The Practice of the Divine Indwelling

Dan Lynch
Feast of the Queenship of Mary
August 22, 2019

Sister Mildred, the mystic of the devotion to Our Lady of America, wrote that on the evening of August 5, 1957, “Our Lady spoke to me about the Divine Indwelling. It was her life and she lived it perfectly always conscious of His presence, never forgetting that all her greatness came from within, from Him who dwelt there, working, loving, and doing good through her. This is what Our Lady means when she speaks of reformation, renewal. It is this about which she is so concerned, namely sanctification from within. . . . She seemed anxious to impress me with some idea of the greatness of this gift of God to us, namely, His Divine Presence within our souls through sanctifying grace.”

On March 18, 1958, St. Joseph appeared to Sister Mildred and said, “Through you, small one, the Trinity desires to make known to souls Its desire to be adored, honored, and loved within the kingdom, the interior kingdom of their hearts.”

This is the first of six articles on the Practice of the Divine Indwelling. They will be published each Thursday from the Feast of the Queenship of Mary to the 63rd Anniversary of Our Lady of America’s first apparition on September 26.

On November 23, 1957, Our Lady revealed herself to Sister Mildred “as she really and truly was, the Immaculate Tabernacle of the Indwelling God.” She wrote that Our Lady wore “on her breast, as through a veil, the Triangle and the Eye, which is often depicted as the symbol of the Divine Indwelling.” This image is now on the reverse side of the medal of Our Lady of America so that we can wear the image as she did. She revealed her title, “I am Our Lady of the Divine Indwelling, handmaid of Him who dwells within.”

On February 11, 1958, Our Lady said, “There is only one true way to the Father, my child, only one way to eternal union. It is the way of the divine humanity. It is through my Son, the only-begotten of the Father, that souls attain perfect union with the divinity, as perfect as human nature is capable of, aided by divine grace.” Towards evening Our Lady said, “I am the Mother of the sacred humanity, and it is my special work as Co-Redemptrix of the human race to help souls reach the sanctity of the Father in eternal union by showing them how to put on Christ, to imbibe His Spirit, and thus become one with Him.”

Our Lady made known to Sister “that she is particularly interested in the youth of our nation. It is they who are to be the leaders of this movement of renewal on the face of the earth. . . . But the youth must be prepared, and this must be done by instilling into them, not only the knowledge of the Divine Indwelling, but a serious study of It, living It in such a way that the Divine Presence becomes, as it were, an intimate and necessary part of their life and daily living. From this will flow a great love, a conflagration that will envelop the world in the flames of divine charity.”

What is this Divine Indwelling of which Our Lady of America speaks? God lives in us! The Holy Trinity, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three persons in one God, dwell in us by their free gift of grace of which we are not worthy. “Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to His call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, hereafter CCC, 1996). The Fathers of the early Church said that “the Son of God became a man, in order that men might become sons of God.”
The Divine Indwelling in Sacred Scripture
“In Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:26-28). “God is love and he who lives in love lives in God and God [lives] in him.” (1 John 4:16). “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in Him and he in God.” (1 John 4:15, 16). “All who keep His commandments live in Him, and He in them.” (1 John 3:24).

Jesus said, “If anyone loves me he will keep my word and my Father will come to him and make His home in him.” (John 14:23). God really makes His home within us. (See also 1 Corinthians 3:16; John 14:23; Revelations 3:20).

Since God makes His home in us, we are then, as St. Peter tells us, “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) and, as St. Paul says, “partakers of Christ” (Hebrews 3:14) and “partakers of the Holy Spirit.” (Hebrews 6:4). We are God-like, in fellowship with the Father and the Son (see 1 John 1:3) by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is recognized in the Mass when the priest prays, “By the mixing of this water and wine, may we share in the divinity of Him who humbled Himself to share in our humanity.”

St. Paul is very clear about the reality of the Divine Indwelling. This is the mystery of the Gospel, he says, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27). “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me,” he tells the Galatians. (Galatians 2:20). He asked the Corinthians, incredulously, “Do you not recognize that Jesus Christ is in you – unless indeed you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5). Likewise, he says, the Holy Spirit dwells in us. (2 Timothy 1:14). “God gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge” (2 Corinthians 1:22), and has “sent the Spirit into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father.’ ” (Galatians 4:6). Of course, Father-union, Christ-union and Holy Spirit-union is the same as the Divine Indwelling of the Holy Trinity since you can’t have one person without the others.

So, let us learn and study the Divine Indwelling! It is not a new teaching by Our Lady of America. The Church has always taught it and Our Lady of America is reminding us of it. The teaching has its source in Sacred Scripture and is taught in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. You may learn and study by reading the remaining five articles in this series that will be published each Thursday until September 26.