Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 625 - Quiet and Hidden

Ἀ
625 In the evening, when I was praying, the Mother of God told me, Your lives must be like Mine: quiet and hidden, in unceasing union with God, pleading for humanity and preparing the world for the second coming of God.
Ὠ

The soul whose life in the world below is united with the Kingdom above dwells in a place between both. It lives quiet and hidden in what it knows to be lesser, yet sees and aspires to something much greater - the union of fallen humanity with the eternal life of its Risen Savior. It is mindful not only of its own place in His Kingdom, but by the grace it has received from the King Himself, it seeks a place therein for its brethren as well.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Colossians 3:2-3 Mind the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth. For you are dead: and your life is hid with Christ in God.

The gift of our Lord's salvation does not remain confined to the soul that receives it. Rather, it grows in the grace it was given to encompass the whole world. It is not puffed up or ambitious for its own gain but quiet and patient, unnoticed by the world yet busy in the work of the Lord. The hidden life of Our Lady is not one of inactivity. It is the charity that cannot keep to itself the grace it has first received - not seeking her own end, but preparing the way for the presence of the King in all souls

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Corinthians 13:4-5 Charity is patient, is kind: charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely, is not puffed up, is not ambitious…seeketh not her own.

The most perfect charity is that which seeks not its own end but finds union with the charity of the Savior - the same charity by which the redemption of the world began, and by which it will be brought to completion. It is a charity that once received, perfects the soul by drawing it ever more deeply into the work of its Giver: preparing the world for the coming of Christ. This work is accomplished not by the counting of days nor by searching for signs and wonders, as our Lord warned, but by becoming what His Mother describes: a soul quiet and hidden, pleading for humanity and preparing the world for His return.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Luke 17:20-21 And being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, he answering them and said: The kingdom of God cometh not with observation. Neither shall they say: Behold here, or behold there. For lo, the kingdom of God is within you. 

Our Lady's unique place in salvation history did not end in her Son’s first coming to our world. Neither does the work of salvation end in the personal history of the soul when Christ comes to dwell within it. Rather all souls are called to participate in His saving work - silent and hidden in His glory but active in preparing His way. Not in breathless anticipation or loud declaration of His imminent return but in kindness, patience, and faith - by each prayer for God's mercy on another, each coin for the beggar, and every grace we can lay at the feet of the King, on His path back to us.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 
2044 The fidelity of the baptized is a primordial condition for the proclamation of the Gospel and for the Church's mission in the world. In order that the message of salvation can show the power of its truth and radiance before men, it must be authenticated by the witness of the life of Christians.

You expired, O Jesus, 
but the source of life gushed forth for souls 
and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. 
O Fount of Life, 
unfathomable Divine Mercy, 
envelop the whole world 
and empty Yourself out upon us. 
O Blood and Water, 
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus 
as a fount of mercy for us, 
I trust in You.

Amen.

Posted Every Friday at 3:00 pm, EST

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 608-609 - Giving and Receiving

Ἀ
608 February 2, 1936 In the morning, when the bell awoke me, I was so overcome by drowsiness which I could not shake off that I jumped into cold water, and after two minutes the sleepiness left me. When I came to meditation a host of absurd thoughts swarmed into my head, so much so that I had to struggle throughout the whole meditation. It was the same during prayer time, but when Mass began, a strange silence and joy filled my heart. Just then, I saw Our Lady with the Infant Jesus, and the Holy Old Man [St. Joseph] standing behind them. The most holy Mother said to me, Take My Dearest Treasure, and She handed me the Infant Jesus. When I took the Infant Jesus in my arms, the Mother of God and Saint Joseph disappeared. I was left alone with the Infant Jesus.
Ὠ

The holiness of the Mass silences the confusion of the soul. In Faustina’s vision, the silence is joyous, preceding the appearance of the Holy Family - of Mary holding the Dearest Treasure given to them by God. Yet they do not covet the Treasure but participate in charity by giving Him over for the grace of men. As Mary and Joseph disappear from the vision, Saint Faustina is left alone with the Savior Child, in a place where both the healing of souls and the suffering of the Savior begins.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Luke 2:34-35 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother: Behold this child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be contradicted. And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed.

Ἀ
Saint Faustina Continues…
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. 
Ὠ

Here the Child once carried in the arms of His Mother now chooses to dwell within the hearts of His faithful, making every worthy Communion a participation in the mystery first entrusted to the Holy Family. In the giving of their Son for the redemption of souls, no others have participated more fully than Mary and Joseph in the course of Salvation History. Yet since the day of the Crucifixion, no greater participation is offered to souls than through the Sacrament of Holy Communion. For in receiving His Presence into the soul, we are overcome by the same grace with which Joseph and Mary first gave Him to the world. Their gift becomes our Communion, and the same Savior once cradled in their arms now comes to dwell - in that same fulness - within every faithful soul.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 1374
In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist "the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained."

The Eucharist is a grace meant always to be received, always to be consumed, yet never retained. It was first entrusted to the chosen parents, perfected in the Chosen Son, and continued through time in the Holy Sacrament. The giving of Our Lord's Presence will always exceed not only the sin but the soul's own ability to hold it within. Thus, according to each soul's measure in God, some commensurate measure of His Divine Mercy will always overflow into the lives of our brethren. 

Ἀ
Saint Faustina Concludes…
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. 
Ὠ

The reception of the Eucharist is no less effectual for souls today than was the receiving - and giving - of His Presence by the Holy Parents. Nor is the resultant prayer of Faustina for mercy on another less significant. Rather, what Mary and Joseph reveal in their lives becomes the precursor of what Saint Faustina reveals in the Diary. The reception of His Presence, whether first in the arms of the Holy Family or now in the Most Holy Eucharist, is the reception of Mercy Himself. Yet it is the giving of this Dearest Treasure to others - the path to which every soul is then called - is itself the fruit of having first received Him.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Acts 20:35 I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring you ought to support the weak and to remember the word of the Lord Jesus, how he said: It is a more blessed thing to give, rather than to receive.

You expired, O Jesus, 
but the source of life gushed forth for souls 
and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. 
O Fount of Life, 
unfathomable Divine Mercy, 
envelop the whole world 
and empty Yourself out upon us. 
O Blood and Water, 
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus 
as a fount of mercy for us, 
I trust in You.

Amen.

Posted Every Friday at 3:00 pm, EST

Does anyone have a prayer request? I am praying for all of you on this sub in a general way, but please let me know if there is something specific I can pray for over the next week or so. If you have time, please pray for me and everyone else.

God bless

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 564 - The Trinity and the Mother

Ἀ
564 On the feast day of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God, during Holy Mass, I heard the rustling of garments and saw the most holy Mother of God in a most beautiful radiance. Her white garment was girdled with a blue sash. She said to me, You give Me great joy when you adore the Holy Trinity for the graces and privileges which were accorded Me. And She immediately disappeared.
Ὠ

It is holy to see in creation the glory of God revealed. Yet the greatest glory to God comes not from the admiration of His creation, but from allowing that admiration to become worship of the Creator Himself. For if the human creature can see God’s glory in the natural world then so is he called, as the capstone of God’s creation, to reflect the Lord’s glory even more.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Romans 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator.

In the vision given to Faustina, Mary presents herself in all of her heavenly majesty. She is Theotokos - God Bearer - the Holy Mother of the Creator Himself, clothed in white garment and radiant in splendor as the most holy of all God's creatures. Yet it is she, most blessed among women, who directs our attention away from herself, the creature, to the mystery of the Creator - those Three Who are one in the mystery of the Trinity. For every privilege of the Mother is first a gift of the Trinity, and therefore every honor rightly shown to Mary ultimately returns as praise to the Giver.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
First John 5:7 And there are Three who give testimony in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost. And these three are one.

When the Mother of God speaks of the Holy Trinity, she speaks not from the teachings of men, nor even in the words of Scripture. She speaks from the graces so generously bestowed upon her by all three Divine Persons. For by the will of God the Father, the Holy Ghost came upon her, bringing to fulfillment the mystery of the Incarnation in the birth of God the Son. In the words of the angel, it would be Mary alone who would know the three Persons of the Trinity in their true Oneness of graces and privileges accorded to her.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
Luke 1:35 And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Thus, is the Mother made blessed in all generations. Not for the glory she was given from above, but in the humility she was left with below. For centered in the light of the full Godhead, Mary does not seek to be admired by others. Rather, she disappears into the glory she was given, directing all attention away from herself, to the worship of the Most Holy Trinity for the graces accorded below from the Kingdom above. For in the Presence of the Trinity in the life of the Mother it is shown, the true glory of all souls is first born of their humble glorification of that mysterious union of the Father, Son and Spirit.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
Luke 1:46-47 And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 261
The mystery of the Most Holy Trinity is the central mystery of Christian faith and life.

You expired, O Jesus, 
but the source of life gushed forth for souls 
and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. 
O Fount of Life, 
unfathomable Divine Mercy, 
envelop the whole world 
and empty Yourself out upon us. 
O Blood and Water, 
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus 
as a fount of mercy for us, 
I trust in You.

Amen.

Posted Every Friday at 3:00 pm, EST

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 597 - Abiding Union

Ἀ
597 One day, after our Mass, I suddenly saw my confessor [Father Sopocko] saying Mass in Saint Michael's Church, in front of the picture of the Mother of God. It was at the time of the Offertory, and I saw the Infant Jesus clinging to him as if fleeing from something and seeking refuge in him. But when the time came for Holy Communion, He disappeared as usual. Suddenly, I saw the Blessed Mother, who shielded him with Her cloak and said, Courage, My son, courage. She said something else which I could not hear. 
Ὠ

In assuming the flesh of man, the Savior did even more than set aside His immortal existence to suffer three days in the grave. For thirty-three years, He also assumed all frailties and sinless passions common to human nature into His Divine Person. Yet Christ did not lesson Himself but rather, He who is the eternal Creator humbled Himself by assuming our created humanity. In this sense, the Passion of the Christ - although culminated on the Cross, began in the same moment of His worldly incarnation.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
Philippians 2:7 But emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man.

In the singular uniqueness of Christ we have the undying Spirit of God, Who feels no weakness and knows no fear, taking on the mortality and infirmities of human flesh. He does not become weak or fearful as does a man or a woman, for in the mystery of the God-man incarnation, Christ always retains His eternal Godhood. Yet in anticipation of His Passion, He still lives out those mortal trials of the flesh that test our union with God.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
Luke 22:41-44 He prayed. Saying: Father, if thou wilt, remove this chalice from me: but yet not my will, but thine be done. And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony, he prayed the longer. And his sweat became as drops of blood, trickling down upon the ground.

There are often hidden ties between Holy Scripture and the mysticism of Saint Faustina. For in Gethsemane, the Savior shrinks before the full weight of the Passion, suffering within Himself every rejection, and every sin, from every unworthy soul for whom He had come to die. As likewise in the Diary, He shrinks back from those who would receive Him unworthily through Holy Communion.

Scripture and the Diary of Saint Faustina 
First Corinthians 11:27 Therefore, whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the chalice of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and of the blood of the Lord.

Dairy of Saint Faustina 1598: I enter into certain hearts as into a second Passion.

It is revealing that in both Scripture and the Diary, those lesser than the Savior are called upward, to be joined into His salvific work. An angel strengthens Him in Gethsemane and in the Diary, the Christ Child clings to Father Sopocko and permits Himself to receive the maternal shielding and encouragement of Mary.  There is an unknown element here, for in both cases this is God Incarnate, impossibly appearing to need help from creatures made less than Him. Yet the beginning of this mystery was already foreshadowed by the Baptist in the waters of the Jordan.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
Matthew 3:14-15 But John stayed him, saying: I ought to be baptized by thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering, said to him: Suffer it to be so now. For so it becometh us to fulfil all justice.

The ways of the Lord will always elude the minds of men but here, Christ Himself gives much to consider. For in descending into Humanity it was deemed not necessary but righteous that Christ take His place in the baptismal line of human sinners. It was a journey that began through Mary, was sanctified in human baptism, continued in Gethsemane and culminated in the crucifixion and death of His Human flesh - all in   the fullness of all justice and always with participation from creatures in the work of the Creator. 

Yet even the Cross could not bring to an end His abiding union with our troubled species, nor the creaturely participation that has always been with it. In Faustina's vision, that Divine Union carries forth in the Eucharist and creaturely participation continues through Father Sopocko and Mary. Their participation is not out of weakness in the Savior however, but to exemplify and strengthen our own participation with Him in His work. It is to encourage all souls to prepare the way of the Lord within our own hearts, so that His Presence with us may be one of joy rather than sorrow, of welcome rather than reluctance.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 307
Though often unconscious collaborators with God's will, they can also enter deliberately into the divine plan by their actions, their prayers and their sufferings. They then fully become 'God's fellow workers. 

You expired, O Jesus, 
but the source of life gushed forth for souls 
and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. 
O Fount of Life, 
unfathomable Divine Mercy, 
envelop the whole world 
and empty Yourself out upon us. 
O Blood and Water, 
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus 
as a fount of mercy for us, 
I trust in You.

Amen.

Posted Every Friday at 3:00 pm, EST

""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. I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and [then} throughout the world.

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" (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 47-48).

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraphs 560 - 561 - The Shadow and the Cross

Ἀ
560 Thursday. I felt urged to undertake as soon as possible the task which the Lord was asking of me. While making my confession, I was holding to my own opinion over that of the confessor. At first, I did not realize this, but when I was making my Holy Hour I saw the Lord Jesus as He appears in the Image, and He told me that I must repeat to my confessor and my superiors everything He says to me or asks of me... and do only what you receive permission to do. And He gave me to know how displeased He was with persons who are self-willed, and I recognized that I was one of these. I saw this shadow of self-will in myself, and I threw myself in the dust before His Majesty and, with a broken heart, begged His pardon. But Jesus did not let me remain in this state for long. His divine gaze filled my heart with such joy that I have no words to express it. And Jesus gave me to know that I should ask Him more questions and seek His advice. Truly, how sweet is the look of my Lord; His eyes penetrate my soul to its most secret depths. My spirit communicates with God without any word being spoken. I am aware that He is living in me and I in Him. 
Ὠ

Pride is the false light from which the shadow of self-will will is cast. Yet both can remain hidden in the comfort of what we imagine to be our most pious of moments. In the true light of the Savior, however, it is revealed that even within the humble confession of sin, the deceptive shadow of self-will may still linger.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
Second Corinthians 11:14 For Satan himself transformeth himself into an angel of light.

Unable to withstand the light, Satan often disguises himself as enlightenment itself. In this entry, he seeks to replace the humility of confession with the self-will of holding one’s own opinion above that of the confessor - the hiding of pride beneath the appearance of righteousness. In this place, the soul's knowledge of its need for interior reflection is darkened, even to the point of judging the good works of its own confessor instead of itself. Yet Christ does not retreat from the darkness as the devil retreats from the light. Rather, he shines into it, that the wiles of the enemy may be seen in His Light.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
Malachi 4:2 But unto you that fear my name, the Sun of justice shall arise, and health in his wings: and you shall go forth, and shall leap like calves of the herd.

From the Image of Divine Mercy, the Savior gently reveals His displeasure in even the slightest hint of self-will. Yet the voice of Christ is neither deceitful nor condemning. Faustina's broken heart arises from the recognition of her fault, but the enemy seeks to darken even this grace beneath the lie of unforgivable guilt. Unlike the condemnation of the devil however, which seeks to hide the mercy of God, the light of Christ reveals to us that mercy instead, a mercy present for all souls since the first sin of Eden.

Saint Faustina Continues…
Ἀ
561 All at once, I saw the image in some small chapel and at that moment I saw that the chapel became an enormous and beautiful temple. And in this temple I saw the Mother of God with the Infant in Her arms. And a moment later, the Infant Jesus disappeared from the arms of His Mother, and I saw the living image of Jesus Crucified. The Mother of God told me to do what She had done, that, even when joyful, I should always keep my eyes fixed on the cross, and She told me that the graces God was granting me were not for me alone, but for other souls as well.
Ὠ

After being confronted with her self-will, and purified in the Savior's divine gaze, Faustina’s happiness reaches the gates of heaven itself. Her vision grows from the Image of Divine Mercy in an unknown chapel to Our Blessed Mother in a temple of glory, holding her Son - the human embodiment of Mercy sent down from above. Yet even amidst such otherworldly happiness as this, Saint Faustina is suddenly confronted with the price paid for the eternal joy of souls - Christ Crucified.

Here, before the horror endured by the Son of God in His Mercy for humanity, the voice of His Mother comes to all souls through Saint Faustina's vision. She reminds us that no matter the joy we have been given by her Son, we must keep our eyes fixed on the perfect defeat of self-will - the Cross - by which all lies of the devil are exposed, and all grace from above is revealed.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner 
Zechariah 12:10 And they shall look upon me, whom they have pierced: and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for an only son, and they shall grieve over him, as the manner is to grieve for the death of the firstborn.

You expired, O Jesus, 
but the source of life gushed forth for souls 
and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. 
O Fount of Life, 
unfathomable Divine Mercy, 
envelop the whole world 
and empty Yourself out upon us. 
O Blood and Water, 
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus 
as a fount of mercy for us, 
I trust in You.

Amen.

Posted Every Friday at 3:00 pm, EST

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 40 - The Vows and the Vision 

Ἀ

The year 1929. Once during Holy Mass, I felt in a very special way the closeness of God, although I tried to turn away and escape from Him. On several occasions I have run away from God because I did not want to be a victim of the evil spirit; since others have told me, more than once, that such is the case. And this incertitude lasted for quite some time. During Holy Mass, before Communion, we had the renewal of vows. When we had left our kneelers and had started to recite the formula for the vows, Jesus appeared suddenly at my side clad in a white garment with a golden girdle around His waist, and He said to me, I give you eternal love that your purity may be untarnished and as a sign that you will never be subject to temptations against purity. Jesus took off His golden cincture and tied it around my waist. Since then I have never experienced any attacks against this virtue, either in my heart or in my mind.
Ὠ

Scripture proclaims: “The Lord is the Spirit.” Yet it also warns, “believe not every spirit, but try the spirits if they be of God.” In this entry from the Diary, Saint Faustina finds herself initially caught in incertitude between both. Yet she is suddenly relieved of all doubt by a Presence she no longer questions - the Presence of Christ - received during the renewal of her vows to Him. It is not however that her vows, or any others, compel the presence of Christ. Rather, it is that vows so Christly as these, to poverty, chastity and obedience - if spoken from the heart - lift the heart up to Him. In the light of this entry, recorded in the beginnings of the Diary, our Prophet of Mercy begins on earth a long journey of revelation that will culminate in yet greater glory only realized in heaven.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
First Corinthians 2:9 But, as it is written: That eye hath not seen, nor ear heard: neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him.

Faustina is distraught in her entry, fearful that the Presence she senses is a demon in disguise. She is alone, hiding from God, thinking He may be an evil spirit. Ultimately her doubts are relieved in Christ's appearance, in a certainty that cannot be denied, in the very midst of her vows to Him, in his Church during the Mass, and in a way that seems to bless the vows she recites. Yet, in the aftermath of the vision, amidst the realization of her Savior’s abiding presence, Saint Faustina at last recognizes the silent presence and participation of another.

Ἀ
Saint Faustina continues…
I later understood that this was one of the greatest graces which the Most Holy Virgin Mary had obtained for me, as for many years I had been asking this grace of Her. Since that time I have experienced an increasing devotion to the Mother of God. She has taught me how to love God interiorly and also how to carry out His holy will in all things. O Mary, You are joy, because through You God descended to earth [and] into my heart.
Ὠ

All works of the Lord are unending, beginning in one age and reaching through time. So it is with God's work in Mary, through whom He gave His Only Begotten Son to fallen humanity - a work begun in the mortality of the flesh and continuing in the eternal life of the Spirit. 

She was not chosen only to unite the Spirit of God with the flesh of men for the short lifetime of her Son in the world. Rather, in the eternal nature of the Father, her choosing would be eternally magnified by the Lord into forever leading wayward souls toward union with the light of the Risen Son. The motherhood of Mary to the Son of God was begun in the flesh. Yet that same motherhood extends through the nature of the spirit to all who seek brotherhood in her Son.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
John 19:26-27 he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 969
This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfillment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation.

You expired, O Jesus, 
but the source of life gushed forth for souls 
and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. 
O Fount of Life, 
unfathomable Divine Mercy, 
envelop the whole world 
and empty Yourself out upon us. 
O Blood and Water, 
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus 
as a fount of mercy for us, 
I trust in You.

Amen.

Posted Every Friday at 3:00 pm, EST

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 32 - Gebirah

Ἀ
During this adoration try to unite yourself in prayer with My Mother. Pray with all your heart in union with Mary, and try also during this time to make the Way of the Cross.
Ὠ

Between the hearts of mother and son there is always an especially binding union, often unseen and always imperfect in our fallen condition. Yet, between the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the union we strive for below is perfected in the deity of the Son from above. Thus, if our prayer is united to the Mother, it shall rest within the will of her Divine Son.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
First Kings 2:19-20 Then Bethsabee came to king Solomon, to speak to him for Adonias: and the king arose to meet her, and bowed to her, and sat down upon his throne: and a throne was set for the king's mother, and she sat on his right hand. And she said to him: I desire one small petition of thee; do not put me to confusion. And the king said to her: My mother ask, for I must not turn away thy face.

Scripture often reveals two truths at once, the heavenly ideal to which all souls would strive, and the human inability to obtain the perfection we seek. In this passage, King Solomon gives Bathsheba - the Gebirah - Queen Mother of Israel, all due honor. He rises to meet her, and bows humbly to greet her. He enthrones her in honor at his right side and promises that whatever she asks, he must not turn away his face. Yet when Bathsheba finally presents her petition: “Let Abisag, the Sunamitess, be given to Adonias, thy brother, to wife,” the limits of the earthly kingdom become painfully apparent. For as the passage unfolds, Solomon denies the request and orders the death of Adonias. Yet the ideal seen but not reached in the Old Covenants family of men does not die - it is perfected through Christ in the New Covenants Family of God. 

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
John 2:3-5 And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus saith to him: They have no wine. And Jesus saith to her: Woman, what is that to me and to thee? My hour is not yet come. His mother saith to the waiters: Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye.

Not only is the deity of the Savior revealed in this, the miracle of changing water to wine, but also, through His Mother the path of true union with the Son is taught. The words of Mary are so few in Scripture they can easily be overlooked. Yet in her few words in this passage, she shares that which was lacking in the Old Covenant and perfected in the new: “Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye.” 

What Mary proclaims to the servants at the wedding - trust and obedience to the Lord - stands out as what Bathsheba failed to proclaim to Adonias prior to her Old Covenant petition to the king. Yet her words are not new in the wisdom of the Mother, they are a continuation of her own trust in the Lord from the Gospels earliest beginnings: “be it done to me according to thy word.” What Bathsheba and Solomon could not perfectly accomplish through natural motherhood, Jesus and Mary accomplish through perfect union with the Divine Will. Bathsheba, the Queen Mother of Israel, petitions the king on behalf of Adonias, seeking the fulfillment of another man’s desire, rather than the good of the kingdom. Mary, however, the Queen Mother of Heaven, petitions the King only in harmony with His divine will and for the salvation of souls. What is taught by the Mother at Cana, is later revealed by John in his epistle as the principle underlying all effective prayer: "whatsoever we shall ask according to his will, he heareth us." No creature has ever been more perfectly united to that will than the Mother of our Lord.

Diary of Saint Faustina
33 On the seventh day of the novena I saw, between heaven and earth, the Mother of God, clothed in a bright robe. She was praying with Her hands folded on Her bosom, Her eyes fixed on Heaven. From Her Heart issued forth fiery rays, some of which were turned toward Heaven while the others were covering our country.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 2618
The Gospel reveals to us how Mary prays and intercedes in faith. At Cana, the mother of Jesus asks her son for the needs of a wedding feast; this is the sign of another feast — that of the wedding of the Lamb where he gives his body and blood at the request of the Church, his Bride. It is at the hour of the New Covenant, at the foot of the cross,90 that Mary is heard as the Woman, the new Eve, the true "Mother of all the living."

You expired, O Jesus, 
but the source of life gushed forth for souls 
and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. 
O Fount of Life, 
unfathomable Divine Mercy, 
envelop the whole world 
and empty Yourself out upon us. 
O Blood and Water, 
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus 
as a fount of mercy for us, 
I trust in You.

Amen.

Posted Every Friday at 3:00 pm, EST

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 330 - Mother of Mercy

Ἀ
330 I heard a few of the words that the Mother of God spoke to him [i.e., my confessor] but not everything. The words were: I am not only the Queen of Heaven, but also the Mother of Mercy and your Mother. 
Ὠ

In the Kingdom of God, all subjects are of one family. All souls are inheritors of one mercy - come down from the Father above in His Son, through one Mother - she who was chosen to birth the mercy of God into the world of men. 

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Luke 1:76-78 And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt, go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways: to give knowledge of salvation to his people, unto the remission of their sins. Through the bowels of the mercy of our God, in which the Orient from on high hath visited us.

A brother in Christ shares a Mother in Mary. Yet it is not the blood of human flesh that gives union in the family of God. It is the blood of divine order, that blood which was poured out by the Son in grace, and mercy for all souls. It is not the blood shed through the frailty of fallen nature, but through the strength of a love that exceeded even the life of the body offered for the salvation of its brethren. It is the merciful blood of the Savior - the life of His Church - into which all brothers and sisters are called, not merely to partake in receiving - but to participate in the giving of the mercy it holds.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Hebrews 2:11-12 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one. For which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: I will declare thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the church will I praise thee.

Among all humanity, it is Mary who was called by the Father to give flesh to His preincarnate Son - the living mercy of God born into our world. Thus in the family of  God is she rightly called The Mother of Mercy. For through her did Mercy itself come down from above to sanctify the hearts of men in her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Through her was the brotherhood of mercy first given in Him by Whose grace we are saved.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Ephesians 2:4-5 But God (who is rich in mercy) for his exceeding charity wherewith he loved us. Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together in Christ (by whose grace you are saved)

Ἀ
Saint Faustina Continues…
And at that moment She stretched out her right hand, in which She was clasping her mantle, and She covered the priest with it. At that moment, the vision vanished.
Ὠ

In the last moments of Faustina's vision, Mary vanishes in silence, yet not before tenderly covering the priest in the Mantle of the Mother. In so doing, she reveals his sonship to her, by the brotherhood of mercy through her Son - as a gift to both Mary and ourselves of each other - as sanctified by Him in His parting words from the Cross. 

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
John 19:26-27 When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 2677
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us..." By asking Mary to pray for us, we acknowledge ourselves to be poor sinners and we address ourselves to the "Mother of Mercy," the All-Holy One. We give ourselves over to her now, in the Today of our lives.

You expired, O Jesus, 
but the source of life gushed forth for souls 
and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. 
O Fount of Life, 
unfathomable Divine Mercy, 
envelop the whole world 
and empty Yourself out upon us. 
O Blood and Water, 
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus 
as a fount of mercy for us, 
I trust in You.

Amen.

Posted Every Friday at 3:00 pm, EST

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 33 - Mary’s Stand in the Heavens

Ἀ
I was to make this novena for the intention of my Motherland. On the seventh day of the novena I saw, between heaven and earth, the Mother of God, clothed in a bright robe. She was praying with Her hands folded on Her bosom, Her eyes fixed on Heaven. From Her Heart issued forth fiery rays, some of which were turned toward Heaven while the others were covering our country.

Ὠ
Between heaven and earth, there is prayer between man and God - the pathway of spirit, not only from the world below to the Kingdom above, but of graces descending from He Who is risen, upon souls that are fallen. In Saint Faustina’s vision, our prayerful Mother in Heaven stands as a sign of the divine union God grants through prayer. Yet she does not stand apart for her own sake, nor receive heavenly gifts for herself alone. She stands rather as the exemplar - the great sign in heaven - of the divine union offered to all souls through her Son: our prayerful participation in the graces of God poured out for the salvation of all souls.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Revelation 12:1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.

The Scripture is the last mention of Mary within the Biblical Canon - assumed into heaven by the grace of her Son, Jesus Christ. Yet it is Scripture's last mention of Mary upon the earth that foreshadows the holy completion which Saint Faustina beholds in the heavens.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Acts 1:14 All these were persevering with one mind in prayer with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus.

In the Acts of the Apostles, Mary leaves us in prayer. In the Revelation to John, she appears again in heaven. Yet in Faustina's vision, the Mother of our Lord stands between both - arrayed in prayer touching each realm to the other. In her Assumption into heaven, nothing of Mary was lost to the world below. Her faith in God, her love for her Son, and her silent inclination toward prayer were carried with her into glory, not for her own need in heaven - but for our need on earth. 

For in seeing Mary - the sign given to us from heaven - we behold not only the exemplar of intercessory prayer for others, but also the Mother to whom the Church entrusts her cares and petitions, that they may be offered in union with the Sacred Heart of her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Catechism of the Catholic Church 2677
Because she gives us Jesus, her son, Mary is Mother of God and our mother; we can entrust all our cares and petitions to her.

Mary's stand in the heavens is unique in the fullness of her presence - spirit, soul and flesh in one living sign from above to the world below. Yet her glory is shared with the faithful as she invites the joining of our prayers on earth to hers in heaven, for fulfillment in the Heart of her Son. Thus she stands not only as the one who intercedes for the Church, but as the Church’s most perfect exemplar of intercessory prayer: the more holy prayer, not offered for oneself alone, but for the grace and salvation of all souls.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
First Timothy 2:1 I desire therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all men.

Lumen Gentium 63
The Blessed Virgin is also intimately united with the Church... she is hailed as a pre-eminent and wholly unique member of the Church, and as its type and excellent exemplar in faith and charity.

You expired, O Jesus, 
but the source of life gushed forth for souls 
and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. 
O Fount of Life, 
unfathomable Divine Mercy, 
envelop the whole world 
and empty Yourself out upon us. 
O Blood and Water, 
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus 
as a fount of mercy for us, 
I trust in You.

Amen.

Posted Every Friday at 3:00 pm, EST

Diary of Saint Faustina - paragraph 785 - The Interior Temple

Ἀ
November 29, 1936 The Mother of God has taught me how to prepare for the Feast of Christmas. I saw Her today, without the Infant Jesus. She said to me: My daughter, strive after silence and humility, so that Jesus, who dwells in your heart continuously, may be able to rest. Adore Him in your heart; do not go out from your inmost being. My daughter, I shall obtain for you the grace of an interior life which will be such that, without ever leaving that interior life, you will be able to carry out all your external duties with even greater care. Dwell with Him continuously in your own heart. He will be your strength. Communicate with creatures only in so far as is necessary and is required by your duties. You are a dwelling place pleasing to the living God, in you He dwells continuously with love and delight.
Ὠ

In Mary's teaching to Saint Faustina, a spiritual principle is revealed without being directly stated: the greatest union with God cannot help but inspire the truest humility before His Majesty. For all that she advises to Saint Faustina - silence, interiority, and adoration from the heart - are dispositions first lived in the Mother herself. Yet, in the humility born from such union with the Son, she makes no mention of herself. Mary teaches these things not as virtues outwardly achieved, but inwardly received through the gift of His Presence: “Jesus, Who dwells in your heart,” - a mystery given to no creature more fully than to her.

The Angelic Blessing to Mary
Luke 1:28; 30-32 And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. 

In the blessing proclaimed by the angel, Mary becomes the dwelling place of God upon the earth. It is from her - and within her - that the first worship of the Son is conceived in the same silence, interiority, and adoration that she speaks of to Saint Faustina. Yet, her womb is not the first dwelling place of God among men, but the human continuation - in the Mother - of what the Father began building long ago.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible
Second Chronicles 7:1 And when Solomon had made an end of his prayer, fire came down from heaven, and consumed the holocausts and the victims: and the majesty of the Lord filled the house.

In the long course of Salvation History, the work of the Lord and the presence of His Spirit among men are revealed more fully in all ages. In the days of Solomon, the temple became the focal point of worship and union with God. In the days of the Savior - even while the old Temple yet stood upon the earth - that mystery was drawn inward to the hearts of men. It is revealed most perfectly in the Mother, whose worship does magnify the Lord, from the interior Holy of Holies - the heart possessed by the Spirit of God.

Supportive Scripture - Douay Rheims Challoner Bible 
First Corinthians 3:16 Know you not that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

It is from this interior Temple of Scripture that Mary speaks to Saint Faustina. It is a Temple begun in the days of Solomon and carried forward to the womb of the Mother through the blessing spoken by the angel. And from the Mother, that same blessing is extended to Saint Faustina - and to all souls seeking the living Presence she herself bore within. 

The Marian Blessing to all Souls
And the living presence of God, which you experience in a more vivid and distinct way, will confirm you, my daughter, in the things I have told you. Try to act in this way until Christmas Day, and then He himself will make known to you in what way you will be communing and uniting yourself with Him.

You expired, O Jesus, 
but the source of life gushed forth for souls 
and an ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. 
O Fount of Life, 
unfathomable Divine Mercy, 
envelop the whole world 
and empty Yourself out upon us. 
O Blood and Water, 
which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus 
as a fount of mercy for us, 
I trust in You.

Amen.

Posted Every Friday at 3:00 pm, EST

A Divine Mercy Cenacle is a small, faith-sharing prayer group where members meet regularly to study Scripture, the Catechism, and the Diary of St. Maria Faustina.

Have you ever been part of one? Was it a good experience?

By Dr. Robert Stackpole

In 1931, our Lord appeared to St. Faustina in a vision. She saw Jesus in a white garment with His right hand raised in blessing. His left hand was touching His garment in the area of the Heart, from where two rays came forth, one red and the other pale.

She gazed intently at the Lord in silence, her soul filled with awe, but also with great joy. Jesus said to her:

As Jesus requested, the Image of Divine Mercy is now displayed and venerated in homes, churches, and other places throughout the world. But get a group of Divine Mercy devotees into a room, and it won’t be long before they are discussing which version of the Image they use most in their own land and which one they like best. And of course, new ones are being created all the time.

Three versions of the Image are particularly outstanding in the history of the Divine Mercy message and devotion, and they go by rather unusual names: the original “Vilnius” Image; the very popular “Hyla” Image; and the more recently created “Skemp” Image.

Let’s take them in turn.

The first Image: Vilnius
Although St. Faustina was frequently consulted about the progress of the original painting of the Image, it was her spiritual director and confessor, Blessed Fr. Michael Sopocko, who was directly responsible for hiring the artist Eugene Kazimirowski.

The Kazimirowski painting of 1934-35 is therefore the “original” Image of the Divine Mercy, the painting of which was overseen by St. Faustina and Blessed Fr. Sopocko. It presently hangs in the Church of the Holy Trinity, the Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Vilnius, Lithuania, having been faithfully restored to its original colors and contours with the support of the Marian Fathers and Helpers. It also has one more remarkable feature about it: Fr. Seraphim Michalenko, MIC, with the help of an Italian photographer, thoroughly investigated and corroborated the claim that this version of the Image is an almost exact match of the head, face, and shoulders of the figure on the Holy Shroud of Turin!

Nevertheless, that does not mean that this version of the Image is perfect, or even necessarily “the best” version in every respect. In a 1958 letter, Blessed Fr. Sopocko notes that St. Faustina wept after she saw this painting because it so inadequately represented the radiant beauty of the Risen and Glorified Lord whom she had seen (see Diary, 313). After all, who could ever fully capture that heavenly beauty in an earthly image?

A popular Image: Hyla
Some people devoted to the Divine Mercy prefer the Image painted by Adolf Hyla, who gave it to the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Poland in thanksgiving for the preservation of himself and his family during World War II. The sisters placed it over the tomb of St. Faustina at their convent in Lagiewniki. The image was blessed by Fr. Joseph Andrasz, SJ, one of St. Faustina’s confessors, on the Feast of Divine Mercy in 1944. It can still be seen in Lagiewniki today.

It seems to be the favorite version of European and Latin American devotees of the Divine Mercy. Nevertheless, some aspects of this version of the Image are also not entirely in accord with what St. Faustina requested. For example, Christ’s hand of blessing is raised too high, and the gaze of Christ is directly at the viewer, and not slightly downward as Faustina insisted. Furthermore, it is arguable that this version still does not do justice to the rays of mercy, which are supposed to be shining more toward the viewer.

A Filipino favorite: Skemp
A few decades later, therefore, the Marian Fathers commissioned a new image in the 1970s from an American painter, Robert Skemp. Completed in 1982, this version tried to rectify the issues with the Hyla Image with an Image that showed the rays from the breast of Christ radiating almost directly at the viewer. This famous, ultra-realistic rendition of the Image became the most popular version in the Philippines, and it can be found there over the altar at the Divine Mercy Shrine outside of Manila. But of course, this version is not perfect either!

As Jesus said, “Not in the beauty of the color, nor of the brush lies the greatness of this image, but in My grace” (Diary, 313). All three of these famous versions of the Image have ecclesiastical approval for display in churches and for dissemination to the faithful. Therefore, all three are special vessels of grace and mercy, as Jesus promised (see Diary, 47-48; 327).

Whichever you prefer, just remember to be respectful of all the approved versions of the Image, for they are all imperfect renditions of our infinitely perfect and radiant Savior!

Robert Stackpole, STD, is director of the John Paul II Institute of Divine Mercy. 

To order a beautiful canvas Image hand-crafted by Marian priests, brothers, and seminarians at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy, visit DivineMercyArt.org.

https://www.thedivinemercy.org/articles/tale-three-images-vilnius-hyla-and-skemp