The Resurrection of the Soul in the Divine Will

 

THE RESURRECTION OF THE SOUL IN THE DIVINE WILL

“My Humanity received so much glory by means of perfect obedience which, destroying the ancient nature completely, gave Me back the new nature, glorious and immortal. In the same way, by means of obedience, the soul can form within her the perfect resurrection to virtues. For example: if the soul is afflicted, obedience will make her rise again to joy; if restless, obedience will make her rise again to peace; if tempted, obedience will administer to her the strongest chain with which to bind the enemy, and will make her rise again victorious over the diabolical snares; if she is besieged by passions and vices, by killing them, obedience will make her rise again to virtues. This, to the soul, and in due time, it will also form the resurrection of the body.”   Book of Heaven, April 7, 1901

“My daughter, suffering contains three types of resurrection. First, suffering makes the soul rise again to grace. Second, as suffering advances, it gathers the virtues and the soul rises again to sanctity. Third, as suffering continues, it perfects the virtues, it embellishes them with splendor, forming a beautiful crown; and the soul, crowned, rises again to glory on earth, and to glory in Heaven.”  Book of Heaven, May 2, 1905

“Now, my Resurrection is symbol of the souls who will form their sanctity in my Will. The Saints of these past centuries are symbols of my Humanity; although resigned, they did not have continuous attitude in my Will, therefore they did not receive the mark of the Sun of my Resurrection, but the mark of the works of my Humanity before my Resurrection. Therefore, they will be many; almost like stars, they will form for Me a beautiful ornament to the Heaven of my Humanity. But the Saints of the living in my Will, who will symbolize my resurrected Humanity, will be few. In fact, many throngs and crowds of people saw my Humanity before Its death, but few saw my resurrected Humanity - only the believers, those who were most disposed and, I could say, only those who contained the seed of my Will. In fact, if they did not have it, they would have lacked the necessary sight to be able to see my resurrected and glorious Humanity, and therefore be spectators of my ascent into Heaven.

Now, if my Resurrection symbolizes the Saints of the living in my Will - and this, with reason, because each act, word, step, etc. done in my Will is a divine resurrection that the soul receives; it is a mark of glory that she undergoes; it is to go out of herself in order to enter the Divinity, and to hide within the refulgent Sun of my Volition; and in It she loves, works, thinks - what is the wonder if the soul remains fully risen and identified with the very Sun of my glory, and symbolizes my resurrected Humanity? But few are those who dispose themselves to this, because souls, even in sanctity, want something of their own good; while the Sanctity of living in my Will has nothing – nothing of its own, but everything is of God; and in order for souls to dispose themselves to this, to stripping themselves of their own goods, it takes too much. Therefore, they will not be many. You are not in the number of the many, but of the few; therefore, be always attentive to the call, and to your continuous flight.”   Book of Heaven, April 15, 1919

“My Will is more than sun which eclipses everything, fecundates everything, converts everything into light, and forms the complete resurrection of the soul in God.”   Book of Heaven, April 4, 1926

“My daughter, as many acts as the soul does in my Will, so many times does she rise again to Divine Life; and the more acts she does in It, the more the Divine Life grows, and the more complete becomes the glory of the Resurrection. Therefore, the foundation, the substance, the light, the beauty, the glory, are formed by the acts done in my Will. The more contact my Will has had with the soul, the more It can give, embellish and expand. Even more, one who has always lived in my Will, since my Will has had Its dominion over all the acts of the creature, will possess the act, ever new, of my Fiat. Therefore, not only will she receive the new and continuous act of the beatitudes from God, but by virtue of my Will which she has possessed on earth, she herself will possess the new act of the beatitudes within herself; and releasing it from herself, it will invest the whole Celestial Fatherland. And so, there will be such harmony between the new act of God and the new act of one who has possessed my Will, as to form the most beautiful enchantment for the celestial residence. The prodigies of my Will are eternal and ever new.”  Book of Heaven, March 26, 1927

“My daughter, each act done in my Divine Will forms a divine resurrection in the soul. Life is formed, not of one act, but of many acts united together; so, the more acts are done, so many times does she rise again in my Will, in such a way as to be able to form a complete Life, all of Divine Will. Just as the human life is formed of many distinct members in order to be able to form its life, and if there were only one member, it could not be called life, and if some members were missing, it would be called defective life; in the same way, the repeated acts done in my Will serve as if different members of Divine Will were formed in the creature; and while they serve to reunite together these acts in order to form the Life, they serve to nourish the same Life. And since my Divine Will has no end, the more acts are done in It, the more Its Divine Life grows in the creature. And while this Life rises again and grows, the human will receives death from these very acts done in my Divine Volition; it finds no nourishments with which to nourish itself, and feels itself dying at each act done in my Divine Will.”  Book of Heaven, Oct. 18, 1930

“Hence how many acts [the soul] does in Him, so many times she rearises to divine life and consumes and dies to that which is human. How very beautiful are these resurrections in the soul! It is enough to say that they are formed by the wisdom and mastery of the Divine Craftsman, and this says all, all the beauty and all the good that we can do with the creature.”  Book of Heaven, Dec. 14, 1931

"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 in 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."    Book of Heaven, April 20, 1938

 

PRAYER:  O please, oh Holy Mama, in so much joy and triumph, do not forget your child. Rather, enclose the seed of the Resurrection of Jesus in my soul, so that, by virtue of It, I may rise again fully in the Divine Will, and live always united with You and with my sweet Jesus. 

 

LB

Benefits of Meditating on the Passion

 

Benefits of meditating on the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ in the writings of Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta

Vol. 6, June 5, 1905 "My daughter, crosses, mortifications, are as many baptismal founts, and any kind of cross which is dipped in the thought of my Passion loses half of its bitterness and its weight decreases by half. What is not my consolation in seeing, redone in you, what my Humanity did many centuries ago.  In fact, everything which I established for each soul to do, was done in my Humanity before, and if the soul corresponds to Me, what I did for her she does again within herself; but if she does not, it remains done only in Me, and I feel an inexpressible bitterness." Vol. 7, November 9, 1906 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.  In this food there are many different spices and flavors, which form different effects. So, 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 that spittle, 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." Vol. 11, March 24, 1913 "My daughter, the thought of my Passion never escaped my dear Mama, and by dint of repeating it, she filled all of Herself with Me, completely.  The same happens to the soul:  by dint of repeating what I suffered, she arrives at filling herself with Me." Vol. 11, April 23, 1916 "My daughter, each pain I suffered, each drop of Blood, each wound, prayer, word, action, step, etc., produced a light within my Humanity, which embellished Me in such a way as to keep all the Blessed enraptured.  Now, at each thought that the soul has about my Passion, at each act of compassion, reparation, etc., she does nothing other than draw light from my Humanity, and be embellished in my likeness.  So, each additional thought about my Passion will be one more light which will bring her eternal joy." Vol. 13, October 21, 1921 I was thinking about the Passion of my sweet Jesus, and upon coming, He told me: "My daughter, every time the soul thinks about my Passion, remembers what I suffered, or compassionates Me, the application of my pains is renewed in her; my Blood rises to inundate her, and my wounds place themselves on the way to heal her if she is wounded, or to embellish her if she is healthy – and all my merits, to enrich her. The traffic she produces is surprising - it is as if she placed everything I did and suffered in a bank, and collected twice as much.  In fact, everything I did and suffered is in continuous act of giving itself to man, just as the sun is in continuous act of giving light and heat to the earth.  My operating is not subject to exhaustion; if the soul just wants it so, and as many times as she wants it, she receives the fruit of my Life.  So, if she remembers my Passion twenty, a hundred - a thousand times, so many more times will she enjoy the effects of It.  But how few are those who treasure It!  With all the good of my Passion, one can see souls who are weak, blind, deaf, mute, crippled - living cadavers, such as to be disgusting - because my Passion is put into oblivion.  My pains, my wounds, my Blood, are strength that removes weaknesses, light that gives sight to the blind, tongue that loosens the tongues and opens the hearing, way that straightens the crippled, life that raises the cadavers. All the remedies that are needed for the whole of humanity are in my Life and Passion.  But the creature despises the medicine and does not care about the remedies; and this is why one can see, in spite of my Redemption, the state of man perishing, as though affected by an incurable consumption.  But what grieves Me the most is to see religious people who tire themselves out in order to acquire doctrines, speculations, stories - but about my Passion, nothing.  So, many times my Passion is banished from the churches, from the mouths of the priests; therefore, their speech is without light, and the peoples remain more starved than before."

What it means that God is jealous...

 What it means that God is jealous….

"I am loving and jealous, jealous and loving. I love you as Creator, as Redeemer and as Lover. Second, I love you in my omnipotence which I used in creating you, and in creating everything for love of you, in such a way that air, water, fire, and everything else, tell you that I love you and that I made them for love of you; I love you as my image, and I love you out of regard for you individually. Third, I love you ab aeterno [from eternity], I love you in time, and I love you for all eternity. And this is nothing but a breath that came out of my love; imagine, yourself, what must be the love I contain within Myself. Now, you are obliged to return to Me this triple love, loving Me as your God in whom you must fix all of yourself, and let nothing come out of you which is not love for Me; loving me out of regard for yourself and for the good that comes to you; and loving Me for all, and in all.

Love is jealous of everything, even of one’s thought and breath, as honest as one may be. It wants everything for itself, and with this, it gives to the soul not natural, but Divine purity - and so with all the other virtues. So, one can say that love is patience, love is obedience, is sweetness, is fortitude, is peace – it is everything. If all the other virtues do not receive life from love, they can be called natural virtues at the most; but love changes them into Divine virtues. Oh! what a difference between the two: the natural virtues are servants, the Divine are queens. Therefore, may love be enough for you, in everything.”

With what excess of love I loved the creature; my Divinity was jealous of entrusting to the creature the task of Redemption, making Me suffer the Passion. The creature was impotent to make Me die as many times for as many creatures as had come out, and were to come out, to the light of Creation, and for as many mortal sins as they would have the disgrace to commit. The Divinity wanted life for each life of creature, and life for each death which, by mortal sin, she gave herself. Who could be so powerful over Me as to give Me so many deaths, if not my Divinity? Who would have had the strength, the love, the constancy to see Me die so many times, if not my Divinity? The creature would have grown tired and fallen short. And do not think that this crafting of my Divinity started late, but as soon as my conception was accomplished, even in the womb of my Mama, who many times was aware of my pains, and remained martyred, and felt death together with Me.”

(Above excerpts taken from the Book of Heaven)

Lynne Bauer, JMJ

How to Live and Pray in the Divine Will

 

HOW TO LIVE AND PRAY IN THE DIVINE WILL

How to begin to live in the Divine Will

Do we ask Jesus to pray with us?  Are we praying in the Divine Will at all times by calling the Divine Will into all of our actions, thoughts and words?

 Is the first thing we do upon waking in the morning to thank God for the new day, and make our first act of the day an act of love in the Divine Will?

Are we making the Rounds of Creation  (example: thanking God in all His creation, taking this love as our own and offering it back to Him as acts of homage, blessings and praise)?

- the Rounds of Redemption (example: partaking in all the acts of Jesus: His Conception, Birth, etc. , making all His acts our own and returning them to the Holy Trinity, following the acts of Our Lady, or doing the acts of the  Apostles supplementing all they did with the fullness of the Divine Sanctity of the Divine Will as if they had lived in the Divine Will.  Also for all the Popes, Priests, or saints past, present and future, each of the Sacraments, reparations to God for all the lack of obedience, reverence, etc.);    

- and the Rounds of Sanctification of man (example: giving our I Love You to the Holy Spirit in all the Sacraments of the Church; following the life of Luisa and the other saints who lived in the Divine Will on earth, re-giving to God the Glory that these souls did in their activities and rounds in the Divine Will.)

Do we ask, “What would Jesus or Mother Mary do in this or that situation?”

Are we always keeping Jesus company in all that we do saying, “Jesus wants to go to work, shop, eat, etc. now.”  (Jesus says, “This is to live in the Divine Will, keeping your Creator company at all times.”)

Are we receiving the Holy Eucharist in the Divine Will?  Jesus told Luisa,  “When I instituted the Eucharistic Sacrament and communicated the Apostles, I communicated Myself in the Will of the Father.  And with this, not only did I repair all, but finding in the Divine Will the Immensity and the All-Seeingness of everything and of everyone, I therefore embraced all and communicated all.  And seeing that many would not have taken part in the Sacrament, and the Father offended because they did not want to receive Life, I gave to the Father the satisfaction and the Glory as if all had received Holy Communion, giving to the Father for each one, the satisfaction and the Glory of a Divine Life.  You also: receive Communion in My Will, repeat that which I did, and thus not only will you repair all, but you will give Me to all as I intended to give Myself to all and you will give Me the Glory as if all had communicated.  My Heart is moved upon seeing that the creature – unable to give Me anything of itself that is worthy of Me – takes the things that are Mine, makes them its own, imitates the manner in which I did them, and to please Me gives them to Me.”

Are we making our confession in the Divine Will?  (Making reparation for our sins and the sins of all!)

Before we go the bed at night, do we bring all creatures to Jesus to make reparation for all who do not rest in Him?  Do we invite all the angels and saints and our Guardian Angels to pray while we sleep so that our heartbeats and breaths will be as prayers united to theirs (this will keep us in unceasing prayer even through the night)?

 Are we giving to God, in the name of everyone all the Glory they should give Him praying, excusing them, making reparation for each one in particular, descending into their minds, intelligence’s, glances, words, movements, hands, hearts, footsteps, uniting them to the Humanity of Jesus to satisfy the Father. 

Do we “pay attention” to Jesus when reading or hearing His words or do we allow our minds to wander?  Jesus says, “Be more attentive…and follow the Will of your Jesus, because watchfulness will show you where you are and what you are doing”  “…attention is the path to knowledge”  “…..be attentive, because it is important; it is about the most important thing that exists in Heaven and on earth..”

Are we reading the Volumes to learn from Jesus so we may gain in the knowledge He wants to give us?  Regarding knowledge Jesus tells us, “This knowledge will be like fertilizer to a tree, enabling the fruit to mature upon which creatures will feed.” “  Knowledge will make you appreciate and esteem more highly the Divine palace of My  Will .”  “…vigilance is the path of knowledge.  Knowledge changes the person and things disposing him to receive great gifts”  “Knowledge is the eye of the soul; the soul without knowledge is blind concerning those goods and truths.  In my Will there are no blind souls; rather, each new acquisition of knowledge leads them to a broader perspective.  Enter often, therefore into my Will, Broaden your horizons in My Will and, as I see this, I will return to tell you more about My Will.” “Knowledge prepares the way.  Knowledge is as the contract that I want to make for the gift which I wish to give, and for however much knowledge enters into the soul, so much more is she stimulated to desire the gift….”

Are we thinking more of our brothers and sisters rather than ourselves?  Luisa:  “He also taught me how to love creatures without ever separating myself from Him by seeing each person as an image of God.  If some good came to me, I was to recognize that He used the creature to lavish that good upon me.  If, on the other hand, it happened that I receive evil or harm, I was to think that God permitted it for my spiritual or bodily good.”  When I saw Him and His image in creatures, I could not loose esteem for them.  If they mortified me, I felt obliged to love them in God’s image and believe that they would acquire merits for my soul.”

Do we ask Our Lady to do everything with us - to give us her heart to love Jesus more, to give us her arms to hold Him, to give us the words to say to Him, etc?  (Prayer of Our Holy Father)

Are we accepting all that Jesus gives us - sufferings, trials, etc?  with a smile and joy in our hearts that He allows us to be like Him?  Do we say “Fiat” to everything and mean it?

Are we willing to change at a moments notice if Jesus asks us to do something else?

Do we recognize our nothingness?   From Vol. 1:  “So that I can pour my graces into your heart, it is necessary for you to convince yourself that by yourself you are nothing and are capable of nothing.  I look with much approval and bestow gifts and graces on souls that are wary of attributing to themselves the good effects that result from their own works made in correspondence to My graces.

How much do we desire and want to possess the Divine Will in us?  Jesus:  “…first I want to see that the soul truly wants to do My Will and never her own, that she is ready to sacrifice anything to do Mine, and that in all she does she asks Me always, even on loan, the Gift of My Volition.”

Are we taking time for adoration and meditation each day?   If  we wanted to know someone with whom we were living, we would observe his acts, his gestures; we would listen to his words; we would keep our eyes constantly focused on him and watch everything he does; we would examine his works; we would put ourselves as much as possible in contact with him.   Meditation attracts God to converse with the soul.  Luisa meditated on the Passion constantly.  She says regarding meditation on the Passion, “All the good I have received has come from this source of good and love.”  (On the Hours of the Passion, Jesus says: “How attentively and respectfully must the soul do these Hours, thinking that the Angels hang from their lips in order to repeat that which she says right after her.”  “…whoever always thinks on my Passion forms a fountain in his heart and the more he thinks on It, the more this fountain flows. In vol. 3 Jesus says, “Oral prayer serves to maintain correspondence, Interior meditation must serve as food to maintain the conversation between God and the soul.”

Are we asking Jesus, Our Blessed Mother, and Luisa to pray with us to the Father begging for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven, for all mankind?

Are we praying for the Holy Spirit to guide and direct our souls in the attainment of the gifts of the virtues? 

Are we aware of and recognize the gifts we receive each day and immediately thank God for them?  (Example:  You have a question about something regarding the Divine Will and are answered immediately)

Are we obedient to the teachings of our Holy Catholic Church, our Holy Father and our superiors?  In vol. 8 Jesus tells us: “Obedience is the space of my dwelling within the soul.  Where there isn’t this space of obedience, I could say that there is no place for Me inside of that soul; and I am forced to remain outside.”  “ The Will of God makes one take possession of the Divine, but obedience is the key to open the door and enter this possession.

Are we saying our Consecration daily or as much as possible?  Are we praying for the Beatification of Luisa?

PRAYING IN THE DIVINE WILL

When asked the way she used to enter into the Divine Will, Luisa responded briefly:  “To enter into the Divine Will, above all it is necessary for me to forget myself, my will, my interests – which for me no longer exist, and to preoccupy myself only with the interests of Jesus; that my everything disappear, and that in the Will of Jesus – the Love, the Prayers, the Reparations of Jesus Himself become mine.  Thus, everything that is His becomes mine: His Will too is mine;  and since in the Divine Will there are all goods past, present and future, thus all these goods, too, become mine.  To live in the Divine Will is to live on all that Jesus possesses.  But the “all” does not consist in a formula.  It was told to me that the soul must enter into the Divine Will at the cost of whatever sacrifice, when God asks it; and the greater the sacrifices to enter into the Divine Will, the more perfect will become the transformation and the acquisition that it will make.  To practice entering into the Divine Will with repeated formulas and with repeated intentions in all acts, even minimal, in so far as one can, is acceptable to God, and is a setting out toward this Divine Transformation, whereby the creature acts and operates in the Divine Will.”

JESUS SPEAKS TO US OF OUR NOTHINGNESS,

HUMILITY, AND HOW TO PRAY

(Volume 1)

On our nothingness:  “So that I can pour my graces into your heart, it is necessary for you to convince yourself that by yourself you are nothing and are capable of nothing.  I look with much approval, and bestow gifts and graces on souls that are wary of attributing to themselves the good effects that result from their own works made in correspondence to my graces.  The souls that consider my gifts and graces given to them by my Love - to have been acquired by themselves, are committing many thefts.” (Also in Vol. 19, pg. 46-46)

On humility:  Jesus says to Luisa, “If you had been more humble and closer to Me you would not have done that work so poorly.  But because you thought you could begin, continue and end the work without Me, you succeeded - despite your regret - but not according to my wish.  Therefore, ask for my assistance at the start of everything you undertake.  Always have Me present to work with you and it will be completed with perfection.  Know that if you always do this you will acquire the greatest humility.  If you do the opposite, pride will reenter you and choke the seed of the beautiful virtue of humility that has been sown in you.

Jesus says, “Say to me often, ‘Lord, give me the grace to do well, from beginning to end, all that I want to undertake solely for You.  I no longer want to be a slave to creatures.’  Do this so that when you walk, speak, work, or do any other thing, you will do it solely for my satisfaction and pleasure.  When you experience mortification’s, hurts and contradictions, I want you to have your eyes fixed on Me and believe that it all comes from Me and not from creatures.”  (From Vol. 1)

 On dryness in prayer (when unable to pray or meditate):  “At prayer, when you do not feel recollected, think of nothing and be at peace.  Do not think about why your prayer is unsuccessful, because this causes more distraction.  Instead, humble yourself, believe in the merits of suffering and remain tranquil.  Offer to Me your disappointments, boredom and distress as a sacrifice of praise, satisfaction, and reparation for the offenses done to Me.  Your prayer will then rise like fragrant incense to My throne.

Prayer of Pope John Paul II

Immaculate Conception, Mary, my Mother,

Live in me, act in me, speak in and through me,

Think your thoughts in my mind,

Love through my heart,

Give me your dispositions and feelings,

Teach, lead, and guide me to Jesus,

Correct, enlighten, and expand my thoughts and behavior,

Possess my soul,

Take over my entire personality and life,

Replace it with Yourself,

Incline me to constant

adoration and thanksgiving.

Pray in me and through me. 

Let me live in you, and keep me

in this union always.  Amen.

cont. from page 2:

more on Humility:

“This was the cause of all the evils that inundate the earth, that is, the lack of humility.”  “No rescripts (an authoritative order of decree) of Grace leave my Throne, except by means of humility.  Nor can any ticket be received by Me, if it does not have the signature of humility.  No prayer is heard by my ears not moves my Heart to compassion, if it is not perfumed with the fragrance of humility.” (Vol. 3, pg. 27)

(Read also: Vol. 3, pages 28 & 29)

On Pride:

Jesus says: “I cannot enter into hearts that stink with pride - souls so puffed up with themselves that there is no place in their hearts for Me.  They do not give credit to my graces and by fall after fall go to ruin. I therefore want you to very often - continuously - perform acts of humility.  You must be like an infant in swaddling bands who, unable to move by himself, even to walk or move a hand, must rely on its mother for everything.  In that way, I want you to remain near Me - like an infant - to always ask for my help and assistance, acknowledging your nothingness and expecting everything from Me.

Luisa says, “I then pictured human pride as an ugly worm in the act of kneeling at the feet of the Great King.  It rises up and swells up in a way that makes itself think it is something big.  And by its great audacity begins, little by little, to crawl and climb up the garb of the King until it reaches the King’s head.  Seeing the King’s golden crown, it wants to take it away from Him and place it on its own head.  It then wants to remove the Kings royal vestments, dethrone Him, and use every means to take the King’s life.  The worm does not even know what kind of being it is.  And, in its pride, does not know that if the King would notice the bold aggressor, He could destroy it-crush it under His feet-and make all the worm’s golden dreams collapse in a single instant. (Vol. 1, pg. 83)

 Jesus says, “My daughter, pride eats away Grace.  In the hearts of the proud there is nothing but an emptiness all full of smoke, which produces blindness.  Pride does nothing but make oneself an idol.  Therefore, the soul of the proud does not have his God in himself.  By sin, he has tried to destroy Him in his heart; and, erecting an altar in his heart, he puts himself upon it and adores himself.  (Vol. 3, pg. 9)

On Grace:

“My daughter, do you know what my Grace does?  My Grace renders the soul of the Beatific Visionaries happy; and it renders happy the wayfarers with this one difference: the Visionaries enjoy and delight themselves and the wayfarers work and put it to trade.  Therefore, he who possesses Grace bears in himself Paradise ; for the possess Grace is none other than to possess Me.  And since I alone am the enchanting Object that enchants all of Paradise and forms all the contentment’s of the Blessed, by possessing Grace, the soul possesses her Paradise wherever she may be. (Vol. 3, pg. 12)

Grace is the life of the soul.  Just as the soul gives life to the body, so too Grace gives life to the soul.  But, it is not sufficient for the body to have only the soul in order to have life, it also needs a good to nourish it in order to grow to its proper stature.  What is this food?  It is correspondence.  (correspondence: agreement between particular things)  Thus, Grace and correspondence form that spiraled chain that conducts it to Heaven.  And, according to the measure of the soul’s correspondence, thus does Grace form the links of this chain.  What is the passport to enter into the Kingdom of Grace ?  It is humility.  The soul, always looking at her nothingness, perceiving herself to be nothing but dust and wind, puts all her confidence in Grace.  And Grace, taking command, conducts her along the path of all the virtues and makes her reach the peak of perfection.” (Vol. 3, pg. 32)

Also on Grace: “Such is my Grace.  The sun is an image of it, which inundates the peoples everywhere.  The poor, the rich, the ignorant and the learned; Christians and infidels (an unbeliever).  No one, no one can say he is deprived of it because the light of the Truth and the influence of my Grace fill the earth, like the sun at midday.”     ....My Grace never leaves anyone.  Rather, man voluntarily goes out of it, and not having Grace within him, my Grace seeks to follow him with the glimmering of its light.”  (Vol. 3, pg. 43)

On Mortification: (mortification: to subdue by abstinence or self inflicted pain))

“Jesus says, “...thus mortification has the power to devour all the imperfections and defects that are found in the soul, and goes so far as to spiritualize the body as well.  And it places itself about the soul and seals in all the virtues.  Until mortification shall have well devoured your soul as well as your body, it will not be able to seal perfectly in you the mark of my Crucifixion.”

“Mortification must be the breath of the soul.”

 HOW TO COME CLOSE TO JESUS

1.  Prayer and meditation (Meditation attracts God to converse with the soul.)

      Luisa meditated on the Passion constantly.  She says regarding meditation on the Passion, “All the good I have received has come from this source of good and love.” 

From the Hours of the Passion:

(From a letter of Luisa’s)  Luisa tells us: “Wherefore I tell you that the purpose of these Hours of the Passion is, not so much that of recounting the story of the Passion; but the purpose is the REPARATION, uniting together the different points of the Passion of Our Lord with the diversity of so many offenses, and together with Jesus, make worthy REPARATION, redoing for Him almost all that which all creatures owe Him.  From this comes the different ways of making reparation.  In these Hours, that is, in some passages one blesses; in others one compassionates; in others one praises; in others one comforts suffering Jesus; in others one compensates; in others one begs (Moses begged for God’s mercy and God relented (Exodus 32-7-14) prays and asks.”

(The following are from Vol. 2)

Jesus tells us: “...whoever always thinks on my Passion forms a fountain in his heart and the more he thinks on It, the more this fountain grows.  And since the waters which spring forth are waters common to all; so this fountain of my Passion, which is formed in the heart, serves for the good of the soul, for my Glory and for the good of creatures.”  

 “...I will not regard these Hours as things of theirs, but as things done by Me; and I will give them my same merits as if I were in the act of suffering my Passion and, in this way, I will make them obtain the same effects, according to the disposition of the souls.  This I will do upon the earth, and I could not give more.”

“These Hours are the most precious of all because they are none other than the repetition of that which I did in the course of my mortal Life and of that which I continue to do in the Most Holy Sacrament.  When I hear these Hours of my Passion, I hear my own voice and my own prayers.  I see my Will in that soul that desires the good of all and that makes reparation for all, and I feel Myself transported to dwell in her in order to be able to do in her that which she herself does.  Oh, how greatly would I be pleased if even one were to do these Hours of my Passion in each town!  I would feel Myself in each town; and my Justice, greatly disdained in these times, would be placated in part.”

“Know that every time you do it (the Hours), my Mother feels as if She were on earth in person and as if She repeated her life, and therefore, She receives that glory and love which She gave to Me upon earth...”

After Luisa was told this she said, “I followed Her; and, from that time on, helped by His Grace, I have never again omitted it.”

“...know that by doing these Hours, the soul takes my thoughts and makes them hers; she takes my reparation, prayers, desires, affections, even my most intimate fibers and makes them hers.  And raising herself up between Heaven and earth, she performs my same office and, as co-redemptrix, says together with Me, ‘Ecce ego, mitte me (behold me, send me).  I want to make reparation to You for all, respond to You for all and impetrate good for all.’

“.... as the soul remembers my Life, my Passion and my prayers, they go around this soul and gather her words, her prayers, the tears, the offerings, the compassion which she gives Me.  They unite them to mine and bring them before my Majesty to renew for Me the Glory of my own Life.  And the pleasure of the Angels is such that they are reverently waiting to hear that which the soul says and pray together with her.  Therefore, how attentively and respectfully must the soul do these Hours, thinking that the Angels hang from their lips in order to repeat that which she says right after her.”

“In these times (1916 - now worse than those times!) want great satisfaction, and only he who makes Me his own can give it to Me.  And that which The Father found in Me, that is; glory, complacency, love, entire and perfect satisfactions for the good of all, I want to find in these souls, like so many other Jesus’, who return all to Me.  And You must repeat these intentions in each hour of the Passion which you do, in each action, in all....”

“Do you not know that for each word on my Passion, thought, compassion, reparation, memory of my pains, so many communications as in electricity spring up between Me and the soul; and, therefore, the soul is adorned with so many varieties of beauty? (Vol. 12)

Jesus, speaking of those who will do the Hours:  “I will also give them a soul for each word which they will recite if they will do them together with Me and with my same Will, because all the greater or lesser efficacy of these Hours of my Passion is in the greater or lesser union which they have with Me.  And by doing them with my Will, the creature hides itself in my Will; and with my Will in act, I can do all the good that I want, even with a single word.  And this I will do every time that they will do them.”  (Vol 2)

The Blessed Mother tells us: The prayer most powerful on the Heart of my Son and that which softens Him the most is the creature’s clothing itself with all that He Himself did and suffered, having given all of it to the creature as a gift.  Therefore, my daughter, crown your head with Jesus’ thorns.  Bead your eyes with His tears.  Impregnate your tongue with His bitterness.  Dress your soul with His Blood.   Adorn yourself with His wounds.  Pierce your hands and feet with His nails and, as another Christ, present yourself before His Divine Majesty.   This spectacle will move Him so that He will not know how to refuse anything to the soul dressed with his own garment.”  (Vol. 2)

The souls in Purgatory and the Saints spoke to Luisa saying, “.... there is no soul which enters into Purgatory that does not bear the stamp of the Hours of the Passion and, helped and escorted by these Hours, takes his place in a secure place.  There is not a soul that flies into Paradise , which is not accompanied by these Hours of the Passion.  These Hours make rain from Heaven continuous dew upon the earth, in Purgatory and even in Heaven.”  (Vol. 12)

“Meditate on the Cross, and it will give you the most beautiful features one can find in Heaven and earth.  Always be enamored of the Cross...”   (Vol. 1)

 On confidence in prayer: (vol. 3, pg. 24)  Luisa says after her offering to Jesus, “Wherefore, I made the offering with complete confidence that the Child would have accepted it.  It seemed as though Jesus accepted my poor offerings with great pleasure, but what He like the most was the confidence with which I had offered it.

Wherefore, He said to me: Confidence has two arms.  With the one, one embraces my Humanity and uses it as a ladder to rise up to my Divinity.  With the other, one embraces the Divinity and draws from It torrents of celestial graces.  Therefore, the soul is all inundated by the Divine Being.  When the soul is confident, she is sure to obtain what she asks.  I let my arms be bound.  I let the soul do what she wants.  I let her penetrate deeper within my Heart, and I let her take for herself what she has asked of Me.  If I did not do this, I would feel Myself in a state of violence.”

In vol. 3, pg. 96, Jesus tells us, “Oral prayer serves to maintain correspondence.  Interior meditation must serve as food to maintain the conversation between God and the soul.”

2. On interior silence (vol. 3, pg. 62)  Jesus asks, “...but what is true rest?  It is interior rest, the silence of everything that is not God.  You see the twinkling stars of moderate light, not dazzling like the sun, sleep; the silence of all nature, of mankind and, finally, of animals...for all are looking for a place, a cave where to be in silence and in rest from the fatigue of life.  If that is necessary for the body, so much more for the soul.  But to be able to rest in God, inner silence is necessary.  But what is this inner silence?  It is to silence our own passions by holding them in check; to impose silence on desires, inclinations and sentiments; in summary, on everything which does not call God.  Now what is the means to unite man to this?  The only and absolutely necessary means is to undo one’s own being according to nature, reduce it to nothing; as it was nothing before it was created, and when you have reduced your being to nothing, take it up again in God. 

Other forms of meditation:  the Gospel, Mass, reading the writings of Luisa, the Rosary.

(Meditate on the Novena of Preparation for Christmas in vol. 1, beginning on pg. 1)

Other readings on prayer:

Use and effects of prayer in the Divine Will - Vol. 15, pg. 76-79

Fusing oneself in the Divine Will - Vol. 17, pg. 113-124

Oral and interior prayer - Vol. 3, pg. 96

2.  Abandonment

      In Vol. 1, Luisa gives us an example of her total abandonment when she received a new confessor, and she overcomes her doubts and fears by her total abandonment to God.

      By her readiness to suffer.

Jesus Gives Five Rules of Life to the Soul

(From Vol. 1)

1.  Total detachment from all creation, including ourselves. 

      Jesus says: “If you do not accomplish effective detachment, and not only that, but affective detachment as well, you will not be completely vested in my Light.  If, on the other hand, you divest yourself of all earthly things, you will become like a transparent crystal that allows the fullness of light to pass through it.  In that way my Divinity, which is Light, will enter into you.”

2.  Detachment from ourselves to live solely and completely in Him.

      Luisa says:  “I was to clothe myself in the true spirit of faith since I could, thanks to it, obtain the means to know and mistrust myself; acknowledging that by myself I am good for nothing; acquiring the means to know my Jesus better; and having greater confidence in Him.”

      Jesus says:  “You will get out of yourself and dive into the immense sea of my providence after you have learned to know yourself and have learned who I am.  Because I am so jealous, I will not allow you to take the slightest pleasure in others.  You must always keep yourself close to your Spouse, and face Him, so that He cannot doubt you.  Thus you will give Me absolute dominion over you.  For love of Me, you should subject yourself to all that I deem necessary....” 

 3.  “Not your will but my Will alone should remain in you to dominate like a King in his royal palace.”   ...This nobility will prevail in you if; from time to time, you will try to enter into your nothingness; that is to say, if you will attain perfect knowledge of yourself.  You must do all you can to enter into the infinite power of my Will.  From It, you will derive all the graces you will need to raise you up into Me, to do everything with Me without reference to yourself.”

 4.  “From now on I want that there be no “you” and “I”.  There will be no “I shall do” and “you shall do”. 

These shall disappear and be replaced by “we” will do.  Everything will be “ours”.  You, as any faithful spouse would do, will take common action with Me and guide the destiny of the world.

5.  “Finally, according to the measure with which you detach yourself from what is not totally mine, you shall become always more immersed in my absolute Will.  Then, thanks to the knowledge of my Essence, which day-by-day will become more vivid to you, you will acquire the fullness of my Love.

Lynne Bauer, JMJ

June, 2008 

THE GIFT

THE GIFT

(Book of Heaven, Volume 19, Sept. 29, 1931)

“My daughter, the living in my Will is a gift that We give to the creature – great gift that surpasses in value, in sanctity, in beauty and in happiness all other gifts, in an infinite and unreachable way. When We give this gift so great, We do nothing other than open the doors to make her the possessor of Our divine possessions - the place in which passions, dangers, have no more life; nor can any enemy harm her or do her evil. This gift confirms the creature in good, in love, in the very Life of her Creator; and the Creator remains confirmed in the creature; therefore, the inseparability takes place between one and the other. With this gift the creature will feel her lot changed: from poor to rich, from ill to perfectly healed, from unhappy, she will feel that all things change for her into happiness.

To live in Our Will as gift greatly differs from doing It; the first is prize, and Our decision to win the creature, with an invincible and irresistible force; to fill the human will with Our own in a sensible way, in a way that she will touch with her own hand, and with clarity, the great good that comes to her, such that only someone who is insane would flee from such a great good. In fact, for as long as the soul is a pilgrim one, the doors do not close behind the gift, but remain open, so that, freely, not being forced, she may live in Our gift; more so, since Our Will will not give this gift by necessity, but because It loves her, and It is fully her own.

On the other hand, to do Our Will is not prize, but duty and necessity, to which, willingly or unwillingly, she must submit; and the things that are done out of duty and out of necessity, if they can be shunned, are shunned, because in them does not enter the spontaneous love that makes one love and recognize Our Will as worthy of being loved and known. The necessity hides Its good, which It contains, and makes one feel the weight of the sacrifice and of the duty. On the other hand, the living in Our Will is not sacrifice, but conquest; it is not duty, but love.  She feels, in Our gift, her own self dissolved within it, and she loves It not only as Our Will, but also because It is exclusively hers; and by not giving It the first place, the regime, the dominion, she would not love herself.

Now, my daughter, this is what We want to give to creatures – Our Will as gift, because by looking at It and possessing It as one’s own thing, it will be easy to let It form Its Kingdom. This gift was given to man in Eden, and, ungrateful, he rejected it back to Us. But We did not change Our Will - We keep It reserved, and what one rejects, with more surprising graces We keep prepared to give it to others. Nor do We care about the time, because centuries for Us are like one single point. However, great preparations are needed on the part of creatures – to know the great good of the gift in order to long for it. But the time will come when Our Will will be possessed as gift by the creature.”

God's Mercy - Faustina and Luisa

 

God’s Mercy

Divine Will  - 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 anymore? 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.” (Vol. 6, April 16, 1904)

 Divine Mercy – In answer to Luisa’s request for Mercy, St. Mary Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament was born the following year on August 25, 1905.

 

FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING – KING OF MERCY

 Luisa:  I was thinking about today’s Feast – that is, the Feast of Christ the King; and my sweet Jesus, moving in my interior, told me:  “My daughter, the Church does nothing but intuitively grasp what She must know on my Divine Will and how Its Kingdom must come.  Therefore, this Feast is the prelude of the Kingdom of my Divine Fiat. Indeed, the Church is doing nothing other than honoring my Humanity with those titles which, by right, are due to It; and when She has given Me all the honors that befit Me, She will move on to honor and to institute the Feast to the Kingdom of my Divine Will, by which my Humanity was animated. The Church proceeds step by step, and now She institutes the Feast to my Heart, now She consecrates the century, in all solemnity, to Christ the Redeemer, and now She moves on, with greater solemnity, to institute the Feast to Christ the King. Christ the King means that He must have His Kingdom, He must have peoples worthy of such a King. And who will ever be able to form for Me this Kingdom if not my Will? Then, yes, will I be able to say: ‘I have my people – my Fiat has formed it for Me.’ Oh! if the leaders of the Church knew what I have manifested to you about my Divine Will, what I want to do, Its great prodigies, my yearnings, my sorrowful heartbeats, my anguishing sighs, for I want my Will to reign, to make everyone happy, to restore the human family - they would feel that in this Feast of Christ the King is nothing other than the secret echo of my Heart which, echoing in them, without their knowing it, has them institute for Me the Feast of Christ the King in order to call their attention and reflection. ‘Christ the King…. And His true people – where are they?’ And they would say: ‘Let us hasten to make His Divine Will known; let us let It reign, that we may give a people to Christ the King, whom we have called so. Otherwise, we have honored Him with words, but not with facts’.”  (Vol. 25, 10/28/1928)

 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 beautification cause of the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta.

Divine Mercy (Saint Faustina) – “Write this:  before I come as the just Judge, I am coming first as the King of Mercy.” (Diary, #83, told to St. Faustina in 1934)

A New Pentecost

A NEW PENTECOST

Excerpts from CONCHITA - A Mother's Spiritual Diary (Conchita de Armida)

"On sending to the world a new Pentecost, I want it inflamed, purified, illuminated, inflamed and purified by the light and fire of the Holy Spirit. The last stage of the world must be marked very specially by the effusion of the Holy Spirit. He must reign in hearts and in the entire world, not so much for the glory of His Person as for making the Father loved and bearing testimony of Me, although His glory is that of the whole Trinity" (Diary, Jan. 26, 1916).

"Tell the Pope that it is My will that in the whole Christian world the Holy Spirit be implored to bring peace and His reign into hearts. Only this Holy Spirit will be able to renew the face of the earth. He will bring light, union and charity to hearts.”

"The world is foundering because it rejects the Holy Spirit, and all the evils which afflict it have therein their origin. The remedy is found in Him. He is the Consoler, the author of all grace, the bond of union between the Father and the Son and the supreme conciliator since He is charity, uncreated and eternal Love.”

"May the whole world have recourse to this Holy Spirit since the day of His reign has arrived. This last stage of the world belongs very specially to Him that He be honored and exalted.”

"May the Church preach Him, may souls love Him, may the whole world be consecrated to Him, and peace will come along with a moral and spiritual reaction, greater than the evil by which the world is tormented.”

"May all at once this Holy Spirit begin to be called on with prayers, penances and tears, with the ardent desire of His coming. He will come, I will send Him again clearly manifest in His effects, which will astonish the world and impel the Church to holiness" (Diary, Sept. 27, 1918).

"Ask for this renewal, this new Pentecost, for My Church has need of priests sanctified by the Holy Spirit. The world is foundering in the abyss since it lacks priests who will help it from falling in; priests who bear the light to shine on the paths of good; pure priests to pull out of the mud so many hearts; priests afire who will fill the entire universe with divine love.”

"Ask, supplicate heaven, that all may be restored in Me by the Holy Spirit" (Diary, Nov. 1, 1927).

"I want to return to the world in My priests. I want to renew the world of souls by making Myself seen in My priests. I want to give a might impulse to My Church infusing in her, as it were, a new Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, in My priests" (Diary, Jan. 5, 1928).

"To obtain what I ask, every priest must make a consecration to the Holy Spirit, asking Him, through Mary's intercession, to come to them as it were in a new Pentecost, to purify them, to fill them with love, possess them, unify them, sanctify them and transform them into Me" (Diary, Jan. 25, 1928).

"One day not too far away, at the center of My Church, at Saint Peter's there will take place the consecration of the world to the Holy Spirit, and the graces of this Divine Spirit, will be showered on the blessed Pope who will make it.”

"It is My desire that the universe be consecrated to the Divine Spirit that He may spread Himself over the earth in a new Pentecost." (Diary, March 11, 1928).

 

Lynne Bauer, JMJ