Divine Mercy and the Divine Will

Divine Mercy and the Divine Will

Divine Will

Luisa Piccarreta was born on April 23, 1865 the Sunday after Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday), 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.

Divine Mercy

St. Faustina’s Diary - 299. I desire that the first Sunday after Easter be the Feast of Mercy.

Divine Will

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 could move her because of her weight, as if she were a large piece of lead, nor could they stretch any of her members, to raise her arms or move her head or legs as they were strongly stiffened no one was able to stretch her out,. Her body assumed a rock-like hardness.  Her tiny frame grew so heavy that no one could lift it.  In this death-like state, Luisa was totally paralyzed, although she retained consciousness and suffered excruciating pains.  As we know, it required the presence of a priest who, by blessing her with the sign of the Cross with his thumb on the back of her hands Reciting at the same time the Trisagion prayer of the Byzantine liturgy “Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, Have Mercy on us.”  This dispelled that corpse-like rigidity - then the body of Luisa came round and started to move, and her sister could lift her easily and with no strain, placing her in her usual and only position, sitting on her little bed.

Divine Mercy

St. Faustina’s Diary:  476. This prayer will serve to appease My wrath.   You will recite it for nine days, on the beads of the rosary, in the following manner:  First of all, you will say one Our Father and Hail Mary and the I Believe in God.  Then on the Our Father beads, you will say the following words: “Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.”  On the Hail Mary beads you will say the following words:  “For the sake of His sorrowful Passion have mercy on us and on the whole world.”  In conclusion, three times you will recite these words”  Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

Divine Will

Volume 6 - April 16, 1904

Jesus and God the Father speak about Mercy. - Continuing in my usual state, I found myself outside of myself, and I saw a multitude of people, and in their midst one could hear noises of bombs and gun shots.  People were dropping dead or wounded, and those who were left would flee up to a palace nearby; but the enemies would go up there and kill them, more surely than those who remained outside.  So I said to myself:  ‘How I wish I could see whether the Lord is there in the midst of these people, so as to say to Him:  ‘Have mercy - pity on these poor people!’  So I went round and round and I saw Him as a little Child; but little by little He kept growing, until He reached the perfect age.  I drew near Him and I said:  ‘Amiable Lord, don’t You see the tragedy that is happening?  You don’t want to make use of mercy any more?  Do You perhaps want to keep this attribute as useless, which has always glorified your Incarnate Divinity with so much honor, forming a special crown on your august head, and bejeweling You with a second crown, so wanted and loved by You - which is souls?’

Now, while I was saying this, He told me:  ‘Enough, enough, do not go any further; you want to speak of Mercy, and what about Justice - what are we going to do with It?  I have told you and I repeat to you:  ‘It is necessary that Justice follow Its course’.”  So I replied:  ‘There is no remedy - why then leave me on this earth when I can no longer placate You and suffer in the place of my neighbor?  Since it is so, it is better if You let me die.’  At that moment I saw another person behind the shoulders of blessed Jesus, and He told me, almost making a sign with His eyes:  “Present yourself to my Father and see what He tells you.’  I presented myself, all trembling, and as soon as He saw me, He told me:  “Why have you come to Me?”  And I:  ‘Adorable Goodness, infinite Mercy, knowing that You are Mercy Itself, I have come to ask for your Mercy - Mercy on your very images, Mercy on the works created by You; Mercy on nothing else but your creatures themselves.’  And He said to me:  “So, it is Mercy that you want.  But if you want true Mercy, after Justice has poured Itself out It will produce abundant fruits of Mercy

Divine Mercy

In answer to Luisa’s request for Mercy, St. Mary Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament was born the following year on August 2, 1905

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; thought it right to delegate to Luisa a special confessor, Fr. Michele De Benedictis. Fr. Michele, 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, from New Year 1889 she was to remain there permanently.

Divine Mercy

St. Faustina’s Diary - 1264…Act of total abandonment to the will of God, which is for me, love and mercy itself.  Jesus-Host, whom I have this very moment received into my heart, through this union with You I offer myself to the heavenly Father as a sacrificial host, abandoning myself totally and completely to the most merciful and holy will of my God.  From today onward, Your will, Lord is my food.  Take my whole being dispose of me as You please.   Whatever Your fatherly hand give me, I will accept with submission, peace and joy.

Divine Will

Volume 11 - April 10, 1912

The souls who have more trust will shine more in the crown of the divine mercy.  Continuing in my usual state, as soon as blessed Jesus came, He told me: "My daughter, the souls who will shine the most, like bright gems in the crown of my divine mercy, are the souls who have more trust, because the more trusting they are, the more they give space for the attribute of my Mercy to pour into them all the Graces that they want. On the other hand, the soul who does not have real trust closes the graces within Me, remaining poor and unequipped, while my Love remains contained within Me and suffers greatly.  In order not to suffer so much, and to be able to freely pour out my Love, I deal more with those souls who trust than with the others. With these souls I can pour out my Love, I can play, I can cause loving contrasts, since there is no worry that they may feel ashamed or afraid; rather, they become more brave and take everything in order to love Me more. Therefore, trusting souls are the outpouring and the amusement of my Love - the most graceful and the richest ones."

Divine Mercy

Saint Faustina’s Diary -102.  When you say this prayer, with a contrite heart and with faith on behalf of some sinner, I will give him the grace of conversion.  This is the prayer:“O Blood & Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of Mercy for us, I trust in You.”

Divine Will

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

Divine Mercy

St. Faustina’s Diary - 83. Write this:  before I come as the just Judge, I am coming first as the King of Mercy.  Before the day of justice arrives, there will be given to people a sign in the heavens of this sort:

Divine Will

Volume 10 - February 3, 1912

If in the soul there is no purity, upright working and love, she cannot be the mirror of Jesus. Continuing in my usual state, my always lovable Jesus came, and placing His holy hand under my chin, He told me:  “My daughter, you are the reflection of my glory.”

Then He added:  “In the world I need mirrors to which to go and look at Myself.  Only then can a fount serve as mirror in which people can reflect themselves…

Divine Mercy

St. Faustina’s Diary -163   O Most Holy Trinity!  As many times as I breathe, as many times as my heart beats, as many times as my blood pulsates through my body, so many thousand times do I want to glorify Your mercy.I want to be completely transformed into Your mercy and to be Your living reflection, O Lord.

Divine Will

November 9, 1906

Effects of meditating continuously on the Passion.

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 as though 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.

Divine Mercy

St. Faustina’s Diary - 267 Jesus told me that I please Him best by meditating on His sorrowful Passion, and by such meditation much light falls upon my soul.  He who wants to learn true humility should reflect upon the Passion of Jesus.

Divine Will

Saint Annibale Maria Di Francia - Messina, October 29, 1926 : We begin, with this first printing, the publication of more than 20 handwritten volumes of sublime revelations which, always excepting the judgments of the Holy Church, we believe to have been given by Our Lord Jesus Christ to a soul, a dearest daughter and disciple of His, who is the pious author of the Hours of the Passion.  Even now we make known that these revelations, which are continuing and will continue, we don’t know for how much longer, have as their goal the establishment of the complete Triumph of the Kingdom of the Divine Will upon earth.

Divine Mercy

St. Faustina’s Diary - 304. O my Jesus, my only hope, thank You for the book which You have opened before my soul’s eyes.  That book is Your Passion  which You underwent  for love of me. It is from this book that I have learned how to love God and souls.  In this book there are found for us inexhaustible treasures. O Jesus, how few souls understand You in Your martyrdom of love!

Divine Mercy

St. Faustina’s Diary - 1826…When I had received Jesus in Holy Communion, my heart cried out with all its might, “Jesus, transform me into another host! I want to be a living host for You.  You are a great and all-powerful Lord; You can grant me this favor.”  And the Lord answered me, You are a living host, pleasing to the Heavenly Father.  But reflect:  What is a host?  A sacrifice.  And so…?  Oh my Jesus, I understand the meaning of “host”, the meaning of sacrifice.  I desire to be before Your Majesty a living host;  that is, a living sacrifice that daily burns in Your honor.

When my strength begins to fail, it is Holy Communion that will sustain me and give me strength.  Indeed, I fear the day on which I would not receive Holy Communion.  My soul draws astonishing strength form Holy Communion. O living Host, light of my soul!

Divine Will

Volume 14 - March 24, 1922

Every Act Done in the Divine Will Multiplies the Sacramental Life of Jesus. As I continued in my usual state, my ever-lovable Jesus came and said to me:

“My daughter, when the soul does its acts in my Will it multiplies my Life. If it does ten acts in my Will, it multiplies Me ten times; and if it does twenty, one hundred, one thousand, or even more acts in my Will, so many times does it multiply Me. It is similar to the sacramental consecration. I am multiplied into as many hosts as are consecrated. But in the case of the consecration I need the hosts to be able to multiply Myself, and I need a priest to consecrate them. Whereas in my Will I need the acts of creatures which are living hosts, not dead like the hosts before their consecration, so that my Will may consecrate and enclose Me in these acts. Thus am I multiplied in each act of a soul when it is done in my Will. Because of this my Love finds its complete release and satisfaction in souls that do my Will and live within my Volition. It is they who constantly provide the basis not just for the acts that all creatures owe Me, but also for my Sacramental Life itself. How many times does my Sacramental Life remain enclosed and shackled within a few consecrated hosts. Few are those who receive communion and often there are no priests to consecrate Me. My Sacramental Life not only fails to be multiplied as it desires, but often ceases to exist. Oh, how my Love suffers! I would like to multiply my Life every day into as many hosts as there are creatures, so that I could give Myself to them. Yet I wait in vain; my Will remains impotent. But what I have decided, shall be. That is why I am taking a different path and multiply Myself, alive, in each act done by creatures in my Will. I want these acts to bring about the multiplication of my Sacramental Life. Oh yes, only those souls who live in my Will provide all the communions creatures fail to receive, and make up for all the consecrations priests have failed to make! In them I will find everything, even the multiplication of my Sacramental Life. I repeat, your mission is very great. I could not have picked you for a higher, more noble, more sublime, more divine mission. There is nothing that I will not concentrate in you, even to the multiplication of my Life. I will perform new prodigies of Grace never performed before. Therefore, be attentive and faithful to Me. Make sure that my Will always finds life in you. Then in my own Will living in you, I will find the work of Creation whole and complete, with all the rights that are due me and with everything I desire.”

Lynne Bauer