Luisa Piccarreta, also known as the "Little Daughter of the Divine Will", is under consideration for possible canonization as a saint of the Catholic Church. She was a mystic and author. For some time her confessor was St. Annibale Maria di Francia. Her spirituality centered on union with the Will of God.
Biography
Luisa Piccarreta was born in Corato in the Province of Bari, Italy on 23 April 1865, the daughter of Vito Nicola and Rosa Tarantino Piccarreta. She received only a first grade education. As a teenager she became a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic. As an adult, she took up lace-making. As of 1889 she became bedridden. In February 1899, her spiritual director asked her to begin a diary of her spiritual experiences, which she continued until 1938. Her writing ran to thirty-six volumes. In 1926, Annibale Maria di Francia was in Trani to open branches of his newly established institutes; he asked her to write her autobiography. She died of pneumonia on 4 March 1947 at the age of 82. In 1994, the Archbishop of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie opened her cause for beatification. By the end of 2005, The diocesan process of inquiry and documentation within the Diocese of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie-Nazareth was completed in October 2005. Her cause was then passed on to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican, and she was designated "Servant of God". In 2007, the focus then turned to an examination of Piccarreta's writings, "...to clarify difficulties of a theological nature." This review was somewhat complicated by the fact that she wrote in her regional dialect. In letter dated 1 November 2012, Archbishop Giovan Battista Pichierri pointed out that until such time as the review was finished it would premature to render any opinion as to whether or not Piccarreta's writings conform to Catholic teaching. The Archbishop also stated that a "typical and critical edition" of her writings will then be issued. He further specified that the Archdiocese is the legal owner of said writings and no other translations have been authorized. On 1 November 2012, Archbishop Pichierri reiterated was he had earlier observed in 2006, "that the doctrine of the Divine Will has not always been presented in a respectful and correct manner, according to the Doctrine of the Church and the Magisterium, placing on the lips of Luisa claims that not even implicitly are found in her writings. This causes trauma in the consciousness and even confusion and rejection in people and among the priests and bishops.". "...the initiatives that are taken in reference to the spirituality of Luisa, such as conferences, days of spirituality, prayer meetings, etc., To give peace of mind to those who participate, must be authorized by their Bishop.".
