The Priestly Prayer of Jesus
|
May 30, 2017.
Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter
|
Father Paul Campbell, LC
John
17:1-11a
Jesus raised his
eyes to heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your
son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over
all people, so that he may give eternal life to all you gave him. Now this is
eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom
you sent, Jesus Christ. I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work
that you gave me to do. Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that
I had with you before the world began. I revealed your name to those whom you
gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and
they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you gave me is from
you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted
them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that
you sent me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones
you have given me, because they are yours, and everything of mine is yours
and everything of yours is mine, and I have been glorified in them. And now I
will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming
to you."
Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe in
You and all that You have revealed for our salvation. I hope in You because
of Your overflowing mercy. Every single act of Yours on this earth
demonstrated Your love for us. Your ascent into heaven before the eyes of the
Apostles inspires my hope of one day joining You there. I love You and wish
you to be the center of my life.
Petition: Lord, help me to
grow in my love for the Father and for souls.
1. A Prayer for the Ages: The supreme hour of
Jesus has come. As he anticipates his agony of self-giving love to the
extreme, Christ has no thought for himself. His heart turns to its one and
only love, the one for whose glory he has carried out every act of his
earthly existence: his Father. But at the same time, that invincible love for
his Father embraces all those whom the Father has entrusted to him. Christ
leaves his followers a legacy that will remain their greatest source of
confidence throughout the ages: his priestly prayer. In this, Christ teaches
us how to pray. Christ prays first that his Father may be glorified by
glorifying the Son. What is the supreme glory with which the life of the only
Son of God will culminate? The answer is in his bloody immolation upon the
cross.
2. The Glory of the Cross: “The word ‘glory’
refers to the splendor, honor and power which belong to God” (The Navarre
Bible: St. John, pg. 202). How can Christ’s humiliating death on the
cross and his abandonment by his closest followers give honor to God and
reveal his splendor and power? How can the cross be Christ’s supreme glory?
First, it reveals a love without limits, a love that does not say, “I will go
this far and no farther.” Christ’s words, “Father, forgive them,” bear
witness to a love that is stronger than sin. The Resurrection, which follows
the cross, testifies to a love that is strong style="color:
#990000"er than death itself. Second, the cross is the fulfillment of
Christ’s mission. His obedience to the Father, even to death, redeems all of
mankind. Have I embraced the cross in my own life as the one way to follow
Christ? Embracing the cross is the only sure path to love Christ and glorify
the Father.
3. Unshakeable Trust in the
Mission: Throughout
this Gospel passage, Christ’s words ring with an unshakeable confidence. Even
though he will die, abandoned by his disciples, in agony and humiliating
failure, Christ continues to trust. He trusts both in his Father and in those
very disciples who will soon desert him. Our Lord’s trust in us as his
followers must inspire within us a similar unwavering confidence in our
mission to save souls, to bring others to Christ, and to transform society
itself. By ourselves we can achieve nothing. But we have the assurance of
Christ’s own prayers and the promise of his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will
speak in the hearts of all those who Christ calls to bring closer to him. Let
us pray often to our great advocate: “Holy Spirit, inspire in me what I
should think, what I should say, and what I should leave unsaid, so that I
may achieve the good of all my brothers and sisters, fulfill my mission, and
make Christ’s kingdom triumph.”
Conversation with
Christ: Thank You, Lord, for
loving me to the extreme of dying in unspeakable agony upon the cross. Thank
You for your gift of the Holy Spirit so that I can follow Your path of
self-giving love.
Resolution: I will speak with
the Holy Spirit throughout the day and offer to the Father and for souls each
concrete cross Christ sends me.
Excerpts from the DIARY of Saint Faustina Kowalska
Darkness and Temptations
77 My mind became dimmed in a strange way; no truth seemed clear to me. When people spoke to me about God, my heart was like a rock. I could not draw from it a single sentiment of love for Him. When I tried, by an act of the will, to remain close to Him, I experienced great torments, and it seemed to me that I was only provoking God to an even greater anger. It was absolutely impossible for me to meditate as I had been accustomed to do in the past. I felt in my soul a great void, and there was nothing with which I could fill it. I began to suffer from a great hunger and yearning for God, but I saw my utter powerlessness. I tried to read slowly, sentence by sentence, and to meditate in this way, but this also was of no avail. I understood nothing of what I had read. The abyss of my misery was constantly before my eyes. Every time I entered the chapel for some spiritual exercise, I experienced even worse torments and temptations. More than once, all through Holy Mass, I had to struggle against blasphemous thoughts which were forcing themselves to my lips. I felt an aversion for the Holy Sacraments, and it seemed to me that I was not profiting from them in any way. It was only out of obedience to my confessor that I frequented them, and this blind obedience was for me the only path I could follow and my very last hope of survival. The priest explained to me that these were trials sent by God and that, in the situation I was in, not only was I not offending God, but I was most pleasing to Him. "This is a sign," he told me, "that God loves you very much and that He has great confidence in you, since He is sending you such trials." But these words brought me no comfort; it seemed to me that they did not apply to me at all. One thing did surprise me: it often happened that, at the time when I was suffering greatly, these terrible torments would disappear suddenly just as I was approaching the confessional; but as soon as I had left the confessional, all these torments would again seize me with even greater ferocity. I would then fall on my face before the Blessed Sacrament repeating these words: "Even if You kill me, still will I trust in You!" [cf. Job 13:15] It seemed to me that I would die in these agonies. But the most terrible thought for me was the conviction that I had been rejected by God. Then other thoughts came to me: why strive to acquire virtues and do good works? why mortify and annihilate yourself? what good is it to take vows? to pray? to sacrifice and immolate yourself? why sacrifice myself all the time? what good is it - if I am already rejected by God? why all these efforts? And here, God alone knew what was going on in my heart.
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.
96 +Trials sent by God to a soul
which is particularly loved by Him.
Temptations and darkness; Satan. The soul's love [for God] is still not such as God would have it. The soul suddenly loses the tangible perception of God's presence. Various defects and imperfections rise up within it, and it must fight them furiously. All her faults lift up their heads, but the soul's vigilance is great. The former awareness of the presence of God gives place to coldness and spiritual dryness; the soul has no taste for spiritual exercises; it cannot pray, either in the old way, or in the manner in which it had just begun to pray. It struggles this way and that, but can find no satisfaction. God has hidden himself from it, and it can find no consolation in creatures, nor can any of these creatures find a way of consoling it. The soul craves passionately for God, but sees its own misery; it begins to sense God's justice; it seems to it that it has lost all the gifts that God had given it; its mind is dimmed, and darkness fills it; unspeakable torment begins. The soul tries to explain its state to the confessor, but it is not understood and is assailed by an even greater unrest. Satan begins his work.
97 Faith staggers under the impact; the struggle is fierce. The soul
tries hard to cling to God by an act of will. With God's permission, Satan
goes even further: hope and love are put to the test. These temptations are
terrible. God supports the soul in secret, so to speak. The soul is not aware
of this, but otherwise it would be impossible to stand firm; and God knows
very well how much He can allow to befall a soul. The soul is tempted to
unbelief in respect to revealed truths and to insincerity toward the
confessor. Satan says to it, "Look, no one understands you; why speak
about all this?" Words that terrify it sound in its ears, and it seems
to the soul that it is uttering these against God. It sees what it does not
want to see. It hears what it does not want to hear. And, oh, it is a
terrible thing at times like these not to have an experienced confessor! The
soul carries the whole burden alone. However, one should make every effort to
find, if it is at all possible, a well-informed confessor, for the soul can
collapse under the burden and come to the very edge of the precipice. All
these trials are heavy and difficult. God does not send them to a soul which
has not already been admitted to a deeper intimacy with Him and which has not
yet tasted the divine delights. Besides, in this God has His own plans, which
for us are impenetrable. God often prepares a soul in this way for His future
designs and great works. He wants to try it as pure gold is tried. But this
is not yet the end of the testing; there is still the trial of trials, the
complete abandonment of the soul by God.
+ The Trial of Trials, Complete Abandonment - Despair
98 When the soul comes out victorious from the preceding trials, even though it may stumble here and there, it fights on valiantly, humbly calling upon God, "Save me, I am perishing!" And it is still able to fight on. At this point, however, the soul is engulfed in a horrible night. It sees within itself only sin. It feels terrible. It sees itself completely abandoned by God. It feels itself to be the object of His hatred. It is but one step away from despair. The soul does its best to defend itself; it tries to stir up its confidence; but prayer is an even greater torment for it, as this prayer seems to arouse God to an even greater anger. The soul finds itself poised on the summit of a lofty mountain on the very brink of a precipice. The soul is drawn to God, but feels repulsed. All other sufferings and tortures in the world are as nothing compared with this sensation into which it has been plunged; namely, that of being rejected by God. No one can bring it any relief; it finds itself completely alone; there is no one to defend it. It raises its eyes to heaven, but is convinced that this is not for her-for her all is lost. It falls deeper and deeper from darkness to darkness, and it seems to it that it has lost forever the God it used to love so dearly. This thought is torture beyond all description. But the soul does not agree to it and tries to lift its gaze toward heaven, but in vain! And this makes the torture even more intense. If God wishes to keep the soul in such darkness, no one will be able to give it light. It experiences rejection by God in a vivid and terrifying manner. From its heart burst forth painful moans, so painful that no priest will comprehend it, unless he himself has been through these trials. In the midst of this, the evil spirit adds to the soul's suffering, mocking it: "Will you persist in your faithfulness? This is your reward; you are in our power!" But Satan has only as much influence over the soul as God allows him, and God knows how much we can bear. "What have you gotten out of your mortifications," says Satan, "and out of your fidelity to the rule? What use are all these efforts? You have been rejected by God!" This word, rejected, becomes a fire which penetrates every nerve to the marrow of the bone. It pierces right through her entire being. The ordeal reaches its climax. The soul no longer looks for help anywhere. It shrinks into itself and loses sight of everything; it is as though it has accepted the torture of being abandoned. This is a moment for which I have no words. This is the agony of the soul.
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.
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!
147 I recall that I have received most light during adoration which I
made lying prostrate before the Blessed Sacrament for half an hour every day
throughout Lent. During that time I came to know myself and God more
profoundly. And yet, even though I had the superiors' permission to do so, I
encountered many obstacles to praying in such a way. Let the soul be aware
that, in order to pray and persevere in prayer, one must arm oneself with
patience and cope bravely with exterior and interior difficulties. The
interior difficulties are discouragement, dryness, heaviness of spirit and
temptations. The exterior difficulties are human respect and time; one must
observe the time set apart for prayer. This has been my personal experience
because, when I did not pray at the time assigned for prayer, later on I
could not do it because of my duties; or if I did manage to do so, this was
only with great difficulty, because my thoughts kept wandering off to my
duties. I also experienced this difficulty: when a soul has prayed well and
left prayer in a state of profound interior recollection, others resist its
recollection; and so, the soul must be patient to persevere in prayer. It
often happened to me that when my soul was more deeply immersed in God, and I
had derived greater fruit from prayer, and God's presence accompanied me
during the day, and at work there was more recollection and greater precision
and effort at my duty, this was precisely when I received the most rebukes
for being negligent in my duty and indifferent to everything; because less
recollected souls want others to be like them, for they are a constant [source
of] remorse to them.
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.
173 Satan's temptations during
meditation. I felt a strange fear that the priest would not
understand me, or that he would
have no time to hear everything I would have to say. How am I going to tell him
all this? If it were Father Bukowski I could do it more easily, but this
Jesuit whom I am seeing for the first time... Then I remembered Father
Bukowski's advice that I should at least take brief notes of the lights sent
to me by God during the retreats and give him at least a brief report on
them. My God, for a day and a half all has gone well, and now a life and
death struggle is beginning. The conference is to start in a half hour, and
then I am to go to confession. Satan tried to persuade me into believing that
if my superiors have told me that my inner life is an illusion, why should I
ask again and trouble the confessor? Didn't MX [probably Mother Jane] tell
you that the Lord Jesus does not commune with souls as miserable as yours?
This confessor is going to tell you the same thing. Why speak to him about
all this? These are not sins, and Mother X, told you that all this communing
with the Lord Jesus was daydreaming and pure hysteria. So why tell it to this
confessor? You would do better to dismiss all this as illusions. Look how
many humiliations you have suffered because of them, and how many more are
still awaiting you, and all the sisters know that you are a hysteric.
"Jesus!" I called out with all the strength of my soul.
216 We
have come to Cracow today [April 18, 1933]. What a joy it is to find myself
again where I took my first steps in the spiritual life! Dear Mother
Directress [Mary Joseph] is ever the same, cheerful and full of love of
neighbor. I entered the chapel for a moment and joy filled my soul. In a
flash I recalled the whole ocean of graces that had been given me as a novice
here.
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.
267 Jesus
told me that I please Him best by meditating on His sorrowful Passion, and by
such meditation much light falls upon my soul. He who wants to learn true
humility should reflect upon the Passion of Jesus. When I meditate upon the
Passion of Jesus, I get a clear understanding of many things I could not
comprehend before. I want to resemble You, O Jesus,-You crucified, tortured
and humiliated. Jesus, imprint upon my heart and soul Your own humility. I
love You, Jesus, to the point of madness, You who were crushed with suffering
as described by the prophet [cf. Isaiah 53:2-9], as if he could not see the
human form in You because of Your great suffering. It is in this condition,
Jesus, that I love You to the point of madness. O eternal and infinite God,
what has love done to You?...
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!
278 At the
feet of the Lord. Hidden Jesus, Eternal Love, our Source of Life, Divine
Madman, in that You forget yourself and see only us. Before creating heaven
and earth, You carried us in the depths of Your Heart. O Love, O depth of
Your abasement, O mystery of happiness, why do so few people know You? Why is
Your love not returned? O Divine Love, why do You hide Your beauty? O
Infinite One beyond all understanding, the more I know You the less I
comprehend You; but because I cannot comprehend You, I better comprehend Your
greatness. I do not envy the Seraphim their fire, for I have a greater gift
deposited in my heart. They admire You in rapture, but Your Blood mingles
with mine. Love is heaven given us already here on earth. Oh, why do You hide
in faith? Love tears away the veil. There is no veil before the eye of my
soul, for You yourself have drawn me into the bosom of secret love forever. Praise
and glory be to You, O Indivisible Trinity, One God, unto ages of ages!
279 God
made known to me what true love consists in and gave light to me about how,
in practice, to give proof of it to Him. True love of God consists in
carrying out God's will. To show God our love in what we do, all our actions,
even the least, must spring from our love of God. And the Lord said to me, My
child, you please Me most by suffering. In your physical as well as your
mental sufferings, My daughter, do not seek sympathy from creatures. I want
the fragrance of your suffering to be pure and unadulterated. I want you to
detach yourself, not only from creatures, but also from yourself. My
daughter, I want to delight in the love of your heart, a pure love, virginal,
unblemished, untarnished. The more you will come to love suffering, My
daughter, the purer your love for Me will be.
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.
287 +My
Jesus, when I look at this life of souls, I see that many of them serve You
with some mistrust. At certain times, especially when there is an opportunity
to show their love for God, I see them running away from the battlefield. And
once Jesus said to me, Do you, my child, also want to act like that? I
answered the Lord, "Oh, no, my Jesus, I will not retreat from the
battlefield, even if mortal sweat breaks out on my brow; I will not let the
sword fall from my hand until I rest at the feet of the Holy Trinity!"
Whatever I do, I do not rely on my own strength, but on God's grace. With
God's grace a soul can overcome the greatest difficulties.
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.
296 +O
Supreme Good, I want to love You as no one on earth has ever loved You
before! I want to adore You with every moment of my life and unite my will
closely to Your holy will. My life is not drab or monotonous, but it is
varied like a garden of fragrant flowers, so that I don't know which flower
to pick first, the lily of suffering or the rose of love of neighbor or the
violet of humility. I will not enumerate these treasures in which my every
day abounds. It is a great thing to know how to make use of the present
moment.
343 True love is measured by the
thermometer of suffering. Jesus, I thank You for the little daily crosses,
for opposition to my endeavors, for the hardships of communal life, for the
misinterpretation of my intentions, for humiliations at the hands of others,
for the harsh way in which we are treated, for false suspicions, for poor
health and loss of strength, for self-denial, for dying to myself, for lack
of recognition in everything, for the upsetting of all my plans.
Thank You, Jesus, for interior sufferings, for dryness of spirit, for terrors, fears and incertitudes, for the darkness and the deep interior night, for temptations and various ordeals, for torments too difficult to describe, especially for those which no one will understand, for the hour of death with its fierce struggle and all its bitterness. I thank You, Jesus, You who first drank the cup of bitterness before You gave it to me, in a much milder form. I put my lips to this cup of Your holy will. Let all be done according to Your good pleasure; let that which Your wisdom ordained before the ages be done to me. I want to drink the cup to its last drop, and not seek to know the reason why. In bitterness is my joy, in hopelessness is my trust. In You, O Lord, all is good, all is a gift of Your paternal Heart. I do not prefer consolations over bitterness or bitterness over consolations, but thank You, O Jesus, for everything! It is my delight to fix my gaze upon You, O incomprehensible God! My spirit abides in these mysterious dwelling places, and there I am at home. I know very well the dwelling place of my Spouse. I feel there is not a single drop of blood in me that does not burn with love for You. O Uncreated Beauty, whoever comes to know You once cannot love anything else. I can feel the bottomless abyss of my soul, and nothing will fill it but God himself. I feel that I am drowned in Him like a single grain of sand in a bottomless ocean.
375
Particular interior practice; that is, the examination of conscience.
Self-denial, denial of my own will.
I. The
denial of my reason. Subjecting it to the reason of those who represent God
to me here on earth.
II. The
denial of my will. Doing the will of God, which is revealed in the will of
those who represent God to me and which is contained in the rule of our
order.
III. The
denial of my judgment. Accepting immediately and without reflection, analysis
or reasoning all orders given by those who represent God to me.
IV. The
denial of my tongue. I will not give it the least bit of freedom; but in one
case only I will give it complete freedom; that is, in proclaiming the glory
of God. Whenever I receive Holy Communion, I will ask Jesus to fortify and
cleanse my tongue that I may not injure my neighbor with it. That is why I
have the greatest respect for the rule which speaks about silence.
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!"
On the
third day, that gaze of great kindness upon all the sisters, except the
three, was again repeated. I gathered up my courage, which drew its force
from love of neighbor, and I said to the Lord, "You, who are Mercy
Itself, as You yourself told me, I beg You by the power of Your mercy, to
look then with kindness at these three sisters as well. And if this is not in
accord with Your wisdom, I ask You for an exchange: turn to them the kind
look meant for my soul, and let Your severe gaze at their souls be turned on
me." Jesus then said to me these words: My daughter, for the sake of
your sincere and generous love, I grant them many graces although they are
not asking Me for them. But I am doing so because of the promise I have made
to you. And at that moment, He turned a merciful look towards those three
sisters as well. My heart leapt with joy to see the goodness of God.
549 Work.
As poor persons, the nuns themselves will do all the work in the convent.
Each one should be glad when she is given some work which is humbling or
which goes against her nature, as that will greatly help her interior
formation. The superior will often change the sisters' duties, and in this
way help them to detach themselves completely from the little details to which
women have a great attachment. Truly, I often find it amusing to see with my
own eyes souls who have forsaken really great things only to attach
themselves to fiddle faddle; that is, trifles. Each sister, including even
the superior, shall work in the kitchen for a month. Every one should take a
turn at every chore which is to be done in the convent.
571 O my
Jesus, Eternal Truth, I fear nothing, neither hardships nor sufferings; I
fear only one thing, and that is to offend You. My Jesus, I would rather not
exist than make You sad. Jesus, You know that my love knows no one but You.
My soul is absorbed in You.
590 When I
receive Holy Communion, I entreat and beg the Savior to heal my tongue, that
I may never fail in love of neighbor.
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.
700 +
Once, when I was very tired and in much pain, I told Mother Superior [Irene]
about it and received the answer that I should get used to suffering. I listened
to everything that Mother told me, and then I went out. Our Mother Superior
has great love of neighbor and especially great love for the sick sisters, as
everyone knows. And yet, as regards me, it is extraordinary that the Lord
Jesus has permitted that she not understand me and that she test me much in
this respect.
704 I
spend every free moment at the feet of the hidden God. He is my Master; I ask
Him about everything; I speak to Him about everything. Here I obtain strength
and light; here I learn everything; here I am given light on how to act
toward my neighbor. From the time I left the novitiate, I have enclosed
myself in the tabernacle together with Jesus, my Master. He himself drew me
into the fire of living love on which everything converges.
742 My
daughter, if I demand through you that people revere My mercy, you should be
the first to distinguish yourself by this confidence in My mercy. I demand
from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to
show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from
this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it.
I am
giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor: the first-by
deed, the second-by word, the third-by prayer. In these three degrees is
contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love
for Me. By this means a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy. Yes,
the first Sunday after Easter is the Feast of Mercy, but there must also be
acts of mercy, and I demand the worship of My mercy through the solemn
celebration of the Feast and through the veneration of the image which is
painted. By means of this image I shall grant many graces to souls. It is to
be a reminder of the demands of My mercy, because even the strongest faith is
of no avail without works. O my Jesus, You yourself must help me in
everything, because You see how very little I am, and so I depend solely on
Your goodness, O God.
+
Particular Examen
Union with
the merciful Christ. With my heart I encompass the whole world, especially
countries which are uncivilized or where there is persecution. I am praying
for mercy upon them.
791 Hide
me, Jesus, in the depths of Your mercy, and then let my neighbor judge me as
he pleases.
856 During
the morning meditation, I felt an aversion and a repugnance for all created
things. Everything pales before my eyes; my spirit is detached from all
things. I desire only God himself, and yet I must live. This is a martyrdom
beyond description. God imparts himself to the soul in a loving way and draws
it into the infinite depths of His divinity, but at the same time He leaves
it here on earth for the sole purpose that it might suffer and die of longing
for Him. And this strong love is so pure that God himself finds pleasure in
it; and self-love has no access to its deeds, for here everything is totally
saturated with bitterness, and thus is totally pure. Life is a continuous
dying, painful and terrible, and at the same time it is the depth of true
life and of inconceivable happiness and the strength of the soul; and because
of this, [the soul] is capable of great deeds for the sake of God.
861
Particular examen: remains the same; namely, to unite myself with the
Merciful Christ (that is; what would Christ do in such and such a case?) and,
in spirit, to embrace the whole world, especially Russia and Spain.
General
resolutions.
I. Strict
observance of silence - interior silence.
II. To see
the image of God in every sister; all love of neighbor must flow from this
motive.
III. To do
the will of God faithfully at every moment of my life and to live by this.
IV. To
give a faithful account of everything to the spiritual director and not to
undertake anything of importance without a clear understanding with him. I
shall try to clearly lay bare to him the most secret depths of my soul,
bearing in mind that I am dealing with God himself, and that His
representative is just a human being, and so I must pray daily that he be
given light.
V. During
the evening examination of conscience, I am to ask myself the question: What
if He were to call me today?
VI. Not to
look for God far away, but within my own being to abide with Him alone.
VII. In
sufferings and torments, to take refuge in the tabernacle and to be silent.
VIII. To
join all sufferings, prayers, works and mortifications to the merits of Jesus
in order to obtain mercy for the world.
IX. To use
free moments, however short, for prayers for the dying.
X. There
must not be a day in my life when I do not recommend to the Lord the works of
our Congregation. Never have regard for what others think of you [for human
respect].
XI. Have
no familiar relationships with anyone. Gentle firmness toward the girls,
boundless patience; punish them severely but with such punishments as these:
prayer and self-sacrifice. The strength that is in the emptying of myself for
their sake is for them a [source of] constant remorse and the softening of
their obdurate hearts.
XII. The
presence of God is the basis of all my thoughts, words and deeds.
XIII. To
take advantage of all spiritual help. To always put self-love in its proper
place; namely, the last. To perform my spiritual exercises as though I were
doing them for the last time in my life, and in like manner to carry out all
my duties.
871 + My
Master, cause my heart never to expect help from anyone, but I will always
strive to bring assistance, consolation and all manner of relief to others.
My heart is always open to the sufferings of others; and I will not close my
heart to the sufferings of others, even though because of this I have been
scornfully nicknamed "dump"; that is, [because] everyone dumps his
pain into my heart. [To this] I answered that everyone has a place in my
heart and I, in return, have a place in the Heart of Jesus. Taunts regarding
the law of love will not narrow my heart. My soul is always sensitive on this
point, and Jesus alone is the motive for my love of neighbor.
944 +
There are moments when I mistrust myself, when I feel my own weakness and
wretchedness in the most profound depths of my own being, and I have noticed
that I can endure such moments only by trusting in the infinite mercy of God.
Patience, prayer and silence-these are what give strength to the soul. There
are moments when one should be silent, and when it would be inappropriate to
talk with creatures; these are the moments when one is dissatisfied with
oneself, and when the soul feels as weak as a little child. Then the soul
clings to God with all its might. At such times, I live solely by faith, and
when I feel strengthened by God's grace, then I am more courageous in
speaking and communicating with my neighbors.
1039 + I
suffer great pain at the sight of the sufferings of others. All these
sufferings are reflected in my heart. I carry their torments in my heart so
that it even wears me out physically. I would like all pains to fall upon me
so as to bring relief to my neighbor.
1662 + O
Christ, suffering for You is the delight of my heart and my soul. Prolong my
sufferings to infinity, that I may give You a proof of my love. I accept
everything that Your hand will hold out to me. Your love, Jesus, is enough
for me. I will glorify You in abandonment and darkness, in agony and fear, in
pain and bitterness, in anguish of spirit and grief of heart. In all things
may You be blessed. My heart is so detached from the earth, that You Yourself
are enough for me. There is no longer any moment in my life for self concern.
1663 Holy
Thursday [April 14, 1938]. Today I felt strong enough to take part in the
ceremonies of the Church. During Holy Mass, Jesus stood before me and said,
Look into My Heart and see there the love and mercy which I have for
humankind, and especially for sinners. Look, and enter into My Passion. In an
instant, I experienced and lived through the whole Passion of Jesus in my own
heart. I was surprised that these tortures did not deprive me of my life.
1664
During adoration, Jesus said to me, My daughter, know that your ardent love
and the compassion you have for Me were a consolation to Me in the Garden [of
Olives].
1665
During Holy Hour in the evening, I heard the words, You see My mercy for
sinners, which at this moment is revealing itself in all its power. See how
little you have written about it; it is only a single drop. Do what is in your
power, so that sinners may come to know My goodness.
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-77, 93, 96-98, 101 116, 118, 147, 173)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-163, 216, 241, 267, 275,
278-279, 281)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-287, 282-283, 294, 296,
343, 375, 383)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-549, 571, 590, 692,
700, 704, 742)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-791, 856, 861, 871,
944)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-III-1029, 1039)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-VI-1662-1663)
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Mayo 30, 2017
The Priestly Prayer of Jesus-Divine Mercy Miracles Meditations
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