Turn to any page of St. Faustina’s Diary and you’ll find spiritual gems. Like this one:
I took part in [a] solemn celebration simultaneously here [in Lagiewniki, Poland,] and in Rome, for the celebration was so closely connected with Rome that, even as I write, I cannot distinguish between the two, but I am writing it down as I saw it. ... The crowd was so enormous that the eye could not take it all in. ... The same celebration was held in Rome, in a beautiful church, and the Holy Father, with all the clergy, was celebrating this Feast [of Mercy]. (1044)
Back on March 23, 1937, St. Faustina had this vision about her canonization 63 years before it would take place. On April 30, 2000, before a crowd of more than 250,000 pilgrims, Pope St. John Paul II, the Great Mercy Pope, canonized St. Faustina and established the first Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday. Saint Faustina had longed for the day Divine Mercy Sunday would be celebrated throughout the Church. With all the graces she had received in her life, it’s not surprising that the Lord allowed her a glimpse of what was to come.
This wasn’t the only prophecy St. Faustina made in her Diary that has already come true. She said:
There will come a time when this work, which God is demanding very much, will be as though utterly undone. And then God will act with great power, which will give evidence of its authenticity. It will be a new splendor for the Church, although it has been dormant in it from long ago. (Diary, 378)
It happened just as St. Faustina had predicted. From 1959 to 1979, the Vatican banned the promotion of the Divine Mercy message. Indeed, for a time it looked as though all of St. Faustina’s work had been undone. Then in 1979, the Vatican lifted the ban. Six months later, Pope St. John Paul II ascended to the Chair of St. Peter. With the help of Pope John Paul II and the grassroots efforts led by the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, the Divine Mercy devotion would go on to become one of the most popular devotions in the Church, behind perhaps only the Rosary.
Saint Paul explained the purpose of prophecy, “[O]ne who prophesies … speaks to human beings, for their building up, encouragement, and solace. … whoever prophesies builds up the church” (1 Cor 14:2-3). So, a good prophecy doesn’t merely predict things to come. A good prophecy builds us up and gives us hope.
Perhaps it’s my own weak faith, but if you’re like me, you find it easier to take solace in the prophecies of saints whose predictions have already undoubtedly come true. That’s why I find St. Faustina’s prophetic assurances so consoling — and she had many.
Here are a few of the most powerful prophetic inspirations St. Faustina heard the Lord speak to her that she recorded in her Diary:
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. (48)
The souls that say this chaplet will be embraced by My mercy during their lifetime and especially at the hour of their death. (754)
Through this chaplet you will obtain everything, if what you ask for is compatible with My will. (1731)
So, when you’re troubled and in need of inspiration, remember our Lord’s promises to St. Faustina. Consider all the times St. Faustina’s prophecies have already come true. Remember all the graces that have already been poured out upon the world through the message of Divine Mercy, and take advantage of those graces yourself.
