but left immediately,
\ntogether with the baby boy\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n

A few days after this episode, Aunt Rosaria said to
\nAngelina: “That couple<\/em>“, referring to her brother and sister-in-law,
\n“should stop going to the theater, or they will both end up in
\nprison<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

This is the sequence of events that led to the presumed death
\nof the new baby.<\/p>\n

The young couple, Francesco Bucci and Serafina Garofalo, had a
\npassion for the theater to which they went regularly. A son was born to them,
\nwhom they called Luigi. One evening at the theater in Corato, a Verdi opera was
\nbeing performed, I think it was Rigoletto. <\/em>The temptation was so strong
\nthat the two of them settled their baby in his cradle and went to the theater.
\nOn their return \u2013 it was almost dawn \u2013 they found that the baby, who had
\nturned over in the cradle, had suffocated. Panicking, the father, Francesco,
\nfled from Corato, while the mother, Serafina, overcome with despair, wrapped the
\nbaby in a shawl and carried him to Luisa. In the family this episode was never
\nmentioned. Only once did my mother, Serafina Garofalo, tell the story of a baby
\nboy restored to life but,<\/strong> perhaps feeling guilty, she did not say who was
\ninvolved.<\/p>\n

I can testify that my mother was very close to her first-born
\nson and had such a deep veneration for Luisa the Saint that she often talked
\nabout her. My brother Luigi had the same veneration for Luisa. Indeed, after the
\ncondemnation of 1938, Aunt Rosaria came to our house wanting to burn all the
\nobjects that belonged to Luisa, but my brother, who was eighteen years old and
\non the point of leaving for military service, opposed this with all his might.
\nAnd when he was told that those who disobey the Church go to hell, he answered:
\n“I will go to hell, but her things will not be burned<\/em>” and as a
\nprecaution, he put all the objects belonging to Luisa into a small box and took
\nit away with him.<\/p>\n

Today they are in the care of my sister-in-law, Rita Tarantino,
\nand her children, who guard them jealously.<\/p>\n

Isa Bucci and Luisa Piccarreta<\/em><\/p>\n

My sisters, Luisa, Maria and Gemma, and my brothers Agostino,
\nLuigi and also the youngest member of the family, Giuseppe, known as Peppino,
\nwould go frequently to Luisa\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

They all gave written testimonies on Luisa Piccarreta but,
\nthrough a certain sense of modesty, limited themselves to the essentials. Indeed
\nI know of other events which were recounted in the family.<\/p>\n

My sister Luisa, the oldest, was the one who visited the
\nServant of God most often, not as an apprentice lace-maker but as Aunt Rosaria\u2019s
\nniece. On various occasions she helped Angelina and Aunt Rosaria with the
\ndomestic chores, and had a relationship of great familiarity with Luisa. Indeed
\nit was she who nursed Luisa at night during her last illness. When the doctor
\nhad ascertained that Luisa was dead, it was she who took the initiative of
\nundressing her,<\/strong> redressing her and trying to lay her out on the bed.<\/p>\n

Francesco Bucci and his wife, Serafina Garofalo<\/p>\n

This is what she said when she came home.<\/p>\n

“Luisa\u2019s death created an atmosphere of veneration mingled
\nwith fear. No one dared touch her. Aunt Rosaria and Angelina had been taken out
\nof Luisa\u2019s room crying. I attempted to lay her out on the bed but the task was
\nbeyond me. Either her legs would bend or her mouth would open, as if she wanted
\nto say: <\/em>\u2018let me be<\/em>\u2019. Then I suggested to those present, including
\nher niece Giuseppina, that we change her clothes immediately, before the
\nstiffness set in. This is what we tried to do. Then we took her into the next
\nroom, where a sort of bier had been prepared, all in white. What astonished me
\nmost was that in carrying Luisa I had the impression that she was as light as a
\nfeather. Hence I understood how it was that very often when Aunt Rosaria was
\nmaking her bed, she would carry her with extreme ease to her wheel-chair. A sort
\nof bib was placed on Luisa\u2019s breast, with the letters FIAT and the cross of the
\nDominican Tertiaries<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

The nightdress that was taken off Luisa was folded by my sister
\nand given to Aunt Rosaria who said to her: “Take it home<\/em>“. This
\nnightdress is now in the possession of my sister Gemma.<\/p>\n

The cross of the Dominican Tertiaries that Luisa was wearing on
\nher deathbed, removed from her body on the day of her burial, was constantly
\nworn by Aunt Rosaria. Today it is in my possession and jealously guarded.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The cross of the Dominican Tertiaries which belonged to Luisa Piccarreta and is now in Fr. Bernardino\u2019s possession<\/p>\n

Gemma Bucci and Luisa Piccarreta<\/em><\/p>\n

As children, we all visited Luisa\u2019s house, especially my
\nsisters who would also go there to learn the rudiments of lace-making. My sister
\nGemma was very close to me in age, and willingly went to Luisa Piccarreta\u2019s
\nhouse with Aunt Rosaria, almost every day. Gemma was a little whisp of a girl.
\nAunt Rosaria and Luisa were very fond of her. In fact, Gemma\u2019s name had been
\ngiven to her by Luisa herself. She suggested to my parents that they call me
\nGiuseppe and have my sister\u2019s name changed from Giuseppina to Gemma. This was
\ndone: I was given the name of Jesus\u2019 earthly father; and my sister, from the age
\nof two, was always called by the name of Gemma, although it proved impossible to
\nchange her name at the records office, because of the bureaucratic complications
\ninvolved.<\/p>\n

Gemma would come and go very confidently from Luisa\u2019s room.
\nLuisa liked her vivacity and gave her the task of picking up the pins that fell
\non the floor.<\/strong> Once, little Gemma hid under Luisa\u2019s bed, perhaps to give
\nAunt Rosaria a surprise, and unwittingly witnessed a mystical phenomenon. Luisa
\nhad a bedside table on which stood a glass bell containing a figurine of the
\nChild Jesus.<\/p>\n

At a certain point my sister was aware of something unusual. A
\ngreat silence fell, not even the chatter of the girls working in the next room
\ncould be heard.<\/p>\n

Then Gemma came out from under the bed and saw the Child who
\nhad come to life, whom Luisa had taken in her arms and was covering with kisses.
\nGemma does not remember how long she kept still, contemplating this scene, she
\nonly remembers that, at a certain point, everything returned to normal. Aunt
\nRosaria entered the little room as usual, and Luisa was working at her
\nlace-making as was her custom. My sister never told me of this episode in her
\nchildhood. She jealously stored up the event in her heart. I only came to know
\nof it after the testimony (now in the acts) which she gave at the diocesan cause
\nfor her canonization. I believe that Luisa\u2019s assistance to my sister Gemma has
\nbeen continuous. In this regard, I witnessed a special grace.<\/p>\n

At the birth of her second son, because of the incompetence of
\nthe doctor and his assistants, my sister came close to death. In fact,
\n<\/strong>during the birth her uterus ruptured, causing a terrible hemorrhage. The
\ndoctor left the operating theater and said these chilling words to her
\nrelatives: “We have saved the child, but nothing more can be done for the
\nmother<\/em>“. While the others were bursting into tears, I remembered Luisa\u2019s
\nnightdress. I hastened to Corato and went to my parent\u2019s home. I awoke Aunt
\nRosaria in the middle of the night and told her what had happened; I then asked
\nher for the nightgown which, weeping, she immediately took from the chest. We
\nwent back to the hospital of Bisceglie together. We suggested to a nurse that
\nthe nightgown be placed under Gemma\u2019s head, and this was immediately done. The
\ndoctor in charge had already left. Immediately afterwards we saw his assistant
\nwho said: “If you give me permission, I will operate on her immediately<\/em>“.
\nPermission was given, although Gemma\u2019s husband had said: “If she is
\nunconscious, operate; otherwise it is pointless making her suffer any
\nmore<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

A friend of my brother-in-law, a nurse at the psychiatric
\nhospital of Bisceglie, arrived and donated the six liters of blood necessary for
\nthe transfusion. The operation was successful and Gemma recovered. Aunt Rosaria
\nwas convinced that Luisa had intervened.<\/p>\n

This is Gemma\u2019s account. “While the doctor was operating on
\nme, I saw Luisa at the foot of my bed with the baby in her arms. She said:
\n<\/em>\u2018He is destined for heaven; you, instead, will live a long life<\/em>\u2019.
\nAnd I was aware, I don\u2019t know how, that my head was resting upon Luisa\u2019s
\nnightdress<\/em>“. The next day the baby sickened mysteriously with acute
\nbronchitis. I baptized him, and immediately afterwards the newborn child died.
\nThis episode was considered a true and proper miracle by the whole family.
\nUnfortunately, there was no thought at that time of the cause of canonization,
\nso no one had the idea of gathering the testimonies of the surgeon and the
\nnurses, who were also convinced that my sister recovered only by a miracle,
\nsince hers was a unique and inexplicable clinical case.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Archbishop Giuseppe Bianchi Dottula of Trani, who was the first
\nto take an interest in the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Federico Abresch, a Franciscan Tertiary. Complying with wishes
\nof Padre Pio of Pietrelcina,<\/strong> he was the first apostle of the Divine Will
\nin S. Giovanni Rotondo and did much to spread Luisa Piccarreta\u2019s writings<\/p>\n

CHAPTER EIGHT<\/strong><\/p>\n

A healing<\/em><\/p>\n

A lady, one of our neighbors, told of an event which
\noccurred in 1935.<\/p>\n

A relative of hers, her sister-in-law, was dying from a tumor
\non her head.<\/p>\n

Only one daughter, Nunzia, was left at home, because her father
\nand two brothers had been called up for the conquest of Ethiopia.<\/p>\n

This family possessed a great many hectares of land.<\/p>\n

The girl turned to Aunt Rosaria to have a talk with Luisa, with
\na secret hope of a cure in her heart.<\/p>\n

Aunt Rosaria, moved by the girl\u2019s entreaty, promised to help
\nher and spoke of the event to Luisa, who said: “She must not come to see me
\nbecause I am not capable of working miracles; but if she does not come, I will
\npray the Lord for her all the same. In the meantime, give her this message. At
\nSanta Maria Greca they have the <\/em>Quarantore (forty hours of devotion). She
\nshould go there and pray to the Lord and she will be able to ask him for all the
\ngraces she needs, but tell her to do so with deep faith<\/em>“.<\/em><\/p>\n

The girl was disappointed to receive this message. She
\nwould have liked to meet Luisa and discuss her problems with her.<\/p>\n

Aunt Rosaria noticed how the girl felt and said to her: “Do
\nas Luisa said!<\/em>“. I<\/strong>ndeed, Aunt Rosaria knew Luisa well and could
\ninterpret her words.<\/p>\n

The girl went to church, knelt before the Holy Sacrament and
\nunburdened herself of all her sorrow.<\/p>\n

About two hours later, on returning home, she noticed a deep
\nsilence. A relative of hers,<\/strong> whom she had left to care for her mother in
\nher absence, had departed.<\/p>\n

Entering the bedroom, Nunzia was devastated by the scene: her
\nmother was lying in a pool of blood; the bed was soaked in it.<\/p>\n

At this sight, the poor girl uttered a cry of pain, believing
\nher mother to be dead; but something incredible occurred. She awoke as though
\nfrom a long coma, asking her daughter with surprise why she had cried out in
\nthat way.<\/p>\n

The tumor had liquefied, draining from her swollen head through
\nher nose and spreading all over the bed.<\/p>\n

She was completely cured.<\/p>\n

A few days later, Nunzia went with her mother to thank Luisa;
\nbut the Servant of God did not receive them, because she made it clear that she
\nknew nothing about this grace nor would she have anything to do with it, saying:
\n“Let them go and thank the Lord for the grace received<\/em>“.1<\/sup><\/p>\n

The horses\u2019 whim<\/em><\/p>\n

In 1970, when I was curate of the Immacolata Parish in
\nBarletta and the local and regional assistant of Franciscan Youth, while I was
\ntaking off my sacred vestments after the 10 o\u2019clock celebration of Holy Mass for
\nthe young people on Sunday morning, Mrs. Livia D\u2019Adduzzio came into the
\nsacristy. Having heard me speak of Luisa Piccarreta in the homily, she told me
\nshe was from Corato and had known Luisa in her youth.<\/p>\n

I paid great attention to the words of Mrs. D\u2019Aduzzio, a
\nFranciscan Tertiary who took part regularly in parish activities.<\/p>\n

This lady was the wife of Savino D\u2019Adduzzio, a great benefactor
\nof the friary; it was he who funded the graffitti done by Fr. Ugolino da Belluno
\nto decorate the sanctuary.<\/p>\n

The D\u2019Adduzzio family was very rich and owned a lot of land,
\nbut the couple Savino and Livia had had no children.<\/p>\n

I made an appointment with Mrs. D\u2019Adduzzio to record her
\nmemories of the Servant of God. The next day, at 9 o\u2019clock in the morning, I
\nwent to her house, located in a road crossing Via Milano, about 500 meters from
\nthe parish church.<\/p>\n

Mrs. D\u2019Adduzzio was well informed of Luisa\u2019s life and the
\nphenomena concerning her, about some of which I knew nothing at all. She also
\ntold me that she had known Aunt Rosaria and Angelina, Luisa\u2019s sister, very well
\nand had also been at the funeral of the Servant of God.<\/p>\n

Among the many things she enthusiastically recounted, she drew
\nmy attention to the phenomenon of the horses, unknown to me. I had her repeat
\nthe episode several times and took notes.<\/p>\n

Here is her testimony: “In 1915 I was ten years old and was
\nwith my mother in Santa Maria Greca, where the Holy <\/em>\u2018Forty hours<\/em>\u2019
\nwas being solemnly celebrated. While we were listening to the priest\u2019s
\nEucharistic reflection, we heard a noise outside the church, a man\u2019s voice
\ncrying <\/em>\u2018gee up, gee up<\/em>\u2019, and the cracking of a whip.<\/em><\/p>\n

Overcome by curiosity, all the children immediately rushed out
\nof the church, followed by the priest and some of the faithful. We saw two
\nhorses kneeling before the church, harnessed to a closed carriage.<\/p>\n

The priest immediately understood what was going on and,<\/strong>
\nkneeling, said:<\/p>\n

\u2018It is Luisa the Saint who is adoring Jesus in the
\nEucharist<\/em>\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n

We all knelt down in deep silence and, I\u2019m not sure how much
\nlater it was, the priest opened the door of the carriage; he said a few words to
\nLuisa; then the horses suddenly stood up and trotted off.<\/p>\n

We all went back into the church, and continued to listen to
\nthe priest\u2019s meditation”.<\/p>\n

After the story, I asked her several questions. “Are you sure
\nthat it really was Luisa in that carriage? I know that Luisa never went
\nout”.<\/p>\n

“That\u2019s true<\/em>“, <\/em>she replied, “her outings were
\nvery rare and at night, and only for reasons of hygiene, so that the straw or
\nwool mattresses could be cleansed of parasites, especially fleas and lice,
\ncommon in a farming environment<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

“How can you say that the horses were kneeling to give Luisa
\nthe opportunity to adore Jesus in the Eucharist?”.<\/p>\n

“I can only say that everyone believed it was a miracle and
\nthe phenomenon was the topic of discussion in all Corato. Of course, there were
\nmany who didn\u2019t believe it, especially the priests, who lectured people saying
\nthat Luisa had nothing to do with it, that it was only a whim of the horses
\nwhich had happened by chance to stop in front of the Church of Santa Maria
\nGreca; they denied that Luisa had been in the carriage<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

I asked her a last question: “Are you sure that Luisa was in
\nthat carriage?”. “Absolutely certain<\/em>“, she answered. “I saw Luisa in
\nthe carriage when the priest opened the door and spoke to her. I think
\nthat the priest was Fr. Gennaro di Gennaro<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

“But wasn\u2019t he Luisa\u2019s confessor, delegated by the bishop?”, I
\ncontinued.<\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t know about that, I can only say that he was a very
\nholy priest, esteemed by all Corato, who had received a grace from
\nLuisa<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

The conversation with Mrs. D\u2019Adduzzio ended with these
\nwords.<\/p>\n

The “upper room” of Via Panseri<\/p>\n

In 1943-44, my family had a bakery with a wood-burning oven
\nwhich was very profitable.<\/p>\n

Next door to the bakery lived Aunt Nunzia, my mother\u2019s sister,
\nwho having been left a widow, had married a man, also widowed, whom she called,
\nzi\u2019 Ciccil, <\/em>a farmer by trade.<\/p>\n

Opposite Aunt Nunzia\u2019s house lived a very poor family with
\nnumerous children; their heritage consisted of a single cow. They lived by
\nselling the milk and by other expedients, such as petty theft and the like.<\/p>\n

The mother was called Maria, and was known to all as Marietta
\nthe Cow Woman.<\/p>\n

However, there was something special about this family: the
\ninhabitants of the street would gather at its home around a great fire and a
\nblind old man was invited who would sing of the typical episodes of the town\u2019s
\nevents, old and new, accompanying his songs with his mandolin. They enchanted
\neveryone: what a pity that we did not have the means of recording him then, so
\nas to have been able to collect all his ballads!<\/p>\n

He sang, recounting on request events that had really
\nhappened.<\/p>\n

He was a rhapsodist, a miniature Homer. His lovely tales ranged
\nfrom the religious to the tragic, from the exemplary to the heroic, such as the
\nstory of the mother who had herself killed to save her son when he was pursued
\nby the Garibaldini.<\/p>\n

I, a boy of nine or ten, used to like visiting this “upper
\nroom” in Aunt Nunzia\u2019s company. I remember that I sat on the knee of Marietta\u2019s
\neldest son, who was called Pasquale.<\/p>\n

One bitterly cold evening the blind man sang of the deeds of
\nLuisa the Saint.<\/p>\n

He described her as a great heroine, suspended between heaven
\nand earth, between angels and saints. Two episodes impressed me in particular:
\nJesus who spoke while he carried the cross upon his shoulders, and the episode
\nof Torre Disperata, where the Baby Jesus played and ran in the cornfields,
\nholding the Piccirella <\/em>(little Luisa) by the hand.<\/p>\n

When I spoke of these things at home, my mother forbade me to
\nvisit that family and even scolded Aunt Nunzia.<\/p>\n

When Aunt Rosaria heard things of this kind about Luisa, she
\nwould be deeply distressed and would beg my father to summon the blind old
\nsinger so that he might remove Luisa the Saint from his repertoire.<\/p>\n

To my aunt, all this was a profanation.<\/p>\n

When I grew up, I thought again and again of the blind old man:
\nif only we had been able to record all his ballads about Luisa, perhaps we would
\nhave had an entire poem on the Servant of God. One thing is certain, Luisa had
\nmade such a deep impression on Corato as to be considered a heroine of
\nholiness.<\/p>\n

The horse cured<\/em><\/p>\n

In Corato, especially on winter evenings, several families
\nmight meet around the hearth in one of the houses, and it was lovely to listen
\nto the old people\u2019s stories.<\/p>\n

Among the ancient and recent events involving the townspeople
\nthat were told, there were many whose subject was Luisa.<\/p>\n

It was precisely at one of these popular gatherings that the
\nepisode of the horse was heard. A hoary old man who was almost a hundred
\nrecounted the episode of the horse in vivid words with evocative gestures, using
\nthe Corato dialect, which was still pure at that time.<\/p>\n

Here is his tale.<\/p>\n

“When I was little, I lived in Via delle Murge, close to the
\nhouse of Luisa the Saint.<\/strong> I was a young man<\/em>“ \u2013 <\/em>in the
\nvernacular \u2018carusiddu\u2019 \u2013 <\/em>“when a misfortune befell her poor family.
\nOne morning their horse was found dying on floor in its stall. The veterinarian
\nwas called and advised Luisa\u2019s father to sell the animal to the butcher
\nimmediately to make something out of it, since the poor beast had not long to
\nlive.<\/em><\/p>\n

This news caused the whole Piccarreta family great
\nanxiety, because the horse was a necessary means for their survival.<\/p>\n

The Piccarreta family was not rich; its only income was the
\nfruit of the father\u2019s work. Nicola, on hearing this news said with deep sorrow:<\/p>\n

\u2018And now how are we going to survive? Who will feed these five
\nwomen?<\/em>” \u2013 referring to the daughters.<\/p>\n

“The whole family and the neighborhood were in the
\nstable, except for Luisa, who was four years old at the time and very fond of
\nthe horse. Luisa\u2019s mother did not let her enter the stable, for fear she would
\nbe upset.<\/em><\/p>\n

The entire family lived in an apartment in the building
\nbelonging to the landowner who employed her father and for whom he worked on the
\nfarm of Torre Disperata.<\/p>\n

But the little girl<\/em>“, <\/em>in the local dialect
\n\u2018Mnen\u2019, “made such a fuss that she was allowed into the stable.<\/em><\/p>\n

I personally witnessed this scene.<\/p>\n

Luisa approached the horse, stroked its head, spoke its name
\nand said:<\/em> \u2018Don\u2019t die, because I love you<\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n

Whereupon the horse stood up. <\/em><\/p>\n

The vet noted that the horse\u2019s fever had disappeared, and that
\nthe horse had recovered and was as \u2018fit as a fiddle\u2019<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

Her Mother Rosa took her daughter in her arms, said: \u2018my
\ndarling daughter\u2019, and took her away.<\/em><\/p>\n

We were all overwhelmed by this event, and for some time in the
\nneighborhood of the Via delle Murge there was nothing but talk of the healing of
\nthe horse. One old woman said:<\/p>\n

\u2018God has laid his hand upon that little
\ngirl, and all Corata will be spell-bound by the things that will
\nhappen<\/em>\u2019”.<\/em><\/p>\n

So ended the tale of the old man who was almost a hundred
\nyears old.<\/p>\n

The soldier who became engaged<\/em><\/p>\n

A very elderly lady called Maria Doria, someone I knew, told
\nhow her mother who was Luisa\u2019s age used to go in summer to the district of
\nTorre Disperata,<\/em> to a farm near the one where the Piccarreta family
\nlived.<\/p>\n

This lady was perfectly informed of the phenomena concerning
\nLuisa when she was a little girl, and knew of episodes full of details that her
\nmother had told her.<\/p>\n

Her mother, as a child, would talk to and play with Luisa and
\nher sisters who were close friends.<\/p>\n

Many people often noticed that Luisa was playing with an
\nunknown boy.<\/p>\n

At first, they thought he came from one of the homesteads
\nnearby.<\/p>\n

What was unusual was that he only played with and spoke to
\nLuisa, and at a certain point would leave.<\/p>\n

The sisters and friends asked her who he was.<\/p>\n

Smiling, Luisa would refuse to reply. Once she said
\n“yes<\/em>“, in response to the mischievous question: “Is he your boy
\nfriend?”.<\/p>\n

In time, they came to understand that that they were dealing
\nwith a supernatural phenomenon: it really was the Child Jesus who was
\nmanifesting himself as a teenager. This happened every time that Luisa was
\nassaulted by diabolical forces.<\/p>\n

The apparition was a consolation for what she had suffered.
\nOnce she found herself trapped like a spring between the iron bars of her bed,
\nand the locksmith had to be called to set her free.<\/p>\n

The wonder was that her body remained unharmed.<\/p>\n

Another time, she was found hanging from the ceiling of the
\nroom, on the hook on which a ham or a string of onions was usually strung.<\/p>\n

Luisa was generally liberated from these phenomena by prayers
\nto the Most Holy Virgin, and would seek refuge in the hollow of the great trunk
\nof a mulberry tree which still stands in the same place today.<\/p>\n

On another occasion, a great flame was seen to flare up from a
\nlittle hill not far from the farm. Since Luisa liked to play on that hill, her
\nmother and father hastened there immediately to put out the fire. It turned out
\nto be unnecessary: Luisa was quietly sitting on a rocky peak, gazing into the
\nsky without a trace of fire around her.<\/p>\n

Luisa would often contemplate the fierce midday sun, without
\nsuffering any damage to her eyes. Aunt Rosaria confided to me that this
\nphenomenon continued until her death. In fact, we can glean from her writings
\nthat the sun was a privileged heavenly body for Luisa. She associated it with
\nthe Blessed Trinity.<\/p>\n

Years had passed, Luisa was already renowned throughout Corato,
\nand it was in the midst of the World War. The soldier brother of Mrs. Maria
\nDoria announced in a letter from Sicily that he had become engaged to a girl of
\nthat island.<\/p>\n

His mother was deeply distressed, because her son was already
\nengaged to a “good match”, a rich girl of Corato. This engagement had been
\narranged by the parents, as was normal at the time. The mother wept and
\nexclaimed, “my poor son, he has been bewitched, the Mafia has entered our
\nhome!<\/em>“. In those times the bandit Giuliani was on the rampage.<\/p>\n

One day she told her eldest daughter to go to Luisa\u2019s house and
\ntell her that she was the daughter of her childhood friend, and listen carefully
\nto what Luisa might say.<\/p>\n

The girl went to Luisa\u2019s house in via Maddalena; she brought
\ngreetings from her mother, much appreciated by Luisa, and the conversation
\nturned to the period when they had been at the Torre Disperata<\/em> farm.
\nLuisa added: “So many prayers and mortifications in that place!<\/em>” Thanking
\nthe girl for her visit, Luisa told the girl to tell her mother to pray a lot, as
\nthey had done when they were on the farm, and to do all the devotional exercises
\nwhich were never to be forgotten, so that God\u2019s Will might be done.<\/p>\n

Then looking at her, she asked point-blank: “But why are you
\nsad?<\/em>“. And the daughter told her the story of her brother and her mother\u2019s
\nworries.<\/p>\n

Luisa told her: “How can she tell that this girl is worse
\nthan the previous one? Let her pray to the Lord and her heart will be
\nconsoled.<\/em>“<\/p>\n

The girl took Luisa\u2019s answer home to her mother who exclaimed:
\n“My son is saved!<\/em>“. Indeed, she discovered out that the Sicilian girl
\ncame from a good family and was most devout: she even had two uncles who were
\npriests.<\/p>\n

The young man was therefore married on the island, brought up
\nan excellent family and thus made his mother happy.<\/p>\n

CHAPTER NINE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Luisa, the terror of demonic forces<\/em><\/p>\n

Reading Luisa\u2019s biography, it is easy to see that in the early
\ndays she had to face tremendous struggles against demonic forces which did not
\neven spare her body. At a certain point \u2013 in her writings \u2013 one reads these
\nwords: “I have touched you, I have not made you immaculate because I am not
\nto become incarnate again, but I have removed from you the incitement to
\nsin<\/em>“. It was the Lord Jesus who was speaking. It is easy for those who
\nbelieve to see the impact of these words which appear theologically incredible.
\nSome might well cry scandal and dismiss it all as heresy. I do not wish to join
\nthe discussion; the Church tribunals will have all the time they need to examine
\nand judge the case. One thing is sure: at a certain point in her life, Luisa
\nacquired an inner peace, a serene calm which emanated from her and impressed
\nthose who were fortunate enough to meet and talk to her. Anything could happen
\naround her and she remained unscathed. When she was condemned by the Holy
\nOffice, in 1938, everyone was scared, all the clergy and the faithful were
\nagitated; it seemed as though an earthquake had struck and destroyed a great
\nedifice. But Luisa remained calm and serene, as if the case did not concern her.
\nShe complied with the will of the Church in docility, handed over all her
\nmanuscripts to the official of the Holy Office, quietly and serenely pursued her
\nlife of prayer and continued with her lace-making.<\/p>\n

So it seems that Luisa had been strengthened in grace and
\ntherefore became the terror of the demons that fled from her noisily. Certain
\nepisodes seem to confirm this.<\/p>\n

It is said that when Luisa was passing some spot \u2013 when she was
\nbeing transported in a closed carriage for the annual spring-cleaning \u2013 some
\nhouses shook from the foundations to the roof and cries, the clanking of chains
\nand sounds of people leaving were heard. This happened especially in a building
\nthat was still in the stages of restoration on the market square of Corato.
\nIndeed it was said that appalling things had occurred there, murders, hangings,
\ntorture, etc.<\/p>\n

One lady said that she had gone to live in a house at
\nRotondella in the Province of Matera, where she had been appointed to teach at
\nan elementary school. However, she had felt very ill at ease in that house
\nbecause there was frequently a man in it with a terrible look who would try to
\ngrab her; but the lady defended herself by holding up the rosary she had in her
\nhands; at the sight of it he would flee. The distraught lady left everything and
\nreturned to Corato with her children. No one believed the poor soul and she was
\nthought to be out of her mind, especially by her husband who had Masonic
\nleanings. Completely at a loss as to what she should do, she went to see Luisa,
\nwho listened to her kindly, comforted her, told her not to be frightened because
\nthe devil had no power over her, and urged her to return to her work. The lady
\ntook her advice, but wanted to take a photograph of Luisa with her: she had it
\nframed and put it on her bedside table. One evening, while she was reciting the
\nHoly Rosary with her children, she saw the man again. He approached the bed,
\ntook the picture of Luisa, threw it on the floor and fled shrieking. From that
\nmoment nothing further happened; peace and serenity returned to the house. The
\nphotograph of Luisa which had been violently thrown on the floor was not
\ndamaged, indeed the glass did not even break. This framed photograph is now in
\nthe house of the lady\u2019s daughter-in-law, on her bedside table.<\/p>\n

Another very recent episode was the theft of the furniture.
\nWhile we were at an international convention in Costa Rica, we received the news
\nthat Luisa\u2019s house had been burgled. The thieves had stolen the antique
\nfurniture which had belonged to the parents of the Servant of God. This news
\nupset us. On our return, we made it publicly known that the pieces of furniture
\ncould be dangerous because demons had danced on them when they had had the power
\nto tempt Luisa. And she alone knew how to keep them at bay: the demons could go
\nwild if they were free from the influence of Luisa the Saint. In fact, it is not
\nknown how \u2013 perhaps the demons really had gone wild \u2013 yet wherever those pieces
\nof furniture were put, incredible things happened. A unique case in history: one
\nnight the thieves brought back the furniture, which they left outside the front
\ndoor of Luisa\u2019s house. Any comment would be superfluous.<\/p>\n

Something else happened to me personally. Last year, I was
\ntaking part in an exorcism at a church in San Severo, which was being carried
\nout by Fr. Cipriano, dean of the Italian exorcists. The church was full of
\npeople who thought they were possessed by the devil. I had taken with me a
\npicture of Luisa which I showed to a lady asking her: “Do you know her?<\/em>”
\nThe woman looked at it and said no, but at a certain point she narrowed her eyes
\nand a voice could be heard coming from deep inside her chest saying: “I know her
\n\u2026 I know her\u2026 away with you, away!” and she kicked me to make me go away, trying
\nto tear off my stole. I always carry a picture or relic of Luisa about with
\nme.<\/p>\n

The holy death of Luisa Piccarreta<\/em><\/p>\n

At the news of Luisa\u2019s death which occurred on March
\n4,1947, it seemed that the people of Corato paused to live a unique and
\nextraordinary event. Their Luisa, their Saint, was no more. And like a river in
\nfull spate they poured into Luisa\u2019s house to look at her and express their
\naffection to her, for so many years esteemed and beloved by all. On the day of
\nher funeral official mourning was declared in the town. Luisa\u2019s body remained
\nexposed for public veneration (with the permission of the health service\u2019s
\ndoctor) to satisfy the thousands of people of Corato and the surrounding area
\nwho poured into the house day and night. It was necessary to have recourse to
\nthe police to control the flow of people. Everyone was under the impression that
\nLuisa had fallen asleep and was not dead. In fact, her body, laid on the bed,
\ndid not undergo rigor mortis<\/em>. It was possible to raise her hands, move
\nher head in all directions, bend her fingers without forcing them, and raise and
\nbend her arms. Her eyelids could be lifted and one could see her shining eyes,
\nundimmed by death: everyone \u2013 strangers, priests, ecclesiastical and civil
\nfigures \u2013 wanted to see this unique and marvelous case. A great many skeptics
\nleft the mortuary chamber shocked, crying and renewed. Luisa seemed alive, as if
\na placid and serene sleep had stopped her for an instant. Everyone was convinced
\nthat she wasn\u2019t dead, and some said: “Call the bishop and you will see that
\nby making the sign of the cross he will awaken her; isn\u2019t Luisa a daughter of
\nobedience?<\/em>“. This hope expressed the love they all felt for the Servant of
\nGod. But a council of doctors, summoned by the religious, civil and health
\nauthorities, declared after a careful examination that beloved Luisa really was
\ndead. As long as she remained exposed for public veneration, she gave no sign of
\ncorruption nor did her body emanate any odors of putrefaction. Like a queen, she
\nremained sitting on her bed. It proved impossible to lay her out, so that a
\nspecial “p” shaped coffin had to be built for her, the front and sides of glass
\nso that everyone could see her for the last time. Luisa the Saint, who for about
\n70 years had always remained sitting up in bed without ever leaving her room,
\npassed among the immense lines of people, borne on the shoulders of a numerous
\ngroup of sisters of all orders and surrounded by an unspecified number of
\npriests and religious. Her funeral was celebrated by the entire chapter in the
\nmain church, with the participation of all the confraternities of Corato.<\/p>\n

I visited Luisa\u2019s body several times during the four days that
\nshe remained exposed, touching her several times and taking some of the flowers
\nthat were constantly placed upon her feet and legs, which I have guarded
\njealously for many years among my books. Many were given to the sick who were
\nhealed when they touched them and were able to attend her funeral. As the coffin
\npassed, the bed-ridden were carried to the doors of their houses and many, it
\nwas said, received special graces. Luisa was buried in the Calvi family chapel.
\nOn July 3, 1963, her mortal remains were returned to Corato, to rest permanently
\nin the parish Church of Santa Maria Greca.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Luisa in the serenity of sister death<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Luisa on her death-bed. Next to her: her sister Angelina, her
\nfaithful Rosaria and Sisters of the Divine Zeal paying her a visit<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The special coffin, designed with front and side windows<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The coffin carried by the faithful of the Servant of God<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 All the townspeople of Corato bid their last farewell to Luisa “the Saint”.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 The Sisters of the Divine Zeal surround the coffin<\/p>\n

The young man killed and restored to life<\/em><\/p>\n

Before I end these memoirs, I cannot omit to record a most
\noutstanding episode.<\/p>\n

I had always heard tell of a young man who had been killed and
\nwas restored to life by Luisa. I had heard the story told by the old blind
\nsinger in the “upper room” of Via Panseri.<\/p>\n

One day a young man was found dead, lying on the ground in a
\npool of blood. When his mother heard this fatal news, she did not rush to see
\nher son but ran howling and disheveled to Luisa\u2019s house where she knelt on the
\ndoorstep, crying: “Luisa, Luisa, they\u2019ve killed my son!<\/em>“<\/p>\n

The holy little one \u2013 as the singer called Luisa \u2013 was moved
\nand said: “Go and fetch your son, the Lord is giving him back to
\nyou<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

The mother was helped to her feet and accompanied by a few
\ndevout persons to the place where her son lay dead.<\/p>\n

At the sight of him, ignoring the police, the mother flung
\nherself on the body, cradled it in her arms and kissed it desperately like the
\nsorrowful Mary at the foot of the cross.<\/p>\n

But suddenly the young man opened his eyes and said: “Mamm\u00e0,
\nsto ca nan pianger<\/em>” (Mother, I\u2019m here, don\u2019t cry).<\/p>\n

On hearing this story, the whole gathering was in tears,
\nespecially the older women whose sons were serving in the war.<\/p>\n

Sometimes \u2013 though in hushed tones \u2013 I even heard this story
\ntold in my own home. I remember Aunt Rosaria addressing my father with these
\nwords: “Don\u2019t start talking such nonsense, concentrate on eating your
\nfood<\/em>“. My father had in fact been telling the story of the man brought back
\nto life by Luisa the Saint.<\/p>\n

In my parish I once heard Miss Redda, Minister of the
\nFranciscan Third Order, speaking of this miracle to a group of women. When she
\nbecame aware of my presence, she immediately put her hand to her mouth,
\nregretting her imprudence. Indeed, the parish priest, Fr. Cataldo Tota, who was
\npresent said: “Certain things should not be said in public while those
\nconcerned are still alive<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

I never attached much importance to this episode \u2013 always
\nspoken of in hushed tones \u2013 because it seemed incredible to me. Aunt Rosaria
\nnever wanted to discuss the matter. Whenever I asked about it, she would answer:
\n“Leave that nonsense alone!<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

I realized that talking about the event was totally forbidden,
\nboth by Luisa and by the clergy.<\/p>\n

It seemed to me that the story told by the blind old man was
\ntoo fantastic, too embellished and sounded more like a Greek tragedy than an
\nevent which had actually occurred. I never previously wanted to write anything
\nabout it so as not to make a laughing-stock of the Servant of God, Luisa
\nPiccarreta (and I was also convinced that this episode was merely the fruit of
\npopular imagination).<\/p>\n

Later, having read a letter by the Blessed Annibale M. di
\nFrancia, which speaks of the miracle of the resuscitation of a young man who had
\nbeen killed, I thought it appropriate to mention here the phenomenon about which
\nI had heard so much.<\/p>\n

Blessed Annibale confirms, bringing to bear all his authority
\nas a saint, that it was due to Luisa Piccarreta\u2019s prayers that this young man
\nwas restored to life.<\/p>\n

His letter is dated May 5, 1927. A few days later, on June 1,
\n1927, Blessed Annibale died serenely in the town of Messina.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Letter from Saint Annibale Maria di Francia to Luisa Piccarreta, sent a few days before his death, in which he confirms the miracle.<\/p>\n

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR<\/strong><\/p>\n

Father Bernardino Giuseppe Bucci was born in Corato on June 15,
\n1935. His parents were Francesco Bucci and Serafina Garofalo. He was the tenth
\nof twelve children and in 1940, he was taken for the first time by his Aunt
\nRosaria to the home of Luisa Piccarreta who in 1944 prophesied that he would
\nbecome a priest.<\/p>\n

In 1947, he attended the solemn funeral of the Servant of God
\nLuisa Piccarreta and in 1948 he entered the Seraphic Seminary of Barletta.<\/p>\n

In 1951, while he was studying at the Seraphic Seminary of
\nFrancavilla Fontana, he lost his mother, to whom he was very close.<\/p>\n

In 1955, he entered the Novitiate of the Capuchin Friars at
\nAlessano, in the Province of Lecce, and completed his philosophical studies at
\nthe Studentate of Scorrano.<\/p>\n

In 1959, his father died and in 1960 he was transferred to the
\nTheological Studentate of S. Fara. On March 14, 1964, he was ordained a priest
\nby Archbishop Nicodemo of Bari in the Capuchin church of Triggiano.<\/p>\n

He was sent to the International College in Rome to specialize
\nin Missionary Theology. When he returned to his Province, he was appointed
\nSpiritual Director of the Seraphic Seminary at Scorrano.<\/p>\n

In 1968, he was sent to Portugal to learn Portuguese in
\npreparation for his departure as a missionary to Mozambique.<\/p>\n

For political reasons, his departure for the mission was
\npostponed indefinitely. On his return to the Province, he was made vice-parish
\npriest of the Capuchins\u2019 parish at Barletta and was appointed Provincial
\nAssistant to Franciscan Youth.<\/p>\n

He studied for a licentiate and a doctorate at the Ecumenical
\nFaculty of St. Nicholas of Bari; where at the same time he acquired a degree in
\nliterature.<\/p>\n

In 1976, he was promoted to the office of superior-parish
\npriest at the friary of the Friars Minor Capuchin at Trinitapoli in the Province
\nof Foggia. This was where he received the news of the death of his beloved Aunt
\nRosaria (1978), who had spent at least forty years of her life assisting Luisa
\nPiccarreta.<\/p>\n

In 1980, at the request of Archbishop Giuseppe Carata of Trani,
\nwith instructions not to mention Blessed Annibale M. di Francia so as not to
\nhinder the cause for beatification that was under way, he gathered testimonies
\nabout the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta and went to press with 30 thousand
\ncopies of the first short biography of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta,
\ntranslated into various languages, thus contributing to the knowledge of the
\nServant of God.<\/p>\n

In 1988, he was appointed Superior and parish priest of the
\nTriggiano Friary and served at the same time as Provincial Secretary for
\nParishes.<\/p>\n

In 1994, after being elected Provincial Definitor, he returned
\nto Trinitapoli as parish priest. He still lives there as Provincial Definitor,
\nProvincial Secretary of the parishes and Councilor of the National Secretariat
\nfor Parishes.<\/p>\n

As Co-Founder with Sr. Assunta Marigliano of the Association of
\nthe Divine Will, he spent many years as spiritual adviser to the Association
\nwhich was canonically established in Corato on March 4, 1987.<\/p>\n

He is currently a member of the Tribunal for the cause of the
\nbeatification of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarretta, which was opened in the
\nprincipal church of Corato on the Feast of Christ the King, 1994, by Archbishop
\nCarmello Cassati, now emeritus, in his role as Promoter of the Faith.<\/p>\n

PRAYERS<\/strong><\/p>\n

to implore the beatification of the Servant of God<\/strong><\/p>\n

LUISA PICCARRETA<\/strong><\/p>\n

I<\/p>\n

O Most Sacred Heart of my Jesus, who chose your humble Servant
\nLUISA as the herald of the Kingdom of your Divine Will and the angel of
\nreparation for the countless sins that grieve your Divine Heart, I humbly pray
\nyou to grant me the grace that through her intercession I implore of your Mercy,
\nso that she may be glorified on earth as you have rewarded her in Heaven.
\nAmen.<\/p>\n

Pater, Ave, Gloria.<\/p>\n

II<\/p>\n

O Divine Heart of my Jesus who gave to your humble Servant
\nLUISA as a victim of your Love the strength to suffer all her life the spasms of
\nyour painful Passion, grant that for your greatest glory the halo of the
\nblesseds may shine around her head. And through her intercession grant me the
\ngrace that I humbly implore of you\u2026<\/p>\n

Pater, Ave, Gloria.<\/p>\n

III<\/p>\n

O Merciful Heart of my Jesus who, for the salvation and
\nsanctification of so many souls, deigned to preserve for long years on earth
\nyour humble Servant LUISA, your little Daughter of the Divine Will<\/em>, hear
\nmy prayer: that she may be glorified by your holy Church without delay. And
\nthrough her intercession, grant me the grace that I humbly beseech of you…<\/p>\n

Pater, Ave, Gloria.<\/p>\n

Nulla osta:<\/p>\n

Trani, 27 November 1948<\/p>\n

ARCHBISHOP REGINALDO ADDAZI, O.P.<\/p>\n

Prayer on the holy picture (with relic) printed immediately
\nafter Luisa Piccarreta\u2019s death with the authorization of Archbishop Reginaldo
\nAddazi O.P.<\/p>\n

The interest in Luisa is worthy of note both because of the
\nattention that is currently being paid to understanding mystics (and Luisa was
\none, because through her contemplation and acceptance of physical and spiritual
\nsufferings she achieved considerable intimacy with Jesus) and because Luisa was
\nknown and visited by many of our friars (Fr. Fedele from Montescaglioso, Fr.
\nGuglielmo from Barletta, Fr. Salvatore from Corato, Fr. Terenzio from Campi
\nSalentina, Fr. Daniele from Triggiano, Fr. Antonio from Stigliano, Fr. Giuseppe
\nfrom Francavilla Fontana, to name but a few) who were able to communicate to her
\nthe essential elements of Franciscan spirituality, while from her they
\nassimilated her love for Christ and commitment in doing the Divine Will (from
\nthe Introduction<\/em> by Fr. Mariano Bucci).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Father Bernardino Giuseppe Bucci was born in Corato on 15 June 1935.<\/p>\n

In 1955, he entered the Novitiate of the Capuchin Friars at
\nAlessano, in the Province of Lecce and completed his philosophical studies at
\nthe Studentate in Scorrano. On 14 March 1964, in the Capuchin church of
\nTriggiano, he was ordained a priest by Archbishop Nicodemo of Bari.<\/p>\n

He was sent to the International College in Rome to specialize
\nin Missionary Theology. When he returned to his Province, he was appointed
\nSpiritual Director of the Seraphic Seminary of Scorrano. He studied for a
\nlicentiate and a doctorate, taking the course at the Ecumenical Faculty of St.
\nNicholas of Bari; where at the same time, in 1972, he acquired a degree in
\nLiterature.<\/p>\n

As co-founder with Sr. Assunta Marigliano of the Association of
\nthe Divine Will, he spent many years as the spiritual adviser of the Association
\nwhich was canonically erected in Corato on March 4, 1987. He is currently a
\nmember of the Tribunal for the cause for beatification of the Servant of God
\nLuisa Piccarretta, which was opened on the Feast of Christ the King, 1994, in
\nthe main church of Corato by Archbishop Carmello Cassati, now emeritus, in his
\nrole as Promoter of the Faith.<\/p>\n

FOOTNOTES FROM THE “A COLLECTION OF MEMORIES” BIOGRAPHY ABOVE<\/p>\n

[1] The list includes all the bishops of the Archdiocese of Trani
\nduring Luisa Piccarreta\u2019s lifetime, as well as those involved in her cause for
\nbeatification.<\/p>\n

1 This appeal was written by the Servant of God in 1924.<\/p>\n

2 The titles have been added.
\nFor the most part, they are words taken from the prayers and expressing
\ntheir themes.\u00a0 The prayers were found
\namong the personal effects of Rosaria Bucci.
\nThey now belong to my private archives on the Servant of God.<\/p>\n

1 This is one aspect of Luisa Piccarreta which has never been
\nexamined and which would deserve greater attention.: what effect did Luisa have
\non the agricultural environment?<\/p>\n

2\u00a0 Luisa Piccarreta\u2019s mother
\ndied a few months after the meeting with Aunt Rosaria, on 19 March 1907, the
\nFeast of St Joseph; her father died barely a fortnight later.\u00a0 Luisa speaks of this at length in her
\nwritings.<\/p>\n

3 Aunt Nunzia was my mother\u2019s sister, whose husband was a
\nfarmer.<\/p>\n

4 Aunt Rosaria often gave the impression that she was talking to
\nLuisa before answering the questions she was asked.\u00a0 This was recounted by my nephew, Vincenzo,
\nand confirmed by a Mexican lady who had taken part in the International
\nConvention on Luisa Piccarreta in Costarica.
\nThis lady, on a visit to Corato, had had long talks with my aunt.<\/p>\n

5 It is said that
\nwhen Luisa was condemned, the archpriest of Corato, Fr. Clemente Ferrara,
\npreached in the main church that no one could go to Luisa\u2019s house or they would
\nsuffer the penalty of excommunication.
\nThe prohibition was also extended to priests who also preached about her
\nin their churches.\u00a0\u00a0 To the wonder of
\nall, especially of the Cimadomo sisters who never abandoned Luisa, one day a
\nfriar presented himself.\u00a0 <\/strong>He remained for several hours in
\nconversation with Luisa.\u00a0 No one could
\nsay who this Capuchin friar was.\u00a0 Some
\nsaid they recognized him as Padre Pio, who must have gone to comfort
\nLuisa.\u00a0\u00a0 There is no confirmation of this
\nanywhere, and Aunt Rosaria did not want to prompt any discussion of the
\nevent.\u00a0 Nor is it possible to question
\nAngelina or the Cimadomo sisters, dead long since.<\/p>\n

6 I believe that the
\nLord meant that knowledge of Luisa ought not to be limited to her person, but
\nshould be centered on her message.<\/p>\n

1 Various editions
\nof L\u2019orologio della Passione <\/em>were published,<\/em> edited by Fr. Annibale, as can be seen
\nfrom their long prefaces.<\/p>\n

2 That Rosaria Bucci
\nhad become expert at embroidery and lace-making was considered a living
\nmiracle, because she had four fingers missing on her left hand, a circumstance
\nwhich would logically make this work impossible.\u00a0 Everyone was enchanted by the speed and
\nperfection of her work, which was widely sought after.<\/p>\n

1 The episode was
\nrecounted to me by my Aunt Rosaria and confirmed by my parish priest, Fr.
\nCataldo Tota, by Miss Mangione, and by Miss Lina Petrone, who was then a
\nminister of the Dominican Third Order.<\/p>\n

Addressing some of his faithful,
\none day Fr. Cataldo said the following: \u201cOne
\nshould not make fun of saints, or one risks encountering some misfortune.\u00a0 The saints belong to God, they are not
\nmen.\u00a0 Therefore be careful that what
\nhappened to Archbishop Regime, who was in too much of a hurry to add his famous
\nsignature, does not happen to you.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

1 I have collected
\nmany other accounts of healing, but I did not consider it appropriate to
\npublish them because there is no documentation to support the events.\u00a0 Many of the episodes collected, by
\nauthorization of venerable Archbishop Giuseppe Carata were made under oath and
\nsigned, and are now kept in the archives of the cause of beatification of the
\nServant of God Luisa Piccarreta.\u00a0 I
\ndecided to publish the above-mentioned miracle because it seems to me to be the
\nmost authentic, it happened long ago and does not lend itself to ambiguous
\ninterpretations.\u00a0 It should also be said
\nthat this episode did not become part of the official legend, because I heard
\nit confirmed only by my aunt, clearly and concisely.<\/p>\n

2 Fr. Gennaro di
\nGennaro was the confessor who obliged Luisa to put down her daily experiences
\nin writing.\u00a0 He was a priest who lived a
\nvery holy life, he was considered a saint by the people of Corato.\u00a0 He had had a major speech defect which at a
\ncertain point disappeared: Luisa had obtained his cure from the Lord so that
\nher holy confessor could proclaim the Word of God in a dignified manner..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Father Bernardino Giuseppe Bucci Parish Priest Cappuccino Please refer to the Certificate written at Trani, Italy on July 30, 2003 by Msgr. Savino Giannotti, the Vicar General, concerning Fr. Bernardino Giuseppe Bucci   LUISA PICCARRETA A Collection of Memories of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7779,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-483","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7779"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=483"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17477,"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/483\/revisions\/17477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}