Feast of St. Faustina 5th October 2013 - 75th Anniversary of her death

'Mission of Mercy' to the World

By Dan Valenti (Oct 5, 2012) (The Divine Mercy.org)

October 5, 2013, will mark the 75th anniversary of the death of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938), the handpicked "secretary" Jesus directed to record and spread His message of Divine Mercy. It was a call she undertook in obedience to God's will despite great personal hardship and suffering. As we prepare to celebrate this diamond jubilee of her entrance into eternal life, it brings to mind the question of her legacy: What has St. Faustina left us by fulfilling her call to share this message of mercy with the world?

She bequeathed a spiritual legacy that has, in these past 74 years, affected for the better not only the Catholic Church but also our modern world in great need of God's mercy. Therein lies the significance of Divine Mercy: It is an urgent message of hope and peace for the world in our time. As Jesus told the saint, "Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy" (Diary of St. Faustina, 300).

Saint Faustina knew only too well what Jesus was ask- ing of her. He was asking her — an obscure Polish nun in the 1930s with little formal education — not only to record His revelations of mercy in a diary but also to share them with the world. How could she possibly fulfill this task?

She grew to understand that her mission could only be accomplished through her complete trust in Jesus and His mercy. She even recorded in her Diary on one occasion, "I nestled close to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus with so much trust that even if I had the sins of all the damned weighing on my conscience, I would not have doubted God's mercy" (1318).

Above article continued here: The Divine Mercy.Org

St. Faustina's Prayer to be Merciful

Is a great help to making a good examination of conscience also before Confession.

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 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 my self 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. 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 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 our 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.

St. Faustina - May Become a Doctor of the Church

Feast of Divine Mercy

The Feast of Divine Mercy was celebrated with joy yesterday in Parishes throughout Ireland and the whole world.  We give thanks to God for His great Mercy which is unfathomable.  We pray that next year on the 7th April 2013 we may celebrate it in many other Parishes.  In the meantime let us go forward and continue to promote this devotion properly and go deeper into the meaning of Mercy and the Message of St. Faustina.  This is a devotion which is hated much by the evil one but it is important to remember to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and not on the problems or difficulties.  He will help us to overcome our own weaknesses and sins if we truly rest on His Most Merciful Heart.  

Words from Bl. John Paul II

Bl. Pope John Paul II said in his address which he gave when he visited the tomb of Sister Faustina at the convent of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Lagiewniki, Poland, back in 1997.

 “There is nothing that man needs more than Divine Mercy. … And it is a message that is clear and understandable for everyone. Anyone can come here, look at this image of the merciful Jesus, his heart radiating grace, and hear in the depths of his own soul what Blessed Faustina heard: ‘Fear nothing; I am with you always.’ And if this person responds with a sincere heart: ‘Jesus, I trust in you,’ he will find comfort in all his anxieties and fears. ...

On the threshold of the third millennium I come to entrust to him once more my Petrine ministry: ‘Jesus, I trust in you!’ “The message of Divine Mercy has always been near and dear to me. It was an inexhaustible source of hope for the Polish people during World War II. This was also my personal experience, which I took with me to the See of St. Peter and which, in a sense, forms the image of this pontificate. I give thanks to divine Providence that I have been enabled to contribute personally to the fulfillment of Christ’s will, through the institution of the feast of Divine Mercy [in Poland]. … I pray unceasingly that God will have ‘mercy on us, and on the whole world.’”

Bl. Fr. Michael Sopocko: His own words on meeting St. Faustina and the Work involved with the Image of Divine Mercy

I met s. Faustina in the summer (June or July 1933) as a penitent in the Congregation of the Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy in Vilnus, Lithuania (25 Senatorska St.), in which I was, then, an ordinary confessor. She attracted my attention with an unusual subtlety of her soul and a close union with God; there was mostly no matter for absolution and she never offended God with a deadly sin. Already at the beginning she stated that she had known me for a long time from a vision, that I was to be her spiritual leader and I had to carry out some God's plans that were to be presented to me through her. I ignored her story and I put her to some test which made s. Faustina start looking for another confessor, with the permission of the Mother Superior. After some time she returned to me and she said that she was prepared to bear everything and she would never leave me again. I cannot reiterate here all the details of our conversation, which is partly included in her diary, written by her on my recommendation, since later I forbade her to discuss her confession experiences.

On getting to know s. Faustina better I concluded that the Gifts of Holy Spirit worked in her in a concealed state, but quite often they appeared more openly, partly overwhelming her soul in a lively manner, arousing surges of love, solemn heroic acts of sacrifice and self-denial. Particularly frequently, I could see the work of the Gifts of Understanding, Knowledge and Wisdom thanks to which s. Faustina clearly saw the nothingness of worldly things, and the importance of suffering and humiliations. In a simple way she got to know the attributes of God, and most of all His Infinite Mercy.

On another occasion, she, in turn, kept her gaze fixed at the beatific, joyful light for some time, out of which a figure of Christ emerged in a walking position, blessing the world with His right hand, and with His left one opening His robe in the vicinity of His heart, two rays gushed out of the opened robe - a red and a white one. S. Faustina had already had such and other sensual and mental visions for several years and she heard supernatural words, captured by the sense of hearing, imagination and the mind.

Being cautious of s. Faustina's illusion, hallucination and delusion, I turned to the Mother Superior, Irene, to inform me who s. Faustina was, what opinion she enjoyed among her Sisters and Superiors in the Congregation. I also requested that her mental and physical health be examined. Having received an opinion favorable for her in every respect, still for some time I took an expectant position. I partly did not believe, I was thinking, praying and examining,
I also asked some enlightened priests for advice on what to do, without revealing what and whom it concerned.

All it concerned carrying out alleged definite demands of Our Lord Jesus to paint the picture, which s. Faustina used to see and to establish the feast of the Divine Mercy on the first Sunday after Easter. Finally, motivated by curiosity of what the picture would look like rather than the belief in the authenticity of s. Faustina's visions, I decided to set about painting the picture. I contacted an artist painter, Eugeniusz Kazimirowski, who lived in the same house as I did and who undertook the task to paint a picture for a certain sum of money. I contacted other Superior as well, who allowed s. Faustina to go to the painter twice a week in order to show what the picture should look like.

The work took several months and finally in June/July 1934 the picture was completed.  S. Faustina complained that the picture was not as beautiful as she saw it, but the Lord Jesus comforted her and said it was enough the way it was and He added: "I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep on coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is this image with the signature: Jesus, I trust in You" (see Image).

For the time being Sr. Faustina was unable to explain what the rays in the picture meant.
After a few days she said that the Lord Jesus had explained it to her in a prayer: "… rays
in the image denote blood and water. The pale ray stands for the water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the blood that 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. Happy be the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him…, I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. I also promise victory over its enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I Myself will defend it as My own glory…, I desire that the first Sunday after Easter be the Feast of 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 to My mercy…, Before I come as the just Judge, I am coming first as the King of Mercy, so that no one can seek excuses on the Judgment Day, the Day which is not far away".

False Visions and the devil.........St. John of the Cross

St. John of the Cross writes

"... the devil causes many to believe in vain visions and false prophecies; and strives to make them presume that God and the saints are speaking with them; and they often trust their own fancy. And the devil is also accustomed, in this state, to fill them with presumption and pride, so that they become attracted by vanity and arrogance, and allow themselves to be seen engaging in outward acts which appear holy, such as raptures and other manifestations. Thus they become bold with God, and lose holy fear, which is the key and the custodian of all the virtues; and in some of these souls so many are the falsehoods and deceits which tend to multiply, and so inveterate do they grow, that it is very doubtful if such souls will return to the pure road of virtue and true spirituality."

Bloggers Note:  Today there are many false visionaries and prophets in the world. Those visionaries or mystics who are genuine are always those who are completely obedient to the Church authorities (no matter how harsh the  judgement), as St. Pio, St. Bernadette, St. Faustina and many others were.  They also have great humility, and usually suffer quite alot because of the revelations they receive.  They do not take money for their own personal use on the basis of being a visionary, healer or prophet.. 

Neither do they become Saints because of any 'spiritual experience' that they may have but only by the sanctification of their lives and through living out the virtues to an extraordinary degree.  It is always best for us to stay close to the Church and to what is already approved. 

One prime example of a false visionary is Magdalen of the Cross who was a Franciscan of Cordova, born in 1487, who entered a convent at age of 17. From the age of 5 the devil appeared to her as various Saints, led her to desire to be considered a saint. At 13 he said who he was, offered an agreement: he would spread her reputation for holiness, and give her at least 30 years of pleasures. She agreed, and it all came true--ecstasies, levitation, prophecies, simulated stigmata. She fooled many people in Spain, including Priests, Theologians, Bishops, Cardinals and Kings.  At the door of death she confessed. Exorcism was needed.

80 Years Ago, Today on 22nd February 1931 Jesus revealed to St. Faustina the Image of His Divine Mercy

Saint Faustina was in her room in the convent in Plock, sometime late in the evening of 22nd February 1931. Her description of the momentous event is recorded in her diary of that day. She said, in the evening she was suddenly aware of a figure appearing in her room, she recognised the figure as Jesus, dressed in a white garment. (Diary No.47)

His right hand was raised in the gesture of a blessing, the left one was touching His breast where two bright clusters of rays starting from His heart and spreading out as they descended to the floor - one cluster was red, the other pale, showing as pale blue in the original painting, as described by her to the first artist who painted this image

On this first of many appearances of Jesus the Son of God to Sr.Faustina He requested her to have an image painted as she then saw Him. An image He told her that would be a means for great graces to be bestowed to all who prayed before it and asked for mercy for themselves and others. He told her it should have the signature "Jesus I trust in You" which implied, this should be repeated meaningfully by all who seek graces from it.

Jesus wanted this image of Himself as Divine Mercy to be honoured, throughout the world. And the importance of this was repeated again and again during His visits to Sr.Faustina. He also added some extraordinary promises connected with the worship of the image.

Wherever you are, perhaps try to venerate an Image of Divine Mercy today in thanksgiving for such a great gift to all of us.  We must always listen and do what Jesus asked us to do in humility and obedience.

Diary of St. Faustina...on being Merciful to All..

"The Lord said to me, ‘It should be of no concern to you how anyone else acts; you are to be My living reflection, through love and mercy.’ I answered, ‘Lord, but they often take advantage of my goodness.’ ‘That makes no difference, My daughter. That is no concern of yours. As for you, be always merciful toward other people, and especially toward sinners' " (1446).

Reflection:  How hard this is to live at times.  When we are hurt, let down by others or even attacked verbally or in other ways by others, our nature wants to hit back in some way, or maybe one holds onto the grudge or bitterness in ones own heart.  This is not the way of a Christian.  Jesus wants us to be merciful in our approach and in our attitude.  We have to pray for this grace from the Lord.  One has to die to oneself in this also to give way to the grace God wants to give us.  Nurturing wounds is not good for us, but being merciful towards others brings great freedom, detachment and joy. 

Homily on the Canonisation of St. Faustina 30th April 2000

Homily of Pope John Paul II at the Mass For the Canonisation of Sr. Mary Faustina Kowalska

in St. Peter's Square, Rome,

on Divine Mercy Sunday 30th April 2000.

1. "Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius"; "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever" (Ps 118: 1). So the Church sings on the Octave of Easter, as if receiving from Christ's lips these words of the Psalm; from the lips of the risen Christ, who bears the great message of divine mercy and entrusts its ministry to the Apostles in the Upper Room: "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.... Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (Jn 20: 21-23).

Before speaking these words, Jesus shows his hands and his side. He points, that is, to the wounds of the Passion, especially the wound in his heart, the source from which flows the great wave of mercy poured out on humanity. From that heart Sr Faustina Kowalska, the blessed whom from now on we will call a saint, will see two rays of light shining from that heart and illuminating the world: "The two rays", Jesus himself explained to her one day, "represent blood and water" (Diary, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, p. 132).

2. Blood and water! We immediately think of the testimony given by the Evangelist John, who, when a solider on Calvary pierced Christ's side with his spear, sees blood and water flowing from it (cf. Jn 19: 34). Moreover, if the blood recalls the sacrifice of the Cross and the gift of the Eucharist, the water, in Johannine symbolism, represents not only Baptism but also the gift of the Holy Spirit (cf. Jn 3: 5; 4: 14; 7: 37-39).

Divine Mercy reaches human beings through the heart of Christ crucified: "My daughter, say that I am love and mercy personified", Jesus will ask Sr Faustina (Diary, p. 374). Christ pours out this mercy on humanity though the sending of the Spirit who, in the Trinity, is the Person-Love. And is not mercy love's "second name" (cf. Dives in misericordia, n. 7), understood in its deepest and most tender aspect, in its ability to take upon itself the burden of any need and, especially, in its immense capacity for forgiveness?

Today my joy is truly great in presenting the life and witness of Sr Faustina Kowalska to the whole Church as a gift of God for our time. By divine Providence, the life of this humble daughter of Poland was completely linked with the history of the 20th century, the century we have just left behind. In fact, it was between the First and Second World Wars that Christ entrusted his message of mercy to her. Those who remember, who were witnesses and participants in the events of those years and the horrible sufferings they caused for millions of people, know well how necessary was the message of mercy.

Jesus told Sr Faustina: "Humanity will not find peace until it turns trustfully to divine mercy" (Diary, p. 132). Through the work of the Polish religious, this message has become linked for ever to the 20th century, the last of the second millennium and the bridge to the third. It is not a new message but can be considered a gift of special enlightenment that helps us to relive the Gospel of Easter more intensely, to offer it as a ray of light to the men and women of our time.

3. What will the years ahead bring us? What will man's future on earth be like? We are not given to know. However, it is certain that in addition to new progress there will unfortunately be no lack of painful experiences. But the light of divine mercy, which the Lord in a way wished to return to the world through Sr Faustina's charism, will illumine the way for the men and women of the third millennium.

However, as the Apostles once did, today too humanity must welcome into the upper room of history the risen Christ, who shows the wounds of his Crucifixion and repeats: Peace be with you! Humanity must let itself be touched and pervaded by the Spirit given to it by the risen Christ. It is the Spirit who heals the wounds of the heart, pulls down the barriers that separate us from God and divide us from one another, and at the same time, restores the joy of the Father's love and of fraternal unity.

4. It is important then that we accept the whole message that comes to us from the word of God on this Second Sunday of Easter, which from now on throughout the Church will be called "Divine Mercy Sunday". In the various readings, the liturgy seems to indicate the path of mercy which, while re-establishing the relationship of each person with God, also creates new relations of fraternal solidarity among human beings. Christ has taught us that "man not only receives and experiences the mercy of God, but is also called "to practise mercy' towards others: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy' (Mt 5: 7)" (Dives et misericordia, n. 14). He also showed us the many paths of mercy, which not only forgives sins but reaches out to all human needs. Jesus bent over every kind of human poverty, material and spiritual.

His message of mercy continues to reach us through his hands held out to suffering man. This is how Sr Faustina saw him and proclaimed him to people on all the continents when, hidden in her convent at £agiewniki in Kraków, she made her life a hymn to mercy: Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo.

5. Sr Faustina's canonization has a particular eloquence: by this act I intend today to pass this message on to the new millennium. I pass it on to all people, so that they will learn to know ever better the true face of God and the true face of their brethren.

In fact, love of God and love of one's brothers and sisters are inseparable, as the First Letter of John has reminded us: "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments" (5: 2). Here the Apostle reminds us of the truth of love, showing us its measure and criterion in the observance of the commandments.

It is not easy to love with a deep love, which lies in the authentic gift of self. This love can only be learned by penetrating the mystery of God's love. Looking at him, being one with his fatherly heart, we are able to look with new eyes at our brothers and sisters, with an attitude of unselfishness and solidarity, of generosity and forgiveness. All this is mercy!

To the extent that humanity penetrates the mystery of this merciful gaze, it will seem possible to fulfil the ideal we heard in today's first reading: "The community of believers were of one heart and one mind. None of them ever claimed anything as his own; rather everything was held in common" (Acts 4: 32). Here mercy gave form to human relations and community life; it constituted the basis for the sharing of goods. This led to the spiritual and corporal "works of mercy". Here mercy became a concrete way of being "neighbour" to one's neediest brothers and sisters.

6. Sr Faustina Kowalska wrote in her Diary: "I feel tremendous pain when I see the sufferings of my neighbours. All my neighbours' sufferings reverberate in my own heart; I carry their anguish in my heart in such a way that it even physically destroys me. I would like all their sorrows to fall upon me, in order to relieve my neighbour" (Diary, p. 365). This is the degree of compassion to which love leads, when it takes the love of God as its measure!

It is this love which must inspire humanity today, if it is to face the crisis of the meaning of life, the challenges of the most diverse needs and, especially, the duty to defend the dignity of every human person. Thus the message of divine mercy is also implicitly a message about the value of every human being. Each person is precious in God's eyes; Christ gave his life for each one; to everyone the Father gives his Spirit and offers intimacy.

7. This consoling message is addressed above all to those who, afflicted by a particularly harsh trial or crushed by the weight of the sins they committed, have lost all confidence in life and are tempted to give in to despair. To them the gentle face of Christ is offered; those rays from his heart touch them and shine upon them, warm them, show them the way and fill them with hope. How many souls have been consoled by the prayer "Jesus, I trust in you", which Providence intimated through Sr Faustina! This simple act of abandonment to Jesus dispels the thickest clouds and lets a ray of light penetrate every life. Jezu, ufam tobie.

8. Misericordias Domini in aeternum cantabo (Ps 88 [89]: 2). Let us too, the pilgrim Church, join our voice to the voice of Mary most holy, "Mother of Mercy", to the voice of this new saint who sings of mercy with all God's friends in the heavenly Jerusalem.

And you, Faustina, a gift of God to our time, a gift from the land of Poland to the whole Church, obtain for us an awareness of the depth of divine mercy; help us to have a living experience of it and to bear witness to it among our brothers and sisters. May your message of light and hope spread throughout the world, spurring sinners to conversion, calming rivalries and hatred and opening individuals and nations to the practice of brotherhood. Today, fixing our gaze with you on the face of the risen Christ, let us make our own your prayer of trusting abandonment and say with firm hope: Christ Jesus, I trust in you! Jezu, ufam tobie!