Lord, Have Mercy!

She lived till age 33 - just like Jesus, her spouse.

She's known as the secretary of Divine Mercy.

And she's one of the greatest mystics in the history of the Catholic Church.

One of the greatest gifts from God to the Church and the world in recent times has been the Divine Mercy message and devotion transmitted to the world through St. Faustina Kowalska, whose feast we usually celebrate on Oct. 5 (this year, it's displaced by a Sunday). Why? Because mercy is the heart of the Gospel, the greatest attribute of God in relation to His creatures.

To be a Christian is to accept the mercy of God and to say every day, every moment, "Jesus, I trust in You." To live a holy life is to be an image of Jesus, the Divine Mercy, and have streams of living water flowing from your heart (see Jn 7:38), as we see in the Divine Mercy Image. To love God and your neighbor is to pray in reparation for sins and beseech God's mercy for the whole world, as we do when we pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet.

Saint Faustina was given the message and devotion to help remind us all what it is to be Christian and what has priority in this time of mercy before the time of judgment. She calls us to trust in Jesus, to love Jesus, and thereby to live with hearts afire for God and neighbor.

Let us ask St. Faustina to pray for us, that we may be truly merciful as Jesus is. Let us ask her intercession also for the Extraordinary Synod on the Family, which opens in Rome on her feast day, Oct. 5, and will close on Oct. 19 with the beatification of Pope Paul VI, who lifted the ban on the Divine Mercy message and devotion. Through the intercession of St. Faustina Kowalska, may the Synod and all the coming events surrounding the family be a source of great fruitfulness and sanctification in the life of the Church.

 

Prayer to St. Faustina
Saint Faustina, you told us that your mission would continue after your death and that you would not forget us. Our Lord also granted you a great privilege, telling you to "distribute graces as you will, to who you will, and when you will." Relying on this, we ask your intercession for the graces we need, especially for the intentions just mentioned. Help us, above all, to trust in Jesus as you did and thus to glorify His mercy every moment of our lives. Amen

 

DMX

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