Letters of Luisa • Illness and Sufferings

                                                                      J.M.J.

9. The “Fiat” will give you strength

My good daughter,

Here I am. As to nature, I feel compassion for your painful state; but as to the soul, you would be worthy of envy from the very Angels…  You know, as many pains as you suffer, as many tears as you shed, so many are the Angels around you, gathering, full handed, the pearls which you form with your sufferings, and bringing them to Jesus as pledges of your love.  However, I beg you not to cover these pearls with the mud of your laments, or of your not being perfectly resigned to the Most Holy Will of God.  Therefore, be tranquil; let’s hope that everything goes well for the soul and for the body.

With all my heart I pray and will pray for you.  And you, be good; dignified.  Always pray to Jesus that He may assist you, as you are far away from your family – from all of us.  Learn a little bit to be alone with Jesus, and He will be with you.  Be sure that I won’t forget you.

Your family is doing well.  Your mother will come on Sunday.  Poor one, she suffers so much for you.  Therefore, be cheerful; only a few days more and your purgatory will end.  The Misses Cimadomo and the trainees remember you and return your greetings.  I pray Jesus and the Celestial Mama to bless you always, and keep you hidden:  Jesus in His Heart, and Mama under Her mantle; and I say,

Most affectionately yours,

Luisa


17. Fiat

My good daughter in the Divine Volition,

Thank you, thank you for all your attentions.  Know that every additional book you promote is an additional right which the King of sorrows and the Queen of Heaven give you, to be faithful daughter of the Divine Will.  Listen, my daughter, it is a mother that speaks to you.  Listen to me; maybe these are my last words.  Listen to the Celestial Mama and to sweet Jesus.  They want you to not think of the past – to place a sepulchral stone on it, so that you may forget everything and say:  “My life will start today; I am born again together with my Queen Mama, with Jesus, and with the Divine Will.”  And your pains, your crosses, even though heavy, will serve the Divine Beggar, Who looks for our sufferings in order to form and continue His life within us.  Oh, how happy will you feel, if in every pain you say,  “This pain serves Jesus”!  Then you will feel His invincible patience, filial trust, and courage of heroes.  Patience, trust, courage, is the bread of the strong, the heroism of martyrs.  Therefore, courage!  Those who think of the past lose the present.  The Lord has disposed everything:  crosses, illness, state of marriage; in a word – everything.  The Lord had to prepare the material in order to make of you a saint; and He has prepared enough of it.  So, all you have to say and do is this:  “The Heart of Jesus wants me a saint:  I must become a saint!”  Have we understood each other?

Now I assure you of my prayers for your children; then the Lord will console you even more.  I leave you in the Divine Volition to become a saint.  Never get disturbed in anything; rather, give all to Jesus, so that He may change it into flames of love.  Pray for me.  With a thousand regards, I say,

most affectionately yours,

the little daughter of the Divine Will

Corato, January 5, 1935


18. 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