There are a couple of dates I have been asked to mention in relation to St Faustina: This year, on April 30th one century ago, was when she made her simple profession in the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy in Poland; Secondly, last February was the 95th anniversary of when Jesus appeared to her for the first time.
St Faustina has this to say about the noble soul who is united to God:
Diary No. 148 “A noble and delicate soul, even the most simple, but one of delicate sensibilities, sees God in everything, finds Him everywhere, and knows how to find Him in even the most hidden things. It finds all things important, it highly appreciates all things, it thanks God for all things, it draws profit for the soul from all things, and it gives all glory to God. It places its trust in God and is not confused when the time of ordeals comes. It knows that God is always the best of Fathers and makes little of human opinion. It follows faithfully the faintest breath of the Holy Spirit; it rejoices in this Spiritual Guest and Holds onto Him like a child to its mother. Where other souls come to a standstill and fear, this soul passes on without fear or difficulty.”
We pray now to the Holy Spirit:
Holy and Divine Spirit! Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Your Spouse, St Benedict, St Faustina and of all the Saints, bring the fullness of your gifts into our hearts. Comforted and strengthened by You, may we live according to Your Will and may we die praising your Infinite Mercy. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.
The Chaplet of Divine Mercy, like the Lord’s Prayer, is a prayer directed to God the Father. It begins:
“Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.”
Let us always try to see the writings of St Faustina within the context of the Bible, the Sacred Liturgy and the Tradition of the Church, including the writings of the other saints. We need to take time to ponder over the words of the prayers we are reciting. Otherwise, they may just become like a pure mechanical exercise and not penetrate into our hearts. From the words of this part of the prayer, we may wonder how it is that anyone could offer to God the Father the Body, Blood Soul and Divinity of Jesus. Is not Jesus the only person who can do this? Did He alone not do this in His Passion and Death on the Cross. Is it not only the priest who can offer the Sacrifice of the Mass, but even in this case is it not Jesus Himself, acting in the person of the priest, who, gathering together all the prayers of the Faithful, offers the mass? Do I not simply benefit from the merits won by Christ, or can I actually claim them as my own to offer to the Father? St Bernard, in his commentary on the Song of Songs, has this to say:
“Surely the man was wrong who said: ‘My sin is too great to be pardoned.’
Often, perhaps, a person may feel this way too. But this would be to undermine the Infinite Mercy of God, on which there are no bounds. St Bernard continues:
“He (i.e. the man) was speaking as though he were not a member of Christ and had no share in His merits. A member of Christ can claim Christ’s merits as his own, just as a member of the body can claim what belongs to the head. As for me, I confidently take all I lack from the Heart of the Lord, for that Heart overflows with mercy. It does not lack openings through which mercy may pour out, for they pierced His hands and feet and opened His side with a spear. … Where have your Love, your Mercy, your compassion shone out more luminously than in your Wounds, sweet gentle, Lord of Mercy.”
In His Infinite Mercy, Our Lord has given us this privilege, to claim His Merits as our own, so that we can offer the Body and Blood of Christ, as He did, to Our Heavenly Father. St Bernard, just like St Faustina, explains that it is through His Glorious Wounds that His Mercy pours out upon us, upon the world.
From the her Diary, no. 299, she heard Our Lord say this about the two rays we see on the Image of Divine Mercy issuing from His Sacred Heart:
The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls…
These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross.
As we ponder the image, let us draw closer to Him by meditating on His Passion, Death and Resurrection, the Paschal Mystery. Happy is the one who dwells in this shelter, under these rays. The soul who venerates this image, Our Lord promised her, will not perish. But let us allow the Mystery of this image penetrate deeply into our hearts so that we can, with full confidence and understanding, repeat the words on the image: Jesus, I trust in Thee.
We can note also the connection between today’s Liturgy and this image: We had the Gospel according to St. John about the risen Christ appearing in the Upper Room and about the institution of the Sacrament of Penance (Jn 20:19-29). St Thomas is invited to place his hands on the Sacred Wounds, and not to doubt but to believe. We also have the intimation of the giving of the Holy Spirit and the Sacrament of Penance, when the Lord breathed on them: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive, shall be forgiven …” We understand that the Gift of the Priesthood grants to the Power, which is Christ’s, to forgive sins. Here the priest is also acting “In the Person of Christ the Head”. This means that when he forgives, it is really Christ who forgives.
You are invited now to receive this Sacrament of Penance through confession, if you so wish. The sanctifying Grace thus poured into the soul who confesses is in effect Graces merited for us by Christ.
Consequently, this image represents the Saviour risen from the dead who brings peace to people by means of the forgiveness of sins at the price of His passion and death on the cross.