Leap for Joy for Heaven
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September 12, 2018. Wednesday
of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time
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Father Patrick Butler, LC
Luke
6: 20-26
Raising his eyes toward his disciples Jesus said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who are now weeping, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets in the same way. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way."
Introductory Prayer: God the Father, thank You for the gift of
creation, including my own life. God the Son, thank You for redeeming me at
the price of Your own Body and Blood. God the Holy Spirit, thank You for
being the sweet guest of my soul, enlightening my mind, strengthening my
spirit and kindling the fire of Your love in my heart.
Petition: Father, help me to seek the things that are above.
1. Because You Say It, Lord… In this passage, I can picture Jesus raising
his eyes to look into the faces of his followers. Today, he looks into my
eyes and engages my attention with his loving gaze. I accept what he tells me
because it is he who speaks. I believe that he has the words of eternal life.
Naturally, poverty, hunger, sorrow and being excluded do not appeal to me,
but they are the values of my beloved Lord, and that is enough for me.
2. Seek First the Kingdom: Jesus encourages me to strive for the values
of his Kingdom, to be forgetful of myself and my well-being. He will take
care of me and give me recompense. Heaven awaits me – laughter and joy, a
fullness that is unfathomable. It is arduous not to seek “heaven on earth” in
riches and pleasure and in fitting in with the crowd. It takes a vision of
faith and a spirit of perseverance.
3. Warning Signs: St. Luke transmits to us not only the
Beatitudes, but also their opposites. These are like warning signs. If my
path is aligned with these opposites, I had better be attentive – where does
that road lead me in the long run? Where my heart is, there also is my
treasure. Is heavenly, eternal happiness my heart’s desire or are earthly, temporal
delights?
Conversation with Christ: Lord, give me the joy of experiencing some of the heavenly joy
of being united to You here on earth. Help me to find my fulfillment in
loving You, in giving my life to You.
Resolution: I will examine what motivates me in my daily duty, striving to
purify my intention. I will act out of love of God and not out of self-love.
Excerpts from the DIARY of Saint Faustina
Kowalska
1 O Eternal Love, You command Your Sacred Image [1]
to be painted And reveal to us the inconceivable fount of mercy,
You bless whoever approaches Your rays, And a soul all black will turn into snow. O sweet Jesus, it is here [2] You established the throne of Your mercy To bring joy and hope to sinful man. From Your open Heart, as from a pure fount, Flows comfort to a repentant heart and soul. May praise and glory for this Image Never cease to stream from man's soul. May praise of God's mercy pour from every heart, Now, and at every hour, and forever and ever.
O My God
2 When I look into
the future, I am frightened, But why plunge into the future?
Only the present moment is precious to me, As the future may never enter my soul at all. It is no longer in my power, To change, correct or add to the past; For neither sages nor prophets could do that. And so, what the past has embraced I must entrust to God. O present moment, you belong to me, whole and entire. I desire to use you as best I can. And although I am weak and small, You grant me the grace of your omnipotence. And so, trusting in Your mercy, I walk through life like a little child, Offering You each day this heart Burning with love for Your greater glory
God and Souls.
5 Be adored, O Most Holy Trinity, now and for all time. Be
adored in all Your works and all Your creatures. May the greatness of Your
mercy be admired and glorified, O God.
6 I am to write [3] down the encounters of
my soul with You, O God, at the moments of Your special visitations. I am to
write about You, O Incomprehensible in mercy towards my poor soul. Your holy
will is the life of my soul. I have received this order through him who is for
me Your representative here on earth, who interprets Your holy Will to me.
Jesus, You see how difficult it is for me to write, how unable I am to put
down clearly what I experience in my soul. O God, can a pen write down that
for which many a time there are no words? But You give the order to write, O
God; that is enough for me.
49 When
I told this to my confessor,[29]
I received this for a reply: "That refers to your soul." He told
me, "Certainly, paint God's image in your soul." When I came out of
the confessional, I again heard words such as these: My image already is
in your soul. I desire that there be a Feast of Mercy. I want this image,
which you will paint with a brush, to be solemnly blessed on the first Sunday
after Easter; that Sunday is to be the Feast of Mercy.
50 + I desire that priests proclaim this great mercy of Mine towards souls of sinners. Let the sinner not be afraid to approach Me. The flames of mercy are burning Me - clamoring to be spent; I want to pour them out upon these souls. Jesus complained to me in these words, Distrust on the part of souls is tearing at My insides. The distrust of a chosen soul causes Me even greater pain; despite My inexhaustible love for them they do not trust Me. Even My death is not enough for them. Woe to the soul that abuses these [gifts].
56 O my God, I understand well
that You demand this spiritual childhood[32]
of me, because You are constantly asking it of me through Your
representatives.
At the beginning of my religious life, suffering and adversities frightened and disheartened me. So I prayed continuously, asking Jesus to strengthen me and to grant me the power of His Holy Spirit that I might carry out His holy will in all things, because from the beginning I have been aware of my weakness. I know very well what I am of myself, because for this purpose Jesus has opened the eyes of my soul; I am an abyss of misery, and hence I understand that whatever good there is in my soul consists solely of His holy grace. The knowledge of my own misery allows me, at the same time, to know the immensity of Your mercy. In my own interior life, I am looking with one eye at the abyss of my misery and baseness, and with the other, at the abyss of Your mercy, O God.
66 O inexhaustible treasure of purity of intention which
makes all our actions perfect and so pleasing to God!
O Jesus, You know how weak I am; be then ever with me; guide my actions and my whole being, You who are my very best Teacher! Truly, Jesus, I become frightened when I look at my own misery, but at the same time I am reassured by Your unfathomable mercy, which exceeds my misery by the measure of all eternity. This disposition of soul clothes me in Your power. O joy that flows from the knowledge of one's self! O unchanging Truth, Your constancy is everlasting!
69 +O Jesus, eternal Truth, strengthen my feeble forces;
You can do all things, Lord. I know that without You all my efforts are in
vain. O Jesus, do not hide from me, for I cannot live without You. Listen to
the cry of my soul. Your mercy has not been exhausted, Lord, so have pity on
my misery. Your mercy surpasses the understanding of all Angels and people
put together; and so, although it seems to me that You do not hear me, I put
my trust in the ocean of Your mercy, and I know that my hope will not be
deceived.
O Divine Sun, in Your rays the soul sees the tiniest specks
of dust which displease You.
72 O Jesus, eternal Truth, our Life, I call upon You and I beg Your mercy for poor sinners. O sweetest Heart of my Lord, full of pity and unfathomable mercy, I plead with You for poor sinners. O Most Sacred Heart, Fount of Mercy from which gush forth rays of inconceivable graces upon the entire human race, I beg of You light for poor sinners. O Jesus, be mindful of Your own bitter Passion and do not permit the loss of souls redeemed at so dear a price of Your most precious Blood. O Jesus, when I consider the great price of Your Blood, I rejoice at its immensity, for one drop alone would have been enough for the salvation of all sinners. Although sin is an abyss of wickedness and ingratitude, the price paid for us can never be equaled. Therefore, let every soul trust in the Passion of the Lord, and place its hope in His mercy. God will not deny His mercy to anyone. Heaven and earth may change, but God's mercy will never be exhausted. Oh, what immense joy burns in my heart when I contemplate Your incomprehensible goodness, O Jesus! I desire to bring all sinners to Your feet that they may glorify Your mercy throughout endless ages.
73 O my Jesus, despite the deep night that is all around
me and the dark clouds which hide the horizon, I know that the sun never goes
out. O Lord, though I cannot comprehend You and do not understand Your ways,
I nonetheless trust in Your mercy. If it is Your will, Lord, that I live
always in such darkness, may You be blessed. I ask You only one thing, Jesus:
do not allow me to offend You in any way. O my Jesus, You alone know the
longings and the sufferings of my heart. I am glad I can suffer for You,
however little. When I feel that the suffering is more than I can bear, I
take refuge in the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, and I speak to Him with
profound silence.
78 Once when I was being crushed by these dreadful
sufferings, I went into the chapel and said from the bottom of my soul,
"Do what You will with me, O Jesus; I will adore You in everything. May
Your will be done in me, O my Lord and my God, and I will praise Your
infinite mercy." Through this act of submission, these terrible torments
left me. Suddenly I saw Jesus, who said to me, I am always in your heart. An
inconceivable joy entered my soul, and a great love of God set my heart
aflame. I see that God never tries us beyond what we are able to suffer. Oh,
I fear nothing; if God sends such great suffering to a soul, He upholds it
with an even greater grace, although we are not aware of it. One act of trust
at such moments gives greater glory to God than whole hours passed in prayer
filled with consolations. Now I see that if God wants to keep a soul in
darkness, no book, no confessor can bring it light.
80 O Jesus, Divine Prisoner of Love, when I consider Your
love and how You emptied Yourself for me, my senses fail me. You hide Your
inconceivable majesty and lower Yourself to miserable me. O King of Glory,
though You hide Your beauty, yet the eye of my soul rends the veil. I see the
angelic choirs giving You honor without cease, and all the heavenly Powers
praising You without cease, and without cease they are saying: Holy, Holy,
Holy.
Oh, who will comprehend Your love and Your unfathomable mercy toward us! O Prisoner of Love, I lock up my poor heart in this tabernacle, that it may adore You without cease night and day. I know of no obstacle in this adoration, and even though I be physically distant, my heart is always with You. Nothing can put a stop to my love for You. No obstacles exist for me. O my Jesus, I will console You for all the ingratitude, the blasphemies, the coldness, the hatred of the wicked, the sacrileges. O Jesus, I want to burn as 'a pure offering and to be consumed before the throne of Your hiddenness. I plead with You unceasingly for poor dying sinners.
81 O Holy Trinity, One and
Indivisible God, may You be blessed for this great gift and testament of
mercy. My Jesus, to atone for blasphemers I will keep silent when unjustly
reprimanded and in this way make partial amends to You. I am singing within
my soul an unending hymn to You, and no one will suspect or understand this.
The song of my soul is known to You alone, O my Creator and Lord!
83 Write
this: before I come as the just Judge, I am coming first as the King of
Mercy. Before the day of justice arrives, there will be given to people a
sign in the heavens of this sort: All light in the heavens will be
extinguished, and there will be great darkness over the whole earth. Then the
sign of the cross will be seen in the sky, and from the openings where the
hands and the feet of the Savior were nailed will come forth great lights
which will light up the earth for a period of time. This will take place
shortly before the last day.
84 O Blood and Water, which
gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in
You!
Vilnius, August 2, 1934.
85 On Friday, after Holy Communion, I was carried in
spirit before the throne of God. There I saw the heavenly Powers which
incessantly praise God. Beyond the throne I saw a brightness inaccessible to
creatures, and there only the Incarnate Word enters as Mediator. When
Jesus entered this light, I heard
these words, Write down at once what you hear: I am the Lord in My
essence and am immune to orders or needs. If I call creatures into being -
that is the abyss of My mercy. And at that very moment I found myself, as
before, in our chapel at my kneeler, just as Mass had ended. I already had
these words written.
88 +During adoration I felt God close to me. A moment later
I saw Jesus and Mary. At the sight of them I was filled with joy, and I asked
the Lord, "What is Your will, Jesus, concerning the matter about which
my confessor told me to ask You?" Jesus replied, It is My will that
he should remain here and that he should not take the initiative of
dispensing himself. I asked Jesus whether the inscription could be:
"Christ King of Mercy." He answered, I am King of Mercy, but
He did not say "Christ." I desire that this image be displayed
in public on the first Sunday after Easter. That Sunday is the Feast
of Mercy. Through the Word Incarnate I make known the bottomless depth
of My mercy.
94 O my Lord, inflame my heart
with love for You, that my spirit may not grow weary amidst the storms, the
sufferings and the trials. You see how weak I am. Love can do all.
95 +A Deeper Knowledge of God and
the Terror of the Soul.
In the beginning, God lets himself be known as Holiness, Justice, Goodness - that is to say, Mercy. The soul does not come to know this all at once, but piecemeal, in flashes; that is to say, when God draws near. And this does not last for long, because the soul could not bear such light. During prayer the soul experiences flashes of this light which make it impossible to pray as before. Try as it may to force itself to pray as it did before, all is in vain; it becomes completely impossible for it to continue to pray as it did before it received this light. This light which has touched the soul is alive within it, and nothing can either quench or diminish it. This flash of the knowledge of God draws the soul and enkindles its love for Him. But this same flash, at the same time, allows the soul to know itself as it is; the soul sees its whole interior in a superior light, and it rises up alarmed and terrified. Still, it does not remain under the effects of terror, but it begins to purify itself, to humble and abase itself before the Lord. These lights become stronger and more frequent; the more the soul is crystallized, the more these lights penetrate it. However, if the soul has responded faithfully and courageously to these first graces, God fills it with His consolations and gives himself to it in a perceptible manner. At certain moments, the soul, as it were, enters into intimacy with God and greatly rejoices in this; it believes that it has already reached the degree of perfection destined for it, because its defects and faults are asleep within it, and this makes it think that they no longer exist. Nothing seems difficult for it; it is ready for everything. It begins to plunge itself into God and taste the divine delights. It is carried along by grace and does not take account of the fact that the time of trial and testing may come. And, in fact, this state does not last long. Other moments will soon come. I should add here, however, that the soul will respond more faithfully to divine grace if it has a well - informed confessor to whom it can confide everything.
101 Jesus, You alone know how the soul, engulfed in
darkness, moans in the midst of these torments and, despite all this, thirsts
for God as burning lips thirst for water. It dies and withers; it dies a
death without death; that is to say, it cannot die. All its efforts come to
nothing; it is under a powerful hand. Now the soul comes under the power of
the Just One. All exterior temptations cease; all that surrounds it becomes
silent, like a dying person who loses contact with everything around it: the
person's entire soul is in the hand of the Just God, the Thrice-Holy
God,-rejected for all eternity! This is the culminating moment, and God alone
can test a soul in this way, because He alone knows what the soul can endure.
When the soul has been saturated through and through by this infernal fire, it is, as it were, cast headlong into great despair. My soul experienced this moment when I was all alone in my cell. When my soul began to sink into this despair, I felt that the end was near. But I seized my little crucifix and clutched it tightly in my hand. And now I felt my body separate itself from my soul; and though I wanted to go to my Superiors, I no longer had the physical strength. I uttered my last words: "I trust in Your Mercy!"-and it seemed to me that I provoked God to an even greater anger. And now I was drowned in despair, and all that was left me was a moan of unadulterated pain which, from time to time, tore itself from my soul. The soul is in agony-and it seemed to me that I would remain in this state, because by my own strength I could not emerge from it. Every recollection of God opened up an unspeakable ocean of suffering, and yet despite this there is something within the soul which is drawn to Him, though it seems to her for this only-that she suffer more. The memory of the love with which God formerly surrounded it is still another kind of suffering. His gaze pierces it, and everything within the soul is burned by this gaze.
102 After some time, one of the
sisters came into the cell and found me almost dead. She was frightened and
went to find the Directress of Novices who, in the name of holy obedience
ordered me to get up from the ground. My strength returned immediately, and I
got up, trembling. The Directress recognized immediately the state of my soul
and spoke to me about the inscrutable mercy of God, saying, "Do not be
distressed about anything, Sister. I command this of you in virtue of
obedience." Then she said to me, "I see now, Sister, that God is
calling you to a high degree of holiness; the Lord wants to draw you very
close to Himself since He has allowed these things to happen to you so soon.
Be faithful to God, Sister, because this is a sign that He wants you to have
a high place in heaven." However, I did not understand anything of these
words. When I went into the chapel, I felt as though my soul had been set
free from everything, as though I had just come forth from the hand of God. I
perceived the inviolability of my soul; I felt that I was a tiny child.
116 My Jesus, You know what my
soul goes through at the recollection of these sufferings. I have often
marvelled that the angels and saints hold their peace at the sight of a soul
suffering like that. Yet they have special love for us at such moments. My
soul has often cried out after God, as a little child who cries as loudly as
he can when his mother covers her face and he cannot recognize her. O my
Jesus, honor and glory to You for these trials of love! Great and
incomprehensible is your mercy. All that You intended for my soul, O Lord, is
steeped in Your mercy.
118 The tongue is a small member,
but it does big things. A religious who does not keep silence will never
attain holiness; that is, she will never become a saint. Let her not delude
herself-unless it is the Spirit of God who is speaking through her, for then
she must not keep silent. But, in order to hear the voice of God, one has to
have silence in one's soul and to keep silence; not a gloomy silence, but an
interior silence; that is to say, recollection in God. One can speak a great
deal without breaking silence and, on the contrary, one can speak little and
be constantly breaking silence. Oh, what irreparable damage is done by the
breach of silence! We cause a lot of harm to our neighbor, but even more to
our own selves.
In my opinion, and according to my
experience, the rule concerning silence should stand in the very first place.
God does not give himself to a chattering soul which, like a drone in a
beehive, buzzes around but gathers no honey. A talkative soul is empty
inside. It lacks both the essential virtues and intimacy with God. A deeper
interior life, one of gentle peace and of that silence where the Lord dwells,
is quite out of the question. A soul that has never tasted the sweetness of
inner silence is a restless spirit which disturbs the silence of others. I
have seen many souls in the depths of hell for not having kept their silence;
they told me so themselves when I asked them what was the cause of their
undoing. These were souls of religious. My God, what an agony it is to think
that not only might they have been in heaven, but they might even have become
saints! O Jesus, have mercy!
119 I tremble to think that I have to give an account of
my tongue. There is life, but there is also death in the tongue. Sometimes we
kill with the tongue: we commit real murders. And we are still to regard that
as a small thing? I truly do not understand such consciences. I have known a
person who, when she learned from someone that a certain thing was being said
about her, fell seriously ill. She lost a good deal of blood and shed many
tears, and the outcome was very sad. It was not the sword that did all this,
but the tongue. O my silent Jesus, have mercy on us!
133 +Once, one of the older
Mothers [probably Mother Jane[43]]
summoned me, and it was as if fiery bolts from the blue were coming down upon
my head, so much so that I could not even discover what it was all about. But
after a while I understood that it was about a matter over which I had no
control whatsoever. She said to me, "Get it out of your head, Sister,
that the Lord Jesus might be communing in such an intimate way with such a
miserable bundle of imperfections as you! Bear in mind that it is only with
holy souls that the Lord Jesus communes in this way!" I acknowledged
that she was right, because I am indeed a wretched person, but still I trust
in God's mercy. When I met the Lord I humbled myself and said, "Jesus,
it seems that You do not associate intimately with such wretched people as
I" Be at peace, My daughter, it is precisely through such misery that
I want to show the power of My mercy. I understood that this Mother had
merely wanted to subject me to a [salutary] humiliation.
154 Once, when there was adoration at the convent of the
Sisters of the Holy Family,[50]
I went there in the evening with one of our sisters. As soon as I entered the
chapel, the presence of God filled my soul. I prayed as I do at certain times,
without saying a word. Suddenly, I saw the Lord, who said to me, Know that
if you neglect the matter of the painting of the image and the whole work of
mercy, you will have to answer for a multitude of souls on the day of
judgment. After these words of Our Lord, a certain fear filled my soul,
and alarm took hold of me. Try as 1 would, 1 could not calm myself. These
words kept resounding in my ears: So, 1 will not only have to answer for
myself on the day of judgment, but also for the souls of others. These words
cut deep into my heart. When I returned home, I went to the little Jesus,[51]
fell on my face before the Blessed Sacrament and said to the Lord, "I
will do everything in my power, but I beg You to be always with me and to
give me strength to do Your holy will; for You can do everything, while I can
do nothing of myself."
163 JMJ The Year 1937
General Exercises
+O Most Holy Trinity! As many
times as I breathe, as many times as my heart beats, as many times as my
blood pulsates through my body, so many thousand times do I want to glorify
Your mercy.
+I want to be completely
transformed into Your mercy and to be Your living reflection, O Lord. May the
greatest of all divine attributes, that of Your unfathomable mercy, pass
through my heart and soul to my neighbor.
Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may
be merciful, so that I may never suspect or judge from appearances, but look
for what is beautiful in my neighbors' souls and come to their rescue.
Help me, that my ears may be
merciful, so that I may give heed to my neighbors' needs and not be
indifferent to their pains and moaning. Help me, O Lord, that my tongue may
be merciful, so that I should never speak negatively of my neighbor, but have
a word of comfort and forgiveness for all.
Help me, O Lord, that my hands may
be merciful and filled with good deeds, so that I may do only good to my
neighbors and take upon myself the more difficult and toilsome tasks.
Help me, that my feet may be
merciful, so that I may hurry to assist my neighbor, overcoming my own
fatigue and weariness. My true rest is in the service of my neighbor.
Help me, O Lord, that my heart may
be merciful so that I myself may feel all the sufferings of my neighbor. I
will refuse my heart to no one. I will be sincere even with those who, I
know, will abuse my kindness. And I will lock myself up in the most merciful
Heart of Jesus. I will bear my own suffering in silence. May Your mercy, O
Lord, rest upon me.
+You yourself command me to
exercise the three degrees of mercy. The first: the act of mercy, of whatever
kind. The second: the word of mercy-if I cannot carry out a work of mercy, I
will assist by my words. The third: prayer-if I cannot show mercy by deeds or
words, I can always do so by prayer. My prayer reaches out even there where I
cannot reach out physically.
O my Jesus, transform me into
Yourself, for you can do all things.
164 +JMJ Warsaw, 1933.
Probation Before Perpetual Vows[56]
When I learned I was to go for probation, my
heart beat with joy at the thought of such an immense grace, that of the
perpetual vows. I went before the Blessed Sacrament; and when I immersed
myself in a prayer of thanksgiving, I heard these words in my soul: My
child you are My delight, you are the comfort of My Heart. I grant you
as many graces as you can hold. As often as you want to make Me happy,
speak to the world about My great and unfathomable mercy.
167 Today [November, 1932], I
arrived in Warsaw for the third probation. After a cordial meeting with the
dear Mothers, I went into the small chapel for a moment. Suddenly God's
presence filled my soul, and I heard these words, My daughter, I desire
that your heart be formed after the model of My merciful Heart. You must be
completely imbued with My mercy.
177 +Renewal of vows. From the
moment I woke up in the morning, my spirit was totally submerged in God, in
that ocean of love. I felt that I had been completely immersed in Him. During
Holy Mass, my love for Him reached a peak of intensity. After the renewal of
vows and Holy Communion, I suddenly saw the Lord Jesus, who said to me with
great kindness, My daughter, look at My merciful Heart. As I fixed my
gaze on the Most Sacred Heart, the same rays of light, as are represented in
the image as blood and water, came forth from it, and I understood how great
is the Lord's mercy. And again Jesus said to me with kindness, My
daughter, speak to priests about this inconceivable mercy of Mine. The flames
of mercy are burning Me-clamoring to be spent; I want to keep pouring them
out upon souls; souls just don't want to believe in My goodness. Suddenly
Jesus disappeared. But throughout that whole day my spirit remained immersed
in God's tangible presence, despite the buzz and chatter that usually follow
a retreat. It did not disturb me in the least. My spirit was in God, although
externally I took part in the conversations and even went to visit Derdy.[59]
178 Today we are beginning the
third probation. All three of us met at Mother Margaret's, as the other
sisters were having their probation in the novitiate. Mother Margaret began
with a prayer, explained to us what the third probation consists of, and then
spoke on how great is the grace of the perpetual vows. Suddenly I began to
cry out loud. In an instant all God's graces appeared before the eyes of my
soul, and I saw myself so wretched and ungrateful toward God. The sisters
began to rebuke me, saying, "Why did she break out crying?" But
Mother Margaret came to my defense, saying that she was not surprised.
At the end of the hour, I went before the Blessed Sacrament and, like the greatest and most miserable of wretches, I begged for His mercy that He might heal and purify my poor soul. Then I heard these words, My daughter, all your miseries have been consumed in the flame of My love, like a little twig thrown into a roaring fire. By humbling yourself in this way, you draw upon yourself and upon other souls an entire sea of My mercy. I answered, "Jesus, mold my poor heart according to Your divine delight."
180 +During Advent, a great yearning for God arose in my
soul. My spirit rushed toward God with all its might. During that time, the
Lord gave me much light to know His attributes.
The first attribute which the Lord gave me to know is His
holiness. His holiness is so great that all the Powers and Virtues tremble
before Him. The pure spirits veil their faces and lose themselves in unending
adoration, and with one single word they express the highest form of
adoration; that is-Holy... The holiness of God is poured out upon the Church
of God and upon every living soul in it, but not in the same degree. There
are souls who are completely penetrated by God, and there are those who are
barely alive.
The second kind of knowledge which the Lord granted me
concerns His justice. His justice is so great and penetrating that it reaches
deep into the heart of things, and all things stand before Him in naked
truth, and nothing can withstand Him.
The third attribute is love and mercy. And I understood
that the greatest attribute is love and mercy. It unites the creature with
the Creator. This immense love and abyss of mercy are made known in the Incarnation
of the Word and in the Redemption [of humanity], and it is here that I saw
this as the greatest of all God's attributes.
186 +Today Jesus said to me, I
desire that you know more profoundly the love that burns in My Heart for
souls, and you will understand this when you meditate upon My Passion. Call
upon My mercy on behalf of sinners; I desire their salvation. When you say
this prayer, with a contrite heart and with faith on behalf of some sinner, I
will give him the grace of conversion. This is the prayer:
187 "O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of Mercy for us, I trust in You."
206 The next day, after Communion,
I heard the voice saying, My daughter, look into the abyss of My mercy and
give praise and glory to this mercy of Mine. Do it in this way: Gather all
sinners from the entire world and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. I
want to give Myself to souls; I yearn for souls, My daughter. On the day of
My feast, the Feast of Mercy, you will go through the whole world and bring
fainting souls to the spring of My mercy. I shall heal and strengthen them.
A Moment Before the Blessed Sacrament.
220 O my eternal Lord and Creator, how am I going to thank You for this great favor; namely, that You have deigned to choose miserable me to be Your betrothed and that You are to unite me to yourself in an eternal bond? O dearest Treasure of my heart, I offer You all the adoration and thanksgiving of the Saints and of all the choirs of Angels, and I unite myself in a special way with Your Mother. O Mary, my Mother, I humbly beg of You, cover my soul with Your virginal cloak at this very important moment of my life, so that thus I may become dearer to Your Son and may worthily praise Your Son's mercy before the whole world and throughout all eternity.
223 O living Host, my one and only
strength, fountain of love and mercy, embrace the whole world, fortify faint
souls. Oh, blessed be the instant and the moment when Jesus left us His most
merciful Heart!
224 To suffer without complaining, to bring comfort to
others and to drown my own sufferings in the most Sacred Heart of Jesus!
I will spend all my free moments at the feet of [Our Lord in] the Blessed Sacrament. At the feet of Jesus, I will seek light, comfort and strength. I will show my gratitude unceasingly to God for His great mercy towards me, never forgetting the favors He has bestowed on me, especially the grace of a vocation. I will hide myself among the sisters like a little violet among lilies. I want to blossom for my Lord and Maker, to forget about myself, to empty myself totally for the sake of immortal souls-this is my delight.
225 As regards Holy Confession, I shall choose what costs
and humiliates me most. Sometimes a trifle costs more than something greater.
I will call to mind the Passion of Jesus at each confession, to arouse my
heart to contrition. Insofar as possible with the grace of God, I will always
practice perfect contrition. I will devote more time to this contrition.
Before I approach the confessional, I shall first enter the open and most
merciful Heart of the Savior. When I leave the confessional, I shall rouse in
my soul great gratitude to the Holy Trinity for this wonderful and
inconceivable miracle of mercy that is wrought in my soul. And the more
miserable my soul is, the more I feel the ocean of God's mercy engulfing me
and giving me strength and great power.
229 +At the beginning of the retreat, Jesus told me, During
this retreat, I myself will direct your soul. I want to confirm you in peace
and love. And so the first few days passed by. On the fourth day, doubts
began to trouble me: Is not this tranquillity of mine false? Then I heard
these words, My daughter, imagine that you are the sovereign of all the
world and have the power to dispose of all things according to your good
pleasure. You have the power to do all the good you want, and suddenly a
little child knocks on your door, all trembling and in tears and, trusting in
your kindness, asks for a piece of bread lest he die of starvation. What
would you do for this child? Answer Me, my daughter. And I said,
"Jesus, I would give the child all it asked and a thousand times more.
"And the Lord said to me, That is how I am treating your soul. In
this retreat I am giving you, not only peace, but also such a disposition of
soul that even if you wanted to experience uneasiness you could not do so. My
love has taken possession of your soul, and I want you to be confirmed in it.
Bring your ear close to My Heart, forget everything else, and meditate upon
My wondrous mercy. My love will give you the strength and courage you need in
these matters.
237 Holy Hour. During this hour of adoration, I saw the
abyss of my misery; whatever there is of good in me is Yours, O Lord. But
because I am so small and wretched, I have a right to count on Your boundless
mercy.
239 Prayer during the Mass on the day of the perpetual
vows. Today I place my heart on the paten where Your Heart has been placed, O
Jesus, and today I offer myself together with You to God, Your Father and
mine, as a sacrifice of love and praise. Father of Mercy, look upon the
sacrifice of my heart, but through the wound in the Heart of Jesus.
249 +Jesus, I trust in You; I
trust in the ocean of your mercy. You are a Mother to me.
256 +Thank You, Jesus, for the
great favor of making known to me the whole abyss of my misery. I know that I
am an abyss of nothingness and that, if Your holy grace did not hold me up, I
would return to nothingness in a moment. And so, with every beat of my heart,
I thank You, my God, for Your great mercy towards me.
272 But previously, this priest
had put me through many trials. When I told him that the Lord wanted these
things of me [that is, the painting of the image, the establishing of a feast
of The Divine Mercy, and the founding of a new community], he laughed at me
and told me to come to confession at eight in the evening. When I came at
eight, a brother was already locking the church. When I told him that Father
had ordered me to come at that time and asked him to let Father know I was
there, the good brother went to let him know. Father told him to tell me that
priests do not hear confessions at that time of day. I returned home
emptyhanded and did not go to confession to him again, but I made a whole hour's
adoration and took on certain mortifications for him, that he might obtain
light from God in order to know souls. But when Father Sopocko left, and he
substituted for him, I was forced to go to confession to him. Yet, while
previously he had been unwilling to acknowledge these inner inspirations, he
now put me under obligation to be faithful to them. God lets such things
happen sometimes, but may He be glorified in everything. Still, it requires
much grace not to falter.
275 Jesus loves hidden souls. A hidden
flower is the most fragrant. I must strive to make the interior of my soul a
resting place for the Heart of Jesus. In difficult and painful moments, O my
Creator, I sing You a hymn of trust, for bottomless is the abyss of my trust
in You and in Your mercy!
280 Jesus
commanded me to celebrate the Feast of God's Mercy on the first Sunday after
Easter. [This I did] through interior recollection and exterior
mortification, wearing the belt for three hours and praying continuously for
sinners and for mercy on the whole world. And Jesus said to me, My eyes
rest with pleasure upon this house today.
281 I feel certain that my mission will not come to an end upon my
death, but will begin. O doubting souls, I will draw aside for you the veils
of heaven to convince you of God's goodness, so that you will no longer
continue to wound with your distrust the sweetest Heart of Jesus. God is Love
and Mercy.
282 Once the Lord said to me, My
Heart was moved by great mercy towards you, My dearest child, when I saw you torn
to shreds because of the great pain you suffered in repenting for your sins.
I see your love, so pure and true that I give you first place among the
virgins. You are the honor and glory of My Passion. I see every abasement of
your soul, and nothing escapes my attention. I lift up the humble even to my
very throne, because I want it so.
283 I want to love You as no human
soul has ever loved You before; and although I am utterly miserable and
small, I have nevertheless cast the anchor of my trust deep down into the
abyss of Your mercy, O my God and Creator! In spite of my great misery I fear
nothing, but hope to sing You a hymn of glory forever. Let no soul, even the
most miserable, fall prey to doubt; for, as long as one is alive, each one
can become a great saint, so great is the power of God's grace. It remains
only for us not to oppose God's action.
286 +Once, after an adoration for
our country, a pain pierced my soul, and I began to pray in this way:
"Most merciful Jesus, I beseech You through the intercession of Your
Saints, and especially the intercession of Your dearest Mother who nurtured
You from childhood, bless my native land. I beg You, Jesus, look not on our
sins, but on the tears of little children, on the hunger and cold they
suffer. Jesus, for the sake of these innocent ones, grant me the grace that I
am asking of You for my country." At that moment, I saw the Lord Jesus,
His eyes filled with tears, and He said to me, You see, My daughter, what
great compassion I have for them. Know that it is they who uphold the world.
294 +Once the Lord said to me, Act like a beggar who does not back
away when he gets more alms [than he asked for], but offers thanks the more
fervently. You too should not back away and say that you are not worthy of receiving
greater graces when I give them to you. I know you are unworthy, but rejoice
all the more and take as many treasures from My Heart as you can carry, for
then you will please Me more. And I will tell you one more thing: Take these
graces not only for yourself, but also for others; that is, encourage the
souls with whom you come in contact to trust in My infinite mercy. Oh, how I
love those souls who have complete confidence in Me. I will do everything for
them.
299 When, on one occasion, my
confessor told me to ask the Lord Jesus the meaning of the two rays in the
image,[77] I answered, "Very well, I will ask the
Lord."
During prayer I heard these words within me: The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls... These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. These rays shield souls from the wrath of My Father. Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him. I desire that the first Sunday after Easter be the Feast of Mercy.
300 +Ask of my faithful servant
[Father Sopocko] that, on this day, he tell the whole world of My great
mercy; that whoever approaches the Fount of Life on this day will be granted
complete remission of sins and punishment.
+Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy. +Oh, how much I am hurt by a soul's distrust! Such a soul professes that I am Holy and Just, but does not believe that I am Mercy and does not trust in My Goodness. Even the devils glorify My Justice but do not believe in My Goodness. My Heart rejoices in this title of Mercy.
301 Proclaim that mercy is the
greatest attribute of God. All the works of My hands are crowned with mercy.
302 +O Eternal Love, I want all
the souls You have created to come to know You. I would like to be a priest,
for then I would speak without cease about Your mercy to sinful souls drowned
in despair. I would like to be a missionary and carry the light of faith to
savage nations in order to make You known to souls, and to be completely consumed
for them and to die a martyr's death, just as You died for them and for me. O
Jesus, I know only too well that I can be a priest, a missionary, a preacher,
and that I can die a martyr's death by completely emptying myself and denying
myself for love of You, O Jesus, and of immortal souls.
305 It is my greatest desire that souls should recognize
You as their eternal happiness, that they should come to believe in Your
goodness and glorify Your infinite mercy.
308 1934,
Holy Thursday. Jesus said to me, I desire that you make an offering of
yourself for sinners and especially far those souls who have lost hope in
God's mercy.
God and
Souls. An Act of Oblation.
309 Before heaven and earth, before all the choirs of Angels, before the Most Holy Virgin Mary, before all the Powers of heaven, I declare to the One Triune God that today, in union with Jesus Christ, Redeemer of souls, I make a voluntary offering of myself for the conversion of sinners, especially for those souls who have lost hope in God's mercy. This offering consists in my accepting, with total subjection to God's will, all the sufferings, fears and terrors with which sinners are filled. In return, I give them all the consolations which my soul receives from my communion with God. In a word, I offer everything for them: Holy Masses, Holy Communions, penances, mortifications, prayers. I do not fear the blows, blows of divine justice, because I am united with Jesus. O my God, in this way I want to make amends to You for the souls that do not trust in Your goodness. I hope against all hope in the ocean of Your mercy. My Lord and my God, my portion-my portion forever, I do not base this act of oblation on my own strength, but on the strength that flows from the merits of Jesus Christ. I will daily repeat this act of self-oblation by pronouncing the following prayer which You yourself have taught me, Jesus: "O Blood and Water which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a Fount of Mercy for us, I trust in You!" S. M. Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament Holy Thursday, during Holy Mass, March 29, 1934.
319 August
9, 1934. Night adoration on Thursdays.[79]
I made my hour of adoration from eleven o'clock till midnight. I offered it
for the conversion of hardened sinners, especially for those who have lost
hope in God's mercy. I was reflecting on how much God had suffered and on how
great was the love He had shown for us, and on the fact that we still do not
believe that God loves us so much. O Jesus, who can understand this? What
suffering it is for our Savior! How can He convince us of His love if even
His death cannot convince us? I called upon the whole of heaven to join me in
making amends to the Lord for the ingratitude of certain souls.
320 Jesus
made known to me how very pleasing to Him were prayers of atonement. He said
to me, The prayer of a humble and loving soul disarms the anger of My
Father and draws down an ocean of blessings. After the adoration, half way
to my cell, I was surrounded by a , pack of huge black dogs who were jumping
and howling and trying to tear me to pieces. I realized that they were not
dogs, but demons. One of them spoke up in a rage, "Because you have
snatched so many souls away from us this night, we will tear you to
pieces." I answered, "If that is the will of the most merciful God,
tear me to pieces, for I have justly deserved it, because I am the most
miserable of all sinners, and God is ever holy, just, and infinitely
merciful." To these words all the demons answered as one, "Let us
flee, for she is not alone; the Almighty is with her!" And they vanished
like dust, like the noise of the road, while I continued on my way to my cell
undisturbed, finishing my Te Deum and pondering the infinite and unfathomable
mercy of God.
364 +Once I was asked to pray for
a certain soul. I decided at once to make a novena to the Merciful Lord to
which I added a mortification; namely, that I would wear chains [86]
on both legs throughout Holy Mass. I had been doing this already for three
days when I went to confession and told my spiritual director that I had
undertaken this mortification, presuming permission to do so. I had thought
he would not object, but I heard the contrary; that is, that I should do
nothing without permission. O my Jesus, so it was willfulness again! But my
falls do not discourage me; I know very well that 1 am misery [itself].
Because of the condition of my health I did not receive this permission, and
my spiritual director was surprised that I had been allowing myself greater
mortifications without his permission. I asked pardon for my
self-willfulness, or rather for having presumed permission, and I asked him
to change this mortification for another one.
376 My Jesus, I trust that Your grace will help me to
carry out these resolutions. Although the above points are contained in the
vow of obedience, I want to practice these things in a special way, because
this is the essence of the religious life. Merciful Jesus, I beg You
fervently to enlighten my mind so that I may come to know You better, You who
are the Infinite Being, and that I may get to know myself better, who am
nothingness itself.
378 Once as I was talking with my
spiritual director, I had an interior vision-quicker than lightning-of his
soul in great suffering, in such agony that God touches very few souls with
such fire. The suffering arises from this work. There will come a time when
this work, which God is demanding so very much, will be as though utterly
undone. And then God will act with great power, which will give evidence of
its authenticity. It will be a new splendor for the Church, although it has
been dormant in it from long ago. That God is infinitely merciful, no one can
deny. He desires everyone to know this before He comes again as Judge. He
wants souls to come to know Him first as King of Mercy. When this triumph
comes, we shall already have entered the new life in which there is no
suffering. But before this, your soul [of the spiritual director] will be
surfeited with bitterness at the sight of the destruction of your efforts.
However, this will only appear to be so, because what God has once decided
upon, He does not change. But although this destruction will be such only in
outward appearance, the suffering will be real. When will this happen? I do
not know. How long will it last? I do not know.[89]
But God has promised a great grace especially to you and to all those... who
will proclaim My great mercy. I shall protect them Myself at the hour of
death, as My own glory. And even if the sins of soul are as dark as night,
when the sinner turns to My mercy he gives Me the greatest praise and is the
glory of My Passion. When a soul praises My goodness, Satan trembles before
it and flees to the very bottom of hell.
383 At the beginning of the
retreat, I saw, on the ceiling of the chapel, Jesus nailed to the Cross. He
was looking at the sisters with great love, but not at all of them. There
were three sisters at whom Jesus looked severely, for what reasons I do not
know. I only know what a terrible thing it is to meet with such a look, which
is the look of a severe Judge. That look was not directed at me, and yet I
was paralyzed with terror. I still tremble as I write these words. I did not
dare to say so much as a single word to Jesus. My physical strength failed
me, and I thought I would not live to the end of the conference. The next
day, I saw the same thing again, just as I had seen it the first time, and
this time I dared to speak these words: "Jesus, how great is Your
mercy!"
465 Jesus, my Life, how well I feel that You are transforming
me into Yourself, in the secrecy of my soul where the senses can no longer
perceive much. O my Savior, conceal me completely in the depths of Your Heart
and shield me with Your rays against everything that is not You. I beg You,
Jesus, let the two rays that have issued from Your most merciful Heart
continuously nourish my soul.
491 When I entered the chapel, once again the majesty of
God overwhelmed me. I felt that I was immersed in God, totally immersed in
Him and penetrated by Him, being aware of how much the heavenly Father loves
us. Oh, what great happiness fills my heart from knowing God and the divine
life! It is my desire to share this happiness with all people. I cannot keep
this happiness locked in my own heart alone, for His flames burn me and cause
my bosom and my entrails to burst asunder. I desire to go throughout the
whole world and speak to souls about the great mercy of God. Priests, help me
in this; use the strongest words [at your disposal] to proclaim His mercy,
for every word falls short of how merciful He really is.
609 I said to Him, "I know
that You are my Lord and Creator even though You are so tiny." Jesus
stretched His little arms out to me and looked at me with a smile. My spirit
was filled with incomparable joy. Then suddenly Jesus disappeared, and it was
time for Holy Communion. I went with the other sisters to the Holy Table, my
soul deeply moved. After Holy Communion, I heard these words in my soul: I
am in your heart, I whom you had in your arms. I then pleaded with Jesus
for a certain soul [Father Sopocko], asking the Lord to grant him the grace
to fight, and to take this trial from him. As you ask, so shall it be, but
his merit will not be lessened. Joy reigned in my soul that God is so
good and merciful; God grants everything that we ask of Him with trust.
615 March 1, 1936. Today during Holy Mass I experienced a
strange force and urge to start realizing God's wishes. I had such a clear
understanding of the things the Lord was asking of me that truly if I were to
say that I do not understand what God is demanding from me, I would be lying,
because the Lord is making His will known to me so clearly and distinctly
that I do not have the least shadow of a doubt about them. I realized that it
would be the greatest ingratitude to delay any longer this undertaking which
the Lord wishes to bring to fulfillment for His glory and the benefit of a
great number of souls. And He is using me as a miserable tool through which
to realize His eternal plans of mercy. Truly, how ungrateful my soul would be
to resist God's will any longer. Nothing will stop me any longer, be it
persecution, sufferings, sneers, threats, entreaties, hunger, cold, flattery,
friendships, adversities, friends or enemies; be it things I am experiencing
now or things that will come in the future or even the hatred of hell-nothing
will deter me from doing the will of God.
I am not counting on my own strength, but on His omnipotence for, as he gave me the grace of knowing His holy will, He will also grant me the grace of fulfilling it. I cannot fail to mention how much my own lower nature resists this thing, manifesting its own desires, and there results within my soul a great struggle, like that of Jesus in the Garden of Olives. And so I too cry out to God, the Eternal Father, "If it is possible, take this cup from me, but, nevertheless, not my will, but Yours be done, O Lord; may Your will be done." What I am about to go through is no secret to me, but with full knowledge I accept whatever You send me, O Lord. I trust in You, O merciful God, and I wish to be the first to manifest to You that confidence which You demand of souls. O Eternal Truth, help me and enlighten me along the roadways of life, and grant that Your will be accomplished in me. My God, I desire nothing but the fulfillment of Your will. It does not matter whether it will be easy or difficult. I feel an extraordinary force driving me to action. One thing alone holds me back, and that is holy obedience. O my Jesus, You urge me on the one hand and hold me back and restrain me on the other. In this, too, O my Jesus, may Your holy will be done. I continued in this state, without a break, for many days. My physical strength declined, and though I did not speak to anyone about it, nevertheless Mother Superior [Borgia] noticed my pain and remarked that I had changed in appearance and was very pale. She told me to go to bed earlier and to sleep longer, and she had a cup of hot milk brought to me in the evening. She had a motherly heart, full of care, and tried to help me. But in the case of spiritual sufferings, external things have no influence, and they do not bring much relief. It was from the confessional that I drew my strength and the consolation of knowing that it would not be long before I could begin to act.
635 March 25. In the morning,
during meditation, God's presence enveloped me in a special way, as I saw the
immeasurable greatness of God and, at the same time, His condescension to His
creatures. Then I saw the Mother of God, who said to me, Oh, how pleasing
to God is the soul that follows faithfully the inspirations of His grace! I
gave the Savior to the world; as for you, you have to speak to the world
about His great mercy and prepare the world for the Second Coming of Him who
will come, not as a merciful Savior, but as a just Judge. Oh, how terrible is
that day! Determined is the day of justice, the day of divine wrath. The
angels tremble before it. Speak to souls about this great mercy while it is
still the time for [granting] mercy. If you keep silent now, you will be
answering for a great number of souls on that terrible day. Fear nothing. Be
faithful to the end. I sympathize with you.
650 O my Jesus, my Master and
Director, strengthen and enlighten me in these difficult moments of my life. I
expect no help from people; all my hope is in You. I feel alone in the face
of Your demands, O Lord. Despite the fears and qualms of my nature, I am
fulfilling Your holy will and desire to fulfill it as faithfully as possible
throughout my life and in my death. Jesus, with You I can do all things. Do
with me as You please; only give me Your merciful Heart and that is enough
for me.
O Jesus my Lord, help me. Let what You have planned before all ages happen to me. I am ready at each beckoning of Your holy will. Enlighten my mind that I may know Your will. O God, You who pervade my soul, You know that I desire nothing but Your glory. O Divine Will, You are the delight of my heart, the food of my soul, the light of my intellect, the omnipotent strength of my will; for when I unite myself with Your will, O Lord, Your power works through me and takes the place of my feeble will. Each day, I seek to carry out God's wishes.
660 O my Jesus, on the day of the last judgment, You will
demand from me an account of this work of mercy. O just Judge, but my Spouse
as well, help me to do Your holy will. O mercy, O divine virtue!
O most merciful Heart of Jesus, my Betrothed, make my heart like unto Yours.
692 + O Jesus, I understand that
Your mercy is beyond all imagining, and therefore I ask You to make my heart
so big that there will be room in it for the needs of all the souls living on
the face of the earth. O Jesus, my love extends beyond the world, to the
souls suffering in purgatory, and I want to exercise mercy toward them by
means of indulgenced prayers. God's mercy is unfathomable and inexhaustible,
just as God himself is unfathomable. Even if I were to use the strongest
words there are to express this mercy of God, all this would be nothing in
comparison with what it is in reality. O Jesus, make my heart sensitive to
all the sufferings of my neighbor, whether of body or of soul. O my Jesus, I
know that You act toward us as we act toward our neighbor.
My Jesus, make my heart like unto
Your merciful Heart. Jesus, help me to go through life doing good to
everyone.
703 At present, the topic of my
particular examen is my union with the Merciful Christ. This practice gives
me unusual strength; my heart is always united with the One it desires, and
its actions are regulated by mercy, which flows from love.
728 + I have chosen Saint Claude de la Colombiere and
Saint Gertrude as my patron saints for this retreat, that they may intercede
for me before the Mother of God and the merciful Savior.
733 It sometimes happens, while I am listening to the
meditation, that one word puts me in very close union with the Lord, and I no
longer know what Father [144]
is saying. I know that I am close to the most merciful Heart of Jesus; my
whole spirit is entirely plunged in Him, and in one moment I learn more than
during long hours of intellectual inquiry and meditation. These are sudden
lights which permit me to know things as God sees them, regarding matters of
both the interior and the exterior world.
813 + O merciful Jesus, stretched on the cross, be mindful
of the hour of our death. O most merciful Heart of Jesus, opened with a
lance, shelter me at the last moment of my life. O Blood and Water, which
gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of unfathomable mercy for me
at the hour of my death, O dying Jesus, Hostage of mercy, avert the Divine
wrath at the hour of my death.
825 + O bright and clear day on which all my dreams will
be fulfilled; O day so eagerly desired, the last day of my life! I look
forward with joy to the last stroke the Divine Artist will trace on my soul,
which will give my soul a unique beauty that will distinguish me from the
beauty of other souls. O great day, on which divine love will be confirmed in
me. On that day, for the first time, I shall sing before heaven and earth the
song of the Lord's fathomless mercy. This is my work and the mission which
the Lord has destined for me from the beginning of the world. That the song
of my soul may be pleasing to the Holy Trinity, do You, O Spirit of God,
direct and form my soul yourself. I arm myself with patience and await Your
coming, O merciful God, and as to the terrible pains and fear of death, at
this moment more than at any other time, I trust in the abyss of Your mercy
and am reminding You, O merciful Jesus, sweet Savior, of all the promises You
have made to me.
832 O merciful Jesus, how longingly You hurried to the
Upper Room to consecrate the Host that I am to receive in my life. Jesus, You
desired to dwell in my heart. Your living Blood unites with mine. Who can
understand this close union? My heart encloses within itself the Almighty,
the Infinite One. 0 Jesus, continue to grant me Your divine life. Let Your
pure and noble Blood throb with all its might in my heart. I give You my
whole being. Transform me into Yourself and make me capable of doing Your
holy will in all things and of returning Your love. O my sweet Spouse, You
know that my heart knows no one but You. You have opened up in my heart an
insatiable depth of love for You. From the very first moment it knew You, my
heart has loved You and has lost itself in You as its one and only object.
May Your pure and omnipotent love be the driving force of all my actions. Who
will ever conceive and understand the depth of mercy that has gushed forth
from Your Heart?
836 O most sweet Jesus, who have
deigned to allow miserable me to gain a knowledge of Your unfathomable mercy;
O most sweet Jesus, who have graciously demanded that I tell the whole world
of Your incomprehensible mercy, this day I take into my hands the two rays
that spring from Your merciful Heart; that is, the Blood and the Water; and I
scatter them all over the globe so that each soul may receive Your mercy and,
having received it, may glorify it for endless ages. O most sweet Jesus who,
in Your incomprehensible kindness, have deigned to unite my wretched heart to
Your most merciful Heart, it is with Your own Heart that I glorify God, our
Father, as no soul has ever glorified Him before.
853 In the evening, a great
longing took possession of my soul. I took the pamphlet with the Image of the
Merciful Jesus on it and pressed it to my heart, and the following words
burst forth from my soul: "Jesus, Eternal Love, I live for You, I die
for You, and I want to become united with You." Suddenly I saw the Lord
in His inexpressible beauty. He looked at me graciously and said, My
daughter, I too came down from heaven out of love for you; I lived for you, I
died for you, and I created the heavens for you. And Jesus pressed me to
His Heart and said to me, Very soon now; be at peace, My daughter.When
I was alone, my soul was set afire with the desire to suffer until the moment
when the Lord would say, "Enough." And even if I were to live for
thousands of years, I see in the light of God that that is but one moment.
Souls ...[unfinished thought].
854 December 29, [1936]. Today after Holy Communion, I
heard a voice in my soul: My daughter, stand ready, for I will come unexpectedly.
Jesus, You do not want to tell me the hour I am looking forward to with
such longing? My daughter, it is for your own good. You will learn it, but
not now; keep watch. O Jesus, do with me as You please. I know You are
the merciful Savior and You will not change towards me at the hour of my
death. If at this time you are showing me so much special love, and are
condescending to unite Yourself with me is such an intimate way and with such
great kindness, I expect even more at the hour of my death. You, my Lord-God,
cannot change. You are always the same. Heaven can change, as well as
everything that is created; but You, Lord, are ever the same and will endure
forever. So come as You like and when You like. Father of infinite mercy, I,
Your child, wait longingly for Your coming. O Jesus, You said in the Holy
Gospel, "Out of your mouth do I judge you." Well, Jesus, I am
always speaking of Your inconceivable mercy, so I trust that You will judge
me according to Your unfathomable mercy.
886 January 15, 1937. Sorrow will not establish itself in
a heart which loves the will of God. My heart, longing for God, feels the
whole misery of exile. I keep going forward bravely-though my feet become
wounded-to my homeland and, on the way, I nourish myself on the will of God.
It is my food. Help me, happy inhabitants of the heavenly homeland, so that
your sister may not falter on the way. Although the desert is fearful, I walk
with lifted head and eyes fixed on the sun; that is to say, on the merciful
Heart of Jesus.
893
January 22, [1937]. Today is Friday. My soul is in a sea of suffering.
Sinners have taken everything away from me. But that is all right; I have
given everything away for their sake that they might know that You are good
and infinitely merciful. I shall be faithful to You, come rain or shine.
906 + In difficult moments, I will fix my gaze upon the
silent Heart of Jesus, stretched upon the Cross, and from the exploding
flames of His merciful Heart, will flow down upon me power and strength to
keep fighting.
938 The soul should have prayed
ardently and at greater length for a director and should have asked the Lord
himself to choose a spiritual director for it. What begins in God will be
godly, and what begins in a purely human manner will remain human. God is so
merciful that, in order to help a soul He himself chooses the spiritual guide
and will enlighten the soul concerning the one before whom it should uncover
the most hidden depths of its soul just as it sees itself before the Lord
Jesus himself. And when the soul considers and recognizes that God has been
arranging all this, it should pray fervently for the confessor that he might
have the divine light to know it well. And let it not change such a director
except for a serious reason. Just as it had prayed fervently and at great
length in order to learn God's will before choosing a director, so too should
it pray fervently and at great length to discern whether it is truly God's
will that he leave this director and choose another. If God's will is not
absolutely clear, he should not make this change, for a person will not go
far by himself, and Satan wants just this: to have the person who is aspiring
for sanctity direct himself because then, without doubt, he will never attain
it.
1065 + My Jesus, support me when
difficult and stormy days come, days of testing, days of ordeal, when
suffering and fatigue begin to oppress my body and my soul. Sustain me,
Jesus, and give me strength to bear suffering. Set a guard upon my lips that
they may address no word of complaint to creatures. Your most merciful Heart
is all my hope. I have nothing for my defense but only Your mercy; in it lies
all my trust.
1074 When I went for adoration, I
heard these words: My beloved daughter, write down these words, that today
My Heart has rested in this convent [the Cracow house]. Tell the world
about My mercy and My love.
The flames of mercy are burning me. I desire to pour them out upon human souls. Oh, what pain they cause Me when they do not want to accept them! My daughter, do whatever is within your power to spread devotion to My mercy. I will make up for what you lack. Tell aching mankind to snuggle close to My merciful Heart, and I will fill it -with peace. Tell [all people], My daughter, that I am Love and Mercy itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls.
1075 Souls who spread the honor
of My mercy I shield through their entire lives as a tender mother her
infant, and at the hour of death I will not be a Judge for them, but the
Merciful Savior. At that last hour, a soul has nothing with which to defend
itself except My mercy. Happy is the soul that during its lifetime immersed
itself in the Fountain of Mercy, because justice will have no hold on it.
1076 Write this: Everything
that exists is enclosed in the bowels of My mercy, more deeply than an infant
in its mother's womb. How painfully distrust of My goodness wounds Me! Sins
of distrust wound Me most painfully.
1122 God of great mercy, who
deigned to send us Your only begotten Son as the greatest proof of Your
fathomless love and mercy, You do not reject sinners; but in Your boundless
mercy You have opened for them also Your treasures, treasures from which they
can draw abundantly, not only justification, but also all the sanctity that a
soul can attain. Father of great mercy, I desire that all hearts turn with
confidence to Your infinite mercy. No one will be justified before You if he
is not accompanied by Your unfathomable mercy. When You reveal the mystery of
Your mercy to us, there will not be enough of eternity to properly thank You
for it.
1138 May 31. My tormented soul finds aid nowhere but in
You, O Living Host. I place all my trust in Your merciful heart. I am waiting
patiently for Your word, Lord.
1155 The Lord gave me knowledge of His will under three
aspects, so to speak, but it all comes down to one. [198]
The first is that souls separated from the world will burn as an offering before God's throne and beg for mercy for the whole world... and by their entreaties they will obtain blessings for priests, and through their prayers prepare the world for the final coming of Jesus.
1156 The second is prayer joined to the act of mercy. In
particular, they will defend the souls of children against the spirit of
evil. Prayer and merciful deeds are all that will be required of these souls,
and even the poorest persons can be admitted to their number. And in this
egoistic world they will try to rouse up love, the mercy of Jesus.
1157 The third is prayer and deeds of mercy, without any
obligation of taking vows. But by doing this, these persons will have a share
in all the merits and privileges of the whole [congregation]. Everyone in the
world can belong to this group.
1158 A member of this group ought to perform at least one
act of mercy a day; at least one, but there can be many more, for such deeds
can easily be carried out by anyone, even the very poorest. For there are
three ways of performing an act of mercy: the merciful word, by forgiving and
by comforting; secondly, if you can offer no word, then pray-that too is
mercy; and thirdly, deeds of mercy. And when the Last Day comes, we shall be
judged from this, and on this basis we shall receive the eternal verdict.
1159 God's floodgates have been opened for us. Let us want
to take advantage of them before the day of God's justice arrives. And that
will be a dreadful day!
1177 Particular examen.
Continuation of the same: to unite myself with the merciful Christ. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, I will entreat the heavenly Father for the whole world. A point of the rule: strict observance of silence. I must probe the depth of my being and thank God for everything, uniting myself with Jesus. With Him, in Him, and through Him, I give glory to God.
1178 O Lord, my Love, I thank You for this day on which
You have allowed me to draw a wealth of graces from the fountain of Your
unfathomable mercy. O Jesus, not only today, but at every moment, I draw from
Your unfathomable mercy everything that the soul and body could want.
1183 O Jesus, I want to live in the present moment, to live as if this were the last day of my life. I want to use every moment scrupulously for the greater glory of God, to use every circumstance for the benefit of my soul. I want to look upon everything, from the point of view that nothing happens without the will of God.
1184 On an earlier occasion.
In the evening, I saw the Lord Jesus upon the cross. From His hands, feet and side, the Most Sacred Blood was flowing. After some time, Jesus said to me, All this is for the salvation of souls. Consider well, My daughter, what you are doing for their salvation. I answered, "Jesus, when I look at Your suffering, I see that I am doing next to nothing for the salvation of souls." And the Lord said to me, Know, My daughter, that your silent day-to-day martyrdom in complete submission to My will ushers many souls into heaven. And when it seems to you that your suffering exceeds your strength, contemplate My wounds, and you will rise above human scorn and judgment. Meditation on My Passion will help you rise above all things. I understood many things I had been unable to comprehend before
1420 When I steeped myself in prayer, I was transported in
spirit to the chapel, where I saw the Lord Jesus, exposed in the monstrance.
In place of the monstrance, I saw the glorious face of the Lord, and He said
to me, What you see in reality, these souls see through faith. Oh, how
pleasing to Me is their great faith! You see, although there appears to be no
trace of life in Me, in reality it is present in its fullness in each and
every Host. But for Me to be able to act upon a soul, the soul must have
faith. O how pleasing to Me is living faith!
1448 Write, speak of My mercy. Tell souls where they
are to look for solace; that is, in the Tribunal of Mercy [the Sacrament
of Reconciliation]. There the greatest miracles take place [and]
are incessantly repeated. To avail oneself of this miracle, it is not
necessary to go on a great pilgrimage or to carry out some external ceremony;
it suffices to come with faith to the feet of My representative and to reveal
to him one's misery, and the miracle of Divine Mercy will be fully demonstrated.
Were a soul like a decaying corpse so that from a human standpoint, there
would be no [hope of] restoration and everything would already be
lost, it is not so with God. The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul
in full. Oh, how miserable are those who do not take advantage of the miracle
of God's mercy! You will call out in vain, but it will be too late.
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-1, 2, 5, 49-50, 56, 66, 69, 72-73, 78)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-81, 83-85, 88, 94-95, 101-102, 116)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-118-119, 133, 154, 163-164, 167, 177)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-180, 186-187, 206, 220, 223-225, 229 )
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-237, 239, 249, 256, 272, 275, 280-283)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-286, 294, 299-302, 305, 308-309, 320)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-364, 376, 383, 465, 491)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-609, 615, 635, 650, 660, 692, 703,
728)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-733, 813, 825, 832, 836, 853-854,
886)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-II-893, 906, 938)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-III-1065, 1074-1076, 1122, 1138, 1155)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-III-1156-1159, 1177-1178, 1183-1184)
(Diary
of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-V-1420, 1448)
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