The Iron Rod

READING the words of Jesus to Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta, you begin to understand that the coming of the Kingdom of the Divine Will, as we pray each day in the Our Father, is the single greatest objective of Heaven. “I want to raise the creature back to her origin,” Jesus said to Luisa, “…that my Will be known, loved, and done on earth as It is in Heaven.” ^[1]Vol. 19, June 6, 1926 Jesus even says that the glory of the Angels and Saints in Heaven “will not be complete if my Will does not have Its complete triumph on earth.”

Everything was created for the total fulfillment of the Supreme Will, and until Heaven and earth return into this circle of the Eternal Volition, they feel their works, their glory and beatitude as though halved, because, not having found Its complete fulfillment in the Creation, the Divine Will cannot give what It had established to give — that is, the fullness of Its goods, of Its effects, joys and happinesses which It contains. — Volume 19, May 23, 1926

It’s not just about fallen mankind being redeemed, but also reclaiming its True Sonship in order “to receive the regeneration of the Divine Will in the human will.” ^[2]Vol. 17, June 18th, 1925 So, it is more than simply doing the will of God: it is possessing the Divine Will as Adam once did, along with all the rights, goods and effects that it contains in order to bring creation to perfection.^[3]“God thus enables men to be intelligent and free causes in order to complete the work of creation, to perfect its harmony for their own good and that of their neighbors.” — Catechism of the Catholic Church, 307 Time and history will not close until this has been accomplished. In fact, so significant is the advent of this hour that it is described by Christ as a new era or epoch:

I am preparing for you an era of love… these writings will be for My Church like a new sun which will rise in her midst… as the Church will be renewed, they will tranform the face of the earth… the Church will receive this celestial food, which will strengthen Her and make Her rise again in her full triumph… the generations will not end until my Will reigns upon earth. —February 8, 1921, February 10, 1924, February 22, 1921

This sounds like a pretty big deal. So, it would be in Scripture, right?

The Great Sign

Jesus said to Luisa:

...the sun is the symbol of my Will…  It will spread Its divine rays to give the Life of my Will to all. This is the Prodigy of prodigies, which the whole of Heaven longs for.  — Volume 19, May 10, 23, 1926

…there is no Greater Prodigy than My Will Dwelling in the creature. —Volume 15, December 8, 1922

And then, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Jesus says:

She can be called the Queen, the Mother, the Foundress, the Base and the Mirror of my Will, in which all can reflect themselves to receive Its Life from Her. — Volume 19, May 31, 1926

And so, there emerges within these revelations an echo from the Book of Revelation:

A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars… She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.(Rev 12:1, 5)

As noted in The Woman in the Wilderness, Benedict XVI concludes:

This Woman represents Mary, the Mother of the Redeemer, but she represents at the same time the whole Church, the People of God of all times, the Church that at all times, with great pain, again gives birth to Christ. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Castel Gandolfo, Italy, August 23, 2006; Zenit; cf. catholic.org

And yet, there is something deeper in this vision of the Woman that is further unpacked in the revelations to Luisa.^[4]“…no new public revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet even if Revelation is already complete, it has not been made completely explicit; it remains for Christian faith gradually to grasp its full significance over the course of the centuries.” —Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 67 As Jesus said to her:

…in order to make my Will known, so that It might reign, I do not need to have a second mother according to the natural order, but rather, I need a second mother according to the order of grace… you too are the little queen in the Kingdom of My Will. — Vol 19, June 6, 20 1926, 

Luisa was to be the first among sinful creatures to be clothed, as it were, in the sun of the Divine Will. Hence, in light of these revelations, the “woman clothed in the sun” — who is perfectly prefigured or mirrored in the Blessed Virgin Mary — appears as the Church in these times being clothed in the Divine Will, beginning with Luisa as the first among the “common stock,” ^[5]Vol. 19, June 6, 1926 and giving birth to a “male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod.” It is the Church giving birth to the whole mystical Body of Christ, both in number and in nature. In terms of number…

…a hardening has come upon Israel in part, until the full number of the Gentiles comes in, and thus all Israel will be saved… (Rom 11:25-26)

…and in terms of nature:

…until we all attain to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the extent of the full stature of Christ… that he might present to himself the Church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. (Ephesians 4:13, 5:27)

The end of the world will not come until Christ’s Bride is clothed in the “sun” of the Divine Will, the wedding garment of a “new and divine holiness”:^[6]cf. The Coming New and Divine Holiness

The Lord has established his reign, our God, the almighty. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory. For the wedding day of the Lamb has come, his bride has made herself ready. She was allowed to wear a bright, clean linen garment. (Rev 19:6-8)

The Iron Rod

There is a beautiful prophecy given by Pope Pius XI in his Christmas address of 1922:

“And they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.” May God… shortly bring to fulfillment His prophecy for transforming this consoling vision of the future into a present reality… It is God’s task to bring about this happy hour and to make it known to all… When it does arrive, it will turn out to be a solemn hour, one big with consequences not only for the restoration of the Kingdom of Christ, but for the pacification of… the world. —POPE PIUS XI, Ubi Arcani dei Consilioi “On the Peace of Christ in his Kingdom”, December 23, 1922

Of this universal reign of Christ, God the Father declares:

You are my son; today I have begotten you. Ask it of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and, as your possession, the ends of the earth. With an iron rod you will shepherd them, like a potter’s vessel you will shatter them. (Psalm 2:7-9)

The “shattering” of the wicked is an allusion to The Judgment of the Living that precedes the “era of love” when the unrepentant and rebellious, including the Antichrist or “beast,” ^[7]cf. Rev 19:20 will be wiped from the face of the earth:^[8]cf. Rev 19:21

…he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide fairly for the land’s afflicted. He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. Justice shall be the band around his waist, and faithfulness a belt upon his hips. Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat… (Isaiah 11:4-9) Out of his mouth came a sharp sword to strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod, and he himself will tread out in the wine press the wine of the fury and wrath of God the almighty. (Rev 19:15)

But then Jesus says in return to those who remain faithful:

To the victor, who keeps to my ways until the end, I will give authority over the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod… And to him I will give the morning star. (Rev 2:26-28)

The “iron rod” is the unbending, unshakeable, unchanging eternal “Divine Will” that governs the physical and spiritual laws of creation and reflects all the divine attributes of the Holy Trinity itself. The rule with an iron rod, then, is nothing other than…

…the perfect communion with the Lord enjoyed by those who persevere to the end: the symbolism of the power given to the victors… sharing in the resurrection and glory of Christ. —The Navarre Bible, Revelation; footnote, p. 50

Indeed, Christ frequently alludes to the “restoration” of the Divine Will in the creature as a “resurrection.”^[9]cf. The Resurrection of the Church 

Now, my Resurrection is the symbol of the souls who will form their Sanctity in my Will. —Jesus to Luisa, April 15th, 1919, Vol. 12 

They came to life and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over these; they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for the thousand years. (Revelation 20:4-6)

For as he is our resurrection, since in him we rise, so he can also be understood as the Kingdom of God, for in him we shall reign. —Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 2816

They reign “with him” because He is in them. For the rising of the “morning star” and the “gift of living in the Divine Will” are one and the same thing:

I am the root and offspring of David, the bright morning star. (Rev 22:16)

…the prodigy of living in my Will is the prodigy of God Himself. — Jesus to Luisa, Vol. 19, May 27, 1926

This rising of the morning star in the hearts of the faithful heralds The Thousand Years, or Day of the Lord.^[10]cf. Two More Days

Moreover, we possess the prophetic message that is altogether reliable. You will do well to be attentive to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts… with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. (2 Peter 1:19… 3:8)

God’s Protection

In closing, a word on the mysterious divine providence God extends to both the “woman” and “male child” in Revelation 12. It goes without saying that Satan, the dragon, is in a rage against the coming of the Kindgom of the Divine Will. In fact, The Final Revolution is precisely his attempt to mock and mimic God’s Kingdom through a False Unity and False Love. Hence, we are presently living through The Clash of the Kingdoms. I have already elaborated on how Christ will preserve the Church in the times to come in The Woman in the Wilderness. But there is also “protection” offered to the “male child” whom the dragon seeks to destroy:

Then the dragon stood before the woman about to give birth, to devour her child when she gave birth. She gave birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was caught up to God and his throne. (Rev 12:4-5)

Many times in the discourse with Luisa, she is “caught up” to the throne of God for days on end in her mystical visions. She lived almost solely on the Holy Eucharist.^[11]cf. On Luisa and Her Writings And Jesus assures her at one point:

It is true that great will be the tragedy, but know that I will have regard for the souls who live from my Will, and for the places where these souls are… Know that I put the souls who live completely from my Will on earth in the same condition as the Blessed. Therefore, live in my Will and fear nothing. —Jesus to Luisa, Volume 11, May 18, 1915

Another time, Jesus said to her:

You must know that I always love My children, My beloved creatures, I would turn Myself inside out so as not to see them struck; so much so, that in the gloomy times that are coming, I have placed them all in the hands of my Celestial Mother — to Her have I entrusted them, that she may keep them for Me under her safe mantle.  I will give her all those whom she will want; even death will have no power over those who will be in the custody of My Mother.

Now, while He was saying this, my dear Jesus showed me, with facts, how the Sovereign Queen descended from Heaven with an unspeakable majesty, and a tenderness fully maternal; and She went around in the midst of creatures, throughout all nations, and she marked her dear children and those who were not to be touched by the scourges. Whomever my Celestial Mother touched, the scourges had no power to touch those creatures. Sweet Jesus gave to His Mother the right to bring to safety whomever she pleased. How moving it was to see the Celestial Empress going around to all places of the world, taking creatures in her maternal hands, holding them close to her breast, hiding them under her mantle, so that no evil could harm those whom her maternal goodness kept in her custody, sheltered and defended. Oh! if all could see with how much love and tenderness the Celestial Queen performed this office, they would cry of consolation and would love she who so much loves us. —Vol. 33, June 6th, 1935

And yet, those who reign with the “iron rod” are also those whom St. John sees as “those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image nor had accepted its mark on their foreheads or hands.” (Rev 20:4) And so, let us simply be attentive and faithful in everything “to the end,” whatever that end shall be. For…

For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. (Romans 14:8)

 

O, iniquitous world, you are doing everything you can
to cast Me away from the face of the earth,
to banish Me from society, from schools,
from conversations — from everything.
You are plotting how to demolish temples and altars,
how to destroy my Church and kill my ministers;
while I am preparing for you an Era of Love —
the Era of my third FIAT.
You will make your own way in order to banish Me,
and I will confuse you by means of Love.
—Jesus to Luisa, Vol. 12, February 8, 1921

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Answers to your questions On Luisa and Her Writings

 

 

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