Day

“Know that you will have much, much to suffer, but don't let this frighten you; I am with you.” (Saint Faustina, Diary 36).

Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska

I have read quite a lot about Saint Faustina.  Saint Faustina was a Polish nun who experienced many many visitations of Christ and also some of the Blessed Virgin, angels and some Saints.  She was also visited by the Evil One who tried to trick and tempt her.  She died slowly and painfully of tuberculosis of the digestive system after being misdiagnosed and misunderstood for many years at the age of thirty-three in 1938.

It was to Saint Faustina that the Divine Mercy was revealed in further glory.  She was asked by Christ to write about His Divine Mercy and He called her His Secretary of the Divine Mercy.

Pope Saint John Paul II, who was the first and only Polish Pope, considered His canonisation and recognition of the Feast of the Divine Mercy Sunday (the first Sunday after Easter), the greatest achievement of his pontificate.  And his was a pontificate that worked towards the fall of Communism in Europe, the end of the Cold War and the demolition of the Berlin Wall…  This shows how significant it is to recognise the Divine Mercy of God.

Christ told Saint Faustina that if would did not come to Him and rely on Him in His Mercy, they would have to come to Him in His JUSICE instead, and PERFECT JUSTICE means that Heaven is unattainable if there is even one sin on the soul – even Original Sin…

Saint Faustina wrote in her Diary at entry 3236, “Once I was summoned to the judgment [seat] of God. I stood alone before the Lord. Jesus appeared such as we know Him during His Passion. After a moment, His wounds disappeared except for five, those in His hands, His feet and His side. Suddenly I saw the complete condition of my soul as God sees it. I could clearly see all that is displeasing to God. I did not know that even the smallest transgressions will have to be accounted for. What a moment! Who can describe it? To stand before the Thrice-Holy God! Jesus asked me, Who are you? I answered, ‘I am Your servant, Lord.’ You are guilty of one day of fire in purgatory. I wanted to throw myself immediately into the flames of purgatory, but Jesus stopped me and said, Which do you prefer, suffer now for one day in purgatory or for a short while on earth? I replied, ‘Jesus, I want to suffer in purgatory, and I want to suffer also the greatest pains on earth, even if it were until the end of the world.’ Jesus said, One (of the two) is enough; you will go back to earth, and there you will suffer much, but not for long; you will accomplish My will and My desires, and a faithful servant of Mine will help you to do this. Now, rest your head on My bosom, on My heart, and draw from it strength and power for these sufferings, because you will find neither relief nor help nor comfort anywhere else. Know that you will have much, much to suffer, but don't let this frighten you; I am with you.”

I have been thinking about this revelation in particular because it seems to me that I spend far too much time complaining of the little suffering that has come my way, and I wonder at the sins for which I must be held to account one day…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.