In my column last week I wrote how Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was more than a model in the life of St. Faustina. For all intents and purposes, Mary was also very involved in the actual formation of her spiritual life. During this month of the Holy Rosary, we can have another purpose for praying our beads. We can become more open and ask Our Lady to teach us about living our lives with greater meaning and purpose. In this process, we dwell deeper into the mysteries of the Rosary as well.
Saint Faustina writes: "Mary is my instructress, who is ever teaching me how to live for God. My spirit brightens up in Your gentleness and Your humility, O Mary" (Diary, 620).
In her role as teacher, Mary can become a greater influence in our lives as well. It has been stated that whatever adulation Mary receives, she immediately surrenders to Her Son, Jesus. Our Lord, in turn, pours out all His graces through her. Many have come to believe that since Jesus, in His mercy, came through Mary, He continues to come through her as an instrument for our salvation.
Saint Faustina understood this quite well and tried to glean every bit of counsel from this Seat of Wisdom. We can pray with St. Faustina: "O radiant Virgin, pure as crystal, all immersed in God, I offer you my spiritual life; arrange everything that it may be pleasing to Your Son" (Diary, 844). She renewed this request many times in her life.
Above all, Mary taught St. Faustina how to discover God in her own soul. No doubt Mary can teach the same truth if we but ask. When we have no guide available, who can bring us closer to Jesus better than His mother?
As I noted in a column several weeks ago, St. Faustina also turned to Mary in order to understand the Eucharist better. Saint Faustina writes: "The Mother of God is instructing me in the interior life of the soul with Jesus, especially in Holy Communion" (Diary, 840). This type of insight was quite consistent in her dialogue with Mary.
During one particular Advent season, the Mother of God recommended that St. Faustina constantly adore Jesus dwelling in her own soul: "My daughter, strive after silence and humility, so that Jesus, who dwells in your heart continuously, may be able to rest. Adore Him in your heart; do not go out from your inmost being" (Diary, 785). This is a very powerful reflection. We, too, can greatly benefit from this counsel. We need not run off to some far distant place or foreign land, but focus our whole interior life on increasing our union with Him living within us. We see this same invitation from Our Lord who said: "Abide in Me and I in you" (Jn 15:4). That choice is ours, and no one can take it away without our willing it.
Praying the Rosary is precisely the means we have to abide in Jesus and in the school of Mary. It can provide a kind of spiritual shelter in these times of very seductive worldly influences. We can make a special effort in praying this same protection for others we love and to whom we minister. Our attitude can be like that of St. Faustina, who writes: "I have been living under the virginal cloak of the Mother of God. She has been guarding me and instructing me. I am quite at peace, close to her Immaculate Heart. Because I am so weak and inexperienced, I nestle like a little child close to Her heart" (Diary, 1097).
Brother Leonard Konopka, MIC, is on the staff of the Marian Seminary in Washington, D.C. He also provides spiritual direction, retreats, and seminars. Brother Leonard has a leaflet available that has a series of meditations on the five wounds of our Lord. The meditations are intended for use while praying the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy. Click here to order Contemplate My Wounds. He also has a CD available with the meditations on the five wounds, interspered with the Chaplet of The Divine Mercy. Click here to order A Musical Interlude.
