A Practical Guide to Mercy in Action

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The Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy..

Corporal Works of Mercy are those that tend to bodily needs. In (Matthew 25:31-46, in the The Judgment of Nations six specific Works of Mercy are enumerated, although not this precise list — as the reason for the salvation of the saved, and the omission of them as the reason for damnation. The last work of mercy, burying the dead, comes from the Book of Tobit.

To feed the hungry

To give drink to the thirsty.

To shelter the homeless.

To clothe the naked.

To visit and ransom the captive, (prisoners).

To visit the sick.
To bury the dead.
 
Not everyone is considered capable or obligated to perform the first three spiritual works of mercy if they do not have proper tact, knowledge or training to do so. The last four are considered to be the obligation of all people without condition.

Instruct the uninformed
Counsel the doubtful;
Admonish sinners;
Bear wrongs patiently;
Forgive offenses willingly;
Comfort the afflicted;
Pray for the living, sick and the dead.

The Works of Mercy in those Beatified by Bl. Pope John Paul II

St. Mary Bernard (Verena) Bütler (1848-1924)

MARY BERNARD (Verena Bütler) was born in Auw, in the Canton of Argovia, in Switzerland, on the 28th of May 1848 and was baptised on the same day. She was the fourth child of Henry and Catherine Bütler, modest but exemplary country people, who educated the eight children born of their marriage in the love of God and of neighbour.

Gifted with excellent health, Verena grew up happy, intelligent, generous and a lover of nature. She began to attend school at seven years of age. The fervour and commitment with which she made her First Communion, on the 16th of April 1860, remained constant in her for the rest of her life.

Devotion to the Eucharist would, in fact, form the foundation of her spirituality. Having completed her elementary studies at the age of 14, Verena dedicated herself to farm work and experienced affection for a worthy young man with whom she fell in love. On feeling the call of God, she broke off the engagement in order to turn completely to the Lord. During this period in her life she was granted the grace of enjoying the presence of God, feeling Him very close. She herself said: "To explain this state of soul to someone who has never experienced anything similar is extremely difficult, if not impossible".

And again: "The Holy Spirit taught me to adore, praise, bless and give thanks to Jesus in the tabernacle at all times, even at work and in real life.

Drawn by the love of God, she entered a convent in her region as a postulant at 18 years of age. However, becoming aware that it was not the place to which the Lord was calling her, Verena very quickly returned home.  Work, prayer and apostolic activity in the parish kept her desire for the consecrated life alive. At the suggestion of her Pastor, Verena entered the franciscan Monastery of Mary Help of Sinners in Altstätten on the 12th of November 1867. She took the franciscan habit on the 4th of May 1868, taking the name of Sister Mary Bernard of the Heart of Mary, and made her Religious Profession on the 4th of October 1869 with the firm proposal of serving the Lord until death in the contemplative life.

She was very soon elected Mistress of Novices and Superior of the Community on three occasions, carrying out this fraternal service for nine consecutive years. Her zeal and love for the Kingdom of God had prepared her to begin a new missionary experience. Having willingly accepted the invitation of Msgr. Peter Schumacher, Bishop of Portoviejo in Ecuador, who, outlining the precarious situation of his people, asked her to come to his Diocese. Mary Bernard clearly saw the will of God, who was calling her to be an announcer of the Gospel in that far away country, in this invitation.

Having overcome the initial resistance of the Bishop of St. Gall and obtained a regular pontifical indult, Sr. Mary Bernard and six companions left the Monastery in Altstätten and set out for Ecuador on the 19th of June 1888. Only their light of faith and zeal to announce the Gospel sustained the Blessed and her companions in the difficult separation from their beloved Monastery and Sisters. In her intentions, Mary Bernard thought of giving birth to a missionary foundation dependent on the Swiss Monastery.

The Lord, however, made her instead the foundress of a new Religious Congregation, that of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Sinners.

They were received paternally by the Bishop, who entrusted to Mary Bernard the community of Chone, which presented a distressing spectacle because of the total lack of priests, scant religious practice and rampant immorality. Mary Bernard became "everything to everyone", placing prayer, poverty, fidelity to the Church and the constant exercise of the works of mercy at the base of her missionary work. She, together with her daughters, began an intense apostolate among families, deepening their knowledge of the language and of the culture of the people. The first fruits did not delay in maturing. The Christian life of the people blossomed again as if by magic.

The new Franciscan Congregation also grew in number and two filial houses were founded in Sant Ana and Canoa. Very soon after however, the missionary work of Mother Mary Bernard was marked by the mystery of the Cross. Many indeed were the sufferings to which she and her daughters were submitted: absolute poverty, torrid heat, uncertainty and difficulties of every kind, risks to their health and security of their lives, misunderstanding on the part of ecclesiastical authorities and, besides, the separation of some Sisters from the community, establishing themselves later as an autonomous congregation (the Franciscans of the Immaculate: Blessed Charity Brader). Mary Bernard underwent all this with heroic fortitude and in silence without defending herself or nourishing resentment towards anyone, but forgiving them from her heart and praying for those who made her suffer.

As if all these trials were not enough, a violent persecution in 1895, begun by forces hostile to the Church, obliged Sr. Mary Bernard and her Sisters to flee from Ecuador. Without knowing where to go, she went, with 14 Sisters, towards Bahia, from where she continued towards Colombia.

The group was still wandering when it received an invitation from Msgr. Eugene Biffi to work in his Diocese of Cartagena. So, on the 2nd of August 1895, the feast of the Porziuncola of Assisi, the Foundress and her Sisters, exiled from Ecuador, reached Cartagena, and were received paternally by the Bishop. They found hospitality in a female hospital, commonly called a "Pious Work". The Lord had led her by the hand towards that asylum, where Mother Mary Bernard would remain to the end of her life. After the house in Cartagena, the Foundation was extended not only in Columbia but also in Austria and Brasil.

With a compassionate heart, authentically franciscan, she engaged above all in relieving the spiritual and material needs of the poor, whom she always considered to be her favourites. She used to say to the Sisters: "Open your houses to help the poor and marginalised. Give preference to the care of the indigent over all other activity". The Mother guided her Congregation over thirty years. Even after resigning from the Office of Superior General, she continued to animate her dear Sisters with feelings of true humility, especially through the example of her life and her words and writings.

Struck by piercing hypo-gastric pains, while at the "Pious Work" in Cartagena, an establishment of her Daughters, and loved and venerated by all as an authentic saint, Mary Bernard quietly went to sleep in the Lord on the 19th of May 1924. She was 74 years of age, 56 in the consecrated life and 38 in missionary life. News of her death spread quickly. The Pastor of the Cathedral of Cartagena announced her passing away, saying to the faithful: "A saint has died in this city, this morning: the reverend Mother Bernard!". Her tomb immediately became a centre of pilgrimage and a place of prayer.

The apostolic zeal and ardour of charity of Mother Mary Bernard are being re-lived today in the Church, particularly through the Congregation founded by her, present at the moment in various countries on three continents. The Blessed can be pointed out as an authentic model of "inculturation", the urgency of which the Church has underlined for an efficient announcement of the Gospel (cf. Redemptoris Missio, n. 52). She incarnated perfectly her orienting motto: "My guide, my star, is the Gospel".

During her life, she found support and comfort in God alone.

From the time she abandoned her homeland, to which she never went back, when she left her dear Monastery in Altstätten and during her untiring apostolic activity, she was always sustained by a solid spirituality of unceasing prayer, heroic charity towards God and her neighbour, by a faith that was solid as rock, by an unlimited trust in the Providence of God, by evangelical strength and humility, and by a radical fidelity to the commitments of her consecrated life. From her contemplation of the mysteries of the Most Holy Trinity, the Eucharist and the Passion of the Lord, she also drew the gift of mercy towards all, which she practised and left as the particular charism of her Congregation. Very devoted to the Virgin Mother of the Lord, she wished her Congregation to have Our Lady Help of Sinners as mother, protector and life model in her discipleship of Christ and in her missionary activity. As a Franciscan, she cultivated the same veneration which St. Francis of Assisi nourished for "Holy Mother Church", Pastors and priests, whom she called "the anointed of the Lord".

The Blessed left an admirable example of the biblical woman: strong, prudent, mystical, spiritual teacher and notable missionary. She left the Church a wonderful testimony of dedication to the cause of the Gospel, teaching all, especially today, that it is possible to unite contemplation and action, life with God and service to humanity, bringing God to men and women, and men and women to God.

The Servant of God Pope John Paul II conferred the title and honour of Blessed her on the 29th of October 1995. The Holy Father, Benedict XVI, inscribed her in the register of Saints on the 12th of October 2008.

The Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy in Those Beatified by Bl. Pope John Paul II

Blessed Father Enrico Rebuschini

Enrico Rebuschini was born in 1860 in Gravedona near Como (Italy). He came from a middle class family. After his military service, he worked as an accountant for two years.


But being in business was not his heart's desire. He wanted to become a priest, but his father was against it. Eventually his father relented. He enrolled in 1884 as theology student at the Gregorian University in Rome.

In 1886 he suffered a health problem: "Manic Depression" was the diagnosis. This led to the disruption of his studies. He returned home.

At home and at times in the hospital, he overcame the acute phase of his depression. Though not yet fully capable of working, he continued what he used to do in Rome: visit the sick, comforting and helping them cope with their situation.

Given his solid, religious upbringing he himself found help in prayer and closeness to God. He continued to desire to become a priest. His spiritual guide referred him to St. Camillus and to the Camillians.

Enrico ventured to take the step. He began the two-year novitiate in 1887 in Verona and received the priestly ordination in 1889.  In 1899 Fr. Enrico was sent to the Camillian hospital in Cremona. With zeal and reliability, he carries out his assigned tasks as spiritual counselor of the sick, hospital administrator, spiritual director of the 'Daughters of St. Camillus' and confessor.

His life was not marked by outstanding accomplishments but by fidelity in little things. In his later years, his depression recurred. But through his deep and lively relationship to God, he overcame the problem that confronted him.  His contemporaries in Cremona regarded him as "holy father." Precisely through his illness coupled with sensitivity and deep spirituality, he was to many a source of strength.

On his death on May 10, 1938, it became clear that a "saint" had died. In his own sickness he became an example to many sick people. On May 4, 1997, the Church solemnly declared him Blessed.

The Corporal & Spiritual Works of Mercy in the Lives of the Saints - Featuring Those Saints Canonised by Bl. Pope John Paul II

St. Jeanne Delanoue (1666-1736)

Foundress of the Congregation of St Anne de la Providence

JEANNE DELANOUE was born in Saumur, in the valley of the Loire River, on June 18, 1666. She was the youngest in a family of twelve. Her parents owned a business near the sanctuary of Notre-Dame-des-Ardilliers. Although but six years of age when her father died, she helped her mother run the store in order to maintain the family. Her qualities were remarkable: she was skillful, energetic, and indefatigable, even to the point of keeping the store open on Sundays and holy days.

The future was hers. Her "business" was growing and prospering. It was precisely within this context of success that, at the age of 27, shortly after the death of her mother, an elderly woman, a faithful pilgrim to the shrine of NotreDame-des-Ardilliers, invited Jeanne to consecrate herself to the many poor people of her neighbourhood.

Despite the responsibilities she had accrued, in response to this call which she believed to have come from God, Jeanne turned toward the poor. They assumed more of her time each day than did her clients until finally they became her full-time occupation. Within a short time no longer did the poor await her visits to them, but they came to her. In 1700, she warmly welcomed a child into her home, and soon after she took in the sick, the aged, and the destitute.

With so many needing lodging, the only place for the poor were the grottos hollowed out in the tuff. She made them as comfortable as she could, however it was necessary for her to seek help. Within four years, in 1704, some young girls were interested in helping Jeanne and were even willing to wear a religious habit if she wished them to do so. It was thus that the congregation of Sainte-Anne de la Providence was born. Under this name the constitutions were approved in 1709.

Jeanne Delanoue's tenacity, supported by the dedicated women who worked with her, brought about the foundation of Saumur's first home for the poor (in 1715) - a home which King Louis XIV called for in 1672!

Very quickly her charity spread beyond the limits of Saumur and of her diocese. More than that, already there were forty helpers who were under her direction and who had made the decision to follow her example of self-sacrifice, of prayer, and of mortification.

At her death, August 17, 1736, Jeanne Delanoue left a dozen communities, as well as homes for the poor and schools. "The saint is dead", they said in Saumur.

Everyone could admire her zeal and the work she accomplished in the numerous visits she received and made, but only her closest friends knew about her mortification, her life of prayer and of union with God. It is from this that her untiring charity proceeded. She was attracted toward all those who suffer, but especially those who are poor-and God knows they were many during those sad years of want, of cold, of famine and of war.

The Sisters of Jeanne Delanoue, as they simply call themselves today, number about 400 sisters in France, in Madagascar, and in Sumatra, where they began in 1979.

On November 5, 1947 Pope Pius XII beatified Jeanne Delanoue. In October 31, 1982 Bl. Pope John Paul II singles out for the people of God yet another saint, Saint Jeanne Delanoue.

Diary of St. Faustina...on helping the Poor

St. Faustina writes: 
Jesus came to the main entrance today, under the guise of a poor young man. This young man, emaciated, barefoot and bareheaded, and with his clothes in tatters, was frozen because the day was cold and rainy. He asked for something hot to eat. So I went to the kitchen, but found nothing there for the poor. But, after searching around for some time, I succeeded in finding some soup, which I reheated and into which I crumbled some bread, and I gave it to the poor young man, who ate it. As I was taking the bowl from him, he gave me to know that He was the Lord of heaven and earth. When I saw Him as He was, He vanished from my sight. When I went back in and reflected on what  had happened at the gate, I heard these words in my soul:

My daughter, the blessings of the poor who bless Me as they leave this gate have reached My ears. And your compassion, within the bounds of obedience, has pleased Me, and this is why I came down from My throne — to taste the fruits of your mercy (Diary, 1312).

Divine Mercy Diary on Faith & Works

Jesus said: "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." (Diary 742)


St. Faustina:  "O Lord. I want to be completely transformed into Your mercy and to be Your living reflection. May the greatest of all divine attributes, that of Your unfathomable mercy, pass through my heart and soul to my neighbour.

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, O Lord, that my ears may be merciful, so that I may give heed to my neighbors’ needs and not be indifferent to their pains and moanings.

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, O Lord, that my feet may be merciful, so that I may hurry to assist my neighbor, overcoming my own fatigue and weariness (...)

Help me, O Lord, that my heart may be merciful so that I myself may feel all the sufferings of my neighbor. (...)
May Your mercy, O Lord, rest upon me" (Diary # 163).


Reflection:  Help us O Lord to be merciful, it is not enough to pray, but help us also to reach out to those who are in need through the corporal and spirtual works of Mercy.