Excerpts from the DIARY of Saint Faustina Kowalska
57 O my Jesus, You are the life of my life.
You know only too well that I long for nothing but the glory of Your Name
and that souls come to know Your goodness. Why do souls avoid You, Jesus?-I
don't understand that. Oh, if I could only cut my heart into tiny pieces
and in this way offer to You, O Jesus, each piece as a heart whole and
entire, to make up in part for the hearts that do not love You! I love You,
Jesus, with every drop of my blood, and I would gladly shed my blood for
You to give You a proof of the sincerity of my love. O God, the more I know
You the less I can comprehend You, but this "non-comprehension"
lets me realize how great You are! And it is this impossibility of
comprehending You which enflames my heart anew for You, O Lord. From the
moment when You let me fix the eyes of my soul on You, O Jesus, I have been
at peace and desired nothing else. I found my destiny at the moment when my
soul lost itself in You, the only object of my love. In comparison with
you, everything is nothing. Sufferings, adversities, humiliations, failures
and suspicions that have come my way are splinters that keep alive the fire
of my love for You, O Jesus.
My desires are mad and unattainable. I wish to conceal from You that I
suffer. I want never to be rewarded for my efforts and my good actions. You
yourself, Jesus, are my only reward; You are enough, O Treasure of my
heart! I want to share compassionately in the sufferings of my neighbors
and to conceal my own sufferings, not only from them, but also from You,
Jesus.
Suffering is a great grace; through suffering the soul becomes like the
Savior; in suffering love becomes crystallized; the greater the suffering,
the purer the love.
58 +One night,
a sister who had died two months previously came to me. She was a sister of
the first choir. I saw her in a terrible condition, all in flames with her
face painfully distorted. This lasted only a short time, and then she
disappeared. A shudder went through my soul because I did not know whether
she was suffering in purgatory or in hell. Nevertheless I redoubled my
prayers for her. The next night she came again, but I saw her in an even
more horrible state, in the midst of flames which were even more intense,
and despair was written all over her face. I was astonished to see her in a
worse condition after the prayers I had offered for her, and I asked,
"Haven't my prayers helped you?" She answered that my prayers had
not helped her and that nothing would help her. I said to her, "And
the prayers which been any help to you?" She said no, that these
prayers had helped some other souls. I replied, "If my prayers are not
helping you, Sister, please stop coming to me." She disappeared at
once. Despite this, I kept on praying.
After some time she came back again to me during the night, but already her
appearance had changed. There were no longer any flames, as there had been
before, and her face was radiant, her eyes beaming with joy. She told me
that I had a true love for my neighbor and that many other souls had
profited from my prayers. She urged me not to cease praying for the souls
in purgatory, and she added that she herself would not remain there much
longer. How astounding are the decrees of God!
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!
140 Pure love is capable of great deeds,
and it is not broken by difficulty or adversity. As it remains strong in
the midst of great difficulties, so too it perseveres in the toilsome and
drab life of each day. It knows that only one thing is needed to please
God: to do even the smallest things out of great love-love, and always
love.
Pure love never errs. Its light is strangely plentiful. It will not do
anything that might displease God. It is ingenious at doing what is more
pleasing to God, and no one will equal it. It is happy when it can empty
itself and burn like a pure offering. The more it gives of itself, the
happier it is. But also, no one can sense dangers from afar as can love; it
knows how to unmask and also knows with whom it has to deal.
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.
156 +Once, l desired very much to receive
Holy Communion, but I had a certain doubt, and I did not go. I suffered
greatly because of this. It seemed to me that my heart would burst from the
pain. When I set about my work, my heart full of bitterness, Jesus suddenly
stood by me and said, My daughter, do not omit Holy Communion unless you
know well that your fall was serious; apart from this, no doubt must stop
you from uniting yourself with Me in the mystery of My love. Your minor
faults will disappear in My love like a piece of straw thrown into a great
furnace. Know that you grieve Me much when you fail to receive Me in Holy
Communion.
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.
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.
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.
531 November 24, 1935. Sunday, first day. I
went at once before the Blessed Sacrament and offered myself with Jesus,
present in the Most Holy Sacrament, to the Everlasting Father. Then I heard
these words in my soul: Your purpose and that of your companions is to
unite yourselves with Me as closely as possible; through love You will
reconcile earth with heaven, you will soften the just anger of God, and you
will plead for mercy for the world. I place in your care two pearls very
precious to My Heart: these are the souls of priests and religious. You
will pray particularly for them; their power will come from your
diminishment. You will join prayers, fasts, mortifications, labors and all
sufferings to My prayer, fasting, mortification, labors and sufferings and
then they will have power before My Father.
542 Postulancy. [108] Age of admission: any person between the ages of
fifteen and thirty. Firstly, the spirit with which the candidate is imbued
and her character are to be taken into consideration, whether she has a
strong will and the courage to follow in Jesus' footsteps with joy and gladness,
as God loves a cheerful giver. She must despise the world and herself. The
lack of a dowry will never be an obstacle to admission. All formalities
concerning the candidate must be clear; no complicated cases should be
admitted.
Melancholy persons, those disposed to sadness, those suffering from
contagious diseases, those of an unstable character and those who are
inclined to be suspicious of others are not adaptable to the religious life
and must not be admitted. Members should be selected with greatest care, as
one ill-fitting member is enough to throw the whole convent into
confusion.
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.
570 On one occasion, I saw Jesus in a
bright garment; this was in the greenhouse. [He said to me,] Write what
I say to you. My delight is to be united with you. With great desire, I
wait and long for the time when I shall take up My residence sacramentally
in your convent. My spirit will rest in that convent and I will bless its
neighborhood in a special way. Out of love for you all, I will avert any
punishments which are rightly meted out by My Father's justice. My
daughter, I have inclined My heart to your requests. Your assignment and
duty here on earth is to beg for mercy for the whole world. No soul will be
justified until it turns with confidence to My mercy, and this is why the
first Sunday after Easter is to be the Feast of Mercy. On that day, priests
are to tell everyone about My great and unfathomable mercy. I am making you
the administrator of My mercy. Tell the confessor that the Image is to be
on view in the church and not within the enclosure in that convent. By
means of this Image I shall be granting many graces to souls; so let every
soul have access to it.
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.
576 O Holy Trinity, Eternal God, my spirit
is drowned in Your beauty. The ages are as nothing in Your sight. You are
always the same. Oh, how great is Your majesty. Jesus, why do You conceal
Your majesty, why have You left Your heavenly throne and dwelt among us?
The Lord answered me, My daughter, love has brought Me here, and love
keeps Me here. My daughter, if you knew what great merit and reward is
earned by one act of pure love for Me, you would die of joy. I am saying
this that you may constantly unite yourself with Me through love, for this
is the goal of the life of your soul. This act is an act of the will. Know
that a pure soul is humble. When you lower and empty yourself before My
majesty, I then pursue you with My graces and make use of My omnipotence to
exalt you
580 On a certain occasion, the Lord said to
me, I am more deeply wounded by the small imperfections of chosen souls
than by the sins of those living in the world. It made me very sad that
chosen souls make Jesus suffer, and Jesus told me, These little
imperfections are not all. I will reveal to you a secret of My Heart: what
I suffer from chosen souls. Ingratitude in return for so many graces is My
Heart's constant food, on the part of [such] a chosen soul. Their love is
lukewarm, and My Heart cannot bear it; these souls force Me to reject them.
Others distrust My goodness and have no desire to experience that sweet
intimacy in their own hearts, but go in search of Me, off in the distance,
and do not find Me. This distrust of My goodness hurts Me very much. If My
death has not convinced you of My love, what will? Often a soul wounds Me
mortally, and then no one can comfort Me. They use My graces to offend Me.
There are souls who despise My graces as well as all the proofs of My love.
They do not wish to hear My call, but proceed into the abyss of hell. The
loss of these souls plunges Me into deadly sorrow. God though I am, I
cannot help such a soul because it scorns Me; having a free will, it can
spurn Me or love Me. You, who are the dispenser of My mercy, tell all the
world about My goodness, and thus you will comfort My Heart.
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.
1702 Towards the end of the Way of the
Cross which I was making, the Lord Jesus began to complain about the souls
of religious and priests, about the lack of love in chosen souls. I will
allow convents and churches to be destroyed. I answered, "Jesus,
but there are so many souls praising You in convents." The Lord
answered, That praise wounds My Heart, because love has been banished
from convents. Souls without love and without devotion, souls full of
egoism and self-love, souls full of pride and arrogance, souls full of
deceit and hypocrisy, lukewarm souls who have just enough warmth to keep
them alive: My Heart cannot bear this. All the graces that I pour out upon
them flow off them as off the face of a rock. I cannot stand them, because
they are neither good or bad. I called convents into being to sanctify the
world through them. It is from them that a powerful flame of love and
sacrifice should burst forth. And if they do not repent and become
enkindled by their first love, I will deliver them over to the fate of this
world...
How can they sit on the promised throne of judgment to judge the world,
when their guilt is greater than the guilt of the world? There is neither
penance nor atonement. O heart, which received Me in the morning and at
noon are all ablaze with hatred against Me, hatred of all sorts! O heart
specially chosen by Me, were you chosen for this, to give Me more pain? The
great sins of the world are superficial wounds on My Heart, but the sins of
a chosen soul pierce My Heart through and through...
1703 When I tried to intercede for them, I
could find nothing with which to excuse them and, being at the time unable
to think of anything in their defense, my heart was seized with pain, and I
wept bitterly. Then the Lord looked at me kindly and comforted me with
these words: Do not cry. There are still a great number of souls who
love Me very much, but My Heart desires to be loved by all and, because My
love is great, that is why I warn and chastise them.
1743 + God's Infinite Goodness in Creating
Mankind.
God, who in Your mercy have deigned to call man from nothingness into
being, generously have You bestowed upon him nature and grace. But that
seemed too little for Your infinite goodness. In Your mercy, O Lord, You
have given us everlasting life. You admit us to Your everlasting happiness
and grant us to share in Your interior life. And You do this solely out of
Your mercy. You bestow on us the gift of Your grace, only because You are
good and full of love. You had no need of us at all to be happy, but You, O
Lord, want to share Your own happiness with us. But man did not stand the
test. You could have punished him, like the angels, with eternal rejection,
but here Your mercy appeared, and the very depths of Your being were moved
with great compassion, and You promised to restore our salvation. It is an
incomprehensible abyss of Your compassion that You did not punish us as we
deserved. May Your mercy be glorified, O Lord; we will praise it for
endless ages. And the angels were amazed at the greatness of the mercy
which You have shown for mankind...
+ God's Infinite Goodness in Redeeming Man.
1747 God, You could have saved thousands of
worlds with one word; a single sigh from Jesus would have satisfied Your
justice. But You Yourself, Jesus, purely out of love for us, underwent such
a terrible Passion. Your Father's justice would have been propitiated with
a single sigh from You, and all Your self-abasement is solely the work of
Your mercy and Your inconceivable love. On leaving the earth, O Lord, You
wanted to stay with us, and so You left us Yourself in the Sacrament of the
Altar, and You opened wide Your mercy to us. There is no misery that could
exhaust You; You have called us all to this fountain of love, to this
spring of God's compassion. Here is the tabernacle of Your mercy, here is
the remedy for all our ills. To You, O living spring of mercy, all souls
are drawn; some like deer, thirsting for Your love, others to wash the
wound of their sins, and still others, exhausted by life, to draw strength.
At the moment of Your death on the Cross, You bestowed upon us eternal
life; allowing Your most holy side to be opened, You opened an
inexhaustible spring of mercy for us, giving us Your dearest possession,
the Blood and Water from Your Heart. Such is the omnipotence of Your mercy.
From it all grace flows to us.
1754 Consider, My daughter, Who it is to
whom your heart is so closely united by the vows. Before I made the world,
I loved you with the love your heart is experiencing today and, throughout
the centuries, My love will never change.
1758 My daughter, consider the life of
God which is found in the Church for the salvation and the sanctification
of your soul. Consider the use that you make of these treasures of grace,
of these efforts of My love.
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-I-57-58, 77, 93, 96-98, 101, 116, 118)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-I-140, 147, 156, 163, 178, 186-187, 216)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-I-229, 241, 267, 275, 278-279, 281, 287)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-I-282-283, 294, 296, 343, 375, 383)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-II-531, 542, 549, 570-571, 576, 580, 590)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska
Notebook-II-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)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-VI-1701-1703, 1743, 1747, 1754, 1758)
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