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THE WAY OF SANCTIFICATION
(Extracts from the Book of Heaven by Luisa Piccarreta)
Compiled by Ann Ellison
May 19, 2020
FIAT
Dear Family in the Divine Will,
This newsletter will be a little shorter than most as I am over the top with busyness! I enjoy the Volumes and reading them to get new insights, which seem to come in waves of hundreds…so many you can’t keep up with them. Love it! But, the business end of the Center does not thrill me too much. But, it has to get done and we (Kathy and I, and especially Kathy) have been so busy on the business end lately!
Plus, there are so many things going on right now. I am preparing to make some short videos for the website, explaining a new insights each time, etc. I have a video on the website now just telling everyone that we are still here and still operating the Center and carrying on with Tom’s vision of making known Luisa’s Volume all over the world, and also telling everyone of the projects we hope to get done this year.
I am also preparing the Novena for Pentecost, which I seem to be inspired to do a little differently this year. Hope you like it. It’s not a big change.
I am sure most of you know Frances Hogan from Ireland. I have some transcripts of her teaching the lower volumes that I want to share with all of you. She is so brilliant and I was so excited to receive these with permission to share! I hope to get all the volumes she has taught so far in transcript so I can share them. They would be great to save to review over and over again.
Also, we are going to begin our cenacles every Sunday again. We are so excited about that and I am preparing material for that.
God seems to be keeping us very busy, which is always good. Kathy and I pray for all of us to better understand the writings of Luisa which enables us to grow deeper in the Divine Will. We pray each of you are doing well and are all healthy. And remember we are all united in the Holy Will of our Heavenly Father as family!! Fiat always!
Ann Ellison
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Volume 11
March 15, 1912
The Divine Will is the sanctity of sanctities, and the soul who does It on earth as in Heaven is a queen among souls, who gives life to all the good done on earth and in Heaven. Such souls are the true Consecrated Hosts of the Divine Will.
As I continued in my usual state, I felt a great desire to do the Most Holy Will of Blessed Jesus; and He came and told me: “My daughter, my Will is the Sanctity of Sanctities. The soul who does my Will according to the perfection that I am teaching you—that is, on earth as It is in Heaven–however small, ignorant and unknown she may be, leaves even other Saints behind in spite of their prodigies, their stunning conversions and their miracles. Truly, in comparison, the souls who do my Will as It is done in my third “FIAT” are queens among souls, and it is as if all other souls were at their service.
“It seems as if the souls who live in my Will do nothing, but they actually do everything, because being in my Will these souls act Divinely, in a hidden and surprising way. They are the light which illuminates, the wind which purifies, the fire which burns, the miracles which cause miracles. Those who perform miracles are channels; but the power to perform miracles resides in these souls. That is why they are the feet of the missionary, the tongue of the preacher, the strength of the weak, the patience of the sick, the rule of those who govern, the obedience of their subjects, the long suffering of the slandered, the firmness of those who brave dangers, the heroism of the heroes, the courage of the martyrs, the sanctity of the saints, and so on with all the rest. Being in my Will, they take part in all the good that can ever be both in Heaven and on earth. This is why I can say with certitude that they are my true Hosts—but living Hosts, not dead ones. The accidents that form the host are not full of life, neither do they influence my Life; but the soul who lives in my Divine Will is full of life and as she does my Will she influences and participates in all that I do. That is why these consecrated Hosts of my Will are dearer to Me even than the sacramental Hosts, and my whole purpose for dwelling in the sacramental Hosts is to form the sacramental Hosts of my Will.
“My daughter, I take such delight in my Will that, when I simply hear souls talk about It, I feel overjoyed and I invite the whole Heavenly court to celebrate. Imagine what will become of those souls who will do It! In them I find all my joys, and so I give all my joys to them. Their life is the life of the Blessed. They ponder, desire and yearn for two things only: my Will and my Love. They need to do very little else, when in fact they do everything. The virtues themselves remain absorbed in my Will and in my Love. That is why they have nothing to do with them, since my Will contains, possesses and absorbs all things—but in a Divine manner, immense and eternal. This is the life of the Blessed.
September 20, 1915
New chastisements. The Fiat must bind every act to the Divine and human will.
As I continued in my usual state, my adorable Jesus showed Himself to me as He was touching and striking souls with chastisements in his hands. The chastisements seemed to be increasing more and more. Among other things, conspirators were plotting against Holy Church, and they were mentioning Rome. Blessed Jesus was afflicted and seemed to be cloaked in a black mantle. He told me: “My daughter, scourges make people rise up from their evil ways, but there will be so many scourges that all mankind will be shrouded in sorrow and mourning. And since human beings are my members, I am cloaked in a black mantle because of them.”
I was totally dismayed and I begged Him to calm Himself down. And, to relieve me, He told me: “My daughter, the FIAT must be the sweet tie that binds all your acts. My Will and yours will form the knot. You must know that every thought, word and act done and tied with my Will, will be like many open channels of communication between Myself and souls. If all your acts are tied to my Will, not one channel of Divine communication will be closed between you and Me.”
Volume 12
August 14, 1917
Jesus abandoned Himself completely to the Will of the Father. The difference between living resigned to the Will of God, and living in his Will.
As I was in my usual state, my sweet Jesus passed by for a brief moment and said to me: “My daughter, I abandoned Myself continuously to the Will of the Father. That is why, if I thought, I thought in the mind of the Father; if I spoke, I spoke in the mouth and with the tongue of the Father; if I worked, I worked in the hands of the Father. I even breathed my breathing in Him, and I did everything in the order and in the way He wanted it done. That is why I could say that I carried out my Life in the Father, and that I was the bearer of the Father, because I enclosed everything in his Will and I did nothing by Myself. The Will of the Father was my main focus, because I did not care about Myself, nor did I interrupt my course because of the offenses I received; rather, I kept flying faster and faster toward my center. Only then did my natural Life end, when I had fulfilled the Will of my Father in everything.
“The same should be true for you, my daughter. If you abandon yourself to my Will, you will no longer have to worry about anything. My very absence which torments you and consumes you so much, flowing in my Will, will support you with my hidden kisses, my Life in you, clothed with yourself. In your very heartbeat you will feel Mine, burning and sorrowful; and if you don’t see Me, you will feel Me; as my arms hold you tightly. How many times do you feel my motion and my refreshing breath, which renews your ardor! Truly, you feel all of these things; and when you try to see who embraced you, who breathes on you, and you do not see Me, I smile at you, I kiss you with the kisses of my Will, and I hide within you more deeply, to surprise you again, and to let you plunge once more into my Will. That is why I tell you not to sadden Me by tormenting yourself—but to let Me act. May the flight of my Volition never cease in you—otherwise you would hinder the growth of my Life in you. On the other hand, when you live in my Will, I find no hindrance, and I make my Life grow, and I unfold the plan of my Life as I please.”
Now, out of obedience, I want to say a few words on the difference between living resigned to the Divine Will, and living in the Divine Will.
First: living resigned. In my unworthy opinion, this means to be resigned to the Divine Will in everything, both in good times and in bad, seeing the Divine Will in all things, and recognizing the order of the divine plans that the Divine Will ordains for all creatures, so that not even one hair of our head can fall if the Lord does not want it to do so.
A resigned soul is like a good son who goes wherever his Father wants him to go, and suffers whatever his Father wants him to suffer. It makes no difference to him if he is rich or poor—he is happy just being what his Father wants him to be. If he receives or asks for an order to go somewhere to do some business, he goes only because his Father wants him to go. But in the meantime, he has to refresh himself, rest, eat, deal with people; and to do all these things he has to exert his own will. Even though the underlying reason for all that he does is to please his Father, in many things he finds himself having to act independently. He may even find himself far away from his Father for days or months, without receiving specific instructions concerning his Father’s Will in all things.
That is why, one who lives resigned to the Divine Will can scarcely avoid mixing his own will with the Will of the Father. He will be a good son; but he will not fully exemplify the thoughts, words and life of his Father within himself, in all that he does. Indeed, since he has to come and go, follow, and work with people, his love is already broken–because only a continuous union makes love grow, and such a union never breaks. Since the current of the Father’s Will is not in continuous contact with the current of the will of the son, during those intervals the son may get used to doing his own will. However, I believe that resignation is still the first step toward sanctity.
(Ann: It may be important to note here that living in the Divine Will is all in the intention of the creature, and developing the constant thought of God doing everything in and with you and you doing everything with Him; your prevenient act and your current act, which helps get you in the habit of calling Jesus to do everything in and with you in everything you think, say and do throughout your day and night! This reading doesn’t seem to make the distinction.)
The second step is living in the Divine Will. I would like the hand of my Jesus to write this. Ah, He alone could describe all the beauty, goodness and sanctity of living in the Divine Will! I am not capable; I have many thoughts in my mind, but I lack the words. My Jesus, pour Yourself into my word, and I will say what I can.
Living in the Divine Will means being inseparable from God, doing nothing by oneself, because in the presence of the Divine Will one feels incapable of doing anything. He does not ask nor receive any orders, because he feels incapable of going on by himself. So he says: “If You want me to do this, let us do it together, and if You want me to go ahead, let us go on together.” That is why he does all that his Father does. If the Father thinks, he makes the thoughts of the Father his own, and he does not add one thought to those of his Father. If the Father looks, if He speaks, if He works, if He walks, if He suffers, if He loves, he too looks at what the Father is looking at; he repeats the words of the Father; he works with the hands of the Father; he walks with the feet of the Father; he suffers the same pains as the Father, and he loves with the Father’s love. He lives within his Father, not outside of Him; and that is why he is the reflection and the perfect image of his Father—which is not the case with one who merely lives resigned. It is impossible to find this son without his Father, nor the Father without him. Not only his exterior actions, but all of his interior life seems to be interwoven with the Father’s interior–transformed, dissolved completely, completely, in God.
O the rapid and sublime flights of this child in the Divine Will! This immense Divine Will circulates within everyone at every moment, giving life and order to everything. And the soul wanders within this immensity—she flies to all, helps all, and loves all, in the very same act with which Jesus Himself helps and loves—something that cannot be done by a soul who is merely resigned.
That is why one who lives in the Divine Will finds it impossible to do things on his own. More than that, his human actions, even the holy ones, disgust him—because in the Divine Will all things, even the smallest ones, take on a different aspect. They acquire nobility and splendor, divine sanctity, power and beauty; they multiply to infinity, and the soul accomplishes everything in a single moment. And after she has done everything, she says: “I have done nothing—Jesus did it all. And my whole happiness lies in this–that, miserable as I am, Jesus gave me the honor of keeping me in the Divine Will, to let me do what He Himself has done.” That is why the enemy cannot bother this child—whether she did well or badly, little or much—because Jesus Himself did everything, and she did it with Jesus. Such a soul is the most peaceful of all, not subject to anxiety, loving no one yet loving everyone—but with a divine love. One can truly say that she recapitulates the Life of Jesus, the organ of his voice, the heartbeat of his Heart, and the ocean of his graces.
True Sanctity, I believe, consists only in this. Everything else is a shadow, a larva, a specter of sanctity.
In the Divine Will, virtues take their place in the Divine order; while, outside of It, in the human order, they are subject to self-esteem, vainglory, and passions. O how many good works, how many Sacraments received only make God weep and cry out for reparation because they are empty of the Divine Will, and, consequently, fruitless. O how Heaven longs for everyone to understand true sanctity, and how easily other things would then lose their appeal.
As it is, many souls find themselves on a false path to sanctity. Many place it in pious practices—and woe to those who interfere with them! O how they deceive themselves! If their wills are not united with Jesus and transformed in Him—which constitutes continuous prayer—their sanctity remains a sham in spite of all their pious practices. Indeed, these souls slide very easily from pious practices into imperfections, self-indulgence, sowing of discord, and other faults. O how shameful this kind of sanctity is! Other souls equate sanctity with going to church and attending all the services, but their will is far from Jesus. Indeed, they show how little concern they have for their own duties; and if they are hindered, they get angry, and their sanctity evaporates. They complain and disobey and open wounds within their own families. O what a bogus sanctity! Others equate holiness with frequent confession, detailed spiritual direction, and in having scruples about everything. But these same souls have no scruples at all if their will conflicts with the Will of Jesus—and woe to those who contradict them! These souls are like inflated balloons: A little hole is enough to release the air, and their sanctity quickly deflates and falls to the ground. These poor balloons always have something to say, and they are very inclined to melancholy. They constantly struggle with doubts and for this reason they would like to have a director all to themselves, one who would advise them, soothe them, and console them in every little thing. But, even then, they soon grow more agitated than before! Poor sanctity, what a counterfeit you are!
I would like to have my Savior’s tears to weep with Him over these false sanctities, and to show the whole world that true sanctity lies in doing the Divine Will and in living in the Divine Volition. This sanctity sinks its roots so deeply that it cannot be moved, because it fills Heaven and earth, and draws strength from every side. This soul is firm—immune to inconstancy or willful fault. She attends to her duties; and she is the most self-less and detached from everyone and everything—even from spiritual directors—and since her roots run so deep, she shoots up so high that her plants flower and bear fruit in Heaven. She is so hidden in God that the earth sees little or nothing of this soul. The Divine Will keeps her absorbed within Itself. Jesus remains the sole author, animator and craftsman of the sanctity of this enviable creature. She owns nothing of her own, but holds everything in common with Jesus. The Divine Will is her passion; the Will of her Jesus is her hallmark, and “FIAT” is her continuous motto.
O how very different is the sanctity of the soul who lives in the Divine Will! These souls form the smile of Jesus. They live completely detached from everyone, even from their own directors. Jesus alone is everything for them; that is why nobody worries about them. The healing atmosphere that surrounds them benefits everyone; and they foster order and harmony among all creatures. In his jealousy toward these souls, Jesus becomes actor and spectator of whatever they do – reigning and ordering their every thought, breath, and heartbeat. Jesus keeps such a soul so absorbed in the Divine Will that she can scarcely remember that she lives in exile.
February 10, 1919
Jesus calls Luisa to live in his Will and to accept the role of second link to his Humanity.
As I continued in my usual state, my ever-beloved Jesus came to me, and, taking my hands in his own, He held them tightly, and with a majestic courtesy He said to me: “My daughter, tell Me, do you want to live in my Will? Do you want to accept the role of second link with my Humanity? Do you want to accept all my Love as your own, my Will as your Life, and even the pains which the Divinity inflicted on my Humanity—pains so numerous that my Love feels an irresistible need not only to make them known, but to share them—insofar as it is possible for a creature? I can share them and make them known only to one who lives in my Will—and only by the power of my Love. My daughter, it is my custom to ask for a “Yes” from a soul, before I begin to act freely with her.”
Then Jesus remained silent, as if He was waiting for my “FIAT.” I was surprised, and I said to Him: “Jesus, my life, your Will is mine. You, yourself, unite them together and form one single FIAT, and then I will say “yes” in union with You. I beg You to have mercy on me—my misery is great, and only because You want it, I say: “FIAT, FIAT.” But O how crushed and annihilated I felt in the abyss of my nothingness; especially since this nothing was called to live in the All.
So, my sweet Jesus united our two wills together and impressed a FIAT upon them. My “Yes” entered into the Divine Volition and seemed to be not a human but a Divine “Yes”—because it had been pronounced in the Will of Jesus. This “Yes” in the Divine Will multiplied into many–for as many times as souls refused my sweet Jesus. It made the most solemn reparations and embraced everyone, as though it wanted to bring everyone to Jesus, acting in their name. This “Yes” bore the seal and power of the Divine Volition, pronounced not out of fear or desire for personal sanctity, but only to live in the Will of Jesus, to work for the good of all souls, and to bring Jesus divine glory, love and reparations. My beloved Jesus seemed so happy with my “Yes” that He said to me: “Now I want to adorn you and clothe you like Myself, so that you may come with Me before the Majesty of the Eternal One, to fulfill my own office”. So, Jesus clothed me, as though identifying me with his Humanity, and we found ourselves together before the Supreme Majesty. I don’t know how to describe it… this Majesty was an inaccessible, immense, varied Light of incomprehensible beauty, on which everything depended. I remained immersed in that Light, and even the Humanity of Jesus seemed small in comparison with It. Just to enter the atmosphere of that Light made one happy and beautiful… But I don’t know how to explain any more.
My sweet Jesus said: “Adore the Uncreated Power with Me in the immensity of my Will, so that I will not be alone, but will have another creature with Me to adore the One who created all things and on Whom all things depend. I want her to adore in a divine manner, and in the name of all her brothers of all the generations of all centuries.”
How beautiful it was to adore with Jesus! We multiplied ourselves in the name of all; and we placed ourselves before the Throne of the Eternal One—as though to defend Him from those who would not recognize his Eternal Majesty, or who would even insult It—and we hurried to make it known for the good of all souls. United together, Jesus and I did other things, too, but I feel as if I don’t know how to go on. My mind stumbles and cannot find the right words—and that is why I will not continue. If Jesus wants me to do so, I will come back to this point.
Then, my sweet Jesus brought me back into my body; but my mind remained bound to an eternal point from which it could not move… O Jesus! Jesus, help me to correspond to your graces! Help your little spark—your little daughter!
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