St. Faustyna
One
Today is the Feast of St. Faustyna, which we spell with a ‘Y’ because that’s how she wrote it. I want you to get to know her because she is a close friend of mine.
From 1925 until her death in 1938 Faustyna led a very ordinary life as a religious sister, acting as a cook, doorkeeper, and gardener, except for one thing: Jesus, Mary, her Guardian Angel, many saints, and souls in purgatory as well as demons visited and spoke with Faustyna on a continual basis.
The Diary of Divine Mercy
Jesus appeared to St. Faustyna from 1931-1938 and commanded her to keep a diary of all their conversations.
He said to her, “Write down everything that occurs to you regarding My goodness.” She answered, “What do You mean, Lord, what if I write too much?” He then said, “My daughter, be at peace; do as I tell you. Your thoughts are united to My thoughts, so write whatever comes to your mind. You are the secretary of My mercy. I have chosen you for that office in this life and the next life.” 1605
At one point, Faustyna burned the Diary as she feared she was being deceived by the devil. But Jesus ordered her to rewrite it. He would at times read the notebooks and then say, “You have not written everything in the notebook about My goodness towards humankind; I desire that you omit nothing;” 459
The Diary reveals a deep personal friendship between Jesus and Faustyna. As I read the Diary, I too was drawn into a deep friendship with Christ. If you read the Diary prayerfully, I’m sure the same will happen to you.
Two
The Image of Divine Mercy
On February 22, 1931, Jesus appeared to Faustyna and revealed to her the Image of Divine Mercy by which He wants to give His mercy to us.
She writes, “In the evening, when I was in my cell, I saw the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand was raised in the gesture of blessing, the other was touching the garment at the breast. From beneath the garment, slightly drawn aside at the breast, there were emanating two large rays, one red, the other pale. In silence I kept my gaze fixed on the Lord: my soul was struck with awe, but also with great joy. After a while, Jesus said to me, Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: “Jesus I trust in You.” 47
Again Faustyna writes, “My confessor told me to ask the Lord Jesus the meaning of the two rays in the image, 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 (Baptism and the sacrament of Reconciliation which cleanse the soul). The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls (The Body and Blood of Jesus in the Eucharist).” (299)
Later Jesus said, “By means of this Image I shall be granting many graces to souls; so, let every soul have access to it.” 570
I have a large image of Divine Mercy in my chapel at home, I encourage you to place the Image of Divine Mercy in a prominent or central place in your home and speak these words often, “Jesus I trust in you.”
Three
Prayer
Jesus revealed a special prayer to Faustyna called the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
“While I was saying the chaplet, I heard a voice which said, Oh, what great graces I will grant to souls who say this chaplet; the very depths of my tender mercy are stirred for the sake of those who say the chaplet.” Diary 848
The Divine Mercy Chaplet is a wonderful form of vocal prayer, which is the first stage of prayer. But Jesus told Faustyna he not only wanted her to pray these and other forms of formal vocal prayer, even more, he said to her, “Talk to me simply, as a friend to a friend.” (Diary 1487)
Jesus reminded her that friendship involves not only talking, but more importantly, listening, and for that we need to learn to reflect, to think about what Jesus says to us through the Word of God.
Jesus said to Faustyna, “When you reflect upon what I tell you in the depths of your heart, you profit more than if you had read many books. Oh if souls would only want to listen to My voice when I am speaking in the depths of their hearts, they would reach the peak of holiness in a short time.” 584
Listening takes silence. Faustyna writes, “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” Diary 118
Four
Sacrifice
God the Father wants to give all His children the joy of participating with Jesus in the work of saving souls, especially our loved ones. Jesus said to Faustyna, “My daughter, I want to instruct you on how you are to rescue souls through sacrifice and prayer. You will save more souls through prayer and suffering than will a missionary through his teachings and sermons alone.” 1767
She writes, “Today, I saw the suffering Lord Jesus. He leaned down toward me and whispered softly, My daughter, help Me to save sinners. Suddenly, a burning desire to save souls entered my soul. When I recovered my senses, I knew just how I was to help souls, and I prepared myself for greater sufferings.” 1645
Now, I don’t want to suffer any more than you do, but no one can escape suffering. The last few days I have been sick with a cold or flu and I hate it. When we are sick we have two choices: we can complain and waste our suffering (in which case it only makes us worse people and does no one any good) or we can accept what we did not choose, do not like, and cannot change, offering them with love to Jesus for the conversion of our loved ones. Mother Teresa said, “Accept what He gives and give what He takes with a big smile.”
Five
Jesus told Faustyna that the most important way to receive His mercy is in the Sacrament of Reconciliation which He called the “Tribunal of Mercy.”
“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.” 1448
Our Lady has asked us to go to Confession once a month. Our Mama knows what is best for us because She wants to lead us to the Infinite Mercy of Jesus.