On Grieving and Rejoicing
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Friday of the Sixth
Week of Easter
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Father John Doyle, LC
John 16:20-23a
Jesus said to his
disciples: "Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the
world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. When a woman
is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has
given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy
that a child has been born into the world. So you also are now in anguish.
But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take
your joy away from you. Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father
in my name he will give you."
Introductory Prayer:
Lord, as I begin
this prayer I offer You my whole self: my thoughts, desires, decisions,
actions, hopes, fears, weaknesses, failures and petty successes. I open my
entire being to You, aware that You know everything already. I’m certain of Your
mercy and of the purifying power of Your penetrating, loving gaze.
Petition: Lord, give me great peace and interior joy
in the midst of life’s trials.
1. “You Will Weep”: Grief is not an agreeable experience in
itself. Jesus doesn’t promise his disciples that by following him they will
be shielded from the sorrow characteristic of any exile in a foreign land. A
Christian’s value system is diametrically opposed to the worldly view. Be
honest and the common opinion will consider you backward or naive. Be kind
and you will be seen as gullible. Be faithful to the love of your spouse and
you will be seen as having repressive tendencies. The list could go on and
on. An authentic Christian stands out among the fingers of the world as truly
the sorest thumb. Have I accepted this unpleasant and challenging element of
Christianity?
2. “I Will See You
Again”: “Your grief will
become joy.” The disciples were surprised and discouraged by Jesus’
crucifixion, but Jesus’ death would not be the final scene in the play. After
the dramatic events of Calvary came the joy of the Resurrection, a new and
glorious life. How happy the disciples must have been to see Our Lord again!
But even then Jesus seems to play “peek-a-boo” with his disciples. He walks
through walls bringing them joy and then he just disappears again. We can
have a similar experience in prayer. The alternation of dryness and
consolation is an essential part of God’s pedagogy with us. Sometimes it
seems that the Lord is right beside us and other times that he is on foreign
business. Am I able to exercise my faith in the presence of the Lord beyond
the state of my feelings at the moment?
3. “Your Hearts Will
Rejoice”: Sometimes the charge
is leveled against Christianity that its moral prohibitions are a source of
sorrow and frustration. A closer look shows a different picture entirely. The
closeness of the Lord, along with the recognition that the goods of this
world are fundamentally good gifts lavished by the Father upon his children,
brings profound joy. When we are able to distinguish the presence and action
of the Lord in every created thing and through every circumstance, we
experience a joy unknown to the world. “I will see you again, and your hearts
will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.” Do I have this
joy founded on my faith and the awareness of God’s immense personal love?
Does my obedience to the moral law stem from a complete trust in God who
desires my happiness?
Conversation with
Christ: My Jesus, when You
are near me I experience great joy. I know that You are always with me. Help
me to exercise my faith and to be able to strengthen the faith of those of my
brothers and sisters who need me to show them Your love.
Resolution: I will offer up any difficulty that the Lord
sends me today for those who do not yet have the joy of his friendship.
Excerpts from the DIARY of Saint Faustina Kowalska
46
I often felt the Passion of the Lord Jesus in my body, although this was
imperceptible [to others], and I rejoiced in it because Jesus wanted it so.
But this lasted for only a short time. These sufferings set my soul afire
with love for God and for immortal souls. Love endures everything, love is
stronger than death, love fears nothing...
56 O my God, I understand well
that You demand this spiritual childhood[32]
of me, because You are constantly asking it of me through Your
representatives.
At the beginning of my religious life, suffering and adversities frightened and disheartened me. So I prayed continuously, asking Jesus to strengthen me and to grant me the power of His Holy Spirit that I might carry out His holy will in all things, because from the beginning I have been aware of my weakness. I know very well what I am of myself, because for this purpose Jesus has opened the eyes of my soul; I am an abyss of misery, and hence I understand that whatever good there is in my soul consists solely of His holy grace. The knowledge of my own misery allows me, at the same time, to know the immensity of Your mercy. In my own interior life, I am looking with one eye at the abyss of my misery and baseness, and with the other, at the abyss of Your mercy, O God.
57
O my Jesus, You are the life of my life. You know only too well that I long
for nothing but the glory of Your Name and that souls come to know Your
goodness. Why do souls avoid You, Jesus?-I don't understand that. Oh, if I
could only cut my heart into tiny pieces and in this way offer to You, O
Jesus, each piece as a heart whole and entire, to make up in part for the hearts
that do not love You! I love You, Jesus, with every drop of my blood, and I
would gladly shed my blood for You to give You a proof of the sincerity of my
love. O God, the more I know You the less I can comprehend You, but this
"non-comprehension" lets me realize how great You are! And it is
this impossibility of comprehending You which enflames my heart anew for You,
O Lord. From the moment when You let me fix the eyes of my soul on You, O
Jesus, I have been at peace and desired nothing else. I found my destiny at
the moment when my soul lost itself in You, the only object of my love. In
comparison with you, everything is nothing. Sufferings, adversities,
humiliations, failures and suspicions that have come my way are splinters
that keep alive the fire of my love for You, O Jesus.
My desires are mad and unattainable. I wish to conceal from You that I suffer. I want never to be rewarded for my efforts and my good actions. You yourself, Jesus, are my only reward; You are enough, O Treasure of my heart! I want to share compassionately in the sufferings of my neighbors and to conceal my own sufferings, not only from them, but also from You, Jesus. Suffering is a great grace; through suffering the soul becomes like the Savior; in suffering love becomes crystallized; the greater the suffering, the purer the love.
O Divine Sun, in
Your rays the soul sees the tiniest specks of dust which displease You.
72 O Jesus, eternal Truth, our Life, I call upon You and I beg Your mercy for poor sinners. O sweetest Heart of my Lord, full of pity and unfathomable mercy, I plead with You for poor sinners. O Most Sacred Heart, Fount of Mercy from which gush forth rays of inconceivable graces upon the entire human race, I beg of You light for poor sinners. O Jesus, be mindful of Your own bitter Passion and do not permit the loss of souls redeemed at so dear a price of Your most precious Blood. O Jesus, when I consider the great price of Your Blood, I rejoice at its immensity, for one drop alone would have been enough for the salvation of all sinners. Although sin is an abyss of wickedness and ingratitude, the price paid for us can never be equaled. Therefore, let every soul trust in the Passion of the Lord, and place its hope in His mercy. God will not deny His mercy to anyone. Heaven and earth may change, but God's mercy will never be exhausted. Oh, what immense joy burns in my heart when I contemplate Your incomprehensible goodness, O Jesus! I desire to bring all sinners to Your feet that they may glorify Your mercy throughout endless ages.
Vilnius,
October 26, 1934.
87
On Friday at ten minutes to six, when I and some of our wards [38]
were coming in from the garden to supper, I saw t he Lord Jesus above our
chapel, looking just as He did I the first time I saw Him and just as He is
painted in the image. The two rays which emanated from the Heart of Jesus
covered our chapel and the infirmary, and then the whole city, and spread out
over the whole world. This lasted about four minutes and disappeared. One of
the girls, who was walking with me a little behind the others, also saw these
rays, but she did not see Jesus, and she did not know where these rays were
coming from. She was overwhelmed and told the other girls. They began to
laugh at her, suggesting that she was imagining things or that perhaps it was
light reflected by a passing airplane. But she persisted in her conviction,
saying that never had she seen such rays before. When the others suggested
that it might have been a searchlight, she replied that she knew very well
what a searchlight was like, but never had she seen rays such as these.
After supper the girl approached me and told me she had been so moved by these rays that she could not keep silent, but wanted to tell everyone about them. Yet she had not seen Jesus. She kept telling me about these rays, and this put me in an awkward situation, as I could not tell her that I had seen the Lord Jesus. I prayed for her, asking the Lord to give her those graces of which she had such need. My heart rejoiced in the fact that Jesus takes the initiative to make Himself known, even though the occasion of such action on His part causes me annoyance. For Jesus, one can bear anything.
93 +A Short Version of the Catechism of the Vows[39]
Q. What is a vow? A. A vow is a voluntary promise made to God, to carry out a more perfect act. Q. Is a vow binding in a matter which is the object of a commandment? A. Yes. The carrying out of an act which is the object of a commandment has a double value and merit; and the neglect of such an act is a double transgression and evil, because by breaking such a vow we add to the sin against the commandment, the sin of sacrilege. Q. Why do religious vows have such value? A. Because they are the foundation of the religious life approved by the Church, in which the members bound together in a religious community undertake to strive always for perfection by means of the three religious vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, observed according to the rules. Q. What is the meaning of the words, "strive for perfection?" A. To strive for perfection means that the religious life does not in itself demand that perfection be already attained, but obliges, under the pain of sin, that we work daily to attain it. Therefore, a religious who does not want to become perfect neglects his principal duty of state. Q. What are "solemn" religious vows? A. " Solemn" religious vows are so absolute that, in extraordinary cases, only the Holy Father can dispense from them. Q. What are simple religious vows? A. These are vows which are less absolute - the Holy See dispenses from perpetual and annual vows. Q. What is the difference between a vow and a virtue? A. A vow pertains only to that which is commanded under pain of sin; the virtue goes beyond this and helps in the carrying out of the vow; on the other hand, by breaking the vow we fail in the virtue and do it damage. Q. To what do the religious vows oblige us? A. The religious vows oblige us to strive to acquire the virtues and to submit ourselves completely to our Superiors and to the Rules which are in force; thus the religious gives his own person to the Community, renouncing every right over himself and his actions, which he sacrifices to the service of God. The Vow of Poverty The vow of poverty is the voluntary renunciation of the right over property or to the use of such property with the purpose of pleasing God. Q. What objects does the vow of poverty concern? A. All those goods and those objects which appertain to the Community. We have no longer any right over anything that has been given to us, once it has been accepted, whether an article or money. All these donations and presents, which may have been given us out of gratitude or in any other way, belong by right to the Community. We cannot make use, without violating the vow, of any wages we may receive for work or even any annuity. Q. When do we break or violate the vow in a matter which entails the seventh commandment? A. We break or violate it when, without permission, we take for ourselves anything that belongs to the house; when, without permission, we retain something in order to appropriate it; and when, without authorization, we sell or exchange something that belongs to the Community. When we make use of an object for some other purpose than that intended by the Superior. When we give to, or accept from another, anything whatsoever without permission. When by negligence we destroy or damage something. When, in going from one house to another, we take something with us without permission. In a situation where the vow is broken, the religious is bound to restitution to the Community. The Virtue of Poverty This is an evangelical virtue which impels the heart to detach itself from temporal things; the religious, in virtue of his profession, is strictly obliged to it. Q. When do we sin against the virtue of poverty? When we desire something, contrary to this virtue. When we become attached to something, and when we make use of superfluous things. How many degrees of poverty are there and what are they? A. There are, in practice, four degrees of poverty for one who is a professed religious: to dispose of nothing without the consent of the Superiors (the strict matter of the vow); to avoid superfluities and be content with necessities (this pertains to the virtue); to readily content oneself with things of inferior quality in what concerns one's cell, clothing, nourishment, etc., and to experience this contentment interiorly; to rejoice in extreme poverty. The Vow of Chastity Q. To what does this vow oblige us? A. To renounce marriage and to avoid everything that is forbidden by the sixth and ninth commandments. Q. Is a fault against the virtue a violation of the vow? A. Every fault against the virtue is at the same time a violation of the vow, because here there is no difference, as in the case of poverty and obedience, between the vow and the virtue. Q. Is every bad thought a sin? A. No, every bad thought is not a sin; it becomes so only when the acquiescence of the will and consent are joined to the consideration of the mind. Q. Is there anything, over and above sins against chastity, which is detrimental to the virtue? A. Lack of custody of the senses, of the imagination, of the feelings; familiarity and sentimental friendships are detrimental to the virtue. Q. What are the means by which this virtue may be preserved? A. To conquer interior temptations with the thought of the presence of God, and moreover to fight without fear. And for exterior temptations, to avoid occasions. There are, in all, seven principal means: to guard the senses, to avoid occasions, to avoid idleness, to remove temptations promptly, to remove oneself from all - and especially particular friendships, the spirit of mortification, and to reveal all these temptations to one's confessor. Besides this, there are also five means of preserving this virtue: humility, the spirit of prayer, modesty of the eyes, fidelity to the rule, a sincere devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Vow of Obedience The vow of obedience is superior to the first two. It is, to tell the truth, a holocaust, and it is more necessary because it forms and animates the monastic body. Q. To what does the vow of obedience oblige us? A. By the vow of obedience, the religious promises to God to be obedient to his legitimate superiors in everything that they will ordain in virtue of the rule. The vow of obedience makes the religious dependent on his superior in virtue of these rules for his whole life and in all his affairs. A religious commits a grave sin against the vow every time he disobeys an order given in virtue of obedience and of these rules. The Virtue of Obedience The virtue of obedience goes further than the vow; it embraces the rules, the regulations and even the counsels of the superiors. Q. Is the virtue of obedience indispensable for a religious? A. The virtue of obedience is so indispensable to a religious that, even if he were to perform good actions contrary to obedience, these would be evil and without merit. Q. Can we sin gravely against the virtue of obedience? A. We sin gravely when we scorn the authority or the order of the superior, or when spiritual or temporal harm to the community results from our disobedience. Q. What faults endanger the vow? A. To be prejudiced against the superior, or to harbor an antipathy for him - murmuring and criticism, tardiness and negligence. The Degrees of Obedience Prompt and complete fulfillment - the obedience of the will, when the will persuades the intellect to submit to the advice of the superior. To facilitate obedience, Saint Ignatius suggests, moreover, three means: always to see God in our superior, whoever he might be; to justify in itself the order or advice of the superior; to accept each order as an order from God, without examining it or reflecting on it. General means: humility. Nothing is difficult for the humble.
94 O my Lord, inflame my heart
with love for You, that my spirit may not grow weary amidst the storms, the
sufferings and the trials. You see how weak I am. Love can do all.
95 +A Deeper Knowledge of God and
the Terror of the Soul.
In the beginning, God lets himself be known as Holiness, Justice, Goodness - that is to say, Mercy. The soul does not come to know this all at once, but piecemeal, in flashes; that is to say, when God draws near. And this does not last for long, because the soul could not bear such light. During prayer the soul experiences flashes of this light which make it impossible to pray as before. Try as it may to force itself to pray as it did before, all is in vain; it becomes completely impossible for it to continue to pray as it did before it received this light. This light which has touched the soul is alive within it, and nothing can either quench or diminish it. This flash of the knowledge of God draws the soul and enkindles its love for Him. But this same flash, at the same time, allows the soul to know itself as it is; the soul sees its whole interior in a superior light, and it rises up alarmed and terrified. Still, it does not remain under the effects of terror, but it begins to purify itself, to humble and abase itself before the Lord. These lights become stronger and more frequent; the more the soul is crystallized, the more these lights penetrate it. However, if the soul has responded faithfully and courageously to these first graces, God fills it with His consolations and gives himself to it in a perceptible manner. At certain moments, the soul, as it were, enters into intimacy with God and greatly rejoices in this; it believes that it has already reached the degree of perfection destined for it, because its defects and faults are asleep within it, and this makes it think that they no longer exist. Nothing seems difficult for it; it is ready for everything. It begins to plunge itself into God and taste the divine delights. It is carried along by grace and does not take account of the fact that the time of trial and testing may come. And, in fact, this state does not last long. Other moments will soon come. I should add here, however, that the soul will respond more faithfully to divine grace if it has a well - informed confessor to whom it can confide everything.
115 + When a soul has come out of
these tribulations, it is deeply humble. Its purity of soul is great. It
knows better without need of reflecting, as it were, what it ought to do at a
given moment and what to forbear. It feels the lightest touch of grace and is
very faithful to God. It recognizes God from afar and continuously rejoices
in Him. It discovers God very quickly in other souls and in its environment
in general. The soul has been purified by God himself. God, as Pure Spirit,
introduces the soul to a life which is purely spiritual. God himself has
first prepared and purified the soul; that is, He has made it capable of
close communion with himself. The soul, in a state of loving repose, communes
spiritually with the Lord. It speaks to God without the need of expressing
itself through the senses. God fills it with His light.
The enlightened mind sees clearly and distinguishes the various degrees of the spiritual life. It recognizes [that state] when its union with God was imperfect: where the senses were involved, and the spirit was linked with the senses in a manner-exalted and special, to be sure but not yet perfect. There is a higher and more perfect union with God; namely, intellectual union. Here, the soul is safer from illusions; its spirituality is purer and more profound. In a life where the senses are involved, there is more danger of illusion. Both for the soul and for its confessor, prudence must play a greater part. There are moments when God introduces the soul to a purely spiritual state. The senses dim and are seemingly dead. The soul is most closely united to God; it is immersed in the Deity; its knowledge is complete and perfect, not sporadic as before, but total and absolute. It rejoices in this. But I want to say more about those moments of trial; at those times the confessor must have patience with such a soul. But the soul must have even greater patience with itself.
138 A great mystery has been accomplished between God and
me. Courage and strength have remained in my soul. When the time of adoration
came to an end, I came out and calmly faced everything I had feared so much
before. When I came out into the corridor, a great suffering and humiliation,
at the hands of a certain person, was awaiting me. I accepted it with
submission to a higher will and snuggled closely to the Most Sacred Heart of
Jesus, letting Him know that I was ready for that for which I had offered
myself.
Suffering seemed to spring out of the ground. Even Mother Margaret herself was surprised. For others, many things passed unnoticed, for indeed it wasn't worth paying any attention to them; but in my case, nothing passed unnoticed; each word was analyzed, each step watched. One sister said to me, "Get ready, Sister, to receive a small cross at the hands of Mother Superior. I feel sorry for you." But as for me, I rejoiced at this in the depths of my soul and had been ready for it for a long time. When she saw my courage, she was surprised. I see now that a soul cannot do much of itself, but with God it can do all things. Behold what God's grace can do. Few are the souls that are always watchful for divine graces, and even fewer of such souls who follow those inspirations faithfully.
139 Still, a soul which is
faithful to God cannot confirm its own inspirations; it must submit them to
the control of a very wise and learned priest; and until it is quite certain,
it should remain distrustful. It should not, on its own initiative alone, put
its trust in these inspirations and all other higher graces, because it can
thus expose itself to great losses.
Even though a soul may immediately distinguish between false inspirations and those of God, it should nevertheless be careful, because many things are uncertain. God is pleased and rejoices when a soul distrusts Him for His own sake; because it loves Him, it is prudent and itself asks and searches for help to make certain that it is really God who is acting within it. And once a well-instructed confessor has confirmed this, the soul should be at peace and give itself up to God, according to His directions; that is, according to the directions of the confessor.
142 When I was set
at peace and taught how to follow God's paths, my spirit rejoiced in the
Lord, and it seemed to me that I was running, not walking. My wings were
spread for flight; I soared into the very heat of the sun, and I will not
descend until I rest in Him, in whom my soul has lost itself forever. And I subjected
myself totally to the action of grace. God stoops very low to my soul. I do
not draw back, nor do I resist Him, but I lose myself in Him as my only
treasure. I am one with the Lord. It is as if the gulf between us, Creator
and creature, disappears. For a few days, my soul was in a state of
continuous ecstasy. God's presence did not leave me for a single moment. And
my soul remained in a continuous loving union with the Lord. But this in no
way interfered with the performance of my duties. I felt I was transformed
into love; I was all afire, but without being burned up. I lost myself in God
unceasingly; God drew me to himself so strongly and powerfully that sometimes
I was not aware of being on earth. I had impeded and feared God's grace for
so long, and now God himself, through Father Andrasz, has removed all
difficulties. My spirit has been turned towards the Sun and has blossomed in
His rays for Him alone; I understand no more... [The sentence breaks off here
and begins a completely new thought in the next line.]
148 +A noble and delicate soul, even the most simple, but
one of delicate sensibilities, sees God in everything, finds Him everywhere,
and knows how to find Him in even the most hidden things. It finds all things
important, it highly appreciates all things, it thanks God for all things, it
draws profit for the soul from all things, and it gives all glory to God. It
places its trust in God and is not confused when the time of ordeals comes.
It knows that God is always the best of Fathers and makes little of human
opinion. It follows faithfully the faintest breath of the Holy Spirit; it
rejoices in this Spiritual Guest and holds onto Him like a child to its
mother. Where other souls come to a standstill and fear, this soul passes on
without fear or difficulty
241 Love of neighbor. First: Helpfulness
towards the sisters. Second: Do not speak about those who are absent, and
defend the good name of my neighbor. Third: Rejoice in the success of others.
270 Without humility, we cannot be pleasing to
God. Practice the third degree of humility;[76] that is, not only must
one refrain from explaining and defending oneself when reproached with
something, but one should rejoice at the humiliation.
If the things you are telling me really come from God, prepare your soul for great suffering. You will encounter disapproval and persecution. They will look upon you as a hysteric and an eccentric, but the Lord will lavish His graces upon you. True works of God always meet opposition and are marked by suffering. If God wants to accomplish something, sooner or later He will do so in spite of the difficulties. Your part, in the meantime, is to arm yourself with great patience.
Annual Retreat. January 10, 1934.
273 My Jesus, again the moment approaches when I will be alone with You. Jesus, I ask You with all my heart, let me know what there is in me that displeases You and also let me know what I should do to become more pleasing to You. Do not refuse me this favor and be with me. I know that without You, Lord, all my efforts will not amount to much. Oh, how I rejoice at Your greatness, O Lord! The more I come to know You, the more ardently I yearn for You and sigh after You!
294 +Once the Lord said to me, Act like a
beggar who does not back away when he gets more alms [than he asked for], but
offers thanks the more fervently. You too should not back away and say that
you are not worthy of receiving greater graces when I give them to you. I
know you are unworthy, but rejoice all the more and take as many treasures from
My Heart as you can carry, for then you will please Me more. And I will tell
you one more thing: Take these graces not only for yourself, but also for
others; that is, encourage the souls with whom you come in contact to trust
in My infinite mercy. Oh, how I love those souls who have complete confidence
in Me. I will do everything for them.
300 +Ask of my faithful servant
[Father Sopocko] that, on this day, he tell the whole world of My great
mercy; that whoever approaches the Fount of Life on this day will be granted
complete remission of sins and punishment.
+Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy. +Oh, how much I am hurt by a soul's distrust! Such a soul professes that I am Holy and Just, but does not believe that I am Mercy and does not trust in My Goodness. Even the devils glorify My Justice but do not believe in My Goodness. My Heart rejoices in this title of Mercy.
301
Proclaim that mercy is the greatest attribute of God. All the works of My
hands are crowned with mercy.
318 I often feel God's presence after Holy
Communion in a special and tangible way. I know God is in my heart. And the
fact that I feel Him in my heart does not interfere with my duties. Even when
I am dealing with very important matters which require attention, I do not
lose the presence of God in my soul, and I am closely united with Him. With
Him I go to work, with Him I go for recreation, with Him I suffer, with Him I
rejoice; I live in Him and He in me. I am never alone, because He is my constant
companion. He is present to me at every moment. Our intimacy is very close,
through a union of blood and of life.
331 Oh, how great a grace it is to
have a spiritual director! One makes more rapid progress in virtue, sees the
will of God more clearly, fulfills it more faithfully, and follows a road
that is sure and free of dangers. The director knows how to avoid the rocks
against which the soul could be shattered. The Lord gave me this grace rather
late, to be sure, but I rejoice in it greatly, seeing how God inclines His
will to my director's wishes. I will mention just one incident out of a
thousand that have happened to me. As I usually do, I asked the Lord Jesus
one evening to give me the points for next day's meditation. I received the
answer: Meditate on the Prophet Jonah and his mission. I thanked the Lord,
but began to think within myself of how different that subject was from the
others. But with all my soul I strove to meditate about it, and I recognized
myself in the person of the prophet, in the sense that often I, too, try to
make excuses to the Lord, claiming that someone else would do His holy will
better [than I could], and not understanding that God can do all things and
that His omnipotence will be all the more manifest if the tool is poorer. God
made this clear to me in the following way. That afternoon, there was
confession for the community. When I presented to the director of my soul the
fear that seized me because of this mission for which God was using me,
clumsy tool that I was, my spiritual father answered that, willing or not, we
must carry out the will of God, and he gave me the Prophet Jonah as an
example. After the confession, I wondered how the confessor knew that God had
told me to meditate about Jonah; surely I myself had not told him. Then I
heard these words:When the priest acts in my place, he does not act of
himself, but I act through him. His wishes are Mine. I can see how Jesus
defends His representatives. He himself enters into their actions.
373 In
the fundamental meditation about the goal; that is, of choosing love: the
soul must love; it has need of loving. The soul must divert the stream of its
love, but not into the mud or into a vacuum, but into God. How I rejoice when
I reflect on this, for I feel clearly that He himself is in my heart. Just
Jesus alone! I love creatures insofar as they help me to become united with
God. I love all people because I see the image of God in them.
385
With joy and longing I have pressed my lips to the bitterness of the cup
which I receive each day at Holy Mass. It is the share which Jesus has
allotted to me for each moment, and I will not relinquish it to anyone. I
will comfort the most sweet Eucharistic Heart continuously and will play
harmonious melodies on the strings of my heart. Suffering is the most
harmonious melody of all. I will assiduously search out that which will make
Your Heart rejoice today!
The days of my life are not monotonous. When dark clouds cover the sun, like the eagle I will try to brave the billows and make known to others that the sun is not dying out.
423 Praise
the Lord, my soul, for everything, and glorify His mercy, for His goodness is
without end. Everything will pass, but His mercy is without limit or end. And
although evil will attain its measure, in mercy there is no measure.
O my God, even in the punishments You send down upon the earth I see the abyss of Your mercy, for by punishing us here on earth You free us from eternal punishment. Rejoice, all you creatures, for you are closer to God in His infinite mercy than a baby to its mother's heart. O God, You are compassion itself for the greatest sinners who sincerely repent. The greater the sinner, the greater his right to God's mercy.
448
Feast of St. Ignatius. I prayed fervently to this Saint, reproaching him for
looking on and not coming to my aid in such important matters as doing the
will of God. I said to him, "You, our Patron, who were inflamed with the
fire of love and zeal for the greater glory of God, I humbly beg you to help
me to carry out God's designs. "[97] This
was during Holy Mass. Then I saw Saint Ignatius at the left side of the
altar, with a large book in his hand. And he spoke these words to me,
"My daughter, I am not indifferent to your cause. This rule can be
adapted, and it can be adapted to this Congregation." And gesturing with
his hand toward the big book, he disappeared. I rejoiced greatly at the fact
of how much the saints think of us and of how closely we are united with
them. Oh, the goodness of God! How beautiful is the spiritual world, that
already here on earth we commune with the saints! All day long, I could feel
the presence of this dear Patron Saint.
454
Once, the Lord said to me, My
daughter, take the graces that others spurn; take as many as you can carry. At
that moment, my soul was inundated with the love of God. I feel that I am
united with the Lord so closely that I cannot find words to express that
union; in this state I suddenly feel that all the things God has, all the
goods and treasures, are mine, although I set little store by them, for He
alone is enough for me. In Him I see my everything; without Him-nothing.
I look for no happiness beyond my own interior where God dwells. I rejoice that God dwells within me; here I abide with Him unendingly; it is here that my greatest intimacy with Him exists; here I dwell with Him in safety; here is a place not probed by the human eye. The Blessed Virgin encourages me to commune with God in this way.
493 After Holy Communion, my soul was again
flooded with God's love. I rejoiced in His greatness. Here I see distinctly
His will, which I am to carry out, and at the same time my own weakness and
misery; I see how I can do nothing without His help.
525 O Holy Trinity, in whom is contained
the inner life of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, eternal joy,
inconceivable depth of love, poured out upon all creatures and constituting
their happiness, honor and glory be to Your holy name forever and ever. Amen.
When I consider Your greatness and beauty, O my God, I rejoice exceedingly that the Lord I serve is so great. With love and joy I carry out His will, and the more I come to know Him, the more I desire to love Him. I burn with the desire to love Him ever more and more.
541 A short time later, I heard this voice
in my soul: Do not
fear anything; nothing will happen to you against My will. After
these words of the Lord, a strange power entered my soul. I rejoiced greatly
that God is so good.
579 I
know that the graces given me by God are often meant exclusively for certain
souls. Awareness of this fills me with great joy; I always rejoice at the
good of other souls as if it were my own.
633 I am greatly surprised at how one can be so jealous.
When I see someone else's good, I rejoice at it as if it were mine. The joy
of others is my joy, and the suffering of others is my suffering, for
otherwise I would not dare to commune with the Lord Jesus. The spirit of
Jesus is always simple, meek, sincere; all malice, envy, and unkindness
disguised under a smile of good will are clever little devils. A severe word
flowing from sincere love does not wound the heart.
664 +
O my Jesus, how immensely I rejoice at the assurance You have given me that
the Congregation will come into being. I no longer have the least shadow of a
doubt about this, and I see how great is the glory which it will give to God.
It will be the reflection of God's greatest attribute; that is, His divine
mercy. Unceasingly, they will intercede for divine mercy for themselves and
for the whole world. And every act of mercy will flow from God's love, that
love with which they will be filled to overflowing. They will strive to make
their own this great attribute of God, and to live by it and to bring others
to know it and to trust in the goodness of the Lord. This Congregation of
Divine Mercy will be in God's Church like a beehive in a magnificent garden,
hidden and meek. The sisters will work like bees to feed their neighbors'
souls with honey, while the wax will flame for the glory of God.
679 Good night, my
Jesus; the bell is calling me to sleep. My Jesus, You see that I am dying
from the desire to save souls. Good night, my Beloved; I rejoice at being one
day closer to eternity. And if You let me wake up tomorrow, Jesus, I shall
begin a new hymn to Your praise.
779
The sight of this great majesty of God, which I came to understand more
profoundly and which is worshiped by the heavenly spirits according to their
degree of grace and the hierarchies into which they are divided, did not
cause my soul to be stricken with terror or fear; no, no, not at all! My soul
was filled with peace and love, and the more I come to know the greatness of
God, the more joyful I become that He is as He is. And I rejoice immensely in
His greatness and am delighted that I am so little because, since I am
little, He carries me in His arms and holds me close to His Heart.
January
30, 1937. One-day retreat.
903 I am coming to know God's greatness more and more and to rejoice in Him. I remain unceasingly with Him in the depths of my heart. It is in my own soul that I most easily find God.
982 + I
recently received a lovely letter from my dear seventeen-year-old sister
[Wanda [175]]. She is begging and entreating me to help her enter the
convent. She is ready for any sacrifices for God. I can tell from her letter
that the Lord himself is guiding her, and I rejoice in God's great mercy.
998 Today, I took part in a one-day retreat. When I was at
the last conference, [177]
the priest was speaking of how much the world needs God's mercy, and that
this seems to be a special time when people have great need of prayer and
God's mercy. Then I heard a voice in my soul: These words are for you. Do
all you possibly can for this work of My mercy. I desire that My mercy be
worshiped, and I am giving mankind the last hope of salvation; that is,
recourse to My mercy. My Heart rejoices in this feast. After these words,
I understood that nothing can dispense me from the obligation which the Lord
demands from me.
1120 When I went
out into the garden, I saw how everything was breathing the joy of spring.
The trees, adorned with flowers, gave off an intoxicating odor. Everything
was throbbing with joy, and the birds were singing and chirping their
adoration of God and said to me, "Rejoice and be happy, Sister
Faustina"; but my soul remains in torment and darkness. My soul is so
sensitive to the rustle of grace [that] it knows how to talk with all created
things and with everything that surrounds me, and I know why God has adorned
the earth in this way... But my heart cannot be joyful because my Beloved has
hidden Himself from me, and I will not rest until I find Him... I do not know
how to live without God, but I also feel that God, absolutely self-sufficient
though He is, cannot be happy without me...
1240 The Lord Jesus
greatly protects His representatives on earth. How closely He is united with
them; and He orders me to give priority to their opinion over His. I have
come to know the great intimacy which exists between Jesus and the priest.
Jesus defends whatever the priest says, and often complies with his wishes,
and sometimes makes His own relationship with a soul depend on the priest's
advice. O Jesus, through a special grace, I have come to know very clearly to
what extent You have shared Your power and mystery with them, more so than
with the Angels. I rejoice in this, for it is all for my good.
1286 + Thank You, O God, for all the graces
Which unceasingly You lavish upon me, Graces which enlighten me with the brilliance of the sun, For by them You show me the sure way. Thank You, 0 Lord, for creating me, For calling me into being from nothingness, For imprinting Your divinity on my soul, The work of sheer merciful love. Thank You, O God, for Holy Baptism Which engrafted me into Your family, A gift great beyond all thought or expression Which transforms my soul. Thank You, O Lord, for Holy Confession, For that inexhaustible spring of great mercy, For that inconceivable fountain of graces In which sin-tainted souls become purified. Thank You, O Jesus, for Holy Communion In which You give us Yourself. I feel Your Heart beating within my breast As You cause Your divine life to unfold within me. Thank You, O Holy Spirit, for the Sacrament of Confirmation, Which dubs me Your knight And gives strength to my soul at each moment, Protecting me from evil. Thank You, O God, for the grace of a vocation. For being called to serve You alone, Leading me to make You my sole love, An unequal honor for my soul. Thank You, O Lord, for perpetual vows, For that union of pure love, For having deigned to unite Your pure heart with mine And uniting my heart to Yours in the purest of bonds. Thank You, O Lord, for the Sacrament of Anointing Which, in my final moments, will give me strength; My help in battle, my guide to salvation, Fortifying my soul till we rejoice forever. Thank You, O God, for all the inspirations That Your goodness lavishes upon me, For the interior lights given my soul, Which the heart senses, but words cannot express. Thank You, O Holy Trinity, for the vastness of the graces Which You have lavished on me unceasingly through life. My gratitude will intensify as the eternal dawn rises, When, for the first time, I sing to Your glory.
1331 Jesus, You
yourself have deigned to lay the foundations of my sanctity, as my
cooperation has not amounted to much. You have taught me to set no store on
the use and choice of created things, because my heart is, of itself, so
weak. And this is why I have asked You, O my Master, to take no heed of the
pain of my heart, but to cut l away whatever might hold me back from the path
of love. I did not understand You, Lord, in times of sorrow, when You were
effecting Your work in my soul; but today I understand You and rejoice in my
freedom of spirit. Jesus himself has seen to it that my heart has not been
caught in the snares of any passion. I have come to know well from what
dangers He has delivered me, and therefore my gratitude to my God knows no
bounds.
1403 O my Jesus,
may You be blessed for everything! I rejoice that Your most holy will is
being accomplished. That is quite enough to make me happy.
1417 O my Lord, my
soul is the most wretched of all, and yet You stoop to it with such kindness!
I see clearly Your greatness and my littleness, and therefore I rejoice that
You are so powerful and without limit, and so I rejoice greatly at being so
little.
1444 During this
Christmas Season, I have sensed that certain souls have been praying for me.
I rejoice that such spiritual union and knowledge exist already here on
earth. O my Jesus, praise be to You for all this!
1473 O my Jesus, my
only desire, although I wanted to receive You today with greater fervor than
ever, nevertheless, precisely on this day, my soul is drier than ever. My
faith grows in power, and so the fruit of Your coming, Lord, will be
abundant. Although many a time You come without touching my senses and reign
only in the loftier part of me, the senses too sometimes rejoice at Your
coming.
1566 When I was apologizing to the Lord
Jesus for a certain action of mine which, a little later, turned out to be
imperfect, Jesus put me at ease with these words: My daughter, I reward you
for the purity of your intention which you had at the time when you acted. My
Heart rejoiced that you had My love under consideration at the time you
acted, and that in so distinct a way; and even now you still derive benefit
from this; that is, from the humiliation. Yes, My child, I want you to always
have such great purity of intention in the very least things you undertake.
1578 Let souls who are striving for perfection
particularly adore My mercy, because the abundance of graces which I grant
them flows from My mercy. I desire that these souls distinguish themselves by
boundless trust in My mercy. I myself will attend to the sanctification of
such souls. I will provide them with everything they will need to attain
sanctity. The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and
that is-trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive. Souls that
trust boundlessly are a great comfort to Me, because I pour all the treasures
of My graces into them. I rejoice that they ask for much, because it is My
desire to give much, very much. On the other hand, I am sad when souls ask
for little, when they narrow their hearts.
1616 + O my Lord,
thank You for conforming me to Yourself through immolation. I see that this
earthly vessel is beginning to crumble. I rejoice in this, because soon I
will be in my Father's house [cf. Jn. 14:2].
1652 Adore, my soul, the mercy of
the Lord,
O my heart, rejoice wholly in Him, Because for this you have been chosen by Him, To spread the glory of His mercy. His goodness no one has fathomed, no one can measure, His compassion is untold. Every soul that approaches Him experiences this. He will shield her and clasp her to His merciful bosom. Happy the soul that has trusted in Your goodness And has abandoned herself completely to Your mercy. Her soul is filled with the peace of love. You defend her everywhere as Your own child. O soul, whoever you may be in this world, Even if your sins were as black as night, Do not fear God, weak child that you are, For great is the power of God's mercy.
1728 Write: I am Thrice Holy,
and I detest the smallest sin. I cannot love a soul which is stained with
sin; but when it repents, there is no limit to My generosity toward it. My
mercy embraces and justifies it. With My mercy, I pursue sinners along all
their paths, and My Heart rejoices when they return to Me. I forget the
bitterness with which they fed My Heart and rejoice at their return.
Tell sinners that no one shall escape My Hand; if they run away from My Merciful Heart, they will fall into My Just Hands. Tell sinners that I am always waiting for them, that I listen intently to the beating of their heart... when will it beat for Me? Write, that I am speaking to them through their remorse of conscience, through their failures and sufferings, through thunderstorms, through the voice of the Church. And if they bring all My graces to naught, I begin to be angry with them, leaving them alone and giving them what they want.
1729
O my Jesus, You alone know of my efforts. I seem to be a bit better, but
better only to the point that I can go out on the veranda instead of lying in
bed. I see and am fully aware of what is happening to me. Despite the
diligent care of my superiors and the efforts of the doctors, my health is
fading and running out. But I rejoice greatly at Your call, my God, my Love,
because I know that my mission will begin at the moment of my death. Oh, how
much I desire to be set free from the bonds of this body. O my Jesus, You
know that, in all my desires, I always want to see Your will. Of myself, I
would not want to die one minute sooner, or to live one minute longer, or to
suffer less, or to suffer more, but I only want to do Your holy will.
Although I have great enthusiasm, and the desires burning in my heart are
immense, they are never above Your will.
1787
When I met with the Lord, I said to Him, "You are fooling me, Jesus; You
show me the open gate of heaven, and again You leave me on earth." The
Lord said to me, When,
in heaven, you see these present days, you will rejoice and will want to see
as many of them as possible. I am not surprised, My daughter, that you cannot
understand this now, because your heart is overflowing with pain and longing
for Me. Your vigilance pleases Me. Let My word be enough for you; it will not
be long now.
And my soul found itself once again in exile. I lovingly united myself to the will of God, submitting myself to His gracious decrees.
1792 I learned that
a certain soul was very pleasing to God and that, in spite of all sorts of
persecutions, God was clothing this person in a new and higher dignity. My
heart greatly rejoiced in this.
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-46, 56-57, 72, 87, 94-95, 115, 138-139)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-142, 148, 241, 270, 273, 294, 300, 318)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-331, 373, 385, 423, 448, 454, 493)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-525, 541, 579, 633, 664, 679, 779)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-903, 998)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-III-1120)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-IV-1240, 1286)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-V-1331, 1403, 1417, 1444, 1473, 1566)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-V-1578)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-VI-1616, 1652, 1728-1729, 1787, 1792)
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