"Souls that make an appeal to My mercy delight Me. To such souls I grant even more graces than they ask. I cannot punish even the greatest sinner if he makes an appeal to My compassion." - Our Lord to St. FaustinaTomorrow is Divine Mercy Sunday.
Today is the last day of the novena, wherein Our Lord asked St. Faustina to pray for 'souls who have become lukewarm' - the neither hot nor cold, the indifferent - "souls without love or devotion, souls full of egoism and selfishness, proud and arrogant souls full of deceit and hypocrisy, lukewarm souls who have just enough warmth to keep themselves alive."
I desperately need the Divine Mercy in my soul.
This year I haven't noticed the devotion promoted as much as it has been in the past - or so it seems. Perhaps it is because this is the Jubilee Year of Mercy? Maybe I'm just not exposed enough to know?
Even if your parish doesn't offer special devotions to the Divine Mercy, You can still receive the promises of Christ to St. Faustina.
You can do everything required without participating in any special observance. Some priests aren't 'into' the Feast of Mercy. Some do not understand why St. John Paul II instituted the feast in the first place. Some think it is just a private revelation and that the Second Sunday of Easter should be left alone. Some even associate it with post-V-II-Novus-Ordo-hocus-pocus. Too bad.
Before I even knew of the devotion, before I was reconciled to the Church through the sacrament of penance, I experienced the Divine Mercy on the Second Sunday of Easter - at that time the devotion was not well known or permitted. It was a remarkable grace...
"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." - Pope John Paul II, Canonization of St. Faustina
"Divine Mercy! This is the Easter gift that the Church receives from the risen Christ and offers to humanity.'' JPII, 2001
"I want to grant complete pardon to the souls that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My mercy." (Diary 1109)
You can do everything required without participating in any special observance. Some priests aren't 'into' the Feast of Mercy. Some do not understand why St. John Paul II instituted the feast in the first place. Some think it is just a private revelation and that the Second Sunday of Easter should be left alone. Some even associate it with post-V-II-Novus-Ordo-hocus-pocus. Too bad.
Before I even knew of the devotion, before I was reconciled to the Church through the sacrament of penance, I experienced the Divine Mercy on the Second Sunday of Easter - at that time the devotion was not well known or permitted. It was a remarkable grace...
"On My Feast - on the Feast of Mercy ... run through the whole world and lead souls that fainted away to the source of My Mercy. I will lead and strengthen them." - Jesus to St. Faustina
“Let me rise then and go about the city, through the streets and squares;
Let me seek him whom my soul loves.” - Song of Songs
Among her belongings, after the death of my grandmother, I came across typed pages with the message of St. Faustina: I don't recall that the chaplet was among the writings: it was on that thin, sort of 'onion skin' paper, and obviously a carbon paper had been used, to make copies. Then: nothing. The message was silenced, for a time, remember ? So she was aware of Mercy, back in the...50's perhaps - I don't know when it was silenced, for how long, or even when lifted. I am so grateful for her witness to me, 'simply' by her living as a faithful Catholic: never did she try any proselytizing - I often think of that, when with my evangelical friends, who, since I never 'rose to their bate' have finally ceased their subtle, often not, comments about aspects of Catholicism. As if yesterday I remember walking with her to St Thomas Apostle Church, by the Univ. of Chicago: sitting with her through Mass week after week: observing her pray: She had So Little, and worked so hard. She gave so much to me, so much love ! That summer, at 16, in the south side of Chicago...alone with her...so important...teaching by 'being'. teaching by love, by Mercy.
ReplyDeleteI love this Image of Jesus ! That He requested a painting of Himself, of His Mercy, for us to look upon ! What a Grace !
Consolata - you may find the following interesting: In 1941 the Divine Mercy devotion was brought to the USA from Poland by Fr. Joseph Jarzebowski. Initially he was skeptical about those who entrusted themselves to the Divine Mercy. But in 1940 he vowed that if he were able to safely reach America he would spend the rest of his life spreading the Divine Mercy message and devotion.
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It took this priest one year to get from Poland to Lithuania, then across Russia and Siberia to Japan and finally into the States - all during WWII.
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In the late 1950s trouble began regarding the Divine Mercy devotion, just as St. Faustina had predicted. The Holy See had received a poorly translated copy of the Diary. Because of the Cold War it was difficult to get proper verification and the spread of the message and devotion in the forms proposed by St. Faustina were forbidden. Twenty years later the ban was lifted thanks the intervention and years of hard work by Pope John Paul II. And as we know now - on April 20, 2000 JPII canonized Faustina and announced that from then on the Second Sunday of Easter would we known as Divine Mercy Sunday.
Angela - I did not know about any of that !
DeleteThere were a number of people in my parish that were very deep into the Divine Mercy devotion. They pestered our former priest for years to get involved/install the image/have Exposition during the 3 o'clock hour while they sang the chaplet. It all fell on deaf ears because he felt the parishioners were fanatical.
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One day Father had to attend a CWL function and the topic was....Divine Mercy. The speaker spoke of the history of the devotion, how it was brought to the USA (it's quite a story!) and the ways that the devotion had affected her life. Before the talk, the speaker had simply prayed that her priest would just open his heart the tiniest bit so the Holy Spirit could enter and do His work (this was inspired by a passage in the Diary). He did open his heart and the Holy Spirit was able to do His work!
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That was in 2009. This year this very same priest is not only having 4 hours of Exposition on Divine Mercy Sunday but he will be praying the Chaplet at 3:00 PM with the parish. That in turn inspired someone in my parish to request a Holy Hour with Exposition and the praying of the chaplet from 3 to 4 which my priest agreed to. While I love to hear about a St. Paul-type conversion (quick and dramatic) sometimes the gentle ones that take years to come to fruition speak to the skeptics more.
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I'll be walking through our local Door of Mercy tomorrow and making the Consecration to Divine Mercy (from Fr. Gaitley's book). I'm scared (in a good way) and excited! Praying for you, Terry!
Consolata, I think the reason that Catholics don't have to proselytize the way evangelicals do is that our devotions do the proselytizing for us. They don't have outward signs like we do; not eating meat on Friday, going to daily Mass (the availability of Mass each day in most parishes), praying the rosary, Holy Days of Obligation, the rosary, statues of Mary in people's front yards, icons, religious pictures, small statues, holy water, blessed candles. That's all in addition to knowing we have the fullness of Truth.
ReplyDeleteAh and we are So.Very.Blessed in all of this, aren't we ? and I had not thought about that in terms of what others observe in all we do/have about us. I so wish I could go to daily Mass.
ReplyDeleteI always have a rosary in my car to pray, to & from work: Catholic books strewn about in there, too. At home, Icons, a St. Joseph statue, etc. So accustomed to it all that it does not occur to me....what it says, shows.
The Grandmother I mentioned gave my mother a beautiful silver rosary on the day of her wedding to my father: I now have it - so precious to me. It was also the day Mom was admitted to the church et al.
What a beautiful memento and it illustrates what I said above; many protestant sects were founded during the current generation but because Martin Luther threw out much of the beauty of Catholicism, protestants have no rosaries to hand down, nor devotions like the Divine Mercy, nor holy cards.
DeleteI was given my grandmother's Sunday Missal, which was a confirmation gift to her. My aunt left it in mom's room at the nursing home for me on All Saints Day. It's still in its original box and inside the front cover are holy cards from about 1930 to the early 1960s. The group includes the ordination card of a local boy and the funeral card of a former pastor.
What a beautiful memento and it illustrates what I said above; many protestant sects were founded during the current generation but because Martin Luther threw out much of the beauty of Catholicism, protestants have no rosaries to hand down, nor devotions like the Divine Mercy, nor holy cards.
DeleteI was given my grandmother's Sunday Missal, which was a confirmation gift to her. My aunt left it in mom's room at the nursing home for me on All Saints Day. It's still in its original box and inside the front cover are holy cards from about 1930 to the early 1960s. The group includes the ordination card of a local boy and the funeral card of a former pastor.
Happy and holy day of mercy. A hug
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