911 to The Divine Mercy

One member of our Divine Mercy prayer group has a daughter-in-law named Brandie. Brandie isn't Catholic, but she married a practicing Catholic.

As her story goes, she was at home one night, sitting in front of her fireplace, and she was reading a best-selling book. This best-selling book had many falsehoods and blasphemed the Blessed Mother many times over. In short, it was very offensive.

Brandie had dosed off while reading the book, and in her dreams she saw the framed pictures of her family on the wood mantle spinning and shaking. Then, in her dreams, she found herself eyeball to eyeball with the devil.

Frightened and scared, she remembered what her mother had taught her to do when caught in a fearful situation. Brandie called Jesus' name and called upon Him to free her from this dream encounter. Brandie then woke up, terrified and visibly shaken. The trauma of seeing the devil eye to eye was distressing. She never wanted to experience that again. She called her mother-in-law and asked her about that best-selling book. She asked her mother-in-law to read it and tell her what she thought.

In the Book of Ephesians, St. Paul writes, "Draw your strength from the Lord and from His Mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with evil spirits in the heavens" (6:10-12).

After reading the book, Brandie's mother-in-law called me and told me about it. We came to the conclusion that we should destroy this book and get an image of The Divine Mercy in her house. She agreed to destroy the book, and we gave her an 8x10-inch image of The Divine Mercy so she would have this vessel of grace in her house.

Jesus told St. Faustina, "I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. I also promise victory over enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death. I myself will defend it as My own glory" (Diary, 47-8).

He later said, "I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is this image with the signature: 'Jesus, I trust in You' " (Diary, 327).

Brandie also wanted to get her house blessed and thought this would be an excellent time to do so. So we called my spiritual director, Fr. Mike, and explained everything to him. He was glad to go and bless her house. We brought our 1st-class relic of St. Faustina there, and Brandie held it as we prayed a Chaplet of The Divine Mercy for her and her family.

In her Diary, St. Faustina writes:
 

 

Satan has admitted to me that I am the object of his hatred. He said that "a thousand souls do me less harm than you do when you speak of the great mercy of the Almighty One. The greatest sinners regain confidence and return to God , and I lose everything. But what is more, you persecute me personally with that unfathomable mercy of the Almighty One." I took note of the great hatred Satan has for the mercy of God. He does not want to acknowledge that God is good. (1167)

As I write these words, I hear the cry of Satan: "She's writing everything, she's writing everything, and because of this we are losing so much! Do not write about the goodness of God; He is just!" And howling with fury, he vanished. (1338)



While we were in Brandie's home it was obvious the Holy Spirit was with us. Brandie is now going to be reading the Diary and is very open to God's message of mercy for her and her family.

In her Diary, St. Faustina writes:
 

When a soul praises My goodness, Satan trembles before it and flees to the very bottom of hell. (378)



Jay Hastings, of Bartlett, Tenn., is the founder of a growing group of Divine Mercy devotees who ensures that the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy is being prayed every hour of the day. Volunteers choose an hour each day in which to pray. They pray for three things: the promotion of the Divine Mercy devotion; the sick and dying in the hour that you pray; and for people about to commit mortal sin. The 24-Hour Chaplet members now consist of more than 700 people in 19 countries. To join the 24-Hour Chaplet, contact Jay via e-mail, pj7772@msn.com, or via phone, 901-438-7772.

You might also like...

The world may think that Christmas ended at midnight on Christmas Day, but the Church knows better. We celebrate an eight-day Christmas Octave, stretching from Dec. 25 to Jan. 1, with a number of special feast days, including three feasts of martyrs:

On Oct. 28, the Church celebrates the Feast Day of Sts. Simon and Jude, apostles of the Lord who zealously preached to the nations. Father Dan Cambra, MIC, tells their story.

Eight missionaries, sent to proclaim the Gospel to the Huron people in North America, suffered terrible martyrdom at the hands of the Iroquois. We celebrate them on Oct. 19. Here, in brief, is the story of St. John de Brebeuf, St. Isaac Jogues, and their companions.