{"id":6620,"date":"2012-08-05T11:37:31","date_gmt":"2012-08-05T16:37:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/?page_id=6620"},"modified":"2019-08-04T18:48:10","modified_gmt":"2019-08-04T23:48:10","slug":"transfiguration-transubstantiation-transmutation-in-the-divine-will","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/?page_id=6620","title":{"rendered":"Transfiguration, Transubstantiation, Transmutation in the Divine Will"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

From the Writings of\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span>The Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta
\n<\/em><\/strong>The Little Daughter of the Divine Will<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Transfiguration<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Transfiguration<\/strong> of Christ<\/span><\/a> is the culminating point of His public life, as His Baptism<\/span><\/a> is its starting point, and His Ascension<\/span><\/a> its end. Moreover, this glorious event has been related in detail by St. Matthew<\/span><\/a> (17:1-6), St. Mark<\/span><\/a> (9:1-8), and St. Luke<\/span><\/a> (9:28-36), while St. Peter<\/span><\/a> (II Peter 1:16-18) and St. John<\/span><\/a> (1:14), two of the privileged witnesses, make allusion to it.<\/span><\/p>\n

About a week after His sojourn in C\u00e6sarea Philippi<\/span><\/a>, Jesus<\/span><\/a> took with him Peter<\/span><\/a> and James<\/span><\/a> and John<\/span><\/a> and led them to a high mountain apart, where He was transfigured before their ravished eyes. St. Matthew<\/span><\/a> and St. Mark<\/span><\/a> express this phenomenon by the word metemorphothe<\/em>, which the Vulgate renders transfiguratus est<\/em>. The Synoptics<\/span><\/a> explain the true meaning of the word by adding “his face did shine as the sun: and his garments became white as snow,” according to the Vulgate, or “as light,” according to the Greek text.<\/span><\/p>\n

This dazzling brightness which emanated from His whole Body was produced by an interior shining of His Divinity. False Judaism<\/span><\/a> had rejected the Messias<\/span><\/a>, and now true Judaism<\/span><\/a>, represented by Moses<\/span><\/a> and Elias<\/span><\/a>, the Law<\/span><\/a> and the Prophets<\/span><\/a>, recognized and adored<\/span><\/a> Him, while for the second time God the Father<\/span><\/a> proclaimed Him His only-begotten and well-loved Son<\/span><\/a>. By this glorious manifestation the Divine Master<\/span><\/a>, who had just foretold His Passion<\/span><\/a> to the Apostles<\/span><\/a> (Matthew 16:21), and who spoke with Moses<\/span><\/a> and Elias<\/span><\/a> of the trials which awaited Him at Jerusalem<\/span><\/a>, strengthened the faith<\/span><\/a> of his three friends and prepared them for the terrible struggle of which they were to be witnesses in Gethsemani<\/span><\/a>, by giving them a foretaste of the glory<\/span><\/a> and heavenly delights<\/span><\/a> to which we attain by suffering.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Volume 21 – March 22, 1927<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Searching for Jesus everywhere.\u00a0 How one who lives in the Divine Will, lives in the echo of the voice of Jesus.\u00a0 Effects of the rising of the Sun of the Divine Will within the soul.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Continuing in my usual state, I was following the Divine Will in the creation; and going from one created thing to another, I called my sweet life, dear Jesus, to come to follow the acts of His Will in all created things, together with me.\u00a0 But not seeing Him, I felt the nail of His privation pierce me through, and in my sorrow I said to Him:\u00a0 \u2018My Jesus, I don\u2019t know what to do in order to find You.\u00a0 I have You called by your Justice within the sea, by your Power in its roaring waves \u2013 and You do not listen to me.\u00a0 I have You called by your light in the sun, by the intensity of its heat which symbolizes your love \u2013 and You do not come?\u00a0 I have You called by your immensity, by all of your works in the vastness of the vault of the heavens \u2013 and it seems it is not for You.\u00a0 But, tell me at least:\u00a0 what should I do to find You?\u00a0 If I do not find You, in your own Will – in the midst of your works which are your boundaries, where can I find my Life?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

But while I was pouring out my sorrow, He moved within me, telling me:\u00a0 \u201cHow beautiful is my daughter \u2013 how beautiful it is to see your littleness as though dissolved in my Will, searching for Me in the midst of my works, and not finding Me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And I:\u00a0 \u2018My Jesus, You make me die.\u00a0 Tell me:\u00a0 where do You hide?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

And Jesus:\u00a0 \u201cI hide within you.\u00a0 If you hear the voice of someone, in hearing his voice you can say that he is near you.\u00a0 Now, my Will is the echo of my voice; if you are in It, going around all the works of my Fiat, you are already in the echo of my voice.\u00a0 And since you are in It, I am near you or inside of you, and with my Fiat I give you the gift of letting you go around, up to where my voice reaches, and up to where my Fiat extends.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Surprised, I said:\u00a0 \u2018My love, so your voice becomes very, very long, because there is no point in which your Will is not.\u00a0 And Jesus added:\u00a0 \u201cMy daughter, indeed there cannot be will or voice without the person who emits them.\u00a0 So, just as my Will is everywhere, there is no point which is not reached by my voice which brings my Fiat to all things.\u00a0 Therefore, if you are in my Will, in the midst of Its works, you can be more than certain that your Jesus is with you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After this, I was thinking about the great good that the Divine Will brings to us; and while I was all immersed in It, my sweet Jesus added:\u00a0 \u201cMy daughter, when the sun rises, it dispels the darkness and makes the light arise.\u00a0 It changes the humidity of the night, with which the plants are so invested as to become oppressed, numb and melancholic; but as the sun rises, it turns that humidity into pearls, studding everything \u2013 plants, flowers and all nature.\u00a0 Its silvery halo brings back joy and beauty, taking away the torpor of the night; and with the enchantment of its light, it seems to take all nature by the hand, in order to vivify it, embellish it, and give life to it.\u00a0 The sea, the rivers, the springs, are frightening, but it makes the variety and the vividness of their colors stand out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the same way, as my Will rises, all the human acts are invested with light; they take their place of honor in my Will, and each one receives its special shade of beauty and the vividness of the Divine colors, in such a way that the soul is transfigured and enveloped with an indescribable beauty.\u00a0 As the sun of my Will rises, it puts to flight all the evils of the soul; it takes away the torpor produced by passions; even more, before the light of the Divine Fiat, the very passions lap up that light, and aspire to convert into virtues, to pay homage to my Eternal Will.\u00a0 As It rises, everything is joy.\u00a0 And even the pains, which, like seas at night, are frightening for the creatures – if my Will rises, It puts to flight the night of the human will, and removing every fear, It forms Its golden background in those pains.\u00a0 With Its light, It invests the bitter waters of the pains, and crystallizes then into a sea of sweetness, in such a way as to form an enchanting and admirable horizon.\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

What can my Will not do?\u00a0 It can do everything, and It can give everything.\u00a0 Wherever It rises, It does things worthy of Our creative hands.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Transubstantiation<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Transubstantiation<\/strong> is the belief that at the moment of Consecration<\/span><\/a>, the elements bread and wine are transformed (literally trans-substance-iated) into the actual Body and Blood of Christ. The terms “elements” or “gifts” are preferred, as it is theologically incorrect to refer to the “bread” or “wine” after they have been consecrated, as Catholics believe they are no longer bread and wine.<\/span><\/p>\n

This doctrine holds that the elements are not only spiritually transformed, but are actually (substantially<\/span><\/a>) transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ. The elements retain the appearance or “accidents”<\/span><\/a> of bread and wine, but are indeed the actual Body and Blood of Christ, the actual, physical presence of Jesus<\/span><\/a> in the Eucharist<\/span><\/a>. For this reason, what remains of the sacrament after the Communion procession is reserved in the Tabernacle<\/span><\/a>, where it can be utilized for later Masses, for private devotion and prayer, as well as for public Eucharistic adoration<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Substance<\/span><\/a>” as a philosophical term describes what a given object is, the properties of the object that are essential to “it” being “it.” Without its substance, an object ceases to be what it “is.” Accidents<\/span><\/a> are non-essential properties; even without its accidents (such as color, taste, or shape), an object remains what it “is.” For example, hair is an accident of humans, while being a mammal is substantial. If a human loses its hair, it is still human. If a human stops being a mammal, it is no longer a human, because being a mammal is essential to being human. At Consecration, the substance of the Eucharistic elements change; while the non-essential properties (shape, taste, color) remain the same, the essence of what it “is” changes into Christ’s Body and Blood.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Volume 4 – July 3, 1902<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus speaks about His Eucharistic Life.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Continuing in my usual state, I found myself outside of myself, inside a Church, and since I could not find my adorable Jesus I went to knock at a Tabernacle to have Him open it for me.\u00a0 Since He would not open, made brave, I myself opened it and I found my sole and only Good.\u00a0 Who can say my contentment?\u00a0 I remained as though ecstatic in looking at an unspeakable beauty.\u00a0 On seeing me, Jesus flung Himself into my arms and told me:\u00a0 \u201cMy daughter, each period of my life receives from man distinct and special acts and degrees of imitation, of love, of reparation and other things.\u00a0 But the period of my Eucharistic Life is all life of hiddenness, of transformation and of continuous consummation; so much so, that I can say that after my love reached the excess and was even consumed, in my infinite wisdom I could not find any other external sign to prove my love for man.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 And just as my Incarnation, Life and Passion on the cross receive love, praise, thanksgiving, imitation – my Sacramental Life receives from man an ecstatic love, a love of dissolving oneself in Me, a love of perfect consummation; and as the soul is consumed in my very Sacramental Life, she can say that she performs, before the Divinity, the same offices that I perform continuously before God for love of men.\u00a0 And this consummation will make the soul overflow into eternal life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Volume 11 – August 20, 1913<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

One who lives in the Divine Will must have\u00a0 trust, simplicity and disinterest in giving to all.\u00a0 Her life and her work are ended, because the Divine Will consecrates her and transubstantiates her.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

While I was praying, I saw my always lovable Jesus within me, and many souls around me, who were saying:\u00a0 \u2018Lord, You have placed everything in this soul!\u2019\u00a0 And stretching their hands toward me, they said:\u00a0 \u2018Since Jesus is in you, and all His goods are with Him, take them and give them to us.\u2019\u00a0 I remained confused, and blessed Jesus told me:\u00a0 \u201cMy daughter, all possible goods are contained in my Will, and it is necessary for the soul who lives in It to be in It with trust, operating as owner together with Me.\u00a0 Creatures expect everything from this soul, and if they don\u2019t receive, they feel defrauded.\u00a0 But how can she give if she does not operate together with Me in complete confidence?\u00a0 Therefore, trust in giving; simplicity in communicating herself to all; disinterest for herself, to be able to live completely for Me and for her neighbor are necessary for the soul who lives in my Will.\u00a0 Such am I.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Then He added:\u00a0 \u201cMy daughter, it happens to one who does my Will as to a grafted tree:\u00a0 the power of the graft has the virtue of destroying the life of the tree which receives the graft.\u00a0 Therefore, one can no longer see the fruits and the leaves of the first tree, but those of the graft.\u00a0 And if the first tree said to the graft:\u00a0 \u2018I want to keep at least a little branch, so that I too will be able to give some fruits, in order to make everybody know that I still exist,\u2019 the graft would say:\u00a0 \u2018You have no more reason to exist after you submitted yourself to receive my graft.\u00a0 Life will be all mine.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

In the same way, the soul who does my Will can say:\u00a0 \u2018My life is ended.\u00a0 I will no longer produce my works, my thoughts, my words, but the works, thoughts and words of the One whose Will is my Life.\u2019\u00a0 Therefore, I say to the one who does my Will:\u00a0 \u2018You are my life, my blood, my bones,….\u2019\u00a0 The true, real, sacramental transformation takes place, not by virtue of the words of the Priest, but by virtue of my Will.\u00a0 As soon as the soul decides to live in my Volition, my Will creates Myself within the soul; and as my Will flows in the will, works and steps of the soul, she undergoes as many of my creations.\u00a0 It happens just as to a pyx full of consecrated particles:\u00a0 there are as many Jesuses for as many particles – one for each particle.\u00a0 In the same way, by virtue of my Will, the soul contains Myself in her whole being, as well as in each particle of it.\u00a0 One who does my Will fulfills the true eternal Communion – a Communion with complete fruit.\u201d <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Volume 15 – March 27, 1923<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

After I received Communion, my sweet Jesus made Himself seen, and as soon as I saw Him, I threw myself at His feet, to kiss them and to cling to Him with all of myself.\u00a0 And Jesus, extending His hand to me, told me:\u00a0 \u201cMy daughter, come into my arms, and even inside my Heart.\u00a0 I have covered Myself with the eucharistic veils so as not to strike fear.\u00a0 I have descended into the deepest abyss of humiliations in this Sacrament in order to raise the creature up to Me, identifying her with Me so much as to form one single thing with Me, and, by letting my Sacramental Blood flow inside her veins, constitute Myself life of her heartbeat, of her thought, and of her whole being.\u00a0 My love devoured Me and wanted to devour the creature in my flames, to make her be reborn as another Me.\u00a0 This is why I wanted to hide Myself under these eucharistic veils and, so hidden, enter into her to form this transformation of the creature into Myself<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 But in order for this transformation to take place, the dispositions were needed on the part of creatures; and my love, giving in to excess, in instituting the Sacrament of the Eucharist, released from within my Divinity more graces, gifts, favors and light for the good of man, to render him worthy to receive Me.\u00a0 I could say that it released so much good as to surpass the gifts of Creation.\u00a0 First, I wanted to give him the graces in order for him to receive Me, and then Myself, to give him the true fruit of my Sacramental Life.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, in order to anticipate souls with these gifts, it takes a little emptying of themselves, hate of sin, and desire to receive Me.\u00a0 These gifts do not descend into rot, into mud.\u00a0 Therefore, without my gifts they do not have the true dispositions to receive Me, and in descending into them, I do not find the space to communicate my Life; I am as though dead for them, and they are dead for Me; I burn, and they do not feel my flames; I am light, and they remain more blinded.\u00a0 Alas! how many sorrows in my Sacramental Life.\u00a0 Many, feeling nothing good in receiving Me because of lack of dispositions, reach the point of nauseating Me; and if they continue to receive Me, it is to form my continuous Calvary and their eternal damnation.\u00a0 If it is not love that pushes them to receive Me, it is one more affront that they give Me – one more sin which they add to their souls.\u00a0 Therefore, pray and repair for the many abuses and sacrileges that are committed in receiving Me in the Sacrament.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Volume 23 – October 2, 1927<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My poor mind continued to wander in the Divine Volition, and it marveled at the sublimeness, fullness and totality of the acts done in It; and my beloved Jesus, moving in my interior, added:\u00a0 \u201cMy daughter, let your marvel cease; the living in my Divine Fiat is to operate in It, it is the transfusion of the Creator into the creature, and there is an infinite distance between the divine operating and the operating of the creature alone<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 She lends herself to her God as matter, to let Him operate great things, just as the matter of light lent itself to the Divine Fiat in Creation, to let It form the sun, the heavens, the stars, the sea \u2013 all matters in which the Supreme Fiat resounded, and It manufactured the whole Creation.\u00a0 A prodigy of It is the sun, the heavens, the sea, the earth, which were vivified and animated by the Fiat \u2013 perennial and enchanting display of what my Will knows how to do, and can do.\u00a0 It happens with the soul as with the accidents of the host which, though being matter, lends itself to let itself be animated by my sacramental life, as long as those same words spoken by Me in instituting the Most Holy Sacrament are pronounced by the priest.\u00a0 Those were words animated by my Fiat, which contained the creative power, and this is why the matter of the host undergoes the transubstantiation of the divine life.\u00a0 One can pronounce as many words as one wants over the host, but if they are not those few words established by the Fiat, my life remains in Heaven and the host remains the wretched matter that it is.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 So it happens with the soul:\u00a0 she can do, say, suffer whatever she wants, but if my Divine Fiat does not run inside of them, those are always finite and wretched things.\u00a0 On the other hand, for one who lives in It, her words, her works, her pains, are like veils that hide the Creator, and the One who created heaven and earth makes use of these veils and makes of them works worthy of Himself, placing in them His sanctity, His creative power, His infinite love.\u00a0 Therefore, no one else, though he might do great things, can compare to that creature in whom my Divine Will lives, reigns and dominates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Among creatures also it happens that, according to the material they have in their hands with which to form their works, so does the value which they possess and acquire vary.\u00a0 Suppose that someone has properties of iron:\u00a0 how much he has to work, sweat and toil to render that iron soft, to give it the shape of the container he wants to make; and the earning he makes is so small that he can barely make a living.\u00a0 On the other hand, someone else has properties of gold, of precious stones:\u00a0 this one works \u2013 oh! how much less; but he earns millions.\u00a0 So, it is not the work that brings great earning, exuberant riches, but the value of the material that one possesses.\u00a0 Someone works little and earns much because the material he possesses contains great value; someone else works much, but because the material he possesses is wretched and of very little value, is always the poor ragged one, and his stomach half-empty.\u00a0 So it happens to one who possesses my Divine Will:\u00a0 he possesses the life, the creative virtue, and his littlest acts contain a divine and immeasurable value; therefore no one can equal his riches.\u00a0 On the other hand, one who does not possess my Will as his own life, is without life, and he works with the material of his own will, and therefore he is always the poor ragged one before God, and he is empty of that food which forms in him the Fiat Voluntas Tua on earth as it is in Heaven.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Volume 33 – July 8, 1935<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy daughter, how beautiful is my Mama, her empire\u00a0extends itself everywhere, her beauty\u00a0enraptures and enchains everyone, there is no being that doesn\u2019t fall on its knees\u00a0in order to venerate\u00a0her.\u00a0 My Divine Will made her such for Me, he made her inseparable from Me, in a way that there was no act that I did that the Sovereign Queen\u00a0didn\u2019t do it together with Me.\u00a0 The power of that Divine Fiat pronounced by Me and by Her, that made Me conceived in her Virginal Bosom, giving me life to my Humanity, that Fiat always identical, and every time that I worked, the Divine Fiat of my Mother\u00a0hold the right in my Divine Fiat to do that which I did.\u00a0 Now you should know that when I instituted the Sacrament<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0of the Eucharist<\/em><\/strong>, her Divine Fiat was together with mine, and together we pronounced the Fiat that the bread<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0and wine<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0might be transubstantiated<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0into my Body<\/em><\/strong>, Blood<\/em><\/strong>, soul and Divinity<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 Ah!\u00a0 As in the conception<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0I wanted her Fiat, thus I wanted it in this solemn act that gave beginning<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0to my Sacramental Life<\/em><\/strong>; who would have had the heart to put my Mama aside, in an act in which my love showed off with excesses so exuberant that it gives of the incredible!\u00a0 Rather, not only was she together with Me, (but) I constituted Her Queen of love of my Sacramental Life, and She with (the) love of my true Mother, offered her bosom again to Me, her beautiful soul in order to hold me defended<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0and repaired<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0from the horrendous ingratitudes and enormous sacrileges<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0that I unfortunately would have received in this Sacrament of love.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 My daughter, this is my purpose, I want that my Will be life of the creature, in order to hold her together with me, in order to make her love with my love, work in my works, in short the company\u00a0that I want in my acts, I don\u2019t want to be alone, and if this might not be to what advantage to call the creature in my Will if I should remain as (the) isolated God and she alone, without taking part in our Divine works?\u00a0 And not only in instituting the Most Holy Sacrament, but in all the acts that I did the whole course\u00a0of my Life, in virtue of the unique Volition with which we were animated, that which I did, my Mama did, if I did miracles, she was together with Me to work the prodigy, I felt in the power of my Will the Sovereign Lady\u00a0of Heaven, that together with me, we called to life the corpses, if I suffered she was together with Me to suffer, there was no thing in which I didn\u2019t have the company of Her, and her and my work fused together.\u00a0 This was the greatest honor\u00a0that my Fiat gave Her, the inseparability with her Son, the unity\u00a0with his works.\u00a0 And the Virgin, the greatest glory that attested to Me, so much so that I deposited it and She received the deposit of the completed works, in her Maternal\u00a0heart, jealous\u00a0of guarding even the breath.\u00a0 This unity of Will and of works, ignited such love between the one and the other than it was enough to set afire the whole entire world\u00a0and to consume it with pure love.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Transmutation<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Transmutation<\/strong> is the conversion of one object into another. \u00a0To change from one element inside and outside into a completely different element.\u00a0 It is most commonly used in reference to extremely basic objects, for example turning lead<\/span><\/a> to gold<\/span><\/a> or gold to pure energy<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Volume 1<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The third way in which Jesus speaks to me is when, in speaking, He communicates its very substance to the soul.\u00a0 It seems to me that just as when the Lord created the world, at one word things were created, in the same way, since His word is creative, in the very act in which He pronounces the word, He creates in the soul that very thing which He is saying.\u00a0 As for example, Jesus says to the soul:\u00a0 \u201cSee how beautiful things are, but as much as your eye may flow over the earth and in Heaven, you will never find a beauty similar to Me.\u201d\u00a0 At these words of Jesus, the souls feels a certain something divine enter herself; the soul remains so very drawn toward this beauty, and at the same time she loses attraction for all the other things.\u00a0 As beautiful and precious as they may be, they make no impression on her soul.\u00a0 That which remains fixed within her and almost transmuted into her is the beauty of Jesus: \u00a0of that beauty she thinks, with that beauty she feels invested, and she remains so enamored that if the Lord did not operate another miracle, her heart would crack, and the soul would breathe her last out of pure love for this beauty of Jesus, so as to fly into Heaven and delight in this beauty of Jesus.\u00a0 I myself don\u2019t know whether I am speaking nonsense.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In order to explain myself better about this substantial speaking of Jesus, I will say something else.\u00a0 Jesus says:\u00a0 \u201cSee how pure I am \u2013 in you also I want to find purity in everything.\u201d\u00a0 At these words the soul feels a divine purity enter into her.\u00a0 This purity is transmuted into herself, and she arrives at living as if she no longer had a body – and so with the other virtues.\u00a0 Oh! how desirable is this speaking of Jesus.\u00a0 As for myself, I would give away everything that is on earth – if I could possess it – to have one alone of these words of Jesus alone.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Volume 3 – January 6, 1900<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This morning I received Communion, and as I found myself together with Jesus, the Queen Mama was also there, and \u2013 oh, marvel! \u2013 I looked at the Mother and I could see Her Heart transmuted into Baby Jesus; I looked at the Son and I could see the Mother in the Heart of the Baby.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 In the meantime, I remembered that today is the Epiphany, and in the example of the Holy Magi, I was to offer something to Baby Jesus, but I saw myself as having nothing to give Him.\u00a0 So, in seeing my misery, the thought came to me of offering my body as myrrh, with all the sufferings of the twelve years in which I had been in bed, ready to suffer and to remain there as much longer as He pleased; as gold, the pain I feel when He deprives me of His presence, which is the most painful and sorrowful thing for me; as incense, my poor prayers, united to those of the Queen Mama, so that they might be more pleasing to Baby Jesus.\u00a0 So I made the offering with full confidence that the Baby would accept everything.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Volume 4 – November 25, 1900<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The nature of true love is to transmute pains into joys, and bitternesses into sweetnesses.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Since my most sweet Jesus delayed in coming, I was almost afraid He would not come; but then, to my surprise, all of a sudden He came and told me:\u00a0 \u201cMy beloved, do you want to know when it is that a work is done for one\u2019s beloved?\u00a0 When, encountering sacrifices, bitternesses and pains, it has the virtue of changing them into sweetnesses and delights.\u00a0 In fact, this is the nature of true love:\u00a0 to transmute pains into joys, and bitternesses into sweetnesses.\u00a0 If one experiences the opposite, it is a sign that it is not true love that is acting.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 Oh, in how many works they say:\u00a0 \u2018I do this for God\u2019; but then, at some encounters, they draw back.\u00a0 With this they show that it was not for God, but for their own interest and for the pleasure they felt.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Then He added:\u00a0 \u201cGenerally it is said that one\u2019s own will ruins everything and infects the holiest works.\u00a0 Yet, if it is connected with the Will of God, there is no other virtue that can surpass this one\u2019s own will, because where there is a will there is life in operating good, but where there is no will, there is death in operating, or one operates with difficulty, as though agonizing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Volume 4 – December 25, 1900<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The birth of Jesus. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As I was in my usual state, I felt I was outside of myself; after wandering around, I found myself inside a cave, and I saw the Queen Mama in the act of giving birth to Little Baby Jesus.\u00a0 What a wonderful prodigy!\u00a0 It seemed that both Mother and Son were transmuted into most pure light.\u00a0 But in that light one could see very well the human nature of Jesus containing the Divinity within Itself, and serving as a veil to cover the Divinity; in such a way that, in tearing the veil of human nature, He was God, while covered by that veil, He was Man.\u00a0 Here is the prodigy of prodigies:\u00a0 God and Man, Man and God!\u00a0 Without leaving the Father and the Holy Spirit – because true love never separates – He comes to dwell in our midst, taking on human flesh.\u00a0 Now, it seemed to me that Mother and Son, in that most happy instant, remained as though spiritualized, and without the slightest difficulty Jesus came out of the Maternal womb, while both of them overflowed with excess of Love.\u00a0 In other words, those Most Pure Bodies were transformed into Light, and without the slightest impediment, Light Jesus came out of the Light of the Mother, while both One and the Other remained whole and intact, returning, then, to their natural state.\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Who can tell the beauty of the Little Baby who, at the moment of His birth, transfused, also externally, the rays of the Divinity?\u00a0 Who can tell the beauty of the Mother, who remained all absorbed in those Divine rays?<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 And Saint Joseph?\u00a0 It seemed to me that he was not present at the act of the birth, but remained in another corner of the cave, all engrossed in that profound Mystery.\u00a0 And if he did not see with the eyes of the body, he saw very well with the eyes of the soul, because he remained enraptured in sublime ecstasy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Volume 4 – October 14, 1901<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Jesus shows Himself like a flash and makes her comprehend something about the divine attributes.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Blessed Jesus comes in passing, almost like a flash, and in that flash He releases from His interior, now a special distinction of one of His attributes, now another.\u00a0 How many things He makes me comprehend in that flash!\u00a0 But once the flash has withdrawn, my mind remains in the dark, and is unable to adapt itself to repeating what it has comprehended in that flash of light; more so, since it is about things that touch on the Divinity, and the human tongue struggles in trying to repeat them, and the more it tries, the more mute it remains.\u00a0 Even more, in these things it is always a newborn little girl.\u00a0 But obedience wants me to try to say the little I can; and here it is:<\/span><\/p>\n

It seemed to me that God contains all goods within Himself, in such a way that, finding all goods which God contains within Him, one does not need to go anywhere else to see the vastness of His boundaries \u2013 no; but He alone is enough to find everything that is His.\u00a0 Now, in one flash He showed a special distinction of His beauty \u2013 but who can say how beautiful He is?\u00a0 I can only say that all the angelic and human beauties, the beauties of the variety of flowers and fruits, the splendid azure and starry heavens which seem to enchant us and speak to us of a supreme beauty as we look at them, compared to His beauty, are shadows, or a breath that God has sent forth from His beauty which He contains within Himself.\u00a0 That is, they are little drops of dew compared to the immense waters of the sea.\u00a0 I move on for my mind begins to get lost.\u00a0 In another flash He showed a special distinction of the attribute of charity \u2013 but how can I, miserable one, open my mouth about this attribute, Trice Holy, which is the fount from which all other attributes derive?\u00a0 I will only say what I understood with regard to the human nature.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, I understood that as God creates us, this attribute of charity pours into us and fills us completely of itself, in such a way that if the soul corresponded, being filled with the breath of the charity of God, her very nature should be transmuted into charity toward God.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 But as the soul keeps diffusing herself in the love of creatures, or of pleasures, or of interests, or of any other thing, that divine breath keeps going out of the soul; and if the soul arrives at diffusing herself in everything, she becomes empty of divine charity.\u00a0 But since the soul cannot enter into Heaven if she is not a complex of most pure charity, fully divine, if the soul is saved, this breath which she received in being created, she will acquire again by dint of fire in the purging flames, and only when she comes to the point of overflowing with it, then will she go out.\u00a0 So, who knows what an extremely long stop she has to make in that expiatory place!\u00a0 Now, if the creature should be so, what must God be?\u00a0 I believe I am speaking much nonsense, but I am not surprised, because I am not at all some learned one \u2013 I am always an ignorant one, and if there is anything of truth in these writings, it is not mine, but God\u2019s, while I remain always the little ignorant one that I am.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Volume 6 – May 5, 1905<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Effects of Grace.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As I was in my usual state, blessed Jesus came for just a little, and it seemed that another Image, completely similar to Him, would come out from within His interior – only, it was smaller.\u00a0 I was surprised on seeing this, and He said to me:\u00a0 \u201cMy daughter, everything that can come out from within a person is called a birth, and this birth becomes the child of the one who gives birth to it.\u00a0 Now, this daughter of mine is Grace which, coming out of Me, communicates Herself to all the souls who want to receive Her and transmutes them into as many other children of mine.\u00a0 Not only this, but everything good and virtuous that can come out of these second children, becomes the children of Grace.\u00a0 See now, what a long generation of children Grace forms for Herself, if only they receive Her<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0 But, how many reject Her; and my daughter comes back into my womb, alone and childless.\u201d\u00a0 While He was saying this, that Image enclosed Herself within me, filling me completely with Herself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Volume 6 – June 23, 1905<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

One who is united with the Humanity of Jesus finds herself at the door of His Divinity.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Continuing in my usual state, I was thinking of how Jesus Christ died, and that in no way could He fear death, because, being so united with the Divinity, or rather, transmuted into It, He was already safe, like someone in his own palace.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 But for the soul \u2013 oh, how different it is!\u00a0 While I was thinking of this and other nonsense, blessed Jesus came and told me:\u00a0 \u201cMy daughter, one who is united with my Humanity already finds herself at the door of my Divinity, because my Humanity is mirror for the soul, from which the Divinity is reflected in her.\u00a0 If one is in the reflections of this mirror, it is natural that all of her being be transmuted into love; because, my daughter, everything that comes out of the creature, even the movements of her eyes, of her lips, the moving of her thoughts, and all the rest \u2013 everything should be love, and done out of love; and since my Being is all love, wherever I find love I absorb everything within Myself, and the soul dwells safely in Me, like someone in his own palace.\u00a0 So, what fear can the soul have, in her dying, of coming to Me, if she is already in Me?\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Volume 6 – November 8, 1905<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0The first step to enter the Will of God is resignation.\u00a0 The soul who is resigned to the Divine Will comes to make of God her favorite food.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

After I struggled very much, He came for just a little and told me:\u00a0 \u201cMy daughter, it happens to the soul who resigns herself to my Will as to someone who, drawing near a beautiful food in order to see it, feels the desire to eat it, and as his desire is excited, he begins to enjoy that food, and to transmute it into His flesh and into his blood.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 Had he not seen that beautiful food, the desire could not have come, he could not have experienced its taste, and would have continued to remain on an empty stomach.\u00a0 Now, such is resignation for the soul.\u00a0 As she resigns herself, in her very resigning she sees a divine light, and this light dispels what prevents her from seeing God; and as she sees God, she desires to enjoy Him; and while she enjoys Him, she feels as if she were eating Him, in such a way as to feel God Himself all transmuted into herself.\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Therefore, it follows that the first step is to resign oneself; the second is to desire to do the Will of God in everything; the third is to make of It one\u2019s favorite food, daily; the fourth is to consume the Will of God within one\u2019s own.\u00a0 But if one does not take the first step, he will remain empty of God.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Volume 7 – February 23, 1906<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

How Jesus was nailed to the Cross in the Will of the Father.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

This morning I was thinking of Our Lord in the act in which they were nailing Him to the cross; I was compassionating all of Him, and blessed Jesus told me: “My daughter, not only my hands and feet were nailed to the cross, but all the particles of my Humanity, soul and Divinity were all nailed in the Will of the Father. In fact, the crucifixion was the Will of the Father, therefore I was nailed and transmuted completely in His Will. This was necessary because, what is sin but withdrawing from the Will of God, from everything that is good and holy which God has given us, believing to be something of one\u2019s own, and offending the Creator? <\/em><\/strong>And I, in order to repair for this audacity and for this self idol which the creature makes of herself, wanted to dissolve my will completely and live from the Will of the Father at the cost of great sacrifice.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Volume 9 – October 1, 1910<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Love for Jesus forms the transformation of the soul in Him. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Having received Communion I felt all transformed in blessed Jesus, and I said to myself:\u00a0 \u2018How can one maintain this transformation with Jesus?\u2019\u00a0 And in my interior it seemed that Jesus was saying:\u00a0 \u201cMy daughter, if you want to be always transformed in Me \u2013 even more, to be one single thing with Me – love Me always and you will maintain your transformation with Me.\u00a0 In fact, love is fire, and whatever woods are thrown into the fire, small or big, green or dry, they all take the form of fire and convert into fire itself; and after these woods have been burned, one can no longer discern which wood was one and which another, neither the green one nor the dry one \u2013 one can see nothing but fire.\u00a0 The same when the soul never ceases to love Me.\u00a0 Love is fire that transmutes the soul in God; love unites, its flames invest all of the human operations and give them the form of the divine operations.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Volume 14 – September 5, 1922<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My always adorable Jesus continues to make Himself seen with His Heart pierced and embittered to the summit.\u00a0 It seemed that all the pains of creatures were inflicted in that Heart; in fact, it is not only sins that wound that Heart, but also the sufferings that the creature causes herself by not corresponding to grace.\u00a0 And it seemed that, since they were wounding a Heart that loves, as they wounded that loving Heart, Its love was so great that It tried to transmute the very offenses into graces and blessings.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 Oh, goodness of Jesus! He alone can boast of really loving the creatures, and up to the incredible.\u00a0 So, the pains of each one of them also pierced It, but the offenses were so many as to turn the very graces which came from that Most Holy Heart into lightnings.\u00a0 Therefore He told me:\u00a0 \u201cMy daughter, how unbearable man has rendered himself.\u00a0 He changes my graces into lightnings, and drives himself toward a general revolution.\u00a0 So, he himself is plotting his own destruction, and has reached such a point as to deserve to be struck by Me.\u201d\u00a0 And while He was saying this, He showed troubles everywhere \u2013 cities collapsed, and evils of new kind.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Volume 18 – January 30, 1926<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy daughter, have patience; remember that the destiny of the world weighs upon you.\u00a0 Ah! you do not know what it means to be in this state of pain together with Me, even for half an hour or five minutes.\u00a0 It is my real Life that is repeated upon earth; it is this Divine Life that suffers, that prays, that repairs in you, and transmutes my very Will into you, so that It may operate in you as It operated in my Humanity.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 And do you think this is trivial?\u201d\u00a0 And, keeping silent, He continued to cry.\u00a0 I felt my heart break in seeing Jesus cry, and I comprehended that He was crying for me, to give me the grace that His Will have Its full rights over me, that It maintain Its Life whole within my soul, and that my will would never have life.\u00a0 So, the reason for His tears was to place His Will in safety within my poor soul.\u00a0 And He cried for priests, in order to give them the grace to comprehend His works, that they too would be willing to do His Will.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Volume 19 – September 3, 1926<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I was thinking about and identifying with the Holy Divine Will, and finding myself in Its immense light, I felt Its divine rays penetrating so deep into me as to transform me into Its very light.\u00a0 And Jesus, coming out of my interior, told me:\u00a0 \u201cMy daughter, how beautiful, penetrating, communicative, transforming is the light of my Will!\u00a0 It is more than sun which, pounding on the earth, gives with liberality the effects that its light contains; nor does it wait to be asked, but, spontaneously, as its light fills the surface of the earth, it gives what it has to everything it encounters.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 It gives sweetness and taste to the fruit, color and fragrance to the flower, development to the plants; to all things it gives the effects and goods it contains, it makes no exception with anyone \u2013 it is enough that its light touches them, penetrates into them and warms them for it to accomplish its work.\u00a0 My Will is more than sun; as long as the soul exposes herself to Its vivifying rays and banishes the darkness and the night of her human will, Its light rises and invests the soul, penetrating into her inmost fibers to dispel from her the shadows and the atoms of the human will.\u00a0 As Its light pounds on the soul and she receives It, It communicates all the effects It contains, because, coming out of the Supreme Being, my Will contains all the qualities of the Divine Nature.\u00a0 So, in investing her, It communicates the goodness, the love, the power, the firmness, the mercy and all the divine qualities \u2013 not in a superficial way, but in a real way, such as to transmute all of Its qualities into the human nature; so much so, that the soul will feel within herself, as her own, the nature of true goodness, of power, of sweetness, of mercy; and so with all the rest of the supreme qualities.\u00a0 My Will alone has this power to convert Its virtues into one\u2019s nature \u2013 but only for one who abandons herself prey to Its light and to Its heat, and keeps the tenebrous night of her own will away from her, the true and perfect night of the poor creature.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Volume 28 – July 9, 1930<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Value of the human will when it enters into the Divine.\u00a0 Fears because of authoritative judgments.\u00a0 Answers of Jesus and His teachings.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My little intelligence feels the extreme need of the Divine Will, because It alone is my support, my strength, my life.\u00a0 Oh! Divine Will, O please! do not abandon me; and if I, ungrateful, have not been able to follow your flight, your light, O please! forgive me, and fortifying my weakness, absorb into Yourself the small atom of my existence, and may it live dissolved in You, to live only and always of your Supreme Will.\u00a0 But while my mind was wandering in the Divine Fiat, my sweet Jesus, making His little visit to my soul, told me:\u00a0 \u201cMy daughter, courage, I am with you – what do you fear?\u00a0 If you knew the beauty, the value that the human will acquires when it enters and has continuous dwelling in the Divine Fiat, you would not lose one instant of living in It.\u00a0 You must know that as the human will enters into the Divine, Our light invests it and embellishes it of a rare beauty.\u00a0 The soul remains so identified, that she does not feel a stranger with her Creator; on the contrary, she feels that she is all of the Supreme Being, and the Divine Being is all hers; and with the freedom of a daughter, without fear and with enrapturing trust, she rises into the unity of the Will of her Creator, and, in this unity, the atom of the human will emits her \u2018I love You\u2019.\u00a0 And while she forms her act of love, all the Divine Love runs, surrounds, embraces, transmutes Itself into the \u2018I love You\u2019 of the creature, and makes it so great, for as great as is Our Love. \u00a0And We feel in the little \u2018I love You\u2019 of the creature the fibers, the life of Our Love; and We give it the value of Our Love, and feel in the little \u2018I love You\u2019 the happiness of Our Love.\u00a0 This little \u2018I love You\u2019 no longer goes out from within the unity of Our Volition; and while it remains, it spreads so much within the orbit of the Fiat, that it does nothing but follow the Divine Will everywhere; and so with all the other acts which she intends to do in Our Will.\u00a0 You must think that a creative Will enters into the act of the creature, and therefore It must do worthy acts, as those which a Divine Will knows how to do, and which are befitting to It.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Volume 28 – July 24, 1930<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

How the Divine Will is in continuous attitude in the Divine Being.\u00a0 Prodigy of when It operates in the creature; enjoyment of God.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

My poor heart finds itself between two insurmountable powers:\u00a0 the Divine Fiat and the pain of the privation of my sweet Jesus \u2013 both of them powerful over my poor heart, such that, while I feel all the bitterness of being without the One who formed all the happiness of my poor existence – and now, since I don\u2019t have Him, it has converted for me into intense bitterness – the Divine Volition, subduing me, absorbs me into Its Divine Will so as to transmute it into Itself.<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 Now, while I was under tremendous oppressions, my sweet Jesus, giving me a surprise, told me:\u00a0 \u201cMy daughter, courage, do not fear, I am here with you; and the sign is that you feel in you the Life of my Fiat.\u00a0 I am inseparable from It.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, you must know that Our Will is in continuous attitude in Our Divine Being; Its motion never ceases, Its works are always in act, therefore It is always operating.\u00a0 But the marvelous surprises that occur when the creature enters into Our Will are enchanting and prodigious.\u00a0 As she enters, Our Volition encloses Itself in the creature; and while It encloses Itself to the point of filling her completely, since she cannot embrace It all or enclose It completely within herself, It overflows outside of her in such a way as to fill Heaven and earth, in a way that it can be seen that the littleness of the creature encloses a Divine Will, which maintains in her Its incessant motion and Its works operating.\u00a0 There is nothing holier, greater, more beautiful, more prodigious, than the operating of my Volition in the littleness of the creature.\u00a0 While It operates, since she can neither enclose It nor embrace It all, because she is finite and therefore does not have the capacity to enclose the immense and the infinite, yet she takes as much as she can to the point of overflowing outside.\u00a0 And as It overflows, one can see the creature under a rain of light and of varied and rare beauties, inside and out, such that Our Divine Being takes so much delight in it, that We feel Ourselves being enraptured, because We see the human littleness, by virtue of Our Fiat that fills it, transmuted into the beauties of Our divine qualities, which have such strength as to enrapture Us and make Us enjoy in the creature Our pure joys and Our unspeakable happinesses.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Now, you must know that every time the creature calls my Will as life operating in her, and she plunges into It to remain immersed in It, Our enjoyment is so great, that Our whole Being concurs, and We place in it such value, for as much value as Our Divine Being contains.\u00a0 More so, since Our Divine Fiat has Its first act of life in the act of the creature \u2013 she has been but the concurrent; therefore, as Our act, We place in it all the weight of Our Divine Life.\u00a0 See, then, what it means to do an act in Our Will, what it means to multiply them; and the great loss for one who does not operate in It.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Biographical notes<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The family mistook these phenomena for sickness and sought medical help. But all the doctors consulted were perplexed at such an unusual clinical case. Luisa was subject to a state of corpse-like rigidity \u2013 although she showed signs of life \u2013 and no treatment could relieve her of this unspeakable torment. When all the resources of science had been exhausted, her family turned to their last hope: priests. An Augustinian priest, Fr. Cosma Loiodice, at home because of the Siccardian*<\/sup> laws, was summoned to her bedside: to the wonder of all present, the sign of the Cross which this priest made over the poor body, sufficed to restore her normal faculties instantly to the sick girl. After Fr. Loiodice had left for his friary, certain secular priests were called in who restored Luisa to normality with the sign of the Cross. She was convinced that all priests were holy, but one day the Lord told her: “Not because they are all holy \u2013 indeed, if they only were! \u2013 but simply because they are the continuation of my priesthood in the world you must always submit to their priestly authority; never oppose them, whether they are good or bad<\/em>” (cf. Volume I). Throughout her life, Luisa was to be submissive to priestly authority. This was to be one of the greatest sources of her suffering. Her daily need for the priestly authority in order to return to her usual tasks was her deepest mortification. In the beginning, she suffered the most humiliating misunderstandings on the part of the priests themselves who considered her a lunatic filled with exalted ideas, who simply wanted to attract attention. Once they left her in that state for more than twenty days. Luisa, having accepted the role of victim, came to experience a most peculiar condition: every morning she found herself rigid, immobile, huddled up in bed, and no one was able to stretch her out, to raise her arms or move her head or legs. As we know, it required the presence of a priest who, by blessing her with the sign of the Cross, dispelled that corpse-like rigidity and enabled her to return to her usual tasks (lace-making). She was a unique case in that her confessors were never spiritual directors, a task that Our Lord wanted to keep for himself. Jesus made her hear his voice directly, training her,<\/strong> correcting her, reprimanding her if necessary and gradually leading her to the loftiest peaks of perfection. Luisa was wisely instructed and prepared during many years to receive the gift of the Divine Will.<\/span><\/p>\n

The archbishop at that time, Giuseppe Bianchi Dottula (December 22, 1848-September 22,1892),<\/strong> came to know of what was happening in Corato; <\/strong>having heard the opinion of several priests, he wished to exercise his authority and assume responsibility for this case. After mature reflection he thought it right to delegate to Luisa a special confessor, Fr. Michele De Benedictis, a splendid figure of a priest, to whom she opened every nook and cranny of her soul. Fr. Michele, a prudent priest with holy ways, imposed limits on her suffering and instructed her to do nothing without his permission. Indeed, it was Fr. Michele who ordered her to eat at least once a day, even if she immediately threw up everything she had swallowed. Luisa was to live on the Divine Will alone. It was under this priest that she received permission to stay in bed all the time as a victim of expiation. This was in 1888. Luisa remained nailed to her bed of pain, sitting there for another 59 years, until her death. It should be noted that until that time, although she had accepted her state as a victim, she had only occasionally stayed in bed, since obedience had never permitted her to stay in bed all the time. However, from New Year 1889 she was to remain there permanently.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1898 the new prelate, Archbishop Tommaso de Stefano (March 24, 1898 – 13 May 1906) delegated as her new confessor Fr. Gennaro Di Gennaro, who carried out this task for twenty-four years. The new confessor, glimpsing the marvels that the Lord was working in this soul, categorically ordered Luisa to put down in writing all that God\u2019s grace was working within her. None of the excuses made by the Servant of God to avoid obeying her confessor in this were to any avail. Not even her scant literary education could excuse her from obedience to her confessor. Fr. Gennaro Di Gennaro remained cold and implacable, although he knew that the poor woman had only been to elementary school. Thus on February 28, 1899, she began to write her diary, of which there are thirty-six large volumes! The last chapter was written on December 28, 1939, the day on which she was ordered to stop writing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her confessor, who died on September 10,1922, was succeeded by the canon, Fr. Francesco De Benedictis, who only assisted her for four years, because he died on January 30, 1926. Archbishop Giuseppe Leo (January 17, 1920-January 20,1939) delegated a young priest, Fr. Benedetto Calvi, as her ordinary confessor. He stayed with Luisa until she died, sharing all those sufferings and misunderstandings that beset the Servant of God in the last years of her life.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

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

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

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

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

Her detachment from any payments that did not come from her daily work was marvelous! She firmly refused money and the various presents offered to her on any pretext. She never accepted money for the publication of her books. Thus one day she told Blessed Annibale that she wanted to give him the money from her author\u2019s royalties: “I have no right to it, because what is written there is not mine<\/em>” (cf. Preface of the L\u2019orologio della Passione, <\/em>Messina, 1926). She scornfully refused and returned the money that pious people sometimes sent her.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Her day began at about 5.00 a.m., when the priest came to the house to bless it and to celebrate Holy Mass. Either her confessor officiated, or some delegate of his: a privileged granted by Leo XIII and confirmed by St. Pius X in 1907. After Holy Mass, Luisa would remain in prayer and thanksgiving for about two hours. At about 8.00 a.m. she would begin her work which she continued until midday; after her frugal lunch she would stay alone in her room in meditation. In the afternoon \u2013 after several hours of work \u2013 she would recite the holy Rosary. In the evening, towards 8.00 p.m., Luisa would begin to write her diary; at about midnight she would fall asleep. In the morning she would be found immobile, rigid, huddled up on her bed, her head turned to the right, and the intervention of priestly authority would be necessary to recall her to her daily tasks and allow her to sit up in bed.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

Hardly had the news of Luisa\u2019s death spread, like a river in full spate, all the people streamed into her house and police intervention was necessary to control the crowds that flocked there day and night to visit Luisa, a woman very dear to them. A voice rang out: “Luisa the Saint has died<\/em>“. To contain all the people who were going to see her, with the permission of the civil authorities and health officials, her body was exposed for four days with no sign of corruption.<\/strong> Luisa did not seem dead, she was sitting up in bed, dressed in white; it was as though she were asleep, because as has already been said, her body did not suffer rigor mortis.<\/em> Indeed, without any effort her head could be moved in all directions, her arms raised, her hands and all her fingers bent. It was even possible to lift her eyelids and see her shining eyes that had not grown dim. Everyone believed that she was still alive, immersed in a deep sleep. A council of doctors, summoned for this purpose, declared, after attentively examining the corpse, that Luisa was truly dead and that her death should be accepted as real and not merely apparent, as everyone had imagined.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

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

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Important dates<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

July 3,1963 – Her mortal remains were definitively laid to rest in the Church of Santa Maria Greca.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

November 20, 1994 – Feast of Christ the King: Archbishop Carmelo Cassati officially opened the\u00a0 Beatification Cause of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta in the principal church of Corato, in the presence of a huge crowd of people, locals and foreigners.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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2005 – 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.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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ARCHDIOCESE<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Trani – Barletta – Bisceglie \u2013 Nazareth<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

70059 TRANI – VIA BELTRANI, 9 – TEL.0883-583498<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Trani, June 4, 2005<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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COMUNIQUE<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cDivine Will\u201d has guided the Archdiocese, in this last decade, for the completion of the works regarding the process of the Cause of Beatification of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta.\u00a0 The Diocesan Postulation announces having completed this journey.\u00a0 It communicates that on the days of the 27th, 28th, and 29th of October 2005 it will celebrate the 2nd International Congress with the conclusion of the diocesan process.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Pious Association Luisa Piccarreta Little Children of the Divine Will*, in Corato, has been charged with performing the job of Secretary for the celebration and welcome of guests.\u00a0 Later the program of the celebration will be published in a definitive way.<\/span><\/p>\n

May Jesus Christ present in the Eucharist guide us as He has guided His Servant Luisa.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Vicar General<\/span><\/p>\n

(His Grace Mons. Savino Giannotti)<\/span><\/p>\n

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* Pious Association Luisa Piccarreta Little Children of the Divine Will<\/span><\/p>\n

Referent:\u00a0 Sister Assunta Marigliano<\/span><\/p>\n

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Come Holy Spirit, Come Supreme Will,<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

down to reign in Your Kingdom on earth<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

and in our hearts!<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Come Holy Spirit, Come Supreme Will,<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

down to reign in Your Kingdom on earth<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

and in our hearts!<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Come Holy Spirit, Come Supreme Will,<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

down to reign in Your Kingdom on earth<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

and in our hearts!<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the Writings of\u00a0The Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta The Little Daughter of the Divine Will \u00a0 Transfiguration \u00a0 The Transfiguration of Christ is the culminating point of His public life, as His Baptism is its starting point, and His … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7779,"featured_media":0,"parent":5723,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6620","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6620","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=6620"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20835,"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6620\/revisions\/20835"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}