Difference Between Living in the Divine Will and Doing the Will of God
The Light of the Divine Will continues to envelop me; and my little intelligence, while it swims in the immense sea of this light, scarcely can take some drops of light and some little flame of the so many truths and knowledges and happinesses that this interminable sea of the Eternal Will contains. At times I do not find the vocabulary adapted to put on paper that little bit of light. I say little; by that I leave out so much because my poor, little intelligence takes as much as suffices to fill me; the rest I leave.
It happens as to a person who dives into the sea. She becomes all wet; the water flows everywhere over her, perhaps even into her vital organs; but, going out of the sea, what does she bring with her of all the water of the sea? Very little and almost nothing compared to that water that remains in the sea.
And, by having been in the sea can it be said, perhaps, how much water, how many species and quantity of fish that remain there in the sea?... Certainly not; but, nevertheless, she will know how to speak about that little that she has seen in the sea. Such is my poor soul. And so, my sweet Jesus, while I found myself in this light, went out from my interior and said to me: "My daughter, this is the unity of the light of my Will; and so that you always love It more and confirm yourself increasingly in It, I want to let you know the great difference that there is between who lives in my Will in the unity of this light and who is resigned and submitted to my Will. And, to make you understand well, I will present you the similitude of the sun in the sky.
The sun being in the vault of the heavens expands its rays upon the surface of the earth. Look, between earth and sun there is a kind of agreement: the sun in touching the earth and the earth in receiving the light and touch of the sun. Now, the earth, by receiving the touch of the light submits itself to the sun, receives the effects that the light contains; and these effects transform the face of the earth. They make it green again, they flower it; the plants develop; they mature the fruits and so many other marvels that are seen upon the face of the earth -- products always of the effects that the solar light contains.
But the sun, by giving its effects, does not give away its light; indeed, jealous, it conserves its unity; and the effects are not lasting. Therefore, the poor earth is seen now all flowered and then all stripped; in nearly every season it is changed; it undergoes continued mutations.
Now, such is the soul who is resigned and submits herself to my Will. She lives by the effects that are in It; and, not possessing the light, she does not possess the sources of the effects that there are in the Eternal Will. And, therefore, she is seen almost as earth, now rich in virtue, then poor. She is changed in every circumstance; much more so that if she is not always resigned and submitted to my Will, she will be as the earth that does not want to be touched by the light of the sun; since, if it receives the effects, it is because it let itself be touched by its light. Otherwise, it would remain squalid without producing a blade of grass. Such became Adam after sin; he lost the unity of the light and, therefore, the source of the goods and effects the Sun of my Will contains. He no longer felt in himself the fullness of the Divine Sun; there no longer flowed in him that unity of the light that his Creator had fixed in the depths of his soul, which, communicating to him his likeness, made of him a faithful copy. Before sinning, possessing the source of the unity of the light with his Creator, bringing Him the love and the exchange of all that had been made by Him in all Creation, it was he who harmonized everything and formed the note of accord between Heaven and earth. But, as he withdrew from my Will, no longer did his acts as rays invade Heaven and earth but were restrained almost as plants and flowers in the little circuit of his terrain.
Therefore, losing the harmony with all Creation, he became the discordant note of all Creation. Oh! how he descended to the bottom and cried bitterly. He lost the unity of the light which, elevating him above all created things, made of Adam the little god of the earth.
Now, my daughter, from that what I have said to you, you can understand that the living in my Will is to possess the source of the unity of the light of my Will with all the fullness of the effects that there are in It. So there rises in her every act light, love, adoration, etc. Who delivers herself up, act for each act, love for each love, as solar light invades everything, harmonizes everything, centers everything in herself and, as refulgent ray, carries to her Creator the exchange for all that I have done for all creatures and the true note of accord between Heaven and earth. What a difference there is between who possesses the source of the goods that the Sun of my Will contains, and who lives by the effects! There would be the difference that there is between the sun and the earth. The sun possesses always the fullness of the light and of the effects. It is always brilliant and majestic in the vault of the heavens, nor does it have need of the earth; and, while it touches everything it is untouchable; it does not let itself be touched by anyone. If someone would even dare to stare at it, with its light it eclipses, blinds him and terrifies him. On the other hand the earth has need of everything, to be touched, stripped; and, if it were not for the light of the sun and its effects, it would be a dismal prison, full of squalid misery.
Therefore, there is no comparison that rules between who lives in my Will and who subjects himself to It. Such was the unity of the light that Adam possessed before sinning, and he could not recover it during his life. With him it happened as the earth that goes around the sun, which, not being fixed, while it rotates, it opposes itself to the sun and forms its night. Now, to render him firm again and thus be able to sustain the unity of this light, there was needed a Repairer; and He had to be superior to him. A divine strength was needed to rectify him. Behold the necessity of the Redemption.
My Celestial Mamma possessed the unity of this light; and, therefore,
more than sun, She can give light to everyone; and, so, between Her and the Supreme
Majesty there was never night nor any shadow but always full day. And, therefore, in each
instant this unity of the light of my Will made flow in Her all the Divine Life which
brought Her seas of beauty, of glory and of love. and She, as in triumph brought her
Creator all these seas as hers to attest her love for Him, her adoration, and to make Him
fall in love with her beauty. And the Divinity made flow other new seas more beautiful.
She possessed so much love that, as connatural, She could love for everyone, adore and
supply for everyone. Her little acts, done in the unity of this light, were superior to
the greatest acts and all the acts of all creatures together. Therefore, the sacrifices,
the works, the love of all other creatures can be called little flames before the sun,
little drops of water before the sea, in comparison to the acts of the Sovereign Queen.
April 8, 1918 Volume 12
Difference between living united with Jesus, and living in His Will.
Returning to the point about living in the Divine Will, I was told that it was like living in the state of union with God; and my always adorable Jesus, in coming, said to me: "My daughter, there is a great difference between living united with Me and living in my Will." As He was saying this, He stretched His arms toward me and told me: "Come into my Will, even for one instant, and you will see the great difference."
I found myself in Jesus. My tiny atom was swimming in the Eternal Volition. And since this Eternal Volition is one single Act that contains, altogether, all the acts, past, present and future - as I was in the Eternal Volition, I took part in that Act which contains all acts, as much as it is possible for creature. I took part also in the acts which do not exist, and which must yet exist, until the end of the centuries, and until God will be God. And for these acts too I loved Him, I thanked Him, I blessed Him, etc. There was no act which escaped me. I took the Love of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and I made it mine, just as their Will was mine; and I gave it to Them as if it were my own... How happy I was to be able to give Them their own Love as though my own! And how They found their full contentment and complete outpouring in receiving their own Love from me, as if It were mine! But who can say everything? I lack the words.
Now, blessed Jesus told me: "Have you seen what living in my Will is? It is to disappear and to enter the sphere of Eternity; it is to penetrate into the Omnipotence of the Eternal One - into the Uncreated Mind, and take part in everything and in each divine act, as much as it is possible for creature. It is to make use, even while on earth, of all the divine qualities; it is to hate evil in a divine way. It is spreading oneself to everyone without exhaustion, because the Will which animates this creature is divine. It is the Sanctity which is not yet known, which I will make known, and which will place the last adornment, the most beautiful and the brightest among all other sanctities. It will be the crown and the fulfillment of all the other sanctities.
Now, to live united with Me is not to disappear - two beings appear
together; but one who does not disappear cannot enter into the sphere of Eternity to take
part in all the divine acts. Ponder well, and you will see the great difference."
August 14, 1917 Volume 12
Jesus lived in the Father, completely at the mercy of His Will; in the same way the
soul must abandon herself completely in the Divine Will. Difference between living
resigned to the Will of God, and living in His Volition.
As I was in my usual state, my sweet Jesus barely came, passing by, and told me: "My daughter, I did nothing other than put Myself at the mercy of the Will of the Father. Therefore, if I thought, I thought in the mind of the Father; if I spoke, I spoke in the mouth and with the tongue of the Father; if I worked, I worked in the hands of the Father. I even breathed my breathing in Him, and everything I did was ordered the way He wanted. Therefore, I could say that my Life was carried out in the Father, and that I was the bearer of the Father, since I was completely enclosed in His Will and I did nothing by Myself. My main point was the Will of the Father, because I did not care about Myself, nor did I interrupt my course because of the offenses I received; rather, I flew more and more toward my center. Only then did my natural life end, when I fulfilled the Will of the Father in everything.
The same for you, my daughter. If you put yourself at the mercy of my Will, you will no longer have concerns for anything. The very privation of Me, which torments you and consumes you so much, because it flows in my Will, will find its support, my hidden kisses, my Life in you, clothed with you. In your own heartbeat you will feel Mine - burning and sorrowful. And if you don’t see Me, you feel Me; my arms hold you tightly. How many times you feel my motion, my relieving breath, which refreshes your ardor! You do feel all this; and when you try to see who squeezed you, who breathes on you, and you don’t see Me, I smile at you, I kiss you with the kisses of my Will, and I hide even more inside of you, in order to surprise you again, and let you jump once more into my Will. Therefore, do not sadden Me by afflicting yourself - but let Me do. May the flight of my Volition never cease in you; otherwise you would obstruct my Life within you. On the other hand, as you live in my Will, I do not find any obstruction, and I make my Life grow and develop as I want."
Now, out of obedience, I want to say a few words on the difference between living resigned to the Divine Will, and living in the Divine Volition.
First: living resigned. According to my poor opinion, this means to be resigned to the Divine Will in everything, both in prosperous and in adverse circumstances, seeing in everything the Divine Will, the order of the divine dispositions which the Divine Will has over all creatures, so that not even one hair can fall from our head if the Lord does not want it so.
It seems to me like a good son, who goes wherever his Father wants, and suffers whatever his Father wants. Poor or rich, it is indifferent to him; he is happy just being what his Father wants. If he receives or asks for an order to go somewhere to carry out some business, he goes only because his Father wanted so. But in the meantime, he has to take some refreshment, stop to rest, have some food, deal with people; therefore he has to put much from his own will, even though he goes because his Father wanted it. However, in many things he finds himself in the circumstance of doing them by himself; so it may happen that he is far away from his Father for days, for months, without receiving specification of the Will of his Father in all things.
Therefore, for one who lives resigned to the Divine Volition, his own will is almost impossible. He will be a good son; however, he will not have the thoughts, the words and the life of his Father in everything, because he is completely withdrawn within himself. In fact, since he has to go, return, follow and deal with people, love remains already broken - since only a continuous union makes love grow so that it may never break - and the current of the Will of the Father is not in continuous communication with the current of the will of the son. During those intervals the son may get used to doing his own will. However, I believe that this is the first step toward sanctity.
Second: living in the Divine Volition. I would like the hands of my Jesus to write this. Ah, He alone could speak about all the beauty, the goodness and the sanctity of living in the Divine Volition! I am not capable, nor do I have many concepts in my mind. I lack the words... My Jesus, pour Yourself into my words, and I will say what I can.
Living in the Divine Volition means being inseparable, doing nothing by oneself, because before the Divine Volition the soul feels incapable of anything. She does not ask for orders, nor does she receive them, because she feels incapable of going by herself. So she says: ‘If You want me to do this, let us do it together, and if You want me to go, let us go together.’ Therefore, she does all that her Father does. If the Father thinks, she makes the thoughts of the Father her own, and does not add one thought to those of her Father. If the Father looks, if He speaks, works, walks, suffers and loves, she too looks at what the Father is looking; she repeats the words of the Father; she works within the hands of the Father; she walks with the feet of the Father; she suffers the same pains of the Father. She lives inside her Father, not outside of Him; therefore, she is the reflection and the perfect portrait of her Father - which is not, for the one who lives only resigned. It is impossible to find this daughter without her Father, nor the Father without her - and not only externally; all her interior is as if interwoven with the interior of the Father - transformed, completely dissolved in God.
Oh, the rapid flights in the Divine Volition of this daughter! This Divine Volition is immense; in every instant It circulates within everyone; It gives life and order to everything. And the soul, wandering within this immensity, flies to all, excites all, loves all, but as Jesus Himself helps and loves - which cannot be done by one who lives only resigned.
Therefore, one who lives in the Divine Volition finds it impossible to do things by herself; rather, she feels nausea for her human works, though holy, because in the Divine Volition all things, even the most tiny ones, take on a different look; they acquire nobility, splendor, divine sanctity, divine power and beauty; they multiply to infinity and in one instant the soul does everything. And after she has done everything, she says: ‘I have done nothing - Jesus did everything. And this is all my contentment: that, miserable as I am, Jesus gave me the honor to keep me in the Divine Volition, letting me do what He did.’ Therefore, the enemy cannot bother this daughter - whether she has done well or badly, little or much - because Jesus Himself did everything, and she together with Jesus. This soul is the most peaceful one; she is not subject to anxiety; she loves nobody and loves everybody - but divinely. One can say that she is the repeater of the Life of Jesus, the organ of His voice, the heartbeat of His Heart, the sea of His graces.
True Sanctity, I believe, consists only in this. All other things are shadows, larvae, specters of sanctity.
In the Divine Will, virtues take their place in the divine order; while, outside of It, in the human order. They are subject to self-esteem, to vainglory, to passions. Oh, how many good works, how many attended Sacraments are to be cried over before God, and to be repaired, because they are empty of the Divine Volition, and therefore without fruits! Heaven willing that all would understand true sanctity! Oh, how all other things would disappear!
So, many find themselves on the false way of sanctity. Many place it in the pious practices of piety - and woe to those who move them. Oh, how they deceive themselves! If their wills are not united with Jesus and transformed in Him - which is the continuous prayer - with all their pious practices their sanctity is false. And it shows how these souls pass very easily from pious practices to defects, to amusements, to the sowing of discord, and other things... Oh, how dishonoring this kind of sanctity is! Others place it in going to church, in attending all the services, but their will is far from Jesus. And it shows how these souls have little care for their own duties; and if they are hindered, they get angry, they cry, and all their sanctity goes up in the air. They complain, they disobey, they are the wounds of their families. Oh, what a fake sanctity! Others place it in frequent confessions, in detailed spiritual directions, in having scruples for everything; but they don’t have any scruple if their volition does not run together with the Will of Jesus - and woe to those who contradict them... These souls are like inflated balloons: as soon as one makes a little hole, the air comes out, and their sanctity goes up in smoke, and falls to the ground. These poor balloons always have something to say; they are mostly inclined to sadness. They live always in doubt, and therefore would like to have a director for themselves, who would advise them, give them peace and console them in every little thing. But they are soon more agitated than before... Poor sanctity, how forged it is!
I would like the tears of my Jesus in order to cry together with Him over these false sanctities, and make everyone know how true sanctity is in doing the Divine Will and in living in the Divine Volition.
This sanctity places its roots so deeply that there is no danger that it may oscillate, because it fills Heaven and earth, and finds its support everywhere. This soul is firm, not subject to inconstancies or voluntary defects. She is attentive to her own duties; she is the most sacrificed and detached from everyone and everything, even by spiritual direction; and since her roots are deep, she rises up so high that her flowers and fruits bloom in Heaven. She is so hidden in God that the earth sees little or nothing of this soul. The Divine Will keeps her absorbed within Itself; only Jesus is the life, the author, the form of the sanctity of this enviable creature. She has nothing of her own, but everything is in common with Jesus. Her passion is the Divine Will; her characteristic is the Will of her Jesus, and ‘FIAT’ is her continuous motto.
On the other hand, the poor and fake sanctity of the "balloons" is subject to continuous inconstancies, and while it appears that the balloons of their sanctity swell up so much as to seem to be flying in the air, and at a certain height, to the extent that many, and even their spiritual directors, are amazed - soon they are disillusioned. One humiliation, one preference, made by the spiritual director or by some other person, is enough to let the air come out of these balloons, since they see this as a theft against them, considering themselves the neediest. So, while having scruples for silly things, they then reach the point of disobeying. Jealousy is the worm of these balloons, which keeps sucking air from them, as they are consumed by the good that others may do. So, the poor balloon deflates and falls to the ground, reaching the point of dirtying itself with earth. Then the sanctity that was in the balloon appears. And what is in there? Love of self, resentment, passions, hidden under the aspect of good. In trying, somehow, to have the opportunity to say something, they have become the amusement of the devil. Therefore, what comes out from all their sanctity is nothing other than a mass of defects, apparently disguised as virtues... But then, who can say everything? Only Jesus knows the worst evils of this fake sanctity, of this devoted life without foundation - leaning on false piety. These fake sanctities are spiritual vines with no fruit - sterile, and cause of who knows how much crying for my adorable Jesus. They are the ill feeling of society, the worry of their very directors, and of their families. One can say that they bring a noxious air with themselves which harms everyone.
Oh, how different is the sanctity of the soul who lives in the Divine
Volition! These souls are the smile of Jesus. They are far away from everyone, even from
the very spiritual director. Only Jesus is everything for them; therefore, nobody worries
for them. The beneficial air which they possess embalms everyone; they are the order and
the harmony of everyone. Jesus, jealous of these souls, becomes actor and spectator of
whatever they do. They do not have even one heartbeat, breath, or thought which He does
not rule and dominate. Jesus keeps this soul so absorbed in the Divine Volition that she
can hardly remember that she is living in exile.
September 18, 1924 Volume 17
Distance between living in the Divine Will and doing the Will of God.
I was thinking over what has been written on the living in the Divine Volition, and I prayed to Jesus that He would give me more light, to be able to clarify more this blessed living in the Divine Will to those to whom I am obliged to do so. And my sweet Jesus told me: "My daughter, unfortunately they are slow in understanding it. To live in my Will is to reign in It and with It, while to do my Will is to be submitted to my orders. The first state is to possess; the second is to receive dispositions, and execute commands. To live in my Will is to make my Will one’s own, as one’s own property, and to dispose of It. To do my Will is to take It into account as Will of God, not as one’s own thing; nor can one dispose of It as he wants. To live in my Will is to live with one single Will – That of God; and since It is a Will all holy, all pure, all peaceful, being one single Will that reigns, there are no contrasts: everything is peace. Human passions tremble before this Supreme Will, and would rather escape It; nor do they dare to even move, or oppose it, in seeing that Heaven and earth tremble before this Holy Will. Therefore, the first step of living in the Divine Will, which allows a creature to receive the Divine order, is in the depth of the soul, where grace moves her to empty herself of what is human – tendencies, passions, inclinations and other things.
On the other hand, to do my Will is to live with two wills, in such a way that when I give orders to follow Mine, the creatures feel the weight of their own will, which causes contrasts. And even though they follow the orders of my Will with faithfulness, they feel the weight of their rebellious nature, of their passions and inclinations. How many Saints, although they may have reached the highest perfection, feel their own will waging war against them, keeping them oppressed. And many are forced to cry out: ‘Who will free me from this body of death?’– that is, ‘from this will of mine, that wants to give death to the good I want to do?’
To live in my Will is to live as a son. To just do my Will would be called, in comparison, living as a servant. In the first case, what belongs to the Father belongs to the son; and then, it is well known how servants are forced to make more sacrifices than sons do. They have to expose themselves to more tiring and more humble services, to cold, to heat, to traveling on foot, and the like.
In fact, how much did my saints not do, though most beloved friends of Mine, in order to execute the orders of my Will? Instead, a son remains with his father, takes care of him, cheers him up with his kisses and caresses; he gives order to the servants as if his father were ordering them; and if he goes out, he doesn’t walk, but travels in a coach. And while the son possesses all that belongs to his father, the servants are given only the recompense for the work they have done, remaining free to serve their master or not; and if they do not serve, they no longer have a right to receive any further compensation. On the other hand, nobody can remove those intimate relations between father and son, by which the son possesses the goods of the father; and no law, either celestial or terrestrial, can cancel these rights, just as it cannot unbind sonship between father and son.
My daughter, the living in my Will is the living that is closest to the blessed of Heaven. It is so distant from one who is simply conformed to my Will and does It, faithfully executing Its orders - as much as Heaven is distant from the earth, as much as the distance between a son and a servant, and between a king and a subject. Moreover, this is a gift which I want to give in these times, so sad - that they may not only do my Will, but possess It. Am I perhaps not free to give whatever I want, when I want, and to whom I want? Isn’t a master free to say to his servant: ‘Live in my house, eat, take, command as another myself"? And so that nobody may prevent him from possessing his goods, he legitimizes this servant as his own son, and gives him the right to possess. If a rich man can do so, much more can I do it.
This living in my Will is the greatest gift I want to give to the creatures. My Goodness wants to show off more and more love toward creatures, and since I gave them everything, I want to give them the gift of my Will, so that in possessing It, they may appreciate and love the great good they possess.
And don’t be surprised if you see that they do not understand. In
order to understand, they would have to dispose themselves to the greatest of sacrifices
– that of not giving life, even in holy things, to their own will. Then would they
feel the possession of Mine, and would touch with their own hands what it means to live in
my Will. You, however, be attentive, and do not be bothered by the difficulties they
raise; little by little I will make my way, to make them understand the living in my
Will."