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PASSAGES ON THE VALUE AND EFFECTS OF THE HOURS OF THE
PASSION FROM THE BOOK OF HEAVEN
Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Servant of God, Luisa
Piccarreta, The Little Daughter of the Divine Will
VOLUME 11
April 10, 1913
Value and effects of the Hours of the Passion. How Jesus wants them to be done. The Love of Jesus is fire which destroys evil and gives life to good.
This morning my always adorable Jesus came and, hugging me close to His Heart, told me: “My daughter(Luisa), the soul who always thinks about my Passion forms a spring within her heart, and the more she thinks, the larger this spring becomes. Since the waters which spring are waters common to everyone, this spring of my Passion which is formed in her heart serves to the benefit of the soul, to my glory, and to the benefit of all creatures.” And I: ‘Tell me, my Good, what will You give as a reward to those who will do the Hours of the Passion the way You taught them to me?’
And He: “My daughter(Luisa), I will not look at these Hours as your things, but as things done by Me. I will give you(Luisa) the same merits, as if I were in the act of suffering my Passion. In this way, I will let you(Luisa) obtain the same effects, according to the dispositions of the souls. This, while on earth – and I could not give you(Luisa) a greater thing from My own. Then, in Heaven, I will place these souls in front of Me, flashing them with lightnings of love and contentment for as many times as they did the Hours of my Passion – while they will flash to Me as well. What a sweet enchantment this will be for all the Blessed!”
Then He added: “My Love is fire, but not like material fire which destroys things and reduces them to ash. My fire vivifies and perfects, while it burns and consumes all that is not holy – desires, affections, thoughts which are not good. This is the virtue of my fire: to burn evil and to give life to good. Therefore, if the soul does not feel any tendency to evil within herself, she can be certain that my fire is in her. But if she feels fire mixed with evil within herself, it is very doubtable whether that be my real fire.”
VOLUME 11
September 6, 1913
Value, effects and divine nobility of doing the “Hours of the Passion.”
I was thinking about the Hours of the Passion which have now been written, and how they are without any indulgence. So, those who do them do not gain anything, while there are many prayers enriched with many indulgences. While I was thinking of this, my always adorable Jesus, all kindness, told me: “My daughter(Luisa), one gains something through the prayers with indulgences. But the Hours of my Passion, which are my own prayers, my reparations and all my love, came really from the depth of my Heart. Did you perhaps forget how many times I united Myself with you to do them together, and I turned chastisements into graces over the entire earth? So, my satisfaction is such that, instead of the indulgence, I give the soul a handful of love, which contains infinite love of incalculable price. Further, when things are done for pure love, my Love finds Its outpouring – and it is not inconsiderable that the creature can give relief and expression to the Love of her Creator.”
VOLUME 11
October 1914
Value and effects of the Hour of thePassion.
I was writing the Hours of the Passion and I thought to myself: ‘How many sacrifices in order to write these blessed Hours of the Passion,
especially to put on paper certain interior acts which had passed only between me and Jesus! What reward will He give to me?’ Letting me hear His tender and sweet voice, Jesus told me: “My daughter(Luisa), as a reward for having written the Hours of my Passion, for each word you have written, I will give you(Luisa) a kiss – a soul.” And I: ‘My love, this is for me; and what will you give to those who will do them?’ And Jesus: “If they do them together with Me and with my own Will, I will give them a soul for each word they will recite, because the greater or lesser effectiveness of these Hour of my Passion is in the greater or lesser union that they have with Me. In doing them with my Will, the creature hides inside my Volition; and since it is my Volition that is acting, I can produce all the goods I want, even through one single word This, for each time you(Luisa) will do them.”
Another time I was lamenting with Jesus because, after so many sacrifices to write these Hours of the Passion, very few were the souls who were doing them. And He: “My daughter(Luisa), do not lament. Even if there was only one, you(Luisa) should be happy. Wouldn’t I have suffered all my Passion even to save only one soul? The same for you(Luisa). One should never omit good only because few benefit from it; all the harm is for those who do not take advantage of it. Just as my Passion made my Humanity acquire the merit as if all were being saved, although not all are saved (since my Will was to save everyone, and I received merit according to what I wanted, not according to the profit which creatures would have drawn), the same is for you: you will be rewarded depending on whether your will identified itself with Mine, wanting to benefit all. All the evil remains to those who, although being able to, do not do it.
These Hours are the most precious of all, because they are nothing other than the repetition of what I did in the course of my mortal Life, and what I continue to do in the Most Blessed Sacrament. When I hear these Hours of my Passion, I hear my own voice, my own prayers. In that soul I see my Will – that is, wanting good for everyone and wanting to repair for all – and I feel moved to dwell in her, in order to do whatever she does within her. Oh, how I would love that even one single soul for each town did these Hours of my Passion! I would hear Myself in every town, and my Justice, greatly indignant during these times, would remain partly appeased.”
I add that one day I was doing the Hour in which the celestial Mama gave burial to Jesus, and I followed her closely to keep her company in her bitter
desolation in order to offer her my compassion. I didn’t usually do this Hour – only sometimes; so I was debating on whether I had to do it or not. Blessed
Jesus, all love, and as if He was begging me, told me: “My daughter(Luisa), I don’t want you(Luisa) to neglect it. You(Luisa) will do it for love of Me, and in honor of my Mama. Know that each time you(Luisa do it, my Mama feels as if she were personally repeating her life upon earth, and therefore repeating that glory and love which she gave Me on earth. I too feel as if my Mama were on earth again – her Maternal tenderness, her Love and all the glory that she gave Me. So, I will consider you(Luisa) as a Mother.”
Then, He hugged me and I heard Him saying to me, very quietly: “My Mama, Mama”; and He whispered to me all that sweet Mama did and suffered in this Hour; and I followed her. Since then, I never skipped it again, helped by His Grace.
VOLUME 11
February 2, 1917
The world has become unbalanced because it has lost the thought of the Passion.
As I was in my usual state, I found myself outside of myself, and I found my always lovable Jesus, dripping Blood all over, with a horrible crown of thorns, looking at me with difficulty through the thorns. He told me: “My daughter(Luisa), the world has become unbalanced because it has lost the thought of my Passion. In darkness, it has not found the light of my Passion which would illuminate it by making known to it my love and how much souls cost Me, in such a way that it could turn to loving the One who has truly loved it; and the light of my Passion, guiding it, would put it on its guard against all dangers. In weakness, it has not found the strength of my Passion which would sustain it. In impatience, it has not found the mirror of my patience which would infuse in it calm and resignation, in such a way that, in the face of my patience, feeling ashamed, it would make it its duty to dominate itself. In pains, it has not found the comfort of the pains of a God which, sustaining its pains, would infuse in it love of suffering. In sin, it has not found my sanctity which, placing itself in front of it, would infuse in it hate of sin. Ah, man has made an abuse of everything, because he has moved away from the One who could help him! This is why the world has lost balance. It behaved like a child who no longer wanted to recognize his mother; or like a disciple who, denying his master, no longer wanted to listen to his teachings, or learn his lessons. What will happen to this child and to this disciple? They will be the sorrow of themselves, and the terror and sorrow of society. Such has man become – terror and sorrow; but a sorrow without pity. Ah, man is getting worse and worse, and I cry over him with tears of blood!”