Genesis
Chapter 3: 1-24(3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
3:20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever:
3:23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
From the writings of the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta, the Little Daughter of the Divine Will
PASSAGES ON SCENES OF EDEN. FALL OF MAN FROM THE BOOK OF HEAVEN
Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta, The Little Daughter of the Divine Will:
VOLUME 15
June 6, 1923
The sign that the soul is all of God is that she has a taste for nothing but Him.
I was concerned about the reason why my Jesus was not coming, and I said to myself: ‘Who knows what evil there is in my interior, that Jesus hides Himself so as not to be displeased?’ And He, moving in my interior, told me: “My daughter(LUISA), the sign that there is nothing evil and that the interior of the soul is completely filled with God, is that nothing is left to her which is not all mine, and that in everything that may happen inside and outside of her, she no longer has a taste for anything – her taste is only for Me and of Me. And not only with profane or indifferent things, but also with holy things, pious people, services, music, etc. – everything is cold, indifferent to her, and like something that does not belong to her. And the reason is natural: if the soul is completely filled with Me, she is also filled with my tastes. My taste is hers, and other tastes find no place in which to put themselves; therefore, as beautiful as they may be, they hold no attraction for the soul; rather, they are as though dead for her.
On the other hand, the soul who is not completely mine is empty, and as things surround her, she feels as many tastes within herself, if those are things which she likes; if, on the other hand, they are things which she does not like, she feels disgust. So, she is in a continuous alternation of tastes and disgusts; and since any taste which did not come from Me is not lasting, many times tastes turn into disgusts, and this is why many variations of character can be noticed: now too sad, now too cheerful, now all irascible, another time all affable. It is the void of Me which she has in her soul that gives her so many variations of character – in nothing similar to mine, for I am always the same and I never change.
Now, do you(LUISA) have any taste for what exists down here? What do you(LUISA) fear – that there may be some evil in you(LUISA), and because of it, displeased, I hide Myself? Wherever I am, there cannot be evils.” And I: ‘My Love, I don’t feel like getting a taste for anything, as good as it might be. And besides, You know it better than I do – how can I get a taste for other things if the pain of your privation absorbs me, embitters me down to the marrow of my bones, makes me forget about everything, and the only thing which is present to me, and driven into in my heart, is the nail that I am without You?’ And Jesus: “And this tells you(LUISA) that you(LUISA) are mine and that you are filled with Me, because every taste has this power: if it is my taste, it transforms the creature into Me; if it is a natural taste, it sweeps her into human things; if it is a taste for passions, it casts her into the current of evil. It may seem that a taste is something trivial; yet, it is not so. It is the first act of either good or evil. And take a look at how it is so:
Why did Adam sin? Because he removed his gaze from the divine attraction, and as Eve presented to him the fruit to let him eat of it, he looked at the fruit, and his sight took pleasure in looking at it, his hearing took delight in hearing the words of Eve – that if he ate the fruit he would become like God; and His palate took pleasure in eating it. So, taste was the first act of his ruin. On the other hand, had he felt displeasure in looking at it, tedium and bother in hearing the words of Eve, disgust in eating it, Adam would not have sinned. On the contrary, he would have done the first heroic act of his life, by resisting and correcting Eve for having done that, and he would have remained with the everlasting crown of faithfulness toward the One to whom he owed so much, and who had all the rights for his subjection. Oh! how careful must one be with the different tastes which arise in the soul. If they are purely divine tastes, one must give them life; but if they are human tastes, or of passions, one must give them death; otherwise there is the risk of falling into the current of evil.”
VOLUME 29
May 19, 1931
Scenes from Eden. Fall of man. The Queen of Heaven crushing the head of the infernal serpent. How the words of Jesus have the communicative virtue. How He speaks of the doubts and difficulties.
I was continuing my acts in the Divine Volition, and uniting myself to the acts that It did in Creation, in order to give It the homage, the love, the adoration for each thing created for love of creatures. My poor mind brought itself into Eden, in the act of the fall of man, as the infernal serpent, with his cunning and lie, induced Eve to withdraw from the Will of her Creator; and Eve, with her enticing manners, induced Adam to fall into the same sin.
Now, while I was thinking about this, my beloved Jesus told me: “My daughter LUISA, My Love was not extinguished because of the fall of man, but became more ignited; and even though My Justice justly punished him and condemned him, My Love, kissing My Justice, without delay promised the future Redeemer, and said to the deceitful serpent, with the empire of My Power: ‘You have made use of a woman to snatch man from My Divine Will, and I, by means of another woman, who will have in Her power the Power of My Fiat, will knock down your pride, and with Her immaculate foot, She will crush your head.’ These words burned the infernal serpent more than hell itself, and he stored so much rage in his heart, that he could no longer stay still—he would do nothing but go round and round the earth, to discover She who was to crush his head—not in order to let it be crushed, but so as to be able, with his infernal arts, with his diabolical tricks, to make fall She who was to defeat him, debilitate him, and bind him in the dark abysses. So, for four thousand years he kept always wandering; and when he would see women who were more virtuous and good, he would arm his battle, he would tempt them in every way, and only then would he leave them, when he would be assured, by means of some weakness or defects, that they were not She through whom he was to be defeated. And he would continue his wandering.
“Then came, indeed, the Celestial Creature who crushed his head, and the enemy felt such power in Her, that knocked him down, and he did not have the strength to go near Her. This consumed him with rage, and he employed all his infernal weapons to fight Her. But—no! He would try to go near Her, he would feel himself being worn down, his legs being broken, and would be forced to draw back; and from afar he would spy on Her admirable virtues, Her power and sanctity. And I, in order to confound him and make him doubtful, would let him see the Celestial Sovereign, Her human things, like taking food, crying, sleeping and other things; and he would persuade himself that it was not She, because, being so powerful and holy, She was not to be subject to the natural needs of life. But then he would go back to doubts, and wanted to return to assault—but in vain. My Will is Power that debilitates all evils and all the infernal powers; It is Light that makes Itself known by all, and wherever It reigns, It makes Its Power felt, that not even the very demons can get themselves to deny. Therefore, the Queen of Heaven was, and is, the terror of all hell.
“Now the infernal serpent feels over his head My immediate word spoken to him in Eden—My irrevocable condemnation that a woman would crush his head. Therefore he knows that, by his head being crushed, his kingdom on earth will be overturned, he will lose his prestige, and all the evil he did in Eden by means of a woman will be made up for by another woman. And even though the Queen of Heaven debilitated him, crushed his head, and I Myself bound him to the cross, therefore he is no longer free to do what he wants, however, those who by disgrace draw near him, he slaughters. More so, since he sees that the human will is not subdued by the Divine, and Its Kingdom is not formed yet; he fears that another woman might get to finish burning his temples, so that the Divine condemnation, over his head crushed by the foot of the Immaculate Queen, may have its fulfillment. In fact, he knows that, when I speak, My Word has the communicative virtue to other creatures. Therefore, as he was assured that She whom he feared was the Most Holy Virgin, and being unable to fight Her any more, he resumed his round. He is all eye and as though on the lookout to see whether another woman might have the task from God to make the Divine Will known in order to make It reign; and having seen you write so much about My Fiat, at the mere doubt that this might be it, he roused the whole of hell against you. This is the cause of everything you LUISA have suffered, as he made use of wicked men, having them make up calumnies and things that do not exist. Then, in seeing you LUISA cry so much, they were persuaded that you LUISA are not one who can cause them the ruin that they so much fear for their diabolical kingdom.
“This is what regards the Queen of Heaven, on the part of the infernal serpent; now I want to tell you LUISA what regards the part of creatures toward Her.
“My daughter LUISA, the Celestial Creature was poor, Her natural qualities were apparently common, nothing extraordinary appeared on the outside. She takes a poor artisan as Her spouse, who earns his daily bread with his humble work. Suppose that it had become known before, to the great ones of the world, to the doctors and the priests, that She was the Mother of the Word—that She was the One who was the Mother of the future Messiah; they would have waged a fierce war against Her—no one would have believed Her. They would have said: ‘Is it possible that there have not been, and that there aren’t women in Israel, such that this poor one was to be the Mother of the Eternal Word? There has been a Judith, an Esther, and many others.’ So, no one would have believed Her, and they would have placed countless doubts and difficulties. If they placed doubts on My Divine Person, not believing that I was the longed-for Messiah; and many reach the point of still not believing that I descended upon earth, in spite of the fact that I made many miracles, such as to induce the most incredulous to believe Me—ah! when hardness, obstinacy, enter into hearts, they render themselves incapable of receiving any good; the truths, the very miracles, are for them as though dead and without life—well then, much more so for the Celestial Mama, as nothing miraculous appeared in Her exterior.
“Now, My daughter LUISA, listen to Me; the most serious doubts, the gravest difficulties that they found in your writings are precisely these: that I told you LUISA that I was calling you LUISA to live in the Kingdom of My Divine Will, giving you LUISA the special and unique mission to make It known, so that, as I Myself said in the ‘Our Father,’ and the Holy Church says still now, ‘Thy Kingdom come’—that is, Your Will be done on earth as It is in Heaven. It does not say in the ‘Our Father’ that this Kingdom is on earth, but it says: ‘Come;’ and I would not have composed a prayer if I were not to obtain its effects. Therefore, in order to reach this, was I not to elect another woman, whom the infernal serpent so much fears; and as he, by means of the first woman, ruined mankind for Me, I, to confound him, make use of another woman to make up for the ruin he caused, and make the good that he tried to destroy, arise for all?
“Here, then, the necessity of the preparations, of the graces, of My visits and communications. This sounded bad to those who have read; therefore doubts and difficulties—that it cannot be possible that among so many other great Saints, no one has lived in the Kingdom of My Will. So, it is She[1] alone that is preferred to all; and when they have read that I was placing you LUISA near the Sovereign Queen, so that, She having lived in the Kingdom of My Divine Fiat, you LUISA might imitate Her, wanting to make of you LUISA a copy that resembles Her; and I placed you LUISA in Her hands, that She might guide you LUISA, assist you LUISA, protect you LUISA, so that you LUISA might imitate Her in everything—this seemed so absurd to them; and sinisterly misinterpreting the sense, they spoke as if I had told you LUISA that you LUISA were as though another Queen. How much nonsense—I did not say that you LUISA are like the Celestial Queen, but that I want you LUISA similar to Her, just as I have said to many other souls dear to Me that I wanted them similar to Me; but with this they would not become God like Me. And then, since the Celestial Lady is the true Queen of the Kingdom of My Will, it is Her task to help and teach the fortunate creatures who want to enter, to live in It. By this, they show as if I did not have the power to elect whom I want, and when I want. But, after all, time will say everything, and just as they cannot deny that the Virgin of Nazareth is My Mama, so will they not be able to deny that I have elected you LUISA for the sole purpose of making My Will known, and that, through you LUISA, I will obtain that the ‘Thy Kingdom come’ may have Its fulfillment. It is certain that creatures are an instrument in My hands, and I do not look at who it is, but I look at whether My Divine Will has decided to operate by means of this instrument. And this is enough for Me to fulfill My highest designs; and of the doubts and difficulties of creatures I make use, in due time, to confound them and humiliate them. But I do not stop, and I move forward in the work that I want to do by means of the creature. Therefore, you too LUISA —follow Me and do not draw back. Besides, it shows from their way of thinking that they have calculated only your person, but have not calculated what My Divine Will can do, and what It knows how to do, and when It decides to operate in one creature in order to fulfill Its greatest designs in the midst of the human generations, It lets no one dictate to It the law—neither who it must be, nor the time, nor the way, nor the place—but It acts in an absolute way. Nor does it pay heed to certain limited minds, who are unable to elevate themselves in the Divine and supernatural order, or to bow their forehead to the incomprehensible works of their Creator; and while they want to reason with their own human reason, they lose the Divine Reason, and remain confounded and incredulous.”