Twenty-four Hours of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ
By the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta
Twenty-second Hour: From 2 to 3 PM – Third Hour of Agony on the Cross – Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Word of Jesus -The Death of Jesus
My dying Crucified, Jesus, You are now about to give the last Breaths of Your Mortal Life; Your Most Holy Humanity is already stiffened; Your Heart seems to Beat no longer. With Magdalene I cling to Your Feet and, if it were possible, I would like to give my life to revive Yours.
Meanwhile, O Jesus, I see that You open Your dying Eyes again, and You look around from the Cross, as though wanting to give the last good-bye to all. You look at Your dying Mama, who no longer has motion or voice, so many are the pains She feels; and You say, “Good-bye Mama, I am leaving, but I will keep You in My Heart. You, take care of My children and Yours.” You look at crying Magdalene, faithful John and Your very enemies, and with Your Gazes You say to them, “I Forgive you; I give you the Kiss of Peace.” Nothing escapes Your Gaze; You take leave of everyone and forgive everyone. Then, You gather all Your Strengths, and with a loud and thundering Voice, You cry out, “Father, into Your Hands I commend My Spirit.” And bowing Your Head, You Breathe Your last.
My Jesus, at this cry all nature is shaken and cries over Your death—the death of its Creator! The earth trembles strongly; and with its trembling, it seems to be crying and wanting to shake up souls to recognize You as True God. The veil of the Temple is torn; the dead are risen; the sun, which until now had cried over Your Pains, has withdrawn its light with horror. At this cry, Your enemies fall on their knees, and beating their breasts, they say, “Truly He is the Son of God.” And Your Mother, petrified and dying, suffers pains harder than death.
My dead Jesus, with this cry You also place all of us into the Hands of the Father, because You do not reject us. Therefore You cry out loudly, not only with Your Voice, but with all Your Pains and with the voices of Your Blood, “Father, into Your Hands I commend My Spirit and all souls.” My Jesus, I too abandon myself in You; and You give me the Grace to die completely in Your Love—in Your Will, and I pray that You never permit me, either in life or in death, to go out of Your Most Holy Will. Meanwhile I intend to repair for all those who do not abandon themselves perfectly to Your Most Holy Will, therefore losing or maiming the Precious Gift of Your Redemption. What is not the Sorrow of Your Heart, O my Jesus, in seeing so many creatures escaping from Your Arms and abandoning themselves to themselves? Have Pity on all, O my Jesus—have Pity on me.
Letters of Luisa #2 – “The mind toward Heaven, the gaze to the Cross, the heart loving Him, the arms always in the act of hugging Him, the steps calling Him, the words saying always “Fiat”. In each thing never escape from acquiring a degree of sanctity. Make yourself a saint; Jesus wants it, make Him content.”
The little daughter of the Divine Will
Corato, May 14, 1932
Letters of Luisa #15 – “Here I am to make you content. I believe that the Queen of Heaven and the Great King of Sorrows will reward you for your great goodness and charity, and will be generous to you with celestial favors, as you interest yourself so much in promoting His Passion and that which regards His Divine Will. Greater love cannot be given to the Lord.
Now let’s come to us. You say you have many crosses. Good sign, my daughter. Crosses are divine jealousies and little coins that our Lord gives us. His jealousy is the great love He has in making of us saints; He takes everyone away from us and He Himself, God, Maker and Martyr, with little crosses and with His own hands, works our souls and makes of them His images. What Love for us, as we can say, through little and large crosses, “I am similar to my dear Jesus!”
But do you want to know why you feel the weight of your miseries? Because many times you do not try to be together with Jesus and to convince yourself that He is already with you, and you do not unite the pains of Jesus with yours. Before the pains of Jesus, yours lose hardness, empty themselves of their weight, become small, and almost smile, because they love to adorn our souls with the same ornaments as those with which we see Jesus being adorned. What pleasure, what joy, to be able to say: “You have suffered for me, and I for You!” Together with Jesus, pains change their look, miseries disappear; and from pains, miseries and weaknesses the most beautiful conquests, celestial riches and the strength of God arise, and the very Angels and Saints envy our lot.
Therefore, my daughter, here is the secret to becoming a saint: be together with Jesus, never deny Him anything, and in everything you do, even in necessary things of life – in the pains you suffer, in the prayers you say, in the work, in the food, in the sleep, say to Him from the heart: “Jesus, I want to do always your Will.” In this way, you will always keep the Fiat on your lips, in your mind, and in your heart.
If you do this, you will form the Joy of the Heart of Jesus, and He will not be able to deny you anything, not even the sanctity of your children… It seems that you are very much concerned for them. Do not fear; place them in the hands of Jesus and on the lap of the Celestial Mama. Advise them to read often the book of the Queen of Heaven in the Kingdom of the Divine Will, and you will see the great things the Lord will do with them.
I finish by recommending that you never lose peace… Be careful not ever to be disturbed, not even for your miseries, and not even for the illness of your husband. Let us adore the Judgments of God, Just and Holy, Who disposes everything for our good and to make us holy.
I commend myself to your prayers, and from the heart I will do it for you and for all those who buy the book, so that all may become saints. I leave you in the Sea of the Divine Volition, and with a thousand regards, I say,
most affectionately yours,
The little daughter of the Divine Will
Corato, November 25, 1934
Fiat!
