From Death to Life
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June 5, 2016. Tenth Sunday of Ordinary Time
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Father Matthew Kaderabek, LC
Luke 7: 11-17
Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain, and his disciples and a large
crowd accompanied him. As he drew near to the gate of the city, a man who had
died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.
A large crowd from the city was with her. When the Lord saw her, he was moved
with pity for her and said to her, "Do not weep." He stepped
forward and touched the coffin; at this the bearers halted, and he said,
"Young man, I tell you, arise!" The dead man sat up and began to
speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they
glorified God, exclaiming, "A great prophet has arisen in our
midst," and "God has visited his people." This report about
him spread through the whole of Judea and in all the surrounding region.
Introductory Prayer: Jesus, what a joy and what a
gift to have this time to be with You alone! I want to know You more deeply.
I want to hope in You more firmly. I want to love You with greater constancy
in my daily life. Only You can give me these gifts. Only You can make me a
bold and joyful apostle of Your Kingdom.
Petition: Lord Jesus, help me to appreciate and remain in
the state of grace.
1. Compassionate and Merciful: Surrounded by many enthusiastic
followers, Jesus encounters a funeral procession as he approaches the city
gate. He stops walking, he stops his conversation, and he shifts his full
attention to the grieving mother who has lost her only son. Luke explains
that Jesus was “moved with pity.” Jesus, in his human nature, felt much
compassion for this grieving woman. He “feels her pain.” How much more does
Jesus in his divine nature comprehend the pain—physical, emotional or
spiritual—that each of us encounters in our daily lives. As in the case of
this widow, he meets each of us with compassion and will work a miracle if we
let him. Sometimes the miracle is that he relieves our pain, as he does for
the widow in this Gospel passage. But sometimes the miracle is that he
forgives our sins or strengthens us to bear our pain for his sake, and for
the sake of bringing more souls to eternal happiness in his kingdom.
2. The Church’s Joy: The Church, often called “Mother
Church,” rejoices when her sinful children return to a life of grace through
the sacrament of confession. Saints Ambrose and Augustine saw this Gospel story
as reflecting this truth. St. Ambrose tells us that the Church is a mother
who intercedes for each one of her children like the widow for her only son
(Commentary on Saint Luke’s Gospel, V, 92). Saint Augustine points out: “The
widowed mother rejoiced at the raising of that young man… Our Mother the
Church rejoices every day when people are raised again in spirit. The young
man had been dead physically; the latter, dead spiritually. The young man’s
death was mourned visibly; the death of the latter was invisible and
unmourned. He seeks them out who knew them to be dead; only he can bring them
back to life” (Sermons, 98, 2).
3. Raised from Spiritual Death: Christ, in his
endless mercy, wants eternal life for each one of us. The treasury of his
compassion is inexhaustible, as Saint Faustina tells us. In his mercy, Jesus
gave his earthly, ministerial priests the power to forgive sins (John
20:22-23). When our venial sins are confessed and forgiven,
we receive more grace (a greater share in the divine life of the Trinity) and
draw closer to Christ, receiving strength to avoid mortal sin. When our mortal
sins are confessed and forgiven, we not only receive grace and draw
closer to Christ, but we are raised from the worst kind of fate, namely,
spiritual death, the eternal death of our soul. Praise God! No wonder Mother
Church rejoices.
Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, through confession, I
can be sure that I am forgiven, and You restore peace to my
soul. Do not allow my pride and my shame ever to keep me from taking
advantage of this beautiful sacrament, the sacrament of freedom.
Resolution: I will spend at least five minutes examining my
conscience today and begin preparing my next confession, which I will go to
this week.
Excerpts from the
DIARY of Saint Faustina Kowalska
1 O Eternal Love,
You command Your Sacred Image [1] to
be painted And reveal to us the inconceivable fount of mercy,
You bless whoever approaches Your rays, And a soul all black will turn into snow. O sweet Jesus, it is here [2] You established the throne of Your mercy To bring joy and hope to sinful man. From Your open Heart, as from a pure fount, Flows comfort to a repentant heart and soul. May praise and glory for this Image Never cease to stream from man's soul. May praise of God's mercy pour from every heart, Now, and at every hour, and forever and ever.
O My God
2 When
I look into the future, I am frightened, But why plunge into the future?
Only the present moment is precious to me, As the future may never enter my soul at all. It is no longer in my power, To change, correct or add to the past; For neither sages nor prophets could do that. And so, what the past has embraced I must entrust to God. O present moment, you belong to me, whole and entire. I desire to use you as best I can. And although I am weak and small, You grant me the grace of your omnipotence. And so, trusting in Your mercy, I walk through life like a little child, Offering You each day this heart Burning with love for Your greater glory
God and Souls.
5 Be adored, O Most Holy Trinity, now and for all time. Be adored in
all Your works and all Your creatures. May the greatness of Your mercy be
admired and glorified, O God.
6 I am to write [3] down the encounters of my soul with
You, O God, at the moments of Your special visitations. I am to write about
You, O Incomprehensible in mercy towards my poor soul. Your holy will is the
life of my soul. I have received this order through him who is for me Your
representative here on earth, who interprets Your holy Will to me. Jesus, You
see how difficult it is for me to write, how unable I am to put down clearly
what I experience in my soul. O God, can a pen write down that for which many
a time there are no words? But You give the order to write, O God; that is
enough for me.
49 When I told this to my confessor,[29] I
received this for a reply: "That refers to your soul." He told me,
"Certainly, paint God's image in your soul." When I came out of the
confessional, I again heard words such as these: My image already is
in your soul. I desire that there be a Feast of Mercy. I want this image,
which you will paint with a brush, to be solemnly blessed on the first Sunday
after Easter; that Sunday is to be the Feast of Mercy.
50 + I desire that priests proclaim this great mercy of Mine towards souls of sinners. Let the sinner not be afraid to approach Me. The flames of mercy are burning Me - clamoring to be spent; I want to pour them out upon these souls. Jesus complained to me in these words, Distrust on the part of souls is tearing at My insides. The distrust of a chosen soul causes Me even greater pain; despite My inexhaustible love for them they do not trust Me. Even My death is not enough for them. Woe to the soul that abuses these [gifts].
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.
66 O inexhaustible treasure of purity of intention which makes all our
actions perfect and so pleasing to God!
O Jesus, You know how weak I am; be then ever with me; guide my actions and my whole being, You who are my very best Teacher! Truly, Jesus, I become frightened when I look at my own misery, but at the same time I am reassured by Your unfathomable mercy, which exceeds my misery by the measure of all eternity. This disposition of soul clothes me in Your power. O joy that flows from the knowledge of one's self! O unchanging Truth, Your constancy is everlasting!
69 +O Jesus, eternal Truth, strengthen my feeble forces; You can do
all things, Lord. I know that without You all my efforts are in vain. O
Jesus, do not hide from me, for I cannot live without You. Listen to the cry
of my soul. Your mercy has not been exhausted, Lord, so have pity on my
misery. Your mercy surpasses the understanding of all Angels and people put
together; and so, although it seems to me that You do not hear me, I put my
trust in the ocean of Your mercy, and I know that my hope will not be deceived.
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.
73 O my Jesus, despite the deep night that is all around me and the
dark clouds which hide the horizon, I know that the sun never goes out. O
Lord, though I cannot comprehend You and do not understand Your ways, I
nonetheless trust in Your mercy. If it is Your will, Lord, that I live always
in such darkness, may You be blessed. I ask You only one thing, Jesus: do not
allow me to offend You in any way. O my Jesus, You alone know the longings
and the sufferings of my heart. I am glad I can suffer for You, however
little. When I feel that the suffering is more than I can bear, I take refuge
in the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, and I speak to Him with profound
silence.
78 Once when I was being crushed by these dreadful sufferings, I went
into the chapel and said from the bottom of my soul, "Do what You will
with me, O Jesus; I will adore You in everything. May Your will be done in
me, O my Lord and my God, and I will praise Your infinite mercy."
Through this act of submission, these terrible torments left me. Suddenly I
saw Jesus, who said to me, I am always in your heart. An
inconceivable joy entered my soul, and a great love of God set my heart
aflame. I see that God never tries us beyond what we are able to suffer. Oh,
I fear nothing; if God sends such great suffering to a soul, He upholds it
with an even greater grace, although we are not aware of it. One act of trust
at such moments gives greater glory to God than whole hours passed in prayer
filled with consolations. Now I see that if God wants to keep a soul in
darkness, no book, no confessor can bring it light.
80 O Jesus, Divine Prisoner of Love, when I consider Your love and how
You emptied Yourself for me, my senses fail me. You hide Your inconceivable
majesty and lower Yourself to miserable me. O King of Glory, though You hide
Your beauty, yet the eye of my soul rends the veil. I see the angelic choirs
giving You honor without cease, and all the heavenly Powers praising You
without cease, and without cease they are saying: Holy, Holy, Holy.
Oh, who will comprehend Your love and Your unfathomable mercy toward us! O Prisoner of Love, I lock up my poor heart in this tabernacle, that it may adore You without cease night and day. I know of no obstacle in this adoration, and even though I be physically distant, my heart is always with You. Nothing can put a stop to my love for You. No obstacles exist for me. O my Jesus, I will console You for all the ingratitude, the blasphemies, the coldness, the hatred of the wicked, the sacrileges. O Jesus, I want to burn as 'a pure offering and to be consumed before the throne of Your hiddenness. I plead with You unceasingly for poor dying sinners.
81 O Holy
Trinity, One and Indivisible God, may You be blessed for this great gift and
testament of mercy. My Jesus, to atone for blasphemers I will keep silent
when unjustly reprimanded and in this way make partial amends to You. I am
singing within my soul an unending hymn to You, and no one will suspect or
understand this. The song of my soul is known to You alone, O my Creator and
Lord!
83 Write this: before I come as the just Judge, I am coming
first as the King of Mercy. Before the day of justice arrives, there will be
given to people a sign in the heavens of this sort: All light in the heavens
will be extinguished, and there will be great darkness over the whole earth.
Then the sign of the cross will be seen in the sky, and from the openings
where the hands and the feet of the Savior were nailed will come forth great
lights which will light up the earth for a period of time. This will take
place shortly before the last day.
84 O Blood and
Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us,
I trust in You!
Vilnius, August 2, 1934.
85 On Friday, after Holy Communion, I was carried in spirit before the
throne of God. There I saw the heavenly Powers which incessantly praise God.
Beyond the throne I saw a brightness inaccessible to creatures, and there
only the Incarnate Word enters as Mediator. When Jesus entered
this light, I heard these words, Write down at once what you hear: I
am the Lord in My essence and am immune to orders or needs. If I
call creatures into being - that is the abyss of My mercy. And
at that very moment I found myself, as before, in our chapel at my kneeler,
just as Mass had ended. I already had these words written.
88 +During adoration I felt God close to me. A moment later I saw
Jesus and Mary. At the sight of them I was filled with joy, and I asked the
Lord, "What is Your will, Jesus, concerning the matter about which my
confessor told me to ask You?" Jesus replied, It is My will that
he should remain here and that he should not take the initiative
of dispensing himself. I asked Jesus whether the inscription could
be: "Christ King of Mercy." He answered, I am King
of Mercy, but He did not say "Christ." I desire
that this image be displayed in public on the first Sunday after
Easter. That Sunday is the Feast of Mercy. Through the Word
Incarnate I make known the bottomless depth of My mercy.
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.
101 Jesus, You
alone know how the soul, engulfed in darkness, moans in the midst of these
torments and, despite all this, thirsts for God as burning lips thirst for
water. It dies and withers; it dies a death without death; that is to say, it
cannot die. All its efforts come to nothing; it is under a powerful hand. Now
the soul comes under the power of the Just One. All exterior temptations
cease; all that surrounds it becomes silent, like a dying person who loses
contact with everything around it: the person's entire soul is in the hand of
the Just God, the Thrice-Holy God,-rejected for all eternity! This is the
culminating moment, and God alone can test a soul in this way, because He
alone knows what the soul can endure.
When the soul has been saturated through and through by this infernal fire, it is, as it were, cast headlong into great despair. My soul experienced this moment when I was all alone in my cell. When my soul began to sink into this despair, I felt that the end was near. But I seized my little crucifix and clutched it tightly in my hand. And now I felt my body separate itself from my soul; and though I wanted to go to my Superiors, I no longer had the physical strength. I uttered my last words: "I trust in Your Mercy!"-and it seemed to me that I provoked God to an even greater anger. And now I was drowned in despair, and all that was left me was a moan of unadulterated pain which, from time to time, tore itself from my soul. The soul is in agony-and it seemed to me that I would remain in this state, because by my own strength I could not emerge from it. Every recollection of God opened up an unspeakable ocean of suffering, and yet despite this there is something within the soul which is drawn to Him, though it seems to her for this only-that she suffer more. The memory of the love with which God formerly surrounded it is still another kind of suffering. His gaze pierces it, and everything within the soul is burned by this gaze.
102 After some time, one of the sisters came into the cell and found
me almost dead. She was frightened and went to find the Directress of Novices
who, in the name of holy obedience ordered me to get up from the ground. My
strength returned immediately, and I got up, trembling. The Directress
recognized immediately the state of my soul and spoke to me about the
inscrutable mercy of God, saying, "Do not be distressed about anything,
Sister. I command this of you in virtue of obedience." Then she said to
me, "I see now, Sister, that God is calling you to a high degree of holiness;
the Lord wants to draw you very close to Himself since He has allowed these
things to happen to you so soon. Be faithful to God, Sister, because this is
a sign that He wants you to have a high place in heaven." However, I did
not understand anything of these words. When I went into the chapel, I felt
as though my soul had been set free from everything, as though I had just
come forth from the hand of God. I perceived the inviolability of my soul; I
felt that I was a tiny child.
116 My Jesus, You know what my soul goes through at the recollection
of these sufferings. I have often marvelled that the angels and saints hold
their peace at the sight of a soul suffering like that. Yet they have special
love for us at such moments. My soul has often cried out after God, as a
little child who cries as loudly as he can when his mother covers her face
and he cannot recognize her. O my Jesus, honor and glory to You for these
trials of love! Great and incomprehensible is your mercy. All that You
intended for my soul, O Lord, is steeped in Your mercy.
118 The tongue is a small member, but it does big things. A religious
who does not keep silence will never attain holiness; that is, she will never
become a saint. Let her not delude herself-unless it is the Spirit of God who
is speaking through her, for then she must not keep silent. But, in order to
hear the voice of God, one has to have silence in one's soul and to keep
silence; not a gloomy silence, but an interior silence; that is to say,
recollection in God. One can speak a great deal without breaking silence and,
on the contrary, one can speak little and be constantly breaking silence. Oh,
what irreparable damage is done by the breach of silence! We cause a lot of
harm to our neighbor, but even more to our own selves.
In my opinion, and according to my experience, the rule concerning
silence should stand in the very first place. God does not give himself to a
chattering soul which, like a drone in a beehive, buzzes around but gathers
no honey. A talkative soul is empty inside. It lacks both the essential
virtues and intimacy with God. A deeper interior life, one of gentle peace
and of that silence where the Lord dwells, is quite out of the question. A
soul that has never tasted the sweetness of inner silence is a restless
spirit which disturbs the silence of others. I have seen many souls in the
depths of hell for not having kept their silence; they told me so themselves
when I asked them what was the cause of their undoing. These were souls of
religious. My God, what an agony it is to think that not only might they have
been in heaven, but they might even have become saints! O Jesus, have mercy!
119 I tremble to
think that I have to give an account of my tongue. There is life, but there
is also death in the tongue. Sometimes we kill with the tongue: we commit
real murders. And we are still to regard that as a small thing? I truly do
not understand such consciences. I have known a person who, when she learned
from someone that a certain thing was being said about her, fell seriously
ill. She lost a good deal of blood and shed many tears, and the outcome was
very sad. It was not the sword that did all this, but the tongue. O my silent
Jesus, have mercy on us!
133 +Once, one of the older Mothers [probably Mother Jane[43]]
summoned me, and it was as if fiery bolts from the blue were coming down upon
my head, so much so that I could not even discover what it was all about. But
after a while I understood that it was about a matter over which I had no
control whatsoever. She said to me, "Get it out of your head, Sister,
that the Lord Jesus might be communing in such an intimate way with such a
miserable bundle of imperfections as you! Bear in mind that it is only with
holy souls that the Lord Jesus communes in this way!" I acknowledged
that she was right, because I am indeed a wretched person, but still I trust
in God's mercy. When I met the Lord I humbled myself and said, "Jesus,
it seems that You do not associate intimately with such wretched people as
I" Be at peace, My daughter, it is precisely through such misery
that I want to show the power of My mercy. I understood that this
Mother had merely wanted to subject me to a [salutary] humiliation.
154 Once, when
there was adoration at the convent of the Sisters of the Holy Family,[50] I
went there in the evening with one of our sisters. As soon as I entered the
chapel, the presence of God filled my soul. I prayed as I do at certain
times, without saying a word. Suddenly, I saw the Lord, who said to me, Know
that if you neglect the matter of the painting of the image and the whole
work of mercy, you will have to answer for a multitude of souls on the day of
judgment. After these words of Our Lord, a certain fear filled my
soul, and alarm took hold of me. Try as 1 would, 1 could not calm myself.
These words kept resounding in my ears: So, 1 will not only have to answer
for myself on the day of judgment, but also for the souls of others. These words
cut deep into my heart. When I returned home, I went to the little Jesus,[51] fell
on my face before the Blessed Sacrament and said to the Lord, "I will do
everything in my power, but I beg You to be always with me and to give me
strength to do Your holy will; for You can do everything, while I can do
nothing of myself."
163 JMJ The Year 1937
General Exercises
+O Most Holy Trinity! As many times as I breathe, as many times as my
heart beats, as many times as my blood pulsates through my body, so many
thousand times do I want to glorify Your mercy.
+I want to be completely transformed into Your mercy and to be Your
living reflection, O Lord. May the greatest of all divine attributes, that of
Your unfathomable mercy, pass through my heart and soul to my neighbor.
Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never
suspect or judge from appearances, but look for what is beautiful in my
neighbors' souls and come to their rescue.
Help me, that my ears may be merciful, so that I may give heed to my
neighbors' needs and not be indifferent to their pains and moaning. Help me,
O Lord, that my tongue may be merciful, so that I should never speak negatively
of my neighbor, but have a word of comfort and forgiveness for all.
Help me, O Lord, that my hands may be merciful and filled with good
deeds, so that I may do only good to my neighbors and take upon myself the
more difficult and toilsome tasks.
Help me, that my feet may be merciful, so that I may hurry to assist
my neighbor, overcoming my own fatigue and weariness. My true rest is in the
service of my neighbor.
Help me, O Lord, that my heart may be merciful so that I myself may
feel all the sufferings of my neighbor. I will refuse my heart to no one. I
will be sincere even with those who, I know, will abuse my kindness. And I
will lock myself up in the most merciful Heart of Jesus. I will bear my own
suffering in silence. May Your mercy, O Lord, rest upon me.
+You yourself command me to exercise the three degrees of mercy. The
first: the act of mercy, of whatever kind. The second: the word of mercy-if I
cannot carry out a work of mercy, I will assist by my words. The third:
prayer-if I cannot show mercy by deeds or words, I can always do so by
prayer. My prayer reaches out even there where I cannot reach out physically.
O my Jesus, transform me into Yourself, for you can do all things.
164 +JMJ Warsaw, 1933.
Probation Before Perpetual Vows[56]
When I learned I was to go for probation, my heart beat with joy at
the thought of such an immense grace, that of the perpetual vows. I went
before the Blessed Sacrament; and when I immersed myself in a prayer of
thanksgiving, I heard these words in my soul: My child you
are My delight, you are the comfort of My Heart. I grant you as many graces
as you can hold. As often as you want to make Me happy, speak to
the world about My great and unfathomable mercy.
167 Today [November, 1932], I arrived in Warsaw for the third
probation. After a cordial meeting with the dear Mothers, I went into the
small chapel for a moment. Suddenly God's presence filled my soul, and I
heard these words, My daughter, I desire that your heart be formed
after the model of My merciful Heart. You must be completely imbued with My
mercy.
177 +Renewal of vows. From the moment I woke up in the morning, my
spirit was totally submerged in God, in that ocean of love. I felt that I had
been completely immersed in Him. During Holy Mass, my love for Him reached a
peak of intensity. After the renewal of vows and Holy Communion, I suddenly
saw the Lord Jesus, who said to me with great kindness, My daughter,
look at My merciful Heart. As I fixed my gaze on the Most Sacred
Heart, the same rays of light, as are represented in the image as blood and
water, came forth from it, and I understood how great is the Lord's mercy.
And again Jesus said to me with kindness, My daughter, speak to
priests about this inconceivable mercy of Mine. The flames of mercy are
burning Me-clamoring to be spent; I want to keep pouring them out upon souls;
souls just don't want to believe in My goodness. Suddenly Jesus
disappeared. But throughout that whole day my spirit remained immersed in
God's tangible presence, despite the buzz and chatter that usually follow a
retreat. It did not disturb me in the least. My spirit was in God, although
externally I took part in the conversations and even went to visit Derdy.[59]
178 Today we are beginning the third probation. All three of us met at
Mother Margaret's, as the other sisters were having their probation in the
novitiate. Mother Margaret began with a prayer, explained to us what the
third probation consists of, and then spoke on how great is the grace of the
perpetual vows. Suddenly I began to cry out loud. In an instant all God's
graces appeared before the eyes of my soul, and I saw myself so wretched and
ungrateful toward God. The sisters began to rebuke me, saying, "Why did
she break out crying?" But Mother Margaret came to my defense, saying
that she was not surprised.
At the end of the hour, I went before the Blessed Sacrament and, like the greatest and most miserable of wretches, I begged for His mercy that He might heal and purify my poor soul. Then I heard these words, My daughter, all your miseries have been consumed in the flame of My love, like a little twig thrown into a roaring fire. By humbling yourself in this way, you draw upon yourself and upon other souls an entire sea of My mercy. I answered, "Jesus, mold my poor heart according to Your divine delight."
180 +During Advent, a great yearning for God arose in my soul. My
spirit rushed toward God with all its might. During that time, the Lord gave
me much light to know His attributes.
The first attribute which the Lord gave me to know is His holiness.
His holiness is so great that all the Powers and Virtues tremble before Him.
The pure spirits veil their faces and lose themselves in unending adoration,
and with one single word they express the highest form of adoration; that
is-Holy... The holiness of God is poured out upon the Church of God and upon
every living soul in it, but not in the same degree. There are souls who are
completely penetrated by God, and there are those who are barely alive.
The second kind of knowledge which the Lord granted me concerns His
justice. His justice is so great and penetrating that it reaches deep into
the heart of things, and all things stand before Him in naked truth, and
nothing can withstand Him.
The third attribute is love and mercy. And I understood that the
greatest attribute is love and mercy. It unites the creature with the
Creator. This immense love and abyss of mercy are made known in the
Incarnation of the Word and in the Redemption [of humanity], and it is here
that I saw this as the greatest of all God's attributes.
186 +Today Jesus said to me, I desire that you know more
profoundly the love that burns in My Heart for souls, and you will understand
this when you meditate upon My Passion. Call upon My mercy on behalf of
sinners; I desire their salvation. When you say this prayer, with a contrite
heart and with faith on behalf of some sinner, I will give him the grace of
conversion. This is the prayer:
187 "O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of Mercy for us, I trust in You."
206 The next day, after Communion, I heard the voice saying, My
daughter, look into the abyss of My mercy and give praise and glory to this
mercy of Mine. Do it in this way: Gather all sinners from the entire world
and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. I want to give Myself to souls; I
yearn for souls, My daughter. On the day of My feast, the Feast of Mercy, you
will go through the whole world and bring fainting souls to the spring of My
mercy. I shall heal and strengthen them.
A Moment Before
the Blessed Sacrament.
220 O my eternal Lord and Creator, how am I going to thank You for this great favor; namely, that You have deigned to choose miserable me to be Your betrothed and that You are to unite me to yourself in an eternal bond? O dearest Treasure of my heart, I offer You all the adoration and thanksgiving of the Saints and of all the choirs of Angels, and I unite myself in a special way with Your Mother. O Mary, my Mother, I humbly beg of You, cover my soul with Your virginal cloak at this very important moment of my life, so that thus I may become dearer to Your Son and may worthily praise Your Son's mercy before the whole world and throughout all eternity.
223 O living Host, my one and only strength, fountain of love and
mercy, embrace the whole world, fortify faint souls. Oh, blessed be the
instant and the moment when Jesus left us His most merciful Heart!
224 To suffer without complaining, to bring comfort to others and to
drown my own sufferings in the most Sacred Heart of Jesus!
I will spend all my free moments at the feet of [Our Lord in] the Blessed Sacrament. At the feet of Jesus, I will seek light, comfort and strength. I will show my gratitude unceasingly to God for His great mercy towards me, never forgetting the favors He has bestowed on me, especially the grace of a vocation. I will hide myself among the sisters like a little violet among lilies. I want to blossom for my Lord and Maker, to forget about myself, to empty myself totally for the sake of immortal souls-this is my delight.
225 As regards Holy Confession, I shall choose what costs and
humiliates me most. Sometimes a trifle costs more than something greater. I
will call to mind the Passion of Jesus at each confession, to arouse my heart
to contrition. Insofar as possible with the grace of God, I will always
practice perfect contrition. I will devote more time to this contrition.
Before I approach the confessional, I shall first enter the open and most
merciful Heart of the Savior. When I leave the confessional, I shall rouse in
my soul great gratitude to the Holy Trinity for this wonderful and
inconceivable miracle of mercy that is wrought in my soul. And the more miserable
my soul is, the more I feel the ocean of God's mercy engulfing me and giving
me strength and great power.
229 +At the beginning of the retreat, Jesus told me, During
this retreat, I myself will direct your soul. I want to confirm you in peace
and love. And so the first few days passed by. On the fourth day,
doubts began to trouble me: Is not this tranquillity of mine false? Then I
heard these words, My daughter, imagine that you are the sovereign of
all the world and have the power to dispose of all things according to your
good pleasure. You have the power to do all the good you want, and suddenly a
little child knocks on your door, all trembling and in tears and, trusting in
your kindness, asks for a piece of bread lest he die of starvation. What would
you do for this child? Answer Me, my daughter. And I said,
"Jesus, I would give the child all it asked and a thousand times more.
"And the Lord said to me, That is how I am treating your soul.
In this retreat I am giving you, not only peace, but also such a disposition
of soul that even if you wanted to experience uneasiness you could not do so.
My love has taken possession of your soul, and I want you to be confirmed in
it. Bring your ear close to My Heart, forget everything else, and meditate
upon My wondrous mercy. My love will give you the strength and courage you
need in these matters.
237 Holy Hour. During this hour of adoration, I saw the abyss of my
misery; whatever there is of good in me is Yours, O Lord. But because I am so
small and wretched, I have a right to count on Your boundless mercy.
239 Prayer during the Mass on the day of the perpetual vows. Today I
place my heart on the paten where Your Heart has been placed, O Jesus, and
today I offer myself together with You to God, Your Father and mine, as a
sacrifice of love and praise. Father of Mercy, look upon the sacrifice of my
heart, but through the wound in the Heart of Jesus.
249 +Jesus, I trust in You; I trust in the ocean of your mercy. You
are a Mother to me.
256 +Thank You, Jesus, for the great favor of making known to me the
whole abyss of my misery. I know that I am an abyss of nothingness and that,
if Your holy grace did not hold me up, I would return to nothingness in a
moment. And so, with every beat of my heart, I thank You, my God, for Your
great mercy towards me.
272 But previously, this priest had put me through many trials. When I
told him that the Lord wanted these things of me [that is, the painting of
the image, the establishing of a feast of The Divine Mercy, and the founding
of a new community], he laughed at me and told me to come to confession at
eight in the evening. When I came at eight, a brother was already locking the
church. When I told him that Father had ordered me to come at that time and
asked him to let Father know I was there, the good brother went to let him
know. Father told him to tell me that priests do not hear confessions at that
time of day. I returned home emptyhanded and did not go to confession to him
again, but I made a whole hour's adoration and took on certain mortifications
for him, that he might obtain light from God in order to know souls. But when
Father Sopocko left, and he substituted for him, I was forced to go to
confession to him. Yet, while previously he had been unwilling to acknowledge
these inner inspirations, he now put me under obligation to be faithful to
them. God lets such things happen sometimes, but may He be glorified in
everything. Still, it requires much grace not to falter.
275 Jesus loves hidden souls. A hidden flower is the most fragrant. I
must strive to make the interior of my soul a resting place for the Heart of
Jesus. In difficult and painful moments, O my Creator, I sing You a hymn of
trust, for bottomless is the abyss of my trust in You and in Your mercy!
280 Jesus commanded me to celebrate the Feast of God's Mercy on the
first Sunday after Easter. [This I did] through interior recollection and
exterior mortification, wearing the belt for three hours and praying
continuously for sinners and for mercy on the whole world. And Jesus said to
me, My eyes rest with pleasure upon this house today.
281 I feel certain that my mission will
not come to an end upon my death, but will begin. O doubting souls, I will
draw aside for you the veils of heaven to convince you of God's goodness, so
that you will no longer continue to wound with your distrust the sweetest
Heart of Jesus. God is Love and Mercy.
282 Once the Lord said to me, My
Heart was moved by great mercy towards you, My dearest child, when I saw you
torn to shreds because of the great pain you suffered in repenting for your
sins. I see your love, so pure and true that I give you first place among the
virgins. You are the honor and glory of My Passion. I see every abasement of
your soul, and nothing escapes my attention. I lift up the humble even to my
very throne, because I want it so.
283 I want to love You as no human soul has ever loved You before; and
although I am utterly miserable and small, I have nevertheless cast the
anchor of my trust deep down into the abyss of Your mercy, O my God and
Creator! In spite of my great misery I fear nothing, but hope to sing You a
hymn of glory forever. Let no soul, even the most miserable, fall prey to
doubt; for, as long as one is alive, each one can become a great saint, so
great is the power of God's grace. It remains only for us not to oppose God's
action.
286 +Once, after
an adoration for our country, a pain pierced my soul, and I began to pray in
this way: "Most merciful Jesus, I beseech You through the intercession
of Your Saints, and especially the intercession of Your dearest Mother who
nurtured You from childhood, bless my native land. I beg You, Jesus, look not
on our sins, but on the tears of little children, on the hunger and cold they
suffer. Jesus, for the sake of these innocent ones, grant me the grace that I
am asking of You for my country." At that moment, I saw the Lord Jesus,
His eyes filled with tears, and He said to me, You see, My daughter,
what great compassion I have for them. Know that it is they who uphold the
world.
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.
299 When, on one occasion, my confessor told me to ask the Lord Jesus
the meaning of the two rays in the image,[77] I
answered, "Very well, I will ask the Lord."
During prayer I heard these words within me: The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls... These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. These rays shield souls from the wrath of My Father. Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him. I desire that the first Sunday after Easter be the Feast of Mercy.
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.
302 +O Eternal Love, I want all the souls You have created to come to
know You. I would like to be a priest, for then I would speak without cease
about Your mercy to sinful souls drowned in despair. I would like to be a
missionary and carry the light of faith to savage nations in order to make
You known to souls, and to be completely consumed for them and to die a
martyr's death, just as You died for them and for me. O Jesus, I know only
too well that I can be a priest, a missionary, a preacher, and that I can die
a martyr's death by completely emptying myself and denying myself for love of
You, O Jesus, and of immortal souls.
305 It is my greatest desire that souls should recognize You as their
eternal happiness, that they should come to believe in Your goodness and
glorify Your infinite mercy.
308 1934, Holy Thursday. Jesus said to me, I desire that you
make an offering of yourself for sinners and especially far those souls who
have lost hope in God's mercy.
God and Souls. An Act of Oblation.
309 Before heaven and earth, before all the choirs of Angels, before the Most Holy Virgin Mary, before all the Powers of heaven, I declare to the One Triune God that today, in union with Jesus Christ, Redeemer of souls, I make a voluntary offering of myself for the conversion of sinners, especially for those souls who have lost hope in God's mercy. This offering consists in my accepting, with total subjection to God's will, all the sufferings, fears and terrors with which sinners are filled. In return, I give them all the consolations which my soul receives from my communion with God. In a word, I offer everything for them: Holy Masses, Holy Communions, penances, mortifications, prayers. I do not fear the blows, blows of divine justice, because I am united with Jesus. O my God, in this way I want to make amends to You for the souls that do not trust in Your goodness. I hope against all hope in the ocean of Your mercy. My Lord and my God, my portion-my portion forever, I do not base this act of oblation on my own strength, but on the strength that flows from the merits of Jesus Christ. I will daily repeat this act of self-oblation by pronouncing the following prayer which You yourself have taught me, Jesus: "O Blood and Water which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a Fount of Mercy for us, I trust in You!" S. M. Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament Holy Thursday, during Holy Mass, March 29, 1934.
319 August 9, 1934. Night adoration on Thursdays.[79] I
made my hour of adoration from eleven o'clock till midnight. I offered it for
the conversion of hardened sinners, especially for those who have lost hope
in God's mercy. I was reflecting on how much God had suffered and on how
great was the love He had shown for us, and on the fact that we still do not
believe that God loves us so much. O Jesus, who can understand this? What
suffering it is for our Savior! How can He convince us of His love if even
His death cannot convince us? I called upon the whole of heaven to join me in
making amends to the Lord for the ingratitude of certain souls.
320 Jesus made known to me how very pleasing to Him were prayers of
atonement. He said to me, The prayer of a humble and loving soul
disarms the anger of My Father and draws down an ocean of blessings. After
the adoration, half way to my cell, I was surrounded by a , pack of huge black
dogs who were jumping and howling and trying to tear me to pieces. I realized
that they were not dogs, but demons. One of them spoke up in a rage,
"Because you have snatched so many souls away from us this night, we
will tear you to pieces." I answered, "If that is the will of the
most merciful God, tear me to pieces, for I have justly deserved it, because
I am the most miserable of all sinners, and God is ever holy, just, and
infinitely merciful." To these words all the demons answered as one,
"Let us flee, for she is not alone; the Almighty is with her!" And
they vanished like dust, like the noise of the road, while I continued on my
way to my cell undisturbed, finishing my Te Deum and pondering the infinite
and unfathomable mercy of God.
364 +Once I was asked to pray for a certain soul. I decided at once to
make a novena to the Merciful Lord to which I added a mortification; namely,
that I would wear chains [86] on
both legs throughout Holy Mass. I had been doing this already for three days
when I went to confession and told my spiritual director that I had
undertaken this mortification, presuming permission to do so. I had thought
he would not object, but I heard the contrary; that is, that I should do
nothing without permission. O my Jesus, so it was willfulness again! But my
falls do not discourage me; I know very well that 1 am misery [itself].
Because of the condition of my health I did not receive this permission, and
my spiritual director was surprised that I had been allowing myself greater
mortifications without his permission. I asked pardon for my
self-willfulness, or rather for having presumed permission, and I asked him
to change this mortification for another one.
376 My Jesus, I
trust that Your grace will help me to carry out these resolutions. Although
the above points are contained in the vow of obedience, I want to practice
these things in a special way, because this is the essence of the religious
life. Merciful Jesus, I beg You fervently to enlighten my mind so that I may
come to know You better, You who are the Infinite Being, and that I may get
to know myself better, who am nothingness itself.
378 Once as I was talking with my spiritual director, I had an interior
vision-quicker than lightning-of his soul in great suffering, in such agony
that God touches very few souls with such fire. The suffering arises from
this work. There will come a time when this work, which God is demanding so
very much, will be as though utterly undone. And then God will act with great
power, which will give evidence of its authenticity. It will be a new
splendor for the Church, although it has been dormant in it from long ago.
That God is infinitely merciful, no one can deny. He desires everyone to know
this before He comes again as Judge. He wants souls to come to know Him first
as King of Mercy. When this triumph comes, we shall already have entered the
new life in which there is no suffering. But before this, your soul [of the spiritual
director] will be surfeited with bitterness at the sight of the destruction
of your efforts. However, this will only appear to be so, because what God
has once decided upon, He does not change. But although this destruction will
be such only in outward appearance, the suffering will be real. When will
this happen? I do not know. How long will it last? I do not know.[89] But
God has promised a great grace especially to you and to all those... who
will proclaim My great mercy. I shall protect them Myself at the hour of
death, as My own glory. And even if the sins of soul are as dark as night,
when the sinner turns to My mercy he gives Me the greatest praise and is the
glory of My Passion. When a soul praises My goodness, Satan trembles before
it and flees to the very bottom of hell.
383 At the beginning of the retreat, I saw, on the ceiling of the
chapel, Jesus nailed to the Cross. He was looking at the sisters with great
love, but not at all of them. There were three sisters at whom Jesus looked
severely, for what reasons I do not know. I only know what a terrible thing
it is to meet with such a look, which is the look of a severe Judge. That
look was not directed at me, and yet I was paralyzed with terror. I still
tremble as I write these words. I did not dare to say so much as a single
word to Jesus. My physical strength failed me, and I thought I would not live
to the end of the conference. The next day, I saw the same thing again, just
as I had seen it the first time, and this time I dared to speak these words:
"Jesus, how great is Your mercy!"
465 Jesus, my Life, how well I feel that You are transforming me into
Yourself, in the secrecy of my soul where the senses can no longer perceive
much. O my Savior, conceal me completely in the depths of Your Heart and
shield me with Your rays against everything that is not You. I beg You,
Jesus, let the two rays that have issued from Your most merciful Heart
continuously nourish my soul.
491 When I entered the chapel, once again the majesty of God
overwhelmed me. I felt that I was immersed in God, totally immersed in Him
and penetrated by Him, being aware of how much the heavenly Father loves us.
Oh, what great happiness fills my heart from knowing God and the divine life!
It is my desire to share this happiness with all people. I cannot keep this
happiness locked in my own heart alone, for His flames burn me and cause my
bosom and my entrails to burst asunder. I desire to go throughout the whole
world and speak to souls about the great mercy of God. Priests, help me in
this; use the strongest words [at your disposal] to proclaim His mercy, for
every word falls short of how merciful He really is.
609 I said to Him, "I know that You are my Lord and Creator even
though You are so tiny." Jesus stretched His little arms out to me and
looked at me with a smile. My spirit was filled with incomparable joy. Then
suddenly Jesus disappeared, and it was time for Holy Communion. I went with
the other sisters to the Holy Table, my soul deeply moved. After Holy
Communion, I heard these words in my soul: I am in your heart, I whom
you had in your arms. I then pleaded with Jesus for a certain soul
[Father Sopocko], asking the Lord to grant him the grace to fight, and to
take this trial from him. As you ask, so shall it be, but his merit
will not be lessened. Joy reigned in my soul that God is so good and
merciful; God grants everything that we ask of Him with trust.
615 March 1,
1936. Today during Holy Mass I experienced a strange force and urge to start
realizing God's wishes. I had such a clear understanding of the things the
Lord was asking of me that truly if I were to say that I do not understand
what God is demanding from me, I would be lying, because the Lord is making
His will known to me so clearly and distinctly that I do not have the least
shadow of a doubt about them. I realized that it would be the greatest
ingratitude to delay any longer this undertaking which the Lord wishes to
bring to fulfillment for His glory and the benefit of a great number of
souls. And He is using me as a miserable tool through which to realize His
eternal plans of mercy. Truly, how ungrateful my soul would be to resist
God's will any longer. Nothing will stop me any longer, be it persecution,
sufferings, sneers, threats, entreaties, hunger, cold, flattery, friendships,
adversities, friends or enemies; be it things I am experiencing now or things
that will come in the future or even the hatred of hell-nothing will deter me
from doing the will of God.
I am not counting on my own strength, but on His omnipotence for, as he gave me the grace of knowing His holy will, He will also grant me the grace of fulfilling it. I cannot fail to mention how much my own lower nature resists this thing, manifesting its own desires, and there results within my soul a great struggle, like that of Jesus in the Garden of Olives. And so I too cry out to God, the Eternal Father, "If it is possible, take this cup from me, but, nevertheless, not my will, but Yours be done, O Lord; may Your will be done." What I am about to go through is no secret to me, but with full knowledge I accept whatever You send me, O Lord. I trust in You, O merciful God, and I wish to be the first to manifest to You that confidence which You demand of souls. O Eternal Truth, help me and enlighten me along the roadways of life, and grant that Your will be accomplished in me. My God, I desire nothing but the fulfillment of Your will. It does not matter whether it will be easy or difficult. I feel an extraordinary force driving me to action. One thing alone holds me back, and that is holy obedience. O my Jesus, You urge me on the one hand and hold me back and restrain me on the other. In this, too, O my Jesus, may Your holy will be done. I continued in this state, without a break, for many days. My physical strength declined, and though I did not speak to anyone about it, nevertheless Mother Superior [Borgia] noticed my pain and remarked that I had changed in appearance and was very pale. She told me to go to bed earlier and to sleep longer, and she had a cup of hot milk brought to me in the evening. She had a motherly heart, full of care, and tried to help me. But in the case of spiritual sufferings, external things have no influence, and they do not bring much relief. It was from the confessional that I drew my strength and the consolation of knowing that it would not be long before I could begin to act.
635 March 25. In the morning, during meditation, God's presence
enveloped me in a special way, as I saw the immeasurable greatness of God
and, at the same time, His condescension to His creatures. Then I saw the
Mother of God, who said to me, Oh, how pleasing to God is the soul
that follows faithfully the inspirations of His grace! I gave the Savior to
the world; as for you, you have to speak to the world about His great mercy
and prepare the world for the Second Coming of Him who will come, not as a
merciful Savior, but as a just Judge. Oh, how terrible is that day!
Determined is the day of justice, the day of divine wrath. The angels tremble
before it. Speak to souls about this great mercy while it is still the time
for [granting] mercy. If you keep silent now, you will be answering for a
great number of souls on that terrible day. Fear nothing. Be faithful to the
end. I sympathize with you.
650 O my Jesus, my Master and Director, strengthen and enlighten me in
these difficult moments of my life. I expect no help from people; all my hope
is in You. I feel alone in the face of Your demands, O Lord. Despite the
fears and qualms of my nature, I am fulfilling Your holy will and desire to
fulfill it as faithfully as possible throughout my life and in my death.
Jesus, with You I can do all things. Do with me as You please; only give me
Your merciful Heart and that is enough for me.
O Jesus my Lord, help me. Let what You have planned before all ages happen to me. I am ready at each beckoning of Your holy will. Enlighten my mind that I may know Your will. O God, You who pervade my soul, You know that I desire nothing but Your glory. O Divine Will, You are the delight of my heart, the food of my soul, the light of my intellect, the omnipotent strength of my will; for when I unite myself with Your will, O Lord, Your power works through me and takes the place of my feeble will. Each day, I seek to carry out God's wishes.
660 O my Jesus,
on the day of the last judgment, You will demand from me an account of this
work of mercy. O just Judge, but my Spouse as well, help me to do Your holy
will. O mercy, O divine virtue!
O most merciful Heart of Jesus, my Betrothed, make my heart like unto Yours.
692 + O Jesus, I understand that Your mercy is beyond all imagining,
and therefore I ask You to make my heart so big that there will be room in it
for the needs of all the souls living on the face of the earth. O Jesus, my
love extends beyond the world, to the souls suffering in purgatory, and I
want to exercise mercy toward them by means of indulgenced prayers. God's
mercy is unfathomable and inexhaustible, just as God himself is unfathomable.
Even if I were to use the strongest words there are to express this mercy of
God, all this would be nothing in comparison with what it is in reality. O
Jesus, make my heart sensitive to all the sufferings of my neighbor, whether
of body or of soul. O my Jesus, I know that You act toward us as we act
toward our neighbor.
My Jesus, make my heart like unto Your merciful Heart. Jesus, help me
to go through life doing good to everyone.
703 At present, the topic of my particular examen is my union with the
Merciful Christ. This practice gives me unusual strength; my heart is always
united with the One it desires, and its actions are regulated by mercy, which
flows from love.
728 + I have
chosen Saint Claude de la Colombiere and Saint Gertrude as my patron saints
for this retreat, that they may intercede for me before the Mother of God and
the merciful Savior.
733 It sometimes
happens, while I am listening to the meditation, that one word puts me in
very close union with the Lord, and I no longer know what Father [144] is
saying. I know that I am close to the most merciful Heart of Jesus; my whole
spirit is entirely plunged in Him, and in one moment I learn more than during
long hours of intellectual inquiry and meditation. These are sudden lights
which permit me to know things as God sees them, regarding matters of both
the interior and the exterior world.
813 + O merciful
Jesus, stretched on the cross, be mindful of the hour of our death. O most
merciful Heart of Jesus, opened with a lance, shelter me at the last moment
of my life. O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as
a fount of unfathomable mercy for me at the hour of my death, O dying Jesus,
Hostage of mercy, avert the Divine wrath at the hour of my death.
825 + O bright and clear day on which all my dreams will be fulfilled;
O day so eagerly desired, the last day of my life! I look forward with joy to
the last stroke the Divine Artist will trace on my soul, which will give my
soul a unique beauty that will distinguish me from the beauty of other souls.
O great day, on which divine love will be confirmed in me. On that day, for
the first time, I shall sing before heaven and earth the song of the Lord's
fathomless mercy. This is my work and the mission which the Lord has destined
for me from the beginning of the world. That the song of my soul may be
pleasing to the Holy Trinity, do You, O Spirit of God, direct and form my
soul yourself. I arm myself with patience and await Your coming, O merciful
God, and as to the terrible pains and fear of death, at this moment more than
at any other time, I trust in the abyss of Your mercy and am reminding You, O
merciful Jesus, sweet Savior, of all the promises You have made to me.
832 O merciful Jesus, how longingly You hurried to the Upper Room to
consecrate the Host that I am to receive in my life. Jesus, You desired to
dwell in my heart. Your living Blood unites with mine. Who can understand
this close union? My heart encloses within itself the Almighty, the Infinite
One. 0 Jesus, continue to grant me Your divine life. Let Your pure and noble
Blood throb with all its might in my heart. I give You my whole being.
Transform me into Yourself and make me capable of doing Your holy will in all
things and of returning Your love. O my sweet Spouse, You know that my heart
knows no one but You. You have opened up in my heart an insatiable depth of love
for You. From the very first moment it knew You, my heart has loved You and
has lost itself in You as its one and only object. May Your pure and
omnipotent love be the driving force of all my actions. Who will ever
conceive and understand the depth of mercy that has gushed forth from Your
Heart?
836 O most sweet Jesus, who have deigned to allow miserable me to gain
a knowledge of Your unfathomable mercy; O most sweet Jesus, who have
graciously demanded that I tell the whole world of Your incomprehensible
mercy, this day I take into my hands the two rays that spring from Your
merciful Heart; that is, the Blood and the Water; and I scatter them all over
the globe so that each soul may receive Your mercy and, having received it,
may glorify it for endless ages. O most sweet Jesus who, in Your
incomprehensible kindness, have deigned to unite my wretched heart to Your
most merciful Heart, it is with Your own Heart that I glorify God, our
Father, as no soul has ever glorified Him before.
853 In the evening, a great longing took possession of my soul. I took
the pamphlet with the Image of the Merciful Jesus on it and pressed it to my
heart, and the following words burst forth from my soul: "Jesus, Eternal
Love, I live for You, I die for You, and I want to become united with
You." Suddenly I saw the Lord in His inexpressible beauty. He looked at
me graciously and said, My daughter, I too came down from heaven out
of love for you; I lived for you, I died for you, and I created the heavens
for you. And Jesus pressed me to His Heart and said to me, Very
soon now; be at peace, My daughter.When I was alone, my soul was set
afire with the desire to suffer until the moment when the Lord would say,
"Enough." And even if I were to live for thousands of years, I see
in the light of God that that is but one moment. Souls ...[unfinished
thought].
854 December 29,
[1936]. Today after Holy Communion, I heard a voice in my soul: My
daughter, stand ready, for I will come unexpectedly. Jesus, You do
not want to tell me the hour I am looking forward to with such longing? My
daughter, it is for your own good. You will learn it, but not now; keep
watch. O Jesus, do with me as You please. I know You are the
merciful Savior and You will not change towards me at the hour of my death.
If at this time you are showing me so much special love, and are
condescending to unite Yourself with me is such an intimate way and with such
great kindness, I expect even more at the hour of my death. You, my Lord-God,
cannot change. You are always the same. Heaven can change, as well as
everything that is created; but You, Lord, are ever the same and will endure
forever. So come as You like and when You like. Father of infinite mercy, I,
Your child, wait longingly for Your coming. O Jesus, You said in the Holy
Gospel, "Out of your mouth do I judge you." Well, Jesus, I am
always speaking of Your inconceivable mercy, so I trust that You will judge
me according to Your unfathomable mercy.
886 January 15, 1937. Sorrow will not establish itself in a heart which
loves the will of God. My heart, longing for God, feels the whole misery of
exile. I keep going forward bravely-though my feet become wounded-to my
homeland and, on the way, I nourish myself on the will of God. It is my food.
Help me, happy inhabitants of the heavenly homeland, so that your sister may
not falter on the way. Although the desert is fearful, I walk with lifted
head and eyes fixed on the sun; that is to say, on the merciful Heart of
Jesus.
893 January 22, [1937]. Today is Friday. My soul is in a sea of
suffering. Sinners have taken everything away from me. But that is all right;
I have given everything away for their sake that they might know that You are
good and infinitely merciful. I shall be faithful to You, come rain or shine.
906 + In difficult moments, I will fix my gaze upon the silent Heart
of Jesus, stretched upon the Cross, and from the exploding flames of His
merciful Heart, will flow down upon me power and strength to keep fighting.
938 The soul should have prayed ardently and at greater length for a
director and should have asked the Lord himself to choose a spiritual
director for it. What begins in God will be godly, and what begins in a
purely human manner will remain human. God is so merciful that, in order to
help a soul He himself chooses the spiritual guide and will enlighten the
soul concerning the one before whom it should uncover the most hidden depths
of its soul just as it sees itself before the Lord Jesus himself. And when
the soul considers and recognizes that God has been arranging all this, it
should pray fervently for the confessor that he might have the divine light
to know it well. And let it not change such a director except for a serious
reason. Just as it had prayed fervently and at great length in order to learn
God's will before choosing a director, so too should it pray fervently and at
great length to discern whether it is truly God's will that he leave this
director and choose another. If God's will is not absolutely clear, he should
not make this change, for a person will not go far by himself, and Satan
wants just this: to have the person who is aspiring for sanctity direct
himself because then, without doubt, he will never attain it.
1065 + My Jesus, support me when difficult and stormy days come, days
of testing, days of ordeal, when suffering and fatigue begin to oppress my
body and my soul. Sustain me, Jesus, and give me strength to bear suffering.
Set a guard upon my lips that they may address no word of complaint to
creatures. Your most merciful Heart is all my hope. I have nothing for my
defense but only Your mercy; in it lies all my trust.
1074 When I went
for adoration, I heard these words: My beloved daughter, write down
these words, that today My Heart has rested in this convent [the
Cracow house]. Tell the world about My mercy and My love.
The flames of mercy are burning me. I desire to pour them out upon human souls. Oh, what pain they cause Me when they do not want to accept them! My daughter, do whatever is within your power to spread devotion to My mercy. I will make up for what you lack. Tell aching mankind to snuggle close to My merciful Heart, and I will fill it -with peace. Tell [all people], My daughter, that I am Love and Mercy itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls.
1075 Souls
who spread the honor of My mercy I shield through their entire lives as a
tender mother her infant, and at the hour of death I will not be a Judge for
them, but the Merciful Savior. At that last hour, a soul has nothing with
which to defend itself except My mercy. Happy is the soul that during its
lifetime immersed itself in the Fountain of Mercy, because justice will have
no hold on it.
1076 Write this: Everything that exists is enclosed in the
bowels of My mercy, more deeply than an infant in its mother's womb. How
painfully distrust of My goodness wounds Me! Sins of distrust wound Me most
painfully.
1122 God of great mercy, who deigned to send us Your only begotten Son
as the greatest proof of Your fathomless love and mercy, You do not reject
sinners; but in Your boundless mercy You have opened for them also Your
treasures, treasures from which they can draw abundantly, not only
justification, but also all the sanctity that a soul can attain. Father of
great mercy, I desire that all hearts turn with confidence to Your infinite
mercy. No one will be justified before You if he is not accompanied by Your
unfathomable mercy. When You reveal the mystery of Your mercy to us, there
will not be enough of eternity to properly thank You for it.
1138 May 31. My tormented soul finds aid nowhere but in You, O Living
Host. I place all my trust in Your merciful heart. I am waiting patiently for
Your word, Lord.
1155 The Lord
gave me knowledge of His will under three aspects, so to speak, but it all comes
down to one. [198]
The first is that souls separated from the world will burn as an offering before God's throne and beg for mercy for the whole world... and by their entreaties they will obtain blessings for priests, and through their prayers prepare the world for the final coming of Jesus.
1156 The second
is prayer joined to the act of mercy. In particular, they will defend the
souls of children against the spirit of evil. Prayer and merciful deeds are
all that will be required of these souls, and even the poorest persons can be
admitted to their number. And in this egoistic world they will try to rouse
up love, the mercy of Jesus.
1157 The third is
prayer and deeds of mercy, without any obligation of taking vows. But by
doing this, these persons will have a share in all the merits and privileges
of the whole [congregation]. Everyone in the world can belong to this group.
1158 A member of
this group ought to perform at least one act of mercy a day; at least one,
but there can be many more, for such deeds can easily be carried out by
anyone, even the very poorest. For there are three ways of performing an act
of mercy: the merciful word, by forgiving and by comforting; secondly, if you
can offer no word, then pray-that too is mercy; and thirdly, deeds of mercy.
And when the Last Day comes, we shall be judged from this, and on this basis
we shall receive the eternal verdict.
1159 God's
floodgates have been opened for us. Let us want to take advantage of them
before the day of God's justice arrives. And that will be a dreadful day!
1177 Particular
examen.
Continuation of the same: to unite myself with the merciful Christ. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, I will entreat the heavenly Father for the whole world. A point of the rule: strict observance of silence. I must probe the depth of my being and thank God for everything, uniting myself with Jesus. With Him, in Him, and through Him, I give glory to God.
1178 O Lord, my
Love, I thank You for this day on which You have allowed me to draw a wealth
of graces from the fountain of Your unfathomable mercy. O Jesus, not only
today, but at every moment, I draw from Your unfathomable mercy everything
that the soul and body could want.
1183 O Jesus, I want to live in the present moment, to live as if this were the last day of my life. I want to use every moment scrupulously for the greater glory of God, to use every circumstance for the benefit of my soul. I want to look upon everything, from the point of view that nothing happens without the will of God.
1184 On an earlier occasion.
In the evening, I saw the Lord Jesus upon the cross. From His hands, feet and side, the Most Sacred Blood was flowing. After some time, Jesus said to me, All this is for the salvation of souls. Consider well, My daughter, what you are doing for their salvation. I answered, "Jesus, when I look at Your suffering, I see that I am doing next to nothing for the salvation of souls." And the Lord said to me, Know, My daughter, that your silent day-to-day martyrdom in complete submission to My will ushers many souls into heaven. And when it seems to you that your suffering exceeds your strength, contemplate My wounds, and you will rise above human scorn and judgment. Meditation on My Passion will help you rise above all things. I understood many things I had been unable to comprehend before
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-1, 2, 5, 49-50, 56, 66,
69, 72-73, 78)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-81, 83-85, 88, 94-95,
101-102, 116)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-118-119, 133, 154,
163-164, 167, 177)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-180, 186-187, 206, 220,
223-225, 229 )
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-237, 239, 249, 256, 272,
275, 280-283)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-286, 294, 299-302, 305,
308-309, 320)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-364, 376, 383, 465, 491)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-609, 615, 635, 650,
660, 692, 703, 728)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-733, 813, 825, 832,
836, 853-854, 886)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-893, 906, 938)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-III-1065, 1074-1076, 1122,
1138, 1155)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-III-1156-1159, 1177-1178,
1183-1184)
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Hunyo 05, 2016
From Death to Life-Divine Mercy Miracles Meditations
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