Week 1 - Night Prayer - Day of the Divine Will

G. Oh God, come to reign in us.

E. Lord, let your Will come quickly.

Glory be to the Father...

HYMN Vol. IV, December 24, 1902

Most tender Jesus
I want suffering;
by giving me suffering
you will give me more than love.

Because the one and only means
by which I can gain all your affection for myself,
is to suffer for love of you.

In the most holy Will,
may glory and love be yours,
oh divine victim,
most loving Jesus. Amen.

Ant. Humanly speaking, obedience is so bothersome and fierce, that it goes beyond our understanding.

Psalm Vol. II, August 17, 1899

Obedience has to kill all the vices,
and if she does not obtain her goal
then she makes use of aggravating
and bothersome devices.

Consider this: whoever has to kill someone else
must be strong and courageous,
even though the body is so fragile.
So, how much more are
strength and courage needed
to kill the vices and one’s own passions.

This is so hard to do, that at times,
just when it seems
the vices and passions are dead,
they come alive again.

This diligent lady
is always around
and is continually spying.

If she sees that the soul puts up
even the least little difficulty
in the face of what it was told to do,
fearing that some vice
could come alive again in its heart,

she fights the soul so hard and gives it no peace,
until bowing at her feet,
the soul silently surrenders
to whatever she wants of it.

That is why obedience is so bothersome
and even aggravating.

You can be sure that there is never
true peace without obedience.
And if it seems that one enjoys peace,
it is a false peace,
because it goes along with one’s own passions,
but never with the virtues.

So, the soul ends up in ruin,
since by falling away from obedience,
it falls away from me,
who was king of this noble virtue.

Now , obedience kills one’s own will,
and pours out the Divine Will in torrents;
so much so, that you could say
that the obedient soul
does not live by its own will, but by the divine.

And what could be a more beautiful and holy life,
that to live by the very same Will of God?

With the other virtues,
even the loftiest ones,
there can be self-love;
but never with obedience.

Glory be to the Father…

Ant. Humanly speaking, obedience is so bothersome and fierce, that it goes beyond understanding.

SHORT READING Vol. VIII, January 30, 1909

“With almost everything that happens, creatures always go about asking and repeating: Why? Why? Why this sickness? Why do I feel like this? Why this chastisement?, and so many other whys. The answers to the whys aren’t written on earth, but in heaven, where everyone will read them.”

RESPONSORIAL

G. My child, gentleness *has the power to change the way things are.

E. My child, gentleness *has the power to change the way things are.

G. It knows how to change bitter things into sweet.

E. *It has the power to change the way things are.

G. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

E. My child, gentleness *has the power to change the way things are.

Ant. Blessed is the soul that lives in the Divine Will; all generations will call it blessed!

Canticle (Spiritual testament of Luisa)

Ant. Blessed is the soul that lives in the Divine Will; all generations will call it blessed!

PRAYER
O adorable Father, hear the prayer of your Son Jesus, who asks on our behalf that all our acts be so united to his own, that you cannot tell them apart. Grant this, so that your eternal designs will be fulfilled in us. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

May the Lord put an end to the night of the human will, and let us rest in the divine. Amen.