COMMON QUESTIONS
There is a lot of incorrect information on the internet concerning the Book of Heaven. This page is dedicated to answering common questions such as:
How is the Book of Heaven written by Luisa Piccarreta viewed by the Catholic Church?
The following is a direct quote from thebookofheaven.com regarding some interesting facts about 'The Book of Heaven’:
“In January of 1996, Cardinal Ratzinger released the 34 Volumes of the Book of Heaven to Archbishop Cassati as part of the protocol for process of Luisa’s Cause of Beatification. A team went to the archives of Cardinal Ratzinger’s office and spent 4 days photocopying and photographing the 34 volumes, finishing the project on February 2, 1996 (Feast of the Presentation and Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary). The originals were in perfect condition and were returned to the archives. The photocopies were taken to the Archdiocese of Trani and placed under the custodianship of Archbishop Cassati.
Concerning the original Volumes 35 and 36, they are in the custody of a certain priest in Florida, who has submitted photocopies of them to Archbishop Cassati.
In March of 1997, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Luisa’s death, it was announced publicly that the Tribunal Responsible for Luisa’ Cause had determined unanimously that Luisa’s life was one of heroic virtue and that her mystical experiences were authentic. Also, in 1997, due to the Beatification process, two independent, highly qualified theologians commissioned by the Church to review Luisa’s writings submitted their reports stating that they found nothing contrary to Catholic Faith or Morals. There may possibly be even more theological reviews before Luisa’s Cause goes to Rome (Luisa’s Cause is currently at the Vatican).”
You can read a lot more facts regarding a timeline of events of the Book of Heaven’s approval here:
Here is a video interview with Mother Gabrielle about Luisa Piccarreta and the Divine Will - Is the Divine Will approved by the Catholic Church? Yes or No?
LATE ARCHBISHOP GIOVANNI BATTISTA PICHIERRI
““Necessary prudence cannot deaden the ardor of those who feel COMPELLED TO SPREAD THE KNOWLEDGE of the sanctity of life of the Servant of God, to RECOMMEND READING THE WRITINGS, (and) to inspire the making of trusting prayer for her beatification. ”
Statement to Divine Will Groups (excerpt)
by LATE ARCHBISHOP GIOVANNI BATTISTA PICHIERRI
"Necessary prudence cannot deaden the ardor of those who feel COMPELLED TO SPREAD THE KNOWLEDGE of the sanctity of life of the Servant of God, to RECOMMEND READING THE WRITINGS, (and) to inspire the making of trusting prayer for her beatification.
All this is not only NOT FORBIDDEN but IT IS DESIRABLE.
As well as, an invitation to strengthen the unity and communion among sister dioceses in which are found individuals, groups and associations inspired by the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta and know her writings".
(Final Communiqué, 28 October 2005)
Learn about the Cause of Luisa Piccarreta.
Here is the paragraph from Daniel’s Book, Thy Will Be Done, pages 313-314:
“Some critics of Luisa attempt to argue that the existing ‘Moratorium’ on the commercial publication of her complete volumes means that they cannot be read, shared, or promoted at all by Catholics. This is false and has been repeatedly contradicted by the sole competent Ecclesial authorities on the matter (who, within the very official documents the ‘Moratorium’ is spoken of, openly advocate for reading and sharing this spirituality!); therefore, those who insist on repeating it should simply be ignored, and we should feel free to read and share the volumes no matter how much they continue to protest. (See the Appendices of The Crown of Sanctity for details).
In The Crown of Sanctity you will find the information on pages 483 - 485 with the Archbishop’s letter on pages 486 - 488. We provide a link to his book on our website.
ARTICLE BY MARK MALLETT
For those interested in learning more about the approval of Luisa’s writings, this page and the article written by Mark Mallett found at “Learn More” may prove useful.
Father Ianuzzi
Here are words of guidance from Father Iannuzzi when someone condemns the Gift of Living in The Divine Will and the writings of The Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta.
Father Ianuzzi is the author of: The Gift of Living in the Divine Will in the Writings of Luisa Piccarreta: An Inquiry into the Early Ecumenical Councils, and into Patristic, Scholastic and Contemporary Theology.
Statement by FATHER IANUZZI regarding The Divine Will
“Recently I was in receipt of an anonymous email and blogs of an individual claiming to be an offspring of the Creator, and of others disavowing the validity of the election of Pope Francis. I wish to reply to those who cast aspersions against the Church, her teachings and her instructors. First, it appears evident to me that such individuals exhibit the textbook definition of “cognitive dissonance” – a psychological stress triggered by the individual’s preconceived ideas clashing with new information perceived, or in this case, spammers who infiltrate religion to oppose Church teaching in order to cling to their preconceived ideas, largely on account of human pride and vincible ignorance.
Such individuals have in common 1) the absence of higher learning and ecclesial credentials, which obviously prohibits them from teaching theology in any capacity; 2) the attitude of refusing to comply with Church teaching (e.g., they refuse to give “the religious assent of the will and intellect… in a special way to the authentic teaching authority of the Pontiff even when he is not speaking ex cathedra; 1 they act “reprehensibly” by publicly opposing works that bear the Church’s official seals of the approval; 2 they adamantly refuse to seek to collaborate with the Magisterium, but unscrupulously attack it, 3 and this list goes on); 3) a disdain toward and the spreading of public disinformation against the Church and her instructors.
The adamant approach against the Church and her instructors was sharply condemned by Our Blessed Lord when confronted with the cognitively dissonant Pharisees of his day who saw religion as the observance of every detail of the law, and the New Testament message as too novel. What did these individuals do? They attacked Christ, his teachings and his disciples. In response Jesus issued seven woes to them in order to challenge their preconceived ideas of religion in order to win them over to the virtue of docility. Sadly, He did not always succeed on 1 Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, Vatican Council I, vol. II, op. cit., pp. cap. II-IV, Ibid., p. 869. 2 Jordan Aumann, Spiritual Theology, Christian Classics, 1980, p. 492; Mariology, A Guide for Priests, Deacons, Seminarians and Consecrated Persons, bearing the Imprimatur of the Most Rev. Raymond L. Burke, and the Nihil Obstat of Fr. Peter Felner, F.I., 2007, Queenship Pub. CA, p. 830. Those who criticize and belittle the official Magisterial seals of approval, the Imprimatur and the Nihil Obstat do not seek to collaborate with the Magisterium, but attack it and thus act contrary to the Magisterial teaching expressed in Donum Veritatis, arts. 20, 30, that relates, “The theologian, to be faithful to his role of service to the truth, must take into account the proper mission of the Magisterium and collaborate with it. How should this collaboration be understood? How is it put into practice and what are the obstacles it may face? These questions should now be examined more closely...
If, despite a loyal effort on the theologian's part, the difficulties persist, the theologian has the duty to make known to the Magisterial authorities the problems raised by the teaching in itself, in the arguments proposed to justify it, or even in the manner in which it is presented. He should do this in an evangelical spirit and with a profound desire to resolve the difficulties. His objections could then contribute to real progress and provide a stimulus to the Magisterium to propose the teaching of the Church in greater depth and with a clearer presentation of the arguments. In cases like these, the theologian should avoid turning to the "mass media", but have recourse to the responsible authority, for it is not by seeking to exert the pressure of public opinion that one contributes to the clarification of doctrinal issues and renders servite to the truth." 3 Ibid., Donum Veritatis, arts. 20, 30. account of the hard-heartedness to which they cleaved.
As in the days of Christ, so today there are critics who lose sight of the inner meaning of religion in which they prefer their own ideas of religion to God’s idea of religion. In the struggle to set themselves free from the psychological stress and discomfort that accompany cognitive dissonance, which may be achieved with a simple “Fiat” of the mind and will, they fail to advance from pure adolescent potential to mature and responsible action and, in remaining deprived of the comfort they seek, set out to attack those that enjoy such comfort.
Such individuals bereft of theological credentials unfortunately set themselves up as interpreters post-biblical prophetic revelations, and is so doing, fail to observe the Pontiff’s encyclical on Sacred Scripture in which he exhorts them to ‘better understand what the inspired author wishes to express’ 4 (intention) and consider their ‘setting in life’ (context) before pronouncing judgment on them. Such individuals limit the interpretation of the prophetic text to the pure letter, thereby divesting it of intentionality and context.
This type of approach constitutes a form of rationalism or theological pragmatism, which espouses the following errors: a) the interpretation of the literal prophetic word; b) the dismissal of the ‘analogy of faith’ (i.e., every individual statement of the text is interpreted in the light of the whole objective body of the text); c) the non-acceptance of human error in the transmission of God’s revealed word (a refusal to acknowledge the influences that St. Hannibal di Francia addresses, 5 which are responsible for the prophet’s unintentional human error); d) inattentiveness to the disparity between the profound theological doctrine contained within prophetic text and the lack of doctrinal education of the prophet; e) a de-emphasis of the prophet’s habitual exercise of the virtues, rectitude of moral life, mental balance, honesty, habitual sincerity, frequent reception of 4 Pope Pius XII, Encyclical Divino Afflante Spiritu, op. cit., 33-34. 5 St. Hannibal founded the Rogationist Fathers and the Sisters of Divine Zeal, and he was the spiritual director of many mystics, including the seer of La Salette, Melanie Calvat, and the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta. In the following passage, he emphasizes the importance of the Church’s “learned writers” or theologians who are to remove such errors before the prophetic revelation is published and read by the faithful.
In a letter to Fr. Peter Bergamaschi who had published all the unedited writings of a renowned Benedictine mystic, Sr. M. Cecilia of Montefiascone (1694-1766), Hannibal criticizes his decision to publish them: “Conforming to prudence and sacred accuracy, people cannot deal with private revelations as if they were canonical books or decrees of the Holy See. Even the most enlightened persons, especially women, may be greatly mistaken in the visions, revelations, locutions, and inspiration.
More than once has the divine operation been restrained by human nature. For example, who could ratify in full all the visions of Catherine Emmerich and St. Brigitte, which show evident discrepancies? I love the private revelations of holy persons, but I never accept everything. Were I to publish revelations, I would eliminate or revise what is inconsistent with a sound criterion, or reliable tradition, or opinions of sacred, learned writers. I think of behaving prudently...
My dear father, to consider any expression of the private revelations as dogma or propositions near of faith is always imprudent!... This is proved by experience, by the mystical theologians, such as St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa, Castrotevere, Poulain, etc...
We cannot consider their revelations and the locutions as words of Scripture. Some of them must be omitted, and others explained in a right, prudent meaning.” the Sacraments, etc.6 The dismissal of these important criteria in the examination of post-biblical prophetic texts gives rise to false criticisms against the writings of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta, several of which enjoy the Magisterial seals, the Imprimatur and Nihil Obstat.
Pay no heed to these critics, but pray that their hearts be opened to God’s divinely revealed truths. “You should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). In Christ, Rev. JL Iannuzzi, STL, S.Th.D. 6 Cf. Norms Regarding the Manner of Proceeding in the Discernment of Presumed Apparitions or Revelations, issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Jerome Hamer, O.P., Cardinal Francis Seper, 1978.
FATHER IANUZZI
“You must know that these writings came out of the center of the great Sun of My Will, whose rays are full of the Truths coming from this center, and embrace all times, all centuries, all generations.
This great Wheel of Light fills Heaven and earth, and, through Light, it knocks at every heart; praying, begging them to receive the palpitating Life of My Fiat, which Our Paternal goodness condescended and deigned to dictate from within Its center with the most unusual, charming, affable, sweet modes, and with such a great Love, as to seem almost incredible - to astound the very Angels.
Every Word can be called a ‘Portent of Love’, one greater than the other. Therefore, trying to touch these writings is wanting to touch Myself, the Center of My Love, the loving finesses with which I love creatures. I will know how to defend Myself and confound anyone who would slightly disapprove of even one Word of what is written on My Divine Will. Therefore, continue to listen to Me, My daughter; do not obstruct My Love, do not tie My arms by rejecting back into My Womb what you keep writing. These writings cost me too much.
They cost Me as much as Myself. Therefore, I will take so much care of them that I will not allow even a word to be lost.”
Quote by Jesus Christ from the Book of Heaven
*It is important for faithful Catholics to know we may distribute excerpts from the Book of Heaven for private reading and discussion in private Divine Will groups is permissible. However, if one has a public conference he/she needs to seek permission from the local archbishop.