Sister Mary Faustina, an apostle of the Divine Mercy, belongs today to the group of the most popular and well-known saints of the Church. Through her the Lord Jesus communicates to the world the great message of God’s mercy and reveals the pattern of Christian perfection based on trust in God and on the attitude of mercy toward one's neighbors.
…Externally nothing revealed her rich mystical interior life. She zealously performed her tasks and faithfully observed the rule of religious life. She was recollected and at the same time very natural, serene and full of kindness and disinterested love for her neighbor. Although her life was apparently insignificant, monotonous and dull, she hid within herself an extraordinary union with God.
…The years she had spent at the convent were filled with extraordinary gifts, such as: revelations, visions, hidden stigmata, participation in the Passion of the Lord, the gift of bilocation, the reading of human souls, the gift of prophecy, or the rare gift of mystical engagement and marriage. The living relationship with God, the Blessed Mother, the Angels, the Saints, the souls in Purgatory—with the entire supernatural world—was as equally real for her as was the world she perceived with her senses. In spite of being so richly endowed with extraordinary graces, Sr. Mary Faustina knew that they do not in fact constitute sanctity. In her Diary she wrote: Neither graces, nor revelations, nor raptures, nor gifts granted to a soul make it perfect, but rather the intimate union of the soul with God. These gifts are merely ornaments of the soul, but constitute neither its essence nor its perfection. My sanctity and perfection consist in the close union of my will with the will of God (Diary 1107).
The Lord Jesus chose Sr. Mary Faustina as the Apostle and “Secretary” of His Mercy, so that she could tell the world about His great message. In the Old Covenant—He said to her—I sent prophets wielding thunderbolts to My people. Today I am sending you with My mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My Merciful Heart (Diary 1588).
The mission of Sister Mary Faustina consists in 3 tasks:
– Reminding the world of the truth of our faith revealed in the Holy Scripture about the merciful love of God toward every human being.
– Entreating God's mercy for the whole world and particularly for sinners, among others through the practice of new forms of devotion to the Divine Mercy presented by the Lord Jesus, such as: the veneration of the image of the Divine Mercy with the inscription: Jesus, I Trust in You, the feast of the Divine Mercy celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter, chaplet to the Divine Mercy and prayer at the Hour of Mercy (3 pm). The Lord Jesus attached great promises to the above forms of devotion, provided one entrusted one's life to God and practiced active love of one's neighbor.
– The third task in Sr. Mary Faustina's mission consists in initiating the apostolic movement of the Divine Mercy which undertakes the task of proclaiming and entreating God's mercy for the world and strives for Christian perfection, following the precepts laid down by the Blessed Sr. Mary Faustina. The precepts in question require the faithful to display an attitude of child-like trust in God which expresses itself in fulfilling His will, as well as in the attitude of mercy toward one's neighbors. Today, this movement within the Church involves millions of people throughout the world; it comprises religious congregations, lay institutes, religious, brotherhoods, associations, various communities of apostles of the Divine Mercy, as well as individual people who take up the tasks which the Lord Jesus communicated to them through Sr. Mary Faustina.
https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20000430_faustina_en.html
—Saint John Paul II, “Mary Faustina Kowalska: 1905-1938,” The Holy See, cf. “Homily of the Holy Father,” April 30, 2000
The
Vatican’s official biography of Saint Faustina Kowalska brings together the
elements that account for her expansive appeal in the Church. She is a very
popular saint. Her life is simple and radiant. She was chosen by God as the “Secretary”
of Divine Mercy, and since mercy is one of God’s most attractive, compelling, and
defining attributes, the charisma of God’s mercy readily extends to his chosen
messenger.
On February 22, 1931, Saint Faustina Kowalska writes in her diary:
ReplyDelete“In the evening, when I was in my cell, I became aware of the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand was raised in blessing, the other was touching the garment at the breast. From the opening of the garment at the breast there came forth two large rays, one red and the other pale. In silence I gazed intently at the Lord; my soul was overwhelmed with fear, but also with great joy. After a while Jesus said to me, ‘paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the inscription: Jesus, I trust in You.’” (Diary, 47)
Another time, according to Saint Faustina, Jesus says:
“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 depths of My most tender Mercy at that time when My agonizing Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross.” (Diary, 299)
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Blessed are the merciful, because they will be shown mercy. We are talking about those who forgive, who understand other people’s mistakes. Jesus does not say: Blessed are those who seek vengeance, who say an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. He says: Blessed are those who forgive, who are merciful. We are an army of the forgiven! All of us have been forgiven! And this is why he who takes the path of forgiveness is blessed.—Papa Francesco, Homily at Casa Santa Maria, June 9, 2014
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THE MERCY OF FORGIVENESS
ReplyDeleteJesus forgave his killers for his gruesome and cruelly painful death. He required all those who profess themselves his disciples to do the same.
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
“If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.” (Matthew 6:14-15)
Jesus also forgave the repentant thief who was crucified on his right. In an act of heavenly mercy he promised him salvation that very day.
He said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:42-43)
Forgiving injuries is one of the seven Spiritual Works of Mercy in the Roman Catholic Church. It is demonstrated in the witness of those who before or at the point of death forgive their killers. In the lives of the saints and martyrs the Church has numerous heroic examples.
Saints and martyrs who forgave their killers, in their own words:
Saint Stephen (Died c. 33-36 CE, 28-32 years old)
He fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”; and when he said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:60)
Saint Paul Miki (1564-1597)
“The sentence of judgment says these men came to Japan from the Philippines, but I did not come from any other country. I am a true Japanese. The only reason for my being killed is that I have taught the doctrine of Christ. I certainly did teach the doctrine of Christ. I thank God it is for this reason I die. I believe that I am telling only the truth before I die. I know you believe me, and I want to say to you all once again: Ask Christ to help you to become happy. I obey Christ. After Christ’s example I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain.”
Text is from this source:
https://www.jesuitseastois.org/jesuit-lectionary-january-june/sts-miki-soan-kisai
—Father George Bur, S.J., “February 6: Sts. Paul Miki, John Soan, James Kisai, Religious, and their Companions (Martyrs): Reflection on Today’s Feast,” Office of Ignatian Spirituality
Compare with the text in Jesuit Father Luís Fróis’ 1597 account, where Saint Paul Miki actually names Toyotomi Hideyoshi:
“The Christian law commands that we forgive our enemies and those who have wronged us. I must therefore say here that I forgive Taikosama (Hideyoshi).”
https://nowthatimcatholic.com/2020/02/06/saint-paul-miki/
—Charles Johnston, “Saint Paul Miki,” Now That I’m Catholic
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Saint Maria Goretti (1890-1902)
“As she lay dying, she forgave Alessandro for the crime he had committed against her, saying, ‘Yes, for the love of Jesus I forgive him...and I want him to be with me in Paradise.’
“Although the doctors tried to save her, she died two agonizing days later, only eleven years old.
“Alessandro was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He remained unrepentant until one night, eight years into his prison term, when Maria appeared to him, dressed in white, gathering lilies in a garden. She smiled, turned towards Alessandro, and offered him the flowers. Each lily he took transformed into a white flame. Then Maria disappeared.
“From that moment, Alessandro converted and found peace. He repented of his crime and changed his life. He was released from prison three years early and begged forgiveness from Maria’s mother, which she duly granted.
“Alessandro moved to a Capuchin monastery, working in the garden as a tertiary for the remainder of his life. He was one of the witnesses who testified to Maria’s holiness during her cause of beatification, citing the crime and the vision in prison.”
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-maria-goretti-530
—“St. Maria Goretti,” Catholic News Agency
Blessed Christian de Chergé (1937-1996)
In a letter dated January 1, 1994—nearly two-and-a-half years before his martyrdom—Father Christian wrote a letter to his family to be opened upon his death. It appears that at that point in time the monks of Tibhirine abbey were being pressured to leave and that Father Christian composed the letter in premonition of his sacrifice.
The letter, published in L’Osservatore Romano (June 1, 1996), is a masterpiece of elegy. It is excerpted here.
“If it should happen one day—and it could be today—that I become a victim of the terrorism that now seems to encompass all the foreigners living in Algeria, I would like my community, my church, my family, to remember that my life was given to God and to Algeria; and that they accept that the sole Master of all life was not a stranger to this brutal departure.
“I would like, when the time comes, to have a space of clearness that would allow me to beg forgiveness of God and of my fellow human beings, and at the same time to forgive with all my heart the one who will strike me down.
“I could not desire such a death; it seems to me important to state this: How could I rejoice if the Algerian people I love were indiscriminately accused of my murder?
“My death, obviously, will appear to confirm those who hastily judged me naïve or idealistic: ‘Let him tell us now what he thinks of it!’ But they should know that…for this life lost, I give thanks to God. In this ‘thank you,’ which is said for everything in my life from now on, I certainly include you, my last-minute friend who will not have known what you are doing…I commend you to the God in whose face I see yours. And may we find each other, happy ‘good thieves’ in Paradise, if it please God, the Father of us both.”
https://www.plough.com/en/topics/life/grieving/christian-de-cherge-a-story-of-forgiveness
—Johann Christoph Arnold, “Christian de Chergé: A Story of Forgiveness, Plough (January 10, 2015)
In some instances, the forgiveness is not directly expressed, but the martyrs’ last words unmistakably witness to their attitude of forgiveness toward their killers.
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Saint Boniface (c. 675-754)
His final words of submission to his attackers indicate forgiveness.
“Cease, my sons, from fighting, give up warfare, for the witness of Scripture recommends that we do not give an eye for an eye but rather good for evil. Here is the long awaited day, the time of our end has now come; courage in the Lord!”
https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/june-5-saint-boniface-bishop-and-martyr/
—“June 5: Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr—Memorial,” My Catholic Life!
Saint Thomas More (1478-1535)
His words of loyal submission to Henry VIII, spoken just before he is beheaded, imply his forgiveness of the king for orchestrating the guilty verdict for treason.
“I die the king’s good servant but God’s first.”
Forgiveness is a grace given by God. Human frailty cannot dispense it on its own strength.
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Saint Boniface’s words are published in Talbot, C. H., ed., The Anglo-Saxon Missionaries in Germany: Being the Lives of S.S. Willibrord, Boniface, Strum, Leoba and Lebuin, together with the Hodoeporicon of St. Willibald and a Selection from the Correspondence of St. Boniface (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1954).
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