Dedication

In Loving Memory of Saint Annibale Maria Di Francia

Luisa Piccarreta’s

Extraordinary Confessor

Founder of the Rogationists of the Sacred Heart

And the Daughters of the Divine Zeal

 He edited and published various writings of Luisa’s

Including the book

“L’orologio della Passione”

And to Luisa Piccarreta, who is the first and the  depository of a good so great, to whom it was entrusted and who was chosen with a special mission.  The origin of the Kingdom of the Supreme Fiat, the depository, is the little daughter the Divine Will.”

“Anima, Auitami!”

(“Soul, Help Me!)

 “Out of so many souls, are there not some who will

show this heroism of love toward Jesus?”

Volume 23 – February 28, 1928
And do you think that the memory of father Di Francia, his many sacrifices and desires to make my Will known, to the point of initiating the publication, will be extinguished in this great work of my Divine Fiat, only because I brought him with Me to Heaven?  No, no; on the contrary, he will have the first place, because by coming from far away, he went as though in search of the most precious thing that can exist in Heaven and on earth, of the act that glorifies Me the most, or rather, will give Me complete glory on the part of creatures, and they will receive complete goods.  He prepared the ground so that my Divine Will might be known; so much so, that he spared nothing, neither expenses, nor sacrifices; and even though the publication did not have its completion, by even just initiating it he prepared the ways so that one day the work of my Will in the midst of creatures can be known and have life.  Who will ever be able to destroy the fact that father Di Francia has been the first initiator in making known the Kingdom of my Will? – and only because his life was extinguished, the publication did not have its completion?  So, when this great work becomes known, his name, his memory, will be full of glory and of splendor, and he will have his prime act in a work so great, both in Heaven and on earth.  In fact, why is there a battle going on, and almost everyone yearns for victory – to win in withholding the writings on my Divine Fiat?  Because he had brought the writings with himself in order to publish them.  Had it not been so, who would have talked about it?  No one.  And if he had not made others comprehend the importance, the great good of these writings, no one would have interested himself.

Therefore, my daughter, my goodness is so great that I reward justly and superabundantly the good that the creature does, especially in this work of my Will, which I so much care for.  What will I not give to those who occupy and sacrifice themselves in order to place in safety the rights of my eternal Fiat?  I will exceed so much in giving, as to make Heaven and earth astonished.”

 OPENING PRAYER

Volume 11 June 15, 1916
In the Divine Will everything is complete.  The most powerful prayers over the Heart of Jesus, and those  which move Him the most, are to clothe oneself with all that He Himself did and suffered.

 …So I spent the whole night with Jesus in His Will.  Then I felt the Queen Mama near me, and She told me:  “My daughter, pray.”  And I:  ‘My Mama, let us pray together, for by myself I don’t know how to pray.’  And She added:

“The most powerful prayers over the Heart of my Son, and those which move Him the most, are for the creature to clothe herself with everything He Himself did and suffered, since He gave everything as gift to the creature.

Therefore, my daughter, surround your head with the thorns of Jesus, bead your eyes with His tears, impregnate your tongue with His bitterness, clothe your soul with His Blood, adorn yourself with His wounds, pierce your hands and feet with His nails, and like another Christ present yourself before His Divine Majesty.

This sight will move Him in such a way that He will not be able to deny anything to the soul who is clothed with His own insignia.  But – oh, how little do creatures know how to make use of the gifts which my Son gave them!  These were my prayers upon earth, and these are my prayers in Heaven.”  So, together we clothed ourselves with the insignia of Jesus, and together we presented ourselves before the Divine Throne.  This moved all; the Angels made way for us and remained as though surprised.  I thanked Mama, and I found myself inside myself.

___________________________________

Archbishop Cassati’s Homily Given at the Opening of the Cause for the Beatification of the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta

(Feast of Christ the King — November 20, 1994)

Praise be to Jesus Christ!

My dearest brothers and sisters, for Corato this evening it is certainly THE DAY. It is an evening of great importance; and, even if we cannot have present here all its citizens, your presence is particularly significant. You are the citizens of Corato (“the Coratini”) who wish to honor one of your own citizens in a particular way because your Luisa was the first to honor you.

Starting this evening (we must add — in awe and fear) we open this process, entrusting it to God that it will unfold conforming to all laws and rules but, at the same time, with the speed or slowness that God reserves for all his things.

 God is not in a hurry like us; therefore, for Him a thousand years are like a day; a day like a thousand years. We are the ones in a hurry, and that is why we do so many bad things — because we are always in such a big hurry. God is not in a rush. Time is in his hands; therefore, ‘when and how’ this process will conclude is known only to God. We only wish to place ourselves in his hands and say that we want to fulfill his Will because, if we do not dedicate ourselves, we are also going against the thoughts and will of our own Luisa, who had only one, single desire: to fulfill the Will of God. The FIAT that she continually repeated was an immense desire to do only the Will of God, and she presented her FIAT by sacrificing herself.

For many years, almost her entire life, she was bed-ridden, many times in great pain and overwhelmed with much of the Passion of our God, Jesus Christ. As a young child, even before her illness, she saw our Christ asking her for assistance in suffering the Passion, to carry the Cross; and she was willing. From that moment, the rest of her long life was a continuous sacrifice.

In our human terms we could ask: for what reason did this woman live her entire life bed-ridden? What could have been the reason for such a life? With today’s mentality and the diabolical theories of euthanasia, someone would probably have killed her. For what did a bed-ridden life serve? For what did the life of a small woman serve, whom, among other things, upon  her death, could not be made to lie in a coffin; and a special casket had to be made in the shape of the letter ‘L’ because her body could not be straightened? For what did that life serve? Humanly speaking, we must say that such a life was unsuccessful, a useless life — but in the eyes of God it was the life of one who willingly climbed upon the Cross and, having known the Will of God said: “Here I am; your Will be done.” Not for three days nor for three years but for sixty years on the Cross, bed-ridden.

This sacrifice, this gift, this offering enters directly into the Chalice of the Passion and Death of our God, Jesus Christ, in the Blood of Christ. And Luisa, with her sacrifice, becomes the one who makes reparation, who makes restitution for the sins of others. Therefore, this life becomes heroic. God wanted her alive because He was grateful for her sacrifice given freely. Before such generosity one should not marvel, then, if Luisa had particular visions, if Luisa also had some particular insights seen in her writings, if Luisa had been able to speak about God in a determined way, and if Luisa speaks about God as God Love, who immolates Himself for this creature, whom He has made to his image and likeness and who once was lost, to come Himself and take the trouble to bring him back. And, if God was so humbled, then, well spent were ‘my more than sixty years in a bed of the Cross.’

You will see that it makes sense, then, and that it is no longer a useless life in the way men think. It becomes a most precious life because it collaborates the Crucifixion of Christ for the salvation of the world. We will never know if one day in the hereafter, when we arrive at our Fathers house (if God wishes to receive us into his house), if maybe then we will see the value of the souls who have immolated themselves for Him. And, if the world is still standing, maybe we should give credit not to our techniques and to our people’s skill in knowing always how to quarrel; but we should give credit to these hidden souls who sacrifice in order to compensate for the tide of sin in this world.

We saw the flood two weeks ago and the damage provoked by a small earthquake. If a small quake of that kind can bring about so much damage to all nature, what damage does a soul obstinate in sin do? Then we can realize and not be astonished if at a certain moment God asks: “Soul, will you give Me a hand?” That is the reason for the invitation to Luisa: “Soul, will you give Me a hand?” My Redemption is enough, but I need other souls to participate with Me in this Calvary, in this Sacrifice, because man never grows tired of offending God.

Therefore, my dear ones, we must try to see Luisa by her Light and not try to seek in her writings something that we might not be able to understand; and we will not understand unless we put ourselves in Luisa’s Light. If we do not put ourselves in the Light of the God who asks of this soul reparation, suffering, sacrifice, the cross, Calvary, blood and life, what restitution can I give to my God for the sins of the world?

If I see myself a rationalist, if I see myself a schemer, if I see that I want to reason like a man, I am off my path. With God either you love Him, and He takes you where He wants you, or our rationalization is of no use. God has given us intelligence so that we can love Him, not to engage in criticizing Him and debating his plans of Love. Luisa never did this; she offered herself; sacrificed herself; and God loved and bestowed privileges upon her.

I hope that Luisa’s writings may penetrate the hearts of men in one way or another and also be understood. We certainly have an immense responsibility because Luisa is not a Saint like all the others. Luisa was a Saint placed on the Cross. On the Cross, Christ received insults; Christ was ridiculed; Christ was scorned; and, therefore, we should not be astonished if she has received some of those things as well. It was necessary for her in order to be more like the Crucified Christ. She had asked to participate in his Passion.

My dear ones, Luisa’s phenomenon, although she was born, she died, and was buried in Corato, is a phenomenon difficult to explain. They love her more outside of Corato. The New World loves her more. That truly becomes a problem and an incessant prayer for us — that they truly understand the thought of Luisa, the writings of Luisa, and that it be understood, above all her spirit, because today we live in a world where sorcerers, fortune-tellers, spiritists and many others say that they see God, the Madonna, the Saints; and so many others who say they see the devil. We are in a world full, very full of these realities, of these miseries; and it becomes easy for us to run to the place where there is a fortune-teller; and it is easy to run to the place where some fellow has said that he sees Jesus Christ, that he sees the Madonna. We have flocks of people, even in our city, who run right and left, back and forth in search of those who have seen the Madonna, who have seen Saint Michael, who have seen Christ, in search of those who sweat blood, who sweat this, who sweat that. We go about in search of emotion; but the Faith – our religion – is not emotions.  We cannot be emotional people who follow fortune-tellers, visionaries, people who even go after the devil!  My dear ones, open your eyes because the world, and maybe even Corato, is full of people who run to and fro. To understand Luisa, we must go, I repeat, to one point alone: the FIAT, Your will be done! We have no other choice. That “Your Will be done” meant for her an entire life upon the Cross; FIAT, I accept. And then we can say that we are in tune.Now, I do not know if I will be able to explain myself, but I would like to say a few words to these friends who have come from America because, as I have said, even there, the name of Luisa and her writings has spread among them and is still developing among very many. But, perhaps it is over there that there could be a greater danger, in that they could misunderstand her. Let us hope that I will be successful in explaining myself a little.


pichierri

Archbishop Giovanni Battista Pichierri

Present Archbishop of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie


From:  “Luisa la Santa”, May 2000

 At the feet of Jesus in the Sacrament, adored in the Chapel of the Association “Luisa Piccarreta, Little Children of the Divine Will”, here are the words of our Archbishop, before starting His visit of the sacred place in which the Servant of God, Luisa Piccarreta, lived with her family, in Via Nazario Sauro, 27.

The first resonance that comes spontaneously is this:  I am now entering a house in which a family lived, and all the houses in which Christian families live are little churches, because in speaking of the family, and of the Christian family, the Council wanted to define it in these terms:  the Christian family is a little church.

It is a church because in it live people who have been united by the Will of God; it is God who wanted man and woman, and it is God who inscribed matrimony in the human nature, sexually diversified into men and women.  So I enter a house in which two Christian spouses lived, the parents of Luisa and of her sisters – all women, all of them have passed away.

And I know that I am entering a home in which suffering has become the acceptance of the Will of the Father, because it is united to the suffering of Jesus.  It is not the Father who wanted us in suffering; suffering arose from free choices, which the human creatures made in the beginning.  However, the Father allowed this so that a greater gift might be given to them; and the gift, truly unique and exceptional, which the Father gave us is His Son Jesus Christ, who loved us to the end.  Up to His last breath He had to carry the load of our humanity, the weight of our humanity wounded by sin, rendered leprous by sin, rendered fragile by sin; and when the human suffering unites to the suffering of Jesus, then it becomes producer of salvation.

This creature, Luisa, who was visited by suffering – because indeed in her life of a confirmed Christian the Lord asked of her something exceptional, something special – said “yes” to Christ; and Christ identified her completely with the one plan of the Father.  Therefore, I enter, as you have already done various times, into a house in which a Christian family life has been lived, with commitments and with efforts, and from which, I would say, a special manifestation of love radiated:  this odor of sanctity, which came from this house through this sister of ours who strove to renew her “yes” daily, her “yes” to the Will of the Father who wants us united to His Son – this is the Will of the Father.

…As for the study which the Church is doing of Luisa, and I am speaking of the local Church, since the cause of beatification of Luisa has been opened, as for this research, a research of which I caught glimpses as being conducted very seriously, with great attention, I have learned that we have reached a phase of serious examination of all her diaries.

Therefore, experts, theologians and historians have been consulted together; not all of them have given their answer yet.  But we await this answer, we invoke it, and if it necessary we will ask for further examinations.  When this judgment from the human mind is completed, which is illuminated by faith, because those who are in charge of this type of research are not mere scholars, but are scholars and believers (a non-believer also has the right to express his opinion, hasn’t he?); once all the writings have been examined, and we have the so called “peritio tipica” [typical edition] of the diary of the Servant of God, then we will all close the diocesan phase, and will present it to the appropriate congregation which the Holy Father has disposed precisely for the examination of the life of those Christians who are worthy and deserving of being proclaimed Blessed, and then Saints, by the highest authority of the Church.

Certainly, you see, we do no evil if through the knowledge of Luisa, we strive to live in a Christian way.  In fact, what is sanctity?  Sanctity is to live as baptized ones, as confirmed ones; it is to live an ordinary life in the grace of God, according to the Divine Will; this is it – that is, according to what God asks of us.  If He wants us in health, we will glorify Him in health, announcing His Kingdom with all our strength and with enthusiasm.  If God should ask of us a greater participation in the Passion of the Son – suffering – we are called to glorify Him in suffering with all our hearts, with all our souls, with all our strengths, in this case, precisely, imitating the example of Luisa Piccarreta.

To conclude, His Excellency imparted His Holy Blessing, hailing Jesus with the invocation:  “Jesus I love You, Thy Kingdom come”.

* * *

“Lord, glorify your Servant Luisa Piccarreta and answer those who turn to You to receive graces, appealing to her merits.”  (3.04.00 – Archbishop Giovanni Battista Pichierri)

THE NEW AND CONTINUOUS WAY OF MEDITATING

“THE HOURS OF THE PASSION”

from the writings of Luisa Piccarreta

Volume 11 – November 4, 1914
The new and continuous way to meditate the Hours of the Passion.

I was doing the Hours of the Passion and  Jesus, all pleased, told me:  “My daughter, if you knew what great satisfaction I feel in seeing you repeating these Hours of my Passion – always repeating them, over and over again – you would be happy.  It is true that my Saints have meditated my Passion and understood how much I suffered, melting in tears of compassion, to the extent of feeling consumed for love of my pains; however, not in this continuous manner, always repeated and in this order.  Therefore, I can say that you are the first one to give Me this taste, so great and special, as you keep fragmenting within you – hour by hour – my Life and all that I suffered.  I feel so attracted that, hour after hour, I give you this food and I eat the same food with you, doing what you do together with you.  Know that I will reward you abundantly with new Light and new graces even after your death.  Each time the souls on earth will do these Hours of my Passion, in Heaven I will clothe you with ever new Light and glory.”

Volume 11 – November 6, 1914
The good that the Hours of the Passion produce for Jesus and for the soul who does them.

As I continued the usual Hours of the Passion, my adorable Jesus told me:  “My daughter, the world is in continuous act of renewing my Passion; and since my Immensity envelopes everything, inside and outside the creatures, I am forced to receive from their contact nails, thorns, scourges, scorns, spits and all the rest which I suffered in the Passion – and still more.  Now, at the contact with souls who do these Hours of my Passion I feel the nails being removed, the thorns shattered, the wounds soothed, the spits taken away.  I feel compensated by good for the evil that others do to Me.  Feeling that their contact does not do harm to Me, but good, I lean more and more on them.”

Furthermore, returning to speak about these Hours of the Passion, blessed Jesus said:  “My daughter, know that by doing these Hours the soul takes my thoughts and makes them her own; she takes my reparations, my prayers, desires, affections, and even my most intimate fibers and makes them her own.  So, rising up between Heaven and earth, she does my same office, and as co-redemptrix,  she says to Me:  ‘Ecce ego, mitte me  [Here I am, send me].  I want to repair for all, answer to You for all, and plead good for all.’”

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 this, my always adorable Jesus, all kindness, told me:  “My daughter, 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.”

Copy from the Original Edition of the Hours of the Passion
Published by Saint Annibale Maria di Francia

Preface
by Blessed Annibale M. di Francia

J.M.J.A.

 Messina, October 29, 1926

Intelligentes quae sit voluntas Dei.

We begin, with this first printing, the publication of more than 20 handwritten volumes of sublime revelations which, always excepting the judgments of the Holy Church, we believe to have been given by Our Lord Jesus Christ to a soul, a dearest daughter and disciple of His, who is the pious author of the Hours of the Passion.

Even now we make known that these revelations, which are continuing and will continue, we don’t know for how much longer, have as their goal the establishment of the complete Triumph of the Kingdom of the Divine Will upon earth.

Who is this beloved daughter and disciple of Our Lord, the author of the Hours of the Passion, who, up to now, has written 20 volumes of divine revelations?

We cannot disclose her name and address because this would mean prostrating her to the most severe affliction, and to the most deeply felt crushing of soul and body.

She wants to live solitary, hidden and unknown.  For no reason in the world would she have put into writing the intimate and prolonged communications with adorable Jesus, from her tenderest age until today, which still continue, who knows until when, if Our Lord Himself had not repeatedly obliged her to, both personally and through holy obedience to her Directors, to which she always surrenders with enormous violence to herself, and also with great strength and generosity, because her concept of holy obedience would make her refuse even an entrance into Paradise, as did actually occur, and will be seen in the revelations of October 11 and 30, 1909.

So very gracious are her discourses and dialogues with Lady Obedience, as she calls her, almost wanting to get even for the subjection to   which she is forced.  Now she speaks to her as to a great Princess and Queen who imposes herself severely, now she portrays her as a most powerful Warrior, who arms himself from head to food, ready to strike the moment one dares to contradict him.

In substance, this soul is in a tremendous fight between an overwhelming love of hiddenness and the inexorable empire of Obedience to which she absolutely must surrender – and Obedience always wins.  This constitutes one of the most important traits of a true spirit – of a solid and tested virtue, because she has been submitting to the dominion of the great Lady Obedience, with the greatest violence to herself, for about forty years!

This solitary soul is a most pure virgin, wholly of God, who appears to be the object of singular predilection of Jesus, Divine Redeemer.  It seems that Our Lord, who century after century increases the wonders of His Love more and more, wanted to make of this virgin with no education, whom He calls the littlest one that He found on earth, the instrument of a mission so sublime that no other can be compared to it – that is, the triumph of the Divine Will upon the whole earth, in conformity with what is said in the ‘Our Father’:   Fiat Voluntas Tua sicut in Coelo et in terra.

This Virgin of the Lord has been placed in bed as victim of Divine Love for more than 40 years, from the time when she was still adolescent.  It has been a state of a long series of sufferings, both natural and supernatural, and of inebriations of the eternal Charity of the Heart of Jesus.  The origin of these pains, which exceed every natural order, has been, almost continuously, an intermittent privation of God, which constitutes that dark night of the soul, called “bitter and terrible” by the mystic and Doctor, St. John of the Cross, so much so, as to compare it to the pains which the souls in Purgatory suffer because of the privation of God.  He compares it somehow to a suffocation of the soul, as when someone is breathless, because the breath of the soul is God:   Christus spiritus oris nostri (Jesus Christ, the breath of our mouth).

In the course of these publications one will be able to read the laments of this wounded dove searching for her Beloved – so intimate, sharp, sensible, as to leave a profound impression of this Victim of Divine Love.  But sometimes the thick veil is torn, the soul sees Jesus, they embrace, they delight in each other, and the soul asks for the mystical kiss of the Sacred Spouse of the Canticles.  At times, the inebriation is such that, in a delirium of love, her human resistance grows weak, and the soul exclaims:  “Enough, enough! No more, Lord, for I cannot sustain it!”, as once St. Francis Saverio exclaimed in similar circumstances.

All of these operations of Divine Love take place mostly in the silence of the night, and in the morning, after Holy Communion, when she remains cloistered and recollected for a couple of hours.

The sufferings of the body add to those of the soul, and occur at a mystical level for the most part.  With no sign appearing on her hands, feet, side or forehead, she receives frequent crucifixion from Our Lord Himself.  Jesus Himself lays her upon a cross, and pierces her with nails.  And then, what Saint Teresa described when she received the wound from the Seraphim, happens within her:  a pain most sharp, such as to make her faint, and at the same time, a rapture of love.

But if Jesus did not do so, it would be for this soul an infinitely greater spiritual suffering, because, with the Seraphim of Carmel, she also says:  to suffer or to die.

Here is another sign of her true spirit.  Often times, when Our Lord appears to her crowned with thorns, after He has abstracted her from her senses, she gracefully removes the crown of thorns from His head and drives it onto hers, experiencing atrocious spasms, but mystical contentments.

In the course of these publications one will remain astonished in noticing an extraordinary intimacy of Our Lord with this soul, which is in nothing inferior to those of St. Getrude, St. Metilde,  the Saints Margherite or any other Saint.  Often times, as the aforementioned mystic and Doctor observes in similar cases, the familiarity and intimacy with which Our Lord deals with this soul, renders her daring in using certain expressions and in advancing certain demands, which would appear excessive if one did not consider that Adorable Jesus, in the matters of Faith, has given us proofs of His love even greater than those which can be found in the intimate conversations between Jesus and any privileged soul.  It is enough, above all, that He has given Himself to us even as food in the Most Holy Eucharist.

After having mentioned her long and continuous stay in bed as victim, for years and years, with the experience of many spiritual and physical sufferings, it might seem that the sight of this unknown virgin would be afflicting, as though seeing a person lying with all the marks of past pains, of current sufferings, and the like.

Yet, here there is something admirable.  In seeing this Spouse of Jesus Crucified, who spends the night in painful ecstasies and in sufferings of every kind, during the day, sitting on her bed doing her needlework – nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing appears, of one who has suffered so much during the night; there is nothing, not one thing extraordinary or supernatural in her air.  On the contrary, she appears as a healthy person, happy and jovial.  She speaks, converses, laughs when appropriate, but receives few friends.

Sometimes, some troubled heart confides in her, and asks for her prayers.  She listens kindly and comforts, but never advances to make prophecies, never a word which might hint at revelations.  The great comfort which she presents is always one, always the same:  the Divine Will.

Although she possesses no human knowledge, she is abundantly endowed with a Wisdom all celestial – with the Science of the Saints.  Her words illuminate and console.  By nature her intellect is not poor.  She studied to the first grade when she was a child; her writing is filled with mistakes, although she does not lack appropriate terms, in conformity with the revelations; terms which seem to be infused by Our Lord.

The Hours of the Passion

At the same time as the sublime Revelations about the virtues in general, and about the Divine Will in particular, for many years, at nighttime, this soul has entered the contemplation of the sufferings of Our Lord Jesus Christ, with the addition of distinct information about many scenes of the Passion.

The method was that of going through the 24 hours of the Adorable Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which begin with the Legal Supper and end with His death on the Cross.  These visions were sometimes accompanied by corresponding revelations of Our Lord.

Since nothing was published of the visions and revelations of this soul, in her excessive desire to keep everything hidden, fearing that a publication, even anonymous, might uncover her, she wanted to bury this  Treasure of divine knowledges, of superhuman compassion, of superhuman fount of the most loving affections within herself.

But her Spiritual Father placed the majestic Lady Obedience, the strong Warrior armed from head to foot, before her; and Our Lord Himself pushed her to manifest them for the good of many souls.

She surrendered, and to the author of this Preface was entrusted the printing of the writings which she put on paper regarding this topic so important.

As the first Edition of this admirable Treatise of the 24 Hours of the Passion of Our Lord appeared, the blessing of God seemed evident.  In a short time all copies were depleted, which at that time were 5,000, without being sent to specific addresses.  It was enough to send one copy to some devout person, that requests would begin to arrive.  An announcement was placed in the periodical of our Anthonian Orphanages “Dio e il Prossimo” [“God and Neighbor”] under the name of a Book of Gold, and immediately the requests increased, in such a way that the Edition was soon exhausted.

Most Eminent Cardinal Cassetta, to whom nothing had been sent directly, requested 50 copies at once.

Then came the 2nd Edition, a larger one, and then the 3rd.  Both of them were rapidly depleted.

For the purpose of promotion, sales were made at moderate prices, just to cover the expenses.

At that time a pleasant circumstance occurred, which we remember with pleasure.  A letter, addressed directly to me, arrived from the Vatican, written by that angelic Bishop – today Apostolic Nuncio of Venezuela, at that time the Secretary of Bishop Msgr. Tacci (who is today an emeritus Cardinal) – Msgr. Cento, who was then appointed Bishop of Acireale, and will perhaps be a Cardinal of the Holy Church.  There had been no previous contacts between this lovable person and myself.  In this letter he appeared enthusiastic from the reading of the Hours of the Passion by an “unknown author”, and he prayed me to reveal to him her name and address, because he wanted to correspond with her about things of the spirit.

In truth, I was unable to refuse.  But he was not content with an epistolary correspondence, and wanted to go to visit this chosen one of the Lord in person.  Even more, in order to legitimize his trip of such a long distance, he offered to preach in a Triduum for the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Chiesa Madre.  Every day he was near the bed of the “pious author” in spiritual conversations, to his great contentment.  After he departed from that town, he always kept the most pleasant memory of this soul, so dear to Jesus.

Once the 3rd Edition was depleted, the 4th one came, enriched with other writings of the Servant of God.  This time the printing was executed at our press managed by the Sisters of my faithful one in Messina, and 15,000 copies were printed.  As the announcement was repeated, requests arrived at all of our Houses.

It is not without reason that this book has provoked so much enthusiasm.  Indeed, it is dictated with such surges of love, with such penetration into the sufferings of the Incarnate Word, as to enrapture the soul of one who reads it, and much more of one who meditates on it.

But, even more, there is an undeniable concurrence of Grace which, one could say, begs two things:  one is extensive reparations for all the sins of the world of every kind, like the very ones which Our Lord Jesus Christ presented to His Eternal Father interiorly at the time of His most bitter Passion.  Because of these reparations of the author of the Hours, Our Lord promised – as is fully believed – many exemptions from divine chastisements to those who meditate these hours and in the places in which they are meditated.  Another divine goal is precisely that of placating Divine Justice, by holding back the scourges which the Lord prepares.

In the course of these publications which we are beginning, there are chapters which foresee divine scourges of earthquakes, wars, fire, cloudbursts, devastation of lands, epidemics, famines and the like.  Everything, everything has been predicted several years before, and everything has come about, and much yet is left to come about.  But the state of victim of this soul, her prayers, her tears, her sufferings and her daringness of love with Jesus have held back part of these scourges, and will hold back yet more.

A sign of the great detachment of this soul from any earthly thing is her firmness and constancy in accepting no gifts, either of money or anything else.  On more than one occasion, people who read the Hours of the Passion and in whom a sense of sacred affection for this solitary and unknown soul arose, wrote to me that they wanted to send her money.  But she was so firmly opposed, it was as if they had offended her.

Her way of living is very modest.  She possesses little, and lives with a loving relative who assists her.  Since the little that they have is not enough to pay the rent or for their support in these sad times of expensive living, she peacefully works, as mentioned before, and earns something from her work, which has to serve especially for her loving relative, because she has no expense for clothing or shoes.  Her food is of a few ounces per day, and is offered to her by her assistant, because she never asks for anything.  Furthermore, a few hours after she has taken that bit of food, she brings it up.  However, her appearance is not of a dying person, but not really that of a perfectly healthy person.  Yet, she is not inactive; rather, she consumes her strengths, both in the supernatural events of sufferings and strain during the night, and with her work during the day.  Her life is therefore almost a perennial miracle.

To her great detachment from any earnings which are not procured with her hands, one must add her firmness in never accepting anything from the publication and sale of the Hours of the Passion, which would be due to her by right as literary property.  As I pressed her not to refuse it, she answered:  “I have no right, because the work is not mine, but of God.”

I will not continue further.  The life of this virgin, Spouse of Jesus, is more celestial than terrestrial.  She wants to be ignored and unknown in the world, looking for nothing but her Jesus and Her Most Holy Mother, whom she calls Mama, and who has a special predilection for this chosen soul.

As the voluminous manuscripts which Our Lord has dictated to her are gradually published, from the tenderness with which Jesus treats her, from the sweet words with which He calls her, from His celestial embraces and her loving correspondence, admirable things will be revealed about the singular virtues of this soul, who – who knows – one day, coming out triumphantly from the infallible judgments of the Church, will be placed on the altar as protection of many.

Overview of the Writings of the Pious Author
of the Hours of the Passion

 These writings which were entrusted to us by the Servant of God by the authoritative order of Msgr. the Archbishop to whom she belongs, can be divided into three parts.

The first part is a brief summary of her infancy and childhood, before she was confined in a bed.  It is truly a succinct account, written recently out of obedience, without which, for no reason in the world, would she have revealed those ancient memories of hers.  However, this is information which makes us learn how Our Lord predestined her for very high things.

When she received this obedience, she consulted with Our Lord, and would have wanted to have this chalice removed without having to drink it.  But Our Lord supported the obedience.

The second part, which goes from Volume 1 to Volume 10, is composed of writings which date back to her youth.  In them begin the revelations attributed to Our Lord, who instructs her in the direction of pious practices, mortification, and the exercise of all the holy virtues of Faith, of Hope, of Charity, of Humility, of Purity, of Obedience, of Meekness, of constancy in operating good; as well as about Divine Love and similar things. These are admirable lessons which reveal a spirit more than human, with an extremely simple style.

The third part encompasses the whole purpose for which Our Lord Jesus Christ wanted to choose a soul as the instrument of His omnipotent hand, and wanted to mold her according to His way and make of her a vehicle in order to manifest to the world a doctrine all new, to illustrate what Divine Will means, and thus to prepare the great triumph of the third Fiat upon earth.

The first Fiat extracted the whole Universe from nothing. The second Fiat, pronounced by the Most Holy Virgin Mary, hailed by the Angel, determined the Incarnation of the Divine Word in Her most pure Womb and the subsequent Redemption of mankind.

The third Fiat was left to us by Our Lord Jesus Christ in the great Prayer of the Our Father, with those divine words:  “Fiat Voluntas Tua Sicut in Coelo et in terra” – Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

This supplication of the third Fiat which has resounded for twenty centuries on the lips of the children of the Holy Church, in the Royal Priesthood of the great Sacrifice of Holy Mass – this supplication, in spite of all the human oppositions and iniquities, must have its great fulfillment.  It cannot remain unanswered.  All Saints, all Doctors, all Preachers, all the Scholars of Ascetic Theology, have sung the praises of the fulfillment of the Will of God as the highest perfection.  They have defined the three degrees of uniformity with the Divine Volition, of conformity to It, and of transformation – that is, of the annihilation of our will for the Divine.

But the revelations on this topic which fill the manuscripts of the Author of the Hours of the Passion, have the character of an instruction all new and celestial, and always in the simplest and most persuasive way.  The similes illustrate this doctrine in an admirable way, dictated at times with authority; so much so, as to remind one of the words of Saint John in the Gospel:  ‘Jesus taught with authority”.

To the three degrees of uniformity, of conformity and of transformation, this new doctrine adds a fourth quality which encompasses everything, which has not been expressed by any writer until now, but which somehow hovers in Sacred Books, especially in the Psalmist and in the Apostle of the gentiles.  And it is:  to operate completely IN the Divine Will.

This formula, as it first appeared in the two little treatises of the Hours of the Passion, seemed to be not very understandable to many, or rather, we could say, to all.

Yet, something should be understood at first sight in considering the preposition in, which opens the gate to great meanings.  The Apostles’ Creed makes us say:  “I believe in God Almighty”, which is very different from saying, “I believe God Almighty”, or “to God Almighty”.

Not few, after reading the Hours of the Passion, have asked for explanations on the meaning of this operating and living in the Divine Will.

These admirable writings, which we fully believe to have been dictated by the Divine Incarnate Word, lead one who reads them with Faith, always of love, step by step, to the understanding of this formula.  In many ways these revelations open new horizons, not yet contemplated until now, concerning the mysteries of the Divine Will, and about operating and living in It.  And one thing is certain:  even before arriving at the complete knowledge of what it means to operate and live in the Divine Volition, one who reads these writings cannot not remain enamored with the Will of God, and not feel new strong impulses, and a divine commitment to transforming all of himself in the Divine Will.

These revelations say that this science of the Divine Will will form Saints of a perfection more sublime than that of all the Saints who ever existed.  And if this expression should seem exaggerated to some, I invite them to read the treaty on True Devotion to the Most Holy Virgin Mary by Blessed [now Saint] Louis Marie Grignon de Montfort, in which they will find a page where it written that men would arise in the Holy Church of a sanctity before which the greatest saints of the Church will be but shrubs before gigantic trees.

Exhortation

O souls who love Jesus Christ, O souls who make a profession of spiritual life, and especially you, Spouses of Jesus Christ, consecrated to Him either through vows or by belonging to sacred Congregations, consider from all that has been said above, how much pleasure you give to the Most Holy Heart of Jesus by practicing these Hours of the Passion.  It is for you, in a special way, that these Hours of the Passion have been inspired by Our Lord in that solitary and contemplative soul, who has been practicing them for many years with great profit to herself and to the whole Holy Church.  Special graces have been reserved for you if you take to heart this holy daily exercise, penetrating the same sentiments and the same dispositions as those of the soul who dictated it, and who has been practicing it for many years.

From the sentiments, so intimate, and from the dispositions, so loving, of this soul, you will pass into the very sentiments and dispositions of Jesus Christ Our Lord, during the 24 Hours in which He suffered for love of us.  And it is impossible for the soul, in this compassionating exercise, not to encounter the most sorrowful Mother Mary, and not to unite to the same compassion and the very incomprehensible affections of the Sorrowful Mother of God!  It will be like living with Jesus suffering, and with Mary co-redeeming, gathering immense eternal goods for oneself and for all!

What to say about how great this tool would be for each Religious Community in order to advance in holiness, to be preserved, to grow in the number of chosen souls, and to obtain true prosperity?  How much commitment, then, should each Community have in the constant practice of this pious exercise!  And the souls of that Community who attend Holy Mass daily would receive Communion with such dispositions of fervor, and with such love for Jesus, that each Communion would be a renewed marriage of the soul with Jesus in the most intimate and increasing union of love!

If because of one soul alone doing these Hours, Jesus would spare a city chastisements, and would give grace to as many souls for as many as are the words of these sorrowful Hours, how many graces could a Community [or any group of faithful] hope for; from how many defects and relaxations would it be healed or preserved; and for how many souls would it obtain sanctification and salvation by practicing this pious exercise!

If only there were one soul in each Community, who would apply herself to practicing it with more attention during the day, at times even in the midst of daily occupations, and also in the evening, and at nighttime with a little bit of vigil…!  But it would be the summit of the divine, and the maximum profit for that Community and for the whole world, if this exercise were practiced by all, in turns – day and night!

How these Hours of the Passion can be done

  • One method is that of meditating one Hour each day by reading it alone, or with one’s family, or with others.  In this way, in the round of 24 days, one would complete the 24 Hours.  A good clock never stops – life never stops…
  • A second method would be that of forming groups of various people – 4, 8, 12 or possibly 24 and more – each one committed seriously to doing one of the Hours, assigned for a period of time, before changing the Hour.  A good clock marks all the hours – it skips none of them…
  • A third method, then, is that of doing at least one hour per day, at the time of the day which coincides to that hour, but in any case, to reach such familiarity with the Hours of the Passion, and to assimilate them in such a way, as to be able to follow their content mentally during the whole day.  For this purpose it is very helpful to learn by heart the succession of the 24 Hours with the corresponding title, which is reported on the next page.

To “do” an Hour of the Passion means to read it attentively, meditating on it, contemplating it, making it one’s own life… It is not just remembering and compassionating the sufferings of Jesus as something that happened many centuries ago in a far away place; but rather, it is, first of all, to enter into the Divine Will, in which everything is present and in act, and to participate in the interior acts and sufferings of Our Lord, which are present and in act at this precise moment, so as to repeat His life within us, to grow in His likeness, and to pour upon everyone the infinite value, merits and effects of His Passion.

Jesus Himself explains this very important difference:  “To repeat my Passion in act in the creature, is different from one who only thinks of my pains and compassionates them.  The first is an act of my Life, which takes my place in order to repeat my pains, and I feel I am given back the effects and the value of a Divine Life; while in thinking of my pains and in compassionating Me, it is only the company of the creature that I feel.  But do you know in whom I can repeat my pains, in act, of my Passion?  In one who has my Will as center of life. (October 24, 1925  Vol. 18)

One can comprehend, then, how the Hours of the Passion are not just a reading, and not even a devotion, but a formation of life:  the interior life of Jesus.  In this way, day after day, we will feel more and more that Jesus is truly living in us – not just our life, but His very Divine Life.

“Behold, I finally submit to you the written Hours of the Passion, and all for the glory of our Lord.  I also enclose another little page which contains he effects and Jesus’ beautiful promises for whoever does these Hours of the Passion.

“I believe that , if whoever will meditate them his a sinner he will convert, if he is imperfect, he will become perfect, if he is tempted, he will find the victory, if he is suffering,, he will find in these Hours strength, medicine and comfort, and if his soul is weak and poor, he will find a spiritual mirror where he will continually look at himself in order to embellish himself and make himself similar to Jesus our model.

The satisfaction which blessed Jesus feels from the mediation of these Hours is such that He wishes that there were at least one copy of these meditations for souls to practice for each city or town; because then what happens is that in those reparations Jesus feels reproduced his own voice and his prayers, which He raised to His Father in the twenty four hours of His painful Passion.  And if this were practiced by at lease some souls in each town or city,  it seems to me that Jesus makes me understand that the Divine Justice would be partly placated, and his scourges would be partly stopped and, as it were, extinguished in these sand times of torment and bloodshed.

“Wherefore I also tell you that the purpose of these Hours of the Passion is, not so much that of recounting the story of the Passion, because there are many books which treat this pious subject, and it would not be necessary to make another one; but the purpose is the REPARATION, uniting together the different points of the Passion of Our Lord with the diversity of so many offenses and, together with Jesus, make worthy REPERATION, redoing for Him almost all that which all creatures owe Him.  From this comes the different ways of making REPERATION.  In these Hours, that is, in some passages one blesses; in others one compassionates; in others one praises; in others one comforts suffering Jesus; in others one compensates; in others one begs, prays and asks.”

From letters of Luisa to her extraordinary Confessor

Saint Annibale M. di Francia

“Wherefore I also tell you that the purpose of these Hours of the Passion is, not so much that of recounting the story of the Passion, because there are many books which treat this pious subject, and it would not be necessary to make another one; but the purpose is the REPARATION, uniting together the different points of the Passion of Our Lord with the diversity of so many offenses and, together with Jesus, make worthy REPERATION, redoing for Him almost all that which all creatures owe Him.  From this comes the different ways of making REPERATION.  In these Hours, that is, in some passages one blesses; in others one compassionates; in others one praises; in others one comforts suffering Jesus; in others one compensates; in others one begs, prays and asks.”

 Value and Effects of these Hours of the Passion
from a Letter of Luisa to Blessed Annibale M. di Francia

Blessed Annibale:  “I begin by reporting here a letter which the Author sent me…”  Most Reverend Father,

I am finally sending you the Hours of the Passion, now written, and all for the glory of Our Lord.  I also include another sheet which contains the effects, and the beautiful promises which Jesus makes to anyone who does these Hours of the Passion.  I believe that if one who meditates them is a sinner, he will convert; if he is imperfect, he will become perfect; if he is holy, he will become more holy; if he is tempted, he will find victory; if he is suffering, in these Hours he will find the strength, the medicine, the comfort.  And if his soul is weak and poor, he will find spiritual food and the mirror in which he will reflect himself continuously to be embellished and to become similar to Jesus, our model.  The satisfaction that blessed Jesus receives from the meditation of these Hours is so great, that He would want at least one copy of these meditations to be present and practiced in each city or town.  In fact, it would happen, then, as if Jesus heard His own voice and His prayers being reproduced in those reparations, just as the ones He raised to His Father during the 24 hours of His sorrowful Passion.  And if this were done in each town or city at least, by as many souls, Jesus seems to make me understand that Divine Justice would be placated in part, and in these sad times of torments and bloodshed, Its scourges would be stopped, in part, and as though dampened.  I let you, reverend Father, make appeal to all; may you complete, in this way, the little work that my lovable Jesus had me do.

I also tell you that the purpose of these Hours of the Passion is not so much that of narrating the story of the Passion, because there are many books that treat this pious topic, and it would not be necessary to make another one.  But rather, the purpose is the reparation, uniting the different points of the Passion of Our Lord with the diversity of the many offenses, and making worthy reparation for them together with Jesus, almost making up for all that the other creatures owe Him.  From this, the different ways of reparation present in these Hours:  in some sections one blesses, in others one compassionates, in others one praises, in others one comforts suffering Jesus, in others one compensates, in others one supplicates, prays and asks.

Therefore, I leave it to you, Reverend Father, to make known the purpose of these writings with a preface.