Transcription
On November 13th, Pope Leo gave a speech to the dicastery for the causes of the saints, and he discussed very favorably the divine will. One can say he promoted the divine will, especially as it pertains to the beatification process. So, this is highly significant since the cause of Luisa Piccarreta is ongoing and is moving in a very positive direction. So, let's get into what he actually said.
The first point where he mentioned the will of God is in this one sentence. He says, "What matters most and what must be especially emphasized in examining candidates for sainthood is their complete and constant conformity to the will of God." Again, he's speaking to the dicastery for the causes of the saints.
And in a previous video, maybe about a month and a half ago, we gave an update on the cause for Luisa Piccarreta. And as everyone knows, at this point in 2024, her writings received a Nil Obstat. Currently, what is occurring is the postulator for her cause is going through what is referred to as the positio, where her life, her virtues, her miracles are being summarized and presented for further consideration in the beatification process. Based upon what we heard from the postulator, that process would take about two years. So, when Pope Leo speaks of the will of God as being the most important aspect for consideration in the beatification process, that definitely would pertain to Luisa Piccarreta.
Now, he goes on to say, "At the heart of discernment on a faithful's life lies listening to their reputation for holiness and examining their perfect virtue as expressions of ecclesial communion and intimate union with God."
And then Pope Leo concluded by saying, and he quoted Teresa of Avila, who said, "The supreme perfection was found not in great raptures, in visions, and in the spirit of prophecy, but rather in the perfect conformity of our will with God's, so that we desire and firmly what we know to be His will, accepting with the same joy both the sweet and the bitter as He wills."
And then Pope Leo added that this corresponds a great deal to a contemporary of St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross. So, Pope Leo is looking at it not from the perspective of Luisa Piccarreta's writings. In other words, he's not quoting her writings. Although a lot of what he says does reflect her writings and her spirituality, but instead, he is leaning on the theology of the doctrines of the Church of Carmel, St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and also what he says corresponds greatly to the writings of St. Thérèse of Lisieux in her book, *The Story of a Soul*. And we're going to touch upon that, and this is how I came into understanding Luisa's writings also from the perspective of qualitative mystical theology.
So, let's take a look at some quotes that I just happen to have handy. And the first one is from St. Thérèse of Lisieux, and it says very simply, "Holiness consists simply in doing God's will." Very succinct, very subtle. You can see in this other quote that I'm going to bring up why she's a Doctor of the Church. "To be resigned and to be united to the will of God are not the same. There is the same difference between them as that which exists between union and unity. In union, there are still two. In unity, there is but one." And this is a direct reference to what Pope Leo referred to as following the will of God, of this union that he's discussing with the dicastery for the causes of the saints.
And I'm going to give one more from St. Thérèse because everyone loves St. Thérèse. "Nothing here can satisfy, and we can find rest only in holding ourselves ready to do God's will. And the more gladly we do God's will, the greater is our perfection." So, one of the points that Pope Leo was making is that holiness should be determined by this union with God, by conformity, or living in God's will. And this is what St. Thérèse is saying also.
Now, if you look at the life of Luisa Piccarreta, she also had these mystical phenomena that were manifesting during her life. But, and there was plenty of that, and plenty of prophecy and so forth, but also she was definitely united to God's holy will and lived that gift as perfectly as a creature born in sin could do so.
Because Pope Leo mentioned St. Teresa of Avila, I definitely want to give a quote from her as well. And this is from *The Interior Castle*. "But you must not doubt the possibility of this true union with the will of God. This is the union which I have desired all my life. It is for this that I continually beseech our Lord. It is this which is the most genuine and the safest." Again, what Pope Leo was saying is it's embedded directly in the midst of the theology of the Carmelite Doctors of the Church.
Now, he also mentioned St. John of the Cross. St. John of the Cross. He's often referred to as the Mystical Doctor of the Church. And you'll see why. Now, before Luisa Piccarreta and the vast number of volumes that are written on the divine will of God, this is what St. John of the Cross had to say. And this is from *The Ascent of Mount Carmel*. "The state of this divine union consists in the soul's total transformation according to the will in the will of God, so that there may be nothing in the soul that is contrary to the will of God, but that in all and through all its movement may be that of the will of God alone."
It reflects what Luisa Piccarreta would write about regarding possession of the will when you move into a higher degree. And you can look at the degrees as mansions within *The Interior Castle* of St. Teresa of Avila. But in higher degrees, you're united with the will of God to the point where the will of God and your will are one will. And you can actually possess God's will and act in one with His will through grace and through participation with God.
Now, this one is the most sublime writing of St. John of the Cross about the divine will of God. And there are a few excerpts. These are from *The Living Flame of Love*. "It the soul has become God through participation in God, being united to and absorbed in Him as it is in the state." Another excerpt: "God's will and the soul's are one through their own free consent. Then the soul has attained possession of God in so far as this is possible by way of the will and grace." And one more: "Being the shadow of God through the substantial transformation, it performs in this measure in God and through God what He through Himself does in it. For the will of the two is one will, and thus God's operation and the soul's are one."
So, where does this mystical theology of the divine will in Carmel come from? Well, it actually comes directly from the Bible. It comes as teaching from the Apostles. And this is from St. Matthew. And it's when the Apostles, they asked Jesus, "How do we pray?" And Jesus gave us one prayer that we say until today. It is the Our Father. "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." And Jesus would not give us a prayer that He would not be able to fulfill. In other words, He would not have us praying for 2,000 years a prayer that would never be fulfilled and that could not be fulfilled. His prayer is more than just a prayer. Your Father is also a prophecy and is for our time. It is for the divine will, the era of the divine will to occur.
Now, the other St. Matthew quote that I'd like to give you is another very famous one. This is St. Matthew 7:21. "Not everyone that says, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. But he that does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven." It again shows the prominence of the will of God, the importance of it, and the place that it will have in the era of the divine will to come.
So, what do the other Apostles have to say about the will of God? Well, St. John, it's one of my favorite quotes. "He that does the will of God abides forever." And again, St. John, and this is St. John 6:38, "Because I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but to do the will of Him that sent me." And of course, we can't leave out St. Paul. This is what St. Paul wrote to the Colossians. This is chapter 4, verse 12. He just says to the Colossians, and I quote, "that you may stand perfect and full in all the will of God."
So, the Carmelite saints, the Doctors of the Church, have much to say about the will of God. And also the Bible does in the New Testament. You can see the will of God being referenced and highlighted by all the Apostles throughout the Gospels, by the Apostles themselves.
So, I'd like to go and finish this by talking about Luisa Piccarreta. And I would be remiss if I did not mention a few excerpts from her writings. So, I have two that I'd like to highlight to you. And it's one of those things when you live in the will of God and you follow His divine will that you run into many coincidences. So, I just happen to be reading these excerpts in December 1937 out of Volume 35, and it corresponds exactly to what Pope Leo was talking about, and what we just read from the saints of Carmel, and also from the Bible.
So, the first excerpt, and this has to do with questions. So, when we talk about the divine will, we're also talking about the gift of the divine will, the era to come of the divine will, the era of peace, the year of the divine will, and so forth. And often we get questions about, well, how is this to happen? How will this occur? The world is so sinful, and the world is becoming more and more sinful as time goes on. And God is being rejected left and right by the culture, by governments, by people that we know very close to us. And this was a question that Luisa had way back in 1937. Could you imagine what she would say today?
Well, this is the response that Jesus gave to her when she asked this same question. And Jesus said to Luisa, "What does it take to restore man? We will return again to breathe on him with stronger and growing love. We will breathe in the depth of his soul. We will blow more strongly into the center of his rebellious will, but so strongly as to shake the evils by which he is trapped. His passions will remain fed and terrified before the power of our breath. They will feel burned by our divine fire. The human will will feel the palpitating life of its Creator, and it will hide Him like a veil, so that man will return to be the bearer of his Creator."
So, what He's saying here, what Jesus is saying, is basically He's saying, "Ye of little faith, God can do whatever He wishes." And look back 2,000 years ago, in the time of the resurrection, Jesus spread His word, the Gospel, throughout the world. And He did it with just 12 Apostles. The Apostles, for the most part, were unlearned. They came from very humble backgrounds. But yet, He just needed those 12.
And in another place, Jesus tells Luisa Piccarreta that He only needs a few, meaning He does not need much to work with. And I look at this myself. I look at it and I think the world will get to a state that is so bad that when it is changed, it'll be changed in such a way that could only be done by God. And there's this excerpt about this. Jesus tells Luisa, "These little lives are the enchantment of all heaven." And He's speaking of you who follow His divine will. "They are the greatest wonders of our Supreme Being, the true ones who repay us for our eternal love. Only looking at them, it is known that they are our daughters, lives formed and created by our divine volition."
So, you, you are like those believers who believed in Jesus before the resurrection, the few, the vanguard of the divine will, the veiled army of our Blessed Virgin Mother before the triumph of her Immaculate Heart. Well, I want to thank you for watching, as always. God bless.