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The precise title “Mother of God” goes back at least to the third or fourth century. In the
Greek form Theotokos (God-bearer), it became the touchstone of the Church’s teaching about the Incarnation.
The Council of Ephesus in 431 insisted that the holy Fathers were right in calling the holy virgin Theotokos. At
the end of this particular session, crowds of people marched through the street shouting: “Praised be the Theotokos!” Mary Blessed Virgin Mother of God enters fully into the public revelation of
God as is evident from the Gospels. Mary is the Mother of God; the “THEOTOKOS” that enters into the greatest mystery of God, the Incarnation, and is for this reason an object of Faith, in fact,
no one can deny her divine motherhood which is an article of Faith. In fact if someone should dare to deny Her Divine Motherhood
he would automatically place himself outside the fold of the Church. Mary remains always the Bride of the Holy Spirit, the
Mother of Christ True God and True Man, and Mother of the Church. Luisa had a great devotion to Mary, the Blessed Virgin. In fact, as soon as the Association of the Daughters of
Mary was organized in Corato she immediately became a member. This is still during the period of Luisa’s childhood.
The director of the association was Fr. Cataldo de Benedictis. Her
devotion to the Blessed Virgin did not end with this emotional yearning towards Mary, but became a dominant theme of her spiritual
reflections. Luisa will write stupendous pages about the Blessed Virgin and Her role in the Reign of the
Divine Will. The Servant of God breaks new ground in the study of Mary, and deepens in a unique way her
reflections about the Virgin. In fact, Marion experts always spoke about the Virgin by considering her
life according to human terms. Luisa inverts this concept and states that: “The
Virgin, from the moment of Her conception, had the faculty of reason”. For this reason, She was able to have from God the accurate perception
of the sin perpetrated by the human free will which spoiled the treasures of grace that God wanted to give mankind. The Virgin,
in seeing all the evil that human will perpetrated, bound her will at the feet of the Blessed Trinity,
so that in Her, might always reign the Divine Will. The Virgin never gave room to Her human will and became
the Queen of the Divine Will, for which God filled Her with many, and such bountiful gifts, as to form in Her His reign, His
glory, His power and prepare a worthy residence for the Eternal Word that would become flesh. In fact,
Mary was the first heiress of the Kingdom of the Divine Will that one day would be given to all humanity. Mary
is, therefore, the Queen of heaven and earth; it is She who would become The Mother of God. Luisa
asserts that the Church has barely begun to understand the merit of the Blessed Virgin: “Mary is all to be rediscovered”. There is no greater creature that could be compared to Her splendor;
Mary is Creation’s masterpiece. Mary is the Queen of martyrs, not because she shed Her blood for
Her faith, not because of the pain caused Her by the crucifixion of Her Beloved Son, but because She never gave room to Her
own will; everything She accomplished was done in the sole and single Will of God. The love that the children of God should have towards Mary must be expressed
in Faith, because She is the Mother of God. Faith, according to the definition of Piccarreta: “is God, and God is Faith”.
Mary, the first true believer, lived the Faith that is God, (according to Piccarreta). Mary will be the one who will contribute to the realization of God’s plan. The heavenly
Heiress of the Divine Will has transmitted this gift to all creatures that freely accept Her. Mary is the
Mother of God and at the same time Mother of all. She does not resign herself to seeing her children deprived
of the divine graces of which She herself is so richly endowed. Therefore, She continuously prays and exhorts
humans to not sin and to accept the Will of God which alone can lead humanity to peace. Mary puts at the disposition of all, Her merits as Mother of God and Bride of the Holy Spirit, so that the
Reign of the Divine Will might have dominion among men. Here is what
the Blessed Virgin said to Luisa at the dawn of the last century: “I will search among all nations, in every Diocese,
among all religious orders, even door to door if necessary, until such time as all have returned to God”. From
the moment of the Conception of the Blessed Virgin, began the movement of the grace of God to all of humanity.
This Child of God, having inherited the Divine Will, offered to God each moment, every heartbeat,
every thought, every breath in order to satisfy the creative Power of God, so much so that God was able to form in Her the
greatest wonder of His Holiness, of His Beauty and of His Grace. In Mary, the kindness of
God towards mankind, are realized; Mary became a Creature that belonged entirely to God, She Who would become the privileged
Instrument of God Who would choose Her as the residence of His Son, the Word incarnate. Mary,
for Her part, binds to herself the entire human family, like members of Her Body. The wonders of God fulfilled in this Creature are unheard of and not comprehensible
to the human mind. Fiat! |
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Mons. Giovan Battista Pichierri Prot. 0098/07/C2
ARCHBISHOP OF TRANI-BARLETTA-BISCEGLIE TITULAR BISHOP OF NAZARETH NOTICE About the process of Beatification and Canonization Of the Servant of God LUISA PICCARRETA Since it is my desire to bring
up to date all those who are interested in the process of Beatification and Canonization of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta,
Little Daughter of the Divine Will, and in view of the various requests for clarification that I have received, I
am issuing the following statement. When the Diocesan Inquiry into the life,
virtues and reputation of holiness of the Servant of God was closed on 29 October 2005 in Corato, a new phase of study was
opened at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in the Vatican. Since the fine work of the members of the diocesan
Tribunal and of the diocesan Postulator was finished, a new Postulator, Dr. Silva Monica Correale, and a new Vice-postulator,
the Rev. Sabino Amedeo Lattanzio, were nominated. Establishment of the Secretariat of the Cause In agreement with the Pious Association, 'Luisa Piccarreta' Little Children
of the Divine Will, the petitioner in the Cause located in Corato, our Archdiocese set up the Secretariat of the
Cause of Beatification of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta as the operating body that has as the aim of supporting
the complex activities and procedures as well as the task of providing links, support and information to all those who are
interested in the Cause. The Secretariat, which will follow the progress of
the Cause, is also the means which the Archdiocese and the Pious Association have adopted in order to keep in touch other
Dioceses, individuals, groups and associations by supplying information on the state of the Cause and everything else related
to it. The Archdiocese and the Association will use exclusively the Secretariat to receive and resolve any request
made to them. Furthermore, I want to make it clear that neither the Archdiocese
nor the Association nor the Secretariat has delegated any person, group or other association, in any way, to represent them
outside of their legitimate locations, to spread knowledge about the life, thought and writings of the Servant of God or to
make any decision in their names. From the moment that the Diocesan Inquiry was begun, this Archdiocese has never officially
nominated any Theologian or Censor for the writings of Luisa. Likewise, it has never nominated any official translator
of the writings from Italian into any other language. I take this occasion
to repeat what I have already stated many times before: individuals, groups and associations anywhere in the world that
are inspired by the spirituality of Luisa Piccarreta must keep constantly in touch with the bishops of their own dioceses
in order to submit to their discernment any of their activities such as conventions, days of retreat or prayer meetings.
Their authorization will bring serenity to the participants by guaranteeing each meeting with the proper ecclesial character. Finally, I want to state unequivocally that no one has been delegated or authorized
to collect offerings for the support of the Cause. Any offerings may be sent directly to the Secretariat, the address
of which can be found at the end of this notice. Current state of the Cause
Having examined the documentation of the Diocesan Inquiry, the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints asked for additional
documents. This required the opening of an Additional Process which was concluded on 22nd February last. At the
present time, we are awaiting the judgment on the validity of the Principal and Additional Diocesan Inquiries, that is, that
they were conducted in conformity with the norms of canon law. In the meantime,
the Congregation has informed me that "before proceeding any further, an examination of the writings of the Servant
of God will be done in order to clarify difficulties of a theological nature" and that consequently, in the current
state of the Cause, her writings may not be published. The rule of prudence and respect for the Church, therefore obliges
everyone to avoid any publication, be it in print or on the internet, of Luisa's writings both in Italian and in any other
language. This is true also because of legal reasons since the Archdiocese of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie has exclusive
ownership of, and wrights to, her writings. Faithful obedience to the guidance provided
by the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints is certainly the fundamental premise to a growing relationship of trust. Prospects. I exhort all those who, in a commendable
way, work in the spirit of the "Divine Will" to persevere in spreading the knowledge of the holiness of life of
the Servant of God, and not to tire in encouraging everyone to pray for her canonization.
Above all, I ask for the creation of a spiritual network that links in communion various groups, officially erected in dioceses
with the permission of their Bishops, with our Archdiocese and the Association of Corato through the valuable auspices of
the Secretariat of the Cause. Information on the activities of groups on testimony
about her reputation of holiness and also on any divine graces, obtained through the intercession of the Servant of God, will
feed this communion of life that will make everyone in the world part of "the family of the Luisa".
Likewise we must not neglect the commitment to find the funds necessary to sustain the great expenses of the Cause.
Doing so would risk slowing its progress for lack of money. It is my desire
that a relationship of mutual respect increase among all of the shared responsibility entrusted to us to create those conditions
whereby His Kingdom come and Fiat voluntas tua sicut in caelo et in terra come to pass.
I bless you with all my heart! Trani 23 April 2007
+ Mons. Giovan Battista Pichierri
Archbishop _______________________________________________________________________________ SECRETARIAT OF THE CAUSE OF BEATIFICATION OF THE SERVANT OF GOD LUISA PICCARRETA Via
San Vito n.24 70033 Corato (Ba) Italia Tel/Fax 0039.080.8983299 e-mail: segreteria@causeluisapiccarreta.it website: www.causeofluisapiccarreta.it |
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