Wednesday, July 9, 2014

The Divine Indwelling in Mary


"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.

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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.

 
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Notes


[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.