May 1 , A.D. 2018 – St. Joseph the Worker

Seven days before the Feast of the Annunciation (25 March) which commemorates Gabriel’s visit to Mary announcing that she is to give birth to the Messiah, we meet St. Joseph, her spouse.

St. Joseph was born in Bethlehem and worked as a carpenter (Matthew 13:55: “Is not this the carpenter’s son?”), an occupation he later passed on to his Son (Mark 6:3: “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joseph, and Jude, and Simon? are not also his sisters here with us?”). He became betrothed to Mary, a consecrated Virgin, in order to serve as her protector. Apocryphal writings indicate that Joseph was an older man at the time, and was a widower with grown-up children, but there is no way to know for certain. When Mary came to be with child, his confusion and resolve to “put her away privately” in order to spare her any public humiliation were done away with when an angel of the Lord visited him in a dream and explained things to him:

 Matthew 1:20-24

 But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, saying: Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name JESUS. For he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying: Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. And Joseph rising up from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took unto him his wife.

After Jesus was born, an angel again appeared to St. Joseph and told him to take the Holy Family away in order to escape the wrath of Herod.

 Matthew 2:13-15

 And after they were departed, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph, saying: Arise, and take the child and his mother, and fly into Egypt: and be there until I shall tell thee. For it will come to pass that Herod will seek the child to destroy him. Who arose, and took the child and his mother by night, and retired into Egypt: and he was there until the death of Herod: That it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying: Out of Egypt have I called my son.

After time in Egypt, an angel came twice more to St. Joseph:

 Matthew 2:19-23

But when Herod was dead, behold an angel of the Lord appeared in sleep to Joseph in Egypt, Saying: Arise, and take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel. For they are dead that sought the life of the child. Who arose, and took the child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. But hearing that Archelaus reigned in Judea in the room of Herod his father, he was afraid to go thither: and being warned in sleep retired into the quarters of Galilee. And coming he dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was said by prophets: That he shall be called a Nazarene.

The next — and last — time we hear of St. Joseph in Sacred Scripture is when Jesus was “lost” in the Temple:

 Luke 2:42-52

And when he was twelve years old, they going up into Jerusalem, according to the custom of the feast, And having fulfilled the days, when they returned, the child Jesus remained in Jerusalem; and his parents knew it not. And thinking that he was in the company, they came a day’s journey, and sought him among their kinsfolks and acquaintance. And not finding him, they returned into Jerusalem, seeking him. And it came to pass, that, after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his wisdom and his answers. And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him: Son, why hast thou done so to us? behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said to them: How is it that you sought me? did you not know, that I must be about my father’s business? And they understood not the word that he spoke unto them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them. And his mother kept all these words in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom, and age, and grace with God and men.

Tradition tells us that he had the great honor to have died in the presence of Our Lady and his Son, which fact makes him the patron of a holy death. Because during his life he was given the great responsibility of caring for and protecting the Virgin — who is the Mother of all Israel — and her Son, St. Joseph is considered the patron and protector of the entire Church.

 Book of Heaven – May 31 A.D. 1931

 The tiny little house of Nazareth.

….After this, I continued my acts in the Divine Fiat, and my poor mind paused in the little house of Nazareth, where the Queen of Heaven, the Celestial King Jesus, and Saint Joseph, were in possession of and lived in the Kingdom of the Divine Will. So, this Kingdom is not foreign to the earth; the house of Nazareth, the little family that lived in It, belonged to this Kingdom and kept It in full force. But while I was thinking about this, my great King Jesus told me: “My daughter, indeed the Kingdom of my Divine Will has existed upon earth,

and therefore there is the sure hope that It will return again to Its full force. Our house of Nazareth was Its true Kingdom; however, We were without peoples. Now, you must know that each creature is a Kingdom; therefore, one who lets the Divine Will reign within herself can be called a little Kingdom of the Supreme Fiat. So, she is a tiny little house of Nazareth that We have upon earth; and, though little, since Our Will is in her, reigning, Heaven is not closed for her; she observes the same laws of the Celestial Fatherland, she loves with the same love, feeds herself with the foods from up there, and is incorporated into the Kingdom of Our interminable regions. Now, in order to form the great Kingdom of Our Will upon earth, first We will make the many tiny little houses of Nazareth – that is, the souls who will want to know It in order to let It reign within themselves. I Myself, and the Sovereign Queen, will be at the head of these tiny little houses, because, We having been the first to possess this Kingdom on earth, it is Our right, which We will not surrender to anyone, to be the directors of them. Then, with these tiny little houses, repeaters of Our house of Nazareth, We will form many little states of Ours, many provinces, which, after they have been formed well, and ordered like many little Kingdoms of Our Will, will fuse together and will form one single Kingdom and one great people. Therefore, in order to have Our greatest works, Our way of acting is to begin, first alone, one on one with one single creature; when We have formed this one, We make her a channel in order to enclose in Our work two or three more creatures; then We expand, forming a small group, and then We expand it so much as to take the whole entire world. Our works begin in the isolation of God and the soul, and end by continuing their life in the midst of entire peoples. And when there is the beginning of a work of Ours, it is the sure sign that it will not die at birth; at the most, it may live hidden for some time, but then it will go out and will have its perennial life. Therefore, always forward do I want you in my Divine Will.”

(1) Prayer to St. Joseph the Worker

O glorious St. Joseph, model of all those who are devoted to labor, obtain for me the grace to work conscientiously, putting the call of duty above my natural inclinations, to work with gratitude and joy, in a spirit of penance for the remission of my sins, considering it an honor to employ and develop by means of labor the gifts received from God, to work with order, peace, moderation and patience, without ever shrinking from weariness and difficulties, to work above all with purity of intention and detachment from self, having always death before my eyes and the account that I must render of time lost, of talents wasted, of good omitted, of vain complacency in success, so fatal to the work of God. All for Jesus, all through Mary, all after thine example, O Patriarch, St. Joseph. Such shall be my watchword in life and in death. Amen.

(2) Prayer to St. Joseph the Worker

St. Joseph, by the work of your hands and the sweat of your brow, you supported Jesus and Mary, and had the Son of God as your fellow worker. Teach me to work as you did, with patience and perseverance, for God and for those whom God has given me to support. Teach me to see in my fellow workers the Christ who desires to be in them, that I may always be charitable and forbearing towards all. Grant me to look upon work with the eyes of faith, so that I shall recognize in it my share in God’s own creative activity and in Christ’s work of our redemption, and so take pride in it. When it is pleasant and productive, remind me to give thanks to God for it. And when it is burdensome, teach me to offer it to God, in reparation for my sins and the sins of the world.

O good father Joseph! I beg you, by all your sufferings, sorrows and joys, to obtain for me what I ask.

Month of May the month of Mary our Queen and Mother.

THE VIRGIN MARY IN THE KINGDOM OF THE DIVINE WILL

Luisa highly recommends  everyone to read and promote the book the Queen of Heaven to others as she wrote to various persons in her letters as follows. 

There are special promises from our Heavenly Queen for those who read and promote the book. 

Also, this precious book is not only for the month of May but for every day.

To Mrs. Mazari, from Bari .

In Voluntate Dei!

My good daughter in the Divine Volition,

May Heaven reward you for the sacrifices you make, and for promoting the book of the Queen of Heaven.  It seems to me that the Celestial Mama never stops saying to you,  “Thank you, thank you, my daughter”, and that She is preparing for you more graces, especially the great grace of making you always do the Will of Her dear Son – grace which is bearer of peace, of graces, of intimate union, and also of temporal help.

My daughter, by doing the Divine Will, we become true children of the great Lady, and we are transformed into Tabernacles, in which Jesus forms His residence; and then everything we do is sacred, everything is prayer, even the most indifferent things.  By doing the Divine Will, the very natural things necessary to our life, are transformed into prayer, adoration and love for our sweet Jesus, because by doing His Will, everything we do is holy, everything is love, and so our being becomes.

12. To Mrs. Antonietta Savorani, widow from Faenza .

Fiat

My good daughter in the Divine Volition,

Thank you for interesting yourself in promoting the book of the Queen of Heaven and that of the Passion:  this is nothing less than calling back the Celestial Mama and the King of Sorrows into the midst of creatures, so that we may learn to live more from Heaven than from the earth.  This would be the greatest fortune for us, so as to be able to live from the Divine Will.  So it seems that Jesus and His Mama never stop repeating,  “Thank you, thank you, my daughter!  As a reward, We will form our Heaven in your soul; We will be always with you; your life and Ours will become one.”  Therefore, what I recommend to you is to correspond to such a great good.  Be attentive to listening to sweet Jesus, Who speaks in your heart.  He wants to make of you a saint, but wants your will in His hands in order to make of it a prodigy of sanctity.

… You ask me whether your friends can write me.  My daughter, it is hard for me to answer; it is better if they pay attention in reading the book of the Blessed Mother.  Oh, how many things will the great Lady tell them of what they would like to hear from me!  And then, there is the book of the Passion in which Jesus speaks heart to heart.  In this fifth edition which I am sending you, you will find new things, and, doubled, the “Treaty on the Divine Will.”  Read it, and you will be able to tell me the great good it does to you.

I recommend that all of you pray to the Lord that all may recognize such a great good; and the face of the earth will be changed.  On my part, I would like to give my life so that all may know the Divine Will.  …

15. To Mrs. Copparo La Scola from Termini Imerese, Palermo .

In Voluntate Dei!

Most esteemed and blessed daughter in the Divine Volition,

…  Do not fear; place them in the hands of Jesus and on the lap of the Celestial Mama.  Advise them to read often the book of the Queen of Heaven in the Kingdom of the Divine Will, and you will see the great things the Lord will do with them.

I finish by recommending that you never lose peace… Be careful not ever to be disturbed, not even for your miseries, and not even for the illness of your husband.  Let us adore the judgments of God, just and holy, Who disposes everything for our good and to make us holy.

I commend myself to your prayers, and from the heart I will do it for you and for all those who buy the book, so that all may become saints.  I leave you in the sea of the Divine Volition, and with a thousand regards, I say,

most affectionately yours,

The little daughter of the Divine Will

17. Fiat

My good daughter in the Divine Volition,

Thank you, thank you for all your attentions.  Know that every additional book you promote is an additional right which the King of sorrows and the Queen of Heaven give you, to be faithful daughter of the Divine Will.  Listen, my daughter, it is a mother that speaks to you.  Listen to me; maybe these are my last words.  Listen to the Celestial Mama and to sweet Jesus.  They want you to not think of the past – to place a sepulchral stone on it, so that you may forget everything and say:  “My life will start today; I am born again together with my Queen Mama, with Jesus, and with the Divine Will.”  And your pains, your crosses, even though heavy, will serve the Divine Beggar, Who looks for our sufferings in order to form and continue His life within us.  Oh, how happy will you feel, if in every pain you say,  “This pain serves Jesus”!  Then you will feel His invincible patience, filial trust, and courage of heroes.  Patience, trust, courage, is the bread of the strong, the heroism of martyrs.  Therefore, courage!  Those who think of the past lose the present.  The Lord has disposed everything:  crosses, illness, state of marriage; in a word – everything.  The Lord had to prepare the material in order to make of you a saint; and He has prepared enough of it.  So, all you have to say and do is this:  “The Heart of Jesus wants me a saint:  I must become a saint!”  Have we understood each other?

Now I assure you of my prayers for your children; then the Lord will console you even more.  I leave you in the Divine Volition to become a saint.  Never get disturbed in anything; rather, give all to Jesus, so that He may change it into flames of love.  Pray for me.  With a thousand regards, I say,

most affectionately yours,

the little daughter of the Divine Will

Corato, January 5, 1935

35. To Mr. Vincenzo Messina, imprisoned in the jail of Favignana, Trapani

Fiat

Dearest brother in Jesus Christ,

I was immensely pleased by your request for the book of the Queen of Heaven, thinking that the Celestial Mama comes also to the prison to visit you and to be your Mother, Teacher, consoler; and also to give you her sweet company in order to teach you how to live from the Divine Will, and form, in prison too, the Kingdom of the Divine Volition.

Therefore, my brother, courage, trust, for you have a Celestial Mama who loves you very much, who will never leave you, and if you listen to Her, will make a sanctuary of the prison.  And if human weakness took you to prison, the Sovereign Queen comes with the strength of the Divine Will to take you to Heaven and render your days less sad; even more, She will turn pains, privations, loneliness, into ransoms and eternal conquests; She will make you feel the peace that, even in the world, cannot be enjoyed.  The Divine Will will transform you, and you will feel the new life that the Celestial Lady brings you. 

Know that I am your sister in prison.  For more than fifty years the Supreme Fiat has kept me imprisoned in a bed.  Yet, I am glad – I am happy; but what makes me happy?  The Divine Will, Which I try to do always.  You too can be happy, if you do the Divine Will.  Oh, how It will change your bitterness!  You will feel a true divine strength that will ease your painful state.  Never neglect the Rosary to the Celestial Mother, and if you can, be a missionary in the prison, by making known that the Queen of Heaven wants to visit all the prisoners to give them the gift of the Divine Will.  And if you need some more copies and you cannot pay, I am willing to send them for free.

I leave you under the mantle of the Celestial Mother, listening to Her lessons of Heaven – and with a thousand regards, I say,

your most affectionate sister,

the little daughter of the Divine Will

40.                        Fiat

Most esteemed one in the Lord,

In the name of the Celestial Mama I thank you for your attentions in promoting her book.  She will certainly reward you with her maternal blessings; She will look at you with special love, and will feel bound by a pledge for as many attentions as you use.  With yearning and sighs, the great Lady keeps making her maternal visits, because she wants to form the people of the Divine Will; and one who is interested, She considers as daughter and secretary.  Would you not want to be one of them?

…Do not stop reading the book of  “The Queen of Heaven”, in order to better learn how to live in the Divine Volition.  By the end of August the fifth edition of  “The Hours of the Passion” may come out.  If you want them, ask for them, and they will both bring you light, joy and guidance.  I commend myself to your prayers, and leaving you in the Divine Volition, I say,

most affectionately yours,

the little daughter of the Divine Will

Corato, August 14, 1934

Now let’s come to us.  I sent you the 23 addresses; I believe that you received them and sent them as well.  I also sent you the reviews in order to make their promotion; if you want others, I’ll send them to you.  Listen, my Mother, I want to teach you a holy trick:  for every “Appeal of the Queen of Heaven” and for every book you send, tell the Celestial Lady that you bind her to giving you the great gift of the Divine Will.  Then, every “Appeal”, every book, will be one more guarantee that you place in her maternal hands, not only for yourself, but also for the person to whom the book and the Appeal are directed.  The Sovereign Lady will feel bound and as though obliged, in seeing so many pledges in her hands, and She will give you what She herself wants to give you:  the Divine Will as life. 

(…) The whole community sends you its respects, Don Benedetto blesses you from the heart, and leaving you bound in the Divine Volition, I kiss your right hand, and I say,

most affectionately yours,

the little daughter of the Divine Will

THE BOOK OF HEAVEN

From the writings of the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta, The Little Daughter of the Divine Will:

 VOLUME 34

 June 28, 1937

 What God does for the creature when she decides to Live in His Will. As one decides to Live in the Divine Volition, her name is written in Heaven and remains Confirmed in Good, in Love and Divine Sanctity, and she is added to the Celestial Militia.  Example.

 My flight in the Divine Volition continues. I feet myself carried in Its arms, but with such Love and Tenderness as to feel myself confused in seeing myself Loved so much, and surrounded everywhere by Its Maternal Goodness.  And my sweet Jesus, repeating His brief little visit to me, with a Love as to feel my heart burst, all Goodness told me: “My daughter of My Volition, if you knew how much is Our Contentment in seeing the soul enter into Our Will, one can say that she runs toward Us, and We toward her.  And as We meet each other, Our Will invests her with Light, Our Love kisses her, Our Power takes her in Its arms, Our Wisdom directs her, Our Sanctity Invests her and places Itself there as Seal, Our Beauty embellishes her, in sum, all Our Divine Being places Itself in attitude around her in order to give her of Ours.  “But do you know why? Because entering into Our Volition, not to Live of hers but of Ours, We receive what went forth from Us.  We feel restored to Us the Purpose for which We Created her, and therefore We make feast.  There is no act more Beautiful, scene more enchanting, than of the creature entering into Our Will.  And every time she enters, so many times We Renew her in Our Divine Being, giving her New Charismas of Love.  Therefore one who Lives in Our Volition keeps Us in feast, she feels the need of Living in Ours in order to be coddled by her Creator, and We feel the need of being coddled by her, and giving her New Charismas of Grace and of Sanctity.” Jesus became silent, and I felt sunk in the Eternal Volition, and I marveled in hearing how much we are Loved by God if we Live in His Volition. And a thousand thoughts crowded in my mind. And my beloved Jesus, resuming His speaking, told me: “My daughter, do not marvel because of what I have told you, rather, I will tell you more surprising things yet, but how much I would want that everyone would listen in order to make everyone decide to Live in My Volition.  Listen, how consoling and Beautiful is what My Love pushes Me to tell you. So much is My Love, that I feel the need of telling you where We reach for one who Lives in Our Volition. Now, you must know that as the soul decides repeatedly and firmly to live no more of her will but of Ours, her name becomes written in Heaven with Indelible characters of Light, and she becomes enrolled in the Celestial Militia as Heiress and Daughter of the Kingdom of the Divine Will.

“But this is not enough for Our Love. We Confirm her in Good in a way that she will feel such horror for every least sin, that she will not be capable anymore of falling.  Not only this, but she will remain Confirmed in the Goods, in the Love, in the Sanctity, etc., of her Creator.  She will be invested by the Prerogative of reclaimed part, she will no longer be looked at as exiled, and if she will remain on earth, she will be as officiating of the Celestial Militia, not as exiled.  She will have all the Goods at her disposition.  She will be able to say:  ‘His Will being mine, what is of God is mine.’  Rather, she will feel herself Possessor of her Creator.  “And since she no longer operates with her will, but with Mine, all the barriers are broken that impeded her from hearing her Creator, the distances have disappeared, the dissimilarity between her and God does not exist anymore. She will feel herself so Loved by He who has Created her, as to feel her heart burst with Love in order to Love He who Loves her.  And feeling herself Loved by God is the greatest joy, honor, and glory for the creature.  My daughter, do not marvel.  They are Our Goals, the Purpose for which the creature was Created—to find in her Our Life, Our Reigning Will, Our Love, in order to be Loved and to Love her.  If this were not so, all Creation would be a work unworthy of Us.”

I felt my heart burst with Joy in hearing what my dear Jesus had told me, and I said to myself: “Is it possible, is all this Great Good possible?” And sweet Jesus added: “Daughter, am I not Master to do and to give what I want?  It is enough that I want it, and everything is done.  And then, also in the low world things happen that in some way resemble this.  If a man gives his name in writing to the army of the government, this, in order to be secure of him, makes him swear fidelity to the government.  This oath makes him remain bound to the army.  He dresses with the uniform of the militia in a way that it is recognized by everyone that he belongs to the army.  And when he has shown ability and fidelity, he receives the salary for life.  With this salary that no one can take away from him, he lacks nothing.  He can have servants who serve him, he can live with all the comforts of life, and although, with time, he would retire in rest.  And what thing has this man given to the government?  Only the external part of his life that gave him the right to receive the pay during his life.

“On the other hand, one who with firm decision has given her will to Me, has given Me the most noble, most precious, part, that is, her will. In it she has given Me all the interior and exterior, even the breath, and with this she has merited to be written in the Divine Army in a way that everyone will know that she belongs to Our Militia.  How could I let her lack anything, how not to Love her?  If this could be, it would have been the Greatest Sorrow for your Jesus, it would have taken away the Peace that I possess by Nature, to not Love she who has given Me everything and who with Indescribable Love I possess.  I keep her in My Heart, and I let her have My Life itself.”

4/23 HAPPY 153rd BIRTHDAY LUISA!

Happy 153rd Birthday Luisa in the Most Holy Divine WILL!!!

 Luisa was born on April 23, 1865, the Sunday after Easter (now Celebrated as Mercy Sunday) and was Baptized that same day. Her father – a few hours after her birth – wrapped her in a blanket and carried her to the parish Church where Holy Baptism was administered to her.

Font where the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta was Baptized

 Note images of St. Faustina and Our Lord in the background
Luisa was born and baptized on the Sunday after Easter
Now the Sunday after Easter is known as Divine Mercy Sunday
As designated by Saint Pope John Paul II

 Childhood Memories by the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta

The Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta the Little Daughter of the Divine Will

J.M.J.

FIAT

July 15, 1926

My Jesus, my Love, my Celestial Mama and Sovereign Queen, come to my assistance, take my poor heart in your hands. Don’t you see how it bleeds because of the hard fight of having to start all over again, talking about my poor existence, my childhood?
At any cost would I want to escape this most painful and hard sacrifice,
and even more painful because unexpected; but a new obedience comes out into
the field to torture my poor and insignificant existence. Jesus, Mama, come to my aid, otherwise I feel that my will would want to enter the field again, in order to have life and to be able to say a curt “no” to the one who commands me. Ah, Jesus, will You
perhaps allow me to have anything to do with my will, after You have kept it
bound at your feet with so much jealousy for so long, as gift and triumph of
your little daughter?

They imposed it on me to pray in order to know from You, whether I have to do it or not, and instead of being with me, You told me: “This will serve to make known the land which the Sun of My Will had to illumine, in order to form Its Kingdom.”

Ah, Jesus, what do I care of making my little land known! And You
should care to make your Will known; isn’t that true, O Jesus? But Jesus kept silent and disappeared; and with all the intense bitterness of my soul I say, “Fiat! Fiat!,”
and I begin.

So, at the beginning I will say what I have been told by my own family.

I was born in 1865, on April 23, Sunday “in Albis”, in the morning; on the same evening I was baptized. My mother said that I was born upside down although she did not suffer at all during the delivery; and in fact in the encounters and circumstances of my poor existence I usually say: “I was born upside down! It is right that my life be
upside down compared to the life of other creatures.”

I remember that during the tender age of three or four up to about the age of ten, I was of fearful temperament, and the fear was such that I could neither be alone nor take one
step by myself. But the reason for this was that from the age of three, at night I had always had frightening dreams. I dreamed of the devil who gave me such fright as to make me tremble. Many times I dreamed that he wanted to take me with him pulling me strongly, and I made every effort to escape. In this dream I would break out into a cold sweat, hide, and run into the arms of my Mama. Then the following
day I would remain with the impression of those dreams, and with such fear that
I felt as though the devil was coming out from all sides.

Now, I believe that this was good for me, because from that age I recited many “Hail Marys” and “Our Fathers” to all the Saints whose names I knew, in
order to obtain the grace of not dreaming of the devil; and if anyone mentioned
another Saint whom I didn’t know, I immediately added a “Father” if he was male, or a “Hail” if she was female, because I said that if I did not honor all of them, they would have made me dream of the devil. I remember that from that age I always
recited the seven “Hails” to the Sorrowful Mama, so I had a great length of “Fathers” and “Hail Marys”; so, while the other little girls and my little sisters were playing, I remained a short distance from them-or together with them because I was scared-but I did not participate in their innocent games in order to recite my long series of “Hails” and “Our Fathers”… I also remember that sometimes I dreamed of
the Virgin who cast the devil away from me, and once said to me: “My
daughter, cry, for My Son is dead.” I was shaken and I felt compassion for Her; but this made me unhappy. When I reached a more capable age in which I
was able to meditate and read, I could not be by myself because of the fear,
and therefore I could not do what I wanted.

Now, after I became a daughter of Mary at the age of eleven, one day, as I wanted to pray and meditate, I was caught up by fear and I was about to run to my family, when I
felt a strength in my interior holding me back, and in the depth of my soul I
heard a voice telling me: “Why do you fear? Your Angel is by your side, Jesus is in your heart, and your Celestial Mama keeps you under her mantle; why do you fear then? Who is stronger: your guardian Angel, your Jesus, your Celestial Mama, or the infernal enemy? Therefore, do not run away, but stay, pray, and do not fear.”

This voice in my interior gave me so much strength, courage and firmness that the fear went away, and every time I was caught up by fear, I heard this voice in my interior again, and I felt I was being carried by the hand, by my angel, by the Sovereign Queen
and by sweet Jesus. I felt triumphant in their midst, so much so, that I acquired such courage that all the fear went away; and even more, the frightening dreams ceased completely. So I was able to be alone, walk alone, go to the garden by myself when we stayed at the farm house; while before, if I did go, I would run away if I saw only a tree branch moving, because I thought that the devil was up there.

I remember that one day, recalling the fear of my young age, the many dreams about the enemy, which rendered my childhood unhappy, I said to Jesus: “What’s the purpose, my Love, of having spent my young age with so much fear, with so many bad dreams which made me shake and sweat, and embittered an age so tender? I could understand nothing, nor did I think that the enemy had any purpose, given that my age was so small; and Jesus said to me: “My daughter, the enemy had an inkling of something about you-that I could use you in something for My great Glory, and that he would receive a great defeat, never before received; more so, since he saw that, as much as he tried, he could not make any affection or thought less pure penetrate into you, because I kept the doors closed to him, and he could find no way to enter. In seeing this, he became angry and, unable to do anything else, he tried to terrify you with dreams of fear and fright. Moreover, since he did not know
the reason for My great designs upon you which were to serve for the
destruction of his kingdom, he came to attention in order to investigate the
cause, hoping to be able to harm you in some way.”

Our Lord has been very good to me, giving me good parents, who were mostly attentive not to letting us hear even one word of blasphemy or that was less than honest. They loved me, but with a dignified and serious love. I remember that when I was
a little child, my father never took me in his arms, and that I never gave or received kisses from him. I do not remember having kissed my mother either; and when I was grown up and bedridden, as she had to go to the farm house and be absent for many months, on taking leave of me, my mama made the motion of wanting to kiss me; in seeing this, I kissed her hand before she could, and so she abstained from that expression, so maternal.

Daddy and mama were angels of purity and modesty. They were
generous with their employees: fraud and deceit had no place in our house. Their custody was such that never did they entrust us to strange people, but kept us always with them. I hope that blessed Jesus rewarded so much virtue, by giving them the Celestial Fatherland as residence.

I also remember that I was of shy temperament, and if relatives or other people came to visit us, I ran upstairs so as not to be found, or I hid behind a bed and prayed; and I came out only when they called me telling me that they had left. When my mama went to visit some relatives and wanted to take me with her, I cried because I did not want to go; so, I and one of my little sisters, with almost the same temperament, were content with remaining alone and locked in instead of going out. This shyness prevented me from participating in anything-either feast or amusements, even innocent ones-which were usual among families. I was the sacrificed one of shyness, and if my parents forced me, I felt crucified because shyness rendered all things alien to me.

As I remembered all this, which somehow rendered my childhood unhappy, sweet Jesus said to me: “My daughter, even the shyness with which I surrounded you in your tender age was one of My greatest jealousies of love for you. I wanted that no one would enter into you, either world or people; I wanted to render you apart from everyone. I did not want you to participate in anything, or that anything be
pleasing to you, because, having established from that time that I was to form
the Kingdom of the Supreme Fiat within you, and since you were to take part in
Its feasts and joys-it was right that you enjoy no other feast, and that you be
deprived of all pleasures and amusements which are on earth. Aren’t you happy?” But although I was shy and fearful, I was of lively and happy temperament: I ran, I jumped, and I even did some impertinences.

Then, at about the age of twelve, a new period of my life began: I started to hear the interior voice of Jesus, especially at Communion. I had First Communion at nine, and on the same day I received the Sacrament of Holy Confirmation.

Not rarely did Jesus make Himself heard in my interior when I received Holy Communion. Sometimes I remained several hours kneeling,
almost motionless, after Communion, and I heard the interior voice speaking,
and sometimes reproaching me if I had not been good and attentive. And if sometimes during the course of the day I had been a little distracted, oh, how it reprimanded me, and ended up saying: “Yet, you say that you love Me; and where is this love of yours?” I felt like dying in hearing this, and promised to be more attentive, and Jesus added: “I will see, I will see if it is true…; words are not enough for Me; I want facts.”

Communion became my predominant passion. In It I centralized
all my affections. I was certain to hear Our Lord speaking; and how much it cost me to be deprived of It, being forced by my family to go with them to the farm house, and having to be many months without Mass and without Communion. How
many times I burst into tears in seeing trees, flowers, the whole Creation…! I said to myself: “The works of Jesus are around me; only Jesus is not with me…
Please, speak to me, you flower, you sun, you heavens, you crystal clear
water flowing in our little pond-speak to me about Jesus. You are works of His hands, give me news of Him…!” And it seemed that all things spoke to me about Him. Each created thing spoke to me about each quality of Jesus, and crying because I could not
receive the One Whom all things loved, things which could narrate so well the
beauty, the love, the goodness of Jesus-I wept and reached the point of falling ill.

Also during meditation I heard the voice of Jesus, but sometimes it was missing; but at Communion, never. And how many times, while meditating, I would remain two or three hours without being able to move. As I read the point and stopped, I heard the
voice of Jesus in my interior, Who, acting as Teacher, explained the meditation
to me. Since that time in my interior lovable Jesus gave me lessons on the Cross, on meekness, on obedience, on His hidden Life… Talking about His hidden
Life, I remember that He said to me: “My daughter, your life must be in our
midst in the home of Nazareth. If you work, if you pray, if you take food, if you walk, you must give one hand to Me, the other to our Mama, and your gaze to Saint Joseph, to see whether your acts correspond to ours, so as to be able to say: first I make my model what Jesus, the Celestial Mama and Saint Joseph do, and then I follow it. According to the model you have made, I want to be repeated by you in My hidden Life; I want to find in you the works of My Mama, those of My dear Saint Joseph, and My own works.”

I was confused and said to Him: “My beloved Jesus, I don’t know how to do it.” And He: “My daughter, courage, do not lose heart; if you do not know how to do it, ask Me to teach you, and I will soon teach you. I will tell you of our way-My
intentions, the continuous love among the three of us; of how I, as sea, and
they, as little rivers, were always swollen in such a way that one overflowed
into the other, to the extent of having little time to talk to each other, so
much were we absorbed in love. Do you see how behind you are? Much do you have
to do in order to reach us. Much silence and attention would be convenient for you, for I do not want you behind, but in our midst.”

So, when I didn’t know what to do, I asked Jesus, and He taught me in my interior. I tried almost always to withdraw from my family as much as I could, in order to be alone, to maintain silence. I took my work and I asked mama for permission to go upstairs, and she allowed me to do so. So my mind was in the house of Nazareth-and I
looked now at one, now at the other, and I felt confused in seeing them so
attentive in their humble works, so absorbed in the flames of love, which rose
so high that their works remained inflamed and transformed into love. And I, astonished, thought to myself: “They love so much, and what is my love? Can I
say that my works, my prayers, the food I take, the steps I take, are flames
which rise to the Throne of God, and form a river which overflows into the sea
of Jesus? In seeing that it was not so, I remained afflicted, and in my interior Jesus said to me: “What is it? Do not afflict yourself; little by little you will make it. I will be over you, and you-follow Me and do not fear.”

If I wanted to say everything which occurred in my interior during my childhood, I would be too long; more so, since in the first Volume I have written-without specifying the
period, whether before or after, whether I was younger or grown up-there is
mention of the crafting of grace in the depth of my soul, because so I was
told: that it did not matter if I didn’t put the order of age-what had happened
before, or what happened later-as long as I said what had occurred in me. More so, since after many years, it was difficult for me to maintain the order of what had occurred in my interior. So now, in order not to make repetitions, I move forward.

I remember that, as a girl, I had almost a yearning for becoming a nun, and since I went to school to the nuns, I felt an affection a little pronounced for them; but I loved them
because I wanted to be one of them. However, in my interior I felt reproached because of this affection, and while I promised to love no one else but Jesus, I fell again, and Jesus returned to give me bitter reproaches. This was the only affection I remember, which I felt in my life in a special way, since afterwards I no longer felt in love with anyone. What tyranny a natural affection is, even though innocent, for the poor human heart! I remember it with terror; the internal reproaches crucified me; it
seemed to me that my affection kept Jesus crucified, and that Jesus, in return,
crucified me; so I did not enjoy true peace, because the nature of human love
is to wage war against a poor heart. To have peace and to love people in a special way, does not exist in the world, and if it does, it means having no conscience; even if it were with a holy and indifferent intention.

But blessed Jesus put a stop to it soon, and here is how. One morning
I asked my mama to send me to visit Mother Superior, and I obtained this with
hardship and sacrifice. Upon going there, I asked for Mother Superior, and after a while I got the answer that she was busy and could not come. On hearing
this I was wounded. I went to church and poured out my pain with Jesus; and from this He took the occasion to make me stop. He spoke to me of His Love, of the
inconstancy of the love of creatures, and of how He absolutely wanted me to
stop it, telling me: “When a heart is not empty, I refuse it, nor can I
begin the crafting which I had planned to do in the depth of the soul.” But who can tell all that He said to me in my interior? I remember that it did
end there, and my heart remained intrepid, no longer able to love anyone.

But I always prayed Jesus to let me become a nun, and I often asked Him when I felt Him in my interior, whether my religious vocation was going to be fulfilled. And Jesus assured me, telling me: “Yes, I will make you content; you will see that you will be a nun.” I remained all content in being assured by Jesus, and I tried to dispose my family in order to obtain their consent; but they were opposed, especially my mother. She even cried, and said to me that she would have made me content if I
wanted to become a cloistered nun; but to be an active nun, she would have
never let me win.

However, to tell the truth, I wanted to become an active nun, because those I knew had been my teachers; but my long illness occurred, and put an end to my vocation. Many times I lamented with Jesus and said to Him: “Yet, You told me a lie-You made fun of me, promising that I was going to become a nun.” And many times Jesus
assured me that He was telling the truth, saying to me: “I can neither
deceive nor make fun. The call which I made upon you was more special: who, in becoming a nun, even in the most strict religious lives, cannot walk, cannot take air, cannot enjoy anything? And how many times in religious orders do
they let the little world in, and amuse themselves magnificently? And I remain as if aside… Ah, My daughter, when I call to a state, I know how to fulfill the call. The place
is indifferent to Me; the religious habit tells Me nothing, when in substance
the soul is what she should be if she had entered religious life. Therefore I tell you that you are and will be the true little nun of My Heart.”

Important dates

1865 – Luisa Piccarreta was born on April 23, the Sunday after Easter, in Corato, Bari, to Nicola Vito and Rosa Tarantino, who had five daughters: Maria, Rachele, Filomena, Luisa and Angela.  A few hours after Luisa’s birth, her father wrapped her in a blanket and took her to the main church for baptism. Her mother had not suffered the pangs of labor: her birth was painless.

1872 – She received Jesus in the Eucharist on the Sunday after Easter, and the sacrament of Confirmation was administered to her on that same day by Archbishop Giuseppe Bianchi Dottula of Trani.

1883 – At the age of eighteen, from the balcony of her house, she saw Jesus, bent beneath the weight of the Cross, who said to her: “O soul! Help me!“. From that moment, solitary soul that she was, she lived in continuous union with the ineffable sufferings of her Divine Bridegroom.

1888 – She became a Daughter of Mary and a Dominican Tertiary with the name of Sr. Maddalena

1885-1947 – A chosen soul, a seraphic bride of Christ, humble and devout, whom God had endowed with extraordinary gifts, an innocent victim, a lightening conductor of Divine Justice, bedridden for sixty-two years without interruption, she was a herald of the Kingdom of the Divine Will.

March 4 – Full of merits, in the eternal light of the Divine Will she ended her days as she had lived them, to triumph with the angels and saints in the eternal splendor of the Divine Will.

March 7 – For four days her mortal remains were exposed for the veneration of an immense throng of the faithful who went to her house to have a last look at Luisa the Saint, so dear to their hearts. The funeral was a realm triumph; Luisa passed like a queen, borne aloft on shoulders among the lines of people. All the clergy, secular and religious, accompanied Luisa’s body. The funeral liturgy took place in the main church with the participation of the entire chapter. In the afternoon, Luisa was buried in the family Chapel of the Calvi family.

July 3,1963 – Her mortal remains were definitively laid to rest in Santa Maria Greca.

November 20, 1994 – Feast of Christ the King: Archbishop Carmelo Cassati officially opened the Beatification Cause of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta in the principal church of Corato, in the presence of a huge crowd of people, locals and foreigners.

April 23 2018: Archbishop D’Ascenzo’s first visit to Luisa Piccarreta

 3/22/2018

Luisa had a good word for everybody, a word of hope”

The Testimony of Eugenia Carvelli

4/18/2018