aeternus

“O my God, I am over come with great longing for You today. Oh, nothing else any longer occupies my heart. The earth no longer contains anything for me. O Jesus, how strongly I feel this exile, how very prolonged it is for me! O death, messenger of God, when will you announce to me that longed for moment, through which I will be united to my God forever?

O my Jesus, may the last days of my exile be spent totally according to Your most holy will. I unite my sufferings, my bitterness and my last agony itself to Your Sacred Passion; and I offer myself for the whole world to implore an abundance of God’s mercy for souls, and in particular for the souls who are in our homes. I firmly trust and commit myself entirely to Your holy will, which is mercy itself. Your mercy will be everything for me at the last hour, as You yourself have promised me…

Hail to You, Eternal Love, My Sweet Jesus, who have condescended to dwell in my heart! I salute You, O glorious Godhead who have deigned to stoop to me, and out of love for me have so emptied Yourself as to assume the insignificant form of bread. I salute You, Jesus, never fading flower of humanity, You are all there is for my soul. Your love is purer than a lily, and Your presence is more pleasing to me than the fragrance of a hyacinth. Your friendship is more tender and subtle than the scent of a rose, and yet it is stronger than death. I Jesus, incomprehensible beauty, it is with pure souls that You communicate best, because they alone are capable of heroism and sacrifice. O sweet, rose red blood of Jesus, ennoble my blood and change it into Your own blood, and let this be done to me according to Your good pleasure.”

From: Divine Mercy In my soul The Diary of Sister M. Faustina Kowalska Perpetually Professed member of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy NOTEBOOK V

Just thought I would share a little bit from a novena for the Grace of Childlike Trust… its day six of the novena…

“The torrents of grace inundate humble souls. The proud remain always in poverty and misery, because My grace turns away from them to humble souls” (Jesus to St. Faustina from her Diary 1602)

Faustina: “O How beautiful is a humble soul! God refuses nothing to such a soul; she is all powerful and influsences the destiny of the whole world. God raises such a soul up to His very throne, and the more she humbles herself, the more God stoops down to her, pursuing her with His graces and accompanying her at every moment with His omnipotence. Such a soul is most deeply united with God” (Diary 1306)

Saint Faustina, obtain for me the grace of true humility so that I may accept the truth about God, about the world and about myself. And may this make me trustful, like a child towards its heavenly Father, acknowledging my dependence on Him as Creator and Savior.

As I am suffering I went to Faustina to ask help in understanding that she might make my mind clear as I read along with all of her trials and misfortunes which she wrote about in her diary. That was a good idea and I thank dear Jesus for most His abundant mercy which flows from His most Sacred Heart.

These quotes are from the passage that helped me. They are in Divine Mercy In my soul The Diary of the Saint Sister Maria Faustina Kowalska Perpetually Professed member of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy NOTEBOOK V

“J.M.J.
The barque of my life sails along
Amid darkness and shadows of night,
And I see no shore;
I am sailing the high seas.

The slightest storm would drown me,
Engulfing my boat in the swirling depths,
If you yourself did not watch over me, O God,
At each instant and moment of my life.

Amid the roaring waves
I sail peacefully, trustingly,
And gaze like a child into the distance without fear,
Because You, O Jesus, are my Light.

Dread and terror is all about me,
But within my soul is peace more profound than the depths of the sea,
For he who is with You, O Lord, will not perish;
Of this Your love assures me, O God.

Though a host of dangers surround me,
None of them do I fear, for I fix my gaze on the starry sky,
And I sail along bravely and merrily,
As becomes a pure heart.

And if the ship of my life sails so peacefully,
This is due to but one thing above all:
You are my helmsman, O God.
This I confess with utmost humility.

“Jesus, how truly dreadful it would be to suffer if it were not for You. But it is You, Jesus, stretched out on the cross, who give me strength and are always so close to the suffering soul…

…After having tasted the above sufferings and spent a whole night in bitterness, the next morning, when the chaplain (Father Theodore) brought me Holy Communion, I had to control my self by sheer effort of will to keep from crying out at the top of my voice, “Welcome, my true and only Friend.” Holy Communion gives me strength to suffer and fight…

…Today, during Mass, I saw the Lord Jesus in the midst if His sufferings, as though dying on the cross. He said to me, My daughter, meditate frequently on the sufferings which I have undergone for your sake, and then nothing of what you suffer for Me will seem great to you. You please Me most when you meditate on my Sorrowful Passion. Join your little sufferings to My Sorrowful Passion, so that they may have infinite value before My Majesty.

Jesus said to me today, You often call Me your Master. This is pleasing to My Heart; but do not forget, My disciple, that you are a disciple of a crucified Master. Let that one word be enough for you. You know what is contained in the cross.

I have learned that the greatest power is hidden in patience. I see that patience always leads to victory, although not immediately; but that victory will become manifest after many years. Patience is linked to meekness.”

Divine Mercy In my soul The Diary of the Saint Sister Maria Faustina Kowalska Perpetually Professed member of the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy

Marians of the Immaculate Conception Stockbride, Massachusettes 01263 2003

I thought I might wait until after 3 today to write and say Happy Feast Day Saint Faustina! There is lots I wish to write, but I think I had better keep these things inside. Instead I will present a few images to ponder on…

The church of St. Joseph is the resting place of Saint Faustina Kowalska and hold the painting of Jesus as the Lord of Divine Mercy. His instructions to Trust in His Infinite Mercy are a most glorious consolation to all souls. Though I have never been to Poland (YET!) I know that this old chapel now stands aside the giant Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy which is quite contemporary in its style. I really like looking at photographs of the altar though. It is quite contemporary but I love the sculpted tree branches that remind me of flames in the wind.

Apparently there is also a small side chapel for Eucharistic Adoration and the monstrance and Jesus look so lovely. I will send my heart there today since I can not be there in person…

Today, though we are in the middle of our Novena to St. Therese, we should also remember (and thanks to my dear friend for reminding me so that I may remind anyone who happens to be reading today…) that we may begin our Novena to St. Faustina. This is a novena especially to ask for the intercession of Faustina on the anniversary of her death which will be next Friday, October 5.

Not unlike Therese, Faustina was only seven years-old when she first heard Jesus’ voice in her soul. It was his first invitation to her, and stirred her to unite her life totally with His Divine Being. Thus a life devoted to proclaiming His Divine Mercy was initiated. How Faustina gave herself over completely to God by honoring each of His requests to tell the entire World of His Mercy is a heroic tale. And while He blessed her with many consolations, the agony she suffered during the times she felt alone and in the dark were great. As she was battling her own wits and the evil machinations of the diabolical one it was indeed God who was her strength in true faith. However, it is a testament to determination of spirit and complete love of God and abandonment of ones-self that we may admire and imitate in Faustina’s character.

There is another religious to consider this week among the faithful of God’s Holy Will. I am only just learning, but it was Sr. Mary Ephrem, as she was instructed by Our Heavenly Mother to let our country know of her desire for purity of soul to help reclaim the family who is so under assault here in America. (And while this devotion is a private revelation, it has been approved by prominent Bishops, and so can be trusted to be authentic. With the approval of Archbishop Burke, as I have said, I feel completely safe in reading and learning about this particular devotion. Back to the story…) A contemplative, Sr. Ephrem would have greatly realized the necessity of uniting the family in purity so that it may attempt to emulate the purity of the Holy Family of Nazareth. That was the holy home where the Holy Spirit found its indwelling in love uniting God with creation through the Immaculate and her Divine Son. Within this structure came also the love of a most good and humble protector and guardian, Joseph, who’s obedience and nonresistance to the Holy Will of God allowed the completion of the mystery. September 25th was the 51st anniversary of the Virgin appearing to Sr. Ephrem. Here is her account:

On the eve of the feast of the North American Martyrs, September 25, 1956, as I was making the Holy Hour from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m., I was conscious of the distinct and special feeling of the presence of Our Lady. She stood by my side and spoke to me. I felt, rather than saw her, though I did see a part of her white gown and a small portion of her blue sash. I was under the impression that she came as Our Lady of Lourdes, and she herself confirmed this. Our Lady promised that greater miracles than those granted at Lourdes and Fatima would be granted here in America, the United Stares in particular, if we would do as she desires.

These are the words she spoke to me at this time:

“I am pleased, my child, with the love and honor my children in America give to me, especially through my glorious and unique privilege of the Immaculate Conception. I promise to reward their love by working through the power of my Son’s Heart and my Immaculate Heart miracles of grace among them. I do not promise miracles of the body, but of the soul.”

Our lady emphasized this very much. She is anxiously concerned about our inner life.

So, let us pay attention to our inner life today. We could not ask for help from better guides and holy navigators than Saints Therese and Faustina. And, there is NO greater guide to humility and obedience to the Will of our Heavenly Father than our exemplar of most pure body and soul than Our Mother Mary. Oh Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee…

Here is the novena prayer to St. Faustina:

Saint Maria Faustina, you told us that your mission would continue after your death and that you would not forget us. (Diary of St. Faustina, 281, 1582).

Our Lord also granted you a great privilege, telling you to “distribute graces as you will, to whom you will, and when you will” (31).

Relying on this, I ask your intercession for the graces I need, especially

(here mention your special intentions)

Help me, above all, to trust in Jesus as you did and thus to glorify His mercy every moment of my life.

Amen.

The image above was taken on my trip to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa near Doylestown, Pa.

“Good friends find pleasure in one another’s company. Let us know pleasure in the company of our best Friend, a Friend who can do everything for us, a friend who loves us beyond measure. Here in the Blessed Sacrament we can talk to Him straight from the heart. We can open our souls to Him, tell him what we need, beg him for powerful graces. We are perfectly free to approach the King of the universe with full confidence and without fear.”

- St. Alphonsus Liguori

“O You Who are hidden, body, soul and divinity,
Under the fragile form of bread,
You are my life from Whom springs an abundance of graces;
And, for me, You surpass the delights of Heaven.”

- St. M. Faustina

Photograph of the Most Blessed Sacrament Cathedral - Detroit, Michigan