Reading The Way of Perfection by Saint Teresa of Ávila, one is struck by how the Saint identifies three fundamental virtues for the Prayer of the Heart: humility, mutual love, and detachment. This reflection immediately brought to my mind the writings of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta, in which these same virtues are indispensable for living in the Divine Will.
Among them all, humility occupies a central place. On many occasions Jesus speaks of it to Luisa, presenting it as a virtue that appears small, yet is of immense scope:
“Humility is the smallest plant that can be found, but its branches are so high that they reach Heaven; they wrap themselves around the throne of God and penetrate deeply into His Heart. The branches produced by this plant are confidence; therefore, there can be no true humility without confidence.”
(April 3, 1899)
Humility is described as a sure guarantee of heavenly favors, a garment that protects the soul from the snares of the devil and keeps it firmly rooted in Grace:
“Humility clothes the soul with such security that the wiles of the devil cannot penetrate it.”
(May 19, 1899)
It is a bearer of Light, it attracts Grace, breaks the chains of sin, sweetens human nature like a delicate graft, and is “the newborn of Grace.” Humility is also profoundly linked to the virtue of obedience.
At the beginning of Volume II (February 28, 1899), Luisa expresses a strong reluctance to write about what takes place between herself and Jesus. Yet, faced with the obedience imposed by her confessor, she surrenders with deep humility of spirit:
“O holy obedience, what a powerful bond you are! I beg You, O Holy Spouse, I desire nothing other than that You hold me in Your arms and sustain me in saying only the Truth, for Your glory.”
Humility is the path of the little ones, of those who know how to recognize their own nothingness before the great mystery of God and who trust solely in His mercy. It helps us understand who we are and who God is, and it naturally opens the soul to the virtue of mutual love. Only humility makes authentic relationships possible—relationships founded on respect, listening, and self-gift.
The suffering of Jesus, His wounded Body, constantly calls us to love our neighbor and to take care of one another. In the immensity of the Divine Will, this solicitude is expressed when, in prayer, we embrace the entire human family—past, present, and future—as a single act, offering the Father love, glory, reparation, and thanksgiving in a divine way. In daily life, such love is also translated into concrete attention toward those in need, especially those who live on the margins, for it is there that Jesus awaits us:
“If you offer your bread to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
and your gloom be like the noonday.”
(Isaiah 58:10)
Detachment is another fundamental theme in Luisa’s writings. In the passage of July 28, 1904, Jesus reveals to her that when the soul is truly detached from everything, it finds God in all things: within itself, outside itself, and in other creatures. Everything becomes an opportunity to encounter God, for adoration, prayer, thanksgiving, and intimate union with Him.
In the prayer of the Rounds, we place our “I love You, I adore You, I thank You” in all the works of the Divine Will in Creation, Redemption, and Sanctification, imploring:
“May Your Kingdom come, may Your Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”
In this interweaving of spiritual experiences, the paths of Saint Teresa of Ávila and Luisa Piccarreta reveal a deep closeness. Both, though in different contexts and languages, point to three fundamental virtues as the way of the Prayer of the Heart: humility, trusting abandonment, and persevering love. In Teresa, these virtues become the foundation of the Interior Castle; in Luisa, they become the daily breath of a life given over completely, lived in a continual “yes” to the Will of God.
Thus, the two paths—that of Saint Teresa of Ávila and that of the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta—intersect and illuminate one another, converging toward the same center. Prayer, in both, is the transformation of the soul in love. At the end of the journey, what remains is the simplicity of a heart that loves God above all things and learns to love Him in all things. It is here that Teresa and Luisa meet: in the constant call to a total, trusting, and concrete love, capable of uniting the soul to God and of making life itself a prayer.
Frank - Phyllis' group - Ireland