Our Lady of America

Newsletter 9.26.2016

60th Anniversary

Sixty years ago today the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to Sister Mary Ephrem and proclaimed these words:

“I am Our Lady of America. I desire that my children honor me, especially by the purity of their lives.”

By these words she acknowledged our nation’s long and historical dedication to her as the Immaculate Conception, manifested by our nation’s consecration to her and our response to that Dogma which proclaims that she is without sin. With these words she invites all of us to imitate her as the perfect model of purity.

Just the day before (September 25, 1956) she had appeared to Sr. Mary Ephrem as Our Lady of Lourdes. You may recall the apparition of Our Lady at Lourdes was Heavenly confirmation of the dogma of Mary’s immaculate nature proclaimed by Pope Pius IX in 1854. When she appeared to Sr. Ephrem as Our Lady of Lourdes she said:

“I am pleased, my child, with the love and honor my children in America give to me, especially through my glorious and unique privilege of the Immaculate Conception. I promise to reward their love by working through the power of my Son’s Heart and my Immaculate Heart miracles of grace among them. I do not promise miracles of the body, but of the soul… For it is mainly through these miracles of grace that the Holy Trinity is glorified among men and nations. Let America continue and grow in its love for me, and I in return, in union with the Heart of my Son, promise to work wonders in her. My child, I desire that this be known.”

As Our Lady of Lourdes she promises the graces necessary to follow her towards a life of purity. As Our Lady of America she teaches us to seek purity and live life in a state of sanctifying grace through openness to grace, prayer, works and the Sacraments.

Please pray that our bishops will soon fulfill her request and acknowledge her as Our Lady of America, the Immaculate Virgin. By their acts Our Lady promises an outpouring of graces for America and the world.

“By thy Holy and Immaculate Conception, oh Mary, deliver us from evil.

Link to Download the booklet of messages Our Lady of America communicated to Sister Mary Ephrem. The late Archbishop, Paul F. Leibold of Cincinnati, approved the content of Sister Mary Ephrem’s diary and the messages from May 22, 1954 thru December 20, 1959

FIAT!

Padre Pio and Luisa Piccarreta – Taken from Padre Bucci’s Book

…Luisa Piccarreta and Blessed Padre Pio of Pietrelcina knew one another for some time without ever having met, for Luisa was always confined to the bed where she sat, while Padre Pio was enclosed in the friary of the Capuchin Fathers of San Giovanni Rotondo. One question naturally arises, how did they come to know one another? This is difficult to discover, yet one thing is certain, that the two did know and esteem one another.

Saint Michael the Archangel, loyal champion of God and His People. I/we turn to you with confidence and seek your powerful intercession. For the love of God, Who made you so glorious in grace and power, and for the love of the Mother of Jesus, the Queen of the Angels, be pleased to hear my/our prayer. You know the value of my/our souls in the eyes of God. May no stain of evil ever disfigure it beauty. Help me/us to conquer the evil spirit who tempts me/us. I/We desire to imitate your loyalty to God and Holy Mother Church and your great love for God and people. And since you are God’s messenger for the care of His people, I/we entrust to you these special intentions:  …specific intentions need only be recited on the 1st day….Mention your requests

Lord, hear and grant my/our special intentions for this Novena that I/we bring before You.

Pray for me/us, St. Michael, and also for those I/we love. Protect me/us in all dangers of body and soul. Help me/us in my/ our daily needs. Through your powerful intercession, may I/we live a holy life, die a happy death and reach Heaven where I/we may praise and love God with you forever. Amen.

Our Father … Hail Mary … Glory be …

Instructions: Pray this prayer daily for nine days.

FIAT!

Our Lady of Sorrows

December 17, 1903 Volume 6
The adoration that the Most Holy Virgin did when She encountered Jesus carrying the Cross.
Continuing in my usual state, for a few instants a saw blessed Jesus with the Cross on His shoulders, in the act of encountering His Most Holy Mother; and I said to Him: ‘Lord, what did your Mother do in this most sorrowful encounter?’
And He: “My daughter, She did nothing but a most profound and simple act of adoration. And since the simpler the act, the more easily it unites with God, Most Simple Spirit, in this act She infused Herself in Me and continued what I Myself was doing in my interior. This was immensely pleasing to Me, more than if She had done any other greater thing. In fact, the true spirit of adoration consists of this: the creature dissolves herself and finds herself in the divine sphere; she adores all that God does, and she unites with Him. Do you think that when the mouth adores but the mind is somewhere else, it is true adoration? That is, the mind adores but the will is far away from Me? Or, one power adores Me, and the others are all disordered? No, I want everything for Me, and everything I have given her, in Me. This is the greatest act of cult, of adoration, that the creature can do for Me.”

December 21, 1903 Volume 6
Effects of the sorrows of the Celestial Mama.
This morning I found myself outside of myself, and looking into the vault of the heavens I saw seven most refulgent suns – but their shape was different from the sun which we see. It started with the shape of a cross and it ended with a point, and this point was placed inside a heart. At the beginning it could not be seen clearly, because the light of these suns was so great as to not allow one to see who was inside of them, but the nearer I drew, the more clearly it appeared that the Queen Mama was within them. In my interior I kept saying: ‘How I would like to ask Her whether She wants me try to go out of this sta
te without waiting for the priest.’ In the meantime, I found myself near Her and I told Her; and She answered a curt “No”. I was left mortified by this answer, and the Most Holy Virgin turned to a multitude of people who surrounded Her, and said: “Listen to what she wants to do…” And everyone said: “No, no, she cannot…”
Then, drawing near me, all goodness, She told me: “My daughter, courage along the way of sorrow. See, these seven suns which come out from within my Heart are my seven sorrows which produced much glory and splendor for Me. These suns, the fruits of my sorrows, dart continuously through the throne of the Most Holy Trinity which, feeling wounded, sends Me seven channels of grace continuously, making Me the owner; and I dispense them for the glory of all Heaven, for the relief of purging souls, and for the benefit of pilgrim souls.” While saying this, She disappeared, and I found myself inside myself.

September 17, 1905 Volume 6
How one can participate in the sorrows of the Queen Mama.
Having been in great suffering because of the privation of my most sweet Jesus, this morning, the day of the Sorrows of Mary Most Holy, after I struggled in some way, He came and told me: “My daughter, what do you want that you so much yearn for Me?”
And I: ‘Lord, I yearn to have for myself that which You have for Yourself.’ And He: “My daughter, for Myself I have thorns, nails and cross.” And I: ‘Well then, that is what I want for myself.’ So He gave me His crown of thorns and let me share in the pains of the cross.
Then He added: “Everyone can share in the merits and in the goods produced by the sorrows of my Mother. One who, in advance, places herself in the hands of Providence, offering herself to suffer any kind of pains, miseries, illnesses, calumnies, and everything which the Lord will dispose upon her, comes to share in the first sorrow of the prophecy of Simeon. One who actually finds herself in a state of suffering, and is resigned, clings more tightly to Me, and does not offend Me, it is as if she were saving Me from the hands of Herod, and she keeps Me, safe and sound, within the Egypt of her heart. So she participates in the second sorrow. One who feels gloomy, dry, and deprived of my presence, and remains yet firm and faithful to her usual practices; even more, she takes the opportunity to love Me and to search for Me more, without tiring – comes to share in the merits and goods which my Mother acquired when I was lost. One who, in any circumstance, feels sorry in seeing Me gravely offended, despised, trampled upon, and tries to repair Me, to compassionate Me, and to pray for the very ones who offend Me – it is as if I encountered in that soul my own Mother, who would have freed Me from my enemies, had She been able to do so. So she shares in the fourth sorrow. One who crucifies her senses for love of my Crucifixion, and tries to copy the virtues of my Crucifixion within herself, participates in the fifth one. One who is in a continuous attitude of adoring, of kissing my wounds, of repairing, of thanking etc., in the name of all mankind, it is as if she were holding Me in her arms, just as my Mother held Me when I was deposed from the Cross – and she shares in Her sixth sorrow. One who remains in my grace and corresponds to it, giving a place to no one else but Me within her heart, it is as if she buried Me in the center of her heart – and she shares in the seventh one.”

Day Twenty-Seven
The Queen of Heaven in the Kingdom of the Divine Will.
Here sounds the Hour of Sorrow. The Passion.
A Deicide.
The Crying of all Nature.

The soul to her Sorrowful Mother:
My dear Sorrowful Mother, today, more than ever, I feel the irresistible need to be close to You. No, I will not move from your side, to be spectator of your bitter sorrows and to ask You, as your child, for the grace to place in me your sorrows and those of your Son Jesus, and also His very death; so that His death and your sorrows may give me the grace to make my will die continually, and make rise again, upon it, the life of the Divine Will.

Lesson of the Queen of Sorrows:
Dearest child, do not deny Me your company in so much bitterness. The Divinity has already decreed the last day of my Son down here. An Apostle has already betrayed Him, giving Him up into the hands of the Jews, to make Him die. My dear Son, taken by excess of love and not wanting to leave His children, whom He came to search for upon earth with so much love, has already left Himself in the Sacrament of the Eucharist, so that whoever wants Him, may possess Him. So, the life of my Son is about to end, and He is about to take flight to His Celestial Fatherland.
Ah! dear child, the Divine Fiat gave Him to Me, and in the Divine Fiat I received Him; and now, in the same Fiat, I give Him back. My Heart is torn; imm
ense seas of sorrows inundate Me; I feel life leaving Me because of the atrocious spasm. But nothing could I deny to the Divine Fiat; on the contrary, I felt disposed to sacrifice Him with my own hands, had It wanted it so. The strength of the Divine Will is omnipotent, and I felt such strength by virtue of It, that I would have contented Myself with dying rather than deny anything to the Divine Will.
Now, my child, listen to Me: my maternal Heart is drowned with pains; just thinking that my Son, my God, my Life, must die, is more than death for your Mama. Yet, I know I must live. What torment, what deep gashes form in my Heart, piercing It all the way through with sharp swords. Yet, dear child, I grieve in saying this, but I must say this to you: in these pains and deep gashes, and in the pains of my beloved Son, there was your soul – your human will. Since it would not let itself be dominated by the Will of God, We covered it with pains, We embalmed it, We fortified it with our pains, so that it would dispose itself to receive the life of the Divine Will.
Ah! if the Divine Fiat had noMy child, what a blow to my pierced Heart. Yet, I had to say it, because there were no forced pains in Us, but all voluntary. So We blessed each other, and exchanging that gaze which is not able to detach any more from the beloved, my dear Son, my sweet Life, departed; and I, your sorrowful Mama, stayed. But the eye of my soul never lost sight of Him. I followed Him into the Garden, in His terrible agony, and – oh! how my Heart bled in seeing Him abandoned by all, even by His most faithful and dear Apostles.
Dear child, the abandonment of dear ones is one of the greatest sorrows for a human heart in the stormy hours of life; especially for my Son, who had loved them so much and done so much good to them, and who was in the act of giving His life for the very ones who had just abandoned Him in the extreme hours of His life – even more, they had run away. What sorrow! What sorrow! And I, in seeing Him agonize and sweat Blood, agonized together with Him and sustained Him in my maternal arms. I was inseparable from my Son; His pains were reflected in my Heart, liquefied by sorrow and by love, and I felt them more than if they were my own. So I followed Him the whole night; there was not one pain or accusation they gave Him, which did not resound in my Heart. But, at the dawn of the morning, unable to endure any longer, accompanied by the disciple John, by Magdalene and other pious women, I wanted to follow Him step by step, also corporally, from one tribunal to another.
My dearest child, I heard the roaring of the lashes that fell upon the naked body of my Son; I heard the mockeries, the satanic laughter, and the blows they gave Him on His head when they crowned Him with thorns. I saw Him when Pilate showed Him to the people – disfigured and unrecognizable. I felt deafened by the “Crucify Him, Crucify Him!” I saw Him take the Cross upon His shoulders, exhausted, panting. And I, unable to refrain, hastened my step to give Him my last embrace and to dry His face, all wet with Blood. But – no! there was no pity for Us. The cruel soldiers pulled Him by the ropes and made Him fall. Dear child, what harrowing pain, not being able to help my dear Jesus in so many pains. Every pain opened a sea of sorrow in my pierced Heart. Finally, I followed Him to Calvary, where, amid unheard-of pains and horrible contortions, He was crucified and lifted up on the Cross. Only then was it conceded to Me to be at the foot of the Cross, to receive from His dying lips the gift of all my children, and the right and seal of my Maternity over all creatures. Shortly after, amid unheard-of spasms, He breathed His last.
All nature wore mourning, and cried over the death of its Creator. The sun cried, obscuring itself and withdrawing, horrified, from the face of the earth. The earth cried with a strong tremor, ripping open in various places, for the sorrow of the death of its Creator. All cried: the sepulchers by opening, the dead by rising; and even the veil of the Temple cried with sorrow by ripping open. All lost joy, and felt terror and fright. My child, your Mama remained petrified with sorrow, waiting to receive Him into my arms, to close Him in the sepulcher.
Now, listen to Me in my intense sorrow; with the pains of my Son I want to speak to you of the great evils of your human will. Look at Him in my sorrowful arms, how disfigured He is. He is the true portrait of the evils that the human will does to the poor creatures. My dear Son wanted to suffer so many pains in order to raise this will again – fallen into the abyss of all miseries; each pain of Jesus and each one of my sorrows called it to rise again in the Divine Will. Our love was so great that in order to place this human will in safety, We filled it with our pains, up to the point of drowning it and enclosing it inside the immense seas of my sorrows, and of those of my beloved Son.
Therefore, on this day of sorrows for your sorrowful Mother – and all for you – in return give Me your will, into my hands, that I may enclose it in the bleeding wounds of Jesus, as the most beautiful victory of His Passion and death, and as the triumph of my most bitter sorrows.

The soul:
Sorrowful Mama, your words wound my heart, and I feel myself dying in hearing that it was my rebellious will that made You suffer so much. Therefore I pray You to enclose it in the wounds of Jesus, that I may live of His pains and of your bitter sorrows.

Little Sacrifice:

Today, to honor Me, you will kiss the wounds of Jesus, speaking five acts of love, and praying to Me that my sorrows may seal your will in the opening of His sacred side.

Ejaculatory Prayer:
May the wounds of Jesus and the sorrows of my Mama give me the grace to make my will rise again in the Will of God.

FIAT!

“Let us be crystal clear that “Catholics for Choice “ is absurd.
The Murder of an unborn child is a sin that no Catholic can justly choose.”
A full page ad placed in the San Antonio Express-News, the Houston Chronicle and the Dallas Morning News on Monday, September 12, by so-called “Catholics for Choice” attempted to mis-lead the public by claiming that they are a legitimate voice of the Catholic Church. I applaud my brother bishops in those dioceses who quickly and clearly disavowed this group and made it crystal clear that they do not speak for Catholics in any legitimate way.
Although I am thankful that this group did not deem the Tyler market to be one that was worth their effort, I still felt I should speak out.
The teaching of the Catholic Church regarding the sanctity of life in the womb is ancient and clear. Certainly not every Catholic embraces this truth as fully as I would hope. But it is truly absurd and diabolical for a group which embraces the pro-choice, pro-death agenda, and denies life to countless human beings simply because they haven’t yet been born, to attempt to co-opt the term Catholic. As a Catholic Bishop, I often find myself ranting at the television in response to the latest statement of a politician, actor or other public figure, but I must remind myself that ranting at the television does no good.
As the November election approaches, let us all reflect deeply on the ills of our society and how we can find our way back to the truth. I believe we must start with the basics. When we choose a candidate for whatever level of public office, we MUST inquire as to their stand with regard to the life of the unborn. Of course it is not the only question, but the questions don’t get more basic than that. Our vote is very often the only voice we have and we MUST VOTE NO to abortion, to the selling of the body parts of aborted children, to the further erosion of the moral teachings that flow from the Gospel and to all the threats to the “Sanctity of Life” that our society faces.
I am well aware that very often we are unable to find a candidate who upholds the Sanctity of Life in all of its dimensions, but I believe we must begin with the most basic issues If a candidate for whatever office callously demands the slaughter of unborn children as a so-called right and vigorously supports organizations that profit from the multi-billion dollar abortion industry, then how can any other human right they may champion be truly meaningful?
Our beautiful Catholic faith, guided by the Holy Spirit teaches the world that human life begins at conception. In order to re-build our fractured human family, we must return to that precious beginning and stand tall for the Sanctity of Life. Let us pray that we may re-learn the beautiful truth that the conception of a child through the sexual union of a man and woman in Holy Matrimony is our most wondrous human act and that the child conceived is God’s most precious gift to the world.

Bishop Strickland

September 13, 2016

Read the statement of Cardinal Daniel DiNardo (Galveston-Houston), Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, M.Sp.S (San Antonio), Bishop Steven J. Lopes (Personal Ordinatriate of the Chair of St. Peter), and Bishop Kevin J. Farrell (Dallas).

http://www.bishopstrickland.com/index.php?id=729

FIAT!

Jesus embraces the Cross

Eighteenth Hour

The Hours of the Passion

My tortured Good, with You I repair, with You I suffer.  But I see that Your enemies hurl You down the stairs; the people await You with fury and eagerness; they make You find the Cross ready, which You long for with many sighs.  And You—with Love You gaze on It, and with firm step You approach It and embrace It.  But first Youkiss It, and as a shiver of Joy runs through Your Most Holy Humanity, with highest contentment You gaze on It again, measuring Its length and breadth.  In It, already, You establish the portion for each creature.  You dower them all, enough to bind them to the Divinity with a bond of Marriage, and make them heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven.  Then, unable to contain the Love with which You Love them, You kiss the Cross again, and say, “Adored Cross, finally I embrace you.  You were the longing of My Heart, the martyrdom of My Love.  But you, O Cross, have delayed until now, while My steps were always toward you.  Holy Cross, you were the goal of My desires, the purpose of My Existence down here.  In you I concentrate My whole Being, in you I place all My children, and you will be their Life, their Light, defense, custody and strength.  You will assist them in everything, and will bring them gloriously to Me in Heaven.  O Cross, Pulpit of Wisdom, you alone will teach True Sanctity; you alone will form the heroes, the athletes, the martyrs, the Saints.  Beautiful Cross, you are My Throne, and since I have to leave the earth, you will remain in My place.  To you I give all souls as dowry—keep them, save them; I entrust them to you!”

In saying this, eager, You let It be placed upon Your Most Holy Shoulders.  Ah, my Jesus, the Cross is too light for Your Love, but the weight of our sins unites to that of the Cross—enormous and immense, as the expanse of the Heavens.  And You, my wearied Good, You feel crushed under the weight of so many sins.  Your soul is horrified at their sight, and feels the pain of each sin.  Your Sanctity remains shaken before so much ugliness, and as the Cross weighs upon Your shoulders, You stagger, You pant, and a mortal sweat creeps through Your Most Holy Humanity.  Oh please, I pray you, my Love—I don’t have the heart to leave Youalone—I want to share the weight of the Cross with You; and to relieve You from the weight of sins, I cling to Your Feet.  I want to give You, in the name of all creatures, love for those who do not love You, praises for those who despise You, blessings, thanksgivings, obedience on behalf of all.  I promise that in any offense You receive, I intend to offer You all of myself in reparation, to do the acts opposite to the offenses the creatures give You, and to console You with my kisses and continuous acts of love.  But I see that I am too miserable; I need You to be able to really Repair You.  Therefore I unite myself to Your Most Holy Humanity, and together with You I unite my thoughts to Yours in order to Repair for the evil thoughts—mine, and of all; my eyes to Yours, to Repair for the evil glances; my mouth to Yours, to repair for the blasphemies and the evil discourses; my heart to Yours, to repair for the evil tendencies, desires and affections.  In a word, I want to Repair everything that Your Most Holy Humanity Repairs, uniting myself to the Immensity of Your Love for all, and to the Immense Good You do to all.  But I am not yet content.  I want to unite myself to Your Divinity, and I dissolve my nothingness in It, and in this way I give You Everything.  I give You Your Love to quench Your bitternesses; I give You Your Heart to relieve You from our coldness, lack of correspondence, ingratitude, and the little love of the creatures.  I give You Your Harmonies to cheer Your hearing from the deafening blasphemies It receives.  I give You Your Beauty to relieve You from the ugliness of our souls, when we muddy ourselves in sin.  I give You Your Purity to relieve You from the lack of righteous intention, and from the mud and rot You see in many souls.  I give You Your Immensity to relieve You from the voluntary constraints into which souls put themselves.  I give You Your Ardor to burn all sins and all hearts, so that all may Love You, and no one may offend You, ever again.  In sum, I give You all that You are, to give You Infinite Satisfaction, Eternal, Immense and Infinite Love.

FIAT!

Feast of the Nativity  of The Blessed Virgin Mary

and

The Gift of the Divine Will to Luisa Piccarreta

From the Writings of

The Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta

The Little Daughter of the Divine Will

9/8/29 – Vol. 26 The birth of the Virgin was there birth of all humanity.

My poor mind was wandering in the immense Sea of the Divine Fiat, in which everything is in act, as if there were no past and no future, but everything present and everything in act.  So, whatever thing it wants to find of the works of its Creator in the Divine Will, my little soul finds it as if It were just doing it, in act.

And since I was thinking about the birth of my Celestial Mama, to give Her my poor homages, and I was calling all Creation together with me to sing the praises of the Sovereign Queen, my sweet Jesus told me:  “My daughter, I too, together with you and with all Creation, want to sing the praises of the birth of the height of My Mama.  You must know that this birth enclosed within itself the rebirth of the whole human family, and all Creation felt reborn in the birth of the Queen of Heaven.  Everything exulted with gladness—they felt happy to have their Queen.  Up to that moment, they had felt like a people without its Queen, and in their muteness they were waiting for that happy day in order to break their silence, and say:  ‘Glory, love, honor to She who comes into our midst as our Queen.  We shall no longer be without defense, without anyone who dominates us, without feast, because She has arisen, who forms our everlasting glory.’

“This Celestial Baby Girl, by keeping Our Divine Will intact within Her soul, without ever doing Her own, reacquired all the rights of Adam innocent before Her Creator, and the sovereignty over all Creation.  Therefore, all felt themselves being reborn in Her, and We saw in this Holy Virgin, in Her little Heart, all the seeds of the human generations.  So, through Her, humanity reacquired the rights lost, and this is why Her birth was the most beautiful, the most glorious birth.  From Her very birth, She enclosed within Her maternal little Heart, as though in-between two wings, all generations, as children reborn in Her virginal Heart, so as to warm them, keep them sheltered, and raise them and nourish them with the blood of Her maternal Heart.

“This is the reason why this tender Celestial Mother loves creatures so much—because all are reborn in Her, and She feels the life of Her children within Her Heart.  What can Our Divine Will not do wherever It reigns and has Its life?  It encloses everything and everyone, and makes one the provider of good to all.  So, all feel, under Her blue mantle, the maternal wing of their Celestial Mother, and they find in Her maternal Heart their little place in which to take cover.

“Now, My daughter, one who lives in My Divine Will renews her rebirth and redoubles the rebirths for all human generations.  When My Supreme Will lives inside a heart and lays the fullness of Its endless light within it, It centralizes everything and everyone, It does everything, It renews everything, It gives back all that, for centuries upon centuries, It has not been able to give through the other creatures.  So, this creature can be called the dawn of the day, the daybreak that calls the sun, the sun that gladdens all the earth, illuminates it, warms it, and with its wings of light, more than tender mother, embraces everything, fecundates everything; and with its kiss of light, it gives the most beautiful tints to flowers, the most delicious sweetness to fruits, maturity to all plants.  Oh! if My Divine Will reigned in the midst of creatures, how many prodigies would It not operate in their midst?

“Therefore, be attentive; everything you do in My Divine Fiat is a rebirth that you have in It; and to be reborn in It means to be reborn in the Divine order, to be reborn in the light, to be reborn in the sanctity, in the love, in the beauty.  And in each act of My Will, the human will undergoes a death, dying to all evils, and it lives again to all goods.”

9/8/32 – Vol. 31 Prodigy of the Birth of the Queen of Heaven.  Ways of communication between Creator and creature.  What forms Nobility.

My little mind is always running inside and outside of the Divine Volition, and for however much it goes around I am never tired.  I feel a Mysterious Strength that, enticing me, never says enough to me, but says:  “Run, seek Its Acts, Love them, adore them, kiss them, and Transform yours to Its, and form all your Life of Divine Will.”

And if I do not know how to say anything, in my courses and rounds I tell my little tale:  “I love You, I love You, I adore You, I bless You, O Adorable Will, in all Your Works.”  And since today is the Nativity of the Queen of Heaven, I stopped to think about the Great Portent of Her Birth in which it seemed Heavens and earth were at attention in order to adore this Divine Prodigy.

And my Highest Good Jesus, with Indescribable Love and Tenderness, told me:  “Blessed daughter of My Will, the Birth of My Celestial Mama encloses all Wonders, all Prodigies united together—but do you know why?  She was not only born Pure, Holy, Beautiful, Immaculate, no, no, but My Divine Will was born together with the Celestial Little Baby Girl.  It was already Conceived and enclosed in Her in order to form Its Operating and Growing Life in the Gracious Little Baby Girl.  My Will enclosed Itself in order to be born together with Her, to make use of the organ of this Celestial Creature in order to Operate and form Its Divine Life.

“This was a Prodigy that only the Eternal Love, the Divine Wisdom and Power, could work.  It was not only Life that was given to Her, nor only the Gift of being free from original sin—this would have been nothing for Our Power.  What was amazing and called the attention of everyone, was My Will that was Born together with Her into the world, so much so that the Heavens and earth remained shaken by it, placed themselves at attention, and felt a Mysterious Strength, that same Strength that Dominated and Conserved the whole of Creation.  It was Our very Will that moved everything, and placed Itself and the whole of Creation at the service and disposition of this Newborn Baby Girl.

“So this Birth of My Will together with Her was the Origin that called all the other Prodigies to Centralize them in Her.  Where My Fiat Reigns there is no Good that It does not enclose, nor Prodigy that It does not complete.  It wants to display Its Love and Power by forming Its Operating Life, and placing of Its Own for however much it is possible for a creature to contain.   Therefore, admire and thank Our Supreme Being that arrives at so much Love toward this Newborn Baby Girl as to let Our Unborn Will, that has neither beginning, nor end, nor limits in Its confines, be born in Her.”

So I followed the Work of the Divine Will in all created things, and my Lovable Jesus added:  “My daughter, created things were done by Us in order to form many ways so that man could make use of them to come to Us.  Therefore, We left everything open, so that when he wanted to come he would not need to knock or open in order to come to Us.  He was Our Son, it was Just and Reasonable that all the ways to go to his Celestial Father be held open, and We be with each other in order to Love him and be Loved, and as son to ask for Graces and Favors.  But do you know what this ungrateful son did?  He himself closed the ways, he formed the bars, and by sinning he formed the doors, closing the correspondence with One who had given him Life.

“Now, do you know who returns to open the doors, to burn the bars?  One who Loves Me and Lives in My Divine Will.  Love and My Fiat are Powerful Forces that burn and empty everything, and they open all the ways to place the distant son again in the arms of his Celestial Father.  Now, you must know that all the virtues, the good works, the love, and doing My Divine Will, form the Nobility of man.  But the substance of this Nobility is the wealth of My Grace.  All good becomes leaned on It, which becomes the Font and Conservator of all the good that he can do.  Otherwise one can say that man is Noble by Origin, but since he lacks the wealth, he finds himself almost by necessity doing acts not Worthy of his Nobility.  Indeed, if one is noble and is not rich, he cannot dress nobly, or live in palaces.  In this way his nobility is reduced to only the memory that he was noble.  So, in one who does not possess the wealth of My Grace, all good is reduced to squalid virtue that very often makes seen that he is not rich with patience, with prayer, with charity, and so forth.  Now, good forms Nobility, the wealth of My Grace conserves it, My Will forms the King who Dominates and with Divine Mastery Rules and Orders all.

Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will – Day Ten: The soul to the Queen of Heaven

“Here I am, O Holy Mama, near Your cradle, to be spectator of Your Prodigious Birth. The heavens are stupefied, the sun is fixed upon You with its light, the earth exults with joy and feels honored to be inhabited by its Little Newborn Queen; the Angels compete among themselves in surrounding Your cradle, to honor You and to be ready for Your wishes. So, all honor You and want to celebrate Your birth. I too unite myself with all, and prostrate before Your cradle, where I see, as though enraptured, Your mother Anne and Your father Joachim, I want to tell You my first word, I want to entrust to You my first secret. I want to empty my heart into Yours, and say to You: “My Mama, You who are the Dawn, Herald of the Divine Fiat upon the earth, O please! put to flight the gloomy night of the human will in my soul and in the whole world. Ah! yes, may Your birth be our hope which, like a New Dawn of Grace, may regenerate us in the Kingdom of the Divine Will.”

Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will – Day Twelve: The soul to the Celestial Little Queen

“Here I come again to You, my dear little Baby, in the house of Nazareth. I want to be spectator of Your tender age; I want to give You my hand as You take Your first steps and speak with Your holy mama and with Your father Joachim. Little as You are, after you have learned how to walk, You help Saint Anne in the little tasks. My little Mama, how dear You are to me, and all striking. O please! give me Your Lessons, that I may follow Your childhood and learn from You, also in the little human actions, to live in the Kingdom of the Divine Will.”

The soul:

“Holy Mama, who can resist seeing You cry and not listening to Your holy lessons? I, with all my heart, promise, swear, never to do my will – never again. And You, Divine Mama – never leave me alone, so that the Empire of Your presence may crush my will, to let me reign, always – always in the Will of God.”

Ejaculatory Prayer: “Powerful Queen, captivate my heart, to enclose it in the Will of God.”

FIAT!

Sr. Claire Ferchaud, Loublande / France:

Jesus said that; “His Heart was broken and slashed by the sins of mankind.  But He had an even deeper wound, that people do not believe in God.”

The following are the Promises of Our Merciful Savior to Sister Claire Ferchaud, of Loublande, France:

“I come not to bring terror among you; I am the God of love, the God who forgives and wants to save you all.”

“My grace will work with great power on sinners who, without contrition, kneel before the picture of My broken Heart, so that they will arise converted.”

“I will forgive their sins, even before the absolution, to those who with a true love kiss the picture of My broken Heart.”

“My glance will touch the hearts of the indifferent and will inflame them with favor so that they will practice goodness.”

” Only an act of love with the plea for forgiveness towards this picture will be enough for Me to open heaven to the soul which in the last hour must appear before Me.”

“When some refuse to believe in the truths of religion, one can put the picture of My broken Heart in their room (dwelling) without their knowledge. It will bring, through the wonder of graces, sudden and supernatural conversions.”

This is what is said to have transpired when Jesus appeared to Claire.  “He bared his sacred heart, and told her that God was on the side of France, and would lead the country to victory – so long as the country confessed its sins and rediscovered its true faith. Jesus pointed towards the wound on his heart, and explained “This signifies the official atheism of France.” Since the revolution, the French had denied their faith and substituted secular laws for the Gospel.”

FIAT!

Posted from the Official Luisa Piccarreta Website:

Official Association Luisa Piccarreta

 Official Website News

XXIII Sunday in Ordinary Time

Evangelical consistency
9/2/2016

Dear brothers and sisters, Fiat!
The Gospel of Luke, in the passage of Jesus’ journey toward Jerusalem, presents to us some messages that mean to descend into peoples’ heart. Jesus sees a lot of people who follow Him and therefore He turns back and explains what Christianity involves. Jesus is achieving a great fame and many people are attracted to Him but, as it often happens, the amount of people does not correspond to the quality and transparency of the life style. Jesus speaks openly and says that whoever does not carry his cross and follow Him cannot be His disciple.

Then He piles it on when He says to hate loves one because of the Gospel. The context makes us understand that to hate must not be interpreted in the sense of going against the fourth commandment, but it actually means “to love less than” or “to put behind”.

Jesus says that it is not easy to follow Him because you have put Him in first place always, so not even family links can impede God’s lordship over man.

Then Jesus mentions two parables taken from the Jewish context, but they refer to all times.

The first parable concerns a builder and the second a king, with a similar message: before starting any endeavour, you have to pause and reflect and to consider whether you are able to complete the work. The architect and the king accomplish this kind of effort, why doesn’t the Christian work in this perspective?

Jesus, at the end, reiterates the saying of being peoples capable of giving up all our possessions to gain eternal life.

Sometimes we take these passages lightly, or we say that they are too challenging.

But if we go down deep, we can see that we must grow and that it is important to make choices consistent with our belief. The radicality of the evangelical choice invites us not only to assert some ideas, but to accomplish them, even if we are aware of the cost of that choice. If we are called to choose between Jesus and money, pleasure or a career lived in such a way to destroy other people, we must undoubtedly choose Jesus. He invites us to meditate and consider if we want to become Christians or not , avoiding the risk of being tepid people or keeping a foot in both camps.

The Gospel seems to tell us to empty ourselves of all that is human, so that our will may rise up to Heaven and the Divine Will descend upon earth

Nothing enters into Heaven to live communal life with God, if it not completely divinized and transformed completely into Him; nor can His Divine Will descend upon earth and carry out Its Life as within Its own center if It does not find the human will emptied of everything, so as to fill it with all the goods which God’s Will contains.

So the human will be nothing other than a most thin veil, which will serve Him to cover Himself and to dwell inside of it, almost like a consecrated host, in which God forms His Life, He does all the good He wants, He prays, He suffers, He enjoys. And the host does not oppose – it leaves Him free; its office is to be there to keep Him hidden, and to comply in mute silence to preserve His Sacramental Life.

This is the point we are at: our will entering Heaven, and God’s Will descending upon earth. Therefore, our will must no longer have life – it must have no reason to exist.

The same happened to Jesus’ Humanity: though It had a human will, this will was all intent on giving life to the Divine Will. It never arbitrated itself, not even to breathe on its own, but its breath also it would take and give in the Divine Will. This is why the Eternal Will reigned in His Humanity on earth as It does in Heaven, It lived Its terrestrial Life in It, and Jesus’ human will, fully sacrificed to the Divine, impetrated that, at the appropriate time, the Divine would descend upon earth to live in the midst of creatures, just as It lives in Heaven.

Jesus entrusts Luisa an important task – to live in the midst of the Most Holy Trinity and to make all that is theirs hers own, and to give it to Them on behalf of her brothers; so that, drawn by what is Theirs, They may be bound to the human generations, and give them, once again, the supreme kiss of the union of their will with God’s Will, which He gave man in Creation.”

Today we have changed the order of values, so what is necessary has become superfluous; having, appearances and power have become the criteria of our life, and we have lost the sense of simplicity, of listening, of dialogue, of silence, of reflection.

We are full of things, but empty of meaning and hope. This is the greatest poverty that we are experiencing today. May the Lord grant us the strength to put into practice these teachings through clear choices to be lived in faith, even at the cost of paying personally.

Fiat!
don Marco

The spiritual works of mercy

The last farewell to Don John Olin Brown

Monday, August 22, 2016, in the Parish of Mater Gratiae, Oasis of Nazareth in Corato the last farewell was given to Don John Olin Brown.

His funeral rite was presided by His Excellency Archbishop Giovan Battista Pichierri, with the presence of Mons. Savino Giannotti, Vicar General of the Archdiocese and part of the diocesan clergy.

John Olin Brown was ordained a priest in Trani on November19, 1994. It was the deacon Vincenzo Dileccedi who traced his memory, by reading some of Don John’s autobiographical thoughts

He was born in 1952 in a small town near Dallas, Texas. He graduated in philosophy in 1974. He came from a family that was rooted in the Evangelical Church. He had a brother and an aunt who were Pastors of the Methodist Church. His family was considered sufficiently religious. In his country there was not even a Catholic Church, and he never supposed he could to convert to Catholicism.

He received a very rigid moral education from his father. Since he was a child, he felt a special attraction to the Lord, however his vocation, developed over time. After being admitted to the university, he began to feel more strongly the vocational problem and he tried to focus on the philosophical study thinking that in the future he could become involved in the Methodist Church. Meanwhile, he postponed his choice and went back to the “ranch” to work with his father as a cowboy.

After his father’s death he felt free to go back to that “fixed idea” of a God that was tormenting him. During a vacation in Minnesota he met a Jesuit priest who fascinated him with his speech on the Catholic Church, he remained with him for a long period of time, after which he converted to Catholicism. Since he was attracted by the monastic life he lived for a year at a Trappist monastery in Iowa. At that time he learned about the writings of Luisa Piccarreta well known in America, Canada and Mexico,  and they were as a completion of his conversion.

Therefore, he come to Italy, he arrived in Corato to visit the Association of Luisa, where he was welcomed by President Sister Assunta Marigliano and the Ordinary of the place, Mons.. Giuseppe Carata who suggested him to finish his theological studies he had begun in Rome. The writings of Luisa, full of high spirituality, managed to give him an existential response that he was unable to find either in philosophy or in several Catholic spiritual currents. His stay in Corato coincided with the period in which the association got, thanks to His Excellency Archbishop Mons. Carmelo Cassati the “non obstare” from the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints to open the process of the Cause for the Beatification of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta..

At Corato, he was amazed at the lack of knowledge by people about the figure of Luisa that instead was well known abroad and, at the same time, he was impressed by the generosity and affection of the people of Corato. He considered himself fortunate to have been formed in the priesthood in the spirituality of Luisa, because what the Servant of God did in her life, embraced and embraces the spirituality of all priests : sanctify themselves for the Kingdom of God. This was also the yearning that Don John always had.

After the proclamation of the Word of God, His Excellency Mons. Pichierri further described the figure of father John: after an absence of about twenty years, he returned to our diocese, where he had become a priest and in which he had exercised the first steps of his ministry, celebrating his first solemn Mass right in the sanctuary ofMadonna delle Grazie, on November20 1994 ( the day when the diocesan inquiry on the servant of God Luisa Piccarreta opened)

The archbishop recalled that during a talk he had this year with Don John on his return, he felt in his heart Don John’s great desire not to “fly” over and to stay forever in the land of Luisa Piccarreta, the little creature, the littlest among all people of Corato, towards whom he felt a deep gratitude. Due to a severe lung infection he was hospitalized at first in the hospital of Corato and then in Trani, in intensive care, where he died.

He became a priest in Trani, and he died in Trani on August 20.

The Archbishop pointed out that for our Diocese, welcoming the mortal remains of father John is to be considered a special grace because it allows us to accomplish one of the corporal works of mercy: to bury the dead.

The archbishop also reiterated that the Diocese undertook to establish contacts with his native land, speaking with some of his relatives who immediately expressed their wish to have him there, but given the bureaucratic hurdles and Don John’s desire to stay in the land of Luisa, it was decided to bury him in the cemetery of Corato.

The Archbishop stated: “For me, Father John is a beautiful testimony on the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta, we must therefore be able to preserve the memory of this priest  non only as priests,  but also as people.”

Don John was no longer the handsome giant of the early days, now he appeared meek as a lamb, always able to say thanks to all those  people who approached him to help him.

His conversion is the fruit of the love of God, a God that John had found in the Catholic Church, he served as a priest the Church and announced the Kingdom. Then, the Archbishop exhorted the brothers priests to serve with joy the people that Christ has entrusted to them to walk together towards the eternal Kingdom, that Kingdom where the first creature who was assumed into Heaven has become the Queen of Heaven and earth with our King Jesus Christ.

Don Jon felt this intensely, since he had begun to follow the little daughter of the Divine Will.

Let’s pray that he will be received by the Father and could be considered a small son of the Divine Will.

Jesus says ”the children of the Kingdom of the Divine Will will be those that will render Her the honors of Queen and transforming themselves into suns they will form for Her the most beautiful crown” , may also Don John offer his life turned into sun as a proof of honor and glory.

It is very remarkable that his funeral was celebrated on the day in which the liturgical calendar of the Church commemorates the Blessed Virgin Mary, invoked under the title of Queen.

As each soul enters into Heaven through Mary and by virtue of her motherhood and her pain, we hope that the Blessed Virgin welcomed him and handed over to her Son.

After the Mass, in an atmosphere of sadness and feelings shared by all, the coffin, which was carried on the shoulders by some brothers priests was placed in the hearse.

FIAT!