Our Lady of the Holy Rosary
In the Divine Will
From the Writings of
The Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta
The Little Daughter of the Divine Will
Dedicated to Our Lady of the Holy Rosary
Volume 25 – October 7, 1928
The opening of the House of the Divine Will in Corato. Simile of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. My entrance into it. The eucharistic lamp and the living lamp of one who does the Divine Will. The prisoner near the Prisoner. Jesus’ delight at this company.
My Jesus, Life of my poor heart, You who know in what bitternesses I find myself, come to my help! Overwhelm the little newborn of your Divine Volition into your flames, that You may give me, again, the strength to be able to begin another volume, and your Divine Fiat may eclipse my miserable will, that it may have life no more, and your Divine Will may take over, and It Itself may write, with the characters of Its light, that which You, my Love, want me to write. And so that I may make no mistake, act as my prompter; and only if You commit Yourself to accepting to be my word, thought and heartbeat, and to lead my hand with yours, can I make the sacrifice of returning to write what You want. My Jesus, I am here, near the Tabernacle of love. From that adored little door which I have the honor to gaze at, I feel your divine fibers, your Heart palpitating, emitting flames and rays of endless light at each heartbeat; and in those flames I hear your moans, your sighs, your incessant supplications and your repeated sobs, for You want to make your Will known, to give Its life to all; and I feel myself being consumed with You and repeating what You do. Therefore I pray You, while You gaze at me from within the Tabernacle, and I gaze at You from within my bed, to strengthen my weakness, that I may make the sacrifice of continuing to write.
Now, in order to be able to say what Jesus told me, I have to make a brief mention – that here in Corato a House has been founded, which was wanted and started by the venerable memory of father canonical Annibale Maria di Francia, and which his children, faithful to the will of their founder, have executed and given the name of House of the Divine Will, as the venerable father wanted. And he wanted me to enter this House; and on the first day of its opening, by their goodness, his sons and daughter, the reverend mothers, came to take me and brought me into a room which is such that, as the door of this room is opened, I can see the Tabernacle, I can listen to Holy Mass, I am just under the gazes of my Jesus in the Sacrament. Oh! how happy I feel, that from now on, if Jesus wants me to continue to write, I will write always keeping one eye on the Tabernacle and the other on the paper I write on. Therefore, I pray You, my Love, to assist me and to give me the strength to make the sacrifice that You Yourself want.
So, as this House was about to be opened, one could see people, nuns, little girls – people coming and going, all in motion. I felt all impressed, and my sweet Jesus, moving in my interior, told me: “My daughter, this group of people whom you see all in motion for the opening of the House of my Divine Will is symbolic of that group of people when I wanted to be born in Bethlehem, and the shepherds were coming and going, to visit Me, a little Baby. This pointed out to all the certainty of my birth. In the same way, this group of people, all in motion, points out the rebirth of the Kingdom of my Divine Will. Look at how all of Heaven echoes my birth, when the Angels, celebrating it, announced Me to the shepherds, and putting them in motion, made them keep coming to Me, and I recognized in them the first fruits of the Kingdom of my Redemption. So now, in this group of people, of little girls and nuns, I recognize the beginning of the Kingdom of my Divine Will. Oh! how my Heart exults and rejoices, and all of Heaven makes feast. Just as the Angels celebrated my birth, so do they celebrate the beginning of the rebirth of my Fiat in the midst of creatures. But, look at how my birth was more neglected, more poor – I had not even one priest near Me, but only poor shepherds. On the other hand, at the beginning of my Volition, there is not only a group of nuns and little girls from out of town, and a people rushing up to celebrate the opening, but there is an archbishop and priests representing my Church. This is symbol and announcement to all, that the Kingdom of my Divine Volition will be formed with more magnificence, with greater pomp and splendor than the very Kingdom of my Redemption; and everyone, kings and princes, bishops and priests and peoples, will know the Kingdom of my Fiat and will possess It. Therefore, you too, celebrate this day in which my sighs and sacrifices, and yours, to make my Divine Will known see the first dawn and hope for the Sun of my Divine Fiat to soon rise.”
Then, the evening came of this day consecrated to the Queen of the Rosary, Queen of victories and of triumphs. And this is another beautiful sign that, just as the Sovereign Lady conquered Her Creator, and bejewelling Him with Her chains of love, She drew Him from Heaven to earth, to make Him form the Kingdom of Redemption, so will the sweet and powerful beads of Her Rosary make Her victorious and triumphant again before the Divinity, conquering the Kingdom of the Divine Fiat, to make It come into the midst of creatures.
I had not at all thought that, on that very evening, I would move to the House of Divine Will, near my Prisoner Jesus; only, I prayed Him not to let me know when this would be, so as not to profane such an act with my human will, so that I might put nothing of my own, but do the Divine Will in everything. It was eight o’clock in the evening when, out of the ordinary, the confessor came, who, prayed by the reverend mothers superior, imposed out of obedience that I should surrender and make the superior content. I resisted quite a bit, because I thought that if the Lord wanted so, it would be in the month of April, a warmer season, and so we would think about it then. But the confessor insisted so much that I had to surrender. So, around nine thirty in the evening, I was brought to this House, near my Prisoner Jesus. And this is the little story of why I find myself in the House of the Divine Will.
Now I resume my speaking. At night, I remained alone with my Jesus in the Sacrament; my eyes were fixed on the little door of the Tabernacle. It seemed to me that the lamp, with its continuous flickering, was about to go out, but then it would revive again; and my heart gave a jump, fearing that Jesus might remain in the dark. And my always lovable Jesus, moving in my interior, clasped me in His arms and told me: “My daughter, do not fear, for the lamp will not go out; and if it did go out, I have you, living lamp – a lamp which, with your flickering, more than with the flickering of the eucharistic lamp, tells Me: ‘I love You, I love You, I love You….’ Oh! how beautiful is the flickering of your ‘I love You’; your flickering says love to Me, and uniting with my Will, from two wills we form one alone. Oh! how beautiful is your lamp and the flickering of your ‘I love You’. It cannot be compared to the lamp that burns before my Tabernacle of love. More so since, my Divine Will being in you, you form the flickering of your ‘I love You’ in the center of the Sun of my Fiat, and I see and hear, not a lamp, but a sun burning before Me. My prisoner be welcomed. You have come to keep company with your Prisoner; we are both in prison – you, in bed, and I, in the Tabernacle. It is right that we be close to each other; more so, since one is the purpose that keeps us in prison – the Divine Will, love, souls. How pleasing will the company of my prisoner be to Me; we will feel it together, to prepare the Kingdom of the Supreme Fiat. But, know, my daughter, that my love has anticipated you; I was first in putting Myself, prisoner, in this cell, to wait for my prisoner and your sweet company. See, then, how my love was first in running toward you; how I have loved you, and I love you, for in so many centuries of imprisonment in this Tabernacle I never had a prisoner who would keep Me company, who would remain so very close to Me; I have always been alone, or, at the most, in the company of souls who were not prisoners, in whom I did not see my same chains. Now, finally, the time has come for Me to have a prisoner, to keep her constantly near Me, under my sacramental gazes – one whom the chains of my Divine Will alone keep imprisoned. A sweeter and more pleasing company could not come to Me. And so, while we are together in prison, we will occupy ourselves with the Kingdom of the Divine Fiat, and will work together, and will sacrifice ourselves together, to make It known to creatures.”
Volume 34 – December 20, 1936
…“Now you should know that, our love is not content, it never says enough, how much more it gives more it wants to give and when we give it is our feast, we prepare the table to one who loves us and we press her to remain with us, in order to have life together. Now my daughter, listen to another prodigy of our Fiat in this Holy Creature, and how She loved us and made her Maternity extend to all creatures. In every act that she did, if she loved, prayed, adored, if she suffered, everything even the breath, the heartbeat, the step, being our Fiat, they were triumphs and victories that our Supreme Being made in the acts of the Virgin, the Celestial Lady triumphed and conquered in God, in every instant of her admirable and prodigious life they were triumphs and victories between God and the Virgin; but this is nothing, doing as True Mother she called all her children, and covered and hid all their acts in hers and covered them with her triumphs and with her victories, giving all her acts as dowry, with all her victories and her triumphs. And then with a tenderness and love as to break hearts and feel ourselves conquered she said to us: Adorable majesty, look at them, they are all my children, my victories and triumphs are of my children, they are my conquests that I give to them, and if the Mama has conquered and triumphed, the children have conquered and triumphed. And so many triumphs and victories she did in God, for how many acts all creatures would have done, so that everyone might be able to say: I am endowed by the acts of my Queen Mama, and for seal she has invested them with me with her triumphs and victories that she made with her Creator.
“So that who wants to make herself holy finds the dowry of her Celestial Mother and her triumphs and victories in order to arrive to the greatest sanctity, the weak one finds the strength of the sanctity of her Mama and her triumphs in order to be strong, the afflicted one, the suffering one finds the dowry of the sufferings of her Celestial Mother in order to obtain the triumph, the victory of resignation, the sinner finds the victory and the triumph of pardon, in short everyone finds in this Sovereign Queen the dowry, the support, the help to the state in which they find themselves. And oh, how beautiful it is, it is the most moving scene, enrapturing and enchanting, to see this Celestial Mother in every single creature, that she does as Mama, we feel her that she loves and prays in her children. This is the greatest prodigy between Heaven and earth, good more great we could not give to creatures.
Luisa’s Day
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 – after several hours of work –
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.
Excerpt from Letter 35. To Mr. Vincenzo Messina, imprisoned in the jail of Favignana, Trapani
Know that I am your sister in prison. For more than fifty years the Supreme Fiat has kept me imprisoned in a bed. Yet, I am glad – I am happy; but what makes me happy? The Divine Will, Which I try to do always. You too can be happy, if you do the Divine Will. Oh, how It will change your bitterness! You will feel a true divine strength that will ease your painful state. Never neglect the Rosary to the Celestial Mother, and if you can, be a missionary in the prison, by making known that the Queen of Heaven wants to visit all the prisoners to give them the gift of the Divine Will. And if you need some more copies and you cannot pay, I am willing to send them for free. I leave you under the mantle of the Celestial Mother, listening to Her lessons of Heaven – and with a thousand regards, I say,
your most affectionate sister,
LUISA PICCARRETA
The Round of the Soul in the Divine Will
Meditations for the Holy Rosary
From the Writings of the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta,
The Little Daughter of the Divine Will
THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES
1. The Annunciation (Humility)
Our Celestial Mother: “Your Mama felt ignited with love, and echoing the love of my Creator, I wanted to form one single sea of love, so that the Word might descend upon earth within it. My prayers were incessant, and while I was praying in my little room, an angel came, sent from Heaven as messenger of the great King. He came before me, and bowing, he hailed me: “Hail, O Mary, our Queen; the Divine Fiat has filled you with grace. He has already pronounced His Fiat, for He wants to descend; He is just behind my shoulders, but He wants your Fiat to form the fulfillment of His Fiat.”
At such a great announcement, so much desired by me – although I had never thought I was to be the chosen one – I was stupefied and I hesitated one instant. But the angel of the Lord told me: “Do not fear, our Queen, for you have found grace before God. You have conquered your Creator; therefore, to complete the victory – pronounce your Fiat.”
I pronounced my Fiat, and – oh, marvel! The two Fiats fused together and the Divine Word descended into Me. My Fiat, receiving the same value as the Divine Fiat, from the seed of my humanity, formed the tiny little humanity which was to enclose the Word, and so the great prodigy of the Incarnation was accomplished.” (From “The Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will”; Day 19)
2. The Visitation (Charity)
Our Celestial Mother: “…So I departed from Nazareth, accompanied by Saint Joseph, facing a long journey, and crossing mountains to go visit Elisabeth in Judea, who, in her advanced age, had miraculously become a mother.
I went to her, not to make a simple visit, but because I burned with the desire to bring her Jesus. The fullness of grace, love and light which I felt in me, pushed me to bring, to multiply – to increase a hundredfold the life of my Son in creatures.
Yes, my child, the love of Mother which I had for all men, and for you in particular, was so great that I felt the extreme need to give my dear Jesus to everyone, that all might possess Him and love Him. The right of Mother, given to me by the Fiat, enriched me with such power as to multiply Jesus as many times as there are creatures who want to receive Him. This was the greatest miracle I could perform: to have Jesus ready to give to whomever desired Him. How happy I felt!
How I wish that you too, my child, in approaching and visiting people, would always be the bearer of Jesus, capable of making Him known, and yearning to make Him loved.”
“Dearest child, the Divine Will does great and unheard-of things wherever It reigns. If I worked many prodigies, it was because It had Its royal place in me. If you let the Divine Will reign in your soul, you too will become the bearer of Jesus to the creatures – you too will feel the irresistible need to give Him to all!” (From “The Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will”; Meditation 1, Appendix)
3.The Birth of Jesus (Love of God)
Luisa: “As I was in my usual state, I found myself outside of myself; after wandering around, I found myself in a cave, and I saw the Queen Mama giving birth to Little Baby Jesus. What a wonderful prodigy! It seemed that both Mother and Son were transformed into most pure light. But in that light one could see very clearly 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. Here is the prodigy of prodigies: God and Man, Man and God! Without leaving the Father and the Holy Spirit – because true love never separates – He comes to live in our midst, taking on human flesh. 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. 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. Who can tell of the beauty of the Little Baby, who, in the moment of His birth, transfused, also externally, the rays of the Divinity?” (From Vol. 4; December 25, 1900)
4. The Presentation and Consecration of Jesus in the Temple (Obedience)
Our Celestial Mother: “Forty days from the birth of little King Jesus are about to sound – when the Divine Fiat calls us to the temple in order to fulfill the law of the Presentation of my Son. So, we went to the temple. It was the first time that we went out together with my sweet baby. A vein of sorrow opened in my heart: I was going to offer Him as victim for the salvation of all! We entered the temple, and first we adored the Divine Majesty; then we called the priest, and placing Him in his arms, I made the offering of the celestial baby to the eternal Father – offering Him in sacrifice for the salvation of all. The priest was Simeon, and as I placed Him in his arms, he recognized that He was the Divine Word and exulted with immense joy; and after the offering, assuming the attitude of prophet, he prophesied all my sorrows… Oh, how the Supreme Fiat sounded over my maternal heart – thoroughly, with vibrating sound, the cruel tragedy of all the pains of my little Son! But that which pierced me the most were the words that the holy prophet said to me: “This dear baby will be the salvation and ruin of many, and will be the target of contradictions.”
If the Divine Will had not sustained me, I would have died instantly of pure pain. But It gave me life, and used it to form in me the Kingdom of sorrows, within the Kingdom of Its Will. Therefore, in addition to the right of Mother which I had over all, I acquired the right of Mother and Queen of all Sorrows. Ah, yes, with my sorrows, I acquired the little coin to pay the debts of my children, and even those of the ungrateful children…
“Now, listen to your Mama: in your sufferings, in the painful encounters which are not lacking for you, never lose heart; but with heroic love let the Divine Will assume Its royal place in your pains, so that It may convert them into little coins of infinite value, with which you will be able to pay the debts of your brothers – to ransom them from the slavery of the human will, and make them enter again, as free children, into the Kingdom of the Divine Will.” (From “The Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will”; Day 23)
5. The Finding of Jesus in the Temple (Joy)
Our Celestial Mother: “…After three days of most bitter sighs, tears, anxieties and fears, we entered the temple. I was all eyes and looked everywhere, when, finally, overcome with jubilation, I saw my Son in the midst of the doctors of the law! He was speaking with such wisdom and majesty as to make those who were listening remain enraptured and amazed. Only in seeing Him, I felt life come back to me, and soon I understood the secret reason of His being lost.
And now, a little word to you, dearest child. In this mystery, my Son wanted to give to me and to you, a sublime teaching. Could you perhaps assume that He was ignoring what I was suffering?
On the contrary, my tears, my searching, and my cruel and intense sorrow, resounded in His heart. Yet, during those hours, so painful, He sacrificed to the Divine Will, His own Mama, the one whom He loves so much, in order to show me how I too, one day, was to sacrifice His own Life to the Divine Will.
In this unspeakable pain, I did not forget you, my beloved one. Thinking that it would serve as an example for you, I kept it at your disposal, so that you too, at the appropriate time, might have the strength to sacrifice everything to the Divine Will. As Jesus finished speaking, we approached Him reverently, and addressed Him with a sweet reproach: “Son, why have you done this to us?” And He, with divine dignity, answered us: “Why did you look for me? Did you not know that I came to the world to glorify my Father?” Having comprehended the high meaning of His answer, and adored in it the Divine Will, we returned to Nazareth. Child of my maternal heart, listen. When I lost my Jesus, the pain I felt was so very intense; yet, a second one added to this – that of losing you.
In fact, in foreseeing that you would have gone far from the Divine Will, I felt at one time deprived of the Son and of the daughter, and so my maternity suffered a double blow.
My child, when you are in the act of doing your own will rather than that of God, think that by abandoning the Divine Fiat, you are about to lose Jesus and me, and fall into the kingdom of miseries and vices.
Keep then, the promise you made me – to remain indissolubly united to me – and I will grant you the grace of never again letting you be dominated by your will, but only by the Divine.” (From “The Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will”; Meditation 5, Appendix)
THE LUMINOUS MYSTERIES
1. The Baptism of Jesus (Rebirth in the Holy Spirit)
The baptism administered by St. John the Baptist was a call for repentance and purification, the sign of the desire of the soul to be cleansed and to prepare the way and the space within herself for the gift of Redemption, the life of grace, the means of Salvation, which the longed-for Messiah, the Son of God made Man, would bring upon earth. The Sacramental Baptism instituted by Jesus frees the soul of the stain of original sin and activates the gift of grace within her, making her a child of God. However, the life of grace received through Baptism can be rendered sterile by lack of correspondence, or even suppressed by sin, since all Sacraments produce their effects within the soul according to her dispositions. But when the Divine Will reigns in the soul as her very life, baptizing every fiber of her being, she comes to possess the very source of grace, she lives of Divine Life; and that very Divine Will which has the power to purify, to baptize, to generate Divine Life is her Will too.
2.The Miracle at the Wedding of Cana (Mary’s Intercession)
The gift of the Divine Will is the choicest and most delicious wine, which the Master of the house, Our God and Father, keeps for last to the amazement and delight of His children, invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. It is the greatest prodigy in Heaven and on earth, it is the miracle of miracles: the Sun of the Divine Will, transforming the human will into Sun, acts within it as in Its own center. All the miracles which Jesus performed during His public life are similes, shadows and images of the greatest miracle of all – that of making a creature live in His Divine Will. And just as the first miracle, which He performed at Cana, was obtained through Mary, so will the greatest miracle of the Divine Will be given through Her, who laid the foundation of Its Kingdom within Her soul, and who, untiringly, guides Her children toward It.
3.The Preaching of Jesus (Thy Kingdom Come!)
Because of original sin, Adam lost the gift of the Divine Will as his life, which he had received in creation, and could no longer transmit it to the human generations. However, in His infinite love for man, God promised the Redemption of mankind – not only from the slavery of sin, but from that of the human will; a complete Redemption (=restoration, restitution) – not only of grace, but of the Divine Will Itself as the life of man: nothing less than the restoration of man’s original state. In order to do this, He had to begin to manifest His Will again, little by little, which had been rejected and forgotten by man; and He did so by means of the word – first by communicating to His unruly children His laws and rules through the prophets; and then, by announcing the Gospel, the Good News of Redemption, through the Incarnation and the Sacrifice of the Word Himself, who is the revelation of the Father and of His Will to humanity. But Jesus has not stopped His preaching, nor can He do so until the purpose of His coming upon earth, the complete Redemption of man, has been fulfilled. The Truths on the living in the Divine Will – the words concerning Its Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven, which Jesus has manifested through Luisa, and which, like the creating Fiat, possess the virtue of communicating the good which they contain to those who, being disposed, want to receive them – brings about the fulfillment of Redemption, of the coming of the Word Incarnate upon earth: the establishment and the confirmation of the Kingdom of the Divine Will on earth as It is in Heaven.
4. The Transfiguration (Glory of Jesus)
Through the knowledges and truths on the living in the Divine Will, Jesus manifests His Divinity to the soul; He manifests how His Divine Will operated with His human will, He manifests the interior life of the Incarnate Word, He transfigures Himself before her eyes – and not just to give her simple news, but to let her share in His very Divinity, to transform her and transfigure her within Himself. And the soul who lives in His Will is not frightened as were the disciples in hearing the voice of the Father; she does not need to descend from the high mountain of the Divine Will, because the Divine Will dwells within her; she cannot keep quiet about this manifestation, but will proclaim and effuse the Divinity of Christ through each of her acts; and the tent which she prepares as permanent dwelling for Jesus and the whole Celestial Court is her very being.
5. The Institution of the Eucharist (Love of God)
He let me see, as though in act in His Most Holy Will, the moment in which my sweet Jesus, in instituting the Most Holy Sacrament, communicated Himself. How many wonders, how many prodigies, how many excesses of love in this act of communicating Himself. My mind wandered amid so many divine prodigies, and my always lovable Jesus told me: “Beloved daughter of my Supreme Volition, my Will contains everything, It preserves all of the divine works as though in act, and It lets nothing escape It; and to one who lives in It, It wants to make known all the goods It contains. Therefore, I want to make known to you the reason for which I wanted to receive Myself when I instituted the Most Holy Sacrament. The prodigy was great and incomprehensible to the human mind. For the creature to receive a Man and God, to enclose the infinite in a finite being, and to give to this infinite Being divine honors, decorum and a dwelling worthy of Him – this mystery was so abstruse and incomprehensible, that the Apostles themselves, while they easily believed in the Incarnation and in many other mysteries, remained troubled before this one, and their intellects were reluctant to believe. And it took my repeated saying for them to surrender. So, what to do? I, who instituted it, was to take care of everything, since, when the creature would receive Me, the Divinity was not to lack honors, divine decorum and a dwelling worthy of God. Therefore, my daughter, as I instituted the Most Holy Sacrament, my Eternal Will, united to my human will, made present to Me all the hosts which were to receive the sacramental consecration until the end of centuries. And I looked at them, one by one; I consumed them, and I saw my Sacramental Life palpitating in each host, yearning to give Itself to creatures. In the name of the whole human family, my Humanity took on the commitment for all, and provided a dwelling within Itself to each host; and my Divinity, which was inseparable from Me, surrounded each sacramental host with divine honors, praises and blessings, to give worthy decorum to my Majesty. So, each sacramental host was deposited in Me, and contains the dwelling of my Humanity and the cortege of the honors of my Divinity; otherwise, how could I descend into the creature? And it was only because of this that I tolerated sacrileges, coldness, irreverences, ingratitudes, since, in receiving Myself, I secured my own decorum, the honors and the dwelling which befitted my very Person. Had I not received Myself, I could not have descended into creatures, and they would have lacked the way, the door, the means to receive Me.
THE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES
1. The Agony in the Garden (True Repentance)
I was thinking about the Passion of my always lovable Jesus, especially of what He suffered in the Garden. I found myself all immersed in Jesus, and He told me: “My daughter, my first Passion was of Love, because the first step with which man, in sinning, gives himself to evil is the lack of Love; so, since Love is missing, he falls into sin. In order to be repaid through Me for the lack of love of the creatures, Love made Me suffer more than anyone; It almost crushed Me, more than if I were under a press. It gave Me as many deaths for as many creatures receiving life.
The second step that occurs in sin is defrauding God of His Glory. So, in order to be repaid for the Glory taken away by the creatures, the Father made Me suffer the Passion of sin, such that each sin gave Me a special Passion. Although there was one Passion, I suffered for sin as many Passions as there would be sins committed until the end of the world. So, the Glory of the Father was restored.
The third effect produced by sin is the weakness in man. Therefore, I wanted to suffer the Passion from the hands of the Jews – my third Passion – to restore in man his lost strength.
Therefore, with the Passion of Love, Love was restored and placed at the right level; with the Passion of sin, the Glory of the Father was restored and placed at Its level; with the Passion of the Jews, the strength of the creatures was placed at its level and restored. I suffered all this in the Garden, and the pain was so much, so many the deaths – the atrocious spasms inflicted upon Me that I really would have died if the Will of the Father for my death had arrived.” (From Vol. 11; January 22, 1913)
2. The Scourging at the Pillar (Purity)
Finding myself in my usual state, I was thinking about the Passion of Our Lord; and while I was doing this, He came and told me: “My daughter, one who meditates continuously on my Passion and feels sorrow for it and compassion for Me, pleases Me so much that I feel somehow comforted for all that I suffered in the course of my Passion; and by always meditating on it, the soul arrives at preparing a continuous food. In this food there are many different spices and flavors, which form different effects. Therefore, if in the course of my Passion they gave me ropes and chains to tie Me, the soul releases Me and gives Me freedom. They despised Me, spat on Me, and dishonored Me; she appreciates Me, cleans Me of the spit, and honors Me. They stripped Me and scourged Me; she heals Me and clothes Me. They crowned Me with thorns, mocking me as King, embittered my mouth with bile, and crucified Me; while the soul, meditating on all my pains, crowns Me with glory and honors Me as her King, fills my mouth with sweetness, giving Me the most delicious food, which is the memory of my own works; and unnailing Me from the Cross, she makes me rise again in her heart. And every time she does so, I give her a new Life of Grace as recompense. She is my food, and I become her continuous food. So, the thing that pleases Me the most is meditating continuously on my Passion.” (From Vol. 7; November 9, 1906)
3. The Crowning with Thorns (Moral Courage)
Jesus: “My daughter, the pains which I suffered were incomprehensible to created mind. Much more painfully than by those thorns, my mind was pierced by all the evil thoughts of creatures, in such a way that none of these thoughts could escape Me – I felt them all inside Me. Not only did I feel the pricks of the thorns, but also the disgust of the sins which those thorns represented.”
So, I looked at my lovable Jesus and I could see His Most Holy head being surrounded by spokes of thorns which came through from behind. All the thoughts of the creatures were in Jesus; they went from Jesus to them, and from them into Jesus, remaining almost linked together – the evil thoughts of the creatures with the most holy thoughts of Jesus… Oh, how Jesus suffered!
Then He added: “My daughter, only the souls who live in my Will can give Me true reparations and soothe Me from thorns so sharp. In fact, since they live in my Will, and since my Will is everywhere, they find themselves in Me and in everyone; they descend into the creatures and rise up to Me; they bring Me all the reparations; they soothe Me. And in the sick minds they turn darkness into light.” (From Vol. 11; April 24, 1915)
4. The Carrying of the Cross (Patience)
Jesus: “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. Oh 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!” (From “The Hours of the Passion”; 18th Hour)
“Please, O Cross, receive Me soon into your arms, I am impatient of waiting! Holy Cross, upon you I shall come to give completion to all. Hurry, O Cross, fulfill the burning desire that consumes Me, to give life to souls. Delay no more; I anxiously yearn to lay Myself upon you in order to open the Heavens to all my children.
Oh Cross, it is true that you are my martyrdom, but in a little while you will also be my victory and my most complete triumph; and through you I will give abundant inheritances, victories, triumphs and crowns to my children.” (From “The Hours of the Passion”; 19th Hour)
5. The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus on the Cross (Final Perseverance)
Jesus: “Holy Father, here I am, loaded down with all the sins of the world. There is not one sin which does not pour upon Me; therefore, no longer unload the scourges of your divine Justice upon man, but upon Me, your Son. O Father, allow Me to bind all souls to this Cross, and to plead forgiveness for them with the voices of my Blood and of my wounds. O Father, do You not see how I have reduced Myself? By this Cross, by virtue of these pains, concede true conversion, peace, forgiveness and sanctity to all. Arrest your fury against poor humanity, against my children. They are blind, and know not what they are doing. Look well at Me, how I have reduced Myself because of them; if you are not moved to compassion for them, may You at least be softened by this Face of mine, dirtied with spit, covered with Blood, bruised and swollen by the so many slaps and blows received. Have pity, my Father! I was the most beautiful of all, and now I am all disfigured, to the point that I no longer recognize Myself. I have become the abject of all; and so, at any cost, I want to save the poor creature!”
“My Father, look at Me, from head to foot; there is not one part of Me which is left whole, I do not know where else to let them open more wounds and to procure more sufferings. If You do not appease Yourself at this sight of love and suffering, who will ever be able to appease You? O creatures, if you do not surrender to so much Love, what hope remains for you to convert? These wounds and Blood of Mine will be voices that constantly call from Heaven to earth, graces of repentance, forgiveness and compassion for you!” (From “The Hours of the Passion”; 19th Hour)
THE GLORIOUS MYSTERIES
1. The Resurrection (Faith)
Jesus: “My daughter, in my Resurrection, the right was given to creatures to rise again in me to new life. It was the confirmation, the seal of my whole life, my works and my words. If I came on earth it was to give to each and every one my Resurrection, as their own – to give them life and make them rise again in my own Resurrection.
But do you want to know where is the real resurrection of the creature? Not in the end of her days, but while she is still living on earth. One who lives in my Will rises again to light and says: ‘my night is over.’ She rises again in the love of her Creator, so that there is no more cold or snow for her, but the smile of the Heavenly Spring; she rises again to sanctity, which puts to rushed flight all weaknesses, miseries and passions; she rises again to all that is Heaven, and if she looks at the earth, Heaven and Sun, she does it to find the works of her Creator – to take the opportunity to narrate to Him His glory and His long love story.
Therefore, one who lives in my Will can say, as the Angel said to the holy women on the way to the sepulcher, ‘He is risen. He is not here any more.’ One who lives in my Will can also say, ‘my will is not with me any longer – it is risen again in the Fiat.’ And if the circumstances of life, opportunities and sufferings surround the creature, as if they were looking for her will, she can answer: ‘my will is risen again, it is not in my power anymore. I possess, in exchange, the Divine Will, and I want to cover with Its light all things around me – circumstances and sufferings, to make them like many divine conquests.’ The soul who lives in our Will finds life in the acts of her Jesus, and as always, in this Life, she finds our operating, conquering, triumphant Will. She gives Us so much glory that Heaven cannot contain it. Therefore, live always in our Will – never leave It, if you want to be our triumph and our glory.” (From Vol. 36; April 20, 1938)
2. The Ascension (Hope)
Jesus: “Daughter of my Will, as your Jesus said, in descending from Heaven to earth: ‘I leave and I stay’; when He ascended into Heaven He said: ‘I stay and I leave.’ My word repeats upon descending as Sacrament in the creatures: ‘I leave and I remain in the Tabernacles.’ In the same way, the creature who lives in my Will can repeat my word in all her acts. As soon as she begins her act, her Jesus is formed in that act. My Life has the virtue of multiplying Itself to infinity as many times as I want. Therefore, in all truth, she can say: ‘I leave and I stay. I leave for Heaven to beatify It, to reach my home and to make known to everyone my dear Jesus, Whom I enclosed in my act so that all may enjoy Him and love Him. I stay on earth, as my life, support and defense for all my brothers and sisters.’ How beautiful one act in my Will!” (From Vol. 35; January 24, 1935)
3. The Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles (Zeal)
Our Celestial Mother: “…Then the time came for the descent of the Holy Spirit, promised by my Son in the cenacle. What a transformation, my child! As they were invested, they acquired new science, invincible strength, ardent love. A new life flowed within them, which rendered them brave and courageous, in such a way that they scattered throughout the whole world to make Redemption known, and to give their lives for their Master. I remained with beloved John, and was forced to leave Jerusalem, as the storm of persecution began.
My dearest child, you must know that I still continue my Magisterium in the Church. There is nothing which does not descend from me. I can say that I pour myself out for love of my children, and that I nourish them with my maternal milk. Now, during these times, I want to display an even more special love by making known how my whole life was formed in the Kingdom of the Divine Will. So I call you onto my knees, into my maternal arms, so that, forming your ship, you may be sure to live in the sea of the Divine Will. Greater grace I could not give you. I beg you, make your Mama content! Come to live in this Kingdom so holy! And when you see that your will wants to have an act of life, come and take refuge in the safe boat of my arms, saying to me: “My Mama, my will wants to betray me, and I deliver it to you, that you may put the Divine Will in its place.”
Oh, how happy I will be, in being able to say: “My child is all mine, because she lives from Divine Will.” And I will make the Holy Spirit descend into your soul, that He may burn away from you all that is human; and by His refreshing breath, He may rule over you and confirm you in the Divine Will. (From “The Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will”; Day 30)
4. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven (Grace of a Happy Death)
Jesus: “My daughter, the true name of this Feast [of the Assumption] should be ‘Feast of the Divine Will’. It was the human will that closed Heaven, broke the bonds with its Creator, made miseries and suffering enter the field, and put an end to the feast that the creature was to enjoy in Heaven. Now, this Creature, Queen of all, by doing the Will of the Eternal One, always and in everything – even more, it can be said that Her life was Divine Will alone – opened the Heavens, bound Herself to the Eternal One, and restored in Heaven the feasts with the creature. Every act She did in the Supreme Will, was a feast that She started in Heaven; it was Suns that She formed to adorn this feast; it was melodies that She sent to delight the Celestial Jerusalem.
Therefore, the true cause of this feast is the Eternal Will operating and fulfilled in my Celestial Mama. It operated such prodigies in Her as to astonish Heaven and earth, chain the Eternal One with indissoluble bonds of love, and enrapture the Word, even from Her womb. The very Angels, enraptured, repeated among themselves: “From where comes so much glory, so much honor, such greatness and prodigies never seen before – in this excelling Creature? Yet, she is coming from the exile!” Astonished, they recognized the Will of their Creator as life operating in Her; and, trembling, they said: “Holy, Holy, Holy! Honor and glory to the Will of Our Sovereign Lord! And glory to Mary, trice Holy, She who let this Supreme Will operate!” (From Vol. 18; August 15, 1925)
5. The Coronation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Mother, as Queen of Heaven and Earth and Queen of the Divine Will.
Our Celestial Mother: “…As I gave my last breath of pure love in the endlessness of the Divine Will, my Son received me in His arms and took me to Heaven, in the midst of the angelic choirs which praised me as their Queen. I can say that Heaven emptied Itself to come toward me. All celebrated, and in looking at me, remained enraptured and said in chorus: “Who is She, who comes from the exile, all cleaving to her Lord? All beautiful, all holy, with the scepter of Queen? Her greatness is such that the heavens have lowered themselves to receive Her. No other creature has entered the celestial regions so adorned and so striking – so powerful as to hold supremacy over all.”
Now, my child, do you want to know who She is – for Whom the whole of Heaven sings and remains enraptured? It is I – She who never did her own will. The Divine Will abounded so much with me as to extend more beautiful heaven, more refulgent suns, seas of beauty, of love, of sanctity, with which I could give light to all, love and sanctity to all, and enclose everything and everyone within my heaven. It was the work of the Divine Will operating in me to accomplish such a great prodigy; I was the only creature entering Heaven, to have formed Its Kingdom in my soul.” (From “The Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will”; Day 31)
The Little Rosary of the Divine Will
As in the 1st edition, the little rosary is composed of six sections. It will be used four times in order to do a complete round (24 Hours).
On the three small beads, we recite a Pater, Ave, Gloria; and on the large bead (rhombus with the FIAT), the ejaculatory prayer:
“Come, O Supreme Will, to reign upon earth! Invest all generations!
Win and conquer all!”
(Vol. 35 – Nov. 20, 1937)
This is the prayer that allows us to give voice to all the creatures of the universe.
We will hold hands with all of them in order to reach the Creator, with the purpose of loving Him, adoring Him, thanking Him and glorifying Him – of intensifying the prayer of life: “Come, O Supreme Will…”
THE ROSARY OF THE ROUNDS
The rosary of the rounds is a braid of all created things that hold hands and go around their Creator, because they are sustained by the same force, by the same Divine Life, with which the Supreme Being has released His FIAT.
When man unites to the Creation and penetrates into the Life of the Supreme Fiat that sustains It, he enters into the Divine Act, he unites to Its FIAT, to Its Divine Will in act, and his natural act is transformed into a Divine Act. So, his actions are gradually molded and divinized because they have received the direct transmission of the Life of God Himself.
When God made the Creation He prepared a worthy dwelling for man. And when He created man, he intended to prepare a worthy dwelling for Himself, for His Divinity, for His Supreme Being, for His Glory.
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 sanctity on March 4, 1947.
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.
Luisa was born on the Sunday after Easter and was baptized that same day. Her father – a few hours after her birth – wrapped her in a blanket and carried her to the parish church where holy Baptism was administered to her.
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, 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’s 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.
Divine Providence led the little girl down paths so mysterious that she knew no joys other than God and his grace. One day, 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” (cf. Volume XII, March 23, 1921).
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 – flourishing at the time – 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’s 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.
Jesus’ 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!“. 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.
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 – although she showed signs of life – 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* 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 – indeed, if they only were! – 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” (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, 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.
The archbishop at that time, Giuseppe Bianchi Dottula (December 22, 1848-September 22,1892), came to know of what was happening in Corato; 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.
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’s 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.
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.
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’s, including the book L’orologio della Passione, 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.
In 1938, a tremendous storm was unleashed upon Luisa Piccarreta: she was publicly disowned by Rome and her books were put on the Index. At the publication of the condemnation by the Holy Office, she immediately submitted to the authority of the Church.
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.
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, they saw her body carried out.
Luisa’s 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’s 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.
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’s royalties: “I have no right to it, because what is written there is not mine” (cf. Preface of the L’orologio della Passione, Messina, 1926). She scornfully refused and returned the money that pious people sometimes sent her.
Luisa’s 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.
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 – after several hours of work – 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.
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’s 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 – an extraordinary phenomenon – her body never suffered rigor mortis and remained in the position in which it had always been.
Hardly had the news of Luisa’s 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“. 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.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. 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.
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 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.
On November 20, 1994, on 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 Cause of Beatification of the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta.
Important dates
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. A few hours after Luisa’s 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.
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.
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!“. From that moment, solitary soul that she was, she lived in continuous union with the ineffable sufferings of her Divine Bridegroom.
1888 – She became a Daughter of Mary and a Dominican Tertiary with the name of Sr. Maddalena
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.
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.
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’s 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.
July 3,1963 – Her mortal remains were definitively laid to rest in Santa Maria Greca.
November 20, 1994 – Feast of Christ the King: Archbishop Carmelo Cassati officially opened the 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.
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.
ARCHDIOCESE
Trani – Barletta – Bisceglie – Nazareth
70059 TRANI – VIA BELTRANI, 9 – TEL.0883-583498
Trani, June 4, 2005
COMUNIQUE
The “Divine Will” 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. The Diocesan Postulation announces having completed this journey. 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.
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. Later the program of the celebration will be published in a definitive way.
May Jesus Christ present in the Eucharist guide us as He has guided His Servant Luisa.
The Vicar General
(His Grace Savino Giannotti)
_____________________
* Pious Association Luisa Piccarreta Little Children of the Divine Will
Referent: Sister Assunta Marigliano
70033 Corato (BA) – Via Nazario Sauro, 27 – Tel. +39.080.8982221
www.luisalasanta.com – e-mail : pia.ass.luisalasanta@libero.it
Come Holy Spirit, Come Supreme Will,
down to reign in Your Kingdom on earth
and in our hearts!
Come Holy Spirit, Come Supreme Will,
down to reign in Your Kingdom on earth
and in our hearts!
Come Holy Spirit, Come Supreme Will,
down to reign in Your Kingdom on earth
and in our hearts!