In 1865 – Luisa Piccarreta was born on April 23, the Sunday after Easter, in Corato, Bari, to Nicola Vito and Rosa Tarantino, who had five daughters: Maria, Rachele, Filomena, Luisa and Angela.
A few hours after Luisa’s birth, her father wrapped her in a blanket and took her to the main church for baptism. Her mother had not suffered the pangs of labor: her birth was painless.
In 1872 – She received Jesus in the Eucharist on the Sunday after Easter, and the sacrament of Confirmation was administered to her that same day by Archbishop Giuseppe Bianchi Dottula of Trani.
- To Mother Cecilia
In Voluntate Dei!
My good and reverend Mother,
(…) Now I feel the need to send you my Easter wishes. My Mother, what wish can I send you? I know that crosses surround you; how many times you have to swallow bitter pills, that make your heart bleed. It seems to me that dear Jesus surrounds you with these pains in order to give you strength, and with tender and loving voice, He says to you: “My daughter, give these pains to Me, that they may form my arms, my heart, my steps – my whole Life, to be able to live within you.” My Mother, it is the crosses, the sufferings united to the Divine Volition, that form the raw material in order to receive in us the life of Jesus, Who calls our littleness to live in Him and to rise in Him.
Here is my wish, my Mother: to rise not only on Easter, but continually in Jesus; so that every pain and each one of our acts, may be the means in order to rise in the One Who loves us so much. I believe I could not send you a more beautiful wish; and I believe you will appreciate it, more so, under the rain of unheard-of crosses and of profound humiliations. The storms give no sign of ceasing. Pray that He will make peace rise again from the storms, otherwise one cannot live.
My sister tells you many things and sends you her affectionate wishes. In a special way, I send my wishes to Sister Remigia, that she may form her perfect resurrection in the Divine Will, and use every act does in order to grow in sanctity. We must be convinced that not the great things make us saints, but the little ones, which we have in our power and which serve as the nourishment of sanctity. I commend myself to your prayers, and leaving you rising together with Jesus, I kiss your right hand and with a thousand regards, united to my sister, I say,
The little daughter of the Divine Will
Corato, April 5, 1939
- To Mrs. Mazari, from Bari
J.M.J.
Fiat!
My good daughter in Jesus Christ,
Do not get discouraged, never lose trust. What I recommend is that you look at your crosses as many visits from Jesus, Who brings you the life of the Divine Will, to make It reign in you and to give you all His love as food; to make you grow in His likeness within His arms, and to make of you such a rare beauty as to enrapture even Himself. If you do the Will of God, you will feel a strength in all your sufferings; you will feel an invisible hand which helps you, guides you, and does whatever you do within you. In fact, when one does the Will of God, the work is more of God than ours. Therefore, I wouldn’t know what else to say: do the Divine Will; live in It, and you can be sure that you will make yourself a saint. You will feel the bond and the association with the Divine Family. What is Theirs will be yours. So, banish fear and fright, and all the most painful circumstances will bring you the kiss, the strength – the life of the Divine Will, embalmed by Its love and joy.
Tell good Carmela to have patience. Jesus loves her so much that He looks at her continuously, and with the brush of sufferings in His hands, He paints her, to make of her a more beautiful image, so that she may be like Him.
I send you my wishes of good Easter: let the Divine Will rise again in you. I leave you in the Divine Volition to make yourself a saint, that the earth may no longer be earth for you, but Heaven.
Pray for me. And greeting you from my heart, I say,
Most affectionately yours,
The little daughter of the Divine Will
Fiat!
