The Gift of Living in the Divine Will: God’s Greatest Gift Since the Resurrection

The greatest gift of God’s mercy since the Eternal Word became Incarnate and redeemed us is on the horizon of human history, yet few are aware of it. God is planning to restore creatures to the order, place, and purpose for which we were all created through the gift of living in the Divine Will. The Era of Peace, or the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart, are names Mary used at Fatima to refer to this period where the Kingdom of Divine Will shall reign on earth as it does in heaven. The coming of this Kingdom has been the central petition of the faithful with every Our Father ever prayed. God always answers our prayers, especially the only prayer Jesus Himself taught us to pray. This Kingdom will not come without trial, just as the passion and death of Christ preceded His Resurrection. But an Era where humanity relinquishes its own will to receive the Divine Will and where the preternatural gifts that Adam lost through disobedience are restored to us is worth whatever must be endured to receive it. Imagine a world in which human beings live in complete unity with the Will of God! Through Divine intervention, the Kingdom will come, and the central petition of the Our Father will be fulfilled. Every single time the Our Father is prayed, the coming of the Kingdom of the Divine Will is hastened, so pray it continuously! (I)

As documented in the book titled An Introduction to Living in the Divine Will: 33 Lessons from Luisa Piccarreta by Daniel O’Connor (I), Insights into the mystery of the Divine Will have been revealed to many Saints and mystics throughout Christian history. However, the full revelation of the gift of living in the Divine Will comes to us through Venerable Luisa Piccarreta. Called the Little Daughter of the Divine Will, Luisa was chosen by the Lord to receive this revelation because He said she was the “littlest soul” in the world. Born on the Sunday after Easter (now called the Feast of Divine Mercy), on April 23, 1865, in Corato, Italy, Luisa was baptized on the same day. Luisa began having mystical experiences of Jesus speaking within her at age 12. She only had  two years of formal education, and she spent most of her life ill and bedridden, subsisting on only the Holy Eucharist each day. She was unable to digest ordinary food, and when her family or confessor ordered her to eat, she humbly obeyed, but whatever she ate eventually came back up, not as chewed and partially digested food as one would expect, but as whole, fresh food. Each morning, Luisa woke up in a state of complete immobility; to be released from this state required the blessing of a priest. Luisa’s writings have definitive approval from the Vatican, and Luisa’s cause for canonization is underway. Her confessor of many years, Fr. Hannibal di Francia, is already a Saint. (I)

Jesus told Luisa that the only reason the Kingdom of the Divine Will has not arrived yet is because there are not enough people telling others about it and crying out to God, imploring its arrival. Jesus said to Luisa: “All that is needed are those who would offer themselves to be the criers—and with courage, without fearing anything, facing sacrifices in order to make it [the gift of living in the Divine Will] known.” (August 25, 1929, Book of Heaven (II). This statement is what inspired me to write this article

To receive the gift, souls must ardently desire it and ask God to receive it. A soul demonstrates this desire by learning about the gift, living a holy life as free from sin as possible, living in unity with and obedience to God’s will as one understands it and as described in Luisa’s writings, and by performing acts and rounds in the Divine Will . A soul offers his/her own will to God, vowing never to use it, and prays instead to receive the Divine Will in place of their own. Acts and rounds are the activities of a soul living in the Divine Will. Acts in the Divine Will are an offering of each activity of the day to God and uniting all to God’s one eternal act. Those living in the Divine Will begin their day with the morning offering in the Divine Will (i.e. prevenient act). Throughout the day, as activities are initiated, the soul asks Jesus to join in all his/her undertakings:  praying, eating, walking, cleaning, working, thinking, sleeping, etc. all being done with, by and for Jesus fort the glory of God the Father, using God's own Will.  Rounds are a form of prayer in which a soul unities his/her act to those of souls of the past, present, and future, to bring all acts of all people of all time into the Divine Will, to give God the glory He deserves for acts that were not done in the Divine Will when they were originally performed. In rounds of Creation the soul becomes the priestly voice for parts of creation that cannot speak for itself, such as animals, plants, oceans, wind, the sun, moon, stars, etc. These rounds are prayers to enable creation to give God glory and to unite all things in one voice to implore the Kingdom of the Divine Will. More can be learned about living in the Divine Will in the various resources listed below. Once a soul takes these steps to show desire and begins to learn to live in the Divine Will, Jesus and Mary do all the work from there, forming the soul and preparing it to receive the gift. Prayer in the Divine Will is powerful. “If all of humanity prayed together in a human way, even this volume of prayer would not compare with just one prayer in the Divine Will, because a divine prayer has infinite value, or merit, since it possesses the very dispositions and qualities of Jesus Himself, because it is He who is doing all the work in His Divine Will” (V). Many publications and websites exist to help one learn about the gift of living in the Divine Will. Some important resources include:

1.       The Book of Heaven is a 36-volume compilation of the locutions of Jesus and Mary to Luisa Piccarreta regarding the gift of living in the Divine Will (II). This serves as the primary instruction manual for teaching souls about the Divine Will, explaining how living in unity with God’s Will is the ultimate destiny of mankind and how to prepare to receive this gift.

2.       The 24 Hours of the Passion is an hour-by-hour recounting of Jesus' passion, starting from the moment He takes leave of His mother before proceeding to the Last Supper and continuing through His burial. This book inspired Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ, and features Jesus' own words to Luisa, explaining all He endured physically, mentally, and spiritually during His passion. (III)

3.       The Blessed Virgin Mary in the Kingdom of the Divine Will. This is a 31-day retreat with the Blessed Mother, a dialogue between Mary, the Queen of the Divine Will, and the soul. The book explains Mary’s role in shaping the children of the Kingdom to live in the Divine Will. Since Mary lived solely by the Divine Will and never acted on her own will throughout her life, and because she is a creature just like us, she is God’s chosen one to guide us in receiving this precious gift. Typically, the retreat is undertaken in May, the month dedicated to the Blessed Mother, but it can be read at any time. This book is a beautiful spiritual dialogue between the Maternal Queen and the soul (III).

4.       Christmas Novena is a nine-day reflection on the gift of the Incarnation of the Eternal Word (III).

5.       The Morning Offering in the Divine Will (often referred to as the prevenient act). A daily prayer where a soul prays for the grace to live in the Divine Will and offers to God, in the Divine Will, every act of the coming day. To be prayed first thing upon awakening and as many times throughout the day as needed to keep one's attention focused on remaining in the Divine Will at all times (III).

6.       The Rounds of the Soul in the Divine Will. These are beautiful meditations on the creation of the world and the lives of Mary and Jesus. (III). One can also find these rounds in video form on YouTube.

7.       Rosary Meditations and Stations of the Cross in the Divine Will.(III)

8.       The Sun of My Will. Biography of Luisa Picarretta written by the Vatican.

9.       Thy Wiil be Done (2021), The Crown of History (2019), The Crown of Sanctity (2019), and Introduction to Living in the Divine Will: 33 Lessons from Luisa Piccarreta (2024). These four books by Daniel O’Connor are about the theological development throughout the history of the Church concerning the Divine Will and living in the Divine Will as described through Luisa’s writings. I have only read the last of these four books so far.

10.   The Divine Will Dropbook Series. A children’s illustrated book on living in the Divine will that provides simple examples of how to do acts and rounds. Good resource for the beginner of any age. (IV)

11.  Website: https://queenofthedivinewill.org

12.   Website: https://www.littlechildreninthedivinewill.com

13.  Official website for Luisa’s cause of canonization: https://en.luisapiccarretaofficial.org/

This list is only a small sampling of resources that are available about living in the Divine Will. Items 2-7 are available in a hardbound volume called the Divine Will Prayerbook (III), which was translated, compiled, and annotated by Fr. Joseph Iannuzzi. Some of these writings can be found in PDF files for free on the first two websites. YouTube also provides a wealth of audiovisual resources. One could spend the rest of one’s life delving into the depths of these mystical revelations, and given the life-altering content within them, it would be worth the effort.

Distress within modern society demonstrates that we are heading in the wrong direction, living in accord with our human wills instead of seeking God’s Will. We’re now entering the labor pains near the end of an age that has been filled with disobedience, moral decay, selfishness, and corruption. But as Jesus told us in the Bible, once a woman gives birth to a child, she forgets all about the labor (John 16:21) God has promised us a new dawn, a complete transformation of human hearts and civilization with the gift of living in the Divine Will. We’re approaching the greatest moment in history since the coming of Christ. May every heart cry out, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven!” and prepare for Him to answer us because He has promised us that He will.

References:

I.       O'Connor, D. (2024). An Introduction to Living in the Divine Will (1st ed., p. 128). St. Joseph's Solutions.

II.       Luisa Piccarreta.(no date).(English translation by Fr. Joseph Iannuzzi). Book of Heaven.(p.1789). PrintCorp.

III.      Luisa Piccarreta. (2021) (English translation and commentary by Fr. Joseph Iannuzzi) Divine Will Prayerbook. (4th ed., p. 721) MHT, Inc.

IV.       “The Drops”  (2023). Divine Will Dropbook Series. (p. 152) Published in Troutdale, OR. Can be ordered from bookorders@dwdropbooks.com or available by free download at www.dwdropbooks.com

V.         Booklet titled Living In the Kingdom of the Divine Will. With Ecclesiastical Approval, Italy. October 17, 1997. Carmelo Cassiti. Archbishop of Trani.