Eyes to See, The Intellect

I've spent some time struggling with this post to organize it and make sense of what I found.  I've found it's hard to explore the topic of the intellect without including the topic of faith.  And faith is intrinsically bound to hope and charity which would be another whole spin off of topics.  Just thinking about faith the questions come up:  What is faith?  How does one receive faith?  Why do some not receive faith?  So I will try to cover what I've found in the Volumes on the intellect in this post without veering off too much from the topic.

I think most people have run up on this passage in the Bible and scratched their heads as I have.  Just as Pharaoh's heart was hardened how is it that God allows some to believe while others are blinded from the truth?



When Jesus had said this, he departed and hid himself from them. ³⁷ Though he had done so many signs before them, yet they did not believe in him; ³⁸ it was that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

“Lord, who has believed our report,
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

³⁹ Therefore they could not believe. For Isaiah again said,

⁴⁰ “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart,
lest they should see with their eyes and perceive with their heart,
and turn for me to heal them.”

⁴¹ Isaiah said this because he saw his glory and spoke of him.

John 12:36-41



So why do some people seem to understand and know God while others do not.  The Gospel is known by all to exist but so many don't recognize it as being from God.  How is it that people seem to not have the ability to see clearly with their intellect to know that God exists and understand His truths.  Ultimately it is always Will of God and perhaps not given to us to understand.   "God saves whom He will and reprobates likewise; hence no one merits election; election is not because of antecedent merits or foreseen deeds." http://www.romancatholicism.org/jansenism/augustine-194.htm

However here in the Volumes Jesus does speak of belief being the first step to understanding.  Belief appears to be a choice.

 

“My daughter, in order to comprehend a subject well it takes belief, because without belief everything is dark in the human intellect.  On the other hand, the mere believing turns on a light in the mind, and by means of this light one can recognize with clarity truth and falsehood, when it is grace that operates, when it is nature, and when the devil.  See, the Gospel is known to all, but who comprehends the meaning of my words, and the truths contained in It?  Who keeps them in his heart and makes of them a treasure with which to purchase the eternal kingdom?  One who believes.  As for all others, not only do they not understand a thing, but they use my words to mock them and to make fun of the holiest things.  So, it can be said that everything is written in the hearts of those who believe, hope and love, while nothing is written for everyone else.  The same with you:  one who has a little bit of belief sees things with clarity and finds the truth; one who does not, sees things as all confused.”

Vol. 4, Jan. 9, 1903


So belief first is necessary in order to understand a subject.  This is referring to the gift of faith and where faith is found so is found hope and charity.  The three are as tightly bound as the memory, intellect and the will but it is faith which acts as the light to the eyes of the intellect.


“In order to obtain, one must believe.  Just as for the head without the sight of the eyes, everything is darkness, everything is confusion, so much so, that if one wanted to walk, he would stumble now at one point, now at another, and would end up falling completely, the same for the soul without Faith – she does nothing but go from precipice to precipice.  But Faith serves as the sight of the soul, and as the light which guides her to eternal life. 
Vol. 1,   Jesus prepares Luisa for the renewal in heaven of the Mystical Marriage, with the approval of the Blessed Trinity; so he speaks to her of the three theological virtues. 



The intellect of man is endowed by the Son to communicate wisdom and knowledge so that man might come to know and understand God more and thereby come to love Him more.  But with original sin man now uses his intellect to turn away from God to deny God himself.

“Now, as second act, I, Son of God, concurred by endowing man with intellect, communicating to him my wisdom and the knowledge of all things, so that by knowing them, he might enjoy them and delight in what is good.  But, alas, what a bilge of vices is the intelligence of the creature!  He has used knowledge to deny his Creator.
Vol. 14, April 8, 1922

So it seems to me that man without faith turns his intellect in on himself instead of out towards God.  It is this choice that we make.  It is what enchants our eye the most the image of our self or the image of God in whom we were created.  So even further perhaps it is the intrinsic nature within each of us.  But when God finds this character within the creature he then delights in teaching her and drawing her closer to him through his truths.

“My daughter, when I see the character of the purpose of Creation impressed in the soul, feeling satisfied with her because I see so well accomplished the work created by Me, I feel a duty - or rather, not a duty”, He immediately added, “because in Me there are no duties, but my duty is a more intense love to repay her, advancing for her part of the celestial happiness - that is, manifesting to her intellect the knowledge of the Divinity; attracting her with the food of eternal truths; amusing her sight with my beauty, making the sweetness of my voice resound to her hearing; to her mouth, my kisses; to her heart, my embraces and all my tendernesses.  And this corresponds to the purpose for which I created her, which is:  to know Me, to love Me, to serve Me.” 

Vol. 5, Oct. 29, 1903


And here we have an insight into this passage in the Bible.


²⁹ For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
^{Matthew 25:29}


It is in having this character that they then are able to receive and thereby correspond and then receive more.  Where by one who does not even have this character within themselves does not possess the ability to receive.

Now, you must know that as I form my life in the thought of the creature that lives in my Volition, I feel the company of the human intelligence that courts me, and loves me, understands me and gives me its memory, the intellect, the will in my power and since in these three powers was created our image, I feel our eternal memory given to me for company that doesn’t forget anything, I feel the company of my wisdom that understands me, and then the company of the human will fused with mine, that loves me with my eternal love; how not to multiply in every thought of hers as many of our lives, when we find that she understands us and loves us more?  We can say, we find our profit; because how much more life we form so much more we make ourselves understood, we give her double love and she loves us more; if we form our life in the word, we find the company of hers, and since our Fiat is hers, we find all the prodigies that he has worked when our Fiat was pronounced; if we form it in her breath, we find hers that breathes together and the company of our omnipotent breath, when creating we infused life (in) her; if we form it in her motion, we find her hands that embrace us squeezing us strongly, that don’t want to leave us anymore; if we form it in the steps they follow us anywhere.  What beautiful company, one who lives in our Will, there is no peril that they ever leave us alone, we both are inseparable.

Vol. 36,  August 21, 1938




So Luisa wanted to know that if it is through these knowledges on the Divine Will that creatures will come to know God, desire his Will and long for his Kingdom why he didn't allow Adam to know them so that he might pass them on to all the generations to dispose mankind.  Jesus in fact tells her that Adam did know them but in withdrawing from the Divine Will his intellect became obscured and he lacked the ability to pass them on to others.

On hearing this, I said:  ‘My Love, Jesus, if these knowledges on your adorable Will contain so much virtue, why did You not manifest them to Adam, so that, by making them known to posterity, they would have loved and appreciated more a good so great, and this would have disposed the hearts for the time when You, Divine Repairer, would decree to give us this great gift of the Kingdom of the Supreme Fiat?’  And Jesus, resuming His speaking, added:  “My daughter, as long as he remained in the terrestrial Eden, living in the Kingdom of the Supreme Will, Adam knew all the knowledges, as much as it is possible for a creature, of that which belonged to the Kingdom he possessed.  But as soon as he went out of It, his intellect was obscured; he lost the light of his Kingdom, and could not find the fitting words in order to manifest the knowledges he had acquired on the Supreme Will, because that very Divine Volition which would hand to him the necessary terms to manifest to others what he had known, was missing in him. 

Vol. 20, Sept. 17, 1926

 

While in the Kingdom Adam could understand the truths of God but after sinning his intellect became darkened.  So while we remain on earth we must work through the veils that hide the truths and only then will we be able to understand them.  

 

“My daughter, all things down here, both in the supernatural order and in the natural order, are all veiled. Only in Heaven are they unveiled, because in the Celestial Fatherland there are no veils, but things can be seen as they are in themselves. So, up there the intellect does not need to work in order to comprehend them, because of their own they show themselves for what they are; and if there is any work to do in the blessed dwelling – if it can be called work at all – it is that of enjoying and delighting in the things which, unveiled, one sees. On the other hand, down here it is not so. Since the human nature is spirit and body, the veil of the body prevents the soul from seeing my truths; the Sacraments and all other things are veiled. I Myself, Word of the Father, had the veil of my Humanity; all my words, my Gospel, in the form of examples and of similes; and only those who drew near Me to listen to Me with faith in their hearts, with humility and with the will to know the truths that I manifested to them in order to put them into practice, could comprehend Me. By doing this, they tore the veils that hid my truths, and found the good that was in them. Through faith, through humility and by wanting to know my truths, it was a work that they were doing; and with this work they would tear the veil and find my truths as they are in themselves; and therefore they remained bound to Me and to the good that my truths contained. Others, who would not do this work, would touch the veil of my truths, not the fruit that was inside; therefore they remained on an empty stomach, they could not understand anything; and turning their back to Me, they departed from Me.
So are my truths which, with so much love, I have manifested to you about my Divine Will. So that they may shine like unveiled suns, as they are, creatures must do their work, walk the way in order to touch them – which is faith; they must desire to want to know them, and pray, and humble their intellect in order to open it, so as to let the good and the life of my truths enter into them. If they do this, they will tear the veil and will find them, more than refulgent sun; otherwise, they will remain blind, and I will repeat the saying of the Gospel: ‘You have eyes and do not see, ears and do not hear, tongue and are mute.’
See, also in the natural order all things are veiled. Fruits have the veil of the skin. Who enjoys the good of eating them? One who does the work of drawing near the tree, of picking it, of removing the skin that hides the fruit. This one enjoys and makes the desired fruit his food. The fields are veiled by straws. Who takes the good that those straws hide? One who uncovers them of those straws has the good of taking the grain in order to form the bread to make of it his daily food. In sum, all things down here have the veil that covers them, to give to man the work and the will, the love to possess them and enjoy them. Now, my truths surpass natural things by far, and they present themselves to the creature like noble queens, veiled, in the act of giving themselves to them. But they want their work; they want them to draw near them by the steps of their will, in order to know them, possess them and love them – necessary conditions in order to tear the veil that hides them. Once the veil is torn, with their light, of their own they make their way, giving themselves in possession to those who have searched for them.
This is the reason for those who read the truths on my Divine Will and show that they do not comprehend what they read - even more, they are confused: because the true will of wanting to know them is lacking. It can be said that the work in order to know them is lacking; and without work nothing can be acquired, nor do they deserve such a great good. And I, with justice, deny to them that which I abundantly give to the humble and those who yearn for the great good of the light of my truths. My daughter, how many truths of mine, suffocated by those who do not love to know them and do not want to do their little work in order to possess them. I feel that they want to suffocate my very Self, if they could. And I, in my sorrow, am forced to repeat what I said in the Gospel, and I do it in deed: I take away from those who do not have, or who might have a little something of my goods, and I leave them in squalid misery, because, not wanting them and not loving them, these would hold them without esteeming them and without fruit; and I will give more abundantly to those who have, because these will hold them as precious treasures which will bear fruit more and more.”
Fiat!!!
Vol. 28, Aug. 2, 1930

 

 

The little work we must do to understand God's truths is spelled out above:  one must have "faith; they must desire to want to know them, and pray, and humble their intellect in order to open it, so as to let the good and the life of my truths enter into them."  Here we see Faith, Hope and Charity in act.  The belief of Faith, the Hope beyond our limited intellect, and the active Love of wanting the good of these truths in act.  But in order for us to possess we must want with the Will of God, in order to want we must hope in God beyond our own limitations and it all begins with the simple but huge leap of faith or the belief in the absence of firm knowledge.  In this way the intellect will understand when it first has the light of faith.

The Power of the Memory

In "The Memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection"  Father Cajetan Cuddy, O.P. wrote:

"When we hear the word 'memory' we naturally tend to think of mental activity - like the act of recalling an event or conversation from yesterday.  When we recall such events, however, we do not have actual contact with the previous day.  The past remains truly past.  We have, rather, an idea or an impression that reminds in our mind.

When the Church 'keeps he memory' of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection (CCC 1163), however, the situation is quite different.  She does have real contact with the Lord.  Indeed, Christ's saving works 'become in a certain way present and real' in the Church's liturgy (CCC 1363).  This is why the Catechism describes the Mass as a Eucharistic 'Memorial" (CCC 1409).  The Eucharist is a real memorial of the Lord's saving work.  Why?  The Eucharist is the same Savior who sacrificed himself for our sins and rose again for our salvation.

The Church alone is able to keep the memory of the Lord in this real and sacramental way.  The Church is the ride of Christ - a bride always united to her heavenly Bridegroom.  And her Bridegroom always remembers his Passion and Resurrection.  Indeed, our Lord remembers all of this so profoundly that his ver humanity bears the marks of his sacrificial love.  The very glorified body of Christ memorializes his Passion, for even in his glorified state in heaven, Jesus' resurrected body still retains the wounds of his love.

Through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, our Lord's glorified body is made really present.  The Church does not recall Jesus or his Passion in an airy or fanciful manner.  The divine Savior truly comes at every Mass - and, in his resurrected body, so do the Passion and the Resurrection he underwent.  The Body and Blood really present on the altar are the Body and Blood of the same Savior who suffered, die, and rose again 'for us men and for our salvation.'

How then do Catholics regard and enter into the memorial of the Lord's Passion at Mass?  The first and most important step is to be present with the Real Presence - to attend Mass at church on Sunday, the 'Lord's Day.'  Sunday is the sacred day on which the Church 'keeps the memory of the Lord's resurrection' (CCC 1163).  Jesus does not withhold himself from the Church - neither two thousand years ago on Calvary nor today, here and now, in the sacraments.  And all Catholics are called to avail themselves of the sacraments through with we truly encounter our loving Savior.

Second, Catholics apply their mins to the sacred mysteries commemorated through the Mass.  We do this by embracing Jesus with our loving thoughts and affections.  Thus, not only are we physically present at Mass, but we are also spiritual and prayerfully present at Mass.  We meditate upon the sacred mysteries present before us in the sacraments with a spirit of love and gratitude.

Third, we draw consolation from the fat that the Church never forgets the Bridegroom.  This is one of the reasons the Church is so precious for Catholics.  The Mystical Body of Christ is bigger than her members.  Even if a Catholic forgets - or even if many Catholics forget - about Jesus, the Church always remembers.  She makes up for our frailties.  Moreover, she is always happy to receive us when we recall how much we need our Savior - even if after many years.

In sum , the Church's Eucharistic memorial helps individual Catholics themselves to remember what she never forgets:  Jesu suffered, died, and rose again - for us."

I've heard it said by Fr. Robert that the memory is one of the least understood abilities of man.  That the memory often is simple regarded as reminiscing over the past but empty of any substance.  Therefore since beginning on this topic of the three powers of man I wanted to use a post to explore in the Volumes what the power of the memory consists in.

Luisa was taught early in the Volumes the power of the memory in overcoming temptation.

Jesus Christ taught me that the most effective means for the soul to be freed of every vain apprehension, of every doubt, of every fear, was to protest before Heaven, earth and the very demons, that she does not want to offend God, even at the cost of her life, and that she does not want to consent to any temptation of the devil.  And this, as soon as the soul feels the coming of the temptation, in the act of the battle, if she can, and as she begins to feel free - and also during the course of the day.  By doing this, the soul will not waste time in thinking about whether she has consented or not, because the mere memory of her promise will already give her peace; and if the devil tries to disturb her, she will be able to answer that if she had the intention of offending God, she would not have protested the opposite.  In this way, she will remain free of any concern.

Vol. 1,     Jesus teaches Luisa how to drive away the infernal spirits, thus overcoming the test she was subjected to.



So memory serves in this case to renew and reaffirm a promise.  And here, also in Vol. 1, Jesus teaches Luisa that the memory is meant to be centralized in Him.  His presence is to be brought to mind which will nurture a growing love of Him in the creature.  So that all things and people are looked at only through the lens of Jesus.

So, I say that first of all Jesus directed me to totally detach myself from all creation, and even from my own self, almost as though I was to live in perfect forgetfulness of all things.  With this, my interior would become disposed to have his sweet memory ever present to me, and a living and beating affection of love toward him, so that, being pleased with all my acts, he might form his permanent dwelling in my heart.  Outside of him, he said, I was no longer to know anyone:  not friends, not even my own self.  Only in him was the memory of everything and of everyone to be reawakened, since the creature necessarily can be found in him.  To achieve this, he added that I was always to act with holy indifference, mindless of what may be happening around me.  In other words, I was always to act uprightly and with the greatest simplicity, not keeping account of the pros and the cons of creatures.

Vol. 1,      Jesus gives four rules of life to the soul.

 

But memory is more than renewing a promise, nurturing love of God and shielding the creature from unholy attachments and judgments.  Here Jesus tells Luisa how memory gives the beginning to a good in making it her own.   Remembering Jesus' life leads to taking the fruits of those acts for oneself.  And these goods, when acquired, continue into the next life as a fount of goods which overflow from the soul for the good of others.

‘My daughter, how much great good does the memory of Me and of everything I did, suffered and said in my Life, procure for the soul. By compassionating Me and making my intentions her own, and by remembering, one by one, my pains, my works, my words, she calls them into herself and places them in neat order within her soul, in such a way as to come to take the fruits of what I did, suffered and said.     ....

The memory is the beginning of a good. The memory forms many sips for the soul in order to give her life. When some good - when things are forgotten, they lose the vital virtue for the soul, they lose their attractiveness, the gratitude, the correspondence, the esteem, the love, the value. And not only does this memory produce the origin of every good in life, but after one’s death also it produces the origin of glory. Have you not heard your late confessor – how he delighted in speaking about the graces I have given you? This is because during his life he cared about hearing them, he remembered them, and his interior remained filled with them to the point of overflowing outside. And now, how much good did this not procure for him in the next life? It is for him like a fount of good which overflows for the good of others. So, the more the soul remembers what belongs to Me, my graces, the lessons I have given her, the more the fount of my goods grows within her, to the point that, unable to contain them, they overflow for the good of others.”

Vol. 16, June 1, 1924

 
By remembering the acts done by the Saints and by Jesus, which are conserved in His Will, we participate in this fount by renewing the goods accomplished in these acts.   Not only do we renew the glory that was obtain through these acts but we double it for God and for the one who worked it and for the benefit of those still on the earth.

“My daughter, there is no thing suffered and worked by all the saints in the story of the world, in which my Will has not had his part doing as actor and concurrent with strength, with help, with support, with that sacrifice or work that they have done.  Now the soul offering them to God as homage of glory, recalls the memory of that sacrifice and work, and my Divine Will recognizes that which he has put forth of his in such acts and he gives the virtue to double the glory of that sacrifice, for God and for the one who has had the good of sacrificing themselves and of working in order to complete my Divine Will.  True good never ceases, neither in Heaven nor in earth, one creature who remembers and offers them is enough he renews the glory in Heaven and the effects of that good descend in earth to the benefit of creatures.  Therefore the life of true good is not subject to die.  In fact who is the life of my Church?  Who feeds her and acts as Teacher, if not the brief course of my life down here?  I can say that it is my sufferings that sustain her, it is my doctrines that teach her.  So that all the good that I did didn’t die, but remained with the fullness of life and life that vivifies, conserves, feeds and grows continually, and gives itself to whoever wants it.  And as the creature remembers, she already puts herself in rapport with my goods, and as she goes offering them, thus they double themselves in order to give themselves to her, and I feel the glory doubled of that which I did for love of creatures. 

Vol. 29,  March 2, 1931



With remembering all the acts of the past and using them to call anew the Kingdom of the Divine Will we renew them, honor them and we also act as a guard to them to protect them, but not only this but they in turn act as a guard to us to protect us.

“My daughter, when the creature remembers, honors, glorifies that which her Creator and her Redeemer has done for her love in order to put her in safety, and (that) all the saints have done, she becomes protectress of all these acts.  The sky, the sun and all the creation feel protected by the creature.  My terrestrial life down here, my sufferings, my tears feel sheltered in her and they find their protectress; the saints not only find protection in her memory, but the acts of them vivified, renewed in the midst of creatures, in short they feel life re-given in their acts.

“Oh, how many beautiful works and virtues remain as buried in the base world, because there is no one who remembers and honors them!  The memory recalls the works of the past and makes them as present.  But do you know what happens?  An exchange happens:  the creature becomes protectress with her memory; all our works, the creation, the redemption and all that which the saints have done, they make themselves protector of their protector.  They put themselves around Her in order to protect her, to defend her, they do as sentinel, and while they shelter themselves in her in order to be protected, every work of ours, all my sufferings and all the works and virtues of my saints, make competition giving the exchange to make (an) honor guard for her, so that she remains defended by everything and by everyone.  And then there is no greater honor that you can give when you make use of them to ask for in every act the Kingdom of the Divine Will.  They feel called and put themselves to do as messengers between heaven and earth to a kingdom so holy.  You should know that (the) past, present and future, all must serve to the Kingdom of the Divine Fiat.  Now [with] your memory, asking for this kingdom through means of our works, virtues and acts of everyone, all feel put to the service of Him and they take their office and post of honor.  So that your turning is necessary, because it serves to prepare the Kingdom of the Divine Will.  Therefore be attentive and continuous.”

Vol. 30, Feb. 24, 1932




Where the Divine Will reigns he brings with Him all that which belongs to Him and this includes all the lost and forgotten acts of the past saints and all his own unknown acts.  Only one who lives in the Divine Will has the ability to bring to the present again all these lost and unknown acts. 

And in all things he turns around her, and it seems that he says to her:  ‘look at me it is I, know me, I come in order to form my life in you’; and doing as (an) assailant to her he assails her inside and outside, in a way that one who pays attention, feels my Divine Will regurgitate inside and outside of herself, that is forming the prodigy of his divine life which is not given to them to resist his power, and do you know what this Divine Will of mine does? he re-gives life, recalls everything to life, makes arise in this life all that which he has done, and what has been done of good by all creatures, he arouses the sweet remembrance of his works, as present and in act, as if he might repeat them, nothing escapes from this life, she feels the fullness of everything, and oh! how the creature feels happy, rich, powerful, holy, she feels outfitted with all the good acts of the others, and she loves for all, glorifies the Divine Fiat as if they might be hers, and my Volition feels his works re-given to him by her, hence the love, the glory of his divine works, and repeats with the memory the glory and the love of the other creatures.  Oh! how many works put in oblivion, how many sacrifices, how many forgotten heroic acts, that have been done by the human generations, that they don’t think of anymore and hence there is neither the continuous repetition of the glory, nor one who renews the love of those acts, and my Divine Will forming his life in the human littleness, makes arise the memory of everything, in order to give and in order to receive everything, centralizes everything in her and forms his divine encampment.  Therefore be attentive to receive these waves of my Volition, they re-pour themselves over you in order to change your fate, and if you receive them, you will be his fortunate creature.”

Vol. 32,  Sept. 17, 1933



The power of the memory working in concert with the intellect and the will of the creature living in the Divine Will is much more than a simple reminiscence of past events.  The memory has the power to renew past promises and intentions, re-strengthening these bonds.  When centered on God it focuses the love of the creature in God.  Memory allows the creature to make it's own the goods that it sees both in the Creation and in the acts of others.  And in remembering these acts the creature redoubles the glory of God and of the Saint whom had the great benefit of preforming the act.  These in turn then go and act as a shield and protector to the creature.  It seems to me that our time here on earth is so short we should take advantage of it to use the power of our memory to win eternal founts of good.  How often I know I've used it instead to dwell on past hurts and judgments and idle day dreams.  When I see in the world all the people who become robbed of their memory through disease and accidents it is always a reminder to me of how little time we might actual have to put this power to use to do good.  And to know that we have the power to make a feast for all, the saints, those creatures still on the earth, the holy souls in Purgatory, all of Creation and a feast for God himself, it overwhelms me how great is the potential of the memory in a creature living in the Divine Will.  In conclusion I wanted to end with a reading where Jesus talks to Lusia about his great joy in seeing the creature remember the love with which she was created and the great gifts that he makes to her.

“Blessed daughter, the sweetest memory that I enjoy more immensely is when the creature remembers my love in the Creation, in a special way that of man; our love eviscerated itself more than a mother when she puts forth her dear child to the light.  Our love raced, raced, in order to enclose it in Himself, so that wherever, inside and outside of himself, he might be able to find the knoll of our love that says to him:  ‘I love you, I love you.’  The sweet sound of our love whispers to the ear, beats in his heart, resounds strongly and kisses ardently the lips, tightly embraces (him) in our Paternal arms, as triumph of our love, that at whatever cost wants to love the creature.  So that there is nothing more sweet, more pleasant, than remembering with how much love we created man and all things.  And so much is our pleasure, that the fortunate creature that comes before our Adorable Majesty, in order to remember this love of ours so great, we redouble our loving bonds with her, we give her new graces, new light and we call her the repeater of our feast, because in the Creation everything was feast for us and for everyone.  And the creature with remembering that which we did in the Creation puts in feast our love, our power, our creative wisdom, that had created the whole universe with so much inimitable mastery, and then the mastery in creating man, that exceeds everything.  Hence all our Divine qualities celebrate, and the creature looking, has put in feast with her memory and with her little exchange of love, she makes competition between them and some double the love, some the goodness, some the sanctity, in short every single Divine quality of ours wants to give of his, in order to repeat with her that which we did in the Creation.

“Therefore repeat often the sweet memory of our insuperable love, that we had in the Creation, it was a creature of ours, one of our images, one child of ours that we put forth to the light, and therefore we showed off so much in love, and to feel the remembering of it we feel (ourselves) love her more.  So that all the Creation is none other than a display of our loving Will toward the creature, and in his loving display he goes repeating:  ‘Fiat, Fiat’, in order to pearl all the Creation with his display of love.

Vol. 29,  June 8, 1931

The Three Powers harmonized

The three powers of man are meant to work together in a close relationship to communicate with God on an intimate level.  The memory and the intellect were to work as supports to keep the Will aligned with God in order to form Divine Life in each act of the creature however it is the Will which holds the primary place above the three.

You must know that, in creating man, the Divinity formed many paths of communication between Creator and creature. Paths were the three powers of the soul: the intelligence, the path in order to comprehend my Will; the memory, the path in order to remember It continuously; the will, in the middle of these two paths, formed the third path in order to take flight within the Will of his Creator. The intelligence and the memory were the support, the defense, the strength of the path of the will, that it might not stagger, either to the right or to the left. Path was the eye, that he might look at the beauties and the riches present in my Will; path the hearing, that he might hear the calls, the harmonies present in It; path the word, in which he might receive the continuous outpouring of my word ‘Fiat’, and the goods that my Fiat contains; path the hands, so that, by raising them in his works in my Will, he might come to unifying his works with the works of his Creator; path the feet, to follow the steps of my Will; path the heart, the desires, the affections, to be filled with the love of my Will and rest in It. See, then, how many paths there are in the creature in order to come into my Will, if he wanted to. All paths were opened between God and man, and by virtue of Our Will, Our goods were his. After all, he was Our son, Our image, a work come out of Our hands, and from the ardent breath of Our bosom. But the human will, ungrateful, did not want to enjoy the rights to Our goods which We gave to it. Not wanting to do Our Will, man did his own; and by doing his own, he put bars and fences across these paths; he constrained himself within the miserable circle of his will; he lost Ours and went wandering in the exile of his passions, of his weaknesses, under a tenebrous sky, loaded with storms and with thunders. Poor child, in the midst of so many evils, wanted by himself! So, each act of human will is a bar that he puts across Mine; it is a fence that he forms, to prevent the union of our wills; and the communication of goods between Heaven and earth is interrupted.

Vol. 17, Feb. 22, 1925



It is in giving reign to the Divine Will to operate while one's own will is placed "at the footstool to His that all the other powers of man take their rightful place once again and all the goods of God can be given once again.

“See then, for how long have all the goods that We must give to the children of Our Supreme Fiat been issued from Our paternal womb – everything has been prepared since the time of Creation; nor will We withdraw because of the delay – We will keep waiting.  No sooner than the creature places her will as the footstool of Ours to let It dominate, will We open the doors for her, to let her enter, because it was the human will that closed the doors to Ours and opened the doors to miseries, to weaknesses, to passions.  It was not her memory or her intelligence that placed themselves against their Creator, even though they concurred, but it was the human will that had its first act and broke all the bonds, all the relations with a Will so holy.  More so, since all good and all evil is enclosed in it - the regime, the dominion is its own; and so once the will has failed in good, everything fails, loses order, decays from its origin, becomes ugly.  And since it was the human will that placed itself against Mine, causing all goods to fail man, this is why I want his will, and in exchange I want to give him Mine, to give back to him all the goods that had failed him.  Therefore, my daughter, be attentive, never give life to your will if you want Mine to reign in you.”

Vol. 19,  August 31, 1926



With rejecting the Divine Will Jesus, in order to Redeem mankind, was born into suffering.  The three nails he suffered on the cross were directly to repair for the three powers of mankind and the symbol of how by doing his own will, man had immobilized himself from receiving and God from giving.

 

“My beloved, I was conceived united to suffering, I was born to suffering, and I died in suffering.  And with the three nails with which they crucified Me, I nailed the three powers - intellect, memory and will - of those souls who yearn to love Me, keeping them all drawn to Myself, because sin had rendered them infirm and dispersed from their Creator - without any restraint.” 
Vol. 4,  Dec. 25, 1900



The sufferings which man undergoes are always allowed by Divine Providence for the good of man.  The are often the only way to strip man of the harm that comes from the human spirit not acting centered in God.  This prepares all of his powers to refocus on God and find all his good there instead of from human supports.

December 26, 1902
Calumnies, persecutions and contrasts serve to justify man.

As I was in my usual state, I felt all oppressed and with a fear of receiving persecutions, contrasts, calumnies – not only to myself, for I do not care about myself because I am a poor creature who is worth nothing, but to the confessor and other priests.  So I felt my heart crushed by this weight, unable to find respite.  In the meantime my adorable Jesus came, telling me:

 

“My daughter, why be disturbed and restless, and waste time with this?  As for your things, there is nothing there, and besides, everything is divine providence that allows calumnies, persecutions and contrasts in order to justify man and to make him come back to union with his Creator, one on one, without human support, just as he came out when he was created.  As good and holy as a man may be, he always keeps something of the human spirit in his interior; and also in his exterior he is not perfectly free, he always keeps something human for which he hopes, on which he relies and leans, and through which he wants to obtain esteem and respect.  But, let the wind of calumnies, persecutions and contrasts come about a little bit… Oh, what a devastating hail the human spirit receives!  In fact, seeing himself opposed, unpopular, despised by creatures, man no longer finds satisfaction among them.  On the contrary, helps, supports, trust and esteem fail him all together, and if before he used to go in search of them, afterwards he himself shuns them, because wherever he turns he finds nothing but bitternesses and thorns.  So, reduced to this state, he remains alone.  But man cannot be, nor is he made to be alone.  What will the poor little one do?  He will turn to his center, God, completely and without the slightest hindrance; God will give Himself completely to him, and man will give himself completely to God, applying his intellect to knowing Him, his memory to remembering God and His benefits, his will to loving Him.  And so, my daughter, here is man justified, sanctified, and the purpose for which he was created restored within his soul.  And even if later on he has to deal with creatures and he sees helps, supports and esteem being offered to him, he receives them with indifference, knowing what they are from his experience; and if he makes use of them, he does it only when he sees the honor and the glory of God - but what remains is always God and himself alone.

Vol. 4



It is only in consuming oneself in the love of God that one is able to recenter all the powers to their proper place and role to act together.

Ah! my daughter, how much disorder reigns in the three powers of the human soul.  One can say that they have shut the door on Our face, they have barricaded the paths to prevent Our passing and to break the communications with Us, while it was the greatest gift We gave man in creating him.  These three powers were to serve him to comprehend the One who had created him, to grow in His likeness, and, his will being transfused in that of his Creator, to give Him the right to let It reign.  This is why the Supreme Volition cannot reign in the soul if these three powers – intellect, memory and will – do not hold hands in order to return to the purpose for which God created man.  Therefore, pray that these three powers may return to the order and the harmony of their Creator, so that my Supreme Will may reign with Its full triumph.”

Vol. 19,  August 12, 1926



“My daughter, if the will wants nothing but Me, if the intellect occupies itself with nothing but knowing Me, if the memory remembers nothing other than Me; here they are - the three powers of the soul consumed in love.
Vol. 11, May 9, 1912




This allows God to form his act of life in the act of the creatures. 

“My blessed daughter, in order to have that an act might be pleasant to Me and my Will might be able to form entire life in it, the whole interior of the creature must be centralized in my Fiat!  The will must want it, the desire must ardently desire that which the volition wants, the affections, the tendencies, must desire it and be inclined only in order to receive the life of my Will in their act, the heart to love and to enclose in her heartbeat, the life of my Will, the memory to remember him, the intelligence to understand him.  So that everything must be centralized in the act in which my Will wants to form his life.  Since in order to form a life there is needed will, desire, heart, affections, tendencies, memory, intelligence, otherwise one could not call it whole and perfect life, thus my Divine Will wanting to form life in the act of the creature, centralizes in her act, now life, that he wants to form, otherwise one could not say whole and perfect life. 

Vol. 33,  July 8, 1934




So that each of these powers of man must act together and God has prepared each epoch with a Fiat to specifically address each power in order to call man back to his origin.  Here Jesus describes how each Fiat in the Creation, the Redemption and the Sanctification calls to a specific power of man in order to enlighten, enchant, enrapture, and sustain man.

“Let us say ‘Fiat’ together.”  And everything - Heaven and earth - was filled with adoration to the Supreme Majesty.  Then, again, He repeated,  ‘Fiat’, and the Blood, the wounds and the pains of Jesus arose and multiplied to infinity.  And then, for the third time,  “Fiat”, and this Fiat multiplied in all the wills of creatures to sanctify them.  Then, He said to me:  “My daughter these three Fiats are the Creating, the Redeeming, and the Sanctifying Fiat.  In creating man, I endowed him with three powers - intellect, memory and will; and with three Fiats will I accomplish the work of the sanctification of man.

“At the Creating Fiat, the intellect of man remains as though enraptured.  How many things he understands about Me and about my love for him, as I am hidden inside all created things in order to make Myself known, and to give him love so as to be loved.  In the Fiat of Redemption, his memory remains as though enchanted by the excesses of my love in suffering so much in order to help and save man in the state of sin.  In the third Fiat, my love wants to display even more.  I want to assail the human will; I want to place my own Will as support of his will, so that the human will may remain not only enraptured and enchanted, but sustained by an Eternal Will.  And as my Will becomes his support in everything, man will almost be unable to escape It.

“The generations will not end until my Will reigns upon earth.  My Redeeming Fiat will place Itself in the middle, between the Creating Fiat and the Sanctifying Fiat.  They will interweave, all three together, and will accomplish the sanctification of man.  The third Fiat will give such grace to the creature as to make him return almost to the state of origin; and only then, when I see man just as he came out from Me, will my Work be complete, and I will take my perpetual rest in the last Fiat.  Only the life in my Volition will give back to man his state of origin.  Therefore, be attentive, and together with Me, help Me to complete the sanctification of the creature.”

Vol. 12, Feb. 22, 1921