Part 1: Excerpts from Luisa Piccarreta, "The Book of Heaven" Volume 2

March 13, 1899
Charity is nothing other than an outpouring of the Divine Being.

…[Jesus]   “Charity. Charity is nothing other than an outpouring of the Divine Being, and this outpouring I have diffused over all Creation, in such a way that all Creation speaks of the love I have for man, and all Creation teaches the way in which he must love Me - from the largest being to the most tiny little flower of the field.

“See”, it says to man, “with my sweet fragrance and by always facing the sky, I try to send an homage to my Creator. You too, let all your actions be fragrant, holy, pure; do not offend my Creator with the bad odor of your actions. O please! Oh man”, the little flower repeats to us, “don’t be so senseless as to keep your eyes fixed on the earth; but raise them up to Heaven. See, up there is your destiny, your Fatherland – up there is my Creator and yours who awaits you.”

The water that flows continuously before our eyes also says to us: “See, I have come out of darkness, and I must flow and run so much until I get to bury myself in the place from which I came out. You too, Oh man, run - but run into the bosom of God, from which you came out. O please! I beg you, do not run along the wrong paths, the paths that lead to the precipice; otherwise - woe to you!”

Even the wildest animals repeat to us: “See, Oh man, how wild you must be for all that is not God. See, when we see that someone gets close to us, with our roars we strike so much fear, that no one dares to come close to us any more, to disturb our solitude. You too, when the stench of earthly things - that is, your violent passions – are about to make you muddy and make you fall into the abyss of sins, with the roars of your prayers and by withdrawing from the occasions in which you find yourself, you will be safe from any danger.” And so with all other beings, such that it would take too long to tell them all; with one voice they resound among themselves, and repeat to us: “See, Oh man, our Creator has created us for love of you, and we remain all at your service. And you, don’t be so ungrateful – love, we beg you; love, we repeat to you; love our Creator.”

March 18, 1899
Charity is simple.

…[Jesus]   “Charity is so dear to me, that you cannot comprehend it. Charity is simple, just like my Being which, though immense, is yet most simple; so much so that there is no place which It does not penetrate. So Charity is; being simple, it diffuses everywhere, it has regard for no one – whether a friend or an enemy, whether a citizen or a stranger, it loves everybody.”

March 31, 1899
The preciousness of sufferings.

 He told me: “Many are the wounds that made Me suffer during my Passion, but one was the Cross. This means that many are the roads by which I draw souls to perfection, but one is the Heaven in which these souls must unite. So, if one misses that Heaven, there is no other that can render them blessed forever.”

Then He added: “Take a look: one is the Cross, but this Cross was formed with various pieces of wood. This means that one is Heaven, but this Heaven contains various places, more or less glorious; and these places will be distributed according to the sufferings suffered down here, more or less heavy. Oh! if all knew the preciousness of suffering, they would compete with one another to suffer more. But this science is not recognized by the world, and so they abhor everything that can render them richer for eternity.”

April 3, 1899
Humility without confidence is false virtue.

 …[Jesus]   “If you knew how much I like humility…. Humility is the littlest plant that can be found, but its branches are so high as to reach Heaven, wind their way around my throne, and penetrate even into my Heart. This little plant is humility, and the branches that this plant produces are confidence; so, there cannot be true humility without confidence. Humility without confidence is false virtue.”

April 26, 1899
The souls who are detached.

…He said: “I am so very pleased with the souls who are detached from everything, not only in the affect, but also in the effect, that insofar as they keep stripping themselves, so does my light keep investing them, and they become just like crystals, which are such that the light of the sun finds no impediment to penetrate inside, as it finds with buildings and other material things.”

“Ah!”, He then said, “They think that they strip themselves, but instead, they come to be clothed not only with spiritual things, but also with the corporal, because my providence has a care all particular and special for these detached souls. My providence overshadows them everywhere; it happens that they have nothing, but they possess everything.”

May 19, 1899
Humility is the safeguard of the celestial favors.

 …[Jesus]  “Humility is the safeguard of the celestial favors. Humility clothes the soul with such safety that the tricks of the devil cannot penetrate inside of her. Humility places all celestial graces in safety, so much so, that when I see humility, I let flow, abundantly, any kind of celestial favors. “

Then He showed me many religious people and, among these, priests - even of holy life. But as good as they were, there wasn’t in them that spirit of simplicity in believing in the many graces and the many ways that the Lord uses with souls. And Jesus said to me: “I communicate Myself both to the humble and to the simple, because they immediately believe in my graces and take them into great consideration, though they may be ignorant and poor. But with these others that you see, I am very reluctant, because the first step which draws the soul near Me is belief; and it happens that these ones, with all their science and doctrine, and even holiness, never experience a ray of celestial light – that is, they walk along the natural way, and they never arrive at touching, even slightly, that which is supernatural. This is also the reason for which in the course of my mortal life there was not one learned, one priest, one man of power, among my followers, but all ignorant and of low condition – because these were more humble and simple, and also more disposed to make great sacrifices for Me.”

May 23, 1899
The virtue of sweetness. Detachment from all things and from oneself.

…Jesus told me: “My daughter, sweetness has the virtue of making things change their nature; it knows well how to convert bitter into sweet. Therefore, more sweet, more sweet.”

After this, I felt I was outside of myself, together with Jesus. There were many people; some aspired to riches, some to honor, some to glory, and some even to sanctity, and many other things – but not for God, but rather, to be held in great esteem by creatures. Turning to them, shaking His head, Jesus said to them: “Foolish you are – you are working your own net to entangle yourselves.”

Then, turning to me, He told me: “My daughter, this is why the first thing I so much recommend is detachment from all things, and also from oneself. When the soul has detached herself from everything, she does not need to pluck up her strength in order to stay away from all the things of the earth which, of their own, come around her; but seeing themselves ignored - even more, despised - saying good-bye to her, they take leave of her to bother her no more.”

May 26, 1899
Contempt of oneself must be united to Faith.

…My good Jesus, always benign with this miserable sinner, came and told me: “Contempt of yourself is praiseworthy when it is well invested by the spirit of Faith; but when it is not invested by the spirit of Faith, instead of doing you good, it can harm you. In fact, in seeing yourself as you are, unable to do anything good, you will be discouraged, disheartened, without daring to take one step on the path of good. But by leaning on Me – that is, by investing yourself with the spirit of Faith – you will come to know and despise yourself, and at the same time, to know Me, confident of being able to do anything with my help. And here is how, by acting in this way, you will walk according to the truth.”

How much good these words of Jesus did to my soul! I comprehended that I must enter into my nothingness and know who I am, but I must not stop there. Rather, immediately after I have known myself, I must fly into the immense sea of God, and stay there, to draw all the graces that my soul needs; otherwise, my nature remains weakened and the devil will look for means in order to cast it into discouragement. May the Lord be always blessed, and may everything be for His glory.

May 31, 1899
Oppositions serve so that the truth may shine more in its own time.

…[Jesus]  “Even I received oppositions, and from people among the most distinguished, and also from priests and other dignities. They found fault with my holy works, to the point of stigmatizing Me as possessed by the devil. But I permit these oppositions, even from religious people, so that the truth may shine more in its own time.”

Then He said to me: “What I want from you is an upright and simple operating. Do not bother about the pros and cons of the creatures; let them think what they want, without being the least troubled, since wanting that all be favorable is like wanting to deviate from the imitation of my Life.”

June 2, 1899
The greatest favor for a soul is to make her know herself.

…After this, Jesus told me: “The greatest favor I can do to a soul is to make her know herself. The knowledge of self and the knowledge of God go together; the more you know yourself, the more you know God. The soul who has known herself, seeing that she can do nothing good by herself, transforms this shadow of her being in God, and it happens that in God she does all her operations. It happens that the soul is in God and walks beside Him, without looking, without investigating, without speaking – in a word, as if she were dead. In fact, knowing the depth of her nothingness, she does not dare to do anything by herself, but she blindly follows the trajectory of the operations of the Word.”

It seems to me that to a soul who knows herself it happens as to those people who travel in a steamer: in moving from one point to another, without taking a step of their own, they make long journeys, but everything by virtue of the steamer that transports them. In the same way, the soul, by placing herself in God, just like the people in the steamer, makes sublime flights on the way of perfection, fully knowing, however, that it is not because of her, but by virtue of that blessed God who carries her within Himself. Oh! how the Lord favors, enriches, concedes the greatest graces, knowing that she attributes everything, not to herself, but to Him. Oh! soul who know yourself – how fortunate you are!

June 19, 1899
Instability in doing good.

…[Jesus] “What most displeases Me about these souls is their instability in doing good. One little thing, one disappointment, even one defect, is enough; and while that is the time when it is most necessary for them to cling more to Me, they, instead, become irritated, they get disturbed, and they neglect the good which they had started. How many times I have prepared graces to give to them, but in seeing them so unstable, I have been forced to hold them back.”

June 20, 1899
The love with which Saint Aloysius operated.

…Afterwards, Heaven opened; it seemed that a very great feast was being prepared. At that very moment a young man of lovely appearance came down from Heaven, all dazzling with fire and flames. Jesus told me: “Tomorrow is the feast of my dear Aloysius – I must go attend.” And I: ‘And then You leave me alone – what shall I do?’ And He: “You too will come. Look at how beautiful Aloysius is; but what was greatest in him, which distinguished him on earth, was the love with which he operated. Everything was love in him - love occupied his interior, love surrounded him externally; so, one can say that even his breath was love. This is why it is said of him that he never suffered distraction – because love inundated him everywhere, and with this love he will be inundated eternally, as you see.”

Then Jesus added: “I stroll upon the highest mountains, and there I form my delight.” Since I did not understand the meaning of it, He continued, saying: “The highest mountains are the Saints who have loved Me the most, and in them I form my delight, both when they are on earth, and when they pass into Heaven. So, everything is in love.”

June 25, 1899
Three spiritual joys of Faith.

…While I was praying Him, all goodness, Jesus turned to the confessor and said to him: “I want Faith to inundate you everywhere, like those boats that are inundated by the waters of the sea. And since I Myself am Faith, as you are inundated by Me, who possess everything, can do everything and give freely to those who trust in Me, without your thinking of what will come, of when it will, and of how you will do it, I Myself will be there to assist you according to your needs.”

Then He added: “If you exercise yourself in this Faith, almost swimming in It, as recompense I will infuse three spiritual joys in your heart: first, you will penetrate the things of God with clarity, and in doing holy things you will feel inundated by a joy, by such gladness, as to feel as though soaked with it; and this is the unction of my grace. The second is boredom for earthly things, and you will feel in your heart joy for celestial things. The third is total detachment from everything, and there where you felt inclination in the past, you will feel bother; this I have been infusing in your heart for some time, and you are already experiencing it. And because of this, your heart will be inundated by the joy which the naked souls enjoy, who have their hearts so inundated with my love, that they receive no impression from the things that surround them externally.”

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