"The
divine indwelling in Mary" is the title of a section of a doctoral dissertation by Rev. Joseph Iannuzzi, granted by the Gregorian Pontifical University Faculty of Theology and authorized by the Holy See. Fr. Iannuzzi, who has given permission for it to be presented below, has been awarded five post-graduate degrees. This particular dissertation has recently been published as The Gift of Living in the Divine Will in the Writings of Luisa Piccarreta, by St. Andrew's Productions.
----------------------------------------------
In
her dictations to Luisa, Mary explains how she continuously bilocated
her soul among the three divine Persons, whose Divine Will
continuously operated within her to form in her God’s «full,
complete and perfect life»:
As
I took possession of the Kingdom of the Divine Will, its steps within
me ended and its full, complete and perfect full life began within my
soul […] My Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit longed for me to be
in their arms to enjoy their little daughter […] They
felt the power and the strength of their Divine Will emerging from me
and rendering us inseparable[i]
[…]
I
brought myself into the arms of the divinity […] They awaited me
and rejoiced in seeing me, and loved me so much that upon my arrival
they poured out into my soul more seas of love and sanctity[ii].
The
Divine Will of the three divine Persons continuously engaged in Mary,
established in her soul its indwelling[iii].
To Luisa Mary reveals that immediately after her Immaculate
Conception the three divine Persons poured themselves out on her. God
the Father poured out in her his power, the Son, his wisdom and the
Holy Spirit, his love[iv].
The indwelling in Mary of the three divine Persons, whose one
operation maintained the continuity of her divine acts and
established within her the Divine Kingdom, was a phenomenon that Adam
forfeited with sin. Because she lived in this Divine Kingdom and knew
no sin[v],
Mary’s life in the Divine Will and its effects over the entire
human race and creation far surpassed those of Adam and, as noted, of
all other creatures combined[vi].
As in prelapsarian Adam, so in Mary God’s indwelling empowered both
her body and soul[vii].
In examining the singular role of her Immaculate Conception and
perfect obedience to the Divine Will that rendered continuous her
divine acts, Mary emerges from Luisa’s text as the first human
creature from conception to «live in the Divine Will»,
and she constitutes the paradigm of perfect and complete cooperation
with the Divine Will.
[i]
L. PICCARRETA, BVM,
day
7.
[ii]
L. PICCARRETA, BVM,
day
8.
[iii]
L. PICCARRETA, XV, December 8, 1922: «It
was the power of Our [Triune] Will operating in her [Mary] that,
while dominating her, made her the possessor of God himself […] We
could see Our divine qualities in her, and the reflections of Our
sanctity, divine manners, love, power and all else flow over her like
waves. Our Will, which is the center of all of these reflections
[...] made itself the crown and bulwark of the divinity dwelling
within her [...] We confirmed in her all graces and all gifts to make
her surpass all other souls combined».
[iv]
L. PICCARRETA, BVM,
day 2 (Mary reveals to
Luisa): «As soon as the Divine Fiat poured itself over my human seed
to prevent the sad effects of sin, the divinity smiled and rejoiced
in seeing that my seed was a pure and holy human seed, just like the
one that came forth from God’s creative hands at man’s creation.
So the Divine Fiat took the second step in Me by carrying my human
seed that it had purified and sanctified before the divinity. It did
this in order for the divinity to pour itself forth in torrents upon
my lowliness in the act of my [Immaculate] Conception. Recognizing in
me its beautiful and pure creative work, the divinity smiled with
satisfaction and, wanting to rejoice with me, the heavenly Father
poured forth upon me seas of power; the Son, seas of wisdom; the Holy
Spirit, seas of love. So I was conceived in the never-ending light of
the Divine Will. Amidst these divine seas that my lowliness could not
contain I, in exchange, formed the highest waves of homage I could by
loving and glorifying the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
«The
divinity unceasingly gazed upon me and, as if not to be outdone by me
in love, while smiling and imparting divine touches, it inundated me
with yet more seas that so adorned me, that no sooner was my little
humanity formed, than I acquired the enchanting virtue of enrapturing
my Creator [...]».
[v]
L. PICCARRETA, XVIII, November 12, 1925:
«A Virgin was needed, conceived without Original Sin, innocent and
holy, enriched by God with all graces, who possessed all the good
acts accomplished during the previous four thousand years, and who
covered them with her innocence, sanctity and purity. By this means
the divinity would see the good acts of all [souls] through the
[divine] acts of this innocent and holy soul, who not only embraced
all the acts of the ancients, but surpassed them all with her own
[divine] acts. Thus she obtained the descent of the [eternal] Word to
earth».
[vi]
L. PICCARRETA, XIX, May 31, 1926: «Her
smallest acts done in the unity of this light were superior to the
greatest acts and to all the acts of all souls combined. That is why
when compared to the acts of the Holy Queen, the sacrifices, works
and love of all other souls can be called little flames before the
sun, or little drops of water before the sea». Cf. also ID., XVII,
May 1, 1925.
[vii]
L. PICCARRETA, XXXIV,
March 1, 1926.
