|
STUDY TEAM FOR THE WRITINGS OF THE
SERVANT
OF GOD “LUISA PICCARRETA”
Prot. N° 1047/05 – Prot. 28/06 GBP
Establishment and Appointment
The diocesan
Church, October 29, 2005, with the Eucharistic Concelebration that happened in the Mother Church of Corato at the 20th hour,
closed the inquiry on the renown of the sanctity of the Servant of God “Luisa Piccarreta”, delivering to the Congregation
of the Saints all the documents relating to her the following November 7th.
Now there remains the hard and delicate
commitment of dealing with the study of the writings of the Servant of God, taking care of the typical (original writings
transcribed into correct Italian language) and critical edition (writings with annotations), recognized by the relevant ecclesiastical
authority.
The writings of Luisa are:
• 36 handwritten volumes, called Diaries.
• Hours of the
Passion. The 24 hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
• The Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will.
• Memory
of childhood.
• Pilgrimage of the soul in the Divine Will.
• Prayers: the three appeals; consecration to the
Divine Will, the seven sorrows of Mary,
the visit to Sacramental Jesus, yearnings for holiness, to Jesus all
love.
• Letters: 239 to various addressees, 70 to Saint Annibale Maria di Francia.
For a critical work
to be done well, I believe it appropriate to form a team of scholars, with the advice of Prof. Luigi Borriello of the Istituto
Pontificio Teresiano.
With the help of God, under the action of the Holy Spirit, I am convinced that an operation
of beneficial discernment will be completed for the glory of the Most Holy Trinity and benefit of a multitude of souls who
are longing to discover the spirituality of the Divine Volition as it so emerges from the writings of the Servant of God,
reviewed in the light of Divine Revelation and of the universal Magisterium of the Church.
In fact, I appoint the team
so formed:
Prof. Luigi BORRIELLO - Theologian in Spirituality, consultant
Sac. Sabino LATTANZIO - Theologian
in Ecclesiology, general coordinator and vice postulator
Sac. Sergio PELLEGRINI - Theologian in Morality
Sac.
Vincenzo DIPILATO - Theologian in Dogmatic Fundamentals
P. Pablo MARTIN - Spiritualism of the Servant
of God
Mons. Savino GIANNOTTI - Expert in Human Sciences.
Sac. Giuseppe LOBASCIO - Licensed in Ecclesiastical
History
The present are valued as personal appointment of each member to the team.
I thank each one in particular
for their helpfulness and I assure them of my accompanying prayer in the FIAT voluntas tua sicut in coelo et in terra.
Cordially
I bless you.
Trani, November 1, 2005, Solemnity of the Saints
Giovan Battista Pichierri
Archbishop
----------------------------------------------------------
Mons. Giovanni Battista Pichierri
ARCHDIOCESE
of
TRANI – BARLETTA – BISCEGLIE
TITULAR of NAZARETH
3rd INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ABOUT THE
SERVANT OF God “Luisa
PICCARRETA”
Madonna of Graces Sanctuary – October 27, 2005
“The holiness of the life of the Servant of God Luisa
Piccarreta”
Talk by Archbishop Giovan Battista PICHIERRI
On November 20, 1994 my predecessor, His Excellency
Mons. Carmelo CASSATI, opened on the Solemnity of Christ, King of the Universe, the Diocesan process for the recognition of
the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Luisa PICCARRETA.
He explained this act, that represents one of the most lofty
in the exercise of the magistery of a Pastor, expressing himself in this way:
“…That Fiat that Luisa continuously repeated
was an immense desire to do only the Will of God, and she presented this Fiat also with the immolation of herself. Very many
years, almost her whole life, in a bed, and many times even with pains and of taking so much part in the Passion of Our Lord
Jesus Christ.
…To the eyes of God her life was of one freely ascended on the Cross, and having known the Will of God
she said: “Here I am, Your Will be done,” not three years, not three days on the Cross, but sixty years on the cross of a
bed. This immolation, this offering enters directly into the Chalice of the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ; and
with her immolation Luisa became she who repairs, who compensates the sins of others, and then this life becomes heroic. God
had wanted her alive only because He welcomed her immolation done freely, and before so much generosity it is not surprising
then if Luisa would also have had some particular intuitions, as it is also clear from her writings…
…It is not surprising
if at a certain opportune time God says: “Soul, do you want to give Me a hand? My Redemption is certainly enough, but I need
other souls who join Me in this Calvary, in this immolation, because man never tires of offending God…”.
(Homily to
be resumed because of registration)
Mons. Cassati exhorted working for God according to the times and not hurriedly,
as can happen to us.
About eleven years have passed from that November 20, 1994.
On October 29, 2005 I will
have the joy of declaring closed the Diocesan process concerning the Beatification of the Servant of God “Luisa Piccarreta”,
highlighting the testimonies about her renown of heroic holiness and about the loftiness of the spirituality of the Divine
Volition as it so emerges from her writings—that are also in need of being published in a typical edition and studied in depth
in their contents of faith, precisely concerning the spirituality specification that carries out and supports the request
contained in the prayer of the Lord Jesus: “Your Will be done on earth as It is in Heaven.” (Matthew 6:10-11).
Concerning
the renown of the holiness of the Servant of God, according to the testimonies gathered there is no shadow of doubt. To want
to sketch a brief outline, one could delineate it in this way:
o Luisa Piccarreta (April 23, 1865 – March 4, 1947)
during her lifetime already enjoyed by popular acclaim the name of Saint; and still today so she is called in Corato, city
of her birth: “Luisa the Saint”.
This does not constitute wanting to anticipate the irrevocable judgment given only
by the authority of the Holy Father. It is a spontaneous judgment of the people, struck by the simplicity, transparency, and
goodness of Luisa.
o In Luisa there was never noticed sensational and extraordinary ostentatious phenomenons of guile.
She lived for about seventy years in suffering, united to suffering Jesus, conforming herself to the Will of God, to whom
she consecrated herself with offering of victim, and with the grace desired by her of not having visible signs on her body.
o She lived occupied in work, possible for her by the embroidery of the tombolo , surrounded by students, in a style
of poverty and of absolute detachment from earthly goods, in a climate of continuous prayer. One can say: she breathed in
God. In her daily duties, only one extraordinary phenomenon: the regime of her diet and that nocturnal corporal rigidity that
she called “my usual state”. According to all those who assisted her, Luisa ate very little, without any damage to her health.
Of one thing she could not do without: of the Most Holy Eucharist.
She relates in her autobiography that already a
teenager: “Communion became my predominate passion. In it I centralized all my affections. I was content to listen to Jesus
speaking, and how much it cost me to be deprived of Him because I was compelled by the family to go together with them to
the large farm where I had to remain for long months without Mass and without Communion.”
o Her interior life was
nourished with prayer. Her conversation with the Divine Spouse was prolonged at length in the night, causing rigidity to her
members, from which she could not come round except through obedience to the priest who daily came to the house for the celebration
of Holy Mass or for Eucharist Communion.
Father Benedetto CALVI, last confessor and incomparable diffuser of her image
and of her writings, affirms: Her little bed changed into a marvelous pulpit from which, with Divine wisdom and unction, she
intimately changed souls. Not a few came forth from her little room visibly changed, amazed and moved, and … ready to purify
themselves with a holy Confession”.
o The spirituality that distinguishes the life, the speaking, and the writings
of the Servant of God is “to live in the Will of God”, “to be the little daughter of the Divine Volition,” and “the missionary
of the Kingdom of the Will of God” by the light of the affirmation of Jesus: My food is to do the Will of He who has sent
me”. (John 4:34).
o What is striking in Luisa is her imperturbability. She confronted suffering and trials always
sustained by the Divine Volition that she kept understanding ever more through the interior illustrations and words that Jesus,
her only Teacher, told her. How much she has left us written in the thirty-six diaries and in the books of piety and of meditation,
forming a true and proper itinerary of ascetic and mystical life that elevates the soul of one who reads them, believing in
the one and triune God with an amazing and satisfying fervor. “Teacher and missionary of the Divine Volition”, she proposed
not “with words of human wisdom” in a tribunal of scholars of the earth, but as fruit of her love toward God and neighbor
as a very humble woman of the people with hardly a first grade elementary education, with an existence as almost buried and
“hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).
o The sovereign virtue of Luisa is obedience to God and to the Magisterium
of the Church. She wrote for obedience; and when the authority of the Church collected all her writings, she underwrote this
declaration: “If the Church considers false everything that I have written, you must consider it false” (Refer to Act of submission
written by Luisa Piccarreta on the date October 19, 1938 and sent to Rome by Archbishop Giuseppe Leo).
o From the
close of the process, one can obtain from this a profile peculiar to the Servant of God: apostle of salvific suffering. Saint
Annibale Maria Di Francia described her as: “Virgin of the Lord and wounded dove who sought her Lord” (from the letter of
Father Angelo Sardone rcj, Postulator General of the Congregation of the Rogationist Fathers. October 22, 2005). The primary
reference in that regard can be the encyclical of John Paul II “Salvificis doloris”.
“Contemporary man, who trusts in
the certainty of his scientific, technological, and social conquests, flees from the mystery of the Cross, from pain, from
suffering, interpreting it as annihilationment of his dignity; so not understanding it, he intends to eliminate it from history
(see for example euthanasia, abortion, artificial insemination, etc.) In Luisa the Cross is fecund pain in union with Christ
crucified and always mystically immolated in the Eucharist; it is a pain full of love, intentionally hidden and always in
line and in tune with the Fiat pronounced by Mary at Nazareth and renewed on Calvary. For Luisa, Mary Most Holy is the new
creature who pronounces the Fiat without ever revoking It. To those who went to speak to her in order to implore her prayer
to God for the relief of their own sufferings, she recommended the Way of the Cross and the Hours of the Passion, lived by
her even to her “consumatum est” (it is finished) on March 4, 1947”. (Refer to article by the Postulator Don Sabino LATTANZIO
and to the Judge delegate Mons. Pietro CIRASELLI, in Osservatore Romano on September 4, 2005).
Conclusion
We
believe we are not exaggerating if we assert that the Servant of God “Luisa Piccarreta”, wanted by the Father, daughter in
the Son, who rendered herself docile and obedient to the action of the Holy Spirit, constitutes for our Diocesan Church and
for the many who know her—and they are very many scattered in Italy, in the United States of America, in Colombia, in Mexico,
in Asia, and elsewhere—a model of very real Christian life needed in our time as a supplement of a genuinely Christian soul.
As
Pastor of this beloved Church I feel the responsibility
o of making known the spirituality of the Divine Volition straightforwardly
as it emerges from the writings of the Servant of God examined in the light of Divine Revelation and of the Magisterium of
the Church;
o of showing them to the sister Dioceses, where there are present groups who are inspired by the Divine
Volition, directing myself to the Brother Pastors—those who have the duty of overseeing so that one is not led astray—the
thinking contained in the writings of Luisa, accepting the reliable studies of theologians who present them with a critical
and correct preparation according to the sound doctrine of the Church;
o of entrusting to the Holy See the final judgment
on the credibility of this process and on an eventual pronouncement of Beatification that We hope for only for the glory of
God and the advancement of Christian life in our times.
As positive fruit of studying, of deepening, of valid aids
for, the understanding of the spirituality of the Divine Volition according to the writings of Luisa—that need to be published
in the typical edition—to indicate to our Diocesan Church and, if their own Bishops consider it opportune, to other Dioceses:
o Biography of Luisa, by Father Benedetto CALVI.
o Partial biography (up to 20 years old) of Luisa, by Mons.
Luigi DORIA.
o Biography of Luisa, by Father Pablo MARTIN.
o Biography of Luisa, by Father Bernardino BUCCI,
o.f.m. capp. (translated into various languages)
o FIAT, Thoughts of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta about the
Divine Will, edited by Father Berardino BUCCI o.f.m. capp.
o Personal reflections about some passages from the writings
of Luisa Piccarreta, edited by Father Berardino BUCCI o.f.m. capp.
o Holiness of life of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta.
Points for reflection edited by Sac. Sergio PELLEGRINI, Spiritual Assistant of the Pious Association Luisa PICCARRETA Little
Children of the Divine Will of Corato.
Other contributions on behalf of theologians from other Dioceses are to come
to me. These are for the attention of our Postulator, and they will be published, if considered in keeping with the typical
edition of the writings of Luisa supported by a critical preparation that unties the knots of the thinking of Luisa Piccarreta
herself.
This pronouncement of mine is for the greater glory of God and so that the holiness of the Church shines though
the good works of the children of God. Amen.
†Giovan Battista Pichierri
Archbishop
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ARCHDIOCESES
TRANI – BARLETTA – BISCEGLIE AND NAZARETH
70059 TRANI – VIA BELTRANI n.9 – Tel. 0883.494210
e-mail:
vicariogenerale@arctrani.it
Vicar General
Luisa Piccarreta INAUGRAL LECTURE
(October 27, 2005)
CORATO
It
is with enthusiastic and moving emotion that I received the invitation to share with you, authorities and gentlemen here present,
who I greet with affection and fraternity (Archbishop, Postulator, and members of the Tribunal and of the Historical Commission
of the Cause of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta, Very Reverend Priests and Deacons, Religious Fathers, Pious Association
Luisa Piccarreta Little Children of the Divine Will with headquarters in Corato, and Gentlemen and Ladies who have come here
from various countries and nations).
This event of the 3rd International Congress is being conducted at the conclusion
of the Diocesan phase of the Cause of Beatification of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta.
I give thanks to the Most
Holy Trinity, (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) who have guided us to contemplate Luisa and through her have let us discover
living in an experiential way the great warnings of Jesus: “Convert yourselves and believe the Gospel” (Mark 1:15); “I am
the Way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6); “The Kingdom of God is near, rather, it is in your midst.” (Matthew 3:2).
Luisa
shows us something significant: to live the life of the Kingdom following Jesus, taking up the Cross; to live in total and
perfect obedience; to always realize, in each instant of life, in a humble and docile way, the Divine Volition, rather, to
be of the Eucharist, at the same time sacrificial victim and Communion.
We can truly affirm: Luisa is witness of the
celebration of Holy Mass, listening to the Word and actively participating with the sacrifice and with the Communion with
Jesus Christ who gives Himself to us in time and in space representing His Passover.
This experience is known by us
through the humble maidservant of the Lord, Mary, Mother of Jesus and our Mother even from the moment in which She knowingly
gave herself to the Divine Will, pronouncing Her AMEN, the “FIAT mihi secundum verbum tuum—secundum Voluntatem Dei” (Luke
1:38).
During these days, then, on top of the example of Mary, we are guided to rediscover the experience of Living
of the Divine Volition in the person and life of Luisa.
---------------------------------
In a contemplative way,
permit me to retrace in outline and in brief the itinerary or journey made by us in order to reach this Congressional meeting.
I
seek to cover three ways:
o the way of the physical and historical presence, in space and time, of Luisa in Corato;
o
the way of the Diocesan Church, through the vigilant and responsible action of the Archbishops;
o the way of the Holy
Spirit, even from outside of the institutions: the Holy Spirit guides men where and how It wants.
1. The first way
brings us to meet Luisa as a person and her dialogues with Jesus given to us through her writings (letters, prayers, works,
diaries …). I will not linger to outline what is known. The Archbishop and various Priest speakers will talk about them at
length. Besides, even if briefly, much information is known through the magazine of the Pius Association Luisa Piccarreta
Little Children of the Divine Will of Corato, of which Sister Assunta is the present president, and the various biographies
of Father Berardino Bucci.
I ask myself the question: Why is there so much interest in Luisa?
The answer is
to search again considering: the words of Holy Scripture and of the Magisterium:
a.) “This is the Will of God, our
sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3)
b.) “All the faithful of whatever state or rank, are called to perfection and
to the fullness of Christian life and charity.” (L.G., n. 40)
c.) “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect”
(Matthew 5:48)
“The ways of holiness are multiple and adapted to the calling of each one.” Therefore the journeys
of holiness are personal and demands a true and proper pedagogy of holiness.
Luisa is completely singular.
In
the City of Corato on April 23, 1865, the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta was born.
She manifests some singular characteristics
of life that arouse in fellow country men, and in people of other places, through the course of years, the fundamental questions
of Christian consciousness.
In particular:
She is a person from our country, we know her family, she has a
religious preparation common to others.
But … she loves Eucharistic Jesus in a way completely extraordinary. Through the
course of years she is bedridden, but her illness is not known. She wants to receive Communion every day. She eats very little
and remits the food that she consumes. She has exceptional priests as spiritual guides.
She was visited by important
people, even by Cardinals. She recited the Holy Rosary and she loves Mary. She has a correspondence with other people in a
frequent way, as if she were their spiritual director.
She is ignorant, but she writes of “things” sublime and profoundly
rooted in the mystical conversation with Eucharistic Jesus. She manifests a particular pedagogy of holiness: The Fiat and
total and radical obedience to Jesus Christ and to the Church, availability to Live in the Divine Volition, “to be, (I add)
“instrument” and Epiphany of the Divine Will, that is to say, of the Most Holy Trinity, in the world.
2. The second
way is that journey of the Archbishops, and it makes us understand with how much attentive promptness and surveillance Luisa,
favorite Daughter of God, has been followed by the local Church. She lives a pedagogy of holiness that is called “Living in
the Divine Volition”, and “she has attracted” the attention of the same Ecclesiastical Authorities.
The local Church,
through her Pastors, has wanted to make perceived and known the designs of God on Luisa, considering at the same time and
in brief the heroic characteristics and reports of her virtues, of her letters, and of her writings.
The Archbishops
who have been watchmen during her life even “to death” have been:
Mons. Bianchi Dottula Giuseppe (1848-1892). He came
to know about what was happening in Corato after having listened to and consulted with some priests. In 1889 he wanted to
take this case under his authority and responsibility, and after mature reflection he considered it opportune to delegate
a particular Confessor of proven holiness in the person of Father Miche de Benedictis.
Mons. Tommaso De Stefano (1898-1906).
He delegated the new Confessor Father Gennaro De Gennaro who, in 1922, ordered Luisa to put in writing what happened to her
in the mystical conversation with Jesus.
Mons. Carrano Francesco Paolo (1906-1915). He followed Luisa through the
action and the guidance of the Confessor.
Mons. Giovanni Regine (1915-1918) and Mons. Carrano followed Luisa in her
daily life, always through the spiritual guides nominated by them.
Mons. Leo Giuseppe (1920-1939). He assumed the
responsibility of entrusting Luisa to a new Confessor, Father Benedetto Calvi, from 1929 to 1947, who collected in an orderly
and complete way what Luisa had written.
He was the witness for when the Congregation of the Saints Office (1938) withdrew
(the writings). He assumed the task of publishing by himself a correct version in the Italian language of the book: “The Hours
of the Passion”, or “Clock”. He was witness of the death of Luisa occurring March 4, 1947.
After 1947
His Excellency
Mons. Reginaldo M. Addazi (1947-1971), also without taking into consideration the original texts and diaries of Luisa, wanted
to diffuse the renown of Luisa, calling her the humble Servant of God and spreading a prayer composed by him (November 27,
1948) in order to implore from God the Beatification of Luisa.
Mons. Addazi calls her: “herald of the Kingdom of the Divine
Will”
“angel of reparation”
“victim of Your Love”
“Your little Daughter of the Divine Will”
Mons. Carata
Giuseppe from 1971-1990.
The renown of Luisa spread into many parts of the world and in Italy in an exceptional way
through the initiative of Mr. Albrech Federico and Miss Adriana Pallotti of San Giovanni Rotondo, both of whom were guided
by Father Pio.
In 1972 the Association of the Divine Volition was born at Sixth San Giovanni, through the work of
Sig. Andrea Magnifico, who got ownership of the inheritance of what belonged to Luisa, and above all the rights of ownership
of the writings of Luisa.
In the U.S.A. a group of priests arose who were guided by Father Gustavo Morelos, and they
formed numerous prayer groups.
Mons. Carata, coming to know of what was happening in the world, gave beginning, with
Canonical approval in 1986, to the Pious Association Luisa Piccarreta Little Children of the Divine Will of Corato, and urged
by Cardinal Palazzini, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Cause of the Saints, he undertook collecting testimonies
about the Servant of God.
Mons. Cassati Carmelo, 1990-2000. Today Archbishop emeritus, he opened the process of Beatification
of Luisa Piccarreta in the first vespers of the Feast of Christ the King in 1994.
He established the Ecclesiastical
Tribunal for the collection of the testimonies about the heroic virtues of the Servant of God. In 1996 he received from the
Congregation of the Holy See photocopies of the writings that had been “set aside” or withdrawn by the Congregation of the
“Holy Office” in 1938.
He established a “Diocesan Commission” of surveillance regarding the Cause of Beatification
of the Servant of God.
In the meantime, the 1st International Congress went on at (Costa Rica 1995) Rome in Georgia
USA from September 12th to 16th 1995, that had a marvelous and enthusiastic resonance in the whole world. It was presided
by His Excellency Very Reverend Mons. Carmelo Cassati, our Archbishop, with the participation of the then Archbishop of Atlanta,
His Excellency Very Reverend Mons. John F. Donogue.
The various speakers spoke on some testimonies and reflections
about the veracity of the mystical experience of Luisa, the nature of her virtues, the authenticity of some writings, and
the conformity, from what is reported in the original texts or writings, with the doctrine and teaching of the Church. The
writings were spread with the Imprimatur of Father (Saint) Annibale M. Di Francia.
And from that moment Mons. Cassati
wanted to involve in a more effective way the whole local Church regarding the Cause of Beatification of Luisa.
He
was visited by very many pilgrims who sought to know more about Luisa, and they reported about spiritual benefits that they
had received, praying and living according to the Will of God; even if they did not yet understand well what “Living in the
Divine Volition” meant:
In other words, many texts were spread in an uncontrollable way in different languages as
manuscripts, without any permission.
He wanted to guide everything, but he did not yet know how to apply the rules
of legality and of Church supervision.
In 1998 Mons. Cassiti established the Diocesan Commission for the Cause of
Beatification of Luisa, of which the undersigned was and is the Vice-President.
Mons. Cassati interrogated different
theologians in order to carry out the mandate received from the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith concerning the conformity,
or at least what was written overall in the diaries, to the teaching of the Church.
In truth, the opinions have not
always been unanimous. Often even among various theologians there has been a marvelous dialogue of clarification and of comparison.
For this reason he is at work in order to have and present the typical edition of the writings.
Finally in 2000, following
the resignation of Mons. Cassati according to the canonical provisions (can. 401), Mons. Giovanni Battista Pichierri was elected
Archbishop of the Archdioceses of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie and Titular of Nazareth.
With His Excellency Mons. Pichierri,
the walk has been faster.
I refer to some stages gone through that make one marvel about how much he has done in full
conformity to the Divine Will:
- recomposing of the Tribunal of the Cause. Nomination of the new Postulator in the
person of Very Reverend Can. Don Sabino Lattanzio. Nomination of the Historical Commission of the Cause with the Very Reverend
Don Sergio Pellegrini as president.
- Forthcoming of the various responsibilities of the prayer groups spread in various
parts of the world.
- Sig. Andrea Magnifico, in 1002, gave to the Archdioceses the rights of ownership of whatever
“things and writings” he had purchased from the legitimate heirs of Luisa, we direct our solidarity to him for his long suffering.
For quite a lot of years he has been offering and living in the Diving Will as victim according to the example of Luisa.
This
legal gift has given to the Archdioceses the possibility of beginning to know and to guide what was being read and had become
attributed to Luisa.
So Archbishop Pichierri, by my means, had been able to give precise instructions regarding the
use of the writings of Luisa
At the same time he wanted the collaboration of his Brother Bishops of various places
where there are present groups of prayer and of reflections about the spirituality of Living in the Divine Volition.
In
September 2004, by his mandate, I went to various Archdioceses and Dioceses in the USA to meet with the various groups and
to study in depth their relations with the local Bishops.
And for this I say thank you to the Divine Will.
His
Excellency Mons. Pichierri invites everyone to pray for this cause.
Meanwhile, the new Postulator, here present, Very
Reverend Don Sabino Lattanzio, (I can say guided by the Holy Spirit), in conformity, I could say, to the Divine Volition,
promptly got down to work in order to collect and order, as indicated by the Canonical “norms” for the Cause, helped by the
Historical Commission, who had the duty of indicating the truthfulness and the historical authenticity of the testimonies.
3. The third way is that journey by various prayer groups, by movements, of those who are in no way institutionalized;
they have come to know about the person of Luisa and about some of her writings and are interested in imitating the virtues
and following the outlines of the spirituality of Living in the Divine Volition.
It is not possible for me to list
how many groups are present in the world. It would be a map of all.
And those here present today, are the eyewitnesses
and living witnesses of how much Luisa the Little Daughter of the Divine Volition is known and loved.
I direct, therefore,
an affectionate and official thank you to all those who have supported us and are supporting us with the solidarity expressed
in the great amount of correspondence and in the very numerous testimonies of the benefits obtained in their spiritual walk.
In October of 2002 (the 10th-11th) in Corato, the 2nd International Congress was celebrated. The acts of the Congress
have been spread, pro manuscripto, even if not printed. This Congress has had an enormous echo in the world.
How many
thank you’s with great affection to those who have been obedient and observed the operating instructions given by the Archbishop
with an official communiqué.
Meanwhile, some thorough studies about the spirituality of “Living in the Divine Volition”
are coming.*
Conclusion:
I do not know how to express a thank you to the Most Holy Trinity for having been the
one, from so many people, called to serve to help to reach this goal and to live together these days: “the marvelous event
for Our Archdioceses and for the Divine Will.”
With simplicity I say that the designs and prodigies of the Divine Will
are not ours. We hope, as the prophet Isaiah says: “To climb the mountain of the Lord… so that He instruct us in His ways
and we can walk in His paths.” (Isaiah 2:3).
Now, let us continue our works without forgetting that Jesus Christ is
in our midst. He is the Eucharist that nourished Luisa; He is the source and summit of our life and mission. Let us let ourselves
accompany and be nourished by Him.
Greetings and good work.
Mons. Savino Giannotti
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Mons. Giovanni Battista Pichierri
ARCHDIOCESE
of TRANI – BARLETTA – BISCEGLIE
TITULATOR of NAZARETH
Thirty-First
Sunday “A” –
Holy Mass in Closure of the Diocesan Process “Luisa PICCARRETA”
Homily – Mother Church in Corato;
October 29, 2005
Malachi “l:43—2,8-20; Psalm 130:1; Thessalonians 2:7b—9:13; Matthew 23:1—12”
Introduction
– Very dearest, let us render thanks and praise to the Most Holy Trinity for the gift of Divine Life that we have received
from the Father through His only-begotten Son, the Word Incarnate, in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
“The grace
of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.”
This
Holy Mass is characterized by the particular rendering of thanksgiving and of praise that as Diocesan Church united to our
brother and sister provincials from the sister Churches of Italy and of abroad, we want to lift up to the Most Holy Trinity
for the gift of the Servant of God “Luisa Piccarreta,” daughter of this blessed land of Corato, and daughter of the Diocesan
Church of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie, who in the years of her earthly life (April 23, 1865 – March 4, 1947) radiated the light
of the risen Christ in her permanent state of suffering that so resounds according to the expression of St. Paul in this way:
“I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ is living in me. This life that I live in the
flesh I live it in the faith of the Son of God, who has loved me and has given Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20). And at the
same time it is characterized by the supplication that we raise to the Most Holy Trinity so that the glorification of His
Servant, proclaimed by the supreme authority of the Church, would render knowable and sure the particular charisma of “to
live in the Will of God” according to the prayer of Jesus the Teacher: “Your Will be fulfilled on earth as It is in Heaven,”
for the development of the Christian life for the glory of God and of His Kingdom.
Announcement – The Word of God:
In Malachi 1:14b—2:2b,8-10, it recalled the responsibility of the leaders in the confrontations with the people of God. The
ministry of the Levites in the Old Testament and the Priestly ministry in the New Testament must serve the Kingdom of God,
and not use the Kingdom of God. We have heard: “If you do not listen to Me and do not take to heart to give glory to My Name,”
says the Lord of hosts, “I will send curses over you and I will change your blessings into curses.” (verses 2-7). This Word
of God, very dear brother Priests, admonishes us about the exercise of our ministry. As regards the service of the Cause of
Beatification of the Servant of God “Luisa Piccarreta,” we must ask ourselves if we are all working for the glory of God and
the good of the people of God. Certainly leaks in advance, and in particular the propagation of the writings of the Servant
of God, going outside of the order called for by the authority of the Church, are not good for the Cause of Luisa.
If
today We declare, according to the canonical process completed at the Diocesan level, that the renown of the sanctity of Luisa
is proven to us according to authentic and credible witnesses, we can not yet pronounce on the reliability of secure doctrine
of the writings of Luisa in as much as we do not yet have a typical and critical edition of the same writings. Therefore prudence
is required in speaking about the thinking of Luisa. At the present state, one can make Luisa known in her virtues, but it
is however prudent and appropriate not to give teachings according to her writings. If we will dedicate ourselves to studying
them with care and under the action of the Holy Spirit, once the typical and critical edition is published, if the results
conform to the doctrine of the Church, they will be able to be published. The approval of the Congregation of the Saints is
also necessary in this.
In the Gospel of Matthew 23:1-12, Jesus Christ is announced as the only Teacher: “Do not let
yourself be called ‘Teachers’, because only one is your Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant;
one who instead will exalt himself will be humbled, and one who will humble himself will be exalted.” (verses 10-11).
In
the experience of Luisa’s faith, there are phenomenons that surpass the human capacities: prolonged suffering (about 70 years
in bed), interior illustrations expressed in writing under ecclesiastical obedience—and followed by priests to whom she was
transferred by the Archbishops of the time—a thinking so elevated that it surpasses the normal capacities of an illiterate
creature. Luisa never considered herself a teacher at all. She is a humble Servant of the Lord, completely submitted to His
Will. She wants to live only in the Will of God.
When the verdict from the Holy See reached her to return all her writings,
she made this act of submission: “If the Church considers false everything that I have written, you must consider it false”
(refer to Act of submission written by Luisa Piccarreta on the date October 19, 1938 and sent to Rome by means of Archbishop
Giuseppe Maria Leo).
Beyond the mystic expressed in the writings—very elevated and, for certain lines, bold, and it
needs to be examined and compared with the doctrine of the Church—the example of Christian life of the Servant of God remains
luminous.
As the Apostle Paul had said of himself in 1 Thessalonians 2:7b—9,13: “Indeed remember, brothers, our toil
and our labor: working night and day in order to not be a burden in any way, we announced to you the Gospel of God” (verses
9-11), so also Luisa can be presented to Our Diocesan Church, as I had an opportunity of describing in my speech on “The Sanctity
of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta” in the report given at the 3rd International Convention the past 27th. In this context
I would like to emphasize just one more aspect of the sanctity of Luisa in the light of the Beatitudes. Luisa lived the beatitude:
“Blessed are the pure of heart because they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). In the ineffable joy of contemplation she already
saw on earth “those things that the eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, nor ever entered into the heart of man” (l Corinthians
2:9). She took refuge in the Lord, and the Lord granted her special gifts.
Conclusion – In what way can Luisa be
an example for us? In entrusting ourselves completely to God, leaving ourselves to take completely from Jesus under the action
of the Holy Spirit, and in making ourselves presence of God in the world, in the same way as Luisa did, above all in welcoming,
listening to, and encouraging all those who were in need and in suffering. Luisa was, like St. Pio of Pietrelcina—one who
had so much esteem and veneration of her—a living sign of the merciful love of God.
What characterized the sanctity
of Luisa is “living in the Will of God”. Luisa focused her attention on the invocation: “Your Will be done on earth as It
is in Heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
Let us ask ourselves: How is the Will of God done in Heaven? In perfect adherence and
in harmony with the Trinitarian Love. The Saints can be called “Blessed Regions”; they are uninhabited, and possessed in a
conscious way through God the Trinity.
How must we do the Will of God on earth? Jesus Christ taught Luisa to live in
the Divine Will of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. All her powers of creature, intelligent and free in practice,
became elevated by the Holy Spirit to the
o understanding
o adherence
o loving welcome of the One God
who
reveals Himself in the Incarnation of the Word, Jesus Christ Our Lord, in poverty, obedience, chastity, and gift of Himself
to everyone.
Every creature in all her powers of intelligence, of will, of memory, of heart, by means of Baptism, Confirmation,
and the Eucharist, lives according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh (refer to Romans 8:4).
The experience
of Luisa is of the mystical type. And today Christianity must get back the mystical. In such regard it is my pleasure to cite
two mystical authors:
o “Today, if one is not mystical, one can not even be Christian” (Karl Rahner).
o “It
is not knowledge that illuminates the Mystery, it is the Mystery that illuminates knowledge” (P. Evdokimov).
The sanctity
of Luisa in the light of the “Divine Volition” can give to Christians of our time a deep interior life such as to re-form
a style of life immersed in materialism and in secularism, even to taking away the true joy of life, that is, the hope of
Eternal Life, already enflamed in the soul who seeks God as the doe longs for the source of the waters (Psalm 42:2).
Let
us rise up to the Most Holy Trinity, grateful for the sanctity of Luisa Piccarreta, supplication through her merits of faithful
and industrious Servant.
Prayer…
† Giovan Battista Pichierri
Archbishop
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Mons. Giovanni Battista Pichierri
ARCHDIOCESE
of TRANI – BARLETTA – BISCEGLIE
TITULAR of NAZARETH
3rd
INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ABOUT THE SERVANT OF GOD
LUISA PICCARRETA
Madonna of Graces Sanctuary
Corato, October 27-28,
2005
FINAL COMMUNIQUÉ
At the end of the “3rd International Congress about the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta”
that took place at the Madonna of Graces Sanctuary – Oasis of Nazareth in Corato on the days 27-28, October 2005, in preparation
for the “Session of closing of the Diocesan inquiry for the Cause of Beatification and Canonization of the Servant of God”,
I wish to offer my greeting to everyone present and also to all those not able to take part who have followed us spiritually
with prayer.
Approximately six hundred participants, provincials from sixteen nations of four continents, have followed
with close attention the speeches of the speakers and gone through days of intense communion sharing the joy of meeting again
brothers united by the same ideal of the “Divine Volition.”
Now at the conclusion of this experience of Grace, as
Pastor of the beloved Church in Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie, I feel in my heart the assuming on myself of the commitments stemming
from this Congress.
1. To reinforce the unity and the communication between the sister Dioceses in which are found
individual people, groups and associations who are inspired by the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta and know her writings.
I intend to do this through:
- the sending of the proceedings of the Congress and a summary video of it to the Bishops
and to the persons responsible for the various groups and associations;
- the deference to the responsibility of each
Bishop with regard to his Church, in full availability of collaboration;
- the correct information about the development
of the Cause of Beatification by means of the publication of an international news report;
- the publication of the
writings of the Servant of God, reviewed by me, under my responsibility as Archbishop of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie;
2.
To edit the critical edition of the writings of “Luisa Piccarreta” under my responsibility as Archbishop. I intend to do this
by setting up a team of critic theologians guided by an expert in spiritual mysticism theology and open to valid contributions
from other members of different Dioceses. In this regard I reaffirm that the property of the writings and, therefore, the
right of publishing them is entirely of the Archdioceses of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie.
3. To draft a critical biography
edited by the Diocesan postulator Don Sabino Lattanzio.
4. To appoint the postulator for the Cause of Beatification
and Canonization with residence in Rome.
Let us invoke over each one a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit, so that we
can understand and live the Will of God, and under the powerful protection of Maria Theotocos, advance on the way of sanctification.
Assuring
you of my blessing, I great each one of you,
Trani, October 28, 2005
† Giovan Battista Pichierri
Archbishop
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http://www.ewtn.com/expert/answers/luisa_piccarreta.htm
Luisa
Piccarreta - Status of her Cause
For several years an incongruity has existed between the fame of holiness of Luisa
Piccarreta, which includes the canonization of one of her spiritual sons, St. Annibale de Francia, and the establishment of
a Cause for her own beatification, and the confusion and controversy surrounding her name and spirituality, especially in
the United States. It has never seemed justified to attribute this confusion to the Servant of God, but rather to poor translations,
rash interpretations of her writings, and a lack of theological competence by some who try to explain her writings. For this
reason, EWTN has always urged Catholics to use great caution, until such time as clarity could be brought to the situation
by ecclesiastical authority.
Toward this end, EWTN contacted the Holy See and the new Archbishop of Trani, Italy, Giovanni
Picchierri, where Luisa lived and died and where in 1994 the Diocesan phase of a Cause for her Beatification was opened. Until
the Cause arrives at the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints for its Roman phase, the Archbishop is the competent ecclesiastical
authority. This contact resulted in a letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the sending of the Promoter
of the Faith, Father Bernardino Bucci, OFM Cap., to the United States, both to answer EWTN's questions and to meet with various
groups who promote the spirituality of Luisa Piccarreta. His official capacity is certified by the Archdiocese in the Certificate
he supplied. Deacon Bill Steltemeier and myself met with Fr. Bucci for several hours, during which time he answered our questions
and provided the following important clarifications, many of them in writing (as documented below). I have summarized our
meeting and the documents as follows:
The Servant of God
Luisa Piccarreta lived a holy life of prayer and suffering,
attested to by her contemporaries and with a fame of holiness to this day. She was always obedient and submissive to the Church
in everything. This is precisely known, since from 1884 until her death in 1947 she was under the care of confessors appointed
by her bishop. On this basis the Archbishop of Trani, with the permission of the Holy See, opened her Cause for Beatification
in 1994. The investigation has confirmed these facts without any doubt. Any attribution of heterodoxy to her constitutes a
grave injustice [Clarifications 1-6].
On October 29, 2005, Archbishop Pichierri declared the diocesan process of the
Cause for the Beatification of the Servant of God completed, and he committed the documentation to the Congregation for the
Causes of the Saints.
Her Writings
Writing under obedience, Luisa Piccarreta wrote two small texts Life of
the Blessed Virgin and Hours of the Passion, and later produced 36 numbered manuscripts, in which she elaborated what she
received in prayer about "living in the Divine Will." These texts were written in her region's Italian dialect, rather than
in standard Italian, a factor which complicates accurate translation of the sense. A number of the early volumes were reviewed,
and published, by Saint Annibale de Francia (+1927), in his capacity as confessor and diocesan censor. In 1938, however, this
activity ended, when three of her works, annotated by another person, were put on the Index of Forbidden Books. The balance
of her writings were taken into custody by the Holy Office (now called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith), where
they remained sequestered until 1994.
In that year, the Holy See authorized the Cause for the Beatification of Luisa
Piccarreta, now designated Servant of God, by granting it the nihil obstat. Retaining the originals, the Congregation allowed
the Postulation to photocopy the writings for study and the production of a critical edition, now in process. Some other copies
of the writings, however, are in circulation, both from before 1938 and rep roduced and translated from the 1994 photocopies.
These latter have neither the approval or the imprimatur of the Archbishop of Trani, who is the legal owner of Luisa's writings.
While the Archdiocese has allowed some small publishers to exhaust their stocks of the first two books (Life of the Blessed
Virgin and Hours of the Passion), in the future the Archdiocese alone will produce the authorized translations of the writings,
based on the critical edition. The Postulation is not now granting, or encouraging, publication and promotion of the writings
(except as noted above), so as not to create obstacles to the Cause. [Clarifications 7-9, 11, 14; Communique, Iannuzi letter]
As
for the status of the writings with the Holy See, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith affirmed the following in
a letter to EWTN of 4 October 2003,
The writings of Luisa Piccarreta have not been judged by this Dicastery: as such
they enjoy neither the official approbation, nor the official condemnation, of this Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
In fact, they are currently being studied, by reason of competence, by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, after this
Servant of God, independently of the content of her writings, received the nihil obstat of the Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith regarding her cause for beatification.
As such, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith makes,
at this time, no pronouncement on the writings in question.
It should be noted that as of the close of the Diocesan
phase of the Cause in October 2005, the typical edition of the writings had been prepared for delivery to the Congregation
for the Causes of the Saints which, together with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, will review it. Only after
review could the critical edition of the writings be publicly released. [Clarifications 2-3,7-8]
Interpreting her Writings
The
Servant of God's writings should be interpreted according to the mind and teaching of the Church. Even if they are ultimately
judged to be of supernatural origin, they necessarily correspond also to the mystic's own mentality, which was that of a simple
pious person and not a theologian. In keeping with Catholic theology, this must be taken into account in judging what she
wrote down of her mystical experiences. At this stage in the Process there is no definitive interpretation of her work. The
Diocesan Process judged only her life and heroic virtues, and prepared the critical edition of the writings with commentary,
for the review of the Holy See, which alone can give a definitive judgment and explanation.
Conferences
In 1998
the now retired Archbishop of Trani, Carmelo Cassati, ordered the suspension in the United States of Divine Will Conferences,
because of the controversies noted earlier. While this suspension no longer applies, the following statements govern conferences
in the U.S. and throughout the world.
The current Archbishop can only directly authorize priests under his authority,
such as Fr. Bucci, to speak on Luisa and her spirituality. However, priests who have a letter from their own Bishop permitting
them to speak on Luisa, and who are conversant with both her writings and Catholic theology, can have their Bishop request
a letter from the Archbishop of Trani which authorizes them to speak officially. They can then present the Archbishop's letter
to the bishops of locales where they wish to give conferences.
The Archbishop will only grant permission to speak
publicly to priests, and then only about the life and virtues of the Servant of God. Lay persons will no longer be permitted
to teach publicly, either about the spirituality of the Divine Will, or regarding her life and virtues. All conferences presented
by priests without this letter, or by laity, would not represent the Postulation. So, while unable to regulate what local
bishops might allow, the Postulation is discouraging Catholics from attending conferences given by individuals without a letter
of authorization from the Archbishop of Trani, Italy. (Clarifications 14)
Reading her Writings
While the Postulation
does not have the authority to prohibit the reading of Luisa's writings that are in circulation, no one is permitted to publish
her Diary of 36 volumes. Exceptions have been made for the following writings of Luisa: The 24 Hours of the Passion, The Virgin
Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will, and her Letters, as well as for the works of Padre Bernardino Bucci about Luisa. Prayer
groups are encouraged to study these approved books until such time as the official typical edition is published in conformity
with the doctrine of the Church and the approval of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints. [Clarifications 8, 14]
Prayer
Groups
The Postulation encourages prayer groups in the various dioceses of the world, in order to spread Luisa's fame
of holiness. It especially desires that her great devotion to the Mother of God be imitated. It urges, whenever possible,
that groups be conducted under the guidance of a prudent priest of proven orthodoxy. The supervision of prayer groups falls
under the competence of each diocesan bishop.
The Postulation also encourages prayer to Luisa, and the careful documentation
and reporting of any favors received through the intercession of the Servant of God. However, in keeping with the norms of
the Holy See, while there may be private prayer and veneration (i.e. outside the church setting), there must be no public
veneration (cultus) of Luisa, as would be given to a blessed or saint (public liturgies or devotions, images in churches,
etc.) . This would constitute a grave obstacle to the Cause, as it belongs to the Holy Father alone, with the Beatification
of an individual, to permit public veneration. [Clarifications 10, 12-13]
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Further
Reading:
1913 Catholic Encyclopedia on Private Revelations
A Short Biography from the Postulation
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Answered
by Colin B. Donovan, STL
15 October 2003, revised 21 November 2005
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