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Symbol: Sicut in Cælo et in Terra



Be Faithful and Attentive* — Book Two


An Exchange of Love for the
Works of the Holy Spirit (I)

Holy Ghost (I) image


"I enter into your Holy Divine Will, diffusing my tiny will in the immensity of yours to correspond with everything the Sanctifier does for those He Sanctifies...."



"My daughter, it is necessary to add another name to what you have written regarding fusing one's self in my Will, a name which is to fuse one's self in the order of grace, in everything the Sanctifier has done for those being Sanctified.  This is the Holy Spirit.  Moreover, if Creation is attributed to the Father — the Divine Persons always being united in their works — Redemption is ascribed to the Son, and the "Fiat Voluntas Tua" will be attributed to the Holy Spirit.  It is precisely in the "Fiat Voluntas Tua" where the work of the Holy Spirit will overflow.  You do this when, coming before the Supreme Majesty, you say:

"'I come to correspond with love for everything the Sanctifier does for those He sanctifies.  I come to enter into the order of grace, to be able to give the correspondence of love as if all had become holy, and to make reparation for all the opposition and failure to correspond with grace.' And in as much as you are capable, search in our Will for the acts of grace of the Sanctifying Spirit to make your own His sorrow, His secret moans, His grieving sighs in the depths of hearts where He is so poorly received.  And since the first act that He does is to bring our Will as a complete act of their sanctification, in seeing Himself rejected, He grieves with unutterable laments.  And you, in your childlike simplicity, say to Him:

"Sanctifying Spirit, I beg and implore You to do it quickly: Make your Will known to all so that, knowing It, they may love It and receive your first act of their complete sanctification which is your most Holy Will."

(Vol.17: May 17, 1925)

 

"Fusing Oneself in The Order of Grace"

My dear Heavenly Mother, Spouse of the Holy Spirit, please assist me as I enter into the Divine Will to give your Divine Spouse the love and glory He should have received if all had corresponded to the graces He bestows and thus become as holy as they should have.

Supreme Majesty, I enter into your Holy Divine Will, diffusing my tiny will in the immensity of Yours, to correspond with everything the Sanctifier does for those He Sanctifies.  I come to enter into The Order of Grace, to be able to give the correspondence of love as if all had become holy, and to make up for all the opposition and failure to correspond with grace.  But where will I find this correspondence of love?  Only in your Volition.  For Jesus has said: "...you can say in my Omnipotent FIAT: 'I want to create so much love, so many adorations, so many benedictions, and so much glory to my God, as to supply for everyone and everything.'"  Yes, "my Love, in your Volition is the Creative Strength; therefore, in your Volition I myself want to create so much love as to supply for and surpass the love of all that creatures are obligated to God" for all He does for those He Sanctifies (Vol. 12: Feb. 2, 1921).

O Holy Spirit, Sanctifier, our Holy Religion teaches us that grace is a supernatural gift of God freely bestowed upon us for our salvation and sanctification, and that the chief means of obtaining this grace is through the Holy Sacraments and prayer; therefore, I begin my work of love and reparation with these:

I begin with the first Sacrament to be received — BAPTISM.  Here I find You moan in sorrow because souls refuse this free gift.  I also find You moaning because many souls do so little with the graces available in Baptism.  Often, souls baptized as children do not receive good instruction and example from parents and godparents.  Other souls don't properly value the importance of their baptismal promises.  When this happens the seeds of Faith, Hope and Charity given in this Sacrament are hindered in their growth, the beauty and purity the soul received is tarnished by sin, and sometimes the gift of Sanctifying Grace is permanently lost causing these souls to take the indelible mark of this Sacrament to Hell with them for all eternity.  I share with You your sorrow over all this, O Holy Spirit, and I make reparation by creating for You, in a perfect manner, the love and glory You would have received if all had welcomed this gift, if all had cherished it by carefully watering and cultivating the seeds of Faith, Hope, and Charity, and if all had guarded against sin thus preserving both the gift of Sanctifying Grace and purity of soul. 

Next, in CONFIRMATION, I see You moaning over the all-too-frequent waste of this gift, as many receive it without proper dispositions and without desire to capitalize on the grace offered to make the soul strong to do battle for the Kingdom of Heaven.  Many receive it only because it's the "proper thing to do."  I also see many baptized Catholics who are uninterested in being Confirmed and thus never receive this Sacrament, thereby offending your Love which so ardently wants to strengthen their souls by it.  I sorrow with You, O Holy Spirit, and make reparation by offering You perfect love and glory as if all had received this Sacrament and then corresponded to all the grace it offers.

In the Sacrament of PENANCE, I grieve with You, O Holy Spirit, seeing You sorrowfully moan over the many souls who neglect this Sacrament; and also for the innumerable times this Sacrament is received without true contrition, without firm purpose of amendment, without honest confession, or without manifesting a desire to make satisfaction by faithfully carrying out the penance imposed.  To make up for this, I create for You the love and glory You would have received if every soul had properly made use of this Sacrament, coming with true contrition and a firm purpose of amendment; confessing all, with honesty and humility; and carefully carrying out the penance so as to atone for the sins confessed.  Yes, I give You glory as if all had perfectly corresponded to all the grace offered in this Sacrament.

In the Sacrament of HOLY EUCHARIST I grieve with You, O Holy Spirit, over those who hinder the grace You so desire to lavish upon their souls at Holy Mass because they neglect going to Mass, or participate at this Holy Sacrifice with poor and improper dispositions.  I also share in your sorrow over the many Communions not received because of trifles or lack of desire; and those received carelessly (without proper preparation and thanksgiving) or even sacrilegiously.  How much your grace is impeded!  How much You are offended!  Here too I want to make reparation for all opposition and failure to correspond with the grace being offered.  Therefore I make mine the glory You would have received if everyone had participated at Holy Mass and received Holy Communion whenever possible, and done so with perfect dispositions, and offer this glory to You in the name of all.

I move on to the Sacrament of HOLY ORDERS and here I find You sorrowfully moaning more than in any of the other Sacraments.  I understand: It is because many ordained ministers do not live up to their sacred calling and not only impede your grace in their own souls, but impede it from flowing in many others by their unworthy administration of the Sacraments, by not properly fulfilling their sacred duties, and by the bad example of their lax and sometimes scandalous lives.  How deeply do I feel your great sorrow!  To end this sorrow, O Holy Spirit, I give You the fullness of the glory You deserve from this Sacrament.  Therefore I offer You each and every ordained minister fully corresponding to the grace given in this Sacrament, becoming a Saint by perfectly fulfilling his office and working for the salvation and sanctification of the souls entrusted to him.

Coming now to the Sacrament of MATRIMONY, I see You sorrowing again, O Holy Spirit, because souls called to this state receive so poorly the graces this Sacrament contains.  So often there is unfaithfulness and divorce; and in those marriages that remain united, there is often much unhappiness and lack of growth in sanctity.  Then, unfortunately, this lack of correspondence with the graces of this Sacrament adversely affects the souls of the children who do not receive the proper spiritual nurturing they need (in word and example) to live lives that give glory to God.  To make complete reparation to You, I redo the life of every soul called to the married state in the Divine Will.  In this manner I give You all the glory You would have received if all spouses had perfectly corresponded to the graces of this Sacrament and become holy; and perfectly fulfilling the duties of this state, had led the other family members to lives of happiness and sanctity.

The final Sacrament is EXTREME UNCTION (Anointing of the Sick).  Here You weep because indispositions cause those receiving this Sacrament to not receive all the available graces it contains that want to work to purify and embellish the souls to make them ready to appear before their Creator.  Sharing this sorrow with You, I want to make good by creating for You the love and glory that would be yours if all had received this Sacrament with the dispositions needed to fully receive all the graces You long to give by it.

The second chief means of obtaining your grace is PRAYER.  O how much neglect of prayer there is!  Who can fathom the amount of grace lost to souls because they fail to pray?  Many who do pray, pray mechanically, and not with the heart; many use their prayer time to give their imaginations full freedom to wander, not even making an effort to check distractions.  In such souls, little if any grace can enter in.  I hear You grieving, and I grieve with You, O Holy Spirit, for all the impeding of your grace because souls fail to pray, pray little, or pray poorly.  I want to correspond with You for the grace that should have been received through prayer, but is impeded, by offering You the glory You deserve, the glory You would have received if all prayed as they should, "praying constantly" as the Scriptures teach, and with the heart.

Grace also comes to souls whether Christian or pagan by your working in their CONSCIENCES.  Your Voice in the depths of the soul works to prevent the soul from sinning, and to lovingly make known to it by guilt, that it has sinned.  But what sorrow I share with You, O Holy Spirit, in seeing souls ignoring your Voice, cleverly rationalizing Its argument away, or as often happens, horribly drowning It out with sin.  I'm here then to console You by giving You the glory You would have received if everyone had loved and cherished your Voice in their conscience, had always listened to It and had thereby enabled You to prevent them from falling into any sin.

I see your grace working for souls in the GOOD ADVICE and EXAMPLES of others.  Children receive your grace through the good words and actions of their parents and teachers.  Others receive it through the good words and actions of holy, wise and devout souls, especially good priests and religious.  But then, how often children ignore or rebel against their parents and teachers, unappreciative of the good presented to them; and likewise, how often are the words of the wise and good examples of the just ignored and even despised.  Again You are found moaning with sorrow, O Holy Spirit, for so much rejected grace, and I grieve with You.  Let me make amends by giving You, in the name of everyone, the perfect glory You would have received if each soul had corresponded fully to the grace You send through the other souls You put into their lives to touch them and to be an example to follow.

Grace also flows to souls through your GIFTS TO THE CHURCH OTHER THAN THE SACRAMENTS.  Your grace is to be found in the moral and dogmatic teachings of the Church, which You, O Holy Spirit, keep free from error in every age.  Your grace is to be found in the reading of Sacred Scripture, of the lives and words of the Saints (whom You raise up for us in every age to follow), of the Papal Encyclicals and of other pious works.  And your grace is to be found in the pious use of sacramentals, such as medals, scapulars and holy water.  But O, how all these channels of grace, abundantly given to the Church, are so often obstructed.  Church teachings are not welcomed and embraced; rather they are often ignored and despised.  With many souls, the reading of Sacred Scripture and other spiritual reading is infrequent or not at all.  Even the Saints are unappreciated and forgotten.  And sacramentals fall into disuse being considered old-fashioned (as in our times) or they're used in an improper manner, superstitiously, and as good luck charms.  All this causes You to moan as these graces so needed by souls, and which You so long to give, are hindered from freely flowing.  To relieve You, O Holy Spirit, of this sorrow which I share with You, I again wish to give You the glory You should have received.  Therefore, I give You love and glory as if all souls had lovingly embraced and perfectly lived the teachings of the Church; as if all had cherished Sacred Scripture and other pious works, making full use of the wisdom and examples to be found in these; and as if all had used the gifts of the sacramentals with perfect faith and devotion.

Another manner in which You bestow grace on souls is through the day-to-day circumstances of life.  How much You try to teach, mold and sanctify souls through the incidents, trials and interactions of life.  But this grace, also called the "SACRAMENT OF THE PRESENT MOMENT,"[1]  is usually not received well.  Souls, often blinded by passions or indifference, and often complaining against their crosses, fail to see the tremendous gift of your grace found in each moment, and countless opportunities to grow in sanctity are lost.  I grieve with You, O Holy Spirit, as I see your loving work, that wants to give grace in every detail of life, in most cases completely ruined, and I'm driven to make up to You for this loss by giving You the glory that would be given You if in everything all souls had been most attentive and had completely corresponded to your grace, made available in each moment of their daily lives.

Oftentimes You impart grace by direct INSPIRATIONS to souls.  But when souls are not prayerful, peaceful, and open, and instead are caught up in the cares and amusements of the world, this kind of grace is greatly impeded.  Other times, when the inspirations are received, they are not followed; and then this grace is completely lost.  So once again I rise up to restore to You the glory You should have received if everyone had kept their souls open to your inspirations and had perfectly followed them.  In this way, I also mean to make reparation for those who cause You great grief because they resist You when You inspire or reveal in them the truths necessary for Salvation.

Finally there is the grace which You, O Holy Spirit, Sanctifier, give to follow ONE'S VOCATION, and to become holy by fulfilling it.  Here we see those that, not wanting to give up the life they want to live, reject the vocation they are called to follow.  Many others who do choose their proper vocation, lose the spirit of that vocation, and not corresponding fully with grace, do not reach the mark of sanctity You had intended for them.  Here You moan in sorrow as souls chosen for a high sanctity refuse or impede your grace, and You are hindered from completing your cherished work of adorning souls with great holiness.  Sharing again in your sorrow, I want to make good by creating the glory You should have received, the glory that would have been yours if all souls had chosen their God-given vocations in life, and, corresponding fully with your grace, had become holy, the Saints You intended them to be.

O Holy Spirit, with your Immaculate Spouse, the Blessed Virgin Mary, I've searched in your Holy Will for all your acts of grace.  Then having seen such a lack of correspondence to this grace, and having seen You so poorly received, I have shared in your secret moans and grieving sighs, and have made complete reparation by giving You all the love and glory You should have received for all these acts of grace.  Therefore, I now pray: "Sanctifying Spirit, I beg and implore You to do it quickly: make your Will known to all so that knowing It they may love It and receive the first act of their complete sanctification which is your Most Holy Will!" (Vol. 17: May 17, 1925).

"Come O Holy Spirit come!  And renew the face of the earth!  Amen."

— A d v é n i a t   R e g n u m   T u u m  —

END NOTE

[1]  See: Caussade, Fr. J. P., Self-Abandonment to Divine Providenceback

* Be Faithful and Attentive: A Handbook for Living in the Divine Will
Web-edition Copyright © A.D. 2008 & 2015 Robert T. Hart — All Rights Reserved.

The excerpts of Be Faithful and Attentive offered here may be copied and printed for one's own use and for discussion groups.  The right to publish this book or any of its parts remains exclusively with the author, Robert T. Hart, and the Luisa Piccarreta Center for the Divine Will.  back to top

 


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