In the Shadow of the Almighty

Psalm 91

You who live in the shelter of the Most High,

who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,

will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress;

my God, in whom I trust.”

For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler

and from the deadly pestilence;

he will cover you with his pinions,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

You will not fear the terror of the night,

or the arrow that flies by day,

or the pestilence that stalks in darkness,

or the destruction that wastes at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

You will only look with your eyes

and see the punishment of the wicked.

Because you have made the Lord your refuge,

the Most High your dwelling place,

no evil shall befall you,

no scourge come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways.

On their hands they will bear you up,

so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.

You will tread on the lion and the adder,

the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

Those who love me, I will deliver;

I will protect those who know my name.

When they call to me, I will answer them;

I will be with them in trouble,

I will rescue them and honor them.

With long life I will satisfy them,

and show them my salvation.

In the Bible, specifically in the Psalms, there are several mentions of being under the shadow of God.  In the Volumes there are also these types of references.  In one reading I had been telling God that I really didn't understand the idea of the shadow that Luisa talks about in Vol. 16, March 22, 1924.  I told Him that I'd do my best at the round, but I didn't get the part about the shadow.

Finally, after long struggling, I found myself inside myself, in my bed; and my sweet Jesus, who continued to moan because He was suffering very much, stretching out His arms to me, told me:  “My daughter, give Me a little rest for I can take no more.”  And leaning His head upon my breast, He seemed to want to sleep.  But His sleep was not a peaceful one; and I, not knowing what to do, remembered about His Most Holy Will, in which there is full rest, and said to Him:  ‘My Love, I lay my intelligence in your Will in order to find your uncreated intelligence, so that, by laying mine within yours, I may shade all created intelligences, in such a way that You may feel your shadow placed before all created minds, and You may find rest for the sanctity of your intelligence.  I lay my word in your Fiat, in order to place the shadow of that omnipotent Fiat before the human voices, so that your breath and your mouth may be able to rest.  I lay my works in yours, to place the shadow and the sanctity of your works before the works of creatures, so as to give rest to your hands.  I lay my little love in your Will, to place You in the shade of your immense love, which I place before the hearts of all, to give rest to your weary Heart.’  As I kept saying this, my Jesus calmed Himself and fell into a sweet sleep.  Then, after some time, He woke up, but He was calm, and pressing me to Himself, He told me:  “My daughter, I was able to rest because you surrounded Me with the shadows of my works, of my Fiat and of my love.  This is the rest I spoke about after I created all things.  And since man was the last to be created, I wanted to rest in him – that is, by virtue of my Will acting in him, which formed my shadow in him, I was to find my rest and the fulfillment of my works.  But this was denied to Me, because he did not want to do my Will; and until I find someone who wants to live of my Will, which overshadows my image in the soul, not finding my shadow, I cannot rest, because I cannot complete my works and give the last divine brush stroke to all Creation.  This is why the earth needs to be purged and renewed – but with strong purges, such that many will lose their lives.  And you, have patience, and always follow my Will.

Vol. 16, March 22, 1924

So I did understand the general idea that the union of the Divine Will in the creature is the completion of his work, the seventh day where He finds His rest, but it really seemed like I was missing something big.  At mass the next day there was the gospel of Luke 1: 26-38.  It was this line that caught my attention mainly after reading a meditation on it in my daily missal.

And the angel said to her in reply,

"The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

Therefore the child to be born

will be called holy, the Son of God.

I've never given that line much thought before other than the face value of it.   In the meditation however instead of using the word overshadow it used the phase "...the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow..." what a difference a turn of the phrase makes!  It seemed to me that God was telling me that the shadow that Luisa speaks of in this round is the same shadow that overshadowed Mary.  The power of the Holy Spirit, the active Volition, the same Spirit which overshadowed Mary bringing about the Incarnation now reaching out through all creatures in the round of Luisa uniting all acts in the Divine Will, making them complete in this union and giving Jesus the rest He so craves.  The Incarnation of Jesus is from the mutual Fiat of Mary and God formed in the Divine Will and in the round of Luisa it is once again the mutual Fiat which joins the Divine with the human, causing the incarnation of a new Divine Life in each act completing the act as God wants, the seventh day of Creation where God takes His rest as His work is now complete.

In the Volumes it states that before the fall, Adam lived under the continuous Divine Paternity that overshadowed him, loving him from all sides.  He lived in a continuous state of love and rest in his Creator and I dare say God rested in the love of His creature as well.

..one who enters in Him, finds in act all that which innocent Adam did in Him, his love, his tenderness of son toward his Celestial Father, the Divine Paternity that overshadowed his son from all sides in order to love him,

Vol. 32, October 30, 1933

Luisa, when she became overwhelmed, was also given rest by Jesus in the shadow of the Divine Will, the breath of His Volition.

He placed His hand on my forehead and added:   “I leave you the shadow of my Will, the breath of my Volition.  Sleep.”

And I fell asleep.

Vol. 12, May 23, 1918

He came more than once, and I seemed to see Him as a Child, as though surrounded by a shadow.  He said to me:  “My daughter, don’t you feel the freshness of my shadow?  Rest in it, for you will find refreshment.”  And it seemed that we rested together in His shadow, and I felt all reinvigorated being close to Him.

Vol. 6, July 31, 1904

So the shadow of God is rest for the soul but the earthly shadow of the creature is our attachments, our human will that blocks the action of the Divine shadow.  God wants to overshadow all creatures in order to communicate all of Himself to them but because of sin most reject Him, blocking Him from doing any good.

one day He said to me:  “Everything that is of the earth, everything – everything you must remove, not only from your heart, but also from your body.  You cannot understand how harmful are the slightest earthly shadows, and how much they hinder love.”  Immediately I said to Him:  ‘If I have something else that must be removed, tell me, for I am ready to do it.’  But as I was saying this, I myself realized that I had a gold ring on my finger, portraying the image of the Crucifix; and immediately I said to Him:  ‘Holy Spouse, do you want me to take it off?’  And He told me:  “Since I Myself will give you a more precious, more beautiful ring, which will have my living image impressed on it, and every time you will look at it your heart will receive new arrows of love - this one is not necessary.”  And I promptly removed it.

Vol. 1, Last preparations and the Mystical Marriage.

“My daughter, I send pains to creatures, so that in the pains they may find Me.   I am as though wrapped within the pains, and if the soul suffers with patience, with love, she tears the wrapping that covers Me and finds Me.   Otherwise, I remain hidden in the pain, and she will not have the good of finding Me, and I will not have the good of revealing Myself.”

Then He added:  “I feel an irresistible force to spread Myself toward the creatures.   I would like to spread my beauty to make them all beautiful; but the creature, dirtying herself with sin, rejects the divine beauty and covers herself with ugliness.  I would like to spread my love, but, loving what is not mine, they live numb with cold, and my love is rejected.  I would like to communicate all of Myself to man, overshadow him completely within my own qualities, but I am rejected; and in rejecting Me, he forms a wall of division between Me and him, to the point of breaking any communication between creature and Creator.  But in spite of this, I continue to spread Myself - I do not withdraw, in order to find at least someone who would receive my qualities.  And if I find him, I double my graces for him - I increase them a hundredfold; I pour all of Myself into him, to the point of making of him a portent of grace.

Vol. 12, April 16, 1918

Knowledge of self is key to breaking down the walls that separate the creature from the Creator.  When someone acknowledges their nothingness they can then reach for the infinite power of the Divine Will.  The more the creature empties herself the more the Divine can fill her.

...not your will but mine alone must be in you.  It must be there and rule as a king in his royal palace.  Otherwise, the disagreements of an unsatisfactory love will make themselves heard at once, from which dark shadows will appear, giving rise in you to those discords and that dissimilarity of actions unacceptable to the mutual nobility which absolutely must reign between you, my spouse, and me.  This nobility will reign in you if, from time to time, you try to enter your nothingness, that is, if you come to the perfect knowledge of yourself – but not to remain there.  Once you have known your nothingness, without delay you must do everything in your power to enter into the infinite power of my Will.  From there you will draw all the graces you need in order to raise yourself up into me and do everything with me, with no regard to yourself; for I want you to completely disappear in me.”

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

The more the soul is empty and humble, the more the divine light fills her and communicates its graces and perfections to her.

As I was in my usual state, I saw little Baby Jesus with a fistful of light in His hand, and rays flowing out through His fingers.  I remained enchanted, and He told me:  “My daughter, perfection is light, and one who says he wants to reach it acts just like one who would want to clasp a body of light in his hand:  as he tries to clasp it, the light itself flows out through his fingers; except, his hand remains immersed in that light.  Now, the light is God, and God alone is perfect, and the soul who wants to be perfect does nothing but seize shadows - the little drops of God; and sometimes she does nothing but live in the light alone, that is, in the Truth.  And just as the light penetrates deeper and occupies more space the greater the void it finds, and the deeper the place is - in the same way, the more the soul is empty and humble, the more the divine light fills her and communicates Its graces and perfections to her.”

Vol. 6, December 22, 1904

This Divine shadow not only can fill us but keeps us with Him to penetrate everywhere  and everything  concealed within Himself so that we are not only filled on the inside but in Him we embrace everything, everywhere, in all time.

in one instant, He made Himself seen all of a sudden, and told me:  “I keep you in the shadow of my Charity; and since a shadow penetrates everywhere, my love keeps you concealed everywhere and in everything.  What do you fear then?  How can I leave you while I keep you so sunken within my love?”  While Jesus was saying this, I wanted to ask Him why He was not making Himself seen as usual, but Jesus disappeared from me immediately, and did not give me the time to tell Him even one word.  Oh God, what pain!

Vol. 2, April 5, 1899

Don’t you feel Me within you?  Don’t you hear the echo of my prayer in your interior, as I embrace everything, letting no one escape Me, since all things and all generations are like one single point for Me, and for all do I pray, love, adore and repair?  And you, echoing my prayer, feel as if you were holding everyone and everything in your power, and you repeat what I do.  Is it perhaps you who does this, or your capacity?  Ah! no, no - it is I present in you; it is my Will that makes you hold everyone and everything as though in your power, and follows Its course within your soul.

Vol. 17, April 26, 1925

Although being in the shadow of Jesus' love allows one to go anywhere and penetrate everything if there is even the shadow of an earthly attachment it prevents the soul from entering His Heart.  Only complete unity can allow us to rest in Him and He in us.

“My daughter, what will happen to so many works, even good, done without purity of intention, out of habit and self-interest?   What shame will not fall upon them on the Day of Judgment, in seeing so many works, good in themselves, but made rotten by their intention, such that, their very actions, instead of rendering honor to them, as they would to many others, will give them shame?   In fact, I do not look at the greatness of the works, but at the intention with which they are done.  Here is all my attention.”

...

Then Jesus continued, saying to me:  “Yet, it is so.  See, my Heart is so very large, but the door is very narrow.  No one can fill the void of this Heart but souls who are detached, naked and simple.  In fact, as you see, since the door is small, any hindrance, even the slightest – that is, a shadow of attachment, an intention which is not upright, a work done without the purpose of pleasing Me – prevents them from entering to delight in my Heart.   Much love of neighbor enters my Heart, but it must be so united to mine as to form one single love, in such a way that one cannot be distinguished from the other.  But as for the other love of neighbor which is not transformed into my love – I do not look at it as something that belongs to Me.”

Vol. 2, May 7, 1899

We can not come to truly know ourselves on our own.  The grace to know oneself is given by God and thereby the soul comes into a greater knowledge of both herself and also God.  By truly knowing that we are nothing we realize that we are also totally dependent on God for everything.  Then we can let go of any attachments that we might have to ourselves.  We have no abilities outside of God and without His light even the shadow of our very being would disappear.

my most sweet Jesus wanted to let me touch my nothingness with my own hands.  In the act in which He made Himself seen, the first words with which He addressed me were:  “Who am I, and who are you?”  In these two words I saw two immense lights:  in one I comprehended God, in the other I saw my misery, my nothingness.   I saw I was nothing but a shadow, just like the shadow formed by the sun in illuminating the earth:   it is dependent on the sun, and as the sun moves from it to other places, the shadow ceases to exist outside of its splendor.  The same for my shadow – that is, my being: it is dependent on the mystical Sun, God, who can dissolve this shadow in one simple instant.  What to say, then, about how I have deformed this shadow which the Lord has given me, which is not even my own?  The mere thought of it was horrifying; it was stinking, putrid, all full of worms.  Yet, in such a horrifying state I was forced to stand before a God so holy.  Oh, how content I would have been, had I been allowed to hide in the darkest abysses!

After this, Jesus told me:  “The greatest favor I can do for a soul, is to make her know herself.  The knowledge of self and the knowledge of God go together; the more you know yourself, the more you know God.  When the soul has known herself, as she sees that she can do nothing good by herself, her shadow, her being, transforms her in God, and it happens that she does all of her operations in God.  It happens that the soul is in God and walks beside Him, without looking, without investigating, without speaking – in a word, as if she were dead.  In fact, knowing the depth of her nothingness, she dares to do nothing by herself, but she blindly follows the trajectory of the operations of God.”

Vol. 2, June 2, 1899

Jesus uses the cross to reveal to the soul all it's imperfections and defects which makes her turn her gaze more and more to God and less upon herself.  He says that tribulations are necessary in order to keep the soul who would live in His shadow from being infected with earthly things.

Then He turned to me and told me:  “The cross communicates such splendor to the soul as to render her transparent.  Just as one can give all the colors he wants to an object which is transparent, in the same way, with its light the cross provides all features and the most beautiful shapes that can possibly be imagined, not only by others, but by the very soul who experiences them.  Furthermore, on a transparent object one can immediately detect dust, little stains, and even a shadow.  Such is the cross: since it renders the soul transparent, it immediately reveals to the soul the little defects, and the slightest imperfections, so much so, that there is no hand of master more capable than the cross in keeping the soul prepared, to make of her a residence worthy of the God of Heaven.”

Vol. 2, July 22, 1899

Tribulations are necessary for one who lives in the shadow of Jesus. (... to keep infectious air away.)

As I was all oppressed, I saw my adorable Jesus for just a little, and looking at me, He told me:  “My daughter, for one who lives in my shadow it is necessary that the winds of tribulations blow, so that the infectious air around her may not be able to penetrate into her, even under my shadow.   So, by always agitating this unhealthy air, the continuous winds keep it always far away, and make flow a most pure and salutary air.”   Having said this, He disappeared, and I comprehended many things about this, but it is not necessary to explain myself because I believe it is easy to comprehend the meaning.

Vol. 4, December 29, 1901

Only in those who live in the sanctity of the Divine Will does God see the shadow of His own sanctity.  Those who give without clamor, without notice, give to everyone without prejudice, give with no attachments to things of the earth or other creatures but live wholly supported by God alone.  They give with the power of His own Will demonstrating His attributes.  This is the sanctity of sanctities and is the closest to God.  He refers to it as a shadow of Himself.

“Now, the Sanctity in my Will will be symbolized by the sun.  The sun has always been, and will always be; and even though it had a beginning in illuminating the world, since it is light which takes origin from my Eternal Light, one can say that it has no beginning.  The sun does good to all; it extends to all with its light; it makes no exception with anyone.  With its majesty and dominion, it rules over all and gives life to all, even to the tiniest flower - but silently, without noise, and almost unobserved.  Oh, if a plant did a little something, a shadow of what the sun does, giving heat to another plant, all would shout ‘miracle!’  All would want to see it, and would speak about it with amazement.  But then, the sun gives life and heat to everything and is the continuous miracle, and nobody talks about it - there is no amazement.  This happens because man keeps his eyes always down below and on earthly things - never up high and on celestial things.

“Now, the Sanctity in my Will, symbolized by the sun, will come out from the center of my own Sanctity; It will be a ray delivered by my Sanctity, which has no beginning.  Therefore, these souls existed in my Sanctity; they exist, and will exist.  They were together with Me in the good I did; they never went out of the ray in which I had issued them to the light.   Since they never departed from my Will, I amused Myself with them, and I still do.   My union with them is permanent.  I see them floating over everything; human supports do not exist for them, just as the sun does not lean on anything - it lives up high as though isolated, but with its light it encloses everything within itself.  The same for these souls: they live up high like the sun, but their light descends to the deepest bottom and extends to all.   I would feel as if I defrauded them if I did not keep them aware of, and did not let them do what I do.   Therefore, there is no good which does not descend from them.

“In this Sanctity I see my shadows, my images, hovering over the whole earth, in the air and in Heaven.   This is why I love and will love the world: because I am waiting for my Sanctity to have Its echo over the earth, and for my rays to come out to the light and to give Me complete glory, returning to Me the love and the honor which the others have not given to Me.  However, just like the sun, they will be the most unobserved, without clamor at all.   And if anyone wants to look at them, my jealousy will be such that they will run the risk of remaining blinded, and will be forced to lower their eyes in order to regain their sight.  Do you see how beautiful is the Sanctity in my Will?  It is the Sanctity closest to your Creator.  This is why It will have primacy over all other sanctities.  It will enclose within Itself all other sanctities together, and will be life of all other sanctities.

Vol. 13, November 12, 1921

True virginity is the Divine shadow, virgin by nature, affections, heart, and thoughts.  It is in such unknown souls that God finds His Divine shadow where He can accomplish His greatest works.  Mary was such a soul, the first of the two virgins destined to aid mankind.  Luisa is the second.

I was thinking to myself:  ‘If Jesus loves so much that this way of living in the Divine Will be known - since It will be a new epoch that must bring so much good as to surpass the very goods of His Redemption - He could have spoken to the Pope who, as the Head of the Church, having the authority, could immediately influence the members of the whole Church by making known this celestial doctrine, and bringing this great good to the human generations.  Or to some authoritative people - to them it would be easier; but to me, poor ignorant one, unknown - how can I make this great good known?’  And Jesus, sighing and squeezing me more tightly to Himself, told me:  “Daughter so very dear to my Supreme Volition, it is my usual way to do my greatest works in souls that are virgin and unknown; and not only virgin of nature, but virgin of affections, of heart, of thoughts, because true virginity is the divine shadow, and only in my shadow can I fecundate my greatest works.  During the times when I came to redeem there were also pontiffs and authorities, but I did not go to them, because my shadow was not there.  Therefore I chose a Virgin, unknown to all, but well known to Me; and if true virginity is my shadow, it was divine jealousy that, choosing Her unknown, wanting Her all for Myself, kept Her unknown to all others.  But even though this Celestial Virgin was unknown, I made Myself known, by making my way in order to make Redemption known to all.

The greater the work I want to do, the more I cover the soul with the appearance of the most ordinary things.  Now, since the people you mention are well-known people, the divine jealousy could not keep its watch; and the divine shadow – oh! how hard it is to find it.  And besides, I choose whomever I please.  It is established that two Virgins must come to the aid of Humanity - one to make man saved, the other to make my Will reign upon earth, so as to give man his terrestrial happiness, to unite the two wills, the Divine and the human, and make them one, so that the purpose for which man was created may have its complete fulfillment.  I Myself will take care of making my way in order to make known what I want.  What I most care about is to have the first creature in whom to centralize this Volition of Mine, and that my Will may have life in her on earth as It does in Heaven; the rest will come by itself.  This is why I always say to you:  ‘Your flight in my Will’ - because the human will contains weaknesses, passions, miseries, which are veils that prevent one from entering into the Eternal Volition; and if they are grave sins, they are barricades that are formed between one and the other.  And if my Fiat ‘on earth as It is in Heaven’ does not reign upon earth, this is precisely what prevents It from doing so.  Therefore, to you is it given to tear these veils, to knock down these barricades, and to make of all human acts as though one single act in the power of my Will, engulfing them all, and bringing them to the feet of my Celestial Father, as though kissed and sealed by His very Will; so that, in seeing that one creature has covered the whole human family with His Will, attracted, pleased, He may through her let His Will descend upon earth, making It reign on earth as It does in Heaven.”

Vol. 15, April 20, 1923

With the Fiat of Mary, God overshadowed her to incarnate the Divine Word within her womb communicating to her the divine fecundity so that she now overshadows all creatures and created things.  This is what makes her Queen and Mother of all.  Now God, with the second Fiat of Luisa, overshadows the second virgin soul.

Then He added:  “I asked the first ‘yes’ in my Fiat, of my dear Mama, and – oh, the power of Her Fiat in my Will!   As soon as the Divine Fiat met with the Fiat of my Mama, the two became one.   My Fiat raised Her, divinized Her, overshadowed Her, and with no human intervention, conceived Me, the Son of God.  Only in my Fiat could She conceive Me.  My Fiat communicated to Her immensity, infinity, fecundity, in a divine manner, and therefore the Immense Eternal Infinite One could be conceived in Her.  As soon as She said, ‘Fiat Mihi’, not only did She take possession of Me, but She overshadowed all creatures and all created things.  She felt within Herself the life of all creatures, and from that moment She began to act as the Mother and Queen of all.  How many portents does this ‘yes’ of my Mama not contain – if I wanted to tell them all, you would never stop listening.”

“Now, I asked a second ‘yes’ in my Will, of you; and you, though trembling, pronounced it.  This ‘yes’ in my Volition will accomplish its portents – it will have its divine fulfillment. You – follow Me, plunge yourself more deeply into the immense sea of my Will, and I will take care of everything.  My Mama did not think about how I would manage to incarnate Myself in Her; She just said, ‘Fiat Mihi’, and I took care of how to be incarnated.  So you will do.”

Vol. 12, January 10, 1921

The first Fiat poured forth billions and billions of stars in Creation.  With the second Fiat, united to Mary's Fiat Mihi, billions and billions of acts of grace, running to infinity, poured forth to give themselves to man forming the Redemption.  With the third Fiat, united to Luisa's, so will pour forth billions and billions of acts again, in every instant even to infinity.  Acts that tie together all of Creation and Redemption that will bring about Sanctification.  Acts which should have been done by innocent man now fallen.  Acts which will complete all the acts that man should have given back to God.  These three Fiats blend together and have equal value which can only be credited to God Himself.  Such is the creative power of the Divine Will in His complete act when He overshadows a creature who has given their Fiat.

“My daughter, surely in my Will there is the creative power.  Billions and billions of stars came out from one single Fiat.  Billions and billions of acts of grace which communicate themselves to souls, come out from the Fiat Mihi of my Mama, from which Redemption had Its origin.  These acts of grace are more beautiful, more shining, more varied than stars; and while the stars are fixed and do not multiply, the acts of grace multiply to infinity; they run in every instant, attract the creatures, delight them, strengthen them and give them life.  Ah! if creatures could see the supernatural order of grace, they would hear such harmonies, and see such an enchanting scene as to believe that that’s their Paradise.  Now, the third Fiat too must run together with the other two Fiats.  It must multiply to infinity, and in every instant It must give as many acts for as many acts of grace as are unleashed from my womb; for as many stars, for as many drops of water, and for as many created things as were unleashed by the Fiat of Creation.  It must blend with them and say:  ‘As many acts as you are - so many I do.’

“These three Fiats have the same value and power.  You disappear – it is the Fiat that acts, and therefore you too can say in my omnipotent Fiat:  ‘I want to create so much love, so many adorations, so many blessings, so much glory to my God as to compensate for everyone and for everything.’  Your acts will fill Heaven and earth; they will multiply themselves with the acts of Creation and of Redemption, and will become one.

“All this will seem astonishing and incredible to some; in this case they would have to doubt about my creative power.  And besides, when it is I who want it, and who give this power, every doubt ceases.   Am I perhaps not free to do whatever I want, and to give to whomever I want?  You - be attentive; I will be with you, I will overshadow you with my creative power, and I will accomplish what I want upon you.”

Vol. 12, February 2, 1921

Creation is an overflowing of the images of God which carry the shadows of His attributes.  Man is God's image and one who lives in the Divine Will lives within the womb of God.  So man does not just carry the shadows of God's attributes but shares in the act of bringing forth new images of God, which then continue to fill all of Heaven and earth.  Luisa is the first copy of the daughter of the Divine Will from which all other copies are to come forth.  

“Now, do you know what Our Divine Life is?  We amuse Ourselves very much in issuing from Us new images of Ourselves.  We are in continuous act of forming Our images, so much so, that Heaven and earth are filled with Our images - their shadows flow everywhere.  The sun is Our image, and Its light is the shadow of Ours, which covers all the earth.  The heavens are Our image, which extend everywhere and carry the shadow of Our own immensity.  Man is Our image, who carries Our power, wisdom and love within himself.  So, We do nothing other than continuously produce Our images, which resemble Us.  Now, one who must live in Our Will, living in Our womb, must form many other copies of Ourselves together with Us; she must be with Us in Our work; she must let copies and shadows of Us come out of herself, filling the whole earth and Heaven.

“Now, in creating the first man, We formed him with Our hands, and breathing over him, We gave him life.  Once We made the first, all the others take origin from the first, and are copies of the first.  Our power, flowing through all generations, reproduces copies of him.  Now, since We constitute you firstborn daughter of Our Will, it is necessary that you live with Us in order to form the first copy of the soul who lives in Our Will, so that, as she lives in Us, she may receive Our attitude, and may learn with Our power to operate according to Our way.  Once We have made of you the first copy of the soul who lives in Our Will, more copies will come.

“The road of Our Will is extremely long - it embraces Eternity.  And while it seems that one has navigated the road, much remains to do and to receive from Us in order to learn Our ways, and to form the first copy of the soul who lives in Our Will.  This is the greatest work We must do; therefore We must give you much, and it is necessary to dispose you much so that you may receive.  This is the reason for my repeated questions: it is to dispose you, to enlarge you and to elevate you in order to accomplish my designs.  I care so much about it, that I would leave everything aside to reach my purpose.  Therefore, be attentive and faithful.”

Vol. 14, April 13, 1922

God's truths are not just a shadow of Him but are the very substance of the goods within Him and as they speak they create copies of these truths within the soul who accepts them.  And then they continue to speak, through this soul, in order to produce more copies to continue to give themselves to others.

In an outpouring of love I issued the Creation; everything that can be seen in the whole universe was all inside of Me.  Love made the shadow of my light overflow from my interior, and I created the sun; the shadow of my immensity and of my harmonies, and I stretched out the heavens, harmonizing them with many stars and celestial spheres.  These and other things which I created were nothing other than shadows of mine which I issued from Myself; and my love had its outpouring, and I took great delight in seeing what was contained in Me, spread out in little particles hovering over all Creation.

Now, what will my joy be in manifesting my truths, which are not shadows of mine that come out of Me, but the substance of the goods that I contain within Me; and which speak of Me, not in a mute language like all created things do, but with clear, sonorous and eloquent voice; and which, since my word is creative, like a new creation create in the soul the truths that I manifest?  If with one Fiat I created many things, in manifesting my truths it is not just one Fiat that I pronounce, but as many words for as many as are needed in order to manifest and to have souls comprehend that which I want them to understand.  Imagine, then, what my contentment is in manifesting my truths to the soul who, not in a mute language, but with speaking voice, will manifest my goods, my truths, to others, in order to infuse in others the good she has received.  Therefore, in manifesting my truths, my love finds its outpouring and becomes festive, and I greatly love one who is willing to listen to Me.”

Vol. 15, July 1, 1923

So the call to live in the Divine Will is to all of us.  Jesus will do everything to bring to completion this union of the human will with the Divine.  The creature becomes the shadow of Jesus which covers Him as He covers her, not of her own doing but all the Divine Will.

“My poor little one, what do you fear?  Courage, I am the One who will do everything in my little daughter; you will do nothing but follow me faithfully, won’t you?  You are right that you are too little and can do nothing, but I will do everything in you.  Don’t you see how I am within you, and you are nothing but the shadow that covers Me?  I am the One who will cross within you the eternal and unending boundaries of my Will; I, the One who will embrace all generations in order to bring them, together with your shadow, to the feet of the Eternal One, so that the two wills, the human and the Divine, may kiss each other, may smile at each other, and may no longer look at each other like strangers, being separated, scowling at each other, but one may be fused within the other, forming one single Will.  It is the power of your Jesus that must do this; you must do nothing but adhere.  I know, I know that you are nothing and can do nothing, and this is why you afflict yourself; but it is the strength of my arm that wants and can operate, and I like to operate great things in the littlest ones.

Vol. 16, November 10, 1923

God's love for the acts done in the Divine Will makes Him overshadow the creature with His light so that the act of the creature and His may be one.  The Divine Will becomes life and motion of each of these acts.  This is the triumph of the Divine Will and man does not have the ability to comprehend the enormity of this.

My beloved daughter, I love so much these acts done in my Will, that as soon as the soul enters into It in order to act, the shadow of my light surrounds her; and I run, so that my act and hers may be one.  And since I am the prime act of all Creation, without my prime motion all created things would remain paralyzed, without strength and incapable of the slightest motion.  Life is in the motion; without it, everything is dead.  I am the prime motion, and I give life and attitude to all other motions; so, at my first motion Creation begins to revolve.  It happens as to an engine:  at the touch of first motion of the first wheel, all other little wheels begin to spin.  See then, how it is almost natural for one who operates in my Will to move in my prime motion; and by operating in my motion, she comes to find herself and she operates in the motion of all creatures.  And as the creature flows in my own motion, I see her and I feel her in all motions of creatures, giving Me as many divine acts for as many offensive human acts as others do; and this, only because she has operated in my prime motion.  This is why I say that one who lives in my Will substitutes for all, defends Me from all, and places my motion – that is, my very Life - in safety.  And this is why to operate in my Will is the prodigy of prodigies, but without clamor, without human acclamations.  It is my true triumph over all Creation; and since it is a triumph fully divine, what is human remains silent, and has no equivalent words with which to acclaim the triumph of my Supreme Will.”

Vol. 15, April 9, 1923

God and all of Heaven are enraptured by the acts done in the Divine Will as each, in turn, is a copy of the Eternal Divine Will which possesses the seed of Divine Life.  These acts are each jealously guarded by thousands of Angels until they are ripened and taken as food by creatures who appreciate them and make them their own to further the Kingdom of the Divine Will.  

“My daughter, just as the sun does not leave the plant, but caresses it with its light, fecundates it with its heat until it produces fruits and flowers - and then, jealous, it makes them mature, it keeps them with its light, and when the farmer picks it to make of it his food, only then does it leave the fruit - the same for the acts done in my Will:  my love, my jealousy toward them is such that grace caresses them, my love conceives them, fecundates them and matures them.  I place thousands of Angels as custodians of one single act done in my Will.  In fact, since these acts done in my Will are seeds in order that my Will may be done on earth as it is in Heaven, everyone is jealous of these acts.  Their dew is my breath; their shadow is my light.  The Angels remain enraptured by them and, reverent, they adore them, because in these acts they see the Eternal Will, which deserves all their adoration.  Only when I find souls who, picking them as divine fruits make of them food for their own souls, then are these acts left.  Oh, fecundity and multiplicity of these acts!  The creature herself who does them cannot count them.”

Vol. 14, April 25, 1922

Repeated acts water and mature each virtue and with repetition grow the virtue into a beautiful plant that will produce it's fruit.  However by not processing the source of the life of all the virtues, that is the Divine Will, they are subject to the changes of circumstances and inconstancy.  When a soul lives in the Divine Will, however, God Himself takes on the initiative to overshadow her and repeat His Fiat over her in such a way that he kneads His Divine Life into her so that all the virtues spring forth naturally from His life within her.  She feels that He has given Himself into her power.  Because of the Divine Will that she possesses, she feels Him as her own little one and raises him with His own love and adoration.   He keeps her as absorbed in Himself with such fullness of love even to the point that she can not contain it and she longs to give the Divine Will to everyone as life to share in her joy.   Only in this way can God form His little Paradise in the creature where He can take his rest.

“My daughter, aren’t you happy that none of the ‘I love You’s’ that come out of you go lost, but all remain impressed in Me?  And then, do you know what good comes to you by repeating them?  You must know that when the soul decides to do some good, to exercise a virtue, she forms the seed of that virtue.  By repeating those acts, she forms the water with which to water that seed in the earth of her heart; and the more often she repeats them, the more she waters that seed, and the plant grows beautiful and green, in such a way that it quickly produces the fruits of that seed.  On the other hand, if she is slow in repeating, many times the seed remains suffocated; and if it comes out at all, it grows thin and never gives fruit.  Poor seed, without enough water in order to grow.  My Sun does not rise over that seed, to give it fecundity, maturity and a beautiful color to its fruits, because it is not fecund.  On the other hand, by always repeating those same acts, the soul contains much water with which to water that seed; my Sun rises over that seed every time It sees it being watered; and It delights so much, knowing that it has much strength in order to grow, that It makes its branches reach up to Me; and in seeing its many fruits, I pick them with pleasure, and I rest under its shadow.

Vol. 18, October 4, 1925

The Sky, the Sun, the sea, the wind and everything, narrate He who has created them, they show us, they make us known, they glorify us, but they don’t give us one of our lives, nor do they form for us another Paradise of ours, rather they serve she or he, that our Paternal goodness has taken the pledge to form our life in her, and it costs us so much, that our Fiat uses his working and repetitive virtue of his continuous Fiat over his fortunate creature in order to overshadow her with his power, in a way that one Fiat doesn’t await the other, in a way that if he blows on her he says Fiat, if he touches her he repeats Fiat, if he embraces her he uses his working Fiat and goes molding her and as kneading in her his divine life.  One can say that with his breath he forms his life in the creature and with his creative virtue regenerates her and forms there his Little Paradise, and what don’t we find in Her?  It is enough to tell you that we find all that which we want, and this is everything for us.  You see therefore the great difference that there is between the Divine Will as life, and that as effect; as life all the goods, the virtues, the prayer, the love, the sanctity, they convert themselves in the creature into nature, they are risings that form in her, that always rise in a way that she feels in herself the nature of love, of patience, of sanctity, as she naturally feels the mind that thinks, the eye that sees, the mouth that speaks, (with) not one effort in this, because God has given them in (her) nature, and she feels herself mistress to do with them whatever use she wants.  Thus with possessing the Divine Will as life, everything is holy, everything is sacred, the difficulties finish, the inclinations to evil don’t exist anymore, and in spite that she changes action, and now does one thing, and now another, the unitive virtue of my Will unites them together and they form one act alone, with the distinction of so many varied beauties for how many acts she has done, and she arrives to feel that her God is all hers, even to feel that in the excess of his love he has given himself into the power of the creature, in virtue of the Divine Will that she possesses as life, she feels him as her birth and raises him with such finesse of love and profound adoration, that she remains as naturally absorbed in her Creator, that is already all hers, and such is the fullness of love, the happiness that she feels, that not being able to contain it she would like to give the Divine Will to everyone as life in order to render everyone happy and holy.

“Not so, for one who doesn’t possess him as life, but only as virtue and effect, everything is difficulty and she feels the good by time and circumstances, the circumstance ceases and she feels the void of the good, and this void produces inconstancy, variety of character, tiredness, she feels the unhappiness of the human volition, she neither enjoys peace, nor does she know how to give peace to anyone, she feels in herself the good as if she might feel dislocated limbs or partly detached that she is not mistress with them serving her, and she must be subject to the others in order to make herself serve, not living of my Will is making oneself enslaved and to feel the whole weight of slavery.”

Vol. 32, October 15, 1933

The Creation has taken it's form from the shadows/attributes of God.  But the life that vivifies everything in Creation are not His shadows, but His Will, which is His life.  His Will is the foundation, support, life and preservation of everything.  The Divine Will is also the life, support, foundation and preservation of all and every act of the Redemption.  The Redemption is the tree, the Divine Will the root from which the tree is formed.  Now it must produce it's fruit of life.  Here is the image of the Trinity and each work gives a hand to the other so the triumph and the glory belongs to all three but all of these works are eclipsed by the Divine Will who reigns over all and is life of the Tree of Life. 

In Creation, the Divinity issued from Itself the shadows of Its light, the shadows of Its wisdom, of Its power; It touched the whole Creation lightly with Its whole Being.  So, the beauty, the harmony, the order, the love, the goodness of God, which can be seen in the whole Creation, are divine similes – shadows of the Supreme Majesty.  On the other hand, my Will – not a simile or a shadow of Ours – came out into the field of Creation as the life of all created things; and so It is life, foundation, support, vivification and preservation of everything that came out of Our creative hands. Therefore, everything is owed to the Supreme Will; my Redemption Itself bent Its knees before It, to implore that It would constitute Itself life of each act, heartbeat and suffering of mine - and even of my breathing, so as to let vital aids flow within the creatures in order to save them.  My Redemption can be called the tree, whose root is the Divine Will; and since It has produced the trunk, the branches, the leaves, the flowers of all the goods which are present in the Church, It must therefore produce the fruit of life, which the root of this tree contains.  Moreover, the Creation came out from Ourselves with the only purpose that Our Will be known and loved more than life itself; and therefore Our Will constituted Itself life of everything, so as to be fulfilled.  All the other things created by Us, and even Redemption Itself, were given as aids in order to facilitate Our purpose.  So, if We do not obtain Our primary purpose, how can We obtain Our complete glory, and how can the creature receive the good established by Us?

“Furthermore, Creation, Redemption and the Fiat Voluntas Tua on earth as It is in Heaven, symbolize the Sacrosanct Trinity.  In fact, just as the Divine Persons are inseparable from one another, so these works are inseparable from one another: each one gives the hand to the other; each one helps the other – the triumph, the glory, belongs to all three of them.   And since Our Will has held the primary place in all Our works, Creation and Redemption remain eclipsed and as though dissolved within the immensity and the endlessness of the Supreme Will.  Our Will envelops everything and keeps the very things done by Us as Its throne, from which It reigns and dominates.  So, if Our Will is everything, why are you surprised that It will produce greater fruits than Our other works?  And man will receive that Life which he has, but does not know, because he keeps It as though compressed, drowned, weakened, while It moans and sighs, because It wants to carry out Its Life, but It is not allowed to do so.

Vol. 19, March 19, 1926

The Divine Will is reestablishing of the tree of Life which will produce it's fruit of life to be given to all who will receive it with Good Will.  For Redemption God needed a Virgin Mother, pure and holy without the shadow of original sin.  Now for the epoch of the Kingdom of the Divine Will God needs a second mother but now in the order of grace.  She is chosen from common stock but raised so high in the order of grace such that there is not a single earthly infected shadow remaining in her so that the Life of God's Will reigns.  Just as the Humanity of Jesus, which came from the Virgin Mary, now gives Himself to all who want Him for salvation so will the Life of God's Will, formed in Luisa, give Itself to all who want the Kingdom of His Will to reign in them.   The Redemption served to plant the tree of the Divine Will which was watered by His blood, cultivated with His innumerable pains and fertilized with the Sacraments so that this tree would mature, bloom and bear fruit.  All of this time and effort was needed to not only allow this tree to mature but to dispose creatures so that they return to their origin.  So by fully knowing the evils of their will acting separate from the Divine Will they will banish them and eat of the Celestial fruit of the Divine Will which will remove all the disordered passions of her will, and give dominion to the Divine Will. 

“Now, in order to form Redemption I needed a Virgin Mother, conceived without the shadow of original sin, because, having to take on human flesh, it was decorous for Me, Eternal Word, not to take an infected blood to form my Most Holy Humanity.  Now, in order to make my Will known, so that It might reign, I do not need to have a second mother according to the natural order, but rather, I need a second mother according to the order of grace.   In fact, in order for my Will to reign, I have no need of another Humanity, but to give such knowledge of It that, drawn by Its prodigies, by Its beauty and sanctity, and by the immense good that comes to them, creatures may submit with all love to Its dominion.   Therefore, in choosing you for the mission of my Will, I took you from the common stock according to the natural order, but for the decorum of my Will I had to raise you so high according to the order of grace, that not one infected shadow might remain in your soul, because of which my Will might feel reluctant to reign in you.  Just as the pure blood of the Immaculate Virgin was needed to form my Humanity, to be able to redeem man, so was the purity, the candidness, the sanctity, the beauty of your soul needed to form in you the Life of my Will.  And just as by forming my Humanity in the womb of my Mama, this Humanity gave Itself to all – it is understood, to those who want It – as means of salvation, of light, of sanctity; in the same way, this Life of my Will which has been formed in you, will give Itself to all, to make Itself known and to acquire Its dominion.

“Had I wanted to free you of original sin as I did with my Celestial Mama, so that my Will might take life in you, no one would have given a thought to letting my Will reign within himself.  They would have said:  ‘One needs to be a second Mother of Jesus and to have Her privileges so that the Life of the Supreme Will might reign in us.’  On the other hand, by knowing that you are from their stock, conceived just like them, if they want it, helped by their own good will they too will be able to know the Supreme Will – what they must do to let It reign within them, the good that comes to them, the terrestrial and celestial happiness prepared in a distinct way for those who will let my Will reign.  My Redemption was to serve to plant the tree of my Will which, watered with my Blood, cultivated and hoed with my sweats and unheard-of pains, fertilized with the Sacraments, first would make the tree develop, then would make the flowers bloom, and finally would make the celestial fruits of my Will mature.   And in order to make these precious fruits mature, the course of my thirty-three years was not enough, nor were the creatures prepared and disposed to receive a food so delicate, all of Heaven, which I was giving.  Therefore I contented Myself with planting the tree, leaving all possible means to make it grow, beautiful and gigantic; and at the appropriate time, as the fruits are about to mature and so that they may be picked, I chose you in a way all special, to make known to you the good it contains, and how I want to raise the creature back to her origin.  Banishing her will, the cause for which she descended from her happy state, she will eat of these precious fruits, which will give her such taste as to remove from her all the infection of passions and of her own will, and give back the dominion to my Will.  Embracing everything as though in one single embrace, my Will will unite everything together:  Creation, Redemption, and the fulfillment of the purpose for which all things were created - that is, that my Will be known, loved and done on earth as It is in Heaven.”

Vol. 19, June 6, 1926

God extends His shadow over his creature and she finds rest in it but God wants more.  To be in the Shadow of the Almighty is to be wrapped in the glory of the Holy Spirit and all the attributes of God.  It is safety, protection, sanctification, rest, nourishment, light.  It is home.  It is that same love that innocent Adam was wrapped in continuously.  But God also wants to find His own rest and that can only be found in a complete act, as in the seventh day of Creation where God took His rest.  When we live and act in the Divine Will the union of the human with the Divine becomes the complete act.  This is the purpose for which God created all the universe and man in particular.  Here is where God can finally find His rest.

 God's purpose is the perfect union with His beloved creature, sin from the human will is the only obstacle that can stop even God.  Only when the creature fully knows herself and her nothingness and comes to know her God as well and how He creates her and holds her in His love and maintains her all for love, only then can she fully embrace the Divine Will and let go of her own.  The overshadowing of the Virgin Mary brought forth the Incarnation of Jesus, the second person of the Trinity.  We are all called to an intimate union with God.  This total union of man with God forms the complete act which results in copies of His Divine Lives - not a simple shadow of His attributes but His full Image which shares in His fecund act to bring forth new images of God.  These acts penetrate and bind all Creation and all creatures of all times.  All epochs are bound together like a tree, root, tree and fruit and the creature nourishes herself on it's fruit.  This tree is the image of the Trinity, the tree of Life and it's fruit are Divine lives which carry with them the gift of the life of God and all His attributes which spring forth form this life.   It is only in the shade of this tree, this Image all His own which springs from the union of the human will and the Divine Will that now God takes His rest.   

The Queen of Peace

On this anniversary of Our Lady's first apparition in Medjugorje and her title "Queen of Peace," I wanted to look in the Volumes on this topic.

Jesus states that His Kingdom, a Kingdom of Peace, was in the heart of His Mother.  She never experienced a single moment where she was disturbed or anxious even in the Passion.  Without any such disturbance Jesus was able to extend His Kingdom in her to freely in fullness.  This shows how important it is for us to remain in the Peace of Jesus so that He can always extend His Kingdom in us. 

This morning, Jesus renewed in me the pains of the crucifixion; our Queen Mama was also present, and Jesus, speaking of Her, said: “My Kingdom was in the Heart of my Mother, and this, because Her Heart was never disturbed even slightly; so much so, that in the immense sea of the Passion, She suffered immense pains, and Her Heart was pierced through by the sword of sorrow, but She did not receive the slightest breath of disturbance. Therefore, since my Kingdom is a Kingdom of peace, I was able to lay my Kingdom within Her, and to reign freely without any obstacle.”

Vol. 2, July 4, 1899

In the book, The Virgin Mary In The Kingdom Of The Divine Will, Mary tells her story that in learning about the sad story of mankind how her heart went out and she began pleading with God to save us.  God in turn satisfies her giving her the title of Peacemaker between God and man.  He tells her that the destiny of mankind is in her hands.

Now, in the middle of our loving stratagems, I remembered the painful state of my human family upon earth, for I too was of their offspring - and how I grieved and prayed that the Eternal Word would descend and put a remedy to it.  And I would say this with such tenderness as to reach the point of changing smile and feast into crying.  The Most High was so moved by my tears, more so, since they were the tears of a little one; and pressing Me to the divine bosom, They dried my tears and said to Me:   “Daughter, do not cry, pluck up courage.  Into your hands We have placed the destiny of mankind; We gave You the mandate, and now, to console You more, We make of You the Peacemaker between Us and the human family.   So, to You it is given to reconcile us. The power of Our Will that reigns in You compels Us to give the kiss of peace to poor humanity, decayed and unsafe.”

Who can tell you, my child, what my Heart felt at this divine condescension?  My love was so great that I felt faint and, in delirium, I was restless, looking for more love as relief for my love.

Now a word to you, my child.  If you listen to Me by banishing your will and giving the royal place to the Divine Fiat, you too will be loved with striking love by your Creator; you will be His smile, you will put Him in feast, and will be bond of peace between the world and God.

THE VIRGIN MARY IN THE KINGDOM OF THE DIVINE WILL, Day 9

Jesus elaborates on this by saying that all who lives in the Divine Will also takes on the vocation of peacemaker between God and man.  The human will began and wages war with God it is with those who submit themselves to live in the Divine Will and allow Him to reign in them that God will form bonds of order, peace and love to overcome mankind.  

“My daughter, one who lives in my Volition becomes the peacemaker between God and the creature; all her acts, words, steps, her prayers, her little sacrifices, are like so many bonds of peace between Heaven and earth, they are as weapons of peace with which she combats her Creator with weapons of peace and love in order to disarm him and to make him propitious and exchange the scourges into mercy.  And as the human will formed the war in order to wage war with He who had created her, not only, but broke the accord, the order and the peace, thus my Volition, with the force of his omnipotence reigning in the creature converts that which the creature does into bonds of accord, of order, of peace and of love.  So that from her goes forth as a little white cloud, that elevating itself spreads out and rises up even to the Divine throne, that bursts forth in so many voices for how many acts she has done (and) says:  ‘Great God, I bring you peace from the earth, and You give me your peace in order to bring it as bond of peace between You and the human generation.’  This little cloud rises and descends, descends and rises and does the office of peacemaker between Heaven and earth.”

Vol. 29, July 13, 1931

And here we see the meaning behind the small white cloud of Elijah which has been seen as a symbol of Mary.  A small cloud that brought about the great rain ending the drought. ( How a cloud in the Bible became a symbol of Mary )

42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; there he bowed himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees. 43 He said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” He went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” Then he said, “Go again seven times.” 44 At the seventh time he said, “Look, a little cloud no bigger than a person’s hand is rising out of the sea.” Then he said, “Go say to Ahab, ‘Harness your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’” 45 In a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind; there was a heavy rain. Ahab rode off and went to Jezreel. 46 But the hand of the Lord was on Elijah; he girded up his loins and ran in front of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

1Kings 18:  42-46

We are all called to live in the Divine Will.  We are all called to be a Peacemaker between man and God.  We are all called to be the small white cloud rising to God and descending to the earth bringing the beneficial rain to mankind ending the long drought.  None can equal our Lady, Queen of Heaven in whom the Divine Will reigned from the moment of her conception but we are all called to share in her work.  All are called but few will respond and be chosen.

The Christmas Novena

I really never gave the Christmas Novena much thought before.  It was something that Luisa did as a child as a precursor to all of the lessons that she received on the Divine Will.  It was something that we did for the nine days before Christmas each year but I never looked much beyond that and to be honest it was something I rushed through to get back to the lessons on the Divine Will.  Firstly I'd like to say that this novena is not just a nice little devotion that should only be considered just prior to Christmas.  For everyone who lives in the Divine Will Christmas is not just once a year but it is always present, even to being renewed in every act.  This is so with all of Jesus' life, death and resurrection but for now I'd like to look more into this little Christmas Novena of Luisa.

“My daughter, for one who does my Will it is always Christmas. As the soul enters my Will, I am conceived in her act; as she goes on performing her act, I carry out my Life; as she completes it, I rise again, and the soul remains conceived in Me, carries out her life in Mine, and rises again in my own acts. See, then, how Christmas holidays are for those who prepare themselves and place themselves in my grace once a year, and so they feel something new about my birth within themselves. Bur for one who does my Will it is always Christmas - I am born again in each one of her acts. So, would you want Me to be born in you once a year? No, no, for one who does my Will, my birth, my Life, my death and my resurrection must be a continuous act, never interrupted; otherwise, what would be the difference, the immeasurable distance, from the other sanctities?”

Vol. 16, December 26, 1923

The Christmas Novena began as a way that Luisa wanted to honor Jesus and the nine months that he spent in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  This was done under the guidance of Jesus.  It prepared Luisa for all the future lessons that she received on the Divine Fiat in order to form His Kingdom.  Each time this Novena is repeated Jesus' love is renewed, redoubled to overflow again and it disposes other souls to receive the lessons on the Divine Will.  These simple meditations are full of life, love and of grace.  When Jesus speaks, His word creates and by rereading them Jesus not only renews His love in the Incarnation but creates new love in order to conquer creatures with His love.  It may appear simple on the surface but they come from the depth of the fount of God's love and contain life, strength and such tenderness as to move all but those dead to grace.

I was doing my meditation, and since today it was the beginning of the Novena of Baby Jesus, I was thinking about the nine excesses of His Incarnation, which Jesus had narrated to me with so much tenderness, and which are written in the first volume. I felt great reluctance at reminding the confessor about this, because, in reading them, he had told me that he wanted to read them in public in our chapel.

Now, while I was thinking of this, my little Baby Jesus made Himself seen in my arms, so very little, caressing me with His tiny little hands, and saying to me: “How beautiful is my little daughter! How beautiful! How I must thank you for having listened to Me.” And I: ‘My Love, what are You saying? It is I who must thank You for having spoken to me, and for having given me, with so much love, acting as my teacher, so many lessons which I did not deserve.’ And Jesus: “Ah, my daughter, to how many do I want to speak, and they do not listen to Me, reducing Me to silence and to suffocating my flames. So, we must thank each other – you thank Me, and I thank you. And then, why do you want to oppose the reading of the nine excesses? Ah! You do not know how much life, how much love and grace they contain. You must know that my word is creation, and in narrating to you the nine excesses of my love in the Incarnation, I not only renewed my love which I had in incarnating Myself, but I created new love in order to invest the creatures and conquer them to give themselves to Me. These nine excesses of my love, manifested with so much love of tenderness and simplicity, formed the prelude of the many lessons I was to give you about my Divine Fiat, in order to form Its Kingdom. And now, by their being read, my love is renewed and redoubled. Don’t you want, then, that my love, being redoubled, overflow outside and invest more hearts, so that, as a prelude, they may dispose themselves for the lessons of my Will, to make It known and reign?” And I: ‘My dear Baby, I believe that many have spoken about your Incarnation.’ And Jesus: “Yes, yes, they have spoken, but those have been words taken from the shore of my love, therefore they are words which possess neither tendernesses, nor fulnesses of life. But those few words which I have spoken to you, I have spoken from within the life of the fount of my love, and they contain life, irresistible strength, and such tendernesses, that only the dead will not feel themselves being moved to pity for Me, tiny little One, who suffered so many pains even from the womb of the Celestial Mama.”

Vol. 25, December 16, 1928

Each of the nine excesses of love of Jesus is a sea without boundaries which contains all souls.  These seas act as life, guide, defense, food, bed, palace and homeland.  Outside of these seas of love there is only death.  And Jesus' cry over these lost souls makes His seas of love swell, boil and forming great waves they roar to make His cries of love and sorrow heard by all.

The novena of Holy Christmas continues, and continuing to hear the nine excesses of the Incarnation, my beloved Jesus drew me to Himself, and showed me how each excess of His love was a sea without boundaries. And, in this sea, gigantic waves rose, in which one could see all souls flowing, devoured by these flames. Just as the fish flow in the waters of the sea, and the waters of the sea form the life of the fish, the guide, the defense, the food, the bed, the palace of these fish, so much so, that if they get out of the sea, they can say, “our life is ended, because we have gone out of our inheritance – the fatherland given to us by our Creator”; in the same way, these gigantic waves of flames which rose from these seas of fire, by devouring the creatures, wanted to be the life, the guide, the defense, the food, the bed, the palace, the fatherland of creatures. But as they go out of this sea of love, all of a sudden, they find death. And little Baby Jesus cries, moans, prays, shouts and sighs, for He wants no one to go out of these devouring flames of His, because He does not want to see anyone die. Oh! if the sea had reason, more than tender mother it would sadly cry over its fish which are snatched away from its sea, because it feels a life, which it possesses and preserves with so much love, being snatched away from itself; and with its waves, it would hurl itself at those who dared to snatch away from it so many lives which it possesses, and which form its richness, its glory.

“And if the sea does not cry, I cry” – Jesus says – “in seeing that, while my love has devoured all creatures, ungrateful, they do not want to live life in my sea of love, but wriggling free from my flames, they exile themselves from my Fatherland, losing the palace, the guide, the defense, the food, the bed, and even the life. How can I not cry? They came out of Me – they were created by Me, and were devoured by my flames of love which I had in incarnating Myself for love of all creatures. As I hear the nine excesses being narrated to Me, the sea of my love swells - it boils; and forming huge waves, it roars so much, that it would want to deafen everyone, that they might hear nothing but my moans of love, my cries of sorrow, my repeated sobs, saying: ‘Don’t make Me cry any more, let us exchange the kiss of peace; let us love each other, and we will all be happy – the Creator and the creature’.”

...

the seas of love that you saw are nothing other than my Will operating. When my Will wants to operate, the seas of my love swell, boil, form their gigantic waves which cry, moan, shout, pray, deafen. On the other hand, when my Fiat does not want to operate, the sea of my love is calm, it only murmurs quietly, its course of joy and of happiness, inseparable from it, is continuous. Therefore, you cannot comprehend the joy I experience, the happiness I feel and the interest I take in illuminating, in offering my very word, my very Heart, to one who occupies himself with making my Divine Will known. My interest is so great, that I envelop him within Myself and, I Myself overflowing outside of him, I take the floor, and I Myself speak about my Will operating in my love.

Vol. 25, December 21, 1928

The Divine Will, by mandate of God's love for man, maintains the whole universe.  It not maintains the universe but also the very life of each man and each act of each man, such that the Divine Will is the life and God's love is the nourishment.  God makes Himself life and nourishment, both inside and outside of each soul but the creature remains blind to the one who loves her so much.

So, while following Its divine acts, I could touch with my own hand how much It loves us, because, in each of Its acts, seas of love came out for the creatures. And my always lovable Jesus, showing His Heart invested by ardent flames for love of creatures, told me: “My daughter, my Love toward creatures is so great, that It does not cease to love them for one single instant. If I ceased to love them for one instant alone, the whole machine of the universe and all creatures would resolve into nothing, because the existence of all things had the first act of life from my Love - full, whole, complete, interminable and incessant; and so that my Love might have all Its fullness, I released from Myself, as act of life of the whole universe and of each act of creature, my Divine Will. So, my Will is life of everything, my Love is continuous nourishment of all Creation. Life without nourishment cannot live; nourishment, if it does not find the life, has no one to whom to give Itself, nor anyone to nourish. So, the whole substance of all Creation is my Will, as life, and my Love, as nourishment; all other things are superficial, and as ornament. Therefore, Heaven and earth are full of my Love and of my Will; there is not one point in which, like mighty wind, They do not pour Themselves toward the creatures; and this, always – always, without ever ceasing. It is always in the act of pouring upon creatures; so much so, that if the creature thinks, my Divine Will makes Itself life of her intelligence; and my Love, by nourishing it, unfolds it. If she looks, It makes Itself life of her eye; and my Love nourishes the light of her seeing. If she speaks, if she palpitates, if she walks, my Will makes Itself life of the voice; my Love, nourishment of the word; my Divine Will makes Itself life of the heart; my Love, nourishment of the heartbeat. In sum, there is not one thing that the creature might do in which my Will does not run as life, and my Love as nourishment. But what is not Our sorrow in seeing that the creature does not recognize Who it is that forms her life, and Who nourishes all her acts.”

Vol. 28, July 16, 1930

God's seas of love for man hold Heaven and earth together and constantly refresh it in every moment.  Now the act of the incarnation, a triune act of God, formed in the conclave of the most Holy Trinity, was so great with love that Heaven and earth couldn't contain it and it was so great as to be able to burn everything and everyone.  The seas of His love burst forth in torrents as to stupefy all of Heaven.  This triune act is repeated in every act that the creature would do in the Divine Will such that the Divine Will puts forth it's working, communicating, transforming and operative act to invest the creature's act.  The Triune God both remains in Heaven and incarnates His Divine act within the creature just as He did in the incarnation.  He gives everything into the power of one who lives in His Will even His very self such that that one can give everything back to God, even God.

“My blessed daughter, my love was so much in incarnating myself in the bosom of my Celestial Mother that Heavens and earth could not contain it, the act of incarnating myself happened in one act of love so intense, so strong, so great, that it was more than enough to burn everything and everyone with love.  You should know, before incarnating myself my Celestial Father looked in himself and in the enthusiasm of his love not being able to contain it seas of love went forth from himself in torrents, in this enthusiasm of love he looked at his Son, and I found myself in the same flames of love and I commanded myself that I might incarnate myself, I wanted this, and in an impetus of love, without my Father leaving, nor the Holy Spirit, the great portent of the incarnation happened.  I remained with my Father, and at the same time descended in the bosom of my Mother.  The three Divine persons we were inseparable, nor subject to separate ourselves.  Therefore I can say:  I remained in Heaven, and descended in earth, and the Father and the Holy Spirit, they descended with me in earth and they remained in Heaven.  Hence in this act so great our Divine Being overflowed so much in love, that the Heavens were stupefied and the Angels surprised and mute, everyone wounded in our flames of love.  The incarnation was none other than an act of our Divine Will, what doesn’t he know how to do and can do[?] everything; with his power and with his infinite love he arrives, even to work the prodigy not ever heard of, nor done, of making us remain in Heaven and descend in the prison of the Maternal bosom.  Thus our Will wanted thus it was done.

“Now my daughter, every time that the soul wants to do my Will, my Celestial Father first looks inside of himself, calls as in counsel the Sacrosanct Trinity, in order to fill that act of our Will with all the possible and imaginable goods, then he issues it forth from himself and makes it invest the creature by his working, communicating, transforming Will, and as in the incarnation the three Divine Persons they remained in Heaven, and descended in the bosom of the Immaculate Virgin, thus my Will with his power transports with himself in his operative act the Divine Trinity in the creature, while he leaves him in Heaven, and forms there in the human will his Divine act.

“Now who can tell you the wonders that become enclosed in this act of our Will? our love rises and diffuses itself so much as to not find where to put itself, and when it has filled everything, it retires into our source, our sanctity feels honored with (the) Divine act from our same working Will in the creature and diffuses itself with surprising graces, in order to communicate his sanctity to all creatures, they are unreachable prodigies that He completes, when the creature calls him to work in her.  Therefore make everything disappear in my Will, and we will give you everything in your power and you will be able to give us everything, even ourselves.”

Vol. 34, March 1, 1936

But how should we respond to so great a love that can't even be contained?  How to respond to His long nine months of being consumed in the seas of His love for mankind.  Our Mother Mary gives the example that we should follow and even better that we should join ourselves to her seas of love, her rounds and the feast that she made for her Son/God.  She is the Full of Grace who can return to God all that is of God for herself and for all of her children.  She is the one who can perfectly reciprocate God for all His unrequited love.  She does this for all of Creation, all souls, and each individual soul.  She teaches us how to do it and she calls us to do it together with her.

“My daughter, do you know? my Mama prepared for me the feast in my birth, do you know ever how?  She was to light of the seas of love, that descended from Heaven in the descent of the Eternal Word, she felt the continuous cry of God, that wanted to be re-loved, our anxieties, the ardent sighs, she felt my moans in her bosom, often she felt me cry and sob, and my every moan was a sea of love that I sent to every heart in order to be loved, and not seeing myself loved, she/I cried, even to sob, but every tear and hiccup doubled my seas of love in order to conquer creatures by way of love.  But what, they converted these seas for me into sufferings, and I made use of the sufferings, in order to convert them into other seas of love for how many sufferings they gave me.  Now my Mama wanted to make me smile in my birth and to prepare the feast for her Baby Son.  She knew that I can not smile if I am not loved, nor take part in any Feast if love doesn’t race.  Therefore loving me as true Mother, and possessing in virtue of my Fiat seas of love, and being Queen of all the Creation, she involved the Sky with her love, and sealed every star with the ‘I love you oh Son’, for me and for everyone, she involved the Sun in her sea of love and she impressed in every drop of light, her ‘I love you oh Son’, and she called the Sun to invest with its light its Creator and warming him he might feel in every drop of light the ‘I love you’ of his Mama.  She invested the wind with her love and in every breath sealed the ‘I love you oh Son’, and then she called it so that, with its puffs it caressed him, and he might feel in every breath of wind ‘I love you, I love you oh my Son’. She involved all the air in her seas of love, so that breathing he might feel the breath of love of my Mother.  She covered the whole sea with her sea of love, every wriggle of fish, and the sea murmured ‘I love you oh my Son’, and the fishes quivered ‘I love you, I love you’, there was no thing that she didn’t invest with her love, and with her empire of Queen, she commanded everyone that they might receive her love, in order to re-give her Jesus the love of his Mama.

“Hence every bird, some trilled love, some chirruped, some warbled love, even every atom of earth was invested by her love, the breath/[fiato] of the beasts came with the ‘I love you’ of my Mother, the hay was invested by her love, therefore there was no thing that I might see or touch, that I might not feel the sweetness of the love of Her.  With this she prepared for me the most beautiful feast, in my birth, the feast all of love, was the exchange of my great love, that made me find my sweet Mother, and it was her love that quieted my weeping, warmed me while in the manger I was numbed by the cold; more so that I found in her love the love of all creatures, and for every one she kissed me, squeezed me to her Heart, and loved me with (the) love of Mother for all her children, and I feeling in every one her Maternal love, I felt myself love them as her children and as my dear brothers.

“My daughter, what can not love do, animated by an Omnipotent Fiat? It makes itself magnet and attracts there in an irresistible way, removing every dissimilarity, with its heat it transforms and confirms He whom it loves. Then it embellishes in an incredible way, as to feel Heavens and earth enraptured to love. To not love a creature that loves us proves impossible, all our Power and Divine strength, are rendered impotent and weak before the winning strength of whom loves us. Therefore you also give me the feast that my Mother gave me in being born, involve Heaven and earth with your ‘I love you oh Jesus’, let nothing escape you if your love doesn’t race, make me smile, because I was not born one single time, but I am always reborn, and many times my rebirths are without smile and without feast and I remain alone (with) my tears, the hiccups, the whimpers and a cold that makes me tremble and numbs all my members.

“Therefore squeeze me to your heart in order to warm me with your love and with the light of my Will, form for me the attire in order to dress me, thus you also will make for me the feast and I will make it for you, with giving you new love and new knowledge of my Will.”

Vol. 34, January 1, 1937

Jesus longs for the reciprocation of His seas of love.  He longs for the feast that His Mother made for Him in His birth to be repeated in each of His births in the acts of His children of the Divine Will.  I've become convinced that I can not do this properly.  It is true that the Divine Will supplies for all and even makes up for all that which we can not consciously do but I can't help but want to give Him the perfect response.  The response that only His Mother was and is able to give Him.  So more and more I ask our Blessed Mother to help.

"O Mother, please cover me with your mantle, supply for all that which I lack, repair all that which I have done poorly and make me whole and presentable to your Son Jesus and as you do this for me let us do this for everyone."

Here is the Christmas Novena as recorded in Volume One from two different sections.

Beginning of the narration: The Christmas Novena.

I begin. With a Novena of Holy Christmas, at the age of about seventeen, I prepared myself for the Feast of Holy Christmas, by practicing various acts of virtue and mortification; and, especially, by honoring the nine months which Jesus spent in the maternal womb with nine hours of meditation each day, always concerning the mystery of the Incarnation.

First Hour: Jesus in the Bosom of the Father. Decree of the Incarnation

As for example, during one hour, with my thought, I brought myself to Paradise, and I imagined the Most Holy Trinity: the Father, sending the Son upon earth; the Son, promptly obeying the Will of the Father; the Holy Spirit, consenting. My mind was confused in contemplating a mystery so great, a love so reciprocal, so equal, so strong among Themselves and toward men; and then, the ingratitude of men, and especially my own. I would have remained there, not for one hour, but for the whole day; but an interior voice told me: “Enough – come and see other greater excesses of my love.”

Second Hour: Incarnate love in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Then, my mind brought itself into the maternal womb, and remained stupefied in considering a God so great in Heaven, now so annihilated, restricted, constrained, as to be unable to move, and almost even to breathe. The interior voice told me: “Do you see how much I have loved you?” O please, make Me a little space in your heart; remove everything which is not mine, so you will give Me more freedom to move and to breathe.” My heart was consumed; I asked for His forgiveness, I promised to be completely His own, I poured myself out in crying; but – I say this to my confusion – I would go back to my usual defects. Oh! Jesus, how good You have been with this miserable creature.

Third Hour: Devouring love.

3 As I moved on from the second to the third meditation, an interior voice told me: “My daughter, place your head upon the womb of my Mama, and look deep into it at my little Humanity. My love devoured Me; the fires, the oceans, the immense seas of love of my Divinity inundated Me, burned Me to ashes, and sent their flames so high as to rise and reach everywhere - all generations, from the first to the last man. My little Humanity was devoured in the midst of such flames; but do you know what my eternal love wants Me to devour? Ah! Souls! And only then was I content, when I devoured them all, to remain conceived with Me. I was God, and I was to operate as God - I had to take them all. My love would have given Me no peace, had I excluded any of them. Ah! my daughter, look well into the womb of my Mama; fix well your eyes on my conceived Humanity, and you will find your soul conceived with Me, and the flames of my love that devoured you. Oh! how much I loved you, and I do love you!”

I felt dissolved in the midst of so much love, nor was I able to go out of it; but a voice called me loudly, saying: “My daughter, this is nothing yet; cling more tightly to Me, and give your hands to my dear Mama, that She may hold you to her maternal womb. And you, take another look at my little conceived Humanity, and watch the fourth excess of my love.”

Fourth Hour: Operating love, which from the start makes Jesus suffer the pains of his passion over and over again.

4 “My daughter, from the devouring love, move on to look at my operative love. Each conceived soul brought Me the burden of her sins, of her weaknesses and passions, and my love commanded Me to take the burden of each one of them. And it conceived not only the souls, but the pains of each one, as well as the satisfaction which each one of them was to give to my Celestial Father. So my Passion was conceived together with Me. Look well at Me in the womb of my Celestial Mama. Oh! how tortured was my little Humanity. Look well at my little head, surrounded by a crown of thorns, which, pressed tightly around my temples, made rivers of tears pour out from my eyes; nor was I able to make a move to dry them. O please! be moved to compassion for Me, dry my eyes from so much crying - you, who have free arms to be able to do it. These thorns are the crown of the so many evil thoughts which crowd the human minds. Oh! how they prick Me, more than thorns which sprout from the earth. But, look again – what a long crucifixion of nine months: I could not move a finger or a hand or a foot. I was always immobile; there was no room to be able to move even a tiny bit. What a long and hard crucifixion, with the addition that all evil works, assuming the form of nails, continuously pierced my hands and feet.” So He continued to narrate to me pains upon pains – all the martyrdoms of His little Humanity, such that, if I wanted to tell them all, I would be too long.

I abandoned myself to crying, and I heard in my interior: “My daughter, I would like to hug you, but I am unable to do so - there is no room, I am immobile, I cannot do it. I would like to come to you, but I am unable to walk. For now, you hug Me and you come to Me; then, when I come out of the maternal womb, I will come to you.” But as I hugged Him and squeezed Him tightly to my heart with my imagination, an interior voice told me: “Enough for now, my daughter; move on to consider the fifth excess of my love.”

Fifth Hour: Love abandoned and alone.

5 And the interior voice continued: “My daughter, do not move away from Me, do not leave Me alone; my love wants your company. This is another excess of my love, which does not want to be alone. But do you know whose company it wants? That of the creature. See, in the womb of my Mama, all creatures are together with Me – conceived together with Me. I am with them, all love. I want to tell them how much I love them; I want to speak with them to tell them of my joys and sorrows - that I have come into their midst to make them happy and to console them; that I will remain in their midst as a little brother, giving my goods, my Kingdom, to each one of them at the cost of my life. I want to give them my kisses and my caresses; I want to amuse Myself with them, but – ah, how many sorrows they give Me! Some run away from Me, some play deaf and force Me into silence; some despise my goods and do not care about my Kingdom, returning my kisses and caresses with indifference and obliviousness of Me, so they convert my amusement into bitter crying. Oh! how lonely I am, though in the midst of many. Oh! how loneliness weighs upon Me. I have no one to whom to say a word, with whom to pour Myself out - not even in love. I am always sad and taciturn, because if I speak, I am not listened to. Ah! my daughter, I beg you, I implore you, do not leave Me alone in so much loneliness; give Me the good of letting Me speak by listening to Me; lend your ear to my teachings. I am the master of masters. How many things do I want to teach you! If you listen to Me, you will stop my crying and I will amuse Myself with you. Don’t you want to amuse yourself with Me?”

And as I abandoned myself in Him, giving Him my compassion in His loneliness, the interior voice continued: “Enough, enough; move on to consider the sixth excess of my love.”

Sixth Hour: Love suffocated and confined to the darkness of sin and ingratitude.

6 “My daughter, come, pray my dear Mama to set aside a little space for you within her maternal womb, that you yourself may see the painful state in which I find Myself.” So, in my thoughts, it seemed that our Queen Mama made me a little room to make Jesus content, and placed me in it. But the darkness was such that I could not see Him; I could only hear His breathing, while He continued to say in my interior: “My daughter, look at another excess of my love. I am the eternal light; the sun is a shadow of my light. But do you see where my love led Me - in what a dark prison I am? There is not a glimmer of light; it is always night for Me – but a night without stars, without rest. I am always awake…what pain! The narrowness of this prison - without being able to make the slightest movement; the thick darkness…; even my breathing, as I breathe through the breathing of my Mama – oh, how labored it is! To this, add the darkness of the sins of creatures. Each sin was a night for Me, and combined together they formed an abyss of darkness, with no boundaries. What pain! Oh, excess of my love - making Me pass from an immensity of light and space into an abyss of thick darkness, so narrow as to lose the freedom to breathe; and all this, for love of creatures.”

As He was saying this, He moaned - moans almost suffocated because of the lack of space; and He cried. I was consumed with crying. I thanked Him, I compassionated Him; I wanted to make Him a little light with my love, as He told me to. But who can say all? Then, the same interior voice added: “Enough for now; move on to the seventh excess of my love.”

Seventh Hour: Love is left unanswered and wounded by ingratitude.

7 The interior voice continued: “My daughter, do not leave Me alone in so much loneliness and in so much darkness. Do not leave the womb of my Mama, so you may see the seventh excess of my love. Listen to Me: in the womb of my Celestial Father I was fully happy; there was no good which I did not possess; joy, happiness - everything was at my disposal. The Angels adored Me reverently, hanging upon my every wish. Ah, excess of my love! I could say that it made Me change my destiny; it restrained Me within this gloomy prison; it stripped Me of all my joys, happinesses and goods, to clothe Me with all the unhappinesses of creatures – and all this in order to make an exchange, to give them my destiny, my joys and my eternal happiness. But this would have been nothing had I not found in them highest ingratitude and obstinate perfidy. Oh, how my eternal love was surprised in the face of so much ingratitude, and how it cried over the stubbornness and perfidy of man. Ingratitude was the sharpest thorn that pierced my heart, from my conception up to the last moment of my life. Look at my little heart - it is wounded, and pours out blood. What pain! What torture I feel! My daughter, do not be ungrateful to Me. Ingratitude is the hardest pain for your Jesus; it is to close the door in my face, leaving Me numb with cold. But my love did not stop at so much ingratitude; it took the attitude of supplicating, imploring, moaning and begging love. This is the eighth excess of my love.”

Eighth Hour: Begging, lamenting and pleading.

8 “My daughter, do not leave Me alone; place your head upon the womb of my dear Mama, and even from the outside you will hear my moans and my supplications. In seeing that neither my moans nor my supplications move the creature to compassion for my love, I assume the attitude of the poorest of beggars; and stretching out my little hand, I ask - for pity’s sake, and at least as alms - for their souls, for their affections and for their hearts. My love wanted to conquer the heart of man at any cost; and in seeing that after seven excesses of my love, he was still reluctant, he played deaf, he did not care about Me and did not want to give himself to Me, my love wanted to push itself further. It should have stopped; but no, it wanted to overflow even more from within its boundaries; and from the womb of my Mama, it made my voice reach every heart with the most insinuating manners, with the most fervent pleas, with the most penetrating words. And do you know what I said to them? ‘My child, give me your heart; I will give you everything you want, provided that you give Me your heart in exchange. I have descended from Heaven to make a prey of it. O please, do not deny it to Me! Do not delude my hopes!’ And in seeing him reluctant – even more, many turned their backs to Me – I passed on to moaning; I joined my little hands and, crying, with a voice suffocated by sobs, I added: ‘Ohh! Ohh! I am the little beggar; you don’t want to give Me your heart - not even as alms? Is this not a greater excess of my love; that the Creator, in order to approach the creature, takes the form of a little baby so as not to strike fear in him; that He asks for the heart of the creature, at least as alms, and in seeing that he does not want to give it, He supplicates, moans and cries?”

Then I heard Him say: “And you, don’t you want to give Me your heart? Or maybe you too want Me to moan, beg and cry in order to give Me your heart? Do you want to deny Me the alms I ask of you?” And as He was saying this I heard Him as though sobbing, and I: ‘My Jesus, do not cry, I give You my heart and all of myself.’ Then, the interior voice continued: “Move further; pass on to the ninth excess of my love.”

Ninth Hour: Love in the continual state of agony and death.

9 “My daughter, my state is ever more painful. If you love Me, keep your gaze fixed on Me, to see if you can offer some relief to your Jesus; a little word of love, a caress, a kiss, will give respite to my crying and to my afflictions. Listen my daughter, after I gave eight excesses of my love, and man requited them so badly, my love did not give up and wanted to add the ninth excess to the eighth. And this was yearnings, sighs of fire, flames of desire, for I wanted to go out of the maternal womb to embrace man. This reduced my little Humanity, not yet born, to such an agony as to reach the point of breathing my last. But as I was about to breathe my last, my Divinity, which was inseparable from Me, gave Me sips of life, and so I regained life to continue my agony, and return again to the point of death. This was the ninth excess of my love: to agonize and to die of love continuously for the creature. Oh! what a long agony of nine months! Oh! how love suffocated Me and made Me die. Had I not had the Divinity with Me, which gave Me life again every time I was about to finish, love would have consumed Me before coming out to the light of day.”

Then He added: “Look at Me, listen to Me, how I agonize, how my heart beats, pants, burns. Look at Me - now I die.” And He remained in deep silence. I felt I was dying. My blood froze in my veins, and trembling, I said to Him: ‘My Love, my Life, do not die, do not leave me alone. You want love, and I will love You; I will not leave You ever again. Give me your flames to be able to love You more, and be consumed completely for You.’