Seek first the kingdom…

Seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. (Matthew 6:33)

In the passage below from Volume 14, Jesus highlights the contrast between our human way of thinking and praying, and that of living, acting, and praying in the Divine Will. I don’t know about you, but I need such reminders of how infinitely superior Acts and Rounds in the Divine Will are compared to prayers done in the human will.

In this passage Luisa represents us well! Notice how her human will wants to single out a particular soul to pray for, and how Jesus not only reprimands but illuminates her–and us!

Volume 14, March 10, 1922
Universal effects produced by the acts done in the Divine Will. One who lives in the Divine Will is queen of all.

I was doing the Hours of the Passion and, according to my usual way, I was pouring myself into the Holy Will of God, offering them for the good of all; but my will, as though wanting to appropriate them, very often would say: ‘My Jesus, in a special way for help, relief and liberation of this soul…’ And my sweet Jesus, reprimanding me, told me: “My daughter, everything that one does in my Will is like Sun that diffuses to all; and as one prays in my Will, offering my Blood, my pains, my wounds, these convert into as many rays of light which diffuse to all. They descend rapidly into the deepest prison of Purgatory and turn their pains and darkness into light. Therefore, it can be the same for everyone; and if there may be a difference, it can never be on the part of the one who gives, but of those who receive, according to the dispositions of each one. It happens as to the Sun, which gives light to all equally; it hits and warms one point of the earth just as any other. But who profits from this? Those who work. Which land produces fruit? That in which seeds have been sowed. Any other land, in spite of the light of the Sun, remains infertile. Therefore, distinctions do not exist in my Will; by Itself, It runs, It diffuses, and wants to give Itself to all – whoever wants, can take of It.”

I remained afflicted on hearing this, and Jesus added: “Ah! You would like to act like the Sun, if It wanted to concentrate Its light and Its heat in one point more strongly, to be able to warm it and illuminate it so much as to convert that point into the Sun itself; while it continues its regular course over all other things.” And I: ‘Yes, yes, it’s exactly this – it is the weight of gratitude that pushes me to this.’ Jesus smiled in hearing me, and He continued: “If this is the case, then go ahead and do it. But you must know that since my Will dominates everything, is everywhere, sustains everyone, is known in Heaven, on earth and even by demons, there is no one who can oppose It. In the same way, the soul who does my Will must dominate everything, be everywhere, sustain everything, and I want her to be known by all.”

And I: ‘My Love, I am known by no one. And He: “How is it – you are known by no one?! All angels and saints know you – one by one – and they anxiously await your operating in my Will, like a divine note, and the most harmonious one, which flows over everything they have done in life, to give them greater splendor and contentment. All purging souls know you, as they feel over themselves the continuous refreshment that the working in my Will brings. The demons know you from the power of my Will which they feel in you. And if the earth does not know you for now, it will know you later on.

It happens to one who does my Will, and I act with her, just as I did with my Celestial Mama: I constituted Her Queen of all, and I commanded all to recognize Her and honor Her as their Queen; and I commanded Her to crush with Her foot the head of the infernal dragon. So I do with those who live in my Will: everything is under their dominion, and there is no good which does not come from them.” (L. Piccarreta, Book of Heaven, Volume 14, March 10, 1922)

This passage has many layers that need to be masticated well.

We have been given the unimaginable privilege of being called to participate in bringing about the Third Fiat. We know the importance of doing our Acts and Rounds done in the Divine Will. We know they are infinitely more important than prayers for individuals. We know they will have infinitely more effect not only on those individuals we are concerned about, but also on all individuals at the same time. But are we living as if we know it?

The Lord is intimately aware of the deepest desires of our hearts. We don’t have to remind him continuously that so-and-so still hasn’t converted! We must know and believe that he loves that soul far more than we do. Jesus I trust in you. Pray it till you mean it!

The Scripture verse above says it very succinctly: “Seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.”

I once felt the Lord speak this Word to my heart: “You take care of my business and I’ll take care of yours.” His “business” is souls and the Divine Will.  There is nothing he wants more than that the Divine Will reign on earth as it does in heaven. As the first children of the Divine Will, His priority must be our priority.

Friends, we all have individuals we are praying for, but the most important thing we can do for them and for all is to do our Acts and Rounds in the Divine Will faithfully and attentively.

To paraphrase Padre Pio: Do your Acts, do your Rounds, and don’t worry!

Jesus I trust in you. Fiat!

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The value of one person living in the Divine Will…

I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

Volume 23, December 14, 1927

“My daughter [Luisa], I have you, who are worth more than anything; and putting everything aside, I will look at your value – that is, the value of my Divine Will in you – and I will dispose my Kingdom in the midst of creatures.  A person is worth according to the value which is entrusted to him.  If my Will contains an infinite value, which surpasses the whole value of all creatures together, one who possesses It, before the Divine Majesty, has the value that surpasses everything.  So, for now I have you, and this is enough for Me in order to dispose the Kingdom of my Will.  Therefore, all the evils of this time – and they are too many – do not equal the great value of my Divine Will operating in one creature alone; and my Will will use these evils to make a heap out of them and, with Its power, to banish them from the face of the earth. (L. Piccarretta, Book of Heaven, Volume 23, December 14, 1927)

That is such phenomenally good and powerful news! Thank you, Jesus, for the gift of Luisa through whom you gave us knowledge of the Gift of Living in the Divine Will. Help us to carry on her work for Your glory and the good of all!

It has occurred to me recently that Luisa is to the Third Fiat, Sanctification, what John the Baptist was to the Second Fiat, Redemption: a prophet and a transition figure. So, I felt led to write a Canticle of Luisa based on the Canticle of Zacharaiah.

Canticle of Luisa

Blessed be the Lord,
The God of Israel;
He has come to His people and made them heirs.

He raised up for us a mighty Savior,
Born of the house of His servant David.

Through His holy prophets He promised of old
That He would save us from our enemies,
From the hands of all who hate us.

He promised to show mercy to our fathers
And to remember His holy Covenant.

This was the prayer our Savior gave to his disciples
as promise and prophecy:
May your kingdom come and your Will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.

You, Luisa shall be called
Little Daughter of the Divine Will,
For you will go before the Eucharistic Lord to prepare His way,
To give His people knowledge of The Third Fiat
Through the Gift of Living in the Divine Will.

In the tender compassion of our God
The dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness
And the shadow of death,
And to guide our feet into the Era of Peace.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
World without end.
Amen. Fiat!

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In other news…

Just a couple of things that have come my way that I felt were worth passing on.

• Divine Will Era has highlighted Fr. Iannuzzi’s Radio Maria Podcast from September 11, 2021, on the importance of TRUST in these end times. It is excellent. You can also download the podcast directly from Radio Maria here.
• Man, there is a lot of chatter out there. Plenty to distract us from what Our Lord is calling us to. Let’s not get side-tracked. I have come to appreciate very much a Catholic news source called The Pillar. They verify everything they cover and stay away from the social media quagmire. Truth and reason, calmly and eloquently stated. I subscribe to their mailout and really liked the final piece in the mailout entitled, “It doesn’t matter what I think”. I found it to be a refreshing dose of reason in a world addicted to politics, drama, and the comment box.

May God’s will be done and glorified always and everywhere! Fiat!

In the Trenches…

A friend related a story about her parish priest, that happened very recently. When she first moved to the parish, she struggled with feelings of disappointment in his lackluster homilies and his seeming lack of spiritual fire. She tried mentioning Luisa’s writings to him but he didn’t appear to be interested. She wondered if she should attend a neighboring parish instead. In the end, she decided to stay, and continued to pray for him.

Then something happened. She began to have a mystical experience during his (still dry) homilies. At every Mass, during the homily, she saw a glow behind him that was so bright she had to look away. It was utterly mystifying. She kept studying Divine Will doing her acts and praying. Then things started to really change. His his priestly faith appeared to ignite and his homilies improved dramatically! She was overjoyed!

That is the power of the Divine Will for priests, dear friends. We can gently introduce it, without pushing (see resources at the end of this post). But most importantly we are called to be a constant Divine Will presence in the parish, praying for not just our priests but all priests of all time (as well as the parishioners). God wants to shower them with the Fire of the Divine Will and we are his little matches, doing almost nothing, but with powerful, even astonishing, results.

Friends we are in the trenches. Our priests are on the front line and under attack. They need us to volley Divine Will acts and prayers over their heads, to keep the enemy at bay. Jesus showed us through Luisa just how important priests are in the Divine Will. Our Lady of Medjugorje has said that priests are the bridge to the Era of Peace. One of the things we see in war is the importance of bridges and how blowing up a bridge can change the war. Our call in the Divine Will: Fortify our priests in the Divine Will so they can be the bridge to the New Era!

Think about this if you have a priest who seems to have lost his fire or lost his way. Think about this if you are tempted to move to another parish. Think about this if you are openly, or even silently, critical of your priest. Your continuous Fiat! in his church could make all the difference. He could even become a Divine Will priest! The more there are, the sooner the Era will come, and as with all of us—Peter, Paul, Luisa, me, you—God uses the least likely candidates to do His greatest work. So, don’t let the enemy convince you to give up on anyone, least of all a priest! 

When I asked for permission to share her story, my friend replied, “Absolutely you can, it is all God’s work! After reading what Our Lord put in your heart to write down, it couldn’t be more clear why he allowed that to happen.  Our priests and our church do need our prayers in the Divine Will. I heard a priest give a talk yesterday and he said, ‘Mary is walking up the body of the snake and she is getting closer to his head to crush it and that’s why things are getting so much worse.‘ I believe all living in the Divine Will are helping Mary crush the head of Satan to bring in the New Era of Peace! God be Praised in all things!”

A lot of faithful Catholics today are angry at the Church, a priest, a bishop, even the Pope. Let’s apply the above lesson to help discern where in the Divine Will we are called to be, where we can do the most good—in the parish or outside of the parish, in the Church or outside of the Church. Don’t let anger be the decider. God is heard in the gentle breeze, in the soft, continuous fiat.

In this Divine Will Era YouTube video, Dr. James and Fr. Joseph Iannuzzi discuss Anger Towards the Church. As always, Fr. Iannuzzi provides solid references from Church Doctors, Fathers, and Magisterial teaching. There are a lot of golden take-aways from this video.

Introductory resources to pass on:

First is Ken Johnston’s In His Sign Network podcast of May 25, 2022 with Reverend Father Joseph Leo Iannuzzi and Peter de Palma of Queen of the Divine Will. I found this to be a really good introductory apologetics teaching on the Divine Will. It would be a good podcast to share with a priest I think, and anyone else who may not have heard of Luisa. Give it a listen and see.

Fr. Iannuzzi’s Radio Maria podcast of June 11, 2022 is another excellent resource to give to priests or beginners. Among other salutary things, he explains the significance of the gift of the Divine Indwelling of the Trinity and how it differs from the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit we receive at Baptism, and the Indwelling of Christ we receive in the Eucharist.

As well, here are two introductory documents linked on the Queen of the Divine Will website:

This Divine Will Booklet, is simple, basic, and printable. It also has the Ecclesial Approval (1997) of His Excellency, the Most Reverend Carmelo Cassati, Archbishop of Trani (d. 2017).

And this booklet, An Introduction to the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta, is more in-depth—an excellent e-resource to read or pass on.

The Lord is near, dear friends! Remain at your post, faithful and attentive. Remember what Luisa said, “Your Will is always Holy and whatever way I will be in It, I shall be fine.” (Volume 8, June 25, 1907)

Fiat!

The Resistant Ones—Those Hardened Souls…

When I first had a profound experience of the Lord in the Eucharist in 1997, it rocked me, and it rocked those around me as the fun-loving person they knew and loved suddenly became a “Jesus freak”. I wanted everyone to know Jesus like I knew him. To say that I was indelicate in my enthusiasm would be an understatement. It would be more accurate to use the words “annoying” and “pushy”. I now see that I was presenting a pretty poor image of Jesus! In the process, I damaged relationships, and eventually had to admit that what I was doing had the opposite effect than I had expected—it pushed them away from God not to him. Mea maxima culpa!

God tried to warn me. About the same time I had a dream where I had a shopping cart full of eggs in those open, flat cartons of three dozen. The cartons were stacked in the cart. In the dream I was trying to move the individual eggs but every time I tried, I put my thumb through them. I understood that the eggs represented souls, and that they are just that delicate and need to be treated gently. Touché!

I can’t say the change in me was immediate, but through confession, apologies, time, and above all prayer I came to the point of substituting overt evangelization of the resistant ones, with peaceful, trusting prayer for souls, which is infinitely more effective, especially in the Divine Will!

I know that every one of us has family members and friends who are away from the Church. As we anticipate events such as the Illumination of Conscience, chastisement, or even natural (or unnatural) death, we can panic and, like me, try to force conversion on others by bombarding them with writings, forcing prayers on them, even telling them they’re going to hell. We need to remember that God invites, he doesn’t compel. And he is patient.

To everything there is a season, a time to be silent, and a time to talk, but only when these resistent souls become open to it by grace, which only comes through prayer. Before that time, we risk pushing them farther away. We have to wait for the fruit to ripen; if we try to rush it we just end up with a sour taste in our mouths. Prayer alone is what ripens the fruit. Once the fruit is ripe, then we can have a deliciously meaningful conversation that won’t descend into an argument. Rarely are resistant souls “talked” into faith. Faith is a gift. Conversion is a gift. But that gift has a price.

What did Jesus do? During his three-year mission, he gained thousands of followers with his words and miracles. Yet, many of them later rejected him cruelly. Did he chase after them? No. He let them go because he respected their freedom—even to reject him. We must do the same. 

That does NOT mean we give up. It just means we change tactics. Jesus later saved those souls by being obedient unto death, death on the Cross. We followers of Jesus participate in his mission most effectively through the cross, offering our prayers and sacrifices in the Divine will, in, with, through, and for him. Through the Gift of Living in the Divine Will we have the full, Divine power of the Cross at our disposal, a power we cannot begin to comprehend in this life.

If we want our people saved, we have to be willing to leave the low road of argument and enter into the Gift of Living in the Divine Will that God is offering us so we can pray “up high” for them and for ALL souls past, present and future. Do we only want to save a few souls or ALL souls? All? Then we must learn to pray from Luisa.

Jesus promised Luisa that he would give anyone who meditated on the Twenty-Four Hours of the Passion a soul for every WORD of the Passion they prayed! That is an astounding promise, but we can trust it completely. As we meditate on the Hours we begin to appreciate the infinite value of Our Lord’s sufferings. We realize that there is nothing we can do or say that will come close to their power. We realize the greatness of this Gift, and the privilege we have been given through no merit of our own, to save souls in a real way WITH Jesus.

Remember it is important to pray the Hours fused into Jesus or it becomes just another human devotion. Fusing makes it a Divine prayer—in God’s power not ours. We enter into our nothingness and “let him do” in us. Luisa’s prayers for “before” and “after” are the best way to do this.

But there’s more! In the Divine Will we can offer Jesus his own sufferings—as our own—along with the sufferings of Mary and Luisa who, in the Divine Will, suffered everything he suffered. We offer them to Jesus to repair for all the sins of those souls we are praying for, and for all souls of all time, to re-do all lives in the Divine Will, and to restore all acts in the Order of Grace, as Adam was before the Fall.

We need to learn to pray like Luisa. In the Seventh Hour of the Passion Luisa prays: “My Mama, I come to You (in the Divine Will in the name of all), because Jesus wants souls – He wants comfort. Therefore, give me your maternal hand, and let us go around together, throughout the whole world (in all times and places), searching for souls. Let us enclose in His Blood the affections, the desires, the thoughts, the works, the steps of all creatures, and let us throw the flames of His Heart into their souls, that they may surrender, and so, enclosed in His Blood and transformed within His flames, we will bring them around Jesus, to soothe the pains of His most bitter agony.“

My blog post titled, Apostles of the Scourging includes a link to an excerpted prayer from the Seventh Hour of the Passion. I have spread the prayer over seven days so it is not that long; on each day we pray with the Blood of Christ for a different category of soul. This prayer covers everyone. Fiat!

Remember, God loves our people more than we do. He has already paid the price for their souls and has given us the means to pour infinite graces upon them so that they will accept that grace. It is through the Gift of Living in the Divine Will that we enter into God’s work for souls. But it is God’s work, so we have to be detached from the results, which we may not see in our lifetime. We need to be patient, trusting completely that God will complete the good work he has begun in those souls. We pray, enter into our nothingness, and “let God do” in us—and in all souls through us. Fiat!

Here is another thing to consider. If we did not have specific souls to pray for, how motivated would we be to pray for all souls? God knows us very well. Let us not get bogged down with such problems that serve only to keep us in the “low world”, as Jesus calls earthly things. Instead, let us use them as a launching pad into the Divine Will for the good of all souls, past, present, and future.

A word of caution, beware of self-righteousness; it is a form of pride the devil reserves for good people. We need to ditch it! Until we learn to live in our nothingness, any successes we have could very well lead to pride. Every time we are tempted to try one more thing with someone we know is hardened against the Lord, we have to stop ourselves, do what Luisa did and pray, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” The tempter will flee at the words. Then we pray and offer sacrifice for that soul until the Lord gives us the all-clear to come in and evangelize with love and gentleness. Let us remain in our nothingness, which is our place of safety, trust in him, and be patient.

Here are two passages on pride from the Volumes. The parts in bold, I pray every day. 

Volume 4, September 5, 1901

Jesus reveals to Luisa, “When you humble yourself and consider yourself unworthy of suffering… you repair for the sins of pride that are committed in the world.” To this (Luisa) replied, “‘Ah, Lord, for as many drops of Blood You shed, thorns You suffered and wounds You endured, I intend to give You as much glory as all creatures should have given You had the sin of pride not existed, and I beseech You for as many graces as there are souls for this sin [of pride] to be vanquished.’ While saying this, I saw that Jesus contained the whole world within Himself, like a machine containing objects within itself. All creatures moved within Him, and Jesus moved toward them, it seemed as if He were receiving the glory of my intention in such a way that souls were returning to Him in order to receive the good I had implored on their behalf. I remained astonished, and He, seeing my astonishment, said: ‘All this seems surprising, doesn’t it? What you have done seems trivial, and yet, it is not so. How much good would be done by repeating this intention, but is not.’ Having said this, He disappeared.” (L. Piccarreta, Book of Heaven, Volume 4, September 5, 1901)

Volume 3, Nov. 19, 1899

“My daughter, pride corrodes Grace. In the hearts of the proud there is nothing but a void all full of smoke, which produces blindness. Pride does nothing but render oneself an idol, and so the proud soul does not have her God with her. By sin, she has tried to destroy Him in her heart, and raising an altar within her heart, she places herself on it, and she adores herself.”

O, God, what an abominable monster this vice is! It seems to me that if the soul is Attentive not to let it enter into herself, she is free of all other vices; but if, to her misfortune, she lets herself be dominated by it, since it is a monstrous and wicked mother, it will deliver all of its naughty children for her, which are the other sins. Ah, Lord, keep it away from me! (L. Piccarreta, Book of Heaven, Volume 3, Nov. 19, 1899)

Once God has shown us our nothingness, he will lead us where we need to be in order to save souls with Him. We can trust that whatever God takes away (as long as it is good in itself) he means to give back to us in right relationship. And that’s worth waiting, working, and suffering for! Anything he takes away that is not good—good riddance!

The following passage can give us great comfort. Our Mother, Queen of the Divine Will is on our side. We can invoke her aid with confidence. To echo St. Padre Pio: “Pray, trust, and don’t worry.”

Volume 35, August 9, 1937

“If you knew how much this Celestial Queen Loves the souls.  She, faithful copy of Her Creator, looks inside Herself and finds Her Seas of Love, Grace, Sanctity, Beauty and Light; then She looks at the creatures and wants to give all of Herself with all Her Seas, so that creatures may have their Mama with all Her Riches.  Having to see Her children poor, while their Mother is so rich—and only because they do not Live in the Inheritance of their Mother… it is such a Pain… She would like to see them inside Her Seas of Love, Loving their Creator as She does, hidden inside Her Sanctity, embellished by Her Beauty, filled with Her Grace.  But not seeing them there—if She wasn’t in the state of Glory, in which pains cannot have place—She would die of pure Pain for each creature who does not Live in the Divine Will.  Therefore, She prays unceasingly.  She places all Her Seas in Prayer, to beseech that the Divine Will be done on earth as It is in Heaven.

“Our Love is such that, by the virtue of Our Will, She Bilocates Herself within each creature, to prepare the interior of her soul, synchronizing her with Her Maternal Heart, squeezing her in Her Arms, to dispose her to receive the Life of the Divine Fiat.  O, how much She prays, in every single heart, to Our Adorable Majesty, saying:  ‘Hurry up.  My Love can no longer be contained.  I want to see My children Living together with Me in that same Divine Will that forms all of My Glory, My Richness, My Great Inheritance.  Trust me, and I will know how to defend My children and Your own Will, which is also Mine.’

“The Love of this Celestial Queen and Mother is Insuperable.  Only in Heaven will creatures know how much She Loves them and how much She has done for them.  Her most exuberant, magnanimous and Greatest Act is in wanting them to possess the Kingdom of My Will as She possesses It.  O, what wouldn’t the Celestial Lady do to obtain this Purpose!  You too, Unite with Her, and pray for a Purpose so Holy.” (L. Piccarreta, Book of Heaven, Volume 35, August 9, 1937)

Finally, these words of hope came in an email from Queen of the Divine Will, quoting Rev. Joseph Iannuzzi’s Book, Antichrist and the End Times.

Lumen gentium points out that “in the most holy Virgin the Church has already reached that perfection.” For that reason “the followers of Christ … turn their eyes to Mary who shines forth to the whole community of the elect as the model of virtues … For Mary … unites in herself and re-echoes the greatest teachings of the faith (LG 60).”

At Fatima our Lady revealed that her heart will triumph and the world will be given an Era of Peace:

“In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted, and an era of peace shall be granted to the world [129].”

Mary’s privileged role in the end times is reinforced in the writings of Venerable Mary of Agreda (1602-1665 A.D.) and Saint Louis de Montfort:

“It was revealed to me that through the intercession of the Mother of God all heresies will disappear. The victory over heresies has been reserved by Christ for his Blessed Mother… The power of Mary in the latter days will be very conspicuous. Mary will extend the reign of Christ over the heathens and the Muslims, and it will be a time of great joy when Mary is enthroned as Mistress and Queen of hearts [130].”

“The power of Mary over all the evil spirits will especially shine forth in the latter times, when Satan will lie in wait of her heel, that is, her humble servants and her poor children whom she will rouse to fight against him… they will be great and exalted before God in holiness. They will be superior to all creatures by their great zeal and so strongly will they be supported by divine assistance that, in union with Mary, they will crush the head of Satan with their heel, that is, their humility, and bring about victory to Jesus Christ [131].”

St. Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941 A.D.) affirms:

“The image of the Immaculate will one day replace the large red star over the Kremlin, but only after a great and bloody trial [132].”

The 17th century Venerable Bartholomew Holzhauser writes on the Era of Peace:

“When everything has been ruined by war, when Catholics are hard pressed by traitorous co-religionists and heretics, when the Church and her servants are denied their rights, the monarchies have been abolished and their rulers murdered… then the Hand of Almighty God will work a marvelous change, something apparently impossible according to human understanding [135].”

In the Church-recognized messages of La Salette, our Lady predicted that after the reign of Antichrist, religion will flourish everywhere:

“Rome will lose the faith and become the seat of Antichrist. The demons of the air together with the Antichrist will perform great wonders on earth and in the atmosphere, and men will become more and more perverted. God will take care of his faithful servants and men of good will. The gospel will be preached everywhere, and all peoples of all nations will get to know the truth [137].” (Rev. J.L. Iannuzzi, Antichrist and the End Times, p. 75 ff)

Let us pray with Luisa from the Rounds of the Soul in the Divine Will, Sixth Hour:

“Why don’t you make haste, my Love? You never leave things half-finished. Nor do You give your riches only in part. Therefore, come quickly! If through your Redemption you gave us half of your goods, finish now your work: Make your Will rule and prevail in the midst of creatures!

Fiat!

A “must listen to” podcast by Fr. Iannuzzi…

Blessings all. I have listened to Fr. Iannuzzi’s November 13, 2021 podcast a couple of times now and it is Wow! so helpful in so many ways (I downloaded it in case it disappears). He is speaking mainly on a passage in Volume 19, September 5, 1926.  He begins by introducing the theme of Image of God vs. image of satan in the human soul, but he doesn’t quite get to the end of the passage, so on that theme we are left hanging until the November 20 podcast. (I tried to access November 20, but while they have a link to the podcast, I don’t think they have uploaded the talk to it as nothing happens. They have been working very hard at Radio Maria. These things take time. Fiat! Keep checking!)

All that being said, the November 13 podcast has enough important themes in it to do very well on its own. One of the themes Fr. Iannuzzi touches on near the end is the topic of chastisements and why one who lives in the Divine Will, or who even desires to do so, has absolutely nothing to fear. The following passages are two of the ones he references in his teaching, but do listen to the podcast for his wonderful teaching. Fiat!

Volume 19, September 5, 1926

“My daughter, Our daughter, the daughter of the Celestial Mama, the daughter of the Angels and of the Saints, the daughter of the heavens, the daughter of the sun, the daughter of the stars, the daughter of the sea; in sum, you are the daughter of all – all are fathers to you, and you are a daughter to all.  See how vast is the paternity!  How long is your daughtership!  Instead of oppressing yourself you should delight, thinking that all are fathers to you and you are a daughter to all.  Only one who lives in my Will can have the right to such vast paternity and to such a long daughtership – to be loved by all with paternal love, because all recognize in her their daughter.  In fact, since created things are all invested with my Will, wherever It reigns as triumphant and dominating, they see in you the same Will that reigns in them, therefore all hold you as the daughter of their wombs.  There are so many bonds between you and them as to surpass in an infinite way the natural bonds that exist between father and son.  Do you know who is not your father?  Only those who do not let my Will reign in them; these have no right over you, nor do you have any duty toward them – they are like something that does not belong to you.

But do you know what it means to possess such a vast paternity and such a long daughtership?  It means to be bound with bonds of justice to all the riches, the glory, the honor, the privileges that such vast paternity possesses.  So, as my daughter, your Jesus gives you all the goods of Redemption as gifts; as Our daughter, you are endowed with all the goods of the Sacrosanct Trinity; as daughter of the Sovereign Queen, She gives to you Her sorrows, Her works, Her love and all of Her maternal merits as gifts; as daughter of the Angels and of the Saints, they compete among themselves to give you all of their goods; as daughter of the heavens, of the stars, of the sun, of the sea and of all created things, they feel honored to finally have their daughter, to be able to give their inheritance; and my very Will reigning in them, with Its endless light forms for you the deed of all Creation, and all feel the happiness, the joy of being able to give their inheritance, because by being able to give, they no longer feel sterile, but fecund, and fecundity brings joy, company, harmony, glory, the repetition of one’s very life.  How many fathers and mothers are unhappy, even though they are rich, because they have no offspring!  In fact, sterility in itself brings isolation, bitterness, lack of any support and of happiness; and if it may appear that they enjoy, in their hearts they have the thorn of sterility that embitters all their enjoyments.  So, your vast paternity which you possess, and your long daughtership is a cause of joy for all – and much more for my Will which, bilocating, reigns in you and constitutes you the daughter of all the things created by It, in such a way that all feel your support and the contentment of being able to give the goods they possess.  Therefore, your oppression is not justified in the midst of so many goods, of so much happiness, and of so many who protect you, defend you and love you as their true daughter.” (L. Piccarreta, Book of Heaven, Volume 19, September 5, 1926)

Volume 11, May 18, 1915
The Divine Justice imposes chastisements, but neither these nor the enemies get close to the souls who live in the Divine Volition.

Continuing in my poor state, I felt my poor nature succumbing. I am in a state of continuous violence: I want to do violence to my adorable Jesus, but He hides so as not to be violated more. Then, when He sees that I am not in the act of doing violence to Him because He is hidden, all of a sudden, He makes Himself seen and starts crying for all that miserable humanity is suffering and will suffer.

Other times, in a touching and almost imploring tone, He tells me: “Daughter, do not use violence on Me. My state is already violent in itself because of the grave evils that the creatures suffer and will suffer; but I must give Justice Its rights.”

And while He says this, He cries and I cry together with Him. Many times it seems that, transforming Himself completely into me, He cries through my eyes. All the tragedies – human bodies mutilated, floods of blood, towns destroyed, churches profaned – which Jesus had shown me many years before, pass before my mind. My poor heart is shredded with pain; now I feel it writhing with the spasm, now freezing. And while I suffer this, I hear the voice of Jesus saying, “How I grieve! How I grieve!” And He bursts into sobs. But who can say everything?

Now, as I was in this state, my sweet Jesus, in order to somehow calm my fears and frights, told me: “My daughter, courage. It is true that great will be the tragedy, but know that I will have regard for the souls who live from my Will, and for the places where these souls are. Just as the kings of the earth have their own courts and quarters in which they keep safe in the midst of dangers and among the fiercest enemies – since their strength is such that while the enemies destroy other places, they do not dare to look at that point for fear of being defeated – in the same way, I too, King of Heaven, have my quarters and my courts on earth. These are the souls who live in my Volition, in whom I live; and the court of Heaven crowds round them. The strength of my Will keeps them safe, rendering the bullets cold, and driving back the fiercest enemies.

My daughter, why do the Blessed themselves remain safe and fully happy even when they see that the creatures suffer and that the earth is in flames? Exactly because they live completely in my Will. Know that I put the souls who live completely from my Will on earth in the same condition as the Blessed. Therefore, live in my Will and fear nothing. Even more, in these times of human carnage, not only do I want you to live in my Will, but to live also among your brothers – between Me and them. You will hold Me tightly, sheltered from the offenses that creatures send Me. As I give you the gift of my Humanity and of all that I suffered, while you keep Me sheltered, you will give to your brothers my Blood, my wounds, my thorns – my merits for their salvation.” (L. Piccarreta, Book of Heaven, Volume 11, May 18, 1915)

Two things came to mind regarding the message that those living in the Divine Will need not fear the chastisements. One is something that Frances Hogan says often, that the Lord told her years ago to tell everyone she could reach that they needed to trust in him “beyond reason”. The other, which illustrates that, is a dream I had a year or two ago in which it was winter and my house was warm inside even though there was no earthly reason that it should be.

Does this mean that we won’t suffer at all through the chastisements? Only as God wills for His purposes. But God will be very near to us, and we need to call on him in confidence and trust with a ready Fiat on our lips and in our hearts no matter the circumstances.

Jesus I trust in you. Pray it till you mean it! Fiat!

Pope Francis calls for prayers for Ukraine…

Friends, Pope Francis has called for Wednesday, January 26 to be a day of prayer for Ukraine. The situation in Ukraine is very tense and embassies are calling home families of diplomats and are allowing even the diplomats themselves to leave voluntarily.

Let us pray in the Divine Will that the Peace that surpasses all understanding will come to reign in all the world. Jesus we trust in you!

Letters from Luisa, #44…

During her lifetime, Luisa wrote letters of encouragement to others, answering their questions with patience and great love. This too is a treasure for those of us striving to live in the Divine Will as we also have the same questions. The library of letters is available at Letters from Luisa Piccarreta. Here is one that spoke to me today. Fiat!

44.  To Mrs. Mazari, from Bari

In Voluntate Dei!

My good daughter of the Divine Volition,

Thank you for so much of your affection and attention, which I do not deserve.  May Heaven, dear Jesus and our Queen and Mother reward you for everything; even more, in exchange I will pray that they may give you the royal garment of the Divine Will, and cover you and warm you with the mantle of love.  But you must dispose yourself to receive it and to be clothed with this royal garment, which will make you stand out as a favorite daughter of the Divine Volition, while Jesus and Mama, with their divine hands, will cover with the shining mantle of Love.  Do not think it is difficult to obtain this great good; rather, it is very easy, as long as you want it with a firm decision to live from the Divine Volition, converting everything you do into Divine Will.

Dear Jesus and the Most Holy Queen will put themselves at your disposal, remaining inside and outside of you, to be your guide, light and strength; and if they see your weakness (not your will), they will make up for anything you cannot reach.  Do you want do know something?  The Queen committed Herself with her Divine Son to assisting and raising those who want to live from the Divine Will with the same love with which she raised and assisted her Son Jesus.  So, it takes will; the rest will come by itself…

Therefore, courage.  Don’t lose heart because of the difficulties and the circumstances of life; they are steps which make us go higher in the Divine Volition.  Especially in painful circumstances, dear Jesus takes us by the hand to make us rise higher and achieve beautiful conquests – not human, but divine and of infinite value.  Oh, how I’d love to hear that you are always in the Divine Will!

(…) I prayed for your needs, especially for good Carmela.  Who knows how many hugs and kisses the Lord will give you – to the one who suffers and to the one who sees the other suffering; because it is better to suffer than watch someone else suffering.  So, return these hugs and kisses with your own, and tell Him from the heart:  “Jesus, take our will and give us Yours.”  He wants to give It, and He loves that it be sought after (…)

The little daughter of the Divine Will

Corato, December 3, 1937

https://luisapiccarreta.me/letters/letters-from-luisa-piccarreta

The Dishonest Steward and the Divine Will…

(Note: In this blog post I have used the words “manager” and “steward” interchangeably.)

Then Jesus said to the disciples, ‘There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you? Give me an account of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.” Then the manager said to himself, “What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.” So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, “How much do you owe my master?” He answered, “A hundred jugs of olive oil.” He said to him, “Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.” Then he asked another, “And how much do you owe?” He replied, “A hundred containers of wheat.” He said to him, “Take your bill and make it eighty.” And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

‘Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in ‘Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.’ (Luke 16:1-8)

This parable has puzzled since childhood. I could never figure out why the Master praised the dishonest steward. I may have heard some very good homilies on it, but somehow I never felt that my central question was answered.

However, when this gospel reading was proclaimed by my priest at Mass a few days ago, I felt a little Divine Will illumination. I don’t think I had ever considered it, but in this mini-illumination it became clear to me that I was the dishonest steward, repeatedly squandering God’s graces and gifts to my own detriment and to the detriment of those around me! There was no denying it—I was guilty as charged. Ouch!

Then came the realization that we are all dishonest stewards of God’s gifts, with the glorious exception of our Blessed Mother. We repeatedly squander his graces and gifts, to our own detriment and the detriment of those around us. However, once we admit it, once we plead guilty, even if our repentance is less than perfect, it is then that God begins his work in us.

Let us look at the fellow in the parable, who did not deny his guilt but, under the looming threat of justice, decided he would do what was in his power to mitigate the outcome. Notice that the Master in the parable did not dismiss the steward outright, even though he had categorically proven himself to be untrustworthy. It was almost as if the Master wanted to give him a chance. Ah yes! Our Master is the King of second chances! While we are still sinners, God meets us on the way to perfect repentance, where he continues to assist us with grace upon grace—each dose of medicine building upon the last.

The parable next tells us that summoning his master’s debtors one by one,the dishonest steward proceeded to give them a break on their debts, hoping that they would come to his aid when he was finally dismissed. And who of us has not done this? Once we repent and realize that there is nothing in this world that can save us, we try to make friends in high places, praying countless rosaries and offering novenas to the saints, imploring them to intercede for us. We offer sufferings and prayers for the souls in purgatory, counting on their prayers for us. This, dear friends, is our “dishonest wealth”. We are reaping where we did not sow. Jesus tells his listeners, “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.” Oh yes!

The next thing we see in the parable is that, incredibly, the Master commends the dishonest steward for his shrewdness! Jesus, the Author and Narrator of the parable goes further and encourages the Children of Light to do the same, not with earthly wealth, but with spiritual wealth. He does not seem to mind that we have been faithful in very little, gathering where we did not scatter. “Yes,” he says, “Take advantage of the saints, and especially our Mother. Their merits are there for the taking.” He dangles in front of us this “dishonest” wealth, the merits we neither earned nor deserved, with the implication that the only failure is not to take advantage of them.

This is a test of our humility, our willingness to depend on others who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith. It would be a terrible tragedy if we were too proud to accept what He offers us through them. This false humility is a barrier to what God has in mind for us. ‘Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much.’ Dear friends, everything is a test, and the only failure is to let our pride dictate the outcome. Luisa gives us a delightfully pithy lesson in the following passage.

Volume 9, April 10, 1910

Now, the way of Jesus is always immense, and together with Jesus, I too feel immense, and as if I were able to do something. Then Jesus withdraws, and I remain always the stupid one that I am, the little ignorant one, the little cattiva [bad, naughty]. And it is exactly because of this that Jesus loves me – because I am ignorant, and I am no one, and I can do nothing. Knowing that I want to receive Him at any cost, so as not to receive dishonor in coming into me, but rather, highest honor, He Himself prepares my poor soul. He gives me His own things, His merits, His clothing, His works, His desires – in sum, all of Himself. If necessary, also that which the Saints did, because everything is His own; if necessary, also that which the Most Holy Mama did. And I too say to all: ‘Jesus, give honor to Yourself in coming into me. My Queen Mama, Saints, all Angels, I am so very poor; everything that is yours – put it in my heart, not for me, but for the honor of Jesus.’ And I feel that all of Heaven contributes to preparing me. And after Jesus has descended within me, I seem to see Him all pleased, seeing Himself honored by His own things; and sometimes He tells me: “Brava, brava, my daughter, how happy I am – how pleased I am. Everywhere I look within you, I find things worthy of Me. Everything that is Mine, is yours; how many beautiful things you made Me find!”

Knowing that I am so very poor, that I have done nothing, and that nothing is mine, I laugh at the contentment of Jesus, and I say: ‘Thank goodness Jesus thinks like this! It is enough that He came – this is enough for me. It doesn’t matter that I have used His own things – the poor must receive from the rich.’ Now, it is true that a few glimmers here and there remain in me about the way Jesus has at Communion, but I am unable to reunite these glimmers together, and form a preparation and a thanksgiving. I lack the capacity; it seems to me that I prepare Myself in Jesus Himself, and that I thank Him with Jesus Himself. (L. Piccarreta, Book of Heaven, Volume 9, April 10, 1910)

“The poor must receive from the rich.” Our audacious little Luisa is showing us what Jesus wants from us—our total dependence on him. Only then can he receive from us what is worthy of him—his own things. And the more of his own things we return to him, the more he showers us with a superabundance of new grace, the pinnacle of which is his Most Holy Divine Will.

If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?’ Jesus wants to give us the Divine Will as our own. But he requires that we come to him poor and abject, with nothing in our pockets save what we have implored from others more holy and merciful than ourselves. He wants our nothingness, and that we know our nothingness.

Once we have jettisoned all that we cling to on earth, we are ready to receive, as our own possession, his Most Holy Divine Will. But we must come unencumbered, devoid of ego. ‘No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and [egotistical] wealth.’

What an unimaginable privilege of grace it is to be called into our Master’s service in the Divine Will, to serve Our Lord, who is perfectly just and perfectly merciful, unchangable and unpredictable, rich and poor, slow to anger and quick to shower graces upon us. The poor must receive from the rich. O Lord! How great Thou Art! Fiat!

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From the Volumes:

Volume 16, March 19, 1924

“My daughter, what you say is true. I am everywhere, but it is my Power, Immensity and All-seeingness that allows Me to be everywhere; it is not the love and the action of the creature in my Will to make Me be everywhere and to multiply Me. But when the soul enters my Will, it is her love – it is her acts that, being filled with divine virtue, make my Life arise, according to how her acts are more or less extended and done. And this is the reason for my feast in seeing that the creature takes of my own and gives Me my Love, my Glory and even my very Life. My contentment is so great that the creature cannot comprehend it while she lives in exile, but she will comprehend it in the Celestial Fatherland, when she sees herself repaid with as many Divine Lives for as many as she formed upon earth.” (L. Piccarreta, Book of Heaven, Volume 16, March 19, 1924)

Volume 16, December 6, 1923

At other times, it seemed to me that Jesus would take my soul in His hands, and would throw it in flight into the immensity of His Will, telling me: “The Newborn of my Will! You were born in my Will – in It do I want you to live. Fly, fly in the Eternal Volition; fulfill your office. See what needs to be done between the Divinity and the creatures; go around all generations, but always in my Will, otherwise you will not find them all. And loving, working, repairing, adoring for all, you will go before the Supreme Majesty to give It all the love and the homages of all and of each one, as the First Newborn Daughter of Our Will.”

I would start my flight and Jesus would follow my flight with His gaze. But who can say what I did? In His Will I could find all the love which His Will was to give to the creatures, and because they would not take it, it was suspended, waiting to be taken. And so I would make It my own, and investing all created intelligences, I would form for each thought an act of love, of adoration, and of all that every intelligence was supposed to give God. And embracing everything within me, as though placing everyone on my lap, I would reach the vault of the Heavens to place them on the lap of the Celestial Father, saying to Him: ‘Holy Father, I come to your Throne to bring you on my lap all your children, your dear images, created by You, in order to place them on your divine lap, so that You may bind and re-tie once again that Will which they had broken from You. It is the Little Daughter of your Will to ask this of You. I am little, it is true, but I take on the commitment to satisfy You for all. I will not depart from your Throne, if You do not bind the human will with the Divine, so that, bringing It to the earth, the Kingdom of your Will may come upon earth. Nothing is denied to little ones, because what they ask is nothing other than the echo of your own Will and of what You Yourself want.’

Then I would go to Jesus, who was waiting for me in my little room, and He would receive me in His arms, covering me with kisses and caresses, telling me: “My little one, in order for the Will of Heaven to descend upon earth, it is necessary that all human acts be sealed and glazed with acts of Divine Will, so that, in seeing that all the acts of the creatures are covered with Its Will, drawn by the powerful magnet of Its own Volition, the Supreme Will may descend upon earth and reign in it. You, then, have been given this task, as First Newborn of Our Will.

Know that in order to draw the Word and make Him descend from Heaven, my Mama took on this commitment to go around all generations; and making all the acts of human will her own, She placed the Divine Will in them, since She possessed so much of this capital of the Supreme Volition as to surpass all that all creatures together would possess. And for every round She made in It, this capital multiplied. And so, I, Eternal Word, in seeing that one of our most faithful creatures had covered, with so much grace and love, all the human acts with the Divine Will, taking to heart all that was needed in order to do this, and in seeing that Our Will was present in the world – drawn, descended from Heaven.

The second commitment befitted Me in order to form Redemption. How much I had to go around, across all human acts, as though taking them all in my hand and covering them, sealing them, glazing them with my Divine Will, in order to attract my Celestial Father, making Him look at all the human acts covered with that Divine Will which man had rejected into the celestial regions, so that my Divine Father would open the gates of Heaven, which had been closed by the human will. There is no good which does not descend by means of my Will.

The third one is yours. It befits you, Firstborn Daughter of Our Will, to add the third seal of Our Will upon all human acts to the first and the second, in order to obtain the coming of the Kingdom of the Divine Will upon earth. Therefore, go around, my daughter, over all the human acts of creatures. Penetrate into the hearts; bring to each heartbeat the heartbeat of my Will, to each thought the kiss, the knowledge of my Will. Impress the Omnipotent Fiat in every word; invade everything; overwhelm everyone with It, that my Kingdom may come upon earth. Your Jesus will not leave you alone in these rounds; I will assist you and guide you in everything.” (L. Piccarreta, Book of Heaven, Volume 16, December 6, 1923)

Volume 23, December 14, 1927

Then I continued thinking about the Divine Fiat, and I said to myself: “But how can this Kingdom of the Divine Will come into the midst of creatures if sin abounds and no one gives a thought to wanting this Kingdom?  On the contrary, it seems that they think about wars, about revolutions, about putting the world upside down; and it seems that they are consumed with rage because they cannot achieve completely their perverted designs, lying in ambush, waiting for the occasion.  Does all this not drive the grace of a good so great away?’  And my beloved Jesus, moving in my interior, told me: “My daughter, I have you, who are worth more than anything; and putting everything aside, I will look at your value – that is, the value of my Divine Will in you – and I will dispose my Kingdom in the midst of creatures.  A person is worth according to the value which is entrusted to him.  If my Will contains an infinite value, which surpasses the whole value of all creatures together, one who possesses It, before the Divine Majesty, has the value that surpasses everything.  So, for now I have you, and this is enough for Me in order to dispose the Kingdom of my Will.  Therefore, all the evils of this time – and they are too many – do not equal the great value of my Divine Will operating in one creature alone; and my Will will use these evils to make a heap out of them and, with Its power, to banish them from the face of the earth. 

The same happened in Redemption.  Evils had not been banished from the earth – on the contrary, they abounded more than ever; but since the Sovereign Queen came upon earth – the creature who possessed a Divine Will within Herself, who enclosed the whole value of the good of Redemption – looking not at others, nor at their evils, I looked at the value of this celestial creature, which was sufficient to impetrate my descent upon earth; and in view of Her alone, who possessed Our prerogatives and the value of a divine and infinite Will, I gave and formed the Kingdom of Redemption in the midst of creatures.  So, in disposing the good of Redemption, I wanted to find the whole value of It within my Mama; I wanted to place in safety, inside Her maternal Heart, all the goods which my coming upon earth into the midst of creature was to enclose; and then I conceded the good which the Sovereign Queen of Heaven was asking of Me.  I acted like a prince when he must leave for a destination of more conquests:  he chooses the most faithful one, he entrusts his secrets to him, he places in his hands the whole value of the expenditures needed for the conquests wanted; and trusting this one alone, who knows he possesses the whole value of the conquests desired, he takes leave triumphantly, knowing that the victory is certain.  So I do.  When I want to give a good to creatures, first I trust one of them alone, I place in her the whole value of that good; and then, as though assured, I give the good which she asks of Me for the other creatures.  Therefore, think of enclosing within yourself the whole value that the Kingdom of my Will must contain, and I will think of disposing all the rest that is needed for a good so great.” (L. Piccarreta, Book of Heaven, Volume 23, December 14, 1927)

The Price of a Soul Is the Cross…

Today’s Divine Mercy Daily message:

In Union with Your Sufferings

Meditation:
I want your last moments to be completely similar to Mine on the cross. There is but one price at which souls are bought, and that is suffering united to My suffering on the cross. Pure love understands these words; carnal love will never understand them (Diary, 324).

Prayer Response:
Jesus, may Your love help me to offer my sufferings in union with Your sufferings on the Cross for the salvation of souls. May my last moments be similar to Yours on the Cross. All for the love of souls, Lord!
*The words of Jesus appear in boldface type

Share Divine Mercy Daily with your friends and family by sending them this link: TheDivineMercy.org/dmdsignup

After my post, The Triumphal Sequel where I spoke about anxiety, lo and behold, I felt a temptation to anxiety. There is a difference between anxiety and the temptation to anxiety. We can be tempted all day but as long as we turn to God as often as we can, making acts of trust, we are fine.

Here is the thing that stopped the temptation cold for me that day: Fused into the Humanity, Divinity, and Will of Jesus, I offered all my anxieties for the conversion of Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau! I haven’t been tempted in that way since. Fiat!

Luisa learned this lesson in Volume One. In the following excerpt, Luisa speaks directly to the demons. That was Luisa. We, as ordinary lay people don’t do that, we don’t directly engage the enemy. It feeds his ego and is dangerous for us. It is much safer to speak to Jesus about them in the third person. For example, “Jesus if it is your Will that I undergo this suffering, let it be for souls and for the confusion of the infernal enemy.” Or, “Jesus I accept everything that comes to me from your Holy Hands, and reject everything that comes from the defeated enemy.” DON’T GIVE THE ENEMY CREDIT FOR ANYTHING, not even your sufferings. If you feel it’s an “attack” turn the tables and thank God for this occasion to offer more for souls. Thank Him for being your deliverer in all things. As Luisa said, [God’s] Will is holy and whatever way I will be in it, I shall be fine.” Fiat!

Book of Heaven, Volume One (there are no dates in Volume One)

I remember that after one Communion, the Lord taught me what to do in order to put them to flight – that is, despising them and not bothering about them at all, considering as if they were as many ants. I felt so much strength being infused in me, that I no longer felt that fear of before. So I would act in this way: when they made clamors and noise, I would say to them: ‘It shows that you have nothing to do, and that in order to spend time you are doing so many silly things. Go ahead, do them, for when you get tired, you will stop it.’ Sometimes they would stop; other times they would get so angry as to make greater noise. I felt them near me, making themselves stronger and doing violence to themselves in order to take me away; I felt the horrible stench, and the heat of the fire. It is true that I felt a certain shiver in my interior, but I would pluck up courage, and say to them: ‘Liars that you are – if this were true, you would have done it from the first day; but since it is false, and you have no power over me but that which comes to you from above – go ahead, keep singing; and then, when you are tired, you will croak.’ If then they emitted laments and shouts, I would say to them: ‘What is this – you could not add to the accounts today?’, that is: ‘Have some souls been taken away from you, that you lament so much? Poor ones, they don’t feel well; but I too want to make you lament a little bit.’ And I would begin to pray for sinners, or to do acts of reparation. Sometimes I would laugh when they started to do the usual things; and I would say to them: ‘How can I fear you, cowardly species? If you were serious beings, you would not have done so many silly things. Don’t you yourselves feel ashamed? Don’t you make fun of yourselves?’ If then they tempted me with blasphemies or hatred against God, I would offer Him that most bitter pain, that violence I made to myself in seeing that, while the Lord deserved all the love, all the praises, I was forced to do the opposite – in reparation for many who blaspheme against Him freely, and who do not even remember that a God exists, whom they are obliged to love in return. If they incited me to desperation, in my interior I would say: ‘I don’t care either about hell or about paradise; what I care about is to love my God. This is not the time to think about anything else; rather, it is the time to love my good God as much as I can. Paradise and hell I place in His hands – He, who is so good, will give me what is best for me, and will give me a place in which I can glorify Him more.’

Jesus Christ taught me that the most effective means for the soul to be freed of every vain apprehension, of every doubt, of every fear, was to protest before Heaven, earth and the very demons, that she does not want to offend God, even at the cost of her life, and that she does not want to consent to any temptation of the devil. And this, as soon as the soul feels the coming of the temptation, in the act of the battle, if she can, and as soon as she begins to feel free; and also during the course of the day. By doing this, the soul will not waste time in thinking about whether she has consented or not, because the mere memory of her promise will already give her peace; and if the devil tries to disturb her, she will be able to answer that if she had the intention of offending God, she would not have protested the opposite. In this way, she will remain free of any concern.

Now, who can tell the rage of the devil because, by acting in this way, all of his tricks resolved into confusion for himself, and where he thought he would gain, he would lose, and his very temptations and tricks were used by the soul in order to make acts of reparation and love for her God.

The other way He taught me to cast away temptations, was the following: if they tempted me to suicide, I was to answer: ‘You have no permission from God; on the contrary, to your annoyance, I want to live so as to be able to love my God more.’ If then they beat me and hit me, I was to humiliate myself, kneel and thank my God, because this was happening as a penance for my sins; not only this, but to offer everything as acts of reparation for all the offenses against God, which were made in the world.

…

Finally, after about one and a half years of this fight, the cruelties of the demons ceased, and a whole new life began, although the demons did not stop bothering me from time to time. However, it was not so frequent, the battle was not so fierce, and I became used to despising them. (L. Piccarreta, Book of Heaven, Volume 1)

God’s Will is always Holy…

“Your Will is always Holy and whatever way I will be in It, I shall be fine.” (L. Piccarreta, Book of Heaven, Volume 8, June 25, 1907)

I don’t know when I bookmarked the following passage from the book Abandonment to Divine Providence by Rev. Jean-Pierre de Caussade, but boy does it resonate with me now! Rather than quote it in a long segment I will interrupt it with my comments as the Spirit leads. (All emphasis in the text is mine.)

BOOK I. CHAPTER II. SECTION X.—God Makes Known His Will Through Creatures.

In the present moment are made manifest the name of God, and the coming of His Kingdom.

The present moment is the ambassador of God to declare His mandates. The heart listens and pronounces its “fiat.” Thus the [abandoned] soul advances by all these things and flows out from its centre to its goal.

This reminds me of something I once heard about Saint Mother Teresa. Someone once asked her how they could know what the will of God was. She answered, “Wait and see what happens.” Whether or not she actually said it, it is a pretty good description of the radical practice of surrender to the Will of God required by those who desire to live in the Divine Will. Fr. Celso often says, “In the Divine Will, everything is Fiat!” It would be a good exercise to meditate on the life of Mary who, not just at the Annunciation, but in EVERY moment of her existence gave her unconditional “Fiat!” to God. O Blessed Mother, pray for us!

[The abandoned soul] never stops but sails with every wind. Any and every direction leads equally to the shore of infinity.

Fiat! This is it! As St. Paul tells us in Romans 8:28: “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” God is not afraid of anything, not COVID, not vaccines, not Bill Gates, not China, not the Illuminati, not even our mistakes. If we place all our trust in Him, walking with confidence and faith in God and His Church, trying to remain in a state of Grace, He will get us to “the shore of infinity” and we will scarcely know how.

Everything is a help to [the abandoned soul], and is, without exception, an instrument of sanctity. The one thing necessary can always be found for it in the present moment. It is no longer a choice between prayer and silence, seclusion and society, reading and writing, meditation and cessation of thought, flight from and seeking after spiritual consolations, abundance and dearth, feebleness and health, life and death, but it is all that each moment presents by the will of God. In this is despoilment, abnegation, renunciation of all things created, either in reality or affectively, in order to retain nothing of self, or for self, to be in all things submissive to the will of God and to please Him; making it our sole satisfaction to sustain the present moment as though there were nothing else to hope for in the world.

Our world has gotten very complicated. Do we not  long for this kind of heavenly simplicity? Yet it is within our reach. “Now” is the heart, the key of living in the Divine Will. It means detachment from our own plans, opinions, and desires. If I want to pray and a chatty friend calls, Fiat! If my spouse and I disagree on something and it causes strain, it may be that God wants to detach me from my opinions. Fiat!

Living the abandoned life requires great patience and trust. It’s like when there’s a baby in the house. That little blessing, who can neither speak nor look after one single need of his, is master of all around. Is God—or the baby—taking away our freedom? Not at all. Every moment presents a choice, i.e., change the baby myself or wait for my spouse to do it. As long as it is something of which God would approve and our daily duties would allow, it is permitted. For instance it is ok to ASK your spouse to change the baby, but it is not ok to grumble resentfully and do it yourself.

In the Divine Will when we call God into each moment, through our Prevenient Act and our Actual Acts throughout the day, when we make it “our sole satisfaction to sustain the present moment as though there were nothing else to hope for in the world”, each moment becomes more holy and fruitful than we can ever imagine.

If all that happens to a soul abandoned to God is all that is necessary for it, then we can understand that nothing can be wanting to it, and that it should never pity itself, for this would be a want of faith and living according to reason and the senses which are never satisfied, as they cannot perceive the sufficiency of grace possessed by the soul.

This reminds me of Fr. Celso’s list of things that tell us we are not living in the Divine Will: “worry, fear, anxiety, complaints, negativity, and sin”. He says that in the Divine Will, we are “peace-full, joy-full, and happy.” That’s a good, simple list. Fiat! That and to remember that the senses are “never satisfied”. If we are never satisfied, quite simply, we are not in the Divine Will.

To hallow the name of God, is according to the meaning of the holy Scripture, to recognise His sanctity in all things and to love and adore Him in them. Things, in fact, proceed from the mouth of God like words. That which God does at each moment is a divine thought expressed by a created thing, therefore all those things by which He intimates His will to us are so many names and words by which He makes known His wishes. HIS WILL IS UNITY and has but one name, unknown, and ineffable; but it is infinitely diverse in its effects, which are, as it were, so many different characters which it assumes. To hallow the Name of God is to know, to adore, and to love the ineffable Being whom this name designates. It is also to know, to adore and to love His adorable will at every moment and in all its decrees, regarding them all as so many veils, shadows and names of this holy and everlasting will.

If we only pick up one word in this passage, let it be the word UNITY. The Triune God is a Community of Love, a Loving Unity. We too are called to this unending Unity, especially in the Church. Whatever the problems in the Church are, no matter how bad they get, even to the hill of Calvary, God is in the Church and so must we be. He will never leave the Church he founded. He is purifying His Bride and there is a Resurrection around the corner. We need to pray, offer penance, be abandoned, and above all put the writings of Luisa in to practice.

God has given us this Gift of Living in the Divine Will, not for ourselves, but for the good of all. Since God can work through us in every moment in everything but sin, the only thing that can forestall this Mission he gave us through Luisa, is sin. So let us remain in a state of Grace and give our Fiat to each moment.

It (God’s Will) is holy in all its works, holy in all its words, holy in all its diverse characters, holy in all the names it bears.

It was for this reason that Job blessed the name of God in his utter desolation. Instead of looking upon his condition as ruin, he called it the name of God and by blessing it he protested that the divine will under whatever name or form it might appear, even though expressed by the most terrible catastrophes, was holy. David also blessed it at all times, and in all places. It is then, by this continual recognition of the will of God as manifested and revealed in all things, that He reigns in us, that His will is done on earth as it is in Heaven, and that our souls obtain nourishment.

To echo the words of Luisa above, “Your Will is always Holy and whatever way I will be in It, I shall be fine.” (Volume 8, June 25, 1907) Repeat this often and you will be at peace.

The whole matter of that incomparable prayer prescribed by Jesus Christ is comprised and contained in abandonment to the divine will. Many times daily it is recited vocally by the command of God and of Holy Church, but we repeat it at every moment in the centre of our hearts when we love to do, or to suffer whatever this holy will ordains. That which takes time to repeat in words, the heart pronounces at every moment, and it is in this way that simple-minded souls are called to bless God.

This is the Divine Will in a nutshell. Rev. de Caussade died 114 years before Luisa was born but this inspired work (and others like it) provided a strong foundation in the Church on which God could seamlessly lay the teachings of Luisa.

Nevertheless they cannot bless Him as much as they desire, and this inability is a subject of grief to them; so true is it that by the very means that seem like privations, God bestows graces and favours on faithful souls. To enrich the soul at the expense of the senses, filling it by so much the more as they experience the more terrible emptiness, is a secret of the divine wisdom.

The very word, “privations” points to Luisa. But here we see repeated the teaching that our nothingness is the very container in which God pours his graces, and we are achingly unaware of it. Ah, but if we ache, we are not detached. We need to reach the point of not thinking about our own performance or lack thereof. Ours is just to glory in the Will of God in each moment come what may, as Fr. John O. Brown would say, “Now, and again, and again, and now, and now…”

The events of every moment bear the impress of the will of God, and of His adorable Name. How holy is this name! It is right, therefore, to bless it, to treat it as a kind of sacrament which by its own virtue sanctifies those souls which place no obstacles in its way.

Everything bearing the impress of this august Name should be held in the most profound veneration. It is a divine manna from Heaven, and imparts a constant increase of Grace. It is the reign of holiness in the soul, the bread of angels eaten on earth as well as in Heaven. We can no longer consider our moments as trifles since in them is a whole kingdom of sanctity and food for angels.

A glorious teaching! Thanks be to God, whose Holy Will never changes.

“Yes, Lord, may your kingdom come in my heart to sanctify it, to nourish it, to purify it, and to render it victorious over all its enemies. Moment most precious! How insignificant in the eyes of the vulgar, but how great in those enlightened by faith. If it is great also in the eyes of my Father who is in Heaven, how can I regard it as insignificant? All that comes from His hand is essentially good and bears the impress of its origin.”

Amen! Fiat!