{"id":735,"date":"2015-01-13T15:00:11","date_gmt":"2015-01-13T20:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/?p=735"},"modified":"2014-12-30T20:22:31","modified_gmt":"2014-12-31T01:22:31","slug":"biographical-notes-on-luisa-piccarreta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/?p=735","title":{"rendered":"1\/14 Biographical notes on Luisa Piccarreta"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/a>\"L_OS<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta,
\nLittle Daughter of the Divine Will<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

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

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

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

Nicola Piccarreta was a worker on a farm belonging to the Mastrorilli family, located
\nat the middle of Via delle Murge in a neighborhood called Torre Disperata, <\/em>27
\nkilometers from Corato. Those who know these places, set among the sunny, bare
\nand stony hills, can appreciate the solemnity of the silence that envelops
\nthem. Luisa spent many years of her childhood and adolescence on this farm. In
\nfront of the old house, the impressive, centuries-old mulberry tree still
\nstands, with the great hollow in its trunk where Luisa used to hide when she
\nwas little in order to pray, far from prying eyes. It was in this lonely, sunny
\nspot place that Luisa\u2019s divine adventure began which was to lead her down the
\npaths of suffering and holiness. Indeed, it was in this very place that she
\ncame to suffer unspeakably from the attacks of the devil who at times even
\ntormented her physically. Luisa, to be rid of this suffering, turned
\nceaselessly to prayer, addressing in particular the Virgin Most Holy, who
\ncomforted her by her presence.<\/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
\ngone round and round the world again and again, and I looked one by one at all
\nmy creatures to find the smallest one of all. Among so many I found you. Your
\nlittleness pleased me and I chose you; I entrusted you to my angels so that
\nthey would care for you, not to make you great, but to preserve your
\nlittleness, and now I want to begin the great work of fulfilling my will. Nor
\nwill you feel any greater through this, indeed it is my will to make you even
\nsmaller, and you will continue to be the little daughter of the Divine Will<\/em>”
\n(cf. Volume XII, March 23, 1921).<\/p>\n

When she was nine, Luisa received Jesus in the Eucharist for the first time and Holy
\nConfirmation, and from that moment learned to remain for hours praying before
\nthe Blessed Sacrament. When she was eleven she wanted to enroll in the Association
\nof the Daughters of Mary \u2013 flourishing at the time \u2013 in the Church of San Giuseppe.
\nAt the age of eighteen, Luisa became a Dominican Tertiary taking the name of
\nSr. Maddalena. She was one of the first to enroll in the Third Order, which her
\nparish priest was promoting. Luisa\u2019s devotion to the Mother of God was
\nto develop into a profound Marian spirituality, a prelude to what she would one
\nday write about Our Lady.<\/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
\nsuffering under the weight of the Cross, who raised his eyes to her saying:
\n“O soul, help me!<\/em>“. From that moment an insatiable longing to
\nsuffer for Jesus and for the salvation of souls was enkindled in Luisa. So
\nbegan those physical sufferings which, in addition to her spiritual and moral
\nsufferings, reached the point of heroism.<\/p>\n

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

The archbishop at that time, Giuseppe Bianchi Dottula (December 22, 1848-September
\n22,1892),<\/strong> came to know of what was happening in Corato; <\/strong>having
\nheard the opinion of several priests, he wished to exercise his authority and
\nassume responsibility for this case. After mature reflection he thought it
\nright to delegate to Luisa a special confessor, Fr. Michele De Benedictis, a
\nsplendid figure of a priest, to whom she opened every nook and cranny of her
\nsoul. Fr. Michele, a prudent priest with holy ways, imposed limits on her
\nsuffering and instructed her to do nothing without his permission.
\nIndeed, it was Fr. Michele who ordered her to eat at least once a day, even if
\nshe immediately threw up everything she had swallowed. Luisa was to live on the
\nDivine Will alone. It was under this priest that she received permission to
\nstay in bed all the time as a victim of expiation. This was in 1888. Luisa
\nremained nailed to her bed of pain, sitting there for another 59 years, until
\nher death. It should be noted that until that time, although she had accepted
\nher state as a victim, she had only occasionally stayed in bed, since obedience
\nhad never permitted her to stay in bed all the time. However, from New Year
\n1889 she was to remain there permanently.<\/p>\n

In 1898 the new prelate, Archbishop Tommaso de Stefano (March 24, 1898 – 13 May
\n1906) delegated as her new confessor Fr. Gennaro Di Gennaro, who carried out
\nthis task for twenty-four years. The new confessor, glimpsing the marvels that
\nthe Lord was working in this soul, categorically ordered Luisa to put down in
\nwriting all that God\u2019s grace was working within her. None of the excuses made
\nby the Servant of God to avoid obeying her confessor in this were to any avail.
\nNot even her scant literary education could excuse her from obedience to her
\nconfessor. Fr. Gennaro Di Gennaro remained cold and implacable, although he
\nknew that the poor woman had only been to elementary school. Thus on
\nFebruary 28, 1899, she began to write her diary, of which there are thirty-six
\nlarge volumes! The last chapter was written on December 28, 1939, the day on
\nwhich she was ordered to stop writing.<\/p>\n

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

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

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

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

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

Her detachment from any payments that did not come from her daily work was
\nmarvelous! She firmly refused money and the various presents offered to her on
\nany pretext. She never accepted money for the publication of her books. Thus
\none day she told Blessed Annibale that she wanted to give him the money from
\nher author\u2019s royalties: “I have no right to it, because what is written
\nthere is not mine<\/em>” (cf. Preface of the L\u2019orologio della Passione, <\/em>Messina,
\n1926). She scornfully refused and returned the money that pious people
\nsometimes sent her.<\/p>\n

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

Her day began at about 5.00 a.m., when the priest came to the house to bless it and
\nto celebrate Holy Mass. Either her confessor officiated, or some delegate of
\nhis: a privileged granted by Leo XIII and confirmed by St. Pius X in 1907.
\nAfter Holy Mass, Luisa would remain in prayer and thanksgiving for about two
\nhours. At about 8.00 a.m. she would begin her work which she continued until
\nmidday; after her frugal lunch she would stay alone in her room in meditation.
\nIn the afternoon \u2013 after several hours of work \u2013 she would recite the holy
\nRosary. In the evening, towards 8.00 p.m., Luisa would begin to write her
\ndiary; 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 days, on March 4,
\n1947, after a fortnight of illness, the only one diagnosed in her life, a bad
\nattack of pneumonia. She died at the end of the night, at the same hour when
\nevery day the priest\u2019s blessing had freed her from her state of rigidity.
\nArchbishop Francesco Petronelli (May 25, 1939-June 16, 1947) archbishop at the
\ntime. Luisa remained sitting up in bed. It was impossible to lay her out and \u2013
\nan extraordinary phenomenon \u2013 her body never suffered rigor mortis<\/em> and
\nremained in the position in which it had always been.<\/p>\n

Hardly had the news of Luisa\u2019s death spread, like a river in full spate, all the
\npeople streamed into her house and police intervention was necessary to control
\nthe crowds that flocked there day and night to visit Luisa, a woman very dear
\nto 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
\neffort her head could be moved in all directions, her arms raised, her hands
\nand all 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
\nalive, immersed in a deep sleep. A council of doctors, summoned for this
\npurpose, declared, after attentively examining the corpse, that Luisa was truly
\ndead and that her death should be accepted as real and not merely apparent, as
\neveryone had imagined.<\/p>\n

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

On November 20, 1994, on 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 Cause of Beatification of the Servant of
\nGod, Luisa Piccarreta.<\/p>\n

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

1865<\/strong>
\n– Luisa Piccarreta was born on April 23<\/strong>, 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
\nblanket and took her to the main church for baptism. Her mother had not suffered
\nthe pangs of labor: her birth was painless.<\/p>\n

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

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

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

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

March 4, 1947<\/strong>
\n– Full of merits, in the eternal light of the Divine Will she ended her days
\nas she had lived them, to triumph with the angels and saints in the eternal
\nsplendor of the Divine Will.<\/p>\n

March 7, 1947<\/strong>
\n– For four days her mortal remains were exposed for the veneration of an
\nimmense throng of the faithful who went to her house to have a last look at
\nLuisa the Saint, so dear to their hearts. The funeral was a realm triumph;
\nLuisa passed like a queen, borne aloft on shoulders among the lines of people.
\nAll the clergy, secular and religious, accompanied Luisa\u2019s body. The funeral
\nliturgy took place in the main church with the participation of the entire
\nchapter. In the afternoon, Luisa was buried in the family Chapel of the Calvi
\nfamily.<\/p>\n

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

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

2005
\n<\/strong>– Archbishop Giovanni Battista Picchierri,
\ncurrent Archbishop of Trani. It is he who requested that the Cause of
\nBeatification of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta be continued.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

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

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

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

COMUNIQUE<\/strong><\/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 LuisaPiccarreta.\u00a0 The Diocesan Postulation announces having completed this journey.
\nIt 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.<\/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.<\/p>\n

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

The Vicar General<\/p>\n

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

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

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

70033 Corato (BA) \u2013 Via Nazario Sauro, 27 \u2013 Tel. +39.080.8982221<\/p>\n

www.luisalasanta.com<\/a>
\n– e-mail :\u00a0 pia.ass.luisalasanta@libero.it<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Come Holy Spirit, Come Supreme Will,
\n<\/em><\/strong>down to reign in Your Kingdom on earth
\n<\/em><\/strong>and in our hearts!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Come Holy Spirit, Come Supreme Will,
\n<\/em><\/strong>down to reign in Your Kingdom on earth
\n<\/em><\/strong>and in our hearts!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Come Holy Spirit, Come Supreme Will,
\n<\/em><\/strong>down to reign in Your Kingdom on earth
\n<\/em><\/strong>and in our hearts!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 The Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta, Little Daughter of the Divine Will Biographical notes 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 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7779,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-august-2011","category-information-on-luisa-piccarreta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"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=735"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13060,"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735\/revisions\/13060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/luisapiccarreta.co\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}