- To Mrs. Costanza Benedetta Pettinelli from Siena
In Voluntate Dei!
My most dear daughter in the Divine Volition,
How many blessings will your good daughter receive as she interests herself in promoting the Divine Will! Now let’s come to us. I repeat to you my “thank you” in the name of the Celestial Lady and the King of sorrows, for all that you are doing for the Divine Will. You will see it in Heaven and you will also feel it down here – in the depth of your heart – the love they have for you and the glory that awaits you up there. You must know that He is the one who leads you, and the Celestial Mama, squeezing you to Her maternal Heart – the one who is pushing you to promote them. They use you as an ambassador to make the Divine Will known, and when they see that you are about to speak about It – oh, how they rejoice, how they celebrate and love you more!… But you tell me: “For us, the sea and the heavens are always stormy.” Your enemies make fun of you; so much the worse for them! Jesus too was mocked in His pains, but it was then that He triumphed; and by means of pains, He conquered our souls. Don’t you want to be like Him? You must know that your pains are written in the pains of Jesus, as triumph of His Love toward you, and that for every pain you suffer, sweet Jesus adds one more degree of sanctity and one more touch of His likeness; aren’t you happy? Yet, on some occasions you have said to dear Jesus that you wanted to suffer together with Him, so He took your words and made facts. But, in spite of this, be sure that beloved Jesus will be jealous that you don’t lack what is necessary, and even the storms will calm down. Send everything – pains, bitterness, strains – into the Divine Will; tell Him from the heart that you want nothing but His Will, and look at all things as bearers of a Will so holy, and you will see that the Fiat will defend you. Don’t get discouraged, do not fear, do not lose peace, abandon yourself more than ever in the arms of the Divine Will, and be tranquil, waiting in full confidence for the helps and means which are necessary to you.
My good daughter, how bad did your words sound to me, “I am afraid to be lost”! Don’t you know that sufferings are the certainty, the seal, of our salvation? Sufferings form the carriage which brings us to Heaven, and the more the sufferings, the faster it will go. So, each additional pain is a faster ride which takes us soon and straight to Heaven.
Therefore, courage, courage. All other things are left; while sufferings are brought to Heaven, and form our most beautiful throne and never ending glory. Now I repeat my refrain: continue to promote the Divine Will. I expect a great deal from you, and so does Jesus and the Celestial Mama. I commend myself to your prayers, and I will not forget to keep you locked in the Divine Will as the dearest of my daughters.
Accept my respectful regards, as I say,
most affectionately yours,
the little daughter of the Divine Will